Seeing Thuradin bit, Kragmyr reaches over to his wounded comrade and continues his chanting. The dwarf's wounds begin to close, almost as fast as they were opened.
Gundar dashes an arc to get behind the monstrous arachnid, swinging his axe for the abdomen.
Round 2
Thozar moves to the bottom of the stairs and releases another ball of acid at the spider!
Round 3
Not wanting the creature to have any means of escape, he leaps over the banister and tries to club it with his quarterstaff.
"It's strength is failing, end it before it brings more pain upon us!"
____________
Frustrated at his impotence so far, Ulark lashes out once more at the spider.
for
Take. That!
Thuradin grimaces in pain as the creature's mandibles pierce his flesh. Feeling the poison being injected into the wound he manages to overcome it's effects through sheer determination.
Forgoing attacking the spider's armored shell he instead focuses on the arachnid's thorax. He roars with glee as the axe's blade sinks into the creatures soft underbelly.
Finally free from 'healing duty' Kragmyr swings his hammer with all of his might. It 'whistles' as it flies through the air, impacting solidly with the beast.
The spider takes a couple of hits, but Kragmyr's hammer smashes right through the center of the head, crushing the life out of the spider.
An abandoned hopeknife sits in plain sight on one of the shelves in the bookcase to the northeast. Its blade bears the inscription, “For Rodrik, my love."
You discover a false back to the bookcase. The small cubby behind the false back holds an ornate gold coffer studded with numerous gems. The coffer is empty, but is itself worth something.
Pushing aside the rotted boards in the cabinet to the southeast reveals an iron flask containing an oil and another holding a potion, a beatup steel scroll case (worth 5 gp) holding two scrolls, and two vials of water.
With battle coming to a close, Thozar relaxes a bit. "That worked well. Let us tend to the wounded and continue on our way," he says as he moves back to the middle of the hallway towards Torith.
"I see the Earth runs strong in your veins as well! I come from a long line of Dwarves who have blessings from the Earth. It takes many forms, a few can even do what you have done. Have you family members with such a gift? Perhaps variations?" he asks, clearly very eager to be having this conversation.
Gundar is about to swipe at the spider again when a deft blow from Kragmyr crushes its head. Gundar
With the above nature check, would Gundar know any useful things to be done with the spider, especially its venom? Worth anything if harvested?
Gundar begins to return to the previous room when something strange about the coloring of the bookcase catches his eye. He walks over and jiggles the wood a bit until it comes loose, revealing a right gorgeous little box.
"Hells, lads. Lookit this!" he says, holding it out for them to see.
Not a bad find gundar. Ulark says, quickly wiping his axe in case any lingering venom splattered on it. So lads, below? Or look at the last room up above here first?
Belir kicks open the door, revealing a short hallway to a room.
Most of this room is in shambles, and the western wall has collapsed in a heap of rubble. A staircase to the northeast leads to a wooden loft upstairs; the area beneath the loft is filled with fallen beams, jumbled bricks, and other debris.
Still glowing from his last blow, but doing his best to hide it, Kragmyr says "Careful lads. I'm out of healin' for the day."
"I've got a few spells left, but after that..." Thuradin responds.
"Well struck! That was a mighty blow Kragmyr! I'm afraid i don't have powers that can help with healing. I call to the earth for aid and it sometimes answers, though I admit I need more practice with my aim."
Torith turns to Thozar as he asks his questions. He thinks for a moment before answering in their native tongue.
"Well my family have been miners for many generations, so i guess in a way we've always been close to the earth. I never heard of my ancestors having gifts such as these though."
He pauses again and an obvious look of grief washes over his face.
"I found my gifts the hard way. Trapped in a collapsed mine with enemies destroying the town..."
There's a noticeable gulp followed by an abrupt change of subject.
"Do you train for your skills or are they something that comes naturally?"
Gundar finds that the coffer is empty, and tucks it into his pack for the time being.
"We've already found Rodrik's hopeknife. I say we try and search the rest. Mayhaps nothin' else liked living with this beastie anyway."
We've got nothing yet to help us unravel our troubles. Don't feel right to sit and rest yet, Gundar muses.
Kragmyr laps Torith on the back. "Was a lucky blow, no more. But tell me more about your town when we are done with this. I would write the grudge in my book to return to the clan, if you would allow it."[/b] Then, to the rest of the group "Aye Gundar. Thuradin can still patch our wounds and we've got strength left in our arms. Let's turn over this nest and see what crawls out."
To Torith, Thozar replies, "I am sorry to hear that about your family. Working the earth in any fashion is a noble pursuit for any dwarf. What happened to your town must have been traumatic... Where was it? What happened?" his face becoming mournful. "I understand that this may not be the time for such a conversation, we can always chat about the details another time."
He perks up a little when the subject is changed, however. "A bit of both. It takes determination and focus to become a druid, but it also takes a certain natural talent and willingness from the Earth to do what I can and will be able to do. I feel the raw energies within the Earth when I touch it, the very soil we walk upon calls to me. If my lineage is any indication, soon I will be able to fuel my very spells with a portion of that power." Thozar explains, becoming increasingly excited and passionate as he goes on. Another who has received a blessing from the Earth! I can only speculate at how is powers will develop! "And of your abilities? I have read of power such as yours within my own family, but none of the living members possess it."
"There does not appear to be anything left on this floor. I propose we explore until our healing and strength begin to wane, then recover. We can always explore more another day, but only if we survive the prior delve..." he says gravely. I have no desire to become a page in Kragmyr's book...
_____________
Ulark tries not to easvesdrop on Torith and Thozar's discussion but cannot help but quickly interject. It's good the Earth speaks back to the pair of you. Gifts are certainly impressive. Just always hold some steel as well. he softly says as he finishes cleaning his axe and shifts the weapon back into a guarded stance. Worst comes, you need to depend on yourself.
He walks back towards the far stairwell. Gundar! How'd the way below look?
Most of this wooden loft is still standing—this is the only remnant of the building’s destroyed second floor. The roofless chamber is completely exposed to the elements and filled with soot-covered debris, fire-damaged furnishings, and charred wooden beams. A large, soot-covered brass statue of a goddess with a longsword in one hand and a kite shield in the other stands precariously on the northern edge of the platform above a rickety flight of stairs.
As you begin your descent, you see two giant centipedes out hunting, perhaps for you.
"Barely saw anything beyond the stairs, we'll need to take a more thorough look. An' there was a safe, good steel. Maybe recent."
As Belir storms past and moves up the stairs alone, Gundar side-eyes him and says "Scream if'n ya find anything, geezer."
"Did anyone hear else hear that?"
Torith heads for sound of the shouting dwarf, breaking off the conversation abruptly.
"Ah, bloody hell," Gundar says moments after his snark, following Torith.
Always bet on trouble and people will start to think you're a prophet.
Thozar quickly follows his fellow dwarves. His braids bouncing behind him as he bounds up the staircase.
"Aye! Charge!" as he follows Thozar up the stairs.
What in sparks... Ulark says as he hears a commotion behind him.
as yells and clangs echo out, the paladin whitens briefly. Cor! Not again! Every time I step away for a second.... before he charges forward.
Belir chops at the wiggly creature, but doesn't manage to hit it. The red centipede tries to bit him, but also fails. The two stare at each other.
Meanwhile, the green one scurries past the stairs to confront Torith in the hall.
"Excellent strike Belir, you'll make short work of them yet!" Thozar shouts, unable to maneuver into the room to join the battle.
___________
Belir does indeed cut the first one in half.
Everything here has too many legs. Ulark says as he readies his weapon in case the centipede continues to crawl down the crowded hallway.
Seeing his kinsmen crowd the stairs, Kragmyr instead decides to watch their rear, in case all of their shouting managed to draw the attention of anything else. Such as a flood troll...
Torith finds himself stuck between an enemy and Gundar, so he decides to disengage rather than open himself to attacks.
"Bug things this way fellas!" he says as he moves fromt he corridor.
Gundar lets Torith shuffle behind him and then advances on the centipede.
Unfortunately, that misses. The centipede responds with a weak attempt to bite Gundar.
Gundar again swipes ineffectually at the bug, finding his movements hampered by the confines of the hallway.
Kragmyr moves closer to the stairwell, his weapon still at the ready should the sound of conflict bring any more foes.
Seeing Kragmyr guarding the rear, Thozar moves to do the same. His quarterstaff in hand, he keeps an ear out for signs of any other foes coming their way.
Belir comes into view and cuts the other centipede in half.
Bah, are you two all right? Ualrk says, stepping towards Belir. You did quite well against the crawlers there. 'Spirit of the axe' guide you?
Thozar quickly searches the area while the others converse.
"Too many bugs here for my liking, what nasty things will we unearth next?"
Torith follows Thozar and checks out the room that was the former home of the centipedes.
"Easy enough to stand in front of 'em till someone else cuts 'em down," Gundar says. "What's next?"
"Did anyone get bit?" Thuradin asks, concerned.