The stagnate water is shallow, giving no trouble to cross. Jambiya, you can see that the new tunnel is another 20 or so feet and then it opens up in what might be a room of some sort. Since the light is behind you, you can only see in shades of gray, but there's some sort of hill or pile in the room ahead.
Jambiya, contrary to popular opinion, has no interest in exploring the mysterious mound on her own, and holds position on the wall of the tunnel. Also, she wants to hear what Erric was suggesting. (But no, she doesn't want to turn invisible.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Erric repeats his suggestion when he gets closer to her, trying to hold the torch steady. (Makes sense, and not just because the torch gives us away anyway.)
Jambiya describes what she sees in the next room. She’s getting some serious island-cave-full-of-mud vibes from this place, and it is making her cautious. “One of the bigs should go ahead,” she says. She stays on the wall, mostly to stay out of the muck (floor) and to stay out of the way of the torch (ceiling).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
(Did we come across of the other end of the pole? Or any sign that these are the path to the left behind treasure?)
Aseid kept his usual stoic expression through the smell (that was not about to end anyway) and "crampedness" of the tunnels. He only asked Erric - the torchbearer - to leave a mark on the side of the tunnel, leading back to the hatch.
Before diving into the room ahead, he called for Erric again. "Can I have the torch? Would like to see what are we dealing with here."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Assuming a full hour has not yet passed, Maldorn will follow Aseid into the room from a few feet back. This would grant both humans the benefits of pass without trace in case some lurking predator is looking for its next meal in the next room.
-> If needed, here's a stealth roll for Maldorn: 33
You have not happened upon any kind of rod sticking out of the ceiling. Perhaps in the next room?
Aseid takes the torch and, hunched, leads the group through the tunnel toward the ... whatever kind of space is ahead. As he gets closer, he can see that the "hill" is in fact that: a small overgrown hill covered in some kind of vegetation. While the floor of the space is not covered in water, it continues to feel humid ... and not smell that great, though the stagnate water the party is leaving behind was by far the worst of the smells. The dark-haired young man pauses at the opening and looks around. The chamber is taller: probably 15 so feet from floor to ceiling. It is 25 feet wide by 20 feet deep. In the center is the hill covered plants. No trees, but ground-hugging plant life. Looking around the hill, Aseid can see more vegetation hugging where the floor meets the walls. The corners, especially, are alive with plant life. Actually there's more fungus than plant life in the corners.
Coming up behind Aseid, Maldorn points at the hill in front of them and asks in a tone that evokes mistrust toward what he sees: "How does grass or moss grow underground? No sunlight reaches these parts. Something is not right here." He points at the corners next: "Fungi I can understand... but plants?"
Maldorn will pick a pebble from the ground and toss it at the grassy hill in the center of the room.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
“I don’t like it, either,” Jambiya says, from where she now crouches on the wall. She grabs her spoon and says a little prayer, then looks hard at the mound, trying to recall anything about this strangeness.
Nature, with Guidance: 5 If that fails, add 1 for Pact of the Talisman and tell me you did so I can mark one use off.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Aseid only shook his head - he did not know much about plants but was agree, that the place does not feel right. He slowly moved around the hill lighting the corners and the ceiling (Perception: 18). "Do you believe your father's treasure is under that hill, Miss Jambiya?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
You hear dripping, but mostly you hear nothing.
Maldorn, your pebble hits the hill and disappears among the various plant bits.
Jambiya, it looks like an ordinary pile of rotten vegetation, even with the help of your mother (mark one off).
Aseid, you step into the room and begin moving the torch around to try to get a better look at things, but as soon as you are fully in the room, the hill comes to life! Two limb-like masses fly out at you. (Attack: 25 Damage: 18, Attack: 23 Damage: 18) The first hits you solidly, but you are partially turned, so you spin with the hit, minimizing the damage, but the second hits you squarely in the center of your back, knocking the wind out of you and sending sharp pains down one leg.
Initiative has begun!
