Tahldar casts a resistance spell on everyone, and the rafts push off from the bank. Near the first "island," you approach with trepidation.

But then you push off and around the first little island with no problems for either raft. (OOC: Probably a good think Kahan changed places or results would have been much different.)

Borimer has no problem flying around the obstacles.

Shae mentions going down the northern path and they start to steer their raft in that direction...

OOC: What about the second raft with Tahldar, Leo and Shapfren?

"We should probably follow them" Leo says pointing toward the north path where the other raft is headed.

You take the rafts in single file to the north, with Kahan's raft leading and Leo's just behind. The heat is oppressive, and you are all perspiring like the dead of summer. It is even hotter in the tight squeeze of the tunnel. You have to pull in your oars and let the raft drift, helping it along by pushing against the walls with your hands as it narrows to just 5 feet wide.

Borimer, flying slightly ahead of you, sees something and cries out in alarm, "Watch out!"

But it is too late. Kahan, at the lead of the first raft, is the first to see the two spike anchors set in the wall at about shoulder height as he sits in the raft. Stretched out between the two anchors is a thin line of rope.

Kahan is hit by the rope at his shoulder and it drags him back against the weak Geebo. Kahan manages to duck under the rope before being knocked overboard. (Saving throw made.) Geebo is so short that he also manages to avoid the rope.  Shae is not so lucky. (Saving throw missed.) Shae is caught and...slammed back against the hard rock of the raft, hitting her head. (3 hp dmg. Rolled 1 on effects table. Lower is better so she got lucky.)

By the time the second raft goes through, they are well warned and manage to duck down as the thin line of cord passes harmlessly above them.

The tunnel widens out to 40 feet wide again as it once more veers to the right.

Up ahead, you see two more of those rocky outcroppings on the north side of the lava river and on the south side, you see a spot where lava slowly drips from the ceiling at about the rate of one large globule every two seconds.

You can bypass the outcroppings again, or you can try to time the raft to go under the dripping globules of lava, where a miss will either land lava on the raft or allow a saving throw if it hits you to evade for half damage (i.e., for failure, out of 1d6, with 6 positions on raft, 1 in 3 chance of hitting a person (1 in 6 of hitting you in particular), 1 in 3 of landing in the spaces between you.

Tahlar looks at the lava and is very afraid of winding up dipping a toe into its "waters".

He sees the path ahead and he is unsure which way to go.  The mage offers no advice so as not to be seen as a back seat driver.

Shae says, "I think it might be safer to try to time the dropping lava just right. Even if we get hit by a little, that's probably less dangerous than getting knocked from the raft." If there are no objections, she helps steer the raft that way. If there are, she is fine going the other way too.

"Borimer, we are going to go under the dripping lava. Can you look for a large rock to try to block, or at least divert, the falling lava before it hits us?" Kahan suggests as he attempts to keep the boat from going too fast without making it go too slow either. Obviously they wanted to pass under the lava quickly but going too fast could mean certain death against another rock somewhere up ahead.

OOC: Note that you will have a total of about 10 seconds to make the decision and do whatever you are going to do.

Borimer does not see a giant loose rock and likely could not pick one up while flying. A shield might help (+2 to roll).

Kahan hands Borimer his shield instead. "After all, even if it gets damaged, we have a new, magical one I can use instead," he explains.

OOC: I'm kind of laughing to myself because Kahan and the group could use the shields themselves but instead are putting Borimer in danger when he could easily avoid it all.

The first raft goes to the left to the dropping globules of lava, while the second stays to go to the outcroppings.

The first raft goes under with Borimer ready with that shield. You try to time it just right with the oars to avoid being hit by lava...and you make it through without any problem. (Critical hit.)

The second raft navigates the outcroppings, pushing off and going around them...also making it safely. (Dex/Str rolls success.)

OOC: You guys had really good rolls on this one.

You continue down the river. It still continues to slightly bend to the right...

Up ahead, you see that a tributary enters from the right hand side, making the flow go much faster. The river then branches off to the right or left, again allowing for a choice of direction.

The left side appears slower and wider, and the right side appears more narrow but faster.

"I think we should go right, but try to monitor our speed with the rafts," the priest suggested, looking around to see what everyone thought.

"I think left might be better.  Slower and wider should be safer." Tahldar suggests.  But the mage knows at the best it's just an educated guess.  He could easily be wrong.

"I was thinking the smaller path might actually be safer as long as we stay away from the walls because of the fact it's going faster, that means there are less likely to be any obstructions," Kahan suggested, although he did not move to begin going down that path until at least somewhat of a decision had been made and agreed upon.

Shae will go either way. "I feel we are in pursuit of someone, so maybe fast is better. Then again, slow might be safer. In either case, we have to decide quickly."

