Ingra nods to Sondergang and silently starts preperations on a last rites ceremony, her heart is heavy and her eyes well, but it is about time this fallen brother has a proper ending.
" My friends I know the death hymens of your people, I would be honored to help you with this task"
"I'll be back."
Divel wanders off as the ceremony preparations get into full swing. He walks down the corridor listening as he goes, torch and dagger in hand.
If undisturbed then he will check each door thoroughly and then attempt to search for any potential traps and unlock the mechanisms, just to ease the way a little.
"I'll be back."
Divel wanders off as the ceremony preparations get into full swing. He walks down the corridor listening as he goes, torch and dagger in hand.
If undisturbed then he will check each door thoroughly and then attempt to search for any potential traps and unlock the mechanisms, just to ease the way a little.
Divel departs the large room into the quiet corridor. His torch illuminates several doors set in the hallway. They are all ornate, and seem to be locked at a cursory try. The walls seem close and stifling to the woods-raised elf and a grim feeling of utter silence descends upon him as he progresses.
Meanwhile ...
The party in the room collects the Dwarvish bone fragments. The debris in the room seems to be dust and masonry bits, mixed in with discarded vermin and goblin bones.
Divel has already unlocked the door that the party entered.
He next looks at the one opposite.
Then he moves on to the floor trap where Udo fell to his death. Divel spends some time at this area, highlighting the trap area and trying to disable the mechanism so that it stays open.
DM
Then Divel moves on to the empty room on the left, as on the map.
Then the one opposite which hid dwarven skeletons, and possibly still does.
Moving further down, he listens at the centipedes door.
Finally he deals with the door opposite.
Divel moves slowly along the corridor, listening in at the doorways
Divel hears a rustling and squeeking at the door opposite the one the party is currently in. The other doors offer no clues as to what lie behind them. He goes to unlock the door opposite where Harbottle's map indicated giant rats (and the squeeking sound would argue they are still in residence). The door is untrapped, and the lock is easy to disable.
He investigates the pit where Udo fell. He is impressed by the pit trap. There is barely a crack to indicate where it lies in the hallway. He triggers it with a bit of judicious prodding and two leaves swing down into the dark hole. A clicking sound indicates that the leaves are slowly resetting themselves, Divel jams a handy piece of debris in the gears below the trap leaves to freeze it. Below there is a twenty-foot drop, and the bottom of the trap seems to be covered in a large puddle of water. There seems to be nothing else stirring.
MEANWHILE ...
The party continues with their funeral ceremonies. They are all feeling rather exhausted. It has been a long day since they traveled from the ranger redoubt stones and this day has seen three deadly fights under their belt, not to mention their interrupted sleep the night before. They all begin to feel the scratchy-eyeball feeling of tiredness.
Sondergang finishes his prayer and looks around at the assembled party
"It's been a hard Day..we need food and rest ..and a bit of heat wouldnt go amiss either...Someone see if the fireplace is useable, We'll use that old furniture as Kindling..it's all it's use for. If anyone has tears or rents in their armour let me know. I can repair them easily enough"
"Also I would ask that all those with food contribute to a common pot. No point in any of us starving..or playing dog in the manger either."
He draws some rations from his pack.
"Here is my share for supper. I suggest Navorn and I take first watch and Ingra and Merzhan take the last to give the casters amongst us as much sleep as possible. Borondon will you take a middle watch with Eldon and Svetla can work with Divel after you. The end watches to be two hours each the middle watches three"
"Rats across and trap open." Divel walks back in with his torch.
The elf's torch sputters and dies soon after. But Divel lights another while the fire and night preparations are dealt with.
Eventually he takes a corner far from the door and sits back, his knees up and bow resting over his thighs. Within moments the elf is meditating the night away.
Borondon puts two meals into the community food pile.
"Here's my share and Eldon's."
He then gathers up some wood and lights a fire in the fireplace. After thta he eats and goes to sleep until it is his turn to watch.
Here is my share, and something to cook it in. Ingra drops down an iron pot and 8 days trail rations. Is there edible meat on that spider? She asks half joking
The room has a recessed hearth in the corner, the group breaks up enough broken furniture pieces to get a fire going in it. The craftsmanship of the ancient dwarves is evident in how the smoke from the fire is drawn right up the narrow shaft as if by magic, leaving clear air in the room.
The party has their evening meal and then lays down to sleep, posting a two-person watch.
Sondergang:
The dream starts to change as the scene fades to deep below the earth. Sondergang can almost feel the heat of these tunnels carved out of the earth ever deeper, seeking the elusive veins of mithril and adamant. The miners all pause as a rumbling shakes their shafts, then they run for the exit. A black cloud engulfs them.
