Chapter 3: Rafting down the pink river

[shaidar]

Garrant

Garrant offers to use the newly enchanted coin if more light is needed.

[GreyWolfVT]

Boff can seer the raft if needed. Though with what i do not know.

[Rex]

Qleceec

You can use Qleceec's spear.

[gurusql]

I’m trying to visualize this on a map, using the one you provided at one point:



In this map, the highway continues past the “i” (at the hypothetical east end) to the river (which is not on this map) then beyond the river to the end which is the lava room.

Assuming this to be correct, I’m not sure where the crossing is.

Can you share an updated map? It may help the whole party visualize better.

In some ways I am against drawing a map for the party when there is no one mapping in the party, but heck I am in a good mood today and there are new players. I have added information to the old map that was drawn by the dwarves for you. The area with the dark elves and the two "giants" was a passage to the left where the "I" is (not shown). After you went back into the Highway it was twisty and the final direction the group was unsure of, I have drawn this is orange with yellow tunnels so you can tell the difference. For the purposes of this map I drew it as a straight orange line and the scale could be a little off. Anyway the Highway continued forward with three branches off of it as shown and then you crossed the pink river and down the stairs to the lava room. If you turn the Pink River Crossing map to the right 90 degrees it will make the map (again the group does not know which way they are heading at this time). The party is camping on the "north" side of the river and the "giants" flew down the river in the direction of the current.

HighwayMap2.png (17.48 KiB) Viewed 673 times

PinkRiverCrossing02.png (1.64 MiB) Viewed 673 times

[Dicey]

Thanks that clarifies some



But a question on “The Crossing’ and directions referred to by the flying giants:

There is a spot well down the highway, much farther than you have gone that allows you to cross between this plane and the Para-Elemental Plane of Magma. If you travel down the tunnels you so call the Highway and pass the river crossing and then it is another 2-3 miles. My friend and I here call it the Crossing.

We crossed the river and it led to the lava chamber. Is the lava chamber’s corridor and caved-in corridor “The Crossing” referred to by giants?

I assume you are going to ask me where this beast is, but that I can only give an good guess - We travelled all this way from the Crossing and did not see it so it must have travelled the opposite direction from the Crossing…

Opposite the Crossing is back up the highway, or ‘south’ beyond the lava chamber? Here is where confusion rises again.

Siouxsie is seeking the direction to the Ronkard magma.

[gurusql]

Solenearcillus offered an explanation to your very question, and this happened when you were playing

Is this the truth or are both the "Giants" and Solenearcillus lying about the same topic you need to choose. And who are the others he referred to, the "Giants" or someone else?

[gurusql]

I have

Androgost ready to raft with sword out
Qleceec ready to raft with bow out
Boff ready to steer using Qleceec's spear
Garrant with the light source
Frannie ready to ride the raft

The raft carries 4-6 (four is most stable and six is least stable)

That leaves unknown for Nah Olos, Siouxsie, Hex and Raffi. Are they going on two mushroom tops (which can each hold two people with Hex and Raffi each counting at 1/2)? Staying behind? Going somewhere else? Doing something else?

In private chats, there was some talk of potential maybe alternate plans but for those to be real they need to be posted in the public forum.

I will move this forward with my best guess in about 24 hours.

[Rex]

Qleceec

Correct for Qleceec.

[cybersavant]

Nah Olos will go where the rest think it's best. he's probably pretty heavy, so the center maybe? do we have a pole that could work like a Venice gondala?

[gurusql]

First Leg of the River ride
Morning of Waterday, 20th day of Planting, 597
15th day since leaving Loftwick


Raft
Androgost (AC -6, HP 39/65, Armor 14/26)
Qleceec (AC 1, HP 42/63)
Boff (AC 5, HP 60/61)
Garrant (AC 3, HP 50/50, Armor 2/8) (Continual Light Coin)
Frannie (AC 4, HP 19/26)

Mushroom Top 1
Nah Olos (AC 4, HP 45/53)
Siouxsie (AC 2, HP 48/48)

Mushroom Top 2
Hex (AC 0, HP 23/27, Armor 8/8)
Raffi (AC -1, HP 21/21, Armor 8/8)

The party gathers at the shimmering banks of the glowing pink river, the strange phosphorescent light casting soft, eerie reflections on their faces. The time has come to begin their journey downstream into the unknown, hoping that this will lead back to the Highway.

With their chosen craft—one solid raft and two enormous, upturned mushroom caps—preparations begin in earnest. The raft, already partly assembled with Garrant’s rope coil (used previously to construct the rope bridge and lash the raft together), floats steadily. However, two additional lengths of rope are still needed to secure the mushroom tops and fashion makeshift tethers to keep them loosely connected during the drift. (Please sound off on whose rope this is or I will randomly decide)

Both Nah Olos and Boff are practiced hands when it comes to knots, make short work of tying the craft together with practiced efficiency. Within minutes, the waterborne convoy is ready.

The river flows at a calm but steady pace - roughly 2.5 miles per hour. It's not fast enough to be alarming, but the current is firm, and the depth ranges from ten to fifteen feet. Deep enough, certainly, for someone who can’t swim to find themselves in serious trouble.

Now comes the first tricky part - boarding the mushroom caps.

All four riders assigned to the mushrooms must make a 4d6 Dexterity check as they attempt to settle onto the smooth, slightly buoyant fungal vessels. The stalks have been cut flat to make for better seating, but they’re still awkward and prone to wobbling.

