[IC] SOLO - Toot's Adventure

[DM Surranó]

The magma worm abides its master's new command. The urine evaporates in an instant with a hiss, leaving the foul smell of ammonia in the tight passage. Actually it has time for 3/4 of a third pass, effectively making the hole even wider.
The elemental bids farewell in Ignan before leaving this plane of existence when the spell expires.

The jermlaine's urine evaporates instantly with a hiss, leaving the foul smell of ammonia lingering in the tight tunnel. The sizzling hot vertical shaft will need quite some time to cool down to bearable temperature.

[Toot]

Toot didn't think that his pee would cool down the hole but every ounce of fluid counts.  Not minding the smell at all, he then checks to see if a medium sized creature or one that was squeezing (I believe a Medium sized creature can squeeze through a Small hole) could pass through the tunnel the Thoqqua had made.

[Toot]

[OoC: Hello?]

[DM Surranó]

OOC - sorry I was convinced that we are both waiting for the character sheet to be ready Now I remember that I postponed answer until I check spelunking rules at home... then forgot...
So the basic idea of spelunking is that you have various restrictions and penalties based on how tight a space is but as long as it's larger than your head you can pass... somehow...

Long or tall medium creatures like an average human, orc, elf or wolverine would be able to pass the double tunnel as it is; of course not without risking severe damages from intensive heat as it stands now. Stockier medium creatures, however, like a dwarf or a black bear, would have hard time but with some expertise in passing tight places they could probably pass as well, as long as their heads can pass.

[Toot]

Toot decides that it wouldn't make any sense to make a bunch of noise squeezing his companion down a hole.  It would just alert whomever was the cause of the noises he heard which might put Toot in a dangerous position.  

"Me must find out who making noise first.  Friend or foe.  Likely foe.  Everyone foes of Jermlaine."  Toot sighs at the unfairness of the big folk.  Then he waves his tiny hands over the hole and then points his fingers downward and wriggles them frantically while speaking a word to his patron.  Suddenly a torrent of rain water appears out from no wheres and rushes down the hole.

[OoC: Casting, Create Water:  Creates 2 gallons of water/level for a total of 14 Gallons.]

[DM Surranó]

The tunnel cools down as water evaporates, donning a glasslike, black surface (OOC - I assume obsidian sounds reasonable in this situation)

[Toot]

Toot tests the stone to make sure it has cooled down enough to touch.  When he's satisfied he slips his shield into his Haversack then summons two of his coils of knotted silk rope and a grappling hook.  

"Why everyting be so hard," Toot mumbles while tying the rope together and attaching the grapple to one end.  Once he's sure it's secure, he hooks grappling line to the edge of the hole, heaves the ropes into the hole and then begins carefully climbing down the 100' of rope.  


[OoC:  The PHB says the DC for knotted rope and wall is 0.  Since Toot isn't threatened, he will take 10 which makes his climb check 7.  He normally can move at 1/4 movement so that's 10' per round (two move actions would be 20' per round.).  But if he can, Toot will add 5 to the DC ( which would make it DC5) to give him accelerated climbing.  So he moves 20' per round instead. (two move actions would be 40' per round.)  ]

Toot hopefully scoots down the rope with no problems and then listens for the noises he heard from before.

[DM Surranó]

OOC - see the Rusty Rat for my interpretation of climbing speed. It's definitely not a showstopper here so better clarify it now than in a tight situation.

By the time Toot prepares for the climb the tunnel is cool enough to the touch and he can climb down in a safe and convenient manner. Down below is a lengthy natural cavern corridor spanning west in one direction and northeast in the other; about five feet wide and up to seven feet high in the middle. Humans and their kind would have quite some difficulty swinging two-handed weapons around but otherwise it's convenient for the medium folk, especially animals who fight with natural weapons and thus don't need too much space.

Listening intently, Toot can still hear the faint echo of footsteps getting farther and farther west by every passing second.

[Toot]

Toot's not sure what's down there but likely they won't like Jermlaines so he takes a moment to concentrate and instantly his appearance changes into a small Gnome [with his Hat of Disguise].  He pulls out his shield and crossbow then scurries toward the noise as fast as he can [double movement 80'/rnd or running 160'/rnd] until he hears that he's getting close to the people talking.  Toot then presses himself along the wall and hides behind whatever debris (rocks, roots, corners etc) lines the edges of the passage and watches.  [Hide +11]

[DM Surranó]

OOC1 - storytelling to a tiny character is intriguing and I get to learn new bits and pieces of every item and spell along the way. So how the hat works; Toot now looks like a really small gnome (a forest gnome probably) with his height up to 2'9" and his equipment looks like they were of appropriate size but still work like original (weight and damage as tiny items). An interesting aspect how vision based perception works in this case; i.e. is his size bonus on Hide modified from +8 to +4?
OOC2 - I can't recall ever mentioning talking; just footsteps. Please show me the post because my memory may have failed me.

Assuming he still wants to follow the sounds that are footsteps and no speech...
Listening to the footsteps the jermlaine hurries west, taking quite some slight corners in the natural cavern system. He feels the distance between the marching creatures and himself diminishing but before he could get really close they suddenly stop. Ahead of him is a slight turn to the left, so he can't see farther than some fifteen feet before taking that turn.