We All Finish Running Away, Moving East
Subject: The underground trail; we all finish running away
Sa'id stays by the rope, helping Farron to the ground once he reaches the bottom. The two wizards then help Garyth off, because his damaged ribs make the climb extremely difficult. They can hear the fight between the two monsters continuing above, then suddenly there is silence. A second later, Rennik comes sliding down the rope.
"Your beast is dead," he says to Farron. "Though, it did wound the dragon at least once. That means he'll go find himself a nice deep pond somewhere and sit at the bottom sulking. We can probably go back up and collect our gear tomorrow."
[At this point, only Cadfael has his pack with him. There are no healing potions here in the tunnel, as my notes show that Farron and Garyth still have theirs, but their packs are above. Unless someone wants to take a specific action before the night is over, I will just write up the next turn. Let me know pretty soon if you need to do something.]
From: Matt
Subject: Re: The underground trail; we all finish running away
Reaching the bottom of the rope, Rennik immediately seeks out Tichenor and finds him investigating the perimeters of their new camp. There's nowhere to run, now, Rennik thinks. If something comes down this tunnel at us while we sleep, there's no way for us to escape. He shivers at the thought of being trapped.
He'll try to get a good emotional read off of the wolf, to see if it is nervous about either end of the tunnel. Tichenor's nose is far better than his own.
Upon catching Mission's eye, he will nod his thanks. "You fought well, and I thank you for saving Tichenor. Wolves are intelligent animals, and he will remember your effort to save him. I, too, will remember."
With that, Rennik will finish a perimeter check of the area (and his Animal Empathy check to gauge Tichenor's reactions).
From: Ty
Subject: Re: The underground trail; we all finish running away
Rennik and Tichenor will determine that the sewer tunnel runs off into the distance both east and west. Though, presumably, the tunnel dead ends going west when it hits the cave in.
Tichenor does not seem particularly nervous, though he does seem to keep sniffing the center of the tunnel. This might mean that there are a large number of interesting scents there, which could mean that a lot of people passed this way recently.
From: Karl
Subject: Re: The underground trail; we all finish running away
"Well, that's that," Farron thinks to himself. He looks around the tunnel briefly for a spot that looks like it would be at least smoother if not softer and lays down gingerly, wincing from the pain of dislocated and broken bones. He will try to sleep until someone wakes him up in the morning.
From: Ty
Subject: The underground trail; the camp, and going east
The morning following the swamp dragon attack is not a pleasant one. Mission, Garyth, and Farron are all badly hurt. Farron has the greatest trouble, as his wounds are concentrated around his knees, and by morning he can not stand without assistance. Mission can move normally, but has trouble using his left arm for much. Luckily for Garyth, he only hurts when he breathes.
Now that a swamp dragon has been seen by all of the party members, a consensus is quickly reached that running into more of them is a bad idea. Rennik has already determined that this tunnel is the same sewer tunnel you found before, though of course much further to the east. According to Farron, this tunnel should run right to the temple itself, and it makes sense that this was the "underground trail" that they referred to.
Rennik, who is uninjured, returns to the surface and begins collecting the party's gear. There is surprisingly little damage, though the fight with the dragon did scatter things about. About half the food was lost to damage and small animal scavenging during the night. Of more immediate concern though, both of the remaining heal potions are intact. One at a time, Rennik lowers the packs down the rope to the party waiting below. He then does his best to conceal the camp and the trail, and returns to the tunnel.
[If anyone wishes to take any actions, like say healing someone, you may do so and I will add the results in before the next turn. However, in the interests of time, I am going to write up the days travels now.]
Cadfael's eternally glowing glove gives the party light to travel by, and the floor is smooth and dry on both sides of the narrow central channel, so the group makes rapid progress. At about mid morning, a second blast of darkness sweeps over the party, and everyone is stunned for a few moments. The visions of darkness and impending doom that accompany this are even more potent than last time. Mission and Cadfael are again the most affected, though neither is willing to share his own private vision of hell with anyone else after it's over. No one says, "two days left", but everyone is thinking it.
At regular intervals, side passages break off from the main tunnel and go off into darkness. Farron is quite sure that staying on this main path is the right thing to do, and his ability to recall the map from memory is already well proven, so no one argues. Occasionally, small holes in the ceiling of the tunnel let in some bit of natural light. By the time this natural light is gone, the party is already so exhausted that the decision to camp is quickly reached.
Rennik recommends finding a side passage and moving down it a ways to get off the main tunnel before camping. This seems wise, and a suitable side tunnel is found. Tichenor sniffs the camp site for several minutes, then pronounces the site good by flopping down on his belly and closing his eyes.
Farron and Rennik confer for a moment regarding distances on the map and how far the halfling thinks they may have traveled that day. When the are done, Farron says, "I think we can reach the temple by tomorrow night, if we can keep this pace. That puts us there the night before the priest's vision says we have to be there." Turning to Mission, he says with compassion on his face, "We will make it in time for Promise, no matter what."
From: Mike
Subject: Re: The underground trail; the camp, and going east
Can we get a run-down of the party's HP?