Earll has been fascinated with his companions’ magical deliberations. He has watched the byplay, smiling to himself, arms crossed leaning against the wall keeping it from falling.
Other than that, one particularly wicked school of alchemy uses blood as a source of energy to fuel their alchemy. While some of the most powerful and common uses of this discipline are evil, there are some niche non-evil uses that use only a drop or two of blood, such as powering alchemical circles or investigating a person.
Del gives Malochia a dark glare, and mutters something to himself.
The final door, which one would assume leads to Gellion's room, also appears to be untrapped and unlocked.
As Earll enters the room, however, he is immediately assaulted by a new opponent. Earll and Dra'hir are able to see that this is a spider the size of a man. It steps out of web on the west side of the room, a fiendish red glow in its eyes as it bites frantically at the daring man.
Catching the swashbuckler unawares, the spider lands a fierce blow, crushing through the man's armor into his chest and (combined with the blood loss from the sharpened silverware earlier) causing him to lose consciousness. Earll's eyes roll up into his head as he falls to the floor, dropping his rapier.
Dra'hir -3 HP
Malochia
Earll -13 HP (unconscious, -2 HP total, must make a Con check at a -2 penalty on his turn)
Del -5 HP
Spider
Lalia
Fyrra
Once you are able to see into this small room, you see that it contains a simple bed, desk, and chair. Thick webs cover the west end of the room, where the bed sits—and two humanoid forms appear trapped within. Sticky, purplish-black strands cling to the desk and chair on the east side of the room, except in one spot where the strange filaments have left a clear space around a small piece of metal.
Another blasted fiend!
As he sees Earll go down he draws his bow, eyes bursting yellow, and energy pouring down his arms into his bow as he levels it on the foul vermin he sees attacking Earll.
He yells out to Del, Del! Pull Earll to safety
"Guess that is going to have to wait" says Malochia upon hearing Earll fall "I can pull Earl out, Del is going to have to deal with whatever this thing is" he is shouting at this point.
Malochia runs up to the door and starts pulling Earll out of harms way, he looks over to the spider, catching a glance of it.
"Fyrra and someone else has to run up to this thing!" he yells as he's pulling Earll away from the room.
"Another damn mindless creature, my last spell is useless against this thing" he grumbles as he's struggling to pull Earl still "Try not to get into the webs, this thing is also poisonous and can shoot webs"
Del takes a step forward as he hears Earll fall and see's Dra'hir's attack. He starts at the appearance of this new enemy. "F-fiend! I judge you in the name of the Beetle!" the halfling cries, drawing what looks like a small board with several nails sticking out of it and raising his shield. He stands over Earll's corpse swinging wildly at the spider with his club, a look of disgust on his face.
The halfling connects with a solid hit, partially crushing a portion of the spider's thorax. The spider for its part reacts with fury, snapping ferociously at the halfling, who dances nimbly out of the way.
Del takes another careful step around the spider, his shield at the ready, and swings his club, striking the now heavily-injured spider on the head as he gives a battle cry that is somehow both cute and terrifying.
Dra'hir -1 HP
Malochia
Earll -13 HP (stable, -2 HP total)
Del -4 HP
Spider -14 HP
Lalia
Fyrra
Lalia notes the halfling’s comment regarding Malochia but has no time to address it.
“Fyrra, attack!” Lalia calls to the python. She then walks next to Malochia and glancing at Earll, sees that he is currently stable. “yelemi miḥireti” she growls at Fyrra in sylvan and grips her quarterstaff.
At Lalia's command, Fyrra moves to engage the spider. She lashes out at the spider, which had its attention fixed out Del, and her jaws find purchase at the vermin's damaged head, crushing it ruthlessly and ending the spider's life.
Surprisingly, the two bodies recovered from the webs are still breathing. They appear to be a middle aged man and woman, and it is likely that they are Gellion's parents.
A 5-foot-by-10-foot square of demon’s bile is located in the corner of the room. A cold iron arrowhead sits in the center of the space free of demon’s bile. Some scribbled notes can be found on the desk underneath the vile corruption read, "Adverse reaction to cold iron. What about magic? Fire? Cold? Further trials are required."
A small chest next to the desk contains six flasks of acid, two flasks of alchemist’s fire, two tanglefoot bags, and five potions.
Lalia moves to the pair after looking at Earll to ensure that he remains stable. “Heavily wounded and poisoned. Even if I treat them here, they’d still be too weak to move or even wake up. We may need to drag them to the temple and see if the Father is willing to help them.” She thinks for a moment.
“I can take the time to get Earll back on his feet here, which would at least mean one fewer person to transport. But it may be better to see if we can talk the baker into allowing us to borrow his cart or see if we can borrow the horses at the temple just long enough to get everyone across town.”
Malochia has a confused but entertained look in his face after seeing the halfling almost killing the spider in two hits "Well, that was really well done master halfling, and of course Fyrra" he grins looking at Tiki who has been hiding behind his masters leg the whole time "Maybe I should have acquired a snake friend instead, huh Tiki?". Tiki looks upset at the comment "Heh, don't worry buddy, wouldn't want anyone else as my familiar"
When he sees Lalia is walking over to the bodies in the room, he walks over to the chest and takes a look at the potions within "Let me know if you need a knife to clean up the web Lalia"
"Three potions of cure light wounds, one potions of lesser restoration and one potion of remove disease... Not bad for an alchemist who seems to be not great at his craft" he says as he is swirling the liquid in the bottles "I think it's best if people who like to hit things carry the cure light wound potions. I would like to take an alchemists fire, one of the tanglefoot bags and a couple flasks of acid"
“I have my own but thank you for the offer,” Lalia responds, taking out her dagger to work on clearing away the web. She half smiles at Malochia’s comments about familiars. “Each creature to its own strengths,” She comments, with a nod at Tiki.
“I’d like to carry one of the healing potions if possible. I can assist with stabilizing people at any time, but it would be good to have additional options to get the fallen back on their feet,” she says, frowning at Earll. “I have no concerns regarding the division of other items personally except that we may wish to save the disease removal to use on Gellion if circumstances permit.”
Del, Dra'Hir replaces an arrow and his bow, Having you is like having 2 much larger men by my side!
He looks to Earll on the ground, Lalia if you can get Earll walking again that would be much appreciated. Carrying 3 people from this accursed place might be a bit much for us.
I do agree that Lalia should hold onto a cure potion, at least we'll know where to find it. He gestures to the unconscious Earll Our incident prone friend here should get one and either Del or myself take the 3rd. It makes no difference to me.
He walks toward the corrupted slime and grabbing the Cold Iron arrow, Dra'Hir turns to the group, I don't supposed anyone would object to me holding onto this arrow? He turns back to the bile and starts the process of clearing it.
“If I’m going to treat him here, it’ll take about an hour. I suggest that everyone else head out to pursue methods of transport in the meantime. Fyrra can stay on guard while I work. While I can certainly help drag one of these people, it’d be better to have a less...uncomfortable method of transport for them.” Lalia removes the healing kit from her bag but does not begin working on Earll yet.
"Agreed, it does make sense Lalia carries at least one of the potions" he turns his head over to Dra'hir "I'm sure everyone would like you to have the arrow even, it should come in handy"
"As for uses of blood in alchemy, a pint of it is used to create the homunculus, Gell's blood to be specific" he looks in thought "There are some alchemists who uses it as an energy source but I suspect it's just for the homunculus creation here, or I would rather assume that until we find reason to believe otherwise" as he's placing the flasks of acid into his bag.
"I guess I'll head over to Majara's place and have her help me convince people, I'm sure she'll help out once she hears about Gell's parents" he is petting Tiki with his tail without looking, who's near his leg as usual "I admittedly also want to ask about the homunculus but I don't think I can convince the townsfolk to lend the cart to me to carry bodies" he giggles with that last thought.
"Speaking of, Lalia do you have any flasks in that bag perchance? I can bring a sample of the bile to her while I'm at it"
“That may work. Don’t ‘forget’ to specify that the bodies are still alive and we’re attempting to keep it that way. I have a few vials in my pack, yes.” She starts removing things from the bag before pulling out a sack. She pulls out a few vials from among the soap, candles, fishhooks, and other small items.
Dra'Hir will go with Malochia to see if they can borrow a cart. Del should stay and help Lalia.
