"So, which way, next? 2 sets of stairs, both goin' down. I don't care which way we go."
"I say we head," Ed replies pointing to the stairway to the east, "That way. Virlee must be below."
Scratch scoops up the vial with a yellow toothy grin "Anythin' to help keep this pretty face intact is welcome! Hehe!" He tucks it in an easy to reach pocket and counts up his 5 throwing hammer, 2 hatchets, clan dagger and the rest of his assortment of collected weapons.
"Guess we head down next. Be quiet, maybe Torag's stone muffled our battles up here... maybe." He arms himself with his clan dagger and starts creeping down, eyes on the look up for traps and trickery.
"No takers then? Okay, more for me," Gillian shrugs as she scoops all of the lesser alchemical items up and places them into her pack for later.
"And going down seems as good a direction as any," she adds. Hefting her longspear she moves to follow Scratch, doing her best to be quiet.
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"Aw crud! Can't let you take all the fun stuff... gimme one each of them things. Just in case." He pilfers the woman's pockets of one bottled fire and one bottled acid.
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Another scan of the pools reveal clear liquid and a lack of magical auras. No free restoration or buffs here, unfortunately.
The spiral stairs from the laboratory descend fifty feet before ending in a narrow hallway. To one side, more stairs descend further to an iron door, while the hallway continues south to a simple wooden door. Along the wall is a carving of a small farming village surrounded by an immense graveyard.
The iron door to the east is barred with a wooden plank from this side (hey, more ammo for Celvi) and there's the sound of... bubbling? Gurgling? It's hard to say through the door, but it's coming from the south.
"Go left, first," Gillian whispers to Scratch as they're presented with multiple options on where to proceed. "I've heard it's lucky! Also, I'd rather not leave unopened doors at our backs. Or at least that's what I'd normally say but since it's barred from this side, going south first is probably safe for the moment."
"Any door that is barred is done so for a good reason," Ed nods in agreement with Gillian here, "Let's head south."
Celvi grins when she sees the pile of ammo laid before her, and then she proceeds to Scout ahead toward the south side.
"If its barred on our side maybe its got some helpful prisoners or somethin... or somethin' truly heinous!" Regardless, he heads with the majority to the south, carefully picking his way along, eyes open for traps and the like.
He fiddles with his magical ring, wishing it would kick in some extra stubbornness to dying like it tends to every morning. If only... not likely though. Guess I'll just need ta keep my dukes up n my chin down.
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Scratch leads the way south down the hall, and pushes open the wooden door to reveal... another alchemy lab, of course. Unlike the one upstairs, it is clear that this is a laboratory for only one alchemist. Everything is meticulously cleaned and well organized. Two cauldrons bubble alongside a central table covered in alchemical equipment. The walls are lined with shelves that hold old books and orderly rows of glass bottles, each containing reagents and ingredients. You'd have to spend a little more time here to check out the formula book and have a look at the jars.
Three pits, their contents hidden from view, fill one side of the room; nearby, a tall glass cylinder contains the blackened corpse of a dwarf surrounded by a swirling green mist.
A small rat made of moldering charcoal and elemental fire leans its body against the cauldron, keeping the mixture boiling. It turns its head in your direction as you enter, but seems to be focused on its only apparent job.
"More experiments..." Gillian murmurs, swallowing hard at the sight of the charred dwarf inside the cylinder. Noting that the fiery rat elemental thing doesn't seem immediately hostile, she tries to get an idea of what it is exactly and what it might be capable of.
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Scratch tries to be quiet and sneak up to look around the corner, just in case the owner of the lab is in the next room. Fire rats? Dwarf corpses? Ohhh its gonna go down soon enough!
Ed peers around the corner unwillinjg to get too close as he checks for any magical auras...
Celvi thinks the flaming rat is kind of cute. Reminds her of that fiery cat they saw a while ago. Nonetheless, she sneaks along Stealthily behind Scratch.
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Gillian takes a closer look at the rat-on-fire, and recognizes its composition as similar to a fire elemental. Like some elementals, this one was probably bound at some point, as its focused entirely on its work with no care for the four of you walking right into its domain. Gillian also knows these rats give off fetid fumes, disgusting to anyone who might get too close.
