D&D 5E The Kalarian Precipice - Chapter Four

For the few who dared continue to delve and dig, competition was fierce. With no legal needs to draw lines and no tenements written to council scrolls, the operations had quickly become unstable and anarchistic. Securing sites deep within black seaside walls required constant vigil. The placement of devious “consequences” shall we say, was commonplace. An argument over a shared tunnel’s use and delays in night-enshrouded extraction might lead to heavy words. A scuffle. A clashing of teams in a blood soaked, ugly, tribal and all too primitive altercation.

Many unlucky, unprepared, outnumbered and greedy of these souls found their way to the oceans below. A salty, ever-shifting and boiling final rest for those that knowingly broke the law. Kalair’s guards didn’t even bother patrolling the site anymore. It was too dangerous and the violators seemed helpfully bent on self-destruction anyway. Let natural attrition deal with them.

A stubby hand grasped for the next oaken rod, a shaft with holes cut to both sides where hemp rope was tidily knotted. Another rung in the ladder. Around him the night was cool and still. Above, his fellow prospector continued the laborious movements upwards.

They were tied together, literally, with both rope as a last resort and also in spirit. Rinkab and his brother had their own special spot. A small cavern with tiny glittering prizes, like shimmering crustaceans upon a ship’s pitch black hull. The job was dangerous, nobody would proclaim otherwise, but they had their reasons; an appreciative and suitably powerful master, the thrill of secrets, and a good bag full of perks. Rinkab and Bolof lived well, Arrank their father too, the latter having a knack for wheeling and dealing, but preferring not to do the dirty work. Let the young ones, more sound of body take care of such tasks.

Moments later, Rinkab, the lower of the two dwarves screamed.

“Frayed!”

This was no accident. Someone had sabotaged their most important tool! Why, oh why hadn’t they checked it? Probably because they never saw someone rummage in their packs whilst their attention lay elsewhere. Black walls. Beautiful stones. Prospector’s excitement....

“BOLOF!”

By the time Bolof felt the not-so-safe safety line tighten around his waist, it was too late. A brother’s weight yanked at him, pulling his grip free and clear of the only way up. He plummeted, cutting through the air like a tumbling boulder.

Below him, Rinkab’s fingers grated against rough stone, reaching out, grabbing and praying for something to act as saviour. Like any dwarf, his upper body strength was formidable, thick arms of stocky muscle went hard at work. A small ledge! He got one hand on it. The weight on the safety line disappeared as it went slack. Then his friend whistled past in a blur. Bolof’s trajectory would see no chances to avoid fate. He was too far out, lost in the air, the kiss of the sea was inevitable.

Rinkab had mere seconds to make his choice. Wisdom and ethics, tossed to the side when only one instinct screams from within. Survive! With his free hand, he whipped out a short-handled blade and cut the lifeline. His soul was severed equally with the slash. There was a splash far below many seconds later, just as he crawled up onto a narrow protrusion of stone.

He wasn’t alone. A messy circlet of sticks and shells was occupied by a roosting seabird. It fluttered wings and threateningly pecked in his direction, cawwww!

Wrapped in shock, sorrow and bursting with adrenaline fueled despair, Rinkab paid the local wildlife no heed. He slid himself tighter against the ledge. Somehow, between night’s shadow, black stone and a bitter heart, something even darker caught his eye. Behind the nest. A black hole like a pupil within an obsidian eye, it started at him. A cavity? Did he have the strength and will to slide inside? If anyone wished to find him, they need only follow the trail of tears.



Having rejuvenated their spirits, purpose, bodies and minds, our brave explorers make their way through the next section of crevice. This one is long and viscous as a bat's claws in the way it sharply twists. This is no miner’s doing. Something in the shadows of the past caused great earth movement here.

