Over a year had now passed since those events, however all paths back to Thena, where Itylus and Arthanos had reunited, and then had also run into Lysandros as well.  By a chance meeting they had encountered Dysis who had escaped her abduction and had also had a perilous journey back to Thena. However the ordeal of the past year had shattered the fortunes of all of them, and in renewing their respective friendships sought to strike out once again... However, politically things in Thena were stable with few if any monsters plaguing the countryside and thus work for adventurers and would-be heroes was thin. The four had found themselves down in their fortunes, literally down to a handful of silvers in total which was problematic since the group's prior patron, Lord Joris, had passed away over the past year and his heirs were not keen to "squander" any more of his money.

But, Tyche had smiled upon them. The four had been approached by a nobleman who was hiring adventurers to seek out an item called the "Cap of Invisbility", though it was also known as the "dog-skin of Hades." The God of the Underworld had owned the helmet and it had been forged for him by Elder Cyclopses and used in his and his brothers' war against the Titans. It was thus an extremely powerful artifact, and the rewards promised for it were substantial: a new patron, wealth, power, and prestige.

The nobleman had informed them that divination and consultation with Oracles had provided his family with the approximate location of the artifact, they just needed somebody to go get it. The three were provided a map by the nobleman and their destination was a two day march north into the hills. "It is true that I have sent others before you but none have yet returned. The last group I sent left Thena over a month ago now." he warned them. He pointed to a spot on the map. "About a decade or so ago this used to be a silver mine, but King Theseos had it closed after it had run dry. This is where you should go to search for the Cap."

"Any questions?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:19, Fri 05 July 2019.

His exile having been forgiven with a pardon, Lysandros was once again in the city of his birth. He was of the nobility, but gentle birth did not mean much, when one had no lands, wealth or position. Lysandros was forced to live by selling his sword, like he had been forced to do for those years of banishment. Where before the thought of selling his sword, was almost unbearable, now it was second nature to the man.

After the map was revealed to the three companions. Lysandros looked at their patron. He knew of the man, but only in passing. Lysandros was out of touch when it came to the politics of Thena, these days. "I wish to know what our wages will be,and if you will provide us with rations and mounts, most noble sir."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:33, Fri 05 July 2019.

In the life of an adventurer Tomorrow was never guaranteed. Itylus had always known this. And yet he had never expected this. What once had seemed a powerful and invincible party had been completely shattered and spread to the winds in the course of weeks. It had taken him months to recover from the wounds he had received the night they were ambushed by the Orkoi, and once he recovered, it was to find out that there was not a single trace of his former companions.

He had travelled alone for months after that. Incessantly hunting beasts from town to town, struggling to regain his former strength, and almost dying a couple of times in the process. One fateful night, after helping a group of Thenian travelers, he heard rumours of an exiled Thenian nobleman turned sell-sword returning to his home town and of a mischievous-looking priest of Hermes helping travelers on the roads of Thena. Not daring to believe, Itylus nonetheless traveled immediately to Thena, and some weeks later, against all hope, he met Lysandros and Eurenomes on the city of Thena.

Their lives had not been any easier than his and they were all in need of silver. So, when they were approached by the nobleman, they did not think twice before deciding to meet him and hear him out. Trusting Lysandros to be more capable to conduct the negotiations with the nobleman, Itylus focused on examining the map, trying to recall whether he had traveled recently through the region and knew anything useful about it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:20, Fri 05 July 2019.

The nobleman extended a small leather pouch filled with coins to Lysandros. He spoke almost as if he were bored, most likely he had gone through this same discussion with the other traveling parties he had mentioned. "Generous funds are contained therein for a short excursion. There should be enough to buy simple traveling rations for each person for two nights out and two nights back, and coin for an inn for a night or other out of pocket expenses, should they be needed." he continues, addressing Lysandros' other question. "You will have to provide your own mounts."

Gesturing to the pouch he had just handed Lysandros "You will be suitably rewarded when you return successful in this task. A generous sum of 100 silvers per person, the rights to any other treasure or artifacts you may find alongside the cap, and the goodwill and favor of my house. If you are successful then I can guarantee you that more work will be available."

OOC: He hands Lysandros a pouch filled with 25 silver

Meanwhile, Itylus had studied the map that had been provided to them. He was not familiar with the mines or their history apart from just simply knowing that the City of Thena had made use of a small network of mines north of the city for a variety of resources whether it be for silver, or copper, tin, and the like. As the nobleman had indicated, it was only a few days march away from the city and the journey to the mines would be on well maintained roads that should be safe. The risk would come once they went off the roads and into the hills.

Lysandros accepted the small pouch and tied it to his belt. "Unlike these others you have sent, this group has counted among its number, a noble of Thena. We shall prevail where others have not."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:34, Fri 05 July 2019.

Itylus nodded silently, showing agreement with Lysandros' words. Then, suddenly a thought ocurred to him, and he spoke up:

"If you do not mind me asking... Why is this item so important to you, sir?" he asked looking the nobleman in the eye. "You seem to be expending a considerable amount of resources to obtain it..."

Itylus knew they were not really in position to refuse an offer of this kind, nevertheless he could not bring such a powerful artifact to someone without at least having an idea of his motivations.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:38, Tue 18 June 2019.

"Good. I believe you shall." the nobleman says with a curt nod of his head.



"Do you know of the artifact's history?" the nobleman inquires, giving a friendly smile to the hunter. "There is some disagreement amongst scholars as to the actual powers, but most hold to the classic understanding that historically it had allowed Hades to become invisible to even other supernatural beings, such as other Gods and Goddesses.

He continues "The artifact is actually not important to me personally, I am but a junior member of the House of Dimas but we are known in Thena for preserving artifacts such as this. Something as rare and powerful as this cap should not fall into the hands of those who would use it against our people."

The nobleman casts his glance towards the other two. "The hour grows late. You have accepted the coin and thus the contract which is observed by the great Hermes. I hope to hear of your success upon your next return to Thena. You know where to find me."

OOC: If you have anything else to post while in this meeting go ahead, or intentions/actions to take during or afterwards please do so. Otherwise the next game post will be going ahead towards the mines.

Lysandros would take counsel with his fellow fortune seekers,and inquire as to what they thought might be needed for the expedition.

OOC: I think we need

 Rations( food and drink)
 Torches
 2x ropes
 Grapple hook if available

Feel free to add to the list folks
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:21, Fri 05 July 2019.

"Indeed an artifact as powerfull as this should never fall on the wrong hands." agrees Itylus.

The hunter then turns to his companions and they briefly discuss what they need for the journey. Once they agreed on that he adds. "Well, I think we are done here, what do you say my friends?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:02, Thu 20 June 2019.

After concluding their meeting with the Nobleman from Dimas, the four went to the marketplace and purchased some supplies. On the outskirts of the city they spoke and took account their respective inventories, and then set forth north into the wilderness. Fortunately, the first day's travel was easy. They traveled upon roads maintained by the city and guarded by the King's Men, and they made steady progress on their way. When the sun began to set, Itylus and Lysandros found well sheltered and secluded grove about 500 feet off the road and set up camp for the evening.

That night, while Lysandros and Arthanos stood guard and tended the fire, Itylus and Dysis set out to search for game that they could split. Unfortunately they were unsuccessful due in large part to a rainstorm coming in off the sea coast and had to return early to camp.

---

The next day the four broke camp early and from here their march started to become physically a little more difficult as they strode further up in into the hills. It was slow going in the morning though as the ground was wet and muddy, and this made looking for tracks of others difficult for Itylus.

That evening as the sun began to set the three searched for a suitable place to set up camp. Lysandros spotted an abandoned cave. It was cramped quarters but sufficient enough for the three and would be very defensible if they were under attack. Again, Lysandros and Arthanos stood guard while the other two ventured out. This time with clear weather they were far more successful, with Dysis returning with filled waterskins for their drink, while Itylus returned carrying four hares, which he skinned, cleaned and roasted over the campfire. While their first night's sleep on the road had been damp, this second night passed far more comfortably in the dry cave with a warm fire.

---

Now it was the third morning of their journey. Consulting the copy of the map that the Dimas Nobleman had provided them, Itylus led the group up a narrow passageway that bore mark of prior heavy use. As they traveled Dysis nearly tripped over an old and rusted pickaxe which seemed to confirm that they were on the right track. It was just about noon now, and the three paused. Their climb upwards had stopped and they had been traveling north on steady ground. In front of them lay three old abandoned buildings - shacks being a better description - which at one time could have been miners' quarters or perhaps offices for an ongoing operation. Further past those buildings was what looked to be the entrance to the mine itself. Several abandoned mining tools were scattered amongst the grounds here, such as additional pickaxes, helmets, old frayed rope, rusted chains, and wheelbarrows - some serviceable but some which clearly were rotted away with age.

The entrance of the mine appeared to be well supported, though it looked to be narrow and would likely force them to travel single file when entering. Perhaps it would open up the further they traveled in.

What do they do now?

---

Reference: quick idea of what you are looking at here


p = party location
1 = building 1
2 = building 2
3 = building 3
m = mine entrance


OOC: Hunting Target was 10:

18:10, Today: Maze Master, on behalf of Itylus, rolled 6 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 1.  Hunting (Day 1).
18:11, Today: Maze Master, on behalf of Itylus, rolled 20 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 15.  Hunting (Day 2).
18:26, Today: Maze Master, on behalf of Eurenomes, rolled 5 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 4.  Hunting (Herbs).
18:34, Today: Maze Master, on behalf of Eurenomes, rolled 20 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 19.  Hunting (Herbs).

(Rations are deducted by 3 since Itylus was not able to catch anything the first day of the travel - leaving the party with 13 rations left to split. Please note that I had moved personal rations to the party inventory thread. I also decided that Eurenomes may want to search for herbs that could be used for healing or other purposes and thus made those rolls on his behalf.) 07/05/19 edit - no longer relevant due to other players returning.

All party members gain 50 experience/wisdom/glory points for setting out on their next adventure. I have added this already to your character sheets.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:25, Fri 05 July 2019.

"Well, it seems like we have arrived to our destination." said Itylus. He had stopped for a moment, taking in the scene, then he turned around to face his companions and continued: "I propose we start by inspecting those shacks and see if we find anything useful. We should also look for signs of the previous parties sent here by the House of Dimas. The more we know of what happened to them, the better prepared we will be for whatever awaits us in there..." Itylus threw a dark glance to the entrance to the mine.

Lysandros listened to the proposal of Itylus. "Your proposal is logical. I agree that the buildings should be inspected first. I also submit we use the one in best condition as a base of sorts."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:25, Fri 05 July 2019.

Which building do you plan to investigate first?
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:25, Fri 05 July 2019.

"Yes, using one of these shacks as a base could be a good idea. Hopefully one of them also has a map of the mine." Itylus looked around to see if any of the buildings seemed to be in better conditions.


OOC: If none of the buildings is in better conditions than the rest, Itylus will propose to approach the lone shack first (building number 3).
This message was last edited by the player at 14:52, Mon 24 June 2019.

None of the three buildings seems to be in worse or better shape than the others. The three move towards the building that is standing separate from the other two. As they circle around it initially they see on the ground broken glass, and it is plain to see that all the windows have been boarded up, with the glass formerly there likely having been knocked out by whomever was boarding up the windows. There are two steps up leading to the front door, which appears to be a solid, sturdy wood. Arthanos volunteers to open the door and suggests that the others be ready in case something nasty should be inside, as he goes to turn the handle he finds that the door is locked. Careful examination of the door knob itself reveals that it appears to require a key.

Actions?
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:26, Fri 05 July 2019.

"Hmmm, locked. We should go check the other two shacks, see if any of them is open." suggested the hunter

They walk over to the other two buildings. Unlike the one they were just at, these buildings have windows that are not boarded up and they are able to peer in to both, seeing nobody present in either building. The building closest to the mine's entrance appears to have been the quarters for the miners, as they can see a number of bunk beds stacked up against the walls as they look in as well as chests that would have contained their personal effects. The second building appears to have once been a mess hall and appears to contain tables, chairs, and a kitchen of some sort.

Arthanos tries the doors and they both open.

Do they investigate either of the buildings?

OOC: just pushing things slightly so you have an idea of what is in each building.  Will wait for consensus between you both as to what you'd like to do.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:26, Fri 05 July 2019.

Lysandros drew his xiphos from the scabbard,and with his shield and blade at the ready, slowly entered the barracks. "Let us look this building over first, comrades."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:27, Fri 05 July 2019.

Itylus readied his spear and dagger (his bow would not be efficient in such close quarters) and followed Lysandros in to the building.

Upon entering the barracks for the miners, they see that there is no danger. Both sides of the walls with windows have wooden bunks that would sleep three and after doing a quick count they see that there are five such bunks on each side of the building, meaning at most thirty people would sleep in this room.

Privacy likely would have been minimal but no doubt the miners would have worked in shifts so to keep a near continuous operation whenever possible. The bunks themselves are barren with prior any mattress or bedding on top of the wooden panels having long since removed. Itylus examines the bunks, finding that with the assistance of another person they could be moved if desired. At the end of the room are a number of two large chests. Lysandros approaches them and observes that they contain no locks and easily open. Upon opening them, he finds mostly old clothing but a couple of other items of interest...


e = entrance/exit
b = bunks
c = chest

treasures found upon opening the chests
- miners clothing (about 4 sets in good condition - this includes helmets, heavy leather boots, and what looks to be cloth masks that they would have tied around their faces while working)
- x4 serviceable oil lamps (all without oil)
- x2 journals from the miners
- tucked away in the corner of one of the chests are 2 loose silver pieces.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:27, Fri 05 July 2019.

Itylus approached Lysandros to see what the nobleman had found on the chests. After taking a glance, the hunter picked one of the miner's journals. "Miner's records! This could have useful information, maybe even a map". He opened the journal and started to read its contents.

Examining the two journals Itylus discovers they had belonged to the same author, a miner by the name of "Darius". They are scrawled in handwriting that can be difficult to decipher at times but it looked like most entries were uninteresting, recounting the amount of silver ore mined, things he had for supper, or other conversations with his fellow workers about a variety of topics: such as the weather, Thenaian politics, the Gods, and women. (this apparently being an all-male mining crew)

Most often he talks about their overseer, a wise taskmaster by name of Gregorius, as well as his best friend amongst the mining crew, Paulus. Overall it appeared that Darius had been a miner with the consortium that operated the mine for just about two years when the entries end. Just as Itylus is about to give up on the journal as containing no useful information, he find the later entries as becoming more interesting.

Journal of Darius, Volume II

Day 657

- Worked on the new passageway we discovered after Paulus fell down a shaft and broke his leg; Gregorius thinks this may lead to a new deposit of silver. Will be spending the next month on this now. Need lots of rope so we can descend safely, jumping or falling down like Paulus did is dangerous.

Day 693

- Finally some progress. We dug and it opened up into natural passageways into the mountain. Gregorius and Paulus are doing a survey and setting up lamps on the next shift.

Day 700

- Caverns are lit. Still no veins of silver but Gregorius wants us to map the passages anyway and bring our notes to the administration building. He thinks the consortium in Thena may have interest in this discovery.

Day 705

Gregorius is complaining that it is too bright outside. Even at twilight. He has been sleeping in the administration building now.

Day 715

- Found a passageway that led to a room that the light of my lamp could not penetrate. Heard a hissing noise and got out of there as soon as I could. I've laid in bed for the past three hours. Can't sleep. Feels like something is watching me from outside.

Day 720

- Gregorius won't come out of the administration building. Won't let anybody in. Gives his orders through the doors. He sounds strange now. Maybe sick. The others seem on edge. My nightmares are getting worse. I think I will try to sacrifice to Soteria for protection tomorrow.

Day 725

- Paulus was found dead in the caverns. His eyes were missing but there was no blood. It doesn't make sense. Everybody is scared. Gregorius isn't talking to us anymore. Last thing he told me was to board up the administration building and lock the door. I locked the door and hid the key in the kitchen under my table.

Day 729

- We received an envoy from Thena demanding we turn over our silver ore for the past month. They were furious at the amount. They demanded to talk to Gregorius so I let him in the building but he hasn't come back out. The rest went in later and haven't come out either. It has been eight hours now. Guess they left. No response to my knock so I locked the door and I am joining the rest of the men on a crew to work on one of the new passages. We have to find new silver if we are going to satisfy the consortium.

Itylus frowned as he read the ominous last entries of the journal. "There is definitively something wrong with this place...." he showed the journal entries to Lysandros and Eurenomes. "I wonder what happened to Darius and the rest of the miners... Did they really just close the mine because it run dry?"

The hunter glanced at the boarded up building through the window and added in a dark tone. "I do not believe that Thenian envoys ever made it out of that building... Nonetheless, if the journal is right, there are invaluable notes about the layout of the mines in there."

Lysandros read the journal's contents,then addressed the others. "The author bespoke of a key hidden in the kitchen, it might still be there. I say we go and find that key,then dare whatever danger lies within the Admin building."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:34, Fri 05 July 2019.

Dysis' face was impassive as Itylus read the growingly macabre entries.

"Well, apparently the goddess of safety and salvation didn't deign to intervene," she commented at last, meaning Soteria, whom had been mentioned.

"They set free something they should not have.  If I may state the obvious. Men becoming sensitive to light, tormented by nightmares.  And the missing...no, I say stolen eyes."  Itylus then commented about the envoy not getting out.

"And I'm tempted to leave, to avoid the same fate.  But, of course, the rest of you are staying, and I'm not going to desert.  The key would be useful," she nodded at Lysandros' words.

The party exits the barracks and heads to the next building which had once been the mess hall. This hall is in a state of disarray with tables and chairs knocked all over the place. The party spreads out to search the building for the key, as well as another else worth of value. Heading through a set double doors that lead to a small kitchen in the back, Dysis finds in a small cabinet some preserved rations that had been apparently overlooked when the place had been ransacked. Back in the mess hall it takes several minutes but eventually Lysandros finds a small brass key that in a corner of the room collecting dust. Finding nothing else of value or note in the room, the four exit the mess hall and walk back over to what they know now to be the administration building.

---

Tentatively, Lysandros tries the key, finding that it does indeed open the door which with a small push opens inward. After doing so he retreats a few steps just in case. Apart from the door opening and letting in a small sliver of light at the entrance, the rest of the inside is in shuttered in complete darkness such that their vision cannot penetrate. This is something that Dysis comments on as being unnatural given just how bright it is outside. The four wait for a few minutes listening but they hear no noise and nothing seems to happen.

Actions?





OOC: Added x50 experience to Dysis for joining the adventure. Party inventory is updated with items I have moved from Dysis' character sheet to party inventory, as well as the two days worth of rations found in the kitchen.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:28, Fri 05 July 2019.

The noble peered into the darkness of what once had been the admin building. The feeling at seeing the total darkness of the interior made the hairs on the back of Lysandros stand on end. But he gired his mental lions,and took a firmer grip upon his sword. "Gregorius." He said in a loud voice, just to see if it caused a reaction from within.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:28, Fri 05 July 2019.

Dysis was no stranger to darkness. Normally, it was her ally, one of two primeval forces that answered to her call. She wouldn't wager to regard this darkness as an ally, however.  Not after what was read.

Along their earlier journeys, she'd come into possession of the Belt of Apollo, which she still wore clasped about her waist. Always it had seemed odd that she could wear it, Apollo being a giver of light.  Never had it done anything overtly noticeable...until now.

"The Belt of Apollo...it begins to radiate warmth, the nearer I come to the entry."

Usually collected and confident, Dysis was less so now. She was a darkness wielder, wearing an artifact of light, confronted by an alien darkness. And that combination was confusing; made it hard to sort out likely consequences. She bit her lip, thinking...

Then took a sling stone from her pouch, poised to toss it through entry, asking  "Shall I?"

Unless anyone wants to stop me, I'll toss the stone through the entry, see what happens.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 17:35, Fri 05 July 2019.

No response comes to Lysandros call of "Gregorius." After a minute of waiting, Dysis tosses her stone into the entry way and the stone goes into the darkness apparently hitting against a wall or other object making a light *thunk* noise that they can hear from outside.

The four wait another few minutes but nothing happens. During this time Dysis appears lost in thought...
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:29, Fri 05 July 2019.

Itylus waited with his bow ready. The atmosphere of tension and nervosism that surrounded the party was almost palpable. All of Itylus' instincts screamed for him to get away from the unnatural darkness in front of him. However the hunter didn't move and waited with his bow ready to fire at the first sign of movement . After  a few minutes, it became obvious that whatever was inside the administrative building would not be  so easily baited near the door. However, the wait had given Itylus enough time to think of a plan. He spoke in a hushed tone."It seems like whatever it is inside, it won't come to us so easily... And I think we can all agree that going in there blindly feels like a quick way to meet Hades' ferryman and should be our last resort."

He paused for a moment, then continued. "I have an idea... Lets do what any experienced hunter does when it's hunting a dangerous creature in its lair - lets smoke it out. We can build a big pyre with the broken furniture in the other two buildings and then Dysis could use her Air elementalism to channel the smoke inside of the building." He looked at the lost in thought elementalist. "Do you think you can do that Dysis?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:15, Wed 03 July 2019.

"Clever planning, as usual, hunter.   But, I think we needn't go in blind.  I remember something I read about Apollo's adepts, and their spells of light.  And, I believe this belt may have an enchantment which will serve us here." 

So saying, Dysis stepped toward and then into the darkness..

Oddly enough, none of my three air spells will do as you ask.   Not without bending the description, a bit.     But the GM PMed some info that I think should get us back on track here.  ;)   
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:30, Fri 05 July 2019.

Dysis stepped forward into the darkness. In short order, the other three quickly followed behind her. The belt* had continued to radiate warmth that increased in intensity such that Dysis started to perspire a little bit, and indeed, the others could feel warmth from it as well when in proximity to her almost as if it were a heat source but fortunately it was not painful either to her or them.

Indeed, the warmth also included an emitting of a light that quickly illuminated the room and dispelled whatever unnatural darkness was previously there. The only thing that was hard to look at was Dysis herself due to the brightness that was coming forth from the belt. On her end, fortunately, Dysis did not have problems with her vision save should she look directly at her waist and into the light itself.

A quick survey of the room found upturned tables, chairs, as well as a bunk and some chests. On the ground in front of them were two skeletal corpses - perhaps the prior envoys? In the bunk lay another skeleton, a book of some sort tucked into its bony arms. However, any further investigation would have to wait, as also in the room in one of the corners stood a large hooded figure. It stood taller then any of them with an large head that was covered by a dark hood. In its hands it carried a spear. It says nothing... However, Lysandros feels strange. In front of him he saw ghostly apparitions: relatives and friends who were now long dead that were now rising from the floorboards themselves. Knowing that this couldn't be real he quickly closes his eyes and shakes his head almost as if to shake these ghosts away. Opening his eyes again the illusions are gone and again what he sees is what everybody else does: the hooded figure standing in the corner.


OOC:

12:37, Today: Maze Master rolled 3 using 1d4 with rolls of 3.  Creature Targeting Heroes.
12:40, Today: Maze Master rolled 14 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 10.  Creature Illusions.
12:41, Today: Maze Master, on behalf of Lysandros of Thena, rolled 17 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 12.  Mystic Fortitude (Defense).

Lysandros was able to make his saving throw against illusion. Target number was 16.

*(see: Chapter 1, Belt of Apollo discovered after battle)

Initiative Scores and Mini-Map for Reference:

Party Members:
(1) Arthanos = 19
(2) Lysandros = 18
(3) Itylus = 15
(4) Dysis = 13

Enemies:
(C) Creatures = 14

Other:
E = Entrance/Exit


This message was last edited by the GM at 17:52, Fri 05 July 2019.

The hunter saw the determination in Dysis' eyes. He glanced towards the Belt of Apollo she carried on her waist. He could feel the slight warmth coming from it. Itylus looked back at Dysis and nodded. "Okay, then Dysis. If your are confident you can wield the belt's power I trust you. Lets do it your way."




The hunter followed right behind Dysis. For a second he could not see anything except the light comming from the Belt of Apollo, but a moment later his eyes adjusted and he started to perceive the messy interior of the building. Then he saw it. The towering dark robbed figure at the corner of the room. From the corner of the eye he saw Lysandros suddenly stop with a strange look on his face and then shake his head. A psychic attack!! The hunter did not hesitated and immediately released an arrow toward the figure's head.



OCC:
21:11, Today: Itylus rolled 25 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 18.  Missile Attack. Weapon of Choice. Roll 1.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:19, Wed 03 July 2019.

The noble entered the structure and was suddenly haunted by visions of long gone members of his family and friends. He knew something was not right with this, and muttered a prayer to Athena to beg her divine grace. The supplication seemed to have done the trick as the ghostly visions evaporated. All that remained was a ruin of a room,and a robed figure in the corner.

The noble advanced toward the robed figure, his sword and shield at the ready. "Athena Eternal." The age old battle cry of the city of Thena was spoken by Lysandros.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:35, Fri 05 July 2019.

Lusandros thrust his sword at the robed figure.

14:46, Today: Lysandros rolled 2 using 1d6 with rolls of 2.  sword damage.

14:45, Today: Lysandros rolled 25 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 17.  2nd roll.

14:45, Today: Lysandros rolled 26 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 18.  Weapon of choice 1st roll


Sorry about the delay

Arthanos looked at the cloaked figure, trying to decide the best course of action. Since he could see the big spear, he decided keeping the shield close till he could get up in its face would be most useful.

Arthanos moved across the room, trying to keep his shield towards the crature, and his unshielded side towards the top wall. . "For Athena!" he cried as he lashed out at it with his blade.


08:19, Today: Arthanos rolled 20 using 2d20+8, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 12,6.  Favourite Weapon Attack x 2.

08:20, Today: Arthanos rolled 2 using 1d6 with rolls of 2.  Damage.

The battle was over quickly. Indeed, the creature was in process of removing its hood (perhaps to make another psychic attack) when both Arthanos and Lysandros rushed it and made near simultaneous attacks on it. Fortunately, the horror of what they saw as they approached did not deter their attacks, as Arthanos blade sunk into this Hooded Horror's forearm, while Lysandros' blade found a tender spot in its misshapen chest, doing damage to a vital organ. Itylus, eagle-eyed as ever had readied and aimed his arrow at the center of the creature's head which was now revealed as a giant unblinking eyeball. Skillfully he lets the arrow loose which hits the Hooded Horror directly into the pupil with enough force to knock it backwards. It crumbles into the corner, dead, with blood from the now destroyed eyeball splattering on the wall (as well as onto Arthanos and Lysandros).

---

Almost immediately after the creature dies the brightness of Dysis' belt begins to subside - whatever darkness it was dispelling obviously no longer active. Instead, natural light begins to flow into the room once again, some from the opened door, some from cracks in the windows that were not fully sealed. Pawing at the corpse of the hooded horror the party finds nothing of interest - it had a humanoid body and dark rags. How it would eat or speak was a mystery, but it did appear to have psychic abilities given what it attempted to do to Lysandros. If they had not dispatched it quickly things may have fared far worse for the party.

A search of the desiccated corpses in the room is more fruitful. Although the bodies have been eaten away by time amongst the possessions of the dead they find:

- treasure, which includes a bag of 50 silver
- as well as x4 potions of healing (restores 1d6+1)
- arrows marked with the insignia of Hephaestus (Minor Mythical Item - there are 12 fire arrows doing an extra +1 damage as well as potentially igniting a creature's clothing or other object it hits)
- as well as a "dagger of Aeolus" Those who pick it up or examine it find it to be a very light metal that appears much sharper than normal. (Minor Mythical Item - 1d3+1 and allows the wielder to make 2 attacks per round)

Additional search had shown old logs and ledgers revealing how much the mine was taking in on a daily basis and shows gradual decrease over time consistent with the journals that they previously read. This compounds with other notes tucked into the log book showing mysterious accidents happening to the workers and more complaints over time with miners taking off due to illnesses, the most common being a sudden sensitivity to light.

Perhaps most importantly was discovery of a map that certainly would help speed up the party's search of the mines. Upon review of the map, the group finds that an extensive network of mining had been done essentially to the north and eastern most part of the chambers once they were to go inside, but as soon as the miners had started searching for silver to the western passages is where they discovered a discovered a shaft leading down into additional tunnels that Gregorius had written about.

The notes indicate that once in the new passage, they should move their way west but eventually it opens up into natural passageways. Thus far three passageways have been explored, to the north, the northeast, and east. However, the notes end here...

Battle Resolved OOC Comments:

First off, in reviewing character sheets I fixed Lysandros initiative which was previously incorrect. This made a big difference in resolving the round as previously he and the monster would have taken their actions at the same time. So, that and the fact that both Lysandros and Itylus both rolled high enough to score critical hits on the creature and do extra damage was enough to end this round right away. (I'll keep it in mind for future battles)

Experience Granted to Characters (divided by four will be 75 points which I will add to your sheets now)
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:58, Sat 06 July 2019.

When the creature collapsed, Arthanos was slightly suprised. He hadn't thought the combined attack would drop it that quickly. Expecting another attack, he kept his arms up for another minute, but when nothing appeared, he calmed down.

"That was suprisingly easy." he remarked, before uttering a brief prayer to banish bad luck under his breath....just incase.

Looking down at the blood covering him, he made an annoyed noise, then used his sword to roughly cut a bit of the creatures cloak. He placed the shield down, and used the cloth to quickly wipe down the sword before putting it away, and then wiped down what he could off his clothes.

He joined in with the search around the room, and the map and dagger drew his eyes. "Dysis, would the dagger be useful to you, or does anyone mind if I hold onto it?" he asks the group.

After sorting out the gear, he looks more closely at the map. "So...how do we want to do this? It seems obvious where we should start," he says gestruing to the unfnished part of the map "But I'm not an expert on tracking or hunting things underground."

OOC: I was asking about the dagger, as Arthanos is meant to be a Two Weapon wielder. I'm aiming for larger might so I can duel wield swords, but it would be interesting to use in the mean time. If anyone actually needs it to be more useful in combat, feel free to claim it.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Sun 07 July 2019.

Itylus stopped for a moment to admire the Arrows of Hephaestus. They were of the finest craftmanship he had ever seen, and the fiery insignia on them almost looked alive. The hunter had heard tales of the many mythical weapons created by the lame god of Fire, but this was his first time seeing one. Since no one else on the party used bow and arrows, Itylus kept the arrows and, almost reverently, put them on his quiver.

As he did this his eyes fell on the crumpled hooded figure on the corner of the room: the remains of the thing that had once been Gregorius. He could not help but to feel pity for it, no one deserved to be turned in to such a grotesque thing.  What had happened to him? Was it a curse from Hades himself for getting close to his artefact? Or was there some creature wielding powerful magic down in the mines and turning people in to monsters? He clutched his fist until it turned white. No one, be it god, creature or man, had the right to use dark magic to play with the lives of innocent people. I will make them pay, whoever did this to you.

---

Itylus was awoken from his brooding thoughts by Arthanos question. He joined him near the map "Well, I myself am not used to track things underground either, but I will do my best. Either way as you said, putting together this map and what we read on the journals it seems obvious where the Cap of Invisibility should be. I fear our main problem will be what awaits us once we get there. Whatever was that turned a person in to that thing" he pointed to the hooded corpse on the corner of the room.


OCC:

That is actually a great question. Do Itylus tracking abilities work on underground caves? Or only on the wilderness?

Lysandros seemed to be in thought for a few moments, then spoke. “Since there is more than one mention to sensitive to light, it is obvious there must have been some sort of transformation from human to that one eyed creature. This is evidenced by what happened to  Gregorius.. So perhaps the other miners have been also transformed into such creatures. And there must have been at least one or more of these things, to cause said transformation. The mention of a chamber of darkness might have been the lair of these things, since we ran into the same ability with what had been Gregorius.”


“It is obvious we must enter the mine, and seek out our objective. And it is to the good, we have taken the measure of the enemy, before having to do so.” Said as he  wiped off his sword blade with a rag he had found.

Wiping her brow, as the light and heat both subsided, Dysis nodded her approval at the efficacy of the three fighters.

"I knew you were all good, but that was still impressive.   You may be right, Lysandros. Though, the master, the maker of these things may well be something else. Something worse, as Itylus alludes. I suppose we also have some answer, sort of, why Paulus was missing his eyes.    Are they fed upon, in some way?   Or, is it religious, symbolic, to take them?"   She shrugged, it didn't matter so much for the time being.

"The dagger would be useful," she told Arthanos. "As it is one of only two weapons I can use with any skill.    And, Aeolus is god of the winds, which would be fitting. But, I am not one of our fighters, and it would likely see more use in your hands. And I have the belt - though I am considering giving it to another.  But I think you keep the dagger, for now."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:09, Sun 07 July 2019.

Approaching the entrance to the mine, the party pauses to examine the foot traffic. It is readily apparent to everybody that there are old tracks but also some that are relatively recent, indeed some within perhaps within just the last day given indentation in muddy ground by the mine entrance. However, there are so many that it is hard to tell whether it is all humanoid or if there are other creatures tracks. The Hooded Horror they had faced was generally humanoid in bodily appearance so the tracks could be deceptive. The party faces an extremely narrow entrance such that one person would have to enter at a time. Itylus goes in first holding a now ignited torch in hand, shortly behind him follows Lysandros. After him, in probably the safest position should an attack come is Dysis, and bringing up the rear is Arthanos, who carries a torch as well to light their rear passage in addition to allowing them to quickly leave the cave as well should they need to.

It is difficult to estimate how much time was passing while in the caverns. Map in hand, Lysandros points out to Itylus once they reach a crossroads in the passages, noting that if the map were correct, to get to the new portion of the mines as discussed in the journals, they would need to travel west. Looking in that direction, the party sees that this passage appears less developed and traveled then other passageways, and as they travel down the cavern they find that it leads to an awkward slight incline down and air that started to smell a little stale.

Eventually, after what Dysis estimates to be about an hour underground, and feeling like the passageway never ends, Itylus halts the group as they find a finds a large wooden sign that had been affixed to the cavern wall that reads:

*DANGER - LOOSE GROUND AHEAD*

Indeed, Itylus observes this as true, and as his gingerly steps forward he finds wet slippery rocks underneath him such that he could easily lose his footing on were he not careful. It would make sense that somebody working down here the first time may have had an unfortunate slip and fall, as indicated by the journals they had read previously. The loose ground appears now to lead towards a large man-sized hole leading further into the earth. Looking down the hole Itylus sees only a faint flicking of light - perhaps a lantern or two had been lit further on ahead.

---

The group pauses for a moment, both to listen to any unusual sounds as well as to catch their breath and orient themselves, but they hear nothing out of the ordinary, just dripping noises from the stalactites well above their heads. Additional examination of the hole shows a hook that had been pounded into the earth by a hammer that likely would have held rope to allow a person to safely descend. Affixing their own rope, the party descends one by one at least 20 feet in height.

Now descended further into the earth, they find somewhat wider passageways, which would allow them to stand side-by-side (though perhaps slightly too close). Lanterns are also affixed to the walls, most have been burnt out but a few appear to be burning to allow some slight light down here. Fortunately, their torches were still burning allowing them to continue forward.

They reach another crossroads, but it appears to now be somewhat inconsistent with the journals. They recall that what they read:



At this opening in the mine, they find the passage split into three directions: They could turn NORTH, they could continue moving WEST, or they could head SOUTH.

What actions did they take? And which direction would they go?

OOC: The "inconsistent notes" are my own fault. I realized as writing this up that it made no sense for the party to travel west once down another level and then come to a passageway with an direction to explore being east, the way that they had just come. Just consider this a scrivener's error.

FYI: a battle in the passageways as I have described would be very narrow so ranged weapons would not be advisable. If a battle takes place in a larger chamber like the one the group is in currently somebody like Itylus could use a bow, but may be disadvantaged.

Keep in mind also that right now I have it set that Itylus and Arthanos are holding torches. If a battle does occur at some point they are going to have to either drop the torches or hand them to somebody else if they wanted to use a shield or bow. Right now where they stand, there is no danger.

"Have we reason to favor any of these directions over the other?    None I can think of, or discern.   If either of you wants me to bear one of the torches, let me know."

Arthanos was not enjoying the trip underground. As they had entered, he'd muttered a brief prayer to Hades as an apology for entering his realm.

Now standing in a dark cavern, deep underground, following instructions that didn't match what they were looking at, Arthanos was less then happy. Muttering to himself for a minute, he chimed in.

"Go North. We are in Hades realm, and I don't want to go 'closer' to him then needed. North and South can be refereed to as up and down, and I do not want to go down. Going up makes more sense." He suddenly blurts out, the words tumbling out quickly and in a bit of a jumble.

Just like Arthanos, Itylus felt a little uneasy at the moment, though for a different reason. Though they were few, it was not credible to think those lit lanterns they had just passed were burning since the mine had been closed years ago. They meant there was someone or something down here.




The hunter noted the nervosism on Arthano's voice. He walked towards the nobleman and put a hand on his shoulder. "I understand how you feel Arthanos, but I have a proposal." He looked to his other companions and then continued. "Those lit lanterns we passed before mean either that someone from the previous parties sent by the House of Dimas passed through here recently, or... that there is something or someone inhabiting this place. Therefore we need to be more careful from now on.  I propose we try first to scout the three paths before deciding which way to go."

Pointing to the west passage, the hunter explained. "Two of us would go only as far as we can without losing visual contact from the two on the crossroad and would look for a trail, a draft or any other kind of clue as to where we should proceed. If we do not find anything then any path is as good as the other and we could go with Arthanos suggestion. What do you think?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:33, Wed 10 July 2019.

"Damn me for a novice and a fool, I didn't think about the lantern!  Hardly needed by beings whom thrive in darkness.  Nor would it have been lit by some insensate beast. If it wasn't lit by Dimas' representatives, it strongly suggests we have other mortal company.   Someone human like, if not human.    As to the rest, Itylus, I think it's a sound plan, if our noblemen have no other opinion."   

To Arthanos, she added-  "My patron is Persephone, Hades' wife.  She spends half of each year in his kingdom, and isn't entirely miserable about it, as best I understand. Not I'm recommending any of us go there, before our time.  But, I think Lord Hades is not as cruel as the true enemy we will face down here."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:44, Thu 11 July 2019.

Taking precautions, the party decides to get a sense of what might lay in the three directions that lay before them. It was decided that Itylus and Dysis would try each direction, as Itylus could rely on his hunter's instincts, while Dysis could rely on her arcane perceptions or the magic in her belt should they encounter another unnatural darkness as they had in the outside administration building.

HEADING NORTH

As the two enter the northern passageway they find the further they go in the more spider webs they begin to see accumulating. At first these webs were barely perceptible with only a smattering of cobwebs in the corners in the passageway, or on the ceiling or sides... but as they continue to head in, it appears to get thicker. Examining the ground, Itylus does not see any signs of recent passage, and there are no lanterns lit the further they go in. Thus, it may have been some time since anybody has been down this way. It may be at some point they might not be able to go in further and may have to rely on their weapons (or torches) to get past the webs.

Not risking going in further and being out of eye or earshot of Arthanos and Lysandros, the two head back, and travel the other direction.

HEADING SOUTH

Traveling down this passageway it is not too long before the two smell the sickeningly sweet smell of decaying flesh. Cautiously, they continue forward and find the source, it being a corpse of a dead human. It appeared to still be in an early state of decomposition. From what they can tell on a cursory inspection this person had been a woman, a warrior by the looks of her (namely by her armor and sword still clasped in her hand) and it appears she had sustained some damage in a battle with several stab wounds in her torso. However, the most startling thing about her that her eyes appear to be missing.

Whether this is due to decomposition, a scavenger of some kind, or some other cause, they are not able to determine.

Itylus peers further down the passage and takes a few additional steps but sees no other lanterns lit or signs of life. Although he can see tracks on the ground, it is hard to gauge just how recent they are, but they do seem to indicate perhaps only one or two persons moving. Again, not wanting to get too far ahead of the everybody else, the two head back, and now head to the west.

HEADING WEST

Unlike the Northern or Southern passages, Itylus and Dysis find as they begin to travel down this passage that this is better lit, with dim lanterns appearing to go the entire length. It is also a much more traversed passage as well. Eventually the two stop in their tracks, Dysis holding a hand up to the hunter as she hears something. Straining their ears to listen past the noise of the torch, both of them think they can hear voices rebounding further down the passage. Although they cannot make out what is being said, it sound like it is humans who are speaking.

