The group moves through the underbrush with Mal in the lead scouting.  She leads you past a section littered with snakes, and then further on you spot a pair of Kamadan which move off into the bush when they get a sniff of the party. You reach the shrine and head inside. All is as you left it, secret door unbarred and torches in the front hall.  You move about, setting it up to have a secure rest. Without the failing light outside, you can't tell the time of day in here. It's quiet. You set a watch on the room with the moon pool in case anything comes wandering through, and otherwise settle down. Sleeping mats are pulled out, rations of dried seasoned meat and stale crackers, along with a mix of nuts of dried fruit make a nutritious but unsatisfying meal. The air in here is actually quite cool, and dry, given that airflow into the room is next to nothing through the two sealed doors. You find yourself relaxing, your thirst quenched with your water skins, with skin that isn't dripping with sweat for a change. You have to say though, you're all a bit rank from your last several days in the city since your last visit to Badgers hidden domain. The sweat seems baked into every fabric and stained into your hair. A trip through the pool portal seems like a great idea, if just to clean the dusting of salt and grime that is caked on your body.  

Nevertheless, the time passes quickly. The quiet especially lulls you to a solid sleep and after 8 hours you find yourselves waking up. Morning routines, studying of books, meditation and carefully caring for gear and equipment occurs in a predictable cycle until finally you're ready.  You each think ahead to what is going to be a worm, grub, and centipede infested crawl through a tiny unstable earthen passage to a wall to some underground room that supposedly contains the cube. Stuff of hero's, obviously. 

You emerge from the shrine in the darkness. It's still very early morning, the light of day not yet gracing the eastern sky. Stars glitter furiously overhead, the sky clear.  The wall of thick moist air hits you, cooler than day but humid all the same, and before you are out of the shrine's yard you're skin is covered in a sheen of sweat.  Mal leads the way forward through the dark city. The noise of the jungle assaults your senses as you slip past crumbling walls and through thick vine chocked underbrush. Mal's practiced scouting leads you past a patch of murder vines.  A spider the size of a small cat clambers away in the darkness before you. The churr of insects fills the air. 

You breach the palace grounds quickly enough. It takes a bit of poking around to find the same location you were at previously. Distances, sizes, and terrain disguised by the black of night and stretching shadows. But find it you do, and soon enough you're ready to proceed. 

Any particular things done before you all clamber down the tunnel.  It's going to require an army crawl.  Let me know your order, and how you proceed.  Though Sickle can burrow, you can't "clear" space to make a big enough gathering spot anywhere...the dirt has to go somewhere....so you're going to have to go one at a time.  Let me know if you cast any spells in prepartion, and any other things you do before getting down on your belly and crawling into the black pit. 

Before leaving: 

Mal checks her weapons and makes sure everything is attached tightly a she does not want to lose anything while crawling through the mud. Then she signals the group that she is ready to go.

Badger is ready to go through the tunnel. If the goliath can fit, Badger can probably walk in.

Genk will do some weapon checks and then some light stretching.  Once completed he would be ready to go.

The group proceeds. Sickle shimmers into the shape of a large badger, sniffs about, and then moves into the burrow, taking the time to pack the earth well.  The group follows, Silas who has to make the magical door through the rock is close behind, followed by Grenk, Badger then Mal.  (OOC: feel free to adjust if you wish)

The passage through the ground is extremely tight for Grenk who, were he afraid of tight spaces, would be panicking as he almost feels like he gets stuck a couple times. He muscles through though. Worms squirm in the walls, centipedes scramble about, crawling across arms and legs. Pill bugs and other creepy crawlies move all around in the utter blackness of the tunnel. It's claustrophic, filthy, and smells of loam and dirt. After only ten feet everyone is covered in dirt.  The group presses on until after what seems like a mile long crawl, you stop, the feet in front of your face having not moved. People pass the message down in a whisper, "We're here.  Silas is going to make the door.  Be ready." 

Everyone takes a few moments to breath deeply, ready to crawl with all haste forward to spill out of a random underground wall.  

Sickles badger form digs a small patch to one side so that Silas can crawl up.  He places his hand on the limestone wall, and, breathing deeply, focus' on his gods magic, letting it seep through his fingers.  The rock seems to melt away and opens up a hole into a room.  Shadows dance over this opulent bedchamber. Cushions lie in one corner, and decorative shields line the walls. Treasures are heaped around the room: gold and silver coins; a gilded harp; a jeweled wine flask; pillows of silk; and fine clothes draped over wooden mannequins. To the left, an engraved stone disk is set into the floor of an alcove. To the right, a rectangular steel plate mounted on the wall is polished to a mirror-like sheen.  Laying amidst the cushions, only 15 feet away is a body. Top half is a man, the bottom have is a snake, but both appear beset by disease. The snakes scales, once thick like armor, are rotting and mottled. The man, once clearly strong and powerful has a wrap across one eye, wrapping around one of his hands, and his skin is grey and pocked. He sleeps, a wheeze breathing that sounds sickly.  Propped up against the wall near the cushions is a sword, a finely crafted and carved leather wrapped sheath and a gleaming red tinted gold hilt with a red gem set in its pommel.  He wears yellow banded bracers that work up all the way to his elbows, and a neckpiece like shirt woven and embedded with beads in the yuan-ti fashion.  He remains asleep for the moment. 

Silas? 

A desk blocks easy access to the room.  You'll have to carefully crawl under it, over it, and push it out of the way to get past. 

(summing no way to let someone pass) 

"There's someone here," Silas whispers before putting Guidance onion himself. Solas will try to crawl under the desk staying as quiet as he can. If he can move without waking the snake man, he move out of the way for someone else to deal with the sleeper. 

Stealth I guess 7+ 1+10 

Before they head into the tunnel, Sickle will remind everyone of the anti-venom seeds (?). Sickle will drop his Badger form as soon as Silas says “There’s someone here.” He will cast Pass Without Trace before Silas crawls out,  He will follow him out as soon as he can, moving carefully.

21

Silas crawls forward, pulling his armored body under the desk, but his knee bangs a leg and he bangs his back on the desk as he stands.  The thuds are unnaturally silenced by Sickle's magic. A vial of ink wobbles...but then doesn't fall. 

The giant badger moves out next, sneaking under the desk, brushing up against stuff, but again the magic keeps him quiet. 

Grenk, Badger, Mal in that order silently sneak out of the tunnel. Soon you're all standing within this room.  There is an exit, a strange door on the far side of the room that looks like it might be a hidden door, but....from the other side, as this side is obvious. It's silent and dimly lit.  The sleeping half-snake man sleeps fitfully, wheezing and occasionally moaning. 

 Badger looks briefly around the room, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the treasure, and then quietly casts Detect Magic.

"Someone be ready to go for the sword if he wakes up," Silas whispers. 

With the reminder Grenk will eat the seeds and quietly follow.  He points at the Yuan-Ti and then draws a finger across his throught to indicate death and then gives a thumbs up or thumbs down to express his willingness to kill the creature while it sleeps.

With the motion from Grenk, Mal will silently pull her scimitar out and approach the sleeping snake thing and then will plunge both scimitars into the creatures chest.

Scimitar #1: Attack: 25 Damage: 6 Auto Crit Damage:  5 Sneak Attack w/ Crit: 13

Scimitar #2: Attack: 26 Damage: 6 Auto Crit Damage: 6

Noticing the initial strike might not hit, Mal will use one of her Superiority Die's to add to to her attack - Precision Attack: 8 first attack becomes an 18 to hit)

[OOC: forgot about advantage will only roll for 1st attack as 2nd was a 20 anyway - 1st Attack Advantage: - 24 ]

If I can not tell if the creature dies I will use my action surge to attack once more.

Scimitar #3: Attack: 27 Damage: 11 Auto Crit Damage: 5

Stealth: 22 (Pass without trace added in)

[OOC: OK to sum up my stupidity on some of the rolls to help clear up the above nonsense:

1st Attack: To hit 18 - Damage: 14 sneak Attack: 13 (using Superiority die of a 4)

2nd Attack: To hit 28 Damage: 12 (no need to auto crit damage as I roll a Nat 20 so it auto-rolled crit for me)

3rd Attack: To hit 23 Damage: 7

Does that help?]

Mal steps forward like a viper ready to strike.  She looks down tattoo'd, half-rotting Yuan-ti and raises her weapons.   The weapons slash down in rapid succession, the creature opens its one good eye, its body spasming from the wounds and then falls back....as his snake body goes limp and the last breath seeps from his mouth he says...."Asssssserrr.....aaack...." 

Badger looks about the room.  The bracers the creature is wearing are magical. The sword is magical.  The smallish blue rock sitting on that desk is magical.  The five large shields on the wall are all magical. That small 3 inch cube sitting amidst that treasure there is magical.  The circle on the floor in that alcove is magical.  The flickering torches in this room are all magical. 

Grenk gives Mal a nice pat on the back.  In his approval it might be a little over zealous and heavy but not hard enough to knock her over.  Seeing the sword he'll walk over and take a look at it.  With out touching it he'll inspect it to see if it looks functional or if its one of those ceremonial things to look fancy but are rubbish in a fight.

From just the hilt he can tell it's a finely made, and functional weapon. 

Grenk wjll take hold of the weapon, pull it free and take a few practice swings to test the weight.  If all seems well be will replace his previous longsword with this one.

"Step away from the circle just in case," Silas warns before he checks the body, bandaged up hot shot seems strange, "I can dispell it if you guys feel like it's dangerous but we're in middle of enemy's lair,"

Medicine: 19

Mal will now go about the room and search for anything hidden, (doors & stashes) and any traps that might be around, making sure to stay away form the circle.

Investigation: 18

Perception: 10