The party comes to the only door they haven't opened yet. The room ahead is silent, but the sound of someone pounding against a wooden door can be heard from deeper into the cave.
Silvio carefully inspects the door, and, finding no traps or sign of anything suspicious, opens the door carefully, peering into the next room...
... and is immediately met with a crossbow bolt grazing his neck, just barely missing his jugular.
...a second one follows through, embedding itself in Silvio's chest, and leaving him feeling somewhat numb from the toxin coursing through his system.
Through the haze of pain, Silvio takes note of the room, a rectangular laboratory. Some wooden tables are stacked with vials, beakers, and other alchemical gear, though the southmost table is heaped with broken vials and leans awkwardly on a patched-up leg. Three large cauldrens sit against the east wall, one of them upended. He spots a derro hidden under the second table, who had eluded his sight until it opened fire with a repeating crossbow. It glares menacingly at him.
A tunnel seems to extend southwards from the room. The pounding noise from earlier seems to emanate from further within. Judging by the sound, the creature beating against wood there certainly is no mere human.
As the battle begins and his mind clears a little, Silvio notices the presence of another hidden door.
Silvio hurries into the room, moving past the Derro to cut off her exit. He then slashes at the derro that surprised him!
;
;
Nicolai's missile hits home, distracting the female derro enough for Silvio to follow and deliver a nasty strike to her thraot.
Having taken very serious damage, the panicked Derro attempts to flee through the room's eastern exit, provoking an AoO from Silvio.
Alas, she manages to avoid his strike, and makes a getaway, trailing splatters of blood all the way along, shouting in Aklo.
"That's exactly why we need to stop her!"
Silvio moves forward to pursue.
The derro is running down the hallway, trying to flee.
Staryth attempts to give chase, moving as quickly as he can, rash perhaps, but everyone says stopping the derro is important
The Derro flees deeper into the cave. As she comes to a tunnel split, she hesitates for a moment, then takes a right. You hear her call out in Aklo.
"Is okay. Me take care of them. Ohohoh!" A deep voice bellows in a simpleton's common, punctuating its sentence with a deep, cavernous laugh.
Upon hearing the voice, Silvio sneaks further forward just around the corner, hoping to take the oncoming creature by surprise.
;
Silvio moves forth silently. He hears no sign that he's been seen, but he doesn't hear anyone approaching.
The hallway going down from the room where the party was ambushed leads to a closed door which is barred shut with several thick planks of wood. Vigorous pounding comes from the other side, which, by the sound, leads you to think whatever is behind it can at least match Krojun in strength, but it does not appear to be making any progress in barging the door down.
Staryth moves to Krojun's side ready to work with him.
Peeking around the corner to see what is going on ahead, Silvio sees the Derro from earlier trying to sneak by through the upcoming fork in the road, heading for a separate path.
She, however, doesn't seem to notice him as she silently creeps along the tunnel.
Seeing the wounded Derro attempting to sneak by, Silvio will attempt to step out and strike!
;
Silvio creeps up on the derro and puts his sword through her back unexpectedly. She gives a gurgle and collapses to the ground.
Nothing of note seems to be happening down the tunnel. Silvio, now able to see further into the room, sees that it is rather large. He catches a glimpse of a pit against the back wall.
Silvio motions to the others that the way is clear, and encourages them to follow. He then heads toward the sound of the bellowing simpleton.
Creeping forward, Silvio hears the big lug chuckling to himself and his loud breathing, betraying the latter's position waiting just around the corner. It is plainly obvious to Silvio that their foe isn't aware of his approach.
The party notes a small tunnel extending east. However, like the one earlier found in the Derro's barracks, it appears to shrink with distance, and is not lit like the caves. There appears to be very little to be gain from venturing down that path, and between Staryth's breastplate and Krojun's broad shoulders, the party wouldn't get very far out anyway.
"I'll try to flush him out, be ready..." He whispers to the others, and then rushes through.
Staryth enters the south room; his attention is immediately caught by the presence of a few prisoners down in pits about ten feet deep. Emaciated and sickly, they are looking on, silently; likely, they feared retribution if they were to speak up.
However, a significant foe stands between the party and the captives. A massive deformed man, thick with muscle and hideous blubber, towers over Staryth. He is unarmed, but his massive arms and hands look like they'd do quite a lot of damage all their own.
"Ohohoh! Intruder! Rolth give me good reward if me catches you!", the large man (henceforth known as Cabbagehead) roars, lunging for Staryth.
With crushing strength, he seizes the latter by his right wrist and left shoulder, warding himself from the paladin's weapon.
Leveraging his height, Cabbagehead attempts to push Staryth back over the edge of one of the pits, where a woman is looking up, frightened, at the ensuing struggle.
However, the paladin takes advantage of his foe's brutish, unguarded stance, and headbutts him in the chin, then uses the resulting disorientation to break free of the hold.
Silvio tries to move past the large simpleton without being clobbered himself!
"Hey Cabbagehead - eat steel!" He thrusts with his sword. ;
Staryth tries to make sure folks can join him by moving if need be, and to at least give himself a bit more distance for his weapon.
Staryth's glaive leaves a deep gash across Cabbagehead's chest, seemingly doing little but making the Ogrekin very, very angry.
"Raah! I break your little stick over your head!"
The lumbering brute advances on Staryth and swings a massive punch at his head.
The blow connects against Staryth's chin, throwing the paladin against the wall behind him.
Staryth feels the world blur for a second, so hard is the strike and scrambles along south the wall to strike again.
Lacking the honor of his Shoanti companion, Silvio is more than happy to use his blade against the distracted man!
;
Krojun's punch lands, causing Cabbagehead to recoil, but the ogrekin recovers faster than the Shoanti had expected.
Cabbagehead throws a mighty punch that catches Krojun in the chest, knocking the wind out of him, and possibly breaking a rib or two.
Silvio, however, sneaks up from behind and stabs the brute from behind. Cabbagehead gives a gurgle and tries to turn to swat at Silvio, but suddenly appears disoriented. He stumbles for a moment, then collapses, unconscious but stable.
"They... they did it!" One of the prisoners, a feeble, emaciated man, exclaims.
"Did you come to save us?" A young woman asks, briefly interrupted by a sickly cough.
"We're saved! I can't believe it, we're saved! Thank the gods!" another man exclaims.
"Prisoners?" says Silvio in surprise. "How did you get trapped down here?" He will indeed help them out of the pits, and assess their health and condition. "I don't suppose any of you are in good enough shape to fight?"
"These poor souls!" Staryth begins to help them out along with Silvio, "I'm Staryth, of Shelyn. Who are you good folk?" He looks over their wounds and state.