Chubs happy to be team with you too water boy! You smart ally who save Chubby's butt many time!
This room was a storeroom at one time but has recently been scavanged of anything valuable. All that's left are some scattered clothing and cheap tools.
"Heh, waterboy."
This was, and is, a residence of some kind judging by the signs of recent habitation. A door on the northern wall of this room leads to another part of the house. The ceilings rafters rise fifteen feet overhead and a narrow set of stairs by the north wall leads underground.
As Luthor enters, a voice fills the minds of the party.
Where is the Immortal Dreamstone...
"Immortal what? You all hear that?"
Kal looks around, not sure what to make of the voice.
The voice speaks again with more urgency this time.
Tell us...
"The what??"
TELLLLL USSSS
Luthor realizes that his shadow isn't following his motions and in a panic, takes a swing at it.
His brass knuckles connect with something solid.
Kal casts faerie fire at Luthor's shadow.
As Kal's magical flames spread across Luthor's shadow, the creature hiding in it rears up revealing its true form. It has a nightmarish shape, not quite human or animal or fiend but is full of malice.
Kal recognizes the creature as an animate dream, a kind of malevolent outsider from the realm of dreams. It's incorporeal and resistant to magic. It has no specific weaknesses.
Tumble to Q20.
As Chubwart tries to skirt past the shadow it reaches out to touch him. The goblin is wracked with pain and dark visions cloud his thoughts.
The pain persists but the dark thoughts eventually fade.
Opal unleashes a volley of magic missiles at the shadowy creature.
The shadow howls in frustration as Opal's spell breaks its concentration.
Luthor follows with another pair of blows.
Bjorkus begins his rousing warsong.
"I don't know what the hell it is but kill it!"
The shadowy figure lunges for the bellowing bull.
Bjorkus howls in pain and strikes back with his trident.
Chubs dagger no work good. Think it broken or something!
Luthor takes another swing and directs the party's attack.
"Bjorkus get those horns moving. Chubs make with the stabbing!"
Freebooter's Bane
"Hey Chubs, move over!"
Kal waits for Chubwart to step out of the way, then fires a volley at the thing.
Kal's specially-attuned arrows tear the creature to shreds. The shadow-stuff that remains quickly dissolves into the air.
"Let's look around."
Kal does so, checking out first the current room and then the adjacent one, then heads up the stairs.
Aside from some discarded fruit seeds and small animal bones the current room is empty.
Opening to the north, the party finds a small entry-room. A small staircase leads up the building's second floor.
Chubwart calls for a halt when he spots a number of carefully hidden sigils on the floorboards denoting a magical trap!
Chubwart inches forward and tries to disarm the potentially deadly trap.
The little goblin's nimble fingers make quick work of the trap making the way upstairs safe.
"Let's go find out what's worth trapping the staircase leading to it..."
The stairs lead up to a landing with doors on each facing (except the west). From what the party saw of the building's exterior, the northern door likely leads to the balcony. Soft whimpering can be heard coming from the southeast.
Kal narrows his eyes warily. "Probably a trap. Let's proceed with caution..."
He keeps his bow out and ready.
Windows along the north and east walls of this room provide views of the courtyard below. Three unused beds line the walls. Doors lead out of the room to the south and west.
"Nothing here... though why you'd put beds on the second floor of a fort's main tower is beyond me. Let's check south."
Luthor will walk into the room. "It's all in your head. Stop being paranoid." He heads for the southern door.
When Luthor steps into the room he snaps a tripwire and two large blades swoop down from the ceiling.
But the blade get jammed on the semi-ulfen's shield and stop harmlessly.
"See? We're just fine." Luthor will open the southern door after he dislodges the blade from his shield.
Piles of mattresses lie heaped against the doors of this close room. Several more mattresses cover the floor. Windows look out to the south and east.
From one of the mattresses a disheveled man in tattered clothing throws himself and Luthor and feebly pounds his fists into his breastplate.
"You won't get me! No, you'll never get me! I told you, I don't know where it is!" he raves.
"What are you getting at? Who are you? Where is what?" Luthor stands there confused as he just lets the man hit his armor.
Kal steps into the room. "The 'Immortal Dreamstone', perhaps?" he asks thoughtfully.
"NOOOO!!!! I told you I don't have it...."
The man crumbles into a sobbing heap on the floor.
A half-starved little monkey climbs out of the rubble and begins to stroke the man's hair while chittering sadly.
Kal blinks a few times at the others, then shrugs. He turns back to the man. "I've no idea what you're talking about, but the thing downstairs that was asking for the Dre—that item... is gone. Who are you; how did you come here?"
"I told them, I don't know where it is. My master didn't tell me everything. I don't know..."
The monkey continues to caress the man's hair as he babbles incoherently. A moment later it becomes clear that this man is quite mad. The only way to get any useful information from him will be with magic or some longterm treatment.
Shaking his head and shrugging again, Kal begins to examine the rest of the room for any clues to the man's origin or identity.
Kal finds an abandoned backpack with a few potions and a spellbook with the name 'Ederleigh Baines' written on the inside cover.
The druid shows the items to the others. "Shall we take him back to the ship and try to discover the cause and object of his madness?"
"We need to make sure someone's watching him if we do that."
"Sure, although he hardly seems dangerous..."
"I'll keep an eye on him", Bjorkus rumbles. "Let's finish seeing what there is in this place so we can get him to the ship."
The minotaur stands the man up. He offers the bull no resistance.
"He's clearly crazy and if that book is like the other ones we found, he's probably a wizard. Crazy plus wizard equal sunken ship. We'll have a few people watching him."
"Good, then that's settled. Let's continue."