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Journey to the Center of the Earth 03

Started by Corwin, January 19, 2024, 12:33:42 PM

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Corwin

19:28 <•Kotono> Thus the party departs from half empty, forgotten Ahms. Only a few people are there to see you leave, for the lakeside dock is empty. Several wooden piers jut out for boats one on a time, but now forgotten sail boats and small ships litter the shoreline around the docks. Ahead is soft terrain under the morning sunshine, a mess of sand, dirt and patches of mud. However, there are a few established
19:28 <•Kotono> paths ahead into the depression. There's patches of grass that grow about, providing splashes of green.
19:30 <Skaya> "Looks as bleak as it sounded," Skaya muses, peering out of the carriage as they proceed. "Are there any plans to restore the lake? I'm curious if it's outright impossible with our means, or just too costly to do."
19:34 <•Kotono> Marken leads the way, "Whatever happened in the war was bad. I hear the lake drained in a single night, and that grass is only slowly starting to grow here." He says, gesturing at one of the patches. "Whatever happened, water doesn't gather properly here any more."
19:34 <•Kotono> "Is the land cursed?" Rina asks, shaking her head, "How is a lake a lake?"
19:35 <•Kotono> "Normally," Sanda cuts in, "A lake forms as the result of precipitation patterns and where water gathers, in short. Normally only seriously changes to the terrain could change that, or changes to the weather. Or of course magic, or the gods acting."
19:36 <Skaya> "Of course. Though it does beg the question. Was that a one-time thing, or is there an effect currently present? It doesn't even have to be a curse."
19:36 <•Kotono> Anne keeps a steady pace and her eyes open, "I recall there's a Water Lord, or so they say. But there's fire and earth, too, and wouldn't they oppose water?"
19:36 <•Kotono> "I've detected magic here and there's nothing that suggests a curse over the entire area, but who can say?" Marken says, "Great magic isn't like our small magics."
19:37 <•Kotono> "Statistically speaking, it's more likely something was triggered to cause this, or it was incidental to what happened. With so many caves underground, I wonder if the magics of the war disturbed something?"
19:37 <Skaya> "There is statistical data for such a phenomenon?" Skaya asks Sanda curiously.
19:44 <•Kotono> "Well, if you read history," Sanda says, "Such as the Mageshatter incident in Eis."
19:45 <•Kotono> "Never heard of it," Marken says, "But are there that many disasters in history that you can draw a pattern from them?"
19:45 <•Kotono> Regis visibly shudders.
19:47 <Skaya> "I suppose it's easier for a rogue mage to break things on a massive scale than just about for anyone else," Skaya muses. "Personally, I'd love there to be relics of an ancient civilization in the caverns! We could find them and manipulate them to revive the lake! Or maybe summon an ancient dragon. Or unseal a terrible fiend and fight it!"
19:50 <•Kotono> "Or find a great treasure," Anne says, "Imagine what good we could do with millions of gold coins?" Her face slips into a smile, "So much hope could be brought to everyone."
19:50 <•Kotono> "You could buy your own kingdom that that sort of money," Rina counters, smiling over at Anne, "Just buy a land and do it the way you want at that point."
19:51 <Skaya> "We'll all die if we really find millions of gold coins. I'd still prefer an ancient legacy over that."
19:51 <•Kotono> "A foolish dream," Marken counters, "Wealth attracts power, which attracts danger. Skaya's right about that."
19:52 <•Kotono> "Statistically speaking, death is common," Sanda quotes, "So how about we get going and find treasure rather than death?"
19:53 <Skaya> "I'm all for that!"
19:54 <•Kotono> roll 1d100
19:54 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=39 ]{39}
19:55 <•Kotono> It's a few hours of travel. Slow and careful travel, but you soon come to your first cave entrance. It's little more than a sloped sinkhole, a path into the deeper earth. There's a few thigns here - rings of stones, old campfires within. A few bits of wood, a single forgotten tent pole still in the ground. Things such as that.
19:57 — Skaya takes a look at the cave entrance. Is it large enough for the wagon? What about the horses?
20:03 <•Kotono> It is not large enough for the wagon or horses. You'll have to goa head on foot.
20:06 <Skaya> "How about we set our camp here?" Skaya proposes, gesturing at the area littered with old campfires. "Then we'll get two volunteers to watch our backs and our stuff and head in for a day to investigate."
20:06 <•Kotono> "That's reasonable," Marken agrees, "A base camp with reinforcements. Then the question is, who stays and who goes?"
20:07 <•Kotono> Everyone looks around at the others, moments of thought. "Well, one of Marken or myself should go." Anne declares, "Healing may not wait until we return."
20:07 <•Kotono> "Logically, the monsters will yield to my staff," Sanda counters, "I should go as well."
20:07 <•Kotono> "We both want to go," Regis says, "Rina and I. We make a good team."
20:08 <•Kotono> "To your staff?" Meanwhile Marken takes a long look at Sanda, "Optimism is a path with many people, isn't it?"
20:09 <Skaya> "Let's just alternate, then? Sanda, do you mind staying back with Marken today? We'll see how well things work as we try different constellations over the coming week."
20:17 <•Kotono> Sanda sighs but nods, "Save the best for last."
20:17 <•Kotono> Marken agrees with, "I'll handle the camp and setting things up. I don't see signs of other active groups here, but it doesn't mean you might not encounte rthem."
20:19 <Skaya> "In that case, let's go and take a look at those caves~"
20:21 <•Kotono> Thus, Skaya, Regis, Rina and Anne proceed into the depths. As you begin to go in, will anyone in particular take point?
20:25 — Skaya will let Regis lead this time, while she stays near Rina and wields her sai. Anne will be in the back.
20:29 <•Kotono> roll 1d100
20:29 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=62 ]{62}
20:33 <•Kotono> You begin to go in. Down and deeper, walking a few minutes slowly and carefully. The slope downward begins to lessen, and soon leads you into a larger cavern. Large enough for some space. Here three passages go deeper in. One plunges down fairly sharply, as does a second, but in a differing direction. The third continues onward. However, you notice a wooden plank has been embedded into the
20:33 <•Kotono> ground here. It has arrows to each of them and tiny writing. To the first downward passage it reads 'Deeper, depths unknown.' To the second downward passage it reads 'Danger, slimes and water' To the one ahead it reads 'Connects to caves E of here.'
20:34 <•Kotono> Regis squats down and reads it aloud, Rina listening, "It's things like this that made my letters worth it," he comments, "Someone's being considerate."
20:34 <•Kotono> "Oh, slimes is it? There might be treasure there taken from those who have fallen to them. Most would avoid that path if they read this."
20:34 <•Kotono> OOC: GAh.
20:35 <•Kotono> "Oh, slimes is it? There might be treasure there taken from those who have fallen to them. Most would avoid that path if they read this." Anne comments, "It may be worth clearing them out."
20:37 <Skaya> "Isn't it impossible? If there's more than one, someone might die."
20:38 <•Kotono> "Why would it be impossible?" Anne asks back, "They're just slimes."
20:39 <•Kotono> "Slimes are a great way to die. Anne's probably right, if they haven't dissolved everything." Rina pipes up, "But it's dangerous."
20:39 <•Kotono> "Slimes also aren't our reason to be here," Regis points out, "Though I won't say no to treasure."
20:39 <Skaya> "They would dissolve our weapons, or in my case my arms. And they have a mean grappling spirit, which probably only I have a shot at overcoming."
20:42 <•Kotono> Anne sighs but doesn't argue, so instead, "Then deeper down, unless we want to wander into another cave system?"
20:43 <Skaya> "Sounds good!"
20:47 <•Kotono> Thus you begin to go deeper and...OOC: More, but give me Perception for my own reference as you go in.
20:48 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
20:48 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{9}
20:56 <•Kotono> Deeper. The path isn't quite steep, but it's not easy going. It leads down a bit to a gap. It looks like a short free fall, around 8 to 10ft or so, and ends in what looks to be water. Not deep water, but from here it looks perhaps waist deep. Also, Regis stops, his keen eyes noting something. "A wooden stake," he says, nearby and to the side of the hole down, "Perfect to tie a rope to."
20:58 — Skaya happens to have rope! Lots of rope! She ties it to the stake and tests the weight a bit.
21:02 <•Kotono> The stake is solid. It should support the rope fine, looks like, and yo utoo.
21:03 — Skaya uses the rope to slide down and take a look! Her eyes work just fine in dark places, after all.
21:04 <•Kotono> OOC: PErception, +4 bonus thanks to darkvision.
21:04 <Skaya> OOC: Taking 10 for 20
21:05 <•Kotono> You go down, and as you're almost there? It's subtle, but you see something move in the water. Something bigger than a typical fish, something that blends in.
21:07 <Skaya> That's not fun! With a look around, Skaya climbs half of the way back.
21:07 <Skaya> OOC: Is it all just water? Is there a visible exit? More than one?
21:08 <•Kotono> Out of the standing water you see two passages on a glance, both going ahead and one goes a little deeper into the earth.
21:16 <Skaya> "How are you guys with fighting in the water?" Skaya asks those up top.
21:16 <•Kotono> Anne merely nods, "IF we must fight there, we must fight."
21:17 <•Kotono> Regis makes a face, "Usually a bad idea, but sometimes you can't avoid it. It hurts mobility usually. Looks deep enough to be difficult."
21:17 <Skaya> "There seems to be a predator. I could try to deal with it myself, but it'd go better if I had help."
21:23 <•Kotono> "Hm. It's not too high a fall, and the water will slightly cushion the impact," Anne looks down, "We could all leapd own one after another and try to overwhelm whatever it is, or escape out of the water?"
21:24 <•Kotono> With a side eye, "Someone's had healing magic available too long, haven't they?"
21:24 <•Kotono> With a side eye, "Someone's had healing magic available too long, haven't they?" REgis comments dryly.
21:25 <Skaya> "Regis, climb down as soon as I'm in the water, let's see what we can do together," Skaya finally decides, climbing all the way down.
21:28 <•Kotono> Regis nods as you climb down. You get down as Regis follows and...OOC: I'm going to call for init here, no one's surprised.
21:28 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
21:28 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=5 ]{11}
21:29 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+3 Regis
21:29 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+3 Regis --> [ 1d20=6 ]{9}
21:29 <•Kotono> roll 1d20-5
21:29 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20-5 --> [ 1d20=15 ]{10}
21:29 <•Kotono> Init is Skaya (11) > ??? (10) > Regis (9)
21:30 <•Kotono> You can see it - something's moving in the water towards you. It's bigger than a fish and you can see now it blends in. Whatever it is is the same color as the water.
21:31 <Skaya> OOC: iirc, aquatic combat means bludgeoning and slashing is -2 to attack and half damage, but piercing works normally?
21:34 <•Kotono> OOC: Yes.
21:34 — Skaya draws her siangham and decides to meet the mystery fish head on! She doesn't want Regis to be ambushed on his way down, and she might as well strike first!
21:34 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
21:34 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=16 ]{22}
21:35 <•Kotono> OOC: Hit.
21:35 <Skaya> roll 1d6+3+4 cunning insight, stunning fist Fort DC15
21:35 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d6+3+4 cunning insight, stunning fist Fort DC15 --> [ 1d6=4 ]{11}
21:35 <•Kotono> OOC: No need for the save, it has low HP. Could've been much worse if it got an attack, though.
21:36 <•Kotono> With one swift stab you end it. Blood stains thew ater - it looks to be some sort of fish that ripples into higher visibility. It now has dull gray skin and a mouth full of visible, sharp teeth. Almost like a tiny shark with camouflage, really.
21:37 <Skaya> "Did I catch lunch?" Skaya muses, making her way towards one of the entrances while towing the shark-fish by its tail.
21:42 <•Kotono> Regis splashes down and follows, "Never seen one like that," he says, "Good catch." Meanwhile yo usee Rina coming down next and Anne bringing up the rear.
21:42 <Skaya> The blood should draw any others like it towards her, so Skaya lingers near the water until everyone's come over.
21:44 <•Kotono> Everyone's down and no sign of others.
21:45 — Skaya wraps the fish and stores it away for now. "Let's keep exploring?"
21:45 <•Kotono> "Let's," Rina wrinkles her nose, "These caverns are surprisingly large and go down fast."
21:46 <•Kotono> "Which way?" Regis meanwhile asks, the two paths ahead both an option.
21:47 <Skaya> "Let's pick the one that looks to go deeper. I want to see just how steep the climb becomes here."
21:51 <•Kotono> "See how deep it goes," Regis agrees as you go to that one. It starts slow but quickly slopes sharper - much sharper. The ground ahead is at a rather difficult angle, plus it's wet. Water drips from the ceiling of the passage, leaving a thin coating of it on the rocky ground.
21:52 <Skaya> "Well, isn't that terrible," Skaya says cheerfully. "At least we have the right boots to walk here, so let's go slowly and stay by the wall."
21:54 <•Kotono> "Go slowly, and the least sure footed should be in front," Regis says, "If they slip and tumble, at least they won't cause a collapse where we all end upf alling."
21:54 <•Kotono> "Today's death trap," Rina's just as cheerful as you, "I have great balance, I've trained it."
21:55 <Skaya> "Anne, let's go together. We can lead this time."
21:55 <•Kotono> Anne nods, "Worry not, the body can be healed. So lon gas you rsoul is strong, there is always hope."
21:56 <•Kotono> "That nd a high pain tolerance helps," Rina adds, "Learned that the hard way!"
21:56 <Skaya> "Yes, yes! Broken bones heal!"
21:56 <•Kotono> "Hah,  yes, it does," Anne smiles, "Pain is the enemy."
21:58 — Skaya leads the way! With Anne!
22:05 <•Kotono> OOC: Give me acrobatics checks, all.
22:06 <Skaya> OOC: I'll take 10 for 19
22:06 <•Kotono> roll 1d20-1 Anne
22:06 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20-1 Anne --> [ 1d20=6 ]{5}
22:06 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+5 Regis
22:06 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+5 Regis --> [ 1d20=10 ]{15}
22:06 <•Kotono> OOC: Rina takes 10.
22:06 <Skaya> OOC: Smart girl
22:07 <•Kotono> You only just begin to go down - and Anne steps wrong, and with a cry out, she tumbles forward. She barely made it 5 steps!
22:07 — Skaya tries to catch her after grabbing the wall for stability! Come on, just five steps?!
22:08 <•Kotono> OOC: What's your strength score?
22:08 <Skaya> OOC: 17
22:09 <•Kotono> OOC: We'll call this a dex check to catch her. +3 bonus from strength since you're just trying to hold on 100+ pounds taking a fall. It's not easy.
22:09 <Skaya> roll 1d20+2+3+4
22:09 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+2+3+4 --> [ 1d20=7 ]{16}
22:10 <•Kotono> Gah! You manage to grab her and hold on, stopping a tumble if but barely. You wobble but hold on, Anne getting scuffed up and a bit rattled, but hopefully nothing else.
22:10 <Skaya> With a sigh, Skaya shifts Anne in her arms into a princess carry. "Right, this is how we should've done it from the start. If we both fall, please heal me first~"
22:14 <•Kotono> Anne turns crimson, "A-ah! I-I will!" she manages, sputtering after. Behind you, you hear Rina laugh outright and Regis chuckle.
22:14 <•Kotono> "Carried int he arms of hope, huh?" Rina calls from behind.
22:15 <Skaya> "I'd brag about being very athletic but I don't want to fall after a few steps and make a fool out of myself," Skaya cheerfully responds, continuing to head down carefully.
22:18 <•Kotono> OOC: I'd ask about your encumberance, but let's justhandwave it. Give me another acrobatics check, -4 penalty since you're carrying a considerable load.
22:18 <Skaya> OOC: Since I have a magic haversack and don't use armor I'm actually pretty good.
22:19 <Skaya> OOC: Also let's take ten for 15
22:22 <•Kotono> OOC: You make it. Yay. Okay, I'm hungry and need to make an actual meal instead of snack and it's about time even with running over in compensation, so we'll pick up here tomorrow.
22:22 <Skaya> OOC: Sure
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

