SESSION 13: DAY 6-8 – CRAGMAW CAVES
They man pack the lumber and all their equipment with them towards the
caves. As they get closer Kord and Malandir scout forward to make sure nothing
has moved in whilst they have been away. They confirm that the cave is still
empty and the party proceeds to lug their heavy loads to the cave.
That evening they labour hard. Whilst no one is skilled in carpentry or
engineering, between the 9 of them they are able to build a serviceable barrier.
The barrier won’t stop anyone but it’ll slow them down. They effectively build
a 10ft high wall reaching from side to side of the cave and close to the roof.
They cannot get it to fit exactly due to the rough shape of the cave system and
their lack of knowledge and limited tools. None the less only a Small sized
creature or less would be able to squeeze through the gaps and they would be
very vulnerable whilst they do so. [DM’s Note: We’ll treat the door as a Simple
Wooden door from Table 13-2, page 413 of the Core Rule Book. It cannot be
locked per sae but a rudimentary bar has been fitted. The door can only be ‘locked’
from the inside and it’ll have a Break DC of 13. If the characters want better
then they’ll need to get more equipment, materials and skilled labour
involved.]
In choosing their site for the barrier they place it 20ft within the
cave system to enable it to be somewhat hidden from the outside. This means
that the haven’t sealed off the goblin dog cave but they figure that it’s more
important to keep their base hidden then 100% shut off. Also they rationalize that
if they are ever invaded they could potentially escape through the gap between
the bugbears room and the goblin dog cave. Also if they were being ‘sieged’, an
archer, such as Malandir, could fire arrows through that gap at the besiegers.
That gap is about 10ft high and thus it’s very difficult to climb from the
goblin dog room up into the bugbear leaders lair and it’s a very defendable
position from which to repel anyone seeking to do so.
They want to move some of the shrubs to mask the cave entrance but don’t
have time that evening.
[DM’s Note: Residing inside the
cave instead of being outside will mean that the party will only be exposed to
one random encounter check at night and none during the day and they’ll also
have the benefit of the defensive structure. The combination of the front of
the cave entrance being obscured by the shrubs and by setting the barrier
inside the cave, rather than at the front, will provide the bonus that the
lawlessness will be increased by one die.
On the first night there is a 1
in 6 chance of a random encounter (shrubs aren’t in play yet). The party are Fatigued
from their labour and hence if they are attacked they’ll suffer a -2 to Str and
Dex and could become Exhausted and suffer -6 to Str and Dex if they fight for
long enough (say 4 rounds). See rules for Fatigue and Exhaustion are on page
567.
A 2 is rolled and there is no
random encounter on the first night.]
They sleep for a few hours and the next day, the 7th, they
start work on the shrubs. It is another fatiguing day as they don’t really have
the proper equipment and the work is made much harder digging using sticks and
their bare hands. They could try to use their weapons but they don’t want to
damage them.
During the night of the 7th the party rest. During the past
two days Kord has gathered the bodies of the slain goblins and the hobgoblin
and has one by one started to cast Decompose Corpse upon the dead monsters
bodies which turns them into clean skeletons. He is able to do so at the rate
of 2 bodies a day. Over the two days he decomposes the hobgoblin and 3 goblin
bodies. The rest are buried by the men at arms in shallow graves towards the
back of the cave structure as the bodies are starting to decompose naturally
and may attract a hungry monster and may fester disease.
On the night of the 7th Malandir takes from a bag the heads
of the 5 snakes that they had killed on the way to the cave. He studies the
heads and tries to work out how to extract the poison for his use. Lucien takes
interest and together they ponder how to do it.
Two guards are posted on the night of the 7th. One at the
door and the other at the chimney. If they are attacked they’ll be fore warned
of the assault and will be able to respond accordingly.
During the 7th night the team is again Fatigued and a 6 is
rolled on a d8 and there is no random encounter.
The next morning, the morning of the 8th, they wake and are
fresh for action.
DEW
Lucien thinks back to his studies and training on alchemy and poison refinement, the processes used for concentrating and preservation to not lose virulence. He has the tools at hand with his lab, but it will still require some other fairly rare and specialized reagents and materials, around 100gp worth.
ReplyDeleteLucien does not know much about extracting the stuff, but has good instincts about how the process would work (Survival is Wis based, so +4. Unless Malandir has invested ranks - and good for him if he has - it may be better for the elf to aid Lucien for the best possible bonus.)
((My assumption is that the Alchemy lab is too fragile and bulky to be hauling around personally, and Lucien had it on one of the wagons. He would not have left it behind if the cave is to be our new digs for weeks and we would only be going back to the Burg for resupply.))
It is possible each day for Lucien to adventure for 8, craft for 8 and rest for 8 (makes for some pretty full days!), so this would not necessarily kibosh the ability to smoosh monsters.
Lucien also adjusts his spells prayed for when we do head out for the Caves of Chaos, taking: Disguise Self, Murderous Command, and Sun Metal.
I expect that the caravan has moved on, as we had to manpack our stuff here. Is the pool of water in the NE of the cave clear? Can we see the bottom? If not, Talmark will see if anyone can swim down and check the bottom to see if there are any valuables that have been dropped or tossed in (or if there are any nasty critters we may want to be aware of...).
ReplyDeleteMalandir will use some of his time to become familiar with the approaches to the cave, scouting 300 feet in each direction cautiously. Keen to look for tracks, animal or human, which might need further consideration or traps in time.
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ReplyDeleteThere is only a very small spring in the north eastern corner. The water course seems to have dried up except for this small pool of water. There is nothing in there.
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