Immediately after the fight, Kayleigh is wide-eyed with clenched teeth from the adrenaline of the battle. As she calms back down, checks the party for wounds, and expedites the search of the bone pits with the use of a futile detect magic spell, the cleric gives Ariadne a nod before falling back to her rearguard position.
Grimacing in distaste as Ariadne leads the group into the eastern bone pit, Kayleigh takes a moment to whisper something to Vedika. "Sorry to have left you alone to fight four skeletons; I just reacted when I saw movement, and I was closer to what turned out to be the owlbear skeleton. I'll let Ariadne and Nethen handle the bigger threats from here on out and dedicate myself to my rearguard role...especially with Ghil seeming somewhat distracted...."
D2 Crawl Spaces
The derros use these tunnels to move quickly from room to room.
Three ways to go. West, East & South. The South route is very cramped. Which way now?
"I don't like the idea of crawling through a really cramped space single file without knowing what we're likely to face." Ariadne whispers over her shoulder.
"West?" she asks, waiting for any objections or input before leading on.
"Looks like we're going single file no matter which way we choose," Kayleigh whispers tersely. "If you want to lead, I'll be the rearguard--that way we'll have light sources at the front and back," she tells Ariadne. After a pause, Kayleigh continues. "I can cast shield of faith on you in case you run into anything unexpected or hostile. It only lasts for four minutes, though, and I only prepared it once. Want me to cast it on you now?"
Before Ariadne can answer, though, the cleric looses a rather loud and excited "Ooh!" When her excited outburst doesn't bring the immediate wrath of the necromancer down upon the party, the young Milanite continues in a whisper, "I just remembered that I found a magical pearl of power in a choker's nest in the Shingles right before I met you all, so I can recall shield of faith and cast it one additional time!"
"Don't worry about it," Nethen replies kindly to Kayleigh's apology. "I don't think any of us expected something like that down here."
"Nor do I," Nethen mutters, equally unhappy with the idea of having to squeeze through small gaps one at a time, particularly after his experience on the waterfront with the crocodile. "I'm happy with west."
Grimacing in distaste as Ariadne leads the group into the eastern bone pit, Kayleigh takes a moment to whisper something to Vedika. "Sorry to have left you alone to fight four skeletons; I just reacted when I saw movement, and I was closer to what turned out to be the owlbear skeleton. I'll let Ariadne and Nethen handle the bigger threats from here on out and dedicate myself to my rearguard role...especially with Ghil seeming somewhat distracted...."
"No harm, no foul, right?" replies Vedika to Kayleigh.
"I'd say wait until maybe we hear activity up ahead. I wouldn't want your spell to go to waste." Ariadne replies to Kayleigh, as they press forward.
The route west dips to a small stairway that rises again into a fetid room.
D3 Derro Cave
Rank with the stink of sweat and mud, this cavern contains four filthy straw pallets and a low table covered with dice and a miniature maze of carved clay.
Two humanoid creatures are playing some form of game with the maze, judging by the shrieks of pain from the rat trapped in the maze it is not a nice game.
Currently engrossed in their game they haven't noticed you yet.
What are you doing now?
.
No idea what those are, but they look like they're not watching out for anyone," Nethen mutters to the others. "We could probably take them down without much trouble."
"Derro, mad bastards that can't survive the sunlight. They abduct surface dwellers to perform hideous experiments on them, trying to figure out what protects us from the 'burning death' as they call it, and they're immune to magic that scrambles your mind." Ariadne whispers. [b]"If we hit them hard and fast we should be able to take them pretty easily.
"Let's move!" Ariadne whispers, dashing out of the narrow passage, Arcane sigils flaring to life on her armor as she moves to strike one of the derro caught by surprise.
Kayleigh moves forward a bit while their foes are flat-footed .
Nethen follows Ariadne into the cave and goes for the other creature, his whip flicking out.
[ooc]Move Action to move into the cave, Standard Action to attack yellow.[/ooc
Ariadne & Nethen prowl forward and strike at the distracted Derro. Both hitting their target.
Nethen, Kayleigh & Vedika may act!
Vedika rushes through the chaos to try for a flanking position.
Kayleigh hustles forward, but between the tight quarters and slower speed due to her heavier armor, she can't quite get an attack off against the two blue creatures.
Vedika & Kayleigh move up. Nethen misses his second lash.
Yellow slashes wildly at Kayleigh, but misses in his panic.
Iorghil squeezes forward.
Red stabs at Araidne but it glances off her shield.
Ariadne may act. Then Nethen, Kayleigh & Vedika.
Deflecting the attack, Ariadne responds by stepping into a flanking position with Kayleigh and landing a powerful downward blow, hammering away at her opponent.
Vedika shuffle-steps forward to bring her sap to bear.
