The Fey, the Far, and the Ugly Space In Between

[Binks]

One thing I forgot to mention in the post above. I'm going to grab one of the large, male alphas and drag him out of the settlement so that I may harvest him when we reach our destination beyond the maddening whispers. I won't ask Rawr to help as I want his paw to heal fully.

I'll set us up somewhere where the wind is obstructed by the landscape. I'll ask the creatures to huddle close together and to me so that we can maintain warmth out here. Once Rawr and the dog are cuddled close to me and we're out of the wind, I'll go about harvesting the skin and meat of the great wolf. When the skin is removed, I'll harvest the meat as the dog and the wolves are starving and Rawr is hungry. When they're eating, I'll get my tools to scrape the excess fat and soft-tissue free from the skin so that I might wear it. This process will take some time so I'll probably be finishing by the time the goblins return with the offering of Otthor's cloak.

Per Manbearcat
Wolves are notoriously opportunistic carnivores. The sick, lamed and dead from their pack are considered fair game when the situation is desperate...as it is now. The wolves have no compunction of eating their prior alphas. Once the bear and dog is finished, they establish an eating hierarchy and gorge on the prior leader.

This singular alpha won't be enough for them so if you want to feed them all, you'll have to go back into the settlement. You won't need to roll any Defy Danger for the madness. Your check earlier was sufficient for now.

When the goblins arrive at our location outside the settlement, I'll tell my pack of animals that I'm going to grab the other slain wolves and bring them back to harvest as well. I'll signal to the goblins my intent to the best of my ability. I can't communicate with the them as Otthor can. It should be a pretty simple pantomime though.

Per Manbearcat
It is. You're able to convey it to them without trouble. First though, they hand you Otthor's winter cloak and exchange names with you.

[sblock]Also, before I forget, I screwed up above on the Wolf Sled Team Hirelings. Their Sled score should be 3 and their Loyalty should be 0. I'll fix it when I have an opportunity.

For a move for this, we'll go with the below. Due to the amount of material you have available, you can take + 1:

Harvest Animal

When you harvest an animal for skins, furs, and meat, roll + Dex. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 1. Spend hold 1 for 1:

* Skins for boots, gloves.
* Fur for cloak, blanket.
* 1 Ration.[/sblock]

Alright, here goes.

[sblock]Harvest Animal (Dex)
2, 2 + 2 (+1) = 7.

I'll take 1 ration.[/sblock]

While I'm harvesting, I'll let them all feed in peace. There is no need for an interrogation now on what they all know of what is happening to this highland realm. Also, its going to be difficult to speak to the dog due to his deafness. He is going to need to be able to see my face and posture for us to attempt to converse about what happened to this settlement. I'll handle it when we're on our perilous journey to Earthmaw.

I rush back, grab the usable rations, and head to Saerie. I'll put out the lantern and keep it for the road. When I arrive, I'll tell her what I've found. Hopefully the goblin has fixed the rigging for the sleds and we can be off soon. Its going to be a long trek to Earthmaw. I'll agree with whatever role she wishes me to take for the 3 day journey.

[sblock]Undertake a Perilous Journey (Wis)
5, 3 + 0 = 8[/sblock]

When Otthor returns and tells me of what he found, I'm intrigued. I'm going to let him know that I'd like him to stay here with the animals and the goblins while the sleds' riggings are being repaired. I'm going to hike down to the base of the cliff and the lake's beach so I can locate the tracks on the cliff's face and attempt to find any that might be now obscured by the blizzard's snow. I want Otthor to stay here to oversee things and I don't want to risk anyone coming with me and endangering them. Rawr's still hobbled so he needs to stay here as well. I let them know that I plan to be back within a few hours, at most. If I have not returned by then, something has gone wrong.

[sblock]Hunt and Track (Wis)
2, 5 + 2 = 9

✴ On a 7+, you follow the creature’s trail until there’s a significant change in its direction or mode of travel.[/sblock]

Per Manbearcat
You don't need to roll a DD (Wis) here due to just passing it a short bit ago. However, you note clearly that the frequency and intensity of the whispers and disturbing images grow as you get closer to the water.