19:09 <•Kotono> Going down the slope is slow, careful going. However, despite carrying Anne, you're able to do it safely, as are Regis and Rina. The bottom opens up into a narrow passage ahead, circular and smooth. WAter drips from above, leaving the floor wet here as well.
19:09 <•Kotono> Rina looks up, "It's like it's raining underground."
19:10 <Skaya> "Better than saying the caves are sweating," Skaya mutters, proceeding onwards for now.
19:15 <•Kotono> That gets a laugh from Regis as Anne clears her throat. "I can be put down now," she suggests.
19:16 <Skaya> "Are you sure? The ground's pretty wet, and you're pretty light."
19:21 <•Kotono> With a radiantly red blush, Anne manages to sputter, "W-well then, I suppose I can impose on you a little more!"
19:22 <Skaya> "Sounds good!" As she proceeds though the passage, Skaya studies the ceiling and sides before voicing, "Do you think water made this, once upon a time?"
19:27 <•Kotono> "I think so," Regis says, "Sanda got on about what these caves were probably like. She wasn't entirely right, but she was right about the footing. But a stream or a brook usually isn't this smooth. They wind, they bend, they have uneven sides. Then again, maybe this happened all at once when the lake drained."
19:28 <•Kotono> "Sanda isn't quite as smart as she thinks she is," Anne comments, "She may be wise to a copper, but a gold she can be foolish. Of course this isn't only the water. The spirits of earth had their role to play, as did the magic of those who did this."
19:30 <Skaya> "I wonder if we'll get a chance to meet the spirits."
19:30 <•Kotono> roll 1d100
19:30 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=34 ]{34}
19:31 <•Kotono> As a response to that, the ground beneath you shakes lightly.
19:31 <•Kotono> "Eh?" Rina looks down.
19:34 <Skaya> "I wonder if we'll get a chance to meet the spirits," Skaya repeats expectantly.
19:35 <•Kotono> "Uh, look down," Rina says in a small voice.
19:35 — Skaya looks down!
19:35 <•Kotono> Regis does so and says, "What in the name of Tempus's-"
19:36 <•Kotono> Beneath your feet, looking up at you, is a stone face of a woman. It simply looks up at you, part of the rock below.
19:37 <Skaya> "Hello. My name is Skaya," she introduces herself in Common.
19:39 → Iddy joined (uid408070@lunarnet-1BB5E9E.uxbridge.irccloud.com)
19:39 <•Kotono> OOC: What languages do you speak?
19:39 <Skaya> OOC: Common, Elven, Dwarven, Celestial, Draconic.
19:45 <•Kotono> It speaks words you do not understand. Rina stares in incomprehension, as does Regis. Anne counters with a rough, grumpy sound that gets a response. "I remember a little of this from my lessons, but only a little. Mostly enough to say we don't speak rock, but that rock is good and air is bad."
19:48 <Skaya> "Terran, huh? I Skaya friend is about all I can say in it," she laments. "Anne, do you think you could ask about sightings of chimera monsters?"
19:50 <•Kotono> "I'll try, but..." Is all Anne says, then she manages a few rough words that-
19:51 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+2
19:51 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+2 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{5}
19:51 <•Kotono> The face listens and then sinks into the earth, gone.
19:51 <Skaya> "I guess not?"
19:53 <•Kotono> "No luck," Regis shakes his head, "Still, we're alive this time and Rina's not hurt."
19:53 <•Kotono> "Hey!" Rina complains, "You say that like it's a surprise!"
19:54 <•Kotono> Anne shakes her head, "So many languages, so little time.
19:54 <•Kotono> "
19:54 <Skaya> "Yes! Please refrain of such praise until we've gotten back to the surface!"
19:54 <Skaya> To Anne, she says, "We'll check with Sanda and Marken if they know Terran. If not, I'll try to manage something for tomorrow. In the meanwhile, let's continue? Unless you got a warning from going further."
19:58 <•Kotono> "Nothing like that. I think it was more curiosity. It wasn't hostile," Anne says, "I could tell that much from tone."
19:59 <Skaya> "Ah well. Let's chalk it down to poor planning on my part. To be fair, I never expected to meet one on the very first trip!"
20:02 <•Kotono> With that you go on and...OOC: Give me perception real quick since you're at front.
20:02 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
20:02 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=20 ]{26}
20:03 <•Kotono> This ends in a little flattening of the path and a turn left. However, your sharp eyes let you discern it's filled with nearly transparent ooze, the way ahead blocked by slime.
20:04 <Skaya> "To those who wanted more slime! The way ahead, it's slime!"
20:08 <•Kotono> Regis peers before, "I see it," he says, as slowly the slime begins to wobble and move. It's a good 30ft away at least, but it's starting to ooze up in your general direction.
20:08 <•Kotono> "Then we can crush it from afar with the high ground!" Anne suggests, "Let is not rob us of our hope!"
20:09 <Skaya> "We can give it a try," Skaya agrees, carefully setting Anne down.
20:09 <Skaya> OOC: Is there just the one slime?
20:09 <•Kotono> OOC: Yes, though it fills the entire passage. It's big.
20:10 <Skaya> OOC: Large or Huge?
20:24 <•Kotono> OOC: You'd guesstimate large, unless it's hiding a lot more bulk behind the turn.
20:31 <Skaya> "So, any ranged weapons, or backup ones that you won't mind losing? How about ranged spells?"
20:40 <•Kotono> "I have one," Anne says, "It'll hurt but it won't likely be decisive."
20:40 <•Kotono> "We have a few," Regis speaks up, "What about you, Skaya?"
20:40 <Skaya> "Magic Missile! When in doubt, prepare it! Let's go on three? One, two--"
20:46 <Skaya> OOC: If we get our attacks off, let's do it. If not, let's roll init and then attack!
20:51 <•Kotono> OOC: See #elysium, but roll init at least.
20:51 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
20:51 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=11 ]{17}
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

19:04 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+2 Anne
19:04 <•Kotono> OOC: Oh Kobot.
19:05 → Kobot joined (~dunefar@lunarnet-82C188CE.hr.hr.cox.net)
19:05 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+2 Anne
19:05 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+2 Anne --> [ 1d20=7 ]{9}
19:06 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+3 Regis
19:06 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+3 Regis --> [ 1d20=6 ]{9}
19:07 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+5 Rina
19:07 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+5 Rina --> [ 1d20=9 ]{14}
19:07 <•Kotono> roll 1d20-5
19:07 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20-5 --> [ 1d20=2 ]{-3}
19:07 <•Kotono> Init is Skaya (17) > Rina (14) > Anne = Regis (9) > Ooze (-3)
19:08 <•Kotono> OOC: Open
19:08 <•Kotono> .
19:08 <Skaya> What do you do first? Of course, it's magic missile!
19:08 <Skaya> roll 2d4+2
19:08 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 2d4+2 --> [ 2d4=5 ]{7}
19:08 <Skaya> OOC: I'll be using inspiration to boost AC if attacked
19:09 <Skaya> OOC: Also fighting defensively
19:12 <•Kotono> Skaya stays back and defends herself as a pair of missiles hit the ooze. It wobbles from the impact, hunks of it flying of and hissing softly on the ground. Anne steps forward and grabs her holy symbol, then declares, "In the name of hope, BEGONE!" Her voiceis a shout, one that wobbles the slime all over.
19:12 <•Kotono> roll 1d8 and no stun, unfortunately
19:12 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d8 and no stun, unfortunately --> [ 1d8=6 ]{6}
19:13 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+9 fort
19:13 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+9 fort --> [ 1d20=5 ]{14}
19:15 <•Kotono> The ooze vibrates all over from it as the twins share a look, stepping back once Anne strikes. They pull out little darts and hurl them, gleaming flashes of light that strike away.
19:15 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+3 Regis
19:15 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+3 Regis --> [ 1d20=5 ]{8}
19:15 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+5 Rina
19:15 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+5 Rina --> [ 1d20=12 ]{17}
19:15 <•Kotono> roll 1d3+1
19:15 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d3+1 --> [ 1d3=2 ]{3}
19:16 <•Kotono> One of the darts hits home, burrowing into the slime before smoking. For it's part the ooze slooowly moves forward, creeping ahead. It's roughly cube shaped you an tell, the rest of it coming around the bend. It moves 15ft, halfway to the party as...OOC: Go.
19:20 — Skaya decides to focus fully on defense, telling the others, "Get a few feet behind me, I'll try to hold it off when it comes into melee range."
19:20 <Skaya> OOC: Total defense
19:35 <•Kotono> The others all fall back, on the defensive while more darts are thrown, "Understood," Anne says.
19:35 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+3
19:35 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+3 --> [ 1d20=17 ]{20}
19:35 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+5
19:35 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=2 ]{7}
19:36 <•Kotono> roll 1d3+2
19:36 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d3+2 --> [ 1d3=2 ]{4}
19:36 <•Kotono> Another dart hits, burrowing into it, "It's like a wave of slime," Regis grimaces, "It's annoyingly tough."
19:36 <Skaya> "No more spells?" Skaya asks Anne curiously. "Cantrips?"
19:37 <•Kotono> "Nothing worthwhile for this," Anne says, "I'll place my hope in you," she says, starting to chant, "Be safe, everyone!" OOC: Bless, +1 morale attack rolls and saves vs fear.
19:39 <•Kotono> The ooze comes forward and strikes - a thrust of slime at Skaya, directly
19:39 <•Kotono> .
19:39 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+2 AC?
19:39 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+2 AC? --> [ 1d20=1 ]{3}
19:39 <Skaya> OOC: Not that, laf
19:39 <•Kotono> Which is utterly ineffective, sidestepped with quick ease. It's big but not fast, shambling ineffectively at you. OOC: Go.
19:39 <Skaya> Alright. She can do it! Skaya steps closer to the massive slime and punches at it!
19:40 <Skaya> roll 2#1d20+4
19:40 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 2#1d20+4 --> [ 1d20=20 ]{24}, [ 1d20=17 ]{21}
19:41 <Skaya> roll 2#1d6+3+4 cunning insight x2
19:41 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 2#1d6+3+4 cunning insight x2 --> [ 1d6=2 ]{9}, [ 1d6=2 ]{9}
19:41 <Skaya> OOC: No more fighting defensively, but I'd use cunning defense if attacked
19:47 <•Kotono> Two solid strikes - the slime wobbles terribly, hunks of it flying off. It sizzles but doesn't burn, though your hand is a bit numb after the strikes. Good solid hits as Anne defends the other two and more darts come, "Finish it off!"
19:47 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+3
19:47 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+3 --> [ 1d20=17 ]{20}
19:47 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+5
19:47 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=15 ]{20}
19:47 <•Kotono> roll 1d3+1
19:47 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d3+1 --> [ 1d3=3 ]{4}
19:47 <•Kotono> roll 1d3+2
19:47 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d3+2 --> [ 1d3=2 ]{4}
19:48 — Skaya doesn't fear weak acid, so she'd be just fine! So long as the slime doesn't eat her.
19:48 <•Kotono> Two more darts pepper it, and the ooze wobbles even more. Slowly it starts to come forward, before it loses coherency. Slime litters the ground, spreading in all directions. Regis sighs in heavy relief, while Anne says, "What an annoying enemy."
19:49 <Skaya> "We'll need to check out the other path, but if that's how weak slime are, we can probably take two of them."
19:49 <•Kotono> "There's lots of different slimes," Rina says, "But that one wasn't too bad." She steps forward and with a cloth, starts to retrieve darts from the slime remnants.
19:50 <•Kotono> Anne goes ahead and looks past the bend, "Bad enough to claim victims," she says, a note of sorrow in her voice.
19:50 — Skaya looks for anything that might be useful. You never know!
19:51 <•Kotono> "Over here," Anne calls as you start to look around. Past the bend are several skeletons, with visibly intact gear. Slimy but intact, from helms to weapons, to backpacks and pouches.
19:51 <Skaya> "If it gets you, it gets you," Skaya affirms solemnly, heading a bit further down to make sure there is no one to ambush them.
19:52 <•Kotono> OOC: PErception.
19:52 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
19:52 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=9 ]{15}
19:55 <•Kotono> Skaya searches around and peeks ahead. No enemies immediately ahead, at least.
19:56 <Skaya> Time to see what's useful that they can collect, then. Information, valuables, expensive gear. Anne can put the victims to rest.
19:56 <•Kotono> Meanwhile the others check over the bodies. "Decently equipped but not richly," Anne comments, "Likely new adventurers with a bit of experience who overreached."
19:57 <•Kotono> Rina checks one over, coming out with a handful of small, sealed, metal vials. "Potions?" she suggests, "Had enough money to afford these rather than glass. Only the poor or idiots rely on glass potion bottles if they can help it."
19:57 <Skaya> "I'm sorry for being an idiot~"
19:57 <•Kotono> "Forgiven, this time," Rina doesn't miss a beat. "Seriously, invest in these." She holds up one of the metal vials.
19:58 <•Kotono> Regis joins in the checking over, coming up with a sheathed longsword. "Decent condition. Used but not heavily, the maker's mark is from the south, I think. Might've been out of towners."
19:58 <Skaya> "No maps or identification, though?"
19:59 <•Kotono> "I'm looking," Anne says as they search. Two of the bodies have nothing, but another? A small booklet, which Anne skims. "Half diary and half log," she remarks, "The writer was Kale. He writes like a military man. Give me a few minutes to read."
20:00 <•Kotono> "Wrote," Regis corrects.
20:00 <•Kotono> "Wrote," Anne murmurs crossly, focus on the book, "Please reflect inwardly on how you can bring hope to others while I'm reading."
20:02 — Skaya decides to wait patiently. Were she a wizard, they would've been on a clock. But as things are, it's just fine.
20:04 <•Kotono> After some reading and Regis grinning? "Kale of Uriden. That's a small town a bit south of the Petty Kingdoms, I believe. They came here to explore and the last entry is talking about the first day. They didn't last long. No ties to anything local, and no signs of the money or status that would have their loved ones seek to have their remains carried back home." She closes the book and murmurs
20:04 <•Kotono> to herself, "Let them find the path to above and rest, Hopebringer."  After, "The best thing to do is use the profit from their equipment to aid others and bring hope, so that their deaths were not in vain."
20:05 <Skaya> "Okay. Let's head down a bit further today before thinking about going back?"
20:06 <•Kotono> "I suspect this isn't the right path regardless, but it's still profitable," Rina says, "But we knew we'd be poking into a lot of caves."
20:07 <Skaya> "Paths mix together, so we might still get somewhere interesting," Skaya muses. "I'll lead again?"
20:14 <•Kotono> OOC: Sure. Give me a new Perception check.
20:14 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
20:14 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=4 ]{10}
20:22 <•Kotono> You go ahead. This passage leads to  an intersection. Here two paths go, going in opposide directions. Down the one you're going, you can see it turns, while in the other one, it comes to what appears a dead end with some sort of headstone set into the ground.
20:23 <Skaya> Since it's a dead end, they can spend some time looking it over! Isn't that where the riches of the dungeons are always found?
20:29 <•Kotono> As you all approach the headstone, you see that it has an inscription. OOC: What languages do you speak/read?
20:30 <Skaya> OOC: Common, Elven, Dwarven, Celestial, Draconic
20:31 <•Kotono> There's writing in draconic on it. It reads: To here might is staked, to below might is born. The roar of the earth is the roar of the world.
20:31 — Skaya helpfully translates for everyone!
20:38 <•Kotono> "That sounds like something older," Anne finally says, "Unfortunately I can't draw much else from it, besides to go deeper."
20:38 <•Kotono> "It sounds impressive, but I'm not sure what it means," Rina finally says, "Might is staked here?"
20:38 <Skaya> "What I got from it is that there's excitement if we take the path heading down, but that something might be sealed?"
20:42 <•Kotono> "Excitement or horrible death," Regis mutters, "But the point is taken."
20:43 <•Kotono> "So keep going, unless..." Rina says, "Hey, check around in case there's something hidden here. Maybe it's a marker of some kind."
20:43 <Skaya> "My main problem is that I can't sense magic right now, so I have no idea if there's more here," Skaya admits. "For now, yeah, let's check to see if there's any hidden passages or levers or what not."
20:43 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6 perception
20:43 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 perception --> [ 1d20=17 ]{23}
20:53 <•Kotono> No sign of anythign here, even with the aid of nothers. It seems to be a dead end.
20:54 <Skaya> "Let me just embarrass myself before we go the other way," Skaya bids the others, before reading the inscription in its original Draconic. Maybe it's like those riddles that require the words themselves being said.
20:54 <•Kotono> You read the words out loud. Nothing happens.
20:55 — Skaya takes a deep breath and then... "Gao!" A loud roar! Shame? What's that, can you eat it?
21:02 <•Kotono> roll 1d100+5
21:02 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100+5 --> [ 1d100=32 ]{37}
21:03 <•Kotono> Your cry echos. Nothing happens otherwise, but you get odd looks, "Why did you do that? You'll just attract trouble," Regis frowns.
21:04 <Skaya> "It was my best roar," Skaya says proudly. "But as expected, it's not quite the roar of the earth. Maybe it's because I don't speak Terran?"
21:07 <•Kotono> You get long looks, and finally Anne says, "I see." she finally says, "At least nothing's coming this way now."
21:08 <Skaya> "Let's head further down!" Skaya says, leading once more.
21:10 <•Kotono> roll 1d100+5
21:10 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100+5 --> [ 1d100=86 ]{91}
21:17 <•Kotono> You begin to head further down once more. Yet it's hard to miss, even in the dark and with torch light. Ahead, coming from the darkness, is a pair of man-shaped creatures of rock. They stump forward, no grace and no stealth whatsoever. They're coming right towards the party.
21:19 <Skaya> "Anne, try your Terran magic on them?" Skaya says, pausing at the sight of the elementals. There's no need to fight, especially if these are gatekeepers telling them to head back.
21:21 <•Kotono> Anne steps forward an calls out a few rough words once more, that...
21:21 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+2
21:21 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+2 --> [ 1d20=5 ]{7}
21:21 <•Kotono> OOC: Huh, same result I think as last time she tried it.
21:25 <•Kotono> The words come and the figures pause. Anne frowns and says, "They're suggesting or telling us to leave, I'm not sure."
21:28 — Skaya nods at the figures. "Right, let's leave. We can return when we speak better Terran and ask around then."
21:28 <•Kotono> "Quickly," Regis murmurs, turning to go. Where are you going to fall back to?
21:30 — Skaya leads the way all the way back to the first unexplored point. Wasn't it at the space she killed the stealth shark at?
21:33 <•Kotono> roll 1d100+5 since things are still a bit stirred up
21:33 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100+5 since things are still a bit stirred up --> [ 1d100=91 ]{96}
21:33 <•Kotono> roll 1d100 subtable times to be fair combat noises didn't help either, so these things happen
21:33 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 subtable times to be fair combat noises didn't help either, so these things happen --> [ 1d100=71 ]{71}
21:41 <•Kotono> You reach there, but you find something's there. It looks like a dog with patches of scales, and with the head of a bird coming out of its spine. Its back legs aren't flesh, but stone instead, contrasting to the rest of it's body, which is that of a black furred dog on the larger side.  It sniffs around the pool.
21:44 <Skaya> Wait, isn't that a success? Skaya pauses by the entrance and observes the chimera dog. If it decides to leave, they can see about following. But if it starts a fight, right here is actually better than in the water.
21:49 <•Kotono> "What in-" Rina begins, a look of disgust and fascination.
21:50 <•Kotono> "That poor thing," Anne murmurs, even as she hefts her weapon.
21:50 <•Kotono> The creature sniffs and looks your way, then lets out a low growl.
21:50 <•Kotono> Interestingly, from both its canine head and its bird head.
21:51 — Skaya takes a bit of jerky and tosses it. To both the canine head and the bird head.
21:54 <•Kotono> OOC: Give me a charisma check, +2 bonus.
21:55 <Skaya> roll 1d20+3 I actually have handle animal, if it applies this would be +5 higher
21:55 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+3 I actually have handle animal, if it applies this would be +5 higher --> [ 1d20=3 ]{6}
21:55 <Skaya> OOC: Well, forgot the +2
21:59 <•Kotono> OOC: So 6+5+2?
21:59 <Skaya> OOC: Correct, 13
22:00 <•Kotono> OOC: That's right on the border, so I'll figure out how to resolve that one next time.
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

