Rhydd was not so certain as Mallory professed to be that Bugbears could not be bullied. ~~My hunch is that a Frost Giant could do it. Or a Dragon. But seeing as how we are neither one of those things . . . ~~

And so it was that the huntsman nodded and nocked an arrow when the wizardess warned them to keep their guards up.

A low hum was her initial response, her free hand digging into one of her belt pouches. “We’ll see.” She replied to Idrianthe, then tossed her ioun stone above her head, letting it start it’s slow circling. The tiny carved troll was still on it, one hand raised. “How do you want to talk? We can ded down a rope, or we could just yell at each other through the tunnel.” She called back down said tunnel, voice full of as much amiableness as she could fit in there. Which was less than she’d generally like, given her rumbling voice. But it was the thought that counted.

"Hrng, hold on," came the loud response, followed by half-a-minute of silence before they spoke again. "If you're coming down, you might as well come down. Just know — we were here first!"

With Mallory providing the anchor, and Idrianthe the enchanted rope, Khulekani decided to follow through with her offer and go down the icy pit first. Looping her leg through the magical rope, and keeping a hold of Isiliva in her free hand, she slid slowly down into the darkness. The silvery light from the blade shone like a torch, and she found it easy enough to see as she descended.

"I am coming down. Please allow me to arrive in peace," she said softly, keeping an eye out for treachery.

OOC Mechanics
16:41, Today: Khulekani Kumalo rolled 24 using 2d20+10, dropping the lowest dice only. Athletics with Advantage.

It was an incandescent delve, with Isiliva at the forefront. The walls of the tunnel shone a brilliant blue as Khulekani rappelled the twenty or so feet to the entrance of the Spire. Along the way she could see the marks other climbers had left behind — holes from hacks and scratches from crampons. And the same spiraling pattern they'd observed on the Spire, though much fainter and less complex, almost as if the ice had melted and refrozen.

"Whoah!" Khulekani heard once she dropped down at the bottom of the tunnel next to the wedged battleaxe. "We had a deal!" Isiliva lit up a large, potbellied Bugbear clad in makeshift leather armor who screened himself with his arms, then pointed to the sword. Just behind him and to the side stood another Bugbear with a hefty, cast-iron pot raised above her head. A third Bugbear was nudging slightly out the inverted opening.

“Sword first. Yeah. That’s nice and peaceful.” The large woman added dryly, along with a slight shake of her head. “Pity she didn’t wait another few seconds.” With a shrug, she waggled her fingers at the hole. I’m a sort of esoteric way that heavily implied she wasn’t really trying all that had at it. “I am a Guide through the Night, at my side the Dark holds no fear, only Beauty.” The finger waggling did absolutely nothing of course, but the quick chop through the air she made after her chant did, as she quite literally cut through the shadows.

At least, to Mallory, Rhydd, and Idrianthe’s eyes.

“She’s a little too far away now. You wanted to be next, no?” She gestured at the rope, more than willing to let someone else head down before her. She’d done plenty of that in the past and wasn’t exactly keen on doing it more.

Rhydd, Mallory and Idrianthe all have Darkvision at 300’ for the next hour.

"Forgive me, I meant no offense or intended threat. My kind cannot see in the dark as your people can. But if it will put your mind at ease..." Khulekani began soothingly.

With an easy motion, the Squire reverved the magnificent sword, and drove it into the ice at the base of the tunnel. With her strength, and Isiliva's keen edge, it was not difficult. The young warrior then took a step back from the shining weapon, and held up both of her empty hands. Surprisingly, the blade did not dim, but continued to glow and flicker like a silver flame. But at least she was clearly unarmed, and still able to see in the darkness.

"My companions will now be descending the rope. I hope we can maintain this peace for the full duration of our face-to-face conversation, and hopefully beyond," she finished, trying to appear as earnest and open as possible.

“Sword first. Yeah. That’s nice and peaceful. Pity she didn’t wait another few seconds.”

