The stones' cool touch sends a tingle up Elyham's arm. As she brushes away the moss and dirt that has diminished the visibility of the runes, she runs her fingers over the surface of the grooves. The symbols feel familiar, almost calling to her their words. There's only one language that imparts that ingrained response, the language of old.
"Hey fellas, these runes look draconic in nature.... and more recent than the dwarven ones carved above. Sia, Feredir; what do you know of the 'Heart of the Mountain'?
Elyham fumbles around in her knapsack looking for her tome, snatching it with such vigor that a piece of jerky comes flying out as she extracts the object from her bag. The jerky lands near Tim, who takes notice immediately.
Thumbing through the pages, Elyham slams her finger down and throws her head back. Her eyes shut, she gleefully exclaims, "I knew I've seen this passage before! Come take a look at this - the same pattern of runes appears on this sheet, under the dwarven word Duregar!"
The knapsack unattended is now being rifled through by a large mastiff, thoroughly engrossed with finding more jerky. Elyham snaps her fingers, causing a wretched smell to rise from the bag.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Sia shakes her head at the mention of the "Heart of the Mountain," not recognizing the term
Gnippen Religion - 3
Gnippen:
In your religious training, you do remember that several of the more tribal societies worship objects from so-called places of power as if they were gods. Primitive cults compared to the glory of Lathander, of course.
Feredir Nature - 10
Feredir:
The forest is your home. You don't deal with mountains, unless it's about killing orcs that have come from mountains.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Sia looks at Elyham. "I'm glad you can read this... we will have to keep an eye out for similar script!"
After a short while, enough time to get a drink of water and scarf down a lunch ration, you continue onward in the direction annoted by the waystone. The terrain gets craggier, the air a bit crisper. The mountain seems a little less distant and a little more looming as you make your way towards it. After an hour, you come across a second waystone, this one simpler with faded inscriptions in only two directions - back to the first stone, and further into the mountains.
Feredir Perception - 9
About a mile past the second waystone, Feredir stops the party, pointing towards a group of trees about a hundred yards to the east. There you see what appears to be a small stone hut nestled in the trees, each stone green-tinged by moss and vines.
"Feredir and Sia, did the two of you pass this hut on your way through? It looks kind of cute, there is no way anything dangerous could live there! Perhaps we should invite ourselves in for lunch?"And with that Gnippen licks his lips. "Whatever they have in there has got to be less foul smelling than Elyham's jerky! Even Tim has stopped eating it!"
"I was scouting a different path last time, about a half mile to the west of here. I don't know if the others in the group stopped here... and Feredir was still in Neverwinter."
Tim goes low on his fore legs, sniffing at the ground near the hut. He lets out a low growl. Gnippen elects to remain mounted, and clinks along as the Mastiff moves.
Feredir:
As you walk up quietly, you hear a creaking sound coming from inside, repetitive and wooden. Peeking into the window, you see a small bundled figure on a rocking chair facing a small hearth. As this figure is facing away, you cannot see its face.
You hear a voice call out to you from the inside of the hut. "No need to skulk, child. Come, come and visit." The voice has the sound of age in it, shaky and shrill.
Elyham quickly fashions a disguise from her knapsack, smirking over the choices of a false mustache or that gnomish nose she picked up a few years ago. With a few quick moves and a dash of powder, she turns around to the group looking more like a human than an elf, with dark hair, and less pointy ears.
"Gah! These damn human ears always give me such a headache..." She mumbles under her breath. Elyham walks towards the rest of the group near the hut and over to the wooden door. The handle is less attached than expected, but a good shove on the frame stutters the door across the stone entryway inside.
"Why hello there! My name is AnnaLise, and the skulkers outside should introduce themselves too...." Elyham turns her head towards the doorway, seeing the rest of the party trudge their way through the portal.
"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance! Could you tell us about the mountains up ahead?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Elyham Disguise Kit: 8
Elyham makes a pretty decent disguise in a hurry - the powder from one of her kits with a splash of water from her canteen turns her hair a dark brown from its normal shade of platinum, and quickly combing it over her ears hides the more obvious seams of the fake ears as well as the elongated half-elven eartips.
