Ragna sets down her ax and shield and rubs her arm where the turtle bit her, wincing. She would have a nasty bruise, but it would heal on its own. "It'll be fine. Thanks though." She responds to Shaserai, walking over to one of the fallen monsters and prodding a spike with her foot. "These are really impressive creatures. I've never heard of anything like this around here. We should check their den. Maybe they're a breeding pair, could be eggs or something."
"OOOOOOOHHH. That is amazing! Does it hurt? Can you burn hand prints into things? What if you are holding a stick, what does it do?" Highness fairly flies forward to Sherasai and jumps to grab his arm and pull it down to his level, entranced by the flame.
With one arm wrapped around Sherasai's arm, he blindly gropes around on the ground with his free hand for a moment and finds a leaf which he pokes at the flaming hand with.
Shaserai suddenly finds himself with his arm in a death grip by the would be goblin king. He holds still in fear of accidentally burning Highness with his spell, as the goblin blabbers questions at him.
"No, it doesn't hurt."He answers. "It doesn't make hand prints, only burns things. And I don't know, I've never tried it."
Then the priest closes his hand, extinguishing the fire. He uses his free arm to recast the cantrip and lob the fire at the graveshell, killing the creature.
He fixes Highness with a stern gaze. "Next time ask, and I'll let you stare all you want at my spells, but no rushing and no grabbing. We don't want there to be an accident, do we?"
Shaserai turns to Ragna, assessing her injury and then nodding. "Don't hesitate to ask though. After all, it's my job to patch you up."
He approaches the hole in the wall and looks around the inside, to see if the graveshells nested near the entrance, or they'll have to go deeper into the citadel.
On the other side of the mud puddle are small cubicles of rooms that might once have been holding cells or clerical offices. It looks as if the graveshells have been lairing in these rooms, which are full of mud and droppings. The doorways that lead further into the interior of the citadel appear too small for their shells to negotiate easily.
"Well, looks like we've got ourselves another entrance that we could explore. But, given the absolute terrorizing potential of the monsters who were living here, I highly doubt the goblin tribe comes and goes from any of these doorways. So, are we up for going thru them and snooping about...or, are we continuing our tour along the outside walls?"
Alak wrenches his javelin out of the fallen graveshell's leg. "I suppose we should check and see if this fellow carried anything that might identify him," he nods reluctantly at the ripe corpse still atop the other shell. "There might be someone out there who'd appreciate knowing about his end, unsavory as it might have been."
"Right you are..." Jonagher responds. The half-elf steps over to the corpse, holding his breath for as long as he can while searching it.
"Let's just take a peek, wouldn't want any surprises following us." Ragna says, taking up her arms and moving past the fallen turtles into their den. She can't help but chuckle at Shaserai and Highness. The goblin is no doubt little more than a child with his stories and excitability. She approaches one of the doors leading deeper into the citadel, eyes scanning over the empty cells along the way, intent only on seeing if anything of immediate interest lays beyond.
Taking care to keep a safe distance between himself and the warrior woman, Irenaeus follows along.
"I would very much advise against trying to grab my wrist while I am casting a spell," the Chelish mage remarks simply as he passes by the goblin.
Highness looks at Irenaeus for a moment then shrugs. "You are probably right, I would unbalance you or snap your arm off. Besides, I probably will get a better look climbing on your back, and then your arms will be free to wave around! Yes, good idea. We are glad we discussed this with you before it became necessary." Highness said, nodding his head at the longshanks.
He scrambled back past the graveshell corpses and into the keep.
"A quick check of the nests, then we will be back out to continue along the wall!" he called over his shoulder.
As gingerly as possible, Jonagher heaves the dead body off the tortoise's spiked shell. The dead man's chain shirt, while nothing special, still looks serviceable. With a bit of searching, the half-elf produces a small sack from a waterlogged belt pouch. It takes some effort to unknot the wet and muddy ties, but inside, he finds 6 gold coins and 9 silver pieces. In a filthy envelope of oiled silk, a scrap of parchment is folded.
The others investigate the area past the cubicles the graveshells were using. It proves to open into the same courtroom Ragna saw through the hole in the eastern wall. The floor is covered in mud and shards of broken wood which, given the omnipresent moisture, are rotting and infested with termites, ants, and other tiny vermin. There are three doors leading out of the audience gallery on the western side of the room and an open corridor leading south. A closed door in the northeastern corner looks as if it might lead to yet another cubicle office or holding cell.
Jonagher transfers the coins from the muddy, water-logged pouch to his own for now. Eyeing the chain shirt, he deems it too heavy for him. 'It'll only slow me down..." he muses, "But maybe someone else will want it. Of course, it's far better they strip that thing off the corpse than me...eesh...that looks ripe."
