4e Trouble in Brixham (IC)

[Sipex]

All --- [Spider Caves Entrance]

"Well, my boy and I have torches if you need'em." Elric replies to Matrim's query about light. "But I'm afraid that under the light of your sunrod there they'll only be good for warming our hands"

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Elric and Peter have 2 torches each they can use or pass around.

[SPoD]

"I've got two sunrods of my own, for when yours runs out, but that's it. I didn't pack for spelunking!" She peers into the darkness as far as her eyes can see. "Ugh, I think we've got a spider already. It was terrier-sized, at least," she says, pointing down into the dark tunnel.

Despite not having the elf's visual acuity, Ravinna is all too happy to keep to the shadows as they enter the cave.

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Perception: (1d20+8)[27]
Stealth: (1d20+15)[34]

[Honikan]

Kalek Emris

He immediately goes to help Ravinna up, and get some of the mud off of her. He then goes to Illyrion and lift him up out of the mud while saying, "So who's going to lead?"

"I can also make some light," Kalek pulls his quiver off his back and says a quick parquet to Melora as he takes out one arrow. It glows a etherial blue, Matching the color of his sharp eyes.

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Perception- [roll]1d20+12[/roll]
Stealth (if I need it, but I'll be trying to keep unseen) [roll]1d20+14[/roll] Nature (to read the cave) [roll]1d20+12[/roll]

Also, that prayer is my everlasting torch

EDIT: Messed up the rolls

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Percetion- [roll]1d20+12[/roll]
Stealth- [roll]1d20+14[/roll]
Nature- [roll]1d20+12[/roll]

Also, that prayer is my everlasting torch

[Master_Rahl22]

Matrim says, "We should save the torches then for in case we need a fire, or if our sunrods run out. I'll go first since elves like me can see farther in dim light than elves like you folk. Ready to head out?"

[Emongnome777]

Goresh Ironforge, Dwarven Barbarian

Goresh nods to Matrim. "Aye, let's be movin' on. Gots spiders ta kill." He takes his place in the group, holding his axe ready for an attack.

[Honikan]

Kalek Emris

Kalek follows the group, but stays in front of Ravinna and the Merchant and his son. If anything happens at the back of the group, his keen senses will help greatly. He carries his bow casually in his left hand, with a glowing arrow in his right.He glances around every once in a while to check for spiders.

[Acheron]

Illyrion Wildwind, Halfling Sorcerer

After saying his thanks to Kalek, Illyrion tries to remove some of the mud before saying, "I've got two sunrods as well, so we shouldn't run out of light anytime soon.

When the group starts to venture through the cave, the halfling decides it would be best to stay close to Elric and his son. Just in case, he readies his staff but leaves his off-hand dagger free for now.

[SPoD]

Ravinna brings up the rear, just behind Elric and Peter. Her songblade is drawn, keeping a careful eye out in case the spiders go from dog- to bull-sized.

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Perception as we walk: (1d20+8)[24]

[Sipex]

All --- [Spider Caves]

The party heads into the caves, taking care not to step in any of the larger holes in the cave floor while keeping their eyes up. Matrim leads the pack, sunrod in hand with Kalek behind him holding a glowing arrow. Peter, Elric and Illyrion stay at the middle of the pack, followed by Ravinna and then Goresh guarding the rear.

As you venture forth the cave floor quickly hardens as mud is replaced with stone and dense dirt which rises and falls at several feet at a time. Odd subterrainian plants start to make an appearance with mosses covering some of the walls and small sprigs peering out from cracks in the floor and ceiling.

It's not long before you come to an obvious fork in the path with one tunnel leading straight and another leading off to the right. The straight tunnel has a dagger embedded in the wall by the fork.

"That's what they must've meant." Elric pipes in, seeing the dagger. "The dangerous paths are marked by daggers."

Kalek Nature

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Your feel for the caves lets you know that this is a large system of tunnels, all connecting in a tangled pattern. Most of these tunnels are too small for you to worry about though.

You also know that a lot of different plant life lives down here, like sprigs of deep grass which make good spices for stew and shadow moss which looks like normal moss except that it has some discerning feature you can never remember.

