”It’s head would be sufficient,” the mysterious voice replies.
"That seems pretty reasonable. Can we meet face to face so that we can shake on it?"
A soft shuffling sound preceded the arrival in the doorway of a large canine. Bigger than a wolf, it’s eyes carry a malevolent intelligence. ”I regret I have no hands with which to shake,” it says in the same voice, ”But I have no wish to bloody my home nor see it plundered, so an exchange of services seems reasonable.”
Noticing the large creature emerge from the back room, Oryn feels a chill run down his spine. He has heard stories about intelligent creatures, but he has never actually seen a talking wolf (or whatever this thing is) before.
Leaning over to Bolkvar, Oryn whispers (trying his best not to be heard by the creature) "Have you ever seen one of these things before? Can we trust it?"
”This is nay home of me people.” Bolkvar said with sincere regret. ”It is a temple of Droskar. A deity that represents all of the worst that dwarves can be. I have no qualms with anyone, or anything, making this place their home. The deal seems fair to me.” He said, looking not just at the voice, but the sound coming from the other room.
Mathine is taken aback by the appearance of the large canine - but resolutely she steps forward, nodding to the...whatever it was. It had given no reason for a violent confrontation, at least not yet. The eyes gave her chills, though. "Reasonable, indeed. Is it the southeast tower you speak of?"
”Indeed. Have you perhaps already defeated it? If one of you goes to retrieve its head, we can continue negotiations while we wait.”
Not liking the feeling around this beast, Oryn volunteers to return to the tower and bring back the spider head (hoping that there is still a head there to retrieve).
"I'll go get it. Be right back."
Oryn will have no trouble finding the spider's body, nor in retrieving its head.
While Oryn is gone, the wolf creature continues. "Have you yet been to the ruined chapel just down the hall? Inside, there are two foul creatures called darkmantles. I would be happy to trade you an iron bloom each for their two heads. Perhaps somebody else could go retrieve those while we continue to negotiate."
"I'll go get those!" said Kali, glad that negotiations had worked.
After Kali leaves: ”There’s also a wretched kobold that has set himself up in a couple rooms with a nasty trap and a bolt hole I can’t fit through. I’ll give you my last two ironblooms for his head.”
The three remaining folk suddenly realize that, with each ‘negotiation’, the talking wolf has crept closer and its eyes are shining a little more brightly.
Seeing himself outnumbered, Oryn takes a deep breath to calm himself. Recognizing the injured wolf from the stream, Oryn does not hesitate. He drops the spider head and sends a blast of air at the injured wolf.
"That's gotta sting a bit, maybe you should have stayed in the forest."
Subtly, Mathine steps forward, filling the doorway in front of the wolf with her body as she bends in a very precise bow. "Then it appears we have already been of great service to you. We have defeated all of the creatures that threatened you, as I would do any time a friend is threatened." She puts particular emphasis on the last phrase as she levels her gaze coolly into the canine eyes before her - but she can't help the slight chill that runs through her at the words.
The injured wolf goes down with a yelp. The other leaps at him, nipping his arm and pulling him down.
(+2 to notice unusual stonework)
Everybody else, except, Kali, hears a wolf yelp in pain from the direction of the courtyard.
Back with the worg, the evil wolf grins maliciously. ”I’ve never been an adventurer, my dear, but I’ve eaten many of them and have some advice for you for the next time that will never come: never, ever, split up your party!” The worg barks and a smaller, regular wolf stands up from under the stone desk.
Round 2 Bolkvar and Oryn are up. Oryn, you’re currently prone. If you stand or try to blast, you’ll provoke, but you can attack with your spear at a -4 penalty. You do have a good AC though, so though, so the wolf would need a 12 to hit you when you stand up.
At the yelp in the courtyard, Mathine springs into action, hoisting her sword high. "Rao - go help Oryn!" she calls out, calling Iomedae's pale light into being around her sword and wheeling around wildly to swing at the wolf behind her.
