Varielky looks at Mittens and Ednyss, strangely about the same height as her now that she's crouching. "I don't see any signs of poison," she says as she stands up, talking to all those around her, "but there's something else about these bodies. Their wounds don't look like the ones made by daggers. Even if you stab someone directly with a dagger, it creates a larger wound. These wounds, however, are way too small for daggers. Probably some kind of arrow or a bolt. Based on my experience on the battlefield, I'd say these wounds were made by bolts shot out of a small crossbow. Arrow heads shot from normal bows tear some of the skin in a nasty way when piercing the skin. The size of the wound is again too small to be made by a large weapon. Definitely not one shot by an especially heavy crossbow. A very light crossbow or even one of the smallest ones you can manage with one hand is probably our culprit's weapon."She talked a lot. Varielky gets excited by things like this so she sometimes gets carried away with explenations. Although, at least this time, she was able to resist telling them a story about the way she came to learn this knowledge. It wasn't a particularly interesting story but it came back to her as she explained her logic to the others. "But if I'm not wrong about all this, it means someone framed it as if they killed each other with their weapons. Why would anyone do that?"
(OOC: I actually thought about giving Varielky proficiency in Medicine when creating her for that exact reason. It was either that or Perception and I ended up picking Perception because I reasoned that a surprised soldier is a dead soldier, but it's still disappointing she only has +0 in that skill. That's the problem with characters who require too many skills, along with other things...)
Dolkum looks the scene over also, looking carefully at the bodies.
Medicine 5
What do you suppose killed them?
Dolkum's high Medicine proficiency allows him to quickly come to an expert opinion that Varielky is correct (despite his low roll), and they died from weapon wounds.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries //Dev Horndin Curious Critters
Mittens stands a few feet away from the bodies, musing over the recent events. Yes, those were crossbow wounds, he thinks. After pondering for a moment, he says, "There was a mage earlier. If those people were heading this way, maybe they'll try to climb the wall of amphitheater with the help of magic. We-" He jumps up a few feet in surprise and yelps as as his spell pings in his head. Tension has a tendency to increase shock. He says almost excitedly as he pumps his fist, "Yes! Someone's messing with the cart! I knew it was a good idea to ward it!" Pooky leaps off of his shoulders and begins bounding towards the building with the carts in it, a streak in the night air. Giddy at his successful enchantment, he says, "Whoever's the fastest should give me a piggy-back ride to the cart. I can see through Pooky's eyes, but I won't be able to use my own." He looks eagerly at the party.
((OOC: even though Pooky is checking it out, I think me and Varielky should go along. Pooky is faster than everyone else, but if the bad dudes are with the cart, they would have a big head start on us if we waited for Pooky to report back. If the two of us trailed behind, then at least we would be closer and therefore could respond to the situation faster. I hope that makes sense.))
Varielky looks at Mittens and Ednyss, strangely about the same height as her now that she's crouching. "I don't see any signs of poison," she says as she stands up, talking to all those around her, "but there's something else about these bodies. Their wounds don't look like the ones made by daggers. Even if you stab someone directly with a dagger, it creates a larger wound. These wounds, however, are way too small for daggers. Probably some kind of arrow or a bolt. Based on my experience on the battlefield, I'd say these wounds were made by bolts shot out of a small crossbow. Arrow heads shot from normal bows tear some of the skin in a nasty way when piercing the skin. The size of the wound is again too small to be made by a large weapon. Definitely not one shot by an especially heavy crossbow. A very light crossbow or even one of the smallest ones you can manage with one hand is probably our culprit's weapon."She talked a lot. Varielky gets excited by things like this so she sometimes gets carried away with explenations. Although, at least this time, she was able to resist telling them a story about the way she came to learn this knowledge. It wasn't a particularly interesting story but it came back to her as she explained her logic to the others. "But if I'm not wrong about all this, it means someone framed it as if they killed each other with their weapons. Why would anyone do that?"
(.)
At Varielky’s words, the Orracan woman’s wide mouth pulls into a frown. “Yeah, but...Who are these guys & what were they doing back here. Something makes me think you know more than you’ve said?”
That’s when Mittens speaks up and Pookie zips off. The Orracan woman sends the dwarf back to get another couple of guards. He returns to the wall while the Orracan woman goes with you.
