In a divided Cheliax, the devil worshipping royal house Thrune sends one of their members to the free spirited city of Kintargo to ensure their loyalty to the Queen. But four individuals are ready to fight back...
Shiba heads over to the grate while the rest puzzle over the ring and unlocks it. He carefully swings it open, keeping his eyes open and ears perked for further sounds beyond it.
"The Juliac family. They were one of Kintargo's noble houses, but that was over a century ago. I highly doubt there's anyone of note to return that ring to. I guess we could sell it to fund the cause?"
As Shiba peers into the newly unlocked hallway, he realizes something odd. Rexus described there being a door behind the grate, and you all heard a door slam shut...
After briefly considering simply running headlong into the wall where a door might be to try and discover an opening, Kal thinks better of such foolery and instead narrows her eyes and stares down the hallway, hoping to see something Shiba may have missed.
As Kal looks over the hallway, she notices a slit in the wall. She slowly moves towards it, digs her fingers between it and pulls, and the wall opens up.
Looking closer, part of the wall is in fact a wooden door, camouflaged to look like the wall when closed. You deduce that the door Rexus saw was in fact this open door, which suddenly shut closed, hiding it from plain sight. Going through the door, Kal sees an old workroom.
This old workroom houses numerous old slaughterhouse tools, veterinary equipment, and woodworking tools, all of which are covered with a thick layer of dust through which strange tracks and patterns have been traced. Heavy mallets, crumbling ropes, and tools for restraining animals hang from pegs in the walls or rest atop leaning tables. To the southwest, a trap door sits ajar, propped open by a block of wood.
Shiba steps into the room and frowns at the surroundings. "Why is a workroom behind a false wall?"
He carefully looks around without disturbing the tracks on the floor, keeping a wary eye on the trapdoor. He pays special attention to the patterns and tracks, and wracks his memory to determine if they mean something in specific.
You recognize the tracks as being grimple tracks. Grimples are a tiny subspecies of gremlins that frequently make their home in abandoned urban buildings. They also know some rudimentary magic, including prestidigitation and mage hand.
As Shiba looks around, some of the sharp worktools suddenly start moving and fall to the ground, making a large clattering noise. None of them reach Shiba, however. At the same time, strange markings in red start appearing on the walls:
AQETVGHN
Kal watches Shiba assess the room, and her own vision is drawn to the new markings. She wracks her brain for anything she may know about this seemingly random arrangement of letters.
knowledge:1d20 ⇒ 7
Not sure which knowledge it is but Kal only has bonuses for Geography and I don't imagine it's that, so
Male Chaotic Good Half-Orc Skald 1 | HP: 9/9 | AC: 15 (11 Tch, 14 Fl) | CMB: +2, CMD: 13 | F: +3, R: +1, W: +2; +1 vs Mind Affecting effects | Init: +1 | Perc: +4 | Speed 20ft | Spells 1st 0/2 | Active conditions: None.
Zacarias comes running when he hears the clattering of the tools. "Is everyone alright in here?" When he sees the letters on the walls, Zacarias too tries to make sense of them.
Whichever type of knowledge is relevant, arcana?:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20
"Oh... grimples have taken residence in here." Shiba says quietly to the others. The sight of him flickers like a candle in a breeze, and he conjures four torch-bright cinders of blue flame into the room. The embers bring no warmth to the dusty room, but cast light all the same.
Dancing Lights for the little grimplekin.
"They're like gremlins, and they know some minor magic..." He considers for a moment, wracking his brain on what he might know of grimples, then calls out in the Sylvan tongue.
"Hello, can you hear me? Can you understand me? We mean no harm to you and your kin. We have come seeking information, some of it related to the disappearance of a family member.
Nothing of note comes to mind to Shiba as he tries to parlay with the unseen fae creatures. His words fill the workroom, and he is met with silence, until...
Only more silence. It would appear the grimples, if they are around, are not showing any desire for dialogue.
Nothing else is happening at this point, no more moving objects or letters scrawled on the wall. Notably, even in the chaos, the trap door and the block of wood propping it up have remained untouched.
Kal frowns. "Grimples?" Her raven echoes her question. She shakes her head, and calls out in common. "Grimples! I've had a very long day. Don't get in our way."
Not waiting for a response from the grimples she barely thinks are there, Kal heads over to the trap door and pulls it open, peering inside.
As the two of you peer down, the results vary. Kal completely fails to see into the shaded basement, but Zacarias can easily make out most details of the room... as well as its scent.
The eye-watering stench of urine and feces fills this large room. Nests made of chewed crates and barrels line the walls, while rusty knives and hooks cover the tabletops.
Male Chaotic Good Half-Orc Skald 1 | HP: 9/9 | AC: 15 (11 Tch, 14 Fl) | CMB: +2, CMD: 13 | F: +3, R: +1, W: +2; +1 vs Mind Affecting effects | Init: +1 | Perc: +4 | Speed 20ft | Spells 1st 0/2 | Active conditions: None.
"Ah f*+* me that's nasty. Only one way to find out what's down there." Zacarias starts to climb down the ladder but stops about 5 steps in. "Uuuuh, anyone got a light?"
Male Chaotic Good Half-Orc Skald 1 | HP: 9/9 | AC: 15 (11 Tch, 14 Fl) | CMB: +2, CMD: 13 | F: +3, R: +1, W: +2; +1 vs Mind Affecting effects | Init: +1 | Perc: +4 | Speed 20ft | Spells 1st 0/2 | Active conditions: None.
"Oh wait, I can see in the dark. Never miiiiind."
Zacarias continues his descent, but will stop if he sees anything move (towards him or otherwise) in the basement. Looking around him as he goes down the ladder.
As Zacarias descends, he hears some faint hisses down below. As he looks down and focuses on the sound, he sees three dire rats running circles around the ladder. They seem malnourished and aggressive.
"Anything down there?" Shiba calls to Zacarias. He peers around the room while waiting to hear an answer, and takes a moment to investigate the letters that were left on the wall by the brief magic of the potential grimples.
After a moment he gives up, not able to understand any of it.
With a loud thud, the large half-orc lands down into the basement. All rats scurry away a little bit, trying to keep their distance. One of them was nearly flattened by Zacarias and is a bit shaken as a result.
Currently active (de)buffs
Rat (Yellow) is Shaken for 1 round
The rats, still a bit surprised by the sudden landing, seem to have been caught slightly off guard, allowing the entire crew to get a first hit in! Rexus looks over everyone's shoulders, trying to find a useful way to help, but comes up with nothing. "My apologies, but I simply lack any way to hit the beasties from here." He backs off to give you all some space..
Upon hearing that their foes are simple rats, Kal shrugs and leaps down into the room, landing next to Zac. Her eyes dart about the room as she flips her bow into her hand, nocking an arrow as her vision lands on the nearest rat.
"You could've mentioned the rats were dire!" She exclaims, before drawing back an arrow and loosing it at her target.
Longbow:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17
Damage:1d8 ⇒ 2
She grins, "Not that I'm complaining about such big targets."
Suspecting Kal might be standing (and landing) on her last leg, Joachim drops into the pit. It's not untill he is well and truly falling that he realizes the flaw in his plan.
Shiba meanders over to the trapdoor and peers down. Frowning at the rats, he conjures light for the less dark-inclined of his peers. Four embers of torchbright blue fire hang in the gloom.
Shiba casts Dancing Lights to illuminate the darkness!
He then eyes one of the rats, drawing his new crossbow and loading a bolt.
The rat shot by Kal (Green) dashes away from the intruders, arrow still jutting out of its flesh. It must have given him quite the scare. Another rat (Yellow) dashes towards the downed tiefling and attacks, though this rat too still needs to shake off some fear of these invaders.
Both rats manage to dig into their unwelcome guests with surprising accuracy!
4 damage for Joachim
5 damage for Zacarias
"Hang on, I'm coming!" Rexus shouts from above as he slowly descends down the ladder. At the middle of his descent, he suddenly turns his eyes to the rat that sunk his teeth into Joachim and shouts "Away with you!" From his hand a softly glowing, sickly green orb originates and he flings it at the rat.
Acid Splash attack:1d20 ⇒ 10 Damage:1d3 ⇒ 2
Unfortunately, the attack just misses the rat. "Blast!"
Kal raises her right hand and points it at the rat easiest in her line of sight (green) and fires off a ray of frost, saving her arrows for larger foes.
Seeing Joachim trying to get up, the rat tries to get another attack off.
Attack:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 Damage:1d4 ⇒ 4
However, the rat fails miserably, and gets a tough smack from Joachim's mace for his efforts. The flattened rat makes no attempts to get up: dead.
The final rat scurries away into a corner under an old table, and keeps its distance from you. The will to fight seems to have left him completely.
COMBAT OVER!
