We'll be using you for firewood tonight! Kit says as his axe smacks into the tree.
Hilde screams and hacks at the tree, as if chopping wood.
Round 1, Initiative Count 8
Dilwyn was not expecting the tree to attack, and is quite surprised. He takes a moment to think, trying to see if he can recognize what sort of tree this might be, or if perhaps it's some sort of creature masquerading as a tree. There isn't a whole lot of time to spare, however, so as he thinks he wades into melee range and tries to thwack it with his staff.
"Bad tree," he admonishes it as he thumps it. "Why do you want to go being a jerk for?"
Round 1, Initiative 3
Iskender considered the problem, but not seeing a way to disarm a tree, he decided instead to start a bard song. +1/+1 to allies.
vs Hilde AC 14
Kit steps up to the tree and smacks it. Hilde surprised that a tree attacked her, returns the favor but misses. Dilwyn tries to figure out what the tree is and is concentrating on his thoughts, that he misses the tree also. Zaladrel provides the group with a bit of serendipity, and Iskender, figuring he can't trip a tree, begins his bardic songs to help the group also.
Right in front of you, the tree changes shape into a large and lanky moss-colored humanoid that has an elongated, toothy snout and appears to be covered in bits of foliage. It still reaches out with a claw to attack Hilde and wounds her. The creatures wounds also seem to heal slightly.
I don't know what you are, but you aren't very friendly! Kit says as he smacks the tree again.
Hilde keeps attacking at the creature, silently.
"Now that's something you don't see every day," says Dilwyn surprised. "Listen here, tree-thing-person, you can continue to be a jerk and we'll kill you in self-defense, or you you can surrender and explain yourself and we can probably come to some sort of understanding. The longer you take, though, the more angry you're going to make Hilde, though, and the worse your chances will be." Even as he implores the creature to desist, he doesn't expect it to actually listen, and it's doubtful whether it can even understand, so in the spirit of the assumption he swings his staff at it again.
Round 2, Initiative 3
Iskender continues his bardsong, and moves 5' north and then 15' east. He will attempt to trip the creature with his whip...
Zal continues to focus his efforts and slides into position next to Hilde, using the enchanted mace to try to chip away at the creature...
Kit swings at the tree and hits it hard, almost taking it down. Hilde rages, but misses with her swing. Dilwyn bashes the creature and it sits down, but does not die. Zaladrel also hits it, and continues the damage, while Iskender manages to wrap his whip around it and drag it down.
The creature, although wounded so it can not stand, is healing at a rapid pace, and soon will be able to stand and attack.
Remember +1/+1 for bardsong, and +4 to hit it while it's prone.
Hilde proceeds to chop wood as if winter is around the corner.
Why don't you just stay down?! Kit shouts frustrated.
Dilwyn, also, continues to wail on the thing. As far as he can tell, there are two reasons a creature might continuously heal off incoming damage. One of those two can be overwhelmed by enough damage. Hopefully this is an example of that type, rather than the alternative. Otherwise they're going to have to start experimenting with alternative types of damage to discover this thing's weakness.
Continuing the attacks on the downed creature, it finally succumbs to the massive onslaught and stops twitching.
Hilde moves to the southernmost door and tries to open it. If unable to do it the easy way, she will bash it open.
Gah! Do we even know what that thing is..or was? Kit says as he carefully leans down to examine tree-man.
Hilde moves to the southern door and flings it open, apparently unhappy that she does not have the opportunity to put her boot thru it, and you see a room beyond.
This room is empty except for a few scattered bits of rubble and a large fireplace in the southwest corner. Broken windows in the walls, as well as a handful of small cracks in the mortar, emit a chill breeze, creating an eerie whistle. A wooden door leads north. This looks to have been a kitchen at one time.
Back to the main room, Hilde opens the northern door and reveals what must have been servants quarters at one time.The remains of three skeletons draped in rotting leather armor lie heaped in this dusty, otherwise bare, room. One of the skeletons still clutches a magical dagger in its right hand, and its skull rests on a leather satchel which contains 58 gp, 13 sp, an onyx statuette of an Arvarenhode raven, and a potion.
Going back thru the kitchen, you enter the northern room. A half-eroded, wooden rack traces the edge of this room’s northeast wall, next to the open door of a small, cobweb-filled storage closet. Near the middle of the south wall, a set of narrow stairs spirals up and down. While this looks like an old armory and guardroom, there are no weapons or anything else useful in the rack.
