The open tunnel — the one the party chose not to barricade — leads toward the wider area where the goblins were retreating and where the party glimpsed a silvery lake and something described only as "the soup" from a distance. It's unexplored, it's the direction anything still alive in this dungeon is most likely to be, and it's also the only way forward that doesn't require clearing a wall of corpses first.
The Logic
The barrel explosion and the screaming that followed weren't subtle. If anything else in the dungeon is going to react to the party's presence, it's had time to start moving already. Advancing with a scout ahead of the party turns that uncertainty into information instead of an ambush.
Everyone comes into this fully rested — full HP, full spell slots, Hunter's Mark and Bardic Inspiration both available from turn one. That's the best the party is going to look until the next long rest, and using it to gather information costs nothing extra.
Setup Before Moving
- Send Barzer's familiar first. No one crosses into unscouted territory before it does — the stalagmite fight happened specifically because nobody looked before Barzer lit a Fire Bolt into it. The familiar reports back what's actually there instead of forcing a guess.
- Theren keeps Detect Magic in his back pocket. If the "soup" or the silver lake reads as magical in nature, better to know that before anyone gets close enough to touch it.
- Selena holds Augury in reserve. A ten-minute ritual for a "weal or woe" read on the path ahead is cheap insurance if the party wants a gut check before committing to the open tunnel over the barricaded one.
- Theren marks on sight. The moment anything living is spotted, Hunter's Mark goes on the priority target — not after the first exchange of blows.
- Elaris holds Bardic Inspiration until initiative is rolled, then hands it out so her bonus action stays free for Healing Word if the fight turns messy.
Round One Priority
| Character | Action | Bonus Action / Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Theren | Longbow on the priority target once spotted | Hunter's Mark the moment there's a target |
| Barzer | Fire Bolt from range, only once the familiar has confirmed a target | Misty Step out if anything closes fast |
| Nysera | Spike Growth or Moonbeam between the party and whatever the scout finds — nobody here wants it in melee | — |
| Elaris | Starry Wisp or crossbow | Healing Word in reserve; Cutting Words on a big hit |
| Selena | Guiding Bolt if there's a clear target, or hold position | Healing Word in reserve |
Pros
- Full resources, best-case footing for whatever's found
- The familiar removes the guesswork that caused this session's near-disasters
- Keeps momentum before anything the explosion alerted has time to fully organize
Cons
- The barricaded tunnel and the stalagmite chamber both go unsearched and unresolved
- Committing to the open tunnel means the barricaded one is now the only fallback if this route turns into a dead end too
- Whatever's near the soup has had roughly as long to prepare as the party has had to rest
Best If
The party trusts its scouting to catch problems before they become fights, and would rather know what's out there than sit still with a known-clear dead end at their backs.