Despite the shock and pain of the impact, the derro's cowardly attack scores a thin scratch across Keliwyn's back.
For CrimsonDM
Attack 1d20+3=21, Damage 1d8+2=9
With the demise of Cabbagehead, the party pours into the chamber beyond like water through a broken dam. The derro's eyes widen as he is surrounded and attacked on every side. He dodges frantically as everyone strikes or shoots at him evading everyone until Inigo brings his mace crashing down on the grey-blue skinned creature's head.
End of Combat.
Well done. I had hopes there of getting another attack because everyone missed (even Heather's ray -- I rolled because Wellard was taking off this evening) until Inigo.
I really thought I was going to do more damage with the ogre-kin meat-shield with caster support in a spot where you couldn't really bring your full firepower to bear. Keliwyn really broke it open for you all when he got by CH.
The floor of this room is ringed by three pits, about 10' deep. At the bottom of each 2 humans are chained. Their conditions are terrible. Each pit has a shallow trough of fetid water, a mound of moldy hay, and human feces. The prisoners are in an emaciated state. Perhaps Cabbagehead didn't feed them all the time. They must have been down here for some time because they must shield their eyes from your lights. One of the captives is dead from fresh spear wounds. The spear lies in pit where the derro dropped it.
They raise a weak cheer at the sight of human rescuers, and beg for release.
Keliwyn:
There appears to be nothing of value in the room.
Jeorik, upon seeing the pitiful prisoners, says, "Priestess, I know that our mission is urgent, but we should free these people and escort them out of here. We cannot leave them nor is it wise to bring them with us further into these chambers."
Jeorik, upon seeing the pitiful prisoners, says, "Priestess, I know that our mission is urgent, but we should free these people and escort them out of here. We cannot leave them nor is it wise to bring them with us further into these chambers."
"Wait," Istas says. The priestess then remains silent for several moments, her lips moving and barely a whisper of breath emerging as she quietly prays to Pharasma.
"Show me your will for these souls, my Lady," she requests, "Do their lives yet float upon the water or should they be allowed to slip below the surface and journey to your realm?"
They're all treading water. Even the spear damaged one might still be saved with prompt action.
"Give me a hand," Keliwyn says, looking for help in and out of the pits. As Istas prays, he moves among the prisoners, unlocking their shackles.
Once done, he looks at the others, and sighs. "I think out options here are limited. We can't take them with us, and we can't exactly just send them back the way we came - they'll never make it pass that hallway with the snake skeletons and acid. I hate to say it, but I think we have to leave them here until we find another way out. Darthen? Maybe you can stay with them so they are not to0 easy a target? Or is there some way we can conceal their presence? Anybody have any other ideas?"
They're all treading water. Even the spear damaged one might still be saved with prompt action.
"Give me a hand," Keliwyn says, looking for help in and out of the pits. As Istas prays, he moves among the prisoners, unlocking their shackles.
The priestess's prayer suddenly dies on her lips and she vaults into the pit with the spear-struck prisoner.
Once she resurfaces, Istas pushes her wet hair out of her eyes and quickly swims to the dying prisoner.
"This one can be saved!" she calls out, rolling the body over and murmurring an entirely different plea to her goddess now.
"You brought us here for a purpose, my Lady," Istas says, "Not just to recover Gaekhen's body...or to punish these derro and the necromancer...but also to save these unfortunate souls. Lend your blessing to this one. Help me to guide their soul back to the path you've laid before them."
Once the orison is complete, Istas treads water to hold the victim above the surface and carries them to the edge of the pit's wall.
"Jeorik? Can you and Inigo lend a hand?" she asks, clearly intending to free herself and the prisoner from the pit.
"I think out options here are limited. We can't take them with us, and we can't exactly just send them back the way we came - they'll never make it past that hallway with the snake skeletons and acid. I hate to say it, but I think we have to leave them here until we find another way out. Darthen? Maybe you can stay with them so they are not too easy a target? Or is there some way we can conceal their presence? Anybody have any other ideas?"
"I'm inclined to agree," Istas nods, "Darthen could certainly protect them...and summon us if he needed a hand. But we must press on. We can't afford for more derro to happen upon us or these freed prisoners...but we must also quickly retrieve Gaehken's body so Thousand Bones can return him before the Shoanti tribes make war upon Korvosa. I know of no other alternative than what you suggest..."
"I guess you are right about taking them past the snakes. Perhaps we can find an alternate route."
Jeorik helps lift the prisoners from the pits.
"Pehaps we should take them back to the room with the overturned tables. It might be a bit more comfortable for them."
They're all treading water. Even the spear damaged one might still be saved with prompt action.
Once she resurfaces, Istas pushes her wet hair out of her eyes and quickly swims to the dying prisoner.
Keliwyn is willing to stay and guard the ex-prisoners.
"I don't know Keliwyn," says Jeorik, "You have a knack with locks. We might need you with us."
"I don't know Keliwyn," says Jeorik, "You have a knack with locks. We might need you with us."
Darthen is willing to stay and guard the ex-prisoners.
"Alright then, let's get on with it," Keliwyn says. "Let's find this sorceror and put an end to this."
"There was another exit out of that room in which we chased the Derro," says Jeorik as they finish tending to the now freed prisoners, "Should we check it out before we wander around the rest of these passages?"
"There was another exit out of that room in which we chased the Derro," says Jeorik as they finish tending to the now freed prisoners, "Should we check it out before we wander around the rest of these passages?"
"It looked like it ended at a door," Istas recalls, "But this fleeing derro did not take it. Instead, he chose to run in this direction...probably to summon the aid of his big friend over there. Still, I suspect he sought safety in other ways by taking this passage. I think we should continue this way and see where else it leads us, if for no other reason than to confirm these prisoners and Darthen won't be checked on by some other ally the derro expected in this direction."
Darthen looks over the scurvy lot of boney, sore-covered, stooped. risoners, "Jeorik. You got a little of everything. Do you have some decent food for these people?"
Darthen looks over the scurvy lot of boney, sore-covered, stooped. risoners, "Jeorik. You got a little of everything. Do you have some decent food for these people?"
Istas eyes Jeorik at Darthen's request. "Go ahead," she nods, "We can spare a moment to refresh these people and maybe get them on their feet. It'll also give us time to gauge whether our battle attracted any further attention."
"All I have is trail rations," replies Jeorik, "and I guess Erastil wouldn't take it kindly if I wasn't after sharing what his bounty has provided with those in need."
With a cheerful smile Jeorik digs his rations out of his laden pack and hands them over, six days worth of food.
The prisoners dig into the food voraciously. Exclaiming how much better it is than what they'd been given by their captors, they thank you all profusely. One of them, a woman, would like to know your names.
Jeorik gladly introduces himself (Jeorik Vandor of Ilsurian) and then readying his bow, he says, "I am ready to move out when you are ready priestess. I would guess that you would prefer not to delay in the fulfillment of your quest."
The prisoners dig into the food voraciously. Exclaiming how much better it is than what they'd been given by their captors, they thank you all profusely. One of them, a woman, would like to know your names.
"I am Inigo. And I pray that this deed removes some of the misunderstanding being heaped on the name of our church."
"I am Inigo. And I pray that this deed removes some of the misunderstanding being heaped on the name of our church."
"I am sure that the prince of darkness would gladly have given them food provided they were willing to sign an agreement to provide renumeration later," says Jeorik dryly though not unkindly, "However," he adds with a certain fimrness, "my allegiance is to the father of the hunt and it is in his name I have made my gift."
"And as for freeing them," he laughs, "I think there is a plethora of faiths that are represented here. Pharasma, Erastil and Asmodeus will each have to share the credit for their follower's actions.""
"Still your insolent tongue! A person is nourished not only by bread but also by the precise teachings of the First Lord's laws!"
For CrimsonDM
Jeorik laughs, "Insolence is trying to claim all the credit for your dark prince and his church in a boneyard of the lady of graves on an expedition headed in part by one of the lady's own priestesses. No, no, friend Iñigo, your companionship is not unwelcome, but do not try to make me part of some missionary outreach for your dark church."
"And, adds Jeorik, unable to resist needling the other just a little, "I find it ironic a man of your faith would be interested in bringing freedom to the masses. Perhaps you missed your calling...Cayden Cailean's church I am sure would be more welcoming to a man of your freedom loving nature."
"Still both your tongues," Istas morbidly rebukes her two arguing companions, "You stand upon the hallowed ground of the Lady of Graves, and her eyes...more than any other...watch over us now."
She looks back at the chamber's exit and then walks to the derro's body.
"Say whatever prayers you wish to the other gods," the priestess offers over her shoulder, "All of them seek Pharasma's guidance when they wish to know what the future holds. And as her appointed handmaiden, I can tell you what our future holds if you keep on with your heedless quibbling. You'll bring this necromancer's attention directly to us before we can get these people out of here."
"Darthen?" she lifts her chin at the mercenary, "Hold this chamber until we return and see to the safety of these good folk. Once we're done, we'll come back and escort everyone to the Pharasmen to see to their continued health."
She quietly regards the released prisoners for a long moment. "My name is Istas. Your souls hung in the balance while imprisoned here. And the Lady of Graves determined you hadn't quite served out your purpose yet in this life. We are merely the instruments of your liberation. See to it that you seize this opportunity to make good on your second-chance."
Finally, the priestess places one foot on the derro's corpse and yanks her Shoanti spear free of the body.
