The Colony - Turn 23 - In the Field Again

The group moves with uncharacteristic speed and heads back out into the wilderness.


Start Date: July 31, morning
Start Status: Back and forth
Start Location: New Kavlin

The Turn

Adventuring: Mendel, Rennard, Jinx, Zenobe, Xon, Sim, Kessel
At the Tulip: Aaron, Adrienne, Brigg, Hagan, Javiera, Maarek, Smoke

The party wastes no time in arranging their next outing. The lizard den is relatively close to town and they want to revisit the site and finish exploring it before anyone else can. After stocking up on rations and assorted tools that may prove useful in clearing the partially blocked passage, the group sets out in the morning, heading north along the road to Vinehold, then turning east toward Oakfell. The clear and sunny weather makes for smooth traveling, and the party reaches the lumber camp before noon. They take a break in the shade of the trees and Kessel asks to see Bino Offut, hoping to find out if anything has happened since the group last passed through the area. The foreman reports that all has been quiet.

After a snack, the party heads east through the woods, following rough lumber trails when they can, by early afternoon they are out of the trees and into the scrubby grasslands around the lizard den. It doesn't take long to find the deep cut in the earth, and everyone notices the terrible smell as they descend into the ravine. Vultures perch in nearby trees, but it doesn't seem like they've dared the cave. The party's scuffed tracks leading into and out of the cave make it difficult to tell if anything else has paid a visit.

With Xon and Rennard in the lead, the group makes their way into the cave. The foul odor of rotting meat mixes with the previously noted acrid stench, creating a truly disgusting smell. At the split, the group turns right and heads down the previously unexplored passage. The tunnel is 8 to 10 feet wide and slopes down sharply. About 30 feet in it splits, with branches running north, south and ahead.

The narrow north tunnel leads to a dead-end chamber, little more than a rough crevice in the rock. The south passage opens into a 15 x 20 foot cave with a south wall that shows signs of being worked. A short passage leads about 5 feet south before ending in an unfinished wall.

While the others check out these two side passages, Kessel and Sim keep watch in the main hallway, which continues west. Both note spattered guano on the cave floor and Kessel spots a few bats clinging to the ceiling overhead. When the others complete their exploration, the group moves west. The guano layer gets thicker and the bats become more numerous. "I guess we know where the original smell came from," says Jinx wrinkling his nose in distaste.

The tunnel ends in a pair of linked caves. Their 20-foot high ceilings are covered in swarms of slumbering bats who stir a bit as the smoke from the group's torches reaches them. Guano covers the floors in both chambers and taints the pool that fills the west end of the first. In the second chamber, someone or something has made a crude serpent shape out of stones on the floor. The rocks are barely visible above the thick layer of bat poo.

"We shouldn't tarry here," says Sim. "If we disturb the bats too much, it may get messy. Anyone want to try anything in here before we go?"

Meanwhile, back at the Tulip

Candle decides to accompany his brother One-eye down south and see if he can learn more about the surrounding lands. Nogg spends the day looking for the missing Shade and wandering around town.

OOC

The party should set a watch order.

End Date: July 31, afternoon
End Status: The Bat Cave
End Location: In the lizard caves (hex 39 27)

Blog readers may have noticed the character list has gotten shorter. Two players have dropped from the game, leaving the group size at seven. Most of the characters have already been written out of the active turns, and the rest will follow in the next week or so.