76
OK, that was Round 1. The hill surprised the party, so now we move on to Round 2. Erric, then Maldorn, then Jambiya, you're up! (Aseid, you're later.) You three are still in the tunnel. I'd like to do this theater of the mind if you're OK with that. If not, speak up. Just know the tunnel is cramped (5' wide x 4.5' tall), but the room isn't really that big either with the 10x10 hill in the center and the walls a bit choked with fungi.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Maldorn reprimands himself: "Next time I'll shoot an arrow instead of a pebble." Not wanting to shoot his bow while hunched over, Maldorn feels he has no choice but to enter the room. He will keep as far from the mound as he can (10ft? 15ft?)
Erric squints at the hill, and says, "I don't trust plants that grow in the dark!"and casts dissonant whispers on it for 10 psychic damage on a failed WIS15 save.
He then stands up as tall as he can and looks to his friends, saying "we can handle this!"using one bardic inspiration for Mantle of Inspiration. Everyone can use their reaction to move up to their speed and gets 8 temp hp:
As a bonus action, spend one use of Bardic Inspiration to grant 8 temporary HP to up to 4 creatures you can see and that can see you within 60 ft. Each creature can immediately use its reaction to move up to its speed, without provoking opportunity attacks.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Jambiya feels inspired by Erric and rushes out of the room, making for a distant corner of the ceiling! From there she shoots two beams of coruscating force at the mound!
Eldritch Blast!
Attack: 21 Damage: 5 Attack: 21 Damage: 8
If one of those hits, add 5 for Fury of the Small!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
I forgot to mention something important: After the second hit, Aseid was enveloped by the hill and is blinded, restrained, and suffocating. This means he is no longer visible to Erric, which means he cannot benefit from his mantle. Mobius, if you'd like to hold off on using it, I'll let you retcon the maneuver. What say you?
10
Erric whispers harmful magic at the hill and feels it touch whatever it is's mind. He then bolsters himself, Maldorn and Jambiya, giving all both extra health and a ... I need an answer from Erric before continuing.
The stagnate water is shallow, giving no trouble to cross. Jambiya, you can see that the new tunnel is another 20 or so feet and then it opens up in what might be a room of some sort. Since the light is behind you, you can only see in shades of gray, but there's some sort of hill or pile in the room ahead.
Maldorn fears their goblin companion is getting too far ahead. "Come. Let us catch up with Jambiya, lest she walks into danger without our support."
Jambiya, contrary to popular opinion, has no interest in exploring the mysterious mound on her own, and holds position on the wall of the tunnel. Also, she wants to hear what Erric was suggesting. (But no, she doesn't want to turn invisible.)
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Erric repeats his suggestion when he gets closer to her, trying to hold the torch steady. (Makes sense, and not just because the torch gives us away anyway.)
Aseid was keeping up, following Erric.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
OK, you're together at the "top" of the second smaller tunnel. What next?
Jambiya describes what she sees in the next room. She’s getting some serious island-cave-full-of-mud vibes from this place, and it is making her cautious. “One of the bigs should go ahead,” she says. She stays on the wall, mostly to stay out of the muck (floor) and to stay out of the way of the torch (ceiling).
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
(Did we come across of the other end of the pole? Or any sign that these are the path to the left behind treasure?)
Aseid kept his usual stoic expression through the smell (that was not about to end anyway) and "crampedness" of the tunnels. He only asked Erric - the torchbearer - to leave a mark on the side of the tunnel, leading back to the hatch.
Before diving into the room ahead, he called for Erric again. "Can I have the torch? Would like to see what are we dealing with here."
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Assuming a full hour has not yet passed, Maldorn will follow Aseid into the room from a few feet back. This would grant both humans the benefits of pass without trace in case some lurking predator is looking for its next meal in the next room.
-> If needed, here's a stealth roll for Maldorn: 33
You have not happened upon any kind of rod sticking out of the ceiling. Perhaps in the next room?
Aseid takes the torch and, hunched, leads the group through the tunnel toward the ... whatever kind of space is ahead. As he gets closer, he can see that the "hill" is in fact that: a small overgrown hill covered in some kind of vegetation. While the floor of the space is not covered in water, it continues to feel humid ... and not smell that great, though the stagnate water the party is leaving behind was by far the worst of the smells. The dark-haired young man pauses at the opening and looks around. The chamber is taller: probably 15 so feet from floor to ceiling. It is 25 feet wide by 20 feet deep. In the center is the hill covered plants. No trees, but ground-hugging plant life. Looking around the hill, Aseid can see more vegetation hugging where the floor meets the walls. The corners, especially, are alive with plant life. Actually there's more fungus than plant life in the corners.
We’re hearing nothing, right?
Coming up behind Aseid, Maldorn points at the hill in front of them and asks in a tone that evokes mistrust toward what he sees: "How does grass or moss grow underground? No sunlight reaches these parts. Something is not right here." He points at the corners next: "Fungi I can understand... but plants?"
Maldorn will pick a pebble from the ground and toss it at the grassy hill in the center of the room.
“I don’t like it, either,” Jambiya says, from where she now crouches on the wall. She grabs her spoon and says a little prayer, then looks hard at the mound, trying to recall anything about this strangeness.
Nature, with Guidance: 5
If that fails, add 1 for Pact of the Talisman and tell me you did so I can mark one use off.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Aseid only shook his head - he did not know much about plants but was agree, that the place does not feel right. He slowly moved around the hill lighting the corners and the ceiling (Perception: 18). "Do you believe your father's treasure is under that hill, Miss Jambiya?"
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
You hear dripping, but mostly you hear nothing.
Maldorn, your pebble hits the hill and disappears among the various plant bits.
Jambiya, it looks like an ordinary pile of rotten vegetation, even with the help of your mother (mark one off).
Aseid, you step into the room and begin moving the torch around to try to get a better look at things, but as soon as you are fully in the room, the hill comes to life! Two limb-like masses fly out at you. (Attack: 25 Damage: 18, Attack: 23 Damage: 18) The first hits you solidly, but you are partially turned, so you spin with the hit, minimizing the damage, but the second hits you squarely in the center of your back, knocking the wind out of you and sending sharp pains down one leg.
Initiative has begun!
76
OK, that was Round 1. The hill surprised the party, so now we move on to Round 2. Erric, then Maldorn, then Jambiya, you're up! (Aseid, you're later.) You three are still in the tunnel. I'd like to do this theater of the mind if you're OK with that. If not, speak up. Just know the tunnel is cramped (5' wide x 4.5' tall), but the room isn't really that big either with the 10x10 hill in the center and the walls a bit choked with fungi.
Maldorn reprimands himself: "Next time I'll shoot an arrow instead of a pebble." Not wanting to shoot his bow while hunched over, Maldorn feels he has no choice but to enter the room. He will keep as far from the mound as he can (10ft? 15ft?)
-> Longbow + Favored Foe: Attack: 17 Damage: 13
-> Longbow : Attack: 17 Damage: 9
-> Arrows shot: 2
Erric squints at the hill, and says, "I don't trust plants that grow in the dark!" and casts dissonant whispers on it for 10 psychic damage on a failed WIS15 save.
He then stands up as tall as he can and looks to his friends, saying "we can handle this!" using one bardic inspiration for Mantle of Inspiration. Everyone can use their reaction to move up to their speed and gets 8 temp hp:
As a bonus action, spend one use of Bardic Inspiration to grant 8 temporary HP to up to 4 creatures you can see and that can see you within 60 ft. Each creature can immediately use its reaction to move up to its speed, without provoking opportunity attacks.
He resolves to learn some summoning spells soon.
Jambiya feels inspired by Erric and rushes out of the room, making for a distant corner of the ceiling! From there she shoots two beams of coruscating force at the mound!
Eldritch Blast!
Attack: 21 Damage: 5
Attack: 21 Damage: 8
If one of those hits, add 5 for Fury of the Small!
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Maldorn uses his reaction to keep moving around and far way from the creature.
I forgot to mention something important: After the second hit, Aseid was enveloped by the hill and is blinded, restrained, and suffocating. This means he is no longer visible to Erric, which means he cannot benefit from his mantle. Mobius, if you'd like to hold off on using it, I'll let you retcon the maneuver. What say you?
10
Erric whispers harmful magic at the hill and feels it touch whatever it is's mind. He then bolsters himself, Maldorn and Jambiya, giving all both extra health and a ... I need an answer from Erric before continuing.