Failure on this check results in a slip, a splash, and an impromptu bath in the pink-glowing water. While it won’t cause harm, it will leave the unlucky adventurer glowing like a lantern for the next hour—hard to miss in the darkened caverns ahead.

With craft secured, ropes tight, and everyone bracing themselves for a wobbly start, the journey down the pink-glowing river begins.

After the first half mile the pink glow of the river is minimal at best, but there is patches of green glowing fungus.

Once the group is successfully underway, with Boff steering a lot will depend on his skill for the folks in the raft. For the first leg of travel over two and a half hours Boff will need to make a total of 5 Easy (2d6), 4 Normal (3d6) and 2 Hard (4d6) all vs his DEX. (Since Boff and all the mushroom riders have a DEX that is 12+ those will all automatically pass so they can be ignored.) For any that Boff fails there will be at least a minor collision with the side of the cavern walls. This will result in all five raft riders needing to make an equivalent STR or DEX check as desired by the PC or fall off the boat.

The mushroom riders are moving around a little more and not having as good a steering mechanism. They need to make the same rolls as Boff (all four of them) and any that Boff fails they need to toss in an extra d4 penalty. If they fail one or more rolls they will need to make an equivalent STR roll (without the d4 penalty if that existed) to hold on to the slippery mushroom or take a swim.

If any are unlucky enough to take a swim we will deal with that.

Here is a summary of the rolls needed:
Boff - 4 (3d6) and 2 (4d6) vs. DEX - If any fail give me another one just like it.
Nah Olos, Siouxsie, Hex and Raffi - 4 (3d6) and 2 (4d6) vs. DEX and [_6d4] (for any d4s that you need) - If any of the 3d6 or 4d6 fail give me another one just like it vs STR.
Androgost, Qleceec, Garrant, Frannie - Hold till Boff makes his rolls, you could need to roll on the fails.

[Rex]

Qleceec

Qleceec has 50 feet of silk rope we can use.

[GreyWolfVT]

Boff

if my sheet is still accurate has a 10 foot pole... that would work for steering...no rope but 100' of thin wire.

[gurusql]

Boff

if my sheet is still accurate has a 10 foot pole... that would work for steering...no rope but 100' of thin wire.

If I could please get the requested rolls from you.

[cybersavant]

Nah Olos

[Dicey]

I thought per post #2 the mushrooms had been secured tightly against the raft with rope and spike, to prevent freewheeling separately (and also stabilizing the whole given more surface space.)

I hadn’t heard much on Siouxsie’s ideas in post #2 except from Androgost and Qleceec, so she’ll just go ahead.

I thought we traveled the long Highway (north/south axis on the map in post #25) when we came to the river, so how can we be hoping to find it again per the first paragraph of post #30? Sorry I’m geospatially challenged here. Do others get it? The more its explained to me, the less I’m getting the layout, so I’ll just stop wondering and, like the party, just try to deal with the ride.

Siouxsie stowed her gear on the raft, transformed into an owl, and silently winged ahead to more quickly survey.

[GreyWolfVT]

Boff

if my sheet is still accurate has a 10 foot pole... that would work for steering...no rope but 100' of thin wire.

If I could please get the requested rolls from you.

Dex Check (17) [3d6]=13
Dex Check (17) [3d6]=14
Dex Check (17) [3d6]=4
Dex Check (17) [3d6]=11

Dex Check (17) [4d6]=17
Dex Check (17) [4d6]=18

[gurusql]

Results - First Leg of the River ride
Morning of Waterday, 20th day of Planting, 597
15th day since leaving Loftwick

Raft
Androgost (AC -6, HP 39/65, Armor 14/26)
Qleceec (AC 1, HP 42/63)
Boff (AC 5, HP 60/61)
Garrant (AC 3, HP 50/50, Armor 2/8) (Continual Light Coin)
Frannie (AC 4, HP 19/26)

Mushroom Top 1
Nah Olos (AC 4, HP 45/53)
Siouxsie (AC 2, HP 48/48)

Mushroom Top 2
Hex (AC 0, HP 23/27, Armor 8/8)
Raffi (AC -1, HP 21/21, Armor 8/8)

I will let Siouxsie's revised plan stand retroactively, but as a DM when you talk in character and ask if something is a good idea (even if others say it was a good idea) or post multiple private posts with ideas - you have not actually done anything until you say you are doing it. And remembering this 40 hours later is way to late. With this retcon Qleceec we did not use your silk rope after all.

Given that the mushroom tops are spiked to stalks (10 spikes total) and Boff is using his pole to try and steer, in the first leg there are four moderate turns (which Boff handles well). In addition there are two sharper turns one of which he just misses the side and the second he has a bounce off the side of the tunnel. Given that we are retconing everyone into the raft rules here we are. Given this one bump, each of the characters (Raft or mushroom top since they are now spiked together) need to make a single 4d6 roll equal to or under your preferred stat between STR and DEX. Nah Olos has already made this roll. Failure could result in a dunk in the water.

Rolls please (and any action around the bump).

[shaidar]

Garrant

4d6 vs dex (12): [_4d6]=(4+3+2+3)=12

Garrant wobbles on the raft but manages to regain his footing.

[Rex]

Qleceec

Test of Str (14) [4d6]=13

Qleceec rides the bump as best she can and manages to stay up.

[GreyWolfVT]

Dex Check (17) [4d6]=21

figures when i need a high roll i can't get one to save my life....whelp buh bye Boff