Talk:Escape from Mimmarudla

The DM: Continued from First Aid.

July 4th

The bottom layer looks at least 8 cub.ft; call the one above 6 and the one above that 5; then 3, 2 & 2, for a total of 26. Vafrandir and Pandred get 10 of that completed.

The DM: I was going to say, a refridgerator is typically 22 cubic ft on the inside. The proposed cairn looks bigger than that.

The DM: After seeing about the bottle and the staff, once again Lexent gains 2 hp from rest and Marcule 1. I’m not certain, I think Marcule is up to full. How is Lexent?

Vafrandir: The picture I linked was an example. I agree, it is much larger than 10 cubic ft. But, we don't have time at the moment. If we build it as a square tower 1.5 ft on a side, that gives us a height of a little less than 4.5 ft. I'd say that's a good start if not quite an epic paleolith.

Lexent: Assuming that that is the healing gained for resting through the 4th, At the beginning of the 5th I will still be down 0.8 injury points and 6 HP.

The DM: We're not at the 5th yet. We're at the morning of the 4th. Let's not talk about the 5th until we're at the 5th. What are you down right now?

Lexent: My bad. I was thinking one day ahead. Was the bottle used on the third? Those figures would be for the morning of the 4th.

Lexent: Now that I have my days straight and it is the morning of the 4th, I use the Staff to heal 3+2+2=7 HP. I am now down to 0.1 Injury points and missing 6 HP.

The DM: Would someone better than me at math like to take a look at this, https://coast.noaa.gov/data/digitalcoast/pdf/canvis-height-horizon-calculation.pdf, and see if they can calculate how far a 4 ft. cairn would appear at least 1 in. tall?

Vafrandir: 144 ft away. Not very far.

The DM: If it wasn’t used on the 3rd, then it is too late now Lexent.

The DM: 1 inch is pretty big. What about 1/8th of an inch?

Vafrandir: 1152 ft or about a quarter mile.

Pandred: Take 4 more, Lex. That's my bottle.

Lexent: That puts me down only 3 HP.

The DM: Puts your goals for the cairn in context, then.

The DM: And you can work, Lexent, move around, help with the camp, etc. What are the plans for today?

Vafrandir: Yes, I view the cairn as a good start rather than a finished work.

Lexent: I notice that Vafrandir is still down 9 HP. Would we like to head back to the pit today, and if so, would you like me to cure light wounds first?

Vafrandir: What's the weather like today?

The DM: Just calculating. Cool, with a squall that dropped a little rain for half an hour, but that's past now. You have cloudy skies with some blue and a gentle breeze blowing.

Vafrandir: Let's scout out the area a bit today before heading down the hole. I would like that healing, Lexent, if you'd be so kind.

Lexent: I cast cure light wounds for 3+4=7 HP and apply it all to Vafrandir.

Lexent: I agree with scouting and head back up the mountain

Vafrandir: Beautiful. I go with Lexent.

Marcule: In. I am at full HP. Scouting sounds like a good idea.

The DM: Okay, you set out to explore the area within 2 miles, agreed? That’s 2 miles from where your camp is now, at the base of the ascent, not where the cairn is. Correct?

Vafrandir: That is my understanding.

Lexent: Yep.

Scouting

The DM: Setting off in a random direction, you decide to follow the base of the mountain (that is, the ascent) towards the south; you find a largish lake, about a mile long, reaching off to the south; and you climb a low spur and see another lake, a little larger, that might be a fjord (you can’t see the south end).

The DM: This second lake, or fjord, butts against the mountain; you must either climb three hundred feet up this south side of the mountain, or move southward along the lake/fjord. You can determine its nature by approaching the lake and seeing if it is salt water; but just now, it is still a half mile away.

The DM: that is, you must climb or go south, because the water blocks your way.

Lexent: I would recommend climbing as I believe that would have a greater chance of finding some connection to the dungeon complex. Opinions?

Marcule: "The question is are we equip to climb?, the last thing we want to do is loose our life to a fjord"

Lexent: Oh. I had not been thinking a vertical climb. How steep is the climb?

The DM: Not worse than the climb has been up to the tarn and dungeon.

Party’s scouting route shown in yellow; stop at top of spur, or “ridge.”

The DM: I trust that’s helpful. Sorry if the scales don’t exactly line up regarding the locations described.

Lexent: Then yes, up. I believe some of our intent with scouting is to see if we can discover how the skeletal wolves got out of the dungeon.

Vafrandir: Agreed. It may take some time but I believe its worth it to understand the nature of this dungeon.

