"Hey! The handle turns and the door starts to open, but it is blocked by something almost spongey on the other side!" Khessa marvels aloud "It feels like it might give way with a proper shove... but then maybe the spongy thing on the other side might run me over! I prefer to stay to the side and destroy the door with Maul's blows! Watch out for what comes out, okay?"
And the blonde arcane warrior positions herself to the side, so as not to be hit by whatever eventually comes out, and begins to physically demolish the door. To shorten the job, she strikes at the hinges... breaking those, the door should fall - and whatever is on the other side should reveal itself.
Coriana hangs back, near the open grate, dividing her attention between the grate, the captain’s quarters and the stuck door. “I’ll keep an eye out while we deal with whatever that is in there!”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain Thelanis - Darkness Below: Kholias Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards. DM - The Old Keep
Xanrym scoops up the rubies to divide later. He follows the Company onto the main deck, and says a simple prayer to Fharlanghn when Coriana drops the skulls into the sea.
Once Avery and Khessa start working on the door, he offers his Crowbar in case they want to force the door open. "Or," he says with a sheepish look at Theldrin, "we could pour oil under the door and light it. If a big spider web is blocking the door, that should burn it off." But he doesn't really like the idea of starting a fire in a room that they cannot see yet.
Otherwise, like Theldrin, Xanrym will stand well back from the door with his crossbow, ready to fire on anything that bursts out of the door and attacks. He makes sure not to stand too close to the grate to the lower deck.
Theldrin merely raises an eyebrow at Coriana and Xanrym but doesn't say anything. He double checks his crossbow and then takes a deep breath, focusing again on the cabin door. A slight smile then turns the corners of his mouth as he ponders the irony that he seems to the voice of caution for fire use, given that his go-to solution for most of the problems the party has run into, has been fire-based spells.
Khessa, while striking mighty blows at the hinges, replies to Xanrym: "Any solution that involves setting fire to the ship on which we are searching for clues to track the cargo and the evildoers who did this... I would prefer to keep that as a last resort. If the fire gets out of our control, our task could become much more difficult..."
“I am beginning to have a very bad idea of dropping a lot torch into the hold to light the webs on fire.”
Xanrym glances at his still-burning torch, which he stuck in an empty slot on the pinrail while he's using his crossbow, and chuckles at Coriana's suggestion, "I like where your head's at! With all of the crew gone, there's no harm in clearing out the rest of the vermin and undead. But while fire can burn away webs, the webs themselves won't make good kindling. We'd need gallons of oil to burn out the whole ship, or at least some sort of magic that wouldn't need fuel to burn. Theldrin is the fire mage. My magic is more focused on enchantment and healing."
Khessa... If the fire gets out of our control, our task could become much more difficult..."
"True," Xanrym concedes. Based on what he read in the captain's logbook, Xanrym now thinks that Aubrek's chest is mostly likely still on board. The thought of losing the promised reward is enough to restrain Xanrym's thoughts of burning out the deck and hold. He sighs, resigned to fighting their way through the webs and down to the hold.
Xanrym reminds Khessa and Avery, "Once you get the door open, don't feel a need to rush into the room. If you can keep any opponents from coming through the door, we fire past you into the room." The crowbar is still on offer, if needed.
While making a lot of racket, Kawasaki eventually manages to slam the door off its hinges and it falls back onto the deck of the ship. Behind it you see a room completely filled with spider webs, such that anything more than 10 feet from the entrance appears as little more than a vague shape. Hidden in the webs are a narrow staircase down and, near the bow, a table and four chairs.
you see a room completely filled with spider webs, such that anything more than 10 feet from the entrance appears as little more than a vague shape.
Xanrym lowers his crossbow slightly and looks into the room before saying, "Well, I do not like the look of that!" He asks, "So, do we want to use fire now? Or does someone want to volunteer to go first?" Xanrym is normally the advance scout for the Company, but this time, it feels less like "scouting" and more like being used as bait to draw out any spiders.
"Well..." Khessa sighs "It might take forever without fire. So... there's plenty of water in the lake... Let's just stand ready if the flames go out of control".
And with that, the blonde arcane warrior just starts evoking a mote of fire after the other. The magical fire just has the time to bloom on her armored hand - and the very next moment she throws it at the webbing. One at a time, to minimize chances for the fire to go wild... but consistently, until the room is cleared.
The tall adventuress then, if nothing of interest is in the room, repeats the process for the stairs. To go exploring below.
(OOC: Putting what I was starting to say in a spoiler because...
FYI. Xanrym is willing to sneak around the room and check for spiders. He has Shield now, so he's not as worried about being ambushed and immediately overwhelmed as long as the Company can get to him right away. He was just hoping that someone had a better idea.
The captains cabin was about 40' wide x 20' deep. I expect that it'll take forever to clear it away all of the webbing with Fire Bolt, which I imagine is like an arrow or dart of flame. That spell might whizz through the room and hit the back wall, but it'll probably just burn narrow little tunnels through the webbing. I expect that we'd need Create Bonfire or Flaming Sphere to completely clear an area of the room. We could use torches, but that puts us within arm's reach of any webs we're burning. As we burn back the webbing with torches, I bet we'll suddenly find ourselves just an arm's length away from a giant spider.
