Venssa moves forward again and tries to strike the statue.
Attack:
Damage:
Cole shrinks back to fire his bow, and as he does so, the statue takes a vicious swipe with one of the shields:
The attack narrowly misses Cole, who seems almost perfectly focused, drawing back for a shot that sends the statue momentarily stumbling back.
Aldelenna's crossbow bolt goes wildly aside, matched by a similarly off aim bolt of fire from your resident sorcerer.
However none of you are quite expecting the massive smack down delivered by Venssa, whose strike with her enchanted staff actually tears a chunk bigger than she is from the creature.
Current turn: Group 2.
The statue stumbles, finds its balance, and attacks!
and
Perhaps badly staggered from its injuries, both blows fail to connect!
Group 1: Venssa, Cole, Finlogan, Aldelenna, Rankev
Group 2: Statue
It is round 3. Current turn Group 1
Waiting on Venssa, Cole, Finlogan, Aldelenna, Rankev
Cole fires his longbow again.
Fin dodges in front of the statue trying to take all of its attention away from Cole.
Venessa once again places the enchantment on her staff, then strikes at the crumbling statue.
Attack:
Damage:
"Let's try that again." Aldelenna murmurs while reloading, then draws a bead and fires.
She yells watching the bolt dig satisfyingly deep into the animated golem's inner parts.
Distracted by Finlogan, the statue is pierced by arrows, crossbow bolts and another massive strike of Venssa's staff. It stumbles, and its movements slow to nothing until it is completely still.
Breathing heavy, Venssa warily looks at the statue.
"Do you think it's dead...well not dead, but..umm..broken??"
"Hope so." Finlogan wanders over and exchanges his shield for the Kassan shield that is inscribed with the word Family.
Cole begins to search the room in greater detail.
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"Not nearly broken enough.... Obviously this thing is possessed by an evil demon that attacks honest adventurers just trying to light the lamp. I can not believe that such a thing was originally part of the plan, else how else has anyone ever lit the lamp?
Now that it is...still, let us see that none others fall to this piece of statuary."
After Fin is clear, Power backs up and launches a deluge of firebolts at the thing until the chest splits and the limbs no longer have anchors to cause mischief.
"Alright. We must assume that this place has been taken over by some force of evil, and everything about it, from motionless bones to motionless statues is ready to come alive and attack us.
We must be cautious."
That done, Rankev helps Cole search the room.
The room is a relatively plain one. There is a door to the north, and another to the south.
The shields are large and strangely relatively poorly constructed. Finlogan can tell quickly that they are unwieldy and too hefty to use with ease during combat. But they are sturdy, and would provide complete cover to someone who crouched behind them.
Come, there are tracks leading to the southern door. I don't believe they were skeletons, by the gait.
Finding the Kassan shield unwieldy for combat, he just shoulders it and readies his veteran shield. "Cole, maybe take the Home shield. The crazy guy said something about shields."
Cole nods and grabs the shield.
Venssa moves up to the southern door as the group prepares to enter.
Aldelenna moves with the group, but calls for them to halt by the door. "Wait," she says, "let's give a listen to the door and see if we can hear anybody in there." After explaining, she leans her ear to the door and gives a listen.
Aldelenna: Years of listening at doors at the Seven Silvers tells you two things.
It's completely silent inside.
The door is certainly locked.
"Well, I don't hear anyone in there, but this door isn't opening without a key. Unless..." Tucking her stray strand of red curls behind her slightly pointed ears, Aldelenna reaches into a hidden pouch inside her belt and pulls out a a few small metal instruments, and begins to fidget with the lock on the door.
Venssa stands ready by Aldelenna's side.
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Venssa: The metallic glint in the fire appears to be a dagger. You also notice, as you are closest to the fire, there is a key on the floor nearby. There does seem to be a rudimentary chimney, but it appears at least two bodies were forced into the fire, and the chimney simply hasn't been adequate to allow the smoke to clear, especially with the embers still hot and occasionally flaring to life.
The smoke continues to be oppressive and the shadows have only gotten more menacing as the fire whoshes out, then flares, fighting Venssa's attempts to extinguish it.
Power stands passively to the rear and out of the way as the girls concentrate and focus on the door at hand.
He's just watching them to make sure they stay safe, is what he would say to anyone who asked why he's watching two girls bend to and work on a keyhole. His silly little grin would be from something funny he totally heard the other day.
As she looks over Aldelenna's shoulder, Venssa suddenly remembers the key she found neat the dagger in the fire.
"Umm..Aldel...might this fit that lock?"
She hands the key to the woman with a slight smile.
Just as Venssa proffers the key, Aldelenna hears that satisfying click that means she won't need it. "Not necessary, I got it." She says with a beaming smile of pride on her face, not thinking about the fact that only criminals have the skill set she just displayed, only being happy that she could contribute in some quantifiable way to their collective goals. She then steps aside and says, "I'll let somebody else open it, even though I didn't hear anything, it doesn't mean there isn't some hovering shade of death hanging around on the other side."
Cole steps forward and opens the door.
illuminated by Rankev's light and Aldelenna's dancing lights, the door reveals a small chamber, some fifteen feet by twenty feet. It is dominated by a large ten foot table in its center, upon which you can see a number of items, each with a note attached.
Venssa cautiously moves forward to get a better look at the items on the table.
"Careful Venssa! Those notes might be explosive runes! Something about this whole thing just feels... off." Aldelenna says and then steps forward with Venssa to get a closer look at the labeled items on the table.
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"This is the most curious thing yet," Power says, entering the room and illuminating it. "A treasure cache in a dungeon is almost as old a trope as dungeons themselves, but at a table with labels? It bespeaks more of a laboratory, which would be most out of place.
Now now, Alde. Explosive runes are powerful, but rare. Were such a thing to be used, no doubt it would have been on the door itself first."
Rankev steps up to the table and starts investigating the items and notes.
Finlogan follows Power over to the table to investigate.
The table contains a number of labeled items. The labels are written in Taldane, the common language of commerce that still inflicts most of the world that was once a part of that now somewhat decadent empire. While the script is carefully written, it appears quite modern.
items on the table are (according to their labels):
A potion of heroism
A horn of silent alarm
An instrument of illusions (flute)
A scroll of snare
A potion of fire breath
Finlogan picks up the flute. After he examines it, he plays a tune from the Seven Silvers that Aldelenna usually accompanies him.
Aldelenna pulls out her lyre and plucks along, even humming the melody. Then, while still humming and plucking, looks around, and suddenly stops. "I... I don't think this is the time for a song, Finny. We've got a Kassenite kidnapped somewhere in this gods forsaken tomb, and skeletons coming to life all around. If and when we save Roldare's sister, and get him and the Everflame out of here, then, I promise you not only a song, but a dance as well." She walks over and kisses him on the cheek, squeezing his hand.
"Now about this treasure... Why in the world would someone label it?! It feels like a trap, but then again, I'm starting to see traps everywhere. Is it possible whomever left it just didn't want us wasting time trying to figure out what everything is?" She picks up the horn and twists it around in her hand.
Yeah, this looks like a trap of some sort. We ought t'be able t'tell what some of these are by a taste, right?
"I have my herbalist kit here...perhaps I can deduce what the potions are without our actually having to risk tasting them."
Cole: yes, it is possible to identify some potions by sampling tiny amounts.
Venssa: equally, it makes sense for a druid to identify potions with an herbalism kit. At least one potion can be made using an herbalism kit, so identifying potions with one makes sense.
Finlogan: The flute seems finely made, but it almost seems to resist you when you play.
Aldelenna: While the handwriting is Taldane and modern, there's more to it than that. It was made with a calligrapher's brush. You've seen this sort of script before. Trelvar always took and filled the orders himself, which were typically for finer wines than ever were served in the common rooms.
Adelenna, see if you can tell what they really are, and if ya can't, then I'll give a small taste.
After Finlogan finishes his song, he studies the flute again, "The flute seems finely made, but it almost seems to resist me when I play."
Aye, Fin, I am thinkin' the potions may not be what they say too.
"The script on these looks really familiar, they look like the same script I've seen on purchase orders for fine wines at the Silvers. I wonder if one of the nobles in town wrote the labels? If that's the case, I'd say we should just trust them for what they are?" Aldelenna says, and then takes a look at the scroll attached to the label that says Snare, to see if she can read the arcane language therein. "I can't understand this magical language, Rankev, do you understand the magical notations here?"
Surprised by the scroll, Venssa tells the others what she has discovered.
"They are true to their labels, and this scroll is a druidic version of the snare spell. If you all do not mind, I would like to keep this scroll to learn a little more about the magic it can unleash."
"If they are true to the labels, maybe someone else can coax illusions from this flute. As I can only get music."
"hmmmm, illusions and music are very much a part of my forte. Let me take a look at it." Aldelenna says, and then after Finlogan hands her the flute, she turns it over in her hands a bit, and plays just a few notes, to see how it responds.
"I won't be able to use this unless I take some time to study it, and I don't think we have the time to do so now. Let's grab the treasure and be back about our business, Roldare's sister is awaiting rescue!" Aldelenna says and then stuffs the flute into her pack.
Finlogan takes the lead before Cole tries, because his friend is hurt. After everyone collects the loot, he finds the next place to explore.
Referring to the map, the most obvious place is the door in the northwest side of the northern wall of the room where you fought the statue. The door is, for the record, not locked.