This dark room stinks of putrefying flesh. Eight wooden chairs with grinning bleached skulls crowning their backs circle a monstrous four-foot-high oak dining table covered with a crude tablecloth of crinkly human leather. The centerpiece of the dining table—a rotting human head, its stringy red hair thankfully draped over its mutilated face—serves as a gathering place for a host of buzzing, bloated flies.
Theodric is barely back into the room from having taken a moment to recover from the sickening smell when the mongrel ogrekin is dead. "Did I miss something?"
He shakes his head at seeing the gruesome centerpiece. "It really is good that we're putting these.. these inhumane beasts down. Anyone ah.. recognize anyone?" He looks at Shalelu to see if she appears to make any recognition to the human head on the table.
"...Perhaps we should try the other door," Setsuna's disembodied voice mumbles as the Oracle herself tries to keep her stomach inside of her belly. Thankfully, because of her magic ring, it is actually fairly do manage. "I recall one on the other side of the dining room."
"Aww," Riley says, dejectedly, as one of his summoned eagles blinks out to the scythe trap.
When the other door is opened on the other side of the dining room as Setsuna had suggested, he whistles a couple times to direct them back from the "playroom" and into the next chamber.
The door opens up into a small hallway, another scythe striking out and killing an eagle as they fly through.
"Dang it," he says, looking even sadder than before.
"Bleh. More doors," Setsuna mutters.
Zoli looks at the scythe mechanism, trying to understand it so she can better catch and disable similar traps. She then continues a methodical search--keeping her eyes out for traps while trying not to look to much at the gore and filth.
...I think we should probably expect every door here to contain some sort of trap, at the rate this is going." Theodric remains close to the front of the group but has decided to let the halfling take the lead.. and any traps that might get in their way.
Morythine gives a whistle of appreciation as Eugeni takes down Lucky with a supremely placed shot. “Sweet shooting,” he commends.
He then follows Zoli and Marcello cautiously across the room, feeling frustrated that getting a better look at its fascination is a little too risky considering the prevalence of traps throughout the ogre lair.
This filthy bedroom contains little more than a lumpy mattress heaped with twigs, mud, and hopefully little else, although the stink of sewage in the room indicates otherwise. Dozens of humanoid fetishes crafted of bits of leather, straw, corn husks, twigs, and bones hang from cords throughout the room.
This small chamber is apparently some sort of morbid storage room. It contains refuse and other remnants from, whatever it is, only the gods could say. Among the refuse here are several tiny humanoid bones, the remains of infants it would appear.
__________
From a pocket inside his cloak, Morythine retrieves some of the baby's bones he found whilst exploring under Sandpoint. For a while he tries comparing them with the skeletal remains among the refuse of the Red Room, but being no physician is unable to draw any comparisons.
Riley shudders at the bones and refuse, but doesn't look too close.
Zoli's inquisitive eyes happen to notice a flash of jade as they cross the room. Relieved that it's out of her reach, she says, "Ugh, there seems to be a jade ring on that finger bone, if someone can reach it. Maybe Mory?"
Then she'll continue leading her allies, as before.
Since the room does not seem to be trapped, Setsuna tentatively sneaks over to the ring and takes it in her invisible hand. After returning to the hallway, she carefully studies the potential treasure.
As the group continues to search the house, the stink seems to get worse and worse. Noting a set of stairs up, as well as the door to the main "living room" the group first encountered, they quickly deduce that only one door remains on this level. Zoli moves forward and gives it a scan, and seeing no traps, tests the door...which proves to be unlocked.
The cloying stink of this room is nearly overwhelming. Buckets of filth are stacked against the walls, fat ravenous flies lazily circling their rims. The room itself is dominated by an immense bed, its ratty sheets stained beyond hope. A huge easel sits next to the bed with a palette of various shades of brown and red paint. The sources of these morbid pigments - several crushed organs and ragged stumps of flesh - sit in receptacles next to the easel. A set of brushes made of human hair just from a broken skull by the easel, while a comb made from a human mandible sits on a small oak bedside table nearby, its teeth clotted with thick strands of greasy black hair. Three empty coffins lean against the far wall.
