Serpent speak
"You're going to owe me a nice fat mouse for this one".
Stealth
Perception with detect magic.
Kaul mugs a grin and spits on his paws before retrieving Mara from his back.
With a grunt and a nod the thug brings the ax to bear;
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Kaul mugs a grin and spits on his paws before retrieving Mara from his back.
With a grunt and a nod the thug brings the ax to bear;
: 1d20+5
: 1d12+4-5DR
Richard stops his investigation of the place just in time to keep from being showered with debris from kaul's might blow.
Dingus signals Kaul to belay his blow for a moment and releases the snake. Little Richard slithers between the make shift barrier into the fortress turned monastery.
A broken lock rests on the floor nearby and the doors at the other end of the foyer are nearly torn from their hinges as well. Small pools of brackish stinking water puddle the floor and through the stench, Richard scents rodents to be found nearby as well.
No magic or other presence is sensed and Kaul, growing impatient, hacks through the barrier with two hard blows from Mara as Richard streaks back to the safety of Dingus' sleeve.
Dibbs breathes the wan light of Gozreh onto the end of ol' faithful and moves within for a poke around...
Perception:
Dibbets' light helps reveal the dim main room you enter next. The vaulted ceiling is over twenty feet overhead and features a passage diectly to your right and double doors opposite the passage to the left. Another door on the right just after the passage and pair of doors on each wall at the corner opposite you.
The room features stairs that rise 10 feet to a railed balcony that encircles the room. Near the staircase is a large rusty metal tub and wooden drying rack. The floor bears splatters of blood and obvious signs of a recent scuffle.
Dibbets steps into the room proper and casts an eye over the blood and scuffle signs on the floor before licking his lips and almost tasting the air for any imminent danger "Whotcher reckon mateys? Up the top first an work down or check out the flats first like?"
Kaul looms over Dibbs as he gets all investigatory-like... The thug eyes the floor curiously and tracks the blood splats with a professional interest;
:
"Hur... What 'ave we 'ear then?? Hur-hur..."
Kaul's careful inspection finds the blood and slime coating the floor is recent, likely less than a day old. It appears booted figures dragged bodies out the back door. Still more recent tracks appear to have gone from the door on the right up the stairs. The tub is full of old dishwater and the rack half full of plates and crockery, much of which now lies broken on the floor from the struggle.
Dibbs gives Kaul an elbow to the thigh before goading him to ascend the stairs. The cantankerous halfling then follows behind warily...
The upper floor appears to have been dedicated to defense and fortification from the time it was a sea lord's fortress. These have fallen into ill repair since the monks took over the island.
The balcony circles around to a northern that contains racks containing bolts and a few functional crossbows. There is a fireplace and heavy cauldrons that were once used for heating oil to pour down on attackers. All the exterior walls contain numerous arrow slits and there are several murder holes in the floor. A rickety catwalk leads eastward over the to a low .
The and a fill out the second floor aside from a walkway to the on the west side.
"Mates, I've an ill feeling that Captain Dallian's covering his backtrail. It seems a mite too convenient that the last group who knew anything of where he was headed all seen to have been slain."
Dibbs stumps towards the armory and takes a peepsie inside...
Perception:
...seeing if there's anything worth salvaging... and alternatively how much is missing.
the Groom will set to looking. In particular, looking for footprints that might cross the drag marks. If some were dragged out back, he is interested if someone still is moving about. And he wants to figure out about how long ago this happened.
"Those doors were broken and reboarded up. Indication this didn't happen all at once. And then the raiders took the time to hide the bodies? There is a lot here that doesn't make sense."
Dibbets' inspection of the armory finds that it has seen recent use, but has not been ransacked. It appears the monks just didn't put any effort into maintaining anything until it was too late. There are 6 light crossbows that are still in usable condition. Most of the bolts have deteriorated fletching, but two cases remain in excellent condition and appear to be of exceptional quality.
the Groom can tell that the attack happened the previous night. It appears that there may have been a few survivors that moved through the main room within the past few hours. No one appears to have left the monastery since the attack, but there are the fresh tracks on the stairs. Unfortunately, the Groom loses them on the upper floor.
Dibbets suddenly remembers how sorely he has been neglecting his own weather and battle beaten bow, trying to remember exactly how many quarrels he has loosed... and finding his quiver spent. Cannibalizing one of the light crossbows for parts, he also takes a case of bolts for himself, and pilfers the second case to pass on to the Groom.
