As the Company gets ready to open the next door, Theldrin decides to move up to the east/west hallway (leading to area 4) so he can have a better view once the door is opened.
Xanrym knows that the Maw Demons where definately demons, perhaps a gift from Krell’s matron? In room 6, a few bones and skulls of sacrificial victims are hidden in the webbing. In those are some earrings and a necklace probably worth about 450gp in total. In the room under the stairs all you find are several well-gnawed humanoid bones mixed in with the palm fronds.
Xanrym knows that the Maw Demons where definately demons, perhaps a gift from Krell’s matron?
As soon as he realized that, Xanrym would definitely have shared that information with the Company, especially with Theldrin. Having adventured with the wizard for a while now, Xanrym views him as an expert in all sorts of magical arcana, even if the Wizard doesn't seem as interested in these dark cults and the otherworldly fiends that they seem to worship as Xanrym is.
In room 6, a few bones and skulls of sacrificial victims are hidden in the webbing. In those are some earrings and a necklace probably worth about 450gp in total.
Xanrym shows the items to Coriana and then makes sure that she sees him putting them in the sack where he's keeping the treasure that the Company can divide after their mission is done.
In the room under the stairs all you find are several well-gnawed humanoid bones mixed in with the palm fronds.
It's bad enough to imagine the poor sailors ripped apart and fed to the spiders and demons, but it's even more disturbing to Xanrym to realize what "rations" Krell has been using to stay alive. He secretly hopes that they find that Krell was killed and rose again as some form of undead. The alternative makes him feel ill. Or maybe that's just because he's below deck and unable to see the horizon combined with the smell of death and the odd motion of the damaged ship.
If someone suggests another sea burial for the sailors' remains, Xanrym does not want to spare the time right now. He says, "The Company can come back through and collect their remains when we're done clearing Krell and all of his cult's creations and monsters out of the ship. Or, if you don't want to leave them, have someone put them in the other sack." He doesn't want to mix the sailors' bones with the treasures that he has been collecting.
(OOC: Just filling in. Still ready for Khessa to open the next door.)
Khessa, who had evidently hoped to be able to free any crew members taken prisoner, is visibly darkened upon finding the clues to their probably macabre fate. And the discovery of the precious items does not hold much consolation for her.
"Life can be merciless" the blonde arcane warrior seems to struggle to hold back her tears. She cannot help but fear, for a moment, that even her loved ones, her family, may have been capriciously eaten by Lolth's servants...
'No, it is not like that' the tall adventuress convinces herself. 'When they captured us, the drow were looking for prisoners. They will not have changed their minds... Tobar, Eshta, Yassa, Rethos, Larrya... No, they were not eaten. They are prisoners. And I will free them'.
Returning to the present, Khessa, upon seeing her fellow adventurers ready, opens the next door... "Let's show the forces of Lolth the same mercy they usually show"
"Hmmm, that makes sense..." Theldrin nods with furrowed brow when Xanrym tells what he realizes about the Maw Demons.
After the small room under the stairs is also searched, he notes with sympathy Khessa's reaction to the gruesome remains, thinking to himself that perhaps the Company could embark upon a quest to try to save her family. Then he too snaps back to the present moment, keeping an eye on the door behind him as he considers Xanrym's warning while standing near the rotten grate and awaiting the opening of the next door, crossbow at the ready.
You search through the remaining rooms around you, one contains the smashed wreckage of a bed, dresser, and desk. Thick webs extend from floor to ceiling, making it impossible to clearly see the walls beyond. Hundreds of tiny spiders move through the webs, but none of them attack like the swarms you've experienced before. The other two are also filled with smashed furniture, crushed wooden boxes, and other debris, all covered with thick layers of spiderwebs. Again, none of the spiders here attack you, this ship is simply infested with spiders. The only door you haven't opened is the one to the aft (south) of the ship.
(I'm going to start using regular N,S,E,W directions form now on. Because I realise most people, including myself, find aft and starboard and the like confusing.)
