Hol' up a momen'. Morti says, pulling out his manacles to chain the unconscious halforc to the portcullis bars. Jus' makin' sure 'e doesn' wake up early an' surprise us.
The dwarf then moves to take rear guard position for the group, keeping an eye and ear out for anything coming from offer directions.
Falric opens the iron door to this room.. The walls of this chamber are pocked with skull-sized cubbyholes, each containing a single brass or clay urn—some long since shattered or dented, others still intact. A lightly colored stone statue depicting a burning chariot wheel occupies the northwest corner of the room.
With the aid of his Dancing Lights, Falric's keen eyes pick out that bits of broken weapons, coins, a suit of armor, and a scroll case are visible inside the quivering cube of slime to the south. The ooze senses life....
Eli moves forward 10' to get line of sight and throws an acid splash at the cube.
RTA
Damage
Falric moves up adjacent to it and slashes at the cube of jello with his scimitar.
"Stay back...does anyone know what this thing can do?"
Even though you would assume otherwise, the ooze is not immune to acid, so Elisen's spell does harm it. The bard rushes up and cuts a severe chunk of ooze that falls off and dissipates on the ground.
"Let's see how it takes some old-fashioned bludgeoning." Cabe moves up to the cube and gives it a bash with his warhammer.
,
Despite Cabe's awkward swing, it is hard to miss something that big so he connects.
Thankful that his weapon's chain can extend out to ten feet, Barundar rushes up next to Cabe, taking a swing at the thing!
Barundar moves up and using his momentum, launches a massive blow on the cube, that severely damages it, but it is still up.
Round 1:
The cube's battered walls temporarily open as it tries to engulf Falric and Cabe first, and then Morti as it moves over them!
Falric looks at Cabe, "Let's try and kill it! You with me bro? Now!" Falric slashes at the cube.
Seeing his companions swallowed by the mass, Morti will in turn take a desperate swing in attempt to cut them loose.
"Oh no, you don't. ,
The combined force of Falric and Cabe's blows destroy the ooze before it can engulf the heroes and it melts away, dropping its treasures on the stone floor:
Scroll of Hold Portal in a steel scroll case (worth 50 gp)
Masterwork chain shirt
Falchion
Star rose quartz amulet worth 75 gp
Coins totaling 20 gp, 95 sp, and 144 cp
Eli casts Detect Magic to be sure no magic is hidden by the ooze from the creature. She adds the scroll to her little scroll library she was building.
Elisen detects no other magic in the room. Three doors left. Where to?
"Nice shot, Cabe!" After we collect the treasure from the ooze, Falric leads the party to the NE door from the sword, with his Dancing Lights leading the way.
Falric opens the door. This once-grand flagstone hall is filled with statues of different celestial creatures in every corner. An old fire pit in the center of the room is bordered on all sides by moth-eaten bedrolls, while shovels, picks, and other digging equipment lie strewn about a shallow tunnel bored into the northeastern wall. The ceiling above the tunnel has collapsed, leaving a hole open to the sky above a pile of burnt rubble.
Falric concentrates and conjures another flask of energy, which he drinks, renewing his Shield spell. "Keep your eyes open, I've got a bad feeling about this place. I will try to draw the danger out." Falric moves to the center of the room and if nothing happens, then to the tunnel.
The paranoid halfling moves to the center of the room and sees the tunnel to the north has been caved in. However, his keen eyes spot a body buried in the rubble. Fearing undead, he moves to the entrance of the tunnel ready to attack if the corpse moves. He is right about the undead danger but wrong about the source as he is caught completely unaware when two tiny rats with rotting flesh, torn and matted fur, and reddish blazing eyes phase through the wall and attack him!
Surprise round:
The halfling luck works its magic again as the rats are obviously suffering from starvation as evident in their attack rolls and Elisen's mage armor spell protects Falric from damage.
"Damn ghost rats!" Falric takes a 5' step back, draws his holy water as a move action, and sprinkles it on the rat(s).
"Cabe, we need your holy energy."
"Got it. Cabe calls upon the holy power of Torag to cleanse the place and unleashes a blast upon the rats.
As the rats were no longer in melee, Eli moves to line up a shot and casts Acod Splash at either one left standing.
RTA
Damage
The shadow rats screech horribly as their undead flesh burns at the touch of Falric's holy water. However, when Cabe summons his god's holy energies, they scream and melt, as their shadow essence dissipates away.
With the threat gone, the party finds the corpse of a half-orc cleric buried in the rubble with numerous rat bite marks. The macabre corpse still wears a suit of sturdy chainmail, and his pockets hold a magical wand, a fine silver dagger (worth 160 gp), a red gold unholy symbol of an orc deity, Nulgreth, the Blood God worth 60 gp, and six black onyx gems (worth 25 gp each).
Only one door left to explore and it is locked.
Spellcraft wand
She also casts Detect Magic to examine the gear.
"Cabe, look at this wand. I think it might be right up your alley."
Eli reminds the group that if Ric can't get the door open, she has a Knock scroll meant for that very purpose.
Morti inspects the corpse, attempting to determine how long it had been there. , as well as anything he can remember about Nulgreth or his followers .
"Thi' place gets more an' more troublin', don' it? Wonder what this 'un coulda been up t'?"
"Hold on Elly, we did find a key on Daktani. I was wondering what it was for, since nothing seemed to be locked around here." Falric tries the key on the door.
Morti cannot tell how long the half-orc has been dead. He also cannot recall any information on orc deities. The wanderlust halfling, however, remembers his mentor Grogan Earthstriker teaching him that the best way to defeat your enemy was by knowing your enemy and so he was taught the orc cosmology. Nulgreth, the Blood God is the chaotic evil orc deity of bloodlust and fighting. He believes in slaughter as its own end, and loves seeing his followers drench themselves in the blood of their enemies. His worship is most fervent among the orcs of the Hold of Belzken.
Daktani's key works on the locked door. The door opens to reveal an old cast-iron furnace and a pile of coal occupy the corners of this cramped chamber. Ash and fallen rubble clutter the area around the furnace where the chimney above has collapsed. You also see a young blonde male, about 20 years old, bound and gagged in the corner of the room. He flinches with fear when you open the door but when he sees you, he struggles against his bonds and you see the desperation in his eyes.
By this time trusting little about this place, Morti quickly scans the room with detect evil before moving to help the lad.
Morti detects no evil on the lad and you free him from his bonds. As you do so, Falric's keen eyes spot a loose stone on the wall. Behind it he finds a sack with 55 pp. The blonde man speaks, "Thank you so much! Blessings upon thee. My name is Othdan and I am a local pig farmer. I was dared by some friends the night of the Hopeknife Ceremony while we were out drinking to spend the night in the haunted Plague House. It was worth 5 sp if I did so. I was just about to enter the burned church when I got hit from behind and knocked unconscious." He shows you the welt on the back of his head as proof. "Anyways, when I awoke, some aged half-orc had me bound here. He said he didn't know whether to kill me or not. I guess I am glad he didn't. And I prayed so hard to be rescued. Bless you again! You are true heroes! Can you show me the way out? I am sure my wife is worried sick!"
As you lead Othdan out, he sees Daktani's manacled form on the ground and runs up and kicks him! "That's the bastard who had me trapped in that room! I hope you make him pay!"
Cabe pockets the wand. "Yeah, unless Morti wants it this will come in handy."
"Yes, I think it's time to get some answers out of our new friend here. And quite possibly there will be paying." Cabe's voice is grim.
"lad, ha' ye seen any other than Daktani 'ere an' 'is troll friend? Lots more places down 'ere somebody could be 'idin, don' think we can let down our guard yet."
Morti suggests they show Othdan to the exit and send him back to town with a message for Sara about the half orc and troll while the party clears the rest of the catacombs.
You lead Othdan to the entrance and he rewards you with a campfire bead from his pocket. "Not going to see much use of this. Thank you for rescuing me! I only heard two voices, the half Orc and who would I assume was the troll.never understood what they were saying however. Thy spoke weird language."
The complex has been completely searched. Only one thing left...
You wake Daktani and he stirs with a moan, eyes barely open. "Ghaer, what the hell happened?" As he struggles to get up, he discovers he is manacled to the portcullis. When he opens his eyes fully and sees the troll's corpse and the party standing over him, he curses. He looks defiant as he gives you all an ugly look. "Before you even start with your scare tactics, go to hell and take your whore moms with ya!"
Morti bears his teeth at Daktani. "Ye should count yer lucky stars me mum isn't 'ere. She's a few 'undred years practice wieldin' 'ammer and chisel. Tools sharp enough fer carvin' granite: ye wouldn' like what they do to orc. Me, I ne'er was very good wi' the chisel, so 'ave t' rely on cruder methods." Hefting the great axe, he continues, "Now, why don' ye tell us wha' ye're doin' 'ere, an' why Rodrik was kilt, afore we see jus' what methods are necessary."
Falric waves at the half-orc innocently as he regains his senses. "Sorry about that kick in the balls, but we need you alive."
Daktani ignores the halfling's remarks as he focuses solely on the steady and methodical nature of the inquisitor's words and his aggressive posture with his greataxe. Daktani begins to sweat as Morti moves closer and he starts to stutter..."W-w-w-wait....ok, I'll tell you what I know, just don't cut off anything! I didn't kill anyone and I don't know who the hell Rodrik is. I'm no murderer...if I was, do you think that boy you just saved would be alive? No..I work for a crew, Skreed Gorewillow's crew. Let's see...there is me, Urnsul, Rishka, and Vonom. And our priest, Ashrith, but I am sure you found his corpse already. Skreed's our leader, a rune-covered half-orc alchemist. He's the one you want, not me. I just met with the trolls, a go-between that is all. Passing along information. That is all I know." He seems genuinely sincere, but the human lie detector that is Morti knows Daktani is a skilled liar and is holding back information.
"Where is Skreed at now? What other trolls have you been meeting with?"
"As she said, i' we're to believe thi' 'Skreed' is th' one who needs t' answer fer these crimes, instead o' you, we need t' be able t' find 'im.
But while we wait fer you t' remember where 'e 'is, maybe you can pretend I'm a troll an' 'pass along' whate'er information you've got.
"Urnsul, that's the half-Orc chick from the forge. Why are all these half-orcs working against the town? What is your end goal in Trunau?"
"I don't know where Skreed is. He kept the group fragmented precisely for that reason, so if we ever got caught, we couldn't turn him in, if magical means were used. So I can't help ya. I can't find what I don't know where to look." Morti senses truth in Daktani's answer.
The fear grows in his eyes as he hears Elisen and Falric's questions. He is hesitant to answer but does not want to displease Morti. Thus, he resigns himself and speaks candidly. "I met with another Flood Troll, Lehi, she is Ghaer's twin sister. They are emissaries of the Twisted Nails orc tribe. They are planning to raid the town in the near future. I wasn't given exact details but it will be sooner rather than later. I also know Skreed was looking for something in town first. Hence the white swords around town. He was marking places to search them. Don't waste your breath. I don't know what he was looking for. He is not the sharing type. There, that's all I know." He sounds sincere and resigned to his situation.
Morti pulls his companions aside worriedly.
"Thi' Skreed must'a been th' one what hired last night's assassins -- and i' he's an alchemist, that explains where Rodrik's killer got the' drug 'at was used on 'im. Urnsal as well, this i' all comin' together in a mos' disturbin' way. Invasion, this'n says -- we need t' hasten back t' alert th' militia."
"Aye, this sounds bad. Seems this half-orc crew was sent to infiltrate and destabilize the town in preparation for invasion by the orcs. How do we find the infiltrators and second, what are they looking for? It must be treasure, right? They brought mining equipment with them so it must be something buried, but what?" Falric turns to the smartest person he knows. "Any clue, Elly? Is this town historically significant or is it built upon some remnants of worth? Maybe it's one of those artifacts that you're looking for?"
Know. Local
Eli thinks back to all the stories she has read and heard over the years. Had she forgotten something that might be staring her right in the face in the town?
Barundar frowns at all the revelations gained from the prisoner, drawing himself up taller and gripping the chain of his weapon tightly. "I'm agreeing, but howfur lang dae we hae 'til it starts is th' quaistion. We hae na time tae dally...we need tae warn th' militia, th' hail toun, straight away!"
Morti nods, "Aye, let's give our friend 'ere a chance t' tell 'is story t' the authorities, see if they pick up aught we didn'."
Returning to Daktani, he offers, "I'll vouch fer yer helpfulness t' th' militia, but given tha' ye've been plannin' an invasion o' their town, I imagine you can't expect gentle treatment.“ before knocking the half-orc out again with his axe handle to prevent any escape attempt during the transfer.
Morti knocks Daktani unconscious and you transport the manacled prisoner out of the basement of the burned church. You meet militia members outside who have been alerted to the situation by Othdan. They take custody of the prisoner and Morti is returned his manacles. They take you before Kurst Grath, who hears your story and is instantly alarmed. "You should meet with the Chief Defender at once." He leads you to Halgra's home, where she agrees to meet with you once Kurst advises her of the gravity of the situation in a brief meeting between them. She invites you into her home, remembers you from the Hopeknife Ceremony, and asks you for your thoughts. "It is my understanding that you all were investigating the death of Patrol Captain Rodrik Grath's apparent suicide, which now we know was a murder, according to evidence you five uncovered. I also understand that you have captured a half-orc who was responsible for a kidnapping of one of our town's citizens and colluding with a troll under our very noses. What else do you know? Kurst mentioned something about an invasion."
Falric clears his throat, drinks some water from his waterskin and begins speaking in his serious tone:
"Well, this is what we know, Chief Defender: Rodrik's suspicions were aroused by something strange going on at the Plague House. We now know that is where this half-orc saboteur Daktani, that you have in custody, was meeting with a flood troll named Ghaer, who we killed and was an emissary of the Twisted Nail orc tribe. Oh the troll has a sister who may or may not be in town. Daktani was a a member of this half-orc band of saboteurs in town seeking to disrupt the town and apparently looking for some buried treasure or artifact in town. Hence the markings of the white swords/crosses around town. This group is led by an alchemist named Skreed Gorewillow. Anyway, the female half-orc Urnsul who worked at the Clamor, she is part of the crew as well. It seems Daktani tipped off Skreed about Rodrik's investigation into the Plague House, who then made plans to kill him. Someone poisoned Rodrik's water in his room, waited for him to drink it and fall unconscious and then slit his wrists to make it look like a suicide. Since we found a note under the bed, apparently from the perpetrator to his love interest, the killer may have been hiding under the bed lying in wait. Once we started the investigation, we were set upon by poisoned wolves and then assassins tried to kill us in our sleep. We suspect Skreed as well due to the alchemical origins and supplies we found on the assassins. As for proof of our theories, we have Rodrik's journal, the poisoned jug of water, the corpse of the flood troll in the basement, the testimony of Sara and the half-orc seer, the disappearance of Urnsul, and the testimony of the captured half-orc himself. If he refuses to speak now, I am sure the priestess from the Church can force him to speak or confirm his involvement in the invasion plans through magical means. While we understand your sensitivity to this issue, given your half-orc blood, we need you to be objective. There is a band of half-orcs loyal to the Twisted Nail Orc tribe working against the town's interests, most likely sabotaging the town's defenses in preparation for an invasion. We do not know where they are or how to find them, but we wanted to alert you and the militia to be as prepared as much as possible. We do not know how soon the invasion will come, but dark days lay ahead for Trunau and we will stand by the town's side, if you will have us."