The Long Road - Game Thread

Hildigrim is going to cast detect magic this round and move as far as he can further into the hallway unless his spell detects something on the front end of the hallway.

Hildigrim moves to the east and goes south. This part of the hallway goes 20' back to the west and ends. The hallway with the rest of the party, and this southern part, form a horseshoe shape.   ⊃   There is a 5' opening on the south side, near the west wall. It also has a grate of bars that slid shut to prevent passage.

Drusk follows Hildigrim. He will move to the bars and try an Athletics check to pull back the bars covering the exit, unless Jorin does the same thing. (In that case, Drusk will use the Help action for Jorin's Athletics check.)

Jorin looks at Drusk and then at the grooves in the ceiling. "I have two ideas, " he says quickly, "We jam something in the track to block the machine from coming back at us or, we pry those bars apart."

Here is an athletics check if we decide to do the bars:

Quillary stands up, her spider body sloughing off into black motes and gray dust. She moves quickly to the bars, how wide are the gaps? (In case the boys can't pry them apart.)

Drusk starts pulling at the bars, so Jorin joins in. At first, they don't have any success (first Jorin Athletics roll 14), but then they both pull on the same bar and succeed in bending it (second Jorin Athletics roll 28). They bend the bar next to it in the other direction, creating a gap that can be squeezed through.

Quillary was mulling which animal form would be best to get through the prison-door-type bars (and look for an opening lever on the other side), but then shrugs when the opening is made.

With most of your movement used to get to the gate, there is a bit of a traffic jam. One person can get through the gate this round, if they Dash with their Action (or for Hildigrim, his bonus action). For everyone else, there will be one more round of attacks from the attack-pillar before the four of you get through the bar gate.

Hildigrim makes a beeline for the opening.

Quote from DirtyDogP >>

Hildigrim makes a beeline for the opening.

(If Quillary and/or Pascal also make a beeline, then do a roll-off to determine who gets there first.)

Hildigrim's halfling nimbleness means he can travel through their spaces without impeding his movement.

Quillary will take her lumps with the mechanism, allowing others to get through the bars first. But she will study it as it comes and see if she can't get through with less harm.

She will take the Dodge Action.

Quote from DirtyDogP >>

Hildigrim's halfling nimbleness means he can travel through their spaces without impeding his movement.

(OOC: I didn't state what I had in mind clearly... Anyone going through the bars will end their movement just on the other side. That prevents anyone else from going through. Can't end a turn on the same space as someone else.

Next round that won't be a problem, because everyone will have their Action (to squeeze through as a Dash), and then their movement to get away from that square.

You just have to convince Pascal to not contest Hildigrim going through first. He has more HP, but has also taken more damage.)

Jorin is happy to take another bashing from the machine so that someone else can get through the gap safely and will set himself up to doge the whirling armaments.

Pascal takes a moment to decide what he wants to do. That hesitation is more than enough for the quick-witted halfling to quickly get to the gate, and squeeze through the gap in the bars. Seeing that Hildigrim had some trouble getting through, Jorin and Drusk work on widening the gap (so the taller party members will fit through).

The attack pillar comes around the corner from the north-east, weapons whirling. (Quillary and Pascal are Dodging. Drusk and Jorin used their action on bending the bars.)

• Drusk - Attack: 23 Damage: 4  (miss)
• Jorin - Attack: 9 Damage: 7  (miss)
• Pascal - Attack: 15 Damage: 8  (hit)
• Quillary - Attack: 13 Damage: 3  (hit)

After the weapon goes by, it slides to the western wall, and teleports away. The party uses this pause to get past the gate, to the safety of the next room.

The previous trap stops operating, since the party is out of its active zone. The gate of bars across the hallway opening starts to slide open, but gets jammed due to the bent bars.

 The hallway goes 20' to the south. There is a 10' wide opening on the west side at the end of the hallway. You can't see much from this angle, but that area is different than this hallway. (The wall in that other area is rougher, like it is still under construction.)

As the party takes a step toward that exit, Hildigrim holds them back, and taps 2 fingers on his temple (next to his eyes). His Detect Magic spell, which did not help in that last trap, has uncovered a fire trap rune on the ground blocking the exit. Pascal takes a moment to look at the rune, as his "fire giant soul" nature makes him a bit curious what it looks like.

(OOC: Hildigrim can try an Arcana check to disable the rune. Failure will set off the rune.

• The rest of the party is staying 20' back, I am assuming.
• Pascal can use the Help action for the disarm attempt, but that will require him being next to Hildigrim. He would also take damage if the attempt fails.
• You can have Drusk try casting Dispel Magic instead, but that has a lower chance of success, and I will be concealing if that works or not. If he does not do that, he will use Guidance to add 1d4 to Hildigrim's disarm attempt.)

DANGIT, sorry, yes. Pascal helps Hildi.

Drusk hands Pascal one of the two potions of healing (2d4+2), since Pascal has taken 13 damage in the last room.

Hildigrim gets to make an Arcana check with advantage, and add 1d4 from Guidance. (Drusk, Jorin, and Quillary take cover in the back of the room, just in case.)

Jorin takes cover and mentions that he still has one of the healing potions in case anyone took a big clobbering from the whirling machine.

Quillary takes cover, too. "Just a scratch, I am fine," she says, waving off the potion. "Whoever set this gauntlet up must have a simpler way in and out. We should have found that door."

Hildigrim wills Volo to flutter over the others standing a safe distance away as he analyzes the rune with Pascal's help.

18

Hildigrim starts to act, but Pascal catches hold of his elbow and points out something the halfling had overlooked. "Hainard's hairy toes," Hildigrim says, smiling up at the red-scaled sorcerer, "that could have been very messy."

While Pascal hasn't studied Arcana, he does know quite a bit about fire. Between Hildigrim and Pascal, they are able to scratch out the key parts of the rune without setting it off. The party is able to exit this room safely.

The next room is an uneven 25' x 15' in size. You can tell that stone work is needed to shape it into a more normal rectangular room. There is a door on the north wall.

The door opens. Leaning into the room is a Grimlock: a deep underground caveman subservient to the mind flayers. This one is clad in splint armor and carries two swords. (It has the physical stats of a Veteran, to make it a better foe for characters of your level.) It doesn't look directly at the party; instead, it sniffs the air and listens. It points at the five members of the party, one at a time (blindsense), and then waves its hand in a gesture that you should follow it north.

(OOC: Do you follow? Take any prep action, or chug a healing potion while walking?)

Pascal leans a little, much like one would do to avoid being seen by a T-Rex, speaking out of the corner of his snout, “Should... should we follow him?”

He then chugs nervously, 7 heal

“At this point we are seeking an audience, no?” Quillary will cross the room to follow the creature.