Does anyone mind if I take the +1 gold glamered plate...It matches my current get up and I think the +3 should go to the fighter anyway.
The vestments do nothing for me since I am a prepared caster.
Also to get more gold, I think we should just sell all of the small items. Buy more potions?
OOC, somewhat metagaming, I am guessing we will be running into a lot o acid coming up and would recommend our frontliners taking the acid resistant gear.
I do have protection from energy prepped as my domain spell.
Cora circumnavigates the grounds, staying out of sight (she thinks). [ooc]Assuming she proceeds clockwise, starting at the corner I put your tokens:[/b]
The aasimar neither hears nor sees anything moving on the grounds as she heads north. Turning east and going along the back fence, she only sees a single window on the north face of the building. Nothing moves behind it.
There is a small building at the northeast corner of the grounds. It also has no windows facing the fence, but Cora can smell something like rotting meat near it. The only other window she sees is on the east wall of one of the buildings; as with the other, though, she observes no movement through it.
Turning back west, Cora notes a courtyard with a dry fountain and a statue, and another empty courtyard. Both are fenced off from the outside, only accessible from some interior passage.
The fence doesn't look too difficult to climb.
"Cora, can those baubles cover us all in darkness? Otherwise we're fairly easily spotted, no matter how quiet we are," says Machi-e.
Cora makes a motion with her hand meaning 'kind of'. "They cast shadows to make it easier to hide, but it isn't a globe of darkness." She gestures to the northeast. "There's a building in that far corner with no windows facing the fence. I'm pretty sure we could climb over without being seen back there. It smelled like rotting meat, though, so there's probably some kind of monster."
"We'll climb over, then," agrees Machi-e. "Er, does someone have rope?"
Cora is aware that there is a tower on the larger of the two buildings, and recommends coming at the grounds from behind the corner building to stay out of sight.
Cora nods. "I have rope. Let's do it."
Machi-e follows Cora over the wall.
With the rope, the party is able to get over the wall.
There are trees dotting the grounds, so after crossing the fence the party can keep some foliage between them and any windows or high points on the central buildings. The door is closed.
Machi-e quietly scans the area for magic.
"I think we should go into that building," he suggests.
Machi-e senses no magic inside the building (but is aware that the spell can be blocked by sufficiently thick walls).
Cora nods and quickly checks to see if the door is locked or trapped.
The door is neither locked nor trapped.
Cora nods and gestures to the group to ready themselves, then opens the door.
Machi-e nods, preparing Acid Splash.
Not yet holding his sword, Nezos nods in agreement. "Hope we don't have to go in loud, but I'm not much good at quiet."
Cora opens the door to reveal an abattoir. The party's attention is taken not by the bodies, nor by the overpowering stench of decay, but by the four giant insects that were feeding on the dead flesh!
Round 1:
Initiative order
Cora
Nezos
Rowane
Machi-e
Giant flies
"Oh, no," Cora chokes out as she pulls an arrow and fires at the one on the right.
Machi-e aims at the black fly.
"Eeucch!" says the arcanist, none-too-eloquently.
Round 1 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Cora-acted
Nezos
Rowane
Machi-e-acted
Giant flies
Cora's arrow strikes true, as does Machi-e's cantrip. Neither of the attacks does more than wound their targets.
"Never mind," Nezos manages, stepping inside and bringing his blade down over a scavenger.
Still off-guard and trying not to pulverize the corpses as well, his strike is well off the mark.
"And me with out my bug spray" Rowane says sarcastically. "Would you mind luring them out here. At least stopping them in the doorway?"
Rowane levels his crossbow and aims it through the doorway.
All four of them swarm Nezos, but none are able to connect with the doughty fighter.
Round 2:
Initiative order
Cora
Nezos
Rowane
Machi-e
Giant flies
Machi-e tries to get a shot off through the melee.
"Blast," mutters the arcanist. "Um, go Nezos!"
"I'm a bit too cut off to bring them outside," Nezos hollers back. "But they've been as ineffectual as me for now, so not to worry?"
"Scales favor me" Rowane says before pulling the trigger.
Rowane pulls another bolt and reloads.
Cora starts firing arrows into the scrum as fast as her arm can draw and nock.
Nezos and Cora drop their respective targets, while Rowane wounds his and Machi-e misses.
The flies maneuver around Nezos and bite at him again, neither managing to hit.
Round 3:
Rowane fires again at yellow.
The bolt goes wide. He sighs and reloads.
Round 3 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Cora
Nezos
Rowane-acted
Machi-e
Giant flies
Rowane can't make it two for three.
Nezos brings his sword down again, not concerned as one of the flies leaves his field of view.
Round 3 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Cora
Nezos-acted
Rowane-acted
Machi-e
Giant flies
Nezos hits one of the flies, leaving it clinging to life.
Cora shuffles a couple of steps to her right to get a better view into the room and fires off another brace of arrows.
Cora pincushions the remaining two flies.
In addition to the four flies, the building contains dozens of mutilated corpses--mostly kobolds, though there are a few humans. The bodies are piled in a mound in the middle of the floor. The chest of each corpse has been cut open, and their eye sockets are bloody and empty.
Machi-e casts Detect Magic again. "Do you recognize any of these kobolds from when Temperance dealt with them? It would seem the eyes and...whatever organs they took...would be for a sacrifice, is my guess. And where there are huge flies, we should be wary of eggs, or maggots."
Loath as he is to do so, Nezos pokes through the pile. He doesn't divine anything from it, though. "We should be wary, but not concerned about those. The flies went down without trouble. Surely there'll be something other than massive carrion feeders to cause a problem."
Cora nods at Nezos. "I'm more worried about whoever did this than I am about whatever's eating the leftovers."
With a bit of searching, the party finds where the flies entered--a gap under the eaves. It appears that they haven't been there for a significant length of time, either, as there are no eggs among the bodies.
"Well. That was a bust," says Machi-e. "I would still like to find a stealthy way in."
He peers down the eastern flank of the yard. "Is that a door down there, on the second wing of the building? Perhaps we can get in there. It's less likely to be seen...I suppose."
Cora peers to the south and to the west.
"Hmm. I'm not sure. Let me go check." She points in the same direction Machi-e is looking. "You mean that?"
