Korriban looks at the group. "Remember the hall with the acid trap and the bone snakes? There is a door other than the secret passage the little guy took. I think the place continues on from there. We still should investigate the entire place. Smokestick and Gadriel are right. We still need to find the head to give the Shoanti closure and find the necromancer."
Korriban's limited medical knowledge doesn't tell him about how the legs were separated. However, Falko's stories on Shoanti customs help Korriban shine. "Shoanti burial rites don't have any requirements on the condition of the body. Shoanti warriors tend to die due to wild beasts. However, they do require that the entire body's present. Or as much as possible. Therefore, we must continue to search the tomb for the rest of it."
Adoros nods in agreement, still pale and nauseated from the smell of the room as he quickly exits, "Yes, let's be about finding the rest of the body. Preferably elsewhere. Immediately."
Korriban follows Adoros, glad to finally be out of the stink.
Returning to the hallway with the acid-spitting skulls, the party quickly passes down the corridor and Korriban puts his ear to the door at the far end. Hearing nothing, and finding no traps, the young man pushes the door open, to reveal...some sort of workplace.
Wooden tables here are stacked with vials, beakers, and other alchemical gear, although the southern one is heaped with broken vials and leans awkwardly on a hastily repaired leg. Three large cauldrons sit against the east wall, one of them upended. Its foul, rancid contents of rendered fats have spilled over the floor. A tunnel leads out of this well-hewn stone room to the south east, and to the south you can see a recessed door that's been boarded over...heavily.
You can also see one of those blue, three-fingered humanoids with the blank eyes. He's currently engaged in cleaning some of the glassware with a filthy rag, but when you open the door he glances up casually and drops the item he's holding with a shriek and a crash. He backs up, stammering wildly in their strange language.
"S-siz kimsiz? Bu erga q-qanday kirdingiz? Rolth sizga tirik yatırıp terisini suzishga bo'ladi!"
Foe
Party
The good news is that the strange little humanoid makes no hostile move at all, eyes darting back and forth rapidly toward the chamber to the south and...the northern wall? It's muttering something under its breath..."Jang qilish yoki qochishga, jang qilish uchun yoki qochishga? Ular usta nima kerak emas, balki ular dahshatli quyosh nuri ruxsat ham boshimni yorilish kerak emas..."
As Gadriel peers into the room, the monkey on her shoulder chitters and its eyes glow red. The girl stares at the thing intently. "We do not like this one. And it should fear us," she says dispassionately. The creature involuntarily flinches away from her.
First exclamation: "W-who are you? How did you g-get in here? Rolth will flay you alive!"
On its turn: "To fight or to flee, to fight or to flee? They must not know what the master does, but they must not crack my head either to let the terrible sunlight in..."
Blue humanoid: HP: 25 | AC/T/FF: 15/11/13 (for 8 rounds) | Fort: +5 Ref: +3 Will: +6 | SR 14 | CMD: 13
Leading the group with sword grasped in one hand, he went in after Korriban gave the all clear for this new room. He scrunched his face at the rank odor coming from this place, his eyes landing on a similar blue humanoid babbling at them. He reflexively grasped his Falchion in both hands, but didn't advance on the scared-looking creature. He couldn't bring himself to go after a creature that didn't present a clear threat.
Diamon intently studied the babbling humanoid, trying to deduce whether or not he should outright kill it
Sense Motive:
Korriban's nose scrunches at the smell. He mutters, "How many bad smelling things are around here?" Korriban stands still at the sight of another blue creature. He tightens his grip on his rapier. He sees the creature looking at the south and the north. He says to the others, "Easy. He's looking for something. Or he might run. He's looking at that wall. Another secret passage?" He makes ready to chase if the creature decides to run.
Adoros immediately raises his musket at the gibbering blue under-creature, "Do you speak Common? C-O-M-M-O-N?"
Although none of you speak its language, it seems pretty clear that the creature is panicked and is trying to decide between fighting the five of you (a poor-looking option) or fleeing and abandoning its post.
When Adoros speaks to it, it startles and glares at him, muttering, "Yomon odamning yuqori jahon og'zidan yomon cho'chqa so'zlar..."
Teodor gestures enthusiastically to the effect of "You want to live? Hands up. "
Although it's clear the little beast doesn't understand Taldane, he stares curiously at Teodor's frantic gesturing. His eyes start to glaze over as he stares, though, and a few seconds into the "diatribe" he pulls the hooked club from his belt and--as everyone tenses in anticipation of violence--proceeds to scratch his head with the hooked end, muttering to himself.
"Hmmmmm ular tushunmadim narsalarni aytayotgan ... Ehtimol, men Vreeg olish kerak? Yoki Karambosh? Biror narsa meni ularni tushunish qoldirish uchun shu yerni bormi? Balki ular qul bo'ladi?"
Seeming to hit on an idea, he puts both hands around his throat, seeming to mime some sort of choker or necklace, and then points at you, looking hopeful. And slightly deranged.
