Servants of the Thrallherd IC [3.5, high speed]

[BelGareth]

Rex Scowls as more of the jibbering things come from the tunnel, Roger suddenly bursts away, not able to handle the foul mouthed things, and Rex drops off the horse, hoping he doesn't hurt himself too much.

He turns and looks at the monster, taking another swing at it, with the flat of his blade.

Spoiler

Show

Roger runs off

Rolled in OOC
Attack - (1d20+3)[13]
Damage - (1d10+5)[7]

[Feathersnow]

ZrabHas sees the horrid things more clearly than before. Something in her seethes. The world is wrong, it is a sin that existence can contain these, these things. Her horse goes mad in rage, and, though at least somewhat coherent, she joins in in her mounts mad charge at ICK!

Spoiler: Battle leader's Charge!

Show

[roll] 1d20+ 14 [/roll]
damage
[roll] 1d6+10[/roll]

Warhorse's attack
[roll] 1d20+4[/roll]
damage
(1d4+3)[6]

Spoiler: Hypothetical critical

Show

[roll] 1d20+16[/roll]
(1d6)[1]

[J-H]

Round 3, Part 1

Grassis becomes visible as a lance of energy reaches out from his fingertip towards the southern creature.

Spoiler

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EB ranged touch (1d20+9)[27] vs YUK hit for 9
Damage (3d6)[9]

Joas makes some very confusing sounds; his horse gets a bit nervous, but stays still. The Astral construct attacks the closest creature, but misses, as does RexThaun, who rolls off his horse and onto the attack.

ZrabHas’ horse makes a confused charge straight at the northern creature, and she takes advantage of that to make an attack of her own as she stays mounted, punching the same creature.

Spoiler

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Both attacking ICK
Fixing rolls
Horse attack (1d20+4)[24] for 3 damage crit not confirmed with phys dice, hit for 3 bludge damage

Attack (1d20+12)[31] (base 10, +2 charge) hit for 13 bludge/punching damage
Damage (1d6+11)[13]

Roger the horse runs to the north.

The Goliath, confused, swings its mighty hammer at the Astral Construct, but misses

Spoiler

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Attack (1d20+5)[9] vs AC22 miss
Goliath Greathammer Damage (1d12+4)[10]

One of the dwarves holding a pick stands still, talking nonsense; another dwarf, equipped with a bow, shoots at a nearby dwarf that’s holding flasks of acid, sending a bolt in front of his face. The dwarf curses back at him in the dwarven tongue, but doesn’t retaliate, focusing instead on the foes.

Spoiler

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Db2 attacks Da1
Attack (1d20+2)[8] vs AC 11 miss
Damage (1d8)[3]

To the south, one of the acid-flask carriers throws it at a nearby dwarf, then pulls out another one. The flask hits to the northwest, splashing acid on both the thrower and its intended target

Spoiler

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Da2 ranged touch (1d20+2)[8] vs AC11
Damage (1d6)[4] acid
miss, I rolled an 8, hits in the square northwest of the target. Da2 & Db1 both take 1 acid damage

Several of the other dwarves, clear-headed, assault the strange aberrations. An acid flask flies right past one enemy and into the mouth of the mine, while another crossbow bolt hits a boulder and breaks.

Spoiler

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Da1 moves up.
Da1 ranged touch (1d20+2)[7] vs ICK
Damage (1d6)[6] acid if hits, plus 5’ radius splash for 1 damage.
If miss, 2 range increments in (1d8)[3] direction with 1 being north, 2 being northeast, etc., and deal splash to everyone around that square.
miss,

Db1 crossbow attack vs YUK
Attack (1d20-2)[11] -4 for shooting into melee miss
Damage (1d8)[5]

Spoiler: Status

Show

ICK 16 damage
YUK 9 damage

Dp1 Babbling in place for 1 rounds
Db2 1 damage; Attack nearest creature, 1 rounds
Da2 1 damage
Dh clear

Goliath 8
Z Horse, attack caster (ICK) 1 rounds
Roger, Attack nearest creature 1 round
Joas,
Zrabhas 46/50hp -2 AC, charge
RexThaun 3 damage
Roger 1 damage

Immune to ICK babble
Da1
Db2
Db1
Dp2
Rex
J horse
Grassis
Zrabhas

Immune to YUK babble
Da1
Db1
Da2
Dp2
Rex
Joas
J horse
Grassis
Zrabhas
Z Horse

[J-H]

Round 3, Part 2

The air continues to reverberate with the sounds of dozens or hundreds of voices in several languages.