As you investigate, you find that the translucent, pinkish goo is frozen under several inches of snow. You're able to locate it with minimal effort. Following the trail is slow-going as you have to continuously brush aside the layers of snow, but within about 40 minutes, you discover that the trail is clearly not going into the water. It abruptly exits the large bowl that this great reservoir resides in at a snow-covered slope that gently ascends to the tundra above. You haven't traveled terribly far. Perhaps 1.5 miles or so. You can easily get back to your camp in short order since you won't be tracking.

Do you want to continue following it? If so, go ahead and H&T.

I'd like to find out where this goes or at least get a bead on it so we can follow it when we head out.

[sblock]Hunt and Track (Wis)
2, 3 + 2 = 7

✴ On a 7+, you follow the creature’s trail until there’s a significant change in its direction or mode of travel.[/sblock]

Per Manbearcat
The trail continues on a ways into the open, wind-swept tundra. You're able to track it easier up here as the wind has blown much of the snow away, leaving exposed the frozen trail of translucent goo. Perhaps another mile and change away and the tracks abruptly stop at a rocky formation, perhaps glacial deposition or some such. A tunnel cuts down into the frozen earth at a fairly steep incline. From here, its impossible to say how deep down into the impenetrable darkness it goes.

Do you want to pursue or head back?

Hmmm...perhaps a bit further. I'm going to reach into my pack and light a tinder twig to guide my way. Marked off 1 Adventuring Gear. I'm not going to explore far, so I won't need the light for very long. This should do the job. I'll pull out my elven short sword in the other hand in case things turn violent. As I step down into the tunnel, I'll very carefully descend, paying close attention to the nature of the tunnel and what is revealed by my light-source.

[sblock]Discern Realities (Wis)
6, 6 + 2 = 14. 3 questions and + 1 forward with each.

* What should I be on the lookout for?
* What here is useful or valuable to me?
* What here is not what it appears to be?[/sblock]

Per Manbearcat
I'll start from the bottom first:

3) This tunnel was formed by neither earth movement nor the excavating picks and shovels of humanoid laborers. The rocks up top are not glacial deposition. The sides of the tunnels are perfectly smooth and the rocks up top show signs of being slagged. The only thing that could have made such a tunnel is a mighty Remorhaz, the massive, centipede-like predators of frozen wastelands whose bodies radiate heat like raging infernos.

2) Perhaps 150 feet into the descending tunnel it abruptly stops in a hollow slightly larger than the tunnel carved out by the Remorhaz. Clearly this tunnel was used by human travelers as a way-station once upon a time. You find the tattered remains of a bedroll that has been unfurled. Some climbing gear is neatly arranged at one end of it (1 Adventuring Gear). Its prior owner's skeleton is curled up in the corner, probably dead from freezing to death (common in this place).

The trail culminates in a large, hardened chrysalis, plastered to the ceiling/wall interface in the back of this cubby. A pile of frozen goop lies below it. It's opaque enough that you cannot clearly see within. It's translucent enough that you can see shadows of something moving within the internal the fluid.

1) Signs of imminent collapse. The Remorhaz is clearly long since gone and the tunnel is totally collapsed beyond this "foyer-area" where the creature you are trailing has cocooned. As you moved down, there were signs of cracking from expansion and contraction everywhere.

[sblock]If you attack, just roll damage. This isn't an H&S scenario.[/sblock]

I move toward it slowly with my tendertwig out before me. When I near, I pull my elven blade back beside my ear and thrust forward into the heart of the thing.

[sblock]d8 damage. Rolled 8. 0 armor.[/sblock]

Per Manbearcat
The cocoon cracks, shudders, and bursts completely, filling the chamber with fluid up to your toes. The creature writhes about momentarily and then collapses silently. It was clearly once human but its feet have been unified into one tail-like structure and its upper body has sprouted feeler-like tentacles. Multiple, stacked red eyes now predominate the top of its head where its nose and eyes are now a unified snout. It is not fully "something else", but definitely on its way there.

I'm going to probe the creature a little bit. Are there any identifying markers or clothing from which I can confirm that this was one of the town-folk.

Per Manbearcat
There is nothing on the creature itself as the changing has already fully occurred. However, in the ruptured membrane, you can find a scrap of torn breeches and a torn sleeve that looks like the remains of a straight-jacket

Alright. I'm going to run straight back to camp after I scoop up the 1 Adventuring Gear left by the poor traveler. I'll tell Otthor what I found upon my return.

 

[Manbearcat]

@Binks, on Undertake a Perilous Journey through the frozen wasteland of the highland country to Earthmaw:

1) You have 10 Rations total.
2) The journey to Earthmaw is 3 days.
3) The Sled Team of Wolves reduces this by 1 to 2 days.
4) The goblins will cost you 1 extra ration per day.
5) The 9 extra animals (dog and wolves) will cost you 2 extra rations per day.
6) Total cost is 5 rations per day * 2 days = your 10 rations.
7) You can put the rest of your crew on a role @ 2d6. Need a role pick and the dice rolled.
8) Otthor rolled a 7-9 and needs a role assigned to him. Need a role picked.
9) You automatically achieve your role @ 10+. Need a role picked.

By the time you reach Earthmaw, Rawr will have lost his "hobbled" tag and will be as good as new!

 

[Binks]

@Binks, on Undertake a Perilous Journey through the frozen wasteland of the highland country to Earthmaw:

1) You have 10 Rations total.
2) The journey to Earthmaw is 3 days.
3) The Sled Team of Wolves reduces this by 1 to 2 days.
4) The goblins will cost you 1 extra ration per day.
5) The 9 extra animals (dog and wolves) will cost you 2 extra rations per day.
6) Total cost is 5 rations per day * 2 days = your 10 rations.
7) You can put the rest of your crew on a role @ 2d6. Need a role pick and the dice rolled.
8) Otthor rolled a 7-9 and needs a role assigned to him. Need a role picked.
9) You automatically achieve your role @ 10+. Need a role picked.

By the time you reach Earthmaw, Rawr will have lost his "hobbled" tag and will be as good as new!

Alright. We're right up against our ration allotment, so we can't afford something to happen there. So no goblins on Quartermaster. I'll have Otthor take care of managing our provisions and overseeing setting up and breaking down camp, etc. With his 8 on his QM check, we'll consume the right amount of rations. I'll take Trailblazer. My 10+ will get us there quicker and cut down on some rations used. That leaves Scout. The goblins know this territory best. They know the signs of dangerous geographical hazards, the wind fields in case storms blow in suddenly, and they should know where dangerous avian predators lair. They can take the Scout role. Here we go for them:

[sblock]Scout (Goblins)
2, 3 + 0 = 5[/sblock]

Here comes trouble!

During camp along the way, I want to speak with the dog and find out what the old boy knows about what happened in this settlement.

I'll also talk to Otthor about, upon our return, picking up the corpse of the poor young man that was changed. The old Remorhaz tunnel where I mercilessly slew him will be easy to find. Hopefully we can locate the two refugee families and they can give him a fitting burial in their cemetary. Surely they know the family. They might even be his kin.

 

[Manbearcat]

[sblock]FYI before I forget, you buys have 20 coins each.[/sblock]

During camp along the way, I want to speak with the dog and find out what the old boy knows about what happened in this settlement.

I'll also talk to Otthor about, upon our return, picking up the corpse of the poor young man that was changed. The old Remorhaz tunnel where I mercilessly slew him will be easy to find. Hopefully we can locate the two refugee families and they can give him a fitting burial in their cemetery. Surely they know the family. They might even be his kin.

