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

[FitzTheRuke]

Urgan

Urgan was presented to Chief Urbone after all, but the kobold tyrant was in a foul mood and he demanded that Urgan explain to him what had occurred, and he harshly judged any of the party's shortcomings.

Merrick

Merrick found himself alone in the trophy room. After taking what he could from his fallen comrades, he peeked through the archway into the Scrying Room. It was empty, with only a low-burning iron brazier hanging from a chain above the pool, and the teleportation chamber sitting darkly in the north-east corner.

OOC: @Kobold Stew just let me know if you tell him the whole story, or where you lie or embellish. @TaranTheWanderer do you want me to look up what's worth grabbing from them, or do you already know? You can just check their sheets in the RG and take what you will.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Merrick

Merrick peeks in the pool and then moves to the corner and looks at the runes of the teleporter and tries to see any similarities with the one in kobold’s lair.

 

[Steve Gorak]

OOC: He may not have seen them (it is both dark and foggy with mists) but they were nearby, having also fallen into the same gorge).

OOC: ok, your call if he saw them. Everything would be the same except the final levitate Aywin perception roll: 12, 23 if advantage because of Svetlana. Note that Svetlana has devil's sight, so sees perfectly in the dark

 

[Steve Gorak]

OOC: come to think of it, its likely more kosher to have svetlana roll her own perception rather than give advantage to Aywin since her modifier is lower. Svetlana perception roll: 9

 

[Kobold Stew]

Urgan relates the news to the Kobold, focusing on the death of his companions, and the likelihood that Merrick has been lost and perhaps captured. Urgan wants to be free of this all, and he does not think that, without reinforcements, he has a better option than exiting the cave and approaching the gate from the front once he is recovered.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Urgan

Chief Urbone was angry, but he knew that he had made a bold gamble, trusting these strange outsiders to drive out the hated cultists. He was vain and selfish, and he cared little for the unfortunate laborers that Urgan had helped to liberate. But the act had pleased the lowest of his people, and taking his anger out on Urgan would not be popular among the kobolds.

"It is a shame that you were not as mighty as you appeared." he said, shaking his feathered head. "Begone! And do not return unless, by some dragon-blessed miracle, you have reversed your defeat."

His guards escorted Urgan, first from the Chief's Hut, and then through the kobold caves, past worried-looking but more sympathetically inclined kobolds, to the long tunnel that led outside to the avalanche-strewn cliffs above the nearby waterfall.

It was evening and the sun had gone behind the mountain to the west, but even in the shadow cast by Blackpeak, Urgan found the evening light to seem quite bright after his time underground.

* * *

Merrick

Merrick peeked into the Scrying Pool, its waters calm and still now that the cultists who had been using it had stopped concentrating on their magic, having left or died. He moved to the teleport chamber, which appeared to be a standing-room-only hut made of stone, with a red gemstone on its roof. Its interior walls were lined with runes, and other than having the same basic structure, it looked nothing like the ones that he had seen at the far end of the dig-site, nor the one at the far wall of the kobold lair. They were each unique.

OOC: Do you want to use it?

 

[Kobold Stew]

Urgan leaves the caves, returning to the light, his pack heavy on his shoulder. He feels defeated, as he thinks both of lost comrades and of the shameful bow he had given to Chief Urborne -- recognizing legitimate authority and his weakness before it. Only a few hours earlier he had been celebratory, as they launched into their adventure.

Urgan climbed the hill, and looked down on the keep -- he was of no use to anyone right now, and would need at least an hour to be capable, though that alone would not be enough to restore him properly. But during that hour (that first hour), he could at least monitor whether anyone was coming or going along the road, into the keep, and stay alert to signs of obvious disruption coming from within its walls.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Merrick quaffs the potion.

Healing: 2D4+2 = [2, 4]+2 = 8
17hp.

He could explore further but, likely, be cut off from escape. But he still had one more use of the sending stone: If he found anything useful, he could let the others know.

Or, if he could get it to work, he could try the teleporter and risk showing up next to angry enemies but there would be a slim chance to rendezvous with Urgan and the kobolds.

He feels like exploring further would be more rewarding.

 

[Steve Gorak]

OOC: fyi Team Fallen. Levitate lasts 10 minutes, so Aywin could go back down to get the others. He just needs to know about the situation, and maybe see them or know their whereabouts

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Merrick

Merrick moved southward and peered through a stone archway to the south.

To Merrick's right, there was some sort of laboratory there, where an alchemist and two assistants were furiously working over large vats of boiling liquids. Beyond them was a large set of double-doors which had an emblem of Bhaal painted on, now faded and chipped.

Across from Merrick was an oak door, guarded by a mercenary. The man saw Merrick, but the thought that a fugitive invader would arrive here, dressed as a mercenary, did not occur to him, and he nodded a greeting, with no sign of recognition.

To Merrick's left, was a dark corridor with a strange, haphazard design to its stonework, as if built by mad masons.

Spoiler: Map