Rexus is astonished how you manage all of this. The dogs, the exploration of the stable, overcoming the obstacles easily. He stays at the back, trying not to be in the way.
"Hmmm, now I think about it Grimples are really not fans of humans in general. They are dirty urban scavengers, that can glide, they are actually pretty nasty, they have been documented torturing dogs and such - though in fairness the same could be said more emphatically of humans. Still I doubt we can trust the creature even should it be willing to talk...' Salonius says, expression still cheerful as he revels in the joy of discovery.
"They are not invisible, so it must just be hiding, maybe in the rafters? We just need to expose it, careful they are rather gross, it will likely vomit at us..."
Fhingle casts light on a stick and hands it off.
"How big is this creature? Is it a Devil?" Fhingle's emotions are pretty mixed right now on what is going on.
"It is tiny, and no not a devil, just an extremely unpleasant fey - though not one I am sure we need to be particularly afraid of. it can vomit on us I suppose, maybe infest us with lice, but both of those ought to be solvable with a quick blast of prestidgitation." Salonius says to Fhingle, before turning to Saul.
"Grimples are infamous for betrayal so I would not want to leave one in a would be secret base... I think we need to deal with it. Though I confess I have no immediate means of doing so. The kind of betrayal I am concerned about might be a bit beyond it, but can we afford to take that risk?"
Fhingle Turns to Rexus, "Do you know where whatever we are looking for is down here?"
Fhingle cast the light spell on the end of Saul's long spear, the light from the stick fades out. Following behind Saul, "Stay close and I can heal you"
As you bring light into this chamber three dire rats come out of the stacks of crates.
First dogs, now rats, what's next cats, Jhen wonders as he moves toward the closest rat and try's to skewer it on the end of his blade.
That rat is done. The next one comes at Saul.
Salonius flings out another crude wooden stake that appears from nowhere, it strikes the rat that has yet to act sending blood splinters and fur fountaining out!
Aghast the young wizard staggers backwards looking distinctly green as his wood magic once again turns a living creature into a gory pile of carcass.
"Ugggh, I didn't mean... Well, I did, but.... ugh."
The rat gets through to bite Saul. But it only bites his trousers.
Rexus speaks a word and a small orb of acid forms, floating over his hand. Then he shoots it at the rat. But the shot is far off. Luckily it also misses Saul.
As Meliandri makes it down into the basement she sees two rats dead already, so she passes on encouraging the group and stabs the remaining rat with her rapier. Which wounds the rat, but doesn't kill it.
Jhen steps forward and trys to dispatch the remaining rat.
With this stab you're rid off all three rats.
Map with basement.
Besides the crates is not much here. And nothing useful inside them. One door leads out of the room (besides the trap door).
You hear nothing but the scratches of something moving through the walls.
Salonius makes to follow behind Saul and then shoots Jhen and Meliandri a sheepish half smile, "Ahh, perhaps you ought to head in next..."
Dirty salt and sawdust coat the floor of this gloomy hall. Bits of the wall masonry have been chewed or clawed away, revealing narrow, winding animal tunnels beyond. Steel rails are mounted in the ceiling, with a few lonely iron hooks dangling from them. A pile of stained pillows and moth-eaten blankets lies in a ten-foot-square depression in the floor to the northwest. A rusty, half-destroyed iron grating blocks access to a flight of stairs leading down to the northeast.
As you enter you get a glimpse at about half a dozen tiny rat like creatures before they disappear into the tunnels in the walls.
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"Was this place a butcher's shop? These hooks...I can't think of another reason for them. Strange to have a pile of pillows and blankets here. A nest?"
With his longspear, Saul keeps his distance from the pillows and blankets and prods and moves them, fearing that both rats and lice will jump out.
"Hey S, don't want to make deal with those grimples, but what about appeasing them? You know how to make friends with a fey?"
"We don't want to, they are betrayers, we cannot trust any deal made with them - and unless someone speaks their language, we cannot bargain anyway. They want to torture, humans for preference, I do not think there is anything we can offer them we would be willing to, and even then we could not trust such a "bargain". But I think they will struggle to really hurt us alone, we might be better simply ignoring them and waiting until they give us an opportunity to strike."
"Well there is no harm in trying I suppose. If nothing else a well fed rat might be slower," Salonius replies dubiously.
"But if we end up dealing with a true rat swarm... Well I think they are still large enough for weapons to effect at least, just that piercing and slashing weapons are markedly less effective, so bludgeoning weapons are preferable - which is not ideal for our group by the looks of things!"
Upon hearin Salonius pronounce the grimples affinity for torture Jhen grasps the hilt of his rapier a little tighter. Wary of the pillows on the floor he makes his way toward the rusty grate and trys to move it, "This way then?
As Saul shoves the pillows around he finds some coins.
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Saul carefully pulls out the items of value, doing his best to avoid any lice.
"It's not the rats I was worried about S, but rather that those grimples could be as numerous as rats. But I didn't bring any food along, so either way, I won't be able to make the rats or the grimples happy with me."
Saul joins Fhen at the rusty gate and peers through it. Is there anything moving on the other side?
Meliandri pushes through Jhen and Saul, taking a look into the darkness past the rusty grate. "I think I can see better than you two can. Just keep an eye on the grimples while I take a look.
The grate has a lock. Besides being locked it is also rusted. You can only see down the stairs, where your view ends at a wall with a closed double door.
Meliandri kneels down and opens her backpack. As she quickly takes the loot Saul found and shoves it in the main pouch, she looks at him pointedly. "For safekeeping. We can sort out the value of it later, when there are not a 'alf-dozen grimples watching us."
Shoving her sword into its sheath and rolling up her sleeves, Mels braces her feet against the lower part of the grate, grabs near the lock with both hands, and lets forth a series of very unladylike grunts as she pulls, trying to pop the lock open.
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"Leave the old cloak behind. Thing is probably completely infested with with lice. "
Saul watches with amusement as the skinny bard puts a lot of force on the grate.
"When that fails, I can pick locks, you know. I did it upstairs."
After Mels gives up, Saul pulls out his thieves tool and fiddles with the lock on the rusted grate, taking his time with it.
Mels stops pulling on the bars long enough to acknowledge Saul's point. She glares, but starts pulling the cloak back out of her backpack. Once it's sitting on the ground again, though, she gets an idea. "Venustas!" She waves her hand over the cloak until it's...not exactly good as new, but at least cleaner than it was before. "If it was with the coins and silver, someone must 'ave thought it 'ad value."
The grimples hiss angrily as you bag their valueables. Unlocking the grate is not easy as even the lock has rusted. But after some back and forth Saul opens it. Meanwhile you hear the sound of a flute played somewhere downstairs.
The double doors are not locked and open when pushed. You hear splashing of water. Behind the doors lies a large strange area. A fifty-foot-diameter pool of rancid, brown slurry fills most of this circular chamber. Chunks of plaster have fallen away, leaving ragged patches behind in the walls and ceiling and mounds of rubble on the floor. What wall space remains is decorated in crude drawings and symbols of sinister form. Greasy-looking chains run between four stout pillars rising from the muck and anchor to various points on the wall.
Inside this muddy pool are two ugly, five feet tall, fat, wobbly creatures that look like they are melting.
"Those..." Meliandri interjects. "...are Lemure devils. I 'ace seen them occasionally, at the Temple of Asmodeus. The clerics said something about 'basic building blocks of 'Ell,' or some such thing. You would need to 'ave a silver weapon to be very effective at 'urting them...or a lot of patience and some luck."
The splashing stops.
Salonius gives Saul an incredulous look peering from behind, "Sure leave the possibly magic cloak, but take the copper."
Chanting a quick spell he prestidigitates, and hits Meliandri's bag while she cleans the cloak, "I know it was only in there for a second, but still, better to be cautious, because well, lice bleck!"
Seeing the disgusting monstrosities Salonius's face contorts, and he calls, "What are you? Is there any reason we should not put you out of your misery?"
if he receives no response he repeats the call in Infernal and Shadowtongue.
The two devils look at each other and then charge towards the voice. Seeing them come over you notice, they are rather slow. But that is only a scant comfort when you end up toe to toe with the creatures.
Salonius waves towards Meliandri, "Lady Meliandri clearly knows far more than I about this subject."
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Seeing the devils on the move, Saul positions himself in front of the door and readies his spear. He plans to get several quick jabs on them before he can get hit in return. As he prepares himself, he shoots Salonius a dirty look as if to say, "This is your fault, big mouth."
1. Trait: Once a day, get +2 hit bonus on AoO
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Saul sees the devils coming, but that doesn't help him much. Even with his spear that allows him to keep most dangers away from him, the devils don't care. Startled by the appearance, Saul misses the first one. He hits it, with the second stab, but the damage the spear does is disappointing, as Saul put all his strength behind that.
Meliandri draws her sword again, yelling at the top of her lungs. "For Kintargo! Take the fight to them!"
Salonius rushes forward almost pressed against the wall to avoid coming near the grotesque blob. Just past the doorway he spins on his heel and launches a splintered spear, but he cannot be sure if it will do much to the nebulous mass of flesh.
The devil is hit and wounded by the splintering spear, but still not relenting.