Not wanting to risk detection just yet, the two turn around and head back to where Arthanos and Lysandros wait, and share the findings of their investigation...

What actions did they take? And which direction would they go?

 In a whisper,Lysandros spoke to his companions. You heard speech, it might be those creatures, then again, it might not. I say we advance toward the voices, if they be human, I might treat with them.But if they are those eye things, then we reap a crimson harvest, by Athena."

Arthanos watched the other Itylus and Dysis scout each path as he worked to get himself under control.

When they returned and shared their knowledge, he forced himself to consider the information without his fears influencing.

"Where were the wounds on the body? Front or back?" he asked, his mind contemplating the body before switching to the voices and Lysandros' comments. "Advancing on the voices makes sense...assuming we are hearing something. They said it was faint, and we know these things can trick the mind with pictures...why couldn't they do the same with sound?"

The hunter replied also in a whisper: ^{"Arthanos is right. We think we heard voices, but we cannot be completely sure. It could have been some sort of illusion. However it still is truth that the west path is the only one with lit lanterns, therefore it's most likely there where  we'll find whoever has been keeping the lanterns alight ."}

He pondered for a moment, absently scratching his beard while thinking, then slowly he proceeded^{"I think it is notlikely that the eye-creatures are on the west passage. Not only because the South passage with the eyeless body looks far more suspicious on that regard, but also because everything we read on the journals suggests those creatures really hate light. I don't think they would be the ones lighting the place up. As Dysis' said, creatures of the dark have no need for light."}

Itylus walked towards the west path ^{"Considering this I think it is possible that Lysandro's is right and there is someone else there. And if that is the case they could have useful information for us, so I also agree with trying this path."} his voice suddenly darkened ^{Though there is a risk of Arthanos being right and it being a trap."}
This message was last edited by the player at 04:20, Sat 13 July 2019.

She nodded.  "Then let only one of us scout ahead, down the west passage, with the other three behind for a swift rescue, if needed.   I know a spell of shadow that will better my stealth, make me suited for that." She shrugged.  "It might not work against things of darkness.  But, I do not believe that is what's down there, for reasons that were said."

Unless anyone was to gainsay the idea, Dysis proceeded to unhook the Belt of Apollo, and hand it over to Itylus.  "Wouldn't do to have this trigger while I'm cloaked with darkness.  Not sure what would occur, don't wish to know the hard way."

She smiled grimly.  "If they are human, and spot me anyway, the spell may give them the wrong idea. Like I'm one of the enemy.  But, there are risks no matter what we choose.  I'll take this one."   

Again, no one stopping her, she invoked 'Cloak of Shadows.' (Mag 1 magic is 2 points to cast, if I remember?)   And stealthily as possible begin to make her way westward...

Note-  my plan is to approach and listen better, not end up in anyone's line of sight, if I can avoid that.   
This message was last edited by the player at 16:50, Sat 13 July 2019.

The Western Passage

After handing the Belt of Apollo to Itylus, the Elementalist steps back and closes her eyes as she silently invokes her Cloak of Shadows. The three men watch her image begins to flicker despite the torchlight. The flickering of the shadows around her grew stronger as each second passed. Although she was not completely invisible to their sight, they did notice that if they were to glance away from her for a moment and turn their eyes back it was becoming more and more difficult to tell that she was there, and as she turned to wander off down the passageway she was almost like a dark blur in their vision.

The two nobles and the hunter waited while Dysis traveled back down the western passage. This time she ventured past the zone that she and Itylus had stopped before. Dysis knew that she had to move quickly as her Cloak would only be effective for about 5 minutes or so before she would have to re-invoke it once again.

She travels silently - the shadows enveloping her providing almost a kind of cushion that muffled all noise that she possibly could have made. As she walked, Dysis did continue to hear voices speaking at times in a heated discussion but it was still hard to tell what they were saying. However, the further she traveled the clearer the voices became. Slowing herself for a moment, she finds that the passage now slopes slightly upwards and turns to the northwest. She puts a hand on the cool cavern wall and sneaks as close as she dares to what appears to be an opening up into a much larger cavern.

Catching her breath she strains her ears and hears the voices speaking again...

"I think pets needs rest now. We work them tomorrow, what you think Kildrao?"
"Agree. Agree. They sleep. But me Hungry. Wants to eat."
"What about lizard thing? It look tasty."
"No No Heqlno, Carapax is special gift, not for eats. Go have pets scavenge from spiders for eats. Or go munch on ratling."
"But last time lost pet to spiders. My favorite pet! And Ratlings not taste good."
"Then go hungry."

This continues on in a similar vein with the voices bickering over their "pets" and being hungry.

Although tempted to go back to report her findings to the others, Dysis first dares to peek from her position to see what manner of being is speaking...

---

Floating Eyes... And four of them. The strange beings were floating around the cavern talking to one another with their peduncles floating and looking every which way as well.

Daring fate, Dysis takes another minute to look around the cavern from her vantage point. In this larger cavern she also sees the "pets" which are about four humans (that she can readily see) who stood almost frozen in place wearing a kind of expressionless look on their faces. Each of them were holding pickaxes in hand but they did not appear to be simple miners. Each wore a different assortment of clothing: one appeared to be an archer, carrying a bow and quiver of arrows, another a northern Barbarian of some kind, the third wearing a bearing similar to Lysandros or Arthanos - a minor nobleman perhaps? and the fourth wearing priestly robes such as Dysis had seen on Eurenomes when he had traveled with the group.

Additionally in the room, Dysis cannot help but see a large iron cage in the room as well which appeared to contain a small creature that was huddled in robes, though from her vantage point she could not tell what it was.

Dysis pulls herself away and goes back to report what she had seen and heard to the others...
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:34, Mon 15 July 2019.

As Dysis returned to them, the shadows about her thinned away to the nothing from whence they'd originated.

She normally had a pretty good poker face, yet here it was plain from her countenance that she did not like what she'd just discovered.

She motioned for the others to come near, and in a careful whisper, she detailed what she'd overheard, and then glimpsed...

Itylus noticed the concerned look on Dysis face when she returned and as she described her findings, quickly understood why. " This is not good. We need to save those people. But if what Dysis says is right, I fear it is highly likely they are Enslaved by those eye-balls. That means they could also attack us together with the eye-balls when we try to rescue them."

Dysis nodded.  "We may be badly outmatched, here. No telling what powers these things have.  We could end up becoming 'pets' ourselves!"   She shook her head in frustration.

"I could hit them with 'the talons of the winds'.  When it works, it stops a foe from acting, for a time. It could shift the odds for us, if it affected enough of them - but, there's no guarantee."

 Lysandros thought for a moment, as the others conversed. He then spoke. " Light.. to be more precise, bright light, that well could give us a tactical edge. Recall the journals of the miner. He stated that the over seer complained if it being to bright. As did others that seem to have fallen under the evil influence of this place, once they discovered the dark chamber."

 Lysandros thought a moment, then continued." If one of you has some sort of illumination spell. Or we gather a few of those lamps, they have oil. Throw the lamps into the room as far as possible then toss a torch onto the oil. With those large central eyes, I think they might well be blinded by the flames, or at least distracted enough to allow us to close and engage."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:39, Tue 16 July 2019.

"They are made of eyes by the sounds, so a bright light should work. If it doesn't though, what is the plan. Do we fall back or push on?" Arthanos asks, trying to picture what these eye things looked like. "Maybe me and Lysandros could advance with shield and spear against 1 each. Try and use the shield to block its view of us, and keep them busy while you take the other?"

The hunter listened attentively to the ideas of his companions and nodded. "I believe we can use all of these tactics to ambush and ovepower the eye creatures. Like Lysandros said, I think light will probably be the most effective weapon against these things. And actually we do have a powerful source of light with us." The hunter held the Belt of Apollo that Dysis had given him for safekeeping. He offered it back to the elementalist. "Dysis, if you can recreate what you did back on the administrative building, we could probably stun then for a moment and gain an edge on the battle. We could then use the opening to engage them as Arthanos suggested and Dysis could try to use Talon's of the Wind to limit even further their actions."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:29, Tue 16 July 2019.

Dysis tapped the belt with a finger, but did not take it back yet.

"There's a slight complication, there; I did nothing back at the administrative building.   The light magic of the belt was triggered by the unnatural darkness there.  And ceased, once it was gone.   Now, I could provide some unnatural darkness myself...with someone else wearing the belt, and we should then get the very same effect."       


Not sure if I could cast anything else, like Talons, though...  is it possible to have more than one spell going at a time?     Once the duration begins to tick, is concentration still needed, or can you let one spell run, and cast another?

Having generally agreed on the need to confront the four floating eyes down the the western passage the group readies their respective weapons and begin to stealthily make their way down. Dysis, having gone down the passage once already leads the group with Itylus following shortly behind her and the two noblemen taking up the rear guard.

Unlike her previous sojourn down the western passage, this time there are no voices speaking that anybody can hear. Eventually, the group reaches the point where Dysis had paused to peer into the larger chamber that awaited them. Once again, she looks over and finds that the four floating eyes are still present. Indeed, they are not talking to one another but instead are hovering - perhaps asleep themselves though it is hard to tell as their eyes have no lids and are "open."  However, the humans that Dysis had seen previously standing there with them no longer appear to be in the chamber.

She turns back to her companions and gestures for them to come closer and take up positions.

OOC: Everybody passed on their stealth roll and you are in good position for a surprise attack if that is what you wish to do. The floating eyes will not be able to take an action on the first round of battle should you make yourself known. Right now you just outside the chamber which I have tried to represent in the mini-map below. Entering into the chamber and each subsequent square into the mini-map represents about 10 feet.

Initiative Scores and Mini-Map for Reference:

Party Members:
(1) Arthanos = 19
(2) Lysandros = 18
(3) Itylus = 15
(4) Dysis = 13

Enemies:
Floating Eyes = 16
(enemies are 'A' through 'D')

Other:
* = Iron Cage
each square represents approximately 10 feet



This message was last edited by the GM at 20:55, Sat 27 July 2019.

Fortune appeared to be on their side. The floating eyeballs seemed to be asleep, it was the perfect moment for them to strike. However the absence of the human slaves made the hunter slightly uneasy. Where had they gone?

Itylus shook his head. No point dwelling on that now. He touched Dysis shoulder and made a signal for them to swap positions. Once they did, he looked back at his companions to make sure they were ready.


Itylus then rose his hand and started countdown with his fingers...

Arthanos was a little unnerved by the floating eyes....it seemed so weird and wrong.

Shrugging slightly to himself, he settled his shield on his arm and raised it up while holding his sword in his other. He had been tempted to wield the spear, but knew he was better with the sword.

Ready, he glanced at the others and seeing Itylus counting down, he waited for him to reach zero, his mind already going through what he needed to do to reach his target.

OOC
Going to charge towards B once the group starts moving.

After changing places with the hunter, Dysis becalmed and focused herself for what was to come next.    She raised a hand, ready to cast the eldritch eclipse, which should trigger the magic in the belt now worn by Itylus.

Any Gods of good intent, please grant us any edge you can!  Dysis did not underestimate how deadly these weird foes might prove to be.   Like Itylus, she was worried by the absence of the human thralls.   They could return at any time, possibly coming up on the party from behind.   The defeat or death of these monstrosities should free them.  The party had to achieve an advantage here, at the outset, or else this would likely go a bad direction.

At the appropriate moment, will cast the 'eldritch eclipse' to trigger the light in the belt.   
This message was last edited by the player at 18:40, Sun 28 July 2019.

 Lysandros will charge forward with the rest to engage one of the eye ball things, with a cry of "Athena Eternal!" upon his lips. The cry of the Warriors of Thena.

End of Round One

With a war-cry on his lips Lysandros initiates a charge towards the floating eyes as Dysis prepares her incantation of eldritch eclipse, with Itylus nearby as a kind of guardian for her with the belt of Apollo ready to go. Lysandros war-cry of Athena Eternal! awakens and alarms the floating eyes which make disturbing noises of a language unknown to them. However, it is Arthanos who reaches the nearest floating eye first and with a wrathful swing of his xiphos slashes away many of the creature's peduncles which drop to the ground and jump on the cavern ground as if they were fish out of the ocean as they spray blood everywhere.

Lysandros quickly catches up with his companion and plunges his sword into the creature's primary eye, nearly ripping it out with his ferocity as he retracts his weapon.

As the two warriors look to the remaining enemy, it is then that their vision goes black as Dysis completes her eldritch eclipse which extinguishes all light in the cavern, raising further alarm from the floating eyes. Knowing as they do what (should) be coming, the two take up defensive positions and shield their eyes expecting the counterspell coming from the artifact that Itylus now carried.

And indeed, now having put on the Belt of Apollo Itylus finds that the belt radiates a warmth that goes more and more intense around his waist  as the darkness establishes itself. Within seconds the belt than began to glow and emit an intense light like that from a lighthouse that illuminated the room, and bathed Itylus in a glow that made it difficult to look at him. Shielding her eyes, Dysis notes that indeed, her spell that had created this darkness was now null due to the artifact's power.

The floating eyes not being aware of this shriek with further alarm as the lights dramatically come back on and try to retreat to further areas of the cavern, now very clearly calling for their "pets" in Minean to come and help them against their attackers.

OOC - Summary of Round
- I interpreted Arthanos and Lysandros posts as intending to charge/attack an enemy. They were able to kill the eyeball labeled 'B' in their joint attacks. I had them attack the same enemy as Lysandros would not have been able to reach the 'C' labeled eyeball in time.

- The floating eyes are still stunned/surprised but this will end after the end of Round 2, so whichever ones remain will be able to take hostile actions on the party

- They have called on their human thralls for assistance and those people will arrive at the end of round two. (they are coming in from off the minimap from the "north" or top of the map)

Initiative Scores and Mini-Map for Reference:

Party Members:
(1) Arthanos = 19
(2) Lysandros = 18
(3) Itylus = 15
(4) Dysis = 13

Enemies:
Floating Eyes = 16
(enemies are 'A' through 'D')

NOTE - Eyeball "B" is now dead and no longer a valid target

Other:
* = Iron Cage
each square represents approximately 10 feet

Arthanos blinks slightly to clear his eyes, the shield having done much to help...but still, that thing was BRIGHT.

Looking at their know slain target, Arthanos quickly looks to see where the enemy is. He notes their scream, but ignores it for the moment.

"Go for the one right in front of us!" he says to Lysandros, then charges. "Alalai!" he cries as he dashes towards it, shield raised and sword ready.

 Lysandros heard Arthanos,and part of him was annoyed, but he heeded the others "command" and attacked the one in front of them. With sword at the read and shield held in a defensive position, the onece exiled noble of Thena, moved to the attack.

Good, their plan seemed to be working so far. One of the creatures was already dead and the others were stunned and retreating. Having a clear view of of the battlefield in front of him thanks to the light of the Belt, the hunter quickly located all the remaining enemies and decided to go for the eye-creature right in front of him at the end of the room.

With a swift movement, the hunter released an arrow aimed at the center of the main eye of the creature.  However, the heat of the Belt's power had made Itylus hand sweaty and the arrow slipped ever so slightly at the end.

OCC:

13:02, Today: Itylus rolled 11 using 2d20+7 with rolls of 3,1.  Missile Attack. Weapon of Choice. Against Eyeball D.

Dysis knew she had to use her next spell wisely.    If she were to cast now, she might snare the eye-tyrants, but not their human thralls, whom were rushing to their aid.

Thus, she waited, biting her lip slightly, hoping she wasn't making an error in doing so, yet wanting to affect as many enemies as possible with her casting.   She would not have the energy to do this a second time...

Will delay casting 'Talons of the Winds' (4 points --  think that leaves me with just 1 left) long enough to get all the enemy in range - humans and beholders -  once they are, will cast.   Or, if better, will begin as soon as I can hear them approaching.   

End of Round Two

Arthanos and Lysandros press forward with their attack and charge near simultaneously at the nearest floating eye. Once again, their coordination proves successful and together they bring down another one of their enemies as they focus their attacks on the primary eye of the creature. Back towards where they had entered the cave, Itylus' shot misses his intended target and shatters on the cavern wall. He also now notices that with Dysis' eldritch eclipse dispelled that the brightness that had been pulsating from the Belt of Apollo was rapidly dissipating, having served its intended purpose.

The two remaining floating eyes, no longer affected by the bright glare from the belt or generally by the surprise attack from the heroes, turn their evil gaze upon Arthanos and Lysandros.  As they ready to make their ill attack upon the heroes, the floating eyes human allies now arrive. Arthanos and Lysandros both see that these people do fit the descriptions that Dysis had given them when she had scouted ahead previously: Before them now stood a massive barbarian with flowing red hair who carried a large two-handed warhammer. Alongside him stood a young woman, who appeared to be an archer wearing the colors of Thena with bow and arrow at ready, as well as an older balding man perhaps in his mid-forties or fifties who wore priestly robes that were bright red in color. Finally, their stood a young man who was likely about their age who had the bearings and trappings of a noble house of Thena, though neither Arthanos or Lysandros recognized him or could tell what noble house he may belong to as he did not appear to wear any distinguishing insignia of any of the great houses. Very likely he would be a minor noble of some sort, probably a younger or maybe the youngest son of a family who stood nothing to gain by inheritance.

All four of these humans appear ready for combat given their stances and drawn weapons, save for their faces which appear completely expressionless. Indeed, by their facial expression their bear no hatred or malice, just complete compliance. The remaining eyeballs hiss something in their language at their four thralls, and in turn they draw their weapons, the archer and priest readying themselves while the barbarian and nobleman begin to move towards the heroes...



Initiative Scores and Mini-Map for Reference:

Party Members:
(1) Arthanos = 19
(2) Lysandros = 18
(3) Itylus = 15
(4) Dysis = 13

Enemies:
Floating Eyes = 16
(Eyeball enemies are 'A' through 'D')

Thralls of Floating Eyes:
Nobleman (@) - Initiative 14
Barbarian ($) - Initiative 13
Priest (&) - Initiative 11
Archer (#) - Initiative 11

NOTE - Eyeballs "A" and "B" are now dead and no longer valid targets.

Other:
* = Iron Cage
each square represents approximately 10 feet

Itylus cursed under his breath when his arrow shattered on the wall beside the floating eyeball. However, he did not have time to lament further his missed shot, as the human slaves of the eyeballs were entering the room. It was just as Dysis had described, they were a complete adventurers party, with two warriors and archer and a priest. If they were forced to fight them, things surely would get ugly.

They needed to end things quickly. This time Itylus reached out for one of the magical fire arrows he carried. As he nocked the arrow in place, Itylus could feel the heat and power coming from it.  He pulled the string aiming towards the eyeball creature behind the priest.

O please Artemis Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt, allow this arrow to fly true and its prey take down.

He released the arrow..




OCC

08:57, Today: Itylus rolled 34 using 2d20+7 with rolls of 15,12.  Missile Attack. Weapon of Choice. Against Eyeball D.

I messed a little bit the dice roll because I forgot how I dropped the lowest dice in the dice roller. The value above is with the sum of both rolls. The true result is a 22 (15 from the highest dice + 7 from my missile modifier).

Seems like a small prayer to Artemis does wonders for one's accuracy!


This message was last edited by the player at 14:07, Fri 09 Aug 2019.

Arthanos' cheer at seeing another one of the eyeballs drop is quickly replaced as their reinforcements arrived. He curses their timing to himself and glances around trying to gauge what he's facing.

Ok...I want to try and not hurt them...he thinks to himself, then makes a decision. He moves to attack C, slashing at it with his weapon, then shifts so his back is toward the wall and waits to see what the enemy will do.

If I can drop C, it may weaken their control.

OOC:

21:41, Today: Arthanos rolled 25 using 2d20+8, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 17,10.  Sword attack, Weapon of choice vs C.

I'm aiming to move to the square below C...hopefully we drop the eyes before things get to bad.

Honing her will, a soft incantation forming on her lips, Dysis was reaching out to the very air around her, to the elemental spirits that embodied it, coaxing the wind to come to life, and aid herself and her allies against these foes, monster and mortal alike...

Cast 'Talons of the Wind,' attempt to snare all enemies, 4 points

 Lysandros advanced against the enthralled noble,then attempted to use his shield to knock the other aside.


06:34, Today: Lysandros rolled 10 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 8.  Bash attack with shield.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:37, Sat 17 Aug 2019.

End of Round 3

Instead of continuing their joint assault on the individual floating eyes, Arthanos and Lysandros part ways at this point, with Arthanos moving to engage with vulnerable creature while Lysandros would attempt to bash his way past the human thralls of the creature to get at the other one. Arthanos very quickly charges up on the eyeball, and with a deadly thrust of his weapon pierces the creature's body doing significant damage to it, but not enough to kill it outright. As he withdraws his weapon however he feels a sudden strange sensation come over him as the creatures's primary eye and all other eyeballs focus in on him. He could feel a voice come into his mind, trying to coax him into a state of relaxation, saying that he was attacking a friend. However, the nobleman is able to shake off this suggestion and banishes the intruding presence from his mind...

For his part, Lysandros advances upon the young nobleman that was under the floating eye's spell before the man could react, the experienced fighter uses his shield to strike the man with such intensity that he falls backward and lays prone, opening the way for Lysandros to advance onto the other eyeball... However, where Arthanos had to contend with a creature that was trying to invade his mind, Lysandros had to deal with a creature trying to destroy it, and indeed he feels a sharp throbbing pain in his head worse than any headache he had ever felt before blinding his vision for a brief moment. The pain then courses throughout his body from his head to his toes, hitting him like a jolt of lightning. Although this only lasted seconds, it felt like an eternity and as the pain begins to subside, Lysandros becomes distinctly aware of blood now flowing from his nose to his lips, a similarly wet sensation trickling down from his ears. Instinctively, the nobleman knew he might not be able to survive another similar psychic attack such as this.... Fortunately, despite this pain wrenching its way throughout his body, the nobleman is aware and able enough to ward off an attack that now came in from the barbarian's two handed warhammer which had come dangerously close to knocking his head off his neck. He was in a perilous situation.

Back where the party had entered the cavern, Itylus readies his arrow of Hephaestus. Although he risked hitting one of the thralls with this, he had to put trust in his abilities (and the Gods). Fortunately, his trust was not misplaced and the arrow strikes the eyeball creature in the side, doing a good amount of damage to it. As he retracts his bow, Itylus watches as the creature howls in pain, turning now to face him, though its skin did not appear to ignite when the arrow had struck it.  Meanwhile, Dysis had approached forward towards the fray to be close enough for her Talons of the Wind spell to take effect... Once ready, she extends her hands towards her opponents and directs the winds in the cavern to take form and shape, and indeed, the winds response... It starts off small for a second with just the dust whipping around the enemies forms but grows in power and intensity such that they will have to focus on maintaining their footing or indeed just being able to see effectively given this spell.

The spell is immediately effective on the archer, who stumbles given the wind's intensity, dropping her arrow which she was aiming towards Itylus, and then shielding her eyes from the dust and small rocks hitting her... The priest in the group maintains his focus, and under the command of the floating eye moves towards the one near him, removing the arrow that Itylus had shot into it and placing his hand on the wound. A warm pulsing glow flows through the priest's hand which heals the wound completely.

Initiative Scores and Mini-Map for Reference:

Party Members:
(1) Arthanos = 19
(2) Lysandros = 18
(3) Itylus = 15
(4) Dysis = 13

Enemies:
Floating Eyes = 16
(Eyeball enemies are 'A' through 'D')

Thralls of Floating Eyes:
Nobleman (@) - Initiative 14
Barbarian ($) - Initiative 13
Priest (&) - Initiative 11
Archer (#) - Initiative 11

NOTE - Eyeballs "A" and "B" are now dead and no longer valid targets.
enemy nobleman "@" is prone and needs to spend the next round returning to his feet.

I did not roll danger evasion for enemies who had already taken their turn by the time Dysis cast her Talons spell, but they and all others will be rolling danger evasion saves for the next 10 rounds.

Other:
* = Iron Cage
each square represents approximately 10 feet

 The sudden sensation of pain,was worse then any battle wound ever suffered by the son of Thena. But Lysandros was able to shake it off, then stepped over the downed enthralled noble to thrust his sword at the eye creature. (D)


22:09, Today: Lysandros rolled 1 using 1d6 with rolls of 1.  sword damage.

22:09, Today: Lysandros rolled 16 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 8.  2nd roll.

22:08, Today: Lysandros rolled 16 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 8.  Weapon of choice first roll.

Dysis gasped a little, noting Lysandros' predicament.   Now that her spell was working, she almost reacted and went for her sling.   She didn't, however -   it was too much to risk hitting either Lysandros or Arthanos with a bad shot.

No, instead she maintained her attention on her spell, ready to redirect it back on any whom escaped the clutching winds...

As said, will use my turn to apply the spell again to any whom make their save, to try and have them caught on the following round.    In the case of the barbarian...we have the same initiative.  Not sure how that would work, if he does save, but maybe we'll find out..

Arthanos feels woozy and shakes his head to clear it while slashing to keep it back. He wasn't sure what the hell the eyes were doing but he didn't like it. "Athena, guard your servant and protect him from this monstrosity'. he prays, then feints at the eyeball again before risking a glance at Lysandros.

His eyes widen slightly when he sees Lysnadros and his predicament. Focusing fully back on his creature, he puts all his effort into his next attack in order to kill it and then assist his companion.


OOC:

22:35, Today: Arthanos rolled 36 using 2d20+8 with rolls of 20,8.  Fav weapon attack vs C.

Whoops, forgot to drop lowest....so 28 to hit.

22:40, Today: Arthanos rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  damage.

The hunter cursed when he saw the enslaved Priest completely heal the damage he had done to the Eyeball. That priest was a big problem. However, Itylus had no time to think further on this as Lysandros dove right into the enemy line. He was in a precarious situation. If Dysis spell failed to hold the enslaved humans he would be in serious danger. The only solution was to dispatch the Eyeballs.  Itylus grabbed a second Fire Arrow and shot it in direction of the Eyeball in front of Lysandros.

OCC

22:12, Today: Itylus rolled 16 using 2d20+7, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 9,3.  Missile Attack. Weapon of Choice. Against Eyeball D.

Not sure if that is a hit. But in case it is:

22:15, Today: Itylus rolled 6 using 1d6+1 with rolls of 5.  Damage roll with fire arrow (+1). In case it hits.

End of Round 4

With a deadly thrust of his blade, Arthanos fells the isolated floating eye on his own, turning then to prepare himself to aid his ally, Lysandros. However, although now having successfully reached the other remaining floating monster, Lysandros was only able to graze the monster with his xiphos, though fortunately moments later Itylus would send another arrow which severely injured the creature. But even as Lysandros begin to draw back his arm to attempt another strike on the creature, he felt the foreign presence invading his mind yet again! Although this time instead of striking him with an intense pain now it was calming. He begun to sense that creature was not his enemy. No, by no means! These creatures were peaceful and sought harmony. It wanted Lysandros to stop his murderous rage so it could share its vision of peace with him... This made sense to the nobleman. And so whether due to calm he now felt after such an intense pain from the monster's prior psychic blast or just due to the power of the eyeball's sorcery,he felt the adrenaline rapidly leave him and so lowered his weapon, taking on a serene composure. Although his friends could not see it, Lysandros eyes begun to glaze over as the floating eye continued to send positive and peaceful messages throughout his mind and body. Indeed, the pain he felt a moment ago was washing away as if he was bathing in a cool spring.

The other humans still under the collective sway of the floating eyes struggled with the affects of Dysis' Talons spell. The priest is unable to get back to his master to heal its' wounds, and only the archer is able to attempt to fire an arrow (aimed at Dysis) but the poor aim (or the winds themselves) result in the arrow wildly misfiring and harmlessly hitting the stone floor of cavern below them.

The last remaining floating eye was still a danger, but it was bleeding profusely now. A well aimed arrow or blow could potentially kill it, though the killing blow could not come from Lysandros who was now under the creature's sway...

Actions?

Initiative Scores and Mini-Map for Reference:

Party Members:
(1) Arthanos = 19
(2) Lysandros = 18
(3) Itylus = 15
(4) Dysis = 13

Enemies:
Floating Eyes = 16
(Eyeball enemies are 'A' through 'D')

Thralls of Floating Eyes:
Nobleman (@) - Initiative 14
Barbarian ($) - Initiative 13
Priest (&) - Initiative 11
Archer (#) - Initiative 11

NOTE - Eyeballs "A" "B" and "C" are now dead and no longer valid targets.
enemy nobleman "@" is now back on his feet but has to save vs. danger evasion on future turns.

Other:
* = Iron Cage
each square represents approximately 10 feet

 The actions for Lysandros for next round. " Duuuh." Drool

Dropping his enemy, Arthanos looks across at the large melee and curses when he sees Lysandros standing there passively. Taking a deep breath, he starts to run across, looking at a way to move around the enemy and still reach the floating eye.

Reaching he gave a yell as he stabbed out with his xiphos.

09:49, Today: Arthanos rolled 21 using 2d20+8, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 13,1.  WoC Attack vs stupid floating eye D.

09:50, Today: Arthanos rolled 3 using 1d6 with rolls of 3.  damage.

Combat Ends

Seeing a path open for himself, Arthanos charges first down towards Dysis but then up through an opening between his opponents to land a strike on the critically injured floating eyeball which gets impaled on his sword screaming something in a unknown language as it perishes.

Arthanos withdraws his blade and looks towards Lysandros, unsure whether the spell his friend was under would soon end. Fortunately, he sees that the glazed drunken expression beginning to fade from Lysandros' eyes as the nobleman regains his senses. For Lysandros it was if he had been shaken awake from some dream, and for a brief moment he could not tell how long his mind was not under its own power. So it appears to be similar for the human companions of the floating eyeballs who also lose their glazed complacent expressions, trading those expressions for ones of pure confusion as they look around seeing the four corpses of the dead eyeballs before them as well as pack of strangers with bloodied weapons.

Of the four, the balding priest in red is the first to speak, saying "I.. I suspect we have to thank you, friends. I.. I do not know what happened, but I feel like I have control of my mind again."

OOC: Resolved this now as Arthanos' successful attack kills the last eyeball creature ending their dominion over Lysandros and the other humans present. I am also making an assumption that Dysis' ends her spell with the death of the last eyeball and the freeing of the human thralls. :)

 The noble from Thena, shook his head, and felt he was awaking from a dream. " By Athena! What happened to me?" Lysandros asked of anyone that cared to hazard a guess. By his confused expression, something had affected him.

Dysis let go a breath that she didn't even realize she'd been holding for the past few moments, since the archer took aim at her.  With a soft word, she canceled her spell, and the winds swiftly subsided before ceasing altogether.  Based on her knowledge of the occult, she'd mostly expected the influence over the humans would end if the creatures were slain.  However, she'd not known it for fact, and was glad to see it had been the outcome.

Approaching, she said to Lysandros "It was the creature's magics.   Your will was no longer your own, as theirs was not," she gestured toward those they'd freed.

"Frightening, that one's mind can be wholly dominated, in such a way."   She looked to their 'guests.'

"Are you all alright?  Can we offer you anything? Some water, perhaps?"

Itylus left out a long sight of relieve. Finally, it was over. It had been a close fight, too close for comfort. Those eyeball creatures were certainly not an enemy they should underestimate.


Shaking away grim thoughts of other possible (and less favorable) outcomes to the fight, the hunter approached the others. He watched attentively Lysandros. Though the nobleman was putting a strong (though slightly confused) facade, he could see that the fight had taken a heavy toll on him. Itylus put a hand on his shoulder. "How bad are your injuries, Lysandros?"

Arthanos walked towards the last downed Eye creature, poking it with his xiphos and having a bit of a look before responding to the priest.

"I assume you were sent down here to see what had happened to the mine?" he queried, turning to look at them. He stood relatively calmly, yet he kept his shielded side facing towards the barbarian and noble.

"I am Arthanos of house Ortanios, citizen of Thena. Who may you all be?" he asked politely.

“Yes. I think some water would help.” the priest says, casting a look to his companions who nod. Gratefully, they each take a swig of water, taking time to compose themselves before answering the group’s inquiries. “You are correct, my friends and I were sent to investigate the silver mines of Thena to recover an artifact, though I have no idea how we got here. The last thing I remember was that we were planning on heading in and had made camp outside. Everything after that is a blank until just now.”

He shakes his head, still looking a bit befuddled. “I am Iranato, priest of Hephaestus.” He gestures to his companions. The archer speaks, her voice gentle in tone. ”Rosellea of Thena.” the young nobleman speaks and it is clear he is a product of the kind of upbringing that Lysandros and Arthanos had have, though he seems inexperienced. ”Tereys of the House of Ioannou. Son of Ilelus.”

Finally the massive red-maned barbarian speaks, his voice low and weary. “Regnferth Gray-Nail.”

Tereys then speaks: ”What Iranato tells you is true. I too have no memory of how we got into this cavern.  But we were sent here to find an artifact on behalf of the Dimas family, of whom my betrothed is a member of.” He adds then asking “Were you sent to find us?”

OOC: Arthanos and Lysandros would be familiar with the House of Ioannou, though they would not know Tereys personally. They would form an impression on reputation. The house is well thought of in Thena as one of the founding families, though weak in power and influence compared to the others.

"Not really, the family of your betrothed was more worried about finally getting their hands on the artifact, than knowing which fate had befallen you." replied Itylus dryly. "Luckily for you, we run into the strange Eyeballs creatures that had captured you while exploring these caves."

That was one of the reasons why Itylus had a distaste for noble families like the ones of the House of Dimas that used adventurers as a means to fulfill their agendas. For those powerful people, the lives of adventurers like themselves were expendable.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:57, Mon 26 Aug 2019.

 The noble had finally recovered himself enough to join in on the conversation. " And I am Lysandros, of House Delphious in Thena. Perhaps we might join forces and lay this place low of its foul inhabitants." He said to the newcomers.

Arthanos noted the noble man's family, his mind putting faces the house. He nodded slightly to himself, then heard Itylus chime in, and hid a grimace at the man's words. True they probably were, but crude.

"It may have been simply they thought you were dead. They seemed to be under the impression that all who had entered before us had perished, and they would not have wanted to admit to losing the scion of a well known noble house." Arthanos added.

"Can you recall anything you had heard or were told before entering this place?" he added, before looking to wards Lysandros.

"That's a good idea Lysandros. If there are more of them, us working together may be quite helpful." he remarked, not wanting the group to wander off. If they got captured once without managing to put up a fight, he didn't want them trying to walk out alone, get caught and sent back in against them.

Young Tereys appears distraught to hear Itylus and Arthanos' words. The priest, Iranato gives him a comforting pat on the shoulder.



The priest thinks for a moment "My friends here and I had formed as adventurers about a year or so ago, and we had returned to the city after a recent adventure and were looking for more work. I recall that we met with a young man from the Dimas family. I think... perhaps August 29th or early in the morning on the 30th. We were told simply that he had information on the location of an important artifact and were willing to pay good money for a group of people to go get it. We could keep whatever treasure or other artifacts we found, the Dimas family just wanted the Cap of Invisibility."

He continues: "Of course, young Tereys also wanted to prove himself as worthy given his betrothal to the young lady of their House, which was additional incentive for us."

"Otherwise it is as I told you, we camped outside of the mines upon our arrival and that is the last thing I remember until now."



Iranato looks to his companions who each nod in agreement, save for the nobleman Tereys who appears lost in thought. "I think we are agreed. We would not know the way out anyway, and in a place as dangerous as this there is safety in numbers."

Like Itylus, Dysis made note of the fact that Dimas' priority was the artifact, not the lives of those who'd been sent before their own party.     It was, of course, understandable from the perspective of the nobility(she found some irony in calling someone that, when they displayed a lack of honor or compassion), for whom the more common folk were often like pieces on a game-board.

But, this house went so far as to possibly sacrifice someone who was on the verge of becoming part of their family.   And it made her think.  Dimas and their collecting of artifacts...what was their long range goal?  Almost surely not a museum.   They were gathering a great amount of power, for some reason.

She nodded at the priest's words, but her eyes glanced to Tereys. Imagining what he might be thinking, knowing his in-laws to be had cared not a bit for his fate...

  The Noble of an old and honorable, but now greatly depleted House, spoke. " I take it, all are in agreement, then. We combine and clear out this place of foulness. We should get moving."

"Great to have you in the group with us, friends. I wish we could give you more time to rest, but Lysandros is right, we shouldn't stay too long here. We don't know if these creatures have more friends." said the hunter while looking at the dead bodies of the strange creatures they had just fought. He moved towards the end of the room, from where the enslaved humans had entered during the fight, and carefully looked to see what was on the other side.

Itylus looks down the passage exiting the larger chamber but finds that it twists to the left. They would have to travel down the passage to see where it would lead to .

Arthanos watches Itylus briefly go into the path and return as he offers his opinion.

"I'd say we pull back to the overseer's office and use that as a camp. We can barricade the door and make sure nothing can get in. Plus, I think down here is the home ground and staying here would be giving the enemy an advantage. No point making Tyche draw her favour from us when we currently seem to have it." he remarks.

  Lysandros grunted in frustration
" Normally, I would say go forward. We still have the element of surprise on our side. But if we withdraw, the enemy will have a chance to prepare, or perhaps even launch an attack on us."

 Lysandros coughed then, blood could be seen. "But for your reasons, and now my own. I am badly wounded from the eye crestues sorcery. I say withdraw. "

Alarmed now and seeing Lysandros' wounds and the blood he was coughing up (and that had dripped out of his nose and ears) the priest Iranato attends to the nobleman, placing a hand on his shoulder. "By the Grace of Hephaestus, may his Divine Vitality heal your wounds."

The nobleman feels a warmness travel throughout his body, helping soothe the pain from the psychic blast he had suffered. He feels some strength instantly return to him, though not enough to feel back to normal. Iranato shakes his head. "I am sorry but that is all I can do for your wounds right now. My Lord Hephaestus allows his servants only so much power with magic. I shall have to pray to him for the grace for perform more miracles such as healing."

 The noble made a slight bow to the priest." I thank both your goddess and you. Next time I am in Thena, I shall burn incense at your goddess's temple, in way of thanks."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:22, Fri 30 Aug 2019.

The journey back to the surface was long but uneventful. Noticeable relief washed over the newcomers as they exited the mines to see the sun shining brightly over head. Looking at the sky, the group estimates it now to still be a bit early in the afternoon perhaps around 2:00 PM or so. Dysis (as well as Iranato once he began his rituals to Hephaestus) would not be totally refreshed until late into the evening.

But they had to prepare for rest first. They approach the administration building, and haul out the dead body of the Hooded Horror that they had previously slain as well as the desiccated corpses that had been laying on the ground and in the bunk. Iranato offers that he and Regnferth Gray-Nail burn the corpse of the creature and sanctify and bury the (likely human) remains, while the others prepare for camp. It is not long after that a bonfire is gathered together from some of the rubbish from the other buildings and the Hooded Horror burned, while the barbarian and some of the others remove the skeletal remains.

Iranato then performs a ritual which he explains is to purify the evil from the building and allow them to stay safely indoors.

By the time all this is done, it is now getting to later in the afternoon. Itylus offers to head out to hunt for game and look for fresh water and Rosellea, the archer requests to accompany him, looking on admiringly at him as they depart to hunt. Unfortunately neither hunter nor archer are successful in tracking down animals in this part of the hills though they do find water to refill the party's water skins. They return and the party ultimately eats their rations for their meal for the evening, while their new friends discover that that each of them carried similar rations though none recalls ever picking up such a parcel while they were under the control of the floating eyes.

Dysis, exhausted from expending her power, departs the group early in the evening to get many hours of uninterrupted sleep, while Iranato removes himself as well to begin his rituals, having Regnferth follow him to keep guard over him. The others set up an informal watch, with initially Itylus and Rosellea taking first watch, which they would then trade off with the Arthanos, Lysandros, and Tereys later on as the evening progressed.

