Anton’s boots crunch in the dirt and gravel of the island as he dashes forward and jumps to the next island with Razzec.  (Move to vic hex 1311).  He looks up to the ceiling in curiosity as Nico is suddenly pulled upwards from the next island.  Is there something pulling him from above?  "Nico!  Are you okay? Can you hear us?" Perception 12.

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Grey will stay on the starting island for now, as they try and make sense of things.

Quote from Razzec >>

(( How tall is the ceiling?))

 The ceiling is obscured by smoke and the smoke is about 20 feet up.

DV 15 STR save vs going up.

Ember STR save: 13

Wildfire Spirit STR save:  3

The updraft from the lava drives both Ember and the wildfire spirit kestrel up into the smokey upper section of the cavern.

Razzec tries to see if he can see or hear Ember but is also watching the boar to make sure it doesn't charge him instead of the reverse.

((Perception Check: 19))

It seems as if you have lost contact with Ember, the spirit and Nico.

The boar is not concerned at all.

"Ok friend, you're going to have to hang out for a moment while I figure out what happened to everyone." Razz says to the Dominator before hooking it on his backpack and pulling the rope free from it.  He gets out a piston and hammer and heads towards where Nico when up.  He ties the rope around him and has the piston and hammer in hand as he makes his way directly to the island on his left  before heading to the island Nico disappeared from. If he feels any tag, he's gong to hammer the piston into the ground as hard as he can and hopes it holds his weight if he gets jerked up toward the smoke. He's trying to be as quiet as he can as he's moving too but not sure how lucky he's going to be on that.

(( Athletics Checks: 21, 20, and Nat 20 (31 total) to do what I'm hoping works out lol, Stealth Check: 21 ))

"That's how you do it! Get closer so you can hit it with the DOMINATOR!"

The lava boar's ears twitch in your direction and the head turns towards you.

As you reach the island you feel drawn upwards! You manage to hammer in the spike in time and your flight is halted 30 feet up.

For those that fell:

 There is no response from your friends who have passed through the smoke.

Nico to Razz & Ember, and to DM:

Grey is going to cast Light on a crossbow bolt, then tie a rope to it, and shoot the bolt into the smokey ceiling to see what happens. Can he see the light on the other side, does the bolt hit anything? does it drop back down? etc.

He will fire it away from where the others disappeared as to not hit them.

Quote from RodTheBard >>

Nico to Razz & Ember, and to DM:

"Pfft!" sputtered the bard as he spat out salty water and swam his way to the island. "What in the world...?!" he demanded as he stood up and looked up and around. "How did we end up in this place? And more to the point--how are we going to get back???"

(( @DM: What does Nico see as he looks up, just smoke? And as he looks around, is the lake in a cave of some sort, or is there seemingly a plain/field/etc. surrounding the lake, with a normal-looking horizon in the distance? Perception check if needed: 10 ))

Nico

Quote from Shasher >>

Grey is going to cast Light on a crossbow bolt, then tie a rope to it, and shoot the bolt into the smokey ceiling to see what happens. Can he see the light on the other side, does the bolt hit anything? does it drop back down? etc.

He will fire it away from where the others disappeared as to not hit them.

 Some experimentation shows that thew bolts impact the roof in some areas. Shooting anywhere near the small islands makes the bolt deflect as if there is a shift in gravity and it goes upward instead of falling down. In these areas there is no impact. You can even see the effect as you pull the bolt back to you. 

You use up 4 bolts as some fall into the flaming river

Razzec starts trying to pull himself back Up(?) the sky along the rope and away from the water. As he makes it towards the smoke, he's going to yell for everyone else to come to his rope and use it to guide them up/down but to grab on to him as they get close and he'll catch them.

(( Athletics check to climb the rope: 30 

Athletics check to catch each of the players as they make it near him: 20 and 14 ))

Ember looks about at this new place... seemingly the 'roof' of the lava below but, a nice water oasis... sort of.    He will fly 'up' near the smoke barrier and try to see what can be seen.   Also, will be trying to see if his wildfire spirit made it or ended up getting dunked and extinguished in the lake.

{game log} Perception: 24

Flying up through the smoke feels as if you are flying up. Even if/when you clear the smoke and enter the lava room, it still feels like flying up. Unless you leave the border of a small island in which case you dive into the lava.

nooooooooooooo  no lava diving!

Perception: 13

Ember tries to gain the attention of those on the lava ground after popping through the smoke.   
Yelling downward, "Get through the smoke and up is down and down is up and there is a lake and an island!"

Grey will slowly make his way towards Razzec and his rope. He'll say a quick prayer and reach out and grab the rope with two hands.

Nico nervously watched Razzec; he planned to wait until he was off the rope before attempting to climb.

It takes a minor bit of coordination to grab the rope and fall upwards while holding on to it. 

The end of the rope dangles about 10 feet above the water and you can drop in with no ill effects.

Aside from the ominous large shadow....