• NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.

Academy of Drell, Part 6


log in or register to remove this ad

"Fine with me, laddie. Like you say, we should stay in earshot." Mortimer picks up his weapons, and starts walking inland, turning to bard. "So, where are you wanting to look first?"
 
Last edited:

Charlotte and Rallyn find safe and secure places to encamp near the boulders, while Mortimer and Lyrique begin a careful search to find a cave that can be exploited for shelter.

After only a few minutes, Mortimer and Lyrique find a shallow cave entrance at the waterline. The seawater laps against the edge and it appears as if it might be underwater during high tides. The cave isn't readily visible until one is right upon it; at least the early part appears to be waist high, but it goes much further in than the light carries.

Meanwhile, Keith, Paendaerig and Sildarin (carrying Slith), follow the gigantic tracks. The massive footprints going westward seem the most fresh, and the trio have little trouble staying alongside the path, moving stealthily along. The ground slopes upward and begins to get hilly rather quickly, with the trail meandering between the bases of the hills.

After turning a corner all three of the scouts stop quickly. The smoke from a woodfire can be smelled, along with cooking meat, all steaming out of an immense cave mouth. While none of the scouts have seen a hill giant before, the creature standing guard is almost certainly one. Hairy, tall and thickly muscled, it carries a wooden club taller than any two students of Drell combined. It seems to be some sort of sentry.
 

Keith pauses and motions for the others to stay silent, he observes the giant for a few moment before retreating back some distsnce, just enough to put some distance between them... and the giant, and finally speaks... in a whisper, "Hmm... well, we know where the giants are..."

Keith puts a marking on a tree, and tries to put the location to memory...
 

Lyrique looks at the grotto and thinks back to the last one he was in. "There may be a safe place in there for us in case of emergancy. I would like to look further. Want to come?"
 

Mortimer pulls his everburning torch out of his pack, and peers into the cave.

"Looks like it could make for good cover, if we need it. I'm game for heading in for a look around if you are. But I'd like to know how high the tide gets. Belive me, you do not want to get trapped underwater underground." He shivers from some memory, before moving a little way into the cave.
 
Last edited:


Lyrique and Mortimer begin a brief foray into the cave. The water along the floor is far too shallow to allow a boat to travel through. It's only a few inches deep in the deepest parts. Gravel fills the bottom and the water is very clear.

After only a few steps, the light coming from the entrance quickly fades, making the only source of illumination from Mortimer's heatless magical torch.

After about twenty winding yards, it's clear someone has been here before. Animalistic cave paintings adorn the walls. Anaurochs, six-legged cats and a host of odd-looking creatures make up the majority of the drawn menagerie, but there are "normal" beasts depicted as well. It's obvious these paintings are fairly recent, since the cave is very damp and probably wouldn't have protected ancient drawings.

* * *

Keith blazes a mark on one of the trees, well below eye-level of the hill giant sentry. As he is marking the tree for later recognition, Paendaerig smells something oddly foul and earthy, like a wild carnivore. Just a short moment later, a large bear shuffles out of the doorway the sentry is standing in front of.

The hill giant reaches down and scratches the beast on the head. It grunts in a sort of pleasure then begins walking toward the woods in a slow shuffle.
 

Paendaerig motions quietly to get Keith and Sildarin's attention that we have to move and move quick. Then he starts headed not back to camp but 90 degrees away from it.
 

Lyrique will search the cave. Is there anything the cave paintings say to the trained eye? Decipher Script: 11+ 10= 21
He will also cast detect magic so he will spot anything magical while he searches.
 

Into the Woods

Remove ads

Top