Gob Smash One

Game Master Tacticslion

Vitreous follows Beylinda, waiting for her to begin down the stairs before doing so.

To the group, Vitreous messages Yes ma'am, on my way to investigate the right handed tunnel. I will provide support and rear guard to Beylinda. He thinks to himself, Tunnels don't have hands... strange big people talk...

She is also probably detectable in a way we are not. That is important. If you don't want to work for someone who clearly put her life on the line for us, though, Dijiron, why are you here? Well, besides being trapped in the storm, I mean. You were hired here, you agreed to service, yourself. If you don't trust your employer, you shouldn't work for them.

Ceru waits for results of the track checking.

In perfect fairness Ceru, our lives were only at risk because she sent us here to investigate the tower. I came here to study the magical anomalies of the Mana Wastes in order to hopefully fuel further research. I joined this organization in order to have some backup because, well let's face it, a lifetime spent either trading or studying doesn't do well for physical fitness.

I do not disagree with the goal of stopping the goblins from attacking the innocent; I disagree with the questionable methods that been employed by our employers. I also don't appreciate being lied to.

I will see this out for the sake of finally understanding the Mana Wastes but that does not mean I have to like our employers. Hells, if it weren't for the camaraderie I feel with all of you, I might not even be here.

At work

Sunny continues to do her best to make the D-Woman safe, comfortable and trans0ortable. Along with B-rat (Untill B-rat, at least, can be reasoned with. :P)

Back in the main room (before any scouting)...

And then... Shaedo had volunteered for the scouting, so assume that she had been along the whole time.

Unless further instructions from Layla direct her elsewhere, Shaedo waits with Vitreous, and possibly Ceru, a little ways down the right passage, as Beylinda goes ahead. Shaedo listens attentively for any sound that suggests danger befalling Beylinda.
EDIT: Shaedo is no longer invisible by this point, and has her ioun torch active.

quick head count: three doors correct? left, right, center. one had a locked door (now open, one seemed like it wasn't used and one was used. all doors are now open...is this much correct? who went where? and what doors were open before the general was healed?

Lulu: Yes. Three Door Options.
Left Door: was locked from this side, now unlocked, has a passage, Layla guessed some goblins went in several weeks ago, fewer came out, and it hasn't been used since.
Center Door: was locked from other side, now unlocked, has a passage sloping down, lots of goblin tracks in and out.
Right Door: first door to be opened, wasn't locked, didn't look used much, has a passage leading to steps going down... This is the one Beylinda is currently exploring, followed by Vitreous, Shaedo, and possibly Ceru and anyone else stealthy who wants to be there. This is the hallway Pix flew into before, when you followed him.
Everyone else is currently waiting in the main room with the donkeys, recovering or preparing stuff.

OK, thanks I was waiting to know if anything was discovered now others are looking instead

Lulu, you saw it was an empty passage ending in a big staircase down. You were the first one to confirm this, but you didn't go down the dark staircase.

How we goin' with gttin' peopls of tha' sleepin' kind ta' move? Or has we some other way of keepin' 'em out'a harm's way fer tha' moment?

With the persons (B-rat is kind'a a person, right?) safe, secure and travel worthy Sunny pads quietly upon bare feet over to where people are beginning to explore through their chosen door.

(^_^)

Layla helps Sunny tie unconscious Amita onto the pack saddle of the extra donkey, Handy.

Layla attempts to re-lock the left-hand door for now, sharing Ceru's tools, if possible, and being careful to avoid the poisoned caltrops if Shaedo has sprinkled them. (Is she hasn't and still wants to, Layla would shrug that it's fine with her.)

Disable Device: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19 +2 more if Ceru's tools, or aid Ceru

If Layla is the only light source in the main room, she would remain there. If at least one other there has a light source (which I think Eris does), then Layla would make sure someone in the main room is watching the central door with a weapon ready, and then she would join Vitreous, Shaedo, and anyone else who is sneaky scouting some distance behind Belinda down the right corridor.

(If no one else in the main room is prepared to guard the Central door with weapons ready, then she would.)

as the group heads down the corridor beyond the right door. Lulu comes out from the corridor toward the group, The crustal on her staff glowing to light the way. Pix is sitting on top of her staff.

hey guys, there are stairs over there she says pointing down the corridor.

i was going to go down but Pix said he heard something, well he didn't really "say" that but I heard something and I came to see, and saw you, so I came to tell you about the stairs.

she points down the hall again, there are stairs going down at the end of the corridor. but its ok cause there is light down there.

she looks back Hey, where did the light go?