(OOC: Mittens movement rate is the same as the dwarves, so only Varielky and the Orracan guard would move faster. I think everyone would move together so I’m going to have you arrive in a minute to the carriage house as a group. The carriage is parked inside near the middle and from the outside everything looks as it should. Do you answer her on the way there?.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries //Dev Horndin Curious Critters
"Have you heard about what happened during the Beauty Pageant? That's why I was searching for poison. As for determining what caused the wounds, I was trained with many weapons and also fought in large battles. That's what I know from personal experience. As for the bodies themselves, I don't know them. I don't think so, at least. I didn't even see them at first, I only followed the others."
The guards lead you on a shortcut through the little arbor toward the rear of the amphitheater and the carriage path which leads around the amphitheater to the carriage house. You can see lanterns at the stage entrance of the amphitheater, where a guard sits on a chair just outside. He stands up and runs over as the Orracan woman flags him, and orders when he’s close, “Get Jamaal from inside. Send him back over to tower eight. Couple of dead men on the grounds.” The new guard grimaces then hurries back, opens the stage door -- music floods out, building to a climax -- then closes it. A few moments later, and an Orracan man comes from inside wearing a kaftan and the palace livery. The stage door is behind you now. The Orracan man looks toward your group, then, holding a lantern, jogs back the way you came.
In another minute, you approach the carriage house. The pathway forks here, one branch going alongside on the right, the other going around it on the left, and one leading straight into the building. It is an enormous barn-like structure. The wall which faces you is 100’ wide, with large barn doors open towards the right. You can look in and see the building stretches back 500’, lit inside and out at intervals by hanging lanterns. The 2nd story is a 20’ wide floor encircling the building within the walls, with a 60’ opening in the middle stretching the length of the building. Heavy beams support it and extend up to the roof. The right side of the interior is a long corridor or road, with imperial carriages parked against the wall. The left side of the interior is a series of many open stalls, separated by waist-high wooden barriers. The construction is well-measured and flawlessly joined, the exterior is painted white with black detailing, and the overall effect is refined. Hay covers the floor, and seems to have been freshly changed along the interior corridor.
Many carriages are parked in the stalls. There are overhangs along the left and right sides of the structure, which provide coverage from rainfall (although tonight it is clear and crisp), and on the right are ornate posts where individual horses are tied.
Guards in palace livery sits in chairs on either side of the entrance. When they see you, they both stand up inquiringly and walk over to meet the long-headed Orracan woman, and you. Pookie was there first, and the guards stare but seeing he’s with you, don’t give him too much notice and he can continue inside (or wherever).
The Orracan woman asks the two guards if they’ve seen anything odd, and they say no.
Several of the carriages in this illustration are marked for your identification (the round color dabs are not objects). Your carriage is the one beside the white swirl. It is bordered on the left by a carriage beautifully lacquered in an orange floral pattern, whose drivers are there, one of whom is opening the half-door in front of the carriage to allow it egress from the structure. To the right of your carriage, an older black-lacquered coach with gold trim.
They are all three closed carriages, like this but with much smaller windows and curtains within.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Orange floral pattern? Like the 2 guards we curious about earlier? We also should wary of further magical trickery. Somebody has cast an illusion on us once already, who is to say they've not done it to us again?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
((OOC: It's probably too late, but Mittens would have spied through Pooky's eyes while everyone else traveled if that makes any difference.))
As they enter, Mittens says, "If you guys begin searching the area, I want to check inside the carriages to see if any one is hiding in them." With that, he walks to the nearest carriage and makes Pooky banish with a slight pop. Mittens will hop up and peek through the windows and if he can see into them, Pooky materializes inside the carriage. If not, he uses prestidigitation to open any curtains so he can see inside. If he spots nothing, he moves to the next carriage and repeats the process. If he doesn't find anything by the time he reaches their carriage, he does the same thing with Pooky as he walks around and checks the wagon. He looks for anything that seems out of place: a symbol, small package, any missing parts, etc. He'll even go underneath the carriage and check out the bottom, after which he checks the wheels. He the scrutinizes the horses to make sure that they were the same horses as the ones they rolled in on. He'll then hop on top of the carriage with his boots to look on the top. If he finds nothing, he moves to the next ones and peeks inside with Pooky. If he still doesn't find anything, he'll use his boots to jump up to the second floor (if possible) and see if anyone's up there.
Not sure which on would work best (Pooky assists on both):
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Searching carriages. Good idea. I'll look underneath.
Dolkum stows his sword and hammer, and starts searching underneath the carriages looking for anything suspicious tucked in between the axles and the chassis, starting with their own carriage and moving on to the one to the north.
