Tsin Tao inches along the tunnel - others, less experienced scouts would probably have beads of sweat forming on their brow, but not the half-orc. Another day, another tunnel...
You reach a crossroads in the tunnels, and stop momentarily to try and grasp at clues which may give away what lies in each direction.
From the right you hear absolutely nothing, except perhaps a draft.
From the front there seem to be some sort of dripping or sploshing sounds.
From the left you hear absolutely nothing also, or maybe buzzing in the distance?
Kibbo looks hesitantly between Saktar and the tunnel - "Int... Ssssession yes!" - he exclaims triumphantly, lifting two fingers - "Four ways! Always take..." - then looks at his own hands - "Left!" - he finishes with a huge smile, and his right hand in the air.
As Tsin Tao moves down the corridor, he begins to hear a sound he can't quite place, not quite like sloshing nor sucking, but maybe a mix...?
Inching ever closer, he spots a T intersection in the distance, perpendicular to the corridor he is currently in. His attention is drawn to something else entirely however...
What seems to be like a headless corpse lies on the ground at the intersection, while three filthy rats about the size of small dogs with a coat of coarse fur, a long and scabby tail, and two glittering eyes, mill about the fallen carcass, gnawing and chewing at it.
Tsin Tao moves carefully along the tunnel, all the time expecting the measly rats to scurry away from him. However they do not...
At the last possible moment, they instead turn on the ninja, attempting to bite him viciously.
While the others squeal in frustration, one of the creatures actually manages to sink its disease ridden teeth onto Tsin Tao's flesh - the wound seems superficial enough, but the filthiness in the creature's teeth hints at something more dangerous.
Tsin Tao curses at the vicious and surprising attack, but doesn't take longer to react, skewering one of the rats with his short sword, putting the disgusting creature out of its misery as it squeals horribly.
The other two try to pile on the ninja, biting left and right at his heels and feet, but to no avail.
Tsin's swing is hard, but not enough to kill the rat this time, and the creatures fall upon him yet again.
The dreadful creatures are however as inept as can be, and both are unable to hit the ninja.
Everyone rushes toward Tsin Tao before it is too late, their footsteps echoing loudly on the stone corridor.
The ninja fights for dear life, but is not very effective at it, and misses yet again. The rats seem encouraged by his inability, and keep on gnawing at him.
But are as inneficient as their opponent.
With exhasperation, the ninja swings yet again, taking down the already wounded rat The remaining one simply turns tail and flees, as fast as her little legs can carry her down the tunnel.
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I go in the direction of the footsteps to meet them halfway and stop the noise as soon as possible :)
It's ok guys, I killed the rats. There's a headless corpse they were gnawing on and I suspect a trap so I'll go on ahead again to make sure we're clear. Give me a while and then follow.
Then I move back to the headless corpse and search for traps, while trying to understand what happened there.
Tsin Tao takes some time to examine the gory scene - the corpse lies there, missing large chunks of flesh, which were probably ripped off by the big rats.
Also, and even though you are not trained in human physiology, one other thing is clear - the head was not cut off, but instead probably ripped from the torso.
You find no traps in the vicinity.
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Wow, his head was ripped from his torso. How... unnecessary. And somewhat unsettling I confess.
Why again didn't I listen to my dad? Scaling fish, gutting fish, selling fish, that would be nice and safe.
Then again, eating fish, smelling like fish, getting sick at even the mention of fish. Wanting to kill my dad for teaching me about fish in the first place. F**~, bring me the rats anytime!
Alright! That did it! Head ripping monsters it is. Damn, that felt GOOD!
After this I check the corpse, maybe it has something interesting in its pockets.
Then I move ahead down the corridor, feeling great about my chances of surviving and getting a nice steak dinner tonight. Or rations. As long as there's no fish in them....
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I follow Duncan into the corpses.
Hell if I know What did that?
I look around for any sign that could reveal what was the opponent that made that. Maybe I can find some tracks and identify the type of creature.
And if I see Tsin before he rushes off down the corridor:
Duncan can you help Tsin, it seems the rats were confusing him with dinner.
Tsin Tao, his attention momentarily drawn away from the headless corpse, and after being reassured by the presence of his companions, looks north and south from the intersection - to the south, two sturdy wooden doors stand closed.
To the north, two massive stone doors stand open - from this distance, the ninja can make out a strange stone obelisk rising in the center of the room from floor to ceiling, its surface covered with metal bands and encrusted with deposits of a strange greenish mineral. The floor of the chamber is strewn with headless skeletons and scattered bones (no skulls among them). A dented steel shield and bits of metal armor lie at the foot of the obelisk.
His concentration is broken by the arrival of his noisy friends, the roaring dwarf and the clanking tiefling.
Lokeemon dashes off into the tunnels, his breastplate squeaking and squealing all along.
When you get to the entrance room, Kibbo is not there anymore, but you hear muffled screams from the short corridor to the right, and the room beyond.
You remember having read about extraplanar creatures - Varg... Something... Who occupy graveyards, ancient battlefields, or anywhere one can find remnants of death and decay. Tales abound about them being nothing more than flying autonomous heads, their hideous shrieks which paralyze their victims, along with their kiss which causes decay, and eventually the death of the body.
Even more dreadful are the tales which recount the head coming free autonomously to become yet another abomination, once the body is completely drained.
While Lokeemon was doubling back to check on Kibbo, Tsin Tao decided to plod onward, and check the path ahead.
As he inches to the room, apart from the details previously observed, he notices from the entrance this is a large circular stone chamber with four massive iron doors in the north, south (from where he just came in), east, and west walls. The south and east doors stand open, while the north and west doors remain closed.
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I whisper just loud enough for the spell to carry my message to the rest of the guys...
The room looks empty, I'll move in just a bit further to confirm.
Then I circle the room close to the southeast wall towards the open doors, to check out what's there.
I move stealthily and keep checking towards the center of the room, in case there's something behind the obelisk.
I assume at some point during this move I hear Saktar and Lokeemon's comments. Then I say:
What scream Lokeemon? I didn't hear anything.
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if I hear Tsin I communicate with Saktar.
Tell Tsin that when I went after Kibbo I heard screaming. Don't know what it was.
If he's not seeing anything interesting I say we double back.
And by the way, I was unable to find any tracks of the creature that could have possibly done this.
Don't know if it were any heads but I did found some hair...