Lafiel goes to sleep, then wakes up in time for her watch. Apparently sleeping made her feel a bit better.
"Aye, as ye should. Senseless killin'. None of them deserved to die like that. None at all." Fargrim says with a tear as his fatigue overtakes him.
Rin wordlessly passes Fargrim the ale keg.
Briefly explaining to Fargrim the joys of tracking via an unlit censer, Rin looks at the group.
"Shall we be off? I still don't know how long these signals will last."
"Lets move", Lafiel says, then starts following Rin's lead on the eldritch trail.
We go.
|
At last your hunt has come to an end: The thick forest parts to reveal a broad clearing, split by a gaping ravine. Broken flagstones, crumbling walls, and fallen pillars litter the clearing – at one time this must have been a grand plaza, but now all is given over to ruin.
Lafiel:
Rin, Qadim-sul:
Dungeoneering or Nature (roll the better of the two) DC15:
The walls of the ravine are vertical, though not sheer, and the ravine seethes with dense mists, obscuring its depth.
The priest of Pellor looks down into the chasm.
"So this is where the evil's been nesting."
Dungeoneering on the chasm: (1d20 7=19)
Rin gazes at the gaping ravine.
"That's recent then. Oh - by the way friends, we're being watched. Let's act casual shall we?"
"I feel something is looking at us too..." Lafiel says. "We should check this area first."
Lafiel walks between the pillars, walls and ruins, trying to find a clue for anything relevant to the quest but constantly looking for whatever's watching her. In addition, she looks for anything unusual or recent in the area.
In the morning, Qadim-sul has a different appearance. He now has bluish-silver skin etched with light blue energy lines, glowing blue eyes, and glowing blue and gray ice crystal spikes on his head.
At the ravine:
Nature (1d20+2=21)
"Yeah, I feel we are being watched too," Qadim-sul agrees with Rin and Lafiel. "Old ruins and a recent earthquake. I'm having visions of sealed subterranean vaults filled with ape-men suddenly released." A wide grin splits his face. "Who's up for going down there?" He points to the swirling mists filling the ravine.
"Sounds fun to me. Whirling mists of doom, more Zain-kin." Rin's wide smile echoes Quadim-sul's.
"Like the new look Quadim-sul. Are you aiming to match the scenary?"
He pauses and looks serious. "One thing though. I'm deeply averse to losing anyone else. Battle plan?"
"Battle plan? You mean more than just 'jump down there and kill whatever we find'?"
"Wha- what? Hold on a moment, just a moment. Please, dear friends. Let's think this over, shall we?"
The cleric motions everyone to come close together. In a lowered voice he continues.
"I'm sure all of us want to go down there and dispense righteous, bloody vengeance, but we have to remember what Tarnstone's orders are. We must find out what has enspelled the Duke's family and what these villains are up to. Wouldn't it be more effective if we lay in wait right here and captured one of them? Then interrogate it and drag it back to Sergeant Tarnstone for further .. more thorough .. questioning."
Qadim-sul frowns at Barshevy's words. "You want to take one of those things back under guard? And while we're camping in the woods, its friends come tracking us to get him back. Father, I understand what you're saying, but Tarnstone's not going to want to talk to them. He wants to solve the problem. And the way to do that is to go down there and take 'em by surprise before they know what hits them. Like a thunderbolt! We'll find out what's behind all this down there, I'm sure."
Barshevy seems to shrink before the genasi's imposing presence.
"Ah. You have a point there. Going back would be even more dangerous. But don't you think that it would be better if we had an idea of what was down there before entering? A hostage would be able to guide us. We would have to guarantee its safety, of course."
"Aye, we should have some sort of strategy before jumpin in. Fer all we know, they already know we're here."
"We're being watched. They know."
"Now I lament Raivek's loss even more. I suspect he would have had the skills to sneak down and search ahead. The mist would have been perfect. Alas that no other member of our party seems so stealthy."
"We're being watched. They know."
Barshevy looks at the ruins around him frightfully.
"From where??"
"Stealth is not my forte," Qadim-sul says. "But I can fly down there without making too much noise. The problem will be getting back up again, especially if I need to do it in a hurry."
Lafiel's a rogue with great stealth skills.
Lafiel joins the rest of the group near the ravine. "I can sneak down and look around..." she suggests.
"Go ahead. Just give me a second. I can give you a distraction." Rin's smile turns a little mischievous. "What sound would you like to hear least if you were watching enemies from a wood?"
He looks cautiously around and adds, "Although ... has anyone got any idea where our spies might be?"
Rin: ** spoiler omitted **He looks cautiously around and adds, "Although ... has anyone got any idea where our spies might be?"
"If any of our foes are watching us from the woods, I can create a distraction ..." Rin corrects himself.
"I'm sensing that they're not doing that though. They're watching from further off than that. I wonder if noise would lure anything to the top of the chasm?"
Drivish volunteers his rope to attach to Lafiel. "Be careful, and return as soon as you feel uncomfortable. And don't be afraid to yell if you need us."
Lafiel nods and starts climbing down, trying to keep as silent as possible.
"Lafiel, child, may Pelor's protection shine upon you even in the darkest depths."
Qadim-sul is annoyed that after he suggested going down, the group chose Lafiel to do it instead and are apparently ignoring him. He decides to return the favor and ignore them as well. A scowl sits plastered on his face, and he paces around while Lafiel prepares for her descent, swishing his khopesh through the air and grumbling.
"Heh, you sound like me uncle." Fargrim chuckles to Quadim-Sul.
"Now wipe that sour look off your face, we're gonna be needin' to work together to stop this threat. You're part of this group too." He smiles as best a dwarf could.
After reaching the end of the rope at 200 ft below the plaza, Lafiel sighs, rests a while, and then climbs back up, noticing ledges and possible stops along the way. After she gets back to the top, she tells the rest of the group : "It's a long way down there. I've reached the end of the rope, and there was no sign of the bottom because of the dense mists. However, we can climb down there with the rope using clefts and ledges along the way. Another possible option could be searching the area for the path the ape-men use going up and down there. I doubt they can climb such a cliff. That being said, I prefer at least trying to find an easier way. Climbing down that cliff is not only dangerous by itself, for all we know it can lead straight down to an ape-men city, in which case we won't have many options."
Rin shrugs. "I doubt it will make much difference if we're being watched, but let's not offer ourselves up as target at least. Lafiel, tell me more about the mist."
"Although the mists seem natural, and released by the force that opened this fissure from the depths they were in, they are still quite poisonous. My eyes stung while climbing down there."
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to check the area. Let's walk a ways around the ravine. We can always come back."
"I wonder if the zain-kin came up not from the very bottom of that pit, but from an opening along the cliff walls."
The cleric throws up his hands.
"Oh, I really don't know. I don't see how we can enter our enemies' lair with their full knowledge of our intentions."