"Brask! It's obviously one of the dwarves from the village." She turns on the dwarf. "You should still give him your name, though. He can be a bit tetchy when someone messes with his hair. While you're at it, tell me why you attacked my owl, won't you?"
She resummons Cadmael, who circles around her head once before settling on her horn, to Effort's ire, rather than majestically on her shoulder.
Great, I made him angry,she thinks with a little inner sigh as she eyes the owl.
The dwarf doesn't flinch, but gives a half-smirk as Effort and Burik catch up. The dwarf noticeably turns from aggressive to relieved. He lets out a breathy grunt. "Name's Thurnar. Thurnar Birchstone.You all had me worried," he starts. "Grabbed that owl because I didn't know who the hell was down in these tunnels with me. Lots of nasty things down here, especially as you get deeper. Just being cautious. But as I was dropping down on your hairy friend here, I felt the presence of another talhund."
He turns to Burik. "Took ye long enough to get here!" He laughs heartily and claps Burik on the shoulder. "I've been a bit undermanned these past few weeks."
"Aye, good to see a friendly face down here, and with a strong arm too." Burik eyes up his armour, "Fancy armour you got there and all, but is it any help against what lies beyond?" But his eyes keep being drawn back to the emerald on the helm.
"Har!" Thurnar laughs, patting Burik on the shoulder. His spirits are surprisingly upbeat for someone who has been in a tunnel for weeks, alone, but the dark circles under his eyes tell a different story. "It's serving me well right now. But you're right, Darkmine. There are foes that care not what shiny plate you have on."
Brask, as you peer down the tunnel, just at the edge of your vision, you see something strange. The tunnel wall looks like it...wobbles? You realize after a second time it's not the wall itself, but the space just in front of the wall. There's something distorted about the air - its become visible yet somehow still transparent, moving back-and-forth in little waves.
Thurnar notices you peering down questioningly. "Good eye, hairball." Thurnar walks past you toward the darkness. "C'mon. Lots to catch you all up on."
He leads you down the tunnel with his torch held out in front of him. It only takes a minute or two to get to the point Brask was observing. You all see it now. Some disturbance in the middle of the tunnel. The space there moves as if it were liquid. On the other side, you find more cave fisher carapaces, along with a bedroll and some of Thurnar's equipment piled up. The remains of a fire have been smothered, and there are dark spots all along the ground.
"Surely you've felt the darkness, Burik." Thurnar crouches down next to the disturbance, holding out a hand and thoughtfully moving it along the pulsing waves. "Well, it's finally ripped through. This is some kind of entrance point to our world. Unfortunately...or fortunately, maybe...we can't use it. I've tried walking through, using magic, and nothing seems to work. But they can come through. It's mostly been one at a time. Once a day, maybe twice. One of them comes through, and I kill it, and I sense the energy around the opening lessening. Then it builds up again, slowly, and another one comes through. I kill it. Another one comes. You get the idea. Well, it's been about three days since the last one came through, and this is the biggest and darkest it has been. I haven't yet seen it pulse the way it is now, and I fear there are going to be more coming through very soon."
He goes over to his makeshift camp, and picks up a piece of cave fisher shell. He tears out a chunk of flesh that was left clinging to the inside. "While we're waiting...anyone hungry?"
"Well... I may question your taste, but I certainly won't turn down a short rest and a meal," Effort says to Thurnar graciously, seating herself by his fire and restarting it with a blast of thaumaturgy. "So long as that is cooked, of course."
While she waits to reap the fruits of Thurnar's questionable cooking choices, she tries to feel the disturbance in the air... how soon might it be, before the next terror passes through this tunnel, she wonders?
He lays a few pieces of the meat around the fire to crisp them up. "These things aren't like anything you've seen," he sits down on a large rock and leans against the tunnel wall. "They almost look human...but everything is drained. Their blood, their souls, their humanity."
