"Let me take a look at that." Ava says, kneeling down next to the Viscount. She pulls on a pair of leather gloves before retrieving a leather-bound bundle of tools. "I'll see if I can do anything here."
Enko scans the building while Ava gets to work.
Ava begins to tinker with the mechanism.
"It's been a while," Ava says, gripping a pick in her teeth as she pries away the needles. "But it shouldn't be too difficult."
With sure movements of her her hands and fingers you watch as Ava avoids the poisoned needs affixed around the lock and grate. Then with a deft twist the lock comes off. Now that the lock is open and the grate can lift, you find the needles can be easily removed from the backside of the grate.
With the grate removed you see a small tunnel leading down at a steep angle underneath the building about 10 feet. The other end of the tunnel appears dark and you hear no noises from where you all stand at the outside of the building. The tunnel is small, those of you who aren't small-sized would have to squeeze through.
Amon creeps forward and down silently, when he gets to the end of the short tunnel he finds it pitch black at the bottom. Those at the top can see the back of him faintly illuminated.
Enko gestures to Ava, pointing to her eyes and the tunnel and gives a miniscule bow.
Ava will carefully remove and wrap the needles, placing them in a belt pouch.
[ooc]For the sake of moving things along lets assume Amon gave the all clear.[ooc]
The light filtering in from above shows he's looking into a small closet, 5' long and slightly less than 5' wide. The walls contain shelving and small bags and baskets are everywhere. Ava's darkvision allows her to see everything without difficulty.
Alright. Ava will take a thorough look around for any hidden doors or valuables.
25
Ava peeks into bags and listens at the door, the bags revealing mostly old food and empty waterskins. It appears you're in what was an old store room at one point, and the goblins don't seem to come in here much. In fact the only evidence they've been here is the roughly dug tunnel you just descended. Her diligent searching does reveal a false bottom section of wall behind a shelf, revealing a 12" box with a beautiful ring inside.
She examines the door and doesn't find it trapped or locked, at least as far as she can tell. Listening at the door Ava can hear somewhat distant shrill voices. They rise fall as if in a heated discussion. She hears what could be a shout or a scream at one point as well. Nothing 'sounds' like it's right outside their door.
"Protection..."Ava nods at the Viscount's words. "Yes, that seems likely. I've seen rings like these before. There was a scandal some years back involving cursed rings almost identical to this one being circulated."
Ava turns the ring over in her hand, checking the inside of the band for the telltale sign that marked the cursed rings.
"This one is clean. I never did find out exactly what they were supposed to do, but I'll hold onto this one until we can find a quiet place for you to examine it." Ava will slip the ring onto her finger and flex her hand.
---
Ava breathes deeply as she listens at the door.
"I can hear them in there - making a ruckus, as goblins are so fond of doing, but that is far off. I can't hear any movement in the immediate vicinity, and goblins aren't exactly known for their ability to sit still for any given amount of time. What are your thoughts?"
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Cursed vessels of magic are rarely created by malice, my lady. Rather, the act of binding magic into an item such as a ring is a complex and lengthy process that can be ruinous if disrupted. The wrong ingredient or spell can create a cursed item, usually most dangerous to it's creator. The ones bandied about the market are more likely scavenged from the corpses of their creators or stolen. Like any good venture, the only way to know whether we've got something genuine is to test it- I know of no art that can divine whether an item such as this is dangerous, only what it's intended powers were to be. He looks at her, and the hand with the ring. By wearing it, you've already accepted the pitfalls of any curse; but be not worried. If the ring is cursed, it is a simple matter of greasing the right palms with gold to have it removed. I sense only a minor amount of power here. In the future, though, it would behoove you to wait until I've assessed it's potential power (and thus the strength of the curse) before wearing, drinking, or otherwise activating such items. He smirks.
"We shall soon find out its power," says Enko solemnly.
He stands ready at the door.
Ava closes her eyes as the Viscount prattles away.
"The lecture is unneccesary, Viscount." Ava says, her voice as cold as always. "I don't presume to be a master of arcana, but I do know what I have seen, and I trust that more than the words of any book or scholar. I've been watching men fall prey to the perils of magic since before you were born, so believe me when I say I know what I am doing. I take care when care is due. Now let us get back to the task at hand."
Ava stands from her crouching position and places her palm softly on the door. "Who is going to take point?"
"Reconnaissance will swiftly turn to combat," says Enko. "Ava, I am happy to be up front, but goblins can see in the dark, and our lights will give us away. If we are willing to risk that, then let it be so."
He pauses at the door. "I would still prefer that we had a better plan than merely walking in."
"You are not alone in that sentiment, Enko."Ava concurs. "But it seems we could not reach a definitive agreement. Perhaps we should scout out the exterior more then fall back to plan proper."
