Clebsch GM Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path (Inactive)

Game Master Clebsch73

Ellena took the proffered shield. Once again, it felt right in her hands. Immnow you are behind this, Iomedae. Please let my actions honor you, as you've done by granting me these tools to further your goals.

Sorry for the short post. Scared Paizo is going to go down again and I'm in a rush the morning. I'll get a better one up tonight.

Tauni tried not to let the avarice show in her expression when the book was exposed. She picked it up tenderly, as though she were afraid it would dissolve or crumble without sufficient reverence. Carefully supporting the spine of the book with one hand, she opened it and perused its pages.

Pleasepleaseplease tell me its not an all encompassing treatise on cantrips...

I'll roll random for the spells in the spell book.

I had hoped to get a little further along than this, but Paizo has been slow or crashing, so I'm out of time. More tonight or first thing in the morning.

Just an FYI, if the mongrels are nice enough to gift Ellena the magical shield, she will graciously give them her normal one in return. I'll just mark it off my sheet, if that's okay.

As the party uncovered the cache of items, Avelina's glee grew in leeps and bounds. She bounced up and down so much as she skipped about that she might as well have been floating.

"I KNEW IT! The Providence of the Inheritor is with us! We are Her Chosen! How delightful! How wonderful! How glorious!"

As Tauni and Anarya are puzzling over the bundles contents, Mongrels down in the hole uncover another chamber. A number of weapons are wrapped in oil soaked cloth and leather. These are various masterwork cold iron weapons.

If anyone does not have a cold iron weapon, he/she can swap weapons with one from this cache. Just about any simple or martial weapon can be found.

Once the surprise store of items is cleaned out, the prisoners are bound and secured in the house, their injuries attended to by the healer of the village. If anyone wants to interrogate Hosilla or any other captive, they allow it while observing what is said.

Indicate whether you allow Wenduag to remain with you and whether she is bound or not. She has been cooperating well enough, saying little unless asked a question.

As before the party is given a place to rest, food and water are served.

Please role play any aspect of this situation that you care to or you can let things advance to the next day, after which you have all rested, recovered spells, healed ability and hit point damage, etc. The next event will be the attempt to get to the surface through the upper rooms of the lair and past the barricaded door.

Knowing that it would take her quite a while to interpret the symbology within the book, Tauni reluctantly set it aside. Anticipation will make any treasures inside that much more glorious. The notion didn’t make it any easier to set it aside.

Tauni smiled, reached out and touched the shield that Ellena took up. ”Ah, yes. It harbors protective magic, to be sure. But if you will it, light should spring from it. Go ahead, try. It should just take a thought. A good match for a warrior champion of the forces of light.” +1 shield, can generate light as the cantrip as a free action, and has cantrip effects to keep it clean. GM, is it light or heavy, and is ‘silver’ and’lighter’ just being descriptive, or is it actually silver or mithral?

Next she murmured an arcane syllable as she glides a hand across Karas’ chest, feeling the mail that he tried on. ”It too holds enchantments to help protect the wearer beyond just the mundane metal of the mail. And whoever took the time to empower it to defend its wearer also made sure it would shine like the scales it is meant to emulate.” +1 enchantment and cantrip effects to keep it clean as well.

Tauni took up the shirt found, surprised that such a fragile item carried an enchantment. ”An enchantment was placed on this. The wearer should be able to call upon it periodically for an extra moment of fleet movement. It could come in useful for any of us, I’d think.” Quick Runner’s Shirt.

Next she took up the length of cord. She held it out to Franti and told him ”You might find this useful. Wrap it around your waist a few times like a belt. When you do that, the magic in it will lighten your step under duress.” Belt of Tumbling.

She picked up the leather shield on a neck lanyard and let the shield dangle. ”An Aegis. This one is empowered to help the wearer recover from hostile effects. Spells, poison, etc. However, its power is limited; if the wearer should fall unconscious while wearing it, it will expend all of its power to try and revive you, and will be worthless thereafter.”
Aegis of Recovery.

She took up both wands and, after a moment, frowned and set aside the wavy one. The other she handed to Anarya and signed. Wand of Bless, 46 charges.

Finally, Tauni took the wavy wand, the pearl, the boots and tubes of cloth, carefully bundled them and slide them into her waterproof bag. ”I’ll need a little more time with these to puzzle out exactly what they do, though I can tell they all contain some minor enchantments as well.”

