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Jerrard nods at Babushka and turns back to the creature, now it is "dead" he examines it closer (Has he heard of such a creature?) He pokes the leaves with his sword before staring at the Kender.

"Locky, that was very dangerous, you were very nearly killed." Giving her a disapproving glare, his face softens. "Are you ok? We should check that chest, now we are here and return to our resting place." He looks to Shay. "Do you think you could do the honors?"

Jerrard examines the dead creature and realizes he has heard of such things before. They are called 'shambling mounds' or sometimes 'shamblers.' They are notorious for being incredibly difficult to kill, as they are immune to many types of attack and highly resistant to others. This one is smaller, though, likely still a youngling. Jerrard can only imagine what it would be like to face one that was fully grown!

Shay nods to Jerrard's request. "Go ahead and rest a moment, Locky. Let's see if this was all worth it or not." He gestures for Babushka to step off of the chest. Once she has done so, he carefully examines it from all angles. "Aha...it's trapped," he says. "Looks like it's set to shoot out darts or needles if triggered." He points out the little holes in the chest; one on the front and one on each side. "Better stand back," he warns the others.

The thief spends another few minutes going over the chest, then swears. "I can't seem to find a safe way to disarm the trap without triggering it," he confesses.

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Jerrard examines the creature and makes a Plant Lore check (1d20): 13, pass. He recognizes it as a young Shambling Mound.
Shay checks the chest for traps (1d100): 17, pass. He notices a dart trap.
Shay attempts to disarm the dart trap (1d100): 31, fail. He cannot disarm it safely.

(OOC: Man, I never really paid much attention before, but BASSsic really built Shay poorly. Even Locky is a better thief than he is.)

"Really?" Locky rises to her feet slowly, she inspects the chest, see's the darts and disables them before sitting back down quietly.

1d100=24

(Ooc: Well, Locky will be surpassed sooner or later, her skills are basic)

Shay stands there blankly, more than a little embarrassed at being outshined by a cleric of Paladine. Clearing his throat, he says, "Yes, well...uh...thanks. Let's see what we got here."

Opening the chest, his eyes widen in awe. The flickering light of his lantern shimmers and gleams off the hundreds of steel coins inside. Laughing happily, Shay digs around in the chest, finding a handful of white coins, too. Biting one, he examines it with surprise. "Platinum! There's some platinum in here!"

Digging around further, he finds two other items. One is a glass flask containing a light blue liquid. The other item is most strange. It is a small coil of rope, about six feet in length, made of a purple, spongy fungus.

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The party discovers:

1,200 steel pieces
10 platinum pieces
Unknown Potion
Strange Fungus Rope

Babushka looks at the fungus rope in disgust. Normally, all things made from natural materials interest and intrigue her, but here, Nature has been perverted so often that it almost hurts her physically. Nevertheless, she examines the rope closely (herbalism skill), stepping over to Jerrard and asking his opinion.

Babushka has never seen any type of fungus like this before. It may or may not even be a natural strain, but some magical breed. She cannot be sure either way.

While the gnome examines the fungus and shows it to Jerrard, Shay examines the potion. He swishes it around in its flask, watching it swirl about inside. "Any ideas?" he asks. "They all kind of look alike to me."

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Babushka makes an Herbalism check (1d20): 11, fail. She cannot identify the breed of fungus.

"I can have a look, if it's made from plants, I might know it. But Jerrard is probably the right one to ask."

1d20=10

Glancing at the Kender Jerrard sheaves his sword and takes the rope into his hands, feeling the construction, pulling the rope between his hands he tests it for strength. (Plant Lore: 1d20=8)

The Steel catches his eye momentarily, "Strange a creature like that would have such treasure. A young one at that." he pokes at the treasure once he has finished with the rope, picking out the potion.

(Does the bottle have anything written on it? And would a Spellcraft check help him figure out what it is?)

"I believe we should take the chest" (if its small enough to carry) "and store it back in our camp, or possibly outside?"

He is a little taken back that Locky is so quiet, maybe that is the way to shut a Kender up, Choke them?

"Yes, we should take the chest, or at least its contents. Divided between the four of us, we should be able to carry it.

And I don't believe the treasure belonged to this creature here, who think it was forced into service by the villain who created all this, to guard his treasure."

She, too, notices Locky's strange quietness. She puts an arm around her shoulder. "Dear friend, how are you feeling?"

Locky rests quietly on the ground, one hand holding her neck and the other Holding her Hoopak.
She doesn't look surprised more dazed, her eyes glazed over.

"I nearly died, and well.. I wasn't I thought it was going to be, I mean I haven't seen Kendermore, and Flotsam, and the Blood Sea." She rambles, sitting down. "It really hurt." She admits, giving a little shrug. "Thank you for helping me."

As Babushka suspected, she is unable to identify the potion. Whatever it is, it was not made from plants.

As Jerrard examines the fungus, he realizes it is a magically grown strain. It's quite tough, too, and sturdy. What it's purpose is, however, eludes him. It's far too short to be used as rope, but too limp to be used as a weapon.

While the others inspect the items and check on Locky, Shay closes the chest and hefts it up on his shoulder. "All right, let's get back to camp then."

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Babushka makes an Herbalism check (10); automatically fails, cannot identify the potion.
Jerrard makes a Plant Lore check (8); succeeds, determines the fungus is magically grown and incredibly tough.

(OOC: In my other game, I will allow someone to identify minor magic items, like potions and wands, with a successful Spellcraft check. Anything else, though, needs an Identify spell or trial and error.)

"I think the shortest way to camp is straight ahead. If my sense of caves doesn't mistake me, we shouldn't be far from the foot of the waterfall where we dumped the podmen. I'll go first and check with my infravision, Locky should stay with you men to be better protected."

After retrieving her staff from the floor, Babushka walks on, sling with a stone ready in her other hand.

(ooc: I've drawn a map of the caves on paper, didn't have the time yet to photograph it (I don't have a scanner), will do so soon I hope, how can I post it here?)

Despite the time she's spent on the surface, Babushka's stone sense is still pretty sharp. As she expected, by heading north, the curving tunnel eventually turns west and returns her to the four-way intersection with the waterfall. The coast appears clear at the moment, although the waterfall has changed its position again, hiding the root ladder. She'll need Locky's key to change its course again so they can climb up.

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(OOC: Once you have it on your computer, you'll need to upload it onto an image hosting site, like photobucket, for instance. Once it's uploaded, get the link for it, then post it on the forum between some 'img' tags.)

Locky stands and shakes her head, she starts with the two men but slowly recovers herself, edging forwards towards Bab (she joins up with her about the time she reaches the waterfall).

"I do need a rest, I think I need to talk to Fizban and thank him for letting me stay." She looks rather thoughtful and smiles "The afterlife looked rather pretty but dull."

Jerrard walks next to Shay, his sword is drawn "Do you think perhaps this is just the beginning?" He ponders this as they walk through, his mind wandering (which explains why Locky gets away).