Chapter One(ish) - Lost in the darkness

[cmrsalmon]

Trapped behind a wall of rubble, choking on dust, you have been cut off from your companions by the tunnel collapse. In the pitch darkness, a voice groans in pain.

But first, some background...

Named so due to the grey-tinged complexion of its people, the continent of Ashenland consists of rich farmlands to the West and East, with a thickly-forested, mountainous interior. Marsh and wetlands lie to the warmer South, with sparse, rocky moors to the North.

The bulk of Ashenland’s population is human, from the darker-skinned people of the South to the white-pale Northerners. The Ashenlanders’ shared heritage is evident in the hints of grey below the eye, flecks of grey in the iris. Enclaves of other races can be found in the less-travelled parts of the continent, although their isolated populations are in decline.

The West of Ashenland is broken into numerous duchies and other small feudal states. Decades of prosperous harvests have lead to lassitude and decadence among the nobility of the West. A proud martial tradition has all but disappeared among lavish courts and staged and theatrical tourneys.

The East is dominated by the Old Kingdom, an ancient realm ruled with an iron grip. The reforming inclinations of the present King’s son have made the Prince widely popular. The King has repeatedly blocked any meaningful change, however, hewing ever-closer to the rigid tradition of his ancestors.

Five Summers ago, the wide-hulled, armoured ships of the Empire landed on the Western shores of Ashenland. After a brutally short campaign, the majority of the Western states became vassals of the Empire or were eliminated.

The decadent nobility of the West led their armies to ruin in a series of grand, romantic, but ill-fated encounters with the coldly-efficient war machine of the Empire. Despairing at the loss, a cadre of barons who yet retained the martial skill of their forebears decamped into Ashenland's mountainous interior.

As the bulk of the Empire’s army swept Eastward, the rebel barons harried the newly-installed Imperial administration in a series of guerrilla raids. The Empire’s response was swift and brutal.

Those fortifications, homesteads, towns and villages who owed fealty to the rebels were razed, their populations killed or driven away.

With little left to strive for, hunted by the Empire through ancient forests and mountain valleys, only the most hardened, lost or fanatical now remain in the fight.

[cmrsalmon]

Your lord, Baron Corentin, was recently captured in an ambush.

The mercenaries responsible for the raid have taken the Baron Eastward to collect their bounty from the nearest Empire-controlled settlement, an infamous prison known as the Grandfather. The prison shares its name with the mountain in whose shadow the lonely structure lies.

Once rumoured to hold the worst scum of the Old Kingdom, the Grandfather is now used to imprison those among the Kingdom's citizenry deemed a risk to the stability of the Imperial administration.

Tracking the mercenaries into a tunnel complex near the border of the Old Kingdom, your route out was blocked by a series of quakes. Tremors have since separated you from all but three of your comrades.

You have been wandering the caves for several days, seeking an escape, with supplies and hope dwindling.

Without warning, the tunnel roof collapses.

Hi guys! Can you please give a rough outline of why you were travelling with the rebel band. Are you a refugee with nowhere else to turn, a loyal retainer, ever-faithful to your fallen lord, or an opportunist looking for an excuse to kill and steal?

Also, please roll DEX.

[Rusty Tincanne]

[Fletch
url=http://www.unseenservant.com/default.as ... 65&macid=0]Dex [1d20] = 19[/url]

Life under the barons was never wonderful, but after losing his two older brothers in the"war" and then his father and younger sister to a patrol of Empire soldiers, Fletch decided he had liked things the way they were. He joined up with the Baron's band and took to harrying Empire patrols. As their numbers dwindled, Fletch was sent to find new recruits in nearby towns, posing as a hunter looking to trade.

When he learned the baron was taken captive, Fletch joined the rescue party. Without a leader there was little reason for recruits to join the fight.

As the rocks rained upon him he found himself questioning that decision.

first time I ever ruled such a high number on this site!