Sitting atop the bed is a grotesquely obese woman, her bulbous rolls of flesh hanging out obscenely from the huge red curtain that she must use to pass as "clothing." As she shifts her enormous weight to regard her intruders, the bed creaks out in anguish. Oscillating through her form, as disturbing as it is in and of itself, are several more copies of her, making it hard to distinguish where she begins and ends.
Standing in front of her are three deformed bodies dressed in ragged finery, their forms heavily decayed, their mouths sewn shut with strands of long black hair. One clearly has a useless third leg on his left hip and a pin head with three old arrows protruding from his chest. Another has an extra nose jutting from his right cheek and a hunched back, his head split open. The third is, well, hard to identify, as he appears to be little more than a shambling fleshy bag of broken bones and mashed features that is flopping about...
"GAWD'S DAMNIT, BOYS! WHY IN THA HELL IS THAR MOTHER F&#+IN' TRESPASSERS DOIN' IN MY GAWD'S DAMNED ROOM!?" the woman shouts. She slams the butt end of her staff onto the floor, "HUCKER! GET YER FAT ASS AND YER RATS UP HERE RIGHT NOW! LUCKY! MAULGRO! BRING YOUR DUMB ASSES OVER HERE TOO! I AIN'T CLEANIN' UP YER MESSES ALONE!" she continues to rant as she begins to float up off the bed.
__________
Riley scowls at the disgusting clan and with a quick chant conjures a bloom of fire in his palm. He pushes past the others and steps to the side of the entrance to the room. Once set, he reaches out to apply the flame to the closest ogrekin.
"Are we having a shared nightmare? How can this be real?" Eugeni asks, feeling completely bewildered. Despite this he raises his bow and attempts to shoot past his companions into the room.
Zoli tumbles nimbly past the grotesque thugs and whips her scimitar in an arc, trying to slice the obese caster (or whichever of the swirling images is really her).
_________________
HP 51/51
Luck 5/7
Panache 3/3
Charmed Life 3/3
Buffs luck (round 1/3): +2 to hit, damage, skill rolls, saving throws
As her brain starts turning people's words into mush again, Setsuna groans and takes a quick hop forward to see into the room. Not exactly keen on putting herself on the frontlines, she decides to follow Riley's example and begins calling forth some Celestial Eagles. As she completes her spell, the Oracle feels a strong tug.
Morythine ducks through the doorway, hurling a punch at the first ogrekin then sliding left.
Ki points: 1 remaining
Spells: divine favour, doom, magic stone, obscuring mist (domain spell)
Orisons: detect magic, detect poison, guidance, resistance
As Riley enters the room, he takes a hit to the chin from the severely broken ogrekin undead, the strength of the blow still surprisingly strong despite its condition.
However, the things are clearly no match for the strength of the party. Riley's flames burn the broken one badly, while an arrow from Eugeni to the skull finishes it off. A second of his arrows flies into the brow of the one with the third leg, causing it to fall to the floor instantly. The third undead takes the punch from Morythine, sending it off balance, while Theodric strides into the room, his greatsword at the ready, and cuts the thing nearly in half, his blade sliding down through the already cloven skull as if it were butter. Kibb moves forward and, at the scent of undeath, stops in the doorway and growls.
Zoli was certain her strike would cut the woman deeply, how could it miss given all the flesh that was oscillating around in the air? But, somehow, the blade catches nothing but air. However, the confusing, blurred forms moving around her seem to become somewhat less frustrating, even if only a little.
"MY BOYS! YE DAMNED SONS A B~+@#ES KILT MY BOYS! MAULGRO! HUCKER! LUCKY! GET YER ASSES IN HERE NOW! KILL THESE BASTARDS OR I'LL HAVE YER HEADS!"
She then goes through the carefully practiced motions of a spell, and a faint, ghostly hand appears at her side as she floats up towards the ceiling.
__________
Setsuna silently slinks into the room. Once in position, the Oracle quickly throws up another Blessing on the group. The summoned eagles then swarm their fleshy foe, clawing angrily at her with their talons. If nothing else, they collectively make a good distraction.
