After a few minutes, Meiki shrugs and ties the rope to the other end of the opening - it would be good to have it here for their return and also to guide Tender if she decided to come after them.
After crawling through the narrow passage, the druid lets out a low whistle of awe and appreciation at the enormous cavern and the tenacity of life clinging to the ledge and walls. He comes to stand next to Cybele in silent appreciation of the underground beauty. After a few moments, they notice a dim, red light moving in the darkness along the far side of the cave - about 100' away.
DC15 Perception: (I use this to prompt a skill check - if you roll this number or higher, you can look in the spoiler section!)
You determine that the light is not caused by a torch or a lantern because it is not flickering. But because of the odd shapes of caves, you know there is no way to determine how high or close to the ground the light is unless you get within range of your normal darkvision.
As Cybele and Meiki approach the glowing light, they have to be careful on the uneven and often slippery ground of the damp cavern. Soon they able to make out what is making such a unique light - at the edge of their darkvision (60') the pair is able to perceive a giant beetle with a pair of glowing glands that give off light. It is about the size of a medium dog, or maybe a large pig.
"Hey, did you know that miners and adventurers prize these creatures, because their glands continue to shed light for days after the beetle dies? Not that I'd want to kill it purely for profit, but it's an interesting bit of knowledge," Meiki says, showing off some more of his druidic knowledge.
Once the giant bug comes into focus, Cybele crouches on her toes and eyes the beetle both with interest and slight apprehension.
"Are they dangerous?"
Cybele usually isn't one to be grossed out by bugs, she's always been fascinated by the little critters. But there was something about beetles, and beetle-shaped insect that always weirded her out just a little. Cockroaches were also not her favorite. She'd never seen a beetle this large before, and she couldn't say she was thrilled, but at the same time she had to admit it looked pretty cool. You could really make out the features of its face, and all the little hairs on its limbs, the shape of its feet, its blank eyes....
Actually, it was kind of cute in a way! In the way that something could be so ugly its cute!
As Cybele waited for Meiki, she inched forward on her haunches to get a better look. "What do they eat, I wonder....what could a giant beetle possibly eat to sustain itself in a cave?" Cybele pondered aloud, her interest in the creature highly peaked.
"They can be dangerous - their mandibles can be quite strong. But I do not think they are all that aggressive unless you threaten them," Meikii begins to answer when a sudden movement off to their left cuts him short...2 giant centipedes come skittering out from a hidden tunnel, 25' away from the young pair! (Roll initiative! These critters are looking for a meal...and we're it!)
Cybele jumps to her feet from her crouched position. And she thought giant beetles gave her the creeps, these giant centipedes were scary-looking! With their giant beady eyes, and huge, long antenna-looking thing stretched out from their faces like big whisker; not to mention their faces almost looked angrily as its gaze bore down the two of them. Nonetheless, fighting the creatures was the last thing Cybele wanted to do.
In a split second decision, she tries her best to charm the creature closest to her. Is it just wishful thinking to hope for every being to get out of this situation without a scratch? Yes. But she'd be darned if she didn't try.
She casts the spell and braces herself for what happens next!
Cybele uses her sweet voice to try and coax one of the centipedes into understanding that wood elves are friends, not food. The insect stops its advance and looks at her with its giant beady eyes. Meikoris calls out to Cybele, "Nice work! But I can't control the other one. Kepp your new friend out of the way!" He then speaks an ancient word of power and a flickering flame appears in his hand. He draws back and throws it at the second centipede! (23 to hit, for 7 damage.) The centipede drops dead, its carapace burning! The first centipede approaches Cybele, but not in a hostile manner. It brushes up against her leg and starts poking at the bag by her side where she keeps her travel food. (Congrats, for 24 hours, this centipede is friendly towards you and will follow you around like a pet!)
Around the corner from where the two centipedes came, you hear a soft groaning and the sound of something starting to move. (Welcome to the game, Seraphina! Please describe your entrance to the scene...)
