[IC] Crypt of the Everflame

[Kallor]

"Afraid not, and besides, if there's something this big going around killing folks, I'd think that we had best refill our waterskins and be off, in case whatever it is happens to live here and decides to take a bite out of us next," Ulmarr suggested grimly, as he examined the bite marks.

"Also, anyone feel like using this?" he asked, holding up the rather nice short sword which was more or less unusable to him.

Spoiler: Knowledge Nature

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Dunno, can we use Know. Nature to identify what made the bite marks? In case we can:

(1d20+6)[21]

[theasl]

Spoiler: ooc

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Sure, why not. In combination with Yeshana's previous know (local) check:

There are legends around town of a large sea serpent that somehow made its way to the lake, probably when it was very young. Nobody has ever claimed to see it, but there are stories of animals being found with giant poisonous bite marks around the lake - mostly half-eaten. This find would seem to lend an air of credibility to those legends.

[hannahbbug3]

William gives a slight shake of his head. "A shovel isn't something I thought we'd need..." he murmurs, reaching back to scratch Dodi's ears. She's perched on his shoulders again, half-dozing.

[Kallor]

"Heh, so those stories about a sea serpent were true after all," Ulmarr commented, looking up from the bite marks. Yes, it looked like he'd certainly have a story to tell Olmira when he got back.

"Well, in that case, we really should look at moving on from here," he stated, not particularly inclined to meet any sea serpents today, especially as this one had seemingly managed to reach out onto land to kill someone. Or at least, he doubted the dead man had been going for a swim.

[Kvard51]

Donnal joins the others looking at the body. "Ah dinnae ken whit murdurred him, bit it hud a richt muckle geggy, that's fur sure."

Kneeling down beside the corpse, he set about trying to discover some meaning in the wounds.

Spoiler: ooc

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Perception (1d20+3)[6]
Heal (1d20+7)[26]

[theasl]

Donnal joins the others in examining the body, and he reaches the same conclusions as the others.

Spoiler: ooc

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Sorry for moving things along without you, Kvard - I've been adding posts once a majority (3/4 in this case) have commented.

Everyone ready to move on?

[Kallor]

Spoiler: OOC

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Yeap, I'm ready to move on.

[theasl]

Leaving the lake, the group travels south for about 3 hours. The trail plunges back into the depths of the Fangwood, through a twisting maze of old, gnarled trees and confusing ravines. The weather makes the journey even more miserable, as a cold rain begins to fall halfway through the journey. As the trail tops a small rise, a broad valley spreads out before it, the opposite side of which looks like a writhing serpent. Before you lies a steep hill sloping down into the valley. A cold rain starts to fall, making the ground slick and treacherous. Looking at the map, the entrance to the Crypt appears to be in the valley.

Spoiler: ooc

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The slope will take about 30 minutes to climb down. You can choose to slow down and double the time in return for a +2 on the following acrobatics checks. You'll need 3 acrobatics checks to make it down; if you fail a single check, you'll need to make a reflex save. Let's do these one at a time, so could everyone give me a single acrobatics check and a reflex save (in case it's needed)? Feel free to help each other, use ropes or climbing gear if you have it (both give a further +2 on the acrobatics check, not stacking), etc.

[hannahbbug3]

Will stares down the gap with trepidation, worrying at his lip for a moment. It's steep, and with the rain, he doesn't imagine it'll be easy to get down. "...does anyone have a rope that we could secure to something up here?" he asks, unsure about taking the incline by himself.

[Kallor]

"I got rope and a hook," Ulmarr stated, getting the rope and grappling hook out and looking for a way to secure it, "I'd suggest that we take this slow, and whoever feels that they are the weakest climber go in front, that way, less chance of them taking everyone else down should they fall."

[hannahbbug3]

William takes Dodi off his shoulders and sits her down, watching as the small cat descends about twenty feet along to survey the way ahead. Will wishes she was clever enough to tell him where some good footholds are, but knows they haven't reached that level of communication yet. Still, William feels a little bit better having his cat go ahead a bit - if she spots anything dangerous, he'll be able to alert the others.

