[3.5E] Heretic's Bane - Road Warrior [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Toliudar

2012-09-24, 04:20 AM

As they reach the boats, Johannes re-evaluates his plans. He'd forgotten that there were only large cargo craft.

"Magnum, I don't think it's a good idea to have the four of you alone on one of the big boats. If something strikes, you won't have time to fight and steer at the same time. I'm assigning you some of the freed slaves to help you row and navigate. Send up a holler if you run into anything."

He oversaw the installation of the crates, split up, into the other four cargo boats, and called Marcus Black over for a quiet confab, explaining that he was putting Marcus in charge of the middle boat, and putting the drow on his boat. Johannes gave Marcus leave to kill them if they give any trouble.

Should I assume that the two drow died in the fight against the dragons? I'm including them in the lists below, just in case.

Also, I know nothing about Regina. What would we know about her?

Order of the boats:

Lead - ideally travelling a few hundred yards in advance of the others.
Magnum
Wyatt
Talamir
Arum & Badger
Drath'lyn
15 freed slaves

Boat 2
Johannes
Tec'lis
Regina
Santana
15 freed slaves
3 crates of treasure

Boat 3
Marcus Black
Weedle
4 Black Company Fighter 2's
Bhineth'lyn
15 freed slaves
3 crates of treasure

Boat 4
Viktor
2 Turrock minotaurs
Barakas
3 Black Company Fighter 2's
15 freed slaves
2 crates of treasure

Boat 5
Eoin
Nega
2 Turrock minotaurs
Khord
15 freed slaves
2 crates of treasure

Boat 6
Leftover food, clothing, supplies

I'm trying to strike a balance of adequately defending each boat while still spreading out enough that each boat is not too weighted down. Let me know if I've over or underestimated the size of a cargo boat.

Gryndel

2012-09-24, 09:32 AM

"Aye Jo, da vanguard idea's mostly fer marchin', but dis sounds good as well."

OOC I believe we decided earlier that Bundok's remains are literally dead weight being carried by someone else who is teleporting.

You have Victor AND Viktor listed, but not sure who the latter is...

and I thought the drow fled earlier with some of the slaves during the dragon battle

EDIT Are we going downriver? If so, maybe it would be a good idea to load up the 6th barge with extra food clothes, firewood, etc and tow it behind?

Toliudar

2012-09-24, 10:03 AM

Thanks, Gryndel! I really like the suggestion about the sixth barge, and am fixing the rest. This is a lot to process, and I appreciate the backstop.

I couldn't find the reference to the drow leaving, and given instructions that Buehler gave Johannes earlier, I'm still under the impression that the drow are with us. Truth be told, I debated saddling you with them, since the longer-range darkvision would be most useful in the front barge, but figured they could also do the most damage there.

Gryndel

2012-09-24, 10:13 AM

Magnum
While his place of origin was home to one of the only dwarven fleets that plied the seas, Magnum had never served aboard a vessel. His service to the Patriarchate had broadened his view of dealing with other races, many of whom had often been enemies historically. But in most other ways he was a very traditional dwarf, and distrust, if not outright dislike, of water in quantities large enough to drown an armored dwarf still set ill in his mind.

Despite this he hopped aboard as if he was an old salty sailor and inspected the integrity of the vessel, "Ain't a frigate, but looks like it'll float."

Thanks, Gryndel! I really like the suggestion about the sixth barge, and am fixing the rest. This is a lot to process, and I appreciate the backstop.

I couldn't find the reference to the drow leaving, and given instructions that Buehler gave Johannes earlier, I'm still under the impression that the drow are with us. Truth be told, I debated saddling you with them, since the longer-range darkvision would be most useful in the front barge, but figured they could also do the most damage there.

I'll look for it if Mike doesn't reply before, I think it was early in the battle.

Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13696449&postcount=3985) is the last reference I could find... except Jo here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13858206&postcount=4029)

but then there was this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13872370&postcount=4037) which I think you're referring to?

If they are here Magnum wouldn't mind having them aboard that much, and he'd have no issue whatsoever with killing them if (ok when in his mind) they betray us. Might be a fun subject for ic discussion...

Also according to the map and note 2 of this (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/movement.htm#tableMountsAndVehicles) it look like the river portion should be only a day or so

Gryndel

2012-09-24, 12:23 PM

Also, I know nothing about Regina. What would we know about her?

Mike described a bit about her here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13906872&postcount=3193)

mshady

2012-09-26, 01:44 AM

Bhineth'lyn

The drow and his brother approach the bridge, leaving their own group of slaves behind near their old slave quarters. Bhinth'lyn saunters up, while his brother's grace has been replaced by a stiff limp. Surgery takes time to recover from, not that Bhinth'lyn was too concerned with the junior boy's health, so long as he was actually alive to serve him.

"Heil, dwarfs! I come a calling, for I see the armoury has been a-plunder, the dragon is a-dead and my swords have been a-found or returned to me. My inquiry thus is what are their whereabouts?" he smiles in a friendly manner, which just makes it seem all the more sinister coming from a drow. He tips his head in the direction of Talamir, but the sullen elf merely returns a hard glare.

"I am told there is a change of plans" he adds, gesturing down to the docks and the barges. "Where I had thought we were taking the scenic path, with the cold, the dragons and the blinding light, I am told someone here is perhaps NOT as dense as they look and decided to take the river out. Seeing as I have actually lived in the Underdark, as opposed to you interloping dwarves, I would like to offer my services as a guide" he says, tipping his head politely in the direction of Johannes. "By I, of course, I include my brother in that offer"

"There is also the matter of where exactly the rest of the former slaves. You could turn them loose up the stairs and into the cold environs, at the same time you sends the thousand or so of the enemy civilians. I.... don't think those groups would mix well? Words like 'riot' and 'blood bath', oh and 'eating of women and children' come to mind. They can't help themselves, they're savages. About 20 miles down the river is an old little pier. It is... quite sad, but we could dock there and both we and them can disappear into the Underdark, never to be heard from again. I do see two extra barges as well, so it seems you have the room?

See the problem is, they don't... really want to go out there. Up there. It's so cold and miserble for them. I told them all about it. The other problem is that, well, they are all armed and armored, with full bellies now and some of them know their business with a blade. I don't think they would go up willingly. So, could you spare us a couple of barges and save us all the trouble? Oh... and I sincerely apologize for the incident before, with the hostages and all that? That was a bit rash of me, and a mistake I won't make again" the drow says and smiles.

Refresher from the Wiki

Bhineth'lyn and Drath'lyn:These twin drow declared themselves members of the famed drow mercenary company, the Bregan D'aerthe. They became enslaved by the Aurilites alongside the slaves they were delivering to them, in a dispute possibly concerning money. The rest of their own escort appears to have been killed. Thanks to their considerable martial skill, they quickly established themselves at the top of the food chain in the Aurilite's slave mines. Quite possibly, they have never swung a mining pick during their entire time there, instead becoming enforcers for those that enslaved them.

When the slaves escaped, thanks to Johanness providing the armaments and motivation for a revolt, they helped lead the revolt themselves after Eoin Shatterbonds was felled by a blow to the head they claim they had nothing to do with. During the escape, Drath'lyn was stabbed with a sword and left to die by his brother. While Nalrak saved Drath'lyn, his brother Bhineth'lyn has shown little appreciation for his brother or the dwarfs who saved them, going so far as to take hostages to protect his interests in escape and recovering his prized armaments.

Toliudar

2012-09-27, 11:09 AM

Thanks for the info, Gryndel. That helps tremendously. Unless you have a real problem with this, I'm moving Drath'lyn to your barge, both to provide some local insight and long-range darkvision, and to separate the brothers.

Mike, I'm going to assume that Bhinth'lyn's group of slaves are included among the 75 that you described above? If not, we'll distribute his group as evenly as possible among the five manned barges.

Please note that nothing that Johannes says to Bhinth'lyn is a lie. If you need a bluff check regardless, he'll use an inspiration point to give himself a +15 modifier to his roll.

"Heil, dwarfs! I come a calling, for I see the armoury has been a-plunder, the dragon is a-dead and my swords have been a-found or returned to me. My inquiry thus is what are their whereabouts?" he smiles in a friendly manner, which just makes it seem all the more sinister coming from a drow. He tips his head in the direction of Talamir, but the sullen elf merely returns a hard glare.

Johannes chuckles and returns a smile as cold as the drow's.

"Ah, that's right, Bhinth'lyn. If only you hadn't run away and hid when the dragons came, you might have been around to look for your swords. As it is, most of the armoury is a heap of rubble. You're welcome to head over there to pick through, looking for your swords, but then you'd miss our launch and would have to get out on your own. Which is, of course, your call. As we made very clear, you were getting absolutely no privilege of salvage."

"I am told there is a change of plans" he adds, gesturing down to the docks and the barges. "Where I had thought we were taking the scenic path, with the cold, the dragons and the blinding light, I am told someone here is perhaps NOT as dense as they look and decided to take the river out. Seeing as I have actually lived in the Underdark, as opposed to you interloping dwarves, I would like to offer my services as a guide" he says, tipping his head politely in the direction of Johannes. "By I, of course, I include my brother in that offer"

"Once we dock, I would indeed appreciate any advance word you can provide about what and who we might be coming up to as we head along."

"There is also the matter of where exactly the rest of the former slaves. You could turn them loose up the stairs and into the cold environs, at the same time you sends the thousand or so of the enemy civilians. I.... don't think those groups would mix well? Words like 'riot' and 'blood bath', oh and 'eating of women and children' come to mind. They can't help themselves, they're savages. About 20 miles down the river is an old little pier. It is... quite sad, but we could dock there and both we and them can disappear into the Underdark, never to be heard from again. I do see two extra barges as well, so it seems you have the room?"

Mike, I honestly have no idea what we're talking about here. I had rather assumed that the list of survivors you gave at the top of this thread were the survivors that we're charged with getting out. Is it Johannes understanding that there are a lot more, and that they're his problem as well? How many are we talking about? Racial breakdown?

Johannes shrugged.

"See the problem is, they don't... really want to go out there. Up there. It's so cold and miserble for them. I told them all about it. The other problem is that, well, they are all armed and armored, with full bellies now and some of them know their business with a blade. I don't think they would go up willingly. So, could you spare us a couple of barges and save us all the trouble? Oh... and I sincerely apologize for the incident before, with the hostages and all that? That was a bit rash of me, and a mistake I won't make again"the drow says and smiles.

Mike: CAN we spare the barges? Is there ample room for the rest of us on three or four barges? If we can accommodate those who want to get to the surface on four barges, I'm fine to give the drow, and the others who want to stay below, the other two and send them on their way. But I don't know if that screws us. Can you provide some insight?

Strangie

2012-09-27, 05:09 PM

Wyatt

Wyatt mostly avoided making eye contact with anybody who wasn't affiliated with the Patriarchate, save for the Wayward Sons and some of the slaves if they recognized him (favorably, at least.). He took particular care to stay away from Regina, the psycho mage bitch whose circle magic he and Sable obliterated with clever use of alchemy items. She was probably still bitter about that, he thought to himself.

He also was wary of the drow, and made sure to steer clear and let Johannes do the work of negotiating. He knew of the drow's tendency to be total jackasses, so he stayed clear.

He quickly found himself doing a whole lot of nothing, so he decided to help move what cargo he could, his haversack making that much easier to accomplish as physical might was not his strong suit. (dohohohoho)

"Times like 'dese I wish I were someone else sometimes..." he mutters to nobody in particular.

mshady

2012-09-27, 05:31 PM

Thanks for the info, Gryndel. That helps tremendously. Unless you have a real problem with this, I'm moving Drath'lyn to your barge, both to provide some local insight and long-range darkvision, and to separate the brothers.

Mike, I'm going to assume that Bhinth'lyn's group of slaves are included among the 75 that you described above? If not, we'll distribute his group as evenly as possible among the five manned barges.

Please note that nothing that Johannes says to Bhinth'lyn is a lie. If you need a bluff check regardless, he'll use an inspiration point to give himself a +15 modifier to his roll.

Johannes chuckles and returns a smile as cold as the drow's.

"Ah, that's right, Bhinth'lyn. If only you hadn't run away and hid when the dragons came, you might have been around to look for your swords. As it is, most of the armoury is a heap of rubble. You're welcome to head over there to pick through, looking for your swords, but then you'd miss our launch and would have to get out on your own. Which is, of course, your call. As we made very clear, you were getting absolutely no privilege of salvage."

"Once we dock, I would indeed appreciate any advance word you can provide about what and who we might be coming up to as we head along."

Mike, I honestly have no idea what we're talking about here. I had rather assumed that the list of survivors you gave at the top of this thread were the survivors that we're charged with getting out. Is it Johannes understanding that there are a lot more, and that they're his problem as well? How many are we talking about? Racial breakdown?

Johannes shrugged.

Mike: CAN we spare the barges? Is there ample room for the rest of us on three or four barges? If we can accommodate those who want to get to the surface on four barges, I'm fine to give the drow, and the others who want to stay below, the other two and send them on their way. But I don't know if that screws us. Can you provide some insight?

The drow and the slaves with him are mostly orcs, bugbears and a couple ogres for good measure. He seems to have them under control. They are in addition to your current list of castaways. They needed to go somewhere and the plan for them going out and disappearing into the hills did not work when we decided to take the barges. I rolled a dice and they wanted to come with you guys. It's kind of cute, really.

So yes, they are his problem now, in part because I wanted to give Johannes more problems to deal with. Consider what is coming to be a high CR soft skills encounter for him. For Magnum too, who is getting into more of a leadership role.

We are talking about an additional 40 orcs, 10 bugbears, 10 hobgoblins (that may or may not have been ex guards of Aurilite troublemakers thrown into the pits) and 4 ogres, that act as the drow's protectors. That's ok though, you have 4 loyal minotaurs. Heh.

Each barge is about 50 feet long and a good 20 feet across. They have metal hulls over wood planks, flat bottoms and are square shaped. They're old, but not particularly leaked. They can be rowed, but they are more designed to just float along or be hauled against the current along a tow path. So yeah, four barges should be fine for your existing crew. The other two should accomodate the others.

Will bringing them along screw you? Sure. So could bringing Regina. Or Black's Company. Nevermind any RANDOM ENCOUNTERS King Tius will be throwing in.

That said, its not going to be a long section of the game. We're on a clock. King and I will try to move it along as quickly as possible.

Toliudar

2012-09-27, 09:10 PM

Thanks, Mike. That's exactly what I needed! I'll try to move this forward so that we can get underway.

"There is also the matter of where exactly the rest of the former slaves. You could turn them loose up the stairs and into the cold environs, at the same time you sends the thousand or so of the enemy civilians. I.... don't think those groups would mix well? Words like 'riot' and 'blood bath', oh and 'eating of women and children' come to mind. They can't help themselves, they're savages. About 20 miles down the river is an old little pier. It is... quite sad, but we could dock there and both we and them can disappear into the Underdark, never to be heard from again. I do see two extra barges as well, so it seems you have the room?"

Johannes looks over the ragtag group and nods.

"Marvellous. The more the merrier. We'll reallocate resources to split food among all of us. I'll be delighted to take you up on your offer of providing some expertise for the journey. Drath'lyn, you'll be in the lead boat with Magnum, and you're there to feed him information about what's coming up. Bhinth'lyn, you'll join Marcus Black on his crew, to provide further guidance. The rest of you will pilot the last two craft."

Johannes manner suggested that he was not expecting any further discussion on the matter. He shouted forward to the deputized captains of the boats to go over revised assignments.

"I want all of you ready to launch in five minutes. Let's move move move, people!"

Revised boat assignments:

Magnum
Wyatt
Talamir
Arum & Badger
Drath'lyn
15 freed slaves
1 crate of treasure
Food

Boat 2
Johannes
Tec'lis
2 Turrock minotaurs
Regina
Santana
20 freed slaves
3 crates of treasure
food

Boat 3
Marcus Black
Weedle
4 Black Company Fighter 2's
Khord
Bhineth'lyn
20 freed slaves
3 crates of treasure
food

Boat 4
Eoin
Nega
Viktor
2 Turrock minotaurs
Barakas
3 Black Company Fighter 2's
20 freed slaves
3 crates of treasure
food

Boat 5
assorted humanoids
leftover clothing & supplies

Boat 6
assorted humanoids
leftover clothing & supplies

mshady

2012-09-27, 09:30 PM

Bhinth'lyn

The drow frowns at Johannes' suggestion for placement and shakes his head.

"Sir dwarf, you can take the Juniorboy and have him ride in the front. He's fond of the water, simple fellow. I do not wish to be with your man Marcus, however. Those other slaves, keeping them in order requires my firm hand and I would not be able to keep them in order from another boat. Yes, it would be safer for me and I appreciate the concern, but it would be best for us all if I stayed with them. They are little more than savages. I don't know how they'd even control the... barge... without me" he smiles politely. "Really, I must insist"

Toliudar

2012-09-28, 12:15 AM

Johannes turns from where he is issuing other orders.

"I apologize. Did I give the impression that this was a suggestion? It's not. You get on Marcus' boat, or you stay here. Your call. I've seen what you do when you're in charge. Screw that. Until we part company, you're in charge of nothing."

He turns and raises his voice, addressing the ragged assortment of orcs, goblinoids and ogres.

"You have a choice to make today. You can be what this man thinks you are, morons whose only chance at survival is to be bullied and goaded by him. Or you can take charge of your lives, and guide these ships downriver to safety. I'm betting on you to do what you've got to do to live."

Johannes makes eye contact with Wyatt, Magnum and Talamir, making it clear that if there is any aggressive action from Bhinth'lyn, they had had free rein to use lethal force in response.

Diplomacy for convincing the humanoids: [roll0]

Gryndel

2012-09-29, 01:48 PM

Magnum

Upon first seeing the drow and hearing his words, Magnum initially wondered who told the drow there was a change in plans. Not that he was overly concerned about it, but it was a sticking point of deep curiosity. That aside, at least for now, he chuckled derisively at the problem posed by the dark elf, barely concerned with the humanoid rabble, other than glee at the possibility that their blood would quickly oil his axe if needed.

With a reassuring and steady look at the armed men in his boat, he casually laid a hand on the axe handle of Arctis and paid close attention to the conversation developing between Johannes and Bhineth'lyn. Though he was not pleased with the idea that any of them should accompany the group out, he resigned with a grunt that it would be better to have them in sight, at least for now.

With a nod to Wyatt, Talamir, and Arum, he stood at the top of the plank bridging the dock and barge while the dispute about location of those joining the venture played out. Believing that Johannes was handling well enough, albeit not in total agreement, his confident fierce gaze promised stalwart support of the one in command.

When Johannes addressed the humanoid rabble, Magnum glared dangerously in their direction briefly, then turned to grin at the drow. He spoke in a tone so filled with arrogance it would likely seem friendly to the drow, “Best be agreein’ Bhineth'lyn, fer now at least. Now’s no time ta make more rash mistakes.”

King Tius

2012-10-11, 09:15 PM

The Drow throws his hands up in feigned exaggeration. "You Dwarves are as dense as your precious stone. I'd have better luck trying to dance with a Dryder. If you INSIST, I'll ride in front with you, but I will NOT be rowing. At the very least give me time to organize my slaves. I may not be allowed to lead them, but I know how to work them better than you. Once you take us to the old dock I'll point you in the right direction as we part ways. Do we have an accord then?" He sticks out his dainty and dark hand towards Johannes, apparently wanting to shake on it.

The minotaurs are EXTREMELY displeased at the thought of getting on the barges. Gore seems about ready to try and kill Kelik once and for all. Perhaps it was time for the old bull to die and let Gore take over?

Johannes's words fall upon the goblinoid and giant ears with mixed results. Some of the slaves, particularly the hobgoblins, seem to consider his words carefully. The ogres and bugbears, however, do little more than stare blankly at him (or ignore him entirely).

OOC: All aboard! Any last minute arrangements (taking off armor, praying to your gods, etc) should be done quickly. If you aren't doing something specific on your barge, it is assumed you are going to be rowing. Those with BOLDED names on the boat chart will be shouting out commands to the rowers for steering. We'll be using their skill checks for not crashing the barges (unless you want to designate someone else as navigator/captain of each vessel)

Toliudar

2012-10-12, 12:06 AM

Johannes

Johannes looks quizzically Bhinth'lyn.

"Sir, I don't know why you continue to believe that I don't mean what I say. When I say that you are not in charge on these boats, that is precisely what I mean. While you're on that barge, you'll obey Captain Black, or you'll pay the price of insubordination. If he tells you to row, you'll row. If those ones -"

Johannes gestures to the orcs, goblins and others who were straggling towards the indicated.

"- are unable to master their differences and navigate the river, they have no one to blame with themselves. Once we're all downriver, we can part company. Everybody gets what they want, as long as you don't muck this up."

Johannes turns to gesture about a re-arrangement of the crates to level out the weight on a barge. But he doesn't move until it's clear that Bhinth'lyn is getting on his assigned barge.

I'm pretty much good to move forward to casting off as desired. Assume that there are quiet words with each of Black, Marcus and Viktor and Eoin, giving them permission to kill anyone on their ships who doesn't follow orders - especially the drow or minotaurs. Marcus will also be asked to pump Drath'lyn for details of what's ahead in the tunnels, so that we're not relying in any way on Bhinth'lyn's words.

Gryndel

2012-10-12, 09:30 AM

Magnum
Putting Wyatt and Talamir in charge of the boat, the Alaghor rearranged the cargo in the middle of the barge to create a space sufficient to brew potions. Since it would be some time before they would reach the point of leaving the river, he hoped to store some of his remaining magic in liquid form. His sincere hope was that they would be undisturbed until he could rest, then pray at the appropriate time to regain all his spells, and get all this accomplished before setting off on land... hope in one hand, etc...

OOCCast Triad spell on Resist Energy -Cold, to create 3 potions. He also brews potions of Endure Elements, Resurgence, Snowshoes, and Freedom of Movement. All are CL 9

King Tius

2012-10-15, 08:49 PM

Just to check in here. Gryndel, Toliudar, and Strangie are the only three Players in this thread, correct? I don't want to step on anyone's toes who hasn't had a chance to post up in here, but we should get moving. With so many people jumping in and out of characters and whatnot, I sometimes forget who is playing who (plus this isn't really my game, I just help a lot).

EDIT: and Eoin!

Toliudar

2012-10-15, 09:48 PM

That is indeed my understanding, although so far it's just been Gryndel and me posting. We may need to fast forward or abstract this a bit, I'm afraid.

King Tius

2012-10-15, 10:01 PM

Mike and I just had a big Skype meeting about what's going to go down. We're going to break out of the main thread's timeline so we can fast forward down the river to the interesting bits.

Strangie

2012-10-16, 01:23 AM

I'm still here, Wyatt has no qualms about guiding the boat (that's why he signed on in the first place).

Wyatt

"Good thing you got me on guide duty, Joh. I didn't wanna row anyway. I don't think I'd be too good at it. Instead, I've learned how to sightsee, survive, break traps, and bash someone's face in with blunt objects 'den promptly leaving them in the dust to die of brain hemorrhaging. Life well spent, eh?" He shrugs at the thought.

He glances around a bit, and gestures for Johannes to follow to speak a bit more privately. "I'm a bit worried about, uh... Whatsherface. You know." He talks lowly. "Kaladus' best friend." He gestures his head at Regina, when she is far away or otherwise not paying attention. "I've a feeling she's going to try and ice 'dis group somehow if the opportunity presents itself. I'm pretty sure she isn't terribly fond of me either, after me and Sable knocked out her circle magic and started 'dat whole... thing. Boy, 'dat was a mess. Not 'dat I'm scared-a the hag, but I'd rather not let her get the last laugh, eh?"

Toliudar

2012-10-16, 02:16 PM

Johannes bends for more quiet conversation with Wyatt. He shakes his head.

"I think about a third of the people on these ships want them to sink. It's a farce. So yeah, I'll do my best to keep an eye on Regina. You do the same with whassisname, Drow Junior, and maybe we'll make landfall."

Johannes straightens, and heads towards 'his' barge. He turns to call back to Wyatt.

"And keep an eye on the map. Maybe it'll help us avoid any surprises ahead.

Strangie

2012-10-16, 02:37 PM

Wyatt

"Yeah, 'dey probably do, but most of 'dem don't get 'demselves involved in binding souls to golems. Her, however... I'm not sure how she stacks up to Kaladus in terms of power, but it's something I'd worry about regardless."

He nods, and gives a thumbs up about the remark with the map.

"Gotcha. Should be simple enough."

King Tius

2012-10-17, 03:21 PM

Though it takes longer than expected to rally everyone onto the barges, you finally manage to push off and begin the long journey home. The current of the underground river is not particularly swift and even with most of the able-bodied polling the barges still seem to move at a snail's pace. With each passing minute the tension rises, knowing that the Stoneburner could blow at any minute. Will the barges make it 10 miles? Could they go any slower? The minutes pass in near silence, save for the labored breathing of the pole-men and the slosh of the dark water around you.