Spoiler: Confusion rolls

Show

Everybody in 60’ range has to make a Will Save DC 13 or be confused for 1d2 rounds.
Everyone gets two rolls. In the case of a conflicting confusion result, I’ll manually reroll. If you save against one of them, you are immune to that creature’s babbling for 24 hours.

Dp1 ICK (1d20+3)[16] or Confused (1d2)[2] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[97] save
Dp1 YUK (1d20+3)[11] or Confused (1d2)[1] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[92] fail, attack nearest1 rd
Db2 YUK (1d20+3)[8] or Confused (1d2)[1] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[69] fail, flee 1 rd
G ICK (1d20+4)[22] or Confused (1d2)[1] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[81] save
G YUK (1d20+4)[13] or Confused (1d2)[2] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[9] save
Da2 ICK (1d20+3)[6] or Confused (1d2)[1] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[21] fail, babble 1 rd
Roger ICK (1d20+2)[10] or Confused (1d2)[1] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[91] fail, attack nearest 1 rd
Roger YUK (1d20+2)[6] or Confused (1d2)[1] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[74] fail, attack nearest 1 rd
Joas ICK (1d20+8)[13] or Confused (1d2)[1] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[63] save
Z Horse ICK(1d20+2)[14] or Confused (1d2)[1] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[21] save
Dh ICK (1d20+3)[15] or Confused (1d2)[2] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[97] save
Dh YUK (1d20+3)[14] or Confused (1d2)[1] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[18] save


Confusion table:
d%
Behavior
01-10 Attack caster with melee or ranged weapons (or close with caster if attack is not possible).
11-20 Act normally.
21-50 Do nothing but babble incoherently.
51-70 Flee away from caster at top possible speed.
71-100 Attack nearest creature (for this purpose, a familiar counts as part of the subject’s self).

The two creatures fling acid and bite at their foes, content to stay where they are with plenty of yummy foods coming to them. The Astral Construct takes a gob of acid to its ectoplasmic eyes, blinding and clogging them. The Goliath gets two more bite marks on his legs.

Spoiler

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ICK
Spittle ranged touch (1d20+4)[14] vs Astral Construct (AC12)
Spittle damage (1d4)[2] acid + Fort DC 18 or blind
AC fort (1d20+1)[6] hit for 2 and blind for 3 rounds

Bite (1d20+4)[7] for 1 damage vs Astral Construct AC 22
Bite (1d20+4)[9] for 1 damage vs Astral Construct AC 22
Bite (1d20+4)[15] for 1 damage vs Goliath AC 12 hit
Bite (1d20+4)[23] for 1 damage vs Goliath AC 12 hit
Bite (1d20+4)[18] for 1 damage vs ZrabHas AC 21
Bite (1d20+4)[15] for 1 damage vs ZrabHas horse, AC 16

YUK Everything misses
Spittle ranged touch (1d20+4)[5] vs RexThaun AC 11 miss
Spittle damage (1d4)[4] acid + Fort DC 18 or blind
Rexthaun Fort (1d20+12)[32]

Bite (1d20+4)[9] for 1 damage ZrabHas AC 21
Bite (1d20+4)[7] for 1 damage ZrabHas horse, AC 16
Bite (1d20+4)[8] for 1 damage vs RexThaun AC 21
Bite (1d20+4)[7] for 1 damage vs RexThaun AC 21
Bite (1d20+4)[11] for 1 damage vs RexThaun AC 21
Bite (1d20+4)[18] for 1 damage vs RexThaun AC 21
If YUK hits with a bite, it will attempt to start a grapple, free action/improved grab (1d20+3)[21] vs RexThaun’s opposed grapple of (1d20+6)[17].
ICK has too many yummies and can’t decide if it wants to grab one or not.

