Wrath of the Righteous: The Worldwound Incursion

[Drothmal]

Astias

"Does anyone know what language do these Mongrefolk speak?" asks the bard innocently "Because unless we can communicate properly, our attempts will soon turn from diplomacy to comedy to tragedy...

Master Horgus, Warden? Any ideas?" asks the arcane duelist, trying to see if anyone else has more information on how to proceed

"If nothing else, I might be able to use the scales to turn into some type of creature more... appropriate for intimidating our way through without conflict"

[Mr. Turniphead]

Idranel

After departing the Dwarven shrine, Idranel had fallen back into her silent, icy demeanor. The entire walk in silence was preferable to her, and Anevia wasn't the only person who grew angry when Horgus broke the silence. The others handled the situation well however, and Idranel found herself comfortably able to avoiding speaking.

When Anevia revealed Horgus' altruistic habits, the elf found herself reconsidering the puffed up nobleman. Though after some consideration, she decided that she still strongly disliked the man.

On seeing the mongrelmen as Tefkros described them, Idranel opened her mouth to speak for the first time in hours. "They might know the common tongue and..." She clears her throat, her raspy voice still holding a rough edge. And there are more ways to frighten scavengers than with words."

[DaedalusMkV]

Apparently, eventually even whispered conversation is enough to grab the attention of the two figures crouched near the fallen tower, as the bare-headed man jerks his head upwards sharply and turns to look right at you, before quietly saying something to his companion. Both rise quickly to their feet, drawing their weapons and dropping into defensive stances, weapons ready but not moving to attack you. The bare-headed man, his features a mix of handsome Elf, Lizardman and goat, calls out in surprisingly eloquent but oddly accented Common. "If your intentions are ill, we ask you to move on and leave us in peace. If they are good, perhaps you can help. As you can see, misfortune has befallen us." He gestures tersely to the great mound of rubble beside him with his free hand, still holding his sword.

[Athaleon]

Karsten

Sighing with relief, the Paladin slings his hammer over his shoulder and addresses the speaker. "We're not looking to hurt you. There was a disaster on the surface, we fell down here, and we're just trying to get back up. What's buried in that rubble?"

[Drothmal]

Astias

The bard chuckles in self mockery as all his (dramatic) planning goes to waste.

"Hello there, my good fellow." calls Astias waving with a hand as he steps towards the Mongrefolk

"As my companion has said, we are not here to hurt you. In fact, we fall under the 'good', if not heroic, spectra. So how about you lower your weapons, we lower ours and you tell us what is it that you are trying to uncover?"

To add emphasis to his words, Astias makes a point of being the first one to enter a less bellicose stance by sheathing his sword.

Diplomacy

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If you can take 10, then take 10 for 16. If roll is needed.
diplomacy - (1d20+6)[25]

[Khosan]

Udo

"Hello," Udo offers a sheepish wave, "Sorry about the, uh, well, the hiding. We haven't had the most welcoming time down here and it pays to be cautious."

"Is someone injured?" He inquires, glancing warily between the mongrel's weapon and the pile of rubble, "We can help each other."

[ProudGrognard]

Tefkros

...remains silent, his gaze alert. He knew were his talents lay, and it was not with talking.

[DaedalusMkV]

As weapons are put away, both of the Mongrels breathe a sigh of release and sheathe their own, and the seeming spokesman for the pair replies tersely. "We were the garrison of this tower, before the great upheaval of the earth brought it tumbling to the ground. I fear that most of my comrades are dead beneath the fallen stone, but one at least still lives, trapped in the ruins. We've cleared away most of the rubble above him, but there is a great piece of stone in the way, and we cannot seem to lift it by ourselves." He looks down, swallowing. "Perhaps, if we all worked together, we might be able to accomplish this task. If not, I fear we will need to dig out the surrounding rubble, risking his life to a shift in the pile."

[Athaleon]

"We're already here, so we might as well give it a try. By the way, how are from the surface are we?"

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Assuming there are no objections, Karsten will attempt to help them free their comrade.

Taking 20 on the Strength check. If that's not possible, (1d20+4)[11]

[Drothmal]

"Of course we'll help. But after we get your friend out, would you mind answering some questions? We are trying to find our way out, and I left my copy of "caves and tunnels: Rocking your way back to the surface" in my other backpack"

Astias moves to help with the rock, when inspiration strikes him.

"Let me try something" says the bard, retrieving one of the dragon scales and calling upon of its divine powers.

Suddenly, the arcane duelist's form begins to change into that of a rather corpulent half-orc.

