Krunch opens the doors to see another smaller room. Down a set of steps, a hallway tee into the room from the south and beyond, up another set of steps, a portcullis can be seen.
Leaving his party behind, Krunch stealthily moves down the steps and peers down the southern hall. Two sets of stairs, one near Krunch and one to the south, flank this 50-foot-long corridor, sinking the avenue 10 feet under the lip of an overhanging balcony. A horrifying mural of the Nine Hells covers the entirety of the 50-foot-by-20-foot west wall.
Krunch gestures for the party to follow and moves down the southern hallway towards the larger chamber.
The party follows after the stealthy Krunch, who lives up to his namesake as his feet crunch upon detritus on the floor.
Rounding the corner and descending into the sunken hallway. Traveling down the hallway, the party passes under the lip if the balcony ten feet above. Looking ahead the passage climbs another set of stairs and ends in a cross passage.
The cross passage in collapsed to the east, but continues to the west, before turning north and disappearing around a corner.
Krunch moves down the hallway to peer around the corner. As the party follows, Tilly lags behind, staring up at the balcony. DO you think your pig could fly me up the... Looking around and seeing the party has continued on, she hurries after. Wait for me! Can the pig just magically find my parents? She asks Ernest.
Peering around the corner, Krunch sees a pair of doors, that upon opening reveals a large room. A narrow wooden plank spans a twenty-foot-deep pit, within which sits an unsettling scene. Several groups of corpses have been arranged here, mimicking poses of family merriment. There are half a dozen such macabre scenes set up throughout the pit, including a middle-aged couple engaged in a romantic meal, a family of four nestled cozily in a bed, a dancing couple, and six men who appear to be brothers playing a dice game around a crowded table. Interspersed between the sinister dioramas are seemingly random objects, like a jar of eyeballs, a cage full of snow-white doves, and a large pile of ragged, filthy blankets.
Tilly's face blanches white at Krunch's suggestion. What is it? Are my parents in there? Are they ok? What's wrong?
The party moves into the large, pit room. As everyone moves in and Sebastian attempts to cover Tilly's eyes, several things happen all at once. The party sees an emaciated, hairless canine with a strange air of menace and cruelty rise from the pit, growling at the party. Next, when Sebastian touches Tilly, her form wavers slightly and her clothing changes. Startled as he looks down, Sebastian sees an evil look in Tilly's eyes as she attempts to drive a dagger in his side.
Sebastian's armor deflects the dagger's blade as Tilly curses.
Tilly says a word and begins to rise into the air, ending twenty feet in the air.
Krunch calls upon the divine for a favor.
Cairo uses a wand to bless the party.
The flying canine charges Cairo, it's jaws clamping down of the cleric's leg and pulling him to the ground.
You now see that Tilly is not a child, but a halfling, although probably a psychotic one. You are pretty sure that she fits the description of Vaga Underbough, the Lullaby Lady. A prisoner from Sinners End that was listed on the scrap of parchment you found in the library.
You know the yeth hounds can bay and have a sinister bite. You also know that they are resistant to any weapon other than silver weapons.
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"Aah! Don't get bit by the dog! It's scary, and getting bit is scary!" Ernest will use his Shift ability to move to the square indicated on the map! It's Supernatural, so it doesn't provoke, but it does work like D-Door in that it ends his turn preemptively.
Snouts, in the meantime, will move to the indicated square, since he's already panicking (but not in the mechanical way.)
Ernest shift to just outside the doors, while Snouts heads for cover!
Sebastian opts for his bow!
"Tilly" laughs manically and pointing at the posed corpses, says, "Don't you just admire my artistic ability? She then casts a spell, pointing at Krunch as arcane missiles fly from her and blast into the tiefling.
Krunch punches the yeth hound hard, but misses with his bite. He then manages to grab hold of the canine and wrap it in a bear hug.
Cairo stabs at the dog, but his blade goes wide as his tries not to skewer Krunch.
The yeth hound twists it neck to bite Krunch, but the tielfling manages to push the muzzle away!
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Ernest will step underneath not-a-little-girl Tilly and cast Web (DC 20), anchoring the goop at pretty much every two diametrically-opposed points within 20 feet. It pretty much messes up that whole corner to the square just above Ernest and hopefully grapples her.
Snouts continues to be as useful as a pig in a knife fight, if knives were Magic Missiles.
Ernest casts a spell and the air is filled with sticky, arcane webs that engulf "Tilly", pasting her to the corner.
Sebastian fires an arrow at the webbed little girl, but the arrow becomes enmeshed in the webs as well.
Tilly begins the motions of a spell, but curses as her arms continue to be hampered by the spell, causing her to lose her spell.
V-
Krunch squeezes hard on the the yeth hound, crushing the life out of the miserable creature.
Ernest sends a missile of magic blasting into the entangled little girl.
Sebastian fires again, but with similar results as before.
Cairo drops his scimitar and grabs his crossbow, sooting at the little girl, but the bolt goes wide!
"Tilly" reaches into her pockets and withdraws a potion, drinking it. Suddenly her form wavers and is replaced by a cloud of gaseous mist!