Caiten replies to Yasami, "Well, I can certainly ask. I am not generally capable of extracting answers from people who do not wish to give them though."
In the western room, Lisi sees a broken bed frame, splintered drawers, and a smashed desk that mark this chamber as a long-abandoned bedroom. The whole place is infused with the distinctive scent of goblins. This area must be where the Bumblebrashers spent most of their time, before the "frog and monkey people" intruded upon them, and apparently broke all their furniture.
In the middle room, once-fine seating made from mahogany and velvet has been broken to pieces and used to fashion crude shelters. To the north, a door is heavily barricaded with debris. Lisi can hear the telltale sounds of Joran's overheard bear on the other side, and he cannot disagree with the big guy's assessment of the creature's identity. Why on Golarion would there be a bear down here? And was there any way to let it free rather than slaying it?
In the eastern room, pieces of furniture are still intact, but hanging from the ceiling’s rafters in the center of the room is a strange structure made from ripped and knotted curtains. It's almost like...a trash jungle. Lisi imagined the ape men probably took roost there, when they weren't busy setting up ambushes.
In searching the bodies, each and every one of them bore the same religious icon: a falling, burning star. The frog men were each equipped with clubs and javelins, and wearing studded leather armor sized for their bulky bodies. He found a collective total of 73 silver pieces amidst them. One had a very finely crafted serpent, carved from jade, in its pouch. The ape men had even less, mostly just the gear they wore -- badly cured hide armor and hatchets.
Rocco and Shadow had a marvelous time sniffing around. Rocco was following some scent back towards the main hall, while Shadow dug through some of the rubble and happily returned to Lisi's side carrying a small glass vial as if it were a bone. It contained a clear liquid.
Caiten vaguely recognizes the name Dahak and spends a moment searching his memory for more context.
To Yasami he says , "Apparently 'many' is as high as he can count."
He then continues conversing with the bound frog. "Well, you are certainly off to an unimpressive start to your conquest. Malarunk could not possibly be the name of your worthess carcass as you will not be unleashing anything. Is Malarunk also the one who opened your glorious portal?"
** spoiler omitted **
"I would rather become a Hellknight than allow this disgusting servant of evil to live. Please finish whatever we are finishing so that it can be dispatched. We need to prepare to eliminate its comrades. This kind of evil cannot reach Breahill or the rest of Avistan.
"The names of those who fail will be forgotten. I had considered bringing you bound to the feet of Malarunk to let him reward your incompetence. But he will not live long enough to fulfill that duty either." Caiten brings his sword to bear on the frog. He glances around at the others nearby to see if any of them have any further questions or objections.
"Your death has arrived now." Caiten rams his sword through the frogs throat and up through his skull.
"Ah, a berry? Yes, can do..." Lisi looks up from his looting-in-progress.
[dice=Goodberry]1d6 + 4
Opening his eyes, the barbarian rises and accepts the berry from the druid, quickly consuming it. "Thanks, buddy. That sure quells some of the pain for sure. Also, I need to know who was it that healed me during the fight. That was a well needed boost that really helped."
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Joran then goes to find Alak. "Hey, Alak! How you feeling, buddy? If it's any consolation, you look like hell," he says with a wry grin, shooting a wink before giving him a friendly slap on the shoulder. "Hey, you're not pushing up daises just yet so at least that's something, right?" he tells him, still grinning. "I'm gonna go see what's happening with our 'prisoner'."
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He then makes his way back down the hallway and manages to catch the end of the conversation between the frog and a few of the others. Seeing Caiten jab his sword through the frog's skull, Joran looks to the android with raised eyebrows and says, "Well okay. I didn't know you had it in you, buddy. Nice. And I guess that would be all of them. I don't suppose it had any information worth sharing, did it?"
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"Well okay. I didn't know you had it in you, buddy. Nice. And I guess that would be all of them. I don't suppose it had any information worth sharing, did it?"
"Yes, I have been attacking and killing things for the better part of the last two days. Which is not something that I have normally been doing through the rest of my life, but it is something that I do take to rather instinctively being a battle 'droid."