19:04 <•Kotono> The monster sniffs at the food, bot heads reacting. It backs off so it hits the ground, then slowly approaches. It sniffs at it with its canine head, then quickly snarfs it up.
19:06 — Skaya fist pumps happily, and then tosses more jerky only to the canine head. Since the birdog is wary, she tosses it a bit farther from it, towards the other corridor.
19:07 <•Kotono> The creature follows and eats that as well. Meanwhile, in a quiet whisper, "The way to a dog's heart is through the stomach," Anne agrees with you.
19:08 <Skaya> "You like dogs too?"
19:11 <•Kotono> "Raising a dog is good practice for raising orphans," Anne murmurs to you, as Regis struggles to keep in a snort. "Both seek love, food and warmth. Both stir our instincts to protect them. Both are better than this world so often deserves, with how it inevitably sullies us all as we grow older."
19:11 <•Kotono> Also, the dog/bird creature is now looking at you now that the latest bit of jerky's eaten.
19:12 <Skaya> "What about cats?" Skaya asks next, keeping an eye on the chimera dog. There's no need to be too pushy, so she wants to see if they can avoid hostilities.
19:15 → Nephrite (was Nate) joined 
19:16 <•Kotono> The dog's giving you and your jerky bag in particular a long look now, expectant. One with canine hope, the other with avian sharpness.
19:16 •Nephrite was opped (+o) by ChanServ
19:17 <•Kotono> "I firmly believe the road to Baator is trampled from the paws of feline kind." Anne says, briskly.
19:17 <•Kotono> "She's allergic to them, but won't show her dislike in front of the orphans, since they like cats," Rina mock whispers to you, though her gaze stays on the dog in front of you.
19:21 <Skaya> "Cats aren't regimented in the slightest so I got that it wasn't serious," Skaya happily responds, thinking their conundrum over before coming up with an idea!
19:21 <Skaya> "Hey, doggy! Is it okay to call you doggy? I think over seventy percent of your body is a dog!" She'll just try to teach it the Down command! That way they can part amicably and the birdog gets some more tasty jerky, and if they meet again she can prevent a fight with just a word!
19:26 <•Kotono> A few barks then from the bird's head comes, "Hawk."
19:27 <•Kotono> That draws several stares from the others, "It's intelligent enough to talk?" Rina murmurs, "Tempus's black beard!"
19:29 <Skaya> "It's fine if you want to be Hawk!" Skaya responds, undaunted. This isn't even a tenth of a percent of a planar frog's craziness! "Where did you come from, Hawk?"
19:32 <•Kotono> "Hawk," The bird head repeats, then the dog head barks several times.
19:33 <Skaya> "Okay, Hawk! Do you want some more jerky?" Skaya asks, taking it out. "Let's learn a new trick today!"
19:39 <•Kotono> "Hawk," Hawk agrees, itnent on the jerky. You have its attention, it seems.
19:40 <Skaya> OOC: I want to try using Handle Animal to teach it the Down trick! DC15 is a bit challenging, but not impossible!
19:47 <•Kotono> OOC: Go for it.
19:49 <Skaya> roll 1d20+4+2+4
19:49 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+4+2+4 --> [ 1d20=2 ]{12}
19:55 <•Kotono> Well, you're down jerky and down doesn't seem tob e catching otherwise.
19:56 <Skaya> "Well, let's give up," she helplessly decides. "I'll see you later, Hawk!"
20:00 <•Kotono> The dog stares at your group as you go, but doesn't attack, at least. Progress? OOC: Where are you going now?
20:00 <Skaya> OOC: Let's return and regroup, meet Neph and then explore the tunnel the dog probably came from
20:05 Nephrite → •Devar
20:08 <•Kotono> roll 1d100
20:08 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=97 ]{97}
20:08 <•Kotono> roll 1d100 for future reference, but something noticed you. Scary.
20:08 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 for future reference, but something noticed you. Scary. --> [ 1d100=28 ]{28}
20:09 <•Kotono> You return back up and regroup. As you all rest and get some fresh air, "So you ran into one. Do you think it's worth an immediate report back?" Marken asks, deferring to you on this subject.
20:12 <Skaya> "No need, we've reported recently. Let's first hear a response before sending another one."
20:15 <•Kotono> "Then go back for a response?" Marken asks, "Or do you want to dive again?"
20:16 <Skaya> "Let's try following that passage first, after a proper rest. Logically, Hawk could've only come from there. I didn't see any intelligence capable of manipulating a secret passage, and it's pretty unlikely it climbed down the rope."
20:25 <•Kotono> The party rests the rest of the morning. Noon comes and after lunch, people are preparing and it's time to consider the next party. It's then, in the dried out lake by the cavern entrance, few tents of the party standing out, that a new figure approaches...OOC: Go ahead and intro yourself, Devar.
20:30 <•Devar> He approaches, a man in what appears to be his mid 20s, a few scars on his face with slightly messy brown hair. He has only the clothes of a traveler and a two-handed sword on his back - Skaya has seen him a few times, taking simple enough jobs here and there. He raises a hand in greeting, "Seems like you all really turned over some stones with all
20:30 <•Devar> this. Skays, good to see you again." He says with a smile as he looks at the others, "Devar of Eldath, at your service."
20:32 <Skaya> "Seems like it, if my dispatch got such a prompt response," Skaya agrees.
20:33 <•Devar> "They didn't give me an awful lot of details, but it seemed important." He replies. "I'll help out however I can."
20:37 <Skaya> "Then the most important detail is that we already ran into a chimera here. It was an earth-dog-bird."
20:38 <•Kotono> "That was quick. Devar, Devar, I think I've heard your namea round," Rina approaches, "Good to see you."
20:39 <•Devar> A blink. "Well, it sounds like this is already off to an interesting start." He turns to Rina and nods back. "Thank you, we'll get this sorted... somehow."
20:41 <Skaya> "I think before setting off, we need to decide a very important question. Devar, do you like dogs?"
20:42 <•Devar> "Sure." He says. "Is this a dog versus cat question?"
20:43 <Skaya> "Ah, that was my next question! Do you like cats?"
20:43 <•Kotono> "More practical," Anne says, as Sanda listens on, openly curious.
20:44 <•Kotono> "Statistically, most people like both dogs and cats," Sanda adds, "It's something of a silly question to ask."
20:44 <Skaya> "And yet!"
20:44 <•Devar> "Sure." He says again. "If it matters I prefer dogs but I'm fine with most animals." He adds.
20:47 <Skaya> "Statistics win again!" Skaya cheers with a grin at Rina.
20:50 <•Kotono> "They always do, most of the time, statistically," Sanda says, smugness in her voice.
20:50 <•Kotono> "Regardless," Clearing her throat, "What party goes down this time?" Rina asks.
20:51 <Skaya> "Rina and Regis, you're going to hold down the fort this time," Skaya decides after a moment's thought. "You're a good team so we're not breaking you up at this stage. And Devar needs to see how we work, and vice versa."
20:55 <•Devar> "Sure thing." He says.
21:00 <•Kotono> "So myself, Sanda, Anne and the tow of you?" Marken says, "We can work with that."
21:00 <•Kotono> *Two of you
21:00 <Skaya> "Yeah, that's today's cast~" Skaya cheerfully responds. "Devar, tell us on the go if the Guild Master had any new instructions or information?"
21:03 <•Devar> Another nod.
21:03 — Skaya leads the way! Their first stop, the chamber with the stealth shark! Perhaps there is another?
21:07 <•Kotono> roll 1d100
21:07 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=24 ]{24}
21:07 <•Kotono> As you reach the hole where you need to climb down to the pool where you fought to 'stealth shark', you find you can hear something in the far distance. It sounds like drums being beat, slow and methodically.
21:09 <Skaya> Ominous! "I'll take the lead, but be prepared to back me up," Skaya tells the others, starting the climb stealthily.
21:11 <•Devar> Devar cocks his head at the sound and gives Skaya a nod and follows!
21:18 <•Kotono> The climb down's easy enough now that everyone's prepared for it. Nothing's down here now, so with that in mind, which way are you going? At the same time Marken frowns, "Drums, down here? Why?"
21:18 <Skaya> "It could be the earth elementals. Devar, how's your Terran?"
21:20 <•Devar> "Not great, unfortunately." He admits. "I kept it to the usual- dwarves, elves, a little dragon and some Celestial for our friends up there." He gestures vaguely above himself. "Never came across too many of the element types."
21:20 <Skaya> "Marken, Sanda, how about you guys?"
21:24 <•Kotono> "Not me," Marken says right away.
21:24 <•Kotono> Sanda smiles and utters strange, rumbling words.
21:25 <Skaya> "Amazing! A wizard is amazing!"
21:25 <•Devar> "Do elementals use drums, though?" Devar asks.
21:26 <Skaya> "They are the drums. When they walk."
21:28 <•Devar> "Oh, I get it." He nods.
21:28 <•Kotono> "It'll do," Sanda says, "It might be a giant earth elemental," Sanda points out, "Our odds of beating one are near enough to zero to be indistinguishable from zero, so if we find it, we should run."
21:29 <•Kotono> "Hope can bridge that difference," Anne disagrees, "But best to avoid a battle altogether."
21:29 <Skaya> "Wait, wait. We just want to ask about the chimeras and the wizard making them from them, we absolutely don't want to fight them! Seriously, we're not fighting the elementals!"
21:32 <•Devar> "I'm all for a peaceful resolution." He agrees.
21:35 <•Kotono> "Best to avoid a battle," Sanda agrees, "But some things seem to want to get beat up with a staff, don't they?"
21:37 <Skaya> "You barbarian wizard!" Skaya exclaims, leading the way to explore a passageway she hadn't gone through yesterday.
21:37 <•Devar> "Unfortunately." He says. "But hopefully this isn't a case of that."
21:42 → Nate joined  ⇐ •Devar quit 
21:48 <•Kotono> You begin to go down and...OOC: Who is on point? If it's one of you, give me a perception for reference for this dive in.
21:48 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
21:48 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=13 ]{19}
21:49 Nate → Devar
21:52 <•Kotono> Thus you proceed and find it goes a little ways, before another sink hole straight down. It looks like quite a drop. The path continues past it, but you'll need to cross about a 5 or 6 ft wide sinkhole to do so.
21:54 <Skaya> "Down or past it?" Skaya asks, taking votes.
21:57 <Devar> "It's probably safer to go over unless we can tie a rope to climb down." Devar offers.
21:58 <Skaya> "We have a lot of ropes."
21:59 <•Kotono> "I say we go down. Deeper is better, right? That's where the treasure hides," Sanda remarks.
21:59 <•Kotono> Anne kneels down and peers, "It's not a small drop, Sanda."
21:59 <•Kotono> "Going over is safer," Marken says, "Going straight down like that is always risky."
22:00 <Skaya> "Okay!" She ties one end of a rope to herself securely and gives the other end to Marken and Devar. "I'll just jump over?"
22:01 <•Kotono> Marken grabs a hold, "Don't fall," he says, quite seriously.
22:01 <Skaya> "Catch me if I do~" she says cheekily before making a running leap across!
22:01 <Devar> He takes it and gives it a good grip just in case. "We've got you though."
22:02 <Skaya> roll 1d20+9+4 acrobatics?
22:02 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+9+4 acrobatics? --> [ 1d20=15 ]{28}
22:03 <•Kotono> It's not the hardest jump and Skaya makes it, hopping over and to the other side safely. Whew.
22:04 <Devar> "I can go last." Devar offers. "It's a short jump anyway."
22:04 — Skaya secures another rope to a stake on this side, and tosses it across. "Let's make a rope bridge. We'll use this rope as support. No rush, and we can work safely."
22:04 <•Kotono> "
22:05 <•Kotono> "Better sense than jumping across," Marken agrees, as work is done. As you all do so...OOC: Okay, we'll pick up with the other sid etomorrow. Sorry for second half slowness, had some interference but should be clear tomorrow.
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

19:02 <•Kotono> With the rope bridge, the party is able to cross over safely enough. You notice the drum beats are getting more echoy and perhaps more distant as you cross.
19:03 <Skaya> "Wrong direction, you think?" Skaya muses once they are all across. "But the only other path was where the earth elementals stopped us from going."
19:07 <•Kotono> "Doesn't mean the drums are the right direction," Sanda points out, "Statistically speaking, there're more likely than not more than one group of elementals, anyway."
19:07 <•Kotono> "That's...depressing," Anne says at last, "Sanda, we may face several powerful opponents if things go wrong, then?"
19:08 <•Kotono> "Of course," Sanda answers, "Why would you expect anything less? Elementals are not weak and I doubt it's only one or two of them from allr eports."
19:08 <Skaya> "Once again, we're not here to fight the elementals so it's all good!" Skaya assures Anne, and heads forward.
19:08 → Iddy joined (uid408070@lunarnet-1BB5E9E.uxbridge.irccloud.com)
19:11 <•Devar> Devar will dutifully take up the rear and follow along with the others!
19:13 <•Kotono> On the group goes, a
19:14 <•Kotono> OOC: Gah.
19:16 <•Kotono> On the group goes, and ahead you hear the sound of running water amid the fading drumbeats. Around a bend you see a bubbling brook cross through the path, just before it opens up into a larger cavern, roof dozens of feet high. Here a massive creature stands, tall enough to almost touch the roof. A being of pure rock, earth and stone. Man shaped and standing still, granite eyes closed.  OOC:
19:16 <•Kotono> Perception.
19:16 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
19:16 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=5 ]{11}
19:21 <•Devar> roll 1d20+7
19:21 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+7 --> [ 1d20=5 ]{12}
19:21 <•Kotono> OOC: Carry on, both of ya.
19:21 <•Kotono> "Woah." Marken takes a cautious step back, staring up at the creature.
19:21 — Skaya pats Sanda's shoulder. "Please ask him about the other wizards here, and where they're staying?"
19:22 <•Kotono> "Of course," Sanda says,s tepping forward and speaking rumbling Terran. There is no response, before slowly she says, "Odds are he's asleep," she points out, "The closed eyes are a hint."
19:22 <•Kotono> "Do elementals even sleep?" Anne asks, "Aren't there incarnate elemental forces beyond moral weaknesses?"
19:23 <Skaya> "You mean mortal, right?"
19:23 <•Kotono> "Why not both?" Sanda answers, "But the point is that it's not answering and seems asleep."
19:24 <Skaya> "I'll take a look around, maybe smaller elementals are around and awake?"
19:25 <•Kotono> OOC: Go for it. Give me Perception again then.
19:25 <•Kotono> OOC: Just Skaya in this case since she's the one searching.
19:25 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
19:25 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=5 ]{11}
19:26 <•Kotono> No sign of other elementals or anything of note. There's a few passages going further inwards you can investigate if you like, though. Otherwise it's a large cavern roon, lots of space as well as a few places water drips down to form puddles.
19:26 <Skaya> "Let's look in the passages?" Skaya calls out to the others. "Maybe there are elementals who can talk to us there."
19:29 <•Devar> "Lead on." Devar agrees. "We've got to find something eventually."
19:33 — Skaya leads on!
19:34 <•Kotono> You see the other passages. One is heading more upwards, while one ot the side is straight. The last looks to lead to an overgrown puddle at a dead end, more like a small body of water at that point. Any of them are available.
19:36 <Skaya> As always, Skaya checks the one that is a dead end first!
19:40 <•Kotono> The party follows. It's not large, but as you get close, you see it's deep. Deeper than you can see through the dark waters, though you can't see far in with them regardless.
19:41 <Skaya> "No plaques here," Skaya muses, picking up a small stone and tossing it into the waters.
19:47 <•Kotono> It plunges into the water and is gone.
19:47 <•Kotono> Anne goes to the waters, "Perhaps it's a freshwater source, but it looks harmless otherwise. IS there any point to linger?"
19:47 — Skaya waits for a bit, and as nothing happens says, "I don't want to swim just yet, so let's go to the next one. I was just checking for any lurking stealth sharks."
19:48 <•Kotono> "Little than I can see," Marken says, then hms, "Sensible after that last one."
19:49 <•Kotono> You turn to go back - but the ground shakes. A massive THUMP comes from the big cavern, as you see the elemental shift, lifting one foot up and then down, adjusting it's position. The sound of it rattles everything, peddles and droplets of water knocked free from the ceiling.
19:49 <Skaya> "Maybe he's awake! Ask him now, Sanda!"
19:50 <•Kotono> Sanda trots back into the cavern and does so, immediately. Her Terran gets no reply at all. After a few heartbeats, "Still nothing. Maybe it turned in its sleep? I know I do if someone disturbs my rest."
19:50 — Skaya picks the straight passage next.
19:55 <•Kotono> As you go Anne pauses to look at the elemental, a hand to her holy symbol. She then turns and follows, "Our hopes will be heard, and should it be, the elemental will stay asleep and not endanger us. Even its movements may be perilous if it causes a cave in."
19:56 <•Kotono> With a dry smile, "Put in a quiet word with Shaundakul that our path stays clear," Marken comments.
19:56 <Skaya> "It's a very dangerous world," Skaya is more than ready to agree. "Then again, we're looking for a crazy wizard surrounded by strong chimera monsters."
19:59 <•Devar> "Hopefully he's not so crazy as to be violent." Devar says. "But I feel like there'd be a lot more hostile elements about if that were the case."
19:59 <Skaya> "He or she literally sent a monster far away from here to attack people. Several died. I don't think we're ending this with a stern talking to."
20:01 <•Kotono> "We're ending this with a fight," Anne agrees as you all go. As yo ugo to the straight passage...OOC: Perception again.
20:02 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
20:02 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=7 ]{13}
20:02 <•Devar> roll 1d20+7
20:02 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+7 --> [ 1d20=12 ]{19}
20:06 <•Kotono> OOC: Others take 10.
20:06 <•Kotono> As you go, Marken stops. "Hold on," he says, going to look at the ground. He peers carefully, "There's signs of passage. The stones are disturbed and it looks recent."
20:07 <•Kotono> "Uh, earthquake?" Sanda says slowly, "Statistically speaking, that's going to disturb allt he stones!"
20:07 <•Kotono> Marken sighs a moment, "Yes, but not like this."
20:07 <Skaya> "Humanoid, animal, other?"
20:07 <•Kotono> "I find that hard to believe," Sanda retorts immediately.
20:08 <•Kotono> "Humanoid," Marken answers, "Going in this direction."
20:08 <Skaya> "We should follow!"
20:12 <•Devar> "Hopefully we'll find what we're after then." Devar says. "I wonder if the big guy is some sort of construct of this wizard's."
20:13 <Skaya> "Well, that's a horrifying thought."
20:15 <•Kotono> "If it is, we're probably doomed," Sanda reflects.
20:15 <•Kotono> "No, we always have hope," Anne disagrees, "As long as we breathe, we can go forward, together, and triumph."
20:16 <Skaya> "I have faith! In our strong legs!"
20:16 <•Kotono> "Statistically speaking, those sort of speeches are said overwhelmingly by those likely to become paste under an elemental's foot in the next 24 hours," Sanda snarks right back.
20:17 <•Kotono> Meanwhile you proceed on. It comes to a side passage going deeper in as Marken follows, glancing at the ground before going for that side passage. "This way, if yo uwant to follow a trail."
20:19 <Skaya> "Can you tell the number of people?" Skaya asks Marken. Much as she'd like to joke around with Sanda and Anne, this is getting serious.
20:23 <•Kotono> "One," Marken says, "No signs of a second or more."
20:25 <Skaya> Terrifying. "We're proceeding, but this time let's actually try some stealth for a change. I'll go first with Marken, those who can keep quiet follow us closely. The rest will travel at a distance."
20:28 <•Kotono> OOC: Okay, how far back do you want he others, first of all? Feel free to chat IC, just want something I can lay my hands on.
20:29 <Skaya> OOC: 60ft seems right. It's close enough to get there within a round, but far enough that they won't be immediately noticed.
20:35 <•Kotono> OOC: Okay then. Stealth checks, Marken will take 10.
20:36 <Skaya> OOC: I'll also take 10 for 23
20:39 <•Kotono> Thus the party goes ahead. On this path, a wider tunnel. Water drips as it slowly slopes down and then Marken stops. He goes to the left wall and whispers, "The trail stops here."
20:39 <Skaya> With a frown, Skaya studies it to see if there's any hidden passageways, levers, switches or what not.
20:41 <•Kotono> OOC: Perception for searchin'. Also one moment.
20:42 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
20:42 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=16 ]{22}
20:43 <•Kotono> Nothing that you see.
20:44 — Skaya waits for Sanda to come over, before asking her quietly, "Any magic you can see here?"
20:46 <•Kotono> Sanda chants a few words, "Oh yes, fading but it's here. Let me study it a moment."
20:47 <•Kotono> In the same quiet tones, Marken readies his weapons, "Be ready," he murmurs to the others.
20:47 <•Kotono> Anne prepares herself, a silent nod just in case.
20:47 — Skaya keeps guard while Sanda does that.
20:48 <•Kotono> "Something minor, more of an activation than anything else," Sanda says, "Something was done to trigger something in the wall here, I think."
20:49 <Skaya> "Is there a hidden door opened with magic? Or it's one of those travel through stone spells?"
20:53 <•Kotono> "I think it's the former, not the latter," Sanda says, "Something like that, I'm guessing but that's what the odds suggest."
20:53 <•Kotono> Marken glances over at the others, "Any ideas?"
20:54 <•Kotono> "It could be anything," Anne says, "Or even an item on them that we'll never be able to replicate. Still though, it's worth thinking about. Have hope we can figure something out."
20:54 <•Devar> "Oh, so like you say 'open' or something and it opens?" Devar offers. "I wonder if it's something simple like 'earth'... and if it's even in Common, really. Well, if it's some sort of item, it might be obvious if we find something else holding whatever it could be."
20:56 <•Kotono> "Try words like that in different languages?" Marken suggests, "See if one works?"
20:58 — Skaya tries saying "Open" in Elven, Dwarven, Celestial and Draconic, since it seems like fun.
21:04 <•Kotono> Nothing happens.
21:04 <•Kotono> Sanda steps forward and tries a few langauges of her own, before, "It's not open, at least in anything I know."
21:06 <Skaya> "Let's keep going down this passage," Skaya decides. "Even if he sees our tracks, he'll think we kept going."
21:10 <•Kotono> "Alright," Sanda agrees, "I can't think of anything better to try."
21:14 <•Kotono> OOC: OBvously, I assume you're going on then?
21:14 <Skaya> OOC: YEs
21:17 <•Kotono> roll 1d100
21:17 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=4 ]{4}
21:17 <•Kotono> roll 1d100
21:17 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=68 ]{68}
21:24 <•Kotono> You proceed further. The passage is widening further, and you can see it's sloping downward more as well. Stones litter the floor as you continue on, smooth and rounded. Marken kneels and checks one, "Might be another former waterway," he comments, "Which means we might be heading for a bigger empty space or underground water."
21:26 <•Devar> roll 1d20+9
21:26 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+9 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{12}
21:27 <Skaya> "Let's take a look there before going back to map out the last passage?" Skaya proposes.
21:29 <•Kotono> "It sounds good to me," Sanda agrees.
21:30 <•Devar> Devar blinks a few times but shakes his head quickly. "We may as well have a good idea of what the cavern's space is." He agrees.
21:31 <Skaya> With a nod, Skaya leads the way once more!
21:39 <•Kotono> You go down to the end of the path. It opens up into a sinkhole depression, huge. Most of it's filled in with water, an underground lake. Several paths and caverns lead to it, yet you see no water flow into it. The waters are dark and deep. There's quite a bit of space here to explore if you want, and on the far side you can see some sort of stone construction. Benches and a table, left by the
21:39 <•Kotono> lake.
21:40 <•Kotono> "How strange and how..." Anne pauses, "It's so solitary down here. There's the occasional monster, but more than anything else, it feels like a silent kingdom. A sleeping giant, a forgotten plaque, a silent lake."
21:41 <Skaya> "Our chances of dying increased so much," Skaya mutters. "Alright, so there's a wizard that can open magical doors in the rock, has a lakeside view home here, and possibly a massive earth golem on top of all the chimera."
21:45 <•Devar> "It is peculiar because why go through all the trouble to rehabilitate a place like this?" Devar asks. "But maybe this wizard is just someone who prefers this sort of quiet atmosphere?" A small shrug after that. "Wonder if that wate is the same as the smaller one we saw earlier... I don't see any water coming in from anywhere, so it must come up from there, I guess."
21:46 <Skaya> "If I were a wizard I'd definitely live in style, whether I was a nice reclusive wizard or a kill everyone with my creations one."
21:49 <•Devar> Devar gestures towards Skaya in agreement. "Definitely wouldn't just live in a glorified hole in the ground."
21:52 <•Kotono> "If they want to kill everyone, their mental state and taste is already suspect," Marken points out, "Madmen, the lot of them.
21:52 <•Kotono> "
21:52 <•Kotono> Sanda sniffs, "There are some advantages to solitude, not to mention the defensibility of this place."
21:55 <Skaya> "Yeah, about that. Let's follow the other exits and see where they lead, first."
22:01 <•Kotono> OOC: Okay that's pretty branching and it's about time, so we'll cover further explorations next time. Amazingly, you didn't die. Surprisingly, considering how close you came a few times to trouble.
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

19:36 <•Kotono> OOC: Give me Perception as well, whomever is on point. If that's an NPC tell me which one.
19:37 <•Kotono> OOC: I'll have Kobot up in a moment, I just realized since I rebooted last night.
19:39 → Kobot joined (~dunefar@lunarnet-82C188CE.hr.hr.cox.net)
19:39 <Kobot> OOC: I'm here.
19:39 <•Kotono> OOC: Okay, so question stands.
19:40 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
19:40 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=7 ]{13}
19:43 <•Kotono> You walk around the underground lake and do a quick circuit to get a better grasp of things. There's five other passages that lead into here and two stand out. One has marks on the wall besides it, scored four times, as if counting. Deep nad firmly, as if with a powerful blade that can cut into stone. The second passage stands out for despite being underground, having tufts of blue-green grass
19:43 <•Kotono> growing out from the stony ground within it.  Beyond that, you get a closer look at the stone construction. It's a half dozen benches around a large stable, of obviously good craftsmanship even to the untrained eye. Smoothly polished, shaped beautifully and with little swirls and decorations engraved in.
19:44 <•Kotono> Anne lingers by the stonework, then shakes her head, "There's no way it's worth carrying up, even if we could carry the entire set."
19:44 <•Kotono> To that point Marken smiles, "You'd want one of those magical bags that can hold large objects. I suspect you're right in the unspoken part that it's worth good gold coins."
19:45 <Skaya> Wow! Real adventurers are different, even if they're raising orphans. She hadn't even considered of grabbing the stone furniture!
19:45 <•Kotono> To that Sanda archly comments, "Profit is the point, but that's too much like a common thief. Treasure and plunder is different from furniture robbing!"
19:45 <Skaya> "Ah, Sanda! This is why we're such good friends!" Skaya exclaims, glomping onto the wizard.
19:46 <•Kotono> "Imagine how much food, clothing, shelter and hope that set could buy," Anne counters right back, as Sanda takes your hug in good graces and smiles back at Anne. Anne returns that smile as the two lock eyes, silent combat.
19:47 <•Kotono> Marken keeps his eyes of that particular squabble, staying alert instead.
19:47 <•Kotono> *off
19:49 <Skaya> "Alright, alright," Skaya says, letting go of Sanda. "We can only take furniture if it belongs to a bad person and we've defeated them. Since neither condition is fulfilled, let's explore the passage with the grass first?"
19:49 <Devar> Devar stays quiet too, offering a nod.
19:53 <•Kotono> You go down that passage. The grass is sparse but visible, and as you get even closer? You can see faint wisps of blue-green light rises up from it. Sanda lingers by it, "Curious, I don't know what it is," she says, "I've never heard of grass quite like this, though it resembles other magical types to a greater or lesser degree." OOC: SAnda takes 10 on K:A and K:N.
19:53 <•Kotono> "If you have the means to do so, a sample might be worthwhile," Marken says, "It may be worth a bit of money, as well as a useful thing to research."
19:54 <•Kotono> "Oh yes, of course," Sanda murmur to herself, kneeling and rustling within her equipment. "One moment."
19:54 <Skaya> OOC: I'll take 10 as well, with cunning knowledge, for 21 on both
19:59 <•Kotono> You dimly recall a bit of knowledge. Of stone-like blue-green grass, that gently sheds poison. You don't recall how the poison is delivered, between contact, consumption of it, being around it or some other measure, nor do you recall any onset time of symptoms.
20:00 <Skaya> "Oh! It's poisonous. On second thought, let's not go there."
20:11 <•Kotono> "Poisonous?" Sanda scowls and hurries back right away.
20:11 <•Kotono> Anne shakes her head and follows, "Pretty, but poisonous. What kind of poison?"
20:11 <Skaya> "Don't remember, it's not my favorite reading material," Skaya says with a shrug. "Let's check out the other path after all?"
20:12 <Devar> "And is it being grown for a reason?" Devar asks.
20:12 <•Kotono> "Oh. Well then, statistically speaking, if we start dropping dead, we'll know why," Sanda says, cheerfully.
20:12 — Skaya coughs.
20:18 <•Kotono> Marken matches that cough as Anne glowrs at Sanda, "That goes iwthout saying. Sanda, please don't say such things that discourage and worry others needlessly."
20:18 <•Kotono> "Why not?" Sanda answers, "Better to be prepared for something like that to happen, in case preparation matters."
20:18 <Skaya> "I'd imagine both paths are dangerous, so let's keep our head in the game," Skaya says, ignoring that debate and leading the way into the marked passage.
20:26 <•Kotono> You go to the marked passage. It heads slowly ahead, winding but broader than the previous. Plenty of space to move here, as you see not far within a plaque is embedded into the ground.
20:26 → •Nephrite (opped) joined 
20:26 <Skaya> Naturally, she will read the plague!
20:28 <•Kotono> There's writing in draconic on it. It reads: The roar of the earth is the roar of the world. Might sleeps within the womb of the world, to be born below.
20:29 <Skaya> "Oh, it's the next chapter!" Skaya exclaims, before translating for everyone.
20:32 <•Kotono> Anne, having been there for both, listens carefully. "I think it repeated itself with that first part, didn't it?"
20:32 <•Kotono> "That's fairly explicit," Marken comments, "And may explain a great deal. Something strong's below, asleep, and grows powerful. There has to be something that provoked the draining of the lake in the first place."
20:33 <Skaya> "Exactly. The second sentence from the previous plaque is the first sentence here. There must be a whole chain of them here!"
20:33 <•Kotono> Sanda sniffs, "And we easily find clues that point to it. Statistically speaking, it sounds like deception."
20:33 <•Kotono> "Or only a few people know about it, and many who find out don't make it out alive to tell others," Anne counters, "We've been in several difficult battles already."
20:33 — Skaya tries to estimate how old the plaque is!
20:34 <•Kotono> OOC: Got any relevant skills.
20:34 <Skaya> OOC: I have all the skills! But which is them maps to this/
20:34 <Skaya> OOC: Nature?
20:35 <Skaya> OOC: Dungeoneering?
20:35 <•Kotono> OOC: That's a really good question. Appraise, let's say since you have all of them.
20:36 <Skaya> roll 1d20+7+4
20:36 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+7+4 --> [ 1d20=20 ]{31}
20:36 <•Kotono> OOC: Lucky.
20:37 <•Kotono> On the one hand, it's old. Genuinely old. You have no doubt about that. On the other hand, it's incredibly subtle, but you can tell. This plaque's been moved and carefully installed here. It's well done, but you can see a few telltell signs that this was added here, and possibly not that long ago.
20:38 <Skaya> "Wow, you're both right!" Skaya says in admiration. "The plaque itself is original and ancient, but on the other hand, someone did plant it here and try to cover up their tracks! So the actually correct path is probably not this one? Maybe it's the one where the elementals barred our path before?"
20:38 <•Kotono> "Huh?" Sanda says, voice completely flat.
20:39 <Skaya> "I studied a lot, right? All sorts of knowledge is in my head!" Skaya says cheerfully, tapping the side of her head for emphasis.
20:39 <•Kotono> Anne frowns at that, "Of course I was right, but-wait, what?" she echos Sanda. "Are you saying the marks are posisbly a distraction as well, to indicate a promising path marked by others?
20:39 <•Kotono> "
20:39 <Skaya> "So it seems!"
20:40 <•Kotono> Marken chuckles, "Statistically speaking, if this was moved," Sanda suddenly turns right to him and pays attention, "It may mean that or something else, but regardless, some manner of trickery is afoot."
20:40 <•Kotono> "In the name of Hope's Landing, please don't use her phrases. It's disarming," Anne protests.
20:41 <Skaya> "Let's go in all the same and see what's there," Skaya proposes. "If there's nothing of interest, we'll revisit the path with the elementals. That's probably where that drum sound was coming from, anyway."
20:42 <•Devar> roll 1d20+8
20:42 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+8 --> [ 1d20=15 ]{23}
20:45 <•Devar> A frown as Devar glances back the way they came. He speaks quietly, but loud enough so the others can hear him. "Hey - I heard... something, back at the lake. Like something trying to be sneaky but just loud enough that it made some waves."
20:45 <Skaya> "Ooh, is it a stealthy wizard?" Skaya asks excitedly. But quietly!
20:49 <•Kotono> "Or some manner of fish like before?" Anne asks.
20:49 <•Kotono> "Or a slime," Sanda says, "I could see that.":
20:50 <•Kotono> "Or a water elemental. If there's earth elementals, why not incarnations of water as well?" Marken questions back.
20:50 <Skaya> "Come on! Sanda, don't your wizard senses tell you anything?"
20:50 <•Kotono> With a sniff, "My wizard senses tell me that unless I'm a seer, a splash isn't very informative."
20:50 <Skaya> "In that case, some brave soul should be sacrificed to take a proper look."
20:50 <•Kotono> "It wouldn't be for you," Anne agrees pleasantly, "Did it sound like a big splash?"
20:51 <•Devar> "Not particularly." Devar says. "It probably could've gone unnoticed entirely."
20:56 <Skaya> Since no one is volunteering, Skaya is a bit sad but decides to do it herself! Turning around, she heads for the lake!
21:00 <•Kotono> With that at least Anne follows, with Sanda doing so far behind. Marken shakes his head but follows as wella fter that. Falling in with Devar, "Good ears," he murmurs. Meanwhile, the party goes back and -! It leaps from the water. It's the same mostly invisible, gray shark as before. You notice it easily, as it bursts ouf of the water and flies right at the party in a headlong charge. Anne
21:00 <•Kotono> gapes, "They can FLY?! What? WHY?!"
21:00 <•Kotono> "Abominable," Marken grits his teeth, the slither of steel as he readies his weapon.
21:00 <•Kotono> "Seafood should stay in the sea!" Sanda cries, "Kill it!"
21:00 — Skaya leaps into the air to fly right at it!
21:01 <•Kotono> OOC: I'm gonna call init here, feel free to react as well since you got a line your way, Devar.
21:01 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
21:01 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=16 ]{22}
21:02 <•Devar> "Oh, it's nothi--" His reply is interrupted by an invisible flying, apparently, shark.
21:02 <•Devar> roll 1d20+2
21:02 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+2 --> [ 1d20=20 ]{22}
21:09 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+5 Marken
21:09 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+5 Marken --> [ 1d20=15 ]{20}
21:09 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+2 Anne
21:09 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+2 Anne --> [ 1d20=9 ]{11}
21:10 <•Kotono> roll 1d20 Sanda
21:10 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20 Sanda --> [ 1d20=6 ]{6}
21:10 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+3 shark
21:10 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+3 shark --> [ 1d20=14 ]{17}
21:11 <•Kotono> Init is Skaya = Devar (22) > Marken (20) > Shark (17) > Anne (11) > Sanda (6)
21:11 <•Kotono> OOC: Go you two.
21:11 <Skaya> Meeting the shark in mid-air, Skaya kicks it in the chin!
21:12 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6+4+2 charge~
21:12 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6+4+2 charge~ --> [ 1d20=20 ]{32}
21:12 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6+4+2 charge~ crit?
21:12 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6+4+2 charge~ crit? --> [ 1d20=7 ]{19}
21:13 <Skaya> roll 1d6+3+4
21:13 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d6+3+4 --> [ 1d6=1 ]{8}
21:13 <Skaya> roll 1d6+3+4 if crit
21:13 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d6+3+4 if crit --> [ 1d6=1 ]{8}
21:13 <Skaya> OOC: I meant, add that if it's a crit
21:15 <•Kotono> OOC: It was a crit, so total 16 damage. Devar, you're also up so go ahead and go.
21:48 <•Devar> Devar isn't really sure what's he's dealing with but it clearly isn't something that non-violence will deal with, so he draws out his sword to go at it!
21:48 <•Devar> roll 1d20+5
21:48 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=7 ]{12}
21:48 <•Devar> roll 2d4+2 if that happened to hit
21:48 <Kobot> Devar rolled 2d4+2 if that happened to hit --> [ 2d4=8 ]{10}
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

19:03 <•Kotono> Devar and Skaya move fast. Devar swings but misses, going low. Skaya goes high and hits it with one big kick, a direct hit that sends it skyward. Its body breaks as it flies up, soaring back to splash down into the lake. No sign of it coming back from that sort of hit. A moment later Marken is there, Anne behind him and Sanda back as well. Long moments of silence before, "Nice kick," Marken
19:03 <•Kotono> says. OOC: Free act. One shot crit does things.
19:04 <•Kotono> "There may be more than one," Anne braces in the meantime, "Don't let your guard down."
19:04 — Skaya grins at Marken, giving him a victory sign.
19:06 <•Kotono> Marken gives a brief nod, turning his gaze to the lake as well. "At least they're not terribly durable," he says, "One or two good blows seems to be enough."
19:07 <•Devar> "Sorry, it sounded like you'd run into these things already down here?" Devar asks.
19:08 <Skaya> Now that she's met with two of them already, Skaya thinks back to her studies. Are they natural, or is it some subtle chimera?
19:09 <•Kotono> They aren't natural as far as Skaya knows. Flying, invisible sorta shark fish aren't in the normal bestiary, so to say. Likely a wizard's behind it.
19:09 <•Kotono> "We did, one of them," Anne says, as - splash. Splash, splash, splash. More splashes from the lake. While still mostly invisible, you can see at least three more of them rise up from the depths of the dark underground lake.
19:10 <Skaya> "Yeah, there was another one in that small pond that we crossed to get here," she responds to Devar. "And looks like they're not natural. I was thinking the last one was stretching it, but the flying thing is too much."
19:10 <•Devar> "At least the water gives their presence away." He says.
19:11 <•Kotono> "And here we go," Anne says, "Sanda, stay back!"
19:12 <•Kotono> "I can participate just fine, you overarmored goldheart!" Sanda fires back, staff at the ready.
19:12 <Skaya> "The staff is a last resort!" Skaya agrees. "That looks more impressive, too!"
19:12 <•Kotono> OOC: Init regardless at this point. You clearl yhave a problem, or this entire lake has a problem. Either way it's not good.
19:12 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
19:12 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=13 ]{19}
19:12 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+5 Marken
19:12 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+5 Marken --> [ 1d20=13 ]{18}
19:12 <•Devar> roll 1d20+2
19:12 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+2 --> [ 1d20=16 ]{18}
19:12 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+2 Anne
19:12 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+2 Anne --> [ 1d20=9 ]{11}
19:12 <•Kotono> roll 1d20 Sanda
19:12 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20 Sanda --> [ 1d20=12 ]{12}
19:12 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+3 Shark 1?
19:12 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+3 Shark 1? --> [ 1d20=13 ]{16}
19:12 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+3 Shark 2?
19:12 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+3 Shark 2? --> [ 1d20=7 ]{10}
19:13 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+3 Shark 3?
19:13 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+3 Shark 3? --> [ 1d20=7 ]{10}
19:13 <•Kotono> Init is Skaya (19) > Marken = Devar (18) > Shark 1 (16) > Sanda (12) > Anne (11) > Shark 2 = Shark 3 (10)
19:14 <•Kotono> OOC: Go Skaya. Right now they're out over the lake.
19:16 <Skaya> "Come!" Skaya invites the sharks, waiting to intercept the first one to dash their way!
19:16 <Skaya> OOC: I'll hold until Shark 1 comes over
19:16 <•Kotono> OOC: Devar's up, go.
19:17 <•Kotono> Marken meanwhile holds as well, ready to intercept any sharks that come at him (obviously) or Sanda, or otherwise react.
19:18 <•Devar> There's not much to be done at this range, so Devar waits along with the others, sword at the ready! OOC: Holding too
19:19 <•Kotono> The first shark soars in, going in the direction of Devar, soaring towards him and...OOC: Go ahead, whomever wants to take their held action here. Marken'll hold longer since there's more than one and Skaya'll probably want to get the first one again.
19:20 — Skaya dashes to intercept it with an uppercut!
19:20 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6+2 charge~
19:20 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6+2 charge~ --> [ 1d20=10 ]{18}
19:21 <Skaya> roll 1d6+3+4
19:21 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d6+3+4 --> [ 1d6=3 ]{10}
19:21 <•Devar> OOC: I'll go if that doesn't kill it
19:22 <•Kotono> Init is Marken = Devar (18) > Skaya (16) > Sanda (12) > Anne (11) > Shark 2 = Shark 3 (10)
19:22 <•Kotono> OOC: No need yet.
19:23 <•Kotono> Skaya rushes forward and meets it at the edge of the lake. An uppercut sends it flying, course intercepted and body broken. It's knocked flying away as meanwhile -! OOC: Perception for Marken and Devar.
19:23 <•Devar> roll 1d20+7
19:23 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+7 --> [ 1d20=16 ]{23}
19:24 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+8
19:24 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+8 --> [ 1d20=8 ]{16}
19:25 <•Kotono> ! It's very subtle, but Devar sees a few droplets of water above. The barest glance and from straight above, one of those nearl yinvisible sharks is barreling down at Anne's head. Marken doesn't react to it, no sign he sees it.
19:26 <•Devar> "Above you, Anne!" Devar shouts in her direction!
19:27 <•Kotono> Anne at least looks up, some level of reaction as...!
19:27 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+8 (+2 charge)
19:27 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+8 (+2 charge) --> [ 1d20=6 ]{14}
19:28 <•Kotono> Your warning was just in time by the barest margin. Anne begins to move and what would've been a head on collision is instead an impact with her armored shoulder. The flying fish shimmers into more visibility as Anne grunts in pain, but avoided the worst of it as...OOC: More.
19:28 <•Kotono> Init is Marken = Devar (18) > Skaya (16) > Shark 4 (15) > Sanda (12) > Anne (11) > Shark 2 = Shark 3 (10)
19:29 <•Kotono> "Are they ambushers?!" Sanda cries, "They're ambushing us! You terrible little things!"
19:30 <•Kotono> Marken looks up - just in time to see another one coming down at Sanda's head. "Shaundakul-" he breathes out, before, "Sanda! Dodge!"
19:30 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+8 (+2 charge)
19:30 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+8 (+2 charge) --> [ 1d20=11 ]{19}
19:30 <•Kotono> roll 1d10+4+1d6
19:30 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d10+4+1d6 --> [ 1d10=7 1d6=2 ]{13}
19:31 <•Kotono> Init is Marken = Devar (18) > Skaya (16) > Shark 4 (15) > Shark 5 (13) > Sanda (12) > Anne (11) > Shark 2 = Shark 3 (10)
19:32 <•Kotono> The flying monster slams down and knocks Sanda flat, the collision bad. What's worse is it begins to bite her head, chomping on as if it wants to turn her brain into a snack. For her part Sanda's down, no signs of movement as...OOC: Devar and Marken, are you going to take your held turns at this point? Chance before I move forward with Sanda's turn.
19:33 <Skaya> "Sanda!"
19:35 <•Devar> OOC: Yeah, I'll try and move towards Sanda to help out with the shark-thing
19:35 <•Kotono> OOC: Sure, go for it.
19:35 <•Kotono> Init is Marken (18) > Skaya (16) > Shark 4 (15) > Shark 5 = Devar (13) > Sanda (12) > Anne (11) > Shark 2 = Shark 3 (10)
19:36 <•Devar> Devar runs over to Sanda to try and get rid of the shark off of her, or at least make for another target!
19:36 <•Devar> roll 1d20+5
19:36 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=5 ]{10}
19:39 <•Kotono> Devar races over but can't quite land a blow. He has to check his blow, unable to get an angle that won't hit Sanda as well as the shark. Marken's right there with him, and tries himself, trying to get it and off of her, "Wanderer, bless my blows!"
19:39 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+5
19:39 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=10 ]{15}
19:40 <•Kotono> roll 1d8+3
19:40 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d8+3 --> [ 1d8=6 ]{9}
19:40 <•Kotono> Init is Skaya (16) > Shark 4 (15) > Marken = Devar (13) > Sanda (12) > Anne (11) > Shark 2 = Shark 3 (10)
19:41 <•Kotono> A heavy enough blow breaks the shark, making it go limp even as blood begins to flow down from where it's still bitten into Sanda's head, the sides of it and the front. Anne meanwhile is rather busy, whirling on the shark that attacked her, carefully stepping aside and kneeling, "Sanda," she cries, "I call on you, my master, bring hope!"
19:41 <•Kotono> roll 1d8+3
19:41 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d8+3 --> [ 1d8=5 ]{8}
19:42 <•Kotono> The healing stops the bleeding and Sanda manages a groan, a coughing gasp for air. However, that's not the end, and the two remaining sharks are charging - one at Skaya and one at Marken, both flying in only half seen.
19:42 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+8 (+2 charge) vs Skaya
19:42 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+8 (+2 charge) vs Skaya --> [ 1d20=6 ]{14}
19:42 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+8 (+2 charge) vs Marken
19:43 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+8 (+2 charge) vs Marken --> [ 1d20=10 ]{18}
19:43 <•Kotono> OOC: AC?
19:44 <Skaya> OOC: 14 due to charging
19:45 <•Kotono> roll 1d10+4 Skaya ow
19:45 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d10+4 Skaya ow --> [ 1d10=9 ]{13}
19:45 <•Kotono> roll 1d10+4 Marken ow
19:45 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d10+4 Marken ow --> [ 1d10=5 ]{9}
19:46 <•Kotono> OOC: HP after that?
19:46 <Skaya> OOC: 10
19:47 <•Kotono> Pain. Pain fills everything Skaya does as her shoulder gets chomped. Overwhelming pain as part of her is torn away, devoured before her eyes. She's aware she's bleeding from it, starting to bleed quite a lot as...OOC: Go Skaya.
19:47 <•Kotono> Meanwhile, Market is slammed into, his hand bitten down on with howl of pain. "You little b-" is all Marken can manage as he struggles, "Kill them now, while they're vulnerable!"
19:48 <Skaya> If it had been before she'd left on this trip, Skaya would be shocked. But she'd been wounded worse by the bandit ambush, and been in more dangerous situations after. With Sanda and Anne safe for the time being, she focuses on punching the shark attached to her!
19:48 <Skaya> roll 2#1d20+4+4
19:48 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 2#1d20+4+4 --> [ 1d20=12 ]{20}, [ 1d20=18 ]{26}
19:48 <Skaya> roll 2#1d6+3
19:48 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 2#1d6+3 --> [ 1d6=4 ]{7}, [ 1d6=4 ]{7}
19:52 <•Kotono> Init is Skaya (16) > Shark 4 (15) > Marken = Devar (13) > Sanda (12) > Anne (11) > Shark 3 (10)
19:54 <•Kotono> A pair of blows break the shark, sending its body skipping along the ground and still. It doesnt't rise, as meanwhile the fourth shark carefully retreats upward, flying back up and out of range. OOC: Marke and Devar, go, there's one shark left, the one that bit Marken.
19:55 <Skaya> OOC: Aren't there 2? What about the one that attacked Anne?
19:55 <•Kotono> OOC: That's the one that just withdrew.
19:56 <•Kotono> OOC: The other one is the one that bit Marken, which is still in hitting and stabbin' range if that's your intent.
19:56 <Skaya> OOC: Yeah, got it
19:57 <•Devar> Devar takes another swing at the final shark!
19:57 <•Devar> roll 1d20+5
19:57 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=6 ]{11}
19:57 <•Devar> OOC: I am not very good at fighting sharks, it seems
19:57 <•Kotono> OOC: Geez. Don't go swimming in Florida land this year.
20:01 <•Kotono> Another valiant swing and a miss, Devar not able to connect. Marken grimaces and places his good hand right agaisnt the fish's body, "Go still as the winter roads," he hisses, as ice crystals gather around his hand before-!
20:01 <•Kotono> roll 3d6
20:01 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 3d6 --> [ 3d6=11 ]{11}
20:01 <•Kotono> roll 1d20+5 touch AC whoops
20:01 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+5 touch AC whoops --> [ 1d20=18 ]{23}
20:02 <•Kotono> In an instant the fish is frosted over and no longer biting desperately. For the moment at least, you're almost safe - if not for the shark still above. Sanda whimpers, "It hurts!" as she removes the shark from her head. She has bleeding wounds on her sides and around her nose. Shallow ones now thankfully, but her face is still stained red. OOC: Sanda wanted to remove the fish off of her. Not
20:02 <•Kotono> optimal but reasonable enough in her position. Anne's up.
20:03 <•Kotono> Anne bows her head, "Mercy! Mercy and hope, I ask of you! In the name of your Lady Jetina, bring forth healing!" Warm, gentle golden light fills the area around all of you, restoring all but Anne.
20:03 <•Kotono> roll 2d6 channel energy healing for all
20:03 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 2d6 channel energy healing for all --> [ 2d6=6 ]{6}
20:03 <•Kotono> Init is Skaya (16) > Shark 4 (15) > Marken = Devar (13) > Sanda (12) > Anne (11)
20:03 <•Kotono> OOC: Skaya, go, in case you have anything to do with the shark. It's 20ft above you now.
20:04 <Skaya> "There is no escape!" Skaya declares, and a pair of missiles shoot out towards the shark.
20:04 <Skaya> roll 2d4+2
20:04 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 2d4+2 --> [ 2d4=4 ]{6}
20:05 <•Kotono> Both missiles hit, rocking the shark in the air. It's not down and flees away 20ft, back over the waters of the lake and fleeing. Marken withdraws his only partly maimed hand now and grabs his holy symbol, "Shaundakul, the path is long, be with us!"
20:05 <•Kotono> roll 2d6 channel energy for healing everyone but him
20:05 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 2d6 channel energy for healing everyone but him --> [ 2d6=6 ]{6}
20:05 <Skaya> "Sanda, can you shoot that fleeing shark?"
20:05 <•Kotono> By now Sanda's wounds are gone, as Skaya's shoulder restores itself. At the same time...OOC: Devar.
20:07 <•Devar> Devar puts a hand on Marken's shoulder. "We can't leave it bleeding like that, hold still." He says. OOC: 4 points of lay on hands healing.
20:07 <•Kotono> The wounded hand seals over, the bleeding stopped. He flexes it before he nods, "My thanks." Sanda meanwhile manages to get up, and on wobbly legs points, "Just die, you stupid illogical fish! You're a statistical anomaly, and anomalies die!"
20:07 <•Kotono> roll 2d5+2
20:07 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 2d5+2 --> [ 2d5=5 ]{7}
20:08 <•Kotono> roll 2d4+2
20:08 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 2d4+2 --> [ 2d4=6 ]{8}
20:08 <•Kotono> Two missiles slam through it, this time the fish falling broken and dead. It splashes down and no more splashes come up. For now at least, it seems to be over. OOC: Free act.
20:08 <Skaya> "Nice job! Are you still dizzy?"
20:10 <•Kotono> With a stumble Sanda goes to Anne and leans on her for support. "A little," she answers, as Anne bears this and helps her.
20:11 <Skaya> "Hang in there a little longer," she says, before turning towards Marken. "How about you? Any lingering pains?"
20:11 <•Kotono> "We should gather the fish. Both to let others know what's down here, and in case they're worth anything rendered down," Anne comments. "If a great many of these have been bred, then there's an expendible force of disposable fodder."
20:11 <•Kotono> "My hand's fine. You?" Marken asks, still flexing his hand open and closed.
20:12 <•Kotono> "I don't you got hurt, at least, Devar?" Marken then asks him, "Fortune favors you today."
20:12 <Skaya> "Some pain but no loss of function. If you can spare more healing once we get back, it'd be great," Skaya responds. "Anne, Devar, you two doing good?" She hadn't seen them get injured seriously, but it did get chaotic.
20:12 <•Devar> "Have you all had any time to investigate these sharks?" Devar asks, looking down at one of the corpses. "I'm just rather curious what we're dealing with here... ah, no, I'm fine, they didn't hit me at all."
20:14 <Skaya> "At first it seemed like a chameleon shark species, but since they're flying they're clearly man-made," Skaya responds, looking for the more intact corpses. Probably not ones she beat up, huh.
20:14 <•Kotono> "I'm fine," Anne answers, "A bruise at worst, and that's gone now."
20:15 <•Kotono> There's a few. Not fully intact for obvious reasons, but still more or less in one piece. The one Marken froze in particular is in good shape and even on ice (temporarily).
20:15 <•Devar> Devar nods. "I'm no expert, but I'm happy to help try and figure out if they're just regular animals that were altered or just... I guess constructs of some nature, maybe?"
20:16 <•Kotono> "Hm," Sanda kneels to inspect the frozen one, "I don't see any signs of golemization, but I wouldn't rule anything out. AT the least they're absolutely the creations of magic."
20:16 <Skaya> "Well, statistically speaking," Skaya says with a grin, "aren't they chimera? What with us investigating the chimera, and running into a birdog chimera nearby, and the wizard living right here in the rock?"
20:16 <•Kotono> "Golem...zation?" Anne asks, "Is that truly a word? Is birdog even a word as well?"
20:17 <Skaya> "How do you think words are added to the language?"
20:17 <•Kotono> "Of course they are, but they can be something else as well. A dog is both a canine and a pet." Sanda answers.
20:17 <•Kotono> "Oghma reveals us new words and we accept them?" Anne answers back, "Those of knowledge teach us and we accept their gifts."
20:18 <Skaya> "Words can appear in speech and if they are widely-accepted, they are added formally later on! So someone can be creating and introducing new words every moment, somewhere!"
20:20 <•Kotono> "REgardless," Marken cuts in, "I suggest we retreat out with these, regroup and recover. That battle was not easy, and more may come. This is not a good place to sit and discuss."
20:22 — Skaya grabs the frozen shark in agreement, saying, "Devar and Marken, can you bring another one with you? Two should be enough. Anne, you can lead the way, Sanda after you, I'll bring up the rear."
20:24 <•Devar> "Sure." He agrees, leaning down to grab one that looks the most intact.
20:24 <•Kotono> The party moves to do so and from there...
20:24 <•Kotono> roll 1d100
20:24 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=60 ]{60}
20:24 <•Kotono> roll 1d100+5
20:24 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100+5 --> [ 1d100=78 ]{83}
20:25 <•Kotono> Fortunately, the trip back out is safe. You emerge into the afternoon and fresh air, safe and sound. Regis awaits, "How'd it go," he asks, gnawing on a bit of jerky.
20:25 <Skaya> "So these stealth sharks. They can fly!"
20:26 <•Kotono> "What?!" From a tent Rina is heard, then she pokes her head out of one. "But they can FLY? As in the air like a bird."
20:27 <•Kotono> "Truly?" Regis says slowly, "Like a bird?" he echos.
20:27 <•Kotono> "Like big, evil birds," Anne agrees, "Cursed things."
20:27 <Skaya> "Slower than a bird. But they're huge! Geez, they drop on your head from cover!"
20:27 <•Kotono> "Like a predator laying a trap," Regis asks.
20:28 <Skaya> "They're pretty smart, yeah. We brought a few back!"
20:28 <•Kotono> "Just so," Marken says. "Possibly pack tactics like wolves as well, but I'm not certain based one encounter. Maybe they just attack in groups or were controlled, I don't know."
20:29 <•Kotono> "I'll like to take one apart," Sanda says, "But bringing these back and letting others know of the threat is only smart. Though I wonder how long they can be out of water?"
20:30 <•Devar> "They were also smart enough to know to be stealthy." Devar points out.
20:30 <Skaya> "I don't think it's a short time. Because they can fly."
20:30 <•Kotono> "We should request more gold when we get back to Mellanics, this job is more dangerous than I thought," Regis grumbles, "Because they can fly. Of course they can fly."
20:31 <Skaya> "I'm serious! When the last one was retreating, it was flying away over water. Not diving into the water."
20:31 <•Kotono> "Of course. More reason that we need hope," Anne agrees, "That part's interesting to me as well, and that's a good point, Skaya."
20:31 <•Kotono> "They may be able to breathe air indefinitely," Marken speculates, "Perhaps they sleep or mate in the water, but otherwise don't need it?"
20:33 <•Kotono> "Mate...? Oh no, we have tos top them before they end up in lakes and rivers all around. It would be a disaster," Rina calls, the sound of clothes and shuffling. She emerges and says, "Imagine if breeding pairs of these got out beyond these caves and laid long low enough to establish numbers."
20:33 <Skaya> "So let's summarize our findings so far," Skaya voices. "There are a lot of these flying stealth sharks in at least two nearby underground ponds. There is a bird-dog-earth elemental chimera we met nearby. There are also at least two ancient plaques talking in Draconic of a great power beneath, who were moved and secretly posed in different places. And there is a wizard who went into the rock with some magic, likely a door
20:33 <Skaya> triggered with magic."
20:33 <•Kotono> "Those lizards were bad enough, and we had to wipe out the nest to the last egg," Regis seconds, "It was horrible."
20:35 <•Kotono> Anne goes to sit on a nearby rock, big enough for her. "If we paint with what we have, we get a picture of a mage or mages conducting horrible experiments and succeeding, possibly with something below the drained lake."
20:35 <Skaya> "And it's been affecting the nearby communities, too, according by rumors and from Regis and Rina's personal experience."
20:37 <•Kotono> "Everything about this is horrible and we need to apply ample fire,d eath and destruction to purify it," Anne concludes. "Does that sound correct?"
20:37 <•Devar> "There was also that giant statue-elemental thing that seemed to be asleep." Devar adds. "I'm not sure that helps with anything, though."
20:38 <•Kotono> "Oh, and they're playing with elementals ins ome fashion as well. Just because this couldn't be worse." Anne adds.
20:38 <Skaya> "Maybe that's the might below?" Skaya shrugs. "We keep on thinking it means going deeper, but we're already pretty deep as is. Hey, how about we have Sanda ask the elementals? We know down what path we can find them."
20:39 <•Kotono> "That's a good next move tomorrow," Marken says, "I suggest we take these fish back, rest a night and attempt this fresh in the morning. Give a little time for whatever we stirred up to calm down as well."
20:40 <Skaya> "Sure."
20:41 <•Kotono> "I'd also suggest we look into long ranged options, if you lack them. Bow and arrow, darts or even a sling and stones," Anne goes on, "More reliable options would've helped us at a few points down there. There's still all those slimes, too."
20:41 <•Kotono> Sanda speaks up here, "Or be civilized and learn magic missile."
20:42 — Skaya nods here. "Magic missile works."
20:42 <•Kotono> "Not repeatable," Anne says flatly, "Hope is not something cast once and forgotten. Better to have it and not need it than need it and die for not having it."
20:43 <•Kotono> "If you can't cast magic missile enough, then you need to get better at magic," Sanda retorts with a bit of heat. "But yes fine, statistically buying a sling makes sense, or throwing darts."
20:44 <•Kotono> "Hey, is something...?" Regis begins, "No, let's do this another way. Stop it. Infighting gets people killed. Whatever's bothering both of you, talk about it tonight once we have some free time and you can do it privately."
20:45 <Skaya> "I can use a longbow, but they're pretty expensive. Not a good investment for just dabblers. A sling works, I suppose."
20:45 <•Kotono> "A sling's cheap," Rina pipes in here, "And I have more darts in my pack if people like them. Or even a throwing dagger if you're good with them."
20:45 <•Kotono> Anne bows her head and shuts up.
20:46 <•Kotono> Sanda does likewise as meanwhile Marken clears his throat, "Let's all go back. A good meal and drink will help as well."
20:49 <Skaya> "Sure!"
20:50 <•Kotono> roll 1d100-5
20:50 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100-5 --> [ 1d100=6 ]{1}
20:50 <•Kotono> Your trip back? Perfectly peaceful and...OOC: Do you two want to get into any details here about the mundane stuff? Also, any to dos beyond basic upkeep in town?
20:51 <•Devar> OOC: Nothing notable for me, I'll help with the shark stuff if anyone needs it
20:52 <Skaya> OOC: I'll buy a sling and some stones and some darts and a few sai. Nothing ic.
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

