D&D 5E The Kalarian Precipice - Chapter Four

[Jeovanna]

Jeovanna- Four sides

Jeovanna put out one fist quite abruptly, which if nothing else, would force Annit to stop before going any further! It was a fairly typical silent motion among both guards and gnolls- well, any kind of military organization probably- but probably less so among thieves.

A sharp nod. They would move back. It had seen them... but would it chase them?

If it did, best to have the pack at their back! Jeovanna did not much like it... but they would retreat, for now. Make certain to bring the dwarf with them.

"The bird woke something up in the western tunnel," Jeovanna said quickly as they came upon the others. Otiroth looked a bit steadier on his feet. A bit. "We may only have a little time."

She would, though, pick up the imp by the tail, with two fingers, like it was particularly disgusting. It certainly was quite battered by eldritch magic.

Good hide left on it, though.

 

[Carthum One-Tusk]

Carthum One-Tusk: Four sides

Carthum nodded to Dain. Jeovanna and Annit had returned- the sleeping dwarf seeming in one piece- and brought news that they had feared, but no doubt also expected.

"Were you able to see what it was?" He asked, but if they had, surely they would've been more specific. Darkness was not a friend to human's eyes!

It was uncertainty either way.

"Watch the rear path," he murmured. They would check the eastward path. The last thing they wanted was to be caught in a pincer movement.

 

[daindarkspring]

Dain - Four Sides

Dain listened to Annit and Jeovanna's assessment. "More spiders." He grumbled. Then he glanced over at the one he had slain. "Perhaps they'll eat this one and we can slide by." Seeing Metea holding the dead imp, he nodded. "They would eat his corpse as well, as foul as it no doubt tastes."

It was a plan. Dain knew that spiders liked to eat, and took their time doing it. They could use that time to move past them instead of fighting them.

"I'll check down the east passage." He adjusted his sword in his hand and twisted his torch several times to get the flame to grow.

I hear your voice, and it drives me mad...

He moved off towards the east pass, along with whoever else wanted to join him.

<Stealth check = 6>

 

[Otiroth]

"Yes, uh... good idea," Otiroth agreed. "Whew," and he'd wipe a bit of sweat from his brow.

He was, though, stubbornly remaining upright. He actually began to try and move after Dain, but... Metea's tail was kind of in the way...

...not that he... minded at all.

The sorcerer coughed. And again- a bit of fire actually appeared at the corner of his mouth for a moment, as if he were about to outright belch flame like a dragon. But... he got it under control!

<Otiroth has expended 2 sorcery points to regain a 1st level spell slot, bringing his current first-level spells available to 2>

 

[Metea]

Metea watched Jeovanna manhandle the imp carcass, and actually licked her lips.

It seemed a shame to have to wonder, and to let the spider get all the good treats.

...

...

Where had that come from?

 

[Carthum One-Tusk]

Carthum One-Tusk: Four sides

Carthum nodded to Dain. He would watch the ranger' back.

The half-orc's aid is perhaps good in other situations, but not at sneaking. One might have been forgiven for thinking he'd not gotten the news that they were to hide at all.

But then, their crew had just battled loudly and ferociously not even thirty feet away. Everything knew they were there!

<Stealth w/ disadvantage for armor=2>

 

[Jeovanna]

Jeovanna nodded. A decent plan, were the creatures in the cavern truly animals. What beast did not like easy prey?

Aside from humanoids, that was.

The barbarian flipped her skinning knife from hand to hand, clearly contemplating something...

 

[97mg]

Four Sides

While Dain and Carthum head off to investigate their alternative way out to the east, Annit keeps watch in the south east corner. Bow ready she anxiously waits, torch burning on the dark stone at her feet.

To the rogue's right, Otiroth and Metea appeared to be dealing with the recent events, and even further afield the barbarian was in a good position for defense too. Ah, was she searching the Imp's body? This was interesting...

The little fiend had been wearing a belt, probably to attach his leashes to when walking the pets. At his back, hanging from it is a leather pouch, and it looks like something is coiled up inside?

For the sorcerer and warlock there are no hidden treasures on the great spider's carcass. But the beast itself was surely corrupted by magic. The anatomy speaks of pure spiderness, though likely it was trained or abused into a fiend's company? Ah, perhaps it had been enchanted!

Scouting ahead while all this happens, Carthum and Dain inch through the darkness, though with little grace. Armor clangs against tight walls. Discarded lumps of coal crunch underfoot. Every breath seems amplified by the reverberation of tunnel walls.

Then the area opens up a little, and three ways ahead present themselves like some poorly forged trident, or twisted three-fingered hand. There are a few minutes left of the priest's magic detection gift, and from the middle path he catches a whisp of faint, distant, abjuration?

 

[daindarkspring]

Dain - Four Sides

After a little ways down the eastern path, both of them making as much noise as was possible, Dain stopped briefly and turned to Carthum. "Well at least they will hear us coming, eh?"

Coming to the triple-fork, Dain nodded at Carthum's sensing of some arcana down the middle way and crouched down on one knee. He sniffed the air, then spit onto the ground, rubbing his boot into it to mix it with the grit.

"This is a better direction than through the spider lair." He kept his voice low. "If we were more...and better armored...maybe it would be different. But stealth and quickness are our best attributes right now, however bad we may be at both." A ghostly image of a long, winding column of soldiers, their armor glinting in the sun and their banners blowing in the wind, passed through his mind. But it was gone in an instant.

"I will stay here, and listen to what the wind carries through these tunnels. Maybe you can return and get the others. Have them leave the carcasses, just in case the spiders decide to venture out. It will buy us time, if nothing else."

His mind wandered.

Essithea. When were you new to me? Or was I born into this world with your image in my eyes? These caverns are winding and long...winding and long...and dangerous. And yet...every step, every foe, seems to bring me closer to something that I seek.

<Perception check = 6>

 

[Otiroth]

Otiroth: Four sides

The sorcerer takes a moment- a rare opportunity- to rest, breathe, and think.

He feels more under control. The shock of the pain has faded, dealt with by Carthum's magical healing. Now, only a feeling of emptiness remains. He twitches his fingers a bit, testing the bitten arm. They still move... his spellcasting should not be particularly impeded. And, down here, that was all that mattered.

A moment of silence is enough for him to focus, and try to listen for what he might have otherwise missed.

<Perception check=17>