Lumen nods -- "I can try to identify it, but it would take me a while, probably an hour. If it's cursed, though, it might backfire. Nym might be able to tell if it's bad."
Taking the item from Chrys, you sit down and inspect it carefully while you relax and continue to sit up for awhile before laying down to sleep. Holding the strange red stone, you feel its smoothness in your hand and study its design. It's about the size of a miniature tangerine, with a spherical shape, perfect balance, and a deep red color with no blemishes, marks or marbling of any kind. It's not like any other rock you've ever seen, and as you try to think about what it might be, you suddenly remember Braida's words...
"Grumbar carry smooth red stone, size of fist. Make him stronger. Not dangerous for you unless you try use it. Also have other treasures... I tell you where find Grumbar and his nasty orcs, you kill and bring me red stone, and we keep deal. And maybe Braida tell you where find other special treasures..."
With this description, you search your own memory for information, or tales you've heard about such an item. In the recesses of your mind, you recall hearing about magical stones that can imbue certain effects and boons upon the user... Then the name comes to you. Ioun Stones... yes, that's what they're called. Ioun Stones. There are different shapes and colors, and each type produces a specific magical boon to the user.
As you continue to study the stone, your mind somehow begins to gain a basic understanding of how they work. When a user tosses an Ioun stone in the air, it will orbit the person's head and confer the specific benefit to them. This particular stone imbues a boon to strength, just as Braid said it would, although you feel that in order to make it work, you would have be spend an hour or so to become attuned to the item.
After your inspection is complete, you tuck the stone away and eventually fall asleep.
As you all lie there, you eventually succumb to the necessary sleep that will help you recover from the efforts of a long day, and prepare you as you head towards Ravensglade Keep. When you awaken, the sun is already above the horizon, although it is not quite hitting you directly. The air is cool, but you can tell that today will be warm one, and judging from the cloud free skies, hopefully a clear one as well.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Focusing on the sound of the river as she tranced, Nym tried to let the toxic emotions flow out of her until she felt as calm and serene as the stillest of cave lakes. Upon waking, the drow did her stretches, feeling a bit stiff but looking forward to the warmness that the day would likely hold, if not the sun in her eyes. At least currently it wasn't hitting at that awkward angle yet. The break of the group's fast was a quick and quiet affair. Looking in her pack, she noted that she had very little rations left, most of what she had been carrying having been eaten by Braida when she was captured.
Squinting up at the position that the sun seemed to shed its light through the tree line, the silver haired elf tried to orient herself. "Should be a straight shot to Ravensglade Keep now. Not much longer." Seeing that most were either still groggy with sleep or not in the forthright talkative mood, Nym tried her best to lead them through the forest, continuing to follow the river southwards after her usual morning prayer to Eilistraee. "I think we should push on and not worry about being stealthy until we get a little closer. But what do the rest of you think?"
Lumen allowed the others to go through their processing on their own terms and their own speed. He struggled, himself, to gauge how long it had been since the went in search of the dryad. After a meager breakfast he explains what the ioun stone is. "It'd make one of us stronger, I think. Chrys? Me? Kess? I don't think we owe anything to the one who seeks it, and we need all the help we can get. Speaking of, I assume we''re sneaking in and out of this place, right?" He keeps an eye and ear open for signs of anything of note on their approach.
Starting the day's journey, Nym leads the group south along the river. She only needs to double check her map once, as it's an easy course from here, just a 30-mile straight shot alongside the river. If you were to move quickly, you could probably cover that distance in a single day, if there were no distractions, navigational issues or terrain difficulties along the way, and of course, you would be less alert to your surroundings. At your current pace, and if Nym's guidance with the map is accurate, then you'll likely reach the keep before noon tomorrow.
The morning progresses without incident underneath warm, clear skies. At one point, you notice that the river has started to lessen in its flow, but after another mile of walking, you realize why: a family of beavers has dammed a the river with a massive pile of stick, logs and mud, and you a number of them swimming in the deep pool behind the dam and crawling along the opposite bank. The dam has caused the creek to rise high above its normal bank in an area where a steep, rocky rise on your right pinches the terrain down to a short, but tight gully.
For a 50 foot stretch, the path is submerged by section of knee deep water, (thigh hight to Chrys), which requires you to get your feet and lower legs wet as you cross. After a couple hundred paces on the other side, the gully opens up, and you once again find yourself on dry ground alongside the huge beaver pond as you continue to make good time moving south through the forest.
