[OoC: I should also mention.]
Jonath searches the ground in the area to make sure it's safe to walk on. He finds nothing of interest. But Necesh's Familiar flicks its tongue excitedly and keeps trying to leave the vicinity [5' radius] of his master but just stops short. It knows better than to move too far but Mil sends Nacesh a feeling of hunger and wanting. The sorcerer figures the lizard tastes something edible in the air.
Jonath pauses, waving the group forward to join him. "This seems like a possible ambush point," he says, "I didn't want to get too far ahead of you all, just in case."
His concerns aired, he continues into the room, wary of the corners, nooks and crevices formed by the crates as he creeps through the room toward the water.
Knowing that Mil's primary food is various kinds of vermin Nacesh remembers that he probably can't make the difference between the scent of usual vermin and giant ones (OOC1 - correct?)
"Spiders nearby," he notes under his breath and points to the direction where Mil was headed. He knows that Mil smelling prey may mean any kind of vermin but given the circumstances he accepts this as a reasonable guess and doesn't want to waste too many words on explaining.
If nothing happens before the party reaches the room with the crates the sorcerer notes,
"This doesn't make sense. It is too obviously a good place to pass the river but no signs of the way to do it. No bridge, no ropes. I daresay it's some kind of trick. Like, either the passage on the other side is an illusion-- or the whole river is."
(OOC2 - please roll for disbelieve; I'd prefer not to see my roll
)
(OOC3 - maybe I missed you mentioning; which way does the river flow? N-S or S-N?)
(OOC4 - Can Betimi hear the river now that we got close? if not it's probably because she rolled her save vs illusion
)
Jonath moves deeper into the 'room' and notices it exits to the north-west along the river's path. He also sees one, perhaps two bridges and maybe an opening to the south-west through the wall of rock on the other side of the river. [Around W27-28] Jonath also notes the presents of more webbing across the river beyond the closest bridge.
Nacesh takes a few minutes giving his surroundings a good looking over but doesn't notice anything out of place. When Betimi moves closer to the room she can now hear the river as it flows southward. Mil tongue darts in and out of his mouth, 'smelling' the air. Right now Nacesh (probably) wished his little familiar had a more sensitive tongue to be able to pinpoint where the spiders, that he suspected were in the area, were located. [OoC: No scent ability.
]
Suddenly Jonath thinks he hears the sound of some small rocks falling somewhere to the north. Though it was hard to tell with the way sound travels down in these caves.
[OoC: I just placed Jonath on the map because I figured the rest of you were wandering around the room with Betimi hanging back a bit.]
"A river like this in the Underdark is not just a source of fresh water, but a source of trade and food. It will surprise me if they have no boats."
Is the bridge high enough above water for a boat to pass, maybe packed with cargo?
Nacesh lets Mil proceed with his hunt, following him closely, crossbow on the ready, wand of magic missiles within easy reach.
Peering down into the river, you see there is about 5' distance from where you stand to the surface of the water. You figure a boat of sitting humans or standing Kobolds could likely travel under the bridge.
Mil scampers into the room in short controlled bursts. Each time he stops he flicks out his tongue to taste the air and then licks the top of it's mouth to examine what it smells. When it gets in the middle of the room the familiar stops. Mil continues to takes the air while making quick quarter turns. Nacesh can sense hunger and confusion coming from his little lizard.
Come, Nacesh sends the feeling of longing towards the lizard while raising the tip of the bolt loaded to the crossbow towards the ceiling above the familiar's head.
(Nacesh expects to see a small (or larger!) spider abovehead; please roll for me)
Selina makes sure her x-bow is loaded as she follows, unable to do much of anything else and feeling useless as a result.
With the limited torchlight, Nacesh does see some wisps of webs clinging to the structures overhead but none seem large enough to hide a spider the size of a horse. There was a possibility of tiny spiders lurking overhead but you don't see anything at the moment. But the ceiling of the cavern is about 20' to 30' overhead. Mil wouldn't be able to sense them from that distance especially in cave with no perceptible air flow.
[OoC: Without the Scent ability, Mil cannot pinpoint creatures locations by smell alone. But he does smell that something nummy was/is here or had at least passed through here recently.]
While Selina checks her Crossbow, Tomeal moves to the edge of the river to look down into the water. The river flows slowly southward but the water is very dark so he can't determine how deep the river might be.
Jonath looks back at the rest of you and points to his ear and then points northward, indicating that he heard something up ahead. He looks to you all for some indication that they understand and are ready for him to proceed.