From where Shai is searching she will add "I don't think we can afford to underestimate the Illithids....Kalak or Ven - can you understand nought of the magic involved?  We cannot tarry, but ending up on some other plane is not likely to help us succeed"

After about an hour, the group collects their things and nod at each other, indicating that it is time to move on. As they discuss the potential mishaps of using the portal, Shai wanders about having a quick look at the nooks the rrakkma did not investigate earlier. She finds a pile of dead mushrooms, indicating that many had indeed been uprooted as to lower the visibility of this specific section of the cave. She also finds many other piles of dried bones and broken supplies. They all look like they have been in this state for many years, and nothing pops up as being immediately useful.

Another nook has exactly four bedrolls in it and some basic supplies such as mess kits and buckets. Finally, one little corner seems ho have served as the warlord's quarters. In addition to a set of similar supplies as the other nook, there is also a desk with general maps of this incredibly large cave system and a chest. The maps depict an area so vast it is hard to tell even where they start or end. They are unlikely to be useful to the task at hand. The chest is unlocked, but only contains foodstuffs and a somewhat random iron spike. It would seem that the mind flayer did not care much about the well-being of its thrall, and as such, did not shower him or his suburbanites in plentiful supplies.

As the group gathers around the portal, Kandalou's magical tuning fork vibrates wildly. There is no doubt that this is the portal Belthomias sent you after.

(OOC: How would you like to go about the portal?)

Rapier in hand , Ven is ready to go. “Let’s just walk on the portal, with the tuning fork, right?”

Vishnu mutters something under her breath, and a spectral hand appears.

"Let’s see if this does anything, shall we?"

She’ll move the hand over the portal.

Shai looks on with interest "I was wondering whether we could test it by tossing one of the duergar bodies into the portal, or perhaps we could enter it carrying the Illithid body., it might know one of its own....but I am just guessing.....you know magic far better than I"

Other than look on expectantly, Shai just observes the surrounds, keeping a lazy watch on the surrounding cavern

”I know we are nervous about using their magic and no one wants to be reckless, but at some point we just need to step in the circle. We are losing time.”

Kandalou will walk to the portal and inspect it, "Quadere is correct. Let's go." He will then step into the portal, leading the way for the rrakkma.

Quadere follows him 

Shai follows with a shrug.....

Vishnu will wait to see if any limbs go flying, then join them if nothing happens.

"I shall see you on the other side..." Kalak says as he steps into the circle.

Ven follows

The group gathers around the portal. Ven suggests using the tuning fork, Shai an enemy's body, and Vishnu her magical floating hand. First, they test Vishnu's suggestion, though her spell receives no reaction from the portal whatsoever. As Shai turns around to go collect a body to test the second suggestion, Quadere interrupts with a calming but stern voice. She reminds her companion that time is of the essence and Kandolou takes upon himself to show that he understands her plea. Holding the tuning fork, the fighter steps into the portal. Nothing happens until Kandalou steps right at the center. At that moment, he vanishes before everyone else's eyes. Quadere follows, as do Shai, Vishnu, Kalak, and finally Ven.

There is not strange trip through tunnels of magical lights or ethereal nothingness. You don't even feel like you have moved at all. Instead, it feels like your surroundings suddenly morphed around you. The portal is still beneath your feet but the cave around you is much smaller. Roughly thirty-five feet by thirty-five feet, this chamber appears to have been rough-cut from the porous rock that makes up this place. It is cold, noisy, and dark, with no natural light. In fact, the only light you see is the faint blue hue of the portal beneath you. Strong, howling winds blow from every direction despite this being a mostly enclosed chamber. The stone walls are so porous they allow the wind free reign here, littering the floor with sand, pebbles, and stones that kick up as you walk about. These conditions make it so conversations are quite hard to maintain. You have to yell at each other, and even then, you can only hear another's words up to a maximum distance of 10 feet.

Some yards away from your central position in this chamber, just at the edge of the faint light provided to you by the portal on the ground, you can see the silhouette of a motionless body on the ground.

