A Gathering of Griffons (ATTN: Hawkeye and Pyro)

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu flew along with the group as they headed down the beach, his eye scanning their surroundings as they traveled along, eventually reaching a cliff face. He landed next to Riptide as he spoke, telling them that they should go to the top of the cliff at night, as it apparently looked pretty nice. Then he told them to head in one at a time, so Tehengu waited for the other two to enter before heading in after them. It was a bit difficult squeezing his large frame into the opening, especially with his gear on, but he managed it, standing inside the place with the other two.

[Hawkeye12]

Hawkeye flew alongside the others, though a bit higher up so his claws didn't really touch the water. He's had the experience of how cold that was. Though he smiled at the view, trying to picture how it would look at night as Riptide mentioned. He made a mental note to come back and see sometime.

 

He landed carefully on the rocks just outside of the cave opening. The opening was smaller than he originally thought, only big enough for one of them to go in at a time. Though he should have figured that, the place was supposed to be hiding treasure, after all. It was a good thing he was a bit smaller than the average griffon, he figured as he filed inside after Tehehgu.

[Lux]

To his relief Riptide and the other were able to squeeze through the opening of the cave considering their size. It was a perfect place for a pony such as One-Eyed Whinny to stash her treasure considering that even getting into the cave was difficult for a griffon to do. When the crossed over they found themselves in a dark cavern, one barely illuminated by the light through the opening they just crossed. The only sounds that could be heard were the rushing of wind and the dripping of water. 

 

"Well, we made it this far. The map doesn't say anything else beyond where the entrance was, so we're going to be journeying blind. And speaking of blind, lets try those lights I have." 

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu looked around at the inside of the cave, as much as the meager lighting would allow anyways. He listened as Riptide spoke, saying they had no idea what was to come and that they should turn their lights on. He nodded as he fished out the device and activated it, adding to the light in the cavern.

"I'm ready to move when you two are." He said simply as he looked around some more.

[Hawkeye12]

Hawkeye glanced around the cave. Well, Riptide was right, it was pretty dark in here. He hadn't really thought before about the map, not really saying much beyond the cave's enterance. They would just have to see what would come from here.

 

"Yeah, let's go," He said as he dug out flashlight like the others were, switching it on and  shining it around a little.. 

[Lux]

As more lights shown the three griffons where they were, they found themselves in an rounded open room with one way in ahead of them and one way out where they just came from. Beyond that there was nothing in the room of interest, not a single sign that anypony or griffon was there, especially no trace of One-Eyed Whinny being there. 

 

Yeah, let's go," 

 

"Wait," Riptide said raising up a talon as he stared at the opening before the three, "I hear something. It came from in there."

 

The griffon inched closer to the opening, trying to listen more to the sounds. 

 

"Hello? anypony there?"

 

As he shined his light into the opening which was comfortable enough for each griffon to enter, a swarm of bats suddenly burst forth, knocking the griffon to the ground! 

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu looked into the opening as Riptide said he had heard something within, but the darkness made it difficult to see that far. He stood at the ready, a claw already reaching for his knife in case he had to fight. It was likely too close for the bow, and there wasn't that much room to be swinging a greatsword around, at least not in the tunnels, so the knife seemed like the best choice if he were to do this in the tunnel ahead.

 

Fortunately, the noise turned out to be a swarm of bats that flew out of the entrance, knocking Riptide down but otherwise just flying away. After they had passed, he walked up and helped the colorful griffon back onto his feet.

 

"You alright?" He asked, looking over the griffon before him.

[Hawkeye12]

Hawkeye glared at the opening as he heard the noise. Could it be the One Eyed Whinny they've been talking about? And if so, would she want to fight them? He tensed up, preparing for an attack if necessary. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tehnegu do the same thing.

 

...And then a swarm of bats came out right at them.

 

They came right at Riptide, knocking him down. Even though Hawkeye was in the rear of their group, he was still startled. He certainly didn't see that one coming. At least they just flew away though. It was better than rats. Now those things creeped him out.

 

"Well that was interesting," he joked, walking over to Riptide to help him up.

[Lux]

The bats circled around the open space for a few moments, disoriented by the light until they flew out of the opening and over the ocean. After that the noise was reduced to the sounds of the wind and dripping water in the cave. 

 

"Thanks," Riptide said as he got up with Tehengu's help, "Those bats surprised me a little. It's doubtful that we'll meet any other creepy crawlies except maybe spiders, and snakes, and rats. Well now that they're gone, we can continue." 

 

The next space of the cave was far bigger than the little foyer room, partitioned off by many walls of rock and columns of stalagmites and stalactites. Their lights could only paint a picture of what certain areas looked liked.

 

"This place looks like a maze guys, totally a perfect place for pirates to hide their treasure. We really need to stick together here or we'll be lost for good. I think I have an idea though as to how to tell where we're going. Tehengu, since you have that knife there, can you every time we get to a junction mark where we came from and where we went with a mark? That way we can eliminate each option. Oh and Hawkeye, can you keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary that the pirates may have left here? That might give us a clue to where they traveled. Anything like empty bottles, gold, or stuff like that."

 

Part 1: Introductions and beginning of Quest: Complete

Part 2: The Cave Maze: Started

 

I'm going to come up with a quick maze map that I can help direct this part. Certain areas might have traps or clues depending on where we go. Basically I'll be the Dungeon Master for the entire quest to the treasure, and there will be each certain rooms where there are little puzzles or traps. You can choose where to go and if there's a tie Riptide will be the deciding vote.

