On the other side of the doorway, you find a passageway that heads to the East and West. The Western path ends in what appears to be a wooden door, however there are no handles, keyholes, or any other obvious mechanisms through which it can be opened.
The Eastern path heads South before splitting once again, with one path continuing South and another headed back West. If you head to the Southernmost door, the mournful wailing grows louder with each step towards the end of the musty hallway. There are a host of bones strewn on the floor in front of the door, many of which are cracked and broken. If you head West, you find the passageway empty, eventually ending in a wooden door.
Etam moves the stone-filled saddle to the door opening, so, in case the door closes, it will at least be met with some resistance. He listens to the wailing for a bit, trying to identify it somehow.
"I would suggest we move to the south and investigate this wailing sound. If this is a hostile creature, I would rather face it now, when we might be able to control the battlefield, rather than having it sneaking up on us later. If it is something else, well, we at least have one less eerie thing to worry about."
I am curious about that wailing but it could very well be a trap. Specially seeing that cracked bones in front of the door.
"Let me take a quick look for traps before we all venture in this passageway."
Jaed hesitantly crosses the door and starts inspecting the passageway. He first heads West until he reaches the door. Then he goes back over his steps and follows the southern path stopping at a prudential distance of the bones. After a few seconds of reflection he crouches down, picks a rock and toss it to the bones.
If this results to be a trap I don't want to wind up crushed like those bones.
Artair follows Jaed...waraxe ready...
Etam goes to the door. He places his ear on it, trying to discern any noises besides the wailing.
Not hearing anything else, he turns to his companions: "Men, are you ready? If anything comes out of the door, I will retreat to where Jaed's standing right now. That way, two of us can attack and deal with only one of them at a time."
Once everyone is ready, Etam pushes the door, but it appears to be locked. The wailing also immediately stops.
Jaed nervously squishes his sword's grip. "This sudden silence is even creepier than the wailing. Etam, test if any of our keys opens that door. If not, I would suggest we retreat and check the other two doors."
Finnrick follows the group with Millsey weaving in front of him ever watchful it the dimly lit corridor. As the wailing abruptly stops Finnrick feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"Here you are Jaed" Finnrick says passing the key he had found in the saddle bag forward. "And I agree if the door doesn't want to open maybe we shouldn't force it."
We may need to get through this at some point, by key or by force. I am not sure we should even be down here.
Runvald takes a long pull off his bottle of whisky, pretty sure they were about to encounter trouble.
I'mmm as ready as I'm gonna be... He slips the bottle in his pack, cracks his knuckles and readies himself.
Neither the key from the pool nor the key from the sack seem to open this lock.
"Ok, I suppose that means back to the other doors. Let me inspect the one that is closer."
Jaed walks to the door and takes a close look at it, trying not to make much noise.
"Hmmm…yes, it might be wiser to retreat. Though, the fact this wailing stopped is peculiar, no? If there is an undying horror thirsting for our blood behind this door, would it not scream louder? Or be otherwise unfazed by random noises?"
'I am almost tempted to shout something at whatever is behind the door.'
"Yes, this is much better a room that wasn't emitting screams moments ago." Finnrick whispers as he follows Jaed toward the door.
"It appears to be bombardier beetle, they are protected by a thick hide and spray acid, oh and watch out for those mandibles, they can pack a wallop. If I could I would like to attempt to pacify the creature, although I would like to have someone ready to jump in if it goes south."
Just as the words leave his mouth Finnrick glances at Millsey and it reminds him of her chasing rats, which reminded him of something that he learned long ago.
There was something that Olmira taught me in one of her lessons about beasts such as this... What was it... Something about vermin. Oh yes, she said that they are nasty creatures and while they may seem to be animals they are actually something different and that I wouldn't be able to connect with them in the same way I do the woodland animals.
With that in mind Finnrick amends his statement
"Wait never mind, lets just kill the nasty critter, though with it's ability to spray acid I think it would be wise to try and get into the room and spread out."
Jaed nods to Finnrick. Good that he changed his mind. Trying to pacify a wolf is one thing, but this creature? No way.
As the beetle doesn't seem to be aware of them, Jaed carefully sheathes his sword and readies his crossbow. He then uses his left hand to signal the others to carefully approach the room. A tense wait follows until everyone gets into position, hoping the creature remains unaware of them.
Being quiet isn't exactly my strong suit... Runvald thinks to himself in a moment of self-reflection. He takes a deep breath and moves forward as slowly and carefully as possible, but keeping behind Artair.
Feeling a bit like a human ....er, DWARVEN, shield...he proceeds with Crossbow ready....probably want to stay back in this fight...
"I will attack it in melee range, this way we might be able to flank it. Are we sure there is only one beetle? Master Finnrick, could you change the light from my shield to the spear?"
Etam puts his shield and warhammer away and draws his spear 'We will need something heavy to pierce that carapace.'
You all manage to sneak forward without the beetle apparently being aware of you.
Jaed holds his breath and aims at the beetle. What would be the soft spot of this thing? Well, it has eyes so I suppose it will hurt to get a bolt in one.
When he sees a clear shot he pulls the trigger of his crossbow.
"Try to sneak around him Millsy" Finnrick says as he pats him casting guidance on his companion.
As the Beetle becomes aware of the group Finnrick lays a hand on Jaed shoulder.[b]"May your next attack strike true."["b]
Millsy sneaks around the back of the beast and takes a bite at the beetle.
As Jaed fires his crossbow, Etam runs with Millsy for a bit but follows straight ahead, tactically positioning himself so he and the cat flank the beetle.
Surprise: Artair Fires his crossbow
Round: Artair moves along the wall and looses another shot.
Jaed's first attack his the beetle squaring in the eye, taking it by surprise but not taking it down. Artair tries to duplicate the shot by Jaed, but his attempt not to hit the rogue in the back of the head causes the bolt to bounce off of the beetle's leathery hide.
Meanwhile, Etam and Millsy rush into the room, Etam to set up good positions and Millsy to bite at the creature. She manages to sink her teeth in to its leg as it cries out in pain, but her rapid shaking of the creature fails to knock it prone.
I will move, reload and not shoot.
As the other members of the party maneuver to engage the beetle, Runvald moves in as well, this time more cautiously than in the battle with the the skeletons. He positions himself behind Finnrick in the hallway, in preparation for a direct attack on the beetle.
After the party Springs their surprise attacks on the beetle Runvald moves close, still not quite fast enough to engage the beetle, but almost within reach, readying himself to punch the beetle in case it comes after him.
Runvald cautiously moves forward, ready to strike the beetle if it comes to close. Erazmus likewise moves forward, making sure to keep one ally between him and the enemy. He then uses his specialization with evocation to conjure a force missile.
On its last legs, the beetle whirls about, turning on the only creature to hit him within range: the large cat. It opens its mouth and sprays Millsy with acid.
Etam takes advantage of his position and adds to the barrage of attacks directed at the monster. He lunges forward, almost crouching, and stabs from below, aiming at the hopefully softer underbelly.
With a splat Etam impales the beetle. Its legs twitch a few more times before finally becoming still.
Now that you're in the room, you can see that there's a door to the South and a flight of stairs to the West. In the corner of the room is a pile of trash and filth that the beetle had been trying to drag the body towards. Other than that, the room is empty.
"Well done Etam, this thing deserved it. Finnrick, how is Millsy?"
That cat has proved useful and I am starting to like it. And that's strange because I usually don't like animals. It may be that this damn crypt is affecting me.
Jaed kneels next to the body and examines it, searching all his pockets. He then takes a closer look at the pile of trash. Maybe this creature has collected something interesting.
Etam lowers the spear and removes the beetle with his foot. Almost smiling, he replies "Thank you, master Zandorias. Feels nice to use the spear again. Say, do you think we could try and extract the acid from this beast? It could prove useful later on." And then, serious again, he looks at Finnrick "I share the concern with Millsy. Is there any way we can be of assistance?"
Does anyone recognize the body? I thought that we were the first ones here in a year...
How badly did the acid get the cat? And what are your thinking of doing with it? I dont know how effective acid is on skeletons. Should have brought a hammer instead of this axe.
i don't know that we are ready to go down yet. That is always bad in these places. Let's stay on this level until we figure out more what our going on.
Finnrick watches in horror as Millsy attempts to jump up of the way of the blast of acid and just barely missis getting hit with the main blast but I still splattered in burning acid.
Millsy! Finnrick yells running toward the cat. As soon as he reaches her he grabs the cats face tenderly in both his hands. Drawing her large head close to him Finnrick castins CLW. A single tear falls from his eye and lands atop Millsys head.
Come on Millsy. Finnrick whispers to himself.
"Nothing interesting in this room. Well, this dead body is burnt but I don't see any fire around if that makes any sense."
"So, what's going to be, the door or the stairs? Anyways, I would suggest keeping a low profile. Stealth has helped us against this monster", Jaed says while pointing his crossbow at the dead beetle.
While he waits until a decision is made, Jaed examines the door, putting his ear against it in an effort to discern any movement on the other side without having to open the door.
When it becomes evident that Millsy is going to survive Finnrick rises and takes a look around the room for the first time.
Not very impressive
I think we should try the door. I think we should clear out the doors that will open before we venture up those steps.
Agreed.
Etam goes to the door and, once everyone is ready, opens it slowly. "We know were the burnt corpse came from." 'The body was probably dragged here by the beetle, but how did it get through the door? At this point I am sure this is all completely out of the expected pilgrimage tasks.'
"What do you say, men? Should we continue? If so, it would be wise to cover our mouths and noses with a wet cloth."
"So, are we going to serve as firefighters now?" We could light that lantern with this fire and get the hell out of here. Nobody told me it was going to be this hard to get that flame.
Jaed wets a small piece of cloth that he just ripped from his shirt.
"It is going to be hard to spot any traps in this hallway. Stay close and try not to make much noise."
Jaed ventures into the hallway, walking slouched until the point where it turns East.
The remains of a small fire smolder in the center of this broad chamber, letting off a plume of oily smoke. Fed by a heap of burning gear, debris, and more than few bones, the fire casts a flickering light across the walls of this room, partially obscured by the veil of smoke.
Finnrick follows Etam and Jaed's lead and takes rips a piece of cloth and dampens it to use as a mask. Well this seems ominous, a smoky hallway I'd best be on high alert for anything lurking in the Smoke