The exclamation mark-headed Orracan woman guard tells the two carriage house guards about the two dead footmen, and says, “I’m gonna go to the control room and give ‘em a heads up, n’see if they saw anything. Folks from six and seven are headed over here. These footmen say their carriage was bumped. Help ‘em out, they lent a hand back there.”
Meanwhile, you enter the carriage house as the music from the amphitheater continues to crescendo toward a finale. It sounds something like this: https://youtu.be/vWwJA1b2l7g
Toward the far end of the carriage house, you see in the lamplight an old married couple you’d seen before on the street earlier this afternoon, getting into a chaise-plus-two in steely silence, apparently leaving the performance early. Closer, several of the carriage drivers are still sitting on their driving bench, perhaps having remained there throughout the performance. One is brushing crumbs from his livery jacket, perhaps having eaten while waiting.
The lead horse pulling the carriage with the orange floral lacquer is being difficult. It is whinnying and rearing. The other team horses recoil and the fourth horse backpedals into the carriage, which shudders, tilts, and is shoved back a foot with a bang , threatening to throw the driver. The two footmen regain control. The one at the stall gate, which he has opened, grabs the lead horse’s halter and gives it a good pull and speaks quietly to the horse, which is snorting and holding its head high but begins to calm.
Mittens and Pookie begin moving south, examining carriages one by one. It will take one round per carriage to move around, jump, examine, teleport Pookie inside.
We’ll assume Ednyss keeps pace with Mittens until we hear otherwise.
What do Varielky & Dolkum do meanwhile?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries //Dev Horndin Curious Critters
"It sounds like the opera is over. Can you manage here? I'll go meet the others and come back with them. I'm sure the dwarf will be very unhappy if he sees none of us stayed waiting for them." If the others confirm they'll do fine by themselves, Varielky will go to the opera house's entrance and wait for Benita and the two dwarves. The sooner they'll leave this place will probably be the better. Besides, the others were somewhat capable warriors, they could at least hold their lives until she returns if something goes wrong.
"It sounds like the opera is over. Can you manage here? I'll go meet the others and come back with them. I'm sure the dwarf will be very unhappy if he sees none of us stayed waiting for them." If the others confirm they'll do fine by themselves, Varielky will go to the opera house's entrance and wait for Benita and the two dwarves. The sooner they'll leave this place will probably be the better. Besides, the others were somewhat capable warriors, they could at least hold their lives until she returns if something goes wrong.
(OOC: It's not over yet, it's ending imminently. They'll clap and mill about. You have 5 or 10 minutes.)
"So, tiny warrior, what exactly are we looking for? If someone messed with our cart, one of the people here would have probably noticed. Unless it was one of those who can appear and disappear out of nowhere like the one I saw atop the aqueduct. If it is one of them, however, you probably won't be able to find them. Also, why would they try to get to our cart? I don't think anything valuable was inside. How exactly do you know someone really tried to mess with it?"
Ednyss and Varielky are walking with Mittens as he and Pookie explore the interior of each closed carriage. The first five carriages are unoccupied. Current locations: Mittens I-3, Varielky, H-3, Ednyss, G-3.
Dolkum is at I-11, looking at the axles under your carriage. It took 5 rounds to get there. Dolkum finds nothing under the carriage. He looks up as the neighboring carriage - the floral-design one, moves forward a few feet, and the footman holding the lead horse’s harness comes into view in the outdoor lamplight. Dolkum notes that the footman’s face is exactly the same as one of the dead men they found in the arbor. The similarity is uncanny. The footman was too occupied to note Dolkum before and is now surprised to see Dolkum looking at him. The driver notes this and turns around to also look at Dolkum. The driver could be the identical twin of the other dead man Dolkum saw in the arbor.
Dolkum, roll perception.
As both of their attention focuses on Dolkum, the horses whinny and rear back once again, and the carriage rolls back and to the side, threatening to pin Dolkum under it.
Dolkum, roll DEX save vs DC10 to avoid the carriage. If you miss, roll STR save vs DC15 or be pinned (“grappled”) under the carriage wheel.
The footman on the ground is now out of view of Varielky, Ednyss, Mittens, and Pookie. The driver can be seen by all four, his back is turned. All four roll perception to notice something else.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries //Dev Horndin Curious Critters
"Priest of Idiwala look out!" Varielky yells when the carriage tips over. She then runs to see whether or not he managed to evade the hazard. After all, a warrior isn't only measured by their ability to clash swords with another. Sharp instincts and quick reflexes also mean a lot. The small sparring match they had earlier was not even nearly enough to appreciate him fully and she was not going to neglect her holy duty.
Mittens says to Varielky's question, "Someone tripped my alarm, so that means that someone was touching or very close to it. It's better to be safe than sorry. I'm just looking to see if we can find any of those people from before, and I'm checking the cart to see if it has been tampered with."
Seeing the cart almost roll back on Dolkum, Mittens says, "Woah! Are you okay?"
Varielky looks at Mittens and Ednyss, strangely about the same height as her now that she's crouching. "I don't see any signs of poison," she says as she stands up, talking to all those around her, "but there's something else about these bodies. Their wounds don't look like the ones made by daggers. Even if you stab someone directly with a dagger, it creates a larger wound. These wounds, however, are way too small for daggers. Probably some kind of arrow or a bolt. Based on my experience on the battlefield, I'd say these wounds were made by bolts shot out of a small crossbow. Arrow heads shot from normal bows tear some of the skin in a nasty way when piercing the skin. The size of the wound is again too small to be made by a large weapon. Definitely not one shot by an especially heavy crossbow. A very light crossbow or even one of the smallest ones you can manage with one hand is probably our culprit's weapon." She talked a lot. Varielky gets excited by things like this so she sometimes gets carried away with explenations. Although, at least this time, she was able to resist telling them a story about the way she came to learn this knowledge. It wasn't a particularly interesting story but it came back to her as she explained her logic to the others. "But if I'm not wrong about all this, it means someone framed it as if they killed each other with their weapons. Why would anyone do that?"
(OOC: I actually thought about giving Varielky proficiency in Medicine when creating her for that exact reason. It was either that or Perception and I ended up picking Perception because I reasoned that a surprised soldier is a dead soldier, but it's still disappointing she only has +0 in that skill. That's the problem with characters who require too many skills, along with other things...)
Varielky
Dolkum's high Medicine proficiency allows him to quickly come to an expert opinion that Varielky is correct (despite his low roll), and they died from weapon wounds.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
Possibly whoever did this is trying to cover something else up?
Mittens stands a few feet away from the bodies, musing over the recent events. Yes, those were crossbow wounds, he thinks. After pondering for a moment, he says, "There was a mage earlier. If those people were heading this way, maybe they'll try to climb the wall of amphitheater with the help of magic. We-" He jumps up a few feet in surprise and yelps as as his spell pings in his head. Tension has a tendency to increase shock. He says almost excitedly as he pumps his fist, "Yes! Someone's messing with the cart! I knew it was a good idea to ward it!" Pooky leaps off of his shoulders and begins bounding towards the building with the carts in it, a streak in the night air. Giddy at his successful enchantment, he says, "Whoever's the fastest should give me a piggy-back ride to the cart. I can see through Pooky's eyes, but I won't be able to use my own." He looks eagerly at the party.
((OOC: even though Pooky is checking it out, I think me and Varielky should go along. Pooky is faster than everyone else, but if the bad dudes are with the cart, they would have a big head start on us if we waited for Pooky to report back. If the two of us trailed behind, then at least we would be closer and therefore could respond to the situation faster. I hope that makes sense.))
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
let's go to the cart at our best speed
Halneak sets off after Pookie
At Varielky’s words, the Orracan woman’s wide mouth pulls into a frown. “Yeah, but...Who are these guys & what were they doing back here. Something makes me think you know more than you’ve said?”
That’s when Mittens speaks up and Pookie zips off. The Orracan woman sends the dwarf back to get another couple of guards. He returns to the wall while the Orracan woman goes with you.
(OOC: Mittens movement rate is the same as the dwarves, so only Varielky and the Orracan guard would move faster. I think everyone would move together so I’m going to have you arrive in a minute to the carriage house as a group. The carriage is parked inside near the middle and from the outside everything looks as it should. Do you answer her on the way there?.)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
"Have you heard about what happened during the Beauty Pageant? That's why I was searching for poison. As for determining what caused the wounds, I was trained with many weapons and also fought in large battles. That's what I know from personal experience. As for the bodies themselves, I don't know them. I don't think so, at least. I didn't even see them at first, I only followed the others."
Varielky
The guards lead you on a shortcut through the little arbor toward the rear of the amphitheater and the carriage path which leads around the amphitheater to the carriage house. You can see lanterns at the stage entrance of the amphitheater, where a guard sits on a chair just outside. He stands up and runs over as the Orracan woman flags him, and orders when he’s close, “Get Jamaal from inside. Send him back over to tower eight. Couple of dead men on the grounds.” The new guard grimaces then hurries back, opens the stage door -- music floods out, building to a climax -- then closes it. A few moments later, and an Orracan man comes from inside wearing a kaftan and the palace livery. The stage door is behind you now. The Orracan man looks toward your group, then, holding a lantern, jogs back the way you came.
In another minute, you approach the carriage house. The pathway forks here, one branch going alongside on the right, the other going around it on the left, and one leading straight into the building. It is an enormous barn-like structure. The wall which faces you is 100’ wide, with large barn doors open towards the right. You can look in and see the building stretches back 500’, lit inside and out at intervals by hanging lanterns. The 2nd story is a 20’ wide floor encircling the building within the walls, with a 60’ opening in the middle stretching the length of the building. Heavy beams support it and extend up to the roof. The right side of the interior is a long corridor or road, with imperial carriages parked against the wall. The left side of the interior is a series of many open stalls, separated by waist-high wooden barriers. The construction is well-measured and flawlessly joined, the exterior is painted white with black detailing, and the overall effect is refined. Hay covers the floor, and seems to have been freshly changed along the interior corridor.
Many carriages are parked in the stalls. There are overhangs along the left and right sides of the structure, which provide coverage from rainfall (although tonight it is clear and crisp), and on the right are ornate posts where individual horses are tied.
Guards in palace livery sits in chairs on either side of the entrance. When they see you, they both stand up inquiringly and walk over to meet the long-headed Orracan woman, and you. Pookie was there first, and the guards stare but seeing he’s with you, don’t give him too much notice and he can continue inside (or wherever).
The Orracan woman asks the two guards if they’ve seen anything odd, and they say no.
Here is a map of the carriage house. (1 square = 10'). You are at the top left corner of the map.
Several of the carriages in this illustration are marked for your identification (the round color dabs are not objects). Your carriage is the one beside the white swirl. It is bordered on the left by a carriage beautifully lacquered in an orange floral pattern, whose drivers are there, one of whom is opening the half-door in front of the carriage to allow it egress from the structure. To the right of your carriage, an older black-lacquered coach with gold trim.
They are all three closed carriages, like this but with much smaller windows and curtains within.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
Orange floral pattern? Like the 2 guards we curious about earlier? We also should wary of further magical trickery. Somebody has cast an illusion on us once already, who is to say they've not done it to us again?
Perception 21
Yes, the patterns are one and the same.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
((OOC: It's probably too late, but Mittens would have spied through Pooky's eyes while everyone else traveled if that makes any difference.))
As they enter, Mittens says, "If you guys begin searching the area, I want to check inside the carriages to see if any one is hiding in them." With that, he walks to the nearest carriage and makes Pooky banish with a slight pop. Mittens will hop up and peek through the windows and if he can see into them, Pooky materializes inside the carriage. If not, he uses prestidigitation to open any curtains so he can see inside. If he spots nothing, he moves to the next carriage and repeats the process. If he doesn't find anything by the time he reaches their carriage, he does the same thing with Pooky as he walks around and checks the wagon. He looks for anything that seems out of place: a symbol, small package, any missing parts, etc. He'll even go underneath the carriage and check out the bottom, after which he checks the wheels. He the scrutinizes the horses to make sure that they were the same horses as the ones they rolled in on. He'll then hop on top of the carriage with his boots to look on the top. If he finds nothing, he moves to the next ones and peeks inside with Pooky. If he still doesn't find anything, he'll use his boots to jump up to the second floor (if possible) and see if anyone's up there.
Not sure which on would work best (Pooky assists on both):
Perception: 4
Investigation: 20
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
Searching carriages. Good idea. I'll look underneath.
Dolkum stows his sword and hammer, and starts searching underneath the carriages looking for anything suspicious tucked in between the axles and the chassis, starting with their own carriage and moving on to the one to the north.
Perception 19
The exclamation mark-headed Orracan woman guard tells the two carriage house guards about the two dead footmen, and says, “I’m gonna go to the control room and give ‘em a heads up, n’see if they saw anything. Folks from six and seven are headed over here. These footmen say their carriage was bumped. Help ‘em out, they lent a hand back there.”
Meanwhile, you enter the carriage house as the music from the amphitheater continues to crescendo toward a finale. It sounds something like this: https://youtu.be/vWwJA1b2l7g
Toward the far end of the carriage house, you see in the lamplight an old married couple you’d seen before on the street earlier this afternoon, getting into a chaise-plus-two in steely silence, apparently leaving the performance early. Closer, several of the carriage drivers are still sitting on their driving bench, perhaps having remained there throughout the performance. One is brushing crumbs from his livery jacket, perhaps having eaten while waiting.
The lead horse pulling the carriage with the orange floral lacquer is being difficult. It is whinnying and rearing. The other team horses recoil and the fourth horse backpedals into the carriage, which shudders, tilts, and is shoved back a foot with a bang , threatening to throw the driver. The two footmen regain control. The one at the stall gate, which he has opened, grabs the lead horse’s halter and gives it a good pull and speaks quietly to the horse, which is snorting and holding its head high but begins to calm.
Mittens and Pookie begin moving south, examining carriages one by one. It will take one round per carriage to move around, jump, examine, teleport Pookie inside.
We’ll assume Ednyss keeps pace with Mittens until we hear otherwise.
What do Varielky & Dolkum do meanwhile?
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
"It sounds like the opera is over. Can you manage here? I'll go meet the others and come back with them. I'm sure the dwarf will be very unhappy if he sees none of us stayed waiting for them." If the others confirm they'll do fine by themselves, Varielky will go to the opera house's entrance and wait for Benita and the two dwarves. The sooner they'll leave this place will probably be the better. Besides, the others were somewhat capable warriors, they could at least hold their lives until she returns if something goes wrong.
Varielky
(OOC: It's not over yet, it's ending imminently. They'll clap and mill about. You have 5 or 10 minutes.)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
(OOC: Ignore that post then.)
"So, tiny warrior, what exactly are we looking for? If someone messed with our cart, one of the people here would have probably noticed. Unless it was one of those who can appear and disappear out of nowhere like the one I saw atop the aqueduct. If it is one of them, however, you probably won't be able to find them. Also, why would they try to get to our cart? I don't think anything valuable was inside. How exactly do you know someone really tried to mess with it?"
Varielky
Here is a detail of the carriage house. https://drive.google.com/file/d/142w8L6AtZfUNPBgxbb9EMVfZmQQbS6PG/view?usp=sharing
Ednyss and Varielky are walking with Mittens as he and Pookie explore the interior of each closed carriage. The first five carriages are unoccupied. Current locations: Mittens I-3, Varielky, H-3, Ednyss, G-3.
Dolkum is at I-11, looking at the axles under your carriage. It took 5 rounds to get there. Dolkum finds nothing under the carriage. He looks up as the neighboring carriage - the floral-design one, moves forward a few feet, and the footman holding the lead horse’s harness comes into view in the outdoor lamplight. Dolkum notes that the footman’s face is exactly the same as one of the dead men they found in the arbor. The similarity is uncanny. The footman was too occupied to note Dolkum before and is now surprised to see Dolkum looking at him. The driver notes this and turns around to also look at Dolkum. The driver could be the identical twin of the other dead man Dolkum saw in the arbor.
Dolkum, roll perception.
As both of their attention focuses on Dolkum, the horses whinny and rear back once again, and the carriage rolls back and to the side, threatening to pin Dolkum under it.
Dolkum, roll DEX save vs DC10 to avoid the carriage. If you miss, roll STR save vs DC15 or be pinned (“grappled”) under the carriage wheel.
The footman on the ground is now out of view of Varielky, Ednyss, Mittens, and Pookie. The driver can be seen by all four, his back is turned. All four roll perception to notice something else.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
Perception: 19
"Priest of Idiwala look out!" Varielky yells when the carriage tips over. She then runs to see whether or not he managed to evade the hazard. After all, a warrior isn't only measured by their ability to clash swords with another. Sharp instincts and quick reflexes also mean a lot. The small sparring match they had earlier was not even nearly enough to appreciate him fully and she was not going to neglect her holy duty.
Varielky
'tis better to have a look and make certain there is no mischief about...
Dolkum stops in mid sentance, staring at a face he'd seen quite recently he turns almost pale... just when the carriage starts to roll over on him.
Perception 7
Dexterity 4
Strength 23
Mittens says to Varielky's question, "Someone tripped my alarm, so that means that someone was touching or very close to it. It's better to be safe than sorry. I'm just looking to see if we can find any of those people from before, and I'm checking the cart to see if it has been tampered with."
Seeing the cart almost roll back on Dolkum, Mittens says, "Woah! Are you okay?"
Perception: 11
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable