As Bareli slices into one of the ghouls, Grawfir strides into the room, tightening the grip on his rope. Snot nearly turns blue as the bugbear chokes him. Grawfir swings his mace at the half-orc.
;
The goblin takes a step forward to keep the rope slack, but does nothing else.
B hp: 13
Round 2: Grawfir, Snot, Mortimus, Ylrhea, Drago, Bareli
One of the ghouls sinks its teeth into her flabby flesh, while the other claws her exposed arms.
G1 hp: 6
S hp: 3
Either hard training or the corpulence of the half-orc woman protects her from the effects of the ghouls' attacks. The gnome, seeing no place to move to, stays where she is.
Round 2: Grawfir, Snot, Mortimus, Ylrhea, Drago, Bareli
Drago reloads and fires.
Drago's shot errs due to the chaos. The half-orc woman attacks the wounded ghoul.
;
"I'll chop your heads off!" Bareli declares as she decapitates the ghoul with one clean swipe.
The bugbear swings again. "And I'll bash yours in!"
;
The goblin continues to do nothing.
S hp: 3
Round 3: Grawfir, Snot, Mortimus, Ylrhea, Drago, Bareli
;
With the accumulating wounds, Bareli is unable to fight the paralysis this time, but remains conscious.
S hp: 3
The gnome looks on with disinterest.
Round 3: Grawfir, Snot, Mortimus, Ylrhea, Drago, Bareli
Drago took this oppurtunity to fire another bolt.
The half-orc woman loses consciousness and bleeds out on the ground. Grawfir looks down at her. "Ah, she'll be too cold soon."
He tugs on the rope, pulling the goblin to his face. "Is jy gaan om iets te doen of moet ek net dood te maak nou?"
"Hom genees het me," Snot says, pointing at Mortimus.
"Dit sou 'n vermorsing wees. Doen iets in die volgende stryd, of jy sal nie hoef te bekommer nie," Grawfir grunts, pulling the rope behind him. "Alright, let's see to the last two idiots in this place."
He walks up the stairs, Snot thudding on each step as he ascends.
You ascend the stairs into another cramped room. A door leads south and another east.
"Which way this time?" Grawfir asks the gnome.
"Go east," Ylrhea says. "The south door has been barricaded."
Drago steps up next to the door, crossbow loaded. "Grawfir, be a friend and open this will you?"
"You can shove your 'friend' s&!$ up your ass," Grawfir says, kicking in the eastern door.
This chamber is very lived in. A few papers lie scattered on a desk against one wall, while an unmade bed stands against another. Clothes are scattered on the floor and across a bearskin rug. There is no occupant here. From the floor above you, hear shouting but cannot make out what it is.
"Guess they're upstairs," Grawfir says with a shrug, heading up the staircase again.
You ascend the stairs, the autumn wind whipping now. The tower's battlemented roof only contains an oaken flagpole and piles of rubble. A half-elf woman shouts at a figure down below before turning her attention to you. Without a word, she gets into a fighting stance.
Initiative:
Mindful of what Grawfir said to him, the goblin charges forward at the woman.
;
He lands a minor blow on the woman, who retorts with her own weapon.
;
The woman wallops Snot with her flail, crushing in his skull and sending his lifeless body to the courtyard below.
Round 1: Firean, Mortimus, Drago, Ylrhea, Grawfir
Drago took aim and fired his loaded crossbow.
The muscular half-elf woman resists the ghoul's paralyzing touch. The gnome approaches and quickly slashes with her dagger.
;
Grawfir also moves forward to attack.
;
Round 2: Firean, Mortimus, Drago, Ylrhea, Grawfir
The half-elf twirls her flail, going for the bugbear.
;
Gr hp: 10
The zombie manages to deliver a slam to Firean.
Round 2: Firean, Mortimus, Drago, Ylrhea, Grawfir
Drago took a deep breath and screamed, "Scivarn!"
The half-elf avoids being dazed by Drago's scream, but take minor damage.
Gr hp: 5
The gnome steps forward and attacks Firean.
;
Grunting in pain, the bugbear attacks the half-elf.
;
Despite taking a vicious shot from Grawfir, Firean attacks the bugbear once more.
;
Round 3: Firean, Mortimus, Drago, Ylrhea, Grawfir
;
;
The ghoul's bite knocks the woman out. Her skin turns bluish around the area of the bite as the ghoul fever begins to spread withing her.
The bugbear looks at Mortimus and then laughs. "Not exotic enough for my tastes."
He walks down the stairs.
Unphased by the crushing of the woman's skull, Drago walked up to her gear and looked through her gear. "Now let's see what she had that might be useful."
Picking up the scrolls and putting them in his pack, Drago stood up and said, "Let us see what is behind the second door."
You descend down the stairs and find Grawfir smashing in the southern door. He looks inside then shakes his head.
"Empty. Whoever was here is gone and took his stuff with him," the bugbear grunts. "Guess I'll see if there's anything in the kitchen to eat."
Ylrhea takes the keys and starts going through the rooms, systematically collecting the loot. After several hours, she has collected an assortment of items.
The sun has fallen below the horizon making the watchtower dark. Ylrhea seems tired after her scavenging.
"There's still the cellar below. Shall we take care of that now?" the gnome asks.
When Drago looks in the room and sees it empty, he couldn't help but think, Why barricade the door if there's no one in the room? Not seeing anything, the Damphir closed his eyes and listened carefully.
"Perhaps we should."
Ylrhea rolls up the map and stashes it on her person. "Alright then."
You head downstairs to where you entered the watchtower. Ylrhea unlocks the door to the cellar. "We should probably secure that door before we call it a day."
A small, dank chamber divided by a wall of iron bars stands at the bottom of the stairs. Within the cell, a dwarf and a goblin sit manacled to the wall. A well, surrounded by a low wall, pierces the chamber's floor. There are several buckets nearby attached to damp lengths of rope.
"So, ye've come t' finish it, eh?" the dwarf mutters, looking at the group.
"I'm a merchant, nothin' more. Those bandits decided to rob me an' lock me up down 'ere. I'd 'ave my revenge, if I were free," the dwarf answers.
"'ells if I know. He doesn't speak anythin' I unnerstand. Piss on 'im, he's probably better off dead."
"Whut?" the bugbear asks. "Oh...Wat is jou storie?"
The goblin looks at the bugbear, coughing violently. "Ek was deel van die Bloed Maan stam. Hierdie manne gevang my en my geslaan vir geen rede."
"He says he was a warrior of the Blood Moon tribe until he was captured by these bandits," Grawfir tells Mortimus.
"As ons jou vry, sal jy veg vir ons?"
"Nee, ek wil net te verlaat. Ek sal julle inligting vir my vryheid, maar niks meer nie. Jy kan my lewe dreig om alles wat jy wil, ek is naby aan die dood in elk geval," the goblin says, coughing all the while.
"He says he won't fight with us. He'll give us information if we free him, but he wants to leave this place," Grawfir translates.
"I've got my mind on other things," the bugbear says. "Do what you want with them."
The bugbear heads upstairs.
"What is your name Dwarf?" Drago asked.
"Reithic."
"Do you have any idea where the one called Cullen is?"