Odric glances over his shoulder. Once the Ranger is healed, he plans to walk through thesecret door...
First let's gather everyone around for a channel. It's my last one for the day.
Channel Positive Energy:
Nice. :)
If your Avatar HP tracking is accurate, that takes care of Me, Odric, Morkeleb, Sandor, and I think Ferox. I lost track of Grym--what's his current status?
Everyone chime in if the 6 from the channel doesn't bring you back up, and I'll whip out my wand to touch you with it.
Let's be sure to take the hand repeater. I don't think I'm trained in int's use, but it's likely to be worth a decent amount. I didn't even know those came in repeating flavor! Gaius takes the poisoned bolts and stores them for use in his own hand crossbow, marked so I know which ones are which.
Its a light repeater, not hand.
Morkeleb, this looks like it was once an alchemical lab.
Thanks, Gaius. I'm fully healed!
.
I would like to come back here and ransack this room for potential useful items, but for now we may want to press on quickly, as Rolth will surely figure out were here, if he hasn't already. Recall that the dwarf said he could be in the "west room." If my mental map is correct, there is an area north of the Otyugh we have yet to check--he could be there!
On the Xbow--is it a MW repeater, or "regular?"
Gaius, I'll take those bolts, I do use a crossbow from time to time.
Gaius thrusts them at Morkeleb, pointy end first, heedless of the wizard's safety.
KIDDING! I kid! :)
Odric feels much better.
Thank you Gaius, you can keep your wand in your trousers.
Odric walks through the once-secret, now revealed door with his falchion held at the ready.
Sandor breaks his mumble about not forgetting a good dwarven maulaxe when he gets back.
Lad now I know ya must have been sayin it in jest, but that thing back there is no dwarf just lettin ya know that we dont get that ugly. I see Odric is ready to go head first into the darkness again, let a real dwarf check it out for any surprises. Gaius thank ya I am feeling me chipper self again
Sandor standing next to Odric takes a few steps into the hallway and looks for anything suspicious
Perception:
The secret passage continues in a curved, yet ultimately straight line North. After about 20' or so it ends in a door. . you hear nothing beyond the door.
Gaius thrusts them at Morkeleb, pointy end first, heedless of the wizard's safety.
Gaius thrusts them at Morkeleb, pointy end first, heedless of the wizard's safety.
Thank you Gaius, you can keep your wand in your trousers.
Odric walks through the once-secret, now revealed door with his falchion held at the ready.
Completely oblivious to Odrics jest, Grym asks for Gaius to bring out the wand...
Gaius thrusts them at Morkeleb, pointy end first, heedless of the wizard's safety.
Completely oblivious to Odrics jest, Grym asks for Gaius to bring out the wand...Thank you Gaius, you can keep your wand in your trousers.
Odric walks through the once-secret, now revealed door with his falchion held at the ready.
Gaius blinks at Grym and stares for a moment.
Oh! The Wand of Healing! Yes, of course. Wow, that was almost awkward.
Wand of Cure Light Wounds:
Is someone going to open the door?
Odric opens it, bursts into the room with a snarl and a frightening flourish of his fabulous flashing falchion.
My thanks Gaius, I"m now feeling much better.
The ranger wipes his hands free of blood and readies his blade in one hand and Bucho's leash in the other. He nods to others that he is ready to go through the door.
Morkeleb slightly shakes his head at Odric's tempestuous verve, thinking it foolish to burst through a door like that when we've been hit with traps before. He looks over at Gaius. I was going to suggest you search for traps, but Odric is taking care of that. I'm glad i'm out of the hallway . . .
Odric bursts into.....
a library. Two wide, freestanding bookshelves stand in this room, the
shelves filled with row upon row of tomes and scrolls. No creatures occupy this room. There is a single (non-secret) door to the east.
Feeling foolish, the fighter's feral face fades to flusterment. Frack! Finding fact-filled folios is fatiguing. Fighting fiends is far more felicitous.
With flagging fire, the falchion falls forgotten.
Grym moves forward to search the western shelf and anything interesting looking.
Perception
Morkeleb's eyes light with the first real emotion anyone in this party has yet seen. Hunger and excitement of discovering unknown secrets cause a flush to his face as his dark eyes quickly scan the room for obvious arcane secrets . . .
Perception:
After a moment . . .It's a shame this man is a practitioner of the foul necromantic arts. Most of his knowledge will likely be along those lines. I intend to search this room most carefully once our mission is complete!
Grym, the entire shelf is loaded with esoteric books, tomes, etc. the subject matter seems to focus on either using dead bodies for experiments or alchemy. You think if you needed to know something about that subject, these would help...
Ferox moves into the room. Seeing his comrades occupied with the books, he approaches the eastern door. He says a quiet prayer to Abadar (Guidance) and listens at the door to discern if anyone or thing awaits beyond it.
Perception:
Odric lines up behind the inquisitor with weapon weilded.
Ferox, the door - or rather what's beyond it - is as silent as a tomb.
Odric nudges Ferox. Let's go!
Bow at the ready, Ferox opens the door and peers into the beyond.
Morkeleb keeps his wand in one hand, staff in the other, and is back enough to let the less squishy folks through first, yet still get a shot through the door if necessary.
The nauseating mixture of decay and strange chemicals fills the air of this large room. Glinting saws, pliers, long stitching needles, and other surgical equipment are organized on shelves and benches along the walls. A sturdy wooden table in the center of the room supports a large humanoid shape—a thing stitched together from a patchwork of dozens of different bodies. The thing would stand nearly seven feet tall if it rose.
Does the patchwork creature have any Shoanti markings?
I'm not trained in Local. Anyone know anything of The Shoanti?
The "body" looks like it's been stictched together from numerous sources. The head stitched to the body is strangely small for its massive frame—a head crowned with brown hair and bearing a distinctive scar upon the left cheek. It matches the ethnic features of the shoanti.
Monstrous.
The boy's head is on that thing.
Gaius turns to Morkeleb.
Enchanter. They seem to have built another sort of construct from various remains. Can you sense if that thing is activated? We need to take it's head and then search for the rest of the Shoanti boy.
Gaius visibly holds back, not daring to approach and search until he hears from Morkeleb.
Necromancy is revolting. Such . . . poor taste.
I won't enter the room yet. First, Detect Magic, from the doorway.
Then, examine the room (still from the doorway) with a mundane eye, trying to determine whether there is anything amiss (beyond the obvious) with this freakish experiment.
Knowledge (Arcana):
Perception:
Morkeleb narrows his eyes, thinking.
Unfortunately, you're not knowledgeable enough on the subject to know how to critique a golem like this. It hasn't moved yet, and doesn't seem to be moving at all actually. Nothing magical is limned in your spell-sight. When you turn your head to the library though two loose leaf sheets of paper glow softly.
Hold a moment . . .
I'll go check those papers.
Odric is ready for Morkeleb to give him the go-ahead. His falchion should serve nicely for recovering the head.
Morkeleb? Confound it, Man! Is this thing alive? What are you doing now?
Morkeleb, do you have Read Magic on hand?
Ferox has Read Magic. He'll happily translate for Mork.
Calm yourself Gaius. I'm looking for clues; constructs and undead are not my forte. I don't believe constructs radiate magic, so Detecting for such doesn't tell me much. i don't know whether this mess is undead, or a magical construct.
Grym has no idea what all this stuff is. So he just concentrates on keeping watch.
Perception
Ferox leaves the scrolls in Mork's care.
If Morkeleb cannot know for sure whether this thing is active or not, I say we delay no more and take the boy's head back.
Knowledge Local:
Ifn all these books are what he uses ta create these vial beasts, then I'll be sayin we burn this place on the way out. Nuthin good can be gained from this 'ere knowledge, 'n wit'out it he mights move on somewheres else
The dwarf ambles over to the door checking the heft of his axe and the straps on his shield he gives both of his arms a few circles to loosen up, and the last couple steps are high knee raises as he puts himself on the opposite side of the door from Odric.
I not be careing if it is alive or dead, but me axe is gonna be like a headsmans in a few moments seperatin it from that patchwork body. Just stay behind me shield till I get in. Ifn it don't move then it's easy if it does use ya weapons they be designed ta do damage
Perception to see if there are any trip wires, or pressure plates
OK Sandor, I'm right behind you.
Odric looks around one last time to make sure his compatriots are ready, and pauses to ensure Sandor doesn't notice any traps.
The fighter creeps into the room with the falchion held high just behind the Dwarf. The disgust on his face is apparent, and the pommel of the sword hovers just above his brow. The man maneuvers to the other side of the construct's pallet, then pauses for a moment, ready to slash downward and sever the head from the remainder of the construct once Sandor is in place across the gruesome table.
Morkeleb visibly blanches at Sandor's suggestion of burning the library. Sandor, please!! I cannot condone such an action on the mere suspicion that someone did distasteful acts after reading these books!! At least allow me to salvage what literature *I* can use in my work before you indiscriminately put a torch ot all of it!! The wizard is more visibly agitated than you recall seeing him, even in battle.
In any case, let us get on with this deed. I am ready with whatever magicks I can muster to assist, if things go awry.
Morkeleb then gets far enough behind the advancing warriors to stay out of harm's way, yet join in the fray as needed.
SUSPICION!!!! There is no suspicion! we have been wading through dead things, and beasts that are not of natural creation, and look at this sewn up monstrosity. Wizard there is a whole acadame topside full of learnin potential, all of this is tainted with evil, and ifn we destroy his shop and all that is in it he might wanna move along and leave our fair Korvosa alone. I'm fine ifn ya don't wanna burn the books ya don't have ta watch, but after we get what we come for I am settin this place ablaze n smashing his stuff.
With the final words Sandor crashes his axe down like a headsman's axe trying to remove the head just as it was attached.
Coup de Grace Damage:
With nary a twitch, the boy's head tumbles from the menagerie of a body. The deed is done.