I auto succeed at that check. Do you realize it is the same information as that last paragraph.
"Where do we move up the... passage, or whatever it is?"
"Can we please discuss this inside? That Outsider could be zeroing in on the sound of battle, and it did NOT sound friendly!"
Thordak nods and moves up near Lym, "Nothin' personal, lass, but I'm thinkin' yer boyfriend is kind of a nutter. He really doesn't know what he's talking about," he whispers, nodding fairly as he walks away.
"Where do we move up the... passage, or whatever it is?"
"Up the passage works for me. Let's go."
I auto succeed at that check. Do you realize it is the same information as that last paragraph.
A +3 punching dagger is hidden in the left boot. The deathblade poison that once coated the blade has long since dried and flaked away, leaving only a slight (and harmless) discoloration on it.
"Where do we move up the... passage, or whatever it is?"
The doors have a heavy iron lock on them.
"Can we please discuss this inside? That Outsider could be zeroing in on the sound of battle, and it did NOT sound friendly!"Thordak nods and moves up near Lym, "Nothin' personal, lass, but I'm thinkin' yer boyfriend is kind of a nutter. He really doesn't know what he's talking about," he whispers, nodding fairly as he walks away.
"You think my boyfriend is a nutter? How disconcerting," Lym scoffs.
"I'm out of Knock-spells for the day, so who wants to earn a shiny copper coin by breaking the lock, gentlemen?"
Breaking the lock is not difficult, just loud.
The air in this long-sealed chamber is putrid. The back wall is the solid rock of the cliff face. A ramp rises from the western door to a height of five feet, which is the elevation of the rest of the plank floor. Mounds of dust and rocky debris clutter the floor, while rusty mechanical equipment, large copper tanks, and several rock-crushing and chipping tools sit upon sagging wooden tables. The handle of a shovel sticks up from a debris pile immediately below this aperture. Two pairs of elbow-length, thick leather gloves, stained from long use, hang from hooks beside the north doors .
A heavy iron grate is the south wall . This blocks access to a chute that leads outside.
"You think my boyfriend is a nutter? How disconcerting," Lym scoffs.
"I'm out of Knock-spells for the day, so who wants to earn a shiny copper coin by breaking the lock, gentlemen?"
Nodding in full agreement, "I totally understand, lass. It does seem quite disconcertin'. I mean, who wouldn't be disconcerted, right? Am I right? Boy that disconcertin' business is troublesome. Might want ta see a healer about that. Gee, I hope I never get it," he mutters before easily dispatching the lock and moving inside.
----------------------------------------------
Taking the scene before him in, "Ya know, looks like the Vekkers used this room to divide the gold from the worthless stuff. They used this room to separate the chemicals. Once they got what they needed separated, the waste was shoveled down that chute to where there is probably a pile of all that waste outside. And arsenic is what is typically used for such a process. Probably explains the poisoned area around this cabin also."
"And probably what caused that treant to change like that. What's in these other rooms?"
"Let's try to keep moving as quickly as we can," Lym counsels, one fold of her cloak held in front of her mouth and nose as she floats into the chamber - - "We don't want to take in too much of this filth and poison ourselves."
"Good idea. Lead on, Master Dwarf."
Nodding, "Works for me," he responds as he continues on.
As you enter the room, a shadowy form shifts and moves in the room’s corner. A balding dwarf with a few facial scars and a full beard separated into two lengths by gold rings forms before your eyes.
Dusty shadows fade and the dwarf appears to be squatting in the southeast corner of the room, his back to the doors as he scoops up handfuls of gold dust from the ground near the chute. As Silas turns around, gold dust thick in his beard and dripping in slobbery strings from his lips, he says, “You! You have to try this! It’s so… delicious!” As he says this, he stuffs another handful of gold dust into his mouth and swallows.
"Barghest's bowels!" Lym curses, horrified.
”I’ll pass, thanks.”
Activate detect evil.
Rexil, the stone giant, similarly declines eating dirt.
Auto pass.
Tomaru activates his Channel Energy ability. The room is temporarily filled with butterflies.
Raising an eyebrow at the oddness of the dwarf, Thordak cuts his eyes to the group and then back to the strange dwarf. "Quick question, lad. And you are... who exactly?"
The dwarf stands up and approaches Thordak, a manic look in his ghostly eyes. He continues to stuff handfuls of gold leavings into his mouth, and no matter how much he eats, there is no lack of it. He staggers forward a few steps, then the room is filled with butterflies. The ghostly figure fades as the power of Desna washes over him.
"You know me lad, you know..." the apparition's voice trails off. "Run while ye can."
"If this is the right place, that was probably one of the Vekker Brothers. I know that tree has you shaken, Thordak, but we really need you at your best here. I know it's tough and if you need, we can take a break, you know, so you can compose yourself." He puts a hand on his friend's shoulder and gives him a sympathetic look.
Thordak looks to the cleric with an emphatic raised eyebrow as he jerks his shoulder away from the cleric. "What tree?! Why do ya keep talkin' about trees?! I'm thinkin' yer breakin' up, lad. Ya know, mentally. We're gonna have ta get ya rested at some point. We can't have ya losin' it when we're fightin' the bad guys," he says matter of factly, actually sounding a bit concerned. "Anyway, I'm thinkin' yer right. He does look a lot like Silas Vekkar for sure. Not entirely sure but I'm thinkin' that's him. Well... now what do we do? I'm guessin' we need to check out the rest of this place. While runnin' probably is a good idea, there's no way we'll be doin' that. We've come this far... there's no stoppin' now."
There are a set of locked double doors to the north, opposite where you came in.
We don't have anyone with rogue-y talents.
"Thordak, can you get the door for the lady?"
"On it!" Thordak moves to the door and attempts to shatter the lock. Or the door. Whichever.
The lock shatters under the dwarf's axe.
The wooden walls of this musty shaft abut the natural stone of the cliff face to the east . A sturdy-looking wooden stair and rail starts at the bottom of this shaft and circles up into the heights, running clockwise. Above, its passage is lost in the gloom, like the musty interior of an ancient silo. A thick length of chain hangs down the shaft in loops, its links swaying and clanking softly to the periodic gust of wind that penetrates the walls. No windows pierce the wooden walls. Propped against the east wall near the door is an upended wheelbarrow.
Tomaru: "Walk up the stairs?"
Lym: a small grin graces Lym's face as she hovers just above the floor.
Define "sturdy looking". Praxim looks from the stairs to Rexil and back doubtfully.
Thordak shrugs and precedes up the stairs without another thought.
”Some flying magic would probably be advisable,” Praxim says. He’ll activate his armour when they’re ready, but Rexil will need a spell.
Rexil can squeeze along behind them, always guarding (and blocking) their rear as they move through the cabin.
Thordak starts his way up the heavy wooden stair. After he makes the first couple of turns - maybe 10' or so off the floor - the chain and bucket lash out with a rattle and a clank!
The heavy iron bucket narrowly misses the dwarf's head, breaking splinters from tower wall!
"You boys just can't stay out of trouble." Lym casts Scorching Ray the chains.
Managing to avoid the bucket, Thordak looks at it with a raised eyebrow. "Are you kiddin' me? Is that bucket tryin' to attack me?" Taking hold of his longaxe, he takes a swipe at it.
Praxim knocks an arrow but holds off, figuring the axe to be a better weapon. He ignores the dancing bucket and looks for other threats.
Tomaru also holds his action.
The links of the heavy chain are super-heated by Lym's fiery spell. The massive snake-like construct coils to strike again, when Thordak's axe cleaves through the heated links. The bucket falls to the ground with ear-splitting crash, and does not move.
”Glad that’s over,” Praxim says with a straight face. ”I thought Thordak would kick the bucket for sure.”
With a look of perplexion, "Ya thought I would 'kick' the bucket? Now why in the blazes would I do that if I can just smash it with me axe?! I really think ya ought ta think about what yer sayin', lad, before ya say it; because what yer sayin' just doesn't make any sense at all." He then looks over at Tomaru and shoots a hidden thumb in the direction of Praxim while at the same time giving a look that easily says: "The elf is crazy." He then continues on his way up the stairs.
Tomaru goes up the stairs after Thordak. "Actually, we're all crazy. We have to be to be here right now."
Lym floats up after Tomaru.
Praxim chuckles quietly as he floats up after Lym.
Despite the grunting and groaning from Rexil as he squeezes his way up the small (for him) stairs, you can tell that a strong storm has blown in from the mountains. The temperature drops noticeably, and the wind howls outside the cabin. The tower shakes from the force of it, and shutters all around the Vekker's home base rattle in their fixtures.
At the top, a windowless room houses a heavy winch bolted to the balcony. The remnants of a rusty chain descend downward toward the bottom of the shaft where you just came from. Heavy wooden chocks have been nailed to the floor at the edge of the balcony, and the front wheel of a wheelbarrow rests against them. A 10' pole with an iron hook attached lies nearby. A single door from the room is in the east wall in front of you.
'...ahem...' a soft voice clears it throat, looking for your attention....