...that gave me an idea!)
While Khessa starts hurling motes of flame into the room, Xanrym stows his crossbow and gets the torch that he put in the pinrail. He asks Theldrin, "Can you use your arcane hand to carry this torch through the room and burn away the spiderwebs? That way, we'll hopefully be able to reveal anything hidden in the webs without getting too close to it."
If so, Xanrym will let Theldrin's Mage Hand take the torch, and then he'll go ahead and get another one of Aubrek's torches from Khessa's backpack and use Prestidigitation to light it.
"Well, a bit of strategic and judicious use of fire here might be needed," Theldrin agrees as he nods thoughtfully, then adds, "But let's keep the oil out of it for now..." He lowers his crossbow as he casts Mage Hand and sends the spectral hand into the cabin carrying Xanrym's torch.
If so, Xanrym will let Theldrin's Mage Hand take the torch, and then he'll go ahead and get another one of Aubrek's torches from Khessa's backpack and use Prestidigitation to light it.
To be clear, once Xanrym lights an extra torch for himself, he puts that torch in the pinrail. Then he'll load a bolt into his crossbow and get ready to fire into the room as soon as the mage hands and their torches reveal any more monstrous spiders. As before, he stands well back from the door, but he makes sure not to stand too close to the grate to the lower deck. He wants to be able to fire through the door while giving Khessa, Avery, and Coriana plenty of space to enter the cabin once enough of the spiderwebs around the door have been burned away.
As you all start burning the webs. A large creature drops down from the roof above, surprising you all. This one a spider-humanoid hybrid with a massive spider sac on its posterior. It has eight eyes on a humanoid head with eleven ears. It is covered in light grey fur and wields a dagger in its left hand. A Choldrin. At the same time as the creature descends, you hear the familiar sound of swarms of spiders running up from the stairs below. Initiative:
Group 1: Coriana, Theldrin, Syllen
Group 2: Choldrin
Group 3: Khessa and Xanrym
Group 4: Spider Swarms
Group 5: Avery
Group 1 is up, the Choldrin drops from the roof and is hissing with menace, while spiders start to flood into the room from the stairs.
"Hey! The handle turns and the door starts to open, but it is blocked by something almost spongey on the other side!" Khessa marvels aloud "It feels like it might give way with a proper shove... but then maybe the spongy thing on the other side might run me over! I prefer to stay to the side and destroy the door with Maul's blows! Watch out for what comes out, okay?"
And the blonde arcane warrior positions herself to the side, so as not to be hit by whatever eventually comes out, and begins to physically demolish the door. To shorten the job, she strikes at the hinges... breaking those, the door should fall - and whatever is on the other side should reveal itself.
Coriana hangs back, near the open grate, dividing her attention between the grate, the captain’s quarters and the stuck door. “I’ll keep an eye out while we deal with whatever that is in there!”
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Thelanis - Darkness Below: Kholias
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
"Spongey eh..." Theldrin says grimly, "Maybe more webs." He'll also make sure his antitoxin is readily accessible.
“I am beginning to have a very bad idea of dropping a lot torch into the hold to light the webs on fire.”
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Thelanis - Darkness Below: Kholias
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
Xanrym scoops up the rubies to divide later. He follows the Company onto the main deck, and says a simple prayer to Fharlanghn when Coriana drops the skulls into the sea.
Once Avery and Khessa start working on the door, he offers his Crowbar in case they want to force the door open. "Or," he says with a sheepish look at Theldrin, "we could pour oil under the door and light it. If a big spider web is blocking the door, that should burn it off." But he doesn't really like the idea of starting a fire in a room that they cannot see yet.
Otherwise, like Theldrin, Xanrym will stand well back from the door with his crossbow, ready to fire on anything that bursts out of the door and attacks. He makes sure not to stand too close to the grate to the lower deck.
Theldrin merely raises an eyebrow at Coriana and Xanrym but doesn't say anything. He double checks his crossbow and then takes a deep breath, focusing again on the cabin door. A slight smile then turns the corners of his mouth as he ponders the irony that he seems to the voice of caution for fire use, given that his go-to solution for most of the problems the party has run into, has been fire-based spells.
Khessa, while striking mighty blows at the hinges, replies to Xanrym: "Any solution that involves setting fire to the ship on which we are searching for clues to track the cargo and the evildoers who did this... I would prefer to keep that as a last resort. If the fire gets out of our control, our task could become much more difficult..."
Xanrym glances at his still-burning torch, which he stuck in an empty slot on the pinrail while he's using his crossbow, and chuckles at Coriana's suggestion, "I like where your head's at! With all of the crew gone, there's no harm in clearing out the rest of the vermin and undead. But while fire can burn away webs, the webs themselves won't make good kindling. We'd need gallons of oil to burn out the whole ship, or at least some sort of magic that wouldn't need fuel to burn. Theldrin is the fire mage. My magic is more focused on enchantment and healing."
"True," Xanrym concedes. Based on what he read in the captain's logbook, Xanrym now thinks that Aubrek's chest is mostly likely still on board. The thought of losing the promised reward is enough to restrain Xanrym's thoughts of burning out the deck and hold. He sighs, resigned to fighting their way through the webs and down to the hold.
Xanrym reminds Khessa and Avery, "Once you get the door open, don't feel a need to rush into the room. If you can keep any opponents from coming through the door, we fire past you into the room." The crowbar is still on offer, if needed.
Syllen will move to the deck and cast Guidance on anyone trying to open the door.
"If we can't remove the obstacle if might be best to clear out the bottom of the ship first before doing anything drastic."
13
While making a lot of racket, Kawasaki eventually manages to slam the door off its hinges and it falls back onto the deck of the ship. Behind it you see a room completely filled with spider webs, such that anything more than 10 feet from the entrance appears as little more than a vague shape. Hidden in the webs are a narrow staircase down and, near the bow, a table and four chairs.
Xanrym lowers his crossbow slightly and looks into the room before saying, "Well, I do not like the look of that!" He asks, "So, do we want to use fire now? Or does someone want to volunteer to go first?" Xanrym is normally the advance scout for the Company, but this time, it feels less like "scouting" and more like being used as bait to draw out any spiders.
"Well..." Khessa sighs "It might take forever without fire. So... there's plenty of water in the lake... Let's just stand ready if the flames go out of control".
And with that, the blonde arcane warrior just starts evoking a mote of fire after the other. The magical fire just has the time to bloom on her armored hand - and the very next moment she throws it at the webbing. One at a time, to minimize chances for the fire to go wild... but consistently, until the room is cleared.
The tall adventuress then, if nothing of interest is in the room, repeats the process for the stairs. To go exploring below.
(OOC: Putting what I was starting to say in a spoiler because...
FYI. Xanrym is willing to sneak around the room and check for spiders. He has Shield now, so he's not as worried about being ambushed and immediately overwhelmed as long as the Company can get to him right away. He was just hoping that someone had a better idea.
The captains cabin was about 40' wide x 20' deep. I expect that it'll take forever to clear it away all of the webbing with Fire Bolt, which I imagine is like an arrow or dart of flame. That spell might whizz through the room and hit the back wall, but it'll probably just burn narrow little tunnels through the webbing. I expect that we'd need Create Bonfire or Flaming Sphere to completely clear an area of the room. We could use torches, but that puts us within arm's reach of any webs we're burning. As we burn back the webbing with torches, I bet we'll suddenly find ourselves just an arm's length away from a giant spider.
...that gave me an idea!)
While Khessa starts hurling motes of flame into the room, Xanrym stows his crossbow and gets the torch that he put in the pinrail. He asks Theldrin, "Can you use your arcane hand to carry this torch through the room and burn away the spiderwebs? That way, we'll hopefully be able to reveal anything hidden in the webs without getting too close to it."
If so, Xanrym will let Theldrin's Mage Hand take the torch, and then he'll go ahead and get another one of Aubrek's torches from Khessa's backpack and use Prestidigitation to light it.
"Well, a bit of strategic and judicious use of fire here might be needed," Theldrin agrees as he nods thoughtfully, then adds, "But let's keep the oil out of it for now..." He lowers his crossbow as he casts Mage Hand and sends the spectral hand into the cabin carrying Xanrym's torch.
Coriana lights her own torch, and uses her own mage hand to burn webs too.
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Thelanis - Darkness Below: Kholias
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
To be clear, once Xanrym lights an extra torch for himself, he puts that torch in the pinrail. Then he'll load a bolt into his crossbow and get ready to fire into the room as soon as the mage hands and their torches reveal any more monstrous spiders. As before, he stands well back from the door, but he makes sure not to stand too close to the grate to the lower deck. He wants to be able to fire through the door while giving Khessa, Avery, and Coriana plenty of space to enter the cabin once enough of the spiderwebs around the door have been burned away.
As you all start burning the webs. A large creature drops down from the roof above, surprising you all. This one a spider-humanoid hybrid with a massive spider sac on its posterior. It has eight eyes on a humanoid head with eleven ears. It is covered in light grey fur and wields a dagger in its left hand. A Choldrin. At the same time as the creature descends, you hear the familiar sound of swarms of spiders running up from the stairs below. Initiative:
Group 1: Coriana, Theldrin, Syllen
Group 2: Choldrin
Group 3: Khessa and Xanrym
Group 4: Spider Swarms
Group 5: Avery
Group 1 is up, the Choldrin drops from the roof and is hissing with menace, while spiders start to flood into the room from the stairs.
(OOC: Would it be possible to hit both the Choldrin and the spider Swarms with Entangle(20ft square)?)
(OOC: Duck Duck Go thinks that you probably meant a Choldrith.
This mission has really taken a turn from a nautical adventure into some real nightmare fuel for anyone with arachnophobia!)