Tauni will swap out her dagger and crossbow bolts for cold iron versions.

Franti, unable to see magic or identify the garbs as such, looked at the clothing but primarily stared at the thieve's tools. He resonded to Anarya, looking at her so she could read his lips. "Mine?" He looked over the contents a second time, searching for a holy symbol of Picoperi for a sign, or of another God to prove it wasn't meant for him. "Are you sure?"

When Tauni held out the cord, Franti was hesitant to take it. After tying it around his waist and making a small knot at his back, Franti looked back to the wizard. "I'll put it to good use." Franti looked at the magical shirt, though mostly saw the mundane practicality of wearing something under his armor that wasn't partially burnt or a clown's costume. He grabbed the tools. "There was that locked door by the ladder in the lair. I'm certain I can get through it now."

The cache of items are masterwork and cold iron, yes? Can I take a Shortsword and a sap? If their have two saps, all the better.

Aegis of recovery YESSS. I love that item. It's just what Anarya wanted.

Anarya smiled at Franti encouragingly. "Of course I am," she replied. "You're one of us." Examining the rest of Franti's package, she manged to identify the magical aura of the boots. "These boots are magical too!" she exclaimed, excited at her discovery. Usually it was the studious Tauni who was the expert on magical subjects, so she was excited to be able to help add her knowledge. "They'll... oh let me see," she said, brushing her hair out of her face as she peered closely at the enchanted leather "Wearing these, you'll be able to land on your feet jumping or falling from any height, with no chance of serious injury." (Boots of the Cat)

When the cache of weapons was uncovered, Anarya looked at Karas. "Looks like I can take back my mace," she said with a smile. "This is an arsenal! You should be able to find a sword that suits you well in here."

As for Wenduag, Anarya would like her to be unbound, but supervised (which she does personally as much as possible). I've been meaning to get a post up interacting with her while we've been in Neatholm, but I've been distracted this week and didn't want to focus on that just yet.

While in Neatholm, Anarya made sure to spend time with Wenduag. She treated the mongrelwoman like a companion, not a captive, and did her best to engage the woman in conversation. While it was tempting to proselytize, she resisted the urge and instead told her about her own life experiences and her home.

Using her once-a-day +4 for diplomacy again - Anarya is sincere in her desire to help Wenduag, and is convinced that if the mongrelwoman sees that not all humans and crusaders are like the bad ones, she will come to the side of good. Baphomet is just using her, Anarya reasons, and she'll see that for herself soon enough.
Diplomacy (w/ Sacred Vow): 1d20 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 9 + 4 = 20

Looking through the weapons next, a delicate morningstar beautifully forged in the shape of a rose caught Anarya's eye. This must have been crafted to honor the goddess Milani, she thought. (Knowledge (Religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20) The head of the weapon was a solid piece of the demon-slaying metal, but wicked thorns and sharpened petals protruded forth for a truly dangerous-looking weapon. She gave it a few practice swings after making sure no one was around to accidentally hit, and smiled, liking the weight of the weapon in her hand.

Anarya will take a masterwork morningstar and sling! I thought about different good-aligned gods whose favored weapons would have interesting designs, and fell in love with the idea of a Milani-themed morningstar.

I've got no artistic talent in this area, but I hope my description inspires another one of Franti's excellent drawings! I'd love to see Anarya wielding the rose-motif morningstar.

Karas handed her mace back as gently as he took it.

"I suppose I didn't have to keep it safe for long." he said with a smile.

He stretched in his new armor, feeling the scales fall into place as they always should and the fit making it a bit easier to move in. [i]A proper honor to you.[/b]

Searching through the cache, a gleaming silver handle caught his eye. He pulled it from the pile to uncover a longsword who's handle was crafted to resemble the head and neck of a dragon with the blade extending from its mouth and lacking a crossguard.

"Always watching over me. Aren't you." he said in a whisper to himself as he reverently placed the sword on his hip.

Karas keeps a watchful eye on Wendaug when Anarya is near her but otherwise doesn't say much to her.

The shield is a light shield (i.e. not heavy) made of metal, probably with silver on the outermost layer.

Wenduag says little, as if brooding. She does not seem to know anyone in Neathholm, although she scans faces as if expecting she might recognize someone.

saps: 1d2 ⇒ 1

Only one MWK cold iron sap is found in the cache.

