(5.24 PBP) Vault of the Dracolich (IC) Redux

[Hriston]

Team AMBUSH

In the Halfling tongue, Terrin expresses sympathy for Corrah's loss of her brother and adds, "If we find him in there, whether alive, dead, or otherwise, know that whatever is in my power to do for him, I will do so."

After she expresses her shame, he comforts her, saying, "Be not ashamed, Corrah. You gave him an opportunity to do a good deed by giving us information that is vital to our mission. I will pray to my goddess that Brogh's spirit, now free, may be reunited with his soul and may find a place of healing and be at peace."

Terrin expresses support for Urgan's plan to keep the team together at least as far as the bridge.

"Yes, you could pose as one of the young recruits to the cult they wouldn't recognize," he says in response to Copper's concerns about being too tall to pass as a mercenary, "as could Shamal here, while Lorent assumes the part of the driver and the rest of us, who are more heavily armored for the most part, can pose as the 'Beasts'. That is unless our company parts ways here and now."

Hearing Lorent's call to depart, Terrin readies himself to walk a few paces in advance of the wagon.

 

[MetaVoid]

"I can be a dwarf." says Torhak with a hint of smile "I can go into the caves, they are my natural hunting grounds. Kobolds are the worst because of all the traps."

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Shamal is still set to go to the caves, although he makes sure to mention the key he found on the driver.

 

[Steve Gorak]

Team Lake

Loklafd answered Aywin, "If the others are well, I would be happy to ride the kayak over the waterfall, but it would be easier to do if I could see. Is there any movement out there in the dark? Can we risk some light?"

Darius had swallowed some water when he'd taken a breath too late as they plunged into the lake - a thing that he might have avoided if he had been able to see how far they were falling. He was blind, drenched, and coughing. He too, would appreciate a source of light.

OOC: So does Svetlana see anything? Here's a perception check: 12. If she says all clear, I say we go ahead with torches.

 

[Lidgar]

TEAM LAKE - Bjorn

Bjorn hopped down into the lake below with a splash, then swam to the shore where Bill was, using his telepathic connection to find him.

You OK Bill?

The drenched weasel chittered in complaint, but he was well. Bjorn let out what he hoped to be a reassuring croak.

Stay here with the other while I poke around a bit.

Bjorn then did a circuit of the lake, staying well below the surface, mostly looking for any underwater hazards.

OOC: Perception check: 1D20+6 = [8]+6 = 14

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Team Lake

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gooooing." Svetlanna told Aywin telepathically, with exaggerated reluctance. She circled invisibly overhead and returned, pointing out exits and obstacles and adding, "Your foolish 'friends' can probably have their light. There's no one around in this cave. Oh, look. A tunnel. Smells like a sewer. I've smelled worse in Hell."

While she was scouting overhead, Bjorn scouted underneath. The first thing he noted, was the quality of the bank where he checked on Bill. It was mucky and slippery. Even Bill was sinking up to his elbows in the muck, and leaving tracks. It was fine (comfortable even) for his own frog-belly, but it would be both frustrating and treacherous for his allies to travel on foot.

Moving back into the lake, he swam away from the waterfall. As he did, he noticed that from the lake's bottom grew a mass of aquatic vines, tall enough to float in tendrils near the surface, but rooted firmly to the ground. The bottom had patches of muck similar to the shore, but here-and-there protruded pieces of the familiar black rock that made up the mountain. The rock itself made him uneasy. It was all out of place, wrongly textured, and shaped strangely. As a dwarf, he knew in his bones how rock behaved, ancient, slow, heavy, and beautiful.

This rock defied everything he knew. Much of the sharp rocks in the river had been made of it, and they didn't belong there, either. The shallows in the river had been a different sort of rock entirely, and much more natural and correct for the sort that he saw in the surrounding area. Blackpeak was all terribly wrong.

As he was thinking about it, he swam between two or three vines, and spotted among them a corpse in rusted chain armor. Vines were wrapped around his nearly-skeletal legs, and his rusted gauntlet still wrapped tightly around a drawn longsword. The sword glowed faintly to Bjorn's frog-eyes.

Spoiler: Map of Lake (with Notes)

Notes: 1) Waterfall (15ft drop, sides are black rock, so climbable w/dc10); 2) Mucky/Slippery shore. Difficult Terrain, occasional dc12 DEX check. Not fun. 3) Aquatic Vines. (Corpse shown as x-bones). 4) Lake continues northward. Svetlanna insists nothing is up there, but she hasn't had time for a real thorough search. Just a flyby to the point where the "4" is. 5) Side-Tunnel. I have Svetlanna checking it out now. Will post her report after others go.

 

[Steve Gorak]

Aywin tells his kayak companion "I think lighting a torch should be fine. Do yuo think it's safe for me to join you in the kayak or is it safer to climb? The others seem to have made it fine, so I'm tempted to join you in the Kayak"

He then tells Svetlana to head back and explore further north because he wants to stay in mental contact with er

OOC: 100ft max for telepathic communication with familiar

 

[Steve Gorak]

OOC: sorry, this post should have been in ooc

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Team Lake

Loklafd took Aywin's torches from where they'd been stowed, wrapped in oilcloth, in the bow of the kayak, and he lit three of them. One he jammed between some rocks at the top of the waterfall. Another he threw down to near where Bill was (careful not to hit the weasel) where it sputtered, but stayed burning, in the muck. The third, he tossed down the other side of the waterfall, but it landed poorly and lost its wadding, which quickly dampened and became useless.

This being close enough, he invited Aywin to join him, and pushed his kayak off the bank, ready to take on the waterfall drop.

OOC: Aywin coming or jump-spelling it?

 

[Steve Gorak]

OOC: should have been ooc again