Amon takes the initiative, with Enko close behind him, to open the door to the next room, easing the portal open silently. Through the open door you see the dirty wall of other side of a hallway a few feet away, and peering left and right shows the hallways ends a around 10 feet to your right (which is the outer wall) and the hallway leads farther into the structure to the right. To the left there is a faint light source shining around the right side of an intersection about 10' from the door your standing in. The hallway continues past that intersection into the darkness. If Ava (with her darkvision) pokes her head out she can see that the far end of the hallway has a two doors, one on the right and one on the left. She can also see two goblins standing outside the left door, ears pressed firmly against the wood and giggling and cackling grotesquely. They haven't noticed you, too absorbed in whatever's on the other side of the door to look your way. Not that your being obvious, but some faint light from outside is making it through the trapdoor and spilling slightly into the hallway.
Past the giggling and cackling of the goblins you can hear the sound of low groans and the occasional short scream. There is mostly anger in the scream, rather than fear or pain. You'd guess there's only one voice doing the screaming. It seems to be coming from the end of the hallway, behind the door where the two goblins are listening in.
"Someone is screaming in anger...and someone else, or several people, are groaning. It seems like those nearest goblins are listening in on a secret," whispers Enko.
Enko covers his lantern to almost complete closure and inclines his head to the left, towards the goblins. "I suggest we take those two out."
"anger and pain," clarifies Enko, shaking his head as if hearing a message from a divine being.
Ava nods in agreement and will draw her axe. She keeps one hand hovering over her darts, unsure of which to lead with.
Three goblins surround the table your tied to, two of them with short spears and a larger one the others seem to defer to. The big one wields your kukri in both hands, and blood covers the points of each of the weapons they wield. Blood oozes from over two dozen small wounds on your body, including jabs and slices around your eyes, under finger and toe-nails, and your ribs and armpits. They haven't maimed you yet, doing so would shorten their fun and possibly pre-maturely end your life. There is a shallow candle burning in the corner, which adds the dimension of color to task the goblins have undertaken. They jabber to each other in their own language, and ignore any and all words you've issued thus far. The big one holds the kukri sideways and is slowly outlining the crease where your ring and pointer finger are fused with small slices, and from the looks of things, he'll be working on separating the wide finger in the next few minutes. The big one addresses you in common, his voice shrill and cackling, "Whitechin-King thinksy you has more gold! Wheres be the gold freaksy human!?" He hardly waits for an answer before issuing an order and the goblins flanking your jab the points of their spears into your flesh once again.
You remember seeing your things thrown in a corner, with the exception of your greatsword, which Whitechin claimed for his own when you were brought in. He'd have taken your breastplate if it'd been a little bit smaller, but as it was he couldn't get it on. Your restraints are tight, cutting off much of the circulation to your extremities, and you're starting to feel woozy due to the loss of blood.
" Whitechin is wrong, you little imp. I don't bleed gold pieces either, so cutting me isn't going to get you any more than you already have." His words are growled out through clenched teeth as Caladius struggles weakly against his bonds. Reflecting briefly on his miserable life and the ignominious death before him, the bound and bloodied tiefling inwardly curses the day he'd been born.
The lead goblin pauses at your outburst, "Screamsy horn-man, soooo silly. Screamsy all you want. NO. EARS. CAN. SAVE. YOU!!" He punctuates his last shrieked words with deep cuts from the kukri.
The muffled shouting continues in the far room as the group in the closet consider their options in the dangerous situation they find themselves in.
Strong, humanoid voice (pained, labored, enraged): Whitechin is...you little... I don't...gold.... ...cutting me...going to....more than you already have."
Small and shrieking voice (seedy, malicious, superior): "Screamsy...horn..., soooo silly! Screamsy ... NO. EARS. CAN. SAVE. YOU!!"
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In a whisper Don't bother with the distraction- they may call for help. Half of us hit left, half hit right. I've got left. Kill them without warning.
The Viscount hefts his crossbow, and wishes he had enough time to summon his servant and mage armor. (In the future, any time he walks INTO a dungeon, he should remember to cast it. He's kicking himself.)
"I will take the right." Enko loads a sling bullet.
As Enko and the Viscount fire their shots, Ava explodes forward with surprising speed, her axe trailing behind her like a silver blur. In an instant she's upon them, axe arcing overhead in a deadly slash.
Initiative:
Mwk Battleaxe, Charging:
Damage, Axe:
Damage, Sneak Attack:
Enko lobs a bullet at the right hand goblin.
Enko and Jaiyana step out and loose slings down the hallway one smacking the goblin on the right in the head, sending him reeling. Jaiyana is equally successful, but hers smashes into his side, and the goblin crumples with barely a whimper.
Ava rushes the one of the Goblins and takes him down, her blade opening him up from chin to navel.
Behind the door Ava can now hear much clearer, as two or three goblin voices jabber in their native tongue, and a male voice tries to reason with his sadistic torturers, the voice crying out occasionally in response to shrieks from the goblins. It's not difficult to paint a mental picture of what is going on behind the door. "I'll guard the way out!" Jaiyana whispers to the group, and takes a step into the shadows of the storeroom you entered from.
From Ava's charge down the hall, she got a better look at the interior. Dividing the floor is a wide, empty hallway, which makes a "T" intersection at both ends of the building. The long part of the "T" runs east/west and showed a solitary lantern flickering weakly, illuminating several doors on either side of the hall. The group is currently in the north hallway, having entered from a room on the south of the building, the hall their in is the north/south running hall, representing the top of the "T".