Next post will be the next day just prior to going toward the surface, this evening.

The group sleeps as the events of the day finally catch up to them. When they wake, breakfast is provided. Tauni feels nauseous after her breakfast and vomits. She finds herself getting chills and seems to have come down with a case of Filth fever, likely from the oversized sewer rats fought two days ago. Karas was also bitten and he had been feeling slightly under the weather, but seems to have fought off a new infection.

Tauni takes 1 point of Con damage and 3 points of Dex damage. The Mongrels are willing to have you stay until Tauni recovers, doing what they can to help her be cured. The Aegus of Recover can help with the saves if she wears it for the next 24 hours. If the party wants to push on to the surface, they can return to the lair and up to the room H14 where the door is still forced shut.

Edit: Let me know if anyone studies the Baphomet texts.

Tauni wiped her mouth with her sleeve; her hand trembled visibly. "I am so sorry. I don't think I can travel right now. If you want to head on, I'll follow when I can."

The moment she noticed Tauni's symptoms, Anarya went into full-on nurse mode, already familiar with caring for Tauni from her last infection. "We're staying until you're better," she said, her tone brooking no argument. "Wear this," she said, offering the enchanted necklace she'd found in the hidden cache. "You said it yourself, it'll help you fight off further infection. I'll bring some water, you just rest. We're all in trouble if our wizard's not at her best," she added with a smile.

Heal Check (Healer's Kit): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20 Tauni gets +4 to her save if the disease's DC is 20 or less.

With the +2 from the aegis and the +4 from Anarya's aid, I suspect you'll blow the save right out of the water.

Ellena hated to wait, knowing the town needed the group now. But, she been learning a bit more about patience and tolerance from the others in the few days they had been together. Iomedae had clearly tested the group with the sickened wizard. Hopefully, it would just take her one day to get back to her feet, and they could move on. As she recited her prayers, and cleaned her new gifts to a beautiful shine, she hoped beyond hope the town could hold on without her for another day.

With extra time for Tauni to rest, Franti knew not what to do. He felt refreshed, yet anxious for their next encounter, but kept a cooler head than he had before. His mind kept going back to the blood filled room with mongrelman parts, back to his interrogation of Wenduag. He wanted more than justice to Hosilla, he wanted answers. He tried to use his new shortsword, finding it a bit heavier than his usual weapons, but had a finesse of sorts when using it. Franti felt confident he could fight with the weapon, and began to attempt a flourishing style of dagger strikes and spinning sword cuts. He didn't like the idea of turning a blade on someone, but on demons or beasts, he felt no qualms.

Franti carried many of the unholy symbols in his bag, he knew that the Iomedae worshipers wanted nothing to do with it, and would be shamed to hold or wear such items. He looked at them every once in a while, careful to stow away the symbols when Karas approached. He looked at Baphomet's book, pondering what was in it that could corrupt mortal men.

He left the book out, removing his journal from his bag and turning to a new page. He tried his hand at a song, finding jokes difficult to reach at the moment.

Karas watched with concern as Anarya tended to Tauni. "Once she is over the worst of it, I think we have a potion that can make the recovery faster."

He rooted through the gear they had collected and handed Anarya the Lesser Restoration potion.

He smiled and walked outside to wander the city again.

Though she was reluctant to hold up the others, Tauni smiled inwardly. When left alone, she cuddled with Cobblepaw and whispered "Its like being back with the Watch again. They are good people, and good friends." Though Anarya was quite strict and fervent about her resting, Tauni slipped the new book out from under the covers and poured over its contents until she fell asleep again.

If there's a need for heal checks on subsequent days, Anarya will perform them and then head to the market to replenish her Healer's Kit supplies. If she does need to make checks for two more days, it's half-depleted now. How much would it cost to restock it to 10 uses in Neatholm?

Heal: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Heal: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Caring for a patient is long work, but it doesn't take constant action. As Tauni rested and read her new spellbook, Anarya took the time to pick up the book of prayers the inquisitor Hosilla had carried. If she was going to understand Wenduag, she should understand the faith the mongrelwoman followed, even if it was abhorrent to her. Making sure to detect magic on the tome first, in case it carried some fell enchantment, she cracked open the book and perused its pages.