Looks like the boat with Shae, Kahan and Geebo is steering toward the faster moving flow, and the Tahldar, Leo and Shapfren boat is moving toward the slower flow. Leo or Tahldar should make a final decision.

Tahlar mutters arcane elvish curses.  "Go the fast way!" he says excitedly, not wanting to split up.

You move the rafts to the faster moving right hand side of flowing lava. It narrows but is deceptively easy to navigate. When it widens again, you see that you made a wise decision. The slow moving lava to your left actually slowed into an almost solidifying, hard flow that is not flowing much at all and would have had you stuck in the thick, dark and solidifying lava that will before long be more rock foundations of this cave system.

The lava flow continues to curve to the right.

And then you see it. On your right, there is an alcove area and a small landing of hard dirt and rock. Moored there is the other raft. It is empty, but now you know where the other doppleganger has gone.

OOC: I realized after the fact that Borimer would probably have died back when he was holding the shield up for protection. As Geebo flowed under him, his antimagic ring would have dispelled Borimer's fly spell. We will assume Borimer managed to keep at least 10 feet away. Don't worry. I will try not to forget about that next time...as well as the other two rings he cannot remove from his fingers. So far, you don't know what they do.

Kahan can't help but smile at the results, turning to look at Tahldar who, he figured, had cursed him in Elvish for the decision he'd made. "Sometimes taking a risk is worth it," he smiled as he moored the raft.

Fear gripped fingers clutch the stone canoe with all their might.  Tahldar hates being this close to the liquid rock, and is nearly losing whatever grip he has left on his sanity as they start down the swiftly moving tributary.  Fearing a roller coaster ride down a torrent of lava, he calms as the faster flow carries them safely to where there the doppleganger has gone.

"I wish to never have to do that again." he says simply as they dock and he carefully makes his way onto dry land.

"Geebo needs to stay here.  We will all be safer here if stays behind." he adds with concern.

You bring in the rafts from the main river into the alcove area, as shown below:



You row the rafts into the area marked W1 and get a much better view of the area.

You can moor the rafts at any of the places marked "a", "b", or the center landing area between them. Areas "a" and "b" both have empty rafts. (Yes, this means there is yet another raft you have not seen before.)

Alternatively, you can row the raft up north to the area marked W3 if you don't want to moor the rafts.

This W1 area is very large and domed, with 20 foot tall ceilings. As with the rest of the lava tunnels, the walls are very porous, with large 6 inch to 2 foot wide round holes leading out scattered all around the walls and ceiling. These partly drain out the heat from the lava to avoid it becoming unbearably hot...but it is still very, very hot. You find yourselves drinking extra water and wiping away sweat constantly.

In the center of the area is a 10 foot wide round stone table-like object. It appears too smooth to be natural and the outsides are rounded as though to make grips. Rocks leading northwest block off your ability to move the rafts around clockwise. You would have to row back and forth. In a pinch, you could theoretically use the rocks as stepping stones, though it would be risky.

Tunnels lead away from each of the mooring sites.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:59, Wed 23 Sept 2020.

"One is as good as any." Tahldar says as he sees the options in front of them.  "How about there?" he adds as points to dock "a".

Kahan shrugs and nods. "Seems as good as any," he agreed as he headed towards that alcove.

You moor the rafts at the spot marked "a" next to the other one already there. It is pretty crowded as you all jump out and sidle down the narrow tunnel. The glow of lava all around makes it glow a pale orange, and the heat is overwhelming, yet it vents through the many small 1-2 foot tunnels in the walls and ceiling. The ceiling averages about 15 feet high here.

Looking ahead, you see an open area about 20' x 20', with a ceiling raising to about 25' overhead. Straight ahead past the opening is a 12 foot tall ledge. You can't see what's on the ledge.

In the center of the open area is a constant dripping glob of lava that falls every couple of seconds into a hole or pit.

Let me know if you want to go to the open area and explore further. There are two tunnels leading away, one to the northeast and one to the south. You would need to get closer to see where they lead.

You should also have a marching order for the narrow tunnels. I will use the raft order unless told otherwise.

This message was last edited by the GM at 03:50, Sat 26 Sept 2020.

"I suspect we need to climb that ledge, but I'd like to see what's on the right." Tahldar says as he looks around.

OOC:  5' Marching order:  Borimer, Kahan, Shae, Tahldar, Shapfren, Leo

As you move to about 10 feet of the dropping globules of lava, Borimer feels his feet fall. There is a board covered with dirt, and when he steps on it, it falls about 2 feet into a hole. The lever action of the board moving down pulls a rope lightly covered with earth that extends to another board beside the falling lava. That board swings up like a baseball bat, and lava bounces off it, flying straight at you...

Borimer (saving throw made) ducks and avoids the lava.

Kahan (saving throw failed) is hit by the fist sized lava. (6 dmg.) He manages to knock it off, but it burns his neck and part of his shoulder. Luckily, nothing catches on fire.