Spark quickly tries to search the fissure again. Investigation: 12
Spark quickly studies the mural. It depicts a map of the underground cave system the surrounds the mushroom forest and a bit aside are various notations in strange symbols that must be a secret language of some sort or at least one that you don't understand, then there are some comments on the map in Gnomish. You locate yourself quickly on the map, where the glade is situated and find that the typical resting place of the chuul is marked, the underground river that passes through the forest, a long, complex tunnel system at the downside of the river and a forest at the surface upstream, and a few other places that the druid found interesting. On the opposite side of the chuul's resting place is another long tunnel that leads into an even larger cavern. The inscriptions seem to be not directly related to the map, and you can't make sense of them quickly, so you decide to ignore them for now. You turn your focus on the map and the notes in Gnomish, which are written in shorthand. Your intimate knowledge of Gnomish, being a gnome yourself, helps much to decipher the shorthand in a fast manner. The chuul is indicated to have patrolled the forest to the large cavern on the other side once every ten-day, very regular and precise. It is mentioned that one time the chuul broke the rhythm and delivered a few chests to the larger cavern. This apparently had sparked the druids interest, because he notes that he followed the chuul and discovered that it delivered the chest to a dragon turtle to add to its hoard. There is a larger note at the dragon's lair, that is not entirely clear to you. It clearly mentions an old relic or shrine with immense power that has some relation to the spiritual realm. You're confused, the shorthand is all but clear and without any additional information some of the abbreviations make no sense to you.
(You can try to decipher more, with the same roll but you need to roll higher if you want to find more clues, which may or may not add more essential information.)
Minty has a suspicion that the thump is potentially tree-like. He decides to check out the chest unless Spark tells him to do something else.
Investigation roll: 19
Minty looks over the chest and quickly finds out that it is an ordinary chest that is locked with a relatively simple, robust lock. He looks for traps and can't find any obvious or hidden contraption. With his thieves' tools in hand he managed to open the chest and opened it without incident.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Minty opens the chest and finds a large amount of gold coins, 166 gold coins to be precise. You are not sure how the druid got this amount of gold but it seems he didn't care enough for it to take it with him.
(forgot to mention:) The thump didn't sound like when the Zurkhwoods approached the last time. It was much more profound and the ground shook slightly at the same time.
Time so far: 10 Minutes to arrive to the glade; 5 minutes to situate yourself in the cave; 15 minutes for Minty to dissect the sleeping area and Spark to search the fissure; (there was a resounding thump outside); 5 minutes more to decipher the mural and open the chest. (35 minutes total)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Spark casts Prestidigitation, copying as many of the symbols that she doesn't understand as possible as markings on her shield. She heads back outside the fissure and hastily investigates the alchemy laboratory.
(Is Minty sharing the gold or keeps it to himself?)
Spark studies quickly the workbench and being proficient with alchemist's tools realises fast that the druid run alchemical experiments here. If you wish you could take tools and add alchemist's tools to your inventory. With Minty's help, especially the knowledge that the druid had a book about spores, you find that the experiments were with spores from the zurkhwoods. It looks like he tried to infuse them with some sort of magical energy but couldn't get a stable result. He had made notes on the table where some of his results are positioned and it looks like they indicate the time before the composition dispersed again. One result apparently hold out days, while most others indicate a duration of hours. It appears that the druid didn't arrive to the wanted conclusion before he left. Or did he leave because he could not solve his problem with what was available to him?
You've looked at pretty much everything in the cave. Sure there could be more to be gleaned from the mural but you feel that a lot of time has passed already. Then there was also the noise outside, though it didn't sound again.
Time so far: 10 Minutes to arrive to the glade; 5 minutes to situate yourself in the cave; 15 minutes for Minty to dissect the sleeping area and Spark to search the fissure; (there was a resounding thump outside); 5 minutes more to decipher the mural and open the chest; 1 minute copying mural and emptying chest; 15 minutes studying the workbench together (51 minutes total)
Taking a careful look outside you can hardly miss what caused the noise. A massive rock lies near the centre of the grove, it appears that part of the ceiling had collapsed and fallen down. Looking up you notice that the hole in the ceiling got slightly bigger, and you reason that this is probably not the first time this had happened. Still, curiously you do not see any other rocks of this or smaller sizes around.
What's the plan? Returning with what you have? Check out the rock? Check out the surroundings of the cave and/or grove? You can also ask for how long any action would take if you're uncertain, just describe what you would like to do and I will get back to you before you commit.
Time so far: 10 get to glade; 41 minutes inspecting the cave; 1 minute to inspect the commotion outside (52 minutes total)
"Yes, I think that's a good idea. Also, if we get back, we might be able to copy down these notes somewhere more permanent, before the spell wears off."
After a little more than one hour, Minty and Spark return from the Druid’s grove without further incidents. Rizo and the Chuul are still where they had left them. Rizo looks up, “Welcome back! How did it go? You returned quickly.”
Spark shows her shield, with the copied markings, to Rizo. "This was in the druid's home. Do you recognize any of it? We also found some gold and alchemy supplies."
"Interesting," Rizo replies as he looks at the shield, "This is druidic, our secret language."
(Spark, please make three DC 10 Intelligence checks - Prestidigitation allowed to copy three sections of the symbols. The check is used to see if you copied a portion that is consistent enough for Rizo to interpret. For each one passed, roll a d6.)
Rizo takes a closer look at Spark's shield and deciphers the secret code, "You really did a great job selecting sections that actually belong together," he comments. "Otherwise it might have been impossible to make any sense of this."
