The group travels southwest along the Lake Road from the bridge, passing several houses previously liberated from the dead. A group of women from Haemil are cleaning up debris as a few children pick through a large trash pile finding random items to play with.
As they turn a corner bending due south, the giant brewery comes into view. The old stone structure looks solid and unharmed from the Shaping. The old sign hangs out front depicting a druken dwarf dropping a large keg. The wooden doors leading into the brewery are shut and the windows are shuddered from the inside.
Two carts sit outside the big, wooden doors.
Randall pads quietly forward, holding a hand up and nodding at the door. He hunkers down to take a look at the lock, the frame, and the jamb, checking for telltale signs of traps.
[i]Clearly confident the door is super ultra not trapped, he sets about unlocking it before stepping aside to let Sautekh and Muraisa in first.
Randall quietly inspects the doors, running his hands around the frame and peering through the keyhole. Certain that he sees no traps, he inserts his lockpicks into the small hole and fiddles with the tumblers for several minutes. A bead of sweat runs down his left cheek, but his steady hands and professional concentration allow him to ignore the perspiration. Yet, try as he might, he never hears the locking mechanism release. He pulls the picks back out of the lock. He stands back up, more frustrated than embarrassed. At least Sautekh will be pleased that his roguish skills may have waned slightly. With a grunt, he instinctively steps a foot back ready to kick the door in the old fashion way, but wisely decides to give the handle a try first. He takes hold of the cold, metal handle and depresses the latch with his thumb. The door silently swings outward just a hair.
"Nicely done!" Muraisa said as she slinked inside, her long ranged weapon at the ready. "That must have been a hell of a lock to take so long to pick." She clearly had no idea that Randall had opened an already open lock.
Still, her eyes were already scanning the first room to see what horrors awaited. She was really, really hoping that none of the damned things had gotten into the vats.
Perhaps for the first time in his existence, Randall is thankful that the odd coloration of his skin makes it impossible to tell when he's blushing. He just lets the others take the lead and plays it cool.
Randall backs up from the door with a half-smile as Muraisa opens the right door. It silently swings open as the torch light illuminates the front of the brewery. Dark wooden beams 20' above the ground support the exposed roof and make ample room for the massive vats that line the great room. With her enhanced vision, Muraisa can make out a trio of beer vats before her sight is overtaken by the darkness.
Kayin readies the crossbow, checks that his usual weapons are properly secured to his wrists with their respective weapon cords, and then begins to bolster his allies with a bit of magic. After casting the first of what will undoubtedly be many cycles, he carefully peers past the others into the building. Noting the darkness, he clears his throat and speaks quietly. "If you think it's a good idea, I can get some light in there to help us out. And if there's anything lurking in there, the light might draw it in so it doesn't surprise us later."
Rand shrugs. "I see fine in the dark, and my guess is undead don't particularly need light to see. So darkness isn't necessarily an advantage. But if you think it's a good idea to go in dark, I can shout a warning so you can bust out some light when needed."
Eying the beer vats hopefully, Muraisa begins to move forward as quietly as she was able. She wouldn't allow herself to go plundering the booze until she was sure that nothing was going to literally bite her in the ass. Not without her blessing.
Rand sticks to the shadows, just outside the light of Muraisa's tattoos, and keeps his eyes peeled for anything interesting.
As Randall slips into the first aisle to the right, Muraisa steps into the brewery. The moaning of the old wooden floor echoes in the vaulted ceiling. The barbarian stops in her tracks but quickly realizes that it is not her making the sounds. The sounds of creaking floor boards bounce off the walls and the openness above her. Unable to locate the source with her ears, she focuses her eyes. Stepping forward, she looks to either side, noticing the large letters stamped upon the massive vats, Lÿmpherá Light. In the gloowing light of her tattoos, a wolf... no, a dog... enters the dim light of her radiance from the far side of the brewery.
Grunting, Muraisa raised her weapon. "Nice...doggy? Undead monster? Both?" She squinted at the beast, ready to hurl a javelin if the thing decided to attack but unwilling to skewer someone's guard dog.
The meat wouldn't last that long.
Still, if it was a still living animal it would be better to befriend it, so Muraisa continued talking in a low voice. "Now, if you're not out for the flesh of the living, be a good pooch and !"
The dog lowers its head, growling. It takes a couple steps forward before springing at the barbarian. Her javelin flies true, striking the dog. It lumbers forward and Muraisa sees the rotting flesh on the dog. It's thick, black blood flows onto the brewery floor. She begins to shout to the others when she sees movement to the south as a zombie enters the light shrieking. As she turns her gaze back to the undead dog, another zombie enters the illumination of her fiery tattoos to the west and charges.
Kayin rolls his eyes with a frustrated sigh as the expected undead make their appearance. "Yep, should have just gone ahead and put some lights in there," he says as he lines up the crossbow on the rotting dog and squeezes the trigger. As soon as the bolt is the sent on its way, Kayin begins the process of reloading.
While reloading his weapon, the oracle takes quick glances at the undead, examining them as best he can under the rushed circumstances.
Well, the zombie dogs were likely the fastest. If they needed to retreat then they'd want to run without those little monsters following. Muraisa reloaded her spear-sling with a grunt, took aim, and hurled again at the one she'd already injured. "Bad dog."
Rand curses under his breath and backpedals out of the warehouse. "How did freaking zombies catch me off guard?"
As Muraisa and Randall scramble out of the room, the zombie with the green apron slams its fist into the back of Muraisa's head. The barbarian stumbles through the door as blood streams down her back.
Holding position as the barbarian and rogue scramble out of the building, Kayin sends a second bolt zipping into the darkness where the rotting hound is still faintly visible to his eyes. Without having to account for Muraisa in taking his shot, this one should be a bit more accurate, the oracle hopes.
Heeding his master's call, Bjorkus numbers forward to bring his ursine might to bear with tooth and claw.
[spoiler=GM Screen]
Bjorkus lumbers into the door way and rips the zombie apart. The severely weakened creature screams at the bear and slams both fists into Bjorkus's hide. It takes hold of the bear and begins to drag him inside the brewery. The dog races forward and bites the bear on the flank.
Kayin and Titan react quickly firing their weapons. Kayin's bolt strikes the dog which howls in anger and frustration. Ignoring the zombies grip, Bjorkus tears into the undead creature, ripping it's head from its torso. The body quivers a moment then explodes. The flying flesh impacts the bear, the undead dog and the zombie behind it. Not missing a beat, Bjorkus turns his claws upon the dog. He first strikes the dog across the face, shredding its rotting flesh. Bjorkus then bites the dog's neck. Black blood gushes from its throat as it explodes as well.
Rand cringes as the zombies rip at the big bear. "Might wanna call Bjorkus back while you have the chance, he's looking rough. We'll skewer anything that tries to come through."
He moves up and prepares his longspear to impale any zombies that make it through the door once Bjorkus moves.
With the bear in the way it was hard for Muraisa to get a shot. Ignoring that her shirt was slowly turning crimson, she tried to hurl another javelin and then prepared for the onslaught once the bear was out of the doorway, one way or another.