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As far as Eowithe can tell, the loft over the hearth is Natalya's living area. Crammed into the small floorspace are a ragged chair and a small burlap sack that appears to hold most of Natalya's treasures, meager as they are.

Pakak reaches Natalya's body just as the unconscious form starts to buck and heave, obviously drowning in the foul muck. Scooping from the foul water is enough for her to clear her lungs, which is fortunate as not even her own mother would want to breathe life into that reeking form.

I linked the creature. The rolls were high enough for you to just read the creature stats

Calla and Anklebiter both identify these things as an aquatic for of grick

Eowithe's strike went wide, but distracted the woman enough so that Alanthian had a terrific opening. The elf leaped across the distance, and lashed out with his mother's sword. The blade ripped into Natalya. The woman's eyes went wide as both sword and crossbow fell from her hand. She toppled backwards, crashing through the thin ceiling slats and falling to the muck below.

Pakak finally got a decent grip on the slippery rungs and made his way halfway up the chimney when he heard Natalya's body splash into the sewage behind him.

Angelica easily snipped the line and gently lowered the end so that the bell did not make so much as a clank. She moved the line aside, and motioned to the others that the coast was clear.

More to come when I get home and can access my maps

While you were busy looking at the mineral on the walls, A pair of
creatures emerged silently from the pool of water behind you. They are man-sized worms, with a maw of tentacles and hooked teeth. Some might say they don't look happy to see you, but that would be a mistake. They are always happy to supplement their diet of fish with something tastier.

Coming to the edge of the corridor, Angelica spots a thin line of reflected light, or was it darkness, at ankle level. She motioned for the others to halt as she leaned down to inspect it. It was a simple tripline, rigged to a bell. A very simple alarm, that would have gone completely unnoticed without the burglar's darkvision.

Beyond the tripwire is a bare room, maybe 20 feet across, with another egress on the North wall. A very faint hint of illumination spills through that doorway.

The lit chamber is large, with an enormous pool of water covering more than half of the left side of the floor. The turgid water appears almost black in the eerie light of the mineral deposits on the walls. Calla searches with her divine senses, but sees no sign of evil in this place. Though that in itself is cold comfort.

The ladder leads to a small tunnel, maybe 5 feet square, sloping off towards the right. At the end of the tunnel, it turns sharply tot he right. There you find a trapdoor leading downward. It opens in the ceiling of another completely dark chamber.

From the hatch, the chamber looks empty as a a tomb (and emptier than some you have heard of. Dropping down, you find yourselves in a long passage. The walls along this passage bear murals showing strangely dressed Thassilonian priests placing bodies into crypts. These murals haven't been desecrated or looted like the others you have seen in this place. Several niches in the wall may have once been burial crypts themselves, but today the hall is strewn with bones and the niches stand empty.

@anklebiter - low level of magic. you aren't sure what it is.

calla - you haven't heard of anything like this before

Moving beyond the collapsed chamber, you enter a narrow tunnel. The floor here sloped downwards more sharply than before, with natural terraces carved into the stone by eons of pooling water. And the water pools were everywhere. Water dripped from stalactites above and seeped through cracks in the stone walls to form pools a few inches deep.

After carefully traversing the tunnel, you see a strange orangish-purple glow in an upcoming cavern.

oops, wrong link Here you go

Alanthian and Eowithe sprang across the rafters, following the dagger that Alanthian launched. The dagger buried itself in Natalya's side, making hte woman gasp in pain. Still, she managed to step back another few feet and fire her crosssbow point blank into Eowithe. The bolt's force was mostly delflected by Eowithe's armor, but she still felt a jolt of pain in her left leg.

Pakak still cannot seem to grasp the ladder with enough stability to climb.

moving forward
The next morning, refreshed and re-magicked, you make your way back down to the trapdoor in the fighting pit. Bracing yourselves for the odor and the dankness, you lift the hatch and once again head into the tunnels beneath Riddleport.

You make your way back to the last area where you fought the troglodytes. You don't have much trouble. Either you cleared out all of the creatures in that part of the tunnels, or they simply haven't returned yet.

Take your time, Shabbezz. We'll muddle along without you, somehow.

It was close, but Harbug made it across, grasping awkwardly at the ropes and flailing a bit. There was a scary moment when his life flashed before his eyes, but he had them closed and so he missed most of the good parts.

Behind him, Shabbezz swarmed up the ropes and onto the platform, making the process look as easy as a squirrel running across a branch.

Anybody else around? Has this game fallen off everyone's radar?

sorry to hear that. if it makes you feel any better, there's not much else going on either.

it doesn't make me feel better, but maybe you have a different take on things :)

My map file for this battle is apparently completely corrupted, so we'll have to do it old school. Dust off those imaginations, Ladies and gentlemen.

I need acrobatics checks for anyone attempting to follow Natalya across the burning beams of the attic floor.

Missles flew past the woman, as she calmly brought up her crossbow. firelight glinted from the tip of the quarrel as she fired straight at Crugold's head. The dwarf dove to the floor to avoid the bolt, and the thin slats parted with a sharp splinter. The dwarf's head cracked against a timber as he fell, making him see stars as he plummeted to the filth below.

No worries, man. I just wondered if everything was okay. Especially since we lost Crugold.

Edit: Wrong Alanthian posted ;)

Krass was surprised at how easy it was to swing across onto the platform, and the ladder up was more stable than any found in Natalya's hideout. Maybe it wasn't so dangerous after all...except for the 200 foot drop if you missed a step, of course.

yup, rolls are required. and definitive action. Definitely definitive, Rita. Definitely!

Alanthian, are you having problems posting regularly?

Any movement?

Calla found a young acolyte, named Jesh, that was more than willing to come help the Heroes of the Gold Goblin, and he'll even do it for half price, on account of he really needs the money.

Probably no gem crafting shops open at this time. They tend to cater to a more...regular business schedule

It is early evening, and you can probably find shops still open to get what you need. You weren't down in the catacombs all that long, maybe 5 hours.

Crugold, sorry to see you go. I understand about RL commitments (it is one of the things that has kept me from pushing the storyline faster). take care, and good luck.

You make your way back through the caverns to the fighting pit. The steep climb up the sinkhole was aided by the surprisingly stable structure hammered into the wall there. In the Goblin, it isn't difficult to find a chunk of metal to wedge into the trapdoor, and the gambling hall is mostly quiet still. The cook and her husband laid out a decent meal, and the closed doors and boarded windows are unmolested by raiders or the curious. In all, a safe place...for now.

Sounds like a good, cautious plan.

Aha! There he is. I was about to go on without you...and probably should have. Ah well.

The remaining goblin tumbled into the muck beside the first, leaving only Natalya to face the companions. her face was dark with anger as she said "I have given you every opportunity to leave, now face the flames of judgement!"

An arc of fire licked out from her hand, setting the roof and beams alight around her.

Oh, about 500 feet or so, not counting backtracks. Here is a map of what you have explored so far.

Harbug finds nothing magical that you didn't bring in with you

Angelica finds a 5' square passageway that turn sharply to the south a ways. She can't determine what might be on the other end of the shaft without going down it.

You are correct, I must have missed it in the updates. Between that, and Lefrik's mighty swing the last one will fall, though.

The companions bury the last trog in steel and magic. The lizardkin throwback had hardly any time to raise a defense before the combined efforts sent it reeling to the cavern floor.

The troglodytes weren't carrying much, other than their rough clubs and javelins. But tucked away in folds of their loincloths, you come up with a handful of coins and some small gems, amongst other less valuable (and sanitary) items.

Angelica loops the boathook over the piton and pulls down. AS she does, the trapdoor opens easily, and a set of iron rungs slides out to thunk heavily on the hanging platform. When the trapdoor is open all the way, Angelica feels it catch, leaving it standing open without needing to pull on it with the hook. The ladder leads into a dark 5' x 5' opening above.

As Angelica cast about, looking for the purpose of the boat hook, her eyes caught an anomaly above her. A trapdoor - looking like it was once flush with the stone above - stood slightly ajar, with a piton jammed into its end. It is clear that the boat hook is intended to grab onto the piton and pull the trapdoor down.

A piercing sound reverberated through the troglodyte's head, confusing it and making it more susceptible to Calla's divine retribution. It stumbled, smacking itself in the head with its own club, and stared stupidly around it looking for the source of the noise. The lizardkin was still looking about as Lefrik's axe smashed into it. The blow sent the creature reeling to the floor, most of its insides trying desperately to be outside.

The last trog pounced on Lefrik, who didn't manage to recover his swing in time. Its blow sent a wave of pain through the blonde barbarian's arm as it connected.

Try crossing your eyes, maybe that would help.

Angelica easily swung out over the drop and touched lightly down on the platform. The wooden structure barely swayed on its mooring lines. Though the contraption may have looked haphazard from the ledge, it was actually quite sturdy.

On the platform is a 10 foot boat hook, with a rope ties to the haft. The rope is about 15 foot long, and the other end is tied to one of the platform's anchoring ropes.

An eagle appeared from thin air between the troglodyte ranks, clawing and raking Lefrik's opponent about the head. Between that, Calla's judgement, and Bruendor's fancy blade work, the trog never saw Lefrik's axe coming until the barbarian buried the blade in its head. The creature dropped to the floor, nearly knocking the troglodyte next to it down, forcing the creature to abort its attack on Bruendor and allowing the dwarf to step back to relative safety. The remaining trog struck out at the eagle, but the bobbing mass of feathers easily evaded the clumsy strike.

The stench continued to affect the companions, as each of their blows went awry. Bruendor's opponent even managed to land a stronghit on the dwarf, numbing his right shoulder and arm.

Harbug walks out to see a ledge festooned with old bird nests looking out over a shaft that drops nearly 200 feet to the water below. A large coil of rope sits on the ground near the ledge, one end anchored to a large piton driven into a crack near the wall. Opposite the ledge, across the shaft, is another ledge, with a window overlooking the harbor. The ceiling of the shaft is a mere ten feet above the ledge, and crisscrossed by a tangle of arches supporting the roof. Between the ledges is a wooden platform, about 5 foot square, hanging from stout ropes anchored to the stone arches above. Two thick ropes also stretch out from each of the ledges to the platform, holding it in place. Another pair of ropes anchored to the ceiling are tied off on the left side of the ledge, potentially allowing someone to swing across to the platform.

The companions gag and retch at the stench around them, the nausea welling up to spoil their aim and cause more than one to spew out the remains of breakfast onto the cave floor. The emitus only added to the foul reek in the air. Bruendor managed to drive his rapier into one of the trogs, piercing the thing's liver and sending it moaning to the floor. Another quickly took its place, however, wooden club slamming into the wall beside Lefrik's head as the charging barbarian ducks low.

Angelica opens the door and, finding nothing on the other side to worry her, wedges a piece of kindling to prop the door open. The room is large, with walls covered in scratched and faded murals. Several sections have been roughly hacked out, and an empty plinth where a statue once stood fills a small alcove. The floor shows signs of wear, and the air is filled with the smell of fresh air. The sound of waves rolls in from the left, where filtered sunlight streams in.

Here is the updated map

Missiles fly as the opposing forces attempt to weaken the enemy before melee. Two of the troglodytes sprout fletched bolts, and stagger slightly before continuing their advance. They close with Bruendor and Calla, but the defensible nature of the tunnel mouth gave the two plenty of cover from the crude clubs. The stench of the creatures is even more overpowering in the tight confines, causing everyone to gag and eyes to water.

With teh grippli's direction, Angleica found the door with relative ease. Given that it looks to have propped open until recently - maybe until the alarm was sounded minutes ago - traps are unlikely.

The goblin is down in the muck, and you are up on the hearth. You would have to climb down the ladder to the sewage, grab the goblin and haul him back up the first ladder to wipe off the second. Is that really how you want to spend the next 3 rounds?

Will do, man. good luck on the move.

You know they were troglodytes from the last fight.