Mayon's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the boy, immediately reminded of his brother at home as he walked forward, not even bothering to glance around as all he could picture was Iomel lying like that. "Who did this to you? No, that doesn't matter right now...Bram, can you heal him if we get him out?"

Despite his panic, he examines the setup of the stones anxiously, worried of setting off something foul or arcane should they free the boy incorrectly.

14:36, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 7 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 3.  Investigation.
Was trying to investigate for any traps connected to the boy's positioning...and on the off chance I find any:
14:36, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 20 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 16.  Arcana check.
To see if they're magical or not.
Though, probably a moot point here :P

"Who pulled the chained bars just now? What's going on here? What's your name?" Morg says to the boy.

"And don't be afraid," tilting his head to Dwee, "her crazy isn't the dangerous kind."

---

Move: to BM35.

Action: try to insight check all the things the boy says and does.

22:55, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 13 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 12.  Insight check everything the boy says and does to figure out if he's lying or malevolent.

The boy cranes his neck and laps eagerly at Dweeble's waterskin, but isn't able to properly drink. Much of the water dribbles down the boy's chin or splashes directly onto the earth. He groans at the effort.

Attempting to swallow, the boy stares wide-eyed at Morg. "Please don't tell the Believers," he manages, before coughing against the stone floor. "I'm just thirsty. And hungry," he adds, closing his eyes with fatigue.

---

Mayon sees nothing indicating a trap or magic at work here - the stones look normal, and seem strategically placed to keep the boy prone while not crushing him outright.

From what Morg can tell, the boy seems to be exhausted and starved. He seems truthful. From his condition he looks to have been here in this position for at least a full day.

"Believers?" Asano questions, still wandering around the stone spire.

OOC:
Continue moving around the central stone, BP39.

Dweeble pulled her waterskin away from the boy as he swallowed and spoke up.  Well, at least he knew what water was again.  She folded the lip of the sack of water and replaced it at her filled belt before going back to her study of the young man's 'blankets'.  She reached both hands out to one stone, holding on to it as her wide eyes studied it for some secret or facet that would let her understand what was going on.

"Wassa Believer?  I've never heard of 'em.  Anything worth knowing, Dweeble knows.  Like how water and stones is different!"  Dweeble pulled her hands away from the stone and stood up.  She'd evidently, lost interest in the boy after he had brought up a subject she wasn't, evidently, an expert on.

Instead, Dweeble moved to the slightly ajar stone door and squished her face against the edge of it to peer out into whatever lay beyond.  She wasn't foolish enough to move into whatever lay beyond.  She simply was curious.

15:21, Today: Dweeble rolled 5 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 2.  History - What are Believers?

Dweeble's going to move to the door and peer through for whatever lay beyond.  Not sure which way the door is ajar so you can move Dweeble on the map to wherever you envision, DM.

"Probably whoever wear those stone masks, I'd say." Mayon says softly, getting down to try and lift the stones holding the boy pinned. "Let's see if we can get you out of here...what's your name? Are you from Red Larch?" He keeps his voice quiet and gentle, trying to keep the boy calm as he lifts the blocks to help him free.


18:11, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 18 using 1d20-1 with rolls of 19.  Strength check.
Lifting up the blocks...Apparently Mayon's big bro instincts trump his weak squishy caster arms :P

"My name's Braelen," the boy replies to Mayon after he is freed from the stones. As he shivers on the cold floor of the chamber, his gaze quickly shifts between Mayon, Dwee, Asano, and the others' faces. Exhaustion, confusion, terror, and gratitude flit across his features as he rubs his grimy arms.

"You don't know who the Believers are? They're a secret group of grownups in Red Larch. They're the ones that was punishing me."

He hesitates. "How'd you know about this place if you don't know who the Believers are?" He blinks and starts rubbing his eyes, smearing the dirt across his forehead. "Do you have any food?"

Dwee peers through the crack in the doorway on the opposite side of the room, but she sees little save darkness. It looks like perhaps the door leads to another chamber beyond, but she can't tell what's in it.

---

Map updated. X is where Braelen is.

Morg narrows his eyes at this so-called "Braelen", looks at the rectangular stone, and then wanders off to see what Dwee's sticking her head into.

---

Move: 25' to BR36.

20:05, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 8 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 7.  Insight check to see if Braelen is dirty liar.
20:05, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 17 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 13.  History check regarding origin of stonework and inscription method (Stonecunning).
20:06, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 6 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 3.  Perception check for what's thru the eastern door.

Asano remains at the far end of the room as the others question the young man. He too attempts to look through the cracked door into the chamber beyond, though hindered by the previous day's ill tempered drinking.

OOC:
Perception- 8

Jak rocked back on his heels as the boy talked. A conspiracy! A secret group of adults in the town? He wondered if the group's efforts had been blocked by this group. He wondered if the Sherriff was part of it, but didn't think so - otherwise why inform them of a good time to investigate (unless it was a trap). The owner of the quarry was a likely member. The boy seemed to be telling the truth.

"We're persistent an' observant." He grinned then turned serious again. "Whadda the Believers want? Whadda they do? Who are all the members? We know a few already."

Sigh. The dice roller really doesn't like me lately.
12:13, Today: Secret Roll: Jakrynn Redgate rolled 7 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 3.  Insight on Braelen.
12:15, Today: Secret Roll: Jakrynn Redgate rolled 8 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 4.  Persuasion to get Braelen to open up more.

Mayon nods at the boy's words, reaching into his pack and pulling out some of his rations. "Here you go, Braelen. Don't make yourself sick by eating too fast." He cautions softly. "I'm Mayon, by the way...as Jak said, do you know any names of the people involved? And if not, do you have any family you would feel safe returning to?"


Giving the boy, let's say 1 day of rations.
13:04, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 13 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 10.  Friendly persuasion.

Braelen hungrily wolfs down the food Mayon provides. "Sure, I know 'em," he says at last, "My dad's one. He meets with 'em all the time, in secret, at night mostly. I know Mr. Waelvur, Mr. Harbuckler, and Mr. Gaelkur are part of it. Grund too, I suppose, but he's not really a member. They just tell him what to do."

He turns to Jak. "The Believers make sure no one disturbs the Delvers, and they guard the movin' stones. They watch stones a lot, 'cause it’s a bad sign when they move, and they have to figure out what it means so nothin' bad happens".


"Thanks a ton for the food and water," he says, eyeing the door nervously. "I'm afraid what my Dad will say if he finds out I got out of the punishment early, so don't think I should go back to my house just yet. But if it's ok with you I think I'll run back to Red Larch and hang out in Mr. Vallivoe's shop for a while. Maybe he won't be mad if I talk to my mom first."

Asano and Morg peer over Dwee's head through the narrow slit into the next room. With their darkvision, the two can make out another rough-hewn chamber roughly the same size as the one they're in now. In the center of the room stands a statue of some kind. A ring of dirt or small rocks surrounds the statue - it's hard to tell exactly what.

---

Map updated. You can't see very much of the room beyond at all, but I've uncovered a bit of it.

Morg and Jak can't tell if Braelen is telling the truth or not.

Morg thinks the stonework around the walls seems consistent with Dwarven techniques, but the inscription on stone in the center of the chamber looks more recent and crudely done.

Horrified that a child might be treated so, Bram kneeled next to the lad and set to tending his wounds.  As he bandaged the worst of the scrapes he asked, "Why did the Delvers punish you in such a cruel manner?"  The Glyphscribe pondered whether he'd ever heard of any cult called 'the Delvers' and then inquired, "What more can you tell us of these moving stones?  What bad things do the Delvers fear may come of them?"

