Rajuna coughs up a lungful of dust and swipes his blade clean on the body of the first stirge. He starts to reload the knife. Thinking better of it, he tucks the weapon in his belt and clears the rock residue from his eyes. Missing the earlier action, he notes the beginning of a shiner around Walter's eye. "Oy, Walt. Did a stirge punch ya or somethin'?"
That will do it! The stirge is bleeding out on the floor. Probably bleeding Dragomir's blood back all over him.
I don't have time right now to post a full update, but feel free to talk amongst yourselves. The immediate threat is over.
I have to make a roll for that...
Raj, please attempt a Fort save.
Always one to associate with the more unsavory elements of society and their less than hygenic haunts, Raj doesn't spend much time worrying about disease.
Gerroffityabastard!, Dragomir rages as he continues to pound the creature into a bloody pulp
He then rises scraping the mush and chitin off his body, looking pale as he did yesterday... and none too happy.
Rajuna coughs up a lungful of dust and swipes his blade clean on the body of the first stirge. He starts to reload the knife. Thinking better of it, he tucks the weapon in his belt and clears the rock residue from his eyes. Missing the earlier action, he notes the beginning of a shiner around Walter's eye. "Oy, Walt. Did a stirge punch ya or somethin'?"
Walter placed his hand over his eye. Oddly enough, it looked completely natural-- hand on his face, a pose he found himself in often.
"I... made a mistake," he said, defeated. He held up his other hand, prepared to 'take back' wounds if anyone needed it.
Seeing the beating that Dragomir gave the stirge, Theron doesn't even attempt to retrieve his arrow. The thing had probably been soaked in all sorts of nasty fluids including Dragomir's own blood anyway.
After helping Dragomir get up and glancing over at Raj to make sure that he was alright, the inquisitor's gaze turns towards the trapdoor that they just opened. Let's hope that there aren't any more of those things up there. I'll go first... with any luck I'll be able to see anything dangerous before we get jumped again.
Lem retrieves Walter's thrown rock, brushes it off, and produces two more rocks and a scroll.
Desna, I beseech you-- as a humble man can aspire to greatness through your divine influence, so too can an ordinary rock become a powerful weapon of righteousness. Fill these stones with your light, that we may destroy your enemies.
In answer to his prayers, the rocks glow with a soft blue light
The priest smiles in satisfaction, pocketing one of the rocks. He hands one to Walter.
This should work better now, particularly against the undead. You only have one shot, though, so make it count. Lem winks at the teen, not wanting to discourage him.
Then he walks over to Rajuna and gives him the remaining stone.
In case something is too far away to...stab.
That will do it! The stirge is bleeding out on the floor. Probably bleeding Dragomir's blood back all over him.
...
The immediate threat is over.
Theron climbs up the ladder and discovers a pile of rubble--as well as a broken door that hangs off only one of its hinges, and seems to lead outside. He readies his bow and approaches the door carefully--but there is nothing on the other side either.
###
The floor above is the lower floor of two inside a tower that protrudes from the roof of the prison. There used to be a second floor in the tower, also accessible by ladder, but that floor collapsed, sending the rubble down to block the trapdoor. From the way the windows are built and their commanding position, you suspect the second floor of the tower was used as a guard post.
The broken doorway leads to a long balcony (similar to but nowhere near as impressive as the one in Minas Tirith) that overlooks the bluff upon which Harrowstone squats--in the distance, to the north, you can see Ravengro.
It doesn't take long for the cold weather to drive you back inside.
###
You all reassemble in the hallway of the prison. (Belated map link.)
Remaining items of interest:
--the chained remains in the cell down the end of the cell block (see post here).
--the eastern cell block and the other facilities at that end of the floor.
You make your way across the floor quietly, heading to the eastern cell block toward the front of the prison. As you pass through what was once the mess hall, with trestles and benches askew throughout, you spot what must have once been the nest of the stirges you killed yesterday, under one of the heavy timber tables.
The eastern cell block looks much like its western counterpart. A few doors hang askew, and the remains of the prisoners are still in their cells. Theron uses sift to check through each of the cells, but finds nothing of value.
###
Things left to explore on this level:
--the chained remains in the cell down the end of the western cell block (see post here).
--the room behind the double doors near the broken wall, to the northeast (reference AE16/AF16).
--the room behind the single door in the easternmost north-south corridor (reference AA22).
--the room behind the double doors in the other north-south corridor (reference W17/W18).
You array yourselves before the doorway and after Raj checks the door for traps, and Lem makes sure everyone is ready for whatever might lurk behind the door, Raj forces it open.
There is a loud creak--which makes you all wince--and then silence. It is dark inside, but once your eyes adjust, you see stairs, heading down.
Otherwise, it is quiet.
Lem places his hand on Dragomir's puncture wound, and intones a prayer.
May your suffering be as a dream when, upon waking, you find all is well.
"I would recommend we finish exploring up here before heading down below."
"I would recommend we finish exploring up here before heading down below."
The group reassembles outside the large double-doors. The gap in the wall looms large to your left, the collapsed balcony showing itself in chunks of masonry lying half-submerged in the miniature lake outside.
Raj carefully checks the floor and the door for traps, as Lem makes his incantations. Finding nothing, Raj and Dragomir put a shoulder to the door and bust it open.
Inside is a kitchen. Along the west wall, a series of wood-fired ovens lie cold and empty. Along the east wall are preparation benches and a large sink. Down the south end of the room is what might once have been a pantry or larder--any food that was once stored here, though, has long since been picked clean by animals.
The most interesting thing in the room, though, is the small corpse slumped against the bank of ovens.
Raj looks it over briefly before Septimus pronounces that it's the corpse of a halfling. Dessicated by years of exposure, little remains now beyond a taut parchment-like skin stretched over a skeletal frame. Whatever clothes the doomed creature was wearing have been gnawed to tatters by insects and--probably--rodents.
You set to the grim task of going through the dead halfling's belongings.
On the halfling's body you find:
- 5 × usable crossbow bolts (the rest are ruined)
- a small light crossbow
- a small masterwork morningstar
- a potion of cure light wounds
- a potion (unidentified; faint divination)
- a scroll of detect magic
- a scroll of blur
- a scroll of command undead
- a wand of ray of frost (29 charges remaining)
- a wand of aspect of the falcon (21 charges remaining)
in the last remaining room on this level, you discover a former store room. Nothing of value remains.
The only thing left to do on this level is to investigate the chained body; you haven't been into that cell yet.
ETA: (map link)
*shakes fist at random loot generator* ;)
"All that's left is that body in the other hallway. Shall we investigate it next?"
"I agree with Miss Rose. Dead or no - I'd rather be sure it stays dead after we pass it by."
- a wand of aspect of the FIREBALL (21 charges remaining)
*shakes fist at random loot generator* ;)
You make a good point. And, in fact, the halfling (when he was alive) couldn't have used that wand anyway--no ranks in UMD. So:
Replace:
- a wand of aspect of the falcon (21 charges remaining)
with
- a wand of magic weapon (21 charges remaining)
Ok... can't be too much trouble - the bones looked all chained up if I recall.
Looks can be deceiving, Theron says quietly.
"I agree with Miss Rose. Dead or no - I'd rather be sure it stays dead after we pass it by."
Walter resisted the temptation of correcting Rajuna with Falkner's proof that undead were just malicious animated objects, and instead pocketed the wand of magic weapon-- a long, thin yew rod.
He turned the magic stone around in his hand. A nice stone. Um... very magic. He imagined throwing it at the next thing they met, and with his luck, figured that he'd probably get himself in the other eye.
You reach the barred door to what looks to be the largest cell on the level, discovering it is still solidly attached to its hinges.
Raj dutifully checks for traps, finding none, and then after a short conference, Dragomir and Karrik agree to put their strength to the test and try to pull the door off its hinges.
After around a minute or so, they manage to haul the door loose with a clang that echoes throughout the now-deserted halls of the upper floor. They carefully lower the sizeable door to the ground and rest it against the opposite wall.
With trepidation, you approach the body in the cell, and get your first look around the corner.
While the cell is certainly the most spacious, it is no less spartan than the others. The remains of a cot sit in one corner, with a small bedside table that has a mouldy book on top. Other shelves are attached to the cell walls, containing other books. A few partial titles are legible--Raj recognises one as Galdyce's Guest--but there is no clear pattern to the types of books on the shelves. The one on the bedside table has no obvious title and is bound in leather.
Otherwise, the only item in the cell is the body--bound in heavy chains with weights attached, from several different religions including Iomedae, Calistria, Asmodeus, Sarenrae and Pharasma.
Theron stands to the side of the opened door, draws his bow and readies a blunt arrow at currently inactive skeleton. At the same time, he also begins Detecting Evil in the room. See if you can find anything useful among his belongings, I'll warn you if I sense any evil presences gathering in the room.
Karrik anticipates the big human's bravado, and he puts a halting hand on Dragomir's shoulder, "I'll go in this time." He gives the man's stirge bites a look, "Hate to get you bit again if there's any way to circumvent it... or worse."
He then tightens his grip on his thick, curved blade and steps into the room, beginning a thorough sweep.
His black eyes can't help but scan the book titles, looking for any clues.
Lem hesitates a moment, unwilling to incur the ire of the Half-Orc.
Karrik, will you accept the blessing of Desna?
His voice is uncharacteristically quiet.
Karrik halts as he steps into the cell, looking down at the diminutive diviner. "I have no objections to the aid of Desna." As Lem gives his blessing, the half-orc finishes his thought in an equally quiet tone, "It's the mis-crediting our efforts as hers that rubs me wrong." He shrugs his thick shoulders as he continues into the room, as if the issue were settled… or at least best discussed at a more appropriate time.
Theron's eyes cloud over as he calls upon the power of his goddess to show him good from evil, eventually becoming a glossy black colour.
He nods to Karrik when he spots nothing, and after Lem's prayers, Karrik moves into the cell.
Karrik looks the body over carefully, but spots nothing out of the ordinary--save for the obvious fact that the body is covered in heavy chains and weights with holy symbols on them. He nudges it with a foot, but nothing happens.
The books in the cell similarly yield no new information. As far as Karrik can tell--without picking any of them up--from the titles he can read, they are a mismatched collection of novels, travelogues, history books, and books on philosophy.