Ch. 1: Rescue Penelope Primrose!

[Zhym]

A quick interrogation of the recent arrival ends when the dwarf says Penelope's name. He is welcomed to the group. Arrows are replenished. There is talk of giving Alton a proper burial.

The bandit, hands raised, waits for you to turn your attention back to him—then has but a moment to wish you hadn't. Twiddle kicks the bandit's knees out from under him and calmly slits his throat. The bandit gurgles something unintelligible and slumps over, dead. "Let's get Ms. Penelope!" says the halfling, as cheerfully as if he'd just finished second breakfast instead of killing a man in cold blood.

Add 1 bow, 1 dagger, 1 leather armor, and 8 arrows to the loot. This bandit didn't have any money on him.

Grond inspects the door and soon realizes why Skeeter Holland left a guard. The door opens easily enough with a good push. Whatever locking or barring mechanism may have existed in the past is long gone now. But the door is noisy. The groaning, whining, and screaming of hinges that haven't seen oil in centuries announce your presence better than any butler possibly could.

The door opens into a vast, dark hall. It is 60' wide and, judging by the echoes of the door's screen and your footsteps, extends far beyond the 30' reach of Grond's lantern. The ceiling is likewise out of the range of his light. The door at which Grond stands is in the middle of the south wall. Iron-bound wooden doors stand at the southern end of the walls to the left and right. The floor is smooth, polished stone, with intricate inlaid patterns only somewhat faded by time and the passage of thousands—millions?—of pairs of feet. Only a few of those feet have trod here within your lifetimes.

Map:

ZRDC L1 Current.png (19.31 KiB) Viewed 434 times

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Status: Finn (½1): 5/5; Grond (F1): 7/7; Twiddle (½1): 4/4; Molly (½1): 3/3; Cy (C1): 2/5; Geoff (T1): 4/4; Iliro (E1): 6/6; Dax (D1): 9/9
Light Sources: Lantern (Grond): 21 turns; Torch (Alton): 3 turns
Effects: None

[The_Wanderer]

Cy

Cy reaches behind him and pulls out a wineskin that is decorated with elaborate turquoise and white beading. He takes a short pull, shakes his head and then takes a longer pull of the liquid inside. He then looks at Twiddle, blinks, and nods, following the rest of the party through the door. He then readies his mace and shield.

His eyes search the darkness, trying his best to see movement. Keeping his voice low, he says, "My gut says go right."

[Starbeard]

Edit: strange new posts didn't show up, will read and make new post

[GreyWolfVT]

Dax will find a suitable spot and bury Alton properly as best he can with what tools he has on him then will grab Alton's pack and hand it off to whomever if nobody takes it he will carry it with him for the time being.

[Zhym]

You are in a mountain made of stone. It's right there in the name: "Big Stone Mountain." Where and how do you plan to bury Alton?

[GreyWolfVT]

You are in a mountain made of stone. It's right there in the name: "Big Stone Mountain." Where and how do you plan to bury Alton?

Dax "Bury is outta the question I believe a pyre is bout all we can offer Alton if I can find enough burnable material..." at the very least the dwarf says a prayer to the battle and dwarf gods for the fallen Alton.

[Rex]

Finn

Finn will help Dax deal with Alton, that was his plan anyways. If we can't bury or burn then covered in rocks is a minimum to keep the scavengers off.

[GreyWolfVT]

Finn

Finn will help Dax deal with Alton, that was his plan anyways. If we can't bury or burn then covered in rocks is a minimum to keep the scavengers off.

OOC: I didn't even think of that we can make a "cairn"

[Rusty Tincanne]

Starbeard - go ahead and take Alton's thieves tools.

Twiddle peels off to the right, and listens at the door, then returns to the group to tell them what, if anything, he found.

[Starbeard]

Thanks!

Geoff takes the opportunity to listen at the left door while Twiddle is busy with the right.

[The_Wanderer]

Cy

As the final stone is placed over Alton's body, Cy takes another swig from his wineskin. He closes his eyes and grasps his holy symbol, intoning in a low voice, "Please lord usher this man to the afterlife and show him your eternal grace. I did not know him but he died doing good. Remember that in your judgement of him."

Cyrus clears his throat and then looks up at the others, waiting for whatever comes next.

[Captain Kinkajou]

Molly

Molly cuts her arrows out the dead bandits and returns them to her quiver. While doing so, out of the corner of her eye, she watches the little ceremony going on for Alton. Funny, not a one of em woulda probably given a crap about him when he was alive but now it didn't matter none they was all solemn. She spat in the dirt. She was pretty sure a few more of em would be joining Alton through the last door afore long. She hoped she wouldn't be one of em. Not before I've rescued Penelope anyhow, she told herself.

She stood and went to check on Geoff and Twiddle who'd gone on ahead of the others to scout beyond the doors.

[Modric]

Grond

Shrugs his shoulders and proceeds to check the right door to see if he can open it.

Let me know if I need to roll! I'll use a spike to keep it opened

[Zhym]

Dax, the newcomer, seems to have a strong sense of affinity for the departed Alton. He suggests a proper burial, but one glance at the solid stone floor makes clear that interment is not an option here. He proposes a funeral pyre. But there is no wood in the stone passageway. So Dax resigns himself to building a cairn. Fortunately, there seems to be sufficient rubble spread out in the corridor and down the great stairs to cover Alton's corpse. Dax and Finn begin slowly and laboriously building the cairn, heavy stone by heavy stone.

The DM rolls dice.

While Dax and Finn build their cairn, Geoff, Twiddle, and Grond investigate the next room. Molly joins them after watching the cairn builders for a moment. Cy and Iliro remain behind.

Geoff listens at the left door, Twiddle at the right. Neither hear anything, so Grond shrugs and tries to open the right door.

Grond, open door: [1d6] = 4

But the door is stuck closed.

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Status: Finn (½1): 5/5; Grond (F1): 7/7; Twiddle (½1): 4/4; Molly (½1): 3/3; Cy (C1): 2/5; Geoff (T1): 4/4; Iliro (E1): 6/6; Dax (D1): 9/9
Light Sources: Lantern (Grond): 20 turns; Torch (Alton, on the floor): 2 turns
Effects: None

[Rusty Tincanne]

Twiddle returns to the group to let them know what he learned, and seeing two of them missing, he is dismayed to learn they are eating time on a cairn.That's all well and good, but they could be having their way with Ms. Penelope right now. Or killing her, which means we won't get our full reward. Either leave Alton or take him to the horse boy to deal with. Then let's get moving. We're here to save the girl and get the treasure, right?

Twiddle returns to the new room and starts circling the room clockwise, looking for doors, etc as he gauges the size of the space.

[The_Wanderer]

Cy

Cy slides his mace in a loop at his belt (shield is still out though) and grabs the departed Alton's torch. He then accompanies Twiddle around the room. He does his best to keep his torch high so that Twiddle has no trouble seeing.

"Awfully dark place for them to choose as a base for a kidnapping."

[GreyWolfVT]

Dax stops building the cairn and digs out one of his torches and lights it. Then will follow the rest of the group.

[Starbeard]

Geoff keeps a close watch over the right door, now that it's already been jostled, to ensure that they are not surprised by anyone coming through while Cy and Twiddle search the room.

Once they are done—assuming they haven't found anything of interest—he mutters a short but effective, "Let's get along, dogies," and attempts to shove open the stuck door.

Edit: After helping to build a cairn for Alton.

[Rex]

Finn

Finn follows along with Dax. Once back with the others he will put his lantern out and stow it once it is cooled.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Struck by an otherworldly inspiration, Twiddle goes back out to join Dax in building the cairn. Shrugging, he merely says, Couldn't stop thinking what his grandma'am would say if she knew we'd just left him here...

In honor of Grandma GreyWolf.