Damning his luck, Kazul crouches down to stay silent, hoping they will blame the creak on the wind.
There is no sound from inside the shop. After a tense moment, the voices resume, but in a whisper barely heard from where Kazul crouches.
Fabian watches silently, straining to hear anything (unlikely from his distance outside, but, what the heck).
Fabian moves forward closer to Kazul. "Kazul, can you make out anything? If not, let's go in."
Farasha whispers
Two options, either we go ahead as planned or else I cast a light spell on an arrow and fire it inside, no stealth for anyone but no surprise for us either. What do you think?
"I think it is time to show the light of truth!"
Kazul brings his finger to his mouth telling Fabian to stay silent and takes his potion of invisibility, disappearing from sight, and stealthily creeps inside the room.
Kazul launches his javelin at the flat-footed guard by the door.
The man at the door crumbles in a heap with Kazul's javelin in his gut. The remaining three scramble to their feet and draw their weapons. Staggering backwards, they put their backs against the wall of the shop, spilling the ill-gotten loot across the floor.
Round 1:
Moving quickly before they can react, Kazul gingerly maneuvers over the coins and brings his falchion on the furthest right looter!
Fabian casts a spell, then moves to the doorway. Seeing the men, he demands, "You! Men of the Ash Ravens! Who has hired you?"
"It seems we already know who paid them"!
"Yes, but do they know?" Fabian says. "It affects how much... mercy we should show them."
Farasha moves to the doorway, drawing back her arrow and letting fly at one of the men on the far side of the room
Personally I would balance the level of mercy we dispense with that shown by these men to the men, women and children they have taken those spoils from...
Kazul cuts one of the mercenaries down, who slumps against the wall with a groan. Sjurd's spell causes the other two men to slip and tumble to the floor in a crash of coins and weapons. Uli's swing just misses the prone Ash Raven.
One man lurches to his feet taking a swing at Kazul, but he is unable to get anything behind his attack, and misses. The second man fails miserably in his attempt to stand up, even as he uses the wall to brace himself. He slides back down into the grease, feebly holding his sword over his head to ward off an attack. Farasha's arrow strikes the fallen man, piercing his stomach as he struggles.
Moving forward Bollwerk points his sword at the offenders.
"Put down your weapons, NOW! Or face the terminal consequences! You are outclassed and resistance would be futile"
Fabian walks up behind Bollwerk, holding his staff and trying to look all wizardly.
"I would listen to the man; we are not the people you want to stand against in Kenbares today. There is still a chance for this to end relatively well for you. Relatively."
Unfortunately, Fabian comes across rather weak and pathetic, and is of no help....
Damage: 2d4+4
Kazul dodges the mercenary's futile swing and cuts him down with authority.
Uli's fist crashes down on the man's skull, leaving him where he lay...in a pile of grease on the floor of the shop.
Scattered about the room are the various ill-gotten gains these mercenaries had gathered: 473 sp and 89 gp, as well as 3 small rubies worth 100 gp each. Their arms and armor did not amount to anything significant. There are no apparent markings or anything else that would tie them to a cult.
Only the doorway leading downstairs remains...
Farasha nods at the quick work of the team
Kazul do you want to scout ahead or should we simply charge down with light spells leading?
"You are our scout!"
Kazul heads down stealthily, listening for activity.
The air in this basement is damp and musty-smelling. The walls and floor are packed earth, while dozens of gourds hang from the ceiling beams. A sludge of rotting plant matter covers the floor. Against one wall, a wooden table holds a strange apparatus that looks like a clockwork toy of a snake-bodied, six armed woman holding a sword in each hand. A tightly corked bottle, filled with what looks like water, sits before the statue.
A wooden chest covered with engraved runes stands under the table, and a sinister image of a star surrounding a goat’s face is painted on the wall above the table.
Waiting for their scout to give the all clear, Bollwerk looks around, sword in hand, carefully, ready to aid him if he calls!"[/B]
Sjurd approaches the chest, and as he does, a voice booms out from the goat's mouth.
As soon as the word 'Baphomet' is spoken, the clockwork toy begins to move. whirrr...click...click...whirrr...click! The toy marilith's six arms swing down and smash the bottle! A faint shissss is heard from fluid as it contacts the air of the basment. Almost at the same time, a creature claws its way out of the furthest pile of vegetation, and lets loose a horrific shriek!
Round 1:
Resisting whatever effects the shriek and bottle had, Kazul springs into action, attacking the plant creature with his falchion before it can react!
Hearing the booming voice and the smash of glass from the basement, Farasha moves quickly down the stairs to the aid of Kazul.
Pausing in the doorway she watches for movement after seeing Kazul slice his weapon through an animated mound of vegetation.
[Ready to storm down Bollwerk can see the rogue is fighting something and moves down in aid.
Feeling something grip his body he caughs and stops.
Fabian wonders if he knows anything about the creature crawling out of the mess.
Kazul's falchion does its deadly work, nearly cutting the creature in two!
The unseen gas from the bottle causes Bollwerk's breathing to become wheezy and labored. While Sjurd's stomach curdles at the sound of the screech, causing him to nearly vomit.
The plant-thing whirls to face Kazul, biting at him. He manages to duck the bite, but its claws slam into the rogue's side, bruising ribs.
Farasha fires two arrows in quick succession at the plant-thing menacing Kazul.
Caughing a bit Bollwerk moves in to support the Half-Orc.
Fort save: 1d20+5
If he can act, Kazul moves 5' to flank the plant creature, but he is wheezy from the poison in his blood!
Fabian says, "That plant creature is a mandragora! It's poisonous; look out for its claws. If it latches on to you, it will start to drain your blood."
Everyone resists the effects of the gas except for Fabian. Suddenly flushed with adrenaline, the wizard can't control his trembling muscles.
With a dying shriek, the mandragora is pummeled into paste by Uli and Farasha's arrow. It sloughs back into the plant matter which spawned it, leaving a stinking pile of vegetation on the floor of the basement.
The gas persists, what are you doing?