Henric has a look at the scrap of paper, then shakes his head as he hands it back. "Nothing that I recognize, but geography is not exactly my strong suit, either. Hang onto it for now. It may come in handy."
Only knowing the bare minimum of the local geography Stryn let's the others decipher the scrap of paper while he goes and checks the closed door leading out of the room since that is where they were originally headed anyway.
If he doesn't notice any traps or hear any immediate danger he will crack it open quietly to take a look.
Avoiding the two revolting cockroaches carcasses on the floor, Renae made her way to Kiley's side. Taking a gander at the mysterious map in her hands, Renae tried to make sense of it but found that her knowledge of cartography left much to be desired.
Renae signed, somewhat exasperated by her failure. "Henric has the right of it. We should store the map for now but remember to hand it to Audrahni once were back in the Cove. She'll probably be able to tell us where it leads.
"Makes sense t'me. D'ya mind holdin' on to it? I'm worried about it gettin' ruined if I do," Kiley asks Renae before looking around and asking, "Wha'cha up to Stryn?"
While the rest of you try to make sense of the map, Stryn goes and checks the next room over. He doesn't hear anything, so he cautiously opens the door. Two doors stand along the north wall of the room, and one stands along the western wall . A masterfully built table stands against the mold-covered windows in the room’s southeastern wall. Aside from a layer of mold and a few patches of moss, the dining set looks to be in immaculate condition compared to the rest of the house’s furnishings.
When Kiley comes up to ask him what he is doing Stryn turns with a big grin "Shinnies in there! Stryn should go look..."
He slinks off into the room to get a better look at the dining set that still appears to be in good condition, also looking for any hiding bugs.
Two steps into the room, and suddenly hundreds of spiders come swarming out of the cracks in the floorboards, forming a massive swarm, hunting prey.
"They're Poison!" Kera exclaims when the spiders swarm out. "Spread out, don't let them crawl on more'n one'f us at a time! Weapons won't stop 'em. Does anyone have alchemist fire?"
"Why'd it 'ave t'be bugs," Kiley whimpers as she backs up and away from the others.
"Oil would work if we've got it. Got me some stuff t'light it if need be," she says as she fishes out her flint and steel and some rag scraps that she'd gathered for tinder.
As the spiders erupt out of the floor Stryn promptly heeds Kera's warning and gets out of the way. As he does, he pulls out a flask of alchemist fire.
Once Stryn is out of the line of fire, Henric points his staff at the swarm of spiders and focuses his thoughts and feelings through the implement of his power, unleashing a burst of fire.
Standard Action: Cast Burning Hands
Move Action: Move back 5'.
Seeing the approaching swarm of spiders, Renae backed away to join Kera behind everyone else. Dealing with swarms were always a hectic matter, even worse when you didn't have the proper spells to deal with them. Fortunately, she had faith that Henric and Stryn could.
Kera wiggles her finger toward Stryn, her eyes twinkling.
"They're Poison!" Kera exclaims when the spiders swarm out. "Spread out, don't let them crawl on more'n one'f us at a time! Weapons won't stop 'em. Does anyone have alchemist fire?"
As the spiders erupt out of the floor Stryn promptly heeds Kera's warning and gets out of the way. As he does, he pulls out a flask of alchemist fire.
Once Stryn is out of the line of fire, Henric points his staff at the swarm of spiders and focuses his thoughts and feelings through the implement of his power, unleashing a burst of fire.
The flames wash over the swarm, burning many of the spiders, but not enough to put them down. The flames also wash over the wooden walls and floor of the house, but the moisture-logged wood doesn't catch fire. It does steam a bit, however.
Seeing the approaching swarm of spiders, Renae backed away to join Kera behind everyone else. Dealing with swarms were always a hectic matter, even worse when you didn't have the proper spells to deal with them. Fortunately, she had faith that Henric and Stryn could.
"Why'd it 'ave t'be bugs," Kiley whimpers as she backs up and away from the others. "Oil would work if we've got it. Got me some stuff t'light it if need be," she says as she fishes out her flint and steel and some rag scraps that she'd gathered for tinder.
Kera wiggles her finger toward Stryn, her eyes twinkling.
The spiders swarm forward and overtake Henric.
Henric - 7/10, -1 Con
Henric backs out of the swarm quickly, ducking behind Stryn, feeling like he got ran over by a ogre. "I've got nothing left. Burn the cursed things! He says to the goblin, seeing the flask in his hand.
Move Action: Move away from the swarm.
Stryn shouts to the others "Move away!" and waits for the others to get out of the way before he steps back and tosses the alchemist fire into the swarm.
Kiley picks Stryn up in one arm and runs out the door the spiders had just come through and out the door back into the hallway.
"I've got nothin' t'fight off that many spiders with! I think we're gonna need t'run!"
"Yea!" Kera cheers on Henric and Stryn against the spider menace, even as Henric gets bitten. She runs into the southeast corner of the room, hoping to keep the spiders distracted until they've had a chance to burn them. "Stryn, got another alchy's fire?" She keeps her enchantment going.
Henric backs out of the swarm quickly, ducking behind Stryn, feeling like he got ran over by a ogre. "I've got nothing left. Burn the cursed things!" he says to the goblin, seeing the flask in his hand.
Stryn shouts to the others "Move away!" and waits for the others to get out of the way before he steps back and tosses the alchemist fire into the swarm. The alchemist's fire lands in the middle of the swarm, burning more of the spiders, but there are still so many left.
Renae does her best to stay out of the way of the spiders.
Kiley picks Stryn up in one arm and runs out the door the spiders had just come through and out opens the door back into the hallway. "I've got nothin' t'fight off that many spiders with! I think we're gonna need t'run!"
"Yea!" Kera cheers on Henric and Stryn against the spider menace, even as Henric gets bitten. She runs into the southeast corner of the room, hoping to keep the spiders distracted until they've had a chance to burn them. "Stryn, got another alchy's fire?" She keeps her enchantment going.
Kera's distracting of the spiders works - in that it makes her the spiders' next target. The swarm across the floor, crawling all over her and biting at her.
Henric can feel the poison from the spiders still coursing through his veins.
Henric - 7/10, -1 Con, -1 Str
Stryn - 9/9, -1 Con
Kera - 4/9
Spider Swarm - 2/9
Stryn struggles against Kiley trying to pick him up and carry him out of the room "No, Stryn gots this!" He pulls out another alchemist fire and waits until Kera gets clear of the spiders shouting out "Incoming!"
"Oh, gross!" Kera manages to get out before losing this morning's breakfast, those hot sausages and porridge, on the moldy floorboards.
Embarrassed, but too sick to care, she runs straight out of room into the hallway, clutching her ribs the whole way.
Feeling like the poison in his system has run it's course, Henric cheers on Stryn and his alchemist fire. "You got this."
Who would have thought I'd be encouraging a goblin. The strange places that life takes you.
Stryn struggles against Kiley trying to pick him up and carry him out of the room "No, Stryn gots this!" He pulls out another alchemist fire and waits until Kera gets clear of the spiders shouting out "Incoming!"
"Oh, gross!" Kera manages to get out before losing this morning's breakfast, those hot sausages and porridge, on the moldy floorboards. Embarrassed, but too sick to care, she runs straight out of room into the hallway, clutching her ribs the whole way.
Stryn's alchemist's fire strikes where the spiders were. It must have been a potent one, because the flames explode with intensity beyond the normal, incinerating what was left of the spiders and leaving blackened, steaming wood in its place.
Stryn does a little party dance after destroying the spiders with second, especially explosive alchemist fire. With a big grin he notes "Stryn, master bug killer!"
With the spiders dealt with he asks those who got swarmed "You be ok?"
"Feeling a little weakened, but otherwise I'm ok," replies Henric, hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. "Let's get what information we can and get out of here."
Stryn nods and moves back toward his original target in the previous room, the shinies!
Seeing Kera run of the room to relieve herself along with the heavy smell of burnt spiders now in the air almost causes Renae to upend her own stomach. "Let us hope that's the last vermin we encounter here," she says aloud, putting a steadying hand to her mouth. "I don't think mu stomach can handle more.
Kiley peaks her head around the door jamb, an as yet unseen look of timidity on her face.
"A-are they dead," she asks nervously.