Since we are taking a few days to deal with sickness, the people with spellcraft can keep trying to identify the unidentified items (like Avelina's new wand :D ) once a day

Avelina first went on a brief trip into town to make some purchases, a journal and writing implements, so that she would not have to borrow from Franti any longer.

She hated seeing everyone's spirits down. Such melancholy moods brought back too many memories that she would prefer to keep suppressed. She spent her time offering to tell stories to hearten her companions, tales of great Courage and Honor such as of Iomedae's great sky-battle against King of the Barrowwood, or when Iomedae mortally wounded the Lord of Mohrgs at the Battle of Three Sorrows, or of when Iomedae fought-off the untold legions of undead, giving General Arnisant the chance to defeat Tar-Baphon, The Whispering Tyrant, in single-combat.

When the others tire of those, she switches to rousing romances and fairy tales, such as the tale of the great Brevic knight Svatohora, who did battle with the trickster-dragon Goran Goranych in order to gain the tools to rescue her beloved Svetlana, or of Britomara the brave, chaste Taldan knight that traveled as a knight-errant in service to the beloved Gloriana, Queen of the Faeries, or of a Galtan knight that had an affair with her queen, then went on a quest for the lost holy pieces of Aroden's Shield as penance for dishonoring her king (though of course the king ended up dying to illness and the knight was able to be with the queen forever).

The next day proved pivotal for Tauni's recovery. She had fever dreams of fighting demons amid lava rivers, but when she woke, the fever had broken, and she began to make a steady recovery.

The save for day 3 had been one short of the DC, but I remembered you have a cloak of resistance, which would have just provided the boost to make the save. I had posted a more dire scenario in which Tauni had failed another save and was down to Dex 7 and Con 7.

Instead, Tauni is at Dex 11 and Con 13. The next morning, she'll recover to Dex 12 and Con normal.

While Tauni is fighting the disease and recovering, many of the Mongrel folk listen to Avelina's story telling with rapt attention, while others asked for help in learning to fight from Ellena and Karas. Franti found the children eager to enjoy his antics and Chief Sul busied the artisan residents to begin repairing armor, sharpening weapons, and laying up stores of rations in anticipation of being called to the surface to help in the fight.

Avelina felt a little under the weather for a day or two, but suffered no ill effects, apparently with a minor case of Filth Fever.

Franti was impressed by Avelina's storytelling. The tales of Iomedae were well told, and were certainly noble stories worth of a God of her status. While the mongrelman were still present, between a break of Avelina’s tales, Franti told a story of his own god. He seemed to be of higher spirits when speaking of Picoperi, though perhaps his interactions with children had him reclaim some of his trickster spirit ."The Acts of Iomedae are rather impressive, but pale to the most notable of the Merrygleam." He waited for the line to catch the attention of the Iomedae worshipers.

"The Act of Picoperi is one that shows his true powers. True, the Inheritor shows bravery and strength, but even she could never do what the Great, Eternal Prankster Picoperi could. I needn't lecture you on demons, but Urxehl is one known as the Lord of Storms. A demon lord stronger even than the Storm King, I imagine. As tall as two stories, the figure for which the very trolls of the world take their shape from. A vile creature of ceaseless anger and suffering, looking only to set the world ablaze and leave it under an endless, thundering cloud."The fool grabs his holy symbol, a branch with a snake wrapping around it.

"I am sure Iomedae could slay such a monster, but Picoperi did so much more. Picoperi managed to make him smile." Franti’s face curls a large grin. "With his tricks and jests, the Merrygleam had the demon lord in a state of momentary bliss. The Trollfather was at ease from Picoperi’s joke. The raging fires across countless forests quelled, every black cloud turned white and fluffy, and every troll who worshipped Urxehl became passive and content, if only for a moment. The demon lord has sought to end my Azata lord ever since, but the Merrygleam's wiles are endless. "

The fool looked around at the mongrelman, passing his necklace off for anyone to examine. “They say Picoperi’s symbols are cut from the very kapok tree in Elysium in which he dwells. Picoperi doesn’t bring death to the battlefield, but laughter to his foes. Iomedae may be able to carve through any enemy, but she could never carve a smile like Picoperi can.”

Ready to go for me. Is there a masterwork short-bow in the weapons cache, or only arrows?

Because of their strange features, Mongrelfolk can be heard to read, but a few adults seemed to make a positive reaction to Franti's tale. The children ignored it and wanted him to show them some more of his stunts and tricks.

