This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Though her mood was sweetened by their idyllic surroundings, Cinder soon returned to reality at the sight of the ravaged trees. "Oh, that does look bad," she observes, putting her hands on her hips. She raises her eyebrow at Ramious's imperious command, then looks at Alyssa. "You better go on. Mother always said I was notoriously bad at appeasing people. There's a reason she never let me deal with the customers."
Instead, she nods at Leon when he makes his request, and squats down by the broken trees. "Let's see," she mumbles to herself, producing a flame in her hand to better light the area as she inspects it.
"Mom always said I was better with herbs than people..." Alyssa would mutter before taking a deep breath. Since the others had pretty much everything else covered, she'd do as she's encouraged and makes her way over to the priest. At least Hue was up soaring the skies, maybe he might be able to spot something exciting while she makes an attempt at some people skills.
"Hi there." The elf would bow her head in greeting to the priest. "My companions and I have accepted Sir Thomas' hunt for the Thessalhydra." Alyssa would glance around, "Is it fair to ask if you, or some one here, may have come into contact with it recently?" She'd pause, but then would have to ask "Are you in need of any assistance?"
OOC: the script here is the worst definition of CN, for sure.
"Greetings, my child," answered priest with a welcoming smile, and made a move with his hand either suppressing an uncalled blessing or a wish to pat Alyssa on the head. Priest was a not that tall man, quite round (especially in the waist area), with a kind smile and a hairline, that already begun it's journey up. "By Chauntea, no one here have seen the monster and hopefully, with your help no one will. I am terrified from the looks of these trees alone."
He could not help it and ended up patting Alyssa's hand. "It is very kind of you, my dear, to suggest help, but Crag and Merik are almost finished" ("not even close, Father," immediately responded one of the farmer, but Priest ignored the comment). "Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. Father Ardus - a humble follower of our kind and noble goddess. Chauntea be praised, you and your companions came right on time - if we, I mean you, can not solve that terrible problem we risk to loose the whole harvest."
"If you ask me," interfered either Crag or Merik, "It's all a big fat myth! I ain’t never seen no thessalhydra, but owlbears we got plenty of around here!"
"And where have you seen owlbears that can break a trunk of a full grown tree? Or spit the acid on it? Do not speak of what you do not know about." The other farmer obviously believed in the "myth".
Father Ardus's face expression changed to very thoughtful and he said that often lesser monsters worship bigger ones. There are troglodytes in a nearby set of caverns. They might know something about the thessalhydra. To what the "owlbear witness" gave yet another doomsday comment "The caves around here are cursed. Once you enter, you get lost in the twisting tunnels and never escape.”
"Superstitious nonsense!" firmly declared Priest. "The caves are somewhere more to the east from here, and a bit higher. If I was an adventurer - eternal thanks to Chauntea I am not - I would start looking there."
Indeed, the subtle signs like direction of the broken trees, rocks, that were obviously turned and still stood out a little, and many others, pointed Cinder's attention in that very direction. She even though she can tell the entrance to the caves from here. Whether troglodites know about the hydra or not, but the monster definitely came from up there.
"Caves. Up there," Cinder says, pointing them out to the others as she stands. "No idea what's in them, but that's where this trail of destruction leads from. Maybe Alyssa got something more from the people over there. One of you could send your familiars up to take a look, maybe. Hiking up there through this mess isn't going to be pretty," she complains.
Leon gives the priest a nod, then turns to the ragtag group. "Are we needing anything else from these fine folk, or should we be on our way to check out those caves before darkness comes?" He sends Striker in the direction of the caves to scout the way ahead.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Uuugh," Cinder complains loudly, even though the journey has barely started. Still, as sullenly as she is climbing, she does make a half-hearted attempt to keep an eye out for dangers on the path they climb, mostly out of habit.
From down there the steep slope of the mountain with the caves did not look that bad, but for anyone not used to the mountain walk it was a dare experience, Cinder had all teh rights to complain. But everything ends sooner or later - a couple hours of slow ascending later and the group reached cave entrance. It's an amazing viewing point with spectacular views on the Valley, but overcautious party continued to monitor the environment.
From the light but numerous tracks here one thing is clear: the cave’s mouth has recently been visited by several humanoids (troglodytes?), something gigantic, matching the tracks in the Valley (the thessalhydra?), and an owlbear. The entrance leads into the short passage about 10-15ft wide, opening in turn in some bigger room, but from outside you can not say anything about that room.
It is easier for an owl to operate in the darkness. However, there is nothing to see here: the cave is empty and the floor becomes too rocky to follow footprints anymore. There are three openings - north, west and south-east. Last two are leading down, the north one leads somewhere on the same level.
"Coast appears clear as far as the entry area goes..." Leon tells the others, nodding to the cave. "Looks to be three tunnels that split off once we are inside." He looks to the group. "Can you all see in the dark?"
"Sure, but can you?" Cinder asks. She holds a palm out, and uses it to produce flame. "Let me know if you need a little light in your life in here," she says to Leon with broad grin.