Seraphina tries to stretch and take in any possible damage from her fall. How long had it been since she fell through the earth into this cavern? And how was she going to get out? Her chain mail felt heavy against her dark skin and her long braided hair fell in clumps around her face, clogged with dirt and debris. Her head still felt a little foggy as she checked and made sure she was alright. She was sure it had been a few hours?
As she is looking around the space she has found herself in, she hears someone call "Hello?" from somewhere around the corner to her left. She takes a couple deep breaths, makes sure she has all her items secure in her pack and she slowly starts to get up. She leans against the damp, hard earth as she does, working out some kinks from her fall and it makes her groan. The voice.. it sounded friendly? But who knows what she would run into in this place. What if she was an intruder to a cave dweller of some sort? Her mind starts racing and she finally stands on her own two feet.. drawing her longsword just in case.
A half-elf in leather armor stands in the cavern over the body of a smoldering, giant centipede. He wears a shield on one arm, with a scimitar in its scabbard. Two sprigs of mistletoe are tied into his brown hair with a braided cord that appear to be made of long grass. "Oh...hello! Are you alright? Did these centipedes get you? What are you doing down here? Have you been here long? We didn't see you come in last night or this morning. Where are you from? I don't recognize you from Daggerford...Cybele, have you seen her before? She looks like a real adventurer!"
"Oh! Where are my manners? I am Meikoris, but most folks just call me Meiki. I live near the city of Daggerford, and we are exploring these caves. What's your name?" The sudden barrage of questions and chatter from the young-looking half-elf comes at you like an audible assault!
Cybele regards the giant insect curiously; she really hadn't expected the fight to go so well. She opens up her back and grabs a small piece of food to drop to the centipede,. As it eats she just barely pets its head with a feather touch, still just a bit afraid of the creature. Cybele was almost immediately growing attached as she watched it stand relaxed at her side. She looked on a little sadly at the creature munching on the snack, knowing after the spell wears off it would try to make a meal of her again.
Cybele was so preoccupied with her new companion that she hadn't heard the pained groans from across the cave, but looked up and carefully jogged over at Meiki calling for her attention.
She perks up at the sight of another person with them in the cave. She squints as she approaches. "Hmmm, I'm not sure...She may look sort of familiar, but I can't tell. Have we met before, stranger?"
Cybele then notices the state of her clothes and disheveled body. "Are you hurt? I'm not quite a healer, but I could do my best to help you out. Though Meiki is definitely better at that sort of thing with all his herbs and such."
As the two of them step towards Seraphina, including the centipede, she isn't sure what to think but they don't have an offensive way about them. In fact, they appear friendly. As the half-elf starts barraging her with questions, she lets the tip of her longsword dip towards the ground as she listens. Not even sure how to respond, she finally realizes he is introducing himself. "Hello, my name is Seraphina."
"I... I don't think I'm hurt, was just checking. I think I fell through a sinkhole a bit ago. Daggerford? Is that where you are both from? That's where I was headed until now." She looks around again, and sheathes her sword. "You say you are exploring these caves? Whatever for?"
Meiki looks concerned once Seraphina reveals that she fell from the hole so far above them. He asks, "I am skilled in the magic of the land and have some healing mushrooms if you need them. I can check you out...ummm, I mean...feel you up...errr, no... wait, I mean...oh, nevermind." The young man blushes furiously at his unintended innuendos and looks to Cybele to help him out. "Just let me know if I can help, that's all..."
Meanwhile, the centipede next to Cybele moves toward a small passage that seems to lead further underground. It has no problems moving through, but the three of you will have to crawl if you want to follow. The tunnel is about 3' in circumference, and water from the cavern and the hole above collects to form a steady stream about 6" deep running along the bottom. (A creature can squeeze through a space that is large enough for a creature one size smaller than it. Thus, a Large creature can squeeze through a passage that's only 5 feet wide. While squeezing through a space, a creature must spend 1 extra foot for every foot it moves there, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage while it's in the smaller space.)
