2 - On the Road to the Tomb

[Arbuthnott]

Reaching the designated camp spot, Amarandé wastes no time casting Know Direction and setting his tent up directly North from the campfire. "If we need to leave in a hurry, it would be best to flee in the right direction, hm?"

As the others get settled, he pulls out an iron pot, a wineskin full of water, some vegetable rations and a slab of salted pork and sets about cooking the group a hearty stew, embellished with flour, salt and seasoning. (If other people want to contribute some of their rations, that'll make it stretch further). He also makes sure to give each of his three dogs a lamb steak each, while properly tying his horses to a nearby tree with room to graze and a bowl of oats each.

Offering to take the morning watch, Amarandé settles into his tent and beds down comfortably for the night. He manages to get several hours of deep sleep before he feels a familiar touch of magic that wrenches him from his slumber even as it whisks away his breath. Sitting up quickly, he takes stock of his situation before grabbing his staff and crawling out of his tent into the middle of camp. The following minute is spent quietly shuffling from person to person, rousing them with a hurried "Shh, be silent and listen. You must rouse and ready yourself, but keep quiet; danger approaches!" Each time he throws a hurried look over his shoulder into the surrounding darkness before moving to the next person, using his infravision to try to distinguish anything alive from the surrounding foliage.

[Excior]

3 hours ago, Lord Foul said:

"Are you sure? You know how indecisive you can be, Val." 😉

 

Mandon's remark draws a blank look from Valandil, the moon elf tilting his head slightly, indicating to Mandon that the elf still hadn't figured him out yet. In truth, the wide range of human jests was lost on Valandil.

Once the camp is set up, the moon elf begins to search the area not far from the camp, getting a lay of the land and ensuring that they are indeed alone. "I will scout the area to ensure we are alone," he announces.

Once he is out of the direct light of the campfire, Valandil allows his eyes to slip into the infrared spectrum, a skill honed through years of training and experience. He begins to patrol the perimeter of the camp about one hundred feet away, moving silently and with purpose, his senses alert for any signs of danger lurking in the darkness beyond.

[Arbuthnott]

13 hours ago, Excior said:

Once the camp is set up, the moon elf begins to search the area not far from the camp.

As he heads out, Amarandé waves his knife at him, calling out "See if you can find us some coneys; the stew's looking a bit thin!"

-----------------------

Later that night

Amarandé rouses Tymas last, staying crouched besides him as he comes to conciseness. After giving him the same cautionary words as the others, he adds: "I don't know how close it is, but be on guard; until we know more, it may be premature to invoke anything fleeting, but I would recommend reacting first, asking questions later."

If nothing has happened by this point, he'll go and check on the animals.

Edited February 9 by Arbuthnott (see edit history)

[Lord Foul]

1 hour ago, Arbuthnott said:

"Shh, be silent and listen. You must rouse and ready yourself, but keep quiet; danger approaches!"

When roused by Amarande, Mandons prepares his bullseye lantern, lighting it but keeping the beam closed for now. Unable to see in the dark, he'll need the light to see what he's fighting. Once that's done he draws his sword and takes up a position near to Theo (within 10'), guarding the camp on the exposed side away from the archers. He places the lantern on the ground by his side, within easy reach, and stands ready with sword and shield.

Quietly he says: "As soon as anyone spots them, give us the direction and I'll open up the lantern beam so we can see what we're dealing with."

 

[rauhric]

THEOATH GRANGER, Paladin of Chauntea [3]

Theo was settling in just nicely when he was warned. Slow to stir he stretches and looks about for what might be happening. He didn't really think anything was a cause for panic, but it is his brain slowing waking up to the present. "What is the situation?" he whispered to his closest companion. Grabbing his weapon and shield he prepares himself for combat.

---

OoC: Sorry, been catching up with work and getting a late start on posting.

Adventuring Gear

Rustic Hide Armor, Med. Shield, Holy Symbol, Assorted Clothing

Spear, Short Sword, Battle Axe, Footman's Mace,

Backpack, Large Sack, Winter Blanket, Flint & Steel, Whetstone, Rope, Winesink, Dry Rations (Wk), Torches (10),

Donkey, Pack Saddle, Bit & Bridle, Hunting Dog

 

Edited February 10 by rauhric (see edit history)

[stonedzep]

Lirion Eldermist

Lirion opens his eyes as he gets warned, silently arises and moves a few feet away form any source of light to settle his infravision.

Scanning the sorroundings in search for anything, he starts to whisper an almost inaudible litany accompanied by slow movements of his hand going from his head to his toes.

At the end of the quick ritual he's crouched and still, a hand on his sword, and piercing the dark with his sight.

 

Edited February 9 by stonedzep (see edit history)

[cybersavant]

Kordannaghlan Penniesaver (gnome f2/th3) AC 09 Hp 16 short bow thac0 19

grabs his bow and stealths over to the elevated area

move silent 40

hide in shadows 30

detect noise 25

[Lord Foul]

6 hours ago, rauhric said:

"What is the situation?" he whispered to his closest companion.

"Dunno. Amarande thinks he's smelled something off, and he's shown before that he has an uncanny nose for trouble. I guess we just wait and see what turns up."