The Dwarf shakes his head, looking to the rest of the group. "Dunno about the rest of you, but I can't understand a word. I say, we just knock it out. It's not directly a threat, but I don't want it runnin' off and gettin' somethin' that CAN fight us." With that, Diamon will rush forward and smash the broad side of his Falchion into the creature's temple, trying to put it down without killing it.
Charge w/Power Attack:
Non-Lethal:
"I think he wants rough sex with--" Teodor's translation is interrupted by the paladin.
Gadriel shakes her head. "Abu cannot understand the creature. If Abu cannot, then we cannot. We do not like the thought of killing things without cause. That will lead to being no better than Lamm, and we are not wanting to be that. We think, maybe, we can move a different direction? Or maybe move past with smiles and waves? We could also try to scare it." At the last, the small girl shrugs, then gives the creature her best 'I'm a scary little girl' glare before Abu's eyes glow black.
The creature shrieks as Diamon charges it, barely managing to smack it with the flat of his blade--a blow that nonetheless sends the little thing staggering. Although it quails before Gadriel's glare, it looks like it's preparing to fight back!
Adoros keeps his musket trained on the little creature while the dwarf smacks it around. If it makes a break for it, he'll fire to try and wing it in the leg.
Korriban runs into the room after Diamon and lashes out with his rapier, not trying to kill the creature.
Teodor steps forward with a small bow. "Allow me." Turning toward the small creature, he booms, "HOLD NOW BEFORE THE WRATH OF GROETUS!"
With a panicked shriek, the humanoid wildly swings its hooked club toward Diamon's head, drawing a stripe of blood as the hook catches Diamon's scalp. Teodor frowns.
"Usually that works..."
Blue humanoid: HP: 25 (15 nonlethal damage) | AC/T/FF: 15/11/13 (for 6 rounds) | Fort: +5 Ref: +3 Will: +6 | SR 14 | CMD: 13
Seeing the creature swing the wicked hook, Gadriel glares at it. Abu's eyes glow red, and a dark aura seems to flicker. Gadriel then breaks out into an odd laugh.
Korriban tries to nonlethally attack again.
Korriban frowns. "Nonlethal attacks really aren't my strong suit!"
Adoros sighs as the others flail away at the little creature trying to knock him out. The Chelish man shoulders his gun as he draws his longsword and rounds the table to his right, coming up behind the creature. He swings the flat of his blade at the side of it's head with a grunt.
"For the sake of Ends, I was talking to him! What is wrong with you people?"
Diamon attempts to bring his falchion down on the little bugger just as Teodor cries out, spoiling the dwarf's blow. The little blue fellow, staggered by Adoros's mighty blow and maddened by Gadriel's cackling, darts one way, then the other, and then makes a mad dash toward the north wall! Adoros and Diamon both curse as their blades ricochet off one another, missing the fleeing quarry, and it looks like their prey will escape...until Korriban steps into its way and, when the little thing bounces off his chest, clubs it sharply in the head with the hilt of his rapier. Its white eyes roll back in its skull and it crumples at his feet.
Korriban sighs as the creature falls. "Well... that was anticlimactic. And Teo, I was just following his lead." The duelist gestures to Diamon.
Korriban stares down at the creature. "Well, Teo, looks like you can still try to talk to him. I only knocked him out. I think I hit him too hard, though. Should be out for at least a day or two. Gives us plenty of time to finish our search... and maybe haul the little guy to Kroft." He then digs around his pack and pulls out the oil of keen edge. During this lull, he applies it to his rapier. During this, he also looks around the room.
Watching the creature drop, Diamon sheathed his weapon and commented, "Sorry folks. I ain't on t' try and kill somethin' that ain't a clear threat. His allies attacked us, sure. But this one didn't. Looked more panicked than anything." Seeing that the creature was still breathing, he added his two cents as to what to do with it. "Wouldn't hurt t' take 'im to Kroft. Could maybe get a Mage or Cleric t' speak t' it. Hear they got the mean t' talk with anythin' intelligent."
As Korriban gazes around the room, he frowns, gets up, and examines the northern wall more closely...
There's a secret door in the northeastern corner of the room!
Now that you're not fighting something, it's clear how much damage was done to this room even before you arrived: one of the cauldrons is upended, and a slick film of oil (you hope) covers the floor nearby; the southern table is leaning on a hastily repaired leg, and littered with alchemical tools that have been thrown hastily onto its surface, many of them broken or damaged. Aside from the door from which you entered, there is a door down a short corridor to the south that's been heavily boarded over, and a passageway leading out of the room to the west...
Korriban says to the others, "Another hidden passage here! Just how many of these things are there?!"
Looking around the room, Korriban says, "Someone forgot about Spring cleaning... So what do we do? Unboard the way south or go west? I personally want to investigate the south first."
