Utility Detail - Thoril, Sabyllos

[drpete]

After a fitful night's sleep, you are roused out of bed, and the group of you: Ront, the drow prisoner, Jimjar, Shuushar and Sabyllos are shuffled away to a duty by a group of two quaggoths.

You seem to have been assigned to doing various types of manual labor. Your first task is to gather up food scraps and chamber pots, bring them to the waterfall, and dump their contents down into the pool below. This involves moving across several very swingy rope bridges carrying bowls full of waste, and trying not to spill it on yourselves. As you go, Ront keeps poking at the drow prisoner. The drow doesn't confront the orc about it, but tries to move forward in the group. He manages to get Sabyllos between him and the aggressive orc as they move across the rope bridge balancing several chamber pots, each.

[Pulpatoon]

When let out of the cell, how many drow and/or quaggoths were present? Who had the key? During the day's labors, does Sabyllos ever find himself in the company of the one with the key?

[drpete]

When you were let out of your cell, there were six quaggoths lined up, two drow immediately at the gate and three more in the guard post on the other side of the rope bridge. They split you up into three groups and marched you off to your jobs.

After dealing with you guys, he and the other two drow went down a set of stairs to the right of the prison cave.
Also down that way is the quaggoth cave.

Generally, you do sometimes interact with drow, but they don't *all* have the keys. Generally, you see then on the drow who are manning posts, rather than off duty.

[Pulpatoon]

As they cross the bridge, Sabyllos attempts to learn more about his comrades, beginning with Shuushar. "What brought you to this low state, my fine koa toa? And what was your station and calling when among your own people?"

[drpete]

Shuushar doesn't understand common, but when you speak to him in undercommon, he responds in a gurgling voice:

"Good morning, sir. I am here to experience a new day here. Who knows where it will lead? Not me. One day at a time, you get what you get. It's only "low" if you paint it that way in your mind..."

"I do the same thing here that I do elsewhere. I wait for the mud to settle. Once it settles, the water is clearer, don't you think? Do you like to stir things up, or watch them settle?"

[Pulpatoon]

Sabyllos: "A moving metaphor. I can see that I am in the company of a keen and subtle philosopher.

"My experience is such that often I have perforce remained still while forces stirred tumult and danger. But what do you recommend if the water clears to reveal coelacanth jaws about to close upon you?" He gestures significantly at the stalactites around them. "Stay still, indeed, but only so long as to know in which direction to dart, or if no escape is possible, where best to strike."

Turning his attention to the Deep Gnome, he continues to whisper in Undercommon, "And you, Jimjar? Do you follow our wise piscine friend's school of thought?"

[drpete]

Shuushar responds, "Mmmmmmm...Thrashing about attracts prrrrrredators *blooop*. If you find yourself in the mouth of a predator, though, I think you are already food, mmmmmmm? What will be, will be..."

Jimjar, on the other hand, says "I have never met anyone as chill as Shuushar, here. Don't get me wrong... I like the guy, but if a giant fish is coming atcha, ya move, man! Still, I bet he'll outlive half of us... it just figures, am I right?"

[Pulpatoon]

When Sabyllos is confident he can discuss this issue with Jimjar without being overheard by drow or quaggoth, he whispers, "If I could get someone with a key to these manacles alone, or even isolated, I could get us free. But then we need to know how to get out of here. Keep your eyes open, will you?"

To Ront, he says, "These quaggoths are hearty-looking brutes, aren't they? And there are too damned many of them. You look like you're skilled in the gentle arts of melee. Do you have any thoughts on the best way to take them down?"

Eventually, he will even make a very light attempt at sounding out the drow prisoner while they. "It is a shame you have found such disgrace among your people. A perfectly sympathetic conflict of honor, I shouldn't doubt. And now, your very own people against you! Dumping chamberpots where once you commanded! How tragic! Still, there is always hope, isn't there? I knew a man who had been condemned in his own lands, but he was able to abscond and start afresh in our country. Through cunning and hard work, he became rich and much admired. An inspiring example."

