Chronero - Single Player DnD

If I keep traveling we'll take a level of exhaustion right? I think it's worth it to do so this time and travel a bit more to avoid the chance for the ogre to come back.

In the morning of Day 5, the party reaches close enough to see Halmadrium. They can use the cover of the forest to try and sneak inside. However they will have to find a proper way in. The strong jade walls of the city protect it from intruders and the only gate inside is made of brass and is rusted. Trying to enter through the front gate will certainly alert everyone due to noise. From the angel of their approach they see the walls being about 25 ft tall. There only seems to be one watch tower though on the western side. The tower is inside the city attached as a separate building. There is another watch tower on the rock surface to the north but the party is already hidden from it due to the canopy. How do you approach?

Forgot the music and to mention: On the walls and some buildings, you see large banners with a symbol of a cyclops skull with snakes wrapped around it, the symbol of Revan, god of Necromancy.

Dungeon Music:

Is that the same symbol marking Ingrid? 

No it is not. The symbol in the city is for Revan. The evil god that got Ingrid is Morpheus, god of Death.

Is there any blond spotswhere the watch towers cant see us approaching? 

There are no perfect blind spots. However due to foliage and terrain, you could make a stealth check to pass. Alternatively you could try and spend a day to get the cultist's watch rotation down so you'd have a better idea of when you can approach. To do that you can designate one party member who will essentially watch the cultists for a day and report back. There is a chance they might be captured though.

Also forgot to make a History Check as Lucia: 16

Lucia knows nothing that can help with infiltration. Mystery may also make a History check to see if she knows anything.

Mysterys history check 18

Also, I think Lucia has the best stealth so I'd say she would be the best scout.

As Mystery stares at the city walls from afar and the river that runs right beside it, she remembers stories of the Order of Shadow Striders told among slaves.

Rumors of a secret organization of unknown affiliation to the gods is spoken in hushed whispers among various groups of people in the land. The nobility, the high ranking military, the high priests, the slaves and the downtrodden tell stories of this organization, though whether they are good or evil would vary based on who is telling the stories.

Among slaves the organization is seen as a savior, that may come to free them from servitude either by buying and subsequently setting free the slaves or by attacking the masters and unlocking the bindings. Many of Mystery's younger or more optimistic peers often told stories of the Shadow Striders. The members don't have uniforms and they don't bear emblems. It is impossible to tell who is a member and who isn't by anyone outside of the order. No one knows how one becomes a Shadow Strider. It's said if they meet the necessary requirements, they will one day be offered to join them. The younger and stronger slaves often dreamed of waking up one day to see they had been taken by the order to join them. Others told stories of how one day, a member would come and free them all from slavery. They told stories of the Night Mother, the hero that started the order. It is said that early in her carrier before she founded the Shadow Striders many centuries ago, she was on a boat up the river to visit a king of one of the now, many dead kingdoms out there. On the way, she got caught in a storm and the boat wrecked. She found herself in a set of tunnels and fighting through mobs of bandits, she crawled out and found herself in a city, thereby accidentally stopping what would have been the biggest and bloodiest bandit raid in history.

This relates back to Tomoe and Co's current situation. The now ruined city of Lower Halmadrium is the same city told in the tales of the Night Mother though at that time it was a bustling city and not a cultist infested ruin. If the tales are to be believed, there should be an underwater pathway in the river leading to a set of tunnels that not even the cultists would know about. Through those tunnels, one might be able to enter the city while avoiding any and all suspicion. The only issue is that the river is quite rapid in this part and there is a risk of being washed away should everyone try to swim through it.

There should be significantly less risk if a smaller team went in through that way though and covertly took out the cultists on the lookout. In fact, since one of the ways the priest suggested that you lift the curse would be to liberate the treasures from heretics and bring them to the churches, it might be possible to avoid combat all together by sneaking in through these tunnels, stuffing bags full of treasure and then leaving without the cultists even noticing. However it can be assumed that if you were to conduct such a stealth heist, Tomoe would be required to be in the smaller heist party or there's a huge chance she won't be forgiven by the god.

((tl;dr version and also mechanics: Mystery passed the History check and remembered stories that say there is a secret underwater passage in to the city. You have to access the passage through swimming against the current on the river. This means there is an Athletics check to enter the city through that way. Drown on failure (Not really. Actually if you fail you get into a side quest but Tomoe doesn't know that and as far as they are concerned, they drown on failure). If you take more people there are more chances that someone will fail the Athletics check.))

So, if I succeed at this route I can get treasure but the treasure alone doesnt have a high chance to get thr curse lifted?

Not quite. If you succeed at this route, you can get the treasure and the curse would probably be lifted. BUT Tomoe needs to be an active member in this route for that to happen. So if Tomoe goes in and succeeds, curse will probably be lifted. If Tomoe stays behind and sends someone else in this route and they succeeded the chances of curse being lifted drop drastically.

Ah I see. So tomoe is going and probobly Kate as I assume she has the best athletics between her and Lucia. Any way the others could make a satellite out of the ropes we have incase of emergency? 

Unfortunately no. Between the 4 you have 200ft of Rope. If you want to enter, you'll have to go into the river further than 200ft away from the secret tunnel. If you tried to get in the water closer than 200ft so that you can have the rope for emergencies, the likelihood of Lucia and Mystery and the rope would increase greatly and defeat the purpose of swimming up the river in the first place.

Is there anything Kate and Tomoe can do to lessen their chance of getting washed away? Perhaps tie ropes around each other or weigh ourselves down more ?

Tying ropes against each other would help. Tomoe has a bag of holding right? Maybe she can bring aboard the 4 pieces of rope and a rock or a grappling hook either to anchor themselves or to throw the rope back to shore so that Mystery and Lucia can come to the rescue should they get washed away.

Sounds good. Let's prep the ropes as a group for best outcome.

And I guess I've stalled way more than enough so once the ropes are ready Kate and Tomoe will make their way up the waterway.

"Ready?" Kate asks? One piece of rope was already tied around the barbarian's hip, connecting her to Tomoe. When ready, the two jump into the water in unison and begin swimming against the current.

Kate Athletics: 26

Tomoe, roll athletics.

6

Tomoe and Kate start to swim up stream and get closer to secret opening. That's when Tomoe suddenly feels her arms give it. Luckily she tied herself to Kate, who attempts to pull her while she swam.

Kate's Athletics: 21

The current is too great and both girls soon tire out and begin getting washed down stream.