Kayleigh follows after Ariadne's flank-and-strike maneuver with a swing of her morningstar.
for
Ariadne, Vedika & Kayleigh attack Red, battering the demented critter badly.
Nethen makes up for his miss by nearly taking Yellow's head off with a wicked slash. Yellow drops dying with his throat cut to the bone.
Red sees he's alone and tries to run, dying to your attacks as you see your chance.
Two passages to take. One the open passage you by passed using the Derro crawlspaces. The other the secret door in this room. Which way now?
"If that door is a secret passageway, better to move in deeper without triggering any other defenses." Ariadne says, cleaning her mace and putting it away, before drawing her sword, and moving toward the door.
"Lemme give the secret door a once-over for traps," whispers Vedika. She moves as quietly as she can to check the doorframe and the hall beyond it for any nasty surprises.
Vedika doesn't find any traps on the secret door.
Giving Vedika a nod once she's done checking the door, Ariadne sets herself in a position to face anything that might be on the other side, sword at the ready as she makes a brief gesture with a small brass key, magically extending her will into the door to open it.
Nethen wipes the creature's blood from his whip onto it's stinking clothes, before coiling it loosely in his hand and standing ready behind Ariadne. He places his left hand gently on her shoulder to let her know that she's ready and watches as she reaches out with her magic, eyes focused on the opening door.
While Ariadne and Vedika take the initiative and prepare to move deeper into the warrens, Kayleigh casts a quick detect magic spell and scans the cavern for any emanations. After that, she checks the fallen derros for anything of value before again falling into her role as rearguard.
The secret door grinds slowly open to reveal another of the Derro crawlways with another door at the end. Behind which is:
D4 Corpse Dump
The majority of this room contains a nasty-looking stretch of mud—a partially collapsed sinkhole—kept damp by rivulets of water seeping from the walls. A patch of solid ground extends into the mud to form an island, on which is heaped a reeking pile of body parts. To the north, a rickety wheelbarrow sits on its side against the wall.
The room does have an inhabitant unfortunately, wallowing in the mud is an Otyugh, which happily burbles "Warm Food!" and moves to attack you.
Ariadne, Nethen & Vedika may act first. Remember you're in a narrow passage.
Seeing the disgusting monster moving toward them, Ariadne quickly casts a spell, her blade erupting in a burst of flame as arcane sigils flare to life along her armor. Considering their tactical position, she moves to her left, clearing the passageway for the others to come through before engaging. "I'll show you warm!"
Nethen follows Ariadne through the narrow passage, his nose wrinkling at the stench beyond. He moves further into the cavern to allow the others in behind him and cracks his whip out at the grotesque thing in the mud.
Vedika tries to sneak into the room ready to sneak attack.
Nethen lashes out with his whip and make the creature howl as he cuts into its fetid hide.
The Otyugh lashes out with its tentacles at Nethen & Ariadne, missing Nethen but catching Ariadne.
The tentacle wraps around Ariadne and tightens painfully.
Kayleigh & Iorghil may act, then back to the top of the order again.
Kayleigh moves forward through the narrow tunnel. Once she sees the monster--and Ariadne in its grip--she has a tough choice to make. Seeing that no ally is near the gnarly beast, she opts to use her sound burst spell now and heal her friend later. The Milanite centers the spell behind the otyugh, judging that her friends are out of its area of effect.
Kayleigh & Iorghil may act, then back to the top of the order again.
Grunting in pain as the otyugh's tentacle lashes out at her, striking and constricting painfully, Ariadne takes advantage of the impact of Kayleigh's spell, surprisingly enough not trying to escape, but rushing forward to deliver a vicious strike with her burning blade, the magic channeled along the weapon unleashing a burst of flam at the monster.
Iorghil peeks into the chamber and casts Liberating Command on Ariadne.
.
Ariadne hacks into the rancid thing, Kayleigh blasts it with sound, stunning it. Then Nethen slashes it to death with his whip.
Loot:
Among the still-uneaten body parts on the muddy island in the center of the chamber are the broken legs and hips of a human—both of which are decorated with bold Shoanti tattoos. These legs once belonged to Gaekhen.
The mud here is a few feet deep in most spots, and takes quite some time to sift through in any thorough manner. A determined PC who succeeds at a DC 25 Perception check, though, is rewarded with a few interesting trinkets left over by the otyugh’s messy meals:
an amber necklace worth 350 gp,
a silver dagger,
a wax-sealed elixir of vision in a metal flask,
a wand of spiritual weapon (48 charges),
and a ring of swimming.
Where to now? You have part of the body you are seeking
Kayleigh stares wide-eyed at the fallen beast. It's a safe bet she's never seen an otyugh before, and she seems surprised that the party defeated it so swiftly. Then she moves up to Ariadne and casts a cure light wounds spell upon her. After examining her friend's remaining injuries, her eyes go wide and a smile crosses her face. "Here--let me use a charge from the wand Vedika gave me to make sure you're at top fighting condition!"
Once Ariadne's been (mostly) healed, the young Milanite casts detect magic and slowly scans the chamber for auras.
I took a peek beneath the spoiler in case there was any magic nearby. Detect magic can penetrate up to 3 feet of dirt (or mud), so depending on how deep the items are she might be able to detect one or more. If she detects something, she'd probably try to retrieve it herself. I'll roll a Wisdom/Perception/Survival check for her to notice how deep the mud is before entering it. (Not sure if there'll be a game effect or if she'd just get muddy.)
"Thanks Kayleigh," Ariadne says with a sigh of relief as she's healed. Looking over at the body parts with a grimace, she moves to gather the lower half of a torn body covered with the telltale tattoos.
Not only would returning the body to the surface be...a mess, but turning over the remains to the man's family would be potentially volatile. "Anyone have a tarp, or sack of some kind?"
The Wand and the Ring both show up to Detect Magic. The mud is between 2 & 3 feet deep in the chamber.
Kayleigh leaves the body parts to Ariadne and the others. Her eyes light up as she detects a pair of magical emanations coming from beneath the muck of the chamber. Taking a tentative step off the solid ground, her boots sink a couple of inches into the mud. Not too bad, she thinks to herself, but on her second step the quaggy ground yields beneath her weight, swallowing her legs up to her knees.
"Well, I'm muddy already," the cleric grumbles under her breath. "No use having someone else ruining their boots as well." A couple of steps later, however, the poor girl finds an even softer spot, sinking waist deep into the sludge. In order to recover the items she's detected, Kayleigh has to reach down into the ooze and search by hand, thoroughly befouling herself. After a couple of minutes of wallowing, she drops a pair of mud-covered somethings--one a tiny blob and the second a thin lump about 9 inches long--onto the path before pulling herself out of the mire.
"Those had better not be magical otyugh droppings!" she jokes quietly, her nose crinkled and her eyes watering. After manually wiping away as much of the mud as possible, the young cleric performs multiple castings of create water to wash off most of the remaining slime and stench still coating her body. The water also cleans off the items she unearthed: a ring and a wand. Conferring with Ariadne and Vedika, she tries to help identify the magic items.
.
"Once we actually get out of here, I'll use magic to get us all cleaned up until we get a chance to get to a bath." Ariadne says with a sigh as Kayleigh does her best to get rid of the muck and filth plastered to her, and the items she found. "Smart move looking for emanations of magic!"
Kayleigh looks up from her self-scrubbing to offer a heartfelt smile (with a hint of a blush) at Ariadne's praise. "I'm generally not the most perceptive person using just my eyes and ears, so I figured I could contribute more by simply checking for magic while you folks search for stuff the old-fashioned way."
D5 Exsanguination Chamber
Three wooden tables stand in the middle of this room, their surfaces stained red with old bloodshed. To the east stands a ten-foot-wide hutch with wicker doors opening into a straw-lined cage.
The body of a freshly dead vagrant lies on one table with 4 bloated Stirges attached to him. The wicker cage holds another 2 stirges. It seems this room is for blood draining.
.
D6 Skull Corridor
The walls and ceiling of this tall hallway are encrusted with dozens of yawning skulls. Their mouths open into dark holes in the walls.
What are you doing?
Kayleigh takes some time to clean blood and stirge guts off the head of her morningstar before again taking her position as the party's rearguard.
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Vedika casts a few prestidigitation spells to remove the worst of the filth from Kayleigh. She seems uninterested in going through the sludge of the otyugh droppings to look for other trinkets, though.
"I should probably get a collapsible pole for poking around in these kinds of cesspits at some point," she muses.
Moving on past the stirges and into the chamber of skulls, she pauses and says, "I have some half-formed memory about 'don't put your hand into the yawning black mouth' but I can't recall what it's from."
Wiping the blood off of her blade, Ariadne taps her blade, uttering an arcane word that sets the weapon aglow like a torch. Moving a bit closer she raises her weapon, looking to see if anything lay within the jaws of the yawning skulls.
Nethen moves through the tunnels with the others, occasionally taking a glance behind them to make sure that nothing is following them. "What kind of horrors must have happened here?" he mutters as they move past the drained corpse and into a room full of skulls. He holds his whip loosely, looking nervously around as Ariadne starts looking into open mouths of the skulls.
Before the party leaves the otyugh lair, Kayleigh offers Vedika some heartfelt thanks for the much-needed cleaning; perhaps she won't need to buy a new set of clothing after all. As the group creeps forward through the tunnels and into the skull-walled hallway, she notices Nethen looking back and worries he fears she's not a very capable rearguard.
If so, he's not entirely wrong...but I'll try my best!