Amkarang steps forward to keep up the pressure on the ogre mage, putting in four swings to try and take down the spellcaster.
William manages to avoid most of the cold and then continues his slow move toward the ogre.
The ogre mage endures a number of solid blows including a pair of devastating strikes from Benedict. Grum's flaming falchion narrowly misses her, causing the first look of concern on her features. Amkarang adds another pair of injuries which takes the fight out of her. She turns to flee, but William puts two more arrows into her and she falls.
Haela recalls that ogre mages regenerate their wounds like a troll, so this one will probably heal up if left alone.
”If she’s like a troll, that,” gesturing toward the falchion, ”is probably the simplest way to end her. Do we need any information from her, Benedict?”
Without waiting for an answer, Aerel is removing weapons from the body to make sure they are not handy if she wakes up.
"What could we promise her in exchange for information? To spare her life? No, I think not."
Benedict nods to Grum. "Fire will end this."
Aerel finds a +1 mithral chain shirt, +1 shock composite longbow (+5 Str), a masterwork greatsword, and a belt of incredible dexterity +2 on the ogre mage. The bow and the chain shirt are sized for a large humanoid.
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Grum grinned and he raised his blade. The neck was hard to cut through, given the amount of bone and muscle there. To make a clean decapitation required skill, focus and strength. He brought the blade down, eager to see how quickly he could make the head roll. It took two swings, given that he had more strength than skill. But given the flames that danced along his blade, the foe did not rise.
Haela looks annoyed at how hurt everyone is.
"Didn't expect that blast of cold. I guess this falls to me, then?"
She begins making the rounds.
"If we are in no hurry, then let's take our time. Make yourselves comfortable."
Haela will use the Healer's Satchel to Treat Deadly Wounds on Aerel (37 damage), Grum (20), Benedict (22), William (18), and Amkarang (18). Most of the injuries are frostbite, but some are from arrows. The dwarf knows the right poultices and bandages to heal the injuries and sets to work.
Her Take 10 heals 30 HP, and doing it the mundane way means an hour per attempt. So five hours. This also uses up all of the daily charges from the Satchel, but she still has her Healer's Hands feat which doesn't need any charges.
She has used 1 use of Healer's Hands (on Aerel during this fight) and will then use 1 on herself (healing 22 HP, leaving her with 4 damage) and will so have 6 uses left for the rest of the day.
"Thank you, Lady Sturm."
Once he's cleared for duty, he will gather his things to find an overwatch position to guard the party.
With the attack having occurred during the last watch of the night, the sky is lightening steadily in the east to signify morning.
"Let's go check out that wooden tower in the center of the valley. We won't be able to see much, so try to move quietly enough that we can hear other things moving in the fog."
"The fog can play tricks with our hearing. I will take point. If I encounter something that I cannot avoid, I'll bring it back to you. Standard procedure."
The travel is uneventful through the heavy mists as the group attempts to find the wooden scaffolding they had spotted earlier.
After several hours of walking, they eventually come across the site of a ruined excavation. Four smashed carts lie haphazardly around a precariously-leaning scaffold of weathered gray wood. The structure stands above a ten-foot-wide drop in the ground. Scattered bones are visible among the wreckage, along with shreds of tattered clothing caught on wooden splinters or firmly held by rocks.
The bones are mostly human, though there are a few dwarven remains.
You spot a half-buried lockbox near one of the smashed carts.
Aerel searches the area for clues to what happened.
"There's a lockbox under the stones by that cart."
"Mostly human and a few dwarves. Dwarves settled this valley hundreds of years ago, we know, but clearly they didn't remain in any great numbers."
William walks to the edge of the scaffolding and takes a look down.
"There's a lockbox under the stones by that cart."
Benedict will retrieve the lockbox and offer it to Aerel to inspect and open.
Aerel checks it over for traps and attempts to unlock it.
Aerel is able to determine that the box is untrapped and easily jimmies the lock open. Inside is a delicate parchment containing the deed to the as-yet unnamed mine shaft as well as mineral samples of the area. Most notable are two rough, uncut rubies nearly the size of a halfling's fist. In their unfinished form, they are each worth about 1,500 gp. A high-enough Craft (jewelry) check will double their value.
The mine shaft is not properly excavated, being only a test dig. However, the presence of the deed and the rusted digging equipment strewn around the camp indicate that the mine would have been profitable and was set to be enlarged into a full dig. Haela is able to tell that the skeletal remains had died to violence -- likely through the use of blunt instruments, even as it's clear they were picked clean by scavengers.
William looks around and turns to Haela and asks, "Can you tell how long they have been here? Weeks, months, before the invasion, years or decades? We should take that deed and gems with us."
"Let's move on the dwarven ruins.
And once the fog begins to lift, let's try to be as stealthy as we can. If there are drakes about, or other things, I would much rather see them far before they see us, rather than having them catch us unawares."
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Grum almost voiced his excitement to go loot the dwarven ruins. All that he knew was that dwarven ruins had the best things to find. Armor, weapons, gold, gems...all of the things associated with dwarves. But he kept his mouth shut just in time, remembering that the woman he was relying upon to keep him on his feet might not take too kindly to such an opinion.
Haela estimates that this camp has been here for months, possibly more than a year. She's certain that these prospectors met their end well before the start of the invasion.
It takes the full day to travel across the valley to the Dwarven ruins. By the time the looming walls of the cliff face become visible in the mists, the fog is lifting at the end of the day. The waning light of the day show several stone arches rising above broken pillars and scattered, tumbledown walls at the edge of a vast chasm. Icy water still pours into a central well here from a vast aqueduct that descends down the mountain and across the half-mile-wide crevasse. The only structures that seem unbothered by time are four statues of dour, dwarven warriors standing sentinel under the end of the aqueduct. Water thunders down into a twenty-foot-wide hole carved in the stone.
