"Not very encouraging..." Khessa comments, doubting that any Cultists of any branch would have wanted to choose such a rotten area as their lair "But since we're here, we might as well check".
The blonde arcane warrior advances the Mage Hand with the Light to illuminate further inside and at the same time advances her personal 'legion of darkness', deploying them so as to block the path of any enemies located in the still unlit (but hopefully soon to be lit) area further north.
"Umm, is the water deep? Rosebudis feeling all of her 2' and change height. "I want to join the march but I've never seen a swimming parade nor one with skeletons. Pretty cool, actually, to have skeletons on our side in the parade." She uses her quarterstaff (eighth-staff?) as if she was leading a band, walking back and forth while lifting it up and down to some musical tune only she could hear, humming something along the lines of "the hip bone is connected to the thigh bone" or similar silliness.
ELIAS realizes that the stench is an indicator of flammable gas in the room.
(OOC - The smell of rotten eggs (Mercaptan) is actually added to Natural Gas so that people will know there is a leak. Natural Gas naturally has no odor. Maybe on Faerun their Natural Gas has a rotten egg odor.)
The realization hits Elias like a ballista bolt, everyone stop! That smell is flammable gas, please no torches or open flame or we and whatever is in the street above us, go boom.
Khessa is heartened by the fact that the light she is using is magical and not caused by a flame... but she quickly steps back, making her 'Army of Darkness' step back as well until they are all safely back, away from the smell of danger.
"Thank you Elias!" the blonde arcane warrior hugs the young mage gratefully "My light could not have caused any explosions, but there is no point in taking any chances. I doubt that the Cultists have taken up residence in a section that can explode at the first unwary adventurer who comes along with a lit torch - especially considering that they are human and therefore need torches, to see us".
"At this point," the tall adventuress suggests "perhaps it is best that we go back to the room of three faces, the one with the different branches, and take the only corridor without a face. It goes in the direction of the Bhaal branch, after all..."
While I agree, shouldn't we press on? Just to make sure they don't have another entrance up a head? Elias looks to Khessa, who can read the real desire on his face to leave this cursed place, report our job as done and get on with his life, but she's learned over the last handful of days, his innocence is only surpassed by his desire to do a job till it's finished completely. You don't become a house wizard for a noble family by only halfway doing your job.
Khessa weighs the words, while her blue eyes gaze with admiration at that boy who, perhaps without even realizing it completely, seems to have become an adventurer no less than her (even if, probably, like her, he would have gladly done without it): "I too want to press on, Elias, but I don't think it's likely that there are other Cultists in that dangerous and smelly place... And I wouldn't want some monster that has made its lair there to be able to exploit the gas. If it's a monster that has the ability to make fire and has its lair just outside the area with the flammable gas, it could roast us without too much effort, seeing us coming... For this reason I would have preferred to press on but in a different direction".
"But now that you help me to think about it, Elias," the blonde arcane warrior muses aloud "this might be a good opportunity to send your familiar out on a scouting mission... Being a bat, it can see in the dark. It should be able to see any monsters lurking. And even if my theory about the monster that could ignite the gas was true, I doubt a monster would go to such extreme measures at the mere sight of a bat... What do you say? Shall we do this?"
Rosaline's ears perk up a bit at the thought of something 'exploiting' the dangerous gasses in this putrid place...
"Depending on what the witch-beast finds, perhaps WE should consider making use of the explosive gasses," the Inquisitor points out with a smirk. "After all, consignation to the flames is perhaps the most traditional way to punish those who practice the dark arts..."
"You have a point, Rosaline..." Khessa muses "if we were to stand as far away as possible and then I cast a Fire Bolt at the gas, we'd be rid of it... at least for a while. It wouldn't have time to reform before we finish our exploration".
The blonde arcane warrior looks at the others: "What do you say? Shall we go back and then light the fireworks?"
Elias listens and considers, Khessa's right, what experience have I in stuff like this. I can ask Cleo to make her way down the passage if you all would like. She can give us an idea of what's around the bend. If we do then I'd like to move back around the corner just in case someone is there and decides to ignite the gases. Or we can all pull back and just blow it.