[Tamerlaine]

His name is Atticus Black, a tall slender man of indeterminate age with greasy black hair, a sallow narrow face and a hook nose. His eyes, like two dots the color of coal, lacked warmth despite the obvious intellect. In fact, they seem to always appear accusing, judging, looking for weakness. Above his eyes were a pair of bristling dark brows, constantly furrowing in concentration or distaste. Despite a scraggy unkempt beard, his upper lip remained shaven. His was a cruel mouth, used to constant criticism or rebuke commonly reserved for the lesser apprentices of his…former…master.

Perygrinus was dead, that much was fact. His old mentor thought he could weather the tides of war and politics unscathed until the Empire showed up at his old broken down tower. No one told the ‘Old Man’ what do and when the Empire sent their own mages against Perygrinus, Atticus had watched a contest very few mortals could claim to have witnessed. Two mages of the empire succumbed before the old man’s arcane might until to Atticus Black’s horror, the great wizard was utterly destroyed. The Empire’s wizards razed the crumbling tower to its foundations, the handful of students trapped within murdered. Only he, he alone, had escaped his own death.

He had once been First Apprentice. Now Atticus was nothing, just a very minor nameless mage of no import stuck with siding with the rebels just to live. One this day he was on a fool’s errand, a ‘rescue mission’ to save Baron Corentin’s hide. For days they had been creeping through the maze of tunnels under the Grandfather and his patience was wearing thin.

Then suddenly there was the tremors, as if the mountain itself was writhing in agony! The roof of the tunnel above suddenly gave way as tons of rock began to rain down on them!

Dex [1d20] = 4

[cmrsalmon]

As the tunnel shakes, the leader of your small band, Captain Annick, shouts a warning. Atticus, you see the Captain disappear under a torrent of rock as you leap away.

Fletch, your reflexes must be dulled by a brew of hunger and a dull anxiety brought on by your wanderings through the caves. Reacting to the Captain's shout a moment too late, you are half-caught by the tumbling rocks.

Fletch, please roll 1d3 damage.

The fate of the fourth member of the group, the cleric Marsha, is unknown.

As the tremor ends, you hear the Captain's voice cry out. "Burran have mercy, that hurts."

Your torches have been extinguished, but as you recover from the shock, you realise you can see. A pale blue glow illuminates the tunnel. The routes ahead and behind have been blocked, but the collapse has revealed a hole into a space above the tunnel. The glow emanates from above, but you cannot make out the source.

In the gloom, you can see the Captain, lying prone some feet away. Three large rocks lie on her legs, pinning her to the tunnel floor.

Complicating matters, water is pouring through from the hole above. The water appears to be pooling at your feet.

Representing your diminishing supplies, can your all please roll twice for any inventory items with usage dice?

What do you do?

[Tamerlaine]

"Burran have mercy, that hurts.”

For the moment, Atticus ignores the captain, his attention suddenly drawn to the pale blue glow from above. Trying to locate the source of the glow, the fledgling mage speaks to the archer.

OOC: Atticus attempts to find a way out. Will it be possible to climb the rock wall?

“Fletch, is it?” A rhetorical question, for he knew the man’s name. “Are you well?”

Unable to determine the source of the light, Atticus turns to the officer. ”Come Fletch, help me move these stones. Captain Annick, the tunnel has collapsed ahead as well as behind us. The cleric, Marsha, is absent, perhaps buried under the rock or cut off from us. To make matters worse, water is pouring in from above and looks like it will not cease any time soon. Out little area will be flooded at some point. Up is the way out, don’t you agree?”

Usage Die Flask of Oil [1d6] = 4
Usage Die Flask of Oil [1d6] = 3

Usage Die Wineskin [1d6] = 2
Usage Die Wineskin [1d4] = 2

Usage Die Assorted Common Herbs [1d8] = 5
Usage Die Assorted Common Herbs [1d8] = 5

Usage Die Preserved Rations [1d8] = 7
Usage Die Preserved Rations [1d8] = 8

[Rusty Tincanne]

Fletch
Shrugging off debris and lifting himself from the deepening puddle, Fletch replies, Yeah, the rocks didn't hit my head that hard. Still "Fletch." He gathered his belongings and turned his attention to the captain, trying to dig the man free before they all drowned. Cannot go forward or back, and with all this water, up seems to be the best option. There is a rope, spikes and a hammer in my pack but first we need to find Sister Marsha. Start digging.

