Above & Below

As you try to regain your balance, you step on another metal spike sticking upward. Falling to the earthen floor, you attempt to dodge as many as you can but a few pierce your hands and legs, delivering 15 damage.

Slowly getting up and steadying yourself, you kick aside the remaining caltrops to clear the path. Up ahead you see the tunnel curves upward. The light coming through seems to be coming through the cracks of a circular, wooden door in the ground or floor.

"Effort!  Are you alright?" Kurama asked as he gingerly moved around the scattered caltrops; he hadn't noticed them either before Effort's unfortunate fall...  

Then seeing the light up ahead, Kurama moved ahead towards the opening and attempted to look through the cracks to see what might lay beyond.

Give me a perception check.

Kurama Perception: 21

You look through the thin slits in the wood, tiny bits of dampened light shining through. The tunnel angles upward here, and you can see the roof corners of two buildings. They're close together, and you don't see any movement or hear anything in the immediate vicinity. Not too far off in the distance, though, you can hear the sound of waves crashing. The hum of a crowd drifts by as well, and you hear a few people shouting above the rest.

"I'm annoyed now," Effort grits out, getting to her feet, a look of fury on her face.  "But forget about that.  We must stop that fool before he warns the others!"

With a twist of her bloody hand, Cadmael is summoned back into her pocket plane, and she briefly nudges Kurama aside to peer through the crack.  Spotting open sky, she opens her hand, and Cadmael bursts out on the other side.

Find him, she growls in her mind to the owl.  He will pay.

Sharing in her awareness and ire, Cadmael complies, rising into the sky and wheeling around to look at their surroundings and for their target.

Cadmael perception: 13

Cadmael lifts above the buildings, immediately revealing how close you are to the docks. The wooden entrance seems to have been built in a narrow alleyway between two buildings. A toppled stack of crates lie nearby. A block away the typical homes give way to a wider street and then an expansive wooden dock with people milling about, carrying things to and fro, and shouting things to one another. 

The leader isn't in plain sight, but Cadmael doesn't take long to find the ship of the Dark Forest. In the distance there are some fancier looking ships, but on this side the Dark Forest's is by far the biggest. A huge mast holds a black sail with their sigil, and men run across the deck untying ropes.

Brask follows along, keeping an eye on their two mercenaries, and keeping them entertained so they don't lose interest in the job before they're needed.  He'll tell them of the biggest monsters he's killed, and let them talk as well occasionally.

I think they were left back at the headquarters watching over your prisoners in case anyone came looking...

Then Brask talks to Pip and mostly to himself. :)  Though now if we're at the docks and considering attacking the ship, we should go back for them.  Are we considering that?

(Mobile)

(I don't believe we've exited the tunnel yet.)

"Did Cadamel find the man?"  Kurama asked Effort.  "If not, I suspect he's headed towards their ship which would make our task much more difficult."

"There's no sign of him yet.  Let's continue to the exit and see if we can find any sign of him before we turn back.  We can now use this tunnel as our own shortcut and lay our own traps, if we need to make a speedy exit," Effort says.

"If they're untying ropes, they might be setting off now," Pip chimes in. He looks around at you all, wondering what the next move will be.

"We have played our hand.  At this point, we must continue to follow through until we succeed or the situation becomes much too dangerous." Kurama replied.  If there are no objections, he'd make his way back outside and begin quickly moving towards the ship.

(Is everyone in good enough shape for another fight?  Kurama's used a few ki points but is otherwise unharmed.  Also @DM, how long has it been since we broke into the warehouse?  Kurama's abilities usually last for 10mins) 

It's been a little longer than that, sorry! 

Brask is in good shape, and always eager for a fight.

(Too the boat then!)

Just charging straight for it? Trying to be somewhat sneaky? 

I think we should investigate and get the lay of the land before just charging in.  So we would move resolutely (confidently?) towards the general area, and then do some scouting with bird and goblin, and see what our options are.

You approach the docks, with voices and the bustle of a working dock filling the air around you. Cadmael keeps on eye on things from above, and the Dark Forest ship continues to operate full steam ahead. The leader is nowhere to be found, but men run in and out of doors on the top deck. It seems as though they've untied most of the deck ropes, and you see two main start to hoist up sails. 

Elsewhere on the docks, there are a lot of unremarkable crates and wheelbarrows being transported around. People carry large baskets filled with fish and other marine life. A small thatched stand sits on one corner of the dock near the big ship. An older woman sits behind it, waiting to sell the catch of the day.