Mistynip looks to Elias, would the gases be harmful to Cleo? It might be a good idea to ask her to scout a head. She looks around and inspects one of the wooden support pillars nearby, tapping it with her mace as splinters of wood fall from it, I'm not sure these supports could survive a blast. We could see what Cleo sees, then back track and explore the other passage before deciding a course of action for this section.
“Big boom would be fun but only if it is not too big of a boom. How far does the smell go? I have seen sparks grow into wildfires too easily.” Rosebud shakes her head at that memory from when she was a child then resumes. “But a big boom would be fun! The owners might need me to rebuild and replant. I could get rid of those bushes that aren’t flowering and add some beautiful vegetation that would attract scores of butterflies and birds.” She starts listing off names of various creatures in various languages, occasionally squawking and making flapping motions. With the occasional “BOOM” thrown in.
“Okay” Khessa recaps. “Let’s send Cleo out to explore, if she feels up to it. If she sees danger or feels she can’t stand the gas, she can turn back. But if she manages to complete the exploration of the area, at least we’ll know how big it is, if there are other exits… and we’ll decide whether or not it’s worth setting off fireworks”.
CLEO flies on ahead. ELIAS will look through CLEO's blind sight. There are six corpses under the water in the larger room. KHESSASH's ARMY of DARKNESS was previously near a couple of them. Around the first corner, you can see that the area continues on with stairs rising out of the waters to the east.
MISTYNIP correctly discerns the likelihood that igniting the gas may cause the supports to fail.
(Larger scale map updated with tokens for the location of the corpses. Both maps updated.)
"Not very encouraging..." Khessa comments, doubting that any Cultists of any branch would have wanted to choose such a rotten area as their lair "But since we're here, we might as well check".
The blonde arcane warrior advances the Mage Hand with the Light to illuminate further inside and at the same time advances her personal 'legion of darkness', deploying them so as to block the path of any enemies located in the still unlit (but hopefully soon to be lit) area further north.
"Umm, is the water deep? Rosebud is feeling all of her 2' and change height. "I want to join the march but I've never seen a swimming parade nor one with skeletons. Pretty cool, actually, to have skeletons on our side in the parade." She uses her quarterstaff (eighth-staff?) as if she was leading a band, walking back and forth while lifting it up and down to some musical tune only she could hear, humming something along the lines of "the hip bone is connected to the thigh bone" or similar silliness.
rotten eggs? ((can I make a roll to see if Elias may have an idea what the smell could be from?))
Mistynip follows behind Elias, what's that smell, doesn't smell like decomposition.
(@Elias - Survival Check)
The murky water is two feet deep.
REYA will offer ROSEBUD a ride again.
Survival roll 20.
((I am so sorry, I completely missed the request for the roll. Thanks for pointing it out painted))
Lol! Don't worry Deconblu, I never have a problem bothering people!
Years of training with my husband are paying off... 😉
ELIAS realizes that the stench is an indicator of flammable gas in the room.
(OOC - The smell of rotten eggs (Mercaptan) is actually added to Natural Gas so that people will know there is a leak. Natural Gas naturally has no odor. Maybe on Faerun their Natural Gas has a rotten egg odor.)
The realization hits Elias like a ballista bolt, everyone stop! That smell is flammable gas, please no torches or open flame or we and whatever is in the street above us, go boom.
Khessa is heartened by the fact that the light she is using is magical and not caused by a flame... but she quickly steps back, making her 'Army of Darkness' step back as well until they are all safely back, away from the smell of danger.
"Thank you Elias!" the blonde arcane warrior hugs the young mage gratefully "My light could not have caused any explosions, but there is no point in taking any chances. I doubt that the Cultists have taken up residence in a section that can explode at the first unwary adventurer who comes along with a lit torch - especially considering that they are human and therefore need torches, to see us".
