Zeke listens, but he doesn't hear. The voices of the present are drowned out by those of the past. The darkness was coming. He would stand against it until it consumed him. Hopefully, it would be enough.
Shaking off his thoughts of gloom, the tiefling gives the wizard a brief smile and a curt nod. 'Yes, let's see what the darkness holds and ensure no other fiends lurking there to threaten this town and the families who live there in peace.'
"Do you trust me?" Fae's head would tilt slightly as it does.
Should Zeke make any slight indication of yes, Fae would step in closer. She'd reach a scarred hand up with a lone black feather held in it. The wizard would place her open palm against his chest with the component pressed between. "Welsa vien ethir ent drim." Elven words would leave her lips and the feather would glow before breaking away as her magic flowed through to him. A slight sense of weightlessness would spread through his core.
"Fly, Zeke." Fae would step back to give the tiefling room to spread his wings and take off. She knew it could never be the same as Zeke ever flying on his own, but with her magic he could take to the air, even for a little while. The ability to fly paired with his dark sight, Zeke could scout ahead from a different perspective. Paired with Tarja's spidey skills and a familiar or two or three, they could really get a good scope of the chasm as a team.
Zeke doesn't hesitate even a moment 'Of course I do.' A warmth would flow through his body, a warmth completely divorced from the elven words and magical essence flowing into him. As the spell took hold his wings would spread, flapping ever so slightly, just enough to lift him off the ground.
A smile - an unfamiliar expression for the teifling - would split his face as he lifted off the ground. He'd take off, flying straight up and then plunging down into the crevasse - searching for the creatures lair and looking for any dangers that might lurk below.
Help for Tarja's investigation and a strong arm to protect her if need be
Tarjalooks over the edge of the chasm, and down into the darkness.
I can help someone else come down with us. Zeke doesn't need to explore alone! Who wants to join? Fae, Ethan, Elra? Well, I'm going to have to be a spider to come down with you, so maybe Elra should stay back.
(Cast Spider Climb on a volunteer, if I have one :) Fae, you in? or Ethan?)
Afterwards, Tarjatakes the form of a Fiendish Giant Spider and crawls downward over the rim of the chasm. (Perception 9. Got darkvision 60ft and blindsight 10ft as spider... I'm looking out for the Behir's lair, but also for anything else unusual or more Nothics.)
Elra smiles as the family is returned to the village, and a little concerned about dwarfs being looked for. She looks to Arvel as they walk back. "Wonder if they found Gundren's brother?"
Tarja and Zeke descend into the dark chasm and quickly notice the cold that lingers there. Only about 20ft down they find that the faintly glowing chain isn't anchored to anything intentionally, but by chance has become wedged in a narrow slit in some of the rock along the chasm wall. Any tension on it is slightly relaxed now that there isn't a massive creature tugging on it, and Zeke could easily pull it free for Ethan to hall up.
Venturing deeper, the two occasionally spot fresh marks in the stone from the behir's recent climb to greet them. Otherwise the sides of the chasm are pretty consistently vertical, the narrow opening stretching far in the north and south direction. At around 100ft down the pair begin to smell something a bit foul and soon find a recess in the wall and a large ledge. There they find a few shed scales from the behir and piles of its excrement along the back of this space. There is little else, not even large bones from the prey of the monstrosity, probably because it targets food that it can swallow hole.
From here Tarja and Zeke still can see no limits to the depth or length of the chasm.
Meanwhile Ethan uses his Identify spell on the chain...
Ok so this is the magic item I've been having trouble properly creating on DnD Beyond character sheets. One of the many issues is that it forces you to select an existing weapon, and I've tried whips, darts, bows, etc. and then modify it from there, but it causes problems on the character sheets. That issue aside, the item is...
[Tooltip Not Found]
Moradin's Grasp
This +2 chain is clearly of dwarven make and acts as a ranged weapon using your STR modifier, dealing 1d10 bludgeoning damage on a hit. Wielders proficient with Simple or Martial Weapons are proficient with Moradin's Grasp.
This weapon has a range of 40ft with no extended range, and imposes Disadvantage for attacks made against a creature within 5ft of the wielder.
As an Action, this chain can be used to make a special attack to attempt to Grapple a creature within range. Moradin's Grasp magically extends to coil around the target upon a successful grapple attempt as described by the DM.