Usage Rolls
Don't know if you wanted us to roll for torches. If so:
torches [1d6] = 5 leaving me with one...

Rations
rations [1d8] = 3
rations [1d8] = 1 char sheet changed to d6 rations.

Oil Flasks
flasks of oil [1d6] = 1 [1d6] = 2 I realized that I should have done that one roll at a time due to the changing nature of the dice, but I will stand by this crappy roll. d6>d4>gone. removed from character sheet.

Wineskin
wineskin [1d6] = 4
wineskin [1d6] = 5

Arrows
quiver of arrows [1d10] = 4
quiver of arrows [1d10] = 9

Injury From Rocks
injury from rocks [1d3] = 2 -2HP noted from char sheet.

Moving Rocks off the Captain
Digging [1d20] = 5 - wasn't sure if this was the right skill.

@Tamerlaine and Lab Mix
How do your characters prefer to be addressed? Atticus or Mr. Black or something else? Marsha, Sister or something else? Fletch is just "Fletch." He prefers to keep his real name hidden in case of retribution from the Empire if he is caught.

@ cmrsalmon
Let me know if I did the torches roll wrong. If not, my character is down to one torch and no oil. Not a good start to a dungeon crawl! (Though maybe I can get some more off the captain if he drowns... And his shield and sword.

[lab mix]

Falling rocks (vs DEX 12) [1d20] = 8

Marsha, acolyte of Yiol, the Pure Judgment of the Harvest, calls to her comrades from a dark corner.

"It's Marsha! I've managed to avoid major injury...I believe...! How have you fared?"

Marsha steps into the glow, appreciative of her chance to continue toward her destiny. She thinks of her fellow followers of Yiol, especially those of her nearby temple who weren't spared in the recent imperial efforts. A renewed determination builds in her heart, a determination to prove herself worthy to Yiol by avenging her fallen sisters and brothers.

She looks down at her supplies.

"Well, some of these are certainly ruined...at least the rope still looks useful...!"

Marsha pulls out her rope and begins to look around the walls to see if any offer sufficient footing for climbing.

Not sure EXACTLY how this ought to work, but here goes...

Torch 1 [1d6] = 3
Torch 1 [1d6] = 2

Torch 2 [1d6] = 2
Torch 2 [1d4] = 1

Torch 3 [1d6] = 4
Torch 3 [1d6] = 6

Torch 4 [1d6] = 1
Torch 4 [1d4] = 4

Torch 5 [1d6] = 5
Torch 5 [1d6] = 1

Torch 6 [1d6] = 3
Torch 6 [1d6] = 1

Flask of oil [1d6] = 5
Flask of oil [1d6] = 1

Preserved rations [1d8] = 2
Preserved rations [1d6] = 4

[cmrsalmon]

Rolls look good, Rusty. Torches-wise, lab mix, how many did you start with? One usage die of torches should only take up one inventory slot.

Atticus, you can see a dry, stable-looking route up the collapsed rocks, to the wide hole above. You reckon you could clamber up it easily enough, avoiding the waterfall.

Strength rolls, please, to roll or lift the large rocks off the Captain. Taking Fletch's digging roll as a STR test, that's a success...

You lift a rock off the Captain's leg, Fletch. She grunts in pain. Two large rocks remain.

"Damn, Fletch. Try not to grind what's left of my bones to dust!" The Captain winces as the water pools around her prone body. "Years of fighting the damn Empire, miles from the sea, and its drowning that kills me. By Yiol's scythe!"

Yiol has tested you, Marsha, and found you worthy. Following Atticus's gaze, you too see what appears to be a safe route upwards. You could probably climb up without a rope.

