Johnathan gathers around the fire and observes the talks of what they are gonna do next. At the mention of this cave Johnathan goes deep in thought. It might not be where their mission was taking us, but there might be something else lurking there. It’ll also give me the chance to see what these people can actually do. It was at this point Aoe mentions duty to the group. Duty? Hmm, well I suppose we could have a look. It shouldn’t delay us for more than a day anyway. He looks over the party and decides it’s time to get some rest.
(this is for anyone that wants a detailed description of Johnathan, I remember Aoe wanted one)
Johnathan is 5 and a half feet tall with a thick black coat covering his armour and skin. He has well worn leather armour with scratches and marks covering the front however the armour looks relatively new. Inside his coat he has a component pouch needed to cast spells that Johnathan tries to keep concealed, with a dagger resting on his side. There also seems to be a crossbow and a quarter staff attached to his backpack that seems to be untouched, indicating that he rarely uses them. Johnathan face looks very withered and skeletal, with very little colour on his face. He constantly looks tired and seems to be very pale for someone of his age. His eyes are naturally blue but seem to change to red when Johnathan unleashes his vampiric nature. Johnathan has small fangs that are almost unnoticeable to the normal commoner, although he clearly can extend them when feeding. He also has a red goatee, which is kept at a short length. His hair is red and curly, taking a lot of volume. However it’s rare to see his head as he has the hood up most of the time The rest of his clothing seems more plain and common that his companions, purposely designed to blend in crowds.
Johnathan lies in his bed, seemly struggling to get a good night sleep. The nightmares still haunt him, nightmares about the day of his curse. As he struggles to sleep, he summons his bat familiar. Well echo, seems I can’t sleep again. During the night he lets his familiar fly around the camp and get a good view of the area. He occasionally sees through his eyes, mostly out of boredom, before going to sleep. The next few days he continues his usual routine, being extremely silent in thought. He had alot on his mind. He will continue to train his acrobatics along the way.
Training: acrobatics (10 hours so far, 2 hours per day)
Ralik blows over the fact that he forgot Kerwyn already told him, "The Gerudo Desert is vast. One can easily lose their way, and parish. It is a long journey that tests the soul." He looks regally into the distance in remembrance. "The trek tested my spirit, but I prevailed." [He actually having an internal cut to a memory of himself convincing a caravan to let him join them. He slept most of the journey but did see a sarlac eat a guy.] "Very deadly." He says with a serious face.
During his conversation with Shavaris. "I was adopted by my mothers. I don't know exactly where I'm originally from. But I do know, I get to choose who I am, and I choose to help." He says with a nod of his head. "The Gerudo are descendants of the Drow, a mostly evil race of elf." He sighs and the end of that sentence. "A sect has remerged with Gerudo, introducing the hated and evil of Lolth's followers." He lets the implications of the situation set in, somewhat implying that to be part of the reason he was here. There is a brief period of concern on his face, but that then melts into a smile. "I do love the forest. Is the one you come from similar to this?" he says with a wave around. He leans in and whisper "If you've told me already I apologize ahead of time. I'm not the best with memory."
If Aoe allowed, Ralik would help in his war caster training. Seeing the elf taking it seriously and putting good effort, Ralik would join with very light sparring. A hand cut through the air leaving an arcane trail from which he garbed a club. He changed his focus from the power that coursed through him and instead relied on his pitiful strength. Maybe it was enough to imitate the threat of a goblin or commoner. Ralik's display with the weapon defiantly seemed genuine and did not imply a mockery of Aoe skill. Occasionally Ralik would use Minor Illusion to created the sound of approaching footsteps behind Aoe to add a bit of mental pressure to the situation, but would not push too far. Not yet.
Running bird seemed to understand a bit more about "Play" the more they did it. However, Ralik still had to rely on flying to keep up with the spiritic but enthusiastic bird. It would still run until it forgot what it was doing for a second, and then remember it had to hide. Ralik would try to keep track of where it was, then lower to the ground for on foot pursuit. The bird was also learning simple commands like come, stay, and follow. The fact it liked him was a pulse to training, but the birds intelligence was still lacking at the end of the day. While hiding from Running Bird one day, Ralik decides to cut down some sturdy large leaves which he fashions into a makeshift umbrella with the addition of a staff sized branch and natural fibers to tie it. He coats it in some resin and lets it dry while waiting on his avian companion. It should be ready by the time he got back.
