Flare looks over the church, and sets the space to memory, so that she can tell what's going on inside, shapewise once they're in. Knowing where the outer limits were would help to point out when things didn't make sense.
You approach the church and as you get close you smell decaying flesh and are reminded of the swamp once more. Seems likely undead inside you can also hear a few muzzle voices talking as you listen in but cant make out what they are saying.
Riven would try to whisper to her allies in hopes of avoiding detection."They have undead trapped inside? Could be using them as a weapon."
"Odd." Flare says, keeping her voice low. "Maybe it's like the keep? A city that's been cursed with undeath? Is that common around here?" she looked to the alchemist and investigator in time.
(Anything about the village we're in specifically?)
(Any local legends or historical information she can draw upon?)
"Can't do much against undead, but if anyone else is in there, I might be able to put them to sleep." Cynthia mused, edging near the door while trying to stay out of sight. Hopefully she could just peek around the corner to hex someone when the doors opened...
If any of this is relevant(if not, replace it with a relevant one, all Knowledges are the same):
- Was there some empire here dealing with undead?
- What religion does the church follow? Can I make out the type of undead from smell/sounds?
- Does this area have some noteworthy history/reputation beyond being a fishing village?
- The building style, would it likely have a back entrance? Does it have any special futures that would make it good as a "holding pen" for weaponized undead?
"Thats a unnatural smell of decay. Should we try and enter here? Or go on to the main keep? We have no idea where we need to go, so it's the same to me."
- Listen at the door, trying to make out what the voices say.
The church was a church of sarenrea, having undead inside would be considered a blasphemy. It was likely desecrated.
No special history you can think of.
The building likely has another entrance than the front door.
"If it is someone trying to use them for a war leaving them here could trap us later on."
Riven casts detect magic and examines the outside for the church.
You detect moderate evocation and necromancy magic all around the church. (20 foot radius around the building)
"Seems they were summoned or raised near the church, If the necromancer that summoned them dies don't they normally go back to rest?" While Riven had studied magic necromancy was something she had never touched.
"Well, if you want, I can give someone a bit of protection before they go in." Cynthia mused. She... really wasn't very capable against the undead, and was going to have to look into fixing that.
"No, most undead will not go to rest, they will just become mindless and attack anything living. But I agree in that they could be used to trap us...especially while they still take orders from someone. This building should have a back door the cleric can use instead of coming and going through the front entrance. Lets head there and try to find out more"
Some rolls as applicable, heading towards the backdoor, quickly screening for traps, opening it up, then peeking inside without drawing attention.
Flare follows along, letting him lead for now. He seemed to be effectively a one-man show, thus far. And the sheer amount he seemed to know about every situation was unsettling. He was leading them to a church filled with undead to a floor he knew was on the side, in a place he had apparently never been. She was seriously beginning to doubt his claims of only having good intentions, after all, he knew things he had no right to know. She kept her weapon at the ready, as she watched him work with the side door, though outwardly she likely appeared to merely be focusing on the man and the door.
Circling the church you find some cellar doors leading into a basement but no other entrance to the main floor other than the front doors.
"Well, if there's going to be a way in, it's gonna be underground anyway." Flare says, keeping her voice low. "So the question is... do we suffer the undead to live, and allow them to keep tearing apart the sanctity of Sarenrae's church... or do we go straight for our answers? It's likely within our best interest to curry the Goddess's favor, but... we have no idea what they're doing, how long we have, or if that is an even worse affront to the Goddess... I hate not knowing things."
Not that worship of the divines was very popular in their homeland anyway, but... "We cannot take responsibility for all that goes on in the world. We have a mission to accomplish, and it may be best to judge our actions based on their contribution to that." Cynthia offered as advice. "Especially given what's going on right now."
...Notably, she hadn't said whether she was for or against going into the church. She'd simply pointed out her thoughts on the matter.
"Leaving them is a bad idea I think we should try to pull them out in small groups and take them out like that."
Flare nods, and despite the fact that Cynthia wasn't forthcoming with her opinions, only information, and wasn't particularly faithful, Flare was. "We'll be giving up the fact that they aren't aware of us... but I think it's worth it."
"We'll have to deal with them at some point so doing it on our terms is our best bet and definitely worth causing a little noise."
