"Yikes!" Lukas cries out as he's attacked. "Ouch!
[OOC]I don't see the critter on the map. My rolls are assuming I can flank. If not subtract flanking bonus and sneak attack. [OOC]
AttackDamage
Lukas takes Dex Damage.
Jebidiah takes down one of the centipedes with a quick stab to the side.
Iralynash approuches Lukas and tosses a bomb behind the remaining creature.
The centipede's exoskeleton seems to absorb most of the flames that wash over it. It lashes out again at Lukas.
It misses horrendously.
Initiative:
1st: Jebidiah
2nd: Centipedes (#2 @ 2 damage)
3rd: Celes; Lukas @ 2 HP; Iralynash; Falzeal
Jebediah moves quickly, small blades flashing in the magical light as he looks for an opening in the centipede's armor.
Attack Damage
Iralynash draws his polearm and moves again closing in on the monster.
Falzeal moves toward the centipede and lobs a glob of acid at the vermin.
Jebidiah handily takes out the other centipede, despite his minute stature.
Lukas overcomes the poison coursing through his system, however he still is left feeling a bit weaker than normal. He also appears to be extremely bloodied.
Perception:
An investigation of this wing of the room has everyone except for the weakened Lukas seeing a glint coming from the rubble. In the rubble, the party finds a lockbox that is unlocked. Inside are two mithral daggers, however they have some weird notches along the backs of the blades.
Lukas manages to stay on his feet after the bites and the venom, but he sure doesn't feel well. "Ouch! Ow!" he mutters, tentatively touching his cuts, "I usually just sweep someone's feet out when I'm fighting them, how do you sweep out dozens of feet at once?"
He watches his companions recover the two daggers, and takes a close look to try to understand the notches along them. Then says, "I guess we should keep going, but a strong wind could knock me out at this point, so I'll have to be pretty careful."
Kid you dont look so good, I think we should get you to a priest before moving forward.
Lukas has been staring at the locked door, trying to put a brave face on going through it as badly wounded as he is. He turns to Iralynash and says, "Hey, that's a fine idea! Maybe there's a cleric out in the crowd that gathered by the tower, would fix me up quick."
He turns and goes back up through the trap door, then scrambles down the the rubble to the street. Once he's back with what's left of the crowd, he says, "Anyone around here a healer, or know where I could find one?"
Jebediah's eyes glow as he pulls out the two mithral daggers.
Why ain't these pretty!
Falzeal watches as Lukas scrambles up the trapdoor, then goes over to examine the door. "Anyone find a key around here?"
After having weighted the daggers in his small hands Jebediah comes to the conclusion that one of them is by far too unwieldly for him.
Anyone interested in this nice and shiny dagger? I think it's made of Mithril
Lukas finds no clerics or other types of healers in the dispersing crowd, however he is told that there is a temple of Pharasma down the road in the center of town.
So far, the adventurers have not found a key or a way to progress in the ruined tower.
Celes, looks to the others, Unless you all have a way to get past this door, allow me to have a crack at it
Lukas shouts to the others, "Wait for me, I'll be right back! Going to get patched up!"
Arriving at the temple, he spots a young acolyte and calls out, "Hey, I need some healing quick! I was investigating the fallen tower and got attacked! Hurry up!" He pulls a handful of gold coins from his pouch and presents them to the Pharasman. So far I'm not finding my fortune, I'm just spending what little I've managed to save.
Once he's feeling better, he offers a quick thanks and hurries back to the tower, up the rubble ramp and back through the trap door.
Lukas shows back up and sees Celes pounding at the door with her boot, but the steel bound door appears immovable.
Lukas scrambles through the trap door to find his companions still banging on the steel door. "Nobody has a better way to get that thing open?" he asks. He turns to Jebediah, who's focused on his shiny new dagger, and says, "Here, let me take the bigger one of those, so you have a hand free. I've known a lot of halflings in my day, and you seem the sort to be pretty good at, um, tinkering. You think you can get this door unlocked?"
Jebediah adoring his brand new shiny toy is a bit distracted but when word comes to opeining doors the Halfling looks a bit disturbed.
Ehm opening doors...I am an acolyte of the lady of graves and not some petty thief. Nonetheless let me have a look at that lock.
Despite claiming not to be a thief it looks as if Jebediah had openend doors without keys before.
Jebediah tries to pick the lock on the door, but is unsuccessful.
Iralynash approuches the door and gives its lock a try.
Ok, let me try it. Can I borrow those Jebediah?
"Wow!" exclaims Lukas as he watches the competence with which Iralynash handles the lockpicks, "where'd you learn to do that, Iral? I never thought of that as an elf kind of...hobby."
As Iralynash pops open the door, the group sees numerous jail cells lining 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 at floor level.
Lukas looks in the now-open door and says, "Whoa...that's a lot of cells. This place looks like a prison - though not one used very recently." He steps in the door and says, "Let's take a look around."
He heads to the left, looking over his shoulder to see if the other Bold Striders are coming.
Lukas spots a secret door along the back wall at the end of the corridor before it turns. None of the cells seem to have anything of value on this side of the corridor, save for the occasional skeleton.
"Wow!" exclaims Lukas as he watches the competence with which Iralynash handles the lockpicks, "where'd you learn to do that, Iral? I never thought of that as an elf kind of...hobby."
In Kyonin's army. The elf whispers absentmindedly while looking at the now open path. What a maze!
Slowly he follows Lukas inside checking for traps too.
After Iralynash checks out the door, Lukas tentatively reaches out to open it, ready to spring backwards if there are any surprises.
Falzeal follows along, keeping his floating globes of light up front near Lukas. "What'd ya find up there?"
You open the door. It slowly creaks open and NOTHING pops out at you! You see another long hallway. If you turn left, you see a set of double doors.
Lets check the cells before going forward. One never knows. Iralynash checks the cells before moving forward.
"Well, since we're here to puzzle out what happened," offers Lukas, "it seems we should head through this secret door. Since that's where the secrets would be, right? We'll check the other doors later."
He steps through the newly-discovered door, thinking, Why am I always going first? A fellow could get hurt - again - this way.
Celes, looks into each cell, wondering how long the skeletal remains have been there. She then goes with the rest if the group to the secret passage. She wil be right behind Lukas as he goes in.
As he passes by the skeletal remains of spirits possibly unclaimed Jebediah speaks a soft prayer to the lady of graves after passing each.
The group explores the passageway beyond the secret door and finds a series of five doors as they turn the corner. The first door reveals a barren jail cell. The second door also reveals a jail cell, however there are two skeletons in this room. The first is laid out on the floor, similar to decomposition of a man laying down. The second is similar however the leg bones are strewn about the room while the torso and upper body remain together in a humanoid shape.
As the group approaches the third door, they hear something. "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 e'en 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 something awful! Good Baron Sarvo wills it!
As you get closer, you see a pale face in the window of the door and filthy hands gripping the bars. He seems very much alive.
Fazeal looks in astonishment at the man. "What in the world are you doing here? How long have you been here?"
Weeks, been in here several weeks. Please... so... hungry. The man's hands stretches out towards the adventurers.
Tessa Firebrand
