Zeltiyieli whistles, "That was... less than ideal. Is everyone ok?"
Von-Dai looks annoyed at his inability to throw a flask effectively. Aloud, he says, "My pride may be a little hurt due to my lack of effectiveness against the bats, but I am physically unharmed, thank you for asking. Now, let's see what lies in this room - apart from bat guano, anyway."
Marcus will look around.
but he's still a bit creeped out by the swarm of bats so he's not really paying enough attention to detail.
Zeltyieli wraps his scarf around himself, nodding, "Good find.". He looks around, then says, "Flip a coin, or does someone have an idea where to go?"
"Why don't we head to the south?
The cleric nods, "Seems as good a direction as any, I suppose. I confess the explorer in me is almost as interested in mapping out the whole structure as getting quickly to our destination."
Natalya prefers trying to clean her armour than searching a room full of bat dung, but goes along with the suggestion.
"South works." She agrees, stepping into her place in the line behind Marcus.
Before they move further south, Von-Dai takes a moment to cast mage armor on himself. "Just in case something that's not bats attacks us. I'll clean off the bracelet later."
Marcus heads south.
Sevrus will stealth ahead looking for traps.
"There are two spiders ahead, feeding on what looks like a shark"
"How big are they? Or more concerning, how big was the shark?"
"Do we want to try and sneak round and take them out or just charge in?"
"Do we need to go that way?" Natalya asks, apparently not keen on the water. "We want to go down, not out?"
"Do we have any idea of how far into the complex the shard will be or do we need to search every room?"
Zeltyieli suggests, "I'm thinking we go around. No sense getting into a fight we don't need to - I'd rather save my magic for getting the shard. Plus, if the spiders are feeding, they're likely content to stay where they are, unless we disturb them. Unless someone's got a wand of fireball handy."
"Ah, would that I had such a useful tool. Unfortunately, we do not. I don't know how far down into the complex we will have to go - perhaps all the way to the bottom. Still, it hardly seems necessary for us to go that way if there is no other passage beyond. Let's avoid them, an dhead down the stairs."
Sevrus will head down the stairs sneaking as she goes.
Zeltyieli suggests, "We can use my power to look through the door before we open it."
"That's a good idea
"Agreed. Once you check, we can decide if it's worth opening or not."
Von-Dai was somewhat surprised he'd noticed the secret door - after all, he was usually so focused on other things.
Zeltyieli steps forward, placing his hands on the door and closes his eyes, whispering a small prayer to the Walker of Worlds before opening them, the solid object before him becoming transparent... to him, at least.
Zeltyieli scans the room, repeating what he sees, "There's one mite. He doesn't look happy, but has the look of a guard -- so there's probably more within shouting distance."
"Does anyone speak mite, if we can open the door quietly we may be able to sneak up on him and then interrogate him"
"I'm not terribly sneaky in all this armor, and no I don't speak that language. "
Von-Dai had made something of a study of mites, and he said, "The language of the mites is Undercommon, which I happen to speak. The mites are a minor type of fey, and as such are not technically from Golarion, but rather the First World. They migrated many centuries ago, so much of their connection has faded. They have an unusual rapport with creatures such as spiders, centipedes and other vermin - it's possible those two spiders in the room we passed over may have been brought here by other mites to act as guards or mounts. They prefer to dwell underground, which is likely why they are here in the Crow. He definitely isn't alone, although whether or not he is the only one on this level or there are others out of sight is the question. Zeltyieli, is the mite looking at this door, like he knows it's here and is set to guard it specifically?"
Zeltyieli says, "He's facing this way but not really paying attention. If you want to time it, I'll tell you next time he looks down."
"It's just a mite- how much trouble can it be?"
"Okay, here's what I'm thinking. Everyone, get ready. I'll open the door, then rush him and try to capture him. If we can take him alive, we can try interrogating him about what he's doing here and if there's anything deeper in the Crow. If we can't, then we'll have to continue without information."
he not so quietly takes his place at the door.
Sevrus will try to sneakily open the door
Von-Dai attempts to be stealthy as well, although it's hardly his forte.
Sevrus will try to sneak behind them so he doesn't try to run off
Von-Dai is puzzled by this reaction. He'd expected the mite to run, not speak to them. Aloud, he said, "Erm, good day. We are exploring the Crow looking for a dangerous magical artifact. We were wondering if you could tell us anything about what waits in the levels of the Crow beneath us."
If the mite doesn't understand what he said, he will repeat it in Undercommon.
Von-Dai nods, and responds in Undercommon. "Is that why you're in here? Because those bad mites won't let you go down there?"