Nadab nods, " There are some swords that are a bit hard to get through without getting hurt but we might be able to bypass them by going down a different hallway. "
Brayken also finishes adjusung his near gleaming chainmail and makes sure his glaive is at the ready, before stating, "This is the first time in over fifty years we've had to "rescue" the everflame group. But, considering the graves outside, it is probably a good idea we came."
Noticing the half-orc for the first time Brayken adds, "It's nice to see you donig something constructive outside the forge, Nadab. Well let's go, this is probably the most interesting thing to happen in years, I don't want to miss it."
Faunra siddles up beside Brayken "50 years? That is a long time. Good to see you get some of that enthusiasm back Brayken. I was wondering what happened to all that youthful enthusiasm when you first joined. Don't you young ones worry. The militia is here and everything is going to be alright." the armor clad elf says with a reassuring grin. "I think it is a good idea to at bypass some of these obstacles if we can. We can save our strength that way. I'll defer to you, you seem to know more about what's inside this place than I do. I just want to reach that poor girl as quickly is possible and get her out.
Quinn looks from Nadab to Brayken and then to Faunra. His eyes widen a little at the word 'militia'.
"Okay then," he swallows audibly, "Let's get going then."
Nadab looks a little sheepish at Brayken's words
"Thanks for coming. This does seem to be a little out of our league... Especially that shadow in the smoky room.
Follow me. We should go through this door, we haven't been this way yet. Is anybody any good with locks and traps, that kind of thing. we found a key but it doesn't fit this door and... I don't have much experience in traps. That was Zane's expertise." Nadab walks into the adjoining room as he talks and leads everyone to the unopen door to the north.
"Traps? Look, I used to be a locksmith, right," Quinn looks hard at Brayken,
”so I'll have a good look at it and see what happens." Moving to the door Quinn removes his shield and crouches, slyly removing some small tools from the lining of his jacket when his back is to the others.
Venedictos smiles warmly to the reinforcements, and smiles more when Roldare retreats to his closet.
As they get going, Venedictos reminds everybody that there were some locked doors that they had been unable to bypass, and they have yet to try with the magic key.
Crypt of the Everflame
Brayken only gives a grunt in response to Faunra's words, and turns to follow the group into the room.
"Well, I haven't messed much with traps or shadows and can't say I'd be much 'elp."
He then gives Quinn a hard stare back and... ... rolls his eyes, decidedly not commenting on the obvious falsehood.
"Let's make sure nothing's in this room before we open new ones"
Brayken also readies his glaive to attack anything that might come through the already broken down door.
Quinn finds the door to the north locked, but quickly proves his usefulness in managing to pop it open. More than likely, Nadab's work on it with his crowbar a few days prior loosened something in the rusted mechanism.
Beyond the door, a small stone bench sits in the center of a dusty chamber. On the far wall is a faded mural depicting the hero Kassen defeating the mercenaries at the entrance to this crypt, with his blade piercing the chest of the mercenary leader. These figures stand alone in the center of a scene of carnage, with dead villagers and mercenaries all around them.
Beyond the chamber is a long, dark corridor which hooks to the left and ends with a sturdy wooden door.
Quinn has a quick look about the room,
and walks carefully along the corridor to the door, checking for traps.
Nadab moves in behind Quinn, looking about. He stares at the mural for a second before moving on.
Venedictos follows Nadab, also keeping an eye out.
Quinn, Nadab, and Venedictos find nothing of interest in the small chamber beyond the faded mural. The rogue does not locate any traps along the hallway or about the door at the end of it. A quick jiggle of the door's handle reveals that it is neither locked nor stuck.
Quinn pushes his ear to the door to listen.
Faunra quickly surveys the room before moving on.
'Tis a Crypt
Brayken, after a sigh of disappointment of nothing jumping out, decides to follow the rest of the group into the room. He squints at the mural for a second... ...before shrugging, turning around, and, almost, walking into the wall behind him. Recovering from his momentary startle, he moves down the hall into location behind Quinn and readies his glaive again. This time he has a semi-expectant look on his face.
Nadab moves up the corridor behind Quinn and Brayken.
"I wonder what the bench was for?" he murmurs as he walks.
"Are we all ready? Let's go in." Quinn opens the door and looks about before stepping in.
A single pillar in the center of the room supports this wide, domed chamber. The pillar is surrounded by a pit, but a stone bridge crosses the pit on the north side. Dozens of arrows jut from holes in the pillar, facing every direction.
There is a door opposite the one Quinn just opened on the far side of the chamber, as well as another door in the north wall.
"Stay back! This is gonna get hairy, like a porcupine."
Quinn moves around to the North, his back to the wall and his shield in front of him, hoping to find a way to stop the mechanical trap.
Venedictos is quite happy to let the experts deal with things, though if he does need to enter the room, he'll use total defense as well.
Quinn is simply looking at it for the moment, hoping to see a place where the machinery can be stopped.
If Quinn can see a way to shut it down he will drop his shield and make haste to do so.
AC 16
" Porcupine? What's going on Brayken? "
Nadab asks as he waits in the hallway.
