Action Thread #10 - The Mine

[Grognardsw]

Thurinor stays low, between large stalagmites if possible so as to disrupt their sonar location of him. He fires another crossbow bolt.

Crossbow to-hit: [1d20+1] = 10+1 = 11; Damage S-M/L: [1d4+1] = 3+1 = 4/[1d4+1] = 1+1 = 2

[saalaria]

Swil is seriously distracted by having the bat on him so can't hit anything this round. He twists and wriggles but to no avail, the rodent is still on him!

Battle Axe To Hit [1d20+2] = 5+2 = 7 Damage [1d8+2] = 6+2 = 8

[zebediah]

Ogirdor shoots again at the flying bats

Bow, short, flight arrow - specialist - To hit: [1d20+4] = 7+4 = 11, Damage (s/m): [1d6+2] = 3+2 = 5, Damage (L): [1d6+2] = 4+2 = 6

Bow, short, flight arrow - specialist - To hit: [1d20+4] = 9+4 = 13, Damage (s/m): [1d6+2] = 5+2 = 7, Damage (L): [1d6+2] = 4+2 = 6

Bow, short, flight arrow - specialist - To hit: [1d20+4] = 4+4 = 8, Damage (s/m): [1d6+2] = 4+2 = 6, Damage (L): [1d6+2] = 4+2 = 6

[ChubbyPixie]

Ozborn ceases thinking, totally absorbed in the act of cave foyer bat removal. He zeroes in, Zen like, on two bat bodies in the midst of the flurry of wings and lets fly two arrows. For all his focus, a part of him is surprised when they both connect.
To hit w/ Short Bow, sheaf arrows: [1d20+3] = 10+3 = 13, damage (s/m/L): [1d8] = 5
To hit w/ Short Bow, sheaf arrows: [1d20+3] = 18+3 = 21, damage (s/m/L): [1d8] = 7

[ragnboneshopper]

Day 7, Noon: Exterminators 'R' Us...


Round 2 Initiative: adventurers act on segment 2; monsters on 4.
Party Initiative: [1d6] = 4; NPC/Monster Initiative: [1d6] = 2

Narrative:

The adventurers continue their onslaught, taking the fight to the giant bats. Andrin skillfully hurls a sling stone and drops a bat that was circling in for an attack. Malone times his blow perfectly, cleaving a bat in twain, the two halves flopping to the stones. Stonjuz attempts to copy Malone's feat, but his blow just misses a bat that changes direction midflight.

Thurinor's crossbow bolt also misses, flying just wide of his intended target, and Swilbosh likewise is unable to shake the giant bat away from him or land a decisive blow. But Ogirdor drops another with a flurry of bow shots, one of which skewers a bat through the midsection, and Ozborn puts on an impressive display with his own bow, dropping one bat as it circles in for an attack and also killing the bat that Stonjuz narrowly missed but caused to alter its trajectory.

Only three bats remain to attack party members. The bat that had latched onto Swilbosh clumsily attempts to bite the lizardman again, but Swilbosh's harried movements make it difficult, and the bat launches itself into the air once more, seeking shelter among the stalactites above after its attempted hunt proves difficult to kill. Giant bat attack: [1d20] = 3; Dmg [1d2] = 1

Two more bats circle in and do little more than annoy the party. The first drops on Ozborn's back and manages to sink one of its fangs deep (2 hp damage). Giant bat attack: [1d20] = 18; Dmg [1d2] = 1

The other swoops at Andrin, but the elf easily dodges out of the way and the bat continues on, disappearing into the darkness. Giant bat attack: [1d20] = 3; Dmg [1d2] = 2

Two of the three remaining bats thus disappear among the shadows of the stalagmites and stalactites. The final bat yet clutches to Ozborn's back, seeking its dinner, but his companions, now relieved of their own batty troubles, easily dispose of this last hanger-on. For now, all seems quiet in the cave, and the pitter-patter sound of the rain outside the cavern once again fills your ears. You cast about for the glittering object amid the pile of bones that had caught your attention before the fight with the bats, and you discover it to be a golden amulet shaped like a writing serpent. The remnants of a decayed leather strap once held the amulet around the dead body's neck. It falls to brittle pieces if any pick up the amulet, but you suppose there is no reason why a new strap could not be looped through the eyelet attached to the serpent's head. The amulet appears to be none the worse for wear aside from having lain in a pile of bones and bat guano.


Didn't feel like an additional round of combat for one bat, so consider this battle finished for the moment. You get the sense that the two bats that fled are hiding somewhere, and as long as you don't go out of your way to bother them, they will not be bothering you, either. What's next? Remember that the cavern opens directly on the outside, though you haven't approached the opening close enough to see out of it yet due to the stalactites and stalagmites obscuring the view.

[saalaria]

Swilbosh tends to hid wound.
"I never knew there could be ssso many flying biting thingssss! Are thessse common in your landsss?" he asks no one in particular.
He keeps an eye on the rear whilst the others examine the amulet

[zebediah]

There are all sort of flying things that bite out there Swilbosh and believe me, we are far from meeting the worse of those.

Ogirdor scans the area, checking if there are no other threats other than the two lone bats that hid away, of other objects of interest lying around (and I don't mean guano). In case he sees nothing else, he adds:

I think we are done here, should we move?

And will start moving outside.

[Sir Clarence]

Andrin peeks out of the cave to assess if the weather might change soon as he's not too intent on getting wet in the cold rain.

[Stonjuz]

Seeing the giant pile of bat dung, Stonejuz scratches his head in thought to the groups last conversation about guano mining. His laughter starts and builds and he almost laughs so loud as to reach an uncomfortable level here in the echoing cavern. He stops abrubtly however and pulls the giant batwing off his back and quickly measures to see if the staff's eyelets are of good length to match the wingspan.
"Only seems right, since we found it in batpoo. Yaknows"?"
Then he continues the laugh , until low and dying out.
"Ozzie? How's that bite? Any stiffness? Want me to look at it? Anybody else get bit?"

[onlyme]

Malone is relieved once again that his weapon was the only thing hit by the creatures. He will follow the others toward the exit, but asks.

Do you think it is safer in here with a watch, than out there in the storm?

[Grognardsw]

"I wonder what poor soul lost this, it does not seem to be of goblin manufacture," says Thurinor as he examines the amulet and concentrates his detect magic ability upon it to see if it is enchanted.

[ragnboneshopper]

Day 7, Early Afternoon: Inside or Outside? That is the Question...

While Swilbosh and Ogirdor chat in quiet tones about the dangers of flying creatures and the likelihood of even worse such creatures existing, Andrin pokes his head out of the cavern's entrance to test the weather.

The elf finds a good report: the air has grown warmer while the party has been underground. The wind has swung around and now blows from a more southerly direction, bringing with it the smell of spring further advanced in the lowlands. The light rain that falls is cleansing, almost inviting. And besides, it is letting up, and the clouds are showing signs of parting way for the sun to break through. It should be a fine afternoon for walking, and Andrin shares this happy knowledge with Malone as he also seeks the fresh air and wonders what the journey will bring next.

For his part, Stonjuz seems all at home in this cavern among the bat guano. Though not completely hospitable, the mine has overall given every evidence of its dwarven origins, and even the dwarf's stolid turtle companion seems reluctant to leave these familiar confines for less dwarven airs. As he studies the serpent amulet curiously, he notes without a doubt (and not for the first time on this journey) its dwarven craftsmanship, but the bones among which it had perhaps long lay waiting are clearly of human origin, the legs and arms far too long to be that of a dwarf's.

Thurinor, coming up behind Stonjuz, takes his turn looking at the amulet and finds that, indeed, it glows with a subtle magic -- most likely of protection, as amulets are often made to ward off evils.


Well, this is just about it for The Mine (unless you want to go back in and explore the side passage a bit further. I've put up a new thread for the next leg of the journey. You can post there as you leave the cavern, or reply here if you have any direct follow-ups to this post...

Action Thread 11: viewtopic.php?f=45&t=2142

[Stonjuz]

"Sumthin tells me to stay. Ridiculous, I know. If'n when we get back to these here parts, I'm taking this WHOLE area. The mine is mine. Oh, and the construction at the top of the stairs. Oh and the lake bursting with fish. I'm ta....."
The dwarf catches himself getting lost in selfish greed momentarily. "Anyone else want to homestead it here on this mountain with me? After we finds the way off first 'course."

[saalaria]

"Well my friend I am of a mind to sssseek out the mysssteriesss of your human landsss but I would returrn ro my home here at ssssome point."

[Grognardsw]

"These lands are far from Hornwood Forest, good dwarf friend, so I cannot homestead here," says Thurinor the elf. "I am curious about amulet and rod. Both are magical."

Thurinor will examine the two items to see if they may attach together in some way. If not, he will put the amulet on (if there is a chain for such) or hold it while invoking in his mind and verbally any arcane words of activation such as transform, protect, fly, see, aid, shield, attack, etc. He will hold the rod in one hand and the amulet in the other and try a similar routine.

[ragnboneshopper]

Thurinor, before heading out of the cavern with the others, decides he has waited long enough to experiment with the magical items the party has recently discovered. Acquiring the serpent-headed rod from Stonjuz, he attempts to bring it and the amulet into some sort of cooperative arrangement. This proves fruitless. However, he is able to fashion a way to hang the amulet about his neck with a strap of leather. He senses no difference, either of benefit or harm, when wearing the amulet.

While attempting to use various command words, Thurinor makes a breakthrough with the rod. After speaking words in common and elvish, he attempts the word "transform" in dwarvish, pronouncing it as he has heard Stonjuz utter it. The staff begins to undergo a change of form, its serpent body uncoiling, and by instinct Thurinor drops it to the ground, where it becomes a python of some 12' in length. The python obeys Thurinor's wishes, and when he takes it up again, it returns to the form of a golden rod.

Exhilarated by this display of magic, Thurinor is certain he could duplicate the feat at need and that the serpent would obey his wishes.

[Grognardsw]

Thurinor smiles as the python returns to rod form. His elvish sense of wonder with magic is certainly fulfilled with this item. He feels there is mystery still with the amulet though it has not revealed itself.

"Stonjuz, this does not strike me as dwarvish magic though clearly it is," says Thurinor. "Are there any legends of your people that speak of serpent rods, or gods who hold snakes sacred? I take it the dwarves who ran this mine before the goblins had the amulet."

OOC: Where was the rod found? I missed that in the past threads I've been trying to catch up on. Perhaps a pattern to the location of the snake items?

[ragnboneshopper]

Yeah, it's a lot to go through. This particular nugget can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=45&t=1287&start=160