"Hopefully this will help take a weight of your shoulders" jokes the bard as he uses his powerful muscles to help Karsten.

Actions

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Use scale to turn into a half orc. Medium size form gives +2 to STR
If taking 20 if possible, he will do so. If roll is necessary
STR - (1d20+4)[5]

[ProudGrognard]

Tefkros

"Of course we will help, my good fellows. As my companions here said, we are here anyway."

Tefkros leaves his bow carefully nearby and puts his back into it.

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Str (1d20+2)[9]

[Khosan]

Udo

Running up to join the others, Udo takes a position next to them and offers what assistance he can to lift the rock.

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Strength Check - (1d20)[5]

[DaedalusMkV]

In the end, despite much exertion and grunting, the rock remains in place for the moment. Standing up from his own efforts, the Mongrel representative takes a step back and says. "I think we should be able to do this. We simply need to employ our efforts more intelligently. If we put two people on each side, then two more at the bottom, we should be able to lift it. Sir knight, perhaps if you and the... Uh, temporary Orc take the bottom, we can do this."

Wasting no more time, he and his companion take up a place on one side of the large rock slab, crouching down and waiting for everyone to be in position to begin straining against the rock.

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That last set of rolls was, obviously, not so good, particularly since you cannot Take 20 for this, that taking too long... But you do still have time to make it work. If you follow the plan laid out above, everyone can use Aid Another actions to support one lift attempt, ideally from the strongest person in the group, with a massive bonus to give it a shot at moving the rock. You can Take 10 on both the Aid Another and the main lifting attempt, if you want to. Or, if you have a better plan, you might be able to convince the Mongrels to pursue it instead.

[ProudGrognard]

Tefkros

...stands up and stretches.

"Just tell me where to push."

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No problem with the plan.

[Mr. Turniphead]

Idranel

The elf had hung back for the first round, seemingly convinced her help wouldn't be necessary, and she would be able to keep hold of her sword. However, now that the others were set on assisting the creatures, she strode over to lend what help she could.

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She approves of the plan, rolling aid another. (1d20+1)[9]

[Athaleon]

Karsten

The knight pauses to consider the new plan, and finally answers "...Very good, what he said."

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Taking 10 on the Strength check for a total of 14. If it turns out not to be enough, here are some more attempts:

(1d20+4)[19]
(1d20+4)[9]
(1d20+4)[15]

Anyone using Aid Another should really just take 10 unless you have a negative Strength, because a high roll doesn't help you Aid any better and a low roll will cause it to not work.

[Drothmal]

Astias

The magically transformed bard flexes his new form's muscles, putting all his might into moving the rock.

Actions

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Astias would prefer a more assisting role in this, so he'll just do aid another (auto success) to Karsten's effots.

[Khosan]

Udo

Moving to the side of the rock as directed, Udo takes a deep breath and grabs hold, straining with all the might his gangly little arms can muster.

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Udo takes 10 to aid Karsten's strength check.

[DaedalusMkV]

In the end, the co-ordinated efforts of the six people able to fit around the large piece of rubble are enough to shift it slightly, and once it's started moving the work becomes much easier. After about a minute of hard work and grunting, the massive stone topples away from the great mound that used to be a tower, impacting the cave floor with a great crack. After that, it is the mere matter of a minute's work shifting smaller chunks of masonry out of the way before a dusty, bruised and battered Mongrelman hauls himself from the stone, coughing and hacking through dust-caked lips. He looks almost misshapen, the right side of his body much bulkier and more muscular than the left. The hooded mongrel, feminine in general shape though her face is a horrible, bloated mass of cancerous growths that leave her looking all but inhuman, rushes over and begins checking him for injuries, offering him water from a skin at her side, while the seeming spokesman turns again to you, relief obvious on his face. "Thank you, strangers, for your help. I fear that had you not chanced upon us, that ruin would have been Crel's tomb just as it has become for the rest of our companions..." He holds out his scaled right hand, fingers tipped with dull, spade-like talons befitting the lizardfolk-like visage of that side of his body. "My name is Lann, and I owe you a debt. You said you were attempting to make your way back to the surface? If you like, I can take you to our settlement, Neathholme. It is perhaps half an hour's journey from here, and you could rest and resupply yourselves there. No doubt Chief Sull will know a direct path to the surface from there, even with the quakes."

