Terflynn attempts to assist Miso in holding the door.
Seeing everyone start holding the door, Jennix shrugs and tries to lend a hand.
Meanwhile, the whip continues its assault on the bearman.
Jennix's whip continues to smack the werebear's backside while he ferociously tries to open the door before the explosions go off!
A rocket detonates inside the room as Terflynn helps hold the door shut. "Just two more!" he reminds the group.
Jennix throws his shoulder against the door. "The door won't catch aflame will it?" He asks Terflynn.
"Let us sincerely hope it doesn't." Terflynn replies.
There is a loud explosion in the room followed by a terrible roaring. Only seconds later further explosions lead to a loud thump! as the bearman falls to the ground! Waiting for the smoke to clear, you find that he carried a short sword and an ornate jade raven statuette set with precious stones (100 gp). There is also an oaken statuette on the table carved in the image of an Ulfen warrior biting his shield in fury (10 gp). The coal bucket next to the stove hides a bag containing 450 gp in freshly minted Chelish coins.
Miso looks over the body as his companions loot the room. Does he look familiar (once he's back to human form), either by face or by description?
Terflynn detects magic on the sword and considers its value.
Miso does not recognize the man, nor does anyone else. Terflynn detects no magic on the sword; it does not even appear to be of very great quality.
Terflynn checks to see if the man is alive.
"I can't get a pulse. Is he living, Miso?"
I am not sure.
You detect no breathing.
"Ah well, that's that I suppose. I wonder at times if we should leave less of a mess." Terflynn pauses to sigh. "But now is not one of those times. Let's keep moving then."
The front rooms appear to be unused guardrooms. There are piles of rubble, as if of recently quarried rock, in these rooms.
The other four large rooms appear to be various bunkrooms. Within you find several ninjas and thugs lying in wait for you, alerted by the many sounds so far but biding their time. You make short work of them with little trouble.
Thugs (x8): studded leather, battleaxe, spear, jade raven statuette (worth 50 gp), pouch with 5 sp
Ninjas (x4): potion of vanish, tindertwigs (2), leather armor, dagger, mwk shortbow, 20 arrows, mwk siangham, shinobi shozoku, jade raven statuette (worth 50 gp), mwk thieves' tools
One of the bunkrooms has an iron trap door sitting in the floor near the east wall. It turns out to be a very small chute.
The closet in this room has been turned into a shrine to a foreign deity. A painted stone idol depicts a man with a fearsome scowling red face, bulging eyes, and long beard, wearing red Tian robes and an iron crown.
A small bowl before the idol holds bits of gold jewelry and coins, while copper plates to either side of it hold the burnt remains of cubes of incense.
A hallway runs along the back, with a small kitchen lean-to is attached to the back of the building. Two massive ovens occupy the kitchen and a number of tables of trestles have been set up about the room for food preparation.
Also in the back of the building you discover a very small hidden holding cell. It is ten feet deep and no more than five feet high and seems to have been excavated in the corner of the tower's foundation. The cell is rank with the smell of sweat and urine, and a pair of rats scurry among the rib cage of some former inhabitant.
The current inhabitant, though, is an Ulfen man who seems to have been here for some time judging by his palor and the way the skin hangs from his skin. "Hello?" he cautiously calls up when he notices you looking down upon him. "Please... who are you?"
"I feel the need to ask you the same question." Terflynn responds. "And what did you do to end up here?"
The man wheezes a bit, clearly not having talked for some time. "Lute Haggersly, I was a merchant in Kalsgard til the took me about four weeks ago. I was on the board of shareholders for the Rimerunners Guild. I voted against a measure proposed by Silverskorr and then didn't give in to his bullying."
"There's another... a half-troll creature. He's been forcing me to take these noxious brews and threatening me with a hellwasp swarm infestation. That bear man worked on me a bit as well. They're not even questioning me but I don't know why else they would be holding me except for my voting against Silverskorr. I don't know who else would want to do this to me."
"There's this purple ogre that seems to be in command. It's Thorborg Silverskorr, it has to be. He's been disguised this whole time but now they won't let me go because I know! I know too much now! You've got to help me out of here!"
"Don't be afraid. I need to check you in case you've been exposed to something dangerous."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Whatever brews he has been force-fed seem not to have had a great effect on him. Although he is beaten and malnourished, it looks as though he will live if given proper treatment.
"You'll be alright. Now let's find a way to get you out of there."
He seems genuine enough. If you lower a rope or something similar down to him he would be able to hold on long enough for you to pull him out. Once out he will request waiting in a safe spot until you can escort him back to the city.
With the merchant secured, the party finds that little else is left to do except to head down the stairs to the dungeon level!
The stairs descend into a plain room of mortared stones. The walls drip with condensation, giving the air a cold, clammy feel. Directly ahead a door opens into a natural cavern thirty feet across and fifteen feet high. A waterfall pours in through a small aperture high on the south wall, filling a turbulent pool in the floor and sending a cold spray throughout the room. A smoothed ledge extends outwards from teh door and two large barrels have been set to the right of it. Another ledge sits on the far side of the pool where a smaller cask sits next to a heavy wooden.
To the north a deep channel of flowing water crosses the hall. On the opposite side lies a heavy timber plank. A brass bell and clapper hang from the wall on this side of the stream.
Jennix peers around. "It appears swimming may be in our future......any ideas?"
It seems unlikely there is not a simple way across the pool, Miso says slowly, taking the room in. As for the hallway, I think a jump across would suffice.
"Indeed, crossing the hall should be simple enough. Perhaps we should start with what is simplest then?"
"Do you think you can make the jump?" Zack asks as he also seeks out another way across.
"What, me? I can fly over. It's the rest of you that should be concerned."
"Ugh. What was that?" a deep gravely voice asks from around the corner as the party leaps over the water. Seconds later, a giant troll head looks around the corner and growls at you.
Jennix reaches into his pack and grabs a flask, hurling it at the troll.
Jennix hits the troll! It steps forward to swing at the archaeologist!
#1: 5 dmg
Terflynn unsprings his wand of infernal healing and applies the magic to Jennix. "Careful Jennix, I think they're serious."
Miso takes a five-foot-step in front of Jennix, activates Arcane Strike, and flurries (using Stunning Fist on the first attack)!
plus DC 14 Fort save or be stunned for 1 round
"Errf!" Jennix flinches as the troll lays into him. Unable to catch his breath, he merely nods at Terflynn's comment.
Drawing his whip and starknife, he lashes out with the whip, trying to trip the troll.
Terflynn gives Jennix healing power while Miso lands a powerful punch on the troll. Jennix tries to trip the troll with no success.
#1: 22 dmg
Zack looses upon the trolls down the hall.
Zach puts an arrow into the troll's arm! His buddy behind him shouts in Giant:
The one in front shouts back before attacking.
The troll in the back just points at Jennix roars.
#1: 34 dmg
Clearly shaken, Jennix throws the starknife, then lashes out with his whip again.
Terflynn, unable to reach Miso, tries to remember what he knows of these creatures.
Zack continues raining arrows on their foes.