At the Grand Portal of the Dead

[Tom Cashel]

Velm: looks up in annoyance. "We've been working for about ten minutes, Graniteskull! This is going to take the better part of a day, so go round up your mushrooms."

Corwyn: "Bonk!" CRACK!! "Bonk!" CRACK!

Velm: "Quiet!"

[Dave, I notice you mentioned "the dwarven delicacy of well-prepared mushrooms." You have some Ranks in Profession (cooking), right? ]

Daziel: "Maybe we should venture a short way outside the cave and gather as many mushrooms as we can. Then bring them back here to determine which are edible...and which we give to the dwarves." smiles at Bronn "I'm just kidding, you know."

 

[Bronn Spellforger]

Velm -- Wait, the better part of the day? I thought that spell Daziel cast only tell us about future events for the next half an hour? Maybe I should try opening them with magic..

Daziel -- I didn't see many mushrooms in this cave.. we're better off out in the forest below.

OOC: Hey, any good dwarf knows how to prepare mushrooms. I believe this is one of those "untrained" skills. But let's roll for it anyhow.

 

[Tom Cashel]

[OOC: That first comment can go right back to the D&D Rules forum where it belongs. SRD: "The augury can see into the future only about half an hour, so anything that might happen after that does not affect the augury. Thus, it might miss the long-term consequences of the contemplated action." Now would be a good time to figure out exactly how the heck Bronn knows how an augury works, besides what was said in the previous posts. As long as we're getting all quotable, Professor D&D, Profession (cook) is a Trained-only skill. ]

Velm: "Cousin, these things radiate two schools of magic. Feel free to play around with them, but I'll be in the next room while you do. If not, leave us to our work."

Daziel: "Well, of course, Bronn. That's why I said we should venture a short way outside the cave to gather mushrooms. I'd rather not wander off into the fungus forest when the group is at half-strength.

"But we should take this time to decide on our immediate goal."

 

[Bronn Spellforger]

OOC: Bronn's got a 19 intelligence. He knows EVERYTHING. So you're telling me that unless people have taken points in profession (cook), no one knows how to cook anything?? I want to make an intelligence roll for Bronn to figure out how to cook.

Daziel -- We've both got to study.. at least I've got to. Don't we have a RANGER around? Aren't they good at hunting things?

 

[Tom Cashel]

[OOC: Good...then Bronn should know how many x.p. he'll be losing. Can you heat a mushroom over a fire and maybe not under- or overcook it? Sure. Can you prepare "the dwarven delicacy of well-prepared mushrooms"? Absolutely not, unless you have a Rank in the skill. It's analagous to the fact that while most people can boil spaghetti, only those who know how can make crepes suzette.]

Daziel: "It will take us barely an hour to prepare my Power and your Art. After that, we can make a short foray to retrieve some fungus."

[EDIT: No longer nearly as annoyed as I was at work. ]

 

[Bronn Spellforger]

Daziel -- "Okay, mushroom hunting it is. After which, I'll make you some mushrooms which may or may not be under or over cooked. I'm afraid I exaggerated by cooking skills. Velm, however, was often seen in the kitchen with his mithril apron on cooking up a storm. We'll see what he can do."

But what I'd REALLY like to do is discuss the clues we've found and decide our next move...

 

[Van Dyksun]

"Why don't you come with us to gather these mushrooms and let's discuss the options--for example, I've never been good with maps...I can point you north, though...but have we explored the entire catacomb area here or have we missed something. I'm assuming that we don't want to do anything with these doors that don't seem to be doors...."

 

[Tom Cashel]

Daziel, Van & Bronn venture out with large sacks to collect some mushrooms from the rocky trail leading up to the waterfall; Saeita stays to keep watch while Velm and Corwyn work at cracking open the rose-quartz boulders...

Daziel: "According to the dwarves, those "doors" are false--nothing behind them, and nothing to them but trapped doorhandles.

"We've also explored the main cavern on the north side of the river--the River of Slaughters, did you say, Bronn?--the bridge seems like our first logical step. From there, you just have to look at Bronn's translation. It mentions both the Lunar Speculum and something called Cindarm's Hall...as well as a ziggurat."

 

[Bronn Spellforger]

Daziel -- I agree. I'm assuming you mean the bridge that lead to the Trogs' tower that we found. Looking at the larger map of Aerunedar, it seems like there's a number of other passages from that side of the arglar llur -- or Butcher's river. (Interestingly, the dwarves used the word llur - or wide river - instead of the more proper dunlur - which means underground river).

Van -- I believe those doors are a just a trap. They lead to nowhere.

The question is, are we going to swing by Flame's evil lair on our way to the bridge. Truth be told, if we're not going to "have it out" with him, I don't want to go at all. Perhaps we should wait.

Daziel -- How long until we can use Legend Lore? That should tell us quite a bit of information that we need.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Daziel: "That's the very bridge I'm talking about. I can use the ring again in three days...on the 20th of Eleint."

Van, Bronn and Daziel exit the Tombs; you carefully drag yourselves under the deluge from the Morndinglor above; you move about 100 feet down the ledge, out of the fog cloud. There you find a bewildering array of mushrooms, toadstools, and (hopefully) nutritious fungi.