Not seeing the large Deko or massive Fezzik in imminent danger of getting sucked down into the swamp, Bataleigha slogs forward to Deko's side to better help him battle the froggy foes.
Zinnath will move forward again, as much as needed, and fire another ray of cold at the nearest frog.
vs touch
Deko and Kyrie slam home their respective strikes on the smaller frog to Deko's right, and the force of Kyrie's bolt flips it on its back. Its legs wave feebly in the air, reminding Deko that he promised that they would be lunch.
Enoby launches an arrow at the frog that tried to hit Deko with its sticky tongue, but the arrow misses by that much.
Zinnath zaps the frog that Enoby missed; a sheen of slimy water on its skin freezes over.
With the smaller frogs smashed, the bigger ones seem desperate to grab a bite to eat so they can run back off into the swamps.
The frog bites Deko and actually manages to lift the half-orc and shake him back and forth while keeping him in its mouth!
Bat gets thwacked with a sticky tongue but manages to shake it off.
Surprised that the frog is able to grab Deko with its tongue, Fezzik slogs through the swamp in order to get a clear shot at it. He swings his halberd again so as to not hit Deko, trying to save him from becoming the frog's lunch.
Fezzik slashes through the frog that has Deko in its mouth, and guts the beast. Deko drops into the mud, prone - though he's certainly been in filthier situations in his past.
Bat slogs toward the last frog, swinging her heavy mace at its head.
for
for
CRUNCH! Bat's mace comes town in a perfect swing and crushes the amphibian's skull.
Bat moves closer to the drawbridge to finish examining it. She's no engineer but she can tell the wood is rotted and warped from long exposure to swamp mud and water, and a thin sheen of moss covers it.
Before again approaching the bridge and door, Bataleigha tells Deko she'll try to heal his wound shortly. Then she tests the warped boards with the only tool she has at her disposal--herself.
Bataleigha walks back to Deko and uses one charge of her channel positive energy ability.
The bridge holds Bat's weight, but it creaks in protest. You suspect it would be much, much unhappier with a cart or a half-ogre.
Bat returns to the others to make her report and heal Deko . She fears that Fezzik's weight would break the bridge and suggests that the rest of the group try to get the door open; then maybe Fezzik can jump over the bridge and land in the room beyond...assuming he remembers to duck his head some.
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After giving Bataleigha a big hug in thanks for healing his small scratch, Deko made short work rendering the frogs down to a pile of meat, blood flying everywhere as he enthusiastically went about the job. Finally, he was left with a big pile of meat, guts, and bones. Nodding at the final product, he started looking for a good way to carry his light snack.
To Fezzik: "Hey, umm, big guy, would you be so kind as to toss one of those frogs into the wagon please? With a little bit of time to ripen, it could make for a fine meal later."
Bataleigha's eyes widen at Deko's crushing display of affection, but when he releases her, they return to normal, sparkling with a rare bit of mischief.
"You're very welcome, Deko," the cleric drawls. "And thank you for giving me that hug before you butchered those frogs."
Enoby stares in amazement at Deko's spectacle of carnage.
"Our pugilist certainly possess a great deal of zeal for his work."
At Zinnath's request, Fezzik starts to move towards a frog but pauses when he sees Deko already butchering them.
To Zinnath: "Deko beat you to it. You have to talk to him to get your snack." He responds with a grin.
He then watches Bat carefully as she approaches the drawbridge. He cringes when he hears it creak under her weight as he doesn't think it will hold him. He eyes the length of the drawbridge to determine if he can jump over it.
All: "Could Fezzik not come on through the water?"
[mentally to Zinnath]: Makes sense. He could use the bridge as a guide to pull himself along. If the water's buoyancy is holding up most of his weight, the bridge should hold up.
Could you also take a moment to scan the keep's door for any traps? I'm sure a dragon's eyes are far superior to mine.
As requested, Zinnath will fly forward to Bat and inspect the door and such for traps.
If taking 20 is an option, then I get a 24, otherwise...
The door doesn't have any deliberate traps on it; it's just old and flimsy. It's great care Zinnath scrutinizes it before giving the clear to Bat, who pushes it open...
Fezzik waits patiently and watches as his companions inspect the drawbridge further. "How I get over without breaking?" he says to them?
All: "The door doesn't appear trapped in any fashion."
Once Bat opens it, Zinnath peers inside!
Bat gives up any hope of entering the keep stealthily.
"Try lowering yourself into the water and then using the edge of the bridge to pull yourself across," she suggests to the half-ogre. "It's not a very long swim."
Ye olde boxed text:
"The door is hanging open on one great hinge, the other is splintered and holed but still in position, wedged and shored closed from the inside."
You have no trouble pushing the door aside.