"Exciting, isn't it?" he adds, with a grin. 😀

 

[Sellsword]

Stirred into motion by Amarandé's warning, you quickly don armor and gather your weapons, peering into the dark forest for any signs of danger. All of your senses are heightened, looking for any sound or shadow that might give clue to what lurks in the shadows beyond. The crackling fire and mounts are in the center of a ring created by the warriors in the group, who raise bows and shields against any oncoming attack. Kordannaghlan tucks himself into the shadows of one of the large stones quietly, only the slight scraping of his pack against the stone betraying any sign that he was ever there at all. The air before Lirion shimmers slightly for the briefest moment as the mage completes his evocation, hand on his sword waiting for any sign of threat.

As Amarandé turns to check the mounts, his three hounds begin growling and barking in the direction of the horses and ponies. The mounts themselves begin to stir, tamping their hooves in the loose dirt, kicking up clumps as they begin to struggle against their tethers. Suddenly, the nature of the threat is revealed--and it comes not from outside the camp, but rather from under it.

The ground beneath Tymas' mount erupts in a shower of clumps of earth as an enormous, insectoid, many-legged worm pulls itself from the ground with six legs covered in sharp hooks. The creature's abdomen is long, at least ten feet, and you can see it sweeping aside large chunks of dirt just below the surface. Giant mandibles wrap around Tymas' mount, crushing it as the creature struggles to pull it the ground. There are a series of sick crunching noises as the horse is brought to its knees.

A second creature burrows up near Theoth's donkey Jenny, again grabbing her with its large mandibles. Large red, bleeding welts are left as the donkey struggles from the creature's grasp, her hooves pounding against the creature's thick, chitinous shell before the horse manages to escape. The donkey charges through camp, clipping several logs from the campfire and sending them spinning across the camp as it flees into the forest shadows, its tether released during the struggle with the creature. The creature rolls as it pulls its full length from underground, briefly revealing a light, pink underbelly before righting itself. Its mandibles click as it searches for a new target, its thick, yellowish-brown chitinous shell gleaming in the sparks of the campfire.

OOC: Assume you are all within 30 feet or so of the action. The footprint of your camp, especially considering all the mounts, would be quite large. If there's something you need in your post (cover nearby, a large stone to scramble up onto, a fiery branch kicked out of the campfire nearby, etc.) assume that it's there as long as it makes sense sense based on the narrative. No need to ask.

Edit: Edited for clarity, Theoth's mount is actually a donkey, not a horse.

Edited February 9 by Sellsword (see edit history)

[stonedzep]

Lirion Eldermist

"this things are too thick to pierce easily...." while he rants his advice to the fellow adventurers, Lirion hopes he's in a safe spot for the next few minutes.

He grabs some petals from his belt pouch, then begins another incomprehensible lamentation accompanied by strange hands and arms movements. His eyes are centered in a more or less equal distance spot between the two beasts.

 

OOC: start casting SLEEP as soon as initiative is determinedContent...

Edited February 9 by stonedzep (see edit history)

[Lord Foul]

Mandons turns to face the monstrous bugs that have emerged within our encampment. He drops his shield and reaches down to open the full beam of his bullseye lantern, leaving it on the ground to shine it's dazzling beam of light straight at the nearer monster (hoping the light will attract its attention away from softer targets).

Then he'll take an arcing path to the side and forward, aiming to come at the creature from the side, or rear, using his bastard sword with both hands for maximum impact (+3 to hit, 2d8 +5 damage).

(Nemesis is a medium warhorse stallion and might choose to defend any nearby mares from assault by insolent bugs - your call on that one)

 

[Arbuthnott]

With a wordless growl, Amarandé strides towards the hounds and releases them from their tethers, accompanied by slamming his staff on the ground and spitting out "Go on, get!"

If the beasts have already engaged the hounds, or else the hounds were already loose, then he'll instead begin to weave his magic into Lirion's spell, casting his own Sleep spell to compound with Lirion's and hopefully overpower the buggers.

[Excior]

 

Valandil returns to the camp, a couple of rabbits in hand that he was able to kill on his patrol. "They're pretty lean, but it should go nicely with that stew," he remarks, offering the small catch to Amarandé.

 

Later that night, as Amarandé goes about the camp, alerting the group to the danger, Valandil senses something is amiss. He quickly scampers onto one of the fallen standing stones, propped upon its sister stone a few feet away. The forest has become eerily silent, setting off alarm bells in the elf's mind.

 

Crouching in the darkness, Valandil silently retrieves a sheaf arrow from its quiver and knocks it, drawing it back with practiced ease. His senses heightened, he remains poised and ready to unleash the arrow at a moment's notice.

 

Suddenly, all hell breaks loose—not from without, but from within. Armored worm-like creatures emerge from the ground, catching the group off guard. Without hesitation, the moon elf selects his target and lets his arrow fly.

 

OOC:

DM not sure how to handle this but if I have an arrow nocked and ready I can shoot it at the bad guys prior to any initiative rolls can this come into play here?  

[Sellsword]

Before anything else happens, Valandil lets fly with an arrow. It finds a joint in the creature's chitinous shell, piercing deeply. A series of rapid, high-pitched clicks and clacks gush from its maxillae while its mandibles snap shut hard, indicating pain or perhaps anger--it's difficult to tell how these creatures perceive the world.

[Chaz Hoosier]

Jack Coldwater

HP: 23/23 AC: 6

---

Jack bravely tries to hide from danger behind a bush with his sling in hand. He is not, alas, the best at hiding.

 

OOC

Action: Hide in Shadows 20%

 

Edited February 10 by Chaz Hoosier (see edit history)