Rozalia moves to heal Piotr.
When Caraid comes to the frontlines, Kilarra raises her eyebrows and says "That's pretty brave. Hope you know what you signed up for."
She lashes out again with her greatsword, trying to skewer the ghoul into a kebab.
Kilarra tries to skewer a ghoul but her sword is driven off its mark by the edge of the doorframe.
The ghouls reach out hungrily towards Caraid, who stands at the doorway with fang and claws.
The ghouls are either clearly flustered by Ann's taunts or blocked by the doorframe and do not manage to land any blows on Caraid.
"Eww beth yw'r pethau hyn? Maen nhw'n drewi!" Apep recoils from the creatures.
Eww, what are these things? They stink!
Piotr ponders the life choices he can't even remember, and Ann continues with her insults to the one that hasn't been marked yet.
"I believe, dear Caraid, that these 'men' haven't had enough experience with women to be able to recognize one. Especially this gross smelly weak kneed decaying bag of uselessness over here." she sticks her tongue out for good measure too.
Caraid takes a deep breath and various things around him almost vibrate as the door jerks on its hinges and then a series of splinters fly up in a sword-like shape to strike at the ghoul.
Caraid sends the splinters, powered by his mind slicing diagonally downwards into the ghouls shoulder and out of its torso on the other end.
Caraid sends the splinters, powered by his mind slicing diagonally downwards into the ghouls shoulder and out of its torso on the other end.
Caraid sends the splinters, powered by his mind slicing diagonally downwards into the ghouls shoulder and out of its torso on the other end.
Rozalia grants Kilarra guidance once more.
Kilarra steps forwards and attacks the next ghoul.
Despite Rozalia's guidance, Kilarra steps forth and swings her greatsword clumsily at the remaining ghoul, who nifty dodges, then returns with fang and claw, which clank off Kilarra's half plate.
Having already insulted the last ghoul to the best as she can, she doesn't have much she can do, so she just insults him some more. Imagine the worst thing you can say to a ghoul and it might be that.
Piotr is silent and still.
Garrosh takes a quick look to make sure Apep is out of danger, nodding him to stay back.
Then he goes for his bow, firing a shot at the ghoul.
Garrosh manages to feather the ghoul in the ribs but it doesn't fall.
Caraid summons his weapon of splinters back into his hand before slashing at the ghoul once again.
Kilarra grabs the blade of her sword with her gauntlet, then turns her sword over so the cross-guard and pommel threaten the ghoul. She raises it above her head, then slams it down hard so the end of the sword's cross-guard bashes into the ghoul's skull.
Caraid tries to slice the ghoul, but the doorframe sends his aim slightly off, and the ghoul manages to dodge out of the way, into Kilarra, who brutally bashes its skull in with her blade.
The party notices a rickety stairway leading upwards.
Piotr recovers as Ann cheers both Cariad's sharp splinters and Kilarra's deadly blade. Piotr thanks both Garrosh and Rozalia. "That was mighty scary" the big man admits.
Ann gives him a look over concerned especially over the bite in the ribs. As she fusses she'll also tell him. "I couldn't turn solid while you were paralyzed. We need to spend sometime figuring the rules concerning my condition, when we have a moment of 'relative' peace."
Piotr doesn't look forward to that conversion so changes the subject, addressing the group with a question "So up the stairs, or exploring the rest of this level first?"
"Uhh...if you don't mind, if there are ghouls or other monsters around, I rather get to somewhere safe as soon as possible," Ilki interject hesitantly. "I mean I don't want to become the next snack."
Apep on the other hand just sniffs at the ghouls and looks over Piotr curiously. "Pam wnaethoch chi rewi fel yna?" She asks Piotr.
"Apep is curious as to why you got paralyzed like that" - Garrosh explains to Piotr.
"Roedd y creaduriaid hynny yn ellyllon, yn undead sy'n gallu parlysu â'u crafangau neu frathu. Maent yr un mor beryglus ag y maent yn edrych" - he explains to Apep.
"Those creatures were ghouls, undead who can paralyze with their claws or bite. They are as bit as dangerous as they look"
"And yes Piotr, I would like to explore the remaining of this floor first" - the half-orc continues, then turning to Ilki - "Just stay close to us, it is not yet the best time to double back" - he grunts.
"It both burned and chilled, and was just terrible." Piotr will follow but suggest the group wait outside while Garrosh looks over the collapsed and potentially unstable wall.
"O, mae'r lle hwn yn beryglus hefyd! Yn afon Oukranos mae creaduriaid asgellog yn llechu sydd â chynffonau hir sy'n eich cludo i ffwrdd ac ni welwch chi byth eto!" Apep exclaims in a squeak.
