Lifting the needle allows the tiny door to be pulled open easily, revealing a moldy stretch of floor underneath the potion cabinet that stands against the wall in area B10....
Set with its back to the wall in one corner is a hulking wooden cabinet. Sturdy legs support the bottom of the cabinet six inches above the floor.
(OOC: Clarifications. When the group walked into B10, they walked directly into that area under the potion cabinet, right? And is the hulking wooden cabinet mentioned at the end of the description is that same potion cabinet?)
The other figure is a toad-like creature with bulging eyes and cracked skin. It is clad in a shapeless garment and sits on one end of a love seat with its legs pulled up beneath it.
(OOC: That must be Bavlorna. I assume that the loveseat is the larger one on the map (to the left of the B10 marker). Does that mean that she's facing toward the NE corner and away from the potions cabinet?)
A decrepit wooden staircase climbs up the wall in another corner.
(OOC: Is that whole staircase open to the view to those in the room? Or if we made it onto the stairs, would we be obscured (total cover) from those in the room? I ask because the make makes it look like there's a wall along the north side of the stairs.)
The stairs seem quite a challenge as if you are staring at a mountainside. Each step is larger than you at your current size.
(OOC: Before, after 1 minute passed, did Valrieth suddenly revert to her normal size? Or did she slowly re-enlarge? That is, I'm trying to figure out whether they could make it over to the stairs while tiny and then start climbing as soon they started to return to normal size. Maybe they could get out of sight before they were large enough to be noticed, assuming no bad stealth rolls.)
You stay at 1/20th your original size until 1 minute passes and then you enlarge rapidly almost instantly. there are 2 cabinets and you are under the potions cabinet.
There is no wall before the stairs as that is just the side of the stairs. You would be in plain view of the witchy guest if heading straight to the stairs.
Yes, Bavlorna is facing away from where you are located.
Everything seems gigantic as the cabinet above you seem like a towering building.
Two creatures are having a conversation over tea in the middle of this room
"Oh my goodness!", Valrieth squeaks. "That must be her. And the other one, do you think that's one of her sisters? Or just some other fey?"
Val scans the room for any other threats and possible hiding places. Perception14
"What do you think, Finley?", Val asks. "Should we try to sneak up the stairs? I guess we'd need some sort of distraction to get up the stairs unseen." Val tries to listen to Bavlorna's conversation while Finley thinks.
“Could use a distraction, aye. But ah’ve got nothing substantial that could do it and we must make haste ta go up th’ stairs or head back through where we came to maybe set a distraction outside her door? Either way ah’ll go with what lever direction seems better. Ah kinda lean towards th’ stairs though.” Finley looks and nervous as he looks between the hag and the stairs.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
(OOC: OK, thanks! I just didn't want to burn down 1/2 of our shrunken time making a plan before we try it.)
Valrieth gestures to the others and goes back through the mouse door. She lights her produce flame once they close the little mouse door again.
Val lets out a big sigh as though she was holding her breath the whole time they were in the other room. She says, "Well, I think that we could make it to the stairs, but we'll probably need the full minute to get there when our legs are this short. Since the dark witch is facing toward the stairs, we'll have to have a well-timed distraction to get them looking the other way before the enchantment wears off. Maybe I could freeze their tea? Or...can Octavian move the cupboard in the corner of the room along that wall farthest from the stairs? Maybe that would get them both looking that way while we grow back to regular size and sneak up the stairs. But it's a risk. If it doesn't work, I don't know how we'd explain suddenly appearing in the tea room by the stairs."
Val's other suggestion is splitting up. She thinks that she could wild shape into something small, like a spider, and sneak up the stairs without attracting too much attention. But unless there's a window in Bavlorna's bedroom that looks out over one of the other balconies, she can't figure out how to get the rest of the party up there. She does not like the idea of sneaking around Bavlorna's bedroom all on her own.
Val reminds them that it sounded like Bavlorna checked for them downstairs in the pool room after they opened that squeaky door to the cupboard room. She suggests that they could send Octavian and Vansel back downstairs to open that door again to see whether Bavlorna, at least, would leave her tea room again. (Octavian and Vansel could go through the trap door back to the lake and hide in the boat before she gets there, even rowing into the fog to hide.) "Meanwhile, Finley and I could run for the stairs once Bavlorna gets up to leave, and we can hopefully get up the stairs and search the hag's bedroom without the other witch seeing us. But we'd have to hope that there's an escape route from that room, like another balcony or a big window. That way, Finley and I could get out and rejoin you in the boat without having to go back through the tea room. Otherwise, we'd be stuck up there at least until Bavlorna's guest leaves."
Octavian shakes his head "I cannot move the cupboard at this size as it's like moving a tower. I probably can do it if I was at my original size again."
“Ah can have a coin make some noise like a scream after ah toss it that could cause a distraction. But otherwise Ah think that the others causing a noise elsewhere could work but also be dangerous for them if she’s suspicious already.” Finley tugs at his beard. “There’s probably a window we could use to jump into the water from her bedroom so that shouldn’t be a problem unless she hears me stomping around.”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
(OOC: the "screaming coin" might be tricky to use. I still don't know much about the Artificer class, but RAW, it looks like that effect would start as soon as you imbue the coin with that property. You'd touch a tiny nonmagical object as an action and give it this magical property:
The object continuously emits your choice of an odor or a nonverbal sound (wind, waves, chirping, or the like). The chosen phenomenon is perceivable up to 10 feet away.
It seems like you'd either have to activate before we start to move out from under the cupboard, which would draw their attention away from the stairs, but then they'd probably spot the 1/20 sized party as we leave the area under the cupboard. Or you'd activate it later when we're by the stairs and then throw it across the room, but it looks like the coin would start screaming before you throw it, so it could draw attention to our location near the stairs.)
"Ye wannae try me loud coin but throwin' it with yer sling while we're small? Th' sound should be diminished as well, cause my boots would cause a ruckus otherwise, aye?" Finley says, pulling out a copper coin to imbue it when ready.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Finley stands ready to go through with the plan and imbues the copper coin once Val is ready. You hear the blood curdling scream emit from coin.
(OOC: The idea was to test it first. For example, the party would to the bend in the L-shaped hallway before Finley imbues the coin with the sound. Then, Valrieth waits there while the others approach the mouse door at the end of the hall. As they move away from her and continue to shrink, is the sound still audible to Val? We're assuming that the volume will decrease as Finley and the coin shrinks, but if that's the case, Val would expect that it would be basically inaudible to her long before Finley makes it to the mouse door. I'll follow up once I see @weathervision's response to this post and move the group into B10 if it's working.)
Valrieth waits at corner in the L-shaped hallway and lets the others continue toward the mouse door with the "screaming coin."
If the sound does not decrease as Finley and the coin continue to shrink -- for example, if the sound from the coin has not become basically inaudible to Val once Finley makes it to the halfway-point in between her and the mouse door (about 5' away) -- Val warns Finley to stop, hissing, "Wait, wait, wait. Come back. It's not getting quieter as you shrink." She doesn't want them to get too close to Bavlorna's tea room if the sound from the coin is that loud. They definitely don't want the hag to find them while they're still shrunken! She'd probably pop them into some sort of display case.
If the sound does decrease as Finely and the coin continue to shrink, their plan seems sound. She hurries after the others, trying not to feel dizzy as the hallway seems to grow as she moves forward. She gets out her sling as she walks, ready to hurl Finley's coin closer to the hag once they re-enter the room. "Ready?", she asks.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Valrieth says, "Finley, as soon as I'm through the door, hand the coin to me. Then, as long as they're still sitting in their chairs like before, we can run for the stairs. Once I sling the coin over to the rug, I'll be following right behind you. Just don't get too far ahead of me so that I can keep everyone covered by pass without trace. Hopefully, we can get behind Bavlorna's chair without being spotted by her guest."
Once everyone is ready, they line up in front of the mouse door in order: Finley, Octavian, Vansel, and Val. Once Val has the screaming coin, she goes to the east edge of the cupboard that covers them, aligned with the southern edge of the nearest rug. That way, if she gets the coin onto the rug, it should be within 10' of both Bavlorna and her guest once the coin returns to its regular size and its volume returns to normal. Val checks that both Bavlorna and her guest are still talking and that the guest isn't looking in her direction. (Perception18)
Val uses her sling to hurl the coin onto the round rug by the cupboard. (OOC: Val isn't trying "to hit" a particular target, just sling the coin as far as she can onto the rug, but I'll include an attack role below, if needed. A sling's long range is normally 120', which should translate to 6' at 1/20 scale.) Since the coin's screaming sound decreased as it shrank, neither Bavlorna nor her guest should be able to hear it until it returns to its normal size in 1 minute.
As soon as she sees the coin land, Val then starts moving south (still under the cupboard) toward the stairs. She cannot dash until round 2 after the party enters B10, so she'll be trailing the others slightly.
The plan is to make it to the foot of the stairs before we start to enlarge. Since Finley went through the door first, the coin will hopefully enlarge at the same time he does. The regular-sized coin should suddenly be audible within 10', which would sound like screaming suddenly erupting from the rug. Hopefully, the hags look over to that rug in the northeast corner for a few seconds, and the (regular-sized) party sneaks quickly up the stairs with the benefit of pass without trace before the hags find the coin and turn around.
Movement: 30' (scaled to 18" of movement) to the east edge of the cupboard, where Val can see the hags and sling the coin. Action: Sling, (range: 30/120), Sling: 24, Damage: N/A Free Action: Taking the coin from Finley
(OOC: FYI - trying to repost to trigger the dice roller to kick in.)
The stairs seem quite a challenge as if you are staring at a mountainside. Each step is larger than you at your current size.
(OOC: Clarifications. When the group walked into B10, they walked directly into that area under the potion cabinet, right? And is the hulking wooden cabinet mentioned at the end of the description is that same potion cabinet?)
(OOC: That must be Bavlorna. I assume that the loveseat is the larger one on the map (to the left of the B10 marker). Does that mean that she's facing toward the NE corner and away from the potions cabinet?)
(OOC: Is that whole staircase open to the view to those in the room? Or if we made it onto the stairs, would we be obscured (total cover) from those in the room? I ask because the make makes it look like there's a wall along the north side of the stairs.)
(OOC: Before, after 1 minute passed, did Valrieth suddenly revert to her normal size? Or did she slowly re-enlarge? That is, I'm trying to figure out whether they could make it over to the stairs while tiny and then start climbing as soon they started to return to normal size. Maybe they could get out of sight before they were large enough to be noticed, assuming no bad stealth rolls.)
You stay at 1/20th your original size until 1 minute passes and then you enlarge rapidly almost instantly. there are 2 cabinets and you are under the potions cabinet.
There is no wall before the stairs as that is just the side of the stairs. You would be in plain view of the witchy guest if heading straight to the stairs.
Yes, Bavlorna is facing away from where you are located.
"Oh my goodness!", Valrieth squeaks. "That must be her. And the other one, do you think that's one of her sisters? Or just some other fey?"
Val scans the room for any other threats and possible hiding places. Perception 14
"What do you think, Finley?", Val asks. "Should we try to sneak up the stairs? I guess we'd need some sort of distraction to get up the stairs unseen." Val tries to listen to Bavlorna's conversation while Finley thinks.
The 2 are gossiping about fey bargains and dark deeds letting out a cackle of laughter on occasion.
“Could use a distraction, aye. But ah’ve got nothing substantial that could do it and we must make haste ta go up th’ stairs or head back through where we came to maybe set a distraction outside her door? Either way ah’ll go with what lever direction seems better. Ah kinda lean towards th’ stairs though.” Finley looks and nervous as he looks between the hag and the stairs.
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
(OOC: @Weathervision - Can the group still go back through the small "mouse door" to the L-shaped hallway (B9)?)
Yes you can.
(OOC: OK, thanks! I just didn't want to burn down 1/2 of our shrunken time making a plan before we try it.)
Valrieth gestures to the others and goes back through the mouse door. She lights her produce flame once they close the little mouse door again.
Val lets out a big sigh as though she was holding her breath the whole time they were in the other room. She says, "Well, I think that we could make it to the stairs, but we'll probably need the full minute to get there when our legs are this short. Since the dark witch is facing toward the stairs, we'll have to have a well-timed distraction to get them looking the other way before the enchantment wears off. Maybe I could freeze their tea? Or...can Octavian move the cupboard in the corner of the room along that wall farthest from the stairs? Maybe that would get them both looking that way while we grow back to regular size and sneak up the stairs. But it's a risk. If it doesn't work, I don't know how we'd explain suddenly appearing in the tea room by the stairs."
Val's other suggestion is splitting up. She thinks that she could wild shape into something small, like a spider, and sneak up the stairs without attracting too much attention. But unless there's a window in Bavlorna's bedroom that looks out over one of the other balconies, she can't figure out how to get the rest of the party up there. She does not like the idea of sneaking around Bavlorna's bedroom all on her own.
Val reminds them that it sounded like Bavlorna checked for them downstairs in the pool room after they opened that squeaky door to the cupboard room. She suggests that they could send Octavian and Vansel back downstairs to open that door again to see whether Bavlorna, at least, would leave her tea room again. (Octavian and Vansel could go through the trap door back to the lake and hide in the boat before she gets there, even rowing into the fog to hide.) "Meanwhile, Finley and I could run for the stairs once Bavlorna gets up to leave, and we can hopefully get up the stairs and search the hag's bedroom without the other witch seeing us. But we'd have to hope that there's an escape route from that room, like another balcony or a big window. That way, Finley and I could get out and rejoin you in the boat without having to go back through the tea room. Otherwise, we'd be stuck up there at least until Bavlorna's guest leaves."
Octavian shakes his head "I cannot move the cupboard at this size as it's like moving a tower. I probably can do it if I was at my original size again."
“Ah can have a coin make some noise like a scream after ah toss it that could cause a distraction. But otherwise Ah think that the others causing a noise elsewhere could work but also be dangerous for them if she’s suspicious already.” Finley tugs at his beard. “There’s probably a window we could use to jump into the water from her bedroom so that shouldn’t be a problem unless she hears me stomping around.”
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
(OOC: the "screaming coin" might be tricky to use. I still don't know much about the Artificer class, but RAW, it looks like that effect would start as soon as you imbue the coin with that property. You'd touch a tiny nonmagical object as an action and give it this magical property:
It seems like you'd either have to activate before we start to move out from under the cupboard, which would draw their attention away from the stairs, but then they'd probably spot the 1/20 sized party as we leave the area under the cupboard. Or you'd activate it later when we're by the stairs and then throw it across the room, but it looks like the coin would start screaming before you throw it, so it could draw attention to our location near the stairs.)
(Would be outside when we’re large, possibly, then run to shrink down, but either way we could use some kind of distraction to get passed them.)
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
"Ye wannae try me loud coin but throwin' it with yer sling while we're small? Th' sound should be diminished as well, cause my boots would cause a ruckus otherwise, aye?" Finley says, pulling out a copper coin to imbue it when ready.
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Finley stands ready to go through with the plan and imbues the copper coin once Val is ready. You hear the blood curdling scream emit from coin.
(OOC: The idea was to test it first. For example, the party would to the bend in the L-shaped hallway before Finley imbues the coin with the sound. Then, Valrieth waits there while the others approach the mouse door at the end of the hall. As they move away from her and continue to shrink, is the sound still audible to Val? We're assuming that the volume will decrease as Finley and the coin shrinks, but if that's the case, Val would expect that it would be basically inaudible to her long before Finley makes it to the mouse door. I'll follow up once I see @weathervision's response to this post and move the group into B10 if it's working.)
Valrieth waits at corner in the L-shaped hallway and lets the others continue toward the mouse door with the "screaming coin."
If the sound does not decrease as Finley and the coin continue to shrink -- for example, if the sound from the coin has not become basically inaudible to Val once Finley makes it to the halfway-point in between her and the mouse door (about 5' away) -- Val warns Finley to stop, hissing, "Wait, wait, wait. Come back. It's not getting quieter as you shrink." She doesn't want them to get too close to Bavlorna's tea room if the sound from the coin is that loud. They definitely don't want the hag to find them while they're still shrunken! She'd probably pop them into some sort of display case.If the sound does decrease as Finely and the coin continue to shrink, their plan seems sound. She hurries after the others, trying not to feel dizzy as the hallway seems to grow as she moves forward. She gets out her sling as she walks, ready to hurl Finley's coin closer to the hag once they re-enter the room. "Ready?", she asks.
The sound does decrease.
Valrieth says, "Finley, as soon as I'm through the door, hand the coin to me. Then, as long as they're still sitting in their chairs like before, we can run for the stairs. Once I sling the coin over to the rug, I'll be following right behind you. Just don't get too far ahead of me so that I can keep everyone covered by pass without trace. Hopefully, we can get behind Bavlorna's chair without being spotted by her guest."
Once everyone is ready, they line up in front of the mouse door in order: Finley, Octavian, Vansel, and Val. Once Val has the screaming coin, she goes to the east edge of the cupboard that covers them, aligned with the southern edge of the nearest rug. That way, if she gets the coin onto the rug, it should be within 10' of both Bavlorna and her guest once the coin returns to its regular size and its volume returns to normal. Val checks that both Bavlorna and her guest are still talking and that the guest isn't looking in her direction. (Perception 18)
Val uses her sling to hurl the coin onto the round rug by the cupboard. (OOC: Val isn't trying "to hit" a particular target, just sling the coin as far as she can onto the rug, but I'll include an attack role below, if needed. A sling's long range is normally 120', which should translate to 6' at 1/20 scale.) Since the coin's screaming sound decreased as it shrank, neither Bavlorna nor her guest should be able to hear it until it returns to its normal size in 1 minute.
As soon as she sees the coin land, Val then starts moving south (still under the cupboard) toward the stairs. She cannot dash until round 2 after the party enters B10, so she'll be trailing the others slightly.
The plan is to make it to the foot of the stairs before we start to enlarge. Since Finley went through the door first, the coin will hopefully enlarge at the same time he does. The regular-sized coin should suddenly be audible within 10', which would sound like screaming suddenly erupting from the rug. Hopefully, the hags look over to that rug in the northeast corner for a few seconds, and the (regular-sized) party sneaks quickly up the stairs with the benefit of pass without trace before the hags find the coin and turn around.
Movement: 30' (scaled to 18" of movement) to the east edge of the cupboard, where Val can see the hags and sling the coin.
Action: Sling, (range: 30/120), Sling: 24, Damage: N/A
Free Action: Taking the coin from Finley
(OOC: FYI - trying to repost to trigger the dice roller to kick in.)