Expedition - Piers: the Fate of Tyrrell - 07 July 2021

[Modric]

Malenor

Shrugs his shoulders at the meager finding and puts it in his backpack.

[Fearghus]

Dabney

He pauses and removes his hood as Piers pray's over the dead. Once complete, he removes the lantern from his pack and fills it with a flask of oil. He caps the empty flask and returns it to his pack and rummages for his flint and steel.

"Just a moment, lads, and I'll have us a light".

[Jernau35]

Piers

"Good job Dabney! I was wondering when you were going to stop lurking in the shadows." ( )

Piers takes a look around to see if there are sufficient stones to to build a cairn over "Clive's" bones. Not necessarily a job for right now, but perhaps in the morning. There is still the cave to investigate after all.

[Marullus]

The hillsides have enough loose rock to make an effective cairn with three man-hours of work.

[Fearghus]

Dabney

Having lit the lantern, he moves to the mouth of the cave and peers within.

"Malenor, what do your elf eyes see?"

[Modric]

Malenor

To GM- I have infravision 60' as a racial perk. If I look into the cave, what do I notice?

[Marullus]

Malenor steps through the narrow cleft to peer into the cave beyond. He doesn't see the warmth of any living beings there in. There are signs of battle - a handful of goblin corpses left to rot, scattered broken stone from shattered stalagmites, burned remains of goblin bedding.

It is just tall enough for human and elf to stand upright, stalactites clustered thickly above their heads. Iron pitons hold four sets of chains to the wall on the right side. Smelly rag bedding has been burned to grimy ash in lumps around the cave, a heap of midden at the caves rear. The cave is perhaps 20' by 30' with uneven natural walls, a pool of fetid water collects the drips from above on the left side cavern, the ceiling too low for humans to reach it.

[Modric]

Malenor

... relays what he saw (per prior post). "I'm not too keen on rummaging through goblin remains and filth. At least from what I can detect there is no one living inside."

[Jernau35]

Piers

"Me neither", says Piers. "It's a shame. I was hoping this might be a suitable place to shelter for the night. I suppose we could drag the bodies outside, but that might attract unwelcome scavengers to our location. What do you all think?"

[Modric]

Malenor

Even if we dragged them outside, we'd still have the stink of goblin about us. Under the stars is fine with me.

[Jernau35]

Piers

"If we camp up on top of the cliff, we'll have good visibility and it will be harder for things to sneak up on us. Of course, if we have a fire, we'll be visible from a long way too. The middle of this vale shelters us a bit more, but also allows intruders to creep closer to us. However I agree, the cave is too unhealthy."

[Fearghus]

Dabney

"I hate to at least not take a peek inside. Mind if I at least step in and shine the light around?", he inquires of Piers.

[Jernau35]

Piers

"Not at all. There might be something buried in all that stuff. Somebody is or has been using this place regularly, judging by those manacles hammered into the walls. They may have hidden something if they intend to come back".

[Fearghus]

Dabney

He nods his head and says, "Alright then".

Leaving his pack to the side of the narrow cleft, he draws his sword and holds the lantern low in front of himself. He tries to step softly, avoiding any piles of filth, in an attempt to hold the light over the dead, the shackles on the wall, and the fetid pool.

[Marullus]

Searching the burned-up bedding material reveals nothing of substance - care was previously taken to torch and ruin everything there. It appears the four cave occupants slept on the other end of the space and searching their bodies and these areas turns up their scant travelling gear. They had a few rations and putrid drinking skins such that even dogs won't eat, grimy clothing of no value, and they wore poorly-tanned hide/fur armor that likewise has no retail value.

[Fearghus]

Dabney

Satisfied with the search, he leaves the cave. "Whoever finished them off made a point to be thorough. There is nothing of interest remaining".

He snuffs the lantern and collects his pack.

[Modric]

Malenor

Will grab some rest seeing that the area is clear (hopefully)...

[Marullus]

If you camp here, where do you do so?

[Fearghus]

Piers had suggested up on the cliff. Is that feasible?

[Jernau35]

All things considered, I think down in the vale is better for camping. If wandering monsters find us, up or down the hill won't make too much of a difference. But if we are up on top with a fire we'll be a lot more visible from further away. Down in the vale will hopefully keep us hidden from everything except stuff that stumbles across us.