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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ThirdWizard" data-source="post: 4382324" data-attributes="member: 12037">They kept moving, tired but focused on the task at hand. They hoped that there weren't many more dangers ahead, they didn't know how much fight they had left in them. As they kept going, the air got colder and colder, the freezing air forming ice flakes on Tordek's beard. Soon they would have to turn back if only because they would freeze to death otherwise.Rounding a corner, however, they were met with a light in the distance, and in the center of the room ahead rested a large blue globe upon a pillar about three feet off the ground. Beside it was a goblin, mean looking with a rune carved staff and scowling at them, commanding two guard drakes. The PCs moved forward to fight, Alandra readying her bow, Quinn and Korvun moving forward, and Tordek staying close enough to heal.Out from the shadows around them jumped two more goblins! These were holding crossbows with picks at their sides. They fired on the group, hitting Tordek and Korvun with their bolts before pulling out picks and readying for melee. The goblin the the back looked to be some kind of spellcaster, waving around his staff, and Alandra decided to fire two arrow shots at him. Both hit their mark - one in his gut and the other in his chest. Without fanfare, he fell to the ground before his fight even started.The guard drakes were not so kind, charging forward to Quinn and hitting him hard, staggering him. They knew the goblins were coming in soon, probably to flank with the drakes, so Korvun did the best he could to interpose himself, while Tordek moved to a safer position and Alandra stayed back to keep firing on the goblins.Quinn retaliated against the drakes, trying to move away as best he could. The goblins did indeed move to flank, and Korvun layed into one as best he could. Alandra dropped two more arrows at the goblins, injuring one gravely while the guard drakes continued to pound on Quinn, almost dropping him. Tordek was able to save Quinn from a grizzly end while blasting one of the drakes with a beam of light.The sounds of the battle echoed against the ice walls, the adventurers holding their own, but having trouble. Focus firing on the guard drakes, they were able to drop one, then the other, but not before Quinn went down, half unconscious and unable to fight or even walk. Without the guard drakes, the goblins were not nearly as dangerous, and they were quickly finished off. Shortly after, Quinn was back on his feet, injured but pulling himself by his own bootstraps.A tunnel continued onward - deeper, darker.But in front of them was something magical. The orb sitting on the pedistal was cold, they could feel it just by going near it. It was like a sphere of blue ice that froze the world around it. Korvun was the first to take action, touching it with his fingertip. It was cold, but not dangerous to touch. They contemplated their situation. Korvun, trained a bit in the arcane arts, reached forward to the item with his senses, trying to learn something. He detected Cold magic and a Illusionary magic.They couldn't move forward and expect to live. Perhaps all they needed was this magic item. They decided: they couldn't move on, so they would take this and hope that is what the eladrin wanted.Removing the sphere, they noticed a slight change in perception. The Illusion magic perhaps? Looking at their slain opponents, they realized if not why then at least what had transpired. There was a veil, an illusion cast over the "goblins" who were not goblins at all, but gnomes. They had just slaughtered a group of gnomes... but why? What was going on here? Was that Caelynnasidhe's plan? Then they heard dripping noises. Questions would have to wait. As they stood there, the ice under their feet started to get more slippery, and they could feel the dripping of water on them like the drizzling of a light rain. They quickly realized the implications thereof. Korvun tried to put the orb back onto the pedestal, to return it to where it belonged, but it didn't help. They would have to make a run for it.OOC:[sblock]This was sort of an easter egg for my older players. Back in my previous Planescape campaign, they had traveled to the Plane of Fire in order to put down a group bent on taking over much of Sigil's Factions subvertly. The place was protected by a red orb that kept the fire at bay and the people inside alive.Well, of course, they decided to pull the orb out and take it as their own. As soon as they did, fire started erupting through the entire place, an inferno. They tried to put it back and fix the problem, but it didn't work. Much to their dismay and loud complaining. They fled, the temperature rising and flames enveloping everything. Many opponents they would have fought were actually laying around charred. Heh.So this was sort of an omoge to that. Except cold instead of fire. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />[/sblock]The adventurers ran like there was no tomorrow. The ones ahead tried to slow down, pulling their friends along. Korvun actually lifted up Tordek and carried him, which Tordek almost refused to do, but accepted so long as they never, ever spoke of it again. Pushing through, they sloshed, skidded, and slipped their way upward, barely, as the place came melting around them, flowing downward into the deeper portions of the cave they had not explored.Finally, they made it beyond the ice, swimming now in the frigid water and pulling themselves up out of it onto dry land. Breathing deeply, they lay there, cold and tired. However, they got up and walked - knowing that they dare not stop to rest lest the cold take them. Slogging through the snow carrying the freezing orb, they finally arrived back at the tower of Caelynnasidhe practically on the verge of death.OOC:[sblock]The escape was a skill challenge. Every PC had to use some skill to try and make their way out of the cavern. I gave them two choices, they could go for an easy check of 10 or a more difficult check of 15. The harder check allowed them to help out another PC, adding +2 to their check if they are at the same success level as the other PC (in other words, aren't ahead of or behind them). So the more hardy members could help the less so ones by taking on a harder DC.The primary skills were Acrobatics, Athletics, and Endurance. Only one PC wasn't trained in any of these, Tordek. He was having such a hard time, Korvun's player decided enough of that, lifted him up, and started carrying him. On the fly, I said it would be difficult, and he would have to make two hard DCs to gain 1 success for both of them, otherwise neither of them make any distance. He accepted it, and rolled really freakin' well.Instead of saying 4 successes before 2 failures, I went with 4 successes before 6 minutes (1 check per minute) in order to escape. Success would mean escaping, and Failure would mean that they were rescued by gnomes before being drowned. They would get a bit of information from the gnomes, but they would be slowed down so that Warder Gael would have time to find them again and they would have to have another combat, which at this point would be bad for them! Luckily for them, they all escaped on the last minute!It was a lot of fun, and proved to be a great way to top off the end of the cave trek![/sblock]Caelynnasidhe fed them warm food (from where, they weren't sure since they had not seen a fire or even chimney anywhere in or outside of the tower), and gave them blankets. She was very glad to receive the orb, and told them that the gnomes had once been her allies, forced to live under that veil so they could not be freed. And she was under oath not to speak of their plight. It was unfortunate what happened, but she hoped they would not push any further. So they didn't, and they left her the book they had found in the mines when they left for town to return in one month after she had time to research it.The travel back to town was uneventful, thankfully, and they went back to their lives while they waited to return to her tower and learn the secrets of that strange shadow creature.</blockquote>

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