With Shiba's dancing lights illuminating the room, what you see is mostly... old. Chewed crates and barrels, rusty knives on rotten wood tables. The only thing of any interest is the door leading west.
The door opens up, revealing a new room. Dirty salt and sawdust coat the floor of this gloomy hall. Bits of the wall masonry have been chewed or clawed away, revealing narrow, winding animal tunnels beyond. Steel rails are mounted in the ceiling, with a few lonely iron hooks
dangling from them. A pile of stained pillows and motheaten blankets lies in a ten-foot-square depression in the floor to the northwest.
Scanning the large room, you soon spot an iron grating, similar to the one you saw on the top floor, to the southeast. Beyond the grating is a stairway down and another door. Rexus follows after you. "Perhaps the same key as before will work again. Would you like me to give it a go?"
Perception 17:
You notice a large amount of fist-sized holes in the walls of this room. Observing one closer, you see the holes lead to each other, like a tiny tunnel system.
"Hm. There are holes in the walls here, we should be careful." Shiba moves the constellation of dancing lights closer to the wall to illuminate it and show the holes. The witch lingers towards the back of the party, keeping his crossbow loaded.
I've moved everyone into the room, Joachim towards the middle, Rexus to the door, Zacarias to the bags he's inspecting, and Shiba and Kal close to the door. If any of those placements isn't as you had intended, let me know and we can change them before combat starts
Shiba's dancing lights hover along the holes, when suddenly, in the wall facing Zacarias, he spots a small and very ugly creature. Upon being illuminated, it lets out a high pitched screech, which is responded by some others in kind, and suddenly, movement all along the walls until several more beasts make themselves known. One right next to Shiba and Kal, one in the sacks of flour, two in the middle wall constructions... The grimples have made themselves known!
Kal sees Shiba speak to the Grimple near to the two of them, and goes against her instinct to attack it, assuming the witch was making an attempt at peace. She nods, and looks to the Grimple. "What he said!" Her raven caws his agreement, and she readies a Ray of Frost in her hand, following her companion's lead.
Not to be a copycat but Kal also readies an action to attack the grimple at the first sign of hostility
For a moment, the room is filled with a palpable, tense silence. Are they considering your request? Then, one of them starts making... some sort of noise. The others join in. Too late do you all realize that the sounds they're making are very much like retching... as at that moment, every single grimple launches their stomach's content towards you as a ceaseless stream of bile.
For those of you interested please refer to the map to see how the lines of projectile vomit have been directed. Everyone who has been hit multiple times makes a save each time.
Although the stench is absolutely unbearable, most of you manage to get over it, but Kal's stomach can't really take it and she has been nauseated!
In response to this, however, both Shiba and Kal instinctively aim at the source of their torment. The witch's bolt misses, but Kal's arrow strikes deeply true and skewers the tiny beast against the tunnel wall inside the hole, it is dead.
If the grimple had charged you or something I would have ruled that the readied action would be triggered first, but in this case I ruled that you wouldn't be able to decipher the hostile intent until it was too late.
Male Chaotic Good Half-Orc Skald 1 | HP: 9/9 | AC: 15 (11 Tch, 14 Fl) | CMB: +2, CMD: 13 | F: +3, R: +1, W: +2; +1 vs Mind Affecting effects | Init: +1 | Perc: +4 | Speed 20ft | Spells 1st 0/2 | Active conditions: None.
Zacarias struggles not to add to the pool of vomit he's standing in. That's just f*+*ing gross. He leaps towards the nearest Grimple but takes a misstep in the pile of fabric and stumbles.
Joachim cautiously moves ahead as Zacarias' attack misses completely. Meanwhile, Rexus dashes into the room and calls "They're too far away for me to hit quite yet, give me a few seconds!"
ROUND TWO:
Initiative Shiba Kal
Grimples
Joachim Rexus Zacarias
Last round recap
Currently active (de)buffs Flagbearer
Kal is nauseated. Creatures with the nauseated condition experience stomach distress. Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move actions per turn.
Kal shudders, retches, and tries not to vomit right back onto the grimples. She stays where she is standing and puts a hand over her mouth, pointing her other at the nearest grimple.
"Make the bastards stay back!" She exclaims between retches.
Her raven caws protectively, darting from where he was previously perched to land on his nauseated master's shoulder. "Bastards stay back!" He cries, staring down all creatures present, ready to strike with all his avian might should a grimple make a wrong move.
Kal's raven is holding his attack and will bite whichever grimple next moves towards her