Lumen eyes the dam. "Might be helpful to remember in case we need to make a quick getaway and are pursued. Maybe once we bypass the dam on the way back, we blow up the dam and pursuers get dissuaded by the released water. Just thinking out loud. Shall we keep going? Everyone okay?"
You pass the beaver dam without incident, and then continue on through the forest alongside the river for a few more hours, until the day ends and you decide to stop for the night. For whatever reason, much of the rest of this day, including the evening, end up being a rather quiet time. There is little interaction between you, and you all perform your duties in relative silence as you set up camp, consume your rations and settle down for, what you hope is a good night of sleep and rest in preparation for tomorrow, when you should arrive at the keep.
Perhaps it's the knowledge that the orc battle could have gone in a much different direction, had Lumen not crippled the chief with this spell, thus preventing him from rallying his troops and attacking you with his own axe. Maybe it's the simple fact that you've nearing the end of a week's travel, and if Nym's navigation is correct, you are due to arrive at your destination tomorrow, and thus face the core tasks of this quest that you've agreed to undertake. You are to locate and protect Lia's two children and save them from the dragon Duskbringer.
It could be that you're simply nervous about what you'll find at the keep, and if you will even be able to complete this task. You have learned a great deal and have gained even more experience and skill since you left the home of Dauric the druid, having fought wolves, trolls and the remaining numbers of the Red Claw orcs along the way. You have even gained a powerful magic item, an Ioun Stone of Strength, which will grant additional strength to whoever wields it. (Chrys cannot, as she is already at 20 STR.)
However, you have already faced Duskbinger once, and even though it was a brief encounter, some of you saw firsthand just how dangers she can be with her acid breath, let alone her claws and teeth, which you did not have to endure. Perhaps your hushed moods are but a simple sign of your fears about tomorrow, when you will face your greatest test as adventurers yet.
Your sleep is fitful during the night, and your dreams vivid with alarming and terrifying throughs, but you nonetheless wake feeling rested enough and ready for the day. Your silence continues as you break camp and begin walking, continuing along on your course alongside the river.
After about two hours, you emerge from the woods into a large clearing. The stream flows thick and fast here, and the sound of cascading water echoes against the tree wall. Striking up for the sky in the center of the clearing is a magnificent butte. The sides of the rocky outcrop have eroded over time and from the flowing water, giving it the appearance of a sitting raven. A waterfall surges down from the top of the butte and pours into a loch halfway up the cliff face. Standing before the loch is Ravenglade Keep, a remarkable feat of elven architecture, barely visible through the spray of the falls.
The wooden fortress, which is built halfway up the 800-foot high butte, is decorated with spires, twisting towers and masterfully worked wood. Where the loch overflows, the water passes beneath the keep and out over the edge of the cliff, falling another half mile to the stream below. Despite the majesty of the scene, it’s clear that the keep is damaged; a gaping hole in the central roof marks the point of Duskbringer’s attack.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Following a dry swallow of rations with a swig from the fresh water she had collected, Nym nodded to what Lumen said. "I don't feel comfortable with giving that hag anything magical. Even if she did give sound advice. She's too....sporadic. Her whims are as unpredictable as wind."Which still unsettled and baffled the drow at times. Glancing between Kess and Lumen she spoke up, "I think Lumen or I would benefit from it the most considering how strong Chrys and Kess already are on their own. Assuming it's not cursed."
On their journey along the river, Nym was intrigued with the beavers. "There were Underdark insects that did the same thing with the underground springs. Never thought I'd see something similar up here."Humming at the bard's suggestion, she couldn't help but feel a tad sad at the prospect of the beavers losing their home, but said, "I have to admit that it does sound like a handy trick for later. Hopefully we won't need it."
((Whatchu think rkmobius? Any opinions? Or just wanna do Rollies?))
As the Pie Pals settled down for another night as Nym kept first watch, she couldn't help but think of how powerless they were against Duskbringer. It felt like their only hope of surviving was sneaking in and retrieving Lia's children unnoticed. She turned over the pendant that the elven mother had bequeathed upon the group, having asked Vesper if she could hold it for a bit, at least for the night. The cleric passed the time turning it over in her hands and holding it up to the moonlight, making the flower's petals glow translucent. "Eilistraee...please protect Faen and Syllin. Guide our footsteps and our blades in our efforts to rescue them." She held the pendant tightly. When she did rest, she couldn't focus on her trance properly, remembering the past fight with the dragon all too vividly. But trance she did, and awoke with the rest.