Spoiler: Map & Status

Show

ICK 16 damage
YUK 9 damage

Dp1 Babbling in place for 1 round, or attack nearest creature 1 round
Db2 1 damage; Attack nearest creature, 1 rounds, or flee 1 round
Da2 1 damage; babble 1 round
Dh clear
Goliath 10 damage
Z Horse, attack caster (ICK) 1 rounds
Roger, Attack nearest creature 1 round
Joas,
Zrabhas 46/50hp
RexThaun 3 damage
Roger 1 damage
AC 2 damage, blind for 3 rounds

Immune to ICK babble
Da1
Db2
Db1
Dp2
Rex
Joas
J horse
Grassis
Zrabhas
Z horse
Dp1
Goliath
Dh

Immune to YUK babble
Da1
Db1
Da2
Dp2
Rex
Joas
J horse
Grassis
Zrabhas
Z Horse
Goliath
Dh

=> Party

Please be sure to specify targets, squares moved to, abilities used, etc.

[Feathersnow]

ZrabHas swings her sword at the abomination designated YUK on the map. She use Mountain Hammer, bestowing 2 extra dice and bypassing damage reduction (which ZrabHas should have figured out is a factor, but hasn't, yet, for various reasons. However, this maneuver does the most damage without requiring a move action.)

She is still mounted and does not move this round.

Spoiler: Mountain Hammer

Show

(1d20+12)[24]
Damage
(3d6)[16]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Joas

"Mmmmm", with a sudden, mysterious craving for pudding, Joas comes to his senses. He looks around and sees that the situation is not as well under control as he had hoped, but not hopeless either. He stays put, concentrating to regain his focus and stays ready to move away should something come his way.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Self: Concentration to regain focus: (1d20+11)[20] DC20
AC slam ICK: (1d20+12)[19], damage (1d6+13)[17], miss chance (1d100)[4] 1-50 is miss.

AC round 4, 2 more rounds of blind.

[BelGareth]

Rex grimaces as the gibberish assaults his sense, but he is able to withstand it still, he moves up slightly, avoiding tentacles, and breaths more acid upon one of the abominations.

Spoiler

Show

5ft step up to S51
breath acid on YUK
Acid - (3d6)[15] DC 19 Ref for half
Rounds - (1d4)[4]

[J-H]

Round 4, Part 1

ZrabHas dismounts from her horse, planting her feet on the ground before striking at one of the aberrations. Her blow hits, and seems to resound like a hammerblow even though she’s using a sword.

Spoiler

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ZrabHas hits for 16 on YUK.

AOOs vs AC 23
ICK Attack (1d20+4)[10] for 1 damage
YUK Attack (1d20+4)[9] for 1 damage

Hz attack ICK
Attack (1d20+4)[15]
Damage (1d6+4)[9]

Joas recenters himself, while his Astral Construct flails blindly and misses the creature in front of it.

RexThaun breathes acid on the creature, hitting it square-on.

Spoiler

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Sorry, the only way I can adjudicate ZrabHas’ attack is if she lands in S51, so no 5’ step to that space is available.
15 acid damage, Reflex DC 19 half.
Reflex (1d20+4)[11] fail, 15 damage

Grassis fires another blast of energy at the closest enemy.

Spoiler

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EB ranged touch (1d20+9)[28] vs YUK
Damage (3d6)[15] hit for 15

A dwarf with a crossbow fires it at Roger, who returns the favor by prancing over and kicking at him. Both miss. Nearby, a dwarf with a pick mumbles strange things in the Dwarven tongue.

Spoiler

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Db2 attack
Attack (1d20+2)[8] vs AC 18
Damage (1d8)[7]

Roger vs Db2
Attack (1d20+4)[7] vs AC 11
Damage (1d6+4)[10]

A dwarf with an acid flask throws it at the northern creature, hitting it squarely. It bursts, spraying acid on everyone nearby. The last bit of acid is just too much for the southern creature, which groans from all of its mouths and goes limp.

Spoiler

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Da1 moves up.
Da1 ranged touch (1d20+2)[16] vs ICK
Damage (1d6)[6] acid if hits, plus 5’ radius splash for 1 damage.
Hit for 6 on ICK
1 damage each to AC, G, Hz, Zh, and YUK
If miss, 1 range increments in (1d8)[7] direction with 1 being north, 2 being northeast, etc., and deal splash to everyone around that square.

The Goliath swings his mighty hammer once again at ICK, and yet again misses.

Spoiler

Show

Attack (1d20+5)[12]
Goliath Greathammer Damage (1d12+4)[13]

One of the pick-armed dwarves begins to work its way around through the rocks next to RexThaun. “That’s it, boys! Hold the line and kill ‘em all!”

To the south, one dwarf stands still, talking nonsense; another fires a crossbow bolt into the melee but missing, while a third, hammer-equipped dwarf closes in.

Spoiler

Show

Attack (1d20-2)[6] firing into melee vs YUK miss
Damage [roll]1d8/roll]

Spoiler: Status

Show

ICK 22 damage

Dp1
Db2 1 damage
Da2 1 damage; babble 1 round
Dh clear
Goliath 11 damage
Z Horse 1 damage
Roger
Joas,
Zrabhas 45/50hp
RexThaun 3 damage
Roger 1 damage
AC 3 damage, blind for 3 rounds

Immune to ICK babble
Da1
Db2
Db1
Dp2
Rex
Joas
J horse
Grassis
Zrabhas
Z horse
Dp1
Goliath
Dh

[J-H]

Round 4, Part 2

The remaining creature seems to get louder as it spits acid and bites furiously at everything in range.

Spoiler

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ICK
Spittle ranged touch (1d20+4)[15] vs ZrabHas AC17 miss
Spittle damage (1d4)[1] acid + Fort DC 18 or blind
ZrabHas Fort (1d20+4)[6]

Bite (1d20+4)[17] for 1 damage vs Astral Construct AC 22
Bite (1d20+4)[6] for 1 damage vs Goliath AC 12
Bite (1d20+4)[12] for 1 damage vs Goliath AC 12 hit for 1
Bite (1d20+4)[10] for 1 damage vs ZrabHas horse, AC 16
Bite (1d20+4)[18] for 1 damage vs ZrabHas AC 23
Bite (1d20+4)[24] for 1 damage vs ZrabHas AC 23 hit for 1

Spoiler: Confusion saves

Show

Will DC 13
Da2 ICK (1d20+3)[21] or Confused (1d2)[2] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[2] save
Roger ICK (1d20+2)[8] or Confused (1d2)[2] rounds, confusion result is (1d100)[39] fail, neigh incoherently for 2 rounds

Confusion table:
d%
Behavior
01-10 Attack caster with melee or ranged weapons (or close with caster if attack is not possible).
11-20 Act normally.
21-50 Do nothing but babble incoherently.
51-70 Flee away from caster at top possible speed.
71-100 Attack nearest creature (for this purpose, a familiar counts as part of the subject’s self).

Spoiler: Map & Status

Show

ICK 22 damage

Dp1
Db2 1 damage
Da2 1 damage; babble 1 round
Dh clear
Goliath 12 damage
Z Horse 1 damage
Roger, neigh incoherently for 2 rounds
Joas,
Zrabhas 44/50hp
RexThaun 3 damage
Roger 1 damage
AC 3 damage, blind for 2 rounds

Immune to ICK babble
Everyone but Roger

=> Party

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Joas

It seems again that the team is gaining the upper hand. Joas stays where he is, alert for danger, while his astral construct keeps on slamming ICK.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Self: None
AC slam attack: (1d20+12)[18], damage (1d6+13)[15], miss chance (1d100)[98] 1-50 misses.

2 rounds left on AC, 1 of which blinded

[BelGareth]

Rex steps closer to the monster, stepping on the oozing body of the first, and then slashes at the remaining monster, intent on ending this nightmare.

Spoiler

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5ft step T51, if i can
Attack - (1d20+7)[22]
Damage - (1d10+5)[13]
Aura is power, so everyone is receiving +2 to melee damage.