As an Action, Moradin's Grasp can also be used to pull a creature it has Grappled 20ft closer to the wielder with a successful Athletics contest.
Moradin's Grasp grants Expertise on Athletics (i.e. plus Proficiency score) for the purpose of all related grapple contests. This benefit may be granted for similar uses at the discretion of the DM, such as using Moradin's Grasp to pull an object closer to the wielder.
The grapple of Moradin's Grasp can be released as a Reaction or a Bonus Action.
Seeing the chain caught in a crevasse, Zeke reaches out, reveling in the freedom of flight, the sensation of floating, his wings curling to help him maneuver in the tight space. Grabbing the chain he frees it and pulls it twice, signaling to Ethan that he can pull it up and out.
Swooping alongside Tarja's skittering form, the barbarian feels complete in a way he didn't know he was missing.
Seeing the chain move and then the double pull, Ethan starts pulling the chain up and unwinds it from the behir's hind leg.
Once the scanner has been charged with magic, Ethan activates the device scanning the chain.
The illusionary display springs to life, showing the details of the item, which Ethan records down in his note book.
Once he is finished, Ethan stores everything away in his gauntlet and begins working on the problem of getting down and then back up from the bottom of the chasm.
At this point Ethan is just assessing the area and his various supplies and equipment to try and workout how he could rig up some pulleys and ropes to allow someone to lower themselves down or raise themselves up, from the depths.
Ethan isn't setting anything up yet, as he will wait for someone to return and confirm that everyone will want to descend, and how deep the rig will need to go.
Tarja crawls around the Behir lair, looking to understand what it was doing here. Chained and trapped, feeding on Nothics... it was definitely a danger to the town, but there's no indication yet that there are more of them. The chasm is definitely too big to block off - blocking off the entrances to the manor would have to do.
She moves a few feet lower than the behir's lair, and tries to look to see if there's any further signs of life deeper in the cavern, or whether there's nothing further to find. 22 After all, however interesting it would be to keep crawling downwards, there was also plenty to do on the surface.
Seeing nothing else in the darkness below, he swoops up, savoring the feeling of freedom that Fae granted him. Landing lightly on his feet he turns to Ethan as he finishes his exploration of the chain.
'What did you learn about this Master Artificer? Was it an enchanted binding to lock the beast to someone's will?'
The barbarian stares at the links with open fear and distaste.
In her spider form Tarja sees little in the cold, dark depths below. When she goes a bit below the behir's ledge her darkvision does pick up one thing of note right at the limits of her perception, the curved edge of a hole in the opposite wall. Climbing down just a few feet further she can see that the hole is an almost perfectly round tunnel into the rock and is between 8 and 10 feet in diameter.
A breath would leave Fae's lips in awe as she'd watch Zeke take off in flight. She'd smile. He made it look so effortless.
When Ethan would indicate he was staying, Fae would try to hide her excitement about having the opportunity to explore. She'd nod to Tarja. But then she'd pause to take off her boots. With a wiggle of her toes she'd smile to Tarja and wait for her to work her magic.
The wizard would do her best to tag along and keep up. But the unfamiliarity of walking down the side of walls gave her a bit of vertigo. Boy was she glad she took off her boots. She may have fell out of them on the way down. Not only did Fae have that obstacle, she also couldn't see as well in the dark as Spider Tarja or Zeke. So, pitter pattering with glow stone in hand, Fae would watch as their flying tiefling so effortlessly handled the chain Ethan had asked for.
Then on she continued, eventually catching up with the elusive Tarja fixated on a point. Tilting her head, Fae would reach her hand out to see if she could shine her glow stone against the wall to manipulate the shades Spider Tarja could see in a helpful manner.
Zeke reaches out and touches the chain tentatively. His inherent distrust of the arcane amplified by the nature of this particular item. Something that had bound such a fierce creature, seemed to bend it to the will of another, it touched something in the tiefling he had long buried and tried to forget.
But he trusted the artificer, trusted him so much he'd allowed him to modify his ritual blade. The blade he had tucked at his side even now, faster, stronger and sharper than any blade he had ever held. If Ethan was confident in this...this thing...he was too.
'Grappling you say? Hmm, perhaps it would be a worthwhile addition. My hatchets didn't seem to do much against this beast' he toes the carcass of the Behir 'and having a way to slow down our foes until I can catch them would be valuable.' Lifting one end of the whip he cautiously tries it out, sending the chain links flying out across the cavern. Testing the weight, shifting his stance the barbarian continues to work the weapon until he feels comfortable with it and how to best deploy it.
'Yes, yes I like this. Let's see what the others think about how best to deploy this strange device, but for now, I am happy to keep it on me.' Wrapping the chains around his chest, the barbarian pauses, and looks thoughtful for a moment as he turns to the artificer 'Master Artificer, if I could be so bold, perhaps you can help me construct a suitable harness or rig for this in the future? Something that keeps it secure but leaves it ready when needed?'
Umm. Yes please. I want the chain grapple thingy for our hulking barbarian to wrap things up before he goes all stabby stabby and you all go all shooty shooty or blast blasty on them.
Let me know if anyone has any objections to Zeke taking the Moradins Grasp.
Tarja is quite knowledgeable of the forests, hills and mountains around Phandalin as well any many of their flora and fauna found there, but knows little of the 'underdark'. Many creatures live below the surface and surely many of those tunnel about looking for food, riches and who knows what else.
In testing the chain Zeke finds it to be heavy yet quite manageable for someone with his superior strength. He is able to whip it about with accuracy despite its bulk, as long as he has a bit of space that is, but doubts a less muscular creature could do so as they might a weapon such as a whip. As would be the case for an oar on a boat, the tool seems to work well if one can apply enough force to use it as the creator intended.
Peeking out from one of Tarja's many legs, Fae decided she would try one last effort to get a closer look. With Tarja watching her back, she trusted she might be able to stretch their investigation just this one step further. Should she come up blank, then the darkness was meant to keep its secrets, for now. The wizard would muster up her courage and tip toe closer to the hole, glow stone clutched tightly in hand.
Nature check: 16
Also agree it's a great fit for Zeke, and the RP was great.
No objection to zeke taking the ranged STR weapon, of course! Perfect fit for him.
Tarja recognizes nothing of note about the tunnel. It's too small for the behir, maybe could have been formed by the nothics or the wizard. Regardless, given that the chasm kept going deeper, there might be more of these entrances; doesn't seem like there's a single gap to seal off.
She decides to be more cautious, and retreats back onto the behir's ledge.
Considering my concentration is keeping Fae's spider climb going, and Fae's concentration is keeping Zeke's Fly going, I'm gonna be a bit extra cautious and not poke my spidery nose in to an unknown location. Rather retreat without finding what's in there than risk losing half the party to a bottomless chasm on 1-2 bad rolls, if there's something nasty hiding in there.
Fae thinks this round tunnel is not natural in the sense of being created by geological forces, lava flows, etc. but it is also not likely made by humanoids such as dwarves and duergar digging their many tunnels. The cylindrical nature makes her think of what other creatures might be burrowing around down here. It is too small for a badger, or even a Cave Badger and thus is more likely a Wurm , Purple Worm or some other massive monster of the underdark.
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Zeke listens, but he doesn't hear. The voices of the present are drowned out by those of the past. The darkness was coming. He would stand against it until it consumed him. Hopefully, it would be enough.
Shaking off his thoughts of gloom, the tiefling gives the wizard a brief smile and a curt nod. 'Yes, let's see what the darkness holds and ensure no other fiends lurking there to threaten this town and the families who live there in peace.'
"Do you trust me?" Fae's head would tilt slightly as it does.
Should Zeke make any slight indication of yes, Fae would step in closer. She'd reach a scarred hand up with a lone black feather held in it. The wizard would place her open palm against his chest with the component pressed between. "Welsa vien ethir ent drim." Elven words would leave her lips and the feather would glow before breaking away as her magic flowed through to him. A slight sense of weightlessness would spread through his core.
"Fly, Zeke." Fae would step back to give the tiefling room to spread his wings and take off. She knew it could never be the same as Zeke ever flying on his own, but with her magic he could take to the air, even for a little while. The ability to fly paired with his dark sight, Zeke could scout ahead from a different perspective. Paired with Tarja's spidey skills and a familiar or two or three, they could really get a good scope of the chasm as a team.
just an unstable unicorn.
OHSHHHHIIIITTTTT!!!!!
Zeke doesn't hesitate even a moment 'Of course I do.' A warmth would flow through his body, a warmth completely divorced from the elven words and magical essence flowing into him. As the spell took hold his wings would spread, flapping ever so slightly, just enough to lift him off the ground.
A smile - an unfamiliar expression for the teifling - would split his face as he lifted off the ground. He'd take off, flying straight up and then plunging down into the crevasse - searching for the creatures lair and looking for any dangers that might lurk below.
Help for Tarja's investigation and a strong arm to protect her if need be
Tarja looks over the edge of the chasm, and down into the darkness.
I can help someone else come down with us. Zeke doesn't need to explore alone! Who wants to join? Fae, Ethan, Elra? Well, I'm going to have to be a spider to come down with you, so maybe Elra should stay back.
(Cast Spider Climb on a volunteer, if I have one :) Fae, you in? or Ethan?)
Afterwards, Tarja takes the form of a Fiendish Giant Spider and crawls downward over the rim of the chasm. (Perception 9. Got darkvision 60ft and blindsight 10ft as spider... I'm looking out for the Behir's lair, but also for anything else unusual or more Nothics.)
Elra smiles as the family is returned to the village, and a little concerned about dwarfs being looked for. She looks to Arvel as they walk back. "Wonder if they found Gundren's brother?"
Elra Skylash - Human Cleric | Vanzaren Tanidoni - Half Elf Wizard
Mindartis Liadon - Eladrin Barbarian | Naivara Siannodel - Half Elf Ranger
Arrila Evenwood - Half Elf Paladin | Callaphe of Setessa - Human Rogue
Katernin Nemetsk - Aasimar Cleric | Melody - Tiefling Bard
Ethan is studying the chain as Zeke takes to the air and Tarja offers to help Fae or Ethan descend.
Looking up from his study, Ethan asks Fae,
"Oh, if you are going down, could you check the other end of the chain? See how it's anchored?"
Ethan pulls out his scanner device and slots the pearl into the receptacle.
"I'm going to see if I can work out what magic is infused into the chain."
Ethan looks around,
"I can wait up here for Elra and Arvel to return and then start working out a rig to get us down and then back up."
Ethan begins ritually casting Identify on the chain around the Behir's hind leg.
David Gearlock | Human | Artificer | Revenge Heist
Knox | Warforged | Cleric | Shadowthorn's Out of the Abyss
Tarja and Zeke descend into the dark chasm and quickly notice the cold that lingers there. Only about 20ft down they find that the faintly glowing chain isn't anchored to anything intentionally, but by chance has become wedged in a narrow slit in some of the rock along the chasm wall. Any tension on it is slightly relaxed now that there isn't a massive creature tugging on it, and Zeke could easily pull it free for Ethan to hall up.
Venturing deeper, the two occasionally spot fresh marks in the stone from the behir's recent climb to greet them. Otherwise the sides of the chasm are pretty consistently vertical, the narrow opening stretching far in the north and south direction. At around 100ft down the pair begin to smell something a bit foul and soon find a recess in the wall and a large ledge. There they find a few shed scales from the behir and piles of its excrement along the back of this space. There is little else, not even large bones from the prey of the monstrosity, probably because it targets food that it can swallow hole.
From here Tarja and Zeke still can see no limits to the depth or length of the chasm.
Meanwhile Ethan uses his Identify spell on the chain...
Ok so this is the magic item I've been having trouble properly creating on DnD Beyond character sheets. One of the many issues is that it forces you to select an existing weapon, and I've tried whips, darts, bows, etc. and then modify it from there, but it causes problems on the character sheets. That issue aside, the item is...
[Tooltip Not Found]
Moradin's Grasp
This +2 chain is clearly of dwarven make and acts as a ranged weapon using your STR modifier, dealing 1d10 bludgeoning damage on a hit. Wielders proficient with Simple or Martial Weapons are proficient with Moradin's Grasp.
This weapon has a range of 40ft with no extended range, and imposes Disadvantage for attacks made against a creature within 5ft of the wielder.
As an Action, this chain can be used to make a special attack to attempt to Grapple a creature within range. Moradin's Grasp magically extends to coil around the target upon a successful grapple attempt as described by the DM.
As an Action, Moradin's Grasp can also be used to pull a creature it has Grappled 20ft closer to the wielder with a successful Athletics contest.
Moradin's Grasp grants Expertise on Athletics (i.e. plus Proficiency score) for the purpose of all related grapple contests. This benefit may be granted for similar uses at the discretion of the DM, such as using Moradin's Grasp to pull an object closer to the wielder.
The grapple of Moradin's Grasp can be released as a Reaction or a Bonus Action.
Seeing the chain caught in a crevasse, Zeke reaches out, reveling in the freedom of flight, the sensation of floating, his wings curling to help him maneuver in the tight space. Grabbing the chain he frees it and pulls it twice, signaling to Ethan that he can pull it up and out.
Swooping alongside Tarja's skittering form, the barbarian feels complete in a way he didn't know he was missing.
Seeing the chain move and then the double pull, Ethan starts pulling the chain up and unwinds it from the behir's hind leg.
Once the scanner has been charged with magic, Ethan activates the device scanning the chain.
The illusionary display springs to life, showing the details of the item, which Ethan records down in his note book.
Once he is finished, Ethan stores everything away in his gauntlet and begins working on the problem of getting down and then back up from the bottom of the chasm.
At this point Ethan is just assessing the area and his various supplies and equipment to try and workout how he could rig up some pulleys and ropes to allow someone to lower themselves down or raise themselves up, from the depths.
Ethan isn't setting anything up yet, as he will wait for someone to return and confirm that everyone will want to descend, and how deep the rig will need to go.
David Gearlock | Human | Artificer | Revenge Heist
Knox | Warforged | Cleric | Shadowthorn's Out of the Abyss
Tarja crawls around the Behir lair, looking to understand what it was doing here. Chained and trapped, feeding on Nothics... it was definitely a danger to the town, but there's no indication yet that there are more of them. The chasm is definitely too big to block off - blocking off the entrances to the manor would have to do.
She moves a few feet lower than the behir's lair, and tries to look to see if there's any further signs of life deeper in the cavern, or whether there's nothing further to find. 22 After all, however interesting it would be to keep crawling downwards, there was also plenty to do on the surface.
Seeing nothing else in the darkness below, he swoops up, savoring the feeling of freedom that Fae granted him. Landing lightly on his feet he turns to Ethan as he finishes his exploration of the chain.
'What did you learn about this Master Artificer? Was it an enchanted binding to lock the beast to someone's will?'
The barbarian stares at the links with open fear and distaste.
In her spider form Tarja sees little in the cold, dark depths below. When she goes a bit below the behir's ledge her darkvision does pick up one thing of note right at the limits of her perception, the curved edge of a hole in the opposite wall. Climbing down just a few feet further she can see that the hole is an almost perfectly round tunnel into the rock and is between 8 and 10 feet in diameter.
Nature Check please :)
A breath would leave Fae's lips in awe as she'd watch Zeke take off in flight. She'd smile. He made it look so effortless.
When Ethan would indicate he was staying, Fae would try to hide her excitement about having the opportunity to explore. She'd nod to Tarja. But then she'd pause to take off her boots. With a wiggle of her toes she'd smile to Tarja and wait for her to work her magic.
The wizard would do her best to tag along and keep up. But the unfamiliarity of walking down the side of walls gave her a bit of vertigo. Boy was she glad she took off her boots. She may have fell out of them on the way down. Not only did Fae have that obstacle, she also couldn't see as well in the dark as Spider Tarja or Zeke. So, pitter pattering with glow stone in hand, Fae would watch as their flying tiefling so effortlessly handled the chain Ethan had asked for.
Then on she continued, eventually catching up with the elusive Tarja fixated on a point. Tilting her head, Fae would reach her hand out to see if she could shine her glow stone against the wall to manipulate the shades Spider Tarja could see in a helpful manner.
Action: Help Tarja.
just an unstable unicorn.
Nature check with help: 22
[edit]Um. Um. THAT roll really just happened...
Ethan stops loading the chain into his gauntlet, as his winged friend comes swooping over.
"Um, well it seems like it was more of a weapon than restraint."
Ethan opens his notes.
"Lets see...It's name is 'Moradin's Grasp', maybe dwarven in origin."
"It can be used kind of like a whip, it has magical infusions that can help with quite long reach attacks and overcoming magical resistance."
"It also has magical properties that allow the user to make ranged grapples and magically enhance their ability to pull or restrain the target."
"So maybe a dwarven law enforcement weapon? Maybe used to help capture fugitives?"
"Anyway, with its weight, it needs someone with a bit of muscle to make the best use of it, you want to take it?"
Ethan holds the coiled chain out to Zeke.
David Gearlock | Human | Artificer | Revenge Heist
Knox | Warforged | Cleric | Shadowthorn's Out of the Abyss
Zeke reaches out and touches the chain tentatively. His inherent distrust of the arcane amplified by the nature of this particular item. Something that had bound such a fierce creature, seemed to bend it to the will of another, it touched something in the tiefling he had long buried and tried to forget.
But he trusted the artificer, trusted him so much he'd allowed him to modify his ritual blade. The blade he had tucked at his side even now, faster, stronger and sharper than any blade he had ever held. If Ethan was confident in this...this thing...he was too.
'Grappling you say? Hmm, perhaps it would be a worthwhile addition. My hatchets didn't seem to do much against this beast' he toes the carcass of the Behir 'and having a way to slow down our foes until I can catch them would be valuable.' Lifting one end of the whip he cautiously tries it out, sending the chain links flying out across the cavern. Testing the weight, shifting his stance the barbarian continues to work the weapon until he feels comfortable with it and how to best deploy it.
'Yes, yes I like this. Let's see what the others think about how best to deploy this strange device, but for now, I am happy to keep it on me.' Wrapping the chains around his chest, the barbarian pauses, and looks thoughtful for a moment as he turns to the artificer 'Master Artificer, if I could be so bold, perhaps you can help me construct a suitable harness or rig for this in the future? Something that keeps it secure but leaves it ready when needed?'
Umm. Yes please. I want the chain grapple thingy for our hulking barbarian to wrap things up before he goes all stabby stabby and you all go all shooty shooty or blast blasty on them.
Let me know if anyone has any objections to Zeke taking the Moradins Grasp.
Tarja is quite knowledgeable of the forests, hills and mountains around Phandalin as well any many of their flora and fauna found there, but knows little of the 'underdark'. Many creatures live below the surface and surely many of those tunnel about looking for food, riches and who knows what else.
In testing the chain Zeke finds it to be heavy yet quite manageable for someone with his superior strength. He is able to whip it about with accuracy despite its bulk, as long as he has a bit of space that is, but doubts a less muscular creature could do so as they might a weapon such as a whip. As would be the case for an oar on a boat, the tool seems to work well if one can apply enough force to use it as the creator intended.
Peeking out from one of Tarja's many legs, Fae decided she would try one last effort to get a closer look. With Tarja watching her back, she trusted she might be able to stretch their investigation just this one step further. Should she come up blank, then the darkness was meant to keep its secrets, for now. The wizard would muster up her courage and tip toe closer to the hole, glow stone clutched tightly in hand.
Nature check: 16
Also agree it's a great fit for Zeke, and the RP was great.
just an unstable unicorn.
No objection to zeke taking the ranged STR weapon, of course! Perfect fit for him.
Tarja recognizes nothing of note about the tunnel. It's too small for the behir, maybe could have been formed by the nothics or the wizard. Regardless, given that the chasm kept going deeper, there might be more of these entrances; doesn't seem like there's a single gap to seal off.
She decides to be more cautious, and retreats back onto the behir's ledge.
Considering my concentration is keeping Fae's spider climb going, and Fae's concentration is keeping Zeke's Fly going, I'm gonna be a bit extra cautious and not poke my spidery nose in to an unknown location. Rather retreat without finding what's in there than risk losing half the party to a bottomless chasm on 1-2 bad rolls, if there's something nasty hiding in there.
Fae thinks this round tunnel is not natural in the sense of being created by geological forces, lava flows, etc. but it is also not likely made by humanoids such as dwarves and duergar digging their many tunnels. The cylindrical nature makes her think of what other creatures might be burrowing around down here. It is too small for a badger, or even a Cave Badger and thus is more likely a Wurm , Purple Worm or some other massive monster of the underdark.