He wipes his hands off on the grass just outside the broken wall and then goes looking for the rest of the team. The nasty pool of water looks completely uninviting, so the half-elf decides to pick his way across the broken rubble, climbing over the rocks where necessary. "Hey, guys...I found a bit of gold and silver on that corpse back there. I guess this adventure's already paying off for us, you know?" His voice trails off as he looks around the muddy room. "Wow. This place is a mess." He takes a dagger out of its sheath and starts cleaning his nails. "Odds are pretty low we'll run into any goblins here. I bet they've never even been to this place before. Think there's any harm in looking around? Who knows what else we might find? Maybe Alak's ring?"
"Think there's any harm in looking around? Who knows what else we might find? Maybe Alak's ring?"
"Only if it was very well hidden," Alak sighs, peering in through the broken wall. "This place has been thoroughly looted and vandalized. Still, it's worth looking, if you don't think the local goblins would mind. This was clearly a courtroom used by the Order; Uncle Alcester could have secreted his ring in a desk or cupboard, if there's one that's not smashed."
"The goblins clearly aren't using this area. They'd be perfectly bite-sized for our turtley friends." Ragna says, kicking a bit of rotted wood further into the gloomy interior. "I don't see any harm in looking around now. Maybe we find the ring. Either way it saves us from having to come back later." She slips her axe into her belt and tries for one of the unopened doors.
Shaserai follows Highness, Ragna and Alak into the opening in the citadel's wall.
"The opportunity presented itself, so I don't see why we shouldn't take a little time to search these rooms." He then turns to Alak and asks "The Hellknights must have spellcasters right? I'll try to find traces of magic."
As he gazes over the mess of broken furniture and general destruction he sends out his arcane sense, hoping to find signs of protective magic that might indicate a secure hiding place.
The door swings open at Ragna's touch. Inside she can see shadowy shapes of furniture that looks mostly intact, but the room is too dim for her to see clearly.
"Watch out!" Alak says sharply over her shoulder. "There's something in there -- on top of the desk! Get some light over here!" he urges the others as he draws his greatsword.
At Alak's shout, Shaserai hurries over to him. He sees Ragna at the door, and tries to peer into the room, but the human blocks his view of the creature inside. Not wanting to take the first shot with a fire spell, and following Alak's request for light, he intones a prayer to Torag and touches Ragna's shield. It blazes brightly, illuminating the small room.
"Hello?" he tries to greet the creature in Common. "Do you understand me?"
Shaserai's cantrip lights up an office still furnished with a heavy wooden desk, chairs and cabinets. On top of the desk, a creature like a wolf is lying, glaring ill-naturedly at the door.
With Alak's warning, Jonagher hugs the wall and withdraws into the shadows until he can assess the threat and hopefully surprise it with a timely attack.
He then moves forward just enough to peer around the wall at the rest of the team where the light source is strongest. Readying an arrow with his bow, he looks for an opening to rain fire on their enemies.
Jonagher takes cover against the wall and waits for a clear shot.
"Hello?" he tries to greet the creature in Common. "Do you understand me?"
"Trespassers!" the creature growls back, getting to its feet. "See if you 'understand' my teeth in your throat!" It leaps off the desk and bites at Ragna.
"Argh!" Ragna grunts as the strange dog manages to bite down where the strange turtle had left her armor damaged. "WHY do all the animals here TALK!?" She shouts, wrenching her arm free from the wolf's mouth and striking back at it with axe and shield.
Ragna's axe fails to contact her attacker, but she uses the space her swing makes to interpose her shield between herself and the creature's teeth.
"You know how it is," Irenaeus quips as he makes his way back in order to keep an eye on one of the other rooms; getting surrounded would not be particularly good for them. "Love, patience and a functioning education system perhaps."
Ren steps away, trusting the others to deal with the creature and watching for any other dangers in the area.
"Draw it out," Alak urges. "Step back, priest, and let the lady move." He follows his own advice, stepping back into the muddy edge of the graveshells' puddle.
Highness watches the unfolding encounter warily, not certain where he can be of assistance. Then an idea strikes him.
There were doors to get around the turtles...perhaps there are doors to get behind whatever the longshanks are dealing with?
Highness scurries forward toward the open archway, passing behind the wizard.
"We are checking the open doorways to see if there are other beasties." he says as he moves past.
"Well, so much for diplomacy" thinks Shaserai. He blesses Ragna with Torag's protection against the creature and then, heeding Alak's advice, Shaserai retreats further into the citadel.
Shaserai divinely bolsters Ragna's defenses before giving her some space to maneuver.
Seeing Ren and Shaserai falling back into the larger room, Jonagher slips around the back wall to join them, motioning for Alak to come along. "Fall back, Ragna!" he calls to the warrior, hoping she'll recognize the benefits of a tactical retreat that'll bring their opponent into the open for a potential ambush of their own. He then nimbly steps onto the wooden platform, taking up a position behind the judge's bench while maintaining his aim on the open doorways where Ragna and their quarry are likely to emerge.
Jonagher falls back, hoping Ragna will draw the creature into the open.
"Oh, don't go," the wolf-thing growls. "Stay for dinner." It lunges at Ragna and, though she interposes her shield to minimize the damage done by the bite, the creature's jaws clench tightly on her arm, attempting to hold her in place.
”Let me go, stupid woof!” Ragna snarls, ineffectually trying to kick at the wolves ribs as it tears at her arm. ”Or we’ll add you to our turtle soup!”
Not seeing any particular way he could be of help to the struggling Ragna and noticing their goblin companion making his way to the beast's flank, Irenaeus sighs and looks around. Not particularly liking the idea of opening more doors and risking new foes entering the fight, he resigns to guarding the rear and hoping the warrior woman can somehow lure the wolf creature towards himself and the others.
Ren prepares himself for battle.
"Layers of Hell," Alak curses. "Hey, you worthless cur!" he shouts at the wolf-thing. "Let the lady go, or I'll make you regret it!"
Highness eyed the door warily wondering if this was the best plan, if there would be something behind the door that might cause him serious harm. However it was a fleeting moment of caution before his goblin blood surged, a maniac grin split the purple strips and he yanked at the door, planning on rushing through to engage whatever he found.
The diminutive monk flings open the door, rushes in, and unleashes a flurry of attacks that at least get the creature's attention if they fail to deal any estimable damage.
As he holds the protective enchantment on Ragna and seeing the damage the creature is doing to her arm, Shaserai invokes Torag's mercy with a prayer. Gathering the healing energy, he directs it towards the human, hoping it's enough to keep her from falling to the wolf-thing's attack.
"C'mon!" Jonagher tries to rally everyone. "If Ragna can't get free, let's take the fight to the beast..." He then jumps down from the raised platform and hurries to follow Highness since the goblin appears to have found a way to flank their opponent. Sighting over the head of the monk, he fires a quick shot.
Despite the awkward angle he must use to shoot over the goblin's head, Jonagher's arrow grazes the wolf-like creature, drawing blood.
The creature yelps with pain, releasing Ragna. "Fine," it growls. "You want me to let the female go? I'll take the goblin instead." Highness eludes its first snap but is caught by the second attempt. The monster tries to swallow the goblin whole, but Highness resists the attempt.
The feeling of her flesh knitting back together under Shaserei’s spell while the wolfs teeth were still in her was not a pleasant feeling at all, but the wolf releasing her and turning on Highness didn’t feel much better. ”Let him go!” She shouts, finally managing to get a decent strike on the thing with her axe. ”He’s practically a child!”
Released by the enemy, Ragna moves into a more advantageous position and slices deeply into the distracted creature's flesh with her axe.
Finally suspecting he may find an opening to lend a hand -or spell, as it were- Irenaeus moves along the path the goblin took and, remaining in the room adjacent to the one the melee is taking place, the Chelish mage stands ready to add his own electical magic to the fight.
Ren takes advantage of the open door to sight the beast and call down some magic on it. The canine's hair stands on end as electricity arcs along its body.
Alak charges into the doorway where Ragna has left an opening. "You'll wish you'd slunk away with your tail between your legs before we're done with you," he threatens, bringing his heavy sword down on the creature.
Being grabbed by the wolf creature is far more than Highness can handle and he simply becomes a whirling dervish of flailing limbs as he attempts to pull away. Flailing flexible limbs punch the head of the creature a few times before he kips up, bringing both feet up onto the head of the creature, one foot on the open maw holding his arm, the other covering the creature's eye. The sudden change of weight drug the creature's head to the ground.
"Let go, let go, let go, let go, let go." he said pummeling the creature's head.
The goblin struggles wildly but is unable to break free of the creature's powerful jaws. One flailing fist, however, cuffs the canine upside its skull, and it sinks limply to the floor.
Ragna drops her axe and shield as soon as the strange beast starts to fall, extricating Highness from the jaws and scooping him up in her arms. ”You poor thing!” she exclaims, half-cradling the goblin in one arm and pawing at the bloody area of clothing where the wolf had bit him. ”Are you hurt?!” No doubt the diminutive boy had little blood in his tiny body to spare for things like bleeding. ” Shaserai! We need you!” She calls for the cleric without waiting for the goblin to chime in on how injured he may or may not be.
While Ragna extricates Highness from the wolf's jaws, Jonagher quirks an eyebrow at their dramatic antics and moves past them to check for other possible threats in the room. After all, it wasn't everyday you encountered a talking wolf. What purpose could it have in making its lair inside the citadel?
Then, just to ensure the beast is truly dead, he puts away his bow, draws a dagger, and plunges it deep into the corpse.
"Whew! Nasty work there..." he remarks, "Giant turtle-things. Giant wolf-things. I'm not entirely sure this citadel is safe. Desna knows what luck the goblin tribe must have avoiding these monsters just to survive."