One day, after a day out with the his mount, Ralik returned with a fun looking natural handmade umbrella. He walks up to Johnathan who looked absolutely Misérables in the oppression of the sun, and offers some shade, then offers the Umbrella. "Listen as I speak. I apologize for our first night. I was not fully awake, and in that twilight between this and dream, I saw only my hated enemy. But you Johnathan." He puts a hand to his own chest and nods his head forward. "You are no enemy of mine. You are my brother in this journey. Brother Johnathan. I have spoken." Ralik then accepts any gesture of acknowledgement and reciprocates it.
As there is talk about a cave, Ralik shows an air of agreement. He summons his swords and sheathes them, then sits upon Running Bird's back. "So. What is the marching order? I recommend that if we send a scout, that have a partner. Always at least pairs."
The group dynamic comes together, as Aoe also feels more comfortable along to every to chat about random facts with each of them, as well as ask then for training guidance In this endeavor called war.
Aoe notices kerwyn seems to be good at mixing spells and physical combat, while Ralik looks good at… being ralik. Aoe starts to process this idea, that he will need to be more like Ralik and shavaris and Johnathan and kerwyn and even his enemies and like his courtly self, in the heat of battle. That doesn’t mean he won’t be inspiring though, just that sometimes the honorable thing to do is in fact place the sword where it needs to go that day.
he still wonders how to be more like Johnathan without letting out whatever inner demons of his own he might have… he looks around, wondering what triggers would throw shavaris into bloodlust, or kerwyn too. He knows Ralik’s cards are held looser that theirs, either by choice or by fate, he is a wonderful specimen of instinct, and as long as that isn’t pointed his way, Aoe likes that. Nature and fate have a funny way of bringing you into the company, and onto the journey, that was required of you in this life.
…
waling up early to get in a little more practice, he prepares his tent and bed and supplies for travel, packs up his draft horse and mounts his riding horse, and sits up high,
“let us go check out this cave entrance to see what needs to be slain…” hearing the question on marching order, “as I have mentioned I would prefer to be back and center if possible.”
Sharvaris listens to Kerwyn and his concerns, "Yes, I do trust him. If we get to an area where there is no wildlife and his flask runs dry? Um, then I think I would be worried, but until then, he is not going to attack us." When he asks about her story, she stops walking and looks at him, "In due time, I'm not ready to relive it just yet, but I will. And yes, I got yo back."She smiles at this last part and then continues walking.
That day the group leave behind the forest, definitely the place that she feels the most comfortable. Well, she thinks to herself, with this new terrain and wildlife it will definitely help me with my survival skills. She spends time while they are traveling trying to understand the animals that they see in passing, the way they carry themselves and the tracks they make. In the evenings, she tries to learn about the environment, the ground, the rocks, how long tracks keep in this type of area. She continues to spend her training time on survival (~12 hrs)
The party, along with their menagerie of mounts really start getting in a groove and make good time. There is mention of a cave coming up, and Shavaris would not only mind a little break in the traveling, but she figures that Johnathan would probably like a break from the sun. They make camp a morning away from the cave's entrance. "What do you guys think we'll find in that cave?" her eyes twinkle just a bit, "think there might be treasure? I do wonder what type of foe would be in there as well,"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The next morning, they all get up pack up their mounts, which has been a very efficient, practiced maneuver. When they get to the entrance of the cave, Shavaris asks her elk to stay by the few trees that are around the cave as they go to check it out. As they prepare to enter she offers to go in first to check things out. As Aoe grants her guidance before they move, she says, "I'll leave it up to you guys how close you want to follow and when you want to enter. This will be an interesting sort of test on how we all work together." and with that, she heads in.
Shavaris is as quiet as a church mouse as she approaches the entrance of Bossack Hole with expert skill. There are many things that become clear to her. At first glance she sees the crude wooden structures that have been erected around the cave's mouth; spiked wooden walls, wooden cages, a few pens that look like they've been used for either livestock or prisoners, it's hard to tell which, and supports that keep the entrance of the cave open but obscured. There was no doubt that the cave was inhabited.
She see that the ground in front of the cave was covered in tracks that she recognizes as Goblin, and a set that seemed to be Bugbear. There were a lot of them. Too many to count. They'd churned the ground up into muddy ruts in places, but it was hard to tell if they were all from one event, or if some tracks were a lot older than others. Even Aoe notices Goblin tracks from his removed position.
