Serafina will take a 5ft step and then full attack at the Vrock.
Salvatore concentrates on making the wand work, but fails the task. His sister however levels a mighty blow and the creature lets out one final indignant squawk before fading from this plane.
Walton 49/49
Darius 69/77
Serafina 28/64
Pyro 80/83
Salvatore 44/47
Zendya 45/45
With no further dangers in this room, the only thing new to explore is the now open door to the north that the Vrock had entered from.
Let's lead the way Darius.
Serafina and Darius will lead the way into the next room.
Darius heads in with Pyro behind him
Wally and Z stay with the group.
A portcullis of rune-carved iron bisects this entry hall. Arrow slits mark the passageway’s walls near the ceiling twenty feet above. A seven-foot-high section near the floor of the west wall has collapsed and fallen away, allowing access to another room beyond.
Let's try to look in the room here. Salvatore points to the to the room beyond the collapsed wall.
Sounds good Sal. Let's go lead the way Darius.
Serafina will point it out to everyone. Hey watch out seems to be a pit. Hey Salvatore do you know what that black stuff could be?
Salvatore confused at what Serafina said but will pick up a rock and toss it where she pointed.
Sal tosses the rock, and it seems to clatter into the rest of the rubble. Nothing unusual there.
Serafina will look at the group and say, What do you guys think. Should we try to get across this whole and investigate or just continue down the hall?
"What hole?"
"By the redeemer!? Good eye Sera! I say we go around until we have to cross. "
"What a nasty trick..."
Serafina will take a look at the bars, Unfortunately Walton we might have to find a way over the hole. Anyone have hand ideas?
"I'm may just be a simple country preacher, but mayhap we could take one of them there doors we passed through earlier and use it to bridge the gap. I'll confess, while studying the spiritual I may have let my physicality fall to the wayside and I'm not much of a jumper."
That's what I am here for. I can help with the heavy lifting. I am sure Darius can help as well. Serafina will like to try to do what Walton said to make a bridge across the gap.
Between Sera and Darius, they are able to drag some of the remains of the doors and make a bridge over the small gap. Salvatore is still not quite certain what all the fuss is about, but trusts his sister and friends aren't going crazy.
In the next room there is nothing of value, and a closed door. Upon closer inspection, there is a rocky layer covering the wood. In some spots it is cracked, and giving a little bit of effort Darius and Sera are able to break the stone away and open the passage.
The hallway beyond is empty, there is a door to the southwest, a double door to the northwest, and an opening to another room to the northeast.
-Loot!
Kiranda,
leather armor, +1 frost rapier, boots of elvenkind
The Minotaurs
Large greataxe x2
Nurah
scroll of cure moderate wounds, scroll of dimension door, scroll of sending, shadowblood (4 doses), wand of modify memory (4 charges);
Other Gear +1 chain shirt, dagger, short sword, sling, belt of mighty constitution +2, horn of assured victory, bedroll, cold-weather outfit, flint and steel, backpack, rations (5 days), traveler’s outfit, waterskin, winter blanket, ruby worth 100 gp, 21 gp, 9 sp, 5 cp
Staunton
Combat Gear : wand of blindness/deafness (8 charges);
Other Gear : +3 spiked full plate, magical glaive*, +1 returning throwing axe, amulet of natural armor +2, belt of mighty constitution +4, headband of alluring charisma +2, skeleton key to Citadel Drezen (works on all doors within the citadel and on his footlocker in area F21, but not on doors in the dungeon), 68 gp
In the room
The liquor cabinets are stocked with a particularly potent dwarven ale—each of the 20 bottles here is worth 150 gp.
Moving to the next room… This spacious bedroom is immaculate to the point of spotlessness. The bed sheets are tight against the mattress, and no splinters mar the floor near the well-used sparring dummy in one corner, despite its obvious heavy use. An inkwell, a blotter, and a black quill sit atop an otherwise bare desk, with a three-legged stool pushed out of the way underneath. A single large chest sits at the foot of the bed.
-Loot
633 cp, 1,427 sp, 5,786 gp, 376 pp, nine garnets worth 100 gp each, a pearl of power (2nd level), a rod of metal and mineral detection, a scroll of divination, a set of stone-carved dwarven figurines worth 600 gp, an expensive pair of vases worth 250 gp each, a silver coffer worth 350 gp, an elixir of climbing, a potion of neutralize poison, a wand of nondetection (23 charges remaining), a dose of oil of life crafted from a cure serious wounds potion and the quicksilver from a philosopher’s stone.
The journal in this room hold many secrets as well, and with a bit of time, you can work out the details
The final section of the citadel that is unexplored yet is the tower. Leading up to it, all is quiet, and once you begin the climb, you easily discover why. This was the lair of the slain Soltengrebbe. Unsurprisingly, the dragon head of the creature liked to keep a hoard and the glittering piles of coins and treasures in this room are of great value.