AC: 21
Damage: 3/96
Breath 3 rounds left

[Feathersnow]

ZrabHas uses Claw at the Moon on the abomination!

jump vs AC

(1d20+15)[32]

She kicks viciously at the monster while stomping and flailing like a woman possessed.
(Attacks with Unarmed Strike)

Spoiler: Attack and damage rolls

Show

(1d20+11)[21]
Damage
(1d6+3)[7]
Bonus damage
(2d6)[6]

[J-H]

Round 5, Part 1

The Astral Construct misses again, although RexThaun hits the creature with his sword, and ZrabHas makes a leaping attack that slams it to the ground.

Spoiler

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RT hits for 8 after DR.
ZrabHas hits for 13.

Grassis fires another burst of energy at the creature.

Spoiler

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EB ranged touch (1d20+9)[23] vs ICK hit for 10
Damage (3d6)[10]

The Goliath and Zrabhas’ horse both attack ICK as well, but neither connect.

Spoiler

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Attack (1d20+5)[6]
Goliath Greathammer Damage (1d12+4)[11]

Hz attack ICK
Attack (1d20+4)[17]
Damage (1d6+4)[10]

Roger neighs incoherently; all but one of the dwarves attack the creature! Crossbow bolts, a hammer, and a flask of acid all fly in.

Spoiler

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Dp2 moves up and attacks. (invalid, map error)
(1d20+3)[13]
Damage (1d8+1)[4]

Dh throwing hammer
(1d20+4)[16]
Damage (1d6+1)[2]

Da1 ranged touch (1d20+2)[12] vs ICK
Damage (1d6)[6] acid if hits, plus 5’ radius splash for 1 damage. hit for 6, splash damage on AC, G, Hz, Zh, Rt
If miss, 1 range increments in (1d8)[2] direction with 1 being north, 2 being northeast, etc., and deal splash to everyone around that square.

Db1 attack
Attack (1d20+2)[9]
Damage (1d8)[5]

Db2 attack
Attack (1d20+2)[11]
Damage (1d8)[2]

Spoiler: Status

Show

ICK 51 damage

Dp1
Db2 1 damage
Da2 1 damage
Dh clear
Goliath 13 damage
Z Horse 2 damage
Roger, neigh incoherently for 1 rounds
Joas,
Zrabhas 43/50hp
RexThaun 4 damage
Roger 1 damage
AC 4 damage, blind for 2 rounds

Immune to ICK babble
Everyone but Roger

[J-H]

Round 5, Part 2/End

The creature spits at the leaping, punching foodthing. Mouth-tipped pseudopods extend in all directions, attacking everything at once.

Spoiler

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ICK
Spittle ranged touch (1d20+4)[22] vs ZrabHas AC17
Spittle damage (1d4)[3] acid + Fort DC 18 or blind
ZrabHas Fort (1d20+4)[19]

Bite (1d20+4)[16] for 1 damage vs Astral Construct AC 22
Bite (1d20+4)[20] for 1 damage vs Goliath AC 12
Bite (1d20+4)[9] for 1 damage vs Goliath AC 12
Bite (1d20+4)[13] for 1 damage vs ZrabHas horse, AC 16
Bite (1d20+4)[13] for 1 damage vs ZrabHas AC 23
Bite (1d20+4)[5] for 1 damage vs RexThaun AC 20
Goliath is hit for 1

Surrounded and greatly outnumbered, the creature is reduced to pulp soon after.

Spoiler: Status

Show

It has 4 hit points left. Someone’s going to hit it.

Dp1
Db2 1 damage
Da2 1 damage
Dh clear
Goliath 14 damage
Z Horse 2 damage
Roger, neigh incoherently for 1 rounds
Joas,
Zrabhas 43/50hp
RexThaun 4 damage
Roger 1 damage
AC 4 damage, blind for 1 rounds

Immune to ICK babble
Everyone but Roger

[Feathersnow]

Die!! Die!! Die!! ZrabHas knows, without knowing why, that the creature SHOULD NOT BE!!! She kicks it until reality is healed of its affront.


After a pause, she stops to catch her breath. Uh, I needed that. her breath. She wipes some sweat off of her brow. Uhhh...
Hello, Dwarves...

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Joas

Joas looks around to identify casualties. Then, he asks in Dwarven: "Is everyone all right?"

[BelGareth]

Rex smiles as the abomination is put down to their mighty team work. It was good to see such authentic coordination, even the miners were pitching in, it was a good feeling. Looking around, he saw most everyone was ok, and so did not switch his aura to healing, instead to heighten everyones perception, lest they be taken unawares again.

He moves to intercept Roger, careful to see whether or not he would calm down, or he needed to put him down. He had no idea if the monsters maddening affect was a permanent affliction of the mind.

Spoiler

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He'll touch of healing his 4 points of damage away
switch aura to perception
go look for Roger

[J-H]

RexThaun is able to calm down Roger quickly, and leads him back to the others. Most of the miners ignore the strange appearance of the party (a Xeph, a dragonborn, a Githzerai, and a lone human) and crowd around them, thanking them for killing the creatures.

The Goliath, who introduces himself as Anderstone, is rather shamefaced – not only did he fail to hit anything the entire battle, but he’s also the most injured, with the tough skin on his legs covered in bite marks and acid burns.

A couple of the dwarves – some form of second or third cousin you think – check the corpses of the aberrations and find dwarven bones (partly dissolved), which confirms the fate of the other two miners who were working that claim. As they mourn, one of the other dwarves takes charge; the dwarves begin moving loose rocks and stacking them in the door of the mine, bracing them in place with timbers.

You find out that if you follow the road for another half-mile, it dead-ends into the canyon through which the great Yal river flows. Magically strong cables stretch across that canyon; a sky ferry large enough to hold four loaded carts at a time goes back and forth to the town of Helane, which is located in a slightly larger canyon on the other side. Helane is the departure point for the ores produced at the mine, as well being as the local center of commerce and recreation.

Do you guard the door until it’s blocked, or do you head straight on for Helane? Any other questions or things to do? Questions for the miners about Helane?

[BelGareth]

Rex quickly soothes Roger, healing what wounds he had. They were superficial at best, but he could see the panic fade from his eyes. He lead the horse back and tied him to some timbers close by, watching the dwarves investigate the creatures and confirm their suspicions.

He moved to the Goliath and attempted to console him. "You fought well Anderstone, you never gave up, and did what you could, there is no shame in that, I am glad and honored to have fought by you, and with everyone here" he says, speaking up at the last bit, so everyone could here. "I am well glad that you all were able and ready to fight, for I fear we might have been overwhelmed if were not for you fine folk!"

Spoiler

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Diplomacy - (1d20+14)[19]

Bluff, if needed for the last part
Bluff - (1d20+18)[25]

He suggests they stay and guard the tunnel as the dwarves pile the rocks. As he does so, he moves about and lays hands on those who need healing, causing their wounds to close and fuse shut.

Spoiler

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Heals:

Db2 for 1 damage
Da2 for 1 damage
Goliath for 14 damage
Z Horse for 2 damage

Leaving me with 1/24 touch of vitality

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Joas

"I agree, Rex. A terrible stroke of misfortune occurred, with you losing some of your kin, he also adresses the Dwarves, "but we should also recognize the fortune that we ran into each other at this moment. We may have saved each other´s lives. Let´s stick together until this site is secure."

[J-H]

The mine entrance is blocked successfully, and you hear talk of carving a sign above it to prevent someone from re-opening it in the future.

Anderstone is heartened and smiles at RexThaun's encouragement. He gives him a tooth-rattling backslap and says "For a guy who looks like a lizard, you're pretty good. Now I don't have ta go see Tilghman. He's no slouch himself, but he's a little, ah, picky about healing us after a bar fight. Still, lawman and priest both, he can lay down the hurt on the real low-lifes."

An old grey-bearded dwarf driving a cart stops by, and offers that the creatures were probably left-overs buried in the ground from the War of Sundering, and that his pappy fought two of them off singlehandedly, right after saving his mammy from some bandits.

From the comments of some of the other dwarves, Smitson has a story for everything, and most of them are old gem tales ("It was thiiiiis big, no, really!")

[Feathersnow]

ZrabHas helps seal the whole against further abominations. She doesn't talk much. Dwarves make her uneasy, she knows neither her blood-kin, half-elves like Great Leader, nor the nation of Cora are good friends to these miners. But they were siblings in battle against Abomination, and, if there is no friendship, there is no cause for unpleasantness, either.

