Royst finishes his glass, and thank you for the informations.
I'll send the scroll to the tavern later, to use as you wish. I wish you good luck on your future explorations, and I hope to see you again. Well, that was maybe a tad somber. Let's try to amend.
he calls on the halfling servant
Will you please offer these people a round of drinks, and put it on my bill, Bill?
sure!
Royst salutes you, and gets out of the tavern
Warren looks to his new companions, "Do you have another copy of that map so I can see where you have been already? Will we enter the Spire again tomorrow then?"
Dav smiled and nodded.
"Of course. You are quite skilled and I doubt without you, we wouldn't have lasted this long. So it is good we have you with us Joza," he whispered back to her.
"I try...I've not been in a position to lead anyone before, though," she whispers back.
I hope I'm up to the challenge...assuming the others feel the same as Davlamin.
As Royst calls for a round of drinks for them, she bows her head in thanks. "Thank you. I look forward to our next meeting," she smiles as she takes a sip. "As far as the map goes, I think Davlamin has been keeping spare notes of what we've been finding," she says to Warren. "And yes, we may as well get back to it as quickly as we can - unless you or anyone else has anything else to see to tomorrow?"
Voyla smiles, wink at Joza, and nods her head.
"I am excited for my first foray into the spire and see no need to delay either. Shall we gather here in the morning?"
Rahiv smiles at the idea and when the halfling came around he gave her a polite bow before taking the cup and first offering some to the cat. Once the cat had taken a small gleaning from the cup he proceeded to drink the rest himself. "It was a wise idea to seek such a scroll Davlamin, I now of the spell myself. If the situation were to arise I too will be able to make use of it if needed. But I digress from what we all were agreeing to...rest, yes? I good soft bed will do everyone a bit of good before we head out in the morning."
"Meeting down here in the morning sounds like a plan to me," Joza agrees. "We've stayed here before; they have nice rooms and good food. A little break from sleeping on stone floors or under the stars is always a welcome thing," she chuckles.
Voyla chuckles.
"Quite so!"
"Sleepover night?!!!! Yaaaay!!! Count me and Katie in!!"
After her day at the Spire, Zinli didn't even seem tired... Where was she finding all that energy?
After a good night sleep and a serious breakfast, the group gets back to the Spire, going early so they could reach the Spire before the end of the day.
The Echo woods are quiet, and nothing attacks you while you travel.
After a few hours trek, you see the massive needle of the Spire, reaching it in mid afternoon.
You can only hope no new foe has took advantage of the goblins defeat..
"A sleepover? Why my dear Zinli, that might not be a good idea. Because I might decide to crash it...by crashing through the window...um...I'll probably tell all of you a lovely story of a similar incident...eventually..."
Dav blushed as he remembered that incident.
The next day...
Dav was ready to get back into exploring the Spire.
"Well, ladies, how did your sleepover go? It must have gone well, since I didn't crash through the window, crashing your party," the half-elf said, smiling.
Warren whistles as the spire comes into view. "I haven't been here before. It certainly doesn't fit in, in these surroundings. Which way to the entrance?"
Zinli giggled.
"Oh? You had some problems with a girls's dormitory, Dav? Saw some panties you shouldn't have? Well, our sleepover went fine! We had a pillow fight, talked about our exes, put Katie in Voyla's nightie... You should have seen her face!"
The gnome seemed to ponder at Warren's suggestion:
"Well, we could always dig a tunnel. Climb it with our little hands and feet. Ask the Great Eagles of the Cupcake Mount politely. Or... Just walk through the front door," she added jokingly, pointing at the entrance. "Before we go down, however, how 'bout a little owner's tour, just to check if nothing worse than goblins made it to the ground floor?"
"It was...strange, but amusing," Joza agrees. "Some sort of bonding ritual among women, that much I figured out quickly!" She glances down at her hands. "I'm afraid that claws and pillows are not a good mix though."
As they finally approach the Spire yet again, the catfolk nods in agreement with Zinli. "Yes, we should make sure there's nothing new that might creep up behind us after we head down to the second level."
Voyla helps Joza looks around.
The first level of the Spire is devoid of opponents, new or old. No one seems to have come since you left.
But what awaits you deeper?
Do yu feel ready to go downstairs, and face the threats and misteries of the Emerald Spire?
"I'll take the lead as we head down. Who wants to take the rear?", Warren says as he checks his gear and makes sure every is in place.
