Ignoring the stink, Lolygert used one of his torches to poke about in the muck, muttering "Ol Pooey better'ave kept something shiny about..."
You see no treasure in the bathroom of doom.
Anzath continues to move rubble, stone by stone, pausing only to wipe the sweat from her brow.
In the Loo of Doom, Tragershen will cast detect magic, detect poison and detect secret doors..
Bedlam crunches on a rat jerky; smiling at Lolly.
Be giv'n a guud looksee! Swish 'round in dere a bit!
Talathel maintains a watch over whomever is in the near side of the river.
Adelie joins Anzath in clearing the cave-in. He informs her that he did not see anything helpful along the river.
A massive group of at least twenty ghouls appears on the scene. Intelligent, charismatic, and wise (as all ghouls are), they stay in the cover of the stairwell as much as possible. They seem to already expect the far-side group of Anzath, Tal, Aurora, and Adelie, and gesture excitedly at their prey. Clearly, some of these are the ones you spotted earlier.
The party is now split, as the poo crew of Bedlam, Lolly, and Tragershen are across the river and a rat-tunnel-crawl away. But the ghouls don't know that. Yet. And, of course, neither does the poo crew.
Anzath stops her operation and suggests they start picking the ghouls off with range while the undead are still across the river.
Bedlam crunches on a rat jerky; smiling at Lolly.
Be giv'n a guud looksee! Swish 'round in dere a bit!
Lolygert pauses in his stirring of the old poo, and looks down at Bedlam, "Maybe I should give it a stir with you! he say good naturedly.
Tragershen is almost relaxed in his scanning of the room, focusing in the corners, the ceiling... but when he looks down to avoid the edifying spectacle of a poo-fight being stirred up by Lolly and Bedlam, he catches a momentary glimpse of a magic aura. He has to peer into the cesspit, lowering his face dangerously close to the seat, to see it again, and, concentrating a moment, the auras suddenly flash into focus. The wizard's jaw tightens as he realizes that somewhere down there is a strong conjuration aura drowning out very strong evocation and a conjuration auras. It's big magic down there.
Only problem is, you can't fit through the hole--it's a shaft to a cesspit, and the shaft is impassible for a medium creature.
Bedlam frowns.
Be need'n da doo-dad.
When we look down into the latrine, do we see any passages out? Can Tragershen tell if the conjuration aura is teleportation? I'm still on the lookout for a teleportal that can take us out of here...
"Yes, Adelie could likely retrieve what is down there, if they are not fixed in place."
]
Tragershen focuses his prodigious knowledge of the arcane upon the aura, attempting to discern more of its features, but it is simply too powerful for him to learn more than that the effect is conjuration-based.
There's also no clear way out of the cesspit, not from where you're standing.
Talathel signs behind his back with one hand, where Adelie can see.
Adelie, please get the others. Swiftly and quietly in those priorities.
He ever so slowly shifts his own stance, ready to wreak havoc on charging ghouls.
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Adelie, still in the tunnel and out of sight of the ghouls, returns to human and retrieves and sets down his potion of invisibility. Then, he wild shapes into a small air elemental, drinks the potion, and flies off towards Tragershen, Bedlamp, and Lolly. He hugs the ceiling and the far side of the cave, trying to stay away from the ghouls, but he prioritizes speed.
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Adelie's invisible air-self swoops over the ghouls. They take no notice of him.
Talathel paces near the outlet of the cross-river rat tunnel, just in case a ghoul happens to find it. For now, it would appear that the horde is stuck on the far side of the rushing river with no appetite to brave the raging waters, although their other appetites seem as active as ever (occasionally you hear moans of hunger). They are within arrowshot, but they are carefully peeking from cover, rather than milling about. Because, as everyone knows, ghouls are intelligent, wise, and charismatic.
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Aurora takes up position near Talathel, ready to assist in the event of an assault.
Letting out a breath, Adelie continues his flight towards the three missing party members. He hovers outside the enterance to the latrine and says, "Tragershen? Lolo? Dwarf? There are ghouls, many of them. They came from down the stairs. Talathel sent me to get you."
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Bedlam smiles at the sudden appearance of the druid.
What be yer ears be burning? We be need'n ya to fetch dat.
The dwarf points down into the...err...well.
Bedlam then downs an Invisibility Extract.
Me going ta check out sum ghoul party crashers!
The Alchemist takes off back towards the others.
Adelie stays outside the bathroom and looks questioningly at Tragershen.
"Um, what?"
"Um, yes. But there is the more immediate danger."
Tragershen casts mage armor on himself. "We should help."
"Yes."
Adelie bobs in the air near the wizard, ready to follow him.
Talathel continues to wait, judging that his assessment of Adelie's reliable character is not in error.
Adelie flies back out into the cave, doing his best to stay away from the ghouls. He tries to determine if any of them have a way to reach him while he is airborne.
”Er, hi,” he says. ”Are you here to eat my friends?”
The cave has an average height of 30 ft available for our flitting friend. It slopes down towards the its edges.
Lolygert pauses in his stirring of smelly stuff when Adelie makes his report, "Ghoulies, eh? Alright lets get back..."
As they get nearer to the others, and sees how many ghouls they're dealing with, drinks one of his barkskin potions and takes a mouthful of barbarian chew, commenting, "<smack><smack> There's <chew><chew> a few of 'em <bite><bite> eh, Bedlam?"
Bedlam pats the barbarian on the shoulder.
Be you ready fer sum fun!
Be ready fer da opportune moment!
The invisible dwarf sneaks over to the far trapped steps.
Once there, he makes certain that his machinations are still there.
Anzath takes a bead on the lead ghoul and fires away.
Anzath's shot, which follows Adelie's inquiry about the gustatory intentions of the ghouls, kicks off combat. The question is, where is Bedlam? Because with those stealth rolls, neither Anzath nor Adelie has any idea where the dwarf is, and thus they may be upsetting his carefully laid plans.
...ok, so he's fine.
Anzath's bolt splits the skull of a ghoul, despite its position peering from behind a rock.
Initiative
Tragershen rushes forward so that he can see the battlefield. Once he sees the ghouls, he stretches arcane webs from floor to ceiling to envelop as many of the ghouls as possible.
Well, dat be escalating quickly!
Talathel will hold his action for now. But he is ready to strike once the ghouls advance.
Anzath takes a bead on the lead ghoul and fires away.
A ghoul takes a bolt to the face, but it is still moving!
It dives down the stairway, out of bolt-shot.
Bedlam watches in fascination at the aim of their dark elf, as bits of rot-infested and scruffy hair skull fly in the dwarf's direction.
He then frowns when the ghoul descends his steps!
The Alchemist takes out an Enlarged Person Extract and downs it.
Five ghouls decide to withdraw into the cover of Bedlam's staircase rather than risk getting shot.
Bedlam stands so very still...he allows them to pass.
Me no wizard!
Aurora retrieves and loads her own crossbow.
The last of the ghoul-chain bumps smack into Bedlam, who tries to ignore the lil' thing.
But it is an intelligent and wise creature, so it hollers, "Brethrennnn and sistrennn! We have an invisible interloper in our midssssttt!"
Then it starts lashing out with its claws!
Bedlam feels its claws rake his armor, but no damage is done.
Three more ghouls head towards the staircase. Before they go, they each get a big handful of river sand. "We'll locate the foe soon enough!"
Bedlam grins...