Aoe enjoys the entrance into the pass, the elevation thinning the air, but also making the burdens of his lifestyle and thoughts lighter. The bare rock formations remind him of a simpler way of living, and he finds himself in meditative states as they travel. He even works on riding and casting cantrips at the same time, forming illusions that stay with the land, and illusion that stoat with him. He seems to be getting the hang of it.
makijg camp ticked away from the cave entrance kerwyn spoke of, they camp before entering. Aoe checks the tracks at the entrance (15 investigation) for the type of creature that uses this entrance, but also doesn’t want to be sighted so doesn’t stay long.
“Tomorrow let us work as one unit. Leaving arguments to after the battle. If we cannot deal with a random cave, whether it be an AdVance of a retreat that is required, how can we accomplish our greater mission?”
as he is ready to go, he guides shavaris toward stealthy steps, and prepares to follow her in.
+4 hrs training (14 total over 7 days on warcaster)
On the day before the cave Johnathan continues training his acrobatics and continues petting his bat. It seems to help calm him and bring him comfort. As the night sets he thinks to himself well echo, we’re about to go fighting again. I don’t no if I should tell them about you yet. He gives a pause and considers this. I’ll wait for a better time. It won’t really affect anything for now. Johnathan then goes to sleep.
The next morning the sun quickly wakes Johnathan up, the burning was still irritating and somewhat painful to endure. He looks over the cave, finally, some shade from the sun. Johnathan waits to let Shavaris scout ahead. When she reports the walls and the goblin tracks, Johnathan will turn to echo. Looks like your up, just have a quick look what’s over the wall. Johnathan turns to the others near him. I have a way to look inside, I’m gonna look through the bats eyes. While I’m doing so I won’t be able to hear or see you while I do this. Tap me on the shoulder if you need me here. Before the others could even ask what’s going on, Johnathan releases echo and will transfer his sensors through him. Seeing through the bats sense was not uncommon for Johnathan, he has done this many times already. He will send the bat to fly over the wall and get a good bird eye view. Once he has done so he will fly echo to Shavaris and report what he finds.
early morning was always a good time for offensive maneuvers and Infiltrations: the seedier types often liked to stay up late and sleep in.
Before he is fully ready, shavaris asks and receives a moment of guidance from him, but then Aoe sees Shavaris and kerwyn rush off before he can cast invisibility on them, so he buffs himself up best he can with gift of alacrity and continuous castings of guidance. He takes out his bandore and posts his staff onto his back, and takes to protecting Johnathans body while his senses are with echo.
before kerwyn is too far away he uses message to whisper some words of encouragement, giving him bardic inspiration (+d6) on 1 attack, ability check, or saving throw in the next 10 minutes.
he is mentally prepared to do his best to protect the band and keep everyone from doing anything too stupid… and yet he also thinks in the back of his head… too late.
Shavaris can see that the cages have been used recently. They're dirty, soiled, and overall gross.
Echo flies into the entrance of the cave and can see pins immediately inside the mouth of the cave. There are a couple of prone figures inside the pin to the right of the cave, what appeared to be soldiers of some sort. They're tied and don't seem to be conscious.
There are Goblins in the cave. There are three guarding the two prone figures, but they're mostly just loitering in the first room of this cave system. They're not really paying attention to what's going on around them. It looks like they're playing some sort of game on the floor...or, more precisely, they're fighting a centipede and a beetle.
Ralik lets Shavaris and Kerwyn take the scouting lead, along with the bat. He makes his way to the entrance leaving ample ground for inside team to work, but close enough to rush in if needed. He decides to post up on the outside of the the entrance of the cave. He crouches and waves a sword in front of him casting Minor Illusion, creating an illusion of 5 foot boulder which he hides in. He crouches, and waits with cold discipline, waiting for a sign of distress or a message to go in further.
Rolls:
Stealth flat: 9
Stealth with possible advantage from minor illusion: 21
Kerwyn took position on the left side of the mouth of the cave. He crouched down and kept an eye on Shavaris as she crept in, maintaining a line of sight. As she moved forward he tried to maintain a sixty foot distance, slowly inching along the left wall to keep an eye on her as she moved in. He looks back at Johnathan, Aoe in position behind the bush and looks over at Ralik, nodding readiness. He holds his glaive, ready to attack at any sign of trouble. He looks for any light source in the cave, if it is dark he casts light on the tip of his great sword.
