Knowing a little bit about stables and sure that there must be something in there that they can use to tie him up Windi searches the barn.
Also she dons her armor.
Once Tippy, Jericho, and Windi are all close enough, Sarela utters a quick prayer to Iomedae for healing energy, bathing her allies in the righteous healing light of Iomedae.
Jericho calls up quietly, "Windi, we're down here, we found a secret door but set off a trap. Tippy is hurt badly, but that's now slowing down our stubborn halfling. Please come down and heal him."
"Thanks, Sarela. So which door are we taking?"
Windi ties up the mute stable hand and crouches in front of him. "I know more of being bound than you can imagine, and it pains me to have to do this. You see we need to investigate becuase you haven't been very forthcoming with us and we can't have you running off while we get to the bottom of this. Don't try anything please." Windi draws her straps on her shield, sheaths her sword, and descends the ladder. " You two certainly made enough noise finding this place," she says with a hint of irritation inbher voice. "but I must say, good job. As for the direction we will go this way." she points to the south.
Windi uses her shield to push open the south door and strikes a warriors pose as she enters making sure that anything beyond the door cannot get passed her defenses. Her sword however is sheathed.
She looks around for any discernible threat.
No special vision
You open the southern door and see a long 10' wide hallway lit by sconces on the wall that goes down 50' before turning west.
Tippy motions for the girls to hang back a bit as he and Jer move forwards quietly and carefully.
Tippy draws two daggers from his boots, then promptly drops one on the ground, making a clinking sound. He blushes and picks up the fumbled blade.
Jericho draws his bastard sword and follows Tippy.
Jericho hears faint slushing sounds from around the corner approaching in the next few seconds. What do you do?
Windi kisses her holy symbol and tucks it into her armor. Still holding the shield out in front of her she crouches, ready attack whatever it is coming down the hall.
Sarela waits to see what Tippy and Jericho tell them lies around the corner.
Hearing sounds, the slushy creatures rush over and come into view. You see two roiling waves of flesh gush forward. Amid the fatty surge wriggle half-formed limbs and a dripping tumorous face.
Tippy takes a 5-foot step forward and flings both daggers at the reddish blob of flesh.
He then clicks one of his wrist sheathes, causing a cold iron dagger to drop out into his hand.
What are these abominations?
Tippy's dagger buries itself in the creature, but he can tell that its tough skin protected it from damage.
Round 1:
Both devils rush forward to claw in a charge at Tippy, but the halfling easily avoids the clumsy blows!
"Disgusting devils, time to put you down!" Jericho grips his bastard sword 2-handed and swings at the devil wounded by Tippy.
"I send you back to hell"
Windi quickly draws her handaxe and flings it at the creature, trying to thread the gap between her two companions.
It is not an accurate throw...
"This hallway is to damn narrow" She curses to her self.
Just realized my Initiative should be a +2, but it wouldn't have mattered in this fight.
Tippy leaps into the air, twirling in an effort to avoid attacks.
Unfortunately, that will provoke an AoO from blue dot, and he fails to get through.
He stabs anyway.
”These are lemures! They are devilkind, and vulnerable to holy weapons or silver!”
Sarela draws out her longsword and begins a weapon display to exhort her allies to victory.
As they charged, the ranger's strike is true, inflicting 5 damage (after DR) on the wounded devil, but it still lives! Windi's handaxe misses the mark and Sarela inspires. Tippy fails his acrobatics check and misses his attack.
Round 2:
The wounded lemure attacks Jericho, while the fresh one attacks Tippy, but all attacks miss poorly except one.
Windi points at the wounded craeture and a bolt of fire shots from her hand.
.
Sarela, seeing that Tippy was in dire straits, prayed to Iomedae to heal those who fought against these devils.
Tippy, feeling reinvigorated, attempts again to get behind the lemures.
Again he fails to get over the lemure and again triggers an AoO from the one he’s trying to jump over.
Jericho attacks the wounded devil again, gripping his bastard sword in both hands, inspired by Sarela's swordsmanship!
If he kills it, he moves forward 5'.
Windi's firebolt strikes the lemure, but it seems to revel in the fire and is completely unharmed by it.
Sarela heals the party.
Jericho's blow pierces the devil's damage reduction and kills it.
Round 2:
The lemure moans and tries to claw Tippy twice again, but the halfling is too elusive and it strikes nothing but air! Even when Tippy tries to vault over the devil and fails, it misses its attack.
Tippy has an easier time of it now and literally bounces off the wall to land directly behind the lemure. He’ll either attack now or wait for Jer to 5 foot step sideways to give him a flank.
Never mind.
Windi sees an opening and steps up to strike. she uses all he strength to take down the creature.
With the creature surrounded, Sarela again exhorts her comrades further, putting on another impressive delay of swordsmanship.
Jericho happily flanks the devil with Tippy!
In case Sarela’s Inspire is active when Tippy attacks...
Round 3:
The lemure concentrates on Jericho, who hurt it most last round, scratching the ranger once.
Tippy growls at the creature for ignoring him before choosing to make the devil pay for its stupidity. He clicks a second dagger from his wrist sheathe and lays into the creature.
Of course, maybe the devil is right in ignoring him.
This thing is stronger than I'd expected, be careful" Windi swings her sword.
"Stand firm! We will vanquish this beast of evil!" Sarela continues exhorting her compatriots with her display of swordsmanship.