August 28, 313 - 5:30 AM

Fortunately - the Gods had blessed them and the evening passed by quietly, with only the drone of insects and the crackle of the fire (and occasionally the intonation of Iranato as he prayed to Hephaestus.

Dawn begins to break as Helios' begins to ride his chariot across the sky and those sleeping begin to wake up. Dysis finds herself completely refreshed, and once Lysandros is roused from his dreamless slumber, Iranato tries another healing spell on the nobleman, leaving him feeling healthier though still not quite complete yet. "I can try to heal you once more, but then I would have to return to praying to Hephaestus." Iranato warns. "Let me know if you desire me to do so again."

Actions?


OOC: adjusted rations, you now have 14 remaining in the party as the NPCs had enough for one night. adjusted torches and now 2 remain as the other 2 have burned out.

 After he had slept, Lysandros went about the matter of oiling and honing his sword and dagger. He then inspected the rest of his equipment, before he donned his armor for the day.

 "That mine is as dark as the River Styx. We have  alatern, but is there oil for  it? It not, then we must make torches out of what there is to be at hand." Observed the nobleman.

"My apologies for not being able to aid with the watch," she said to the others.

"However, the unbroken sleep served its purpose.  My full powers are at our disposal once more. Unfortunately, I have no oil. Anyone else-?"   
This message was last edited by the player at 21:54, Sun 01 Sept 2019.

Arthanos shrugs as the fnishes strapping his armour own.

"I can't help with that..sorry." he remarks, then looks at the others. "Who is taking the lead?" he asks, looking towards Itylus and Rosella then around at the others.

OOC: Discuss IC or OCC as you want, but the question is where do you want to explore next? I have put together a little mini-map below for reference, but also go back to Message #47 in this thread for the description of the three directions. You encountered the floating eyes when you took the western passageway and from there, there is another
northern passage where the NPCs had come out of.

Or you could investigate one of the other directions from the branching path.

.
.
.             unexplored
.               ??
.               ||                  unexplored northern passage
.              _||_                   ???
.             |    |_______           | |
.             | $   ____  |           | |
.             |____|    | |           | |
.                       | |           | |
.                       \  \__________| |__________________/\______
.                        \____________  ___________________exit to upper level
.                                     | |                  \/
.                                     | |
.                                     | |
.                                     | |
.                                     |*|
.                                     | |
.                                     ???
.                               unexplored southern passage
.
.

* = dead human found in southern passage
$ = battle site with the floating eyes

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:49, Wed 04 Sept 2019.

"I do not know about taking the lead, but I have been thinking about what we learned in the mines and where we should go next..." replied the hunter as he rose from the boulder where he had been sitting. He grabbed an unused firewood branch and sketched on the ground a simple map of the last of the mines the party had explored. (This is the map the MM drew on the previous post)

"So, as all of you know, there are three paths we can take" the hunter pointed at the three paths on the map. "To the WEST, it's the chamber where we fought the eye-creatures that enslaved Iratos and his companions. We know there is a path that continues beyond that room and we know that Iratos and the others were there while under the spell of those creatures." he paused a moment to look at Iratos and his companions and then continued.

"To the NORTH, Dysis and I found a path covered thick on spiderwebs." Itylus gestured towards the elementalist. "Dysis overheard the eye-creatures mention some "spiders" to whom they lost a pet, maybe another human. This probably means that some kind of giant cave spiders inhabit the mines and their lair must be somewhere beyond that north path." the hunter sketched a crude spider above the northern path on the map.

"Finally," he pointed to the southern passage. "We have the passage to the SOUTH, were Dysis and I found the body of a dead woman, a warrior by the looks of it. Interestingly, both eyes had been removed from the body... This could mean that whoever killed her are enemies of the eye-creatures"

Itylus stopped for a moment to think, absently scratching his beard, before continuing. "According to Dysis, the eye-creatures mentioned that there were two other entities on the caves beside the spiders. Ratlings and something called a Carapax. I have heard rumors about Ratlings, a species of Rat-Folk that inhabits deep underground tunnels, and are not too keen on surface creatures. They could be the ones that killed that woman" The hunter drew a mouse head with an interrogation point on the southern path.

"As for the Carapax, I honestly had never heard of such a creature, so I do not know what to expect. However, the eye-creatures referred to it as a "lizard" and a "special gift". This makes me believe that this creature maybe was on their possession... maybe enslaved or a prisoner? So, if I had to bet, I would bet that this creature is somewhere down the west path beyond the room where we fought the creatures." the hunter drew a lizard head and an interrogation point on the west path.

"For this reason, I am inclined in exploring the WEST path. If I am right, and this creature, whatever it is, was imprisoned by the eye-creatures, maybe we could turn it on our ally or get some information from it..." the hunter hesitate for a second, looking at the interrogation point besides the lizard head. However... If I am wrong, we could be walking into the lair of an unknown, and possibly dangerous, creature."


OCC

Sorry for the long post! I was trying to summarize all we knew of each path, and ended up with this!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:10, Wed 04 Sept 2019.

  Lysandros listened to Itylus speak his mind. When he was finished, the noble spoke." The west is a good place to continue our explorations. But in the end, we shall have to explore every tunnel, to my way of thinking."

Dysis was frequently something of a stoic, a seemingly cynical scholar, at least it was often the face she wore toward the world.

Thus, it was a bit different for her to somewhat sheepishly confess- "I don't care for spiders.   Especially not those the size of a wagon.   Let's forget the north."

And then, once Itylus drew the mouse head, it seemed to strike her funny for some reason, and she couldn't quite stifle a laugh.  But her following thoughts were serious-

"You know, I'd originally thought it was the eye-beings themselves stealing the eyeballs.  And, I still wouldn't rule out that perhaps they're an ingredient in creating the eye-headed sentinel we fought first.    Who, by what we read in the journal, was once human.  But, that's a possibility too -- the rat-folk. Not hard to imagine a primitive people such as that, taking the eyes as talismans against the evil, or some other misguided idea.    Anyway, I also cast my vote for the West -- for reasons already said. Let's go and meet this 'special gift.'"     

"West it is." Arthanos replied after the others.

August 28, 313 - 7:00 AM

With some hesitation to leave the refreshing air and bright sun now overhead, the party returns to the mines and once again makes their down into the depths of the earth... After some time traveling underground, they reach the site of their battle with the floating eyes though now there is a pungent smell of death that greets them as they begin to move into that chamber. With caution, they begin to move out of that passageway towards where their new allies had appeared from.

As they go forward, they find four small alcoves on alternate sides of the passageway filled with straw and four pickaxes. "Must have been where we slept." observes Iranato. The party continues north from these alcoves and enters into a small chamber.

In here they discover what appeared to be a mining site. The far north walls have a crude wooden scaffolding set over them and next to the scaffolding are large wooden buckets, with several filled with what appeared to be mined silver ore. Whether this setup had been created by the enslaved humans of the floating eyes or perhaps the former miners is uncertain.

Searching the room for anything else of interest, the group finds a number of cages that could fit a human inside of them much like the one they saw in the room where they had the their battle with the eyes, though all are empty and the doors are wide open. Itylus discovers a chest tucked away in the northwestern corner of the room. A cursory glance at the chest reveals a large brass lock.

Dysis discovers a small silver statute that was tucked away in the southwestern passage of the room. Approaching it she finds that it is a statue of a dragon. Whoever crafted the statute took great care in his or her work given the detail of the work. The statue is about the length of her arm in size and two bright green emeralds are inset as the dragon's eyes.

Arthanos and Lysandros search for room for other possible exits but find none. This would appear to be the end of the western passage they had taken.

Actions?

.               __
.              | %|
.              \ P/
.               ||
.              <  >
.              <  >
.               ||
.               ||                  unexplored northern passage
.              _||_                   ???
.             |    |_______           | |
.             | $   ____  |           | |
.             |____|    | |           | |
.                       | |           | |
.                       \  \__________| |__________________/\______
.                        \____________  ___________________exit to upper level
.                                     | |                  \/
.                                     | |
.                                     | |
.                                     | |
.                                     |*|
.                                     | |
.                                     ???
.                               unexplored southern passage

P = party location
* = dead human found in southern passage
$ = battle site with the floating eyes
% = mining site
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:14, Sat 07 Sept 2019.

 As Lysandros finsihed his part of the searching. He addressed the others. " So, the eyes creatures where in that room to guard the humans and perhaps others that occupied these cages.  But are the eye creatures the ones in charge down here, or where they but the hired help,as it where.?"

" Let us explore the south tunnel,where we found the body. What say you all?"

Dysis both examined and admired the statuette, murmuring "Very fine workmanship," as much to herself as anybody else.  Carefully, she picked it up, and turned it over, looking for any inscriptions that may have been etched into it.

She also glanced down to where Itylus stood, near the chest with its prominent lock.

"Now, I wonder what's in there?  If our dear Aleta were not off enjoying her honeymoon, I'm sure she'd want to have a go at that lock."     

Her curiosity aside, Dysis was ready to travel on south if that was what the group decided to do.

"Hmmm, nobody here, ehm? Did it escape while we were resting outside the mines?..." the hunter wondered, half muttering to himself half speaking to the rest of the party.

To Lysandros comment on someone to be commanding the eye creatures, the Itylus replied "That is a good question. I had not considered the possibility of there being something else commanding the eye creatures. However, I shudder just to think of that possiblity. Something capable of controlling those things must be a truly fearsome being. Let's just hope that is not the case..."

To the nobleman's suggestion to move on, the hunter raised a hand and replied. "Give just a few minutes Lysandros. I think there could be more to this room than what it seems at first sight. Starting by this chest. There could something important in there. For all we know, the very item we are looking for could be inside!"

Dysis then commented about the chest lock and Aleta and Itylus nodded "Indeed. I wish I had remembered to ask her to teach me something about picking locks. But, alas, I did not and therefore our only options seem to be either to find the key or try to break the lock."

The hunter's eyes flickered towards the silver ore lumps. "I wonder if one of those would make the trick. Any of our strongest members want to give it a try?" the hunter asked, looking at the two noblemen.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:21, Tue 10 Sept 2019.

Descending once more into the realm of Hades made Arthanos nervous and quiet. He followed as the party headed back to their previous fight and then continued on.

Having helped look for other doors, he joined the others as they began discussing what to do.

"I don't think they would have fled. We just took their miners. I think they would have been more likely to go after us. That said, we should have checked for tracks before we all began walking down here." he said, mentally kicking himself for not thinking of it earlier.

"As to the chest, I have always relied more on speed and agility. I doubt I could lift something heavy enough to smash it. Maybe our new barbarian compatriot could assist?" he asked, the looked over at the barbarian.

"A moment companions, to entertain a thought, of mine. Why would anyone keep a chest with anything of value in it, in a chamber that housed prisoners? It might be rations to feed them, but then again, it might be left here as a temptation, to anyone that does not belong." Said the noble.

 Lysandros regarded the chest, then spoke again. " I say we move on, the chest is not going anywhere, and we can examine it at a time, when enemies are not afoot."

Dysis finds no inscriptions etched on the statute, at least none that she can find in the low level of light the cavern provided them.

Regnferth Gray-Nail initially starts to go to the chest at Itylus and Arthanos suggestion but holds off as Lysandros speaks.

If you want to take other actions in this section of the caves let me know IC here or OOC in group chat. Otherwise I will assume the party will next head to the unexplored southern passage.

The hunter thought for a moment on Lysandros' words and looked at the chest. "Hmmm, you could be right Lysandros. However, even if there is no treasure inside, it is possible this chest belonged to the original miners. If that is the case, could have valuable notes on the layout of the mines."

"Nonetheless, it is true that we could attract unwanted attention with the noise of breaking the chest. So let's leave it for now, and we will return to it once we have cleared out this section of the mines" Itylus rose from beside the chest, threw a last glance at it, and walked towards the exit of the room.

"Okay, let's see what the southern passage has in store for us."

This message was last edited by the player at 20:08, Sat 14 Sept 2019.

The party leaves the mining site, making their way back towards the crossroads in this cavern and now turns their direction to the south. As they travel, they once again find the body that Itylus and Dysis had scouted out just yesterday.



Nothing appears different about this body from the last time they had wandered down this passageway.

Traveling further, the party finds that the passage sharply descends downwards and slopes to the southwest. As they continue their passage into the unexplored part of the caves they begin to hear a noise echoing in the distance which sounded like somebody using a hammer. As they continues now to the west they find the passage very suddenly ends, though looking around they find an unusual looking door. What made it unusual was that it appeared to be made entirely of metal, and the party can identify some parts that appear to be iron, bronze or even ornamental silver, but there is also another mineral that they cannot readily identify also making up the base of the door itself. The door appears ornately carved. It has no words but rather patterns and etchings into bronze or silver pieces that adorned it.

However as unusual and unique the door was, it stood in sharp contrast with what was affixed to the top of the door itself - a hideous gargoyle's head that was perhaps a bit larger than their own heads. The gargoyle leers down at them, its mouth open and toothy and a long forked tongue sprawling out at them, almost as if was trying to lick them were it mobile. The gargoyle's eyes are of a bright red gemstone.

If the party stands and listens for a moment they can continue hear the hammering noise seem to come from past the door they now faced, which continue in a steady pace.

Actions?

.               __
.              | %|
.              \  /
.               ||
.              <  >
.              <  >
.               ||
.               ||                  unexplored northern passage
.              _||_                   ???
.             |    |_______           | |
.             | $   ____  |           | |
.             |____|    | |           | |
.                       | |           | |
.                       \  \__________| |__________________/\______
.                        \____________  ___________________exit to upper level
.                                     | |                  \/
.                                     | |
.                                     | |
.                                     | |
.                                     |*|
.                                     | |
.                                     / /
.                         D          / /
.                        |P|________/ /
.                        |___________/
.

P = party location
* = dead human found in southern passage
$ = battle site with the floating eyes
% = mining site
D = unusual door

Dysis said softly but audibly, "Hm.  One of those circumstances that just seems eerie, wrong, and hard to figure out.   As the occultist, I feel obliged to have some profound insight, here.  But, find myself at a loss."   She looked up at the gargoyle head.

"Other than that a forked tongue is sometimes synonymous with deception."   

 Lysandros had no wise counsel to offer up, as concerned the door, but he felt he had to say something. " There is obvious someone or thing beyond the door. Why not just knock?"

 Since no one objected, Lysandros pounded on the door with the hilt of his sword.

Lysandros pounding elicits a reaction from the Gargoyle head that now animates. Particles of dust fall from its head as it withdraws its long tongue into its mouth and it’s eyes grow brighter as it gazed upon Lysandros and the others. It speaks, the voice a low rumble as if coming from a far off place:

“Humans? Yuck. Well I suppose you want to go past and I’m supposed to let you do so. But it has been so long since any has woken me.

Answer this riddle first else on this side you remain!

BLIND is... the FIRST
SLIGHT is... the SECOND
FLAMES is... the THIRD
SOLD is... the FOURTH
KNAVE is... the FIFTH

WHAT AM I?”

Arthanos is quiet as the walk, until they reach the door. His fears from earlier crowd his mind, so that he doesn't really register the others talking or the banging, not until a strage voice starts speaking.

He jerks his head up as the gargoyle head speaks, staring in surprise. As it finishes, he stands for a second, letting the words flow through him. Athena, lend me your wisdom and knowledge, he thinks to himself as he runs the puzzle through his mind for a minute or so, then jerks slightly as an idea enters.

He looks at the gargoyle and ask, "Is the answer 'BLADE'?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:31, Sat 21 Sept 2019.

The gargoyle grins in response to Arthanos' answer. "CORRECT!" it proclaims. It then starts to revert back to the position the party had found it in earlier, while the door begins to open on its own accord...

---

Stepping past the door, the party finds the temperature rises sharply as they enter into a chamber that has been converted into a blacksmith's forge. Indeed, all around them are stacks of weapons of all kinds (spears, swords, daggers, pikes, and even exotic weapons they had never seen before) armors from the finest leathers to the heaviest plate, and other items such as metal belts, arrows, and shields are stacked into piles in open containers across the forge. What was gathered here would be enough to equip hundreds of soldiers.

At the center of the chamber stood a massive humanoid standing at least 10 feet tall. They could surmise this was a male creature given his long beard. In his large gloved hand he carried a large hammer which steadily hammered down strokes upon a glowing hot piece of metal that appeared to be the workings of a new sword. From their observation the party can only surmise that this must be a Titan or perhaps the offspring of such a creature of legend. Working alongside this Titan appeared to be two smaller humanoid creatures, though likely they were not actually mortal, as they instead appeared to be wreathed in flames. At different times they would jump into the Titan's forge, stoking the fire, otherwise they watched the Titan who appeared to be their master and who would gesture for them to bring raw materials to him.

As the party entered, the Titan looks up at the party considering them for only a brief moment before plunging the glowing hot piece of metal he had been working on into a large bucket of water. As he does this there is a sharp sound of steam from metal hitting water, though the steam quickly flows up apparently through what looked to be a vent dug into the ceiling of the cavern.

Actions?

Arthanos' eyes widened when the door swung open, and he sent a silent thanks to Athena. As they entered and saw the titan, he froze for a step, then made himself stand tall and proud.

"Greetings! My name is Arthanos. Would you be able or willing to tell me your name?" he asked the figure, doing his best to let his voice's tone suggest friendliness and companionship.

Itylus blinked several times when he entered the room. This was certainly NOT what he had expected to find behind the door... He thought back on the crude map he had sketched for the party before re-entering the mines and mentally stroke out the mouse drawing on the southern path...

For the moment the hunter did not say anything. He let Arthanos conduct the conversation while he stayed vigilant behind.

Dysis was likewise taken aback, also choosing to remain silent and watchful, while Arthanos attempted diplomacy.

The Titan - if that is what he was - looked up again at the party members as Arthanos spoke. He stared at them for a long moment, as if assessing them for something.

He then speaks though slowly and with some difficulty. "What do you seek?" He then withdraws the blade from the bucket of water, returning it to his anvil.

Itylus whispers to the others: "Should we ask him about the Dog-Skin of Hades?"

 Lysandros took in the scene before him, and after he took a moment to gird his mental loins, the noble spoke. “Hail, and well met, Master Smith. A thousand pardons for this interruption, of what is obviously a master of his craft. Never, have I seen the like, of the wonders that are the result of your forge, around us.”

20:59, Today: Lysandros rolled 13 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 7.  Oratory roll.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:59, Wed 25 Sept 2019.

The titan... demi-titan...whatever he was, had asked them a question.   He seemed to know - or perhaps merely assumed the likely thing - that they had come here for something.   And, Dysis had a feeling that beating around the bush wasn't going to serve.

"Yes," she whispered back to Itylus.

She knew this could be sensitive, though.    As she recollected that the so-called Dogskin had been crafted to use in war against the Titans.

Ah well, here goes...

"It is a particular helm we seek," she said honestly. "One that others tasked us to retrieve for them.  We aren't thieves, however.  And would like to better understand what we may have gotten into."   

The Titan halted his work on the blade, pausing to consider the words spoken by Lysandros and Dysis. After a very long moment, he speaks again. Once again his words are slow, with him seemingly choosing each word spoken carefully and with thought.

"You are servants who follow commands to seek a Helm, but now question their task?" he says, his tone curious sounding as he looks at Dysis. Casting his gaze to Lysandros and then the rest of the party he says, somewhat dismissively of Lysandros flattery. "I only serve the forge."

He then gestures to a pile of helmets to the side of the chamber. "Many helms I have forged in my years. Mundane and Magical... What do you seek?"

In reply to Maze Master (msg # 133):

 The young noble had been asked a straight forward question, so he provided an answer in the same spirit. " We seek the Dog-skin of the god Hades, Master smith."

 Lysandros made ready to fight, if the creatures decided to become hostile.

Arthanos, cocked his head as he considered the creature.

"How long have you been here? And how did you end up here?" he asks it curiously.

"I... have always been here." The Smith states impassively in response.



"I know of what you speak, but it was not birthed of this forge." He continues. "It rests deeper in the Earth and is protected by servants of the Olympians." The Titan takes a few steps away from his forge towards the wall, and with effort, pulls away a massive boulder, opening up another passageway.

"Seek it at your peril." he states in warning before walking back to his forge to continue work on the same blade as before.

Awed by the titanic show of strength, Itylus bowed to the Titan and said in a humble voice: "Thank you for you help, Ancient One".