 

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu nodded at Riptide's thanks after he had helped the griffon up. He then entered the next part with the two of them, looking around at what appeared to be the beginning of a maze. Of course, they couldn't make this easy now could they? The large griffon looked back at Riptide as he spoke more, saying that he would be marking the pathways so they could whittle down the possibilities if they got it wrong. He nodded at that, listening as Riptide then directed Hawkeye to keep on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary to help them.

 

"Sounds good to me. I'm ready to head out then." Tehengu said, looking at the path ahead of them.

[Hawkeye12]

As they entered the next area of the cave, Hawkeye looked around while his eyes adjusted to the dim light. Apparently, the cave was some sort of maze that they would have to go through to find the treasure. Well, he  should have known this wasn't going to be all that easy. But oh well. 

 

The griffon snapped back to attention as Riptide mentioned his name, saying that Hawk should scan for anything out of the ordinary. He nodded at that, with a slight smile. It was a good job for him, he always had a keen eye for things.

 

"Alright," he said. "Let's get going then?"

[Lux]

"Ok then," Riptide said hearing that the others were ready to conquer the cave maze, "So it looks like we're at the first fork in the maze, and there's a couple of ways to go. Hawkeye, can you mark here first so if we have to come back here we'll know we've been here." 

 

Shining his light in the darkness, the griffon noticed that there were three paths before them that were laid out like a W. The left path was long, longer than Riptide's light could see, although what was seen was that path of it continued straight while there was a left path there. The straight path also could not be determined for how long it went although there were no further forks in the road. The right path was shorter than the other two, ending in a T junction. 

 

"So since you two look more like the adventuring types, which route you want to go first: left, straight, or right?" 

 

I'm trying to make things as clear as possible with the routes, but if they're confusing let me know. Typically the most routes that will be on a given fork will be five including where the griffons came from, but most are three or so.

 

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu looked through between the choices of paths as they stood there, trying to decide where to go. He had thought he was supposed to be marking the areas, but he wasn't going to complain. He took his knife anyways, marking the wall to indicate they had already been here.

 

"Hmm... I say we go straight for now." He said, looking between the three choices again. There really wasn't much he could tell about the three paths, given that the light didn't go far enough down the left and straight paths to see that far down them.

[Hawkeye12]

"Good idea," said Hawkeye in approval, after Riptide mentioned he should mark where they've been. He picked up a small stone that was on the ground and scraped it against the cave wall. The stone worked almost like chalk, leaving an X mark on the wall.

 

He then looked out to the path ahead... or rather, the several paths ahead. Riptide wasn't kidding about this place being like a maze. Hawkeye looked down each trail, studying them. The left and right paths he noticed had intersections in them, which only meant more choices, and more confusion if they had to suddenly turn and run back. That left the path down the middle, which even though it was the most mysterious, it seemed like the best option to him.

 

"I also vote for straight," he said after a moment, in agreement with Tehnegu.

[Lux]

"Ok straight it is then," Riptide said, "If one of the two of you want to mark this path so if we get turned around here, then we'll know we've been here before. Maybe I should find something to carve a symbol in the wall too if there is something here." 

 

The path that the three took made a graceful downward curve with no splitting off in sight. As they got further down the path there were the sounds of hissing close by. 

 

"Um... guys, I totally don't like the sound of that," he said as he shined his light around, the beam of the light suddenly hit a wall in front of them as their path reached a dead end. But as the light lowered to the floor there was a single snake that slithered towards the group, unafraid at how big the griffons were. 

 

With every dead end I will roll a dice. Sometimes dead ends will have nothing but a wall while other times there will be something there. There's a 50/50 chance that there will be something there or not.

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu nodded at Hawkeye as they agreed on a path, Riptide going along with it as well. He took his knife and marked the wall to show they had already tried the path they were about to go down. With that taken care of, he set out with the other two, keeping on the lookout for any dangers that might pop up.

 

Unfortunately, their choice turned out to be the wrong one, as they came upon a dead end. What was more pressing was the hissing sound, which sounded more like a snake. Sure enough, Riptide's light revealed the scaly little snake coming towards the three of them.

 

"Head back calmly. I'll keep an eye on it, make sure it doesn't get the drop on us." He said simply to the others, watching the snake as he waited for the others to start heading back down the path. He would prefer to simply leave the snake alone, as fighting something that small and quick would be difficult, especially since he couldn't let it bite any of them, due to the poison it likely held.

[Hawkeye12]

The group decided to go straight after all, and Hawkeye kept a close watch as they walked for nything suspicious. However, his attention soon turned to the stone wall that was blocked their path. A dead end.

 

And to make matters worse, a hissing sound alerted him. Hawk's eyes fell on Riptide's light, revealing a snake. Well, they had certainly chosen the wrong path. 

 

"Just back away," he said. "No use fighting that thing in a small space like this."  And so, the griffon slowly began backing away from the creature, shining his own light on it so he couldn't take his eyes away.

[Lux]

Riptide stood as the snake hissed menacingly at him. There was nothing else in the path, and fighting the creature wouldn't end well as while three griffions could easily defeat the creature, the chance of at least one of them getting bit was almost certain. 

 

"Right, I'll back up slowly," he said looking at the snake, "Bye snake, don't follow us."

 

As he three backed away down the path the snake simply stared at them before curling back up into a ball and resting. Finally they made their way to the previous fork. 

 

"Ok, we definitely don't want to meet another snake like that. Anyway since we picked that path there are two to choose, left or right. How about we try the left one?"

 

Hope you like the adventure so far. To make things go by faster, if we hit a dead end and backtrack to a fork in the path, I will roll a die and pick a path based on the outcome (it's the easiest for me to do). Sometimes the path will be the right one, other times not, so you can always feel free to veto Riptide's decision.