Aoe watches Ralik’s move and likes it. Seeing Johnathan is safe for now, he sends Ralik a message playfully, “don’t attack the approaching boulder.”
He travels towards the entrance, minor illusion keep him a boulder as well, but with a blotchy array of speckles like a color blind test, that if looked upon very closely my someone who knows of such things, has the word “Aoe” hidden within the speckling vertically.
when he gets to Ralik’s position, he holds stead on the other side of the cave entrance, two deadly and music guards unassumingly buttressing this den of thieves.
Johnathan sees the two figure in the first room (the one on the right?) and will tell Aoe before he leaves. I see three goblins in the first room. They have some prisoners but seem distracted. Tell the others. He will not be able to hear his response and will order echo to go to Shavaris. He will perch nearby and whisper to her ear. Shavaris it’s me. He gives her a second to look at the bat. Don’t be alarmed. I have just seen three goblins in the first room. They have 2 soldiers captive but haven’t noticed us yet. I’m gonna go look at the other room to see what’s there. Before echo leaves he lands on Shavaris shoulder. Johnathan then grabs an eyelash from his pocket that seems to be covered in some sort of gum. He mutters a few words while holding the eyelash and a shadowy flame covers his hand. He directs the magic through his familiar, who also starts to be completely covered in this shadowy flame, and casts invisibility on Shavaris. In an instant the shadowy magic fades as Shavaris is invisible. That should help, be careful. He then orders echo to fly over the other room to see what lurks in the shadows.
While Echo is flying off into the next room, Shavaris takes advantage of being invisible and checks to see if there is anything else in this room while the goblins are busy playing with their bugs.
Shavaris can only see the Goblins playing with their bugs and the two prone captives in the cage. None of them have seen her yet.
There are voices down one of the corridors that are echoing in and out of the first cavern, but there doesn't seem to be anything significant about their tempo or demeanor.
Echo and Shavaris can both see that there is a sort of tent in the back of this cavern; a large, hide structure that is obviously the domicile of goblins, or whatever else lives in the cave with them. There is a barrel of spilt food near this tent. It looks like beans. It's probably stolen from some settlement nearby, or even more likely one of the trade caravans that frequent the area.
One of the Goblins gets mad and slaps the one next to him on the back of the head and shouts something that sounds downright mean just from its tone. A closer inspection shows that he's upset that the centipede has killed the beetle...
Aoe sends shavaris a message to confirm the entrance is clear… “anyone watching the entrance?” He reply assured him there isn’t too dangerous impeding him to go a little deeper into the cavern.
As Aoe arrives at the internal mount of the cave, he ducks to the left and squeezes himself into a crevasse between the cavern wall and a temporary construction. He peaks out and sees into the cavern, the mouth of the cave flanked by two buildings. And a 3rd in the middle, a bit bigger. Recasting minor illusion, he places a pile of rubble 5ft tall in front of him, and ducks below the rim. Knowing shavaris is nearby; he reaches out toward her with another message, this time lacing it with bardic inspiration (10min, +d6), “funny how inspired teamwork can be…”
quietly recasting minor illusion, guidance, and message periodically, Aoe awaits the beginning of whatever encounter is coming their way. He secretly is excited to see all 4 of the others in action, as he in some ways knows why he was selected to be part of the fellowship, but is eager to find out more about the skills of the others.
Shavaris looks at the tent, and then back again at the goblins. She sees the one slap the other and decides, eh, nows as good a time as any, and she sneaks behind the one that hit the goblin. She slowly pulls out her rapiers and in one fluid motion, stabs the goblin in the back of the neck.
Attack: 18 Damage: 9 + sneak attack 7
She then uses her offhand weapon to attempt to drive her rapier into the first goblins temple Attack: 26 Damage: 11
As she becomes visible, she looks at the goblin that was smacked, holds up a finger and says shush... and he watches as a ghost appears next to her and approaches the third goblin and completely engulfs it - taking 6 necrotic damage
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Johnathan gathers around the fire and observes the talks of what they are gonna do next. At the mention of this cave Johnathan goes deep in thought. It might not be where their mission was taking us, but there might be something else lurking there. It’ll also give me the chance to see what these people can actually do. It was at this point Aoe mentions duty to the group. Duty? Hmm, well I suppose we could have a look. It shouldn’t delay us for more than a day anyway. He looks over the party and decides it’s time to get some rest.