Morythine dances over the bodies of the ogre mama’s fallen children, ending his move with a spring into the air that turns into a somersault. He gains enough height to send an extended foot driving towards his foe.
Ki points: 1 remaining
Spells: divine favour, doom, magic stone, obscuring mist (domain spell)
Orisons: detect magic, detect poison, guidance, resistance
Riley moves further into the room to get the best shot he can -- though the flurry of celestial eagles makes it a tougher throw. He chucks a ball of fire at the obese ogrekin anyway, hoping to land a strike.
Eugeni runs into the room, past the cat, Theodoric and Setsuna. He finds a corner that looks relatively out of the way and fires another arrow, this time at the floating Mammy.
Zoli takes two more swipes at their floating foe, hoping to connect this time, or at least to clear away more of the remaining images.
______________
HP 51/51
Luck 4/7
Panache 3/3 (-1 for precise strike; +1 for killing foe)
Charmed Life 3/3
Buffs Blessing: +1 to hit
luck (round 2/3): +2 to hit, damage, skill rolls, saving throws
”Lord of the Ninth that thing is hideous. Kill it! Don’t let it cast any more magic!” Theodric yells as he steps forward to stab ‘Mammy’ in the gut with his longspear.
______________________________________________
As the fight continues, the heroes manage to, over time, finally strike some true blows against the obese flying woman, and the oscillating images of her cease to exist through the assault, and her form, as grotesque as it is, is now of crystal clarity.
"Alright, you scrawny little s+~~s! Mammy's gonna have ta do this herself! Fine by me! Who first? How about you, Tin-Man?" she says as she conjures up some dark magic, and the hand lunges forward and seems to grasp Marcellano's heart. He immediately feels as if part of his soul was ripped away.
Seeing his distress, she lets out a hearty belly laugh, "HAW HAW! Didn't like it none, did ya runt? Don't ya'll worry none, ya hear? Once Mammy's through with ya, I'm gonna use yer innards ta paint me somethin' real nice!"
__________
Channelling the last of his ki, Morythine directly up into the air. The height of his leap leaves him directly level with his levitating foe, and an explosion of limbs lash out at the bloated ogre mother.
Zoli gets a leg up on the bed and manages two deep cuts at their floating foe, sending a spray of blood down and out that Zoli does her best to dodge.
"And what do you think of that, you big bully? Your days of terrorizing people are done."
_________________
HP 51/51
Luck 4/7
Panache 3/3 (-1 if she’s attacked and gets to parry)
Charmed Life 3/3
Buffs Blessing: +1 to hit
luck (round 3/3): +2 to hit, damage, skill rolls, saving throws
Setsuna stays put and watches as her eagles begin to tear in their enemy.
Seeing that "Mammy" is a spellcaster, Riley decides to play it defensively for the protection of his comrades. Rather than hurl another ball of fire, he watches her closely and readies a spell to disrupt her from casting.
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Eugeni sees that all the cool kids are spending their ki points, and decides to join the trend. He fires off four more arrows at the floating mound of lardy evil. Three of the missiles slice through her folds of filthy flesh, disappearing into her bulk.
Mammy's taunting is cut short as the group responds with a frenzy of attacks against the bulbous woman. The onslaught catches her completely off guard, and her boasting, overconfident look is quickly replaced with a look of panic.
She quickly begins chanting a spell, adding as it finishes, "THAT'S IT! Ya'll just wait right here. I'll be back to kill ya in a second."
But then, Riley's counter-spell takes effect, negating the magic she had conjured! Her face contorts into one mixed of rage and terror as she screams, "YOU M%$&%& F*+!&@! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL..."
Her taunt is cut short as Theodric's spear thrusts upward, straight under her left breast, and emerging through her left scapula. Bright red blood coats the spearhead as she looks down at the man whose life she had moments ago drained. Then, her body slowly drifts to the floor as her eyes glaze over with death's cold touch.
__________
A9: This room is filled with large, filthy beds. Human skulls with antlers fixed to them are mounted on the bedposts and headboards. Against the west wall sits a large cedar chest.