Aerel regards the statues suspiciously. ”Can anyone tell if those are standard, standstill statues and not some magical guardian? I’m tired of surprises lately.”
Benedict is impressed that so much of the aquaduct remains intact. Dwarven engineering.
Benedict looks to Haela and then to William.
"Do either of you know anything about those?"
William looks at the statues and says "Look like dwarfs to me."
William cannot identify the statues as anything but well-preserved stone carvings of dwarves.
Each of the statues wears a chain around its neck with a small silver hammer.
At the far end of the chamber past the statues and the hole where the waterfall is flowing, the party can see a plaque with writing set above a shallow stone bowl. Getting close enough to read the plaque would require moving up near the statues.
The statues are depictions of Grundinnar, the dwarven god of friendship and hard work.
While studying the statues something dawns on William, "Those are statues of Grundinnar, the dwarven god of friendship and hard work. I'll see if I can read the plaque." He then approaches the plaque.
It's not completely surprising, but the statues animate. What's more surprising is that the heads of the dwarven figures roll off of their necks and into their arms! Then they begin moving to defend the area!
These are constructs known as cephalophores.
"Destroying constructs of a god of friendship sounds wrong. Can we evade or elude them? Or maybe the plaque provides instructions to pass safely?"
Benedict will approach to within 15' of the statues and use Total Defense (for AC 34). Can he read the plaque?
Benedict sees that the plaque is written in Dwarven. Hastily scanning it, he finds the plaque states that the structure had been dedicated to Grundinnar when first created. It also invites supplicants to make an offering in the bowl below the plaque.
You estimate that whoever places one of the silver hammers into the bowl will receive a blessing from Grundinnar.
Benedict also notices that there are worn handholds in the well where the water is pouring into.
”I knew it! So, what do we do? Arrows against statues aren’t the best, so if you have a different plan, I’m listening. Including just backing away - I think I can outrun them long enough to be out of sight.”
Grum rushes up and strikes the nearest animated statue. He deals heavy damage to it, but the supernatural hardness of the stone causes a loud ring and a nasty shock that travels up his arm. He checks his weapon and thankfully it appears unharmed, but he senses that repeated strikes on these statues run the risk of damaging his favorite weapon!
The statue retaliates with a pair of slams.
The others move towards Benedict.
Benedict and Grum both need to make a DC 16 Will save or be dazed for 1 round.
”Fall back!”
William shouts out "Putting a silver hammer in the bowl will give a blessing to whomever does it. Does it mean they will stop attacking? I am not sure. Move back away as Aerel said and see if they stop, otherwise we have to destroy them."
Benedict will fall back.
"There are handholds in the well. If we can lure them away, we can pass. Or we can try stealth or invisibility, or lift a silver hammer from one of them and do as William says."
Haela will try to address the statues in Dwarven from a distance, moving slowly closer. She tries a series of phrases that might let her pass (also using Total Defense, for AC 31, and not getting too close just yet - waiting to see how they react).
May we pass?
Speak 'friend' and enter!
In the name of Grundinnar, I greet you in friendship!
Let us make great works together!"
Haela's efforts are rewarded as the constructs respond to her fourth phrase! They immediately return to their positions and restore their heads back on their shoulders.
The roar of the incessant water pouring down from the aqueduct fills the chamber, but it again becomes an otherwise still ruin from centuries past.
”Whew.”
"There are handholds in the well. I believe we can climb down."
He will take a look and test the handholds. How difficult is it? Benedict's armor does not impair him much, but Haela might need to remove hers.
Benedict checks out the handholds, which appear to be worn into the stone over generations. Trying to climb down without those handholds would be extremely difficult, but using the handholds make it merely challenging.
The shaft descends down until there is no light from the surface. It appears to have no bottom, leading Haela to suspect that if they keep going they will eventually reach the Darklands.
They find a fissure, however, that appears to open into a series of caverns. The first thing the heroes notice is the stench of rot.
The group makes their way carefully down the foot- and handholds until they reach a fissure in the shaft. Dark, gruesome stains mar the floor and walls of this thirty-foot wide chamber roughly carved into the southern face of shaft. Tunnels veer off to the west, south, and southeast. Bits of gore and bone line the walls, and the chamber reeks of rot -- a stench that would be overwhelming if not for the enormous opening into the crevasse.
The first one who drops down into the chamber sees that there are several pale-skinned humanoids with bulging eyes lounging around, picking at the scraps and gnawing on bones. Everyone's seen these creatures before -- morlocks.
Benedict is a pretty good Climber, and can easily make the DC 15 when using the handholds with Take 10. So he can lead. I would say that whoever else is good at Climb (perhaps Amkarang) would be up top anchoring a rope, so that the less-skilled climbers in between can have a rope-and-wall for a lower DC. Then the one up top unties the rope, climbs down a bit, and ties it off again.
Benedict may as well attempt Stealth.
Nope.
He draws his warhammer and takes a defensive stance, hoping that his allies can join him quickly.
Benedict reaches the fissure and drops to the solid floor with a heavy thud. It's too loud, and it alerts the morlocks in the chamber.
Rather than offense, he takes up a defensive stance as the morlocks grab up clubs and rush at him. Two of the six have bulging muscles and seem to immediately whip themselves into a frenzy at the intruder.
The other morlocks scamper around and try to surround Benedict.
Though beset from all sides, Benedict fends them off.