Windi's sword blow removes the lemure's head, ending the battle. Afterward, you continue exploring the cellar area and discover the two lemures were the extent of the guard forces. You reach a cell area, where four beaten dwarves are manacled, their quiet moans indicating to you that they are still alive.
”Psst!” Tippy says, coming up on the cell doors. ”Are you folks the diplomatic envoy from Highhelm?”
Tippy takes 20 to check the door locks for traps. Assuming there are none, and no convenient key ring hanging on a hook, he sets to picking the locks.
Perception=24
If the doors are still locked, he says, ”This is going to take awhile. Guard the entrance.” and he takes 20 for results of 28.
One of the dwarves moans feebly, as he stares weakly through his blackened and puffy eye, "I cannot sees who ya are...are you another one of our captors sent to torment us with yer hellspawn?!"
Then he should be able to open the rest by taking 10 (result of 18).
”No, we’re soldiers from Kerendas, dispatched to find you and rescue you. I’ll have you out in a jiff.”
"My name is Sarela Falrin, priestess of Iomedae. Once we get you out, I'll see what can be done about your wounds."
Once Tippy gets the Dwarves out, Sarela will gather everyone close enough that her healing burst can help them.
"I am Jericho Darkleaf. Aye, we've dispatched the stable boy and the two hellspawn, but I doubt they were the masterminds behind your kidnapping. Who captured you? The tracks tell me you were dragged down here. However, I doubt the three sisters in the inn could capture four strong dwarves like yourselves. And as for poisoning your food, your lot is resistant to poisons, from what I have been told." The ranger is looking to discern if there is still some unknown threat in this equation.
"Of course we're not your captors. Now who or what has been coming down and tormenting you, other than those two beasts we just killed." she addresses the dwarves. "Was that healing Sarela, thank you?" She says before turning back to the dwarves. "felt nice didn't it that healing, the power of the divine, what a thing to behold. Now on your feet, we need to get you to safety,"
SHe turns away from the dwarves assuming that they will do as she asked (ordered?). and readies he shield for anything to come at them.
Once Tippy opens all the cells, the dwarves gather and bask in Sarela's healing, but it fades too quickly. As you see them in the light, you can tell they are bruised and unfed with chapped lips, indicating lack of hydration. The main dwarf who speaks yells out, "Thank the gods that you came for us!" He looks at Sarela, "Bless your deity for your kind healing. I am Rakus Ingardam and these are my colleagues, Pech Domri, Dorin Graystone, and Holfist Sendstrom. Our envoy stayed at this inn on our way to Kenabres and were waylaid a bit down the road by a swarm of bandits, over ten in number. We were captured but not without giving them a hard fight. We were brought back to this place with hoods over our heads, which their captors removed only when we arrived at the inn’s gate. We've been interrogated twice by a merciless Razmiri cleric calling herself Holy Ahendile, who is convinced out delegation is in the country for some subversive, nefarious purpose and wishes to sabotage the dwarves' dealings with Kenabres. We've met the mute, who brought us food infrequently, even sneaking in treats from the kitchen on two occasions against orders. They only other sounds were the wet sliding sounds of the hellspawn, like a mop being dragged back and forth across a floor."
The dwarves hug each other and thank the party for your aid, especially if you offer them water. The one known as Pech speaks, "The human speaks correctly...we must leave and now! If you may forgive us, we are too wounded to aid you in battle but we can walk, so lead the way out to safety."
"There is no need of you to lend aid, we allnare capable warriors. Stay safe. That is your job." she says sternly and turns towards the others.
"We should take the mute with us, it sounds as though he may have been cought up in all this against his will or for lack of a better life. Im sure the commander would have work for him back at Kenabres. Jericho, you will talk to him. He seems to like you best and I doubt he would listen to me. As for the sisters. They clearly cannot go un punished. What do you say we do with them?
”As much as I’d love to bury my daggers in them, our first responsibility is to get our friends here to safety. We can send a squad of soldiers back here to deal with them with overwhelming force.”
"I dislike that they may escape justice for what they've done, but I agree with Tippy. We must get the delegation to safety. Do you still have your horses?" Sarela asks the Dwarves, though she suspected the answer was no.
Rakus looks at Sarela oddly. "We have no use fer stinkin' horses, we're 4' tall. But we were riding on ponies and we have no idea where they are now. Best plan is to lead me and the delegation to safety. You can exact vengeance on the perpetrators later. However, I am sure our possessions and clothing is around here somewhere." You search the underground area and find a room where the dwarves' gear is located, so after a few minutes, they look more presentable and worthy of their diplomatic station.
Sarela nods. "Very well. Let's get out of here and escort the diplomats to safety."
"Lets get them out of here then, We may need to make a quick escape. You will ride with us if we are pursued." Windi isn't happy about the prospect of leaving the sisters but their job was to rescue the dwarven emissaries and they've got them.
Tippy and Jericho lead the dwarven delegation back out the trap door into the stables. You find the tied up mute Roscoe where you left him. As Tippy steps outside the stables, he immediately notices the gated exit to the south has been barred and a wagon now blocks your view to the front door of the inn.
A female priest is dressed in gray robes, wears an iron mask, and carries an ivory wand as she leans against the courtyard’s well. When she sees Tippy, she straightens and exclaims, “In the name of the most holy living god, drop your weapons! I am Holy Ahendile, ordained priest of Razmir and arbiter of your fates. Submit to my authority, and you may well earn more merciful treatment.” Two guards with crossbows flank her.