Chapter 03: Elusive cultists

[Gebex]

Eaton

Hmmm, this boat have been used for religious reasons.

There can be some valuables in it depending on how the cult have taken their path in practice of their foul religion.

Tiny, if you find things here then I have a good idea where we could find more valuables. But if you don’t find anything in or next to the boat you better leave it be.

[GreyWolfVT]

Korin lots of dwarven grumbling mostly in tones low enough nobody can understand what the dwarf is saying, a lot of it is entirely in his native tongue. Trying to right himself and get onto his own two feet the dwarf examines the barge once he can plant his feet on something mostly solid.

[sastaz]

Thorelf will hold onto Tiny's sword as Korin is brushing the clam shards off his trousers and cursing the place.

[Gebex]

Eaton

Eaton smiles a little hearing the dwarfish swearing.

Then looks out over the water. Trying to hear if the dripping sound is still there.

[Nordbo]

Tiny

finds that he can actually stand up inside the collapsed barge, on part of the deck, with his head and shoulders above the surface. This means there is no need to dive: he will be able to grasp items just by holding his breath and bending down. The water is pretty cold, though, so he'll want to hurry up.

The skeleton looks human. Fumbling about sub-surface, Tiny gets hold of a rusty corroded helmet, an equally rusty and corroded sword, plus a small chest that's both water-logged, corroded, slimy and generally covered in marine goo. The small lumps lying about just dissolve and crumble when he picks them up - maybe they are piles of lamprey poo ?
From his position, Tiny could easily pass items up to anyone perched on the last stair step.

Eaton hears no plips or plops while Tiny is splashing about inside the barge.

The mooring pollard that the broken barge is tied to, has not been used in a long time, so it is slime-covered too. However, there is another mooring pollard next to it; Thorelf and Korin notice that the other one looks like it seems to be in regular use, as its surface is non-slimy and looks cleaner - as if by frequent rope wear.

DM open roll [1d6]=5

[Rex]

Tiny

Tiny will pull the chest out and hand it to someone on the last step. They he will rummage around and make sure he didn't miss anything that might be valuable, he will also check for jewelry on the skeleton. Then he will get out and try and dry off.

[sastaz]

Thorelf

Steps down >carefully< to help haul the chest.

"C'mon somebody help me out with this thing."

[Gebex]

Eaton

I’ll help you. Hand the chest to me.

Eaton puts his rope away, kneels down. Makes sure he is secure (since the others where not) and is ready to get the chest.

[sastaz]

Thorelf and Eaton will help each other out to haul the chest Tiny hands them.

[SirOwen]

Richard Firehand

"I'm afraid a lot of lifting and pulling might be beyond me," Richard says, his shame at his physical weakness showing a bit. "So I'll just be lookout." Without another word, Richard steps away a few steps to watch the various approaches for anyone or anything that might be coming down to the barge, including watching for waves or ripples that might be something under the water.

[Nordbo]

(repeated local area description, to fill in SirOwen)

When Richard looks around the area, he sees that he is standing on a paved esplanade or promenade, going from left and right. Its width (meaning from the wall behind him to the edge of the water) is roughly 10-15'. To the 'east' - darkness. To the 'west' - the portal they just came out of.

Three watchtowers 15' high can be seen placed out along the edge of the promenade, protruding another 15-20' towards a large body of water, the far edge of which is not visible (see image):

Oath_Ch01_05.jpg (79.11 KiB) Viewed 388 times

It seems to be a huge cavernous lake - there is rock above you all, instead of open sky.
Each tower has stairs going up: between the towers are descending stairs, leading down to the water (where the others are exploring a wreck at the moment). A lot of rubble has crashed down on the stair sections from somewhere - stones, brick and rocks lie here and there.

Turning round to look at the rock wall behind him, Richard sees a massive, boarded up portal decorated with reliefs of skeletons circling a flame (see image):

Oath_Ch02_01.jpg (158.53 KiB) Viewed 388 times

Richard vaguely remembers seeing this imposing gateway before, probably when he arrived in this area (although he can't place it into any specific route or timeline - his trip here was somewhat hazy).
Low down, a small hatch is open.

[Nordbo]

It's getting a bit crowded at the bottom of the steps but the adventurers manage to create a hauling chain. Tiny lifts the soggy, dripping chest out of the boat, Thorelf grabs hold of it and passes it on upwards to Eaton (who also has to roll 1d100 now), while Korin is balancing precariously on the lowest western corner of the steps.
Meanwhile, up on 'solid ground', Richard watches the area for unexpected appearances and takes in the surroundings.

It is now late afternoon on the group's 2nd day in freedom.

DM open roll [1d6]=6

[sastaz]

Thorelf

Once on solid ground with the muddy chest.

"Now let's see if we can get this chunk of wood open."

If there's any meaing in trying to pick the lock (i.e. it's not corroded into a i pile of rust):

Open locks (34%): [1d100]=38

If not, try to bend it open:

Open doors (1-2): [1d6]=6

If no success (it won't be since I rolled 6):

"Tiny or Korin, could you open this for us please?"

[Rex]

Tiny

Once done searching around and out of the water Tiny will try and open the chest.

Open Doors (1-5/1-2) [1d6]=2

That roll should open even magically held locks.

[sastaz]

Thorelf

"Richard, think closely now, do you remember anything else about that sloping corridor you said you came through before? Does the sorceress live there? Is the cult based there?"

[GreyWolfVT]

Korin attempts to pick the lock...

Open Locks 39% [1d100]=1 if that fails he will give it the muscle try.
Open Doors 1-3 [1d6]=5

[Nordbo]

The friends haul the chest safely to more solid ground, although Eaton's foothold is decidedly wobbly (Eaton please roll 1d100).

With combined efforts, Thorelf, Tiny and Korin crack the worn & aged chest open. Four items lie embedded in its moist, gooey interior:

1 x ornate golden goblet
1 x small stoppered flask
1 x calabash, stoppered
1 x silver arm band

Do you pick them out ?

DM open roll [1d6]=6

[GreyWolfVT]

Korin examines the interior of the chest before deciding what to do with the items within. Looking to see how clean, or dirty and slimy it is first before sticking any limbs of his inside. He also decides maybe not would be prudent to check for traps...

Find/Remove Traps 40% [1d100]=29

[sastaz]

Thorelf patiently awaits Korin excelling at his trade while looking in all directions to spot any unwelcome sounds or movements.

[Rex]

Tiny

Tiny keeps watch, "The silver arm ring looks nice."