Otta waves down at the group, shaking his head- no movement here.
He sees the room slowly become hazy with smoke.
now we wait
The Ranger fits an arrow to his bow and waits patiently, breathing slowly.
Would Alice know about the other exit?
Alice quickly kicks weapons away from his now dead "brethren", keeping an eye on the door as he does. His brow furrows as he thinks about the question posed to him by the wizard.
Ottast climbed the roof and covered the chimney with his cloak. Over a period of a few minutes smoke began to fill the Sentinel Lodge, causing three men to burst from the doors within view of the stables.
Jujo begins his comical bardic performance of the Farce of the Fey’s Friend. Inspired by the quick actions, Trawets burst forth and runs towards the three. Courage bolstered by Juho, Trawets cast a spell that causes two of the three to fall asleep.
Alice sees what is going on begins to use some intimidation tactics and acts as if he is on the side of the bandits. The bandit thinking Alice is on his side moves into position, allowing Alice to take a devastating swing on him dropping the bandit in a pool of blood.
The wizard decides to make best use of his sleep spell and Coup de Grace the sleeping bandits.
Jujo, Trawets, Alice, and Revekka look around waiting outside of the double doors.
Ottast is perched on the roof looking into the only room within his view from upon the roof.
You would know about the other door, but you know they typically keep it locked and trapped. But if needed, they could easily dismantle both from the inside.
Smoke still continues to move out from the doors closest to you. Ottast sees it first, then the others, but you notice smoke moving from the other side of the building. It must be coming from the doors you passed on the way to the stables.
Alice's face grimaces as he remembers. "Yea, there'n another door on th' other side. Normally its locked 'nd trapped t' keep out unwanteds, but wouldn't take'em long t' gettem undone in a situation like this."
"Well, one way or another, we've flushed them out," Revekka notes aloud, "Let's signal Ottast and see if he can spot them from the roof and then we eliminate anyone else that escaped before we go in..."
You don’t see anyone coming out from the opposite side other than those original three. The room you were able to see has since filled with smoke and is cloudy.
As the group waits you begin to see more and more smoke come from within the lodge.
You get the sense that there is now more smoke than there should be by just closing off the chimney. Something has possibly caught fire within.
You begin to hear coughing and a female voice calling out “Anyone… I can’t see… this smoke… can’t breath…” fits of coughing come between each broken phrase. Within a few seconds a female half-orc appears from double doors coughing and gasping for air. She has a rag covering her soot covered face as tears run rivers through it as she is trying to clear her eyes. Unless otherwise stopped, she continues across the porch where she tumbles down the stairs and falls hands and knees in the snow. She continues to cough and clear her eyes. Not knowing who all is outside the door, or the dead bodies that lay at her feet,; “Don’t just stand there. Help me up!!” she barks as she reaches out to find a hand.
Alice sighs. "Great. Looks like the building might actually be on fire now." He is about to continue but is cut off by the exit of the woman.
"Stand up slowly, if'n ye please." He approaches slowly, and keeps his scythe ready to strike her down if need be. "The smoke be obscurin' a lot... ye be tha' falutin' fancy woman?"
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Jujo widens his eyes at the mention of fire and tells Ottast "It might be better to remove the cap on the chimney now. Alice is saying a fire has started. We still want a place to rest."
Then, to the lady, he says, unsure whether to point his crossbow at her or not "Would my lady care to mention her name?"
Trawets sees the half orc come out, "That's no Taldan lady! Face down on the ground or you'll join your friends whose bloody you're in!"
You know this to be Ten-Penny Tacey. She is the newest recruit to the lodge. You know that Rohkar discovered her wondering and brought her in to be the cook. She has always kept to herself, not really part of the normal clientele that Rohkar kept.
Still coughing on all fours she speaks as she tries to stand up "Name is Penny..." still clearing her eyes she draws her short sword and points it in the general direction from where Trawets threat came from; "Lady I might not be, but some man you are to threaten someone who can't see or breath and is face down in the snow..."
Penny stays on one knee holding her short sword out from where she heard Trawets voice last.
Alice holds up his hand.
"Ten-Penny? Hah, ye survived. Iff'en yer looken' t' keep it tha' way, drop that sword of your'n. You do, I be helpin' ye to yer feet, you keep yer head. Sound good t' you? This be Alice b' the way."
He looks over at Trawets and Jujo. "Penny here be th' cook. Naugh really one o' the real bloodthirsty band."
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The gnome lowers his crossbow and says "Well, that's not so bad. Take your time to recover, Penny. I am Jujopotamous Jumbomanic, the third, extravagant actor, at your service. You can call me Jujo if that's too much of a hassle." Jujo forgets about the rest of the bandits for a few seconds and poses as if Penny should be standing upright and say hello to him, as if she wasn't coughing and squinting her eyes right now.
"Be at ease, Penny, Revekka adds her voice to those of the others, not just to calm the half-orc, but also to let her know she's surrounded and not to try anything rash in her blinded condition. "We mean you no harm unless you resist. The lodge has fallen and the townsfolk of Heldren will no longer stand for banditry in these parts. We've come to ensure it. And also to free the noblewoman who was recently abducted. Tell us where we can find her and things will go much better for you."
Alice rolls his eyes at Revekka's words, but tries to keep his thoughts on the matter out of his voice.
"Come on Tenny, drop it. Th' bleedin' h'art over there ain't lyin'. She'd rather see yer gettin' a 'onest job cooken' in th' town than not."
As he speaks, Alice closes to Penny's location.
"Don't make this hard, lass. Y' know I always ha' a liken' t' yer cookin'. I'd rather know tha' I can still get a plate o' somethen' at Ten Penny Tavern somewhere's one day."
Surprisingly, Alice's voice is softer and less crass than his new companions have come to expect from him as he says this.
At the sound of Alice’s voice, Penny sheaths her blade and holds her hand out for help to stand. Once upright she continues to rub her eyes and wipe her face. “Always saw you as an opportunistic person Alice, but this…” looking at the three fallen bodies that she is just now starting to see; “is a bit much. I don’t know where he is but Rohkar is going to kill you all for doing this to his men.” picking up a bit of clean snow, putting it in her mouth, switshing it around, then spitting; “Heck, I was only here until I recouped then moving on.”
At the mention of the noblewoman, Penny turns to look inside the lodge and sees the smoke coming out of it and the small sight of flames from within; “Oh gods…. I don’t know if she is in there still or not. There is a cellar that was her prison…”
Can we have an updated map please?[/ooc]
Trawets asks "Where is the entrance to the cellar? We need to check, quickly." When told Trawets will run quickly into the lodge to see.
“There is a hatch somewhere in the great room.” Penny says
At that Trawets runs quickly into the lodge to see. He is met with a thick layer of smoke and heat. He sees the north wall engulfed in flames, and sees flames licking up from around the back side of the fireplace. Trawets is forced to cover his mouth and nose using his cloak to prevent the smoke from entering his lungs.
Trawets looks around for the hatch.
Alice nods at Penny. "Not to worry abou' that. Barrin' him rabbit'en, he won't be alive t' kill anyone. Either get goin' or wait fer us at the stables. I recon we be headen' back t' the town after this fer the reward 'n such."
So saying, he rolls his eyes as the wizard and gnome go into the smoke filled building. Pulling a scrap of cloth off of one of the nearby bandits, he ties it around his face before following.
"Rohkar! Get yer fancy buttox down 'ere, the place is on fire!"
Watching the others hurry inside, Revekka looks from the lodge and back to Penny. "Help us!" she tells the woman, "You can make a difference. We can't let her burn alive in there..." So saying, the witch sprints for the door to follow after her friends, hoping against hope that the noblewoman can be found and freed quickly.
The wall of smoke hits her squarely in the face and she struggles to breathe, much less find her bearings as she calls out to Jujo and Trawets.
Trawets run into the burning building with no care for the smoke and fire, and fortunately for him neither seem to faze him. Jujo double moves up and gets into the building right behind Trawets. Thankfully for him, he is still in the doorway where the smoke and heat are less problematic. Alice and Revekka both have difficulties when going in. The smoke is burning their eyes making it difficult to see, and is burning their lungs, making it difficult to breath.
Both Trawets and Alice both notice as the bear skin rug that is starting to catch on fire it is beginning to reveal the floor hatch.
As Alice notices the floor he is taken by surprise as two Frozen Skeletal Creatures appear coming down the stairs, both swipe out with their clawed hands. You notice that as these creatures begin to climb down the stairs and walk towards you that the floor around them starts to turn into ice radiating out from around them.
The first one misses with its claw attack, but the second one lands a strike across your shoulder.
From on the roof you see everyone run inside of the lodge, except for the half orc. You see her contemplating something before she turns and runs off.
You turn to face these creatures but before you can do anything you feel this cold penetrating your skin, setting deep into your bones. As the frost climbs your legs and penetrates your skin you take 8 cold damage, and fall.
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Even though people can hardly see him, and even those who could are probably not looking at him, Jujo points to the skeletons and screams Ice skeletons! Throw them in the fire!" Of course he knows it will probably not be a easy as he makes it sound, but it just sounded like a very good idea at the time.
Trawets shouts "I've got this!" Hopefully and moves over the rug (NE of Alice). Fire then comes from his hands burning the skeletons.
Trawets moves up and uses Burnng Hands melt away the skeletons. As the begin to crumple and fall, the frost around them shatters and ice shards fly. Alice is the only one close enough to the skeletons that the shards hit. Not being able to dodge free from them all, Alice takes 5 ice damage.
The fire is still burning around all of you, the hair on the bear skin rug burst into flames. If you look around the fireplace you would see there is a table that is completely ask. You best assumption is that an oil lamp was knocked over in the fleeing of the smoke and started the fire.
What do you all do next?
**cough**
**wheeze**
**cough**
Revekka can hardly draw breath to talk. "What is it? I can't see anything..." Hearing Jujo and Trawets' voices, she tries to move closer to them, bending over to keep lower to the ground in an effort to find more air than smoke to breathe.
Between the slash, the cold, and the subsequent explosion of the skeletons, Alice clearly is on his last legs.
"Damn... where'd tha' lot come from..." he mumbles weakly to himself. Grabbing a section of the rug that has yet to catch fire, he drags it outside and throws it into the snow.
Alice grabs the bear skin rug by its maw and rushes it outside and tosses it into the snow, without burning himself. Revekka, feeling Alice brush past him and hearing Jujo’s voice, retreats back towards the door gets a clearer vision of what is happening around her.
Jujo and Trawets see a wooden trap door that has been revealed once the bear skin rug was removed. Both quickly notice the lock on the trap door.
Ottast is still keeping look out on the roof.
Coming back in, Alice leans against his scythe. "Well... place won' burn naugh... heh..."
Trawets points at the lock and says "Jujo, can you open that? If not can you hack through the door Alice?"
Alice spits blood at ground, wiping the dribble on his sleeve.
"Yeah, I could... though I could also try pick'en it. Burnen' builden' 'n' blood loss migh' make it take longer though."
Ducking lower, Revekka finally manages to clear some of the smoke from her eyes long enough to get her bearings. "Is there something here inside we can use to douse the fire?" she calls out, "Alice? Is there a water barrel or other fresh water supplies? Can we smother it with anything? Or is there something we can use as a mask to breathe easier while we break open the trapdoor? Point the way and I'll go get it..."
The witch matches action to her words and looks about to see if she can identify any sources of water in a kitchen or food preparation area. Or any blankets or loose clothing she can turn into an improvised mask to cover her mouth and nose. She also keeps an eye out for any further dangers beyond the icy skeletons. Lastly, just to ward off the heat and smoke a bit further, she casts a simple spell.
Alice wearily shakes his head. "Naugh, lass. 'erhaps we can magic some of the snow inside er somethin."
Revekka burst into the kitchen, a room where the smoke has not poured into, yet. A large fireplace takes up most of the north wall of this room. Cabinets and shelves line the remaining walls space, and four windows look out on the wintry landscape surrounding the lodge.
Revekka also finds different sizes of towels from simple hand towels to those that could be used as aprons. She also finds two barrels of water that must be used as cooking and drinking water, but discover bits of unknown food bits floating within.
Standing outside with clearing eyes and lungs, the two of you see Ottast moving across the roof making his way to reach windows; “Should I break out some windows to help lift the smoke out of the lodge? How’s the search going for the Lady?” You notice he is tying off his hand axe to a length of rope, looking to be used to swing and break windows below.
It is amazing how he is able to stand the smoke so well [occ]Yay great Fort roll![/ooc] but Trawets still stands over where the trap door. You begin to hear a female screaming below.
Head aching, nose filled with smoke, and the sound of a woman screaming. “Down here, we are still down here!!” the screaming woman bends down and shakes you the rest of the way awake; “Stubborn dwarf! You best wake up and get us out unless you want to roast down here alive!”
You snap to and realize you’re laying belly up on a cold hard floor. Looking around you see half-dozen boxes and barrels taking up the majority of this underground cellar. You can see a thin layer of smoke starting to creep in from the trap door above. The moisture from the ground hisses on the stone walls as the heat begins to rise in what could really be a stone oven.
You reach for your Warhammer to break through the door only to realize it is not at your side. A bit of panic sets in as you realize all of your gear is gone and you are standing only in your traveling clothes and a winter cloak.
Trawets bends down and tries to rip the lock off the trapdoor. "I hear you! We need to get the lock off!"
Upon hearing Jujo's command, Ottast sends his hand axe promptly through the first window to help relieve some of the smoke.
At the urgency of hearing a female screaming from below, Trawets springs into action as he bends down and breaks the lock free from its clasp. Opening the trap door, Trawets sees a soot covered woman and dwarf looking up at you.
Jujo rushes in just intime to see this mighty act of strength accomplished by this oddly assembled party’s least likely suspect.
From down in the cellar the woman speaks up. “You best close your mouth and help a Lady up. And DON’T you get the wrong idea about this dwarven man and myself down here. He was tossed in early yesterday morning.” she holds her hand up to be pulled up; “Come on, its getting hotter by the second.” as she twitches her hand to be pulled up from the celler.
Both Revekka and Alice can hear the commotion.