I can't see a g*ddamned thing, where is it!
Ryan finds the creeper with his mace obtaining a shout of pain from it. Meanwhile Ruben casts a spell finding too late the rules of magic are more complicated than he thoughts and his innate spell fails to light the environment.
Then you overhear Maxim cursing at the room corner and next...
A thundering blast cuts the darkness, the sound reverberating on the walls and echoing in the nearby chambers. A dry shout accompanied by dishes breaking as the corpse crashes over the pile of porcelains. The bullet entered through the side front of the creeper. The miserable being was dead even before he realised of the hit.
Dark blood slides over the broken dishes.
2 daggers
3 more poison dosis
21 silver pieces
Having temporarily forgotten both Maxim's gun and the fact that dwarves can see in the dark, Marigold shrieks with fear and surprise at the sound of the blast that emanates only a few feet ahead of her and immediately throws herself down on the ground, convinced that the world must be coming to an end.
"ઓહ આ એક ખરાબ વિચાર શા માટે ન હતી હું અહીં નીચે આવે હવે અમે અંધારામાં બધા મૃત્યુ પામે ફરીથી સૂર્ય અથવા અનાથાશ્રમ ક્યારેય જોઈ જઈ રહ્યાં છો હતી ખરાબ છે..." she jabbers, trembling as she waits for the end that seems sure to come...
"Oh this is bad this was a bad idea why did I come down here now we're all going to die in the dark never see the sun or the orphanage again..."
"તે ઠીક મેરીગોલ્ડ છે, મને લાગે છે કે લતા હવે મૃત છે." calls out JJ.
It's okay marigold, I think the creeper is dead now.
"How many of these things are there? Do they live here now the gnomes have left?"
The light only recovers after the dwarven companion cover the creeper's dagger. At that point you see back the broken dishes, the fireplaces, the cabinet and the western door with the glyph E.
Dandarrion lies now next to the cabinet where Marigold and Maxim have placed him.
Kikinnin regains himself, with the ringing in his ears from the pistol clap. He eyes the blond-beard's nifty toy, and nods in approval. "That thing packs quite a punch, Maxim. Let's just hope it's always pointed in the right direction." The black-beard shivers briefly as he imagines being on the receiving end. He lifts the creeper to a side, and tucks the dagger under it for the meantime, setting it back down to cover the blackness.
Walking over to look down on Dandarrion, he wonders aloud. "Why'd he wander off like that? The only thing I get from him now is the lesson not to do what he did. Is he salvageable?" Kikinnin wanders over to the E door. "Do we have the rod for this one?" He takes a long listen, wondering what a pistol clap can do to rouse the inhabitants further.
His ears are still ringing.
Maxim smiles, enjoying the smell of gunpowder filling the chamber and the resultant damage of his weapon upon the Creeper.
"Heh. Duly noted brother. Apologies for not giving the fair warning on the noise... Reckon I probably woke up most o' this place!"
The gun-mage holsters his weapon and assists with looting and checking of the room;
:
Kikinnin attempts to overhear the tunnels, but nothing else than the bang still ringing in his ear can be heard.
Meanwhile Maxim decides to check the room opening the cabinet only for a pile of varnished clay dishware left behind by the gnomes to topple all over the floor. Fortunately the dwarf had noticed the abundant dishware as he opens it and he just places himself to a side as everything starts to fall.
Hidden amid the clay dishware in the cabinet is a 5-inch-long steel rod with a rune engraved on one end and notches carved into the other.
In this case the rune has a "Z" on gnome language.
Ruben pokes a finger in his ear and gives it wiggle, trying to clear the ringing that seems to have set up house there.
Stupid bloody weapon. he mutters, barely able to hear himself. No wonder the gnomes Disappeared, probably blew eachother up with those things. Still, did for that guy well enough.
Maxim fishes out the lettered rod from the dishware debris;
"Huh... Now we have the letter Z..."
At Ruben's mutterings the gun-mage hacks a laugh;
"Har! Not a weapon for the sneaky I grant you... but it makes a glorious mess when it hits dead-on"
As we've gained new vials of the poison - can Maxim have another attempt at identifying it from this batch? Or are these poison's different??
:
Between the darkness being extinguished and JJ's words, Marigold finally seems to gather herself and shakily rises to her feet. "I d-don't want t-to EVER d-do that again..."
As the group works to pull themselves together, she moves over to Ryan and taps him with the wand. "We're b-burning through this thing fast. At this rate we'll have to b-buy another one."