[ProudGrognard]

Tefkros

Weighing the proposal in his mind, Tefkros can't find anything suspicious about it. fPlus, they could perhaps get help for the injured. With a glance at the others, to see if they agree, Tefkros says

"Lead on, my good fellow. And perhaps we can trade you something for some medicinal help for our companions here."

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Perhaps a better splint and/or an ointment for the blind?

[Athaleon]

Karsten

"We'd be grateful for your hospitality. Beats stumbling around in a random direction any day of the week."

[Drothmal]

Astias

"Agreed" echoes the bard "although we have racked up quite the story to tell about our cavern explorations, I would not mind the annotated tour. Please lead on."

[Mr. Turniphead]

Idranel

"You have a settlement down here." She says in a flat tone as she falls in with the others.

[Khosan]

Udo

"You have a settlement down here?" Udo chimes in moments after Idranel, but with a great deal more excitement in his voice. "That sounds exactly like what we need right now."

[DaedalusMkV]

As soon as everyone's able to get moving again, Gann waves to you to follow him and begins heading into one of the dozen or so smaller caverns that lead away from the huge cavern with the collapsed watchtower. "Yes, we do have a settlement down here. I should hope it isn't unexpected. It is our home, after all. I admit, Neathholme lacks the grandeur of Kenabres above, but it is not like we're beasts lairing in a cave." His tone is quite harsh at the last, more than a little bitter. He grimaces. "Ah, apologies. That was uncharitable, especially after you have helped us with no expectation for gain. Sometimes it rankles me, that outsiders see us as monsters and we must hide away for our own safety." He does his best to smile at you reassuringly, though the reptilian half of his face renders it lopsided and almost horrific, then a thought seems to strike him. "You are looking to return to the surface, but you came from the Deep Roads. Even our own folk rarely venture so far down. How did you come to be here? Is it somehow connected to the quakes?"

[Khosan]

Udo

"Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean to offend. I understand where you're coming from." The grippli holds his arms wide, sparing a glance at each of his turquoise limbs before he drops them back to his side. "I've been on the receiving end of the same reactions before. It's just...it's fascinating to me that a sustainable settlement is possible down here. I suppose life always finds a way, doesn't it?" Udo flashes a wide-mouthed smile.

That smile, however, doesn't last. "There's...There's been a disaster. The wardstone was destroyed and Kenabres is under attack from the Storm King himself. We were there when he first struck and it's what landed us in these Deep Roads." A pause, a hard gulp, "We should be quick. Time is a luxury we don't have."

[ProudGrognard]

Tefkros

...punctuates what Udo said with a nod of agreement. This was exactly it.

[DaedalusMkV]

Gann looks thunderstruck, going so far as to stop in his tracks entirely. "What? The Wardstone was destroyed? I'll admit, we sometimes have a hard time keeping track of current events down here, but I thought the Wardstones were the only thing keeping the Demons from running roughshod over..." He falls silent for a moment, the implications clearly running through his head. "Oh Ancestors, this is bad. I don't know who this Storm King you're talking about is, but if the Demons are starting a new offensive, the elders need to be told. We'll get you back to the surface as soon as we can."

Putting his own words into action, he redoubles his pace, though he quickly needs to reign himself in as Anevia and Aravashnial fall behind the pace. As you walk, the Elf Wizard pushes forward to the front of the group and begins thoroughly questioning the young man on his people's history, occasionally making self-satisfied observations to himself how nobody else on the surface truly believed the tales, but he had suspected for some time that tainted children of the Crusades had built a civilization beneath the city, a tale quickly confirmed by Gann. If what they're saying is true, the Mongrelfolk have been living down in the caves for nearly a century, since the end of the First Crusade.

After ten minutes of walking, Gann calls a halt and points to a widened section of the tunnel, grimacing. "Smells like something died in there. We should probably check it out, carefully. This is a major roadway..."

[ProudGrognard]

Tefkros


Well, well, well. Aren't we the bearers of bad news...

Tefkros stays a bit behind, helping the others as best as he can. He only half listens to the banter around him, his thoughts on what should be the next step when they reach the surface. This seems more likely, now that they have native guides.

When Gann suddenly stops, Tefkros nods at noone in particular and goes to the front. Silently, with gestures, he shows he will be going scouting. And he is of, he is footwork silent and his bow ready.


Or would have been, if some feet down the road he did not step in piece of debris, crunching it underneath. Tefkros almost curses.

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Stealth (1d20+9)[11]
Perception (1d20+6)[18]

[Athaleon]

Karsten wanted to check it out, but knew his movements would give the party away. As before, he stands perfectly silent and still, ready with his hammer if things should come to blows.