Devar

20:54 <•Kotono> That evening, Devar stands outside of the inn they're at. As he does, he sees Anne out of her armor and in a simple traveling dress, coming back to the inn with a bag. She nods at Devar as she passes, "Good evening."
20:56 <•Devar> He offers her a nod. "Evening. Talk about turning over a rock to find something underneath it, huh."
20:58 <•Kotono> "It's been a tough day," Anne agrees, "Come join me for a drink? I'd like to talk about something else - who you serve, and who I serve."
20:59 <•Devar> "Sure." He says with a nod.
21:00 <•Kotono> A pair of drinks and a decent enough (if old) taproom is good enough. Only a few other people are here, so the two of you have space and privacy. Anne has a mug of ale and drinks deep, then sets it down. "So who is it you serve, Devar?"
21:03 <•Devar> "Eldath." He says simply. "Formerly Tempus, but..." A shake of his head. "I doubt I need to explain to you in too much detail the why part of it."
21:08 <•Kotono> "I know many former followers of Tempus, Marken's one." Anne answers, drinking again, "Eldath. Pacifism, I believe?"
21:10 <•Devar> "Correct - but don't get me wrong, I'm not going to put myself in between all of you and shout that we find a nonviolent path for some evildoer." He says. "If a peaceful resolution is possible then it's my preference... but doing good in the world is more important to me."
21:14 <•Kotono> An accepting nod, another drink. "I've heard there's not many followers of Eldath because battle is so often necessary. It's not an easy path. But then again, few are easy. I think it's admirable that you're willing to try."
21:17 <•Devar> "I've thought about vows of noviolence and poverty in the past, but they're just not for me." He says, swirling a drink around a few times. "I think I can be more helpful just doing my best out there. Seems like you guys all have a really diverse bunch of devotees."
21:18 <•Kotono> "We were drawn together thanks to Rina and Regis," Anne answers, "So it was a matter of who they know. Myself, I follow Moore. Are you familiar with him? He's one who arose in the Godsrush."
21:22 <•Devar> "Hmm... Oh, he's the hope-y one, right?" Devar says. "I know that sort of diminishes what he stands for, but that's not my intent. I know how powerful that sort of thing can be - hope for a better tomorrow got me out of a lot of really bad situations."
21:25 <•Kotono> "Yes, exactly." Anne brightens, "He participated in the battles of the Final Day as well. I follow him, but I pay respects to the others with him. Cresiel and Kaja, Xandra and Jetina the healer. Though not Lady Sylvie. Unless she speaks to you, it's forbidden and it's said misfortune comes on those who ignore that. They all support Moore, just as the Red Knight and Garagos support Tempus."
21:29 <•Devar> "Someone like him probably really brought all of those other ones together." He says with a bit of a jealous smile. "Or... however all of that stuff works," he waves a hand in the air vaguely. "Not for us mortals to know, but, I'm glad its a situation where all of you can get along even if you follow differing paths."
21:32 <•Kotono> "It's nice," Annea grees, "Before the civil war, Tempus dominated this kingdom. It's nice that things are so much better now."
21:33 <•Devar> "It..." He pauses for a second. "You'd think that everyone following one god would create order and make everyone happier, but... it really turns people into zealots."
21:33 <•Devar> "Or maybe I should say it can, if left completely alone." He adds.
21:35 <•Kotono> "It can," Anne agrees, "So here we are instead."
21:36 <•Devar> "Well, I don't know where your paths are taking all of you after this... weird hole-in-the-ground business is over, but I'll be happy to help out." He says. "You all seem like good people."
21:39 <•Kotono> A toast to yo uat that and Anne finishes her drink. "Good, I'm glad we won't have any problems. Marken's agreeable as well. Sanda and I even had a talk and cleared the strife between us."
21:40 <•Devar> "I'm glad to hear that." He says with a nod. "Oh, have you checked out those... creatures yet? I really have to wonder what we're ultimately dealing with..."
21:41 <•Kotono> "Sanda did, they're bizarre," Anne answers, "She can give you the details better than I."
21:44 <•Devar> He nods. "Hm, still have to wonder about that password, too. Unfortunately it could be anything, so unless we can catch them in the act of opening it or have something that can fool it, we're kind of out of luck there."
18:49 <•Kotono> "It could be anything," Anne comments, "Or in any language, or not even be a word. Still, it's an option if all else fails in this."
18:53 <Devar> "We might get lucky and find out they wrote it down." Devar says. "But either way, we still have more questions than answers, so hopefully the answers start turning up."
18:58 <•Kotono> "There's always hope for that," Anne smiles back at that.
18:59 ↔ •Kotono (promoted to owner, opped) nipped out 
19:00 <Devar> "Indeed." Devar agrees. "Hopefully they come without any bloodshed."
19:00 <•Kotono> OOC: Good there, Devar?
19:02 <Devar> OOC yep
19:07 <•Kotono> OOC: Lemme just finish up Cor then.
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

Skaya

20:57 <•Kotono> ----
20:59 <•Kotono> Skaya rests in her room after dinner for a bit. A chance to recover and get it together, and that's when someone enters. Sanda comes right in, "Skaya, are you busy?"
21:00 <Skaya> "Even if I were, I'd always have time for my friend," she says pleasantly. "Want some tea?"
21:01 <•Kotono> "Yes, please," Sanda closes the door behind her, sits down and rests her head in her hand. "Logically, whomever is doing this must be a genius. Those fish are good at what they do."
21:02 <Skaya> "I figured," Skaya agrees, taking out an extra cup and pouring some of her favorite tea for Sanda. "You wanted to go over what you found out?"
21:06 <•Kotono> "It's disturbing," Sanda says, "They meld together so well. They have a fully invisible organ as well that seems to become mostly inactive once they die, but still does something to make the organ itself invisible. A few tufts of hair grow inside as well, for no reason I can understand. They have no way to excrete waste, they fully process whatever they consume. They might be omnivorous
21:06 <•Kotono> rather than carnivores, as I found signs of algae and plants in their stomachs. They have a poison gland that doesn't connect to anything, but is full of poison. As far as I can tell, they don't use it."
21:07 <Skaya> "Is it wrong to feel a bit jealous here?"
21:12 <•Kotono> "At the skill of whomever did this? No. Genius. Mad genius, but genius." Sanda concludes. "Statistically, they're quite lucky to have those gifts, even if they're using them all wrong."
21:13 — Skaya laughs. "I'm actually thinking of being able to eat anything and everything. It's so inconvenient to actually eat food normally!"
21:17 <•Kotono> "Really?" Sanda asks, a little headtilt.
21:19 <Skaya> "Sanda. There are parts of our lives that are pointless. Wouldn't you want the ability to skip on that nonsense and do more productive or fun things? As proof, the celestials or the frogs don't need to go to the bathroom!"
21:20 <•Kotono> "Yes, but food tastes good," Sanda counters, "Don't you want to eat things that taste good?"
21:21 <Skaya> "I do! I want to eat delicious things and then I want to have them magically turn into energy and strength and mana for me."
21:22 <•Kotono> "Yes, but that's what your digestive system does," Sanda says, "That's not the worst thing in the world, and well...that's why Chauntea made leaves as well, I suppose."
21:23 <Skaya> "I wonder how many wizards came up with a spell to deal with this, and kept it as their secret inheritance."
21:27 <•Kotono> "Statistically speaking?" Sanda asks back.
21:27 <Skaya> "Sure."
21:27 <•Kotono> Sanda raises her hand.
21:28 <Skaya> "Wow! Please teach me!"
21:28 <•Kotono> "I can do that if you want," Sanda says, "Once this is all over."
21:30 <Skaya> "Thanks!" Cheerful now, Skaya reminds her, "We've also drifted a bit from the topic. Did you identify a weakness, beyond their glass jaw? A signature of the wizard? Signs of more than one wizard cooperating?"
21:37 <•Kotono> "No. They're not hard to kill if you lay a weapon on them, but no particular weaknesses otherwise," A headshake, "Nothing like that, unfortunately. Just whatever you make out of their strange nature."
21:39 — Skaya takes a sip of her tea thoughtfully. "What about the invisible organ? Is it active magic?"
21:40 <•Kotono> "Very faint,b ut yes. I suspect it'll fail soon, but?" A pause, "Who knows with these things?"
21:42 <Skaya> "Is it a good component for magical items? We could harvest some more and sell them," Skaya muses. "There's a spell that preserves corpses, so it could work, or the ice."
21:43 <•Kotono> "I have no idea," Sanda replies, "I'd assume it is but it would have to be tested."
21:43 <Skaya> "Want to test it? If you manage to make something decent, it's yours!"
18:51 <•Kotono> "Of course," Sanda agrees right away, then yawns. "Even if not tonight. Tomorrow will be taxing."
18:52 <Skaya> "Want to spend a few days working on it? While your contribution is important, we can just explore the cave system a bit in the meantime."
18:58 <•Kotono> "I may," Sanda says, "What's the plan for tomorrow?"
18:59 ↔ •Kotono (promoted to owner, opped) nipped out 
19:00 <Skaya> "I was going to take a look at that other path where a sign indicating slime had been placed. Since we suspect the ancient markers were moved, I've been wondering if the new ones were really placed by adventurers or a trap of sorts."
19:01 <•Kotono> "Statistically speaking probably not, but," Sanda muses, "Statistics get strange arounda dventurers at times."
19:02 <Skaya> "Plus I don't think there's much of a statistical sample for placard placed in underground caverns by unknown persons."
19:07 <•Kotono> "Exactly," Sanda continues in thought, "Still...was there anything else?"
19:10 <Skaya> "I want to go down the path earth elementals populated, but it can wait. Especially if we can manage some exciting invisibility!"
19:13 <•Kotono> A nod at that as...OOC: Anything else to do here?
19:15 <Skaya> OOC: We're good
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

19:15 <•Kotono> OOC: Okay, plans for the next day?
19:16 <Skaya> With Sanda deciding to stay and research magic, they will leave Marken with her for support and venture into the caves!
19:18 <•Kotono> OOC: Okay, anything to contribute to that, Devar? Just want both of your inputs before starting this off.
19:19 <Devar> OOC: nope I'm just here to help so I'll follow along
19:23 <•Kotono> Thus the remaining group returns to the caves in a cloudy, darker day that threatens storms. Skaya, Devar, Anne, Regis and Rina all proceed onwards as...OOC: Where in the caves are ou going?
19:24 <Skaya> Their very first exploration came to a a crossroad, where one path indicated slimes. Now, they've picked up some more ranged options and fought a slime, so they might as well check it out!
19:27 <•Kotono> roll 1d100
19:27 <•Kotono> OOC: One sec.
19:29 → Kobot joined (~dunefar@lunarnet-82C188CE.hr.hr.cox.net)
19:29 <•Kotono> roll 1d100
19:29 <Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=57 ]{57}
19:29 <•Kotono> You make it back to that passage without incident and begin to go down. OOC: Perception, both of you, start of session check for reference.
19:32 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
19:32 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=11 ]{17}
19:33 <Devar> Roll 1d20+7
19:33 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+7 --> [ 1d20=15 ]{22}
19:45 <•Kotono> You head down the passage and into a larger room. Here, around a shallow lake of drip water in the center of the room, lie perhaps half a dozen semi transparent gray slimes. They're rather large, masses that sit about or slowly slither around. Several skeletons are here, including intact gear including weapons, backpacks, coinbags and armor.
19:45 <•Kotono> OOC: Gah.
19:45 <•Kotono> You head down the passage and into a larger room. Here, around a shallow lake of drip water in the center of the room, lie perhaps half a dozen semi transparent gray slimes. They're rather large, masses that sit about or slowly slither around. Several skeletons are here, including intact gear including weapons, backpacks, coinbags and armor.  Beyond all this is a side passage going deeper down,
19:45 <•Kotono> half obscured but still visible.
19:46 <Skaya> "Since everyone got ranged options this time, we're good on taking out at least two from afar?"
19:48 <•Kotono> "It's a good haul," Regis peers ahead, "But if those slimes manage to get to us or have any surprises, we may be in trouble."
19:48 <Devar> "I'm confused about something - how can they not dissolve the other items?" Devar asks. "The backpacks at least should've been destroyed if they can turn someone into a skeleton..."
19:48 <Devar> "Did you all fight these already?" He asks as a follow-up.
19:48 <•Kotono> "Magic, it has to be," Rina says, "Maybe the slimes are like the other creatures here, but we can't tell because slimes."
19:49 <•Kotono> "We did face one slime already," Anne agrees, "Not a terribly enjoyable battle."
19:49 <Skaya> "It could be similar to the way you digest some foods but not others, or it could even be a personal preference," Skaya responds. "Ah, but keep in mind! They're slower than us, so retreat is absolutely possible!"
19:50 <Devar> He nods to them both.
19:51 <•Kotono> "Could be," Regis rubs his chin, "It's certainly worth trying. The reward looks lucrative."
19:52 <Skaya> "Alright! I'm at the front! Don't group up and stay at range. If someone still doesn't have a ranged attack after all this or runs out of weapons, keep an eye out on our exit to avoid getting boxed in."
19:56 <•Kotono> "I got it," Regis says, as the pool is about 40ft away and the closest slime is 30ft away. How are you going to do this then?
19:57 <Skaya> "Target the second closest slime," Skaya tells everyone, intending to strike before they're spotted.
19:57 <Skaya> OOC: Let's all shoot it!
20:00 <•Kotono> OOC: Surprise round, all. Go for it.
20:00 <•Kotono> OOC: I'll resolve NPCs in a moment, you two go first.
20:00 <Skaya> OOC: Since everyone should have a sling at least, and it's 50ft for range, we'll shoot and then move 30 ft back. I'll still be at the front of our group by 10ft.
20:01 <Skaya> roll 1d20+5 sling~
20:01 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+5 sling~ --> [ 1d20=2 ]{7}
20:01 <Devar> Devar isn't the most practiced with a sling but it shouldn't be too hard... so he fires off one of the bullets!
20:01 <Devar> Roll 1d20+5
20:01 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=17 ]{22}
20:01 <Devar> Roll 1d4+2
20:01 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d4+2 --> [ 1d4=2 ]{4}
20:01 <•Kotono> OOC: Bot hit, roll damage.
20:02 <Skaya> roll 1d4+3+4 amazing, also cunning insight
20:02 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d4+3+4 amazing, also cunning insight --> [ 1d4=1 ]{8}
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

18:58 <•Anastasia> ----
19:00 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+3 Regis
19:00 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+3 Regis --> [ 1d20=4 ]{7}
19:00 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+5 Rina
19:00 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+5 Rina --> [ 1d20=5 ]{10}
19:00 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+1
19:00 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+1 --> [ 1d3=2 ]{3}
19:00 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+2
19:00 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+2 --> [ 1d3=3 ]{5}
19:03 <•Anastasia> "In the name of hope, be silenced!" Anne calls at the same time, as...
19:03 <•Anastasia> roll 1d8 sonic damage and immune to stun, unfortunately
19:03 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d8 sonic damage and immune to stun, unfortunately --> [ 1d8=2 ]{2}
19:04 <•Anastasia> The slimes are slammed, the main target hit several times while sounds jostles the two up front. Yet none of them are down from that barrage, even if your main target is perforated in several spots. They're starting to move now, coming at the party. OOC: You got what you wanted. Init.
19:05 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+2 Anne
19:05 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+2 Anne --> [ 1d20=4 ]{6}
19:05 <•Devar> roll 1d20+2
19:05 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+2 --> [ 1d20=9 ]{11}
19:05 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+5 Regis
19:05 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+5 Regis --> [ 1d20=6 ]{11}
19:05 <Skaya> OOC: I also wanted us to move 30ft back afterwards, let's say we did
19:05 <•Anastasia> OOC: Rina, sorry.
19:05 <Skaya> roll 1d20+6
19:05 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=6 ]{12}
19:05 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+3 Regis
19:05 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+3 Regis --> [ 1d20=7 ]{10}
19:05 <•Anastasia> OOC: Okay.
19:05 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20-5 slimes
19:05 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20-5 slimes --> [ 1d20=7 ]{2}
19:06 <•Anastasia> Init is Skaya (12) > Devar = Rina  (11) > Regis (10) > Anne (6) > Slimes (2)
19:07 <•Anastasia> The party moves back 30ft, now at the entrance to this area. Any further back will take them away and out of sight.  Now that they have...OOC: Skaya, it's your go, open.
19:07 — Skaya calmly reloads her sling once she's made a tactical retreat, and then shoots at the wounded slime again!
19:07 <Skaya> roll 1d20+5
19:07 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=10 ]{15}
19:07 <•Anastasia> OOC: Hit.
19:07 <Skaya> roll 1d4+3+4 cunning insight again
19:07 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d4+3+4 cunning insight again --> [ 1d4=1 ]{8}
19:08 <•Anastasia> The wounded slime wobbles terribly, more falling apart than staying together now. Another rock goes through it and makes a big hole, leaving it visibly weakened. It's still stumbling along as...OOC: Devar and Rina.
19:09 <•Devar> Following up on Skaya's target, Devar fires another!
19:09 <•Devar> roll 1d20+5
19:09 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{8}
19:09 <•Devar> roll 1d4+2
19:09 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d4+2 --> [ 1d4=4 ]{6}
19:10 <•Anastasia> A the same time Rina fires, with a cry of, "Stay down, you stupid puddle of yuck!"
19:10 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+5
19:10 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=9 ]{14}
19:10 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+1
19:10 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+1 --> [ 1d3=1 ]{2}
19:16 <•Anastasia> That final stone is too much. The last two shots go through it and the ooze falls apart, now a puddle of nastiness on the ground. It's no longer moving or resisting you. One down as meanwhile...OOC: REgis is up, had to do bookkeeping a moment.
19:16 <•Anastasia> "That's it," Regis calls as the first one goes down, "Keep focusing our attacks!" He gives a shot at the second, coming on undisturbed as the first succumbs.
19:16 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+3
19:16 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+3 --> [ 1d20=8 ]{11}
19:16 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+2
19:16 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+2 --> [ 1d3=1 ]{3}
19:17 <•Anastasia> A solid grazing hit, more slime hit as the rock goes and embeds deep into it. Anne holds position and readies her own sling, aiming carefully before...
19:17 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+4
19:17 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+4 --> [ 1d20=20 ]{24}
19:17 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+2 unfortunately no crits
19:17 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+2 unfortunately no crits --> [ 1d3=3 ]{5}
19:17 <•Anastasia> Another solid hit as a rock goes through it, the oozes advancing 10ft, now 30ft away from Skaya and 40ft from the rest of the party. They're oozing onward, with the dull minded determination of-
19:18 <•Anastasia> roll 1d100+10
19:18 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d100+10 --> [ 1d100=68 ]{78}
19:18 <•Anastasia> OOC: Skaya, go.
19:19 <Skaya> She has an idea of their reaction speed now, so Skaya loads another bullet into her sling and with a twirl shoots the second wounded ooze!
19:19 <Skaya> roll 1d20+5
19:19 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=4 ]{9}
19:19 <Skaya> roll 1d4+3+4 cunning insight
19:19 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d4+3+4 cunning insight --> [ 1d4=1 ]{8}
19:20 <•Anastasia> Another solid hit that rocks the slime as it wobbles back and forth, Rnia starting to smile, "This is like target practice!"
19:20 <•Anastasia> OOC: Rina and Devar.
19:20 <Skaya> "Just so long as someone's keeping an eye on our escape route!"
19:22 <•Anastasia> "Got 'em," Rina says as Anne calls back, "I am," she says while Rina hurls another rock freely.
19:22 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+5
19:22 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=6 ]{11}
19:22 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+1
19:22 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+1 --> [ 1d3=1 ]{2}
19:23 <•Devar> Devar fires another shot at the same one as the others. "These are strangely not very durable." He comments.
19:23 <•Devar> roll 1d20+5
19:23 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=12 ]{17}
19:24 <•Devar> roll 1d4+2
19:24 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d4+2 --> [ 1d4=3 ]{5}
19:24 <Skaya> "That's because they eat you and your weapons once they get into range."
19:24 <•Anastasia> Dead center hit, another painful and powerful hit right into it. The entire slime's battered now, the rocks taking their toll as Anne throws her own shot, stealing a glance back just after.
19:25 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+3
19:25 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+3 --> [ 1d20=4 ]{7}
19:25 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+2
19:25 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+2 --> [ 1d3=1 ]{3}
19:25 <•Anastasia> Yet another hit that tears away more slime, even as...
19:25 <•Anastasia> roll 1d100+20
19:25 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d100+20 --> [ 1d100=77 ]{97}
19:26 <•Anastasia> Suddenly, 15ft away from Skaya a creature emerges even as the slimes close in to 20ft away to Skaya and 30ft from the party. Another earth-creature like before, man sized and looking around as it rolls its big earthen neck. OOC: Joining init.
19:26 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20-1
19:26 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20-1 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{2}
19:26 <•Anastasia> Init is Skaya (12) > Devar = Rina  (11) > Regis (10) > Anne (6) > Slimes = Earth Elemental (2)
19:26 <•Anastasia> OOC: Skaya.
19:28 <Skaya> As she feared, leaving Sanda out of this was a bad idea! "Anne, try to tell the elemental we don't want to fight it, just the slimes?" she tries anyway, shooting the wounded ooze again.
19:28 <Skaya> roll 1d20+5
19:28 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=13 ]{18}
19:29 <Skaya> roll 1d4+3+4 cunning insight
19:29 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d4+3+4 cunning insight --> [ 1d4=4 ]{11}
19:30 <•Anastasia> Direct hit! The stone goes right through the second slime, causing it to fall apart as well. Near soundless save for the splashing of slime, tne nearest slime now 25ft away from Skaya. Four more to go. Meanwhile the elemental now faces the party as...OOC: Devar and Rina.
19:32 <•Devar> For now, dealing with the thing actively chasing them is probably best, so Devar fires again at the closest of the four of the slimes.
19:32 <•Devar> roll 1d20+5
19:32 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=18 ]{23}
19:32 <•Devar> roll 1d4+2
19:32 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d4+2 --> [ 1d4=1 ]{3}
19:34 <•Anastasia> Rina follows, trying to angle her shot over the elemental as best she can. "Um..."
19:34 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+5
19:34 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=18 ]{23}
19:34 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+1
19:34 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+1 --> [ 1d3=2 ]{3}
19:35 <•Anastasia> Two solid hits damage it further, the rocks hitting loudly on ground afterwards. As they bounce off after sending slime scattering, Regis follows up, "Before this gets any worse!"
19:35 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+3
19:35 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+3 --> [ 1d20=11 ]{14}
19:35 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+2
19:35 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+2 --> [ 1d3=3 ]{5}
19:35 <•Anastasia> Another solid hit, bouncing through the top of it and burrowing in. The slime visibly twitches from this injury, before Anne takes a breath and calls out a few rough words of Terran.
19:36 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20 20 check because that's about all that matters due to situation modifiers
19:36 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20 20 check because that's about all that matters due to situation modifiers --> [ 1d20=14 ]{14}
19:39 <•Anastasia> Whatever Anne says it doesn't seem to be enough, as the creature lets out a loud, grinding sound of displeasure and stomps towards Skaya, swinging one stony fist at her, to crush her into a bloody paste.
19:39 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+8
19:39 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+8 --> [ 1d20=13 ]{21}
19:39 <•Anastasia> OOC: AC?
19:39 <Skaya> OOC: 16
19:39 <•Anastasia> roll 1d8+7 HP after this
19:39 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d8+7 HP after this --> [ 1d8=6 ]{13}
19:39 <Skaya> OOC: 10
19:41 <•Anastasia> The blow catches Skaya right in the jaw, a loud CRACK as her face is pain. Blood fills her mouth as she's lifted off the ground from it, knocked back and seeing nothing but stars. Meanwhile the slimes close in to the closest being 10fta way from Skaya and 20ft from the party, as...OOC: Skaya, you took a big ouch. You're also up.
19:42 <Skaya> "Dammit!" she curses. "Okay! Anne, keep me alive. Rina, Regis, Devar, kill that third slime and then help me out!" What can she do but to try and fight back?
19:42 <Skaya> roll 2#1d20+4
19:42 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 2#1d20+4 --> [ 1d20=14 ]{18}, [ 1d20=4 ]{8}
19:43 <Skaya> roll 1d6+3+4 last cunning insight
19:43 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d6+3+4 last cunning insight --> [ 1d6=4 ]{11}
19:43 <Skaya> OOC: I'll also step back 5ft
19:46 <•Anastasia> It's a flurry of blows as Skaya's words come out muffled - her jaw isn't right. But she manages to more or less get it out, as she strikes away. A hit that cracks stone on the elemental's chest, full of power for a solid hit. "We can retreat if yo uneed to," Anne calls, "The way back is clear!" OOC: Devar and Rina.
19:46 <•Devar> Devar follows along with what's been asked and keeps firing at the same slime!
19:46 <•Devar> roll 1d20+5
19:46 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{8}
19:46 <•Devar> roll 1d4+2
19:46 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d4+2 --> [ 1d4=1 ]{3}
19:51 <•Anastasia> Another hit, grazing the 3rd slime as they continue their advance. Regis and Rina keep careful aim, glancing back before sling shots fly.
19:51 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+5
19:51 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=1 ]{6}
19:51 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+3
19:51 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+3 --> [ 1d20=14 ]{17}
19:51 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+2
19:51 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+2 --> [ 1d3=1 ]{3}
19:51 <•Anastasia> One hit, Rina's going off course as the slime's slowed by the steady shots. The mass of ooze is shaking from it, all as...OOC: Anne.
19:52 <•Anastasia> "Everyone, don't lose hope!" Anne calls, holding her holy symbol and stepping back, letting the party's wounds heal.
19:52 <•Anastasia> roll 2d6 healing all, only relevant for Skaya. HP after this, go ahead and update topic HP with your HPs.
19:52 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 2d6 healing all, only relevant for Skaya. HP after this, go ahead and update topic HP with your HPs. --> [ 2d6=7 ]{7}
19:52 <Skaya> OOC: Sure, op me
19:58 •Skaya was opped (+o) by •Anastasia
19:58 <•Anastasia> OOC: Done.
19:58 •Skaya set the topic: Skaya: 17/23
20:01 <•Anastasia> The healing comes as the wounded elemental stays face to face with Skaya. It swings away in revenge, no strategy - just simple aggression, stony face showing signs of anger on it now. Words yo udon't know, then-
20:01 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+8
20:01 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+8 --> [ 1d20=13 ]{21}
20:01 <•Skaya> OOC: AC still 16
20:02 <•Anastasia> roll 1d8+7 ow
20:02 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d8+7 ow --> [ 1d8=3 ]{10}
20:02 •Skaya set the topic: Skaya: 7/23
20:03 <•Anastasia> A blow to the ribs this time, knocking all the wind from Skaya's lungs. She struggles to stay up from the hit, the two just trading blows now. It's painful to breathe, her chest and stomach fiery pain as the slimes close in, one just out of reach of Skaya now, badly battered and the others not far behind. "Can you hold or do we need to fall back?" Anne calls, "The way's still clear!" OOC:
20:03 <•Anastasia> Skay'as up, go.
20:06 — •Skaya decides to retreat, sliding out of reach of both elemental and slimes. Since they can withdraw, they can do so and see how the elemental reacts!
20:06 <•Anastasia> Skaya withdraws back 30ft, retreating and avoiding a revenge strike from the elemental. It buys her time in spite of her pained body, as...OOC: Devar and Rina, go.
20:07 <•Skaya> OOC: 60ft, since withdrawal is effectively double move. Let's get further back.
20:09 <•Devar> Devar takes another shot at the slime as best he can, before he moves to follow after Skaya.
20:09 <•Devar> roll 1d20+5
20:09 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=16 ]{21}
20:10 <•Devar> roll 1d4+2
20:10 <Kobot> Devar rolled 1d4+2 --> [ 1d4=3 ]{5}
20:11 <•Devar> OOC: Moving 30 to specify
20:12 <•Anastasia> Another solid hit before Devar withdraws, Rina mimicking that before falling back.
20:12 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+5
20:12 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+5 --> [ 1d20=9 ]{14}
20:12 <•Anastasia> roll 1d3+1
20:12 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d3+1 --> [ 1d3=3 ]{4}
20:13 <•Anastasia> A hit that leaves the third slime mostly ooze rather than coherent, with Regis falling back altogether - but defensively, taking the rear and ready to block in case of pursuit. Anne falls back with Skaya, ready to heal her shortly. OOC: Anne needed a round to get in position due to movement. More.
20:13 → Iddy joined (uid408070@lunarnet-1BB5E9E.uxbridge.irccloud.com)
20:13 <•Anastasia> With the enemies out of immediate sight, there's no sign of them pursuing you, at least not for the moment. For the second at least, you're not under immediate threat. OOC: Go Skaya, we'll stay in init for now.
20:14 — •Skaya warily waits to be healed as she eyes the elemental.
20:14 <•Anastasia> OOC: Devar, go, if you're doing anything beyond waiting.
20:15 <•Devar> Devar has healing he can use but decides to save it for now unless anyone calls for it!
20:17 <•Anastasia> Rina and Regis wait, tense and ready to attack. Anne meanwhile goes to Skaya and lays hands on her, "Lady Jetina, I again call on you," she whispers, "Through our bringer of hope!"
20:17 <•Anastasia> roll 1d8+3 healing Skaya
20:17 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d8+3 healing Skaya --> [ 1d8=5 ]{8}
20:18 •Skaya set the topic: Skaya: 15/23
20:19 <•Anastasia> Skaya's pains lessen, jaw no longer a disaster and chest only like coals ofp ain rather than a burning fire. Meanwhile...no sign of enemy approach. Are you safe? OOC: Free act for the moment.
20:20 <•Skaya> "I was semi-joking about the possibility of the signs being malicious, but isn't this a bit much?" Skaya complains, caressing her jaw as it is healed with magic. "There's a clear sign saying slimes are here, but then an elemental shows up to protect them?"
20:20 <•Anastasia> "It feels like a trap, or really foul luck," Regis comments, as Anne checks Skaya over.
20:20 <•Anastasia> "Do you need more healing?" Anne asks.
20:20 <•Skaya> "My ribs kind of do, yes."
20:20 <•Anastasia> "Should've brought Sanda," Rina says, "She could've talked to them."
20:21 <•Anastasia> A second channel energy soon follows.
20:21 <•Anastasia> roll 2d6
20:21 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 2d6 --> [ 2d6=2 ]{2}
20:21 — •Skaya drops her head. "Yes, I know it was wrong. I just wanted to spend some time adventuring with you and Regis, since we can't just all go together."
20:21 <•Anastasia> "Hey, no blame," Rina says, "We all make guesses and judgment calls that don't work out."
20:22 •Skaya set the topic: Skaya: 17/23
20:22 <•Anastasia> "Easier tos ay when Skaya was the one taking the shots," Regis comments, "Lesson learned."
20:22 <•Skaya> "At least we avoided deaths on either side, so no lines were crossed," Skaya mutters. "Alright, let's head back. We'll return here with Sanda tomorrow and find out what's the deal here."
20:23 <•Devar> "Is it just standing there?" Devar asks. "Why isn't it even pursuing us? Or... why aren't there more coming after us?" He follows up.
20:24 <•Anastasia> "Maybe it ran, too. Skaya got it good with that punch," Regis suggests, "Before we go, maybe I can go take a peek?"
20:25 <•Skaya> "There's no need. It clearly intervened on their side, but since it's not pursuing we should leave and return tomorrow while we're fresh. We've only lost a few stones and darts, so it's all good."
20:32 <•Anastasia> REgis spends a few long moments in thought before, "Skaya, alright," he says, seeming to change course after a moment. "Let's fall back, everyone."
20:32 — •Skaya leads the way back!
20:32 <•Anastasia> roll 1d100
20:32 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=61 ]{61}
20:33 <•Anastasia> The trip back is safe enough. With that done, doing anything or just resting?
20:34 <•Skaya> They'll rest and recover, she'll be sure to get a bit more healing since they're all safe, and then there's nothing much to do but relax until they venture into the caves the next day.
20:35 <•Anastasia> OOC: Okay. Anything for you, Devar? One sec.
20:39 <•Devar> OOC: Nothing here
20:44 <•Anastasia> OOC: Brief scenes, so Skaya in here and Devar into evil. These shouldn't run long.
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

