Puzzled "Do we take our cloves off?"  What's noodz?  He joins the circle, trusting Min with if not Nuffle.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:17, Wed 06 Jan 2021.

"Dis iz not colds !"  Dregz is mightily puzzled, and is still frowning as he follows the others to Min's circle, shaking the Magic Stick in the fine tradition of percussive maintenance, hoping to set it aright.

Min will look at Dregz and will go cross eyed as he tries to remember what happened backwards. "So der wand can ony take us ter der outside of somefing den point der way. It brought us ter a cave an we went inside inside through a nooooooo dz, so we gotta go outs the inside inside an den leave der cave. If der white giants an der glass dragon was inside sumfing den der mace will take us near. Mebbe der will be udder giants first, dat way I could fights a stumpy giant den a rocky giant den a red giant den a white giant so's I know oo I'm der boss of an oo's still my boss."

Glad to see that Dregz is getting into the right spirit, Jurz waves his stompy stick back, setting all the favours and decorations jangling.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:39, Sat 09 Jan 2021.

With all of Team Arda-Nuff (including Rog the dire bat) gathered close around Minmorc at the centre of the crater, he punches his spiked gauntlet into the ground and channels a spell from Nuffle into the earth node. Moments later everyone finds themselves back in the other Earth Node they visited ten days ago.

This cavern has a diameter of about 60 feet at the bottom, forming a roughly circular, smooth floor. The air here is alive with energy and thick with the smell of developing lightning. Small holes puncture the walls near the floor, opening into a dozen small tunnels (only about 2.5 feet in diameter). You are able to see down each of those small tunnels for 10 to 30 feet before each tunnel bends out of sight in the darkness. Dull dust is thickly heaped around the edges of this circular hollow, thickest near the holes but is not deep enough to hide the piles of dead cockroaches that you swept out to the edges of the cave after your previous visit. The corpses of the half dozen giant cockroaches you fought here are still lying where they were dumped after the fight.

The roof of the cavern stretches up in the darkness too far for even the keenest darkvision to see the top. It is still the same empty, vertical shaft that you previously descended. From memory it was about 150 feet up to the tunnel that you entered from. Moffa's feather fall magic got you all safely down but getting back up again is going to be a different challenge.

OOC: Main Game Map updated.

"Ise got Magic Boots," Dregz reminds everyone as he stares up the shaft.  "Enybuddy got ropes ?"

Raven quickly pulls out a 50-foot coil of silk rope and a grappling hook from her backpack.

"I got my golden girdle, too. Very good for going up but it don't know how to stop, or how to come back down again! I gotta untie the knot, then I come down quick, quick, quick! It's good I can glide some, isn't it?" Raven added.

Jurz looks upwards trying to remember how wide the shaft was, and wondering whether he and Rog could fly up together.

"I'se got de magic boots too." he reminds everyone.

From what you remember of your previous journey the shaft is about 60ft diameter at the base, the same size as this Earth Node, and tapers to about 20ft diameter at the tunnel opening 150 feet above the Earth Node. It continued to narrow down above the tunnel opening but was blocked by webs some distance above the tunnel.

Rog the dire bat would be able to fly up this vertical shaft.

Bulldust already has one foot in the Bag of Holding, expecting someone to float him up.

"I can magic de rest of usses up dere wid Dimension Doorses, jus as soon as I can see's de landing places. So after youse brave goblins an de Birdie Girls flies up dere an lights de ways we'll be straight up!" Moffdust can take herself and three others, and no one has to go in a bag unless they wants to.

Minmorc will continue to help stuff Bully in a bag. "Wot?"

Bulldust laughs and let's Min pull the draw-string tight with only his head sticking out of the bag. He waddles around the node. "I'm da walkin talkin treasure Draglin!" Grinning, he climbs out of the bag before lift off.

Seeing that the plan is agreed, Jurz will mount Rog ready to let the direbat fly him up to the cave above.

"Wese'll follow youse," Dregz tells Jurz.  Seeing as how the druid is mounted upon Rog, he really doesn't want to get in their way.

"Youse hold on ta me," the priest tells Raven, "I knows how ta stop."

The little goblin pulls on his Goggles of the Golden Sun in preparation.