When the barges get to your best approximation of the 10-mile radius safe zone, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Conversations begin to pick up, even a song or two. The Aurilites have been dealt with and you are all on your way home.

Then the Stoneburner detonates.

It's effects aren't so much seen and heard but rather are felt like a sense of foreboding. A deep, deep hum, almost too low to hear but so great in magnitude it feels like the whole mountain is vibrating very suddenly sweeps over the group. The hum grows in intensity and becomes steadily louder, accompanied now by the rumbling of the earth around you. Your mild apprehension becomes genuine concern as the rumbling grows increasingly violent, much like being trapped inside a mine shaft during an earthquake. As steadily larger pieces of stone begin to crack off and rain down on the barges you hear it. A rushing sound rises quickly from the river's tunnel behind you, growing at such an alarming rate that you fear a hurricane is barreling down the river towards you. Already as loud as a full gale (due to the echoing nature of the tunnel), you have mere seconds to react before whatever it is overtakes the barges.

Those on the five rear barges have 1 round to react. The scout barge (100 meters ahead of the others) get 2 rounds.

Strangie

2012-10-17, 05:32 PM

OOC: Oh geez... a river tsunami? Well, that's just great.

Before I get into my own actions, I need to know a few things about the environment that I would hope would be readily available since we have been on this river for a while. (and this might be helpful for others, too)

How far is it from the barge to the shore of the river? Assuming that this is probably strong enough to topple a barge, going down with the ship is probably not the best of ideas.

Also, am I able to see any of this? Barges are relatively flat, if I recall correctly (unless these are different?) so we should be able to see this relatively easy... at least, the people who are out piloting the things.

King Tius

2012-10-17, 07:00 PM

The section of river you are currently in is basically a tunnel or water slide. There are rock outcroppings at semi-random points that would sort of act as a ledge but there isn't a beach or shore at this point. It is rather dark in the underdark and even with 120 ft darkvision you couldn't see down the tunnel far enough. However, you can see the various torches and other light sources on the barges. The rear barge's lights are still visible and you don't see any tsunami within the area of their light sources.

King Tius

2012-10-18, 07:39 AM

Reposting this from the OOC section so nobody misses it:

Just to chime in here also, Mike and I discussed this last night when I realized there was a large difference in time frames. As it turns out, these barges are much bigger and move much slower than I had imagined. It is more of a huge river barge and less of a big Huck Finn type deal. In standing water it takes a barge about a day to go 5 miles. With the current and the poles Mike and I agreed that you could haul @$$ and get about 12 miles in 24 hours if you hoof it. Also, Buelher (or the Dwarf formally known as Bueylir) gave you 24 hours to clear the blast radius before detonating the burner. Everything is still happening as normal, you've just been on the barges loner than I first posted. You'd have time to brew more potions, but you'd also be taking shifts on the poles and resting.

Gryndel

2012-10-18, 12:28 PM

Magnum
Post potion production, the Alaghor methodically cleaned up the area and distributed a few vials. He gave Wyatt a pair of potions; Cure Moderate Wound potion and Resist Energy (cold), explaining, "Da nature o'yer vocation often draws ye away from da area affected by da mass version, so ye oughta carry a Resist Energy potion."

He offered Talamir a potion of Resist Energy (cold) and Bull's Strength. Arum was offered potions of Resist Energy (cold) and Endure Elements.

OOC All are CL 9

Though he was in command of the barge, Magnum took a turn rowing as well. Despite enduring one of the toughest, and likely the longest, days in his life, he relished the opportunity to work out some kinks in certain muscles and contributing to their progress. When his turn came to rest he offered up prayers to Clangeddin and checked over his armor, weapons, and other equipment with meticulous care before finally falling into a deep slumber.

****
Waking to the reality of the underground river, the delightful dreams of battle he experienced quickly faded. Donning armor, the war priest prayed and prepared for the day, including Magic Vestment on his armor (+2 AC = 29). Hoping it would prove uneventful, his pragmatism guided his spell selection for the day, considering distance traveled and when they could expect to leave the river. His attitude was positive, if stern as always, and outwardly dour. He kept a close eye on not only their progress, but the drow in the barge.

Well attuned to deep sounds and vibrations, particularly those emanating from the earth, and expecting to experience some such sonic and seismic signs that the Stoneburner was activated, Magnum was prepared in part when it came. He glanced to each side to judge whether he could create a stone wall that could aid them substantially.

Bellowing over the din, the Alaghor said, "Oy, get close enuf fer me ta touch ye lads, we may need ta be walkin' on dis water soon!"

OOCHow wide is the tunnel, and how high is the ceiling above the water, where we are right now? If he thinks it might aid us, he'd cast Wall of Stone, probably most effective (if at all) across the ceiling.

Second round ready action cast water walk on all those he can touch if the barges behind are swept under or washed over by water.

Toliudar

2012-10-18, 04:01 PM

The plan was that they wouldn't set off the Stoneburner until we signalled using the stone, right? Would it change anything that Johannes was planning on waiting an extra couple of miles before sending a message, for exactly this reason? I'll wait on a response before posting a tsunami response.

As they start the long poling down the underground river, Johannes doesn't take a turn poling, but instead spends most of his time making sure that the other barges are keeping up, but also maintaining a bit of distance. That, plus keeping an eye on Regina in his own boat, as well as Bhinth'lyn in the boat beyond, and making sure that the ones in the last barge are neither killing each other nor preparing to mount an assault on the ones in front, occupy most of his time.

Johannes, frankly, has a headache.

King Tius

2012-10-18, 07:24 PM

You're about two miles clear of the blast radius but even if you waited a few more you would still get hit with the "tsunami." The tunnel you are in has a diameter just wide enough to squeeze one barge past another. Thus the height is about one barge width. MIKE, what are the barge dimensions again?

mshady

2012-10-18, 09:58 PM

40 feet long, and 20 feet wide

Gryndel

2012-10-18, 10:17 PM

So the tunnel is approximately 50' wide and 20' high. A wall of stone at CL9 could be about 2 inches thick, stretch completely across the tunnel, and extend down almost 10' from the ceiling. If angled toward the flow it should add more strength against the force applied. Not sure how to figure the effect exactly, but should be noticeable at least.

Range is 190' so he'd want to do it behind the last boat as far as he dares to ensure its in place in time.

Strangie

2012-10-18, 10:35 PM

Wyatt

"Well, 'dat's just freakin' great. Why couldn't we be outside, so I could just jump off the boat to shore? But noooo..." Wyatt says as he hurries over to Magnum.

"'dis is gonna suck bad, huh?"

mshady

2012-10-21, 08:18 AM

[QUOTE=Toliudar;14072398]The plan was that they wouldn't set off the Stoneburner until we signalled using the stone, right? Would it change anything that Johannes was planning on waiting an extra couple of miles before sending a message, for exactly this reason? I'll wait on a response before posting a tsunami response.

Belated OOC Response: That was the plan, yes. For some reason, it went off before a signal had been exchanged.

That can only mean bad things. The last time Carmard triggered, and barely recovered it, it was when they were on the losing end of a fight. As it went off without a signal, its quite possible all of your friends are dead.

Toliudar

2012-10-21, 08:35 AM

Johannes

At the sound of water roaring behind them, Johannes whirls, and catches a glimpse, in the lanterns of the orc/hobgoblin boat, of the approaching smashing fist of water. Ah. Well, perhaps on the bright side, at least it meant that that Stoneburner thingee actually went off. So much of that mad magic had gone into making the thing, he'd worried that it would all end with a magnificently anticlimactic pop.

Now, to the rather quotidian but pressing matter of staying alive, preferably in company. Johannes sucked in a huge lungful.

"Everybody pull in your oars, hunker down and grab the sides of the barge!"

Since it seemed more than passingly likely that they would be swimming soon, it would be helpful to be able to do so. Quickly sketching out roughly what he thought one of those nice wizards had done once, Johannes disappears, replaced by a bulky, reptilian creature wearing his gleaming breastplate. Taking his own advice, he bent to take hold of the boat.

Johannes uses Alter Self to turn into a Tren.

King Tius

2012-10-21, 05:26 PM

Still no word on Eoin? I guess he's going on auto-pilot.

Gryndel

2012-10-21, 06:05 PM

Still no word on Eoin? I guess he's going on auto-pilot.

Not since before we started this thread :smalleek:

King Tius

2012-10-28, 09:32 PM

Sorry I went AWOL, things got a little crazy for me. I'm going to try and update tomorrow before Sandy knocks out my power.

mshady

2012-10-28, 10:56 PM

OOC: Yes, Eoin is on auto pilot for now. I am looking into replacements.

mshady

2012-10-31, 12:13 AM

The River

Johannes' alteration startles everyone else in the boat, but this world being what it was, there were far bigger problems roaring down the tunnel. Screams of panic come from at least one of the boats, probably several, as the tunnel itself shakes. Looking down the tunnel, Johannes and the others have to avert their eyes. They see a blazing, blinding, white hot light far down the tunnel. Even a momentary glance is enough to cause one to avert their eyes, and even that glance leaves shadows in their vision. Whatever else was coming, that light was the most intense light any of them had ever saw. It was worse than looking right at the sun. The tremors in the tunnel itself churned the water around the rafts, and both Magnum and Johannes seem to notice that the barges had seemingly stopped in place, the current having fled them...

OOC: Please post reactions in the next day or so, and I'll continue. Just keeping it moving until King Tius is back. With that area getting belted by a hurricane, it might be a couple days...

Strangie

2012-11-01, 12:31 AM

Wyatt

Wyatt waits for further instruction from Magnum. He can see clearly that this is not going to end well, and there is no where to run...

OOC
If Magnum has another spell to cast, I'm going to delay until he does that and then take an action based on his direction, if applicable.

King Tius

2012-11-01, 08:19 AM

Hey folks, I'm back. Sandy was a pain in the arse but my power is back on. Sorry for the delay.

Toliudar

2012-11-01, 11:14 AM

Johannes takes a firm hold of the edge of the barge. He glances between the onrushing wall of water and Regina. His new face, reptilian and replete with sharp teeth, was a great way to make unreadable his fear and consternation.

"Not to worry. Plenty of clearance at the top of this tunnel. The wave will lift the barge up and settle her down again. Just hold tight!"

Glad to hear you're okay, Tius! I hope it wasn't too awful.

Gryndel

2012-11-01, 12:55 PM

Magnum
Baffled somewhat by the intense light, Magnum briefly tried to puzzle out the lack of current. The only conclusions he could reach was that was something physically blocked the flow of water or some other powerful force held it up. Regardless, the cause became irrelevant, in light of the current effects, and changed nothing about his plan of action.

Posted actions here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14071102&postcount=32) based on initial info, ad don't see anything in recent posts to change it: Wall of Stone, then ready Water Walk if...

loopy

2012-11-01, 10:26 PM

Eoin Shatterbond

Eoin, who had fallen asleep almost as soon as they had boarded the raft, awakens at the sound of the rumble. "Merciful gods!" He exclaims, "What did I do to piss you off so badly?!"
Having no other recourse, he clings to the raft and prepares for the wall of water. He'd not had to swim since he'd left Luskan years ago, and he'd never been the best, being about as graceful in the water as a soggy cat.

King Tius

2012-11-06, 10:02 PM

The Murderchute River

The blinding light and deafening roar rush faster and fast towards you. Magnum quickly casts his Wall of Stone spell, anchored into the ceiling of the tunnel and angled upriver. Truth be told, his quick thinking may have just saved many, many lives. The explosive force hits the Wall of Stone and does not break through it. However, the incredible pressure it generates causes the river to explode up wards in a huge deluge, much like the opening of a damn or the spray of a giant water hose. Such a massive pressure pocket causes massive waves to bubble up and push down the river, flipping the back two barges. They do not flip entirely over but spin nearly 120 degrees before their outer lips catch on the tunnel, flinging everyone off and then slipping down into the water or capsizing all together. The remaining three boats in the middle of the caravan merely list hard to fore and slightly starboard, causing many to spill off their decks or at least fall prone. The lead-most raft is far enough ahead that it weathers the great tidal wave more easily. You are all at least able to keep your footing, just in time for the earthquake around you to grow even worse.

Massive boulders and huge, jagged pieces of rock begin to rain down around you. You hear a massive crack followed by screams as an absolutely massive piece of rock falls on the third boat, smashing through the hull and causing it to start sinking right away. With all the chaos that ensues, it is difficult to tell who is alive and dead as the earthquake continues to rage.

OOC: You are all now in the middle of a boulder rain! Please let me know what evasive actions (if any) you'd like to take. Standing on the barge, looking up, and trying to dodge any debris is a perfectly valid option and will simply require three reflex saves. Things should be able to move faster now that I'm caught up again.

Toliudar

2012-11-07, 01:55 AM

Seeing no other options that didn't involve endangering the others on the barge, Johannes simply pirouetted on the edge of the barge, dodged and deflected the rocks and scree as they fell. He used his newly acquired thick reptilian tail to redirect a stalagtite into the water. He grunted as a rock landed heavily on his shoulder and caromed into the barge.

"Use your shields if you have them!" he called out to his crew. "Try to direct the rocks out of the barges."

Reflex saves, using inspiration points: [roll0], [roll1], [roll2]

Strangie

2012-11-07, 02:13 AM

Wyatt

Without a second thought, Wyatt immediately gets on the move, looking to avoid the failing rain of hell.

"Oh, hell no! Rocks fall, everybody dies!" Wyatt shouts in a panic as he scrambles to escape being stoned to death in the worst way possible.

Reflex Saves, plus Evasion
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Gryndel

2012-11-07, 02:26 PM

Magnum
Summoning some sense swiftly from chaotic situations and making quick decisions of action was deeply ingrained into the mind of the Alaghor; after all that is almost always the case in battle. He stored the implications of likely losing those aboard the destroyed barges for later consideration, fastly focusing on those remaining afloat. Pride that his wall had such an effect turned to a scowled glance at the resulting change in conditions in the immediate vicinity.

Not entirely satisfied with his efforts, Magnum had little choice but to react immediately to avoid personal disaster! Clicking the heels of his new boots he sped around the deck to avoid the rockfall, grabbing his shield, to use as wisely suggested by Johannes, he bellowed loudly in a baritone banter, "No worse'n a few giant rocks! We've faced much more lately... watch out lads!"

OOCFree action to activate boots of speed;
+1 to reflex save = +4 total on each roll [roll0]
Not sure what aid, if any, the shield will add, but...
ready action: cast Water Walk if barge sinks, touch all he can!

loopy

2012-11-08, 12:24 AM

Eoin Shatterbond

"Well this just keeps getting better!" Eoin had always been light on his feet, but this was going to be difficult even for one as swift as him. He springs to his feet and prepares to dodge the falling debris, calling the eldritch energy to his side in case he misjudges his movement.

Reflex:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

If it looks like he's about to get struck by a boulder, Eoin will use Flee the Scene to dimension door to the next raft.

King Tius

2012-11-15, 09:17 PM

As rocks continue to rain down from the ceiling you all do your best to dodge the incoming projectiles. Johannes is able to dodge all the boulders that come flying his way and Wyatt is almost as lucky, narrowly avoiding being crushed by a rock but still taking 10 damage as a jagged edge catches him in the back and delivers a nasty gash. Magnum is hit full on by two large pieces of rock. Fortunately he is able to bring his shield up and help deflect the rocks, lessening the blows (but only slightly). He takes 22 and 17 damage from the two as he struggles to keep his footing on the now-rapidly listing barge. Eoin is about to be crushed by a large rock when he activates his Warlock ability. Misjudging the distance between his barge and the sinking barge in front of him, the incantation leaves behind a major image of him that is instantly crushed by a large boulder while he teleports towards the next barge. Unfortunately he reappears just above the water instead. Caught off guard, he plunges into the murky depths of the churning underwater river as shards of rock hail around him. The misstep proves fortunate, however, and he avoids taking any damage from the stone shower.

At last the rumbling begins to subside and the churning waters start to calm themselves. As the noise of the stoneburner subsides, the screams of the dying take its place. In the dark and bewildered, it is difficult to tell who is alive and who is dead.

The lead barge is listing at a perilous angle; somehow its front left corner is caught up high on a massive piece of cave in. It is so steep (and slippery) that you must make balance or climb checks to move about it and avoid slipping into the water. The second boat has taken some damage but is still afloat. The third barge is already halfway underwater and sinking at a steady rate. Barge four is largely unharmed while five and six are both upside down.

Looking around the first barge, both Arum, his badger, and Drath'lyn are nowhere to be seen. A half dozen of the slaves still stand. On the second barge it looks like a few of the slaves were thrown off but the rest remain largely unharmed, though one of the minotaurs is missing. Since the only other PC is in the water, you don't currently know the status of the other ships.

Eoin, you failed your first swim check and are in the process of struggling to keep your head above water.

Gryndel

2012-11-15, 11:06 PM

Magnum
Bruised and battered, the war priest grunted slightly from the pain and perdicament of the rock fall. But after all, it was as he said to bolster the others, not much worse than a few giant rocks in battle. More concerning was the state of the barge he occupied, and those remaining.

Ready for this likelihood, the Alaghor concentrated on enacting one of his divine spells to enable him to walk on the water, reaching out to touch anyone he could. Stepping onto the water he moved to assist the nearest person in trouble (Eoin?)

OOCReady Action was Water Walk, touch all in range.
Concentration to cast [roll0]
EDIT: Violent motion (small boat on rapids or deck of storm tossed ship) is DC 15
HP58/97

King Tius

2012-11-15, 11:15 PM

Nobody in Magnum's immediate vicinity were tossed off the barge, so casting it as the rocks come down wouldn't change my previous post. How many people can you affect with that spell?

Gryndel

2012-11-15, 11:25 PM

Nobody in Magnum's immediate vicinity were tossed off the barge, so casting it as the rocks come down wouldn't change my previous post. How many people can you affect with that spell?

I was thinking the ready action would be if his barge was affected (overturned etc). Either way the concentration roll should cover casting it. Wasn't intending any implication to change previous post, just reacting to it now. Could affect up to 9, but must be touched when cast.

Toliudar

2012-11-16, 12:27 AM

Johannes

Having darted all over to avoid rocks, Johannes is thrilled to discover his skin intact at the end of the gentle rain that droppeth from the ceiling. Glancing all around, he sees the barge behind in trouble, and calls out to the rowers on his own barge.

"Nice work, ladies and gentles, nice work. Look lively, though, we're not out of the waters yet. Hard reverse! We've got to take on the survivors from the next barge. There's room for all of them here, and we could use the extra hands. Stroke, stroke!"

He darted towards the back of the barge, his feet and thick tail forming a stable tripod as he moved. Johannes scanned the waters for the troublemaking drow Bhineth'lyn. Perhaps it was just coincidence that it was the barge that that ar*ewipe was on that was now sinking. Perhaps.

mshady

2012-11-16, 01:03 AM

OOC DM Note: So glad you guys took the river...

Strangie

2012-11-16, 01:44 AM

Wyatt

Wyatt winces as a rock slices across his back, but he avoids the brunt of the rocks. "Ow! Damn, 'dat coulda gone worse. Must be losin' my step..." He shakes his head a bit, and takes stock of the circumstances. The majority of the barges have been clobbered, although a couple remain intact well enough to stay afloat. "Damnit. 'dis woulda been a great plan to get alla 'dis crap out of here. 'dey musta set 'dat thing off early! Buncha damn... aaagh."

He grumbles in frustration and then sighs, and nods in appreciation to Magnum's magic as he slides down the barge to the water with him, which he is now standing on. Unfortunately Wyatt's diminutive stature don't allow him to aid very well in pulling people from the water, but he has another plan. "Mag, 'dis boat is wrecked all to hell. 'dis whole situation is a catastrophe. Get Eoin outta 'dere, and let's try to get up onto one of the barges 'dat are still steady. I'm gonna see if I can't help people out of the water in other ways..."

He looked back at the mess of boats. This entire thing was a disaster. Would this had been avoided if they had gone on land? He figured they would be out on land by the time the Stoneburner went off... someone, or something, must have tripped it early. He looked down at the water and frowned.

It was Wyatt's idea to take the river. Did his decision doom his friends?

"... 'dis... 'dis is all... no... I c-couldn't..."

He gritted his teeth, shook his head, and ran back across the water using Magnum's water walk magic to try and catch up with Johannes' boat. He made sure to steer clear of anybody flailing in the water trying to use him as a bouy, as he wasn't strong enough to support their weight, and tried to reassure them best he could as he ran past. "Don't worry! We're gonna get everybody we can outta 'dis water! I just gotta get up onto 'dat boat! Swim for the steady boats!"

"Joh! Where are you!? I'm gonna need some help liftin' people outta the water! You better still be alive, godsdamnit!"

loopy

2012-11-17, 01:06 AM

Eoin Shatterbond

Swim: [roll0]

He'd never been a strong swimmer. The only swimmers in Luskan had been pirates and fisherman, and he'd never been either. The drunk and rowdy were often thrown into the polluted waters surrounding Luskan. Occasionally, they would make their way out of the water, though more often they washed up on shore the next day.

Panic swept through him as he splashed frantically. Resorting once again to his abilities, he starts teleporting around frantically. With whomping sounds of displaced air and water, multiple images of a floundering man desperately trying to keep his head above the water start appearing around the water.

Eventually he manages to reach a raft, which he clings on to while gasping for air.

Gryndel

2012-11-17, 09:30 PM

OOC DM Note: So glad you guys took the river...

LOL I think I'd rather be fighting a whole squadron of dragons!

Toliudar

2012-11-18, 12:44 AM

Johannes reaches the stern of his barge in time to see Eoin's sodden head emerge, spluttering. He thrusts his tail out behind for balance as he reaches a clawed, scaled hand down to draw the mercenary out of the river.

"Take hold, man, and quickly! Oh!"

Johannes' usual lopsided grin is somehow less endearing in his lizard-ish form.

"Right! Not to worry. Johannes here."

He draws Eoin up onto the barge in one smooth pull, then turns in time to see Wyatt sprinting towards them over the surface of the water. A very resourceful young man indeed.

"Yes, I suppose so. There might be survivors underneath that overturned barge. I'm missing half a dozen rowers off of this barge. Maybe you can run around with rope to help them get back on board, if they're conscious?"

Sighing, he turned to the surviving crew of his barge.

"All righty. Try not to get us killed. I'll be right back."

Sighing, he dives heavily into the water. Quickly, he gets oriented and starts to put the big webbed feet of the lizard to good use, pushing himself quickly back towards the next barge.

Gods bless a 30' swim speed. It's not water walking, but it'll do.

Gryndel

2012-11-20, 12:21 AM

OOC
If I read it right, Make Whole (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/makeWhole.htm) at CL9 would repair one barge? If so, would it be possible to free the lead barge (str chk?) he was on and cast to repair it?

If so he'll use his 1/day add cleric level (9) to str [roll0]

Strangie

2012-11-20, 01:03 AM

Wyatt

Wyatt tilts his head at Joh's changed appearance. "Huh? Joh? Did you... change? Fancy. Okay. Hurry back soon, eh? I might need your help with 'dis later."

He works to pull himself up onto the barge after Eoin is pulled. "Are you okay, Eoin? Maybe you can help me out. I'm gonna try and tie some rope I've got to somethin' sturdy on 'dis barge and try and find some folks who need help. I only got fifty feet of silk rope, 'dough. You got any more 'dat we can tie together with, by chance?"

He reaches into his pack and pulls out a spool of fancy silk rope. Good quality, light, and easier to tie with than hempen.

King Tius

2012-11-20, 10:15 PM

@Gryndel: Make Whole would definitely work to repair the holes in some of the barges. The lead barge is pretty heavy so I don't think you'll be able to free it on your own.

Gryndel

2012-11-20, 11:07 PM

@Gryndel: Make Whole would definitely work to repair the holes in some of the barges. The lead barge is pretty heavy so I don't think you'll be able to free it on your own.

If possible Magnum grabs the treasure chest from the lead barge. He'd walk back toward the other barges, looking for the best option on which to repair while assisting anyone he found floundering in the water on the way.

King Tius

2012-11-26, 10:01 PM

Magnum casts Water Walk on himself, Wyatt, Talamir, and the remaining 6 slaves. As you move about the first barge (now in less danger because of Water Walk you move past a large stone that landed on the deck. A small gnomish hand sticking out from under it reveals a grizzly fate: Arum was crushed to death by the falling debris along with his trusty badger. Eoin is still over a hundred yards back up the tunnel but Magnum starts trudging across the water in search of the rest of the barge armada.

Jo nimbly makes his way to the back of the barge and scans the dark waters for the Drow. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?) there is no sign of him.

Wyatt takes off up the tunnel looking to take stock of the other boats. As he scampers onto the second barge and across it he passes Johannes and continues up the tunnel, taking stock of all he sees. He finds the third boat in a terrible state, rapidly sinking with each passing second. Black is on board trying his best to keep things in order as the ship sinks. Wyatt sees that Weedle is still alive though badly injured and three of Black's fighters are floating in the water (along with Khord's body). 13 slaves are on the barge or treading water nearby, all quite out of sorts. Bhineth'lyn is also nowhere to be found.

