Adventure #2 – The Lion's Den (Autumn)

[reefwood]

The Lion's Den
(Autumn)

Mid-spring

Rill the Ever Flow sends Maul the Dire Wolverine and Crest the Heron on a task outside the Valley. This requires the remaining Caretakers to assist in patrolling the Peaks the surround the Valley and the Waterways which cut through it.

* * * * *

Autumn

Stalk, the Twilight Hunt, looks over the Caretakers once more as the day comes to an end, and then, turns towards the field. The Patron of the Grassland blends in well amidst the tall grasses and fades away as the light above dims to darkness.

Talon the Pteranodon takes to the skies, but the others spend the night together. Centipede sends Skunk hunting for food and curls up away from the group. Spider spins a web in which to sleep.

The night passes uneventfully, but Gorilla wakes right before sunrise to the smell of blood on the breeze. The group marches northwest to investigate. An hour passes as the dense fields open into the sparse savannah. The fact that the scent has carried this far indicates a large amount of blood must have been spilled, and it is now accompanied by a hint of decay.

Another half hour leads the group to the scene, which in addition to the blood and decay in the air, also has a foul tinge to it. Several dead gazelles that have been torn apart but remain largely uneaten. A search of the area reveals the tracks of many more gazelles and where they fell but no longer lie. There are also lion tracks. At least a dozen. They chased down the herd and killed far more than necessary. Finally, a third set of tracks is discovered. Clawed and padded, like a lion, but also humanoid in shape. They march in single file away from the scene.

This trails takes the group two hours west to the base of the cliff line that borders the Grassland. The tracks lead to an opening that is unfamiliar to Wolf. Spider proceeds carefully. She climbs onto the wall and approaches the opening from above. The tracks vanish in the stone tunnel, but the lion odor and foul tinge in the air emanate from it. There is no obvious sound or smell of danger, so she enters the opening, and it bursts into flame. Luckily, she is able to avoid the brunt of it. The other Caretakers close in, and Wolf is able to detect magic, but it dissipates before he has a chance to identify it.

The group enters the tunnel, which is pitch black and leads upward. At what later turns out to be the halfway point, a dark haze hangs in the tunnel. It is thick with a stench matching but much stronger than the foul tinge. It poisons the air, and breathing it in poses a serious risk, but the Caretakers push forward.

The dark haze turns yellow-brown as the first hint of light ahead begins to illuminate the tunnel. They have nearly reached the surface. The smell of decay wafts in from above, and faint sounds can be heard coming from outside the tunnel. Spider crawls out ahead of the other Caretakers to investigate. She senses many beings in small clusters just beyond the tunnel and hears the sound of chewing all around her. Beneath the smell of decay is a strong scent of gazelle and faint scent of lion. She passes between a pair of clusters, and some of the beings moved toward her. It is followed by shouting in an unfamiliar language. Centipede is the next to emerge from the tunnel, but blocks the way for the others to exit. Eventually, however, they all make it to the surface and defeat a mass of zombies and handful of ghouls. They had been feasting on five dead gazelles laid around the tunnel opening.

The uneven but relatively flat rocky ground indicates that they have surfaced atop of the cliff line. The portion beyond the protection of the Valley. The only visible remaining signs of the trail are an occasional strand of fur or drop of blood, but even in the open air, as foul as it may be from the haze, the keen noses of Gorilla and Wolf still pick up the scent. It leads north into the mountains.

The breeze opens occasional patches of clear air, but they are small and fleeting, so it is difficult to get a proper lay of the land or know what is in the distance. The group does come across the skeleton of a long dead humanoid encased in a rusted metal shell, but their march is otherwise uneventful until the scent of lion grows stronger. A being is sensed up ahead and can be heard marching back and forth. What unfolds is a battle between the Caretakers and ten large lion-humanoid hybrids and a huge one too. As the large hybrids fall and bleed out, they transform into smaller beings. Dark-skinned humanoid with pointed ears.

* * * * *

Gorilla restrains the final lion-humanoid hybrid still standing while Spider cocoons it in silk. It struggles and shouts angrily but cannot break free nor be understood by any of the Caretakers. Most of the fallen have transformed into smaller fully humanoid forms. Dead. Yet still the first humanoids in the flesh that any of these Caretakers have seen. Black skin, white hair, pointed ears. Wolf recognizes them as subterranean elves, also known as drow. The largest lion-humanoid hybrid has also transformed into a humanoid, but he is no elf, nor does he shrink in size. Also, three of the lion-humanoid hybrids have maintained their form. Fallen but still breathing.

