Behind the curtain the smell grows stronger, assaulting your senses immediately. In this small room are all manner of severed body parts in various stages of rot. There is an open trapdoor leading into darkness below, a good ten foot drop with no rope or ladder.
Eewww! Mirri made a disgusted face and wrinkled her nose as Say'ri pushed back the curtain. Eyeing the rotting body parts with a look of revulsion, she nodded vigorously at Say'ri's suggestion. Yep, let's look around. Without further words, the halfling proceeded to continue her search of the rest of the floor, staying to the shadows as she is want to do.
Petra tries to secure the gaping pit before following the others in clearing the immediate area.
Say'ri and Mirri find nothing further of interest except one nauseating discovery--some of the body parts have been gnawed on by something.
Mirri also hears the animal sounds clearly coming from somewhere beyond the trap door.
Petra looks up from where she's trying to drag a flipped-table atop the trapdoor-- the last thing she wants is ghouls sneakily climbing up out of the hole while their backs are turned.
"Hmm, let me see," she mutters. "Thurzen wore red-and-orange last I saw him, and I've never seen his current crew... but let me look, all the same."
The body parts are well-aged and are likely not Thurzen, based on Fergrim's info.
"Well? Do we go after them now, or just wait here and ambush them when they are leaving? If it comes to a vote, I say we go after them. Ill go first down the hole if need be."
"These poor souls are too long dead to be Thurzen," Petra says, gathering the rotted dead flesh together into a pile with as much respect as she can manage given it's just dismembered limbs. She bows her head in a short prayer-- it's a poor funeral indeed, with the remains of the victims mangled and dismembered-- but it's the best she can do under the circumstances. "Anubis guide you to judgment," she intones quietly.
Gazing down into the pit, Petra looks grim. "We should root out the abominations wherever they hide... both the undead, and the living. Have we magics for light? Open flame may be dangerous, if old chemicals exist down in the cellar."
Ishia strikes a sunrod and holds it high, illuminating the darkness of the pit. It appears to be about a 10 ft drop.
Mirri watched with undisguised disgust as Petra moved away the body parts, but the halfling seemed to genuinely appreciate that the rotting flesh was now out of the immediate area the group was congregating around: the trap door.
A relieved smile crossed Mirri's face when Ibrahim offered to be first down the dark hole. I'll go second!
Petra stands on the edge of the trapdoor with an arrow on the string, nodding at Ibrahim. "I will cover your descent. We should knot a rope and hang it down, in case we need to exit the cellar quickly."
You climb down successfully to encounter a troubling site: a half-elf woman in rags is backed against a wall by two creatures. They are hideously malformed, hairless, pustule-covered corpses moving and snarling more like undead hounds than men. One gnaws on a corpse while the other sniffs the air and turns his misshapen head towards you.
They're not alone, there's two bat-things here. Watch out! the half-elf cries.
As if in response, two shrieks pierce the air, announcing the arrival of bat-like creatures with long, lashing tongues.
The corpse-creature who sensed your arrival scrabbles through the debris on all fours, hungrily trying to get to Petra. It gnashes its teeth but can't find any weakpoints. Meanwhile, one of the bat-creatures launches itself at Ibrahim and sinks its teeth into his shoulder.
Next up: Petra
Green
Mirri
Red
Diata
Say'ri, Ibrahim, Ishia
Round 2
Blue, Yellow
Mirri
Ishia
Petra
Say'ri
Ibrahim
Red
Blue
Green
Yellow
Diata
"Festrogs," Petra says shortly. "Less dangerous than real ghouls, but use clubs on them if you can-- their boils will pierce. And mind the ghoul-bats! Their bites can paralyze!"
With no room to use her bow safely, Petra draws her wand with a snap of her wrist and calls on the help of the gods. She takes a small step to one side, dropping her bow and pulling her flail.
A second bat flies out of the shadows and toward Petra's face!
Next up: Mirri
Petra brains the attacking bat, throwing it off balance.
Next up: Mirri
Mirri's eyes went wide as the bats streaked out of the darkness to attack her companions, but her reflexes kicked in quickly afterwards. Stepping back to the wall behind her, the halfling pushed herself forward, vaulting over Petra's head in a full back flip.
Landing gracefully behind the dwarf, Mirri slashed at the bat accosting Petra.
Already stunned by dwarf's blow, Mirri's tiny knife lacerated a major artery, causing the bat to spiral out of the air as it bled out.
Mirri slashes the bat out of the air but has no time to savor it as a festrog is upon her! The thief is too nimble, though, and spins away.
Meanwhile, the half-elf captive inches forward and crouches next to the corpse, searching for something. She lets out a triumphant Got it! as she draws forth a dagger.
Next up: (Ibrahim's two saves), Say'ri, Ibrahim, Ishia
More concerned with dodging the savage bite of the festrog, Mirri's defensive swipe with the dagger kept the creature at bay without inflicting any damage of her own.
The near festrog snaps at Say'ri as she descends, but she swings out of the way and lands deftly. Ishia throws a blob of acid onto its shoulder in response, boiling away some of the putrefied flesh.
The other festrog savages Mirri, slashing her across the chest while the remaining bat tries unsuccessfully to bite her cheek.