Upon approaching within visual distance of Ravenglade Keep, Nym was left awe struck, mouth open as she took in the impressive sight. This was nothing like the drow architecture she used to. Nor the human village she had seen. Is this what her cousins were capable of? "Remarkable..." She couldn't help but smile a little until she took in the extent of the damage that the well crafted keep had sustained, frowning and remembering that they needed to stay unnoticed. "Best keep quiet." She murmured, fading into the foliage at the edge of the clearing before sighing. "This is it. Looks like it's just like they said. One way in or out other than the underwater cavern that Duskbringer is hopefully licking her wounds in. Straight in through the front door then?" She asked, more or less making sure everyone else was ready.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
(Happy to have Nym have it given her captivity but rookies also works!)
6
Lumen is fine with the obvious way in especially with no real alternatives. He has prepared a way to make an area suffused with silence in a pinch, which be explains to the group. Might come in handy.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
((If you're okay with it then I think I will have Nym accept the stone. Since this was the previous night, she'd have time to equip and attune with it before we roll up to the Keep thankfully.))
Nodding at Lumen's explanation of having Silence at the ready, Nym chews at her lip, her mind turning over all of the various Spells that Eilistraee had blessed her with. "I don't know of anything to help us be more quiet or hidden. But if the children aren't in the library like Lia said they would be then I can try and find them by using a spell to locate an object they're holding." She held up the flower pendant that Lia had given to the group. "Both of them have one of these so we can find them that way if need be."
Inhaling deeply as she looked at the now intimidating Keep, the drow looked at the others. "If one of us was famously stealthy I'd suggest they go in to scout ahead but given that that's not the case, it's probably best for us to just stick together." Hesitating a moment she met each one of their eyes for a solid heart beat as she said, "If I don't survive, please let Duaric know."He'd make sure that the rest of her clan hidden away was notified. "Eilistraee guide our steps." And with that she gave a soft touch to Chrysoberyl's shoulder to give her Guidance, fairly sure that the dwarf was the least stealthy out of the group. With that, she began walking with the others towards the entrance of Ravensglade Keep, the light blue stone circling roughly two feet around her head.
Stealth: 18
((Joke's on you Nym, you're just as un-stealthy as Chrys!))
((DM: Hey, not entirely sure what's going on with the rolling? Didn't edit the post and also, I specifically put to roll at disadvantage with only +2...but it's saying +3.. Should I roll again?))
((PJ: Yea, sometimes that happens. No worries…don’t need you to roll again, it looks correct on my end. Also, FYI, that particular Ioun stone his red.))
Having little to offer in the way of Braida's offer, Chrys only mentions: "A deal made shouldn't be one we go back on, e'en if it's a bad one. Rather, we return the property ta her, an' if she tries somethin' evil with it, we end her right there." Though she privately agrees with Nym's assessment of Braida, something in her rigorous nature recoils at the thought of going back on one's word, particularly with a creature that had, in some small way, eventually helped the party rather than hinder them. Still... she doesn't pressure the rest of the group to follow her strict ethical code, knowing that resolving differences through violent conflict is not necessarily the choice of preference for the great majority of adventurers out there, particularly one as easy-going as the Pie Pals.
When they arrive at the keep, Chrys takes a moment to take in the sight. The cliff is the strangest thing she'd ever seen; it made her uncomfortable, like the keep was built on a mountain without any roots. She kept expecting it to crack and tumble into the waters below, yet there it stood, defying her conventional understanding of physics and nature. "Elves," she mutters under her breath, half in incredulous disbelief, and half in respect.
As the Pals approached the keep, she frowned uncertainly. "Stealth... ain't my strong point." It's a relief when Nym pats her shoulder and bolsters her, and does Chrys best to wrap her cloak around her clanking armor. It works surprisingly well, as she manages to step quietly along with the others. (Stealth: 17)
As you approach Ravensglade Keep, you begin to get a better view of this massive and wondrous fortress. Looking up at the keep itself, you see that much of the building exterior is covered in decorative ornamentations that could be used as ample hand and footholds, were you to try and climb up the keep. However, just getting up to the keep this way would require climbing up the wet, moss covered, and in some areas, overhanging rock, which looks to be much more difficult.
From the top of the butte to the loch behind the keep, and also from the top of the keep to the ground where you are now standing is at least a 400 foot drop. It's clear that a fall from that height would be fatal.
Walking closer, you begin to feel the spray from the giant waterfall that drops into the loch behind the keep, and the seance falls that drops to the river far below the keep. The slight mist and noise from the waterfall make it a little bit more difficult to see and hear as well as you would probably hope right now.
Looking up, you see a stone stairway hewn into the rock that heads up to the keep. The stairs look precarious, damp from the spray of the falls and covered in moss. Here and there, destroyed wooden rope bridges that would span the gaps between sections of rock replace the stairs. These seem to have been recently shattered since their remains can be still be seen at the base of the butte.
From your current vantage point, you don't see or hear any sings of the dragon, or any other creatures.
"Should we circle around to see if the stairway is the only way in?"Lumen says, peering up at the mountain. He tries to keep under cover, out of view of anyone or anything up there.
"I ain't no stranger ta climbin', but e'en I think's a fool's errand. 'Member, we'll be takin' kids out with us, so we gotta find an easier way no matter what,"Chrys says. "Seein' as this was a fortress, it's likely there ain't no easier way in than them steps, but gettin' the kids o'er the places where it broke down ain't gonna be easy. Not 'lest someone here can snab them broken bridge parts an' mend 'em with magic or somethin'."
Despite Chrys's resignation about there probably being no easier way up to the keep other than the dangerous and damaged stairway that's carved into the rock, Lumen and Nym nonetheless circle around to try and spot another possible way in.
Working together, they notice a strange crevice behind the waterfall that seems a bit wider than what would seem natural.
Lumen returns to the others and brings them over to the crevice. "Seems our best option. Might as well give it a shot, right? Anyone have rope for a safety line?"
Peering into the crevice, you notice a second stairway leading upward from inside the cliff itself. This stair is filled with dust and cobwebs, showing its obvious lack of use, but it's easily passable without the need for a rope.
Lumen nods -- "I can try to identify it, but it would take me a while, probably an hour. If it's cursed, though, it might backfire. Nym might be able to tell if it's bad."
Lumen
Taking the item from Chrys, you sit down and inspect it carefully while you relax and continue to sit up for awhile before laying down to sleep. Holding the strange red stone, you feel its smoothness in your hand and study its design. It's about the size of a miniature tangerine, with a spherical shape, perfect balance, and a deep red color with no blemishes, marks or marbling of any kind. It's not like any other rock you've ever seen, and as you try to think about what it might be, you suddenly remember Braida's words...
"Grumbar carry smooth red stone, size of fist. Make him stronger. Not dangerous for you unless you try use it. Also have other treasures... I tell you where find Grumbar and his nasty orcs, you kill and bring me red stone, and we keep deal. And maybe Braida tell you where find other special treasures..."
With this description, you search your own memory for information, or tales you've heard about such an item. In the recesses of your mind, you recall hearing about magical stones that can imbue certain effects and boons upon the user... Then the name comes to you. Ioun Stones... yes, that's what they're called. Ioun Stones. There are different shapes and colors, and each type produces a specific magical boon to the user.
As you continue to study the stone, your mind somehow begins to gain a basic understanding of how they work. When a user tosses an Ioun stone in the air, it will orbit the person's head and confer the specific benefit to them. This particular stone imbues a boon to strength, just as Braid said it would, although you feel that in order to make it work, you would have be spend an hour or so to become attuned to the item.
After your inspection is complete, you tuck the stone away and eventually fall asleep.
As you all lie there, you eventually succumb to the necessary sleep that will help you recover from the efforts of a long day, and prepare you as you head towards Ravensglade Keep. When you awaken, the sun is already above the horizon, although it is not quite hitting you directly. The air is cool, but you can tell that today will be warm one, and judging from the cloud free skies, hopefully a clear one as well.
Focusing on the sound of the river as she tranced, Nym tried to let the toxic emotions flow out of her until she felt as calm and serene as the stillest of cave lakes. Upon waking, the drow did her stretches, feeling a bit stiff but looking forward to the warmness that the day would likely hold, if not the sun in her eyes. At least currently it wasn't hitting at that awkward angle yet. The break of the group's fast was a quick and quiet affair. Looking in her pack, she noted that she had very little rations left, most of what she had been carrying having been eaten by Braida when she was captured.