Pix just does a "facepalm"

Sunny smiles and nods at Lulu's comments (Though I think we're heading down a different door/corridor than the one Lulu looked at, right?) but holds a finger over her own lips to indicate the group is trying to be,

"All sneaky, like" (^_^)

No, Lulu's right. She followed Pix into the right corridor, which is the one Beylinda and y'all are heading into now. :)

per DM comment above its the same one

Okeys. (^_^)

beylinda was asked to investigate that corridor so that is where she is going :)

I think it might be best if Taq scouts ahead for a bit. With his small stature and keen nose, he should be able to sniff out any danger without being seen.

Dijiron lowers Taq to the floor and sends him racing off down the right corridor.

Taq's rolls
Stealth: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (2) + 18 = 20
Perception (eyes, ears, and nose): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Wow, you gotta be kidding me. So much for that idea.

Sunny huddles with those awaiting the report of the scouts. (^_^)

The stairs descend relatively slowly - being built for the size they were, it seems loping and slow to a medium-sized creature... and even more-so to a small-sized one.

The wall carvings continue their intricate patterns periodically defaced at the level of a smaller-sized creatures, though more haphazardly instead of "artistically" as in the great room, and any defacing dies off fairly quickly the farther you go. It seems that whoever did the defacing didn't linger here.

As you move further down, an exceptionally foul smell begins to be apparent - spoiled meat.

The over-all trip, however, is not as terribly long as it might otherwise seem: by your guesstimates, it might be only a single "story" down the stairs, before you find yourself in a 35ft. deep by 70ft. wide mostly square room made of the same stone as the rest of the Tor and carved in a similar way. This room seems empty save for dust (disturbed, but not for some time), a small stone chest in the center of the floor that seems it was dragged into this room, and some... "remains".

Propped against the walls of the room at even intervals, the burned corpses of eight different small-sized creatures (humanoid), apparently strapped to wooden structures - almost crucified - and burned. Given the relative weakness of the structures, it doesn't seem like they were alive at the time. There is a hastily-added ninth burned creature behind the chest, though it's clear that it was a more shoddily-performed job than the others, as it seems instead of carefully hung like the others, the body was more draped over some random wooden detritus, and it's not in pattern with the eight: it's haphazardly added to an "iffy" position between the chest and two on the back wall, but the same even care for position and spacing was not kept.

You see no obvious exits.

before decending the stairs
Pix flew along watching over Taq as the little rat explored.

Lulu simply wondered, why did you send the mouse ahead to scout? I already told you what was down there?

as the group heads down the stairs

Lulu lights the way with the light of her staff see, just like I said stairs that go down. these are big stairs, no wonder the goblins didn't come down here mush it must have been a lot of exercise for them to use these stairs....

as the enter the big room Lulu stops mid sentence

whoaaaa, this place is huge...and smelly, it smells like...<sniff> <sniff> brown, <sniff> yup definately brown

Presuming an all clear is sounded, Ceru goes down to the room. This is... this is awful... but that's perhaps why the door was unlocked. They wanted us to see what was awful beyond the path of least resistance.

She uncorks some cinnamon and sprinkles it into her battle-doctor's mask before engaging it, and then begins to explore the area. After gauging a general sense of how long these poor creatures might have laid dead here, she checks first to see if the bodies themselves are trapped, and then the chest.

Perception, general: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Perception, traps near bodies: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Perception, traps on chest: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Bleh- how terrible! Is this what the gobs do to their prisoners- or was it even them who did it? It seems this place has given us another riddle. Though this one is especially foul. I wonder if the way forward might be hidden...

Shaedo will quietly request some cinnamon from Ceru as she uncorks it as she covers her face with a shawl. She then begins searching the room for traps and secret doors, as well as attempting to tell who the bodies may have been.

Perception, looking for signs of who these corpses may have been: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Perception, searching for traps in the room and for secret doors: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Though unwilling to touch the bodies or get to close them, she does not get far at all in identifying them. Further, the horror in the room may also somewhat distract her search for anything else.

The smell is horrendous this close, but... it's faded - at least a bit - over time.

They've been dead for a while; they're long cold and the soot has started to molder into dust, though the carvings in the stone walls are stained with the smoke and soot produced. Without specific heal or survival skills, it's difficult to tell how long they've been out, though at a guess, Layla's "a few weeks back" is probably correct; however...

