OoC: If we've got two fairly tough hitters, shouldn't one take the rear so our squishier team members don't get jumped from behind? Nikk can fight well, but he's not armored, so hits geared to him are likely going to hurt.
Maybe we have the tanks take the lead when we're sure nothing can be behind us. That way, we have options for certain layouts.
DM Note: Feel free to roll without asking me for something you think will require a skill check. If I don't agree with the type of roll, I'll add the correct modifier. If I think a roll was needed, I'm going to roll for you. That way we're avoiding needing to wait for confirmation, a blessing in PbP. You can doublecheck the results in the game log found on your sheet or the campaign: Image.
Jaya is going to examine the shields. Being a city guard, he’s curious if anything stands out among the shields. A common theme, any patterns, etc.
Jaya (Investigation: 6): The shields seem to be of different make and age. Some are near falling apart, others seem fairly new. All seem to have sustained some sort of damage. Perhaps discarded gear from previous expeditions?
Having served as a guardsman, you easily recognize some of the heraldry, like the insignia of the Dawnbringer Company, the City Guard, the City Watch and even one belonging to the famed Force Grey.
Rico starts wtih, "That bow is impressive! If you would allow, I would like to take a look at it later."
She then does her own introduction, "Hi, I am Rico, I'm from very far away. My race is called Autognome. Originally I was built by a gnome to be a ships engineer, but my ship left without me while I was buying supplies. I am good at fixing both things and people. I am also a decent cook. In combat I am a Battle Smith. Like your husband I am also an inventor. I made Steel here, and figured out how to enhance my equipment. I can handle either melee or ranged combat, though I am slightly better at range. Between my metal skin, my shield, and my dodging, I am a difficult target to damage."
Introducing her companion, she continues, "This Steel, he is a guardian I constructed. Unlike me, he can see without light. He is not especially strong, but he is good at defending others. He can even repair himself or me if needed. Unlike me, Steel is not a person, so he is expendable. I can rebuild him from scrap overnight if I need to."
She then suggests, "The back might be the best place for me, fighting at range is where I am the strongest, but I can also handle melee if we are surprised from behind. Steel can be anywhere you find him useful. He is fast, so he can change positions easily. Also, I often have him carry the torch, to keep my hands free."
OOC: Maybe rambling is as much of a gnome trait as tinkering :-)
The moment Nikk touches the ruin's floor, his mission has begun. He starts by surveying his surroundings, looking for any sign of a secret room, switch or button that may lead to hidden marvels...
DM Note:This is the proposed marching order. Please make any adjustments you see fit. You should be able to move tokens yourself. I'm going to refer to this whenever something happens while you're on the move.
Nikk: Between the shields hanging on the nothern wall you spot a tiny hole, barely an inch wide, on human height eyelevel. The wall around the hole shows signs of being a hidden door indeed, but you cannot make out any sort of opening mechanism. Whatever room is on the other side is dark.
Separately from that you barely make out some text smeared on the eastern wall, although it's unreadable on account of the shields hanging in front of it and the letters being in a language unfamiliar to you.
The wizard draws a deep sigh. He had hoped to avoid involving others in his first hunt, but it seems he has no choice. Ambling over to the Dragonborn, he taps him on the shoulder with his staff. Pointing behind him, he leads the warrior back to the hole in the wall. He then leads him over to the shields, tapping twice on the section of the wall with writing.
In a voice almost matching one of the bar patrons from earlier, he says, "Please. Read."
He taps the same section of wall again. "Treasure." he says.
It seems no-one in the party can read this particular text. But Rico, Canti and Nikk (History) realize that this is elvish script after examining it some more.
It seems no-one in the party can read this particular text. But you do realize that this is elvish script
On the off chance the Dragonkin cannot read it, Nikkitch returns to the wall of shields, seeking clues. He'd rather not use Knock so early and is anxious for additional evidence.
The door is flush with the wall and made of much the same material. Nikk realizes that it might have been built with the express purpose only being openable from one side. Although from experience, knock would still do the job.