"At this point," the tall adventuress suggests "perhaps it is best that we go back to the room of three faces, the one with the different branches, and take the only corridor without a face. It goes in the direction of the Bhaal branch, after all..."
While I agree, shouldn't we press on? Just to make sure they don't have another entrance up a head? Elias looks to Khessa, who can read the real desire on his face to leave this cursed place, report our job as done and get on with his life, but she's learned over the last handful of days, his innocence is only surpassed by his desire to do a job till it's finished completely. You don't become a house wizard for a noble family by only halfway doing your job.
Khessa weighs the words, while her blue eyes gaze with admiration at that boy who, perhaps without even realizing it completely, seems to have become an adventurer no less than her (even if, probably, like her, he would have gladly done without it): "I too want to press on, Elias, but I don't think it's likely that there are other Cultists in that dangerous and smelly place... And I wouldn't want some monster that has made its lair there to be able to exploit the gas. If it's a monster that has the ability to make fire and has its lair just outside the area with the flammable gas, it could roast us without too much effort, seeing us coming... For this reason I would have preferred to press on but in a different direction".
"But now that you help me to think about it, Elias," the blonde arcane warrior muses aloud "this might be a good opportunity to send your familiar out on a scouting mission... Being a bat, it can see in the dark. It should be able to see any monsters lurking. And even if my theory about the monster that could ignite the gas was true, I doubt a monster would go to such extreme measures at the mere sight of a bat... What do you say? Shall we do this?"
Rosaline's ears perk up a bit at the thought of something 'exploiting' the dangerous gasses in this putrid place...
"Depending on what the witch-beast finds, perhaps WE should consider making use of the explosive gasses," the Inquisitor points out with a smirk. "After all, consignation to the flames is perhaps the most traditional way to punish those who practice the dark arts..."
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
"You have a point, Rosaline..." Khessa muses "if we were to stand as far away as possible and then I cast a Fire Bolt at the gas, we'd be rid of it... at least for a while. It wouldn't have time to reform before we finish our exploration".
The blonde arcane warrior looks at the others: "What do you say? Shall we go back and then light the fireworks?"
Elias listens and considers, Khessa's right, what experience have I in stuff like this. I can ask Cleo to make her way down the passage if you all would like. She can give us an idea of what's around the bend. If we do then I'd like to move back around the corner just in case someone is there and decides to ignite the gases. Or we can all pull back and just blow it.
Mistynip looks to Elias, would the gases be harmful to Cleo? It might be a good idea to ask her to scout a head. She looks around and inspects one of the wooden support pillars nearby, tapping it with her mace as splinters of wood fall from it, I'm not sure these supports could survive a blast. We could see what Cleo sees, then back track and explore the other passage before deciding a course of action for this section.
“Big boom would be fun but only if it is not too big of a boom. How far does the smell go? I have seen sparks grow into wildfires too easily.” Rosebud shakes her head at that memory from when she was a child then resumes. “But a big boom would be fun! The owners might need me to rebuild and replant. I could get rid of those bushes that aren’t flowering and add some beautiful vegetation that would attract scores of butterflies and birds.” She starts listing off names of various creatures in various languages, occasionally squawking and making flapping motions. With the occasional “BOOM” thrown in.
“Okay” Khessa recaps. “Let’s send Cleo out to explore, if she feels up to it. If she sees danger or feels she can’t stand the gas, she can turn back. But if she manages to complete the exploration of the area, at least we’ll know how big it is, if there are other exits… and we’ll decide whether or not it’s worth setting off fireworks”.
(Moving on!)
CLEO flies on ahead. ELIAS will look through CLEO's blind sight. There are six corpses under the water in the larger room. KHESSASH's ARMY of DARKNESS was previously near a couple of them. Around the first corner, you can see that the area continues on with stairs rising out of the waters to the east.
MISTYNIP correctly discerns the likelihood that igniting the gas may cause the supports to fail.
(Larger scale map updated with tokens for the location of the corpses. Both maps updated.)
the bat returns and settles on Elias's hat, Elias will relay everything to the party.