On this, despite his deafness, you're able to communicate with the dog somewhat. This is what he is able to relay:

Some time ago, people started going crazy and killing each other. One man gouged another man's eyes out, for no reason, in the middle of broad daylight and bashed his head in with a rock. The dog actually discovered him. He was found just sitting there, with the body, babbling incoherently. When he developed strange symptoms, the townsfolk executed him and burned the body. People became terrified that there was a sickness and folks weren't leaving their houses much. But more of the same followed not long after. The murdered were buried in the cemetery. The "sick" were executed and burned.

Things got really, really bad shortly thereafter when the goats started all going mad, stampeding and killing people and each other. More people died but several of the goats were put down. All bodies were burned. The men who were outside fighting the goats began to lose their minds and change. It seemed like people did better if they stayed inside so the whole town banded together, fought off the afflicted, and barricaded themselves in the common building, thinking that they could wait it out and that there would be safety in numbers. When tempers erupted later that night, two families fled the settlement together, sure the place was cursed. They tried to convince everyone else to leave with them. No one else would go. The dog's master stayed so he stayed with him.

By the next morning, everyone had killed each other or began changing and then cocooning. The dog hid for days and then tried to escape when everything was still. That is when you guys showed up and everything happened.

Alright. We're right up against our ration allotment, so we can't afford something to happen there. So no goblins on Quartermaster. I'll have Otthor take care of managing our provisions and overseeing setting up and breaking down camp, etc. With his 8 on his QM check, we'll consume the right amount of rations. I'll take Trailblazer. My 10+ will get us there quicker and cut down on some rations used. That leaves Scout. The goblins know this territory best. They know the signs of dangerous geographical hazards, the wind fields in case storms blow in suddenly, and they should know where dangerous avian predators lair. They can take the Scout role. Here we go for them:

[sblock]Scout (Goblins)
2, 3 + 0 = 5[/sblock]

Here comes trouble!

You cut off a significant amount of travel via a handy shortcut you discover (2 rations off of your total used, so you spend 8 instead of 10). You locate some elevation on the icy tundra and use the prolonged downslope to lessen the wolves burden and sustain momentum on the ice. For a good 4 hours, the wolves expend no real energy and they're able to take turns resting on the front of the sleds.

The land starts to rise and fall and is fraught with boulders and sharp rocks on the final approach. The elevating earth ascends angrily toward the White Dragon's domain and the entrance to the Coldlands beyond. In the distance, you can see the great open cavern, cut naturally into the bottom of the mountainside's face. Earthmaw.

The small goblin stands up and points, beginning to celebrate. The moment that he does so, a terrible sound begins beneath you. To date, the goblins have guided you away from the lairs of nesting Wyverns, Perytons, and navigated around the dangerous terrain of false-floors. However, when the sound of cracking ice begins and a jagged, zig-zagging line accelerates in front of the sleds (the cowardly, but useful, goblin was able to tie/rig together both sleds, creating something of a master sled with a larger platform (1) that could be pulled by all 8 wolves and (2) that he could drive as neither of the other goblins are proficient enough), terror turns his celebrations into a shriek. Almost immediately thereafter, the false layer of thin ice gives way and the crevasse reveals itself with a terrible noise. The cracking, gravelly yawn of the glacier threatens to swallow you all as the back end of the sled goes in first.

The goblin driver leaps for safety above and barely finds it.

One of the two armored goblin brothers is almost immediately claimed by the deadly darkness below. His brother dives for him and grabs hold of his arm...both of them hanging dangerously by a hand meagerly grasping the sled.

Rawr is easily able to use his claws to hang onto the sled but the dog is going to go over if he isn't saved. And you two are going to need to defy some danger as well and figure this thing out.

The wolves are up top, howling and growling...trying desperately to pull the precarious sled out. But its far, far too much weight for them and, despite their efforts, they are slowly sliding backward toward the indifferent chasm...

 

[Tecklenburg]

The first thing I'm going to do is position my body so that when the dog falls, he falls into me. I'll accept the blow and try to hang on so he doesn't fall.