Sondergang witnesses the entire horror of the fall of Tharkad-Kûl through the funhouse glass of dream. Dead dwarves stalk the halls, their eyes soulless red pits as they drag their living family members into the black cloud. Screams and cries for mercy echo in Sondergang's ears as he starts awake, sweating.
The night passes uneventfully, and the members awake feeling somewhat rested, if not as refreshed as in their own beds, at least ready to face more explorations.
Divel opens the door, after listening carefully.
He prepares to light a torch. "Last one."
Sondergang looks drawn despite his nights sleep
"I had a kenning in my dreams last night..I saw these halls in all their glory...and I saw the fall...they dug too deep and awakened... something I do not know what...some Elder Evil from days past memory perhaps"
"Let us breakfast and then, I believe, Divel found us some rats to play with..that should warm us up nicely"
While breakfast cooks Sondergang spends his time repairing what ever armour needs it..this helps concentrate his mind and gives him the link to Torag that lets him tap the gods Power
Divel pokes his head out to check the corridor. He hears a faint scraping down the hallway. The sound is difficult to identify but it is consistent.
The elf nods to Merzhan and waits for him to leave. Then he steps out and cocks his head.
"Scratching sound." Divel points down the hallway, southwards.
"Hmmm... well it can't be anything good in a place like this, but in my experience, the bad noises usually lead to treasure."
Borondon pulls out a javelin and looks down the hallway.
Navorn looks down the hall, and drawls his weapons
Divel nods to the plucky halfling.
"Eldon's traps today?" he asks.
The scratching continues. It is a monotonous skriiiitch skriiiiitch sound, like someone repeatedly rubbing a stick on a stone. Looking down the corridor gives no clues. Whatever makes the noise it isn't in the corridor as far as you all can see.
Merzhan's arcane illumination lights the corridor in a flickering glow. The lights show the corridor is empty, but it seems as if the skriitch skriitch sound has increased in pace. If a location could be put on it, it would be coming from southwards of the group's present position.
Divel unlocks the door opposite where the rats lived.
He points inside, "scratching rats."
Then the elf returns to the rear by the well hallway his torch sputtering.
Eldon laughs, "Yeah, I'll take traps today.. or tonight..." Can't tell in this spooky place... he thinks to himself
Borondon steps up and opens the door, with a javelin in his hand.
Sondergang stands ready to lend aid to the front line fighters as necessary.
"Were there not centipedes here too..I remember the map had a note about them..or was it scorpions?"
"Further down."
"Bleh..." Eldon cannot stand creepy crawlies, especially the rumors he's heard about those that stand the size of a halfling.
Borondon swings open the door. Inside the arcane illumination casts a faint glow into a room piled with debris. A squeaking comes from the pile and several large rats, the size of pitbulls, emerge and bare their fangs.
Sondergang will be in the middle of the group.
Divel watches the rear, sure that the others can handle a few rats.
Borondon throws his javelin at any rat that looks threatening after the spell.
Ingra stands guard in the hallway, keeping a keen eye out so our flank is not attacked.
Initiatives Rd 1:
Svetla: 20 [pending]
Navorn: 19 [pending]
Divel: 18 [in the rear with the gear]
Eldon: 17 [keeping an eye out]
Rats: 16 [foaming at the mouth]
Ingrahild: 15 [watching the flank]
Merzhan: 15 [color spray]
Borondon: 15 [javelin toss]
Sondergang: 13 [bandaids in hand]
The adventurers see at least ten large rats scramble out of varios tunnels in the trash pile that lines the back of the room. These three-foot long whoppers hiss and prepare to attack.
Ingra sits in the hallway guarding the flank. That mysterious skriitching sound has intensified even louder, and she gets the feeling that it comes from down the open shaft of the pit trap Divel disabled. The pit's opening is in shadow, but it would be an easy thing to look over the side.
Svetla looks at the vermin that Merzhan's spell revealed. Drawing her sword, she comments, "Now those are some rodents of unusual size." Svetla steps forward to attack.
Ingra warily peers over her shield to look down into the pit after casting guidance and resistance on her self....."Why do I have to be so curious, Eldon watch my back please"
Navorn rushes forward And thrusts his rapier at the creature in front of him
Ingra looks over the pit's edge. At the bottom she sees a hideous sight. A human-sized skeleton, still dressed in bits of rusty chainmail and a horned helm is standing waist-deep in the fetid water that has collected in the pit. It looks up at Ingra and opens its jaws in a soundless scream. A large slug oozes from one empty eye socket. Its arms reach up and attempt to climb the walls, but the dwarvish masonry is without bump or crack to utilize. Ingra can see that the skeleton's fingerbones are worn to stubs by the constant scrabbling against the rockface. The whittled fingerbones are creating the skriiiitch skriiitch sound they have been hearing.
Sondergang is confident his teammates can deal with a few R.O.U.S. He casts light to help his human compatriots see their opponents