The spool of thread is absorbed into the creature somehow. The shadowy being rushes forward slipping through the party as its shape twists and flattens. The effort to stop it is similar to trying to stop mist. The shadow hurriedly moves towards the balcony door and is seeping halfway under the door as it can slip through any tiny crevice or opening.
Valrieth now assumes the worst: the dark mist-creature killed the Lornling and stole something from Bavlorna. She's desperate to stop it so that they don't get blamed if they're caught here. After the creature slips past them, she pushes past Octavian's legs so that she can hop out of the treasure room and back into the bedroom. As she turns, her whole body seems to shift and shimmer, and she begins glowing with motes of light. She takes out her star map as she moves toward the stairs and clear of the door so that Finley can get back into the bedroom and so that she can get a clear shot at the creature. She casts a spell (guiding bolt) and then sends a radiant arrow (starry form: archer attack) at the creature before it can slip away.
She says urgently, "Finley, it's escaping under the other door. We need the keys."
Movement: 30' movement:
10' to move through Octavian's space
5' west toward the stair railing
Attack & Bonus Action attack
15' south toward the door
Action: Cast spell (LVL 1 slot) Guiding Bolt, 16, Damage: 13 radiant Bonus Action: Wild Shape into Archer Starry Form and attack (range: 60), 15, Damage: 7 radiant Free Action: Getting out her star map, Talking
Action: Cast spell (LVL 1 slot) Guiding Bolt, 16, Damage: 13 radiant Bonus Action: Wild Shape into Archer Starry Form and attack (range: 60), 15, Damage: 7 radiant
(OOC: If the guiding bolt hit, then the starry form attack should be with advantage. Second attack roll for that bonus action: 22, and in case this second roll is a critical hit, extra 1 damage.)
(OOC: Oops. Valrieth may have overcranked it against that opponent: she's half-way through her spell slots, and she has just 10 more minutes on the current wild shape usage. But at least the creature didn't get away, right?)
Initially happy that she at least stopped the dark shadow creature's theft, Valrieth turns back to look at the others, still glowing from her archer starry form. She sees the Will-o'-wisp floating past Vansel and down the stairs. "Oh no!", Val can only gape and point in horror as it disappears down the stairs and out of sight. Her tone of voice always sounds odd while she's in her starry form, weirdly distant and like she's talking through a cold, metal pipe.
Val's head whips toward Finley, a panicked expression on her face. She asks him the question that's blotting out all other thoughts in her head:
"Hide?" Val glances around the room, trying to think of a spot they could hide in Bavlorna's room where they wouldn't be found.
"Run?" Val glances at the door (still locked) in to the south behind her behind her, where the dark shadow creature was trying to flee.
Then Val stoops to pick up the spool of thread that the creature was apparently trying to steal. She looks from the spool in her hand to Finley, and asks, "Or go down and present ourselves to Bavlorna now? It's our last chance for us to present ourselves to her before she finds us."
Val's mind is racing, and they have to decide quickly!
Val isn't good at lying, but at least part of their story is good. Would Bavlorna believe them? Reward them for stopping the theft? Punish them for sneaking up to the bedroom? She feels trapped and cornered in this room, but maybe if they made it into Bavlorna's tea room before being attacked, they could flee back through the dining room or perhaps the kitchen.
(OOC: Thanks. Yes, I did not mean to imply otherwise.
I just meant that Valrieth wishes that she could have also prevented it from killing the Lornling or that they had captured it or that it had left a body that they could show to Bavlorna. I guess the Will-o'-wisp will be their witness, but they'll have to hope that it just focuses its report on the spool and the dark shadow creature.)
Finley runs to the southern still locked door to try and unlock it with the keys he has, “we can just jump out of ah window, aye? There’s water below and th’ boat is nearby. Or we can use th’ rope to climb down to somewhere else as well. Either way we stole from her so it cannae be ah good thing.”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Finley runs to the southern still locked door to try and unlock it with the keys he has, “we can just jump out of ah window, aye? There’s water below and th’ boat is nearby. Or we can use th’ rope to climb down to somewhere else as well. Either way we stole from her so it cannae be ah good thing.”
Valrieth moves to meet Finley as he heads toward the southern door so that she can speak more quietly. She's still glowing (in her archer starry form), but she's speaking quickly: "If there's a balcony, it's not a simple drop to the lake. We'll still have to cross the kitchen roof!" Even without cartographer's tools, Val can tell that based on the location of the stairs, Bavlorna's third story bedroom is situated over the middle of the second story. There must be at least 15' between the bedroom's outer walls and the outer walls of the second story. Will there be a safe way down? Or other hazards getting all 4 of them across the roof?