Lexent: Should we then say that we focus our scouting on the area in and around the cirque and its tarn?

Pandred: Acceptable to me.

The DM: The tarn will be up and over that grey area from your depicted location; from the “Camp,” it will be another mile, at a direction of 2 o’clock (that last direction was never given). As you reach the top of today’s climb, those 300 ft., taking you about an hour, that gets you onto a narrow plateau, before a really big ridge between you and where the dungeon ought to be. You’re on the other side of the heights that you would have seen on the south side of the tarn. Hope that’s comprehensible.

The DM: Updated the map; from this vantage point, you can see that is a fjord.

Lexent: Does that large ridge appear to be something we could climb with no greater difficulty than we have already dealt with?

The DM: No, not really. There's ice up there, and quite a bit of bare stone and falls. Not really safe to go up there without mountaineering skill.

The DM: Above you, you hear a tremendous scream, enough to shatter your ears, coming from above you.

Marcule: Do i see anything?

Lexent: Up toward the ridge? or directly above us in the air?

The DM: There’s an eagle with a 20 ft. wingspan and a large body, twice as long as Pandred is tall. It is hundreds of yards above you, riding the wind, but watching every movement on the ground.

Lexent: Well, hopefully that will leave us alone. Assuming it does, the question is whether we continue trying to work our way around the outside of the cirque towards the east and north or head back to the zone of abrasion to scout its interior. Does there seem to be a reasonable path to continue our scouting around the mountain?

The DM: If you want to continue east from here, there is easy hiking above the north end of the fjord; then it looks like a cleft between the mountain on the left and a stone hump on the right. You can’t see past that.

Lexent: Just in case, I draw my sling and a stone. I watch the eagle for a couple of minutes. Does it do anything else notable?

The DM: From here, you don’t see any obvious way down to the plain beyond the fjord; the passage to the cleft is all through this upper plateau (which is about a quarter mile wide).

The DM: The eagle is not searching along the cliff. It is wafting back and forth in the air above you.

Lexent: "Well, which way now, my friends?"

Marcule: "I wish I had a better idea of what we are looking for"

Vafrandir: We're looking for a hint of where the skeletons might have come from - and beyond that it's good to get a lay of the land. If we see nothing then I think we can assume they came up from the hole somehow. I vote we head through the cleft.

The DM: It’s about a mile away.

Pandred: I'm down for the cleft.

Lexent: I find that acceptable. I start in that direction, still keeping my eye on that eagle from time to time.

Lexent: "I'm glad we have You and Vafrandir here, Pandred. Marcule or I might make a tempting morsel for that bird."

The Eagle

The DM: As you begin to move along the plateau, there are rocks and places where you have to pull yourselves up or ease yourselves down. Habitually, the party members, particularly Marcule, keep an eye on the eagle. You hardly go a hundred feet before you see it close its wings and start to swoop towards you, not in a full-out dive. The fighters and Marcule note there are places of cover all around.

Vafrandir: Let's take some of that cover, particularly the smaller of us!

Lexent: Is there an upper limit to the amount of time that a sling may be kept spinning?

Pandred: I'll take cover!

Lexent: I follow Pandred to cover.

The DM: I’ll say practicably, for a cleric, two rounds per level. Mark that, because I’ll forget to add that rule to the wiki!

The DM: But Lexent, you’ll have to stand out of cover and look like a nice tasty morsel all alone.

The DM: The eagle will drop to within 150 feet above you, effective striking distance. If it dives from this height, it’s an initiative roll to see who hits first. The eagle might a bonus, but since no one here is an animal expert ...

Lexent: Thank you. Just wanted the information in case it seemed prudent, but as stated, I follow Pandred to cover.

The DM: Because of the speed of the dive and the distortion of firing into the air against the sky, there is NO attack of opportunity; you can fire at the creature, but you must win initiative to have any chance of hitting it. Initiative also means “having your nerves together enough to aim as a huge monster is moving at the speed of gravity towards you.”

Vafrandir: I'm not sure any of us is large enough to absorb a direct hit from a bird of that size.

The DM: Have to think your way out of this one.

Lexent: I think our course of action will depend upon the eagle's tactics. It looks like we're all trying to take cover to start with.

The DM: Chances, are, eventually it will give up; but by then, it could be much nearer to sunset and you might find yourselves trapped up here until the next morning ... and that wouldn’t be good.

The DM: You’re under cover now.

Marcule: "I can cast wall of fog to give us some cover"

The DM: Done. The wind is gentle today, so it will last for the spell duration.

Lexent: Where is the eagle at this point?