Skaya

20:44 <•Anastasia> That evening, as Skaya rests. A knock on her door, a call of, "Hey Skaya, you in there?"
20:44 <•Skaya> "Still here, in every sense."
20:46 <•Anastasia> Regis lefts himself in. Once the door's closed he comes over, "You alright?" he asks bluntly.
20:47 — •Skaya gives him a thumbs up sign. "Some phantom ache but it always goes away after proper rest. I'll be fine once I sleep."
20:50 <•Anastasia> Leaning against the doorframe with a casual posture, "I meant more not beating yourself up for not bringing Sanda, but yeah, your ribs too. Heck of a shot you took."
20:51 <•Skaya> "Every decision I make can easily backfire. What if we'd brought Sanda, the elemental opened hostilities, and then killed her as she charged it with her staff?"
20:52 <•Anastasia> "You're not wrong," Regis says, "Just...you saw us when we stumbled in half dead. Had some time for regrets."
20:54 <•Skaya> "Isn't that why I'm making sure to keep Rina safe?" Skaya asks with a smile. "If it were up to me, I would've rolled the dice and kept duking it out with that elemental for a few more exchanges. But there was no need to put the rest of you into such danger, so we retreated."
20:55 <•Anastasia> That smile's returned as Regis straightens up, "Good! Glad to see you have your head on straight, Skaya. Tempus tends to reap the battle fallen who don't."
20:57 <•Skaya> "I do wonder what we're going to do about the elementals. We'll make an effort to contact them tomorrow, but if they're uncooperative, we'll be at an impasse. Whether the power resting below or the chimera-making mage, I can easily see the elementals standing in our way as we look into them."
20:59 <•Anastasia> "We don't know enough about the situation," Regis says, "Sanda should be mandatory from now on, even if we'll hae to strive for her not to get herself killed."
21:00 <•Skaya> "Yeah. Since they're not just keeping to themselves but traveling all over. That was pretty unexpected, given how reclusive the elementals are."
21:01 <•Anastasia> "They act like it's their territory," Regis muses, eyes half closed in thought. "In spite of the other creatures and the fact it's barely from the surface."
21:03 <•Skaya> "Isn't that strange? The place was originally inaccessible, but it was also under water. The tunnels were probably flooded, and you wouldn't expect earth elementals to be there. And if they recently moved in, why would they choose to go near the surface like that? There weren't any mineral deposits of note that I spotted."
21:07 <•Anastasia> "There's too much we don't know," Regis agrees, "I don't know elementals, but if you're right about them, that doesn't make sense."
21:08 <•Skaya> "Maybe their old home got flooded so they're angry? Would be so weird. I wonder what the statistics on that are."
21:09 <•Anastasia> "Then we'd better hope Sanda can get some answers," Regis says, "Or we find someone who has them."
21:09 — •Skaya nods her agreement.
21:12 <•Anastasia> OOC: Good there, Skaya?
21:12 <•Skaya> OOC: Yes
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

Devar

20:46 <•Anastasia> Dinner happens to be spent on Devar's own. He sits by a window and thinks as he eats, a chance to mentally rest. That is, until Sanda comes up and sits next to him without an invitation. She has her own bowl of food and nods briskly to Devar before, "By the odds, I'm glad all of you made it back."
20:49 <•Devar> "You're a real numbers person, aren't you?" Devar asks with a bit of a smile.
20:52 <•Anastasia> "The numbers never lie," Sanda agrees with that, eating up. After a few swallows of a hearty stew, "How dangerous was it today?"
20:53 <•Devar> "Not especially." He says. "The slimes seem very vulnerable and not very dangerous. I still don't understand how they function though - they should've been able to dissolve the weapons, if not the backpacks, if they can eat humans." Devar explains. "Something doesn't add up - ah, sorry for the...number... thing."
20:54 <•Anastasia> "I agree completely!" Sanda exclaims, a little too loudly, enough to get glances your way. "It makes no logical sense. These slimes aren't normal slimes."
20:56 <•Devar> "Are we sure they even -can- eat humans?" He asks. "Someone mentioned you guys had a time with one, what happened?"
20:57 <•Anastasia> "Well, we saw skeletons we assumed," Sanda points out, "And you saw skeletons today. Logically, they can eat people."
20:58 <•Devar> "That isn't necessarily true, is it?" He asks. "Something else could have happened to them, right?"
21:00 <•Anastasia> "Theoretically," Sanda agrees, "It's likely, not certain."
21:04 <•Devar> "I guess if we can recover some of them we can figure it out." Devar says. "Some of... whatever you call the remains of a slime like that should go into a vial or something."
21:08 <•Anastasia> "Ooze. Gunk. Experimental potion bases." Sanda responds in thought. "Oh, ooze potions. I wonder..."
21:09 <•Devar> "I can;t say I'm much of an alchemist, but I have a feeling those slimes are magical like the sharks are." Devar says. "So their ooze might be worth picking up."
21:12 <•Anastasia> "I'll have to research it," Sanda says, "I'll make sure to collect some samples," Sanda gets up, "Tomorrow!"
21:16 <•Devar> "Sure, see you then for another exciting adventure. Hopefully not too exciting, though." Devar adds.
21:16 <•Anastasia> OOC: Good there, Devar?
21:20 <•Devar> OOC: yar
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

21:21 <•Anastasia> -------
21:21 <•Anastasia> OOC: Okay, any prep for day 3? Who's going?
21:24 <•Skaya> OOC: We'll break up the dream team and leave Regis with Marken behind. Then we'll go back to the ooze pond.
21:24 <•Anastasia> OOC: Okay. Devar?
21:26 <•Devar> OOC: Nothing interesting on my end.
21:28 <•Anastasia> Thus Skaya, Devar, Rina, Anne and Sanda all gather together. As you head down towards the caverns? You see a group of four coming back from further in the dried lake in the distance, in a hurry. One's being carried on a glance.
21:28 <•Skaya> "Hey there! Are you being chased?" Skaya calls out to the foursome.
21:32 <•Anastasia> You get a better look. Four men. Two in heavier armor and both fairly muscular, carrying the third - a man in lighter clothing and with a staff still gripped in hand. The fourth is a lightly armored sort with long hair, elven ears suggesting inhuman parentage. "No," one calls as they hurry, the big man not carrying anyone. "Winde here took a bad shot to the head, he needs emergency treatment!"
21:33 <•Anastasia> Anne immediately steps forward, "Come to me, I serve the Bringer of Hope and I'll be glad to do that for you."
21:33 <•Skaya> "Come here," she says, before turning to Anne. "Please help them."
21:34 <•Anastasia> The four come over and look over Anne. She nods to them as Wind is placed down. Closer, you can see he has a huge lump swelling on the side of his head. Anne winces before chanting, "Let despair perish under the light of hope!"
21:34 <•Anastasia> roll 1d8+3
21:34 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d8+3 --> [ 1d8=8 ]{11}
21:34 <•Skaya> "Nice job!"
21:34 <•Anastasia> Sanda merely watches, while Rina whistles, "Your lucky day. Almost."
21:34 <•Anastasia> "Eh? Almost?" The big man carrying Winde asks, as Winde himself groans.
21:35 <•Skaya> "A true lucky day wouldn't result in such injuries, right?"
21:35 <•Anastasia> "Yes, I run an orphanage in Mellanics. A few gold coins can buy hope in the form of food, clothing and supplies for so many lost children." Anne goes smoothly on, as the big man winces visibly. The other big man matches him, while the lighter armored elf sighs but pulls out a coin purse.
21:36 <•Anastasia> "Would've paid in town, anyway," The elf says, tossing the bag to Anne, which she catches, bows and tucks away.
21:36 <•Anastasia> "Thank you. All the hungry children thank you for well. If you're evern in Mellanics, please seek me and mine out, and we'll be happy to have you for dinner."
21:36 <•Skaya> "Well, that works too," Skaya says, just going with the flow. "What got you guys so badly?"
21:37 <•Anastasia> With a grunt, the big man puts down Winde, who rubs the side of his head. "A creature of earth and stone. It's called an earth elemental, if you know them."
21:37 <•Anastasia> "We do," Sanda steps forward, "We faced one yesterday."
21:37 <•Skaya> You weren't even there! "Did it attack unprovoked? Was it defending anything?"
21:37 <•Anastasia> "Oh, you do? How fortunate," Winde winces even though the lump is gone as he rubs where it was, "I had the misfortune to be the one hit, our formation was terrible."
21:38 <•Anastasia> Rina side eyes Sanda in the meantime, but keeps her mouth shut.
21:39 <•Anastasia> "Yeah, we found a cache of gold, just sitting in a hole in the ground," The big man says, "The moment we get close it comes up and gets Winde right in the head. We manage to hurt it enough that it starts to fall back, but Winde's hurt so we cut and run."
21:39 <•Anastasia> "Ahem," Winde clears his throat, "I think it might've been a gold vein somewhere nearby, as it was raw gold and not coins, jewelry or other worked gold."
21:40 <•Anastasia> "Do elementals care about that stuff?" Anne asks, "All I'm familiar with about them is that the hit painfully hard and don't think much of my few words of Terran."
21:40 <•Anastasia> "I've heard they can," Winde says, "But who can say? They're rock, not flesh, blood and reason."
21:40 <•Skaya> "Huh. Well, that's your fortune, if you can return for it later. And yeah, even knowing Terran might not help here."
21:41 <•Anastasia> "One thing is universal," Sanda speaks up, "No one likes to be looted."
21:41 <•Anastasia> A few grunts at that, but no arguments. "We owe you one," Winde goes on, "Me and these lugs will remember it."
21:41 <•Anastasia> "Lugs," One of the big men asks, "I think I like grunt more."
21:41 <•Anastasia> "Grunts, lugs, big people with too much armor and no magic." Winde waves a hand, "As long as you get an equal share, does it matter?"
21:43 <•Skaya> "Oh hey, did you guys into into any composite creatures here before? Chimera of some sort? Sharks that fly?"
21:44 <•Anastasia> That gets looks, "You found them too? It's been buzzing amid delvers lately that runa cross things like that. Seen less people come back lately, too." The elf says, "Bad, bad signs, cursed by the Elf Father."
21:45 <•Anastasia> "Fought one of the sharks, got lucky it didn't bite my arm off," One of the big men says.
21:45 <•Skaya> "It's probably just a crazy mage breeding them. All kinds of people in the world."
21:48 <•Devar> What is the goal of all of this, Devar muses to himself while the others chat.
21:49 <•Anastasia> "It...probably is," Winde sighs.
21:49 <•Anastasia> Sand ashakes her head, "Logically, that makes sense," she says, matching that sigh.
21:49 <•Anastasia> "Do crazy mages have goals?" The elf asks, "Besides watching chaos spread?"
21:50 <•Skaya> "Have you been seeing the chimera all over? Or did they seem more concentrated in specific places?" Skaya asks them curiously. "We're trying to look into this stuff."
21:50 <•Anastasia> "Here and there, but not concentrated yet, but the sightings are going up," Winde says back. "You're out of towners from Mellanics? The guild?"
21:51 <•Skaya> "Got it in one! Ah, how about weird plaques in Draconic? Seen any of those by chance somewhere?"
21:57 <•Anastasia> "I've heard of them, but not in person. I've also heard a few of them vanished," Winde answers, "But I haven't confirmed it."
21:57 <•Skaya> "Oh? What do they say about them?"
21:59 <•Anastasia> "Just that they've vanished. It's a taproom rumor, not facts," Winde answers shortly, "Gossip is gossip. It doesn't come with details."
21:59 <•Skaya> "Can't blame me for being greedy!"
21:59 <•Anastasia> "Of course not," Rina smiles a moment at that, "Something's stange is going on down there, but the question is what."
22:01 <•Skaya> "We'll go try our luck with the elementals now!"
22:01 <•Anastasia> "And we have a gold cache to harvest," Winde says, "Good luck to you down there."
22:02 <•Skaya> "Thanks! Best of luck to you as well. Pack a potion when you go again!"
22:05 <•Anastasia> OOC: Okay, anything else for eithe rof you to do here?
22:05 <•Skaya> OOC: We're ready to go shoot the other slime! Or talk to elementals if they're there.
22:05 <•Anastasia> OOC: Which shall be done: Next time!
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake