Bruendor kicks the fallen grick after it has fallen for good measure. "Didn't expect that, did you, Beaky?" He snorts at Kel's suggestion of how Saul has avoided all of these monsters in their way. "It's much simpler than that Kel. Why have all these slime-drenched odiferous and voracious creatures gone out of their way to let Saul through?" The dwarf pauses for a beat.
"Professional courtesy."
"Hm," Anklebiter grunts, nodding. "He probably threw them food; anyone who got up in his business and who he couldn't feed to the wererats."
The tunnel leading out from the gricks' pool wound further downward to another chamber illuminated by the strange orange-purple crystals from two stony outcroppings that rest on either side of a low natural shelf on the southern wall. This shelf has been converted into a bed of sorts, complete with a luxurious white fur blanket lying rumpled on it, a velvet pillow, and a platinum filigreed footchest. A pair of black boots rests beside the small ledge.
Lefrik thanks Kel for her healing and then laughs at the insults by her and Brue thrown Saul's way, as they move down the tunnel he pauses and looks at the makeshift bed, he whispers to the others, "you don't think he's living here do you?"
"No, it's far too nice for him. Not enough slime."
Calla looks around, arrow set to bowstring.
Your nose picks up a delicate scent, one that you aren't familiar with and that contrasted with the other, more expected underground smells encountered so far.
Crossbow loaded, Kel watches cautiously as her companions investigate the site.
"Do you smell that? It's better than the trogs, at least. Almost sweet."
Lefrik also takes a whiff even as he looks about
Calla searches the area for evil.
Anklebiter hunches down and tries to fade into the background while he mutters a quick cantrip.
Bruendor sniffs the air, then shakes his head. "It's faint. I can't place it, that's for sure. Certainly not Saul. Maybe his backer's a woman, and that's her perfume?" Regardless, Bruendor removes his pack for a moment, and pulls out the tanglefoot bag he'd been saving. He places it on top of everything, then puts the pack back on, keeping the flap open. He checks his crossbow, silently loading a bolt into it and approaches the chest.
"He's close," the dwarf says. "I can feel it. Let me know if there's any lingering magics on the chest, Anklebiter, and then I'll see if someone's put some more mundane security on it."
Anklebiter solemnly informs Bruendor that he detects no magic on or inside the box, and the dwarf inspects it carefully. He finds no mechanical traps either, though the lock is well-made and engaged.
"How does someone keep something so pretty safe down here without magic?" Anklebiter wonders out loud. "Some super-strong warrior? A monster?"
"Or a deal of some sort," Calla replies.
If Bruendor tries to open the chest, Calla quickly murmurs a couple of prayers over the beardless dwarf.
Kel stands well away from the chest opening and keeps watching for anyone sneaking up on the party.
Anklebiter scuttles over to Kelendra and joins her in keeping watch, as invisibly as he can.
Finding no security, Bruendor lays his crossbow down nearby and moves to the side of the chest, opening it cautiously.
It's locked
"I take that back," Bruendor quips, pulling out his tools. "Almost no security."
Bruendor fiddles with the lock for a moment, but finds that it is resisting all his attempts to open it.
"Do we need to get Blondie to open it his way?" Calla asks acidly.
"I have a spell that can do it!" Anklebiter says, his ears quivering with delight at the thought of using one of his new discoveries -- but then they droop. "But then we won't be able to use it on any locked doors. If you're all alright with that...?"
"Probably not, it's just a better lock than I gave it credit for. Give me a few minutes."
Lefrik sighs as the lock is tinkered with over the course of some minutes, "We could try to hit it over and over until it broke open?" A pause, "or is that bad?"
Bruendor concentrated on the lock, maneuvering his tools with the care of a craftsman. The lock was well-made, and nicely oiled. Which was good, because he had so many tumblers to flick that he couldn't have managed it if any of them stuck due to rust or miscare. Finally, after a good long time, he heard the lock click. The hasp rotated outwards and the lid popped open a crack. Carefully, he looked inside to find a veritable treasure. There were a double handful of platinum coins, a large onyx, a bag holding what looked to be diamond dust, a bottle of glue, and a small faceted brass perfume bottle. Not to mention the box itself which appeared to be made of solid platinum, instead of simply being platinum leaf over a more mundane material.
