Dungeon in Dran
Taking an airship through the snow is not the most fun thing ever. However, at least the task that was set before you sounds interesting. That task being the clearing out of a dungeon on the edge of Dran. It's far enough away that the airship is in fact necessary, especially given the weather conditions, but thankfully you don't run into anything inclement and you're able to reach your destination without too much fuss. The travel from airship to the location of the dungeon is a bit more of a trek, but travel accommodations were made along this leg of the journey also and so you had your choice between wagon or horse.
The outside of the dungeon is covered in plants. It looks half buried in palm-shaped leaves and tendrils of green that move softly in the heavy wind. The ground around the dungeon shows signs of use. Enough so that its hard to tell if folks have been going in, or something else has been coming out. It's not surprising though, stuff like this tends to draw attention.
Usually the pilfering sort.
GAME: Delilah rolls perception: (4)+5: 9 GAME: Donna rolls perception: (18)+13: 31 GAME: Donna rolls survival: (1)+8: 9 (EPIC FAIL)
It's been nice, the twins being free of having a price on their head. All the time in the world to relax, shop, only the *usual* fear of being stabbed in the back, wich one can avoid by not going to the stabbier parts of the city. But, the call to adventure never really leaves one's blood, and soon enough the twins have decided to hunt for work.
Donna is definitely the 'quiet one' of the two, most of her time spent staying out of the sailors' way, or watching the landscape pass by far below. A simple job, to shake the rust off.
Simple. Sure.
On the approach to the dungeon, Donna lifts a fist. "Hol' up," she says, peering at the foliage surrounding the structure. "...Okay *that's* fucked up... Lookit the leaves. They're movin', but they ain't matchin' the wind."
Delilah, the twin who caming uncomfortably close to losing her head to the executioner's axe quite recently, is definitely the... not quiet twin, and has spent her time getting in the sailors' way -- especially the ones with 'potential'. Afterall, one must amuse oneself while on a voyage. Especially after getting out of jail and being finished with being on the run. Also when it's cold outside.
But adventure is in her blood every bit as much as it is in Donna's, and the approach to the dungeon has her on the deck beside her sister, a place she never strays from for particularly long. She holds the rail with one hand, and her hat with the other, just in case the wind tries to claim it. She isn't really looking at anything in particular, until Donna points out the leaves.
"...Hunh," she observes. "Well. That's... that's different. I hope the trees don't eat people."
"We're on a job," Donna reminds her sister. "If we're goin' someplace on a job, an' that place has weird leaves, it's probably trees that eat people."
Amazingly, she manages to not sound bitter *or* jaded by this thought. Water is wet, the sky is often blue, and trees might eat people.
"Bu-u-u-ut, we ain't gonna finish the job by standin' out here hopin'. So... let's see if we need to start some fires."
Delilah mmmms, "Yes, that's true. But, at least it's not jail, or like... y'know. Stuff," the sorceress mutters. "But I feel ready! This is the first adventure we've been on in a while where I actually have my gun and my wand and things I can actually help you with. So there's that. And if we have to chop down a few trees I guess that's okay."
The golden twin purses her lips, and mmms once more. "Still, carnivorous trees is weird. Not sure how I feel about that yet."
GAME: Donna rolls reflex: (12)+8: 20 GAME: Delilah rolls reflex: (5)+5: 10
The plants seem innocuous enough, until suddenly as you approach the ones that look most unusual the other plants spring up around you and entangle you in their vines and roots. Even the completely normal grass gets in on the action.
The plants act quickly, dragging the unwilling Delilah toward the dungeon and the strange plant which is now moving far more erratically. It seems to be... excited?
GAME: Donna rolls ranged: (6)+13: 19 GAME: Donna rolls ranged: (16)+13: 29 GAME: Donna rolls 4d6: (10): 10 GAME: Donna rolls 4d6: (10): 10 GAME: Delilah rolls strength: (5)+0: 5 GAME: Delilah casts Web. Caster Level: 8 DC: 17 GAME: Delilah rolls 1d20+8+5: (3)+8+5: 16 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+7: (20)+7: 27
Delilah has found herself in what seems lately to be a common position; in need of rescue by Donna. "Augh!!" she screams, as much in frustration as anything else, as she finds herself on the ground (the dirty, filthy ground, staining her white robes) and getting dragged towards the dungeon entrance. "Darn vine!" she complains, as she tries to pull it off herself, but finds it most unyielding.
