Domeric concentrates but so far the only sense of evil is the vague uneasiness that permeates the whole complex.
"Alrighty, that direction it is." Avendryl says heading into the room to the north.
"Give me just a few minutes here and I'll see if this door safe to open...from a traps perspective that is."
"No traps, as best I can tell. Everyone ready?" Avendryl asks as he begins to open the door.
Avendryl peeks through the door to the next room.
(117)
A ten-foot alcove is in the northeast corner of the room. Its walls were once plastered and painted, but where the covering still remains, some sort of mold or similar growth has discolored it sufficiently to make the colors and subject matter undistinguishable. Bones are heaped in a pile in the alcove, and a disgusting odor lingers about the place. Torn cloth and old cushions are piled to form two tangled nests of bedding near the south door.
"Yuck!" Avendryl says wrinkling his nose.
With a half-grin he says to the others, "Alright, I've done my bit...who's first?"
"Well, go wake it up!"
When everyone's ready to proceed and confront the evil to the north, Bat opens the door so the others may attack.
"And by the fact you sense it, it must be bad, right? ... Hey, big man, I'm leaving you space to fit up here. But once you're settled in, I'll fit in the space left over."
Fezzik follows the others into the next rooms. He moves up to the alcove upon hearing of a potential threat and eyes the narrow space. "Maybe I go first to open door and go through, then you all follow? Not much space to move," he suggests.
Zinnath landed on Fezzik’s shoulder.
Fezzik nods and opens the door.
(118) This area is plastered and wainscoated in some (now ruined) wood. It was evidently some form of trophy or museum room, and several broken cases are shoved against the walls. A serviceable but moldy shield hangs on the west wall. Two great heaps of old cloth and pillows and like materials are formed to serve as beds.
Another wave of nauseating stench washes over you as Fezzik opens the door.
A pair of large ghasts hiss and snarl at you as the door swings open.
Noting that there were only two ghasts to be seen, Avendryl chooses to stay back and let Fezzik and Domeric handle the situation, but does provide a bit of help in the form of an inspiring song.
Success!
Bat steps up just a bit, presents her holy-symbol-emblazoned buckler, and channels positive energy to blast the ghasts.
Tronar steps into the cluster, now that it is apparent that "fireball formation" shouldn't be a problem. He draws upon his arcane pool and release a set of missiles to strike the ghast that SK attacked.
Fezzik wrinkles his nose at the sight of more undead. Stepping up after Domeric enters the room, he attacks the ghast on the right.
The warriors step in and start savagely hacking the undead. Domeric's sword slams home just before Bat raises her holy embossing and the face of Pelor on her shield seems to gleam with golden sunlight. The ghasts sizzle and recoil; Tronar's missiles blast into one while Fezzik crushes the other with his sword.
You note that among the dirty cloth is a padlocked chest, and one of the two ghasts wears a gold necklace set with small rubies.
"Well that was brutally efficient...emphasis on brutally." Avendryl remarks as he moves into the room.
"Shinnies on that one's neck. Someone want to grab those while I take a look at this chest?"
Once he is satisfied with the search, Avendryl begins to work on the lock.
The chest is not trapped, but it is padlocked. It takes Avendryl a while to open it, but eventually the padlock grudgingly creaks open to reveal it contains 611 sp, a brooch with a carnelian stone with a cameo coat of arms
(Veluna, quartered by the Knights of the Hart), and a scroll in a silver tube.
”That went much smoother. Smootherly?”
Bat takes her cue from Avendryl, bending down and removing the gold-and-rubies necklace from the fallen ghast. Once Avendryl gets the chest opened, she casts detect magic, first scanning the gathered treasure and then the surrounding areas while the spell's still going. Finally, she takes some time to evaluate the necklace and then the brooch.
"I may be able to help Bat." presuming the party can pass the found objects around.
Cast Detect Magic, Read Magic, and Appraises the items.
"I would estimate the brooch is worth 800gp and the silver tube is 35 gp. The scroll is a scroll of invisibility to undead"
For once, Domeric detects no signs of ambient evil, other than the very faint background malaise that affects this whole temple area.
“I’ve detected that wooden shield appears to have faint magic and should provide more protection. If no one wants to wield a shield, then perhaps it could help fund our campaign against this evil. “
”Shields aren’t really my style.”
Fezzik looks at the puny wooden shield and then at his large greatsword and then back at Tronar and shakes his head "no".
Bataleigha voices her agreement with Tronar's assessment that it's worth selling later and is about to pluck it from the wall when she hesitates.
"Hey, Avendryl! Want to check to make sure this thing isn't trapped? Call me suspicious but...'Magic Shield for the Taking' sets off an alarm in my mind."
"Sure, I can do that." Avendryl says walking over to take a look.
Avendryl finds no signs of anything amiss. Eventually the party has Fezzik reach with his superior arm-length and nudge it off the wall-hook using his halberd, and it clatters to the floor harmlessly.
"What do you all think? Continue on this way?" Avendryl says gesturing toward the door to the east. "Or should we go back and search that doorway to the west a few rooms back?"
While waiting for a response from his companions, Avendryl search the eastern door for traps.
"Works for me." Avendryl says opening the door.
Bataleigha is happy to let Avendryl and Domeric take the lead and choose the path through the evil temple; she'll keep an eye open for its evil inhabitants.
The door opens slowly to connect to the hallway that you previously found, a straight shot down to the section with the sloping halls leading up and the unusable central stairway down.
"Ok...looks like to the left it is." Avendryl says heading out into the hallway and taking a look around.
Tronar steps up. "I would like to see what is next, too." :)
Peeking around the corner to the left, Avendryl and Tronar see a door just across the hall to the north. The hall continues to the end of their visual range, with another door on the side at the end. Additionally, just next to the door they're looking out from, there's an angled passage headed back to unknown territory.
”More doors? What is it with you bipeds and all of your doors? We dragons much prefer a more open concept for our living spaces!”
Zinnath will join SK and casts detect magic and check the area as well.
No signs of evil or magic turn up in any of the directions surveyed - yet.
Fezzik looks down the halls and points to the nearest door.
Bat nods to Fezzik, moves down the hallway, and gets into position to open the door...once the others are in place and Avendryl gives the all-clear.