[sblock]Defy Danger (Con)
4, 2 + 1 = 7

Success with a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice.[/sblock]

Per Manbearcat
The dog's mouth loses its grip on the rope tying the two sleds together. He falls hard into your body and lets out a terrified howl that resounds in the darkness below. You're able to intercept him and get him so that his paws and mouth are able to hang onto the many ropes that bind the sleds.

However, in doing so, your own grip is compromised and you loose it. You fall to the end of the sled with the two goblins, barely hanging on to the last bit of rope and wood. There is no handholds to climb here. If you're going to get out of it, you'll need to find another way.

Go ahead and hold it there as turns need to be rationed precisely here. Need to resolve Saerie's simultaneous action.

 

[Binks]

As Otthor rescues the dog, I'm going to shout to Rawr. "Get up top, Rawr! Now!" I'm thinking that if he can get his weight off of the sleds and the two of us can get top-side, we can probably anchor things and keep the wolves from going over the precipice. He must weigh 350 to 400 lbs, if not more, so just getting that much weight off of things should help immensely. My weight, plus his, plus the two of us pulling the sled out might do the trick!

Is his hobbled tag still a problem enough that he can't climb?

Per Manbearcat
He is pretty close to healed. Besides, the situation is so dire that adrenaline alone would allow him to make the climb if nothing else. He'll be able to make it no problem. You go ahead and Defy Danger.

Alright, given that the dog is stably holding onto the ropes of the sled, I'm going to use his furry body as hand-holds and to pull myself up top and over the edge.

So + 1 to Defy Danger but I can't get a 10 +.

[sblock]Defy Danger (Str)
2, 4 + 0 (+ 1 dog) = 7

Whew. Good thing I went with the dog's Intervene!

Success with a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice.[/sblock]

Per Manbearcat
As you're cresting the top, your climbing over the dog loosens the grip of his muzzle on the rope. Further, in your efforts, the ties to your cornpurse that hold it tautly in place have been severed. You see them both begin to drop to the chasm below.

You can grab only one.

I reach down and grab the dog by the scruff of his neck, pull him back to the rope that he had his muzzled wrapped around. When he is secure, I crest the top, listening closely for the sound of the coin purse hitting the bottom so that I might be able to discern how far down the drop is.

Per Manbearcat
Within about 3-4 seconds, you hear the sound of a sploosh as the coin purse meets a watery grave in a subterranean (freezing no doubt...but flowing) body of water.

When I get to the top, I'm grabbing the harness and putting it firmly in Rawr's muzzle so that he can keep it from fully going over and maybe help pull the huge weight of the two wooden sleds and my companions. "Everything you have Rawr! PULL!"

I'm looking for a thick spot in the ice that I can drive a piton into it to anchor a rope in.

[sblock]Discern Realities (Wis)
4, 5 + 2 = 11

3 questions and + 1 forward. The only one I'm interested in is:

What here is useful to me?[/sblock]

Per Manbearcat
The weight of you and Rawr off the sled helps immensely. The wolves' backward momentum is fully stopped once Rawr sets his might to the task of pulling the sleds up. The dog, Otthor, and the two goblins hang there precariously when the sleds begin to slowly...ever so slowly...inch forward.

You look around, the glaciers ice is thick almost everywhere you look. A piton driven down into it will hold.

I grab the mountaineers gear that I found in the Remorhaz tunnel. I drive a piton into the ice with a hammer and quickly knot a rope around it. When finished, I'm throwing it down to them.

[sblock]Defy Danger (Int)
4, 1 + 1 (+ 1 DR) = 7

Success with a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice.[/sblock]

Per Manbearcat
1 AG spent. Your complication is precious time.

You get it done as quickly as you can, but your hands are frozen and aching and you fumble for a moment getting the pitons out of your pack. The first knot doesn't hold perfectly and you have to redo it before you loop it over the head of the piton. You sprint to the edge and throw the rope over. What you find when you get to the edge and toss it over will have to wait Tecklenburg's turn.

Both yourself and the goblins are in grave danger and at risk of dropping Tecklenburg. What is Otthor going to do about it?

 

[Tecklenburg]

Per Manbearcat
1 AG spent. Your complication is precious time.

You get it done as quickly as you can, but your hands are frozen and aching and you fumble for a moment getting the pitons out of your pack. The first knot doesn't hold perfectly and you have to redo it before you loop it over the head of the piton. You sprint to the edge and throw the rope over. What you find when you get to the edge and toss it over will have to wait Tecklenburg's turn.

Both yourself and the goblins are in grave danger and at risk of dropping Tecklenburg. What is Otthor going to do about it?

When I see Rawr and Saerie make it to the top and I feel the downward slide of the sleds end, I know deliverance is on its way. As we begin to slowly rise I can hear the grunts and gasps for breath. A look next to me reveals the goblin holding the sled by one hand and his brother in the other is struggling mightily. His mental and physical fortitude to hang on are failing. I let go with one hand knowing that it will likely cost me. Having a much longer reach than the goblin, I can grab his brother's furs. With my physical strength waning, I rely on my spirit and tenacity, hoping to inspire not only the goblin but myself. "Hang on! MMMMRPH! You're going to make it!"

[sblock]Defy Danger (Cha)
4, 3 + 1 = 8

Success with a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice.[/sblock]

Per Manbearcat
The load off the goblin brother immediately invigorates him as his other hand firmly grasps the sled. Your heroic efforts and seeing his brother have to firm hand-holds on the sled instills further strength in him to survive.

The sled very, very slowly rises as the weight is still immense. Your fingers are growing so very weary. There is little chance that you can just hold on like this for the time it will take for the sled to rise to the top.

With my extra weight off the sled, I know it will rise more quickly. If I fall, so be it.

[sblock]Defy Danger (Str)
1, 1 - 1 = 1

Mark 1 xp[/sblock]

My strength is gone. Before my hands let go of their own volition, I shout to Saerie in elven. "Fear not for me. Carry on. I will find you. May gentle breezes guide you and sweet waters comfort you, my friend."

I let go.

Per Manbearcat
As you descend into the darkness, Saerie appears in the crack of light above with a dangling rope for the goblins. The dog crests the top and the whole of the sleds begin to ascend rapidly.

You plunge into icy water and are carried in a hard current over unforgiving rocks.

[sblock]You take b[2d8] from the freezing cold and the rocks, no armor applies.[/sblock]

I'll move the game along when I'm next able.

[sblock]8, 3. I take 8 damage.[/sblock]

 

[Manbearcat]

My strength is gone. Before my hands let go of their own volition, I shout to Saerie in elven. "Fear not for me. Carry on. I will find you. May gentle breezes guide you and sweet waters comfort you, my friend."

I let go.

Per Manbearcat
As you descend into the darkness, Saerie appears in the crack of light above with a dangling rope for the goblins. The dog crests the top and the whole of the sleds begin to ascend rapidly.

You plunge into icy water and are carried in a hard current over unforgiving rocks.

Otthor

Somewhere in the freezing darkness, amidst the endless tumbling, consciousness was lost. When you open your eyes, you're immediately greeted by utter darkness, the sounds of running water and a heavy, intermittent drip on your face. You seem to have washed up on a shore and your arms have clung to a rock without your commanding them to do so. Your legs are aching as they are still in the cold waters. Despite the darkness, your innate, warrior-honed sense of spatial perception tells you that you are in a place with an exceedingly high ceiling. There is a distinct lack of air circulation and the temperature in this place is much warmer than the surface, especially without the biting wind. Nonetheless, you are cold...freezing to death, in fact. You know that if you do not find warmth soon, you will freeze to death...

What are you doing?

---

Saerie

All three goblins, all eight wolves, the sheepdog, and your steadfast bear Rawr are all accounted for. Everyone takes a moment, gasping for breath from the exertion and collecting themselves from the intensity what just took place.

