"Ah ha! Miss Elyna, something for you!", Ulrich says, pulling out the small scythe and offering it to the gnome.
"Is anyone particularly good at throwing things? This holy water is sure to come in handy if real undead start showing up..."
Kekkle thumbs the deck of cards in his breast pocket. "Throwing things is practically the only thing I can do. Give 'em here."
Elyna takes the scythe and tries to swing it a few times.
"I have no idea how to fight with this thing. I think i'll stick to my flame, we could just sell this thing at the next opportunity."
Kekkle happens to peeks at the bottom of the chest and notices there are two leathery messenger bags and a woolen sack still inside the chest. How did you not notice these before?
"Have you got a bad eye, Ulrich? You've missed these bags here!" says the scarecrow as he pulls out the three bags. As he pulls one of the leather messenger bags over his shoulder he notices the warriors wounded eye, jogging his memory. "Oh...right."
Ulrich stares deeply into the chest.
"They weren't there..... when I opened it!"
Hurriedly, he closes the chest and replaces the skull candle.
"Surely it's best to leave this thing undisturbed before it starts belching forth... spiders or... poisoned sweets or something worse."
Ushio doesn't like how uneasy he is feeling. Hnghrr he groans very quietly under his breath. He looks back at the statue and determines that the best place to continue hiding before the group moves on would be behind it. He moves behind it and inspects the back, looking for abnormalities of sorts.
There is just barely enough space to squeeze behind the stone statue . There is no abnormalities behind the statue. Both the hourglass and the scythe are made of stone, as is the rose. The fine details on all three are a testament to sculpting.
As the party grows more and more uneasy to the chamber, they begin examining the wooden door. You put your ears on the door in an attempt to listen to the other side, but you do not hear anything. The door seems to have no traps.
With the door considered clear, Ulrich swings it open and looks into the next hallway.
The wooden door slams open, revealing a small area behind it. You gather around, keep your weapons close and look around.
Ulrich cautiously steps forward, looking left and right around the blind corners.
Before you is a chamber, equal in size to the ones you've been in before. Unlike the previous chambers, however, this one is filled with crates, barrels, containers, boxes, urns and the like. One might think of this place as a warehouse of sorts. A single skeleton rests lifelessly against some barrels.
There isn't anything out of the ordinary around the corners.
The moment Ulrich sets his foot in the warehouse chamber, the skeleton comes to life and raises its head, staring at Ulrich with its empty eyes.
"Morning! Buy something! I own a lot!" the skeleton says. Its voice screeches, like two stones scraping together. The skeleton is unarmed and despite being a horrid abomination, seems nonthreatening.
Pahleg's hand is halfway to his weapon when the skeleton speaks, and he sighs. "Yes, we would love to look at your wares."
Elyna, fighting an inexplicable urge to dive into the collection of containers, looks at the skeleton: "Are these all yours?"
Kekkle peeks his head around the corner of the room "Ek! A skeleton! One that moves, at that. How wholly unnatural."
He slinks into the room behind the others.
"I own it all!" the skeleton gleefully replies to Elyna. "Have a look, have a look!"
"Some useful equipment here... would you all be willing to part with our broken pickaxe, the extra longsword, the trinket and the sparkly whatsit, perhaps crunch up that soul we found? Perhaps for that Ring of Greed, though I profess that heavier armor would make me feel more confident. Or perhaps it's better we bide our time until we are more flush with souls."
Intrigued by the costly ring, you grasp the large soul of fallen roamer you had found a moment earlier.
Obtained 10 souls.
The skeleton looks at the items you offer to sell. He (she? it?) refuses to offer a single soul for the broken pickaxe ("No sell! Useless junk! I don't own junk!"), but the trinket and sparkly what sell for 3 souls combined. The longsword fetches another 1 soul.
"So? Business with me? Or no? I always want more own!"
Elyna offers the scythe to the skeleton, We're also in no need of this thing."
"Well, Master Skeleton, it seems we are short for the items we want. So we shall have to return for it."
You sell a trinket, a sparkly what, a longsword and a small scythe to the skeleton merchant.
Obtained 5 souls.
"Good business! More own!" the skeleton cheers.
The skeleton seems to take offense in Ulrich's words. "Skeleton? I am person! I own a name! Just can't remember now. Come back when want more business!"
With that said, the skeleton goes back to rest against a crate, comfortably putting his fleshless arms behind his skull. "Life is good when own."
After finishing the business with the bizarre skeleton merchant, the party decides to move on. Ushio is sent to scout the nearby area. The tunnel to the right from the warehouse takes a turn to the left before coming to a dead end. At the end of the dead end is a single, wooden barrel.
The stealthy fetchling returns to the group and then scouts the left-side tunnel. He finds that at the end of that tunnel is a relatively small room that has ladders leading down: a mirrored version of the ladder room you visited earlier. Just like that room back then, this new room is macabre as well: Ushio sees a corpse lying in the middle of the room. The corpse belongs to a female half-orc, and is holding an axe of sorts.
"I bet there's something in that barrel." He walks over to it and attempts to open it, but if it won't easily open he will attempt to break it open.
Pahleg approaches the lone barrel. As he comes closer to the barrel, he feels a bit chilly. When he is within 10 feet of the barrel, he feels noticeably cold. The barrel has a lid, and it should be easy to open without breaking it.
Would you like to open it or break it?
As Pahleg approaches the barrel, Elyna gets ready to fight, she conjures flame to her hand and holds the fire surrounding her fist ready.
Suddenly with a look of realization she looks at the flame. Her other hand pulls the mirror shard from her clothing and she carfully places the flaming hand on the edge, and a part of the flame remains on the piece. She holds up the mirror piece. "I think we can save that torch for now."
Pahleg slows down as narrows his eyes at the barrel.
The suspicious cleric eyes the barrel closely before taking another step. The unnatural cold in the air seems to emit from the barrel. He sees there are small traces of some sort of dust or pollen or powder on the floor right below the barrel. The barrel is not magical but the mysterious coldness is unsettling.
Pahleg gives the barrel an experimental poke with his spear, staying well away.
Ulrich blows out the torch after Elyna combines fire and the shard of mirror.
The barrel is poked. The act of poking leaves a small mark on the barrel.
Ulrich motions for everyone to approach closer to Pahleg.
"This cold barrel- perhaps we could roll it with us. It could be a potent tool against our enemies, if thrown with enough force or blown to pieces..."
The knight attempts to gently push the barrel onto its side.
The barrel is poked. The act of poking leaves a small mark on the barrel.
Pahleg lets the others do further investigation. He's not trying to be selfish, but as the only healer...
Ulrich gently pushes the barrel. As the barrel falls to its side the barrel's lid accidentally opens. The knight is surprised as a sudden eruption of coldness bursts from inside the barrel. Ulrich reflexively moves away from the barrel, still shivering in terrible cold. He notices there are some sort unknown brown mold inside the barrel, likely the cause of the unnatural coldness.
"Wuh'well, it was wuh'worth a truh'try...", Ulrich says, shivering as he backs away from the barrel.
Elyna, keeping the flame on her mirror shard close for warmth approaches the barrel and attempts to put the lid back onto the barrel.
"This must have some use..."
Elyna, with the flaming mirror shard still in hand, approaches the open barrel. As she comes near the barrel, the mold inside it rapidly grows, doubling in size. The mold now has volume of two barrels, and leaks outside the barrel. The fire on the mirror shard extinguishes and Elyna shivers in cold.
Everyone steps away from the barrel that is now overflowing with brown mold. Pahleg channels divine energy, easing the coldness of his comrades.
Alarmed by the ruckus, the skeleton merchant walks to the scene. "What happens? You touch mold I own? Customers say it dangerous. I keep away!" the skeleton says as he looks at the grown brown mold. "I need two barrels now." The skeleton heads back to his chamber, and returns carrying another barrel. He then stuffs the mold into the two barrels. He doesn't seem to mind the cold, possibly due to being a flesh-less undead.
"I need not own two mold. You can take one. But pay for barrel if do!"
Pahleg frowns. "That seems like something you could warn your customers about before they go over to the barrel. I don't think we're interested in buying it."
"We may come back to you on that. For now I'm afraid an entire barrel of mold would be difficult to carry."
Elyna turns to the rest of the group: "The other way then? Let's see the room with the ladder."
Frustrated with the barrel shenanigans, the party decides to continue their way to the room with the ladders. On arriving there, you feel a cold shiver crawling in your spine, as if an unknown malevolent force seeks to invade your anima.
Invaded by shadow spirit Reanimate Liar!
Invaded by shadow spirit Dark Prince Bargoth!
All of a sudden three beings, all wrapped in red shadows, emerge around the group. The first one, who appears behind the group, is a human male in tough-looking armor, wielding an elegant rapier. "We are here to help you! Haw haw haw!" the dueler laughs as he plunges forward.
The second person is a half-elven man in dark robes, carrying a spear of sorts. On top of his head is a golden crown, stained in blood. Finally, a third being emerges, fiercer than the two combined. It is a towering demon whose arms are abnormally long and claws sharp like knives.
---
Liar
then Moritat
then Demon
then everyone else
then Prince
Round 1
The dueler leaps forward and thrusts his rapier at Moritat. The stab pierces her heart, and she falls down. YOU DIED
The demon monster roars and swipes at the party with its long arms. Elyna and Kekkle manage to evade the attack, but Rilian is unable to dodge in time. She is instantly cut in half, shred by the demon's sharp claws. YOU DIED
"WHAT?!"
Ulrich unsheathes his blade, working his way around to the Prince's flank.
Longsword vs. Prince:
"NOOOOO!" Pahleg roars as his allies fall. With a fierce expression he passes a hand over his spear, causing it to flare with the power of the sun.
"Vile boogey!" spits Kekkle as he faces down the demon. Normally the cowardly scarecrow would be more apt to run off, but instead he takes the hat from his head and waves it in a wide arc, causing a wide spread of multi-hued embers to wash over the creature.
Elyna instinctually backs away from the demon: "You'll burn for that!"
A flame flickers to life in her left hand as she brings it back and then leaps off her palm as she thrusts the hand toward the robed half-elf.
Demon 18
Ushio 15
Elyna 12
Kekkle 10
Goramar 8+
Ulrich 8-
Pahleg 7
Prince 5
Round 1
Ushio stabs the red shadowy figure in front of him with his dagger , but the dueler effortlessly parries the attack.
Elyna fires a blast of flame at the crown-carrying shadow, but the shot is poorly aimed and misses.
Kekkle waves his hat in a wide arc, causing a multi-colored blaze to envelop the demon. The demon growls in agony and covers its eyes with its massive arms, then falling unconscious to the ground, colorful embers still lingering around its horned head.
Goramar steps forward at the dark royalty, studies his target , and then thrusts his rapier at the princes throat. The attack does not connect, but the enemy becomes clearly frightened.
Ulrich, following Goramar, rushes at the enemy. The crown-carrying figure sees and opportunity to attack with his spear , but panics and lets the moment slip. Ulrich on the other hand abuses his enemy's uncertainty and slashes him with all his might. The prince's body shakes from the attack.
Pahleg cries for his defeated companions and fiercely enchants his spear to glow in brilliant light.
The crown-carrying shadow yells "Liar! Those bastards cheated and Amon is done for! Help me!" while taking a step backwards. In that moment you see the demon starting to vanish, blinking out in a flash.
You see that the corpses of Rilian and Moritat begin to slowly fade.
Round 2
The shadow figure called "Liar" scoffs while taking a stab at Ushio. "I'm sure you can hold your own, prince!" His rapier pierces Ushio side, causing him to fall unconscious.
Ulrich laughs bitterly.
"Cheated?! You chose this battle, petulant fool!", he mocks as he chops at the "Prince" with his sword.
Longsword vs. Prince:
Frustrated with the first blast going wide Elyna forms another ball of flame between her hands and sends it toward the crowned figure.
With rage in his eyes, Pahleg moves south and stabs fiercely at the liar, weapon burning with divine fire.