Effort, you try to focus on this strange disturbance in reality, but everything seems muddled. And you get the sense that there's someone, or something, that is purposefully making things foggy for you.
Thurnar pulls something out of his pack, and you hear the pouring of liquid. He turns back around and takes a swig from a cup. He extends his hand, offering it you. "AH! Good stuff. Only have one cup, so we'll have to share." The cup holds a dark red and rather viscous substance.
Yes,says Brask automatically as soon as he's asked if he's hungry. And feed these two as well, they barely eat anything. We gotta keep our strength up, to kill... whatever these things are. He adds a few more pieces of meat to what the dwarf was planning to cook. I have a big appetite. And call me hairball again and I'll split your skull in two. He sits down opposite the dwarf and grins at him. So, you got a plan to stop these things? Other than just smacking 'em down, one a day?
"Unfortunately this goes far deeper than the few who come through this way," he picks up a piece of the meat and tears into it. After chewing for a moment, he continues. "It's the runny nose of a dangerous virus that nobody realizes they have yet. There are evils converging on this world. We don't even know about them all yet, but we know about this one. Something from the dark reflection of Oshait is pushing its way through. It wants something that's here. I suspect the other talhunds know more by now...but they're far north of here, up in the old ruins of Whiteguard. That's where they were called to. Me? I was called back home, to wait for the final talhund to make his appearance." He grins toward Burik.
Something wicked this way comes, Effort thinks to herself. Cadmael ruffles his feathers loudly as she thinks this, and she shoots the owl a glance, but doesn't dwell on the source of her power... or her familiar.
"Whatever is causing the disturbance here is very aware of us... and actively working to block every attempt I have made to scry into its nature." As the cup is passed to her, Effort takes a cursory sniff, before shaking her head slightly and passing it on to Brask. "If the force at work here will not reveal itself to us, then we need to force it to appear... or retreat. By finding what it wants first, and taking it for ourselves."
She looks at Thurnar and Burik. "You two are talhunds, yes? Would you be able to work together to somehow get a feel for where this dark power is directing its attention? Besides at us, I mean."
If there is enough time during this rest period, Effort will use some of it to ritually cast Comprehend Languages again, along the same reasoning.
Heh. Yeah, let's piss off the ancient evil,says Brask. We'llget up in this thing's face, take its favourite toy or whatever, and then kick its ass and get paid. That's the plan right? He looks at the others hopefully. It's kind of always my plan.
"This evil doesn't need our help in getting pissed off," Thurnar takes the cup back from Brask and takes a deep swig. "And retreating isn't an option...at least not for me, or for Burik. These things are taking people. And if we leave, they're going to come through anyway and slowly wipe out our village. As for what they're after...well, the other talhunds probably know more than I do at this point...but there are competing forces at play. Evil versus evil, and our little home is their battleground. The folks of this world are just disposable game pieces to them. But we aren't going to lie down that easily."
As you're standing there listening to Thurnar, you hear something. It sounds incredibly close, but at the same time off in the distance. A low growl - no actual words, but there is an intention behind it that you can feel in your bones. The tear in space pulses noticeably as it distorts your view looking through it. Thurnar stands up, handing off the cup to Brask. He calmly walks over to his camp. He grabs onto a handle and slowly pulls out an enormous war hammer. It too is ornately designed, with green runes etched into the sides.
"Won't be long now," he states plainly. "Take your final sips of cave fisher blood for awhile."
Effort reaches over and touches Cadmael briefly on the head, granting her own guidance. Take to the air and hide yourself, little one,she instructs him. I will call upon you if you are needed.
Cadmael clicks his beak once and does as instructed.
Cadmael stealth: 15 + Guidance: 1
Effort decides to follow suit, for what it is worth. She passes between all three men, repeatedly casting guidance upon each of them to assist in whatever they might be facing, before doing the same for herself, and attempting to slip into the shadows nearby.
