The Undying Dragons - Campaign Thread

Two more...

19

11

(How long can she hold her breath?)

Avaria continues along the underwater tunnel. One spot narrows to the point where she can't keep going, but she quickly realizes that there's actually another way around the narrowing.

Before she can get too frustrated, Avaria suddenly finds herself in a larger opening. Swimming upwards she breaks the surface of a pool of water. She finds herself in a cavern about as long as the one she found near the dead miner's camp but a little longer. The pool of water takes up much of the space but there is a rocky ledge all around the sides of the cavern. In the darkness, her sharp eyes just make out what could be a tunnel leading off to the south.

All total, Avaria estimates she traveled about 120 feet and took about two minutes to do so. Now that she knows the route, and if she pays close attention on the way back she would guess she can probably get it done in 80 - 90 seconds.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Does Team Spider Hunt have anything they'd like to do now?

Avaria treads water for a moment, happy that she finally was able to breathe again.  She then swims towards the South ledge and pulls herself out of the water.  Shaking her body like a dog, she sprays water everywhere and then looks around a bit before continuing, listening for any other sounds.

Perception  7

Baring nothing to stop her from continuing, she heads down the tunnel as quiet as she can.

Stealth  4

Getting up to speed on what is happening in the Orc cave, Ethel makes a few suggestions.

"We are going into the other tunnels?  And we expect giant spiders?"  She looks around for confirmation.  "In that case... Haguur, ask some of you boys to grab that bugbear carcass.  It's still warm.  Spiders feed on the warm bodily juices of other living things.  If we do run into any, toss that body at them.  There's a good chance they will take the free meal instead of fighting us.  At that point we can either avoid them, or assault them while they are distracted and feeding."

"Next," she adds, "once we get in there, buddy up.  No one wanders off and no one gets separated without at least one other person watching.  They'll be looking for individuals they can separate from the group and drag off to their webbing to feed."

On seeing Ethel come up with her lit up stone and plans Marrin tilts her head and nods,

"Just the spider cave for now. And I agree, waste not, want not. Haguur, if your boys could be so kind as to toss the bugbear in with the spiders to see what reaction we get."

She then turns to look at the hobs and remaining bugbear,

"Once we see what we are dealing with you three can take the lead and show us what you've got. If you're worried we're just sending you in to die, don't. We could have killed you just as easily out here."

She'll look again to Haguur,

"Sound good to you?"

Then more quietly to Haguur,

"Worst case we add some meat to our meals, best case we find a path out."

Avaria pulls herself from the water, the only sounds she hears as she does is her own feet padding on the ground and water dripping from her hair.

She moves as quietly down the roughly carved hallway, hoping the sound of her own feet slapping down on the ground aren't too loud.

After traveling through a twisty, rocky tunnel for about 150', sometimes having to stoop to no more than dwarf height to get through, Avaria steps out into a larger cavern. Stalactites and stalagmites, broken rock, and dark nooks break up the room. Four passage ways lead out of it. One to the west (which is where Avaria just came from), one to the north, one to the east, and one to the west).

She's not sure whether she just heard the sound of other footsteps or if it was just echoes of her own.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haguur grunts agreement with Ethel and Marrin and says something in orcish. Two of the orcs go collect the dead body and after some arguing that leads to shouting to almost fighting, the two orcs manage to figure out how to get the body into the next cave without having to go in themselves.

No sound can be heard from inside the cavern.

The two hobgoblins and bugbear look at each other then at the orcs and your group. The hobgoblins finally nod and you can see them standing straighter and taller. They speak quickly to each other and head into the cavern, the bugbear following behind.

Once they're inside you wait for any sounds of fighting but you don't hear anything.

"Ethel, if you would be so kind as to toss in that rock?"

Ethel obliges, flinging the lit stone down into the web-shrouded tunnel.

She then turns to Marrin.  "Are we sure we want to waste those three on spiders?  If we have to fight our way out of here, we may need them."

In just as quiet a voice,

"The idea is to save them for that, Haguur was going to execute them so I figured we had to act quickly to make them valuable. I'll do my best to keep them on with us."

With her darkvision, Avaria peeks down each tunnel, looking for any sign of life, whether it be footprints or scraps of clothes or food left behind.  She also listens, trying to decide if she is the only one in this cave or not.

Perception  8

Survival (if needed) 8

The eerie feeling of being down here on her own was starting to make her spine tingle.  She wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for.  Especially since this cavern was even farther than the old dwarf hangout and that was already an issue for Ethel.  How could they get her through the water?  She wondered to herself.

