Winter Huscarl Pekko 18
Bandana Girl Gloria 12
Kekkle 11
Moruns of Darnpit 9
Winter Huscarl Lotte 6
Kekkle hounds after the final archer. She shivers.
Moruns provides assistance to Gloria on her attacks against the knight.
The remaining archer shoots an arrow at Kekkle.
Elyna takes the mirror shard from her robe and folds a hand around its edge, when she takes the hand off, the area she touched lights up with flame. She holds the shard high to shed light on the room.
"Let's try to be polite, just in case.", she approaches the room warily and calls out "We're sorry to interrupt your meal, but we were hoping you could help us find our way around."
Elyna lights the piece of mirror on luminous fire and steps closer to the cafeteria. From the outside she calls out to the skeletons, but none react to it.
"I don't know if they even realize we're here..." Elyna walks down along the right side of the table and begins scanning the room.
"Truly curious. Do you think they are simply denizens of this dungeon? Or lost souls like ourselves, so far gone they do not realize their surroundings?" Araden steps forward behind Elyna, curious at this development. "How sad it would be, to lose all sight of yourself and your world."
Ulrich follows Elyna into the room.
"Probably someone's idea of a sick joke... It's likely these things are more like puppets set up to act out eating. After all, when was the last time any of you actually ate food in this place?"
Ulrich's torch light illuminates the dark cafeteria, allowing the group the scan the area.
A total number of seven skeletons are dining in the hall. A closer look at the skeletons' feast reveals a disheartening fact: their goblets are empty of drink, and the skeletons only pretend to digest the food on the plates. They fork food and put it in their mouths, only to take out the same food and put it back on the plate.
To the group's left is a wooden door, labeled "Kitchen". Though the door appears locked, it is evident it may not withstand attempts to break it from a strong person.
The skeletons continue their silent and futile dinner, oblivious to the presence of the living.
"Ah. It seems you are correct, Ulrich." Araden sounds just a tad disheartened by this revelation, and he soon turns to regard the rest of the room.
"It seems we have a way forward. Let's continue." With that, he steps up, raises his axe, and kicks near the padlock on the old wood.
Araden kicks the kitchen door. The wooden door crashes open, and some splinter fly in the air. In that moment, the skeletons rise from their seats violently. Araden gets a glimpse inside the kitchen before the skeletons begin to motion towards the party.
---
Groups B and A,
then Elyna, Araden, Ulrich
then group C,
then Tannan and Pahleg
Round 1
The skeletons didn't seem pleased with violent motions, and three of them rush at Ulrich from the right.
And two from the middle, at Elyna.
Araden peers into the kitchen for only a moment before he hears the skeletons mobilizing behind him. He quickly moves back, stepping and bringing his bardiche around in a powerful sweeping motion.
Round 1
Suddenly crashing through the southeast door comes a towering frame of rattling bones.
"I've got a bone to pick with you!" it bellows with an otherworldly booming voice as it rushes towards the groups of skeletons.
Elyna drops the cloak's edge after it saved her from a skeleton claw, she throws up the freed up hand and a spray of flame bursts forth, engulfing the two skeletons in front of her.
Skeletons A 24
Elyna 22
Araden 15
Ulrich 14
Skeletons C 13+
Tannan 13
Savage Skeleton 12
Pahleg 3
Round 1
Elyna sprays a burst of flame at the two skeletons in front of her. The skeleton in front combusts and shatters, and the other one suffers almost as well.
Araden steps and sweeps a skeleton in front of him, cutting off several bones. It seems to take reduced damage from the bardiche. He informs the others of this.
Ulrich fights back the three skeletons.
The skeletons in front of Araden attack him.
Araden survives the attacks without harm.
Tannan moves to attack a skeleton and, as instructed by Araden uses a cestus instead of his usual weapon of choice.
Another skeleton joins the combat! It seems intelligent, and destroys one of the other skeletons.
Round 2
"They burn like cinder, this is fun!" Elyna scrambles onto the table to her right and engulfs the group in front of Ulrich and Tannan in another wave.
Pahleg grabs his holy symbol and channels to harm the undead, excluding their sudden ally.
The Skeleton grabs the broken remains of the other skeletons and starts to swing it wildly at the other undead within reach.
Araden frowns as his bardiche is unable to damage the skeletons very much. Figuring a bludgeon may do more damage against the bones, he drops his axe and pulls the morningstar from his belt, bringing it up in a vicious two-handed strike.
Tannan will once again punch at the skeleton, hoping to rip bone from bone and watch them crumble back to the ground.
for
for
Skeletons A 24
Elyna 22
Araden 15
Ulrich 14
Skeletons C 13+
Tannan 13
Savage Skeleton 12
Pahleg 3
Round 1
Pahleg channels holy sunlight to burn the skeletons, causing one to crumble, and significant damage to all others.
Round 2
A skeleton that has suffered both Elyna's fire and Pahleg's energy still continues to fight Elyna, but fails completely.
The group of skeletons on the right attacks Tannan and Ulrich.
Elyna jumps on the table ( ) and engulfs the group of skeletons in fire, destroying two thirds of the group.
Araden's morningstar crushes a skeleton, and only two remain, one of whom showed intelligence.
Tannan's cestus-fortified punch ends the last hostile one.
Combat over.
Obtained 67 souls.
The onslaught is over, a handful of chairs knocked down, a dinner table ruined by Elyna's feet and fiery attacks. The skeletons left behind nothing of value. Yet if anyone had a hunger for real food, there is some small amounts of spoiled vegetables on the plates.
Ulrich, stares at the talking skeleton, panting from the battle and his wounds.
"And who, pray tell, are you? I take no exception to your aid, but I should like to know your intentions for the future...", he says to the macho cadaver.
"I'm Randy!" says the skeleton as he tosses the limb away.
One would expect there to be something further but the skeleton just stands there expectantly, apparently satisfied with its own response.
"Nice to meet you, Randy. I'm Elyna. So what is it that brought you here? Do you know anything about this dinner party we just crashed?" Elyna says, still standing on top of the table.
"Well I..." and the skeleton stops apparently chewing on some idea or another.
"Y'know, I haven't the faintest idea! I think I was invited, is it the eighth? I-I'm having a hard time remembering all that much."
"Welcome to the club...", Ulrich mutters. He walks into the kitchen and the corpse slumped in the corner, giving it a kick before rifling through his pockets.
"So it seems there are others who have fallen and returned with their minds." Araden puts out a hand and claps Randy lightly on the shoulder. "Glad to meet you, friend skeleton."
Ulrich enters the room labeled "kitchen" and frisks the corpse lying on the back of the room. The corpse belonged to a male elf, and his trousers and shirt are black. A bizarre dart is sticking out of his chest, and his right hand is grasping a kitchen knife.
Dart
A small projectile with feathers on the tail.Standard dart. Worth 1 soul.
Weapon of choice to the infamous Noon Sun group, from the underground cities.
Dagger
A dagger that has a blade 1 foot long.Standard dagger. Worth 1 soul.
The backstabber's perfect tool. Most dangers in the Labyrinth come head-on, but the most vicious ones may be caused by betrayal.
The kitchen counter seems to have nothing interesting: just some pans and kettles.
"Another elf in black clothes- just like those corpses in the Brave-Faced Scorpion's cave. Odd. Pahleg- can you tell me if this sod died of poison? Seems like this dart's what did him in."
"Interesting. I would be happy to take a look."
To Pahleg it is evident that the dart had been applied with a poison called black adder poison, and that the poison had been the cause of death to the victim.
After the diagnosis, a mass of light surfaces from the corpse's chest.
Soul of a Heroic Daredevil
Soul of a daredevil who won countless battles only to lose the last one.Use to acquire heaps of souls.
Souls are that which everyone and everything in the Labyrinth desire.
Once the party has seen enough of the kitchen, they gaze into the dark hallway where the skeleton named "Randy" had come from. There are many doors on each side of the hallway, each numbered. Door number 10 is open wide.
"You've seen others in similar clothing, their bodies left in the labyrinth?" Araden's voice is musing, and he leans on his recovered bardiche. "Hmm. Perhaps there is some group that has found a way to remain behind here, leaving their bodies to be recovered or at least offer hints to danger." He turns to the new hallway. "Whatever the case, best we proceed with care."
"They must have been the Daredevils, then, given that his soul has yielded an identity... So the Explorers and Daredevils are rivals, Hellfire and the Shadows are enemies... I wonder if anyone preys on the Sheep."
Ulrich heads down the hallway of cells, sword drawn to shed light. Pausing, he drinks a swig of his estus flask before looking into door 10.
"Would this be your cell... er, Randy?", he asks.
Cure light wounds:
"Hmmm...no, that doesn't seem right. No, I think they let me out of somewhere else"
Ulrich chugs some Estus before looking inside room number 10. The room is empty. It is a small room, more resembling a prison cell than a room suitable for patients as the name Sanatorium would imply. The walls and floor are made of stone bricks.
There is a small hole at the left side wall, one that could allow small-sized creature or a thin person to crawl through. This would take to room number 12.
Ulrich takes a knee and peers through the hole.
"What could have left that?"
He slides the blade of his sword through the hole before pulling it away.
"Anyone in there?"
Great, another nutjob stuck in this, confounded complex. I wonder how long the sentient skelly will be on our side? My instincts tell me to take the damn thing out now, before it turns on us. But what if the other turn on me, there is no way I could get out of that fiasco. Hmm, I guess I will hold off...for now
So, do you see anything Ulrich,, as Taanan sees him look into the hole.
Pahleg follows in and scans the room for magic.
Nothing in the tight room is magical. Ulrich kneels down and takes a peek through the hole. A pair of bony legs can be seen on the other side, in the adjacent room. The skeleton in the adjacent room, to whom the legs likely belong, does not respond to Ulrich's call, but instead moves out of his line of sight.
Elyna enters the cell behind them. "I would fit through there. Should I have a look?"
"I think that is a good idea Elyna. May Auorink guide you." He places a reassuring hand on her and gives her a smile.
Ulrich gets up from the floor.
"Another skeleton in there and not the talkative kind. Watch yourself."
"If it's as flammable as the others it won't be a problem." Elyna grins and then crawls through the hole, the lit mirror shard in hand.
Under magical guidance and illuminated by the mirror shard, Elyna enters through the hole. For anyone larger it would have been a challenge, but a gnome can do it without any difficulty.
Immediately upon entering the adjacent room, something attacks her.
[dice=""Randy"]d20+8[/dice]
---
Round 1
The undead hand of a skeleton, tightly grasping a dagger, slices at Elyna.
"We don't play with knives!"
Realizing that there is no room to back away from the skeleton Elyna drops the shard and raises her shield cloak and stretches out her hand releasing a gout of flame from the palm.
Elyna grasps her cloak and released a gout of flames.
Although she drops her guard for a moment, the attacking skeleton reacts poorly, and is scorched by flames. This skeleton seems to be sturdier and more cunning than others of its kind, even showing signs of intelligence as it curses amidst the fire: "Damnation to you! Curiosity killed the cat! Die! Die!"
Round 2
The killer skeleton fights to death.
It only takes one more blast of fire to destroy the attacker. The killer skeleton crumbles to dust.
Combat over.
Obtained 50 souls.
As it turns out, Randy had been locked in room #12 and had escaped through room #10 after it was opened by someone else. How the intelligent killer skeleton relates to this is unclear.
At the end of the hallway is a door. A brass plaque is nailed on the door, likely to indicate the purpose of the room behind it. Now, the plaque is timeworn, and its text is unreadable.
From inside the room, the party recovers a key.
Lower Sanatorium Key
A small metal key. A leather tag which reads, "1st Floor", is attached to it.Weigh - lbs. Use Appraise skill to determine the value of this item.
At the dawn of the Miracle, Undead Sanatorium was the place to treat the victims. When people realized that there is no cure, the patients were left behind, with no chance to avoid the Illusion.
Ulrich takes the key, tying it to his satchel for later.
"If I remember correctly, the octopus-headed guard that killed Ushio should be in the north wing down here. I would like to look through these cells for anything else of interest- or any other souls long since rotted away in confinement."
He releases a humorless chuckle.
"Between this place and Hellfire's outpost, it seems much of the Labyrinth has been a literal prison. But of course, we all knew that."
Ulrich unlocks door 16, then 15 if that one proves empty, then 14, etc.