Eoin flails his arms in the water and manages to keep his head above water long enough to gather his wits about him and activate his teleport abilities. It takes him three tries in the bewildered dark but he finally manages to get back on Johannes's barge as it continues to sink.

Wyatt continues hustling up the pipeline to the 4th barge. He finds Nega kneeling beside Viktor and applying her Lay on Hands ability, bringing him back to consciousness. Both minotaurs Kerik and the one who had a name but wasn't Three-Horns (what was his name again?)) are both alive but are on their knees, bleeding profusely. It turns out cows aren't so good at dodging boulders. Barakas seems largely unharmed and all three of Black's fighters on this barge are still up. Only 10 slaves are still alive on this barge. Johannes catches up to him a minute later with his swim speed.

Magnum goes to grab his treasure chest and realizes it has slid off the barge. As Wyatt starts fiddling with his rope to fish people out of the water Magnum takes off and reaches the 2nd barge. There are a few leaks but he sees the 3rd barge rapidly sinking and decides his spell is best put to use there. He quickly hustles over there and casts his spell, repairing the large hole in the barge. With the hole repaired no more water spills into its hollow interior but it is still half sunk, though it levels out to be about two feet under the water and holding.

With things now steadied you all notice that something strange has happened to the current. It has reversed and is now headed back up the tunnel, albeit much slower than before. Concentrating on it for a second, you realize that the water level in the tunnel is ever-so-slowly going down.

Barge/People Statuses

Boat 1 (Front left corner caught)
Talamir
Arum & Badger (missing, crushed under large rock)
Drath'lyn (missing)
6 freed slaves (9 dead)

Boat 2 (Damaged, still afloat)
Tec'lis
Three-Horns (Other one missing)
Regina
Santana
15 freed slaves (5 dead)
3 crates of treasure
food

Boat 3 (Partially sunk but holding steady)
Eoin
Magnum
Marcus Black
Weedle (badly injured)
1 Black Company Fighter 2 (3 dead)
Khord (dead in water)
Bhineth'lyn
13 freed slaves (7 dead)
2 crates of treasure (1 lost)
food

Boat 4 (Light Damage)
Wyatt
Johannes
Nega (lightly wounded)
Viktor (near death)
2 Turrock minotaurs (wounded)
Barakas
3 Black Company Fighter 2's
10 freed slaves (10 dead)
3 crates of treasure
food

Boat 5 (upsidedown)
assorted humanoids (presumed dead)
leftover clothing & supplies

Boat 6 (upsidedown)
assorted humanoids (presumed dead)
leftover clothing & supplies

Toliudar

2012-11-27, 12:33 AM

Johannes swims past the third barge, still foundering a bit, and paused only to get close to Marcus and Eoin.

"Hey! Consolidate and prepare for transfer. We'll try to come up alongside you with the next craft."

As he clambers up onto the 4th barge, again identifying himself to anyone who might be concerned with the scaled creature invading their craft, Johannes nods to Nega and the others, and helps Wyatt haul yet another neophyte sailor back on board.

"Right! Those on the left. Port, whatever. Paddling, paddling now! Those on the right, get ropes and poles ready. We're coming up on that barge over there. See it! We need to pass close and throw them a bunch of ropes and hold out poles so that we can pull the two barges together. They're taking on water, and we need to move them onto this craft. Bandage and mourn later. Keep your heads, keep working, and we'll get through this!"

Leading by example, Johannes strode to the front right section of the barge and took up a rope. He secured it to the side and dove into the water, intent on creating a guide line for others to follow.

Strangie

2012-11-27, 04:10 PM

Wyatt

Wyatt blocked out the scenes of death around him to focus on the tasks at hand. Likely, it would hit him later like... a boulder to the head.

As Wyatt prepared to throw his rope while holding onto it to the floundering barge to follow Joh's instructions, he looked down at the water. "Hey, uh... ain't the water supposed to be goin' the OTHER way? I think we're dryin' up!"

He frowned a bit, rolling his rope around his arm. "Well, at least if 'dat happens, we won't have to swim out..." he mutters.

loopy

2012-11-29, 12:12 AM

Eoin Shatterbond

The continued shifting in movement was starting to make Eoin feel sea-sick. After coughing up some water that had rudely forced it's way into his lungs during his swim, he looks around.

"Well, we could always cause a bigger cave in, block the river so it starts flowing back the other way." He suggests, somewhat wryly. "What could possibly go wrong?"

The rumbling from the cave-in was exacerbating his headache, he holds his head in his hands and groans.

mshady

2012-11-29, 12:59 AM

Eoin

Eoin holds his fingers to his temple for a moment and he feels a buzzing inside his mind. It was like the feeling that preceeded The Passenger coming forward, but where that was more like someone knocking and opening the door themselves. This was more like someone kicking in the door with a boot and someone came roaring into his mind on horseback with a trumpet blaring out a fan fare.

In short, it hurt. Eoin sat on the deck coughing up the last of the water and he noticed a droplet of blood fall from his nose on the deck.

Internal Affairs

"Ahhhhhh" Eoin hears the mental sigh in his mind. When Eoin closes his eyes, he can see the outline of a ghostly dwarf. It seems to be flexing its muscles, stretching even.

"Life without chains. Ach, I almost forgot what it was like" The Passenger says. "I donnae know what just happened, but enough of me consciousness is untethered now, I can finally flex a little. Bring some real power to the Mead Hall now" the voice says, than stops.

"Before, we had a bargain of sorts. My power for your transportation away from here. Whatever just happened, it be time for renegotiation on our arrangement" the voice says and stops. It is only a momentary pause now, not like the ones before that took MUCH longer.

"You're my vessel now, until I find something better. Now stand up and figure out what happened. Do it!" the voice commands.

It is more like a Compulsion.

Eoin did not like any of this one bit. He had really caught the wolf by the tail this time...

loopy

2012-11-29, 01:12 AM

Eoin Shatterbond

Eoin suddenly feels a gripping sensation on the back of his neck, and feels himself roughly being pulled upward, like a drunk would get pulled off his chair by a tavernkeeper after having a few too many. He resists, the buzzing growing louder, and the pressure releases.

Sighing in relief, Eoin barely has a chance to sigh before he feels an invisible hand wrap around his throat. Constricting his airway, it hefts him to his feet. "Grrk." Eoin chokes out. "Argk."

Enough! Eoin demands. Who are you? WHAT are you?

mshady

2012-11-29, 01:20 AM

Eoin - Internal Affairs

Eoin feels his neck and head tingle again, to the point it is hard to focus. The power inside him now... it felt like a tide coming into his mind. He knew what a tide was like from his early life in Luskan; a great wall of irrestible water that washed away anything in its path.

"Fallen" the voice booms through his mind. He feels his ear drums pop and a trickle of blood runs from his nose on to the deck now. Indeed, his body feels stiff from paralysis.

loopy

2012-11-29, 01:57 AM

King Tius

2012-12-05, 09:22 AM

With the chaos now well behind you the task of fishing people out of the water proves relatively easy. The water level continues to drop at a surprising rate, making the immediate area even more difficult to navigate by barge. It is quickly decided that the rear barges need to be abandoned. One of the slaves takes charge of the rest of them (now that the Drow are gone) and starts organizing a bilge crew to salvage the 3rd boat. With the river now flowing backwards and draining the first barge slides free of the rock it was stuck on and splashes back into the water. The four remaining boats drift together as everyone patches up.

What do you want to do now? Wait for the water to drain and see what happens? Try to poll up the current?

Gryndel

2012-12-05, 09:26 AM

Toliudar

2012-12-05, 12:11 PM

Strangie

2012-12-05, 12:41 PM

mshady

2012-12-06, 02:40 AM

Eoin Shatterbond

Eoin sways. He vaguely realises he is only barely touching the ground, still being held up by the throat. Black spots start to play across his vision, and he forces himself to stay focused. Fallen? Gods, who amongst us isn't? He pushes against the tide, building a mental brick wall to divert it away from his consciousness. Now, get control of yourself. I don't know what you are, other than a being of power, but our deal was to get me out of here. If you continue on like this, I'm going to topple into the river, which would violate our agreement.

And before you say anything, sure, you could find another vessel amongst the refugees. If anything happens to me, you'll just be a possessing force, and I don't think my employers would look too kindly on a malevolent spirit floating around.

He grimaces and continues building the bastion inside his mind. You know who I am, what I am. I'm a mercenary, a sword for hire. I'm willing to negotiate a new bargain, but it will be a fair one, and if you don't like it you can go jump for all I care. You've been useful, and I've been too preoccupied to give the situation much thought until now, but I'll be damned if I'll let you turn me into a puppet. So what is it you want... Passenger.

The Passenger

Internal Affairs

"Yes, I know who you. I know what you are. Who I am is a Fallen One who served a Greater one. That is all you need to know" the voice says, than pauses briefly.

"I think you are already damned. Me turning you into a puppet will not aide that path. I will assume control if you prove too incompetent or too weak to survive. Otherwise I'll not be bothered.

Make it out of here alive and get an audience with this Patriarch. I want to see him through your eyes. Do this, and I will grant you a boon. For now, we maintain or arrangement" the voice says, than subsides.

mshady

2012-12-08, 02:14 AM

I'll get to Road Warrior today, have no fear guys!!

mshady

2012-12-10, 02:35 AM

Wyatt

Wyatt didn't say anything regarding the task given to him. It was something that needed to be done.

He made his way over to where Arum had been plastered by a giant boulder. "Well, now. I guess bein' a flighty halfling paid off for me in the end, didn't it?" he said to the corpse, beginning work to loot it. "Kinda funny, in the beginning when we first met, you were gonna try and take all my stuff before I caught you and made you put it back. Now here I am, robbing you while you're dead. What've you got to say to 'dat, Arum?"

He stood and stared at the mangled mess for a moment, as if waiting for a response that would never come.

"'dat's what I thought."

Arum's corpse is unresponsive to the verbal barb from Wyatt, not that the halfling expected anything. That he had survived so much on their trip, only to be killed by a falling boulder, reinforced just how random life and death could be. One moment you are on a barge, the next you're a red stain and gravel. He supposed it was possible for the Patriarchate to resurrect him, but he doubt it. There was little left of Arum's body.

The gnome's mithral rapier was laying free, along with his darkwood crossbow. The heavily padded robe he wore, which stunk at the time it was taken from the orcs that had captured Wyatt and the Wayward Sons and had only ripened, was still worn. That meant it was largely under the boulder. His headband was crushed under the rock that killed him too. His minor gauntlets or ogre strength also can be removed.

The blast globes that he had used before appear to be expended, only the case remains in his saddle bag. His Arcanabula, a fancy word for a wizard book you didn't want to open, is also in the saddle bag. Some masterwork smithing tools are also found in there. Perhaps most importantly, should someone want to do the work, would be a grizzly collection of skins of various foes, teeth, dragon scale and dragon teeth and several jars of draconic blood which were somehow intact. No scrolls, potions or wands remain. A coin purse containing about 1000 gp is also found in his saddle bags.

More to come later, getting my bearings!!!

Strangie

2012-12-10, 12:09 PM

Wyatt

"Good grief. MAYBE the Patriarchate would resurrect you, if 'dey could bear the stink. Or if 'dere was anything left..." Wyatt shook his head, and took what he could take that didn't involve heavy lifting of boulders - if there was time to grab anything pinned under the boulder, he'd have to find some muscle and have them do that for him later.

He knew better than to bother opening the spellbook or even look at it - wizards often guarded such things jealously, he recalled. He simply left the things in the containers they were in and put them in his haversack.

After he finished, he sighed a bit. "What a mess. Tch... as much as I don't like you, Arum... well, I still don't."

Once he finished stashing away the loot, he stood up straight, and gave the corpse his customary two-fingered salute anyway. "Still one hell of a wizard, 'dough. I'll give you respect for 'dat. Good bye, Arum."

He turned and ran off to go regroup with Magnum and the others, his Water Walk spell allowing him to speed across the water with ease.

mshady

2012-12-10, 10:21 PM

Johannes

Johannes peered forward, happy to see Magnum take charge so capably there. He wished that he could be so confident about the resumption of flow. If the river's source had been redirected elsewhere by the blast, then they were high and dry indefinitely. But time enough to deal with that in an hour or so. In the meantime...idle hands...

"Form up in pairs to get all of the rubble off the barges. We're still riding low. Start to look for leaks, and we'll see what we can do to patch em.

"Santana and Khord! I need to know how low this water level might drop, and what the bottom is like. Silt, smooth rock, the skulls of orcs, whatever. I need word back about whether we'd be able to walk forward on the sides or bottom here, if it comes to that."

Johannes paddled back towards the two rear barges, still in his reptilian form. It was useful for getting from barge to barge. He checked on how the mishmash of orcs, goblins and other unsavouries were coping with the calamity.

Response to Johannes

Santana and Khord looks at the polymorphed Johannes and share a dubious look between each other, than ultimately just shrug.

The stocky human and bulky half orc strip off off their armor and hop into the water with little concern for the temperature. The two tread water for a moment, and than Santana dives down under the water. He doesn't reappear for half a minute, than reappears with a fist full of gravel. The ranger looks at them, shrugs and casts them into his barge. He dives down a couple more times, and Khord follows suit a couple times too.

"Water's four to five feet deep I reckon, current's flowing the wrong way from my drift. Bottom's gravel mostly, but I felt a couple big rocks we'd beach. Water's cold too! Comes to it, we can haul a barge but it won't be easy!" he yells out, so Johannes can hear him. They both return to the side of barge, where Marcus Block and the cleric Barakas haul them back on to their barge.

On the other barges, the ad hoc crews begin trying to throw what rubble they could off of the barges. Sometimes they worked together to remove a larger boulder, but it was difficult to move those and the barges rode lower. The easiest thing would be to try and consolitdate the barges, but that would mean some seriously mixed company they had been hoping to avoid.

mshady

2012-12-10, 11:00 PM

Magnum

Addressing those in the boat he just repaired, the priest commanded confidently, "Yer fine now. Start bailin', use whatever ye can find."

After activating his wand (lesser vigor fast healing 1 for 15 rds), Magnum bellowed, "Wyatt, when ye finish, go help Talamir search Arum."

Handing Weedle a potion (Cure Critical Wounds 4d8+10), the Alaghor said, "Drink up Weedle. Marcus, keep an eye on da water, watch out fer da drow in particular."

Magnum noted the direction reversal and said, "Da back flow oughta reverse again, I suspect its just a temporary backlash." He then moved to the first overturned boat (#5) and tried to turn it back over.

HP 59/97 (will be 73 after lesser vigor expires)
Water Walk (90 min)

Response to Magnum

Weedle takes the potion, he looks at it suspiciously than uncorks it and gives it a sniff. He swirls it for a moment, than passes it back to Magnum.

"Thank you, dwarf, but I'd prefer to see to myself. As a rule, I try not to drink strange potions from clerics I do not follow" he smiles slightly at Magnum. It is a polite smile hiding behind suspicious eyes. The fact remained that the mage was actually seriously injured, after taking a hit from a splinter of rock. Indeed, there is still a signficant gash on the side of his head and his blond hair is matted with blood. Weedle eases himself back on to a bench and starts looking through his own supplies for a potion or a bandage. While Magnum is still paying attention to him, Weedle waves Black Company's cleric over, Barakas the Cleric of Beshaba, and he uses a small spell on Weedle's head wound. Apparently, he was preferable.

Marcus hears Magnum's command and bristles for a moment at anyone ordering him to do anything. When he looks around though, he seems concerned and reports back to Magnum quickly.

"Where did the drow go?"

Having returned to the Black's Company barge, a soaking wet Talamir looks around with a suspicious eye.

"I don't think he's gone, but I do think he's slipped his leash" Talamir remarks, and rests his hand on his sword. It was no secret the elf wanted satisfaction from the drow, but it was an open question which one was the better swordsmen.

BelGareth

2012-12-11, 01:52 AM

At hearing the reptilian turned dwarf receive a response regarding the water depth and the possibility of hauling the boats, a size-ably large and strong looking half orc looks up.

His ears perked up like that of a dog and his head canted sideways to make him look even more feral and canine, his pointed canine teeth did not help in the matter, neither did the fact that he sniffed the air.

Or the fact that he was ugly as sin, not just passing by 'that guy is ugly' but 'oh gods why is he alive' ugly, his hair is matted and long, formed into dirty dreadlocks by option or by circumstance, sticking to his speckled greysih-green skin.

Picture

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Uv5XqbGYgnQ/UKs51ff3y-I/AAAAAAAACIM/zhlQjbpem9s/s800/Hobgoblin%2520dragon%2520rider.jpg

He jumps up to the boats railing and smiles at the reptile-dwarf, "I can help with that," he says matter of-factly "Point me to the one you want moved." he looks to them all as if thinking on what to do "or kept in place...just let me know."

He then suddenly transforms into a large tiger, his skin sprouts short bristled fur, orange, black, and white stripes all over. He then jumps into the water with the grace only becoming of a large hunting cat and looks to the reptilian dwarf, as if waiting a command.

You did say 4 - 5 feet deep right? Cause Kal-Resh can stand in that, being a whopping 6'1, and then when he is in Tiger form he is probably 8 ft not standing, 12 feet if on his hind paws.

Also, Swim if needed: +11
[roll0]

And strength check for anything regarding keeping or moving a boat.
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

Strangie

2012-12-11, 12:12 PM

Wyatt

As Wyatt returned to Magnum, he noted the orderliness in which orders were being given and done. He nodded a bit in approval. "Heeey... you got a pretty good knack for 'dat, Mag. Oh, right. I, uh... I liberated Arum of his gear. Most of it was intact. I ain't touchin' his spellbook, 'dough. I just stored it away in my haversack. So what's next?"

He looks over at Johannes, and then the tiger standing in front of him, and then back to Magnum, and then he quickly wheels his head toward the tiger again in surprise. Then he does the same back to Magnum. "When did 'dat get 'dere?"

OOC
Welcome to the club. :smallbiggrin:

Gryndel

2012-12-12, 09:48 PM

Response to Johannes

Santana and Khord looks at the polymorphed Johannes and share a dubious look between each other, than ultimately just shrug.

The stocky human and bulky half orc strip off off their armor and hop into the water with little concern for the temperature. The two tread water for a moment, and than Santana dives down under the water. He doesn't reappear for half a minute, than reappears with a fist full of gravel. The ranger looks at them, shrugs and casts them into his barge. He dives down a couple more times, and Khord follows suit a couple times too.

"Water's four to five feet deep I reckon, current's flowing the wrong way from my drift. Bottom's gravel mostly, but I felt a couple big rocks we'd beach. Water's cold too! Comes to it, we can haul a barge but it won't be easy!" he yells out, so Johannes can hear him. They both return to the side of barge, where Marcus Block and the cleric Barakas haul them back on to their barge.

On the other barges, the ad hoc crews begin trying to throw what rubble they could off of the barges. Sometimes they worked together to remove a larger boulder, but it was difficult to move those and the barges rode lower. The easiest thing would be to try and consolitdate the barges, but that would mean some seriously mixed company they had been hoping to avoid.

Uhm, according to King in the spoiler of this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14286464&postcount=69) post, Khord is dead in the water

Gryndel

2012-12-12, 10:14 PM

Response to Magnum

Weedle takes the potion, he looks at it suspiciously than uncorks it and gives it a sniff. He swirls it for a moment, than passes it back to Magnum.

"Thank you, dwarf, but I'd prefer to see to myself. As a rule, I try not to drink strange potions from clerics I do not follow" he smiles slightly at Magnum. It is a polite smile hiding behind suspicious eyes. The fact remained that the mage was actually seriously injured, after taking a hit from a splinter of rock. Indeed, there is still a signficant gash on the side of his head and his blond hair is matted with blood. Weedle eases himself back on to a bench and starts looking through his own supplies for a potion or a bandage. While Magnum is still paying attention to him, Weedle waves Black Company's cleric over, Barakas the Cleric of Beshaba, and he uses a small spell on Weedle's head wound. Apparently, he was preferable.

Magnum stared hard at Weedle, then shrugged and chuckled with an almost evil tone, "Fine by me, enjoy yer sufferin'. Da name's Magnum."

He chugged down the potion himself and turned to other concerns, one being the missing drow.

Potion of Cure Critical Wounds [roll0]

Marcus hears Magnum's command and bristles for a moment at anyone ordering him to do anything. When he looks around though, he seems concerned and reports back to Magnum quickly.

"Where did the drow go?"

Having returned to the Black's Company barge, a soaking wet Talamir looks around with a suspicious eye.

"I don't think he's gone, but I do think he's slipped his leash" Talamir remarks, and rests his hand on his sword. It was no secret the elf wanted satisfaction from the drow, but it was an open question which one was the better swordsmen.

Trusting Talamir to aide Black in that endeavor, the Alaghor simply shrugged once in answer, his heavy armor clanking, "Talamir, see if ye can 'elp find dat drow."

Wyatt

As Wyatt returned to Magnum, he noted the orderliness in which orders were being given and done. He nodded a bit in approval. "Heeey... you got a pretty good knack for 'dat, Mag. Oh, right. I, uh... I liberated Arum of his gear. Most of it was intact. I ain't touchin' his spellbook, 'dough. I just stored it away in my haversack. So what's next?"

He looks over at Johannes, and then the tiger standing in front of him, and then back to Magnum, and then he quickly wheels his head toward the tiger again in surprise. Then he does the same back to Magnum. "When did 'dat get 'dere?"

"Good job Wyatt! Fear not, dat be one o'Black's boys. Now, see if ye can help Talamir, be ready fer dark tricks from dem drow! Once we get da boats movin', run up ahead a bit ta scout da route. But ye stay in me sight, ye hear?!"

Turning to Johannes, Magnum nodded, "Grand idea Jo, lets see if'n we can get dese slug-a-boats movin' by poles!"

He attached a rop to the front of the barge, then jumped out of the boat and onto the water towing on it over his shoulder.

back to full HP after potion and lesser vigor expires
Water Walk (90 min)

mshady

2012-12-12, 11:29 PM

Uhm, according to King in the spoiler of this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14286464&postcount=69) post, Khord is dead in the water

Okay, retcon Khord there :) Just responding to the post :)

Toliudar

2012-12-14, 01:22 AM

Johannes

Johannes stares, blinking, at the huge orc/catman who stood up to offer his services. The smartass comment that sprang to his lips died as he realized that his own appearance was decidedly unorthodox at the moment.

"Right. You can form a sentence, and you're willing to work with others. You're deputized. What do I call you?"

Before the tiger-man can respond, Johannes is yelling ahead to Magnum and co.

"Right. Let me know how the poling goes with your barge, and I'll keep going getting the others ready to shove off. But if the water doesn't start rising soon, we're all walking anyway."

Johannes whirled on Wyatt.

"Next for you is the map. I need to know if the explosion opened up any new options for us. Also, to see what side passages and the like those drow brothers might have slunk off down. If the water keeps dropping, what's our best route out."

The fast-talking dwarf/lizard turns back to see how the restoration of the barges is proceeding. He speaks again to the feline orc.

"Right. Form up a work crew of the orcs and whatnot. One of the two barges you were on looks salvageable. See if you can get them working on clearing out debris and patching the worst of the damage, and transfer what supplies you can from the other one."

Mike, in order to adequately respond to your statement:

On the other barges, the ad hoc crews begin trying to throw what rubble they could off of the barges. Sometimes they worked together to remove a larger boulder, but it was difficult to move those and the barges rode lower. The easiest thing would be to try and consolitdate the barges, but that would mean some seriously mixed company they had been hoping to avoid.

I'd need to know things like how many people are still alive, how many the barges can hold, that kind of thing. By my rough reckoning, we've got four salvageable barges, about 100 humans/dwarves/etc and about 50 orcs/goblinoids/etc. Does this seem about right to you?

Strangie

2012-12-18, 02:39 AM

Wyatt

"Well, I'll holler if I see the drow, but Joh's got a good point on the map. Let me scan 'dat real quick while I have an idle moment."

Wyatt stepped away a bit from the others to give himself some space and pulled out the map he was given previously. He opened it up and studied it to see if anything had changed from the cave-in. It dawned on him that maps don't really work like that - but this map was different, perhaps? Did it update in real time? If something drastic happened, would it show up on the map here as well? The magic of it was lost on him.

He sighed a bit in dismay as the idea of taking the river route over the others weighed on him. "Damn. Why did we ever think 'dis was a good idea? I gotta wonder and worry what set 'dat stoneburner off early... if it weren't for 'dat, we'd be smooth sailing out of 'dis dump."

Once he scanned the map, he relayed any important information about it to Joh and Magnum, put it away and kept an eye out for any of the drow. He knew the drow leader was a conniving, arrogant jackass, so he remained especially alert for the drow.

If he could avoid conversing with him in any way possible throughout this entire trip, it was good enough for Wyatt. He hoped in the back of his mind that the guy was dead, but he reminded himself that it never works out for the best...

Toliudar

2012-12-18, 04:51 AM

Johannes

The urbane lizard/orc noted a certain note of introspection in Wyatt's report on the map, and offered a lopsided grin, a grin made less dashing by the fact that his foofy hat was now dangling on top of a reptilian cranium.

"If we'd have been in a narrow or unstable tunnel when the Burner went off, the blast or a cave in could have killed us all in a heartbeat. Your choices saved us, Wyatt. And when we get out of here, everyone will know that."

Strangie

2012-12-18, 01:35 PM

Wyatt

Wyatt raised an eyebrow, and looked up a bit, thinking about the situation. "You think so?" he asked Joh after a moment, peering back at the map. "Hmm... I suppose 'dere's no way of knowin' what mighta happened if we went a different route, but... yeah, I suppose you're right. Thanks, Joh. I just hope everybody else sees it 'dat way."

That seemed to make him feel much better about the situation, taking a great deal of weight off his shoulders. Still, he looked concerned. "Still, 'dat leaves the question... what do you think happened to the others we left behind?"

Toliudar

2012-12-18, 03:08 PM

Johannes nods and shrugs. Clearly, the thought had occurred to him as well.

"Once we're moving again, I'll try to contact Buelyer to find out what happened. My hope is that the trouble was relatively minor, so that I can chew him out in good conscience. But my fears lie otherwise. I suppose we should just be grateful that it went off at all, after everything it's been through."

mshady

2012-12-19, 07:05 PM

The River:

Two of their barges had been flipped over by the shock wave and powerful surge of water, and there was no hope of recovering them. About half of their crews survived the flip, taking refuge in the air bubble created by the barges hull. The other half was not so lucky, having either panicked and died noisily or simply sinking to the bottom of the river, weighed down by armor and plunder. The rest quickly found their way to the tops of their overturned barges and sat there looking, thoroughly shell shocked by terrifying experience. They sat there, cold and soaked to the bone.

The lead barge had broached itself on fallen debris and had sat at a weird angle for a barge, until the remaining minotaurs and ogres had managed to pull it free. None of them were in good shape from the falling debris, and pain often translated into aggressiveness. Only Johannes’ diplomatic nature managed to keep the two from killing each other long enough to focus on the job. Unfortunately, one of the chests of treasure had been lost in the river and there was no sign of it. No doubt it had been worth a fortune.

Arum’s body is recovered, with the help of the minotaurs, after the barge was freed. They grudgingly removed the rubble from his corpse, and lamented the death of the only wizard they had ever liked in this outfit. Shortly thereafter, they looted his body brazenly in front of Magnum and Johannes, but Wyatt had been through in his recovery efforts. His badger had been stripped of its barding and tossed over the side, but not without consideration for simply cooking it.

The second barge is, relatively speaking, somewhat damaged. The third barge had been sinking into Magnum repaired the worst of the damage. Now Black’s Company, Wayward Sons and freed slaves worked together in one of the more tense bucket brigades in recent history. The forth barge is hardly damaged at all, and its crew had joined the third boat.

Drath'lyn and Bhineth'lyn are nowhere to be found. No one figured the two had drowned, either. It was worrisome, for both were highly experienced mercenaries and expert swordsmen no doubt, and who knew what else. Either they had chosen to flee or planned some sort of ambush, it remained to be seen. Regardless, they would push on without them…

Toliudar

2012-12-19, 08:30 PM

Johannes

So correct me if I've got any of these elements wrong, but here are my assumptions:

Because you haven't mentioned the fifth and sixth barges, I'm assuming that they're write-offs.
The others are now somewhat workable, although the third sounds like it is still taking on water.
The map is not showing any changes to the environment. Wherever the brothers have gone, it's not on our map.
We still have a mix of humans, dwarves, orcs, goblins, oges, hobgoblins and a few minotaurs.
Most of the food and treasure, except for the one chest, was recoverable, perhaps with the assistance of the lower water level.
The water level has stabilized, and we have enough clearance to keep going. Also, the current is more or less what it was before, and we've resumed our travel.
The path of the underground river won't take us out into the open in the next few hours, according to the map.

Once the four barges were under way again, Johannes breathed a sigh of relief, and reverted back to his beautiful, beautiful dwarven form. Ah. Much better.

He looked over his reorganized forces. He'd left some of the ogres and minotaurs with Magnum and Wyatt in the forward barge, to provide some added muscle in case something stupid happened. The feline orc, Kal-Resh, had proven both a powerful boat-lifter and a natural leader, and he'd left him in charge of the rabble of humanoids in the last barge. Eoin, once dried off, had done an exceptional job of guiding the efforts to patch up the third barge, especially aided by Magnum's magic. Sure, the mercenaries lips moved when he wasn't actually talking, but everyone had their flaws.

Within minutes, the water level had risen to a point where he'd been able - with some relief - to abandon continencies for poling or wading out of here. Once again, the current was pushing their somewhat reduced group onwards. Wyatt had confirmed that this was in fact still the best route, and he was apt to trust the resourceful man, who had proven such an asset to the company on the way into this mess.

"Well done, everyone! Let's let the current do some of the work, now that we're underway again. It's been a pig of a day. Half of you, find whatever passes for a dry spot on the barge and curl up.

"We won't get much of a chance for stopping, so get as comfortable as you can. Once we get well clear of this, we'll establish a three-shift rotation, but most of you have been going for more a day and a half now. Time to get some rest."

As the slapping of oars on water shifted from frantic to rhythmic, Johannes settled in the back of the second barge, drew out Buelyer's stone, and concentrated on making contact.

"Most of us are alive, having survived a cave-in and big wave from premature explosion. The drow have vanished. What in the hells happened?"

mshady

2012-12-20, 12:57 AM

Take me out, into the Black...

As the Black River, as many had taken to calling it, reversed its current and slowly drained away, theories abound as to the reason. None of them were good, and among the surviving slaves it was getting to the point of panic. None of them really had any idea what the dwarfs had been up to, so the detonation of the Stoneburner and the destruction may as well have been the wrath of an angry Auril or his Chosen. Some said the great dragon, as large as Dale, had come and was slowly swallowing up the river. Others suspected black magic, and that one spread like wild fire. The situation would have to be addressed.

With two of their barges already gone, the company was now much more mixed than before. Black’s Company had taken on the role of policing the slaves, and after a couple were beaten and most threatened with a curse of eternal bad luck from Beshaba by Barakas, the Company’s cleric, things stabilized somewhat.

The truth of it was probably closer to Talamir’s explanation to Magnum and Johannes. The Stoneburner had blown a massive crater into the ground and water was flowing backwards into the crater. Unless the river was blocked by some structure revealed by the decreasing water levels or a dam of some sort, there was no telling how low the river would go, but surely it would stabilize at some point. In the meantime, it would be hard rowing. He pointed out they may have to start dragging the barges, and use the ogres and minotaurs to help move them in spots though.

No new paths had opened up on the map, and it seemed like the river continued for at least the radius of the map. It was remarkable how pin-straight the river was in many areas, and nature did not build that way. Dwarves, however, did. A couple millennia of buildup had caused calcification on most of the evidence, but at one point they passed the decrepit remains of a small fort. Two massive dwarven statues faced each other, and no doubt a chain had been strung across the river here but it had long, long since rusted away. Bats squeaked in the darkness from time to time, and occasionally a large fish splashed in the nearly lightless water. Indeed, the only illumination came from spots of softly glowing moss and that was enough for most with enhanced eye sight. For the rest, only the decreasing supply of torches helped.

After organizing a three shift rotation, Johannes found a moment’s peace to sit down and gather his thoughts on things. The missing drow were a problem, but where they were was anyone’s guess. One question that gnawed at him had to do with what happened with the Stoneburner.
So he withdrew Buehler’s crystal and looked at it. The greenish-tinted crystal was wrapped with strands of copper wire. Sending crystals and pots and pans were about the only use for copper, and all of the copper wire in the Patriarchate was made by an elderly old gnome in a workshop in the bowels of Citadel Barakbarr. Johannes bent back a wire strand and began the long process of concentration to send a message using the crystal and sent Buehler a message.

“"Most of us are alive, having survived a cave-in and big wave from premature explosion. The drow have vanished. What in the hells happened?"

He sat there a good long time and waited for a response. The only answer was silence.

Sometime during the second shift, Johannes and the others heard a commotion from the rowers. They reported that the water had somehow turned black, and the black substance was sticking to their oars. It did not stop them from rowing, but it clearly unnerved them.

As Johannes and the other party members look around, they notice something was queer. The torches glowed brighter than they remembered. They also seemed to burn with a blue hue now.

Strangie

2012-12-20, 01:36 AM

Wyatt

During the intervening time, Wyatt requests Magnum's services to patch up the wound he had received during the avalanche (10 hp damage). It wasn't a pressing one but it wasn't something he needed right now and if Magnum couldn't spare the resources, he would take care of it himself with some potions he still had on his possession.

"Nothin' new on the map Joh. Any response from the bomb squad?" he asked, putting the map away.

His keen senses had noted the water going black and the odd torches. He sighed a bit - things like this were about par for the course at this point. "Well, 'dat's just great. Someone's up to something, and when I find out who it is I'm going to carve 'dem a new cakehole. What's going on?"

BelGareth

2012-12-20, 03:18 AM

Having fully jumped into the river with intentions of pushing/hauling the boats he was slightly off put at the order to get back in and act as a wetnurse to the rest of the others.

Sighing and knowing he should do as he was told, being that he said he would and it would most likely ingratiate him with this strange group, he remained silent as he leapt back into the boat he came from, changing form almost instinctively back to this more...barbaric shape, which for some actually calmed them as they watched from the deck of the ship.

Lacking the equipment, armor or even arms, he steeled his resolve and looked to the pitiful crew of this ship, several where trying to shuttle cups and canisters of water of the ship, while others just mewed about like cattle awaiting the slaughter. He didn't need the trappings of earthly goods, he had his skill and his divine bond to nature, his claws where all he needed. And they had seen them, that was enough for him now.

"Let's get going, you, you and you! grab what you can and start bailing over there, you, you and you, do the same right there, you lot, come settle in the middle to balance out the load of the ship, replace the others as they get tired." he speaks to them with a stern voice and they stare back like lambs.

"MOVE!" he says furiously, and they all move at once, stirred into motion by the apparent rage of inaction. That and the knowledge that the half orc staring at them, could quite literally change into a huge wild cat and tear them apart.

It wasn't long before the boat was stable and he gathered a few more to start the poling of the boat to come along side the others. As they did, he looked to the lizard dwarf thing.

"Kal-Resh! My name is Kal-Resh!"

Squatting on the edge of the boats rail he seemed worried at the look of the changing water, and then the blue flamed sconces. Something was wrong, something was very wrong here.

Toliudar

2012-12-20, 04:15 PM

Strangie

2012-12-20, 05:42 PM

Wyatt

"Yeah, well..." He shrugged, unable to find a witty reply. "The lot of 'em better have gotten out of 'dere! It'd feel like a waste otherwise."

Wyatt looked down at the black water with a worried frown, and stepped away from the edge of the barge. He looked to Magnum. "So I was considering your request to scout ahead, but frankly, even with your magic, I'm a little worried to walk on... whatever the hell 'dat is. Any thoughts?"

He tried to peer down ahead, trying to see if he could spot or hear something others might not from his standpoint. He wasn't going to risk touching this black nasty-nast and dying, he thought in his mind.

mshady

2012-12-22, 02:17 PM

Johannes

Johannes eventually gave up trying to make contact with his superiors, and slipped the stone back away into his pocket. He shrugged down an answer to Wyatt's question.

"I'm sure that they just teleported away to some extraplanar Shangri-La like Sigil, and are now out of our reach. Which means that they owe us a beer. Better than all of the other alternatives I can imagine at this point."

His attention was drawn by the big orc-cat in the last boat screaming something at him as he got closer. Ah, yes. His name. Good lad. Johannes offered a thumbs-up back to Kal-Resh, with a wary smile. Best not to antagonize the big guy.

The black water and blue flames caught his attention again. He reached over the side with a spare oar to draw a bit of the sticky stuff up, sniffing cautiously at it and being careful not to touch the stuff.

Knowledge check (whatever's appropriate - they're all the same modifier, pretty much), using Cunning Knowledge [roll0], to see if he knows what might turn water black without altering its viscosity, or turn flames blue.

For Johannes...

Johannes thought about what he was observing for a time, his eyes watching the blue, and now sometimes green, torches flicker. What did it mean? He wasn't sure at first. It reminded him of something though..

Ten years ago...

"John. We're here" Yennifer said. Her voice was sweet and clear, like a musical note. She was a Scion of the SensatesShe stood over a foot taller than Johannes and was a startling beauty, with long locks of curly black hair. At least that was what color they were this week. She was slender and wore a tightly fitted red leather pants with a shawl of white fur and high boots made of the blackest of leather. One one arm, a fine hand bag. The other, Johannes.

"I'll be just a moment, I have to get something from in here" he said. She bent down and he stood slightly and the two met in the middle and exchanged a brief, but warm, kiss.

A minute later, Johannes walks into a shop and the bell rings as he walks through the door to alert the shop keeper of a new arrival.

"Ah, Master Johannes! Good to see you!" the shop keeper says. He smiles widely, too widely really, but after all he was one of the cat people. Of course, he was the only one of them he had ever met. Who knew in Sigil? That was the brilliance of the place. You never knew.

"Is my perfume ready? It's for a birthday" Johannes asked the shop keeper.

"Oh, yes, yes" he said, and spun around to rifle through a cupboard. He quickly located a small purple bag with a draw string on it. He verified a couple things and returned to the counter with a smile.

"That will be 1,215 platinum" he says casually and smiles at Johannes.

"As agreed" Johannes replies, and hands over a purse to shop keeper without bothering to count it. It was nice to have your expenses covered.

"That should be an even 1300. Consider it a bonus for timely delivery" he said, and the shopkeeper's cat like eyes go wide for a moment in appreciation and respect. Money bought that around here.

"Oh, thank you! With great appreciation, I accept your gift" he says and takes the heavy purse and slides it under the counter. His eyes look around to see if any of the other patrons had saw the transaction and smiles.

"Before you go, I have a request for you. The Master Perfumer is here today, working in the back. He said that, when you came by, he wanted to personally thank you for your patronage. May I show you to the back?" he asks, smiling and bobbing his head.

"Sure, why not?" Johannes said, and returned the smile.

A minute later, he was shown to the back of the shop where he was introduced to a rather large man wearing black robes and a heavy gold chain around his neck.

"Ah, Master Johannes, consort of the Sensate Yennifer! Pleased to finally meet you. My name is Polonis" he says, and offers Johannes a big, meaty hand and shakes his hand vigorously.

"Pleased to meet you" Johannes said, starting to replay the same meet and greet script he always used.

"I wanted you to pass on something to your Lady Sensate for use by her Order. It's a kind of alchemy I recently discovered. It keeps you wide awake, but in a transcendent state. A heightened awareness, but with a gentle comedown. You simply ingest it, and enjoy and only a platinum a piece" he says, and shows Johannes a fragment of a blue, glass like substance.

"Interesting" Johannes allows, and takes the glass like substance into his hand. "Intriguing even"

"Indeed! You'll enjoy it, you'll see!" he says enthusiastically.

"So what do you have going on back here?" Johannes asks, turning his attention to the lab table.

Several large tables are set out, with hundreds of vials and tubes. It is quite an arrangement, something quite beyond Johannes' understanding of the sciences. It was all dormant right now though, with the exception of an experiment that was running.

There were a seven different lanterns burning on the table, with a small bellows and a bag attached to them.

"Now that has me interested. What is that?" Johannes asked. The man's eyes light up and he moves over to the table.

"Oh, just an experiment I was running. Different kinds of gases cause the flames to change colors. Celebratory lanterns, they burn different colors. I am just trying to determine which gases are safest. As opposed to, say, explosive? Or poisonous? Product safety. Very important!" he says and smiles.

"My personal favorite, so far..." he says, and works a bellows. Indeed, the gas turns blue after a moment, but it also causes the torch to flare significantly, dangerously even.

"I call it "cave gas". It is not toxic; however, it is extremely flammable and forms explosive mixtures with air. As you can see, it's violently reactive when mixed with air. It's also an asphyxiant and may displace air in an enclosed space. This gave gas is probably responsible for many deadly mining disasters, as opposed to angry gods or elemental rampages. At least that's my theory" he says and smiles slightly. "Alas, it's also very pretty but very dangerous"

Johannes watches the flames dance before his eyes and smiles slightly.

"Reminds me of Yennifer" a bemused Johannes says.

Toliudar

2012-12-22, 05:53 PM

Johannes

The dwarf gazed fondly at the blue glow from the torches for a moment, then as memory tickled at the back of his skull, his eyes bugged out for a moment.

Immediately, he rose in the barge and bellowed forward to Magnum and the others in the lead barge, then repeated the order backwards to the others.

"Cave gas! Explosive. Extinguish all flames, right now. Not in the river - the black might be flammable."

Hopefully, there'd be enough who could see in the dark to help the others guide the barges through. And hopefully, the pocket of gas wouldn't be so significant that they all asphyxiated before they got to the other side.

Gryndel

2012-12-25, 01:27 PM

Magnum
The Alaghor called upon the amazing powers of his deity to exchange one of his spells to cure some of Wyatt's wounds after his request.

OOC Convert Flame of Faith to Cure Moderate Wounds [roll0]

Just a short post for now, I'll edit this or post again sometime soon when I have time.

Strangie

2012-12-25, 11:05 PM

Wyatt

"Thanks for the patch, Mag." Wyatt said to Magnum, with a quick thumbs-up.

The good feeling from the healing soon went away, though, at Joh's statement of cave gas, and he startles a bit. "What!? Last damn thing we need are MORE explosions. Sheesh!" Wyatt quickly and frantically looked around, trying to come up with an idea. "Is it poisonous? Where's a sealed chamber when you need one... what're we gonna do, Joh? Is 'dere a way to neutralize it?"

Toliudar

2012-12-26, 09:43 AM

Once he's sure that his orders about dousing flames are being properly followed on all barges, Johannes turns to respond to Wyatt's rapid series of questions.

"Not poisonous, but not breathable either. I'm sure that there are dozens of ways to neutralize it, but not when you're floating in the middle of it with no equipment or preparations to do so. So unless you've got a better idea, we're going to go dark and quiet, hold our breaths and ride it out."

BelGareth

2012-12-28, 04:34 AM

Kal-Resh moved quickly to make sure all the fires on his boat were snuffed out promptly after hearing from the strange dwarf that there was some kind of gas. He wasn't sure what was going on, but things had just gone from strange to crazy.

Maybe I could fly ahead and scout for them? he shrugged and thought he would ask, the dwarf smiled at him last time, so why not?

He moved to the rail again and lept into the air, but not before tasking another semi competent and large orc to be in charge. He was stupid, but big enough that the others wouldn't ignore him.

His form changed once again as he jumped from the rail, but this time his form changed into that of the a large eagle, he soared over to the dwarf who had responded to him in kind, something he was not used too from dwarves. Landing on the deck of the same ship he shifted back to his normal form.

"Would you like me to scout the area ahead? Good to know whats coming ahead?"

The last part was half asked as a question and a point of opinion, Kal was not used to talking to dwarves, actually, he wasn't used to talking at all, and it showed as he grinned at the dwarf. His social operatus was slightly jarred from years of solitude.

Toliudar

2012-12-28, 02:03 PM

Johannes tried to take it in stride when the big orc who was also a tiger turned into an eagle and landed on his barge. Fortunately, he did nonchalance well, through years of careful practice with the Sensates. Turning to address Kal-Resh, he doffed his foofy hat and gave a slight bow.

"Sir, you are a marvel, a gentleman and a man of many talents. Fortunately, we have other marvels present as well. Might I suggest, if he is willing, that you take Master Wyatt with you on your flight down the tunnel. He has a keen eye and a sharp mind, and you never know when it might be handy to have an exceptionally gifted archer quite literally in the palm of your hands."

mshady

2012-12-29, 08:10 AM

With a substantial amount of yelling around the different barges, the torches are quickly extinguished. At first, only the very faint illumination of the moss remains.

"Master dwarf Johannes, may I... come aboard?" asks a reedy voice. It is Weedle, the mage from the Black's Company barge. Assuming the request is granted, the two barges come together for a moment, and Weedle steps on to the barge before they seperate again.

"A simple thing, but useful, yes?" Weedle produces a rod with a metal cap on it, that he quickly unscrews. It is a torch, but a magical one. The illumination spills out into the darkness, lighting the way for the barge and giving the others some vague illumination as well. He hands out two more Everburning Torches to whomever wants them.

"Complements of Black's Company. Assuming you give them back later" he smiles, than emits a quiet, tittering laugh. "Marcus says we may be better served if I replace your lost gnome mage in the front barge for now. He says he does so at no charge, in light of our mutual needs of survival"

In the darkness, the increasinly labored rowers continue to work as the water seems to thicken. Their oars are stained black now from whatever scum is on the water here, and somehow the water just seems more dense.

Also, everyone seems to be breathing harder and more rapidly as before. It does indeed seem like the air is thinning out here as the cave gas displaces the air in this area.

Strangie

2012-12-30, 05:10 PM

Wyatt

Wyatt scratches his head, and looks at Kal-Resh, then back to Joh, and then back again. "Uh... yeah, I uh... I guess I don't have a problem with 'dat. Good idea, Joh. Providing I don't suffocate and die before 'dat point. 'dis gas is givin' me a headache."

He rolls his rope up that he had been using to drag people aboard. "If we're doin' 'dis, I'm tyin' myself up to you so I don't plummet into the drink and die should somethin' happen to me, and I ain't got a proper saddle. Is 'dat alright?"

Toliudar

2012-12-30, 11:21 PM

Johannes

Johannes nods gratefully at the addition of Wheedle's light - and his presence in the lead barge. Johannes had rather assumed that Black Company's contract had not yet been completed, but perhaps they saw their engagement as discharged once the Stoneburner went off. If in fact that was the Stoneburner that had gone off, and not some other calamity.

"You are...most gracious...Master Wheedle. Once we're through...this gas...make your way forward."

Finding it just a tad hard to breathe, Johannes did nothing more than nod his gratitude to Wyatt and Kal-Resh. He gestured an 'up' signal to the orc. The gas, as he recalled, was heavier than air. Perhaps if Kal-Resh could get some altitude, he and Wyatt at least could be spared the worst effects.

BelGareth

2012-12-31, 12:53 AM

Kal Resh nods as the dwarf speaks, and smiling from ear to ear he replies in kind
"Sounds good! I hadn't thought about taking someone with me" he stops for a moment as if thinking on what or how to say something "no one has ever wanted to do before"

He looks to the halfling that was mentioned, "That's fine with me, let me change and you can bind yourself, just watch my wings, I need to be able to move them freely."

He then promptly changes, his skin shifting, growing feathers in the blink of an eye, his eyes sharpen and take on the look of a giant eagle, while his canine mouth elongates and bends into the curve hooked beak of a large bird of prey.

And in seconds a large Bird is staring at you, awaiting your actions talked about moments before.

Aerial Form:
Talon attack 1d6
+2 Enhancement bonus to Str
+2 Enhancement bonus to Ref saves
+2 Nat armor
Fly speed 40ft (Good)
Flyby Attack feat

Strangie

2012-12-31, 02:25 AM

Wyatt

Wyatt (who is actually a halfling - see here (http://hereticsbane.wikispaces.com/Wyatt+Akturus)) shrugged, and pulled out his own everburning torch. "Hey, 'dat's a good idea, Wheedle. I already got one, but thanks for the idea! Alright, let's see..."

He climbed upon Kal-Resh, using his rope to secure himself as best he could without getting in the way of Kal-Resh's movement. He was small and light, and even if he somehow got knocked out, he would at least dangle a bit on the rope, which was a hell of a lot better than plummeting into the black water. He put away his torch for now, figuring that travelling in the dark was better for being unnoticed, though he would pull it out and secure it to his belt if the need for extra light arose for some reason.

"Well, guess I'll write 'dis down along with all the other crazy crap I've done since joining 'dis outfit. Convince a cleric of Shaundakul to not murder us all. Protect some important guy's lady from a kidnapping plot. Scour a fortress in Sigil and get rid of a bunch of traps. Drop an alchemical bomb on a circle magic ritual and disrupt it to keep 'em from using a tortured soul for a golem. Beat the crap out a bunch of unsavory types. Get mauled by a dragon. Look back, 'den up. 'dis cave is now a craphole! I'm ridin' an eagle."

He sighed, shaking his head a bit at the realization of everything he's been through, and nocked an arrow on his bow. "Alright. Time to ride. Whenever you're ready," he said flatly to Kal-Resh, looking down the tunnel with a look of determination to at least get out of this dump.

BelGareth

2012-12-31, 02:46 AM

Kal-Resh laughs at the halflings soliloquizing tirade, although it comes out as sqawks and screechs.

