Dragon of Icespire Peak ***CLOSED***

The elf frowns and her eyes widden as she realizes what the ogres are doing.

" Not in these bushes, friends, you must go a little further ! On the other side, far beyond the hill. You go towards the setting sun and right where it sets you will see the food laying there !"

She gives Vaxis, Brutus and Barric a look, so as to warn them to get ready in case things get out of hand.

Vaxis readies an action to cast Guiding Bolt on one of them in case things get violent.

Thinking he has a pretty good read on the two, Barric speaks to Tebesha'l in a stage whisper, making sure the half-ogres can hear him.

"Gomp will take all the food for himself. He is not going to share any with Lump. I heard Gomp say that Lump is a chump."

(Let me know if I need to roll anything for this).

(Edit for Grammar)

@Barric - give me a Charisma (Deception) roll to incite an argument between the two half-ogres

Deception 16.

Lump cuts his eyes sideways at Gomp as he overhears Barric’s comments to Tabesha’l. The soldier and his wizardly companion can almost see the rage beginning to boil up inside the gullible brute as he constructs Barric’s clever ruse in his mind.

Gomp also overhears the accusatory sidebar and blinks confusedly a couple of times before slowly turning to find Lump glowering at him.

”YOU NO SHARE FOOD WITH LUMP?!?! YOU LET LUMP DIE OF HUNGRY?! LUMP LET YOU DIE...OF...OF...” Blind with rage, Lump loses his train of thought for a moment. He casts his gaze downward, grasping for a finishing phrase when the battleaxe in his hand catches his eye: “...OF AXE-IN-FACE!!”

Gomp is still working out the logic of what Lump is about to do when Lump does it. Gomp’s confusion turns quickly to wide-eyed shock as he sees the sun glint off Lump’s axe as it slices through the air and his ocular cavity. Gomp falls to the ground with Lump on top of him, the two locked in mortal combat for a bounty of food that technically exists only in their minds.

Connak stands and makes a semi-loud "PSSSST", not so loud the battling ogres could hear it, but loud enough that hopefully his companions would.  "Shall we go now?"

As the party tiptoes away from Gomp and Lump, a blue jay lands on Brutus’ shoulder. It seems to whisper something into his ear which brings a startled look upon his face. “Are you sure?” He asks the bird to which it nods silently. “Ok then, we better hurry!” He responds. Then to the others in the party: “I’m sorry everyone but one of my tribe members has fallen ill...they have sent for me immediately!”

The firbolg veers off from the others and bursts into a full sprint. The jay takes flight from his shoulder just as a squirrel runs up with an acorn in its mouth which it spits out about ten feet in front of Brutus. A split-second later, the acorn erupts into a swirling interplanar gate. Brutus waves to everyone as he dives headlong through the portal, which promptly snaps out of existence just as quickly as it had appeared.

An hour later, the group finds a small stream which indicates they are close to their destination. They follow the stream uphill to the base of a mountain, where waterfall erosion has carved out a natural concavity. The roaring waterfall creates a cloud of mist as it plunges into a shallow pool of water, within which rise two small islands covered with two-foot-tall red, green, and purple mushrooms. Several cave openings overlook the pool from rocky ledges twenty to thirty feet above. The mountain blocks any sunlight from reaching this place. They party has arrived at Gnomengarde.

Connak, ever the scout, looks around for signs of gnomish activity: guard posts, the day to day business of a town, etc...

Perception: 10

(OOC: assuming you meant for that to be a perception roll? Edit if needed.)

The scene is still and quiet aside from the sound of water spilling over the mountain side into the pool below and the roiling of the mist issuing forth into the air.

No signs of humanoid activity are visible. The scene is rather peaceful, even calming. Connak can see why the reclusive gnomes chose this location to establish their wizard commune.

(yes, was meant to be perception.)

(Does it feel off?  Should there be signs of humanoid activity?  Are there tools or things outside that would imply there should be gnomes outside?)

Vaxis walks up to the entrance and peers in.

"Come, friends, Let us not be having shy. Let us have a look inside."

He walks into the entrance.

There is evidence of civilization and inhabitation. A well-crafted foot bridge is stretched between two rocky ledges at the south end of the area. There are no tools lying about, but the entrances to the caves appear to be of humanoid creation as opposed to naturally occurring.

All of the cave entrances (5 total) sit at the top of ledges that are at least 30 feet above your current position. You may attempt to scale the walls in order to reach them. One of them is a little less daunting than the others...it has a series of narrow ramps that zig-zag up to the ledge where that cave entrance can be found.

Barric turns to the newcomer.

"Hail, friend. It a pleasant surprise to meet someone on this road not intent to do us harm."

Barric holds out his hand.

"My name is Barric. If you are known in these parts I must admit I am not familiar with its people."

(There is a good description of Barric on the first page of the thread).

Ando grasps Barric's hand firmly. "Hail, Barric. I'm Ando Fain, paladin of Miliekki. I'm from near Neverwinter, so this region is new to me, but I heard the call to help Phandalin from friends. One of them pointed me in your direction, so here I am."

Ando looks around for a moment. "Where is here exactly?"

At the sight of another elf, Connak doesn't say a word.  In fact, he behaves like the newcomer wasn't even there.  Pointing to the left across the river, he says in common, "Looks like we have to go inside.  Shall we head up that ramp over there?"  It wasn't really a question, as Connak heads that way before anyone answers.

(If Ando Fain is up to speed with elvish goings-on, he can possibly recognize and be aware that Connak is exiled)

Barric and Ando continue their friendly introductions while Connak aims to get a better idea of how best to infiltrate the gnomish refuge. He can see through the crystal clear water as it flows out of the pool at the bottom of the waterfall, feeding into the stream that pours down the hillside. He is able to determine that it is about 10 feet across and 4 feet deep.

(OOC: if Connak plans to jump across, give me an Acrobatics check, or if he plans to wade across, an Athletics check. Or something else entirely if you prefer.)

Jumping over the stream, Acrobatics check: 18

Connak walks towards the stream seemingly as if he was just going to wade right in. He casually springs into the air and lands nimbly on the other side of the waterway without breaking stride just as easily as a painter draws his brush across the canvas.

Upon closer inspection, he observes that the narrow switchback ramp leading up to the northeastern entrance of the subterranean complex. It is little more than a foot wide and clearly meant for those of much smaller stature to navigate.