With that done, she looks over at Dandarrion. "I think h-he'll live but whatever h-he was poisoned with..." she shakes her head, "isn't anything that we c-can fix. We should g-get h-him out of h-here."
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"We're b-burning through this thing fast. At this rate we'll have to b-buy another one."
"Heh, yeah, unfortunately you seem to be using it on me the most.... I'm thinking gold well spent" Ryan replies with a smile that quickly fades as he takes in the sight of Dondarrian once more.
"We don't have the skill to affect his healing, the spider's poison run deeply and damaged much. He needs to be taken to the temple, I'm thinking he will be there a long while recovering...."
These are medium spider poison dosis.
"We can't just leave him down here, and we can't explore with him. I'm not keen on us splitting the group...I think we should head back to the surface. We can drop Dar off at the temple, and let uncle Alek know about all these creatures down here. We should take the living ones up as well, maybe the locksmith knows about them. We shouldn't leave them here - others will find them and then we'll just have to fight them again."
JJ sheathes his sword and hoists the unconscious guard onto his back.
"The sooner we do that, the sooner we can come back down. Or if we have been here longer than I think, rest."
Kikinnin debates the fate of Dandarrion. "We're known now. Aside from Maxim's thunderclap pistol blap, we've killed a couple of them. Heading up now seems like a risk to the kids, doesn't it? We have to keep harrying them, like terriers on rats. Keep them moving, keep them off-balance." The black-beard looks among his associates, wondering.
"If Dandarrion is stable, why don't we store his body with loot?"
At Kikinnian's question, Ryan stoops down to look his cousin over once more... "That's a good question"
Dandarrion is stable enough, thus, while you finish deciding, you start to move to the loot place, as whether you stay or you leave you probably want to check the place.
To your surprise Yuathyb body is not in the floor to be seen when you arrive in front of your treasury.
Small blood marks lead to the west through the tunnels where Kikinnin paid a visit before.
Ruben's expeditious retreat and Maxim's mage armor come to an end.
"Blast. We have to either haul them up to the city or finish them off down here. I'm not murderer. I won't kill them in cold blood. I don't think the treasure room is safe, they know about it. What say we take Dar back to the locksmith. He can call the guard to look after him and give them an update on what we are doing."
Maxim grimaces that their felled foe is missing, cursing the situation:
"Jotunn's Balls! If the treasure is compromised then we'll be needing to secure it. Ain't risking empty hands and empty pockets on this venture! Perhaps a new lock from Ghelve for the treasure could work? Dropping off Brokenhill as we go? Ain't so sure alerting anyone official topside is a good shout... yet..."
The gun-mage spits of gob of tobacco as he mulls their options;
"Way I see it there could be leverage in place against Cauldron's lofty seats... Alerting them that we've stumbled on something down here only means we, or those we give a scat about could be in danger... Ghelve's a good example o' how these basterds do business..."
The blond beard looks to the black;
"Kikinnin's point is a good 'un... if we head back up we need to act fast, trade quick and come back with some new tricks to make these scum shiver in their shadowy dens... Rest assured these deep scum will be readying a nasty welcome mat for us whence we return... At the moment we have them on their heels..."
Clearly torn Maxim hacks a grim laugh;
"Hells teeth, it's quite the quandary eh folks?"
We can always stay down here, in that treasure room if you like. I've slept in worse places than this. Ruben shrugs.
But I ain't feeling the pace just yet. That armored bugger rang my bell I soon got even with him. If Dandarrion was dumb enough to run off on his own down here that's his lookout, I say we take him back up so the guard can deal with him and then we press on, don't give these swine a moment's peace.
Ryan ignores Rubens comment about Dondarrion being 'dumb' enough to run off alone as so far the group has split up quite a bit with the other including himself and Ruben being apart and alone in their searches. Ahem, yes well. Let's take Dondarrion to Master Ghelve's. I'll write a short report for Aleck send it by runner; and he'll, Aleck, send some priest to care for him until we return. If we report this directly to the guard, we're likely to have half the garrison down here stumbling around and getting hurt. If that happens then who'll be left to look after the city, they're shorthanded and overworked as it is now.
Maxim think you could take some of this and offload it quickly and quietly through your uncle? Perhaps returning with items to help us, poison and the ever present darkness are the enemies ally and as much a foe for us as the blackhearts that use it."
Seeing the missing Slayer when they return, and not having a clue where he went... "What mischief is this"
JJ looks around the room, taking his time while studying the tracks.
"They took him through that tunnel to the west...
Maxim acknowledges Ryan's plan with a nod;
"I can broker the sale, but won't necessarily be a quick deal... an time is of the essence eh?"
The gun-mage spits a glob of tobacco near the blood trail to emphasise his point before continuing:
"I reckon that one or two of our company can escort Brokenhill back to Ghelve's, along with some of the treasure? We assuredly leave both man and coin with the locksmith... You send your letter on the Cudgelites an' I'll send a missive to my uncle informing him o' the goods we have, and items we may need?"
"I kn-know that keeping these things on the run is important b-but we d-do have to rest too and we d-don't know how b-big this place is. M-maybe there's places d-down here that aren't marked on the map." The halfling sighs. "I w-want to find the children and anyone else they've taken t-too, b-but we can't help anyone if we're all d-dead. We just n-need to be careful, is all."
She looks over at Maxim. "G-guess that's about the b-best way to d-do it. B-but whoever stays b-behind shouldn't g-go too far from the stairs back to Ghelve's. The less chances for them to g-get the drop on any of us, the b-better!"
JJ points to the remaiing unconscious creepers.
"What you going to do with them? And the ones back in the kitchen? I don't think you should kill them, they might drag you off to hell with them. But we can't leave them here either."
Kikinnin shrugs, as others speak of rest and restitution with those above in the City. "We work together or we work ourselves into an early grave." Kikinnin points to Dandarrion's body. "I'm good with sending folk topside. I can wait on the stairs, and worry off sneaks in the dark." The black-beard looks ready to investigate further, but he won't argue about losing time. Not yet.
You make your way to the city access and into Ghelves's Locks after picking up the treasures you have found in Jzadirune. The gnome seems nervous and ready but gets relaxed at seeing its you "Uff... I was starting to worry" he looks at some of your injuries impressed "So what have you find down there?"
While Maxim goes on his business to sell the treasure, Ryan writes down a message to Aleck and sends it with a child found in the street. Half an hour later, Rufus Laro appears through the door "For Abadar's sake! What has happened?" says the apprentice as he takes look of Dandarrion "Aleck and Jenya sent me. They accept to take care of the guard, but I will probably need some help to carry him. He is really not moving"
Meanwhile Kikinnin remains attentive in the stairs to Jzadirune.
Kikinnin contents himself with oscillating gazes from the stairs, looking downwards, keeping his eyes attuned to the darkness. Every so often, he hums to himself, lyrics passing across the back of his eyes, but not passing his lips.
JJ is torn between helping Kikinnin stand watch, and wanting to talk with his uncle.
"Max, can you get me more lantern oil please?"
In the end he compromises by carrying the unconscious dark creepers up the stairs to deposit them at Ghelve's locks, and writing his own note to his uncle.
Dear Uncle Alek. We have been looking for the missing children in the old Gnomish settlement of Jazardine - underneath Cauldron. There were several hard to see creatures - I'm told they are skulks. There are also other creatures, dark creepers and dark stalkers. I remember a story about dark stalkers dragging their killers off to hell with them, and was hoping you would be able to suggest protections against this.We have so far avoided killing the dark creatures, but they are a nasty piece of work and use poisoned blades. I only got a light cut and think the poison didn't get in - it burned for a moment but I have noticed no other effects.
We are leaving the prisoners at Ghelve's locks. He won't be able to keep many though. Can you help?
Yours - JJ
In between writing the note and carrying unconscious dark creepers through the tunnels and up the stairs, JJ probably has little time to do other things. If he does, he'll stand guard with Kik.
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Still feeling somewhat light-headed from the attack suffered at the hands of the animated armor, Ruben seats himself heavily on a stool at the counter of the lock shop.
Urrrghh... say what you want about magical healing, it don't always get to the root of the problem. he takes a small pewter flask from his pack, curses under his breath when he sees a great dent in it's side and unscrews the cap to access the strong liquor within.
Anyone else? he offers, waving the flask in the vague direction of anyone else still in the shop. How about you? he asks of the unconscious Creepers. Nah, looks like you've had enough already...
He frowns then;
So looking at this map we've covered about half the place. I hope we find those kids soon. Bloody place is enough to give me the creeps, let alone them.
Kikinnin appreciates JJ's company, as folks organize for the next wave. He pulls a small tin, and offers it to the boy, but not before emptying several roasted chickpeas into his own palm, and popping them in his mouth.
"You did well today. Didn't let the threats spook you. Well done." The black-beard smiles, chickpea wedged in between his upper front teeth. "For the rest of our work, I hope you can keep steady. These creatures don't hesitate to cut for blood. We need to be ready to hurt them harder to stop them." Kikinnin pulls out his new sap.
"I picked this up, after, well, you know... How are you feeling about this, now, after what we've seen so far? You think I should tuck the axe away, and slap 'em with this leather rock?"
Having had her fill of the underground labyrinth for the time being, Marigold opts to pass the time waiting in Ghelve's shop with Ruben and anyone else who decides to come topside.
When Rufus comes by to collect Dandarrion, Marigold sighs apologetically. "Um, I'd help you if I could, b-but I don't think I'd actually be much help here. I h-hope you can fix whatever that p-poison did to him..."
JJ looks tired and spends quite a bit of time yawning. He sighs a little as Kikinning speaks, and kicks his feet for a moment as if wondering what to say.
"Their blades cut just as well as ours, and they don't stoop to poison. I've go issues with your Axe Mr Rouradont. At least not when we are in the middle of a fight. I just don't like the killing of the helpless ones. Sure, they might do that to us. But that is why we are better than them."
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Rufus tells to JJ "Aleck read your letter too. He told me to visit him whenever it is possible. He has something for you"
Laro checks Dandarrion for a while, then nodding to Marigold Laro brings the poisoned man to his back "Do not worry Marigold, I am sure Jenya can do something for him. His strength seems to have totally disappeared from his body, rendering him immobile. This is most probably the effect of a poison. But he is still conscious..."
"I do not know what you have faced there, but someone has been toying with him for a while to deal this horrible suffering..." says the cleric.
After a short rest you profit to drink and eat some food provided by Keygan Ghelve, you pack your things back to Jzadirune.
In the stairs you gather with your guarding companions and descend to the main room again. There the giggling sounds continue.
The sounds of giggling gnomes, rustling leaves, and chirping birds are the result of permanent ghost sound spells cast within the chamber masks.
This time less pressed, you have a moment to closely inspect the room. When approaching to the mask located to the left of the west tunnel the mask's mouth starts to move saying the following in Common:
Welcome to Jzadirune—behold the wonder!
But beware, ye who seek to plunder.
Traps abound and guardians peer
Beyond every portal, behind every gear.
Maxim and Kikinnin can also see a geared door at the end of the western corridor with the glyph 'Z' on it.
Ryan will assist Rufus in taking Dondarrian back to the temple and then hurry back. Taking turns with the others on watch until Maxim returns.
"The symbols on the western door and the door we used previously match keys we have, I think. Perhaps we should shut the southern door to prevent, more of the foul creatures from venturing above. Then go through the western door, locking it behind us as well. We don't seem to have a key matching the other doorway, from the map it leads to a single room."
"We could.." says JJ. "But what of that other secret door? We found a pile of treasure behind the first... maybe there is more behind the second?"
After cleaning the rubble in the A geared door, it is not difficult to use the corresponding rod to close that door.
Profiting you are closer to the gear door, you decide to approach that room as proposed by Ryan while you decide if checking the secret door suggested by JJ.
The western corridor open to another long one extending from North to South, with plenty of different doors to one side and another. It takes your attention a group of jail bars barring the pass in the southern extreme.
After a compulsory visual check of the corridor, you close up to the geared door. It is full of dust and it has clearly not been used in decades. You place the Z rod in the geared door and it opens with ease.
Inside, the chamber's furnishings—three small cots, a small table, and a dresser—have been smashed to splinters, the wreckage strewn across the floor. A lonely chain hangs from the center of the ten-foot-high ceiling, and a lantern lies smashed in one corner.
One skulk corpse lies next to the dresser.
The corpse seems dead since around a couple of months probably. The skin under his nails indicate he had been tearing a skulk.
"Maybe the creepers and the skulks don't get along well? Or maybe this one just didn't agree with the others. Still, I'd drink to confusion amongst the ranks of these folk."
He spends a quick moment looking around and then suggests "If we head north, we might be able to meet up with the other areas we have already explored. It would be good to have that 'complete', and have a reasonable feeling that there are not more unknowns behind us."
In addition to offloading the equipment/weapons/armour for trade value to his Uncle, Maxim will also give him a detailed update on the current status of the group and the foes they are encountering.
If Adrick has any special instructions he'll endeavour to carry them out...
Maxim returns with good news on the trade items and also some additional purchases to bolster the group's endeavours.
"Brought us some anti-venom, manacles, cases for scrolls an' maps and o' course yer lantern oil Master Surabar!"
Maxim listens to the discussion, confirming Ryan's deduction with a nod.
Inside the room, the gun-mage whistles his approval at the ambience;
"Peehew! Smell's like a goddarned Trog's arse in here... Wonder what did for skinny over there?"
"Dunno, but the made a hell of a mess of the room doing it" Reviewing Master Ghelve's provided map.... "Let's clear this area but in the end it looks like we will either have to circle around here or find a way to bypass the portcullis there. Either way there is a lot of complex down here to pass through getting there. We need to keep our wits about us."
"Should be 4 or so rooms up on this end of the hallway"
Maxim spits in agreement;
"Eyes and ears open folks... Noses will have to wait til we're clear o' skinny here's carcass! Har!"
The gun-mage indulges himself a grim chuckle before falling back into line
As she peers at the skulk corpse with disgust, something about the hands catches her eye and she takes a closer look. "Looks like he was f-fighting another living b-being...maybe one of those creeper things? M-maybe there's more than one g-group living d-down here and maybe they h-hate each other?" She looks to Kikinnin and Maxim. "Is that p-possible?"
Adrick listens to you carefully "That is most interesting... most interesting yeah. Perhaps if you and your friends succeed to secure the area and bring keys to all the rooms there, we can use those chambers to hide some of our goods" he winks an eye to you "Who knows, perhaps we can even put some of those forges you say to good use and finally unseat that Maavu"
As JJ ventures to the northern corridor, he finds out the other doors are also geared and have a gnome glyph others in the party identify as D-I-E-N. Taking profit of the current rods you have available, you open the D and I doors.
Nothing remains in this room except four decrepit cots, four small wooden chests, and a wooden dresser with four drawers. Everything is draped in cobwebs.
Eight small cradles line the outer walls of this dark, ten-foot-high room. A wooden playpen, a rocking unicorn, and a lovingly crafted wooden toy box rest in the middle of the room. Everything is shrouded with dust and cobwebs.
The outside of the toy box has frescoes of dancing gnomes and small, burrowing animals; a few toys and painted letter blocks can be found within. Nothing of value remains in this abandoned nursery.
The southern corridor holds a door with the letter J and just next to the portculis it seems to be an A and R but you cannot tell easily from afar.
JJ checks out the various draws and boxes.
"Hey, next time we head up, we should take this stuff to Lantern street. The kids would love it. Well, the smaller kids. And by that I don't necessarily mean the youngest."
JJ checks the draws and boxes, but it seems the gnomes took most useful things when they fled from Jzadirune. JJ still find multiple small spiders that run away as he breaks the cobwebs of their home.
JJ advances up to the doors at the end of the corridor, and has a look and a listen at them.
The black-beard ambles to the north section of the corridor, checking for access of the rooms that may allow the search team to flesh out the northern section of the map, with Ryan's and JJ's encouragement.
He opens the eastern door, letterless, but attention well paid.
For what little it helps, Kikinnin throws out a listen before opening the door.
Ryan moves down the hallway toward the portcullis, checking the doorways as he goes, at the first doorway examining the rune "Hmm don't think we have a key matching this one, but it matches the one near the stairwell"
Further down"Think we have keys matching these two, perhaps one of them will have the controls for the gate here."
JJ and Kikinnin check the doors at the northern corridor but they find nothing unusual, only the geared doors with their rod keylocks and gnome glyphs. Neither they listen any noise at the other side.
Meanwhile Ryan goes along the southern corridor past the J geared door. When he is almost on the front of the doors, and too much of his surprise and dislike, the floor opens under his feet.
The cleric reacts just on time, falling sit on place as a hinged lid opens just in front of him.
The just opened pit is 10 feet long, and the bottom half is made of wood with rows of wooden spikes embedded in two opposite-facing walls. You see a skulk corpse down there dead, his rapier, light crossbow and bolts scattered all along the floor.
Some seconds later the lid shuts close again and you start hearing terrible sounds of stone tilting to one side then to another.
DC 17: Disabled
DC 12: Failed can retry
DC <12: The lid open again as you try to disable it and you have to roll a Ref DC 15 to avoid falling into the pit trap.