One of the haggard prisoners raises their head and just says "safe enough, unless you drink it or drown in it, I suppose."
Ula, you see no visible source for the pool. Nothing in the cavern is feeding into the pool. It looks to be at least 30' deep, but you can't be sure as the it gets murky below and the dim light in the cavern doesn't show all the way to the bottom. It runs maybe 40' in length but only 10' across at it's widest.
There doesn't appear to be anything swimming about either. Touching it, smelling it, even tasting it reveals sea water with a hint of mineral/metallic taste to it.
Without another word or any warning, Ula walks forward into the pool. If it’s a gradual decline in or a sudden plunge she welcomes it either way. She moves unhurriedly, and enters without any rush or fear…
She moves into the water until she is entirely submerged, only surfacing a few long seconds later, to bob serenely at the surface, her head and shoulders showing again, as she calmly treads water there.
Avaria watches as Ula just jumps in the pool of water. She smiles as she does, admiring her sense of spirit. Avaria turns back to the the old woman, "So what do they keep us here for? I'm assuming to fight again in the arena? Are you all fighters? What do we fight and how often?"
Ula’s dunk in the pool seems almost like a baptism or like worship. She moves thoughtfully and reverently. She eventually wades to the side and sits on the edge. She closes her eyes and spends a few moments praying, with her hands hovering over the surface of the water…
Whoever she was praying to must have responded kindly. Ula seems stronger, more vital somehow. Even her bruises seem to look slightly better.
After around 10 minutes, she takes a final deep cleansing breath. As she breaths out, a faint, almost imperceptible glow seems to emanate from the pool in front of her. The water becomes clearer, and looks and smells cleaner, and almost seems ‘sweet’, compared to the saline tang coming from it previously.
She stands from the edge of the pool and takes a step back. “Istishia — God of Elemental Water — answers my prayers this day!… This water is purified by his grace… It has been cleansed … and is safe to drink from…”. As if to convince the onlookers, she reaches down and cups a small amount of water in her hand and drinks it down. “It’s good!… If you are thirsty, please, come and drink of these waters here”. The water looks very inviting and crystal clear.
Ula kneels at the waters edge and repeats the ritual ((attempting to purify some of the deeper waters too, and to keep the top 20ft or so completely fresh)).
((OOC details…))
On level up, Ula takes another spell: purify food and drink, casting it as a ritual, to purify the top 10ft then the next 10ft of water creating a less dense (and quite deep) layer of salt-and-impurity-free water floating on any denser salty water below.
Ula is obviously buoyed by the minor miracle, and from the divine favour of her god. She has a serene and gentle smile as she turns towards Marin’s complement. “With fresh air”, she looks up, “some shelter”, she throws her arms wide, “and now clean drinking water…”, she clenches her fist, “we can survive for days, rest and regain our strength”.
She does sit beside Marrin. Then she leans back and breathes long and deep, seemingly reasonably content.
Ethlehyn's eyes narrow briefly when Xanthe makes presumptions about her past... but she pushes the impulse to retort aside. There is far too much work to be done to start a feud with the other prisoners. At her inquiry of Ethel's interest in the saltwater, she replies, "No reason, yet. Just thinking, that's all. I apologize if I appear brusque... it has been a frustrating morning."
As the others gather, she goes back to sit with them. "Excellent work, all of you. Out there in the arena, I mean. It is a shame about the gnome, but all things considered it could have gone much, much worse." She eases into a cross-legged sitting position and lays her spellbook in her lap. Then she lowers her voice, trying to evade any lurking ears.
"Our generous hosts asked that I come up with some new spells to dazzle their audience. I for one, am less inclined to craft magic with which to murder these poor folk in the arena," she waves a hand toward Xanthe and her people, "than I am to design something that will help get us out of here. Toward that end, I can go in many different directions, but I need to know more about what each of you brings to the table. At the risk of showing all your cards, what exactly are each of you capable of? Can you use magic? If so, have you any spells that might be useful in escape? Can you pick locks, with the proper tools?"
"Once I have a better understanding of what you can do, I can decide which direction to go in my spell studies." She looks around at the group, making eye contact. "I'm not going to die here... and I don't want to see any of you die here either. Let us make a pact... sisters in arms as it were, for purposes of obtaining our freedom. Let all of us work together, and let none be left behind."
She will also lean over toward Ula and whisper, in Dwarvish:
What are the chances a disciple of Istishia could ask her god if any of these pools connect to the sea?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Once Xanthe answers Avaria's questions the best the woman can, Ava heads over to the rest of her group and joins them. Taking solace in the fact she feels she has made some friends, even locked in a cavern underground as it may be.
