Angmar's redhaead grows even redder at the stupidity of all this.
To work with professionals only once!
He does not let go of Apollo's arm and insists.
Ye ain't goin in there first without a torch and blind as a mouse lad!
The Dwarf steps ahead his dwarven darkvisoon and keen senses guiding his way. As he is one step down the stairs he shouts.
Kori! Dimtri! We're down here!
Hearing the dwarf, Dmitri, at first, pays him no mind. His duty was to Koritylija at the moment, of course, and they were engrossed in conversation for once, which was quite enjoyable. If anything, Dmitri was a little upset about the interruption.
Then, all at once, he had a bit of a thought. My weapon is broken and i'm not currently suitable as a guard.
His eyes stopped, for a moment, to look down and to his left. Getting as close as he could without being invasive, he whispers; "Though I'm extremely happy to have this conversation, dearest Koritylija, I do believe we should descend with them, if only to share in the spoils that are likely down there... These doors have only had spiders and useless bowls, but I will follow you with your decision all the same."
The western door in the room opens to a 30-by-30 mess hall. The room contains three very long wooden tables that have mostly rotted away, and dozens of chairs in a similar shape. The room is devoid of creatures, but a few fairly large holes in the ceiling show that evening is quickly ending, and illuminate an open doorway (back into the hallway with the Sarenrae statue) on the northwestern corner.
The stairs lead down into a stone undercrypt. Angmar, with his darkvision, sees easily, but Apollo must bring a light source or be blinded.
The walls, floor, and ceiling of the staircase are caked with mold, but the most ends close to the bottom of the staircase. Stains on the floor show that the mold was once elsewhere, but it appears to have moved.
The room at the bottom of the stairs seems to be an enormous laboratory. Against the north and south walls are two identical daises raised several feet from the floor, accessible by curved rampways. A wide workbench sits on each dais, and each workbench is covered in a dazzling array of mostly-intact alchemical tools. A massive mold-encrusted basalt table dominates the center of the room, and while it seems clear that the room was carved from natural rock, the floor is tiled with moldy porcelain interrupted occasionally by large metal drains. Two tables to the east and west of the center table lie heaped with paperwork and more alchemical items. A hallway to the north leads to more undercrypt-area.
Angmar examines the scene wondering where all this mold has come from. He then turns to Apollo pointing to a socket in the wall where the human could place his torch.
See how much use ye are down here with yer eyes an your big hammer? You got's to learn a thing or two boy and the first is thinkin first then actin! Bout I ain't likin this place one bit. Why don't che go fetch those two wierdos up there.
As Pain-lover begins to preach on all he knows of the gods, Kori seems to barely pay any attention. She is caught unawares when he mentions that he knows of the drow gods, and lists them. For the first time since their meeting, Pain-lover has Kori's undivided attention. She waits until he is done listing them before telling, not asking, him "You'll tell me more of these gods when we're not hunting enemies."
Finding the last room lacking, she turns back toward the stairs below where Short-legs and Lizard-friend went. With them having already descended, she turns around and returns to the others. All she gives Pain-lover is a "Whatever" when he expresses his opinion on the matter. She needs to actively ignore him for a while. She was caught off-guard by his knowledge and she didn't mean to give him attention.
Successful, Dmitri turns to follow, looking down into the room. A bit appalled by the mold, he tightens the grip on his scythe.
He was in a bit of a haze, though, as he was hiding his happiness at the time he'd most likely spend with Koritylija explaining the various demon lords to her. It was interesting that she didn't already know about them. She'd immediately given him the cold shoulder afterward though, but he'd seen that act enough times to understand.
The mold seemed rather unnatural, and while Dmitri possessed no knowledge of it's natural growth, it still seemed a bit odd that there was just so much mold.
"We've returned." is all Dmitri says as he starts to go down the hallway. He wasn't exactly sorry, but, they could just as easily have followed them instead.
Apollo was a bit of an Enigma to Dmitri. While he himself was one to take great satisfaction in the loss of bodily fluids, he was still, out of combat, safe about it. Over-exertion was preached against in favor of more later. This rule, of course, didn't apply to bloodless debauchery, but, Apollo was as pale as the walls were dark.
Dmitri had nothing along the lines of a "Goal" really, save for his pilgrimage. He was certainly embracing his teachings, but the lack of a fine weapon was... irritating, to say the least. As he decended into the dark stairs, he uttered a small prayer.
"Marfest Lilith, I iskinsa mes, teri si mra sarugut bo raks lique moos, da krat I aym pleasi mra..."
As usual, Dmitri's dialect was enough to make a man's skin crawl if he understood what kind of language it was.
With their companions arrived Angmar makes his way into the laboratory and rummages through.
I'll be dammned if we can't find sometin of value in an old laboratory.
Well Angmar, my Dwarven friend. I can hear you, but I cannot see you. Anyone got a light? I don't even think Nom can see in the dark, andddd I can't actually see the little guy anywhere.
Speaking ever so slightly louder than a whisper, Apollo starts calling out to his friend before he feels something Nom height bump into the back of his legs.
Ah, there you are. Stick by me, buddy. I can see little more than my hand in front of my face down here.
The little lizard just chirps, not really understanding anything Apollo had to say.
So none o ye blind fools brought along a torch? Angmar inquires dumbfounded, once again suprised by the lack of professionalism among the ranks.
Well Kori why don't ye come down here and help me search this place while our two friends learn how to tie a piece of cloth around a stick and soak it in alcohol ey?
Kori scoffs, "I'll search when I damn well feel like it. Why doesn't your god make light for them? We can't go through this place waiting for them to stop and make crude light all the time. I'll do it just this once, and they can make lights during or after. But be quick, it doesn't last long." with that she produces some arcane gestures, while saying a few words, as four softly glowing torchlights appear and float within decent proximity to one another.
Angmar eyes the Drow quizzically.
Why in the world should Angrodd know how to make light if all 'is followers can see in the dark perfectly well?
Then as an afterthought he adds:
In any case I have no such power...
Walking quietly down the stairs, brushing his hand against the wall, Dmitri's rather taken aback by the light display, but doesn't feel the need to mention it.
As he descends the stairs, he remembers some rather vivid things about dungeons, at least, real ones, anyway. This was something like a workroom, really, but, the stones were the same. Taking his hand off the wall, he rubbed 2 fingers together to remove a bit of the dust.
Dmitri was a little upset with his current situation. He was no longer upset with the lack of blood being spilled, as he could turn his thoughts on Kori, but, there was still so much to actually be frustrated. His holy symbol, his scythe, was on the verge of breaking. He'd been unable to gloriously wound as many things as he'd originally wished to.
The twinge of blasphemy was there, and he didn't like it. Before this was over, he was going to assuredly massacre something, or at the least, be wounded.
Looking over at the place where the mold used to be, Dmitri couldn't imagine why it'd been like that. That door had apparently been shut for a long time.
The light flashes up from Kori's spell-like, and the room is illuminated for a few moments. Angmar has no trouble searching, but it's because of this light that everyone else can see.
Angmar's searching reveals a few things. The alchemical equipment in this area appears to be mostly intact, and of fairly good quality. The intact portions could be worth something. The second is that there are pipes and drains EVERYWHERE in this laboratory. In the ceiling, in the floor, by the walls, they're everywhere. The third is that some of the alchemical equipment, the ones in the northern dais, contains a curious substance - something that looks like plant matter, except nearly-liquefied and very slightly trembling.
Other than that, there is no portable-looking treasure in this room. There is a door that leads farther into the underground section of the monastery.
Dmitri notes that the mold is very, very slowly moving up the staircase and towards the door. The movement is so incredibly slow, but it's still there.
Looking down, Dmitri's brow furrows a bit. Moving mold? Strange, but, he'd seen stranger things in the brothel he'd been raised in. He knelt down, curious more than anything, the idea of oozes was certainly in his head, but, they would have mindlessly attacked him.
Reaching down, he pondered the idea of grabbing it, but... he figured if it was alive, what better way to find out?...
Slamming his scythe on the floor and dragging it across, he was curious as to what happened when he separated some of it, not really worrying about what his allies thought.
Dmitri's scythe drags through the mold quite easily, and incites no reaction from the mold. It continues to creep ever so slowly towards the door, sliced as it is.
The room echoes for a moment with the sound of Dmitri's scythe *snick*-ing the floor, and then is silent for another moment.
There is a gushing sound from one of the drainpipes above, and the alchemical devices nearby Angmar begin to crack. A mass of liquid plant matter emerges from each as one ooze drops out of the pipes above Dmitri and the other smashes out of the glasses and moves towards Angmar. The oozes look like sloppy, near liquified plant matter festooned with tiny mushrooms and patches of sickly green and mustard-hued mold. They each attempt to engulf their chosen victims, but Angmar is able to push his ooze off. Dmitri, however, is not so lucky as the ooze wraps itself around his body.
By Torag's beard! curses Angmar as he takes a step back from the odd plant thing evolving before him. As the glibbering mass lashes out Angmar steps aside swiftly and draws his axe biding Angrodd to grant him the strength nedded to cut down this foe.
Activate judgement for +1 to hit. Attack damage
Dmitri's eyes can't do much except widen for a moment, really. The ooze, all of this, was strange. The ooze constricting him wasn't the strangest thing either as... images, rolled through his mind. What had he seen? What was all that? Barring that question for now, the taste of this thing had been just a tad revolting, and it would certainly learn it's place soon.
Mould....that moves? Well, I guess we are in a strange lab of some kind. Haha! The one over there looks like jelly! says the man, as he charges towards the one by Dmitri .
Kori- 17
Angmar- 9
Dmitri- 7
Apollo- 3
The slime wrapped around Dmitri constricts him tightly, making squelching noises as it pulls itself into a tighter ball. The other slime, in front of Angmar, lashes out with a tendril of plant matter, but hits nothing except air. Barely even that, actually. Angmar retaliates with a powerful greataxe blow, slicing so deeply and effectively into the thing that it immediately falls still. Dmitri throws the constricting ooze off of himself onto the ground, and Apollo charges at it, but he is so eager to strike that the blow is short of the creature, and smashes into the ground.
Along with the fury that is battlefield thought processes, a few snatches of other things fly through your head. The most noticeable one, 'Tempest...underneath the courtyard...must gather it.' replays multiple times.
This is by no means a compulsion, merely a thought that you notice in your head.
Kori watches the scene in confusion. First she wonders why they are striking at the pervasive mold and slime about the chamber. Then she realizes that it was not just on them, but attacking them. She decides to try and cut off the stuff clinging to Dmitri, but she doesn't even know where to start. How does she hack at a pool of plant matter, and ends up just waving her blade somewhat menacingly at it, her brows furrowed in confusion.
Dmitri hadn't noticed the ooze that had also fallen on Angmar, mostly because he'd been surrounded in plant matter of his own. These mental flashes, the ooze suddenly ceasing to move as he threw it off. So much was happening, and he was more than just a little confused.
The list of things that he'd been through in the last couple of minutes, starting from the beginning, was certainly starting agitate him. Fumbling over himself like some kind of moron was bad enough, but the lack of blood he'd shed was certainly one of the worse points.
Placing a hand on his forehead, he looked to the ceiling, not sure about what to think, really. The thoughts were rather clear, and yet, not his own.
Figuring it best to act on the fact of that later, he decided to simply see how vivid the thoughts would get. But... Tempest?... What is Tempest?
Missing the jelly like mould, Apollo lifts his hammer out of the now uneven ground, spins it around his head and smashes it down on top of the creature that's currently in front of and grappling Dmitri.
Angmar turns and sees another mold creature next to Dmitri. He has his axe in both hands and attempts to hack the next one to pieces as well.
Attack Damage
Initiative:
Slimes- 18
Kori- 17
Angmar- 9
Dmitri- 7
Apollo- 3
The remaining slime lashes out with a tendril of plant matter, ramming into Dmitri's breastplate with a *clink*, harmlessly. Kori swings her sword at it, but it too distracted to notice her footing is off and stumbles as she swings. Angmar makes it across the room to deliver a solid slice to the thing, but its Apollo's earthbreaker blow that silences the ooze-creature.
With his devastating swing ending the encounter, Apollo glances around the room briefly, before directing conversation to the group he travels with.
More creatures that died without posing a challenge...What else do you suppose this place hides from us?
It appears that the man, regardless of his weakened state from his earlier encounter with the oversized bloodsuckers, doesn't appear phased in the slightest by his injuries and seems rather eager to find a worthy opponent.
Well I'd say let's search this here lab a bit more for valuables!" then I'd follow that tunnel. Looks rather promising to me. But don't you go running off on yer own again boy!
Dmitri still stands where he'd originally been, a hand upon his forehead. The thoughts were certainly not his own and he'd taken such interest in them that he lost any care for the combat he'd just been in. The sounds around him had stopped, so he assumed it was done and over.
Snapping back to reality, he looked around rather quickly, firstly at Kori, worried she may have been attacked. She seemed entirely fine, if a little frustrated. Dmitri spat into the nearby corner, hoping to remove the taste of fungus from his mouth, as well as dusting any plant matter on himself off.
"Dreadful things..." he said, still a little spaced out. Tempest? Courtyard? Did we even see a courtyard? Curious...
He opted to speak out about it, but then immediately ceased any attempts to, preferring to investigate it on his own time.
Kori briefly has a look around, unsure why they just fought mold and slime. "You two better make light somehow, or you'll be useless when mine runs out." Maybe she can find a lantern or torch amongst all the weird things all over the room.
Nothing of any particular interest can be found here, aside from that which already was.
As for a torch, it's fairly easy to fashion one, although the requisite sticks and cloth aren't present here.
The thoughts continue, and the presence in your mind is almost BOTHERED by the fact that Tempest isn't in your grasp.
Shrugging at the statement, Dmitri figured she was right. Producing a torch via his pack at the small of his back, lighting it and raising it in the air.
Rather frustrated by the thoughts, Dmitri staves them off, shaking his head. Dammit... Walking up to the door no one's opened since they've been here, and 100% sure that nothing of importance is in the room, he opens it quickly, and widely, though makes certain that it doesn't produce much noise by hitting the wall.
Looking into whatever shows, Dmitri holds his torch to light it up.
Angmar continues further into the dark together with Mitri keeping his eyes and ears open for any dangers or treasures.
The easternmost basalt table holds a few sheaves of very interesting paperwork - recipes for restorative ointment and marvelous pigments. A person with these could easily craft the items, and the papers would be very worthwhile to a magic item crafter.
The stone door opens to the monastery's undercrypt. This area is a section of ten foot wide and high stone tunnels that crisscross underneath the monastery. The main hallway runs about 120 feet to a stairwell (not that you can quite see that far from the entrance), with two hallways intersecting it at regular intervals. The hallways each contain several crypts, places for the honored dead of Sarenrae's faithful.
The undercrypt, is, however, subject to a fairly disturbing sight. Not only was it the site of an apparently great battle in antiquity, but most of the tombs here have been looted. Dozens of skeletons, their bones broken and nicked by hammers and swords, and clothed in the faded orange of Sarenrae's faithful, lie scattered about the chambers, many of them with their scimitars and maces still in hand. Still more dozens of bone sets, clad in rotting commoner's clothing and carrying improvised weapons and daggers and swords, lie entwined with the dead clerics.
Many of the crypts in this area have been broken open, the valuables within stolen, and the remains defiled.
Apollo inspects the bodies as he follows Dmitri up the corridor, using Pain-Lover's light to look for any traps, treasures or dangers that may be close by.
Speaking softly, he tells Nom to stay at the back, but to remain close to the group at all times. The dinosaur probably doesn't understand a word he says, but follows him regardless.
Looking at the rather grim spectacle, Dmitri took a notable deep breathe, rather enjoying the spectacle of dead, ravenous carnage. Obviously it had been done in the past, that was pretty obvious. The key thing, however, was a guilty pleasure that Dmitri very rarely got to partake in, which was one of Lilith's greatest displays of obedience and worship; Carnage in a holy place.
Dmitri, up till this point, has been under the thumb, rather happily, of Koritylija. Despite her wishes of course, she's taken plenty of attention for this and even been given some lovely time to shine, which was something Dmitri was all too proud of. That being said, Dmitri hadn't had any chances to truly savor his love of carnage, but this was certainly something he could enjoy.
That being said, the spectacle was strange. Sarenrae enjoyed the idea of... Atonement a word he shuddered to speak from a good perspective. If an enemy could be made friendly, her worshipers would attempt it unless they blatantly wanted murder and defilement. This was not the typical Sarenrae scene, to say the least.
For whatever reason that he couldn't currently fathom, a truly magnificent battle had taken place here; despite sarenrae's teachings preaching against it.
"Strange..." was the only word Dmitri could mutter softly to himself at the sight of it, as he had knelt down near one of the dead bodies. He eyed a dagger and scimitar rather intensely, unsure if they were still in proper condition. Not really worried about it, he placed his scythe on his back and grabbed both from the bodies, hoping they were intact and available for use.
Lingering thoughts of the fact that he'd not searched the courtyard started to bother him. Was it his thoughts that bothered him, or this... things?
At the sight of such a mess, Apollo takes note of the weapons spread out across the hallways, looking for anything particularly useful to him.
Any armour, or items of worth? Hmm....guess I'll keep looking.
Angmar looks at the ancinet carnage that seemed to have gone on here previously. He slowly moves through the halls and meticulously inspects everything and tries to see whether there is any old equipment here worth keeping.
Kori looks around casually as they move throughout the chamber, caring not for the dead or what state they are in. Only decent weapons, armor or anything of value really catches her attentions.
The hallway is silent and empty, but for the noises the group makes as they step their way around the hallways. Dozens and dozens of bodies lie down here, and by the age of the skeletons, it seems likely that any battle that took place here was many years ago.
Picking through the bodies for loot, many rusted and broken weapons are found, in fact most of the weapons are ruined. Most are lodged in one body or another, additionally.
At the end of the far left-hand hallway, Dmitri nearly stumbles on a skeleton wearing heavy armor and a heavy shield, apparently a more militant cleric wearing the livery of a Sarenraen. The dead man carries a +1 mace. It glows softly with magic power from its steel and pointed faces.
At the end of the far right-hand hallway, Kori, rooting through piles of crushed bones, finds a finely curved steel blade in the torso of a man obviously not of the monastic community. The blade is a +1 scimitar and the impaled man wears yellowing masterwork leather armor.
Angmar, looking carefully around the bodies, finds a very nice teak box in the pocket of an enrobed Sarenraen. The teak box contains a silver holy symbol of Sarenrae, (a tiny angel suspended on a silver string) and a single mint-colored and scented candle of truth.
The stairwell leading upward is revealed at the end of the main thoroughfare.
Holding the newly acquired Mace in hand, he remembered his patron's dislike of blunt force... It wasn't really that elegant. For just a moment, a sharp pain went through his right shoulder, and his thoughts turned to the lovely Koritylija. Maybe she would prefer this?
Walking back up to the stairwell, a spot he assumed the others would most likely gather, he awaited on Koritylija to come into visual range, rather eager to give a gift to his new interest.
Might you be interested in a wonderfully crafted mace?" He said, showing off the weapon. It was rather wonderful, really, but alas, it didn't suit his tastes. "I'll of course stick to my weapon of choice, but, I believe you'd enjoy this more than I, no?" His grin was coy, rather pleased with himself.
Kori just shrugs and shows the others the weapon she found, "I don't really care. I like the blade I already got, these ring things add a sweet punch. I mean, Hells, I'll carry as many weapons as I can if you guys are just going to give them up." She looks them all over with what looks like equal disinterest, as if she can't really spot the difference between finely crafted and standard weapons.
Well, there's nothing for me here and I don't wish to disturb the dead any longer, so let's leave this hallway of death.
Apollo walks up the stairwell and past Dmitri, as Nom skips behind.
Dmitri laughs a small laugh at Kori's attention to detail, but, as with basically any trait a woman could have, he enjoyed it. Dmitri didn't primarily enjoy the idea of using a bludgeoning weapon, really, but on the other hand his scythe had been damaged. Considering that, he decided to keep it tied to his hip, as well as finding 2 sickles among the dead. Farmer's always did have so many wonderful on-hand tools... He tied them to both sides of his belt and they crossed behind him.
Following Apollo into the dark stairwell, Dmitri had wondered back to the idea of gaining this... Tempest. He had no idea what it was, or anything. Only that it was buried in the courtyard, and even that was odd. They weren't his memories but they were vivid. Vivid or not, however, they could be staved off and worried about after their job was done.
As they reached the bottom of the stairwell, Dmitri began to peruse his new surroundings.
Kori's eager to go up as well, all the rooting amongst the dead and their dropped goods being a boring task after all. She follows Lizard-friend up the stairs. "So do these just go back to the place we just were above? If that's what is here, then it feels like we're done here."