Hundreds of tiny spiders move through the webs, but none of them attack like the swarms you've experienced before. The other two are also filled with smashed furniture, crushed wooden boxes, and other debris, all covered with thick layers of spiderwebs. Again, none of the spiders here attack you, this ship is simply infested with spiders. The only door you haven't opened is the one to the aft (south) of the ship.
Xanrym shivers at the sight of all of the spiders, and he's happy that they don't swarm the party. He says, "Perhaps it was the malice of the Choldrith and the Ettercaps that drove the little spiders to attack in swarms like they did up on the main deck? Since they're no longer doing that, I guess that we've killed off all of the Ettercaps, and we just have the evil priest himself left." He looks toward the door at the south end of the hallway. "Shall we take a rest before we go further? If Krell is not behind that door (and below the crude shrine that he made in the captain's cabin up on deck), then perhaps he is in the hold. But I feel that this is our last chance to rest before we stumble upon the wicked demon-worshipper. I'd wager one of those rubies that Krell has kept something in reserve for his own defense, but after what we've seen and read, I don't know whether that means more monstrous spiders, his own undead creations, or demons from the Abyss!"
(I'm going to start using regular N,S,E,W directions form now on. Because I realise most people, including myself, find aft and starboard and the like confusing.)
(OOC: Sure thing! Whatever makes it easier. Xanrym may continue to use some nautical terms because he likes to learn the correct word for things and use the experts' jargon. A bard is a jack-of-all-trades, after all! But I'll be sure to use N,S,E,W in all OOC descriptions of his movements. And thanks for moving us along so that we didn't spend 1+ day each time we had to agree to check one more room.)
(OOC: I think that we agreed earlier to take an Action Short Rest whenever we had enough injured people or whenever we had searched everything other than that last door at the south end of the hallway. If everyone agrees, you can probably just post how your character uses this 5-min Short Rest. Assuming that we're not interrupted, we can also discuss the plan for the next step since we're almost certainly walking into the final rooms around Krell's "lair.")
Action Short Rest
Xanrym has bravely hidden behind the fighters and luckily avoided any damage so far. He doesn't have a way to regain any spell slots or other features a Short Rest at this level, so he can keep watch / stand guard to ensure that we're not surprised while everyone rests. During the rest, Xanrym uses his experience with maps (proficiency in cartographer's tools) to estimate that the door at the south end of the hallway is about midway down the length of the ship.
After the rest / planning the next steps
Xanrym explains that based on the size of the cabins we've seen so far, there are probably just 2 or 3 more rooms behind that door at the south end of the hallway. The captain's quarters were at the very south end of the ship on the main deck. That's where the shrine to Lolth was. There was a staircase leading down to the lower deck from there too.
That leaves us with a decision to make. Does the Company want to go through the door at the south end of this hallway? Or do we want to go back up to the main deck and then down the stairs from the captain's cabin? The narrow hallway may restrict how many of Krell's minions can attack the party at once, but after getting zapped by the naga's lightning bolt, Xanrym doesn't love the idea of approaching a spellcaster with the party all lined up in the hallway. Perhaps approaching from the south will give us a less restricted approach? We could also split the party and try to coordinate a simultaneous attack from both directions. (We'd probably be close enough to hear a signal from Xanrym to start the attack.) Xanrym mentions it, but he doesn't love the idea because he thinks that the whole group has been fighting very well together against the spiders. He's worried that trying to attack from both directions might just leave more of the party exposed to attacks.
Xanrym announces that he plans to cover Krell with Silence as soon as the fight starts. That means that Khessa and Avery won't be able to communicate with the party while they're in melee with Krell, but if they can keep Krell in the area of silence, it should prevent the evil cultist from casting any other spells or commanding his minions.
Theldrin finds a corner to sit down and meditate, spending a few moments with his spellbook (Arcane Recovery for a 2nd level slot). As the Company reconvenes and plans their next move, his vote is to stick together for the attack, whether approaching from the entrance here below or from the cabin above.
