Sesla waded into the polluted waters. She nodded once to Brokam and disappeared beneath the surface to see what she could see.

Cain waits for others to enter the water before following, cursing silently under his breath as he steps in. Swimming through this mess would greatly diminish his enthusiasm for this mission, assuming he had any to begin with. "You better be alive, old man."

It was more brackish brew than water to Ix. Behind his mask his nose wrinkled, then seemed to recall he had forgotten a very interesting element. First his arm, now his face. It seemed this adventure was exposing him more an more to the ways of man.

Ix waited until Cain turned away, though it seemed pointless. Surely, they would see his face once they even so much as turned around. His mask had been in homage to the Gray Man, but more importantly it had been his sanctuary, a reprieve where he could express himself without fear of others' assessment of very varied emotions.

Now was no time for such sensitivities, so Ix pulled his mask away from his face.

Dark eyes that held an oddly violet hue, and the skin was brown and smooth like a polished mountainside. His jaw was herculean, the line of it keen and hard as an axe head. A strigine nose, and a mouth so curvy it could kiss the waves punctuated his features in perfection. In fact, his face was too perfect.

Unnaturally so, in the same way one looks at an idealized portrait of a person, reflecting features at their highest potential. If one were to imagine that picture being real, with emotions and effusing in the present, that's where the wrongness began to settle. That's where Ix head from, the eyes that saw him as something so unnatural that he would be conflated as a machine.

The android put his mask into the waterproof bag, securing the straps of his shield tight against his back. Had time not been of the essence, he would have undone his armor, but that wasn't the case. So with a wrinkled pair of nostrils, he found himself wading into the water until his head dipped beneath the surface.

The party members each enter the water and begin swimming along the eastern edge, searching for the underwater passage they were told would lead them into the caves.

Brokam immediately loses himself to disgust at the taste of this putrid water, making no progress and forcing those behind him to swim around. The first of those is Sesla who, although swimming well enough, is slowed by her hide armor and forces the more lightly encumbered behind her to detour even further from their path.
10:50, Today: Dungeon Master rolled -2,14,15,13 using d20-3,d20-3,d20+0,d20+6.  Swim Brokam, Sesla, Cain, Ix.

Brokam soon recovers his senses but finds it difficult to make much progress. Fortunately for both him and Selsa the water breathing spell allows them to be unconcerned with staying afloat and both are able to drag themselves along the pond bed while Cain and Ix quickly break away head of them.
10:57, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 6,6,14,13 using d20-3,d20-3,d20+0,d20+6.  Swim Brokam, Sesla, Cain, Ix.

Brokam continues to struggle, pulling himself along the bottom of the pond while Sesla begins to pull ahead of him. The oracle very nearly catches up to Ix, who thought to pull himself along the bottom for speed only to find it just slowed him down, while Cain gains some distance from the others and manages to spot the break in the stony bed that must lead into the caves.
11:01, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 8,13,10,7 using d20-3,d20-3,d20+0,d20+6.  Swim Brokam, Sesla, Cain, Ix.

Cain slows as he lines himself up with the spring, hesitant to dive in and blocking the way as Ix comes up from behind. Selsa is soon to join them while Brokam carries up the rear, still dragging himself along the pond bed.
11:07, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 7,17,1,17 using d20-3,d20-3,d20+0,d20+6.  Swim Brokam, Sesla, Cain, Ix.

With a bit of urging from Ix behind him, both Cain and the android begin to swim through the narrow tunnel. The already dark, murky water grows even darker as light from the sun can no longer reach them. Sesla slows as she nears the spring, looking behind to see Brokam still diligently pulling himself along.
11:10, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 4,3,14,19 using d20-3,d20-3,d20+0,d20+6.  Swim Brokam, Sesla, Cain, Ix.

Cain and Ix continue through the dark passageway, but soon Cain notices the water beginning to lighten somewhat. Sesla finally reaches the spring and prepares to enter herself while Brokam continues to pull up the rear.
11:14, Today: Dungeon Master rolled -1,6,12,24 using d20-3,d20-3,d20+0,d20+6.  Swim Brokam, Sesla, Cain, Ix.

Cain struggles a bit as the tunnel takes a sharp turn, holding up Ix behind him while Brokam finally figures out this swimming thing and Sesla pulls herself in the tunnel.
11:17, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 15,6,6,15 using d20-3,d20-3,d20+0,d20+6.  Swim Brokam, Sesla, Cain, Ix.

With another strong push as the floor of the narrow tunnel begins to rise, both Ix and Cain finally break the surface of the putrid water and find stale but breathable air(not that the water wasn't for these heroes.) [Private to Cain; Ix Tlacoatl: DC 15 Fort Save or be sickened from breathing the foul water for 1 minute.][Private to Ix Tlacoatl: This is a poison effect, so you get +4.] Selsa and Brokam continue to pull themselves through the narrow tunnel.
11:19, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 5,1,14,24 using d20-3,d20-3,d20+0,d20+6.  Swim Brokam, Sesla, Cain, Ix.

As the pair gather and pull themselves to their feet, they look about their surroundings which seem to be illuminated in a pale, yellow-green light. Dampness hangs in the air of this cave, condensing into heavy moisture on the slick, stone walls. A five-foot-high ledge sporting several stalagmites rises to the east, beyond which a low-ceilinged cave beckons. The calm, dark waters wind around to the east up north, along a stony, soot-scarred beach.

It is on this beach that the strange source of the light seems to sit--a few dull-brown stones each with a pair of glowing yellow-green spots. Except the stones seem to be moving? The pair blink and wipe the awful water form their eyes to take a second look, soon realizing the stones are in fact beetles. Beetles the size of house cats which seem angered at their presence and quickly move in to attack! The three vermin quickly scurry after Cain and snap at him, and while the half-elf manages to hop away from most of them, splashing in the shallow water, one of them manages to take a small chunk out of his shin(-2 HP).
Combat has started, Ix and Cain are up while Brokam and Sesla are still making their way through the tunnel. The luminescent beetles are providing dim lighting, so 20% miss chance unless you have low-light vision or darkvision.

Game Map Updated
[Private to Brokam; Sesla Lento: You are both still navigating the underwater tunnel. On your turns, you can make Swim checks (DC 10) to move HALF your speed as a full-round action. If you fail, you may still move 5 feet by pulling yourself along. Since the tunnel is narrow, Brokam may not pass through Sesla's square. If you don't post before Ix and Cain I'll take care of these rolls for you to move this bit along as quickly as possible.]
11:45, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 20 using 1d20.  Initiative Beetles.
11:45, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 18,12,14,14 using d20+2,d20+6,d20+2,d20+3.  Initiative Brokam, Cain, Ix, Sesla.
11:49, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 12,5,20,2,1,2 using d20+1,d20+1,d20+1,1d4,1d4,1d4.  Beetles Attack/Damage v Cain.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:47, Wed 04 Aug 2021.

Ix came out of the water feeling as foul as...well...the water.

Like some primordial birth, the android ascended with the exact same bitterness etched into his face. His hair was cast across his face like a curtain of despair. He looked miserable. Not surprising. At least the water didn't make him worse. (Fort Save 17)

They all swim slow. They all swim terribly. It was an observation Ix felt was important for some reason. Perhaps because none of them go the exercise that he did. Baking was a challenge to mind, body, and spirit alike.

Living in the wilderness helped too.

Ix's eyes cut through the darkness with ease. Still his eyes alighted upon the lights upon the rocks upon the shore. Moving rocks? Attacking rocks!

*schnk!*

It was an awful sound of meat being removed from leg. It at least sounded worst than it was. To Ix. Who couldn't feel Cain's pain.

Once again, with no war cry or celebration, Ix's face grew somehow more grim. With his mask removed and black hair over his face, he didn't seem much less scary.

Gray Master guide me.

Ix ran forward, feet splashing in the water, his shield pulled over one arm as he ran up beside Cain to stomp on the beetle. Maybe Sesla could command these not-machines to stop too.

Move Action: Stepping up 5ft while withdrawing shield
Attack Action: Stomping on the middle buddy!
08:48, Today: Ix Tlacoatl rolled 9 using 1d6+4 with rolls of 5.  Damage against middle beetle.
08:48, Today: Ix Tlacoatl rolled 19 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 14.  It's stompin' time (Unarmed Attack).

The middle beetle emits a cross between a squeal, a chirp, and a squish from its limited insect vocal chords as its legs and carapace are crushed, pushing liquid innards into the pool of water as it very slowly flows towards the tunnel the men had just swam through.
Middle Beetle is dying. Cain is up.

Cain retches the foul water, not even noticing the beetles until one tries to make a meal of his leg. That he notices. "Son of a...!" He draws his sword and feebly slashes at the assailant.

Failed, sickened.
20:06, Today: Cain rolled 5 using 1d20 with rolls of 5.  Fort save.

Move action to draw sword, attacking the right beetle.
20:09, Today: Cain rolled 15,2 using 1d20+2,1d8-2 with rolls of 13,4.  Attack, Damage.

I'd like to then take a 5' step back to where Ix just was, if that's possible (not sure if we are in difficult terrain or not). Sorry about trying to hide behind you Ix, but Cain would not be of much use in melee even if the best of conditions. Which these are not.

[Private to Dungeon Master: DM, is my Mage Armor still up by any chance? I cast it when we were fighting that robot and I'm not sure if an hour has passed since or not.]

[Private to Cain: Good thing you reminded me! Yes, Mage Armor would still be up for, lets say ... 60 Minutes - 20 at Tavern - 5 walking to Kyte - 10 w/ Kyte - 10 getting here = another 15 minutes.]
Despite the feeble swing from the retching Cain, the sword's tip manages to lop off one of the beetle's wings, causing it to screech in pain and charge after the scoundrel as he takes cover behind Ix. Either due to the distraction of its pain, the loss of it's companion, or the effort in this deeper water, the injured beetle's bite is easily avoided, as is the bite of its surviving companion.

Back behind the fight, in the depths of the narrow tunnel, Brokam finds his progress further impeded by the slow-moving Sesla dragging herself along.
New round. Game map updated(remember to force refresh, ctrl+F5.)
14:50, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 2,3 using d20+1,d4 with rolls of 1,3.  Beetle v Ix.
14:50, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 5,2 using d20+1,d4 with rolls of 4,2.  Beetle v Cain.
14:48, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 12,0 using d20-3,d20-3 with rolls of 15,3.  Swim Brokam, Sesla.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:59, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

Sesla Lento rolled 11 using 1d20 with rolls of 11.  Swim Check (DC 10).
Sesla swims 10 feet forward (1/2 of movement).

This message was last edited by the player at 20:29, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

Slowly, Brokam pulled himself through the filthy sludge that was the water.
ooc: Rolling a swim check, I pass with an 18 on the die, and thus pull myself further along by fifteen feet.

"Get the hell off me!" Cain tries to fend off the persistent beetle with his sword.

14:43, Today: Cain rolled 18,1 using 1d20+2,1d8-2 with rolls of 16,3.  Attack, Damage.

Ix notified me that he will be absent this weekend and agreed to be NPC'd.
With another feeble swipe of his blade, Cain manages to lop off a few legs from his insect assailant, and with another heavy stomp Ix leaves a second beetle badly injured and immobile. The last beetle, now barely able to move in the shallow water, puts up very little fight as the two men surround it and finish it off with little effort(100 XP for everyone). A few short moments later, the slower Sesla and Brokam emerge from the underwater tunnel largely unaware of the strife aside from the glow still emanating from the beetle corpses and the faint taste of beetlejuice mixed in already foul water they breathe.[Private to Brokam; Sesla Lento: Fort Save DC 15 or be Sickened for 1 Minute.]

Dampness hangs in the air of this cave, condensing into heavy moisture on the slick, stone walls. A five-foot-high ledge(DC 10 Climb) sporting several stalagmites rises to the east, beyond which a low-ceilinged cave beckons. The calm, dark waters wind around to the east up north, along a stony, soot-scarred beach.

Game Map Updated
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:02, Fri 06 Aug 2021.

Sesla emerges from the foul water and immediately retches. The oracle doubles over "releasing" her stomach of its contents.


OOC: Sesla Lento rolled 1 using 1d20 with rolls of 1.  Fort Save

With the beetles dead, Cain wades out of the water and sits down, trying to calm his stomach down. Only then does he examines the wound he took. It does not look nice, but at least it's not bleeding much. "Well, that could have started better."

Brokam pulled himself from the foul water, his long exposure to various chemicals and other unpleasant substances offering him a degree of tolerance for the muck. Once he was free of the sludge, he began to wipe it off his face and body as best he could, glancing to the others as he did so. Sesla had clearly been overcome by the fouled water, and by his estimation would probably be fine once she’d vomited up whatever she’d swallowed. Cain was favoring one leg over the other, a small gash opened up in his leg. Clearly he’d missed something.

“I have a potion if you think it necessary, but just the one for now. If you don’t want it, then we should at least bandage that, it would be unpleasant if it became infected,” he said to Cain, already reaching into the packs to pull out torches and his medicine bag.

"Nah, it looks worse than it is." Cain comments his wound. "Keep the potion, you might have need for it later. As for the infection, I'll worry about that when we get out alive from this death trap."

Now that he is feeling better Cain starts looking around. "It looks like we have two options here. Any preferences?" He wades to the tunnel bend to see where the stream leads before returning to the beach.

Going 15' north to check out the tunnel, then returning. Got some rope we could use to climb up, assuming we can't just take 10 here.

While the others take to the beach to recover, Ix dutifully gathers each of the beetles from the water to give them another stomp--ensuring there will be no recovery--and spread them and their luminescence across the cave floor. Seeing the half-elf moving into the darkness to have a look, the android passes off one of the slimy corpses for him to use as a light source. Mashed beetle in hand, Cain's elf eyes can make out another beach similar to theirs after a bit of protruding rock wall and on that beach rests a mass of vegetation. After a moment of squinting the half-elf catches a glint of beetle-light bouncing off what must be a steel buckle--it seems like the body of a member of one of the previous expeditions, now overcome by moss.
You can Take 10, but that's still a failure for Brokam and Sesla. Of course, failing means a fall of less than 5 feet.
Group 0 Map Updated

And good riddance.