Just then, several breathless mongrels, armed and armored, burst into the open area where the stories were being told. Everyone tensed for a moment, but most quickly recognized them as members of the militia that had been keeping guard on the house with the traitors. They told the crusaders and elders to hurry and follow them back to the prison house.

"There was some kind of fight!" one of the guards reported as people hustled across the small island. All was quiet at the house, however. When the guards opened the door cautiously, they saw Hosilla standing at the threshold. She only stood because a few mongrel prisoners had been holding her up. When they gave her a push, she collapsed out into the street, bruised and bloodied.

A quick check determined that she was dead, beaten to death by the other mongrels. Inside Uziel was also found killed. Chief Sul talked to the prisoners and eventually reported the following.

"They claim that when Hosilla arrived, she took control of the group from another of our kind who had been leading them on raids for a few weeks. Hosilla pretended to have gifts for them, but when they invited her into their part of the cave, Hosilla and Uziel murdered them in a vile sacrifice to her dark god. This put the fear of her into the rest and they fell in line. Not content, she had them butcher their former leader and his lover and prepared a stew with their meat that they all had to eat and swear allegiance to her god. She made many promises to them, but when she failed to protect them from the crusader's attack, they waited for their chance and took their revenge. We will hold a trial soon and we will decide their punishment."

"You keep your weight balanced like this and then thrust forward all of a sudden! Then raise your shield like so," Ellena beamed as she reviewed some rudimentary swings and blocks to the mongrels. Only a few weeks ago, she would have judged these strange looking creatures initially on their appearance. Now she considered the lot of them as her friends.

She sneered a bit when Franti started the crazy talk about making troll gods smile. "What happened moments later when the Troll God realized he had been tricked? Did he repent from his evil ways? Did Picoperi even try to halt his evil? What about the next town the troll God slaughtered to teach him a lesson? I bet they didn't smile. Iomedae would have given him the chance to repent, then made it so that he couldn't harm anybody else again."

The paladin followed the others to the holding cell. She wasn't surprised the others had risen up against the tyranny of the evil Baphomet worshipper. They still had to stand trial and face their punishment, but Hosilla and Uziel were not going to turn away from evil, that much was clear.

Karas too had been training a few Mongrels on rudimentary weapon techniques as Terendelev had taught him what seemed like ages ago.

Dressed in his patch blue tunic he had dropped down in a few days ago, he smiled at all the stories. He rolled his eyes a moment when Ellena took the story just a bit too seriously. "That isn't the point of the story, Ellena. If you listened, he did halt the demons evil if for just a moment. What he did was ire the troll lord into chasing him for eternity in the other realms. That is as good as handling the problem here is it not? Doesn't Iomedae teach methods other than kill everything in front of her? Picoperi seems to have had the wherewithal to know he wasn't a match in strength but by far outwitted the creature. It teaches brain over brawn."

Once they rushed to the holding cell he saw the ruin bodies of the worshipers. It felt strange. He hated them for their link to the cult that imprisoned him but there was little joy in their deaths. There had been a lot of death recently...

As the crusaders woke next, they may well have wondered whether it was day or night. They had been underground for so long, they no longer had a sense of such things. As the crusaders gathered their gear to return to the lair and attempt to get to the surface, everyone in the village was awake and watching. They wished the others good fortune and many said they hoped they would meet again in the light of a new day.

Anevia's leg had healed somewhat, although she still could not move as fast as normal. Movement increases to 20'. She was up early and ready to go, obviously anxious to get up to the surface and search for her wife, Irabeth.

Aravashnial was also anxious to get to the surface, in part to locate someone who may be able to heal his blindness, but also to look for friends and comrades. He trusted the others enough to let them know that he is a Riftwarden.

Horgus was a lot more positive and less complaining since the battle. He seemed to have taken a new sense of his own self-worth, although he still was ultimately concerned with himself more than anything else. He spent time among the mongrel folk establishing possible trade agreements involving members of the Underdark, with whom the Mongrels sometimes traded. He reminded the group that he would give them a considerable reward, 2000 gp per person, for helping him get back to his house, assuming his wealth had not been plundered by demons or looters.

Decide if the party is going to use the lesser restoration potion to restore Tauni's dexterity score or delay another day or two to let the scores heal naturally or push on without doing either option. If anyone has any last RP to do in Neathholm, post it.

