Finley tugs as his beard again, "He's a strong lad, ah'll be just fine and ah'm sure that we'll see 'im again soon."He smiles sadly at Val, "life on th' road can be dark and full of horrible things but there's always a bright spot somewhere over th' next ridge fer us to look forward to."He puts the dried lizard into his pack to study later, "We should leave this place behind as soon as we can, ah dunnae know if anyone suspects us as o' yet, but ah'm not willing to find out th' hard way. Either way we must head in the direction of her hut, if we need to sneak ah will need an hour, but ah'm not as well off when my armor is in that mode, prefer to be in their faces, aye?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Finley tugs as his beard again, "He's a strong lad, ah'll be just fine and ah'm sure that we'll see 'im again soon."He smiles sadly at Val, "life on th' road can be dark and full of horrible things but there's always a bright spot somewhere over th' next ridge fer us to look forward to."He puts the dried lizard into his pack to study later, "We should leave this place behind as soon as we can, ah dunnae know if anyone suspects us as o' yet, but ah'm not willing to find out th' hard way. Either way we must head in the direction of her hut, if we need to sneak ah will need an hour, but ah'm not as well off when my armor is in that mode, prefer to be in their faces, aye?"
Valrieth smiles, happy that she still has Finley. He may not be as bold -- and reckless! -- as Gan-Re, but he's reassuringly steady. He's like a great, old oak tree that has already weathered many storms. She feels safer when he's there.
Val says, "OK. Let's maybe get back to the boat that we took over to this side of Downfall. We can row out into the lake so that we're not so easy to capture. But maybe Octavian can paddle us around for a bit while I look through this book before we return it to the hag."
Val leads the new Trio back north, past the toadstool patch (D14) and the big tree (D13), and back to the dock where they left the boat. If the boat is still there (and fits all three of them), she proposes that Octavian row them out and maybe to the west and south, between D18 and D13.
(OOC: Val would like Octavian to paddle the boat around the lake for an hour or so while she takes a short rest. She wants to have both uses of her wild shape available when they enter Bavlorna's hut since her Starry Form only lasts 10 minutes. During that time, she'll skim through the book that they're supposed to return.
It's up to Finley whether he wants to switch to Infiltrator armor. See my thoughts in the PM thread. If they need to do something quietly, Val might just have to be brave enough to sneak forward on her own, leaving the loudly-armored guys behind for a moment.
If Finley does not spend the short rest changing his armor type, then perhaps he'd like to try studying the dried black lizard to see whether he can figure out how to invoke its magic? And if he has any wire available, maybe Finley can quickly make a one-lens glasses frame to hold the Moonlight Monocle over Val's eye so that she can use it "hands free.")
The book contains a list of names written in common/ Most are of fey creatures. For what purpose you're not sure. Perhaps all the names are of people who made a bargain with Bavlorna. You notice the bullywug king is also in the book. Octabvian name is also in the book.
“Ah’ll keep me armor this way, as ah can still use some magic to stay at range to be nearby if ye get in trouble. Without guardian mode ah’m mostly useless in close combat.” Finley says sheepishly. “Ah’m no good at sneaking regardless.” He pauses, “What’s that book ye got there.” While he looks over the dried lizard.
(Arcana just in case: 10)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
“Ah’ll keep me armor this way, as ah can still use some magic to stay at range to be nearby if ye get in trouble. Without guardian mode ah’m mostly useless in close combat.” Finley says sheepishly. “Ah’m no good at sneaking regardless.”
Valrieth says, "That's OK. I know a spell that may help conceal us in a quiet darkness, like the space between the stars at night when there's no moon in the sky. And if we need to investigate something very quietly, I guess I'll just have to think of myself as our scout." She tries to sound matter-of-fact and brave, but her voice sounds a little squeaky toward the end of that sentence.
Val smiles at the other two in the boat and says, "And I really appreciate all of the times you and Gan-Re have faced danger for the Trio, Finley. I'm sure that Octavian will help to keep me out of melee, too." Val looks down at her belt that now has both her scimitar and Sir Talavar's "sword" in their sheaths and says, "I'm probably less useful in close quarter combat than you, Finley, even if your armor isn't in 'guardian mode.' The druids trained me in self-defense, but I don't have any real experience using such weapons against real opponents."
