Rhanloi's Romp Through the Sword Coast

"How many of them do you think are down there?"  Wakka asked the others at the mouth of the cave.  "If we're seriously outnumbered or it might be some kind of trap, maybe it would be best to circle back here after we've dealt with the dragon.  Nobody contracted us to deal with Wererats in a mine and they don't seem to be going anywhere either."  

Penumbra advances to the cave entrance making sure to stay under cover.

"They might have prisoners, if we leave now they might not survive." She whispers in response to Wakka.

Penumbra makes no more aggressive moves in case someone wants to try diplomacy.

Wakka pondered quickly to himself before responding, "If we're going to go in there, I think it'd actually be best to charge in now before they can better prepare for us.  The longer we wait, the worst our odds of succeeding are going to be."  

'I agree...' says Manfred 'I'll look ahead while I'm invisible. Come running if you hear me screaming!'

Manfred heads into the cave. (Perception - 12, Stealth - 14)

(Perception blue: 13) 

Manfred sneaks in to the mine while still invisible, hoping the wererats' keen senses don't detect him. He sneaks in about 15" to find the passage turns east and opens into a roughly 20' by 20' cavern, with a couple of lanterns hanging from ceiling hooks to provide dim light. There are two doors made of wood with iron hinges and handles to the east and south. The two wererats are also here, sniffing the air and looking in Manfred's general direction! Although he is invisible, the wererat's noses are very sensitive and they both shoot their hand crossbows in his direction.

Blue Attack: 8 Damage: 3
Red Attack: 10 Damage: 7

(Perception red: 22 <-- added afterwards to see if both creatures detected you or only one.)

Like Toucan Sam, these wererats can really follow their noses! Both score hits with their weapons and move to block the two doors...

New Round! Manfred; Perkas; Wakka; Penumbra; Wererats

(Con ST: 4)
Manfred screeches in both pain and surprise as both the rodents manage to hit him, and pops into visibility as a result. ‘Help!’ he screams, before recovering his comportment.

Seeing where the wererats have shot from he quickly hurls a flaming chromatic orb at the right-hand rat... (Critical hit - 26, 31 fire damage)

As Perkas nods to the group in agreement, she switches her swords out for Lil' Bess and listens for Manfreds' scream or the sounds of attack happening.

When she hears Manfreds cry for help she bounds into action (will move piece when I get to my computer) Lil bess at the ready and fires off 2 shots at the closest rat. (Attck 1: Hit 28 / damage 14.   Attack 2: Hit 30 / damage 9)

New Round! Manfred (-9); Perkas; Wakka; Penumbra; Wererat (-23)

Manfred's startled spell drops one of the wererats to the ground, writhing in pain as the fiery spell slowly consumes the hapless creature. The smell of burnt hair and flesh permeates the cavern as Perkas rushes in, nearly gagging her! But she make a pair of well-aimed shots with her magical crossbow at the other wererat, severely wounding but not killing it.

Throwing caution to the wind Penumbra charges into the cave. As soon as she gets a clear shot she hurls another fire bolt.

Attack: 21 Damage: 17

Penumbra's bolt of fire finishes off the 2nd wererat, bringing this encounter to a quick, and smokin' hot, finish! The wererats each carry a shortsword and a hand crossbow , with 9 bolts in a small waist pouch. Together, they have 14 pieces of silver.

The cavern is 8 feet high and braced at regular intervals by wooden pilasters and beams - typical for a mine. Oil lanterns hang from ceiling hooks. There are two doors made of wood with iron hinges and handles to the east and south. They are fitted with large iron key holes. 

Manfred mutters a Healing Word, closing the wounds from the crossbow bolts, but not fully healing the damage.

‘Okay, lesson learned! I’ll let you scout ahead from now on, Penumbra!’ he says, somewhat abashed...‘You’re much, much better at the tippy-toe stuff than I am...’ (Penumbra takes Bardic Inspiration - add 1d8 to any one ability check, attack or saving throw in the next 10mins)

"Are you alright Manfred?" Wakka asked as he caught up to the others before noticing the charred remains of the wererats.  "It seems I wasn't needed then."  He added as he sheathed his sword and moved closer to the two doors up ahead.  "Any of them happen to have a key?  Otherwise we might need to pick the locks." 

(Are either of the doors unlocked?  If either/ both are, he'll quietly open them and see what's on the other side)

(Neither door is locked...please specify which door!)

(1 = Right, 2 = Left) 2

(Left it is!)

Wakka opens the door to the east and peers through. More tunnels! The passage splits after about 5 feet, with a tunnel headed north and the other continuing east for about 20 feet before turning south and ending in a door. The north fork goes about 25 feet before coming to a "T" intersection heading east-west. (Map updated)

Perhaps checks the ground of the current chamber to see if one of the doors has more tracks in and out of it. (Survival 17)

"No matter which way we are headed one of you stealthier folks should take point."

Although the tunnels are hewn from rock that has thin veins of gold ore running through it, a small amount of dust and debris is on the ground. Perkas determines there is more traffic going through the east door (the one Wakka just opened).

Penumbra sneaks forward to the T intersection, searching for traps as she goes, and takes a look down the hall.

Stealth: 20

Perception: 27

Damn she's quiet, Wakka thought to himself as he barely noticed Penumbra sneak off.  Choosing the opposite door/ direction to her,  Wakka sneaked a bit forward himself to see what might lay ahead before sharing what he learned with the others.  

• Stealth: (22)
• Perception: (9)

(@Zoldier - I'm not sure which way you want to go...please look at the map and tell me which path you took.)

Penumbra moves like a shadow through the mine shafts, barely moving the dust on the ground! Moving to the T intersection and then to the west, she discovers a 15'x15' cavern with a dozen crates of dry foodstuffs and nine casks of drinking water stacked in the middle. There are no traps, but she does see many footprints leading to and from this cave and in the other passages.

Backtracking, she goes east from the T intersection and finds another split in the tunnels! The tunnels go roughly eastwards and north. To the north is a 15' wide by 20' long empty cave - with a single wooden door in the northern part of the east wall. The passage to the east takes a slight turn to the south before curving back around to the north and blocking her sight. (Assuming the rest of the group follows at a distance?)

(Map! I've labeled the potential paths to take to aid in telling me where you go!)