Dregg locks eyes with the remaining spellcaster as she casts her spell. He slowly turns his head to regard his axe, then turns back to her.
A slow grin breaks across the half-orc’s scarred face, ”Who? Him?” He hooks his thumb at the troglodyte that bit him, ”You want me to drop him?” He works his jaw back and forth for a moment as if considering the request then nods once. ”Yeah, ok. Sure.”
HP: 15/29 // Temp: 0/6
AC: 14 (10 T / 12 FF)
CMD: 18
F/R/W: +6/+4/+2
Rage rounds used: 5/7
Spell slots used
Level 1: 1/1
-Ongoing Effects-
Focus: +2 Str
Rage: +2 to hit, +2 damage, +2 Will, -2 AC, +2 temp HP
Accurate stance: +1 to hit
Mage Armor: +4 armor
Sickened (5/10): -2 to hit, -2 damage, -2 to saves, skills, ability checks
Lead blades (4/10)
Power attack: -1/+3
Aramis pulls out one of her healing potions and passes it to Isabella.
Isabella: 14
Arryn: 9
Dregg: 7
Aramis: 16
Antagonist: 15
Isabella, having managed to barely keep on her feet, sheathes her sword and picks up her crossbow as Aramis hands her another potion.
In the room, the troglodyte guard sidesteps Dregg's attempt to end him in a single blow, ducking under a storm of rocks from Arryn at the same time. The guard, apparently motivated by the dire circumstances, bites and claws Dregg again .
The spellcaster puts a little more space between herself and the half-orc, but then turns to Arryn and jabbers in a strange language before throwing a small stone at him. He can feel it as it hits with surprising power, but his armor seems to take the brunt of it.
Red: 4
”That’s cute. You threw a little stone. Now my turn.”
Arryn mines picking up a head-sized rock, then mines throwing it at the spellcaster.
Aramis moves deeper into the room and casts out her hands at the red troglodyte. A tangled mass of vines grows from her and wraps around the legs of the red troglodyte. With a flick of her wrists the vines tighten and yank, trying to pull the red troglodyte to the ground.
Dregg grins at the troglodyte before him, ”Heh. I told you you’d be front of the line soon.” Then, with one quick swing, he separates his foe’s head from his neck.
Looking at the last remaining troglodyte, the half-orc then stalks toward it. ”Alright, buttercup. Your turn again. Heh heh.”
HP: 9/29 // Temp: 0/6
AC: 14 (10 T / 12 FF)
CMD: 18
F/R/W: +6/+4/+2
Rage rounds used: 6/7
Spell slots used
Level 1: 1/1
-Ongoing Effects-
Focus: +2 Str
Rage: +2 to hit, +2 damage, +2 Will, -2 AC, +2 temp HP
Accurate stance: +1 to hit
Mage Armor: +4 armor
Sickened (6/10): -2 to hit, -2 damage, -2 to saves, skills, ability checks
Lead blades (5/10)
Power attack: -1/+3
Isabella wrenches herself loose of the rubble and takes a step beyond, coming to a rest next to Aramis, where she takes aim at the trog spellcaster if it is still alive -- or at the last trog fighter if it's not.
Isabella: 14
Arryn: 9
Dregg: 7
Aramis: 16
Antagonist: 15
The stones seem to melt away as Isabella fires at the troglodyte spellcaster, barely nicking her.
Dregg has more luck, slaying the last guard and moving toward the spellcaster, who Aramis trips to the ground. That makes for an easy shot for Arryn, who blasts her with rock -- only to have her do the same to Dregg, an explosion of rocky shards spraying in a 10-foot radius around her!
Dregg, barely on his feet, finishes off the last of the troglodytes with one more blow, ending the fight.
Since Isabella didn't take the potion from her, Aramis sticks it back in her belt pouch. "Might as well save it for another time. We should see if Aubrin can heal us again before we move on."
When the last of the troglodytes stops moving, Dregg leaves his axe in her and bends over, resting his forearms on his knees. Huffing, he grunts in agreement, ”Yeah. Sounds good, Red.” After a minute or so of catching his breath and binding some of his wounds, he steadies himself and tears the axe free again. As the group readies to head back, he grouses, ”I’m about sick of those stink-mouths.”
Arryn takes a moment binding the wounds of both Dregg and Isabella with non-inexpert hands.
”Is there more of this complex left to see?”
There is a door to the east, all the more noticeable due its otherworldly appearing in the largely stone chamber. Made of polished, blue steel, it is decorated with a ring of pictograms, and at the center is a depiction of an unusual head with bulging eyes and wisps of hair radiating in every direction. The head—which looks at once like an insect and an old woman— spins freely, and the wheel of pictograms depicts a beetle, a rock, a wedge, a hammer, a crying face, a flame, a claw, a door, a metal bar, a figure standing in triumph, and a bottle.
You recognize a few of the pictograms also appeared in the carvings in one of the chambers a few ways back.
As they make their way back topside for healing, Arryn points at some carvings. ”Those symbols look like some of the ones on that weird door.”
"That's nice. Let's leave it well alone until after we're patched up," Isabella suggests. "Who's for a meal and a very large drink?"
Aubrin again heals you.
"Are you sure these caves will be safe? I don't think I can heal you anymore today and ... well, this is twice now you've needed to come back..." she asks.
The other refugees gather around, similarly concerned looks on their faces.
Arryn smiles in what he hopes is a reassuring manner. ”We’re almost done down there. We just ran into an enclave of trogs that we had to root out. This cave system is too perfect a shelter for us to lose, and may make the difference between survival or not this winter. We’re becoming sharper as a team, also. Those trog spellcasters would have wiped us out even a few days ago.”
Aubrin nods, relieved you seem to have things well in hand.
Returning to the room where the sharp-eyed Arryn noticed the symbols, you try to make heads or tails of them, but they seem to be in a language none of you speaks.
It looks like it might be difficult to suss out but after a few minutes Aramis thinks she's got it: “grandmother, in seeking the Excavator, turned her eyes to the Stone, and to the Steel, and finally to Woe.”
”So if we do something to stone, steel, and woe in that order on the door, it may open.”
Aramis approaches the door and reaches out to grasp the spinning dial depicting the old woman. She spins the dial around to the rock, then pauses and spins it around to the metal bar, and finally to the crying face.
Then she waits to see if it worked...
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The door swings open, revealing one final chamber. A three-stepped riser fills most of the room, atop which lies a stone sarcophagus depicting a vaguely insectoid creature similar to the ones depicted in statuary in a couple of the other rooms.
Within the coffin lie the partially crystallized remains of an ancient, four-armed, insectoid creature. Four lidless stone coffers placed around the dais contain 115 cp, 730 sp, 335 gp, 10 pp, 14 amethysts (worth 25 gp each), nine aquamarines (worth 30 gp each), a +1 buckler, two steadfast gutstones, and a belt made of interlocking jade plates.
More importantly, it appears you've completely cleaned out these caverns and now have a place you can all stay for the moment!
"Hunh," Isabella grunts as she looks at the dead … creature. "So. Anyone knows whether a … this … was particularly tetchy about having its grave cleaned out, or is it safe for us to clear out the joint and seal the door back up?"
”Well, if we’re thinking tactically, we load this room up with emergency supplies for the villagers, erase any hint of how to crack the code from outside, and use this room as a last ditch safe room should the hobbies attack our people while we’re away.”
The sarcophagus weighs around 200 pounds.
"If only I could float it out of here, whether the dead dude is tetchy or not wouldn't matter."
Arryn reaches idly towards the sarcophagus, trying in vain to lift it.
"It shouldn't matter how heavy it is. I'm not actually lifting it myself..."
He pauses in thought.
"Maybe that's it. I'm not actually lifting it myself, but I still keep approaching these heavy objects like I am, instead of letting the aether lift it for me, like a pulley system makes a construction job easier."
He concentrates intently on the sarcophagus, using both hands to mime lifting. Initially, nothing happens, then there's a crack of stone and the heavy sarcophagus shifts, then tips slightly before lifting cleanly from the floor to hover a few feet off the ground.
"I basically have no idea what you're talking about, but good luck doing the magic jiggery-pokery," Isabella says, shrugging.
Dregg claps Aramis on the shoulder as the intricate door opens, "Nice! I hate puzzles and you cracked that one too quick for me to even roll my eyes at it! Heh heh. Good work, Red. Good work." He offers her a smile before he shoulders his way into the room first, ready to take the brunt of any traps rather than his companions. When none fire and Isabella questions the wisdom of looting the dead, he shrugs. "This stuff isn't doing Arms there any good any longer."
At the crack of the sarcophagus separating from the floor, Dregg wheels around in alarm before barking out a laugh. "Ha! Are you doing that, little angel? Red opened that door with her head, and now you're floating that stone coffin with yours! Heh. You brainy types are alright."
Arryn gently lowers the sarcophagus, then turns to Dregg with a very serious expression.
”Dregg, this could be useful. All ribbing aside for a moment, I need you to trust me.”
Once he gets some signal of consent, Arryn lifts Dregg and moves him across the room.
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As Aramis pushes the door open she grins, more than a little proud of herself. Suddenly she pauses, and cocks her head the side, smile slipping form her face. She stares at her wrist in curiosity, brings it close and looks at it. She gives it a rub, then shakes her head as if she's seeing things.
Dregg's words cause her to jump, startling her out of whatever she's been staring at. "Hmm? Oh, no problem. It just came to me. Strange, really. Not a language I'm familiar with, and yet..." She shrugs.
Following the others into the tomb, Aramis gets to work packing up the treasure and gear. "There's a nice shield here. Anyone good with a buckler? And these stones... Swallow them and they could help protect you from harm. Only work for a week or so, though." She holds up the two steadfast gut stones, which look far too big to swallow. "Any takers?" She examines the belt, curious how valuable it might be and confirming it's not magical.
"Huh. Not sure how much this is worth."
As she finishes sifting through the gear and notices Arryn moving sarcophagi and Dregg around the room with his mind she raises an eyebrow, smirks, then bursts out laughing. "As if you're playing right now." She laughs some more, apparently finding it hilarious. Eventually her laughter slows. She shakes her head and smiles sadly. "Oh, this shouldn't be so funny. Gods, life is messed up."
Aramis crosses her arms and seems to think about something for a moment. Then she shakes her head and leaves the tomb. "I'm going to get to work hauling the bodies outside. Stinks enough in here without adding rotting corpses to the mix."
They should search the trog bodies before dumping them outside. Arryn will help by putting Dregg down gently and using his ability to move the corpses hands free.
”We should bury them,” Arryn suggests and drafts a few strong villagers to grave duty.
It is indeed magic, and you think it's worth 10,000 gp -- though you could be wrong about that...
You are wrong. It's only worth 4,000 gp. It's a belt of mighty constitution +2.
As you re-emerge, you see Taidel and Lirosa at the edge of the clearing; they start and then relax as you come back into the light.
Soon, all the villagers have made their way back into the cave system, exploring excitedly, though there are many exclamations of disgust at the smell, which you suspect will take some time to get out of the cave, if ever.
Aubrin eventually approaches you: "Maybe we could post the banner in that first cave with the big amethyst? Kind of a statement this place is ours now?"
Dregg nods at Aubrin's suggestion, "Sounds good to me, Priestess. If that's where you want it, I'll help you string it up if you like." He tousles Symond's hair as he moves back toward the wagon and chuckles, "Hey there, Pup. You keep an eye on all these people while we were down there?" He nods to Terey and Ellel as he encourages their boy while hefting a heavy sack of supplies over one shoulder.
A few days pass and work continues on clearing out the area, though most of the refugees seem much happier. Mostly, they feel as if they've gotten some measure of safety and while food remains somewhat scarce -- those who used to be spending their time looking for shelter each day are now cleaning out the area, and no one wants to venture too far away from the caves if they can help it -- the daily struggle feels less.
Still, on the third day, Symond comes up to Dregg.
"I think I heard something from down the hole," he says, nervously.
Aramis spends her free time examining their treasure reserves in an attempt to discern if she's overlooked anything that's magical, and if she can finally figure out what some of the magical objects do....
She also brings the 'jar of oily liquid' to Vane Oreld, to see if he has any idea what it is.
When Symond comes up to him, Dregg kneels down and listens to the boy’s concern. ”You heard something? Hmmm.” He works his square jaw back and forth a few times as he considers. ”Can you describe what you heard? Are we talking about the sounds of rocks? Growls? Whistles?”
Isabella has been setting up a nasty trap near the cave's entrance. Everyone in the little colony knows about its existence and how to avoid it, but intruders ideally should not.
Aramis can identify the boot as a boot of striding and springing but without its mate, it's useless.
Oreld is able to identify the oil relatively easy, and seems as happy as you've seen him since you rescued him from Phaendar, getting to do something he considers in his purview, as opposed to helping with curatives and restoratives. It's oil of taggit, likely enough for about six people. If you ingest it, he explains, it could knock you out as swift as a blow to the head.
Symond says it sounded like a squeaky voice, but he didn't understand it. "But maybe it was just the wind?" he says, doubtfully. "It's not more hobgoblins, is it? Will they make us leave again?"
Aramis grins at Oreld. "Interesting... Well, that could come in handy. Thanks." She keeps the poison on her person, to ensure no one accidentally (or purposely) uses it on other members of the camp.
”It could come in handy if we ever take a hobgoblin prisoner and need to incapacitate him. I’ll carry it if you like.”
Seeing Dregg in deep conversation with Symond, Arryn slips over and asks, ”What’s up?”
Aramis hands the poison over to Arryn for safe keeping.
”Squeaky, huh?” Dregg works his jaw back and forth as he thinks on the description. Then, he shakes his head, ”No, it’s not hobgoblins. They don’t sound squeaky.” He looks up at Arryn as he approaches and nods, ”Pup here heard something squeaky down in the tunnels. You want to get Red and Goggles and we can go check it out? I’d been planning to go find that wolf who’s got that boot, but that can wait until after.”
He then ruffles Symond’s hair. ”You did good, kid. I’m sure it’s not hobgoblins, but whatever else it might be, we’ll find out. And if it’s bad, I’ll kill it. Sound good?”
Hearing her 'name,' Aramis wanders over to see what's up. "Hmm?"
”Oh. Hey, Red. Pup here heard some squeaking down in the tunnels there. Thought the four of us might go check it out and deal with it.”
"Sounds good." She smiles at the kid. "Thanks for speaking up. Keep up the good work, Symond."
Isabella, who is still tinkering with something nasty-looking near the entrance, calls out without looking up from what she's working with.
"You want me, you're gonna need to help me get this set up. And be careful. Traps aren't something you wanna play loose and fast with."
Word having spread, several nervous refugees wait at the top of the ladder as you descend. You carefully make your way down and begin looking around. The first couple rooms are clear, but as you return to the area where Aramis deciphered the way to unlock the vault, you see a faint glow coming the cavern ahead of you, where the long, partially walled-off tunnel was.
Arryn begins to float a heavy piece of rubble, already set to fling it at anything hostile.
If anything, he looks eager.
Aramis moves over to lend Isabella a hand, but she has no skill with traps. "Is this going to take long? Something's happening in the caves."
---
When Aramis and the others finally head down into the caves she frowns at the strange glow. Pulling out her wand she uses it on herself, then she casts a spell to further bolster her defences.