Grargath draws his battleaxe again and, grateful that the disturbing creature is within swinging range, rushes towards it. Taking care not to hit Francis in the face, the dwarf swings his axe towards the homunculus.
Pulling out her crossbow, Cira takes a deep, steadying breath as she hopes for just a little luck, and lines up a shot.
Lodo - 4
The homunculus recklessly rams in to Francis again, knocking the cleric back a foot even as Marcus's lash tears a line through its clay body. It whips around as Cira's bolt sinks into its body before chomping on Grargath's raised shield, splintering the wood. Recovering quickly, Francis smacks the constructs flapping wings, destroying one of its two pairs.
Cira lines up another shot and sends a bolt flying.
Grargath recoils a bit from the homonculus' attack, and shakes the splintered wood from his shield. He steps to the side, in flanking position across from Francis, and swings even harder.
Marcus whirls and slashes his whip out again, charging his whip with arcane power.
Marcus's swing bites into the homunculus, bisecting it. The upper half tries to flap towards Cira, dragging its arms along the floor before collapsing. It twitches briefly and then stops moving completely.
Cira jumps back from the flapping half of the creature, then when it stops moving, she carefully pokes at it with her toes before looking to the rest of the group. "Is it possible for this place to get weirder?"
She eyes the chair that the creature wanted them to sit in and shakes her head. "Let's move on to the cellar, I suppose? I think we've been through the rest of the house at this point."
Grargath puts away his axe and steps closer to the telescope the creature had been perched on. "Before we go, maybe now it's safe t' get a closer look at this contraption."
The seat looks fine to Grargath.
Grargath carefully sits down in the seat. "I wonder 'ow far out 'e could see with this," the dwarf muses peering through the telescope.
Cira glances at the star charts on the table. "Maybe the ones he crossed off are the ones he could see. I think 'why' is the better question, though." She waits for a moment before asking, perhaps a bit excitedly, "Can you see anything, Grargath?"
As Grargath settles in to the seat, he is blasted by a potent electrical shock.
Grargath stumbles out of the chair, visibly shaking. "Th' telescope's trapped," he mutters, trying to straighten out the newly formed frays in his beard.
Cira grabs Grargath's shoulders to steady him. "You dont say," she says in reply. "An unstable creature wants us to sit in the chair... and you do it." She shakes her head as she helps dust him off.
"It seems that everything in this cursed place is trapped. I shudder to think of what surprises await us in the basement. Something unsavory, no doubt."
Cira grabs Grargath's shoulders to steady him. "You dont say," she says in reply. "An unstable creature wants us to sit in the chair... and you do it." She shakes her head as she helps dust him off.
"Thanks," Grargath grumbles as Cira helps him steady himself.
"I was thinkin' tha' thing jus' wanted us t' get close enough to it," he then offers as an explanation, shaking his head.
Marcus starts, forgetting he had the wand.
"Right, of course"
He retrieves the wand and uses it to heal the dwarf up.
Cira smiles at Grargath in apology. "I'm sorry, I just... I'd hate to see any of you hurt, and this house seems bound and determined to do just that."
As Marcus heals Grargath, Cira picks up the wand the homunculus threw at them. "This could come in handy for us later," she says, looking it over. "Can one of you tell exactly what it is?"
Marcus looks the wand over.
"Hmm "
"Thanks, lad." Grargath nods appreciatively to Marcus, and shuffles over, ready to move to the cellar when the spellcasters have figured out the homunculus' wand.
The spiral staircase the party used to reach the second floor also descends into the cellar, a trio of connected rooms filled with dusty crates and barrels with a door in the southwest wall. At first glance, this appears to be storage for mundane household supplies.
Cira take a few small steps into the room. "I'm looking forward to going back to a place where we can walk around without fearing for our lives," she jokes as she scans the room.
Grargath nods in agreement. "Let's hope tha' comes soon." He cautiously approaches the crates and barrels, looking for anything unusual.
"Trust this guy to trap some dusty old barrels" Marcus growls as he looks about, searching for traps.
The storage room does not seem trapped, and the door opens to a long hallways stretching to the north and south. Both directions eventually lead to halls going west.
Seeing the room devoid of any obvious traps, Marcus takes a moment to hanf the wand off to Cira, saying "Lightning bolt wand, very powerful."
Glancing around the storage room he mutters, "Onward and outward" choosing the northern passage.
Grargath follows behind Marcus, axe in hand, letting the bard search for traps along the way. "No explosions yet," he mutters.
The northern hallway turns westward, which ends at a simple wooden door after 50 feet.
Marcus has found no traps.
"So far so good,"Cira says as they safely make their way through the hallway. "Though I can't tell if that's a good sign or not." Slowly she pushes the door open and peeks in to the next area, wondering what the rest of the cellar might have in store for them.
Grargath looks around as the group navigates the hallway, axe in hand. As Cira opens the door, he stands nearby, ready for whatever waits beyond.
When the door opens, torches that line the walls of the chamber beyond flicker into life, revealing a room containing six stone slabs of varying lengths and widths. Heaped upon each are metal tools, springs, gears, and other components for the creation of machines.
Cira walks slowly into the room and looks around, stopping next to the wall beyond one of the stone slabs. She studies it closely and runs her fingers over it, then turns to the others. "There's a door hidden over here."
Walking back to the stone tables, she looks at the instruments atop them, narrowing her eyes as something catches her attention, and leans closer. "These tools and things. They look like the things you'd need to build... clockwork constructs, I think."
Grargath walks up to the secret door after Cira points it out, frowning. "Wonder wha' Hunclay's hidin' back 'ere." He circles the room, trying to take stock of everything in the room.
"These tools and things. They look like the things you'd need to build... clockwork constructs, I think."
Grargath turns back toward Cira and the clockwork parts in surprise. "Clockwork? Like th' thing standin' guard in th' Witch Tower?"
Marcus sweeps the room with his eyes, looking around for traps.
Hearing about the clockwork man, he snorts "Makes sense, Hundley must have left that murderous contraption as a guardian."
After Cira notes the secret door, he wanders over and takes a close look at. "I suppose you don't store turnips behind a secret door like this one."
The secret door opens easily, but screeches loudly on its hinges; a noise that echoes in the room and beyond. Past the door is a narrow hallway that travels south for twenty feet before turning to the west.
Cira steps into the hallway and slowly makes her way forward, trying not to think about the narrow walls as she searches around her for traps.
Grargath grimaces as the noisy hinge echoes throughout the hallway. "Hope there's nothin' else lurkin' around. Otherwise it just 'eard us." He moves through the hallway, also watching out for anything suspicious.
"Lovely" Marcus mutters at the loud screeching noise, as he looks into the dark, narrow hallway.
"Onward then, this is why they pay us the big bucks." he quips as he leads the way down the hallway, ever watchful for traps.
The party follows the secret hall as it wraps around the clockwork lab until it branches. A short hallway heads back towards the west towards an iron gate hanging ajar.
The hallway also continues south before turning to the west.
Grargath eyes the iron gate hanging open. "Think Hunclay left tha' unlocked? Or is somethin' else down 'ere with us?" He cautiously walks down the hall, watching for any signs of movement.
Cira eyes the door, curious as to where it leads. "Who knows anymore," she says to Grargath as she approaches it. "We'll have to find out sooner or later." She peeks around the open door.
Marcus eyes the door dubiously himself.
"I can't imagine this will be pleasant, but the job is the job" he mutters as he approaches the door slowly, looking for traps.
The room past the open gate is bare, except for a circle of silvery metal inlaid in the stone floor and a rickety table sitting against the east wall. Atop the table rests a thin book.
Inside the circle crawls an abomination: a childlike blasphemy conjoining the features of a cherub and a gore-fattened fly. When the party enters the room, the creature takes flight, buzzing on membranous wings, although it does not approach.
"Please," it begs, its childlike voice piteous. "Release me from this circle. I have been trapped here for weeks."