In answer to Ethel's question, Avaria shrugs and looks a bit abashed, "I'm sorry, other than possibly breaking something, I don't think I'm much help. But I'll protect you all to the best of my abilities."
Ula answers Ethel quietly in common, “Aside from my strength, my magic is mainly healing and protection…”.
Then she would continue in dwarvish…
“I can’t directly ask my god like that, no…. That is to say, I could ask… but that’s not how the answers are ’served’ back to me… If that makes sense… They say that the gods move in mysterious ways… Mine has rarely given me a straight answer to a straight question”.
In common, “I could dive in and take a look though…”.
She stands, and takes a few deep breaths, contemplating if that’s a good idea or not.
Ula crouches by the pool again, looking slightly puzzled. She squints at it and dips her fingers into it and taste it again. She wrinkles her nose at the taste and sighs.
”Oh… Maybe my ritual wasn’t as potent as I thought… Looks like I can’t purify a pool this wide or deep… hmmm… Bother!… I’ll have to meditate on a better solution”.
She still looks like she might jump back in though, and explore, if asked.
((OOC: lol sorry… did the maths wrong on purify food and drink! Only a faction of the pool was purified. Need to think of a better method for drinking water. They’ll probably just bring some, but would be nice not to have to rely on it))
Marrin rolls her eyes at Ethel's speech and says to Jan in a false whisper,
"I guess certain declarations against our captors are of a higher quality than others."
She then wiggles her fingers so a bit of sparks appear above them in response to Ethel's question says dryly, and quietly,
"People enjoy listening to me, it has a soothing, encouraging and, some might even say, healing effect. I also have knack for finding, and saying, what upsets people."
She says to Ava, encouragingly, with a small smile,
"You've more than proved that you'll be of help in anything we do!"
She winces on Ula's realization she was actually drinking her bath water.
"You'd be surprised what some people will pay for. With the right marketing, and the right connections, we could probably make a mint off Ula's sweaty bathwater."
Jan clears her throat and addresses Ethel.
"I've only shown one spell in front of Hargrove the younger, the one I used when we fought the rats and the squid, makes daggers, bolts or spells do from me do more damage against them. I suspect that's partly how he clocked that my ring was a magical focus."
"I can make people see or hear things that aren't there, though I need my ring or a bit of fleece to do that. I can also take on the appearance of anyone I wish."
"I can be quite convincing when I need to, potentially bending the weak willed against their normal actions. I can potentially move and manipulate things at a distance, though I need my ring for that and am tired, may need to rest first."
"Perhaps most usefully, I can summon my ring to me... though if I do so, they will surely know that something is up, but if I have my ring in hand, I can potentially get into the hallway. Did anyone notice if the door at the other end of the hallway, connected to the room with they keys, has any sort of grate or peephole?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM:Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Avaria manages to get an answer out of Xanthe before joining the others.
"I'm not much of a fighter" Xanthe says, "but I do my best to keep the group here healthy. And yes they mostly want fighters, but they pulls us out to clean sometimes, or to help unload one of the ships that comes to the grotto. This group almost never fights each other, but the Hargroves do like to pit the groups in the different caves against each other. Or against some poor hapless animal they find. They're creative in what they stage."
Before she says more she leaves to check on a couple of the other prisoners.
But as you all gather together, one of the hardier looking halflings pipes up and says that he's hear it’s possible to win freedom by winning ten battles in a row.
Ula feels a temporary increased connection with Istishia, which may have given her more power than she’d expected, but yes, unfortunately it was fleeting. The size of the pool of water would likely let her change a thin layer on the top but it would take a concerted effort to get to a depth of 10' again.
Ula - perception check please.
Ula’s perception check: 15
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
One of the haggard prisoners raises their head and just says "safe enough, unless you drink it or drown in it, I suppose."
Ula, you see no visible source for the pool. Nothing in the cavern is feeding into the pool. It looks to be at least 30' deep, but you can't be sure as the it gets murky below and the dim light in the cavern doesn't show all the way to the bottom. It runs maybe 40' in length but only 10' across at it's widest.
There doesn't appear to be anything swimming about either. Touching it, smelling it, even tasting it reveals sea water with a hint of mineral/metallic taste to it.
Without another word or any warning, Ula walks forward into the pool. If it’s a gradual decline in or a sudden plunge she welcomes it either way. She moves unhurriedly, and enters without any rush or fear…
She moves into the water until she is entirely submerged, only surfacing a few long seconds later, to bob serenely at the surface, her head and shoulders showing again, as she calmly treads water there.
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
Jan looks up in surprise when Ethel chimes in on the quiet conversation she was having with Marrin. Nothing wrong with her ears...
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
Avaria watches as Ula just jumps in the pool of water. She smiles as she does, admiring her sense of spirit. Avaria turns back to the the old woman, "So what do they keep us here for? I'm assuming to fight again in the arena? Are you all fighters? What do we fight and how often?"
Marrin snorts derisively at Ethel's comment and says to Jan, not bothering with the elven,
"Impressive how perceptive she is, we would have missed that otherwise. I can only hope she manages to find that weak link and save us."
At Hammerdasher's response she sighs and pats him on the shoulder.
"Rest up."
She looks to the south on the mention of orcs and listens for movement or voices.
Perception: 4
Ula’s dunk in the pool seems almost like a baptism or like worship. She moves thoughtfully and reverently. She eventually wades to the side and sits on the edge. She closes her eyes and spends a few moments praying, with her hands hovering over the surface of the water…
Whoever she was praying to must have responded kindly. Ula seems stronger, more vital somehow. Even her bruises seem to look slightly better.
After around 10 minutes, she takes a final deep cleansing breath. As she breaths out, a faint, almost imperceptible glow seems to emanate from the pool in front of her. The water becomes clearer, and looks and smells cleaner, and almost seems ‘sweet’, compared to the saline tang coming from it previously.
She stands from the edge of the pool and takes a step back. “Istishia — God of Elemental Water — answers my prayers this day!… This water is purified by his grace… It has been cleansed … and is safe to drink from…”. As if to convince the onlookers, she reaches down and cups a small amount of water in her hand and drinks it down. “It’s good!… If you are thirsty, please, come and drink of these waters here”. The water looks very inviting and crystal clear.
Ula kneels at the waters edge and repeats the ritual ((attempting to purify some of the deeper waters too, and to keep the top 20ft or so completely fresh)).
((OOC details…))
On level up, Ula takes another spell: purify food and drink, casting it as a ritual, to purify the top 10ft then the next 10ft of water creating a less dense (and quite deep) layer of salt-and-impurity-free water floating on any denser salty water below.
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
Marrin watches as Ula climbs out of the water and then take a drink, eyebrows raised. She whispers to Hammerdasher,
"Drinking her bathwater? She did get hit quite hard before..."
Marrin gives Jan and Ava a look of concern before calling Ula over,
"Ula, hey! Great work, why don't you come and have a seat beside us here, catch your breath."
Ula is obviously buoyed by the minor miracle, and from the divine favour of her god. She has a serene and gentle smile as she turns towards Marin’s complement. “With fresh air”, she looks up, “some shelter”, she throws her arms wide, “and now clean drinking water…”, she clenches her fist, “we can survive for days, rest and regain our strength”.
She does sit beside Marrin. Then she leans back and breathes long and deep, seemingly reasonably content.
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
Ethlehyn's eyes narrow briefly when Xanthe makes presumptions about her past... but she pushes the impulse to retort aside. There is far too much work to be done to start a feud with the other prisoners. At her inquiry of Ethel's interest in the saltwater, she replies, "No reason, yet. Just thinking, that's all. I apologize if I appear brusque... it has been a frustrating morning."
As the others gather, she goes back to sit with them. "Excellent work, all of you. Out there in the arena, I mean. It is a shame about the gnome, but all things considered it could have gone much, much worse." She eases into a cross-legged sitting position and lays her spellbook in her lap. Then she lowers her voice, trying to evade any lurking ears.
"Our generous hosts asked that I come up with some new spells to dazzle their audience. I for one, am less inclined to craft magic with which to murder these poor folk in the arena," she waves a hand toward Xanthe and her people, "than I am to design something that will help get us out of here. Toward that end, I can go in many different directions, but I need to know more about what each of you brings to the table. At the risk of showing all your cards, what exactly are each of you capable of? Can you use magic? If so, have you any spells that might be useful in escape? Can you pick locks, with the proper tools?"
"Once I have a better understanding of what you can do, I can decide which direction to go in my spell studies." She looks around at the group, making eye contact. "I'm not going to die here... and I don't want to see any of you die here either. Let us make a pact... sisters in arms as it were, for purposes of obtaining our freedom. Let all of us work together, and let none be left behind."