As you open the rickety door, your senses are almost overwhelmed by the smell of herbs and fungi, some drying and some fresh. Combined with the warmth of the hearth, the air inside the hut is thick and dry, a stark change compared to the crisp mountain air outside. If it weren't for the meager air flow provided by two small openings that serve as windows, eight inches across and banded with wood, it would be difficult to stay inside this small hut. You get a better look at the interior - the walls covered with drying herbs, small jars on shelves containing a variety of liquids, several small stools made from the stumps of trees, and the small figure on her rocking chair. She gets up slowly, and you realize her hunched form cannot be more than three feet tall, and maybe thirty or fourty pounds. She wears a heavy brown robe, the edges frayed and bottom seam covered in dirt and moss. A warm hood is down over her head.
Without turning to face you, the small woman crushes some herbs in her hands, and sprinkles them into the pot of water boiling over the hearth.
Feredir Perception - 9
Feredir:
You notice something. Her hands are green.
"Yes, yes, welcome child. Come, sit with old Grimelda. Tea will be ready soon. Tell me your tale, and this old soul can share some about the mountain nearby."
The woman turns to hobble back to her chair, motioning towards the stools arranged nearby. As she turns, you see that her face is wrinkled, craggy, and most notably, dark green. Her eyes, or at least what you can see of them past the folds of old skin, are beady and yellow. And her teeth form a long, jagged line. She is a goblin.
As the hours pass outside, Gnippen slowly becomes agitated. His patience waiting outside with Tim and Sia begins to grow shorter. "Maybe they were killed Sia? Did you hear anything boy?"Tim lets loose a low whine to Gnippen. "Sia, we might as well go inside, if they are dead it we are better off knowing now and then we can continue the search by ourselves. I can go first and try to deflect any danger, or should we just continue up the mountain and leave this likely grizzly scene behind us?"
Gnippen grabs the shield off of his back and mounts it forward in the event his compatriots are in danger or dead. His weapons remain un-drawn as he waits for Sia to respond with the course of action.
From the old tree stump Sia is sitting on about twenty feet from the hut, she looks at the gnome as he impatiently fidgets and twitches atop Tim nearby. "Relax, Gnippen. It's not even been a full minute since they went in. Feredir is probably just silently brooding in the corner while Elyham gabs off the face of whomever is unfortunate enough to live here."
She pauses, listening a second. "Still though..."
Sia creeps up to the door, one hand close to the dagger on her bandolier. She motions to Gnippen to demount, tapping at her hip to signal for him to have his pick ready. Looking at the exterior of the hut, it is no more than 15' in its largest dimension, and barely 6' tall, so a long lance would not do much good in such tight quarters.
Once Gnippen is ready, Sia quietly turns the handle, then pulls the door open.
Elyham waltzes over to a stool, and plops down on what would likely pass for a kid's seat in the elven world. Her knees almost touching her chin, she wraps her arms around the outside of her legs and tells the old goblin a tale from her past about the strange cave. After a few minutes of rambling on without barely taking a breath, Elyham realizes two of her companions are still outside the hut, maybe with good reason.
"So, Grimelda, what brings you to live in this wood? It is not often that one sees a goblin living so freely in the wild like this... what say you of this mountain ahead?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Gnippen demounts Tim, "Stay a few feet back in the trees, if this doesn't go well Tim you're the last one of us that can fetch help!" Gnippen pushes his shield gingerly against the door, "On the count of three Sia, turn the handle and I will charge in!"
The goblin crone gives a cackle as Elyham finishes her story, retrieving the pot of tea from the hearth.
"Thank you, child, for such an... enlightening story. I left my clan long ago, tired of the strains of being a matriarch. I make my simple life out here, gathering herbs and plants, brewing potions and elixers... and occasionally see my gran..."
At this moment, Gnippen, shield raised, bursts into the room. Perhaps not expecting such a well coordinated timing from Sia, Gnippen stumbles as he enters, almost crashing to the floor in a loud clang, shield still raised.
Grimelda's eyes flash brightly, and she stares at the newcoming intruder, a jagged frown on her face and hand holding the handle for the fresh pot of tea.
Gnippen clumsily picks himself off the ground and huddles behind his shield. "G-go-gob-goblin!"the small Gnome shrieks. Lessons from Gnippen's parents regarding their family history flood into the forefront of Gnippen's mind. The small skirmish wars in the mines north of Waterdeep, the caverns full of flame, the exodus from the mountain in the middle of winter, and the ceaseless raids the goblins continued to conduct as his family tried to find civilization. Many of Gnippen's clansmen were lost, the remaining fragments of the family destined to perform odd-jobs in Waterdeep while they slowly rebuilt a life.
Speaking to Elyham, whom Gnippen now sees in the middle of the room, "Don't trust this one, despite the appearances! The greenskins are as deceitful as they are violent! While I could not bring myself to strike down an old-woman, I suggest we keep on our toes."
"Pardon my friends here Grimelda, the gnome is less civilized than most others. I'm sure you've dealt with such before along your path." Elyham smarts a glance at Gnippen, and makes a few hand gestures seemingly indicating a mouse capturing some cheese from an angry archer. Seeing a look of confusion fall on her comrade's face, she turns to the goblin and continues her questioning.
"You were saying something about a visitor? Are there other goblins living freely like you in these wood?" Elyham posits the question to Grimelda as she stands from the kid-stool, her legs tingly from a loss of blood flow.
Elyham Acrobatics roll 14
a fun roll here to see if I stumble as I stand up... we've all been there. Plus, is that brew she's concocting having any affect on us right now?
The stones' cool touch sends a tingle up Elyham's arm. As she brushes away the moss and dirt that has diminished the visibility of the runes, she runs her fingers over the surface of the grooves. The symbols feel familiar, almost calling to her their words. There's only one language that imparts that ingrained response, the language of old.
"Hey fellas, these runes look draconic in nature.... and more recent than the dwarven ones carved above. Sia, Feredir; what do you know of the 'Heart of the Mountain'?
Elyham fumbles around in her knapsack looking for her tome, snatching it with such vigor that a piece of jerky comes flying out as she extracts the object from her bag. The jerky lands near Tim, who takes notice immediately.
Thumbing through the pages, Elyham slams her finger down and throws her head back. Her eyes shut, she gleefully exclaims, "I knew I've seen this passage before! Come take a look at this - the same pattern of runes appears on this sheet, under the dwarven word Duregar!"
The knapsack unattended is now being rifled through by a large mastiff, thoroughly engrossed with finding more jerky. Elyham snaps her fingers, causing a wretched smell to rise from the bag.
Sia shakes her head at the mention of the "Heart of the Mountain," not recognizing the term
Gnippen Religion - 3
Gnippen:
In your religious training, you do remember that several of the more tribal societies worship objects from so-called places of power as if they were gods. Primitive cults compared to the glory of Lathander, of course.
Feredir Nature - 10
Feredir:
The forest is your home. You don't deal with mountains, unless it's about killing orcs that have come from mountains.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
"Tim get out of that foul smelling pack! It is as rancid as Elyham!"
Gnippen looks back to the group, "Sounds like a bunch of cultish junk to me! Daylight is wasting, let us find the next waystone!"
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Sia looks at Elyham. "I'm glad you can read this... we will have to keep an eye out for similar script!"
After a short while, enough time to get a drink of water and scarf down a lunch ration, you continue onward in the direction annoted by the waystone. The terrain gets craggier, the air a bit crisper. The mountain seems a little less distant and a little more looming as you make your way towards it. After an hour, you come across a second waystone, this one simpler with faded inscriptions in only two directions - back to the first stone, and further into the mountains.
Feredir Perception - 9
About a mile past the second waystone, Feredir stops the party, pointing towards a group of trees about a hundred yards to the east. There you see what appears to be a small stone hut nestled in the trees, each stone green-tinged by moss and vines.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
"Feredir and Sia, did the two of you pass this hut on your way through? It looks kind of cute, there is no way anything dangerous could live there! Perhaps we should invite ourselves in for lunch?" And with that Gnippen licks his lips. "Whatever they have in there has got to be less foul smelling than Elyham's jerky! Even Tim has stopped eating it!"
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Sia shakes her head.
"I was scouting a different path last time, about a half mile to the west of here. I don't know if the others in the group stopped here... and Feredir was still in Neverwinter."
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
Feredir squints in the midday sun and turn to the party.
"Gnippen, may I borrow your pup?"
Cautiously Feredir and Tim approach the mossy stone dwelling.
Stealth - 19
Feredir gently scratches behind Tim's ears as he whispers, "Ok good boy, what do you smell?"
Slowly he draws his longbow and places an arrow upon it, holding the weapon at his waist, and crouching in wait.
Tim Perception - 22
Gnippen Stealth - 8
Tim goes low on his fore legs, sniffing at the ground near the hut. He lets out a low growl. Gnippen elects to remain mounted, and clinks along as the Mastiff moves.
Feredir:
As you walk up quietly, you hear a creaking sound coming from inside, repetitive and wooden. Peeking into the window, you see a small bundled figure on a rocking chair facing a small hearth. As this figure is facing away, you cannot see its face.
You hear a voice call out to you from the inside of the hut. "No need to skulk, child. Come, come and visit." The voice has the sound of age in it, shaky and shrill.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
"Way to make all of that racket Tim! Can't trust you to accomplish anything correctly!"
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Tim looks up at you, astride his back. "Awoo?"
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
Elyham quickly fashions a disguise from her knapsack, smirking over the choices of a false mustache or that gnomish nose she picked up a few years ago. With a few quick moves and a dash of powder, she turns around to the group looking more like a human than an elf, with dark hair, and less pointy ears.
"Gah! These damn human ears always give me such a headache..." She mumbles under her breath. Elyham walks towards the rest of the group near the hut and over to the wooden door. The handle is less attached than expected, but a good shove on the frame stutters the door across the stone entryway inside.
"Why hello there! My name is AnnaLise, and the skulkers outside should introduce themselves too...." Elyham turns her head towards the doorway, seeing the rest of the party trudge their way through the portal.
"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance! Could you tell us about the mountains up ahead?"
Elyham Disguise Kit: 8
Elyham makes a pretty decent disguise in a hurry - the powder from one of her kits with a splash of water from her canteen turns her hair a dark brown from its normal shade of platinum, and quickly combing it over her ears hides the more obvious seams of the fake ears as well as the elongated half-elven eartips.
As you open the rickety door, your senses are almost overwhelmed by the smell of herbs and fungi, some drying and some fresh. Combined with the warmth of the hearth, the air inside the hut is thick and dry, a stark change compared to the crisp mountain air outside. If it weren't for the meager air flow provided by two small openings that serve as windows, eight inches across and banded with wood, it would be difficult to stay inside this small hut. You get a better look at the interior - the walls covered with drying herbs, small jars on shelves containing a variety of liquids, several small stools made from the stumps of trees, and the small figure on her rocking chair. She gets up slowly, and you realize her hunched form cannot be more than three feet tall, and maybe thirty or fourty pounds. She wears a heavy brown robe, the edges frayed and bottom seam covered in dirt and moss. A warm hood is down over her head.
Without turning to face you, the small woman crushes some herbs in her hands, and sprinkles them into the pot of water boiling over the hearth.
Feredir Perception - 9
Feredir:
You notice something. Her hands are green.
"Yes, yes, welcome child. Come, sit with old Grimelda. Tea will be ready soon. Tell me your tale, and this old soul can share some about the mountain nearby."
The woman turns to hobble back to her chair, motioning towards the stools arranged nearby. As she turns, you see that her face is wrinkled, craggy, and most notably, dark green. Her eyes, or at least what you can see of them past the folds of old skin, are beady and yellow. And her teeth form a long, jagged line. She is a goblin.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
As the hours pass outside, Gnippen slowly becomes agitated. His patience waiting outside with Tim and Sia begins to grow shorter. "Maybe they were killed Sia? Did you hear anything boy?" Tim lets loose a low whine to Gnippen. "Sia, we might as well go inside, if they are dead it we are better off knowing now and then we can continue the search by ourselves. I can go first and try to deflect any danger, or should we just continue up the mountain and leave this likely grizzly scene behind us?"
Gnippen grabs the shield off of his back and mounts it forward in the event his compatriots are in danger or dead. His weapons remain un-drawn as he waits for Sia to respond with the course of action.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
From the old tree stump Sia is sitting on about twenty feet from the hut, she looks at the gnome as he impatiently fidgets and twitches atop Tim nearby. "Relax, Gnippen. It's not even been a full minute since they went in. Feredir is probably just silently brooding in the corner while Elyham gabs off the face of whomever is unfortunate enough to live here."
She pauses, listening a second. "Still though..."
Sia creeps up to the door, one hand close to the dagger on her bandolier. She motions to Gnippen to demount, tapping at her hip to signal for him to have his pick ready. Looking at the exterior of the hut, it is no more than 15' in its largest dimension, and barely 6' tall, so a long lance would not do much good in such tight quarters.
Once Gnippen is ready, Sia quietly turns the handle, then pulls the door open.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
Elyham waltzes over to a stool, and plops down on what would likely pass for a kid's seat in the elven world. Her knees almost touching her chin, she wraps her arms around the outside of her legs and tells the old goblin a tale from her past about the strange cave. After a few minutes of rambling on without barely taking a breath, Elyham realizes two of her companions are still outside the hut, maybe with good reason.
"So, Grimelda, what brings you to live in this wood? It is not often that one sees a goblin living so freely in the wild like this... what say you of this mountain ahead?"
Gnippen demounts Tim, "Stay a few feet back in the trees, if this doesn't go well Tim you're the last one of us that can fetch help!" Gnippen pushes his shield gingerly against the door, "On the count of three Sia, turn the handle and I will charge in!"
Gnippen Athletics Roll: 9
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
The goblin crone gives a cackle as Elyham finishes her story, retrieving the pot of tea from the hearth.
"Thank you, child, for such an... enlightening story. I left my clan long ago, tired of the strains of being a matriarch. I make my simple life out here, gathering herbs and plants, brewing potions and elixers... and occasionally see my gran..."
At this moment, Gnippen, shield raised, bursts into the room. Perhaps not expecting such a well coordinated timing from Sia, Gnippen stumbles as he enters, almost crashing to the floor in a loud clang, shield still raised.
Grimelda's eyes flash brightly, and she stares at the newcoming intruder, a jagged frown on her face and hand holding the handle for the fresh pot of tea.
"Do you mean harm to this old goblin, gnome?"
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
Gnippen clumsily picks himself off the ground and huddles behind his shield. "G-go-gob-goblin!" the small Gnome shrieks. Lessons from Gnippen's parents regarding their family history flood into the forefront of Gnippen's mind. The small skirmish wars in the mines north of Waterdeep, the caverns full of flame, the exodus from the mountain in the middle of winter, and the ceaseless raids the goblins continued to conduct as his family tried to find civilization. Many of Gnippen's clansmen were lost, the remaining fragments of the family destined to perform odd-jobs in Waterdeep while they slowly rebuilt a life.
Speaking to Elyham, whom Gnippen now sees in the middle of the room, "Don't trust this one, despite the appearances! The greenskins are as deceitful as they are violent! While I could not bring myself to strike down an old-woman, I suggest we keep on our toes."
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
"Pardon my friends here Grimelda, the gnome is less civilized than most others. I'm sure you've dealt with such before along your path." Elyham smarts a glance at Gnippen, and makes a few hand gestures seemingly indicating a mouse capturing some cheese from an angry archer. Seeing a look of confusion fall on her comrade's face, she turns to the goblin and continues her questioning.
"You were saying something about a visitor? Are there other goblins living freely like you in these wood?" Elyham posits the question to Grimelda as she stands from the kid-stool, her legs tingly from a loss of blood flow.
Elyham Acrobatics roll 14
a fun roll here to see if I stumble as I stand up... we've all been there. Plus, is that brew she's concocting having any affect on us right now?
It is still a goblin!
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent