The Fruits of Labour (Tales from the Yawning Portal)

[atlastrembles]

Avanaria Northguard, Marquise of Mirabar, has led and protected the frontier city from its many threats for generations. Through goblin raids, giant sieges, and dragonfire, the elven protectress of the northernmost city of the Lord’s Alliance had remained resolute. Through skillful diplomacy, wise investing, and the judicious use of violence, Avanaria Northguard had risen from refugee to beloved leader of the unlikely cosmopolitan city tucked at the base of the Spine of the World. And as her rise mirrored that of the city, so too did the people of Mirabar feel themselves elevated from scrabbling out a living in the savage north to collectively building a legacy that would live on in legend. Even the recalcitrant dwarves deep in the Spine had come to know and respect her, calling her the Silver Lady and granting her unprecedented access to their mines and riches, which enriched Mirabar in turn.

So it was cause for wild celebration when Avanaria announced her pregnancy, a rare and joyous occasion for any long-lived elf, but infinitely moreso for the citizens of Mirabar. Anxious conversations in taverns had long asked what would happen if Avanaria died without an heir. Would Mirabar survive her absence? What hordes from the wastes beyond the Spine would seize the opportunity? What jealous faction would step into the vacuum? Here was answer to their fears!

A month of celebrations and festivals followed the announcement of the Miracle of Mirabar. The Underking sent gifts of strong dwarven liquor in celebration and the Pirate Council of Luskan announced a temporary veto on raiding Mirabar-bound cargo; Avanaria had always been good for business. As a resident of Mirabar, someone joining the celebrations, or just someone travelling through, you are caught up in the excitement.

But then the bells started tolling.

Avanaria has fallen ill, her unborn child and Mirabar’s peaceful future in jeopardy. In the bar-rooms, squares, markets, and temples of Mirabar, rumours swirl of potential causes and hypothetical cures. A bounty of 500 gold pieces, and the personal favour of the Marquise of course, is offered for anyone who can save Mirabar’s heir. After several days and legions of quacks, clerics, and potions, Avanaria is faring worse than ever. But you have recently heard a rumour that sparked your interest and motivated you to join the search for a cure to Avanaria’s decline.

Whispers have reached your ears that there may be some truth to an old local folk tale about a magical tree that bears one fruit but twice a year - a white fruit for death at midwinter and a red fruit for life at midsummer. The rumour you’ve heard points to a small village near Mirabar named Oakhurst where white and red fruits have appeared in recent years. And midsummer is only days away...
~~~~~~~~

Some half-day's travel from Mirabar proper, Oakhurst is more a waystation than a village, sustained by its proximity to the Jewel of the Spine and its Silver Lady, Avanaria Northguard. Having heard the rumours of apples having appeared in this tiny village in years past, you have all made your way out of the big city for one reason or another, hoping that finding the rumoured fruit, and saving Avanaria's heir in the process, will bring you wealth, fame, access, or knowledge. Having made your preparations, you set out while the sun hangs a quarter of the way through the sky. The temperature is still low this far north, but the trails are passable as the first thaw of the impending spring was just a fortnight ago and so the mud has had a chance to settle and partially harden.

As the hours pass as you travel, clouds begin to gather, obscuring the sun. Just as you see the small village's walls rise from the horizon as you turn a corner on the New Road, a light, but chilly drizzle begins to fall, slowly seeping through your cloaks. By the time you find yourselves at the doorstep of the Ol'Boar Inn, the best (and only) inn in Oakhurst, you are thoroughly chilled, the rain having turned to a downpour just minutes before reaching shelter. The weather seems to have brought people indoors for the streets are empty as you approach the inn. A friendly din rumbles through the oak door standing underneath a an old wooden sign on which, through the rain, you can make out the picture of a tusked pig with grey and brown bristles.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 19

Jarrak's grimace turned to a sigh of relief as he pushed through the oak door of the Ol’Boar Inn.

When he’d started the concept of walking to Oakhurst seemed like a fun jaunt. The weather was warming up, and after months of being holed up inside having a nice hike seemed like a nice change of pace. And honestly, it was. But it was still cold, and after days on the road by himself the concept of a warm hearth, a warm meal, and some good company sang to him like chorus of celestials from on high.

Entering the room he threw back the hood on his cloak, shaking his hair out as he made his way to a seat over by the fire. His pack got shoved against the wall, his cloak hung to dry, and a wave to the waitress to get himself a drink.

Then he had work to do. He needed information to find this mythical fruit and the best way he could think to get people talking about it was to retell the story. It would get it into the people’s minds, they would argue, debate, correct, and muse over it after the telling.

“Gentlemen,” Jarrak said with a smile, leaning forward and rubbing his hands together, “Let me tell you a story…”

[SithLackey]

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle

A compact bundle of scale mail and a blanket bumps through the door to the inn, coming to a stop a few feet inside. It drips water onto the floor as it disentangles the blanket from the plaited twist of hair atop its head, revealing itself to be a young, tan dwarven woman with dark hair and deep, green eyes.

"By the book, I'll never understand how you tall folk stand to spend all of your time above ground..." she mutters to herself as she hastily folds the blanket. She gives her head a quick shake, and her eyes scan the meager inn. Finding the person most likely to be in charge, she walks over and places a coin on the table in front of them. "I'll take anything private," and then, as if an afterthought, adds "Please."

[Xeno929]

Bram “Conundrum” Viridian
Neutral Tiefling Bard Researcher

Conundrum doesn’t remember entering the tavern specifically, just strolling into a building to prevent his fleece from soaking. He actually enjoyed the rain, but his clothing gets itchy when it dries while on him. He finds himself an isolated corner and practices on his Pan Flute. He plays around with the sounds from his flute, trying to find appropriate music to accompany the images of a Woeful White Apple and Radiant Red Apple he conjures with minor illusion.

”Hrmm... not quite right... maybe if I just... no not scary enough...oh what if I...”

As he starts to scribble some notes, he overhears someone starting a tale, he’s not sure what of yet but he’s curious enough to make himself part of the audience.

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

Quelaag enjoys the downpour of rain a while, even if her clothes are thoroughly soaked. Eventually the large humanoid-turtle enters the Inn and takes in the new sights and sounds with a happy smile. Taking a seat close to the Half-elf ("A story?! Why yes I would love to hear one!~"), she eagerly awaits the start of what will hopefully be a delightful tale!

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 19

Jarrak pauses only a moment as he tries to figure out which version to run with. There were a few different versions he’d heard, all of which depended largely on who was telling the story.

He was in a way station a distance from any major centers, and his audience would likely be less noble born and more commoners.

And so he wove a story about a beautiful young noblewoman who’d been exiled to overlook the family’s farm holdings. Beloved by the people, she won the heart of a local farmer who loved her, though the two could never be together due to the famer not being of nobility.

Their star crossed love seemed doomed when a nobleman came to marry the noblewoman. But before their marriage could go under way the woman fell ill and with no cure to be found was declared doomed to death.

The story really starts taking off as the Farmer goes on a quest to find the Red Apples of Rejuvenation. A harrowing chase involving goblins, culminating in a frantic fight for survival. An encounter with friendly ranger and their peril filled journey through a valley. A sudden attack by an owlbear leads to the farmer leading the creature away from the ranger before accidentally falling into a river while being chased by animals leads the man to awaken, rescued by an injured warrior, who also sought the same apple to cure his crippling injuries.

Together they finished their journey to discover the apples were locked away behind magic and guarded jealously by a Witch. The Witch scoffed at their requests, and jeered at the warrior when he offered threats, neither impressed nor worried at the bluster.

The Farmer’s kind words and earnest nature finally wore down the Witch who conceded she would give them a single apple each, but only if they each finished three tasks.

The Farmer was tasked with killing a monstrous boar that was destroying the Witch’s fields, a giant raven that ate her, and clearing the root cellar of giant vicious rats that were eating her supplies.

The Farmer investigated his challenges only to discover that they were far beyond anything he could hope to manage by himself.

Returning to the warrior for help he found the man in a state of despair. Where the farmer had been given martial tasks, the warrior had been given rather simple tasks. Mending clothes, repairing a heavy wooden fence, and filling a great pot full of water before the end of the day.

Tasks made largely impossible due to his crippled arm and crippled leg. The Witch had seen them both and given them tasks they could never accomplish. She had no interest in seeing them succeed.

So the Farmer made the Warrior a deal. He would help the warrior earn his apple, if the warrior would help him get his own.

With their deal made the Farmer made easy work of the Warrior’s tasks. The Witch, angry at how they’d overcome the warrior’s trials, approached the Farmer alone. She gave him the red apple for the Warrior’s reward, but then whispered to him how the warrior would take the apple and flee, how the warrior couldn’t be trusted, and that the Farmer’s love was dying while he waited.

And while the farmer was conflicted he had given his word, and while Noblemen would lie and cheat he would not. And so he gave the apple to the warrior, and watched in shock as the man’s damaged limbs healed before their eyes.

And then, to the Witch’s chagrin, the warrior slew each of the beasts the Farmer had been tasked to kill.

Cursing their names the Witch gave them the apples, telling them never to return.

And so the two left, the warrior promising to bring the farmer home as thanks for his assistance. The adventure back was no less troublesome, harried by orcs, witnessing a great dragon’s awakening, and reuniting with the ranger in time to fight off the same goblins the farmer had fled so long ago, goblins that now threatened to destroy his home.

But on his arrival home the problems didn’t end. The nobleman who’d been set to marry the Farmer’s love ambushed them, trying to take the apple for himself. For you see it had been no disease that had brought the lovely noblewoman low. You see unknown to the Farmer the nobleman had been scorned by the woman, and in his rage the nobleman had poisoned her for slighting him.

And now he would see the Farmer killed and the apple destroyed rather than let her marry anyone else.

A dramatic battle ensued with the Farmer, now battled hardened and trained by his friends the Ranger and the Warrior, fighting alongside his friends to a rousing victory.

And so the Farmer gave his love the apple, and she went from the brink of death back to the vibrant and energetic woman she’d always been.

And as was his want, he gave the final reveal at the end that the warrior that the Farmer had been with so long had been a man of great importance and power, granting the farmer a knighthood and the legitimacy he need to marry his love.

It was a fun story, in his own opinion, where the common man won in the end, and while a noble was the badguy, they were also the love interest and the one who made way for the happy ending. Everybody got a chance to shine.

Coming to a finish he paused to drink from his tankard, finally able to take something more than a tiny sip at a time. And after the tale his throat felt dry.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1529698)

A particularly heavy down pouring of rain heralds the entrance of a slightly-built yet feminine figure in a fur- trimmed cloak.

"Lousy northern weather," she mutters, flinging back the hood and folds of her cloak, revealing a fair-featured young woman with deep blue eyes, pale freckle-dusted skin, and auburn hair plastered around her face by the rain; pointed ears betray her half-elven heritage.

At first glance her appearance and bearing might indicate a young noblewoman, or perhaps the daughter of a wealthy merchant, but a second glance shows form-fitting leather armour, a pack beneath her cloak, and a quiver of arrows and slender sword at her hips.

Tugging off her fine kidskin gloves, she approaches the bar and orders a warm spiced mead. Silently she surveys the crowd, paying particular attention to the half-elf telling a tale of mystical apples. A mercenary, perhaps, or maybe a caravan guard... certainly not a local, unless he's the town sheriff, but the others who are most certainly locals don't look like they're treating him with any kind of familiarity - maybe an adventurer or sell-sword? She sips her drink and observes.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Water Genasi Druid

Esocidi of the Brightwater was one of the last to enter the inn. She'd enjoyed the rain as she'd walked, and in truth was slightly disappointed to get out of the weather's embrace. She hummed cheerfully as she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

She wore no cloak or robe, meaning that to look at her was to see... well, a lot of blue. Her patches of scales gleamed in the ruddy light of the tavern, and her hair glistened with moisture as she shook her head like a dog, heedless of the drips that splattered on the floor.

"Hey, Innkeep!" she called cheerfully as she walked up to the bar, bare feet leaving foot-prints of wet as she walked. "Give a traveller a drink, would you?"

She leaned on the bar and looked around the tavern. Seems she was in time to catch the ending of a story about... magical fruit. Coincidental! But welcome.

[SithLackey]

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)

As the inkeep comes to collect Kathra's money and show her to her room, the dwarf is no longer paying attention. Instead, she is completely entranced by the newest addition to the crowd. She stares openly, muttering quietly to herself about the inhabitants of the elemental plane of water, and the impossibility of anyone choosing to swim this far North.

Eventually, she does approach the Genasi. tapping her twice firmly on the forearm if she has not already noticed Kathra's gaze. "Ahm, excuse me. Was wondering. Do you have an innate magical resistance to the cold, as an elemental would, or are you cold-blooded, like a fish?"

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood

As the tale from the half-elf winds on, Lilisendra begins to lose interest and only partially listens. Standing at the bar and sipping at the comforting mead, she begins to study the inn's inhabitants a little more closely.

Quite the cosmopolitan crowd for a backs-woods village, she muses to herself, noting the more unusual members of the taproom. A tiefling minstrel of some sort; someone who might be part sea-elf or other water creature; and a... turtle-person? Even for a Waterdavian native like herself, the latter was an rarity. I wonder if they are more common here in the north? Or is he? she? travelling with the tale-spinning swordsman? Speaking of which...

As the story draws to a close, she approaches the swordsman and gives him a cheery smile, the young half-elf woman's blue eyes sparkling brightly.

"A delightful tale, good sir, and wonderfully told; although the addition of the dragon was perhaps a teensy bit too much. You did surprise me with the classical ending, though, with the farmer being knighted so that he might marry his love; I was anticipating a more modern take on the story, with the noblewoman renouncing her nobility so that she might wed her beloved - the triumph of true love over the adversity of caste social dynamics as well as physical peril and so forth, which seems to be most popular these days." She pulls up a chair near the table and gestures at his tankard. "Might I purchase you," her gaze falls upon the turtle-person, "And your companion a beverage?"

[Xeno929]

Conundrum listens to the story intently, writing down a few notes related to the apples, and then puts the pan flute to his lips. He blows gently into the flute as it emits the sound of dozens of people applauding and cheering. (Minor Illusion)

He sees another half elf approaching and decides step back and allow them to speak without him crowding, and walks closer to the woman with the scales. As he approaches, he wraps a copper wire around his finger, points towards the Tortle (she doesn’t necessarily have to notice either), and excitedly says ”Ive got some questions for you when you have a moment, I’ll be talking to this blue woman first. It’s purely academic interest!” except only the tortle hears anything escape his lips, and it sounds like he is speaking right next to her although he is several feet away. (Message)

Conundrum reaches the Genasi and unintentionally shouts to her “HELLO MY NAME IS CONUNDRUM!” he laughs a bit before continuing at a normal volume “What’s your name? i apologize for shouting, I forget to control my volume after that spell. May I ask you some questions about your heritage? I’d love to learn about your kind, I’ve only read about you!”

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 19

As he finished telling the tale he took in the people in the crowd. There were the usual farmers, merchants, and occasional lazy bloke who snuck off for a drink rather than doing whatever it was they were doing. And then there were the unusual crowd.

The cheerful tortle was one of the few he'd ever met face to face, and after watching it move he had every confidence that this one was a trained warrior. Off in the back a strangely dress teifling was applauding frantically by... playing the flute? Obviously it had to have been some form of magic, for no flute he'd ever encountered played applause. The teifling had found a new point of interest in a rougly dressed humanoid who appeared to be covered in blue scales, and was loudly talking to the blue woman along with a dwarf he'd missed notice of earlier. They seemed quiet energetic and interested in something-

His attention was drawn away by a pretty young half-elf who was walking over. Her clothing, armor and weapons all seemed to speak of wealth. But considering the location either she was the youngest of a noble family, much more likely to strike out on their own, or belonging to some kind of a merchant family. Normally the sight of such fine clothes and weapons on one so young brought a cynical smile to his lips, young kids in search of adventure with no idea of what they were getting into.

But the back of his mind started whispering to him of hidden danger as he watched her walk. Soft, casual, but never off balance, never over extended.

And then a smile broke upon her freckled cheeks, and the whispers of danger were quickly forgotten.

Jarrak chuckled merrily at the young woman's thoughts on his story, "I'm afraid I have to agree. Truth be told the dragon is a bit much. And I told the man who I learned this story from that it would make more sense to have a griffin, or a Pegasus, but he swore it was important to what came next. What it was I never did learn, he skipped town the next day leaving me to pay his tab."

He brought his fist up to his chest, over his heart in an old military style salute, before bowing, "Jarrak of Blackmoore at your service, my lady. Storyteller, medicine man, and as of late caravan guard."

"I would be honored to have a drink with such a beautiful young woman," He said in a painfully earnest fashion, then paused, "But I'm afraid I cannot speak for my companion, here, I'm afraid we've only just met..."

He trailed off hoping the tortle would introduce itself. At this point he wasn't even sure how to politely address it, and he hardly wanted to come across as rude.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Strange woman lying in a pond



Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)

As the inkeep comes to collect Kathra's money and show her to her room, the dwarf is no longer paying attention. Instead, she is completely entranced by the newest addition to the crowd. She stares openly, muttering quietly to herself about the inhabitants of the elemental plane of water, and the impossibility of anyone choosing to swim this far North.

Eventually, she does approach the Genasi. tapping her twice firmly on the forearm if she has not already noticed Kathra's gaze. "Ahm, excuse me. Was wondering. Do you have an innate magical resistance to the cold, as an elemental would, or are you cold-blooded, like a fish?"
Esocidi sat cross-legged on the stool, perched somewhat precariously as she waited for her drink. The water-touched blinked as someone tapped her on the leather bracer.
"Oh, hello!"
She beamed at the little dwarf, raising a mug of some kind of alcholic liquid in small salute to the bartender as he slid it across. She took a sip and sighed happily at the taste of apple-tinted mead.
"Well, this one doesn't think she's either! It's simply not all that cold to swim. Esocidi has the scales of a fish, but her blood runs warm. Here, see!"
Without waiting for a reply she grasped the dwarf's hand, letting her feel her body heat.



Conundrum reaches the Genasi and unintentionally shouts to her “HELLO MY NAME IS CONUNDRUM!” he laughs a bit before continuing at a normal volume “What’s your name? i apologize for shouting, I forget to control my volume after that spell. May I ask you some questions about your heritage? I’d love to learn about your kind, I’ve only read about you!”
"Gaah!" the Genasi flinched as introductions were suddenly bellowed into her ear, slopping some of her drink. She tutted in irritation, releasing Kathra's hand to stick a finger in her ear.
"No need for the shouting. Your name is Conundrum? Are you sure?"
She grinned as she resettled herself on the stool.
"This one was already being questioned. Perhaps you could wait for...?"

She looked at Kathra and raised an azure-tinted eyebrow, inviting her to introduce herself.

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

As the tale concludes, Quelaag happily claps loudly and energetically, completely oblivious to any stink-eye that her fellow bar patrons might be giving her. "Encore! Encore!" She cries happily. All said and done, the tortle was in high-spirits from the rain and company during the journey.

Turning to the half-elf that addressed her and the story teller, Queelag responds. "Everyone else is, I guess I can't really turn down that drink!" The Tortle makes cute noises as she happily responds before suddenly becoming thoughtful. "Oh dear! I never did introduce myself, did I? I'm Quelaag, Tortle adventurer!...or at least I want to be. teeheehee"

At that moment, the Tortle hears a whisper from someone claiming to want some questions after they speak to a 'blue woman', making her look around and who it could've come from. Seeing nobody in particular, she shrugs and goes back to beaming at the two half-elves and praising Jarrak's oratory skills.

[SithLackey]

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)

As Conundrum approaches, Kathra has taken Esocidi's hand in both of her own, peering closely at the skin to see if she can see through it, and just how the scales interface with the Waterling's smooth blue skin. "Well certainly if you've been in one of the Northern riv-"


Conundrum reaches the Genasi and unintentionally shouts to her “HELLO MY NAME IS CONUNDRUM!” he laughs a bit before continuing at a normal volume “What’s your name? i apologize for shouting, I forget to control my volume after that spell. May I ask you some questions about your heritage? I’d love to learn about your kind, I’ve only read about you!”


"Gaah!" the Genasi flinched as introductions were suddenly bellowed into her ear, slopping some of her drink. She tutted in irritation, releasing Kathra's hand to stick a finger in her ear.
"No need for the shouting. Your name is Conundrum? Are you sure?"
She grinned as she resettled herself on the stool.
"This one was already being questioned. Perhaps you could wait for...?"

She looked at Kathra and raised an azure-tinted eyebrow, inviting her to introduce herself.

Kathra flinches at Conundrum's outburst, and then frowns. "Yes, I was just asking about-" she begins, and then realizes her mistake. In an instant she transitions from brash to sheepish, looking up at the two planetouched.

"Ah, yes. Forgive me, I am not manners. I mean, I do not have manners! I mean, I do, I just forget to..." She sighs. "I am Kathra. Goldenbeard. I am an initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle. Who I suppose you've probably never heard of, of course. I'm a scholar, or a priest. Well, both. Anyway..." She trails off, desperately wishing for anything else to happen.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Watery tart of nature

The scales decrease in size, mingling smoothly with the soft blue of the skin until they're as fine as grit - and then it's nothing but the warm flesh of Esocidi's hand. She chuckles at the dwarf's sudden awkwardness, though not unkindly, and rescued her with her own introduction.
"This one is Esocidi, of the Brightwater, or so some call her. Others call her Bluescaled, or little one, or sometimes hey, you!." She smiled."You assume! Careful with assuming. Can assume the water's clear, when the sharp-jawed pike is hiding between the rocks!" The strange druid thumped the tankard down on the table with a sharp thump! for emphasis. "This one has heard of the Gleaming in the Eye, though offers him no worship."

[Xeno929]

Bram “CONUNDRUM” Viridian
Neutral Tiefling Bard Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1537369)

Conundrum retreats slightly into himself and hunches over a notepad, writing what he finds interesting about the conversation he’s witnessing. His tail flicking about excitedly as he learns a bit about both women. He waits for a lull in the conversation to blurt out ”So, what would you two say your expertise is as an adventurer? I’m clearly a bard. You, beardless Goldenbeard, are a Cleric perhaps? Or is your priesthood separate from your adventuring expertise?” He asks excitedly, pen in hand waiting to take some more notes.

[SithLackey]

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)
”So, what would you two say your expertise is as an adventurer? I’m clearly a bard. You, beardless Goldenbeard, are a Cleric perhaps? Or is your priesthood separate from your adventuring expertise?”

Kathra absently raises her left hand to the tiny golden book on a chain about her neck, twisting it idly as she replies. "Well, in order to be a cleric one must actually lead the rites of the church, and I only attend to the more scholarly pursuits. Architecture, the planes of existence, the histories of the Great and Minor Holds, the texts of the Mordinsamman... Although, I suppose I do know how to focus the weave similarly to how the clerics do.

"And I certainly wouldn't call myself an adventurer! I am merely pursuing an independent research project. That does still require one to be wary of, ah, 'sharp-jawed pikes', in some cases." She nods toward Esocidi at this last remark.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood


Jarrak chuckled merrily at the young woman's thoughts on his story, "I'm afraid I have to agree. Truth be told the dragon is a bit much. And I told the man who I learned this story from that it would make more sense to have a griffin, or a Pegasus, but he swore it was important to what came next. What it was I never did learn, he skipped town the next day leaving me to pay his tab."

He brought his fist up to his chest, over his heart in an old military style salute, before bowing, "Jarrak of Blackmoore at your service, my lady. Storyteller, medicine man, and as of late caravan guard."

"I would be honored to have a drink with such a beautiful young woman," He said in a painfully earnest fashion, then paused, "But I'm afraid I cannot speak for my companion, here, I'm afraid we've only just met..."

He trailed off hoping the tortle would introduce itself. At this point he wasn't even sure how to politely address it, and he hardly wanted to come across as rude.


Turning to the half-elf that addressed her and the story teller, Queelag responds. "Everyone else is, I guess I can't really turn down that drink!" The Tortle makes cute noises as she happily responds before suddenly becoming thoughtful. "Oh dear! I never did introduce myself, did I? I'm Quelaag, Tortle adventurer!...or at least I want to be. teeheehee"

The young half-elf woman offers a courtly bow in return. "Lilisendra Ravenswood, of Waterdeep," she says. "Though my friends call me Lily; it's a pleasure to make both your acquaintances." Lilisendra gestures to the barkeep, indicating for a fresh serving of drinks for the three of them.

"As much as I am dying to learn how a Tortle adventurer comes to find herself in a small village near the Spine of the World, I'm afraid that I must return to the matter of Jarrack's tale, lest I become too side-tracked." She turns her gaze back to Jarrak. "Is it merely that? Just a story, told around taverns and campfires?" Lily looks slightly crestfallen. "I was hoping that there might be more of a kernel of truth to the matter regarding the magical fruit than can cure any ill or malady. Although..." She looks thoughtful for a moment, then a hopeful expression crosses her face. "You're not local to Oakhurst, are you Master Jarrak? If not, then perhaps someone who lives here might be able to confirm or deny the rumours I have heard..." she trails off as stares meaningfully at the barkeep, tapping a finger to her lips.

[Xeno929]

Bram “CONUNDRUM” Viridian
Neutral Tiefling Bard Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1537369)

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)

Kathra absently raises her left hand to the tiny golden book on a chain about her neck, twisting it idly as she replies. "Well, in order to be a cleric one must actually lead the rites of the church, and I only attend to the more scholarly pursuits. Architecture, the planes of existence, the histories of the Great and Minor Holds, the texts of the Mordinsamman... Although, I suppose I do know how to focus the weave similarly to how the clerics do.

"And I certainly wouldn't call myself an adventurer! I am merely pursuing an independent research project. That does still require one to be wary of, ah, 'sharp-jawed pikes', in some cases." She nods toward Esocidi at this last remark.

Conundrum pauses for a moment to take in what he’s heard, before responding ”Ah yes, I guess it’d be too soon to consider myself an adventurer either, I’m a seeker of knowledge, except I decided to learn from the world and it’s secrets rather than continue with institutions. Not that there is anything wrong with that of course! It is how I spent the last few years! Would someone as intelligent as yourself happen to know of the apples that half elf spoke of? I assume his was just a story, but it’s quite a coincidence that i’m also interested in them. From what I know so far, I assume they’d look something like this.”

As he finishes his last sentence, Conundrum blows into the same pipe as before with the applause, except this time images of a beautiful read Apple and a diseased looking white Apple appear above him in the air.

[atlastrembles]

The denizens of the cozy common room listen with rapt attention to Jarrak of Blackmoore's wonderful story and join Conundrum's magical applause with their own scattered applause. The room, though packed, is orderly and waitresses effortlessly and with a practiced hand weave around the groups of villagers, travellers, and the coalescing group of adventurers who have most recently swirled in from the storm. A few individuals come up to Jarrak and toss him a few coins (12 CP) for his efforts and earns a nod from the innkeeper standing behind the bar.

As the group converses, a young woman approaches bearing the drinks ordered by the individuals. "Apologies for the delay, welcome to the Ol'Boar! 'Always say welcome no matter how busy' Galon always tells us, so, 'welcome!'. I have a spiced mead for the lady with the bow, and an ale for the, er, blue lady, beggin' your pardon miss, I don't mean to draw attention to your colour or nothing. That'll be five copper a-piece, but you can settle up later. Oh, and for the storyteller, an ale free o' charge" She blushes and then turns to leave, but stops herself and tucks a stray hair away from her forehead, clearly frazzled either by the strangeness of the group, the level of business of the small inn, or a nascent crush on the storyteller you can't tell."Oh, I'm thinking you're looking for rooms, too, and maybe you all know each other seeing as your all sitting together and the like. We have one group lodging left, we just tidied it up after the last group 'o you sorts came through, suppose you're lookin' for the same thing? Anyway, none of my business, it'll be one gold a night, but if you prefer your own rooms, it's two silver for a private one." Her eyes dart around the rest of the room and then back to the assembled group, her attention struggling for balance between gawking at the party's stranger members while keeping an eye on the rest of the patrons.

As Conundrum blows into the flute and produces the image of the two apples, Escocidi, Lily, Quelaag, and Kathra's attention is immediately drawn to a head in the crowd near the corner sitting alone suddenly snap to attention. Its reaction stands out among the rest of the inn who are also turning to view the magickery. Whereas the majority of the crowd turned to regard the display out of curiousity, the figure's violent motion suggests something more.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Hydration Spirit


"Is this one an adventurer? All adventure through their own lives, one supposes, but Esocidi simply does what she does. Which at this moment is looking for certain fruit. A curious coincidence, indeed."
The genasi hummed as she sipped her drink. She offered a gentle smile to the serving woman.
"Have no worries. This one is certainly bluer than most, and minds not the curious look."
She caught the violent snap of the neck of a figure in the corner of his vision, and her smile widened. Her teeth glinted like pearls in the firelight.
"But you have caught a different look, Conundrum, it seems!"

She stood straight up on the stool to get a better look in that direction, trying to see the person who had reacted like that.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak smiles wistfully as Lily asks if he was a local.

"I can't say that I am, sorry. As for the tale," His smile fades as he stares off into the distance, "I can't say for sure, but I've heard no less than four different versions of this story and while most of it has variations the part that never changes is that there are two fruits. A red, which heals any malady, and a white which kills any that eat it."

"I can't help but feel there must be some truth in it. It's why I am here," He chuckles, "It's why I told the story. I was hoping to find somebody who might know more."



"Oh, and for the storyteller, an ale free o' charge" She blushes

"Ah, you are too kind. Too kind," Jarrak takes the drink and gives the waitress a big smile. He raises the glass to the barkeep and bows his head in appreciation.

At the suggestion of the shared room he pursed his lips and tried to figure out the math. If he wasn't mistaken they'd only really be saving a copper or two by rooming together. Had he more wealth to his name he'd have happily taken a private room. But as it was he wasn't a wealthy man, and the kindness of bar patrons, while appreciated, couldn't be relied on. They had their own to look after, and so...

"I have no issues sharing a room," He says, testing the water. Sharing a sleeping space with a bunch of strangers was nothing new to him.

[atlastrembles]

She stood straight up on the stool to get a better look in that direction, trying to see the person who had reacted like that.

Standing up straight on the stool, you get a clear look at the individual. Sitting at a far table in the corner of the inn is a rough looking halfling wearing a rather ratty brown travelling cloak that is stained in multiple places. His face is pulled into a strange expression, half sly pleasure, half scowl as he takes in your group. Making eye contact with him, he winks at you and grins, showing off a mouth of stained and crooked teeth before draining his mug, drawing his forearm roughly across his mouth. He then starts to make his way towards the back of the common room where you can see a swinging doorway you assume leads to the kitchen.

[Xeno929]

Bram “CONUNDRUM” Viridian
Tielfing Bard of Bardness and stuff

Conundrum whips his head around to catch a glimpse of the Halfling, gripping the copper wire coiled around his finger and attempts to persuade the Halfling into divulging his destination. As conundrum moves to follow, he speaks the following words to the Halfling alone. (message)

“Hey friend, where are we going? Are you interested in my apples? I’d love to talk to you if you don’t mind. Love, Conundrum.” The Tiefling attempts to sound as friendly as possible, even giggling slightly at the end of his message.

[roll0]

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-Elf rogue wealth redistribution agent

Lilisendra graciously thanks the young lady for the drinks, but raises an eyebrow in surprise at something she mentioned. "Another group of 'our sorts', you say? Perchance can you tell us anything about them?" She turns back to Quelaag and Jarrak. "Proof that there may be more than a kernel of truth to these rumours seems to be growing - as seemingly evidenced that those individuals seem to be aware of them, too." Lily nods at the tiefling, dwarf maiden, blue-skinned lady, and the images of illusory apples that dance between them. She eyes the tiefling suspiciously, but someone of his heritage and apparent trade is no doubt used to that.


"I have no issues sharing a room," He says, testing the water.

Lilisendra seems mildly shocked at Jarrak's suggestion. "Master Jarrak, while I have no objections to joining forces with others to achieve a common goal, sharing a room with a man who is a barely-known acquaintance that I've just met in the taproom of a tavern is pushing the bounds of common decency. I'll be taking a private room, thank you."

Inwardly, she sighs glumly - her supply of coin won't last forever, but maintaining the facade is more important at this stage. Hopefully this adventure will, heh, bear fruit soon, one way or another.

Speaking of which... she spies the shifty halfling looking in their direction and notes his exit.

"Methinks we might have just found someone who does know more," she murmurs, scanning the bar and the doorway the halfling has taken. She also notes that the tiefling appeared to cast some sort of spell in the halfling's direction - were the two in cahoots, running some sort of scam perhaps?

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak manages to keep from laughing, keeping a polite smile on his face. If the poor young woman was that scandalized she was going to be in for far worse soon. Still, there was wisdom in what she was saying. Hopefully she'd find somebody she could trust to watch her back and take turns sleeping.

Jarrak nods then turns tot he waitress, "And with only five people the price is back to two silver per person, so I suppose there's no reason for all of us not to go for private rooms."

[atlastrembles]

Bram “CONUNDRUM” Viridian
Tielfing Bard of Bardness and stuff

Conundrum whips his head around to catch a glimpse of the Halfling, gripping the copper wire coiled around his finger and attempts to persuade the Halfling into divulging his destination. As conundrum moves to follow, he speaks the following words to the Halfling alone. (message)

“Hey friend, where are we going? Are you interested in my apples? I’d love to talk to you if you don’t mind. Love, Conundrum.” The Tiefling attempts to sound as friendly as possible, even giggling slightly at the end of his message.

[roll0]

The halfling's steps slow for a moment as he turns back, eyes questing for the source of the message. He catches your eye, squints at you appraisingly, then tilts his head twice in quick succession in the direction he was heading, indicating you should follow him should you wish to continue chatting.



Lilisendra Ravenswood:

Lilisendra graciously thanks the young lady for the drinks, but raises an eyebrow in surprise at something she mentioned. "Another group of 'our sorts', you say? Perchance can you tell us anything about them?" She turns back to Quelaag and Jarrak. "Proof that there may be more than a kernel of truth to these rumours seems to be growing - as seemingly evidenced that those individuals seem to be aware of them, too."

The waitress glances nervously at the innkeeper before responding, clearly anxious that he might see her gossiping instead of doing her duty, but seeing he's tied up with a rather unruly or drunk dwarf demanding a larger stein of ale, she responds eagerly, relishing the opportunity to trade some juicy rumours. "Aye, not as many as you, but came asking around about apples and talking about the Silver Lady's Tarnish. We're not so far from Mirabar that we haven't heard about that, but most folks just pass right through on their way to somewhere else. These were different. Seemed tah think these apples were from around here. I don't know nothing about apples, magical or not, sounds like a story told by your friend, to be honest. Anyway, the four of 'em, one with shiny armour and magicky blue sword who ordered nothing but water, one dour fella with a meanish lookin' bow, and the Hucrele twins, Talgen and Sharwyn - Kerowyn's kids, from the Oaken Sundry next door. Kerowyn runs it I mean, the kids I hadn't seen since they left for Mirabar for training with blade and magery last I heard. Anyway, they all left down the Old Road. Nothing out there but the Ashen Plain, not really a place where stuff grows, let alone apple trees, yea? But what do I know. Anyway, yep, seems like lotsa folks think these apples are real. Sure hope so, Avanaria's been good for Oakhurst, though things've been worse since she took sick. Anyway, I gotta get your rooms ready, they'll be two silver a piece, paid fer ahead of time, mind you."

She collects any empty mugs, slings her towel across her shoulder and hurries away up the stairs just as the innkeeper yells out, "Oi, Ruthie, I ain't payin' you to gab about!"

[Xeno929]

Bram “Conundrum” Viridian
Secret Seeker Tielfing

Conundrum heads to follow the Halfling, flicking his tail excitedly as he thinks what secrets he may soon learn. Before he heads away he tells his new acquaintances to follow, and grips the coil around his finger shooting another message to the storyteller surrounded by what seems like his friends.

To his new acquaintances: ”Come join me, just in case he has interesting information... and I’d rather not get murdered.”

To Jarrak: “Hey it’s me, the Tiefling. This roguish man seems to know something about these apples in case you’d like to join us... it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have someone as, ahem, physically capable looking as you! You can simply respond with a whisper.”

[SithLackey]

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)

Kathra inwardly swells with excitement. Twenty years in the archives, two years on the road, and a month in that dusty ruin, and for the first time something is actually happening! Here, in a tiny human village. I should have left Underhome ages ago!

She takes two steps to follow, then an idea crosses her face and she touches Conundrum's sleeve as he moves to follow the Halfling. "Sight of the Tinker on you," she says, and then returns the two steps to where she left her pack. Hoisting it back to her shoulders, she will follow near the back of whoever exits the room with the Halfling.

Casting Guidance on Conundrum.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"Well well," Jarrack strokes his beard, "Some people of some significant means also believe the story, and they just so happened to have two locals in their team when they set out."

He grins, "Doesn't mean we're right, but it's interesting, isn't it? Makes me wonder what those locals knew. Might be time to talk with-"

He paused, tensing slightly until he realized that the voice in his ear wasn't somebody who'd snuck up on him in the crowd.

"I'll be right there," He offers in reply to the message.

Sneaking out of sight with a stranger wasn't a wise choice, but how many stories started with a wise choice?

Glancing to his conversation partners he says, "I just got an invitation from the odd Tiefling, apparently he thinks he might have a source of information. Perhaps we can share what we learn later?"

[atlastrembles]

Bram “Conundrum” Viridian
Secret Seeker Tielfing

Conundrum heads to follow the Halfling, flicking his tail excitedly as he thinks what secrets he may soon learn.

The small robed figure moves out of sight of your vantage point in the Ol'Boar's common room, ducking into the hallway leading to the rear of the building and, you assume, the kitchens.

I'll wait to see who goes with you, Conundrum, to continue the narrative. If no one responds by the evening, I'll move this part along with you, Kathra, and Jarrak and have the others catch up.

[Awful]

Hmm! Brightwater Esocidi was not entirely certain that halfling was trustworthy!

She regarded him before he slipped away, trying to judge if he had sinister intentions.


[roll0]


That said, he seemed a tenuous lead - but a lead nonetheless. The two who had just assailed her with questions certainly seemed to think so, as well... ah, well. Worth a shot.
"This one will take a look, then."

She nimbly jumped off the stool onto her feet and darted after the halfling, scales glinting in the firelight.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood

Lilisendra graciously thanks the waitress for her assistance, and pays her for the room, drink, and a tip for the information.

She turns back to Jarrak and Quelaag. "Speaking with this Kerowyn Hucrele certainly sounds like a solid lead to follow up; but methinks that can wait." She nods in the direction that the tiefling is headed. "If that source of information is the halfling that hastily departed the room, it might be a good idea if we all go and see what he knows; one of us may pick up on something that the others might miss. Besides, it would seem that they," she indicates the tiefling, dwarf, and aquatic person "Are chasing the same rumours we are; combing our resources with them in this venture may prove advantageous."

Lilisendra stands and gathers up her pack, bow, and quiver; and follows after Jarrak and the others.

[atlastrembles]

Hmm! Brightwater Esocidi was not entirely certain that halfling was trustworthy!

She regarded him before he slipped away, trying to judge if he had sinister intentions.


[roll0]


That said, he seemed a tenuous lead - but a lead nonetheless. The two who had just assailed her with questions certainly seemed to think so, as well... ah, well. Worth a shot.
"This one will take a look, then."

She nimbly jumped off the stool onto her feet and darted after the halfling, scales glinting in the firelight.

As you get up to follow the halfling, your instincts give a little jump of warning. You've not met many halflings who look quite so...rough, so something seems off about the whole thing for sure. You don't feel like the halfling intends violence, but that doesn't mean he's up to any good. People who want to meet behind buildings are generally trying to avoid prying eyes, so it's no stretch to imagine that he's trying to hide something.

[atlastrembles]

First Conundrum, then Kathra, then Brightwater and Lilisendra, and then the rest of the party move to follow the halfling. Such an exodus draws curious glances, but seeing as its none of their business and you haven't caused any trouble, no one moves to stop you or clock you too obviously. You do notice the innkeeper, Galon, shoot you a suspicious glance however.

Leaving the common room following the halfling, you pass through into a bustling kitchen. A sweaty woman with a spattered apron intently stirs a large cauldron over an open flame - the evening's stew - not sparing you a glance as you hurry by. She does yell out "Cara, where're those tubers, they're not gonna chop themselves!" but who Cara is, and where the tubers are, is not something you spare a moment's thought for. Your focus is on the far door which bangs closed as the halfling ducks into the rear yard of the Ol'Boar.

You push through the door and glance about. The rain has let up somewhat, but being back in the chilly damp instead of the warmth of the common room is less than pleasant. The halfling is making no attempts to hide and is leaning against a neatly stacked pile of firewood, watching for your arrival. In the light spilled out by the kitchen, he smiles with a mouth full of crooked and rotten teeth.

"Ah, ye brought all-a-ya didja? Not smarts, but not my necks gonna be in the noose, eh?" he laughs, then spits on the ground. "So, you likings apples, then?" he asks.

As you emerge into the rear yard and spot the halfling, he flashes you a subtle sign language, the rough - Thieves' Cant equivalent of "can I see your ID / what's the pass phrase?"

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Legitimate Businesswoman

Lilisendra scans the yard, looking for any potential ambush that may lie in wait. Coolly eyeing the halfling, she approaches - but not too close.

"Maybe we are, and maybe we aren't. Given that it's drawn us to your quaint and charming village this fine eve, it seems that certain rumours of certain apples are spreading both far and wide. You look like the kind of fellow who keeps his eyes and ears open, perchance is their anything that you would like to share with us to help us on our quest? Any clue, no matter how insignificant, could be helpful."

Replying in Thieves' Cant/Sign, acknowledging his request, letting him know that I'm new here and I don't know the pass phrase yet.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak, deciding to let the others take the lead, leans his back against the wall of the in, crosses his arms and listens to what everybody has to say.

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

Quelaag is completely lost at the proceedings. Somehow she managed to get partied up with several other people! She doesn't mind, they all seem like nice people and the storyteller is there as well, but it is very sudden. The tortle looks around in confusion, shrugs and decides to see where things land. After all, isn't this what adventurers do?

[Xeno929]

Conundrum makes mental notes to remember to ask his new companion about dealings with shifty looking folk before responding himself. ”Well, I also like living quite a bit. I brought these people for protection, or perhaps assistance? You look like you’d be as capable as you are handsome. You can trust us, I wouldn’t let anyone hurt that face.” Conundrum says in an attempt to be smooth, winking at the end there.

Persuasion:[roll0]
Guidance:[roll1]
16 total

[SithLackey]

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)


You push through the door and glance about. The rain has let up somewhat, but being back in the chilly damp instead of the warmth of the common room is less than pleasant. The halfling is making no attempts to hide and is leaning against a neatly stacked pile of firewood, watching for your arrival. In the light spilled out by the kitchen, he smiles with a mouth full of crooked and rotten teeth.

"Ah, ye brought all-a-ya didja? Not smarts, but not my necks gonna be in the noose, eh?" he laughs, then spits on the ground. "So, you likings apples, then?" he asks.

Kathra is already through the back door before she pauses to think that perhaps everyone exiting the common room through the kitchen all at once is not the wisest way to pursue sensitive information, but of course it is too late to turn back now. She moves to stand under an horse stall or some other kind of overhang in order to get out of the rain, and watches the others enter the yard behind her.

The Elf-y woman certainly seems to be more at home in this situation; perhaps I should have tried to aid her. No, best to help those that need it, and if the Tiefling - Cornudum - starts shouting or playing the pipes again, he's definitely going to need it. As Corundum waxes poetic about the Halfling's good looks, Kathra makes a face that she hopes is not obvious due to her position off to the side.

[atlastrembles]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Legitimate Businesswoman

Lilisendra scans the yard, looking for any potential ambush that may lie in wait. Coolly eyeing the halfling, she approaches - but not too close.

"Maybe we are, and maybe we aren't. Given that it's drawn us to your quaint and charming village this fine eve, it seems that certain rumours of certain apples are spreading both far and wide. You look like the kind of fellow who keeps his eyes and ears open, perchance is their anything that you would like to share with us to help us on our quest? Any clue, no matter how insignificant, could be helpful."

Replying in Thieves' Cant/Sign, acknowledging his request, letting him know that I'm new here and I don't know the pass phrase yet.


The halfling's eyes narrow with suspicion at Lily's Thieves' Cant response. He begins to back away, his eyes darting at the entrance to the alleyway. "Yer not whose I'm supposed ta meet, then! Yer no Zhent! Bah!"


Xeno929
Re: The Fruits of Labour (Tales from the Yawning Portal)

Conundrum makes mental notes to remember to ask his new companion about dealings with shifty looking folk before responding himself. ”Well, I also like living quite a bit. I brought these people for protection, or perhaps assistance? You look like you’d be as capable as you are handsome. You can trust us, I wouldn’t let anyone hurt that face.” Conundrum says in an attempt to be smooth, winking at the end there.


The halfling starts to move away nervously, but the soothing reassurance of Conundrum makes him slow his steps. He turns back with a greedy glint in his eye. "Tha' so, devilman? Trust be costin' you..." he extends a hand while continuing to dart glances at the alleyway exit and at the assembled party.

[SithLackey]

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)

At the Halfling's mention of the Zhentarim, Kathra's eyes widen. She'd read about them, of course, in preparing to travel to the north, but at this exact moment in time she could not escape the feeling that the pages of one of her tomes had reached out and touched her skin. The Zhents were villains (or heroes, depending on your perspective), and here was a man who expected to meet them face to face. I need to know more.

Sensing the little man's agitation, Kathra prepares for the worst. This is not strictly the normal pursuits that the Brightmantle allows, but if there is an opportunity to learn more of both the Zhentarim and these mystical apples, I'm sure he'll understand.

History, re: "Zhents", "Zhentarim"
[roll0]

If the Halfling flees, Kathra will Command him to STOP, DC12.

[atlastrembles]

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)

History, re: "Zhents", "Zhentarim"
[roll0]

If the Halfling flees, Kathra will Command him to STOP, DC12.

Kathra has indeed heard of the Zhentarim and had indeed been instructed to peform a study on their society and organization. You actually remember a snippet of a quote
"Membership in the Zhentarim is like a key to a thousand doors, each one a gateway to fulfilling a personal desire. Most people shy away from this kind of freedom. They like their restraints, laws, and swaddling—it gives them the illusion of security.

The Black Network provides what I need to explore realms and dimensions that would tear apart minds accustomed to limits. Only in such places can I find magic powerful enough to defeat beings that know no such thing as time, fear, or mercy. You might not like the Zhentarim’s methods, but when a demon crawls out of the Abyss and comes for your family, you’ll be glad that I have gone to the darkest of realms to find the answer to your problem.”

— Ianna Asterion


You also know that the Zhentarim, or Black Network, is an organization of well-trained mercenaries, magic users, and other unscrupulous, power hungry individuals who seek to expand their influence throughout Faerûn. They believe wealth is power and are, as a society, ambitious, opportunistic, and meritocratic. Members are granted enough autonomy to pursue their own interests and gain some measure of personal power or influence.

Their symbol is a flying snake.

https://i.imgur.com/nWgxquZ.jpg

[Xeno929]

Bram “Conundrum” Viridian
Tiefling Bard Out of his Depths

Conundrum looks at the halfling with mischievous glance, while secretly trying to recall why the name he said sounds a little familiar. History [roll0]

“Sir, I’m not sure I’m comfortable doing THAT in public. Perhaps we could rent a room in this tavern?” Conundrum laughs at himself before continuing “Unless of course it’s money you’re looking for? Perhaps information we could trade? While they’re not as fun, we could make a deal I suppose. What do you have in mind?”

I’m not sure if you’d like a persuasion roll for that: [roll1]

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-Elf Wallet Inspector

Lilisendra suppresses a grimace as the halfling mentions the Zhents. She had crossed paths with agents of the Black Network more than once in her previous life - given her line of work it was almost impossible not to run into them at some point. At least that explains his interest in the tiefling... she notes the lack of acknowledgement from the minstrel ...though it appears to be a case of mistaken identity. Still, if the Zhentarim are interested in these fabled apples it adds weight that there is more truth than rumour behind the tales, though knowing the Zhents they're probably trying to prevent any cure to Avanaria's illness from reaching the Marquise - they might even be the source of the malady in the first place!

She smiles charmingly at the halfling. "Just because we're not exactly who you were expecting doesn't mean that we're not interested in whatever information you might on offer; I'm sure that our coin will spend just as handsomely as anyone else's will. But trust is a street that runs both ways; how about some evidence that you're not just offering up rehashed tavern gossip?"

Persuasion: [roll0]

[atlastrembles]

Bram “Conundrum” Viridian
Tiefling Bard Out of his Depths

Conundrum looks at the halfling with mischievous glance, while secretly trying to recall why the name he said sounds a little familiar. History [roll0]

“Sir, I’m not sure I’m comfortable doing THAT in public. Perhaps we could rent a room in this tavern?” Conundrum laughs at himself before continuing “Unless of course it’s money you’re looking for? Perhaps information we could trade? While they’re not as fun, we could make a deal I suppose. What do you have in mind?”

I’m not sure if you’d like a persuasion roll for that: [roll1]


She smiles charmingly at the halfling. "Just because we're not exactly who you were expecting doesn't mean that we're not interested in whatever information you might on offer; I'm sure that our coin will spend just as handsomely as anyone else's will. But trust is a street that runs both ways; how about some evidence that you're not just offering up rehashed tavern gossip?"

The halfling looks back and forth between the tiefling and the half-elf, greed shining in his eyes. "Two apples, one of red, one of white, I knows where they grows, but won't be sayings without some coins. Somewhere's deep'n'dark, not far, not far. For more, a likkle coin goes long ways with Nilbok it does, it does, knife-ear. Ten crowns for what's I knows.

[Xeno929]

Conundrum heard the Halfling’s price with a little disbelief, and decides to hand over all negotiating to Lily.
”Ten crowns? Oh no no no, at best I’ll give you half that and a hug!” He looks over at the Halfling with arms outstretched for a moment. Persuasion [roll0] “Here I thought we had something special Nilbok, we had history! Like that time we were at the tavern and had a nice conversation out back.” Conundrum rants as he turns towards Lily and says “You seem more than capable of negotiating with this man that I thought was my friend, please talk some sense into him.”
Giving lily a bardic inspiration, can add a d6 to attack/ability check/saving throw in the next ten minutes.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood

Lilisendra gives a small disappointed sigh as the halfling names his price. "You see my dear... Nilbok, is it? The trouble with selling information is that the more people that know something, the less valuable that information is; indeed, if it's something that everyone knows, it's practically worthless!" She spreads her hands in a placating gesture. "The problem we have here is that we already have another potential supplier of the same information, which decreases the value of your information; and we already know that you're planning to sell the same information to someone else, which decreases its value even further! I think that two crowns is a fair price, don't you? You can still sell to your other customer, and you're two crowns the richer for having supplied the information to us. Of course, you could always refuse; but then you run the risk that we could speak to your potential customers and potentially point them in the direction of our other source, in which case you end up with... naught." She looks saddened by this possible outcome.

[atlastrembles]

Behind the Ol'Boar Inn

"Aye, fine we's got a deal paleskin. Two crowns an' I'll tell you what's I knowsis. The halfling greedily shoves the offered coins into his beltpouch, wrining his hands in delight.

Thems are magic apples, grown in dank darkness so they are. A taste of death and a taste of life, oh ho yes yes. Nilbok tells peoples, Zhent, Harp, where to gets apples, waitings at the crumble keep off th'Old Road near the Ashwaste. Not far from hereses. Two krablerz dwarf posts marks th'entrance. Ware th'bushes 'long the way, though, nothin' good grows inna Wastes, not fer long time. Other peoples, goody peoples likes you go t'other day. Maybes you finds them He laughs cruelly and evilly Maybe yous wont's. Now leave Nilbok.

The halfling starts backing away, keeping a wary eye on the group.

You recognize the word "krablerz" as a common insult in Undercommon

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak fliped a pair of gold coins to the Halfling when Lilly had finished haggling him down.

It had been an interesting thing to watch to say the least, and they'd managed to talk the little creature far lower than he'd have thought to do had he been there by himself.

As the halfling fled Jarrak bit his tongue to keep form pointing out that Nilbok was the one leaving them.

With a shrug he looked at the others, "Well, I suppose I should say my bit now then."

He sighed then pushed off the wall to stand at his full height, "I intend to investigate this information as I have designs for an apple. I aim to see that at least one makes it's way to Lady Avanaria."

"Should their be more? I make no claims to them and have no issues with any plans any may have for them. And I will happily share any reward that may come of this endeavor. And I have heard the reward for Lady Avanaria's returned health is a modest amount of gold. Even split between all of us here it would be close to 80 gold each."

He pauses then looks a little sheepish realizing he's allowed himself to get sidetracked, "I welcome anybody who would care to join me in this effort. I plan to leave in the morning. The rewards might not be as plentiful, but there is safety in numbers."

"If you are at odds with my plans, I am sorry to hear that. I bear you no ill will, and no malice but I'm afraid we'll be racing to see who gets there first."

He gives the assembled people a small smile, and a slight bow.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Splishy Splashy Fishcuddler

She didn't trust the halfling in the slightest, but perhaps a group would suffice against any ambush. The azure druid grinned as Jarrak spoke. Her blue eyes met his.
"This one has no objections to working with you... the shoal is stronger for its size. Perhaps the river of fate has had us flow together, yes? This one needs an apple, certainly. We shall see if we can find them!"

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tielfing Adventurer

Conundrum looks at the people around him warmingly, pleased by the seemingly altruistic motives guiding their search for the Apples. “Now, I don’t have any specific use for the Apples, but I’d love to study them and document their discovery and how they work. I’d much rather have meat shields, I mean entertainment and friends than search for them on my own.” he chuckles as he continues “I’m all for teaming up if you’d have me!” Conundrum smiles from ear to ear as his tail flicks in excitement a few times while he talks.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-Elf Negotiator

Lilisendra profusely thanks Nilbok and wishes him all the best in his endeavours; though it's difficult to tell if she's being sincere or sarcastic.

Once the halfling has departed, she turns to the others. "Shall we return to the comfort of the common room before continuing our discussions? It's a little chilly out here."

When they are seated in a more pleasant (to her at least) environment, she introduces herself. "To those to whom I haven't already made my acquaintances, I am Lilisendra Ravenswood of Waterdeep, but my friends call me Lily. I am more than amenable to joining forces with those who are seeking the apples, provided that your goals align with my own - obtaining an apple for Lady Avanaria of Mirabar. Given that the halfling Nilbok seems to be inclined to sell his information to anyone, including the Zhentarim, it's possible that we may be contending with other groups chasing the apples; either for their own purposes, or merely to prevent any form of healing from reaching Lady Avanaria - I'm sure that there are many who would see benefit in her demise, and I, for one, would rather not see their goals realised."

She assumes a business-like expression. "Now, with regards to what is known, in the version of the tale that I heard there are but two fruit per year, one for life and one for death. Should this prove true, can we please agree that the priority is Lady Avanaria's health, over and above any study? We don't know if the whole fruit needs to be consumed for its properties to work, and I'd hate for us to have wasted our efforts and possibly endangered Lady Avanaria because someone took a slice for the purposes of study. I'm sure that we're all reasonable people here, and some kind of accord can be achieved?" She pauses to have a sip of her drink before continuing. "While the halfling's information may be accurate, I suggest that we follow up on another lead, which I am willing to share as a sign of good faith, before departing in the morn. I have learned from the serving maid, and Nilbok seems to have confirmed, that another group have already ventured after the apples. Two of the party members were locals, children of one Kerowyn Hucrele who runs the Oaken Sundry, next door to the tavern. I suggest that we speak with them first and see what might be learned; it shouldn't take too long, and who knows what benefit information might be gained? Is this agreeable?"

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tailed Bard of the GODS!!

The Tiefling laughs wholeheartedly at lily’s words for a moment before calming down. “I know we have yet to become familiar beyond acquaintances, but if you knew me you’d know why that’s funny. I do not intend to defile either Apple, that could introduce many unforeseen complications. When dealing with the unknown, I prefer to have as few variables as possible. I’ll just write what I see, such as it’s appearance, perhaps where it comes from, and how it works. That’s if we get to see how they give it to the lady Avanaria. ava-NA-ria, A-va-naria, ava-na-RIA. Hmm what a name, no?” Apologies, I don't seem to stop speaking once I start..” Conundrum shyly bows his head and begins to twiddle his fingers, his adrenaline running out from the interaction with the unknown Halfling, and his normal more shy self returning.
”...but yes that sounds like an agreeable way to continue our search.”

[SithLackey]

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)

Kathra eyes the Halfling warily as he scuttles away, muttering her own insults in dwarvish. As likely as not, the "posts" he so rudely degraded were monuments of an ancient surface tribe, not that anyone would appreciate the fact. However, he fades from her mind nearly as quickly as he fades from her sight, and her attention turns to her companions.

The tall folk certainly were bold; more bold than she had seen even in her protracted journey from the south. A chance encounter in the yard of a tavern, and suddenly they wanted to form a group and embark on a quest for the magical apples. Her people often spoke of the elves as impulsive and arrogant, so she expected as much from Jarrak and Lily, it was the others she was more surprised by. The Genasi , the Tiefling with the unfortunate name, and the Tortle. Surprised or no, she has no doubts about joining this odd band, regardless of what the rewards might be. There were simply too many interesting possibilities to ignore.

"If there's a group setting out after the apples, that's where I'll want to be. I'm not much in a fight, despite appearances," she gestures at the scales of her coat and skirt, "but my position in the priesthood gives me some power with healing. Although hopefully we won't need it, of course. Just that we might, if the Zhentarim are involved."

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

As the proceedings err...proceed, the Tortle becomes increasingly confused and lost until finally she decides to mostly nod along to whatever is being said. When all is said and done, apparently they were all a 'party' of adventurers now. How it happened and how she managed to get swept into everything, she had even less of an idea. Deciding that what was done was apparently done, Quelaag decides to just go with it. Besides, it seems her fellow adventurers were willing to get the magic apple to the poor Lady Avanaria. But of course they were willing to! They were adventurers after all and bad people didn't become adventurers!

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tiefling Adventurer

Conundrum nods in agreement to what the dwarf says, catching himself nodding at the same time as the tortle. He glances over for a moment with a gleam in his eye until he hears the word Zhentarim and pulls out his book and pen. “There’s that name again, Zhentarim, Nilbok thought I was one? What is that to begin with? I’ve only just begun my quest for knowledge so I’ve yet to come across that name. If I were to make an educated guess, it’s a group of extremely attractive but misunderstood individuals?” the Tiefling says jokingly ”Well, I’m just basing that on the fact that I was mistaken for one.”

[SithLackey]

Kathra Goldenbeard
Gold Dwarf | Initiate of Dugmaren Brightmantle | Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1530555)


“There’s that name again, Zhentarim, Nilbok thought I was one? What is that to begin with? I’ve only just begun my quest for knowledge so I’ve yet to come across that name. If I were to make an educated guess, it’s a group of extremely attractive but misunderstood individuals?” the Tiefling says jokingly ”Well, I’m just basing that on the fact that I was mistaken for one.”

"The Zhentarim have as many motives as they have members, but in my reading those motives are rarely pure. Nilbok did not seem to bear the level of... menace that I would expect of the Zhents, and as he also mentioned the Harp, I suspect he is just a common money-grubber. I only fear that the local youths have been seduced by promises of resources that should otherwise be outside of their reach."

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Walking puddle

"This one wonders if this Huclere may be displeased, if their children have run off with vagabonds to seek treasure. It is worth talking to them, certainly, but this one is aware she has little way with words."
The cerulean druid nodded thoughtfully, having retrieved her drink, as Kathra described the Zhentarim. She perched cross-legged on a stool, and was balanced somewhat precariously on the narrow chair. She tapped a blue finger thoughtfully against her lips.
"This one would not trust him. There is a foul air about him, and not just the smell!"

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"That's because you are not a fool," Jarrak notes with a small smile, "Real trust is earned. And trusting a person who'll sell you information for money is rarely a wise choice. After all, if they'll sell out somebody else, why wouldn't they sell you out?"

He looks over to Conundrum, "I suspect that the halfling mistook you for a Zhent agent is because he was probably waiting for a Teifling."

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Apple Tart

Lilisendra appears pleased that the group seems to have reached an agreement with how best to proceed with the apples - once they had obtained one, of course!


"I suspect that the halfling mistook you for a Zhent agent is because he was probably waiting for a Teifling."
Lily nods. "That, or he merely made the false assumption that you where a Zhent, as folk of your lineage are oft attracted to that organisation. The Zhentarim are political, mercantile, and militant organisation that operates all over Faerun. They are mostly interested in acquiring wealth, power, and influence; and have a reputation of being both very efficient and very brutal." She gives a delicate shudder. "I have heard tales that if you become too heavily involved with the Zhentarim, the only way to leave is posthumously."


"This one wonders if this Huclere may be displeased, if their children have run off with vagabonds to seek treasure. It is worth talking to them, certainly, but this one is aware she has little way with words."
"Kerowyn Hucrele may be displeased that their children ran off to seek treasure, but it doesn't sound like they went with vagabonds. From what the serving maid told me, the Hucrele children left for Mirabar some time ago to learn the arts of blade- and mage-craft; and they recently returned with two well-equipped companions, chasing the same rumours as we are." She smiles at the blue-skinned woman. "Fear not; when it comes to talking, I suspect that I have more enough skill in that regard to keep us covered."


"If there's a group setting out after the apples, that's where I'll want to be. I'm not much in a fight, despite appearances," she gestures at the scales of her coat and skirt, "but my position in the priesthood gives me some power with healing. Although hopefully we won't need it, of course. Just that we might, if the Zhentarim are involved."

"You're a priestess?" Lilisendra says, a little surprised. "That is fortuitous; I'm most certain that your blessings and prayers will serve us well on our adventure. As for fighting, I'm certain that master Jarrak's skill at arms will keep us all well protected should battle occur; and I have some small skill with blade and bow, should the need to defend ourselves arise."

[atlastrembles]

The party, coming to agreement in the rear of the Ol'Board Inn, shakes hands and proceeds to their rooms. The rain doesn't cease as they sleep, and the steady rhythm of the downpour on the roof of the inn lulls you one by one into dreams of shady deals, thieves in the night, and, of course, apples.

(deduct 5 SP from your sheets)

------

You awaken to daylight pouring through the windows. It seems the storm has well and truly passed, leaving behind muddy roads that steam in the cloudless morning. Birds chirp and last night's journey and strange encounter seem almost dreamlike. You gather in the common room, a strange but still awkward friendship blossoming among the gathered individuals. You share a meal of hearty brown bread, pots of butter, sides of salted ham, and, ironically, withered red apples, the last of the winter stock.

What do you do next?

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Early Bird Seeking the Worm

The Tiefling scarfs down his ham and grabs the bread, offering it up as a trading token for more ham. “I’ll give this delicious, fluffy bread for any ham that comes my way! I promise you will not regret your decision and that I will appreciate your gift to the fullest!” Persuade [roll0]
Conundrum hopes someone takes up his offer, placing the bread back down and pushes his plate forward to receive ham. He then questions the group “So, these Hucrele peopel yes? Let’s go talk to them first?”

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

***

Sleep was a fleeting thing. Lily’s well-meaning comments had awoke memories he thought he’d left behind, and he found himself waking from a nightmare, trying to go back to sleep only to find himself waking from the same nightmare again.

Eventually he conceded defeat and found himself outside of the inn, out behind the building stripped to the waist going through his sword forms over and over again. No matter how many times he went through motion after motion he could feel the fault in each movement. In each one they were either too slow, too sloppy, lacking power, or to powerful leaving him over extended.

He repeated the actions silently until finally setting his sword down and dousing himself in a bucket of water from the well. He wasn’t the man he’d been ten years ago. He wasn’t the formidable and skilled swordsman that had struck feat into the enemies of his hometown.

Now he was a wanderer, unknown and faceless. His arm had recovered, but his skills had never returned. And yet, he reminded himself, he was happier for it.

In ten years nobody remembered the Lion of Blackmoore, but across many a small town people remembered a roadworn traveler. They remembered the medicine, the stories, and the hope a lone blade had brought. And he’d got to see those he was actually helping.

In his years as a solider he’d done many things, but he’d always been apart from the people.

Now, in the middle of them, he’d found himself again.

He dried himself off, gathered his gear, retreated from the cold morning and into the warm embrace of the fire in the common room.

***

"I'm afraid a tongue more silver than yours would be needed to separate me from my ham this morning," Jarrak says with a smile in mock apology to Conundrum.

"Didn't Lily check with them last night?" He asks looking around the table, "I was honestly hoping to do any last minute shopping and start on the road."

Truthfully if he was willing to admit it to himself he was being a little unreasonable. Going out with only a few random hints at where they could find their goal wasn't the smartest move, and learning more could be always be helpful. But then they were trying to find something that nobody could even prove even existed, and every day that passed could render their end goal meaningless.

Lady Avanaria's health was on the decline, and there were no promises how long they would have.

What was the worse risk? Setting out and not finding anything or waiting too long to start and getting back too late? He didn't have the answers, but in his heart he had faith that what he searched for was waiting for him on the road.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Loafing around

Lilisendra breaks her fast in a slightly more refined manner than Conundrum, delicately slicing thin pieces of ham and tearing the bread with her slender fingers before buttering; though she does attempt to mischieviously snaffle some bread from the tiefling's platter when he's not looking.

Sleight of Hand: [roll0]


In response to Jarrak's question, Lily raises an eyebrow at the sweaty swordsman before replying. "No, I did not speak with Kerowyn Hucrele last night, because I was cold, I was tired from my travels, and given the lateness of the hour, I sincerely doubt that they would appreciate being disturbed. I think that we will find he or she in a much more agreeable manner in the morning. As for last minute shopping and getting on the road, you're in luck there - if you recall, Kerowyn runs the store next door."

[atlastrembles]

(Lily is right, Kerowyn Hucrele was not engaged last night, but you did learn that she is the owner of the shop next door to the Ol'Boar Inn, the Oaken Sundry. If Jarrak wants to do a bit of shopping, you could kill two birds with one stone and head over to her shop when you're done breakfast. Let me know when you're ready to head out).

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
The thing that goes bump in the bath

The sound of the rain had soothed the strange druid into sleep. Last night, she'd spent some time filling the bathtub and slept in that, the soft flow of water in her lungs comforting.

In the breakfast meal, she ate with quick movements - pulling off chunks and tossing her head back to swallow them half-unchewed, like a beast. As the tiefling's offer, she laughed.
"This one will keep her meat, and it will be kept in her belly in particular."

Mildly curious, she looked at Jarrak.
"What do you iuntend to buy? This one finds the wilds can provide what she needs for most things."

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"Ah, you see I don't need anything personally, but I have no idea if everybody has enough food, warm clothes, a proper bedroll," He shrugged as he took another bite of his breakfast, "If not, well, now would be the time to get it because believe me there is nothing worse then shivering in the rain on a cold night is not much fun."

He glanced from the tortle to the druid, "Well, for most of us. I'm sure you understand my meaning."

[atlastrembles]

Finishing up your meals, the group leaves the Ol'Boar Inn, bidding a goodbye to the innkeeper. Stepping into the sunlight, they feel its warmth on their skin, a feeling they haven't felt in several months. It's only momentary, however, as they head next door to the Oaken Sundry to pick up some items before their adventure truly begins. It is a sturdy, modest shop, with a long counter running the length of the store, dividing the store into two sections; the first quarter of the store near the entrance is mostly empty, save for a few barrels and shelves, and the rear three-quarters behind the counter, which contains barrels, boxes, shelves, and assorted other storage solutions for the Sundry's many sundries.

A middle-aged human woman looks up from the counter when you enter. She has brown hair and green eyes and gives a brief, if distracted, smile at the party, and especially at Jarrak. As her eyes rove over the party, she tries to suppress the surprise at seeing the tortle, the water genasi, and the tiefling. "Ah, uh, good morning t'you. Welcome to the Oaken Sundry. I can bet your adventurers, no, no, I know I'm right. Y'look like the sort my kids were tangled up with." She sighs. "What can Kerowyn get ye? Guarantee you'll not find a better price even in Mirabar, Lady be saved."

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Teifling Charmer

Conundrum smiles politely back at the human woman, adjusting his clothing a bit as she mentions adventurers. “Well you’ve already given us plenty m’lady, and don’t be intimidated by my devilishly good looks.” he winks at her. He continues “Saving the lady Avanaria is actually our goal, and we were hoping you knew of where your children ran off to. We didn’t know them, but it seems we have similar goals and perhaps they could join with us? Strength and safety in numbers and whatnot.”

The Tielfing continues to smile politely at Kerowyn while his tail gently caresses a steel mirror on the counter.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Smooth Criminal

Lilisendra glares at Conundrum, then gives a pleasant smile to Kerowyn. "Good morning, ma'am; please forgive the abrupt manner of my companion, he's a little misguided sometimes. While I'm certain that your products are indeed fairly priced, what we are mostly interested in is information. We have heard tell that your children - Talgen and Sharwyn, I believe - went off adventuring with a swordsman and an archer. As my friend has somewhat bluntly mentioned, we are interested in anything that you might be able to tell us about where they went and what they were questing after. We believe that we may have a similar quest, and we might be able to assist each other in achieving our desired outcomes. Any assistance at all will be most appreciated."

[atlastrembles]

The shopkeeper looks back and forth between Conundrum and Lilisendra, weighing them with her eyes. She seems to make up her mind about something and then responds. "So yer goin' after them apples, too, is it?" Kerowyn sighs. "Well, on yer heads be it and all that. I could never control my children, though at least if'n they got some trainin' in Mirabar they could protect themselves. Tal and Shar came by t'say their hellos and g'byes just th'other day, then they took off down the Old Road with that holy knight and 'is shady friend. Like you, said they were gunna save Avanaria, bring honour t'our family an' all that. Damn fools. Look, they said they were headed to them ruins out in th'Ashen Plain. Can't miss it, look fer the stone pillars 'bout two or three hours south of here.

She looks at you imploringly and wrings her hands, her brave front crumbling a bit. I'm sick with worry over 'em. If ye can convince 'em t'come back - in one piece mind ye - I'll make it worth yer while. She wipes a tear from her eye and continues in a faltering voice "An if th'worst happens, bring back somethin' or theirs fer a lonely mother. Somethin' o' theirs so I can remember them."

[Xeno929]

Conundrum’s smile fades for a moment as the worried mother pleads for her children’s safety, and he sternly says ”Ma’am, I PROMISE you I will do all that I can to bring them back.” He looks away for a moment, and his face turns towards her again but with a smile again. “Now, i’d like to purchase some items. I’d like a pouch, 5 pieces of chalk, a chicken and some feed for a few days. You can keep the change.” He places a gold and 5 silvers on the table.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak smiles at the woman, "I wouldn't worry too much. Chances are we're the ones on a fool's errand, doomed to march behind your boys as they return triumphant."

He sighs, "To be honest we heard the same directions from another. It sounds like a solid lead but we're probably going to be too late to do anything but congratulate your boys."

He shrugs and smiles again, "Ah, well, should still make for a good story, hm?"

[atlastrembles]

Kerowyn smiles at Jarrak and Conundrum and thanks them for their agreeing to help. She then gets the tiefling the items he requested, not batting an eye at the strangeness of his request. "Best of luck, adventurers, and please bring my babies back safe if y'can. They're all I have left. Mind the roads, now, and 'ware yourselves."

What does the party do next?

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Teifling Father of a Chicken

Conundrum walks outside, shoving his chalk pieces in a pocket. He finds a spot for the feed in his backpack, taking a small amount in his hand and guides the chicken outside with him. He pets his new chicken, and stares at it for a while. He finally opens his mouth and says ”My Queen” while kneeling before her. He raises the chicken above himself before the group and announces “All hail Queen Andraste!”

He places her on the ground and talks to his allies “Shall we continue to our destination perhaps?”

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"I suspect we should get on the road. Short of hiring a guide there is little more we can do, and honestly I don't suspect we have need of one," He notes, settling his pack on his back, and adjusting his shield and sword.

Jarrak considers the chicken with a mild bit of concern, "You may wish to put a leash on, ah, Queen Andraste. Chickens and royalty are notorious for wandering off if not carefully watched."

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-Elf Treasure Seeker

Lilisendra assures the shopkeeper that they will do their utmost to find and return with her children, and thanks her for her assistance. She also makes several purchases (a mess kit, a couple of torches, a vial, a flask, some chalk, candles, and a sheet of parchment) from the shop before departing.

* * *

Outside the shop, she smiles and shakes her head in bemusement at the tiefling's antic. "I suppose that we could consider this a poultry attempt at humour?"

Adopting a more serious expression, she confers with her allies. "The matter of the Hucrele children gives me some concern... if their destination is only two or three hours march from here, yet they left the other day, it leads me to believe that there are two possibilities. One; they have already succeeded in acquiring an apple, and have departed for Mirabar without returning to Oakhurst first." She frowns. "Personally, I consider this possible but highly unlikely. Two; they have encountered considerable difficulty on their quest, and may be lost, injured, trapped, or worse. In which case, it's probably best that we proceed with caution, especially once we reach our destination."

She glances at Conundrum. "Yes, it might be best keeping a tight rein on Queen Andraste lest she end up as chicken à la king. Now, let's get moving whilst the weather still favours us."

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Splish splash dish dash

The water genasi had just poked around the shop while the others talked, having little interest in purchasing anything. Now the tiefling had a chicken, however, she regarded it with the hungry eyes of a shark. She grinned. Her teeth were remarkably sharp looking.
"This one is glad to see you thought ahead. It will be good eating on the road! This one prefers fish, but birds do quite well, too."
Perching on a fencepost, she regarded Lili's statement.
"This one would consider it anticlimatic if the fruit had already been found. This one would agree with caution, but there might be a third option; there was little enough danger, but what they sought wasn't there, and they left for somewhere else. A middle ground between doom and glory, yes?"

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Devil Knight of Andraste

Conundrum laughs uproariously at the jokes he hears, preparing to respond to her before the second joke hits him. He laughs hard for a while until he hears the Genasi’s plan for the chicken. He stares the Genasi with almost murderous intent, or at least that’s how it looks, and pulls out his book and starts writing. ”SO, water Genasi seem to be cruel and heretical! Not sure if it is a racial feature or a learned behavior...” He finishes some notes, and grabs his chicken, holding her against himself and away from the Genasi. She clucks idly and Conundrum reacts as if listening to an order. “Hmm yes my queen, I agree with this course of action.” He looks back at the group and responds “hmm yes something might have gone wrong, we should make haste. If you’d allow me but a moment!” And he runs back inside the store, and returns without his chicken.

”I asked her to keep the queen safe while we traveled, I’ll return for her later. Let’s make our way to save the Hecerele children or assist them if luck is in both our favors. I’d like to walk and talk to this.. Tortle you say? While we travel to our destination.” Conundrum grips the copper wire on his finger and whispers a message to Quelagg “If you do not mind, I’d love to learn more about you and your people.”

[always_confused]

Conundrum
Devil Knight of Andraste

Conundrum laughs uproariously at the jokes he hears, preparing to respond to her before the second joke hits him. He laughs hard for a while until he hears the Genasi’s plan for the chicken. He stares the Genasi with almost murderous intent, or at least that’s how it looks, and pulls out his book and starts writing. ”SO, water Genasi seem to be cruel and heretical! Not sure if it is a racial feature or a learned behavior...” He finishes some notes, and grabs his chicken, holding her against himself and away from the Genasi. She clucks idly and Conundrum reacts as if listening to an order. “Hmm yes my queen, I agree with this course of action.” He looks back at the group and responds “hmm yes something might have gone wrong, we should make haste. If you’d allow me but a moment!” And he runs back inside the store, and returns without his chicken.

”I asked her to keep the queen safe while we traveled, I’ll return for her later. Let’s make our way to save the Hecerele children or assist them if luck is in both our favors. I’d like to walk and talk to this.. Tortle you say? While we travel to our destination.” Conundrum grips the copper wire on his finger and whispers a message to Quelagg “If you do not mind, I’d love to learn more about you and your people.”

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

Feeling lost and somewhat left out, Quelaag was overjoyed at the opportunity to converse with one of her new companions. Lumbering over to the Tiefling, she sends a whisper back, "Oh! I don't mind in the slightest! Where to begin though? What did you want to know in particular? To start, I suppose I'll try and sum up with a popular haiku we have. It goes -

I caught a big fish.
Now I search for a good friend
to share my lunch with.

There are two ways to take it. The less adventurous among us take it at face value. We eat, drink and make merry with friends and close ones and repeat as the days go on. For the more adventurous among us...well, the haiku never specified how big the fish was or how far one might have to search to find a 'good friend', did it?"

[atlastrembles]

The party, freshly supplied and de-chickened, determine to follow up on Kerowyn Hucrele's request to track down her children and their mysterious companions. That they were potentially competing with them to secure the rumoured apples - and thus for Avanaria's favour and reward - did not occur to the good-hearted folks. Or at least not openly. Debating amongst themselves what might be the case occupies their time as they leave Oakhurst behind, heading south on the Old Road.

The small town swiftly falls away as the party follows the disused path. Though in relatively good repair close to the town, the road quickly becomes fragmented and patchy as they travel. Pieces of stone jut up from the path and weeds grow in and through the old wheel ruts that define its course. Although the party sees a few paths branching out from the Old Road within the first hour of travel heading to distant farmsteads they can see in the distance, there is no other evidence of civilization along this abandonned road. After an hour or so even those small farmstead paths disappear and the party notices that the spring vegetation begins to look sickly and stunted and patches of bare earth reveal themselves among the rolling fields to either side of the path. About five miles from Oakhurst the only sound they can hear now is the wind sighing desultorily through dead trees and the skeletal branches of bare bushes and hedges that scramble for purchase in the dusty earth.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3272/2496959629_a5969e60de_b.jpg

The party has pushed into the Ashen Plain proper now, the land around them a blasted wasteland of grey mud and rock, interrupted only occasionally by woody plantlife hardly worth the description of living. After another couple hours of travel and the sun sits just past halfway through the sky, the party having started early on their journey into the wastes. Suddenly, the Old Road veers west; the reason is apparent just as suddenly. A narrow canyon yawns where the Old Road turns, a dark scar against the grey barren plains. It tracks the now-westerly-running Old Road, stretching first five feet wide, then ten, then twenty and thirty. At its widest point so far - a full sixty feet or so wide, the party spies a number of regular shapes rising up on the south side of the Old Road. At first they're just crumbled heaps of stone, but then two shapes bring them up short and clarify what they're looking at. Stone pillars in various states of decay mark the edge of the canyon and two stand perfectly upright. They are carved in runes that Kathra, Lilisendra, Jarrak, and Quelaag immediately recognize as Dwarven. However, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the carvings. Although they're written with dwarvish letters, they don't translate into anything the four of you can understand.

Tied to one of the pillars is a rope which trails over the edge of the canyon and falls away into the darkness...

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak watched as Conundrum retreated with his chicken in tow then chuckled, "I think he means it to be a pet, not dinner."

"An odd choice, but I do enjoy eggs with breakfast," he grins.

***

He held a cheerful upbeat mood until the Ashen plains, where he grew quiet and solemn. Drawn into memories many decades ago, deadened by age, but brought forth by the location.

He paused to run the soil through his fingers. This was no land for any living being to be, and he would know. Sighing he stood, letting the soil blow away in the wind, and moving to keep up with the others.

So many old memories in such a short time. It had been an odd week so far.

***

As he looked at the pillars he gave it a funny look then sighed and shook his head. Nonsense words? Some kind of code? Or just some young dwarves playing a trick? Or just from a time so old that the meanings had changed?

He shrugged off his backpack and dug through it to pull out some rope, tying it off near the other one.

"So, who should go first?" He asks, looking to the others, "Best choices would be the one least likely to be noticed, or the one who can best fight while reinforcements come."

"I'll beg your pardon, I do not mean to be paranoid, but these lands are... unforgiving."

There was really no telling what they would find on the way down.

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Visibly...Vigilant Virtuoso

Throughout the few hours journey to the ashen plains, Conundrum hounds the tortle with questions, ranging from diet and physiological questions to personal beliefs and cultural traditions. He writes pages full of notes with answers, barely noticing their trip until they arrive at their destination. He notices the perplexion in the faces of the ones attempting to read the inscriptions. He tries his best to replicate he images on the stone to later investigate them some more. He stares blankly at Jarrak while he suggest someone down first. ”I have an idea, how about I go somewhere in the middle? Big strong people guarding our back, sneaky in front, and me comfortably sandwiched between decoys... I mean valiant heroes.” Conundrum hides behind his new tortle friend while people make decisions.


Sample Questions for Quelagg from Conundrum, ramblings and such. You don’t have to answer them all:
“Does your diet have any effect on the sturdy ness of your shell?

Do your people adorn your shells with jewelry or clothing of some sort? Perhaps paints and dyes?

Why did you become an adventurer? Why have I not seen more of your people in my life? Are you a new race? Oh, do you have an interesting and secretive genesis story!?

How old are you? Is that on the higher end of ages for your kind? What is the custom for namedays or birthdays with your kind?”

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
water genasi of the druid variety

The water genasi had become more and more morose as the amount of life had decreased. She scowled as she scuffed her bare feet through the blackened soil.
"This one does not like these plains. There is little living here, it seems. Certainly not the full rivers of this one's home! A bad place."

She tapped the stone pillars with their nonsense-dwarfish.
"This one wonders the point of these. This one cannot read the dwarf-runes, but even so, they seem without rhyme or reason. Unless one of you can enlighten this one?"

She dropped to her belly and wriggled up to the brink of the canyon to peer over without risk of falling, seeing what she can see. She muttered to herself, closed her hand, and opened it to reveal a tiny splash of water cupped in her palm- and flung it off the canyon, trusting the magic of it to guide her eyes to anything important.
"Perhaps it is wise to see what we can before deciding to go down - many hungry mouths in darkness, yes?"


Casting guidance, and rolling perception
[roll0]+[roll1]=19

[always_confused]

Conundrum
Visibly...Vigilant Virtuoso

Throughout the few hours journey to the ashen plains, Conundrum hounds the tortle with questions, ranging from diet and physiological questions to personal beliefs and cultural traditions. He writes pages full of notes with answers, barely noticing their trip until they arrive at their destination. He notices the perplexion in the faces of the ones attempting to read the inscriptions. He tries his best to replicate he images on the stone to later investigate them some more. He stares blankly at Jarrak while he suggest someone down first. ”I have an idea, how about I go somewhere in the middle? Big strong people guarding our back, sneaky in front, and me comfortably sandwiched between decoys... I mean valiant heroes.” Conundrum hides behind his new tortle friend while people make decisions.


Sample Questions for Quelagg from Conundrum, ramblings and such. You don’t have to answer them all:
“Does your diet have any effect on the sturdy ness of your shell?

Do your people adorn your shells with jewelry or clothing of some sort? Perhaps paints and dyes?

Why did you become an adventurer? Why have I not seen more of your people in my life? Are you a new race? Oh, do you have an interesting and secretive genesis story!?

How old are you? Is that on the higher end of ages for your kind? What is the custom for namedays or birthdays with your kind?”



Quelaag
Tortle Monk

"Our diet? Not particularly no. Obviously, as with most other races I believe, a good diet and exercise ensures an individual is healthier and more energetic but the sturdiness of our shells remains the same.

It depends. Former adventurers adorn themselves with some trinkets from their adventures - the farther it came from, the more impressive - but those that refuse the call of adventure tend not to. A sturdy weapon in hand to fend off the dangers of our island-home and safeguard our community - such as it is - and a pack of essentials is considered enough.

Becoming an adventurer is something that the vast majority of us Tortles do. Once we reach adulthood - 15 years, which also happens to be how old I am! - we all feel the urge to go on an adventure and see and experience new things. Most venture out for just a few months and mostly to nearby areas, others explore for years and years only returning much later in life to find a mate and lay a clutch of eggs.

Why you haven't seen more of us is a question I can't answer, my friend. The Snout of Omgar, my home island, is somewhat out of the way but hardly a long lost forgotten area of the world. I do have a theory though. As far as I know, I'm the only one in recent memory - and one of the few in our Island's entire history -to venture in this 'direction', so to speak. The vast majority of us prefer to venture out to the mainland of Chult. Even the least adventurous among us will visit the mainland, if only to hone our survival skills. One of the elders back home spent his adventuring years as a dinosaur racer of some fame and came back home with several to serve as both pets and guard animals. Imagine that! Those of us that do venture into the more...urban areas of the world often head to the city of Baldur's Gate, most of our contact with what you might call the civilized folk is with the Flaming Fists, the guards and protectors of 'The Gate' as they call it, if I'm not mistaken. As for the myths and legends of our genesis, you'll have to travel to the Snout, yourself, and ask our druids I'm afraid.

As I mentioned before I happen to be 15 years of age, which is when the youths of our kind are officially considered adults. On an average, we live up to 50 years. Very short for most races, I believe. We do not experience any loss of strength or energy even in our old age, however, and it is often said that the only thing we Tortles lose with age is our sense of adventure. But even that is debatable! Those of us that spend most of our lives in adventures live a little longer, perhaps a 6th decade edging into the beginning of their 7th, and our elder druids can live for many decades beyond their 5th. But yes, as a whole I'd say our average lifespan is 5 decades.

Namedays and birthdays are not celebrated much. Once again, it is usually with the former adventurers among us that such oddities are found. As a thumb rule, we are an introverted people. We leave our parents' nest as soon as we are able and strike out onto our own into the forests, beaches and caves of the Island. We do not shun friends and companions as such, but family is a different thing altogether. Even the oldest among us have precious few people they call family. For most, family refers to their mates and few others."

At this point, Quelaag takes a look at the Ashen plains. Her mood turns somewhat more morose, to match the groups surroundings, and her answers and gossip with the Tiefling slows as she leaves it to her companion to take the lead in the conversation from here on out.

As they reach, not their destination perhaps, but a point of interest, the Tortle perks up a little in curiosity. "These runes appear to be dwarvish, but that's all I can make out. They don't form any word I know of..."

As the paladin of the team dug out a rope from his backpack and and tied to a pillar, Quelaag took a looks over the edge at the darkness below and shudders a little. "Heights. Why'd it have to be heights..." she mutters to herself.

As Jarrak speaks and seems to be looking for volunteers, Quelaag speaks up hesitantly, "I could go down first if no one else volunteers. (Athletics +5, Acrobatics +3) But I have no talent in hiding myself. Anything down there is going to notice my bulk climbing down."

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-elf, half-human, all rogue

Lilisendra is bright and cheery spirit as they set out, happily chatting about everything and nothing. As the landscape becomes increasingly barren, becomes quieter and more subdued.

"Well, at least we'll be able to see anything approaching us," she says when they reach the wastes of the Ashen Plain.

When they reach what must be their destination, Lilisendra examines the stone pillars. "Dwarven runes, but not the Dwarven tongue, at least not as I know it... an ancient or secret dialect, perhaps? Or a language that shares the same alphabet - Giant, maybe? Weren't they common in this region hundreds or thousands of years ago?"

The young half-elf woman looks at the rope tied to the pillar, checking to see if it might have been recently tied - by the Hucrele party, perhaps?

Finally, she cautiously approaches the edge of the canyon, peering down into the darkness. "Agreed - let's see what we can see before throwing caution to the wind. Does someone have some illumination magic? Or maybe drop a lighted torch down there, to help guide our descent?"

Some rolls:
Investigation: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak strokes his beard, "If we toss a light down there I would think we'd be announcing our presence to any who might be around."

[atlastrembles]

The party sensibly pauses for a moment to take stock of the situation, alternately examining the runes, peering over the edge of the canyon, and inspecting the rope.

The runes

Peering at them more closely, you confirm that while the alphabet may be Dwarven, the words definitely aren't. Lilisendra assumes correctly. They are written in a different language that uses Dwarven letters. An Intelligence check may get you more specific information.

Looking over the edge of the canyon

The rope falls away over the edge of the canyon, descending a good fifty feet before terminating just short of a rocky ledge measuring about twenty feet by twenty feet. The ledge is mostly clear except for a scattering of broken long bones and ribs, the remains of some small creature(s). Brightwater also notices that there are a series of foot and hand holds carved into the side of the canyon itself behind the rope which can aid those in the climb down (no Athletics check required). Finally, those peering over the edge see that at the far end of the ledge begins a stone staircase that switchbacks out of sight deeper into the darkness of the canyon.

The rope

Lilisendra's inspection of the rope confirms that, indeed, it probably was tied recently. The fibre of the rope is strong and tight and shows none of the fraying or distress that that material would experience in this climate if it had been there for longer.

[Xeno929]

Conundrum peers at the runes he's copied, and back at the original. He pulls out some material and turns pages to a blank sheet, preparing to copy down a translation. "If you'll allow me but 10 minutes, I could use my magics to decipher these writings. If we're to take turns descending I could be one of the lasts, and I could decipher while you begin the descent."

Comprehend Languages as a ritual, allows me to understand the literal meaning of any language as long as I am either hearing or have a hand on the text imnreading. Ritual casting apparently lets you perform actions as normal, similar to holding concentration. So I COULD move technically but I'll let you decide how that works in this situation.

[atlastrembles]

As the party is examining the area and deciding what the next steps are, Conundrum focuses his efforts and the meaning of the words on the stone pillars becomes clear. The writing on the pillars isn't cohesive, but is instead a seemingly random assortment of phrases, graffiti, tags, and warnings carved at different times. Among the chaos, the following are samples of some of the messages:

Stay away!

Gripjaw wuz 'ere

Ripthroat rules

Durbuluk land, trespassers will die

White for death, red for life, come inside to taste the rite

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
What is a druid? A miserable pile of animals!

The cyan wanderer wriggled back and recited what she'd seen to the others. The ash made black patterns across her belly and chest as she brushed at it.
"A ledge around fifty feet down, and handholds to help those down. Rope is perhaps unneeded, yes? This one sees also bones, but wouldn't worry too much. Perhaps."
She grinned, having absolutely no intention of being the first down.


[roll0]+[roll1] =15 to judge what creature the bones came from, and whether they are cracked open by predators, etc, or the result of simply falling in.

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

"Bones? Hmm...." Quelaag began thinking. She was no tactician and most certainly not a strategist, but surely there was a way to solve this impasse. After a few moments, she seems to come to a conclusion and speaks, "Well...if we do climb down, it might be dangerous to do so one at a time. One of us could climb down via rope and the other using the handholds. We're more noticeable as a duo, but I'd rather we didn't risk ourselves one-by-one."

[atlastrembles]

Brightwater is pretty sure the bones on the ledge are from a humanoid creature, or several creatures, it's hard to tell at this distance. Unfortunately she's unable to determine how the bones got there, but it's a fair assumption they didn't end up there willingly.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Hey-ho, hey-ho, it's down to death we go

"It seems a sensible enough idea, but this one will take the handholds, if so."
The druid shrugged and plopped herself down cross-legged. Admittedly, caution is good, but waiting at the top of the cliff was achieving nothing except putting off a non-specific risk.
"This one suggests we decide with chance, if none want to be the first batch. Else no one will be going down at all, and the bones down there might get awfully lonely without our company!"
She smiled and paused.
"They're people bones, incidentally." she added casually.

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

After a moment's thought, Quelaag speaks up. "I volunteer myself. I won't pretend to be the best fighter of the group, but my shell should provide ample protection." More hesitantly, she also gave her opinion on who should tag along, "I think it might be best if Jarrak would join me. Between the two of us, we have the most protection in the group and he is our best fighter."

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"I'm fully willing to go first, I just wanted to know if we wanted to try to being sneaky first," Jarrak smiles, "But lets get this show on the road. If those of you with bows or the like could stand ready? Let's see what awaits us."

Jarrak makes his way over to one of the two ropes and starts climbing down.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Backs: covered or stabbed, your choice

"I'm more than happy for someone better armoured and with more combat experience than I to take the lead."


"They're people bones, incidentally." she added casually.
Lilisendra pauses in the act of stringing her shortbow.

"... please define 'people'? That covers a very broad range, you know." She also peers over the side of the chasm again. "I'm also mildly impressed, and concerned, that you can make that kind of deduction from this distance and in such dim lighting."


"But lets get this show on the road. If those of you with bows or the like could stand ready? Let's see what awaits us."

Lily searches the best position that she can along the edge of the canyon, with stable footing and as clear a view of those descending and the ledge below as can be possibly found. She draws an arrow from her quiver and nocks it firmly to the bowstring.

"Onwards and downwards, oh fearless leader and brave tortle adventurer; I have thou covered!"

[always_confused]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"I'm fully willing to go first, I just wanted to know if we wanted to try to being sneaky first," Jarrak smiles, "But lets get this show on the road. If those of you with bows or the like could stand ready? Let's see what awaits us."

Jarrak makes his way over to one of the two ropes and starts climbing down.


Quelaag
Tortle Monk

Onwards and upwards. Well, downwards. Quelaag follows Jarrak's lead and also begins to climb down.

[Xeno929]

Conundrum cheers on the brave souls venturing forward, treating the climb as the greatest feat of bravery ever seen. "What brave souls you are, I am in awe of your courage!" He smiles and points at Quelagg "I know that Tortle, she's my friend! She'll make us all proud!" After he calms his exaggerations down, he lifts his flute to his lips, idly playing a soft tune but ready to shoot a firebolt at the first hostile he sees or is made aware of.

[atlastrembles]

Accompanied by Conundrum's tune, Jarrak and Quelaag descend the rope, which holds their weight easily as they lower themselves into the darkness of the canyon. Using the handholds carved into the face of the cliff for extra leverage, the two adventurers quickly reach the sandy ledge below. Their feet find solid purchase in the grit of the ledge and you take your first tentative steps within the canyon proper. As you noted above, a stone staircase lies at the other end of the ledge, descending deeper into the inky black.

Among the scattered bones on the ledge, you notice that in addition to the humanoid bones Brightwater noted there are a scattering of other, smaller bones, and a rough stone circle on the edge of the ledge filled with old ash and dust, an old firepit that looks like it hasn't seen use in many years.

Before you are able to get comfortable, you hear a skittering and a scrabbling of rock and pebbles coming from the far side of the ledge. Your descent, and Conundrum's out-of-place musical stylings, has alerted a nest of vermin, who are now surging up and over the side of the ledge clustering at the staircase. Five mangy and hungry-looking dog-sized rats bare their yellowed and rotting teeth at the tortle and the human and begin to run at the two, hoping to make a quick meal of them. In a sickening instant, it becomes clear why there are so many bones on this ledge...

Roll Initiative

https://i.imgur.com/MZIRtGV.png

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"Rodents of unusual size?" Jarrak gawks, before shaking his shield free from his back and reaching for his sword, "I didn't think they existed."

[roll0]

[Xeno929]

Conundrum sees the rats heading towards his allies, and grumbles aloud That is NOT the audience I was hoping for! Nonetheless I'd rather they not bother my friends with their... Dirtyness."

He plays a soothing lullably towards the rats, then makes his way towards the rope, hoping to add another Target, lessening the blow on his allies.


Sleep in the center of the rats: [roll0]
Acrobatics to get down the rope: [roll1]

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Water genasi druid: | HP 10/10 | AC15 | Init roll 14




"... please define 'people'? That covers a very broad range, you know." She also peers over the side of the chasm again. "I'm also mildly impressed, and concerned, that you can make that kind of deduction from this distance and in such dim lighting."


"Lots of things are people. Most even have bones." Even as the rats scrabbled to attack, the Brightwater was responding casually to the question. "This one has seen skeletons before. Not many grave-diggers in the wild, yes?"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully, but left her scimitar in its rough leather wrapping. A bubble of cold began to grow around her finger.
"This one wonders if those are the ones we were looking for, all gnawed down there."
She bit the cold bubble, somehow, gripping it in her teeth, before she gripped it between two fingers and a thumb and hucked it down the cliff at the nearest rat. The bubble of cold popped as it smacked against the rat, clinging to its limbs...


Brightwater Esocidi casts frostbite on the nearest rat that isn't asleep.
Con saving throw for DC13, [roll0] cold damage and disadvantage on rat's next attack if fails

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

For an eager instant, Quelaag thinks about rushing in an flailing wildly with her mace but manages to get such instincts under control. The Rats have the numbers advantage, despite looking extremely unhealthy, and her shell hardly makes her invincible.

Adopting a fighting stance, the Tortle decides that she'll hold her ground for now and wait for her friends to gather and for the enemies to come to them other than the other way round. In case any of the rodents do enter melee range though, she's ready to bonk them on the head with her mace!

Ready action - React with an attack against the first enemy that enters melee range.

[atlastrembles]

Conundrum's tune swirls down from the top of the canyon and blankets the rat pack, slowing their steps and putting the two weakest members of the swarm to sleep. A third rat seems on the verge of succumbing to the spell, but his hunger is greater than the magic and it continues to rush forward. Following his attack, Conundrum attempts to heroically descend the rope, but a mistimed leap leads to a frantic tumble and the tiefling takes [roll0] falling damage, landing in a heap on the ledge.

Brightwater's icy bubble splashes over the rat in the centre making a bee-line towards Quelaag and frost erupts along its fur. It squeaks in pain, but manages to sink it's rotted teeth into the tortle's unprotected leg, drawing blood and dealing 6 damage even as the tortle aims her mace at the mangy beast.

The other two rats launch themselves in a frenzy at Conundrum and Jarrak, but the paladin's armor protects him just barely from the crazed rodent. Unfortunately, the bard's rough landing makes him an easy target and the rat begins gnawing at the tiefling's flesh, dealing an additional 4 damage, knocking the bard unconscious.

https://i.imgur.com/Ht4Tool.png

Lili, Jarrak, Conundrum, Quelaag, and Brightwater you're all back up. Quelaag had a readied attack, so don't forget that either.

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

Quelaag hissed in pain as the rat bit deep into her leg. A distressingly good hit. Thankfully the tortle had her mace at the ready and quickly swung at the rat with a reaction attack.


Attack Roll
[roll0]

Damage Roll (If attack succeeds)
[roll1]


Caught in the heat of the moment, the inexperienced tortle ignored the more cautious part of her brain yelling at her to dodge or hide behind the trained paladin clad in mail next to her and again swung at the offending rat.


Attack Roll
[roll2]

Damage Roll
[roll3]

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak barely avoided a pair of sharp teeth as he brought his shield around and shoved the beat back. They were much faster than he was ready for, and already the battlefield was devolving into chaos.
Conundrum had fallen, somehow, and out of the corner of his eye he could see the man was down with a rat harrying him. Closer still was Quelaag who was bleeding from a nasty looking wound in the leg.

He drove his shield into his opponent, slamming it back long enough to lash out with his sword. Growling he twisted the blade and thrust at the creature harassing Quelaag.

The plan was simply, clear the creatures from the wounded first.

"Archers," Jarrak called out, "Aid Conundrum."

Attack on Rat attacking Quelaag [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood

Lilisendra gives her head a shake, as she sees Conundrum grab a rope and then tumble down into the canyon. Brave, but foolhardy, she thinks.

She draws a bead on the rat harassing the fallen tiefling and looses her arrow.

Shortbow attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Not sure if Lily has advantage due to the rats not being aware of her, or not. If so:
Advantage attack: [roll2]
Elven Accuracy: [roll3]

Sneak attack: [roll4]

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Water genasi druid: | HP 10/10 | AC15 | Init roll 14

"This one thinks the tiefling forgot his wings."
Hmm. Best Conundrum wasn't gnawed to pieces by rats, though if he was at least the chicken would be available for eating. She repeated the process for the frost bubble, tossing it towards the rats below.


Brightwater Esocidi casts frostbite on the nearest rat to Conondrum or Quelagg if that one's dead.
Con saving throw for DC13, [roll0] cold damage and disadvantage on rat's next attack if fails

[atlastrembles]

The tortle and the half-elf's combined blows lay low the rat harassing Quelaag and Lilisendra's and Brightwater's combined attack bring down the rat assaulting Conundrum from their safe perch at the top of the canyon.

The remaining rat, seeing its fellow members destroyed in brief seconds, scampers away towards the stone staircase, fleeing what it knows primally and instictively would be its death if it stuck around.

-- Out of Initiative --

The two rats slept by Conundrum continue to lie unconscious on the ledge, undisturbed by the flight of their broodmate. Conundrum groans on the ground, injured and bleeding.

What do you do?

[Xeno929]

Conundrum continues to lie on the ground unconscious, his dreams of frolicking through a field of goats turns into a nightmare, a 300ft tall Queen Andraste frowns on him from the background as the sky turns black and he starts to cough a bit in real life.
Death Save 2: [roll0]

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak bared his teeth at the fleeing rat, but once it was far enough away he ignored it. He turned his attention to the last two rats. Still down, still not moving.

He broke his eyes away from his opponents and looked at Quelaag's leg. It was bleeding, but blood wasn't spurting out. A slow bleed was good, no arteries had been hit.

"Wound looks ugly, but you'll be fine," Jarrak said to Quelaag as he scrambled around to check on Conundrum, "Watch my back, please."

Dropping his shield and his sword on the ground he grabbed the rat and dragged it out of the way. Then he keeled over Conundrum inspecting the bite wounds and checking for broken bones. The wounds were deep and Conundrum's chances at survival weren't assured, even with his training.

He leaned closer in and whispered into Conundrum's ear, "It's not your time yet. There are yet roads left to explore."

And a faint hint of energy crossed from his fingertips and into the downed man.

And this is where I wish I knew more about 5th edition and our options for long term healing.
For now I'm going to put 1 HP from lay on hands into Conundrum. That should be enough to save him from death saves and wake him up. I should put in more, but I'd like to hold onto them for emergency healing, I don't think they renew until the next day.

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

The wound still hurt, but thankfully it didn't seem to be infected. While taking another such heavy wound was out of the question, the Tortle felt well enough to at least keep a watch for foes and guard the Paladin while he tried to stabilize their wounded comrade.

As Quelaag kept guard, she went over the fight in her head and her emotions as a whole. This wasn't the first fight she had been in, true, but it was the first fight where she didn't have her mentor watching over her, ready to step in and quickly take care of any danger. In effect, every other fight didn't really count as she had a guaranteed 'I win' in the form of her mentor. Without her around...It was different.

Her form had been sloppy, Quelaag decided. While she landed a few good hits, she also missed some hits she really should've been able to hit. Without Jarrak's help, for example, her opposing Rat might've been fast enough to get in one more attack. If it missed, so be it, likely one more hit from her would've finished it off. But if the beast had managed to land another attack, it would've most likely taken her out of the fight. The party had had the advantage this time, with good sights and vantage points for their range attackers and a line of sorts for their melee fighters, but such advantages couldn't always be counted on. The Monk would have to 'step up her game', as she sometimes heard humans say.

Still, that was enough pondering on what-ifs. Addressing the Paladin, she called out over her shoulder, "Will Conundrum be alright?"

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Not so fresh feeling fiend

"Oh... My hero." Conundrum says weakly, "Let us all pretend that never happened right? Oh my, the rats are still asleep I see."

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak grins, patting the downed man on the shoulder, then pulls Conundrum to his feet, "He'll be fine. But a light breeze could knock him over at the moment."

He takes a breath then gathers his sword and shield.

"If the rats start moving go up the rope," Jarrak says to Conundrum, then pauses to pass Quelaag a Javelin from his pack, "Cover him and go up after him if things go bad."

He turns grimly to the sleeping rats, "I'll take care of what's left."

Slowly he made his way over to the rats. This was the part he hated. He had little doubt what had to be done, the bones surrounding the area and his wounded companions proved they were simply too dangerous. There was no talking to them, and leaving them behind would come back to haunt them. But killing a helpless creature always stuck in his craw.

But he wouldn't let his companions suffer for his weakness, and he wouldn't force them to have to go through with this. It was his burden to bear.

Going for a coup de grace on the downed rats. I'll roll for both for speed/simplicity sake.
Rat 1 [roll0] +2 for strength
Rat 2 [roll1] +2 for strength

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-elf Archer "... Phrasing!"

Lily smiles with relief seeing that the tiefling is alive, if extremely battered. "Truly your bravery knows no bounds, Sir Conundrum," she calls down. "When tales are told of our grand adventure, all shall know that so great is your desire to fly to the aid of your companions and engage our fearsome foes, you throw caution to the wind and ignore all peril - indeed, ignoring even your inability to actually fly," she teases. "It might be said that you are so enamoured of our group that you have literally fallen for us."

Lily watches over Jarrak as he dispatches the sleeping giant rodents, waiting to see if the fleeing rat returns. Quickly growing bored with waiting, she then stows her bow and arrow, and shimmies down one of the ropes at a much more sensible pace than certain tieflings who shall remain nameless. She attempts to retrieve her arrow from the slain rat, but discovers that it's too badly damaged to be reused. Lily then begins searching among the bones and the ashes of the fire pit in an attempt to determine who the victims are and who might have built the fire.

Rolling to recover arrow (success on 11 or better): [roll0]
Nope!

Investigation check for bones/fire pit: [roll1]
Wow, that's pretty bad.

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

Quelaag nods to the Paladin and checks to see how the Javelin handles in her hands. Deciding its fine, she goes over to the Tiefling. "Feeling better, Conundrum?" The Tortle offers a hand to pull up the still heavily wounded man.

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Fallen 'Angel'

Conundrum looks over at Lily with a smile and a small look of concern "It seems I've been found out! My love for this group had my heart aflutter, so much so that it literally lifted me off the ground and to certain death. It seems that love... Hurts. Ah I shall coin that phrase!" He coughs at the end with a sly smile and takes Quelagg's hand "Much better now that you've come to save me my friend. It guess I combined both my gift and flight instincts, next time I'll try to be more careful."

[atlastrembles]

Jarrak easily dispatches the unconscious rodents, the vermin unable to defend themselves against his blade. Though it felt wrong, he knew a threat when he saw one. Thankfully, it was quick work and the beasts weren't exactly cuddly, making it an easier process than it otherwise could have been.

The party members below on the ledge look around and kick carefully through the scattered bones, but don't find anything out of place or suspicious...aside from the bones of several creatures of course. The stone staircase leading further into the darkness beckons...

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak cleans his blade before sheathing it, then gathers the carcasses and moves them to one side of the area, away from everybody else.

"We've had a long trip here, and I'm going to need some time to clean and bandage our wounds," Jarrak considers the area, "We should be okay to stay here for an hour or so. How about we rest, and have something to eat before we continue?"

Assuming nobody complains he gathers the wounded and starts working to clean and bandage the wounds.

"This your first real fight?" Jarrak asks Quelaag.

He had nothing to back up that assumption, just a gut feeling.

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Injured Adventurer
"I am one hundred percent in agreement with that suggestion, I'll just sit here and rest." Conundrum uses his bag as a pillow and rests against it.

[always_confused]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak cleans his blade before sheathing it, then gathers the carcasses and moves them to one side of the area, away from everybody else.

"We've had a long trip here, and I'm going to need some time to clean and bandage our wounds," Jarrak considers the area, "We should be okay to stay here for an hour or so. How about we rest, and have something to eat before we continue?"

Assuming nobody complains he gathers the wounded and starts working to clean and bandage the wounds.

"This your first real fight?" Jarrak asks Quelaag.

He had nothing to back up that assumption, just a gut feeling.

Quelaag
Tortle Monk

"More or less. I've been in fights against wildlife before, on my home island, but my mentor was always watching over me. Such mock 'fights' helped ensure I don't freeze up in battle, but they did little in actually making me self-reliant..." Quelaag's features soften a little even as she points out the flaw in her mentor's teaching style. "I will not hold it against him. Losing one family was hard enough, I suppose he didn't want to lose his new family either...But I digress. Rest and a meal sound like good ideas." Giving thanks to the Paladin for his help in battle and as a healer, the Tortle settles into a companionable silence.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak chuckles, "Don't judge him too harshly, my family went the opposite route. I was pretty much tossed into the deep end far too young. I spent most of the fight terrified and crying with an arrow stuck in my shoulder."

"The worst part was after it was all done and having to sit through an argument about weather they should push the arrow through or cut it out," Jarrak cringes, "They wound up doing both after the arrow hit a bone while they were pushing it through. Our cleric was unimpressed."

He shakes his head at the memory, "The first time can be hard, but you did a good job."

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-elf, half-ADHD

Lily pokes around the fire pit and the bones for a while, as the others chat and settle for a rest and meal. After a few minutes she grows bored, and dusts the ashes off her finely made gloves. She stares at the stone staircase for a little while.

"I'm going to go have a quick peek ahead," she says, drawing her slender sword. "I'll be back in a moment or two."

With that she quickly and quietly slips off, down the stairs and into the darkness.

Stealth check: [roll0]
Perception check: [roll1]

[atlastrembles]

The party descends the stone stairs leading further into the canyon. The light peters out as they go, casting everything into gloomy shadow. Twenty feet down they reach a small landing jutting out from the canyon wall, broken along its far ledge. On the other side of the ledge another set of stairs lead lower still.

Down another forty feet, another ledge and the stairs switchback further. Step by step the air grows more stale and the light above weaker. But in the dimness, you still can't help but notice the massive edifice rising across from you in the canyon.

A squat fortress leans crazily in the depths of the canyon, it's yawning windows, crumbled crenellations, and broken towers testament to it's long years and absence from the minds of the civilized. As you descend the final staircase leading a further sixty feet deep, you feel a rustling breath of air, almost like the ruins breathed, carrying a musty, rotten scent at the edge of notice.

The staircase ends abruptly in a small courtyard defined by small crenellations, likely the former top of a battlement, now sunken into the earth. Beyond the crenellations, jumbles of rubble and broken stone stretch into the canyon, disappearing out of sight. Across from you, forty feet away, a tower juts up, it's door half buried in rubble.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Victorious Fish

The druid nodded in satisfaction as the enemies were dispatched and Conundrum prevented from joining them. As the fortress came into view, she hummed thoughtfully. She didn't have a huge opinion of stonework, especially after sabotaging the dwarven dam.
"Ugly thing of dead stone! This one can't see the appeal. At least it's sunk away down here out of sight."

She looked around for any small animals that might be around.
"Keep an eye out! Perhaps there's something around that might be convinced to give us the lay of the land. The rats weren't very friendly, but maybe..."
She trailed off.


[roll0]+[roll1] Perception, looking for anything alive - big things to be wary of, and small creatures she might be able to question.

[always_confused]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak chuckles, "Don't judge him too harshly, my family went the opposite route. I was pretty much tossed into the deep end far too young. I spent most of the fight terrified and crying with an arrow stuck in my shoulder."

"The worst part was after it was all done and having to sit through an argument about weather they should push the arrow through or cut it out," Jarrak cringes, "They wound up doing both after the arrow hit a bone while they were pushing it through. Our cleric was unimpressed."

He shakes his head at the memory, "The first time can be hard, but you did a good job."

Quelaag
Tortle Monk
Level 1 Monk | HP: 9/9 | AC: 17

The Tortle becomes thoughtful as Jarrak reveals a bit of his childhood. To her it seemed monstrous to treat a child that way, even one that was training to walk the path of a warrior. She wanted to comment on it but ultimately held back. She didn't quite feel comfortable suddenly judging someone else's parents, especially when they were just an acquaintance at the moment.

....

As the party continues on, the Tortle sees the apparently ruined fortress up ahead. The squat thing looks ugly, but to her untrained eyes at least, it seems like a sensible enough design. What really worried her though was how they could only walk single file on the stairs. "Here's hoping we aren't facing archers or their ilk, we're exposed at the moment..."

[atlastrembles]

Brightwater Esocidi
Victorious Fish

The druid nodded in satisfaction as the enemies were dispatched and Conundrum prevented from joining them. As the fortress came into view, she hummed thoughtfully. She didn't have a huge opinion of stonework, especially after sabotaging the dwarven dam.
"Ugly thing of dead stone! This one can't see the appeal. At least it's sunk away down here out of sight."

She looked around for any small animals that might be around.
"Keep an eye out! Perhaps there's something around that might be convinced to give us the lay of the land. The rats weren't very friendly, but maybe..."
She trailed off.


[roll0]+[roll1] Perception, looking for anything alive - big things to be wary of, and small creatures she might be able to question.


The water genasi's eyes are peeled as she descends. She sees a great deal of evidence of other creatures passing this way and/or living in the canyon despite the inhospitable environs. Rats, bats, cliff drakes, and countless insects. None seem to be near the party, however, as they are keeping their distance during this rare disturbance of their habitat. In particular, you notice a great deal of movement in the rubble to either side of the small courtyard/landing you've arrived at.

[atlastrembles]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433636667249786883/446350085085986816/8V9lVb.png

This is kind of what the area you are in looks like...except instead of the canyon falling away to either side you're on a flat courtyard with rubble to either side stretching into the distance.

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tiefling Bard Sage | AC 12 | HP 9/9

Conundrum marvels at the approaching fortress and says aloud "Jacques would love this, well he'd probably enjoy all the darkness and underground...ness?"

He ponders for a moment and pulls out chalk from his pocket "In case our journey becomes maze-like, I'll draw a symbol signifying which direction we came from to reach that point. I'd rather not put the obvious north/south stuff in case anyone else tries to follow us. Perhaps... A net for north, a shield for south, an eagle for east, and a wolf for West? Or is that too much?"

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak considers the surroundings, "I don't think we'll find many people willing to talk to us around here, but thankfully few archers as well."

He considered the wreckage with a nostalgic feeling in his chest. Brightwater saw dead stone, Jarrak saw years of hard work. These ruins spoke of lives long since past.

Shook out of his reverie he turned to Conundrum and gave him a wry grin, "Normally I'd say you were paranoid, but as we may have Zhents following?"

He considers the area, "I see no threats. Anybody see signs anyone else has passed through?"

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-elf spelunker

Earlier...

The young half-elf woman returns after a few minutes from her scouting trip. "Everyone, you've got to come and see this - you're not going to believe what's down there."

* * *

Lilisendra gazes around the scene at first with amazement, and then with bafflement. "Who would build a fortress at the bottom of a canyon? It makes absolutely no sense." She looks back up the staircase they've just descended, to the top of the canyon. "Unless it wasn't at the bottom of the canyon when it was built, and some powerful magic opened the plains up and sunk it into the ground? It would certainly explain all the damage."

She points across the stone courtyard to the tower beyond. "Right now, I think that the biggest threat is crossing that courtyard; who knows how stable that stonework is? I hope that it doesn't collapse underneath us... can everyone else see okay in this light? Should we light a torch or lantern? And don't forget that the Hucrele party and whoever carved those runes might be down here somewhere as well."

She looks around, studying the area in a bit more detail this time.

Perception: [roll0]

[atlastrembles]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-elf spelunker

Lilisendra gazes around the scene at first with amazement, and then with bafflement. "Who would build a fortress at the bottom of a canyon? It makes absolutely no sense." She looks back up the staircase they've just descended, to the top of the canyon. "Unless it wasn't at the bottom of the canyon when it was built, and some powerful magic opened the plains up and sunk it into the ground? It would certainly explain all the damage."

She points across the stone courtyard to the tower beyond. "Right now, I think that the biggest threat is crossing that courtyard; who knows how stable that stonework is? I hope that it doesn't collapse underneath us... can everyone else see okay in this light? Should we light a torch or lantern? And don't forget that the Hucrele party and whoever carved those runes might be down here somewhere as well."

She looks around, studying the area in a bit more detail this time.

Perception: [roll0]

Lilisendra's eyes are sharp, even in the gloom. As her eyes rove across the courtyard in front of you, she notices something at the edge of her vision, something that bugs her. At first she can't figure out what is ringing alarm bells in her head, but then she realizes that there is an unnaturally straight and clean line between two of the flagstones just in front of the tower door at the opposite end of the courtyard. Approximately ten feet long, the horizontal line of unmortared stone gets your hackles up.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Not exactly Doctor Doolittle

Brightwater Esocidi smiled as she noticed the movement. She focused for a moment, a tingling sensation building up in her throat and flowing out on to her tongue. She slowly approached the rubble, retrieving some bread crust from her person and sprinkling some on the stones, keeping the rest in her hand.

"Hello, little ones!" she said, the magic dripping from each word. "No harm from this one! No harm. There's food in it for anyone who might answer this one's questions."She waited patiently for a creature to reveal itself.


Cast Speak With Animals, then attempt to get the interest of a creature to question.
[roll0] Animal Handling if necessary.
If it's a terrible failure I'll use inspiration to get [roll1] instead.

[atlastrembles]

Brightwater Esocidi
Not exactly Doctor Doolittle

Brightwater Esocidi smiled as she noticed the movement. She focused for a moment, a tingling sensation building up in her throat and flowing out on to her tongue. She slowly approached the rubble, retrieving some bread crust from her person and sprinkling some on the stones, keeping the rest in her hand.

"Hello, little ones!" she said, the magic dripping from each word. "No harm from this one! No harm. There's food in it for anyone who might answer this one's questions."She waited patiently for a creature to reveal itself.


Cast Speak With Animals, then attempt to get the interest of a creature to question.
[roll0] Animal Handling if necessary.
If it's a terrible failure I'll use inspiration to get [roll1] instead.


A small furry face pokes up from the rubble and darts forward to eat the bread. It darts away to a nearby rock and peers up at Brightwater, its small rodent face twitching anxiously. Not safe, but have food? Hurry hurry, not safe not safe. Answers for food. it squeaks out, eyes darting to look for threats.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Say hello to my little friend

The blue woman squatted down, smiling gently down at the rodent. She broke off more of the food, but held it in her hand.
"Safe with this one, you are, safe for now. Well, little one - what is the danger? What lives around here that might threaten this one? Did other tall two-legs like this one go by recently, into the carved-cave-" She inclined her head towards the sunken castle - "Either in or out of it? If so, how many?"

[atlastrembles]

Brightwater Esocidi
Say hello to my little friend

The blue woman squatted down, smiling gently down at the rodent. She broke off more of the food, but held it in her hand.
"Safe with this one, you are, safe for now. Well, little one - what is the danger? What lives around here that might threaten this one? Did other tall two-legs like this one go by recently, into the carved-cave-" She inclined her head towards the sunken castle - "Either in or out of it? If so, how many?"

The mouse darts forward and stuffs as much of the food as it can into its whiskered mouth. It squeaks out a hurried response and then runs away.

Lots of dangers here, greenskin two-legs eats us, big cousins eats us, scaleskin two-legs eats us, everything tries to eats us. Paleskin two-legs like blueskin's pack pass two darks ago into carved cave, four paleskins in all.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Puddle of knowledge

The genasi straightened up, brushing errant crumbs off her hands. She turned back to the party.
"Lots of dangers, yes. Goblins, perhaps, or maybe orcs for the greenskins. Kobolds is this one's guess for the scaleskins. This one saw both in the mountains." She glanced back towards the looming keep. "Both are tricky creatures. They know well the lurking pike, and build jaws of their own to match. Keep an eye peeled, yes?"

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"Kobolds," Jarrak groans, "I hate kobolds. They put traps everywhere."

He sighs and dusts himself off, "Well, nothing for it I guess. Brightwater's got the right idea, eyes open and we should get through this just fine."

He waves for the others to follow then starts making his way towards the half buried entrance.

[always_confused]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"Kobolds," Jarrak groans, "I hate kobolds. They put traps everywhere."

He sighs and dusts himself off, "Well, nothing for it I guess. Brightwater's got the right idea, eyes open and we should get through this just fine."

He waves for the others to follow then starts making his way towards the half buried entrance.


Quelaag
Tortle Monk
Level 1 Monk | HP: 9/9 | AC: 17

The Tortle's expression darkens for a moment at the warning from her druid companion. Giant rats on their own had done grievous harm to her. Being on the receiving of a Kobold spear or an Orc's axe was not something she wanted to experience. But she couldn't back out of this adventure either. Not when a life hung in the balance. Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, the Tortle reverted to her usual chipper self and followed the Paladin.

"Onwards and upwards, comrades! ...well downwards. It wouldn't be a proper adventure without such danger, would it?"

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tiefling Bard Sage | AC 12 | HP 9/9

Conundrum states unapologetically "Oh I just love kobolds! They're adorable, sure mischievous, but adorable nonetheless. Let's hope it's goblins instead, I'd rather not hurt the scaly little guys."

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak manages a bitter little chuckle, "Don't worry, after the third or fourth trap you won't think they're nearly as cute."

He shakes his head, "But if it makes you feel any better, I'd be just as happy ignoring them if they leave us alone. "

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Seeker of hidden things


He waves for the others to follow then starts making his way towards the half buried entrance.

"Hold up, Sir Jarrak," Lilisendra says softly, "and tread with caution. There is something not right with some of the flagstones right in front of the door to the tower." She taps a finger on her chin in thought for a moment, leaving a small smudge of grime. "They are too clean!" she exclaims with confidence. "All the other flagstones in this 'courtyard' are scattered with rubble and debris, but those directly in front are cleared, and I'm willing to wager good silver that it's not because someone decided to sweep the doorstep."

Rapier in hand, she slowly and carefully follows Jarrak out onto the courtyard. "Keep your eyes out for where you're walking, as well as for goblins and kobolds and giant rats. Try to step where others have already walked; I'll get a better look at those flagstones once we're closer."

[atlastrembles]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Seeker of hidden things



"Hold up, Sir Jarrak," Lilisendra says softly, "and tread with caution. There is something not right with some of the flagstones right in front of the door to the tower." She taps a finger on her chin in thought for a moment, leaving a small smudge of grime. "They are too clean!" she exclaims with confidence. "All the other flagstones in this 'courtyard' are scattered with rubble and debris, but those directly in front are cleared, and I'm willing to wager good silver that it's not because someone decided to sweep the doorstep."

Rapier in hand, she slowly and carefully follows Jarrak out onto the courtyard. "Keep your eyes out for where you're walking, as well as for goblins and kobolds and giant rats. Try to step where others have already walked; I'll get a better look at those flagstones once we're closer."

Peering closer at the flagstones now that you've moved closer, you can tell that the straight clean line that so piqued your anxiety is the edge of a trap door of some kind. You can just make out the gap between the two flagstones if you stand over it and look straight down. The trapdoor extends for the entire area in front of the half-buried door.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Puddle of knowledge

The druid followed in the party order worked out previously, peering over Lili's shoulder with interest down at the trap.
"A fall-down, yes? This one wonders if there's sentries nearby, to hear it go off and catch any prey that's fallen in."

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

The big man comes to a complete halt at Lilly's warning, and appears to take her words to heart as he pulls his shield into position and slowly shuffles forward splitting his attention between where he's stepping and everywhere else.

Once he's almost on top of the trap, and after Lilly points it out, he finally sees it and frowns muttering, "Bloody kobolds."

"Thank you, Lilisendra," He bows his head to the younger woman, "I fear I'd never have noticed that until it was far too late."

"And I believe that Brightwater has the right of it. If this is Kobolds it's possible they could be watching us," Jarrak slowly scanned the area then turned his attention back to the buried door.

Jarrak considered the buried entrance then the trap, wondering if trying to clear it was even a viable option anymore. But if it wasn't an option there had to be another path the creatures living here used.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Trap-springer

Lily pulls an unlit torch from her backpack. "Shall we find out what it does?"

Making sure that she's standing on secure footing, she presses the torch down firmly on one of the flagstones.

[atlastrembles]

The flagstone gives way slowly under the pressure of Lilisendra's torch, swinging downwards with a slight grinding sound of stone on stone. The trapdoor opens, revealing a roughly 10x10x10 pit dug into the courtyard in front of the half-buried door. As the light of the torch spills into the pit, you hear a hissing sound. Two giant rats blink up at the sudden intrusion, temporarily ignoring the fresh goblin corpse they had been gnawing at. Aside from the two rats and the recently-deceased goblin, there are also two other goblin corpses in the pit which look much older than the rat's current meal.

[always_confused]

The flagstone gives way slowly under the pressure of Lilisendra's torch, swinging downwards with a slight grinding sound of stone on stone. The trapdoor opens, revealing a roughly 10x10x10 pit dug into the courtyard in front of the half-buried door. As the light of the torch spills into the pit, you hear a hissing sound. Two giant rats blink up at the sudden intrusion, temporarily ignoring the fresh goblin corpse they had been gnawing at. Aside from the two rats and the recently-deceased goblin, there are also two other goblin corpses in the pit which look much older than the rat's current meal.

Quelaag
Tortle Monk
Level 1 Monk | HP: 9/9 | AC: 17

The Tortle grimaces as she looks down into the now revealed pit-trap. "You have my thanks, Lilisendra. It appears a good eyesight is going to be worth just as much, if not more, than strength of arms, going forward from here." Turning to their more-or-less leader, Jarrak - on account of him being the best fighter and, more importantly, being the most armored - Quelaag shoots him a question, "How do we proceed from here?"

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak looks down into the pit with a grimace. Brightwater was right, there were goblins.

"I guess we keep moving forward," Jarrak said looking back towards the door, "The door looked worse from further away. Looks like we can get through here."

He pauses then looks over at Lilly, "I think it might be best if you take a look at the door before we go through. To be honest I'd prefer if you kept close to the front to keep an eye out for more of these traps." he smiles, "If only to keep me from tripping over them."

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Pied piper of underground castles

Those goblins were Definitely Dead.
"Do not worry, four-legged ones!" she called down to the rats in the pit. "We will not disturb your meal!"
That done, she looked at the others.
​"Well, let's keep going."

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tiefling Bard Sage | AC 12 | HP 9/9

Conundrum eyes his blue ally and says excitedly ”I didn’t realize you had the ability to speak with animals, I would have you question our Poultry Queen when we go back to her." He peers into the trap looking at the dead goblins and the rats and clears his throat "well, I guess I should prepare to speak draconic, because this seems to be a kobold territory after all."

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-elf TotallyNotARogue

Lilisendra studies the oversized rodents crawling over the goblin bodies with an expression of revulsion. "Er, can we do something about the giant rats?" She looks to Brightwater. "Can you convince them to move on and not come back, or something? If someone accidentally slips and falls into the pit; or worse, gets pushed in, I highly doubt that it would be a pleasant experience. I might be able to figure out a way to wedge the trapdoor shut, making it a lot safer to get to and from the door, but I'm not going to do it with those things in there."

Very cautiously, Lily moves around the edges of the pit and examines it, and the door, via torchlight for any signs of other traps or alarms that might await them.

Perception check for looking into pit: [roll0] - Any weapons, armour, other distinguishing gear or clothing on the goblins?

Investigation for the trapdoor: [roll1] - Does it automatically reset, or is it manually reset? Can it be jammed shut so that it would support the weight of a person?

Investigation for the tower door: [roll2] - Any traps or alarms? Any markings, writing, symbols, or pictures?

[atlastrembles]

From your vantage point, the door into the tower looks perfectly safe, but for the life of you you can't figure out how the trap door works. You think maybe if you get into the pit you'll get a better sense of its mechanics.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"I don't think we should risk it," Jarrak said looking down the pit, "Even if you did disable it we would be wise to assume it's always active."

He winces, "Very wise, to always assume it's always active."

Shaking his head he looks at the others, "There is another reason though. If we're being followed by Zhent agents it might be best to let them stumble into these traps on their own."

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tiefling Bard Sage | AC 12 | HP 9/9

"That's not a bad idea, I'd still like to see how it works. Not firsthand of course, just to figure out it's mechanism." He tries to investigate it himself after his Ally can't figure it out. ”Whoever built this must be a genius, I can’t figure it out for the life of me. Perhaps it something to do with my zero experience with traps?” He chuckles to himself and scratches his head in confusion.

investigation: [roll0]

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Pied piper of underground castles

The genasi gave a non-committal shrug to Lily's request.
"Eh... maybe? This one is limited to her powers of persuasion, and these have primal motivations, yes? Eating is their main concern, and this one doesn't have much to convince them to move on."
Still, she leaned over the pit. She still had her magic going, after all.
"Hey, four-legs down there! This one has an offer. If you move on and do not return for a day, this one will give you each a magic berry that means you will be full and content the whole day! You will not have to hunt or scavenge, risking two-legs catching you. A good offer, yes?"

Should the rats accept, toss down a couple of remaining goodberries for them.


[roll0]

[atlastrembles]

The rats look up, their beady red eyes narrowing menacingly at the looming adventurers above them. They regard one another for a moment, a wordless communication passing between them, and then squeak a reply up to the water genasi.

Why we's leaveses when's meat's here. Berries no goods to meats.

They turn back to the goblin corpse and continue to gnaw away at its mangled face.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
She tried

"Ah, well. Enjoy your meal, little ones."
The azure woman turned to her companions.
"This one had no luck, she's afraid. Such is life's lesson: try not to fall in pits and you probably won't get eaten by rodents of unusual size."

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Breaking and Entering

"Well, unless we can find another way in, find something to safely bridge the pit to get to the door, or scare the rats away, I'm afraid it's..." she makes a cutting motion with her finger across her neck. "... for the oversized vermin. I'm open to suggestions."

Lily begins searching the area around the tower for other possible entrances, or something that they could use to cross over the pit to get to the door.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"Well, if these were trained professionals I think we'd be stuck, but if these guys were like soldiers?" He stroked his beard, "They'd be lazy and set up shortcuts."

"If they have to cross this way there must be some way to disable it, maybe on both sides. Maybe a switch or something, or they hide something they use to get across," He tapped his chin, "Or there might be a hidden side route. We should probably try searching the area."

He looked at the trap door. It was also possible that the way to disable the trap was on the other side, but jumping across would be very dangerous even if it was possible.

Leaving that for later he started looking around trying to see if he could find any evidence that his ideas might be right.

Perception [roll0]
Investigation [roll1]

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tiefling Bard Sage | AC 12 | HP 9/9

Conundrum keeps an eye on the rats while Jarrak looks for alternative routes. "Do we think the rats have a way of reaching us? I'm not at all against shooting these particular fish in a barrel." He points at them and then says "If not for Lilisendra's sharp eyes, this would be the second time today I'd have fallen and been chewed on by these vermin." He prepares to cast firebolt the very moment it's decided we'll attack.


Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk
Level 1 Monk | HP: 9/9 | AC: 17

As the Tiefling bard makes his statement, Quelaag slowly nods her head and agrees. But as the bard beings to utter the words and makes the movements for a spell, the Tortle speaks up, trying to stop him, "A-are you sure that's wise, Conundrum? I've heard that magic is quite taxing on the user. Perhaps Lilisendra coul-" and then the bard fires off his firebolt spell. Oh well. Quelaag considers trying to stick one of rats with her javelin - well, Jarrak's javelin - but decides against it. She only has the one and it might be better used, whether in melee or range, in another fight where the targets aren't sitting ducks.

[atlastrembles]

Jarrak looks around and notices a mechanism on the underside of the trapdoor on the far side of the pit close to the door. It is probably what controls the movement of the trap he deduces and could be disrupted with the appropriate tools or broken with a weapon.

Conundrum's hands glow red, a fire swirling between them as he holds his spell.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Angel of rodent mercy

"Wait, wait, wait! There is self-defence, and then there is reckless slaughter! They are down a pit, and no harm to you. There is no need to kill the creatures!"
Esocidi frowned, crossing her arms as they talked about barbecuing the rats in the trap.
"It is quite different to fight something attacking you, or hunting for food, than to just kill something because it might be a little dangerous later."

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"I don't think it will be necessary. I think I can see a part of the mechanism from here," He points it out for the others to see, "We might be able to jam it in place if we damage it. Uh, perhaps. This is somewhat outside my expertise."

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tiefling Bard Sage | AC 1512 | HP 9/9

Conundrum writes some notes on the splayed bodies and the room's shape. He doesn't hear what Jarrak says but sees him point towards a door, and then hears Esocidi question the decision. "Hmm, good question. I'd love to know why you think that door specifically is the best choice." As he says that, the tiefling flips to a page titled Jarrak, and mutters to himself while preparing to write.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Angel of rodent mercy

The genasi rolled her eyes back at the tiefling, but nodded, mollified, as the fire disappeared.
"Even the pike only hunts when it hungers."

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"Well, I don't think going down there to work on it is an option so," He glances at the rats before he reaches back and pulled a javelin off his pack, "Let's see if we can't jam it."

He hefts the javelin for a moment then hurls it at the mechanism.

Attack Roll [roll0] + Bardic Inspiration[roll1]
Damage [roll2]

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Professional Trap-springer

Lily peers at the mechanism found by Jarrak.

"I might be able to do something with that - I have a modicum of training with mechanical devices. However, the problem is in reaching it safely." She turns to Brightwater. "Do you think that a bit of fire might scare the rats away?" She waves her torch. "They're welcome to return to their meal once we're inside the tower."

Thieves Tools check, in case she can do something from here: [roll0] plus applicable ability bonus.

[atlastrembles]

Jarrak's javelin flies straight and true, but lands just to the side of the mechanism proper. However, it does distract the rats, who go scurrying away, pressing themselves against the side of the pit to keep away from the party.

Lilisendra uses that moment as her opportunity to dash into the pit and over to the other side, reaching up with her tools to fiddle with the complicated mechanism. She feels something give and then her instincts tell her to clear the area. She begins to climb up out of the pit as she senses more than hears the two rats overcome their fear and begin to rush her from behind. Her legs just clear the pit as the trapdoor slams shut, sealing the rats and the three goblin corpses inside. The echoes resound around the canyon for a moment or two, receding into the distance and then a hush comes over the party.

The way to the door is clear.

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk
Level 1 Monk | HP: 9/9 | AC: 17

Quelaag claps her hands at the rogue's display of finesse and agility. "Nicely done, Lilisendra!" That moment of cheer done with, the Tortle returns to a more serious attitude with her mace at the ready, just in case. "Shall we proceed?"

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak watches in surprise at Lilly's sudden entry, and almost as sudden exit from the pit trap.

He offers her a hand up and offers a somewhat gobsmack, "Uh, good job."

He couldn't believe that she'd done that. The insanity of jumping in, the skill she showed in accomplishing her task so quickly, and her near death escape. He was just relieved it worked out.

Quelaag's comment snaps him out of his stupor, "Yes, yes, of course."

He hesitantly placed his foot on the trap to make sure it's not going to drop him in the instant he makes his way across to the door. Taking a moment to ready his shield he reached out with his free hand and opened the door.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Olympic Gymnast

Lilisendra dusts herself off and, breathing heavily but grinning broadly, gives an elaborate bow like a performer. "Thank you all," she says. "Just seizing the opportunity and all that. I'd been a touch quicker, I'd have got that javelin back, too."

To Brightwater she says "See? I told you that all we needed was to scare the rats off for a bit."

Lily gathers up the torch she dropped prior to vaulting into the pit, and draws her rapier again. "Lead on, good Sir Jarrak."

[atlastrembles]

Stooping under the fallen rocks and piled rubble partially obscuring the door, Jarrak finds that the door opens easily enough despite the clutter. With a low creak and grinding sound of wood over stone, the door swings inward, releasing a gentle puff of dusty dry air into the courtyard. Stepping into the fortress proper for the first time, the party is greeted by a grisly sight. Within the circular room - measuring approximately forty feet by forty feet - are four dead goblins. Three are lying on the floor, gashes and gaping wounds visible in the flickering light of Lilisendra's torch. A fourth hangs lifelessly against the far wall, a spear pinning it to the stone through its chest. The party tenses at the macabre tableau for a moment, but when its clear that the violence unleashed is just a frozen echo, they proceed into the room cautiously.

Two doors lead out from the circular room. One to the northwest and one to the southwest.

https://i.imgur.com/evhYAgO.png

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Piscine Investigator

Esocidi hummed thoughtfully as she looked at the dead goblins.

"Exploring here may be simpler than this one thought, if the majority of danger is already slain. This one wonders..."

She poked at one of the bodies, trying to work out how long it had be lying here mouldering. She had a hunch this was the trail of the adventuring party they were following.


Would being able to determine the effects of age be blaggable as a medicine check?

[roll0]+[roll1]
If it's medicine, +5 to that roll. If it's investigation, +0.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

Jarrak frowned as he examined the spear that had pinned the goblin to the wall.

"Assuming that what ever did this is either on our side or dead," Jarrak says.

The fact it had gone through a body, into stone and stuck in place was impressive and spoke of either an impressive level of strength, or the quality of weapon. And since the weapon had been left behind he was betting on the first option.

Pointing to the door the soutwest, "I am in favor of continuing in that direction."

He waits to see what the others suggest.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Piscine Investigator

Brightwater looked up from the corpse.

"Oh? Why that one?"

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"It was on the left when we came in," Jarrak says sheepishly, "When all things are equal I like going left."

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-elf Super-snooper

Lilisendra moves around the room, investigating the interior of the tower while the others examined the bodies.

"I don't know if we can assume that whomever did this is either on our side or deceased - unless the goblins are fighting amongst themselves, which is a possibility." She stops at the doors to examine them for traps or anything else of significance.

The young half-elf woman reaches the body pinned to the wall, and shakes her head sadly. "I certainly hope that it isn't the Hucrele party that did this - it seems so violent and disrespectful; almost like a threat or warning of some kind." She pulls the spear from the wall to lay the body down to rest in a slightly more dignified position.

Perception: [roll0]
Investigation: [roll1]

Not sure if a separate Investigation roll is required for each of the doors?

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tiefling Bard Sage | AC 1512 | HP 9/9

Conundrum writes some notes on the splayed bodies and the room's shape. He doesn't hear what Jarrak says but sees him point towards a door, and then hears Esocidi question the decision. "Hmm, good question." As he says that, the tiefling flips to a page titled Jarrak, and mutters to himself while writing. He switched to pages for Esocidi and Lilisendra as well writing some thoughts and nodding as if agreeing with someone.

"Hmm, I would believe it to be a warning of sorts. I don't think our does are goblins at the moment, but perhaps enemies of goblins themselves." The teifling fidgets with his pan flute idly while thinking aloud.

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Not feeling blue... or is she?

Esocidi let out a tinkling of laughter, like water over stones.
"A reason fair as any other, this one supposes!"

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk
Level 1 Monk | HP: 9/9 | AC: 17

"Quite a powerful being that did this, considering they managed to shove the spear through the body and deep into the stone wall. Hopefully they are friendly. If not...well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Lead on, Sir Jarrak."

Being honest with herself, Quelaag was somewhat unsettled at the scene but she brushed such thoughts aside. Being an adventurer wasn't just about killing rats in a tavern's basement. Her mentor had warned her of this, as did the kindly Captain whose ship took her to the mainland all those weeks ago. Many, most in fact, came to a grisly end. While many of the most famous ones were said to have waded to glory and success while knee-deep in blood. This was the life she had chosen of her own volition. She could take it. She had to.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"I fear that the battlefield can be a chaotic and cruel place," Jarrak says quietly.

He paused to look at the people surrounding him and his heart broke a little. He didn't know these people, he couldn't know what they had been though. But they all seemed so fresh, so innocent. The last thing he wanted to do was expose them to what would be coming next on the battlefield.

But he wasn't here to make their decisions for them. This was their journey, their adventure. This was their choice, and though it killed him inside he knew he could no more take that from them than he could hope to accomplish this quest alone. All he could hope to do was to support them them through their journeys.

He bent down and examined the goblin bodies quickly, "I pray you forgive me my ghoulish actions, but if they're carrying keys or a map it could mean a much easier journey."

[atlastrembles]

The goblin bodies look relatively recently deceased. The bloodstains are still slightly wet to the touch, meaning they couldn't have been slain more than a week ago at the very most - accounting for the dry and stale environment which would tend to preserve them. It's unclear how well trafficked this area might be, but you'd put the combative event at three or four days ago, tops.

As Brightwater examines the bodies, Lilisendra and Jarrak explore the room, paying particular attention to the impaled goblin on the wall. As the half-elf pulls the spear loose, the goblin sags to the floor with a muffled *thump*, revealing a sharply etched runic message behind the corpse. As to Quelaag's curious noting of the strength required to stick a goblin to the wall, it's clear by how easily the spear is removed and by the chink in the wall behind the goblin that it was more luck than strength that kept the weapon in place.

The runes read "Ashardalon"

Completing her circuit, Lilisendra's exploration of the room further reveals that at the southeastern corner of the room there is a slight gap between the tightly-placed blocks of stone that make up the rounded walls of this room. She notices that one of the stone blocks near this gap juts out slightly from the wall - a detail that only those keen of eye would spot. Now that she's noticed it, it seems extremely out of place in comparison to the well-constructed and well-ordered architecture of the rest of the room.

Jarrak, meanwhile, searches the goblins and finds a handful of lesser coins (10 copper in total), an assortment of rusted and beat up weapons (two daggers, a club, and a pitted shortsword), and three battered hide shields. The goblins are also wearing tattered leather armour.

[always_confused]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18

"I fear that the battlefield can be a chaotic and cruel place," Jarrak says quietly.

He paused to look at the people surrounding him and his heart broke a little. He didn't know these people, he couldn't know what they had been though. But they all seemed so fresh, so innocent. The last thing he wanted to do was expose them to what would be coming next on the battlefield.

But he wasn't here to make their decisions for them. This was their journey, their adventure. This was their choice, and though it killed him inside he knew he could no more take that from them than he could hope to accomplish this quest alone. All he could hope to do was to support them them through their journeys.

He bent down and examined the goblin bodies quickly, "I pray you forgive me my ghoulish actions, but if they're carrying keys or a map it could mean a much easier journey."

Quelaag
Tortle Monk
Level 1 Monk | HP: 9/9 | AC: 17

As Lilisendra pulls the spear loose, Quelaag observes the relative ease with which the half-elf did so. Alongside the chink in the wall, it was clear there was more luck than strength involved. "Ah! Thankfully it seems whoever did this didn't have titanic strength after all! No reason to let our guard down, of course!"

The runes behind the corpse are curious, but unable to read Draconic, the Tortle loses interest in them, at least in a direct sense. If Brightwater can find some meaning from them, she'd be all ears once more.

With the reveal that there isn't some troll or such up ahead, the Tortle is back to good spirits and her usual cheery self. "Do not fret, good Paladin! Many are those that have explained to me that scavenging is a time honored tradition among us adventurers!"


All jokes and good humor aside, Quelaag does try and make herself useful in the meanwhile, keeping a guard over her team mates alongside their bard, Conundrum.

[Xeno929]

Conundrum
Tiefling Bard Sage | AC 1512 | HP 9/9

Conundrum smiles at her Tortle friend as she approaches and says to her "That etching you were looking at says Ashardalon in draconic it seems." He writes the word down in his journal and stares at it a little bit. "I'm not sure what that means, is it a name of something or someone? Perhaps a location or command word of sorts?"

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Druid filed under: Genasi, water

"Three days, perhaps, or four, since these greenskins became rat food."
The druid hummed thoughtfully. The runes meant nothing to her, but the name...

Probably still nothing.
"This one wonders why anything draconic would etch its name into a wall like that. A sign of ownership?"
She grinned.
"If anyone gets swallowed by a dragon, make sure to tell us."


[roll0]+2 if arcana or history to remember about the word.

[Arkrite]

Jarrak of Blackmoore (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1538353)
Level 1 Paladin | HP: 12/12 | AC: 18



With the reveal that there isn't some troll or such up ahead, the Tortle is back to good spirits and her usual cheery self. "Do not fret, good Paladin! Many are those that have explained to me that scavenging is a time honored tradition among us adventurers!"



Jarrak smiles wryly, "It is somewhat distasteful but often necessary act. And the truth is that none of this can help, nor harm them. They are beyond caring. Or they're undead and we have more pressing problems."

He tosses a small bag of coins to Quelaag, "Here, keep a hold of this. We'll split it with the team once we get back to town."

The rest of the stuff he found he quickly disregarded. The leather armor was half rotten and far too small for almost anybody to use. The Shields, while (only just) better than nothing, weren't worth salvaging when he was the only one using one. The club was a waste, the short sword seemed hardly worth the effort, and the daggers needed a lot of work before they'd be usable. He sighed as he looked at one of the daggers then paused and looked closer as a thought popped into his head. Under the rust and abuse appeared to be Dwarven designs. With time and work he felt he might be able to clean and repair it back to a functional state.

It'd hardly be worth the time and effort normally, but the thought of giving them out to his companions as a memento of their first adventure brought a smile to his face.

Well, he noted, assuming those were dwarven designs and not just his eyes playing tricks on him in the dark. He paused to wrap them in an oilcloth and stuff them in his backpack.



"If anyone gets swallowed by a dragon, make sure to tell us."


"Fear not, should that happen I shall shriek like a little girl the entire time," Jarrak deadpans with a small smile.

Standing he dusts his hands off, "Ashardalon? Sounds like a name, but it doesn't sound terribly familiar to me."

He ran through his repertoire of stories trying to remember if he'd ever heard of it before.

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Half-elf rouge red-head

Lilisendra gives a slight shrug at the translation of the runes. "The name means naught to me; but dragons are not the only creatures to make use of the draconic language. Perhaps it's some kind of code word or pass phrase, from when this tower was being used for its original purpose?"

Seeing Jarrak examining the weapons and armour of the slain goblins, she hands him the spear that was pinning the body to the wall. "Here, perhaps this might be useful? If nothing else, it might replace the one you lost in that rat-trap."

Lilisendra moves over to the oddly-jutting stone block that she found earlier. "Be ready, all; I've found something unusual over here, and I'm not entirely sure what this does, so be on guard." After waiting a moment to make sure everyone has heard her, she pushes firmly on the stone and then steps away from the wall.

[atlastrembles]

Brightwater isn't able to piece anything together or remember anything about an "Ashardalon" in connection with anything draconic, although she does recall that that word means something particularly vulgar in a regional dialect of the tribesmen from her homeland. Not that that does any good in this circumstance.

As Quelaag, Jarrak, and Conundrum chat and divvy up the scavenged goods, Lilisendra press down on the odd-looking stone. The stone grinds downward with the pressure and terminates with a "click" as it reaches some sort of lever-point. Before Lilisendra can step back, a needle darts out from behind the stone's initial location, pricking her arm for 1 damage. As she hisses in pain and pulls her arm back in surprise, she notices that the needle is coated in some sort of grey liquid. A numbness starts to spread up her arm and she grits her teeth against the pain.

Make a DC12 Constitution save

As Lilisendra is dealing with the surprise puncture wound, a section of the wall in the southeastern corner of the room swings open, a gust of dead air wafting into the larger chamber after its long imprisonment. Long-accumulated dust swirls in the air and as it clears, five pairs of glowing red eyes bob and jerk out of the revealed room. A moment later and the owners of the eyes resolve in the dim light. Five dessicated corpses - mostly bone but with some long-dead flaps of skin still remaining - stumble out of their entombment and lurch towards the first living thing they've seen in centuries...if not millennia. Each skeleton has a quiver slung around their shoulderblades and ribcages, but they carry no bows in their hands. Instead, their bony and sharp fingers stretch towards you, looking for a violent embrace.

Roll initiative

https://i.imgur.com/vyG92AK.png

[atlastrembles]

Lilisendra grits her teeth as the poison works its way through her system. Thankfully, the toxin on the needle had been applied ages ago and wasn't strong enough to leave any lasting damage.

The rest of the party, save Jarrak, is quick to react to this new undead threat.

Initiative
Conundrum - 19
Brightwater -13
Quelaag - 13
Lili - 12
Skeletons - 10
Jarrak - 9

[Xeno929]

Conundrum reactively shoots off a bolt of fire at the skeletons. Worried about Lilisendra's safety and surprised by their sudden appearance. "Are you ok? That needle could be poisoned!" He then scans the skeletons, trying to gather some information on them to write down after they're dealt with.


Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Perception: [roll2]

[Dexam]

Lilisendra Ravenswood
Tough as nails | AC 14 | HP 8/9

Lilisendra hisses as she shakes off the burning sting of the poison needle.

"Don't worry about me; Waterdavian nobility drink stronger poisons with their supper."

She whips out her rapier, parrying and thrusting against the seeking bony fingers.

"Just get these walking bags of bones away from me!"

Rapier attack against nearest skeleton: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Not sure if I'm getting sneak attack, but just in case: [roll2]

[Awful]

Brightwater Esocidi
Water genasi druid: | HP 10/10 | AC15 | Init roll 14


"Undead? Terrible!" The Genasi's face screwed up in disgust. "Unnatural things! Return to the soil and mould!"

She spat a ball of frostbite into her palm and hurled it at the skeleton Ravenswood was about to skewer.

Brightwater Esocidi casts frostbite on the skeleton nearest to Lilisandra. I would be more specific but I can't see the map. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Con saving throw for DC13, [roll0] cold damage and disadvantage on skele's next attack if fails

[always_confused]

Quelaag
Tortle Monk
Level 1 Monk | HP: 9/9 | AC: 17

Undead! It's one thing to hear of them, it's another entirely to face them. Quelaag's nature inclination to hesitate when faced with undead clashes with her battle instincts. Thankfully, the latter win out and she still manages to react faster than the skeletons facing the party, although Conundrum is the quickest to react among them, at least initially.

'Sheathing' her mace, the Tortle draws the javelin Sir Jarrak had given to her and hurls it with all the force she can muster at one of the skeletons menacingly advancing on Lilisendra. "Take this, abomination!"

Switching to Javelin and hurling it at the skeleton closest to Lilisendra.
Attack Roll!
[roll0]

Damage Roll!
[roll1]