Flapping his wings at the mention of getting it over he gains altitude and flies off into the darkness, heading for the top of the cavern in hopes of finding air and into the area before the boats.

Kal Resh has darkvision, and a 20 STR so he can easily carry the halfling.

mshady

2013-01-06, 01:49 PM

Kal-Resh and Wyatt

Kal-Resh leaves the fleet of battered barges with Wyatt riding atop him, secured only by some rope. In truth, he hardly notices the Halfling is there. With his own dark vision, navigating the silent tunnel is little problem for him. As he flies through the air, Kal-resh’s heart pounds from the exertion. In truth, it should not be pounding at all. He had heard something about the air being thin in the tunnel due to some gas. He was smart enough to know that was not good.

As he glides through the air down the wide river, he can’t help but be in awe of it. Had these dwarves actually carved out a river? Astonishing stuff, if true. If they had made a river though, there must be a source, and that was what he was looking for here.

He flies several miles over the river, mainly looking ahead but occasionally sparing a glance to look below. He can see the river bubbling in places, and it seemed to be coated with a tar like substance floating atop it. He had no idea what that could be, but it did not look good.

Finally, he sees something. It is another old fort, and this time he can see a chain drawn across the river. There does not seem to be any activity here. Beyond it, a massive cavern opened up, and he swooped into it. It was an underground lake, a massive reservoir of fresh water. Spears of rock hung from the top of the cavern in many places, and he could see many old ruins along the side of the lake. Possibly some other dwarf settlement? Kal-Resh even saw a quay, with several stone piers jutting out into the water. This place must have been some kind of port. As he flies around the river, he sees other tunnels around the place, other rivers being fed by this and it occurs to him this may not be a lake at all, but a reservoir. The water was much clearer here too, free of the oily film and he could breathe better now too. Reveling in the fresh air, he circles the area from fifty feet in the air and banks around the stone spears hanging from the cavern roof. As he glances down, he seems a large, dark shape moving through the water beneath him. He was sure of what he saw, but he had no idea what it was.

A problem.

It stood to reason that, in as barren a place as the Underdark must be, that the natural fauna would gravitate towards the water sources. It was the natural thing to do. With Wyatt with him, who was apparently a hardened scout for this group of bearded mercenaries, he could explore the area and try to learn more or return to the barges and report what he had learned.

mshady

2013-01-06, 02:11 PM

Meanwhile, back on the barges…

“Any word from Buehler?” Marcus calls from the adjacent barge to Johannes and Magnum. “Not to sound mercenary, heh, but he was supposed to pay us when the job was done. Seeing that it’s done, I would hate for his loss to confuse our business relationship” the older mercenary asks.

“I know, not the best time” he raises his hands up apologetically, “…but we seem to have a free moment and the matter has weighed on my mind”

“Yes, we DO so hope he survived the blast” says another voice, that of Barakas the Cleric of Beshaba. “Sable, not so much but we do consider her still part of Black’s Company so request her share of the pay for this. To give to her family back home. In some ways, her loss would be quite lamented in certain circles in Sundabar” he says, with shocking (or mocking?) sincerity.

There is silence for a moment between the two barges. Only a quiet splashing from far behind the barges can be heard now. Being a river, there would seem to be fish in here after all.

Weedle walks over to Johannes and Magnum and whispers to them in a conspiratorial tone.

"Barakas has always been jealous of Sable" he informs the two. "It was good she left when she did, for I fear they plotted against each other and I ever do hate choosing sides" he titters with laugher for a moment. "He is right though, she did sign a contract with us and it has another year on it so she still belongs to Marcus" Weedle pauses and speaks again. "I missed her. She was my only friend. My hope is she, at least, survived" he says forlornly.

Strangie

2013-01-06, 05:45 PM

Wyatt

Wyatt breathed a sigh a relief once he noticed the gas was gone. He kept his bow at the ready, not his favorite weapon to use - he'd have to do something about that once he got out of here... or if, rather - but it would suffice for the job.

He marveled at the old fort, and nodded in satisfaction at their findings. "Nice... awright. We should figure out as much as we can about 'dis place. Hopefully 'dere ain't anybody here waitin' for us..." he talked lowly to Kal-Resh. "Since you're in control here 'dough, I'll let you make the call. I can easily scout 'dis place out but if you don't want to hang here too long without back up from our squad, I can understand 'dat. I'm good either way."

Gryndel

2013-01-06, 10:24 PM

Magnum
Ready to aid those he could, his only real concern was voiced by Marcus. He assured the mercenary leader, "Any pay'll be collected justly upon our return, so let concentrate on that."

The splashing brought the missing drow to mind again, and Magnum glared back alertly to try to determine if his suspicions were welll founded.

OOC Wrote up a long post to address all the concerns and such I missed in the time since I posted. Then I lost it all by not C&P before posting and got logged out. Since I'm not on my computer its a different beastie to slay, so I'll have to rewrite all that good stuff, and remember to keep it in another program until ready to post.

Mike let me know if there's any checks to roll, spells I can cast, or other actions that can be taken to alleviate the harm of the poison or any badly wounded I can cure.

Toliudar

2013-01-07, 01:45 AM

Johannes

Once it seemed clear that they were not all going to be blown up or sucked down into some oily grave, Johannes makes his way over to confer with Marcus once they're able to join up the barges momentarily. No point in shouting their business to everything within a hundred yards, after all.

"It's true that I haven't been able to raise him, but I also have no idea what the range on the stones are. If he ended up back in Sigil or something similar to escape the blast, it's almost certain that this little trinket wouldn't raise him there.

"I don't know if your deal was like mine, but I'll wager that it's with the Patriarchate, not with Buehler. You have a built-in assurance that they'll want to maintain their contract with you, though. If you're a contracted mercenary, you're bound by their terms of salvage, and all of this -"

He points at one of the chests in the bottom of Marcus' barge.

"-gets parceled out. If we're not under contract, well, then this is all independent salvage. You do the math."

He glances a bit nervously at Barakas, but says nothing more. Instead, he takes brief advantage of his time on the second barge to look ahead, hoping to see the torchlight of the return of Kal-Resh and Wyatt.

mshady

2013-01-07, 02:44 AM

Marcus

He considers Johannes' words for a moment and runs his hands over his rough, short beard. He seems to be thinking, and when men like him thing, they scheme...

"See, that's my concern. My contract, it was with Buehler. He came and said, you work for me, you come with me and I pay you half now, half later. Plus generous salvage, he offers. Always I've dealt with him, and he always made it clear we work for him, only. It was like he operated by himself, very specific about how we work him and NOT the Patriarchate, how we cannot be seen working for them. Months ago, he hires us to open roads in the Underdark for him too. Bloody business, I lost some men, but Sable was the scout."

"Now, when we get to this place, he sees the Temple and he tells me we can have whatever we find in there. I guess he wanted us to deal with killing the civilians and handle desecrating this temple. That's bad business for you religious types in your God versus God thing in the ass end of beyond thing you have going on here. So he hires us as the cut outs on this, in case they wonder about their temple or divination watches us.

Now, we have no Buehler. Your bomb blows up, nearly kills us all, and now he has disappeared. No Buehler means no contract" Marcus says, than looks at the treasure chests. "Now, I am thinking we are better off with no Buehler" he says and smiles. "Independent salvage, right?"

He turns and looks around the area, and his smile widens.

"You know, I had planned to wait but why when that pain-in-the-arse orc and that Halfling are gone, you're on my barge and and Weedle is on your barge" he says and waves at Weedle, who returns the wave tenatively. "Our mage on your barge, on the water, full of dwarves who wear heavy armor and can't swim?"

"So Master Dwarf, I'd like to renegotiate our salvage rights here. Possession is most of the law, is it not?" he smiles wryly at Johannes.

A bald dwarf named Kord, once the partner of the deceased half orc, comes up behind Johannes and grabs his arm and forces it into an arm bar.

"Easy now, short beard. We're just clarifying where we stand. Not like ye trust Buehler either, and it's not yer gold. We just want some more o'what ye got. Your fat Patriarch's got enough gold to wallow in" the bald fella says, twisting Johannes' arm a little bit more for emphasis.

Toliudar

2013-01-07, 11:34 AM

BelGareth

2013-01-11, 02:33 AM

Kal-Resh wheels as he moves through the newly discovered cavern.

He heard the dwarf on his back, who actually slightly startled him as he had forgotten about the rider on his back, it was every day he took someone with him on his flights, let alone a gnome.

He turned his feathered head back to regard the rider "I agree!" he says, too eagerly, as before, however this time, he forgot his speech would not work and a large powerful squawk echoes back through the cavern.

Cringing at his stupidity, he eyes a good looking ruin, near the quay and lands, turning back to himself looking quite abashed. "I am sorry, I agree, we need to investigate this area, this would be a good place to bring everyone." he says in a hushed whisper, thinking to cover his earlier mistake with prudence.

He thought for a moment, "but there was something large in the water, we will have to figure out how to deal with that before bringing everyone here."

He breathes deep suddenly realizing the air here is clean, he lets out a sigh as he does so. "I can help you scout this area, I am no good at hiding, but my ears and eye are sharp." He looks around quickly "We will need to be fast though..."

Strangie

2013-01-11, 05:37 PM

Wyatt

The halfling, once they had landed, glanced around for any immediate dangers, and then once he was satisfied, nodded and unsecured his rope, climbing off and tucking it away. "Right. Don't worry, I'll lead. All I need you to do is watch my back and stay nearby in case I get jumped. I'll make sure the coast is clear," he whispers, dusting himself off.

"Somethin' in the water, huh? Well, I don't think we'll be able to deal with 'dat unless it comes after us on shore. Fightin' monsters in the water never ends well when you ain't aquatic yourself. At the very least we can try and sort out what it is and report it." He shrugs, glancing around. "And yeah, we'll have to be quick about 'dis. Now, where to start..." He looked around a bit, looking for a good starting point to begin his scouting, ducking down low and proceeding to take to the shadows whenever possible. He put his shortbow away and drew a fancy adamantine kukri, the one he had obtained from the treasure pile earlier before they had gotten onto the barges, giving it a quick spin on his fingers before gripping it in his hand...

He was particularly careful around doorways and corridors, inspecting these for traps, lest there still be something alive and intelligent around here that he wasn't aware of.

Yet.

mshady

2013-01-11, 07:38 PM

Wyatt and Kal'resh

Standing side by side, Wyatt looked more like a meal for the thickly muscled half orc than a comrade. The two look around the area by the docks to see any signs.

It does not take long before Wyatt spots a distant grove of mushrooms and some deep rothe grazing on them. It was odd to see cattle in a place like this, but there they were. He had no idea how such beasts got down here in the first place, if they were some sort of beast the dwarves or fouler underground denizens had adapted from the surface or if they were truly natural here.

Not far from it the grove sits a small hut. A lantern hangs on it, and it is lit. A finger of smoke seems to be coming from the chimney.

Otherwise, the area around the old stone piers is a battlefield of decay, with skeletons of old structures littering the area. Old bones are strewn all over the area, along with rusted out tools and other implements. While an archaeologist could have told much about the area perhaps, here it just seemed sad.

In the water near the pier, he can barely see the remains of some kind of sailing vessel. The old skeleton of it sits just below the surface where it sank.

Kal'resh walks over to the closest pier and clears away some dirt around an unusual feature with his foot. It reveals an image of beautifully carved boot, with a spike mace in front of it. Motioning over Wyatt, Kal'resh shows it to him. The halfling thinks about it for a moment and realizes it is a holy symbol of one of the more obscure dwarf gods, Marthammon Duin. Johanness had referred to Marthammor once, what seemed years ago, as the Finder of Trailers. As a follower of Shaundakul himself, he could sort of get behind that God at least.

mshady

2013-01-11, 07:49 PM

Johannes

Johannes winces visibly when Marcus says 'you' religious types. His relationship with the Patriarchate had always been a slightly tenuous tether, and to be labeled a godman by someone who should know better pained a part of him that he hadn't fully understood existed.

Still, Johannes was clear about where the thrust of the conversation was going, and he used the gentle pitch of the barge to lean forward to slip nimbly out of Kord's hold before it's firmly in place. He stepped back towards the edge of the barge, shaking his head sadly.

"What is it these days with people trying to negotiate at the wrong moment? First that idiot drow, and now you, Marcus? What do you hope to accomplish with this? If your dealings really are with Buehler and not the Patriarchate, then what difference will anything that I say make? No. By bringing this up, you clearly think that you DO have an ongoing deal with the dwarves, and you want to clarify it with me.

"Let's look at this situation. You're in hostile territory, a long way from anywhere, and your salvage isn't worth spit if you don't survive to get it back to where you can spend it. You might - might - be able to kill me and the others, but then you're weakened, without a map or a guide, and no further ahead than when you killed us. And THEN you have to figure out a way to fence all of this in unfamiliar territory, just to be able to cover the expenses of the rest of your trip home, and in such a way that the Patriarchate can't pick up your trail and figure out what you've done. Because dwarves have a nose for gold, and long memories. I don't purport to speak for the church, but I wouldn't want to piss them off, either.

"I've already said that I'm all in favour of a generous salvage settlement, and it sounds like Buehler was too. What are you proposing, Marcus?"

Black's Company. Johanness and Magnum

"We're in hostile territory at a bad time, but I wouldn't worry about a guide. I've a hunch where this river goes. It's hardly difficult to fence plunder, either. You worry too much, dwarf" he says and shrugs, seemingly unconcerned.

"Let me simplify this for you, Johannes" Marcus says, than coughs. The air WAS getting a little thin here. "I want half. Half of all of it. I don't want your table scraps anymore, I want us to be an equal partner on this. Is that too much to asks? Our losses have been heavy. We've bled, and fought and would have claimed FAR more than half this from the hordes found in that Temple. Now instead of that promised plunder, we get a share, to be split up in more shares.

Buehler, of course, would never agree to that. He isn't here though. Just you and us, and unless you want us to make the rest of this trip very difficult for you, we want half. Got it?" the mercenary says, drawing his hand over his goatee and smiling in a sharkish fashion at Johannes.

"Yeah. Got it, dwarf?" Barakas adds needlessly. Johannes could understand why Sable wanted to kill that man, simply for the irritation. Even his spiked blonde hair was aggravating to Johannes.

Standing on the other barge, Weedle looks at Magnum with cold, impassive eyes. The cleric can see that the mage was ready to use magic at a moment's notice, as his hands glow faintly with arcane energy. From what he had saw of Weedle, he figured him to be a peer in power compared to Arman or Buna.

Toliudar

2013-01-12, 12:05 AM

Johannes

'You worry too much, dwarf.' I wonder why.

Johannes shrugged and smiled. Since this was in no way a fair negotiation, he would feel in no way bound by its results.

"Half sounds completely fair, Marcus. Now, if you're done threatening the man trying to keep us all alive, I'd like to get back to the task of checking on whether our air is running."

He turns to smile at Barakas.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you have some idea as to how to save us all? Or will you be continuing to rely on us to preserve your asses?"

Shaking his head in disbelief, Johannes walked back to the other barge.

mshady

2013-01-14, 02:32 AM

Marcus

"I'm not going to lectured about ass saving by a dandy who can't use a blade" Marcus sneers at Johannes.

He pauses for a moment to think over what Johannes says before speaking again.

"They say if someone gives up something too easily, they never intend on keeping their end of the bargain. So how about you put that offer to paper while you're over here, eh?" he asks Johannes. "When we can get the torches back on" he adds, clearly disappointed.

"Remember, half of it all dwarf" Barakas adds.

Toliudar

2013-01-14, 04:54 PM

"They say if someone gives up something too easily, they never intend on keeping their end of the bargain. So how about you put that offer to paper while you're over here, eh?" he asks Johannes. "When we can get the torches back on" he adds, clearly disappointed.

Johannes smiles blandly.

"I congratulate you on lecturing me about holding up an agreement while simultaneously breaking your own. Get me something in writing and I'll take a look at it, Marcus."

And with that, he's on to the next challenge.

mshady

2013-01-15, 01:29 AM

Marcus

In the darkness, Johannes can still see Marcus' white teeth. The whiteness of them actually surprises him a bit, considering his assumed habits.

"Negotiation is an art, what can I say?" he say darkly.

BelGareth

2013-01-15, 03:41 AM

Kal-Resh tries his best to follow the halfling with half as much stealth as he does, he was almost glad he was all but naked, with only his loincloth to restrict his movement. or...not as the case may be. He quickly saw the herd of rothe and smiled, how amazing that life could establish even here in the underdark of the world. He wondered how they came to be here, but was interrupted as his vision moved past the slow lonely finger of smoke tracing its way into the cavern ceiling from a lone hut near the herd.

He was sure someone was there and he almost growled in pleasure at the thought of combat. He stopped himself, however, there was no need for such action here, no aggression had been shown towards them....yet.

He stepped into the shallow waters of the underground river, his toes flexing through the silty mud, he was languishing in the feeling of it, it had been a long time. His big toe on his right foot scrapes against something, the calluses protecting his bare feet from harm.

Digging the thing up he found what looked like beautifully carved boot, with a spike mace in front of it. He called it to Wyatt's attention, having no clue as to what it meant, or was for.

He motioned to the hut, "we should see who is home." he says simply, almost whispering as he did so.

Strangie

2013-01-16, 05:46 PM

Wyatt

Wyatt looked at the clues - the rothe, the smoke trail, the lit lantern - and concluded there was definitely someone here, or was here at least. Before he could do anything about it, though, Kal-Resh pointed out the boot symbol to him. He whispered, mostly to himself, "Marthammor Duin... if I were a dwarf, mighta been who I'd be followin'. Finder of Trails. I wonder what it's doin' here... wonder if our resident put it 'dere." He gestures at the hut.

He nods in agreement to the orc, and begins making his way over quietly, being careful to stay out of sight of the doorway or any windows, standing somewhere where he is close but not visible from the doorway. He tries listening at first to see if there is any commotion or noise of any sort before taking action.

Gryndel

2013-01-18, 05:32 PM

Magnum

The Alaghor stared steadily at Weedle, not intimidated in the least. Though he showed no sign of hostility, not wishing to provoke the mage, he fingered the handle of Arctis casually. He knew well how dangerous such a person could be, but had never feared facing arcane users, or anything else for that matter. Recently he had been victorious in battling one, and the guardian that had taken off Carmard's leg. Though he recognized how close Weedle was to releasing magic, he was confident it wouldn't come to that.

Knowing the negotiation was well beyond his ability or authority, he simply remained quiet and watched Weedle, ready to deal with the arcane user if needed. When the issue seemed settled, he gained even more respect for Johannes, the odd dwarf who was apparently far more proficient with words than weapons.

As Wyatt flew off with Kal'resh, Magnum cimmanded shortly, "Lets get da barges movin' again."

Toliudar

2013-01-18, 06:23 PM

Johannes

Johannes was relieved and delighted by the eminent good sense of Magnum.

"Just so!"

As the rock-solid priest oversaw matters in the lead boat, Johannes made his way nimbly back towards the orcs and such in the last craft. Checking in to get the name and measure of whoever had been left in charge, Johannes made sure that they were cooperating, and not suffering additional effects from either the black water or blue air.

Sense motive to get a feeling for whoever is maintaining common purpose in the final craft. [roll0]
Knowledge (nature) to see if there are any ill effects showing up on people from the inhalation of the gas. [roll1]

mshady

2013-01-19, 02:09 AM

Rocking the Boat

Johannes observes the area and his own senses for a minute or two, and he realizes that yes, he is breathing quickly and feeling light headed. He knew the heavier gas would displace air, and while Kal-resh and Wyatt were probably okay, it was another matter for the rest of them.

The light headed feeling would soon turn into something worse, hallucination or euphoria followed by eventually passing out. It would probably effect the weaker races first, like the humans, but the dwarves were hardly immune.

As the two barges thump together again, he exchanges a silent look with Weedle and rejoins the dwarf company and Eoin. He wondered briefly where Talamir was, but it might be a good thing he was not here. Who's side he was on exactly was an open question, with the answer being who had the heavier purse.

Looking back at the other barge, full of orcs and ogres, he sees that Kerik is still in charge on that boat. It was easy enough to tell, for one of the orcs seemed to get out of line and was struck hard with a mailed fist. The sullen orcs, leaderless without the drow, seemed far more pliable than before now.

As he steps down into the barge again, he feels the thing rock slightly. The movement is enough to cause Nega, already wounded and having lost blood from the rock fall, holds here head.

"I'm not feeling so good" Nega groans.

Toliudar

2013-01-19, 05:05 AM

Johannes crouches next to Nega, concerned that she was succumbing faster than the others. He had assumed that she would be able to take care of her own injuries, but clear this was not the case. Softly, he lays a hand on her back and allows sweet, sweet Joh-love to flow. He leans in to murmur.

"We'll get through this, milady. Hold on just a little more.'"

Opportunistic Piety to cure 24 hp damage.

mshady

2013-01-23, 02:00 AM

Nega waves off Johannes' attempt at assistance with a reproachful scowl.

"No" she says gruffly. "I am the First Mace of Berronar, and I only accept aid from da faithful" she says and pauses for a moment. Her head lolls for a moment and eyes roll upwards for a second.

Johannes takes a step back away from her, as he notices she clutches her magnificent mace to her lap with a death grip. He was not a medicus like Nalrak, but he knew a lack of air did strange things to the mind.

He also knew Nega's reputation as one of the toughest fighters in the Patriarchate. Hell, she had run with the actual Patriarch and a dragon slayer long before this voyage. For all he knew, she might suddenly think he was a Duergar.

She seems to gain he balance again a moment later and continues.

"Yer a valued ally, but I can see to my own healing. You wear yer faith too easily for me. I don't.... don't know what you are. The air here... it be thin, and me tankard o'ale be a little empty. It's... it's..."

...and that was it. Nega slumped over. For a moment, Johannes thought that had just died in front of him, until he notices her breathing shallowly.

Indeed, he felt his own fatigue and sleepiness now as well. Just the edge of it, but it was there now.

Magnum watches the scene with concern as well. On the farthest barge, the sounds of quarrels have died down as well. The big barrel chested orcs, ogres and minotaurs were quieting down now too. No doubt, they were being effected even worse than anyone else.

As far as Magnum or Johannes can figure, there was nothing to do but hope they found a pocket of air, or find a way to create one. Or find a way to get out of this quicker.

"Dwarfs!" a voice rasps. It is the voice of Santana, the ranger of Black's Company. "Something's wrong over here. Some of the slaves are passing out"

Toliudar

2013-01-23, 04:28 AM

Johannes

Johannes accepts Nega's rebuff with a gentle shrug. He'd given up trying to understand fanatics. Faith should be hard? Why bother? There were so many gods. It was a buyer's market.

Well, if I'd had a way to halt our progress down the river, I'd have done it already. If we had a way to keep two hundred souls from the need to breathe, that would have been swell.

BelGareth

2013-01-23, 11:07 AM

Kal-Resh nods to the halfling and silently shifts into the form of a hunting cat, his mouth extending into a muzzle and his hands and feet shortening and growing claws as his body shifted into the quadruped form of a large feline.

He yawns and stretches at the same time, allowing his claws to unsheathe and retract with the action, as if testing his new form.

He took off, silent as the night flanking the small hut looking and hearing to see if he could detect any presence of an animal. Inside the hut.

[roll0]
[roll1]

Predator Form:
Bite Attack 1d6
+4 Enhancement bonus to Str
+4 Nat armor
Base Land speed 50ft
Mobility feat

mshady

2013-01-28, 12:41 PM

Something in the water...

Kal-resh and Wyatt head toward the hut quietly. It is some distance, and they were in no great hurry. In the form of a hunting cat, Kal-resh is nearly as quiet as the diminutive Wyatt is.

As they begin their approach, they see door of the hut creak open and a figure no larger than Wyatt exits. He is carrying a mining pick on his shoulder and a crooked staff in the other hand. It is not a magic stave in all likelihood, and has the appearance of a shepherd’s hook instead. They catch the sound of the little figure whistling a tune neither recognize, as it walks over to the herd of rothe. He separates one of them from the herd and ties a lead around it, attaching the lead to his staff.

The little figure than leads the rothe to the water’s edge, and at first if doesn’t protest until it gets closer to the water. When it figures out where it is going though, it tries to pull away, but the shepherd drags the rothe forward anyways. Not without some cajoling with the flat of the pick or cursing. That much they do catch; it was Undercommon.

After several minutes, the figure gets to the water’s edge and ties the rope lead around an old mooring. Backing away from the irate rothe, the figure withdraws a horn blows a long, moaning note from the horn. It echoes throughout the chamber, and the reverberation seems unnaturally loud for even a large horn blown by a smaller person. Either it was enchanted, or simply well made.

A minute goes by, than two minutes go by with nothing happening in response to the horn. The figure fidgets and holds the horn nervously, and seems to be contemplating if it should try the horn again. When the rothe starts braying though, the figure cheers and dances about.
The reason soon becomes apparent, as two large tentacles rise out of the water followed by a massive, fish like creature. It broaches the water enough for several red eye slits to look out at the shore and see why it was called. It lingers a moment before slipping back into the water. A moment goes by, and then the water is churned by something truly massive that is heading for the shore. The massive fish like creature launched itself out of the water and it lands next to the rothe with what can only be described as a large “splat”. Water and mucus spray all over as it lands.

