Subject: Itrav - The game 1,110 views

[Racer Xonclar]

"But of course," Itrav replied with a faint grin. He pressed his hands a bit closer to the flames until his palms were red, pulling them back finally as he turned around and knelt next to his pack. His head snapped to another sound outside of the tent, something being blown over by the winds, before he looked back into his pack.

Standing up, he tied his waterskin to his belt, which seemed to have at least partially frozen from the sounds of it, and slipped a pair of torches under his belt at the small of his back.

"I will try to be swift so your time can be spent elsewhere," he said to them both with a faint tip of his head. "My thanks for keeping my pack," he added before walking over to the door of the tent. He felt the cold leaking in despite the fires behind him and wasn't fond of it, but he had little choice this time. Too little had gone his way. "I should have flattered them enough to ensure my belongings are safe. If not, none of them are that expensive..."

SPOILER: Click to show

My backpack and all its contents save for the two torches and the waterskin are left behind. That leaves me unencumbered, back to my listed AC and land speed.

[Shiv]

Your feet pad quickly across the snow, small indentations the only mark of you passing. Soon enough you leave the light of the outside world behind you and step into the caves. The frost has bereft this outer area of any moisture, and you have to tread carefully to avoid stepping in any ice patches. Some of the hardier moss and lichen clings to the walls and floor here, although everything is covered in a thin layer of frost. An old sign, saying ”Entering Lazar gold mine, xxxx up ahead” hangs slightly by the side of the entrance. The unintelligible words beneath “xxxx” have been scrawled over and replaced with the word ”charcoal.”

The light from the outside reaches only about thirty feet into the dark of the cave, before the path ahead plunges into complete darkness...

[Racer Xonclar]

As the darkness blotted out even his elven sight, Itrav pulled one of the torches from the back of his belt and grabbed the flint from his pouch. It was so cold the torch was being stubborn to light, but eventually the flames enveloped the head and flickering orange light surrounded him.

"With luck, I will see their torches before they see mine, but there is no guarantee. If there are still signs posted of this mine, there might be a map that shows the layout...unless they've already taken it." Itrav's lips tightened as a shiver went down his body again, his eyes cast to the cave floor in attempt to miss the ice and perhaps see tracks in this frost.

[Shiv]

You light the torch, casting long flickering shadows around you. The breeze is lighter here, and the slight by clearly noticable warmth from your carried fire feels great against your wrist and the xposed parts of your arm, where your sleeve has slid down to expose the bare skin beneath.

You quietly make you way ahead, and soon your path splits in two dircetions, left and right, a classic fork. The tunnel to your left looks much like the one you are standing in -rock floors and walls-, while the one to the right has a deep crevice full with water running along its middle, roughly three feet across but still with ample room to move along its sides. The dimiuitive river is of indeterminitable depth, and terminates in a small pond at the very midlle of the fork ahead.

The lichen and grows is more abundant to the right-hand side, possibly due to the proximity of the water, but you can feel a very slight breeze coming from the tunnel to your left. Dry wind. There is some sort of opening to further to your left, but how far is impossible to determine.

[Racer Xonclar]

Itrav's eyes watched as the torch's flame danced in the dry wind, turning his face towards it. "Likely winds from within this cave system, meaning that way leads further in. Yet, Maerah nor Kchisariol wanted to waste time with this 'test', so it is just as likely their runner left it someplace close in hopes of a speedy end. I better be thorough; at least now they would have to walk past me to leave with it."

Torch held high as to cast out the light as much as possible, Itrav turned for the right path towards the water and lichens. He held to the torch over the water a bit, casting a glance into its depths as he walked along its edge.

SPOILER: Click to show

Spot or Search check, whichever one you feel is more appropriate. I would guess Spot, since Itrav's not spending that much time and just skimming it sort of

[Shiv]

Casting a few cursory glances along the floors or wall you notice that select patches of fungi -hidden beneath the lichen- have been picked off or otherwise cleared using sharp instuments. The small stumps that are left are shriveled, dry and give you no hint as to who may have foraged here. Your quick scan of the ledge on which you stand and the adjacent "river" offers little information. The water is roughly two and a half foot deep, and you find no tracks on the ledge.

Undaunted you you push on and after only about a minute the path ahead of you opens up into a large cave, about 40 feet across. The ledge on which you walk terminates at the opening, falling off into a small lake -of unknown depth- that dominates the chamber, covering the entire floor. Lichen, fungus and other plants thrive here, clinging to walls and ceiling, feeding off the moisture from the underground lake. The air is several degrees warmer in here than the outside, all traces of the chill mountain winds wiped clean by the winding passages behind you.

At the edge of the water near you a dilapidated wooden bridge can be seen, half of which has tumbled, that once stretched across the water. The other remnants of the bridge jut out of the rock on the far side of the cave, anchored in a similar ledge to the one on which you are standing. In the shadowy outskirts of the light cast from your torch you can see what you think is another two tunnel-openings on the far side of the cave, though even your elven eyes need to get closer to be certain. You can see no easy or direct way of passage since the bridge is out, though several large rocks jut out of the water. Leaping between them, or just swiming, should not be impossible.