"If all of you are ready to continue," she tilts her head towards her companions and gestures at the passageway with her spear, "There's a necromancer to deal with whose days Pharasma has numbered. And unlike these good people, his days have reached an end."
Heather shakes her haead sadly at the squabble between her comrades and then finds herself noddingin agreement with Istas.
"She's right...this evil must be stopped..and that man with it..he's brought enough shame to the workers of magic in Korvosa already.Argue your gods rights once we are out of here"
Heather shakes her haead sadly at the squabble between her comrades and then finds herself noddingin agreement with Istas.
"She's right...this evil must be stopped..and that man with it..he's brought enough shame to the workers of magic in Korvosa already.Argue your gods rights once we are out of here"
"I agree," chimes in Keliwyn. "If you're all done playing My-God-Is-Better-Than-Your-God, maybe we can get moving."
"Still both your tongues," Istas morbidly rebukes her two arguing companions, "You stand upon the hallowed ground of the Lady of Graves, and her eyes...more than any other...watch over us now."
Isn't that what I said, thinks Jeorik to himself, but with a mental shrug he maintains his smile and gestures, "After you then my lady."
She quietly regards the released prisoners for a long moment. "My name is Istas. Your souls hung in the balance while imprisoned here. And the Lady of Graves determined you hadn't quite served out your purpose yet in this life.
He almost laughs however when he notices that the priestess cannot help but try to proselytize for her faith.
As the party makes ready to leave, one of the prisoners says, "If you're looking for Rolth, I wouldn't take that righthand passage, the derro have been exploring it for some time without finding anything, but Rolth never goes there."
Istas nods. "Straight ahead it is then..."
"But first," the priestess notes, "Some of us are wounded. And these prisoners are in poor shape as well, especially that one. Everyone gather around and I'll call upon Pharasma to breathe life and vigor into us once again."
"But first," the priestess notes, "Some of us are wounded. And these prisoners are in poor shape as well, especially that one. Everyone gather around and I'll call upon Pharasma to breathe life and vigor into us once again."
"My thanks, priestess," Keliwyn says with a nod. He looks at the others to make sure everyone is ready, and then holding his hand out towards the door, he nods again at Istas and says, "Shall we?"
North you go past the passage to the lab room. Fifty feet of narrow gently rising winding tunnel beyond that you find a heavily constructed wooden door. Keliwyn looks it over, but finds nothing amiss, nor sees any sign of a lock, nor hears anything from the room beyond.
This section of corridor and the door is quite narrow. It will be single file through the door so your marching order is important.
Keliwyn opens the door quietly and peers inside. Then he breathes the all-clear to the rest of the party and steps inside. What you see is a roughly 20x40 room. The walls are generally rough stone, but the far wall and floor have been worked smooth. Small blades, saws, pliers, long curved needles and other surgical gear are stackly neatly on shelves along the far wall. The air smells of decay and chemicals.
The center of the room is dominated by a large wooden table. On the table is a body covered with a white cloth. It's big. Maybe 7' tall if standing and its proportions are all off. It's too big around the middle. It's left side is larger than it's right. About the place where a hand should be, an eagle-like talon pokes out from under the cloth.
What you see is a roughly 20x40 room. The walls are generally rough stone, but the far wall and floor have been worked smooth. Small blades, saws, pliers, long curved needles and other surgical gear are stackly neatly on shelves along the far wall. The air smells of decay and chemicals....The center of the room is dominated by a large wooden table. On the table is a body covered with a white cloth. It's big. Maybe 7' tall if standing and its proportions are all off. It's too big around the middle. It's left side is larger than it's right. About the place where a hand should be, an eagle-like talon pokes out from under the cloth.
Istas wrinkles her nose in disgust...both at the smell of the chemicals filling the room and the sight of the body. She makes room for everyone else by moving deeper into the chamber. Her steps naturally carry her toward the table, but she gestures silently to Keliwyn and the others to watch the room's remaining exits in case anyone comes.
Without lifting the white cloth, the priestess then visually examines the just-visible talon. A frown crosses her face as she wonders what kind of cadaver the necromancer has used. A soft prayer is whispered under her breath and then Istas' eyes go dark as the deepest pool.
With her eyes newly opened by Pharasma's power, Istas looks once more at the body to determine what use Rolth may have planned for it...and if any fell power animates it as a walking dead. Only after satisfying herself that the body poses no danger, she finally pulls away the cloth, half-hoping they've found Gaekhen's cadaver, but also worried Rolth may have made 'alterations' to it that will greatly anger the Shoanti tribes.
In the deathwatch trance Istas sees the bright auras of her companions and the inert lifelessness of the body on the table. For now it poses no threat.
As the priestess draws back the cover, she sees first the brown haired head of a young man. He has the strong nose and high cheekbones of the Shoanti and his cheek has a long diagonal scar. She remembers Thousand Bones mentioning an accident Thaeken had while playing a knife-throwing game as a boy which left him with such a scar.
