In view of everyone else’s paranoia, Hoid found a place to hide the pouch and its contents in the general vicinity of the jade statuette. What ever that place was, he informed The Company.
The camp was made well away from the entrance to the mountain. The dwarves of the Stonejaw's company are very leery of being too close to the Living Darkness that attacked them before. After exiting and looking around you hear the whinny of a horse echo through the canyon. This is followed by the pounding of hooves on the rocky ground shortly after. Freya emerges from around a bend in the gorge leading to the mountain and proceeds up to where you are all standing.
Starker, a little calmer now:”I wonder how the ogres coexisted with the Shadows? Perhaps that viscous substance they were covered with repelled the dark ones?
”I must rest. If I do not recover my strength after resting then I am afraid that I will not be able to return to the mine until we discover a sure way to prevent the shadows from further draining me of strength and life.”
Starker, a little calmer now:”I wonder how the ogres coexisted with the Shadows? Perhaps that viscous substance they were covered with repelled the dark ones?
”I must rest. If I do not recover my strength after resting then I am afraid that I will not be able to return to the mine until we discover a sure way to prevent the shadows from further draining me of strength and life.”
<Rests>
Gneuman: "I agree. I would guess that the substance has some sort of property that keeps those shadows at bay." "That whole place is corrupted beyond what I had anticipated."
Chadwick tells Freya what a great horse she is and he appreciates her keeping an eye on the camp while they were gone. He also ask her for a heal while brushing her. Find Steed 2d8+2
After the pleasantries he asks her to lead them back to the camp.
"Starker you ok keeping on a bit more, otherwise Freya could give you a ride if your comfortable riding without a saddle."
Starker: ”I can walk. I am currently weak both physically and thaumaturgically and would like to rest and rest soon. If you think it worthwhile moving before I rest I defer to your wisdom and greater understanding of strategy.”
Chadwick is healed 10HP by Freya due to her celestial connection.
The Company makes it way down the gorge and to the camp. It takes about an hour to get there at the pace dictated by Starker's weakness. The dwarves call out upon seeing you coming down the gorge. They all move out to meet you, "What did you find?, Are you all right?, It was a Balrog wasn't it? I knew it would be. My gram told me of those fiends delighting in taking over dwarven mines, What happened to your wizard?, Is the evil vanquished?Can we go in now?, What does it smell like in there?'
Eventually, the dwarves realize that you are in need of food, drink and rest. A cask of ale is tapped and a meal is prepared. Cleggor and his brothers are anxious to hear what you have learned in your exploration.
Starker puts his backpack on the ground, takes out and dons leather gloves, takes out a dried mango slice that has been re-‘hydrated’ in some strong alcohol and hands it to Cyrus. Using a string and a ruler, he measures the distance between Cyrus’ pupils, makes a note in his notebook, takes off gloves, puts them in backpack, puts head on backpack and goes to sleep.
Cyrus takes the mango slice and sniffs at it, looking to Starker. At a nod from Starker he begins to nibble at the soused mango. Cyrus then curls up into a tight ball and sleeps. Loud snores come from him that outsize his small stature.
Trolkarl thanks the dwarves for his food. As Starker goes to sleep he turns to face Cleggor
It is not yet safe to enter the mine.
No Balrog- at least not that we saw- but the place is far from abandoned. In addition to ogres and twisted beasts, there were also creatures of shadow. Starker was wounded by one of these creatures, and its touch lingers in him now- drained something deeper than blood.
Glances in the direction of the mine
We have learned something - even our holy men have struggled to restore us fully in this place- you were wise to flee from the living darkness.
And we need time to recover. Tend to our wounds. And then we return.
“Trolkarl speaks true. We dispatched about eight ogres thus far along with a floating fiend that looked similar to a blue skinned ogre, which commanded the ogres. The fiend was invisible when we first encountered it. Perhaps that is what you encountered. We also had a brief trip to the next level down where we dispatched a swarm of large, blood sucking insects. There was also a large fungus beast that had taken up residence in the mine’s mushroom farm, but it should trouble no one moving forward.
There are mysteries yet to unravel. We have heard a periodic crashing wave but have yet to find the source. The blue fiend was defeated amongst the forges, and afterwards Kragen found an ember in one of the forges. The ember gave off light but no heat that we could discern.
Our return will likely be more. More interesting and more arduous.”
When The Company sits down to eat Chadwick starts casting prayer of healing. Assuming no interruptions everyone (except Chadwick) heals 11 and gains a short rest. Then he eats and takes his short rest.
After dinner he'll grab an apple, or another treat, for Freya.
The Stonejaw brothers listen intently to the description of your foray into the mine. When Hoid describes fighting the oni Magnar replies, "No, Hoid. It was the darkness itself that attacked. It was like what you describe happened to your wizard friend, but more intense."
At the mention of the forges the brothers become more attentive. They nod, hanging on every word. The description of the ember in the forge has them hold their breath. Looking back and forth to each other they whisper, "The Living Fire."
"You must return! You must clear the mine so we can resume work there!," Cleggor implores you. "When do you think you will be ready to do so?"
A long rest is achieved by everyone. The night passes and a new dawn arises in the mountains.
Gneuman: "Calm yourself, Cleggor. My friends and I nearly lost or lives on our first venture into these mines. We need to rest and regain our strength...and perhaps, a bit of strategy. We will return when it is prudent to do so." The gnome then tosses down his backpack, using it as a make shift pillow. Then lays down and closes his eyes.
Is the camp and mounts gone, or just the dwarves missing?
If Freya isn't around Chadwick will reach out "Freya, are you ok?" The range for the telepathic bond is one mile.
In view of everyone else’s paranoia, Hoid found a place to hide the pouch and its contents in the general vicinity of the jade statuette. What ever that place was, he informed The Company.
The camp was made well away from the entrance to the mountain. The dwarves of the Stonejaw's company are very leery of being too close to the Living Darkness that attacked them before. After exiting and looking around you hear the whinny of a horse echo through the canyon. This is followed by the pounding of hooves on the rocky ground shortly after. Freya emerges from around a bend in the gorge leading to the mountain and proceeds up to where you are all standing.
Starker, a little calmer now:”I wonder how the ogres coexisted with the Shadows? Perhaps that viscous substance they were covered with repelled the dark ones?
”I must rest. If I do not recover my strength after resting then I am afraid that I will not be able to return to the mine until we discover a sure way to prevent the shadows from further draining me of strength and life.”
<Rests>
Gneuman: "I agree. I would guess that the substance has some sort of property that keeps those shadows at bay." "That whole place is corrupted beyond what I had anticipated."
Or, could the substance have been for repelling the bugs from the lower level?
"Chadwick, can Freya lead us back to the Stonejaws encampment?"
You know the way. Unless they moved it. You stayed there last night.
Chadwick tells Freya what a great horse she is and he appreciates her keeping an eye on the camp while they were gone. He also ask her for a heal while brushing her. Find Steed 2d8+2
After the pleasantries he asks her to lead them back to the camp.
"Starker you ok keeping on a bit more, otherwise Freya could give you a ride if your comfortable riding without a saddle."
Starker: ”I can walk. I am currently weak both physically and thaumaturgically and would like to rest and rest soon. If you think it worthwhile moving before I rest I defer to your wisdom and greater understanding of strategy.”
"Freya says it isn't too far, let's keep moving.'"
Chadwick will offer a shoulder for Starker to lean on for the remainder of the journey, and offer to carry anything he might want to unload.
Chadwick is healed 10HP by Freya due to her celestial connection.
The Company makes it way down the gorge and to the camp. It takes about an hour to get there at the pace dictated by Starker's weakness. The dwarves call out upon seeing you coming down the gorge. They all move out to meet you, "What did you find?, Are you all right?, It was a Balrog wasn't it? I knew it would be. My gram told me of those fiends delighting in taking over dwarven mines, What happened to your wizard?, Is the evil vanquished? Can we go in now?, What does it smell like in there?'
Eventually, the dwarves realize that you are in need of food, drink and rest. A cask of ale is tapped and a meal is prepared. Cleggor and his brothers are anxious to hear what you have learned in your exploration.
Starker puts his backpack on the ground, takes out and dons leather gloves, takes out a dried mango slice that has been re-‘hydrated’ in some strong alcohol and hands it to Cyrus. Using a string and a ruler, he measures the distance between Cyrus’ pupils, makes a note in his notebook, takes off gloves, puts them in backpack, puts head on backpack and goes to sleep.
Cyrus takes the mango slice and sniffs at it, looking to Starker. At a nod from Starker he begins to nibble at the soused mango. Cyrus then curls up into a tight ball and sleeps. Loud snores come from him that outsize his small stature.
Trolkarl thanks the dwarves for his food. As Starker goes to sleep he turns to face Cleggor
It is not yet safe to enter the mine.
No Balrog- at least not that we saw- but the place is far from abandoned. In addition to ogres and twisted beasts, there were also creatures of shadow. Starker was wounded by one of these creatures, and its touch lingers in him now- drained something deeper than blood.
Glances in the direction of the mine
We have learned something - even our holy men have struggled to restore us fully in this place- you were wise to flee from the living darkness.
And we need time to recover. Tend to our wounds. And then we return.
“Trolkarl speaks true. We dispatched about eight ogres thus far along with a floating fiend that looked similar to a blue skinned ogre, which commanded the ogres. The fiend was invisible when we first encountered it. Perhaps that is what you encountered. We also had a brief trip to the next level down where we dispatched a swarm of large, blood sucking insects. There was also a large fungus beast that had taken up residence in the mine’s mushroom farm, but it should trouble no one moving forward.
There are mysteries yet to unravel. We have heard a periodic crashing wave but have yet to find the source. The blue fiend was defeated amongst the forges, and afterwards Kragen found an ember in one of the forges. The ember gave off light but no heat that we could discern.
Our return will likely be more. More interesting and more arduous.”
When The Company sits down to eat Chadwick starts casting prayer of healing. Assuming no interruptions everyone (except Chadwick) heals 11 and gains a short rest. Then he eats and takes his short rest.
After dinner he'll grab an apple, or another treat, for Freya.
The Stonejaw brothers listen intently to the description of your foray into the mine. When Hoid describes fighting the oni Magnar replies, "No, Hoid. It was the darkness itself that attacked. It was like what you describe happened to your wizard friend, but more intense."
At the mention of the forges the brothers become more attentive. They nod, hanging on every word. The description of the ember in the forge has them hold their breath. Looking back and forth to each other they whisper, "The Living Fire."
"You must return! You must clear the mine so we can resume work there!," Cleggor implores you. "When do you think you will be ready to do so?"
A long rest is achieved by everyone. The night passes and a new dawn arises in the mountains.
Gneuman: "Calm yourself, Cleggor. My friends and I nearly lost or lives on our first venture into these mines. We need to rest and regain our strength...and perhaps, a bit of strategy. We will return when it is prudent to do so." The gnome then tosses down his backpack, using it as a make shift pillow. Then lays down and closes his eyes.
Was someone going to cast detect magic on the cloak before we take our long rest?