You open the cellar doors and go down into the basement.
The basement is a single large room under the church with several support pillars.
You find a large alchemy lab has been build here taking up about a quarter of the basement and there are also racks storing various religious items as well as some wine racks.
In the center of the lab there is a steel slab and on it there is a body that seems composes of the mixed parts of several bodies.
You know it's a flesh golem.
A flesh golem is a ghoulish collection of stolen humanoid body parts, stitched together into a single composite form. No natural animal willingly tracks a flesh golem. The golem wears whatever clothing its creator desires, usually just a ragged pair of trousers. It has no possessions and no weapons. It stands 8 feet tall and weighs almost 500 pounds.
Currently this golem doesn't react to your presence. You guess it has not been given any orders. It will not move unless attacked or given orders by it's creator.
Berserk (Ex)
When a flesh golem enters combat, there is a cumulative 1% chance each round that its elemental spirit breaks free and the golem goes berserk. The uncontrolled golem goes on a rampage, attacking the nearest living creature or smashing some object smaller than itself if no creature is within reach, then moving on to spread more destruction.
Immunity to Magic (Ex)
A flesh golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below.
A magical attack that deals cold or fire damage slows a flesh golem.
A magical attack that deals electricity damage breaks any slow effect on the golem and heals 1 point of damage for every 3 points of damage the attack would otherwise deal.
=> Sharing Spoiler with team.
+
Checking the room with Detect Magic active, to see if there could be any traps/triggers for the golem.
Carefully looking around the lab, would there be alchemical reagents that can be used to set the whole area ablaze? If there's a Golem down here and undead up above, setting the whole church on fire may be an effective solution...(naturally that would need to be discussed first, but checking to see if it's an option is a valid course of action...
Keeping her voice low, Flare presses her lips into a thin line, before speaking. "So... someone has had time to build a magic lab dedicated raising the dead in the form of a homunculus... under a church of Sarenrae... and they didn't even bother to move the religious objects out of the room?"
Victor frowns, upon looking at the golem. "The creature seems to be immune to most forms of magic, so be wary Riven. Avoid electrical attacks, and if anyone has any forms of magical attacks that deal fire or cold damage, they would be very much suitable here."
You do find several flask of flammable oil in the room. (lets say 4 flask)
"I think it's a save bet that this church has been desecrated. I believe Sarenrae would not object to having it cleansed by fire . Among the alchemical ingredients, I found some oil we could use to set a fire. If we barricade the front door, we may be lucky enough to destroy this lab, the golem, and the undead upstairs in one stroke. And it may provide a diversion while we try to get into the main keep!"
Janus explains, while picking up one of the flasks, quickly sniffing it, then showing it to the others.
"The issue is, that we don't know where we'll be coming back up for air, or even if where we do wind up has an exit other than within the church. Burning it down is certainly an option, but then we may well be trapped with our decision." she says calmly. "Further, even if we do wind up elsewhere, not knowing where an exit is, in enemy territory... I don't see that turning out well."
"You are right, of course, that it is only an option if we do not stay here. The question, then, is if there is more hidden in these cellars than the laboratory. If there is a pathway we want to go, I would not set fire to our escape path. If, on the other hand, there is not, and we have to exit the church and find another way into the keep, then I think it's a very valid option to consider."
There is a ladder going up to a trapdoor but you see no other passage in or out of the basement exept the way you came in.
Cynthia carefully eyed the trapdoor, checking for signs of magical traps on it while the others examined the rest of the chamber. One couldn't be too careful, after all, not when the area up ahead was unknown - and traps to stop people from sneaking in the back were practically basic-level protection.
"What if we lead the undead down here and make them attack it?"
"I think that may be difficult. If the undead are controlled, they will not attack everything they come across, and if they are mindless, they will choose living targets, which that...thing probably is not. But if we want to gamble, we can try leading them here. The trapdoor would definitely give us a tactical advantage if they follow blindly. If they don't, we could still try the front door. The risk, of course, is that whoever created the flesh golem may be up there, and decide it's a good time to give it orders."
"I'd think if there where anything sentient here we'd be detected by now, do we have no way to trick the undead into attacking it?"
You heard some voices of people talking up above they haven't notice you yet but there is at least two sentients up there.
Janus looks at the others: "So, there are people up there it seems. I seriously doubt they are not in league with the undead we heared, and smelled, earlier. Bursting from a trapdoor might give us a moment of surprise, but place us at a serious tactical disadvantage, and the golem may cut off our escape. That thing is creepy, I don't really want to try and see if it would mind when I try and cut it's head off. Either way, we'll need a plan on how to proceed? What's everybody's opinion? So far, I see 4 options...first: burn everything down, use it as a diversion, try and get into the central fortress structure. Second: Use this trapdoor, and hope for the best...not a big fan of that option, personally. Third: Go around and try to get in through the front door...at least our escape route would be open and we see what we're facing without people pushing from behind...of course we know nothing about how the battle proceeded. Or four, something completely different that one of you guys cooked up in their brilliant minds. In other words, I'm all open for alternatives, but we're on a schedule here, so we best try and decide on some course of action..."
"Indeed." Cynthia mused. "At the very least, trying to get up there one at a time would put us at a distinct disadvantage, and whoever went up would be most vulnerable. I advise against that."
Victor frowned. "Personally, out of anyone here, I would have the best chance at handling that golem, as my bombs deal fire damage, I could hopefully eliminate it quickly. That said, it would certainly be noisy, and it might attract attention. Furthermore, the attack doesn't really assist us in a primary goal. As far as options go, heading through the front door looks like the more attractive option, giving us an escape route, and I'm reasonably confident in our abilities at handling anyone who blocked our way".
"For me, there are two things to consider. First... this is a desecrated church, and that is incredibly heinous. I would really, really like to rectify this little issue... But the other thing is that we know the church has nothing to do with our goals, and the golem is just a statue, just now. We're here for the people in charge, and Malcolm. So, do we want to fix the church? Yes or no? I vote yes. And if we're going to do that, we should disable the trap door so we don't need to worry about those above coming down here. Block it, and then go in through the front." She suggests.
"Do you mind if I sprinkle the alchemical agent I found around here. Just in case, we could still set it all on fire...no matter the choice we make." Janus smiles:"I'm sure Sarenrae would prefer cleansing by fire over leaving the church desecrated, but we can keep that as a backup-plan...doesn't hurt to be prepared, though. I'd espcially like THAT thing() soaked with this stuff..."
We should deal with this in the fastest way possible. Cleansing the church is not our main objective but I agree that it should be done.
OK so lets say you cover the golem in oil and move upstairs and open the front door?
Flare will also bar the trapdoor if it's possible. Was the outside padlocked? If so, she'd prefer to use that particular method. :)
"If we just block the trap door we can deal with the undead at the front door, with no golem it shouldn't be too difficult and we spare the church."
You block the trapdoor , scatter some oil around and on the golem and you make your way back up.
You can see that the attacking pirates have made some progress up the beach the blood hands are losing it seems but the battle hasn't made it's way up here yet.
"The further ahead we'll be, the better. Let's go." Cynthia said, gesturing towards the main doors of the church - for many reasons, she had no intention of being in front.
Flare looks to Tormod, head tilted slightly, indicating the door with her Fauchard. Now that they were at the door, it was a lot more difficult to speak without alerting those inside to her presence.
Riven stands in front of the door waiting for an attack to charge out.
Janus whispers: "Well, here goes nothing...with those heavy church doors, any kind of surprise is unlikely to work..."
After checking those doors too(Detect Magic/Traps), Janus will attempt to open them slightly enough to get just a small peek inside(sometimes there's double-doors, or a curtain between the door and the main hall(so wind does not go in and blow out candles)), but ready to open the door quickly and fully if there is no indication of an obstacle between the entrance and whatever they were able to hear.
You crack open the doors and you can see over a dozen zombies sitting on the benches of the church and a few skeletons standing here and there at the end you see two men talking.
"What are we waiting for? They are getting close we should send the zombies and the golem to attack them!"
"For the last time the boss said to wait for the signal so we wait" rpelies the other
Janus motions for the others to hide, then throws the door wide open:"You idiots, did you miss the signal? They almost took the beaches, where's the zombies?"
Spending an inspiration: