The First Adventure

Leading the way with his lantern, Willie sets off cautiously right-ward.

Turn 5

Willie shoulders his way between the puffballs. They press against him from all sides as he explores to the east. The ground is wet and slippery, and it's impossible to see where he's stepping; he has to navigate by feel. It takes him 1 turn to explore the northeastern area of the cavern. At the spot marked X, Willie loses his footing and slips! He lands face-first and chips a tooth against the corner of a large, hard object. Willie steadies his lantern and takes a look at what he's found: an enormous iron-studded chest, like a big steamer trunk.

Willie needs to make a Dex check to navigate the puffball grove. He rolls 16, just over his Dex of 15, and takes a painful face plant.

"Outch!" lithps Willie, his injury causing him to occasionally whistle strangely as he thpeakth, climbing back to his feet with many a grumble. But when the light of his lantern falls on the chest, he forgets his pain.

"Hey, look what I found! It's a big old trunk!" he calls over his shoulder.

Holding his lantern close for the light, he begins to eagerly check it for traps, inspecting for suspicious holes or signs of mechanism other than proper hinges and lock.

Dougal winces when Willie trips and whispers, "Careful! We don't want to let the whole cavern know we're here just yet!"

Willie notices first of all that the chest is not overgrown with puffballs. A single, large puffball sits loosely on top of the trunk, not growing there naturally, but perhaps placed deliberately, and Willie can easily roll it aside. When he takes a closer look, he sees that the ground around the trunk has been trampled by Hobbet-sized feet, and recently by the looks of it. The chest appears to be in good condition, with well-oiled hinges. Willie does not detect any indication of a trap. The lock has no keyhole but bears the inscription: What is the First Rule?

Dougal is looking over Willie's shoulder and can read the inscription. The other three party members' view is blocked by the giant puffballs. They just see Willie's lantern light bob up and down and hear his muffled voice as he makes his discovery.

All this dungeoneering has been murder on Tet's back, which was already sore from yesterday's turnip-stacking contest. Tet's torch begins to flicker and sputter, as if to mirror its wielder's sagging energy.

Tet's torch will expire at the end of turn 6, and Willie's lantern at the end of turn 24.

For optimum dungeoneering health, Hobbets should rest 1 turn out of every 6. Provided our heroes take no more strenuous action than talking, eating, drinking, answering nature's call, lighting a torch, refilling a lantern, donning or removing an item, putting items into or out of their packs, investigating an object, looting a body, or other non-taxing activity, shall we call turn 6 a "rest turn"?

How will each of you spend said rest turn? Does anyone object to a breather?

Willie would still gain the benefits of "resting" while attempting to open, unlock, or otherwise interact with the treasure trunk. The only exeception would be if he were suddenly attacked by a monster or zapped by a trap, which would cancel out the restfulness. Fair enough?

Dougal is in the general area of the trunk and may also interact with it on the proposed rest turn, if he wishes.

Peering over Willie's shoulder, Dougal whispers, "You do not talk about ADVENTURE CLUB."

Willie, who had been busily trying to remember the First Rule, whispers, "Thanks!" to Dougal.

He'll whisper the first rule himself, just in case, before attempting to lift the lid.

Willie spends his rest (hopefully) opening the chest and examining the contents. In a restful way.

As Dougal speaks the First Rule, there is a sequence of faint, mechanical clicking sounds from the lock, almost as though it is processing Dougal's words. Then, a few seconds later, the lock clicks open. Willie is then able to open the trunk, and here is what he sees:

On the inside of the lid, written in cheerful papyrus font, is this sign: ADVENTURE CLUB GENERAL STORE (self service honor system) Gems and Ore are also accepted, in lieu of coins

The trunk is filled with a neatly-organized inventory of torches, oil, rope, empty sacks, and other essential dungeoneering equipment. Any item of standard equipment with a value of 5gp or less is available here. There is also a sturdy metal lock-box, with a one-way slot (like a mailbox) for receiving coins or other treasure.

"Wow! How convenient," marvels Willie.

Eager to try it out, he muses over the prices for a moment, then drops four gold coins into the slot, and grabs a hammer and a set of six iron spikes.

After that he spends the remainder of the turn resting properly, taking a sip from his waterskin & munching a bit on an apple he's got in his back.