"basidirond? Yes.. it's got problems with cold.. ware the spores... if you get within twenty feet you... oh well" As his brave catfolk friend goes in.
Miya raps her rope dart around her wast and then forms a bow from shadow.
Miya's shadowy arrow whispers past Rrruh and sinks into the plant monster's trunk, as the creature seems unaware that the missile is less than real.
The arcane sigils on Layla's weapon begin to glow, the barrel gaining a coating of frost as she sends a bullet blasting toward the plant creature with an eerie lack of sound.
Layla's chilled shot leaves the plant creature moving more slowly, and its spore gills seem to be frozen shut for the time being.
Rrruh circles around some rocks and slides up to the creature, wisps of flame forming around his fists. He delivers a very strong, burning punch to the creature's trunk.
In response, the plant whips at him with its vines.
Miya shoots another shot at the plant
With a flick of her thumb, Layla sets her weapon's rotating barrell in motion, chambering another bullet, that she sends slamming into the plant creature again.
Deftly sidestepping about its body and trying to keep its attention on him He leapt into the air over a root kicking at the creature hard and trying to use that momentum to get a little distance from it.
Randu gathers his sling, steps up a bit, and gives it a whirl... as he hurls a slingstone towards the foe.
Miya and Rrruh's attacks miss their mark due to the plant creature's lurching movements.
Randu's shot is precisely accurate, but the force is only enough to whittle away a small hunk of the plant matter from its trunk. Layla's shot, on the other hand, deals quite a bit of damage as it freezes away a chunk of its bulk.
Badly damaged and moving much more erratically, the plant lurches once more towards Rrruh, but its weakened vines fail to strike him.
His fist once more aflame he spat a his at the plant creature as he planted his foot and struck at it with a hard swift palm strike center mass of the plant body.
With one more fiery kick, Rrruh brings down the strange creature. His flames catch upon it and begin to consume its spore gills and tendrils, moving slowly towards the trunk.
The body around the corner is in an advanced state of decomposition, with small colonies of harmless fungus sprouting from his mulched corpse. Fortunately, the lion's share of his possessions have survived fairly well. A crude, hastily written message on his person makes it clear that this was an agent of Kabran Bloodeye, sent to retrieve the cache and return it to his master, exiled in Isger.
+1 studded leather armor
+1 light crossbow w/ 18 bolts
MWK shortsword
Climber's Kit
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
2 Potions of Spider Climb
2 flasks of Alchemist's Fire
308gp
Randu waits for some of the spores to clear then approaches, "Rrruh, my friend, you look a bit hurt there. Care for a top off or shall I hold it back for later?"
He does rumage through the loot even as he asks "My word. Some good things here."
"Nice armor, a bit of refitting and it would suit me."
"Quite well" Randu nods "Ha! NOW we find a Climber's kit."
"By all means, help yourself to it Miya." Layla says with a smile, shaking her head in amusement as Randu points out the irony of the climbing kit.
" Definitely like the idea of the spider climb potions though. being able to climb hands free could be really useful."
You find no more plant monsters or other predators lurking around in what turns out to be a rather short cavern. The rough, natural tunnel to the left ends abruptly, but the floor has collapsed, exposing a dark chasm below. Peering down, you find that it opens onto a tall, arched hallway made from ancient dwarven masonry.
The flow of water through tiny fissures over the course of centuries has caused the roof of the hallway to collapse, connecting the dwarf halls below with the natural cavern above.
Your recent acquisitions prove fortuitous because it is at least a twenty-five foot drop to the floor below.
"Looks like that kit's going to come in handy after all." Layla comments, staring down into the massive hallway beneath.
She casts prestidigitation to clean the Armor then mend to fix it, Stripping off fast and placing her clothing into her Handy Havasack, along with any none claimed loot. She put the fine light Amror on.
Testing it, She smiled happy with the find.
" a bit of healing would be fine i think yes yes?"
He answered Randu as his eyes ran over the loot pausing at the vials of fire causing agents for only a moment before he refocused on the cavern about them. Looking down he paused and nodded to his friends...
"I will explore a moment.. and call out if its not safe count to ten."
and with that he leapt down into the halls below.