"Ok, let's see, the first sections says, he investigated spores to recreate a myconids for this forest and that he hoped that the spiritual gateway would enable this. It doesn't say what that is, though, the spiritual gateway, I mean. Neither does he mention how exactly he intends to create myconids or what for. Now this next section seems to be somewhat cut off from this, might be we're missing something in between. Hum... Interesting, your second and third group of symbols seem to form a larger continuous section," he says when he continues studying the two last groups."Here, he's mentioning again this gateway. He describes it as blending the spiritual realm with the physical plane and that it enables souls to re-enter their bodies, and that it is very ancient and very powerful and can be very dangerous if controlled by the wrong hands. I feel there is something missing. I would have expected the druid to explain why he left and that he'd give instructions for another druid. I don't know maybe some of it makes more sense to you as you've been searching the cave."
(Let's take a tally before continuing. Everyone gets 600XP, then Minty and Spark both get an additional 1250XP. You also found 166 Gold coins, which are 55 for each one of us plus one more for Minty. )
"There was also a map in the cave, and it had a relic or altar marked on it that might be this gateway. I didn't copy it, but I have a pretty good memory for maps. Do you have anything to write with? It wouldn't hurt to copy these notes down somewhere as well, before the spell wears off."
Minty has a suspicion that the thump is potentially tree-like. He decides to check out the chest unless Spark tells him to do something else.
Investigation roll: 19
1
(You can try to decipher more, with the same roll but you need to roll higher if you want to find more clues, which may or may not add more essential information.)
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Yawning Portal || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan Shi - Liquid Swords || Syed - Drakkenheim || Kaelthor - Dragonlance ||
Time so far: 10 Minutes to arrive to the glade; 5 minutes to situate yourself in the cave; 15 minutes for Minty to dissect the sleeping area and Spark to search the fissure; (there was a resounding thump outside); 5 minutes more to decipher the mural and open the chest. (35 minutes total)
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Yawning Portal || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan Shi - Liquid Swords || Syed - Drakkenheim || Kaelthor - Dragonlance ||
Spark casts Prestidigitation, copying as many of the symbols that she doesn't understand as possible as markings on her shield. She heads back outside the fissure and hastily investigates the alchemy laboratory.
Rolling in spoilers in case Minty wants to help:
Investigation rolls: 8 26
Minty picks up the gold. “You never know when you might need a coin or two” he mutters to himself.
He hurries to Spark’s side to help with the investigation, thinking they may want to get back to the others in case more dragons show up.
(Apologies, I need a bit more time than usual to come back to you. Not feeling well and to recover. I hope in one or two days, I can post.)
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Yawning Portal || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan Shi - Liquid Swords || Syed - Drakkenheim || Kaelthor - Dragonlance ||
(Is Minty sharing the gold or keeps it to himself?)
Time so far: 10 Minutes to arrive to the glade; 5 minutes to situate yourself in the cave; 15 minutes for Minty to dissect the sleeping area and Spark to search the fissure; (there was a resounding thump outside); 5 minutes more to decipher the mural and open the chest; 1 minute copying mural and emptying chest; 15 minutes studying the workbench together (51 minutes total)
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Yawning Portal || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan Shi - Liquid Swords || Syed - Drakkenheim || Kaelthor - Dragonlance ||
(Minty would share the gold.)
He looks outside the cave to see if he can determine what made the noise earlier.
Spark takes the alchemists' supplies and helps Minty look outside.
What's the plan? Returning with what you have? Check out the rock? Check out the surroundings of the cave and/or grove? You can also ask for how long any action would take if you're uncertain, just describe what you would like to do and I will get back to you before you commit.
Time so far: 10 get to glade; 41 minutes inspecting the cave; 1 minute to inspect the commotion outside (52 minutes total)
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Yawning Portal || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan Shi - Liquid Swords || Syed - Drakkenheim || Kaelthor - Dragonlance ||
"I think we should get back to the others before the cave comes crashing down, or the hole gets big enough for a dragon."
"Yes, I think that's a good idea. Also, if we get back, we might be able to copy down these notes somewhere more permanent, before the spell wears off."
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Yawning Portal || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan Shi - Liquid Swords || Syed - Drakkenheim || Kaelthor - Dragonlance ||
Spark shows her shield, with the copied markings, to Rizo. "This was in the druid's home. Do you recognize any of it? We also found some gold and alchemy supplies."
"Interesting," Rizo replies as he looks at the shield, "This is druidic, our secret language."
(Spark, please make three DC 10 Intelligence checks - Prestidigitation allowed to copy three sections of the symbols. The check is used to see if you copied a portion that is consistent enough for Rizo to interpret. For each one passed, roll a d6.)
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Yawning Portal || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan Shi - Liquid Swords || Syed - Drakkenheim || Kaelthor - Dragonlance ||
Intelligence checks: 10 6 6
1 6 4
(Let's take a tally before continuing. Everyone gets 600XP, then Minty and Spark both get an additional 1250XP. You also found 166 Gold coins, which are 55 for each one of us plus one more for Minty. )
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Yawning Portal || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan Shi - Liquid Swords || Syed - Drakkenheim || Kaelthor - Dragonlance ||
"There was also a map in the cave, and it had a relic or altar marked on it that might be this gateway. I didn't copy it, but I have a pretty good memory for maps. Do you have anything to write with? It wouldn't hurt to copy these notes down somewhere as well, before the spell wears off."
(Spark has the Outlander background.)
(That trips Minty into the next level)