Missing Caravan

[Jonath]

Jonath helps Betimi out of the box when she arrives, though she clearly doesn't need it as she nimbly clambers up onto the bank. He continues to stay near to help the others as they arrive if they need it, but in truth his small stature makes him the least helpful, so he mostly just stays out of the way while keeping his eye on the tunnel, especially once he begins to hear suspicious sounds emanating from within. He creeps a couple of steps towards the opening, straining his ears to hear the sounds from within, but alas the rushing water and sounds of his companions climbing about make it nearly impossible to hear anything more.

Listen: [1d20+7] = 3+7 = 10

[Nacesh]

Nacesh tries to stay alert, though partially distracted by the thoughts of having a dog tagging along with the party, open for unexpected barking in the absolute worst of moments.
He lets Mil out and away a bit and tries to attach to his emotions; especially to sense if he feels safe or not.
If time allows and there's nothing of interest he looks carefully around the cavern walls; randomly checking if he can find something of interest; signs; wear from scratches or natural forces; possible switches, holes or mechanisms etc.

((OOC - I don't think Nacesh would have time to take 20 on a search so please roll any perception or search for me if appropriate. I don't like rolling them for myself ))

[GM Marvel]

Selina tosses some jerky into the crate.  The dog's head tilts curiously and his ears perk up.  Then while sniffing the ground, the dog trots toward her until he gets to the river's edge.  He peers anxiously back and forth from the jerky to Selina as if needing encouragement.  Selina tells him to, go ahead and get it, and though hesitant, the dog easily balances on the plank to get into the crate.  

The Priestess then takes a deep breath and tries to walk the plank too.  With no one to help make the crate steady, she wobbles [Result 7    ] a bit and then suddenly loses her balance.  Tilting precariously on one leg, Selina waves her arms around trying to get her balance.  Knowing she's about to fall she instinctively jumps for the crate.  It feels like the world is in slow motion but she tumbles into the crate in a heap [Result 10   ] Selina is then attacked by doggie kisses as the dog whimpers and licks her all over her face.  She then pulls herself over to the other side.

Meanwhile, Jonath creeps a few feet toward the noises and he can make out what he thinks are Kobolds talking in their strange 'yipping' language to one another.  

[OoC: I just noticed that Jonath only has two languages (Common and Gnome) which I believe are both free languages but he has an Intelligence of 18.  So he should have four more languages.  I googled Whisper Gnomes and all it says is they speak Gnome and sometimes Terran.]

[Nacesh]

Can Nacesh overhear some of the draconic conversation? Guess not...

Listen [1d20+1] = 3+1 = 4 Spot [1d20+1] = 5+1 = 6

[Selina Parcellus]

Selina tosses some jerky into the crate.  The dog's head tilts curiously and his ears perk up.  Then while sniffing the ground, the dog trots toward her until he gets to the river's edge.  He peers anxiously back and forth from the jerky to Selina as if needing encouragement.  Selina tells him to, go ahead and get it, and though hesitant, the dog easily balances on the plank to get into the crate.  

The Priestess then takes a deep breath and tries to walk the plank too.  With no one to help make the crate steady, she wobbles [Result 7    ] a bit and then suddenly loses her balance.  Tilting precariously on one leg, Selina waves her arms around trying to get her balance.  Knowing she's about to fall she instinctively jumps for the crate.  It feels like the world is in slow motion but she tumbles into the crate in a heap [Result 10   ] Selina is then attacked by doggie kisses as the dog whimpers and licks her all over her face.  She then pulls herself over to the other side.

Meanwhile, Jonath creeps a few feet toward the noises and he can make out what he thinks are Kobolds talking in their strange 'yipping' language to one another.  

[OoC: I just noticed that Jonath only has two languages (Common and Gnome) which I believe are both free languages but he has an Intelligence of 18.  So he should have four more languages.  I googled Whisper Gnomes and all it says is they speak Gnome and sometimes Terran.]

Well, that was...undignified.  But Selina now realizes that puppy kisses are just about the best kind of kisses there are.  She grins as she shifts over to the other side to make sure she doesn't flatten the pup, scratching it behind the ear for a minute and feeling the tension she'd been feeling lately start to fade.  Finally, she takes a bolstering breath and rises, then whispers to Gilley, Betimi, and Tomeal  "I will be needing some assistance in donning my armor again.  I think the dog can help us.  May we keep him?"

[Gilley]

As Selina crosses, Gilley is happy to see her smiling. There had been little of that, since he joined these folk. He smirks slightly at her whispered question. "I don't know. If he's going to be helping with your armor, he's going to need thumbs." He reaches into the box and retrieves her armor, having to dodge some puppy kisses himself.

[Betimi]

Betimi wonders why all the excitement over the dog bonding. She then wistfully recalls Beast's affectionate donkey head butts and bites and guesses this must be something similar. Some strange survival mechanism that these surface dwelling animals used. You were less likely to eat something that you felt such a bond to. Such a defense mechanism was surprisingly effective it seems, working as it did even across species.

[OoC; the argument for SD: Cuteness (Su) ability as a statistic lol]

She was about to offer to assist Selina in donning her armour when she realizes that the priestess had more than enough help with Gilley and Tomreal, her attention was better used in helpinhg Jonath keep watch in the darkness until their companions were ready.

~Let me know idf you sense anything.~ she thinks to the ever present voice in her head.

[Jonath]

[OoC: I just noticed that Jonath only has two languages (Common and Gnome) which I believe are both free languages but he has an Intelligence of 18.  So he should have four more languages.  I googled Whisper Gnomes and all it says is they speak Gnome and sometimes Terran.]

[OoC: Hm, guess that was a detail that got lost with plothook and I never got around to rectifying. I do recall that he didn't have kobold - it was probably something like halfling, dwarven, elven, and then one of the common "monster" languages - orc or goblin, something like that.]

He creeps close to Nacesh and says quietly "I hear some kobold speak from the tunnel ahead. Let's move a bit closer and see if you can make out what they're saying while Selina dons her armor." With a nod to Betimi who he sees covering him, he moves closer to the tunnel with Nacesh, hoping the man can hear them well enough.

[GM Marvel]

Selina and the wild dog finally make it to the other side of the river.  With a little help the dog leaps onto dry land with Selina soon to follow.  A couple of you help Selina with her armor and soon are ready to carry on.  

Jonath, Betimi and Nacesh watch and strain to listen to the conversation going on up ahead but for the moment, the only person able to understand what they are saying can't quite hear what they are saying.

[GM Marvel]

[OoC: Expanding upon my original post...]

He creeps close to Nacesh and says quietly "I hear some kobold speak from the tunnel ahead. Let's move a bit closer and see if you can make out what they're saying while Selina dons her armor." With a nod to Betimi who he sees covering him, he moves closer to the tunnel with Nacesh, hoping the man can hear them well enough.

As the two men sneak down the tunnel toward the humanoids having the conversation,  [Assuming light sources were covered] Betimi has to use her darkvision to help Selina don her armor in the dark.  The wild dog whimpers a little as it seems to take up a guarding position making you wonder if its past owner might have trained it for such tasks.   

[OoC: keep in mind that Kobolds also have Darkvision so it is very difficult to hide without some kind of cover especially for Nacesh.  Without cover it's like trying to hide in plain sight.]

 Jonath leads the Nacesh through the darkness toward the conversation.  They get about half way down the passage when Nacesh begins to get an understanding of their conversation.  They seem to be talking about something that was found while excavating the tunnel.  Something about beat up armor... no... now they wonder if it is a metal statue with stiff but movable joints.  They wonder if they should show it to Unreth or just melt the statue down.  The uncertainty seems to be coming from their fear of being eaten for bothering Unreth with something unimportant.