Chilling Adventures in the North

Shad swings across the gap on the rope and lands with ease just behind Arogna and Qinfaren. Then with the help provided to him, Muharg clamours up the side of cliff and up into the cave.

Arogna picks up the package and wipes off the blood. She is still cursing. "What kinda welcome is that! Hey, Muharg, thanks for tryin' ta come over," she adds with a grin. "I'da given up after the first try, but you don't quit, do ya."

"You gonna come, Bjorn?" She stares at Blue, then looks to see how far back the cave goes, so she can advise whether it's worth jumping the gap. "You find that out here? He seems ta like you."

Arogna looks around the cave and confirms that the cave is about sixty feet deep and seventy feet wide. However, the door at the back of the cave is still ajar and must lead further into the mountain. If Artus Cimber is really here, he must be somewhere behind the door. On the other hand, if what Beldora told you back in Bryn Shander is true, then there is a high chance of finding more undead creatures as well.

Arogna tells Bjorn about the door. "You know, it mightn't be a bad idea ta just wait right in here for a bit," she says thoughtfully. "Give it an hour or two an' see if he comes out. I've a mind to chuck all these bits down that cliff, but I spect he wants to keep 'em. We can put 'em in a pile an' keep an eye on 'em. Then if he don't come out, we can go in."

(OOC: A short rest would be helpful for Arogna here, and we could meet Blue)

Qinfaren final shakes off his surprise at their encounter with the skeletal swarm and the zombies. The dragon's skull had been his first encounter with something undead but that had been fanciful and amusing. This was different.

"I understand your reaction to the dragon skull now, Muharg." Qinfaren says. "How do these creatures come to be?"

Following Arogna's gaze, he sees the door in the back of the cave.

"I could go down, make myself disappear and have a look through the doorway first," Qinfaren offers. "Oh, and how's everyone doing? I'm not as good a this as Shad, but I can tap into the earth's power and heal up a few wounds."

Qinfaren is about to say more when he spots Blue.

"Oh my. Where have you been keeping him?"

Shad tosses coils of one end of his rope back to Bjorn. 

"That is an amazing looking creature, Bjorn," he says. "Where did you find it? Were you childhood friends?" He also watches the door in the back of the cave. "Murhag or Arogna, the Cat Lord is feeling slightly pestered, but I can all upon them to provide healing, if you would like. After that, I may need a longer rest to be most effective."

“Thank you Shad… again.” Says as he makes it to the top of the ravine.

Muharg then nods at Arogna’s suggestion “Aye, anytime friend, and I sure could use a breather.” Then turns to Qinfaren “See? I was not joking back then, these are creatures to be wiped out from existence, foulunnatural monstrosities.” Says almost like spitting out the words. Then adds both at Qinfaren and Shad “Keep your magic for now, lads, I should be fine with a short rest.”

He then looks across at Bjorn “Come on lad! Let’s get this done! Oh! Hello there, you blue little thing! Nice to have it woth you, lad!”

OOC: Taking a short rest here, please state otherwise and I’ll revert the benefits.

1 Hit Die: 11 HP

2nd Hit Die: 11 HP

You all decide to take it easy and rest up after climbing up the mountain to reach this cave and the subsequent fight with the undead. It is an opportunity to chat with each other whilst it seems rather quiet. However, there is a sense of dread emitting from behind the door.

Arogna scoops any remaining undead body parts into a heap against the cave wall, then sits down on the far side. "I ain't gonna knock on that door right now, act'lly," she says. "Gives me the creeps like. Yeah, maybe you oughta sneak in, Qinfaren."

She scrubs the bites and scratches from the undead creatures very thoroughly with handfuls of snow. "' 'S a good trick. Hurts less after an' gets the dirt out nice." 

She will listen with interest to Bjorn's explanation of Blue's presence.

Hit die 1: 11

Hit die 2:  14

Qinfaren rests for awhile first, catching his breath after the short encounter with the zombies and skeletal limbs.

(1HD w/ short rest: 6  and Natural Recovery to get 2nd Level spell slot restored).

Once he’s had a chance to rest, Qinfaren will carefully make his way across the cavern to the door that is slightly ajar.

When he’s a couple of feet from the door, he takes a deep breath, focuses for a moment and then disappears (Firbolg Hidden Step).

When invisible he sticks his beg head through the door way and takes in all that he can see, making sure to quickly back away before he loses the ability to remain unseen.

With their foe dead, Bjorn and Blue make their way across the gorge to join the rest of the deliverers. Looking at their faces the goliath looks pretty sheepish and pets Blue on the head, "Ok...so this here is Blue. I'm not quite sure how to explain it myself, but the ancestors led me to him the other night and he seems to have taken a liking to me. So it seems we may have a sixth deliverer with us? Well at least some of the time. He can't stay around very long. Only about an hour each time."

Blue walks over to the other delivers and sniff at them curiously.

Qinfaren sees a rather large space behind the door. It's too dark to see much, but the door does allow for some light to shine through. Qinfaren manages to spot six large shadows in the middle of the area that are very tall reaching up the roof of the cave, and are very still.

However, he does also catch the sound of metal striking against stone.

Muharg takes off one glove and offers the back of his hand to Blue to sniff. Once the new deliverer feels confident with him, he tries to pet him a little bit with gentle pats on the side of its neck.

”So, did you see anything Qinfaren?” Asks as the firbolg makes his way back to the group. “Let me just double check and see if the area is relatively clean behind that door.”

He then approaches the door and focuses for a moment to try and feel the presence of any undead entity in the vicinity.

Divine Sense (As an action, you can detect good and evil. Until the end of your next turn, you can sense anything affected by the hallow spell or know the location of any celestial, fiend, undead within 60 ft. that is not behind total cover.)

Murharg checks the area behind the door to try to determine if anything within is a celestial, fiend or undead. However, his senses tell him nothing. Though perhaps, they are behind total cover.

Arogna also attempts to cautiously touch Blue. "I hopes the dogs don't mind him. He's beautiful, ain't he. I guess he's magic an' all, if he keeps disappearin''."

"You want me ta try knockin'?" she says when Qinfaren and Muharg have completed their inspections.

"Sure, go ahead, but I'll be by your side this time, I didn't sense anything but they can still be hidden. Stay alert." Replies to Arogna.

Arogna knocks on the door, it echoes throughout the chamber behind but there is no response.

"You want me to try kickin'?"

Shad will let Blue get to know him. He moves slowly, so Blue is not alarmed.

"Could we sneak past whatever is in there? Is that a possibility?"

Qinfaren looks back at the others.

"I saw somethings that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, but in the dark I couldn't make our what they were," Qinfaren says. "But if I was to guess, I'd say pillars of some sort."

He looks back at the doorway as Arogna's voice still echoes.

"But there's something moving somewhere near by," Qinfaren continues. "I could hear what sounded like metal scraping on stone. A chain maybe?"

He nods as Shad speaks.

"I think if there is anything in the next chamber, it knows we're here," he pauses and smiles at Arogna, "unless it's deaf."

Qinfaren looks over at Bjorn and Blue.

"Can little Blue see in the dark? Can he fly?" Qinfaren asks. "Would he be able to stay up high away from anything that might hurt him but still be able to see if anything is hiding? And more importantly, could he tell you that afterwards?"