Dylan will start a bardic performance inspire courage (+1 to hit and damage for allies)
Pulling back the sleeves on his extravagant robes, Milo cracked his knuckles, then bolted towards the creatures. "Finally, an excuse! I tell you, after that long boring ride here, I was beginning to fear I wouldn't get to strut my stuff!"
Running forward, sidestepping a few times as he was lining up the shot, he suddenly came to a stop. Blabbering a barrage of incomprehensible syllables, he extended his hands towards the centipedes. At first nothing happened, and Milo turned his hands and looked at them in surprise. He then turned to look at the others. "I swear, this doesn't usually happen. On my honor, my mighty magic isn't usually this...flaccid."
Then suddenly, sparks started flying from his fingertips, and he only just managed to react in time to point them towards the Centipedes once more.
A roiling inferno of flames poured from his palms, engulfing the Centipedes.
Round 1
Dylan- begins singing a rousing song, inspiring courage in his allies!
Milo- says some mumbo jumbo as he spurts raging hot flames from his finger tips!
One of the centipedes manages to scurry away, avoiding most of the blast. The other one... is not so lucky. It coils and I suppose gives its equivalent of a scream and it dies in the fire!
Barz -
Galen -
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Centipedes -
Seeing that fire is a good tool against these creatures Barz likewise prepares some. He rushes forward drawing out a small vile but his throw is badly off target.
He'll hum "Ride of the Valkyries" from the "Apocalypse Now" soundtrack
Round 1
Dylan- begins singing a rousing song, inspiring courage in his allies!
Milo- says some mumbo jumbo as he spurts raging hot flames from his finger tips!
One of the centipedes manages to scurry away, avoiding most of the blast. The other one... is not so lucky. It coils and I suppose gives its equivalent of a scream and it dies in the fire!
Barz - jimmy rigs some ingredients together and produces an alchemical bomb! He tosses it with expert accuracy and nails the remaining centipede square in the head. The bomb explodes and the monstrosity writhes in pain as it lets out its death knell, taking 11 fire damage!
Galen - runs up to the burnt up centipedes and drives his sword through one of their heads, just to make sure with an elegant cue de grace!
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Centipedes - die before they get a turn :(
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So, weird statue to the north, iron doors to the south.
Dylan will examin the statue curiously
Dylan, you seem to remember some bits of history about this place, and that it was once occupied by Canteclures before the Taldon armies came and liberated it.
This "statue" appears to actually be an iron maiden, an ancient torture device covered in what you now recognize as ancient blood stains. The device hangs open ever so slightly, and when you attempt to open it its one-time-prisoner spills out to the floor below. The device's last victim lays at your feet a pile of bones.
As the bones fall out, you notice a slight gleam in the torchlight. bending down, you find a rusted key amidst the rubble.
Dylan will pick it up and examine it, "Hey, I found a key. Who knows what it might open though. Unless whoever lived down here was in the habit of torturing their friends, this is probably the key to his front door or something. Still, you never know..." He'll put the key in his belt pouch.
"Or maybe he just liked to stash his key to that iron door here in an interesting place. Sure beats under the rug or a rock doesn't it?!" Milo said, laughing loudly and slapping his knee.
Returning to the door he was so rudely interrupted going to, he jumped for the handle as previously intended, trying to open it.
"Lets see if this sucker is locked then."
The door is not locked, and looking at the lock it becomes obvious that key does not belong to it.
You move south through the iron door. The next room goes about 20' east/west before hitting a hallway on each side leading south. Numerous jail cells lines these long-abandoned corridors. Each of their solid iron doors hangs ajar, and includes both a peephole at eye level, covered with a piece of sliding metal, and a smaller slot for food and water and floor level. Down the hall to the southwest, a curious semicircular stone ridge runs along the ceiling. The hallways also appear to continue on further than you can see in both directions.
"Wow... a dungeon. You guys take me to the nicest places."
"From what I remember, this area was once occupied by Canteclures before the Taldon armies came and liberated it. This place probably dates from that period, at least one hopes."
Does Dylan recognize the ridge formation?
Hearing the other two talking about the place, Milo blew a raspberry. "Boooring...honestly gents, who cares? All that matters is what's IN this place right?" He said, following Galen down the corridor. "Oh man! I hope there's some more critters around. Those last two were fun, but Id like something a little more interesting and fierce!"
Bouncing with barely contained glee, Milo nonetheless managed to take his precautions, moving silently in the bigger mans shadow.
Bouncing along, Milo sees something sparkle within one of the jail cells. The door is locked, but Dylan offers up his key which, surprisingly, does unlock the cell door! In some rubble in the corner, you find two shiny mithral daggers that have been intricately carved with strange patterns along the blade. The engravings are deep and keylike.
Following the ridge south and then down a hallway to the west, it doesn't take long until the ridge disappears into the wall at a point where the hall curves back up to the north.
Milo, being the perceptive little munchkin that he is, notices something strange about the southern wall at this point. It is fairly obvious that this is a secret door, as the outline of it is faintly visible due to shifting of the tower's foundations.
"Uuuuuuh uuuhuuhuuh!!!" Milo hooted, flailing his arms above his head and pointing at the wall excitedly. "Lookie here boys. Eagle eye himself has spotted something cool!"
Making the others aware of the door, sounding rather smug all the way, Milo then proceeded to see if the thing could be opened.
While Milo works on the secret door, Dylan will examine the daggers. He'll cast detect magic
Barz looks to Milo and hisses. You! Can you shut your mouth a little bit I mst concentrate!