He pauses, “What’s that book ye got there.” While he looks over the dried lizard.
(Arcana just in case: 10)
Valrieth reminds Finley of their promise to King Gullop XIX to return a book to Bavlorna's hut. "He said that he got it form a thief, and he wanted us to return it to Bavlorna's hut secretly before she knows that it's gone. The king told us not to open the book 'as it pertains to Bavlorna,' but I don't really trust him. I thought that I should take a look in case it had any information that would help us with Clapperclaw's head or the missing children or any other part of our quest." She looks a little disappointed, "But it doesn't seem to be magical. And it just looks like a sort of....ledger? I think that it might be the hag's record of everyone who has made a bargain with her." She opens the book on her knees and then turns it around to face you, pointing at some lines. "There are peoples names in it. See? Here's King Gullop XIX's name. And here's Octavian MeliamneI."
Val looks over to Octavian apologetically. "Thank you so much, Octavian, for joining us. I really do hope that we find your heart today."
If they're done with their rest, Val says, "There's no use delaying what's written in the Stars. I think that it's time we tried to return the book." She suggests that Octavian row north until they see the clothesline that stretches over the lake from the big tree (D13). Then they can turn and follow underneath it to get to Bavlorna's hut at the center of the lake. She recommends that he go slowly since they cannot see very far ahead.
As Octavian starts rowing again, Val puts Bavlorna's book at the top of her backpack. Then she sits at the bow of the boat and suppresses a shiver as she looks into the thick, impenetrable fog at the center of the lake.
Val will look and listen for any sign of Bavlorna's hut. They know that the hut is at the middle of the lake, and they were told that the clotheslines all end at Bavlorna's hut, but she thought that the hut was raised up above the lake. She's not sure what they'll see at lake level. Maybe just some stilts or something and hopefully some sign of the house overhead.
Once the dried black lizard meets water it will release darkness spell.
(OOC: Nice! Neither Druid nor Artificer get Darkness, so that's a useful addition. And if we need to run from Bavlorna, that might be a good way to cover our retreat. I guess it makes sense that the trigger for the "dried lizard" was "just add water.")
"I suppose I must hope for the best" says Octavian. He rows under the clothesline and through the impenetrable fog you see a sizable wooden structure on large pillars raising the house above the lake by 20 ft. Probably to keep the house above flood levels. It's hard to make out, but you see a hatch above you that leads to the first floor.
The clothesline raises up to meet the first floor so the party will have a hard time reaching the clothesline unless they row back to the gnarled tree.
"I suppose I must hope for the best" says Octavian. He rows under the clothesline and through the impenetrable fog you see a sizable wooden structure on large pillars raising the house above the lake by 20 ft. Probably to keep the house above flood levels. It's hard to make out, but you see a hatch above you that leads to the first floor.
The clothesline raises up to meet the first floor so the party will have a hard time reaching the clothesline unless they row back to the gnarled tree.
(OOC: Is the hatch an opening? Or do you mean that it's a trapdoor? Like a closed door in the floor of the building?)
If they can see the bottom of the building above them, they can row around underneath the building and by rowing out from underneath the building a little, they could look up at the exterior walls of the hut. Is the hut basically a "box" or "cylinder" so that the walls rise straight up from the edges of the bottom floor? Or are there some features that stick out from the flat floor above them? For example, are there any ledges, balconies, railings, or flagpoles? Basically, Val is looking for anything that Finley could make the rope of climbing attach itself to above them.
If not, Valrieth asks Octavian to row over to one of the pillars How big around are the pillars? Are they smooth or rough? Are they slippery? Val is wondering how hard they would be to climb. If she transformed into a squirrel, would it be like climbing a tree? And does the building "overhang" the pillars? Or does the wall of the hut align with the pillar so that a climber could attempt to climb the pillar and then continue climbing the up the wall of the building?
Yes, like a trapdoor. Which is closed. Here is the building plan. Yes, you can use a rope of climbing or just use the clothesline that directly leads to the first floor.
Yes, like a trapdoor. Which is closed. Here is the building plan. Yes, you can use a rope of climbing or just use the clothesline that directly leads to the first floor.
Valrieth points up to the hut and asks Finley, "Do you see anything sturdy enough that you could send your rope up to tie itself to?"
(OOC: I hadn't been thinking much about how to get into Bavlorna's since we had Gan-Re to fly us there. :-/
To get to the clothesline, the party would have to go back into Downfall, and we don't know whether the bullywug guards are looking for us in relation to the prisoner's escape. That's why Valrieth's plan was to row the boat into the lake and try to get up into the hut from there. If we could tie off the boat on one of the pillars, that would also give us an escape vehicle if we have to run away.
I was also a little worried about how much weight a "clothesline" supports. Val + all of her gear weighs ~100 pounds, so I guess she would be OK. But I think we previously said that Finley + his armor and gear is > 250 pounds. In case the clothesline couldn't hold that much weight, I was trying to avoid dropping Finley in the middle of the lake! Maybe Val could cross over on the clothesline and then lower a rope from the hut down to the boat once she makes it there.
If the others prefer to try the clotheslines, D4 is probably the best bet since we know that the building was burned out, and it's likely that no one will be there at this point. We haven't been to D19, yet, so we could also go there and see whether that's an option. Val would avoid D11 for now.
It looks like B6 (on the south side) might be a balcony with a railing. If that's true and they can see that detail from the boat, maybe Finley could send his rope of climbing up to attach itself to the top of the railing. Or at least tie the rope to the clothesline near the southwest corner of the hut.)
"Hmmm, ah could easily attach th' rope to th' balcony, dunnae if'n it could hold me and my armor safely there unless it's sturdy enough."Finley shivers a bit, "this place looks very inhospitable, perhaps one o' ye could go up ahead to see what ye can see? Once ah get up there ah'll be makin' all sorts of racket."He removes the rope from his belt and speaks a magic word to animate it, looking towards the lower balcony. He likes the look of that the most, seems most sturdy from what he can tell.
(OOC: That hut is creepy lol, Finley can swim so unless it's a crazy current he should be ok if he fell, might be a little tough but he could get to one of the legs of the hut if needed to hold onto. I do like the look of the lower balcony at B6, wouldn't be a long fall into the water since it's a first floor section, even if it's up above the water like that.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
(OOC: That hut is creepy lol, Finley can swim so unless it's a crazy current he should be ok if he fell, might be a little tough but he could get to one of the legs of the hut if needed to hold onto. I do like the look of the lower balcony at B6, wouldn't be a long fall into the water since it's a first floor section, even if it's up above the water like that.)
(OOC: Yep, the one benefit of the lake is that falling damage shouldn't be a problem.
Of course, drowning might be! We don't know how deep the lake is or whether it houses any monsters. Kelpies are a favorite fairy tale "monster" who tries to drown mortals. Even a regular crocodile or two could be a problem for such a small group, especially if the beast clamps down on someone (grappled) and drags them underwater.)
There are no bullywugs seen outside.
Finley tugs as his beard again, "He's a strong lad, ah'll be just fine and ah'm sure that we'll see 'im again soon." He smiles sadly at Val, "life on th' road can be dark and full of horrible things but there's always a bright spot somewhere over th' next ridge fer us to look forward to." He puts the dried lizard into his pack to study later, "We should leave this place behind as soon as we can, ah dunnae know if anyone suspects us as o' yet, but ah'm not willing to find out th' hard way. Either way we must head in the direction of her hut, if we need to sneak ah will need an hour, but ah'm not as well off when my armor is in that mode, prefer to be in their faces, aye?"
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Valrieth smiles, happy that she still has Finley. He may not be as bold -- and reckless! -- as Gan-Re, but he's reassuringly steady. He's like a great, old oak tree that has already weathered many storms. She feels safer when he's there.
Val says, "OK. Let's maybe get back to the boat that we took over to this side of Downfall. We can row out into the lake so that we're not so easy to capture. But maybe Octavian can paddle us around for a bit while I look through this book before we return it to the hag."
Val leads the new Trio back north, past the toadstool patch (D14) and the big tree (D13), and back to the dock where they left the boat. If the boat is still there (and fits all three of them), she proposes that Octavian row them out and maybe to the west and south, between D18 and D13.
(OOC: Val would like Octavian to paddle the boat around the lake for an hour or so while she takes a short rest. She wants to have both uses of her wild shape available when they enter Bavlorna's hut since her Starry Form only lasts 10 minutes. During that time, she'll skim through the book that they're supposed to return.
