Taming a Wilderness IC

[hannahbbug3]

Gamjar beams at Jessica when she compliments him; he's always proud to tell the stories that have been passed down through his family, about the 'noble house of Saiph.' Of course, it wasn't so noble anymore, they had minor titles and a bit of land - certainly more than enough to be comfortable, but they weren't super wealthy or recognized or anything like that. The most notable thing about them was likely that every other generation a Sylph came out of the bloodline, from crossing with an air elemental somewhere - no one in his family was really certain where that had happened, it didn't show up on the family tree. But they only recorded the paternal line, anyways, so it must have been married in from one of his ancestors' wives. Just an oddity, and Gamjar didn't really see it as worth mentioning for now. He listens attentively to the other stories from his companions, and when they'd all gone around once, he looks back to the elder.

[rs2excelsior]

The elder listens to all of your stories attentively. She then begins to recount stories from her own clan history. She tells you of a great warrior-hero, Torvet, who led her people here after some great disaster, and how he fought against the shadow people who would attack the village at night. Torvet drove them back until he was killed in battle, at which point his daughter Jes was able to make a deal with the shadow people and bring an end to the fighting. She tells you of a great plague which struck many of the male ratfolk in the tribe with a kind of madness, leading to their tradition of being lead by a female elder, who passed down the history of the tribe in stories. She tells you stories of many strange monsters which live deep in the jungles, and of the various ways her people tricked or fought them off.

By the time the stories are done, it is very late in the evening. The elder yawns. "That is enough for tonight, I think," she says. "If you still have questions, they can wait until morning. I find that a good night's rest to digest new information is often helpful." She turns and speaks to one of the other ratfolk in her own language, then addresses you once more. "We have a place for travelers to rest here in the longhouse. My son will show you." She turns and heads back to the rooms at the back of the building, as another ratfolk chitters at you and beckons for you to follow. He leads you back to a room with several padded mats for sleeping--although they're rather small for you, pulling two together should serve well enough. He leaves you to settle down for the night and rest.

In the morning you awake to the smell of meat roasting on the fire in the main hall of the longhouse. There are many more ratfolk there than there were the previous night, and more enter from the village as you approach. One ratfolk, who you assume is very young based on his size, scampers up to you and chitters something incomprehensible before running back into the crowd. The elder finds you and greets you warmly. "I hope you are well-rested. I suppose you still intend to carry on with your journey?"

Spoiler: OOC to Gamjar

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One of the "monsters" she talks about does bear a similar description to the Wampus--a catlike creature with the power to break the minds of those unfortunate enough to cross it. She said it was tricked away from the camp by an extremely brave ratfolk who tied a bundle of sticks to a tiger's tail--the wampus, hating loud noises, chased the tiger into another part of the jungle and away from the village.

[JNAProductions]

We have our job-it'd be remiss of us to not see it through, Jessica says with a smile. But thank you for letting us stay-I've enjoyed my little time here.

[hannahbbug3]

"Yes," Gamjar agrees with Jessica, nodding from where he was standing beside her. "It's been quite enjoyable. And informative," he assures, something of a manic glint to his expression for a moment that he often gets when he's thinking about his obsession. But it fades a little when he realizes that, yes, they probably should get moving. "I believe you mentioned that you could show us a safe route to the ruins?" he inquires.

[rs2excelsior]

She nods, somewhat sadly. "If that is what you wish, then we will show you the path, yes. Perhaps you will choose to follow it where the others did not. For now, eat. It will be your last good meal for a while, travelers."

The ratfolk tribe appears to share a communal breakfast, and happily allow you to join in. A couple others speak a few words of common and ask you simple questions, but for the most part they go about their business without really addressing you. As you finish your meal, you notice the elder waiting with another ratfolk by the door, watching you expectantly. When you are ready, she motions for you to come over to her.

"My granddaughter, Vorhi," she says, motioning to the other ratfolk with her. This one is much younger, carrying a long wooden staff. Her eyes are milky white--it is likely that she is completely blind. Still, her other senses must make up for it, as she seems to have little trouble in figuring out where you are. "She will lead you where you need to go.
And a gift, that may help you on your travels." She holds out a small bone charm, carved into the shape of the sun. "The dark ones fear the light. Break this, and you may be able to keep them at bay, should you find a need to. Best of luck, travelers."

With that, you follow Vorhi out of the longhouse. She navigates the village without any trouble, though she does use her staff to feel out the path ahead of her somewhat once she is out into the jungle. She leads you through narrow paths for about an hour, making small talk along the way--she does speak common as well, though hers is more accented and less understandable than her grandmothers'. Eventually, you arrive at a wide chasm, some fifty or a hundred feet across. It stretches far into the distance--you can see where it ends off to the east, but not to the west. A little creek appears to be running along the bottom, about a hundred feet down if not a little more. Vorhi stops at the edge and prods along the ground with her staff for a moment. You can't tell what she's looking for, but eventually she seems to find it. Rummaging in her pack, she pulls out several strips of cloth and holds them out to you all. "We go across. You will probably want these. For the horses, if not for yourselves."

Spoiler: DC 15 Knowledge (Geography)

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The chasm does not look natural--the soil does not seem to be the right type, and the creek appears to have began to run after the chasm was made, rather than carving it out.

[hannahbbug3]

Spoiler: Knowledge Check

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(1d20+5)[21]

Gamjar takes the cloth with a look of perplexity, then surveys the gap ahead of them. "It don't look easy to cross," he mentions, glancing over his shoulder to the others. "I'm not really certain how a kerchief is supposed to help us, here..." He looks over the gap again. "How did such a chasm come to be, here? Was there an earthquake?" he asked.

[stack]

Jon takes time to bless their host's gardens before resting. (casting grow a bunch)

at the chasm,
Jon pauses raising an eyebrow, "No bridge?"

[JNAProductions]

Jessica takes what is offered, with a bit of confusion. She doesn't ask, though, seeing as her companions have that covered.

[Justicar]

Herrin takes one of the strips of cloth. "What do you expect us to do with this?" she asks.

[rs2excelsior]

"They're blindfolds. There's a way across, it is just not visible to normal senses. Of course, you can choose not to... but looking down is not a good idea. As I said, for the horses,
at least. Blindfold them and they will not be able to tell a difference." As far as you can tell, there's nothing but open air across the chasm, but Vorhi takes a step into what appears to be in thin air, but does not fall. "If you trust enough to follow me, you will have no problems. Of course, you can choose the long way around, as the others did," she says, indicating the end of the chasm off to the east. It would likely take several days to go that route.

[hannahbbug3]

"Cinhea and Herne," Gamjar curses as he watches the ratfolk start to fly - that's really what it looks like, she's just walking on the air. He glances back to his companions, wondering if they're as skeptical about this as he is. "I think- I think no," he hums uneasily, stomach swirling as he peers over the edge. Don't look down. Right. Like that would be easy. Now it made much more sense why the other group would take the long way around.

[CasualViking]

"A moment, please, Vorhi, while we make further preparations". Locan produces a rope from his backpack, ties it around himself under the armpits, motions for the others to do the same, and steps forward, ready to walk across the bridge.

[hannahbbug3]

"Woah, woah," Gamjar says, balking a bit as Locan addresses the situation with perfect calm and seriousness. "Are we seriously- you're not serious-" he stammers, eyes widening.

[stack]

"I doubt she is going to send us plummeting to our deaths now. Would be a waste of all that hospitality before." Jon blindfolds the mules and himself and encourages the porters to do likewise.

[rs2excelsior]

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm guessing everyone's going along with it, since no one (other than Gamjar) has expressed an interest in the alternative route?

If you choose not to wear the blindfold, make a will save to avoid looking down.

Vorhi gives you time to prepare. You blindfold yourselves and the animals--the porters seem inclined to agree with Gamjar's assessment, but go along with the group in the end. Linked via Locan's rope, you shuffle with varying degrees of willingness over the chasm. Surprisingly, you can't tell when your feet leave solid ground. The crossing takes a couple of minutes, but soon enough Vorhi speaks again. "We have crossed safely," she tells you. "You may remove your blindfolds now." Sure enough, you're on the opposite side of the chasm--and there's still no sign of any surface for someone to walk over in the intervening space. To the south, the gates to the ruins are just visible through the trees, with a large stone arch soaring above the canopy just ahead of the entrance. Vorhi motions in that direction. "I believe you can find your own way from here. Be careful, travelers. Many things still live in the depths." With that, she turns and begins making her way confidently off the edge of the chasm, and over whatever unseen bridge supported you over here.

