Seldom Spring

“Oh, that’s a good point, Maldorn,” Jambiya says. “If it lives in the dark, it can surely see in the dark. But I can’t see too far, maybe if we get far enough away and hide, and then I can light it up with my lights, we can shoot it without it seeing us?”

OOC > So, if we can see it lit up, but we are more than 60’ away in the dark, it couldn’t see us, right? That might be good for a round or two of surprise? Until it decides to charge one of us or something. :)

Looking around, Jambiya and Ebokk estimate the chamber to be about 30–35 wide and 30 feet deep. The party is standing in the center at the southern end. The doorway to the tunnel to where the chief slept is a little north of the center on the left wall. The back five feet by 25 feet is the raised area, which is about two feet higher than the rest of the floor. The hole Thrakk says you'll be climbing down is immediately to the right of the raised area. Upon the raised area is the crude chair, which is little more than a pile of rocks. With a lot of imagination, you might could call it a throne. From where you are to the tunnel on the left is about 30 feet away. The left opening is right at the edge of the raised area, so if you were to put something on the other side of the opening, it would be up on the raised area. There are not any pillars or stalagmites or big rocks to hide behind. The walls are uneven, and if you're really stealthy, a couple of you might be able to hide on the left side, but probably only Erric and Jambiya, and only if their stealth rolls continue to be high.

So there's really no place an ogre would be hiding anywhere we've been? And we haven't heard snoring? So maybe that third tunnel in the first room (the one that wasn't the cook tunnel or the tunnel to this chamber)?

OOC > As I understand it, from the throne room there's the way we came in, behind us, down a long tunnel, there's the hole in the ground on the right side of the room as we entered, up against the raised area with the throne, and there's a hole in the wall on the left side that goes... we don't know where. Do I have that right, DDP? If I do, that means the ogre could very well be down that unexplored left opening in this, the throne room. Our plan, s we were formulating it, was to lure him out, if he is indeed in there, with distant lights, while we all hid. Given the room is a lot smaller than his likely 60' darkvision, we cannot count on distance, and would actually have to Hide with a Stealth roll, which DDP says would only be practical for the Small among us, and even then would require high rolls.

So, if I have that all correct, we still need to make sure this left opening in the throne room does not contain a dangerous ogre before we decide to either go down the hole or go back to the entry room to explore further. Right? To that end...

Jambiya looks about the room. "Not much room for us to get out of the way of an angry ogre, or much room to hide. Do we want to try to sneak by and go down the hole? Not that we're much for sneaking... if we're going to try to kill it we should think of a better plan than to scatter about the room and make it come to each of us to pulverize us." She says this brightly, like she means it as a joke, but the danger is very real for her, you can tell.

Jambiya has it.

Maldorn brainstorms: "I have a hunting trap we could use to restrain some of the ogre's movements, but I'm sure the creature is strong enough to quickly break it after being caught..."

"Every moment would count," Jambiya says, nodding, though Maldorn can't see her do that.

“Well, alright. One of you who can see in the dark will need to set the hunting trap just outside the hole on the wall we think the ogre is coming out of. Perhaps cover it with some bones or some of its filth so it is not obvious.”

Erric asks if trying an illusion might work - he’s curious what ogres might find interesting or enticing or alarming...

Not that Erric can see it, but the orc looks exasperated by the bard's question at first, but then he appears to think of something. "Ogres love to eat."

Erric offers to try an illusion of a large ox just behind the bear trap to make any ogre walk through the trap to get the ox.

"Don't you need to see where you are putting this illusion, Erric? Also, do we have a volunteer for setting up the trap? I can do it, but not without my eyes. A bit of light here would help both Erric and I, but it might also defeat the point of the surprise if the enemy notices the light..."

"I can make lights now, my mother showed me how," Jambiya whispers, popping one tiny light into being, shedding dim light in a small, 10' radius. "Is that enough? I'm worried about how we attach the bear trap to the ground. Do we have to hammer something into the rock?"

“I have the tools to hammer it into the ground, but that’s going to make some noise too. Is there anything your magic can do about that?”

In the dim light, Jambiya just shakes her head, no. 

Erric says, “I can make another sound to mask it but I can’t silence anything. I could also make the ogre, when I see it, think it’s seeing and hearing and feeling something else. But that’s once we’re in it.”

"In that case, perhaps I could just try to set it as quickly as I can and not worry about the sounds of the setting up process. The sounds should attract the monster's curiosity. I could quietly make my way to the mouth of the relevant tunnel with the help of Jambiya's light. I figure I need about six seconds to set the trap once I'm in place. I can then run back here and join in the surprise attack. You guys should cover me and hope that it cannot reach me in less than six seconds. It's risky, but could work. Unless Jack can set up traps, of course."

(Jack can do some fairly involved, if simple, tasks. DM would we say Jack could bang a piton/pin into a crack in the stone with a hammer? He can do dishes, fold laundry, carry things, clean up, etc.)

Anafrey would stand in the darkness with her hand on her mace.... sqeezing the handle tightly. Under her breath she sound grumble. "Come on you dumb dwarf... I know you're in there.. .you don't need eyes to see... help me navigate down here.."

Erric, while Jack could carry the trap and/or the hammer, there's no way he's strong enough to drive a spike into the ground with the hammer. If the ground/grout/gravel is soft enough for him to do that, it could be ripped out with ease by a creature with normal strength.

According to dndbeyond, it only takes an action to set a hunting trap, so Maldorn's right.

Anafrey, you aren't sure, but you might hear the distant sound of laughter.

Psst, Erric: https://www.enworld.org/threads/minor-illusion-question.441747/