"To the belfry, then? That was where the flying elk-thing came from, I believe."
Kaul slides Bess from his back, and grins at his shapemates.
Pursing the cleaver against his lips;
"Shhhh lads. Kauly will take a look see, all quiet like..."
:
Heng creeps up to the open tower door and enters what looks to be a storage room. Bundles, barrels, and boxes crowd the room. A narrow path leads across the room to a narrow staircase which curves along the inner wall to an open trapdoor in the ceiling.
Carefully moving through the room, Kaul peeks into the chamber above and finds abandoned living quarters. An old bed frame is pushed against the stairs to the next trapdoor above. A potbelly stove squats against the north wall with the pipe venting out an arrow slit and a desk splattered with guano is under an arrow slit to the west. Next to the desk a section of the wall has collapsed burying the floor and a broken chair in rubble.
Dibbets follows along behind the big scarred sneaky one... eyes roving the wreckage and trying to make sense of it.
Kaul moves up the stairs to the final trap door closed and weighted down from above. The hefty half-orc forces it and the weight rolls off as blood pours through the opening.
The trap door is surrounded by a pool of blood and the impediment to opening the door turns out to be a human corpse, freshly and spectacularly killed by the gaping hole in its chest cavity. It appears that its heart had been removed while the man was still alive.
is about ten feet in diameter with a conical slate roof peaking about twenty feet overhead. A low battlement wall surrounds the space allowing a commanding view of the island and sea beyond. A large old bronze bell hangs from roof and its pull rope dangles within reach. Something is scrawled in chalk beneath the rope.
In the below, a seagull alights in the arrow slit above the desk and watches Dibbets curiously.
"Dingus, Groom, while they're looking at the belfry I think it's likely safe for us to take a peek at the prior's room and the scriptorium." He'll pad quietly, if not actually stealthily, in that direction, sword out.
The Groom takes the case of quarrels with a nod of thanks to Dibbets.
At Jim's suggestion, "Right. I would think the Prior might record what exactly was going on here."
Kaul loiters up to the bell. His eyes flit to the writing and then the rope with a mischeveous glint...
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What ye reckon Tum? Ring tha death knell?? Hur-hur!
Up in the , Kaul finds a warning written in chalk. The dead man appears to have ominously scratched, BEWARE THE SEA before he was killed.
The door to the hangs open. A broken mace head acting as a door stop. The room itself is modestly furnished with a cot, table, chest and a chair. A basin rests on the table and a small piece of mirror hangs from the wall above it.
In the below, a seagull alights in the arrow slit above the desk and watches Dibbets curiously.
Dibbets cocks his own head looking at the wee beastie before sniffing the air...
Sense Motive:...and if nothing seems untoward, he moves forward towards the seagull slowly with hands wide "Now there beastie, what're you here fer?" looking for any sign of why it has come...
Perception:
the Groom gives the mace head a gentle kick. "Looks like the Prior cracked some heads on his way out."
He moves to the desk and avoids looking in the mirror, not sure what horrid appearance he must present since being marooned and rafting between isles. He gives the desk a search looking for a diary or what else might be useful.
As Dibbets approaches, the seagull appears to hesitate for a moment, then relieves itself as it disappears from the arrow slit and out into the cloudy sky.
the Groom's inspection finds no log or diary, but the chest contains an assortment of threadbare clothes, some quality incense, and a set of silver pan pipes.
"Beware the sea?! Fecker's need tae worry about what sails onnit! Hur Hur Hur!"
Giving into temptation the half orc rings the bell...
... just the once...
Dibbets shrugs in confusion at the fact the table seems to be a come as you like toilet for the sealife and moves off to find Kaul... hearing the sound of the bell peal out sonorously...
Dingus halfheartedly enters the room with Jim and the groom, mumbling quietly to Richard. He looks up long enough to scan the room for magical aura's, then returns to his mumbling, simply waiting for the next catastrophe his ill fated crew will stumble into.
Then hearing the peal of the bell...And unless I miss my guess that would signal the impending arrival of said catastrophe :-)
Dingus' cursory glance reveals that besides the new case of bolts the Groom picked up, the silver pipes unearthed from the trunk emit a faint aura of illusion and enchantment.
The peal of the bell echoes through the monastery and island, but seeing as all flying reindeer are dead and accounted for, there are no apparent immediate repercussions.
