Caslav runs back to the door and joins the effort to hold it shut against the golem.
After several minutes of grunting and struggling with the door you think that the pounding and scrapping on the other side of the door has subsided.
When you have a moment to breathe somewhat easier you look down and are both shocked and somehow horrified to note that the lines used to sop the blood which might have seeped through are now clean of any blood; it is as if the blood had receded from even the fabric...
Samir, still leaning on the door, looks at you all.
"Now what?" he asks you.
After staring at the company for some time, Samir swings himself away from the doorway and then elects to study the room.
He moves slowly and deliberately, his eyes scouring the ground intently.
When he is done he stands and seems to think, then he moves to the bed and flings himself into it and pulls out his gear and takes a long swig from his water bottle.
Seeing there was now no blood seeping beneath the door, Tairin stood and looked about the group. Her eyes strayed from Red's tied hands to the weakened Bjoern.
Having heard the witch healer's secondary complaint regarding her tied hands, Tairin moved to her fellow Yar-Ammonite and took hold of her hands, working on the bindings. "If, once unbound, you suddenly become possessed again, I will run you through with my scimitar instead of trip you. If it was not for you, taken over and running headlong toward the altar, we may have been spared the bloodsucking golem. You must fight harder when under the spirit's thrall, Sister." Tairin sighed and then gently patted the witch's arm; sparing Red a little of her sharp tongue. She noted the burns from the bindings - nothing lethal - still, it would be tender there. "Apologies, Sister. My nerves are roused. You should rest, now."
Walking toward Bjoern, she *tsked* and added, "What were you thinking - staying there for the golem to sup on your vigour. You are barely standing upright, Bear. Are you able to continue on or do we rest here until you are stronger? Least go sit on the chair until we decide what it is we will do. And drink some water."
"Now what?" he asks you.
Pointing toward the left bookshelf, pulled away from the wall, she answered, in lowered voice,
"Behind there, the stone of the wall nearest the ground has been destroyed. There is a hole, roughly 1 metre wide and half a metre high that we can reasonably crawl through. I believe it leads to the next chamber; the room we passed earlier with the heavy door which was locked and barred. It can be a way out that does not include tangling with the golem. However, it could be dangerous or else why lock up such a chamber...Perhaps someone could scout it out, quietly."
"Let us block the space beneath the door lest it seep through and then reform inside here."
"The few books left on the shelves, Red bring them and we can push them beneath the door as well. We can use the old table, desk and chair to reinforce the door. The book shelves look too heavy to move."
"It may seep through the door to attack us..." - Hedran shakes his head at Tairin's words - "Where in all Hells are we.."
Red holds up her bound hands, which are holding up Hedran's bow by being thrust between the bow and it's string, and then slowly moves the bow towards Hedran so he can take it. Red scowls, pauses and then replies "I would but I am kind of tied up at the moment."
"That you are, and it only makes you look more beautiful" - Hedran pauses staring at the woman up and down with a smile on his face, then retrieves his bow - "Thank you" - and moves to get some books as suggested by Tairin.
----
Once things have calmed down, Hedran observes as Tairin releases Red, making a joking pout at them both.
"Behind there, the stone of the wall nearest the ground has been destroyed. There is a hole, roughly 1 metre wide and half a metre high that we can reasonably crawl through. I believe it leads to the next chamber; the room we passed earlier with the heavy door which was locked and barred. It can be a way out that does not include tangling with the golem. However, it could be dangerous or else why lock up such a chamber...Perhaps someone could scout it out, quietly."
"I can do that" - Hedran nods - "But let me tend to Bjoern first. And myself for that matter" - he chuckles, heading to his fellow northman.
minutes
HP
----
Once that is done, he checks the opening pointed out by Tairin, and then proceeds with scouting the passage - "Be right back" - he winks at his companions before disappearing in the tunnel.
Once that is done, he checks the opening pointed out by Tairin, and then proceeds with scouting the passage - "Be right back" - he winks at his companions before disappearing in the tunnel....
Peering into the next room you are at once overwhelmed by both the smell of rot and decay as well as the overwhelming blackness which dulls even your own senses.
You feel as if you're staring into inky blackness; you wish you could see more, but - unfortunately - you cannot.
You sense that there is something beyond mere darkness in the next room; the smell alone makes it clear that this is not simply a storage area.
Your presence in the room, even minutely, seems to have drawn some attention.
You can hear some strange, rambling shuffling coming toward you; whatever it is, you only know you cannot see it...
What do you do?
Having heard the witch healer's secondary complaint regarding her tied hands, Tairin moved to her fellow Yar-Ammonite and took hold of her hands, working on the bindings. "If, once unbound, you suddenly become possessed again, I will run you through with my scimitar instead of trip you. If it was not for you, taken over and running headlong toward the altar, we may have been spared the bloodsucking golem. You must fight harder when under the spirit's thrall, Sister." Tairin sighed and then gently patted the witch's arm; sparing Red a little of her sharp tongue. She noted the burns from the bindings - nothing lethal - still, it would be tender there. "Apologies, Sister. My nerves are roused. You should rest, now."
Red looks at Tairin steadily and coldly through the earlier part of her speech. Later when Tairin apologises Red pauses and then scowls or perhaps grins, her expression could be either or both, then replies "Everyone's nerves are being stretched, sister. This dead man, thing or shade... it can defy death itself, it is not easily denied. We must complete our mission which should put it down for good."
Red then inspects her wrists and the door.
** spoiler omitted **
Basically you just poked your head through a 2 foot thick wall via the hole; all you really have to do is scoot back quick and tell everyone, so that shouldn't be a problem at all.
Hedran gets back in the room - "Place is filled with darkness so thick you can almost taste it" - he spots - "My sight cannot even pierce it, but there is something inside - I felt it moving. And the stench of rot and decay is strong as can be" - he informs.
"Place is filled with darkness so thick you can almost taste it" - he spots - "My sight cannot even pierce it, but there is something inside - I felt it moving. And the stench of rot and decay is strong as can be."
Tairin ran a hand over the top of her hair and sighed low and deep.
"So, we are stuck between a dark thing there, through that door, and an even darker thing, there, through the hole. We are indeed cursed." And a spirit determined to possess our witch, here, with us, she mused silently.
Pacing back and forth for a moment, head down, silent, Tairin finally lifted her head and spoke, "Well, we are to remain here for a while then. To rest and to make new plans of how to get out of this chamber. For now, I need Hedran, Caslav and Samir to go to the bookshelf by the hole and push it back, giving us some protection from what lies beyond the hole. Bjoern, come with me and I will set you up on the cot. You need rest and sleep and if you can do that, it would be most helpful right now." She moved toward the Tharagian seated on the chair and placing her hand/arm beneath his elbow, helped him up and over to the old bed, large enough to fit the muscled warrior. "Wait a moment," and with that she opened her pack and withdrew the soft fur blanket and laid it atop the bed since she had used the old linens earlier and didn't want to put the dirty things back on the bed. Taking Bjoern's waterskin, she unstoppered it and lifted it to his mouth so he could drink. Tairin could see the wounds where the golem had struck Bjoern and sucked the blood from him and she *tsked* again. Stoppering the flask, she handed it back to him and then drew him to the bed with her blanket and helped him lie atop. She placed his gear and weapon on the floor beside the bed.
Moving back to Red by the door, she said, "Sister, there is no movement from the golem outside this door. Let us go and take the table and chair and place them against the door, barring access if it attempts to break through while we rest." Tairin nodded and then moved to the middle of the chamber and waited for Red to join her so they could lift the objects together, since neither of them were overly strong, and place them where needed. We will need to eat something soon..., another thought came to mind. She pushed it aside for a moment and remembered something important she wanted to share with her companions, "The runes on the statue of the god beside the altar, they bear much resemblance to the ones on the Yardar dagger and the scrolls we discovered. We must, then, be getting closer to what we seek."
Red assists Tairin in moving the table and chair against the door. Red listens to Tairin's thoughts on the runes, replying "That is well. I have five days rations with me, we will have to eat soon. I suggest we set watches, and as all the boys are injured in some measure was going to suggest I take first watch, when I realised that is a bad idea. It seems you might be most suitable for first watch Tairin. And you are going to want to tie me up again aren't you? Just somebody take the bonds off if combat comes around again and I am myself. Being tied up in combat is just too dangerous for words."
Once the table and chair were placed across/against the door leading to the altar room, Tairin looked to Red, "I supped before coming down here and I only have a day's rations, as I was not expecting to be down here longer than that. I can wait until tomorrow to eat, again."
Looking across the way to Bjoern on the bed, she asked Red, "Sister, the healing elixir we found, may I have it now? I will get Bjoern to drink it to enhance his healing as he sleeps."
"As to first watch, yes I will take it, then Samir, you, Caslav, Hedran and finally Bjoern, if he is up to it. As to being bound, I will tie your hands at least, so if you try to run from this chamber, you cannot readily move the furniture from the door or push the bookshelf without one of us hearing and attempting to stop you. If there is another confrontation, I will unbind your hands, I promise. However, please, do what you can, not to be controlled by the spirit this night. We have enough to worry about, Sister."
Once the men move the bookshelf in place, she draws them to her and Red, as Bjoern rests/sleeps. Her words are quiet, so as to not disturb the wounded warrior, "You risked too much fighting the golem. I said to withdraw and the three of you, pointing to Hedran, Caslav and Bjoern, remained, even after I called to retreat a second and third time. This is unacceptable. It is not cowardice to pick your battles and choose to live and fight another day. I will say as much to Bear when he is awake. In the catacombs, we cannot afford to be so wounded, for our resources are limited, and we have still to find the place where the bones of the spirit are laid to rest. If you see Bear rush foolishly headlong into battle, then stop him and convince him otherwise. I'd rather leave the monsters down here alone, if we can, and simply find what we came for. Agreed?"
Red gives Tairin the healing elixir, then in reply to Tairin's quiet words, Red replies in like hushed tones "I agree about the retreat and not trying to destroy every creature we find down here. Just how anyone stops Bjeorn racing into combat isn't so clear, but we can try."
Bjoern shrugs and replies. "I will manage."
Finding a comfortable position to sleep while armored the bear soon snores loudly.
The Lamuran keeps a nervous eye on the bookshelf blocking the hole as Tairin speaks until her words finally register through his apprehension. "The place where the bones of the spirit are laid to rest?" Caslav looks wide-eyed at the women and men he's fallen in with. "What is it you're doing down here?"
"Agreed" - Hedran smiles at Tairin and the others - "Was a rush though wasn't it?"
During this conversation with the bookcase blocking the hole you can hear small, persistent sounds of muffled pawing or scratching on the wood from behind the book case coming from the chamber beyond.
They do not stop.
"Just how anyone stops Bjeorn racing into combat isn't so clear, but we can try."
Tairin nodded in clear understanding of the conundrum. "If the other men held firm, gave voice to caution, then perhaps Bear may not rush into danger. I will continue trying, but it seems he seldom listens to me, for all my trying."
"What is it you're doing down here?"
Tairin turned her steady gaze to Caslav, and, without guile answered, "We have come to find the bones of a vengeful spirit and lay him to proper rest and thus break his dominion over our healer. Red has been cursed and the spirit seeks to right a wrong perpetuated against him and uses her vessel to accomplish his intent. We cannot have that. So, we are here, in this cursed place."
"Agreed" - Hedran smiles at Tairin and the others - "Was a rush though wasn't it?"
"Not as much as bathing in camel's milk, but collectively you seemed to enjoy being rushed and supped on by the golem. What particular tastes you men have." Her fixed eyes gave way to a wink and a small upturned smile.
Bjoern looks around and speaks up.
"Whoa wait, fellows.
I was ready to hold the line so that you could run for it.
And instead you went into close combat.
Didn´t you Caslav."
"Vengeful spirit? Camel's milk?" Caslav's attention is visibly torn between the conversation of the tomb raiders and the scratching from the other side of the bookcase.
"...Didn´t you Caslav."
The lad's eyes go wide as dinner plates as the Ghostbear's rumbling voice names him. "M-m-me?" He looks down as sweat beads on his brow. "I, I was only trying to help..." His eyes remain downcast for several moments before they inexorably wander back to the bookcase.
"Does anyone else hear that? I think maybe we should sleep far away from that hole..."
Samir's eyes roam over those of the others, but he says nothing as he listens to them speak.
His eyes remain downcast for several moments before they inexorably wander back to the bookcase.
"Does anyone else hear that? I think maybe we should sleep far away from that hole..."
Samir nods.
"That is a good idea," he says, then drags out his cloak from his pack and wraps it around himself.
The underground chamber is far from warm; further, as the temperature goes down significantly at night, the cloak seems like a wise idea to stay warm.
"Whoever is on watch should be ready; if something comes through that case, we must be ready," he adds.
He turns to Tairin.
"How long can you maintain these lights, Sadiqua; if something does come through the wall it would be well if we could see it - especially as there may be some darkness in the next room which may afflict us - but then again, it may not..." he adds.
As he does not have first watch he pulls out his weapon and lays it by his side and then rolls over and falls asleep.
"How long can you maintain these lights, Sadiqua; if something does come through the wall it would be well if we could see it - especially as there may be some darkness in the next room which may afflict us - but then again, it may not..." he adds.
Tairin turned to quietly answer Samir, "They last a minute. I can recast them throughout my watch, but once I am asleep, a torch may have to be lit for those who do not see well in the dark."
Moving to where Red was standing, she instructed, "Lay down, Sister, and I will bind your hands." She then set herself to the task once Red was settled on the floor away from the bookshelf. She checked to see that the witch had no weapons on her or near to her, just as a precaution. "If we come under attack, I will free you from these bindings."
Drawing the hood over her head to provide added warmth and taking the scarf from her pack, she wrapped it around her neck and shoulders. Then she drew her scimitar and took her scorpion whip from her belt. She always felt more prepared having a weapon in each hand.
Once the others had settled down to sleep, Tairin stood in the middle of the chamber, her lights spread to give enough light to each side, and watched both the bookshelf which covered the hole and the barred door leading to the altar room. She also listened carefully to determine if the sounds of pawing and scratching were getting louder or closer and if there was any sign of blood seeping under the doorway.
She also listened carefully to determine if the sounds of pawing and scratching were getting louder or closer and if there was any sign of blood seeping under the doorway.
Tairin does not notice anything untoward regarding blood seeping under the bookshelf.
However, the scratching and shuffling outside of the bookcase does not grow weaker as she watches. It remains steady, persistent, and unceasing.
It sound as if something is on the very other side of the heavy bookcase and trying to tunnel its way through, somehow, like a giant weevil or rat might tunnel through mud and filth.
Moving to where Red was standing, she instructed, "Lay down, Sister, and I will bind your hands." She then set herself to the task once Red was settled on the floor away from the bookshelf. She checked to see that the witch had no weapons on her or near to her, just as a precaution. "If we come under attack, I will free you from these bindings."
Red hands her Stabbing Dagger to Tairin and allows herself to be bound. Again. Red does not look too happy about it.
Bjoern looks up from his blanket and shrugs, turning around in his armor and shrugs before dozing off again
"Not as much as bathing in camel's milk, but collectively you seemed to enjoy being rushed and supped on by the golem. What particular tastes you men have." Her fixed eyes gave way to a wink and a small upturned smile.
Hedran smiles back - "You are probably right - I should try the milk bath instead"
He listens to the debate regarding light, then pipes in - "Maybe we can find some sort of fuel around here which would make the light last longer... But the smoke may become unbearable.."
[dice= Will Save, Red] 1d20 +3
Red's eyes seem to film over; yet she gives no sign of what dark forces which may be gripping her spirit.
During this time she does nothing, merely waits, as if from some hidden sign or signal which has not yet occurred.
The scratching and pawing at the wood have increased, yet that has not done much to elicit a response yet as there has not been anything more overt to draw more specific attention.
However, there is then a sudden pause, as if whatever fell thing in the chamber beyond has ceased its work for some action which has yet to occur.
At this time Hedran is on watch and Red turns to him.
