Haelynn strikes but misses ...
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Adalwin leads the way forward. Soon enough, the light is gone, and torches, lanterns or light spells are needed to spy the way forward (please tell me who is holding / using light sources). There are frequent sighs and curses as people trip over roots or stumble in hollows beneath drifts of fallen leaves. The forest is alive with furtive creaks, distant hoots and howls and other unnerving sounds. The trail is slow and difficult to follow in the dark, but Adalwin stays doggedly on it. As the night wears on …
Desperate and stupid, the goblin suddenly tries to make a break for it, dashing between Marc and Haelynn.
While Yumiko remains alert for other dangers, Haelynn closes in, but the cramped space also defeats her attack.
As Tannithil falls and Xargin tries to get closer to the action, Marc moves into a flanking position, striking clumsily past the supporting timbers and failing to hit the elusive goblin. However, this sets up Grendel’s attack – he strikes the goblin’s back as she turns to dodge Marc’s attack, eliciting a pained and angry shriek.
The goblin warrior casts aside her bow and chops desperately at Tannithil with her dogslicer.
Tannithil ducks awkwardly under the low walkways and stabs at the veiled goblin, but she turns aside his stab. Other members of the group close in from various sides.
Everyone shimmies safely back down the rope, and soon are all standing in the alcove leading away from the main chamber with the rotatable sarcophagus.
Eljoy easily spots the tracks leaving the clearing, heading north.
No danger is apparent. Adalwin finds small human tracks and more of the small three-toed tracksaround the clearing. The fire is cold, but a very faint smell of smoke remains in the air - Adalwin thinks this camp site was abandoned within the last twelve hours or so.
Reekis creeps a few yards ahead, skirting about trunks, hardly getting tangled up in any vines at all, until he reaches a small clearing amongst the trees. It appears empty, with the exception of some flattened patches of grass and undergrowth surrounding the cold remains of a small fire pit. The watching familiars, hawk and owl, give no sign that they have spied danger.
Verrik begins moving slowly and carefully down the corridor, while various other members of the group begin lying themselves down flat on the hard stone blocks of the floor, or tie off ropes. Verrik looks carefully about, lightly tapping the walls and floor as he goes … but he keeps glancing up nervously at the angry carved face as he approaches it, and seems to completely forget about the suspicious looking stone block in the floor towards the end of the corridor that Ellantera and Dohrlok had spotted earlier … “Verrik, stop!” the bloodrager calls, looking up just before Verrik puts his foot down on the block.
“Uh … right, thanks,” says Verrik, looking down.
Verrik shrugs at Tyvall’s question about whether or not the theoretical trap is likely to reset. “Can’t say till I know more about what we’re up against here,” he says. Meanwhile, Stanley has begun edging carefully past the others, casting his magic detecting divination again once he stands in front of Dohrlok. This time the end of the passage is within the range of his cantrip … and he detects a magical aura from the face. After concentrating for a few moments more, he realises that this aura is powerful – one of the strongest magical auras he has encountered – not quite overwhelming to his senses but close to it. It seems to him that the face is one big, fixed magical item, although the complexities and specifics of the magic involved in it are beyond him.
As the shadows grow longer, and the day-time noises of the forest give way to the night-time noises (insofar as anyone can tell), Reekis’ nose catches the barest hint of smoke – the barest trace. A few moments later, Jasper gets a slight sense of agitation – not danger, but a sense that there may be something significant or perhaps out of place – from ShadowWing as the small owl flies through a certain patch of the forest a short distance ahead.
The goblin under the walkway fires another arrow, this time her target is Tannithil.
The goblin giggles at Marc. Yumiko can't see any other goblins.
Xargin groans and comes around, though he’s still flat on his back.
As Marc watches, the bow wielding goblin appears to pull out a flask and consume something. GM:
Marc sees the goblin lurking near the back of the space under the walkways and buildings, but can't easily reach her without ducking under the building and around its rickety timber support columns - things that may well hamper the long reach of his hammer.
Grendel and Yumiko both hide themselves and look about, but don’t spy any other obvious threats. Yumiko spys another rickety watchtower immediately to her east, the walkway ahead of her leading to an open doorway near its base. Beyond that, a walkway leads to a ruined, charred pile of rubble where another building once stood. To the southeast is another building with an open door leading to the walkway north of it, while beyond that is a large building (or several buildings all crammed closely together) with closed doors, shuttered windows and a thin trail of smoke rising up from a twisted metal chimney.
Tannithil’s wakizashi slices off the top of the goblin’s head, leaving his steaming brain exposed to the air. The goblin glares at the elf in hate for a moment, then drops dead.
Jeva gives Adalwin a narrow-eyed look for a moment after the hair ruffling, then smiles slightly. “Thankyou,” she says. “I’ve seen that sort of thing before – from a distance. They’re very dangerous and tough. You’re all so brave and skilled to have made such short work of it!” --- With the killer vine dealt with, crossing over to the other side of the weir is easy enough – everyone (and their mules) makes it across safely, and the trackers are able to pick up the prints again on the opposite bank – still heading roughly north. By the time everyone has gotten across the river and you are ready to set off again, it has become darker under the forest canopy - it is about two hours until sunset.
The goblin is skewered on Haelynn's spear. It writhes for a moment then is still.
Stanley examines the passage with his detect magic cantrip and can detect no magical auras, although from his position at the rear of the group the far end of the passage and the face itself is outside the far range of his spell.
Looking closely at the floor of this passageway, Ellantera observes that the stonework is very well constructed, as with most of the rest of this complex; the large stone slabs that make up the floor fit very closely, with almost no cracks in between … for the most part. She notices that one particular slab near the far end of the passage, just before the carved stone face does have a slightly wider gap – perhaps an eight of an inch – between it and the surrounding stones. She also notices several long shallow scratches in the floor, as if something had been dragged – or pushed – down the passage at some point.
Between them, Reekis and Eljoy deal enough damage to the vine to stop its aggression for good. What remains of the plant falls limply to the ground, and the animated vegetation that had grasped at everyone's legs also stills, now easy to step free from.
Rita retreats from Marc’s hammer, ducking back into the darkness under the buildings and walkways.
The goblin spellcaster again channels forth negative energy in an attempt to drop his foes.
Marc hoists himself down onto the muddy ground and attacks, but his swing is wild, hitting only one of the timber supports holding up the building above.
There is a loud retort from Yumiko’s weapon and an answering yelp from the veil-wearing goblin under the building (who is not tucked far enough under to much benefit from cover).
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