"Well, then! I guess we know what to put on our shopping list. Doesn't look like we can get to that chest until we've stocked up. It's probably safe to say that we can leave this room be. I doubt most people or monsters have the capacity to get to the treasure before we do."
Reginald yanks the flail off his belt and gives it a twirl.
"Where to next?"
This looks too easy...and yet it is a challenge - moving behind Reginald, Bryce notices the strange looking room. His eyes move to check the ceiling, half-expecting something to jump on them from there.
Half-elf completely ignores fighters question as if he did not even hear it - his attention was totally focused on the peculiar looking room ahead.
Ninivic shakes his head, "Yeah, maybe we need to bring an entire barrel of oil next trip. I agree with you Reginald, let's move on. Maybe back through that secret passage?" As he gets ready to turn back that way or toward the south, he sees Bryce still looking at the room. "Whatcha thinking Bryce? Got a way to get to it now or just trying to make sure you know how to approach it when we come back"
Olo notices his fellow half-elf keenly inspecting the room. He sends in one of the lights, slowly moving it about the room to give him maximum visibility. So as not to break Bryce's concentration he says quietly to Molasbar, "Do you notice anything magical in the room? The chest?"
"I still think we shouldn't worry about it, fellas. We found a secret passage a ways back that we haven't even explored yet. Let's check that out."
Reginald starts walking back the way they came without waiting for an answer. Rude!
"If half the things I've heard about this place are true, then we can't take anything for granted. We aren't in a hurry, and a thorough search is more likely to catch something that can help, or kill, us later. Besides, going off without the rest of us is almost an open invitation to get eaten."
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Reginald starts singing loudly and boisterously as he strolls back towards the secret door. It's not clear whether he's attempting to be annoying, but it's surely coming off that way! The song couldn't be more off key and grating to the ears as it echoes down the halls. To make matters worse, the subject matter is lurid and bawdy!
"OHHHH I once knew a girl from the East o' Westcrown,
She weren't much to look at, but she sure could go down.
No matter the weather, you'd see her around,
The menfolk who'd met her -- never once did they frown!
...."
The verses get progressively worse from there.
Once Reginald starts singing, Raseri clamps hands over her ears.
"Please make it stop."
Olo's brow furrows as he sees Reginald not only leaving them but starting to sing loudly. The man's booming voice echoes through the hallways and Olo can't help but cringe, "If there is nothing pressing, perhaps we should catch up with Reginald before he walks into another ooze?" The half-elf tries to make a joke to hide his own worry that Reginald may get himself killed and get them all into a bad situation.
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Far ahead of the rest of the group, Reginald reaches the end of the secreted corridor they had previously explored, singing terrible bawdy drinking songs at the top of his lungs as he went. If the group doubted that Reginald could make any worse decisions than leaping into a gelatinous cube, their doubts have been more than destroyed: yes, yes it is very, very possible.
The warrior takes a quick gander down the corridors. Relying on the torchlight, he can only see so far; both directions look identical, heading down off into the darkness.
Reginald is waiting (and singing) for only a short period of time before he catches sight of something at the corner of his vision, shuffling towards him out of the darkness. He squints into the dim light at the edge of the torch's vision, but can't quite make it out. Reginald might be brave to the point of foolhardiness, but he's not stupid; his flail is in his hands in a flash.
And just in time, too: from the darkness comes a deep, guttural moaning as the shadowy figure draws closer. Soon enough, Reginald can make it out clearly: it's a human... or... it once was, at least. Its flesh rots, and some of its innards and bone show through sections that have been worn away entirely. It moves with an awkwardly loping gait, its left ankle twisted at an unnatural angle.
No wondering what this one is! It's a zombie attack!
The zombie catches sight of Reginald almost as soon as he catches sight of it. With a hungry moan, it lumbers down the stone hallway and launches itself at Reggie. The fighter struggles with the powerful undead for some time, barely managing to push its gnashing teeth back away from his unguarded, delicious-looking face!
Initiative: Zombie | Reginald
Round 2+ Initiative: Bryce | Olofire | Molasbar | Zombie | Ninivic | Raseri | Reginald
OOC
The rest of the group is currently separated from Reggie. Round 1, only Reginald and the zombie can take actions. Starting round 2, everyone else can take actions, beginning their turn as if at I-7 or I-8.SO BASICALLY. Reginald can act now. Bryce, Olofire, and Molasbar can all post their actions for round 2. I will resolve their actions and the zombie's. Then everyone can act as normal.
Status
Reginald takes 10 points of strain damage.
Reginald tussles with the zombie, barely avoiding a deadly bite, but exhausting a significant portion of his strength in the process.
"Gah! Everyone's a critic!"
Flail in hand, he rears back and swings at the dead fellow with the same amount of gusto as his terrible singing. Once he notices that his attack isn't particularly effective, he repositions himself in an effort to put some space between himself and the creature.
Hearing that awful bawdy song is replaced by an even worse sound, Bryce asks himself for the briefest of moments How is this possible? What can be worse than his singing?
The answer was obvious - sounds of a battle. Half-elf does not waste time, but draws his weapon and moves forward towards Reginald.
Uncertain of what they are facing, Olo hears Reginald yell out and then retreat. I would do no one any good running up to stand behind Reginald. Better to wait until I can see what faces us, then let it know that Reginald is not alone in this fight.
Ninivic groans audibly as he hears Reggie go off singing through the stone corridors, "Damn fool, we should probably just leave him to whatever comes to eat him." But when the sounds of battle replace the terrible song, Ninivic finds himself moving through the corridors with his pistol together with the rest of the group, unable to leave a companion, even a stupid one, to fall alone in the dark.
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Reginald lands a heavy blow on the zombie's ribcage, eliciting a sickening crunch as his flail smashes a couple of half-exposed ribs. Despite the obvious physical damage done to it, the zombie seems almost completely unaffected by the broken bones, moaning and ineffectively grasping at the air where Reggie once stood. The warrior shouts back to his quickly approaching comrades, informing them of the ineffectiveness of his blow before preparing himself for another attack.
Bryce, as always, is the nimblest of them all, arriving first and pulling out a short sword to do battle with. The two mages are next, both lingering further down the hallway but readying their magic when they spy the enemy. Olo mutters a curse of misfortune upon the zombie, but the mindless shambler cares not for luck or unluck, simply consuming all flesh. Molasbar mutters a short spell before firing off an icy blue ray that ultimately completely misses and dissipates when it hits the far wall. On the upside, the half-orc has read a considerable amount about the restless undead, and relays what he knows to the group.
The zombie shambles forward and yet again turns its attention to Reginald, apparently impervious to the magical abilities aimed its way. However, this time Reginald can't force it away from him! Despite his best efforts the zombie manages to clamp its teeth down on his neck, tearing out a chunk of flesh and noisily swallowing it. Reggie manages to push the zombie away before he takes too much more damage, but succumbs to the pain and injury and collapses in a heap on the ground, unconscious. The blood from his neck wound begins to make a crimson pool, his lifeblood sinking into the cracks of the stone floor.
The zombie then turns its clouded white eyes to Bryce, moaning hollowly. Its mouth and chin are stained with dripping blood, and a bit of skin seems to have caught on one of its front teeth...
Initiative: Ninivic | Raseri | Reginald | Bryce* | Olofire* | Molasbar* | Zombie*
* = next round
Dancing Lights duration: 5 rounds
Status
Reginald takes 7 points of damage. This is a final blow which means that he takes injury damage.
Reginald: -1/17, 10 points of strain, 8 points of injury; prone, unconscious, dying. DC 11 Constitution check to stabilise.Zombie: 1 point of damage.
The zombie saved against Misfortune. It's now immune for 24 hours.OOC
Everyone can act now.
With practiced steps Raseri moves in with her sword held high before twisting the blade around the zombie's guard in an attempt to bisect it.
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Raseri walks up, steps over Reginald's bleeding body, and deftly slices the zombie in two through the waist. Black, terribly-smelling blood spurts everywhere as the zombie's legs collapse and its torso and head flails around on the floor for a few moments. It manages to loosely grasp around Bryce's ankles before finally stopping.
"Ew."
Raseri lays her sword down before saying a short, quiet prayer and touching her fingers to Reginald's head. She stands back up and wipes her sword clean before sheathing it again. Her nose wrinkles as the stench of undeath and decay finally registers.
"Gods! How can necromancers stand that smell!"
Reginald is beginning to make a tradition out of ending each battle lying on the floor. Raseri's touch miraculously stops the bleeding, and he remains unconscious for a few moments before sitting up with a groan.
"Believe it or not, that's not the first time I've been bitten over a song."
The wounded warrior leans against the wall behind him for support as he checks his bite wound and adjusts his armor.
"I should have invested in a helmet."
Olo's eyes go wide (with fright) as he sees the warrior fall to the ground. Perhaps we can lure it back into one of the traps. If Bryce or the Corporal lead it away, I will have time to tend to Reginald's wounds... . Once again Olo ponders running, but before he can even act Raseri downs the creature - effortlessly it would seem. The half-elf shakes his head at his own thoughts and underestimation of his allies.
After Reginald gets up he moves forward, this time knowing the wall will be able to support the huge warrior better than his own slight form. Although not actively bleeding, there is a large gash in the man's neck. Olo whispers a few words to himself and his hand begins to glow with a white light, "This will help." He reaches up and with his had still a few inches away the light seems to be sucked into the wound, mending tissue back together.
Reginald is beginning to make a tradition out of ending each battle lying on the floor. Raseri's touch miraculously stops the bleeding, and he remains unconscious for a few moments before sitting up with a groan.
"Believe it or not, that's not the first time I've been bitten over a song."
The wounded warrior leans against the wall behind him for support as he checks his bite wound and adjusts his armor.
"I should have invested in a helmet."
"I believe it. That was-- painful."
Raseri glances at Reginald with an apologetic look.
"Which way do we go now?"
Olo's skill with healing magics shows, and once the light fades, the dried blood on his armor is the only indication that he was ever wounded.
"Good gods, man. You're a miracle worker!", Reginald bellows as he hops to his feet with a thunderous metal clank. He firmly slaps Olo on the shoulder with a big grin on his face.
Regarding Raseri's question, he replies:
"That deader came from down that way.."
Reginald points down the northern corridor.
"There might be more shuffling around down there. Who knows what's down the opposite side."
Reggie rubs the healed spot on his neck, still amazed that the bite wound is no more.
After a moment, he kicks the upper half of the zombie.
"For all we know, this could be the guy who wrote on the wall over there."
He points to Andrei Jofferin's wall note for emphasis.
"I dunno, does he look like an Andrei to any of you?"
Olo offers a genuine smile to the big man as he tries not to fall over from the congratulatory slap on the back, "Glad my skills could be of help. Although I won't be able to do that again until I've had a chance to rest and regain some energy."
Despite his recklessness, there was something genuinely good-natured about the man. Olo could sense that he was the type of man who would die fighting to save a friend. He notices his companions ready to move forward and falls into line.
Reginald follows alongside Raseri (or behind her if we get into a narrow corridor). Before the group departs, however, he pesters Bryce for the battleaxe they had picked up from the skirmish with the gnolls. After acquiring said axe, he would strap it to his belt on the hip opposite his flail.
, he yells, which echoes loudly through the halls. Subtle!
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The group turns to the north. What they find is nothing short of unexciting. The passage seems to continue endlessly, twisting and turning and leaving you with no sense of direction or location. Occasionally you spot an identifiable marker that confirms to you that you are progressing, such as a bit of debris or rubbish, but for the most part this path is devoid of anything of interest.
After about five, maybe ten minutes of traversing the endless corridor it takes an abrupt turn to your left. The main passage seems to have collapsed, but and a short tunnel has been dug out of the earth, tall enough for a human to stand in. It leads to a door that looks significantly newer in design to the other doors you've seen in this place.
Bryce shows a "pst sign" (index finger raised across his lips) and then focuses on the conversation coming from the other side.
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If you listen at the door for some time, you can make out the conversation to an extent. It's nothing particularly interesting--there sounds like there's some kind of dice or card game going on, and that intermingles with a rather lewd conversation essentially boiling down to bragging about one's notches on one's bedpost. Another conversation seems to be going on at the same time about receiving payment for something. You think that there are at least a half-dozen different people in the room, maybe more.
Raseri taps Bryce on the shoulder and points down.
"Lots o' prints 'sides ours."
Ninivic whispers, "So, we gonna jump them, knock, or want to go back for now? Sounds like a group pretty similar size to us. Could be a tough fight if it comes to that." He looks over the door for traps while waiting to see what everyone thinks.
"Numbers mean less than skill, but I agree. Lets see if they are friendly or not before we do anything more aggressive."
Reginald nudges both Bryce and Ninivic as he whispers:
"One of you unlock this door, then have the other one throw it open."
He points to Raseri.
"Then you and I run in and catch these guys with their pants down. Fighting or talking -- either way, we'll catch 'em off guard."
Considering Reginald's exemplary safety record, this is probably a plan that cannot fail.
"Tell ya what. How about I quietly get this door unlocked and then we let Raseri chat with them."
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Ninivic pulls out his set of lock picks and begins slowly, carefully working away at the door. Bryce remains alert, listening at the door for any sign that the people on the other side took notice. A couple of minutes later and the rat hears a quiet, satisfying click as the final mechanism is tweaked just enough to unlock the door completely. There's still no sign that anyone has noticed.
"Don't know about chattin'. My singing's better than Reginald's, so I could try that"
She flashes a smile at Ninivic and Reginald, letting them know she was joking, a little.
When the door is finally unlocked, Reginald gets a wild look in his eye as a bead of sweat drips down his nose. His eyes flick back and forth between his companions and the door handle, fingers twitching intermittently.
Ninivic catches a glimpse of Reginald getting ready to jump in. "I'm starting to think we should just hightail it out of here. Maybe leave them a note that we unlocked their door without them knowing and will return to kill them all if they don't leave."
"They might be friendly, or at least not ready to rip our throats out at the drop of the hat. And if they are enemies, well, better to get them now than leave them to stab us in the back later."
Raseri waits a second to see if any objections arise before motioning for them to wait behind the corner.
She takes a steadying breath and knocks on the door as she opens it.
"Hello? I've gotten a little lost and I was wondering if you could help me out?"
AAAHHH! I sound like one of those fake dainty little nobles.
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The group sends in their member with the highest likelihood of having any success at diplomacy: Raseri. Seconds seem to become hours as the aasimar approaches the freshly-unlocked door, everyone realising the seriousness of the situation when she was their best hope for friendly relations with the dungeon denizens. Nonetheless, she turns the handle and opens the door.
The room beyond is rather large and irregularly shaped, almost like four smaller octagonal rooms had been clustered together. A couple of ratty tents have been staked into the floor here, with extra bedrolls scattered haphazardly around them. An orc lounges near the closest one, picking his toenails with a small dagger, at least until the door suddenly opens; he quickly stands up and shouts in alarm. "Who the f*%$ are you?!"
On the far side of the room, a table made from a plank of wood placed over a pair of dilapidated old barrels is surrounded by two men, three orcs, and a single, unused, rickety stool. They seem to be in the middle of a card game, but are quick to turn around when the door guard shouts the alarm. Two men stand near the southern part of the room, one of whom is a very tall, bald half-orc. The half-orc arches his brow as Raseri meekly introduces herself, leaving his previous conversation partner and striding imperiously over to the door.
"Lost? Why the f%~$ should I care?" The half-orc eyes Raseri greedily and chuckles. "Heheh. Actually... I reckon you could give me plenty of reason to care, sweet cheeks. Me and all the boys here." He licks his lips, taking a gratuitous amount of time checking the aasimar out. A couple of the lackeys on the other side of the room wolf whistle and cheer in response, a couple chucking their cards down and getting to their feet.
Okay, this was a mistake. A biiiiiiig mistake.
"Are you sure that all eight of you are willing to share? There is only one of me after all."
Raseri doesn't have to fake the obvious discomfort in her voice. She does have to keep her hands from reaching for the sword at her back or to keep from taking several steps back. She sizes up the others in the room, but for an entirely different purpose.