Expedition: Ablesforth: The Demon Hole: Part 2 - 30 Aug 2021

[Zhym]

Pendleton still has 5 vials of holy water.

He also has 4 weeks of good meals, for 4 days of +2 to saving throws.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Able ate fare meals at the Infirmary.
He is carrying 60#.
I have inventory lists made up for the three non-Idriss Templars, who all weigh in at less than 60#.

Pendleton can carry the remaining holy water, since, should it come to fighting, he shouldn't be involved. He can pour out holy water.
Marullus, what sort of weaponry do these Templars carry? Silvered? Holy-water-filled flails? Sponges on a stick with a bucket of holy water?

[Zhym]

Are we ready to depart? Do we need an official send-off post in the tavern thread?

[Marullus]

Marullus, what sort of weaponry do these Templars carry? Silvered? Holy-water-filled flails? Sponges on a stick with a bucket of holy water?

The two new Templars are both armored in chainmail with shields, and carry longswords. They take meticulous care of their gear and both express that they have faced the infernal before and have no concerns about their ability to do so again.

Are we ready to depart? Do we need an official send-off post in the tavern thread?

I did the send-off in the tavern. As soon as you're ready here, you can begin.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Done and done

When everyone is done with their confessions, Able leads them out of town singing marching hymns.
It's a Mighty Rocky Road, we've been and done a-travelin'
A mighty rocky road we've been and done a-travelin'
A mighty rocky road, we've been and done a-travelin'
We're bound to go to that Honest Land!

It's farther down the road, we've been and done a-travelin'
A farther down the road we've been and done a-travelin'
A farther down the road, we've been and done a-travelin'
We're bound to go to that Honest Land!

Able stops outside the demon hole and listens intently for a bit, hoping that, if he doesn't hear anything, it means they can go in unimpeded. Then, looking around and seeing none is with him, he tends Pendleton mad then invisible. Right. Everyone here? He asks each by their name to sound off. This might get dangerous. How're we t' know if'n we're t'gether?

[Marullus]

Good question.
Worth me waiting on the answer...

[Zhym]

"Two methods present themselves," says Pendleton. "One: physical contact. Hands on shoulders, holding hands, that sort of thing. Or we could each hold on to a rope with knots tied along its length. Two: sound. We call out our presence to each other. The latter approach has drawbacks if we wish our presence to remain undetected. But it might be necessary in some situations.

"My suggestion: we all hold on to a rope. If anyone has trouble, he speaks up or tugs on the rope. The next person along on a rope should notice a change in its slack of someone has to let go."

[Rusty Tincanne]

Aye. That'll be handy, 'specially as we cross through that miasma Brother Idriss left behind last time Able gets out his silk rope and ties equally space butterfly hitches along it's length. (About every 7', if you include the rope by tying it.)

Able lights his lantern and hands it to one of the new Templars. be He then takes the lead as they enter, reminding everyone to hold the rope tightly as they pass through the cloud so they can help anyone who become incapacitated. He steers the line away from the known traps, back toward the stairs.

With 7' of rope between each person, we should be able to keep the rope invisible too.

[Marullus]

With 7' of rope between each person, we should be able to keep the rope invisible too.

Any part of an item that the subject carries but that extends more than 10 feet from it becomes visible.

Okay, I'll allow the overlapping personal invisibility spells can conceal the rope with 7' intervals. If anyone lets go, though, then the whole rope re-appears, not just that section, looking like a floating rope.

[Marullus]

The group reconvenes on the goblin hillside, refreshed from their wounds and re-equipped for a third try. The cave lies before you, the path in and to the left to the stairs and down to the passages below now familiar. You noted on your way out that the thick brown miasma of magical nausea still lays heavy over the the caverns, particularly where the rats once nested, but you were able to move through quickly enough and nobody is effected.

You descend the stair and proceed along your agreed route.

Demon Hole Route.png (173.25 KiB) Viewed 809 times

Marching Order (along the rope):

Ablesforth --> Jacques (with lantern) --> Pendleton --> Idriss --> Molay --> Dolph

You descend the stair and Ablesforth opens the door at the bottom to enter the "trash room." You are surprised to see six goblins sitting in the chairs around the round table, greedily eating a bushel of summer greens and fruits which lies up-ended in the middle of the table. The goblins, in turn, are equally surprised to see the door swing open and a sourceless light floating in the hallway outside. "The hells?!" they exclaim in their native Goblin tongue, as they startle, some dropping behind their chairs, others snatching an extra apple, most of them dubious at the bobbling incandescence.

Room Description reminder:

It is a 50' by 50' room and your door enters in the center of one wall. The far wall from you has another door on it in the far-left corner. The wall to your right also has a door in its furthest corner from you. Both of the other doors are made of simple wood and are without locks. Trash and scraps fill the room, small piles of detritus collected haphazardly over time. Some appear to be fashioned into small beds/nests along the walls. A round wooden table and eight chairs sit in the south-east corner of the room. Several rotten apples are scattered throughout the room, perhaps a half-bushel, fresh enough to be about a month old at most.

Actions?

Date: 31 August 2021, 11:00am
Light: Lantern (carried by Jaques)
Effects: Protection from Evil (each person); Invisibility (each person)
Injuries: None

[2d4] = 6 goblins [2d6] = 7 disposition
surprise: Us: [1d6] = 2 them [1d6] = 1

[Rusty Tincanne]

Able has Hold Person memorized, but if prefer to save those for the sniffers. Does Pendleton have Sleep ready? (That won't work on the sniffers, right?)

Edit: or Idris. He's a caster too

[Zhym]

He does.

Pendleton reaches into a pocket, tosses a pinch of sand in the air, and softly sings a lullaby.

Initiative: [1d6] = 5
Sleep: [2d8] = 13

[Marullus]

With Pendleton's words, the goblins all nod off, slumping in their chairs or on the floor.

Effective! Next?

Date: 31 August 2021, 11:01am
Light: Lantern (carried by Jaques)
Effects: Protection from Evil (each person); Invisibility (each person)
Injuries: None

[Rusty Tincanne]

Nice work. Wait. That was us, right? This is real weird, but we're gettin' somewhere at least. Able shrugs invisibily. Anyhow, it seems nasty business t' do 'em in their sleep, but they've showed us no mercy in the past, and I've no doubt they'd do is the same. He asks the Templars and Pendleton if they have any issues killing the goblins, which happen to live alongside the demons. If not, he asks Molay to slit their throats and gather their valuables.

If Pendleton can make him invisible again, great, if not, he'll have Molay follow behind the light so the lead party can surprise further goblins, etc.

[Zhym]

Pendleton shakes his head to indicate that he has no problems killing sleeping goblins. Then he remembers that he's invisible, and says, "I have no objections." When the deed is done, he makes Ableforth invisible again.

Just checking—casting Sleep didn't make Pendleton invisible? If if did, Pendleton should kill the goblins since he's already visible. He'll re-cast invisibility on whomever does it.

[Marullus]

Ablesforth, Cleric of Eruanna, recommends that the Templars slit the throats of all the sleeping goblins. Molay balks, looking at the small figures, slumbering at a table as they did nothing more sinister than eat a meal of stolen summer greens. "Do you think, Brother, that the Goddess of Mercy would look so lightly on the slaughter of any being as it eats a simple breakfast?" he questions back.

Jacques appears visibly next to the table, goblin blood running off his longknife's blade. "Eruanna's grace teaches that nothing is beyond redemption within the souls of men. These are not men," he says grimly, stepping to the next goblin and carrying out the task as Molay dithers.

It takes a few minutes, but Jacques slaughters all the goblins, rifles their pockets, and dumps them unceremoniously against the wall. He hands a small sack to Ablesforth containing 45 pieces of electrum gathered from their clothes, then waits for Pendleton to make him invisible once more.

Date: 31 August 2021, 11:10am
Light: Lantern (carried by Jaques) until 2:00pm
Effects: Protection from Evil (each person); Invisibility (each person)
Injuries: None

WIS checks [1d20] = 3 [1d20] = 20 [1d20] = 20

Casting Sleep did not make Pendleton un-invisible.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Able let's Molay know that he was of the same mind last time he entered these tunnels, but points out their progress was repeatedly hampered by goblins. As I said, I've no doubt these goblins wouldn't hesitate t' do us in our sleep. Or path back out'll be that much safer with this lot out of the way. And look at these greens. I doubt they went and struck a deal with the local farmers, payin' a fair price. We're makin' the countryside safer too. He leads onwards, towards the annoying statue, hoping to go by it quickly and quietly.

He asks Pendleton if he'd like to test the door to the mandala room from here.

[Zhym]

"Yes. Let's do a quick test. We'll drill holes as high as we can and work down. The pressure will be lower higher up."

BTW, I think we agreed that we'll try to go through the room with the knotwork pattern and the arch north from there, so we approach the room with the arrow/spear trap from a different direction.

[Marullus]

Examining the door to the Mandala room, you are able to determine from the seepage at the seams that the room beyond is roughly four-feet deep with blood.

Date: 31 August 2021, 11:20am
Light: Lantern (carried by Jaques) until 2:00pm
Effects: Protection from Evil (each person); Invisibility (each person)
Injuries: None

[Zhym]

"So the Mandala room is still no-go. Moving on, then?"