"This is a lot of treasure," Anklebiter says, reverently.
Then the Goblin frowns. "So much treasure. Down here. Big trouble. Big monster somewhere."
"Maybe it IS saul's? I'd love to get something from the bastard,"Lefrik grins "His head would be better."
'Maybe this chest is what Saul was looking for down here, and he was unable to get to it because of the monsters?", Kel speculates, "But Anklebiter is right, a big treasure could bring a big bad guy along with it."
"Agreed. So the question becomes do we wait here and try an ambush of our own or take the loot and keep searching?"
Calla murmurs a quick orison and concentrates on the treasure trove.
"I say we clear out the contents and come back for the chest itself," the dwarf says after Calla shakes her head to indicate that it contains no magic. "A haul of this magnitude means Saul's close. Just in case we have to beat a quick retreat, I want to make sure we don't leave empty-handed."
"That makes sense. Hopefully this trove means he's not far. I can't see him abandoning this much gold easily."
After dividing the treasure between the group, Calla resumes her search for signs of Saul.
"Actually, it's probably not Saul's," Bruendor states. "Saul fled his safehouse to hole up with his mysterious benefactor. The lock isn't to protect the treasure from interlopers - the monsters that lurk in these caves keep out nosy thieves far better than any simple lock. No, it's either Saul's or his master's, and my money's on the master, whoever she is." Bruendor unstoppers the perfume bottle to give the scent a sniff, familiarizing himself with the odor, so he might recognize its owner when he finally meets her.
Bruendor wrinkled his nose at the acrid aroma. It smelled nothing like the lingering perfume in the room. Maybe it is something else?
"What's that?" Anklebiter asks, curious, as he scuttles forward to take a look and a sniff at the bottle.
The dwarf wrinkled his nose as he restoppered the bottle. "That's a distinctive scent. Wbatever this is, it's not perfume."
"Let's pack that thing up and keep moving. If it's poison in the bottle and it's owner comes back later we'll have a serious foe to deal with. Though it may slow us little, let me keep imbuing our scout with a magical resistance as we explore forward, just in case a poison blade sneaks out from the shadows."
Grabbing up the box, and stuffing it in Lefrik's pack, you look down the tunnel leading out of the bedchamber. Saul is close, you can feel it. The tunnel leading from the room runs almost straight south, and at its end is an enormous cavern.
This cavern appears to have been recently enlarged at the east end, where a massive, curving stone carving protrudes from the floor, wall, and ceiling. It is covered in runes that appear strangely familiar, and it appears that some of them have been chipped away. A table nearby holds several stoneworking tools and a thin book.
Standing at the table is a striking female figure, with dark purple skin and silvery white hair. her eyes are white, pupil-less voids. She is wearing an intricately crafted chain shirt and equally exotic weapons, including a well-made hand crossbow, fitted with slender blades.
As Bruendor moved down the tunnel for a better look in the cavern, two shapes detached themselves from the walls to either side of the tunnel entrance. Their bloated frames were nearly the color of the surrounding stone, and their hooked claws and razor-sharp teeth were vicious indicators of their nature - as were their glowing red eyes. As soon as the creatures got a good look at Bruendor, they howled with fury and raised their clawed hands. The woman at the work table spun with cat-like reflexes to see what was coming.
anklebiter
kelendra
bruendor
calla
lefrik
enemies
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +8
CMD 14
HP 21/21
Divine retribution (DC 13) 0/6; Judgments 0/1
Spells: 0/4 (first-level)
Effects:
"Damn, more monsters! Will they never end?" Calla curses.
Seeing the creatures rushing toward Bruendor, she smoothly pulls back her bowstring and lets an arrow fly toward the closest target , smiling coldly as she hits a glancing blow.
"Damn, more monsters! Will they never end?" Calla curses.
"For once, we agree. At this rate we'll end up killing the equivalent of of a large village before we finally get to slay the bastard," Lefrik grumbles and feeling impatient lobs a javelin at the same target Calla struck even as he moves forward.
Round 1
Kel moves forward to the spot behind Lefrik and casts Bless on the party.
Anklebiter scrunches up his face and utters a sharp hiss of concentration. Lefik, Calla and Kelendra all feel a little more secure in themselves, but Bruendor is sadly outside the magic's reach.