Spoiler: Dodi Perception!

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If it matters, she does have scent, as well.
(1d20+5)[11]

At Ulmarr's suggestion, William nods. He sort of figures he's the weakest climber, being that, by the look of it, everyone else seems to have a bit more upper body strength, but on the other hand... if Donnal slips in that heavy armor of his, it would probably knock all of them down, while he himself... well, he could probably take out Yeshana if he slipped, but he doubted someone of his stature would knock either of the other young men to the bottom. "Would you mind going first, Donnal?" William asks, switching to Dwarven. "You've got the most protective gear. If someone or something nasty is waiting for us at the bottom of this cliff, I'd feel much better if you were there to greet it, rather than me or Yeshana," he says.

[Kvard51]

Donnal nods his head in agreement. Speaking to the party at large, he says, "That mak's sense. Forby, if ah fall ah will roll a' body ahead o' me up in a muckle metal baw."

Once the rope is set up, Donnal heads down the path, working his way to the bottom slowly.

Spoiler: OOC

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Climb (1d20+1)[12]

[hannahbbug3]

William lets both Donnal and Ulmarr go down ahead of him, but then he starts down the rope, moving as carefully as he can.

Spoiler: Acrobatics

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Including the +2 bonus for going slowly.
(1d20+4)[13]

[Kallor]

Ulmarr proceeds carefully.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Acrobatics
(1d20+3)[17]

Reflex
(1d20+3)[22]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Yeshana

"I've also got rope."

Yeshana began to set hers up, putting knots in the rope in intervals.

"If you put knots in it, like this, it acts as a makeshift handhold. Helps you keep your grip better."

Once everything was set up, Yeshana then made her way down the hill.

Spoiler: Actions

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Going quick, since I actually have points in climb.

Climb: (1d20+6)[24]

And if I make down successfully, I will attempt to help one of the others at random, based on who is having trouble.

Aid Another: (1d20+6)[26]

[theasl]

With the ropes set up, the party begins to slowly make their way down the hill to the bottom of the valley. Yeshana, Ulmarr, and William make it down the first third of the hill safely, but Donnal loses his footing in the mud and begins to slide down the slope. He's able to catch himself on some rocks to the side of the trail about halfway down, but he takes a hard blow from them while he's trying to stop.

Spoiler: ooc

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Donnal takes (1d6)[6] nonlethal damage and only needs one more acro/reflex check to make it down. The rest of you still need two.
Dodi doesn't see anything of note, nor do any of you if you look down while climbing (passive perception 20).

[Kallor]

"You alright?" a mildly alarmed Ulmarr called down to Donnal, as he continued his careful progress.

Spoiler: Acrobatics 2

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Acrobatics

(1d20+3)[22]

Reflex

(1d20+3)[13]

[hannahbbug3]

William flinches as he hears one of the others fall, casting a glance over his shoulder to check on Donnal. He seems all right enough, and so Will returns his focus to climbing down the rest of the way.

Spoiler: Both checks

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Acrobatics 1 - (1d20+4)[21]

Acrobatics 2 - (1d20+4)[10]

I'll roll reflex on OOC if I need to.

[Kvard51]

Donnal picks himself up, brushing the mud off his armor as best he can. You can hear him grumbling under his breath, and are glad you can't quite make out what he is saying. He grasps the rope and begins the last part of the descent, stepping carefully to avoid a repeat of his fall a moment before.

Spoiler: OOC

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Acrobatics: (1d20-2)[17]

Reflex: (1d20+1)[8]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Yeshana

Satisfied that Donnal was alright, Yeshana continued her descent.

Spoiler: Actions

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Acrobatics: (1d20+5)[23]

[theasl]

Donnal reaches the bottom more or less intact, though earlier and with a bit more mud on him than everyone else due to his slide. The path continues on around a bend and out of sight, but it seems safe and relatively level, at least compared to the hill you just went down.

