Aurora moves in behind Exiel, bringing her hands up to fire a burst of freezing energy at the skeleton to the south.
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Not one to back down before an enemy whilst he could still swing a weapon, Exiel takes a 5ft step to stand between Martok and the skeleton to the West. Perceiving that he didn't have many swings left in himself, he drops his shield and smashes at the skeleton with a two-handed grip, hoping to smash through the bones with sheer brute force.
Martok's fire and Martek's bow shatter the northernmost skeleton to bits!
Seeing the lone skeleton is getting beat on and can't last much longer, Vesna hangs back hoping the others can destroy the creature.
As Exiel raises his sword to strike at the skeleton, an aura of frost overcomes him, chilling his skin and dulling his senses, as he collapses on the bar, his sword clanging on the floor!
@Aurora:
The skeleton shrugs off the ray and marches around the bar to claw at Aurora but misses poorly!
Seeing Exiel crumple at the cold, Vesna gasps and rushes into the room. She pulls Exiel up into a sitting position and calls the cool healing wind again. "જુઓ, તેઓ તેમને આસપાસ ઠંડા ચાલતી અમુક પ્રકારની મળ્યો છે!"
The cold dissipates from Exiel and some of his minor wounds close, but the man is still bleeding.
"Watch out, they've got some sort of cold swirling around them!"
Trying to think fast despite the flashing claws of the skeleton almost striking her, Aurora considers that both her cold magic and her crossbow are useless against the creature. She makes a desperate decision to stoop and pick up a wooden stool from the floor before swinging it with all her meagre strength at the skeleton.
The dwarf wills his hand to burn bright, bright enough to concentrate his anger there.
He virtually steps over the fallen foes and reaches out to touch the remaining undead. BURN!
The skeleton collapses in a burst of flame at Martok's touch!
On the dead leader, you find: greenblood oil (1), oil of taggit (2); mwk studded leather, dagger, light crossbow with 10 bolts, mwk short sword,
magical cloak, mwk thieves’ tools, ring of keys, spellbook (contains alarm, chill touch, expeditious retreat, feather fall, identify, locate object, and ray of enfeeblement), wooden unholy symbol of Norgorber, 15 gp
Thank the gods, I was worried for a moment there! Exiel are you ok?
Aurora gazes over the cloak, examining the fabric in detail to see if she can discern what it might be
Vesna comes over to Exiel. "It's dead now. Hold still this time." She casts her spell again and the cool wind whips around Exiel's head. he feels much more refreshed and the wounds disappear.
"Quite brave and probably worth the effort to slay the priest so quickly. But have a care more with your own body next time too."
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"Thank you, Vesna. I do try to look after myself by not taking unnecessary risks, but sometimes risks and sacrifices need to be taken to prevent greater harm. I can't say I won't put myself at such risk again, but I will endeavour to only do so when there is a need to. Thank you for your concern, and the healing," Exiel replies with a smile and brief bow.
"We should probably take a good look around this level. If there's anyone or anything important, we're likely to find it here."
The dwarf looks at the frozen skeletons and smiles. His hand now cool, he starts searching the man in charge and the rest of the place.
"let's search this place quickly but we still haven't found the noble lady in danger..."
"Well, we can start off in here." Vesna moves to the door in the room, looking like it's a closet. She flings it open.
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"Good to see you're still among the living. Well done, but be more careful in future" Marek says, seeing Exiel coming back to health.
Then the hunter kicks the dead leader in the ground. "Is he sure dead? Was he the leader of these bandits?" Marek spends a moment going through Rohkar's belongings, and picks up a set of keys. "Wasn't there some locked chests downstairs?"
You open the door and see dozens of small boxes, bottles, and papers fill this musty storeroom. A small iron cage sits on the top shelf, emanating a flickering light like that of a candle. Inside the cage, you see an imprisoned sprite languishing, his glow seemingly dimming as the seconds pass. "Wait, you're not Rokhar! More of his flunkies? Let me out, let me out!", it cries out. The cage is locked.
Vesna cocks her head to some side a bit when she answers the sprite. "No, no we're not. Who are you?" She tries to lift the cage out of the storeroom to bring the sprite out for everyone to see.
"It's ok, Rokhar is dead. See?"
Steady now, just because it is imprisoned by these bandits does not mean it should be freed, most of the resistance we met up until this lodge was fey Aurora cautions.
Who are you sprite? And speak honestly, lest we leave you here when we abandon this building
Aurora's Detect Magic spell detects arcane auras in the storeroom but she cannot pinpoint where. and he finds the following hidden in the storeroom:
Three scrolls of lesser animate dead (2 HD)
2 more doses of greenblood oil
Small lockbox containing 25 pp, 150 gp, 180 sp, and a blue quartz “ice diamond” (worth 100 gp)
Three oils of magic weapon
10 flasks of alchemist’s fire
The sprite spits at the dead body when he sees Rokhar's corpse. "Good riddance! I am Vrixx and you should release me. I pose no danger to you."