Kyrie can get a rope over part of the crumbling tower, but there's an engineering problem: If you want Fezzik to swing over the rotting drawbridge, the attachment point for the rope should be overhead. This puts the rope on the far side of the bridge across from him.. That means it's not in a position where he can easily swing over.
To the northeast is a rising staircase that goes to what looks like a former audience hall or meeting chamber of some sort. Small arrowslits to the north and east could allow you to peer into side rooms, if you got close up and shined a light through.
Although she takes a peek at what lies beyond the door, Bataleigha doesn't enter the moathouse until Fezzik's situation is addressed.
All: "I say Fezzik goes with Bat's idea, and fast. There are boot tracks from some bipeds!"
Fezzik nods at Bat's suggestion. He starts to make sure his equipment is secure so he doesn't lose anything in the swamp. Hearing that Deko has spotted footprints, he quickly lowers himself into the water while holding onto the edge of the drawbridge. Hoping he doesn't put too much strain on the drawbridge, he pulls himself across.
The drawbridge creaks alarmingly, but Fezzik is able to reach the far side, grab on to the lip of the masonry at the edge, and heave himself up into the doorway. Hopefully you won't have to leave in a hurry...
Fezzik is now very wet.
Enoby waits, arrow knocked and short bow at the ready, scanning the area in case of an ambush. If people had been through here recently, there was a strong possibility that Enoby and her group had already been detected.
Once Fezzik is across, she will join the rest of the party on the other side of the bridge.
Fezzik smiles when he pulls himself out of the water. A look of relief on his face as he makes it across. He picks some weeds off of him and does his best to shake the water off. He then draws his heavy flail and prepares to move forward.
Several of you advance cautiously into the outer chamber, but nobody responds to your arrival. To the west is the partly-ruined tower, to the northeast the stairs; all quiet, as far as you can tell.
Your tracking efforts indicate that the humanoid footprints lead up the stairs to the northeast.
Bataleigha puts one finger to her lips to indicate the need for quiet.
[mentally to Zinnath] Zinnath, tell the others to try to do all of their communicating telepathically through you. No sense advertising our presence here.
Then Bat creeps as quietly as she can to the arrow slits to take a peek through them.
To All: "Ok folks, Bat says that everyone should only communicate through me, so we can be quiet and sneak around."
Bat presses up against the arrow slits in the walls and squints, trying to make out anything that might be on the other sides.
Each of the arrow slits has a small room on the other side. They seem to be dual-purpose -- the rooms are bedrooms, storage rooms, or the like, but obviously in the case of an invasion archers would rush in and use the arrow slits to shoot at intruders. Fortunately for you, the keep is now mostly abandoned and there's nobody home.
Bat is able to identify a trophy room to the north with a bunch of musty and mangy animal heads mounted on the walls, and a moldy bedroom to the east, but other than that she sees nothing of interest - and nothing hostile.
Enoby, grasped with curiosity, follows the footprints to the bottom of the stairs. She listens carefully for the sounds of anyone who may be present at the top:
Then, regardless, she creeps up the stairs, arrow knocked and bow ready, with the intent of stopping just short of the top and attempting to get a peek at the room above without revealing her presence to any potential occupants.
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Imagine the coldest, purest river water: chilling to the bone. Then imagine that water fully frozen and carved into the most exquisite pair of short blades, meant to slip between ribs and quietly end the lives of those they are directed against.
Those are the very specific icy daggers Enoby whipped her head around and stared towards Deko and his complete and utter disregard for even the Broadest Concepts of Stealth(tm).
Enoby quietly sneaks to the top of the short steps. Deko makes her caution pointless.
Fortunately, nobody seems to be around to care.
You note that there are hallways heading west of the raised area, and south. Each hallway has several doors, which presumably open into the rooms that Bat was spying into through the arrow slits. Though Bat did her best to look through the slits, they don't provide a very wide field of vision and her view of the rooms was incomplete.
There's also a doorway on the northeast side of the raised area.
All of the doors look old, worn, and weathered. Moisture has taken its toll and they are likely stuck in their sagging frames, so they would require some effort (and noise) to open.
Bataleigha climbs the stairs and looks around a bit.
[mentally to Zinnath] "Care to look around a bit, O Scary Scout? Be sure to report back as soon as you see anything."
Fezzik watched as Enoby quietly moved up the stairs. Even when he focused, he could not hear her move. "I could never be that quiet. Good thing I don't need to. I'll leave the sneaking around to her," he thought to himself.
Once Deko made their presence known to whomever might be nearby, he walked up to the top of the stairs. He waited outside in case Enoby wanted to sneak around some more inside. Once she was done and waived him in, he entered the building.
All: "I will scout forward as Bat requested."
Zinnath will go forward trying to be as non-scary, or non-noticeable, as possible!
+4 in forests
After receiving Zinnath's feedback, Bataleigha heads for the northwest corridor, listening for a moment at each of the southern doors there while searching for obvious traps .