What they see is clearly some sort of amphibian. It has four tentacles and 3 red eyes, stacked one on top of another, but a small mouth for its size. It is covered in some sort of mucus and it looks ungainly on the stone. It is also quite massive, surely more than 3 tons of mass or more. As the little humanoid dances about happily, the great thing lurches to the right and wraps its tentacles around the desperate looking rothe. With a yank, it breaks the rope and lifts the rothe up high in the air, before slamming it into the ground. It does so several times until the creature stops kicking. The two scouts can see that the rothe’s head has been cracked open like a melon, and as the creature spins the rothe about in its tentacles, it draws it closer to its mouth. A snake like tongue begins lapping the brains from the rothe, like they are some kind of sweet treat. It stays at this for a couple minutes, before it secures it tightly again in its tentacles, and backs into the water once more. It disappears in a cloud of bubbles as it descends back into the lake…

mshady

2013-01-28, 12:59 PM

Barges

"We're running out of air" Weedle calls out.

Eoin replies, thanking him for stating the obvious. His response is biting in its nature.

"The water is still too deep here for us to pull it along. The ogres or minotaurs could, but they're in worse shape than us" Marcus adds.

"Yes. Can anyone perhaps... create air?" Weedle asks. He repeats his request to the rear, and receive no more than a variety of snarled responses. "Some way of summoning an elemental of air to stay here for a time?"

BelGareth

2013-01-30, 04:38 AM

Kal-Resh watches from the shadows in his canine form, and his mouth dropped agape as he saw the monstrous aquatic form beach itself and then gorge on the animal.

What could do such a thing? He had no knowledge of such a natural creature, and he had lived among them since he was a mewling. What could this thing be?

Shocked beyond beleif and not knowing what to do, he quickly and silently changed back to his more humanoid form and looked to Wyatt.

"Wha...what was that thing?" he whispers to him, almost afraid the thing would hear him and jump out of the water again at any moment.

Toliudar

2013-01-30, 12:28 PM

Johannes

Mike, just to confirm: even without the vigorous rowing, we're still rolling downstream, right? We're still moving through the pocket? And since we haven't found Kal-Resh and Wyatt floating dead in the water, it seems reasonable to assume that the pocket ends?

Also, can I assume that there haven't been any side passages, nor were there any coming up that were indicated on Wyatt's magic map?

Running short of people he could trust, Johannes gathers Magnum and Eoin for a very quiet discussion.

"Suggestions? Worst case scenario, we pitch everyone over the side, light up a flame, and dive under the surface. If all goes well, the gas burns off, the rush of air extinguishes the worst of any fires that follow, and the black goo doesn't turn out to be flammable. There are twelve reasons why I hate this idea, but I also don't wan't to just drift into oblivion. Alternatives?"

Strangie

2013-01-30, 07:14 PM

Wyatt

Wyatt could only stare wide-eyed at the thing that had manhandled the rothe like a ragdoll. It seemed all too familiar to him...

His eye twitches, and he shakes his head, looking up at Kal-Resh. "Somethin' I ain't fightin', 'dat's for damn sure," he whispers back. "We gotta tell the barge crew about 'dis. Last time I fought somethin' 'dat large, it didn't end well... just trust me on 'dat."

He frowned deeply, remember the fight with the dragon. Not a pleasant experience. He eyed the humanoid figure that had summoned it. "I dunno about 'dat guy. What do you think we should do? I'm not much for parlay, tell the truth..."

BelGareth

2013-01-31, 04:29 AM

Kal-Resh almost smiles as the halfling mentioned the summoner and what to do with him, he was starting to like this little hin quite a lot.

Nodding at the suggestion, he morphed into the great hunting cat, a sleep black Puma and started to stalk him, moving to flank him from the other side.

He will wait for Wyatt to act, and then move in.

Swift action: change into Leaping Dragon Stance
Move action: 40 movement as necessary to close distance with target
Standard action: Death From Above, Tiger Claw Maneuver (Jump over target with DC 20, deal additional damage)
[roll0] vs DC 20
[roll1] (+2 if flanking)
[roll2] + [roll3]
Fort DC 22 or be knocked back (5 ft.)

Strangie

2013-01-31, 10:45 PM

Wyatt

When Wyatt realizes what Kal-Resh is about to do, he quickly shakes his head, waving his hands in front of him.

"No no no," he whispered. "I didn't mean KILL the guy. I don't even know what 'dat guy is capable of. If he's the keeper of 'DAT thing, who the hell knows. 'dere might be more of 'dem, too. I ain't chancin' talkin' to 'dis guy, but I'm not gonna go and murder him in cold blood... yet."

Wyatt ponders further. "'den again... 'dat thing might just up and wreck the barges if 'dey get here. We can't have 'dat. ... Maybe if we can corner him in the hut where he can't get out, and deal with him 'dat way. ... gaaaah."

"No. I don't think we should be doing 'dis ourselves. It's too risky. I think we should report back. Johannes might have a better idea on how to handle 'dis. What do you say?"

Gryndel

2013-02-02, 01:30 PM

Magnum

Respectful of her position and faultless faith, the Alaghor feared nothing about the First Mace. He stomped over to her as she refused the aid of Johannes and gripped her shoulder roughly, "I believe we'll be needin' yer aid soon Nega, so ye'll not refuse me da chance ta help ye now."

As he spoke he activated a charge from his Valkerie ring, healing her wouinds some.

OOC: 1 charge = [roll0]

Turning to address Johannes, Magnum shrugged, "I prepared fer da cold, nothin' specifically available ta deal with dis muck or poison air." He tugged his beard briefly and mumbled, "Perhaps...", as he cast Air Walk on those nearby.

OOC: I can't seem to access the srd from here so not sure of the details. But its a spell he had prepared and deals with walking on air s maybe it'll prove useful here. I leave it to the imaginative minds of others and the well known fairnesss of our illustrious DM to decide what, if any, benefit it will have.

mshady

2013-02-03, 01:00 AM

Wyatt and Kal-resh

The rothe herder watches the water for another minute. Perhaps to see if the giant fish monster came back?

At that point, he takes the lantern that was hanging off of this mining pick he had slung on his shoulder and begins the stroll back to his little hut.

With the murder of the herder delayed for now, the two have the option of looking around more or going back to the barge.

mshady

2013-02-04, 11:32 PM

Barges

Magnum's spell creates a haze in the air that, if not solidifies, it at least glows and looks substantial. He places it roughly in front of the barge. The group look at it and consider what use the spell possibly could have. It seemed to be generating no air, displaced nothing, doing nothing but generating a soft hum.

Hopefully the magically condensed air did not create any static, as the volatile cave gas might not react too well to a spark right about now.

"Well, why doesn't someone get on that and grab a rope? Maybe they can pull us along with a rope? Has to be faster than this. Maybe we can get some distance on the others" Talamir finally suggests. The elf is standing in the back of the barge, arms crossed and looking at the counsel of dwarves with a darkly bemused look on his face. A uncorked flask is in one hand, and his other hand rests on his blade.

As for Magnum's spell on Nega, the Paladin barely has time to hear the old cleric's words before she slips under into unconsciousness.

He casts the spell anyways, and the golden light of the magic settles on her and stitches the wounds on her back, as well as two of her fractured ribs. Truth be told, many of Nega's ribs were fractured or broken at this point, such was the pounding she had taken on this trip. Breathing must have been torture for the woman. Certainly her once stunning set of armor looked like it had been smithed with a sledge hammer and mining pick.

Her eyes flutter open finally as the group focuses its attention on Magnum's spell. She props herself up and clears her head, even taking a moment to see if a tooth was loose. She had lost a couple in her day already, certainly.

"Oi, must have fallen asleep dere for da moment. What'd did I viss?" she says, her affected accent slightly more impaired by her grogginess.

You got used to it.

Toliudar

2013-02-05, 01:49 AM

Johannes picks up a coil of rope from the floor of the barge and tosses it to Talamir.

"Good idea. Let me know how it goes."

Johannes starts to move among the barges, rousing the drowsy rowers and encouraging them to redouble their efforts.

mshady

2013-02-07, 02:33 AM

Rowing...

With the air thin and being encouraged to increase their exertions anyways, the rowers on each of the barges press on. The breaks are frequent though, and the progress is halting. If anything, the thin air seems to be getting worse.

Magnum, Johannes and Nega all observe their hearts are pounding and their skin is taking on a faint bluish tint. Most frustrating to Johannes was that he was having difficulty thinking. Both he and Magnum were having difficulty concentrating, of thinking things through. It was hard to stay focused, and they thought they saw things at the edge of their vision from time to time. Not just things, but images from memory. Magnum was lost in a flashback several times to Earthfast, thinking for a moment he was in those hallowed tunnels leading the eternal fight there. For Johannes, it was the Battle for Citadel Feldbarr, of being lost in tunnels or alleys in Sigil, and even a few glimpses of Yennifer.

Those, he lingered on for a moment.

Still, both were tough and mentally disciplined so they were able to plow through the worst of it for now.

Whatever Nega saw, she kept her own counsel. Talamir sat in a corner by himself, head down and muttering something to himself.

Ahead, they hear a hissing sound the of water bubbling or burbling, and powerfully so. It was perhaps some distance off yet, it was hard to tell in tunnels like this.

Wherever this gas was coming from, it could be ahead of them and soon. If that was it, the air would be not just thinner there but totally displaced. With only small spurs or collapsed areas in the wall of the river cavern, hiding was going to be difficult.

On the other barge, the two of them catch Marcus and Weedle conversing about something in intense looking whispers as well.

BelGareth

2013-02-08, 04:11 AM

Kal resh's rear legs were tensed for the leap into the air as he watched his target with intent.

And then the little one starts babbling about something, he turns his head slowly to regard him, head instinctively turning to the side so as to hear him better.

"...dn't mean KILL the guy.."

Kal sighed, and sat on his haunches as he turned back into the form that allowed him to communicate the best.

shrugging his shoulders "I thought..." he said, looking a little sheepish "do you think we should go back to the others?What about that...thing" he points "Isn't that a problem?" he looks to the rothe grazing, "and there isn't nearly enough cattle to distract it for long..." he muses.

He is not a smart man.

Strangie

2013-02-08, 07:37 PM

Wyatt

"We gotta bail," Wyatt whispers to the supposed druid. "Two of us ain't gonna kill 'dat thing AND handle whatshisface 'dere. I'm a scout, not a fighter. Let's go back and warn Joh and the others. Hope 'dey haven't choked to death yet on 'dis crap. If we can find the source of 'dat and shut it off, maybe it'd help 'em out. Let's get outta here."

BelGareth

2013-02-10, 01:12 AM

Kal resh nods silently, not wanting to ostracize himself even more from the group that he owed his life to.

He swiftly changed into the bird and waited for the little hin to climb on top, waiting a few moments then to make sure the cavern was silent before he took of into the air, flapping his wings to gain altitude.

As he left, his eyes were on the water making sure nothing was following them, or at least trying and hoping.

mshady

2013-02-10, 11:34 PM

Kel-resh and Wyatt

The two take flight and head back into the tunnels. In the darkness, it is difficult for either to see for even with their limited ability to see in the dark, their vision is limited only to the range of their ability. Deciding to circle the lake, they find a settlement of some huts and a few humanoids roaming around. What they are is hard to tell, but they appear to be the size of a normal humanoid.

They also encounter three more herds of rothe around the lake.

The pair finish their circle, and no one below seems the wiser. Whether that was the case or not, is hard to tell, but at least no one shot at them. The lake itself must be several miles long before exiting into four seperate rivers that flow outward. There is no obvious source for the water however. Perhaps it was fed by some massive spring? Perhaps this place was some sort of dwarven resevoir that had fed a portion of the Delzoun Empire?

They finally sweep past the old fortress and the chain drawn the river. The place looks like it has saw better days, a thousand years or so ago. There is little more than an old foot print of it remaining.

The long flight back to the barges is numbing in its sameness. The water below is oily and black, and both Wyatt and Kal-resh get a headache. They feel a weakness in their muscles and their hearts pound to compensate for the lack of air.

By the time Kal-resh gets close to the barges, he is wavering in the air. He calls out with a screach to warn the others of his return. Taking off from a barge is much easier than landing on one though, and his first pass on it is badly off. He nearly splashes down into the water instead. Turning in the narrow tunnels proves a tricky maneuver that he only barely executes, for he feels his feathers brush the wall as he goes. His second pass is much better, however.

Instead, he crashes on to the deck of the first barge and rolls. Wyatt tumbles off with a yelp but manages to avoid any damage. Kal-resh's roll is not so elegant, and he crunches into the side of the barge. The impact is enough to jostle him badly.

Kal-resh takes 5 HP of sub dual damage from his landing.

BelGareth

2013-02-11, 02:45 AM

Seeing the barges after what seemed an eternity of darkness, Kal-resh sighed, the air was getting much thinner and the thick black stuff on the water was making his head shake, even more so as he exerted himself with the little one on his back.

Couldn't stop though, had to keep going on, they need his help, and he was indebted to them.

His first landing attempt almost pitched them both in the water/stuff, wheeling with all his might he barely kept them from slamming into the wall and with a small squawk turned and tried again, this time he was lined up more with the ships axis and the landing actually happened.

And by landing, smashing into the cabin in the aft of the ship sufficed as such. Shifting back to his humanoid appearance, Kal-resh grinned and flexed his back as he stood.

"Damned cabin, came out of no where." he said with a little bit of chagrin mixed with humility.

He turned to wyatt making sure the halfling was ok, seemingly so, he was a little more capable of avoiding things than Kal was...

"We found a settlement around a lake up ahead...but..." he looked to Wyatt again, thinking, maybe he should let him talk, he was better at it....

Toliudar

2013-02-11, 03:07 AM

Johannes

A slightly disconnected Johannes looks up and watches a massive bird that seemed to be pooping a halfling crash into the first barge. A reptilian muscle-memory part of his brain calls his bow to hand and places an arrow at ready before a memo from further up the chain of command causes the bow to lower again. Ah. Wyatt and that nice polysyllable-enabled orc/bird were back. Back and shouting something about a settlement ahead. Which was good news, because no one establishes a riverside settlement next to a pocket of poison gas. Well. Ghouls. Kuo-toa, perhaps. But still. Unless this pocket of gas thing was new, and the settlement were already dead, it meant that the end was near.

Sluggishly, Johannes nodded his sort-of-understanding of Kal Resh's report. He turned to Wyatt, hoping for more specific details, and leaned on his bow for support.

"Right then. Mell wet. What's ahead?"

Strangie

2013-02-11, 11:09 PM

Wyatt

Wyatt jumped off of Kal-Resh when he crashed landed, anticipating it, and rolled across the ground. Deftly, he planted both hands on the ground midroll, flipping his body forward and landing on his feet. Not a scratch.

He shook his head, dusting himself off, then looked up at Johannes with his customary two-fingered salute. "Boy, have I a story to tell. The good news is 'dat 'dis crappy air stops eventually. The bad news is 'dere's some tentacled monstrosity in the water, and some weird guy who calls it to the surface with a rothe herd. The thing is like... four tentacles, and three red eyes... and 'dis tiny little mouth."

He makes a gesture with his hands to describe all of this, which makes it sort of look like he is flailing around to anybody who might be watching but not listening. "And it was covered in 'dis muck-like stuff. The thing ain't winnin' any beauty contests, 'dat's for damn sure. The little 'keeper' man spoke Undercommon, I think, which I don't know anything of. The thought of obliterating him came to mind, but 'den fightin' 'DAT thing was completely out of the question so we bailed. Damn thing picked up a rothe and...!" He raises one hand into the air, before balling it into a fist and slamming it into his other open palm. "Smash! Over and over again. And 'den it kinda just licked at its brains and ate it," he finished with a shrug.

"And 'dat's about all 'dere is to it. Oh! Wait. I found a symbol of Marthammor Duin in the ground by the settlement. So it had to have been used by dwarves at some point, but it looked abandoned except for, well, you know..."

He shook his head again, and sighed. "Boy, I feel like crap already. What about you? What'd I miss, if anything? Hopefully nothing. Right?"

Toliudar

2013-02-12, 12:01 AM

Johannes rubs his forehead. Blast it. It was getting harder to think clearly.

"Well done. Both of you. And that's...good news about the air. Says something about the day we're having that a tentacled brain-licking horror in the water ranks about fifth on the 'crappy things to happen to us' list. Deal with that when we get through this."

He leans in close to complete the conversation.

"Black Company got greedy and has renegotiated their share of the loot. For all I know, they'll try to kill us and take everything when we get clear."

He gives a 'what are you gonna do?' shrug that suggests that Wyatt shouldn't act on this.

Strangie

2013-02-12, 09:05 PM

Wyatt

Wyatt stares at Johannes for a moment, before looking down, and then facepalming for a moment, before looking back up at him and shrugging. "Yeah. Real bind we're in here. Do you know what 'dat thing might be? You're a smart guy - if you don't, someone around here's gotta be familiar with otherworldly, ugly-ass creatures."

Toliudar

2013-02-12, 11:56 PM

Johannes

Johannes nodded slowly at Wyatt's prompting, trying to clear his head.

"Four tentacles. Three eyes. Tiny mouth. Lessee."

Mike, I don't know if that's enough to go on, but if so: Knowledge Dungeoneering [roll0]

mshady

2013-02-13, 12:27 AM

OOC: It's a pretty good description.

There are not too many fish running around the Underdark with tentacles. He would know that there are Aboleth in the Underdark. Or were. From the lore he knows, they would enslave races and had cities at the bottom of large underground lakes. Their religion, philosophy, structure, any of that. They are players, but ones best avoided. As far as Johannes knows, no dwarves have really encountered them since the time of the Delzoun Empire and so on. Any lore he is aware of was passed down through drow and duervar. Aboleth were best left alone. In dwarf lore, they are considered as dangerous as phaerimm but no one had made them disappear either.

The reason why so little is known about them is because they are mainly limited to the Lower Underdark, and this is the Upper Underdark.

It occurs to Johannes that aboleth here would stop anyone sailing up the river. One way or the other, the Aurilites had to have managed that issue.

mshady

2013-02-15, 09:30 AM

OOC: Is anyone interested in running Arcanii Buna is the other thread?

mshady

2013-02-15, 09:36 AM

Elemental Idea

With the burbling and hissing sound coming from the water, they figure they must be close to the source of the gas. Or at least A source of it. The group is now plague with headaches and lack of concentration, and several of the bigger humanoids like the ogres and minotaurs have simply passed out on the other barge at this point. That the more monstrous humanoids have tore apart the minotaurs in their weakness is testament to how they have been impacted as well.

"Dwarfs!" Weedle calls out. "I perhaps have an idea for this. Two, actually. We can pull into one of the spurs off this river and ignite the gas, but there might be so little air in here that not enough will return to help us. In which case we die, but it is a chance. I prefer not this option, but it is one all the same" he says and pauses.

"Or, I can summon an Air Elemental and the air from it could sustain us if we keep the barges close and simply drift. It will require a sacrifice of some of your share of the treasure, however. Consider it a fee for service on my part that it does not come out of ours as the elemental must be appeased in certain ways. Time is not something we have right now, so please, decide quickly"

Toliudar

2013-02-15, 11:18 AM

Johannes

"Aboleths. Great."

Weedle's suggestion, along with his attempt to, well, wheedle more money out of the dwarves than they had just extorted less than an hour ago, finally got on Johannes' last nerve.

"Wheedle, try your summoning if you think it'll help, but you're doing it on your own dime. If you charge extra every time we want a bit of magic, what the hell are we paying you for in the first place?"

Gryndel

2013-02-15, 08:02 PM

Magnum
Shrugging once at Nega's groggy inquiry, Magnum grunted and clapped her on the shoulder, "Ye didnae miss much, nothin' important certainly. Try ta get some rest, I get da feelin' we'll be needin' yer special services 'ere long, First Mace."

More than a bit groggy himself from the air of limited breathability, the Alaghor tried hard to concentrate on the present. Past glories aside, he felt less than fully helpful in their current situation, and the inability to think clearly caused more than his usual delay in response to potential dangers.

However, when the scouts returned, their report seemed to focus his attention, albeit briefly. He was glad Johannes knew a good bit about creatures of the underdark, as he'd have likely never figured out the next challenge from the description alone. He nodded to the diplomatic dwarf and bellowed out boisterously "Aboleth huh, an' some tender of rothe feedin it eh? Well, dat be a serious threat indead. But we've already faced down more serious foes o'late, so not ta worry overmuch. Grand job o'scoutin, an' wise ye were ta return instead o' tryin ta defeat it by yerselves."

Magnum fell silent when Weedle spoke out, stepping closer to Johannes and nodding once in determination at the response given as he addressed Weedle, "Aye, yer in dis just as deep as we. It'd be best if'n we all work amicably, regardless o'future reward, or none o'us may ever see it ta da end. Yer claims'll go far wid da Patriarch if'n we report yer willful cooperation durin' hard challenges."

Tugging his beard briefly, the Alaghor shrugged and spoke to Johannes, "Hard choice, but da elemental seems da better choice. But I can make us highly resistant ta flames, by da grace o'Clangeddin, if burnin' da gas be chosen."

Gryndel

2013-02-15, 08:03 PM

OOC: Is anyone interested in running Arcanii Buna is the other thread?

Normally I'd say aye, though I'm not sure I have time to do the job justice right now.

Strangie

2013-02-16, 12:28 PM

Wyatt

"I knew comin' back was the right choice... ... almost." He turns his head and looks over at Wheedle. "Tch... well, if we're all dead, I suppose the treasure sinks with the ship, eh? Come on, get it goin' 'den, summon your elemental, if you plan on not letting that happen."

He turned away, looking toward the front end of the barge line, holding his forehead and wincing. "Ugh... I freakin' HATE 'dis place..."

mshady

2013-02-18, 01:12 AM

The Barges

Weedle audibly sighs and shakes his head.

"No, simple dwarf. What I am doing requires an offering be made. To be fair, I will take the gems from both of our shares. Now, please come over here Johannes and bring the other one you call Eoin. Both of you seem versed in the arcane, and I cannot afford the time. I'll be attempting a binding spell"

A minute later, the two barges thump back together and this time are lashed together. The one in the rear, with the surviving slaves, is added to it as well.

As quickly as their decreased energy allows, the center of the barge is cleared up to allow room for the spell. The wood planking at the bottom of the plank is quickly etched into the bottom of it, as well as a 5 pointed pentagram in the center. Weedle carefully fills those lines with a silver powder, than deeply cuts his hand with a knife. Blood dribbles from the wound as he drips the blood into the pentagram. Finally, he has Eoin go over both with his Eldrict power and he melts the silver. It creates the thinnest of lines, but he says it is enough. Inside, he places as much as a 2000 gp in various small gems for the summoning.

With the circle created, he casts an actual Magic Circle spell to create the summoning trap. A opaque blue dome of energy suddenly appears, and Weedle declares the spell ready. He smears blood on to both of his hands, and begins an incantation. The language sounds unearthly, and it is hard to see how he could even vocalize such words without arcane assistance.

The spell he calls for next after the binding spell is one that creates a powerful gust of wind directed right into the pulsing summoning circle. It takes a moment, but a wild spirit of air arrives suddenly with "whoosh" sound. The gems are immediately sucked into the vortex of the elemental, and a refreshing breeze pours out of the elemental.

Not waiting long, Weedle immediately hits the thing with an anchoring spell to make sure it is unable to leave this Plane unless he bids it. It only prompts the elemental to smash into the side of the spell circle several times before stopping.

Once again, Weedle speaks to itm and when he is done, and once again it tries to break free of the circle by attacking the walls of the trap. Unable to break free, it settles down and simply... sits there placidly.

"Well, that was not too hard" Weedle smiles thinly. Clearly, the mage is taxed from his efforts and sweating heavily. "The elemental can stay with us for several days, if need be, but we will continue to have to make offers to it. In the meantime, I suggest you get close to it and breath deeply."

Strangie

2013-02-18, 06:29 PM

Wyatt

"Hopefully we won't need it for too long. I'd rather be a few coins short 'dan be rich and dead."

He rubs his hands together, thinking. "Now 'dat we've got 'dis under control, now we just gotta figure out how to deal with the next challenge ahead of us..." He turned toward Johannes and Magnum, the two he, at least in his mind, were in charge of this whole thing.

Toliudar

2013-02-19, 05:13 AM

Johannes

Without further comment, Johannes does indeed go to help in creating the binding circle. It was only his second time in doing so, but he was relieved to see it go well. He noted well the terms of the agreement with the elemental, and took a deep breath once it settled down. Ah. Now he could think. Turning, he raised his head and began to work at getting the others mobilized.

"All right! Every barge, organize into half contingents. Tie them all together. Half of you come line up to walk past Old Windy here, half stay behind to keep us moving. Switch once all of the contingent are back on your barge. Let's move it, folks!"

Gryndel

2013-02-19, 07:01 AM

Magnum
Never satisfied or trusting of such summoned spirits, though he himself was capable of similar feats, Magnum watched the summoning process suspiciously. He stood ready to deal with the elemental if it broke loose of the control imposed by the mercenary arcanist. Even after it appeared well under command, he remained ready to send it back from wence it originated.

Nodding once to show his support and approval of Johannes' commands, Magnum turned to wink at Wyatt. He breathed deeply in the fresh air provided in the proximity of the air elemental and granted Weedle a grudging grin, currently concluding that this wayward wizard of the mercenaries remained an ally - at least as long as he was promised pay on which he could count.

Magnum bellowed out supportively in his best baritone, "Well done all! Now we may yet reach dis watery horror o'da underdark in some health, ta deal it death if need be. Our way be clear, our hearts be brave, we'll yet reach solace, I swear by the silvery beard o'mighty Clangeddin!"

He then began to hum a battle hymn, his deep tone reverberating confidently to instill some sense of positive feeling to all.

BelGareth

2013-02-20, 01:06 PM

Kal-Resh watches as they discuss the abomination, and is surprised that one of the dwarves know it by description alone.

Trying to be as useful as possible, he attempts to stay out of everyone's way as they form a magical circle and summon a creature of pure air to aid them all in breathing, the acrid water below displacing what little air they had. He felt a little sick himself, but he knew he could stomach it, and he did indeed sigh a sigh of relief when he passed by the summoned elemental as its lifeblood washed over him filling his lungs with the sweet nectar of fresh air.

He crouched back and watched as others passed by the elemental, observing the faces and reactions of the life giving air. It seemed to have worked and the general mood from the flotilla seemed to be elevated for the time being. He wandered how long that would be until they reached the waters of the abomination that he saw. He would be safe, he could fly away from the things tentacles, away from its gigantic crushing strength, but not everyone could fly, and he knew people were going to die...

mshady

2013-02-22, 02:24 AM

Down the River and to the Lake...

With the air elemental sustaining them and the barges lashed together as closely as possible, the three remaining barges drift down the river. Their collective mass makes it nearly impossible to row the barges. The best they can do is to use poles to keep the barges from hitting the walls of the tunnel. They are only mostly successful at that, banging noisily against them several times when they are caught in a current. The noise and scrapping is quite loud, but not nearly as loud as the cursing; particularly from Magnum.

The trip down the river that took Kal-resh and Wyatt a few hours took the barges the better part of a day. “Ole Windy”, as he was dubbed, stood in his circle during that time and air from the elemental kept them alive. Weedle occasionally tosses more gems into the summoning circle, carefully sneaking them out of the Patriarchate’s share when he thinks no one is looking.
In several places, they see the river bubbling and in some cases, quite vigorously as gas pockets bleed out thanks to the destruction wrought by the presumably successful Stoneburner. There is no word from their companions in the other party. Whatever happened, and if any of them survived, remains a complete mystery. Johannes holds on to the gem that Buehler gave him to signal they were all clear but the signal simply does not come. Perhaps the others had escaped, but Buehler had not? If not, it did not seem that his loss was going to be particularly mourned by Johannes, Magnum or Nega.

Talamir flits between the barges, as if he was a man who could not decide what group he belonged to. Eoin leaves the front barge, and joins his two companions from the Wayward Sons. Wyatt joins them, as they all talk quietly of other days in the darkness. Prince Tasster and his three sons, all feeling much better, join the front barge. Magnum enjoys their company as he exchanges stories with each other, most of which might even be true.
For his part, Kal-resh decides to stay on the first barge. Fitting in is not easy, for he could sustain a dirty look from Magnum but Prince Tasster of the Tethyamar was another matter entirely. The heavily muscled had a violent disposition, even for someone who hunted down fiends for his life’s work. Still though, strength respects strength and soon Kal-resh joins in the sharing. Tasster finds the wild druid’s ability to shift into animal form to be immensely interesting.

Eventually, they come to an end of the river and none too soon. There is a small quay by the crumbled old fortress that guards the entrance into a massive underground lake. It would have been hard to move further into the lake regardless, a very chain has been drawn across the river. The links of the chain, each as thick as Magnum’s arm, and made of mithril, meaning that chain was probably forged by the Delzoun. It is hard to tell at first, with all of the slime and muck growing on it, but mithril it is. It even has the forgemark of the Delzoun on it, removing any doubt. Away from the gas though, they still do not strike a torch to avoid drawing attention from whomever lived on the shores and below the water.

On shore, they care look around now. The old fortress is on an isolated finger though, with only a very narrow and treacherous path to the shore on the right.

After further reflection, Johannes reminds everyone to be careful of the aboleth and that they are known to enslave others. What they are walking into here was perhaps the most dangerous part of their journey. While it was possible to get to either bank, getting past the river was still going to require the barges to get to the end of the river and out from under the mountains.

They just had to get across the lake first. At a guess, it is about 10 miles wide. It is hard to tell, but at least there is some illumination down here from some of the exotic plant life down here. Distantly, they hear the occasional braying of rothe to at least confirm that something was, indeed, alive down here.

Unfortunately, not everyone heeded Johannes’ words. Magnum and Kal-resh notice a young human boy standing on the shoreline facing the lake. He is skipping stones into the water…

mshady

2013-02-23, 11:26 PM

OOC DM Note: Let's all pause for just a moment. I would like to ask everyone still on the thread what they would like to do? What would get you jazzed up right now? I would like to get this thread hopping now that we are here. Do you just want to move forward quicker, a little potentially lethal excitement, dancing girls? What would it be? I didn't get this far to have things wither off at the end, so let me know :)

Toliudar

2013-02-24, 01:39 AM

Dancing girls are an option? Woot!

My challenge with this segment has been to try to keep all the various personalities straight, with so many people (and more coming and going all the time). Especially since everyone seems to hate everyone, or be out to screw each other.

I'm sympathetic. It's hard to come up with things that are challenges for a hundred people, and also engage each of half a dozen PC's in a meaningful way. That's one reason why Gryndel's idea for an advance team was a good one, but I think I inadvertently screwed it up. It's hard to justify having half a dozen of the hundred-odd refugees - including their nominal leader - set out apart from the rest, though.

I'll keep working with the scenario to the best of my ability, of course, and I'm open to other suggestions.

mshady

2013-02-24, 01:41 AM

Back in Black

As the three barges are moored and every disembarks, if for no other reason at the moment to be on solid group, the group gets a moment to relax.

Unfortunately, a moment is about all they get.

Climbing out of the water, two dark figures emerge from it. They move on their hands and knees, in a low crawl. Stripped to near nakedness, their blackness provides ample cover in the dark shadows of the underground here. This is their natural environment though, so it bothers them not.

Bhineth'lyn and Drath'lyn move forward, staying low to the ground and are absolutely silent. The Elderboy waves for his junior to approach the dwarf with the feather in his hat, accompanied by the older one in the beard.

They have no weapons, but need none either. The two exchange a smile, and only their gleaming white teeth could possibly betray their presence.

Johannes and Magnum both feel a tap on their shoulders, and wheel around in surprise. They see two drow standing in front of them, and any concern they had about a child skipping stones into the lake are quickly replaced. Their hands immediately reach for their weapons, but the two drow hop backwards, quick as cats.

"Greetings, my bearded and bloated friends. Is this no way to welcome us back?" Bhineth'lyn says. "So we all finally come to the Great Lake. I saw a bird and the half man fly away and come back, but are you aware of what lurks in this lake? Something that defied even dragons, I assure you. Something we have... dealt with before, and we can help you deal with. For a price. I simply ask for my swords back, and after that I am at your service in this"

Toliudar

2013-02-24, 02:10 AM

Johannes

Johannes was getting very, very tired of people being able to simply grab him, poke at him, and sneak up on him. He would have to do something about this in the future.

"Ah, welcome! And congratulations on swimming through an extensive patch of poisoned air. It's useful to know that that black stuff doesn't in fact have any ill effects. Well, in order to consider your kind offer, I'd like to gather the advice of several colleagues. Magnum, entertain these gentlemen here for a moment, please."

Bowing slightly, Johannes takes his leave from the drow and beckons Eoin, Wyatt, Nega, and Kal-Resh into the conversation with them.

"Now then, gentlemen, I think your terms are likely to be acceptable."

He reaches towards his pack, but instead ends up snatching up his bow and firing a pair of arrows in rapid succession at Bhineth'lyn's head.

Johannes auto-succeeds on a bluff check to let the others know the simple message 'Get ready to kill these two.'

Reasoning: this is a drow who has threatened them twice, tried to extort benefits twice, ran away from an actual fight with the dragons, and has proven his ability to slip away unnoticed if given the chance. Plus, Johannes has explicit orders to kill the brothers. So...might as well do it. Worst case scenario, one of the clerics can memorize speak with dead and get the answers that Bhineth'lyn would probably have lied about anyway.

So...Knowledge devotion [roll0], using an inspiration point boost his knowledge check. This will add 2 to all of following attack and damage rolls.

Using Cunning Surge on his surprise round to get a second shot off at Bhinethlyn. Both arrows are Dragonsbreath. Crystal of least return means he can draw as a free action.

Arrow 1 attack [roll1] vs flatfooted AC. Piercing Damage: [roll2], Acid damage: [roll3], Fire damage 1, he makes a DC 15 reflex save or catches fire.

Arrow 2 attack [roll4] vs flatfooted AC. Piercing Damage: [roll5], Acid damage: [roll6], Fire damage 1, he makes a DC 15 reflex save or catches fire.

And then...initiative: [roll7]

Edit: Wow. That's some spectacularly bad rolling!

BelGareth

2013-02-24, 03:44 AM

Kal-Resh watches and then joins in on the sharing as they went down stream, almost forgetting about the location and situation that they were in. It was good to have people look and listen to you like you were not below them. He was used to be looked upon like an animal, for he truly thought he was, so sometimes his disposition confused people as they were obviously thinking adverse thoughts about him and he approaches them with a smile....

Not today though, he was among...friends? Truly? He thought quickly, he wasn't sure, he had friends in the forest, Kjalerigh the Buck and Fang the Wolf, but they were more like hunting partners, and not apt to repay the complexities of social interaction...he mentally sighed, forcing him to not over think the situation and create a fantasy that would be inevitably crushed like so many times before.

He, crept up on the edge of the barge and watched as they navigated close to the great metal chain, they seemed to have great interest, calling it meythrail, or some such, he thought he had heard it before, but he cared not, the bounty of the earth was the dwarves and not his. He continued to watch as they disembarked, seeing the myriad of the crew walk down and hearing Johannes warning regarding the Abbo-Lath.

And then he saw the young man picking up a rock to skip across the water, but was interupted by Johannes with a sutble gesture to be ready to kill the Drow.

Drow? he thought suddenly, turning he saw the two dark skinned elven men standing near where Johanne was returning to. He nodded, if asked he would help them, he owed them a great deal more. He owed them his life.

Seeing the Dwarf fly into action a grin spread across his face instinctively, this was what he lived for, slipping his skin with but a thought he shifted into the large hunting cat, his skin now a dark black fur, eyes bright yellow and claws retracting from his hands and feet.

[roll0]

Swift: Change into Ferocious slayer form
Move: Move up to 40ft towards Bhineth'lyn to be adjacent to him. Will land opposite him for flank after strike.
Standard: Initiate Death from Above, DC 20 Jump (Auto succeed with +31) check to gain +4d6 and target be flat footed vs attack.
[roll1]
[roll2] + [roll3]
If hit, target must Fort save vs DC 22 or be knocked back 5ft from Tiger Blooded (http://dndtools.eu/feats/tome-of-battle-the-book-of-nine-swords--88/tiger-blooded--2924/)

Current Status
HP: 63/63
Size: Large
AC: 20 (+3 Dex +8 Nat -1 Size), Touch: 12
Saves: +13 Fort, +5 Ref, +6 Will
Stance: Leaping Dragon Stance
Ferocious Slayer Form:
Bite attack 1d8
2 Claw Attacks 1d8
+1 size category
+8 Enhancement bonus to Str
+4 Enhancement bonus to Fort saves
+8 Nat armor
Base land speed 40ft
Improved Critical (Bite & Claw) feat(s)

Apologies for the slow post, I've been pretty busy with school recently, should be over in a week or so though.

Strangie

2013-02-24, 10:17 AM

Wyatt

Wyatt jogged over at Joh's request. He already knew - he didn't like this particular drow very much anyway.

When Johannes drew his bow, his jog turns into a run and he dashed forward, whirling his new kukri around his wrist, catching it by the handle. "I didn't think you'd like the terms 'dough. Lemme turn 'dat frown upside down by CUTTIN' A SMILE INTO YA!"

Attack
Initiative: [roll0]

Attack vs. Bhineth'lyn: [roll1] vs. flatfooted target?
Damage: [roll2]
Skirmish: [roll3]

Crit check, if applicable: [roll4]
Crit damage: [roll5]

End the turn adjacent to him, probably behind him, to set up a flank for whoever might come after him next.

AC: 34 (Flat 34, Touch 24)
HP: 56/56
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +13, Will +8

Toliudar

2013-02-24, 04:17 PM

Johannes continued

It occurs to me that it would be quite reasonable to assume that there is no surprise round, because everyone's aware of everyone else. If that's the case, Johannes' full attack with cunning surge and rapid shot would look something like this (now factoring in knowledge devotion):

Initiative: 14

Regular first attack: [roll0] Piercing Damage: [roll1] Acid damage: [roll2] Fire damage: 1 and make a DC 15 reflex save or catch fire.

Additional shot from rapid shot: [roll3] Piercing Damage: [roll4] Acid damage: [roll5] Fire damage: 1 and make a DC 15 reflex save or catch fire.

Iterative attack: [roll6] Piercing Damage: [roll7] Acid damage: [roll8] Fire damage: 1 and make a DC 15 reflex save or catch fire.

Additional shot from Cunning Surge: [roll9] Piercing Damage: [roll10] Acid damage: [roll11] Fire damage: 1 and make a DC 15 reflex save or catch fire.

mshady

2013-02-27, 12:08 AM

Down

Johannes, Wyatt and Kal-resh attack suddenly, catching the drow by surprise. Johanness’ barrage of arrows catch the unarmored drow in the chest and send him staggering backwards. Wyatt and Kal-resh press the attack, cutting him open badly in several places. As they strike, he screams out in pain as he is sent backwards. He pitches over backwards, clutching his gut as blood bubbles from the wound.

The fight is over before it began, and the vaunted mercenary lays on the ground and extends his arm upwards pitifully.

“Mercy!” he calls out to them. “Spare me and I can help you!” he mutters, his voice weaker.

Blood pools around him, if left untreated these were mortal wounds.

His brother, though, had disappeared into the water and was nowhere to be seen.

Toliudar

2013-02-27, 10:55 AM

Johannes

Feeling not particularly in the mood to bargain, Johannes holds another arrow at ready.

"Talk. If your information is worth it, we will heal you."

This is not a bluff.

mshady

2013-02-28, 12:47 AM

The drow gasps for a moment, blood frothing in his mouth as he speaks. He was drowing in his own blood, but he was using his last breaths to speak now.

"There's something in the water ahead... I dealt... with it to... get the slaves across. I know how... how to contact them. There is a city of... of them...of them... of them. Can deal... can..." Bhinthe'lyn croaks out, and his eyes start to roll upwards. He still is alive, barely, but that was all Johannes was going to get out of him without assistance.

Magnum and Nega stand by and watch the scene. Nega has her mace in her hand and looks down at the drow in contempt.

"More words from drow" she scoffs. "Quick, let me kill him before he dies Johannes" she says and laughs.

Toliudar

2013-02-28, 12:59 AM

Johannesburg frowned.

"Given half a chance, he'd alert the aboleth to our presence and deliver is all in gift wrapping, if it meant he got his precious swords back. We are safer without him."

He released the tension on his bow. He had killed an unarmed man. A right bas'ard, to be sure, but still. Not one of his shining moments.

Nega's harsh words cut at him, her hatred a distorted mirror of what he felt. Aboleths. An entire city, possibly below the lake. Gods.

"Wyatt, let's have a look at that map with the group. I want to know all of our options for getting out of this place."

Strangie

2013-02-28, 07:14 AM

Wyatt

Wyatt watched Bhinthe'lyn bleed out. This man... he knew he would stop at nothing to undermine the efforts of everyone else. Who knew how many of his fellow slaves he had already done that to?

For that, he said nothing. He simply wiped the blood from his kukri, looking away, before sheathing it and looking at Johannes. "Gotcha." He walked over towards him, pulling the map out for his comrades to see.

mshady

2013-02-28, 11:46 PM

The Map

Despite the drow's words and offer, Johannes elects to let the drow bleed to death on the cold stone floor. The drow had already known far too much about what was here, and the chance that he could turn it to his advantage against them at some point seemed high. This place was dangerous enough already, without having to worry about that.

Of course, every danger that Johannes was worried about with Bhineth'lyn also applied to the brother Drath'lyn, who had disappeared back into the water. At least he would not be doubled crossed now. A more direct approach was no doubt asssured.

So Johanness and Wyatt take a look at the map, while the others gather around. The imposing Magnum looks over their shoulder at the map as well.

From what they could tell, this was a large lake but remarkably square. Of course, there was no way to tell what was underneath it, but they did know they were surronded by solid walls of stone now. Midway up the lake on either side, two other rivers break off in near perfect symetry. On the far end of the lake is another river, heading south. The one heading south was the one they were looking for, the one out of the mountains and to safety. There are several caves though, on the right hand side. There was no way to tell where they went though, they were too far away, and however magnificent this map was, there was no way to tell where it ended up.

The one to the left, for all Johannes knew it went nowhere but deeper under the mountains and that meant deeper into Aurilite territory. The one to the right, if it came out anywhere at all, would probably come out near the ocean. Which was freezing and chock full of ice. Would it be good enough to just hole up somewhere and hope someone from the Patriarchate found them and rescued them? To the right person, they would be easiest enough to find, but he doubted they would gate not just them out and the mercenaries, but all the civilians they had not left to try for the surface.

He wondered how that had worked out for them.

What he did know was that there was no way across the river, in 3 heavily laden barges, without something under the surface knowing about them. Maybe one monster, they could deal with. A city of them? If that was true, they seemed already dead regardless. If they could get across quickly in the barges to one of the shores, they could probably walk in relative safety.

The options would seem to be try to go across the lake, head for the shore and hope for the best, or try to get the Aboleth's attention and try to negotiate with it... and hope it didn't slam them all into rocks and lick out their brains, and that would seem a generous fate. They were known for their cruel slavery too.

Toliudar

2013-03-01, 12:43 AM

Johannes glanced around at those who had stood with him against the drow, implicitly suggesting that they were in this together.

"Suggestions, gentlemen and madam?"

While they pondered what to do, Johannes arranged with the other survivors to get the barges unloaded and the gear moved up away from the water.

"I want everybody at least fifty feet back from the water. Buddy up. We're facing a possible mind controller and master of illusions. If your buddy starts to do something weird, or you see anything unusual, give a shout. Four pairs of guards watching the water at all times."

Back with his, for lack of a better term, confidantes, Johannes pointed to the cave systems on the map.

"The waterways have proven pretty lethal. If there's a single aboleth down there, it's bad news for us. If there are twenty, we're dead if we stay on the water.

"My instinct is to take the right side passage, taking only what we can carry, and get out into the open. It'll be cold, but we get back control of our destiny. What do you think?"

mshady

2013-03-01, 12:54 AM

Nega

"I hate water" Nega scoffs, giving the lake the foulest of looks, "...but you know nothing of the Underdark, Johannes. Most caves are dead ends, collapsed and full of danger. No guarantee they go anywhere at all, or anywhere we need to go. We could wander around till we die or starve, certainly run out of water. Assuming dis city of bad fish did not guard the only dry entrance to its territory and nay has vassals"

Toliudar

2013-03-01, 01:35 AM

Johannes hefted an eyebrow with a faint smile. How well did Nega think that she know him? Fascinating. He responded to Nega first in the trade tongue of the Underdark, and then in the dwarf tongue if she doesn't seem to understand.

"As always, First Mace, you are as succinct as you are diplomatic. What is it that you recommend that we do, madam?"

mshady

2013-03-01, 02:53 AM

Nega and Magnum

Nega listens to Johannes speak in Undercommon, and shakes her head as he repeats his statement in the language of the dwarves.

"You speak the mating language of duergar, drow and filth. You're still just a cunning linguist. How many years have you spent down here?" she says, raising her eyebrow at him.

"I saw we call out this ***-leth and we kill it. Think its the dinner bell, than I serve it this.." she says, thumping her heavy mace in her hand. "Magnum and I can kill it. We take Tasster and his welps and we kill it. That tis what I'd like to do. We just killed dragons. This just be a fish" she scoffs, clearly disrespecting the threat.

"What makes you think it will be that easy?" Magnum asks her. "We may draw it out, even wound it, but there may be others. They just have to wait for us to try our barges and attack us there. The thing does not sound like a stupid foe. Take the barges, try the passages for a couple days. If we smell no fresh air, we turn back and try our luck"

A little ways away, Tasster and his sons sit and clean their weapons. The deadly quartet, now seemingly healed, do appear ready for a fight.

Toliudar

2013-03-01, 10:04 AM

Johannes

Again, the urbane beardless dwarf shrugs at Nega's imprecations, the feather of his hat somehow undamaged by falling rocks and dragon assault.

"I take it from your tone, Nega, that you have spent years down here. And yet you have neither bothered to learn the language nor the capabilities of the inhabitants. Killing one aboleth is by no means a certain thing. They are masters of deception, and this is their home. How many times have you swung that thing under a hundred feet of water, First Mace? If there is a city of them below the lake, this is most decidedly a place I don't want to wander around for several days."

He turns to look at the others, soliciting their opinions.

Strangie

2013-03-01, 06:19 PM

Wyatt

"Boy, it's a damn good thing I decided to bail on 'dat damn aboleth from alla 'dis. The shapechanger and I only saw the one, and 'dat weird little man on the shore, but I couldn't tell ya anythin' else. I'd rather avoid any more fighting for the rest of 'dis trip if at all possible."

He shakes his head and sighs, pulling out his kukri and running his hand along the flat as he looks at the lethal blade. "At least I know 'dis works correctly. Looks like the drow -was- good for somethin' after all."

Gryndel

2013-03-01, 09:01 PM

OOC Sorry for my absense folks, and thanks Mike for keeping Magnum in the loop in grand fashion! Sadly I missed that chance now, but he woulda loved a shot or three at the dirty drow that escaped, if nothing more than some bloody satisfaction. I'm considering breaking those swords, just to advance the "revenge" motive a bit... mwuahahahahahaah!

First, a bit of retro posting for the role playing and character development department…

Magnum

The war priest enjoyed the developing camaraderie amongst his fellow river voyagers. He was beginning to like the barbaric druid in many ways, and felt they could eventually develop a lasting friendship. He seemed fierce enough, and had already proven versatile enough to serve well as a battle ready scout in most situations. If their time ahead promised anything, it was unknowable days in the wilderness, and Kal-Resh would likely prove irreplaceable in such situations as they might face.

Magnum laughed a little too loudly at some of the stories, and shared a few of his own. Truth lay at the core of all his tales, but the performer in him couldn’t resist a little embellishment to lighten the spirits of those who enjoyed a grand war story now and then to bolster spirits of the warrior he believed resided in all living beings.

Grunting grumpily, he nodded at the First Mace’s suggestion, yet he stood with arms crossed resolutely as he waited to see who might disagree with his suggestion. He flashed Tasster and Nega a knowing wink, one bushy eyebrow raised to indicate he was never above a fight himself, but knew some here were certainly not up to a battle with an unknown number of the dangerous Aboleths.

mshady

2013-03-01, 11:30 PM

Toliudar

2013-03-02, 07:23 AM

Johannes

Johannes looks fondly over at Wyatt.

"Indeed, your scouting with Kal-Resh may have saved all of us."

Johannes shook his head at Nega's comment, wondering if the wings on the helmet were pressing on her skull.

"All right. Since Nega assures me that she is capable of killing everything that might try to eat or enslave us, that simplifies matters significantly."

He turned to Kal-Resh and Wyatt.

"The sound of four barges and a bunch of farting dwarves has no doubt announced our presence to all and sundry. Perhaps Kal-Resh can lead us back to the point where he and Wyatt spotted that person, and we can try to get a local's perspective."

He glanced around, clearly seeking feedback, and looked over to make sure that the other survivors were indeed grounding the barges, transferring loot and supplies up onto land, and establishing four pairs on watch.

Gryndel

2013-03-02, 09:45 AM

Magnm

With a shrug and a wink at Johannes, the Alaghor replied casually to Nega, "Dar be ways o'movin freely underwater if needed, even wieldin' a mace. But lets just see what our diplomat'n scouts can learn prior ta violence."