Once again Oryn finds himself in the grips of a creature that desires to do him harm. He uses his spear to help him stand up and yells to the sky "Gozreh, please help me!" and blasts at the wolf.
Oryn, roll to confirm your critical. Also, don’t forget about the extra punch he can get from his ring.
Oryn’s air blast slams into the wolf with an uncharacteristic display of competence. While the wolf is still up, it is barely so, and staggers a bit as it lunges for him.
It’s teeth find Oryn’s armour but no more, and the exertion is enough to send the battered wolf to the ground.
With the second wolf dispatched, Oryn takes a moment to say a prayer of thanks to Gozreh. Badly injured, he reaches into his backpack and grabs/drinks a potion of Cure Light Wounds.
"That's better."
He grabs the spider head and returns to the rest of the group.
The wolf is unconscious and bleeding (you had taken it down to 0, so attacking you put it at -1).
Kali leisurely moved back to the location with the Darkmantles and secures one of their corpses before slowing walking back.
Bolkvar forms a stalactite in the air and drills it into the smaller wolf, hurting it badly.
The wolf and worg both reach for Mathine with their fangs, neither succeeding. Mathine takes advantage of the wolf’s extended head to slice its neck and it drops, leaving you only one, albeit dangerous, foe.
Kali is able to hear yips of pain and crashing rocks, deducing that combat has broken out while she’s been gone.
Round 3
Oryn and Bolkvar are up, then worg, then the others.
”Some advice! Betraying folks is fookin’ stupid when Ye’ve nothing to gain and everything to lose!” Bolkvar said. Sadly, talking too much meant that his accuracy was less than stellar.
With one foe eliminated, Mathine circles to face the worg, her blade flashing as she swings hard.
The worg lets out a long, loud howl.
”I’ve just summoned the rest of my pack. Run now while you can.”
The worg once again bites at Mathine. This time, he finds flesh but is not able to haul her down to the ground.
Her return blow hits just as hard, slicing a large gash across his face.
Oryn, Rao, and Kali spend this round making their way back to the battle, leaving just Bolkvar and Mathine to go again.
Kali drops the dead body and runs back towards the room where her companions are.
”Torag’s wrath take ye, traitor!” Bolkvar exclaimed as he sent a jagged shard of stone flying at it’s head.
Bolkvar’s stone bolt slams into the worg opposite Mathine’s slash as more allies return to fill the space. The worg looking positively desperate, retreats 5 feet and shouts, ”Peace! You have bested me. Let me go and I’ll leave these cursed halls and the Vale itself!”
Everybody’s up, but what do you do?
As Oryn returns and hears the creature's plea, he throws the spider head down at the worg's feet.
"Here's your proof! But since you couldn't wait until I got back before you decided to attack my friends, you have shown that you cannot be trusted. Why should we trust you now? It would be easier to just dispatch you and take what we need to save a town that needs those ironbloom mushrooms. Perhaps if you can convince us you will do as you say, we might consider it. But if you lie to us again, you will forfeit your life."
Oryn turns to the rest of the group "What does everyone else think? Should we hear what it has to say?"
"What happened?" asked Kali when she came running up. "I heard the sounds of combat."
...I may force my enemies to surrender, but I am responsible for their lives. Mathine stares down the worg cowering before her, her thoughts roiling. A great warrior of Iomedae would guide it toward the light... Then she remembers its cunning, its willingness to destroy her friends, and her blade flashes through the air as she snarls. Guess I'm just all right.
The flash of Mathine's sword gave Oryn his answer. Gathering power from his ring, Oryn channels all of its remaining power and includes it in one massive attack on the vile beast.
There’s a strange silence that hangs in the air as the “paladin” of Iomedae strikes down the surrendered foe. The worg looks almost surprised as the blade falls, then the canine topples over to bleed out on the floor.
In the room beyond, you find a few pillars and a stairway leading down. The stairway is filled with rubble and Bolkvar believes it has been intentionally caved in, and fairly recently. Tucked behind the pillar are a few things of value hidden by Graypelt, the worg, including a bag with 354 gp, a masterwork light crossbow, a potion of bull’s strength, and a wand of something. In the dark corner of the room grows a pair of ironbloom mushrooms, though you can see where the worg must have just picked the four he had tossed you. You think you may have enough, but no margain for error, and adding a few more to your collection would probably be advisable. It’s going to take you hours to clear out that stairwell, however, even if you had the right tools. There is still one remaining door on the above level.
”Well struck, lass. Torag says... Against my people’s enemies, I will show no mercy. I will not allow their surrender, except when strategy warrants. I will defeat them, yet even in the direst struggle, I will act in a way that brings honor to Torag.” Bolkvar said, quoting the strictures of his God. ”Even in a cursed place like this, ye walk in the shadow of his anvil.”
"With these six ironblooms, I think we have seven total now. Kali, how many more do you think we should get before we head back? I don't remember how many Miss Laurel said we would need."
Oryn takes a few moments to gather the gold, weapon, potion and wand.
"The crossbow looks like it might fetch a good price and the potion and wand may be worth something as well."
"Ideally, we should get as many as we can. There may be some error in the formula, and having spares means we can make more medicine."
"Well there may be more ironblooms in the rooms we haven't searched yet. We should go take a look at those."
Oryn moves out into the hallway and is about to open the door when he realizes that it is best if Mathine takes the lead. He steps further down the hallway to provide Mathine the space to go first.
"Is anyone hurt? I still have two healing potions left."
After carefully cleaning the blood from her sword, Mathine strides confidently from the room, studiously avoiding the sight of the dead worg. "It would have gone back on its word," she says softly to no one in particular, except maybe herself. "It couldn't be trusted." With a shake of her head, she takes up a place at the head of the group and settles her shield at the ready as she opens the next closed door with her other hand.
You push open the last door from this hallway to find another dusty chamber. Old cobweb-covered racks and armor stands dominate much of this small chamber. What must have once been a well-tended armory is now devoid of arms and armor. Racks have been toppled and most of their contents long since looted.
(+2 to notice unusual stonework)
You don’t find any ironblooms here, but Bolkvar does find a quartet of crossbow bolts under an upended rack the looters missed. They are too well preserved to not be magical.
Oryn and Kali are lifting another armour stand back into place to check under it when Kali stumbles. She throws her hand out to catch herself and grabs an empty wall sconces, that turns under her weight. With a massive groan and crack of stone, a section of the northeast wall opens, releasing air rank with age and must, and a quiet sound, like that of a sobbing dwarf.
Peering inside, you see a short corridor with a wall of bars running down one side. Four rusted doors open in this wall into four cramped cells. Dwarven skeletons in rusty armour lay slumped in the cells. Their armour bears symbols of Torag, and though each symbol was clearly deliberately defiled, these men must have continued to wear it, whether proudly or defiantly cannot be determined. Two of the skeletons also wear holy symbols of Torag, and one at the end wears a fine platinum ring with a piece of emerald the size of his thumbnail. The ring bathes the whole room in an eerie green glow.
Bolkvar felt his heart break when he looked into the room. In his own tongue he whispered a prayer to the departed. ”I would bury these dwarves.” He said softly, as he carefully walks towards the ring, ready to take it. ”Will ye all help me with this? I know we are under time pressure, but these lads died bravely...and horribly.”
Though you first thought it your imaginations, the sound of sobbing grows as Bolkvar enters the cell block, first from one cell, then the others. The rusty armour on the skeletons begins to tremble and rattle and the temperature in the room drops considerably. A moment later, the armour flies into the air, coalescing into a large humanoid form that fills the room with sobbing. The green-glowing ring takes residence where the face would be.
With a tinge of trepidation, Oryn asks "Uh Bolkvar, what is happening with these remains?"