"Yuck." Racket says under his breath, seeing the weeping sores.
Nilus frowns slightly You kept this from us before, and it might have cost lives. I trust you have learned a lesson from this then?
To Katrezra You must help us connect the dots here. What do these events have in common? Someone murdered Roderick and then tried the same on us...What did Roderick know?
Grok frowns disapprovingly at Racket and reaches a large, stony hand up to cover the little noisy man's mouth.
He then goes back to listening intently.
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Sara Morninghawk fixes Nilus with a steely glare.
Katrezra says, "Please do not blame her for keeping my presence from you. I asked her to. I don't know who I can trust, and I wasn't sure before if you were investigating Rodrik's death to get to the bottom of it, or to clean up loose ends, as it were."
"As for what Rodrik knew... he was investigating something, but to be truthful, I don't think even he knew exactly what he was looking for. Rodrik had run afoul of a flood troll in the Plague House not long ago, and the poor fellow was convinced it was not just an isolated incident. He came to me seeking guidance, and his curiosity was piqued by my visions. I told him that flood trolls are native to Belkzen, but they rarely roam this far south of the Flood Road. Since learning of his investigation, though, I have had nightmares unlike any before, and I fear that some greater evil may be at play within Trunau's walls."
Nilus knows what the Plague House is -- it was Trunau's original church of Iomedae, built outside the walls of Trunau. Quite some time ago, orc raiders attacked it, killing the priests within and burning it down; after that, the church of Iomedae wisely relocated their temple inside the town walls, to its current location. Fifty years ago, Trunau was afflicted with a plague; city officials rebuilt the structure and used it to quarantine plague victims. However, fire consumed it again; this second fire was of mysterious origin. The site is now in ruins.
I've put a map of Trunau on the wiki, which includes a caption. The Plague House is #6 on the map. Clamor, where you are right now, is #14.
Let me know how you proceed, and if you have any more questions for Katrezra.
"A flood troll, you say? Those are dangerous creatures. You don't want to fight them when it's raining, I can tell you that much. Out at the old Plague House, eh? Sounds like that might be a place to start searching for clues, no?"
What are these visions? Zavier wants to know
The Plague House may have answers for us then.... Nilus says
to the assembled party We should go, meet me near the gates in one hour.
Nilus then nods his thanks to Sara and the Oracle Katrezra You may have helped us solve this murder. Please keep us informed if anything changes or you have more to add. and then Nilus heads out with Brawd to inform the Watch of this new information.
Uh. We should not be separate. Attacked many times already. We go together yes? Zavier says to Nilus.
You think we'd be attacked in broad daylight in Trunau? I doubt it, but we can travel together like a pack of sheep if you wish. Nilus says, his anger at being lied to by Sara spilling over into his conversation with Zavier, a man who had only been trying to help him.
"Obviously Nilus has some seedy dealings he needs to take care of that we're not to be privvy to. No matter. You can go along with us, Zavier, I was hoping to have an ale before we head out into the orc-infested wilderness of Belkzen. Come on, Grok, let's go have a drink."
Grok looks to the two men, then to Racket, and shrugs.
Somewhat begrudgingly, Grok lifts the little man on his shoulders and gives him a talking to.
"YOU WERE MEAN AGAIN. YOU ARE BUYING ALE. EVENTUALLY YOU LEARN OR GROK GET LOTS OF ALE."
"Yeah, yeah, big guy. My being mean is the only thing that saved us from that pair of fey a few years ago, now wasn't it? I'm mean when it's necessary. And... sometimes when it's not. But sure, I'll buy the ale."
Zavier is no Sheep! Zavier is wolf travelling with new pack the big man laughs and claps Grok on the back. Ale! And then this Plague Place. Would like not to be knifed in sleep again!