Mumbling dwarvish words of prayer, a dark brown glow passes over Magnum's eyes as he concentrates on looking around, including into the water and above them.

OOC cast Detect Evil

BelGareth

2013-03-06, 12:24 AM

Kal-Resh watches stoically as the Drow is left to bleed out before them, it wasn't the first time he had seen death, and blood and gore were never far from his duties. He considered it a part of life, the cycle of things, and sometimes he was used to usher people closer to one part of the cycle.

He then stands back and watches the argument between the two dwarfs, slightly confused. Weren't all dwarves on the same side? Why were these two arguing with each other?

Turning to Johannes, Kal-resh nods at the question in regards to finding the same area as before, they were in the same lake, so it wouldn't be further than a fly around.

He looks to Wyatt "Care to join me, or should I go it alone this time?"

Once Wyatt replies, he quickly shifts into the large bird as before and takes off, flying to the ceiling and then sets out to see if he can find the same place as before.

Toliudar

2013-03-06, 01:08 AM

Johannes

"Oh, I'm coming with you. We're going to try to make some new friends. Our old ones keep trying to kill or extort us."

I'm not really clear on whether we need to cross water to get to the point where they saw the man on the scouting mission. If not, Johannes (along with any other volunteers) will simply walk over.

If they do need to loop over water and Kal-Resh can carry him, Johannes will simply hold on, then wait for Kal-Resh to ferry any others over who want to come.

If Kal-Resh can't carry him (Johannes & gear is about 120 pounds), Johannes will use alter self to become an Avariel to fly there himself - or to help Kal-Resh carry any others over that want to join them.

mshady

2013-03-07, 12:36 AM

DM Note: I will try to draw a map maybe, when I have some time. Basically, the lake is rectangular. You have two wide shores that are dotted with ruins and such. Possible signs of recent activity. To the right and left of you, though, are two sheer rock walls. The only way to get to the shore is to ride Kal-resh air or take a barge, as your location is not connected to the shores. You are forced to cut across the water.

As a defensive strategy, it would have forced anyone who took the fort to deal with the old chain, than cross the resevoir again to get to either shore. During that trip across the water, figure 15 to 30 min if the barges are rowed, they would be exposed to shore fire and such.

Oddly enough, this is still a very good defensive strategy for someone who controls the resevoir anyways.

mshady

2013-03-07, 12:41 AM

Friendly Skies

This time, Kal-resh flies with Johannes. They take off and climb as high above the water as they can, without risking a collision with the rocky outcroppings of the ceiling.

It does not take Kal-resh long to spot where he saw the aboleth kill the rothe and disappear, or the herds and their shepherd's hut. As he glides silently over the shoreline, he can smell the blood.

Putting down a safe distance from the last appearance of the aboleth, Johannes and Kal-resh can see the herder's hut and the rothe in his "care".

At this point, Kal-resh can ferry over Wyatt and Magnum if he likes, along with any other NPCs.

This will be the forward team, for now. You can bring folks like Nega or Tasster and Sons. Any members of Black's Company, such as Santana but not any of the minotaurs.

Toliudar

2013-03-07, 01:18 AM

I'll hold off posting actions until we know who else is joining us. Thanks for the clarification of the two shores. I'm now confused only about our current location. We're clearly not on either shore. We've landed and left the barges. So...is there a third, smaller shore?

mshady

2013-03-07, 07:03 AM

You are on the east shore, there's no smaller shore

BelGareth

2013-03-07, 12:34 PM

Kal hops on the floor waiting for Johannes to grab a hold however he saw fit and then he flapped his large wings until he was aloft, gaining altitude fast until he saw the outcroppings of the ceiling again.

Flying just below them, he soared over the massive under ground lake, and for a moment, he was in awe of the whole thing. It always beheld him in wonder when he saw the might of nature.

His eyes quickly found the rothe herd and he wheeled slightly, banking to line up with the shore line and landing softly among the dark soft ground there, the silt from the lake making it possible.

After Johannes dropped off, he shifted back to his speaking form, crouching down to be more in line with the dwarfs height but acting more like he was staying stealthy and hiding.

Smiling he looked to Johannes "Shall I fly back and get the others? Wyatt or Magnum?, Now I know where it is, won't take me long." he said in a loud whisper. As he finishes he sniffs the air, smelling the blood in the air easily, this was the spot he knew.

Shifting stance to Hunter’s Sense and awaiting the other players response.

Toliudar

2013-03-07, 05:09 PM

Johannes makes the flight while clinging to a giant bird, clutching his hat, and prides himself on still looking like he knew what he was doing. As they flew well over the dark waters of the reservoir, he scanned for any sign of the aboleths. On landing...well back from the edge of the lake...Johannes pauses briefly to get his bearings.

"Yes, thank you, Kal. Please do go get the others. Hmmm. I believe that idiot drow said that he'd been here, and had an arrangement with the locals, right. Perhaps he might have more luck in negotiating than a surface dwarf."

As the shapeshifting Kal watches, Johannes goes through his own transformation, growing several inches, becoming even slimmer than before. His breastplate shifted, becoming chainmail in the style of Menzoberranzan. Johannes slid his pack off of his shoulder, reached in and pulled out a pair of ornate swords, one straight and one curved. Joh slid his own blade into his pack in their place, and then, thinking again, pulled out a small handful of stones, which he slid into a pocket. As he adjusted the swords on his belt, he experimented with an approximation of the haughty drow's tone.

"How do I look?"

BelGareth

2013-03-07, 05:43 PM

Kal watches with his own amazement, he had never seen a shape shifting dwarf before!

He nods after the transformation was complete, "You look like something I would kill, I would say it's a fitting disguise."

He takes off to go get the others but pauses and turns back to him, "You're going to wait for us, right?"

Strangie

2013-03-07, 06:05 PM

Wyatt

Wyatt agrees to be taken over, and when he does, raises an eyebrow at Joh's new form.

"Uh... oh. I see whatcher doin' 'dere. Very sharp. Hopefully it works."

Toliudar

2013-03-08, 12:04 PM

Johannes chuckles at Kal's analysis.

"'Would kill'? I believe 'did' is more apt. And yes, I'll definitely wait here for you. It'll give me time to figure out what we're going to say."

Wyatt's response, when he joins them, speaks volumes.

"From your lips to the ears of whatever gods care to listen. My hope is that we'll be able to negotiate a guide to get us out of here."

Toliudar

2013-03-11, 10:44 AM

Johannes

Well, if either Eoin or Magnum want to come along, we can ret-con them in later fairly easily, if Mike doesn't mind.

Johannes starts off along the shore in the direction Kal-Resh and Wyatt have indicated.

"Right. We've got a contract to get a bunch of surfacers to the nearest exit point, but it's been too long since I've been this way, and we want to hire somebody with more current information about what routes are safe. Wyatt, seem tiny and menacing, Kal-Resh...perfect. Let's go."

BelGareth

2013-03-12, 02:29 PM

Kal smiles with a silent nod and swiftly shifts into the form of the sleek Puma, blending in and almost disappearing before them, he slinks off and flanks the hit watching Johannes approach.

Strangie

2013-03-12, 05:05 PM

Wyatt

"So... don't do anything different from what I normally do. Gotcha."

He shrugs with a grin at Johannes as they walk along.

mshady

2013-03-14, 11:59 PM

Saying hello?

Wyatt, Kal-resh and a disguised Johannes head towards the hut, taking a care to avoid as much notice as possible. They come up to a hut made of stacked cobblestones, bits of scrap wood, and slate roof tiles. As rough construction goes, it is actually something of an accomplishment. Two hide stands sit out with rothe hides stretched out, a vat of foul smelling tanning solution that was probably a slurry of brains, urine and other things, and a stringer of fish. Two dozen rothe mill about near a patch of mushrooms, which were apparently what they fed upon.

Inside the hut, they can see a light through one of the window portals. A hide is stretched across the door way to allow some privacy, or at least some modesty. There is no sign of anyone else here, merely the tuneless whistling of the fellow inside the house.

Far past him is indeed a passage cut into the stone, likely a fissure that was worked by the dwarves of millenia before into a passageway. Two torches sit unlit in sconces by the entrance to it, so they could safely assume it went somewhere worth going, at least.

What to do?

OOC: Assuming Magnum IS part of this group, but hanging back for the moment. He can contribute at any time though.

Toliudar

2013-03-15, 12:12 AM

Johannes

Belatedly, it occurred to Johannes that if Bhineth'lyn had been as good at making friends here as he had with the dwarves, their reception here might actually be worse if Johannes looked like him. Subtly, he adjusted his appearance so that he was a slightly different male drow.

Glancing at his companions in a 'ready or not, here we go' way, Johannes taps lightly on the wood next to the hide 'door'. He speaks brusquely in Undercommon, in the manner of the dark elves.

"We have a business proposition for you."

Gryndel

2013-03-20, 09:26 PM

Magnum
Having nothing to contribute to any kind of negotiation situation, the Alaghor accompanied the small group and hung back, ready to react if violence broke out. Almost hoping it did, he was still willing to allow diplomacy, even in the guise of drow itimidastion, to get them through this potentially dangerous, and very likely deadly stretch of their journey.

OOC Any results of Detect Evil from the hut, or anywhere nearby?

mshady

2013-03-21, 01:15 AM

The Hut

There are sudden, startled sounds in the hut after Johannes' words, and the dwarf can hear the clink of metal from inside. Whomever was in there, it sounded like they were going for a weapon.

The hide flips up, and a gnome with a short sword stands there and squints at the assembled group. He points the sword at Johannes and the others before stammering something to himself. Seeing the drow, his eyes show no fear. Indeed, it is more of an expression of irritation.

"I don't do business. Go away!" he says, and flips the hide door shut again and returns to the interior of his hut.

Toliudar

2013-03-21, 05:33 AM

mshady

2013-03-21, 01:09 PM

OOC: It's a Svirf. Probably.

BelGareth

2013-03-21, 01:48 PM

Kal-Resh turns his head sideways at the petulent gnomes response.

Stupid gnome.

I should eat him.

His head bobbed and a feral grin splayed across his jowls as he thought.

Stupid gnome.

Gryndel

2013-03-21, 08:12 PM

Magnum

Shaking his head with a scowling expression, Magnum briefly considered engulfing the hut in a Flame Strike. Thinking that spell would serve better if they had to face any aboleth, he focuse n the gnome to see if it radiated any sign of evil.

Gripping the handle of Arctis, he rerained form drawing it... yet. He motioned for Kal-Resh to follow and moved into position to the left of the door of the hut (or at least toward that spot).

OOC Had detect evil going and asked in last post...

mshady

2013-03-25, 10:37 PM

Magnum's Detect Evil Result

Magnum does not detect anything evil looking at the hut per se, with no signs of any particularly profane banner or talismans, even if some seemed barbaric.

When the gnome showed up, he did not get an evil "vibe" off of him either. He did not detect any concealment, although he suppose it could be a good one, he doubted a rothe herder was up for that kind of thing.

mshady

2013-03-25, 10:45 PM

Johannes

Placing a hand on the scimitar at his left hip, Johannes assumes a haughty manner, with upthrust chin.

"Keep pointing that pathetic blade at me, and there will be a great many other things that you won't do. I require your service, and am willing to pay for it. You will find a business transaction far more satisfactory than the alternative.

"I have been taking a group of surfacers and others down the river. I require information on the most desirable routes out and up to the surface. We have money to pay for this information."

He pulls a few of the gems out of his pocket and holds them up to glint in the light.

"What do you say?"

Is the gnome a surface gnome or svirfneblin?

Diplomacy: [roll0]
Sense Motive: [roll1]

Gnome Business

The gnome flips open the hide curtain to hut again and sticks his head out, squinting at the drow.

"Oh, you have gems!" he says with excitement. "Oh, gems to a poor gnome like me, I could use them to buy my way to better life... or new clothes, or mmm! A real door to keep pesky underworlders and their bearded minions away!" he says and sneers.

"Do you see any stores here, you piss poor excuse for a burned elf? What am I going to do? Add them to my rock collection? I live in the Underdark, if I wanted gems, I'd go chip one off somewhere! Feed them to that fat dwarf, for all I care. Psh!

You want my help, do something useful. Something in the water's been bothering my rothe. Go make lots of noise by the shore and see if it comes out. Kill it and I'll give you a diamond the size of my testicles"

Toliudar

2013-03-25, 11:13 PM

BelGareth

2013-03-25, 11:30 PM

For his part Kal actually relishes the act.

His jumps close to the gnome, claws extended, digging deep furrows into the earth, his face drawn into a snarling mask of hatred and death.

And then he shifts into his larger more deadlier body, that of the great hunting cat; the Dire Puma, armor spouts on his shoulders, he doubles in size and his claws grow to the size of small daggers.

He is now larger than Johannes, and he attempts to make a show of the transition as best as possible.

Mechanically he shifts from Hunter form (Medium sized cat) into Ferocious slayer form (Large sized cat).

Strangie

2013-03-25, 11:51 PM

Wyatt

"Don't make 'dis any harder 'dan it has to be, pal. And no tricks. I know your type," Wyatt simply stated, keeping his kukri in hand. He kept watch of the situation and his surroundings as best he could - he knew that the gnome was trying to bait them into going after the aboleth, after the scene he had seen earlier during the scouting job.

He also had a particular distaste for gnomes. Especially this one.

mshady

2013-03-26, 12:09 AM

Johannes

Working hard to act the part of an arrogant drow, Johannes bends to sneer into the gnome's face.

"Do I look like some errand boy or fisherman, gnome? I need directions on getting out of these tunnels to the surface. I was going to be polite and offer to pay for that knowledge. But if you insist, I'm happy to have you bound, dragged along behind us and fed bit by bit to our cat here for every false turn you lead us down. It's your call."

The gnome wrinkles his nose in Johannes' direction, and does not seem very intimidated by the threat of a drow. He glances at Kal-resh, who suddenly becomes a much more fierce looking creature.

"Please. This is the Underdark. That is supposed to intimidate me?" he says, looking at the cat. "I live in the Underdark. Hardly safe. Yet I take care of myself. Don't start something you cannae finish. Go ahead and bundle me up and feed me to your shapechanger bit by bit. Funny how torture works though, the victim tells you exactly what you want to hear. You really want to trust that in these tunnels? Oh! The places we could go!" he says and snickers.

"You keep trying to buy my help, a simple rothe herder? Can I just not be interested? Who watches my rothe while I'm gone? One is pregnant, and I simply must be here for that. How about you offer me something of value to me, eh? I have no need of your gems, I tell you this, and you threaten to kidnap and torture me? Pa-shaw!"

Toliudar

2013-03-26, 12:19 AM

Johannes

Johannes seems genuinely puzzled by the gnome.

"I think you're missing the point of what I'm suggesting. The torture only happens if we have to double back. So if you're honest and give us accurate information, then we get what we want and you get to come back to feed your rothe. Everybody wins.

"But under your plan, we end up tangling with an aboleth, and you feed a friend of yours. That doesn't sound like quite so good a deal to me."

He turns to Magnum and Wyatt.

"Take him, but don't hurt him unless he does something stupid."

mshady

2013-03-26, 01:29 AM

"Take me, but I won't tell you nothing!" the gnome says, crossing his arms. "This is incredibly rude, remarkably demanding and highly, highly unusual! If I lead you out the tunnels to the surface, assuming there is a way and there may be not or there may be, what about poor me? Kill me now! Please. Spare me the walk through these tunnels alone on the way back to my poor poor rothe! I take you there, but I cannot come back. What good be your coin or gem or knives?" he takes his short sword and faces it towards his gut. "Oh, please! Please kill me here. Rather this with my poor rothe, not eaten alive in the tunnels! Oh, oh!" he says and swoons.

Any moment, he seems ready to burst into song.

Toliudar

2013-03-26, 02:09 AM

Johannes

Johannes has moved from puzzled to annoyed by this seemingly insane gnome. He'd rather die than answer a few simple questions?

Johannes clamps a hand over the gnome's mouth and drags him out of the hut so that he was surrounded by the four of them.

"Rude? You've lived here your whole life, and you find the threat of violence rude? Try growing up in a nursery where knives are distributed to all of the children before bedtime. Now. For the sake of your precious rothe, I'll try to be reasonable one more time. You describe to me the fastest route up to the surface through these tunnels - at least, the fastest route that doesn't take us through unspeakable nastiness. I use my magics to determine whether you're lying. If you tell me the truth, we go on our way and you get to feed your rothe. If you lie to me, he eats you."

Johannes nods in Kal-Resh's direction. The svirfneblin might not be unnerved by the proximity of that much apex predator, but Johannes certainly was.

"Is that sufficiently clear and easy for you? A nod will suffice."

BelGareth

2013-03-30, 11:04 AM

Kal-Resh, see the cue from Johannes growled even more so, crouching down a little, and bearing his huge dagger sized teeth.

And then a thought came to him, he dearly wanted to tell Johannes, but he wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to do so, changing form like that in front of the gnome...

He shrugged, the current tactics were not working.

Changing back to his speaking skin, he shifted into his orc form, and played the part of the serf, which he knew well.

"Master, why not kill his rothe, if that is what he treasures the most?"

Toliudar

2013-03-30, 02:44 PM

Johannes

Johannes nods, and then remembers to add some arrogance to this.

"An excellent fallback, slave. What do you say, gnome?"

mshady

2013-04-01, 12:28 AM

"Ack! No no no. You leave the rothe alone! The water masters will be quite displeased with you and me, me and you, both of us even, if there were no rothe. Wicked things, what did my rothe ever do to us?" the gnome says and scowls at the orc and back at the drow.

"You are wicked and keep strange company, but fine. I'll tell you a way. Now, give me something to write with. That path be complex. Twisty, like a goblin whore" he says and smiles widely at the reference. "I'm not good with letters, but lines and maps I can see and read both. Tut tut, move along! You caught be ready for my necessities and they're still necessary!"

Toliudar

2013-04-01, 12:36 AM

Johannes

Johannes is spending an inspiration point on Sense Motive for his dealings with the gnome: [roll0]. If he senses deception, he'll order Kal-Resh to kill a rothe.

Johannes produces a quill and small jar of purple ink from his pack with a small flourish, and follows it up with a small, blank notepad. Leaving the gnome under the watchful eye of Magnum and Kal-Resh as he starts to draw, Johannes gestures for Wyatt to join him a short distance away.

"Our best shot at knowing if he's rothe-s***ting us is if his initial directions differ from one of the options presented on your map. Be ready to double check, and give me a signal if he seems to be drawing something that doesn't exist on your map."

Strangie

2013-04-02, 05:15 PM

Wyatt

He walked over to Johannes to listen, and simply nodded at the command. He knew the map well, having studied it intensely to figure out a way out of this dump. He would know if the path the gnome presented didn't seem to make sense. He waited for it to be complete, folding his arms.

mshady

2013-04-02, 10:51 PM

The path the gnome describes is meandering and complicated, switching back, going down, up and around. The way he described the area, it sounded like a maze and probably 2 to 3 days worth of travel. The path, as he described it, was relatively safe because there was nothing in those caves to really sustain any substantial life. However, he had not been that way in years and it was hard to tell. The path DID come up to the surface in the foothills of the mountains above, but where he did not know.

If he was lying, it was hard to tell because it was a can of worms. The map was detailed enough, and it seemed legitimate enough, but the directions mainly consisted of "keep following it and try to sniff fresh air, you'll find it eventually". If there was any deception intended, it was hard to tell with how general the directions were.

Toliudar

2013-04-02, 11:04 PM

Johannes

Seeming satisfied, Johannes gestures to Kal-Resh and Wyatt.

"Go back and have the others bring the barges around to this side. Give a shout if you see any ripples in the water. The water masters may already be getting hungry again."

Johannes tucks the notebook carefully into an inside pocket. He glances sadly over at Magnum, who had been such a font of military wisdom until recently. More than once in the last few days, Johannes had fervently wished that the command of the team had been given to the war-priest rather than his own not-so-humble self. Ah well. One bore the burden that one was handed, he supposed.

Johannes smiled down at the gnome and speaks softly and pleasantly.

"Please know, gnome, that I have survived attempts on my life by demon, dragon, drow and natural disaster. And that's just this week. If you're pointing us into a trap, it had better be a very good one, or I'm coming back for you."

BelGareth

2013-04-04, 01:36 PM

Kal-Resh nods as Johannes orders him off to direct the barges, he was happy to be ordered around, in these strange confines he was lost, not in his jungle or among animals he knew.

He liked his lips, he was surely disappointed he wasn't able to kill one of those rothe, his stomach growled at him in disappointment, he was very hungry.

But yet, he was happy his idea had worked, maybe he could tag along with these dwarfs? He never did have any talking friends, well not the regular kind anyway.

He shifted into his feathery form and took off, after Wyatt jumped on, he was starting to like the little man.

Strangie

2013-04-04, 05:23 PM

Wyatt

He gave a thumbs up to Johannes when it looked like the gnome's directions checked out, according to his knowledge of the map. He would give the map a once-over again afterward just to make sure.

He took his spot on Kal-Resh, placing his hand on his back and swinging up onto his seat. "'dat was a good play you made 'dere. I wish I had thought of 'dat, hah... anyway. Let's ride, eh?."

Gryndel

2013-04-12, 09:28 PM

Magnum
A rattling sigh escaped the war priest as the deep gnome started cooperating, releasing his battle tension as he released the handle of his favorite axe. He cocked his head slightly at the sad look given him by Johannes, sending him a surreptitious wink to reassure him all was well.

Playing the part of the silent but deadly embodiment of violence ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice was one of Magnum's expert personality traits. In some ways he was happy to have Johannes along, and ostensibly in charge. Not so much for himself, but for those he considered his friends here. He viewed the entire trip as a battle to reach safety, but was also wise enough to appreciate that negotiation was sometimes the best means.

Looking at the map briefly, he glanced at Wyatt and shrugged, knowing the scout was the best person to deal with this sort of thing. Still concentrating on his detection spell, he added a glaring nod to the words of Johannes and added with a deep growl, "If we must return, it won't be so pleasant."

mshady

2013-04-16, 12:20 AM

The gnome sniffs contemptuously at Johannes' attempt to brag.

"I survived the Underdark and the Water Masters. You too I'll survive" he says and smiles widely. His teeth are stained black, from who knows what kind of drug or chew.

Abandoning the barges for now, Kal-resh attempts to fly over as many as he can. For the humanoids, it is little problem. Tasster and his sons, along with the heavy armor of Nega, prove to be the most difficult.

The impossible though, comes when it is time to move the treasure and the minotaurs. While the treasure could be moved by bags over several trips and gathered again, moving the heavy minotaurs would be impossible.

They were simply too heavy to fly over. The only way to get them across would be by boat, unless they could some how be flown across the water. Or something?

This would prove the most difficult challenge. What to do with the minotaurs?

"We ought to just leave them" Nega opines. "They are wicked mercenaries and monsters, useful but still monsters. The Patriarchate would be better off without dem"

"Oi!" Tasster roars back at her. "Kerik and Gore are my friends. You leave them, you leave us. They're good warriors. Yer Patriarchate could use a lot more of them and fewer of narrow minded ***** like yerself, Silver Mace!"

Nega looks at him, anger flashing into her eyes.

"Watch how you speak to your betters" she informs Tasster.

"Betters? I'm a bloody Prince! Watch yer own tongue and take back what ye said!"

Toliudar

2013-04-17, 03:59 AM

mshady

2013-04-21, 08:30 AM

Wyatt and Magnum stay back and watch the cave entrance, and find there is little to really do. The hut / hovel of the gnome is empty as he is dragged back across the water. The only company the two have for now are the rothe herd.

They moo occasionally, and even bay, but mainly they just sit and graze.

It's just a dwarf and a Halfling, some rothe, by a lake. Not a thing going on. The rest that the exhausted Kal-resh had ferried over sit along the wall of the cave, mainly resting, feeling safe for the first time in awhile.

mshady

2013-04-21, 08:37 AM

Johannes

Johannes shook his head. They had been simple orders. Bring the barges over here to this side and unload. Yet somehow this had proven impossible too.

"Gnome, you're coming with us across the lake for a few minutes, just in case there's any misunderstandings with your friend in the lake. Magnum, Wyatt - I'd like you to remain here to have a look at the tunnel entrance."

He arranges for Kal-Resh to ferry the gnome - trussed if need be - and then Johannes himself back over to the barges, where he will guide them back to the side where the gnome has indicated that they will be heading into the tunnels.

Mike, if that chain is in the way of the barges, Johannes will stand in the front of the first barge and cast Shrink Item on one of the links in the chain to snap it.

The gnome comes willingly, if bitterly, with Johnannes-the-drow. They fly across the lake, and the exhausted Kal-resh drops off the two. Returning to his form as a savage looking half orc, he sits down and mutters something about being the real ferry around here.

At this point, the only thing left were the barges and the three remaining minotaurs. They have stripped out of their armor and Kerik is finishing up with some bandages on his two comrades.

As the gnome and Johannes approach, the minotaurs look up at their approach simultaneously.

"Drow!" they roar, and snatch up their axes and swords.