"It has been a long, slow journey..."
Charles takes advantage of his flanking position, swiftly draws Zul, and attempts to stab the woman, his form Blurring as he does so!
Aishe begins singing and casts a spell before she steps forward to threaten Zariska
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Aishe quickly begins to serenade the now confused woman. Her song increases in tempo as her spell completes and Charles slams the end of his trident through the Mwangi woman's side.
She screams in pain as she drinks her elixir turning invisible!
Charles hears the patter of feet rush past him out the door.
Aishe
Charles
-----------------------------
Zariska (-31)
-----------------------------
Natalie
Jack
Aishe's cestus lashes out at the apothecary as she drinks her potion, scoring a direct hit.
As the woman runs away, Aishe gives chase, her steps hastened by her spell.
Charles calmly lashes out, skewering the woman on the end of his trident.
Moving in Jack draws his bow and shoots thrice calling on his bane ability.
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Charles and Aishe skewer the woman just before she is able to escape and turn invisible. He body turns limp on the end of the boarding pike and trident as the elixir falls from her hand, shattering on the floor.
The guards take off running out the front door as the fight breaks out. As they escape the group searches through Zariska's possessions.
- Large scorpion venom (2 doses)
- purple worm poison (2 doses)
- shadow essence (2 doses)
- +1 mithral chain shirt,
- masterwork butterfly swords (2),
- cloak of resistance +2,
- headband of vast intelligence +2 (Acrobatics),
- alchemist’s kit,
- masterwork thieves’ tools,
- tindertwigs (3),
- keyring,
- formula book (contains all prepared extracts plus alchemical allocation*, alter self, discern lies, dragon’s breath*, invisibility, keen senses*, perceive clues*, shield, spider climb, undetectable alignment, and water breathing),
- diamond dust worth 500 gp
Charles nods in approval.
"Serves her right."
He then starts searching through her possessions, before turning to the others:
"Alright then. let's see what we can find exploring the rest of this place..."
Aishe begins exploring the apothecary, beginning at the storefront and working her way back/up.
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The room to the right of the entrance seems to be an abandoned guard room. This plain room contains three wooden chairs and a small table. A set of six bone dice rests on the table, which the guards often use to while away the time.
Slowly she begins working her way down the hallway. Starting with the left side first.
The shelves of this small storeroom are stacked with flasks, vials, ampoules, and bottles of various shapes and sizes. Arranged systematically into groups, these containers, fashioned from porcelain, metal, glazed pottery, and glass, appear both clean and empty.
Zarskia keeps empty containers for her alchemical creations and poisons here. They are bulky and fragile but worth 150 gp in total.
This plain room holds a simple table and two wooden chairs. A small oil lamp sits on the table.
This crowded workroom holds a stone bench along the wall opposite the door and cupboards on both ends. Weighing scales, a mortar and pestle, and other pharmaceutical paraphernalia are tidily arranged about the room.
Rows of wooden shelving line this chamber. The shelves contain trays and containers of roots, cuttings, twigs, mosses, and unprocessed herbs. The fragrance of dried aromatic flora fills the room.
As Zarskia hasn’t stocked up on pharmaceutical supplies recently, some of the herbs here have lost their potency, but there is still 110 gp worth of herbalist supplies (weighing roughly 50 pounds) stored here
Seeing little of interest Aishe moves along past the room containing Zariska's body and opens the door to the southeast of this floor.
Eight simple beds crowd this room, which is untidy with used plates, flagons, and clothing strewn around. A bricked-up fireplace stands in the west wall, and the room smells strongly of grog and sour sweat.
The guards keep their communal pay in a sea chest behind the door. One guard is the group’s quartermaster, who keeps a detailed register of accounts and crew’s shares. The chest is unlocked and holds this register as well as a large leather purse containing 760 gp and 975 sp.
A set of stairs leads up to the second story in the northeast corner. A balustraded gallery winds around the edge of the upper hall, overlooking the area below.
Bypassing the stairs Aishe opens the doorway to the kitchen. A small rusty stove stands against the north wall of this dank and otherwise unfurnished room. A blackened metal chimney pipe runs diagonally up the wall from the stove into the ceiling.