(OOC: In addition to anything you might want to do in this chamber, feel free to roll a general arcana or history or survival check to gather more info on your surroundings.)

Shai blinks her eyes against the wind and sand, on guard for any threats and spreading out from the rest to avoid the kind of mass attack the Illithid made in the previous cavern, and peers around the new surroundings, attempting to connect the geography to anything she has read or heard about, as well as generally taking in the environment and assessing it to gauge what sort of challenges it might bring as they proceed and to look for any evidence of creatures that might inhabit this place.

Also note that Shai is extremely suspicious of another surprise attack like that in the cavern and is acutely aware that there could be invisible guards or other more mundane traps here, as it is unlikely that such portals would be left unguarded.  So she is actively looking for footfalls or any signs of invisible creatures (perhaps the sand hitting something that should not be there?) 

History 15

Survival 21

Perception 14

Test to see if this 'fixes' the reroll issue....

Mea culpa - didn't know insert a roll before previously rolled dice would cause them to re-roll.  Rolled dice were actualy 15 and 21 for History & Survival which is very annoying.  Take these worse result if you cannot accept this....lesson learned.

Ven arrives instantaneously in this terrifying environment and tries to remember what he knows about Pandemonium.
History : 16

With nothing moving in vicinity, Ven cast Light on one of his arrow and shoot at proximity of the body, trying to see if any danger lurks in the dark.
Perception: 10

Quote from MuggsHill >>

This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.

Shai blinks her eyes against the wind and sand, on guard for any threats and spreading out from the rest to avoid the kind of mass attack the Illithid made in the previous cavern, and peers around the new surroundings, attempting to connect the geography to anything she has read or heard about, as well as generally taking in the environment and assessing it to gauge what sort of challenges it might bring as they proceed and to look for any evidence of creatures that might inhabit this place.

Also note that Shai is extremely suspicious of another surprise attack like that in the cavern and is acutely aware that there could be invisible guards or other more mundane traps here, as it is unlikely that such portals would be left unguarded.  So she is actively looking for footfalls or any signs of invisible creatures (perhaps the sand hitting something that should not be there?)  Perception 9

History 20

Survival 8

Mea culpa - didn't know insert a roll before previously rolled dice would cause them to re-roll.  Rolled dice were actualy 15 and 21 for History & Survival which is very annoying.  Take these worse result if you cannot accept this....lesson learned.

 Perception 24

Quote from MuggsHill >>

Shai blinks her eyes against the wind and sand, on guard for any threats and spreading out from the rest to avoid the kind of mass attack the Illithid made in the previous cavern, and peers around the new surroundings, attempting to connect the geography to anything she has read or heard about, as well as generally taking in the environment and assessing it to gauge what sort of challenges it might bring as they proceed and to look for any evidence of creatures that might inhabit this place.

Also note that Shai is extremely suspicious of another surprise attack like that in the cavern and is acutely aware that there could be invisible guards or other more mundane traps here, as it is unlikely that such portals would be left unguarded.  So she is actively looking for footfalls or any signs of invisible creatures (perhaps the sand hitting something that should not be there?) 

History 15

Survival 21

 

Perception 14

Test to see if this 'fixes' the reroll issue....

Mea culpa - didn't know insert a roll before previously rolled dice would cause them to re-roll.  Rolled dice were actualy 15 and 21 for History & Survival which is very annoying.  Take these worse result if you cannot accept this....lesson learned.

 The fix worked....original results are back, and to those above you can add the Disadvantage Perception Roll 24, so the above Perception 14 roll is the roll to take

History/Arcana (same bonus): 3

Survival: 16

Perception: 12

Vishnu will cautiously send out her mage hand to prod the body, and see if it reacts.

"Ligero." Kalak utter as he taps his quarterstaff on the ground, setting it aglow with some welcome light in the otherwise dark room.

Now able to see his takes a look around his new surroundings.

Perception: 9

Quadere looks around, checking for signs of previous travelers, their current location, and other clues for their mission.

Arcana 15

History 15