Checking yourselves for new wounds and stopping the bleeding on ones already incurred, you look behind you towards the first fountain, then ahead of you at the next. After a few minutes discussion, during which Krom uses some healing magic on his companions, you find yourselves nearly at an impasse. The group, however, decides on checking out the room to the north - the one that the rats they just defeated emerged from, evidently.
As you edge along the two-foot wide catwalk around the disabled trap, the smell threatens to overwhelm you. You notice the door leading into the area: now broken and parts of it strewn about, mostly in the spike trap immediately in front of the door. Coincidently, you notice a new inhabitant in this pit: a giant rat, impaled through a leg, still wiggles with life. Doomed to die, likely, but also destined to eat itself free sooner or later.
An oppressive smell suffuses the air, rising from chewed carcasses of cave rats, smaller vermin, and a few humanoid-looking creatures. The bodies lie upon a floor of filth, old bones, hair, and fur that combine to make a particularly large and vile nest. Puddles of stomach acid and stagnant water also dot the floor.
What does the party wish to do? [Post as you wish]
Ithelion summons a spectral hand (Chill Touch) to put the remaining rat out of its misery, focussing her energies until the vile creature expires, her complection becoming a little paler as the rat succumbs. With diminished resolution, she advances on the next room, her curiosity winning over her revulsion by only the slightest of margins. I need a bath. Thanks the gods I at least brought the brandy with me.
Hoping that it is within the powers of prestidigitation, Ithelion enhances the smell of her kerchief (or her cuff), bringing on a strong smell of garlic and cloves, to mask as much of the smells as possible. Grimacing and gasping at the scene, she tries to take in what she can as quickly as possible.
Perception: 20 (Passive 14)
She also tries to understand the how the various bodies came to be in the room, and who they might be -- perhaps some of those whom they seek?
Investigation: 20 (Passive 15, if that's a thing)
In clipped tones, visibly trying to avoid avoid making a spectacle of herself, she relays what she sees to her companions, hoping that they might add to her understanding.
(( oops, the investigation roll should be 21...it's +5 ))
Holding her cuff to her nose and mouth, Ithelion runs an expert eye over the scene. Several piles of hay and miscellaneous pieces of cloth dot the area - including one massive one bigger than the others. From your cursory, everyday knowledge of rats it's easy to see this is some sort of disgusting nest of sorts. There are a couple of gnawed-upon goblin carcasses that are more recently dead than the others. The floor is littered with myriad bones and skeletons of many different creatures, including giant rats and what look to be the unfortunate babies of said creatures.
There is one corpse that is face-down but it has a different look to it than the others. Much of its body is covered with a green cloak but you notice the legs sport brown buckskin leggings with leather boots. The buckskin leggings are ripped where animals have eaten through them, and flesh and bone are visible. A mop of red hair is visible, though dirtied and matted. The arms end in stumps - this body has clearly been partially eaten. A pack sits next to the body, and a bow and quiver are visible.
Searching around the room more - about 20 minutes, you find 3 carnelian gemstones, 312 silver pieces, and 78 gold pieces. As you poke around the corpse you notice a few things: it's a tall female half-elf, she looks to be a ranger of sorts. On and around her corpse, you find: five daggers, a longbow, a backpack (containing a water skin, one day's rations, a bedroll, a tinderbox, and three torches, a small book, quill and ink), a quiver with six arrows, a potion of healing, and a pouch that holds 17 gp. A red and black amulet (worth 10 gp) is seen around her neck. The back of the amulet is engraved (in common) with her name: Karakas, and another name: Felosial. Under her cloak, you appraise the armor to be still viable - it is studded leather armor. The cloak itself is surprisingly untouched and has a swirling dark green and brown colour to it.
If you check the goblins' corpse, you find two short swords, a shield, a sling, a shortbow with a few arrows, and 8 darts.
As you think about how these unfortunate creatures got here, who can say for sure? All throw me survival or medicine checks to find out more. [Choose one not both].
One of you, in fact, knows both of the names - Karakas and Felosial - and why she was here.