The hunter started to walk towards the now open passageway but suddenly stopped. His eyes drawn by the many marvels the ancient being had crafted through the ages. Itylus looked back to the Titan and hesitantly said:

"If... I may be so bold as to ask... Do you have anything that would help us defend us from the perils that await us below? Maybe we could do a trade, or do something for you, in exchange for your craftmanship. "
This message was last edited by the player at 17:42, Fri 27 Sept 2019.

The Smith nods in response to Itylus' inquiry:

"A boon I can grant you. If you will help me."

He continues: "Minerals are needed for the forge. Were blocked by Humans like you. Now blocked by Floating Eyes. Blocked by Daughters of Arachne. Open the passages and protection from Undead I will provide."

Undead? That wasn't good news. Though not unexpected considering the were trying to obtain an item from the God of the Underworld... However, this made all the more important for them to obtain the boon the Titan was offering them.

"We have already slain the Floating Eyes, Ancient Blacksmith." replied the hunter. "So that only leaves the Daughters of Arachne... They are the ones on the passage north of here, I assume."

  Something that the master smith said, caused great concern to the young noble." Wait..you said the object of our quest is guarded  by creatures of the Olympians? If that  be the case, then the gods themselves, protect the helmet of Hades." Said Lysandros in obvious dread.

The Smith simply nods in response, and then returns to his work on the blade.

OOC: Actions? You are free to do as the Smith is asking, or you can go past him in the passageway opened up. Entirely up to you.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 20:05, Sat 28 Sept 2019.

"The gods keep many sorts of servants," Dysis put in thoughtfully.   "Some monstrous, some mortal.  Though I suppose the latter sort is unlikely, in this case."      She let go a sigh.

"I begin to hate this.   I get the feeling our employers will spend as many lives as they need to - our own included - in trying to recover that which the wisdom of Olympus has decreed should stay hidden.    I'm tempted to return to the surface, and turn this matter over to a temple.    Maybe even Hades' own." 

Yes, but it's not as much fun as continuing the quest!   Someone talk me out of being sensible?   

"But why has Olympus decreed it should be hidden?" Arthanos asked, looking at Dysis. "We know it can turn things invisible, but the gods can do that already. So why?" he asked, then turned back to the titan.

"Excuse me, do you know why the hat is so heavily guarded?" he asked the creature politely.

As he waited, he then glanced back at the others, "I'm tempted to clear the Daughter's of Arachae. Considering the legend, it will be something to do with spiders, and while I dislike the idea of fighting them down here, it may get us some more knowledge of this place." he says to the others.

It was a fair question that Arthanos asked.   The Dogskin had been used against the Titans.    Was invisibility truly it's only power - ?

Once upon a time, Dysis had been a slave.    After her foolish father's incrimination and execution, and she'd been sold off.

Still a girl, one of her masters had locked her into a cellar, with spiders, when her work or behavior had failed to please him, or his obese, ranting, nag of a wife.

It was stupid of her to still fear them, now, as an adult, an occultist, who'd faced enemies that would send most people running in fear.    Yet, she couldn't lie to herself, she did fear them.     Well, perhaps it was time to finally face that fear...

She sighed, ran a hand through her hair.  "Yes, it is possible we may learn more."

If the Titan heard the question he made no indication or responded to the question, instead continuing his work, content to let the party to continue on their way.

The party departed the Smith's forge to head back towards the northern passage.


Eventually...

---

Heading further into the northern passage the webbing became noticeably dense. Occasionally somebody in the party would spot a common cave spider of normal size that would scurry away when disturbed but otherwise their initial foray into the northern passage was without incident. Egg sacs could be seen as well as remains of the spider's prior meals - most likely insects also apparently small rodents or mammals of some kind (or so it appeared) could be seen tangled up in the webs.

At the front of the group, Arthanos and Lysandros had been using their weapons to hack away at some of the thicker strands of webbing, assisted occasionally by Tereys and Regnferth who would use the light of their torches to burn away some of the strands or the residual webbing that remained, or otherwise also helped with hacking away spider webs.

Suddenly, Itylus halts the group pointing out what was clearly human remains wrapped up in the webbing on the side of the cavern though the body was now completely desiccated and impossible to identify in greater detail apart from the skull looking out at them. In addition this webbing that immersed the body was connected to what was an extremely dense blockage preventing them from being able to proceed further into the cavern.

Actions?

-Why- in Persephone's name did I agree to this? Oh yes.  Something about facing my fears. Well, here we are.

By this point, her skin crawled, as if the spiders were already upon her.   She was aware of a single, cold bead of perspiration, meandering its way down her left side.   It was like nightmares she'd had as a girl.   No...it wasn't - it was worse.

"Yes...thank you for pointing it out," she said, once Itylus indicated the remains.    And then to Arthanos, in further dry humor, "I hope this is expanding your knowledge-?"   

She grimaced at the grisly scene about them.   Wishing nothing more than to summon a gale wind, to blow it all away.   She eyed the thick, sticky, silken, barrier in front of them.

"I feel someone wishes to be left alone.   Someone with eight limbs.   Someone who sucks people dry, the way a rabid drunk empties a wineskin."

Arthanos looked around with disgust as they made their way forward. He'd used his blade to cut his way in, but even that started struggling, catching and failing to cut as the weapons thickened.

The sight of the body made his stomach roll, and in the back of his mind, he felt his nervousness of the dark rising once more. At Dysis' comment, he hid a partial grimace.

"In a way, it is. We now know that was is in there is big enough to drain a person. That gives us warning." he remarked, then stared at the webs, his mind slowly ticking over.

"Dysis, how long can you maintain that wind thing of yours, and can it be used to spread a fire? I'm thinking we light the web on fire, then you use your wind the build the flames up and channel them ahead of us. It will make it tricky to follow straight up, but there shouldn't be much fuel for the fire to burn other then the webs. We may also be able to cook the creatures before we have to actually fight them." he said, his idea forming as he talked. "Thoughts?" he asked, turning to look at the others.

As a player, I think it's a sound idea.

Magically speaking...  M&M casters are pretty limited in their effects.     But, we had a conversation on this, not too long ago, in OOC.    That it seems sort of absurd for an air elementalist to be unable to just make a strong breeze.     I think the short of it was that I can.

But we'll let the MM come back, and give the official ruling.    I'm for it, if Itylus & Lysandros don't have some other idea.   

Taking a torch, Arthanos places it close to the webs, where after a few moments it starts to slowly ignite. Taking her cue from here, Dysis begins to summon forth gusts of wind, gently directly them towards the torch light so as to ensure they do not prematurely extinguish the fire. It takes a few minutes but it has the desired effect as more of the webs begin to be eaten away from the flames, opening the passage further up past them. Waiting, the group can hear the sizzling of the fire, but also at times an unusual rattling or rumbling noise, like something was moving as well. Once the flames begin to die down, the group finds that they can proceed, now with minimal need to cut down additional webs.

After about 100 feet of walking down the passage, they hear a feminine voice call out to them. "Is somebody there? Brave Men to save me?". Looking around however they cannot see who is speaking to them.

Arthanos lifts his sword to a guard position and looks around, his mind racing. The voice had said 'brave men', but did it mean 'men' as people or 'men' as males? Biting his lip for a second, he considered the options then turned slightly to Dysis and gestured to her to respond before turning back to try and look for any threats.

Dysis nodded grimly, Of course...what better ploy for a monstrous widow?

"Yes, there are indeed fine, brave men here," she replied, at Arthanos' prompting, while remaining fully wary of their surrounds, casting her eyes up in particular.

"And a suspicious woman. If you're innocent, human, truly in danger, I'm rather sure rescue is in the works.  At the moment, we've some doubt."

Dysis was clearing her thoughts, preparing for spell working.   She had a dread sense they were shortly in for a fight. With a most horrific sort of foe...

"A suspicious woman?" the voice says as if in some confusion. "Well you may go, I have no need of you. But I do need your helpful men to help me. I know you have many with you..." The voice adds.

"Just stay there, Suspicious Woman... I will send some helpers to bring your men to me. I need new husbands to mate with."

From further on down the tunnel the party can unmistakably hear the sound of movement of many legs...

Actions? - standing around doing nothing will provoke an encounter. If you plan to prepare for battle in some way this is the time to do it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:45, Thu 24 Oct 2019.

 The noble heard what the female voice said, and for some reason, a cold shiver went down his spine. Lysandros was certainly no coward, but the unknown had a certain sensation of its own. " By the  Goddess Athena, that watches over my city, the only mating you shall receive from me, is cold tempered iron(bronze?). So, we shall dispatch your minions, then come ahead for you."

Her worst fear now all but confirmed, Dysis whispered a short prayer to Persephone.   And made a judgement call, realizing this spell could be terribly effective.   Yet also have an unfortunate repercussion.

She steeled herself, spoke the incantation, once again beseeching the spirits of primeval Air.   And summoned a gale-wind, positioning it down the tunnel sufficiently that the party would not be in it.

- Cast Gale Wind, 6 points -

"By Olympus, brace yourselves!  This wind will catch and smash as many as possible!   But, by the Gods - some may be hurled our way!" 

So said, she pulled around the small wooden shield she carried on her shoulder, doubly thankful she thought to carry the only piece of armor she could use, and began backing up...

Arthanos grimaced at the voice as it confirmed his thoughts. Raising his shield and sword he readied himself to face the threat and he called back to the others.

"Tereys, Regenferth, can you bring some torches to keep the tunnel lit? Also, make sure nothing gets past us four to them." he called out to the other two fighters as he waited.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:07, Mon 28 Oct 2019.

Dysis' timing could not have been better... she makes her prayer to Persephone and speaks her incantation, feeling the wind spirits begin to respond to her call and beginning to rise at her command.

It is then that the party sees the source of the voice that had been calling out to them from the darkness:



A Daughter of Arachne... and in the company of multiple cave spiders that alone would be large enough to take on both Arthanos and Lysandros at the same time.

The party looks on with either fascination, horror (or perhaps some other emotion) in at seeing perhaps one of the most beautiful face of a woman ever placed upon this hairy eight legged spider body. As the Daughter of Arachne approaches with her spider host, she calls out to the group again "So many Brave Men! So many new Husbands for me to enjoy!"

The spiders are only 10 feet away from the group when Dysis' spell finally kicks into effect. Persephone must have been smiling upon Dysis as her spell is effective against the Daughter of Arachne and all three of her cave spider allies and despite their multiple legs they cannot stay stuck to the ground and are thrown about randomly. However, what Dysis cannot predict is the direction in which the spiders would be thrown away from her whirlwind, and so she (and the others) watch on with horror as the winds actually throw the Daughter of Arachne towards Dysis and Arthanos, with the creature landing almost on top of Arthanos, who has to leap almost to the cave wall to avoid being struck by her.

It is fortunate that he does this as a second later one of the cave spiders flies past as well, landing to his south and directly ahead of Rosellea, the archer! However, the other two cave spiders are thrown up against the western side of the passage and are still caught in the winds that Dysis has created...

It appears combat is beginning!

---

OOC: I do believe in transparency whenever possible so please note that all of this were result of dice rolls. This is completely random as to where the spiders were going to end up as well.

The situation OOC is this: You guys are facing north. Two of the spiders are thrown clear from the winds to the south basically landing at your feet. I figured a roll to the direction of east or west just means they hit the walls, so two of the spiders have hit the walls. Unless Dysis moves the whirlwind (which would risk hitting everybody those two will have to roll again next round to save vs. Danger Evasion.

Below is a very brief mini-map so you can get an idea of your respective positions:



D = Dysis
A = Arthanos
L = Lysandros
I = Itylus
N = Iranto (Priest NPC)
R = Rosellea (Archer NPC)
G = Regnferth (Barbarian NPC)
T = Tereys (Noble NPC)
O = Daughter of Arcane
$ = Cave Spider 1
@ = Cave Spider 2
# = Cave Spider 3

Arthanos recoiled when he saw the spiders appear and shuddered when she spoke. He then saw Dysis's spell work, and to his horror, the Daughter was suddenly flying at him.

Cursing and swearing, he dived sideways to avoid her, the looked around trying to get a grip on what had happened. As he did, he noticed the one of the spiders had ended up in the back.

"Tereys, Regenferth, get the one near Rosellea!" he called, the focused on the Daughter in front of him.

"For Athena!" he cried, hoping to draw her attention on him with the mention of the Goddess who cursed her mother...and hoping Athena would grant him luck. With that, he swung at the Daughter for all he was worth.

---

19:42, Today: Arthanos rolled 26 using 2d20+8, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 5,18.  Attack vs Daughter.

19:42, Today: Arthanos rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  Damage.

Dysis suffered a moment of personal horror, as the enemy was revealed to them.   She had not anticipated that enemy charging them right away, nor being flung at them by the winds, as she'd thought might happen with its 'babies.'

Her hand went briefly to her mouth in shock, as Arthanos almost ended up pinned.  Persephone had been kind;  she'd be sure to offer tribute - later!

As Arthanos moved to engage, what Dysis did next was reaction, as much as anything conscious -  she spoke soft but vaguely menacing sounding syllables, again focusing her will - but not to the spirits of air, not this time.

She gasped, shook, as though some part of her were being wrenched away - which it was. In the low light, her shadow no longer mirrored her motions...began to separate from her - until she no longer cast a shadow - and the one that had been hers moved to attack the she-spider.

Cast Wandering Shadow - 6 points - attack!! vs. Daughter
This message was last edited by the player at 01:48, Mon 04 Nov 2019.

 The noble of a once, but now resort house, Moved forward and with a cry of " Glory to the Goddess Athena." thrust his sword at one of the spider things.

16:58, Today: Lysandros rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  sword damage.

16:58, Today: Lysandros rolled 18 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 10.  2nd roll.

16:57, Today: Lysandros rolled 23 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 15.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:59, Tue 05 Nov 2019.

End of Round 1
Initiative Scores:
Arthanos - 19
Daughter of Arachne - 18
Lysandros - 16
Dysis' Shadow - 16
Cave Spiders - 15
Itylus - 15
Dysis - 14
Rosellea - (NPC Archer) - 14
Tereys (NPC Noble) - 13
Iranto (NPC Priest) - 11
Regnferth (NPC Barbarian) - 10

---

Things move quickly as the battle begins to heat up. Facing the beautiful face, but the hideous form of the Daughter of Arachne, Arthanos stabs at the creature with his sword puncturing her in a vital spot, and draws back his weapon that now shines with an inky black-red liquid. Lashing out in turn, Arthanos finds to his horror that this warped nightmare of a spider has a stinger upon her abdomen much like a wasp would have, which glistens with what he must assume to be a deadly poison of some kinds and which now rapidly moves towards his chest! He is just barely able to evade being punctured by it as the stinger ends up striking the cavern wall instead.

However, the Nobleman's luck is not all good in this moment. Ahead in the cavern, the other two cave spiders which had been caught in the Gale Fury of Dysis now manage to break free of the spell's power and quickly skitter towards the nobleman. Anticipating an attack from the first one to reach him, Arthanos raises his shield to evade a blow but winds up getting caught up in a sticky webbing instead, startling him instead and ends up entangling him in them, making it near impossible for him to move, though he still had free use of his arms for the moment. This is complicated even further as the other cave spider that had broken free jumps forward and bites his sword arm, attempting (but fortunately failing) to wrench the sword out of his arm, but the fangs rend and tear flesh to the unprotected parts of his bicep and subsequently doing a great deal of damage to the Nobleman.

During this time, Lysandros pushes his way through to attack the spider that had been flown into the party's midst, joining up with Itylus who was forced to use his spear now in these very close quarters. Both Lysandros and Itylus are able to strike the spider doing some damage to it. Lysandros is fortunate enough to evade a return attack in kind, but Itylus' leg ends up gets bitten by the spider's sharp fangs, and the hunter yells out in agony even as he attempts to dislodge the beast that was now trying to drag him to the ground.

The party's allies assist as well, though Iranto the priest simply swaps places with Regenferth to get in a place of safety. The barbarian, the young nobleman, and the archer all attempting to strike the cave spider that Lysandros and Itylus also fought with varying degrees of success, with only Tereys doing any significant damage to the spider.

Meanwhile, Dysis had been working her Shadow spell, fortunate insofar that Arthanos was perceived to be the bigger threat to the spiders, or perhaps the more desirable "brave man" that the Daughter of Arachne sought instead of her. Her spell starts to take effect and her shadow that had been cast upon the cavern ground now takes substance unnaturally separating itsself from her and rising up standing up as a mirror image of the Elementalist, with the same hair and shape, though completely inky black. At Dysis' mental command, her shadow turns and draws a dagger (though it too is but a shadow) and rushes towards the Daughter of Arachne and swings at it, the shadow dagger striking the creature which shrieks out in pain as its very life essence is drained away.





D = Dysis
S = Dysis' Shadow
A = Arthanos
L = Lysandros
I = Itylus
N = Iranto (Priest NPC)
R = Rosellea (Archer NPC)
G = Regnferth (Barbarian NPC)
T = Tereys (Noble NPC)
O = Daughter of Arcane
$ = Cave Spider 1
@ = Cave Spider 2
# = Cave Spider 3

She had hoped the winds would have splattered them all against the walls, but obviously it was not so!    And the way that Arthanos came under attack told that these were more than merely big but otherwise normal spiders.   No, they were full out monsters, just as their mistress, or mother, was.

She cringed hearing Itylus cry out, briefly turning that way, but seeing he had plenty of help.    It was Arthanos who was really in trouble.

She urged her shadow to attack their main foe, again -  Dysis rolled 4 using 1d6 with rolls of 4.  Shadow - life drain.  -Daughter of Arachne.

- knowing sometimes, with magical enemies, that defeating the maker stopped the creations as well.   She had to do more, though.   When it came to weapons, she was but a mediocre knife fighter.  Her skill with the sling, however, was more considerable.   She backed up, (move to the square behind me) took out her sling, and a stone, preparing absolutely as quickly as she could...

Unless controlling the shadow takes my turn.  In which case scratch it.   Of course, if I can actually take a shot this round, I will.    But I think it takes one to ready a weapon?

 Lysandros attempted to stab the spider, yet again. But it was so tight, his arm could not deliver the full benefit of his thrust with his crowed arm.


21:37, Today: Lysandros rolled 1 using 1d6 with rolls of 1.

21:37, Today: Lysandros rolled 22 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 14.  2nd roll.

21:37, Today: Lysandros rolled 23 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 15.  Weapon of choice first roll.

Arthanos gives a cry as the spider sinks its fangs into his arm, but manages to throw it off. With a grunt he brings his weapon around as he struggles for a few seconds before focusing back on the creatures.

"A hand would be helpful! I can't move away!" he yells to the others, then swings at the spider blocking him from them.

---

Attacking vs Spider 1

20:44, Today: Arthanos rolled 23 using 2d20+4, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 11,19.  Attack vs spider 1.

20:45, Today: Arthanos rolled 1 using 1d6 with rolls of 1.  damage.

Arthanos struggles against the thick sticky webbing that had enveloped him and which severely slowed his ability to move. Despite this, he is able to score a minor hit on one of the nearby cave spiders, and is just able to evade the Daughter of Arachne who attempts to drag him towards her in what would be a most deadly embrace. Yet, surrounded such as he was he could not evade all of his foes and experiences a sharp piercing sensation radiating up his left leg. Looking down at his extremity he sees that one of the cave spiders has bitten deeply into the exposed flesh around his ankle and calf. The pain is intense and searing.

Dysis' Shadow, insubstantial and swift, moved quicker then the elementalist could, and responded to her willed command to strike out once again on the Daughter of Arachne that threatened them. However this time her Shadow's strike seems to do no damage to the Daughter. It seemed that the life draining attacks from the Shadow may not always be successful.

At his position, Lysandros strikes out towards one of the weakened cave spiders, but only manages a glancing blow on the creature, doing minor damage to it. Drawing back his weapon to ready it for another strike, Lysandros gets a sudden sensation that something is just above him. Looking up he only has time to yell out in alarm as he and Itylus attempt to maneuver to avoid being pinned completely by one of the cave spiders which had crawled on the walls and ceiling to attack them! However, the Noble is not quick enough to evade the large body and the piercing fangs of the cave spider which now pierce his abdomen, doing a tremendous amount of damage to him as he struggles to push away from the spider that seemed to be trying to tear his body into two pieces!

