With a whisper that ended up echoing more than he liked, Hugo called out to Tomid. "Oy, Tomid, ya seein' dat o'er dere? Dem legs."
In spite of wanting to let Tomid sneak up and take a closer look, Hugo couldnt help but edge closer, looking back at the others to see if anyone was inclined to follow.
Grizelda does not detect any magical auras here. You also determine there are too many variables and unknowns to draw any conclusions - you need more facts before you can determine any patterns from your extensive knowledge.
Grizelda's loan of Gregor had at least one benefit. She was too busy watching and worrying over the little grey owl to worry over herself. As they walk deeper and deeper into the mine, her eyes flit back and forth between the open maw of darkness ahead and her displaced familiar. He looked so small and vulnerable, perched atop the hulking man's shoulder. Gregor gives her a mildly offended look as he feels her emotional turmoil and fluffs out his feathers to appear larger.
When they come to the opening she turns from watching Gregor anxiously and finds she can only see a brightly burned image of Hugo's torch-light hovering like a greenish blind spot in the dim light. She rubs her eyes, trying to clear the obstacle to her sight and tries to reach out with her senses to detect danger nearby. She found they seemed to have improved since their time with the Tinkers.
Zinny's ears are pricked for noises but she's not the match of Doc's eyes. She gasps when she sees the dead body.
"Don't worry, Gossamer," she murmurs, trying to keep her own voice from shaking. "We'll be jes' fine. I know it stinks an' all. But you got me to protect you, so don't you worry none..."
Never mind the faerie dragon isn't likely the one that needs protecting.
Heeding Silas' warning tomid looks over the card and dead miner carefully.
He quickly assesses the danger, breaks out a small set of tools and is able to disarm the trap.
All clear. He announces. But someone left this here wanting to hurt anyone coming by that would try to help this poor fellow. Is he, is he dead?
He puts the lantern down. "Hugo, come and give me a hand with moving this cart. Doc, watch and make sure we aren't going to cause more harm by moving it. If you could, please."
Silas then assists Hugo in moving the cart, provided Doc doesn't stop them.
and pretty much strains for no reason.
Tomid determines that the cart the body is pinned beneath is rigged with a line attached to something concealed in the ceiling above. Anyone disturbing the cart, either by turning it over or by seeking to drag the body out from beneath it, would snap the line and send a thunderstone crashing to the ground. He successfully disables the trap and recovers the thunderstone, which Doc identifies for the party.
The miner is very much dead and is obviously the victim of foul play, having suffered several puncture wounds to the chest and neck area.
The chunks of silver ore can be salvaged and sold!
Turning back to Grizelda, Hugo wedged a finger underneath Gregors talons, handing the bird back to his master "Well, dat wus a short ride now wusnt it"
That done, he hung his hammer at his belt and went to assist the brothers feeble attempts.
Managing to raise the bulk a few inches before setting it down, he looked back at the others "Gunna 'ave it off in a minute, just gotta gets a gud grip."
Frustration building as his second attempt brought little results, he put everything, mind included, to the test.
With a tooth clenching, strained growl, he finally managed to move the wagon, up-righting it in one almighty heave.
"Ya see? Easy."
Oh I can assure you he is quite dead, if the weight of the wagon hasnt crushed his ribcage into splinters that would cause internal bleed out then the weight of it would be enough to compromise the breathing until suffocation. Lift the cart, hum, gingerly.
Walking to the dead man, Doc kneels next to him and starts looking him over thoroughly. Going through the autopsy seems ti settle his frazzled nerves. Occupying his mind with the cold facts of medicines, Doc feels in his element once again.
Bring the light please, the lantern, a steady light source is better. I see.... This was clearly no mining incident. Judging by decomposition.... between 10 days to 3 weeks, i would venture about 2 but thats uncertain.
Doc pushes a finger into an entry wounds, it makes a squelching noise.
There's a foreign object, i'll try to get it out
Unrolling his surgical kit next to him, Ginley picks out a scalpel and a pair of plyers and proceeds to cut the wound open a bit more. After a short moment he pulls out a broken shaft topped with a sharp piece of metal.
Judging by the shape of the arrowhead, this appears to be a crossbow bolt. This confirms that they were attacked. Judging by the trap we found, i expect that the assailants are here in these tunnels waiting for us. The thunderstone would warn them of anyone disturbing the body. I should mention, this man was sick. See those lesions here, and the discoloration there, and here the arm pits, the nodes are swollen. This man definitely suffered from this plague.
"...should you be... touchin' him... if he was sick?" Zinny asks hesitantly, standing well back herself.
