Constantin shrugs. "I've no reason to prefer one or the other."
Deciding that the broken gantry in the room with the cages is probably most accessible, Vala casts fly on Zed and he levitates up, securing a rope at the top.
The climb is easy for Hazel and Vermundr, more difficult for the others but between them the group is able to scramble up the rope onto the remnants of the gantry.
The door there is stout and wooden and Zed opens it carefully. It opens onto a narrow corridor that runs the length of the building, other doors along it's length that logically must lead to the gantries that stood over the other vats.
About halfway along is a small alcove with what look like a series of lockers built into it and another door at the far end.
The lockers are, in fact, unlocked. The small doors are beautifully carved from walnut with small brass handles.
Pulling the doors open, Hazel peers inside.
The shelves beyond hold a labelled potion of displacement, a potion of gaseous form, and two vials of alchemically preserved basilisk blood, a potion of nondetection and a wand of charm monster with 44 charges.
After dealing with the locker, the group moves on to the door at the end of the corridor.
Although you have only been in the water logged towers for a matter of minutes, the bright light of mid morning still dazzles you for a moment.
The door opens out onto the narrow stone bridge that you saw from the manse on the other side of the waterfall. It leads on to a final impressive tower of metal and stone. The tower sits on an outcrop of rock that hangs precariously over the gorge and is topped with a long lightning rod that points to the skies.
Zed frowns at the clouds he saw earlier above the canyon. Despite being a clear day elsewhere, the clouds look darker than ever and a fine rain begins to fall from them giving the air a grey, washed out feeling.
Kazamir stares out at the bridge for a long, quiet moment.
"Should we make any preparations before attempting to cross?"
Vala's face falls. "I've about had my fill of precarious bridges. And if anything goes awry during this crossing, I won't be able to catch more than one or two of you."
Zed takes out the rope, ties one end around his waist, and hands the other end to Verm. "I'll cross. If for some reason I fall off, catch me with that. If I make it, I'll secure it on the other end and you all will have something to hold onto as you cross." Assuming no objections, Zed double checks his knot and heads across.
Zed crosses quickly and carefully and despite the thin drizzle that is very quickly soaking you to the skin, he makes it to the other side without difficulty.
The doors at the end of the bridge sit at the base of a great stone tower, perching atop a sheer stack of rock above the river. The tower climbs to an elaborate iron steeple, from which a huge lightning conductor calls out to the skies.
Kazamir follows along behind and examines the iron doors. They do not appear trapped but are locked.
Zed keeps an eye out while they figure out the door.
From within, Zed hears some fairly loud but indistinct shuffling from beyond the door.
"At this point, I'm likely to suspect nothing good."
"Just once I'd like to force a door open to find a larder. Or a cellar stocked with mead", Vermundr adds wistfully.
The lock appears simple. But once Kazamir places his picks into the chamber, he finds the internal mechanism to be very complex, leading him to believe the abjuration magic is related to making it more difficult to access this tower.
However, he is patient and diligent and after several moments there is a satisfactory click from the lock.
That noise is met with a throaty growl from beyond the doors.
' "Just once I'd like to force a door open to find a larder. Or a cellar stocked with mead", Vermundr adds wistfully. '
'However, he is patient and diligent and after several moments there is a satisfactory click from the lock.
That noise is met with a throaty growl from beyond the doors.'
Kaz whispers "I'm rather inclined to agree with you, Vermundr!" as he stands, stuffing his tools in his pockets and taking a fresh grip on his cane.
"Sounds like there might be a guard dog way up here. And given what we've seen so far, it's probably something like what we saw guarding Vorkstag and Grine's." Vala sighs and her shoulders droop, it was obvious she was worn from the group's harrowing passage through the cisterns and their subsequent ascent. She then starts glancing to either side of the tower, as well as up the walls. "No one sees any other way around or a window, I don't suppose?"
Vermundr fishes around in his pack for a moment but closes it empty-handed. "Sorry Hazel, I'm all out of healing salves. Let Zelda and I lead the charge this time."
"Wait... here," says Constantin, as he produces a small vial of thick orange liquid.
The instant Vermundr pulls open the door, a massive clawed hand reaches through the gap and toward the warrior's face, attempting to peel the very flesh from his skull.
He ducks back instinctively and regards the thing standing there.
The monster that fills the doorway is a massive hulking brute of stitched flesh and white fur. It's four arms end in massive claws and lines of long, mismatched muscle run along their length. A thick, angry skull covered with thin flesh and full of teeth that seem all at once canine, feline and bovine stares at Vermundr and releases a great ape-like howl.
This is some kind of flesh golem variant. It looks like it has been stitched together with a variety of creatures but overwhelmingly the main components are that of a gorillon.
As a flesh golem it has construct traits and is resistant to weapons that aren't adamantine and as a gorillon it has very powerful melee attacks and is able to rend it's opponents to shreds.
"Another golem! IT will mostly immune to magic, and only weapons of adamantine will have full effect! Ware the claws - if more than one hits, it will rend and tear at armor and flesh!"
"Maybe lure it out, see if we can bull-rush it off the bridge?
Vermundr considers the stitched behemoth's immense bulk and shakes his head. "It could just as easily knock us off. We need to overwhelm and destroy it here!"
Heeding his own advice the big northerner takes a cautious step forward before smashing his weapon into the golem's side with tremendous force.
Constantin backs up slightly to give the warriors more maneuvering room as he unleashes the psychic signal that supercharges their nerves and pushes them to unnatural speeds.
Zed moves in quickly, slipping past Verm and the creature to get behind it, weathering the blow that is sure to come.
Vermundr's blows crash against the tough hide of the thing and get caught up in matted hair and skin so dry it is like armour plating, sliding off without damage.
Zed dashes in though and his crushing tetsubo smashes into the thing's back and he is sure he hears some ribs crack.
Hit
Hit
Hit
Hit
The four claws rip into Vermundr, leaving long ribbons of flesh torn from his face and neck and the warrior is forced to stagger back, almost slipping from the bridge as his feet skid in the gathering pool of blood beneath his feet.
Kaz steps forward, extending his cane to distract or fend of the things claws, away from Vermundr.
Zed sees Verm take a beating despite his spell and continues his assault.
Hit?
Hazel dashes in to the room, sliding under the flailing arm of the monstrosity though still catching a claw that gouges a furrow along her side before she leaps up and buries her starknife in the thing's back.
Zed brings his tetsubo down once again with such destructive, concussive force that the thing's head collapses like a crushed egg.
It crumples to the floor, alchemical fluid flowing out of the wound and gathering in a greenish pool beneath it.
Able to finally pay attention to the room, the group notes a curving stone staircase winds along the wall of this circular chamber up to a trapdoor in the ceiling some thirty feet above.
The room is in chaos, with books, alchemical equipment, and curiously twisted metal everywhere. A huge, broken cage stands in the center of the room, its bars bent and door smashed open.
Constantin moves toward the books as if drawn to them and starts quickly scanning them for titles and identifiers.
Kaz will examine the stairs and then the trapdoor for nasty surprises.
"Here you go."
Vermundr groans under the ferocity of the unnatural thing's claws and beastly strength. Fortunately it's destroyed a second later by Zed's merciless bludgeon leaving the big northerner a moment to breathe and assess his wounds. Zelda buzzes anxiously near her master.
"I can say I've had worse but not by much", he says before spitting up a wad of bloody mucus. "Nice shot Zed. Let's hope the Count doesn't have another one of those."
Wincing, Vermundr takes the potion from Constantin. He quaffs half of its contents and pours the rest across his ravaged scalp.