As you examine the corpses, it becomes clear that each are a different race. The bodies and proportions are surprisingly different from each other, and distinctively, despite the burning.

Though all are small Game-size: Small, so "normal" to most of the people here, they are all very different in appearance. This one seems to be almost more adult human-proportioned if much smaller; while that one seems to have had larger hands and feet; another seems to have once been almost like a gangly deformed gnome; and still another seems be even scrawnier - like it would be "too" scrawny (with a head far too large) even before the burning; the one over there has a clear reptilian cast to its features; and the one further still is... in bad shape, but seems... rounded, but once sleek. Dijiron recognizes the clear form (and burnt fur smell) of one ratfolk in the midst. The last of the eight has extra once-fleshy-protrusions from its head also tied-down, and has left an almost exoskeleton-like fried skin (complete with eye sockets that were once very large) in a humanoid form. The ninth is easily recognized - the fire never caught on its back the whole way, leaving it pretty clearly one of the strange goblins you've fought.
Knowledge checks to identify the creature types of the corpses, please.

All of the bodies were stripped bare before the burning, and all have signs of trauma - most notably places where the shriveled skin seems to have been separated before hand, though a few places where broken bones are visible as well - that were probably enacted before the burning heal checks to tell, please.

There are no hidden or trap doors that Ceru can find, and no sign of traps. You suspect that this used to be storage, sleeping, or both, once, when furniture resided here. Nothing of the sort remains now, though.

The bodies seem devoid of traps, from what you can tell - it seems they were just arranged and burned.

The chest appears unlocked.

Presuming Layla is for now guarding Amita, B-Rat, and their donkeys in the main room with Sunny and Stone, while Ooze maybe gnaws on something, and Eris recovers,
she mentals to Lulu, Beylinda, Dijiron, Ceru, Vitreous, and Shaedo, who have all headed down the right passage,
"What do you guys see down there? Was I right? Did they drag something dead down there? Any current danger? Anything magical?"

Shaedo mentally replies to Layla's question.
It's a dead end. Really dead. Several dead... people... creatures... all different kinds... all burned up. No doors past it though. A little chest of some sort. Still, I wouldn't come into this room 'less you have to. It's an ugly scene.

After attempting to identify the creature types of the dead, and mentaling to Layla, Shaedo casts detect magic and scans the room for any trace or lingering magical effects.

Via message spell We are at the bottom no real exits we came at an end. The others are investigating corps and a chest. I will be coming back to start exploring the next corridor.

Beylinda will go back to the main room and wait for a bit before starting the exploration of the next tunnel. She requires no light and using her stealth (taking 10 => 20) she slowly proceed a bit forward

Sunny wrinkles her nose in sympathy for those reporting what they've found, but otherwise stays where she is....Now looking around and watching the parties 'back'.

Perception:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Knowledge Local to ID humanoid types: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Ceru finds herself staring at the awful carnage, then turns back to the chest. I didn't see any problems but stand back just in case.

She then opens the chest, more gingerly than she might open something usually, half expecting to find more grisly remains.

Dijiron covers his extra sensitive nose and wanders in. He casts detect magic to see if there is anything worthwhile in the room.

I meant no offense Lulu. I have been taught all my life that it never hurts to get multiple perspectives on things. You are a terrific scout but Taq's nose and unique point-of-view could reveal something that you may not be able to notice. In this case, it didn't.

Beylinda: which of the other two doors are you planning to enter? The one on the "left" - seems less used and was locked from the central room - or the one to the "center" - the more heavily trafficked one locked from the other side? Also Layla might have locked one or two of the doors.

The humanoid bodies are many and varied... and some aren't exactly "humanoid" i.e. not humanoid by type.

Together, the lot of you are readily able to identify a Kobold, a Ratfolk, a Grippli, and a Pech (the scrawny creature, and a fey - notable to Dijiron, as one of the more important members of the ruling body of Nex is a Pech), and a Svirfneblin; and a few more exotic creatures: a Xeph, a Dromite and... one that you don't exactly recognize, but that bears all the hallmarks of a dwarf, though substantially more evenly proportioned and less squat than that race - either way it's definitely a humanoid.

As you examine the goblin, you can tell that one side was riddled with puncture marks, as if from a sudden and large repeated series of sharp impacts.

There is a faint trace of lingering magic between the pech and svirfneblin and the earth and walls around - a few of you are aware that each has some amount of innate magical abilities dealing with earth-related magic... but it seems whatever mystical energies they were attempting to utilized half-"died" with them, even though they linger on the corpses. In some regards, it's akin to your Ray of Frost, Dijiron, in that the magic is still present and active (long after it should be), but in this case it seems like it never got the chance to be used, so it's just sitting there, stuck.

Regardless, as Ceru opens the chest, a sudden rapid metallic groaning sound shoots forth from the chest! An impressive array of sharp metal thingies throws itself at everyone in the room!

Number of Darts Launched by the Fullisade!: 4d4 ⇒ (4, 2, 2, 4) = 12, Trap Attack!: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22, Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 Ceru is automatically targeted. Everyone else has a 10% miss chance (10 or lower misses). Dijiron: 1d100 ⇒ 98, Lulu: 1d100 ⇒ 63, Shaedo: 1d100 ⇒ 7 Only Shaedo avoids! Unless you have something like Uncanny Dodge, you are flat-footed! ... but it looks like a pretty solid series of hits, regardless of being flat-footed or not. That said... no one takes damage! Everyone in the room is wearing the armor provided for them, giving DR 6/- v. small piercing things exactly like these. Since it deals 5 damage... no damage is taken! ... though it's pretty close...

Inside the chest, a soft magical aura glows faintly to detection magic, as well as a few minor glints of a more mundane sort displaying in the strange ioun-created light.

Back in the main hall, Eris concentrates on her mental connection to the squad, carefully monitoring the reports coming in from the scouts.

As they describe the chamber they've found, Eris grimaces. "How gruesome! Well, we will certainly have to see what we can do about giving proper burials to those poor, unfortunate souls."

"Something about the nature of the bodies worries me." She bites nervously at her lower lip. "A group of assorted members of various races, all of them on the, shall we say, petite side. Remind anyone of this group, mmm? I suspect we may not have been the first expedition that was sent here..."

"Now, I'd like for you to approach that stone chest, but cautiously. There is always the possibility of a cunning tr--"

The mental connection is filled with a sudden barrage of fear as the scouts are pelted with darts from the chamber's grim trap. "Oh my! Is everyone alright?"

"You say that your armor protected you? Oh, thank goodness! That gave me quite a fright."

*Raises hand* I weren't in'a room. No offence ta' Ceru. I is back up tha' stairs wiff every one else.

Sunny turns at the metallic, whizzing, 'ker-thunkung' noise.

"Here...that dun't sound right...?"

*Hey? is you okeys down there!* She calls concernedly, utilizing the glowing blue thing she's placed in her navel.

Perception:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

"Not hearin' no squishy noises? That be a right good thing, hey?" She asks her companions. (>_>)

Vitreous waits on the stairs for the call to fight or run. While there he ponders to himself.
This whole situation seems rather strange. Even according to my standards! Why would anyone send a group of small folk on a combat heavy mission. Shouldn't you send a whole crew of biggins to a fight? We also aren't a particularly stealthy group so covert doesn't seem to be a factor, what with the dwarf in stone plate and all. The size of these steps and the history of this place do not indicate there are a bunch of small tight spaces...

"Yiikes!" Shaedo cries out as she nimbly avoids the dart.
"Is - anyone hurt?" She waits a moment for any responses, looks around and it appears that the darts bounced off all the nifty armor.
I think everyone is alright. Dragon scales really do the trick. An' now we know where they come from too! Tehehe!
See armor descriptions through link for reference!

Shaedo waits a moment to listen to any comments by her fellow scouts, and then responds to the mental communications from the main hall.

I was thinking the same thing Eris. A mixed bunch of people like us. Some of them of pretty unusual races. I don't remember ever seeing a deep gnome before... or one of these frog people... I just wish we could know if they were prisoners before they died or if they were caught off guard. There are some scary stories about this place...

Before leaving the room, Shaedo takes on last look around the room to see if there are any signs of the people here being prisoners, or if is there any trace of gear they were once wearing. Is there anything resembling the equipment or regalia of Gob Smash One?

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

(Or it looks like Shaedo may be distracted by all the shiny in the chest!)

On a side note, I added a link to a picture that is close to Shaedo's current appearance, complete with fox ears and all! The green hair color is part of Shaedo's free-form shape-shifting ability. She wears green hair as her way of reminding everyone of the safe color of mist or haze!

miss Pix?: 1d100 ⇒ 47

The metal spike fly all around and Pix is nailed with one. Pix falls to the ground.

a teeny tiny spike through her itty butty tummy.

