You have killed the troglodyte. Its eyes roll backward, and it slumps against its bindings. Oh, and since you're close enough to be in melee, roll a DC 12 CON save because of the stench.
"Oh..." Val says in surprise. "I guess you went in too hard with that dagger. Did you have to aim for his neck?"
"Arhm... it doesn't matter. Let us just pick up our things and look into that lair of worshipers as we had originally planned. They clearly have a numbers' advantage on us, so we might want to approach this a bit more quietly than we usually do." He thinks for a moment and clicks his tongue. "But that is not our style, is it?"
…she stares at the dead thing, a bit shook. “I didn’t mean to… I mean… by the hooked hands that thing stinks.” She backs away, and doesn’t look at it while she cleans her dagger. “I’ve been all out of sorts,” she confesses to Val. “I think maybe the smart play *would* be to sneak up in it… let’s give it a try.” She prepares to enter the cave, but she’s not going first.
Val carefully walks through the trees, making barely any sound. While his eyes are mostly trained on the dark shape in the mountain ahead (what he assumes is the cave), he is keenly aware of their surroundings. When Evy steps on a branch, causing a rather loud cracking sound, the male cousin stops mid step and closes his eyes to sigh. He doesn't look back, but continues forward, moving steadily closer. *CRACK* This time, he turns his head to look at Evy, who is standing with one foot in the air and grimacing. He thinks about raising a finger to his lips, but decides to not goad her. He continues moving on, realizing the cave is larger than he had anticipated. Once he is upon it, Val sees the cave opening is about 15 feet wide and 10 feet tall.
Looking in, you can see that the wide tunnel opens up after about 30-35 feet, but you can't really make out anything other than that.
Both of you roll either investigation or survival.
Nice! After taking a minute to look around the mouth of the cave, you determine the cave's mouth was recently visited by 25 troglodytes, the thessalhydra, and an owlbear.
Evy turns out to be some kind of tracking savant and rattles off, quietly, all the things that have been through here recently. “24… no, 25 troglodytes, the monster and an owlbear.”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
"We are definitely outnumbered here." Val comments. "I doubt we can keep this sneaky approach all the way through the cave, but it might be our best chance to thin out the group before we find this Thessalhydra." He thinks for a bit and adds: "An owlbear, you said? I bet this thing can smell us from a mile away."
“Wait, we have a plan?!” she jokes. “How unlike us. We shouldn’t let anyone know, they’ll start calling us the Careful Planning Cousins.” She stares into the dark cave.
”That said, with so many moving pieces in there, maybe we can sow some chaos and even the odds. That sounds more like us. We should look for those opportunities.”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Val takes the lead, walking into the cave mouth with Evy following at a safe distance behind. All three kinds of tracks precede him, but after only about 10 feet, dirt gives way to mostly stone, and the footprints become indiscernible.
Twenty feet in, Val pauses as the wide tunnel turn into an open cave. Nothing moves within, and nothing catches his eye except that there are three more passages: one to the left, one straight ahead, and one to the right.
If his eyes are not giving any indication of what may be ahead or what path to follow from here, Val will instead rely on his hearing sense. With a hand gesture or two, he asks his cousin to stay as quiet as she can and invites hear to listen for clues alongside him.
With no hesitation, Evy pulls her dagger and stabs the troglodyte while reciting the alphabet in Infernal.
Intimidation: 13
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
You have killed the troglodyte. Its eyes roll backward, and it slumps against its bindings. Oh, and since you're close enough to be in melee, roll a DC 12 CON save because of the stench.
"Oh..." Val says in surprise. "I guess you went in too hard with that dagger. Did you have to aim for his neck?"
"Arhm... it doesn't matter. Let us just pick up our things and look into that lair of worshipers as we had originally planned. They clearly have a numbers' advantage on us, so we might want to approach this a bit more quietly than we usually do." He thinks for a moment and clicks his tongue. "But that is not our style, is it?"
Evy’s Con Save: 23
…she stares at the dead thing, a bit shook. “I didn’t mean to… I mean… by the hooked hands that thing stinks.” She backs away, and doesn’t look at it while she cleans her dagger. “I’ve been all out of sorts,” she confesses to Val. “I think maybe the smart play *would* be to sneak up in it… let’s give it a try.” She prepares to enter the cave, but she’s not going first.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
"Alright" he holds his cousin's upper arm as a sign of comfort. "I'll try to be quiet. Follow my lead."
-> Val's stealth check: 17
Evy will nod, and follow a good ten feet distant, also trying to stay quiet. Stealth: 4
Huh.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Val carefully walks through the trees, making barely any sound. While his eyes are mostly trained on the dark shape in the mountain ahead (what he assumes is the cave), he is keenly aware of their surroundings. When Evy steps on a branch, causing a rather loud cracking sound, the male cousin stops mid step and closes his eyes to sigh. He doesn't look back, but continues forward, moving steadily closer. *CRACK* This time, he turns his head to look at Evy, who is standing with one foot in the air and grimacing. He thinks about raising a finger to his lips, but decides to not goad her. He continues moving on, realizing the cave is larger than he had anticipated. Once he is upon it, Val sees the cave opening is about 15 feet wide and 10 feet tall.
Looking in, you can see that the wide tunnel opens up after about 30-35 feet, but you can't really make out anything other than that.
Both of you roll either investigation or survival.
-> Val's survival check: 18
Evy’s investigation (is this girl good at *anything*?): 18
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Nice! After taking a minute to look around the mouth of the cave, you determine the cave's mouth was recently visited by 25 troglodytes, the thessalhydra, and an owlbear.
Evy turns out to be some kind of tracking savant and rattles off, quietly, all the things that have been through here recently. “24… no, 25 troglodytes, the monster and an owlbear.”
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
"We are definitely outnumbered here." Val comments. "I doubt we can keep this sneaky approach all the way through the cave, but it might be our best chance to thin out the group before we find this Thessalhydra." He thinks for a bit and adds: "An owlbear, you said? I bet this thing can smell us from a mile away."
“Owlbears are so territorial, I can’t imagine it lives peacefully with all these others… I wish I could tell how old some of these tracks are…”
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
"Maybe tamed then, or on a leash... perhaps even wild but caged. Either way, it should still be an opponent from our point of view."
"Shall we continue onward or do you propose any tweaks to our plan?"
“Wait, we have a plan?!” she jokes. “How unlike us. We shouldn’t let anyone know, they’ll start calling us the Careful Planning Cousins.” She stares into the dark cave.
”That said, with so many moving pieces in there, maybe we can sow some chaos and even the odds. That sounds more like us. We should look for those opportunities.”
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
"That does sound more like us. Let's go."
Evy indicates that Val should lead, and follows about ten feet behind, her wand out, other hand on her dagger.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
The tracks were recent.
Val takes the lead, walking into the cave mouth with Evy following at a safe distance behind. All three kinds of tracks precede him, but after only about 10 feet, dirt gives way to mostly stone, and the footprints become indiscernible.
Twenty feet in, Val pauses as the wide tunnel turn into an open cave. Nothing moves within, and nothing catches his eye except that there are three more passages: one to the left, one straight ahead, and one to the right.
If his eyes are not giving any indication of what may be ahead or what path to follow from here, Val will instead rely on his hearing sense. With a hand gesture or two, he asks his cousin to stay as quiet as she can and invites hear to listen for clues alongside him.
-> Val's perception check: 19
Evy will approach the intersection cautiously, and also listen… Perception: 6
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.