>>5391857>>5391856>>5391688>>5391644>>5391604You opt to take the straightest and surest course—even though, or perhaps rather BECAUSE, it cuts a path through ’bugbear country’. While you’ve not brought any Steeltalons or expert scouts of the Master Race, you HAVE brought Ivno, Olu, and the Junior Novice, so you don’t feel helpless by any means. Besides them, of course, there’s also YOU—these days, taller, stronger, and better armed and armoured than ever!
…Well, except perhaps when you had actual ARMOUR, you suppose, but your thickened scales make up for that somewhat, and you’re certainly FEELING at the top of your game, now that the chill is finally out of your bones.
The first few days of the journey go fairly uneventfully: slow but steady travel, broken up by rest-stops at increasingly-familiar grottos, underground creeks, or defensible locales. Each time you trace these tunnels back and forth between Bloodrise and the Drow, or your birthplace even further beyond, you feel you know them a little better. This is even aside from the ever-improving specificity of the Cartographer’s maps of the region.
This makes it all the more troubling when you come upon something which was not there before.
“A natural rock-slide, perhaps?” Olu the Archer hypothesizes aloud.
The Junior Novice makes a whining, bleating sounds unbefitting a creature part-dragon, and you know this is not so.
You and your companions survey a section of natural stone ramp—or, rather, a fallen-away portion, and the darkness and air which now bridge two portions of this familiar path. You all have darkvision, of course, so it’s not as if you are going to be surprised by any lurking shadow-dweller on the other side, but any attempts to erect a bridge will take time, make noise, draw attention…
And only you, with you spellborn ability to <See Invisibility>, will spy a creeping bugbear (or a whole pack-platoon of them), lurking in wait.
What do you do?
>Send the Junior Novice forwards—he is large and strong now, and can fly, and this makes him a good scout… Even if he can’t necessarily communicate exactly what he finds>Assign Ivno—small and agile creature that he is—to quickly and stealthily scout ahead and return with a report>You’re not afraid—<Jump> the gap yourself, sword drawn and ready and eyes enchanted to <See> what dwells in the dark>Take is slowly and methodically—gather materials, build a bridge, and watch each other’s backs>Forget this—this is an obvious trap, and you will backpedal and adjust your route to avoid it>Write-in 