She was suitably awed by Hugo's massive display of strength.
At Zinnys question, Hugo stepped back a few feet from the corpse, slowly bringing his hand to his mouth as if its presence there would shield him from any airborne contagion. A mere moment later he looked at the hand with suspicion, wiping it on his pants. Despite his insistence to himself that he was supposed to be brave, the thought that he might have just infected himself, lifting a cart off a man who was already dead, scared him.
"Uuuh, yah...ya tink I is gonna get sick now too Doc? I tink I mighta touched it...just a bit."
Doc determines the body is most likely not contagious based on the amount of time it has been dead. He is still not sure how the 'burning plague' spreads, though, and cautions you to be careful what you touch or ingest. Your examination of the bolts, along with Hugo's investigation after washing away the gooey body parts, reveals the bolts are rather crude and small - designed for a light or small-sized crossbow.
Tomid pockets the Thunderstone for now. Lets find who did this. he says, a gleam of revenge in his eyes.
Hugo nodded, turning to look down at the door "Yah Tomid, lets go get um. 'ows about we check da door first?" He took a few steps towards it, slowly, waiting for someone to tell him otherwise.
"Eeep!"
The priest ducks under the cart as Hugo practically throws it over his head. Like a snake slithering out from under a rock, he straightens up...and winces at a minor pain in his back as he does so. Yet another sign of aging. Oh woe!
"Easy for our Hugo," Silas smiles, and then picks up the lantern and moves to the door, giving it a once over for any other scheming little traps.
"Looks clear."
Based on the signs of battle and the dead body, you quietly move to the west about 30 feet and stop at a set of stout wooden doors.
Before getting too close to the door, but after spotting it Tomid says quietly. Better let me check the door. Evidently someone down here likes traps, so the door could be trapped. Doc, you got keen eyes so you check it too.
Satisfied that the door is clear he steps back into the shadows beside the door nodding the "all clear". He stands ready with his bow.
He doesn't even hear the yapping, but he does take a cue from Tomid, nodding to the halfling as he draws his short sword into his free hand.
...and then moves back to his place in the rear of the party.
Zinny comes up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hugo, assuming that is where she is needed. Both sweaty hands grip the worn corded handle of her big stick.
I know draconic, its a bit rusty and my pronunciation has often been ridiculed but I:-)thnk I can make out what they are saying.
Doc draws out his knife wich he gently sinks into the wood of the door before putting his ear to the hilt to listen.
Grizelda leaves Doc Ginley to his investigation and quietly listens along as well, trying to make out the conversation.
Doc listens in on the conversations on the other side of the door, occasionally whispering to Grizelda to verify a word or meaning.
"তারা ঘুমানোর সময় প্রাণী কিছু পদ্ধতিতে তাদের ক্যাম্প থেকে মৃত চুরি করা হয়েছে. মানুষের অধিকাংশ ইতিমধ্যে চুরি করা হয়েছে."
"এই মাইন একটি অভিশাপ হতে হবে. তাদের ব্যান্ড অর্ধেক ইতিমধ্যেই অদ্ভুত জ্বর বা ভয়ঙ্কর কাশি থেকে মারা গেছে."
Hugo waited behind the Doc and Grizelda, also listening to these "kobolds" talking but not understanding it in the slightest.
Assuming Doc and Grizelda tell us what they're hearing, Zinny's eyes will widen.
In a hoarse whisper she says, "Kobolds-- ain't they like lizards or dogs or somethin'? Don't they steal babies?"
Apparently, in the adventuring-world-according-to-Zinny, all monsters steal babies.
"...if... if they been hit by th' plague too mayhap... mayhap they'd just let us pass? Like them one group of lizard-people?"
Tomid shakes his head. Thems the ones that shot up that miner and trapped the mine.
Grizelda moves away from the door and lowers her voice so as not to be overheard by the kobolds. "That's likely, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. I think we should try to speak with them. They suffer from the sickness as well, so they may have an idea about what is causing it. We'll also want to inquire about the body-stealing creature they mention. They aren't likely to be friendly though, so we'll need a plan."
Tomid shoots Grizelda an "are you Crazy?" look. They murdered that miner. he says quietly in such a way that, at least for him, needs no further discussion.
Grizelda merely blinks blandly, quite accustomed to such looks and replies, "That may well be, however they do not seem to be the cause of the plague since they suffer from it as well. Therefore they are not our objective here. If they have information, we need it if we're to solve this mystery and save those people who are not yet dead."