"Depending on what all he has with him... I may also try to blind him," he says thoughtfully in response to Xanrym. Blindness/Deafness
Khessa in turn takes out her tome from the cover decorated with spider-web-like motifs and starts to briefly review next to Theldrin, curiously discussing with him, more expert, the interpretation of some arcane notes to which she had always found multiple possible shades of meaning.
[[ OOC: Arcane Recovery for a 1st level slot. Plus spending HDs to recover HPs. Rolling... ]]
Even a short rest like that works wonders and the blonde arcane warrior is as good as new! Regenerated in body and spirit, she has a determined light in her blue eyes: "I need to be able to speak, to cast most of my spells... but go ahead - Krell certainly has more powerful spells than I do, so if you neutralize both me and him we'll gain all the same. I'll settle for slicing him to pieces with this" and she keep her impressive blade ready.
Running his thumb along the edge of his sword, Avery makes sure his weapon is ready. He sinches down the straps on his armor, settles everything in place.
Syllen will spend time channeling the power of nature and restore everyone's connection.(OOC: everyone gets 8 temp HP again.)
As everyone talks about how they plan to attack Krell.
“I have several spells that can help prevent Krell from acting or making any metal he has extremely hot… but it seems like everyone is well prepared so I will hold off until needed.”
Syllen has hold person and heat metal prepared or Entangle.
As the Company reconvenes and plans their next move, his vote is to stick together for the attack, whether approaching from the entrance here below or from the cabin above.
OK. So, sticking together. Looking at the map again, I think that going through the south door in the hallway is fine. At least we know that we've cleared the north half of that level of the ship.
The hallway is 10-feet wide just in front of the south door, so it's not quite as restricted as the north end of the hallway, and someone can hide behind the mast pole. One of the "empty" rooms of debris is just to the east, so part of the party could even gather in there before we open the south door. That way, more of the party is initially out-of-sight or behind cover before Khessa and Avery open the door and try to get in the room. We'll be close enough to follow them in, but if they have to fall back because something immediately leaps out and attacks, the ones in the room can hit it from its flank.
"Depending on what all he has with him... I may also try to blind him," he says thoughtfully in response to Xanrym. Blindness/Deafness
Syllen will spend time channeling the power of nature and restore everyone's connection.(OOC: everyone gets 8 temp HP again.)
Thanks!
Syllen has hold person and heat metal prepared or Entangle.
Xanrym tells Theldrin and Syllen, "If you want to target Krell with an all-or-nothing spell, then wait for me. As soon as we see him, I can unsettle him with my magic, making him more susceptible to a spell, but it'll only help with one spell, so choose wisely."
(OOC: Yeah, depends what we find. If Krell is a "priest" of some sort, spells that rely on a WIS save, like Hold Person and Vicious Mockery may not be very effective. If he's wearing metal armor, Heat Metal would be great. But Entangle may have a bigger impact if Krell has multiple spiders / undead / demons protecting him. If that can keep more of them away from us for a couple of rounds, then we can hopefully take out Krell first before dealing with them, which seems like a good idea.
Xanrym is using the old College of Eloquence, so he can use Unsettling Words on his turn against Krell. So far, Xanrym has mostly used that to help his own spell, using Unsettling Words at the start of his turn and then immediately casting a spell. But he can instead use Unsettling Words at the end of his turn. Just note that it debuffs the first saving throw from any source that Krell needs to make before the start of Xanrym's next turn, so someone needs to cast a spell on him, and everyone else should avoid forcing Krell to make a saving throw until either Theldrin or Syllen cast their spell.)
Alright, so you all take the benefits of a Short Rest and head through the door to the south. Who opens the door? Are you going with the plan of fighters at the door, the rest of you in the room next door?
Alright, so you all take the benefits of a Short Rest and head through the door to the south. Who opens the door? Are you going with the plan of fighters at the door, the rest of you in the room next door?