She will also lean over toward Ula and whisper, in Dwarvish:
What are the chances a disciple of Istishia could ask her god if any of these pools connect to the sea?
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Once Xanthe answers Avaria's questions the best the woman can, Ava heads over to the rest of her group and joins them. Taking solace in the fact she feels she has made some friends, even locked in a cavern underground as it may be.
In answer to Ethel's question, Avaria shrugs and looks a bit abashed, "I'm sorry, other than possibly breaking something, I don't think I'm much help. But I'll protect you all to the best of my abilities."
Ula answers Ethel quietly in common, “Aside from my strength, my magic is mainly healing and protection…”.
Then she would continue in dwarvish…
“I can’t directly ask my god like that, no…. That is to say, I could ask… but that’s not how the answers are ’served’ back to me… If that makes sense… They say that the gods move in mysterious ways… Mine has rarely given me a straight answer to a straight question”.
In common, “I could dive in and take a look though…”.
She stands, and takes a few deep breaths, contemplating if that’s a good idea or not.
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
Ula crouches by the pool again, looking slightly puzzled. She squints at it and dips her fingers into it and taste it again. She wrinkles her nose at the taste and sighs.
”Oh… Maybe my ritual wasn’t as potent as I thought… Looks like I can’t purify a pool this wide or deep… hmmm… Bother!… I’ll have to meditate on a better solution”.
She still looks like she might jump back in though, and explore, if asked.
((OOC: lol sorry… did the maths wrong on purify food and drink! Only a faction of the pool was purified. Need to think of a better method for drinking water. They’ll probably just bring some, but would be nice not to have to rely on it))
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
Marrin rolls her eyes at Ethel's speech and says to Jan in a false whisper,
"I guess certain declarations against our captors are of a higher quality than others."
She then wiggles her fingers so a bit of sparks appear above them in response to Ethel's question says dryly, and quietly,
"People enjoy listening to me, it has a soothing, encouraging and, some might even say, healing effect. I also have knack for finding, and saying, what upsets people."
She says to Ava, encouragingly, with a small smile,
"You've more than proved that you'll be of help in anything we do!"
She winces on Ula's realization she was actually drinking her bath water.
"You'd be surprised what some people will pay for. With the right marketing, and the right connections, we could probably make a mint off Ula's sweaty bathwater."
Jan clears her throat and addresses Ethel.
"I've only shown one spell in front of Hargrove the younger, the one I used when we fought the rats and the squid, makes daggers, bolts or spells do from me do more damage against them. I suspect that's partly how he clocked that my ring was a magical focus."
"I can make people see or hear things that aren't there, though I need my ring or a bit of fleece to do that. I can also take on the appearance of anyone I wish."
"I can be quite convincing when I need to, potentially bending the weak willed against their normal actions. I can potentially move and manipulate things at a distance, though I need my ring for that and am tired, may need to rest first."
"Perhaps most usefully, I can summon my ring to me... though if I do so, they will surely know that something is up, but if I have my ring in hand, I can potentially get into the hallway. Did anyone notice if the door at the other end of the hallway, connected to the room with they keys, has any sort of grate or peephole?"
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
18
7
Avaria manages to get an answer out of Xanthe before joining the others.
"I'm not much of a fighter" Xanthe says, "but I do my best to keep the group here healthy. And yes they mostly want fighters, but they pulls us out to clean sometimes, or to help unload one of the ships that comes to the grotto. This group almost never fights each other, but the Hargroves do like to pit the groups in the different caves against each other. Or against some poor hapless animal they find. They're creative in what they stage."
Before she says more she leaves to check on a couple of the other prisoners.
But as you all gather together, one of the hardier looking halflings pipes up and says that he's hear it’s possible to win freedom by winning ten battles in a row.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marrin can’t hear any noise from the cavern to the south. She guesses that you’d likely need to move closer to make anything out..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ula feels a temporary increased connection with Istishia, which may have given her more power than she’d expected, but yes, unfortunately it was fleeting. The size of the pool of water would likely let her change a thin layer on the top but it would take a concerted effort to get to a depth of 10' again.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DC15 – History or Investigation to remember if the other doorway had a grate/plate or not.
((Since she already asked if anyone else noticed, I'm going to pass on Jan making that check.))
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
Marrin chuckles at Jan's comment,
"Oh, I am sure you're right."
She listens with interest to Jan's connection to her ring and her abilities.
She adds, after Jan has admitted to her ability,
"Oh, and I can also do the change appearance thing. I'm also good with voices, so faking that isn't hard. What I can't do is speak goblin."
History: 18