Ithelion takes the items she finds most interesting from the at room, into the relative cleanliness of the second fountain room, and investigates them more fully, cleaning them as she goes. When she discovers the amulet she reads the names aloud and turns to Krom.
"I do not know of Karakkas, but Felosial...Felosial...the name seems familiar -- one of the farmers mentioned the name, did they not, Krom?" (( ref ))
As she works, Ithelion would examine each item, separating the ranger's gear as she investigated:
two short swords, a shield, a sling, a shortbow with a few arrows, and 8 darts.
In a separate collection:
a backpack (containing a water skin, one day's rations, a bedroll, a tinderbox, and three torches, a small book, quill and ink. a potion of healing, and a pouch that holds 17 gp
five daggers, . A red and black amulet ... The back of the amulet is engraved (in common) with her name: Karakas, and another name: Felosial
a longbow, a quiver with six arrows.
She would most certainly balk at stripping the armour from the body,
but the cloak would attract her attention.
She treats the ranger's gear with a level or reverence, having an abiding respect for those who work in the service of the wilds. The other items are collected rapidly and in a business-like fashion, more concerned with understanding them and removing the stench.
When she encounters the book, she pauses and, despite a sense that she may be invading the ranger's privacy, examines the contents....
When she is done she looks down at the remains of the ranger. "This one deserves better than to rot in this awful place..."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Daemyar survival 6
“The guard captain’s family... I do not believe such a person was eaten in their sleep. Check the blades for nicks.” This is important to Daemyar, he ignores the gold for now examining the blades.
Ithelion looks uncertain how to answer Krom, but listens to Daemyar the sighs. "You are likely correct, Daemyar. Most places like their dead to be returned. I know I would like my body returned to Candlekeep..."
She glances around the items, opens the backpack and pulls out the bedroll. "The body...". She stops abruptly staring back at the corpse. That could so easily be me.
"She ... Karakas ... will be easier to carry if we wrap her in this, I think. We probably don't want to make a spectacle when we return."
She thinks for a moment longer then adds, "Perhaps Meepo may be able to give us some ropes and more cloth...something more durable."
That decided, she returns to her investigation, and examines Karakas' weapons, as Daemyar suggested.
Ithelion spends a few frantic moments thinking, glancing around at her companions for assistance.
"Her family...if they are like mine...and she was an elf, so that's likely...might prefer that their first sight of her body was in the temple...properly laid out...with the weapons of her foes around her. Seeing her properly arrayed, victorious in battle, might be best. So, carrying her more -- discretely -- may be for the best."
Again, Ithelion glances around, her eyes eventually coming to rest on Krom.
Krom raises an eyebrow, "If ye be wantin' my opinion on the matter, I say we just take 'em out of this place at least. Then let the townsfolk deal with 'em how they see fit."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Be excellent to each other, and roll for initiative dudes!
Ithelion smiles, and nods slowly. "Aye...a ranger resting on a mountain top. if we collect rocks to cover the body and build a cairn, then it's up to the family to decide what's best."
She turns to Daemyar, "How does that sound? A cairn, with the enemies weapons..."
@all - you know for sure that Karakas is a half-elf. By her clothing and dress, you can be reasonably sure she's a ranger, or at least in tune with nature, forests, and the environment. However, from the details below, you might also ascertain she is a bit of something else as well. [Daemyar, if you need a reminder to where the info is, you can use the search function to search the thread; otherwise, if it's RP, that's fine too - you don't have to indulge the party ;) ]
@Ithelion - you take a closer look at both the cloak and the book. The cloak is astonishing and surprisingly unharmed. It swirls with browns and greens and when you squint your eyes or look a bit sideways, it seems to shimmer. From your natural arcane knowledge, you would guess It's possible that this cloak has magical properties.
You open the book, and as you begin to flip through, you feel a bit uneasy: you would guess these are Karakas' personal notes and thoughts. You can't read it however, as Karakas used a learned language of Druidic to write. [Does anyone speak Druidic?]
@Ithelion & @Daemyar - from your rolls you can tell that Karakas' body is the most recent of the corpses, probably about a month or so. You also notice on the floor a few humanoid tracks. It seems like Karakas led the way and was surprised; the other two sets of footprints stop a few feet into the room. Then they exit. With your rolls that's about as much as you can tell.
