"Yeah, jumping and climbing is not my forte at the moment," says Anevia. "How are Aravashnial and I going to get across?"
Aravashnial says, "Having expended my levitation spell to lift the rubble, I cannot use it again, unless I choose to focus power through my arcane bond. Are the scales re-usable?"
"The power imbued in the one I carry is different, but it can be used three times each day. If the ones that bestow levitation are similar, we should be able to get four people across that way."
Aberus looked around at the group, and then walked through them as he spoke. "Aravashniel, Anevia, given your injuries, it would make sense for you to go in that manner. I suggest the same for our new friend Crel, here, since the extent of his injuries aren't known." He came to a stop such that he stood between Horgus, on one side of him, and Uriel and Arloric on the other.
His gaze then landed on Horgus. "The last charge I suggest using on Mr. Gwerm, who has been very patient through this ordeal." He smiled, and then turned around to face Uriel and Arloric, widening his eyes in what he hoped was a pleading expression.
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Alexa resists the urge to burst into derisive laughter at Aberus' remark about Horgus.
Alexa resists the urge to burst into derisive laughter at Aberus' remark about Horgus.
"Welcome Alexa" Ithilwen quips. "Now let's see about the others."
With Ithilwen holding a rope, it's easy enough for the four most "disadvantaged" people to cross via levitation. Then Anevia and Ithilwen brace the rope, so that someone else can clamber across.
The armored members of the team take about 10 minutes to doff their various armor and pack it up.
You do some finagling to have Alexa and Ithilwen jump across, hold the rope on that side while other members hold the near side, get Uriel and the levitating members over, then Alexa and Ithilwen cross back so everyone else can make it to the far side. Finally, they tie the packs of armor to the rope and jump across. The party then hauls the rope up with the packs of armor attached, and spend another 10 minutes or so re-armoring.
Fortune is with you, as nothing crawls out of the darkness to assail you.
The strange humanoids are overjoyed at your success.
"We will make it home!" says Lann. "You are very resourceful. I am glad to have met you."
Once re-armored, you continue southeast for about another 20 minutes. The passage enters a large, roughly round cavern.
Before you enter the cavern, Lann holds up a hand and says, "Be careful. We stopped coming this way not just because it was longer than the newer path - which is now collapsed - but it is home to a spore-cougher, a dangerous predator. Big, slow... mushroom. Makes people go mad."
"Hmm." Alexa frowns as her memory draws a blank about what Lann's talking about. "How alert are they, generally? Would it be possible for us to sneak past?"
"Don't see with eyes. In dark, can sneak up on you," says Lann.
"Hmm... that does sound problematic."
Gesturing with his new crossbow, Uriel says "If they don't move fast, could we perhaps shoot it from a distance?"
Aberus whispered, "If they don't have eyes, then why not throw some light into the cavern? We'll be able to see further in."
Eyes are not always needed to detect things in the world. says the elf.
"My point is, we need to see. Putting light in there will benefit us, and not it," Aberus said. "Unless you have another suggestion? I don't hunt many mushrooms. Not the kind that hunt you back, I mean."
"Fire. Lots of fire."
"Well, sure, but we need to see what we're doing first."
Aberus pulled a copper piece out of his pocket and spoke the words to a spell. The light coming from his ankh faded as the coin started glowing, dimly at first, and then much brighter.
He pulled his arm back behind him and then tossed the coin into the dark cavern.
Arloric says nothing but volunteers the use of his scale when prompted to help the group cross the chasm. He listens as Lann informs them of the spore-cougher, and thinks on whether Crocris taught him of such a thing.
"I don't recall Crocris ever mentioning something like this...though if it makes men mad, perhaps the dwarf we encountered back there met with this thing. Uriel is right. We should try to keep our distance from this thing, lest its spores drive us to harm each other."
He punctuates the point by drawing one of the spears from his back.
You toss a light into the chamber.
The tunnel opens into a circular cavern, roughly forty feet in diameter. Thick sheets of fungus grow in the cave, and several tunnels branch off. All of these save one in the north wall lead downward; the northern one leads upward. What appear to be two dead bodies lie on the ground in the middle of the cave, next to a strange heap of ropy green fungus.
The elf will cast detect magic.
Aberus turned to Arloric and asked, "Are they dead? Can you, um...tell from here?"
The two certainly aren't moving, though that's not conclusive.
There is some magical auras emanating from the the bodies, something that they are carrying. says the elf
Spellcraft
Aberus turned to Arloric and asked, "Are they dead? Can you, um...tell from here?"
Arloric nods.
"I'll try to use my special sight..."
Arloric closes his normal eye and focuses his dark eye on the bodies.
"All dead. Even the pile of fungus they lay near is dead."
Arloric looks to the others.
"We should cover our mouths and noses."
"The spore-cougher is dead?" says Lann hopefully. "That is good news! There is nothing to keep us from using this route now!"
"Hold up!" Arloric says before Lann can move forward.
"I don't know if the dead fungus thing is the spore-cougher. It might be some other dead fungus the thing was lurking near. This area could still be dangerous."
"Well that's... anticlimactic" Ithilwen mumbles. "Not that I'm complaining."
"Beats stumbling through a linear sequence of dark halls full of things trying to kill you with no rhyme or reason," mutters Anevia.
"Isn't that adventuring in general, Anevia?"
"Lann, does that thing over there look like it might have been the mushroom you were warning us about?"
Anevia says to Alexa, "I dunno, I'm a city girl."
Lann says to Aberus, "Yes, I think that is the spore-cougher."
"Then let's approach with caution--its spores might still be active even after it's dead."
Alexa creeps towards the bodies to search them, covering her mouth and nose with her hand as she advances.
Alexa closes to 20'... no movement.
15'... still nothing.
10'... all is still.
5'... still dead, no spores.
Alexa keeps her mouth covered as she searches the bodies.
Aberus watched Alexa approach the scene before them unharmed. "Looks safe for the moment. Let's give her some protection in case that changes." He cautiously approached the two bodies, keeping an eye out for trouble as Alexa examined the bodies.
Both of the bodies are male humans. They wear chain shirts, very well-constructed and still intact. Each also wears a tabard with Iomedae's symbol on it, and has a spiked gauntlet on the left hand and a glaive nearby.
One has a pouch that holds a potion of a clear blue liquid and 77 gold pieces; the other has a scroll and 52 gold pieces. The latter (with the scroll) has, clutched in his fist, a small symbol of a brass bull's head with tiny red gemstone eyes.
Alexa starts gathering up the stray potion, scroll, money and strange symbol. "Odd... if these are Iomedaean crusaders, where are their swords?"
Aberus glanced down at the bodies after hearing Alexa's question. "That is strange. I spent my youth in Iomedae's church, and my late father trained as a crusader. Nearly everyone carried a longsword. One man without one is out of the ordinary, though not unheard of. But two? Together?" He bent down to get a closer look at the brass bull's head. "Not to mention, you would not expect them to be carrying a symbol of a demon lord, unless they were on their way to melting it down."
He gestured at it and said, succinctly, "Baphomet."
Baphomet? Destroy the symbols of the demon lord. says the elf a tone of worry in her voice.
Arloric spits and makes the sign of the sun with one hand while making the sign of the sword with the other.
"Brothers to the Beast...but walking along men."
Suddenly he gets a shocked expression on his face.
"Could these two be the "them" that dwarf was raving about? Maybe he was fleeing his pursuers and they all wound up running into the spore-cougher's territory..."