"Under the stairs, eh? Feel my axe, vermin!" Bormann shouts as he chops at the one on the right.
Gnok and Jocosa just sit and wait for Bormann to finish off the centipedes or for Kranzer to switch places, if he wants to.
Bormann's axe leaves a huge gash in the centipede as it falls backwards dead.
Greta stays back, trying to see what's going on inside the room!
Kranzer lashes out with with his hopeknife and shortsword.
"Mind the legs, eh? Some good eatin' there!"
Kanzer tries to stab the insect with his short sword and hopeknife but misses. The centipede tries to bite Kranzer in return.
Gnok, Greta, Drosk and Jocosa all want to get into the fight but can't get into the room.
Round One:
"What's goin' on up there?" Drosk calls to his companions while keeping an eye out for any other creatures that might surprise the group.
Round Two:
"Centipedes! Big ones!" Bormann calls back to Drosk. "Just a couple. Pierce their shell and they die fast as anything else."
"The shell is fairly tough, though," he adds as it resists his axe's bite.
Not being able to reach the creatures, Gnok does his best to encourage the front two, "get em Bormann and Kranzer"
Bormann tries to finish this centipede as easily as he finished off its mate but this centipede seems a bit more resilient.
Jocosa, tired of waiting moves thru Bormann next to the centipede and bites it damaging the creature.
Jocosa, feeling flush from her victory over the dire rat, is tired of waiting for someone to put this last centipede out of its misery. With a roar she barrels past Bormann and chomps down hard on the centipede. The centipede, in its death throes bites the cat.
Kranzer feels whatever it is trying to affect him and growls low under his breath, holding his wound.
Jocosa stumbles a bit after killing the centipede, then goes to Gnok with a look in her eyes that says help me.
"It's ok girl, you killed it. I can't help you now, but maybe tomorrow." Gnok talks soothingly to the cat and strokes her head and neck.
Bormann continues to climb the stairs to the loft and much to your surprise, most of this wooden loft is still standing—this is the only remnant of the building’s destroyed second floor. The roofless chamber is completely exposed to the elements and filled with soot-covered debris, fire-damaged furnishings, and charred wooden beams. A large, soot-covered brass statue of a goddess with a longsword in one hand and a kite shield in the other stands precariously on the northern edge of the platform above a rickety flight of stairs.
"Does anyone know what that statue is?"
"Iomedae. Still watchin' over Her ruined temple. I wonder if High Priestess Varvatos would want this brought back to the Sanctuary? Probably easiest to rig up a block an' tackle an' lower it down from the outside since the roof is gone. Wouldn't want to try to take it down those rickety stairs," Drosk muses aloud.
"Iomedae. Still watchin' over Her ruined temple. I wonder if High Priestess Varvatos would want this brought back to the Sanctuary? Probably easiest to rig up a block an' tackle an' lower it down from the outside since the roof is gone. Wouldn't want to try to take it down those rickety stairs," Drosk muses aloud.
"If they have left her here this long after the fire, they probably prefer to leave her here. Let her preside over her temple. Though, we could clean her up a bit, out of respect," Bormann adds, looking about for something that might help clear the soot and grime.
"Aye, that we can do Bormann" and Gnok helps Bormann clean the soot and stains off the statue.
Drosk casts a minor spell to clean the dust and grime from the statue.
You all work on cleaning the statue, and when you are done the statue looks almost brand new. As you stand there and admire your handiwork, the clouds cause the sun's rays to form what looks like a longsword on the statue. Although none of you worship The Inheritor, you feel her blessings course through your veins.
"Well, we've seen what's up here. Let's get back to followin' those tracks down those steps where we fought the rats."
"Aye. Perhaps we have taken a first step in letting this place take control of its history. But I too am ready to see what else there is to see." Bormann adds.
"Aye, lead the way."
Bormann backtracks to the stairs down past the rat corpses. He pauses briefly at the top of the stairwell once more to listen for any movement below.
Greta pauses. "Did the battle injure anyone? I can soothe wounds, with the power of my lady Bolka."
Kranzer says, spitting on the nearest wall. "Eh 'is just a scratch. I'll get'em better next time though!"
Kranzer follows behind Bormann, senses honed for trouble, but his wound still distracting him enough.
Greta sighs, having known the disconcerting need of the manly dwarf to avoid showing pain or admitting weakness. She murmurs a prayer to Bolka, probably to save her from the machismo, and channels to heal.
With Bormann and Kranzer both hearing nothing, Kranzer leads the party down the stairs. The stone stairs end in a stark subterranean chamber. Doorways to the northwest and southwest offer egress from the room. Around the corner to the south, a lone statue has been relegated to a dusty corner behind the stairs both her hands wrapped loosely around the hilt of her sheathed sword, which looks oddly askew. The statue looks like the same lady from the loft-Iomedea.
Bormann moves forward, passing Kranzer, and into the chamber. He cautiously moves to the corner (P8) so that he and Kranzer sort of flank one of the passages out of the room. He tries to do so as quietly as possible (though he's not generally too stealthy).
Gnok and Jocosa enter the room and while Bormann keeps an eye on the first passage way to the north, they move over to the the second passageway.
Whispering to his friend, "smell anything girl?"
Jocosa sticks her head up, and sniffs the air.
Bormann passes Kranzer and looks down the hallway which looks like it turns to the east. Gnok and Jocosa look down the other corridor which ends in a portcullis. The door to the west of them is closed and the statue is to the south of them. When Gnok asks Jocosa if she smells anything the great cat smells the air, looks down the corridor with the portcullis and lets out a low growl that bears all her teeth.
Around the corner to the south, a lone statue has been relegated to a dusty corner behind the stairs both her hands wrapped loosely around the hilt of her sheathed sword, which looks oddly askew. The statue looks like the same lady from the loft-Iomedea.
Drosk steps behind Jocosa and studies the statue. "Kranzer, does this statue's sword look odd to you?" the wizard asks.
Bormann nods to Kranzer. "I will watch for trouble here. Go check out the statue with Drosk."
Bormann otherwise stands his ground, guarding this flank while his companions make more detailed examinations of the surroundings.
"There is something down that corridor" and Gnok points to the corridor where he and Jocosa are standing."
"Well lemme see, never really one for chivalry an' all that, but oh well!" Kranzer scans the statue. At the same time, he keeps his eye on the corridor where Gnok is pointing.
"That sword'll fetch a right good price. What'ya think? Think the good lady'll let us use it, eh? Ya might wanna see if any magic's about first, though."
"Kranzer, you are the scout. Which way is best?"
Drosk casts a minor cantrip to reveal magical auras and studies the longsword and statue, and then the general surroundings.
"Lets go" suggests Gnok, and he waits for Kranzer and Bormann to go then he and Jocosa fall in behind them.
With Kranzer leading the way, you all make your way down to the portcullis, which is down. Peering through the bars, you see that embedded into the floor of this chamber is a ten-foot-diameter granite emblem of a faded gold and white longsword. Four passages lead out of the chamber in different directions. A ladder in the southern corner of the room leads upward, and a small chest and decrepit bookshelf face one another from opposite walls.
In the middle of the room, Kranzer sees a local half-orc by the name of Daktani conversing with a strange creature. They are both focused on you as they heard you coming down the hall.
The creature licks a huge tongue around her toothy maw and says to Daktani,
A look of fear passes over Daktani's face as he says,