Revisiting The Caves: Pt.2

[Jernau35]

Gyb

Gyb scoops up the bandit's weapons. He jogs over to his entwined companions. Looking at them, he asks "Stuck? Help is what you need?" Gyb raises the bandit's sword, inexpertly.

[Quonundrum]

Meinhardt


Meinhardt calls out to Keya as he completes his climb, panting slightly. "Keya ... spare his life, please ... he is not without honor ... I think we can come to an ... agreement."

[shaidar]

Stobart

Hearing Meinhardt, he calls to Keya "Honour? He was quite happy to kill us and turn us into zombies without blinking an eye!"

[ateno]

Meinhardt


Meinhardt calls out to Keya as he completes his climb, panting slightly. "Keya ... spare his life, please ... he is not without honor ... I think we can come to an ... agreement."

Keya moves up and puts his foot on his back and pushes him down on the trail. Halberd edge right near the eyes where he can see.

Keya Redd

[Quonundrum]

Meinhardt


"They could have immediately slain us, or given us to their priest superiors as undead fodder. Therefore, I will offer a proposal, Master Catbird. Face immediate judgement and penalty, or tell us everything you know about these priests and their objectives."

"I suggest you cooperate, as I sense my friend here, and especially the half-orc inside, would not be so merciful."

[Hotgoblin]

Loyn-Dwarf fighter

Loyn shakes his head at Bugs and updates the rest of the party on what they found. “Well at least it wasn’t a honey bath! Although, we need to focus on the task ahead, we can come back for what’s inside the chest, hopefully it’s not fake kobald treasure!” He points to the wall, “I’ve copied the map of what I believe to be the interior cave system on my shield, so this should help tremendously. This is where we are now. Onward thru the portal we go.

[OGRE MAGE]

I am going to take a few liberties with the exact timing in this one, but only for dramatic purposes.

Back To The Caves
Cold Blooded!
Early Afternoon, Clearing

OUTSIDE

When Keya moves towards Catbird, during a distant conversation discussing honor, the highwayman hangs his head in surrender before suddenly producing a hidden dagger with astonishing speed. He flicks the dagger into the midsection of the oncoming Ranger where it sinks in to the hilt. 4 dam Keya gets a disgusted look on his face as he falls backwards unconscious at the worst time once again.

Catbird grabs his sword and sprints past Andron as he crests the ledge, resisting the urge to kick the traitorous mage back down into the ravine on his way by. As he disappears into the cave mouth again, something strange happens.

The vines and shrubbery entangled around Rida, Stobart, and the pondering Haldric suddenly revert back into their normal shape and size, with weeds retreating back into the cracks in the rocky environ, releasing them completely. Gyb wonders if it was his sudden arrival that caused the vegetation to retreat.

Before the freed members have a chance to react, all of them watch as the massive green-skinned troll walks across the ravine floor below them to retrieve another dead body it can munch on.

There is still no sign of any of the others returning from the stench filled cave nearby.

Actions?




INSIDE

Crobeus and Magdal replace their smarmy prisoners gag and haul the brigand along into the secret room behind the others.

Seeing the baby blue Bugs next to the chest of coins and hearing the warning from Loyn about fake kobold treasure makes them wonder what they missed. Still searching for Crabgrass, and more importantly, his dog biscuit, the dwarf shows the others his crude drawing before pushing the secret door open into the next room, swooshing a thick canvas to the side just inside the door to enter.

Once inside, you notice this room has clearly been furnished by someone with a taste for luxury. The walls are lined with tapestries showing scenes of a sunlight-dappled forest. An enormous four-poster bed dominates the center of the room, covered with silks and other expensive fabrics. A freestanding mirror stands next to an armoire in the northwest corner, the door hanging open to reveal a variety of rich clothing in many different sizes and styles. A night table beside the bed holds a variety of combs, perfume bottles, and cosmetics. An elegant silver candelabra with a dozen candles burning in it hangs from ceiling. A closed wooden door is set in the northeast corner.

Actions?

Meinhardt (MU1) AC:10 4/5 MM/MM/Sleep
Rida (F1) AC:2 6/10
Keya Redd H-E (C1/R1) AC:5 0/12 CLW UNCONSCIOUS
Haldric Hammerheart D (C1) AC:3 12/12 CLW/Light
Stobart (C1) AC:5 5/10 CLW/CLW/Sanct
Gyb the Meager (M1) AC:10 2/8

Bugs Donato G (T2) AC:3 16/16
Magdal (R1) AC:7 5/16
Crobeus (P1) AC:3 4/10 Lantern
Loyn Shortbeard D (F1) AC:5 12/12 Torch
Cobb (F1) AC:6 14/14 Torch

[Rex]

Rida

Rida is going to run after the fleeing bandit (Catbird).

[Quonundrum]

Meinhardt


"You have chosen poorly ..." he mutters after the fleeing Catbird. He joins Rida, "Go left!"

[shaidar]

Stobart rushes to help the fallen Keya.

[Jernau35]

Gyb

Gyb retrieves the two javelins he threw earlier. Alarmed at the approach of the troll, he puts his boot to the side of one of the dead bandits. Pushing as hard as he can, he levers it off the ledge and down to the bottom of the slope. "Better you than Gyb" he grimaces.

[Scott308]

Crobeus - Human Paladin

"I don't see any bad guys or teammates in here. We can come back later."

For logistics purposes, Crobeus is holding the lantern in the same hand as his sword. I think he should be able to hold both at once, although he'd have to put the lantern down to use the sword.

[Hotgoblin]

Loyn-Dwarf fighter

Loyn agrees with Croebus, “This seems fancy for a cave dwelling! He thinks about how much he’d love to nap in that bed! Yes, to the next room.” He listens at the for any sound of life before cracking it open.

