Ivar swings his dorn-dergar around and tries to strike at the remaining skeleton.
Ivar swings his Dergar but is distracted by the appearance of a half-orc with a giant sword and bloody head wound.
Unfortunately the half-orc is also distracted by the sight of the dwarfs unusual weapon, swings his enormous sword and stumbles a step to the left as he misses.
The rest of the party is still up.
Vedia carefully moves to where she can be in flank with the half-orc. She makes sure she doesn't come in range of the creature's arms. "I hope you are a new friend, and not planning to kill us after this creature is dead."
James takes another swipe with his hammer.
Then he steps back and reloads his pistol.
"Since he is fighting these things I might assume he is freindly, but I wouldn't put it past him if he tries to cut us open also. Perhaps he is from Khonnir's expedition." Xandar says as he steps closer to give the skeleton a good wreck.
Both James and Xander connect with the old bones of the skeleton reducing it to nothing more then a pile. As it falls the light in the eyes fades.
The party is left bleeding with one man down while a half-orc looks at you from across the bodies of the skeletons.
A sense of accomplishment passes over you and you realize the rush of energy you had during the fight is stiking with you and you are each more competent then when you entered the cave.
* * * * *
Welcome to Level Two- Remember to adjust your character's enteries on the tables in the tactical maps documents and in your headers.
* * * * *
"Well, he ain't attacking us, so he sounds like good people to me. What's yer name boy?"
While he speaks to the half-orc, he makes sure Augar doesn't bleed out.
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Uronzeer takes a wide step back holds a martial stance. Perfectly still, great sword held horizontally at chin height.
Adrenaline still pumping through the mysterious party and himself, Uronzeer silently looks each member up and down. He takes a second glance at the man giving aid to the Dwarf. He fixates on the bloody scene before realizing the man is speaking to him.
I am Uronzeer
He lowers his guard realizing this is not a time to rage.
"OOO-ron-zee-er? I am James. Glad to meet you. Where you with Khonnir? We are looking for him."
"Can anyone help Augar here?"
If no one can, James pours one of the CLW potions down his throat.
"Nice to meet you. What are you doing in this place all alone?"
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"Khonnir?" Uronzeer says softly.
It sounded very familiar but certainly no one he had met before.
"I traveled far for Torch but, had only arrived." Uronzeer rubs his head-wound with the ungautleted arm to inspect the welt.
Surely something blunt had hit it, but he couldn't quite tell without being able to view it for himself.
"James, and friend" gesturing to the pale wizard Wizard "I Cannot say how I wound here, but feel fortune to be received as an ally."
"Will he be all-right?" pointing to the downed Dwarf with his gauntlet hand.
"I am Ivar, paladin of Trudd the Mighty" Ivar says to the newcomer with a nod.
Xandar looks down on the dwarf "He should be alright with a healing potion poured into him. You don't know how you got here strange, maybe you fell through the roof of this place. I'd love to have one of these skeletons with me back to examine, doesn't look like any creature I've ever seen, perhaps they are alien in nature or mutated by the wheck. By the way I'm Xandar, archaeologist from the Society and a bard of songs, pleased to meet you Uronzeer." he says the name with the orc tongue hoping to pronounce it right. He is clearly deep in thought poking at the skeleton remains.
"There, that should do it."
"We took care of 'em, buddy. Don't worry about that. Now that you are back among the living, what do we do with poor Crystal here? I don't know what happened to her, but she doesn't seem to be getting better."
"My name is Vedia. It's a pleasure to meet you. Good to see you moving Augar." She kneels next to Crystal. "We should get her back to Torch. This is more important than continuing our search. We can come back tomorrow or the next day and take up where we left off."
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Uronzeer had not noticed the native just beyond the group struggling to stay up. The contrast with the bright introduction from the bard confuses him.
"Hello Xander"
Knowing it could be a great insult to not smile Uronzeer forces an awkward but sincere snaggled tooth grin, his scares bend in crooked directions. He looks up and ponders if falling through the roof of the massive dome could have been feasible.
"Paladin of Trudd, Ivar." A smile came more naturally to the martial curtness presented by the Dwarf.
"I agree with Vedia, it's to dangerous to have a wounded member to carry around while also fighting. There might be more of those robots down here as we go further into the ruins, and we can't just leave her be somewhere there might be scavengers. So lets return to Torch and also stock up on some healing remedies, I sure we can sell some of the things we have found down here to finance those." Xandar says looking a bit worried about crystal. "I hope she is going to overcome whatever has struck her."
Carefully examining Crystal you are surprised to see what appear to be very small pieces of foreign matter embedded into here legs.
Judging by the color they appear to have come from the creature you fought when you first entered the desert area. You can remember that at the start of the fight she got stuck in the sand around the creature.
