The Green Hermit
Hero
Adventuring Group
Left the Group
17th Day of Kythorn
The next morning, the trip back to the raiders camp begins uneventfully. Thoradin eventually spots a boar and decides to shoot it with his long bow, probably out of boredom. Andry tried and failed to talk him out of it, but Thoradin ignored her, claiming that he wanted fresh bacon. The adventurers eventually killed the boar, but Thoradin found that it was not as easy of a battle as he had anticipated. He eventually decided not to butcher it, though, because it might be possible for them to pose as hunters if they brought fresh meat into camp with them. (This was only possible, because Kaya’s totem, The Elk, had appeared in flesh and consented to be her mount. He didn’t shy away when they loaded the boar on his back, so the group decided he was okay with that as well.)
The group forgot there was an ambush site on the side of the road, and walked straight into it, instead of going around like they did last time. The raiders were no longer there, but orcs were. Fortunately, the orcs agreed to let them go as long as they gave up the boar. Andry immediately agreed, leaving no time for Thoradin to argue. As part of the deal, she got the tusks. Unfortunately, this also meant that they had no more meat to help them pose as hunters.
Not willing to give up a good plan, the adventurers went hunting for more food and brought down two rabbits and a deer. However, all this hard work ended up being for nothing. When they finally made it back to the raiders camp, they immediately noticed all the prisoners and kobolts huts were burning. The camp appeared to be abandoned. They did meet a couple of hunters, though, when they headed toward the cook’s hut, so the adventurers made a deal with them: The adventurers would let the hunters continue to earn money from the cult (a remnant remained in the cave), and in return the hunters wouldn’t rat them out. It was a win-win situation for everybody. To seal the deal, the adventurers handed over the game they had caught so the hunters could take a day off.
By that time, it was nearing dusk, so they decided to rest in their old cave. Before they entered the cave, Kaya amazed everybody by stepping off The Elk so it could shrink into a wooden statue -- which she promptly packed away in her backpack. She explained that all she had to do to get him back was to set the statue on the ground again and focus. Unfortunately, she hadn’t taken her saddlebags off, or emptied them, and they got absorbed into the statue as well.
DM's Note: Yes, I ripped this off from Salvatore. However, it was in an attempt to make Kaya's Uthgardian heritage mesh a bit with her new magical abilities. I didn't want her to be able to switch back and forth between animals and if I went with her totem, there had to be a way to return from the dead. If The Elk ever dies, she has to commune with the statue for a full 8 hours for it to come back from the Spirit Plains. Also, although it may be a bigger size than normally available for Beastmastery, it isn't helpful in most buildings and possibly dungeons, because it just takes up too much space. I felt that was a decent trade off -- along with all possessions strapped to it when it died or was returned to the statue being unaccessable until it returned.
18th Day of Kythorn
After a good night’s rest, the adventurers headed to the cave. They suspected that there were dragons there, but if nothing else, the hunters had told them that everybody who was still left in camp was now in the cave. Andry easily made the entire party invisible, so they snuck in and saw two guards. Criella and Thoradin decided to slit the guards’ throats. After killing her guy, Criella then had to kill the other guy after Thoradin messed up badly. She offered to teach him how to properly slit a throat, but was pointedly ignored. After dragging the guards behind a stalagmite, in hopes that they would not be discovered quickly, the group continued on.
At the end of this cavern, they discovered steps that led down to another cavern that was filled with fungi. Two paths led away from the steps into the cavern. From the tops of the steps, Andry and Kaya couldn’t tell if the fungi were poisonous or not. Criella tried to decipher a difference between the two paths, but couldn’t say either way. Thoradin tried communing with his god, Moradin, but Moradin didn’t deign to answer. Thoradin then thought about tossing a cricket down into the fungi, but the rest of the group was able to convince him that they wouldn’t be able to tell if the cricket was hurt or not from way up there. Besides, a cricket wouldn’t necessarily be hurt by something that would hurt one of them. Thoradin was going to make the attempt anyway, but during all this discussion, the cricket escaped.
After a lot of consideration, Criella decided to attempt the left path. On her way down the steps, though, she triggered a trap and was dumped into the right path. She didn’t seem harmed, but immediately began babbling about all the bugs on her arms and legs.
Nobody else saw anything.
The rest of the party made it down without incident and Criella quickly joined them, still babbling about bugs. Following the left-hand path, they made it out of the cavern without further incident, only to find themselves in the middle of another, seemingly empty cavern -- this time with a few branching paths.
They stealthily peeked around one corner, saw a bunch of kobolds, and retreated. They then peeked over a ledge and discovered a trash pile. Despite being cautioned by the others, Criella (who now declared herself to be bug free) decided to look for anything shiny, and found a bag of gems -- which she was pressured into promising to split with the rest of the party when they got back to town. During this debate, trogs suddenly came out of the walls and almost killed everyone -- starting with Criella, since she was the only one in their trash pit. Luckily, after a very tough battle, everyone but the creatures survived.
- Thoradin Ironfist -- Shield Dwarf, Paladin, Alignment: Lawful Good -- Level 3
- Criella -- Tiefling, Rogue, Alignment: Chaotic Neutral -- Level 3
- Andry Thorngage -- Lightfoot Halfling, Druid, Alignment: Lawful Good -- Level 3
- Kaya -- Uthgardian Barbian: Elk Tribe, Ranger, Alignment: Chaotic Good -- Level 3
Left the Group
- Thokk -- Half Orc, Fighter, Alignment: Chaotic Neutral -- Level 3
- Kung Lao -- Human, Fighter, Alignment: Lawful Good -- Level 3
17th Day of Kythorn
The next morning, the trip back to the raiders camp begins uneventfully. Thoradin eventually spots a boar and decides to shoot it with his long bow, probably out of boredom. Andry tried and failed to talk him out of it, but Thoradin ignored her, claiming that he wanted fresh bacon. The adventurers eventually killed the boar, but Thoradin found that it was not as easy of a battle as he had anticipated. He eventually decided not to butcher it, though, because it might be possible for them to pose as hunters if they brought fresh meat into camp with them. (This was only possible, because Kaya’s totem, The Elk, had appeared in flesh and consented to be her mount. He didn’t shy away when they loaded the boar on his back, so the group decided he was okay with that as well.)
The group forgot there was an ambush site on the side of the road, and walked straight into it, instead of going around like they did last time. The raiders were no longer there, but orcs were. Fortunately, the orcs agreed to let them go as long as they gave up the boar. Andry immediately agreed, leaving no time for Thoradin to argue. As part of the deal, she got the tusks. Unfortunately, this also meant that they had no more meat to help them pose as hunters.
Not willing to give up a good plan, the adventurers went hunting for more food and brought down two rabbits and a deer. However, all this hard work ended up being for nothing. When they finally made it back to the raiders camp, they immediately noticed all the prisoners and kobolts huts were burning. The camp appeared to be abandoned. They did meet a couple of hunters, though, when they headed toward the cook’s hut, so the adventurers made a deal with them: The adventurers would let the hunters continue to earn money from the cult (a remnant remained in the cave), and in return the hunters wouldn’t rat them out. It was a win-win situation for everybody. To seal the deal, the adventurers handed over the game they had caught so the hunters could take a day off.
By that time, it was nearing dusk, so they decided to rest in their old cave. Before they entered the cave, Kaya amazed everybody by stepping off The Elk so it could shrink into a wooden statue -- which she promptly packed away in her backpack. She explained that all she had to do to get him back was to set the statue on the ground again and focus. Unfortunately, she hadn’t taken her saddlebags off, or emptied them, and they got absorbed into the statue as well.
DM's Note: Yes, I ripped this off from Salvatore. However, it was in an attempt to make Kaya's Uthgardian heritage mesh a bit with her new magical abilities. I didn't want her to be able to switch back and forth between animals and if I went with her totem, there had to be a way to return from the dead. If The Elk ever dies, she has to commune with the statue for a full 8 hours for it to come back from the Spirit Plains. Also, although it may be a bigger size than normally available for Beastmastery, it isn't helpful in most buildings and possibly dungeons, because it just takes up too much space. I felt that was a decent trade off -- along with all possessions strapped to it when it died or was returned to the statue being unaccessable until it returned.
18th Day of Kythorn
After a good night’s rest, the adventurers headed to the cave. They suspected that there were dragons there, but if nothing else, the hunters had told them that everybody who was still left in camp was now in the cave. Andry easily made the entire party invisible, so they snuck in and saw two guards. Criella and Thoradin decided to slit the guards’ throats. After killing her guy, Criella then had to kill the other guy after Thoradin messed up badly. She offered to teach him how to properly slit a throat, but was pointedly ignored. After dragging the guards behind a stalagmite, in hopes that they would not be discovered quickly, the group continued on.
At the end of this cavern, they discovered steps that led down to another cavern that was filled with fungi. Two paths led away from the steps into the cavern. From the tops of the steps, Andry and Kaya couldn’t tell if the fungi were poisonous or not. Criella tried to decipher a difference between the two paths, but couldn’t say either way. Thoradin tried communing with his god, Moradin, but Moradin didn’t deign to answer. Thoradin then thought about tossing a cricket down into the fungi, but the rest of the group was able to convince him that they wouldn’t be able to tell if the cricket was hurt or not from way up there. Besides, a cricket wouldn’t necessarily be hurt by something that would hurt one of them. Thoradin was going to make the attempt anyway, but during all this discussion, the cricket escaped.
After a lot of consideration, Criella decided to attempt the left path. On her way down the steps, though, she triggered a trap and was dumped into the right path. She didn’t seem harmed, but immediately began babbling about all the bugs on her arms and legs.
Nobody else saw anything.
The rest of the party made it down without incident and Criella quickly joined them, still babbling about bugs. Following the left-hand path, they made it out of the cavern without further incident, only to find themselves in the middle of another, seemingly empty cavern -- this time with a few branching paths.
They stealthily peeked around one corner, saw a bunch of kobolds, and retreated. They then peeked over a ledge and discovered a trash pile. Despite being cautioned by the others, Criella (who now declared herself to be bug free) decided to look for anything shiny, and found a bag of gems -- which she was pressured into promising to split with the rest of the party when they got back to town. During this debate, trogs suddenly came out of the walls and almost killed everyone -- starting with Criella, since she was the only one in their trash pit. Luckily, after a very tough battle, everyone but the creatures survived.
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