A10: Tables strewn with beakers, glass vials, old tin cans, rope, animal traps, bits of twisted metal, spikes, bones, and all manner of junk litter this area. In one corner sits some old furniture and other keepsakes.
Eugeni leaves the room as soon as possible. "I'm going to go get some fresh air before we continue this nightmare. If you need me shout." He stumbles back outside where he vomits several times. Then, after draining the water left in his skin, he goes to a nearby tree and sits at its base. He pulls out his pipe, and begins to smoke trying to relax.
See that Old Dead Eye? F+!* you! We're doing better now relying on me alone than we ever did with your help. You won't let any more of my friends die if I can help it.
"Perhaps we should check the barn?" Riley calls after Eugeni.
After dismissing her Eagles, Setsuna winces at the sight of the cadaver wands.
"I know I'm the magic appraiser here, but I'm not touching those things, and quite frankly, I'm inclined to burn them," the Oracle declares solemnly.
As Eugeni storms out, she watches and frowns. Poor guy.
"...I'll make sure that he's okay," Setsuna says as she quickly trails after him.
The Half-Elf pauses as she hears Riley's point.
"...No, we have not. Eugeni, maybe we should take a look?"
"Give me a minute, and I'll join you..." Eugeni answers the oracle. He finishes his pipe in a series of rapid puffs, and wearily gets to his feet. Holding his bow ready with an arrow knocked he follows Setsuna towards the barn.
Eugeni raises his bow, and calls on his ki. His hand blurs with supernatural speed, and before anything can happen four feathered shafts sprout from the ogrekin's forehead. The back of his head is blown out, and he topples silently to the floor. Eugeni spits into the dirt and growls. "How many more perversions of nature can there be in this place?!"
Eugeni/Setsuna at the barn:
The exterior of the barn is in just as rough of shape as the houses
The barn houses several mounds of molding hay, grain stores, and even a large but crude still. Two catwalks rise up along the walls, leading to doors near the ceiling in the east wall. Lower, a pair of massive doors, boarded over with thick timbers, allows ground access to the room beyond. Several dingy kennels are built into the walls under the catwalks.
Standing in the middle of the room, squinting into the darkness, is a big, handsome boy that towers over the other ogrekin you have seen. His eyes are huge and milky white, and his skin pale as the full moon. An ogrekin, whom, Eugeni riddles with arrows before he can even act! He falls to the floor with a scream of pain before living deathly still...
_________
As the one ogrekin falls, Setsuna uses her magic to fade from sight once more, then flies forward on her wings of darkness. After a few feet, she sees two more ogrekin standing in the cover of shadow, though they too squint their eyes trying to see into the night. One is a hulking brute with a vestigial arm growing from his left elbow and a no-necked, dented head. The other is really short, standing barely more than 5 feet tall, with crooked stumpy legs and constantly twitching skin.
Her curse takes its toll once more, and she calls out in the ancient Thassilonian tongue, "TWO MORE! TWO MORE! TWO MORE!"
At her shouting, along with the scream of their dieing friend, the two step forward cautiously into the night, the three armed one asking, "Jeppo! Jeppo what happened?"
The short one meets him in the middle of the room, and cries out when the large eyed one's body comes into view, "Holy s!#~! He's dead! Sumthin' shot him!" before they ready spears and begin looking around, their eyes going reflexively to the door, despite their inability to see further than their hands in the night.
Eugeni takes the opportunity to finish them off. He takes aim first at the small one. Hold still, runt.
Calling on his inner reserves of ki, he sends a pair of arrows into each of them, felling them both in a single volley! Though, the short one still clutches at her wounds and begins trying to drag himself away.
Setsuna readies her sickle and flies over to the surviving one, at which time, Riley arrives just in time to see her appear flying over top of the survivor and cut his throat.
"Any more in there, Setsuna?" Eugeni asks, at which point he moves in cautiously, bow at the ready, and Setsuna flies around looking for what she can see. The barn houses several mounds of molding hay, grain stores, and even a large but crude still. Two catwalks rise up along the walls, leading to doors near the ceiling in the east wall. Lower, a pair of massive doors, boarded over with thick timbers, allows ground access to the room beyond. Several dingy kennels are built into the walls under the catwalks. There are a set of keys hanging on a bent nail by the front doors, as well as a still full of beside the southern wall.
"This room is clear. You can create some light if you'd like," Eugeni says, and Riley brings into existence four floating orbs that weave in around each other, providing himself some light to see.
After trying the main double doors, and finding them sealed solidly shut, the trio head up the stairs to the southern catwalk, and try the keys on the door there, finding one that fits the lock and opens it.
The majority of this large, stuffy chamber is covered in filthy webs forming a funnel that dips down into the ground. A catwalk runs around the rim of the room near the ceiling, twenty feet above the ground. In northeast and southeast corners, the catwalk expands into a ten-foot-square platform that’s fenced in by wooden beams, forming cages. The walls within each cage are hung with iron manacles. Most of the manacles—while bloody—are empty, but three in the southeast corner imprison emaciated men.
"Uh, guys, I've found three gentlemen, and I think they're alive," Setsuna says.
Eugeni comments, "We should get them out of there," as he hands Setsuna the keys and enters the room, his bow trained on the webs as he keeps an eye out for the spider.
As Setsuna works with the keys to open the cage, the webs begin to quiver, and up through the hole in the funnel crawls a massive spider the size of an elephant!
Eugeni's eyes go wide as he calls out, "Riiiiiiileeeeeey! Go get the others!" before sending a wave of arrows into the thing. It retaliates by biting the archer, who immediately feels his veins begin to burn as the creatures venom courses through them.
Riley and Setsuna begin calling forth magic to try to fell the beast, Riley narrowly avoiding the spiders mandibles as he does so.
"Riley, if this thing can't see in the dark, for the gods' sakes kill those lights!" Eugeni pleads.
"Eugeni, it doesn't matter! They'll see in the dark just as well as in the light!" he answers.
"Then just kill it! I feel its poison burning in my veins! Arrrgh!" Eugeni says through gritted teeth through the pain.
Then, Calling on the last of his ki, Eugeni sends another volley at the spider, managing to kill it as it falls backwards writhing, its legs eventually curling inwards and becoming still, aside from an occasional nervous twitch. Eugeni slumps against the wall a moment as the thing dies, trying to fight the pain of the poison. After a moment, the pain subsides, though his body feels stiff from the effects.
"Eugeni, are you okay?" Setsuna asks as she flies over to his side.
"Uhhh...this bite hurts pretty bad, but I think I'll pull through," the orc answers. He rises to his feet and says, "I need to go grab my arrows...I think the poison has run its course. Why don't you two see if you can help those men," before moving to the ladder and moving through the webs, systematically finding his arrows. Within the funnel, he sees a large collection of bones of a variety of animals and men.
Back on the catwalk, Riley says, "Come on, now lads, There you go. Salvation is at hand. Let's get you out of this nightmare," as he works the keys in the locks.
Setsuna moves up and asks, "Riley, can you study their wounds? I'm actually not very good at that. I just blast people with positive energy until they feel better."
The pair study the men as they release them. They are all unconscious, emaciated, and clearly the victims of heavy torture of a variety of forms. What these ogrekin were capable of, they can only guess...if they would want to.
Eugeni looks them over upon his return, and says with a frown, "Poor sots. Let's get them out of here, into the light."
"Yes, let's get them far from here," Riley comments, as the three begin moving them from the spider's chamber into the front room. They make it as far as the doors out before becoming fatigued, particularly Eugeni from his weakened body thanks to the poison. As they stand in the moonlight, Stalwart sarcastically asks, "Anyone got a magnificent mansion?"
"Green grass and starry sky will be our mansion tonight. Let's set up camp away from this charnel house and try to nurse these men back to consciousness," Eugeni answers, looking to the sky.
Setsuna nods, "Agreed."
The orc turns to her and comments, "Never noticed how strong you are."
"I don't care much for physical combat, but I keep in shape just in case. I'm pretty mean with a sickle," she answers with a smile. "...Here. You look really weary. Two doses of poison in three hours is something that you really can't sleep off."
They gingerly set the men down against the barn wall, as Eugeni takes a seat beside them. Setsuna moves to his side, and calls on some of her magic reserves, gently placing her hands on the orc to tend his wounds.