Before doing anything, Nikkitch gives a shrill whistle to call the rest over. If a snarling beast guards whatever is behind here, he'd rather it went for something metal or scaly over him.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Arriving at the bottom of the portal, Pisgah sees the older gnome already at the bottom looking around in amazement and flushed with excitement. He hears her greet the rest of the party and says to her "Hello Canti! Thank you for letting me ride along. I had half expected to be turned away. I guess what Oliver told me was true. If I came the tavern and sought to go down the well, I would find a group of friends, or at least people similar to me, that would welcome me in." To the rest of the group, he says "Hello folks, my name is Pisgah for those I haven't yet met. I guess we are in this together now. I come from the Outlands and have always appeared different from others in my tribe, even my mother, and was chased away by the elders many years ago. You may want to know that I sometimes get angry, people say I change when I get into a rage and that strange things happen, but as long as we are in the Underdark together, I vow to help keep you safe. I will watch your back and you guys watch mine. Who knows, hopefully we will find some treasure down here so our unique metal friend Rico can ride back up the rope? Anyway, I am a pretty good hunter and was able to survive on my own for many years. I am okay with a bow and good with the blades I carry too. That bow of Canti's is...well, different. Anyway, I can see in the dark but not so well as to be able to read very easily. I don't mind being out in front, ahead of the group a little once we leave this area, or even side by side with, what was it Durnan said, Jaya is it?"
As he says Jaya's name, he bends over and picks up the torch thrown to him by the little person in the cloak and hood. He lights the torch with a striker and tries to shove the torch in the sand so that they can look around the room. STR 17. He attempts to begin removing some of the shields, and suspecting that they may be from past adventurers who either fell in the depths or made it back and left the shields as a sign of honor, begins to carefully arrange them against the nearby wall.
As he works, Pisgah suggests "Perhaps either Jaya or I, or perhaps both, could take the lead where the passages allow. If we pass a corridor that may expose our flanks one of us could fall to the back of the line in case of ambush. If we have Ricco's man of steel carry the torch in the middle then both of us would be able to see in the dark behind the ring of light. In the case where we are in a single line that would give us sight 60ft ahead and behind. I am not sure who else would need to be in the middle. Perhaps our smaller friends could go with Canti in the lead and Nikk behind?".
From the area where Nikk found the hole and began knocking on the shields, Pisgah will look down the western corridor to see if he notices anything moving their way. Perception 19.
Pisgah: The torch is placed firmy in the sand, shedding light into the room and some of the hallway. The shields are haphazardly hung and to you it feels like knocking down paintings from a wall. Some of them are so brittle with age that they shatter into wooden splinters upon hitting the floor.
You have a look down the corridor, there nobody to be seen and not a sound to be heard. After initially going south for about 30 feet, the corridor then curves into a westward direction out of view.
With Pisgah making so much noise, Nikkitch sees his opportunity. Using the Genasi's voice, he utters the simple verse, points to the hidden door and casts Knock.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Hearing HIS voice coming from BEHIND him, Pisgah jumps, startled, and says "What was that?" He tries to perceive where the voice came from PER 16
OOC: about to go for a run then get busy on a painting project so may be limited in time to respond for the rest of the day. However, I am working in the study so as long as I am sneaky the wife may not catch on.... 9
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Jaya smiles broadly at Canti, charmed by her introduction. “I am Jaya, a now, uh…, retired city guard. I am trained as a fighter and a controller of the battlefield (OOC: battle master). My whole life has been regimented for me. What to wear, how to walk, what to do, etc., but I’m finally making my own decisions. Apparently my first one was entering this place with you all! One I truly look forward to as, you all seem as interesting as everyone else I’ve known is uninteresting.”
“I like the plan of Pisgah and I leading the way, with one of us falling to the back if needed. I have been trained in how to mitigate attacks, so feel free to direct our enemies’ attacks to me (OOC: heavy armor master feat). I’m sure my healing kit will be enough to keep me healthy!”
Jaya turns to Steel and says, “I would appreciate it if you would hold a torch sir, um madam, um Steel, is it?” then turning to Rico he says, “Can Steel communicate?”.
“I can’t read elvish, but I can read the ancient language of dragons if that becomes necessary” he adds.
“Nikk, you seem good at seeing and finding things, if you see something of interest, just point and I will investigate.”
“Oh, one last thing, I have to ability to communicate telepathically with those I can see. Unfortunately, it is a one-way communication, if you hear my voice in your head at times, now you know why and not think it some sort of witchcraft. We’ll, perhaps it is a bit of dragon witchcraft, actually.”
With shield and sword at the ready, Jaya will move quietly to the wall where Nikk found the hole, hoping, and anticipating for his first fight in this strange place with his strange new companions.
"bang, BANG, BANG!" the spell goes to work on the door, producing a loud noise that echoes down the dungeon hallways. Above you, a loud whooping and cheering erupts. Clearly the patrons of the Yawning Portal heard it too and are imagining all sorts of gruesome things happening. The clanking of Jayas armor as he tries to be quiet can't be heard in the cacophony.
But the spell does what it is supposed to do: the door swings towards you, opening the view into a dark passage. In the tochlight, you make out a crossroads ahead, going west and north.
Jaya and Pisgah (Passive Perception); you hear footsteps quickly moving away from you, followed by the sound of a door closing from the crossroads passage going west.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Pisgah is very confused about what has just happened but calls out to the party, [b] Someone or something is heading down the west tunnel. The way to the south seems clear for now but if we follow to the west we should probably shut the door behind us. And have the Steel man take the torch when we leave." [/b]
Pisgah makes a final check down the south hall to see if anything follows. PER 18
Jaya turns to Steel and says, “I would appreciate it if you would hold a torch sir, um madam, um Steel, is it?” then turning to Rico he says, “Can Steel communicate?”.
Rico answers Jaya, "Steel can understand Common and Gnomish, but he cannot speak."
Then she directs the construct, "Steel, pick up the torch and bring it with us. Monitor the torch and when it is close to burning out, get another torch from me."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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OoC: If we've got two fairly tough hitters, shouldn't one take the rear so our squishier team members don't get jumped from behind? Nikk can fight well, but he's not armored, so hits geared to him are likely going to hurt.
Maybe we have the tanks take the lead when we're sure nothing can be behind us. That way, we have options for certain layouts.
DM Note: Feel free to roll without asking me for something you think will require a skill check. If I don't agree with the type of roll, I'll add the correct modifier. If I think a roll was needed, I'm going to roll for you. That way we're avoiding needing to wait for confirmation, a blessing in PbP. You can doublecheck the results in the game log found on your sheet or the campaign: Image.
Jaya (Investigation: 6): The shields seem to be of different make and age. Some are near falling apart, others seem fairly new. All seem to have sustained some sort of damage. Perhaps discarded gear from previous expeditions?
Having served as a guardsman, you easily recognize some of the heraldry, like the insignia of the Dawnbringer Company, the City Guard, the City Watch and even one belonging to the famed Force Grey.
Rico starts wtih, "That bow is impressive! If you would allow, I would like to take a look at it later."
She then does her own introduction, "Hi, I am Rico, I'm from very far away. My race is called Autognome. Originally I was built by a gnome to be a ships engineer, but my ship left without me while I was buying supplies. I am good at fixing both things and people. I am also a decent cook. In combat I am a Battle Smith. Like your husband I am also an inventor. I made Steel here, and figured out how to enhance my equipment. I can handle either melee or ranged combat, though I am slightly better at range. Between my metal skin, my shield, and my dodging, I am a difficult target to damage."
Introducing her companion, she continues, "This Steel, he is a guardian I constructed. Unlike me, he can see without light. He is not especially strong, but he is good at defending others. He can even repair himself or me if needed. Unlike me, Steel is not a person, so he is expendable. I can rebuild him from scrap overnight if I need to."
She then suggests, "The back might be the best place for me, fighting at range is where I am the strongest, but I can also handle melee if we are surprised from behind. Steel can be anywhere you find him useful. He is fast, so he can change positions easily. Also, I often have him carry the torch, to keep my hands free."