Ithelion frowns at the book and the tracks, "I don't think here friends liked her...can anyone else understand these tracks?"
She turns her attention back to the book, "If you don't mind me taking a little while, perhaps a few minutes, there's a possible mystery here I'd like to understand..."
Without waiting, she takes out her spell book and begins a ritual, holding the book all the while.
@Ithelion and @Lorell - The book is a diary or journal of sorts, written in Druidic. Ithelion and Lorell are reading it, Ithelion through Comprehend Languages and Lorell because he is a druid. I'm assuming both are reading while flipping through, so both of you miss nothing.
It looks like it's a relatively newer journal, started around 6 months ago. It details some of Karakas' own thoughts on the twig blights, some poetry and thoughts on love - especially where Felosial is concerned. She details her concern over their relationship and whether or not they could get free of Oakhurst. There are some recipes for potions and natural herb remedies, some notes on flora and fauna of the local environment, some notes on how to keep the perimeter of Oakhurst secure, including a ledger of sorts of her contracts with the farmers and number of kills. Of the twig blights and other abominations, Karakas knows what you all do. In fact, in his writings, he details how he caught and tortured a goblin to find out for sure that Belak is responsible. He found out that it was a tree - "the Gulthias Tree" - the goblin called it, that has worked together with Belak to transform the land over the last decade. The goblin spoke as if the tree were a living entity and the real master.
More recently however, are certain things of note.
- a paladin of Pelor (Sir Braford) came to Oakhurst and wanted to know about the ruins. He talked to the Hucrele twins and enlisted them to his cause, playing on their youth and desire for adventure and glory. Karakas' notes talk in particular about Shatterspike, a magnificent longsword the paladin wielded which he bragged could "shatter weapons and armor into pieces."
- Karakas and Felosial tried to talk them out of it, unsuccessfully. Karakas pledged that she would go to keep them safe
- Karakas remarked on how the gift Felosial gave him - a brown and green cloak - was an invaluable gift. Felosial called it a "Cloak of Elvenkind". On the subject of gifts, she speaks of the "blood amulets" created with Felosial. It contains the blood of both magically injected into a gem. She mentions it allows her to magically send words to Felosial and vice versa, but only to her.
- during their travels, the paladin's true intentions came to light, specifically finding lost artifacts - weapons - forged by some master dwarven blacksmith Durgeddin the Black in a faraway place called "Khundrukar." Sir Braford fled when an argument ensued and went off searching on his own for the artifacts.
- at one point, Karakas and the twins, Sharwyn and Talgen, captured a goblin and interrogated it. It spoke of Belak, the cursed druid down below, but did not know about any special artifacts. The goblin begged the adventurers not to enter a side room - a foul-smelling room - where it said "Guthas the Bloated One" lived. It explained that Belak created Guthash with dark magic and it is from her which all the giant rats have come. The goblins all fear her but are required to feed her regularly on pain of death - Belak's orders.
- Karakas writes she could not abide with the thought of leaving such an abomination of nature and that she would go in to clear the rot. In her final entry, penned "in case nature has a different plan for me," she writes some words of love for Felosial and that, if she dies, whomever finds her should take her body to the forest where it can further serve the natural cycle of life by fertilizing the soil. As for her things, she writes they are simply things and not to be worried over - a thought that both she and Felosial understood. The only request is that the blood amulet be taken to Felosial, "for the minute I am struck down forever, she will know instantly and be in pain."
(a room where we can close/lock a door or barricade an entrance would be the smartest idea for a long/short rest)
Okay, we have a vote for:
- another rest (Lorell)
- rat room (north) (Ithelion)
- 2? abstentions (Krom, Daemyar)
Garnet - what say you?
DM - And In The Darkness, Rot: The Sunless Citadel
DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons
(( From OOC chat, @Garnet: "I think I agree to not go to the cold room just yet maybe secure the rat room before moving forward. " ))
Rat room it is.