(this is for anyone that wants a detailed description of Johnathan, I remember Aoe wanted one)
Johnathan is 5 and a half feet tall with a thick black coat covering his armour and skin. He has well worn leather armour with scratches and marks covering the front however the armour looks relatively new. Inside his coat he has a component pouch needed to cast spells that Johnathan tries to keep concealed, with a dagger resting on his side. There also seems to be a crossbow and a quarter staff attached to his backpack that seems to be untouched, indicating that he rarely uses them. Johnathan face looks very withered and skeletal, with very little colour on his face. He constantly looks tired and seems to be very pale for someone of his age. His eyes are naturally blue but seem to change to red when Johnathan unleashes his vampiric nature. Johnathan has small fangs that are almost unnoticeable to the normal commoner, although he clearly can extend them when feeding. He also has a red goatee, which is kept at a short length. His hair is red and curly, taking a lot of volume. However it’s rare to see his head as he has the hood up most of the time The rest of his clothing seems more plain and common that his companions, purposely designed to blend in crowds.
Johnathan lies in his bed, seemly struggling to get a good night sleep. The nightmares still haunt him, nightmares about the day of his curse. As he struggles to sleep, he summons his bat familiar. Well echo, seems I can’t sleep again. During the night he lets his familiar fly around the camp and get a good view of the area. He occasionally sees through his eyes, mostly out of boredom, before going to sleep. The next few days he continues his usual routine, being extremely silent in thought. He had alot on his mind. He will continue to train his acrobatics along the way.
Training: acrobatics (10 hours so far, 2 hours per day)
Dreams. Dreams of horns blowing.
Ralik blows over the fact that he forgot Kerwyn already told him, "The Gerudo Desert is vast. One can easily lose their way, and parish. It is a long journey that tests the soul." He looks regally into the distance in remembrance. "The trek tested my spirit, but I prevailed." [He actually having an internal cut to a memory of himself convincing a caravan to let him join them. He slept most of the journey but did see a sarlac eat a guy.] "Very deadly." He says with a serious face.
During his conversation with Shavaris. "I was adopted by my mothers. I don't know exactly where I'm originally from. But I do know, I get to choose who I am, and I choose to help." He says with a nod of his head. "The Gerudo are descendants of the Drow, a mostly evil race of elf." He sighs and the end of that sentence. "A sect has remerged with Gerudo, introducing the hated and evil of Lolth's followers." He lets the implications of the situation set in, somewhat implying that to be part of the reason he was here. There is a brief period of concern on his face, but that then melts into a smile. "I do love the forest. Is the one you come from similar to this?" he says with a wave around. He leans in and whisper "If you've told me already I apologize ahead of time. I'm not the best with memory."
If Aoe allowed, Ralik would help in his war caster training. Seeing the elf taking it seriously and putting good effort, Ralik would join with very light sparring. A hand cut through the air leaving an arcane trail from which he garbed a club. He changed his focus from the power that coursed through him and instead relied on his pitiful strength. Maybe it was enough to imitate the threat of a goblin or commoner. Ralik's display with the weapon defiantly seemed genuine and did not imply a mockery of Aoe skill. Occasionally Ralik would use Minor Illusion to created the sound of approaching footsteps behind Aoe to add a bit of mental pressure to the situation, but would not push too far. Not yet.
Running bird seemed to understand a bit more about "Play" the more they did it. However, Ralik still had to rely on flying to keep up with the spiritic but enthusiastic bird. It would still run until it forgot what it was doing for a second, and then remember it had to hide. Ralik would try to keep track of where it was, then lower to the ground for on foot pursuit. The bird was also learning simple commands like come, stay, and follow. The fact it liked him was a pulse to training, but the birds intelligence was still lacking at the end of the day. While hiding from Running Bird one day, Ralik decides to cut down some sturdy large leaves which he fashions into a makeshift umbrella with the addition of a staff sized branch and natural fibers to tie it. He coats it in some resin and lets it dry while waiting on his avian companion. It should be ready by the time he got back.