[J-H]

After some whispered discussion, the group decides to spend the night with the miners instead of using the cable cars to cross into town for the night. Since you have your own bedding, all you need is a tarp or canvas for added shelter from the elements, and that’s easy to come by. Smitson promises to carry word into town that the problem has been dealt with.

Some of the avalancher meat makes an excellent contribution and many of the miners join you for a dinner that is both celebration and a wake for the two dead. Tales are exchanged deep into the night by a few. A few bottles of ale are on offer for any who drink, but not enough to inebriate anyone.


The next morning, the miners awaken with the dawn, cook a quick hot breakfast, and get back to work. You mount up and ride down to an open area overlooking a great canyon. The Yal river, the first major obstacle, has been reached. A large, shining cable extends from the cliff face above you, where the rock seems to have grown around it, and stretches across the canyon to Helane.

A curious contraption is coming your way – a ferry barge, suspended from the cable, carrying several carts and several loaded mules, plus a number of passengers. It moves slowly but steadily, and bumps to a stop at a nearby stone ramp, where the passengers are offloaded. You approach the ferry – the only passengers thus far.

The ferryman is aware of who you are – Smitson must have passed on the story, with who knows what embellishments – and offers to take you across for free. The view is incredible.

Spoiler

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Feel free to add anything else you did/wanted to do this night. Do the horses get on the sky ferry without any trouble?
I'll let this sit for at least a few hours and then will do the arrival at Helane. Be thinking about what you want to sell and buy.

[J-H]

The Town of Helane
After waiting a little while, the sky ferry takes you, a loaded cart, and a hunter returning to town with a giant pack stuffed with pelts across to the town of Helane. The ferryman is very particular about where the cart and your horses stand – he says the sky ferry must be balanced more carefully than a ship, whatever that means.

The town of Helane is squeezed into a narrow valley that runs downhill.


Similar to this

There’s one major road, about 30’ wide, that winds down the canyon. A smaller side street appears and disappears repeatedly on both sides. The side streets have stairs instead of a slope, and appear to contain only residences and boarding houses; quite a number of the homes are either tiny, or are partly bored into the rock.

At the upper end of town, nearest to the sky ferry, are taverns, drinking houses, restaurants, and other such establishment designed to separate bored miners from their wealth. Downslope from there are general shops, stores, and artisanal establishments, including a smithy with a smoking chimney and a cartier, as well as a squat building with a sign that proudly proclaims itself as the “Miner Guild.” You’re likely to find any magical or adventuring items the town has to offer in this area. Capping off the market area is a sort of town square that takes up a large part of the width of the valley, and contains a few hardy apple trees. A blocky looking building with barred windows is on one side, and a temple is on the other. Beyond it, you see a few small garden patches, and the town transitions to a series of ware houses and other large establishments that apparently ship products out of or into town. Beyond that, the track continues down and out towards what you are told is a hilly region of mixed forest and moors, with shepherds and lumberjacks and smallholdings.

Spoiler

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What do you do?
Where do you go in what order?
Do you split up, or stay together?
What do you want to buy?

Assume the town has almost anything you want up to 1500gp. Beyond 1500gp, the probability of an item being available depends on how relevant it is to the area (+5 snowshoes? Yes. +5 parasol of desert heat resistance? No.) and the value.

=> Party

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Grassis

"Ah civilization.." Grassis says with a hint of irony creeping into his voice.

[BelGareth]

Rex looks at the cable car with curiosity, he had never seen anything like it, and he wandered if it were magical, mechanical, or a hyrbidized version of both.

Shrugging his shoulders, he moved Roger along, walking him by the bit to where he was indicated, he could tell the balance of the lift was important, as everyone was told where to stand, and not move. He enjoyed the ride, Roger not so much, and he pulled up his blinders to calm him down, the open air, the rush of being so high, perhaps this was what it was like to fly? he thought as they neared the small town, nestled in the crevice of the valley. It was a nice place, and didn't seem to bad. Although, Rex knew better, there was always something in a city, never did they seem as they looked.