Squinting up at the position that the sun seemed to shed its light through the tree line, the silver haired elf tried to orient herself. "Should be a straight shot to Ravensglade Keep now. Not much longer." Seeing that most were either still groggy with sleep or not in the forthright talkative mood, Nym tried her best to lead them through the forest, continuing to follow the river southwards after her usual morning prayer to Eilistraee. "I think we should push on and not worry about being stealthy until we get a little closer. But what do the rest of you think?"
Survival: 11
Guidance: 2
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Lumen allowed the others to go through their processing on their own terms and their own speed. He struggled, himself, to gauge how long it had been since the went in search of the dryad. After a meager breakfast he explains what the ioun stone is. "It'd make one of us stronger, I think. Chrys? Me? Kess? I don't think we owe anything to the one who seeks it, and we need all the help we can get. Speaking of, I assume we''re sneaking in and out of this place, right?" He keeps an eye and ear open for signs of anything of note on their approach.
Starting the day's journey, Nym leads the group south along the river. She only needs to double check her map once, as it's an easy course from here, just a 30-mile straight shot alongside the river. If you were to move quickly, you could probably cover that distance in a single day, if there were no distractions, navigational issues or terrain difficulties along the way, and of course, you would be less alert to your surroundings. At your current pace, and if Nym's guidance with the map is accurate, then you'll likely reach the keep before noon tomorrow.
The morning progresses without incident underneath warm, clear skies. At one point, you notice that the river has started to lessen in its flow, but after another mile of walking, you realize why: a family of beavers has dammed a the river with a massive pile of stick, logs and mud, and you a number of them swimming in the deep pool behind the dam and crawling along the opposite bank. The dam has caused the creek to rise high above its normal bank in an area where a steep, rocky rise on your right pinches the terrain down to a short, but tight gully.
For a 50 foot stretch, the path is submerged by section of knee deep water, (thigh hight to Chrys), which requires you to get your feet and lower legs wet as you cross. After a couple hundred paces on the other side, the gully opens up, and you once again find yourself on dry ground alongside the huge beaver pond as you continue to make good time moving south through the forest.
Lumen eyes the dam. "Might be helpful to remember in case we need to make a quick getaway and are pursued. Maybe once we bypass the dam on the way back, we blow up the dam and pursuers get dissuaded by the released water. Just thinking out loud. Shall we keep going? Everyone okay?"
You pass the beaver dam without incident, and then continue on through the forest alongside the river for a few more hours, until the day ends and you decide to stop for the night. For whatever reason, much of the rest of this day, including the evening, end up being a rather quiet time. There is little interaction between you, and you all perform your duties in relative silence as you set up camp, consume your rations and settle down for, what you hope is a good night of sleep and rest in preparation for tomorrow, when you should arrive at the keep.
Perhaps it's the knowledge that the orc battle could have gone in a much different direction, had Lumen not crippled the chief with this spell, thus preventing him from rallying his troops and attacking you with his own axe. Maybe it's the simple fact that you've nearing the end of a week's travel, and if Nym's navigation is correct, you are due to arrive at your destination tomorrow, and thus face the core tasks of this quest that you've agreed to undertake. You are to locate and protect Lia's two children and save them from the dragon Duskbringer.
It could be that you're simply nervous about what you'll find at the keep, and if you will even be able to complete this task. You have learned a great deal and have gained even more experience and skill since you left the home of Dauric the druid, having fought wolves, trolls and the remaining numbers of the Red Claw orcs along the way. You have even gained a powerful magic item, an Ioun Stone of Strength, which will grant additional strength to whoever wields it. (Chrys cannot, as she is already at 20 STR.)
However, you have already faced Duskbinger once, and even though it was a brief encounter, some of you saw firsthand just how dangers she can be with her acid breath, let alone her claws and teeth, which you did not have to endure. Perhaps your hushed moods are but a simple sign of your fears about tomorrow, when you will face your greatest test as adventurers yet.
Your sleep is fitful during the night, and your dreams vivid with alarming and terrifying throughs, but you nonetheless wake feeling rested enough and ready for the day. Your silence continues as you break camp and begin walking, continuing along on your course alongside the river.
