Bashiel nods to Varor and whispers back "Alright. Let's stick close. There's something strange over at one of the tables ahead." Bashiel advances, but not too far, acutely aware that being too far away from his allies could end in a swift death.
Kalem took a deep breath. It felt like his lungs were filled with ice as Pharasma’s blessing filled him. It was...an odd feeling. He couldn’t quite place it. Something about the blessing, of being close to the divine, had sparked something within his blood. For a moment he could see, on the edge of his vision, the outsider that had tainted his bloodline. Who had made him what he was. The creature had claws, and a demonic majesty that he could not turn away from, though the more he tried to focus on it the less clear it was. As disgusted as he was by himself, he could not deny how good it felt, even though it was like the ice was creeping through his veins.
”Alright. Let's stick close. There's something strange over at one of the tables ahead.” Bashiel’s words snapped him out of it, and the vision was gone as quickly as it had come. Shaking his head to clear it, Kalem mumbled an agreement as he followed the paladin.
If we get closer together then one of those evil clerics can kill us all like they were doing in the first battle. I figure that as an archer I should stay back a long ways.
Pel takes a few moments to hastily scrawl down a couple spells in his spell book that just popped into his head. Both could be quite useful before all is said and done. What's more, his arcane reservoir doesn't seem quite as dried up as it had been. Perhaps they still stood a chance against these cultists.
Despite their past conflicts, Pel finds himself agreeing with Zamanda. Staying back sounded like a good plan.
"I have to agree with Zamanda. I'll hang back a bit as well. I'll probably be more effective at a distance anyway."
Pel pulls out his crossbow and draw back an arrow, readying it to fire should the need arise.
As Bashiel and others approach the room and get a better view, they see what appears to be a body on one of the tables. A human man, the corpse's skin is starkly pale. Attached to the body are another pair of stirges. When you approach, their bloated forms detach from the body and clumsily fly off into deeper into the dead warrens.
On the east wall is a hutch draped with sackcloth. Between the gaps, you see cages containing another pair of stirges, also fat from a recent meal.
Bashiel's gaze tracks the stirges flying away. Are they going towards their masters' arms or flying to safety?
Bashiel first goes to check the man. Its unlikely from the look of his skin that the man is still alive, but he tries to check for a pulse anyway. If the man is still alive somehow, he'll attempt some basic first aid to get him stable. He also tries to identify the fellow if any clothing or markings clearly show who he is.
Once done with the likely dead man, Bashiel also takes a few moments to stab at the fat and slow stirges in the cage with a longsword. "Better safe than sorry right now." he whispers to his allies. After the stirges are dealt with, he listens in to see if anyone can be heard down either passageway.
Zamanda double moves, remembering that they left healing potions in the room where they had their previous battle, and she intends to retrieve them unless she sees/hears/otherwise perceives that enemies have gotten into that room from a different direction.
She remembers also to check the ceiling for creepy things, and keeps her bow out.
Pel follows Bashiel at a distance, wary of anymore necrophidii showing up and ruining the mood. The arcanist has to breathe through his mouth to keep from puking from the stirges and the smell of whatever it was they ate recently.
"It seems like these people have been down here for quite some time. How could an operation like this go unnoticed for so long?"
Pel glances over at Cyric. Perhaps the Pharasmans didn't do a very good job of maintaining the tombs. Or worse, could they be involved with the cultists somehow? He decides to keep the thoughts to himself for now. If they were involved, Pel highly doubts Cyric is complicit. The man had fought by their side, risking his life to help them. Perhaps more answers could be found further into the dead warrens.
"We should press forward. If those stirges encounter anyone during their hasty retreat, the cultists stand a good chance of knowing something is still up. We're committed now. Let's not give them anymore advantages than they already have."
"Well at least now we can safely say that those bugs didn't just wander in," Varor says as he gets closer to the body on the table. As he stands over the corpse he closes his eyes and offers a wordless prayer to the deceased before turning to face the cages. "We should kill those things, they've done nothing wrong but it would be dangerous to leave them alive."