"As far as useful information, more than I hoped for. A few names that may be useful. Malarunk appears to be the leader of the expedition to this location. He or She is likely in some lower level of this citadel - which apparently has levels lower than even this. We might want to ask Alak about that. But other than having a name to shout across the battlefield, I don't expect that the name will mean much to any of us."
"There was also the name of Dahak. Which if I remember correctly is the name of a Draconic god of destruction. Though I can't tell you much more than that."
"Also he mentioned that the name of the entire organization is called Cinderclaws. Again, I don't think that name will mean anything to us immediately, but it may be useful for further research."
"He did also confirm that they came through a portal to get here. I'm not sure if Malarunk opened the portal or just took advantage of it being opened by someone else."
Sulee sighs. "None of that involves the 'many' that wart-face could count up to. What did he mean by that?"
"Oh, right. He did say that there are many of these Cinderclaw operatives. Extrapolating from his wording, I surmise that there are only a few of them that have made the transition through the portal into the citadel. More are still waiting on the other side. Though he was not very specific and gave no actual numbers in either case."
Lisi brings the silver and the jade serpent back near the interrogation, but out of sight of the frogman about to meet their doom.
He stands near Joran. "I can attempt to reason with the bear. Some meat would help. I don't know if these monkey-men count as 'meat', but they might. We could help escort it outside. Or not."
Listening to it all, Joran ponders it all a moment. "Okay, they worship Dahak the Draconic god, they're part of some organization called Cinderclaws and they came through the portal. Great. Well, regardless of whether or not the frog opened it or someone else did, the fact of the matter is, they opened it. Which means that if this frog freak can open it, then anyone can. Or if someone opened it for him then they can open it for everyone. Either way, Breachill's in trouble if we don't shut it down and shut it down fast." Joran shakes his head, not liking where this is all heading.
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"I would agree that we need to shut down this portal as close to immediately as possible. But in order to do that we are apparently going to have at least one more fight. I don't think that we are in any shape to be entering into another pitched battle right now. I think we have exhausted all, or at least nearly all, of our emergency combat healing. Lisi and Yasami can probably get us back into fighting form, but it will take some time. But if any of us go down in battle again, it will not be easy for the rest of us to get them back up."
Caiten thinks for several moments, apparently contemplating options. "We at least need to find a safe place and recover our strength and bandage our wounds. We can decide from there whether we feel that it is safe to press on without any emergency healing available or not. Healing our current injuries will probably not take more than an hour. Restoring healing spell slots will take a night's rest, and purchasing more scrolls will require a trip back to Breachill. Even if I could craft scrolls like that, it would take several days to do so."
"I would agree that we need to shut down this portal as close to immediately as possible. But in order to do that we are apparently going to have at least one more fight. I don't think that we are in any shape to be entering into another pitched battle right now. I think we have exhausted all, or at least nearly all, of our emergency combat healing. Lisi and Yasami can probably get us back into fighting form, but it will take some time. But if any of us go down in battle again, it will not be easy for the rest of us to get them back up."
Caiten thinks for several moments, apparently contemplating options. "We at least need to find a safe place and recover our strength and bandage our wounds. We can decide from there whether we feel that it is safe to press on without any emergency healing available or not. Healing our current injuries will probably not take more than an hour. Restoring healing spell slots will take a night's rest, and purchasing more scrolls will require a trip back to Breachill. Even if I could craft scrolls like that, it would take several days to do so."
"Fully resting here or in Breachill are not functionally different. It takes almost no time to get there or to get back. BUT. To Lisi's point, there is meat in Breachill, to K10's point, there are scrolls in Breachill, to the unspoken points: there is a temple in Breachill AND there is an Inn we all love where the food is excellent and the company is ... pleasant. I will pray to Yuelral for a great deal of healing, I will buy the scrolls this time, not K10, and we can buy more of them. Then we come back, fully loaded, and don't leave until we find the gate and its key."