After about two hours, you emerge from the woods into a large clearing. The stream flows thick and fast here, and the sound of cascading water echoes against the tree wall. Striking up for the sky in the center of the clearing is a magnificent butte. The sides of the rocky outcrop have eroded over time and from the flowing water, giving it the appearance of a sitting raven. A waterfall surges down from the top of the butte and pours into a loch halfway up the cliff face. Standing before the loch is Ravenglade Keep, a remarkable feat of elven architecture, barely visible through the spray of the falls.
The wooden fortress, which is built halfway up the 800-foot high butte, is decorated with spires, twisting towers and masterfully worked wood. Where the loch overflows, the water passes beneath the keep and out over the edge of the cliff, falling another half mile to the stream below. Despite the majesty of the scene, it’s clear that the keep is damaged; a gaping hole in the central roof marks the point of Duskbringer’s attack.
Following a dry swallow of rations with a swig from the fresh water she had collected, Nym nodded to what Lumen said. "I don't feel comfortable with giving that hag anything magical. Even if she did give sound advice. She's too....sporadic. Her whims are as unpredictable as wind." Which still unsettled and baffled the drow at times. Glancing between Kess and Lumen she spoke up, "I think Lumen or I would benefit from it the most considering how strong Chrys and Kess already are on their own. Assuming it's not cursed."
On their journey along the river, Nym was intrigued with the beavers. "There were Underdark insects that did the same thing with the underground springs. Never thought I'd see something similar up here." Humming at the bard's suggestion, she couldn't help but feel a tad sad at the prospect of the beavers losing their home, but said, "I have to admit that it does sound like a handy trick for later. Hopefully we won't need it."
((Whatchu think rkmobius? Any opinions? Or just wanna do Rollies?))
As the Pie Pals settled down for another night as Nym kept first watch, she couldn't help but think of how powerless they were against Duskbringer. It felt like their only hope of surviving was sneaking in and retrieving Lia's children unnoticed. She turned over the pendant that the elven mother had bequeathed upon the group, having asked Vesper if she could hold it for a bit, at least for the night. The cleric passed the time turning it over in her hands and holding it up to the moonlight, making the flower's petals glow translucent. "Eilistraee...please protect Faen and Syllin. Guide our footsteps and our blades in our efforts to rescue them." She held the pendant tightly. When she did rest, she couldn't focus on her trance properly, remembering the past fight with the dragon all too vividly. But trance she did, and awoke with the rest.
Upon approaching within visual distance of Ravenglade Keep, Nym was left awe struck, mouth open as she took in the impressive sight. This was nothing like the drow architecture she used to. Nor the human village she had seen. Is this what her cousins were capable of? "Remarkable..." She couldn't help but smile a little until she took in the extent of the damage that the well crafted keep had sustained, frowning and remembering that they needed to stay unnoticed. "Best keep quiet." She murmured, fading into the foliage at the edge of the clearing before sighing. "This is it. Looks like it's just like they said. One way in or out other than the underwater cavern that Duskbringer is hopefully licking her wounds in. Straight in through the front door then?" She asked, more or less making sure everyone else was ready.
Perception: 11
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
(Happy to have Nym have it given her captivity but rookies also works!)
6
Lumen is fine with the obvious way in especially with no real alternatives. He has prepared a way to make an area suffused with silence in a pinch, which be explains to the group. Might come in handy.
((If you're okay with it then I think I will have Nym accept the stone. Since this was the previous night, she'd have time to equip and attune with it before we roll up to the Keep thankfully.))
Nodding at Lumen's explanation of having Silence at the ready, Nym chews at her lip, her mind turning over all of the various Spells that Eilistraee had blessed her with. "I don't know of anything to help us be more quiet or hidden. But if the children aren't in the library like Lia said they would be then I can try and find them by using a spell to locate an object they're holding." She held up the flower pendant that Lia had given to the group. "Both of them have one of these so we can find them that way if need be."
Inhaling deeply as she looked at the now intimidating Keep, the drow looked at the others. "If one of us was famously stealthy I'd suggest they go in to scout ahead but given that that's not the case, it's probably best for us to just stick together." Hesitating a moment she met each one of their eyes for a solid heart beat as she said, "If I don't survive, please let Duaric know." He'd make sure that the rest of her clan hidden away was notified. "Eilistraee guide our steps." And with that she gave a soft touch to Chrysoberyl's shoulder to give her Guidance, fairly sure that the dwarf was the least stealthy out of the group. With that, she began walking with the others towards the entrance of Ravensglade Keep, the light blue stone circling roughly two feet around her head.
