Lini Bagwhistle has reached the limits of her patience. For the seventh time now, Turnin and Garthog are discussing their options, trying to divine the best strategy to enter the Dripping Caverns. Meanwhile, the goblins and ogres inside are entrenching their positions and who knows what terrible things they are doing to their captives. Enough talk, it’s time for action!
As if on cue, Turnin quaffs the potion of heroism and charges into the dark cave. Lini chokes back a giggle as she watches the dwarf attempt to hitch up his chainmail while running. Even in the heat of battle she is able to find joy in the smallest things, such as the dwarf’s ill-fitting armor. Lini dashes into the cavern after Turnin, but is unable to hold back her laughter. Her laughter then becomes a roar as she wills herself to Wildshape into the form of a brown bear.
Lini marvels at the power and grace of the mighty bear. While in beast form its almost as if her consciousness is separate from the bear’s instincts and reflexes. This allows her to observe her surroundings in a way that isn’t possible while in gnome form. She can see arrows flying towards Turnin but they glance harmlessly off his mail. Although a bear’s vision isn’t particularly good, it’s hearing and sense of smell are amazing. As she charges in, all her senses combine to give her an instant image of the scene of the battle.
The cavern is well-lit by the Flaming Sphere that she cast earlier. Its blaze casts bright light on the east side of the cavern and reveals a couple goblins scampering about on stone ledges attempting to take advantage of their high ground, as well as an opening to the east. Straight ahead are several stalagmites that have grown all the way up to the cavern roof, forming weirdly shaped pillars. A glowing javelin lays on the ground among the stalagmites, its light casting shadows all around the cave. To the west is a simmering pit of hot mud, and next to it is a muddy ogre with a couple javelins stuck in its thick hide. Lini lets the bear instincts have control, and she runs straight for the ogre.
With Turnin and Lini drawing fire from the goblins, the rest of the party charges in. Garthog and Îoldír make their ranged attacks while Kigash hurls a javelin at the ogre. Kendrith moves in stealthily and shoots at a goblin, dropping it. Lini is dimly aware of the battle raging around her, but her attention is drawn by something else that the bear can sense. Lini focuses on the bear’s sense of smell and she is suddenly jolted by the intense sensations of observing the world around her through a bear’s nose. The flood of data is overwhelming, and she has to pull back and then more slowly absorb the olfactory information swirling around her.
Above all, the cavern reeks of goblins and fear. The ogres emit a strong peppery presence but they are too stupid to be afraid. But the smell of goblin and the smell of fear are intermingled, as if fear defines their very existence. In the shadows, skulking at a distance, she can smell their scheming. The bear lashes out with a swipe from its mighty paw and the fearsome claws slash the ogre’s stomach wide open. The ogre gets a confused look on its face as it feels blood and viscera dripping down its leg. Its eyes open wide as it looks down and sees the gaping wound. The ogre drops its club and grabs at its belly with both hands, desperately trying to hold in its guts but fails. It collapses dead on the cavern floor and Lini moves on to a pair of goblins.
The smell of many humans comes wafting from the east, and Lini wills the flaming sphere to roll towards a side cavern. It illuminates a large cave and she can barely distinguish several huddled forms. Her bear instincts demand her attention and she turns back to the goblins before her. With a growl she chomps down on the shoulder of the goblin on her left and feels bones cracking within her powerful jaws. Flinging that goblin aside she turns to the one on her right and lashes out again with her sharp claws. Lini almost feels sorry for the goblin when she sees its head taken clean off its shoulders and fly across the cavern, coming to a stop at the base of a stalagmite. But her bear instincts are in charge right now, and she paces the cavern, trying to sniff out more sneaking goblins to kill.
Lini searches about using the bear’s sense of smell. As she immerses herself deeper into a bear’s view of the world she is less and less able to observe the world through Lini’s eyes and ears. She is aware that that Kigash has killed the other ogre and that the others in the party are moving towards the cave where the humans are trapped, but it takes great effort to shift her focus from the bear’s perspective to that of a gnome. So she tunes out the sounds of speech and listens to the sounds of the cave. Off to the west, in the back of the main cavern she senses a whisper of sound, like the sound of soft leather sliding across a moist rock.
Lini bounds across the cave and sniffs about, discovering a lone goblin crouching behind a rock. She roars a warning, but the goblin slinks away before she can attack. Îoldír catches the movement out of the corner of his eye and he fires his longbow from across the cavern. The arrow pierces the goblin’s chest and it drops to the ground gravely wounded. Lini wheels about and continues her search for more goblins.
Becoming more acquainted with using her bear-form sense of smell, Lini is able to discern some of the more subtle details. In addition to the strong presence of goblin, ogre, and human, she detects some scent-related facts about her companions. It seems Kigash hasn’t bathed in three weeks, and the last time she did bathe it consisted of rubbing her body with dead rodents. Garthog’s beard oil is starting to turn rancid, a fact he’ll probably notice in a week or so. Turnin smells strongly of the forest floor, having tripped and fell several times as they journeyed to the caverns from Nightstone. Îoldír smells like the forest itself, and Kendrith smells like nothing at all, except the faint smell of the oil he uses to protect his blades.
Lini is startled when she hears Garthog’s booming voice as he addresses the humans huddled in the east cavern. “I AM GARTHOG, BARONET OF BLAH BLAH BLAH. DON”T I LOOK PRETTY? YOU SHOULD ADORE ME.” echoes through the cavern. Well, those probably aren’t the exact words she hears, but that’s the message Lini receives in her present form.
Everyone is surprised when a swarm of bats erupts from a hole in the center of the east cave. Apparently disturbed by Garthog’s loud voice, they swirl about in a state of distress, their high-pitched shrieks making it hard to hear. There are so many bats it becomes hard to see more than about five feet ahead in that cavern, and it seems as if those within the swarm are at risk of being scratched and injured.
Kendrith runs into the east cave to assist the villagers trying to get out. Lini continues searching for goblins, aided by Îoldír. Garthog and Turnin do their best to persuade people to flee, but the shrieking bats are too much to overcome for most of the townsfolk. Lini moves the flaming sphere out into the main cavern so that more people can safely flee the bats. A few folk make it out of the east cave, but it looks like all efforts to calm the bats are failing. Lini shifts back into gnome form to lend a hand.
Lini approaches the swarm of distressed bats and uses her ability to speak with small animals. She tries to soothe the swarm directly but they are too excited to pay her any heed. Frustrated, she reaches out and snatches a bat out of the air and tells it directly to calm down. She is unpersuasive, and the bats continue to swirl and shriek in the east cave.
Turnin comes to the aid of Kendrith and Garthog in helping villagers to escape the bats. Suddenly the bats go silent as they retreat back down their hole. The townsfolk scramble out of the cave and head for sunlight. Turnin and Garthog help tend to the townsfolk, with Turnin rendering aid and healing while Garthog looks to identify leaders among the villagers to help establish a sense of order and normalcy. The rest of the party retrieve their weapons and search the corpses for treasure but find none. As the party escorts the rescued people back to Nightstone, they contemplate how to deal with the Zhentarim back at town.
DM Summary: The party found no treasure at the Dripping Caverns, but there was some loot found at Nandar Keep that needs to be doled out. Having rescued the villagers, a milestone was achieved and everyone reached level 4 (total experience points of 2700).
Individual Rewards:
- 1800 experience
- 148 gold, 8 silver
- 10 down days
- 1 renown
Chugiak Tinkerer 