Checking yourselves for new wounds and stopping the bleeding on ones already incurred, you look behind you towards the first fountain, then ahead of you at the next. After a few minutes discussion, during which Krom uses some healing magic on his companions, you find yourselves nearly at an impasse. The group, however, decides on checking out the room to the north - the one that the rats they just defeated emerged from, evidently.
As you edge along the two-foot wide catwalk around the disabled trap, the smell threatens to overwhelm you. You notice the door leading into the area: now broken and parts of it strewn about, mostly in the spike trap immediately in front of the door. Coincidently, you notice a new inhabitant in this pit: a giant rat, impaled through a leg, still wiggles with life. Doomed to die, likely, but also destined to eat itself free sooner or later.
An oppressive smell suffuses the air, rising from chewed carcasses of cave rats, smaller vermin, and a few humanoid-looking creatures. The bodies lie upon a floor of filth, old bones, hair, and fur that combine to make a particularly large and vile nest. Puddles of stomach acid and stagnant water also dot the floor.
What does the party wish to do? [Post as you wish]
MAP
DM - And In The Darkness, Rot: The Sunless Citadel
DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons
Ithelion summons a spectral hand (Chill Touch) to put the remaining rat out of its misery, focussing her energies until the vile creature expires, her complection becoming a little paler as the rat succumbs. With diminished resolution, she advances on the next room, her curiosity winning over her revulsion by only the slightest of margins. I need a bath. Thanks the gods I at least brought the brandy with me.
Hoping that it is within the powers of prestidigitation, Ithelion enhances the smell of her kerchief (or her cuff), bringing on a strong smell of garlic and cloves, to mask as much of the smells as possible. Grimacing and gasping at the scene, she tries to take in what she can as quickly as possible.
Perception: 20 (Passive 14)
She also tries to understand the how the various bodies came to be in the room, and who they might be -- perhaps some of those whom they seek?
Investigation: 20 (Passive 15, if that's a thing)
In clipped tones, visibly trying to avoid avoid making a spectacle of herself, she relays what she sees to her companions, hoping that they might add to her understanding.
(( oops, the investigation roll should be 21...it's +5 ))
Holding her cuff to her nose and mouth, Ithelion runs an expert eye over the scene. Several piles of hay and miscellaneous pieces of cloth dot the area - including one massive one bigger than the others. From your cursory, everyday knowledge of rats it's easy to see this is some sort of disgusting nest of sorts. There are a couple of gnawed-upon goblin carcasses that are more recently dead than the others. The floor is littered with myriad bones and skeletons of many different creatures, including giant rats and what look to be the unfortunate babies of said creatures.
There is one corpse that is face-down but it has a different look to it than the others. Much of its body is covered with a green cloak but you notice the legs sport brown buckskin leggings with leather boots. The buckskin leggings are ripped where animals have eaten through them, and flesh and bone are visible. A mop of red hair is visible, though dirtied and matted. The arms end in stumps - this body has clearly been partially eaten. A pack sits next to the body, and a bow and quiver are visible.
Searching around the room more - about 20 minutes, you find 3 carnelian gemstones, 312 silver pieces, and 78 gold pieces. As you poke around the corpse you notice a few things: it's a tall female half-elf, she looks to be a ranger of sorts. On and around her corpse, you find: five daggers, a longbow, a backpack (containing a water skin, one day's rations, a bedroll, a tinderbox, and three torches, a small book, quill and ink), a quiver with six arrows, a potion of healing, and a pouch that holds 17 gp. A red and black amulet (worth 10 gp) is seen around her neck. The back of the amulet is engraved (in common) with her name: Karakas, and another name: Felosial. Under her cloak, you appraise the armor to be still viable - it is studded leather armor. The cloak itself is surprisingly untouched and has a swirling dark green and brown colour to it.
If you check the goblins' corpse, you find two short swords, a shield, a sling, a shortbow with a few arrows, and 8 darts.
As you think about how these unfortunate creatures got here, who can say for sure? All throw me survival or medicine checks to find out more. [Choose one not both].
One of you, in fact, knows both of the names - Karakas and Felosial - and why she was here.