When he sees you find the "ice diamond", Vrixx screams out, "That is mine! Give it back to me or you will suff..er, I mean, I am the rightful owner and my property should be given back to me. You're not thieves, are you?"
The venom in the fey's eyes is clear, as he hears Marek's words. "You will not address me, fey-hater! I hope to find you one day bound and tortured by my kind, sticking sharp needles in all your orifices!"
Vesna steps up to block Marek. "Now, now. Calm down, both of you." She glares at the Ranger.
"Vrixx, no one will hurt you if you don't harm us or do anything that gets us hurt. I might even be willing to give you the gem back. We're here about a noblewoman. Do you now where she is? And tell us how you came to be in this cage?"
The sprite seems to calm at Vesna's honeyed tone. "Yeah, the noblewoman, I heard of her. Rohkar, who trapped me here, said he kept her below, whatever that means. He wanted to dissect me, find out what makes me tick. Glad he is dead." Vrizz spits again. "Now, you going to let me out?!" His tone is getting anxious and loud.
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"Hmm...down below...perhaps a basement or cellar or underground dungeon of some sort then?"
"I have no stomach for slaying a helpless creature in cold blood," Exiel says as he draws his cold-iron longsword and displays it to the fey creature. "However, this one is far more likely to go to warn Izoze of our coming than the previous one. I say we leave her here for now, and set her free after we have dealt with Izoze, not before. In the meantime, we can find some food in this place to leave for her."
Martok nods, "No offense wee one but we have no reason to trust you so hang tight. We'll be back..."
With that the dwarf saunters over to see where this 'down' is.
Vesna looks at the caged fey. "Why not take him with us? If he's telling the truth, he should be able to to tell us other things about this place. And our noblewoman might vouch for him. If he's telling the truth." She eyes the little fey.
Vesna shrugs and pats the top of the cage. "Sorry, love. I tried. If what you tell us is true, then maybe I can convince them to be nicer. By the way, do you know what's happening with the Winter here? Why are all the Winter fey here? And what happened the the Sentinels?"
****
After the fey responds, Vesna goes to the storeroom to collect 3 flasks of Alchemist Fire and one of the oils of Magic Weapon, though she's overly careful about handling the fiery . She eyes the ice diamond and smiles, but leaves it to remind the fey about a possible reward.
Once they leave the room and shut the door, she turns to the others. "I don't trust it either, but right now it's the only source of information. I think we should sweep the rest of this floor before going to the basement. He could have been lying or there might be others here."
I agree, the thing should stay here lest it cry out at an inopportune moment, we should move quickly to find the lady in case there are stragglers lurking around the building
Aurora grabs two flasks of alchemist's fire alongside Vesna.
Never used the stuff before, but if the last few hours have taught me anything, it's that you can never have enough options!
On the dead leader, you find: greenblood oil (1), oil of taggit (2); mwk studded leather, dagger, light crossbow with 10 bolts, mwk short sword,
magical cloak, mwk thieves’ tools, ring of keys, spellbook (contains alarm, chill touch, expeditious retreat, feather fall, identify, locate object, and ray of enfeeblement), wooden unholy symbol of Norgorber, 15 gp
Vesna casts Detect Magic on the cloak. She also takes the keys from Rhokar. She frowns at the holy symbol of Norgorber, and shrugs at the spellbook, but knows it's valuable. She slips it int her backpack.
Aurora asks Vesna if she can also take a look at the cloak.
Two mages are better than one! she winks.
The sprite curses his luck when you decide not to free him. "The winter?! It's going to get colder and colder until it becomes eternal and all you weak races die and we fey rule!" Vrixx then unloads a litany of curses at the party, which you promptly ignore.
You go back downstairs and following Exiel's hunch of a cellar, you search more carefully, until Marek notes a locked cellar door concealed under the bear rug. Pushing the rug aside, you unlock it with Rokhar's keys and proceed downward. A half-dozen boxes and barrels take up the majority of this underground cellar. A rough blanket lies spread on the floor in the southeast corner next to a bowl of half-eaten food. Sitting on the blanket is a beautiful female with a stained face and several blood-soaked bandages, garbed in what was once a quite expensive dress but is now torn. She's blocking the party's light from her eyes, which have been accustomed to the darkness. "My mind has not changed! I will pay nothing, you scum! I don't care what you threaten me with."
Martok has a good mind to burn the ungrateful fey but just growls at it before leaving.
"Wow, my Lady, slow down. We aren't here for money. We're here to take you out of this place."
He looks around, "Are you well? Can you travel? We aren't out of danger just yet."
"Well, I'm glad it's hasn't changed!" Vesna laughs. "Otherwise we might think you don't want to be rescued. Relax, Rokhar is gone. Do you know what they wanted?"