The Legacy of Haarethar [DnD]

Ruko

Professional Otaku
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
Writing Levels
  1. Elementary
  2. Intermediate
  3. Adept
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Female
Genres
Fantasy, Magical, Horror
(We need one or two more people, so if you want to join then go to the sign-ups. Ignore the first post, and look for a post further down the first page by me that has a more in detail CS)(Theres very little actual dice rolling, its just me dictating a setting to y'all.)

The walls of the cave are a bare, dull grey. Occasionally, as you walk, you encounter a tiny trickle of water, or a patch of lichen or moss, but nothing resembling an exit a sign or anything else remotely useful. You've been in this cave for a good couple of hours now. You are alone, and unarmed. You came here purely because you saw a notification in the tavern of the last town that said it would offer good money for people who could help at the destination supposedly at the other end of the cave network. Several times, you have heard the sound of footsteps that aren't your own. Is someone else in the tunnel with you? Is it some other amateur adventurer, responding to the advert? Or is it something more sinister. Something trying to hunt you? You feel the latter is a probability. You have heard tales of these caves, tales describing adventurer after adventurer who delved into them searching for fortune and never returning.
 
Sebastien was an intelligent and faithful man, but neither trait did him any favours here. He was fair strong and he had good stamina, too, but all that meant now was that he could wander around this nest of caves for longer than the average person might survive. For all the skills and abilities he possessed, there was nothing that Sebastien could do, so, instead, he continued to wander aimlessly into the labyrinth of grey.

Finding himself in another almost-identical cavern, Sebastien spotted a patch of moss growing on the floor and elected to try rubbing it away with the heel of his boot, just in case it happens to be hiding anything.
 
As Sebastien's boot tears up the moss, a small creature craws out from beneath it.

<<Initiate Combat>>
<<Sebastien VS 3 CM long Spider>>
 
Cornaith peeked around the corner into a cavern where another adventurer (Sebastian) stood in. He was on edge, the noises of the sprawling cave system already having spooked the half-elf. Thanks to his heightened sight, he noted the presence of the adventurer and a small spider that seemed hostile to the man. Already guessing that the man could kill him easily, Cornaith decided to hang back and watch what the taller man did. Better to be safe than sorry.
 
Sebastien stared down at the small spider and shook his head, ignoring it entirely and walking further into the cave. He may not have been fond of spiders, but he saw no reason to kill one just because it happened to be there.
 
Nelleborus, having been born with the gift of flight was buzzing about near the cave ceiling, hornet wings didn't allow for the most silent of flight though they did look rather awesome. He'd passed over some elvish looking bloke not long before but didn't pay him or the moment much mind, aside from increasing the intensity at which he was beating his wings to attempt to make the sound echo and hide his specific location; or maybe it was an attempt to scare him, who knows.
 
((I don't really have anything to do till y'all out of the cave, of which I'd say you were probably 9/10ths of the way through. Really just use this time to meet the other adventurers, and ill start describing things once you're in the last chamber of the cave.))
 
Seeing the man walk away from the spider, Cornaith wondered if the man was simply lost like he was. Stepping out into the cavern, he spoke a cautious tone, "Excuse me, sir, but are you lost as well?"
 
Sebastien turned around to see the source of the voice and spotted another figure stood behind him. With a shrug of his shoulders, Sebastien sized the figure up, he was either a half-elf or a teenager, and in this light it was tough to tell without stepping closer to get a better look. "No, I'm not lost," he replied gruffly, resenting both the implication that he was, and that this other person might be able to help. "Are you lost?" he added, taking a step towards the boy, "Do you need my help, perhaps?"
 
"I'm certainly lost, but unless you able to stop that buzzing sound, you can't really help. It's had me on edge the whole way through this cave," Cornaith nervously rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed that he was admitting to a harmless sound scaring him. The half-elf was beginning to question his resolve. Am I really cut out for the possibility of being an adventurer? However, his attention was grabbed by the man coming closer to him. He tensed up, worried he was about to be attacked, "Sir, why are you coming so close to me?"
 
Nelleborus continued to buzz about near the ceiling, having made a few circles around the pair. Even going so far as to swoop down once to dive past the smaller one; using the picked up speed to leisurely glide further into the cave thus leaving a lull in the constant echoing droning of wings from earlier. It didn't take him long for his travel path to bring him to a far larger area in the caves, larger than what he'd been in before at least considering his size made about any area large for him. After a final bit of buzzing around he decided to land and get seated on any raised area be it rock or just an outcrop ledge.
 
