Barty's "Lost Mine of Phandelver"

Argos glances back on Tarok and responds to Cinis, "Aye, he's tired, but no more than I was earlier. We can't just idle here in the inn for a whole other day. We have declared war against these Redbrands, and have just spent the past eight hours sleeping. We have lost enough time as it is, and as cruel as it may sound to say it, we can't wait an entire extra day for Tarok to recover. We need to strike hard and true as soon as possible, or I fear that the Redbrands will descend upon this town and wreak havoc."

Argos then turns to the rest of the party, "But if the rest of ya see fit to wait yet another day, then so be it. There's little I can or would do to stop you, and I can't take on the Redbrands myself." Argos continues to gulp on ale and chomp on food.

"I agree with Argos" says Nemean calmly "If we wait here we are inviting the Redbrands to come and bring the fight to us, and that would endanger these fine people." he gestures towards townsfolk around the inn. "The Redbrands won't take this morning's attack lightly, and I'm sure they will seek their revenge upon us soon. If we strike now using their hidden entrance in the woods we can get the jump on them and take the advantage. This late at night the Redbrands will probably be in a drunken stupor, we can be sneaky and take out as many as we can stealthily instead of attacking them head on. We can fall back through the tunnel if we must."

He turns slowly to Tarok "However, ultimately I think Tarok should decide. Not only does he know himself, but he also knows the Redbrands better than any of us, what do you think my friend?"

OOC: It does seem crazy to me how the mechanics dictate that exhaustion carries such a heavy penalty. Nemean jumped off a cliff and nearly died but was able to recover much faster than Tarok who stayed on his feet and just chased down the bugbear a bit too far and then marched through the night. The spell that removes it is Greater Restoration, but its a 5 lvl spell! The same as Raise Dead. Exhaustion is basically like a curse in 5e. Will take those exhaustion checks much more seriously from now on!

OOC: I look at it as a combination of physical and mental fatigue, you're not just taking a beating, you're pushing past your physical and mental limits. It does definitely feel like it could stand to use a couple of extra levels between "perfectly fine" and "disadvantage on any single ability check".

It hasn't quite been 24 hours yet, so I'll give Tarok a little more time to respond. I'll assume we're heading to the woods entrance otherwise. 

OOC: Alright, moving on then.

The path to the woods takes you first past the Townmaster's Hall, and then past the largest farm in town. A halfling woman can be seen picking berries in the field, while a small halfling boy darts between the bushes, fighting some imagined fiend. He makes a beeline for you when he sees you on the road. "Carp! Get back here this instant!" the woman yells and hustles after him.

"Are you the adventurers who defeated those bad guys?" he asks excitedly, "I want to be an adventurer someday! Are you going to their secret tunnel? I can take you there! I saw it when I was playing in the--". He is suddenly cut off when his mother arrives, yanking him by the ear.

"Carp, what did I tell you about making up stories? I'm sorry sirs, my son is given to flights of fancy at times. Quite an imagination on this one. I'm Qelline Alderleaf, welcome to my farm. Is there some business I can help you with, or are you just out and about?"

(OOC: Picking berries and playing outside after midnight?  Nevermind. I've been completely out of it and missed that we spent the night at the inn after our fight.)

 "We're actually headed to the not-so-secret tunnel your son just mentioned. If it's not too much trouble, we would love to have a guide so we don't spend too much time looking for it. We'll keep him safe and send him right back as soon as we've found it, of course." Cinis said to the halfling woman, trying to be as polite as possible. 

OOC: There's confusion all around right now, partially my fail at description - it is close to midnight, after a long rest but some in the town are still active and there is light at the farm. The woman is hard at work even at this hour (she tends the farm all by herself with her son).

OOC: Sorry guys. Happy to go forward, my combat checks should be most of what I need (I hope)

"We need his help to drive the Redbrands out of this town for good. If this tunnel exists, it could go a long way for that cause" Tarok adds, coming out of his lull.

Qelline pulls Carp defensively toward her as she processes the sudden information. "Carp will most certainly not be guiding a group of adventurers through the woods this late at night, regardless of intent. However, you say this tunnel of his actually exists? I thought it was just a child's mind at work. That means his story about nearly being caught by the Redbrands was..." she blanches and doesn't finish the thought. "Can you tell them where the tunnel is, Carp?" she asks.

