Seann stares at the tapestry, mumbling absentmindedly.
"Why anyone in their right mind would build a city inside a volcano is beyond me..."
Brushing the artwork aside, the hidden door slides back easily on unseen hinges, revealing a darkened hallway, which bends sharply to the left about fifteen feet in. Following the curve takes you to a straight passage without windows or doors, roughly twenty-five feet long. The air here is significantly more humid than the rest of the shop, no doubt kept deliberately cool and dry for preservation purposes. At the end of the hall is a wooden ladder leading straight down.
After checking the ladder for sturdiness, Tyndal will begin heading down. (Unless Pinky says otherwise)
At the bottom of the ladder, you find yourself in a natural underground cavern. Conditions are a bit cramped, and decidedly damp. Droplets of moisture bead upon the walls, falling as they gain weight to become a small, slick pool on the cavern floor. The cave is open ended to the east, though you cannot see the end of the passage as it grows increasingly winding. A closed and slightly warped wooden door is directly west of your current location, and above you the wooden ladder and the safety of the trap door beckon you to leave this place before the inevitable occurs.
I like this one! Not only does he take point, but he heads straight on to where we might give Vanthus a good shanking. Let’s remember to pilfer this place dry when we head back out though, eh?
Glancing at Terin, "You seem to know a lot about this place... Any thoughts on which way to go?"
Whichever way we decide to go, Ardan will take up a rear guard position behind Eldin and Anders any time we're forced into single file.
Seann, again, falls into position behind Tyndal.
The Beast paces beside Seann.
Glancing at Terin, "You seem to know a lot about this place... Any thoughts on which way to go?"
Seeing the party ready to go, Tyndal moves to the door and pauses to see if anything can be heard beyond the door.
Seann nervously begins tracing a tattoo of a burning serpent on his right arm. Just in case.
The Beast plops down and scratches at his ear with a hind leg for a moment before letting a low purr out and standing. Ready for action.
Placing his ear to the warped wooden door, Tyndal can just barely make out the sound of two men arguing over something; you can’t tell exactly what, though you hear the words “coconut” and “swallows.” They aren’t attempting to be particularly quiet, so you are fairly certain they aren’t in the room directly ahead.
The door:
"Hey, Tyndal, d'you think you've got the door alright?"
Tyndal whispers "There's two guys talking about coconuts a room over. Keep it down."
He tries to quietly pull the door open.
Eldin stays towards the rear, keeping as quiet and alert as he can.
Tyndal carefully peels the door away out of the frame, with Seann doing his best to muffle any vibrations.
Moving away from the unworked cavern, the door leads into an area of brick-lined tunnels with wooden arches for support. The entry opens into a north-south hallway with passages to your left and right. Water trickles northwards down the hall in lead gutters set into the floor, and the air here is damp, though not as significantly as the previous area.
The southern (left) hallway bends around sharply to the right again before long, and you cannot see what may lie in that direction (Penkus says only ”Kitchen: in Terin’s head), while down the right (north) branch, you see two men walking away from you. Backs to you, they do not appear to have heard your entry, and are engaged in heavy conversation (Eldin hears only gibberish) as they pass out of the 10 foot by 10 foot room, hanging a left at the end of the hall.
*Damn, looks like I need to be able to tell the others what the 'All-seeing Eye' knows.*
The beast rears back on his hind legs and become elven again.
whispering--"That's a kitchen there."
Terin draws him scimitar and continues following.
"Bleeding onions..."
Seann's eye begins to twitch.
Ardan whispers back to Terin, "Any ideas where they might be headed? Wasn't there a big room on the map our friend sketched in that direction?"
Tyndal steals behind the two men with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Engaged as they are in heated debate, the large man’s clattering advance remains unnoticed.
General roguish, unwashed, scofflaw types, one red haired and one salt-and-pepper, and they are both armed with rapiers (sheathed). One of the men is haranguing stridently about practically being poisoned by “that lizard cook” at lunch.
Ardan whispers back to Terin, "Any ideas where they might be headed?
"To hell."
Terin creeps up behind them also, with Tyndal. Scimitar held in both hands and raised high above his head.
Terin slashes with a powerful stroke at the other man-
1d20+4=13, 1d6+4=9
Ardan attempts to rush into the melee and launches a wild swing at Terin's man for minimal damage.
It would appear fortune is favoring your boldness at last.
Nevermind, lol, I see the posts now.
Seann whips his broad-bladed dagger from its sheath. He's not wasting spells on these jokers.
1d20+3=20 initiative.
1d20+4=21, 1d6+4=8 1st round attack on a guy.
Tyndal and Terin synchronize their swings, attempting to clobber the guild members before they can sound a warning.
Underestimating the amount of room in the passage Tyndal’s flail catches on the edge of the hallway, and the thief dives for cover, heightened reflexes saving his life, albeit momentarily. Charging from behind, Ardan swings wildly at the falling man, cutting a furrow into the thug’s forehead as he tumbles over backwards, blood running into his eyes.
The grey haired pickpocket fails to react in time, and Terin’s scimitar cleaves a wedge into the man’s skull, sending small shards of bone, clear fluid, and grey matter flying.
The terrified, half-blind thief staggers backwards and attempts to flee down the hallway.
Could I AoO him? I am next to Tyndal. If so you can use my 1st round attack for that. Either way my initiative is 20 so I can get my regular attack off before he flees.
"Damn."
Seann whips his dagger after the fleeing pirate.
Scrambling away from Tyndal’s clumsy swing, the remaining Lotus Dragon member wheels about and darts down the passage with all the speed fear can muster. Idly, Sean retrieves a dagger and flips it at the running figure.
Sean’s throw catches the retreating thief at the base of where his head meets his neck, neatly unraveling the red-haired man's brain stem with unparalleled precision. The thug tumbles over, joining his comrade in death.
"Two down," murmers Eldin grimly, offering a silent prayer to the Traveller to guide these poor villain's souls to their eternal rest.
"Now, if I'm understadning the map correctly, they were headed towards a barracks or some-such."
Tyndal lets out a low whistle.
"Nice throw Seann. I still can't figure out that map. Do we want to continue to the barracks? We probably need to hide these guys if we can."
Seann blinks. That couldn't have been him that made that shot...
"Gentlemen, I don't know what just happened, but..."
He decides not to finish.
"I'd prefer not to take on the entire guild at once, but better on our terms than theirs I guess." Glancing at the sketched map, Ardan indicates the southeast dead-end room, "I believe I see a room labeled Body Storage..."
"I'd prefer not to take on the entire guild at once, but better on our terms than theirs I suppose; still, I'd rather whittle their numbers down first if possible." Glancing at the sketched map, Ardan indicates the southeast dead-end room, "I believe I see a room labeled Body Storage..."
"I'd prefer not to take on the entire guild at once, but better on our terms than theirs I suppose; still, I'd rather whittle their numbers down first if possible." Glancing at the sketched map, Ardan indicates the southeast dead-end room, "I believe I see a room labeled Body Storage..."