Septima wipes the drool off of her face, wincing briefly. She shakes it off, then reaches out towards her again, this time scratching behind an ear. The fear of being eaten by dogs has now slowly left her, so guess what Amara, Septima is making sense again!
"We're not honestly considering keeping this thing, are we?"
"W-we aren't?" Alexis at this point looks actually hurt.
"I mean he shouldn't be too big of a problem right?"
While they're figuring that out, Mira looks around and stretches. Amara would recognize what's coming--she's got her eye on some treasure somewhere unusual.
"Hey guys? Keep an eye out for creepy red eyes. I think we're still not alone."
And she's running, to rush her way up the wall so that she can grab onto the roof and climb her way over to the ring.
*ding d-ding... THUD!*
Mira ran up the wall and lunged for the ring. Her fingers weren't quite strong enough to hold the rafters. The ring falls from it's place just before Mira drops to the ground next to it.
The big dog sits up and sniffs Alexis. Looking quizzically between you all. Also, Gremlin finally makes his way in the door, back arched and tail three times it's normal size.
Mira, still lying facedown on the floor, grabs the ring and holds it up.
"We have a thing. Someone check it for magic."
Alexis looks at the flipped over Mira and giggles. She then uses Detect magic.
The ring is mundane, but is Platinum set and bears a noble signet.
"Not sensing any magic from it." Alexis turns back to the dog.
"think she will stay here until we get back from exploring? I don't know what's down there and don't want the poor thing getting hurt. Though maybe it will follow us anyway....Does it know commands? OH maybe if it does we can have it keep others from following us in! Be a guard dog!" Clearly Alexis is having to much fun thinking about the applications a giant bean of a dog can have.
Amara looks at the rings and shrugs.
"F+~$ if I know. I left that life a long time ago."
To your south lies a rusty, locked gate, and to the east lie a few unexplored rooms.
Alexis looks at the cage. A mixed look on her face.
"How about we head on everyone, I don't feel comfortable locking the poor little one up in such a cage. I guess she will do as she pleases then." Alexis pats the dog on the head before getting ready to move on.
"Dog's gonna dog. Come on, guys, let's clear this area out and then crack the lock."
Finally pulling herself to her feet, Mira looks towards the east. "Amara, if you'd be so kind as to take point? I don't think anyone's gonna' trap a stable."
Amara smiles and strides over to fulfill her duty as party meat shield.
As you look around, not much else seems to jump out at you. The offices in back are pretty well empty, save for a key that one of you finds in a drawer. In the corner is a conspicuously placed box. Inside is a pair of magical bracers, a fine silver dagger, and a note reading
GM forgot to give you these, might be useful here though. Enjoy - 4th Wall Mime
Your characters immediately forget the note and the box, but now have the bracers and Dagger.
Alexis examines the beaters a bit.
Normally yes, but in the spirit of my flub, these still have a pricetag on them reading "Bracers of Armor, first tier. A product of the Grandmasters, may it protect the wearer from those that would opress."
Amara takes the key and tries it in the gate.
Also Alexis is standing behind Amara.
Mira is also behind Amara, but in front of Alexis because she's the off-tank.
...Somehow.
With a little coaxing (a frustrated kick from Amara), the lock pops open and the gate creaks ominously apart. the room behind it used to be a work room of sorts. This old workroom houses numerous old slaughterhouse tools, veterinary equipment, and woodworking tools, all of which are covered with a thick layer of dust through which strange tracks and patterns have been traced. Heavy mallets, crumbling ropes, and tools for restraining animals hang from pegs in the walls or rest atop leaning tables. To the southwest, a trap door sits ajar, propped open by a block of wood.
Alexis looks to gremlins and smiles.
[B]"I know you weren't a fan of them but I feel bad killing a dog that didn't attack us first. There is a difference between self defense and murder after all.."[b] Alexis glances around the room, seeing if she happens to spot anything out of the ordinary, aside from the trap door.
"No it's not... It's not the beasts... Can't you smell that? It's... Sweet and... Confusing. I don't like it." he sneezes and shakes his head.
Flavor Combat!
You may have stuff to do to rp wise so take your time. When you're ready to go into the trapdoor, there are a handful of Dire rats in the room below. There are enough to kill, and any that you don't kill in one round either flee or don't exist.
Well Alexis doesn't notice jack so she motions to the trap door.
"Who wants to go down the creepy trapdoor first?"Alexis, reading enough horror novels to know what happens to the non fighty person who goes down such things, waits for the others to go first.
Septima is keeping to the back, but moves over to Mira for a moment.
"Are you, err, quite alright?"
She glances at Alexis, answering her question with a glare.
"What me? I'm fine. Totally fine! Why would I not be fine?"
Seeing as how her voice is shaking a little and she can't even convince herself of the lie, Mira sighs and looks towards the trapdoor.
"You guys are seeing it too, right? The stuff opening and closing and everything? Just. Has me on edge. No need to worry about it."
Amara shakes her head as she opens the trapdoor and looks down.
"I don't see anything crazy going on. What I do see are bigass rats. Anyone got a vial of alchemist's fire?"
"Hot damn I could eat for a week off of one of those," Gremlin says as he slips up to peer down from between Amara's legs.
Alexis's looks......Unhaopy to say the least.
"Bloody rats.....no alchamist fire on me.....but I can shoot em....little thieving bastards...Swear I would wake up some nights to them stealing my rations... Alexis stares daggers at the scurrying beasts down below.
The rats have hurt feelings, but mostly continue about their day in the room below.
Amara looks around briefly and spots a barrel that appears to be filled with old rusty horseshoes. She drags it over and perches it on the edge of the trapdoor. She gives everyone a wry smile as she opens a pack of rations and drops it down. She waits for a sizeable number of the wretched beasts to gather at the bottom before letting the barrel tumble down. The impact of several hundred pounds of old metal causes the barrel to burst loudly, scattering horseshoes across the room below and (hopefully) clearing the area of rats.
When the dust clears, the crushed skulls of four huge rats are plainly visible. If there were any more, they sure as hell aren't there now.
Gremlin rubs against Amara's leg. "Gwahahaha! That was AWESOME!"
I think I forgot to mention that there is a ladder. Despite a few missing rungs and rusty nails, it looks sturdy enough.
>.>
<.<
Okay new plan.
The shadow is getting a dagger thrown at it.
Septima looks down into the trap door and gags.
"That's all of them, right?
Amara looks at Septima.
"Any rat left down there is either dead or stupidly brave. Let's go find out."
She begins to descend the ladder when she notices Mira throwing a dagger.
"Mira? Everything okay?"
To the rest of you, It just looks like Mira suddenly REALLY doesn't like the cabinet on the wall next to Alexis, which is now sporting a dagger protruding from its rotten door.
woooow...
Alexis freezes up as the dagger hits the cabinet near her. Her smile and wide eyed look conveying the expression of a surprised deer. She only squeaks out a noise in response.
"A....ah....
"That was...Odd. What was that?"
Septima starts towards it, eyes narrowed, but hesitates.
"Amara, I think we missed a rat."
"Or something. Some weird freaky s~+%'s been happening the entire time we've been here, and I thought I saw something."
She takes a deep breath, and goes to collect her dagger again.
"I....I....I hope I am not this th-thing you speak of. I am not wei-.....Okay I may be weird but not creepy! Alexis seems to gain her composure mid sentence and straightens her robes.
Amara climbs back out of the trapdoor.
"Alright, let's see what this thing is."
She approaches the cabinet, ready to kick anything that jumps out at her. If nothing does as she approaches, she throws the doors wide.
You see a hole in the back of the cabinet, maybe the size of a person's head. You didn't quite see what was scrambling through it, but you did see a tail covered in wrinkly skin and sparse fur sliding downward into the wall. There is gray fur in clumps around the hole.
Amara points out the hole to everybody.
"No clue what's using this hole or where it goes and I'm not sticking my head in there to find out. Opinions?"
"Dump a gallon of acid down there, call it a day?"
She's helping.