One day, after a day out with the his mount, Ralik returned with a fun looking natural handmade umbrella. He walks up to Johnathan who looked absolutely Misérables in the oppression of the sun, and offers some shade, then offers the Umbrella. "Listen as I speak. I apologize for our first night. I was not fully awake, and in that twilight between this and dream, I saw only my hated enemy. But you Johnathan." He puts a hand to his own chest and nods his head forward. "You are no enemy of mine. You are my brother in this journey. Brother Johnathan. I have spoken." Ralik then accepts any gesture of acknowledgement and reciprocates it.
As there is talk about a cave, Ralik shows an air of agreement. He summons his swords and sheathes them, then sits upon Running Bird's back. "So. What is the marching order? I recommend that if we send a scout, that have a partner. Always at least pairs."
Training:
4 hours of Skilled Feat (Animal Handling, Stealth, & Survival) Total=13hrs
Drow enthusiast
Lover of lore and magic.
-The White Crow-
The group dynamic comes together, as Aoe also feels more comfortable along to every to chat about random facts with each of them, as well as ask then for training guidance In this endeavor called war.
Aoe notices kerwyn seems to be good at mixing spells and physical combat, while Ralik looks good at… being ralik. Aoe starts to process this idea, that he will need to be more like Ralik and shavaris and Johnathan and kerwyn and even his enemies and like his courtly self, in the heat of battle. That doesn’t mean he won’t be inspiring though, just that sometimes the honorable thing to do is in fact place the sword where it needs to go that day.
he still wonders how to be more like Johnathan without letting out whatever inner demons of his own he might have… he looks around, wondering what triggers would throw shavaris into bloodlust, or kerwyn too. He knows Ralik’s cards are held looser that theirs, either by choice or by fate, he is a wonderful specimen of instinct, and as long as that isn’t pointed his way, Aoe likes that. Nature and fate have a funny way of bringing you into the company, and onto the journey, that was required of you in this life.
…
waling up early to get in a little more practice, he prepares his tent and bed and supplies for travel, packs up his draft horse and mounts his riding horse, and sits up high,
“let us go check out this cave entrance to see what needs to be slain…” hearing the question on marching order, “as I have mentioned I would prefer to be back and center if possible.”
Sharvaris listens to Kerwyn and his concerns, "Yes, I do trust him. If we get to an area where there is no wildlife and his flask runs dry? Um, then I think I would be worried, but until then, he is not going to attack us." When he asks about her story, she stops walking and looks at him, "In due time, I'm not ready to relive it just yet, but I will. And yes, I got yo back." She smiles at this last part and then continues walking.
That day the group leave behind the forest, definitely the place that she feels the most comfortable. Well, she thinks to herself, with this new terrain and wildlife it will definitely help me with my survival skills. She spends time while they are traveling trying to understand the animals that they see in passing, the way they carry themselves and the tracks they make. In the evenings, she tries to learn about the environment, the ground, the rocks, how long tracks keep in this type of area. She continues to spend her training time on survival (~12 hrs)
The party, along with their menagerie of mounts really start getting in a groove and make good time. There is mention of a cave coming up, and Shavaris would not only mind a little break in the traveling, but she figures that Johnathan would probably like a break from the sun. They make camp a morning away from the cave's entrance. "What do you guys think we'll find in that cave?" her eyes twinkle just a bit, "think there might be treasure? I do wonder what type of foe would be in there as well,"
The next morning, they all get up pack up their mounts, which has been a very efficient, practiced maneuver. When they get to the entrance of the cave, Shavaris asks her elk to stay by the few trees that are around the cave as they go to check it out. As they prepare to enter she offers to go in first to check things out. As Aoe grants her guidance before they move, she says, "I'll leave it up to you guys how close you want to follow and when you want to enter. This will be an interesting sort of test on how we all work together." and with that, she heads in.
Stealth 27 + 2
Perception 9
Shavaris is as quiet as a church mouse as she approaches the entrance of Bossack Hole with expert skill. There are many things that become clear to her. At first glance she sees the crude wooden structures that have been erected around the cave's mouth; spiked wooden walls, wooden cages, a few pens that look like they've been used for either livestock or prisoners, it's hard to tell which, and supports that keep the entrance of the cave open but obscured. There was no doubt that the cave was inhabited.
