Alice leads the way out of the courtyard and down the hall, which takes a turn into a much larger room. Eight pillars painted with faded quotations and prayers from Irori's teachings support the ceiling of this large chamber. A statue of a man with a long braid stands to the south.
Kurth takes a look around the room, glancing at the carvings disinterestedly.
"Ugh. Remind me not to go adventuring in a school again. I came here to hit stuff, not read about old dead monks and gods that like to sit around and think," the big man says, trying to cover his confusion with bluster.
Well, the last monk we found presented a challenge, did it not? Milloy will wink at Alice as he takes the scroll from her hand.
Milloy recognizes it as a scroll of marionette possession.
"Ah Kurth - you're simple, but you're strong," the cleric shakes his head jovially.
"I'll be right behind you, Alice," Harsk calls out as he follows her up the stairs.
The party moves up the stairs to find a twenty-foot-high ceilinged room painted with a scene of scholars at study. A polished wooden statue of a woman sitting in the lotus position, eyes closed in mediation, hangs from the center of the ceiling on several lengths of thin twine so that it seems to levitate.
Squatting amid dozens of tattered books at the center of the north wall is a hulking beast-a bloodthirsty enormous grioth similar to those you fought at the auction.
Milloy will quickly retrieve a wand and cast Web, hoping to trap the creature in its place so that the rest of his friends can prepare for action!
The grioth is able to avoid Milloy's web and advance on Kurth!
So much for that idea. Milloy drops that wand and retrieves a scroll, using Burning Hands from it!
Kurth knocks the blow aside with his shield and attempts to skewer the grioth with his fiery sword.
The grioth avoids the worst of Milloy's blast and leaps entirely away from Kurth's blow.
4 dmg
Harsk draws his warhammer and closes the distance with the creature and swing his cold-iron warhammer.
Harsk misses but Alice puts two arrows in the grioth!
Maffei moves quickly around the room to get behind the beast.
The grioth once again attacks Kurth!
29 dmg
"Watch it! I got my hair cut last month!" Kurth says as he dodges a blow that could have taken his head off.
Milloy steps back and uses his wand of again!
Kurth's powerful blow misses the grioth but Milloy's missile leaves a mark!
31 dmg
Alice puts two arrows in the bat creature!
52 dmg
Harsk tries another hammer swing.
Harsk's hammer meets the ground as the grioth steps to the side. Maffei tries to stab it from behind but only finds armor.
The grioth turns its attention to the dwarf!
52 dmg
Kurth roars in anger as the dwarf priest (presumably) drops after the grioth's assault.
"Over here ugly! Bite on this!" he screams, moving into a flanking position with Maffei.
Harsk falls over from the blows! Kurth deals his own heavy hit to the grioth!
71 dmg
Milloy uses his wand once more, hoping the creature is near death!
Milloy pings the grioth with another missile!
76 dmg
Alice's arrows fly wide but Maffei lands a blow!
The grioth turns its attention to Kurth!
87 dmg
Turning aside the grioth's blows, Kurth once again plunges his flaming sword into the alien creature's hide.
With two more arrows from Alice and a hit from Kurth, the beast goes down!
Quite a sturdy creature, that one. Milloy calmly puts his items away. Can anyone use that weapon?
Milloy will move close to the door and try to Detect Magic from beyond it.
Milloy detects no magic.
"I've got him," Kurth says, holding the dwarf's head up as he pours his potion of cure moderate wounds down his throat. "It ain't beer, but it should get you on your feet again."
A gutteral, hacking cough bursts from the dwarf's mouth. "Wha... What happened?!" Harsk sits bolt upright and looks frantically around at his companions.
"My head... thanks for killing that thing - guess I oughta be more careful."
He stands up and twists to crack his back. "Well, how is everyone else doing? Any of you need healing?"
He then places his hands on his head and heals himself more directly.
He gives himself another couple of heals.
The northern door leads to a storeroom that contains old supplies used for bookbinding and writing. Everything of value seems to have already been taken.
The southwest passage leads around to an otherwise empty room containing three bedrolls and evidence of something like a campsite. Nothing else of interest is found in here.
The room to the south contains metallic coffins with vents in their lids. Numerous large stones are heaped atop the westernmost coffin, and a foul smell of decay fills the air. The ceiling is low, making the space feel cramped.
The passage to the southeast contains numerous statues of robed men and women occupying the niches along either side of the hall.
"Dunno, Alice. I don't see the need to have vents on a coffin - the dead don't need to breath." Harsk moves close to the coffin with the stones piled up on it.
"Not sure I want to check if anything is in here. Perhaps we should head down that hall with all the statues."
Harsk will wait for consensus.
"I don't like the look of it. But I like the idea of having it creep up behind use even less. Better take a look and put it down now," Kurth says.
He looks around for an old table and snaps the leg off, sharpening it quickly with his sword.
"Vampires live in coffins with holes, don't they?" he says. Tucking the stake into his belt, he'll prepare to kick over the coffin with rocks on top and chop anything inside that moves.
"True enough lad." Harsk says as he readies his warhammer.
I don't know anything about these strange containers however I'm not particularly keen on moving all that rock just to peer inside. Milloy will cast Detect Magic though, just in case he picks up on something.
Each of the coffins opens easily and proves to be empty. The final coffin, covered in stones, is not empty but instead contains the rotting body of a half-orc.
"Well, that explains the smell. Guess the poor ugly oaf was stuck in here and starved to death." Harsk smiles grimly and bows down to get a careful look at the dead body.
"Yeah, make sure it's dead - I've met half-orcs that smelled that bad alive," Kurth says. If there's nothing else of interest, he'll move on with the others.