He will probably prepare Protection from Poison, and maybe Nickeline should do the same? Preventing harm is a good way to extend the party's healing capacity, and with so many spiders, it seems like poison will be a major factor in tomorrow's fight(s).
Given that the drider they saw was a spellcaster, if anyone can Silence it, that spell may be worthwhile to prepare. Without magic, they'll just have to fight the drider with tooth and sword, and Hewelathan doesn't like their odds after facing its attacks (3 per round!) today. If they can prevent the drider from getting away (e.g., surround it in combat or confront it in an enclosed space), then silence may be their best bet. If the drider cannot simply dispel all of their spells, Tamphalic's spell seemed like a great way to restrain the drider, and hitting it with Faerie Fire would make it much easier to attack.
"I know poison is bad and all, but Flandal only grants me so many spells. There is another that works on poison and that other spell the drider tried to cast," says Nickeline. "I really don't know if we could beat even one, a drider I mean. It ignored my Flaming Sphere! My strongest attack! Some of you wield stronger magic though. But I can totally Silence it. Yeah, that'd show 'em. And I guess we'll have the orcs with us. I wonder how many there will be; if there's a thousand, we could probably take the whole city by storm."
She is quite comfortable moving to a smaller cave as Ruby suggested, if slightly peeved she didn't think of that idea first.
Regarding telling the driders that the party has business with Talice, Nickeline replies to Hewelathan, "If we show up tomorrow with a thousand angry orcs bent on revenge, such a scheme will either be impossible or unnecessary. Maybe we could let the orcs do their thing and we just go around. I could try to talk to one of the driders telepathically right now and tell them we want to meet Talice, but honestly I'm afraid it would be a disaster. I know it worked with the Steelclaw village, but that was Jodie doing the talking, and we really did have business with that dragon. Plus, drow aren't as—" She stops herself from saying something very rude. "That reminds me, I tried to Scry on Talice yesterday and it didn't work. I should try one more time. Maybe we can actually get an invitation."
OOC: The Scrying wisdom save DC for Talice would be 17 with a +5 bonus to Talice's roll because Nickeline has never met her.
Jodie listens to Nickeline, "Yes, I know these odds aren't good again. I don't want to fight the driders. But with the orcs and wielding fire, we are a stronger threat to their home. We must become the hunters. The driders will not bargain nor will their lord. If we can take out one drider at a time, saving the caster for last..."
The mummified priestess remains an unreadable enigma.
It does take a bit of squeezing to get into the cave Ruby found for you (especially for Zodagh, as he's a pretty big guy), but in the end you all make it without getting stuck. The night passes by mostly uneventfully... though you do hear skittering spiders every so often, suggesting that they are indeed on the hunt for you.
You are able to take a well-earned Long Rest. The army of extremely angry orcs will probably arrive within the next few hours, what kinds of preparations would everyone like to make, and what is the overall strategy? Will the party join the battle to support the orcs, or would you prefer to let the spiders and the orcs duke it out while you sneak around the back to try to find the Black Crypt?
Jodie offers a thought- "We were told not to expect to trust the priestess, nor bargain with her. So why not let her bargain with us? If we sneak into her catacombs, we may be lucky and steal our prize like scoundrels and weigh on the plight of the locales and leave nothing..."
Jodie looks to Ruby and Zodagh, "It may be circumstance we have these items, but while we do have them I am going to make the best of them. We should become the hunters and start with the driders who aren't casters. Take them down, one at a time. Against a restrained drider, I'm certain we can issue a swift kill. Then we hold some sway over Talice's domain."
General strategy I think would be to support the orcs and put a hurt on the nest. Start fires in separate locations, drawing a drider team to each. "We stay on the move from the caster and focus on a site with a drider."
"I agree we should fight with the orcs, and get rid of the spiders as they clearly are a thread for the upper world aswell as the underworld. Mr Zodagh, you seem a seasoned warrior how do you want to tackle this with your army?"
