Strahd's "The lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" CLOSED

[Boddynock]

The portly sorceror bows deeply, and looks up grinning.

"Ah," he chuckles, "the acquisition of wealth is a chancy business. The little pleasures drop into our hands, and then pour away like the desert sands. It is better to be ... indifferent to their allure."

"By all means, give him a wand, or, if he demands more, both of them. I am at ease with this."

Moving over to the stranger, he matches words to actions. Choosing a wand at random, he makes the salaam and proffers it, held ceremonially across both hands.

"O puissant one, accept this gift from your humble servant, and tell us, we pray, what we need to know."

 

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

The Hermit

The Hermit grabs the wand (Which wand?) with passion, he mumbles something and inspects it again.
Good, good, We are very pleased … you are so kind and generous … now … after we felt your thoughts, we can share our secret, the place you seek are lost and hidden, seek the tall mountain who follows the name Iggwilv's Horn, the lost caves are said to lie south of that peak.
He coughs, tuck the wand somewhere in his robes and continue.
A narrow track does go to the caverns, for when mighty Iggwilv ruled, there was much coming and going to and from the caverns.
He takes out a small parchment from a hidden pocket and adds
Rumor has it that the caverns are a nexus of planes, and many odd monsters now inhabit the caverns, they are scattered among two levels of deep caves.
He hands you the parchment.
Take the south road to Ket, the caves lie south-east of the giant's land.

[sblock=Parchment]
It seems this is a page from a journal of the lone survivor of a past expedition to the caverns, the parchment says:

"The small cave was the secret, for in back, hidden by (here the text is blurred beyond any reading) … and we descended.
There was no certain path, so we (Smudged) … and this is told of above, for it is where Yaim and Brelid met their end. Our persistence paid. The right way was beyond and narrow, so (writing covered with dark stain) … -eam lies straight pas- (more stains) …-pe the span swiftly to plunge to doom where the wat- (here smudges and stains obliterate several lines) … They were right. It is more dismal here than above. Only the two of us su- (Blotch) … We pray that the lucky (Smudge) is true, for we are now going to attempt entry fo- (large rusty smears have wiped out the next words) … of no help. I managed to escape. Why did we (here the remaining few words are smeared and unreadable, save for the last word) … beautiful."
[/sblock]

 

[Boddynock]

Having handed over the wand of magic missile to the recluse, Eliyyad receives the parchment and bows his thanks. Unfolding it, he frowns over its contents, then hands it to the others.

"It seems we are on the right track - and that the place we seek is, indeed, perilous. We must be cautious in our searchings."

Zariq bobs his head in agreement.

 

[Rhun]

"How far off are these caverns, my friend?" asks Turo. "How long will we have to travel to reach them?"

 

[Thanee]

Allyra

“Your words are full of wisdom and knowledge. You have our thanks! This will help us immensely to foil the beasts' plans.”

 

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

It is depends if you use magic or not.
The hermit laughs loudly.
Seeing your horses he responds
A week or two.

From what I understood
Say Gorash.
It is suppose to be south of #1 on your map humans.

 

[Thanee]

Allyra

“Yes, we have to use horses to travel. But the others apparantly do not have faster means as well.”

 

[Yair]

“Yes, we have to use horses to travel. But the others apparantly do not have faster means as well.”

"Thank the gods for little mercies" mumbles Maor.

 

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

First Freeday, Planting 3/4/600 (Back to the Rockslide)
Traveling back, now with the advice of the crazy hermit, two days pass uneventfully, you arrive to where the enormous rockslide lies. Despite of being extremely cautious, you loose on of the spare horses.
Waking up in the morning, its take an hour to be back on the main road from Perrenland to Ket (I7 on the map), you travel several more days, without any lethal incidents, you camp in previous places you camped before, the icy lake, the forested valley.

Second Waterday, Planting 11/4/600
Three days have passed since you began to travel on the road again and this is the fourth, according to Gorash two days more of traveling to the ridge where you camped with the dwarf's army. Fall comes, and the sun's last rays scatters from the snowy mountain tops, a faint sound of crude tones horns and drums can be heard and it's getting louder and louder with each minute you travel on the road.
Goblins!
Calls Gorash
Those are battle calls, the enemy scouts have seen us, escape is not a choice, prepare yourselves.

 

[Steve Gorak]

Those are battle calls, the enemy scouts have seen us, escape is not a choice, prepare yourselves.

Keldar looks around frantically. "Cover, we need to find cover, or higher ground where we have a fighting chance." Directing his horse in the drection that seems the most promising, he adds "If we see our situation becomes bleak, can any of you speak Goblin, to negotiate with the creatures?"