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Seeing that hitting the targets is a very formidable tactic, each pathfinder lashes out to strike at their foes. Jayori makes a great puncture with his trident and Jarlaxle finishes the job by taking away the ghoul's head.
Caboose, merry as ever, steps on the ghoul's body, squishing it further, just to get next to the last ghoul. If undead knew fear, this specimen would experience it tenfold. The large man's sword swings high and comes down with a horrifying power, both cutting the ghoul in half and pressing it against the floor. The bone littered floor just got a bit more crowded.
All the excruciating sounds from bone cracking and flesh popping, Deris seems unmoved after the fighting stops. "Oh, guess they weren't your friends then, haha!" he states with a hearty laughter, then proceeds to scold the fallen undead with his finger, "very naughty to come sneak up on us like that, serves you right."
After the ordeal, Marlinchen goes back to her daughter, conversing with her about ordinary stuff. The girl, however, does not respond or react to Deris' presence at all.
There are no other sounds coming from behind the heavy stone door which is, just like the previous door, ajar.
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The staircase down would continue onwards, but it becomes flooded with fetid waters, possibly leading further down the necropolis. And it appears the necropolis has suffered collateral damage during the earthquake in forms of cave-ins and landslides. It is most likely a death trap to traverse beneath the waterline.
The oddly shaped room is chill and damp, and seems to have been a hiding place for the ghouls. Some bones litter the floor, some bearing old flesh kept fresh by the necropolis' looming magic. Most likely the ghouls gathered all the flesh they can find and brought it here. Unfortunately for the treasure seekers, none of the remains hold anything of value.
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Jarlaxle notices a shine of metal amongst the rubble in the eastern recess, and by moving a few loose rocks he unveils a covered open tomb holding a skeleton in ceremonial position—hands on chest—and glad in brozen full plate armor. Despite the partial cave-in, the armor looks to be in pristine condition.
Otherwise the room is featureless excluding the two sconces illuminating the room.
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Jayori wipes the ghoul ichor off of his weapon absently, as he ponders the dead ghouls and the necropolis as a whole.
"Well fought." He says quietly.
"It is most strange that these foul creatures did not touch the Maldris lad, with all the doorways invitingly open."
He ponders the ghostly images of the children and the obviously mentally-troubled Deris.
"I had hoped to find more of them." He mutters, pitching his voice so as not to be heard by Deris. "But with these things here, it seems unlikely much remains at all."
He accompanies Jarlaxle as they check out where the ghouls came from, what the find there merely confirming his suspicions about not finding more bodies.
When they discover the dead skeleton in the heavy armor, he says a quick prayer to Irori.
"At least not all in this place have been corrupted. This one at least, still rests peacefully."
Once all the side rooms have been checked out, and they've returned to the partially open doorway in the room with the ghostly children, he will ready to continue on.
"It would seem our path once more is easily defined."
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Jarlaxle casts Detect Magic and scans the armor.
He then carefully... 'acquires' the armor, making sure to respectfully stack the bones back in the alcove from which they came, and returns to the main room, which he (belatedly) searches.
"Does anyone want to wear this?"
Once the fate of the armor is decided, he gestures towards the door to the west.
"Shall we continue?"
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Jarlaxle winks.
"...but if we don't do it now, we we may never have another opportunity!"
His expression then becomes more serious.
"More practically, this looks like good armor, and could help one of us as we work our way through this area. I also dare say that the Society would be interested in such a suit of armor - it definitely appears to be of great antiquity..."
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As the last ghoul is cut down, Caboose looks around guiltily.
"Uhh...he was already dead before I got close to him...," he mumbles, clearly not believing his own words despite their actual truth. "Yeah, um...Jarlaxle cut through his friend and got him somehow. If anyone asks, Jarlaxle did it."
The big man continues to fidget until Deris proclaims that the ghouls were not friends after all. "Oh! Well I guess that's alright then! It's ok, Jarlaxle, we forgive you." He pats the half-elf's shoulder reassuringly. It is evident that Caboose is a magnanimous soul, if he could only get the facts right to apply that magnanimity.
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Caboose follows silently as the group progresses through the ruins. Eventually, however, his ever-wandering attention is drawn to the suit of bronze armor that Jarlaxle had retrieved.
