(OOC: Got it. Thanks. Still ~6 minutes left on the current starry form.)
The water is slimy and awfully disgusting as Val steps into the pool. The light from the cantrip is snuffed out.
"Oh well! That's what I expected," Valrieth says.
Val grimaces at the feeling of the water on her feet. "Ew! This water is disgusting! Even worse than the swamp water we've been dealing with. At least that water comes and goes all the time so that it's not just stagnant. Maybe we can use that big lily pad to float over to the well so that we don't have to wade through the water? Or, I guess I could make another ice raft for us to float over to the well on."
She asks Finley, "Can you think of a way to drop a light down into the well? In this form, I could light things up if I climbed into the well, but I'd like to avoid doing that if possible!"
Val prays for guidance while trying to determine whether they're dealing with mundane stagnant and slimy water or whether the slimy water is unnatural in some way. She rubs the fingers of her wet hand. She cups some water in her hand and looks at it. She brings the water closer to her nose and sniffs it, grimacing. Nature7
“Yer right we’re still alive, but for how long is what ah worry. Hopefully it keeps to th’ deal and doesn’t find some loophole ta keep us here or doing more, aye? We still need ta help Octavian too.” Finley tugs at his beard as they get to the water.
He lights up another coin(5 ft. Radius) and tosses it into the water, “ah dunnae know how much it’ll help but that’s all ah got. Anything unnatural about th’ water?”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
“Yer right we’re still alive, but for how long is what ah worry. Hopefully it keeps to th’ deal and doesn’t find some loophole ta keep us here or doing more, aye? We still need ta help Octavian too.” Finley tugs at his beard as they get to the water.
"True," Valrieth says. "She seemed eager to take a leg or part of our soul or a bit of mind. Nasty business! But I don't think that she can wiggle out of the bargain if we fulfill our end of it. We'll just have to be careful about exactly how these fey bargains are worded.
"And she didn't agree to keep us safe while we're here. If we must sleep here tonight, we'll need to set a watch rotation to make sure that nothing comes to eat us in our sleep."
He lights up another coin(5 ft. Radius) and tosses it into the water,
(OOC: did Finley drop the coin into the pool or into the well? It was my understanding that the water is supposed to flow up from the well into the pool, but since it's clogged, the water level in the pool doesn't even reach the top of the well anymore. Maybe I misunderstood the description and the water actually flows in through other pipes, but I thought that we were here to figure out why the water isn't flowing up out of the well.)
“ah dunnae know how much it’ll help but that’s all ah got. Anything unnatural about th’ water?”
(OOC: I'm going to assume that the 10 on the nature check won't reveal much, so I'll proceed without that info for now.)
Val asks Octavian to guard the spiral stairs and keep Vansel safe while she and Finley investigate the pool and the well. That way, if something in the water tries to get them, there's someone not in the water to help.
Val also suggests to Finley that he tie his rope around the stairs or the railing. And maybe even tie the other end around himself. That way, if something tries to drown them, they already have a secure rescue rope that they could use to pull themselves out of the pool.
It looks like it's ~10' (diagonally) from the bottom of the stairs that lead into the pool to the edge of the well. Val casts shape water (twice) to freeze two 5'x5' sections of water between the stairs and the well so that Finley and Val can "walk" to the edge of the well without wading through the water. Since the water is only 1' deep, the ice blocks would be 5'x5'x1' and basically resting on the bottom of the pool. They may get their feet wet, but at least they're not wading through slimy water.
Does the water in the well fill it right to the top? Or is it like looking into a regular (surface) well where you're looking down a long, open-air shaft with water somewhere down below?
Either way, while standing at the edge of the well, Finley can drop his glowing coin into the well, and they should be able to get some idea of how deep the well is. And if it lands on something, maybe the light will make it more clear what the obstruction is.
Val is correct the stagnate water does not reach the well and yes water should be flowing from the well into the pool. The coin plops into the pool revealing dirty mildew tiles and slimy to the touch.