Though she is bound and gagged such devices will not prevent her from using her hex upon Hedran; and thus she uses what wierding power she has within her to put Hedran to sleep...
As Hedran waits his turn on watch he notices a noise from the bookshelf that sounds like scraping on stone.
Glancing up he sees something in the dim shadows of the torchlight.
Before he can act he suddenly feels a compulsion come from some place beyond his mind and his eyes begin to droop, as if he is being lulled to sleep by some dark bewitchment - yet before the spell can reach its potency he quickly shakes it off.
His eyes clear and he sees prone on the ground a foul, human-like creature; it's fingers scrapped literally to the bone and he instantly deduces that the sound of scraping he had heard was this wretch clawing at the wood and - now that it was able to pass through a small gap - it is committed to crawling toward their party and doing them harm.
But before the creature can act, Hedran is free to take what action he sees fit.
[dice=Perception (Asleep)]1d20 + 7 - 10
[dice=Perception (asleep)]1d20+6
Seeing the foul creature crawling into the room, Hedran gives a quick, loud shout -
"We got company," and with that he stands up, draws a weapon, and moves to F:15.
At his shout all of you are able to wake up and take actions.
Samir will also get up from his sleeping position and move up to support Hedran and moves to F:14.
Being abruptly stirred from sleep by Hedran's shouts, Tairin picked up her weapons at her sides (one weapon each side, laid near her hands/arms) and quickly stood, ready to face the threat.
Caslav jolts awake and scrambles to his feet on pure instinct before registering what's going on. Seeing the humanoid figure crawling into the room he gives an involuntary shout of alarm and grabs his staff from it's resting place leaned against the wall.
At this time the creature moves forward, but it does not seem to move very quickly; it seems to be crawling as if it is severely wounded or impaired.
Bjoern looks groggy but feels the pain of the claw.
"What shall we do Tairin? Fight or flee?"
Bjoern looks groggy but feels the pain of the claw.
"What shall we do Tairin? Fight or flee?"
Samir calls out -
"Fleeing just takes us back to the cursed blood creature to our south, though it may have fled... Yet as foul as this thing is, there seems to be only one," he adds with a growl.
Moving to the prone creature, he takes a slash at it with his scimitar.
He looks at Bjeorn.
"My blade is better suited for living flesh; crush its foul head and make an end of it..." he implores Bjeorn.
Round 2:
"What shall we do Tairin? Fight or flee?"
"We fight for now. We have enemies on all sides it seems. Do not endanger yourself, Bear, for you are still recovering."
Looking to the druid, she called out, "Have you seen such a creature as this, Caslav?"
As she waited for the man to answer, Tairin took a 5 ft step back (to H:12).
Then speaking softly the words of a familiar spell, "Nawwar", she brought forth four dancing light orbs and directed them around her to fill the chamber with more light with which to see and fight.
Then Tairin turned her gaze briefly to Red to see what their witch healer was doing/how she was behaving.
Round 2: Botting Hedran
Hedran, morningstar in hand, moved back and around cautiously (30ft) to stand at D:11 and flank with Bjoern.
Swinging the morningstar, while attacking with caution, the ranger brought it down on the creature's head.
Swinging the morningstar, while attacking with caution, the ranger brought it down on the creature's head.
The blow was heavy, and it shatters the creatures left arm. It groans with futile angst, but it is still moving - though barely; you'd wager it is nearly finished...
Hearing that they would fight Bjoern attacks.
And after the heat Bjoern waits for Tairins orders.
Hearing that they would fight Bjoern attacks.
[Dice=Attack]1d20+7; 1d6+8
Seeing the wretch on the ground, Bjeorn lifts his weapon and crushes the creatures skull into a pulp and it stops its pitiful noises.
At this time Red gets up from her place on the ground and walks to the heavy metal door. Though she is gagged and her hands are bound, she is still able to move her feet.
Caslav feels a surge of relief as Bjoern smashes in the head of the creature. Relief that is short-lived as he sees Red start to move. Oh no - is she herself or not? Unsure which direction she intends to go, he hurries to block the door back towards the shrine lest she damage their makeshift barricade and let in the blood monster.