The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom (Game Thread I)

[Jenara]

[ooc]Respect, in a Kender?[/ooc]

Locky, turns back to the footprints, her face thoughtful.
"I wonder what that would Look like? I'd like to see that..."

She smiles and looks to Shay, "Do you think they would eat us..? I was almost eaten by a plant once, its was so interesting..." She rambles,
Peering into the cavern with her own Infravision. "We should go left, if in doubt alway go left..."

Bored with thoughts of ropes, and intrigued with thoughts of huge creatures eating her alive she steps forwards, peering deeper... (she's not trying to fall in or anything.. Just get a better look)

[JadedDM]

The tunnel down into the caverns seems to wind long a narrow and uneven path, following the river's natural course. It's dark, dank, and cool inside. But without actually entering and seeing how far it goes, there's little to nothing the kender can determine from her vantage point outside.

[Jenara]

Locky glances back,at the others, and starts to curiously follow the path, a few feet at a time (just slow enough for the others to react), hoopak raised above her head.

[Breila]

"Wait, Locky! Let's all go down together. We'll be a bit safer. And even if you find it interesting to be eaten alive, I don't." Babuska takes out her sling and fits a stone into it. (Her staff is then in the left, non-dominant hand). She follows Locky, in a distance that allows her to see ahead of her companion and use her sling if necessary.

Is the tunnel all natural or are there signs of humanoid activity? Further in, is there soot on the walls that could come from torches?

[JadedDM]

The three enter together. The tunnel down into the caverns winds along a narrow and uneven path, following the river's natural course. Stalactites hang low from the ceiling, and the rock floor is treacherously slippery from the splashing water. The subterranean air has a placid, piercing chill, all too familiar to veteran adventurers.

Suddenly, the river-carven tunnel slopes abruptly downward, and just ahead there is the unmistakable sound of a waterfall dashing down to rocks below.

The tunnel, so far, seems entirely natural. There is no light source, meaning Shay will need a torch or lantern to see (although the girls can see fine in the dark). Babuska finds no evidence of soot on the walls.

[Jenara]

Locky enjoys the walk down the path immensely, she hums a Kender Walking song as she ambles along.

Seeing the caverns she asks Bab why they are called Stalactites...

"Ooo a pretty waterfall, we should definitely go and have a look.."

[Breila]

"Why they are called stalactites? That's from an old word, I don't even know if it's ancient dwarf or gnome, that means "drip". They form when water drips down so slowly that it evaporates, and the minerals are left behind. Those that come up from the ground are called stalagmites."

Babushka joins Locky by the waterfall, walking carefully, and peers down. Is there a path by the waterfall they could follow?
She takes Locky softly by the arm. "Listen, Locky, before we go furhter down, we should discuss with Shay how we best go on. You and I can see quite well here, but he needs extra light that could be seen by monsters or ennemies. So it's perhaps a good idea that we go first. But he's bigger and probably stronger than we are, we will need him when we encounter whatever made the tracks outside. We shouldn't keep running into the cave just like that."

Babushka will try to hold Locky back, but without using force. She definitely wants to discuss tactics with Shay, but won't let Locky run away alone. If Locky can't be held back, she'll follow at a distance that allows her to see the Kender and use her sling when it makes sense, but also to run back - hopefully undetected - if the ennemy encountered would mean certain death. She'll continue monitoring the cave: she can't detect traps, but they can only be in a modified stretch of cave (or be magically concealed)!

[Jenara]

"I did wonder, after all, it is a funny word, I do get them mixed up..."

She raises her eyes in the darkness, Oh! We need a map!" She produces a clean sheet of parchment and some charcoal and sets to work drawing a crude map. She hangs her legs over the side and watches the water flow.

She knows that Bab wants a serious talk with Shay, planning, that was usually the big peoples job, but... she decided to sit quietly.

[JadedDM]

The stream running down the tunnel plunges thirty feet down into a large cavern below. The rocks at the edge of the waterfall are wet and appear rather slick. Strangely, the gnome notices a strange fungus growth on the southern wall that seems to spread all the way down to the bottom of the waterfall.

About five feet below the waterfall, a bamboo-like wooden pipe is fed by the flow of water, channeling it somewhere in the large cavern below. Only a small amount of water from the waterfall is actually channeled into the pipe; the waterfall continues unchecked over the pipe, down to the cavern floor. The pipe is not stable enough to support even a kender's weight, and that much is obvious at a glance.

[Breila]

"Hmmm, we definitely have something intelligent and tool-using down here that has either infravision or uses lanterns. So it's probably not just a "stupid" monster that harmed the people here. But was worries me most is that fungus. Who knows if it's magical. Perhaps it's just food for whatever lives here, perhaps poison"

(ooc: you haven't given compass directions so far, is the southern wall on "our" side of the waterfall or on the other? /ooc)

Can Shay approach the fungus with, e.g., Babushka's staff (it's about four feet long), not touching it, to see if it maybe falls off to attack?

Do we have to climb over the pipe to get to the bottom of the cavern?

[Jenara]

Locky watches the water splash down the pipe, wondering what would happen if she stopped it flowing..

"It is funny looking moss, have you ever seen anything like this?" Locky comments, raising her hoopak she pushes the sharp point into the moss gently..
[ooc] I assume its just moss? [/ooc]

If the moss doesn't react she'll see if a bit pulls off by stabbing it with a dagger.

"How do you think we should get down? I really like the idea of jumping, don't you think? Wouldn't it be wonderful? I think I have enough clothes, and wouldn't it make a huge splash...

She looks thoughtful for a second, "It might suprise the creatures though..."

[ooc]Ok, so Bassic hasn't replied to my mail, guess he's AWOL... Hence the reason Locky poked the moss.

I'll kick Jerrards Arse and get him posting. [/ooc]

[JadedDM]

The stream is moving west to east, and the fungus is on the southern wall and seems to extend down the cavern, all the way to the bottom.

Upon poking and prodding the fungus growth, Locky discovers that it has a durability and tensile strength almost as great as the stone from which it grows.

[Jenara]

Locky stops poking the fungus and then looks at the drop..
"I wonder if we could climb down this? Wouldn't that be great? We should keep some, might be interesting"

[ooc]Can she climb down the fungus?[/ooc]

[Breila]

Although Babushka is quite exasperated by Locky who doesn't seem to know caution, the idea of climbing down the fungus/moss has something for it. Jumping, in full gear, into a pool of unknown depth, certainly isn't a good idea. But first, Babushka wants to look for more traces of the three-clawed creatures whose tracks she saw outside. There must be some places where the rocks are ground to sand, or maybe the fungus/moss shows signs? 1d20=18

Would there be a place to fix a rope to for an abseiling attempt?

How big is the opening into the cavern? If the human-sized three-clawed beings were near-flightless birds, could they fit through it, using their wings to break the fall?

[JadedDM]

Investigating the fungus, Locky determines it may well be possible to climb down it like a ladder. It's not slick like the rest of the tunnel and conveniently will lead them right to the bottom of the cavern. In fact, the kender could almost swear the fungus was grown for that very purpose.

Meanwhile, Babushka carefully surveyed the area, but could not find any tracks. The ground was all rock.

Possibly one of the stalactites could be strong enough for them to tie a rope around and descend that way.

The opening into the cavern is about five feet wide and ten feet tall.