Otherwise, place your characters on the map where you want to be in the lair. You still have two places unexplored: the small door off room H4 and the door off H10 where running water can be heard. According to Wenduag, the small door was just a place to dump refuse and the other door led to access to an underground river where they got fresh water.

Otherwise, the way out, according to Wenduag, is through the door off room H14. Wenduag claims Hosilla requisitioned a couple of Dretch demons to guard that area from incursions from the surface.

One other loose end to consider: one of the cultists that you fought in room H10 escaped through the same door that leads to the surface. She was a cultist of Baphomet.

There is a mwk short bow and cold iron tipped arrows also.

Was there perhaps a masterwork cold iron longsword for Avelina? She wont be proficient with it until 6, but she would look for one, as Iomedae's favored weapon

On hearing Karas, Franti wore a somewhat surprised expression. "Oh, maybe that is what the story means. I just thought it meant that my God is the most fun. Between Abadar and Iomedae, you all don't give me much to work with." He laughed for the first time in a couple days.

In the lair once more, Franti contemplated putting on his makeup, if only for tradition. He opted not to for the sake of time, but primarily to not attract the attention of the dretches. Wenduag's presence slightly irked him. In moments around her he felt uncomfortable, not afraid or wary but rather still afflicted in guilt for how he first treated her. Franti tried to gather up the power to apologize, but was silent as it built.

Avelina can find a MWK Cold Iron Longsword.

Avelina swiftly glanced back-and-forth, confused at how such a delightful story could cause any kind of conflict. She immediately launched into lecturing-parent mode.

"Now, now, everyone! Let's not have an argument over the matter. As anyone who is familiar with the Romances will tell you, every Heroic Knight must have a friend of a more wild or tricksy nature. Why do you think Iomedae is so close with Milani, who she even calls her sister? Certainly, we can accept that this Picoperi is quite a worthy contributor to the Goddess's fight against evil and leave it at that."

She held up a finger as an idea came to her, her smile turning both serene and imperious.

"Now, in the interest of politeness and cameraderie, I believe we should refrain from any and all arguments over the supremacy, primacy, saliency in any and all aspects of the deities favored by our company. Such arguments cause strife amongst us, and in such matters of great personal Devotion and Faith and Passion, mere words would be unlikely to sway any of us."

She raised her head, unable to hide a slight smug smile.

"Clearly, the truth of the matter shall become apparent in time to all anyways."

"I think that would be wise," said Anarya with a smile, resting a hand fondly on the head of her beautiful morningstar at the mention of Milani.

Shortly before the group departed, Karas happened upon Anarya while she was alone, gathering her belongings and packing for the trip. The aasimar was currently engaged in a fruitless attempt to fit Sister Evelynn's mace into her already-full backpack. She sighed with frustration, before looking up and noticing the tiefling. "Oh!" she said, blushing slightly in embarrassment before smiling. "I know we've been passing this weapon back and forth like a hotcake lately, but I can't seem to fit it into my pack." She sheepishly held the weapon out for him once more. "Mind carrying it for me one last time? It doesn't feel right to sell it, but the weapons we found in the cache are of much higher quality. Despite all it means to me, this one is more of a ceremonial weapon." Her hands touched Karas's skin as she pressed the cold iron mace into his hands. Her hands lingered a moment on his as she looked into the muscular warrior's eyes.

Karas looked to Avelina in somewhat disbelief. He actually figured the crusader princess would jump to the aid of Ellena and her deity rapidly but was shocked at the even-handed and tolerant response. He couldn't help but smile as they walked out.

-------------------------------
Later at the housing...

Karas couldn't help but stare back at the beautiful aasimar. He managed to stammer out, "I-er well.. Uh sure. Of course! I'd be happy to carry it for as long as you need me to. I can understand the attachment to it."

He blushed and held the mace, lingering at her touch. He was enamored in her eyes though and couldn't bring himself to draw away.

And so, the crusaders prepared for the push to the surface. Some armed mongrel folk accompanied the party back to the lair, planning to scavenge the place for usable items. But they stayed back as the crusaders went into the room with the small door H5 on map.

The door opened to reveal a narrow hallway that sloped downward steeply. The walls were stained with foul-smelling streaks of refuse. A mound of rotting garbage lay heaped at the far end of the hallway.

