Yeah, sure, lets go to the tower that might fall and crush us first! Great idea, guys! Gods, I need smarter company... Brynn thinks to herself.
She takes a deep breath.... and smiles.
As the others discuss how to get into the tower, Brynn joins them, sure to stay near the back in case of further collapse.
"Are you prepared for everything, Vors?" Brynn teases.
She watches as he tosses the grappling hook and lets the others go up the rocky ramp first.
Brynn waits for the others to go first. If it doesn't collapse on them she follows.
Easily, and with great panache and grace!
Before she passes out of sight of the crowds below, Brynn waves at them and smiles.
"Are you prepared for everything, Vors?" Brynn teases.
"Most things, but this time Pharasma decided to cut the half-orc some slack."
Finding what he thinks looks like a study section of the wall, Vors whips his grappling hook, which the half-orc attached to his rope, up the side of the ruined building.
The grappling hook takes purchase on the black stone. It seems sturdy. It should not be easier to climb up using the rope as support.
When Brynn does her, extremely smooth, climb up and turns to what crowd is left from earlier. She gets a few claps. One man gives up a very audible "Woooop! Nice!". You are pretty sure you have a fan.
Open to the sky above, this exposed upper floor contains only some smashed furniture and a sprinkling of rubble. A trap door is set in the floor against he northwest wall, but a stout timber has fallen across it.
Brynn enters the room last and looks around as she lets someone else move the rubble.
Grilnik stretches before climbing up first.
"Thanks, Vors."
Grilnik turns to everyone "I'll see you all at the top; may Kurgess guide our arms and legs."
Grilnik watches over the edge, waiting for everyone else to climb up.
Bethany, clearly overwhelmed by all the commotion follows the group along.
"Um I am not much of a climber." she considers leaving her hammer at the bottom but it might be useful instead she take the heavy rope out of her pack so she can make the climb.
Must not forget that it cost good money.
"I will be a couple of minutes here."
After some great struggle she makes the climb.
"Um I am not much of a climber." she considers leaving her hammer at the bottom but it might be useful instead she take the heavy rope out of her pack so she can make the climb.
Must not forget that it cost good money.
"I will be a couple of minutes here."
After some great struggle she makes the climb.
Vors looks down from the edge of the tower, seeing Bethany struggle, decides to help pull her up with the rope.
"Don't worry, Bethany. Take your time. You can handle this." Brynn encourages Bethany as she climbs up.
"Well now, that was clearly one of the reason I didn't make it as a carpenter."
When Brynn's done searching the rubble for valuables she walks up the the timber blocking the trap door.
"Well that's unfortunate," she muses aloud. "Looks heavy..."
And filthy...
Frustrated by the climb Bethany looks at the heavy timber and smiles.
"Lets see if I can get that out of the way." That climb was embarrassing, at least I am use to moving lumber.
Hoping this will be an easy win to redeem herself she grabs and moves the beam.
Brynn nods her head and smiles. "Nicely done, Bethany."
Grilnik removes some dirt from his pouch which disappears as he casts a spell "Longstrider."
He looks to the others "Shall I go first?"
"It's a dark, caverous hole in the ground, Grilnik", joked Vors. "We wouldn't want to insult you."
"Oh, of course, Grilnik. After you." Brynn says with a pleasant smile.
As Grilnik turns around Brynn draws her bow and has it ready just in case...
Opening the trap door:
The tower's large ground floor has mostly collapsed under the rubble, but along the western portion of the room a section remains clear of debris. An iron trap door set in the floor is directly below a companion door in the ceiling above (the one you are looking through). Shattered wooden furniture lies scattered around the corpses of two small, green-scaled creatures. 2 more Kobolds.
The only source of light here is what shifts in through the open trap door above. You get the impression its going to only get darker as you go in.
As you open the trap door in this floor and look down, now looking below the surface of the ground.
The walls of this chamber have buckled precariously in several places, and masonry and dirty are scatttered across the floor- the collapse above plainly caused this structural damage. The dry-rotted frames of five simple beds lie against the north and south walls. To the southwest, the room broadens into a larger chamber. A rusted, grinning iron statue stands in an alcove in the north wall between the two wings of the room itself, and in the wall to the south is an old iron door. You are looking into this room from the chamber above.
"Grilnik if you want to lead that is fine, I am happy to be up in the front of things as well but I will need a light source and cant carry a torch and my hammer very well."
She climbs, either 1st or 2nd, down and looks around nervous, anxious or excited it is hard to tell but this is a completely new thing for Bethany.
"Grilnik if you want to lead that is fine, I am happy to be up in the front of things as well but I will need a light source and cant carry a torch and my hammer very well."
"Bethany, remind me when we get to a larger city to help you find an ioun stone," commented Vors. "Best handless light source money can buy. It just floats around your head or you can direct it in front of you. Kinda expensive, but worth it. I have some old friends in Oppara that swear by them."
Ioun stones are trivial things... he says, Conjuring four Dancing Lights. The spheres together glowed as brightly as a torch. I can produce enough light, at a fraction of the price of an Iuon stone. Besides, one does not simply buy Ioun stones to use as torches... he says.
Verik makes his way up the rope slowly but surely. When he gets into the room with the others he searches about, mostly examining things. Anyone gonna go on down there? he asks.
"Lovely, Verik!" Brynn exclaims at the sight of his dancing lights. "They're beautiful."
Looking down into the last room described, Brynn raises an eyebrow. "Is it safe to go down there? It looks unstable."
Brynn waits until she's sure its safe before following the others into the room.
Bethany grins as the lights appear.
"Perfect. It looks safe enough shall we she what we find? Five hundred gold sounds pretty good to me."
If she dosn't see a problem when she climbs down she will signal to the others and keep her eyes open.
Verik shrugs. I don't think it a good idea, but if someone went down there... We should do it one at a time. That way we wouldn't cause structural Damage. he says, willing the lights go into the room and illuminate it.
Brynn watches closely from above to see if the tower collapses on Bethany, or if anything attacks her...
As Bethany drops down everyone is watch to see what happens.
There is a bit of quite in this dark underground room. Bethany is pretty sure she is alone in this room, but Brynn lowers her head into the room and notices 2 of the beds in the far part of the room start to move. The decaying sheets start to writhe. Just as 2 large Centipedes wriggle out of the beds!
Round 1
Brynn gets a surprise round
All PCs
Bugs!
Giant Centipede. Not a ton of health, but have a sweet poison!
Surprise Round:
"Get down!" she warns Bethany.
Brynn takes aim with her bow, firing down into the room at the centipede she has the best view on.
Round 1:
Brynn focuses her magic, sending it into her bow. She takes aim at the same centipede she just shot (or another one if she miraculously happened to kill that one already) and fires another arrow at it.
Brynn clearly has no intention of moving down into the room with Bethany.
You shoot from the hole in the ceiling, right past Bethany's head into these writing creature. A focused moment of power lets you shoot another one right into it, killing it.
"Giant bugs?"
Despite being first down Bethany advances on the the creatures hammer in hand and attempts to smash the creature.
" Grrraahh."
"Nasty bugs."
Verik looks at the insects and cringes, Bugs where Definitely not his thing. He holds up a hand and chants some arcane words before a beam of cold shoots from his hand at the Bug. I'm afraid I wasn't prepared to fight! he says once his spell is cast.
The young girl with her massive hammer runs forward, seeing the centipede in the bed, and brings her hammer down right on top of it. The centipede's carapace crushes, and the hammer keeps going down into the bed frame, which collapses under the full weight of the blow. All that is left is some legs and a green stained ancient sheet surrounded by old wood.
The room goes quiet. Bethany the only one in this dark room. Small growing orbs hovering around the center of the room.
The glow of the orbs brings to light what looks like an iron statue covered in what looks like rust stains to the north, piles of rags, old beds, an iron door to the south.
She stands there breathing deep for a moment. I hope it was hostile.
"Guys, come down here. The bugs are pretty dead."
Bethany backs towards the opening and stands ready with her hammer, a little shaken by what just happened.
At least no one was hurt.
Verik climes down into the room with the barbarian, sniffing around for any other bugs... Sorry, I may have warned you, but it was too far away for my nose to pick up.. he says, prodding the dead bug with his walking stick. Least you know how to use your hammer...
As Verik jumps down. His nose catches a wiff of blood, old blood, coming from somewhere in the area.
Verik frowns... There is blood... Not from the centipede. Verik begins looking round, his nose twitching.
Verik spends a moment focusing on the smell. Within a few second he can tell the smell of old blood is coming from the old iron statue. The rust stains, are actually blood. There also seems to be blood.. inside?
Grilnik climbs down into the room, looking at the stonework for anything strange or dangerous.
"Blood? Is everyone okay?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You can tell this room is damaged, but it will hold as long as you do no damage the walls any more you should be fine. You can also tell that the stone walls farther south, are old. They seem to be over 1000 years old. You can tell these where part of an old castle, though the majority of the castle is gone. The last remaining tower having fallen earlier today.
While looking at the stonework, you notice a glint of something shiny coming from some of the rags near the wall you are inspecting.
That child's going to bring the whole tower down!
"Nice swing, Bethany,"Brynn compliments as she nimbly hops down into the room. "We're lucky you didn't take down the whole tower with that swing!" she 'jokes.'
"Where?" Brynn asks Verik and Grilnik.
Unable to see what's happening down below due to Brynn's arrow display, Vors waits until there a lull in the fighting to nimbly descend down the trapdoor.
The half-orc lands, drawing his rapier as he stands.
Brynn moves into the room, looking around for valuables and staying away from the most damaged parts of the room.
"I got luck I think. The hammer, my brother gave it to me as a joke... not the time."
She moves to the statue with the others not sure what she is looking for but recognizing the blood.
"Something dead in that? This place is kind of unpleasant isn't it."
Verik approaches the statue, looking it up and down. This statue has bloodstains on it... And it smells like there's more inside... I don't know of any way something like that could happen... Verik casts a small spell, holding his hand out to examine the statue.
"These stones seem experienced. I wonder how old this place is..." Grilnik looks down at the glint as he continues "also, glad no one needs healing at the moment..."
Grilnik then picks up the shiny stuff and tries to examine it while approaching the thing that appears to be both bleeding and a statue.
Kobolds up on the 1st floor
They seemed to have died from the collapse of the part of the tower. Rubble and wood has hit them in the head, bleeding out.
Statue
After a short while looking over the statue you realize that it isn't a statue, but an iron maiden. You are able to open it, being only a small clasp on the side. As soon as you open it a humanoid statue falls out. No meat left on the bones. This has been here awhile. As it falls you notice a rusty metal key clatters to the floor.
Shiny Objects
As Grilnik pulls back some of the rags, most of which nearly dissolve in his hands, he notices a pile of rusted weapons, and ruined fragments of armor. But among the junk are 2 nearly perfect daggers.
They still hold their shine extremely well. The handles do show some age. The daggers seem to have strange notches carved into the flat side of the blade.