When the group is ready, Searok will lead them to the bypassed chamber.
Shaeda will endeavor to determine what the two unidentified items are.
After you've gathered up everything of interest, you return to the door you previously passed up. You are in the room that something else trashed before you could; the mess is still here, and so is the derro Shaeda was able to trip before he could mount any sort of reaction, tied up on the floor.
The door to the south is closed. Every now and then you can here a low groan and a thumping noise from behind it.
Edit: Shaeda identifies the wand; it is a wand of Ghoul Touch with 22 charges remaining.
Searok will go to the bound derro and ungag him. Yer boss is dead an' so is that abomination he had with him. Now why don't ye be a good lad an' tell us what's behind the door?
Makall attempts to discern the other items.
Quietly trailing behind the group.
Makall is the third in a row to find the robe somewhat baffling.
The derro babbles something unhelpfully, but you can at least get the gist that whatever it is, he wants to be far from it. The best he can do is nod his head frantically toward the door and make noises that sound angry, interspersed with the guttural sounds of Aklo. At least one word sounds like he's trying to pronounce it in common, but it's very muddy. "Golm!"
Not surprised the idiot can't speak a beautiful language like dwarven or the less beautiful common tongue! Searok says as he replaces the gag. He turns to the others, Well shall we do this?
When all are ready, he will open the door.
"Open it Searok we are ready."
The door opens to a reveal a room that was once some sort of pantry. It is now in shambles, shelves smashed and jars broken on the floor. Many of the jars look to have contained pickled body parts.
Speaking of pickled body parts, an assemblage of just that stands in the room, obviously the cause of the destruction, as well as the mess outside the door and the distress of the derro. The creature is humanoid in shape, but no two extremities appear to have come from the same source; one leg is longer than the other, one arm is green either from decay or having once belonged to an orc, the eyes don't match, and the torso is a patchwork of different skin tones.
For a second you think it may have three arms, but that's not the case; it's holding a spare one like a club, having apparently pick it up from one of the smashed jars. The arm has the by now familiar Shoanti tattoos on it.
At the sound of the door opening, the patchwork thing slowly turns its head to look at you, letting out a low groan and raising the severed arm. It's impossible to read its expression with any accuracy since its face is like a traffic accident, but it might be confused.
”Close the door! Nothing in there I want to deal with!”
But if we don't get all of the boy's body parts then we failed our mission! Searok says as he closes with the 'golm'.
Searok runs forward to strike at the monster, but misses due to a shocking revelation as soon as he gets close; this thing smells terrible. The scent is like a plague hospital produced an offspring with a swamp and raised it on nothing but sauerkraut.
Searok manages to resist the foul stench, though he'll certainly want to wash it off him as soon as possible.
Searok calls back to the others, This creature smells! He ain't for the faint o' heart!
Shaeda moves forward and attempts to trip the creature...
She is now in a position to bodyguard Searok, if needed.
Makall begins to summon an ally.
As Makall begins his spell, Shaeda's whip snaps at the monster's mismatched ankles, pulling it off balance, and it hits the floor hard.
The monster lets out a growl and swats at Searok.
(plus disease)
(plus disease)
But due to its awkward position on the floor, it misses both strikes.
Searok tries to pound it, but it's surprisingly nimble even while prone, and he hits the floor with his hammer.
Makall recalls Granijor and Ablaszar to this plane flanking the golem and begins to pound on him.
The quarters being rather tight Makall inches up to view the battle.
Both elementals pummel the mismatched monster with their fists, popping stitches and raising welts and bruises on its decaying flesh.
Let’s see, it’s prone, the big guys are wailing on it, things seem under control.
I’ll delay.
The golem, its formaldehyde soaked brain not equipped for strategy, can formulate no better plan than to lash out at the assailant who hurt it most, Granijor.
It pounds aimlessly at the rocky being, not even knocking a chip off.
Searok brings down his hammer again, this time successfully.
Makall chooses to watch as the creature is pounded on like a slab of meat. The sight is disturbing nonetheless as the red tinted formaldehyde sprays all over the room.
Searok doesn't seem to mind the formaldehyde splashing about-in fact, he seems to revel in it!
The elementals continue to beat the monster. It's hard to tell when a creature that already looks like its been run over by a cart is dead, if it could even really be described as alive to begin with, but the onslaught eventually does enough damage that it stops moving.
The arm it was holding drops to the ground, fairly unscathed due to the golem's failure to hit anyone with it. A review of the body parts you have collected confirms that you now have a completed cadaver, and Gaekhen can now receive the burial intended for him.
"Nice job folks."
Leaning against the wall and sighing, "I hate cramped spaces like this. So lets get out of here."
Pointing a the bound derro in front of her, "What are we doing about him?"
Searok shrugs while wiping formaldehyde from his face. Maybe give him to Gaekhen as a peace offering? He can enact some sort of revenge if he wants.
"I don't mean to sound girly here, but I am NOT going to be the one hauling all of those body parts out of here!"
I suppose you could always turn the derro over to Cressida.
Searok will find a sack and throw the body parts in. He hefts the bag over his shoulder and grabs the Derro. I'm supposein' we could turn this one over to Cressida. There might be a reward! Now unless anyone want ta do anythin' else, we should get goin'!
Hey, here's a question for you guys. That dungeon took ages for us to complete, downside to the PbP style of gameplay, so I was wondering if you'd like me to streamline future ones a bit.
Like, just in circumstances that are "dungeon-crawly" like this where it's encounter after encounter for a while, I could remove a couple of the ones that aren't important.
Or we can do everything unabridged, I don't mind either way. Some people are big into combat, some into RP, some into both. Whichever you prefer.
You emerge from the Dead Warrens tired and covered in muck, but victorious. The derro you've captured starts to writhe and complain as soon as he is taken outside, as if he is in pain. Although you can't understand him it soon becomes clear that the sunlight causes him great discomfort.
Returning to the Citadel, a few people gawk at the sight of your prisoner as derro are mostly unknown to the surface world. A clerk at the front desk accepts the prisoner, and sends you into Cressida's office.
"While I was sort of hoping you'd arrive with Rolth Lamm in your custody and not-" She consults her notes. "-'some sort of funny bleachling gnome', it's not your fault he wasn't down there, and I'm extremely pleased. We just had a messenger arrive. Among the prisoners you liberated was the daughter of a merchant who'd been in here several times frantic with worry for her. She just turned up on his doorstep with a tale of her rescuers, and had a reward sent. So that's yours as well, and we can mark two cases solved instead of one."
She places a wrapped package on the desk. Within is a wand of Cure Moderate Wounds (all 50 charges), and a thank you note from "Tiora".
"We'll see if we can get the rest of the people you released in here, maybe one of them knows something about Lamm. We'll find an interpreter for your prisoner as well. If there are any leads to be followed up on, I'll be in touch."
"But the important thing is you retrieved this body. You did get all of it, right?" She peeks into the sack, and wrinkles her nose."Looks complete to me. Er, that bit's moving. I'm gonna assume no miracle has occurred and have it de-animated before handing it over to Thousand Bones. But this hopefully proves to the Shoanti that they can put their trust in the city, and will help us in the future. A lot of people think that things will calm down soon..." She glances at a calendar on the wall. Two days from now the word "Executuion" has been written in red ink. "...but I'm not convinced we're not still in the calm before the storm."
"Regardless, you've done your part to help. You've earned your reward, and a rest."
She places a wooden coffer in the table, much like the last one you received. Within are 120 platinum crowns.
"Is it time to go and let our hair down a bit?"
Thank ye Ms. Cressida! Glad to be in service of tha Queen! Long may she reign!
He turns to the others. Are we goin' back to the ghost lady's house?
"As good a place as any!"
You return to the home of the late Zellara Esmeranda and find it much as you left it...save that a package is awaiting you.