She see that the ground in front of the cave was covered in tracks that she recognizes as Goblin, and a set that seemed to be Bugbear. There were a lot of them. Too many to count. They'd churned the ground up into muddy ruts in places, but it was hard to tell if they were all from one event, or if some tracks were a lot older than others. Even Aoe notices Goblin tracks from his removed position.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
DM of Legacy of NIMH
(Pre shavaris entering the cave)
Aoe enjoys the entrance into the pass, the elevation thinning the air, but also making the burdens of his lifestyle and thoughts lighter. The bare rock formations remind him of a simpler way of living, and he finds himself in meditative states as they travel. He even works on riding and casting cantrips at the same time, forming illusions that stay with the land, and illusion that stoat with him. He seems to be getting the hang of it.
makijg camp ticked away from the cave entrance kerwyn spoke of, they camp before entering. Aoe checks the tracks at the entrance (15 investigation) for the type of creature that uses this entrance, but also doesn’t want to be sighted so doesn’t stay long.
“Tomorrow let us work as one unit. Leaving arguments to after the battle. If we cannot deal with a random cave, whether it be an AdVance of a retreat that is required, how can we accomplish our greater mission?”
as he is ready to go, he guides shavaris toward stealthy steps, and prepares to follow her in.
+4 hrs training (14 total over 7 days on warcaster)
As Shavaris creeps past the cages she tries to tell if they have been occupied recently? And continues into the cave.
Kerwyn creeps in right after her, backing Shavaris up.
On the day before the cave Johnathan continues training his acrobatics and continues petting his bat. It seems to help calm him and bring him comfort. As the night sets he thinks to himself well echo, we’re about to go fighting again. I don’t no if I should tell them about you yet. He gives a pause and considers this. I’ll wait for a better time. It won’t really affect anything for now. Johnathan then goes to sleep.
The next morning the sun quickly wakes Johnathan up, the burning was still irritating and somewhat painful to endure. He looks over the cave, finally, some shade from the sun. Johnathan waits to let Shavaris scout ahead. When she reports the walls and the goblin tracks, Johnathan will turn to echo. Looks like your up, just have a quick look what’s over the wall. Johnathan turns to the others near him. I have a way to look inside, I’m gonna look through the bats eyes. While I’m doing so I won’t be able to hear or see you while I do this. Tap me on the shoulder if you need me here. Before the others could even ask what’s going on, Johnathan releases echo and will transfer his sensors through him. Seeing through the bats sense was not uncommon for Johnathan, he has done this many times already. He will send the bat to fly over the wall and get a good bird eye view. Once he has done so he will fly echo to Shavaris and report what he finds.
early morning was always a good time for offensive maneuvers and Infiltrations: the seedier types often liked to stay up late and sleep in.
Before he is fully ready, shavaris asks and receives a moment of guidance from him, but then Aoe sees Shavaris and kerwyn rush off before he can cast invisibility on them, so he buffs himself up best he can with gift of alacrity and continuous castings of guidance. He takes out his bandore and posts his staff onto his back, and takes to protecting Johnathans body while his senses are with echo.
before kerwyn is too far away he uses message to whisper some words of encouragement, giving him bardic inspiration (+d6) on 1 attack, ability check, or saving throw in the next 10 minutes.
he is mentally prepared to do his best to protect the band and keep everyone from doing anything too stupid… and yet he also thinks in the back of his head… too late.
Shavaris can see that the cages have been used recently. They're dirty, soiled, and overall gross.
Echo flies into the entrance of the cave and can see pins immediately inside the mouth of the cave. There are a couple of prone figures inside the pin to the right of the cave, what appeared to be soldiers of some sort. They're tied and don't seem to be conscious.
There are Goblins in the cave. There are three guarding the two prone figures, but they're mostly just loitering in the first room of this cave system. They're not really paying attention to what's going on around them. It looks like they're playing some sort of game on the floor...or, more precisely, they're fighting a centipede and a beetle.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
DM of Legacy of NIMH
Ralik lets Shavaris and Kerwyn take the scouting lead, along with the bat. He makes his way to the entrance leaving ample ground for inside team to work, but close enough to rush in if needed. He decides to post up on the outside of the the entrance of the cave. He crouches and waves a sword in front of him casting Minor Illusion, creating an illusion of 5 foot boulder which he hides in. He crouches, and waits with cold discipline, waiting for a sign of distress or a message to go in further.
Rolls:
Stealth flat: 9
Stealth with possible advantage from minor illusion: 21
Drow enthusiast
Lover of lore and magic.