The path to the ruin is moderately clear; certainly easier going than many places you've traversed so far. It's well before midday when you reach the entrance. The building used to be fairly extensive, you can tell, but the aboveground portion mostly lies scattered around the area. The square entryway is still standing, flanked by two carved, vaguely humanoid faces, though immense weathering has made it difficult to make out many details. Inside, you can see the foundations of where exterior and interior walls used to stand, now overgrown with vegetation. A thorough search of the area reveals a much smaller stone arch built into a low rise--it appears the main building was built onto a hillside, and the underground entrance was cut into that hillside within the building. A stone slab once covered it, but it has been rolled away to one side fairly recently--that would be consistent with the time frame of the last expedition. A series of stone steps descend slowly into the darkness ahead of you.

Spoiler: OOC

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150 milestone XP for reaching the temple entrance for everyone.
We're in dungeon conditions here--so give me a marching order, perception if you're looking for traps or enemies, etc.
Also, let me know what y'all are going to do with the porters, horses, and carts. The horses/carts can definitely make it down the stairs here, if you can convince them to go, but there's no guarantee that'll be true all the way to where you're going.

[CasualViking]

Locan rubs his hands together in excitement. "Finally! This looks good. Fellow adventurers: I would like to pop inside, get a look at the first chamber and do some divinations, maybe half an hour total. I would like some accompaniment. Meanwhile, we also need to set up camp, get some fresh water and so on."

[hannahbbug3]

Gamjar sounds like a cat being dragged through water the whole time he's crossing the gap, even though he's blindfolded and can't tell the difference. Tuft, completely trusting Gamjar isn't going to lead him off into danger, allows himself to be blindfolded and led across as well - though Gamjar digs in his feet every once in a while when he remembers I'm standing on nothing and it's generally slowing down the group until Vorhi finally announces they're safely on the other side and the half-elf goes to his knees in relief. They barely supported him the whole way over and are still trembling. "Oh, goddess... please say we can go the long way around on the way back, please..." he exhorts the others, hugging Tuft for comfort.

[stack]

Jon looks around, judging to approach-ability of the area around the entrance. "Shall we set up a basecamp here? Might be better to explore a bit of the interior first; a room would be easier to secure that the open."

[rs2excelsior]

Locan descends the stairs cautiously, not straying too far from the group and searching the area intently. You do notice a flagstone that seems suspiciously raised, perforated with holes, which you are able to avoid (or investigate further, should you choose to do so). About fifty feet down the hallway opens up into a room, roughly thirty feet by thirty feet square. In each corner stands a statue of a humanoid creature with horns, strange legs, and a twisted sort of face--some kind of demon, perhaps? Each of the room's walls has a single doorway. The one through which you entered used to be closed by an iron door, but it has been removed from its hinges--forcibly it seems--and lies on the ground in the room. The doorways to your left and ahead of you have similar doors. The one on the left is closed, the one ahead of you stands partly open. The doorway to your right has no such door. It appears that it maybe did at one point in time, but there is no sign of a door now. Above the doorway ahead of you is writing in a language you do not understand.

Your divinations for magical auras ping faint and moderate auras from the passages ahead and to the right--not to the left, but you're pretty certain the door is sturdy enough to block them. The divinations for life do not return any results. You can roll Knowledge (Arcana) to identify particular spheres for the auras.

[CasualViking]

Spoiler: fresh baked rolls

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Knowledge Arcana, ahead: (1d20+11)[13]+(1d6)[6], to the right: (1d20+11)[19]+(1d6)[2], Disable device (spend inspiration) to jam what I think is a trap trigger (1d20+12)[32]+(1d6)[3]

[stack]

Beorn Jon moves to watch the open door, it being the most likely avenue for attack.

(Getting games crossed)

[rs2excelsior]

Locan successfully jams the floor tile--which he discovers is indeed a floor trap, it appears that by stepping on it a set of spikes would jab into your foot from the floor. From the size they wouldn't do much damage--there's a good chance they're poisoned, otherwise it wouldn't be a very effective trap.

There appear to be several auras in the directions of both of the hallways. They're mostly Destruction and Illusion spheres; fairly consistent with magic traps.

[hannahbbug3]

Gamjar slowly remembers how to breathe and releases his death-grip on Tuft's fur after a while. It still takes him a little longer to stand up - walking is pretty difficult when your legs feel like jelly. But he gets up eventually, and pokes his head into the ruin. "Everything okay down there?" he calls.

[CasualViking]

"There are traps down here. Plural. I disarmed one, but you shouldn't step beyond this chamber just yet".

[hannahbbug3]

Gamjar nods when he hears Locan's voice call back. "Well, I'm no good with traps, so I'll leave that to you!" He looks to the others. "I suppose I'll take a look around the perimeter here to see if there's anything immediately going to leap out and try and hunt us. Hopefully the tiger hasn't walked all the way over here," he hums, before starting to look around the area in methodical, ever-widening circles.

Spoiler: Perception

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(1d20+11)[29]

I WILL FIND THE DANGER!

[CasualViking]

Locan steps cautiously down the left hallway, with his lead sheet in one hand and the glyph scratcher in the other. Having divined the location of the traps, finding the triggers is just a matter of being meticulous and disciplined. His eyes methodically scan every stone and step.

Spoiler: trap trippin'

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Taking 20 on perception checks: 32. Rolls to disarm traps: (1d20+12)[18]+(1d6)[6],(1d20+12)[20]+(1d6)[1], (1d20+12)[22]+(1d6)[2], (1d20+12)[25]+(1d6)[4]. Locan can disarm magical traps.

[stack]

Jon hangs back. "Uh, let us know if we can help...I guess? Traps are not, ah, not my area of expertise. I could jam things with plants or reshape stone if it would help though."

[Justicar]

Herrin slowly draws her silver blade from her scabbard and follows Locan. She is careful not to get too close in order to not interfere with his work, but close enough to get to him in time if there is danger.

[rs2excelsior]

As Locan examines the entryway, Gamjar scouts out the area around the ruined temple and finds no immediate danger. The horses and carts can't really make it down the stone steps, so the porters set up a small camp out of sight from the entrance as the rest of you descend. The door to the left is locked, but after taking a few minutes to pick it it comes open. The door slowly creaks open, reluctant to move after so long being shut. At first it seems Locan is moving abnormally slowly, until a few hundred feet down he stops you and quickly disables a magical glyph that would have released a gout of flame on the party had someone stepped on it. He manages to disarm several more traps along the way as well, some mechanical and some magical. One particularly nasty one apparently combined a resealing pit trap coupled with an illusion trap that would have created a double of the victim, to avoid alerting their companions.

The halls twist and descend deeper into the hillside, through several branches. You pass a few rooms that appear to be tombs, stone sarcophagi standing in the middle of the room with gold, weapons, and other treasures lying around. The rooms are sealed behind iron grates, although with enough effort you could probably get through. You don't see any sign of the previous expedition or the staff that you are looking for--or of whatever creature attacked them, for that matter. Still, you do hear a quiet scuttling sound just out of the range of sight every now and then.

Spoiler: OOC

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What's your marching order for this part? Locan's in the front, pretty obviously, and it sounds like Herrin is up next and Jon's near the back. Where are Gamjar and Jessica?

You can choose the general direction you want to go--back toward the other tunnels or off to the other side, below the aboveground ruins. Survival checks might be required to keep on the proper course.

The rooms with sarcophagi can be opened, but there is no door per se--they weren't designed to be opened after they were sealed. If you have a way to break/cut the bars and get in, you can.

[hannahbbug3]

Spoiler: OOC

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-kicks down the front door- GAMJAR IS BACK, FRIENDS!
I'll take up the rear with Tuft.

Gamjar is the last to descend down into the ruin with the party, looking around with wide eyes. "I didn' realize this was a tomb," he says, a bit unsettled about walking into a place like this. He's the sort to believe the dead should just be left to their rest, and he suddenly isn't certain about looting anything down here. "I reckon we should leave alone whatever we can spare," he tells the others, keeping his voice low out of either respect or fear - it's hard to tell.