She hits a random wall in frustration, "And Harry Dodds!  I got angry and forgot all about playing the fool.  Though am I a fool believing he could have helped?  How are we ever going to get out of here and then off the island?  Damn it!" 

(If she notices someone or something else down there with her, she does not do that last part)

Lol - she's rolling awful!

When Ethel tosses her lit stone into the next cavern not a lot can be seen. The entrance is fairly narrow and there are a lot of shadows. There's no sign of the hobgoblins and the bugbear but from what you can make out, you're going to have to go inside if you want to see more.

--------------------------------------------------------

Avaria looks to the southern tunnel first, and she can just make what looks to be another pool of water. The grays of her vision don't allow her to make out too much detail, but the wet, flat surface is hard to miss. To the north, down about a 40' tunnel is another cavern. On the ground she can just make out what look to be large bundles; something covered with sack cloth or blankets.

Finally when she looks to the east, Avaria sees something she recognizes. She's not certain but, she thinks she can make out a dwarf-sized skeleton with a pick ax through it's skull. If she had to bet she'd guess this is the same campsite she saw when she went through the other pool but just from a different direction.

Before she can make out more, two large humanoid shaped shadows move across her vision in the dead dwarf campsite.

Marrin sighs.

"Ula and Hammerdasher, with me. Haguur, if some of your boys are hungry?"

Marrin enters to see what's going on.

"Well, I bet those are the two orcs that were diving in their pool.  Guess they now have access to weapons as well." she quietly says to herself.  Avaria heads quietly down the North tunnel, wanting to check out the large bundles.  Checking around for anything that looks off, if she sees nothing, she will "uncover" whatever the bundles are.

Perception 10

Haguur nods and follows Marrin into the chamber, Ula and Hammerdasher, then two orcs follow after. The finally two orcs remain behind, possibly on guard.

In the light of Ethel's lit stone, a number of natural niches can be seen lining the rugged walls. Most of these alcoves are thick with spider-web, some even appear to have humanoid-shaped lumps cocooned inside. The cavern’s ceiling starts off low where you enter, but rapidly ascends ahead of you. The ceiling on the far side of the cave is high enough to be indiscernible through the gloom.

Before you can take in more details, the two hobgoblins and bugbear leap out from the sides of the entrance swinging their fists as they do.

Initiative rolls please (couldn’t remember if Jan came along or not – Spiderwrangler can chime in if they have time, otherwise will say Jan is still exploring the hobgoblin cavern).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Almost if on cue, Avaria hears what she thinks is an orcish grumble from down the passage way to the east.

As she gets closer to the northern cavern, Avaria gets a better look at the bundles. They appear to be five short humanoid bodies that have been neatly laid out side-by-side in this cavern. Each body is covered, either with the decayed remains of a blanket or threadbare lengths of sackcloth.

Her senses are absorbed with the bodies on the ground. So much so that she doesn’t notice the glowing light until she’s already well into the cavern.

Near the covered bodies, Avaria sees what appears to be a transparent dwarf, glowing with a faint blue light. Other than the glow and transparency, the figure seems not unusual for a dwarf. He looks to be a miner. He wears simple, ragged clothes and a small pack; along with his skin and long braided beard these are covered in a thick sooty residue. He carries a mining pick in one hand, the handle of which has been looped with twine to provide a better grip.

Before Avaria can react, the ghostly dwarf opens his mouth and speaks. When he does so, his voice reverberates in an otherworldly fashion.

“What are you doing in here? You should be working on the tunnel. Get back to work.” the ghostly dwarf says to Avaria.

Initiative: 19

"Okay, have it your way. Haguur, let's get this wrapped up before the spiders show up."

As the dwarfy-apparition speaks, Avaria is able to take in a little more of her surroundings. The cavern she's in is roughly 40'x40', but not regular by any stretch; roughly hewn walls and outcroppings abound. She sees no obvious other exit than the one she just came through. While the voice is loud and otherworldly, it doesn't seem to echo either.

((If by Marrin calling for Ula and Hammer to follow her in, she was wanting Jan to stand guard, then she'd be standing guard.))

Avaria just stares for a moment, not believing what she is seeing.  After rubbing her eyes and blinking a couple of times, she looks around a bit.

Seeing that they are in a dead end cavern, she looks back at the apparition, and after a moments hesitation asks, "I will get back to working on the tunnels, but please, what are we digging towards again?  And I seem to be a bit turned around, where are we digging?"

[Likewise, Ethel would have deferred to Marrin's plan.  If she felt confident with the Orcs, Ula and Hammerdasher, Ethel would have waited outside.  Not much of a guard, however, she would have been listening for signs of trouble inside the spider cavern.]