22. Troglodyte Lair - Side (Grim and Gwillt only)

[dmw71]

Grimnail climbs through first with relative ease. He is followed quickly thereafter by Gwillt. Gwillt, while still aided by natural light, ignites his torch. The ranger and barbarian see that the rough, natural stone passage continues beyond their current length of vision, and side passages branch off to the north (their right) first, then to the south (their left) quickly afterwards.

The passageway is quiet, with no activity... and, perhaps more importantly, no overwhelming troglodyte stench.

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                                                                         \ \
                                                                     _____\ \____/
                                                                     __  ________  <-- hole
                                                                      / /        \

[tooleychris]

"We falla yer goot advice from b'fore an stick ta one side?" Grim whispers back.

[Alethan]

Gwillt nods.

"Yeah," he whispers, "Sounds good. Oh, by the way... If we come across those little lizards - mudkins, my grandpa used to call 'em - watch yer eyes. They'll try to spit in 'em and blind you."

"Oh, wait a second..." Before heading off, Gwillt first checks the floor to see if they might be able to determine activity by tracks on the ground. He also examines the walls to see if they are dug out by hand or if it is all natural formation.

He takes a quick peak out the hole to see if anyone else cares to join them before motioning to Grim to begin.

Gwillt will keep his spear handy, but will readily drop it and attack with his scimitar if the chance arises.

[dmw71]

Gwillt warns Grimnail of the muckdwellers secret attack. He peers out the hole to see if anyone else will be joining them, then makes quick work of examining the walls at this entrance to determine the origin of their formation. His suspicion is that these underground passageways were primarily a natural formation, but there are some signs that sections have been manually manipulated. Indications are that the residents of this lair have frequented this location for a significant amount of time.

The pair agree to stick to one side....

Questions? Otherwise, I will just need to know which "side" you're going to take.

[Alethan]

Gwillt pulls out a stick of chalk and will mark an arrow pointing the way they came from at any intersection in an inconspicuous place, above eye level.

Then he nods his head to the left tunnel, indicating he is ready to go.

[dmw71]

Before setting off into this newfound passageway, Gwillt is able to locate the inbound tracks of the muckdwellers which Aric just chased into this location. While none appear recent, there are also the expected impressions left behind by the troglodytes in both directions.

[tooleychris]

Grim will move to the left tunnel as quietly as possible. When they pass the right tunnel he'll peer in as far as dark vision allows.

[dmw71]

Grimnail begins to lead Gwillt, stopping briefly to look down the passage to their right, which appears to veer off to the left after about 30 feet. Similarly, as the pair reaches the passage to their left, it, too, appears to veer further inwards, to the right.

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                                                                      ___
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                                                            ___/ /________\ \____/
                                                             __________B R_______  <-- hole
                                                                      / /        \
                                                                     / /
                                                                ____/ /
                                                                _____/    

Since your characters both start with the letter "G," I'll use "B" (barbarian) and "R" (ranger) to label you on the map in this thread.

[tooleychris]

Southward....quietly.
Grim will pause and listen at the left tunnel. Any sounds or breeze carrying smells?

[dmw71]

Grimnail quietly leads the pair down the southern tunnel. The pair, now feeling surprisingly alone with the shedding of a majority of their companions, are both at a heightened sense of awareness and note an absence of any unnatural sounds or smells. The barbarian reaches the turn at the end of the southern passage first and pauses briefly to allow the ranger a moment to mark their route in chalk (+50xp to Gwillt for the clever idea). Once marked, Grim peers around the bend and, not detecting any immediate threat, takes a step into the turn.

A quiet crunch.

While the faint sound was hardly enough to betray their position to anyone (or anything) sharing the tunnels, both freeze immediately and instinctively assume defensive positions. Grimnail looks beneath his soft boot and realizes he has stepped onto the tail end of the inside-out epidermis of what is -- or, hopefully, was -- an enormous snake.

The passage itself continues deeper (west) into the tunnel, with a turn to the north (right) and another south (left). The abandoned snake skin continues around this southern (left) turn.

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                                                                      ___
                                                                      __ \
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                                                                         \ \
                                                            ___/ /________\ \____/
                                                             __________   _______  <-- hole
                                                                      / /        \
                                                                     / /
                                                    ______\ \_______/ /
                                                    __  xxxxxxxxxxB_R/    
                                                     / x/
                                                                x = epidermis                                             

[tooleychris]

eh Ranger... Whispers the barbarian. "A shed skin be meanin the one wearin it has grown, yes?" he frowns at the rangers reply "Dats just great..."

[Alethan]

"I believe you're misusing the word, 'great', my friend..." Gwillt replies in the quietest whisper he can manage.

Then Gwillt kneels down to see if he can determine how old the skin is, whether it has been trodden on many times before or if it is all in one piece. Then he'll try to pace it off to see how big the thing might be. Or was when it shed its skin...

[dmw71]

Gwillt kneels down to inspect the shed skin. It's thick, but flaky, which is not surprising considering the size of the creature that is responsible for leaving it behind. While it's impossible to accurately ascertain how long ago the molting process took place, the ranger notices while he paces out its length that the remains appear "broken" in a spot, likely by having been trod upon, which means that it's at least not brand new. Gwillt estimates 20+ feet exists in their current passage, and at least half that length exists around the corner.

Whatever shed this skin is at least 30 feet long.

[Alethan]

OOC: As an aside, it's never good when you go to the new thread entry and glance at the map and the first thing you see is a Legend entry for "epidermis"...

Gwillt silently relays the length of the snake to Grim, then indicates he is ready to continue. at the epidermis intersection, he glances down the north (right-hand) tunnel to see if it meets back up with what he assumes is the main one, then looks down the western (straight) tunnel to see what can be noted before following Grim down the southern (left-hand) tunnel, marking an arrow behind him.

[dmw71]

At the epidermis intersection, Gwillt glances down the north (right) tunnel and his suspicions are confirmed; it meets up again with the main tunnel they entered into. The main passage they're in continues west, and also continues to spawn off side passages; again, one to the north and another to the south. The ranger signals for the barbarian to assume the lead and the pair make it down the southern corridor, following the epidermis. Grim turns and looks around the bend and sees the current passage continue west, but is split with north/south passages as well. Gwillt marks their progress with a chalk arrow.

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                                                                      ___
                                                                      __ \
                                                                        \ \
                                                                         \ \
                                                      _________/ /________\ \____/
                                                   _____  _____________   _______  <-- hole
                                                        \ \           / /        \
                                                         \ \         / /
                                         _\ \_____________\ \_______/ /
                                         _____   _____  xxxxxxxxxx___/    
                                             /  /    / x/
                                                    / x/
                                                   / x/
                                  ________/  /____/R /
                                    ______   ____G__/
                                          /  \
                                                                x = epidermis                                             

[tooleychris]

Grim growls VERY low And whispers: "Lookin like da monster snake be usin yer ' stick ta da left' plan as well.".

[Alethan]

"Jeez... How many lefts does this tunnel have?" Gwillt asks, before nodding for the barbarian to continue.

[dmw71]

You make another left turn, with Gwillt continuing to mark your progress, and this time you're met with a 'Y' intersection, with branches running SE and SW. Gwillt confirms that the passage to the north (right) does connect with the previous E/W passageway.

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                                                                      ___
                                                                      __ \
                                                                        \ \
                                                                         \ \
                                                      _________/ /________\ \____/
                                                   _____  _____________   _______  <-- hole
                                                        \ \           / /        \
                                                         \ \         / /
                                         _\ \_____________\ \_______/ /
                                         _____   _____  xxxxxxxxxx___/    
                                             /  /    / x/
                                            /  /    / x/
                                           /  /    / x/      x = epidermis
                                  ________/  /____/  /
                                    ______ R _______/
                                          / B\
                                         /    \
                                        /  /\  \
                                    ___/  /__\  \__
                                     ______________                          

[tooleychris]

Continue southeast.

[Alethan]

Gwillt continues to check behind them periodically, listening for any sound during silence. He is hopeful this next turn to the left (the one going east) is a room. Or at least a passage with fewer turns!

If it is a room, it might well be a lair. He silently cautions Grim to be extra careful...