Matrim/Kalek/Ravinna Perception

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You begin to notice small webs in some of the crevaces which, when hit by light, seem to look red.

Ravinna Perception

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You notice the smell of baking bread again, although this time it's hard to pin the source.

[Emongnome777]

Goresh Ironforge, Dwarven Barbarian

Goresh rubs his bearded chin for a moment. "Let's check tha walls o' tha other tunnel, make sure this dagger here weren't moved by someone wantin' ta deceive a group like us."

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Perception check to find dagger "holes" in the walls of the other tunnel: (1d20+5)[23] (No idea on my modifier, sorry!) -- Hmm, 18 unmodified. Sweet!

[Sipex]

Goresh --- [Spider Caves]

Using your experience and intuition you search the other wall and reveal an old dagger mark underneath a patch of moss.

"Clever thinking" Elric replies as you show the group your discovery. "Dwarven intuition I take it?"

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Your modifier is +4, not +5. Otherwise, it's still enough to see the dagger mark.

[Master_Rahl22]

Matrim says, "Excellent find, Goresh. Let's try to remove the false mark so future travellers are not fooled like we almost were." He then turns to Kalek and says, "Have you ever seen spider webs with a reddish tint before?"

[SPoD]

Matrim says, "Excellent find, Goresh. Let's try to remove the false mark so future travellers are not fooled like we almost were." He then turns to Kalek and says, "Have you ever seen spider webs with a reddish tint before?"

"Actually," Ravinna says, looking thoughtfully, "Future travelers will look at the other tunnel and see the mark from where it is now, and conclude that someone must have moved it to fool them. So they'll go down the right path, thinking that they need to go the opposite way of the dagger." She pauses. "Of course, they may have someone with them who thinks of that, like I just did, and concludes that someone may have already moved the dagger back to its original position. But then, they may think that future travelers in the further future might think of that, and move it back to keep them from thinking that the previous future travelers had moved it, when in fact it had been the past travelers that moved it after the previous past travelers."

She looks at her companions. "What?"

[Sipex]

Ravinna --- [Spider Caves]

Elric and Peter simply stare at you. Elric with a look of confusion and Peter with a look of mild awe.

[Honikan]

Kalek Emris

After giving Ravinna an look for her logic, Kalek walked over to a small hole with the webbing and held his arrow to it. As the tiny spiders skittered away, (with a slight shudder) Kalek looked at the redish web. "I might have seen it before, I'll need a second to inspect it," he thought and said to Ravinna, "Ok, so then how do we know where to go?"

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Nature roll S.V.P. = +12

[Emongnome777]

Goresh Ironforge, Dwarven Barbarian

Goresh raises his eyebrow at Ravinna. "Uh, yeah, uh. That's..... intrestin', I'll give ye that. Peraps we orta check fer tracks, see if'n thar's been other o' them travellers ye spoke of 'n learn what goin' where."

[Sipex]

Kalek --- [Spider Caves]

You look over the web and see some small black spiders, about the size of a normal spider, skitter away.

Nature Check:

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Nature check on Webs: 1d20+12 16

This is bloodweb, made by Bloodweb Spiders (the little black ones I mentioned). It's sticky and enough of it can actually affect the movement of a full sized human but in this quantity it's not enough.

Bloodweb Spiders are mostly harmless on their own but swarms of them can take down large animals and men.

[Honikan]

Kalek Emris

"Well the web only comes from a certain type of spider called the Bloodweb Spider. It isn't dangerous with small amounts like this, but it's extremely sticky, so avoid touching it." Kalek goes over the the split in the path to check for tracks or any signs of movement here from things other than spiders.

[Sipex]

Kalek --- [Spider Caves]

You head over to check things out but don't see any signs of spiders or tracks. The ground is tough and rocky which doesn't help with tracking either.

edit:

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Whoops, forgot to post your roll.

Kalek Perception: 1d20+12 18

[SPoD]

"Ok, so then how do we know where to go?"

She shrugged. "We don't," she said, "but the big straight path seems like a good idea anyway."

[Master_Rahl22]

Matrim says, "Er, well, I think we should scratch out the fake dagger mark and put it back on the real one. We know that if we leave it someone who isn't as perceptive or suspicious as our friend here will be led astray. That's enough to tell me we change the mark, then take the straight tunnel."

[SPoD]

"Agreed," Ravinna smiles. "'Always bet on stupidity,' my dad used to say."

[Sipex]

All --- [Spider Caves]

"Peter, plug up that fake mark with some mud." Elric asks as the mark is scratched out and the dagger is moved to the side cave. Peter complies and plugs it up with some mud he's easily able to scoop off his clothes.

After everything is reset the party moves forward down the tunnel believed to the the right route.

Everyone starts to see the 'red tinted webbing' Matrim mentioned earlier as it's now lining some of the walls and in several crevaces. Side tunnels have started to grow in size, with some large enough to walk into if you're bent double. Plants remain sparse although the moss seems to get thicker the further you go.

You all pass a longsword which has been embedded into the rock. Next to it are the following words carved into the stone.

In memory of our friend Harrow who sacrificed himself as a meal to the hell spoken spider queen to save our hides. May his daggers prevent you from meeting the same fate.

Kalek Perception

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Now that you've seen one Bloodweb Spider you start seeing more, scurring from webs and into small cracks as the light touches them.

You also catch a glimpse of long...sharp...spider legs dissapearing down a larger hole in one of the walls as Matrim's light approaches. It almost looks like the spider had blades for legs. It's easily as large as a big dog, maybe bigger.

Ravinna Perception

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You start to pay attention behind the group after catching a glimpse of a much larger spider, near the size of the one you had mentioned seeing caged up. It keeps it's distance though, staying out of the torchlight and slinking back into cover after a moment.

Before it dissapears you notice it has fine legs, pointed, although it's hard for you to make out with the limited exposure.

The tunnel starts branching off itself only to loop back onto the main feed and eventually opens up into a small cavern which Matrim's light floods quickly. You all hear the gentle tap of legs scurrying from the light. The walls are covered with webbing and more holes. From here you can see three obvious paths branching off the far side of the cavern, none which seem marked.

[SPoD]

"Just to let everyone know," Ravinna says quietly without looking behind her, "I think we're being followed by a very large spider."

[Sipex]

Goresh --- [Spider Caves]

You survey the three caves branching off from a distance.

Dungeoneering

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You chose an easy thing to know so you're in luck.

Left cave leads N, Middle leads E and Right leads SE, you think you need to head East or South East to make it under Brixham from what you can remember.

You also note that the Left and Right paths have signs of sloping downwards but you can't confirm from this distance.

[Emongnome777]

Goresh Ironforge, Dwarven Barbarian

Goresh looks around the cavern then closes his eyes for a moment. He opens them back up and points to the cave to the left and says, "yup, that 'n heads north, tha middle goes east, tha last 'n goes south east. Seems like one 'o tha last two goes in tha direction we wanna go."

He leans toward Ravinna and whispers, "spider, aye? We otta stay here in this tunnel, keep from gettin' surrounded if'n more comes out."

[Master_Rahl22]

Matrim says, "Well, we could go check out the middle and right passages to see if there are any clues about which one we want."

[Honikan]

Kalek Emris

Kalek shudders, as he noticed the large spider as well, "Like the size of a large dog." he says quietly.

"Does anyone else have the feeling like we chose the wrong direction?" Says Kalek, as he pulls out another arrow and knocks them. The arrows begin to brighten, as they erupt in blue flames.

"And I'm seeing a lot of those spiders and those dangerous webs, they seem to be much more abundant here. Everyone be careful." he states to the party, attempting to act brave in front of Ravinna.

[SPoD]

Kalek shudders, as he noticed the large spider as well, "Like the size of a large dog." he says quietly.

"No," Ravinna says quietly, "Like the size of a horse. With sharp...thingies...on its front legs."

He leans toward Ravinna and whispers, "spider, aye? We otta stay here in this tunnel, keep from gettin' surrounded if'n more comes out."

"I don't know about that," Ravinna says. "I'd rather be surrounded in room with four exits than trapped in a tunnel with two."

[Sipex]

Kalek --- [Spider Caves]

Passive Perception

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While the party debates on what to do next you notice several medium dog sized spiders peering from holes in the cavern ahead.

You also see the larger spider from before, he's hanging behind the group, barely visible to anyone.