Utar surveys the scene, his eyes moving over the furrows in the earth, then up to the distant big on the horizon. "Well, there's the bog..."
One hand reaches towards his amulet, grasping it as he says a quick prayer to Torm and traces a a few lines in the air with his other hand at his side, casting guidance on himself.
Survival check - 20 plus 3
OOC - I was tempted to use the advantage offered by Darrius but thought if I can use guidance, I would leave it someone else.
Drazzim grumbles as he looks at the bog. His stocky build and heavy armour in sinky ground never gels well. He will hold his glaive in one hand, and occasionally uses the butt end to push the ground in front of him to check it is sturdy enough.
Utar's survival check (I'll assume this information is relayed to the rest of the party):
Utar joins Rose in examining the tracks leading east into the bog. Little by little, they are able to discern and isolate pairs of footprints in an attempt to account for the number of foes they are likely to face. While doing so, they notice that each pair of prints looks a bit disjointed, as if the "nasty little munchkins" walked just as uncomfortably as the adventurers in the oil-rich soil. The steps are irregular, and the creatures making them are not necessarily light-footed. The prints are triangular shaped, and the marking of four clear claws adorn the edge of each step. Oily dirt also seems to be scooped up with each impression into the soil, as if to suggest a web between toes also aids these creatures' balance. In total, you gather the prints in the mud show that more than a dozen not-built but still medium-sized creatures passed through here today, their captives clearly being dragged through the mud.
As Drazzim takes the lead into the actual bog, the sight of his struggles spurs both Darrius and Cato to the front of the line.
Cato's survival check aided by Darrius (plain for all to see): Tracking through the bog is even harder than it was in the peat farm. The stench gets stronger, the mud thicker, the natural light dimmer, the insect hungrier. At first, the environment works against you, masking the footprints leading east. After about twelve to fifteen minutes of sheer frustration, Darrius finally picks up the creatures' trails once again. Excited about adventuring out in the open environs, Cato jumps to action examining each footprint carefully. The sage is able to deduce that at some point during their traversing of the bog, the creatures forced their captives to stand up and walk by themselves back towards whatever hideout they were destined. The trails make it appear that about a dozen prisoners were being taken along, some of which were clearly children.
After traversing the swampy bog for what feels like at least an hour, the party finally comes to the end of a now distinctly marked trail on less troublesome, drier ground. The path leads directly into the mouth of a cave in the side of a hill rising from the bog. Brush and other low vegetation provide for some natural cover as you approach, allowing you to easily observe that at the entrance, a good 35 to 40 feet away from where you now stand, a purplish-shaded creature wearing a simple, brown hide tunic and wielding a spear and shield is talking to a human-sized figured dressed in heavy cloaks that obscure his face. The voice is male and human-sounding. They speak in Common, although the creature displays an obvious difficulty with the unfamiliar language.
The bulgy-eyed, fish-scaled humanoid says in broken Common, thinking hard after each word. “One... group... return...raid; Bring... prisoners; Others... return... soon; No... more... snake... coin... people... find.” The human nods and says, “Excellent. Tell Kloogut that my friends and I will pay lots of coin and give lots of gifts for all of the dragon artifacts you can find. And capture any other humans who you find near your home.” The creature nods and enters the cave, while the cloaked figure whispers a word and simply vanishes. An occasional gurgle followed by muffled human screams echo from within, as if to serve as ambient noise to the exchange that just happened.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Cato will consider what he knows of scaled humanoids to deduce what sort of creature that was.
Nature check: 22
"That cave, it would appear, is our objective. Should we approach? And what of the cloaked man. Is he gone or only invisible? Some creatures can do that, you know."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
IRL: Dungeon Master--Adventures in the Cassitana Islands PbP: Player--Esvaris Liadon, Wood Elf Monk 2/Cleric 2--Clerical Heirs: A Divine Mystery
"Who cares? We should go in there and kick those bug-eyes things right in the keester. No takin' prisoners today." Drazzim says. He keeps his glaive in both hands and gets ready to march on the cave.
“I’m with the dwarf! I hope the human is invisible. Will save us the time of hunting them down”, says Graxx as he rotates his greataxe never taking his eyes off the cave.
You are pretty sure these creatures are known by the popular name "kuo-toa", named as such long ago after the common gurgling noise they make when attempting to speak out of the water. This is Cato's first time seeing one such creature alive in the wild, having dissected one many years ago as part of an university study. Here is some general information Cato recalls on the kuo-toa:
-- Kuo-toa are degenerate fishlike humanoids that once inhabited the shores and islands of the surface world. Long ago humans and their ilk drove the kuo-toa underground, where they dwell in madness and everlasting night. Kuo-toa can no longer abide daylight and rarely come to the surface, but some sightings have been registered over the years. They can both live in and out of the water, rely on their slippery bodies and on their natural rubbery scales for protection, seem particular keen on pinpointing the location of those that rely on invisibility to hide (no simple darkvision, mind you, although they have that too), and like to wear jewelry made from scavenged bones, shells, pearls, gems, and carapace fragments.
-- Of their formation, it is rumored that the mysterious creatures known as the mind flayers used to capture kuo-toa by the thousands and force them into bondage, although no real proof of this has ever surfaced. Scholars theorize that the kuo-toa were simple creatures, never meant to endure the oppressive mental force the illithids unleashed against them. By the time the mind flayers abandoned them, the prolonged psychic subjugation endured by the kuo-toa had driven them mad. Their minds shattered beyond repair, the leading theory goes, the kuo-toa adopted a religious fervor, inventing gods to protect them against threats. Most notable of these threats are the drow, which have slain the kuo-toa on sight since the days when the two races first met (of this there is some verifiable proof).
As you look into the cave from a distance, each of you notices that although daylight illuminates a few feet beyond the entrance, what lies beyond is likely to be hidden in complete darkness. More specifically, although the initial passage is unlit, the sunlight reaches far enough into the 10-foot-wide cave passage to let you see that it travels about 25 feet before turning south. Piles of rubble are strewn in the passage, large enough to partially obstruct your view.
(OOC: Please see grid below for details. When posting, make sure you mention which square your character is moving to, sort of like chess. Map will expand as you explore).
Darrius pulls a torch from his pack "Does anyone mind? I won't be able to see without one. On another note, I fight best with my bow. I will use my blade if I need to hold the torch, but would anyone mind carrying the torch?" He waits to see if everyone is OK with him lighting the torch, before lighting it.
Utar readies his warhammer, practising a few one handed swings. He looks to Darrius "I think we'd all prefer not taking an arrow in the back, accidental or otherwise," he hefts his shield onto his other arm, testing it's weight. "Besides, this cave looks a little tight for bows, archer."
"I can hold a torch if you'd like," Rose says, her left hand open as her rapier is out in her right, "just, like the guy with the warhammer says, be careful with those shots okay?"
As the party moves in to the cave, because she's rather small Rose will have to clamber over those piles of rubble. (Athletics20) She is rather adept at this.
Graxx states, "Bah! I am over all this lolligaggin!" Graxx then quickly and carelessly with greataxe at the ready moves from D1 to D6 where the dimming of light begins to make him understand why the others were talking about torches.
Darrius will move up behind Rose with his torch in his right hand and one of his scimitars in his left. D4, I'm assuming Rose it at D5 because Graxx is at D6.
As you enter the cave, the light of the two torches takes over the small passageway leading to the southward bend. The rubble makes the way treacherous, and the muddy ground announces your arrival with a low slurping sound. Graxx loses his patience and bounds forward across the pile of rubble with ease. Rose, trying to keep up and maintain the barbarian's path illuminated, craftily weaves her way through the difficult terrain (Rose's athletics check). Their marching order now disturbed, the rest of the party tries to catch up. As they approach the corner, closely followed by Darrius (D4) and the rest of the party, they notice that their somewhat rushed approach likely announced their arrival. From the corner of her eye, Rose sees a couple of glinting beads buried deep in the wall ahead of them. The gnome realizes that those are eyes watching them from the other side of the wall, through hidden carved slits on the stone. The bright light of the torches act like a beacon to incoming attacks, as the watching eyes quickly shift into incoming spears aimed at Rose (E8) and Graxx (D6).
(OOC: The enemies are attacking from an unseen position, so they'd have advantage. Due to her perception roll, Rose can see them just in time, so I'm canceling their advantage against her).
Spear (ranged weapon attack) vs. Rose: Attack: 7Damage: 7. Your foe's aim was untrue and the spear hits one of the larger pieces of rubble near you.
Spear (ranged weapon attack) vs. Graxx: Attack: 18 Damage: 6. A grazing wound, but an unexpected one nonetheless. It hurts more than it should.
(OOC #2: In the image below, notice that the slits are now visible on the eastern wall. Enemies are on the other side of that. We are not in initiative yet, so feel free to just take your actions/movement in any order).
**OOC: I am not sure if I have to wait for others to make their move but if not I would like to attempt the following. I have updated my Char sheet with the damage.**
Graxx shouts "Cowards!" and charges from D6 to F9 get flat up against the wall and attempt to use the flat of his [item]greataxe[item] to obscure the vision of the southern slit.
*** Is there enough room in the slit for Darrius to attempt shooting an arrow through if he can get someone to hold his torch? Even if it's at disadvantage.
(OOC @Grx: HA! I love it! Great thinking. Give me a general strength check to see how well you hold your blocking of the southern slit, and how hard it would be for them to try to push you away).
(OOC @Jusblazm: You can definitely try to shoot an arrow there. No disadvantage, but 3/4 cover to the enemy. You could just also drop the torch).
Rose’s stealth check: you deduce the enemies probably saw you move behind the piece of rubble you selected (holding a torch and all), but it is bigger than you are, so you are confident that you broke their line of sight.
Utar surveys the scene, his eyes moving over the furrows in the earth, then up to the distant big on the horizon. "Well, there's the bog..."
One hand reaches towards his amulet, grasping it as he says a quick prayer to Torm and traces a a few lines in the air with his other hand at his side, casting guidance on himself.
Survival check - 20 plus 3
OOC - I was tempted to use the advantage offered by Darrius but thought if I can use guidance, I would leave it someone else.
Drazzim grumbles as he looks at the bog. His stocky build and heavy armour in sinky ground never gels well. He will hold his glaive in one hand, and occasionally uses the butt end to push the ground in front of him to check it is sturdy enough.
Current Player In: The Guild as Elsara Deepmoon
Cato will accept Darrius' help in examining the tracks in the ground.
Survival: 22
IRL: Dungeon Master--Adventures in the Cassitana Islands
PbP: Player--Esvaris Liadon, Wood Elf Monk 2/Cleric 2--Clerical Heirs: A Divine Mystery
Utar's survival check (I'll assume this information is relayed to the rest of the party):
Utar joins Rose in examining the tracks leading east into the bog. Little by little, they are able to discern and isolate pairs of footprints in an attempt to account for the number of foes they are likely to face. While doing so, they notice that each pair of prints looks a bit disjointed, as if the "nasty little munchkins" walked just as uncomfortably as the adventurers in the oil-rich soil. The steps are irregular, and the creatures making them are not necessarily light-footed. The prints are triangular shaped, and the marking of four clear claws adorn the edge of each step. Oily dirt also seems to be scooped up with each impression into the soil, as if to suggest a web between toes also aids these creatures' balance. In total, you gather the prints in the mud show that more than a dozen not-built but still medium-sized creatures passed through here today, their captives clearly being dragged through the mud.
As Drazzim takes the lead into the actual bog, the sight of his struggles spurs both Darrius and Cato to the front of the line.
Cato's survival check aided by Darrius (plain for all to see): Tracking through the bog is even harder than it was in the peat farm. The stench gets stronger, the mud thicker, the natural light dimmer, the insect hungrier. At first, the environment works against you, masking the footprints leading east. After about twelve to fifteen minutes of sheer frustration, Darrius finally picks up the creatures' trails once again. Excited about adventuring out in the open environs, Cato jumps to action examining each footprint carefully. The sage is able to deduce that at some point during their traversing of the bog, the creatures forced their captives to stand up and walk by themselves back towards whatever hideout they were destined. The trails make it appear that about a dozen prisoners were being taken along, some of which were clearly children.
After traversing the swampy bog for what feels like at least an hour, the party finally comes to the end of a now distinctly marked trail on less troublesome, drier ground. The path leads directly into the mouth of a cave in the side of a hill rising from the bog. Brush and other low vegetation provide for some natural cover as you approach, allowing you to easily observe that at the entrance, a good 35 to 40 feet away from where you now stand, a purplish-shaded creature wearing a simple, brown hide tunic and wielding a spear and shield is talking to a human-sized figured dressed in heavy cloaks that obscure his face. The voice is male and human-sounding. They speak in Common, although the creature displays an obvious difficulty with the unfamiliar language.
The bulgy-eyed, fish-scaled humanoid says in broken Common, thinking hard after each word. “One... group... return...raid; Bring... prisoners; Others... return... soon; No... more... snake... coin... people... find.” The human nods and says, “Excellent. Tell Kloogut that my friends and I will pay lots of coin and give lots of gifts for all of the dragon artifacts you can find. And capture any other humans who you find near your home.” The creature nods and enters the cave, while the cloaked figure whispers a word and simply vanishes. An occasional gurgle followed by muffled human screams echo from within, as if to serve as ambient noise to the exchange that just happened.
Cato will consider what he knows of scaled humanoids to deduce what sort of creature that was.
Nature check: 22
"That cave, it would appear, is our objective. Should we approach? And what of the cloaked man. Is he gone or only invisible? Some creatures can do that, you know."
IRL: Dungeon Master--Adventures in the Cassitana Islands
PbP: Player--Esvaris Liadon, Wood Elf Monk 2/Cleric 2--Clerical Heirs: A Divine Mystery
"Who cares? We should go in there and kick those bug-eyes things right in the keester. No takin' prisoners today." Drazzim says. He keeps his glaive in both hands and gets ready to march on the cave.
Current Player In: The Guild as Elsara Deepmoon
“I’m with the dwarf! I hope the human is invisible. Will save us the time of hunting them down”, says Graxx as he rotates his greataxe never taking his eyes off the cave.
Cato's nature check:
You are pretty sure these creatures are known by the popular name "kuo-toa", named as such long ago after the common gurgling noise they make when attempting to speak out of the water. This is Cato's first time seeing one such creature alive in the wild, having dissected one many years ago as part of an university study. Here is some general information Cato recalls on the kuo-toa:
-- Kuo-toa are degenerate fishlike humanoids that once inhabited the shores and islands of the surface world. Long ago humans and their ilk drove the kuo-toa underground, where they dwell in madness and everlasting night. Kuo-toa can no longer abide daylight and rarely come to the surface, but some sightings have been registered over the years. They can both live in and out of the water, rely on their slippery bodies and on their natural rubbery scales for protection, seem particular keen on pinpointing the location of those that rely on invisibility to hide (no simple darkvision, mind you, although they have that too), and like to wear jewelry made from scavenged bones, shells, pearls, gems, and carapace fragments.
-- Of their formation, it is rumored that the mysterious creatures known as the mind flayers used to capture kuo-toa by the thousands and force them into bondage, although no real proof of this has ever surfaced. Scholars theorize that the kuo-toa were simple creatures, never meant to endure the oppressive mental force the illithids unleashed against them. By the time the mind flayers abandoned them, the prolonged psychic subjugation endured by the kuo-toa had driven them mad. Their minds shattered beyond repair, the leading theory goes, the kuo-toa adopted a religious fervor, inventing gods to protect them against threats. Most notable of these threats are the drow, which have slain the kuo-toa on sight since the days when the two races first met (of this there is some verifiable proof).
As you look into the cave from a distance, each of you notices that although daylight illuminates a few feet beyond the entrance, what lies beyond is likely to be hidden in complete darkness. More specifically, although the initial passage is unlit, the sunlight reaches far enough into the 10-foot-wide cave passage to let you see that it travels about 25 feet before turning south. Piles of rubble are strewn in the passage, large enough to partially obstruct your view.
(OOC: Please see grid below for details. When posting, make sure you mention which square your character is moving to, sort of like chess. Map will expand as you explore).
***Are we currently at D3/E3?
Darrius pulls a torch from his pack "Does anyone mind? I won't be able to see without one. On another note, I fight best with my bow. I will use my blade if I need to hold the torch, but would anyone mind carrying the torch?" He waits to see if everyone is OK with him lighting the torch, before lighting it.
A Graduation to be Remembered | A Village Bathed in Crimson
Utar readies his warhammer, practising a few one handed swings. He looks to Darrius "I think we'd all prefer not taking an arrow in the back, accidental or otherwise," he hefts his shield onto his other arm, testing it's weight. "Besides, this cave looks a little tight for bows, archer."
"I can hold a torch if you'd like," Rose says, her left hand open as her rapier is out in her right, "just, like the guy with the warhammer says, be careful with those shots okay?"
As the party moves in to the cave, because she's rather small Rose will have to clamber over those piles of rubble. (Athletics 20) She is rather adept at this.
Graxx states, "Bah! I am over all this lolligaggin!" Graxx then quickly and carelessly with greataxe at the ready moves from D1 to D6 where the dimming of light begins to make him understand why the others were talking about torches.
Rose hurries over with the torch, lighting the way for Graxx.
Darrius will move up behind Rose with his torch in his right hand and one of his scimitars in his left. D4, I'm assuming Rose it at D5 because Graxx is at D6.
A Graduation to be Remembered | A Village Bathed in Crimson
As we round the corner (E-8), do we see anything new? (Perception 21)
As you enter the cave, the light of the two torches takes over the small passageway leading to the southward bend. The rubble makes the way treacherous, and the muddy ground announces your arrival with a low slurping sound. Graxx loses his patience and bounds forward across the pile of rubble with ease. Rose, trying to keep up and maintain the barbarian's path illuminated, craftily weaves her way through the difficult terrain (Rose's athletics check). Their marching order now disturbed, the rest of the party tries to catch up. As they approach the corner, closely followed by Darrius (D4) and the rest of the party, they notice that their somewhat rushed approach likely announced their arrival. From the corner of her eye, Rose sees a couple of glinting beads buried deep in the wall ahead of them. The gnome realizes that those are eyes watching them from the other side of the wall, through hidden carved slits on the stone. The bright light of the torches act like a beacon to incoming attacks, as the watching eyes quickly shift into incoming spears aimed at Rose (E8) and Graxx (D6).
(OOC: The enemies are attacking from an unseen position, so they'd have advantage. Due to her perception roll, Rose can see them just in time, so I'm canceling their advantage against her).
Spear (ranged weapon attack) vs. Rose: Attack: 7
Damage: 7.Your foe's aim was untrue and the spear hits one of the larger pieces of rubble near you.Spear (ranged weapon attack) vs. Graxx: Attack: 18 Damage: 6. A grazing wound, but an unexpected one nonetheless. It hurts more than it should.
(OOC #2: In the image below, notice that the slits are now visible on the eastern wall. Enemies are on the other side of that. We are not in initiative yet, so feel free to just take your actions/movement in any order).
"Watch out!", Rose shouts, too late for Graxx unfortunately. "Take cover!" She hides behind a large piece of rubble. (Stealth 8)
**OOC: I am not sure if I have to wait for others to make their move but if not I would like to attempt the following. I have updated my Char sheet with the damage.**
Graxx shouts "Cowards!" and charges from D6 to F9 get flat up against the wall and attempt to use the flat of his [item]greataxe[item] to obscure the vision of the southern slit.
*** Is there enough room in the slit for Darrius to attempt shooting an arrow through if he can get someone to hold his torch? Even if it's at disadvantage.
A Graduation to be Remembered | A Village Bathed in Crimson
(OOC @Grx: HA! I love it! Great thinking. Give me a general strength check to see how well you hold your blocking of the southern slit, and how hard it would be for them to try to push you away).
(OOC @Jusblazm: You can definitely try to shoot an arrow there. No disadvantage, but 3/4 cover to the enemy. You could just also drop the torch).
Rose’s stealth check: you deduce the enemies probably saw you move behind the piece of rubble you selected (holding a torch and all), but it is bigger than you are, so you are confident that you broke their line of sight.