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Ok, sorry to do this to you guys, but RL is indeed heating up again. Work is picking up, and as I prepare to start up classes for my Masters I'm getting more heavily into my own writing. (The masters is in creative writing) This time I'm doubting I'd be able to come back at all. There's just too much going on with no end in sight. I wanted to thank you all for the great RP and I really hope that you can continue and keep this game alive.
Ok, sorry to do this to you guys, but RL is heating up again. Work is picking up, and as I prepare to start up classes for my Masters I'm getting more heavily into my own writing. (The masters is in creative writing) This time I'm doubting I'd be able to come back at all. There's just too much going on with no end in sight. I wanted to thank you all for the great RP and I really hope that you can continue and keep this game alive.
Ok, sorry to do this to you guys, but RL is indeed heating up again. Work is picking up, and as I prepare to start up classes for my Masters I'm getting more heavily into my own writing. (The masters is in creative writing) This time I'm doubting I'd be able to come back at all. There's just too much going on with no end in sight. I wanted to thank you all for the great RP and I really hope that you can continue and keep this game alive.
The figure's head turns to each person who speaks, but still he remains standing at the water's edge. No aggressive action or even stance taken, but neither is there any retreat. Waiting.
As Sia and Kyrie voice their assents, the figure stops. He comes no further but neither does he retreat back to the water. He simply stands there, dripping continually and staring at the five travelers with cold dead eyes.
As Ionacu turns about to keep watch he spots two enormous centipedes already approaching. Where they came from is anyone's guess, but they've managed to sneak right up to the party without being seen or heard.
The figure continues to approach, heedless of Gorax's warning or the obviously armed adventurers with the high ground. It exits the water, starting its assent up the cliff. At the same time it emits an eerie soggy warning. “You are not my tormentors. Throw the Stag Lord’s body into the river that I may look upon his death, or join me instead.”
Well it certainly appears that this must be the place. And it is just as obvious that the professor did indeed leave something behind. Though there is no body in the sarcophagus, it is by no means empty. Laid out neatly in the interior are the following. *12 arrows with what look to be silver etched heads
The darkwood case is worth 50gp, and contains three objects of interest—a spirit board with a brass spirit planchette, and four iron and glass vials containing tiny, churning clouds of vapor. The vials sit
The sarcophagus is completely nondescript, but a careful examination, and knowing what you're looking for, does reveal that it has been recently tampered with. Lily walks up to the sarcophagus as well, taking a second to re-ignite her dimming lights.
Majest does fine down the rope at first, but towards the middle her grip slips. She tries to recover but the rope gets away from her and she tumbles down the remainder of the slope.
As the discussion about the bridge and what to do about a crossing goes on, There is someone who happens to notice something unusual. Gorax: You see what looks to be maybe a zombie of some kind rise out of the water near the remains of the bridge and begin to walk across the water up stream towards where you are all standing.
And it is indeed that afternoon when you come upon it. Or at least what looks to be the remains of it. A single thick, sagging rope still hangs across the river, all that remains of the bridge that once spanned it. A sign post on your side of the ruined bridge reads “Nettles’ Crossing—5 coppers—ring bell for service.” There is a presumably identical sign on the other side. A rusty bell hangs by each sign. On the south bank of the river, the crumbled remains of a burnt-down wooden building are slowly being overgrown by encroaching vegetation. About a hundred feet downstream the remains of the bridge can be seen lodged amongst some rocks.
Lily sends one of her ghostly balls through the doorway, illuminating a single room beyond. The room is large enough for everyone to fit into, with a plain sarcophagus on a raised dais at the far end. It is to this sarcophagus that the tracks lead.
Kabur's blow of vengeance to the crab obviously lacks any real strength behind it and the effort seems to be too much for the monk as his eyes roll back into his head soon after. Another bolt from Ilarian batters the crab causing it to scrabble back a few feet to put some distance between it and the sudden swarm of attackers. Jask, glancing around at the many wounded, pulls out the two faced symbol of Nethys. Holding it up before him he speaks a word and an intangible wave of energy washes over everyone on the beach.
