Martaug and wolf will go check out the nook...rifle bedding, open any drawers/containers. While there, Martaug will take time to scan the grounds outside if there are any 2nd story windows.
If no one else volunteers, Martaug will head toward the stairs taking a path he's convinced people have walked before and head up to the second level. The wolf will rejoin his side.
Martaug shrugs "I tink we should search da place, but I ain't sure we should split up. 'Course, wi't all da traps, I don't tink we should all stand tageder, either. Do we wanna cut dese ropes runnin' da machinery? We don't have ta destroy it completely, just slow down da operations..."
Martaug involuntarily grunts as the strength is leeched out of his body. He grits his teeth into a nasty snarling smile and passes the spear to his main hand. "Yer gonna have ta try harder'n dat ta sap me'a my stre'th, li'l shade." He plunges his spear into the dark figure, hoping it hurts the hidious little creep.
"Kthuuchata domtree nundaius!" the shouted chant rumbles out of Martaug and he feels the Path of All Growing Things open through him and positive energy arcs from his finger-tips. He swings at the nebulous form in front of him, shoving his glowing hands into its torso.
Martaug stands eyeing the machinery trap that narrowly missed him and remains oblivious to the form coalleasing. It isn't until Valdisara launches into her attack that his attention is wrestled away.
Martaug feels the slimy tendrils of magic sliding across his brain and barely musters up the resolve to throw them off. He lip curls in anger "We entreated ya ta handle dis wit' words, Trickles, not wit' force. You tol' us ta die. I'd say yer pissin' yer own fool life away, anyway. Or drippin' it away."
The wolf will continue it's charge upstairs where he might be able to help find any evil-doer on the second level. Martaug will take a deep breath hoping any trap that Stooch had set off has not reset and moves in on Cale via the direction of the B side of the machinery. If he reaches the man unimpeeded, he jabs at Cale with the BlackSpeare's weapon. Martaug will try to position himself to allow Grumble a clean avenue of fire.
1)Does this appear to be only a water mill or does it function as a wheat/grist mill, also?
and
2) To make certain...the wolf fell through the floor, so he is currently on the ground floor with Grumble, Val, Cale, and I?
Once he gets the boy dumped out the door (which he will do with expedience, not a lot of gentleness, Martaug will return quickly to the group. His hand tightens around the shaft of the Black spear as he listens to the maniacal yammer.
"Well, tried ta be nicey-nice about dis, but hrumph, lemme try dis...
Yer threats 'a our death's enough ta make me scoff. Why doncha cram 'em up yer bum an' go bugger off. Hmmm. Yer right, it's tough ta find somethin' good ta go wit' "drippy jackass"."
Martaug drags the boy back toward the door, but speaks loud enough he's sure Cale can hear him "One'a da striplin's found us out an' about an' tole us you'ld attacked 'em. Dis here kid hangin' seems ta imply somethin' else completely. Can we talk dis out some, 'cuz ya might have some misconceptions 'bout us, too. Da only intention we gots ta da Blackspeares is ta see 'em thwarted. What're yer aims out here, Cale? Are ya lookin' fer a way back home?"
Being one of the taller members of the group, Martaug will help get the boy down as soon as he gets in the door. Once the boy is cut down, he will cast Cure Light Wounds on him.
Martaug looks to Val when Grumble starts to move. "I still like da idear a' aproachin' 'cross a broader front. Da wolf an' I can arc 'round from da left, jus' so we's not clumped up together." Martaug and the wolf will move out to, but angle away from the vector Grumble is moving in on.
Martaug still thinks that we should try to hail the person inside, but only after we are reasonably sure we are in a favorable position (i.e. Yalta in place for an ambush, or the like).
Martaug shrugs "If ya think ya can climb 'round dere be my guest. I sure wouldn't wanna try it. Whadda ya think? We should give 'im da chance ta explain whut he's doin' here. But we can wait until Yalka is in position ta start."
When he sees the results that Yalta is garnering with the letter sets, he nods in some comprehension. He wiil try using them as individual letter units... Holding the spear in front of him, he says "Vet."
Martaug will take one of the spears and look at it, if no one has an objection... the spear is his primary weapon. He will examine the runes to see if he can glean any meaning from them. If they exude too much of an unnatural aura, though, he will hand it back and refuse to use it.
Martaug shrugs "Dey could presage somethin', but dey may'a just taken wing wid da breeze." He c@%~@ his head to listen. If nothing else happens for a moment, he looks at the others "Well, wanna go see if we can recover dis boys body an' wreck da windmill at da same time? Da boy can stick wid us fer safety in numbers an den head back ta da farm fer da night."
A small, inadvertent growl leaks from Martaug's lips when the boy mentions wolf skeletons, but he quickly checks his emotion at the perversion of nature.
"Who's da Cole guy? I don't know 'im from town, either. If he's defendin' da windmill an' killin' off kiddies, maybe we should go an' shut dat down first. It could throw a kink inta da Blackspeare's plans."
Martaug and the wolf head outside, too. Both throw glances and growls over their shoulders as they go, throwing distrustful looks at the darkness. Out in the embrace of the sun, the half-orc's shoulders raise and he closes his eyes to embrace the radiant warmth.
"I agree wid ya. I'm not partial ta da idea'a rushin' inta some advantageous trap'a deir devisin'. Dey may be unnatural, but jus' like any preditor, dey'll be strongest in deir home territory. I also don't tink dat any light I'm able'ta summon will be equal ta erase dere unnatural blot'a darkness. I tink Yalta an' I stan' a better chance'a finding da relic, while da wolf helps ya guard against any attack up top."
The wolf is still with us. If I dismiss him it will be a full day before I can summon another companion to my side. I can still cast my summon nature's ally as a 'druid burn' spell, but that would only be for 2 rounds. Also, Martaug has no working knowledge of dolphins. He's been landlocked for his whole life. He may have seen Lake Encarthan, but I don't think he's familiar enough with it to be popping maritime or lacustrine critters into play easily. Maybe a water beetle, given his insect fetish..
Martaug bristles as he hears the invisible undead shuffling away. After a moment he looks to Val "Raschka-Tor means fire mountain in my fadder's tongue. Dere's a huge mount over in da east part of Belkzen. Supposed'ta be da home'a some massively powerful red dragons. Dere obviously wantin' us ta find da weapon. Maybe dey wuz ta bring it ta da dragons long ago... a geas or curse ta be paid off? Dunno, but I don' like da sound'a any artifact goin' ta dem!"
Sounds a good plan. Should give us 20 minutes of light. Martaug will leave his pack, shield, and spear topside, but will keep his sickle on his belt and his armor on.
The young druid does allow himself to be hauled back up and accepts the bear-pelt with gratitude. He explains the layout of the submerged area and shrugs between shivers. "I c'n call on da powers'a nature ta give me a gift of light fer several minutes... What we gain in visibility, we could loose in surprise, but it would be easier ta navigate unnerwater wid a light source. I'm willin' ta go back down an' take another stab at findin' an opening. We'll jes be a bit more prepared dis time 'round."
Martaug will certainly bow to a stronger swimmer and will be more than happy to use one of his orisons instead of wasting equipment.