The sorceress gets an idea; and she tries to trace the magical runes in the air, as her eyes and brands glow, but it's to no avail. The spell doesn't go off.
"Donna! I need some help!"
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+7: (19)+7: 26 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d8+7: (6)+7: 13
The plant that sits right in front of the doorway to the dungeon snakes out a vine and grabs Delilah by the neck. Effectively cutting off her air supply, and her call for help. It's starting to look pretty grim, particularly given how much it looks like that particular strangle-hold looks!
GAME: Donna rolls cmb: (4)+12: 16 GAME: Donna rolls cmb: (3)+12: 15
With a second vine now around her sister's throat, Donna lurches toward the offending plant. Winding a hand around the upper vine, she tugs desperately at the plant, seeking to at least give her sister a bit of slack to breathe through, if not free her entirely. "LET HER GO, Y'FUCKIN' MULCH PILE IN TRAININ'!"
GAME: Lyme rolls 1d20+17: (19)+17: 36 GAME: Lyme rolls 1d20+17: (9)+17: 26 GAME: Lyme rolls 2d10+24: (15)+24: 39
Lyme is a bad rider. It's the kind of riding that makes a pro turn away, hide a wince, or put on a supportive smile -- and so he's late to the party. He hops down, and runs towards the strangleparty. "No! Let her go!" Arriving with a rush, his cut arcs down and parts the vine with an emphatic snap.
"H-ey! My nec--errrgh" Delilah gasps as the vine wraps around her throat and squeezes, cutting off the sorceress' air supply and making her face turn red. Her eyes bulge, and she kicks her heels against the ground as she struggles against the vine with growing urgency now. And her sister is helping, naturally; but thankfully, Lyme makes a late but very timely appearance.
Delilah is left gasping on the ground, as she loosens the now slain vine from around her throat just enough that she can practically devour a ragged breath of air, and then cough and sputter before doing it again.
"Thanks," she gasps. "Not my favorite part of adventuring."
"Mine either," Donna says, patting her sister's back for a moment. Then, she looks up at Lyme, and one corner of her mouth rises briefly. "Thanks... Woulda been furious if we hadda get back to the city for healin', before we even got through the door. Be tempted to come back and take the place down brick by brick. Savin' me a lotta years of my life that way."
With the plant now dead, or at the very least no longer trying to strangle anyone, you head into the dungeon which is a gray stone affair beneath the plant life that envelops it. The entrance is a long hallway leading some fifty feet to a pair of double doors. To your right however you can see another door about halfway through the hallway.
And in they go.
Donna places a gauntleted hand against the wall, eyes moving left and right, before falling on the door closest to them. "...Whaddaya say we make this a total sweep," she says over her shoulder, before making her way to the door in question. Once she hits her mark, she waits, apparently preferring to have the others about her before she even opens the door, in case a fight is immediately an issue.
Lyme follows, longsword held at a low guard. He nods curtly at the top of Donna's head. "Yes. Clean sweep." Admittedly, he looks more comfortable on foot.
Delilah rubs her neck, and coughs once more. "Gods that hurt," she mutters. "I mean seriously. People trying to chop my head off, vines grabbing my neck and squeezing... I have an entire body, why's everyone always just go for the throat these days?" She collects her hat off the ground, and waves a hand over both it and her robes, casting a quick prestidigitation before she hustles to follow Donna and keep pace with her sister. Well, from behind.
"Thank you again!" she adds, glancing over her shoulder towards Lyme. "I was worried back there! That thing had me for real. Not a great way to start the day."
"...Looks clear," Donna says, before setting off down the hallway as a lope. Once at the other end of the hall, she motions the two to follow. "Door left, door right. Who's got a favorite hand?"
Lyme trots down the hallway after Donna, then turns right towards one of the doors. "This one first?" He points to it, then cracks his knuckles in preparation.
Delilah slips easily into the rear position, and glances over her shoulder a couple times to make sure they aren't getting snuck up on by anything that isn't invisible or some other manner of sneaky. "That one works!" she agrees. "Let's stick to one door at a time, yeah? Getting overrun by, I dunno, whatever other angry plants might be in here doesn't sound fun."
-TBC