-The White Crow-
Kerwyn took position on the left side of the mouth of the cave. He crouched down and kept an eye on Shavaris as she crept in, maintaining a line of sight. As she moved forward he tried to maintain a sixty foot distance, slowly inching along the left wall to keep an eye on her as she moved in. He looks back at Johnathan, Aoe in position behind the bush and looks over at Ralik, nodding readiness. He holds his glaive, ready to attack at any sign of trouble. He looks for any light source in the cave, if it is dark he casts light on the tip of his great sword.
Aoe watches Ralik’s move and likes it. Seeing Johnathan is safe for now, he sends Ralik a message playfully, “don’t attack the approaching boulder.”
He travels towards the entrance, minor illusion keep him a boulder as well, but with a blotchy array of speckles like a color blind test, that if looked upon very closely my someone who knows of such things, has the word “Aoe” hidden within the speckling vertically.
when he gets to Ralik’s position, he holds stead on the other side of the cave entrance, two deadly and music guards unassumingly buttressing this den of thieves.
Johnathan sees the two figure in the first room (the one on the right?) and will tell Aoe before he leaves. I see three goblins in the first room. They have some prisoners but seem distracted. Tell the others. He will not be able to hear his response and will order echo to go to Shavaris. He will perch nearby and whisper to her ear. Shavaris it’s me. He gives her a second to look at the bat. Don’t be alarmed. I have just seen three goblins in the first room. They have 2 soldiers captive but haven’t noticed us yet. I’m gonna go look at the other room to see what’s there. Before echo leaves he lands on Shavaris shoulder. Johnathan then grabs an eyelash from his pocket that seems to be covered in some sort of gum. He mutters a few words while holding the eyelash and a shadowy flame covers his hand. He directs the magic through his familiar, who also starts to be completely covered in this shadowy flame, and casts invisibility on Shavaris. In an instant the shadowy magic fades as Shavaris is invisible. That should help, be careful. He then orders echo to fly over the other room to see what lurks in the shadows.
While Echo is flying off into the next room, Shavaris takes advantage of being invisible and checks to see if there is anything else in this room while the goblins are busy playing with their bugs.
Shavaris can only see the Goblins playing with their bugs and the two prone captives in the cage. None of them have seen her yet.
There are voices down one of the corridors that are echoing in and out of the first cavern, but there doesn't seem to be anything significant about their tempo or demeanor.
Echo and Shavaris can both see that there is a sort of tent in the back of this cavern; a large, hide structure that is obviously the domicile of goblins, or whatever else lives in the cave with them. There is a barrel of spilt food near this tent. It looks like beans. It's probably stolen from some settlement nearby, or even more likely one of the trade caravans that frequent the area.
One of the Goblins gets mad and slaps the one next to him on the back of the head and shouts something that sounds downright mean just from its tone. A closer inspection shows that he's upset that the centipede has killed the beetle...
The cave is dark. There is only very dim light.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
DM of Legacy of NIMH
Aoe sends shavaris a message to confirm the entrance is clear… “anyone watching the entrance?” He reply assured him there isn’t too dangerous impeding him to go a little deeper into the cavern.
As Aoe arrives at the internal mount of the cave, he ducks to the left and squeezes himself into a crevasse between the cavern wall and a temporary construction. He peaks out and sees into the cavern, the mouth of the cave flanked by two buildings. And a 3rd in the middle, a bit bigger. Recasting minor illusion, he places a pile of rubble 5ft tall in front of him, and ducks below the rim. Knowing shavaris is nearby; he reaches out toward her with another message, this time lacing it with bardic inspiration (10min, +d6), “funny how inspired teamwork can be…”
quietly recasting minor illusion, guidance, and message periodically, Aoe awaits the beginning of whatever encounter is coming their way. He secretly is excited to see all 4 of the others in action, as he in some ways knows why he was selected to be part of the fellowship, but is eager to find out more about the skills of the others.
Shavaris looks at the tent, and then back again at the goblins. She sees the one slap the other and decides, eh, nows as good a time as any, and she sneaks behind the one that hit the goblin. She slowly pulls out her rapiers and in one fluid motion, stabs the goblin in the back of the neck.
Attack: 18 Damage: 9 + sneak attack 7
She then uses her offhand weapon to attempt to drive her rapier into the first goblins temple Attack: 26 Damage: 11
As she becomes visible, she looks at the goblin that was smacked, holds up a finger and says shush... and he watches as a ghost appears next to her and approaches the third goblin and completely engulfs it - taking 6 necrotic damage