Eugeni is stiff at first, uncomfortable being touched by another person, but then he relaxes and allows the half-elf to tend to him.
"Hmm... This damage is really aggressive," she says as she moves her hands across his shoulder, arm, and chest where the spider bit him, the magic working on the poison within his blood, muttering "Blast it!" to herself as she does her work against the resilient venom.
"That feels better now. Though I'm still a bit stiff," Eugeni notes.
Setsuna smiles to him and replies, "I noticed that you looked a bit tight. There we go!" she says happily once she believes the bulk of the poison to be attended to.
Eugeni smiles at her, "Thanks, much better!" He gives her a quick hug. "You're a real life saver."
Setsuna returns the hug, as Riley whistles to call for Olympus. After a few moments, the horse-sized roc's wings can be heard, and the bird lands a few feet from them.
"No problem. You really took a beating in there," she replies.
"We all took our share, but thankfully together we shared the hardships and prevailed," Riley adds.
Eugeni nods and points out, "I'm just glad no one else died. I don't know how well I would handle it if we lost another person."
"Pssh," Riley scoffs, "Son, the wheel's always there for another spin. Don't waste too much time worrying about death. It takes care of its own."
Setsuna chides "Easy for you to say. You croak, and you're back in a week or something." She then realizes how stern her comment was before sheepishly adding, "...Sorry, that was rude."
Eugeni doesn't hold back, however, "Yeah! You weren't there at Sandpoint, Riley. It's not so easy to accept for some of us. Even though I've come back myself it's still the end for most."
Riley responds "I've known more loss over my time on this sphere than I can count. It's always there, so you take what joy you can, but you can't hold on or it will eat at you."[/b]
Well, he's got that part right at least... Eugeni thinks to himself as he struggles to find words.
Riley continues, "I've had families, loves and friends that move on, while I come back. Forgetting is sometimes the only way to cope."
Eugeni sighs. "You're prolly right old man. But today we were strong enough. So let's no think about the bad times."
Setsuna nods, "I agree."
Riley smiles, believing the others are beginning to share his views, "Exactly. Death is part of life, and dying while fighting the kind of evil we faced today is one of the best kind of deaths. Hopefully, the ones you lost, like Tzefira recently, ended the same way."
Eugeni, in an effort to change the subject, says "That was an awesome trick back there with the mother, Riley. When you like caught her spell and ruined it. Never seen that before."
"Thanks. I was expecting her to throw a spell on another one of us; hadn't thought about ruining her getaway plan. Glad it worked, though," the druid replies.
"Luckily these creatures were very dumb. Otherwise this could have gone much worse," Eugeni notes. He looks around before commenting again, "We can camp over here..." motioning for the southern tree line, as the others emerge from the house onto the front porch and see the three heroes and their rescued charges over by the barn...
"Now hold on there, Setsuna, one doesn't simply discard resources when they're presented to you. Made of.. questionable materials or not, they could come in handy. Plus, you aren't the only one who can inspect such items. I’ve learned a thing or two about magic items from my adventuring days." Theodric collects all of the grisly tokens, including the potion and spellbook, and lays them out separately from one another on a flat surface. With the items laid bare, Theoric takes one gauntleted hand and makes a few swift arcane gestures. ”Раскрываем свои секреты! Обнаружение магии!” he speaks with a strong, clear voice and suddenly, a glimmer of magic outlines his helmet’s eye slits, revealing that his eyes are glowing azure. He takes a few moments focus his concentration on the magic items laying in front of him, inspecting each one in turn before the magic fades and he reveals what each one does.
To make sure he didn’t miss anything, he repeats the incantation, but the magic seems to fizzle around him. He swears to himself and repeats the gesture, this time his eyes glowing blue again - and he quickly sweeps the house, searching for any signs of lingering magical auras.
Afterwards, he stands near the back, inspecting the trio that they rescued. Instead of going to introduce himself, however, he simply nods at Eugeni’s suggestion. ”I believe we could all use some rest right now, camping is not a bad idea. I’ll get my own tent set up.”
(Success)
(Failure)
(Success)