Trying his best to follow the whispered argument, Hugo slapped the head of his hammer into his palm for emphasis and said "Why dun wes just smack em gud, den ask da ones dats left?" He too wasnt fond of the idea of talking to sneaky murdering lizards.
Grizelda shrugs her shoulders at Hugo's suggestion. "It's not ideal, but they may react violently anyway so we may not have a choice. I suppose if one of them appears to be a chieftain, that would likely be one we want to interview. I have a spell that may incapacitate some of them."
We still dont know how many there are. I think we should try talking first. Kobolds always have a plan, i dont want to step into a trap
Tomid, Doc and Grizelda compare what they heard and tell the rest of the party that they heard two separate conversations, plus some other noises like eating. They deduct there at least four kobolds, and likely five or six, based on what they could discern.
Zinny nervously shifts her weight foot-to-foot. "I don't wanna try an' make nice with them if they kilt that poor sod," she whispers. "But I don't want none'a us to get hurt, neither."
Hugo was starting to grow impatient, Tomids desire to kill the Little murderers amplifying his own.
"'Ows about dis den. I open da door, an' if dem kobolds wants a fite dey is gonna start runnin' around an'...stuff. If dey wanna talk dey is not gonna do anytin'."
He waited but a moment for anyone to disagree, then opened to door in one quick motion, taking a step inside, hammer at the ready but not raised.
Hugo and Zinny move up to the doors, Tomid and Doc take the next positions, with Abigail and Grizelda next with Silas bringing up the rear. Hugo nods to the party, then throws open the doors and looks inside.
This large, square room houses four long wooden tables, each with a bench on either side. On top of the tables lie a number of wooden bowls and eating utensils. In the southeast corner of the room, a small stewpot steams over a fireplace carved into the floor. A pungent odor hangs in the air. The far side of the room lies in shadow and is more than 40 feet away. You also see four short, reptilian humanoids with scaled skin, a snout filled with tiny teeth, and a long tail. They are focused on the door when you open it...
Round 1
>Grizelda<
Tomid
Abigail
Silas
Hugo
Kobolds
Doc
Zinny
Tomid quickly moves into the room just to the left of the door by the wall and fires his bow against the hopefully flat footed creature in I-1.
Grizelda raises her voice both in volume and octave as she pronounces the strange, harsh, hissing tongue of Draconic, spraying spittle as she does so.
Spotting the two critters near the back and not wanting to give them any chance to run off, Hugo lumbered towards them. Moving around the table he planted himself next to the little things.
"Wutevar da lady told ya ta do ya better do it if ya knows wuts gud fer ya!!" he said, menacing them with his hammer.
======================================================
As Hugo moves to the center of the room and the light of his torch fills every corner, you see nine kobolds around the room. His yell and impressive size demoralize the kobolds, but they still skitter about with slings or short spears in hand to attack. Hugo is rapidly surrounded by the small lizard-like creatures, although one opens itself up for an attack of opportunity as it passes.
Hugo take an AoO on the kobold now on F7 (from when it left E7.) Kobolds are shaken for 3 rounds!
AC19
AC19
AC17
AC20
AC20
AC20
AC20
AC20
======================================================
Round 1
Grizelda - Called out for parley
Tomid - Moved into room and killed a kobold
Abigail - Holds her holy symbol with Light cast upon it up and moves into the room and casts Bit of Luck on Zinny as she passes by.
Silas - Mumbles something about "Watching the rears..." and stays in place.
Hugo - Moves into the center of the room with his torch held high to reveal the rest of the space - and occupants. He demoralizes the kobolds for 3 rounds!
Kobolds – Attack! Despite their ferocity, Hugo's demoralizing presence and your defensive abilities prevent ANYONE from taking any damage!
>Doc<
Zinny ( For the next round, any time you roll a d20, you may roll twice and take the more favorable result.)
After Doc acts, Zinny sees that Hugo is in trouble (of a sort), surrounded by a bajillion of the little nasty buggers! She figures this is no time for caution, anymore, so she runs forward, picking up steam, and intending to lead with her club. Worry over Hugo and the others makes her swing almost wildly, wanting to lay out some of the nasty kobolds before they can hurt her friends.
Perhaps Zinny would have been better off not attacking so wildly...
Angered by their refusal to back down in spite of his, as he saw it, rather impressive display of authority, Hugo swiped at one of the kobolds who left himself open to attack.
Growing rage and a bit of fear from being surrounded, even by such small opponents, he lashed out against another.
The hammer connected with the Kobold skull with excessive force, spraying Kobold brains in all directions
"Dats wut yous gets ya slimy little murderers!!"