Carp bobs up and down excitedly as he provides directions to the tunnel. "There's a trail in the woods that leads to the stream! There's a big rock on one side that hides the tunnel. You have to go to the other side of it to see it!"

OOC: No Wisdom (Survival) check is needed to find the entrance to the tunnel now.

Argos chimes in after hearing the idea of bringing the kid along, "We should, under no circumstance, bring the kid along. It would be irresponsible to bring him along on such a dangerous mission. I think we can find the tunnel with this information, thank you Carp, and good luck to you miss Alderleaf."

Argos pats Carp on the head then prepares to head out into the woods to the tunnel entrance.

OOC: Sorry for my lack of posting. I had an unexpected busy couple of days, but I'm back and ready to get back into action.

Nemean waves politely at the boy and his mom, he turned to his companions and spoke quietly "You know I wasn't much older than him when I started to learn to fight..." he boasted as they began to walked away. "I use to sneak out into the woods too, and it wasn't long after that I started to learn how to shoot a bow, it was all downhill from there my friends, but look at me now, I turned out just fine. Parents here are so protective of their children, but they need to grow up someday. Then again... I suppose the Halflings don't, HAHAHA! I am right Sildar? Get it?" Nemean continued to chuckle at his own joke, very pleased with himself. 

Sildar chuckles and shakes his head, "Glad to see your unique sense of humor hasn't changed, friend."

True to Carp's word, a large rock by the stream in the woods hides a narrow entrance to a tunnel from view. The tunnel is dimly lit by light from oil lamps from further within. A cold breeze flows toward you from a large cavern ahead, carrying with it the faint scent of decaying flesh. A crevasse divides the cavern and is flanked by two rough stone columns that support the twenty-foot-high ceiling. Two arched wooden bridges span the chasm.

Tracking:
The cavern opens up 15 feet ahead of you. The two bridges are 25 and 55 feet north of you, crossing the crevasse to the east.

OOC: I'd be hard pressed to ask for better posting from you guys, you've all been fantastic players so far, and I hope you're having half as much fun as I am. The descriptive posting and conversations in Phandalin were excellent, so any characters who did not have inspiration now have it.

Argos shudders a bit at the smell of decay and whispers to his allies, "What the hell are they doing in there? It smells of death."

Argos then quietly draws his two shortswords and begins to sneak forward, expecting the others to follow. He stops just short of the crevasse and looks down. He also observes the other surroundings, seeing if there was something he missed from outside the tunnel.

Stealth: 6

Perception: 16

OOC: Curse this armor! I had rolled a nat 20 on my Stealth but my armor makes me roll it with disadvantage.

Tarok's hand goes toward his sword hilt instinctively at the scent of rotting flesh.  He scans the area through narrowed eyes, trying to discern the source of the foul odors.

Perception (Disadvantage): 13

OOC: I'm having a great time! Thanks for running the campaign so well.

Nemean sheathes his scimitars and draws his longbow. He keeps a sharp eye out as he prowls along the shadows.

stealth 16

OOC: I’m also having a great time, thanks!

Tarok draws his greatsword and tries to follow Nemean's lead and make himself hard to spot.

Stealth (Disadvantage): 7

 There are tunnels to the west, northwest, and southeast, and further north is a room that looks less natural than the cavern. The crevasse is 20 feet deep, but the rough walls look easily climbable. While investigating the crevasse, Argos hears a voice.

Argos:

Tracking:
The west and northwest tunnels are on your side of the bridge.
The east tunnel and north room are on the other side of the north or south bridges.

Cinis follows behind the group but, seeing how noisy they are, drops any guise of stealth. He heads for the bridge to cross the crevasse and explore the opposite side. 

"What the hell!?" Argos exclaims loudly, looking around the cave room for the source of the voice.

Cinis turns around and shoots Argos a glare.

At that moment, the bridge underneath Cinis's feet crumbles, dropping him 20 feet into the crevasse below. He lands prone on loose gravel, taking 4 bludgeoning damage. 

The bottom of the crevasse feels unnaturally cold. Heaped at the bottom among broken and well-gnawed bones is a half eaten body. At the north end of the crevasse, underneath the intact bridge, is a battered wooden chest.

Argos: