Sir Gavin pauses his strike and lowers his blade. He keeps his shield up, however (just in case). He listens carefully, wondering if he could trust this... creature.
His words seem truthful to Gavin's ears. He appears to value his life more than his false loyalty to the birdmen.
For the description of most of these birdmen, you determine them to be Dire Corbies. Kikonu's mistress may very well be a harpy as well.
Kikonu himself may not be as base as the others around him though. From the information you've gathered up to this point mixed with new information from the troglodyte here, Kikonu may be something more. Likely a yamabushi tengu of some sort.
Corvus listens to the creature and tries to take what he says at face value - the prospect of death being just as likely to bring lies as the truth. Anything to prolong life.
The more she listens, however, the more she is convinced he's not like the others.
Having suspected what he is, what do I know about a yamabushi tengu?
Corvus knows that the yamabushi are outsiders that bear a strong resistance to magical powers and who have the ability to steal the voices of those they attack. Many are also capable of flight, so you're unsure as to the theories that Kikonu is incapable of flight.
Strange indeed.
Mukluk stops his looting to listen to the trog speak.
"Sounds like these women have things in common with Treygan's mom..." Mukluk thinks and ponders what is said.
Know (Nature)
Know (Planes)
"Yeah, uh huh...that's what I thought, uh huh."
"Can you describe these powerful magics that he wields?"
"I don't know the extent of his power, but he can steal voices and shape change and cast vile mysticisms not of this world. Powers and spells and magics. I wield no such powers so my tribe and me were nothing more than slaves to his will."
"What do you all think? We've probably learned as much as 'chief' here has to tell us? Do we go see if we can find this Kikonu?"
"He hasn't told us where his tribe's treasure was. Or why they attacked us," Mukluk reminds, his hands coming up empty from his searches.
We have no treasure of our own but if you grant me life, I will turn over my weapon to you. It is very powerful. And the armory just beyond contains as many weapons as you can carry - possibly more." He motions back down the hallway in either direction as he tosses his morningstar to the ground. "My underlings likely attacked out of fear. We have our orders to hold the lower floors, but it's nigh impossible to.
Mukluk goes to check out the weapon.
Spellcraft
"Oh yeah, this will do. Uh huh..."
"We should check that armory once you've finished with that morningstar Mukluk. We might find more to help us with things upstairs."
Listening to his companions, Sir Gavin nods.
"Very well, this trade is accepted."
He points with his sword at the Trog.
"Go then! And DO NOT RETURN!" He thundered.
"Thank uou. Be warned though. Further down these caverns lies the bird's own true master, Nindenzego. He controls all that transpires within these walls, masters." Not entirely shaken by Sir Gavin's attempt at intimidation, the troglodyte champion adds before nonetheless scampering off.
The Morningstar registers as magical to Mukluk's abilities. With little to no effort , Mukluks identifies an oily substance secreting from the head of the morningstar. The weapon is in pristine condition despite appearing rusted and it registers as a +1 Cold Iron Morningstar capable of sickening those it strikes. His arcane knowledge sorts out how the magic of the weapon works and surmises having spent innumerable years on the troglodytes person, the weapon picked up its stench and secretes the oil now itself. A truly grotesque marvel.
On a successful strike, the target is overwhelmed by the stench and must make a Fortitude Save DC 15 or be sickened for 10 rounds as per the stench universal monster rule. The same creature cannot be affected again for 24 hours.
Mukluk chortles as the examines the morningstar.
"Oh yeah, this one is a fun one. This item right here is why Desna travels. An item like this is near unique, a mystery of modern magic. Oh yeah...who wants to wield this one against the birdmen? I guarantee it will be quite a gas!"
Mukluk offers the morningstar around; he has no desire to use it.
* * *
Mukluk checks out the armory, casting Detect Magic, but then is ready to move on.
Sir Gavin turns a jaundiced eye on the smelly morningstar.
"Ah, no. Just... no." He stated flatly as his nose wrinkled.
He flicked the blood off of his sword and sheathed it with a single motion.
Corvus shows no interest in the morningstar amnd defers to Mukluk's appraisal of the weapon, despite a desire to check it out herself.
She then fidgets as she waits for the group to move on.
Jean is bored and ready to continue onward, taking the lead and scouting ahead as before.
Mukluk saddened that he couldn't find a good home for the weapon, 'sacks it and readies to follow Jean.
"Not my type either Mukluk. Maybe we'll find someone back at the caravan that can make use of it. Let's keep moving. We've got birds to find."
Searching through the armory, you find mostly mundane weapons - two longswords, four daggers, three short swords, a spear, four heavy crossbows, and 80 crossbow bolts. The big prize of the day, however, is in the ten vials of alchemist's fire that you also find. Upon inspection, nothing detects as magical.
After clearing the armory, you make your way to the room the troglodytes came from and find it to be a sort of fighting pit, currently unused of course, left in somewhat decent condition.
You find nothing of interest in this room.
I dont like leaving any unexplored areas behind us. There could be more dangerous things down hear that could block our escape. I say we finish down here before moving up.
Checking out the left door
Perception
Mukluk follows Jean, happy at having picked up two alchemist fires.
Gavin picks up a couple of the Alchemist's Fire vials and follows Mukluk.
György looks over the alchemist's fire. "You sure about these Mukluk? Don't you remember that alchemist who blew himself and his entire lab up outside Kaer Maga?"
Pleased that they're moving again, Corvus follows behind Jean, eager to press on and get some help for her friend.
"You sure about these Mukluk? Don't you remember that alchemist who blew himself and his entire lab up outside Kaer Maga?"
Mukluk grins.
"Oh yeah, now that was a FIRE!" Mukluk laughs. "The guy was trying to cook up some dire corby that he just caught. Or was it one of them pigs with the gem in his forehead, I forget? A peecarble? A peeknuckle?" Mukluk looks at Gyorgy to see if he remembers.
"Anyhoot, that was a fire. Kept us warm throughout the night, we made camp right there. Cooked us dinner, it did."
"I seem to recall it smelling more like chicken than pork. Must have been dire corby."
Jean perceives nothing out of the ordinary beyond the left door. It does smell as of it was burned recently. Upon opening the door, a foul smell permeates your nostrils. This foul-smelling chamber drips with moisture—it runs down the walls in rivulets amid thick tangles of nasty-looking fungus. Three washing bins in the walls are completely clogged with heaps of even more repulsive molds and mushrooms, some of which have grown to prodigious size, like the large mound of burnt green mold sprouting dozens of purple-capped mushrooms in the center of the room that appears to have been set ablaze at one point. Nothing else remains of interest that you can see.
"Fungus. Mold. Doesn't smell or look like the air in there is too healthy. Do any of you know if it just looks and smells bad or is it actually dangerous." György cranes his neck to see if he can spot anything of note without entering the room.
The burnt mushroom at the center of the room may have been a carnivorous pay comics at one point but it appears dead at first glance. You'd have to get closer to be for sure.
Know (Nature)
Mukluk looks at the mold, then pokes it with his pick. Taking a small dab of it, he gives it a solid taste.
"Oh yeah, this is one of them carnivorous pay comics! I just know it. It's just like Ivy."
Mukluk points out his find to others, offering a taste.
On to the other door then.
"Carnivorous pay comics. I really should have paid more attention when we traveled with the smelly ratfolk druid with the broken tooth. I don't even remember hearing of a creature with a name like that. You sure we shouldn't look through this room a little more closely Jean?"
Mukluk follows the party in that way, saving the other door for later.
Gavin follows Mukluk.
Spear ready, György also joins the others.
Unsure what they're precisely doing, Corvus follows along with the crowd - silent. The thoughts of her friend are now more and more frequent and the general banter and lack of urgency are starting to antagonise her.
Unable to have ever been seen from outside the room, as you reach the other side of the pile of burnt plants, you stumble upon a round bladed weapon - chakram - jutting from the side of the phycomid, still attached to the hands of it's eaten away owner who lay beside the beast. In addition, a smattering of gold coins lay surrounding the fallen adventurer. These total 660 gold. It appears as if his allies wasted no time in making their escape from this beast and had no choice but to leave his fallen corpse (and valuables) behind. The chakram is covered in green liquid and both the chakram, the cloak about his shoulders, and the bracers on his wrists radiate magic upon observation.
+1 Corrosive Chakram
Spellcraft - chakram
Spellcraft - cloak
Spellcraft - bracers
"What we got here?" Mukluk examines the items, offering them around to others. "These are kind of neat, ain't they?"
He will explain what they do and look to Jean to lead on.
"What's next, I wonder."
"Wrath of the Inheritor. I have never seen such enchantments before... Muttered Sir Gavin at the demonstrations of the items.
Corvus shows some interest in the cloak but does little more than glance at the others. She doesn't even check the magical nature of the items herself.
"Fascinating, I don't think I've seen the like of any of these before. Those bracers might be helpful for my style of battle. With my spear, I could reach even further."
Moving to the other door and popping it open you see that a tangle of stalactites and stalagmites fill this low-ceilinged cavern, with only a five-foot-wide path that runs along the southern wall being clear of obstruction. The cavern winds around a ways until you emerge into the light of the out walls of Brinewall. It would seem this is a second entrance to beneath the castle from outside. Realizing you have but one option left for continuing your infiltration of the castle, you turn and move back towards the stairs in the grand banquet hall where you first encountered the troglodytes. There you move to the stairs that lead up into the main floor of the castle. A large table lies in shambles in the middle of this room, while crumbled suits of armor bearing decorations of dragons twisting around castle towers lie in heaps along the walls. A flight of stairs winds up along a curved wall to the north. The air in this room feels stuffy and carries an eye-watering reptilian stink which is backed by the sound of reptilian squabbling just out of sight.
"I killed the tick! It's mine for eats."
"No, I saw it first, so it's mine!"
The two don't seem to be paying any attention to your group as you approach. You count for possible ways out of this hall beyond the way you came. Three doors - one along each wall - lie slightly ajar as the two troglodytes bicker amongst each other. The fourth exit is a pair of stairs that lead towards the upper level of the castle.
Although the room is in disarray, you recognize a number of documents, maps, and troop lists that date back to the night Brinewall was attacked. This room has sheltered the documents somewhat, but they’re still damaged. All that can be pieces together from the documents here is the fact that the guards believed the citizens of the village below were rioting, and that several of the buildings had caught on fire. They were preparing to mount an expedition to investigate and bring order, but there is no indication of their success or failure.
Several ruined beds lie in various states of disrepair in this room, their moldy mattresses piled into a filthy heap against the northern wall. It appears to be a barracks. Two troglodytes sleep here.
You notice a secret latch in the south wall that opens a passageway into the grand hall throne room beyond.
A large number of ruined bunks have been heaped into a nest- shaped mound in the center of this room.
Before ever opening the door, you hear a barking voice. "Ahahaha! Yes! YES! Perfect! Continue! Continue! It's perfect for my masterpiece!"
When you open the door, rotting, faded banners hang from the walls of this long hall, depicting a stylized castle sitting on a seaside cliff. Thick stone pillars support the ceiling, while at the far end of the hall sits an old wooden throne, its back carved to resemble the towers of a castle wrapped in the coils of a serpentine dragon. Welcome to the throne room.
At the east end of the hall, a wild eyed Tian man with a bristly goatee, deep red skin, and a prodigious nose idly toys with a strange weapon—a combination sickle and weighted chain —and when he cackles in delight as you enter, inviting you to be seated as his “latest masterpiece” concludes.
The stairs wind up for a minute then open into a chamber whose furniture—couches, drawing tables, and empty bookshelves—lie in disarray, with the exception of one writing desk and chair in the center of the room, its surface heaped with pages of parchment and paper. Two doors - one south, one west - lead from this room as does another set of stairs leading down across from where you enter.
Perception
Stealth over to the Western door with a dagger in hand
Look back at the rest and motion [pantomime] Eyes + 2 + Room + Slit Throat[/pantomime]
And....Jean launches a dagger at the nearest one if he can.
Attack
Damage Sneak Attack Damage?