Rodi reappears as you're leaving town. "Ah, did you find what we were looking for? And did the woman guard things or was she a woman-guard? I say we camp because I found the most extraordinary thing I think is an herb and I want to see what happens when Mikos eats it!"
"If the merchants arent leaving until the morning, let's stay here with them through the night otherwise ... there's no time like the present! " The Keg look at the Spire with a sigh of great anticipation.
Mikos eyes the gnome with distrust. "I'm not eating anything you found again, Rodi. Besides if it came from around here, a goblin probably peed on it." He shrugs. "Might as well camp and hit the tower when we're fresh in the morning."
You set up camp with the wagons and guards just outside the base of the Emerald Spire ruins. Pairing shifts with the escort, you set up watch through the night. Other than strange, swampy noises coming from the distant tree line, the night passes uneventfully. At the break of first light, you guide them into the ruin and unlock the old vault.
As they haul the goods out to the wagons, you unbar the door opposite and prepare to descend.
Mikos checks over his gear at the top of the stairs and makes sure his sunrod and darkvision potion are at hand. "Keg, you got that light spell ready? Want to check for traps and tracks, Rodi?"
Need to update my spells after rest, but ...
”Yup, enjoy your shiny new belt buckle!”
Rodi nods and begins to check for traps!
Rodi checks the stairs ahead of you as you cautiously descend, but finds no traps. The stairs circle the glowing green spire thrice before reaching a landing and breaking away on a straight, steep descent. Ben estimates you have gone down about fifty feet from the surface level.
Just above the landing, the green crystal spire is marked with a complex sigil the size of a human hand.
The steep stair cuts through solid bedrock before ending in a stone-lined room. A large stone door stands directly south of the stair, a small alcove lies to the east, and another door to the southeast is slightly ajar. An extinguished torch rests on the floor of the alcove.
As you near the bottom few steps, a shuffling and groan from the alcove draw your attention. Two goblin corpses shamble around the corner towards you. One's tongue hangs grotesquely where its lower jaw used to be, and the other has one arm completely ripped off. A third claws its way towards you across the floor from the southern door -- its legs little more than shreds of rancid flesh.
"Well, that's another thing to do with a dead goblin," Mikos chuckles as he strides down the stairs and engages the nearest walker.
;
;
and whiffs.
"Gross! Aren't we supposed to be helping goblins now? The dude on the corner in town was talking about how it's time for a new edition of life where goblins can be model citizens?"
Rodi dances up and attacks twice!
for damage!
for damage!
The Keg growls, "Stinking undead! It's an atrocity! Destroy them."
The Keg moves down the stairs and casts Disrupt Undead at the Zombie to the east of Rodi (not engaged yet)
positive damage if it fails a DC16 Fort Save. half if it succeeds; double if it critically fails; none if it critically succeeds.
|
Ben notes the sigil but says nothing yet. He does write it down in his journal however.
"Very interesting use of necromancy. Typically skeletons and zombies are used as warnings instead of serious threats. Unless of course there are a few dozen more hiding about here."
He also attempts to disrupt the zombies.
Ben recites a quick incantation and the nearest zombie glows with positive energy for a moment, damaging the undead's animating power.
The Keg does the same thing, calling upon his deity's power instead of an arcane spell.
Rodi jaunts down the final steps and stabs the nearest zombie through the chest, extinguishing its unlife. The dead goblin collapses to the floor.
Mikos moves past Rodi and swings his falchion at the next zombie. His wild swings somehow miss the slow-moving target.
The legless zombie crawls forward, closing on Rodi and swinging at his legs.
;
The one-armed goblin zombie lurches forward to slam Mikos. It grasps onto his arm and immediately tries to chomp at his flesh.
;
;
Rodi lets out a whoop and stabs three times at legless.
for damage!
for damage!
for damage!
[ooc]The Keg strides in close casting disrupt undead again on the one engaged with Mikos, leaving the other for the Bronzed Behind.
positive damage
Mikos is thrown off as the wild gnome slips in ahead of him and takes down his zombie. The swordsman staggers over the corpse and barely gets his long curved blade up only to miss as another lurching zombie latches onto him with sharp claws. He twists his blade trying to hack apart the twice damned undead goblin.
;
;
Ben burns the crawling zombie with positive energy but the undead's necrotic power proves stronger.
The Keg targets Mikos's hanger-on, and the spell's energy burns the zombie out from within. The goblin zombie's eye sockets and mouth release a gout of smoke as it releases Mikos and collapses in a heap.
Rodi laughs and attacks the last, legless zombie. He can hardly miss the near-immobile foe, but only lands one solid strike.
Grumbling, Mikos steps over and finishes the zombie off with a single powerful chop.
With no more immediate threats, you have a chance to look around. Besides Mikos's sunrod, the room is dimly lit by irregular, luminescent patches of greenish-white, furry mold. The room's ceiling is twenty feet high. The doors are featureless stone slabs with no apparent latch or locks.
Mikos snorts in disgust and rehangs the falchion on his baldric. He looks at the odd doors. "You're the door expert, Rodi. How do those open?" he rasps.
Note, one door is cracked partially open...
Mikos picks up the spare torch and has a look around the alcove...
before moving over to the slightly ajar of the two doors. "Can you see anything in there?" he mumbles to Keg.
The Keg trundles over to the open door to peer in, ”Here’s to hopin something don’t stick me in the eye.”
Rodi pushes the door open. "Like this?"
Mikos finds nothing out of the ordinary in the alcove. The torch is very dusty and has apparently been there for some time.
Rodi shoves on the southern door but it remains firmly closed. The Keg checks the eastern door. Beyond is a 50 foot hallway running east before ending at another door; a small alcove halfway down on the north wall has a second door.
Rodi pushes the door open. "Like this?"
"Like what?" Mikos asks, unimpressed.
Mikos steps in a few feet looking to see how dusty things are in here.
The Keg moves to the edge of Miko's light to look beyond around the corner, "Come on Rodi, check for traps, eh?"
Rodi shrugs and moves up, looking for telltale signs of traps!
Rodi takes the lead, slowly and steadily checking the corridor ahead for any traps. The floor stones are covered in dust and debris and have not seen recent traffic. He passes the small alcove; the door to the north is a plain slab like the others. A green glow peeks through the narrow cracks along its edge.
Rodi continues east... two steps past the alcove, the floor suddenly snaps down at an angle, opening to a gaping pit!
"Rodi!" Mikos croaks in alarm as the gnome drops from sight. He moves up to see what has befallen... his companion.
"I dinna mean like that!", the Keg exclaims as he hustles over to the edge.
"Traaaaaap!"
With a surprised yelp, Rodi falls into a nest of spikes.
; ;
"I found spikes in the trap..." Rodi's pained voice calls up from the hole.
The Keg moves to use his crowbar to wedge the pit open "Anyone got a rope?"
"Check," Mikos tosses the end of his silk rope down to Rodi.
Mikos and the Keg rush to the edge of the pit. Mikos pulls out and tosses down his rope as the Keg looks for a way to wedge the pit.
A pale and round-bodied spider the size of a large dog springs from a hidden alcove just below trapdoor. It shoves up on the door, fighting against the Keg to force it closed.
(+1 for crowbar?)
Mikos drops the remainder of the coiled rope to the side to help Keg.
The Keg is caught off-balance and the spider shoves the trap door closed. Mikos makes as if to help but is too late.