Torsten continued to kick, stomp and jump on the constructed snake, relying on his weight and enchanted limbs to crush it.
Torsten finally manages to destroy the snake.
Yhrrilka suddenly snaps out of it. Looking around, she mutters to no one, "What in the Nine Hells happened he- OW!" She notices the large bite she's received on her leg. Bending down, slightly favoring the leg that got bitten, she examines what was left after Torsten stomped it into submission. "What were these things?"
Macaria asks Ril to stand still for a moment while she examines the bite and applies some healing power to it.
When she finishes, she turns to Torsten. "Are you also hurt?"
”All good here. Bloody beasties didn’t get through me boots.” He responded. ”These aren’t undead. Seems to me that this all is beyond a mere necromancer.” With a shake of his head he said "This took us awhile to deal with. Whomever made them is probably aware of us bein' here by now. We should push on before their defenses strengthen."
"Ahh, thanks Macaria." Ril waits a moment, then, after the bite mark on her leg has completely disappeared, she flexes one time. Turning to Torsten, she says, "I agree, let's press on."
At the far end of the corridor is a door leading to another room. The wooden tables here are stacked with vials, beakers, and other alchemical gear, although the southern one is heaped with broken vials and leans awkwardly on a hastily-repaired leg. Three large cauldrons sit against the east wall, one of them upended. Its foul, rancid contents - old rendered fat - have spilled onto the floor.
Maca, without touching anything, tries to deduce when was the last time this alchemical materials and tools were last used.
The materials in this room have been used fairly recently, but much of the equipment has been destroyed. There is still quite a bit of salvageable materials, though, if you spend some time cobbling it together.
Loot
Alchemist's Lab
Vermin Repellent x3
Tanglefoot Bag x2
Black Adder Venom x4
hybridization funnel
Silversheen x2
handy haversack
Potion - invisibility
Scroll - false life
Scroll - dispel magic
"Heh, if we live through this we might make more by looting the place than from the reward money." Torsten said. "See this bag? Bigger on the inside than the outside." He finished with a smile.
As she maneuvers around the spill, Ril nods, impressed with the ingenuity. "I don't disagree, but we ought to press on. Someone left this room in am awful hurry, I'd like to get them before they can fall back to someplace where we'll have trouble dislodging them."
Ril pauses for a second, taking in the room. Unless she hears something to justify otherwise, she heads to the east passageway, nodding to the door on the south wall. "Come back for that, right?"
"Indeed. Let's keep moving. The worst thing that we can do is stall here." Torsten agreed.
"We're going to end up exploring everything anyway..." Maca comments, agreeing with whatever direction the rest want to take.
This foul-smelling cavern is bordered on three sides by ten-foot-deep pits. From these pits wafts the rancid smell of excrement and decay. Each pit contains a few heaps of moldy straw, a wooden trough containing filthy water, a few rotting body parts, and a couple of still-living prisoners.
A large hideously-deformed humanoid stomps around the room. He appears to be guarding the prisoners.
”Right. Well. Let’s light him up. Blast the fook out of him before he notices us and then I’ll punch him in the gibblies.” Torsten said, feeling pleased with his plan.
Ril raises an eye at the fellow they run across. "Wow, they just keep getting uglier around here, don't they?"
”Come on, blast the fooker. We’re gettin’ paid whether anyone here is dead or alive, and we’ve fought enough beasties to know that delayin’ could get us killed.” Torsten said, at the lack of Spellcasting.
"You want blasting? Fine," the girl says. Reaching deep into herself, Ril brings forth the fire at her command, but something feels... off when the blast happens.
vs touch
Fire
Dice stepped down twice. Not exactly encouraging me to try that again. :-)
Yhrrilka's firebolt - though oddly muted - severely burns the prison guard. "GREENIE HURT CABBAGEHEAD!" it roars as it charges forward, meaty fists raised.
Fortunately, surprise is on your side, so you have time to react before the guard closes in.
Torsten stood in the checkpoint and motioned for the brute to come at him. Unfortunately, showboating doesn’t make for the best defensive stances.
Maca stands still, waiting in case her companions end with the situation quickly. The poor lad's cry only makes it worse, hinting he might not be completely well there above.
Yhrrilka throws another bolt of fire, hoping to avoid the oddness of the previous attempt.
vs touch
Fire
Yhrrilka's fire singes "Cabbagehead" as the brute charges. Torsten's punch goes wide, as the creature unleashes a powerful swing of its own.
Torsten’s blow missed, but so too did Cabbagehead’s. The dwarf responded by delivering a bone-shaking kick to the shin, followed by a solid punch to the sternum.
