[Completed] - Lars/Finger of Doom - 19 March, 1 VC

[GTan_Baq]

Shall we move away from the cave and look for another location to camp?

Is it still raining? If so, then I vote we stay in the cave 1 more night. If it's not raining, I vote we find a different spot to camp.

[Zorroroaster]

I agree.

[Keehnelf]

It is still raining.

[Zhym]

Lug is okay waiting here instead of heading back right away. He wants his bricks of shiny metal.

[Keehnelf]

March 25, 1 VC - 8:00am

The party spends the rest of the day and a long night in the entrance to the cave, grimly contemplating the very real possibility that another handful of spiders could pop out of the cave and overtake them at any moment, and they would be hard-pressed to repel such an assault.

Thankfully, no such attack takes place and, finally, everyone manages to get enough rest to carry on in the morning despite the persistence of the heavy rain which will make navigation a continuing hazard.

Lars manages to heal a bit overnight, but very slowly, likely due to the after effects of the spider venom that his body had fought off the nnight before. (1 HP healed) He flutters back into delicate consciousness as the party begins to make noise during its morning routine, ravenous.

Deduct one day's rations for everyone, including Lars.

[GTan_Baq]

1 days rations deducted
Naila memorizes her spell for the day.

[KingOfCowards]

Still weakened by his near-death experience, Lars sits up wondering how the party managed to keep him alive.
"It appears you've a fine job fighting off our attackers." He motions to the spider corpses still decorating the cave. "I have to thank you all for keeping me alive. So what is it to be? Back to civilization or do we have other business to attend to?" He reaches for his pack to seek out his rations.

1 day rations deducted

[Zhym]

"There's treasure down there," says Lug. "Gems! Shiny!"

[Zorroroaster]

"Also a suit of armor down in the pool."

Orrin tells Lars of the past days events, and of what he saw in the depths.

"The question is, do we stay and try to get it out now, or get back to Vaul and come back later? Leaving now will be difficult with all this rain, anyway."

1 days rations deducted.

[KingOfCowards]

Lars smiles at Lug's enthusiasm. "A man after my own heart...and I imagined myself awaking to bad news." He seems to weigh the choices in his mind. "If there's armor down there, it would be difficult to carry back with everything we already have. We could always come back to finish the job another time. On the other hand, could it hurt to have another look now with our wizard's spells refreshed?" He nods towards Naila, who he recognizes to be the secret weapon of this foray.

I'm torn. I really want to find out what's down there, yet it might be safer to come back with a larger group. The spiders are very good at surprising us. We may have already killed them all, or we might have just gotten lucky.

[Zhym]

Rain seems to make us lose our sense of direction. I'm not sure we could find this place again. And armor, unlike most treasure, could be worn, making it somewhat easier to take back with us.

[Zorroroaster]

I agree. We passed one night unharmed by spiders, so perhaps we have gotten them all. could we make a simple rope ladder by tying knots in the rope and spiking it into the cave floor somewhere, or tying off to a formation? That way all four of us can go down. Lars also has a grappling hook.

[KingOfCowards]

It sounds like Zhym is up for it. I'm willing to give it another try. If we have one more "yes" I say we head back down.

EDIT: Yes, I was thinking the same thing. If there is anything to grapple to, we should try to get as many of us down there as possible if/when trouble arises.

[Zorroroaster]

Yes?

[Keehnelf]

Ok, this time let's be more mindful of logistics in advance:

1. Marching order
2. Who's got the light source(s)? (Remember you used up yesterday's torch, and lost the Lantern, so deduct those if you haven't already.
3. Who will be at the top and who below(if split)?
4. Who has spikes? You'll need to sacrifice three to get the rope adequately secured.

[KingOfCowards]

Lars has spikes. We can use one of his torches as well.

I believe the plan is for all of us to stay together and venture down as a group of four. Correct?

Any objection to heading down first, Orrin?

[Keehnelf]

Who will carry the torch?

[Zorroroaster]

Orrin can go first. Why don't we light two torches, and toss one down into the hole (attempting to land on dry ground) to see if it gets a reaction from anything down there?

[GTan_Baq]

Naila offers to carry a torch.

[Keehnelf]

Orrin can go first. Why don't we light two torches, and toss one down into the hole (attempting to land on dry ground) to see if it gets a reaction from anything down there?

You will not, under any circumstances, be able to toss a torch down the chute and have it land on dry ground. Just making that very clear. The only dry ground is reached by pulling yourself clear of the chute using the lip at the bottom, or climbing down into the pool at the bottom and then wading out into the chamber where the dry ground is.