Ionacu and Dariyia: You can see the feint footprints in the dust lead towards one of the doors, disappearing underneath it and presumably continuing on the other side.
Packing up the items for divvying up later, the crew moves on once again. It doesn't take long for a campsite to be found and as the others are setting everything up, Salinthas and Gorax take an hour or two to see what Erastil can provide them. The pickings here among the stony hills are more slim than when you were traveling through the forest, but a fine meal is provided nonetheless. The days pass, and the sun refuses to relent, making the coming summer more and more apparent. Even a day spent in the grasslands as you move east does little to help, until the end of the day. It is then that you come across yet another river. This must be the Shrike river, and even here in the grassland it moves between steep banks. As you pass back into the hills, following it to the south-west, the banks only become steeper and deeper, and look as you might, there doesn't seem to be a place to cross.
Gelik takes a few steps back from the fray as he sees the dwarf so injured, launching into a series of scathing epithets on the crabs that are clearly meant more to demean them in the eyes of his allies than cause them any harm. [/ooc]Inspire Courage: Allies in 30' get +1 to hit and damage.[/ooc]
Kabur's first blow is misplaced and just bounces off of the plates to the side of its face, but the uppercut connects squarely, cracking chitin and letting a small stream of clear liquid ooze out. The crab seems startled for a second, but comes back at Kabur with both claws snapping. Meanwhile, another crab with more drab coloring comes out from the rocks, aiming for Cary's. The crab attacking Kabur snaps both claws onto the dwarf, a very uncomfortable cracking sounding from the dwarf as he is lifted up and into the air, gripped tightly in one of them. Cary's also finds herself on the defensive right after landing, with a claw sweeping in to snap at her legs, drawing blood across her right thigh. Yet she still manages to slip away, avoiding the fate of the dwarf. Meanwhile, Aerys and Sasha both hurry down the rope to aid their comrades, the first heading to help Kabur, while Sasha drops next to Cary's. The crabs make a quick snap at both of them, but only Aerys takes suffers any harm as the crab's free claw scrapes along her side.
Majest's stone strikes hard against the crab, lodging between two of it's chitinous plates. Meanwhile, Cary's uses the chance to climb quickly down the rope, landing easily on her feet near her companions.
Sia: The wand is a wand of burning hands with 4 charges left (CL 2nd). Everything else is mundane. The dagger is obviously of masterwork quality and you would estimate the ring's value at about 75 gp. And then theirs the spellbook. When you do open that you find most of the pages ruined, but there are the following spells still written within it. (identify, mage armor, reduce person, silent image, and unseen servant)
Slipping through the doors, the four quickly find themselves in a room darker than the night outside. A darkness that becomes complete for a moment as the door closes behind before being relieved by a pair of pale green orbs that coalesce near Lily's head and begin a slow orbit there. Their light reveals a short flight of stone steps leading down into the cold earth to a crypt lined with empty niches. Two doors sit in the opposite wall, beckoning the intruders further in. Perception DC 15: You see a single set of human tracks in the dust of the floor.
The missile crackles as it scorches the crab's plates, but it doesn't seem to deter it. "Don't complain, Ilarian. That could be dinner!" Jask grabs the rope and starts to haul himself down as quickly as he can to give the others aid.
It isn't pretty but he manages the decent, dropping down next to the dwarf while managing to avoid a swipe of claw from the crab.
It only takes about ten minutes of digging with the shovel before something is turned up. It looks like a weather worn but heavy leather cloak wrapped into a ball. Extracting it from the ground carefully, the folds unwrap to reveal a small collection of items. A finely wrought dagger, a long slender wand of cherry, a silver ring, and most surprisingly a very weather beaten spellbook.
Dariyia: I'm not sure you understood. The lock is broken as in it has already been opened and is still open but made to look as though it isn't. Think of a padlock where the arch that snaps into the lock has been eaten through with acid so that it can swivel, and then swiveled back so it looks locked.
Dariyia: As you start to pick the lock, you realize that the lock is broken. Its clasp has been melted by acid and then put back into place so that to casual observation the lock appears intact.
There aren't that many crypts of a size to serve as a repository in the graveyard. As a result, the mausoleum doesn't take long to spy out. Before long, everyone is huddled against its wall. The crypt itself is a freestanding granite structure, the roof of which is decorated with a pair of leering gargoyle statues. A single stone door with a rusty looking lock sits in the mausoleum’s south facade,
Gelik is the first to seize the rope and begin the climb down. Using the rocks of the cliff for leverage he is able to make the decent with little difficulty, though he does let out a curse or two as he suffers a few scrapes. It is just as Ilarian is starting down that the first sign of trouble rears, though it is Kabur who feels it. A crab, enormous for its kin, seems to have taken an interest in all the bustle and crept out of it's lair somewhere among the rocks. The first sign anyone has is the large pincer snapping at the dwarf's leg. Though Kabur stumbles a bit, he manages to maintain his footing, avoiding the deadly grip.
Salinthas gives a confused shrug but approaches the tree along with the women. Survival DC 20: You can see that a spot of ground on the north side of the tree has recently been disturbed.
Mala scrambles along the ground after the little thing, trying desperately to get it, but at least figuring where it's going.
With the combined efforts of those at the top of the cliff, the packs all make it down to the bottom, arranged in a neat pile by Kabur. Next comes the more challenging part of getting all of the people down.
Spirits are high, what with the discovery of a cache of gold that, at the least, could turn a rather pleasant finders fee. Seems that this expedition might not be all about killing wild animals and trudging through much after all. In fact the days on the hills seem to be a rather unpleasant inverse of the trip through the forest. Rather than cool breezes, rain, and the cool of the forest floor, the sun beats down and the air grows almost uncomfortably warm and dry. It is one of those days, when some are thinking how much they would rather trade the heat for the rain from several weeks ago, when an unusual sight catches your eyes. A solitary tree, lighting struck, bent, and gnarled, sitting atop a hill. From where you approach it looks like a claw reaching up to the sky. Int check: DC 12: You remember retrieving a rough map off of a dead bandit in the spider pit that had a rough claw like tree on it.
Kyrie: It is deffinitly some metal in the wall, probably gold. Though it is obviously natural, you just don't have the knowledge or skill to tell how pure or extensive the vein might be.
Dariyia looks about, but sees no sign of any guard per say. There is a groundskeeper wandering about, but he seems occupied in another part of the graveyard and should be fairly easy to avoid. Still... Caution should certainly be taken. The townsfolk are suspicious as it is without one catching sight of you grave robbing.
Kylie: It's steep. A tough climb without rope. With rope, fairly easy.
Kyrie:
As your eyes adjust to the dark you can see that what you might have first taken for a cavern, really just a small cave. The crack looks to drop into a space about ten feet square with a floor about ten feet below you. You see no signs of life, or anything living, but there is something glinting in the far wall. Like a bit of metal lodged into the stone.
Kyrie: As your eyes adjust to the dark you can see that this cleft does not widen out into a full cave. Rather it open into a space about ten feet square and about twenty feet deep. There is a glinting on the oposite wall, like a kind of metal imbedded into the wall and catching the sunlight. You see no sign of inhabitants.
You spend the rest of the evening getting settled in Kendra's home. Dinner is a rather quiet and somber affair, with each left to their own thoughts about what might be coming. Afterwards, Kendra apologizes for being a poor host but excuses herself into the study. She is sure to let you know that if you need anything during the night, you need only ask. As a result, withdrawing out of the house is not difficult, and soon you find yourselves making your way back up the road towards the graveyard. The sun is just finishing it's set as you arrive on the outskirts, casting long and very deep shadows over the field of stones and mausoleums.
The crack falls into a cave about 20 feet deep. No sounds come from within, but there seems to be something on the far wall.
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