Burik will not attempt to hide, instead muttering some words that twist and echo with magic. (holding action to cast protection from evil and good ) He'll stand fast a little ways away from the portal thing (approx 20ft or something)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Stealth check to get a surprise round is DC15 so whatever he rolls on guidance Brask will get it .
Thurnar stealth: 9+2
You take your positions, hiding as best you can amongst the rocks and rubble of the tunnel. A few minutes pass by, and you hear the noises again, but nothing comes through. Another few minutes pass by, and another few. It feels like an hour has gone by when the growl grows noticeably louder. And there's more than one. Again, they're both right next to you and a reality away. The rip in reality shakes again, and a thunderous crack echos throughout the tunnel as six horrifying ghouls step onto the ground. They all appear at once. Almost frighteningly human in appearance, but with gray skin and long, sinewy limbs. They have pale blue eyes and monstrously long fingers and toes, tipped with black claws. As they start to turn around and survey the tunnel in all directions, a few of them notice Thurnar and step toward him, bearing their sharp teeth. You all move into action.
Roll initiative. Everyone with a 15+ on their stealth will get a surprise round. Burik, you can still roll for stealth with Effort's guidance.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
(Again not hiding but casting/releasing the spell as they appear which will give them disadvantage on attacks against me if they're of a certain type)
Initiative 6
The whispers and mutterings suddenly stop as a dark shimmering field surrounds Burik. He looks ahead with a steely gaze, daring the creatures to attack.
(Aberrations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, Fiends, and Undead have disadvantage on attack rolls against me btw)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Brask walks over and swings his maul so that it's one inch from the dwarf's face, but doesn't connect.
Name. Now.
"Brask! It's obviously one of the dwarves from the village." She turns on the dwarf. "You should still give him your name, though. He can be a bit tetchy when someone messes with his hair. While you're at it, tell me why you attacked my owl, won't you?"
She resummons Cadmael, who circles around her head once before settling on her horn, to Effort's ire, rather than majestically on her shoulder.
Great, I made him angry, she thinks with a little inner sigh as she eyes the owl.
The dwarf doesn't flinch, but gives a half-smirk as Effort and Burik catch up. The dwarf noticeably turns from aggressive to relieved. He lets out a breathy grunt. "Name's Thurnar. Thurnar Birchstone. You all had me worried," he starts. "Grabbed that owl because I didn't know who the hell was down in these tunnels with me. Lots of nasty things down here, especially as you get deeper. Just being cautious. But as I was dropping down on your hairy friend here, I felt the presence of another talhund."
He turns to Burik. "Took ye long enough to get here!" He laughs heartily and claps Burik on the shoulder. "I've been a bit undermanned these past few weeks."
DM - Above & Below
Cure wounds 7 (from before)
"Aye, good to see a friendly face down here, and with a strong arm too." Burik eyes up his armour, "Fancy armour you got there and all, but is it any help against what lies beyond?" But his eyes keep being drawn back to the emerald on the helm.
Brask grunts as the dwarf picks himself up, and keeps a watch on the tunnels as the others talk. Perception 17
"Har!" Thurnar laughs, patting Burik on the shoulder. His spirits are surprisingly upbeat for someone who has been in a tunnel for weeks, alone, but the dark circles under his eyes tell a different story. "It's serving me well right now. But you're right, Darkmine. There are foes that care not what shiny plate you have on."
Brask, as you peer down the tunnel, just at the edge of your vision, you see something strange. The tunnel wall looks like it...wobbles? You realize after a second time it's not the wall itself, but the space just in front of the wall. There's something distorted about the air - its become visible yet somehow still transparent, moving back-and-forth in little waves.
Thurnar notices you peering down questioningly. "Good eye, hairball." Thurnar walks past you toward the darkness. "C'mon. Lots to catch you all up on."