"Should probably have a strong swimmer carry her though the water back to Torch, I can help support her untill we get to the water."
When it becomes obvious that Crystal is unresponsive, Elkin shows a surprising amount of concern. I never loved my tribe, but Crystal loved hers.
"We should definitely return to Torch, and get Crystal the immediate aid she needs there. But we should also try to find her tribe, or leave word for them, somehow. She belongs to the Black Hills; she'll want to be with her people, and they'll want that for her."
"While I regret the need to turn back now, I agree. We should get her back to town."
"That sounds like a strong argument. Let's take a look here."
James examines the leg, and sees if he can remove the substance in question.
James attempts to use a small pocket knife to pry out the foreign matter but when touched it burrows deeper. It appears a physical method will not suffice to remove them.
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Uronzeer Nods to the Dwarf with the battle hammer and feels out of place watching the discussion unfold of what to do with the sick native. Wanting to busy himself he begins helping Xander dissect the bony corpse, both are distracted due to the discussion.
He sees the creature burrow into Crystals leg and stands quickly away from the corpse.
"CHECK THIS" Uronzeer says holding his ungauntleted hand to the back of his head.
"please" He says as an after thought peering to anyone who will help examine the wound.
The group makes it’s way without incident out of the cavern. The skulks lay low as you go though and following the same path as you came in there is nothing new or different to face.
You find Joram Kyte near the pond, examining the foul water, who look at Crystal and sucks in his breath. “This is…. different. I will consult some others and, if possible, get her back on her feet. She looks like a survivor.”
He examines the rest of the group but doesn’t comment much until he gets to the half-orc. “Hmm, you look familiar, lots of scars. Many battles? Hard life? You don’t need to tell me, your head will be fine by the way.”
Elkin seems a little moody as the group walks out. Though they were from a different tribe, Crystal's injury seems to have hit Elkin on a level deeper than he expected. He doesn't ignore any conversation directed at him, but neither does he start nor enter any conversation uninvited.
Elkin's mood passes a little when Crystal is under someone else's care, as he lets his mind move to more immediate and pressing things.
"It's no good to head up there again tonight, I think. We should probably return to the Foundry before nightfall for some good rest. In the meantime, though, we have some time. We could see if there's anything to be learned here in Torch about that broken gun."
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Augar leaves with more understanding than he had previously. He would meditate on the lessons learned on this night.
"I agree to head out tonight would not not be right. Maybe we could get some more information not only on the gun but maybe the complex, well more know that we have helped find Joram"
James asks to look at the gun. "I have a few friends in town that might be able to help with this. I need to pick up some more loads for my pistol anyway, as I wasn't expecting quite so many scraps. You can come if you like. Otherwise, meet back here in the morning?"
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As the decision is made to bring the native back to Torch, Uronzeer walks over and lifts her in both arms. He nods to the group.
As they Walk out Uronzeer stays towards the back of the group and looks about the cavern intensely, taking note of turns and peculiar rock formations. The Sorcerer, stays towards the back with him also. It is clear this Elkin is deeply troubled. He appreciates the silent companionship.
Further he glimpses the crossbow slung behind Ivar's back, a perfect match to the bolt that almost sunk into his foot during the fray. He stops walking.
"Ivar"
Supporting the native in his gauntleted arm, he reaches for his belt and pulls out the arrow. With Ivar's attention he tosses it to him.
"i did not need another scar, perhaps you will need another arrow."
They travel further outside of the cave when a corpse comes into view. As they approach he carefully sets down the native.
Uronzeer falls to his knees besides the corpse of Parda Garr.
Why did you have to leave Parda. To travel all this way to find you here, who had done this?
It was clear the body had been and searched. Uronzeer feels tense, and full of spite. He slams his gauntlet into the bedrock.
"She was of the first place I knew as home, devout to Sarenrae,
but fallen. I will take her from this place. See her into oblivion"
As they exit Joram Kyte greets him. He feels enraged at this introduction. Perhaps he is simply shaken by the loss of Parda, or perhaps this is not coincidence. He stares back at Joram.
familiar am I
Before heading immediately to Torch Uronzeer seeks to burn the body of Parda Garr.
"I'll head to the Foundry. I want to see how thing are this evening, and I want to create a scroll before I go to be this evening. I'll either see you all there or in the morning." Vedia goes to the Foundry, and checks on things. Then she finds a quiet place to scribe her scroll of Color Spray.
"I'd like to go with you James, I'm very curious about the gun we found, don't think I would really be bale to rest fully without knowning at least a little of this."
Here is what I think people are doing so far.
Uronzeer – taking care of Padra
James & Xander – Researching the gun you found
Vedia – Retiring for the evening.
Feel free to join them in which case you can read the appropriate spoiler or let me know what you will do before heading to the Foundry.
As the others work out what they want to do Joram addresses you about Padra.
“Oh, poor girl, many of us worried how her life would end. You appear to have known her, I can help you give a fitting send off if you like. We have a place for a pyer.”
As you walk he continues to speak with you. “Padra had fallen in with a bit of a gang, the ropefists. Some of them went into the cave and never came out, the idea was a rescue mission but I doubt it was without thought of personal gain.”
Before lighting the pyer he tells you that you will be able to catch up with the group at the Foundry when done and gives you directions. Once prayers are said he leaves you to your thoughts.
You attempt to identify the gun either directly or eventually leads you to Sanvil Trett, a traveling merchant who sets up in Torch form time to time. Sanvil is about 5’7 with long dark hair he carries a sword on his hip and is equipped with many pouches and what you can only assume is a components pouch indicating he is some sort of mage. (picture in tactical maps link)
He greets your warmly but has a “salesmen” vibe that you can never be quite comfortable with.
“Ahh you are the friends of Torch trying to recover poor Khonnir, the dear man that he was. You know, if you find any interesting items in your serach I am more then happy to buy them from you. I… well I dabble in technology to make my living you see. Now what have you got there?”
He examines the gun briefly then fetches a magnifying glass and what look like thieves tools and looks more closely. At first excited and then appearing downcast. He reaches into his pocket and withdraws battery that he inserts into the base of the gun causing the gun to glow slightly.
“It is a beautiful piece and I would imagine quite dangerous. I will not guess as to how it works but it will shoot a small bolt of electricity instead of a piece of lead. It is old and damaged though so any shot could be its last I fear. Still an excellent piece if not reliable. Since you cannot trust it would you like to sell it maybe? I can pay you 1000gp for it?”
“Either way, please tell me about your attempt so far. Have you made a map or anything? Any other rare items to sell?”
As you approach the foundry a young man runs up to you and hands you a note before running off. “Mam, I have an invitation for you.” The note reads as follows.
Brave saviors of Torch. You are invited, as my guests, to the Silverdisk Hall, Torches most illustrious drinking and gambling establishment. As you are trying to insure all of our prosperity an offer of a 100gp credit per person is available for gaming, food and drink.
Your Servent, Garmen Ulreth.
No one else appears to be at the Foundry at present.
It doesn't take much for Elkin to sense Uronzeer's disturbance at finding Padra's body. Welcoming the distraction, he remains with the barbarian to assist with her last rites, promising to meet the others at the Foundry later that night.
"Well Mr. Trett, I can tell there live some strange creatures down there along with some skulks. I got blinded for roughly an hour down there so I couldn't make a full map of the expedition. I hope to remedy that at some point after we have found Khonnir. There is a dessert underground, how in the nine hells do nature create that? Well I plan to find up, I love a good mystery." Xandar says spinning a tale, letting the bard come up as he starts the story.
Ivar goes with the others headed for the Foundry. When the young man hands the group his note, Ivar's bushy brows furrow. "What's this now? A house credit line on food and drink is never something I rush to turn down, but this seems quite abrupt."
Sanvil is hard to read as you tell him the start of what you found underground. His eyebrows do go up when you speak of the desert.
"Well now I am glad you recovered from your blindness. A desert, strange creatures and some skulls sounds interesting. Are you sure you were still underground? I am sure the drow have deserts in the underdark, there are tails of a sea so why not I say."
"So no other technology, just this poor imperfect gun?"
"Well, sir, nothing else really just yet, but we will be making another go of it before too long. I tell you what, though - you make us good deals on what we recover, and we will keep you posted on what we find. Meanwhile, I think I would like to keep this one. Like you said, it's in pretty bad condition, but I do like tinkering with these things, and could try to clean it up a bit. What do you want for that, um.. battery?"
"I'm not going to turn it down. A good meal and a quiet place to work will be appreciated. Then some gaming if I'm still awake enough."
"I can help you look into that, I have a open mind around technology, so maybe I can help you think on something you've missed. But for now maybe we should head back to the foundry and get some rest before tomorrow's attempt to locate Khonnir?" Xandar asks James.
"So you want to keep it, fair enough. Think of me if you find more items. Generally batteries are worth 100 gold but since you are working for torch I will give you that one and additional I will only charge 90 gold. I only have two at the moment but can keep an eye out.
You know the silverdisks are just nonchargeable batteries, they make decent currency but at one point I am sure were more useful. Oh well."
After arriving back in Torch, Elkin guides Uronzeer to The Foundry, and introduces the half-orc to Val. While they wait for the others, Elkin tries to get to know the half-orc.
"Tell me about yourself Uronzeer. It's plain to see the orcish blood in you. Know that I have no cares about that. Are you from a Kellid tribe, or was your upbringing with orcs?"