Hazily squeezing past Elisai and Delendir Sunday steps up and strikes at the pouring rats.
Sunday smacks heavily into one of the approaching rat swarms, cutting a wide swath through the approaching mass of rats.
As the rats approach, Sunday again desperately lashes out at the seething, roiling mass. A bit disconcerted, he doesn't manage much.
The swarms skitter forward, enveloping most of the party.
Summary:
Bottom Swarm - 7 damage
Sunday - 4 damage
Delendir - 5 damage
Elisai - 4 damage
Kiley - 2 damage
Initiative:
Round 1: Sunday, Rat Swarms, Tal, Delendir, Elisai, Jessica, Kiley
Round 2: Sunday, Rat Swarms, Tal, Delendir, Elisai, Jessica, Kiley
Elisai strikes out at the swarm
Delendir drops the bow as the rats swarm him. He fights against the fetid creatures recoiling over himself. The ranger draws the goblin magical longsword, and slashes back and forth trying to kill as many rats as possible, following the example of Daud and Elisai.
"EEEEEK," Jessica screams as the rats come swarming out at them. Seeing the filthy things attacking her friends she quickly channels energy before moving away from the swarms of filthy things.
A blank look passes over Sunday's drowsy face for a moment as he's swarmed with the vermin before he stabs downward at the odious cluster.
Kiley scrambles backwards, trying to get out while dragging Sunday with her.
"Ish okay, you can go. Leave me to the mices." Sunday replies nonplussed while being dragged.
Tal flings a globule of acid at the rats, but is more focused on retreating, trying to drag the lovely priestess along with him.
Delendir drops the now-useless bow, pulling out the faintly glowing sword wrested from the goblin mutant in the Catacombs of Wrath. He sweeps the blade back and forth, skewering a multitude of rats. The remaining of the swarm around him and Sunday scatter, dispersing.
Elisai takes her greatsword and gets low, giving the rats around her no respite as she swings the six foot blade. Furry bodies pile up quickly, and the members that remain follow their other brethren back into the hole they came from, leaving the room to the group, for now.
Delendir sheaths the sword and recovers his bow "This Foxglove really needs a cleaning assistant"
He turns then to Kiley "Remember me to never accept a dinner at your admirer's house" laughs slightly the ranger while reading his weaponry to continue exploring the basement.
Even in his half-asleep state Sunday manages to turn a glare towards the half-elf.
After the rats recede, the basement remains relatively quiet, though the house does creak occasionally. The sound is disturbingly similar to a faint scream, and after 80 years the house should have settled into its foundation, by now.
"This house is just disturbing" says Delendir trying to break the silence We are so quiet, I fear this is just too much for us all.
Resolved, he pushes open the door to the southeast where the rats have appeared, and stealthily explores the next area.
Not being particularly stealthy, but also not finding any anomalies, Delendir opens the southeast door, revealing a short corridor. Seeing nothing adverse, he follows the corridor to a door made completely of iron. While rust mars the surface of the door, it seems to still be quite sturdy and locked when the ranger gives it an experimental tug.
"This door seems locked. There might be something relevant inside. Be ready" whispers the ranger as he pulls out his thief's tools and tries to unlock the door.
If he succeeds to unlock the door, Delendir makes a sign to the party and readying his bow, opens the door to the next room.
Kiley shivers uncontrollably as she stays close to Sunday. Delendir's words hardly register as one hand goes to the spot where her holy symbol would have hung. Finding it gone, and remembering who she had given it to, she instead goes for Sunday's hand, almost crushing it as she looks about nervously.
Getting used to the fighter's vice grip on his own hand he doesn't show any sign of obvious discomfort, letting her hold onto him as long as she needed.
Jessica readies herself as they follow Delendir, giving Tal a worried smile as he squeezes her arm, her glaive at the ready.
The party settles in to wait as Delendir seems to be having trouble with the lock. Several attempts seem promising, only to end in a broken pick or jammed mechanism that sets the ranger back to square one. Finally, after almost a half hour of dedicated work, the half-elf hears the tell-tale click of the tumblers falling into place. Finding that the door contains no traps, he opens the portal.
This room looks to have once been some sort of arcane workshop, although it now lies in ruin. A row of soggy books sits on the northern end of a workbench along the western wall. At the other end of the workbench, what looks like three iron birdcages sit, each containing a dead diseased rat. To the east, two stained-glass windows loom. The northern window depicts a thin man with gaunt features drinking a foul-looking brew of green fluid, while the southern one shows the same man but in an advanced state of decay, as if he had been dead for several weeks. His arms raised and head thrown back in triumph, his rotting body turns to smoke and spirals into a seven-sided box.
Delendir enters and searches through the room after cleaning his sweat in the frond "That was a tough lock. Someone did not want anyone to go into this room" The ranger pays special attention to the the bookshelf and the birdcages.
"Do not look there Ghina" the ranger says to the hawk, trying to sooth it and avoid the dead animals inside "It's just rats, no friends of you"
The half-elf then approaches to the windows peering through to see what is going on outside the manor.
"A seven-sided box again. Why is this 7 sides symbol spreading around Sandpoint in this way? Why has Foxglove this symbol at his home? The same Nualia had and we found in the dead corpses..." asks the half-elf almost to himself.
If nothing else happens in the room, Delendir checks the next door to the south west and opens it.
Stepping into the room Sunday ponders over the windows before them. "A... Lich?" he lets out as his brain tries rummaging through memories of his homeland.
Seeing yet another creepy room Jessica wonders, Why does Aldern have such a disturbing home? He seemed like such a nice man. She looks around with the others to see if there is anything of interest in here.
As you approach the middle of the room, a faint movement to the right catches your eye. Looking to the stained-glass windows, you find that the man depicted has changed his facial features subtly, and is now sneering. He appears to be looking directly at you.
After this, an almost overpowering compulsion to touch the books on the workbench sweeps over you, your need to read these books wiping away most other rational thought. You can certainly attempt to not do so, but it is clear you will be very distracted until either leaving this room or grabbing the books and satisfying your dark curiosity.
Delendir says "Look, that man in the windows... he has moved, hasn't he?"
The half-elf turns then to the workbench and starts reading the books over there. With increasing curiosity, he gets comfortable in place and carefully reads the texts.
|
Tal places a hand on Delendir's shoulder. "There is a better time for reading. Let's keep going and try to follow the noise."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"D-del, this place is b-bad enough without you saying things like that. W-we should h-hurry and get out of here."
Arching an eyebrow at Delendir's sudden interest in the room's books Sunday doesn't think too hard on it, instead focusing his attention between Kiley and the stained glass man undergoing his necromantic transformation.
You touch the books and immediately a blinding flash of images rattles through your brain. All the images occur in a stop-motion animation of stained glass images.
You see the man in the windows bending over a series of old-looking tomes, making notes and circling passages.
You see the same man in different places, gathering different items. A giant squid tentacle. A branch that looks remarkably alive. A gigantic feather. A large eye that looks very human.
The man is stooped over the components that ultimately becomes the seven-sided box in the stained-glass window.
Finally, you see the man gazing at a potion longingly, then drinking it. Moments later, he doubles over in agony, his skin visibly rotting before your eyes.
As the man doubles over, Delendir is filled with a powerful shame that a loved one would do this to himself. This is quickly followed by a scorching rage that you were stopped before completing your ritual.
Delendir then doubles over in agony, before he feels an irresistable urge to run upstairs to save 'his' child.
As Delendir touches the books, he seems to freeze for a few seconds, then doubles over as if in agony. He straightens up, his eyes widening, then he quickly makes for the door, concern and fear on his face.
Delendir runs out of the room, totally ignoring the rest of the party, not even looking at them. Instead his face is full of concern, his front sweating, his eyes looking dreadfully scared. As he moves through the door, he mumbles "My child... I have to save him... I have... to... save him!"
He disappears running upstairs saying "I am coming my son, don't drink it, we can solve it, we will solve it!"
And that is why it is best you don't meddle with that of which you know nothing of Daud thinks to himself as he sees the half-elf flee.
Seeing Delendir freak out and run from the book, Jessica moves quickly after him and tries to grab his shoulder, "Delendir wait! It's not safe to go off on your own! Please calm down and tell me what's wrong."
Jessica successfully grips the ranger arm and holds him on place. He finally seems to realize about the others in the room, turning to see Jessica.
Sweating and freaking out Delendir tries to remove the woman's grapple.
The half-elf just answers "My son... he wants to drink that potion! I have to save him! All those books he read, all those thinks he collected! It is taking him to a horrible end, this is a shame, this is such a shame! I have to stop him now!" while pushing poor Jessica away with his big muscles and then continuing to run.
Not all that concerned at first once Jessica throws herself at the ranger however he wastes no time in trying to catch the fleeing man.
Between Jessica and Sunday, the duo manage to halt the grizzled ranger's progress. However, Delendir seems more distressed than ever, pushing past the both of them to continue on his way towards the stairs.
Kiley sees Delendir breaking free and goes for the ranger's knees.
Unfortunately, all she gets for her trouble is a black eye.
"Del! Stop!"
|
|
"Dammit. I don't want to do this, but a dazing spell might do the trick here. Something is taking over his mind... agreed? " Tal asks the others.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"No magic!" Sunday hissed, for the first time at full attention since being here.