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Masym is not quite sure what happened to the ghoul, though he suspected Midge had something to do with it. Thankful that ghoul is no longer a threat he turns his attention to the remaining underwater ghoul, knowing his companions were still at risk from it.
Lunging to the surface and taking large gulps of air, Masym dives back down to deal with it, thrusting at it hard with his spear...
Fifi fights off the ghouls vile touch, almost as if the faith of Sarenrae herself was burning it away. She takes on a more defensive stand, trying to keep the ghouls at bay long enough for the others to close in! Masym immediately moves to oblige. He surfaces for the first time since the blockage collapsed, taking a deep breath, before diving right back under... thrusting himself and his spear at the undead still lurking beneath the surface. But despite his best efforts, the ghoul proves far too agile in the water, and his weapon comes nowhere near.
Marcus takes a different tack, instead going for the one standing with its top half exposed. Even with the awkwardness of the water, the nobleman's blow proves deadly accurate, slashing across the top of the water like it was skimming algae, and in one swing, separates the visible part of the ghoul, from that still beneath the surface. Both parts sink back into the murky depths, in a plume of black diseased blood.
- Round 3 --------
<--- we are here!
- Round 4 --------
Londo, Kioshi, and Midge to go.
,
Midge finally manages to crawl out of the water, or at least far enough out of it that she can breath while standing on her own two feet. It still is over her knees in the shallower section, but its a definite step up!
As Londo wades across the shallow section, before hopping into the deeper waters once more, to close with the last remaining ghoul, Kioshi stands ready to try to blast it should it show its head over the water.
But the ghoul never does, realizing it is being slowly surrounded. It seems to weigh self-preservation with an insatiable need to feed but it has gone without food for too long, and can not get itself to flee with so much to eat right in front of it.
It does stop trying to chew on Fifi though, the woman's armor far too hard to chew through. It snarls at Masym for a moment before quickly backing away and turning its attention to Marcus, who is having a hard time seeing it through the blood soaked murky water! It sinks its fangs into his thigh, eyes rolling back in its head as it sucks in his blood . Marcus' constitution finally fails him, and though he can feel the creature's teeth piercing the skin, and the pain that results, he can not seem to muster the strength to move away, or move much of anything!
Instead of continuing to attack Marcus though, the ghoul, buoyed by the taste of blood, then turns its claws on Londo, clearly looking to take advantage of its necrotic venom to disable as many as possible! But even though it manages to thrust one claw past the half-orc's armor, somehow, the claws fail to penetrate flesh, suddenly turned aside by the residual protections offered by his bond with Zarisha's spirit.
- Round 4 --------
<--- we are here!
- Round 5 --------
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Londo, finding himself drawn into a vicious melee does what he does best and attempts to defend himself with his axe.
Thank you Zarisha, those claws are nasty...making me feel oh so stiff... He realized a moment too late he had provided too much ammunition for his sadistic life partner.
That's been the case since that Fifi was nice to you... focus idiot
If the ghoul has not been destroyed, he once more calls on Zarishas protection, despite his embarassment.
Seeing Marcus go rigid and stiff, Fifi immediately wraps her arms around him, and starts tugging... trying to pull him out of the reach of the ghoul before it can do worse... but he proves far more difficult to move than a halfling, and she makes little headway.
Seeing the ghoul going after the others and Marcus now helpless, Masym lunges forward with his spear beneath the surface and skewering the undead creature through the leg. It does not seem to hurt it nearly as much as he'd hoped, but it is more than enough to keep it from moving for a moment.
And a moment is all Londo needs... the aged veteran of many a battle, in far more chaotic milieus than this, finally gets a chance to line the ghoul up while it can not move. Even the water is not enough to divert the powerful swing that follows, as his axe cleaves into the water and embeds itself in the ghouls skull.
It thrashes about for a moment, as if trying to cling to whatever semblance of unlife animated it ... but in the end, can no longer even hold that.