"We could just put the things back in the chest. Then we haven't taken anything, right?" (They never had a chance to grab Clapperclaw's head before the dark shadow squeezed past them.) "We could put it all back and go see her. Same story: we are just here to return the book, but we didn't want to disturb her. We caught the dark shadow thing that killed a Lorning. It was trying to steal this spool of thread." She holds up the spool. "If we haven't taken anything, maybe she'll be more focused on that?"
Val glances toward the stairs and then back at Finley to see what he thinks of the idea. She ignores nagging thoughts about the ruined staircase outside the kitchen. With the giant wasp nest, Bavlorna must not use the stairs much, and she doesn't think that Bloody Toes would tell Bavlorna about it.
If Finley wants to try putting the things back in the chest and presenting themselves to Bavlorna:
Val asks Octavian to close the door to B19.
Val goes to the chest and takes the marionette and carnival ticket out of her backpack.
If Finley prefers to jump out the southern door:
Val goes back to B19 herself. If they're making an enemy of Bavlorna, she wants to make sure that they escape with Clapperclaw's head. She hopes to grab the stag's head off the wall, close the door to B19, and then escape out the southern door before anything comes to get them.
"We've got ah mission, aye? Let's get everything that we came for, take th' spool of thread with us, and get th' hells outta here and come back when we're stronger or with more allies. Ah dun like this place at all, that wisp gave me th' willies so ah just wanna go." Finley says, prepared to go out the door with her once she returns from B19.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
"We've got ah mission, aye? Let's get everything that we came for, take th' spool of thread with us, and get th' hells outta here and come back when we're stronger or with more allies. Ah dun like this place at all, that wisp gave me th' willies so ah just wanna go." Finley says, prepared to go out the door with her once she returns from B19.
So, at this point, Finley tries the two keys to see whether either one opens the door to the south. Valrieth will move back to B19, putting the spool in her pouch as she goes, and take the stag's head off of the wall.
If they're both successful, next round, Vansel can leave the stairs to go out the south door with Finley to see what's there. If there's a clear, easy drop to the lake, they can just jump. If not, Finley will be tying the rope of climbing to the balcony. Valrieth would dash out of B19 with Clapperclaw's head and out to the balcony to the south. Octavian, near the door to B19, could close the door to that room and follow Val to the balcony.
Once Finley and Vansel have left the balcony, Val and Octavian can follow, closing the door behind them, hopefully making a clean get away.
The door shimmers with magic similar to the windows. The exits are under an arcane lock spell. You can try a thieves tool check DC 20 to get out.
Everyone can hear Bavlorna's footsteps on the stairs. "Oh, dear I hear I have sneak thieves in my room. Maybe I will eat well tonight."
Val and Finely have a moment to decide what to do as in 6 seconds Bavlorna will be in her bedroom.
(OOC: I'm assuming that the chest where they found the spell scrolls is that object on the map in the southeast corner of B18, near the door to the balcony. If that's not correct, I'll have to adjust.)
When Valrieth hears Bavlorna, she decides to leave the stag's head up on the wall in B19. She doesn't want to be caught holding it! She leaves the door to B19 open and hurries over to Finley with Octavian, urgently pointing at the chest and telling Finley, "Get the book back out." She hopes that Vansel has the sense to leave the top of the stairs and join them in the southeast corner of the room.
When she reaches Finley, Val stops concentrating on pass without trace. She says, "We're going to have to talk our way out of here and return later. We were here to return the book when we stopped that shadow thing from stealing her spool." She touches his arm and invokes his lucky star to provide him guidance.
If Finley didn't close and re-lock the chest once he got out the book, Val squats down behind Finley and Octavian so that she can hopefully do that before Bavlorna notices that it was open. If Finley already locked the chest, Val simply takes the spool (and her star map) back out of her pouch and stands next to Finley. Val is still in her archer starry form.
Eyes wide, Finley hurries to the chest to get the book out and relocks the chest as quickly as he can, and once he's standing next to Val, slightly ahead of her, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He lets it out slowly and opens his eyes as the hag arrives.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Balvorna Blightstraw enters the bedroom with a crooked smile. She sees the door to B19 open and then scowls at the party. "Looters shall be punished, but I am in a good mood. I will allow you to explain yourselves. Of course, if I don't like what I hear all you will be part of my dinner" says Bavlorna with a hint of anger in her voice.
Valrieth waits for Finley to speak since he's generally better at persuasion than she is.
From behind him, she tries to avoid looking directly at Bavlorna. She looks in the area around Bavlorna and scans the the railing around the opening to the stairs. She's checking to see whether Bavlorna's witchy guest has also come upstairs, whether the Will-o'-wisp has returned, and whether any Lornlings have come upstairs with her.
Does Bavlorna approach closer to them? Or does she remain near the head of the stairs?
