"Hold on, way too much fire right now." Lineera begins to fulfill her secondary role of dousing the fires on the balustrades. As she does so, she advises everyone of the situation. "We should all probably get down." She says, referencing her prone position. "Too much smoke. [b]"The way south is really small Elena, I don't think anyone but Munchkin and you could make it through. It looks like a supply room of some kind, so there may be something useful in there... but I'm not sure if I like the idea of you having to go there pretty much alone. The other path's bigger, but I can't see anything interesting about it."
"Perhaps we sneak down there? What if they are hiding the kids that way?"
"We should definitely check it out. Even if the kids aren't there, we might find... Uhmff!" - Elena stifles a cry of pain as she rips the bolt out of her midsection - "... Some clue. We still don't know what's going on!"
Pyewacket shakes his head.
Forgot he had a 6 int. Pyewacket saw an empty stone chamber that looked like it was a bedroom, there's some crates, a bed, some other junk scattered around, but no body no bodies and no zombies. There's another cave that leads off NE with some light coming from it, but he didn't go down it.
The witch withholds judgment until her companion flies back into sight. She watches the raven's animated dance and launches into a set of yes/no questions to which the bird bobs its head or makes a noise like craakl.
"That room yonder seems to be an empty bedroom with crates. There is another cave heading Nor'eastish from there. There's some light coming from it."
Lineera turns a concerned look at Elena. "Are you alright? I've got medical supplies in my bag... It would probably take too long for us to do it now unless the need was dire, but it's still best to tend a wound while it's fresh. But..." turning to look at Eva. "It sounds like that room south may be worth investigating, but take Munchkin with you, just in case."
Then looking at Munchkin, Lineera states "Listen to Eva Munchkin, she's allowed to tell you what to do, ok? Follow her and make sure she stays safe."
Eva moved to start climbing over the south Balustrade.
Once she's on the other side, she'll open and unlock the door for easier access.
Following his most recent orders, Munchkin attempts to climb over the balustrade as well.
But mostly just fumbles at the side until taking the far easier route Eva opens for him with the gate.
Eva can squeeze through to the crates, but from there, she'll have to make escape artist checks to continue, the crates have been stacked to block the passage. Same for Munchkin.
Escape Artist DC : 15 (can't take 10 or 20, failure by 5 or more results in character being stuck).
Once Eva is through, it takes a bit of squirming, but Munchkin manages to work his way through as well, leaving a little bit of a slimy residue though.
Lineera decides to try and keep herself busy and useful whilst Eva faces the unknown effectively alone, and hopes that this other passage will link up with the one Eva goes down in case she gets in trouble. Returning her shield to its sling on her back, she approaches the balustrade to slowly work her own way over.
Once over, she unlocks the balustrade for her other companions.
Mahb, shining her light down the southern tunnel, can just make out (over the balustrade) a tiny fissure in the rocks that would be very hard to pass, and beyond that some wooden structure that could be a crate of some kind, or another balustrade.
The southern passage is MUCH smaller than the one to the east. It's both shorter (3 ft) and tighter (6 to 8 inches in places). To get to the crates, a small character has to squeeze. To get past the crates, it's escape artist checks.
As stated earlier, can't take 10 or 20 on escape artist checks, as failure by 5 or more indicates you got yourself stuck. Same applies for mediums getting over the balustrade's Lineera.
Eva herself had gotten stuck, before wiggling to free herself and keep moving. Eva had to duck a little but not much. For once, she was slightly too tall.
Same check to free yourself, but you don't progress forward, you return to where you started. If you miss the 'free myself' check by 5 or more, you are permastuck.
And no problem on missing it, lots of posting. :)
And after some wiggling, contorting and squeezing, Eva makes some progress!
Lineera - No, they're designed to prevent that, sorry.
Map Updated.
Eva is in a dark room (everything inside the yellow lines is in darkness, she'll need a light source).
Eva's pulled out a sunrod, giving herself light so she could see. She then took a look around.
Eva see's what looks like a bedroom with a passage off to the east.
Seeing no easy way, either magical or physical to bypass the barrier. Lineera decides it's time to just try and force their way through it. Inspecting the barrier, Lineera turns to the group and announces. "Hey, I think we should be trying to do something to get past this in case Eva runs into trouble. I'm thinking if we all pull as a team, we may be able to just wrench those bolts from their sockets."
"Don't let anything sneak up on me from the path there, Munchkin." Eva began to search the room, the entire room. Under the bed, in the bed, any storage in there, the corners of the room. She wanted to find any possible clues or other things of note.
The kobold corpse dutifully turns and watches the path.
Elena gives Lineera a little smile - "Thanks, but there's no need to worry. The wound is quite superficial, and it's not bleeding. I'll be fine... I think."
Approaching the southern balustrade, Elena examines it for a moment, perplexed. "Uhmm... I don't know if we can dislodge it... But it's certainly worth a try!"
Elena fumbles a bit with the barricade, trying to get a good grip, then when she's ready she calls for the others - "Ready? On the count of three... One... Two... THREE!"
Eva walks into the middle of the room, and can see down the corridor now, and see's two zombies and something in a big hat and robes behind them. And beyond, more enemies.
Given she's carrying a glow rod, it should come as no surprise that they also see her.
Order : Lineera, CloakHat 2, Elena, Zombie 3, CloakHat 1, Eva, Zombie 2, Mahb, Zombie 1
Lineera (who doesn't know any of this), then CloakHat 2 (who holds), then Elena (who doesn't know any of this), then Zombie 3 (who holds).
So Lineera and Elena may both go, then I'll do CloakHat 1, then Eva, and the zombies.
Only the southern one, not the eastern one
Can't take 20 (well you can, but you probably don't want to, given it takes 20 times longer and Eva's going to be in trouble soon).
Linking her arms around Elena's chest (Being careful to avoid pulling directly on the wound) she counts through with her. "One... Two... Three!"
Seeing the apparent danger, but being given the orders to Protect Eva and Watch the Hall. Munchkin just stands there, hissing and spitting.
Between Lineera and Elena, they jerk and tug on the balustrade, and with Elena's veins throbing and pulsing on her forehead, and with Lineera tugging with and making little oof sounds, the Balustrade suddenly pops free and both go staggering back with the Balustrade in hand.
Reflex DC 15 to avoid falling down. Critical failure means you fall and the Balustrade lands on top of you, so don't roll a 1!
CloakHat looks into the room, see's the zombie. It points to Munchkin and says something in a language Eva doesn't understand and points to her.
Munchkin's growling and hissing change as it turns around to face Eva.
Eva is now up.
Real time, the second attempt was the in combat attempt, round 1.
Reflex DC 15 to avoid falling down. Critical failure means you fall and the Balustrade lands on top of you, so don't roll a 1!
When the Balustrade is finally dislodged, Elena loses her balance and tumbles to the ground. Grumbling to herself, she gets back on her feet and shakes the dust off her armor.
Have to wait until round 2 to stand up and dust off the armor
"Bad Munchkin!" Eva yelled knowing it wouldn't do much, but it made her feel a little better. She pulled out her dagger and slashed at him.
"I'm sorry Munchkin. Please. Don't do this." She knew it was likely futile, but she tried. She stepped back away from him, trying to put some distance between the two of them.
Munchkin's cold undead eyes show no pain or remorse, even when Eva begs him and slashes his body with the dagger.
The other two zombies shuffle forward, staggering toward Eva, spears out thrust.
Mahb weighs her options. The South is too small and these bein' kobolds... the East passage is likely trapped though it's a tempting flank.
Mahb errs on the side of caution. "Eva, stop playing! Get yourself back here."
Order : (Mahb), Zombie 2, Cloakhat 2, Zombie 1, Munchkin, Cloakhat 1, Elena, Eva, Lineera, Zombie 3
Zombie 2 moves, cloakhat 2 holds, zombie 1 moves.
Muchkin shambles forward, and attempts to slam Eva.
Is that a bit of hesitation in Munchkin? He swings at empty air! Maybe he's remembering the fun he and Eva had getting ice cream, or dancing under the stars on the new years party?
Oh no, wait, he stepped on a hairbrush someone left on the floor was all.
Cloakhat 1 scampers down the cave way with an oddly simian gate, keeping to the wall to maintain cover.
Elena, Eva, Lineera up.