While Itylus is able to avoid this spider, he is still the target of the weakened spider that had tried to drag him to the ground just seconds ago. To his horror, it tries again and this time is successful biting the hunter multiple times on his body. He cannot help but scream from the overwhelming pain before losing consciousness while the Fates considered him from their realm.

Dysis, not as quick as her shadow or her long time battle-hardened companions had moved as quickly as she could to ready her sling and stone which she launches against a spider. But whether due to inexperience, fear, or the horror of what was happening to her friends and companions she sees her her stone misses and instead hits the cavern wall with no effect. All of this while her Shadow attempts to strike against a spider and her Gale Fury raged on in the cavern in front of them.

Fortunately - the heroes did have some allies and working together Tereys and Regnferth manage to kill the cave spider that had just taken down Itylus, most likely saving the now unconscious hunter's life. As they did so, Tereys called out to the priest. "Iranato! Iranato! We need you now! Call on Hepaestus's powers to heal our friends! To his credit, the priest, who had been staying at the back of the lines in safety now rushed forward, surveying the scene. It would be a tough choice given the wounds that Arthanos and Lysandros were taking, but the dying Itylus took priority and so the priest laid hands over the Hunter, calling upon Hepaestus' Grace to bring him back from the brink of Hades' realm.

He is successful in doing so, but only just, and Itylus is still unconscious. He barks to Rosellea "Rosellea! Your talents are with bows, not blades, come pull him away from battle!"

Looking up towards Arthanos and Lysandros, he calls out to them "Healing potions! Use whatever you have! I'll try to get to you! Pray to the Gods!"



D = Dysis
S = Dysis' Shadow
A = Arthanos
L = Lysandros
I = Itylus - UNCONSCIOUS
N = Iranto (Priest NPC)
R = Rosellea (Archer NPC)
G = Regnferth (Barbarian NPC)
T = Tereys (Noble NPC)
O = Daughter of Arcane
$ = Cave Spider 1 - DECEASED
@ = Cave Spider 2
# = Cave Spider 3
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:16, Mon 18 Nov 2019.

 The spider that was upon the wall and  had attacked his companion, was now Lysandros's target. He thrst his sword into the carapace of the thing.


21:32, Today: Lysandros rolled 4 using 1d6 with rolls of 4.  sword damage.

21:31, Today: Lysandros rolled 23 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 15.  2nd attack.

21:30, Today: Lysandros rolled 13 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 5.  1st attack.

Yelling in pain as the spider bit into his leg, he tried vainly to shake it off. Hearing Iranto call out his advise, Arthanos called back.

"I like the idea, but since it means dropping my sword or shield, I'm going to pass while I'M STUCK THE THE CURSED WALL!' he snaps back.

Looking at the spider, he figures he can't get into much more trouble and prays to Athena before attacking.

"Lady Athena, grant me wisdom and skill to find a way out of this situation and to slay this abomination!" he calls out then swings at the Daughter yet again, discovering to late the web was slowing his attack.

---

21:47, Today: Arthanos rolled 7 using 2d20, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 7,4.  attack vs Daughter.

...so adding 4...that's an 11 to hit...I'm pretty sure that missed. If it didn't, feel free to roll damage for me.

Both Itylus' and Arthanos' cries of distress abraded her --  they were suffering her nightmare!

But, it was a matter of striving to be most effective, to end this as soon as possible --   and she still wagered that putting down the monstrous 'mother' would make the most difference.   So she urged her shadow to continue its assault.

Her last shot had gone wide, which she realized was somewhat due to nerves.   With the same will that she used to prepare herself for working magic, she forced herself to calm some, reloaded, whirled, then released--

Dysis rolled 17 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 10.  sling attack.
Dysis rolled 1 using 1d6 with rolls of 1.  sling damage - DoA
Dysis rolled 1 using 1d6 with rolls of 1.  Shadow - life drain. - DoA

Ah, alas...I neglected to make proper sacrifice to the god of damage!
This message was last edited by the player at 20:00, Sun 24 Nov 2019.

The Battle Continues

With a weakened Arthanos, and an annoying insubstantial creature trying to attack her, the Daughter of Arachne turns her wrath upon Dysis' shadow, but her bite and stinger is to naught as they pass through the shadow harmlessly for only magical means could harm or dispel this creature of darkness born from Dysis' form. Dysis and her shadow take advantage of this situation and both of them deal some damage to the Daughter of Arachne, and although this is not enough to kill the cursed creature, it does continue to weaken her to the point where she looked like she may be near death. A solid strike of a sword or other weapon may be enough now. Arthanos attempts to finish her off with a swing of his sword but finds that the webbing he was still tangled in seemed to hamper his accuracy as his sword meets only air instead, likely to his great frustration.

Lysandros is more successful in landing a solid on the spider that had crawled on the walls and had bitten him, and he now trades blows with it, though fortunately his shield deflects the fangs that attempted to pierce his body once again and he is prevented from taking more damage for the time being. Arthanos is fortunate as well and similarly is able to ward off the spider that had entangled him that was still attempting to devour him.

The party's allies move quickly now: Rosellea moves towards the still alive but now unconscious Itylus, grabbing onto his clothing and physically dragging him south and away from the conflict to safety. Meanwhile, working in concert, the nobleman Tereys, and the northman Regnferth go to Arthanos' aid. Tereys takes a dagger which he uses to hack apart some of the webbing that was binding Arthanos to the cavern wall, while Regnferth demonstrates a great feat of strength to literally pick up Arthanos and almost cradle him in his arms as if he were a child. Looking up at the northman's face, Arthanos can only watch with alarm as he is given a wide grin and finds himself flying through the air as he is tossed to the south landing, (not so gracefully) on the ground nearby where Rosellea and Itylus now were gathered and waiting.

Landing to the floor in a thud, Arthanos receives what will likely be some nasty bruises in a few hours time, but is nothing compared to the bites he had received. He is otherwise fine and now can take advantage of his change in position to free his arms and legs from the webbing at last and regain all of his mobility. Looking to his allies, he sees that Tereys and Regneferth then turn back towards the spiders, weapons ready to face them.

Finally, Iranto, the priest was maneuvering his way upwards and now stood close to Lysandros and not far from Dysis. He calls out to her "Lady Dysis, join your friends to the south! You risk injury up here should they turn their wrath on you!" he then turns speaking to Lysandros "Keep your guard up, my friend, but receive the healing powers of the Gods!" he lays a hand upon Lysandros, even as the warrior draws back to ready for the next onslaught of the cave spider, and Lysandros feels a warmness envelop his body, healing some of the damage he had sustained from the vicious spider bites.



D = Dysis
S = Dysis' Shadow
A = Arthanos
L = Lysandros
I = Itylus - UNCONSCIOUS
N = Iranto (Priest NPC)
R = Rosellea (Archer NPC)
G = Regnferth (Barbarian NPC)
T = Tereys (Noble NPC)
O = Daughter of Arcane
$ = Cave Spider 1 - DECEASED
@ = Cave Spider 2
# = Cave Spider 3
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 16:49, Tue 26 Nov 2019.

 The noble thrust his blade at the thing once, twice, in an attempt to sink cold iron into the carapace.


21:36, Today: Lysandros rolled 5 using 1d6 with rolls of 5.( it a hit was made)

21:36, Today: Lysandros rolled 14 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 6.  2nd roll.

21:35, Today: Lysandros rolled 12 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 4.  1st attack.

The priest's wisdom was more than sound.   The questions was - would she able to pass?

Can I move south - ? It looks to me that my comrades block one square, the spider the other.       If I can evade south, I'll do it -  if no, I'll draw my dagger, brace for attack, and a retaliation strike, since it's faster than me.

The shadow, in any case, continued its relentless attack-

Dysis rolled 3 using 1d6 with rolls of 3.  Shadow - life drain. DoA

Fall damn you, -fall!- she thought at the eight legged horror-queen..

The Battle Ends

Deprived of her prey in the form of Arthanos, and for whatever reason now ignoring Tereys and Regnferth who had only just arrived, the Daughter of Arachne turns her eyes now on Dysis, screeching out in a language utterly incomprehensible to their ears (but likely not complimentary in the slightest). She turns her large body and pushes past Dysis' shadow to reach Dysis herself and with one of her legs knocks down the Elementalist and with another starts to drag her on the ground to the cavern wall, likely to entangle her and attempt to devour her.

Fortunately, Dysis' shadow under her mental command, was quick enough to provide some distraction attacked the Daughter of Arachne, doing a goodly amount of damage to her, though it was still not quite enough to kill her off entirely. This distraction gave Dysis just enough time to finally grab hold of her dagger from its sheathe and with a quick thrust, piece through one of this horror's eyes. Holding back whatever emotion she was feeling in this moment, Dysis watches the Daughter of Arachne opens her mouth to shriek something but no noise comes out - rather in the next few seconds the monster goes limp and falls to the ground, letting go its hold of Dysis, who instinctively scatters back on the cavern ground, as if the Daughter of Arachne was going to spring back to life to attack her once again.

But the monster did not. It was finally dead...

The two remaining cave spiders seem immediately aware of the death of the Daughter of Arachne. Whether they were her children, her allies, servants, or slaves, with the death of the Daughter, they seemed to have had enough against this most resilient prey, especially with Lysandros, as well as the party's allies pressing on now on the attack, doing more damage to them.

Indeed, Arthanos was now beginning to rally as well to rejoin his fellows, but Lysandros seemed to have it well in hand, directing Tereys and Regnferth to aid him, with the three dispatching one of the two remaining spiders, with the second spider then retreating back to the north, risking the Gale Fury still ongoing to escape.

The battle was over, at least for now...

She crouched where she was for a short time.   Breath coming rapidly, cold perspiration dotting her body.   Dagger dripping with the Daughter's ichor, still clutched in a white knuckled grip.    She ran the other hand through her hair, scantly aware of doing so.

The dagger fell from her grasp as she then rose, eyes moving to Arthanos, who was on his feet. And then toward Itylus.    Who was not.  She made her way over to the fallen hunter, where he'd been located by the other troupe's archer.    She knelt and checked for breath, pulse.   Then glanced back over her shoulder.

"Iranto...please.   Come quickly.  Whatever you can do for him."

By the Stygian Pits!   I -knew- it was a mistake to come here..

Yes, once again they'd won.    But at what cost, this time-?

With the battle with the Daughter of Arachne and the Cave Spiders now over, Dysis' Gale Fury begins to subside and her wandering shadow eventually dissolves and returns to her form. Fortunately, her shadow returned to her form before any of the party's allies could make the connection between the shadow and the temporary lack of a shadow that Dysis had. Whether their awareness would have only brought more respect for her abilities or suspicion would be hard to say.

Meanwhile, the party gathered around Itylus, who was still unconscious. His head was being cradled by Rosellea, the archer, and Iranto was tending to the hunter's bleeding from the spider bites that had torn flesh from him. He speaks: "I cannot provide more magical healing for some time as my limited powers are spent. But, he will live. He will just need rest to recover from his injuries. Looking to Arthanos and Itylus, he adds further. "As will you both, I suspect."

As all this happens, the way north is neglected, something that Regnferth takes note of with a sudden growl, going for his weapon. "Somebody or something approaches!" he says with alarm. Readying themselves then for a potential new attacker, the party watches, ready to defend themselves yet again...

But then they see emerging from the shadows a young woman, dressed in a healer's robe and carrying a healer's staff in hand.

OOC: Tancea is now an active player in game!

In her other hand the young woman holds the detached mandibles of a giant spider, very much like the one that just escaped.  As she steps out into the clearing she tosses it forward where everyone can see it and stops long enough for them to assess her while she makes some effort to ease their minds.

”I think you may have left this one to wander off.  I heard you were having a bit of a scuffle and thought I would come to offer my assistance, if you will allow me I believe I can be of some use to your sleeping friend.”

Dysis stood, turned and tensed, at this new arrival whom came out of the wood (or web) work.    She took in a pair of salient details -  the bits of a spider, who apparently didn't need its mandibles any longer.    And what she believed she recognized as the raiment and trappings of an Alscepian healer.

If it was some last ploy of the enemy, it was terribly subtle.   She was inclined to think not, but did remain on guard.

"You look like you might be qualified."   She gestured with a hand toward Itylus, "Please.   He's the priority.  But, it goes without saying, we're interested in what brought you here.  And if we should expect more company."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:39, Tue 10 Dec 2019.

Arthanos sags where he stood as the battle ended. His wounds began to throb more. He could see Itylus on thr ground, but the site of Itylus already over him made him focus more on himself first. He'd just decided to find a nice seat when Regenferth spoke, and Itylus immedietly lifted his arms again as he looked around.

At the sight of the woman approching, his eyes narrowed. Coming write after the daughter, it seemed a little too good. He heard Dysis invite her to help and decided to trust her magical knowledge, though it wouldn't stop him asking some questions.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked, his tone a little abrupt. He paused and forced himself to control his speaking before continuing "Apologies, but its been a little rough. Forgive me for the questions, but your appearance out of no where at this time is a little convinient. I'm trying to figure out if I should be thanking Athena or not." he finished, his tone now normal as he spoke.

Waving off most of Arthanos' questions she does at least address some of them.  ”You may call me Tancea, and no thanks are required, now if you will stop distracting me.”  Rather than compound the problem with a long speech she just turns all of her attention to Itylus, bringing her staff forward she settles it gently against one of the not wounded parts of his body, closes her eyes, and whispers something quick and quiet.  As she concentrates she begins to radiate a sort of calming energy, not quite visible, or heard, but felt like the reverse of static in the air everything becomes calm and quiet around her for several very long moments.

The group watches as Tancea approaches Itylus as he lay on the floor, bringing her staff to his body. In a matter of seconds they watch as Itylus's open wounds, partially treated already, begin to close with torn flesh and muscles regenerating. The only evidence that he had been injured was his blood stained clothing.

The pallor of his skin improves substantially as blood flow was now resuming back to normal, and his breathing improves as well. After a few moments, the Hunter begins to open his eyes. He seems to be a bit groggy but better. Seeing his friends, but also a stranger now in front of him, he inquires, his voice still a little weak. "... What happened? We were fighting... and then." he trails off, closing his eyes once again, taking deep breaths as he recovers.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:23, Thu 12 Dec 2019.

Arthanos stares in shock, suprised and thankful as he saw Itylus' wounds close. He was grateful,  but he still had many questions.

"Impressive but this still leaves questions. Who are you and whay are you here?" he asked the woman again, his tone polite.

Dysis too was impressed by the efficacy of the healing magic, if none surprised.   She knew the reputation of the Alscepian sect; had heard and read reliable report of their works, though never before met any of their number.

She smiled at Itylus, nodding. "We were fighting.   It is over.  Our eight-legged enemy is crawling the walls of the Underworld now.  Or, whatever after-place such abominations fall to when they perish.   You'll be fine;  it would seem Asclepius watches out for daring hunters.   He sent one of his own to heal you." 

She was speaking tongue in cheek.  Though she did believe in divine interventions, she suspected there was a more earthly reason for this healer's arrival.   And awaited to hear the answer to Arthanos' question.

Stepping back from the no longer injured man before he regains consciousness, so as to minimize his confusion from seeing an unfamiliar person standing over him Tancea turns her attention outward again to the others here, offering Arthanos a pleasant smile to go with his answer.  ”I thought I had already introduced myself, I am called Tancea, I am here to enact Asclepius' divine will, if there are others among your party who are wounded I can see to them too, but it is wise to start with those at risk of death.”

 "My lady Tancea, I believe the question that begs to be asked of you, is this. How did you come to be in this place?" Asked the noble son, of a once great house, in a polite way.

"There must be be another passageway we had not taken from the mines above." Iranato ventures. "One that brought her down to us a different way then any of us had come through."

"Were there more cave spiders, or... those women faced-spiders up the passageway?" Tereys inquires, gesturing with his blade to the now deceased Daughter of Arachne

Rosellea shakes her head. "It does not matter. Itylus will live thanks to Tancea's magics, but he will need rest. I think we all need rest. He is already asleep again. Why don't we go outside and camp and recover? The Lady Tancea can assist with our other wounds there." she proposes.

---

OOC: Want to give everybody the opportunity to RP additional introduction with Tancea but also want to get Dionae in the game too, who you can encounter on your way out to the mines to rest.

Fielding the questions asked easily, and in the order they come Tancea shows neither surprise nor offense at the desire of those fighting for their lives to gain any knowledge they can, she almost seems to respect their inquisitive nature.

”The path north of here is blocked by quite a lot of webbing so I expect there are more spiders of some kind there, but I only encountered the now dead one without any kind of unusual face on my way here.  Rest always helps one stay alert against further injury, particularly as divine healing only restores the body not the will, I have been traveling for a while and would welcome such a respite myself, if you would not mind me joining you.”

 Lysandros seemed to consider a moment, then spoke. " I agree, a period of rest would be in order. We should retire to the outside and use the building for our camp,as before. Such is my counsel."

Arthanos nods at the idea of rest. He was finding it a little hard to constentrate on the conversation and figured rest would help.

"Agreed. I think we can all do with a rest and a chance to regroup. We may be able to make some long torches to help burn our way through tomorrow." He says then looks at Tancea.

"You are more then welcome to join us for helping with our companion." he says and bows slightly.

After listening, Dysis crooked a finger in the direction of her independent shadow, and whispered a pair of syllables.   The shadow glided back to her, reorienting into its natural place.

"I've surely no disagreements.    Let's be gone from this place."

Accepting Aranos' invitation at face value Tancea accompanies the group out, making none to subtle visual inspection of each of them for wounds as she does so.

”I can restore any of your wounded to a fit condition, but I am afraid I will be of little use in preparing for the next stage of this adventure.”

With the group in agreement that it was best to withdraw to the outdoors and lick their wounds a bit they pack up to depart with the massive Regnferth assisting Itylus as a crutch while they depart, who was still a bit woozy from the ordeal. Trusting the newly arrived Tancea who states she can show them how she had reached their position from a different direction, the party follows her as she shows them a quicker way out of the mines. They continue north up the passage until they reach a fork in the passage, with the larger side leading to the northwest covered in similar thick webbing, but the passage to the northeast was not so, and had recently been traveled by the healer. Retracing her footsteps they eventually come up a crude rope ladder that leads back up to the first level of the mines.

From there, it is a straight shot south towards the entrance of the mines. Going this route would save them at least half the time of having to take the winding and twisting passages they had initially gone based on the miner's journals. The group can only surmise that the miners must have found other ways to descend to the lower levels over time.

---

As they begin to reach the outdoors they find that the weather now has turned bad with a steady rain that at times started to pour. Standing at the mouth of the mines, they realize they will have to go towards one of the standing buildings for shelter from the elements. Given the size of their group, it would be best to go towards the barracks, as they could also utilize the small kitchen there to dry off further as well as cook, though the administration building could also be used if additional privacy was needed, such as for rituals for those more magically inclined.

Fortunately, despite the disrepair of the barracks inside, structurally it was quite sound and no rain leaked in through the roof. Those without wounds take some time to re-assemble some of the bunks in better condition that would allow them to sleep in relative comfort that evening.

---

Generally, for the next few hours there is little conversation. Tancea, the most skilled healer, with Iranto, who now acts as an assistant for her, examines the wounds of the rest of the party, namely Arthanos and Lysandros, and administrates appropriate remedies with both magical healing and prescription for rest. Fortunately, none of the bites sustained had traces of venom and full recovery was expected.

As the hours begin to pass later into the evening, the group begins to drift off to sleep, with one or two people staying up usually to keep watch. Those who needed privacy could dash over the administration building as needed. It was felt that given the rain it was unlikely anything would disturb their sleep. However, as the sun just begins to rise through the haze and steady drizzle, Lysandros spots somebody approaching their direction and so wakes up other members in the party. Uncertain whether this may be a new attacker or perhaps a lost wanderer, they prepare themselves for the worst.

However, as this person approaches they find her to be a rain soaked woman, who looked equally startled to see as many people as she did see in the barracks. As Lysandros opens the door to greet her, he observes that she is dressed very plainly. It was unlikely that she was a warrior such as the Amazons he had seen before, but neither did she appear as a healer such as Tancea. Perhaps her talents lay elsewhere...