As she draws the cover back further, she reveals that the head has been grafted onto the heavy, hairy, barrel-like body of a bear. The bear's body has been given a patchwork of grafts, the eagle-like talon, a gorilla's hand, elk legs, and various patches of skin or even feathers.
For Istas
"Beware! This monster may still have the power to menace us."
In the deathwatch trance Istas sees the bright auras of her companions and the inert lifelessness of the body on the table. For now it poses no threat....As the priestess draws back the cover, she sees first the brown haired head of a young man. He has the strong nose and high cheekbones of the Shoanti and his cheek has a long diagonal scar. She remembers Thousand Bones mentioning an accident Thaeken had while playing a knife-throwing game as a boy which left him with such a scar....As she draws the cover back further, she reveals that the head has been grafted onto the heavy, hairy, barrel-like body of a bear. The bear's body has been given a patchwork of grafts, the eagle-like talon, a gorilla's hand, elk legs, and various patches of skin or even feathers.
Istas' grip on her grandfather's spear tightens until her knuckles turn bone white.
"Beware! This monster may still have the power to menace us."
"It is lifeless," Istas explains, "Just as the ones responsible for this abomination shall soon become." She turns her head to regard the follower of Asmodeus, revealing her unnatural graveyard eyes to everyone. The rest of her expression is full of fierce anger and righteous determination.
"They have removed Gaekhen's head and used it for...this thing," she adds, "We'll have to retrieve the rest of his body. And I'll either choke its whereabouts from this necromancer's throat or pull his soul from the grave to learn what they've done with it."
Her eyes then move to the room's exits.
"Let us continue our march. And ready your weapons," she advises, "I don't have to interpret my Lady's dreams to know blood will soon be spilled."
The priestess passes one hand over her heart and offers a small word of praise to Pharasma before leading the way.
Assuming the passage to the southwest probably leads to a storeroom or other facility to aid the necromancer's labwork, Istas chooses the northern tunnel.
Jeorik looks at the body on the table, but says nothing.
With his bow still at the ready, he follows the others further northward through the tunnels but he looks down the soouthern tunnel, wondering what might be down there.
Her eyes then move to the room's exits.
"Let us continue our march. And ready your weapons," she advises, "I don't have to interpret my Lady's dreams to know blood will soon be spilled."
The priestess passes one hand over her heart and offers a small word of praise to Pharasma before leading the way.
Assuming the passage to the southwest probably leads to a storeroom...
The northeast passage runs about 30 feet, arcing until it runs true north. Keliwyn catches the sound of someone mumbling just ahead, then the passage opens into a room. Twenty feet across the room stands a grinning derro.
Jeorik :
Heather had cursed softly when she saw the abomination on the table..
"Rolth will die for this...if we do not find him the Mages council will want his head anyway"
Her thoughts were still dwelling upon the sight as she left the room which left her distracted
Initiative 3
Using light cast on a lantern as a light source
Keliwyn has been remarkably quiet as the group searches for the necromancer, but the sharp intake of his breath and the expression on his face makes it clear what he is thinking when they enter the derro appears in front of them.
The condition of the prisoners more than that of the body is what convinces Jeorik of the wickedness of their enemies. Without even waiting for or considering offering quarter, Jeorik, his arrow already to the string, fires a precise shot past his companions towards the little man.
The condition of the prisoners more than that of the body is what convinces Jeorik of the wickedness of their enemies. Without even waiting for or considering offering quarter, Jeorik, his arrow already to the string, fires a precise shot past his companions towards the little man.
The derro is obviously ready for you. Even as he begins to rise off the floor, he is completing some arcane ritual. Jeorik's shot whizzes past his comrades and pierces the derro's robe, catching him in mid-cast. The derro shrugs it off and completes his spell. A blot of darkness appears in the midst of the party and expands, extinguishing the glow of Inigo's mace, Istas' luminous holy symbol, and Heather's enchanted lantern. The gloom is broken only by the lantern tied to Jeorik's belt. The room is casting into heavy and shifting shadow caused by the party's silhouettes.
You see the derro rise toward the ceiling and dart to the left. He is quite surprised to still see you. "Cursed casters. "
Initiative order :
Jeorik 21
Derro 16
Inigo 15
Istas 10
Keliwyn 7
Heather 3
Inigo at bat, Istas on deck, Keliwyn in the hole.
Map to follow. Probably at lunch.
Edit: Ceiling are only about 9' high. He can't fly out of weapons-reach.
Inigo homes in on the derro's voice as he attempts to bash in its head.
Istas follows Jeorik's lead and hurls her spear at the rising derro.
1d20+3 = 18 to hit
1d6+2 = 4 hp
She then draws her warclub as she moves deeper into the chamber to give all her comrades room to fight.