[Monsieur Rose]

Bugs

"But, but..but...the treasure. We're leaving it?" Bugs dutifully follows along into the boudoir only casting a few looks back at the treasure.

"Oh. Okay, I see why you wanted to come in here. Nice place." He eyes the many tapestries with suspicion. "Watch out for those things. Great place to hide behind and jump out."

With a dagger in his hand, he pulls back the nearest tapestry to check behind it.

[Darithe]

Magdal

Magdal's eyes go wide at the room's contents, "Did we stumble on some rich person's bedroom?" She looks at herself in the mirror realizing she looks quite the sight, trying to rub off some of the dirt on her face. She sneaks up to one of the bottle perfume and doses herself, "Maybe that will make me tolerable." She then moves following the others.

[OGRE MAGE]

Back To The Caves
Reunited?
Early Afternoon, Clearing

Haldric and Stobart rush to the side of the fallen Keya, binding his wounds while the horrifying troll below bites the hand off of one of the fallen bandits, chewing on it noisily. Gyb retrieves his weapons before kicking another meal down to the monster on the ravine floor. The green skinned rubbery beast looks up at the wandering Monk, nodding its huge head in approval as it picks up another bandit and starts dragging them behind it, heading back towards the other side of the ravine again.

Rida and Meinhardt waste no time rushing after the fleeing Catbird who heads back inside the bandits cave mouth. As they pass by the entryway and into the main chamber, they quickly learn just how fast this bandit leader can run, especially when his life is on the line. Catbird rushes through the main chamber of the hideout and rounds the corner into a dark hallway beyond before either man can catch up. Once inside this area, the pair find a few more of their friends sitting around.

Renna spots movement out of the corner of her eye when Catbird rushes through the room, but she doesn't let that be a distraction, currently fighting for her own life with a bandit named Nathan. Her well timed staff strike knocks the young human to the floor with a satisfying smack, ending his short guild career rather abruptly. Pimlan cuts away the remaining cords tied around the wrists of Dredd just as Meinhardt and Rida enter the room. From a distance, Crabgrass appears to be either sleeping on the stone floor....or dead.




Possibly forgetting what it is that bandits actually do for a living.....the remainder of the party moves in.

Almost able to smell his rotting dog biscuit by now, Loyn and Cobb listen at the only door before cracking it open to reveal another dark and empty hallway beyond. However, once this door is opened, they can hear the distant yet familiar sounds of others talking coming from somewhere beyond this dark corridor. (again, this corridor is currently dark beyond your torchlight and empty to your eyes)

Almost unwilling to leave the chest of coins behind for any amount of time, Bugs enters the lavishly decorated room and wisely pulls the closest tapestry away from the wall to expose what appears to be a concealed natural alcove in the cave wall's northwest corner. It looks just like the cave drawing on the wall in the last room.

There is no reaction from inside the hidden alcove after moving the curtain aside, but the faint sound of jingling chains can barely be discerned. The men speaking inside this room also garners no immediate response. However, once Magdal moves in to perfume herself, stating her thoughts about the place, a dainty female voice responds from somewhere within the alcove. "Hell.....hello......is there......is someone there? Can.....can you help me please?"

Bugs, Crobeus, and Magdal poke their heads behind the curtain to find a scantily clad female in tattered finery chained to the wall in iron shackles. 3 more sets of shackles hang empty from this prison wall, but no signs of other prisoners are present. With a heavy sigh, after the woman notices she has been found, her eyes close and her head drops downwards, as if she has just passed out from complete exhaustion.

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Actions?

caves_of_chaos_large - Copy (3).jpg (62.56 KiB) Viewed 322 times

Meinhardt (MU1) AC:10 4/5 MM/MM/Sleep
Rida (F1) AC:2 6/10
Keya Redd H-E (C1/R1) AC:5 0/12 CLW UNCONSCIOUS
Haldric Hammerheart D (C1) AC:3 12/12 CLW/Light
Stobart (C1) AC:5 5/10 CLW/CLW/Sanct
Gyb the Meager (M1) AC:10 2/8
Pimlan (F1/T1) H-L AC:6 3/9
Crabgrass (MU1/C1) H-E AC:7 -1/7 Sleep/SG Sanct Unconscious
Renna (MU1/C1) Elf AC:4 4/9 Sleep/Sleep/Sleep CLW/CLW/CLW
Dredd (F1) H-O AC:3 8/16
Bugs Donato G (T2) AC:3 16/16
Magdal (R1) AC:7 5/16
Crobeus (P1) AC:3 4/10 Lantern
Loyn Shortbeard D (F1) AC:5 12/12 Torch
Cobb (F1) AC:6 14/14 Torch

[Rex]

Rida

Rida will rush to Crabgrass and see if he can help him.

"That one got away, we should prepare for him to come back with help."

[GreyWolfVT]

Pimlan "Someone cut me free next please. Oh and Dredd might need a bandage he kinda cut himself rather than the ropes."

[hedgeknight]

Pimlan "Someone cut me free next please. Oh and Dredd might need a bandage he kinda cut himself rather than the ropes."

Dredd quickly returns the favor and uses the knife/dagger to cut Pimlan's bonds. "Thanks, Pim. Ain't got time to bleed. Now where's my spear?"
The Half-Orc looks around for his weapons, and failing that, he will pick up a spear if one lies about.

[gurusql]

Renna

"Looks like Catbird is on the run, we need to get Crabgrass out of here. I can only stop his bleeding not heal him again. Your equipment is over there" (pointing to where it was placed)

Renna will bind Crabgrass' wounds and stop his bleeding.