The party carefully spreads out to secure the first three rooms and gather any supplies that may have been left. No new threats are identified. The corpse on the table is most certainly dead, having been completely exsanguinated by the stirges.
Ilsa inspects the passage to the southwest and finds her sense of smell assaulted by a horrid stench of decayed flesh. The majority of this room contains a nasty-looking stretch of mud—-a partially collapsed sinkhole—-kept damp by rivulets of water seeping from the walls. A patch of solid ground extends into the mud to form an island, on which is heaped a reeking pile of body parts. To the north, a rickety wheelbarrow sits on
its side against the wall.
Peering to the east and the direction in which most of the stirges flew off, Bashiel sees a corridor branching turning to the left (north).
"I'm not sure Pel. Maybe the Pharasmin priests have been stretched thin. What do you think Cyric? From what you were saying before, the upper ranks of your order seem more... bureaucratic than I would have thought." On second thought, it fits right in with how they've treated Uncle and all the rest of the family line. All principle, no passion for doing what's right.
Bashiel shakes his head to clear it of ungrateful suspicions. Cyric came to help us at least. That's a good sign.
"Looks like another branch in the tunnel this way. Stirges could have gone either way. Anything on your end Ilsa?" Bashiel cleans his longsword from the stirge remains and sheathes it. He readies his bardiche again, watching in case anything or anyone tries to jump the group from the east.
Pel decides to take a peek into the same room as Ilsa. The last thing he wants to happen to the group is for them to get flanked from behind. They already had one close call. They can't afford another.
After looking into the room, Pel turns back to Bashiel and says, "Bureaucrats. Just what we need. Korvosa has enough of those as it is."
The arcanist turns toward Cyric, curious as to the man's answer to Bashiel's question.
Cyric looks pained by the group's observations and questions. He busies himself with inspecting his weapon while he considers how to reply. After a moment, he says, "It is not my place to question, but I believe the Gravewarden is more concerned with the passing of souls on to judgment than the disposition of their corporeal remains. And with the chaos sweeping across the city, he may be aware of things a lowly acolyte is not." He swings his weapon slightly, almost in a shrug, then looks up as if he is ready to proceed.
As Pel and Ilsa scan the room, they detect a few magical auras buried in with the discarded body parts. It will take some digging to procure the sources of the auras. Pel also notices that the sinkhole in the room has the hallmarks of being an otyugh pit. Though partially collapsed, it would not take much effort for one of the garbage beasts to return for another "meal".
”Well it looks like we know where the beasts came from. Let’s be careful. I’m not in the mood to tangle with these things again.”
"Ugh, the more I learn about this place the more I don't want to be here. Let's go and finish these blasphemous cultists off so we can get out of here." Varor says while holding his left hand to his nose.
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I don't want to go in there...
Ilsa detects a few magical auras and shares her findings with the group.
"We should probably come back here...on our way out. We shouldn't risk any combat we don't need to. But going through these items may bring peace to loved ones. Let's save that for later, though."
After retrieving the items they left behind, Zamanda follows the party into the next room in time to hear about the magical auras and cast Detect Magic herself to see where they are, and what auras are strongest.
Aware of something an acolyte wouldn't know? What could that be? He isn't saying that the Gravewarden is overlooking these cultists for a reason? "Maybe if we get out of here alive we'll need to give your Gravewarden a visit."
Bashiel nods at Ilsa's statement. "Agreed. If nothing's going to flank us from there, we should leave it for later."
After Pel finishes examining the room and possibly examining magical items or auras, he rejoins the others and adds to Ilsa's remarks, "I completely agree, but in doing so we also have to acknowledge the possibility that the remains won't be there when we return... if the otyugh comes back before we do."
"There's also the possibility that anything found here might help us further in... not saying we SHOULD delay to dig out a few items, just throwing out the idea for consideration at least."
”We don’t have time for this. We are here for Ilsa’s family and because we have a cult to destroy. And besides...it really smells bad there. Let’s go.”
