An old cast-iron furnace and a pile of coal occupy the corners of this cramped chamber. Ash and fallen rubble clutter the area around the furnace where the chimney above has collapsed.
In the corner of the room a young boy is bound and sobbing. He looks at you with fear and in a shaky voice, says, Who's there? Was I being too loud? Did Daktani send you to punish me?
"No lad, ye weren't too loud. We're dwarves from Trunau. We'll get ye out of here. Who's Daktani? Who're ye? An' how did ye get down here?" Drosk asks, moving to release the boy.
Daktani is the half-orc that told me he would eat me if I was too loud! He might return any minute and then he'll eat you too! My name is Othdan and my farm is near here in Trunau. I came here because I was looking for my dog. He got loose and sometimes we come here together. I thought he might be here but instead I found Daktani! The boy's face blanches in disgust I've been here for several nights now! Daktani met someone here but they spoke a language I'd never heard before so I don't know what they said. Hurry please before Daktani comes back! He's mean!
Bormann responds, "If Daktani is the half-orc we have defeated and captured, you have no need to fear. We will be taking him back to town to face justice once we have finished searching this place."
"If you have been down here for a while, did you notice anything the half-orc was doing? Was he digging around?"
The boy looks relieved. He didn't seem to be doing anything. He would just meet with the other one and they would talk and then he would come by and tell me he was going to eat me and then leave. They did say one word a lot - Skrod or steed or something like that.
"Let us bring the boy with us, after searching the rest of this hole, and then head back to the sheriffs' office." suggests Gnok.
Greta steps in and kneels beside the boy. "Child, we are from Trunau and we will see you home safe. But first, we must ensure that no one else suffers here as you have suffered. Can you brave for me, for just a little longer?"
They did say one word a lot - Skrod or steed or something like that.
'Skrod'? That's a kind of fish, isn't it? Doubt there's much fish down here. Drosk thinks to himself.
"Could they've been sayin' 'Skreed'?" Drosk asks Othdan, remembering the runes painted on the Freestone upstairs.
"Let's check behind these other doors quick an' then head back to town. Othdan's parents are surely frantic with worry, an' ol' Daktani's got a date with the Guard an' the Council."
Drosk heads back to the chamber where Bormann and Kranzer killed the flood troll, and listens at the door on the western wall.
Bormann backs Drosk up as he checks out the door in the dead troll room. "We seem to be uncovering more mystery than answers. I hope the people in charge in Trunau will get something out of that half-orc."
"Child, we are from Trunau and we will see you home safe. But first, we must ensure that no one else suffers here as you have suffered. Can you brave for me, for just a little longer?"
The boy smiles up at Greta. Oh thank you! I thought for sure he was going to eat me! Don't leave me. I can stay near you but not be underfoot. My Ma says that is a talent of mine!
"Could they've been sayin' 'Skreed'?"
That's it! That's the word they kept saying over and over! Skreed!
The walls of this chamber are pocked with skull-sized cubbyholes, each containing a single brass or clay urn—some long since shattered or dented, others still intact. A lightly colored stone statue depicting a burning chariot wheel occupies the northwest corner of the room. Two iron doors on the eastern wall allow egress from the room.
Bormann spends some time looking in and through cubbyholes. but so far his search comes to naunauy.
"Drosk do you know what this is?" asks Gnok as he points out the clear cube to him.
From the doorway Drosk studies the clear cube indicated by Gnok.
As he studies the room Drosk also casts a minor cantrip to reveal magical auras.
Unfortunately, Just as Gnok and Drosk start to warn that there is something in the misddle of the room, Bormann enters and the gelatinous cube attacks.
Since the cube was trying to be still, its attack is awkward and it misses.
"Gah! I almost walked right into that!" Bormann shouts as he chops back at the transparent jelly.
Gnok and Jocosa move to the southern door into the room and Gnok opens it.
Round One:
"Bormann, slam the door on it!" Drosk advises his companion as he steps into the space vacated by Gnok and draws his crossbow. As if to emphasize his words the dwarf wizard stomps his foot and a noxious cloud of yellowish-green vapor erupts from the stone floor to envelope the gelatinous mass in acidic fumes.