Oh, this place is dangerous as well! In the Oukranos river there lurk faceless winged creatures that have long tails that carry you away and you're never seen again!
"Uhhh okay," Ilki stammers, "Because I don't know what else you're going to uncover. Look, if things go south, could you at least point out which way you came from so I can head there?"
Garrosh thinks they are water pipes, but Caraid figures that the pipes lead off in the direction of the boiler room the party searched earlier. Operating the boilers there could cause the pipes to heat up, and deliver their heated contents to wherever the showers are, which could be predicted to be in the room south, if this place did truly follow standard architecture rules...
"They're boiler pipes." Caraid says, "I've seen drawings for a building a bit like this. If we can find the boiler and turn it on, then we could deliver hot water to the showers. Which is probably that way." He adds, pointing. "Ann, could you check it? No point dropping hot water on something empty..."
"Yeah the showers are down south, but are you sure you want to operate the pipes? God knows what's in the showers anyway, maybe we should just let them be?" Ilki says.
"We came south of here." Kilarra explains bluntly, being less than interested in their cowardly charge. "It's blocked, so you'd have to go east first, past the insane cult, then work south and west. They won't let you in though. You're likely to get shot by them if we're not with you. Honestly, you're best off with us, since even if you do get hit and knocked out, Rozalia can bring you back."
Ann gives Caraid a low curtsy "It would be my pleasure" she says and then moves through the wall to see if Caraid is right.
Piotr nods in agreement to Kilarra's description to Ilki. "The cultists will most likely kill you. The good doctor is the only one that kept them from doing that to us."
Cracked, river-green tiles cover the walls and floors of this communal shower in wavering patterns. Dry metal spouts jut from several walls, overlooking grates in the tile floor. A sizable portion of the floor drops into a shallow pool, filled with something other than water: a vile stew of corpses and blood. The smell of rot and copper fills the air in this room. Three alcoves, providing minimal privacy, run along the south wall. In the center, a simple chair has been transformed into a gruesome throne covered with draped viscera and gnawed bones.
There are 3 ghouls in the room, one which only has one arm, the other hand being severed and hung around its neck. The one armed ghoul addresses Anne, "Hoi, what you doing here?"
"I guess I could join the cult, then look for an opportunity to escape... Do you know if they're recruiting?" Ilki asks the party.
Piotr gives the man a hard look "The cult is killing people. Lots of them. Joining them would be a Bad idea."
"Well, firstly this is my place, but I also know I can't do anything to chase you out if you don't want to leave," The one armed ghoul says cautiously. Anne also notices he stinks even worse then the other two. "And I'm not afraid of you," The one-armed ghoul blusters. "You can say this is our dining hall. If you were actually solid, and had a taste for human flesh, we could talk it over some... Innards?" The ghoul hooks an intestine up from inside the tub.
"Are they killing their own people or just those who cross them?" Ilki asks Piotr worriedly.
"Not afraid? Too bad, I'll have to go find fun elsewhere. Have an... enjoyable... dinner." she manages then pulls her head back out of the room.
She shudders as she tells the others "You were right, Caraid, it is the showers, but now it is a slaughter house full of ghouls. One of which is particularly intelligent, so we should be really careful."
Kilarra moves over to Piotr and whispers to him. "He knows too much to ally with the Yellow. What do you think, guard?"
"Nope, you can't do anything to us - we're already dead."The one armed ghoul answers sardonically. "Go ahead and torment the living if it amuses you."
Kilarra moves over to Piotr and whispers to him. "He knows too much to ally with the Yellow. What do you think, guard?"
"He would have to be reckless to do that" - Garrosh speaks with Kilarra, but looks at the man - "Surely he understands even if these cultists have innocent among them, the danger is permanent - if you are turned upon, your life is forfeit" - he growls, then speaks to Ilki directly - "You do understand that, do you not? We have offered already to keep you safe, and in our words you can trust"
She shudders as she tells the others "You were right, Caraid, it is the showers, but now it is a slaughter house full of ghouls. One of which is particularly intelligent, so we should be really careful."
"We still must proceed" - he looks around at his companions - "Agreed? We are here to reclaim this place. We use our abilities to the best, and focus on one at a time"
Piotr gives Ilki a look as Kilarra talks to him. She's right. He's sifty and spineless, and will betray them at the drop of a hat. In his own opinion that is. He considers knocking him out and trying him up. Slung over a shoulder would probably cause less problems then letting him walk around and flap.
