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Ruinor looks into the stairwell and shakes his head as he sees it is filled with rubble. "This is a problem. What a disappointment for our adventure to be over almost before it began."
He walks back into the northern room just as Orovan starts climbing. "Oh, I suppose that's a possible solution," he says with a concerned look on his face. Surveying the "wall" of rubble that needs to be climbed, Ruinor says, "The only climbing I'm used to is stairs or maybe a ladder to reach a book on a high shelf. I'm not sure I can make that climb."
Upon hearing Silverback's suggestion and watching him climb the rope, he says, "What a wonderful idea. That seems doable'" as he waits his turn to climb up.
"I made it!", Ruinor says with a look of accomplishment. Turning to Orovan after his comment, "Well, some of us spend our time strengthening our minds not our bodies."
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After watching the others try to work up the wall Jos takes a shot.
"Seems the lot of you need to learn to shift your weight upward with the climb or maybe we should invest in more rope and a few more grappling hooks. Hold up Orovan I am coming."
Once up Jos moves toward Orovan while looking around for obvious signs of recent activity.
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Seeing Orovan chose not to secure the rope for the rest of the group, Aarion helps to fasten the knotted rope into a harness around splittooth. After making sure the dinosaur is secure, he attempts to make the climb without the rope.
After successfully making the climb, Aarion secures the rope to something solid at the top. Once the rest of the group successfully make the climb, Aarion lends a hand in pulling the dinosaur to the top.
The crumbling remains of the eastern wing of the first floor now serve as an open air landing area where you find yourselves after the climb. The area has 2 doors coming off of it, one to the northwest, the other to the southwest.
The ceiling here, which still stands in places, is 15' high overhead, and the doors are of solid wooden construction. The northern door appears to be wet and a bit swollen and looks like it may be more difficult to open based on observation.
There does not seem to be any evidence of recent use here, although there is a faint foul odor that is hard to pinpoint.
Upon close inspection by Silverback and Aarion, neither door appears to be trapped. Standing back, they let the half-orc brute work on the swollen and stuck door. After pounding his shoulder into the door a few times, Orovan is finally successful in getting it to budge.
The door screeches loudly as Orovan shoves it open, causing all the adventurers to wince a bit at the noise. The room beyond is dark, but the natural light from the open landing allows you to see the room dimly without further illumination.
Judging from the shelves lining the wall, this darkened room might once have been a storeroom, though its contents have long since succumbed to the passage of time. A crack in the northern wall has apparently let in some rainwater, which has collected in large puddles on the floor.
Made aware of your presence by the sticky door, a dog-sized lizard advances toward you from the far wet corner. Thislizard has two horns, one on either side of its head, and green scales that crackle with sparks of blue lightning.
The lizard eyes you keenly and emits a strange barking noise, advancing earnestly to investigate you, its sensory tongue flicking in and out rapidly as it tastes the air to get your scent.
Round 1 - Shocker
21 Orovan
20 Lizard
18 Josnavaarin
15 Aarion
15 Maximillian
9 Silverback
4 Ruinor
Orovan steps inside readying his chopper to fall on the unsuspecting lizard.
The lizard wanders over curious about the humanoids, and falls within range of the half-orcs weapon.
Shocker - Round 1 -continued
Changing his mind from slaying the shocker, to feeding it, Orovan begins rummaging in his pack for food.
Unfortunately, the lizard has decided to excitedly show its affection for the big orc by rubbing against him, accidentally discharging the electrical impulses that surround its scaly hide.
Despite its painful approach, the creature still looks balefully at Orovan as if apologizing for its very nature. "Kaz-Kaz" the thing gutters from its reptilian mouth.
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Ruinor looks into the room to see what is going on and spots the lizard.
"Oh, look, you have a new pet. It looks like it might be a shocker lizard, but you probably already figured that out. I've heard of them but never seen one, so I don't know much about them. Is there another door in there or should we try the other one out here?"