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"grandpa" Salkur, Gnome Arti/Sorc: Forged in Chaos | Pepin, Human Arti/Cleric: Goblin horde | Mixtli, Volc Genasi Arti: Champions of the Citadel | Erix Vadalitis, Human Druid: Rising from the last war |Smithy, Human Arti: Night Ravens: Black orchids for Biscotti | Tamphalic Aliprax, Dragonborn Wizard: Chronicles of the Accursed | Doc, Dwarven Cleric (2024): Adventure at Hope's End | Abathax, Tiefling Illriger: Hunt for the Balowang | Gorin Mestel, Human Arti: Descend into Avernus
"Who 'Talice?'" Zodagh asks, scratching his head in response to Jodie. "Another spider-freak?"
According to the orc, you can expect a small army of probably around 200 orcs to show up, now armed with knowledge of what they're actually fighting rather than going in blind like the last few expeditions.
You can expect the forces to be made up of orcs, a few orogs, and a few orc shamans of some kind whom I do not currently have stats for (but can brew up pretty quick) to support the warriors and fry the spiders. Zodagh himself is an orc war chief. I think you guys can split off and fight as part of a smaller squad to try to take out a drider or two while the swarm of orcs hack their way through the bulk of the spiders.
Taking Jodie's words about using the cursed items to heart, Nickeline again takes out her crystal ball. She offers to Zogagh to remotely scout out avenues of attack for his orcish forces. To assist in Jodie's plan, she would attempt to scry on each of the driders as many times as she can until they become immune to the spell, her goal being to pin down the location of one or two of them.
She would also try scrying on the location of the gigantic web where she earlier saw the driders, hoping to figure out its location based on landmarks or other recognizable features.
OOC:
Nickeline is planning to use her crystal ball enough that its curse would almost certainly activate at some point. She figures the only new things the demon's going to see are a cramped cave, an orc, and Ruby. She's a little more worried about what it might hear, though, so she would only discuss possibly recognizable places and people such as Talice in vague terms, like "spider-freak."
Jodie is excited at the size of the orc troupe and is considering various arrangements...
"Two hundred orcs you say... How about four groups? Each group is fifty orcs, an orog and shaman." Jodie turns to the orc war chief, "Zodagh will lead two groups, setting nests on fire and killing spiders. If you spot a drider, do not engage but signal for reinforcements. The Accursed will split up among the other two groups hunting drider. When one is spotted, we should try to trap it. Do you have any nets among your tribe? Spells to bind or reveal the drider would be best."
Jodie suggests furnishing some goodberries to the orc shamans or orogs. "I wish I had magic to protect more of them. In battle, I will be willing to bestoy heroism on anyone facing the drider directly."
Jodie suggests furnishing some goodberries to the orc shamans or orogs. "I wish I had magic to protect more of them. In battle, I will be willing to bestoy heroism on anyone facing the drider directly."
In the morning, Hewelathan distributes the 30 goodberries that he created last night. How many do we want to give to the orcs? He previously kept a batch of the berries himself to use in his role as a healer, but now that the party has Hildegard and Nickeline, that's probably no longer needed. Or if someone is going to keep a pouch full of berries, it should be someone else so that they can use them while Hewelathan is still in Wild Shape. If every party member and Ruby gets 3 berries, that would leave 9 berries for the orcs.
"Wow!", Hewelathan says on hearing the size of the orc force. "I was expecting a single troop of 20 or 30 orcs. 200 orcs is a small army!"
Hewelathan agrees that they should join the orcs in today's fight. Just going straight for the tomb would feel like using the orcs as pawns or bait to lure the spiders and dirders away. Even with capable warriors and shaman, they would certainly lose many orcs to the driders.
Hewelathan thinks that restraining the driders is a fantastic idea. Or anything that could give the party some advantage, such as tricking the driders into a narrow (only 5' wide) space. For melee, Hewelathan can try to knock it prone for others to hit. Faerie Fire or Entanglewould be terrific if they could get it to "stick", but they'll also need to use Silence to prevent it from casting Dispel Magic and positioning / something else to prevent it from moving out of the silenced area.
Hewelathan is also worried about the party getting caught in webs. It could be a real problem if that happens in the middle of a fight.
