Terrdi, day 7 of Winter, 554

A simply awesome awesome day.

The short version is that a relatively small group of 21 exiles managed to enter and control PC6, and then advance through PC7 and then PC8 to PC9.

The trip began unpropitiously enough, with a rather light turnout of only 22 exiles. That was sad, considering that both Zorton and Drablak were present representing the Mystic guild, and I understood that we had 2 Strange Stones. We did have 3 Bloodbladers and a decent complement of fighters. What we were missing was the depth of healers we often enjoy. Things weren't helped any when we reached the Dred Passage cave and realized that Sengir was missing - he had lagged behind unnoticed in Hatred Hollow and eventually fell. Unfortunately, he was far far behind us by then, and so we pressed on with one fewer healer.

I was worried, since a small group organized by Ruby had ventured to the Pitch caves the day before to try to reach the Pathfinder library, and had been beaten back at PC1 by a lot of nasty Noids - which were likely still waiting for us. That group made it easily to the Pitch caves, but had a problem in that trying to reach the Library without planning to go deeper, it seemed inadvisable to lure webbing Noids into PC2. The lurer would almost certainly have to depart. So luring into the Southeast pit was tried, but the cave was simply too full of Noids to accomplish this, and after some time (and the usual chain rescues) the group left without getting anyone to Giayl's Guide.

In any case, today's group fared much better. The first cavern did indeed have plenty of webbers, but the regular group was well up to the task of controlling the fighting space and killing the Noids. We advanced readily into PC2, and almost instantly on to PC3. In PC3 we tried a new tactic of deep lures. The main fighteing zone was kept at the first stop zone. After zuing off the Southeast pit, the lurers went all the way to the end of PC3 to draw back all the Noids there, and then started luring from PC4 too. This was felt to be safer, since there was more room for the lurers to spread out any overlures from PC4 while running back around the corner to the main group. It seemed to work quite well, and by the time we moved up close to PC4, it had been lured a couple times already, and mostly zued off.

Fairly quickly, we were ready to move into PC4 and directly into PC5 yet again. There was one snag though. The zu wall in PC4 was planted pretty far South, partaially blocking the way we had to take to go West toward PC5, and there were a lot of webbers standing right there across the wall. As the main group began to head West, they naturally took webs - and firing at close range into a crowd, the Noids were unlikely to miss exiles. Some folks were enmired, and between the stuck exiles and ever-accumulating webs, the passage was blocked with many of us on the wrong side. We had to mill about in the PC4 entry area and even back in PC3 for awhile while the webs cleared enough for us to scoot through the narrow area between the cave wall and the zu. It seemed chancy, but no backspawns appeared, and we were finally able to join our comrades in PC5.

We quickly set up for teleport to PC6.

The battle in PC6 was long and arduous. Several times, things looked grim and I was unsure we would survive much longer. This is when we really felt the relatively low healer numbers. The webs seemed to continually target Bloodbladers no matter where they stood, and many times they fell the moment thy were raised. Even with Sai along, it took several potions to raise Stonehead after he took a severe web pounding near the end. The net effect was that all the healers were busy all the time, yet the average fighter health stayed discouragingly low. Catching our breath for the next lure round seemed to take a long time. But with grit and determination, we slowly whittled the Noids down one-by-one, until we had managed to control the cavern.

For the first time, we walked confidently and at the ready across PC6 toward PC7.

In PC7, we headed directly to the first open area, and Elenis and Natas set to zuing the West pit and luring Noids to the waiting fighters. Slowly we reduced the Noid population, and the lurers headed deeper and deeper for prey.

Then Elenis' yell echoed down the Cavern, "A path here!"

When it was clear, the group surged forward to examine this new wonder. All the advanced pathfinders jockeyed for position to stare at the path, but none could open it. What awaits us there to the West?

We got a good look at the rest of PC7 (excluding the apparent pit to the West that was zued off and not examined) and found that it openned to the Northeast into a new cavern, PC8.

The PC8 Cavern had webbers too, but not quite so many, and we quickly advanced and began to explore it.

Once again the cry came out, "There's another path here in a rock wall!" Elenis quickly tried this path leading to the East, and passed through. And very quickly came right back, since he had enetered another large cavern (PC9) that also had big Noids in it.

After consolidating our position in PC8, Elenis set out to explore this PC9 cavern a bit more, and quickly fell there. Natas and Sor went to try to rescue him, and fell too. Then I got hijacked to try to get them out. When Natas toggled that it was clear, Crunch and I entered, and landed in the midst of a mob of Crimson Arachnoids. Cursed bad timing! I did get Natas on a chain, pulled him away from the exit (also PF) and was about to step through when I was webbed and then pulled away from safety. Crunch wasn't even so lucky, and was surrounded several steps from safety and quickly webbed to the spot. We all fell, and no other advanced PFs remained to try to rescue us.

At the Southern end of PC8 is an area with dark stone walls of the same type seen in PC5, and with a Teleport Booster Stone set into the floor!

The late hour and the excitement of our success finally got to us. I tried to get everyone to stand still for a group photo at the new booster stone, but folks were running about like wild [sorry this was the best I could do - if you ain't in it, don't complain to me].

It was really too much progress to digest, and we lost our focus.

Much discussion of our options led to no consensus about how to proceed. Some wanted to explore PC9 (and they did end up falling there); some wanted to teleport from the new stone, assuming it went yet deeper into unknown caverns. I would have preferred going back to stare at that PC7 path, even while fallen, rather than rescue hot-doggers in PC9, but I was the only pathfinder/chainer left available. I did get to see a tiny bit of PC9, but not much!

After the aborted exploration of PC9, and with Zorton's time running low, he decided that he would teleport from the booster stone to see where it went, even if he did it alone. He had some inkling that it was not a way deeper into Noids caverns but a way out, and he turned out to be correct. The remainder of the group teleported with Zorton from that spot and landed in the regular Arachnoid cavern near mid-pass ...

That is the non-Ethereal Plane exit from these caverns, apparently.

That there is a teleport exit here suggests that the true end of these seemingly endless Noid caverns must be nearby. Maybe as close as PC9?

Still no safe area!

Much much learned today, and many new things to think about. We will have new maps and new strategies, we know at least 2 new potential ways forward (PC9, and the PC7 unopenned path), and have excluded one potential way forward (teleporting from booster stone 2). Truly a stunning achievement, capping a long, exciting and sometimes harrowing series of adventures.

My view of these events, from teleporting from PC5 to falling in PC9 through the path, is here (warning: 2 MB download)

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