Lulu runs over PIX!

this is broadcast to everyone

I reduced the damage to 4 for Pix cause she is soooo tiny. leaving Pix at 2 hp

Layla, guarding with Eris, Sunny, Stone, and Ooze in the main room, is at first relieved to hear no one is hurt by the trap, but then, upon hearing Lulu's mental cry, quickly inquires,
"Is Pix okay?"

After hearing more of the situation, she asks,
"So, what's in the chest?"

In response to Vitreous, she mentals, "I really don't know why a mostly smaller squad was chosen, but I suspect that, just as with the specific qualities of our armor and such, there is a very good reason why it might come in handy."

When Beylinda and Vitreous return to the main room, ready to start exploring another corridor, Layla would get ready to help them unlock one, but she would advise,
"Let's wait just a bit 'til the others are here to provide more back-up, since I have every reason to suspect some nasty beastie down the left corridor and a whole society o' gobs down the center one."

Lulu scoops up Pix and rushes out of the room,

He needs a healer, Pix is hurt! she starts looking through stuff trying to remember the color of the stuff that heals. was it red, no, that is bad, blue? no no no that is sleepy time, purple? dang it which one was it?

As Shaedo is hopping up each of the giant steps, she sings a little song about a fox skipping and leaping up the rocky steps of a mountain. She sings somewhat shrilly, her voice quavering slightly at the trauma of the sight in the other room.

"Yow! She cries, drawing back her tails, as Lulu comes bounding up the steps, calling for help.

"Oh, your fairy friend is hurt, Lulu? Here, my wand may help!"
She says, happy that she might help someone (the others in the room were beyond help).
" I never thought too much about what color healing magic might be. Shall we see?"
The many colors of magic, now there's a song!

Shaedo uses her wand of cure light on Pix if Lulu accepts the aid.
CLW: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

She then says gently in the language of fairies...

Sunny star5ts in shock and horror that poor Pix has been hurt. She tnesly wait the results of the better healers -chewing nervously on her lip as she does so, jitteringly shifting from foot to foot- as she waits and watches,

"I gots some soothin' stuff from home. It did wonders fer tha' other lady..." She offers.

Plucking darts out of her armor, she notices the wounded fairy and looks both upset--concerned that he is hurt, but also irritated (the irritation also being of concern). "I DID say to everyone to step back! When I say it, I mean it! Get clear! I am an expert getter inner of things but I do make mistakes sometimes... " she flushes in embarrassment and looks downward, even forgetting to be excited about the shiny things in the chest.

Going from flush to quite pale as she thinks to herself, but being upset, her thoughts become "loud" and broadcast to the group, Papa was right, I am just a walking disaster.

the wand is perfect and heals Pix to full

Lulu watches as the healing magic does its thing. lulu's eyes go wide as though she suddenly remembered something. watching the healing magic that's it healing is green, I should have known, green like spring time grass.

Lulu looks to her new friend as she spoke the strange dialect.

Lulu speaks Faen, her native language, which is actually a dialect of Sylvan. much of the languages are the same but there are enough differences to keep then separate.

hearing Ceru in her head say something about walking disaster. Lulu thinks back I've never met a walking disaster. is that fun? it sounds like it would be fun. can you teach me to be a walking disaster? or do I have see your papa?

Sunny smiles as the diminutive fey perks up under the ministrations of the healing magic. (^_^)

Satisfied that all is well here she stands and skips down to see what all the twanging, zipping and such was about.

"Ewwwww..." She waves a hands in front of her nose, "Stinky!" Seeing a slouching Cerus she strides over and kneels down in front of her. Reaching out she enfolds Ceru in a gentle hug.

"Here.... There be no way fer ye ta' know tha' ins and outs of every trick we's be comin' cross." She smiles at her friend.

"Buck up, hey? You've tha' lot of us ta' help ye if'n ye needs it. All ye got'a do is be remeberin' ta' ask." (^_^)

I agree layla, so what passage would you like to have explored? she says waiting for the go ahead from everyone

Glad to help, and that the little fairy is okay!

Shaedo gasps and giggles in delight at Lulu's happy expression and Pix's recovery.

"So the magic is green! It is reassuring to see the color of life in this dark place."
Shaedo's ears twitch. "You have a pretty accent when you speak the fairy tongue. Do you speak a dialect? If you do, I would love to learn it. And to hear your story!"

Shaedo then slips into Sylvan once again.

Shaedo's ears twitch again, and she turns her gaze back down the hall for a moment. The darts seemed to fly everywhere, Ceru. I don't think it was your fault. It's this place... And don't forget- now we have shinies!

