The shaft drops 15 feet to the floor of an ash cellar. The room appears to be storage for the former manor, and looks to have been thoroughly ransacked. A lone chandelier hangs in the center of the 30' square room. From the center dangles a gruesome rope of disgusting severed heads, chafed from the fire.
A long raspy hiss sounds from the corner of the corner of the room, and it is quickly joined by more voices. Four man shaped figures lurch from the shadows at the first sight of the descending rogue....
Initiative please
Initiative
"Eek! Get down here. There's a bunch fo something coming for me."
"Can't I pull you up?" Garin says, still holding the rope lowering Shel down.
You can pull her up, if you beat the creatures (They just rolled a 21).
Or, you can jump down safely with an acrobatics check.
There are piles of debris under the shaft- so that 15' drop also has shelves that can be climbed by the creatures.
Ghasts (21)
Garin (15)
Shel (13)
Vachardi (8)
Awnara (8)
The ghasts leap to attack, claws gleaming in the dying light.
Two reach Shel and slash, the other spring past and begin climbing up the wall.
Attack from 1
Damage
Attack from #2
Damage
Shel, please roll a fort check vs 15 for paralysis from the ghast touch.
Additionally, Shel and anyone at the edge of the hole, must roll a Fort Save (DC15) or become sickened.
Garin, at the edge of the hole, immediately feels nausea in his stomach.
Paralysis Frt save
Sickened Fort save
The paralysis causes Shel to clench the rope tightly. A good pull would get her up out of the hole.
Garin yanks the rope, fighting through the sickness to get Shel out of danger.
Once shel is out of the way Vachordi sends a thunder clap
damage and dc 13 fort or stunned
Awnara moves over to the edge of the hole, with every intention of casting a spell upon the ghasts within.
And then the stench of the beasts, the funk of putrefaction, claims her. She coughs and chokes, her eyes watering, making sighting them impossible.
Round 1 Fin:
The paralyzed rogue is yanked from the hole, just as the knight fell to his knees retching.
Vachordi's bellow shakes the air.
The sorceress, likewise, is overcome by the creatures' stench. The taste of bile rises in her mouth.
Two of the ghasts nimbly scale the wall and charge with claws bared.
No it is not it is from the thunderclap
Knowledge religion would let you know!
Round 2?
Although Shel can't express the emotion for the time being, she's most glad to be out of the pit.
Vachorid sends another blast of thunder into the pit
Garin moves to the front of the hole once Shel is safe and guards it, striking at any approaching ghouls.
For round 1, Garin was retching from the smell. For the second round, he can get up and swing.
A blast by the priest would likely make short work of these. Or Awnara's help.
Awnara backs away from the undead clambering out of the pit, and her eyes glow with holy power again. "Return to your rest, horrors!"
Back away from the ghasts and blast one of them with a disrupt undead.
Botting: The priest raises forth his holy symbol and blasts the undead interlopers.
No dice.
The undead dissolve in a burst of holy light.
The cellar may now be explored.
Shel takes a ten as she explores the cellar. Perception score 20.
Garin follows after Shel, acting as her bodyguard. His hands relaxed on his halberd but ready to strike.
Buried among the debris in the cellar are 12
silver crossbow bolts in a quiver, a slightly melted gold belt
buckle worth 15 gp, and an iron bracelet with silver filigree
work depicting a moon eating an owl worth 75 gp.
Perception checks:
An unbroken vial has rolled into a corner. The damp label still reads "Vorkstag and Grine, Chymickal Bleach."
The burnt heads hanging from the chandelier are mostly consist of people who were physically deformed- prior to death. One is not.
percep
Vachordi points at the vial and says What does this mean?
Shel points out the valuables to the others. With her expert searching skills, she also noticed the vial, but made a more grisly discovery...burnt heads hanging from the chandelier. "Look these are all deformed, but this one isn't for some reason. That doesn't seem to fit any pattern. Of course, if someone is wicked enough to do this, they might be too crazed for any patterns."
"You're right, Shel," Awnara says after she wipes away the tears from her eyes. "Do you think the ghasts did this? I mean, this is macabre enough for them. And we should look into this Vorkstag and Grine when we get back to town." She chews the bottom of her lip, a trace of doubt beginning to gnaw at her.
"Exactly Awnara. Is there anything else to investigate here before we head back?"
The sanctuary was essentially a sanitarium located away from the city- so there are no other buildings around.
*hint* The sanctuary was a home for people with injuries or malformations that made them unwelcome in their homes. So the malformed heads are likely patients and not necessarily more nefarious.
I wonder if there is any info on the beast here.looking for an office
The building has begun raised to the ground by the fire, which is what the witness is testifying was caused by the Beast. The office is going.
It's getting late, you could camp here or proceed back in the dark...
"I put a strike against the idea of camping in this place. It may be haunted and our sleep would not be restful. We may continue our investigations here in the daylight tomorrow and then continue to our third objective."
I agree. Let us continue
"I don't see the best in the dark, but I think I could lead us out of here. It might be slow going, but we wouldn't just be resting in this spooky place waiting for something nasty to come surprise us."
Survival
Perception
The party tracks well until it reaches the road, and from there it's a strait line to the city in relative peace.
The sun drops behind the horizon, and the even fog rolls in. In the distance, wolves howl.
You are 4 miles from the city when the last light fades.
Proceed or camp?
"I'm fine with proceeding or camping, though do note our time is limited. I would suggest camping here if we are to make the most of it, despite the dangers, but heading back is equally valid. If we aren't returning to the Sanctuary, assuming we've found everything we could, then tomorrow we have the option of proceeding to ask the Sanctuary's survivor Karl near the city before heading to Herstag or heading to Herstag directly. We may also confirm the location of the three sisters testifying for the Herstag portion while in the city."
Agreed
It's a two hour ride to the gates, assuming you can get in at that point. The guards tend not to let people in.