No, I didn't see anybody around back of the glassworks when I did a perimeter. She answers Tamm and Loxley, ignoring the pitiful boy.
She looks back to the boy. Well, you know an opportunity when you see one, I'll give you that. You might want to take that windfall and find a new line of work.
Yeda then addresses Zeldana's concern, agreeing they should descend into the caverns quickly.
Yes, I suspect its very unsafe down there. If the creators of the tunnel haven't happened back through it again already, we're lucky.
Looking at yeda, the boy says grimaces. well...i was on guard that day...at my mom's... his voice falters under the stern glare of yeda. i...Karsen pulled me in here to watch his post. Said he had to take care of something. That was an hour ago. Offered me 100 gold to watch this door. 100 gold! So easy! But i got tired...and so...oh im so dead. My mother is going to kill me the boy drops to his knees and starts to sob
He could understand Miss Yeda's Ire, though she came from sterner things and folk than this town fellow. He frowned recalling his youth and his family. There was a lot of things he would have done different if he could have, but there was no sense in wallowing in the mistake.
"You have erred, but you can correct that mistake young friend. Buck up, stand straight, get your gear and take your post. Things are.... amiss here do not be caught off guard. What's done is done, but take this moment to make your family proud from this moment on. This berry is magical, if you get hurt or hunger, eat it quick."
He began clutching the youngs man's shoulder, giving it a squeeze, then nodding to him and following the others.
"Let's go Dewdrop, there is strangeness afoot."
He mentioned to the elk whom stared at the elf blankly. He followed along when the elf followed the others inside though.
"Back downstairs then..."
Loxley bit her lower lip. She didn’t like leaving the ground floor unchecked but the general opinion seemed to be to check the downstairs first. With a reluctant nod she agreed.
”Downstairs then.”
Leaving the boy to "stand watch", you proceed through the hall and make your way to the top of the stairs that lead into the basement of the glassworks.
Stepping up to the landing, you hear someone at the bottom of the steps violently throwing up. Deep, heavy, retching sounds. A loud moan echoes up the stairwell, and a familiar voice, jorns voice says quietly
how?..how is everyone? Mikel? Blahne?
Hearing the familiar voice a bit of the worry settles and more hope takes its place. Jingling as she stepped Zeldana hurried down. "Jorn! What happened?! Are you all okay?" She asked worriedly.
Jorn throws up again, falling to his hands and knees. He looks up and around at you all, but his eyes fail to focus.
It was karsen. He..he attacked us, Got me from behind. Hit me on the head...Hard. Good thing for this helmet, wouldve killed me Jorn heaves again, this time its dry. you can easily tell that jorn is suffering from a severe concussion. The rest, Mikel, Blahne, all look the same, disorientated.
Quickly Zel moved to his side, kneeling next to him, and being mindful of the vomit. "Here, sit. Take my waterskin to wash the taste out." Handing it to him and even helping him get a drink from it if he has issue. "We should get them back up and to the healers. And find Karsen! He'll answer for this."She said to her group. "But we can't leave them here... Not in this condition."
"The boy was fine. We leave them with Dewdrop to guard them, the boy can go and get help. Whatever this Karsen fellow is after we have to stop him."
He offered the slight smile he had fading to a hard firm scowl.
"I agree."
to Jorn: "Did you see which way he went?"
Yes, did he escape up the stairs or slinks back down the tunnels into the catacombs?
Yeda's head is on a swivel now, looking back and forth and clearly eager to dart off in a direction when told which it is.
down the tunnel...
"Of course." Zeldana said with a small sigh as she let her waterskin with Jorn. "We will be right back. Don't stress yourself." She said before she moved and helped Mikel and then Blahne over to where Jorn was so that they could watch after each other even in their condition. Honestly she didn't want to leave them here alone, but there was little that could be done. Pausing for a moment Zeldana looked to Corrin. "You're the fastest of us all, will you run back up and get the boy so that he can look after them or tell him to go and get the Sheriff so that he can quickly come and collect them?" She asked. "Then you could catch up with us, I'm sure you'll be swift enough." Zeldana added before the grew saw her pull one of her cards out, The Paladin, it shimmered with a pale purplish blue light and the armor upon the Paladin vanished before appearing upon Zeldana then fading.
"I'm going down now, Karsen has a great deal to answer for." Zeldana said in a very matter of fact tone. The smile that she often had was gone, and she had a very 'down to business look' which was some what... scary.
Yeda sighs. Of course it had to be back down in the tunnels... where he can spring demon traps on us..
She follows Zel into the tunnels. She takes a slow, cautious lap around the basement checking rooms one by one.
Loxley hurriedly moved up to help the other two men along side Zeldana. Her mind raced as she tried to consider what had possibly happened.
Had this Karsen secretly by on the monsters' side, as Tsuto had. Or could he have fallen under someone's, or possibly something's, influence.
"With luck, we hopefully shouldn't have to worry about the well at the least." Loxley added trying to sound positive, before sounding serious. "I can only think of two possible reasons of these attacks. Either this Karsen is on the goblin's side, like Tsuto. Or he's being controlled or manipulated. Possibly magically."
Once the men are seen to she waits for Corrin and quickly hurries after the rest of the group.
Tamm mutters some arcane phrases and casts Mage Armor on himself.
"Don't go jumping to demonic conclusions. It could be that he decided there was buried treasure down there and he got greedy." Tamm says.
The raccoon on his left shoulder chitters something at this.
Tamm cocks his head to look at the little mammal and seems to listen to it for a second.
"No ... I don't know what kind of buried treasure. I was just speculating." he says to the raccoon.
The raccoon continue to squeak and chitter, now waving its little arms.
Tamm replies "I don't think the guard tried to murder his companion over a buried summer sausage ... but anything is possible."
Then he turns to the group: "Okay, lets go, but fair warning: If there's an old sausage buried down there somewhere, the raccoon has called dibs."
you quickly walk through the short hallways, inspecting rooms and not seeing any signs of Karsen, nor any other threats...especially dangerous old sausages.
loxley, you bandage up the guardsmens heads, but beyond that, there isnt much you can do, unless you could cast a healing spell.
"Sure, I will gladly let him know and catch up!"
He began ordering Dewdrop to watch over the wounded folk while he ran to find the young guardsman.
"Hurry back Corrin."
"Thank you Corrin." Zeldana called after him as he left, before she followed the rest of her friends into the tunnels once more. While she had hoped this would have been to finish this place off, now it was to hunt down one of their own. "Any sign of him?" She asked down the line.
Yeda leads the group in the familiar path around the hallways of the basement, poking her sword through each doorway to check for trouble.
Tamm and Bandit follow Yeda.
Yeda and sazzat move around the basement hall, inspecting each room thoroughly, ensuring that Karsen isnt hiding in one of the darkened rooms, but they see nothing untoward.
On into the tunnels the party begins to retrace their steps. Stopping in the first room , Yeda stops and offers a strategy to the group.
Let's retrace to the demon pool, and ensure it's not active again. Then we can check other passages that we haven't yet taken.
She then proceeds to lead them back towards the referenced pool.
Zeldana nodded in agreement. "As far as we are aware that is the only thing down here that would be worth anything to someone. because... I told them it was down here." She sighed.
"Yeah, let's check the pool room, then the rest of the tunnels."
Once Corrin returns from sending the young guard for help, the two quickly move to catch up with the rest of the group.
Corrin hurries down the hall and easily catches up with the group. I sent the kid to get the Sheriff. he says, confirming his action as he falls in behind the party.
Stepping past the battered down wall that previously sealed off these ill-fated warrens, yeda strides forward, leading the way with her lighted sword held aloft.
Slow and purposeful, she leads the group through the cave where the group first encountered their first sinspawn. The corpse of the abhorrent creature composed of wrath, blood, and chaos, still lays upon it's side, undisturbed from its last encounter with the group. The light from the sword pushes back the shadows in a soft, blueish light, granting everyone an easy vision of the cave, revealing it to be, aside from the corpse, empty.
Stepping past the cave, yeda takes the first right, and proceeds down the carved passage, onto the man made room that reveals its shame treasure as before...broken clay urns, and the odd rotted wood. Asa before, the blue hue pushes back the darkness, revealing the worked room to be empty, as before.
The door set upon the northern wall hangs open, and from beyond the darkened hall a slight sound fills the air, lingering as it echoes down the vacant corridor.
Yeda strides forward with confidence of action, knowing that whatever comes before the group, she would take on...
striding up the corridor, taking a left, and then a right, the group retraces its steps to the T intersection as before. The light from the sword reveals the hint of a red statue, eager to be inspected. But, this time, a similar sound, more clear and defined sounds from the hall to the right. You can easily tell that the sound is that of a man in pain.
Proceeding with caution, the party moves down the long, straight hall, until it doglegs to the right, revealing once more the shrine room, with the altar and basin set upon a slightly raised dias, carved into the side of the wall.
Layed out upon the steps to the dais you see the guardsman known as Karsen. He writhes in agony, his limbs spasming and and twitching. They bend and twist, his fingers curled into claws. A slight gasp of pain escapes his lips, filling the room with the agony he is feeling.
"There is a man ahead, in a lot of pain an agony."
He said quietly to the group readying his spear.
The light from the sword pushes back the shadows in a soft, blueish light, granting everyone an easy vision of the cave, revealing it to be, aside from the corpse, empty.
Yeda calls back through the line to her group.
Found him.
She then addresses the pained man more directly, leveling her sword at him.
Didn't get very far, did you? Now then, we hear you attacked your own brothers and arms and scurried down here. We're only going to ask this once, and I have a wizard and a witch who can tell if you're lying. Why did you do it and what are you up to?
"Did he take a dip in Zel's angry hot-tub?"
Moving through the dimly lit tunnels Loxley caught herself gripping the hilt of her sword tightly and had to force herself to relax at least a little. Being too tense could be as bad as not being cautious enough.
Loxley literally bumps into someone and curses under her breath at being so stupid as to be her own distraction.
”Sorry.” She says apologetically, looking embarrassed for a moment before it sinks in. Looking ahead she sees the man in agony. Loxley bites her lip and moves up past the others to stand beside Yeda. ”I.., I don’t think he can...” She trails off and tries again. ”I don’t know how much he is in his right of mind right now.”
Her concern is tight on her face as she crouches down and holds a hand out before her. With a whisper of power she extends her sense.
The man on the ground, Karsen, simply moans in pain as his body trembles. His twitching and involuntary motions causes his body to slip down the stairs of the dais.
Zeldana followed after the group to find Karsen writhing in pain. Confused at his current situation, Zeldana scratched her brain to try and think what might of happened to him.
Yeda relaxes her sword arm as the others notice his mental state.
Oh. Can you exorcise him?
You look the man over and think he's under some sort of odd magics involving the shrine up on the dais
The man grunts loudly, and suddenly the sound of things snapping fills the small chamber your in. You look down at the guy and and hes so rigid that bones are starting to snap. His knuckles pop out of their sockets, his right arm snaps at the elbow, his left calf is torn to shreds as both bones snap free, tearing out of the muscle and shearing out of the body.