Undome Taure Exploration

[Alihandros]

As the regent Alonzo sets out into the unknown lands, seeing his Kingdom secured for the time being, it seems to be the time to venture into the unknown, expansion will come later it will seem, but for now, they need to know what lies beyond the borders of what the princelings think they know.

[drack]

As you come to the edge of your forest home you see something breathtaking. Endless rolling planes of golden grasses, breathtaking to behold, and speckled with the occasional rock or tree.
Map (place/control yourself)

At the center of the field stands a square cave mouth with glossy marbled stone, too well crafted to truly be natural...

[Alihandros]

Alonzo and the Guard will continue to explore the area. Upon seeing the cavern, they will approach it cautiously.

The guard will spread out to help search the area(they have scout if that makes a difference) and to ensure the regent's safety.

[drack]

The entrance is perfectly square, and wide enough for twenty men to walk abreast, and tall enough that even titans would be able to carry each other on their shoulders when passing through. The cave does however seem unusually steep (perhaps a 45-60 degree incline.) The entrance is certainly crafted, everything was too straight and tidy to be unnatural, yet there are no scratch marks of a mason, which probably means whomever built it was quite talented.

In the surrounding area your people find a number of burnt down trees, dispersed as if simply struck by lightening, victims of chance and circumstance. They also find blood from recent kills, yet no tracks or bodies. Lastly in the far eastern side of the area they find a large pile of rather old and decomposed corpses. Only bones remain of the creatures. The creatures were once bipedal, resembling humans, yet were far bigger then any human, perhaps fourteen feet tall on average, all piled together making it impossible to step between the corpses without bones crunching underfoot, like the elephant graveyards of myth.

[Alihandros]

After roaming around, and exploring for awhile, they return to the cavern should nothing else of note happen to them.

"We will explore down into the caverns to see what we can find and bring back to the kingdom."

The Guard is on edge, since this is land no-one knows about....yet.....

Spoiler: To see if anything is hidden

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Will:(1d20+4)[15]

[drack]

As it happens nothing that was interacted with seems to be an illusion... or rather if it is it's a rather powerful illusion.

Spoiler

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gonna assume your men light up torches of some such

The cave's sheer size proves ominous as you descend, the light of the tiny torches revealing little at all of the cave's ceilings or far walls. Why even the entryway behind you soon becomes but a point of light surrounded by darkness, and then suddenly and without warning, the wall to the right of your men disappears. Well it didn't disappear but it certainly seemed to causing several of the men to jump. There was a right angled bend to the wall, and another passageway leaving off to the right... or perhaps it was an enormous room as the other end of this "corridor" was out of sight if it truly existed at all.

[Alihandros]

Telling the Guard to use rope to try to ensure that we don't get cut off from the entrance or each other, we'll string along. Trying the right passage first.

Rope tied back outside, then together until we hit the side path.

Spoiler: Roll

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Also the roll was to detect any hidden units in the hex as per the Scout Unit type.

[drack]

Spoiler

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Ah, I'll re-read that bit, roll privately, and edit it in.

The cave continues for a time, cut off from the light when suddenly a wall appears in front of the group. From behind you you hear a deep thud of something heavy hitting the floor, and suddenly the rope has plenty of slack. Two hovering turquoise orbs appear, perhaps ten feet in the air several hundred feet down the passage, and from them people all down the line dun to the wall before you cowering.

A deep voice originating from the orbs reverberates through the corridor, filling the whole cave. "There once was a baker. After a red dragon visited,his business was toast." A deep laughter reverberates through the corridor.

Edit:

Spoiler

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You found nothing.

[Alihandros]

"Well, if the bakers business was toast, then wouldn't that make him quite crisp in the end?"

To the Guard, "Well, seems we're trapped, let us see what is ahead, be it benevolent or otherwise."

Also they will progress towards the voice.

Spoiler: Roll

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On the chance you'll drop a hint,
Knowledge Nature:(1d20+7)[18]

[drack]

The laughter renews in vigor. "Ay, he was crisp, and perhaps a little tart."

Spoiler

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Ahead seems to be a wall.

Nature: This seems unnatural.

[Alihandros]

"Aye, then perhaps you should have sampled some of his wares instead of sampling him perhaps?"

Throwing his caution to the wind, and seeing his guard in fear, he'll try to old royal way, announcement and see what happens.

"I know not of what or whom you are, but I am Alonzo Gontinez, Regent of Undome Taure in the Kingdom North of here. We are seeking answers and perhaps a cure for what has happened to our fair princess, and seek allies against those that seek to take our lands and well being. This cavern I believe you have wrought is strangely beautiful and I would like to know more of its nature."