"Well...that's one way to do it I guess." Layla says with a chuckle as Rrruh leaps down into the hole.
Before Rrruh explores, Randu tries to lay a healing on him
Rrruh lands with almost unearthly grace upon the immaculately masoned stone slab floor below.
Much to the dismay of both him and his fur, he finds the air to be very humid. Moisture hangs heavily in the air, since water has infiltrated through tiny cracks in both the natural and worked stone. Hot air wafts out from an open doorway about 25 feet down the hallway, eastward. The heavy doors that once sealed the entrance now sit, cracked, upon the floor, with their rusted hinges sticking out like broken bones.
The faint sounds and waves of heat coming from the open doorway remind Rrruh of the furnaces in the glassworks where Naulla worked.
The hallway snakes along further to the east, while to the west it hooks around a corner.
While Rrruh surveys the hallway and discovers that the way is safe, the rest of you have ample time to secure ropes from the climbing kit to the more stable parts of the rock and stonework.
Thus, you have both a safe entrance into the halls of the ancient dwarf hold as well as a ready escape route when needed.
joining Rrruh Miya smiles.
"Nice jump, So what we got down here?"
"Might as well make use of this gear and save the potions, in case we need to get up in a hurry" Layla says, holstering her gun and making use of the climbing kit to easily climb down into the hallway.
"The world is poorly descended for those of proper height" He mutters as he watches his taller companions move so easily and then follows
The open doorway to the west seems to lead to the geothermal furnace creating the heat that you detected even in the caverns up above.
Peering around the corner of the eastern hallway, you find that it is lined by four dormitory doors before the hall ultimately culminates at a larger pair of stone doors.
"Hmm...wonder what those doors would be for." Layla mutters.
"Never paid as much attention as I should have to theology." Randu admits.
Miya cast the cantrap of Canny Effort
and looks at the doors.
"That's the dwarven pantheon on the doors there, I bet there is a chapel or some such beyond them"
"Hmm...temples tend to have pretty good defenses no? Shall we check the 4 other doors first or go straight for the main one?" Layla asks.
"Good idea, lets not loot the Dwafen Church when they run the local Inn"
She smiles
"Aye. I'm all for taking Bloodeye's illgotten goods. I'm not crazy about robbing a temple of gods who've done no harm to good folk" A nod as he agrees with Miya
"Agreed."
The doors lining the hallway are not locked. In fact, they hand unevenly in their stone frames, suggesting that someone has previously forced them open.
Investigating, you discover that they lead to a quartet of dormitories, each one with a pair of bunks carved like niches into the walls. The two closest to the chapel doors appear to have been dorms for the clergy serving the holy site. Meanwhile, the tools and curios left in the other dorms suggests that one hosted a pair of scribes, while the other one was meant for resident engineers.
The floors and tables are littered with the scattered remains of books and scrolls, evidence that someone - likely a member of the Redrock Guild, if not Bloodeye himself - has passed through here and ransacked the place for valuables. Most of these old records fell to pieces beneath such rough treatment.
Of course, there might still be some useful items that were overlooked.
Miya scoops up any books and scrolls that look like they have a price, popping them into her new Handy Havasack. In a world where everything was copied by hand or magic, these things could have a price.
Layla keeps an eye out for danger while Miya searches, determined not to get caught unawares.
Layla makes a quick search through the engineers' dorm. Tucked into the corner of one of the bunks, wedged between the wall and some other debris, she finds a lacquered mahogany box - about the size of a cigar box - with tarnished brass hinges.
Inside, she finds a set of 20 well-crafted bullets, sized for a firearm's bore but also serviceable in a sling. There is also a single gold coin, but its minted faces bear imagery more akin to a medallion than ordinary currency.
...
In the clergy dorm, Miya finds a handful of intact scrolls that have survived both the ravages of time and Bloodeye's ransacking. They appear to be inked with spells upon them, rather than being histories or parables.
She also spots a single pearl that rolled into a small divot where the floor meets the wall. As she moves to retrieve it, though, she hears the doors to the chapel opening without being touched by any of the party members.
Layla is quite delighted to find the stash of enchanted bullets, noting the odd coin and shifting her vision into the arcane spectrum to study it, before, closing the box and moving to see what the others had found.
"Someone is here, everyone hide"
She says, handing her handy haversack to Layla, scrolls inside, and shifting to fox form. Moving to the door.
Randu is impressed... but then... warning from Miya comes in
And hide he does.
Randu takes cover inside one of the dormitories, and he finds a vantage point that allows him to see the strange being striding out of the chapel.
He sees a dwarf-like being of earth and metal with coppery hair. His stern face, like carved stone, looks out from his open-faced helmet bearing two stylized boar tusks. With eyes like garnets, he scans the hallway and doorways.
It points towards Miya as she moves to the door and bellows in a deep, booming voice like drums in the deep.
As a fox she acts like a fox, scared and runs off the way they came.
The creature's face stiffens, trying to play off the fact that it just shouted at a fox while watching the red-furred critter scamper away.
However, when it spots Layla moving to rendezvous with the rest of the party, it aims its finger at her and repeats the ultimatum.
Damn it. Worse thing is, we're in the wrong. He steps out of the shadows hands up "This is a Chalkost... it's a good guy, a dwarven soul of noble nature , loyal servant, forges weapons for angels and the like. And we just robbed from this place though I ... honestly I didn't realize it was PART of the temple. I'm going to play this straight and apologize."
He then speaks in Dwarven
Those who don't speak dwarven will hear "Randu Riggling" "Bloodeye" and "Falcon's Hollow" mixed in there.
The Chalkost affixes its eyes upon Randu.
The Chalkost beckons Randu and company to follow as it returns into the chapel.
It waves a brass-coated hand, directing your attention towards the half-destroyed scene inside the holy hall. The rows of stone pews are alternately overturned or split in half, and the mosaics upon the walls have been scratched and scoured like scarred flesh.
A stout altar dominates the curved rear of the chapel, bearing the pronounced emblem of a hammer. The walls of the chapel are lined with six cracked niches that each harbor a small shrine bearing other symbols, like a hearth or a runed book. The stone and metal of the altar and shrines looks very new compared to the walls, pews, sconces, and other furnishings in the chapel.
The Chalkost speaks again:
Randu translates to his friends and allies, and then follows as biden Then scowls at the damage done, "The words I have to describe Bloodeye shouldn't be said in a church" Then he says
And he more or less translates for the others to hear.
The Chalkost offers a hearty laugh that carries the ring of a brass bell.
In Dwarven, and translated by Randu for those who don't speak the mountain language, the outsider says, "Bloodeye has the stunted vision befitting a looter. It's not enough that he only sees what glitters, but he is also blind to everything that isn't right in front of him.
"The cad never found Torag's treasures hidden in these halls," the Chalkost announces with grim pride. "Even while he smashes the altar and shrines, he never suspected how close the riches were."
The outsider also explains that, over the years, it has seen Bloodeye bringing in barrels, crates, and other containers of ill-gotten goods and stored them all in the kitchen and pantry on the other side of these halls.
"It would be a stroke of justice to see that cad's plunder stolen right back from him. But caution! Since he last defiled these halls with his stench, he rigged a trap at the door to the kitchen."
The Chalkost has no qualms about letting you keep the items you have found in the dormitories.
"Hoarding wealth for its own sake is like letting crops grow and wither in the fields: it benefits none but the rats. Your cause seems just, so freeing these trinkets from the gathering dust and putting them to good use would be fitting.
"In fact..." the Chalkost says, clearly mulling a heavy decision. You can almost hear metallic gears turning in its helmeted head. "If you would be good enough to help with my restorations to this holy hall, I would allow you to claim some of the hidden treasures as a gift on behalf of my kin, both mortal and divine."
Randu listens, and translates. No doubt his accent in Dwarven is telling, but at least he knows it and is happy to share.
Besides, he finds this a bit fascinating
(Dwarven and then common) "Ha. You've got Bloodeye's number there. Blinded by his own greed. Thanks for the warning about the trap at the kitchen door." He ponders the offer, "Love to help, feel like we should only...well, time is not on our side. how long would it take?"