He didn't know if the Fiend or Gargoyles were close enough but his focus was true. This was his guard post right now, in his mind, what his whole life or devotion and training was leading to.

((ooc: Granted ability to accurately discern unseen intruders in 60ft. In case any are around.
Made roll by 56%. See "Special to Specialty Priests of Gorm" on Character Sheet. ))
This message was last edited by the player at 11:23, Thu 10 Jan 2019.

((ooc: I think I've been unclear about your location and the fiend's movements.

You materialized in an open space that runs about a hundred feet long and fifty feet wide. It's oriented basically 2 o'clock to eight o'clock (northeast to southwest). You arrived at the northeastern end of the space. The building that Corym climbed, and that you are now in, sits at the 2 o'clock position.

The fiend was about 200 feet west and south of your initial position. The building it was on didn't directly front your open space, but it was high enough to have a clear view of it. When it moved, it flew both north and east and perched on a building directly overlooking the open space. It is now west and a little south of your building (8 o'clock to your 2 o'clock). The gargoyles landed on buildings directly south of you (6 o'clock).

The building you are in has the doorway you came through, a doorway at 1 o'clock that leads into a mess of smaller, broken buildings, and a giant hole in the wall at 3 o'clock that leads into an alley between two larger buildings.))
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:11, Thu 10 Jan 2019.

"Fiend"? The chronologian's heart started racing. Could this be...? He pushed the - admittedly rather fascinating - thought away; he had to move quickly now, given the urgency of Kora and her - unseen - companion voices.

Elorfindar

You run toward the door, almost stumbling several times on the rough ground. Nothing attacks you, and you reach the door. Kora waves you inside, and you find yourself in an open room, its floor mostly covered in dirt and blown leaves. A partially-broken stone staircase curls up the back wall before disappearing into the ceiling.

Inside you find not just Kora but Corym and Krackor. There are also a gnome woman and two moon elven men, one of whom looks vaguely familiar.

Seeing more familiar faces apart from Kora's, particularly Corym's, took away some of the tension for a moment. Grinning somewhat sheepishly, Elorfindar said: "Well met indeed." But his expression quickly became more serious again. In a lower voice, he added: "What's that about a fiend?" While keeping his gaze on Corym, he occasionally glanced at the moon elf he thought he knew from somewhere.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:39, Thu 10 Jan 2019.

In reply to Elorfindar Silveroak (msg # 78):

Being a little at ease with only hearing the other Dwarf outside, Corym walking in the building, Kora's excited breathing, the tense breath of the others. Krackor possibly inperceptively nodded towards the footsteps of Elorfindar, then opened his eyes once more.

His beaming smile belaying the concern he felt for this mismatch group, hope in his heart that this is just what is needed.

OOC: Katarn moves so that he can see the fiend's perch. If he can see the gargoyles as well, great, but he doesn't fear them as much as the fiend.

Sirenya had taken a skeptical look at the misty window when one of the elves suggested it be examined. She wasn't really sure if it needed to be studied or just avoided -- but then she heard the human woman's exclamation, and watched her run to the doorway the invisible dwarf had just said was being watched by the fiend. The woman waved and called out to someone outside, and the mist suddenly seemed a lot less important than finding another place to go to avoid being caught by the demonic -- diabolic? -- entity outside.

To that end, she glanced first out the other doorway, and then hurried to look out of the hole in the wall. The open alley beyond the hole seemed like easier passage for a swift retreat, but the fiend, and the gargoyles, were flying; the alley was too exposed to them. So she returned to the doorway, looking more closely for evidence of spiders or other recent usage.


OOC: Not sure which proficiency would apply here for a check.

((ooc: That would be a tracking check. Also remember you have a -6 to your tracking score, since you aren't a ranger.))

Okay... even with only a 6 in 20, made it. LOL The gods evidently favor fools!

20:09, Today: Sirenya rolled 5 using 1d20.  tracking.

