You carefully move to the door to the right of where you exited the mirror room. As you carefully examine the door, you find no traps or locks. It glides open easily to reveal a similar curved corridor, with another door directly opposite and one in a crosswall further down the right.
Before you can move through, a movement above and behind you catch your attention. You turn and look up to spot a fishlike creature with four eyes and long water-dripping tentacles lurking in shadows above, observing you. As it becomes apparent that you have noticed it, the creature starts and rapidly retreats around the bend, moving in the strange gravity as if swimming through water.
Erastils quiver!!! What the hells is that?!
"A grodair, an extradimensional fey creature of air and water. The big sack thing can squeeze out water in a torrent. Luckily, its likely very distracted and absent minded."
First a Red Cap and now an aquatic Grodair from the First World? What is the connection I wonder?
Maybe this one is more interested in conversing than the last slash happy maniac was.
"By now I regret never having learned the Fey tongue, despit having grown up in the forest" Elduin answers with a smile.
"Either that, or we just let it be.", he responds to Silas.
Fey. "Let's let it be. No need to approach such a capricious creature... You did see what the last one did right?" Clayton moves to find some cover, "Let's try to move by it and leave it alone."
You mean the absolute thrashing we gave him? Yeah I saw that.
Our mission is to retake the fort and clear the way for a new garrison. To fully accomplish that we need to understand what is going on here, and deal with all potential threats. I'm not saying this Grodair is a threat, but we do need to determine that.
Turning to Stochelo, Silas asks, You speak Sylvan don't you?
Clayton shrugs, "Thrashing yes, but sometimes all it takes is one bad blow and you aren't standing after it."
"Yeah. You think we should talk with it? I'm game if you think it's a good idea."
Stochelo calls out a greeting in Sylvan to the fey.
"Oh, hello there! Would you mind a bit of conversation with us, please?"
The hunter has his bow and his hand and is already thinking of putting a cold iron headed arrow into this... thing... if it turns wild.
From around the bend of the hallway, you hear a jamble of wet gurgling noises. Straining, Stochelo can barely make out Sylvan words.
Clayton listened, "Whatever. Just make sure we don't end up in that things... uhh... Things."
Elduin stands silent and listens to their surroundings. With his agle eyes he watches Grumbles get ready for a fight and he whispers to him. "You got more of these?" He was clearly referring to the cold-iron arrows.
Aye, and silver as well if it comes to that..., he mutters.
Stochelo translates the creature's threat and fear of traps.
"Its afraid of us. I don't know how successful I be in diplomacy, but I'll give a go."
In Sylvan: "Perhaps we can provide some assurance? We mean you no harm, and just wish to pass through here. Can we aid you in some fashion?"
The grodair does not appear and the only reply Stochelo recieves to his diplomatic efforts is a bubbley hissing sound.
Well that response doesn't sound promising. Leave it be for now and push on it is then?
"Push on. Don't waste time."
Grumbles grunts and nods.
Clayton sighs, "Let's go."
Ignoring the agitated grodair, you move through the door into the adjacent section of curved corridor. Another door is directly opposite you leads south and one is in a crosswall further down the curve to the west.
Careful examinations of both doors reveal no traps or sounds to hint what may lie beyond.
"I don't hear anything behind these doors. Let's move on fast."
Elduin opens the door leading south.
"Onward we go, then."
The southern door reveals a narrow corridor which leads further south and southwest before ending in another door, which opens to reveal a hexagonal room.
The east and west corners are filled with strange stone-and-metal machinery resembling waterwheels of an archaic, alien design. Most of the parts appear to have rusted or otherwise deteriorated long ago.
Vines, bushes, and other small flora jut through the walls in various places, the various kinds of foliage choking the machines and bursting out the corners. Long flumes of black stone jut from the ceilings in various places, each of the strange tubes pointed toward the decrepit machinery and similarly choked with vines.
"Wheee....this looks like quite a mess. What in the world was this place, eh?"
Stochelo let's out a low whistle before casting detect magic and scanning the room.
I don't understand the nature of this keep... is it a place to plug a way between here and the other worlds?
Clayton looked in awe. He had seen some magic before while working with the druids, but nothing like this. "Heck, you might be right Grumbles." Feeling the plant life in the area and how oppressive it was, he casts Feather Step on himself, the singular trick he learned with the natural folk.
Silas joins the others in examining the strange room. His eyes flash with arcane vision.
What is causing these plants to grow underground like this?
As you move into the room and begin casting spells, the wines shift to reveal several rotted corpses lurching to their decayed feet. All of them have long wet green tendrils protruding from their skulls, which lead back towards a a bulbous green plant pod. Both the pod and tendrils are covered in sickly yellow flowers which give off nasty vapors.
Stochelo just has time to register a faint magical aura from somewhere in the room before all three corpses turn to face you, dangling from the tendrils like grotesque marionet puppets and reaching with claw-like hands.
Heroes: 10
Monsters: 9
"Everything in here seems very foreign to me..." Elduin notices, while observing the strange plants.
"Shield me, while I summon..." Elduin asks his allies, after getting out a small dead spider from his pouch.
Silas retreats to the safety of the ceiling while drawing his trusty wand . Once in position he fires off a bolt of energy at the closest zombie thing.
"Creepers. Yellow musk to be exact. Crystalhurst and his friends thought my blood might be similar to theirs. Don't get seeded and watch the pollen."
Taking a long route around, Clayton moves into a possible flank.
Grumbles shoots two arrows into the zombie across from Eldruin...
Longbow
Longbow
Confirming?
Longbow
Stochelo, seeing the arrows sink in and apparently do very little damage, draws his backup knife and steps in to flank with Grumbles.
"Dunno how much I'm gonna be able to do, but at least you can get those punches in, man."
to hit (+2 if flanking), for damage
"Don't breathe in the pollen or you'll be dancing macabre. That one over there, it's the creeper. The zombies are just shells of what once were people."
Recognizing the danger he moves through the zombie directly below him and strikes, hoping to set up a movement toward the creeper shortly after.
Should I be targeting the "creeper" then as opposed to the zombie things?
While Elduin concentrates on his spell, the combined ranged attacks from Silas and Grumbles take down the middle plant zombie. Stochelo and deal significant damage to the one they are facing and leave it barely standing.
It retaliates against Stochelo, lashing out with a sluggish fist.
The remaining zombie (red) shambles towards Elduin and swings at him.
The Yellow Musk Creeper waves its tendrils in agitation, likely at the prospect of sensing so many fresh vessels for its seeds. It convulses and sends a spray of pollen against Clayton.
Heroes: 10
Monsters: 9
"Keep it up! They can't take much more of this!"
Stochelo lashes out with his knife, trying to decapitate the zombie he's flanking.
to hit, for damage