Middled Out
"Well, you know. I don't know how they did it, but someone... /stole/ a few Xorns."
"That's right," agrees the second gnome in answer to the firwst. They're talking about it with you, explaining what happened.
Happy Valley sits on a rather large and on-going silver mine and the Xorns there have helped dig it for years, saving the gnomes lives and countless amounts of money in exchange for eating some of the gems located.
It's a strange relationship, what, gnoems riding Xorns, but it seems to work for them.
"The other Xorns are concerned."
A Xorn is a rather large, triangular-shaped creature with multiple eyes and arms around its torso and a great maw on its top.
It makes sounds that are like rumbling stones in character.
This day isa lready looking excellent.
"They just up and /left/, like something wa scalling them. WE're hoping you can find them. Best we've got is that they.... kinda...went gliding through the earth that way."
One nice thing about rather large creatures is that they're easy to track, and Rona starts working on precisely that. Over her shoulder she asks "I don't mean to offend, but... do we know they didn't just decide to leave on their own? Like, seek alternative employment, or something?"
GAME: Yelrona rolls survival: (8)+12: 20
Duncan stands with the other Alexandrian adventurers. He has his arms crossed at first. But once the gnomes start speaking he lowers his arms to the side in a somewhat more receptive posture. He seems particularly interested at the mention of the Xorn gliding through the earth.
"Soundin like that be slowin down the mine..." Ilmig shares the almost-obvious. "Aye. Any thoughts why some would go 'n others'd stay? Don't know many folk that'd be dealin with 'em.'
Sarcis cants her head, a raise of a crafted eyebrow as she slowly shifts her weight from side to side with a slow sway. She gives a frown, a pull of her mouth off to the side, and she nods her head slowly. "Hmm, I see. Well, that /does/ sound bad." She gazes around, her eyes settling on Yelrona where she gives another arch of the eyebrow.
The rather slender oruch gives a little roll of the wrist, gesturing slowly, "Well lead on then, though perhaps I could give it a try?" She gives a slow curve of a smile that stretches across black-painted lips, a flash of an incisor.
There's bee nsome quiet chatting from Kore butg for the most part she is content to listen and observe . The Inquisitor is always watching, studying everything iwth an intensity that suggests she evlauates every movement or word. Most people would not guess that Kore is a bit shy with new people, but she is fortunate in that her demeanor tends to convey to people that she would prefer not to be disturbed.
Sasha says, "That's....weird. Xorn don't normally up and leave, especially when they're enjoying themselves." She says with a tilt of her head. "Didn't they help us with something else on another trip here?"
GAME: Duncan rolls 5: (14)+5: 19
Neither is the gnomes saw anything, both serving in the Happy Vally Xorn Rider contingent. They ride Xorns, yes. Some of them even served in the Sendor War.
The trail left by the Xorns is not hard to find. One does not need to be a skilled tracker to pick up on it and that you have a digger of your own just makes it easier for you to set off into the rugged, sparse land beyond the So-called Happy Valley.
Yelrona pays attention to the trail anyway... maybe she'll spot something that gives them some clue as to what happened.
Duncan takes a few steps away from the group and then crouches, tapping the ground three times. tap-tap-TAP! The earth stirs and then his large Digger emerges halfway, positioned so that Duncan's hand is on the creature's back. It has a mouthful of dirt, that gleams as if its laced with a shiny metal. Duncan reddens slightly, takes the bit of silver and then hands it to the nearest gnome. Then he sends the digger back underground, and the earth swells as it heads off in the direction the Xorn were said to have left, leaving a slight wake of overturned earth in its wake.
"Well...that's the easiest way to do it, I guess." Sasha says with a laugh. "Now, all we have to do is follow him...."
Sarcis slips her bow from her back, stringing it,before continuing along with the group. She knows that it's probably going to go down hill.
Somehow it'll go down hill.
Whether it's down hill into a cave, a sand whirlpool, a space where time travels forward and backward at random, or any number of oddities. It'll be /something/. She sighs and walks along, a glance toward Sasha with an arch of an eyebrow and a crinkle of her nose. "Probably not a bad idea. The easier the gold purse, the better."
Ilmig can't tunnel near as quick as a digger, and can't track so well through solid stone, so tromps above ground after the one following a digger's lead. Easier for him to fill up his mug, as well as empty it, moving through air, anyhow.
Sasha says, "Nothing's ever easy when it comes to gold.""
"'xcept spending it," Rona chimes in.
Sasha says, "even that's hard. cuz you never have enough."