"I should probably fall back to the back," Joza offers. "I've got my bow and I can hold my own up close as well. Voyla is a good scout; let her help you lead while Zinli, Dav, and Rahiv stay towards the middle."
Rahiv smiles as they come up ahead and find themselves talking about who goes first and the like. "Do you prefer light or should we rely on our senses? I honestly am rather ill fitting as a combatant but I do know how to work the mysteries of the divine a bit. I am reasonably good at healing though the last time was rather taxing. "
The steep stair descends through solid bedrock for fifty feet before ending in a stone-lined room.
A large stone door stands directly south of the stair, a small alcove lies to the east, and another door to the southeast is slightly ajar.
An extinguished torch rests on the floor of the alcove.
You are tense. What will you encounter here? Traps? Monsters? Enigmas? All of this, probably, and you can only hope there will be some treasure to pay for all theses risks.
Well I wish I could have seen what had happened," Dav said with a wink at Joza.
"I'll stay near the back as well as that way I can use my magic to easily take down our opponents."
The Sorcerer gets line next to Joza as he begins to use his elven scenes to scan the area.
Zinli kept all her senses alert, trying to hear any unusual noises.
Voyla examines the torch, to see if she can deduce when it was used.
After that she will try and detect traps large stone door.
Warren stays as quiet as he can and lets Voyla check the room as he keeps his eyes peel for any threats.
The torch can still be usable, but it won't be long before it's totally burned.
The walls are covered with a kind of greenish-white iridescent moss that gives up some light.
"Here! There is a sacred door here! Let me see if I can open it."
She examines the secret door for traps.
As Voyla's words drift back to the rest of the party, Joza smiles.
I'm sorry that we had to leave Pekoe behind, but I'm thankful we found Voyla. She will be a big help in here!
Voyla finds no traps on the secret door. In fact, she's surprised to find that it's not even locked, only a bit heavy to push.
She opens the door...
A curving wall of glowing green crystal bulges out into this
chamber from one corner.
A stout wooden table stands along the wall opposite it. On the table lie three rotting human corpses and the remnants of a big spider.
One of the human corpses has had all of its extremities severed, and its torso has been opened to reveal the internal organs. Another dismembered corpse has spider legs sewn onto the stumps in place of the removed limbs, all of which are neatly arranged near the rest of the big spider.
A bucket full of reeking, old blood sits on the floor under the table, and needles with lengths of silken thread attached are stuck in a hand-sized block of bloodstained wax atop the table.
Voyla steps into the room, and suddenly freezes, alert to something, and then raises her hand asking, silently, for the others to stop. She points to one of the mutilated bodies at the table.
She draws her bow.
Gross.
Zinli opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when Voyla asked for silence. Was something... Moving?
More undead?
She raised her loaded pistol a little, squinting to see in the darkness.
Warren starts following Voyla and freezes as she puts her hand up. He looks closely into the room to see what set her off.
Dav is puzzled at what caused Voyla to stop.
He moved up behind Warren, Zinli, and Voyla.
"Oh my..." he thought as he saw the room peering over the others' shoulders.
Bringing up the rear, Joza peers into the room and immediately feels the fur on the back of her neck stand on end. "A butchery," she hisses. "Who or what would do this?"
She tells the others, with a clear voice, not taking her eyes out of the bodies.
"One of the bodies is twitching. And there is a trap in the middle of the room. I will try to disarm it, please cover me in case the bodies rise."
She will store the bow, get her Thieves' Tools out and move to disarm the trap.
A cage falls on Voyla, hitting her on the left shoulder before she can react
Voyla shows a sad smile while massaging her shoulder.
"I guess I disarmed it, right? How does one get out of here?"
Warren gasps as the cage falls down, "Maybe we can lift it but I'm worried about the other bodies in here interfering."
Joza jumps with surprise as the cage comes crashing down around Voyla. "There has to be a way to disarm it or reset it, right?" she asks the trapped woman. "Surely we're not the first to wander down here."
She eyes the bodies suspiciously. "I'm ready to put an arrow in any of them if they move. Let's see if we can get her free."
Rahiv looked about as he heard the clang of the trap and jumped in surprise. He had been a little absent-minded, not found of combat so he was more busy looking at their surroundings then for enemies.
He stepped his way in carefully into the room trying to get a better grasp of the situation.
Inside the cage, trapped with Voyla, there is a skeleton! But the quick girl acts before her bony foe
"Help!"
Voyla gets her weapons out, and attacks with her Rapier, fighting defensively.