"That's rich, coming from you." Mallory added in a deadpan of her own as she neared the entrance and peered down to keep a careful eye on Khulekani's descent.  Between the combined glow of that magicked blade and Mallory's own enchanted lantern, visibility was of little issue, though Farwalker's boon was bound to make for a pleasant surprise the moment their lights had to be extinguished.  "Lady Mar, after you, and Miss Farwalker next?  Rhydd and I can bring up the rear."

She shrugged at that. "There's a difference between yelling at someone's door, and jumping through it with a weapon drawn." Her own hand patted her old axe as she said that, partially to reassure herself that it was still there. "But mostly, I can't enhance her vision from that far away. At least I got the rest of you."

Idri's eyes fluttered as the ability to see a hugely greater expanse of snow blossomed in her eyes. She couldn't fully appreciate it in the illuminated environment, yet, but she clearly noticed as far more of the landscape around them came into view. "Thank you, Lady Farwalker," she touched her forehead in salute, then once more to put the rune of insight back above her eyes.

"I'll see you all at the bottom!"

It was a good thing Idri had used her magic, or else she likely would have taken quite a tumble down the ice flue. Fortunately, the memory of a climber's improvised method of digging the toes in filled her mind, and Idri caught herself before coming down in a cacophony of metal and boo-boos.

The elf, still unhelmeted, approached to Khulekani's shoulder and politely waved to the bugbears.

---

10:28, Today: Idrianthe Mar rolled 12 using 2d20,1d4 ((9,2,3)). Athletics with Guidance and Advantage.

Even with advantage, Idri still almost broke her butt on an ice floor. Blessed be divination magic!

"Very nice -- thank you for that, Mistress Farwalker," Rhydd said with a nod as the effects of the darkvision that the big Goliath had gifted to her companions became obvious.

The huntsman cocked his head and listed to what he could hear from down below. There was a general murmur of voices, but no clash of weapons or shouting.

"So far, so good," he announced.

Turning to Mallory, he said, "I may have to add paladins equipped with a glowing holy sword to the short list of things that can intimidate Bugbears -- right behind Frost Giants and Dragons."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:06, Mon 31 Oct 2022.

"Please, just don't grow complacent in that feeling." Mallory warned with a fretful look over her shoulder, then up across the clouded skies.  "Each time we've allowed ourselves a moment's comfort after the rise of danger, something else has swooped in to take our legs out from beneath us.  Be it a Dragon, a Wight, or an arsonist drunk on equal parts cheap booze and his own hatred."

Ultimately, Mallory's dark eyes fell on the jutting element of the Spire once more.  Its looming presence in the white tundra was one thing, but those patterns... their unnatural presence made her expression sour and she shook her head to try and keep her thoughts focused.  "Please, Rhydd.  I have a terrible feeling about this Spire.  Don't lower your guard or act rashly for anything."

In reply to Mallory Bonheur (msg # 52):

Rhydd nodded upon hearing Mallory's warning. "Noted," he replied.

"It is good to know that your instincts are trying to warn you about this place. I shall certainly keep that in mind."

"Over the years, I have come to trust my own instincts. They rarely play me false, and never intentionally."

The archer paused for a moment, and cleared his throat. "I had hopes that we could convince the Bugbears to come to us, but it seems that we are venturing down to where they are. Mayhap it does not matter -- I suspect that we would have had to go down there eventually in order to enter the Spire."

"That said, would you like to venture down next, or would you prefer that I do so?"

"I'll go last.  In all honesty, I may need someone to catch me..." Mallory grimaced as she peered back down the hole ahead of them once more.  Scurrying up the line of her Rope Trick spell was one thing when she hardly ever put the portal more than a short hop overhead.  But rappelling down an ice-slick vertical drop as long as that, with who knew what sort of danger ahead?  A more daunting demand of athleticism for a mildly-exercised noble, to be certain.

In reply to Mallory Bonheur (msg # 54):

Rhydd grinned a mischievous grin when Mallory spoke of the possibility of someone needing to catch her if she slipped on the way down. "Not wishing you any ill-luck," he muttered after a moment, "but at least insofar as I am concerned, I can think of much worse outcomes."

With that he winked at the wizardess and turned to begin his own descent . . .