Yelrona says, "I'm hoping this job will fix that problem... there's a belt I have my eye on."
Walking through the rugged badlands, even following a digger, is a time consuming and tiring process. While you're all used to the work by now, well, it's still going to take a toll.
It looks like th Xorns have gone several hours out of town, and who knows how much faster they were moving than you. The only hope is that you can eventually catch up wit hthem whenever they've stopped.
For now.
Things are only entering a higher elevation *and* getting more rugged. A twisted ankle is possibly inevitable ehre.
Sasha says, "And...this is getting pretty high. Somewhat familiar territory too. Just watch where you're walking....""
Even Kore slows down, though she never complains. The diminutive half-elf is staring at the ground in front of her as she walks. As the elevation ascends Kore's breathing slows. "At least we know Xorn would love it here. It's a good sign."
Yelrona pays close attention to her footing, missing the days -- was it really only a year ago -- when she could dance confidently on a tightrope. She's not _clumsy_, not hardly, but... she's not what she was.
Ilmig refills his mug less as the ground gets more uneven. Less chance of spillage! "Hmm. Maybe they be here for restin 'n relaxin?"
Duncan trots along beside the others, making good time even on foot. It's likely due to a combination things...his stride length, slightly greater than that of most Khazad...and the fact that he travels light. "Hah!" he nods at Ilmig. "I think you've solved it. The missing Xorn are taking a vacation."
Yelrona says, "They could have left a note!"
"Rude!"
GAME: Duncan rolls perception: (16)+12: 28
GAME: Ilmig rolls perception: (11)+12: 23
GAME: Sarcis rolls perception: (10)+12: 22
GAME: Yelrona rolls perception: (14)+19: 33
GAME: Sasha rolls perception: (6)+4: 10
GAME: Kore rolls perception: (8)+15: 23
With sharp eyes all around, everyone aside from Sasha notices that you've actually bypassed the 'end of the road', so to speak.
The signs were a little sparse, but not terrribly hard to track. The digger eventually sounds off and you round about to go back towards the last spot you saw them.
With some additional searching, you find waht appears to be a layer of soft ground over what appears to be a recently dug hole in the earth.
Yelrona looks around the hole for any signs that would indicate how it was dug, and how the layer of ground over it was filled in.
Sasha's too busy humming to herself to track, or even notice the soft ground. She's able to stay with her comrades though. They're the only ones she recognizes on this trai......OOO Paprika!
GAME: Kore rolls Knowledge/The Planes+4: (13)+6+4: 23
"Well, they were here recently," Kore muses. She jabs at the soil around the burrow with her fingers. "At a guess the Xorn were here recnetly but they do seem to be in a bit of a hurry. What brought them all the way out here/" She's frowning again, still inspecting the store. "We may as well continue on. We might catch up if we get a bit lucky."
Yelrona nods. "Works for me." She adds to her holy symbol of Tarien: "You heard that, right boss? 'Lucky.'"
"What brought 'em? They gots feet, last I checked..." Ilmig chuckles. Then he stops and strokes his beard. "Or ye sayin they're ridin wagons, now?"
"What reason," Kore clarifies absently before moving to climb down into the hole. "Shall we?"
Sasha says, "Lead the way. I'm just a humble cleric..."
"Humility is overrated," Rona says, jumping in.
Duncan reaches behind his back for the handle of his battle hammer. He twists it off of the clasp holding it, then holds it with one hand halfway up the handle before diving in after.
And Yelrona falls through the dirt as she jumps onto the obvious vaguely covered pit.
She falls.
And falls...
GAME: Yelrona rolls reflex: (1)+5: 6 (EPIC FAIL)
"Don't get too far ahead, lass. Liable to-" and in she went. A soft "Oi" and then Ilmig tromps his way in after.
A short ways down, Yelrona's feather fall ring kicks in and prevents her from bouncing off the walls.
Unfortunately, it does nothing to stop her from slowly descending into the tar that sits at the bottom.
Yep. That's tar, all right. Burbling up from somewhere into a small pond of it. More burrows extend in other directions.
SOme of these don't look like they were dug by Xorns, however. More.. as if they were dug out by hand, five furtrow-marks lining the earthen walls.
At least you have light, or darkvision, for most everytone.
Two tunnels lead off in either direction. One is wider than the others and thus seems to be the way the xorns went.
Sarcis looks down after Yelrona and Ilmig, then blinks, frowns, and pulls out the bundle of rope she keeps for just such occasions.
Yelrona frowns. "This is... not good."
Yelrona attempts to extricate herself from the tar pit.
"Someone strong has to stay up here for the time being." Sasha says as she looks for a place to tie the rope....and she does. "Go on. Just lemme tie the rope."
Duncan splats into the tar next to Yelrona. He looks about and lifts his foot experimentally. A moment later he takes a bottle off of his belt. "I wonder how deep this goes," he says before trying to 'swim' under the surface.
Kore, who was actually climbing, looks down at the people in the tar pit. She arches a brow when Duncan attempts to dive and slowly shakes her head. Clinging to the side of the pit the half-Mul is surveying their surroundings for a 'dry' place to disembark before continuing further down.
Yelrona 's attempts to get out of the tar pit might or might not be going well. It's hard to say, really. Still, she could probably benefit from someone tossing her a rope or something when they get to the bottom of their climb.
Constantin looks sadly at the sheen of his armour, then starts climbing down carefully. He doesn't jump, no matter how much he's tempted to.
GAME: Yelrona rolls reflex: (18)+5: 23
GAME: Duncan rolls reflex: (4)+5: 9
After the rope is tied off, Sarcis starts down carefully as well. Shaking her head just... shaking her head. "You all are like lemmings, I swear. You know when my mother asked me, "If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?" I never thought people actually would."
Yelrona laughs. "My mother asked me that, too. I said of course, if it was the only way to get away from the bear."
Ilmig isn't the best climber, but down is the easiest direction. Thump. Grunt. Tromp. He could go even faster than Yelrona and Duncan, but could also land on someone. Looking up at Sarcis, and back to Yelrona, he laughs.
Sasha says, "They probably wanted the group to stay together." She says starting to climb down as well. "but, at least, we won't be in tar." She then thinks. "Anyone bring any feathers?""
"Even lemmings don't actually leap off of cliffs. The Gobbers who made those journals herded them off when they wouldn't actually fall," Kore notes blithely as she is dismounting. "I am afraid I left the feathers in my pillow back at my room. But we could make do if need be."
Eventually, Yelrona makes it out. The rest of you can maneuver around the tar pit that Duncan continues to sink into.
So that's good, at least.
Yelrona reaches into her pocket as she works her way out of the pit. "Feathers, coming up!" She pulls her hand out of her pocket to reveal a very small canary, which flies up into the air, poops on her, and flies away. "Really?" she says incredulously to her holy symbol. "I get no respect."
Constantin gets his footing below, and reaches out to anchor Kore's rope-throw. "Just grab on!" A sideways glance at Yelrona. "Isn't that part of the catechism?"
Yelrona smiles at Constantin. Someone understands! "Yes," she replies. "Yes, it is."
Sasha is still climbing down. A careful one, this one is. "Everything okay, Yelrona?"
Yelrona says, "Well, _I'm_ fine, but Duncan may need some help."
Once she's out of the pit, Rona calls upon her Arcane Connection to clean the tar off of her body.
Duncan is tossed a few ropes. He puts away his hammer so that he can reach for the closest one with his now-free hand while keeping the bottle in his other. But then he freezes. He looks down at the tar. "There's something in here..." he says slowly, leaving the rope so and readying his hammer again, held just under the head - better for close-quarters bashing, perhaps. "Something's got my foot."
Sasha says, "Grab the stinkin rope, Duncan!" She says as she gets to the ground. "I'd rather you be on solid ground....""
Yelrona draws her bow and tries to spot the Dianoga.
...and then Duncan is yanked powerfully into the tar.
Sarcis grabs the rope with her free hand and half-wraps it about her hand. Her other hand still holding the bow. She gives a hard pull on it, trying to yank as hard as she can on it. "What the hells has got you?!"
GAME: Duncan rolls cmb: (11)+14: 25
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+10: (20)+10: 30
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+10: (3)+10: 13
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d8+3: (3)+3: 6
Well, good news, everyone! Rising out of the tar is a large, humanoidish... /thing/ that looks like it is at least covered in tar. It rises up and tears a hunk of tar from its form and *hurls it at Sarcis*, where she is splatted square in the face by what feels like overheated tar. Ow.
GAME: Sasha rolls 1d20+1+2: (8)+1+2: 11
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (9)+16: 25
GAME: Sasha casts Bless. Caster Level: 9 DC: 15
Briefly, DUncan feels something grab at him again under the tar but it doesn't quite get a good grip on his tashing form at the moment.
"Come on DUncan, get out of the tar!" Sasha says as she places her hands together to bless her comrades......