Garrosh tries to inspire though, so Piotr waits.
Garrosh thinks that Apep is a resident of the Dreamlamds.
The Dreamlands is a finite, relatively stable demiplane located within the Dimension of Dreams. And she's talking about nightgaunts, which haunt the deepest and darkest chasms of dreams. They lurk in the shadows that loom at the edges of sane slumber, but are ready at any moment to snatch a blithe dreamer away, carrying it off into realms of endless nightmare and tickling it terribly all the way. They appear as stooped, emaciated humanoids, yet possess a remarkable strength in their sinewy limbs. With inky black skin, batlike wings, a long spiny tail, and demonic horns protruding from its skull, a nightgaunt is a fearsome foe—yet the lack of any facial features is what makes it truly nightmarish. Nightgaunts can grab with their claws.
Ilki gulps. "I won't be going to the cult unless you guys are getting ovwrwhelmed by whatever fiends there are here," pointedly missing the point that Kilarra isn't exactly human. "I promise."
"Undead." Kilarra corrects him. "Fiends are different."
She turns to the group and says "Time to storm the shower?"
"Oes gennych chi deulu yno, ger afon Oukranos"
"Undead." Kilarra corrects him. "Fiends are different."
She turns to the group and says "Time to storm the shower?"
Garrosh chuckles at Kilarra's words about undead and fiends, but then goes serious again thinking about the task ahead - "Yes, it is time to put an end to this"
"Undead, fiends, all the same to me." Ilki answers. "They're all out to kill you and eat you!" He exclaims.
"Wel mae gen i fy pacmates yno. Mae milwnau yn dodwy wyau ac yn eu deor, yna pan fyddwn ni'n tyfu'n ddigon mawr rydyn ni'n dod o hyd i'n tir hela ein hunain." Apep squeaks.
Well I have my packmates over there. Vooniths lay eggs and hatch them, then when we grow big enough we find our own hunting grounds.
Ann stops and thinks "Caraid, could you do anything to the pipes to make the water really really hot? Maybe it could skald our enemies, make them run out of the run where we'll be waiting."
Rozalia nods to the others, indicating her readiness. "My powers have increased. The ley lines beneath this place have granted me magic to help deal with these undead menaces."
Kilarra nods back, then waits for Caraid's answer. If Master Magic Boy can do something to help, then great.
"Umm... not easily." Caraid replies, looking a little crestfallen. "Unless we can turn the boilers on... I can move things, but not heat them."
"I think the boiler room was south of here. If we go down south, we should be able to get there." Ilki suggests.
Apep looks curiously at the conversing party. "Beth wyt ti'n siarad amdano?"
What are you talking about?
Piotr spends a minute chatting with Ann, who turns a bit more solid. Then nods to Caraid. "Okay then, that is out so we charge in on 1... 2... 3..." Piotr will kick in the door and charge a bad thing.
Cracked, river-green tiles cover the walls and floors of this communal shower in wavering patterns. Dry metal spouts jut from several walls, overlooking grates in the tile floor. A sizable portion of the floor drops into a shallow pool, filled with something other than water: a vile stew of corpses and blood. The smell of rot and copper fills the air in this room. Three alcoves, providing minimal privacy, run along the south wall. In the center, a simple chair has been transformed into a gruesome throne covered with draped viscera and gnawed bones.
There are 3 ghouls in the room, one which only has one arm, the other hand being severed and hung around its neck. The one armed ghoul smells nauseatingly bad. On seeing the party, including Anne, the one arm ghoul calls out, ”Hey ghost girl, you seem more solid now. Did you bring us these to eat?” It gestures at the party, while giving them a vicious leer.
Garrosh and Kilarra both recognize the one armed ghoul not as a ghoul, but a more powerful type of ghoul known as a ghast.
Ghasts exude an overwhelming stink of death and corruption in a 10-foot radius. Those within the stench must succeed at a Fortitude save, or be sickened for 1d6+4 minutes. And like their lesser cousins, their bites and claws can paralyze and elves are not immune to the effect.
Without a word, Piotr charges the nearest ghoul
Ann pokes her head around the corner and smirks "Sorry, no. I'm just showing these kind folk the most pathetic want to be king in all the land. A one armed lord of the loony bin showers. You."
Piotr charges at the ghoul, feeling sick from the ghasts horrific stench. Despite being sick to the stomach, he cuts a large gnash on the abdomen of the ghoul , leaving the ghast and both ghouls staring, shocked at the swiftness and sureness of the strike.The ghast recovers first, "I'll get him, then you'll get to watch and wait for your turn."