With a bemused smile on his face, Brayken moves into the room and around the corner. He leans against the wall and calls back, "Nothing much, looks like our intrepid 'locksmith' has found something else needing his touch."
He also keeps a steady eye on Quinn and the arrowed contraption.
Faunra raises up her shield and goes into a defensive position with Brayken. "Good work!" she whispers
Quinn gets to work on disabling the trap in the center of the room. Crouching beside the pillar of arrows, he can see a clear course of action - it's a simple (to him) matter of unlatching two levers and three pulleys within the under-workings of the mechanism. Shoving his arm into the gap between the pillar and the floor, he quickly slips the first pulley off its track as a loud click followed by a whirring noise fills the chamber.
Just as the pillar begins to spin and fire arrows, the eastern door slams shut, closing Brayken, Faunra, and Quinn into the room. Blunted arrows pelt the three people in the room, with one hitting Quinn (for 2 nonlethal damage) and two hitting Faunra (for 2 nonlethal damage, total).
"No!" Venedictos cries out as the door slams shut. He frantically tries to find a way of opening it again.
Nadab runs up to the door as well and will try to open it by force.
" Look out Ven! "
He pushes (or pulls) on the door groaning. Then let's out a yell and hits it when it doesn't open.
Oh, come on. There has to be something more I can do here.
Quinn berates himself silently as the arrows fly. He continues trying to slow the machine down faster.
"Get down. Lie prone and hide behind your shield. These arrows are going to keep going off for about half a minute now that the machine has wound up. I am trying to shut it down quicker though."
Noting all of the arrows that miss him, Brayken has a big smile. After a moment it disappears quickly as he realizes they were too accurate.
These could incapacitate me, the "captain" (which isn't too bad on the whole) and the one person who can stop this thing.
Brayken steps up behind Quinn and tries to deflect any of the arrows that could hit the 'locksmith' with his glaive.
Just move quickly kid, I don't like arrows much, and hate being hit by them.
Nadab and Venedictos, flustered by panic at the sight of the self-closing door, struggle with its iron handle for a moment before realizing that it opens out toward them with very little effort. They also find, however, that unless they hold it open, some spring or mechanism within its hinges attempts to close it once again.
Meanwhile, Quinn manages to slide another pulley from its track as the trapped pillar whirls around pelting those within the room with arrows. This time the blunted arrows catch each of them .
Quinn 4/11 HP
Brayken 3/13 HP
Faunra 11/16 HP
Nadab 11/11 HP
Venedictos 9/9 HP
Brayken starts muttering curses under his breath as one of the arrows hits him in the eye. However he continues to try shielding Quinn.
"There's nothing more I can do. It'll keep firing for half a minute yet, we need to flee." yells Quinn as he stands. "Come on!" he says to Brayken as he tries to drag him to his feet.
"You too Frauna," he says as he rushes back the way he came.
"Get outta the way!"
The open door was the most inviting thing Quinn had ever seen in his life. He piles into the doorway, running for his life, careless of the ensuing crush.
"Fine, fine. Just make up your mind would you?" states Brayken after Quinn nearly bowls him over.
He follows the other two into the door way, dropping his glaive so to not poke anyone in the crowded space.
Nadab releases the door and shoves Quinn flat against the wall so it can swing shut.
" Sorry! "
Faunra runs out of the room. "I'm okay!"
With everybody out of the room, Venedictos channels energy to soothe the bruises.
The three within the room hustle back toward the corridor as arrows fly all around them. Nadab and Venedictos watch in horror as an arrow to the back of the head fells Quinn and two arrows - one to the back and another to the leg - plants Brayken on the ground . Faunra also takes an arrow to the back , but manages to keep moving into the safety of the hallway.
Using the door to shield the three of them, Faunra, Nadab, and Venedictos wait out the trap, which finally runs out of ammunition after another 40 seconds or so. Once the pillar ceases its spinning barrage, they reenter the room, and Venedictos channels some positive energy to heal his fallen comrades. Brayken bolts upright, ready to go, but Quinn is groggier and still seems staggered by the blunt force trauma to his noggin.
Once everyone has their bearings, they find that the door in the western wall is unlocked, while the northern door stands not only unlocked, but wide open leading into a dark corridor.
Quinn 0/11 HP
Brayken 2/13 HP
Faunra 12/16 HP
Nadab 11/11 HP
Venedictos 9/9 HP
"Well, I think I managed that rather well. Imagine if I hadn't changed the setting to BLUNT."
Venedictos channels again.
"Thanks... Venedictos?" Brayken thanks the cleric.
"Should we move on? The door to the north looks interesting."
"We're sure that that thing is completely inactive, not just resetting?"
"I'd prefer not to take chances with the arrow machine, that's for certain."
"It's fine. It's disabled. I've taken off some gears and a pulley, it can't start again now. The trouble was, you see, it was wound up and ready to go when we got here.
Look, I'll go in."
"So, this door then?"
Quinn has a good look at the door to the north, checking for traps, before carefully checking to see if it is locked. If unlocked he will carefully open it a little to look through. Otherwise he will attempt to unlock it.
" Whats the hold up? Is it stuck closed? "
"Oy you take forever. Here let me," Brayken grunts as he moves to the door and tries to shove it open.