Scratch hugs the wall and makes his away ahead, peeking into the adjacent room. Celvi isn't far behind him, tiptoeing her way there. They both see three cells divided by iron bars, and a platform overlooking them. Two of the cells are empty, but the third has a horrifying, pitiful mass of made up of rotten flesh. Half of its insides have spilled out in a bloody mess, yet somehow, the creature's back rises and falls as if it's still very much alive. Despite its cell door being open, it remains in place.
Back inside the lab, Ed's eyes glow as he carefully scans over the bottles, books, tables, and even the cauldrons. There's definitely the presence of magic in this room.
Map
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Hope I don't wind up like them. Celvi shrugs as she looks upon the mass of flesh.
She isn't sure what it is, but she points to the Eastern door.
Celvi points to the door, but Scratch looks at her funny. What, is her hat dirty? She goes to triple check it when he asks her to retreat a bit, out of the room.
Finally Scratch is willing to talk and explain his plan. Celvi shrugs, and then calls upon the powers of Invisibility as Scratch fades from view once again. Luckily it's not verbal in nature, so she can be quiet about it.
As the others move to check out the strange creature Ed is drawn to the magical aura lingering in the room.
Any edge we can gather against Vilree will help us here...
"Similar to a wizard binding an elemental for a task," Gillian whispers to the others, nodding at the rat-elemental-thing. "It'll probably leave us alone if we just pass through but taking stuff from in here'll likely be a different story. Oh and don't get too close if you can help it, it gives off some pretty noxious fumes."
Gillian cautiously moves further into the laboratory and tries to have a look around at the books and other implements, hoping to maybe find something of use.
Presumably when/if Scratch and Celvi fall back and report what they've found in one of the empty cells, Gillian gives them both a look and nods vigorously as they suggest trying to lock the creature in.
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Scratch nods in thanks before fading from view.
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Gillian and Ed stay within the lab, where Ed spends a little more time honing his magical senses, sweeping his eyes over the room before finally zeroing in a set of bracers resting on the table, radiating an abjuration aura.
As Gillian looks around, she notices all of the alchemy tools are tainted with an oily, green residue. Next to the bubbling concoction kept boiling by the rat, a book sits open, and Gillian is sure it's open to a page that represents an alchemical formula. The page that it's open to lists a set of reagents that match with what Bort had supplied, and some numbers jotted below indicate enough stock of the ingredients to create 500 batches.
Meanwhile, the ever daring Scratch Steeltoe disappears! He starts to stalk towards the cell, quietly, one steady foot at a time, keeping his eyes trained on the monstrosity. As soon as he gets within 30 feet of it, the thing lifts what must be its head up like an mangy dog being approached with raw meat. It motions around as if sniffing the air... But doesn't seem to detect Scratch.
Scratch moves forward and slams its cell door, a steel (Steeltoe?) latch clicking into place. The thing turns at the noise and immediately flies into a rage, throwing its whole body against the cell, the iron bars shuddering with each charge. Let's hope it will hold!
"Hmm. I woulda left it alone, but that's one less guard to worry about."
She looks at Gillian and Ed and taps her foot, clearly impatient.
Take that ya stinkin' beast! Can't out smart a Steeltoe! Scratch scurries back towards the other set of doors before his invisible gift runs out.
"Checkin' these doors people, look lively."
Ed quickly scoops up the bracers for perusal later. That...beast...will surely bring Vilree on us now! He then crouches under the table trying to keep a low profile.
Celvi will simply Avoid Notice.
Gillian winces as the creature begins kicking up a ruckus from within its cell but there's nothing for it now - hopefully the cell will hold. Deciding to test her own luck, Gillian cautiously reaches out to pick up what is certainly an alchemical formula book...and providing it doesn't provoke the rat-thing to attack, she stows it in her pack.
"More evidence," she murmurs to no one in particular.
Cognizant that the caged creature's antics might draw attention from nearby, Gillian then attempts to duck into the shadows as she moves towards the other end of the lab where Scratch fiddles with the doors.
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