What next?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Fletch
Seeing the leg exposed is disturbing - She's gonna have trouble walking... - but Fletch would not be disheartened. Apologies, Cap'n. I'll be more careful. He scans the area for anything that might be used to pry the rocks loose. Oi. A bit of help here? Atticus. Use your staff to lift the rocks loose! The young scout crouches down and muckles onto the rock, groaning with the effort.

Two rocks:
STR (10) [1d20] = 7
STR (10) [1d20] = 8

I don't know how it would work for lifting rocks as a team. Strength roll minus 1 or 2 for each helper? Or perhaps the lifting goes quicker and she doesn't drown?

@ lab Mix: Torches are odd. It is a usage die, but I think that is just so 6 torches would take up one encumbrance slot. Each torch is one pip on a die, so really, using one torch puts you at d5, and other at d4, another at d3, etc.
Your first two rolls equal 5, so you have 1 torch left (aka d1 torches).
I realized I never made a second roll for torches, but that doesn't matter since I only had 1 left, anyhow. I am now out of torches. All my oil and all my torches gone... Ugh. If - at character generation - I had know we were starting several days into the dungeon, I would have bought more. What does the captain have on her?

[Tamerlaine]

Atticus looks at Fletch and then back at the rocks pinning the captain's legs. He flexes the hand holding his staff, a look of distaste etching his face. His staff is of fine yew and he is loathsome to use it against the rocks. Atticus is sure the rocks will mark or gouge the wood. Then there's the effort. The mage is adverse to dirty toil. But he notes their waiting glances and relents with an air of annoyance. Without a word he jabs the end of his staff under a rock Fletch is wrestling with and attempts to lever it.

Rock #1
STR 10 [1d20] = 2

Rock #2
STR (10) [1d20] = 11

OOC: Black's STR is actually 11, so I guess without any modifiers, both rolls are successes.

[lab mix]

Marsha moves toward her comrades struggling to free the captain. She offers aid...although, if the captain is freed before she reaches the scene, she will turn instead and move to the route upward...
(If necessary...)
Move rock (vs. STR 7) [1d20] = 9
Move rock (vs. STR 7) [1d20] = 14

As for Marsha's torch(es)...

Here's how I interpret them, which may be way off. Per the note on the equipment list, each torch has its own usage die, a d6. As is hinted at by their grouping of six on the equipment list (and confirmed as how DB plays it by his comment on the G+ forum), up to six torches can take up a single encumbrance slot. I suppose that normally, you'd just work through the d6 usage of one torch and then move onto the next one...although there are certainly situations where you might end up with torches of varying levels of wear/use. It seems like one d6 for the entire group, if actually rolled per the usual usage die rolls, would give six torches an extremely short lifespan.

Now, all of that is mostly just to explain why I went to the trouble of treating each torch separately above. I'm absolutely fine with whatever rule(s) we go by for torch use! I started with six in total and will modify as appropriate according to my rolls. Please let me know if I should roll again to determine this properly!

[cmrsalmon]

With a roll of 11 and STR 11, I think that would be a fail without modifiers by my reading.

With a titanic effort, Fletch, and a little extra leverage from Atticus's staff, you lift the remaining rocks off the Captain. She grunts in pain as the last is removed. Pushing up onto her elbows to keep her head above water, the Captain's grunt turns into a cry.

"Agh. Doesn't, ungh, look like I'll be walking out of here."

Even in by the pale blue light emanating from the hole above, Marsha, you can see the Captain's wounds are grievous. You're confident that the water sloshing around the Captain's body grows darker from the blood loss. You can carefully, easily climb up towards the hole.

Atticus, your fine staff is scarcely marked by the ordeal. One or two small notches, perhaps, that you would swear weren't there yesterday...

[Rusty Tincanne]

Fletch
Despite his fears that efforts to save the Captain's life will be futile, Fletch maintains his composure. He quickly looks to Sister Marsha for direction and he squats and tries to make the Captain more comfortable. What are your thoughts, Sister? Should we bind and then move her, or move and then bind the leg? Whichever it is, we ought to do it quickly before any more of this tunnel collapses.

cmrsalmon: Were there any others with us prior to the cave-in? Anyone a community-minded character would dig to get to?

