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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Creamsteak" data-source="post: 3917797" data-attributes="member: 552">6 MONTHS AGO[This portion of the adventure takes place "before" the start of the game. That isn't to say that you're guaranteed to survive, but for storytelling purposes this event takes place before the timeline of the adventure starts.]Rumors of treasure hidden away in the Vespers have drawn adventurers and mercenaries to the region for years. This volcanic mountain range is the home to many different kinds of danger, both natural and unnatural. Survival in the Vespers depends on both cunning and power, and you have demonstrated both.Three weeks ago, your motley crew entered a cavern deep in the roots of the Vesper Mountains. After facing down ogres, dwarves, and strange bronze constructs you've gained a great deal of wealth and power. Finally, after spending the better part of a month underground in the sulfurous air of the caves, you can see the light of day again.Just ahead there is an opening in the walls, 10 feet around, looking out into the blue sky. It's daylight, and the first you've seen of it in quite some time. Had it been night, it would have been just as exhilerating to look up and see the stars, after that long trip through the mountains. You find yourselves surrounded by treacherous cliffs on all sides. Fourty feet high in most places, they form a ring around this basin. The ground here is gravel-like throughout most of the center. The gravel is made of obsidian, which would be at least mildly valuable if you hadn't seen thousands of tons of it over your time through the mountains. It has been ground into a rough sand, each peace averaging only a half an inch at most. It looks as if it was smashed with a hammer a thousand times over to get it down to this state. Larger jagged chunks seem to form a ring near the mountain wall.Ahead, you can see a few bones in the gravel. They look like that of giants or maybe a massive animal. They seem to be scattered throughout the gravel, providing some sign that there was once life here. The ground seems to dip slowly as the terrain heads south. Slowly and carefully making your way there, you keep your eyes and ears alert. You've seen enough traps on your way here for two lifetimes.Once within 10 feet of the sand pit one can see glimmer of gold, gemstones, weapons, and armor within. The fine sand within looks to be made of the same black rock as the rest of this crater. Sitting intermingled with it are various coins, jewels, and other valuables. The pit is 20 feet deep, and the soft gravel within seems likely to create some kind of hazard not too different from a quicksand or an antlion's den.A voice, deep and serpantine, resonates across the crater as a whole. "Who disturbs this hallowed place?" The walls of the area resonate the voice and cause it to echo many times through the air. None of the group members are able to pinpoint its source, though it seems to have originated from the cliffs above.[sblock=Map]<img src="http://www.enworld.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=31668&stc=1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Players: When you first reply to this thread, please pick some space within the dashed red outline area to start.TERRAIN FEATURESCliff: A cliff typically requires a DC 15 Climb check to scale.Crags: Crags are dangerous rocky terrain that requires 4 squares of movement to enter. The DC of Balance and Tumble checks on crags increase by 10, and the DC of Move Silently checks increases by 4.Scree: A field of shifting gravel, scree doesn’t affect speed, but it can be treacherous on a slope. The DC of Balance and Tumble checks increases by 2 if there’s scree on a gradual slope and by 5 if there’s scree on a steep slope. The DC of Move Silently checks increases by 2 if the scree is on a slope of any kind.Spiked Crags: These function like normal crags, but anyone that falls onto a spiked crag risks being damaged by the spikes.Dense Rubble: The ground is covered with rocks of all sizes. It costs 2 squares of movement to enter a square with dense rubble. The DC of Balance and Tumble checks on dense rubble increases by 5, and the DC of Move Silently checks increases by +2.Rock Wall: A vertical plane of stone, rock walls require DC 25 Climb checks to ascend. Rock walls are drawn on the edges of squares, not in the squares themselves.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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