Kalem starts moving forward, leaving the bodies behind.
"I agree with him let's go," Varor says moving to follow Kalem.
Zamanda doesn't immediately follow, since she was intending to stay in the rear and far away from any negative energy channelers anyway, and with no magic the only good she could do was with a bow anyway. She sees if she can quickly spot something worth grabbing.
Quinlan just shrugs.. not a big deal either way, just wanted to give options... he moves along with the rest, but when he sees Zamanda hang back a moment, he pauses long enough so that she isn't left alone long enough to be ambushed or surprised by anything...
The auras detected within the discarded body parts are faint but discernible. There is an object radiating evocation, another radiating transmutation, and a third radiating divination.
An inspection of the corridor to the east reveals walls and ceilings encrusted with dozens of yawning skulls, their mouths open into dark holes in the walls.
Zamanda cringes at the need, but determined, she reaches into the body parts to find each of the auras. (She continues to work quickly unless she hears shouts or sounds of battle.)
Once she finds the items, she casts prestidigitation to clean herself and the items off, waiting for later to do any identification.
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Ilsa holds her breath as Zamanda goes into the macabre room, not daring to enter herself.
She thinks of all that has happened in just the last week or so.
Could we be close to finding her...whatever has happened to her?
The fear that is always lingering at the back of her mind presses to the fore as she thinks at all that could have happened to her young niece. The former shop girl cowers mentally for a moment, as if she can feel the breath on the back of her neck. This person or better yet--thing--is always there, haunting her and letting her know it is coming for her, and that someday it will catch her.
But this time, though Ilsa remains afraid, she has an epiphany. She can make others feel the same fear! The dread she feels of this thing...she can convey to others!
Maybe that is not a very useful power...but it is something!
As Varor steps into the corridor he looks over the yawning skulls. 'This is just too perfect and not be a trap.'
While Zamanda gathers up the items in the otyugh room, Bashiel takes a few careful steps ahead to the east. He brings his shield out and holds it up towards the skull openings. "Anyone else get a feeling that these are murder holes? They're the right size for arrows, or maybe javelins. Some of the old guardposts around Korvosa have something similar... though without the skulls."
"If we had a pair of tower shields, this would be straightforward. Maybe..." He eyes the tables in D5, trying to work out if they're able to fit through the short tunnel to the east and into the skull lined passageway. If they are, he'll check if they can be lifted into position to block the holes while the party advances.
With the safety of the way forward in question, Pel walked over to Zamanda after she recovered the magical items.
While the others worked on a way to safely traverse the passage, Pel took a quick glance at each of the items. Perhaps one or more of them could prove useful against the cultists.
Rot and decay. Living beings reduced to meat. The stench of spilled viscera. The slime of it coats Zamanda's arms as she tries to find the items radiating magic. Those in the exsanguination chamber may notice Cyric's clenched jaw as he watches the spectacle, but he says nothing.
After several minutes in the fetic muck, she manages to find the magical items as well as a few other items of note. Of the items with a magical aura, she finds a wax-sealed metal flask containing an elixir of vision, a wand of spiritual weapon (with 48 charges) and a ring of swimming. The others items she found are a silver dagger (the blade of which nicked her finger slightly) and an amber necklace (worth 350gp).
Varor and Bashiel surveil the corridor of skulls and quietly share their thoughts with one another. Together, they identify the hallmarks of a magical trap. There is a proximity trigger throughout the hallway that, after ten seconds, triggers a spray of acid down the entire length of the corridor.
After cleaning herself and the items with prestidigitation, Zamanda washes out the cut on her finger with a strong soap from her grooming kit, hoping that she won't get some horrible disease.
She then nods to Quinlan for watching out for her, and to Pel for identifying the items. She leaves the magical items that he took to identify with him, and puts the dagger and necklace with her things until they can be sorted out later.
She redraws her bow, ready to continue, but still hanging behind.
Kalem let out a sight as Zamanda finished her task. "Alright then, good job. Let's keep moving." He tried to keep the stress out of his voice.