[drack]

The laughter stops, suddenly leaving the cavern silent. The orbs grow larger with the sound of crashing footfalls, and a serpentine head comes into sight encapsulating the orbs as its eyes. Green scales covered the serpentine head, easily large enough to eat a cow. "I'm afraid that one wasn't all too humorous. Hows about we try this one. I thought I saw a throwing ax, then it hit me!" The ancient dragon once more billows with laughter.

Spoiler

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Alas I was told dragons are ancient creatures with love of puzzles, games of strategy, debate, games, and jokes. Sadly your GM has two very bad preferred forms of bemusement. Bad puns and sick/twisted/horrific jokes...

Anywho, on the bright side it's beatable even if you can't hit it with a stick and make it disappear.

[Alihandros]

"Well then, it seems that I used to be an adventurer until I took an arrow to the knee. But it seems you have me at an impasse. I'm a little green around the ears at this, and since I was not allowed at the court the majority of the time, I am not sure of the protocols with your kind and would prefer to avoid any major faux pas if possible."

[drack]

"Straight to business are you? Fine." The dragon chuckles faintly. As it draws closer, your army flees into a corner, and while they do the dragon falls upon them tearing them to shreds. "I will allow you to live, and you will pay me tribute of half your kingdom's profits, else I will kill you and burn your kingdom to the ground."

Having stated his demands the dragon casts a few spells, melting the wall behind you, causing a mass of treasure to rise into the air, adding a perfectly cut skylight to its chamber, and flying out, loot floating behind it.

Spoiler

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DC 35 will save Vs. frightful presence from you or your men. If you make it, it may divert from this course of events.

As it happens, dragons are not nice folks most of the time. there is also now a tenth dragon on the map.

[Alihandros]

Yesh, from puns and wordplay to slaughter in less then three posts, I was figuring it'd want to talk more..

Side note can't make that dc even with a nat 20, unless you're using the plus 10 alternate rule, do that ****ed me over seven ways then. And then some though some spin may be in order.

[drack]

Yup, that was the "cost" that I figured to put on dragons at the start, and you managed to roll a dragon. So on the one side you'd live on the other... dragons are a rather miserable folk to run into.

Still it's a nice representative of how tough black hex encounters would be. I'd figured we'd probably end up using that map for a time considering it's plenty big for the number of players. Alternately were there more players teaming up probably would have made such things beatable.

[Alihandros]

When you'd said that it was a beatable encounter, I was hoping for a bit of a chance. Hope mabn had the same luck, and damn a fricking great wyrm in a e6 game..... even at 6th, that's going to be rough, unless somehow the army fight against it.

I was hoping going the deference route would have appeased it and opened it to talks. especially when you'd said the size, was going to offer it rp, in exchange for protection if things came to it, wasn't hoping to have to call on it, but an ace in the hole ya know.

Well that semi cements my planned layout and now units with slayer. But still...... damn that hurt allot, was hoping to get out with the unit intact.

[drack]

Yup, admittedly beatable doesn't always mean through combat. You didn't laugh at a single one of it's jokes! In D&D gods and dragons are both like Mesopotamian gods, super-powered beings with childish natures and the knowledge of ages. you know how the Mesopotamian creation story goes? The gods realized they didn't have to break their backs tilling the harsh fields, ect. So they made humans of dirt and sand to toil in their place. Their afterlife is more of the same.

And yes, you could say that dragons are the big baddies that everyone's gonna want to kill. Honestly I've always found them intolerable, but hay, in a world of level 1s they can justify their egos... I figure slayers will be common enough. Surely you read the nice little background on the good Lord Stone who lost his heavily fortified castle to a dragon...

[Alihandros]

Right right, I figured that the matching of puns and wits would have been a little bit of appeasement, and then the deference to it would have helped a little in opening a conversation with it. I was trying to stroke its ego.

[drack]

Indeed, but dragons have big egos to stroke and I read that they kill people who don't laugh at their jokes... I also hear they kill people who can't tell good jokes to make them laugh too. Those are just the ones who like humor though, there are other sorts too of course with their own kill scenario. Still it wouldn't have ended with a dragon that big guarding so mall a nation as your own without borrowing enough from other players for them to own your butt. ... Then you would have run out of tribute money...

[Alihandros]

If I hadn't gone out so soon and stayed and upgraded the town a little I could have in probably 2 town upgrades....its only 1700rp upkeep

[drack]

towns cost actions more then they cost money.

[drack]

(double post for subscribers)

Oh yeah and a fun dragon sticker for you.

Edit: the internet drew it, not me. I can't draw.