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After a stop by the Ramblehouse for some ales (provided on the house-- Cham Larringfass is feeling guilty that you got attacked in her hotel, and has evidently forgotten the insults of a couple of days ago), you head out through the Truneau gates and around the walls of the town to the Plague House. Fortunately, there are no orc hordes outside waiting to attack, and you make it to the Plague House unmolested.
You approach the front doors of the building. The Plague House's front doors sit three feet above the ground. Charred wooden beams and ash are all that remains of a small porch and stairs that once led to the entrance. The small windows flanking either side of the doorframe are broken, but a large stained glass window dominating the face of the building to the right remains in fine shape, and shows a varicolored image of Iomedae holding her sword aloft.
The porch in front of the front door is a few feet above the ground, requiring a DC 5 climb check (or just a boost from a friend) (or a DC12 Acrobatics check for the vertical leap).
Looking about, you can see that there are collapsed walls, likely giving other points of ingress besides just the front door, if you should so choose.
Let me know how you proceed.
I believe our smallish friend can be boosted up... Nilus says, looking at Racket and Grok meaningfully
Nilus strokes Brawd's fur and whispers Beth ydych chi'n ei arogli Brawd ? A yw ein gelynion yma ?
Racket, on Grok's shoulders, directs him over toward the door, looking for traps on the door, and then leaps... expertly grabbing the door's handle, turning it in mid-air and then flipping around to land inside the now-open door.
"That's how you do it, folks." He peers inside.
If Racket sees no dangers, he'll get busy tying a rope to something to allow his friends to climb up easily, though he knows that Grok can pretty much just step up that high.
Zavier hefts himself up with no trouble. Do not like this name Plague House
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Brawd sniffs around for a bit, but doesn't seem to give any particular reaction. (Other than indicating to Nilus that he thinks he deserves a treat now. Maybe a squirrel. Or perhaps that wayang....)
Racket opens the door, finding it trap free, and walks through it. He sees a long hallway, with doors on either side.
The hallway is light with dim light. Light spills through the door he just opened, but also around the corner from the north at the far end of the hallway. That's probably because of broken/missing walls on the outside of the building.
(Let me know what you do about light sources if you don't think dim light is good enough.)
Brawd gwaith da. Nilus says, praising the wolf
Nilus motions for Brawd to fall in behind him and he moves forward
If anyone is here, they will soon present themselves...
Open doors or explore first? Zavier asks.
"Let's go in the doors... we don't want something coming out of a door and surrounding us."
Racket approaches the first set of doors (to the South on the map) and inspects them for traps and locks.
If he sees no traps or locks, he will attempt to silently open the door.
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Ratchet doesn't detect anything amiss on the doors, so he opens them. Beyond is a room lit by daylight coming in through the dusty windows. 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.
Let me know how you proceed.
Nilus continues walking down the corridor with Brawd right behind him.
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Nilus and Brawd continue down the hall.
To the south: the 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.
Nilus believes he sees something, a small object of some sort, on the bookcase.
To the north: The wooden staircase here that once led to the upper story has all but crumbled to ashes. The northern wall has collapsed, and the floor underneath has sunk entirely, leaving a dark, gaping hole in the ground surrounded by rubble. A single door exits the room to the northeast.
Brawd starts growling, facing north. There are creatures in there somewhere, although he doesn't seem to be exactly sure where. Looking around, you can see that some of the corners are covered with webbing....
Racket follows Nilus and Brawd, looking around.
But he's oblivious.
Zavier walks along behind Nilus.
Beth yw ei frawd ? Beth ydych chi'n ei synhwyro ? Nilus whispers, raising his spear to chest level
Danger. Somewhere close.. Nilus says to the men behind him
Grok will drw his sword while he walks to K10 and takes a full defense.
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The rest of you move down the hall to where Nilus is and look around.
Brawd continues to growl. There's something to the north, but it hasn't come out of hiding yet.
Zavier doesn't see it, but he does notice something else. On a support beam near the bookshelf, carved into the beam is "R+B".
Let me know how you proceed.
Maybe what is in there is scared! Hah! Look R+B. There. Zavier points out the carving while speaking in his normal loud tone.
Shrugging, Racket will take a quick gander at the door next to him and, seeing no traps hopefully, will open it.
Nilus calls out Come out if you have sense. Brawd here smells you, it will not go well for you if you persist with this skulking.
Hrmph. This dissapoints me Zavier says. Is not good to scare dog and not come out.
Grok will move to L11 and kick the doors open, holding his sword in his hands menacingly.
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When Grok gets to the door, he notices that there's a spider lurking up on the ceiling in its webs in the Eastern corner (lower-right corner on the map) of the room. (This is not what Brawd was growling at, as that was to the north.)
Surprise round: spider and Grok get to act. Grok, you're up!
Grok will charge the spider (M14).
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Grok sees something that nobody else does, charges into the corner, and attacks a giant spider hanging from the ceiling, nearly killing it. The spider had been hiding and biding its time until you got closer, but unfortunately for it, that seems to have gone rather badly. It tries to bite Grok back:
Its mandibles sink into Oread flesh, such as it is, doing 6 points of damage to Grok. (Grok: give me a DC 16 Fortitude save vs. poison.)
- Racket: 9/9
- Grok: 7/13
- Brawd: 16/16
- Nilus: 9/9
- Zavier: 13/13 [stable]
Action Order:
- Nilus & Brawd
- Spider
- Zavier
- Grok
- Racket
Nilus is up! The spider is clinging to webs on the ceiling. Treat that as one square "up" in addition to its position on the map. (So, Grok can currently hit it at the diagonal, which is why he charged to there.)
Nilus moves to M10 and commands Brawd to stand near him at N10
He levels his spear North Gwyliwch brawd , gwyliwch gyda mi he says
Racket, seeing that Grok has this mostly taken care of, will move forward a bit (to M10), and pull out his light crossbow.
On his turn, grok will attack again.
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Nilus and Brawd ready attacks.
The giant spider bites at Grok again.
This time, his hide armor protects him.
Nilus and Brawd are not disappointed, as two younger, smaller spiders appear from the shadows and webs; this is what Brawd was growling at. Unfortunately, their readied attacks do not go off as instead of moving forward to attack, both of them fire a mess of sticky webbing at Nilus and Brawd.
Brawd is able to duck out of the way of the webbing, but Nilus finds himself entangled. The strands aren't too strong, though; it's a DC 10 Strength check to burst them, or a DC 10 Escape Artist check to break free.
(I'll let Racket adjust his move based on this development.)
Grok, down where he is, cleaves the larger spider in two with his greatsword.
- Racket: 9/9
- Grok: 7/13
- Brawd: 16/16
- Nilus: 9/9 Entangled (DC10)
- Zavier: 13/13
Action Order:
- Spiders
- Nilus & Brawd
- Grok
- Zavier ← current
- Racket
Zavier and Racket still to go.
Racket will instead five-foot step to K10, pull out his light crossbow, and load it, ready to fire on the next round.
Grok has already killed the large spider by the time that Zavier has a chance to act.
Little ones ambush. Zavier smash them.
Zavier shouts as he charges straight north 10 feet and tries to bring a large boot down hard on the one to the west.
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Zavier charges forward, but the spider is just able to skittle out of the way of his stomping boot. Racket moves forward, gets out, and loads his crossbow.
The two young spiders swarm Zavier.
Both of them hit, doing a total of 5 points of damage to the large brawler. (Zavier, you need to make two 12 Fort saves vs. poison!)
- Racket: 9/9
- Grok: 7/13
- Brawd: 16/16
- Nilus: 9/9 Entangled (DC10)
- Zavier: 8/13
You guys are now all up!
Racket will shoot his light crossbow at the spider at M8.
But will miss horribly.
Nilus breaks free of the webbing
Brawd moves to n9 and attacks the spider and