A medium creature would have to squeeze to fit through the door and down the hallway, perhaps having to make an acrobatics check to avoid falling and sliding down the slope. A small creature could go through normally but still would have to make a check to keep from falling.

As Ellena angled her lit shield to better see into the area, Wenduag clears her thredat and said, "There may be a creature down their, some kind of garbage eating vermin, so be careful."

Ellena saw nothing that suggested anything living down there, but without going in, it was hard to be sure about what may be hidden in the piles of garbage.

In case you want to move on to the next unexplored area.

Franti placed a hand on his scale, twisting his form to that of a large headed goblin. For the first time in his transformations, Franti appeared like a usual member of his altered race, and not a theatrical, clownish outcast. He appeared as a regular goblin, though a well armed and armored one. The goblin took out his even-shorter-now short bow, placed his saps in two open pouches in his bandolier, and tucked his new, cold-iron short sword into his belt, opposite his cold-iron knife. Around his neck and over his armor he wore two necklaces. The first held the symbol of his god, the second a polished, metal whistle. If Franti was to face demons, he would not be caught unprepared.

The fool looked to Wenduag. "We've faced enough vermin," the fool began, shrill in his goblinoid voice. He began to panic slightly. "I, ah, you know what I - I was talking about rats and, um, snakes, and the bugs, not you." The fool tapped his foot anxiously. "Sorry. Just garbage?"

Karas looked to the gathered party and raised his eyebrow, "Um, Do we really need to check the garbage pit? Seems a little unnecessary."

Ellena nods in agreement. "If there is a trash eating beast, I don't see that we should Boyer it. I say we leave it be and find the demons."

Leaving the trash alone, the party moved over to the room that appeared to be a bizarre kind of trophy room, with stuffed and preserved bodies of various creatures, such as giant rats, snakes, bats, and lizards. Through a door to the east end of this room the sound of rushing water could be heard. The door was not trapped nor locked.

Opening the door, the party saw a hallway about 25 feet long with a hole in the floor at the end. A muted roar echoed down the walls of this hallway. Near the eastern end, the worked stone gave way to natural cave walls, just before the hall ended at an open shaft. Hanging over the edge of the shaft was a knotted rope. Sitting next to the hole was a bucket tied to a rope whose end was also tied to the stake, apparently for gathering fresh water.

Peering down, Ellena could see a boulder in a flowing stream or river just wide enough to stand on. She cannot see what may be around the boulder other than water. The knotted rope is tied to a stake driven into the boulder.

It requires a DC 5 climb check to climb down the rope.

"As far as I know, the only thing down there is the water. I occasionally shot fish with arrows with ropes tied to them, for food. There are two large fish, too large for me to try to kill with a bow, so if you do climb down, keep on the rock. Not sure where the river comes from or goes to, as it would require holding your breath to swim underwater to try to explore it."

"Do we trust her? If so, I see no reason to hunt the fish. That is time we can spend heading up to town. Leave the fish alone."

"Trust her or not, going for a swim in an underground river sounds like a terrible idea. Lets handle the demons and get on our way up."

Before they moved on, Tauni stepped up to the opening. She held out one hand and concentrating below for any magical auras.

Tauni's magically enhanced vision revealed nothing down the hole.

Moving on, the party moved past reminders of the fight that was fought just a few days earlier. As Ellena approached the door at the east end, her glowing shield illuminated the still intact spikes and wedges that the party had left to keep anything from coming west.

In the hike in to the lair, Aravashnial pointed out that dretches easier to damage if the weapon is cold iron or a good aligned. They are immune to damage by electricity or poison. They are resistant to acid, cold, and fire.

Tauni added that they can cast spells to do things like cause fear, stinking cloud, and they sometimes they can summon another dretch.

Avelina hung on Ellena's arm again as the party traversed the lair. She massaged the pommel of her newly-acquired cold iron longsword of fine masterful make. She tried her best to diguise her disgust when she heard of the garbage pit and monster.

"Garbage pits and garbage beasts sound like completely unnecessary annoyances for us to deal with. We have more important tasks to manage!"

sense motive: 1d20 ⇒ 11
Karas smiled and rolled his eyes at Avelina.

As they approached the door Karas held out a hand and shushed the party. He listened a moment and whispered, "Something is scratching around past the door. We need to be ready."