Taking a step inside the cavern, she scans the area, and then says "I say we clear it floor by floor. Most likely it went down... snakey things always like burrowing, don't they? Little bastards. That being said, there's nothing like running into an angry owlbear on your way back out. I like taking care of problems before they become one." She points to the flat path to the north.
Before stepping into the cave, Alyssa would hold out her arm and let out a loud whistle. Hue would soar down from the skies to perch on the elf's arm. Now reunited with her familiar, she'd join the others in the cave, blinking a couple times for her darkvision to kick in. "I always go left." The archaeologist's habits would kick in and she'd start investigating the walls and tunnels in awkward detail, veering towards the left.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ramious for some reason clambered up the rocks the same as everyone else, the going slow and tough. It seems he at no time considers perhaps using the giant wings on his back. As Ramious watches in curiousity as the group members manage their familiars, and sends one in to scout. In a whisper he says, "Same level, I agree with the red head."
He sneaks forward ahead of the group, trying to stay in darkness as he creeps through the room and across to the tunnel that doesn't go down, leading the way. Stealth: Unable to parse dice roll.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer? Class.
Leon drops back to let the others take the lead inside the tunnels. He pulls out a torch for himself and lights it, as he cannot see in darkness. Knowing his heavy armor might also give away any attempt at stealth, he lets those scouting get a bit of a lead as he follows after.
Striker soars through the tunnel up ahead, keeping na eye out for trouble.
Cinder keeps the flame up so she can look for any signs of what might be living in the cave. Although the floor is too rocky for tracks, there are always other signs if something is taking residence there... the smell of musk in the air, perhaps a tuft of fur shed onto a rockface, or a fallen scale. Cinder keeps her eye open for any of these clues as they venture further in.
The northern passage was a nice compromise between Alyssa's desire to go left, and decision of others to go straight ahead - it ended up pretty fast forming a T section with yet another leaf/right choice. The next left passage seems to be turning north again, while the right one opens up into the room. Ramious, carefully sneaking in the tunnels, can swear there is some movement inside that room, though, to see what creature(s) is there - you would need to come closer.
(That's the second or third time I've seen it happen here. And one came after two 20's on disadvantage....)
Though her mood was sweetened by their idyllic surroundings, Cinder soon returned to reality at the sight of the ravaged trees. "Oh, that does look bad," she observes, putting her hands on her hips. She raises her eyebrow at Ramious's imperious command, then looks at Alyssa. "You better go on. Mother always said I was notoriously bad at appeasing people. There's a reason she never let me deal with the customers."
Instead, she nods at Leon when he makes his request, and squats down by the broken trees. "Let's see," she mumbles to herself, producing a flame in her hand to better light the area as she inspects it.
Survival (tracking): 7
"Mom always said I was better with herbs than people..." Alyssa would mutter before taking a deep breath. Since the others had pretty much everything else covered, she'd do as she's encouraged and makes her way over to the priest. At least Hue was up soaring the skies, maybe he might be able to spot something exciting while she makes an attempt at some people skills.
"Hi there." The elf would bow her head in greeting to the priest. "My companions and I have accepted Sir Thomas' hunt for the Thessalhydra." Alyssa would glance around, "Is it fair to ask if you, or some one here, may have come into contact with it recently?" She'd pause, but then would have to ask "Are you in need of any assistance?"
just an unstable unicorn.
OOC: the script here is the worst definition of CN, for sure.
"Greetings, my child," answered priest with a welcoming smile, and made a move with his hand either suppressing an uncalled blessing or a wish to pat Alyssa on the head. Priest was a not that tall man, quite round (especially in the waist area), with a kind smile and a hairline, that already begun it's journey up. "By Chauntea, no one here have seen the monster and hopefully, with your help no one will. I am terrified from the looks of these trees alone."
He could not help it and ended up patting Alyssa's hand. "It is very kind of you, my dear, to suggest help, but Crag and Merik are almost finished" ("not even close, Father," immediately responded one of the farmer, but Priest ignored the comment). "Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. Father Ardus - a humble follower of our kind and noble goddess. Chauntea be praised, you and your companions came right on time - if we, I mean you, can not solve that terrible problem we risk to loose the whole harvest."
"If you ask me," interfered either Crag or Merik, "It's all a big fat myth! I ain’t never seen no thessalhydra, but owlbears we got plenty of around here!"
"And where have you seen owlbears that can break a trunk of a full grown tree? Or spit the acid on it? Do not speak of what you do not know about." The other farmer obviously believed in the "myth".
Father Ardus's face expression changed to very thoughtful and he said that often lesser monsters worship bigger ones. There are troglodytes in a nearby set of caverns. They might know something about the thessalhydra. To what the "owlbear witness" gave yet another doomsday comment "The caves around here are cursed. Once you enter, you get lost in the twisting tunnels and never escape.”
"Superstitious nonsense!" firmly declared Priest. "The caves are somewhere more to the east from here, and a bit higher. If I was an adventurer - eternal thanks to Chauntea I am not - I would start looking there."
Indeed, the subtle signs like direction of the broken trees, rocks, that were obviously turned and still stood out a little, and many others, pointed Cinder's attention in that very direction. She even though she can tell the entrance to the caves from here. Whether troglodites know about the hydra or not, but the monster definitely came from up there.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
"Caves. Up there," Cinder says, pointing them out to the others as she stands. "No idea what's in them, but that's where this trail of destruction leads from. Maybe Alyssa got something more from the people over there. One of you could send your familiars up to take a look, maybe. Hiking up there through this mess isn't going to be pretty," she complains.
Leon gives the priest a nod, then turns to the ragtag group. "Are we needing anything else from these fine folk, or should we be on our way to check out those caves before darkness comes?" He sends Striker in the direction of the caves to scout the way ahead.
Ramious looks at the group, assessing their mood, and then turns and starts marching towards the direction of the cave. "Come on 'adventurers'...."
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
"Uuugh," Cinder complains loudly, even though the journey has barely started. Still, as sullenly as she is climbing, she does make a half-hearted attempt to keep an eye out for dangers on the path they climb, mostly out of habit.
Perception: 22
From down there the steep slope of the mountain with the caves did not look that bad, but for anyone not used to the mountain walk it was a dare experience, Cinder had all teh rights to complain. But everything ends sooner or later - a couple hours of slow ascending later and the group reached cave entrance. It's an amazing viewing point with spectacular views on the Valley, but overcautious party continued to monitor the environment.
From the light but numerous tracks here one thing is clear: the cave’s mouth has recently been visited by several humanoids (troglodytes?), something gigantic, matching the tracks in the Valley (the thessalhydra?), and an owlbear. The entrance leads into the short passage about 10-15ft wide, opening in turn in some bigger room, but from outside you can not say anything about that room.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Leon calls a halt. "Let's have Striker go in and do a bit of looking around." He says, sending his owl familiar in to do a quick look around.
Striker perception: 10
It is easier for an owl to operate in the darkness. However, there is nothing to see here: the cave is empty and the floor becomes too rocky to follow footprints anymore. There are three openings - north, west and south-east. Last two are leading down, the north one leads somewhere on the same level.
Map:
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Are any of the tunnels bigger than the others? I.E. one that a massive thessalhydra might fit down, vs ones it probably would not...
"Coast appears clear as far as the entry area goes..." Leon tells the others, nodding to the cave. "Looks to be three tunnels that split off once we are inside." He looks to the group. "Can you all see in the dark?"
Nope, all of them equal size-wise and do not provide any clue where the beast could go.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
"Sure, but can you?" Cinder asks. She holds a palm out, and uses it to produce flame. "Let me know if you need a little light in your life in here," she says to Leon with broad grin.
Taking a step inside the cavern, she scans the area, and then says "I say we clear it floor by floor. Most likely it went down... snakey things always like burrowing, don't they? Little bastards. That being said, there's nothing like running into an angry owlbear on your way back out. I like taking care of problems before they become one." She points to the flat path to the north.
"So what'll it be?"
Before stepping into the cave, Alyssa would hold out her arm and let out a loud whistle. Hue would soar down from the skies to perch on the elf's arm. Now reunited with her familiar, she'd join the others in the cave, blinking a couple times for her darkvision to kick in. "I always go left." The archaeologist's habits would kick in and she'd start investigating the walls and tunnels in awkward detail, veering towards the left.
just an unstable unicorn.
Ramious for some reason clambered up the rocks the same as everyone else, the going slow and tough. It seems he at no time considers perhaps using the giant wings on his back. As Ramious watches in curiousity as the group members manage their familiars, and sends one in to scout. In a whisper he says, "Same level, I agree with the red head."
He sneaks forward ahead of the group, trying to stay in darkness as he creeps through the room and across to the tunnel that doesn't go down, leading the way. Stealth: Unable to parse dice roll.
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
Leon drops back to let the others take the lead inside the tunnels. He pulls out a torch for himself and lights it, as he cannot see in darkness. Knowing his heavy armor might also give away any attempt at stealth, he lets those scouting get a bit of a lead as he follows after.
Striker soars through the tunnel up ahead, keeping na eye out for trouble.
Striker perception: 16
Cinder keeps the flame up so she can look for any signs of what might be living in the cave. Although the floor is too rocky for tracks, there are always other signs if something is taking residence there... the smell of musk in the air, perhaps a tuft of fur shed onto a rockface, or a fallen scale. Cinder keeps her eye open for any of these clues as they venture further in.
Survival: 4
The northern passage was a nice compromise between Alyssa's desire to go left, and decision of others to go straight ahead - it ended up pretty fast forming a T section with yet another leaf/right choice. The next left passage seems to be turning north again, while the right one opens up into the room. Ramious, carefully sneaking in the tunnels, can swear there is some movement inside that room, though, to see what creature(s) is there - you would need to come closer.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice