Venedictus will retreat to the intersection as well with the others, ready to give Udaya a bit of luck.
Udaya falls back so that she is just past Dara. Venedictus follows her.
It's highly unlikely that the undead body can get far enough in one round for Bear to threaten it, so he will ready another telekinetic fist.
Dara continues to move back to the intersection, and she readies once more to attack it should it get close enough (not likely, but you never know).
Fredrik moves back to stick with Dara.
The undead creature finally gets control of its rage and manages to swim to the bottom of the stairs. Bear can just make it out now, so takes his readied action and lets lose a telekinetic fist. Unfortunately, he misjudges the effect the water has on it and ends up shooting too high.
Udaya backs up to the intersection and just round the west corner to wait for it there. Venedictos follows her. Dara positions herself opposite Udaya and readies to attack if it gets close enough.
Fredrik follows Dara.
Bear then pulls back to the south side of the intersection and readies another telekinetic fist for when it comes in range.
Now able to use solid ground to its advantage, the undead body begins climbing the stairs. It's moving much more quickly now and soon comes in range of Bears telekinetic fist.
A rippling shoots down the hall and slams into the body's shoulder, knocking it back only a tiny bit before it keeps coming. "So hungry!" it yells in a raspy voice. It makes it to the intersection right beside Dara, who attacks. Her waraxe cuts into its shoulder and down through its chest. The body hisses one last time and expires, slumping over onto the floor.
Scowling deeply, Dara raises her waraxe with both hands and brings its hammer-headed side crashing down on the re-dead thing's skull until there's nothing left but a stump. she shouts.
Upon realizing that her barbaric display has drawn some disquieting looks from her comrades, she flicks a piece of brains off the end of her weapon and says defensively, "Shouldn't oughta make a dwarf dislike swimmin' any more'n she already does!"
Fredrik looks over at Dara, and shrugs his shoulders, "Well, I guess you are still my heroine, just don't expect any hugs or anything like that." He looks over at the body, and murmers a quiet incantation over the body. .
"Udaya, did you find anything in the flooded chamber?"
"Well...now that that thing's dealt with, shall we explore the rest of that flooded area?"
Venedictus studiously avoids looking at Dara on the way back.
As the thing falls and Dara yells back at it, Bear scratches his clean-shaven head with his empty hand, "Actually… now that you mention it… I am kind of hungry."
He then takes a few minutes to look over the crazily ravenous under-water dude, seeing if anything useful/valuable presents itself (be it items or information).
As he bends down to examine the corpse, his usual slow smile spreads across his face, "Anyone bring any o' that orange sh!t?"
With the mention from Bear of still being hungry, Venedictus' hand flies to his mouth and he dashes off to a corner to relieve his stomach of its contents for a THIRD time.
"Someone make sure he washes his hands before he comes back to work, will ya?"
The body (which is now truly just a body) wears only tattered rags and does not appear to have anything of value on it.
Fredrik wonders why he hasn't been affectd by the nausea yet. Hmmm, I must be made of sterner stuff, he he. "Udaya, did you find anything on your swim?" His face flushing at the thought of her lean form slicing through the water.
UU is about to answer when she sees Flash's gaze has drifted south. Having checked out Bear appreciatively (and far more subtly) herself, she really can't fault Flash's wandering eyes. She says, not unkindly, pointing in the general vicinity of her own smirking face, "Yo, Slick, I'm up here. Those bits aren't going to answer your question." When his eyes snap back up, she continues, "I saw a body in leather armor, in that western alcove. I was about to grab it when we ran into this toothy fellow.
I'm thinking we rope me up and I'll go find that guy again. If I yank on the rope, you'll know he's animated and you can pull me out quick. Then we hammer him like this guy. Sound good, gents? Dara?"
"Works fer me!"
"I'd be happy to go in there, too, but I'd hate to make yall drag my big butt back out." Bear will help her rope up, and will tie the other end around his own waist, just in case. "Dara, get that big ole weapon a' yours ready."
UU smiles to herself at Bear's 'assistance' in helping her rope up... it's probably a bit more hands-on than is strictly necessary but she doesn't mind. Any excuse is a good excuse I guess. Eyeing his loincloth, she resists the urge to quip about 'big ole weapons'.
She nods her thanks and flat dives into the water before submerging and heading for the western alcove.
Flash looks up at her face, and replies, "Well, just consider it a compliment anyways. And yeah, I do like the plan, by the way." Hmm, looks like she is interested in a meaty diet, as opposed to a vegan like me. I think I need to see Lydia when I get out of here, and quickly, he he.
"Bear, I'm a Dwarf... I was born ready!"
Udaya has no difficulty swimming back to the room where she saw the other body. The room contains four long benches and several niches along the walls.
The body is wearing leather amour that has been torn and shredded as if by sharp claws. The corpse’s bones are badly gnawed. There is also a moulding scabbard still containing a short sword and another one of those badges you've found on the other corpses. Most notably, there is also a red lantern of the same make as in the lantern chamber above.
Udaya sticks the shortsword in her belt, tucks the badge in her bra, and attaches the lantern to her belt. If she feels like her breath is still holding out well, she'll swim across to the other alcove for a quick look around to spot anything interesting.
After that, if her breath is good, she'll venture to the north end hoping to find some stairs up with a breathable space. When her breath starts feeling a bit short (could be before the north venture), she swims back to the corpse, gets a wicked grin on her face, laughs underwater, holds the corpse to her - face to face, and then tugs on the rope several times. This should be a good joke.
The opposite room looks very similar with four long benches and several niches along the wall. There are also several old rusty lockers along the far wall.
UU will check the lockers and hope they aren't trapped. :)
Most of the lockers are empty, but one contains a pile of tattered clothes and amongst them, she finds a large pouch. A quick look inside reveals the presence of gold and silver coins, as well as a silver version of the badges you've been finding elsewhere.
At this point, her breath is starting to run out, so she makes her way back to the corpse, holds it to her face, and tugs sharply on the rope several times.
Bear begins mightily pulling on the rope while simultaneously walking backwards, hoping to get Udaya as quickly as possibly out of the water…
As Udaya rounds the corner, you see that there is a skeletal corpse in tattered leather armour wrapped against her, as if in a life-or-death struggle.
Venedictus will channel energy as soon as the two of them are within 30'.
Channel energy:
Venedictus will channel energy as soon as the two of them are within 30'.
Channel energy: 1d6
It has no effect on the vicious undead thing.
Udaya explodes from the water 'wrestling' the vicious creature, yelling "Get this bastard off me!" and tosses it at the party...
Please give me a few hours to get home and respond appropriately... :)
Sense Motive check:
"Holy crap in a codpiece! Bear, get that thing off o' Legs before it rips her skivvies off!"
Fredrik looks at the amusing scene, wondering if these urges were normal. Well, perhaps they were, certainly a part of them were to be expected, just not sure how normal the other parts were. He motions to Bear, "Well, we should let the hero rescue the damsel in distress, can you handle it, Bear?" You can see he has a self mocking smirk on his face.
Bear watches in horror as Udaya explodes screaming from the water, and instincts kick in - he wrenches the rope towards himself in a collosal tug , sending both Udaya and the undead attacker hurtling towards him at an incredible speed. You see surprise, fear, and rage truly register on the great man's face in earnest for the first time, and he surprises you all by switching directions mid-step and bursting towards the airborne attacker. With an inhuman roar (similar to his namesake) he slams into Udaya and the undead in mid-air , but - misjudging both the distance and the surprising lack of weight and effort coming from the undead - only bounces off Udaya, careening off into the waiting water, taking the monster with him, roaring defiance as he plunges under the water. In a surpringly graceful move, however, he pulls some kind of semi-decent half-gainer while heading that way, the effect only ruined as his soaking loin-cloth is whip-lashed from his trunk across the room - right at Venny's unprepared face. After a few moments of thrashing about in the water, grappling the would-be attacker , Bear resurfaces, one hand holding the body under water while the other swings wildly into the air, a dismembered arm wielded like a club.
Realization of the situation dawns and he spins around, a look of terrifying wrath on his face. Unfortunately he seems totally unaware of his lack of any clothes whatsoever, and he marches over to Udaya, dismembered arm still in hand, naked (and surprisingly hairy) body quivering with rage, "What kind of rotten trick you pullin', woman! Gonna give a feller some kind of heart attack, is what yer gonna do!"
It occurs to you again that this might be the first actual display of emotion you've ever seen from Bear. Wait... is sarcasm an emotion?
Reflex save:
SPLAT!!!
It takes Venedictus a few moments to realize what exactly has just happened. He peels the wet loin cloth off his face with a disgusted grimace.
"Bear? Bear? Hey, Beargle! Missing something!?" He twirls the underwear around his finger before letting it fly back at the wizard.
*splat*
"Oh damn!" Dara exclaims, "So that's why they call ya Bear!"
Udaya is about to burst out laughing when the rope goes tight and she is yanked towards the enraged behemoth of a man "Ha ha haaaUURRRRKKK..." Udaya has a brief moment to consider her folly - maybe this wasn't such a good idea... when Bear turns and hurls himself straight at her.
She barely has time to get out a particularly choice imprecation in Khelesh, "Aiii! Bahin-CHOD!" when she slams into Bear or he into her. In either case, it's a hell of a wallop. Unfortunately, he was starting his jump as she is descending. He slams into her high, taking the corpse with him but clothes-lining her in the process. She slams into the floor with a truly monumental exhalation of breath and the crack of her skull. Bear, a meaty meteor flies over her and splashes down.
Udaya is barely on her feet, shaking the spots from her vision when the outraged and naked Bear comes at her spitting fire. Udaya has a hard time concentrating - both from the blow to her head and being distracted by the eyeful of Bear meat she is being treated to. Nice. Eventually his words sink in and, never one to back down, Udaya fires back. She goes nose to chin with the tall, huge, naked man.
"Now wait a DAMN minute! FIRST, it was a joke, not a trick! SECOND, since you just knocked me on my ass and bashed in my skull, I'd say we're even! THIRD..." She looks at him oddly, running through what just happened, and her anger turns to astonishment.
"Third... you were trying to SAVE me, weren't you?!" It comes out oddly as an accusation. "You big, SMART, lummox! You're a wizard, I'm the frontline. You don't go off trying to be a hero and save ME. That's not your job."
She stares at him, fuming yet touched that he was being heroic. "DAMN it!" She drives him against the wall grinds her body against him and kisses him hard... like she's trying to figure out what he had for breakfast... last week.
It is at this moment their lip-lock is disturbed by the well-placed throw of a soaked loin-cloth. THWACK!
UU breaks the kiss and hands him the loin-cloth. "I think this is yours... mine are still on, barely." Udaya turns to give him a little privacy and figure out just what in the hell she is doing. "Right! I found some goodies during my swim." She pulls the badges and bags of coins from her bra and unties the lantern from her belt.
The pouch contains a total of 55 sp, 38 gp, and 2 pp.
The short sword in the corpse's moldy sheath is magical.
Bear identifies it as a +1 short sword.
Fredrik looks at the display, a rather shocked look on his face, and once the two have finished their exhibition, gives a round of applause. "Well, that was certainly worth risking life and limb down here, not that I couldn't see it in town mind you, but hey, I'm easy, he he. Remind me to give you a tip later."
Sense Motive DC 12
Once he has checked out the items, he looks at the lantern, "So, this is the missing red lantern, fascinating! This completes the set, as I recall. Well since we have cleared out this area, we should head upstairs. I am anxious to see what hanging the lantern in the corridor will do, now that we have recovered all the lanterns."
Slightly out of sorts, UU says "We haven't quite finished searching. I was about to check the north end when I ran low on air. I think we should do the same plan. I'll swim over there roped up. If I want some help swimming back, 1 tug. If there is trouble, 2 tugs. If I find a breathable space and area beyond, 3 tugs. If I need rescue, I'll keep tugging." She looks at Bear to see if he is still angry, "No jokes this time, I promise."
Flash gives her an unreadable look, "Ahh, my mistake, then. Go ahead and finish your search then, I am sure you are in good hands with Bear hanging onto the rope, he he."
As Bear is slammed against the wall and aggressively kissed, his body at first goes rigid, fists clenched at his sides (severed arm still in-hand), with his eyes open to slits… still thinking he's the butt of some horrible trick. Within a second you see the shock fade and he tentatively returns the kiss, eyes closed. Might as well enjoy this gods-damned ride.
There is a more-than-slightly dumb look on his face as she is interrupted and pulls away, but as the sobering realization of what she is handing him hits home, his body once again goes rigid… this time in embarrassment. He stoically takes the undergarment and nods, stubbornly refusing to give in to the inclination to hurriedly pull them on.
Slowly shaking his head, Bear regards her through slitted eyes and whispers, "You are some kinda hell-cat, aren't ya?" He surprises you all, however, with a small half-smile as the situation is fully realized in his mind, "I guess that was... kinda funny, though."
Bear notices the look in Venny's eyes as he watches Bear, and Bear reacts with a look of surprise and awkwardness. He tosses the arm at Venny quickly, his attempts at stoicism abandoned as he quickly pulls his loincloth back on.
Everything decently back where it should be, Bear sweeps his cold blue eyes across the group, "One more thing, though… and this goes for all o' ya." There isn't the usual humorous tone in his voice as he locks gazes with the Hell Cat, "Just 'cause I know a special trick or two," he touches his magical blade over his shoulder to emphasize his point, "doesn't mean i'm some sort of glass-boned showman. No offense, Freddy. I work best up close and personal, just like you two ladies… er.. 'warriors who just happen to have breasts'" His eyes openly appreciate the aforementioned physiology on both women before continuing. "Youve done yer best to protect me and keep me outta trouble, but that's wasted effort. I'm useless in the background, and dammit, it pisses me off to be treated softly. If anything, I'm a mage AND a front-liner." His eyes regard each of yours to make sure he is taken seriously, then without ceremony he goes to start identifying the items Udaya has removed from her ample hiding spots.
That done, he helps Udaya get prepped once again to go back into the water, listening to her instructions on the rope communication. You do notice, however, that any time his eyes touch on her, they linger.
Venedictus' face goes beet red as he realizes he was noticed, so much so that he doesn't even appear to notice that he was just beaned by a skeleton arm.
She looks at Bear to see if he is still angry, "No jokes this time, I promise."
Bear's slow smile returns, "Thing is, little Hell-cat, you can take the kick outta the curry, but all ya got left is paste, no?"
With the rope tied around her and Bear once again holding the other end, Udaya goes down the stairs and back into the water. The swim across the lower chamber is fairly easy. The door at the north end has bloated from the water and so it takes a couple tries to get it unstuck, but before long, she has it open.
Beyond is a small lavatory with two stalls. There does not appear to be any other way out.