Sarada quietly follows along as well.
Two rows of scorched, wrought-iron bedframes take up most of the space in this soaring chamber, resting between a fire-blackened altar to the southwest and double doors to the northeast. A second set of double doors leads to the northwest, and a single iron door exits the chamber to the southeast. Brightly colored holy figures stare down from the stained-glass windows built into the blackened stone walls, their visages noticeably less damaged than the rest of the room.
Hvita came back towards the doors with a nod and said, "I agree, it would be safer that way." As they entered the dark and spooky place she looked around for any threats as did the fox on her shoulders.
Lialda was too spooked by the place to notice anything but the Hvita wasn't. The tiny fox began to yip at her witch and caught her attention. this wasn't the first time the fox had spotted things Lialda hadn't and they'd long since worked out a system whereby she'd point with her tail and move it to guide her witch to what she saw.
Lialda spoke to the others, "Hvita spotted something over here," and walked to where the tiny fox indicated.[/dice]
Hvita leads Lialda, Kreagor and the rest of the crew into the room and to the center walking way. As you approach you can see that the item is a trap door that is hidden underneath one of the beds. Before they can get a closer look however, a terrifying set of images appear before Kreagor, Lialda and Hvita.
Three three take note of burnt corpses of the plague victims that appear on the bedframes, sitting straight up and screaming, their mouths full of fire and ashes.
Not expecting the burnt corpses in the room, or expecting them to appear to be in such agony, Kreagor is shaken at the sight of them.
Reaching his handout to Lialda's shoulder to help her keep calm, and not wanting his companions to be caught by the sight, Kreagor turns to the door where Renliat, Sarada and Garri are,
"If you come in here you had best prepare yourselves. There are a number of the fires victims still here, in poses of considerable agony. Though we have found a trap door."
Lialda suddenly saw the three burnt corpses that appeared upon the bedframes. Both she and Hvita staggered back from the horror of the burned bodies but it wasn't the first time they'd seen someone burned beyond recognition. She nodded in agreement with Kraegor, "He's right, I don't think they're really there but they sure look realistic.
The burning bodies fade from existence as if they were never there. Once they are gone a closer inspection of the trapdoor reveals it is unlocked and could be opened if you wish.
Searching through the ashes of furniture and in the corners of the room turns up a small haul of ornamental valuables, including an ornate hopeknife, a heart-shaped gold locket and 63 sp.
With the disappearance of the burnt corpses Lialda breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the others and said, "I'd suggest we finish with this floor and the one above before we go down there, it'd be best to do this one level at a time."
"I agree with that, I will go check the single door at the end of this room"
With that Kreagor makes his way over to the single door an checks it over.
If the door appears okay and he doesn't notice anything on the other side Kreagor will slowly open the door.
Sarada dutifully follows behind the others.
Two iron doors connect this small stone extension to the Plague House’s main building. A large steel lockbox sits in front of a steep stone staircase that winds down into darkness. When Kreagor opens the door, three giant rats snap to attention and look displeased with him disturbing their party.
Lialda catches sight of them first and shouts to the party.
The sudden appearance of the rats startled the cry of, "RATS!" This was accompanied by a sudden squeal and move back by the witch before she said a few words and pointed, a ray of cold leaping out at the nearest rodent.
Lialda's ice blast misses the rat and startles him. The rats scatter and bolt deeper inside the room. As they begin to move about the room, the light bounces off them and reveal these are no ordinary rats as they are the size of small dogs at two feet in length. They have a coat of coarse fur, a long and scabby tail, and two glittering eyes.
Renliat looks on in astonishment as the rats scatter. "Huh. Wonder if we can just close a door on them."
"I see a staircase in here so we will probably end up in this room later anyway" Kreagor says in reply to Renliat.
To Garri, "I hope you have something to cure me of whatever disease these rats may have"
With that, Kreagor will stow his dagger, grip his shield and move forward into the room.
When Kreagor enters the room he spies two large rats in the corner of the corner of the room, ready to move in and attack him at their next opportunity. The third is watching from the steps above, keeping an eye on him as well.
Not wanting to waste a more valuable spell for now Lialda stepped forward and found she couldn't see the rats at all anymore. She could still hear them though and knew it was a matter of time. In an effort to make Kraegor more resilient against the vermin she focused and drew upon the powers of her bloodline to ward the hobgoblin against their attacks.
The rats converge on the Kreagor and Garri but fail to cause any harm at all. Two rats nip at Kreagor's ankles while the third tries for Garri's wrist, but they all come up short. These rats clearly look unhealthy and getting bitten by one likely will bring more than just pain to their bodies.
Renliat frowns. Unsanitary creatures. Renliat moves forward to get a better view, then raises his hand and clenches it. "Vilzriquathir drevab!" A freezing burst hits the three rats!
All three rats instant freeze in place, a thin layer of ice encasing their bodies. The ice quickly melts away, but when it is gone the rats are not moving. The damage done from the blast clearly caused their internal organs to shut down.
"Are you okay Garri? I am not hurt but I didn't see how you fared." Kreagor inquires of Garri. Then looking back over his shoulder "And thank you Renliat, that was timely aid"
With that, Kreagor will move forward and inspect the door.
The lockbox is locked and sealed. It is dented, dinged, scratched and beaten where it looks like attempts to force it open have failed numerous times. The box is quite heavy and if shaken or moved, you can tell there are numerous items which rattle around inside of it.
The door to the north is unlocked and is on the same level.
Lialda was quite relieved that the rats were now dead, she didn't like rats, she didn't like them at all. She entered and followed her companions as they went through the northern door keeping as far away from the flash frozen rats as she could. She saw the runes on the rocks in the burned chamber and found herself very curious about them so she moved up to look at them in more detail and then to examine the book shelf.
Kreagor opens the door to the North!
The lockbox can wait
Kreagor opens the door and reveals a room with support walls and pillars that once connected the Plague House to the huge boulder behind it have burnt and crumbled in this ruined chamber, revealing nearly the entire face of the monolithic stone as well as much of the sky above. Jagged red runes have been painted onto the rock in long, broad strokes that reach from top to bottom. A cabinet on the southeast wall and a tall bookcase against the northeastern wall are all that remain of the room’s furnishings.
Renliat notes that the runes painted on the rock (which older Trunauans sometimes refer to as the “Freestone”) spell out the name "Skreed" in Orc. Garri spots “R + B” carved on a support beam near the bookshelf.
As Garri is investigating the beam a creature crawls out from the shadows, hidden among the many webs in the room. Suspended in the webs on the ceiling a giant spider attempts to suprise attack Garri but misses the goblin. It tries again but apparently is the worst sneak attacking hidden spider in history and fails miserably.
Sarada charges the rude spider.
Renliat looks at the giant spider with a bit of surprise. This place really is a rundown mess. He takes a shot with his crossbow, more for amusement than anything else.
Lialda, not feeling like playing around this time, pulled her crossbow out and was glad it was loaded. She fired at the spider before stepping back so that others could get between her and the creepy thing.
Seeing the spider and the assault launched on it by his comrades, Kreagor approaches the spider to not let it get to his less protected friends and swings his sword.
and
Garri's fire ignites on the spider, but that is the least of it's concerns. The party brings the brunt of their collective force down it so quickly it that the creature is decimated in a matter of seconds.
With the spider dead and the hallway appearing clear, Kreagor starts walking back towards the chest.
"I'm going to see whats stored in here. Once thats done where do you want to go? It looks like its down the hole in the floor, down the stairs or into the room in the other hall."
With the death of the spider Lialda let out a sigh of relief. She didn't like spiders any more than she liked rats, fortunately this one was as dead as those rats from before. She nodded in agreement with Gari and said, "Yes, I believe finishing this floor is best, we'll worry about which floor to deal with then." She went to the spiders corpse as she spoke and began to harvest some bits from it for future use in her spells.
Kreagor takes his time and eventually pops the lock on the box. Inside are a potion, two scrolls, masterwork hand crossbow, and a case containing 10 normal bolts, 10 cold iron bolts, and 10 silver bolts.
"I've found some crossbow bolts if any one wants them. As well as a hand crossbow. Also there's some scrolls and a potion"
Kreagor will use Read Magic to decipher the scrolls and then detect magic with spell craft to determine what the potion is.