"Quin, do you have a moment?" Bashiel crooks a finger for Quin to come over to the eastern passageway. "I was thinking we would have to worry about something sharp coming out of these skulls, but Varor pointed out the markings along the ground... here, here and here." Bashiel points out the arcane runes that gave away the acid trap.
"It's some kind of magical trap. Probably sprays acid. Do you think you could scrub them out without triggering it? We might be able to run through unscathed if we're quick, but I'd rather not have this waiting for us if we need to retreat." Bashiel shakes his head at the thought "Not that I think we'll need to." He gives what he hopes is an encouraging and positive smile to Quin and then the rest of the group.
Bashiel keeps an eye briefly on Kalem, Zamanda, Ilsa, and Pel. It looks like our brush with death has them worn down, despite Cyric's healing. Can I do anything else for them but put on a brave face? A broken spirit will kill us as surely as anything else in this place.
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Ilsa tries not to watch Zamanda in the other room, or even think about what she is doing. But the sounds seem amplified to her mind, as if each small echo from the other room is a cacophony of carnage from a butcher's shop.
She is glad when Zamanda comes out, and even more glad when she is cleaned up. As they consider their next options, she is glad to switch topics and get moving.
"That seems hard to disable," she says. "Quin...if it's too much, we could find another way."
"We could crawl across, go under the murder holes. I go first, with Zamanda offering cover fire if anything is on the other side. Once I'm across, I'll stand guard while the next person comes. It might take awhile, but it could work."
Bashiel shakes his head "Now that we know it's magical, I wouldn't risk just trying to avoid the murder holes. They might even be decoys and the acid comes from below, or the ceiling, or it could even be conjured right into the air. We do have another path to take if this one seems too risky. But unless those stairs we saw before connect back here from the other side, I'd worry about leaving stones unturned."
Varor turns over to Bashiel and says, "Backtracking like that might take too long, plus we have no idea where that way leads anyway. If necessary I'll trigger the trap, it will most likely need to be reset afterwards so we can go on ahead after that. There's no way that somebody would take the time to set up a permanent self reactivating trap like that when it's meant to be a temporary residence."
Pel nods at Zamanda as she leaves the items with him. He puts them away in his pockets for safekeeping till they're finished in the Dead Warrens.
After listening to his companions' conversation, Pel says, "If the cultists come through this way at all, there must be a way to disable the trap or at least disarm it temporarily. I don't think we should risk just running through it or have one of us take the damage for everyone else. The cultists are clearly willing to kill, so we have to assume the trap could deal a lethal amount of damage."
Pel turns to Quin and says, "If you think you might could disable it, I think that's our best course of action. Otherwise, we may want to look for some sort of switch."
After offering his thoughts, Pel casts detect magic in the direction of the passageway and in the entrance area to see if he can determine any areas that radiate especially strong magic.
Zamanda, jittery, checks behind them to make sure no slimy creatures were coming through crawl spaces to the rear while they were all standing here.
The trap radiates evocation magic. One possibility would be to trigger it then hope the reset, if any, is long enough to pass through. No switches are evident.
Quinlan studies the situation and agrees with Varor's and Bashiel's assessment. "I've studied a scenario like this. It's tricky but the size of the trap works against it." He identifies the likely sources of the acid, then steps into the trapped area. He waits there a moment, then darts out just before the trap detonates. Acid splashes out from dozens of skulls, splattering across the length of the corridor. A moment later, he is back in the corridor and has managed to destroy most of the sources of acid. "Alright... I think that's it."
"Well this was my idea, I'll go first," Varor says, then steps into the corridor.
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Ilsa nods, but looks on with some concern as Varor takes point. It's not that the cleric couldn't hold his own. It's just that he wasn't quite as--brawny--as Bashiel or Kalem.
She draws her sap and stares down at it.
What a strange weapon I've chosen. I guess I see enough gore in my nightmares...I don't know if I could even hit something with a sword.
Stealing to the shadows, she follows along quietly.