The party, led by the tall ranger, turns its attention to the east hall. Svarog is partway down the hall when his foot lands on something that clicks disconcertingly, followed in rapid succession by three loud metallic clangs as a trio of cunningly-concealed bear traps trip in rapid succession. However, the trap that should normally have closed on Svarog's leg fails to penetrate his armor, and he's able to extricate himself. The other two were placed further down the hall, suggesting that if you had come from the other direction three of you would have been on them when they triggered.
"Might as well keep going this way and follow the hall around to the north, now that we've disarmed the trap."
Haftor seems unduly pleased with his joke.
The hallway turns north, west, then north again before ending at a door.
At the back of the marching order, Haftor waits patiently.
Jarrek checks to see if the door is unlocked, meaning to open it and go through.
The door is unlocked. The room on the other side is a once-grand flagstone hall, filled with statues of different celestial creatures in every corner. A cold fire pit in the center of the room is bordered by motheaten bedrolls, while shovels, picks, and other digging equipment lie strewn around a shallow tunnel bored into the northeastern wall. The ceiling above the tunnel has collapsed, leaving a hole open to the sky above a pile of burnt rubble. This appears to line up with the hole in the floor above.
The stench of rotting meat fills the air, readily traceable to a body partially buried under the rubble.
Svarog goes to examine the body.
+2 vs orcs
Kira steps forward with Svarog, her crossbow at the ready as she blinks rapidly adjusting to the sudden light. "They got anything on them?" Kira moves to assist Svarog looking over the bodies.
Svarog and Kira advance to examine the body. They have time to register that it's a half-orc in chainmail before a pair of rats come scurrying out of the rubble, chittering malevolently. Unlike the ones the party faced upstairs, though, these have rotting, translucent skin.
Round 1:
Initiative order
Haftor
Svarog
Kira
Jarrek
Rats
"Shadow rats! Their bite weakens, so kill them quick!" Jarrek rushes forward to attack.
The appearance of the rats prevents Haftor from pointing out the shoddy workmanship of the tunnel. He makes a brief "Tsk." sound, then moves towards the closest rat with his hammer.
"How many rats are there in this ruin? It should be burned to the ground," Svarog growled, slashing at a rat as well.
[b]Round 1 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Haftor-acted
Svarog-acted
Kira
Jarrek-acted
Rat
Haftor and Jarrek are unable to hit their chosen targets, but Svarog slices one of them in half with a single powerful stroke.
Kira quickly sprints over to the other side of the room and levels her crossbow, firing off the shot with a dull thud.
The remaining rat is obscured by shadows in an odd way. Kira puts a crossbow bolt into where she's pretty sure it is, but the crossbow bolt fails to have any effect. It bites at Jarrek, hitting but failing to do much to the doughty half-orc . However, a disquieting weakness emanates from the wound .
Round 2:
Initiative order
Haftor
Svarog
Kira
Jarrek
Rats
Svarog found the shadows hard to pierce, and his sword stabbed too far to the side, missing the rat.
Jarrek chops down at the rat that just bit him.
Kira gives a curse as she reloads the crossbow and fires again.
Round 2 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Haftor
Svarog-acted
Kira-acted
Jarrek-acted
Rats
The party attacks the rat, but to no avail.
Haftor calls on Torag for a bit of assistance. He then touches Jarrek to trigger the spell.
In the confusion of the melee, the remaining rat misses Jarrek.
Round 3:
Initiative order
Haftor
Svarog
Kira
Jarrek
Rat
Jarrek chops down at the rat again.
Round 3 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Haftor
Svarog-acted
Kira
Jarrek-acted
Rat
Even Jarrek's senses can't readily penetrate the gloom around the tiny creature, and his blade finds only air.
Haftor once again calls on Torag for a bit of assistance. He thinks for a second, then decides to touch Svarog this time, to trigger the spell.
Kira tries to shoot the dodging rat and misses. It bites again at Jarrek, this time drawing blood and weakening the half-orc further.
Round 4:
Initiative order
Haftor
Svarog
Kira
Jarrek
Rat
Svarog was immediately brought back to the time he had spent among the dwarves at Haftor's touch. Their steady, stubborn fighting style flowed through him, and he stabbed at the rat again.
With Torag's blessing, he struck true.
Svarog cuts down the second rat, and it falls into dust.
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Jarrek nods at the others. "Never thought I'd say it, but those rats were a good fight." He shakily put his falchion back in the scabbard on his back. The half-orc looked a little wobbly on his feet.
Haftor once again prays to Torag and touches Jarrek. This time, healing energy flows through his body.
"This won't bring your strength back, but it might stop the bleeding.
Extracting the body from under the rubble takes little effort . It is a male half-orc in still-intact chain armor, with some remaining gear: a wand, a silver dagger with intricate chasing likely worth more than a normal silver dagger, six black gems, and a red & gold amulet of a bloody double axe.
Jarrek nods his thanks to Haftor. "A good meal and a good round of drinks and I'll be right as rain." Looking over the half-orc's gear, Jarrek grimaces at the amulet. "Nulgreth, orc god of bloodlust and fighting."
Haftor nods back at Jarrek, adding a grunt for good measure.
Svarog nodded and grunted at Jarrek in time with Haftor. Precise as a dwarf. Then he went about taking what seemed useful from the body. "No reason to let this rot along with the orc."
The door opens to reveal a short hallway back to the central chamber.
Svarog's quality grunting skills do not go unnoticed. Haftor lifts an eyebrow in recognition before exhaling sharply in disdain toward the collapsed tunnel. "Amateur hour."
The door to the northwest is iron, and locked.
Haftor brandishes his hammer. "I am fairly efficient at demolition, if you are willing to put up with some loud noise."
Jarrek nods back in the direction of the portcullis. "We've already made enough noise to wake everything in here. Some banging isn't going to hurt. Break 'er down, Haftor."
Kira steps forward as she pulls out the thieves tools, "Let me give a try at it... a friend taught me a thing or two when we were... younger."
Kira slips down next to the lock and presses the pair of pins into them, whispering the mantra her 'friend' taught her, "Slow and steady... slow and steady."
Kira feels a satisfying *click* through her tools as the tumblers slip into place. The door opens easily after that, revealing a small room with an old cast-iron furnace in one corner and a pile of coal in another. Ash and fallen rubble clutter the area around the furnace where the chimney above has collapsed. The room is also occupied by a young man sitting dejectedly near the pile of coal. He looks up in surprise as the door opens. "No! Wait, you're...you're not the half-orc. Are you from Trunau?"
Haftor's shoulders sag in defeat. "What in the name of the nine hells is going on?"
He is confused, and doesn't care who knows it. He takes a moment to compose himself, then replies.
"What half-orc are you talking about?"