---

OOC:
17:23, Today: Rhydd Maldhon rolled 18 using 2d20+4, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 11,14.  Athletics Check (Climbing Down, w/Advantage): DC 12. Success.

"Hrunf," the foremost Bugbear grunted, placing his hands in his belt in what was a more relaxed posture once Isiliva was firmly planted in the ice. "So long as you don't try anything, your skull as well as those of your companions' shall remain intact, or I am not Brak, son of Buldre, sonson of Bronk." He banged his chest with a closed fist. "These are my compatriots, much to my dismay — Donk," he indicated to the Bugbear behind him with the pot raised over her head. She, also realizing there was no immediate threat, carefully lowered and it was set aside with a heavy thunk. It seemed to have belonged to an arrangement further near the back of the thirty foot wide chamber, where the ashes of a fire laid smoldered underneath a mounted spitrack. And close by, in the corner, laid the bare bones of a reindeer.

"-and Knerk." he gestured to the remaining Bugbear who by all accounts looked like he had a poor grasp on what was going on.

The interior of the Spire seemed much like the exterior, with the same swirling spirals suffusing its every nook and cranny. And of course, as the entrance had indicated, everything was upside down — the ceiling had become the floor and the floor had become the ceiling. A large double-doorway, surprisingly with the doors still attached though hanging in the air, was situated in the eastern wall, while a smaller doorway stood in the south. In corner opposite of the animal carcass was a hole that pierced straight through the ceiling.

---

Map! Note the doorways on both the eastern and western wall, as well as the hole in the southwestern corner.

I see there's some strange artifacting going on with the tokens, where they're chopped off. Oh well, such are the woes of working with very large photoshop files.

Edit: Added in Mallory's token, as she made the save.

Edit 2: And Farwalker's!
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:39, Tue 01 Nov 2022.

After a quick couple of stretches, just to limber up a little, she shouldered her pack again, then grabbed the rope and took herself down the hole. Which was a little wobblier than expected. Once she was at the bottom, she stepped off to the side for the others to come down.

Today: Farwalker rolled 13 using 2d20+6, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 7,5.  Athletics!

It said much about Rhydd's ability to cut through Mallory's endless state of internal distraction that his tease of falling into his arms reached her.  As he headed down the rope, he surely had the satisfaction of seeing her with a faint blush that she tried to hide behind the tuck of her scarf.

When her turn came around, Mallory eyed the rope with a sense of building trepidation but knew she couldn't delay any longer.  Part of her was genuinely tempted to just leap down and Levitate herself gracefully to the floor in a dramatic manner befitting a Witch, but that was a trying spell and she knew better than to waste her energy needlessly.  "Me and my contemptible luck... I study the works of Yturn and Quantoul for years, and what do I not keep in my repertoire?  Oh, don't be silly Professor, I'm a merchant!  When would I ever need transmutations for climbing and falling?  No, I'll invest my time in Nalevac.  What a grand idea!  Surely their spells won't ever be completely gutted by a damned Spellplague." The others got a fair bit of under-the-breath and surely topically confusing grumbling that faintly echoed down from overhead as Mallory inched her way along.

Her form left much to be desired.  While her newly enchanted boots ensured a steady foothold even on ice as smooth as glass, she didn't actually know how to rappel and more... waddled... her way down the side of the channel.  Legs stiffly braced, barely able to scoot herself one arm's length at a time as she didn't trust her muscles to not give out.  Indeed, there were two or three times she nearly slipped entirely and had to cling for dear life to the rope until she stopped bobbing around enough to plant her feet again.  By the time the tail of her long red coat finally eased into view, she just gave up on climbing and simply slid down the rope with a very slow, very protracted descent until she finally touched down with a heaved sigh.

---

Athletics - DC 12, w/Advantage
13:57, Today: Mallory Bonheur rolled 13 using 1d20-1
13:57, Today: Mallory Bonheur rolled 11 using 1d20-1

---

At long last, a trio of Bugbears who frankly didn't seem the ambushing sort, despite first brush.  Proper introductions and manners - even after a hurled axe - were a pleasant surprise, indeed.  Though the surroundings ensured Mallory had no respite from her frayed nerves as she eyed the room beyond under the glow of her raised Lantern Rod.

"How strange... is it spatial bending or is the entire Spire just lodged ass-over-teakettle in the ice?" she couldn't help but muse before she brought her focus back to the waiting Bugbears.  "Apologies if we startled you three.  I assure you, we're no claim jumpers looking to snatch treasures from a ruin.  We're actually here on a rescue mission.  I'm Lady Mallory Bonheur of Neverwinter." she introduced herself with a gesture, then motioned to each of her companions in turn.  "This is Rhydd, Farwalker, Squire Kumalo, and Lady Mar.  I take it you three have... ah--" her gaze fell to the reindeer skeleton pitched in the corner "--been here for some time now?"

"Oh, I suspect ass-over-teakettle is the right of it. The Netherese were obsessed with flying structures, I'm sure you're familiar already; it only stands to reason that some of them tipped on the way down. Solid, enchanted basalt piercing the earth and ice alike? Sounds fantastic, like the last angry gasp of a dying people stabbing the world itself, but it's also the simplest explanation." Idri had turned to confer with Mallory, but pivoted back to the bugbears when she was so kind as to introduce them all.

"Dame, actually, if we're being formal. Dame Idrianthe, Dame Mar -- cultural choice, I've never had a preference -- but really Idri is fine. A pleasure to meet you all." Her close-lipped smile at the goblinoids was as genuine as it had been when she met the adventurers. They seemed decent, after all, if a bit snarly and hungry. Who could blame them?

"Hail and well met, Brak, son of Buldre, grandson of Bronk. Well met Donk. Well met Knerk. As my companion has just introduced me, I shall not repeat my name. However, I do wish to emphasize that we are not bandits, nor are we trying to evict you from this place if you call it home. While we do have business inside, it has nothing to do with your living arrangements. Think of us as neighbors just...sharing a stream, at the moment. Kindly neighbors, just passing through," Khulekani said with a polite bow of her head.

She continued to hold her hands up and away from the glowing sword, to let them know that even now, with her group all assembled, they still meant no harm.

OOC Mechanics
21:09, Today: Khulekani Kumalo rolled 23 using 1d20+6. Persuasion.

"—been here for some time now?"
"Erhm . . ." Brak scratched his head. "A Tenday, more or less. It's hard keeping time as is with the sun always down, nevermind underground. Figured you as treasure hunters like the previous lot, but I have to say you're a lot more pleasant. I like that." He gestured wide into the room. "We've laid claim to the upper levels. Anything below is up for grabs."

"If you pay toll," Knerk, the Bugbear with the glazed over expression, interjected, stepping into the conversation. "We clear out top. We take compensation."

"Naturally," Brak nodded as he glanced over to the skeletal remains of the reindeer. "If you've any food, it'll do in place of coin. We're running a bit low ourselves."
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:34, Wed 02 Nov 2022.

Once he reached the bottom of the descent -- after more than once silently thanking Idrianthe on the way down -- Rhydd stepped over to the side so as to give Mallory a spot to land. He smiled as he watched her make her way down after him, more than once thinking that she was about to lose her grip and that he was going to make good on his half-jesting pledge to catch her if she fell. ~~Well . . . at the very least I can offer her a soft landing spot if she slips,~~ he thought to himself.

But all's well that ends well, as some bard whose name Rhydd could not recall had writ once upon a time, and soon enough the wizardess had made it safely to the bottom of the steep descent.

"I had hoped that you would let go about a foot or two up," he told her with a wink. Was he flirting with her? Mayhap. He would never have imagined it of himself, not in a million years.

"I would have caught you," he assured her.

~~Pay attention, rocks-for-brains,~~ he chided himself. ~~'Tis yet to be determined whether these Bugbears are truly to be trusted, or whether they simply wished to have us close at hand, the better to stuff us into their cook-pots.~~

He leaned his bow (which had been strapped across his back for his descent) against an ice wall, close to where Squire Khulekano's magicked blade had been placed. Close to hand, but not in-hand. It would have to do.