But such was life.

Sighing slightly, he moved Roger off and down the street, heading towards the market area, intent on selling the loot they managed to get on their way here. Once he had sold their gear, and tired from the bartering and mind games, he moved towards the Miners guild, hoping to talk to the cleric that he was told about.

<heads inside miners guild>

[Feathersnow]

ZrabHas isn't sure what to do. She decides that it would be a bad idea to look for people who might actually recognize a Gith, and clerics of a subterranean warrior race are near the top of the list.o
Rex, Grassis, I am going to have some beer and fried things that should be raw at one of these famous Dwarf Bars. No one with any experience with extraplanar incursions and hidden lore would be at such an establishment, so I should pass as some obscure kind of elf.

[J-H]

The group splits up to shop or relax, as the case may be.

As RexThaun nears the miner’s guild, he sees old Smitson sitting on the front porch, wearing a coat and enjoying the sunlight as he talks with a couple of other dwarves. Smitson points at him, and then gets up, stomps over to the door, and yells something inside.

A dwarf and a bespectacled halfling dressed in slightly nicer and cleaner clothes walk out. The dwarf motions to the halfling, who starts talking eagerly. “Smitson told us what you did yesterday. Andery came across with him – he’s the one who lost family members to those things. I’m sure he’d thank you, but he’s not feeling himself at the moment.

We do have records of things like this being dug up occasionally in the deeper mines throughout the mountain range. These unnatural beasts are always hungry, yet never die of famine, it seems. Most of the time, they kill everyone in range and take a concerted effort to put down. You and your friends probably saved a dozen lives or more yesterday with your fearless and quick-thinking actions.”

The dwarf takes over, with a slight smile. “There are tales of dwarves and gold being inseparable, but they aren’t all true. The miner’s guild has a cooperative fund to deal with emergencies – sickness, maiming, impoverished family members, and the like – and we’ve decided that a token of our gratitude is in order.”

He hands RexThaun a pouch containing eighty platinum pieces (800gp).

The group finishes up shopping and meets ZrabHas back at the inn. The combination of a dragonborn, a xeph, a human, and a gith draws a few strange looks, but news travels fast in a small town. The group enjoys a heavy lunch of real, non-magical, cooked food as their horses graze at a hay trough outside.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Joas

In the town, Joas´ mind mostly wanders off thinking about the cable car. How it must work, and how it could be improved. He enjoys the lunch and taps his belly once finished eating. "So, do we want to move on, or is there other stuff to be done here?"

[J-H]

Heading north and downslope, you reach the town square. The main road is made of level, undressed stones pressed finely together (obviously the work of dwarven masons), while the side paths are mostly cobblestone; there are mid-sized trees growing in gaps in the cobblestone, casting shade in the cool mountain sunlight.

On the west side is the blocky, barred building made of stacked and mortared brown stones. Although the exterior is rough and polished only by the weather, it appears study and strong. It has several doors, and appears to be both the barracks for a detachment of Josenite troops and the town jail. A couple of soldiers are on duty in light armor, and a few more are enjoying a late lunch at a table in the sun.

The east side is a large grey temple cut into the rock. Several large stained glass windows face west, each with a different holy symbol, including the Hammer of Fortubo; A stray cloud lets you barely tell that the glass windows are lit from within as well as from without, and might be quite bright at night-time.

A teenage boy in the outfit of a temple novice carefully leans his broom against the wall and walks quickly to a large wooden door in the grey stone of the temple at your approach. He leans inside, telling someone inside something before taking his broom up, half-heartedly sweeping while really watching you. A few moments later, a middle-age Goliath clad in a chain shirt steps out. The powerfully built humanoid has both a large, ornate hammer at his side, and a large sap. It’s hard to tell in the afternoon light, but his eyes may have a slight glow to them. He studies the group for a few moments, and then speaks.

“Good afternoon to you, travelers. Thank you for helping yesterday. You did some good work.

I am Tilghman, priest of Fortubo and the voice of the law in this fine town. I’ve a few questions for you; please let me offer you the meager hospitality of my office for a few moments.”

He motions to the door he emerged from. There’s a line of hitching posts nearby that you can use, if you want to.