Earthmaw is within reach. Just a jaunt over a small stretch of glacial rises. The darkness that swallowed your friend lies below you and his words echo in your mind.

What are you doing?

 

[Tecklenburg]

Otthor

Somewhere in the freezing darkness, amidst the endless tumbling, consciousness was lost. When you open your eyes, you're immediately greeted by utter darkness, the sounds of running water and a heavy, intermittent drip on your face. You seem to have washed up on a shore and your arms have clung to a rock without your commanding them to do so. Your legs are aching as they are still in the cold waters. Despite the darkness, your innate, warrior-honed sense of spatial perception tells you that you are in a place with an exceedingly high ceiling. There is a distinct lack of air circulation and the temperature in this place is much warmer than the surface, especially without the biting wind. Nonetheless, you are cold...freezing to death, in fact. You know that if you do not find warmth soon, you will freeze to death...

What are you doing?

I pull myself fully to shore. There I sit, unlacing my boots, taking them off, and quietly shaking them out. I know that I need to get a fire started immediately and get out of these wet clothes. But I need some kindling. Hopefully there are some mushrooms or some form of vegetation I can harvest. I reach in my pack and pull out some rolled cloth, likely moist, where my tinder twigs are. I pull one out (spend 1 AG), shake it free of any moisture, strike it on the stone and stand up. I hold it up before me an pan the upper reaches of the cavern, the walls, the floor, taking in its size and what I might find that threatens me or that might be useful to me.

[sblock]Discern Realities (Wis)
5, 6 + 0 = 11

* What should I be on the lookout for?
* What here is useful or valuable to me?
* What here is not what it appears to be?

+ 1 forward when acting on the answers.[/sblock]

Let me know what I see, hear, find.

 

[Manbearcat]

I pull myself fully to shore. There I sit, unlacing my boots, taking them off, and quietly shaking them out. I know that I need to get a fire started immediately and get out of these wet clothes. But I need some kindling. Hopefully there are some mushrooms or some form of vegetation I can harvest. I reach in my pack and pull out some rolled cloth, likely moist, where my tinder twigs are. I pull one out (spend 1 AG), shake it free of any moisture, strike it on the stone and stand up. I hold it up before me an pan the upper reaches of the cavern, the walls, the floor, taking in its size and what I might find that threatens me or that might be useful to me.

[sblock]Discern Realities (Wis)
5, 6 + 0 = 11

* What should I be on the lookout for?
* What here is useful or valuable to me?
* What here is not what it appears to be?

+ 1 forward when acting on the answers.[/sblock]

Let me know what I see, hear, find.

I've confirmed with Binks that she isn't going after you down the drink, so we can continue on.

On the above:

When the tinder twig radiates its soft glow, you can tell that you're in a high-ceilinged cavern, perhaps all of 2 stories and maybe 500 square feet, with several stalactites dotting the ceiling. The sound of drip, drip, drip from the stalactites to the floor and the running water of the underground river is an orchestra of ambient noise. The floor is littered with goblin and animal bones. On your DR effort:

* Areas of egress. There are two. One is the tunnel that the underground river follows. The second is a path that climbs the far face of the cavern, ascending in switchbacks into the unknown.

* You find precisely the kindling that you're looking for. The walls are covered in all manner of fungus, especially concentrated at the floors:walls and ceilings:walls interfaces. They should burn without a problem to start a fire.

* Predators. You quickly mark two of them.

Although it is perfectly camouflaged otherwise, one of the stalactites doesn't drip, drip, drip like the rest. You can see its dark flesh ever so slightly unfurl and prepare to spring when you light your tender twig. Its a strangely aberrant creature that can almost perfectly take up the mantle of a stalactite.

At the base of the path that leads up the face of the far cavern wall and out of this place, you see a lone, large stalagmite standing sentinel. When you pan in that direction, you see ever so slight movement and then stillness. A large central eye and toothy maw shut tight, perfectly blending into its stone-like visage.

Both creatures are at Near range to you.