D&D 5E The Kalarian Precipice - Chapter Three

[Otiroth]

Otiroth: Hour One

Otiroth and Metea sat shoulder-to-shoulder for much of their watch. It was certainly not possible to simply fall asleep in such company.

Though really, Otiroth wondered if he would be able to sleep at all. He was exhausted, yes, but that was the least of their worries.

As the others stirred, and the next leg of their watch came up, Otiroth would kiss Metea's hand- and then head off to his own bedroll. It was neither the time nor the place. Plus, Carthum was definitely watching.

Otiroth would clean off the ground beneath his bedroll, of course, and lay down. Ugh. The rocks were miserable. It was a shame 'summon goose down mattress' was not a spell he knew.

A moment of thought, and he'd slip the red gemstone underneath his bedroll. The sharp jab of the gemstone wasn't uncomfortable... at all!

A proper hoard! He'd sleep well some day.

 

[Jeovanna]

Jeovanna- Hour One (and two?)

The deep dark brought dark dreams. Strange dreams, of dancing figures and screaming, bleeding foes.

Jeovanna slept slumped against the wall; she certainly seemed to have had no trouble falling asleep. The catnap was an integral skill of any woodsman, guard or apothecary, and she was near enough to two of the three.

Suru's light actually made sleeping easier, not harder... and it would be helpful when it was her turn to stand guard- though a spare torch would also help...

 

[daindarkspring]

Dain - Hours One through Six

Dain slept, seemingly heedless of anything that happened in the waking world. He dreamed. Of Essithea. As temptress, benefactor, and confidant. And of a Queen whose face he could never clearly see, of toppled thrones and raging fires, of fields of grass and impenetrable woods.

The image carved upon his sword also appeared in his dreams, swirling around him like fire, ever closer and ever hotter. He relived pulling the sword from the earth outside the mine, over and over. Each time it grew harder and harder...until finally he could not pull it free at all.

There were other dreams, of people and places, but they ebbed and flowed beyond the reaches of memory, like shades in the underworld.

 

[97mg]

Hour Three

Guard duty schedule:
1 - Otiroth & Metea
2 - Annit & Carthum
3 - Jeovanna
4 - Otiroth
5 - Annit & Carthum
6 - Jeovanna
7 - Metea
8 - Dain

The priest and rogue's shift goes quietly while their companions do their best to snooze, study or simply rest their weary bodies. Not an easy task given the circumstances, but the downtime will see wounds tended and minds refocused, if they are lucky.

Half way through the barbarian’s solo shift, a subtle clicking sound drifts in from the crevice still stained with Dain's blood. It increases in amplitude and then fades, before growing in volume again. Crickets? Clickity-clickity-click. A squeak here and there. Easily audible now!

<Only Jeovanna is aware of this phenomenon at the moment as she is intentionally alert. What would the brave barbarian like to do? Feel free to make a Nature check to identify a possible cause if you like.>

 

[Jeovanna]

Jeovanna: Hour Three

Watch, for the barbarian, was a strange affair indeed. She was used to sleeping alone on the road. Not so much with others to guard over. They made a lot of noise, but more pressing were the sounds of the mine; noisy even in the absence of workers, she imagined. The voice of the earth was not silent.

Then the scratching and sniffling.

One hand briefly went to her sword, but she'd pause at actually drawing it. Her trap had not been sprung, yet.

They should have had Otiroth clean up the blood. Human or demon, it'd attract predators. Or scavengers.

Rats? Or something nastier?

The barbarian growled. For the moment, she'd not raise the alarm. Just listen.

<Nature check= 17>

 

[97mg]

Hour Three

A lady of the wilderness, Jeovanna has heard familiar sounds before. Up in trees nestled against rivers. Dark shapes soaring in lonely skies. Some, even couldn't resist the alure of orchard farmer's easily nibbled fruit.

The humble bat.

But this sounded like way more than one. So much clicking and squeaking back there somewhere. Maybe this was just roosting time, a chance to share a day of dark stories whilst hanging from a cavern's cavities. Or maybe...

Hell. So many of them to make such a distant cacaphony!

As the sounds intensify, a tiny winged black shape flys through the dark gap, flapping about in the lair, pinging at the walls in search of something...

<Jeovanna has a round to react to this situation. Annit & Dain, being injured and resting more deeply will only awaken if subject to louder noises or physically interfered with. Everyone else will have the option to make a perception check next round to be stirred, depending on Jeo's actions. A hearty shout would probably get them up if needed.>

 

[Jeovanna]

Jeovanna: Hour Three

"Ha, get! Shoo!"

It was worse than rats. Bats! Mice with wings! Jeovanna would swing her sword at the thing, but more in an attempt to drive it off than to actually hit it.

"Mage! Get up! We need flames!" She'd kick the side of Otiroth's foot through his bedroll. He was up next for guard duty, anyway, so not too much sleep would be lost.

Something had disturbed them, no doubt. A change in the time of night, or something upsetting deeper in the bowels of the mines. Didn't matter. She hated bats!

 

[97mg]

A Hatred of Bats

The awful clicking and screeching intensifies! Seconds later a large mass of fluttering cave-dwellers begins to spew from the crevice's raggard jaw, slowed only by the narrowness of the shaft. The swarm is chaos. You, it seems, are not welcome here.

<Jeovanna and Otiroth roll initiative please. Jeovanna can have advantage on the roll>

Round 1
Jeovanna: 22
Otiroth: 18
Bat swarm: 13

Clicking sounds bounce off the walls as the bats begin navigating their way into the lair en-force. They spiral in the air, brush dangerously close to your faces, and just keep coming!

<When round 2 starts other characters can join the initiative. Dain and Annit only on a DC 12 perception check. If attacking the swarm the AC is 12, the more HP damage done, the more you kill.>

 

[Jeovanna]

Jeovanna: A Hatred of Bats

Honestly, she hated them!

Jeovanna's sword was... well... not made for such acts of pure dexterity. She could carve a demon, but not so much swipe an apple off of said demon's head. Not with a massive sword. And perhaps her wild swing did not help- the idea that, were she fast and erratic enough, she might be able to catch at least one of the little demons with her blade.

It was not a good moment for the barbarian.

<22 initiative>
<10 to hit, 6 damage>

 

[Otiroth]

Otiroth: A hatred of bats

It was a rude awakening, and he'd just gotten to sleep, too...

Otiroth would sit bolt upright with a "hrn? Mom?" But the situation presented itself immediately afterwards. Perhaps a bit too late to save his dignity, though. If Jeovanna was listening, which she pretty clearly was not.

A saner mind might've hesitated, but Otiroth was not sane. He was in fact half asleep. Raising both hands to his mouth, he would speak a short incantation- and then blast a mouthful of flames at the bat swarm- as much as he could manage away from his comrades, and towards that crevice full of bats.

<Initiative: 18>
<Spellcasting: Burning hands. Each creature within a 15 foot cone must make a Dex saving through or take 3d6 damage. Half damage on a successful roll>
<8 damage>

This is bat country!