DM - And In The Darkness, Rot: The Sunless Citadel
DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons
Ithelion Medicine: 11
Ithelion takes the items she finds most interesting from the at room, into the relative cleanliness of the second fountain room, and investigates them more fully, cleaning them as she goes. When she discovers the amulet she reads the names aloud and turns to Krom.
"I do not know of Karakkas, but Felosial...Felosial...the name seems familiar -- one of the farmers mentioned the name, did they not, Krom?" (( ref ))
As she works, Ithelion would examine each item, separating the ranger's gear as she investigated:
In a separate collection:
She treats the ranger's gear with a level or reverence, having an abiding respect for those who work in the service of the wilds. The other items are collected rapidly and in a business-like fashion, more concerned with understanding them and removing the stench.
When she encounters the book, she pauses and, despite a sense that she may be invading the ranger's privacy, examines the contents....
When she is done she looks down at the remains of the ranger. "This one deserves better than to rot in this awful place..."
Daemyar survival 6
“The guard captain’s family... I do not believe such a person was eaten in their sleep. Check the blades for nicks.” This is important to Daemyar, he ignores the gold for now examining the blades.
Paladin - warforged - orange
Krom looks at the body, "So, ye want to drag 'em out and take 'em back to town, or just to the top of the cliff?"
Be excellent to each other, and roll for initiative dudes!
“Hm? In the legion’s traditions, I’d leave her where she lay... but I am adapting. I will drag her back to her family.”
Paladin - warforged - orange
Ithelion looks uncertain how to answer Krom, but listens to Daemyar the sighs. "You are likely correct, Daemyar. Most places like their dead to be returned. I know I would like my body returned to Candlekeep..."
She glances around the items, opens the backpack and pulls out the bedroll. "The body...". She stops abruptly staring back at the corpse. That could so easily be me.
"She ... Karakas ... will be easier to carry if we wrap her in this, I think. We probably don't want to make a spectacle when we return."
She thinks for a moment longer then adds, "Perhaps Meepo may be able to give us some ropes and more cloth...something more durable."
That decided, she returns to her investigation, and examines Karakas' weapons, as Daemyar suggested.
(( She also examines the book and cloak ))
Daemyar wraps her arm nubs up over his shoulders and carries her on his back. “This will do fine. So that people will know she fought well.”
Paladin - warforged - orange
(( lol. ugh. ))
Ithelion spends a few frantic moments thinking, glancing around at her companions for assistance.
"Her family...if they are like mine...and she was an elf, so that's likely...might prefer that their first sight of her body was in the temple...properly laid out...with the weapons of her foes around her. Seeing her properly arrayed, victorious in battle, might be best. So, carrying her more -- discretely -- may be for the best."
Again, Ithelion glances around, her eyes eventually coming to rest on Krom.
Krom raises an eyebrow, "If ye be wantin' my opinion on the matter, I say we just take 'em out of this place at least. Then let the townsfolk deal with 'em how they see fit."
Be excellent to each other, and roll for initiative dudes!
Ithelion smiles, and nods slowly. "Aye...a ranger resting on a mountain top. if we collect rocks to cover the body and build a cairn, then it's up to the family to decide what's best."
She turns to Daemyar, "How does that sound? A cairn, with the enemies weapons..."
@all - you know for sure that Karakas is a half-elf. By her clothing and dress, you can be reasonably sure she's a ranger, or at least in tune with nature, forests, and the environment. However, from the details below, you might also ascertain she is a bit of something else as well. [Daemyar, if you need a reminder to where the info is, you can use the search function to search the thread; otherwise, if it's RP, that's fine too - you don't have to indulge the party ;) ]
@Ithelion - you take a closer look at both the cloak and the book. The cloak is astonishing and surprisingly unharmed. It swirls with browns and greens and when you squint your eyes or look a bit sideways, it seems to shimmer. From your natural arcane knowledge, you would guess It's possible that this cloak has magical properties.
You open the book, and as you begin to flip through, you feel a bit uneasy: you would guess these are Karakas' personal notes and thoughts. You can't read it however, as Karakas used a learned language of Druidic to write. [Does anyone speak Druidic?]