Unless someone else wants to do it, Xanrym plans to hide behind the mast pole in the hallway. With his Cloak of Elvenkind, he should be very hard to perceive until he attacks or casts a spell. But if Krell is in this room, Xanrym will probably cast Silence on him as soon as he can. Since we have a few high-Stealth characters, maybe someone else wants to try hiding to gain advantage on their first attack?
As the Company gets ready to open the next door, Theldrin decides to move up to the east/west hallway (leading to area 4) so he can have a better view once the door is opened.
Xanrym hisses in a stage whisper as Theldrin passes him, "Just be careful of the other door in that hallway."
(OOC: Don't forget that there's a door in the E-W hallway directly south of doorway where Avery got stuck in a web when the group first came down the stairs.)
Xanrym knows that the Maw Demons where definately demons, perhaps a gift from Krell’s matron? In room 6, a few bones and skulls of sacrificial victims are hidden in the webbing. In those are some earrings and a necklace probably worth about 450gp in total. In the room under the stairs all you find are several well-gnawed humanoid bones mixed in with the palm fronds.
As soon as he realized that, Xanrym would definitely have shared that information with the Company, especially with Theldrin. Having adventured with the wizard for a while now, Xanrym views him as an expert in all sorts of magical arcana, even if the Wizard doesn't seem as interested in these dark cults and the otherworldly fiends that they seem to worship as Xanrym is.
Xanrym shows the items to Coriana and then makes sure that she sees him putting them in the sack where he's keeping the treasure that the Company can divide after their mission is done.
It's bad enough to imagine the poor sailors ripped apart and fed to the spiders and demons, but it's even more disturbing to Xanrym to realize what "rations" Krell has been using to stay alive. He secretly hopes that they find that Krell was killed and rose again as some form of undead. The alternative makes him feel ill. Or maybe that's just because he's below deck and unable to see the horizon combined with the smell of death and the odd motion of the damaged ship.
If someone suggests another sea burial for the sailors' remains, Xanrym does not want to spare the time right now. He says, "The Company can come back through and collect their remains when we're done clearing Krell and all of his cult's creations and monsters out of the ship. Or, if you don't want to leave them, have someone put them in the other sack." He doesn't want to mix the sailors' bones with the treasures that he has been collecting.
(OOC: Just filling in. Still ready for Khessa to open the next door.)
Khessa, who had evidently hoped to be able to free any crew members taken prisoner, is visibly darkened upon finding the clues to their probably macabre fate. And the discovery of the precious items does not hold much consolation for her.
"Life can be merciless" the blonde arcane warrior seems to struggle to hold back her tears. She cannot help but fear, for a moment, that even her loved ones, her family, may have been capriciously eaten by Lolth's servants...
'No, it is not like that' the tall adventuress convinces herself. 'When they captured us, the drow were looking for prisoners. They will not have changed their minds... Tobar, Eshta, Yassa, Rethos, Larrya... No, they were not eaten. They are prisoners. And I will free them'.
Returning to the present, Khessa, upon seeing her fellow adventurers ready, opens the next door... "Let's show the forces of Lolth the same mercy they usually show"
"Hmmm, that makes sense..." Theldrin nods with furrowed brow when Xanrym tells what he realizes about the Maw Demons.
After the small room under the stairs is also searched, he notes with sympathy Khessa's reaction to the gruesome remains, thinking to himself that perhaps the Company could embark upon a quest to try to save her family. Then he too snaps back to the present moment, keeping an eye on the door behind him as he considers Xanrym's warning while standing near the rotten grate and awaiting the opening of the next door, crossbow at the ready.
You search through the remaining rooms around you, one contains the smashed wreckage of a bed, dresser, and desk. Thick webs extend from floor to ceiling, making it impossible to clearly see the walls beyond. Hundreds of tiny spiders move through the webs, but none of them attack like the swarms you've experienced before. The other two are also filled with smashed furniture, crushed wooden boxes, and other debris, all covered with thick layers of spiderwebs. Again, none of the spiders here attack you, this ship is simply infested with spiders. The only door you haven't opened is the one to the aft (south) of the ship.
