It would be easier to have found a campsite during daylight, but these things can't be helped.  You locate a spot shielded on two sides by stone, with a pretty good view of the approach from the valley.  It's not the most comfortable place, but it's safe.

Now we need a watch schedule.  Holly should take one of the two darkest middle shifts.  She's got the keenest eyes and ears.  Farden and Glumr are about the same, but Farden needs the rest most, so Glumr should take one of the middle shifts.  How does this sound for a schedule?

Sunna / Holly / Glumr and the eye/ Farden

ZR, your first act as Holly will be to pick out spells for the coming day.  Take a look a the PM to see what Holly had been selecting and keep in mind that you'll need to do some healing tomorrow.

Farden would ordinarily insist on the most difficult watch, but his injuries make him more open to accepting an easier watch rotation this time around.

Sounds good to Glumr.   He wants his friends healed.  Oddly, he's kind of itching to see what's in this cave and learn more about the transport stones.

The plan sounds good to Sunna.

By now they're use it or lose it.  Holly casts one Cure Minor on Farden and Sunna casts 3.

Since ZR hasn't signed on yet, I chose Holly's spells for her.

After the long rest that goes past lunch, Holly casts Cure Light Wounds on Farden.  It's a success and everyone is at full health, ready to check out the cave.

You hike down the mountainside, following the Retriever Spider to the mouth of the cave.  The air blowing out of the cave is hotter that the warm summer mountain air, which is unusual.  Caves are typically cool.  The large spider hunkers down and enters the cave.  As you venture within you see scattered bones and refuse, but no sign of more wolves.  Once you get past the part of the cave that was apparently their den the tunnel curves to the right and slopes downward.  It's hot and arid in the tunnel.  You stop at an intersection so Glumr can examine the ground.  You all break out waterskins to wet your dry throats while he's busy.  He tells the group that no one has been this way in a long time, human or otherwise.  Normally would be of no help but today you have no worries about finding the quickest path through the tunnels, and it lets you relax knowing there are no monsters prowling these tunnels.

It gets a little cooler and not quite so dry as you press onward.  Soon you enter a large, obviously carved out tunnel.  It's very square and regular - about 20 feet wide and 20 feet high, leading off in two directions.  The spider has plenty of room to walk normally here.    It choses to go left and you all follow.

After a while you reach a flat wall similar to the side wall.  The tunnel dead ends here and the spider comes to a stop.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:31, Fri 22 Feb 2013.

"What? Is there a secret passage here we're supposed to find?" asks Farden, looking around.

13:31, Today: Farden rolled 16 using 1d20+2. search.

Farden quickly discovers that there's something not quite right about this dead end wall.  For starters, it looks rough but it feels smooth.  The side walls feel like they should.  Some sort of illusion, perhaps?  He doesn't find any seams that might indicate a secret door, or anything to trigger the opening of such a door.

Farden is going to go closer and poke the wall with his sword, see what it feels like.

OCC - Can we take a 10 on Search?

How does this compare to the wall where we went through to the trogs world. 

Glumr checks the plate to see if it feels warm or anything our of the norm.

"Holly.. Do you know anything about what we should do?  The spider lead us here."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:22, Mon 05 Nov 2012.

Farden pokes at the wall.  The sword interacts with the wall like you might expect.  It's solid.

You can take 10 on a search roll, but finding a trap or secret door is DC 20.

This is eerily similar to the wall for the trog portal.  Even the tunnel leading up to it is pretty much the same except for the troglodyte fortifications.  Glumr and Holly remember there being a dead end there too.  Snow held the plate in both hands and did something magical.  The plate glowed and the wall turned into a shimmering portal.  It didn't stay open for very long.  They also remember Snow got stuck somewhere on the way back.  It took a real long time for her to come back.  She never told either one of you what that was all about.

Holly has both plates and neither one of them is warm now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:13, Mon 05 Nov 2012.

OCC - I thought Glumr had the one plate?  Picked it up in the battle with the spider when Holly disappeared.

Glumr does his best to check for doors or anything hidden.

Glumr rolled 10 using 1d20+6. Search the dead end.

OK, that sounds right.  Glumr has the Trog Portal Plate and Holly has the Helm Portal Plate.

Glumr's search yields no further insights.

"Glumr, you take your time and take a close look, I'll watch your back."

Sunna compares how the normal walls feel to the wall Farden poked with his sword. "It has to be a magical portal, right?"

Casting "Detect Magic"

Sunna plays a short jingle, but then continues it, letting it linger while she examines the walls and looks around at Glumr and Holly.  When she wraps up her song, she nods, convinced she was right about the portal.

"Does anyone know what to do with the plate? I'd guess that someone has to place it on the wall, like you would use a key on a door." Sunna points at the dead end.
"But it's the first time for me to even see such a gate, I never used one before." Tapping a finger on her chin Sunna examines the wall again.

Holly looks around, removing the helm plate from her pack. She steps forward. "I agree. I think this place has a door.. a door to elsewhere from here. This is not a dead end, as it appears to be."For a moment, she concentrates on the magic within the plates given to her.

As the casters do their thing, Farden is going to ready himself for trouble (though he has no clue what he'll do if the gate malfunctions).

At first nothing happens.  Holly furrows her brow.  Is she doing something wrong?  The druids taught her many magical secrets, maybe she is forgetting something.  She thinks back...


Whatever Holly did worked.

The wall shimmers like the rippling surface of a pond with waters you can not see into.  Your light reflects off the surface but it is dark beyond.  There is a musty smell of stale air and a faint scent of smoke.  You think it must've been a long time since this portal has been opened.  The portal is big enough for two people to enter side by side.  It will not stay open long.  The large metallic spider is the first to pass through the portal and disappear.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:55, Thu 14 Feb 2013.

Glumr draws his sword and smiles at his friends "Shall we?" and steps into the portal with Talita next to him.

OCC - Figured the fox would be next to me unless plot elements dictate otherwise.

Farden is actually going to be the second through the portal, right after the giant spider. Glumr can back him up, but the armored warrior goes first.

The eye floats through the portal behind Farden and Glumr.

Sunna follows the eye, her hand on the hilt of her sword. Right before she enters she stops for a moment, takes a deep breath, and then steps into it.

In the spirit of moving things along I will post for Holly.

Holly follows close on Sunna's heels through the portal.

You all arrive in a surprisingly similar dead end tunnel.  Other than the different smell of the air you wouldn't know you had travelled anywhere at all.  The tunnel is the same size, about 20 feet wide and 20 feet high.  The dimensions are very uniform the walls ceiling and floor are all impressively flat, straight, and square, which is uncommon for underground tunnels.

A few seconds after everyone arrives safely the simmering portal disappears leaving the normal looking stone wall in its place.  There's very little sense of disorientation and you're ready to press onward.  The retriever spider leads the way once more.

Roughly 1000 feet down the tunnel you come upon some construction.  The walls of the tunnel have been extended inward to form a large circle sort of like a doorway.  It is rimmed with a band of metal.  There are large durable metal fittings on one side with very sturdy pins in them.  They look like unfinished hinges.  On the other side of the vertical circle from the fittings are 3 holes drilled through the metal rim and into the surrounding rock.  Each hole is big enough to fit your arm into up to your elbow.

The spider does not pay this construction any attention.  It strides right on through.

This is a good time to award EXP.


 50 exp  Renard's cottage
150 exp  Defeated Gingerbread Man
400 exp  Xyzeryx
600 exp  Hellhounds
-------------------------
1200 exp Total

This will advance Farden to 4th level.  It brings Sunna to 5200exp, so she's still got a little ways to go before 4th level.