@Ithelion & @Daemyar - from your rolls you can tell that Karakas' body is the most recent of the corpses, probably about a month or so. You also notice on the floor a few humanoid tracks. It seems like Karakas led the way and was surprised; the other two sets of footprints stop a few feet into the room. Then they exit. With your rolls that's about as much as you can tell.
DM - And In The Darkness, Rot: The Sunless Citadel
DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons
Ithelion frowns at the book and the tracks, "I don't think here friends liked her...can anyone else understand these tracks?"
She turns her attention back to the book, "If you don't mind me taking a little while, perhaps a few minutes, there's a possible mystery here I'd like to understand..."
Without waiting, she takes out her spell book and begins a ritual, holding the book all the while.
(( Ritual casting of Comprehend Languages ))
Daemyar shrugs and goes to the door, waiting but impatient to leave.
Paladin - warforged - orange
@Ithelion and @Lorell - The book is a diary or journal of sorts, written in Druidic. Ithelion and Lorell are reading it, Ithelion through Comprehend Languages and Lorell because he is a druid. I'm assuming both are reading while flipping through, so both of you miss nothing.
It looks like it's a relatively newer journal, started around 6 months ago. It details some of Karakas' own thoughts on the twig blights, some poetry and thoughts on love - especially where Felosial is concerned. She details her concern over their relationship and whether or not they could get free of Oakhurst. There are some recipes for potions and natural herb remedies, some notes on flora and fauna of the local environment, some notes on how to keep the perimeter of Oakhurst secure, including a ledger of sorts of her contracts with the farmers and number of kills. Of the twig blights and other abominations, Karakas knows what you all do. In fact, in his writings, he details how he caught and tortured a goblin to find out for sure that Belak is responsible. He found out that it was a tree - "the Gulthias Tree" - the goblin called it, that has worked together with Belak to transform the land over the last decade. The goblin spoke as if the tree were a living entity and the real master.
More recently however, are certain things of note.
- a paladin of Pelor (Sir Braford) came to Oakhurst and wanted to know about the ruins. He talked to the Hucrele twins and enlisted them to his cause, playing on their youth and desire for adventure and glory. Karakas' notes talk in particular about Shatterspike, a magnificent longsword the paladin wielded which he bragged could "shatter weapons and armor into pieces."
- Karakas and Felosial tried to talk them out of it, unsuccessfully. Karakas pledged that she would go to keep them safe
- Karakas remarked on how the gift Felosial gave him - a brown and green cloak - was an invaluable gift. Felosial called it a "Cloak of Elvenkind". On the subject of gifts, she speaks of the "blood amulets" created with Felosial. It contains the blood of both magically injected into a gem. She mentions it allows her to magically send words to Felosial and vice versa, but only to her.
- during their travels, the paladin's true intentions came to light, specifically finding lost artifacts - weapons - forged by some master dwarven blacksmith Durgeddin the Black in a faraway place called "Khundrukar." Sir Braford fled when an argument ensued and went off searching on his own for the artifacts.
- at one point, Karakas and the twins, Sharwyn and Talgen, captured a goblin and interrogated it. It spoke of Belak, the cursed druid down below, but did not know about any special artifacts. The goblin begged the adventurers not to enter a side room - a foul-smelling room - where it said "Guthas the Bloated One" lived. It explained that Belak created Guthash with dark magic and it is from her which all the giant rats have come. The goblins all fear her but are required to feed her regularly on pain of death - Belak's orders.
- Karakas writes she could not abide with the thought of leaving such an abomination of nature and that she would go in to clear the rot. In her final entry, penned "in case nature has a different plan for me," she writes some words of love for Felosial and that, if she dies, whomever finds her should take her body to the forest where it can further serve the natural cycle of life by fertilizing the soil. As for her things, she writes they are simply things and not to be worried over - a thought that both she and Felosial understood. The only request is that the blood amulet be taken to Felosial, "for the minute I am struck down forever, she will know instantly and be in pain."
That is where the journal ends.
DM - And In The Darkness, Rot: The Sunless Citadel
DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons