Quest #21 "Island Hopping"

[kruk]

Cresty

After listening to Lerrick describe what happen the paladin shakes his head. Well, that mystery is solved. Best to avoid them at all cost...Drawn and quartered you say? The paladin shutters That's worse than the undead Cora's hands rounded my throat.

Lerrick

After telling the group what happened with the trees and the minotaur corpse Lerrick moves to a wall in the room and leans against it and closes her eyes. I need to calm myself for a few moments. She then mumbles a prayer and slides down to a sitting position on the floor with her back against the wall. She takes deep slow breaths which help her relax. With in a few moments she opens her eyes and smiles. Much better now. Shall we get on with our exploration of the cave?

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche steps outside briefly to take one last look at the strange trees while the rest of the party prepares to enter the tunnels again. Before they leave, he steps over to Gramble with a pensive demeanor, clearly wanting to ask a question but not quite sure how to ask it. "Mr. Gramble, seeing as we may need to use fire against those trees, I trust in your ... expertise ... regarding that option. Do you have any suggestions as to how we could burn them in a controlled manner? Avoid an island wide blaze?" He hopes the question doesn't sound rhetorical or, even worse, patronizing, as he's quite unsure himself. Proper fire management simply wasn't a priority skill to learn in an urban temple.

[Rex]

Tlachtga

"As long as we are paying attention I don't think the trees are an actual threat. Best to explore the caves now."

[Jernau35]

Maag

"On der plus side", offers Maag, "now dat we know der trees eat meat, we've got an easy way out. Just find sumfin' to kill in 'ere an' chuck its body out der. Den we can leg it while der trees are eatin' "

[Storm11]

Saracen shudders after the thought of the trees of dicing, and swallows loudly as Lerrick describes what she saw.

And there are more than just the three of them as well, judging by our escape last time. I wonder why they don’t eat the cats? Maybe they don’t like the sand? It’s a problem for sure, one we may need to rest to solve. Which is why I think we will need to completely clear these tunnels before we leave, if we are completely surrounded..... Let us be quick whilst my spell holds, to the acid trap statues and the secret entrance.

[wolfpack]

You would need to make a fire break so the flames could not jump to a new fuel source, don;t think that is possible when the trees can move.

[Jernau35]

Maag

"On der plus side", continues the suddenly super-optimistic half-orc, "if yer did burn down a large patch of trees on dis island, it would save people from 'avin to cut down trees to build a town. And der charcoal would make excellent fertility? ....Felicity?....stuff for makin' der soil grow stuff better".

Maag stares off into space, suddenly consumed by thoughts of Felicity and Felicity-related stuff.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche nods in acknowledgement to the very large, and very large ax bearing, human. "Thank you, Mr. Gramble. That is ... unfortunate. However, as Miss Tlachtga said, we are able to avoid them. The cats I expect do the same. They're also aware of and avoid the minotaur." He gestures with a hand towards the now Felicity preoccupied half-orc. "Mr. Maag does however allude to one option. If we could lure the trees into a small section of the island, it may be possible to burn them with minimal collateral damage."

He pauses to review his map then folds it to stow into his long coat. "I agree with Brother Saracen. Let us quickly proceed north to the trap room. The trees might once again change their strategy and force us to fight if we need to return here. Sir Crestbrook, please lead the way, if you would."

[kruk]

Cresty

Andronichishche Sir Crestbrook, please lead the way, if you would.

Yes...hmmm...Maag, do you have the 10 foot pole with you? Thank you. The paladin stows his shield and grips the pole with his left hand and holds his sword with his right hand. He then leads the party into the cave, heading towards the room with the acid trap.


Lerrick

The cleric takes her place in the marching order

[ravenn4544]

Alordan considers the trees and wonders aloud, "if they can move like that, they may not have any roots to speak of - maybe toppling them over is another way to remove them. Can't run from a fire on your back"

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche stops suddenly in apparent thought over what Alordan just suggested. After a moment he responds. "Perhaps not push ... but topple, by an ax, a pole ax to be specific. As you said, they can't run from a fire on their backs, and if we fit long poles with ax blades, longer than the vines can reach, it's essentially the same result. Perhaps we can hire some loggers for the task while we watch over them?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Back To Work
Freeday, 19th of Goodmonth
Early Morning, Partly Cloudy, Warm, Humid

Alordan finds that both of his rope nets have been ruined to the point of there being little or nothing left to salvage. Andron continues talking and rubbing. He looks outside the cave again to determine how far the high noon sun would shine into the cave entrance. Though there is a void in the leafy canopy above the stone circle, the priest doubts that any sun rays would penetrate the cave entrance more than a few inches at any time during the day.

A few more theories are shared about the moving trees, now that the group is certain they are indeed dangerous. Once Lerrick has a minute to calm herself again, it is decided that the party should continue on with their underground exploration inside the caves and then deal with the trees at another time. Cresty leads the way, guiding the others back to the north, by the light of Tlachtga's lone torch, where the three statues and the acid trap was discovered.

Andronichishche of the pink chin is surprised to find that his offering of rations have been stomped into little more than a smelly thin paste on the floor. The jerky is gone but any hard tack, nuts, or dried fruit left behind is totally smashed and ruined. When he looks to see if the note he scrawled on the stone is still there, he finds that someone or something has attempted to erase it. The words have been altered into nothing more than a black smear and there is a distinct scent of stale urine on the floor where he wrote the note, possibly used as an aid in the erasing and food squashing processes.

The statues that were moved have been positioned back to the way they were found initially and the room is otherwise empty and quiet. Saracen doesnt see anything magical with his enhanced sight.

Actions?

map:

AB3FD39C-2139-416B-9A86-514612D3CB94.jpeg (62.89 KiB) Viewed 798 times

Sir Crestbrook 10/11 LoH
Gramble 16/16
Tlachtga 8/8 2/4 1st Torch:5.8 (40'r)
Cu AC:3 13/13
Lerrick 11/11 3/4 1st
Saracen 33/33 3/5 1st 2/2 2nd DM:6
Alordan 16/18
Andronichishche 6/6 1/3 1st CL, DM, RM / 1/1 1st
Maag 12/12

[Rex]

Tlachtga

Tlachtga will have Cu sniff the urine spot and the rations. She will then position herself so those moving the statues have good light from the torch.

[ravenn4544]

Alordan stays well out of the way and keeps an eye and ear on the tunnels

[Storm11]

Saracen turns to Maag and raises and eyebrow, then looks at the statues. Time for a little trap checking if you would sir?

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche kneels down to investigate the pulverized offering of food. He starts to rub his chin in thought but quickly stops with a frowned expression and stuffs the offending hand into a coat pocket. With his free hand he gestures to the scene on the floor. "Certainly not the response I was hoping for, but it does give us information. Only the jerky was eaten which suggests a carnivore." He looks up at Maag and remembering his audience adds, "Carnivore, a meat eater."

He gives Cu a scratch on the head as the large dog sniffs the remains. "It is likely quite heavy and strong to so thoroughly smash the remaining food. Also of some intelligence to attempt erasing the writing, just like how the charcoal markers used in the first trip were erased, which suggests the urination wasn't done to mark territory. Although, why the blood drawn scrawls are untouched is unusual. I'd hazard this was done by a minotaur, but according to Cora's journal the one she encountered did not pursue her into the tunnels."

Andron stands up and directs his attention now to the three statues. "Whatever it is, Cu has its scent now, so at least we can track where it has been. As for the statues, Mr. Maag confirmed the correct procedure is moving the look statue against the wall behind the hear statue. This time however, I respectfully recuse myself from assisting." He moves a few steps back to join Alordan.

[Storm11]

Saracen nods at that. It wouldn’t hurt to take another look before we open the doors, just in case there’s another trap been set.

[Quonundrum]

"By all means, of course, Brother Saracen. If what moved the statue back is the same that hung the tattered netting, I would suggest checking for anything underneath the statues."

[kruk]

Both the paladin and the cleric wait until the trap is disarmed before moving forward, having fallen victim to the trap previously.

[Jernau35]

Maag

The half orc steps forward to poke and prod things with wires and various pointy things.

Find/Remove Traps (30%) [1d100] = 17