You proceed warily forwards, eventually breathing a sigh of relief as the wall’s grip on you loosens. Is that the most horrid smell of bat guano? Must be, but mixed with an aroma of old salt too. Peeking into what must be a massive open space ahead, you are stunned at what lays before you. This cavern is some fifty feet in radius, so wide in fact that your flames and magical lights fail to reach the other side. A good sized ledge runs to your left and right, a rim around what appears to be an exceptionally wide… and deep… hole. Just on the edge of your light, you might spot roughly assembled steps leading downwards. These aren’t carved stone, no, they are merely large boulders and chunks of basalt that have been arranged into a precarious-looking way down.

Those with the gift of darkvision can see two other ways ahead. A walk around the perimeter of the ledge would lead to two dark shaded breaks in the wall.

Above you, many tens of feet beyond your reach, bats cling to ragged craggy stone and click, flutter and squeak. With their earlier attempt to go somewhere foiled, they seem happy enough to keep you at a distance. Their clicking reflects your presence back to them, but with no manners, the occasional fall of poop from high above seems uncomfortably likely.

Annit

Young Annit’s eyes widen as the empty void becomes visible ahead. At last, some space, a reminder of the world beyond these walls where a sea churns and sunlight burns. The cause of this expanse is a mystery to her. Father never mentioned the possibility of such an environment underground. It was all meant to be narrow tunnels, pits and ladders.

“Something happened here,” she quietly observes, not meaning to state the obvious, but more out of true surprise. Were those bats roamers of outside air at night? If so, how did they get there?

With open spaces came different techniques. For now her dagger would be stowed away, and a shortbow was drawn and readied. It was up to her companions as to where they would tread next. Not too close to the ledge’s edge would be wise.

Jeovanna: Watch your step

In no small way, Jeovanna is happy for the cave to open. The plunge into another great hole- that is less promising. And... ugh... bats.

For the moment, Jeovanna kept both weapons close to hand- but she kept the cavern wall close to hand as well!

Otiroth: Watch your step

"Well," Otiroth said with a wry smile as a bit of guano landed on his shoulder, "at least it is a potent spell component. I'll have no shortage after this."

But any stray droppings could be prestidigitation'd away.

Otiroth would use his dancing lights to cast dim light all around them- behind and in front- and near the edge of the drop, as well. He suspected it lead off into the ocean, but had no desire to take the plunge. The presence of bats, as well, did not denote their own safety; they were perhaps too small to set off traps, or to serve as food for any big beast that lived down here.

They would work their way around the full circle of the area first, before they'd have to decide which path the take onwards.

Metea: Watch your step

Before they headed on down one of the paths, Metea would briefly drop to all fours and scuttle over near the pit. It was a motion that looked oddly natural on the tailed tiefling; perhaps tieflings were meant to skulk?

Mostly, she wanted additional feeling of security before she peeked over the edge. She could deal with the grossness of touching crusted bat guano later.

What was down there, in the dark? Was it worth even giving it a second thought?

They did not exactly have ways to board this one up!

<Investigation: 12>

Carthum One-Tusk: Watch Your Step

"In times past, salt was more valuable than any gold or gemstone! I wonder if such mundane things hold a power we never quite appreciated?" Carthum was musing aloud, but Otiroth went on to talk about bat guano being used for spells, and that just lead the half-orc to think... maybe he was right?

Old salt, it pinged at his nostrils in a way the humans probably couldn't quite appreciate. Bestial senses were the pride of his ancestry, after all. He imagined a pure-blooded orc would be even more irritated!

Carthum had eyes out for something else as well; light! While his shield still glowed, his dark-vision- or Metea's- could possibly pick out natural light in the area.

He didn't like Metea moving towards the edge and would approach. Briefly, while she flirted with insanity, he'd either pass the dwarf off to another or lay him down for now. If it looked like she were going over, he'd grab her tail and yank her back.

Sometimes, Metea needed her feathers ruffled to remind her that there were real dangers out there...

Dain - Watch Your Step

Dain emerged from the winding crevice with the others, happy to have some space around him. It seemed like too long since he had breathed fresh air, and the stench of dung and salt did little to appease his desire for a clean wind and a bath in a mountain stream.

A yawning pit. With the sea below? It has the looks of a grave.

"Something surely did happen here. Maybe yesterday, maybe a century ago. Let us try and make certain we do not become part of the mystery." Dain moved around the circle with this torch, seeking either to circumnavigate the hole or to find some other way out. Passing the boulder path that descended into the pit, he gave it a look. His ears and his eyes sought the shadows. Coming to a path leading to his right, he stopped and thrust his torch in that direction. In his other hand, of course, was his sword.

<Perception check: Natty 20+5=25 Dain sees ALL>

Watch Your Step

The sorcerer’s lights frolic about, covering a great distance and providing much needed extra visibility to your survey. It's a dizzying drop, Metea would gaze upon. The base of the void is right at the edge of a Tiefling’s aptitude for seeking within darkness. Occasionally it might reflect a tiny twinkle of their light from above, as it is water down there. Well, liquid at least, moving with subtle ripples atop. The walls of this sinkhole however, want to conceal themselves. For the first few yards stone descends vertically until disappearing from sight. Some of this ledge her colleagues tread upon is probably an overhang. Good thing it seems sturdy. Sections of the sinkhole’s walls appear to be pock-marked with other holes, some round and the result of excavation, others cracks and crevices much like those you are becoming familiar with.

Eyes sharp and absorbing detail, Dain’s stride to the ramp of stacked boulders reveals that the construction is haphazard and quite random. The blocks range from small pieces some foot across, to large chunks of basalt some yards in width. This wasn’t built in a day, that's for sure, but is it “safe”? Conducting a visual risk assessment, the results come in as a medium threat. Unsure footing or proceeding in a rush would not be advisable. It would be a physical workout too, your calf muscles and lower body begin to ache just thinking about it. Some safety related plans might be wise if this way is your choice. Agility and strength would be key.

Continuing past this discovery and meeting with a potential exit, Dain’s torchlight illuminates another, larger, theoretically natural break in the rock. A wide split, enough for two to walk side-by-side extends several yards within before turning a corner and disappearing from view. The other exit if explored by your colleagues will reveal a similar situation.

As the group fans out in it's investigations, Annit stands beside the Dwarf, now resting on the ledge. Her bow is raised and scanning an arc through the distance. If anything is going to pop out, hopefully she will be ready. “Interesting,” she says when the priest begins to talk of salt. They are crystals indeed, and she had never really thought of that. So simple, and not impossible. “Lets hope it doesn't get rubbed on any wounds today,” the rogue remarks jokingly.

Jeovanna: Watch your step

"What do you see?" Jeovanna asked the others.

The potential exertion worried her very little, but it remained a foreign sort of terrain. "If one route does lead to the sea, the bats would have found it." So, if they wanted to reach 'the other side'... follow the guano.

Was that the plan? They could always back-track later- there had been paths they missed before, though some of them had been too thin to safely traverse.

Otiroth: Watch your step

Otiroth nodded at Carthum's mention of salt. "It's already worth a lot in trade, even today. The cliffs are so steep, getting sea salt reliably is difficult. Perhaps, if we go that deep, we can grab some for our own personal use, or so that we actually have something we can trade without being hung," the sorcerer went onto suggest.

He knew this was another 'counting your chickens' situation as Dain had mentioned, but it could not hurt to have goals. Besides, Otiroth could think of some other uses for salt; proper salt, undiluted with flour like it so often was, would no doubt spice up the promised meal considerably.

As for what path to take, well, they had forged on pretty straight so far, heading towards what they imagined would be the 'bottom' of the mine. It had taken them to great peril, but also great treasure, and it seemed that perhaps they should continue that course? At least for now. The fact that this all seemed so untouched by human perfection made him think that there would be no traps other than natural pitfalls, but they shouldn't just assume this.