OOC: Happy 2020! And welcome finally to Dionae, who is now free to post in the game thread!

Dionae is armed with a dagger and minimally dressed she puts down her dagger and says ,"I'm cold can I share your shelter I'm Dionae, a former Amazon slave who escaped to these lands, I mean no harm unless you try to harm me." she is unarmed but still she acts like she could defend her honor.

Standing some distance beyond Lysdandros, Dysis felt her self moved to empathize, after listening to the words, taking in the sight of the woman.   Slavery was a significant part of her own history, though not at the hands of Amazons.

"I believe that works both ways," she advised the newcomer.    Then with more compassion-

"But I for one would admit you based on that understanding.   It's not the sort of morning to be stuck outdoors."

Arthanos appreciated the night to rest and recover. When Lysandros warned of someone approaching, Arthanos took up his sword and waited ready. When the update of what, or more accurately who was nearing them, he put his sword away and waited with the others to see who it was.

When the woman introduced herself as Dionae and a fleeing slave, Arthanos mind raced for a few seconds.

"My compatriot is correct about the weather. My name is Arthanos, and I'm sure we all have some questions, but they can wait till we are somewhere drier. Won't you please come inside?" he remarked politely and smiled as he gestured to the shelter.

She comes in and undressing fully gets by the fire putting her sole 'dress' two long cloth sheets tied by a leather strap belt and tied at the corners at the shoulders. She appears very fit and otherwise harmless save for owning a small blade, bedroll and a pouch.

"Anyone tries to force themselves on me loses their ... swords ... trust me when I say I can enforce that. So your not from around here either?," she said as her stomach rumbled as she warms up.

Dionae warms herself up in the kitchen and starts to dry off, while the others in the party break their fast, or otherwise prepare for the morning. Food and hot water is given to Dionae as well. It is Iranto who responds to her inquiry though. "My lady, you will not find such attitude amongst any of our number. You are correct that this is not our home. Many of us hail from glorious Thena, but not all." he says, with a fatherly smile, clearly attempting to put the young woman at ease.

It is then that Rosellea interrupts. "Speaking of that... I think that some of us should head back to Thena." she proposes though namely speaking to Arthanos, Lysandros, and Dysis, who had been her and her friends' liberators. "I do believe you will succeed where we failed, for you are valiant warriors, but it is time for Iranto, Tereys, Regnferth and I to go. The mines are no place for us, but you have our everlasting friendship for saving us from those monsters down there."

"Indeed." Tereys seconds. "You may call on us upon your return to Thena, where we will celebrate your success."

"We'll feed you, if you're hungry," she offered, noting the telltale sound.  "I've been with this troupe for longer than a year now," she assured the newcomer, nodding sagely.  "And can assure you that swords stay properly sheathed, their wielders quite well mannered, and of kindly disposition. No.   We are not 'from around here.'    We came to do a particular task.   What of yourself?"   

To Iranto and his party, she inclined her head in acknowledgment-    "The reinforcements you provided were invaluable.   You more than repaid us for liberating you.   Good begets good."    she considered that a moment, then added with a wry smile, "Sometimes."

"I fled from the land of the Amazons aided by Hecate who sent teachers to guide my gift. I should have hunted for a meal but raw food isn't as good as cooked even if not in human shape.," she said as she ate and drank.

The girl seems odd ... even for a escaped Amazon slave who rarely can't hunt them down with a whip waiting.

When Dionae started stripping, Arthanos turned so he wasn't looking in her direction. He listened to Dysis, Iranto, Rosellea and Tereys before responding.

"As the others have said, you are not at risk from us. Though your comment about meat...are you being hunted? Is there a chance people looking for you are going to be showing up any time soon? And why are you fleeing them?" he says towards Dionae before looking towards the other group.

"I will be sad to see you all go. You have been much help in the short time we have worked with you. May Athena guide you and protect you in your travels." he says before looking back at Tancea.

"Well looks like we'll be heading back down. You are welcome to come with us if you want and your assistance would be much appreciated," he says, politely to her.

While mostly focused on tending to those she has been healing, helping ease their recovery period with more mundane techniques Tancea has clearly been listening to the conversation as she replies quickly when addressed directly.

”My destany is bound up in this place, and those who would investigate it, so I accept your invitation to help address the problems presented here, bringing someone with hunting skills with us might help too.”

Lysandros had bidden their comrades fare well, then saw to his equipment, making ready for the next foray into the Mines.

 With yet another stranger popping up, this was the second since their arrival. “ By Athena, another orphan for us to adopt. This place is more then it appears, to attract such diverse persons. Be welcome, if you are as you seem. But if you are not... well... that will be dealt with, if needed.”

"I destroyed my mistress and her daughters who were of age, before I fled Amazon lands by sea in the form of a dolphin thanks to Poseidon for his safe travel and the ship that was heading to these lands. I can take other forms its my gift taught to me by shades sent by Hecate of my great grandmother and aunt who had the gift.," she smiles changing to look like Dysis smiling then returning after standing next to her guessing at her covered bits and turning about.

Dysis was suddenly professionally intrigued.

"A shape-shifter, eh?...that's quite a talent. You're a rare breed.  I've had my own travails escaping those who fancied themselves my master.  Our little troupe does some interesting sorts of work.    The sort you get paid well to do.    One who can change shape could be helpful."   

Anyway back to myself as pretty as you are. You men seem to not like women I'm not modest to take the form of most things I must shed my clothes first a she lion body doesn't wear a dress well. I'm proud of my body its touched by magic you don't learn magic as a Shapechanger you are magic. My children someday if I have any have a chance to be touched by it.

Dysis would you carry my clothes and things for when I'm changed to a` beast when such isn't practical including my share of coin I feel I can trust you? she returned to normal seemingly at ease more than before smiling as she sat down by the fire moving her clothes and bedroll as they dried.

 Lysandros did his best to rally everyone to return to the mine. " Wecome to our new companions. I think we should now return to the mine and cleanse it of whatever foulness that remains."

Dysis' lips curled faintly.

"I believe my companions like women just fine.   It's just that they're professional enough to not mix pleasure and business where it could be a distraction, or become messy.   And they are noblemen, as well; the sort whom seem to believe that their own conduct should set an example."

As to the other matter, she nodded-  "I think I can accommodate you in that, Dionae.  The one advisement I'd give though, is that I am a spell worker, and at least one hand must be free when I cast.  But I imagine I could put your things in a sack, and have it over my shoulder."   

"I travel light, on purpose, I'll give you half of any coin and precious things for your help and will teach you about my kind but magical treasures we will see about. Unless given to me by my beloved goddess Hecate which I must keep.," Dionae said to Dysis as she stared into the fire not needing the wealth.

August 29, 313 - 9:00 AM

Having welcomed the newcomer, Dionae into the group, the party had lounged a bit further in their shelter while breaking their fast and watching the rain continue to steadily as morning turned into day. From there, there is a bit of surprise as Itylus suddenly announces that he will accompany Iranato, Rosellea, Tereys, and Regnferth back to Thena. Speaking to Arthanos, Dysis, and Lysandros in confidence, who were friends to him, he states: "I would not go otherwise and leave you my friends, but I have felt unsettled by our mission. Something has not felt right about the Dimas' family intentions for this artifact. Perhaps with the resources from our young friend Tereys I can learn more before it is brought back to the Dimas family.

"Besides. My skills are best suited towards in the woods. Not in the caves."

Clasping his comrades Arthanos and Lyandros arms in goodbye, and giving a hug to Dysis (and a polite nod or shake of the hand to Dionae and Tancea) he goes to join the other four as they depart the mines.

---

From there, Arthanos, Dysis, and Lysandros, now in the company of the healer Tancea, and the shapeshifter Dionae, return to the mines following the path that Tancea had taken to save them some time and eventually return to the northern passage. As they do so the echos of the Blacksmith's words comes to mind.



In front of them, blocking further passage was yet further thick webbing, such that had to be cut down again by the warriors, with flame from torches provided when possible by the others in the group to burn away whatever webbing remained. Fortunately, this time there is no taunting voice from the darkness calling out at them.

Going forward cautiously the party eventually finds that they reach a dead end, though it is clear that the spiders had made this their nest as on the ground and on the walls encased in webbing are hundreds of egg sacs. Now, the majority of these are quite small indicating they belonged most likely to more common spiders rather than the giant variety, however there are three much larger egg sacs as well which the group can only surmise would produce either a cave spider like they had faced, or perhaps even another Daughter of Arachne... if that was how they reproduced that is.

Looking around the cavern further, Dysis sees a faint glimmer from the walls. Brushing away some of the webs to get a better look she discovers crystals that appear to be a clear quartz that had been covered by the spiderwebs.


Actions?

.               __                    ______
.              | %|                   \  P /
.              \  /                    \  /
.               ||                     {  }______________(Exit to upper level)
.              <  >                    / /
.              <  >                   / /
.               ||                    | |
.               ||                    |&|
.              _||_                   | |
.             |    |_______           | |
.             | $   ____  |           | |
.             |____|    | |           | |
.                       | |           | |
.                       \  \__________| |__________________/\______
.                        \____________  ___________________exit to upper level
.                                     | |                  \/
.                                     | |
.                         ?           | |
.                    ----{?}-----     | |
.                    |           |    |*|
.                    |    B      |    | |
.                    |           |    / /
.                    |____D______|   / /
.                        | |________/ /
.                        |___________/
.

P = party location
* = dead human found in southern passage
$ = battle site with the floating eyes
& = battle site with cave spiders
% = mining site
D = unusual door
B = Blacksmith

Dysis assented to Dionae that her offer was generally acceptable, and said that she much respected Hecate, though her own devotion was for another.

She was not happy about Itylus' departure; yet understood his decision. She returned the hug, then watched as he and the others departed.

And then, it was back into the den of the spiders. It would have been nice if their victory over the Daughter had served to purge her own phobia, but of course it had not.     She grimaced in particular at the sight of the larger egg sacs.

"We should put a torch to those," she remarked, intending to do it herself, if no one else did.        However, she was first diverted over to the crystals.

"These would be some of the minerals our smith acquaintance made mention of, I believe."   

Arthanos was sad to see Itylus go and wished him luck in his travels. His slightly morose thoughts filled his mind until they entered the tunnels once more. Arthanos felt his fears slowly crowd back into his mind, and he once more began to mutter occasional prayers to Athena as he walked.

---

When they reached the spiders' nest, Arthanos walked around a little with his torch, looking at the webs and nests.

"I concur Dysis. Burning this all would be best. I'd also say we should put a blade through the eggs just in case, especially the biggest ones." he says, glancing at her and raising his torch and holding towards the walls.

"Anyone got a reason not to?" he calls out to the others.

"If this is valuable they might guard the crystals I suggest smash and burn those, the little spiders are part of nature those aren't.," she takes out her knife planning to get some crystals but got distracted with a small spider on her hand she lets go.

"They are pretty and kill pest bugs so are good these should be in fields and barns not here there are too many.," she looked sad like unnatural forces are at work.

Looking back and forth between the eggs and the people talking around in circles about them Tancea doesn't even take a moment to assess the situation before answering their combined concerns.

”Some of the spiders may be more dangerous than we can afford to leave behind unattended for long but for now at least the egg sacks seem to be reasonably stable and the last the we want to do is tip any of the active ones off by lighting a giant fire, let alone the risk of burning down anything we may need to investigate here or spreading the fire to somewhere else, if you need to assure yourself of the fate of the spiders in the larger eggs the sword is no doubt the correct plan.”

 Lysandros considered a moment, then voiced his opinion." Might not those that dabble in the mystical arts, purchase the larger eggs? If that is not an option, then I say destroy them."

Pushing things forward...

Resolving to leave the spider eggs alone for the time being, and having cut a path through to the chamber, the party turns back and heads towards where they had found the blacksmith. Once again they find the strange door though this time it asks no riddles of them and instead gives way, allowing the party members to enter once again into the blacksmith's forge...



The blacksmith has been waiting for them, and after the party members enter he speaks to them, his words slow and laborious. "A boon I promised if you would help me. The Daughter and her kin have been slain. The Floating Eyes that enslaved are dispatched. My servants can now obtain fuel for the forge and I may continue my work"

With that, in a flash the two smaller humanoid creatures wreathed in flames burst out from the blacksmith's forge and head past the party from where they had come from, presumably off to the corners of the mines to obtain minerals and the like.

The blacksmith gestures for the party members to step closer towards them, if (or as) they do so, he brings forward some strange items from a table by his forge. "Protection from the Undead I promised and protection these will provide. use them wisely."

The massive behind then gestures to the passageway behind him. "If you are ready, seek the dog-skin and your destiny."

Examining the items on the table, the party members find five ethereal cloaks. Examining them, the substance is almost like a shadow and if you look at it long enough it seems to phase in and out of reality as the light bounces off of them. One minute you see it and it looks real, the next minute it is almost gone. Touching them is like touching ice and a chill runs through you as you do so. If you put on the cloak you similarly feel the same chill, leaving you feeling ill at ease as if you were in the initial stages of a sickness.

There are weapons on the table as well, also strange in their nature. For each person is a stiletto dagger, but unlike the cloaks there is no ethereal property to these weapons. If you hold them there is a warmth that counteracts the coldness of the cloaks. It is almost as if there is a living flame inside the thin metal blades.

Additionally, for the two warriors, Arthanos and Lysandros, the blacksmith has forged two short swords. They do not give off the same feeling of warmth and security as the stiletto daggers do, but like the ethereal cloaks these weapons seem to phase in and out of reality from minute to minute. They feel awkward in the hands of Arthanos and Lysandros compared to their normal weapons.

OOC:

In gameplay terms:

1. The Cloaks provide additional stealth bonuses if worn amongst living creatures (in effect it doubles your danger evasion bonus on stealth rolls). Amongst undead creatures you can pass by without arising their ire, but should you engage them in combat or otherwise provoke them then the benefit of the cloaks for stealth are nullified. A penalty is that it provides zero EDC whatsoever against mundane weapons, but will half the damage taken by magical weapons or attacks such as life energy drain attack). There is a penalty associated with them as they are not of the living world, and so prolonged use will temporary weaken your character where they suffer progressive penalties to all attributes.

2. The daggers have elemental fire forged into them such that will provide extra damage on attack against an undead creature, and have a set damage of 1d6+1, plus a chance of instantly destroying an undead creature. (10% chance on a 1d100). Against a living creature it does only a normal 1d3 as any other dagger would. Although the daggers provide that feeling of safety and warmth they will not stave off the effect of the cloaks forever.

3. The two shortswords are similar, but their damage is equal to 1d6 + Skill Modifier for their users against an undead creature. There is no chance of an instant kill. Against a living creature the weapon will only do normal damage of 1d6. A penalty here is that the Weapon of Choice benefit does not apply as they are awkward to handle.

Dysis selected one cloak and one dagger.   The cloak, in particular, with its shadow like essence, was interesting to her from a professional perspective.   She planned to study its nature and composition more carefully, one day, when she had the leisure for it.

"Thank you, Master-smith, for keeping your word, and providing us what you have.   As for being ready..." 

That will depend.  Did I get enough sleep during our down time to regain my spell points?   Because I had spent most of what I have.    And, definitely not marching off into this, w/o being reloaded.  Although: 

Dysis reflected that Corporeal undead -- ghouls, animate corpses and such - would be affected by her Air magic as any physical foe. The incorporeal sort, however - that would be a different story.   Neither did she expect them to be susceptible to the powers of shadow, as it was their native element.   But she was armed, as were they all, with a blade that could wound them.

And too, there was the Belt of Apollo, that she still wore about her waist.   How would the undead like its pure and bright light?   She was very certain she would find out.

Arthanos nods his thanks to the smith while he keeps an eye on the flame creatures. He wondered why if the creature could summon beings of flame, what threat the creatures they killed had been to them.

"Your gifts are much appreciated. Would you like us to return these once our work is done?" he asks the smith.

Remembering how slow the creature was to respond, he moved over to the items to appraise them. While the dagger and sword drew his eye, he focused on the weird pile of fabric. It blended and flowed as he stared at it, and he felt shivers go down his spine, something warning him to be careful. Raising a wary hand, he went to touch the cloak before picking it up, and nearly wrenched his arm away at the feeling of cold. Muttering a quick prayer to Athena and Apollo, he decided to explore the weapons before picking up a cloak.

Lifting a dagger, he marveled at the feeling of warmth before attaching it to his belt. He then carefully picked up the sword. Making sure he had room between himself and the others, he moved through some basic forms, a grimace going over his face. While the blade was nice, its balance just did not feel quite right. Putting it down to needing to adjust, he carefully sheathed the blade and held it in his arms. Looking at the cloak, he decided he wouldn't pick it up until he absolutely had to.

Watching the others experiment with the cloaks and daggers Tancea does not seem particularly surprised by the experience of handling them herself, strapping the dagger's shieth on under her robe more like a tool than a weapon and wrapping the cloak in a piece of cloth from her pack before putting both away.

”Perhaps we could go over that thing about the undead again, any information about what type to expect would be particularly helpful, or quantity.”

"The boon holds no conditions. They are yours. Use them wisely." the blacksmith says in reply.



"The underworld you seek is house to those who kept their familiar faces but have frozen in their wit, and the nameless: the bones that rattle and those who hunger endlessly." the blacksmith says.

She gazed up at the smith, and made an attempt to obtain more clarity - "Those with their faces but frozen wit --  animate cadavers, something like this, is that what you mean?   And the Nameless --  phantoms, that hunger for the warmth of the living, something along those lines?"   

Arthanos nodded at the blacksmith's response to his question, though the second one seemed slightly confusing.

"That makes sense Dysis...though the 'bones that rattle' may also refer to skeletons," Arthanos says in response to her comment.

"The underworld is vast and inhabitants are of legion and numerous are entrances to the realm. Many inhabitants dwell but are frozen in wit, frozen in time. They are the familiar: family, friends, lovers and enemies. They are shades - phantoms without substance or form."

"The nameless do not inhabit the underworld as the familiar do. They hunger and hate, and cannot be sated by sacrifice. They are the bones of men that walk the ground and the spirits who have lost their name and seek only to drain life from the living. The underworld is not their home, but their prison. Be wary of the nameless."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 20:26, Mon 17 Feb 2020.

Dionae spoke up ,"If we are entering the Underworld it is good to sacrifice to the mighty deities in dominion there and we should try to enter where the normal shades reside. And I fight as natural things a dog or bear but one can fly and might serve us well as a scout. But am not sure can these creatures do ranged attacks with bows and similar?"

Pondering the situation she finds herself suddenly tossed into it takes Tancea a moment to catch up to what is going on, but when she does a few ideas come to mind.

”The undead without physical bodies are probably most vulnerable to magic, and while the ones made from bones might not have bows even if they once used them in life the floating ones may be able to chase down flying birds fairly well.”

"And too," Dysis added, "we may not be the only ones who wield or work magic.  Ancient lore makes some note of undead who were occultists in life, and retained power in the art."  She shrugged.

"Anyway, my own patroness, Persephone, is wife of Lord Hades.   I do plan to sacrifice to her.   And, adding something for her husband would be, I think, a good idea. Hecate as well, of course," she nodded to Dionae.  "And perhaps others."   

Listening to the women speak, Arthanos nods in agreement.

"It is only right. That said, are we going to pull back long enough to offer proper sacrifices, or do we want to stick with prayers but continue on? Also, if we're raiding a place that is protected by servants of the gods, do we want to draw their attention and possible ire? If we pray to the wrong one, it may alert them. That said, they may actually allow us access to the helm..." he finishes and trailing off, his mind trying to work his way through the possible outcomes.

"Hecate is the enemy of Hades she covets his power and place her claim is challenged going to his realm puts me in some danger but Hecate might be amused if I succeed in this mission. Could the normal shades there aid us many heroes and champions are there some might find it a short cure from their boredom?," Dionae said as she packed away the cloak for later.

In reply to Dionae (msg # 225):

 "Those that have entered then returned from the realm of Hades, are accounted great  heros. I shall offer sacrifice to Athena, so I might prove worthy." So said Lysandros.

The party proceeded forward...

THREAD CLOSED