(I'm going to start using regular N,S,E,W directions form now on. Because I realise most people, including myself, find aft and starboard and the like confusing.)
Xanrym shivers at the sight of all of the spiders, and he's happy that they don't swarm the party. He says, "Perhaps it was the malice of the Choldrith and the Ettercaps that drove the little spiders to attack in swarms like they did up on the main deck? Since they're no longer doing that, I guess that we've killed off all of the Ettercaps, and we just have the evil priest himself left." He looks toward the door at the south end of the hallway. "Shall we take a rest before we go further? If Krell is not behind that door (and below the crude shrine that he made in the captain's cabin up on deck), then perhaps he is in the hold. But I feel that this is our last chance to rest before we stumble upon the wicked demon-worshipper. I'd wager one of those rubies that Krell has kept something in reserve for his own defense, but after what we've seen and read, I don't know whether that means more monstrous spiders, his own undead creations, or demons from the Abyss!"
(OOC: Sure thing! Whatever makes it easier. Xanrym may continue to use some nautical terms because he likes to learn the correct word for things and use the experts' jargon. A bard is a jack-of-all-trades, after all! But I'll be sure to use N,S,E,W in all OOC descriptions of his movements. And thanks for moving us along so that we didn't spend 1+ day each time we had to agree to check one more room.)
(OOC: I think that we agreed earlier to take an Action Short Rest whenever we had enough injured people or whenever we had searched everything other than that last door at the south end of the hallway. If everyone agrees, you can probably just post how your character uses this 5-min Short Rest. Assuming that we're not interrupted, we can also discuss the plan for the next step since we're almost certainly walking into the final rooms around Krell's "lair.")
Action Short Rest
Xanrym has bravely hidden behind the fighters and luckily avoided any damage so far. He doesn't have a way to regain any spell slots or other features a Short Rest at this level, so he can keep watch / stand guard to ensure that we're not surprised while everyone rests. During the rest, Xanrym uses his experience with maps (proficiency in cartographer's tools) to estimate that the door at the south end of the hallway is about midway down the length of the ship.
After the rest / planning the next steps
Xanrym explains that based on the size of the cabins we've seen so far, there are probably just 2 or 3 more rooms behind that door at the south end of the hallway. The captain's quarters were at the very south end of the ship on the main deck. That's where the shrine to Lolth was. There was a staircase leading down to the lower deck from there too.
That leaves us with a decision to make. Does the Company want to go through the door at the south end of this hallway? Or do we want to go back up to the main deck and then down the stairs from the captain's cabin? The narrow hallway may restrict how many of Krell's minions can attack the party at once, but after getting zapped by the naga's lightning bolt, Xanrym doesn't love the idea of approaching a spellcaster with the party all lined up in the hallway. Perhaps approaching from the south will give us a less restricted approach? We could also split the party and try to coordinate a simultaneous attack from both directions. (We'd probably be close enough to hear a signal from Xanrym to start the attack.) Xanrym mentions it, but he doesn't love the idea because he thinks that the whole group has been fighting very well together against the spiders. He's worried that trying to attack from both directions might just leave more of the party exposed to attacks.
Xanrym announces that he plans to cover Krell with Silence as soon as the fight starts. That means that Khessa and Avery won't be able to communicate with the party while they're in melee with Krell, but if they can keep Krell in the area of silence, it should prevent the evil cultist from casting any other spells or commanding his minions.
Avery nods he understands about the Silence spell. " I am ready when everyone else is."
Theldrin finds a corner to sit down and meditate, spending a few moments with his spellbook (Arcane Recovery for a 2nd level slot). As the Company reconvenes and plans their next move, his vote is to stick together for the attack, whether approaching from the entrance here below or from the cabin above.