Between snippets of conversation, Sabyllos drinks in every detail, especially of the paths in and out of the compound. At the waterfall, he asks Shuushar, "Do you have a sense for water? For instance, can you tell what lies below that pool? Where, perhaps, its outlet might lie?"

[drpete]

When Sabyllos suggests that he needs access to someone with a key, Jimjar nods "It's not impossible. I can keep an eye out.
Watch out, though... they feed troublemakers to the spiders..."

When Sabyllos asks him about taking down the quaggoth, Ront cracks his knuckles, and responds "Those quaggoth are big, but you know what dey say... The bigger they are, the harder dey fall. Shove 'em off a bridge, they'll land hard!" Ront then mimes knocking one off of a rope bridge, and with his hand, he illustrates it falling head over heels down, and down, and down. Then Ront laughs.

The drow responds to his questioning by responding "I didn't do anything wrong. I'm not one of you, I've been set up. Don't talk to me of escape... human" this last bit, he says with disdain, like it's an insult.

Shuushar shrugs "Mmmmmmmm... water flows in. Water ... flows out. Usually, it goes down. I don't know what lies below us, no..."

[Pulpatoon]

Sabyllos: "Right. Well. If we can't discern where the water goes, how about were it comes from?" He cranes his neck to observe the top of the waterfall. Can he see anything from here? Does it look like he could climb to the top?

[drpete]

The waterfall pours out of a crack in the ceiling of the cavern, then plunges down far beyond the limits of your vision. The water makes the wall extremely slippery.

After disposing of the waste, your group brings barrels of water to various spots in the outpost.

[Pulpatoon]

Sabyllos continues to map the complex in his head, paying particular attention to the possibility of exits. How large does this complex appear to be? What sorts of locations are they collecting refuse from? How often are they encountering drow or quaggoths, and what sort of work do they appear to be engaged in? Do they ever see the other prisoner work-crews?

[drpete]

As you go about your business, you do occasionally spot the other work crews. One group seems to mostly be engaged cooking, and the other seems to be moving around the outpost cleaning things.

After doing some manual labor, you are set to work operating a "lift" in the area around the barracks. There is a spider silk cord that runs from a heavy woven basket, through several pulleys, to a hand-cranked winch. You are tasked with operating the winch and lowering the basket (under the watchful eye of your quaggoth minders) containing two drow and two quaggoth. A few hours later, you are summoned back to winch them back up again. First you winch up several bags of mushrooms, then you lower it down again, and retrieve the drow and quaggoth group.

At the end of the day, you are brought back into the cell with the others.

Transition back to the main action thread...

[Pulpatoon]

Based on duration of operating the winch, can Sabyllos estimate how far down the elevator went?

[drpete]

Sure... give me an intelligence (investigation) check.

[drpete]

[1d20] = 3

It's pretty hard to tell... it seems like a very long way down. Maybe a couple hundred feet?

[drpete]

The guards and the quaggoth come the next day, and divide you up into groups, again. One group consists of Thoril, Sabyllos, Turvy, Shuushar and Jimjar.

Thus group's first task is to collect the various bedpans and discard their contents into the waterfall.

Jimjar seems to be sidling up to you, wanting to talk, but is hesitant because of the close proximity of the guards.

[Pulpatoon]

Sabyllos is mortified by the task, and has chokes and gags repeatedly at the smell of the chamber pots. He hurries through this part of the task, but not before making use of the noxious stench to keep the guards at a polite distance and make an opportunity to speak with Jimjar.

To Thoril: "Welcome to slops and debris duty. It's not so bad, once the bed pans are done. And it gives a chance to look around. Not that I've found much of use, as yet. But maybe your eyes will prove more acute than mine."

[drpete]

As you dump the bedpans into the waterfall, Jimjar comes over to you and says "I bet that a person could jump here, land in the water below, and not be killed... what do you think? It's pretty far, but there must be water below, right?"

If you guy want to make a perception check to try to notice things as you work, go ahead...

[ravenn4544]

Thoril takes note of the rooms and cells they clear out the bedpans from. He tries to remember their location and where there may be places to cut off the guards - just like those smart folks were talkin about.

He peers down the waterfall to see if there is an escape here and how far down it really may go...

Perception [1d20+3] = 11+3 = 14