For the moment, everything calms down. Only the constant drip of water from above, and the occasional knocking of the myriad of rotted barrels as they run up against each other, interrupt the ragged breaths of exertion from the Pathfinders.
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Marcus waits incredibly impatiently for the paralysis to wear off. If he could speak... well... you are probably better off that he can't.
Finally an ear twitches, then his whiskers, then a finger... and then the ears recede, whiskers vanish, and snout melds back into his face. The normally verbose Taldan has few words. "Speak... nothing... of... that."
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Fifi waits patiently for the Ghoul to stop moving, only to realize she's still holding onto Marcus. As he starts moving, she recoils and stands up straight, almost like a soldier.
"Uhm, sorry!"-she says embarassed.
"We should heal up before heading deeper into these caves. Sadly, my fire cannot close wounds just yet. I believe his Highness, I mean, Marcus, has a Wand, right?"-she says while scratching her head, knowing she wasn't of much use in this battle but still needs healing.
After everyone is healed, Fifi would like to continue onwards, to the door. However, she does dive down to see if she finds any corpses on her way to the door.
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Masym climbs out of the water taking several gulps of air, while stretching his arms out. Thankfully the chilled water did not bother him as much as it did before his trip to the Irrisen lands.
As Marcus reverts back to his normal form, Masym stays silent here. Not the right time to ask questions here.
He does help himself to the proffered wand...
Once Fifi Has finished her dive Masym also returns to the water, scouring the area closely...
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Midge was just about to attack with her wand when the others took down the ghoul. She looks around, wary for more, but doesn't see any, so she puts away her wand. She pulls out a different one and uses it on herself. It takes her quite a few times to get it to work, but she manages and in the end has healed all of her wounds.
"Is everyone alright?" she asks worriedly.
Once she's sure everyone's still alive and relatively healthy she looks around the cavern, starting with up on the ledge area.
As you carefully examine the flooded cavern, you will find two bodies that did not belong to the ghouls that were just trying to kill you. Both of heavily fed upon, their remains covered in claw and teeth marks, and seem relatively recently killed. You can only assume these are two of the four missing men from Railford.
The cavern itself has not seen use in a long time, most of the barrels that probably once been used in the winery, have rotted or been broken open, and are not much use for anything any longer. There is only one small section, along the northern wall, that managed to avoid getting flooded, but even it has not escaped unharmed, as it is heavily infested with mold and mildew.
About sixty feet deeper in, a cage-like fence of rusted iron, divides the cave into two distinct sections. In the center of the fence, a barred door hangs bent, partially torn from its hinges, allowing access to the back section.
That section, like the one you're in, appears to be flooded.
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"This is a gruesome sight! Two more men dead! We can be happy that we survived." Kioshi says and goes down to pat Bahuush.
"Yes, Bahuush ... we are really lucky!" Kioshi says and it seems as if he is conversing with his horned lizard.
Kioshi also goes down and starts searching the area for any clues or items that can tell us more about the slain men.
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Londo gives the young lord a smirk Speak nothing of how you got scared stiff by but a ghoul? Think nothing of it. We'll just give all your good bits to Kioshi when we retell it.
Londo produces Zarisha in her ectoplasmic form so the she can easily sneak forward and quickly scout the two sections ahead.
The iron gate has long rusted past the point where it can be operated normally. Fortunately, whatever or whoever forced their way through it, made a hole big enough for you to pass through without issue.
Past the gate, the barrel-aging cave continues for another thirty or forty feet before they end, all of it just as flooded as the front section, except for a small alcove way at the back, which is slightly raised above the mire. There are some shelves there, though they appear to have been recently disturbed, their contents pushed aside in haste. Most of what remains are small boxes of rotting wine corks and moldering labels, but one crate is still intact and apparently sealed, beside it is a small square outline in the moldy dust that seems to indicate there used to be something else here as well... though you see nothing with the right shape nearby.
You will also realize that there appears to be another area to the left of the gate. A short tunnel branches off there to the north, rising out of the muddy waters to an area that has not flooded. But that tunnel is currently blocked by hastily placed rocks and barrels.
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"Look. Something was stored there," Masym points to the alcove on the other side of the flooded cave, "Our boy grabbed it and swam to here," he motions in a diving motion, "and then barricaded the way past him," pointing to the north tunnel. He then examines the floor of the cave to determine if his theory is accurate.
Masym's theory, though plausible, proves hard to prove with the caves flooded, as not many signs survive the chest high water... but on closer inspection, the blockage in the tunnel does seem to be a hastily erected barricade. There are a number of claw marks on this side of it, though clearly the ghouls didn't make too much effort to tear it down.
You figure it will probably take a couple of minutes to clear your way past it, if you want to get by.
Londo takes a moment to examine the one remaining crate, still sealed by the others. Its contents are not nearly as exciting as its promise: a few sets of molded clothing and a rotted cloak rest on top of what appears to be old adventuring gear. Underneath are two once fine daggers, now badly rusted and worthless, as well as fancy backpack made of finely tanned leather, still in remarkably good shape, and a pair of ornate leather arm guards.
Two of the items in the crate Londo opened, the wrist guards and the backpack, have magical auras that are immediately noticeable.
Beyond that, Kioshi will notice no other lingering magic besides what the party members themselves have brought with them.
Kioshi will not be able to determine anything about the wrist guards, so can pass those on for Midge to look at.
But the backpack appears to be specially designed for carrying and easily accessing lots of loot.
The bag is currently empty!
Midge can not quite determine what the magic of the bracers is either.
Apparently, its quite complex! =)
It takes a couple of minutes, but you are able to pull aside enough of the barrels and rocks to access the short tunnel on the north side of the cavern. It slopes upwards a short distance before leading into another natural cavern about twenty feet across and thankfully, above the flood lines, so it relatively dry (though the same can't be said for all of you!).
The new area does not go anywhere however, merely a side cavern off the main barrel-aging caves. But, because it is dry, it means signs of recent activity are harder to hide, and Masym is able to point out a blood trail, leading from where the barricade was hastily erected to the back of the room. A brief examination of that area reveals a bloody handprint on a poorly concealed rusty iron door, which conceals a narrow tunnel with a ladder leading down to another tunnel that runs off to the east.
You can see definite signs of someone having gone down the ladder, and the tunnel sometime relatively recently. Whoever it was, appears to have been injured.
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Fifi goes down the ladder last, to cover the rear, in case Midge or Kioshi get ambushed. She prays harder than she has ever prayed that nobody takes advantage of the situation, since they are climbing down a ladder, with her at the top and wearing a skirt.
"I hope we find that noble after all this! Let's keep our eyes peeled in case we see him down there..."-she says embarassed.
"May the Everlight's heavenly fire burn all those that dare peek, and cleanse them of their impure thoughts" -she prays silently, fumbling as best she can with the orange skirt.
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Noting Fifi's embarrassment from the colour of her hair, Midge waits for Fifi to join her at the bottom of the ladder, then beckons Fifi to come down to her level. She whispers to FIfi.
"I'd recommend a pair of short-shorts under that skirt, Fifi. You can keep the look you're going for, and It's much more practical."
Midge gives Fifi a wink, then turns and examines her surroundings.
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"Of course... as though this couldn't get worse... going from a bog to a flooded chamber to the cellar UNDERNEATH a flooded chamber. When we return I shall certainly have to pay penance to Shelyn for the atrocities done on the work my tailor has done in her name."
Whether or not Marcus catches a glimpse of anything he shouldn't, he doesn't seem particularly phased, interested, or revolted. In fact he doesn't even seem to think there is anything strange about the situation at all. Beyond the ghouls in a wine cellar thing.