Grappling is not the slayer's strong suit...however, he sees no other way to prevent this creature's escape. He drops low and leaps for the legs...
...and gets ready to start pumping the trowel into this thing's grundle.
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Johari's arms snake out to grab hold of the fleeing creature. The maneuver is dangerous though...
... but is unable land a solid blow.
It then works to break from the the slayer's grasp...
... and manages to break free!
ROUND 3:
Deldhindon: Grab weapon and Move
Wellstone: Jangle
Enemy: Break free!
Arryn: Go
Johari: Go
Zadok: Go
Zadok eyes the bottleneck preventing him from helping, and decides to get in on the action.
Johari hesitates for a moment, to see what his erstwhile cellmates intend...
Slay, or hold??
Arryn hears the rattled cell and goes back for the remaining prisoner. He makes most of the way there, but hands the key ring to the professorial looking chap [Wellstone].
Here! Set him free!
Seeing that the monster lacks the skill to take the opening Zadok presented, Johari charges again, trying to grab hold.
<--ewps...
Wellstone dutifully operates the keys, unlocking the cage and releasing the oddly-familiar elf. He gives a close look to the fellow on the table.
I believe this man may be faking his wounds... Wellstone thinks to himself, before remembering he doesn't have his glasses.
Deldhindon steps out of his cell with a nod to Wellstone.
Thanks, mate.
He looks over at the fleeing torturer.
Oh, you're not getting away, you dodgy bastard.
Burn an ARP to cast Summon Monster 1. Deldhindon's eyes glow for a brief moment and his fist reaches out into the air and back, as if pulling something down to him. As his fist reaches his side, an eagle appears on the other side of the doorway, blocking the creature's path.
As soon as it appears, the eagle rakes at the grey creature in front of it.
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An eagle appears out of nowhere and begins to claw and bite. It manages only to graze the creature.
Intent on withdrawing from an outnumbered fight, it moves past the eagle (provokes an AoO), steps up the pile of rotting corpses, and clambers through a broad chute out of sight.
ROUND 4:
Deldhindon: Summon + Eagle
Wellstone: Freedom!
Enemy: Flee
Arryn: Go
Johari: Go
Zadok: Go
I will also take Perception checks from Wellstone, Arryn, and Deldhindon.
The eagle claws at the enemy as it scrambles past.
With a growl of frustration at the escape, Johari lets out a huff as he relaxes his fighting posture. I'm not chasing that thing. We're better off regrouping and making a plan.
he glances back, and seeing that no one appears injured and everyone is out of their cages, sets a grim gaze on the pile of corpses before the chute the goaler made its escape down. He sucks in a breath, then begins the distasteful work of trying to find something useful in the bodies.
Welstone nods at the voice in the distance. We should check our immediate surroundings first, he says, moving to the far side of the room and looking about.
He rubs his eyes and can see fairly clearly for a moment, even without his spectacles.
"Agreed. We need to... do a lot. First, are any of us injured? I suggest we retreat to a cell with the keys, arm ourselves, figure out WHO we are, and then make a plan to get out of here."
Zadok will confine himself to the rooms we've seen thus far, looking for real weapons, armor, gear, or souls.
Perception:
I'll look around where I see piles of items and look for my belongings.
The slayer keeps his insides...inside
Wellstone puts the glasses on at once, then looks at the cane curiously. It is familiar somehow. He takes it and something makes him twirl it with a flourish, its weight a welcome fit in his hand.
Over here! he says. I've found some things. Some are mine...maybe some are yours as well?
Zadok locks eyes with the man, would I even know if it was mine?
He then begins to look through...
-Posted with Wayfinder
Johari immediately heads back into the cells/torture chamber, and starts rifling through the pile(s) for his weapons & armor. He gives Wellstone a satisfied & appreciative grunt.
Zadok takes each item lovingly. The expression sn't materializtic. Indeed his gimlet eyes and tense mouth look more like an academic studying a work of art (despite the middling make of the equipment.)
Once armed and armored he turns to everyone, "Zadok. I am Zadok. That's all I know right now."