Earll dreams surprisingly are pleasant. Being transfixed by a fork and laid low by a spider has not produced any ill effect upon his dreams. They are filled with vague but enticing images. A strict looking aloof beauty with a truncheon in her hand, a purple-haired vixen of a gnome with what appears to be a goblet, a strapping mountain of a woman a sword in one hand and a stein of a frothy brew in the other, and disturbingly a snake.
"All right, everyone who is currently conscious and has no medical skill and is not a snake, out of the room. Go wherever you need, but you can't stay here. There is no space. Fyrra - stay on guard just in case." With that, she opens her kit and gets to work.
Del turns his eyes to Dra'hir, saying simply, "The Helping Hand guides me. I felt his presence in that last battle." He bows his head, mouthing a silent prayer of thanks to Khepri.
Fyrra looks at Lalia when she hears her name, then slithers towards the door, alert for any signs of danger.
Del stays in the treatment room with Lalia, saying, "I have some small skill at healing, Miss Lalia. Let me help, if possible." While he doesn't hinder the druid, he is sadly unable to provide any meaningful assistance.
Dra'hir and Malochia quickly make their way back to the apothecary, where they are greeted by a worried Majara Pricknettle, who looks less than pleased to see Malochia again. She gives a cry when she sees the bloodstain on Dra'hir's arm, "What has happened? You're injured! Where's the rest of your group? Have you found Gellion?"
Dra'Hir holds his hand out to calm Majara. We were at his home and encountered several booby-traps. Earll is hurt. Lalia and Del are doing there best to heal him but we need a cart or some help carrying Gellion's parents. They were incapacitated by a bile-corrupted spider. Dra'Hir takes a more serious tone. There was a homunculus there... would Gellion have the skills to create one?
Lalia looks at the downed swashbuckler's body. After looking at the chest wound, she glances briefly at the ceiling.
"Eld a shábháil mé ón ró-hormónach." She shakes her head and starts removing the man's armor and shirt to enable appropriate access. While doing so, she also searches for the two berries she handed him earlier. With that done, she tosses the shirt and armor to the side, slips the berries into her own pouch, and begins to clean and stitch the wound. After that is complete, she moves to the less severe cutlery-related injury on his neck. Once both are bandaged, she glances at the shirt for a moment, then turns back to the man to observe his current status.
Malochia looks at the gnome "And I thought you can convince people to give us a hand since you probably can guess they might not want to help me out when I tell them I need help to carry some bodies" he grins with the last thought.
"Regardless, here is a sample of the demon bile" he hands over the vial of demon bile he grabbed before leaving "I would also love to know how Gellion learned to make a homunculus" he looks at Majara, eyebrows raised, tail around his chin and a few ember sparks in his eyes "But I guess that can wait until we save his parents"
Earll continues to enjoy his dream. He notices that his dream is straying from the pleasant to the unpleasant, recalling the spider bite and being hit with the fork. Yet, surprisingly, the snake is now welcome in the dream, protecting him, and drawing him back to the pleasantries.
The alchemist takes the vial from Malochia, and interested glint in her eyes. "I'll take a look at this and see what I can determine," she says. "Thank you."
"So Altius and Beldonna should be alright? That's good news." Majara breathes a sigh of relief. The gnome looks askance at Malochia. "And no, I don't suppose people would take kindly to your asking help moving bodies. Maybe work a bit on your discretion, dear," she says in a polite tone.
"And you said Earll is unconscious too? That strapping man who kept talking about my ... goblet? Well I'm sure that Lalia will take care of him. In the meanwhile, I have some bandages in the back if you need," she offers to Dra'hir. "What I don't have is a cart. Have you tried asking around? Father Ildris might be able to help. I think he keeps a horse in case he needs to travel to a distant farm. And I think that Gunty has a cart that he might lend you if you asked nicely."
Her brows furrow as she continues, "No news about Gell is bad news though. As far as a homunculus goes, the procedure's not that hard, but it's expensive to do right. Gellion probably has the raw skill, but I doubt he has a suitable laboratory at his house. Did you find a homunculus? Was it ... defective? I'd be afraid it might be if he made it on his own, especially given his other behavior."
After expert treatment from Lalia and a bit of time, Earll's eyes flutter open. He finds himself feeling better than he expected (), lying shirtless and bandaged up in a room with the druid and her snake (Del having left to poke around the house a bit more once it was clear that Earll was in no immediate danger and he was not a help).
Earll awakes and takes in his surroundings. Recognizes his state of undress, Lalia administering to him, and smiles while he says. "Mistress Silverstrom, my thanks for the care and treatment you have given me. I must, for any future interaction of this nature, remember that there are better ways to have you remove my shirt!" He rises slowly and retrieves his crimson-stained shirt. "Soiled though it is, it is best to wear something lest the gentlewomen of town should be overcome."
Lalia raises an eyebrow at him. “Are there?”
She takes the two berries she acquired back from him earlier and presses them into his hand. “Eat both of these, be careful with the dressings, try not to get eaten by anything again in the same day. You’re still going to be far from top shape for now. Dra’hir and Malochia went to visit your favorite gnome to see if she could help them get transportation for these two.” She indicates the pair of still unconscious individuals.
“Heavily poisoned. They’re going to need more work than you did, and as it is, you’re lucky to be up as easily as you are. It’ll likely to be best to drop them off at the temple so they can get longer term care.” She glances at the room again.
“Mr. Flatvalor should be somewhere in the house as he stayed to assist. We still need to take a proper look at this room before we go. Getting you back on your feet took precedence.”
Dra'Hir rubs his still sore arm. It's aim was not defective. The house is in shambles with disturbing messages written in blood. I fear Gellion's insecurities passed to the Homunculus.
He turns to his associate, Perhaps we should stop by the Temple to see a priest about a horse? Maybe we can have him make a house call to exorcise and remnants of corruption.
He looks back to Majara, Would you care to join us? Maybe you could lend some insight into the goings-on at the house.
"Well, I am not sure if defective is the right word for it but I can't imagine that's what Gellion had in mind when he decided to make a homunculus" says Malochia, suppressing a smirk which quickly fades away "Though I'm confused as to how the hell the spider got there and attacked his parents" as he slowly pets Tiki with his tail.
He then turns to Dra'Hir "Temple sounds like a good plan, the priest probably is the easiest to convince given what Lalia did there"
The gnome thinks about Dra'hir's proposal for a bit. Finally, she hesitantly says, "You know, I think it might be worthwhile for me to go see the happenings at my apprentice's house. I'll head over there, while you go talk to that priest."
She shoos Dra'hir and Malochia out of her shop before locking the front door. "I'll see you when you get back to Gellion's family's house," she says before nearly running in that direction.
Lalia does not notice any new details about Gellion's room as she searches it; however, she hears some movement downstairs that could be Del, as well as a faint sound of voices.
Suddenly, a blue-haired gnomish woman bursts through the door of Gellion's room, looking shaken as Fyrra hisses a warning at her and moves defensively to block her path. She blushes slightly as she sees Earll's shirtless form, and a look of shock crosses her face when she realizes that he is covered in bandages.
"Miss Silverstrom, call off your snake!" shouts a frightened Majara Pricknettle.
Having been ushered out of the apothecary, Dra'hir and Malochia make their way back to the Temple of Erastil in the northwest corner of town. They successfully find Father Ildris in the common area of the Temple, and he greets them warmly.
His deep voice greets the adventurers, with a kindly tone containing just a hint of surprise. "Ah, our guests from earlier. But where is the rest of your group? And what brings you back here so soon? Do you require aid? Or do you perhaps bring news about my daughter?
“Fyrra, down please. She’s not a threat. My apologies Ms. Pricknettle. Unfortunately your apprentice’s home has been less than friendly and yet another unfriendly disturbance likely would have ended Mr. Fynn’s existence.” She gestures to Fyrra to come to her side.
“Presumably our other companions found you? Our unconscious couple there are stable, but it’s impractical if not impossible for me to treat them sufficiently here to get them back on their feet. I’m sorry to say that we have not found your apprentice himself yet. Mr. Flatvalor has his journal- we were intending to take a look, but other things have taken precedence.”
Dra'Hir explains the events that led to them seeking aid from Father Ildris. Father, I fear we have not located your daughter, yet. We do beseech you to come with us and perhaps bring your horse. Master Fynn has been seriously wounded and Gellion's parents are in even worse shape, entrapped in a spider's web. Dra'Hir takes a deep breath and motions for the priest to follow, Would you please follow us? Ms. Pricknettle is already on her way there to help us determine what has happened.
Now that Earll has an audience, He would make a bit of a show putting his shirt back on. " Majara! I am shocked that you should see me in such a state!" He says with a twinkle in his eye.
"Thank you, Lalia," the gnome says, breathing a sigh of relief. "And Fyrra, you did a very good job guarding them," she continues with a smile at the snake. Having regained her composure, she turns her eyes back to Earll. "A more natural state than I have seen you before, Mr. Fynn. Don't fret about it," she says smoothly.
"I'm sorry that you haven't found Gell. Looking at this place, it's obvious he needs help." As she talks about Gellion, concern creeps back into her voice. "Did you find any notes or experiments in progress, other than the homunculus?"
The priest listens to Dra'hir, a grave look on his face. "Let's go. Head out front," he says in a tone that brooks no disagreement, throwing his brown leather cloak around his shoulders.
He comes around from the back of the temple, leading a saddled bay draft horse, his bow in a soft scabbard on the side. He turns to face Dra'hir, "Lead the way."
Dra'Hir hustles his way back to the house and after the horse is hitched outside he shows Ildris upstairs where everyone has gathered. Seeing Earll conscious and back to his old tricks brings a smile to Dra'Hir's weary face. Master Fynn I'm glad to see you upright. His face grows more serious as he looks to the parents. Have we learned anything new about our incapacitated couple?
Lalia considers Majara’s question. “The journal may have that information. I’ll go find Mr. Flatvalor for you.” She slips out of the room to search for Del and ask him to join them upstairs.
Lalia finds Del downstairs dutifully scouring the filth out of the vandalized kitchen. When she brings him back upstairs, she finds Majara paging through Gellion's notes as Father Ildris examines Gellion's parents.
"Seriously injured and suffering the aftereffects of poison. Is that your assessment as well, Madam Druid?" the priest asks Lalia. He continues, "Well I can at least help the injured part. And it will help you as well."
He closes his eyes and touches the first two fingers of his right hand to the bow and arrow marked on his cloak. A golden burst of energy explodes from his body, passing through all in the room.
The injuries of those in the room miraculously begin to close up, and Del breathes a sigh of relief as the hideous burns on his face fade away to nothing.
Examining Gellion's parents shows that while their physical condition is improved, both are still unconscious. "I should be able to aid them further, but it will have to wait for the morning," the priest says. "I'll load them up on Ginny and take them to the infirmary at the Temple. Just give me a hand getting them downstairs. Come to the temple in the morning, and they should be awake and able to talk."
“Yes, that was what I found as well Father. I sincerely appreciate your help. I’d be happy to help carry them downstairs. She briefly addresses Del.
“Thank you for your help earlier as well Mr. Flatvalor. I’m glad Father Ildris has been able to heal your burns.
Dra'Hir thanks the Alchemist and Priest for their help and assists in carrying the injured parents down to the horse.
After walking back to the Temple, Dra'Hir addresses the party. I suggest that we all retire for the evening, we have had a long day and I fear tomorrow will be just as trying.
Dra'hir manages to lift Gellion's mother's unconscious body off of the ground; however, he has trouble moving with it and can only stagger around. Del, however, offers his humble assistance, and between the two of them they are able to get her down the stairs.
As the fetchling moves to follow the priest, Ildris waves him off. "Stay here for now, master magister. There may be more that you or your companions need to do here, and I will be take care of these two. The blessings of Erastil be upon you." Again, the priest's tone brooks no disagreement.
Dra'hir's suggestion that the group retire for the evening takes place in the upper room as Majara is still poring over Gellion's notes.
“Mr. Flatvalor, perhaps you’d hand me that journal? Now that the wounded have been addressed, I’d like to see if we can’t decipher it while Ms. Pricknettle is studying her apprentices notes. Unless you’d like to take a look yourself? Or perhaps our wizard would like to? I’m sure some arcane texts are ... less than readable. Perhaps you’d have some luck deciphering this.”
Malochia who has been mostly playing with Tiki the entire time almost jumps in place "I'd love to take a look sure" a few embers spark in Malochia's eyes "I'm always interested in any text, maybe there is something interesting about alchemy that I can learn in there, considering his... interests"