It's up to Finley whether he wants to switch to Infiltrator armor. See my thoughts in the PM thread. If they need to do something quietly, Val might just have to be brave enough to sneak forward on her own, leaving the loudly-armored guys behind for a moment.
If Finley does not spend the short rest changing his armor type, then perhaps he'd like to try studying the dried black lizard to see whether he can figure out how to invoke its magic? And if he has any wire available, maybe Finley can quickly make a one-lens glasses frame to hold the Moonlight Monocle over Val's eye so that she can use it "hands free.")
Octavian complies and the party is in the boat.
What about the book? Is it in a language that Valrieth can read?
The book contains a list of names written in common/ Most are of fey creatures. For what purpose you're not sure. Perhaps all the names are of people who made a bargain with Bavlorna. You notice the bullywug king is also in the book. Octabvian name is also in the book.
“Ah’ll keep me armor this way, as ah can still use some magic to stay at range to be nearby if ye get in trouble. Without guardian mode ah’m mostly useless in close combat.” Finley says sheepishly. “Ah’m no good at sneaking regardless.” He pauses, “What’s that book ye got there.” While he looks over the dried lizard.
(Arcana just in case: 10)
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Finley senses darkness from the dried black lizard and that water is how you activate it.
Once the dried black lizard meets water it will release darkness spell.
Valrieth says, "That's OK. I know a spell that may help conceal us in a quiet darkness, like the space between the stars at night when there's no moon in the sky. And if we need to investigate something very quietly, I guess I'll just have to think of myself as our scout." She tries to sound matter-of-fact and brave, but her voice sounds a little squeaky toward the end of that sentence.
Val smiles at the other two in the boat and says, "And I really appreciate all of the times you and Gan-Re have faced danger for the Trio, Finley. I'm sure that Octavian will help to keep me out of melee, too." Val looks down at her belt that now has both her scimitar and Sir Talavar's "sword" in their sheaths and says, "I'm probably less useful in close quarter combat than you, Finley, even if your armor isn't in 'guardian mode.' The druids trained me in self-defense, but I don't have any real experience using such weapons against real opponents."
Valrieth reminds Finley of their promise to King Gullop XIX to return a book to Bavlorna's hut. "He said that he got it form a thief, and he wanted us to return it to Bavlorna's hut secretly before she knows that it's gone. The king told us not to open the book 'as it pertains to Bavlorna,' but I don't really trust him. I thought that I should take a look in case it had any information that would help us with Clapperclaw's head or the missing children or any other part of our quest." She looks a little disappointed, "But it doesn't seem to be magical. And it just looks like a sort of....ledger? I think that it might be the hag's record of everyone who has made a bargain with her." She opens the book on her knees and then turns it around to face you, pointing at some lines. "There are peoples names in it. See? Here's King Gullop XIX's name. And here's Octavian MeliamneI."
Val looks over to Octavian apologetically. "Thank you so much, Octavian, for joining us. I really do hope that we find your heart today."
If they're done with their rest, Val says, "There's no use delaying what's written in the Stars. I think that it's time we tried to return the book." She suggests that Octavian row north until they see the clothesline that stretches over the lake from the big tree (D13). Then they can turn and follow underneath it to get to Bavlorna's hut at the center of the lake. She recommends that he go slowly since they cannot see very far ahead.
As Octavian starts rowing again, Val puts Bavlorna's book at the top of her backpack. Then she sits at the bow of the boat and suppresses a shiver as she looks into the thick, impenetrable fog at the center of the lake.
Val will look and listen for any sign of Bavlorna's hut. They know that the hut is at the middle of the lake, and they were told that the clotheslines all end at Bavlorna's hut, but she thought that the hut was raised up above the lake. She's not sure what they'll see at lake level. Maybe just some stilts or something and hopefully some sign of the house overhead.
(OOC: Nice! Neither Druid nor Artificer get Darkness, so that's a useful addition. And if we need to run from Bavlorna, that might be a good way to cover our retreat. I guess it makes sense that the trigger for the "dried lizard" was "just add water.")
"I suppose I must hope for the best" says Octavian. He rows under the clothesline and through the impenetrable fog you see a sizable wooden structure on large pillars raising the house above the lake by 20 ft. Probably to keep the house above flood levels. It's hard to make out, but you see a hatch above you that leads to the first floor.
The clothesline raises up to meet the first floor so the party will have a hard time reaching the clothesline unless they row back to the gnarled tree.
(OOC: Is the hatch an opening? Or do you mean that it's a trapdoor? Like a closed door in the floor of the building?)
If they can see the bottom of the building above them, they can row around underneath the building and by rowing out from underneath the building a little, they could look up at the exterior walls of the hut. Is the hut basically a "box" or "cylinder" so that the walls rise straight up from the edges of the bottom floor? Or are there some features that stick out from the flat floor above them? For example, are there any ledges, balconies, railings, or flagpoles? Basically, Val is looking for anything that Finley could make the rope of climbing attach itself to above them.
If not, Valrieth asks Octavian to row over to one of the pillars How big around are the pillars? Are they smooth or rough? Are they slippery? Val is wondering how hard they would be to climb. If she transformed into a squirrel, would it be like climbing a tree? And does the building "overhang" the pillars? Or does the wall of the hut align with the pillar so that a climber could attempt to climb the pillar and then continue climbing the up the wall of the building?
Yes, like a trapdoor. Which is closed. Here is the building plan. Yes, you can use a rope of climbing or just use the clothesline that directly leads to the first floor.
This is closest image I can find of Bavlorna's home. Stairs would rise from the lake if you were an invited guest.
(OOC: Wow! That's appropriately creepy. 😱
As usual, @weathervision, really outstanding reference art for this campaign!)
Valrieth points up to the hut and asks Finley, "Do you see anything sturdy enough that you could send your rope up to tie itself to?"
(OOC: I hadn't been thinking much about how to get into Bavlorna's since we had Gan-Re to fly us there. :-/
To get to the clothesline, the party would have to go back into Downfall, and we don't know whether the bullywug guards are looking for us in relation to the prisoner's escape. That's why Valrieth's plan was to row the boat into the lake and try to get up into the hut from there. If we could tie off the boat on one of the pillars, that would also give us an escape vehicle if we have to run away.
I was also a little worried about how much weight a "clothesline" supports. Val + all of her gear weighs ~100 pounds, so I guess she would be OK. But I think we previously said that Finley + his armor and gear is > 250 pounds. In case the clothesline couldn't hold that much weight, I was trying to avoid dropping Finley in the middle of the lake! Maybe Val could cross over on the clothesline and then lower a rope from the hut down to the boat once she makes it there.
If the others prefer to try the clotheslines, D4 is probably the best bet since we know that the building was burned out, and it's likely that no one will be there at this point. We haven't been to D19, yet, so we could also go there and see whether that's an option. Val would avoid D11 for now.
It looks like B6 (on the south side) might be a balcony with a railing. If that's true and they can see that detail from the boat, maybe Finley could send his rope of climbing up to attach itself to the top of the railing. Or at least tie the rope to the clothesline near the southwest corner of the hut.)
"Hmmm, ah could easily attach th' rope to th' balcony, dunnae if'n it could hold me and my armor safely there unless it's sturdy enough." Finley shivers a bit, "this place looks very inhospitable, perhaps one o' ye could go up ahead to see what ye can see? Once ah get up there ah'll be makin' all sorts of racket." He removes the rope from his belt and speaks a magic word to animate it, looking towards the lower balcony. He likes the look of that the most, seems most sturdy from what he can tell.
(OOC: That hut is creepy lol, Finley can swim so unless it's a crazy current he should be ok if he fell, might be a little tough but he could get to one of the legs of the hut if needed to hold onto. I do like the look of the lower balcony at B6, wouldn't be a long fall into the water since it's a first floor section, even if it's up above the water like that.)
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
(OOC: Yep, the one benefit of the lake is that falling damage shouldn't be a problem.
Of course, drowning might be! We don't know how deep the lake is or whether it houses any monsters. Kelpies are a favorite fairy tale "monster" who tries to drown mortals. Even a regular crocodile or two could be a problem for such a small group, especially if the beast clamps down on someone (grappled) and drags them underwater.)
The rope snakes upward and attaches to a railing. A quick tug and the rope seem to hold.
What do you do next?