The other three continue to make their way down, without incident so far. It'll take them another 20 minutes or so to to make it to the bottom (since William is going super slow).

Spoiler: ooc

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Good, boring second set. Hope for a good, boring third too. Donnal can do whatever, you're nearing the crypt but it's not exactly around the corner.

[Kallor]

Ulmarr continues his cautious descent. At least if he wound up falling now, he could tell himself that he was not the only one.

Spoiler: Acrobatics 3

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Acrobatics:
(1d20+3)[16]

Reflex:
(1d20+3)[15]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Yeshana

Yeshana continued to descend at a steady clip.

Spoiler: Actions

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Acrobatics: (1d20+5)[21]

[theasl]

The remaining three make it down the cliff safely, though William almost slips near the very bottom. After gathering all of the gear (and cat), they proceed onward through the gorge. The path grows smaller and smaller as it winds through ever narrower passages until you reach a dead end, where you see an archway of stone. Moss has overgrown many of the details, but one is still quite clear. The keystone of the arch is carved with a flame symbol with a stylized rune in the middle. Beyond the archway is a darkened tunnel that leads to a pair of massive wooden doors, one of which is slightly ajar.

A pair of horses and a trio of ponies lie slaughtered next to the archway, each corpse still tied to a post set into the ground nearby. A swarm of flies hangs lazily in the air above them.

Spoiler: ooc

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Perception checks, please. You can roll other things too, but I may or may not have anything for them. I'm going out to dinner now, will be back soon-ish.

[Kallor]

"Well... that's unpleasant," Ulmarr commented, casting detect magic and looking around.

Spoiler: Perception

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(1d20+10)[24]

[hannahbbug3]

William presses his nose into his sleeve once again upon seeing the dead animals, and, as he had done with the body from earlier, he approaches the corpses to try and identify a cause of death. Dodi keeps an eye on his back as best she can.

Spoiler: Rolls

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William Perception - (1d20+4)[13]
Dodi Perception - (1d20+5)[18]

Heal Check - (1d20+11)[25]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Yeshana

Yeshana's stomach turned in on itself, and her hand went to her mouth.

"...either the illusions are getting very convincing, or something else is going on here. And I sincerely hope it's the former, because the alternative is that this training exercise has just turned into the real thing."

Spoiler: Actions

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Perception: (1d20+6)[23]

[Kvard51]

Donnal Walks around the area, searching for evidence of what actually happened. He pauses to look the animals over thouroughly, examining the wounds on each one.

Spoiler: OOC

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Heal (1d20+7)[12]
Perception (1d20+3)[9]
Survival (1d20+3)[15]

[theasl]

The wounds are the beasts are fresh - they were inflicted 2, at most 3 days ago, with what you guess were either crude blades or perhaps claws. There don't seem to be any human remains on first glance, but you do notice some seemingly human bones sticking out from under one of the horses. In addition, you find some leftover supplies that were in a saddlebag on one of the horses - 2 days' worth of rations, a pair of large pillows, a quiver with 10 arrows without arrowheads, and 2 pints of lamp oil. The scene is eerily quiet other than the light patter of rain, and there doesn't seem to be any danger here. Whoever or whatever did this either left or went into the crypt; the rain has washed away any footprints.

Spoiler: ooc

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edit: forgot, and can't find a good place to fit it in, but there is no magical aura here.

Well, we lost our archer, but in case anyone decides to craft a bow or something: the arrows aren't a standard item; they deal damage as a normal arrow but nonlethal.

Str check to move the horse to get a better look at the bones. also Str check to open the door, once you're ready. also, since we're entering the mapped area: once you decide to try the doors, I'll want a marching order! finally!

[Kallor]

Ulmarr took the rations, may as well, they might need the extra food. He then looked at the human bones under the horse.

"Looks like someone's remains under this one," he said, "Might be worth checking out. Someone give me a hand?"

Spoiler: Strength Check

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(1d20+3)[10]