Val freezes the water creating steppingstones and if you look down the well you see no water though it is quite dark down the well. It is safe to assume it's a long open-air shaft where there may be water below.
Val freezes the water creating steppingstones and if you look down the well you see no water though it is quite dark down the well. It is safe to assume it's a long open-air shaft where there may be water below.
(OOC: ah! I thought that the well was full almost to the top, so I thought that we needed to send a light down underwater to the place where it's clogged. Open air makes it easier on some ways.)
Valrieth days, "Oh! There's no water in the well. I guess that it's completely blocked somewhere down there at the level of the lake."
Discussing their options with Finley, Val says, "I'm pretty light--ha! I guess that's true in both senses of the word. I meant lightweight, but I'm also glowing with light!" Val laughs at her accidental pun and looks at the glowing motes of her starry form on her arms and torso with a smile. "Do you think that you could all lower me down slowly if we tied the rope around me? I'll shout up once I can see the source of the blockage."
She suggests that all 3 of them work the rope in case she finds something scary and needs them to reel her back up quickly. While they get the rope ready, Val will light a torch. Even though she's radiating light, a torch will be a little brighter. If she reaches the end of the rope, she could also drop the torch to see how much deeper the well goes.
Finley manages a small chuckle at Val's joke, "Aye we can do tha', mah rope will be tight around ye, ah'm sure Octavian can help me hold onto it and we'll be ready in a flash if ye are set on going down there." He commands his rope to carefully, but tightly, wrap around Val's waist to tie into a knot on her back. "Ah hope th' hole isn't too deep, please be careful and say something as soon as ye even feel like yer in danger, aye!?" He wraps the other end of the rope around himself, leaving just enough for Octavian to grab if his stout form goes plummeting forward or he can assist in pulling her back up.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
He wraps the other end of the rope around himself, leaving just enough for Octavian to grab if his stout form goes plummeting forward or he can assist in pulling her back up.
Valrieth leaves her backpack on the platform at the top of the stairs leading out of the pool so that they have less weight to support. (Without the backpack, Val plus her gear is only about 65 pounds). She makes sure that the rope has a secure loop that won't slip or tighten if they try to pull her back up. She says, "Just lower me 4 or 5 feet at a time. Then give me a few seconds to look around and then lower it again. If I say 'hold', then just keep it at the same level until I say 'lower' again. If I say 'up' or...you know...start screaming, pull me out as fast as you can."
Val puts the loop under her underarms and then turns around backwards so that she's facing Finley and Octavian as they lower her into the well, shield in one hand and torch in the other. As the party lowers the rope, she holds the torch away from the rope and uses her feet to keep from banging into the wall of the well. After every few feet, she turns to looks down, holding out the torch beside her so that she can see what's visible in the torchlight below. She also looks at the walls around her. She's looking for anything other than a continuation of the open-air well shaft: the bottom of the well (either water or something solid), a side tunnel, a change in the well's construction, etc.
As soon as Val sees anything other than an empty, dry shaft going straight down, she shouts up, "Hold!"
Octavian grabs hold of the rope and helps Finley to lower Val.
The well shaft is uniform in construction. About 30ft down Val torch reveals murky brackish water. Nothing stirs and the surface of the water is still. Even with torchlight Val cannot see into the water.
Octavian grabs hold of the rope and helps Finley to lower Val.
The well shaft is uniform in construction. About 30ft down Val torch reveals murky brackish water. Nothing stirs and the surface of the water is still. Even with torchlight Val cannot see into the water.
(OOC: clarification. The brackish water is 30 ft from the top of the well? Or the water is 50 ft (or even 70 ft) below the top of the well, and when Val gets to 30 ft down the well, the light from the torch shows the brackish water below.)
Valrieth shouts, "Hold," so that she can figure out what to do before she gets too close to the water. She's wondering whether this was the best idea, and her current position is reminder her of a time she saw anglers who were trying to catch fish with bait at the end of long lines. She definitely doesn't want Finley and Octavian to lower her right into the water, but she needs to be close enough to see into the water. If she's still more than 10' above the surface of the water below, she shouts, "Lower!", until she's just 10' above the brackish water (or until she's at the end of the rope). Then she shouts, "Hold!"
Val wonders whether there's some magic or illusion at work here. Maybe it just looks like water below. She removes one of the sling bullets from her pouch. She lets it drop and then tries to watch it in the torchlight and listen to observe whether it plops into the water like normal. If so, she'll wait and watch the ripples from the bullet until they die down, watching for any disturbance or other sign that something is moving or active under the surface. Perception23
The rock plops into the water and Val notices how viscous the water is as it behaves more akin to oil than water. The ripples eventual subside. Even with her keen eyes Val detects no movement or disturbance beneath the water.
The rock plops into the water and Val notices how viscous the water is as it behaves more akin to oil than water. The ripples eventual subside. Even with her keen eyes Val detects no movement or disturbance beneath the water.
Valrieth wonders whether the water really is oil. Or is it some sort of sludge, blocking the well? In either case, it looks slimy and too opaque for her to feel safe just going in the water herself. Then she drops the torch to the water, relying now on her own glowing starry form for light.
Val calls up to Finley and Octavian, "I'm releasing one of those blocks of ice back to water so that I can try something here! Slowly...Lower!" She leans back as far as she can, walking backwards down the wall of the well as they lower her. She has them stop as soon as her outstretched hand can reach the water: "Hold!" Val turns in the loop so that she's sideways, with her right side aimed toward the water. (Can she see through the water at all now that she's this close?) She casts shape water to freeze a rod of ice about 5 feet long and 1 inch thick.
Val grimaces as she reaches into the water just enough to grab the end of this pole of ice. Then she slowly raises and lowers the pole, straight up and down in a few different spots near the middle of the well feeling for a blockage or obstruction. Then she uses the pole to tap around the submerged wall of the well, feeling for whether the well continues straight down or branches off to the side.
If she finishes that without finding anything, she'll call out, "Up!", to have them raise her all the way back up to the top of the well.
Finley lowers her as requested and waits to pull her up whenever she calls out for him to do so, "We gotta get down there, aye? Or is th' problem mayhap somewhere else?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Val can see through the water and sees it finally that a transparent creature is here in the water. As Val tries to freeze a rod of ice only a wafer-thin layer that is 1-inch-wide freeze.
The water rises and this transparent creature surges upward engulfing Val.
Val, please roll Dex Save DC 12 on pass you are able to squirm your way out of the gelatinous creature.
Val can see through the water and sees it finally that a transparent creature is here in the water.
Valrieth thinks to herself, "Submerged in water and transparent! No wonder I didn't see it at first!"
The water rises and this transparent creature surges upward engulfing Val.
Val, please roll Dex Save DC 12 on pass you are able to squirm your way out of the gelatinous creature.
(in game log) DEX Save: 22
Val ponders the transparent creature below, but she's now alert, her whiskers quivering and her ears stiff and directed downward. As she thinks, she realizes with a sinking feeling in her stomach that she's seeing movement. Movement toward her!
Val scrambles at the rope and manages climb up a bit so that she's a little more upright just as something surges upward from the water. Something gelatinous!
As the creature starts to engulf her, Val's feet find purchase on an uneven bit of the wall. She kicks hard and the leap propels her upward a foot or two and out of the gelatinous thing's grasp. She grabs onto the rope with her free hand and curls her legs up to keep them from touching the creature that's surging upward. She frantically screams, "Up! Up! There's something down here!"
(OOC: I don't think that it matters here, but I wasn't clear whether the creature was lurking just below the surface of the water or whether the "water" at the bottom of the well actually was the creature itself.
Based on the "gelatinous" description, I guess that this must be some variant of the gelatinous cube. Does Val know what this creature is? (in game log) Nature11)
Finley pulls as hard as he can as soon as the creature tries to grab Val, "Oh shite! We got ye, dunnae ye worry yerself!"He tries to get a good look at it himself, but he's quite worried for her so he continues to pull. "Pull, Octavian!"
(Just in case; Arcana: 19)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
(OOC: Got it. Thanks. Still ~6 minutes left on the current starry form.)
"Oh well! That's what I expected," Valrieth says.
Val grimaces at the feeling of the water on her feet. "Ew! This water is disgusting! Even worse than the swamp water we've been dealing with. At least that water comes and goes all the time so that it's not just stagnant. Maybe we can use that big lily pad to float over to the well so that we don't have to wade through the water? Or, I guess I could make another ice raft for us to float over to the well on."
She asks Finley, "Can you think of a way to drop a light down into the well? In this form, I could light things up if I climbed into the well, but I'd like to avoid doing that if possible!"
Val prays for guidance while trying to determine whether they're dealing with mundane stagnant and slimy water or whether the slimy water is unnatural in some way. She rubs the fingers of her wet hand. She cups some water in her hand and looks at it. She brings the water closer to her nose and sniffs it, grimacing.
Nature 7
“Yer right we’re still alive, but for how long is what ah worry. Hopefully it keeps to th’ deal and doesn’t find some loophole ta keep us here or doing more, aye? We still need ta help Octavian too.” Finley tugs at his beard as they get to the water.
He lights up another coin(5 ft. Radius) and tosses it into the water, “ah dunnae know how much it’ll help but that’s all ah got. Anything unnatural about th’ water?”
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
"True," Valrieth says. "She seemed eager to take a leg or part of our soul or a bit of mind. Nasty business! But I don't think that she can wiggle out of the bargain if we fulfill our end of it. We'll just have to be careful about exactly how these fey bargains are worded.
"And she didn't agree to keep us safe while we're here. If we must sleep here tonight, we'll need to set a watch rotation to make sure that nothing comes to eat us in our sleep."
(OOC: did Finley drop the coin into the pool or into the well? It was my understanding that the water is supposed to flow up from the well into the pool, but since it's clogged, the water level in the pool doesn't even reach the top of the well anymore. Maybe I misunderstood the description and the water actually flows in through other pipes, but I thought that we were here to figure out why the water isn't flowing up out of the well.)
(OOC: I'm going to assume that the 10 on the nature check won't reveal much, so I'll proceed without that info for now.)
Val asks Octavian to guard the spiral stairs and keep Vansel safe while she and Finley investigate the pool and the well. That way, if something in the water tries to get them, there's someone not in the water to help.
Val also suggests to Finley that he tie his rope around the stairs or the railing. And maybe even tie the other end around himself. That way, if something tries to drown them, they already have a secure rescue rope that they could use to pull themselves out of the pool.
It looks like it's ~10' (diagonally) from the bottom of the stairs that lead into the pool to the edge of the well. Val casts shape water (twice) to freeze two 5'x5' sections of water between the stairs and the well so that Finley and Val can "walk" to the edge of the well without wading through the water. Since the water is only 1' deep, the ice blocks would be 5'x5'x1' and basically resting on the bottom of the pool. They may get their feet wet, but at least they're not wading through slimy water.
Does the water in the well fill it right to the top? Or is it like looking into a regular (surface) well where you're looking down a long, open-air shaft with water somewhere down below?
Either way, while standing at the edge of the well, Finley can drop his glowing coin into the well, and they should be able to get some idea of how deep the well is. And if it lands on something, maybe the light will make it more clear what the obstruction is.
Val is correct the stagnate water does not reach the well and yes water should be flowing from the well into the pool. The coin plops into the pool revealing dirty mildew tiles and slimy to the touch.
Val freezes the water creating steppingstones and if you look down the well you see no water though it is quite dark down the well. It is safe to assume it's a long open-air shaft where there may be water below.
(OOC: ah! I thought that the well was full almost to the top, so I thought that we needed to send a light down underwater to the place where it's clogged. Open air makes it easier on some ways.)
Valrieth days, "Oh! There's no water in the well. I guess that it's completely blocked somewhere down there at the level of the lake."
Discussing their options with Finley, Val says, "I'm pretty light--ha! I guess that's true in both senses of the word. I meant lightweight, but I'm also glowing with light!" Val laughs at her accidental pun and looks at the glowing motes of her starry form on her arms and torso with a smile. "Do you think that you could all lower me down slowly if we tied the rope around me? I'll shout up once I can see the source of the blockage."
She suggests that all 3 of them work the rope in case she finds something scary and needs them to reel her back up quickly. While they get the rope ready, Val will light a torch. Even though she's radiating light, a torch will be a little brighter. If she reaches the end of the rope, she could also drop the torch to see how much deeper the well goes.
Finley manages a small chuckle at Val's joke, "Aye we can do tha', mah rope will be tight around ye, ah'm sure Octavian can help me hold onto it and we'll be ready in a flash if ye are set on going down there." He commands his rope to carefully, but tightly, wrap around Val's waist to tie into a knot on her back. "Ah hope th' hole isn't too deep, please be careful and say something as soon as ye even feel like yer in danger, aye!?" He wraps the other end of the rope around himself, leaving just enough for Octavian to grab if his stout form goes plummeting forward or he can assist in pulling her back up.
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Valrieth leaves her backpack on the platform at the top of the stairs leading out of the pool so that they have less weight to support. (Without the backpack, Val plus her gear is only about 65 pounds). She makes sure that the rope has a secure loop that won't slip or tighten if they try to pull her back up. She says, "Just lower me 4 or 5 feet at a time. Then give me a few seconds to look around and then lower it again. If I say 'hold', then just keep it at the same level until I say 'lower' again. If I say 'up' or...you know...start screaming, pull me out as fast as you can."
Val puts the loop under her underarms and then turns around backwards so that she's facing Finley and Octavian as they lower her into the well, shield in one hand and torch in the other. As the party lowers the rope, she holds the torch away from the rope and uses her feet to keep from banging into the wall of the well. After every few feet, she turns to looks down, holding out the torch beside her so that she can see what's visible in the torchlight below. She also looks at the walls around her. She's looking for anything other than a continuation of the open-air well shaft: the bottom of the well (either water or something solid), a side tunnel, a change in the well's construction, etc.
As soon as Val sees anything other than an empty, dry shaft going straight down, she shouts up, "Hold!"
Octavian grabs hold of the rope and helps Finley to lower Val.
The well shaft is uniform in construction. About 30ft down Val torch reveals murky brackish water. Nothing stirs and the surface of the water is still. Even with torchlight Val cannot see into the water.
(OOC: clarification. The brackish water is 30 ft from the top of the well? Or the water is 50 ft (or even 70 ft) below the top of the well, and when Val gets to 30 ft down the well, the light from the torch shows the brackish water below.)
Valrieth shouts, "Hold," so that she can figure out what to do before she gets too close to the water. She's wondering whether this was the best idea, and her current position is reminder her of a time she saw anglers who were trying to catch fish with bait at the end of long lines. She definitely doesn't want Finley and Octavian to lower her right into the water, but she needs to be close enough to see into the water. If she's still more than 10' above the surface of the water below, she shouts, "Lower!", until she's just 10' above the brackish water (or until she's at the end of the rope). Then she shouts, "Hold!"