Seraphina watches Meiki as he talks about trying to help her. She starts with a chuckle, then an all out laugh, sides starting to shake she grabs them trying to stop tears running down her cheeks. "I'm.. I'm sorry.. but I needed that laugh... thank you! Oh man, that really hurts my side though! I think I'll be alright, I'll let you know if something shakes out."
She turns to Cybele as the centipede disappears, "Um, miss, it seems your pet has either decided to leave you or discovered something.. maybe it's drawn to that water?"
Cybele looks after the centipede as it crawls away from her, and hurries after it once it disappears into the tunnel.
She crouches down and follows it into the tunnel, stopping for a second to call back, "I hope neither of you are claustrophobic. Geez!"
The stream beneath her legs and feet is ice cold to the touch, a shiver runs up and down her spine when she touches the water. "Brrrr," she exclaims and shivers exaggeratedly, but continues to crawl forward, only stopping once again after a few feet to see if the other two would follow.
She looks around the tunnel to see if there was anything interesting to find on the walls. She was still on her search for pretty cave rocks after all! Or perhaps more healing mushrooms, the cavern had been full of fun surprises so far.
Meiki grins and follows his friend, looking back to motion his new friend to follow.
The tunnel wanders deeper into the ground, sometimes opening up enough that everyone can sit up and give their hands and knees a break. After over 30 minutes of crawling (although it may have only been 40-50 feet!) through the small stream, they cold water and temperatures begin to seep the warmth out of everyone. (All make a DC10 CON saving throw or gain 1 level of exhaustion for 10 minutes.)
The group emerges into a small cave, about 8'x10' and 10' high. There is a 5'x7' opening on the left wall, and a much larger cavern beyond. You hear the unmistakable sounds of a large creature crawling around - a peek into the space shows a huge centipede brood queen! (This is a medium-to-large sized creature - bigger than you!)Cybele's new centipede pet is in here, clearing debris and doing bug-stuff!
On the far side of the cavern, you see what looks like a man-made door placed into the stone...
Seraphina watches as the girl just starts crawling after the centipede. Odd, she thinks, not sure if that would have been my choice... She looks to the man, Meiki? and sees that he is beckoning her to follow them. She looks up to where she fell through and doesn't see an obvious way out.
She shrugs her shoulders and starts following them through the tunnel, strapping her shield to her back. The other two hear her grumble a bit from time to time and an Ow! as her knees hit a sharp rock, but other than that, she just follows them, wondering why they were following a centipede.
CON save 22
As they get to the cave, she heads over to the door to investigate. Seeing if there were any traps or something that seems out of the ordinary
Cybele crawls on without much thought to the cold seeping up from the water through her knees and her feet. It was almost as if she was too distracted by the curiosity of where her new critter-friend was leading them to even shiver, nor feel much pain in terms of crawling for so long.
Once the little tunnel opens up, and they are finally free to stand, she watches the centipede scurry off towards the huge queen just ahead in a larger part of the cavern. As Seraphina checks out some sort of doorway on the other side of the cave, Cybele eyes the queen-centipede. This one wasn't charmed, and she worries the large arthropod might want a meal out of them. She watches the creatures to see if they'd noticed the three of them yet, and if they had, did they show any signs of aggression, as well as what other note-worthy observations she could make from them and the part of the cavern they guarded.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Although Cybele's new centipede friend doesn't mind our presence, the queen, apparently, thinks that you are food brought to her by the worker! Roll initiative... =D
After a few minutes, Meiki shrugs and ties the rope to the other end of the opening - it would be good to have it here for their return and also to guide Tender if she decided to come after them.
After crawling through the narrow passage, the druid lets out a low whistle of awe and appreciation at the enormous cavern and the tenacity of life clinging to the ledge and walls. He comes to stand next to Cybele in silent appreciation of the underground beauty. After a few moments, they notice a dim, red light moving in the darkness along the far side of the cave - about 100' away.
DC15 Perception: (I use this to prompt a skill check - if you roll this number or higher, you can look in the spoiler section!)
You determine that the light is not caused by a torch or a lantern because it is not flickering. But because of the odd shapes of caves, you know there is no way to determine how high or close to the ground the light is unless you get within range of your normal darkvision.
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Cybele squints into the darkness. "Do you see that over there?"
She takes a few steps closer, but when she still can't make out what it is, she breaks out into a jog to get a better look.
"Hello?" She calls out into the cave. Perhaps it was another friendly face investigating the cave just like them!
As Cybele and Meiki approach the glowing light, they have to be careful on the uneven and often slippery ground of the damp cavern. Soon they able to make out what is making such a unique light - at the edge of their darkvision (60') the pair is able to perceive a giant beetle with a pair of glowing glands that give off light. It is about the size of a medium dog, or maybe a large pig.
"Hey, did you know that miners and adventurers prize these creatures, because their glands continue to shed light for days after the beetle dies? Not that I'd want to kill it purely for profit, but it's an interesting bit of knowledge," Meiki says, showing off some more of his druidic knowledge.
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Once the giant bug comes into focus, Cybele crouches on her toes and eyes the beetle both with interest and slight apprehension.
"Are they dangerous?"
Cybele usually isn't one to be grossed out by bugs, she's always been fascinated by the little critters. But there was something about beetles, and beetle-shaped insect that always weirded her out just a little. Cockroaches were also not her favorite. She'd never seen a beetle this large before, and she couldn't say she was thrilled, but at the same time she had to admit it looked pretty cool. You could really make out the features of its face, and all the little hairs on its limbs, the shape of its feet, its blank eyes....
Actually, it was kind of cute in a way! In the way that something could be so ugly its cute!
As Cybele waited for Meiki, she inched forward on her haunches to get a better look. "What do they eat, I wonder....what could a giant beetle possibly eat to sustain itself in a cave?" Cybele pondered aloud, her interest in the creature highly peaked.
"They can be dangerous - their mandibles can be quite strong. But I do not think they are all that aggressive unless you threaten them," Meikii begins to answer when a sudden movement off to their left cuts him short...2 giant centipedes come skittering out from a hidden tunnel, 25' away from the young pair! (Roll initiative! These critters are looking for a meal...and we're it!)
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
(Initiative Roll: 22)
Cybele jumps to her feet from her crouched position. And she thought giant beetles gave her the creeps, these giant centipedes were scary-looking! With their giant beady eyes, and huge, long antenna-looking thing stretched out from their faces like big whisker; not to mention their faces almost looked angrily as its gaze bore down the two of them. Nonetheless, fighting the creatures was the last thing Cybele wanted to do.
In a split second decision, she tries her best to charm the creature closest to her. Is it just wishful thinking to hope for every being to get out of this situation without a scratch? Yes. But she'd be darned if she didn't try.
She casts the spell and braces herself for what happens next!
(Centipede #1 Wis Save: 0 --> Fail!)
Cybele uses her sweet voice to try and coax one of the centipedes into understanding that wood elves are friends, not food. The insect stops its advance and looks at her with its giant beady eyes.
Meikoris calls out to Cybele, "Nice work! But I can't control the other one. Kepp your new friend out of the way!" He then speaks an ancient word of power and a flickering flame appears in his hand. He draws back and throws it at the second centipede! (23 to hit, for 7 damage.) The centipede drops dead, its carapace burning!
The first centipede approaches Cybele, but not in a hostile manner. It brushes up against her leg and starts poking at the bag by her side where she keeps her travel food. (Congrats, for 24 hours, this centipede is friendly towards you and will follow you around like a pet!)
Around the corner from where the two centipedes came, you hear a soft groaning and the sound of something starting to move. (Welcome to the game, Seraphina! Please describe your entrance to the scene...)
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Seraphina tries to stretch and take in any possible damage from her fall. How long had it been since she fell through the earth into this cavern? And how was she going to get out? Her chain mail felt heavy against her dark skin and her long braided hair fell in clumps around her face, clogged with dirt and debris. Her head still felt a little foggy as she checked and made sure she was alright. She was sure it had been a few hours?
As she is looking around the space she has found herself in, she hears someone call "Hello?" from somewhere around the corner to her left. She takes a couple deep breaths, makes sure she has all her items secure in her pack and she slowly starts to get up. She leans against the damp, hard earth as she does, working out some kinks from her fall and it makes her groan. The voice.. it sounded friendly? But who knows what she would run into in this place. What if she was an intruder to a cave dweller of some sort? Her mind starts racing and she finally stands on her own two feet.. drawing her longsword just in case.
A half-elf in leather armor stands in the cavern over the body of a smoldering, giant centipede. He wears a shield on one arm, with a scimitar in its scabbard. Two sprigs of mistletoe are tied into his brown hair with a braided cord that appear to be made of long grass. "Oh...hello! Are you alright? Did these centipedes get you? What are you doing down here? Have you been here long? We didn't see you come in last night or this morning. Where are you from? I don't recognize you from Daggerford...Cybele, have you seen her before? She looks like a real adventurer!"
"Oh! Where are my manners? I am Meikoris, but most folks just call me Meiki. I live near the city of Daggerford, and we are exploring these caves. What's your name?" The sudden barrage of questions and chatter from the young-looking half-elf comes at you like an audible assault!
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Cybele regards the giant insect curiously; she really hadn't expected the fight to go so well. She opens up her back and grabs a small piece of food to drop to the centipede,. As it eats she just barely pets its head with a feather touch, still just a bit afraid of the creature. Cybele was almost immediately growing attached as she watched it stand relaxed at her side. She looked on a little sadly at the creature munching on the snack, knowing after the spell wears off it would try to make a meal of her again.
Cybele was so preoccupied with her new companion that she hadn't heard the pained groans from across the cave, but looked up and carefully jogged over at Meiki calling for her attention.
She perks up at the sight of another person with them in the cave. She squints as she approaches. "Hmmm, I'm not sure...She may look sort of familiar, but I can't tell. Have we met before, stranger?"
Cybele then notices the state of her clothes and disheveled body. "Are you hurt? I'm not quite a healer, but I could do my best to help you out. Though Meiki is definitely better at that sort of thing with all his herbs and such."
As the two of them step towards Seraphina, including the centipede, she isn't sure what to think but they don't have an offensive way about them. In fact, they appear friendly. As the half-elf starts barraging her with questions, she lets the tip of her longsword dip towards the ground as she listens. Not even sure how to respond, she finally realizes he is introducing himself. "Hello, my name is Seraphina."
"I... I don't think I'm hurt, was just checking. I think I fell through a sinkhole a bit ago. Daggerford? Is that where you are both from? That's where I was headed until now." She looks around again, and sheathes her sword. "You say you are exploring these caves? Whatever for?"
Meiki looks concerned once Seraphina reveals that she fell from the hole so far above them. He asks, "I am skilled in the magic of the land and have some healing mushrooms if you need them. I can check you out...ummm, I mean...feel you up...errr, no... wait, I mean...oh, nevermind." The young man blushes furiously at his unintended innuendos and looks to Cybele to help him out. "Just let me know if I can help, that's all..."
Meanwhile, the centipede next to Cybele moves toward a small passage that seems to lead further underground. It has no problems moving through, but the three of you will have to crawl if you want to follow. The tunnel is about 3' in circumference, and water from the cavern and the hole above collects to form a steady stream about 6" deep running along the bottom. (A creature can squeeze through a space that is large enough for a creature one size smaller than it. Thus, a Large creature can squeeze through a passage that's only 5 feet wide. While squeezing through a space, a creature must spend 1 extra foot for every foot it moves there, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage while it's in the smaller space.)
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Seraphina watches Meiki as he talks about trying to help her. She starts with a chuckle, then an all out laugh, sides starting to shake she grabs them trying to stop tears running down her cheeks. "I'm.. I'm sorry.. but I needed that laugh... thank you! Oh man, that really hurts my side though! I think I'll be alright, I'll let you know if something shakes out."
She turns to Cybele as the centipede disappears, "Um, miss, it seems your pet has either decided to leave you or discovered something.. maybe it's drawn to that water?"
Cybele looks after the centipede as it crawls away from her, and hurries after it once it disappears into the tunnel.
She crouches down and follows it into the tunnel, stopping for a second to call back, "I hope neither of you are claustrophobic. Geez!"
The stream beneath her legs and feet is ice cold to the touch, a shiver runs up and down her spine when she touches the water. "Brrrr," she exclaims and shivers exaggeratedly, but continues to crawl forward, only stopping once again after a few feet to see if the other two would follow.
She looks around the tunnel to see if there was anything interesting to find on the walls. She was still on her search for pretty cave rocks after all! Or perhaps more healing mushrooms, the cavern had been full of fun surprises so far.
(Investigation roll: 22)
Meiki grins and follows his friend, looking back to motion his new friend to follow.
The tunnel wanders deeper into the ground, sometimes opening up enough that everyone can sit up and give their hands and knees a break. After over 30 minutes of crawling (although it may have only been 40-50 feet!) through the small stream, they cold water and temperatures begin to seep the warmth out of everyone. (All make a DC10 CON saving throw or gain 1 level of exhaustion for 10 minutes.)
The group emerges into a small cave, about 8'x10' and 10' high. There is a 5'x7' opening on the left wall, and a much larger cavern beyond. You hear the unmistakable sounds of a large creature crawling around - a peek into the space shows a huge centipede brood queen! (This is a medium-to-large sized creature - bigger than you!) Cybele's new centipede pet is in here, clearing debris and doing bug-stuff!
On the far side of the cavern, you see what looks like a man-made door placed into the stone...
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Seraphina watches as the girl just starts crawling after the centipede. Odd, she thinks, not sure if that would have been my choice... She looks to the man, Meiki? and sees that he is beckoning her to follow them. She looks up to where she fell through and doesn't see an obvious way out.
She shrugs her shoulders and starts following them through the tunnel, strapping her shield to her back. The other two hear her grumble a bit from time to time and an Ow! as her knees hit a sharp rock, but other than that, she just follows them, wondering why they were following a centipede.
CON save 22
As they get to the cave, she heads over to the door to investigate. Seeing if there were any traps or something that seems out of the ordinary
Investigation 14
Meiki Con save: 12
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
(CON Save: 12)
Cybele crawls on without much thought to the cold seeping up from the water through her knees and her feet. It was almost as if she was too distracted by the curiosity of where her new critter-friend was leading them to even shiver, nor feel much pain in terms of crawling for so long.
Once the little tunnel opens up, and they are finally free to stand, she watches the centipede scurry off towards the huge queen just ahead in a larger part of the cavern. As Seraphina checks out some sort of doorway on the other side of the cave, Cybele eyes the queen-centipede. This one wasn't charmed, and she worries the large arthropod might want a meal out of them. She watches the creatures to see if they'd noticed the three of them yet, and if they had, did they show any signs of aggression, as well as what other note-worthy observations she could make from them and the part of the cavern they guarded.
Perception: 10
Although Cybele's new centipede friend doesn't mind our presence, the queen, apparently, thinks that you are food brought to her by the worker! Roll initiative... =D
Meiki: 19
Brood Queen: 14
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
(Did Seraphina find anything out about the door?)
Seraphina initiative 14