"I'd recommend the birds instead of the frogs or monkeys if you are going to be slicing things up for food. There is just something about eating intelligent creatures that sets me on edge. Also Lisi, if you have a summoning spell, you might use that to carry the meat rather than doing it yourself. Less chance of you getting mauled in the process if the bear gets a bit overly enthusiastic."
"another great point: we're not in much of a position to take down a bear right now. We should let Alak beat some of the dents out of his armour ..."
"I'd recommend the birds instead of the frogs or monkeys if you are going to be slicing things up for food. There is just something about eating intelligent creatures that sets me on edge. Also Lisi, if you have a summoning spell, you might use that to carry the meat rather than doing it yourself. Less chance of you getting mauled in the process if the bear gets a bit overly enthusiastic."
Lisi brings the silver and the jade serpent back near the interrogation, but out of sight of the frogman about to meet their doom.
He stands near Joran. "I can attempt to reason with the bear. Some meat would help. I don't know if these monkey-men count as 'meat', but they might. We could help escort it outside. Or not."
"You know, that's not a bad idea. If you can reason with it and if we can find a way to lead it outside without it killing us all then let's do it. We now only have to figure out a way to get the door open without it rampaging through right at us."
Lisi gazes at the mini-conference and blinks.
"If we aren't ready for another fight, then we don't open the door. A hungry bear is an angry bear, unfortunately, but if we go back to Breachill and buy something to make the bear doze off and put it in a big haunch of venison, then we're on to something. However, we should focus on the gate...and as the bear is barricaded up, it's reasonable to assume that isn't the way to the portal. If not, we ignore the bear and head for the gate. We should at least go spy upon the areas leading to it."
He frowns, considering.
"I can cast a spell to turn into something small, for ten minutes, and see if I can find that gate. I have to be careful, because I won't be entirely inconspicuous. I can explore this way--" He gestures towards the east, "--or that large area, the Halls of Glory. After that we can return to Breachill. Oh, and Sulee, excellent point. A bear probably won't eat a leshy--not you, Guba, another one that I summon from liminal space."
Lisi exhales after all that. "Whew. I haven't orated in a while. Rusty. By all the green things, I should have you all on my legal team--you outspeak me by a mile. I've been too busy drafting writs, clearly."
"If we're gonna rest up, I say we rest up here. Constantly going back and forth into town makes us rest on our laurels, I feel. I don't like that feeling. I'm going to be the first line of defense if something else pops up here. I'm not so sure I could actually get any real sleep with the thought of something else making its way through that portal anyway. Not after what I've just witnessed with all these frog and ape men. Look, if you all want to go back, feel free, I'm not going to stop you. But I'm staying here. The longer we allow this gate to remain open, the longer Breachill is threatened. That's something I can't have. It's my town and I've got to protect it. Hope you all can understand that."
Turning to the druid, "I think that's a good idea, Lis. Let's just hold off on the bear for now then. It'll be alright. And if you want to use your magic to explore some of these places then go for it. But BE. CAREFUL. How about checking out those East chambers first and then, if you have enough time, the Halls of Glory. How's that sound? BUT, if there's ANYTHING in either of those places that are dangerous and catch sight of you, you fall back and get the heck out of there, you hear me? I'm not going to allow you to go and get yourself killed for just a bit of info, buddy," he says candidly, giving him a light, friendly slap on the shoulder.
"I can cast a spell to turn into something small, for ten minutes, and see if I can find that gate."
"Oh that would be cute. You could ride Guba for a change."
"There is also the issue that if we give up territory, we may have to fight for it again. We don't know how many this "many" is; they could be sending reinforcements to check in on this position at some point." Dario interjects, looking towards all the unopened doors that are still filled with possible threats. His choice of combat is not inconspicuous either but the enemy had been hearing it the past few days.
"Perhaps we patch ourselves up and send a small contingent back to retrieve more spell scrolls and supplies while the rest of us try to maintain a place here. We can set up small barricades and retreat out of the tunnel as needed if the enemy moves in force. If they don't, we keep the territory and don't give them a chance to reinforce." He offers strategically before giving a shrug. "Of course, a nice bath and maybe a drink and a companion sounds pretty nice too. Just something to think about."