When the lad was ready to depart, Bram spoke to him in a very serious tone, "Listen carefully, Braelen, for I believe that you are in danger.  When you return to Red Larch do not return to your home yet.  Go instead directly to the Helm at Highsun, and keep out of sight if you can.  Rent yourself a single room at the inn and do not leave it for a day or two, or until we return to find you."  Bram pressed a few coins into the boy's palm, "Tell Kaylessa that we sent you, and that it is important that nobody know that you are lodged there.  Not even your father."  After another moment's thought, the half-elf rummaged in his pack and retrieved a thick, dog-eared tome entitled The Sothillisian War: An Annotated History.  He handed the volume to the boy and said, "If you'd like something to pass the time until our return, take this.  It's a very fascinating and informative work, I'm sure you'll agree."

---

OOC:  Giving Braelen enough coin for a private room at the Helm and meals for two days, however much that is.

A terrible Medicine check to try to tend to Braelen's wounds, but probably make them worse!

• 11:22, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 7 using 1d20.  Medicine.

Obligatory Insight to check that Braelen isn't an evil child incriminating innocent folks:

• 11:09, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 19 using 1d20.  Insight.

Religion check to see if the name "Delvers" or anything else Braelen has said about them rings any bells:

• 11:17, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 15 using 1d20+4.  Religion.

Dweeble pulled her face away from the crack in the door and looked up to see Morg and Asano peering out in the same way she had been.  She opened her mouth to explain how useless it was, the deep dark shadows hiding any hint of what it could contain, even possible shinies.  And then she remembered.  "Oh, right.  You got special eyes.  Hmmph!"

She walked away from the pair and ventured back towards where the other three were still conversing with the young boy.  She listened to Bram caution the young man, silently listening in on a conversation she hadn't really been a part of.  Her eyes went wide as she watched those sparing coins slide from Bram's hand and into Braelen's though.  Her eyes only went that much wider when she watched him offer the book, boring though it was in her eyes, to the lad.  "Wh-why you givin' away your stuffs, Glasses?  It's your stuff!  You worked hard for your stuff, Dweeble knows that.  Buncha' weirdos with your special eyes and givin' away your stuff!"  She tossed her arms up in the air and walked away, mumbling to herself as she was prone to do.

She returned to the door and poked Morg in the armor over his ribs lightly, just enough to get his attention.  "Hey, you got one of those torches still?  Dweeble can't see nothing out there and I've about had it with all these acts of kindness and what not.  She wants to go and look for shin-...  I mean check for traps and what not.  Never know what those masked men do down here, right?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:58, Tue 06 June 2017.

"The Delvers? They're dead. They didn't punish me, my dad and Mr. Waelvur did. You must mean the Believers." Braelen shrugs. "The Believers watch the stones to see if bad things will happen. I don't know what could happen. Stuff that could hurt the village maybe?"

He accepts the coins eagerly and the book somewhat skeptically. "Ok, I'll do that," he says slowly to Bram's directions, then stops.

Braelen cocks his head as the whole group begins to hear the heavy footfalls of many feet coming from beyond the eastern door.

---

Edit: Just realized I didn't reply to Bram's ability rolls:

The boy wasn't seriously hurt, but he appreciates the attempt at some healing.

Braelen seems sincere in what he says and how he's acting.

Nothing about the Delvers or Believers rings any bells.

Bram gives Braelen 2gp.


This message was last edited by the GM at 21:07, Wed 07 June 2017.

Mayon's eyes widens at that, then narrowed. "Braelen, get behind us for now." He says in a low voice, raising his focused hands and staring at the door intently. "I don't want you to get hurt."

The half-elf smiled at Dweeble's odd question and replied simply, "I gave the book to him in the hopes that he might read it!"

Bram furrowed his brow and replied to the boy, "My mistake... but I ask again, what was the cause for this punishment?"  He felt slightly guilty pressing the young man on this point, but it was beginning to seem that he was avoiding the question.  It would be helpful for understanding these so-called Believers to know what they considered a crime worthy of pinning a child to the floor of a cavern and leaving them to suffer for a day or more.

When the many footfalls came clomping beyond the eastern door, Bram jumped to attention and scrambled to ready his axe and shield.  Once he was ready he approached the door and waited a few paces back and ready to face whoever might come.

---

Moving to BR37

EDIT:  In case it matters, Bram left the driftglobe floating at BP38.  It currently has Daylight emanating from it, which makes a 60-foot radius of bright light.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:06, Wed 07 June 2017.

Jak let the others do the talking. Talking wasn't his specialty, though it should be according to his mentor! Talking and singing and telling stories, not sneaking and stealing, er borrowing! He shrugged off the thoughts.

He turned to face the door as they heard what sounded like footsteps approaching. He readied his shield and stood back a bit in the door was flung open and someone or something came rushing out, he wouldn't be right near it.

Because of the oversized cloak he's wearing over his armor, Morg struggles to take out one of his large torches for Dwee.

Before he can get one tho, he turns to face the footfalls coming from the eastern door, and instead takes out a bag of ball bearings. Bending low, he tries to pour it out at the doorway.

Dweeble lowered her hand from Morg's ribs as those heavy footfalls began to sound from beyond the doorway.  She quickly scurried away from the door, letting Morg and Asano deal with whatever would come through the doorway first.  After all, she hadn't even found a shiny to steal yet.  Why put poor Dweeble in harm's way?

She looked around the box of a room, her lips opening and closing as she whined liked a young child.  There was simply no where to hide!  She rushed over to the stone slab in the middle of the room and quickly searched for hand holds to pull herself to the very top.  If she made it, she'd crouch down low and simply ready herself with a dagger in one hand.

Should her attempt to climb the stone fail, she'd rush around to the west side of the slab, hiding behind the only object that was between herself and the door where those heavy footfalls were coming from.

OOC:  If the climb check fails, she'll just hide on the other side.  If her being crouched on the stone wouldn't hide her either, she'd do the same if she has time.

23:54, Today: Dweeble rolled 10 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 7.  Athletics - Climb.
23:55, Today: Dweeble rolled 11 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 2.  Stealth - Hide.

Braelen listens to the approaching footsteps and replies distractedly. "I didn't deliver the message they wanted me to," he says, clutching his book and eyeing the door ahead. "I was supposed to give the slip of paper to Mr. Waelvur, but I lost it in the woods. I'm not always good at keeping track of things." He glances down at the book, then sheepishly up at Bram.

He nods to Mayon's suggestion, then turns and sprints for the door leading back to the fallen cages, pulling it closed behind him.

Morg's ball bearings spill out in front of the door. Abruptly the door opens, and the swinging stone slab scatters some of the bearings in all directions. Dwee, halfway up the far side of the stone pillar, peaks carefully around the side.

A half-orc wearing a greasy apron is followed closely by a group of six figures wearing stone masks. Asano recognizes them as the same group he saw a few nights ago, as their armor also bears the familiar triangular mark. Their frozen features scan the room as they stop short of the doorway, assessing the situation.

"They was coming in this way but I dropped the cages on them," the half-orc was saying before he stops dead, staring with his mouth open at the group standing in the room. "They ain't in their cages," he scowls angrily, hefting a large mace.

"Quiet Grund," one of the stone masked figures says through his mask. His muffled voice echos strangely off the stone walls, granting it a distorted, almost metallic rasp.

"Greetings, intruders. We are the Bringers of Woe. We have come to reward your curiosity." He immediately draws a wicked curved scimitar that reflects the driftglobe's light with a slightly reddish hue.

---

Map updated.  Dwee, Asano, Mayon, and Bram are up now.

Squares in purple have ball bearings in them: A creature moving across these squares must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. A creature moving through the area at half speed doesn’t need to make the saving throw.