Stealth: 18
((Joke's on you Nym, you're just as un-stealthy as Chrys!))
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
((DM: Hey, not entirely sure what's going on with the rolling? Didn't edit the post and also, I specifically put to roll at disadvantage with only +2...but it's saying +3.. Should I roll again?))
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
((PJ: Yea, sometimes that happens. No worries…don’t need you to roll again, it looks correct on my end. Also, FYI, that particular Ioun stone his red.))
((DM: *double checks items text again* Ooooh I don't like that....definitely cursed xD Guess we'll just sit tight until everyone catches up. ))
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Having little to offer in the way of Braida's offer, Chrys only mentions: "A deal made shouldn't be one we go back on, e'en if it's a bad one. Rather, we return the property ta her, an' if she tries somethin' evil with it, we end her right there." Though she privately agrees with Nym's assessment of Braida, something in her rigorous nature recoils at the thought of going back on one's word, particularly with a creature that had, in some small way, eventually helped the party rather than hinder them. Still... she doesn't pressure the rest of the group to follow her strict ethical code, knowing that resolving differences through violent conflict is not necessarily the choice of preference for the great majority of adventurers out there, particularly one as easy-going as the Pie Pals.
When they arrive at the keep, Chrys takes a moment to take in the sight. The cliff is the strangest thing she'd ever seen; it made her uncomfortable, like the keep was built on a mountain without any roots. She kept expecting it to crack and tumble into the waters below, yet there it stood, defying her conventional understanding of physics and nature. "Elves," she mutters under her breath, half in incredulous disbelief, and half in respect.
As the Pals approached the keep, she frowned uncertainly. "Stealth... ain't my strong point." It's a relief when Nym pats her shoulder and bolsters her, and does Chrys best to wrap her cloak around her clanking armor. It works surprisingly well, as she manages to step quietly along with the others. (Stealth: 17)
((Sorry for the delay.))
As you approach Ravensglade Keep, you begin to get a better view of this massive and wondrous fortress. Looking up at the keep itself, you see that much of the building exterior is covered in decorative ornamentations that could be used as ample hand and footholds, were you to try and climb up the keep. However, just getting up to the keep this way would require climbing up the wet, moss covered, and in some areas, overhanging rock, which looks to be much more difficult.
From the top of the butte to the loch behind the keep, and also from the top of the keep to the ground where you are now standing is at least a 400 foot drop. It's clear that a fall from that height would be fatal.
Walking closer, you begin to feel the spray from the giant waterfall that drops into the loch behind the keep, and the seance falls that drops to the river far below the keep. The slight mist and noise from the waterfall make it a little bit more difficult to see and hear as well as you would probably hope right now.
Looking up, you see a stone stairway hewn into the rock that heads up to the keep. The stairs look precarious, damp from the spray of the falls and covered in moss. Here and there, destroyed wooden rope bridges that would span the gaps between sections of rock replace the stairs. These seem to have been recently shattered since their remains can be still be seen at the base of the butte.
From your current vantage point, you don't see or hear any sings of the dragon, or any other creatures.
"Should we circle around to see if the stairway is the only way in?" Lumen says, peering up at the mountain. He tries to keep under cover, out of view of anyone or anything up there.
"I ain't no stranger ta climbin', but e'en I think's a fool's errand. 'Member, we'll be takin' kids out with us, so we gotta find an easier way no matter what," Chrys says. "Seein' as this was a fortress, it's likely there ain't no easier way in than them steps, but gettin' the kids o'er the places where it broke down ain't gonna be easy. Not 'lest someone here can snab them broken bridge parts an' mend 'em with magic or somethin'."
Despite Chrys's resignation about there probably being no easier way up to the keep other than the dangerous and damaged stairway that's carved into the rock, Lumen and Nym nonetheless circle around to try and spot another possible way in.
Working together, they notice a strange crevice behind the waterfall that seems a bit wider than what would seem natural.
Lumen returns to the others and brings them over to the crevice. "Seems our best option. Might as well give it a shot, right? Anyone have rope for a safety line?"
Peering into the crevice, you notice a second stairway leading upward from inside the cliff itself. This stair is filled with dust and cobwebs, showing its obvious lack of use, but it's easily passable without the need for a rope.