Seeing that they have not yet been assaulted by any more flying freaks of nature, Dibbs shrugs his shoulders and heads to the "Lessee iffin I ken rustle up a drink like..."
From Dibbets' vantage point on the upper level at the edge of the rickety balcony outside the priory door, it doesn't look very promising. Flies buzz around the room and below a busted trestle table and some benches appear to be the only remaining furnishings. Broken plates and mugs are scattered around for good measure and gray light filters in from the few high windows near the vaulted ceiling.
Ever the optimist, Dibbets isn't satisfied with a look from afar... and delves into the midst of the fetid wreckage...
Perception: take 10 for 18
Jim takes a quick look at the mirror. I need a shave and a bath sharpish...at least we're all in the same boat. Once Dingus and the Groom have had a chance to check out the chest, Jim will hazard a look into the scriptorium before Kaul rings the bell.
Dibbet's foray back downstairs to the gives him a closer view of the broken table and pottery, but no drink is to be found. He does note, however, that the damage to the table appears to be of a scavenging nature where planks were carefully, but quickly pulled for use in the construction of the barricade found across the front door.
Jim checks out the and finds a partioned chamber lit by two arrow slits in the outer wall. Several tables are covered with sheaves of paper, inkpots, candles, and even a few bound books. Numerous uncomfortable stools stand around the tables.
Kaul eyes the bell with a look of dissappointment... then pulls out his hairy coco-deity...
"Hur. Well Tum... What ye reckon tae all this??"
From his vantage point the thug and his nut gaze out across the coastline;
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Dibbs takes a quick geezer about looking for a kitchen, before giving up the chase and catching up with the others.
"Hm. Well, let's see if they had a chance to write down anything of use here...." Jim looks over the sheaves of paper and riffles through the books.
The scruffy nut squints out across the late morning horizon in response to Kaul's query, "Hard to say, but sum'tin happen to all dey monks..."
Jim guesses that the scriptorium once served as officers quarters until it was converted into a place for the monks to copy texts. Rifling through the papers, Jim finds much work put into creating striking illumination featuring stylistic impressions of rising seas, flooding villages, and floundering boats threatened by the Eye of Abendego. The text appear to commemorate those lost to the everlasting hurricane, but a few scrolls are written in a magical script that Jim can't comprehend.
Back on the ground floor, Dibbets finds the room next to the dining hall is a , he guesses the southern door leads to the old and the hall east to the base of the tower. Probably there, which leaves the other door to the west which he finds currently locked from the other side.
Before leaving the ground floor, Dibbs takes a peepsie in the Library and Barracks both... mainly looking for items of value or further bloody corpses...
The appears to have once served as a Chapel to Besmara before its repurposing by the monks. Murals of maritime scenes of ships and storms cover the dim north wall and a kraken drags a ship into horror filled depths to the south. A low set of book laden shelves rests against the far wall. Three tables and various chairs occupy the rest of the room. Books are strewn about the tables and carpeted floor woven in a pattern resembling crashing waves.
A trail of blood leads through the door. Beyond Dibbets finds the room divided into small cells. Numerous wooden poles have been crudely lashed to create eight foot partitions. Canvas curtains hung over the frames gives some privacy. Dim daylight filters in through the half-open door at the far end of the room.
The entire room is in shambles, with many partitions crushed and the curtains sprayed with blood. The whole room stinks of death and Dibbets hears the skittering of tiny claws and gnashing of tiny teeth about him as he ponders the monk's fate.
Meeses-
Round 1:
Dibbets first word comes to him easily, he screams before his self-preservation instinct kicks in soon after and he attempts to close the door against the Meeses...
Hobbling rapidly through the door with a somewhat truncated prayer for succor, Dibbets slams the door shut behind him. It holds for a moment, but has already been damaged and sleek dark shapes begin pouring under and through gaps in the old wood.
Keelhaul Kaul-
Madman Jim-
The Groom-
Dingus-
Round 2:
What's the little guy run afoul of now? The Taldan shouts, "On my way!" and sprints down the stairs, sword in hand.
Hearing Dibbs curse, Kaul stows his omnipotent nut and lurches towards his wee endangered buddy, bellowing as he does;
"Hur! COMIN' DIBBS!"
"I've got something special for whatever is ailing him". Dingus almost giggles as he hitches up his robes, and begins to run towards his stalwart but short companion.