GAME: Constantin rolls strength: (12)+5: 17
Constantin starts pulling hand over hand, trying to extract Duncan out of the pit. He only redoubles his efforts as the tar-beast rises out of the pit. "Oh, sweet holy roses!"
GAME: Kore rolls strength: (5)+2: 7
Ilmig could help with yankin up his fellow, but there's folks doing that. More concernin is the big tar thing. Especially since it's lobbing tarballs at folks. "Oi!" He waves his axe and shield to make himself more noticable, and side-tromps away from the khazad-lifters. "O'er 'ere ye big tar baby! Ye look like too many bad calzones, shot out 'fore waitin for proper digestin! Then scraped offa boot!"
GAME: Ilmig rolls intimidate: (14)+7: 21
GAME: Yelrona rolls knowledge/the planes +3: (16)+7+3: 26
GAME: Yelrona rolls 1d20+9: (20)+9: 29
GAME: Yelrona rolls 1d20+9: (2)+9: 11
GAME: Yelrona rolls 1d20+9: (1)+9: 10 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Yelrona rolls 5+2d6+1d8: 5+(7)+(8): 20
Yelrona regards the tar creature with some uncertainty. "What is a nice thing like you, doing in a plane like this?" she wonders out loud, but doesn't let the question slow her down. "In Tarien's name I am the Elemental Bane!!!" she shouts -- she _really_ enjoys doing that -- and fires twice, hitting once.
GAME: Yelrona spends ONE use of JUDGMENT.
GAME: Yelrona spends ONE use of BANE.
GAME: Sarcis rolls BowPBS -2: aliased to Weapon4+1 -2: (1)+11+1+-2: 11 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Sarcis rolls BowPBS -2: aliased to Weapon4+1 -2: (19)+11+1+-2: 29
GAME: Sarcis rolls DmgPBSDest: aliased to 1d8+4+4: (6)+4+4: 14
GAME: Duncan rolls strength: (14)+4: 18
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+10: (17)+10: 27
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d8+3: (6)+3: 9
Sarcis lets go of the rope, letting out a cry as the tar hits her. She sweeps at it, pushing it away with her sleeve while drawing free an arrow from the quiver. A knock of the arrow, a draw and a loose as the stinging tar gets into her eye again, "Ah damn it!!" Another sweep of her sleeve along her brow, pushing the last of it away as she grabs another arrow. A draw, and this one hits closer to the mark. "What the hells is this thing?!"
Yelrona says, "Tar elemental. And it shouldn't be here.""
The emerged creature tears another chunk of itself free and hurls it, this time at the taunting Ilmig. The tar splashes into his armor, smoking with supernatural heat!
A secondf creature now emerges from the tar after Duncan, lunging to grab him.
GAME: Sasha casts Blessing of Fervor. Caster Level: 9 DC: 18
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+16: (5)+16: 21
It winds up falling just shy of him, however, a large hand smasing into the ground. each of these creatures looks to be perhaps nine or ten feet tall. Easily.
"GET OUT OF THE TAR!" Sasha keeps repeating as she gives everyone around her a blessing to give benefits to their attacks. "Someone pull him out of the tar!"
GAME: Constantin rolls strength: (15)+5: 20
Constantin keeps hauling, hand over hand, grunting with effort -- dwarves are heavy!
GAME: Kore rolls weapon14+1+2: (2)+9+1+2: 14
GAME: Kore rolls weapon14+1+2: (15)+9+1+2: 27
GAME: Kore rolls 1d2+2d6+2+strength: (2)+(8)+2+2: 14
GAME: Kore rolls weapon14+1+2: (20)+9+1+2: 32 (THREAT)
GAME: Kore rolls weapon14+1+2: (8)+9+1+2: 20
GAME: Kore rolls 2d2+2d6+2+strength+strength: (3)+(8)+2+2+2: 17
GAME: Ilmig rolls intimidate: (3)+7: 10
GAME: Yelrona rolls 1d20+9: (11)+9: 20
GAME: Yelrona rolls 1d20+9: (15)+9: 24
GAME: Yelrona rolls 1d20+11: (8)+11: 19
GAME: Yelrona rolls 8+2d6+1d8: 8+(7)+(2): 17
GAME: Yelrona rolls 8+2d6+1d8: 8+(7)+(8): 23
GAME: Yelrona rolls 8+2d6+1d8: 8+(3)+(1): 12
Yelrona fires three arrows into the frustratingly resilient creature