Not yet realizing the pendant is a fake, the Doctor counter's Marvin's point about it not being in the last one. "This is clearly meant to be 'educational'. So what would be the point of giving us 9 lessons if they made it this easy to skip over the last 3? At the very least, I would expect that we need something from the later rooms to properly claim our prize." There's a pause before he continues, "Besides, the shrieker mushrooms have excellent properties that can be used to heighten senses. Though you generally don't want to disturb them with light or sound, so that darkness lantern and some earplugs might come in handy."
"Ah, there it is." Kelvar opens the secret door, which swings open to reveal the hallway leading further in. "If that is the pendant, very well, we'll take it, but we should avoid these stairs and see what lies down this passageway. Perhaps another way out lies at the end of them."
"It is a worthless trinket made to tempt the impatient. Put it out of your mind and we should follow this hidden path." She will then head out to check the secret passage and see where it leads.
Kelvar will follow Talia down the secret passage.
Rose chuckled. "You have weird hobbies, Doc."
Satisfied at the group's efficiency and progress, she took position next to Talia and looked for the way to move onward.
Moving together down the hallway takes you south and the east around a corner to a door facing south. Above it is a new inscription...
Opening the door you find this room unlit and dark. In the middle a brick circle holds a dark soil. Growing from it is a purple, man sized mushroom. In the western wall is a door.
"It's not just a hobby! It's science! Experimentation to figure out how to distill only the properties I wish and combine them with others. Who knows what I'll eventually figure out how to make? Drugs that increase resistance to spells without making it harder to cast. Poisons that can be ingested and then trigger at the will of the poisoner. Medicines that continually heal people as they're being processed. The possibilities are practically limitless!" The Doctor's speech is noticeably faster than normal in his excitement as his glasses gleam in the reflected light of his ioun torch. He then takes a breath, calming himself. "It could be infinitely useful."
The Doctor quickly whispers to his companions. "That looks like the mushroom I was talking about. They react to light and movement within 10 feet. Luckily, they're fairly fragile. I would suggest the rest of you back up to be well out of earshot of its scream, and then I'll shoot it." As he talks, he pulls out his ear plugs and prepares to put them in. He then pauses. "Unless you think its shriek will trigger something else? I had assumed the reference to secrecy referred to telling us to sneak around the thing, but it could be something else. The shriek certainly won't be stealthy."
"It would be better if multiple attacks landed at once. I expect if it was merely injured it would still scream," she whispers. She pulls a sling out of her pouch and loads it. "Everybody who can see in the dark into position. I'll count like this, and we all fire on three." She practices using her fingers to count down so that everybody can coordinate.
"No no no. It's fragile. Any damage will kill it, though it'll continue to shriek for a good 20 seconds or so even after death. And that's the part that's dangerous. Besides, does anybody else have ear plugs?"
Marvin draws his crossbow, and suggests that he could fire from the door.
Kelvar whispers to the others, "I think perhaps we should avoid it entirely. Perhaps if the shrieker screams, it either alerts something in the next room - or signals a hidden enemy in this room. We should either hug the wall closely so that we do not come close enough to set the shrieker off, or look for a way around. There have been several hidden doors so far. Perhaps another lies here, hiding another useful item like the alchemist's ice?"
Kelvar searches the hallway for any hidden doors they may have missed.
"Secrecy is our greatest ally. Exposure brings death." Rose said pointedly.
"So how about we not set off the mushroom alarm?"
"How about we all aim at it at once, and count down a coordinated volley?"
Kelvar finds nothing in the hallway.
An annoyed look on his face, Kelvar returns to the group. "I still think there is a less obvious solution, but I am unable to find it. Unless someone else wishes to search, a coordinated volley sounds the best option. Perhaps we can overwhelm it and avoid it's shrieking." Kelvar puts his axe and shield away and pulls out his bow.
The Doctor continues to shake his head. "What's the point of a coordinated volley if any damage kills it." But that's the end of his complaint. If they want to needlessly hurt themselves, so be it.
"Is that how it works? They're that fragile?" Rose said, a bit surprised.
Talia will wait until the debate is ended, standing ready to join in the volley, if that is so chosen.
"That is what one Mr. Neil Diamondust put forth in his book 'Party with Some Fungis: An Exploration of Rare and Exotic Mushrooms'. Any damage will kill it, but death does not stop its hideous shriek."
"So it will scream whether we walk into the room and attempt to sneak by it, and it will scream if we shoot it and kill it? A situation where the shrieker goes off, no matter what? If exposure brings death, than this shrieker screaming at all exposes us, which means we fail the lesson at best and die at worst. I say again, there must be a way around this that does not involve setting the shrieker off. Perhaps a rock with a silence spell on it or something has been hidden in this hallway that will allow us to bypass this without causing the shrieker's screams to be heard. Perhaps if we all search, one of us will find a solution."
With that, Kelvar again searches the hallway, looking for anything that will allow them to bypass the shrieker.
"I'm...not actually sure if killing it will cause the shrieker to scream. I guess it depends on if it detects the arrow heading towards it in the split second before it dies. I just know that once it starts screaming, even death won't shut it up."
Agreeing that stealth would be the better option but uncertain if it was possible, the Doctor also takes a look around the area.
Forgetting that he didn't voice his initial agreement out loud, he then adds, "Of course, if there's a secret door with a silence spell, it could be anywhere along the path. Given our time constraint, we may not want to spent too long searching before simply deciding on a course of action. Unfortunately I don't think all of us would be able to successfully sneak past the mushroom."
Rose rolled her eyes and hurled a pentagram shaped chakram at the mushroom.
As he sees Rose winding up for the shot, the Doctor hurriedly put his earplugs in.
Kelvar and the Doctor search the hallway again but it is taking some time and the others are impatient. The Doctor finds what he believes to be a secret door but just at this moment he sees Rose throw her chakram before he can alert anyone to his discovery.
The chakram flies through the air towards the mushroom and slices straight through it, almost unimpeded and embedding itself in a crack in the stones on the other side of the room. The mushroom lets out an almost inaudible puff as millions of spores burst out, seeking a cool, damp place to settle and grow. Those in the doorway collect thousands of them in hair, clothes and exposed skin. No loud noise or alarm is set off.
2 doors stand before you and a now unprotected, dark room covered in mushroom spores (if you touch something you might see the spores as a thin film of dust on your fingertips) lies open for investigation.
Kelvar goes to clap his hands over his ears as Rose throws the chakaram, hoping that it will protect him from any shriek. The lack of such causes him to lower his ears and say, "Perhaps you were right in that if we killed it from a distance it would not scream. I have never seen such a fungus before, and so was perhaps overly cautious."
The Doctor waits a moment. When it appears nothing was going to happen, he removes his earplugs, waving Harker forward. "I managed to find this door hidden in to the stonework. Did we want to check the mushroom room first or this way? I would suggest this way since, as Kelvar mentioned, we might find something useful again."
He moves back up to the rest of the group. Seeing the dead fungus, he adds, "While the typical trap checking rigamarole is going on, I think I'll just grab some of that fellow over there."
He grimaces as the spores start to get all over his clothing. I suppose I'll have to get these washed soon.
Marvin shrugs and follows, glad to know he can count on the others to identify and smash things when necessary.
"Yes, well, it would not hurt to check the hidden door. Perhaps it will reveal something to us."
Kelvar will then look over the hidden door to see if there are any traps.
Talia will brush off the spores and begin searching.
"Gross." Rose said quickly putting her helmet on to keep the spores out of her hair. She sneezed daintily inside the faceless mask of her helmet.
"This is killing my whole 'Dark Knight' mystique." she grumbled.
While the Doctor fills up the vial, Kelvar and Talia search their specified areas and find nothing hidden. Both doors lead to new hallways of stone that end in wooden doors. Both doors have the same inscription on them.
Kelvar walks back to the group from the passageway and shares the inscription on the door with the others. Finding it matches, he suspects they lead to the same room. "I believe this room will contain Timeon's drowned men, or Draugr. They are reanimated bodies of sailors who have been slain at sea. Their attacks smear rancid flesh and viscera on their targets, which can cause intense crippling nausea. They are able to shrug off fire-based attacks on account of their water-logged skin. Their skin resists attacks from bows, so an axe, sword, or mace is a more effective weapon. They will likely attack us as soon as we enter the room. If you think we'll need it, I can ask for Asmodeus's blessing."
When he sees the description, the Doctor mutters to himself. "Not much of a 'lesson'..."
"Assuming a bow is equivalent to a crossbow, then essentially what you're saying is that I should stay out of this fight. I guess before we start then, who would like some extra protection?" He holds up his golden vial . "I can make a couple more if we wish."
"Also, if we believe these two paths lead to the same place, shall we attempt a pincer move? Or would it be best to stay in the same hallway and try to draw the creatures to us to be surrounded one by one?"
"It is. Though not your preference, would you like to use my mace for this battle?"
Marvin shoulders his stick, and shrugs. "I can hit something, I guess," he suggests.
"I'm ready. My blade will cut them and my protection is strong."
Turning to Rose, he says, "I have an idea. Perhaps you and I should act as the anvil and go through one door, whilst the others prepare to come through the other door and trap the draugr in between us. I shall give us the blessing of Asmodeus, then everyone gets into position and we strike. Agreed?"
Talia will nod at the plan. "you two in the hallway, and the rest of us coming from the room?"
"Sure, why not."
Turning to Rose, he says, "I have an idea. Perhaps you and I should act as the anvil and go through one door, whilst the others prepare to come through the other door and trap the draugr in between us. I shall give us the blessing of Asmodeus, then everyone gets into position and we strike. Agreed?"
Rose drew her shield and pushed her helmet a little more firmly down on her head. "I like it. Let's do it."
"Get in position folks. Let us know when you're ready. We'll kick in the door, get their attention and the rest of you can close in once they come at us."
Kelvar hefts his shield and prepares to kick open the door, and nods when he's ready.
The Doctor nods, accepting Kelvar's extra heavy mace and almost immediately dropping it. "I normally prefer lighter weapons, but I suppose this is better than a practically useless one." He then moves in to position with Marvin and Talia. Once they're in position, he waves at Harker to signal the other two that they're ready.
You get into position then Harker gives the signal and you move simultaneously into the room.
This square stone chamber is lit by a small oil lantern that hangs from the center ceiling. It has eight battered wooden coffins that are encrusted with salt brine, barnacles and dried sea weed. There is a shallow fog like early on a cold morning out at sea that rises to your waist in some places.
You hear a noise coming from coffin 3.
Kelvar motions to the coffin, and once Rose is in position, will throw the lid off so she can strike whatever is inside.
Talia will move in and ready herself to strike as they Rise from their coffins.
Marvin moves to another position where he can take a swing at coffin 3.
Rose nods and brought up her axe. Once everyone else was in position she raised her shield arm up with three fingers high, leaving it hanging from it's straps for a moment so she could count down. One by one they vanished...
His tired arms lugging the oh-so-heavy mace, the Doctor follows the rest of his group in, trying his best to set some of his allies up for some flanking.