Ryul's slice cuts the prone wolf's belly wide open. It yowls in pain, then falls unconscious, still bleeding.
Cashel's magical missile unerringly slams into the other wolf, causing it to yelp in pain, too.
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BOLD: GO!
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Wolf (pink)
Wolf (blue)
Janira
Cheeper
Paloma Redclaw
Ryul Dathana
Cashel O'Brien
➤ Paul Montrose
Nal Pavleth
--- Round 2 (will be resolved after the actions of round 1) ---
Jack Hurricane
Paul closes in on the remaining predator with the intent to help defeating it.
However, just a second later, Jack Hurricane's many hours of hard fighter training finally pays off... big time. With nearly inhuman precision and power he cleanly severs the remaining wolf's head from its torso, spraying blood left and right.
Wolf (pink)
Wolf (blue)
Party
Janira stops reciting the early adventures of VC Colin Rosenthal (right after the intro) and comments: "Well done, aspiring Pathfinders! That was a quick and efficient fight! If I see it correctly, none of the party were harmed by these wolves, right?"
Janira grabs her pack. "We need to keep moving if we are going to reach the cave by dusk. If we don't reach it by dusk the gillmen may be gone before we arrive."
As the group continues to travel through the wilderness, you find trails blocked by fallen objects, shortcuts overgrown, and other minor delays that cost you time.
Cashel's book knowledge proves to be quite accurate, he navigates the group safely through the wilderness. Janira is impressed.
---
The dense forest opens to a wide clearing at the base of a sheer cliff. Thick vines cover the surface of the cliff stretching 30 feet overhead. “Here! The cave entrance is behind those vines,” Janira says with a broad smile as she walks to the cliff’s face. She pulls back several layers of vegetation to reveal a narrow crack in the cliff’s surface. “This is where I saw the gillmen enter.”
As she motions toward the aperture, the surrounding woods come alive with the sound of small animals fleeing some unseen danger and a large creature crashing through the undergrowth.
The halfling worriedly remarks, “Quick, take cover before whatever it is spots us!” As if she’d summoned the creature with her words, a massive horned monstrosity emerges from the trees. Standing eight feet tall on a pair of cloven hooves and wielding a tremendous axe, the bull-headed creature roars with unbridled anger when it spots the group.
Wisely assessing that a minotaur is beyond her charges’ capabilities, Janira screams, “A minotaur! There’s little chance we can stand against it. Take this bag,” she continues, pulling off her backpack, “and head deeper into the caves. Finish your mission. I’ll lead it away from the caves, lose it in the forest, and join you as soon as I can. Now go! GO!” She heaves her backpack into the cave, casts a spell, and darts off toward the minotaur before turning to lure it away.
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Paloma didn't like this plan, not one bit. But she knew an order when she heard one and dutifully followed Ryul into the cave. Cheeper close at her heels.
Inside, she cast light on her shield and shone it around, getting her bearings. She looked to the cat for signs that she scented something dangerous in the cave ahead of them.
The cave entrance is only 5 feet wide and extends 20 feet into the rock before widening into a broader tunnel.
Emerging from the dense forest is a single minotaur scout that has been tracking the movements of a local centaur tribe. It hastily decides that you are probably allies of the centaurs and are a threat it can destroy quickly, so it moves to attack.
An crossbow bolt slams deep into the minotaur's shoulder as Janira begins to call out to it in the language of the Giants. This draws the Minotaur's attention as it snorts and huffs as it chases after Janira through the trees and dense undergrowth. Soon the cacophony of the chase fades and the sounds of the forest slowly return to normal.
Cashel grabs the bag, leading the group further into the cave. Water dripping from stalactites and the distant rushing of underground streams creates an eerie backdrop as you explore. The caves’ walls are patterned with blue-green luminescent fungi that provide dim light. Petroglyphs—most depicting marine animals or spiral shapes—periodically decorate the tunnels’ walls, becoming increasingly frequent.
Inside the cave entrance the narrow tunnel twists and turns for several hundred feet before slowly opening to a wider passage. A large hole spans the cave’s width and stretches ten feet down the path. At the bottom of the pit lies a small bundle of cloth.
The trap seems to be a 20 foot deep pit partly filled with water. There is no easily accessible means to bypass it.
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”My practical survival exam for the Kyonin Rangers was in a cave network. I only mention that because we were taught to identify natural vs artificial dangers. And that pit is definitely artificial. Someone dug it as a trap, most likely. We could probably jump it, or climb down and up the other side.”
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Nal takes out a silk rope that he bought successfully before shipping, and looks for a place to tie one end. Then he looks questioningly at his comrades.
I think a certain daredevil, may the Lords bless him, should jump over the pit and tie the rope on the other side. If someone has another rope, we can then make something like a loop so that the others do not have the risk of falling. But first someone need to jump over to the other side.
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Paloma nods her agreement with Ryul's assertion as she looks over the pit. Then she casts detect magic to scan for any unseen devices of the trap.
"I regret not saving enough funds for that climbing kit I was eyeing at the commissary now. But let us see what all we have to work with first before we make any leaps of faith." She cautions as she pulls out two more lengths of rope, three bundles of twine and a crowbar from her pack.
"I don't suppose anyone has a grappling hook?" She asks.
She uses the rope to fashion a harness for Cheeper, tying it so that it supports her weight under her chest and breastbone without placing any pressure on her sensitive throat. "I think we can lower her down to fetch that bundle of cloth and then pull her back up. Will you help me, Jack?"
The cat grumbled her displeasure at being trussed up, but she was light and descended easily into the pit. She shook her paws delicately one at a time as they sank into the muddy water. Paloma tossed a treat toward the bundle of cloth and motioned to the cat. "Get it Cheeper, go on. Fetch!"
"Ok, I think she's got it, lets pull her back up."
(...)The cat grumbled her displeasure at being trussed up, but she was light and descended easily into the pit. She shook her paws delicately one at a time as they sank into the muddy water.
As you lower Cheeper further down the pit, you realize, that after making contact with the surface she's sinking deeper into the water than anticipated. Through the water surface - now with ripples because of Cheeper's paws - the once perfectly clear image of the bundle of cloth looks very blurry. This pit is definitely deeper than just the 10 feet distance to the water surface, and not just by a few inches.
(...) The trap seems to be a 20 foot deep pit partly filled with water. There is no easily accessible means to bypass it.
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Seeing that the water was deeper than expected, Paloma with Jack's help quickly pulls the unhappy cat back up. Next she secures the crowbar to the end of her knotted rope and lowers it down until the weight touches bottom and pulls it back up to estimate how deep the water actually is.
She removes her backpack and begins stripping off her armor and securing it in the pack along with her pouch of dried meat. She unties the crowbar from the end of the rope with the knots and makes a loop to secure around her upper torso, beneath her arms. She leaves Cheeper in her rope harness and bids her to stay giving her a small pile of treats to keep her occupied.
Finally, she places the end of the rope in sturdy Jack's hands. "Don't let me drown, ok?" She requests with a wink and then slowly lowers herself into the watery pit. She paddles over to the bundle of cloth and makes a dive to retrieve it.
The only (faint) magical aura Paloma sees is down in the pit: the bundle of cloth.
The druid easily dives, grabs the bundle of cloth and returns to the surface.
Cashel looks through Janira's backpack. It contains many things:
potion of barkskin, potions of cure light wounds (2), potion of feather step, potion of vanish, scroll of entangle, scroll of gust of wind, scroll of identify, scroll of mage armor (CL 6), scroll of obscuring mist, wand of burning hands (CL 3rd, 4 charges), wand of cure light wounds (CL 3rd, 8 charges), acid, alchemist’s fire (2), holy water, smokestick, tanglefoot bag, thunderstone, antitoxin, sunrods (2)
Everything that could be mixed up with something else is clearly labeled.