He leads you down the tunnel with his torch held out in front of him. It only takes a minute or two to get to the point Brask was observing. You all see it now. Some disturbance in the middle of the tunnel. The space there moves as if it were liquid. On the other side, you find more cave fisher carapaces, along with a bedroll and some of Thurnar's equipment piled up. The remains of a fire have been smothered, and there are dark spots all along the ground.
"Surely you've felt the darkness, Burik." Thurnar crouches down next to the disturbance, holding out a hand and thoughtfully moving it along the pulsing waves. "Well, it's finally ripped through. This is some kind of entrance point to our world. Unfortunately...or fortunately, maybe...we can't use it. I've tried walking through, using magic, and nothing seems to work. But they can come through. It's mostly been one at a time. Once a day, maybe twice. One of them comes through, and I kill it, and I sense the energy around the opening lessening. Then it builds up again, slowly, and another one comes through. I kill it. Another one comes. You get the idea. Well, it's been about three days since the last one came through, and this is the biggest and darkest it has been. I haven't yet seen it pulse the way it is now, and I fear there are going to be more coming through very soon."
He goes over to his makeshift camp, and picks up a piece of cave fisher shell. He tears out a chunk of flesh that was left clinging to the inside. "While we're waiting...anyone hungry?"
DM - Above & Below
"Well... I may question your taste, but I certainly won't turn down a short rest and a meal," Effort says to Thurnar graciously, seating herself by his fire and restarting it with a blast of thaumaturgy. "So long as that is cooked, of course."
While she waits to reap the fruits of Thurnar's questionable cooking choices, she tries to feel the disturbance in the air... how soon might it be, before the next terror passes through this tunnel, she wonders?
Arcana: 8 + Guidance: 2
He lays a few pieces of the meat around the fire to crisp them up. "These things aren't like anything you've seen," he sits down on a large rock and leans against the tunnel wall. "They almost look human...but everything is drained. Their blood, their souls, their humanity."
Effort, you try to focus on this strange disturbance in reality, but everything seems muddled. And you get the sense that there's someone, or something, that is purposefully making things foggy for you.
Thurnar pulls something out of his pack, and you hear the pouring of liquid. He turns back around and takes a swig from a cup. He extends his hand, offering it you. "AH! Good stuff. Only have one cup, so we'll have to share." The cup holds a dark red and rather viscous substance.
DM - Above & Below
Yes, says Brask automatically as soon as he's asked if he's hungry. And feed these two as well, they barely eat anything. We gotta keep our strength up, to kill... whatever these things are. He adds a few more pieces of meat to what the dwarf was planning to cook. I have a big appetite. And call me hairball again and I'll split your skull in two. He sits down opposite the dwarf and grins at him. So, you got a plan to stop these things? Other than just smacking 'em down, one a day?
"Unfortunately this goes far deeper than the few who come through this way," he picks up a piece of the meat and tears into it. After chewing for a moment, he continues. "It's the runny nose of a dangerous virus that nobody realizes they have yet. There are evils converging on this world. We don't even know about them all yet, but we know about this one. Something from the dark reflection of Oshait is pushing its way through. It wants something that's here. I suspect the other talhunds know more by now...but they're far north of here, up in the old ruins of Whiteguard. That's where they were called to. Me? I was called back home, to wait for the final talhund to make his appearance." He grins toward Burik.
DM - Above & Below
Something wicked this way comes, Effort thinks to herself. Cadmael ruffles his feathers loudly as she thinks this, and she shoots the owl a glance, but doesn't dwell on the source of her power... or her familiar.
"Whatever is causing the disturbance here is very aware of us... and actively working to block every attempt I have made to scry into its nature." As the cup is passed to her, Effort takes a cursory sniff, before shaking her head slightly and passing it on to Brask. "If the force at work here will not reveal itself to us, then we need to force it to appear... or retreat. By finding what it wants first, and taking it for ourselves."
She looks at Thurnar and Burik. "You two are talhunds, yes? Would you be able to work together to somehow get a feel for where this dark power is directing its attention? Besides at us, I mean."
If there is enough time during this rest period, Effort will use some of it to ritually cast Comprehend Languages again, along the same reasoning.
Heh. Yeah, let's piss off the ancient evil, says Brask. We'll get up in this thing's face, take its favourite toy or whatever, and then kick its ass and get paid. That's the plan right? He looks at the others hopefully. It's kind of always my plan.
"I wouldn't have put it so bluntly, but..." Effort bares her teeth in a grim smile. "Well, in essence, yes. That is our plan."
"This evil doesn't need our help in getting pissed off," Thurnar takes the cup back from Brask and takes a deep swig. "And retreating isn't an option...at least not for me, or for Burik. These things are taking people. And if we leave, they're going to come through anyway and slowly wipe out our village. As for what they're after...well, the other talhunds probably know more than I do at this point...but there are competing forces at play. Evil versus evil, and our little home is their battleground. The folks of this world are just disposable game pieces to them. But we aren't going to lie down that easily."
As you're standing there listening to Thurnar, you hear something. It sounds incredibly close, but at the same time off in the distance. A low growl - no actual words, but there is an intention behind it that you can feel in your bones. The tear in space pulses noticeably as it distorts your view looking through it. Thurnar stands up, handing off the cup to Brask. He calmly walks over to his camp. He grabs onto a handle and slowly pulls out an enormous war hammer. It too is ornately designed, with green runes etched into the sides.
"Won't be long now," he states plainly. "Take your final sips of cave fisher blood for awhile."
DM - Above & Below
Effort reaches over and touches Cadmael briefly on the head, granting her own guidance. Take to the air and hide yourself, little one, she instructs him. I will call upon you if you are needed.
Cadmael clicks his beak once and does as instructed.
Cadmael stealth: 15 + Guidance: 1
Effort decides to follow suit, for what it is worth. She passes between all three men, repeatedly casting guidance upon each of them to assist in whatever they might be facing, before doing the same for herself, and attempting to slip into the shadows nearby.
Effort stealth: 11 + Guidance: 4
Brask readies his maul. I'm good. Let's smash this thing then eat it.
If we're waiting for the thing to come to us, Brask will attempt to hide: Stealth 14
He will also ready an attack with his maul, as soon as an enemy comes into range.
Same really applies if we're going after the thing.
(Brask can add 1d4 to his stealth roll from guidance!)
Burik will not attempt to hide, instead muttering some words that twist and echo with magic. (holding action to cast protection from evil and good ) He'll stand fast a little ways away from the portal thing (approx 20ft or something)
Stealth check to get a surprise round is DC15 so whatever he rolls on guidance Brask will get it .
Thurnar stealth: 9+2
You take your positions, hiding as best you can amongst the rocks and rubble of the tunnel. A few minutes pass by, and you hear the noises again, but nothing comes through. Another few minutes pass by, and another few. It feels like an hour has gone by when the growl grows noticeably louder. And there's more than one. Again, they're both right next to you and a reality away. The rip in reality shakes again, and a thunderous crack echos throughout the tunnel as six horrifying ghouls step onto the ground. They all appear at once. Almost frighteningly human in appearance, but with gray skin and long, sinewy limbs. They have pale blue eyes and monstrously long fingers and toes, tipped with black claws. As they start to turn around and survey the tunnel in all directions, a few of them notice Thurnar and step toward him, bearing their sharp teeth. You all move into action.
Roll initiative. Everyone with a 15+ on their stealth will get a surprise round. Burik, you can still roll for stealth with Effort's guidance.
Ghouls initiative: 7
DM - Above & Below
(Again not hiding but casting/releasing the spell as they appear which will give them disadvantage on attacks against me if they're of a certain type)
Initiative 6
The whispers and mutterings suddenly stop as a dark shimmering field surrounds Burik. He looks ahead with a steely gaze, daring the creatures to attack.
(Aberrations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, Fiends, and Undead have disadvantage on attack rolls against me btw)