Lost Lab of Kwalish

Do we have the maps to tell us where those different options will lead into?

Quote from Wile_E_Coyote >>

 

 Here's the map again from earlier.  Going right will take you down to the area in view, the bottom of the mine at the edge of the water.  As you reach the spot where the tracks meet, you're able to see the opening in front of you.  As you approach, you may notice an opening to the southeast wall accessible from the floor of the mine.

The track does not end where it cuts off to the left, that just continues in the map of the next level up.

If you were to look up, you might see the central pillar connecting to the track on the East side by a wooden platform that partially surrounds the column.

Shutorn asks Ctenmiir, "My vampiric friend, which way are we trying to go exactly?"

Stealth: 10

"Depends what you're trying to do, I suppose" Ctenmiir replies.  "Both tunnels led out of Hrakhamar, but you chose this one." He pauses for a moment, thinking. "I have an idea. Why don't you just open up this box and let me scout ahead for ye a bit? Make sure that dragon's not about at the moment.  What do you say?"

23

Suggestion: make a perception check (should be at disadvantage for the waterfall) or, you could pick a direction.  Heads up: all roads lead to a dragon, it's more about how you meet the dragon.  If I don't hear anything soon I'm just going to roll dice on it.

Huarache's Stealth roll is a 20. And Huarache has no particular opinion on which direction we choose.

"I think if we want a scout, my familiar is probably better suited to the task," Dorian says. "It's much smaller than you, and much faster." Unless someone objects, he'll summon forth the owl, and use Adjust Density (10 feet faster movement, primarily) on it as it moves to the highest of the exits from the party's current location in the mine. As it disappears from view he'll merge his senses with the owl's and use its eyes and ears to perceive.

The owl (does he/she/they have a name?) enters from the split at the 5 o'clock position.  It can fly wherever it wants, just describe it's path as best you can and I'll let you know what you see.  I used the map with numbers to make things a bit easier to describe.  That cray thing at #10 (West) is a boulder tied to a rope sitting in a ledge above the track. Most other details require exploration within the spaces not in the central shaft of the mine.

If your trying to hear or see anything not obvious kr trying to be stealthy, roll for those as appropriate please.  Stealth on this level would be more visual than auditory, so no advantage from the waterfall.

Other players can choose to wait for the owl or keep moving. I'm guessing they'll wait, but pointing out that it is an option.

(The owl doesn't have a name because the owl is like a canary in a coal mine -- don't form an emotional attachment to something that could die at any time.)

Stealth: 19 Perception: 17

The owl would fly as close to the ceiling as possible and still be able to see everything -- it'll do a full circle above the railway tracks (I assume that gray jagged line between 5:00 and 6:00 is a overhang or something?) and then a pass through the caverns in 8 and 9 if it hasn't been called back before it gets to that. It should also look up as well as down in terms of the middle area. If it thinks it's been spotted, it will latch on to the closest bit of rock and try to use its natural camouflage to blend in.

"We're trying to get through these tunnels and get to the other side, so we can get on with the rest of our quest, aren't we?" Shutorn replies to the dwarven vampire in the box. "Unless, that is, you've brought us in here to pursue some personal vendetta of yours against this dragon..."

In response to Shutorn, Ctenmiir replies, "These dwarves, what mined this rock didn't care a soit for me, and now they're all long dead.  I know this place, but it was never a home to me, and those that dwelt here were n'ary my people.  My only personal goals involve getting out of this box and on with my life. Whether you finish your quest or not makes little enough difference to me, so long as I'm not stuck following around your zombified remains or sunk at the bottom of the Shining Sea, my odds seem just slightly better with you lot alive."

The blob is actually a wall that extends from the base of the cave to the surface.  The mine is a pit, so while it is pretty dark at the moment, midday it would be fully lit, that said, the minecart tracks could easily function as a ceiling for concealment purposes.

You see a tripwire at the entrance to area 8, which the owl avoids. A fire smolders in a pit in the middle of the chamber, with lizards, bats, and quippers slowly roasting on sticks propped around it. The fire illuminates the cave's kobold occupants.  As it is evening, the kobolds sleep piled atop one another on mounds of reeds that are infested with small lizards and other vermin.

Ooc: you can add investigation checks or more perception checks in this area before we continue, but either way, here's what's in area 9:

Kobold inventor and kobold underling assisting him in testing a new invention while the others sleep on the next chamber.

You see the pair from behind, mixing green slime in a pot

*additional details:

Looking up in the central area, you see a wood bridge spanning the opening of the mine from North to South, wrapping around the central pillar on the East side, connecting the north and south ridge at the surface.

  The far wall of chamber 8 has stairs that lead up and an opening in the other corner (both are on the map)

OOC: How does an inventor of any sort have an INT score of 8? The only way he's better than a standard kobold is that he has almost 50% more hitpoints. I feel like an inventor's status should be reflected by at least a positive INT modifier. Come on, WotC.

Does Huarache recognize the danger of green slime?

Quote from Shonisaurus >>

OOC: How does an inventor of any sort have an INT score of 8? The only way he's better than a standard kobold is that he has almost 50% more hitpoints. I feel like an inventor's status should be reflected by at least a positive INT modifier. Come on, WotC.

Does Huarache recognize the danger of green slime?

 I think they removed negative scores on them 

Assuming Dorian informs you it's there, you can make an intelligence (Nature) check to determine if you're aware of the general nature of green slime.

Out of area 9, the familiar is 100ft above the level the party is standing, the limit for telepathic link.  If you poke around some more places, there is more to see, and the stealthy owl probably won't draw attention, but I think what you know now is representative of what you can expect in that direction.  

So... Where does the party go? Up, down or straight?

"Ah ha! So you did live here," exclaims Shutorn, grinning at Ctenmiir's veiled confirmation of his suspicions. "At least that makes two of us that want us to get out of here alive or un-alive, as the case may be, no offense intended. Since you don't seem to have any idea about which of these directions is the one most likely to keep the rest of us alive, even though you 'know this place', and all paths being otherwise the same, I vote we go up. Dragons favor deep places for their lairs, at least that's what I've heard, and those stairs the kobolds are guarding seem promising for getting us out of here."

Nature check for green slime: 15

(Yes, Dorian would be narrating as he sees things - especially the trap) "I agree. As long as we manage to get the drop on the kobolds before they can send out an alert."