His expression neutral, Rhydd nodded to the three Bugbears as Lady Mallory spoke his name, along with those of all the adventuring companions. Soon enough Squire Khulekani was building upon her good start  -- as well as that of Farwalker's, truth be told -- and continuing her efforts to calm the nerves of the three Bugbears.

~~Will wonders never cease? Me flirting with Mallory, and being within spitting distance of three Bugbears without any of us trying to kill each other, one within mere moments of the other. Still and all, we aren't done -- out of the woods, so to speak -- yet.~~

"I had hoped that you would let go about a foot or two up. I would have caught you."

"Of that, I've no doubt." Mallory afforded Rhydd a fond smile even after the discomfort of her less-than-graceful clamber down.

---

"Figured you as treasure hunters like the previous lot, but I have to say you're a lot more pleasant. I like that. We've laid claim to the upper levels. Anything below is up for grabs."

Mention of the "previous lot" raised a momentary gleam of hope in Mallory's expression, though she immediately quashed it for the sake of bracing herself for disappointment.  "We packed extra rations before we set out, so I'm certain we could spare some for your sake.  Especially if you would be so kind as to offer some information?"  A gloved hand raised out with a slow, intentional flourish - she could conjure her illusions with little more than a twitch of her fingers, but made a much more overt show of it so as to not startle the Bugbears.  The last thing any of them needed was for the trio to think she was about to hurl a blast of fire or the like.

As was so often the case, the air above Mallory's extended palm swirled and coalesced into the then-familiar images of the three missing adventurers, held out for the Bugbears to see.  "These mercenaries were sent here over a tenday ago and haven't been heard from since.  Were they the ones you encountered before?  Do you know what's become of them?" she chanced, even if she already feared she knew the answer.  "And who directed you three here?  This is hardly the sort of place one stumbles upon by mere chance..."

---

As usual, Mallory invokes "Silent Image" for her illusory demonstration.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:11, Thu 03 Nov 2022.

The Bugbears began trudging around their lodging as the discussion unfurled. Brak seemed especially pleased with the way things were going, bearing a smile of self-satisfaction once rations were actually being offered. It seemed he hadn't had much faith in the wager. "Those're the ones!" he said after studying the illusions. "We kept the Halfling as prisoner. That one snuck out as we came in," he pointed to Reghedman, then to the Shield Dwarf, "that one I dunno about, but the Halfling spoke of her. Dead, I'd bet. The Halfling escaped to the lower levels, though she was supposed to be supervised," he leveled a scowl and a grunt at Donk, who returned it in kind, "and took the key with her!"

"It was Knerk's turn to watch her!" Donk rebuted, pointing angrily toward the last Bugbear, who had ventured over to pick up a reindeer bone which he eloquently hurled in Knerk's direction.

"Hrnf," Brak sneered, sparing them one last chastising glance. "We traded for information on this place at Karkolohk. Didn't come cheap either."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:26, Thu 01 Dec 2022.

Such an explanation was clearly not what the dark-eyed noble expected, much less wanted, to hear.  Her expression grew cloudy and her gaze flicked side-to-side across the icy floor with an immediate inward turn to her own thoughts.  One adventurer never reached the Spire, one fled out into the tundra and abandoned his final cohort.  The Spire itself was their only lead... with so little information and after so much time had passed, nothing short of mighty Divination spells well beyond her own reach could stand to find them.

That left only the Halfling - Apple, by name - for certain.

...alone, surely without supplies, into the depths of an ancient Netherese ruin as cold as the Stygian pits, over a week ago.

The illusions faded away to nothingness as Mallory instead gripped at her Lantern Rod, as if for an anchor, to still her stormy thoughts.  A tight breath pulled through her teeth as she fought to rally herself back up.  "There's still a chance.  Every Halfling I've ever known has Yondalla's own luck to them.  There's still a chance." she said, seemingly more to herself than the others.

Her troubled gaze lifted to each of her companions - to Rhydd especially, in a more lingering moment - uncertain of how they'd take to such news, before it returned to the Bugbears.  "What's this of a key then?  And... Karkolohk?  Who sold you this information?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:34, Thu 03 Nov 2022.