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Paul sheds his pack, taking only a dagger and coil of rope. "Make some room--I'll need a running start to get across."
He barely makes it, teetering on the very edge before recovering and getting his footing on the other side. "All right, I can hold the rope from this side, and most of you can hand-over-hand across. I don't have spikes to tie off to, though."
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Paloma slops the sodden mass of fabric over her shoulder tucking it through her vest to hold it in place as she sizes up the far wall of the pit while treading water. She makes an attempt to climb up.
Pulling herself up the other side, she looks for a spot to tether the rope to help the others cross. A stalagmite, perhaps. Or else she will help Paul brace it for the others shortly.
She takes a moment to squeeze the water out of her long dark hair and then turns her attention back to those waiting on the other side. "Jack, could you grab on to the end of Cheeper's rope, please? She's a good jumper, but not much of a swimmer, just in case."
Then she motions the cat toward herself, giving her the command to come. "Ok, Cheeper, good girl! Now come to me, you can do it. Jump!"
The Cheetah paces back for a running start and explodes with almost preternatural speed, leaping over the watery pit with ease.
"Gooood girrrrl!" Paloma croons to the somewhat stressed and panting animal, ruffling her fur and freeing her from the dreaded harness.
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He pulls himself up and over the edge, dripping water everywhere, ”Figure out anything on the cloth yet? I wonder if the gilmen dug this pit as a trap. And if so, who were they trying to trap.”
Paloma flopped out the wet mass of fabric, shaking her head. "I can tell it's magical, but nothing beyond that." She offers it up for someone else to examine if they wish. "Perhaps, the water must not present a hazard to the gillmen, only to creatures that might drown."
She turned her attention back to Jack, still waiting by his lonesome on the other side. "Let's see about getting the packs across now, and then it's your turn. Best not toss them, I don't know about Paul's but mine has glassware. Maybe we can slide them down the rope by their straps if you hold up your end and I hold mine down..." She trailed off, finally noticing the way Jack was looking at her, or more accurately, pointedly not looking at her. A glance down at herself caused her own cheeks to deepen in color, though it was less noticeable against the amber tone of her skin. She turned to the wizard, discretely crossing her arms over her chest.
"Master O'Brien, do you perhaps have some means of removing the water from our clothes? I wouldn't want to slow us any more by trying to change here and ah... we wouldn't want to get, ah... blisters." She asked, clearing her throat as she looked around for any dangers or anything useful on this side of the pit.
From her position on the other side of the pit, Paloma spots something:
Approximately 30 feet beyond the pit and around a corner is a long, 3-foot-wide wooden plank that rests against the cave’s wall.
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Paloma accepts her backpack from Paul and sets to donning her armor again, hopefully over her magically dried clothing.
"Ryul has a good point, she said she would rejoin us when she could. Provided she can lose the minotaur."
Once she was again properly outfitted, she gathers up her rope and tools and indicates she is ready to move on by casting light upon her shield again and peering into the darkness ahead.
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Ryul grabs a sunrod, but doesn't light it yet with Paloma's light providing enough to see at the moment. He takes the smoke stick and any other potions no one wants as well, then sets himself up at the rear of the group as they go forward.
"I'll cover back here in case something bad follows us. Whoever set this trap definitely doesn't want visitors, so be careful."
The tunnels continue on, leading deeper beneath the Kortos Mounts until they eventually open into a large cavern. What must have once been beautifully carved reliefs and inscriptions have since weathered heavily, their features dulled and softened to the point that it is hard to distinguish what each once depicted. A wide tunnel exits the cavern on its far side, and blue-burning torches line the passageway’s walls.
A variety of faded carvings adorn the walls. Yet only four are in partially recognizable condition.
An allusion to a passage saying that larceny — though illegal — is a form of praise, for anything worth stealing is also worthy of praise for its craftsmanship.
People express their ingenuity in creating new products from raw materials.
As if giving color to a grand city, such as Absalom, to show the splendor to all who would visit.
Edit: We are on Slide 6.