A big problem is that neither the orcs nor the party know the city well, but the driders do. Anything the Nickeline can do to scry the locations in the city will be a great help! Their side should try to fight the spiders and driders in an advantageous location that they choose. Hopefully somewhere that limits how many spiders can swarm their group at once. "Don't forget to think about how spiders can approach along walls or even the ceiling!"
Hewelathan asks Jodie why she wants to leave the spellcasting drider for last. "Wouldn't it make sense to eliminate that one first, if we can?"
Nickeline - regarding Lesser Restoration vs. Protection from Poison, the first is a great help to anyone who has been Poisoned, but as Hewelathan explains it from his own knowledge of spiders: "Not all poisons have that kind of sickening effect. Some poison is more immediately harmful, and the latter spell would help Korba or Hildegard last longer against the spiders' venomous attacks." (OOC: Giant spiders, at least, generally don't inflict the poisoned condition, but they do extra poison damage every time they bite. Given the party's level, I'm more concerned about how much damage we can withstand, and resistance to an expected source of damage seems like a big boost to our durability. Even if the drider manages to affect someone with Hold Person, if we're able to focus attacks on it, it should have trouble maintaining concentration for long.)
"The Accursed will split up among the other two groups hunting drider." (OOC: Sounds cool, but it could be a nightmare to run all of that. That is, I'm willing to bend to whatever the DM finds practical here. For example, maybe @Mister_Whisker wants to move the orcs "off stage" to fight a subset of the spiders and driders, leaving the party on its own to face whatever challenge is left over.)
"The Accursed will split up among the other two groups hunting drider."
(OOC: Sounds cool, but it could be a nightmare to run all of that. That is, I'm willing to bend to whatever the DM finds practical here. For example, maybe @Mister_Whisker wants to move the orcs "off stage" to fight a subset of the spiders and driders, leaving the party on its own to face whatever challenge is left over.)
Yes... that part.
I was planning to have you guys split off and go on your own mission (with backup from a few orcs) while the larger battle is going on.
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Okay, sounds like the team is going to try to split off and sneak into the Black Crypt while the orcs go spider-squashin'. I'll go ahead and move us along.
If you want the backup, an orog and two orcs can accompany you to the tomb to help with holding off the undead. And of course you still have Ruby to help you out. While she hasn't been this far into the city herself, the kobold is aware of the layout of the city and can point you to where the tomb is.
You can hear the battle raging as you make your way through the city, and you can smell smoke as it seems that the orcs have decided to smoke the spiders out (in case you hadn't noticed, the orcs are not in a very good mood right now...) You might almost feel sorry for the driders and their minions... except that you keep finding drained humanoid corpses wrapped in webs, and many of the cocoons don't look large enough to be adults (at least not adult orcs... maybe adult kobolds or halflings).
Let me know what kinds of preparations you made for sneaking in, and I'll go ahead and tell you what, if anything, I need you to roll.
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Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Let's send Bat Whiskers up front again? Other than that not much Tamphalic will do upfront.
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"grandpa" Salkur, Gnome Arti/Sorc: Forged in Chaos | Pepin, Human Arti/Cleric: Goblin horde | Mixtli, Volc Genasi Arti: Champions of the Citadel | Erix Vadalitis, Human Druid: Rising from the last war |Smithy, Human Arti: Night Ravens: Black orchids for Biscotti | Tamphalic Aliprax, Dragonborn Wizard: Chronicles of the Accursed | Doc, Dwarven Cleric (2024): Adventure at Hope's End | Abathax, Tiefling Illriger: Hunt for the Balowang | Gorin Mestel, Human Arti: Descend into Avernus
Hildegard will prepare to march astride Perdita, and fly some distance away from the group, and not on their trail, hopefully giving both an aerial vantage point and providing a distraction from the group if they're trying to sneak. She won't let the nightmare hover in one place, but will move at her speed back and forth to throw off any trail, avoiding any areas where she assumes the driders to be based on what she can see of spells and combat taking place with the orcs. If it seems feasible, she'll draw groups of spiders away from the sneaking group and then fly off quickly to leave them behind.
Okay, sounds like the team is going to try to split off and sneak into the Black Crypt while the orcs go spider-squashin'. I'll go ahead and move us along.
If you want the backup, an orog and two orcs can accompany you to the tomb to help with holding off the undead. And of course you still have Ruby to help you out. While she hasn't been this far into the city herself, the kobold is aware of the layout of the city and can point you to where the tomb is.
Hewelathan would be happy to have the extra help, but he worries what happens if the orcs survive the journey to the tomb and realize what prize they've recovered. The party saved Zodagh's life, but a Luck Blade would be quite a temptation for even the most honest of companions.
Reminder: now that we're in the city, we also have Akkron's custom Orb of Direction that points us toward the tomb.
You can hear the battle raging as you make your way through the city, and you can smell smoke as it seems that the orcs have decided to smoke the spiders out (in case you hadn't noticed, the orcs are not in a very good mood right now...) You might almost feel sorry for the driders and their minions... except that you keep finding drained humanoid corpses wrapped in webs, and many of the cocoons don't look large enough to be adults (at least not adult orcs... maybe adult kobolds or halflings).
Let me know what kinds of preparations you made for sneaking in, and I'll go ahead and tell you what, if anything, I need you to roll.
We're already at the Black Crypt? Or we're just starting to sneak through the city past the spiders?
Hewelathan prepared Pass Without Trace, but it only lasts for 1 hour. If we have more than 2 hours of walking to get to the Black Crypt, Hewelathan will need Ruby's help to figure out the most strategic parts of their path when they'll most want to use it. And if we do run into spiders, he'll probably need to use Protection from Poison, meaning that we only get 1 hour from Pass Without Trace.
You're just starting to sneak through the city right now.
On the bright side, orcs, on average, are not very smart and probably wouldn't realize just how powerful the artifact you seek is unless someone spells it put for them... admittedly, the Orog might realize it's something far more valuable than just a pretty sword if too much attention is drawn to it.
You're just starting to sneak through the city right now.
On the bright side, orcs, on average, are not very smart and probably wouldn't realize just how powerful the artifact you seek is unless someone spells it put for them... admittedly, the Orog might realize it's something far more valuable than just a pretty sword if too much attention is drawn to it.
(OOC: And any word from Ruby on how far to the crypt? Or how big the city is? Would they be able to walk stealthily all the way to the Black Crypt in one day? Or do they need to plan to camp in the city?)
OK. In that case, Hewelathan is willing to take the orcs with them. They could probably use the extra help getting to the Black Crypt.
Given that they found spiders at the outer edges of the city yesterday, Hewelathan will cast Pass Without Trace as soon as they're in the city. He'll probably need to be in the center of the group to cover everyone with the spell's effect. That way, at least they'll hopefully be able to sneak past all of the driders and spiders. He'll reevaluate their situation after an hour when the spell wears off.
(Going at a moderate pace, it will probably take you around 2-3 hours to reach the crypt. Fortunately, as far as she knows it's mostly just the outskirts of the city that are overrun by spiders, as the edges of the city would be where outsiders would be more likely to stumble into a web whereas the inner portions of the city are mostly devoid of food. Unfortunately, the deeper into the city you get the more undead you're going to start finding. As far as you know most of the undead which you encounter will be basic ghouls and skeletons, though what you'll actually find INSIDE the crypt may be a completely different story...)
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Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
(Going at a moderate pace, it will probably take you around 2-3 hours to reach the crypt. Fortunately, as far as she knows it's mostly just the outskirts of the city that are overrun by spiders, as the edges of the city would be where outsiders would be more likely to stumble into a web whereas the inner portions of the city are mostly devoid of food. Unfortunately, the deeper into the city you get the more undead you're going to start finding. As far as you know most of the undead which you encounter will be basic ghouls and skeletons, though what you'll actually find INSIDE the crypt may be a completely different story...)
(OK. Fair enough! Well, I think that we're all set to head out, moving under the cover of Pass without Trace with Ruby and our detachment of orcs through the spider-infested part of the city and toward the Black Crypt.)
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"I know poison is bad and all, but Flandal only grants me so many spells. There is another that works on poison and that other spell the drider tried to cast," says Nickeline. "I really don't know if we could beat even one, a drider I mean. It ignored my Flaming Sphere! My strongest attack! Some of you wield stronger magic though. But I can totally Silence it. Yeah, that'd show 'em. And I guess we'll have the orcs with us. I wonder how many there will be; if there's a thousand, we could probably take the whole city by storm."
She is quite comfortable moving to a smaller cave as Ruby suggested, if slightly peeved she didn't think of that idea first.
Regarding telling the driders that the party has business with Talice, Nickeline replies to Hewelathan, "If we show up tomorrow with a thousand angry orcs bent on revenge, such a scheme will either be impossible or unnecessary. Maybe we could let the orcs do their thing and we just go around. I could try to talk to one of the driders telepathically right now and tell them we want to meet Talice, but honestly I'm afraid it would be a disaster. I know it worked with the Steelclaw village, but that was Jodie doing the talking, and we really did have business with that dragon. Plus, drow aren't as—" She stops herself from saying something very rude. "That reminds me, I tried to Scry on Talice yesterday and it didn't work. I should try one more time. Maybe we can actually get an invitation."
OOC: The Scrying wisdom save DC for Talice would be 17 with a +5 bonus to Talice's roll because Nickeline has never met her.
Jodie listens to Nickeline, "Yes, I know these odds aren't good again. I don't want to fight the driders. But with the orcs and wielding fire, we are a stronger threat to their home. We must become the hunters. The driders will not bargain nor will their lord. If we can take out one drider at a time, saving the caster for last..."
Fargen Hill Dwarf Cleric/Barbarian - Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Jodie Olwen Half-Elf Bard- Chronicles of the Accursed
Talice Wis save vs. scrying: 27
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The mummified priestess remains an unreadable enigma.
It does take a bit of squeezing to get into the cave Ruby found for you (especially for Zodagh, as he's a pretty big guy), but in the end you all make it without getting stuck. The night passes by mostly uneventfully... though you do hear skittering spiders every so often, suggesting that they are indeed on the hunt for you.
You are able to take a well-earned Long Rest. The army of extremely angry orcs will probably arrive within the next few hours, what kinds of preparations would everyone like to make, and what is the overall strategy? Will the party join the battle to support the orcs, or would you prefer to let the spiders and the orcs duke it out while you sneak around the back to try to find the Black Crypt?
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Jodie offers a thought- "We were told not to expect to trust the priestess, nor bargain with her. So why not let her bargain with us? If we sneak into her catacombs, we may be lucky and steal our prize like scoundrels and weigh on the plight of the locales and leave nothing..."
Jodie looks to Ruby and Zodagh, "It may be circumstance we have these items, but while we do have them I am going to make the best of them. We should become the hunters and start with the driders who aren't casters. Take them down, one at a time. Against a restrained drider, I'm certain we can issue a swift kill. Then we hold some sway over Talice's domain."
General strategy I think would be to support the orcs and put a hurt on the nest. Start fires in separate locations, drawing a drider team to each. "We stay on the move from the caster and focus on a site with a drider."
Fargen Hill Dwarf Cleric/Barbarian - Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Jodie Olwen Half-Elf Bard- Chronicles of the Accursed
"I agree we should fight with the orcs, and get rid of the spiders as they clearly are a thread for the upper world aswell as the underworld. Mr Zodagh, you seem a seasoned warrior how do you want to tackle this with your army?"
"grandpa" Salkur, Gnome Arti/Sorc: Forged in Chaos | Pepin, Human Arti/Cleric: Goblin horde | Mixtli, Volc Genasi Arti: Champions of the Citadel | Erix Vadalitis, Human Druid: Rising from the last war | Smithy, Human Arti: Night Ravens: Black orchids for Biscotti | Tamphalic Aliprax, Dragonborn Wizard: Chronicles of the Accursed | Doc, Dwarven Cleric (2024): Adventure at Hope's End | Abathax, Tiefling Illriger: Hunt for the Balowang | Gorin Mestel, Human Arti: Descend into Avernus
"Who 'Talice?'" Zodagh asks, scratching his head in response to Jodie. "Another spider-freak?"
According to the orc, you can expect a small army of probably around 200 orcs to show up, now armed with knowledge of what they're actually fighting rather than going in blind like the last few expeditions.
You can expect the forces to be made up of orcs, a few orogs, and a few orc shamans of some kind whom I do not currently have stats for (but can brew up pretty quick) to support the warriors and fry the spiders. Zodagh himself is an orc war chief. I think you guys can split off and fight as part of a smaller squad to try to take out a drider or two while the swarm of orcs hack their way through the bulk of the spiders.
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Taking Jodie's words about using the cursed items to heart, Nickeline again takes out her crystal ball. She offers to Zogagh to remotely scout out avenues of attack for his orcish forces. To assist in Jodie's plan, she would attempt to scry on each of the driders as many times as she can until they become immune to the spell, her goal being to pin down the location of one or two of them.
She would also try scrying on the location of the gigantic web where she earlier saw the driders, hoping to figure out its location based on landmarks or other recognizable features.
OOC:
Nickeline is planning to use her crystal ball enough that its curse would almost certainly activate at some point. She figures the only new things the demon's going to see are a cramped cave, an orc, and Ruby. She's a little more worried about what it might hear, though, so she would only discuss possibly recognizable places and people such as Talice in vague terms, like "spider-freak."
Jodie is excited at the size of the orc troupe and is considering various arrangements...
"Two hundred orcs you say... How about four groups? Each group is fifty orcs, an orog and shaman." Jodie turns to the orc war chief, "Zodagh will lead two groups, setting nests on fire and killing spiders. If you spot a drider, do not engage but signal for reinforcements. The Accursed will split up among the other two groups hunting drider. When one is spotted, we should try to trap it. Do you have any nets among your tribe? Spells to bind or reveal the drider would be best."
Jodie suggests furnishing some goodberries to the orc shamans or orogs. "I wish I had magic to protect more of them. In battle, I will be willing to bestoy heroism on anyone facing the drider directly."
Fargen Hill Dwarf Cleric/Barbarian - Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Jodie Olwen Half-Elf Bard- Chronicles of the Accursed
In the morning, Hewelathan distributes the 30 goodberries that he created last night. How many do we want to give to the orcs? He previously kept a batch of the berries himself to use in his role as a healer, but now that the party has Hildegard and Nickeline, that's probably no longer needed. Or if someone is going to keep a pouch full of berries, it should be someone else so that they can use them while Hewelathan is still in Wild Shape. If every party member and Ruby gets 3 berries, that would leave 9 berries for the orcs.
(OOC: Giant spiders, at least, generally don't inflict the poisoned condition, but they do extra poison damage every time they bite. Given the party's level, I'm more concerned about how much damage we can withstand, and resistance to an expected source of damage seems like a big boost to our durability. Even if the drider manages to affect someone with Hold Person, if we're able to focus attacks on it, it should have trouble maintaining concentration for long.)
(OOC: Sounds cool, but it could be a nightmare to run all of that. That is, I'm willing to bend to whatever the DM finds practical here. For example, maybe @Mister_Whisker wants to move the orcs "off stage" to fight a subset of the spiders and driders, leaving the party on its own to face whatever challenge is left over.)
Yes... that part.
I was planning to have you guys split off and go on your own mission (with backup from a few orcs) while the larger battle is going on.
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Okay, sounds like the team is going to try to split off and sneak into the Black Crypt while the orcs go spider-squashin'. I'll go ahead and move us along.
If you want the backup, an orog and two orcs can accompany you to the tomb to help with holding off the undead. And of course you still have Ruby to help you out. While she hasn't been this far into the city herself, the kobold is aware of the layout of the city and can point you to where the tomb is.
You can hear the battle raging as you make your way through the city, and you can smell smoke as it seems that the orcs have decided to smoke the spiders out (in case you hadn't noticed, the orcs are not in a very good mood right now...) You might almost feel sorry for the driders and their minions... except that you keep finding drained humanoid corpses wrapped in webs, and many of the cocoons don't look large enough to be adults (at least not adult orcs... maybe adult kobolds or halflings).
Let me know what kinds of preparations you made for sneaking in, and I'll go ahead and tell you what, if anything, I need you to roll.
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Let's send Bat Whiskers up front again? Other than that not much Tamphalic will do upfront.
"grandpa" Salkur, Gnome Arti/Sorc: Forged in Chaos | Pepin, Human Arti/Cleric: Goblin horde | Mixtli, Volc Genasi Arti: Champions of the Citadel | Erix Vadalitis, Human Druid: Rising from the last war | Smithy, Human Arti: Night Ravens: Black orchids for Biscotti | Tamphalic Aliprax, Dragonborn Wizard: Chronicles of the Accursed | Doc, Dwarven Cleric (2024): Adventure at Hope's End | Abathax, Tiefling Illriger: Hunt for the Balowang | Gorin Mestel, Human Arti: Descend into Avernus
Nickeline will cast Aid on Korba, Hildegard, and Jodie before the group sets out for the Black Crypt.
Hildegard will prepare to march astride Perdita, and fly some distance away from the group, and not on their trail, hopefully giving both an aerial vantage point and providing a distraction from the group if they're trying to sneak. She won't let the nightmare hover in one place, but will move at her speed back and forth to throw off any trail, avoiding any areas where she assumes the driders to be based on what she can see of spells and combat taking place with the orcs. If it seems feasible, she'll draw groups of spiders away from the sneaking group and then fly off quickly to leave them behind.
Hewelathan would be happy to have the extra help, but he worries what happens if the orcs survive the journey to the tomb and realize what prize they've recovered. The party saved Zodagh's life, but a Luck Blade would be quite a temptation for even the most honest of companions.
Reminder: now that we're in the city, we also have Akkron's custom Orb of Direction that points us toward the tomb.
We're already at the Black Crypt? Or we're just starting to sneak through the city past the spiders?
Hewelathan prepared Pass Without Trace, but it only lasts for 1 hour. If we have more than 2 hours of walking to get to the Black Crypt, Hewelathan will need Ruby's help to figure out the most strategic parts of their path when they'll most want to use it. And if we do run into spiders, he'll probably need to use Protection from Poison, meaning that we only get 1 hour from Pass Without Trace.
You're just starting to sneak through the city right now.
On the bright side, orcs, on average, are not very smart and probably wouldn't realize just how powerful the artifact you seek is unless someone spells it put for them... admittedly, the Orog might realize it's something far more valuable than just a pretty sword if too much attention is drawn to it.
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(OOC: And any word from Ruby on how far to the crypt? Or how big the city is? Would they be able to walk stealthily all the way to the Black Crypt in one day? Or do they need to plan to camp in the city?)
OK. In that case, Hewelathan is willing to take the orcs with them. They could probably use the extra help getting to the Black Crypt.
Given that they found spiders at the outer edges of the city yesterday, Hewelathan will cast Pass Without Trace as soon as they're in the city. He'll probably need to be in the center of the group to cover everyone with the spell's effect. That way, at least they'll hopefully be able to sneak past all of the driders and spiders. He'll reevaluate their situation after an hour when the spell wears off.
(Going at a moderate pace, it will probably take you around 2-3 hours to reach the crypt. Fortunately, as far as she knows it's mostly just the outskirts of the city that are overrun by spiders, as the edges of the city would be where outsiders would be more likely to stumble into a web whereas the inner portions of the city are mostly devoid of food. Unfortunately, the deeper into the city you get the more undead you're going to start finding. As far as you know most of the undead which you encounter will be basic ghouls and skeletons, though what you'll actually find INSIDE the crypt may be a completely different story...)
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(OK. Fair enough! Well, I think that we're all set to head out, moving under the cover of Pass without Trace with Ruby and our detachment of orcs through the spider-infested part of the city and toward the Black Crypt.)