Like flowing flour, Ix's hands and feet were dusted in the remnants of foul-tempered pests. After handing a radiant cadaver to Cain, Ix had washed...well..."rinsed his hands in the devious water. He glanced over to Sesla's retching figure, mumbling under his breath, "Never seen a machine do such a thing."

There was, however, a level of sympathy. Even for Ix's hardened figure, internally and externally, the foul water even made him feel less than pleasant. He could ascertain it would be even harder on such soft mortals. Figuring Brokam could tend to Sesla, he takes the time to don his mask again. It was like putting back on his skin; he felt ready to conquer the challenges ahead.

"What did you find, Cain?" Ix strides toward Cain, oblivious of wet feet and unimpaired by the dark of the cave. By the look on their face, the scoundrel most have found something.

Cain frowns. "A body. We should try to identify the poor bastard. I doubt it's Khonnir, but we better make sure all the same."

He carefully approaches the moss covered body. "What the hell kind of a moss would do that?"

Moving a bit closer, but still keeping at least 5' away from the moss.

As Cain inches forward, squashed bug in hand, and Ix, who needs no light, joins him, they spot two more small-sized bodies buried in moss lining the stony beach--which itself is covered with the same green-grey moss. [Private to Cain: Cain recalls that the first expedition to enter these caves was a group of halfling adventurers. These are likely their remains.]
Group 0 Map Updated
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:43, Tue 10 Aug 2021.

After Sesla finishes retching she wiped her face and took stock of the inner sea-cave that she found herself within. After precious moments struggling against the ebbing light from the battles, she casts the Light cantrip on her shield.

Uhhm? Sesla said that the mention of a body and she moved up to look over Ix's shoulder to see if the substance was known to her.

Brokam had been looking over at Sesla as she retched, just to be sure she got it all up, but diverted his attention away when Cain announced he’d discovered a body. Making his way over to where they were, he stepped closer than Cain had to get a better view in the dim light given off by the beetle’s remains, inspecting the body but careful to not touch.

Ooc: I would like to roll my Knowledge(Nature) to try and identify the moss, with a result of 12. Additionally, I’m rolling a heal check to see if I can tell how long this guy’s been dead, which goes a little better with a 16. Misread earlier, edited to reflect the scenario correctly.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:50, Tue 10 Aug 2021.

"What the hell kind of a moss would do that?"

As Sesla moved to look over his shoulder, Ix tilted his head the way a crow regards a shiny thing. As though afraid of starting the moss he slowly shifted his shield back to his arm before walking forward. Where Sesla peered from behind him, now Ix loomed over Brokam's inspection. He looked over the mortal coils. Perhaps they held on to things that would help his party's own venture here in the world of the living.

He himself lived and breathed. These deaths made him grateful for the gift of his own breaths, granted to him by the Gray Master.

"Dead long?" Ix asks Brokam.

Ix isn't especially careful with Brokam's inspection, but he does try to stay out of their way as he sees what he too can notice.
16:39, Today: Ix Tlacoatl rolled 24 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 18.  Perception (Dead Folks).

To Cain, Ix, and Sesla the moss doesn't seem like anything special, just an unremarkable, common moss. [Private to Brokam: Brokam's trained eye can identify it as a common Sphagnum genus--but determining the exact species would require proper study and references. He estimates that to grow over the bodies as it has would normally take nearly two weeks, but the state of decomposition of the body(green skin, bloated, bloody foam leaking from and crusting around the mouth) suggests about a week.][Private to Ix Tlacoatl: Without getting too close, Ix can't see any useful gear. In fact he is able to make out a few sheaths among them without any blades in them, suggesting someone has already looted the bodies.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:38, Tue 10 Aug 2021.

Brokam observed the remains for a few moments, brow furrowed in confusion before Ix’s question snapped him back out of his thoughts.
“Hm? Oh, yes, dead a while, but oddly not long enough. Let me explain,” He said, seeing the beginning of confused expressions on the others faces at his admittedly unhelpful answer. “Judging by the decomposition, I would judge that this man has been dead for a week, maybe ten days at most. But this,” He explained, gesturing to a particularly thick patch of moss as he did so, “This is wrong. I can’t be certain of the precise species without a proper laboratory to test it, but this moss is clearly of the Sphagnum genus, you might have heard it called peat moss. Regardless of its name though, it’s grown far too quickly.  This moss in normal conditions would need at least two weeks to cover these bodies so extensively. These men have not been dead long enough for this to have happened naturally.”