"Oooo..." Kera winces at the pain in her gut, and at what she'd done in front of everyone. "Sorry 'bout that... Henric, come 'ere, let me patch us up..."
She brandishes her wooden butterfly and a soft blue light fills the room.
Then she falls in line behind the others as they continue to explore.
Henric breathes a little easier as the healing energies flow over his battered body. "Thank you, Kera," he says, stretching to his full height. "That really hit the spot."
Once Stryn gets over to the table with the silverware he checks to see if they are possibly worth anything and gives the room another quick look over for anything of value before moving out to check the next door in the hallway, on the southern side of the hall.
Although the table has no silverware on it, the gobin does spy a glint of something beneath a degraded cabinet that had fallen on its doors. With a bit of a struggle, he is able to lift it enough to see what was beneath, and there he finds the shinies he was looking for.
Silver serving set worth 70 gp, silver decanter worth 35 gp, and a matching set of six copper mugs worth 15 gp together
Stryn isn't as quiet as he normally is when sneaking to the next door, but he doesn't hear anything on the other side of it. Opening it, he sees a moldering sofa along the south wall of the room. Once-comfortable chairs sit in front of the mold covered windows.
Stryn goes to check the door across the hall as well before motioning for the others to come up and join him. His experience with this house is even if he doesn't see something immediately there is probably a bug hiding somewhere ready to jump out and attack.
Henric steps out into the hallway to make sure he is able to support Stryn, when necessary.
Stryn opens this door and reveals what once may have been a kitchen. A sickeningly sweet scent hangs in this room’s otherwise stale air. Mold and fungus grow up the side of the northern walls, and what was once a table lies decayed and slumped to the floor at an angle. A door and a stone hearth occupy the west wall of the room, the oven’s door slightly ajar.
Stryn is happy not to see any direct threats and he waves the others up before sneaking into the southern room to give it a look for anything of value.
Kera joins Henric in the hall, waiting to hear what Stryn has found.
Safely assured that she wouldn't be vomiting any time soon, and seeing Stryn's signal for the all clear, Renae rejoined the rest of the party as their goblin scout lead the way to the next room.
Guessing the bugs are laying low, Kiley follows along. She'd been nervous before when all that waited was a ghost. Now that bugs, big, crawly, squirming bugs, were in the picture, she wanted nothing more than to be quit of this place and back into more pleasant environs.
Stryn quietly and stealthily moves into the family room. As he does so, he hears the faint sound of children giggling. Kiley, keeping an eye out for ghosts and bugs, also hears the same sound.
"Does anyone else hear that," Kiley asks quietly as she readies her sword and looks about nervously.
Stryn freezes where he is at, the pushes his back against the wall trying his best to stay out of sight when he hears the creepy sound.
Kiley's still in the hallway with the others, so she doesn't see anything. Stryn, on the other hand, sees quite the scene play out before him.
You see Sir Roderic manifest, seated upon a chair, with a small child on his knee. Two more children sit on the floor, apparently listening to him read. In the chair next to him, you see a woman doing needlepoint. Apparently, this is a lovely scene of Sir Roderic and his family doing ordinary things.
Suddenly, the scene turns dark. The family shifts, their skin sloughing away in wisps of shadow to reveal skeletal faces. Roderic turns to you and glares at you accusingly, pointing and saying, "Get out! Get oooouuuuuuuttttt!" in a long, gasping shout.
The scene is frightening, and you feel the urge to flee as quickly as you can, but you hold your ground, and the ghostly apparitions fade. You can feel your heart thudding in your chest at a gallop as you take heaving breaths.
Stryn remains frozen even after things in the room have settled. Once it seems there is no immediate danger he cautiosly steps back out of the room and looks to the others, a bit more pale green than his normal skin color "Ghosties in their, not scary but then really scary. Big ghost man from the market said to get out before going away." He shakes his head adamantly as he continues "Stryn doesn't think we should go back in that room..."
Kiley swallows as the very tip of her sword's blade shudders with her slight shaking.
"I guess we try 'ere then," she says before opening up the next door that had yet to be explored.
Stryn nods as he happily goes the other way away form the ghost room and follows behind Kiley to check the next room.