"Depending on what all he has with him... I may also try to blind him," he says thoughtfully in response to Xanrym. Blindness/Deafness
Khessa in turn takes out her tome from the cover decorated with spider-web-like motifs and starts to briefly review next to Theldrin, curiously discussing with him, more expert, the interpretation of some arcane notes to which she had always found multiple possible shades of meaning.
[[ OOC: Arcane Recovery for a 1st level slot. Plus spending HDs to recover HPs. Rolling... ]]
Fighter's HD: 10
Even a short rest like that works wonders and the blonde arcane warrior is as good as new! Regenerated in body and spirit, she has a determined light in her blue eyes: "I need to be able to speak, to cast most of my spells... but go ahead - Krell certainly has more powerful spells than I do, so if you neutralize both me and him we'll gain all the same. I'll settle for slicing him to pieces with this" and she keep her impressive blade ready.
Running his thumb along the edge of his sword, Avery makes sure his weapon is ready. He sinches down the straps on his armor, settles everything in place.
Syllen will spend time channeling the power of nature and restore everyone's connection.(OOC: everyone gets 8 temp HP again.)
As everyone talks about how they plan to attack Krell.
“I have several spells that can help prevent Krell from acting or making any metal he has extremely hot… but it seems like everyone is well prepared so I will hold off until needed.”
Syllen has hold person and heat metal prepared or Entangle.
OK. So, sticking together. Looking at the map again, I think that going through the south door in the hallway is fine. At least we know that we've cleared the north half of that level of the ship.
The hallway is 10-feet wide just in front of the south door, so it's not quite as restricted as the north end of the hallway, and someone can hide behind the mast pole. One of the "empty" rooms of debris is just to the east, so part of the party could even gather in there before we open the south door. That way, more of the party is initially out-of-sight or behind cover before Khessa and Avery open the door and try to get in the room. We'll be close enough to follow them in, but if they have to fall back because something immediately leaps out and attacks, the ones in the room can hit it from its flank.
Oh! Good idea. I forgot he had that.
Thanks!
Xanrym tells Theldrin and Syllen, "If you want to target Krell with an all-or-nothing spell, then wait for me. As soon as we see him, I can unsettle him with my magic, making him more susceptible to a spell, but it'll only help with one spell, so choose wisely."
(OOC: Yeah, depends what we find. If Krell is a "priest" of some sort, spells that rely on a WIS save, like Hold Person and Vicious Mockery may not be very effective. If he's wearing metal armor, Heat Metal would be great. But Entangle may have a bigger impact if Krell has multiple spiders / undead / demons protecting him. If that can keep more of them away from us for a couple of rounds, then we can hopefully take out Krell first before dealing with them, which seems like a good idea.
Xanrym is using the old College of Eloquence, so he can use Unsettling Words on his turn against Krell. So far, Xanrym has mostly used that to help his own spell, using Unsettling Words at the start of his turn and then immediately casting a spell. But he can instead use Unsettling Words at the end of his turn. Just note that it debuffs the first saving throw from any source that Krell needs to make before the start of Xanrym's next turn, so someone needs to cast a spell on him, and everyone else should avoid forcing Krell to make a saving throw until either Theldrin or Syllen cast their spell.)
Alright, so you all take the benefits of a Short Rest and head through the door to the south. Who opens the door? Are you going with the plan of fighters at the door, the rest of you in the room next door?
Unless someone else wants to do it, Xanrym plans to hide behind the mast pole in the hallway. With his Cloak of Elvenkind, he should be very hard to perceive until he attacks or casts a spell. But if Krell is in this room, Xanrym will probably cast Silence on him as soon as he can. Since we have a few high-Stealth characters, maybe someone else wants to try hiding to gain advantage on their first attack?
As soon as all are ready, Khessa will be the one who opens the door.
Since she has no idea of the threats lurking beyond, the blonde arcane warrior will just shroud herself in generic protective magic before opening.