OK, I’m going to try and sort through the various contingencies and state what I want to do this turn. This is just all in the name of having a response ready so we can keep things moving, and because I was bored before going to bed. :)
So I have two outstanding questions, 1) Can I have started an Aggressive Flanking Tactic with the unused Move action of the turn I posted at 9:04am Sat? And 2) Can I move into the square south of me? So four possible outcomes here:
1. Aggressive Flanking Up, Can move: Swift: maintain Tactic, Move: 5 feet, Standard: Energy Strike with short sword.
2. Aggressive Flanking Not Up, Can move: I'll just use my Move to get into position, and Standard to attack. Same attack roll as #1.
+2 if Flanking, and use the Sneak Attack and Fatal Thrust dice
Piercing
Fire
3. Aggressive Flanking Up, Can't move forward: AF can't help anyone here until we can improve the positioning. Still, Swift: maintain Tactic, Move: Studied Target, Standard: Searing Blast. Studied Target only provides bonuses to weapon attacks, so it won't help with Searing Blast, but in this context, it's a preparatory move in case things open up here.
4. Aggressive Flanking Not Up, Can't move forward: In this case, Move to start AF, Standard: Searing Blast.
vs touch
Fire
So GM, just let me know which of these four situations I'm in, and apply the results of the relevant attack. If outcome 1 or 2 is in effect, I'll move my token 1 square.
Doing her best to bring her power to bear on this thing, Yhrrilka advances as far as she can and attacks.
Torsten's powerful punch staggers 'Cabbagehead,' and then Macaria's negative energy provides the final means necessary to drop the creature. Now that the immediate danger's past, it seems he's part ogre - and rather badly deformed.
Once dropped, Maca kneels and checks that Cabbage head still has a chance, using her healing skills to stabilise him.
Torsted raised an eyebrow at Macaria's actions. "What're ye doin', lass? Leave the corpse be. There be prisoners in here that need our attention." He said, pointing to the pits that contained a few heaps of moldy straw, a wooden trough containing filthy water, a few rotting body parts, and a couple of still-living prisoners. "Anyone who takes part in keepin' people like that deserves to have his head bashed in."
Maca totally ignores Torsten's comments, not wanting to engage.
Ril isn't quite sure how she feels about this. "If he can be redeemed, Torsten, is he not allowed that chance?"
Coming up alongside Macaria, Ril kneels down alongside her, looking over the creature they'd defeated. "Cara, what is your plan here?"
Torsten shook his head. "Look at these poor fookers. Look who he was workin' for. I say that anyone willin' to do this deserves to die." As he looked at the pits his face hardened. "Let him live and he does this again, then it's bloody well on us. If he lives, I say tie him up and throw him in one of the pits. Let him sit there until we can turn him over to the watch. They can deal with him as he deserves. 'cause if this was my kin down there in the pits, and someone did anythin' less than that, why I'd have a grudge against them to."
Yhrrilka nods at Torsten's suggestion. "I think that sounds reasonable. Macaria, does that work with what you might have had in mind?"
Macaria sighs as she stands up.
"I cared for him because he doesn't seem hundred percent well up in his terrace. He might have difficulties telling his fork from his spoon, if you know what I mean. So maybe, just maybe, he didn't fully realised what he was doing. Maybe someone tricked him into doing it. But, ah, he didn't even had time to explain."
She looks at the unconscious guy.
"But hey, if you feel the survival of all your lineage depends on him being dead, go on. It will be on your soul, not on mine."
She slowly walks away from Cabbagehead.
"Maybe his relatives, if he has any, come to the conclusion that someone who goes killing people just like that deserves to die as well, lest their kin end up dead by your hands."
Torsten shrugged as he took out a rope and bound the unconscious man's hands and feet.
"Can't say I'm worried about me soul. If it goes down below, then I'll fook up any demon or devil that tries to touch it. More worried for them." With a wry smile he said "There. Let the law deal with him then. Can't say I know much about the way of healin' others. See to the prisoners then, aye? Then we can keep goin' on clearin' this place out right proper."
Ril raises an eye. Confidence is one thing, but this... "Whom the gods would destroy, Torsten, they first make proud," she counsels her friend. She peers down into the various pits. "Can we get him into one of these, ideally without killing ourselves in the process?"
"Luckily I'm the most humble person in the city." Torsten quipped back, as he went to work moving the unconscious man. "Almost as merciful too, y'know? Got me alot of virtues, but I'd say humblness is the greatest."
You're able to shove 'Cabbagehead' into one of the pits and assist the prisoners in climbing out. Only two are still alive - and both are sickly and malnourished. Both are extremely grateful but also rather traumatized. From what you can decipher, they were abducted by wild-eyed blue-skinned creatures that came up through the sewers. From time to time, a human male would take one of the victims away "for parts and experimentation." These unlucky souls would usually return in pieces.
The runes on Torsten's rock began to glow, as it searched through it's memory for anything that might match the description of "wild-eyed blue-skinned creatures."
"Like the things we fought in the first room, I'll wager."