Next up: Petra
Mirri
Red
Diata
Say'ri, Ibrahim, Ishia
Mirri's satisfaction at taking out one of the bats rapidly vanished as not only the other bat but the festrogs turned on her. Recalling how poorly a similar situation went on the group's last exploits, the halfling erred on the side of caution, tumbling back towards her compatriots.
Mirri retreats while the festrog bites Petra's neck, seeming to grow stronger from chewing the dwarf's flesh.
The prisoner sneaks around, stepping laboriously and, despite the weariness in her arm, stabs the festrog. Several of the boils erupt, splashing foul-smelling pus all over the already sickly woman. It is all she can do to not retch.
Next up: Say'ri, Ibrahim, Ishia
Petra winces as the festrog tears into her, but holds her ground. When the elf comes in to help, she gives her a nod of thanks, though the woman looks ready to pass out.
"I would tell you to flee but there is nowhere for you go but through these," the dwarf grunts.
Say'ri is unable to get into a better tactical position in the corner, and simply strikes hard from where she's at.
Upstairs, Ishia leans down to peer into the gloom and sends a bolt of blazing light energy at the further festrog.
Say'ri's flail explodes the near festrog, raining foul-smelling pus and chunks of diseased flesh on everyone.
Ishia takes advantage of the clearer shot from one foe falling, melting away the remaining undead's flesh.
Petra then falls to a desperate assault from the remaining festrog, who rends the flesh from the stout dwarf's body and gorges itself on it.
The bat-thing then flies at Say'ri, trying to get a taste of flesh as well.
Next up: Party (Petra unconscious and dying, Ibrahim paralyzed)
Say'ri's flail clips the bat as it soars in, and by clips we mean 'obliterates.'
She strides forward past the fallen dwarf to see to the last festrog, her eyes burning with protective anger for her team.
"Have we any potions for Petra? She might have one on her person," the temple guardian says.
Petra bleeds a li'l more onto the floor... Ishia makes it down the rope and hunts on the dwarven woman's body to find a vial, then pulls the keffiyeh aside to pour the healing solution down her throat.
Petra hacks and coughs on the potion as her eyes fly open. "Wnnnhh... oww...."
Mirri had put her hands up protectively as the last moments of the battle occurred. Not to defend herself against the foes they faced, but rather to deflect chunks of their flesh from hitting her face as Say'ri almost single-handedly laid waste to the lot of them. As the combat died down, the halfling slowly lowered her arms and looked up at the human woman, eyes wide. Oh man....remind me to never get on yer bad side!
Seeing Petra being tended to by Ishia, Mirri slowly walked up to the rag-wearing woman the group had found in this pit. Hi there, ya picked a pretty bad place ta hide out. Watcha doin'down here?
The woman smiles and tries to stand tall, grimacing at the effort.
Thanks friends, I owe you my life. I'm Diata, and my group came here to explore after the lottery. That there is Rindol, she says, indicating the corpse. He was a jerk, but he didn't deserve this. Got any water?
She drinks thirstily, nearly choking as she guzzles the water.
How'd you find this place? We need to get out of here, now! Those...things that you just killed were just pets of the ghouls that run this place. C'mon, let's go!
Mirri handed the woman some water, and gave Petra and Say'ri a worried glance over her shoulder when Diata mentioned she was part of an exploration group here. Uh oh, might be with Thurzden's group..... But by the time the woman looked back at the halfling her countenance was all smiles. Name's Mirri, and these are my friends! We heard some bad soundin' noises down here and came to check it out. That was about as long as Mirri could hold out before looking down at the unfortunate Rindol's corpse...and the obvious valuables it held. That is a shame for Rindol. I'm sure he wouldn't want that armor and such to be taken up by the ghouls that killed 'em. Will be outta here in a sec, let's just take care of this here first. Mirri begins removing the armor from Rindol and searching him for any other valuables. Once completed she said, OK, let's head back up!
Petra wobbles upright. "A moment," she says with a cough, fishing out her wand. "...Diata, is it? You will be able to run and climb easier if your wounds are tended. Hold..."
"Thank you, Say'ri. I would have died otherwise," Petra murmurs to the other woman. ["And Ishia. Ibrahim, can you move again? Do you need healing?"
With everyone semi-patched up, they hurry back up to the light and somewhat-fresher air.
"Have you seen a half-orc in this district? With orange robes and fire magics?" Petra says to Diata, for she is nothing if not single-minded.
Take it, he can't use it anymore, Diata says, clearly not affronted by Mirri's "finders-keepers".
As Petra heals up Diata's wounds, the dwarf can see that most of the woman's maladies are caused by a combination of disease and exhaustion.
A half-orc? No, the only thing I've seen here is the dead. Didn't Black Kiss send you? She'd poison your ale for a minor slight, but she's loyal enough to her own. She and the others made it out when we were attacked. Who told you to come here? the woman asks, interested in your reply but not moreso in the trapdoor, which she starts laboriously moving towards.
|
Say'ri, seeing that the others had the businesses of healing and looting in hand, moves to support the half-elf. "We came following a lead of our own, the half-orc Petra just mentioned. There is a debt owed by him to one of us. I've not met this 'Black Kiss' you mention - how long ago did the rest of your group get out? We would have seen them if it was recent." As she speaks Say'ri supports the woman over to the trapdoor, once they get there she swarms up the rope before pulling Diata up with the help of the rope.