-Loot
The pile of coins and treasure comprises 3,438 cp, 1,319 sp, 7,753 gp, two pearls worth 500 gp each, three garnets worth 250 gp each, eight amethysts worth 100 gp each, 12 agates worth 50 gp each, an emerald-and-ivory scepter worth 4,000 gp, a silver candelabra worth 75 gp, a gold signet ring worth 50 gp, a bag of holding (type III) containing a small library of rare books that grant a +4 bonus on Knowledge (planes) checks when they are referenced (these two dozen books are worth a total of 2,000 gp) along with an empty blessed book, an efficient quiver containing two javelins of lightning and 19 +2 magical beast bane arrows, an elemental gem (earth), a dose of silversheen, a potion of lesser restoration, a scroll of dimension door, a scroll of move earth, a +1 flaming heavy crossbow, and a suit of +1 ghost touch full plate.
During the height of the First Crusade, as the initial wave of demons was forced back into the heart of the Worldwound, the crusaders began to build fortresses in fallen Sarkoris to hold the defensive line. The greatest of these fortresses was built by a small army of dwarven crusaders—worshipers of Torag who drew upon the architectural styles of their ancient Sky Citadels to create Citadel Drezen, a squat, almost bunkerlike fortress situated atop a rugged bluff in the northeastern corner of the region. The citadel was completed in 4628 ar and played a key role in the successful end of the First Crusade. In the years after that crusade’s end, the citadel drew more and more crusaders, and a town of stone buildings grew rapidly around the citadel’s walls. For a time, Drezen served as the unofficial capital of the crusade, and it was in this fortress that many of the crusade’s most beloved and sacred relics came to stay. The greatest of these was the Sword of Valor—a magical banner once carried into battle by Iomedae herself during the Shining Crusade. Under the aegis of the Sword of Valor, several crusading orders struck decisive blows against the demon armies, and its presence in Drezen was believed to make the Citadel’s walls impregnable to demons.
Unfortunately, the Sword of Valor offered no such protection against traitors.
When a second and much larger invasion of demons surged forth from the Worldwound in 4636 ar, the crusaders rallied again to the fight. The Sword of Valor remained in Drezen’s walls, to protect the citadel and the city that had formed around it, and its presence repelled several attacks over the course of the next 2 years. But in 4638 ar, an arrogant crusader named Staunton Vhane fell under the influence of what he believed to be a warrior-princess from Kyonin. In fact, this elven beauty was a disguised glabrezu named Jerribeth, who convinced Staunton that Drezen was adequately protected, and that the Sword of Valor needed to be carried into battle once again. Believing that the leaders of Drezen were cowards who hid behind the magical banner for their own personal safety, Staunton stole the Sword of Valor and brought it out of the city to Jerribeth, who had promised to bring it to the front lines. But when Staunton delivered it, she revealed her true form after accepting the gift, and made Staunton watch as the marilith Aponavicius led her army into the city and took it in a single ruinous assault. Thousands died that night in Drezen, and many more died in the weeks to come as they fled the fallen city into the inhospitable wilds. Staunton was the first and last of that night’s victims, for as the battle ended, he was brought before Aponavicius herself and given a choice—death or servitude. Staunton chose the latter.
The loss of Drezen triggered the official start of the Second Crusade, but this time the demons were better organized, more numerous, and more powerful. The crusaders did their best, but in the end, they were forced to abandon Drezen and its holdings as they raised the wardstones along the river banks bordering lost Sarkoris.
Further, Staunton talks about using something called the Corruption Forge, and the method of turning sacred and holy items and reversing their qualities. He rails against the leadership stationed in Drezen, and their lack of care. Several pages are filled with detailed descriptions of how he would torture Irabeth for "ruining nearly everything" after their confrontation in Kenabres a year ago. Further notes detail a shadow creature that came to Drezen not long after Vahne arrived, and it brought gifts of elixirs, that were distilled from Nahyandrian crystals. Exposing oneself to this substance can either kill or imbue the drinker with mythical powers. Soltengrebbe was one such experimental creature made mythical from these elixirs. There is also a brief mention about Xanthir Vang, the regional leader of the Blackflame Adepts, and his location in the Ivory Sanctum. Staunton found the man to be... disturbing. Lastly, Vahne writes of his concerns that the special prisoner had recently escaped from Drezen. He has hired a hunter to track down this traitor and is hoping they can be located before Aponavicius returns to Drezen, lest he find himself earning her ire.
I'm fine either way. I have no preference.
I prefer in person
In person has been more enjoyable for this system
In person it is then