In response to the mental things Layla hears from down the right passage, she responds,
"You okay, Ceru? Do you just mean triggerin' the trap? Now, don'tcha feel badly 'bout that. Gobs are a tricksy bunch! Now what's in the chest? Somethin' magic-like an' somethin' shiny? Is it anythin' dangerous? Or can ya bring it up here? Also, ya said there's a bunch o' dead peeps all burned-like? Eris mentioned burying them, but I dunno how practical that would be right now, what with that storm outside.

In response to Beylinda's question up here in the main room, "Hmmm, well, if we wanna be sure to explore everythin', we probably wanna check out the left passage first an' face whatever beastie lives there. But if we wanna get to the heart o' the problem quickly, we may wanna head down the central well-traveled corridor an' never look back.
What do you guys all think? Any orders, Eris, m'am?"

Borrowing a dagger from one of her squadmates, Eris begins scratching a map of Hightower on one of the main chamber's walls, filling in hallways and chambers as her scouts report in.

"I would like our scouting team to investigate the left-hand hallway (that is, the one to the left from the main entrance we came in). Use your judgement, but proceed with all due caution, please. We now know that traps are a highly likely possibility, so do not open any doors!"

She finishes scratching her map and takes a step back, putting a hand on her hip and cocking her head to the side. "To avoid confusion, darlings, I'm going to refer to the room I'm now in as the Main Hall. As you know, the donkeys and most of the squad are now stationed in the Main Hall, along with the unconscious Narahari. If anything happens to cause us to become separated, plan on re-grouping here."

"And I'm going to name the lower chamber, the one with the dart trap, the Stone Chest Room. Speaking of which: Ceru, please don't be dismayed by that trap--you're doing quite well. We're relying on you. Would you be so kind as to check the walls of the Stone Chest Room for any hidden doors?"

She turns and quickly scans the Main Hall, making sure everyone is still on high alert. "I'm going down to the Stone Chest Room for a moment, friends. Keep an eye on the donkeys, and yell out if anything unusual happens."

Eris heads downstairs confidently, and strides quickly across the room toward the chest. She uses a minor telekinetic magic (Mage Hand, cast multiple times as needed) to pull everything out of the chest, item by item, placing everything in organized rows on the ground in front of her. Concentrating on her arcane senses, she studies the objects for any significant magical auras (Detect Magic).

Spellcraft check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

*...... Would you be so kind as to check the walls of the Stone Chest Room for any hidden doors?*

At Eris' comment Suny's eye grow wide and she giggles, giving Ceru one final, quick hug.

"Oooo! Sekrits! I love sekrits!" She exclaims, bouncing to her feet and scampering over to begin inspecting/examining the walls,

"Now....If'n I were a sekrit....where would I hide.....?"

Perception:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

"Ooooooo ! Whut d'ye think this be...?" She asks, even as she steps back and points to....anything....

(^_^)

"Yes, m'am!"

Layla moves to the left door and works to re-open it against her own locking, taking as long as she needs to do so, and being very careful of the poisoned caltrops on the floor.

At present, Beylinda and Vitreous are in the main hall waiting to enter the left passage as soon as Layla gets it unlocked. Stone and Ooze are also in the main hall, guarding unconscious Amita and the donkeys. Shaedo and Lulu are in the right hand passage huddled over Pix, and Ceru, Dijiron, Eris, and Sunny are now in the stone chest room downstairs from the right hand passage, examining the chest, the items that were in it, the bodies, and the walls.

Within the chest, Eris finds a headband, and eight beautiful pearls carefully arranged along the box, along with a hastily-added tiny (but very precisely cut) ugly black gem apparently haphazardly thrown in as well. The gem has a strangely unpleasant aura of transmutation. You kind of want to touch it.

The headband itself is a simple leather band studded with a few small iron rivets. It seems designed for a wide array of heads, able to be adjusted by a belt. Merely holding it gives a rush of resolve and stubbornness... a desire to never give in.

That is all that is in the chest. Eris don't know how valuable the pearls are (or do you?! ... roll appraise, someone, please), but that seems to be all in the chest, at least.

Eris is aware that there are other magical auras in the room, though not where, immediately.

Sadly, the carving that Sunny points at doesn't react at all.

Ooze's blurry outline suddenly and unceremoniously ends - he seems entirely normal all of a sudden.

Layla finishes unlocking the door, and it opens toward the "main hall" once again, displaying the fewer, hastily left tracks.

Thank you for the neatly organized clarification and update, Layla.