"Oh look! It's Lopez! I wonder what he is doing here. Hello Lopez! Hmm...he's not responding. He must be broken. Maybe the Puff-finders can repair him like they are trying to repair my armor!"
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Jayori doesn't detect evil. Those ghouls might have been evil, but he missed them. Poor Jayori.
Jarlaxle's magic detects the brozen full plate armor as a magical one! That's all he can say about it, though.
Deris stays in the room with the story circle, not paying much attention to the commotions around him.
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"I do not oppose recovery, of course, as the dead no longer have use of these items. However, as we were asked to be carefully respectful, perhaps walking out of here wearing someone's family heirloom might not be a wise choice. In any case, I shant be wearing metalic armor - it makes my skin crawl!"
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"Just because they are long dead, does not mean the departed are no longer aware." Jayori responds with a frown. "Nor that they no longer care about who are what they left behind."
He glances around at the gloomy necropolis. "Especialy here, where necromantic magic is so obvious, and so strong."
"Such callous mercantile indifference is what leads to many of the horrors that manifest in places such as this." He adds. "As well as many of the deaths of those who explore them."
He does not stop the bard from looting the armor, as he knows they were tasked with acquiring items of historical significance. Mostly he just seems disappointed in his timing and lack of patience.
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"You can think what you will of me, my friend, but I agree with Jarlaxle. We were told to be respectful of the children for the town's sake, but this man was long dead when those children were born. If he is disgusted at us for taking his armor, he will have to show his disgust to me to convince me to leave his armor behind."
Sharien helps Jarlaxle remove the armor from the corpse, and will offer to carry at least the helmet, though she's not much for heavy lifting.
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"Riceak can take the armor and give it to Bessie"
Riceak will collect the pieces and then run back to where they left the donkey and deposit the armor in the cart, returning a few minutes later out of breath.
"Ok, are we ready to open this next door... have we missed anything around here??? anything else moving??
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Jayori merely shakes his head, as its obvious to him everyone but the bard was missing the point he was trying to make, and Jarlaxle had already made the issue moot.
Though he found their responses telling, nonetheless.
"Best we finish our task then." He offers politely. "Before tempting the spirits that rest here further."
He will lead the way through the next door when the others are ready. His normally cheerful demeanor more solemn.
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While waiting for the eager Riceak to return from his voyage, Deris has been staying put at the story circle, fruitlessly talking to the silent girl, who still seems to ignore the poor insane man.
"So what have you been studying... geology? What about it? ...seismic activity, you say? ...but that one hit hard on Absalom, didn't it? ...yes, I know, Cassiel, the academy was devastated and partially sank, a real tragedy. I'm so glad you survived." Deris hugs the girl, his hands sinking into the image slightly. This doesn't seem to bother the man.
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Caboose sits himself right next to Deris and Cassiel and nods as they speak.
"Yes. Yes. That is very interesting. I did some seismic activities too. It was a long time ago, but we had alot of fun."
He breaks into a big grin.
"You sound like a very smart girl Cassiel, and I would love to be your new best friend."
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It's as if the girl gives Caboose a stern look, but maybe it's just Michael's very vibrant imagination.
Beyond the door opens a moderate chamber with two corridors heading north and south. While the passage north leads down again under the black waters, the way north leads up to a small vacant room. However the more prominent feature in the chamber is the wide staircase leading sharply down to a heavy stone door 5 feet wide. It, unlike the other doors in the necropolis so far, is closed.
Deris has sat next to the girl and seems reluctant to follow you any longer.
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Caboose continues his animated conversation with Deris and Cassiel (and tries his best to cheer up the 'grumpy' Cassiel) until the party decides to move on.
"Goodbye friends! See you soon!" Caboose calls out cheerily to Deris and Cassiel as he follows the rest of the party to the next door.
He looks at the door indicated by Jarlaxle and without hesitation says "Ok!" as he walks towards it...
...raises his sword high and attempts to sunder it.
And again...
And again...
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"Wait," Jayori starts to interject, as Caboose pulls out his sword, seemingly intent on chopping the door down with it. But the big man seems happily intent on his task, and the paladin lets the words fade with a small sigh.
He glances sideways at Jarlaxle and adds sardonically, "Do you suppose it occurred to him to see if it was locked first?"
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Caboose looks at Sharien blankly for a moment, then lowers his sword.
"Handle? Doors don't have handles. They are opened by buttons! And keys. And I learned a long time ago that swords are keys, and that when you stick them in people, it unlocks their death. But I was thinking they are still keys, so I..."
At this point, Riceak, who has evidently tired of Caboose's meandering logic train of thought confusion, walks right past him and opens the door by simply using the door handle.
"Oh. How did you do that?" Caboose asks, amazed that Riceak was able to open the door so easily and quietly. "You must be a very strong man," he quickly concludes as he hefts his sword and prepares to enter the room.
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Riceak opens the heavy door, which requires some strength for some reason. It becomes apparent as water trickles through the gap. Sounds of ocean are heard now that the door is no longer in the way.
With the frequency of storm waves approaching the shore, salt water erupts from cracks in the floor of this large hexagonal room. Foamy, blinding spray jumps in every direction, then drains from calf-height to ankle-deep before the next wave hits. Occasionally a length of black-brown seaweed shoots in and adds one more strand to a room that already appears draped in long wet hair. In each of the chamber a fluted pillar rises to the fifty-foot ceiling. Between each pair of pillars, an open arch connects the chamber to an attached space. Beyond the northwest and southwest arches, three tiers of recessed spaces form three massive steps. A stone sarcophagus rests on each step.
In the western alcove, an undead creature turns its head as the door opens. It is dressed in rotting finery, wisps of fetid, expensive cloth still dangling from its limbs. Perched atop its head is a golden crown, resplendent with a dozen glittering gems, while its putrid fingers each bear extravagant rings made from a dozen different precious gems and metals. With a shriek it attacks the intruders.
Riceak (0), B.A.B.S. (-8), Jayori (0), Jarlaxle (0), Caboose (0)
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Undead (0)
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Sharien (0)
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Jarlaxle can only shakes his head in bemusement at Caboose's attempts to open the door.
I will need to be more specific in my suggestions in the future with that one!
"Beware! It's a ghast! A dire version of a ghoul, it has a stench aura!"
Jarlaxle then moves into the room, and readies to attack if the creature comes within range.
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Caboose waves at the undead creature and calls out to it. "Hello..." he begins to call out, but is cut off by Jarlaxle's harsh warning about the creature.
"Uh...I don't really understand any of that, but it sounds like he's a mean person. Is he a mean person? Because my best friend Church told me that if I met a mean person that I needed to be mean back to, I should get angry. Uh...I just need to concentrate on bad things and say mean things... like...uh... your brain is a mountain of hatred... now... I am thinking about kittens! Kittens COVERED IN SPIKES! That makes me angry..."
Caboose's voice sounds unusually and increasingly strained as he speaks, and upon finishing he lets out a strained yell that quickly turns into a ferocious bellow. When he speaks again, his voice is low and menacing, and completely unlike that of the cheerful, simple-minded buffoon from a few moments before.
With that strange battle cry on his lips, Caboose runs straight for the ghast and aims a devastating blow at its head.
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Jayori sees the undead creature and recognizes it for what is it. Jarlaxle's warning confirms that knowledge, as the paladin steps forward to do battle.
"May the light of Irori's perfection guide my hand." He intones, as he moves in to take up a protective position with Jarlaxle.
As he does so, however, Caboose goes charging in and past them all.
"May it grant me inner peace as well." He mutters as the big man's strategy momentarily trumps theirs.
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Success!
Success! (just)
As both Caboose and Riceak get near the ghast, they find out how putrid the undead can stink. Fortunately both barbarians have had their share of these smells in the past, and can easily shrug them off.
Sickened: The character takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
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The undead shrieks even louder when Caboose almost decapitates it. Furious—if it could be that is—it lashes out against its dangerous foe, but before doing that, the smart undead takes a step away from Riceak.
for
for
Riceak (0), Jayori (0), Jarlaxle (0), Caboose (-7)
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Undead (-25)
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B.A.B.S. (-8), Sharien (0)