Roylenna manages to help the ogres sort out the coins and their differences and some sort of calm is restored to the room. That's when you hear a muffled groan from behind the door in the back.
Bluff
"Oh! I didn't know you had another friend down here! It sounds like they might be hurt!"
Gregori allows his vision to shift, glaring deep into the souls and deeds of the ogres, while keeping his expression unchanged.
Ambro makes an offhand gesture. "Oh, that's not a friend, that's dinner. Would you like to stay and share it?"
Gregori:
"What is it? A pig? A lamb?"
Artival looks uneasily around at the group, wondering how the conversation was going.
"Oh! Sorry! They were having a misunderstanding about the sorting of their coins - see these copper pieces? and I helped them with that. I asked about the noise I heard coming from the door over there, if it was a friend that was feeling ill, and they said it was supper."
She moves toward the door.
Hmmm, perhaps someone here was going to have to be taught a lesson by her sword after all...
The ogres shrug, but it seems an argument is brewing. As Roylenna opens the door it reveals a room full of filthy piles of fur. An inexpertly bound and gagged human man looks pleadingly at you.
"Why, there's a man tied up in here!"
Roylenna moves into the room with purpose and, telling him in Common to stay quiet, takes the man's gag off.
Tika whispers to Roylenna
"You think you could convince them that the guy tastes awefull or something?"
Whispers back, "It'd be easier if we have something else to feed them."
"What if we offer to get them something?"
Artival, listening to the ladies, feels he has to add to the conversation. "We can get them something now, but what happens when they get hungry again. We all know, they are going to go looking for a yummy humanoid type. Unless you can change their outlook through discussion, we are going to have to forecefully change their outlook."
Gregori turns his soul searching gaze on the bound man assessing whether the man was worth the risk to his friends.
Bluff - Non verbal communication
The bound and gagged figure's eyes widen upon seeing possible rescue. He begins to squirm, and nod, and gesture with any movable body part trying to communicate something to his saviors...but seems to come across as having a bad itch with no way to scratch it.
Plainly growing tired of all the conversation she can't understand and everyones indecision, the barbarianess strides over to the bound man and brings out her greatsword. She slices through the ropes and says to him, "Now remove that thing from your mouth and tell me how you ended up here."
"Why, there's a man tied up in here!"
Roylenna moves into the room with purpose and, telling him in Common to stay quiet, takes the man's gag off.
Some of the ogres look a bit upset at you messing with their dinner but Ambro mostly looks amused. Everybody knows that alchemists taste funny anyway.
"Well as to who I am, and what I'm doing here, that is a story for less stressful times". "Perhaps it shall suffice for now to say that my name is Kem Het". "I found myself employed by these monsters as a cook, due to that being the preferred choice at the time...and they have recently decided that since my cooking is so delectable that I myself must be even more so". "I am inclined to disagree".
"Now if you can help me find my bag, and weapons, perhaps we can get out of here".
Kem Het moves to arise unless restrained.
"Why, there's a man tied up in here!"
Roylenna moves into the room with purpose and, telling him in Common to stay quiet, takes the man's gag off.
"I still think we can talk them out of wanting to eat him. In fact....." Tika casts a tongues spell on herself.
Lyria moves towards Kem, waiting for the ogres to be distracted in order to quietly escort him out of the room. Meanwhile, she examines him quickly for any sign of injury.
Kem is all right but I'm still waiting for that Diplomacy check (or equivalent). The ogres haven't survived in this environment by tangling with well-armed parties so they aren't really itching for a fight, but you still need to make an effort.
In now fluent Giant Tika begins to speak to the Ogres
"You really dont want to eat that man...I mean look at him He's so hairy and gods knows where he has been before he got here. If I were you I wouldent even touch him never mind eat him. You know that they say a good cook means a terrible taste right? I'm sure there are plenty of other things in these caves and tunnels much better tasting and far more nutritonal than a dirty foul scragly human."
Diplomacy
Diplomacy Aid Another
Finally persuaded by the eloquent halflings, the ogres (after a certain amount of squabbling) shrug and let the alchemist go.
Where do you want to go next?
Lyria leads the others back to the second door on the right, next to the room with the magical broom.
The second door is not locked and there is no sound coming from it, so you enter. This looks like some kind of storage closet.
Along the walls lie piles of wood and tools, neatly stacked. A large box sits in the center of the room. Various carpentry equipment used for making coffins is stored here, including 120 8-foot-long 2x4s, 3 hammers, 2 saws, one axe, a chisel and 10,000 rusty but usable nails in an iron box. There are no visible exits.
The next room is occupied with 3 bloated female dire rats and their brood. The only exit is a number of rat tunnels.
That is the last of the doors. The corridor continues about 80 feet, where a passage branches off to the right, ending in a door, while ahead there is a dead end.
Kem Het rushes around gathering his things, mumbling under his breath, and shooting dagger like glances at the ogres. Finally he rushes to join the rest of the party.
"Well ya see it's kind of a long story...and I know difficult to believe...but here it is". "I was just minding my own business, me and my truffle hog Daisy, hunting for some truffles a couple of miles from here, when these hungry Ogres came upon us by surprise". "Got the jump on me I'll tell you they did". "Course, I was more worried about Daisy, than myself, but one of them got in a lucky shot with a log harder than even my head". "Har...Har...Harr".
"Well when I finally came to we was here in this place, and my poor Daisy" (At this point Kem takes a soiled cloth from his breast pocket, and dabs his eyes, before noisily blowing his nose into the cloth, pausing for a moment to examine it's contents before continuing.)"Well I was able to convince them that I could make poor Daisy taste better than anything they'd ever eaten before, so I proceeded to do so". "At that point they decided that as long as I made all their food taste good, they'd keep me around"..."Which worked out pretty good till I ran out of Red Pepper". "So just before you'uns showed up they'd decided that I'd lost my touch, and since I was already here and they didn't have to chase me down...well you know the rest of the story".
"I'm much obliged to you all for saving my sorry skin by the way". "Iffen you don't mind I'd kinda like to stick around you guys for company till I...we can get outta this place". "I'm pretty good with mechanical things, like locks, and traps". "I can mix up several fancy brews, and exploding things, and am capable of helping when you're hurt as well".
Kem Het then goes quiet for a bit before barging in again, "Where the blazes are we" by the way, if you don't mind me asking".
With a twinkle in her eye, Roylenna responds, "A couple of miles from where you were captured, like you said."
With a twinkle in her eye, Roylenna responds, "A couple of miles from where you were captured, like you said."
Gregori grins at Roylenna's quip, looking at Ka'Kara and nodding before descending on the filthy direrat infestation, blade flashing.
"It'll probably be a while before we try and head out of here, as we've got quite a bit of exploring to do today."
Roylenna grins and tries a serious response this time. "We're under some nasty old cemetery and mausoleum. What's it called again?" She looks to the others for the answer to her question.
With a broad smile, "Oh, thank the ancestors! Someone who knows how to cook! Now, lets see what is on the menu for tonight." Holding up a now dead bloated dire rat by its tail, "What can you do with this? Gregori, (nodding toward the paladin) seems to have grown a taste for them...but my sisters (nodding down toward the halflings) always seem to cook them until they resemble charcoal heavily seasoned with 'Lenna's spell reagents." She wrinkles her nose up in distaste at the apparent memory.
"What do you mean burnt?."
Kem wrinkles his nose at the Dire Rat. "Well I suppose I could make it palatable if not enjoyable". "I'd prefer we look around a bit however, and see if we can come up with something more fitting". "Even the Ogres ate better than that".
Profession Cook (To see if he thinks he can do anything with the rat)
Palatable if not enjoyable is about right.
"There's that hallway we haven't completely explored yet."
After handing Kem the rat by the tail she leans close to Gregori and whispers while trying to stifle a grin, "I think he is actually considering making it for you. Now...don't be ungrateful." Before he can respond she strides the direction Artival just indicated, "Yes, let's go that way.
Lyria rolls her eyes after Kem seriously thinks about cooking the dead vermin. "Thank you for your offer, but I believe I'll be healthier and happier with simple travel-rations".
Strangely, the corridor ends in a dead end.
Perception 15:
"That's weird."
Perception
"Not really there's a door at the left wall cant you see it?"