(( I'm going to presume the team wakes up and moves on. ))

(( Encounter 4 of 5 ))

The morning fog lifts as the party presses forward through the middle of the forest, circling back to your starting point. Soon, you all crest a large rocky hill as the forest once again thins out; however, this time you see a bubbling, smoking lake of lava in a small valley ahead of you, with the forest continuing up the next hill beyond it. You cannot tell if the "hill" you're on is really the top of a small dormant volcano, or how the molten lava formed... yet there it is.

Even at this distance, you can feel the heat from the lake; it seems to take a bit of extra effort to get closer. And even to go around, you do have to get a bit closer.

Will the party try to go around the left or right side of the lava pond? (( or will you… split the party and go both ways? ))

(( After the party has made their decision, everyone please give a Perception check. ))

Whistler shrugged. "Either way's fine by me."

(( Whistler's Perception Check: 17 ))

Quote from RodTheBard >>

(( After the party has made their decision, everyone please give a Perception check. ))

Whistler shrugged. "Either way's fine by me."

(( Whistler's Perception Check: 17 ))

 "I'll stick with you guys, don't need any major injuries afterall,"

12

Darbakh sticks with the others.

His perception roll: 2

His familiar’s perception roll: 4

Gordon will go right as well, rolling 15 for the perception check. 

(( Just waiting on Redoff's decision and check. ))

(( Gonna give a couple more hours... ))

(( Redoff's Perception Check: 13 ))

The party proceeds to head towards the right, only getting as close to the lava as they need to. They are about halfway past when Redoff, Darbakh and Gordon spot a thin, nearly invisible tripwire just before it's stepped on.

An examination of the wire finds it stretches almost from the edge of the lava, held by several innocuous-looking stones, to a good 60 feet from the lake, where another innocuous-looking pile of stones buries the end of the wire. It is uncertain what exactly the wire triggers, but now that it has been spotted, the party may safely bypass it.

(( End of Encounter ))

(( Anyone curious can give a quick Investigation check to see what the trap is. Don't worry, you won't set it off... but it will take at least 10 minutes, and I've already rolled for how long until the next encounter begins, so.... ))

Quote from RodTheBard >>

The party proceeds to head towards the right, only getting as close to the lava as they need to. They are about halfway past when Redoff, Darbakh and Gordon spot a thin, nearly invisible tripwire just before it's stepped on.

An examination of the wire finds it stretches almost from the edge of the lava, held by several innocuous-looking stones, to a good 60 feet from the lake, where another innocuous-looking pile of stones buries the end of the wire. It is uncertain what exactly the wire triggers, but now that it has been spotted, the party may safely bypass it.

(( End of Encounter ))

(( Anyone curious can give a quick Investigation check to see what the trap is. Don't worry, you won't set it off... but it will take at least 10 minutes, and I've already rolled for how long until the next encounter begins, so.... ))

 Aeron will ignore the trap, as its not his cup of tea

“I don’t like this,” Darbakh says while staring at the wire. “If we spent a moment, we might figure out what this thing does - and who set it here. Should we stop?”

"I think I have a pretty good way to figure out what the trap does. I've seen pit traps out here before, so that's my guess, but if we just stand back, then throw a stick of something at the wire, it should trigger, but not harm us." If nobody objects, Gordon will look around for a small fallen tree that he could stand up, then tip into the trap. 

Darbakh doesn’t object; he watches Gordon (and the trap) warily, but he doesn’t intervene. His familiar just hides behind his boot.

Aeron gives a thumbs up to this plan, "Decent idea."

Gordon finds a partially-burned log suitable for the job, and uses it to trip the trap. The wire snaps, and right where the party had been standing, a 8-foot-radius hole appears, as wood, dirt and rocks that had made a firm footing collapse into the twenty-foot-deep pit.

More horrifyingly, the rocks near the lava lake that had been supporting one end of the trip wire also tumble into the pit, revealing a trench; lava from the lake slowly starts to crawl down the trench toward the pit, and will likely fill it in a minute or so.

Whistler whistled. "I don' think it's gonna get to us," he said, shaking his head. "But it mightta been pretty nasty business had we fell in."

"Good thing we stood back," Gordon agrees, "shall we move on?"

“Yep, it’s about time,” Darbakh says.

(( The Final Encounter ))

Once past the lake of lava, you enter the forest again, and travel through what appears to be normal foliage for about a half-hour.

Eventually, with the sun beginning to crest, you come upon a clearing; massive trees surround it, towering at least 50 feet into the air. The clearing itself, about 40 feet across, is bare dirt yet has sprouts of new growth–it looks like clover–scattered around. At the center, you see the smoldering remains of a bonfire. Someone's been here before…

(( I need a Perception Check from everyone! ))

(( Whistler's Check: 18 ))