OOC: Maybe rambling is as much of a gnome trait as tinkering :-)
The moment Nikk touches the ruin's floor, his mission has begun. He starts by surveying his surroundings, looking for any sign of a secret room, switch or button that may lead to hidden marvels...
[Nikkitch Perception Roll: 18 (14{+4})]
DM Note: This is the proposed marching order. Please make any adjustments you see fit. You should be able to move tokens yourself. I'm going to refer to this whenever something happens while you're on the move.
Nikk: Between the shields hanging on the nothern wall you spot a tiny hole, barely an inch wide, on human height eyelevel. The wall around the hole shows signs of being a hidden door indeed, but you cannot make out any sort of opening mechanism. Whatever room is on the other side is dark.
Separately from that you barely make out some text smeared on the eastern wall, although it's unreadable on account of the shields hanging in front of it and the letters being in a language unfamiliar to you.
The wizard draws a deep sigh. He had hoped to avoid involving others in his first hunt, but it seems he has no choice. Ambling over to the Dragonborn, he taps him on the shoulder with his staff. Pointing behind him, he leads the warrior back to the hole in the wall. He then leads him over to the shields, tapping twice on the section of the wall with writing.
In a voice almost matching one of the bar patrons from earlier, he says, "Please. Read."
He taps the same section of wall again. "Treasure." he says.
It seems no-one in the party can read this particular text. But Rico, Canti and Nikk (History) realize that this is elvish script after examining it some more.
On the off chance the Dragonkin cannot read it, Nikkitch returns to the wall of shields, seeking clues. He'd rather not use Knock so early and is anxious for additional evidence.
[Passive Investigation: 17]
The door is flush with the wall and made of much the same material. Nikk realizes that it might have been built with the express purpose only being openable from one side. Although from experience, knock would still do the job.
Before doing anything, Nikkitch gives a shrill whistle to call the rest over. If a snarling beast guards whatever is behind here, he'd rather it went for something metal or scaly over him.
Arriving at the bottom of the portal, Pisgah sees the older gnome already at the bottom looking around in amazement and flushed with excitement. He hears her greet the rest of the party and says to her "Hello Canti! Thank you for letting me ride along. I had half expected to be turned away. I guess what Oliver told me was true. If I came the tavern and sought to go down the well, I would find a group of friends, or at least people similar to me, that would welcome me in." To the rest of the group, he says "Hello folks, my name is Pisgah for those I haven't yet met. I guess we are in this together now. I come from the Outlands and have always appeared different from others in my tribe, even my mother, and was chased away by the elders many years ago. You may want to know that I sometimes get angry, people say I change when I get into a rage and that strange things happen, but as long as we are in the Underdark together, I vow to help keep you safe. I will watch your back and you guys watch mine. Who knows, hopefully we will find some treasure down here so our unique metal friend Rico can ride back up the rope? Anyway, I am a pretty good hunter and was able to survive on my own for many years. I am okay with a bow and good with the blades I carry too. That bow of Canti's is...well, different. Anyway, I can see in the dark but not so well as to be able to read very easily. I don't mind being out in front, ahead of the group a little once we leave this area, or even side by side with, what was it Durnan said, Jaya is it?"
As he says Jaya's name, he bends over and picks up the torch thrown to him by the little person in the cloak and hood. He lights the torch with a striker and tries to shove the torch in the sand so that they can look around the room. STR 17. He attempts to begin removing some of the shields, and suspecting that they may be from past adventurers who either fell in the depths or made it back and left the shields as a sign of honor, begins to carefully arrange them against the nearby wall.
As he works, Pisgah suggests "Perhaps either Jaya or I, or perhaps both, could take the lead where the passages allow. If we pass a corridor that may expose our flanks one of us could fall to the back of the line in case of ambush. If we have Ricco's man of steel carry the torch in the middle then both of us would be able to see in the dark behind the ring of light. In the case where we are in a single line that would give us sight 60ft ahead and behind. I am not sure who else would need to be in the middle. Perhaps our smaller friends could go with Canti in the lead and Nikk behind?".
From the area where Nikk found the hole and began knocking on the shields, Pisgah will look down the western corridor to see if he notices anything moving their way. Perception 19.
OOC: Sorry, I thought I inserted another strength check to pull the shields off the wall!
STR 4
Pisgah: The torch is placed firmy in the sand, shedding light into the room and some of the hallway. The shields are haphazardly hung and to you it feels like knocking down paintings from a wall. Some of them are so brittle with age that they shatter into wooden splinters upon hitting the floor.
You have a look down the corridor, there nobody to be seen and not a sound to be heard. After initially going south for about 30 feet, the corridor then curves into a westward direction out of view.
With Pisgah making so much noise, Nikkitch sees his opportunity. Using the Genasi's voice, he utters the simple verse, points to the hidden door and casts Knock.
Hearing HIS voice coming from BEHIND him, Pisgah jumps, startled, and says "What was that?" He tries to perceive where the voice came from PER 16
OOC: about to go for a run then get busy on a painting project so may be limited in time to respond for the rest of the day. However, I am working in the study so as long as I am sneaky the wife may not catch on.... 9
Jaya smiles broadly at Canti, charmed by her introduction. “I am Jaya, a now, uh…, retired city guard. I am trained as a fighter and a controller of the battlefield (OOC: battle master). My whole life has been regimented for me. What to wear, how to walk, what to do, etc., but I’m finally making my own decisions. Apparently my first one was entering this place with you all! One I truly look forward to as, you all seem as interesting as everyone else I’ve known is uninteresting.”
“I like the plan of Pisgah and I leading the way, with one of us falling to the back if needed. I have been trained in how to mitigate attacks, so feel free to direct our enemies’ attacks to me (OOC: heavy armor master feat). I’m sure my healing kit will be enough to keep me healthy!”
Jaya turns to Steel and says, “I would appreciate it if you would hold a torch sir, um madam, um Steel, is it?” then turning to Rico he says, “Can Steel communicate?”.
“I can’t read elvish, but I can read the ancient language of dragons if that becomes necessary” he adds.
“Nikk, you seem good at seeing and finding things, if you see something of interest, just point and I will investigate.”
“Oh, one last thing, I have to ability to communicate telepathically with those I can see. Unfortunately, it is a one-way communication, if you hear my voice in your head at times, now you know why and not think it some sort of witchcraft. We’ll, perhaps it is a bit of dragon witchcraft, actually.”
With shield and sword at the ready, Jaya will move quietly to the wall where Nikk found the hole, hoping, and anticipating for his first fight in this strange place with his strange new companions.
Stealth with disadvantage8
"bang, BANG, BANG!" the spell goes to work on the door, producing a loud noise that echoes down the dungeon hallways. Above you, a loud whooping and cheering erupts. Clearly the patrons of the Yawning Portal heard it too and are imagining all sorts of gruesome things happening. The clanking of Jayas armor as he tries to be quiet can't be heard in the cacophony.
But the spell does what it is supposed to do: the door swings towards you, opening the view into a dark passage. In the tochlight, you make out a crossroads ahead, going west and north.
Jaya and Pisgah (Passive Perception); you hear footsteps quickly moving away from you, followed by the sound of a door closing from the crossroads passage going west.
Seems like this small birdman is able to perfectly imitate sounds and has just done so with your voice!
Pisgah is very confused about what has just happened but calls out to the party, [b] Someone or something is heading down the west tunnel. The way to the south seems clear for now but if we follow to the west we should probably shut the door behind us. And have the Steel man take the torch when we leave." [/b]
Pisgah makes a final check down the south hall to see if anything follows. PER 18
If there is anything to be heard, the tavern noises from above and the waning echoes of the knock drown it out.
Rico answers Jaya, "Steel can understand Common and Gnomish, but he cannot speak."
Then she directs the construct, "Steel, pick up the torch and bring it with us. Monitor the torch and when it is close to burning out, get another torch from me."