Sirenya

The somewhat sheltered ground between the buildings is easier to read. You see several different wildlife tracks (raccoon, some kind of mid-sized cat, and the expected squirrels). There's also a single boot print off to the side, but it's old and mostly worn away. It doesn't seem to have been traveled recently.

Half turning back into the tower room, Sirenya looked around and told the nearest person, "I'm going to see if we can get out unseen this way."

Not waiting for an answer, she slipped through the doorway, moving carefully and as quietly as she could. She was still looking for overhead hazards a bit too intently perhaps, though; a broken tile shifted under her foot with a painfully loud scritch and broke with a sharp crack that made her jump.


07:23, Today: Sirenya rolled 99 using 1d100.  move silently (80%).

I did a little mock-up of the DM's description and had him verify its accuracy.

"While Sirenya checks the North door, I'll scout down the alley.  Sirenya, we rendezvous back here after a count of 200 and compare paths. I think that through the hole and down the alley gives us the best path away from both threats.  The surrounding buildings are large enough that they'd have to be directly overhead to see us.  If they come down to attack us, they'd be constricted in their aerial maneuvering."

He turns to the rest of the party.

"Dorian, with you in the lead you'll be able to follow Sirenya or my tracks. Talathel, if you'll come out in the middle you'll be able to cover the fore and rear from there with your bow.  Krackor, you're the loudest, you should be our rearguard.  You'll move last and thus give the vanguard the most possible time to penetrate before drawing attention. Let's get an inventory of spells and items together.  Krackor and Elo are familiar with my repertoire and can represent me." 

Corym draws his whistle forth and blows a low note to both rangers very close so that they may hear its tone.

"I'll be going invisible soon, so hand-talk will be impossible, and we don't know the same trail signs yet.  Once to signal incoming message.  Two short to move ahead, two long to stop, two long and a short to ready for battle."

10:47, Today: Corym Ildroun rolled 28 using 1d100. Move Silently.

Corym casts his invisibility spell and moves silently down the alley through the gaping hole.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:47, Fri 11 Jan 2019.

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 86):

Nodding his understanding, Krackor knew from Hill's Edge that he was not always quiet enough for sneaky things.  He did have a knack though for being loud, and cheery.

Moving to the edges of the egress points, he sighted straight lines. "If need be, I can make a noise in the building after we leave to distract, but only if it seems needed.

Who can quietly put some of this broken wood together in order for it to fall down at the slightest touch?  A clay tipped Light Bolt should do the trick.  At a push, the Spike Stones would need to knock it over when they grow.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:10, Fri 11 Jan 2019.

Dorian nodded his assent to Corym.  When the two scouts left he began his own silent count to 200 for later reference.

"Elen sila lumenn omentilmo" he said to Elorfindar in Elven "Nae saian luume’"


Addressing the others "Let us be prepared to move quickly.  ANything can happen in a place like this."

Corym and Sirenya

You head out of your chosen exits. At first, both alleys seem fairly good options. Then Sirenya's alley turns to the right, and Corym's emerges from between its two flanking buildings and you are stuck gazing over the same area of devastation.

Though the buildings around the square to the south are all damaged and a few are leaning precariously, they are nothing compared to the field of ruin in front of you. There isn't a single intact building within a hundred feet in any direction. Towers have been toppled. The skeletons of shattered trees reach half-rotted fingers toward the sky. Dirt mounds rise and fall, most of them likely with a core of broken masonry. You don't know what happened here during the Fall, but it shattered this part of the city like a dwarf hitting a melon.

You climb far enough up the first mound to get a view of the destruction field. It stretches at least four hundred feet in front of you and a hundred feet to either side. It's passable, though the rough and broken terrain will require careful walking. At the far end, ahead of you, you can see a large, surprisingly intact building. It's a thing of wings and turrets, and looks to be at least six stories. The intact buildings to the left and right (south-by-southeast and north-by-northwest) are more modest

Focusing on minding where her feet went at little better as she proceeded, Sirenya almost didn't notice when she heard her name. Then she stopped abruptly and looked hastily back toward the tower where the others were, frowning in hard thought.

Unsettled and worried now, she turned and moved forward a little more quickly, until a right turn hid her from sight. And presented a view that completely distracted her from any lesser concerns.

Shrinking back into the shadows of the wall beside her to avoid drawing anything's attention, she visually tracked the area of devastation. When her gaze reached the building beyond, though, somehow appearing untouched by whatever had happened in between, she studied it suspiciously. Finally, she looked up to search the skies. Gargoyles, fiends... what else was flying about in this city?


18:35, Today: Sirenya rolled 54 using 1d100.  Hide in shadows.

Sirenya

You can't make out much detail on the big building, as it's too far away. You think for a moment you see some motion around it, but you aren't entirely sure.

Elsewhere, the skies are mostly empty. You see something way off to the east circling about two hundred feet in the air, but it's too small to determine what it is exactly.

"Mae govannen," Elorfindar replied to the moon elf Corym had addressed as Dorian, with a graceful nod and - to a discerning beholder - a slightly surprised look on his face for some moments. "Where are we?" he asked in a low voice, addressing no one particular.

Corym says that this is Myth Drannor  The priest thought that this would be enough explanation for his friend.

"Myth Drannor..." the priest of Labelas mumbled, a strange feeling flooding him at Krackor's response, something more than a mixture between excitement and a sense of lethal danger. If this was Myth Drannor, then the place meant so much for him.

What seems clear is that the party is going to have to weave their way south from building to building.  For the remainder of his allotted time he'll try to get a higher vantage point to try to plot a course. Corym feels like he's pretty certain that the intact building is a death trap.  It's either untouched for a reason, or preserved for a reason.  Neither one of them seems like an invitation.  Well--maybe later... Worst case scenario, they may need to shelter in the shadow of that forebodingly intact building.


14:11, Today: Corym Ildroun rolled 26 using 1d100.  Move Silently.

14:10, Today: Corym Ildroun rolled 27 using 1d100.  Climb Walls.

Keeping watch a little while longer, Sirenya finally stirs slightly and sighs. Time to go investigate the danger closer to home.

Activating her ring, she lingers a moment more to be certain the invisibility hides her, then tries to silently return to the others to do a bit of listening. One or more of them evidently pursued her here, and she'd like to find out who before she winds up dead without the help of fiend or gargoyle or anything else "native" to this haunted place.

Invisible or not, she still tries to hug the walls, not know who might be able to detect someone invisible, especially since she's not the only one otherwise going unseen. Luck doesn't seem to be working with her though; her hand brushes against a bit of stonework only loosely in place -- and naturally, it manages to hit the floor in one of the few places not cushioned with detritus. Even falling from only a few feet, it makes an indecent racket in the otherwise silent space.



20:07, Today: Sirenya rolled 96 using 1d100.  move silently.

Corym and Sirenya

You find the tallest mounds you can and take a look around. In Corym's case that actually means scaling fifty feet up the wrong side of a fallen tower; climbing around its circumference as it lies in pieces on the ground.

The debris field is definitely longer than it is wide. Southeast, south, and west of you after a few hundred feet the destruction becomes less total; more buildings are at least partially standing, and a row or two back there are what look like somewhat intact city blocks.

Sirenya, you see off in the west, maybe four hundred feet away, the top of a rather large building. Its southern section is more intact than its northern half, reaching five or six stories into the sky.

Corym, of the areas in your view, the block of buildings directly south of you seems to be in the best condition.

"So how was Waterdeep?" Kora asked Elorfindar as they waited for the scouts to return. "I've always wanted to go. Is it as huge as they say? Can you really smell salt on the air like bread in an oven a room over? Did Bran find what he was looking for?"