He turns, but then turns back. "No, I know more than that. I know that we're here and we're not supposed to be. Something larger than us is going on here, and I can't walk away without answers."
Help me find my sword, so that when we find whoever did this, I can leave his guts in a pile at his feet
And I am Dr. Wellstone Quant, of...of somewhere. But I cannot recall where. Curious.
Wellstone hears the wild-eyed man's statement and looks back at the pile, drawing a blade out and offering the pommel to him. This one?
"It's a pleasure, I think, to meet you. I'm Zadok Obed Mlaştină. And my name is about all I can give you."
Zadok begins grabbing gear. His grip is firm, and he squeezes each item hard before passing it out to whomever reaches for it.
Only once everything is handed out does he speak, "Come, let us get answers to questions that burn."
OH, I'm going to that pile of stuff!!!
"I do not wish to relive the dream I had, that I'm guessing we all had. I don't know much, but I know I can wield a blade, and I feel comfortable in armor. I also feel the power of such items, and I'm confident I can cast spells with similar ken whilst I hold them. What do you lot know?"
...While listening to the replies, he examines what's left on the torture table.
Less than I'd like, to be sure, Wellstone says, instinctively sliding the blade out of his sword cane. I know this, how to use it. I know I learned to in The War, along with other less elegant weaponry.
He pauses. What war that was, I cannot tell you. Nor whom I fought, nor fought for. I would like to think I fought for the right side, but that is the hope of all soldiers throughout history, is it not?
He catches himself. History. I knew history, once — taught it to others in an academy. Perhaps I still do. But which academy, I cannot say.
Deldhindon watches as Zadok works through the pile, handing items back out to the group. As each familiar item appears, Deldhindon snatches it back into his possession. He steps back and gives everything a thorough inspection to make sure nothing is missing. As he looks through his gear, his gaze is constantly looking around him also.
As introductions are made, Deldhindon pauses long enough to stand up straight and address the others.
Deldhindon Duskmere at your service. I am a student of the Arcane. I've fought no wars nor do I believe I would fare very well in one. What little knowledge and mastery of the Arts I have are at your disposal.
Johari stands guard while the gear is being distributed. He gets into his studded leather armor with no comment, and straps on his sword and axes with obvious relief. The only way to describe how he looks geared-up is, "he looks like he knows WTF he's doing!"
I'm Aloysious Johari. You call me "Johari." Call me "Aloysious" and we'll have a problem. He punctuates this by drawing his well-worn longsword. He looks even more like he knows WTF he's doing--frighteningly so.
I'm a hunter. Steel is my trade. I'm sure you all know more book stuff than I ever will, but...I can find things. And kill them.
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The group of you make introductions and recover various familiar items. Not all items are familiar to the five of you. Among the discarded items you find a masterwork viol. The bow is missing, but the instrument is otherwise remarkably intact.
The furnace itself lies cold. While searching Arryn glances up and notes that the vents leading up and out of the furnace are particularly wide, so much so that a small creature could easily fit inside, while a medium-sized creature could fit by squeezing. Regular seams and offshoots within the duct make it seem reasonably scalable.
Johari is also aware of the shute the grey-skinned creature ran away through. Although there's a mound of bodies before it, they can work as makeshift stairs, offering another way out.
"If you don't mind, I find that items have power. In fact, more powerful than items are belongings, and this seems like such. I shall carry it."
Zadok looks about, "Let us search this floor before we decide between an uncomfortable and macabre egress."
Zadok then looks about the entire (Taking 10 for 14, assuming others jump in.)
Zadok looks about, "Let us search this floor before we decide between an uncomfortable and macabre egress."
Hah! Quite agree, quite agree. Find your path of least resistance, so to say. Wellstone looks at the furnace in dismay as he heads back past the cages, giving the table another look at he sets down the implement he grabbed before, much happier with the items he now carries.
I am called Glasswalker by most. I speak for The Green, and navigate our unique place in it.
"There's little green here friend, but I can appreciate finding meaning in what is. Now we must make what ought to be."