"Hmmm... So far, this place all seems fairly standard; then again, I wouldn't expect them to leave anything suspicious just lying around were visitors might find them..."
Stopping to collect the payroll, and crate-up the herbs, Charles moves on to try the first (single) door at the top of the stairs.
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The door opens to a quite large interconnecting set of rooms.
The northern portion of the rooms seems to be a dining hall of sorts. This lengthy bare room might once have been a dining hall, given the long, dusty table standing in its center. Aside from the double doors exiting from the hall’s eastern end, there are two giant holes, large enough to push a chariot through, jaggedly knocked through the southern wall, revealing a chamber beyond. On the northern wall, windows let in light from the street.
North of the double doors leading into this room, a flight of stairs leads up to the third floor. The windows in this room are unshuttered, letting in a substantial amount of light from outside.
The southwestern room is filled with Empty bookshelves that line the walls of this large decaying chamber. The place is partially demolished; several walls have huge holes smashed in them, revealing other rooms beyond. Tattered scraps of yellowing parchment are scattered over the floor, and long rows of scratches mar the central bookshelf. A large wooden tray filled with sand sits in the southwest corner.
The southeastern portion has Inlaid wooden paneling lines the walls of this snug room, but the walls in the northwest are broken through into another chamber. In the southeast corner, a pile of sheepskin blankets lies next to a bricked-up fireplace.
Prowling inside the room seems to be a pair of large leopard with six colorful snakes hissing and ready to strike, sprouting from its shoulders. The leopards have midnight black fur with snakes bearing black and red rings upon their bodies.
Natalie
Aishe
----------------------
Dusk Kamadan
----------------------
Charles
Jack
Natalie quickly identifies the creatures as a pair of Dusk Kamadan's and she doesn't muck around. Supremely confident that most of the party should be able to clean up Natalie controls the fight by casting Slow on both enemies (DC 20) to cripple any threat such creatures could bring to her allies.
"I would wait for them to approach; the door can serve as a bottleneck." That said, Aishe begins singing again, inspiring her fellow captains to greater feats of martial prowess. In addition, she hastens their steps and their blows with a spell before extending her boarding pike to 15' and readying herself for the creatures to approach.
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Aishe motivates her companions to hurry along while Natalie prepares a spell.
The red dusk Kamadan steps up to the doorway and releases a noxious gass from its mouth that washes over all four of the Captains. The fumes seem to make their eyes feel extremely heavy.
The green Kamadan arches back ready to pounce on any sleeping prey.
Natalie
Aishe
----------------------
Dusk Kamadan
----------------------
Charles
Jack
Charles yawns, and falls asleep.
EDIT
NVM saw that only one of them moved.
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Charles and Natalie fall to the floor unconscious as they both begin to snore loudly. Natalie's tiny aquatic dragon makes its way out from the folds in her robes as it smacks her face with its fin-like wings.
Jack is just able to stay awake as he sees everyone begin to fall around him.
Natalie (Prone)
Aishe
----------------------
Dusk Kamadan
----------------------
Charles (Sleep; Prone)
Jack
Seeing Charles affected by the gas, Aishe immediately casts a spell to bolster his defenses.
Unwilling to move into the room to face two of these creatures, Aishe casts another spell and begins singing once more.
Aishe's magic takes hold, and Charles remains standing.
He then steps forward, and roars, causing his form to Blur, and starts stabbing furiously at the Kamadan.
Using his bow Jack attacks the Kamadans
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Both of Jack's arrows stick into the wood of the door frame missing the cat-like creature.
Aishe's magic seems to help Charles as he fights off the dusky sleep from his mind.
Charles form begins to blur as he stabs his magical trident into the Kamadan's shoulder.
Aishe holds back and continues to cast more spells as she begins signing a sea chantey once again.
With Charles nearby the two creatures bite and claw at him. The snakes on their back's arch out and snap their fangs at him through whatever exposed skin remains on the armored bloodrager.
The gods smile upon Charles as his armor and shifting form protect him from every attack.
Natalie (Prone)
Aishe
----------------------
Dusk Kamadan (Red -22)
----------------------
Charles (Blur)
Jack
My slow effect should have triggered I think
Asking for Besmaras favor and her eye Jack shoots again
With a roar of defiance, Charles keeps swinging at the red cat.
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Hearing that the creatures are close enough Natalie releases her spell in an attempt to slow the beasts.
Both of the creatures quickly turn sluggish in their movements. Between Jack's arrows and Charles' trident the red Dusk Kamadan is quickly put to sleep.
Natalie (Prone)
Aishe
----------------------
Dusk Kamadan (Green-slow)
----------------------
Charles (Blur)
Jack
Aishe steps into the doorway and thrusts her pike at the creature.
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Natalie holds back waiting for a spot in the room as Aishe moves into the doorway and thrusts her pie into the Kamadan's side.
A bit lethargic the Kamadan bites at Charles.
The kamada is so slow that Charles easily sidesteps the bite.
Natalie (Prone)
Aishe
----------------------
Dusk Kamadan (Green -22 slow)
----------------------
Charles (Blur)
Jack
Grinning wolfishly, Charles stabs at the remaining Kamadan with Zul!
Again, and again, Aishe's pike thrusts toward the creature.
"Good job, everyone!"
Charles conducts a cursory search of the room...
...before moving on to the next door.
"Indeed. Those animals were quite bad, to be sure! Let us continue!" Following Charles Jack keeps his bow at the ready.
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Charles take a look about the room and finds a collection of colored stones scattered in the middle of the room. While these pretty baubles are only colored pieces of agate, quartz, zircon, and other low-value stones, they’re worth 290 gp in total.
Opening the door to the south leads to what seems to be Variska's laboratory. Benches and worktables hold alembics, crucibles, glass tubing, and other assorted alchemical accoutrements. Bubbling reagents, colorful chemicals, and jars of powders cover the worktop areas. In the middle of the north wall is an old hearth, its opening bricked up with mortared stones. The astringent odor of disinfectant hangs in the air.
Once the manor’s lounge, this room is now Zarskia’s main laboratory, where she refines venomous components, crafts deadly toxins, and researches new discoveries in alchemical poisoning. An everburning torch mounted on the corner of the fireplace illuminates the room. The strong wooden door to the northeast that leads to the second floor landing is locked and barred on the southern side
Charles gingerly conducts a careful search of the laboratory...
...before trying his luck on the western door.
Looking around Jack shrugs." I guess this is worth a pretty penny to someone. Also who knows, some of the poisons might be useful to us"
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Charles searches the room and finds several small crates and boxes with items of value.
The alchemical components and comprehensive alchemist’s lab here are worth a total of 1,000 gp but weigh 125 pounds in total.
Stored in a sealed chest with many now-empty partitions are 3 doses of id moss and a pouch of dried sassone leaves (which can be turned into 4 doses of sassone leaf residue with successful DC 16 Craft [alchemy] checks).
A latched iron strongbox under the westernmost bench holds six flasks of acid, four flasks of alchemist’s fire, two vials of antitoxin, three smokesticks, two tanglefoot bags, and four thunderstones. In a reinforced brass tin are a vial of salve of slipperiness, a small sealed bottle holding an ounce of sovereign glue, three f lasks of unguent of timelessness, and a jar holding 5 uses of universal solvent. Inside a steel box is a journal containing notes and observations about Zarskia’s alchemical experiments. The last entry describes her work cultivating mandragoras
Opening the western door leads to a storeroom. An enormous pile of old, broken furniture and other debris fills the center of this room. A ladder rests against the wall in the northwest corner, leading up to a roughly-cut hole in the ceiling leading up to a third floor.
Climbing the ladder leads to a dark room making it difficult to see much. This room is unfurnished and dark. A door to the north wall leads into a passageway, and a jagged hole has been hewn through the floor, opening into the room below.
"Why keep a chamber full of broken furniture?"
Charles grabs the everburning torch from the laboratory, and sticks it through his belt to provide light, before searching the 'empty' room, and then moving on to the hallway.
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Charles finds nothing of value in the dark room. It's purpose looks to be little more than an escape route for Zariska. Opening the eastern door leads to a long hallway that branches off in many different directions. Northern stairwell is chocked with rubble and debris leading back down to the second floor.
With a shrug, Charles moves forward, and tries the first door on the left.
"Woe, that´s something for you Aishe!"