"If we're gonna rest up, I say we rest up here. Constantly going back and forth into town makes us rest on our laurels, I feel. I don't like that feeling. I'm going to be the first line of defense if something else pops up here."
"Yes, that actually makes a lot of sense tactically too. If something does come through the gate it will have to go through this hallway to get out of the citadel. This will be a reasonable chokepoint to fight them in."
"Lisi, we should at least heal up a bit before anyone goes adventuring off. If you are spotted and have to make a run for it, it will be useful to have allies ready for combat to run towards."
"And I recommend resting here in this corridor again. We were not interrupted last time, so hopefully that trend will continue." Caiten begins dragging the corpses of the frog and the three birds down the hallway towards the Lounge.
"There is also the issue that if we give up territory, we may have to fight for it again. We don't know how many this "many" is; they could be sending reinforcements to check in on this position at some point." Dario interjects, looking towards all the unopened doors that are still filled with possible threats. His choice of combat is not inconspicuous either but the enemy had been hearing it the past few days.
"Perhaps we patch ourselves up and send a small contingent back to retrieve more spell scrolls and supplies while the rest of us try to maintain a place here. We can set up small barricades and retreat out of the tunnel as needed if the enemy moves in force. If they don't, we keep the territory and don't give them a chance to reinforce." He offers strategically before giving a shrug. "Of course, a nice bath and maybe a drink and a companion sounds pretty nice too. Just something to think about."
"Not a bad idea, Dario. And the bit about the 'nice bath, drink and companion' does sound nice. That's also what concerns me," he says, giving a matter of fact shrug.
"And I recommend resting here in this corridor again. We were not interrupted last time, so hopefully that trend will continue." Caiten begins dragging the corpses of the frog and the three birds down the hallway towards the Lounge.
Nodding, "Works for me."
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He then looks over at the swashbuckler, "Yasamina, can you fix some of us up with that kit of yours?"
"If we do send a couple of people back to town, I would like to stay here. However, if someone could stop by the records office or somewhere like that and see if we can find out anything meaningful about Dahak and this Cinderclaw organization I would appreciate it."
When Caiten decides to finish off the 'Cinderclaw', Yasamina seems concerned at first, but decides to stay quiet. When the deed is done, she pats her knees with her palms. "Well. That's done, then.", and again, leans against the wall to relax a little.
The group discusses the next steps, and she chimes in. "I'm not leaving. Like hell, I am giving these invaders an inch of space. I am staying. Right. Here.", she dramatically gestures towards her current sitting place with her index finger.
"Abd yes, Joran. Just give me a moment. My fingers are still a little numb from pulling Mister Tin-Can around.", she looks at Alak. "You want those to be veeeery dextrous when you have a knife and needle in hand. Need to get that blood flowing again, you know...", she starts stretching her finger joints and waving her hands around from below the elbows.
"I have a concern to express, though.", she looks at everyone else. "I honestly don't think us separating is that hot of an idea. Especially when we know there are likely more- erm... visitors around. And looking at Oren, he seems like he saw an entire ensemble of ghosts. You okay there, big guy?"
"Physically? No. I'm not in any shape to get into another fight. Mentally? Probably also no. I had a vision when I went out. Deep underneath here, there's Alseta's Ring like Calmont was going on about earlier. There's something trapped in there, I don't know what it is, but it's monstrous, angry, and trying to get out. I don't know what it means or why it came during a near-death experience, but I have to believe that it's in line with the previous visions I've had so far."
Lisi nods at the suggestion to stay put and wait for any spying.
Without prompting, he begins to drag a dead body out of the rooms. "Prestidigitation will take out the blood and stink," he says. "Let's clean up camp."
When Caiten decides to finish off the 'Cinderclaw', Yasamina seems concerned at first, but decides to stay quiet. When the deed is done, she pats her knees with her palms. "Well. That's done, then.", and again, leans against the wall to relax a little.
The group discusses the next steps, and she chimes in. "I'm not leaving. Like hell, I am giving these invaders an inch of space. I am staying. Right. Here.", she dramatically gestures towards her current sitting place with her index finger.
