Surprise round:
While they are flat-footed, Zadira slips into the room, moving past their overturned table to a position where she can shoot them with no cover.
Bel moved quietly into the space, remaining behind the corner/wall providing her some cover from the two crossbow wielding women. She waited to see what they would do next as she watched Mallory and Zadira who were nearest the upturned table.
Eskander takes up position behind Bel, hopefully gaining some cover as well. And waits to see how quickly the women respond to Mallory and Zadira's advance into the chamber.
Seing everyone get ready to engage the Tower Girls, Saria closes her eyes and gives a small prayer, asking the spirits to bolster their fellow pathfinder 's resolve.
As everyone starts moving into the room, Saria follows suit, placing herself as best as she can to shield Eskander and Bel, while also threatening both opponents with her spear. She stares at the one right in front of her and tries to cloud her mind.
The two women were waiting, but they did not realize how close the intruders were to entering the room and as a result are caught completely off-guard!
The Tower Girl on the right blinks strangely in response to Saria's spell. She shakes her head and says to her partner in a low growl, "Kill the mage first!" Neither of them are able to hut their target and both draw their short swords, ready to fight over the table if necessary.
Zadira shoots at the closest foe.
(point blank)
(point blank)
Eskander pops his head out of cover, and focuses his will on the one standing. Stop! he attempts to command her.
With her curse having no effect, Saria follows Eskander's lead and tries to stop the movements of the other Tower Girl.
Bel peeks around the corner and fires a shot at the Girls, but her arrow only sinks into the table. Mallory ably drops one of the women with a mighty thrust of her sword. The other woman is struck by magical disruption of her mind from both Eskander and Saria.
Eskander grips his spear tightly, and steps out into the hallway to try and help support Mallory as a broken chair leg flies off and smashes into the woman recovering from the magical assault on her mind. The chair pieces mostly disintegrate, instead smashing into the far wall of the chamber.
Zadira steps closer and shoots again at point blank range.
(point blank)
(point blank)
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Saria carefully closes with the woman who is still standing. Holding her spear to the side with her ungloved hand, she throws some punches at the Tower Girl - hoping to distract her enough to help Mallory land a hit.
Saria's arrow causes the remaining Tower Girl to flinch and drop her guard long enough for Mallory to deliver a devastating stab to the chest that slays the woman instantly.
With the immediate threat dealt with, the team can see the flickering of an open flame in the room to the south. A small cook fire has been built in the center of the floor with spits
holding the sizzling carcasses of two donkey rats. The broken scraps of a crate now serving as fuel are stacked nearby, and blankets have been pushed together into a large bed roll. There is no way forward from here.
Zadira loots the bodies and grabs the lamps, giving them to anyone who wants to carry them, and if no one does she turns them off.
Then, when the mop-up is done, she goes to examine the room with the cookfire.
Hey... there is a hidden door back here. Let's put the fire out first though... don't want to fill this place with smoke.
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Saria looks around the adjacent rooms, but finds nothing but dead ends, until Zadira points out the hidden door.
"That makes more sense - I was wondering why they would post two guards here with nothing but dead ends! And that strange rat downstairs had to be here somewhere."
"I agree with you Zadira, it might be safer to put the fire out before we leave. I'll see if I can pick up any noise coming from behind the door in the meantime."
Wow, secret doors and everything - this place is a marvel! I may carry one of those tanglefoot bags to try and help more. Eskander takes some quick notes, and indicates he's ready to push on.
The murals in this room are scratched and faded. Several portions of the wall and floor show signs of past chipping. An empty plinth where a statues once stood rests by a small alcove.
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"I'm guessing that way leads to the small alcove we saw higher up when we first arrived - if you pay attention you can feel a slight breeze going towards it and pulling the smoke along." Saria gestures towards the passageway leading east as she speaks, and then glances around the room, eventually approaching the small alcove.
"Seems like another dead end - but I thought the same on the previous room! The breeze has to come from somewhere, right? And we didn't notice it in the room before this one. I'm guessing there's another secret door around."
Saria searches the room, starting with the alcove, trying to pinpoint the entry point for the breeze.
Zadira helps look for a possible way forward.
The breeze flows through a large open window in the span's chamber. The boat used to reach the piling can be seen tied up several stories below. Zadira notices aome rope run through pistons just outside the window. It looks like it was recently hammered into place based on the fresh tool marks. With patience and skill, or luck, it would be possible to climb across.
Looks like we have to climb across.
She tugs on the rope to make sure it isn't rigged as a trap, then attempts the climb.
Eskander looks down, and then gulps, before putting on the climbing harness and making his way, very slowly, across.
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Saria looks worriedly at the rope, and then at the boat below.
"I, err, don't really think I can make that climb - I'm not much of a climber, and with this armor, I think I'll probably end up down below."
Saria ponders for a bit, before removing her armor and laying it carefully near the window.
"If you can spare me some more minutes, I think I might be able to safely join you - just need to prepare the right spell."
"Sorry to make you wait. Had to leave the armor behind, but I figured it'd be best to keep up with you instead of just twiddling my thumbs down there."
After crossing and re-entering the Crow, the group finds a short passage with murals painted along the walls showing strangely dressed Thassilonian priests placing bodies into crypts. Several niches in the walls may have once been burial crypts themselves, but today, the hall is strewn with bones and the niches lay empty.
Zadira starts forward and then motions everyone to halt as she sees a trap.
She says quietly
looks like a trigger line up ahead. Hold here and let me check.
She looks at it to see if it can be disabled or if they just need to go under (carefully).
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Zadira makes sure everyone knows about the trap so they can carefully step over it.
Saria looks at the walls closely as they make their way through the hallway.
"From the murals I guess this hallway was some sort of burial site? A pity it seems to have been thoroughly looted quite some time ago."
"It does make me wonder though - what do you think was the purpose of these pilings? We've seen quite a number of different rooms already."
She stops as Zadira signals the trap and then carefully follows her, stepping over the wire.
Zadira responds to Saria as she is making sure everyone sees the trap.
It's an interesting question, but not sure. The Thassalonian ... are those priests?... seem dressed strangely. Maybe burial rites of some sort, but I mean, could also be some dark ritual for all I know.
Around the corner the passage turns north. A ten foot hybrid fifteen foot chamber contains a fountain in the west wall. A
tinkling rill of water runs from a demon-shaped mouth on the
wall into the fountain.
Zadira sees a lantern and notes that it is still warm. She informs the others.
"With their choice of decoration" Saria gestures at the demonic looking fountain "I wouldn't be surprised if you're right about it being a dark ritual of some sort"
As Zadira points out the still warm lantern, Saria frowns and approaches quietly.
"That's odd. The obvious explanation is that someone passed by here not too long ago. Maybe another Tower Girl? But why would they leave the lantern here?"
Saria stops near Zadira and tries to listen to any noise coming from the room further down the hallway.
Zadira thinks that the lantern means they are close to someone else who just came through here, so she waits for Saria, and then moves cautiously down the hallway, listening for signs of life.
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Could they be.... invisible? Eskander asks the others, almost trembling with excitement as he sketches the demonic face in the fountain.
For a long moment, everyone is totally quiet. No one even breathes. Eskander breaks the quiet with his query, but everything remains still and quiet.
Zadira keeps moving forward with her weapon ready.
Zadira can see a very short passage that ends in a buried pile of anicent rubble. Sitting near the entrance is a wooden crate and a dully gray ampora. Just ahead, she spots a stairwell leading back down into darkness.
Fortunately, an old buddy from your Serpent Runner days had the sort of juicy gossip that seemed not just relevant, but timely. You reported to the Captain immediately based on the dire news.
"So your friend told you the Wreckwash Blades were planning to hit The Tower Girls hard, today? This is not good, we have a team at their headquarters right now! Damn!" The woman thinks for a moment, holding her chin in one hand. "Tormnyr? You can best serve the society in this moment by catching up to our team and extracting them immediately. We do not need them caught in the middle of a mob war! Come, let's find Natalya, she can guide you to the location." Sheila Heidmarch rushes you outside and down toward the cabins closer to the gate. She knocks on the cabin door and hurriedly tells that young woman who answers that she must get you to The Tower Girl's base as quickly as possible (and then to remain safe afterward).
At the gate to the Pathfinder lodge, the half-elven guard Ebrylis raises an eyebrow at the chicken. "Uh, I'm sorry ma'am, but uh, livestock probably shouldn't be on the lodge grounds. I think Master Brios would really give me the business, y'know?"
Sokkla makes another grab but gets nothing save a single white feather for her efforts. The Marquise clucks and flutters away once more, weaving through and between the legs on the crowded street. Without warning it stops to peck at some crumbs, spilt on the steps of a large building. "Gotcha!" Sokkla scoops the wayward hen up and lovingly tucks it under her arm. "Now where have you brought me, Miss?"
"Uh, I'm sorry ma'am, but uh, livestock probably shouldn't be on the lodge grounds. I think Master Brios would really give me the business, y'know?"
Sokkla gives a warm smile "That's OK sir. I wouldn't dream o' bringing livestock onto your grounds." the smile turns into a bit of a giggle "The Marquise here's poultry, not livestock. And besides, she's 'ad her fun for today. You promise to behave don't you Miss? No fowling." This time her innocent giggle isn't so easy to hide and the restless hen slips from under her arm and between the guard's legs.
Come 'ere you, 'afore I make drumsticks of you! Only narrowly avoiding dozen patrons as she bumbles forward, Sokkla finally scoops up the hen as it stops to scratch the ground. Looking up with a sheepish grin she sees a middle aged brunette staring at her. "Sorry!" she repeats for what feels like the hundredth time that day.
"No problem, Venture-Captain," the dwarf remarks. He lacks the surliness of many of the Society's dwarven members and also lacks the incomprehensible accent that many seem to have. He has a slight Ulfen accent, but it is faint.
Tormnyr dons his armor, axe-gauntlet, and shield.
To Natalya, he asks, "What are the rules of engagement if we run into Tower Girls or Wreckwash Blades? Try to flee? Fight but leave them alive? Or no witnesses?"
Zadira will examine the crate and the amphora, wanting to know what is inside, but trying to be as quiet as possible.
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Zadira quietly picks through everything to find some interesting historical artifacts. Firstly, the amphora itself would be worth some coin anyway, but when she picks it up, Zadira finds the weight rather extreme for a simple vessel. Inside are coins! Nearly two pounds worth of ancient Thassilonian coinage. Lastly, she finds a bronze statuette depicting a giant-like creature with runes etched all over the surface of its skin.
Before the Captain can answer Tormnyr, a chicken rushes forward in a flurry of clucks and feathers. "Why hello, there, pretty bird," She says in a bemused tone. She quickly replies to Tormnyr before dealing with the interesting bird and woman chasing it. "Get our people out of the way. Avoid dragging the Society into a war with either gang. If you have to pick sides, back the Blades. Rumor is the Girls have lost the support of the Sczarni and right now they stand in the way of the expedition." She whispers while leaning close, keeping Natalya behind her as she says this.
Ebrylis hustles over full of apologies himself but Heidmarch shakes her head. "It's alright, return to your post." She squats and gazes at the chicken as it pecks and scratches for bugs just to the side of the trail, cooking her head to the side for a moment. She stands upright again and addresses Sokkla, "In Magnimar, the Augurs told me a great feathered bird bearing wisdom would arrive in a crisis. This might be the first time in one thousand readings they got something half right." She looks at the woman's weapons and Armor. "This might be a happy coincidence, are you by chance looking for work?"
Zadira motions Saria and Eskander forward to show them the treasure, and then they pack it away. They check the rubble to make sure it isn't illusory or hiding a legitimate tunnel or hiding an enemy that could sneak up behind them, and then continue onward.