Sebastien shook his head, making no effort to hide his contempt for the younger man in front of him. Whilst he couldn't tell how long the other man had been here, Sebastien could tell that he was scared and his overall appearance look downright pathetic, as if he truly was a boy pretending to be a man. "If you ignore the buzzing it will go away," he replied curtly. "A noise like that is either something very small, or something very large and very far away. Neither one is of consequence."

With that, the older man turned on his heels and began marching forwards through the caves. "You can follow me if you must, but don't get in my way," he shouted, not caring whether or not the younger man followed him.
 
((Oh, how wrong you are Mr Goat. It will be of great consequence soon enough.))

The chamber that the faerie flies into is a little larger than the tunnels before it. Fireflies float in the gloom, illuminating eerie stalactite formations. There is a natural path along the right hand wall of the cavern, which extends deep below. The fireflies are floating mainly above, so it's impossible to tell just how deep the chamber goes, and whether or not it bends at some point. The walls here are the same dark grey as the tunnels, but there is a larger coverage of calcite deposits, and a thin sheet of water is making its way down the far wall. The chamber is warmer than the rest of the cave, too, though it's not apparent why. A small wooden plaque rests on the wall near the exit of the chamber. It has started to rot, but most of the markings can be made out. The only word that has perished is the first one. "----- ahead. 20 minutes walk. Left, second right, straight on."
 
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Kov came up from the rear, having been behind everyone. He had created small fires throughout the cavern to prevent anyone from being lost if they turned back.
He simply looked at the other adventurers and their clunky stumbling selves.
The muscular dragoborn pushed through, this time putting himself infront of everyone else, and searched for some flammable material to torch.
 
Cornaith sighed, knowing he was going regret to following the man. Nothing good comes from someone who hates you, Cor... As he began to follow Sebastian's lead, he paused at the appearance of the dragonborn, wondering where the much larger and stronger man had come from. However, the new chamber had a sign which at this point seemed a godsend to the half-elf. Approaching it, he read off the words to the rest of his companions before adding his own commentary, "I hope this thing leads to the exit. It feels like we've been in here for ages."
 
Sebastien's brow furrowed at the presence of a Dragonborn, such creatures were rarely intelligent and rarely good news. Looking back, he could see that it had left fires behind them, torching the moss and lichen as a fuel source, but such fires were not sensible fires; the lichen and moss were still damp and produced acrid smoke when burned, darkening the path behind the group and making it almost impossible to see. Sebastien had his suspicions that the smoke might even be somewhat toxic, given that some of the moss definitely was.

"Let's keep moving," he muttered, approaching the sign. Looking to his left, he saw the boy more clearly now that the Dragonborn had left a few fires and realised for the first time that he as a half-elf. This did little to improve Sebastien's already foul mood, but he fought the urge to say anything. To hold his tongue as often as he did, Sebastien knew that he had fantastic willpower, but on some occasions he wished he didn't. This was one of them. "This could lead to anything. We don't know what first word was, it might have been 'exit' but it could just as easily have been 'Hell' or 'Frost Giant lair' instead. We'll follow it, but if it looks bad then maybe we'll turn back." He scratched the back of his neck and sighed wearily, "If we're lucky we'll find another sign that hasn't been damaged, so keep your eyes open kid."
 
Nelleborus took off again once others had entered the chamber, watching and listening for several seconds before swooping down slightly behind Kov, silently watching until finally asking in a sing song voice "Whatcha lookin' for tall, muscled and scaly?". He'd figured this lot was by no means an immediate threat to himself and were probably some sort of adventuring party; what better group to tag along with for the sake of adventure and pranking. Friendly reminder, Nelle's clothing is made out of leaves, petals and other plant like matter.

While waiting for a response to his question he'd be bobbing around while airborne, repeatedly calling for the Dragonborns attention with "Hyo!", "Answer!", and "Howdy!", while not visible his grin was wide and somewhat manic, why this amused him so, who knew, but it did.
 
((And occasionally "Hey, listen!"))
 
Cornaith flinched at the man's harsh tone towards him. He couldn't think of having done anything to upset the man, but decided to take precautions against doing so further, "I'll just stick back with the dragon and the faerie in our group, sir..." With that, he moved away from the rather toxic human to walk along with Kov and the still-buzzing Nelleborus.

For a few minutes, he watched in curiosity as his lizard-like companion set fires for them to see. Finally, he couldn't remain silent any longer, "Excuse me, mister Dragonborn, but would you mind explaining how you can make that fire? It seems awfully dangerous the way you are going about it."