"Can youse cast a Light spell on me ?" he suggests to Moffa, getting ready to lift off, thinking that'll be the best way to give her the clarity she needs for her transportation spell.

Moffdust is ready with the Dimension Door spell as soon as Bully is out of the bag. "De Birdie Girl's glowin swords is enough lights fer me. We'll lands before youse, jus as soon as I sees de landings. I thinks dere was someting nasties in de webs last times, so lets all waits till we's all outa de shafts before we lights dem up."

The plan for the ascent is swiftly agreed and put into action. Jurz rides upon his dire bat to lead the way up the shaft with Raven using her golden girdle and Dregz using his boots of levitation to levitate up the shaft after Rog and Jurz. Raven's glowing rapier lights the way, providing 20ft of light and 40ft of low-light for those who need it.

Raven's light even lets those waiting below see that the shaft narrows to 20ft diameter by the time the side tunnel is reached. Then moments later the dense mass of webs that blocks the shaft 10 feet above the tunnel opening comes into view.

That view of the tunnel mouth is all that Moffa was waiting for and she casts her Dimension Door spell to teleport herself, Bully and Minmorc up to materialise on that ledge.

Just as everyone arrives a voice with a hiss or a lisp speaks in the common tongue from the webs above.

"It is you folks again! I thought you all looked familiar, but you had another goblin and no dire bat when you entered, didn’t you? Did you trade the goblin for the dire bat? That would certainly be a good deal! Oh, sorry, I nearly forgot to ask. Do you still remember the password or will you be paying the exit fee this time?"

OOC: Main Game Map updated.

Passwords sounds like another of those puzzling matters, like barricades and nodes, but Bulldust has a go.  "Dregzie knew da password.  It was Dusklorn.  If youse changed it den you better tell us da new one."

"That's still the password," the voice from the webs replies, sounding rather relieved. "You may pass, friends. Perhaps I will see you again one day, if you return to use the earth node again. But make sure you remember that password. If someone else is here on guard when you return you will need it or a sack full of gold to pass through safely. I hope you enjoy your time in the surface world."

"OK, so we don't have ter burn yer house down.  You have a nice day in da webs too."  Bulldust helps to pull Dregz and Raven onto the ledge.  "How did yer know da password Dregzie?  Was it in da book?"

When all are ready he'll set off towards the surface, determined to ignore the whispering voices in the tunnel this time.

"Bargrivyek wisped der password tah me," the hairy little goblin tells Bully, pointing at his ear for good measure.

Dregz follows after the bugbear, also wary of the voices, just in case they are the utterings of some other god, not his own.

Jurz, feeling somewhat lazy, but also exhilarated by the flight up the crevice, stay aboard Rog and  guides him to follow the group.

Bulldust surreptitiously tries to look in Dregs' ear, to see if Bargrivyek is still in there, but it's too hairy so he shrugs and marches on.

The tunnel is about 5 feet wide and 7 feet high, roughly hewn with the marks of pick and chisel clearly discernible on the walls, with wooden posts supporting the walls and ceiling where required. There is no light in the tunnel and no brackets for torches or hooks for lamps on the walls It heads roughly northwards and slopes upwards at a gradient of about one in four, which is reasonably steep but not difficult to walk up.

Raven's magical rapier sheds 20ft radius light (40ft radius low light) when it is unsheathed, so Raven can see 40ft along the tunnel when she draws her rapier. Everyone else has 60ft darkvision, which is not affected by the light.

The tunnel climbs for about a mile before a tiny spot of daylight ahead marks the end of the tunnel. As you get closer you faintly start to hear the unintelligible words of a mournful song in a deep, bass voice that seems echo faintly down the tunnel. As you get close to the entrance individual words can be picked out, if not understood.

OOC: Main game map updated. The tunnel slopes up to emerge amid a tumbled mass of boulders at the base of a mountain and is not obstructed by them. Anyone exiting the tunnel will be looking northward across a narrow valley between mountains in a rocky mountain range. It is bright daylight out there and after so many days underground you will all be dazzled at first and will need at least one round for your eyes to adjust to the bright light, so presumably nobody will be charging out straight away.

Having crushed his enemies, driven them before him and now hearing the lamentation of their women Minmorc will comment "Dey are lamenting, dis is best" and will cast bless on the party. He will wait inside the cave entrance until his eyes have adjusted before going out into the light.