Then the no nonsense ratman moves to the task at hand of opening the door, making sure it isn't trapped.
Perception
Disable Device
"Pfff, you're just sore I spotted the secret door first Mr. Concentrate." Milo retorted, crossing his arms and pouting in silence.
After a moment, he grew bored of that, instead leaning in and looking over Barzs shoulder. "So, whatcha doin'? Lookin' for something?" He asked in an uncharacteristically low voice, looking around.
Barz shoots Milo a sour look Kobold have good ears you know?
The hidden door slides open after a little bit of maneuvering and some good strong pulls. It opens up into another hallway of cells, similar to the one you came through. It goes to the south for about 40' and then makes a sharp curve left, to the east, before curving back up sharply to the north, forming a 'U' shape. In the center of the hallway are a row of cells, with an iron door in the center of them all.
(..C..C..ID..C..C..)
Barz looks to his companions.
I go look and open?! whether that was intended as a question or a statement isn't quite clear but the Ratling quickly scuttles to the door and examines it before pulling out his tools.
Perception
Disable Device
The door does not look to be trapped, though it is clearly locked.
"Well, this is boring." Milo muttered, looking around the new hallway. "Just more cells. Wheres the fun in that!?"
"Does the key work on this lock as well?"
Barz busies himself trying to pick the lock, but has no luck. Then Dylan casually walks up and tries the key, which instantly fits into the lock and unlocks the door.
As soon as Dylan puts his hand on the door to open it, the desperate face of a ghostly man appears in the iron bars in the door! It's pale, filthy hands grip the iron bars and it calls out:
"Oh, gods, kind faces! Aroden bless you, noble souls! I ain't seen the jailers in ages, I think they forgot about us! We ain't eaten in days and the water's all but gone - my cousins're both sick. I swear we'd give back the boar if we could, but we ate it, starvin' as we was. We didn't even know it was the baron's lands, didn't know we was poachin'! I beg you, we're all gonna die in here! Kindness, noble souls, we've suffered awful! Good Baron Sarvo wills it!"
Has Dylan heard of this Baron Sarvo?
At first a bit startled, Milo quickly regained his composure and replied, quite oblivious to the possible consequences of telling a ghost that he is in fact dead, looking at the prisoner with a curious look on his face. "Eeeh, I dunno if you've noticed there good chap, but I think you ran out of water a while ago...like a while a while ago." He held up his hands, finger quoting at the last bit. "Yer already dead me thinks." He looked at the ghost apologetically. "Dont see the harm in lettin' you out though. I mean, bein' dead is one thing, but dead AND imprisoned? Thats just mean!"
Dylan, you are not familiar with this Baron Sarvo.
As soon as Milo opens the door the apparition shrieks and then disappears! "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEERRR, GAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, Milo, Barz and Dylan fall to the floor clutching their stomachs, convinced that they are in fact locked in a dark cell starving and dying of dehydration!
The terrifying vision lasts only a few moments.
"Wait....hold on...yeah, Im seein' the harm now." Milo gasped, clutching at his aching belly and squirming in the fetal position.
As the pain cleared, he leapt to his feet, shaking his fist at the ceiling. "Dont say thanks or anythin' you lousy ghost!!!" Realizing suddenly the state he was in, he held his head and exhaled sharply. "Whew, ghostin' really knocks the wind out of you doesnt it?" He said, staggering wobbly-legged into the cell. "This better have been worth the trouble." He muttered, as he looked around the cell.
Dylan will sit up slowly and lean against the wall with his head in his hands, "Wow. That really sucked."
Milo, apparently not distracted by terrible and sudden hunger, notices the cell is completely empty. He also notices yet another hidden door located in the back of the room, this one latched by a cleverly hidden lock in the cell walls. Once again, Dylan's key unlocks it.
A narrow corridor stretches out for about 40'. At the end of the path is a strange metallic contraption of gears and chains. A large lever extends out at a forty-five degree angle from the front of it.
Barz looks at Dylan a bit ashamed.
Barz should have thought about that... the Ratflok confeses. But merely a moment later they are haunted by a grizzly apparition and ridden by some painful magic or haunting.
What is a sucked? Barz inquires as he searches the cell with milo.
Aid another to Milo's perception.
"Sucked is what the ghost just did to us... and the state he left us in. Is it o.k. if we hang out here for a bit? I want to morn the loss of my inocence, or blood, or whatever it took when it screamed off."
Ah interesting. Barz replies as he pulls out a notebook and scribbles some things down.
Yes resting just a bit would be good. I don't feel well either.
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Galen is astounded by the haunt and the effect it has on his mates. "Inheritor protect me!" he cries as the haunt shrieks. Exhaling heavily, he begins helping his obviously injured mates up.
When they find the second secret door, and cry out to rest, Galen offers to stand guard for a while so they can all recover. He looks at the gears and lever curious about what it might activate.
It seems the contraption connects to a chain that runs up to the ceiling and into a curved ridge identical to the one you saw earlier.
Galen, you notice that above the levers and gears is what seems to be a lone spark of electricity. Every now and then, tendrils of sparks shoot out of it and along the chain. It is around the size of a house cat. It does not appear to be moving or aware of you. In fact, it doesn't appear sentient.
You find something interesting there Galen?
The rat man resting against the wall inquires curiously.
"Uuuuuhhh!" Milo said, looking at the spark with big eyes. "Its so....SPARKLY!" For a moment he looked as if he would reach for it, but luckily thought better of it.
Dylan looks up briefly, "No, I've no idea."
Interesting... the rat man muses from my experience always good to pull the lever!