Finley forces himself to look away from the wisp as it appears again, "we've got this 'ere book we were wanting ta return ta ye, we weren't meaning ta cause much mischief."He holds the book out a little ways, focusing his eyes on it to keep from getting frightened of the wisp again, "but as we were putting it here, some creature was meaning ta rob ye of a spool of thread, which we quickly prevented th' thief from gettin' away."
(Persuasion: 15 with guidance.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
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Valrieth now assumes the worst: the dark mist-creature killed the Lornling and stole something from Bavlorna. She's desperate to stop it so that they don't get blamed if they're caught here. After the creature slips past them, she pushes past Octavian's legs so that she can hop out of the treasure room and back into the bedroom. As she turns, her whole body seems to shift and shimmer, and she begins glowing with motes of light. She takes out her star map as she moves toward the stairs and clear of the door so that Finley can get back into the bedroom and so that she can get a clear shot at the creature. She casts a spell (guiding bolt) and then sends a radiant arrow (starry form: archer attack) at the creature before it can slip away.
She says urgently, "Finley, it's escaping under the other door. We need the keys."
Movement: 30' movement:
Action: Cast spell (LVL 1 slot) Guiding Bolt, 16, Damage: 13 radiant
Bonus Action: Wild Shape into Archer Starry Form and attack (range: 60), 15, Damage: 7 radiant
Free Action: Getting out her star map, Talking
(OOC: If the guiding bolt hit, then the starry form attack should be with advantage. Second attack roll for that bonus action: 22, and in case this second roll is a critical hit, extra 1 damage.)
Val attacks hit and there is a muffled cry of pain as the shadow dies dropping the spool of thread. The creature disintegrates into thin air.
The Will-o'-wisp floats down the stairs to warn Bavlorna.
(OOC: Oops. Valrieth may have overcranked it against that opponent: she's half-way through her spell slots, and she has just 10 more minutes on the current wild shape usage. But at least the creature didn't get away, right?)
Initially happy that she at least stopped the dark shadow creature's theft, Valrieth turns back to look at the others, still glowing from her archer starry form. She sees the Will-o'-wisp floating past Vansel and down the stairs. "Oh no!", Val can only gape and point in horror as it disappears down the stairs and out of sight. Her tone of voice always sounds odd while she's in her starry form, weirdly distant and like she's talking through a cold, metal pipe.
Val's head whips toward Finley, a panicked expression on her face. She asks him the question that's blotting out all other thoughts in her head:
"Hide?" Val glances around the room, trying to think of a spot they could hide in Bavlorna's room where they wouldn't be found.
"Run?" Val glances at the door (still locked) in to the south behind her behind her, where the dark shadow creature was trying to flee.
Then Val stoops to pick up the spool of thread that the creature was apparently trying to steal. She looks from the spool in her hand to Finley, and asks, "Or go down and present ourselves to Bavlorna now? It's our last chance for us to present ourselves to her before she finds us."
Val's mind is racing, and they have to decide quickly!
Val isn't good at lying, but at least part of their story is good. Would Bavlorna believe them? Reward them for stopping the theft? Punish them for sneaking up to the bedroom? She feels trapped and cornered in this room, but maybe if they made it into Bavlorna's tea room before being attacked, they could flee back through the dining room or perhaps the kitchen.
The shadow creature is gone.
(OOC: Thanks. Yes, I did not mean to imply otherwise.
I just meant that Valrieth wishes that she could have also prevented it from killing the Lornling or that they had captured it or that it had left a body that they could show to Bavlorna. I guess the Will-o'-wisp will be their witness, but they'll have to hope that it just focuses its report on the spool and the dark shadow creature.)
Finley runs to the southern still locked door to try and unlock it with the keys he has, “we can just jump out of ah window, aye? There’s water below and th’ boat is nearby. Or we can use th’ rope to climb down to somewhere else as well. Either way we stole from her so it cannae be ah good thing.”
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Valrieth moves to meet Finley as he heads toward the southern door so that she can speak more quietly. She's still glowing (in her archer starry form), but she's speaking quickly: "If there's a balcony, it's not a simple drop to the lake. We'll still have to cross the kitchen roof!" Even without cartographer's tools, Val can tell that based on the location of the stairs, Bavlorna's third story bedroom is situated over the middle of the second story. There must be at least 15' between the bedroom's outer walls and the outer walls of the second story. Will there be a safe way down? Or other hazards getting all 4 of them across the roof?
"We could just put the things back in the chest. Then we haven't taken anything, right?" (They never had a chance to grab Clapperclaw's head before the dark shadow squeezed past them.) "We could put it all back and go see her. Same story: we are just here to return the book, but we didn't want to disturb her. We caught the dark shadow thing that killed a Lorning. It was trying to steal this spool of thread." She holds up the spool. "If we haven't taken anything, maybe she'll be more focused on that?"