On the potion...
"It would appear that below these stairs is where the primary danger lurks," suggests Dilwyn as they search through the ground floor. "I suggest we make our preparations, then stride boldly down to meet it head-on. The upstairs and whatever might be found there can probably wait until after we know if there are still people to rescue. Speaking of preparations, let me see to these wounds." He lays a hand on one of the places where the tree scratched Hilde and casts his prepared cure light on her.
Iskender will likewise heal Dilwyn...
"As unlikely as it sounds, that potion will make you invisible."
Hilde smiles at Dilwyn, and nods.
She shakes her head, making his neck crack, and smiles fiercely.
When everyone is ready, she descends the Stairs, again pretending to be stealthy.
Kit smiles as Hilde 'looks' like she is being stealthy but in reality her footfalls echo down the stairs - loudly. He proceeds to follow her down the stairs.
Dilwyn follows as well, taking up the rear in case something either comes from behind or tries manages to circumvent them. It also, coincidentally, allows him a few extra moments before having to go underground where he becomes visibly uncomfortable. It's one thing to be indoors with a simple roof between him and the sky, but it's quite another to have solid rock in the way. If it's dark, he'll cast light on one of the decorative darkwood bracelets that he's been wearing recently.
Zal follows wordlessly, taking in the surroundings of the house but lost in some contemplation at the mixture of death and strange creatures that have taken over the house. What could account for such a culmination of forces?
Reaching the bottom of the circular stairwell going down, you come to a hallway. Murky, brown water fills this wide corridor, rising just short of several burial niches that run along the walls, each filled with old bones bound in decayed funeral wrappings. To the north, a short flight of stairs leads from the water to a massive stone door bearing strange carvings. The rest of the flooded hall splits into corridors running northeast and south. The water is just shy of being three feet deep.
"This is quite unpleasant," Dilwyn comments as the water rises up his legs and down his boots when he steps into it. "The door seems like the obvious choice, and the driest. It might be locked or trapped, though. I can watch the corridor while someone else checks it out." Holding his staff out of the water with one hand, and the wrist with the light spell on it above his head with the other, he sloshes into a defensive position by the corner and watches and listens down the soggy hallway for signs of life or movement.
Iskender holds his wand in his left hand, whip in the right.
"This is quite unpleasant,"
I couldn't agree more! Kit says as he sniffs the air. He will then dip his axe into the water swirling it around before he steps into it. Of course its cold to boot!
Hilde goes to the door and opens it, if possible.
If not, it's bashing time.
Kit sloshes through the water following Hilde to the door.
Zal, sword and shiled in hand, continues to move with the group but lets Hilde and Kit lead the way to the proposed door...
Hilde moves to the doorway to the north, and tries to open it but it is locked and she sees a keyhole in the heavy stone door. Giving the door a good kick as her wont to open locked doors by breaking them down,she fails to budge the door. She then tries to damage the door instead of break it open, and even though she landed a solid blow she was not able to do enough damage to even take a chip out of it.
Hilde keeps pummeling the door unless somebody stops her.
She seems to enjoy it, and start to get a rhythm to it.
After a minute or so of Hilde's banging away on the door without success, Dilwyn sloshes over and puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't blow all your strength on a door," he suggests. "I'm sure we'll need it before long. If we continue down this hallway there might be another way in, or maybe we can find a spare key or something. There's still two more directions to try. I'm thinking the left fork has the best chance of getting us to the other side of this door."
Iskender approaches the door and gives it a look. Also using detect magic to determine if the lock is magically held in some way.
"If we absolutely need to get in here, I can possibly assist."
Hilde smiles at Dilwyn and stops hitting the door.
Dilwyn smiles back at Hilde, then turns to Iskender. "If you think you can get us through it, then I'd say go ahead and try what you can. After all the pounding, doubtless anything on the other side is already alerted to our presence. I'd prefer to deal with it now, rather than have whatever it might be come out after we've given up, then sneak after us and take us by surprise while we're dealing with something else farther down the line. Or worse, cut off our escape if we need to make a hasty exit."
As requested, Iskender goes into his pouch and pulls forth the chime of opening.
He points it at the door in question and activates it...
Kit stands in awe as Hilde assaults the door. He starts to bob his head to the rhythm and so is a little dismayed when Iskender takes out his chime. He grips his axe tightly waiting for whatever is on the other side.