The yellow-brown haze continues to hang in the air and hamper visibility. However, despite the shouting of the still conscious lion-humanoid beast, Gorilla hears faint whimpers not too far, and the smell of blood grows strong again. Walking in the direction from where most of the hybrids emerged, there are several dead gazelles. The source of the whimpering is also discovered – five lion cubs.

[OOC: Let me know what you want to do.]

[icnivad]

The hairs on Silk's legs bristle with the wind from the breathing of the still live hybrids. Unnoticeable to most, by quite clear to her. Who are these humanoids? Are they tasty? Hm. I suppose we might yet have questions for them. The smell of blood -- still live blood -- present on them as well... so tasty... so tempting. *click* She shakes off the hunger, noting how much travel they've done. She should remember to pack a snack next time. Maaybe after we've questioned them she will have a snack.

*click*

Spider nudges wolf, and points a foreleg at the still breathing hybrids, in case they need healing, then scurries over to cocoon them, in case they wake up.

[reefwood]

DM Post

Silk the Spider cocoons one of the three still breathing hybrids but runs out of webbing halfway through cocooning the second one.


[OOC: It seems like there needs be a limit on how much webbing a spider can create. I'm sure it was never included in the rules since most spiders just last a single combat before being killed or running away. However, having a PC spider changes this a lot, but we only have one or two more sessions to go, so I don't want to dig too much into it. This my simple ruling:

A spider has webbing units equal to size x HD x10.
Laying down a web requires 1 unit per 5-ft square. A spider can cover an area equal to its size in 1 round.
Shooting a creature with a web to entangle it requires 10 units per 5-ft square (Medium creature).
Cocooning a creature requires 20 webbing unit per 5-ft square. A spider can cocoon a creature equal to its size in 1 minute.
Eating a creature equal to the size of the spider will replenish webbing units for the next day.

A Large spider (4 squares) with 5 HD has 200 webbing units. It can lay down (or put up) a web that is 12 squares x 12 squares (60 ft x 60 ft) for 144 units, entangle 2 Medium creatures for 20 units, and cocoon 2 Medium creatures for 40 units. This is a total of 204 units, which means the last creature is only 3/4's cocooned (16/20 webbing units). Alternatively, it can cocoon 2 Large creatures for 160 units (4 square creature x 20 units = 80 units per creature) and entangle 4 Medium creatures for 40 units (1 square creature x 10 units = 10 units per creature). Either way, if the spider eats 4 Medium creatures in a day, it will replenish 200 units the next day. If it only eats 2 Medium creatures, it will only replenish 100 webbing units.

A Medium spider (1 square) with 3 HD has 30 webbing units. It can lay down (or put up) a web that is 4 squares x 4 squares (20 ft x 20 ft) for 16 units, entangle 1 Small creature for 5 units, and cocoon 1 Small creature for 10 units in 5 rounds. That is a total of 31 units, which means this creature is 9/10's cocooned (9/10 webbing units).


This isn't by any means perfect, but I'm trying to balance reality with fantasy and simplicity. A spider in the real world can make a much bigger web relative to its size, but it only needs to eat once or twice a week, and usually smaller creatures, so being able to cocoon a handful of smaller creatures per week would probably more than enough. Therefore, real world spider stats may not make for a good PC, so the web doesn't get too crazy big with this rules, but more creatures can be entangled and cocooned. Also, it makes sense that webbing is limited...kind of like spells per day or other class abilities (i.e. inspire, rage, etc).]

[Darwin]

Gorilla wants to stabilize the living, but make sure they are either bound or webbed before they wake. Also...wants to pray for comprehend languages whenever he gets a chance to change out spells.

[reefwood]

DM Post

Gorilla inspects the unconscious hybrids as Silk binds them. Their injuries are serious, but they are in no immediate danger of death.

The midday sun cannot be seen through the yellow-brown haze, which poisons the air. Surviving outside the Valley for long may prove difficult, if not deadly, and it will not be until the next morning that Gorilla can pray to Vine for new blessings.


[OOC: The time is 1pm. Everyone post your Fortitude save modifier, and I can make rolls as needed,]

[icnivad]

Jan 29, 2016 15:55:54 GMT -5 reefwood said:

It seems like there needs be a limit on how much webbing a spider can create. I'm sure it was never included in the rules since most spiders just last a single combat before being killed or running away.

The "Web" special attack does have a limit of 8 per day, which I have been tracking. Although your rules make a lot more since since they take into account hit die, size, and the other uses of web, so I like it. One question: We don't usually handle/track food in our games. I assume that all characters are eating as we go. Either bringing along food, or foraging. I guess I'm not quite sure how this is going to change anything, since eating is usually just assumed to be happening. It might make more sense to have the webbing reset after 8 hours of sleep, like spells and most special abilities.

After running out of web, Silk would follow the sounds of whimpering.

[reefwood]

DM Post

The sounds of whimpering are not far. They come from four small creatures huddled together on the ground. A fifth creature, slightly larger than the others but still smaller than Silk, steps out of the huddle toward the black widow and growls.


[OOC: Yes and no. The Valley has plenty of food, so the requirement of needing to feed isn't something that will be much of an issue. As long as you are in the Valley, this won't be something to worry about at all. Unless you get trapped somewhere for more than a day. However, spells and class abilities are on the magical side of the spectrum, which makes sense why they automatically reset everyday, but I like the idea of tying natural abilities to natural resources. Along these natural lines, if one does go without food for a while, the body does has resources stored up to keep things going for a bit. So, I will add that if you don't have access to food, the webbing can still be reset, but at 50% less than the previous day. If a creature has 120 webbing units and goes without food for days, it can produce 60 units on day 2, 30 units on day 3, and 15 units of day 4. 50% does seem kind of rough, but starving is also pretty rough, especially while being very active as tends to be the case while adventuring. Also, in this kind of situation, the units produced are added to what remains from the previous day, so if the spider has 45 units left from the first day, it will have a total of 105 units on day 2.

Again, I don't know if the lack of food will come up, but I want to have a simple way to handle it just in case.]

Feb 12, 2016 14:05:29 GMT -5 icnivad said:

Jan 29, 2016 15:55:54 GMT -5 reefwood said:

It seems like there needs be a limit on how much webbing a spider can create. I'm sure it was never included in the rules since most spiders just last a single combat before being killed or running away.

The "Web" special attack does have a limit of 8 per day, which I have been tracking. Although your rules make a lot more since since they take into account hit die, size, and the other uses of web, so I like it. One question: We don't usually handle/track food in our games. I assume that all characters are eating as we go. Either bringing along food, or foraging. I guess I'm not quite sure how this is going to change anything, since eating is usually just assumed to be happening. It might make more sense to have the webbing reset after 8 hours of sleep, like spells and most special abilities.

After running out of web, Silk would follow the sounds of whimpering.

[reefwood]

Final DM Post

Centipede, Gorilla, and Wolf are still gathered around the hybrids when a squawking is heard above. It is impossible to see the source through the haze, but Gorilla and Wolf recognize spellcasting when they hear it. The squawking lasts only a few seconds, and as they are looking up, Gorilla sees an orange glowing bead drop rapidly through the haze. It hits the ground as he shouts a warning, and the bead bursts into a ball of fire, which consumes everything, including the adjacent Caretakers (45 points fire damage). The flames leave nothing untouched. Even the nearby haze has been burned away. The rocky ground is charred black. The web cocoons encasing the hybrids are all but burnt away, and the hybrids are little more than smoking husks. Centipede rears up ready to strike. Gorilla calls upon blessings to protect the group. Wolf transforms into a bird and takes flight. More squawking.

* * * * *

Silk hears squawking, Gorilla shout, and then, feels the heat of an explosion behind her. She debates whether to make a quick meal of the small, growling beast or turn around to aid the other Caretakers. More squawking. She makes her move only to find that the haze has grown thicker. Like mud. All her strength is required to take only a few steps. It becomes more difficult to hear, or even breathe. Her senses all but lose track of the small beasts, but her feet their vibrations on the ground. Moving away with her, and seemingly, with no difficulty.

* * * * *

The squawking subsides. The haze still lingering around the scorched area begins to rolling into the area. Wolf is the first to reach it as he flies up and finds that it has thickened. Too much for him to penetrate in flight. Centipede is the only one who can maneuver through it. He is able to reach Silk and bring her back to cleared area that continues to shrink. However, Wolf is able to hold the haze at bay with fire spells. Only a small area and temporarily, but as his flames fade away, the haze finally returns to normal. Though, normal is a relative term, and this poisoned air continues to sicken the Caretakers.

Wolf takes flight to pick up the scent of the spellcasting squawker. Meanwhile the others do a quick survey of the area. The hybrids all dead, and the small beasts have fled into a crack too small for the others to follow. Wolf returns a minute later. He has found the scent. Seemingly of bird. Presumably one with a natural flight that is faster than his. He could keep following it but who knows for how long, and he would be on his own to face an unknown threat. He could also transform into a small creature to go after the small beasts, but again, he would be unaided, and eventually, the poisoned air may kill him in either case.

The Caretakers retreat to the tunnel and make their way back to Valley. Upon stepping back into the Grassland, they find Skunk with a freshly killed giraffe for them to eat.