A Keg for Dragon [IC]

[ArawnNox]

Lauren seems more than relieved to be on the ground again, the squat dwarf not used to such heights, unfettered. She pants for a moment, leaning on her halberd. She wipes the blood off her neck, the color returning to her face. "We should be able t'make it. Ow... one of th' lil bastards got a lucky shot..."

[Catodon]

Vandarzryx pulls a pig bladder from his pouch and swallows it. He then reaches into his pouch and retrieves a second bladder carefully offering it to Lauren between his teeth.

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Vitality potions
heals vitality (2d6=6)
Now on 24 Vitality(full)

[Fiendbasher]

Ssryn bobs her head in agreement upon hearing the news... that's enough for her. The sooner they departed the better, in her mind... it would be good to be back before it starts to get cool. Giving her gear another brief once-over, she straightens up and waits for the others to start moving.

[ludomastro]

Is the big lizard growing a heart? Could we actually be rubbing off on him?

Fluffing his hair and smiling Alexander starts toward the cave.  He is oddly quiet for once.

[Fiendbasher]

Wordlessly, the naga follows after Alexander without so much as a look back. Once they limits she presses ahead of the group, though not far... without a path to follow she doesn't have absolute knowledge of where they are going. Able to lower her upper body nearly to the ground as she slides along, Ssryn can use even improbable looking cover to blend into the terrain, only popping up as far as she needs to in order to look around now and then and flick her forked tongue into the air. The light breakfast she took in the morning as well as the adequate sunning has her feeling sharp, alert and quick.

She takes special care this time, as unlike on the road to the village, she is quite certain of the possibility of an ambush.

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Some rolls you might need. Use any applicable, ignore the rest, and feel free to roll for me if you think it's more appropriate or if I missed something.

Sneak: 1d20+9=23
Blend: 1d20+2=3 error... lol
Notice: 1d20+5=13
Search: 1d20+2=10
Survival: 1d20+2=12

Since she is taking 'special care' throw one Action Die in there wherever it will help most (unless that's nowhere). As far as I know the error cannot be cancelled out by AD use but perhaps that roll wasn't necessary.

AD: 1d6=6+1d6=1. Oh what's the code to handle exploding dice on invisible castle, for future reference?

[ArawnNox]

Lawren declines the offer of the vitality potion. It won't do the wound on her neck any good. She just patches up the bleeding, assuring her companions that she'll be fine.

She follows the group into the woods, taking the lead, pointing as to point the way to the cave.

[Antilles]

As soon as their little conference is complete, the party sets out for Church's hideout. The area around the village is fairly lightly forested, but grows thicker and thicker the farther out they get. The last couple hundred meters Vandarzryx finds he has to zigzag around trees often enough that it is becoming a right nuisance.

Ssryn moves silently ahead of the group, popping in and out of sight. She keeps her eyes and ears open for any ambushes, but the only thing she hears is the sound of local wildlife moving away from the drake lumbering up behind her. As she approaches the hill where the cave is supposed to be, she picks up a track. Boots, at least a day old, coming from the village and towards the cave. Probably took a slightly different route here which would explain why she didn't pick up the tracks before now. She does a complete loop around the hill looking for more tracks, but find none.

As the rest of the party approaches the hillside, they can see Ssryn examining the rock face, looking for the way in. As it turns out, most of the rock is covered in moss, but the part in middle that's most thickly covered in moss is in fact a mesh-like curtain of thin vines covered by a layer of moss. It's a good trick as well as a pretty good camouflage, though when one knows what to look for and where it doesn't stand long against scrutiny. Peeking through the curtain, she can see a fairly narrow opening (it'll be a tight squeeze for the drake, if he wishes to accompany you inside) though she can sense it opens up pretty significantly shortly inside. She can also barely hear something, a rhythmic yet irregular noise coming from somewhere inside the cave, too faint for her to accurately guess at what might be causing that noise.

[Fiendbasher]

Ssryn twists her torso to face the others and brings a slim, clawed index finger up before the tip of her snout in a humanoid "shush" gesture.

In a sibilant whisper she utters, "The entranz iz narrow, but openz up ffurther insside. Ssomeone haz been here in the pazt ffew dayz... perhapss the one we sseek. I hear ssomething inzide... not ssure what, perhapz hammerz?"

"I will sslip in and make ssure it is ssafe pazt the entranz."

With that the naga thrusts a slender hand through the curtain of vegetation once again, and parts it. Gathering her coils close behind her, she pushes her upper body through silently and cautiously, leaning forward and looking around before pulling her tail in after her. She continues to move forward in the same manner until she can peek from low down into the area beyond the narrow entrance.

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Rolls, use as needed, ignore if not applicable.
Sneak: 1d20+9=28 Threat - probably not necessary though.
Notice: 1d20+5=17
Search: 1d20+2=20

To save time, if it's all clear, she will simply slide back out and silently wave the others in. 

[Antilles]

The naga quietly and deftly slips into the cave entrance, disrupting the 'living' curtain no more than a gust of wind would've done. She finds a tunnel roughly the same size as the entrance sloping gently down and around a bend, from which a glimmer of light can be seen. Slithering up towards the bend quietly and low on the ground, she finds the tunnel opens up into a roughly circular cave of surprising size. If they wouldn't mind living cramped, there would be room for a dozen drakes of Vandarzryx's size here. At either side of the cave, from Ssryn's point of view, there appears to be smaller alcoves or perhaps tunnels, it's difficult to see from this angle. At the opposite side there is a tunnel much like the one she is in now, disappearing down the into darkness.

The main chamber is very interesting. Rather than some rough hideout, it is fairly decently furnished. Several pieces of furniture, a (currently lit) firepit with nearby implements for cooking, and off to the side a decent circle of sand with several straw dummies set up, obviously for weapons practice. In the middle of this circle there is a shirtless person currently practicing unarmed strikes, hitting a dummy with a series of punches and elbow strikes. Ssryn's too far away to make out particular identifying marks, but seeing as this person is shorter, wider, more muscular and more tattooed than the description of what Chapel looked like it seems a fairly sure bet that this isn't Chapel.

Judging that she's discovered as much as she can from her current viewpoint, Ssryn slips back out and quietly informs the rest of the party of what's inside the cave.

[Catodon]

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I have 3AD and will give away 2 using wise council. If you can see and hear Vandarzryx and need an AD just take it. Don't ask and don't wait for a reply that takes too long just use it.

[ludomastro]

In a low voice, away from the cave opening, Alexander asks, "Shall we announce ourselves or shall we try to draw him out?"

"I'm all for playing jaunty little tune while sitting under that tree.  As he comes out to investigate you all will be in a position to grab him ... if necessary."

[Catodon]

Vandarzryx speaks in a low rumble "From the generals of the folk I have learn that it is better to choose  the field of battle than to have it chosen for you...it is also better to talk then unleash carnage. If we draw him out I will plummet from above, landing in front of the cave mouth. He dare not fight through me to regain the safety of the cavern. Then in awe of my majesty he will be forced to talk."

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Plummet in game terms:
 I could take a 'run' for 4x move = 160' in one full round action but will land flat-footed. I figure if I'm 160' above the cave this reduces the chance he will detect me before the trap is sprung.
What to the other players think?

[Fiendbasher]

"Good enuffff," the naga whispers sharply, and quickly turns and slips out of sight behind cover nearby.

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Assuming there is any cover... I imagine near a cave there are likely to be rocks and/or shrubs she could conceal herself behind. If not, she could press up against the wall alongside the entrance so that someone coming out would not likely see her unless they turned to go back in.

Blend: 1d20+2=4 A 2, but still not an error... Hand of Death applies. Minimum up to success needed or 22, whichever is lower.

[Catodon]

There is a rush of wind as the great drake suddenly takes to the air.

[ludomastro]

Nodding to his companions, Alexander, sits down with his back against the nearest tree and his face perpendicular to the cave opening.  He begins tuning his lute and, once tuned, he begins singing the bar song he has been working on.  He continues to get louder as he plays until he reaches full "busy tavern" volume.

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If a tree is more than 10 to 15 feet away, he'll sit about the same distance from the cave opening on a rock.

Do I need to make a roll for this?  I see it as something of a non-combat feint or perhaps a Taunt but substituting the Fixated result.