[Racer Xonclar]

Itrav let out a slight sigh of relief as the cold winds were lost behind him, one of the most audible sounds he had made since leaving the tent besides the sound of his feet. After his glances at the overgrown fungi, he thought, "Grown over. Good, that means whatever has been in these caves has either been gone for at least a couple of moons or has found food elsewhere."

As his eyes scanned the lake before him, his head tilted to one side slowly in thought, eyes jumping to a few drips of water. "I have no desire to become colder...or wet. Dripping clothes would also make it harder to catch them. If this women is as arrogant and annoying as described, I doubt she would have ventured into the water and I haven't seen footprints."

Torch and staff in hand, Itrav started to move across the rocks sticking out of the water. Following the most "safe" path, he stabbed the rocks he could reach with the staff to make sure they were as stable as appeared before jumping onto them.

[Shiv]

Time seems to slow down for you as you move across the small lake, leaping from rock to rock. Managing the slippery stones comes so naturally it's alomst zen-like, you barely have to pause as you pick your way, the only thing breaking the calm is the light wooshing as you bound forward.

Landing nimbly and grabbing on to a larger stalagmite. You notice a shadow under the surface of the water, larger than a man, but too indistinct to make out in the light of the torch. The far side of the lake is only a few short jumps away though, so it is your call if you wish to investigate.

[Racer Xonclar]

Neck muscles tighten and his limbs tensed as he noticed the shape in the water. His eyes gave their full attention to it, watching to see if it moved in the least. Being still, he cast a look towards the "shore" a few hops away. "An underwater cave that is warmer would make sense for an aquatic race, but they should have noticed the light..."

Taking his staff, Itrav slapped the surface of the water with one end, his legs shifted into a stance that would allow him to spring away with hopefully as much grace as he sprung there with.

[Shiv]

Your staff breaks the surface of the water, and the world explodes. The large shadow, previously still, launches itself upwards. You gain a quick glimpse of four small orbs of light that blink at you from the body of the thing before several large tentacles wrap themselves firmly around your staff and give it a good yank....

[Racer Xonclar]

An utter look of shock washed of Itrav's features as this terror of the deep shot out of the water with amazing speed. He instantly let go of the staff; there was no possible way he could contend with something this large or this fast while perched on slippery stones. Springing away during the tiny window of opportunity, Itrav landed on the other side with a roll, the tentacles swiping just behind his feet.

Crouched on the other side in a martial art like stance, one hand on the ground with the other two legs stretched out and ready for quick direction changes, he watched and listened to see if the creature had any plans of leaving it's water or if the sudden mayhem had attracted the attention of anything else. "Water...bad," he thought as he panted.

[Shiv]

Three large tentacles, slick, deep cherry red and perhensile, wrap themselves around the stalagmite you just occupied and the creature pulls itself out of the water. A deluge of minor rocks, algae and what seems to be a gnoll skull -picked clean- falling from it's large shelled body as it emerges.

You are looking at what can best be described as the offspring of a hermit crab that breeded with a dragon (or possibly a very large mind flayer) at some distant point in the past. A large part of the creatures body consists of its shell with a head bearing four eyestalks sticking out of it's end. The casing is matte gray, like the surrounding rocks, and the crustecean it contains is colored deep red, like cherries gone bad, with small yellow eyes now locked onto their prey. From within the confines of its house almost a dozen tentacles, similar to the ones gripping the rock, slither out, the smallest no bigger than an asp, the largest as thick as your arm.

With an alaming speed the monster slips its limbs forward, gripping a nearby rock and dragging itself towards your elevated ledge. It's mouth opens, showing four mandibles and rows of serrrated teeth. It'll be upon you soon and it knows it.

SPOILER: Click to show

The creature is still 10 feet away, you have initiative.

[Racer Xonclar]

Itrav stared back at the four blinking eye stalks coming towards him. Eyes darted to the tentacles, then the mandibles, then the eyes again. "No way, not when it can grab me," he hastily thought as he pulled his free hand back from his belt pouch.

With a spring from his crouched position, he dove and half rolled towards whichever side tunnel looked smaller in a glance. Making his way down the tunnel far enough that the creature would have to physically enter it to reach him, Itrav pulled the dagger from his pouch and turned on his heels. "Get stuck, get stuck," he thought as he stared back down the tunnel through the mess of black hair over his face.

[Shiv]

With the sound of a tidalwave hitting home the creature drags itself out of the water, and from your position inside the tunnel you can see the red tentacles constrict around the rocks of the entrance before the creature swings around the mouth of the tunnel and comes into plain view.

Several legs have now extracted themselves from within the creatures shell and between them and the tentacles the monster attains a surprising speed outside its natural habitat. The tunnel around you echoes with the sounds of the shell scraping and bouncing against the rock floor as your adversary comes closer.

The creature is only ten feet away when it suddenly comes to a complete stop, it's massive shell stuck between two large boulders. Wringing its body from side to side the monster tries to dislodge itself as you watch with a bemused expression.

[Racer Xonclar]

"Now!" he screamed in his mind. "I must drive it back while I have the chance or it will surely catch me leaving these caves." His lips drew razor thin as his eyes locked on the creature's eyes and with a sudden, crisp lunge, Itrav was within reach of them. One hand pulled in close against his chest, he swung his other in a wide arc towards the eyes, rolling his body with the swing in hopes to keep himself a fluid target.