"Abd yes, Joran. Just give me a moment. My fingers are still a little numb from pulling Mister Tin-Can around.", she looks at Alak. "You want those to be veeeery dextrous when you have a knife and needle in hand. Need to get that blood flowing again, you know...", she starts stretching her finger joints and waving her hands around from below the elbows.
"I have a concern to express, though.", she looks at everyone else. "I honestly don't think us separating is that hot of an idea. Especially when we know there are likely more- erm... visitors around. And looking at Oren, he seems like he saw an entire ensemble of ghosts. You okay there, big guy?"
"The decision, really, is about resting with the availability to get additional supplies, or not. That's it. I think it would be wise to be even better prepared. You may recall that my goddess is called The Wise, she is considered the wisest of the gods, and our church values wise thinking.
Friends ... these enemies have been here. Their adavance is slow. Do you recall what we know? The timing the goblins have shared with us of their displacement to the upper levels? We can spare 10 hours. I would like us to spare 10 hours. I would like to pray for as many spells as The Wise will send me, and I would like to start our journey back tomorrow having healed us as a group once already. I would like to buy several more spell scrolls too, so that we can distribute healing through the team. I think food & companionship has been covered ..."
Cev smiles, then ponders for a moment
"and if we could get our friend Caiten to team up with the barrister here, maybe we could "hire" the bear to hold the line for us. If there were a way to release the angry bear into this area as we withdraw, I think this area could hold for our time away AND that might actually allow us to release the bear into the wild upon our return. Just a thought."
"But again, let's make this decision wisely, not impulsively. Look at Caiten's map again: we have a LOT to do, right here in this area, where our friends the goblins used to live apparently. Do you really think we will open a crypt without having to fight the undead? I do not; Alak's forbears seem to have been quite crafty and quite shrewd. Let's do this properly, please? I too do not wish to rest on laurels ... but I also have no wish to deliver last rites for fallen heroes."
Caiten considers the points his allies have brought up before speaking. "Sparing two people for three hours to go back to town and get more supplies and information is a calculated risk. I am not opposed to it."
Without prompting, he begins to drag a dead body out of the rooms. "Prestidigitation will take out the blood and stink," he says. "Let's clean up camp."
"Oh, that smells like a fantastic idea. Thank you."
After the dead bodies have been removed and the area cleaned up, Caiten sits down with Sulee and Refocuses. After that he pulls out his crafting tools from his pack. "Barricades are also a good idea. As the ape creatures demonstrated, it is often very useful to force your enemies to come to you and to be protected from their attacks while they do so."
"Not my best work. But I don't have fresh lumber either."
Joran then goes to find Alak. "Hey, Alak! How you feeling, buddy? If it's any consolation, you look like hell," he says with a wry grin, shooting a wink before giving him a friendly slap on the shoulder. "Hey, you're not pushing up daises just yet so at least that's something, right?" he tells him, still grinning. "I'm gonna go see what's happening with our 'prisoner'."
"Ha, I see what you did --" he cut off with a wince as Joran slapped his shoulder, still hurting in most places. "...there." he finished with a more pained voice. "And I'm certainly glad for it," he replied to the daisies comment. "You people have some talented healers." He followed Joran to the others.
He or She is likely in some lower level of this citadel - which apparently has levels lower than even this. We might want to ask Alak about that.
"Afraid I can't help you, there. I've never been here before myself. I didn't even know the place had lower levels past this one."
We should let Alak beat some of the dents out of his armour ..."
Alak takes a look down at himself. "Armor's mostly okay. Luckily they found the gaps it in and only damaged me!" he quipped. "That said, I'll follow your lead. I can escort a group to town, or stay here and guard those camping. Your choice."
My fingers are still a little numb from pulling Mister Tin-Can around."
Alak swept a gallant bow, clearly regretting it immediately as he rose, holding his side in pain. "I shall do my utmost to repay you for the favor, dear lady," he intoned in a jokingly formal fashion. "In honesty though, I owe you my thanks. You could have left me to them while you picked them off one by one. And I'm certainly no featherweight. I appreciate your efforts."
"Like I said: Whoever wishes to travel back to town, feel free. Although I will echo Yasamina and say I'm not sold on that being a great idea. But, that'll be the call of those going back. I'm not going anywhere."
"As far as releasing the bear into this area... I don't know. If it DOESN'T leave on its own then that probably means we're going to have to kill it. I'd like to avoid that if possible but if it's what we gotta do, then, it's what we gotta do."
"I do not mind going back by myself; I'm not going to pretend I won't see if that young lady has any stew or anything though. Let's make a list?"
"Let's make a list?"
"At least 2, preferably 4 scrolls of healing. I have been unimpressed with the potions of healing and we still have several of them. We have enough spellcasters who can use the scrolls though and they work quite well. The point of the scrolls, of course, is that we don't have to spend all of our spell preparation on Heal and will have other useful spells available."
"Other than that and a night's rest, I can't think of anything else that we need that we can get immediately."
"Oh! Now that I'm thinking about it." The barbarian pulls out the flask of healing and offers it up. "Oren? You're gonna need this. If Cev's going back to town then Alak here can go with him if you don't mind, buddy," he suggests. "I figure with Yasamina working on us over the next few hours, we ought to be patched up pretty well for the most part. Maybe then we can figure out a way to get rid of that bear while y'all are gone. We'll see." He then places the vial in Oren's hand. "DRINK IT. Please. It's what it's there for. You actually look worse than our buddy Alak," he jokes, grinning wryly as he cuts a sly look over at the Hellknight. "If you don't then at least give it to Alak. If he's going to go with Cev then he may need it just in case they run into trouble. Not gonna disagree with Caiten about these things though. I drank one a while back and it practically did nothing. But who knows? It may work better on one of you."
"Well if I may use our 6gold and 78silver, I will also add my own funds and make sure we are well stocked. I will also feed the "tin-can" if he is hungry. Any messages for anyone ... ?"
"Ah...", Yasamina interrupts the discussion when deciding who should go on a supply run.
"Oren and the armiger should definitely stay here, so I can look at them. Losing consciousness is no laughing matter."
She reconsiders, and smiles faintly. "Well, it can be, if some under the counter substances are in the picture. But this wasn't the case."
She then looks at Alak. "I'll look at those lumps on your head, but only if you promise to stop calling me that. I saw a few"- she makes air quotes with her fingers -"ladies in my life. I would honestly prefer not to be in a box with them, thank you. A lot of airheaded, scheming, and malignant people in that box. It's not the kind of company I like to keep. Despite my... Well, my job. So if you can promise me that, you can start stripping those plates off. I know it takes a while."
"With that said", she looks around everyone else, "I would like to be judged by my actual merit as a person, member of this little coterie, and most importantly - as a friend. Leave the ovaries out of it."
"And Cevendyll, some booze would be nice. Something to numb the pains, and ease the joints.", she hands out a few gold from her pouch. "Thank you."
" ... and leave the ovaries out of it: understood. I really am happy to go by myself, but using the split strategically would be good too: Lisi, do you and the pups want to take a walk? We might be able to get them a meal that wasn't monster-meat."
After things have quieted down a bit and while Caiten is busy hammering splintered boards into something resembling barricades, Sulee goes over to Oren. "So another premonition then? Yeah, I would agree that it is definitely related to the others. It probably at least means that we are on the right track. This portal is important and someone or something wants you to deal with it. Hmm... Something angry and trapped. And related to the portal. Could be anything from just general anxiety about the portal itself, someone using the portals to attack, or maybe even that the portals are malfunctioning and something literally got stuck between the source and destination somehow."
"Physically? No. I'm not in any shape to get into another fight. Mentally? Probably also no. I had a vision when I went out. Deep underneath here, there's Alseta's Ring like Calmont was going on about earlier. There's something trapped in there, I don't know what it is, but it's monstrous, angry, and trying to get out. I don't know what it means or why it came during a near-death experience, but I have to believe that it's in line with the previous visions I've had so far."
Turning his attention to the poppet, Joran listens in. "Now you said this thing was 'monstrous'. Did you happen to actually see it by any chance?"
"I'm staying. I'm a bit dinged up but nothing a swill of brew and some cool oils can't get the ache out of. Thankfully, good Oren's chin here is big enough to take cover behind, poor fella." Dario says, shrugging off the ache as he moves to join Lisi. "We can use the dead as a barricade. It's dirty work but you use what you can when you can, you know?"
"Physically? No. I'm not in any shape to get into another fight. Mentally? Probably also no. I had a vision when I went out. Deep underneath here, there's Alseta's Ring like Calmont was going on about earlier. There's something trapped in there, I don't know what it is, but it's monstrous, angry, and trying to get out. I don't know what it means or why it came during a near-death experience, but I have to believe that it's in line with the previous visions I've had so far."Turning his attention to the poppet, Joran listens in. "Now you said this thing was 'monstrous'. Did you happen to actually see it by any chance?"
"No such luck. But I can't exactly ask for too much of visions that happen when I get smacked on the head. Thanks for the potion, by the way." Oren drinks from the vial that Joran gave him.
"No such luck. But I can't exactly ask for too much of visions that happen when I get smacked on the head. Thanks for the potion, by the way." Oren drinks from the vial that Joran gave him.
Sighing, "Dang. I was hoping you could maybe describe it and then we could try and figure out what it was. Oh well. I guess we'll be in for as much a surprise as it will. And you're welcome, buddy," he nods, giving a wink.
Seeing as most of their frontline was staying to be treated, Dario would stand up and give a stretch.
"I'll escort whoever is going to town instead. Nothing that different from the work I did back in the Wastes. Who's going?"
Cev left the lower level of the citadel through the secret entrance to find it nearing sunset -- though the fights had been fast, healing up from the birds, thoroughly searching the place, and planning has taken some time. He made it to town and back, supplies in hand, along with wax-paper wrapped sandwiches on freshly made bread for each of the others, courtesy of a certain tavernkeep. Joran's was a double-decker.
Folks' wounds were seen to, and someone helped Alak out of his heavy armor. Rocco urged Lisi to come see what she found -- all around the rim of the eastern door there was a weird crusty substance. "Not food," Rocco explains with a disgusted face, having already tried it. "Sour."
Dario and Yasami are on watch, and she's checking on a bandage she placed on him, when you both see the western door handle turning, and sloooowly cracking open.
Dario gives a look towards Yasami as she checks the bandage wrapped around his sides, his eyes focusing quickly over towards the western door. Loading his pistol, he would point himself over towards the closest cover while the rest of his comrades rested. If they were being ambushed, it would be be best to ambush the ambusher. A reverse ambush. Schrodinger's Ambush.
Dario gives a look towards Yasami as she checks the bandage wrapped around his sides, his eyes focusing quickly over towards the western door. Loading his pistol, he would point himself over towards the closest cover while the rest of his comrades rested. If they were being ambushed, it would be be best to ambush the ambusher. A reverse ambush. Schrodinger's Ambush.
[dice=Stealth]1d20+8
After cobbling together some hastily erected barricades out of splintered wood and rags, Caiten settles down for the night in one side of the main entryway corridor. He chooses a location somewhat centralized, with one of the barricades on one side, and an empty hallway leading to a dead-end on the other.
When Cevendyll leaves for town, and Caiten starts working on the barricade, Yasamina pull sout her 'sewing kit'. "Okay folks, line up. The doctor is in session."
She starts doing her thing, and immediately cuts Alak's scalp. "Yeah... I totally wanted to do that. Bloodletting is all the craze, right now. Just- erm... Let me know if you feel dizzy. Well, more than you already are."
She continues on the others, and occasionally herself.
After four hours of bandaging, sewing, and checking, her hands shake from the strain.
"I can't go on. It will have to do. Go get some sleep, folks. I will do the same."
Yasamina looks at the creaking door. She gives Dario a quiet nod, and walks over the door to stand behind the door as it opens.