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I recommend placing some food off to one side. Enough that will allow us to examine the door in this room and deal with what’s behind it. If we encounter a combatant, keep in mind, we will have the friendly shocker lizard to deal with as well. If you prefer, we could proceed through the other door in the first room.
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Aarion looks to see if anyone is retrieving rations for the lizard, then begins to chuckle a little. Let me guess, no one else brought rations. Arion sighs, then retrieves two days of rations from his backpack. With a heave, he tosses the rations off to the corner of the room. While carefully observing the lizard, to ensure it has been properly distracted, Aarion makes his way over to the door and inspects it. I sure hope no one gets hungry on this mission.
The lizard completely ignores any words or commands from Silverback, and only concentrates on its new friend, Orovan. Once the food is thrown to the far corner, the hungry lizard shuffles off, away from Orovan and the party, and starts sniffing and munching on the trail rations. Dried fruit and meat only goes so far, and as the thing chews it makes another "kaz-kaz" sound in it's throat, gobbling the food quickly.
The door beyond is also reinforced wood but is less stuck than this wet door was. It does not appear to be trapped.
Pushing open the door, Silverback sees that racks for weapons line the walls of this chamber; above the racks hang various shields, pieces of armor, weapons, and standards on display. Most of the racks are empty, but a few weapons remain in place. A horrible stench fills the room as well, akin to the smell of rotten eggs mixed with the reek of an open sewer.
Two humanoids with scaly hide colored dull gray leap to action as you enter. The creatures' frames resemble that of cave lizards, with a long tails and crests on their head and back. They are about 4' tall and weigh around 100 lbs. Each carries a light javelin, but has a heavy club standing nearby.
The stench overpowers all the heroes causing them to retch or worse, as the creature make aggressive moves to attack.
Armory - Round 1
15 Josnavaarin
12 Trog 2
10 Maximilian
10 Ruinor
8 Silverback
8 Orovan
6 Aarion
0 Trog 1
Armory - Round 1 -continued
Josnavaarin shrugs off the foul scent, instead concentrating on the closest enemy, looking for a weakness. Confident, he throws is chakram at Red Trog (Trog 2). The sharp disc cuts into the young troglodyte, dropping him to the floor before the creature can even react to the presence of the enemies.
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"Bleugh!" Maximilian cries in disgust. "This is not how things are supposed to go. We are supposed to face dire challenges and overcome them with heroic deeds! Not mangy mutts, being knocked on our behinds, lizard things that just sit there begging for treats..."
His frustration finally boiling over, his voice rises and takes on a rhythmic, chanting quality.
"We are sent to battle,
to face great evils,
to follow through and overcome,
and prevail!"
As he reaches the final words, his face changes, becoming a mask of raw fury, and his eyes take on a bright red glow, and his companions are surprised to discover a faint aura surrounding each of their weapons as well.
Still chanting, he advances on the remaining enemy.
Armory - Round 1 - concluded
Maximilian nearly chokes from the stench of the trogs, but he clears his throat enough to sing a Raging Song, that enhances the weapons of his allies who advance on the remaining troglodyte.
Ruinor advances into the smelly room wrinkling his nose in disgust. Trying to sway the battle his way, he attempts to daze the remaining trog. He is heartened as the trog's eyes cross and its reptilian mouth opens slightly with drool running out the side.
Seeing his target stunned Silverback orders his companion to attack, but the little Dinosaur will not enter the foul room. Instead Silverback charges the last target. When the foul stench hits him his eyes blur and he chokes back vomit but charges successfully, the magical enhancement from Maximilian guiding his scimitar successfully into the scaled hide of the troglodyte.
Orovan attempts to punch the remaining lizard man, but he retches instead spewing his lunch all over the floor as his fist flies feebly at the dazed target.
Chopping mightily with his fauchard, Aarion is surprised when the blade glances off the tough scales of the troglodyte ineffectively.
The remaining trog is stunned and takes no action in this round.
End of Round 1