Val wonders whether there's some magic or illusion at work here. Maybe it just looks like water below. She removes one of the sling bullets from her pouch. She lets it drop and then tries to watch it in the torchlight and listen to observe whether it plops into the water like normal. If so, she'll wait and watch the ripples from the bullet until they die down, watching for any disturbance or other sign that something is moving or active under the surface. Perception 23
The water is 30ft from the top of the well.
The rock plops into the water and Val notices how viscous the water is as it behaves more akin to oil than water. The ripples eventual subside. Even with her keen eyes Val detects no movement or disturbance beneath the water.
Valrieth wonders whether the water really is oil. Or is it some sort of sludge, blocking the well? In either case, it looks slimy and too opaque for her to feel safe just going in the water herself. Then she drops the torch to the water, relying now on her own glowing starry form for light.
Val calls up to Finley and Octavian, "I'm releasing one of those blocks of ice back to water so that I can try something here! Slowly...Lower!" She leans back as far as she can, walking backwards down the wall of the well as they lower her. She has them stop as soon as her outstretched hand can reach the water: "Hold!" Val turns in the loop so that she's sideways, with her right side aimed toward the water. (Can she see through the water at all now that she's this close?) She casts shape water to freeze a rod of ice about 5 feet long and 1 inch thick.
Val grimaces as she reaches into the water just enough to grab the end of this pole of ice. Then she slowly raises and lowers the pole, straight up and down in a few different spots near the middle of the well feeling for a blockage or obstruction. Then she uses the pole to tap around the submerged wall of the well, feeling for whether the well continues straight down or branches off to the side.
If she finishes that without finding anything, she'll call out, "Up!", to have them raise her all the way back up to the top of the well.
Finley lowers her as requested and waits to pull her up whenever she calls out for him to do so, "We gotta get down there, aye? Or is th' problem mayhap somewhere else?"
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Val can see through the water and sees it finally that a transparent creature is here in the water. As Val tries to freeze a rod of ice only a wafer-thin layer that is 1-inch-wide freeze.
The water rises and this transparent creature surges upward engulfing Val.
Val, please roll Dex Save DC 12 on pass you are able to squirm your way out of the gelatinous creature.
Valrieth thinks to herself, "Submerged in water and transparent! No wonder I didn't see it at first!"
(in game log) DEX Save: 22
Val ponders the transparent creature below, but she's now alert, her whiskers quivering and her ears stiff and directed downward. As she thinks, she realizes with a sinking feeling in her stomach that she's seeing movement. Movement toward her!
Val scrambles at the rope and manages climb up a bit so that she's a little more upright just as something surges upward from the water. Something gelatinous!
As the creature starts to engulf her, Val's feet find purchase on an uneven bit of the wall. She kicks hard and the leap propels her upward a foot or two and out of the gelatinous thing's grasp. She grabs onto the rope with her free hand and curls her legs up to keep them from touching the creature that's surging upward. She frantically screams, "Up! Up! There's something down here!"
(OOC: I don't think that it matters here, but I wasn't clear whether the creature was lurking just below the surface of the water or whether the "water" at the bottom of the well actually was the creature itself.
Based on the "gelatinous" description, I guess that this must be some variant of the gelatinous cube. Does Val know what this creature is?
(in game log) Nature 11)
No Val does not know what it is.
Finley pulls as hard as he can as soon as the creature tries to grab Val, "Oh shite! We got ye, dunnae ye worry yerself!" He tries to get a good look at it himself, but he's quite worried for her so he continues to pull. "Pull, Octavian!"
(Just in case; Arcana: 19)
Finley Stoneshaft, Dwarf Artificer - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Falkas, Half-Elf Drow Warlock - Keys of Empire
Octavian pulls with all his might
Athletics
14
With that Val is pulled up to the lip of the well with the gelatinous creature right on his tail.
It bursts out of the well expanding in size to a roughly cube shape.
Combat
To make combat easier I am going with Side Initiative where 1 side goes then the other
Jelly Cube - 17
Party - 12
Round 1
The party goes first. Post when able