Gnok and Jocasa move to the southern door in an attempt to get at the cube from another angle. Bormann slashes the cube with his axe damaging it.
Drosk envelops the cube in an acidic cloud, but the cube seemed to resist.
The cube tries to slam Bormann and suceeds.
Greta looks concerned as she unslings her mace once more. She keeps an eye on Bormann in case he is harmed. If he seems hurt or worse, she'll drag him back to heal him!
The blow from the pseudopod doesn't seem to bother the dwarf much, but the slime gets to him. Bormann's muscles go slack and he slumps.
Kranzer[BOT] sees Bormann slump to the ground in front of the cube. I'll save ye, cousin! he shouts as him and Greta drag Bormann through the doorway.
"Lets get it girl" whispers Gnok to Jocosa, then he moves up to where he can hit the creature and he hits it hard.
Jocosa growls at the command, and moves up to next to the creature also and tries to bite it, but misses.
Round Two:
"Gnok! Bormann is down!" Drosk calls to the druid. "Othdan! Backup down the hallway!" the wizard directs the young boy as he fires his crossbow at the gelatinous creature. Once the bolt is fired he reloads his weapon as he takes a step back, pushing the young boy back behind him.
Gnok attacks the cube from the south shearing off a healthy chunk of it with his scimitar. Jocosa sinks her teeth into the cube. Bormann, pulled back to safety, but paralyzed, curses the cube in his mind. Drosk yells for Othdan to get out of the way while a bolt from his crossbow buries itself into the cube.
The cube tries to engulf both Gnok & Jocosa.
As the creature attacks, Gnok manages to get another attack in and hits the creature.
Seeing his companion stand his ground, Jocosa critically injures the creature.
Greta draws and loads her light crossbow, raising it to fire!
As the cube engulfs Gnok and Jocosa, they take one last opportunity to inflict some damage on it. Greta draws and loads her crossbow and takes aim at the cube. Kranzer[BOT] fires an arrow at the cube.
Gnok, engulfed by the creature finds he cannot move his limbs at all.
Like his friend, Jocosa finds that he can not move at all.
Round Three:
"Don't touch it! Just keep shootin' it!" Drosk exclaims as he fires another bolt at the gelatinous mass. "If we break its surface tension enough it should collapse!" he adds as he reloads his crossbow.
Gnok and Jocosa are paralyzed as the cube engulfs them. Bormann is also paralyzed, but unlike Gnok and Jocosa can breathe. Drosk buries another crossbow bolt into the cube. The cube slowly advances and tries to slam Kranzer.
The cube misses Kranzer, who [BOT] retaliates with an attack of his own.
Greta fires and reloads! for damage!
A well-placed shot from Greta causes the cube to burst leaving a paralyzed Gnok and Jocosa covered in gelatinous slime!
Greta reslings her crossbow and moves forward to see to Gnok and Jocosa. She examines them, careful to keep the slime's acid off herself as much as possible. "I think they'll be okay, though they're paralyzed now. They should recover shortly."
Even though Bormann was struck first, both Gnok and Jocosa come out of their paralysis a bit earlier. But, wake he does.
"Ugh. My limbs were suddenly numb and beyond my control. My apologies, sister and brothers, for letting you down."
Coming out from the paralysis, Gnok looks quickly around and to make sure everyone is alright, especially Jocosa. "Well that was not fun."
"Othdan! Come on back, lad!" Drosk calls, motioning for the young boy to return to the group. "Ye don't want to get lost down here. We killed the giant jelly cube."
"Glad to see it didn't get a chance to eat ye," Drosk says to Bormann, Gnok, and Jocosa once their paralysis wears off. "Those jelly cubes are hard to spot an' harder to kill without them paralyzin' ye an' engulfin' ye."
"Now let's see what's so special about this room that someone would trap a jelly cube in it," the wizard says, stepping into the chamber to inspect the burning wheel statue. "This is a statue of Jingh, one of Iomedae's celestial emissaries," he informs his companions as he studies the statue.
Othdan peeks around the corner. I don't like this place. I never minded the burning smell or the moans but half-orcs and moving squares are just too much the youth stammers.
"Well do we go back to town since we have the boy, and the half-orc and come back later? Or do we stay here and finish up this now?"