"It's been my experience tha' doors boarded up are done so for a reason. I say we head west. But first..." Diamon walks over to the table of alchemical tools and selects a wedge, normally used for chiseling runes and the like into wood and stone, and a heavily worn pestle. He walks over to the hidden door, saying as he lines the file up with the small crack, "I'm guessin' this is like th' other hidden passages we've come across. An' like them, I'm gonna jam 'em shut. If no one has any objections."
Diamon will smash the wedge and pestle into the door crack. One with a swift boot kick, and th eother with a more direct smash from his Bec De Corbin.
Korriban raises a brow at the dwarf. "Really? I wonder when you have had time to wander around crypts, encountering boarded up doors, undead snake things, and little blue things. You really don't seem to be the type. All jokes aside, I agree with you in this regard." When Diamon says that he'll jam the door, Korriban speaks up. "Wait! Before you do... maybe I should... go in there. To investigate and see if I can learn anything."
"Many things to learn to see to know. Are any permanent? Nothing else is. Nothing is permanent but the True End. You folk seek another half a man. We all do."
The small monkey stays firmly on Gadriel's shoulder, the slick of oil and ooze around the room convincing it to stay high. Gadriel nods at the wisdom of Diamon. "We worry that we may end up looking though. We still have much of a body to find. We wish to hurry. We... we are finding this place uncomfortable. It is... dark... in a strange way Abu does not like."
The Dwarf pauses at Korriban stopped him, pocketing the items for the moment and says, "Fine. Go ahead an' take a peek. If we don't find anything, I'll seal it up. And I'm no fool, Korriban. I've visited a few crypts and tombs, but my father was a smith and a soldier. He taught me enough to know that boarded doors means survivors, a last stand, or a cage."
Adoros nods in agreement with Diamon, "If it was boarded up that means that they didn't want easy access to it and that whatever is inside might be hostile. We can always circle back to check it out later. For now, our top priority is to find the rest of the Shoanti's body for Kroft."
Korriban nods. "Okay. Check the door later. I'll head into the secret passage then. Wish me luck." He then moves through the tiny passage, moving quietly.
Korriban slips into the tiny, dark passage behind the secret door, moving softly. It's nearly pitch-black, the only light coming from the door ajar behind him. The passage slopes gently upward and curves around, running for about thirty feet before hitting what at first seems a blank wall...but a handhold in the wall marks what looks likely to be another secret door, opening into a room that you haven't yet seen.
Korriban breathes slowly as he makes his way through. All the while, he curses in his head. 'F**king darkness, f**king enclosed space, f**k, f**k, f**k!' He feels around until he finds a handhold. He smiles, relief flowing through his body. 'Ha! Finally! Now let's see where you go.' He opens it by a crack and looks through said crack, to see if there's any danger.
Peering through the door, Korriban sees a carefully hewn chamber--also dimly lit by the glowing lichen that decorated the earlier passages you went through. Two wide, freestanding bookshelves stand in this room, the shelves filled with row upon row of tomes and scrolls. There is a closed door on the eastern end of the room.
Korriban sneaks through the passage's door. He whispers back, "Guys, there's a room here. Several bookcases." He rifles around the room, searching the bookcases.
When he's done, he cracks open the door a bit and tries to spot anything dangerous.
Gadriel passes the information to the rest. "Does Korriban want light, or for the others to follow?"
Although he's not as quiet as he'd like, Korriban manages to spend a few minutes rummaging through the library in the dim half-light . There doesn't seem to be much of interest here besides the books, most of which seem to be books on anatomy, necromancy, and the crafting of golems. There are also a number of "natural sciences" books on diseases, plagues, and the like.
Peering through the doorway in the library reveals only that the passage turns sharply to the left, although the air that way stinks of decay and some less familiar, sharper smell.
Korriban looks through the books. Hearing Gadriel's question, Korriban whispers back, "You can if you want. Though, it may ruin our element of surprise if Teo, Smokestick, and Diamon were trying stealth in their heavy armor. As for light, I may possibly need it. There's a lot of books here. I don't know what we can get for them. We may need to get them appraised by an expert. There's a passage deeper. But it smells like decay and... something else."
Gadriel nods her head, and after looking at Abu, holds a small glowing stone. Cautiously moving down the narrow tunnel, she hands it to Korriban. "Abu says that Korriban can close Korriban's hand around the stone to stop the light, then open the hand to show it again. Korriban can also place the stone in Korriban's pocket to stop it if Korriban needs both hands."
Adoros whispers rather loudly to Gadriel, "Ask Korriban if he sees any sign of the Shoanti body? Or someone that might know where it is?"
"Adoros want's to know if Korriban can see any of the Shoanti body. Or another creature who will talk to Korriban about the body without stabbing Korriban."
Korriban takes the stone from Gadriel. "Thanks." He closes his hand around the stone, suffocating the light. When Gadriel asks her question, he shakes his head. "Other than the books, no. I don't see the body anywhere. I don't see any other creatures. Just this tunnel and the smelly smell."