Staðhafi relaxed when he did not pull out his axe, but she did not put her sword away yet. "I have seen no other dwarves," she replied, walking closer. "I will continue to seek the dragon. You may accompany me if you wish until you find your clan," she informed him. Reching the water's edge, she asked, "What do you seek in the water?" while looking into it herself, gaze shifting between the water and the dwarf.

"Same as you I wondered if anything was in the cave or the water" he stood up and turned he back to the pool "alas its shallow and empty" the dwarf scratched at his balding head. The dwarf had few belonging, his axe and his satchel which was marked ink spots "aye safer together there's orcs and goblins about. Did ye come here alone?"

"Yes, I am here alone. But I saw a group of others within earlier."

With no dragon here, she would lead the way, backtracking back north to the passageway/cave that the bats were heard from. Perhaps the dragon was there after all.

Together Stadhafi and the dwarf walked passed the whistling well and north to the bat cave. The cave was roughly thirty foot by thirty foot and smelt strongly of guano and ammonia. Stalactites hung from the cracked ceiling and stalagmites stuck up in mounds on the floor.

At the intrusion of their domain the bats flew around both intruders. The chittering and flapping of wings was confusing but did not prevent them from entering. Stadhafi saw no other exits.

OOC Day: 6. 9:30am. Turn: 3. Weather: Sunny, stormy, high winds. Vision: Daylight. Movement: 20'

Lantern oil used
Stadhafi 3 Turns

Staðhafi looked about the cave, checking to see if dragon tracks were in the guano. It was very unlikely a dragon would live among bat feces, but it should be checked. She also looked to see if there was an exit to the outside somewhere in the ceiling, since she assumed the bats would fly out nightly to hunt.

The ceiling was cracked in many places, allowing the bats into and out of the cave. There was no other signs of exit nor da dragon.

"The sign was a lie," Staðhafi stated, turning towards the exit and walking east back to the rusted signpost. Once there she would take off the sign if it could be disconnected, or break it off if the rust made such a thing possible, or kick down or pull down the entire signpost if neither of those could be done, using her rope for leverage if needed. Then back to the well, where she would toss it down for wasting her time.

Assuming this could be accomplished, she would then ask the dwarf, "Do you have any rope?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:08, Thu 01 July 2021.

The metal signpost was rusty and not too tough to breakdown. The effort to pull down the sign did make a lot of noise but was simply done. Once broken Stadhafi threw the sign down the well, the sign clattered a few times as it knocked on the sides of the well but made little noise besides a dull thud when it hit the bottom of the well.

The dwarf bemused by Stadhafi's antic shook his balding head at the query "nay. The other dwarves were carrying such things. I came here to study the leftover dwarven architecture. Have you seen any?"

She was unconcerned about the noise. If something came, she could fight it, or throw the stubby-legged dwarf at it.

At his question, she said, "No. But I have not looked for any either."

No dragon had been found anywhere, but the rest of the caves could still be examined, so she then took the lower western exit out of the well room.

As Stadhafi returned to the well her dwarf companion lagged behind and she heard Fiene call out to him and Snorri reply.

"Master dwarf." Fiene called out "Do you know the nature of her calamity?" He asked.

"Ho friends" Snorri Broadshoulders replied "nay but have ye seen me fellow dwarves or know the way out of the dungeon?"

Staðhafi had no reason to see those cowards again, so her plans did not change.

Throw the sign down the well, then proceed out the lower western exit out of the well room, to check that section of the caves.

The dwarf stopped to talk with the others so Stadhafi headed west alone. Passed the well she entered a cave thirty foot wide and forty foot long. An exit to the south led back into the limestone flagstones of the dungeon.

Water dripped from the ceilings and ran down the walls of the cave. Phosphorescent mosses grew abundantly everywhere. The ground was filled with a swarm of nauseating worms.

OOC Day: 6. 9:40am. Turn: 4. Weather: Sunny, stormy, high winds. Vision: Daylight. Movement: 20'

Lantern oil used
Stadhafi 4 Turns

She bore the missing dwarf no ill will- unlike the others, cowardice did not keep him away; a search for his missing companions was the likely culprit in his case`. However, she was not going to delay her quest for glory for someone else's quest.

Having been through the entire set of caves now, it was certain there was no dragon. So, the next step was to determine where to go next. And that was clear enough- the well. So, she backtracked once more.

Once there, she took out her rope and tied it to the most secure thing she could find closest to the well, ideally the well itself if it had any outcroppings, protrusions, or remnants of parts for raising and lowering a bucket. Once done, she would pull on it hard several times, ensuring it would hold the weight of herself and her arms and armor. If she could satisfy herself of this, she would then tie the loose end about her waist, drop the excess in the well, then enter herself, lowering herself slowly to the bottom, to see what else had been thrown down here besides the sign. Superstitious fools with more coins than sense probably threw a great deal of wealth away, she imagined.

If the dwarf came back while in the process of doing this, he was welcome to join her.
If not, then so be it.

At the well Stadhafi secured her rope and prepared to descend. As she was about to do so she heard footsteps approached from the north. She could not see anything beyond her lantern light.

OOC Day: 6. 10:00am. Turn: 6. Weather: Sunny, stormy, high winds. Vision: Daylight. Movement: 20'

Lantern oil used
Stadhafi 6 Turns

The last thing she needed would be to be partially down the well and have someone cut the rope. So she waited to see who or what it was that was approaching. Since the other cave had been empty, she assumed it was the dwarf returning from the hallway, but she kept her sword drawn just a case it was not.

Unprepared to descend the well whilst danger could be lurking above Stadhafi stood and waited for the arrival of whatever was approaching from the north.

What entered Stadhafi's lantern light was a gang of small scaly dogmen. The gang of eleven kobolds all carried shovels and buckets. They were indifferent to Stadhafi and walked passed her. In the next cave they set to work cleaning up the swarm of nauseating worms. Shovelling them into their buckets.

OOC Day: 6. 10:10am. Turn: 7. Weather: Sunny, stormy, high winds. Vision: Daylight. Movement: 20'

Lantern oil used
Stadhafi 7 Turns

She considered combat, but there was no glory in battling a swarm of unarmed tiny dogmen. However, she did not trust them not to cut the rope as she descended, so the well had to be abandoned for now.

Instead, she took her rope back, and then she went back through the lower western passage, through the cave and south into the dungeon itself, keeping a careful eye on the kobolds in case they planned on ambushing her.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:11, Thu 08 July 2021.

The kobolds continued with their labour, shovelling the errant worms into their buckets.

Stadhafi unfastened her rope and headed back into the dungeon. Out of the cave the passageway led to a cross roads. To the west was a thirty foot by thirty foot room with cracked walls and ceilings. To the east the corridor ended in a door thirty foot away. Ten foot to the south was stone double doors with worn out inscriptions.

Whilst at the crossroads Stadhafi heard more footsteps to the west.



OOC Day: 6. 10:20am. Turn: 8. Weather: Sunny, stormy, high winds. Vision: Daylight. Movement: 20'

Lantern oil used
Stadhafi 8 Turns

Not having found anything of interest so far, Staðhafi assumed the feet were more kobolds or dwarves. So she flipped a pebble in the air to follow whichever direction it rolled. It bounced forward, without rolling left or right, so she followed it and also went south.

While they probably were as big a set of lies as the sign had been, she stopped to read the inscriptions before going through the door. And most importantly, she kept her sword ready, in case the approaching feet were not matched to her assumption.

The inscriptions on the door were worn out. There was nothing intelligible that Stadhafi could read. What remained however made it clear that beyond the door was a crypt of some kind.

The sound of footsteps drew closer as Stadhafi tried to open the door and found it was locked. Before Stadhafi could retreat elsewhere four animalistic orcs were in the passageway standing behind here.

Four to one odds- not fair, but Staðhafi knw life was not fair. Anyone who complained about that fact was beneath contempt. She tried to maneuver herself into the alcove before the doors so they could not completely surround her. And she announced as she put down the lantern and drew a dagger, "I came here to hunt down dwarves, not to fight you. Surely you can overwhelm me in battle with your numbers. But if it comes to that, I promise that I will take at last one of you with me. Which one of you will it be, or do we continue on our separate ways?"

She clacked her sword and dagger together to emphasize her point.


(ooc)
She does not speak orcish, but her alignment is Chaotic. I am unsure of the limitations of alignment tongue, but if she can say that, or at least get her point across in her alignment tongue, she does so. If nothing else, maybe that and her lie about hunting dwarves will cause them to see her as `one of them', or at least someone not a target.

The threat from Stadhafi was real, the orcs wore simple armour and weapons. Furs, leathers, clubs and spears. Stadhafi was a warrior dressed for battle. That danger kept the craven orcs from attacking but they did not move aside.

They growled and snarled in orcish, their intent clear to Stadhafi. They would take something from Stadhafi in exchange for letting her go free.

OOC Yes alignment language will allow simple communication.

Staðhafi had the barest of equipment, all of which she considered necessary, being alone in the dungeon, and she had only two gold coins to her name. However, she was not about to put down either the sword or the dagger to retrieve the coins. "I have nothing to give you, save the sharp edge of my blades. Either move on with your business, or decide which of you will collect them first." And in case that response was too advanced for them, she dumbed it down, sneering, "You get nothing but death from me."

She had no fear of dying herself, since if death came against these odds it would be glorious enough. The question was whether the orcs had that same commitment.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:15, Sun 11 July 2021.

The orcs understood Stadhafi well enough. The orcs looked amongst themselves, some of them may die but really that only served to make dividing the loot easier.

OOC Declare your actions, make any attacks rolls, then I'll roll Initiative.

Combat it would be, and it was not exactly unwelcome. She did her best to stay in the alcove, so they could not completely surround her, and attacked whichever orc was the closest at the time.


(ooc)
If I understand your two weapon house rule, she only makes a single attack, but takes the greater of the damage dic between the sword or dagger.
Stadhafi rolled 7,6,4 using 1d20+1,1d8,1d4 ((6,5,3)). (and adding her +1 damage)

So, if sh had hit it would b 6 damage, but that was likely a miss.