Val glances toward the stairs and then back at Finley to see what he thinks of the idea. She ignores nagging thoughts about the ruined staircase outside the kitchen. With the giant wasp nest, Bavlorna must not use the stairs much, and she doesn't think that Bloody Toes would tell Bavlorna about it.
If Finley wants to try putting the things back in the chest and presenting themselves to Bavlorna:
If Finley prefers to jump out the southern door:
Val goes back to B19 herself. If they're making an enemy of Bavlorna, she wants to make sure that they escape with Clapperclaw's head. She hopes to grab the stag's head off the wall, close the door to B19, and then escape out the southern door before anything comes to get them.
"We've got ah mission, aye? Let's get everything that we came for, take th' spool of thread with us, and get th' hells outta here and come back when we're stronger or with more allies. Ah dun like this place at all, that wisp gave me th' willies so ah just wanna go." Finley says, prepared to go out the door with her once she returns from B19.
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
So, at this point, Finley tries the two keys to see whether either one opens the door to the south. Valrieth will move back to B19, putting the spool in her pouch as she goes, and take the stag's head off of the wall.
If they're both successful, next round, Vansel can leave the stairs to go out the south door with Finley to see what's there. If there's a clear, easy drop to the lake, they can just jump. If not, Finley will be tying the rope of climbing to the balcony. Valrieth would dash out of B19 with Clapperclaw's head and out to the balcony to the south. Octavian, near the door to B19, could close the door to that room and follow Val to the balcony.
Once Finley and Vansel have left the balcony, Val and Octavian can follow, closing the door behind them, hopefully making a clean get away.
Stealth 29
The keys do not work on the door to the balcony.
The door shimmers with magic similar to the windows. The exits are under an arcane lock spell. You can try a thieves tool check DC 20 to get out.
Everyone can hear Bavlorna's footsteps on the stairs. "Oh, dear I hear I have sneak thieves in my room. Maybe I will eat well tonight."
Val and Finely have a moment to decide what to do as in 6 seconds Bavlorna will be in her bedroom.
What do you do?
(OOC: I'm assuming that the chest where they found the spell scrolls is that object on the map in the southeast corner of B18, near the door to the balcony. If that's not correct, I'll have to adjust.)
When Valrieth hears Bavlorna, she decides to leave the stag's head up on the wall in B19. She doesn't want to be caught holding it! She leaves the door to B19 open and hurries over to Finley with Octavian, urgently pointing at the chest and telling Finley, "Get the book back out." She hopes that Vansel has the sense to leave the top of the stairs and join them in the southeast corner of the room.
When she reaches Finley, Val stops concentrating on pass without trace. She says, "We're going to have to talk our way out of here and return later. We were here to return the book when we stopped that shadow thing from stealing her spool." She touches his arm and invokes his lucky star to provide him guidance.
If Finley didn't close and re-lock the chest once he got out the book, Val squats down behind Finley and Octavian so that she can hopefully do that before Bavlorna notices that it was open. If Finley already locked the chest, Val simply takes the spool (and her star map) back out of her pouch and stands next to Finley. Val is still in her archer starry form.
Vansel scurried into the bedroom corner shaking in fear that he will become Bavlorna's meal.
Eyes wide, Finley hurries to the chest to get the book out and relocks the chest as quickly as he can, and once he's standing next to Val, slightly ahead of her, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He lets it out slowly and opens his eyes as the hag arrives.
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Balvorna Blightstraw enters the bedroom with a crooked smile. She sees the door to B19 open and then scowls at the party. "Looters shall be punished, but I am in a good mood. I will allow you to explain yourselves. Of course, if I don't like what I hear all you will be part of my dinner" says Bavlorna with a hint of anger in her voice.
Valrieth waits for Finley to speak since he's generally better at persuasion than she is.
From behind him, she tries to avoid looking directly at Bavlorna. She looks in the area around Bavlorna and scans the the railing around the opening to the stairs. She's checking to see whether Bavlorna's witchy guest has also come upstairs, whether the Will-o'-wisp has returned, and whether any Lornlings have come upstairs with her.
Does Bavlorna approach closer to them? Or does she remain near the head of the stairs?
Near the head of the stairs. The will-o'-wisp is behind her and the witchy friend in downstairs.
Finley forces himself to look away from the wisp as it appears again, "we've got this 'ere book we were wanting ta return ta ye, we weren't meaning ta cause much mischief." He holds the book out a little ways, focusing his eyes on it to keep from getting frightened of the wisp again, "but as we were putting it here, some creature was meaning ta rob ye of a spool of thread, which we quickly prevented th' thief from gettin' away."
(Persuasion: 15 with guidance.)
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire