You smell him hear, you do not catch a hint of his smell drifting off anywhere else. It seems whatever happened he didn’t leave a trail to follow making it harder to find him.
"Either he teleported, or he's still here...invisible." Lyraesel reports.
"Either way... you're right. We shouldn't stick around for long." Adrian would proceed to explore the place some more.
Byron takes a quick search around the room while the others talk.
"All of these scrapes and scratches, let me try to mend your wounds... Everyone within thirty feet, please." Corbies are excluded if any of them still have a breath.
Looking at the map, she offers, "Let's try 17, 18, and 19. If he could only go a short distance, it might be back here." She points at the very nearby door to T-17.
"Thank you for the healing. That sounds like a fine route." Byron says as he continues his search of the area and the creatures they dispatched.
Looking about the room you do not see much that you can use or take of value at the moment. The banners are moth eaten and faded at this point, much of the decorations are long gone, and the throne which is interesting is large. The throne with its unique serpentine dragon is strange but it is to large to be taken. The fire corbies you killed do not have anything on them and simply devoid of items.
Heading towards the northern door you find it’s wrought iron, with surprisingly little rust on it. Trying it reveals it’s locked and won’t budge.
"The dragon on the throne looks like the ones in art from Amieko's heritage." Lyraesel comments as she moves to check out the door.
"Is it similar or the same? Its too large to try and take with us, but perhaps her family has ties to this place." Byron says. "We could take a rubbing of it."
"Anyone have a lockpick?" says Zaraleva, trying not to look directly at the ninja.
"Sorry, what?" says Aiko as she slides her tiny picks back into the invisible side pocket of her soft boots and pushes the door gently to open it about an inch.
"It could be a replica of whatever was back in Minkai," Adrian suggests. When Aiko effortlessly unlocks the door, he folded his arms. "Show off." he mumbled.
"Sorry, what?" says Aiko as she slides her tiny picks back into the invisible side pocket of her soft boots and pushes the door gently to open it about an inch.
"Oh, nothing," replies Zaraleva as she stops to listen at the door.
Inspecting it you don’t find any traps, however the door doesn’t come unlocked when you first try. You can tell your close to getting the lock however and it is almost there.
Looking at the dragon it might look familiar in style to some of the effects you’ve seen before such as on the abandoned ship in the Brinestump Marsh or on some of the effects Ameiko owns.
Old tapestries depicting a seaside castle hang askew on the walls of this circular room and a thick layer of dust cakes the floor. The air is musty and weirdly cold. Old bloodstains splatter the walls, along with numerous brutal gashes and slashes to the stone itself. Two doors hang askew on hinges in a passageway to the south, while to the north, a third door lies in fragments on the floor, opening onto a flight of stairs leading down into darkness. A second staircase leads upward against the north wall.
(After the two minutes and the door is opened)
"Look at all this dust on the floor. He didn't teleport back here. There would be a cloud of dust if he was flapping around." Zaraleva makes the motion of flapping her arms, which probably looks ridiculous. She sneaks a peek at Aiko to see if she got a smile.
"He might not know about the secret door between T10 and 11. That gives us an advantage, so I say let's check those two rooms next."
"That seems like a good idea to me," Adrian nods as he continues on that path.
Zaraleva moves to the door of the throne room that leads to the narrow hall between T10 and 11. There, she listens intently before checking to see if the door is locked.
Lyraesel also pays attention to the door.
You listen at the door and hear nothing, Lyraesal’s sense of smell turns up no trace of the man either. You test the door and find it unlocked. Opening it up you see the hall you looked into earlier leading to the the washroom and the kennel that housed the female ogre kin.
Have we searched everywhere in the V section?
V section?
Let 's try T-12 and 13 if we haven't already. Same method of listening and sniffing.
Moving to search the ballroom and beyond it, you venture forth and come to the door. Still closed from your last venture here to the underfloors. Listening and using Lyraesal’s senses you wait at the door.
You listen and hear the soft sounds of something speaking and claws quietly moving across stone. You aren’t able to tell what is beyond but you know someone is there.
"Someone talking. Claws moving across stone." Lyraesel whispers so her companions, indicating what she hears beyond the door.
Zaraleva loads her crossbow and stands prepared to throw open the door as soon as everyone has their actions readied. She will be to the side of the doorway so that others may fire or charge.
Adrian nods and closes his limbs together, getting ready for a potential fight.
Byron will open the door slightly and peek in as quietly as possible.
I was planning to open the door when everyone had readied an attack, but I don't have your stealth or perception.
Quietly cracking the door Byron peers in, inside he can see atleast 2 corbies hiding behind pillars standing motionless waiting and watching. There also is a another one that stands on the second level opposite the door, it however is different a sword is in hand and it wears robes. It looks on quietly as the ones on the bottom whisper for a second.
I'm most concerned about the one in robes, so he would get my crossbow bolt.
Alternatively, since they are acting like they know we're here, can any of us sneak up behind them from a different direction? (Secret door through T-13 to come up behind them in T-12?)
Lyraesel leads the way, in an attempt to circle around and approach the waiting enemies from behind.
Byron leaves the door as it is and moves away.
Aiko likewise moves quietly away for the enfilade.
Winsome follows behind everyone else-- not particularly stealthy, but valiantly (assuming cowardice is the better part of discretion and discretion is the better part of valor).
Z holds for the stealthy people to get ahead and looks at Winsome. "You think ten seconds is enough?" She seems anxious to put the plan in motion.
Adrian attempts to join in on the fun with his own stealth.
Winsome shrugs. He whispers, "W-w-w-when we h-h-hear... the n-n-n-noise... l-l-let's go."
Sneaking away you all try to circle around to defeat the ambush laid by the castle. As the four of you leading the way open the door to the outside, you see a sun high in the sky. This courtyard may have once been a delightful garden, but now it’s a tangle of weeds surrounding a pool of water choked with thick, slimy green algae.
As you open the door the four of you in the lead see the look of something large in the water. It shifts ever so slightly and you can see it eying you.
You recognize the shape and the look as a very very large Belostomatid. Commonly referred to as a water bug or toe biter they are dangerous to things smaller than them, often using their bite to deliver digestive enzymes that paralyze and dissolve prey.
Byron studies the thing in the water and holds his spear ready in case it charges him. Without looking away he whispers, "What is it?"
"Not sure."
Zaraleva gets nervous as the four stealthy ones stop sooner than expected. She tries to see over or around them, but with no luck.
Adrian thought he was doing pretty well stealth wise... until his steps kept on making small noises. He could only hope that it didn't let others on on their location.
"Let's past by it. As long as it's not attacking us."
Byron shakes his head, "Having that...thing...come up behind us while we are in another fight might be bad. I say we take it by surprise. If we need to clear this place out for the caravan to safely come in and rest then that thing has to go."
Chafing at the indecision i the presence of enemies in wait, Lyraesel creeps forward, quietly opening the door, preparing to race in at the first sign that they have been detected.