The driftglobe is in the yellow square (BP38), but anyone can move freely through that square.

Dwee successfully climbed the stone, about 4 feet off the ground when the door opens.


Round 1 Initiative Order:

Who	Init	Status
Dwee	22	Hiding, climbing up a rock
Asano	19	Poisoned: Disadv on attack & ability checks
Mayon	16
Bram	12
Bringers of Woe	9
Jak	8
Grund	6
Morg	4

This message was last edited by the GM at 23:45, Wed 07 June 2017.

Asano pulls his crystal-tipped focus from it's hiding place and whispers a spell. A calming wind flows between the enemy group, bursting amidst the next room. He moves back near the tall stone in the center of the penance room.


OOC:
Cast sleep, targeting the bottom vertex of BV/BW. Affects up to 25 HP of enemies, starting with the lowest total.
Move to BM37

Dweeble peered around the stone and suppressed a quick yipe of surprise.  She hadn't expected that many people, that's for sure!  She scrambled the rest of the way up the stone and pulled her dagger free.  She paused for the barest of moments to decide what to do but the red-tinted flash of light across the man's blade was enough of a sign for what was intended.  She loosed the dagger in her hand immediately, tossing it at the first masked individual she could see, the one in front of Morg.

Deciding that her vantage point was of no use against such numbers, she jumped down from the stone and sprinted towards Morg, hurrying to get behind her favorite meat shield.

OOC:  Targetting W1 at BT36.  I'm assuming since you said Dweeble was hiding she had advantage on the attack but ignore that if I was mistaken.

Using bonus action to dash forwards.  Ultimate goal is BQ36, the space directly behind Morg, but I'm not sure how much movement would be expended on and around the stone beforehand.

18:12, Today: Dweeble rolled 12 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 5.  Attack - Dagger.
18:12, Today: Dweeble rolled 15 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 8.  Attack - Dagger (Advantage).
18:13, Today: Dweeble rolled 7 using 1d4+5 with rolls of 2.  Damage - Dagger.
18:13, Today: Dweeble rolled 4 using 1d6 with rolls of 4.  Damage - Sneak Attack.

Mayon steps out from behind the stone pillar, narrowing his eyes at the sight of the masked men. So these were the ones who dropped cages and tormented children. The ones likely connected to the one he hunted.

He quietly mutters a spell as he focuses on the half-orc called Grund, figuring he would be difficult due to his sheer size, and aiming his hand towards him and past his allies to strike.

Movement: Mayon steps up to BO34.
Bonus action: Hex on Grund--disadvantage on Strength checks.
Action: Eldritch Blast on Grund.
21:28, Today: Secret Roll: Mayon Graycross rolled 14 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 9.  Eldritch Blast Grund.
21:29, Today: Secret Roll: Mayon Graycross rolled 7 using 1d10+3 with rolls of 4.  Agonizing Blast Damage.
21:29, Today: Secret Roll: Mayon Graycross rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  Hex damage.

If Mayon hits/is able to attack, hits 14 AC for 7 force and 6 necrotic damage.
If Mayon doesn't have the ability to attack from this angle (line of sight is odd) then he will do nothing for his action.
I also believe Mage Armor is in effect from earlier? Pretty sure I cast it at least. Unless it's been 8 hours.

Bram noticed Morg's ball bearings scattered across the threshold between them and the stone-masked figures, and decided to hold the door and make them come to him.  "I do not know what your aims are, skulking about masked beneath Red Larch, but the title 'Bringers of Woe' leads me to doubt that your intentions are philanthropic."  Bram raised his shield, facing the armored aggressors with the eye and candle symbol of Deneir and readied his bearded axe to strike the first through the threshold.  "I'm afraid this conspiracy of yours is at an end."

---

Holding position and readying a battleaxe attack against the first enemy to get adjacent to Bram!  If an ally adjacent to me gets attacked first then instead use the reaction to impose disadvantage on that attack.