"There's little green here friend, but I can appreciate finding meaning in what is. Now we must make what ought to be."
Arryn grows animated suddenly.
Oh but there is! That's the mistake that many make! The Green is all around us. Cities are nothing more than hives, lairs, anthills made my the hands of humans and demihumans. Dirt tunneled by ants is still earth. And steel is naught but iron ore dug up by insignificant creatures and shaped by their hands. Hewn stone is still stone. And life continues to brim in the cracks and crevasses between the worked metals and earth. Trees die in the forest and continue to house and offer succor to creatures great and small. Is there any difference in a human cutting down a tree and shaping it make his dwelling? This is where I walk.
Wellstone looks up from the table, as the topic and the discussion it has inspired interests him. An interesting perspective, and not one commonly shared, I imagine. Hmm. I shall ponder these words. You have given me much to think on, friend.
Arryn grows animated suddenly.
Oh but there is! That's the mistake that many make! The Green is all around us. Cities are nothing more than hives, lairs, anthills made my the hands of humans and demihumans. Dirt tunneled by ants is still earth. And steel is naught but iron ore dug up by insignificant creatures and shaped by their hands. Hewn stone is still stone. And life continues to brim in the cracks and crevasses between the worked metals and earth. Trees die in the forest and continue to house and offer succor to creatures great and small. Is there any difference in a human cutting down a tree and shaping it make his dwelling? This is where I walk.
Johari looks thoughtfully on the speaker, eyes narrowing a bit. He gives a small grunt and a few small nods of his head.
He then partakes in the searches, trying to determine if one way is any better than the other.
"Arryn we may yet become fast friends, for I find this information fascinating... but for now, Johari and the good doctor need us."
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The group of you spend time thoroughly searching the cell area, then the area around the furnace, and finally the cellar area where the mound of corpses lead to a chute.
The Cell Area: The most notable aspect of this area is the table where the remains of a human man reside. His body shows cuts, incisions, and other marks of gruesome torture. This man is not known to you.
Near that table is a smaller one with various sharp instruments, some of which you were able to repurpose when battle with the grey-skinned creature broke out.
The cells, which recently confined you, are well made and sufficiently capable to restrain a person indefinitely. Fortunately, you were able to get a key.
The Furnace Area: A cold, iron furnace hunkers in the corner of the basement, its four-foot-square door gaping half open. Nearby sprawls a heap of gory clothes and other dubiously flammable trash. Within this trash were your various possessions, as well as a masterfully-crafted viol.
The furnace itself is dormant, and the shaft upwards from it seems a bit tight but regular seams and offshoots within the duct make it reasonably scalable.
The Cellar: A broad chute extends diagonally through one of this cellar’s half-crumbled stone walls. Beneath it lies heaped more than a dozen mutilated humanoid bodies. Nearby, a flight of rickety, wooden steps climbs toward the high ceiling—an escape none of the room’s current occupants seem capable of employing. The smell of rot and decay in the room is nearly overwhelming, and the buzz of flies hangs in the air.
Searching through the bodies you notice that many of them are wearing the same thing: a plain, white uniform that buttons in the front. It is very similar to the outfit worn by the grey-skinned creature who ran away through the chute. Johari, who had previously searched the bodies, had found 15 gp worth of stray coins and
cheap jewelry.
The chute itself is 8ft off the ground, but the bodies can serve as a macabre set of stairs.
Zadok treats the bodies as objects devoid of truth. He sifts through without squeamishness. .
And then climbs to the chute.
Johari grunts in acceptance of this way--looks as good as any other. His sword still drawn, he eyes the rest, clearly planning to take rear guard
Seeing the others moving up the chute, Deldhindon follows, trying to pick his steps carefully to avoid as much contact with the dead as possible. Even then, his eyes are constantly scanning the room, as if one of the bodies might rise to attack.
Wellstone is unaffected by the dead bodies as he methodically searches through. He watches Zadok and Delhindon disappear into the shaft, then follows suit, confident Arryn and Johari will follow.