[Tamerlaine]

"Agh. Doesn't, ungh, look like I'll be walking out of here."

Examining his staff against the bluish glow Atticus then stares at the officer with obvious contempt. "You would quit so easily? Small wonder the Empire has bested your forces." He glances at the others. "With what time we have, perhaps the good sister could bind the captain's legs while Fletch, if you have a mind to, take some rope and climb up yon hole above us. If there is a secure landing above, I could tie the other end of the rope to our fearless captain here we can assist her by pulling her up. That is just one idea. Other than that, our only recourse as I see it is to leave her here."

[Rusty Tincanne]

Fletch
With a nod from Captain Annick, Fletch readies himself for the climb, tightening his backpack straps. We don't leave anyone behind, Atticus. We've lost too many of us as it is. Get ready to pass me a torch up, okay? He rapidly ascends the scree, finding purchase for his hands and feet. He carefully pulls himself to the new floor, being wary of unstable rocks or would-be foes. He takes a moment to listen before unfurling the rope and lowering an end.

Dex 14 [1d20] = 6

I am pushing ahead a bit here, but an hopeful that Captain Annick was willing to loan Fletch her sword/weapon before climbing up. And if anyone has a light source to pass up, preferably a lantern that I can set down, though a torch can be jammed into the unstable rocks, I presume.

[Tamerlaine]

Atticus Black

Once Fletch lets down the other end of his rope, Atticus will tie the other end under Annick's arms. Then the mage turns to the cleric. "Up you go. I will follow behind. Three pulling on the rope will be better than one."

OOC: Assuming the cleric makes it up, Atticus will then climb up himself. If he uses the rope to help himself up, does he get to roll for Advantage?

DEX 11 [1d20] = 13

[lab mix]

Marsha continues toward the injured captain. I hope my hesitation hasn't cost us precious moments, she thinks.

"Is there any aid I can offer in securing Annick? I am prepared to help secure or lift her as needed."

If a DEX roll is needed (such as for binding/tying the captain):

(vs. DEX 12) [1d20] = 12

If a STR roll is needed (such as for lifting the captain):

(vs. STR 7) [1d20] = 14

[Rusty Tincanne]

Double ouch! Marsha gets a hernia and the Captain falls, sustaining further injury!

[cmrsalmon]

cmrsalmon: Were there any others with us prior to the cave-in? Anyone a community-minded character would dig to get to?

- No one remained with your group prior to the most recent tremor. You have lost several others to an earlier collapse, to uncertain footing, and to darkness. Their fates are unknown.

Your fingers slip on the Captain's leather armour, Sister Marsha, as you lose your footing on the rock. You slip into the water, blessedly uninjured but your garments are sodden. The Captain grunts again.

"I know what you're doing, wizard. Ugnh, trying to rile me." The Captain pulls uncertainly on the rope tied around her shoulders. "You should leave me here. Burran knows how much further you have to travel through these godsforsaken caves. You don't need a dead weight."

As Fletch recovers the Captain's sword and lights a torch from her pack, Atticus, you climb up through the hole. You emerge from the floor of a high-roofed passage built from white stone. The passage is about thirty-foot wide, with a five-foot wide channel of water, running along the middle of the passage. The channel is about one foot deep, but there is only a few inches of water. The floor collapse included part of the channel wall, creating the waterfall now spilling into the tunnel below.

The passage disappears into the gloom in both directions.

You locate the source of the blue light, much brighter now. Lying beneath the flowing water, four feet upstream, a shining blue lump lurks. Atticus, you recall a rather dry lecture given by your master on the topic of subterranean denizens. Moonslime.

The lump, reacting to some unknowable stimulus, twitches toward you.

Could I get initiative rolls please?

It takes little effort to keep the Captain above water. Climbing up the rocks with both hands free doesn't require a roll. Climbing with a torch will require a DEX roll. Climbing while helping to lift the Captain needs a STR roll. Once two of you have reached the top, you can lift the Captain by rope with a STR roll with advantage, using the best STR.