Bumolin has called out to the creature and just waits for it's reaction. So basically he holds until the creature has acted.
In a flash, the creature scurries quickly across the vault in a halting, hunched animalistic lope. It hugs the bars and wall closely.
Bumolin can tell the creature is impossiblely skinny with thin, wispy patches of hair. It does not look healthy, whatever it is, and the jagged, sharp nails and rotten teeth it bites as it shuffles forward look menacing.
Xylas channels energy at the thing once it is in range.
As he recognizes that the creature is indeed hostile but slower than expected, Bumolin takes out his sling and moves into shooting position.
The barbarian does what one should expect under the circumstances. "HOYO HO! NOW FEEL THE FORCE OF FEIGR'S SON!" Rushing forward, he brings his blade down on the creature.
The blast of divine energy causes the attacker to flinch. Its diseased looking flesh cracks and oozes with dark fluid. It shrieks, but before it can get to Xylas, the barbarian is in its misshapen face. Once again, Thorfinn's axe strikes true and beheads the undead with one well-placed strike.
"Well..." Xylas observes wide-eyed as he circles around well back of the really, really dangerous sword and dispersed bits of creature. In front of the cage he adds, "Look in the floor here. A pair of keyholes maybe."
"Well done, Thorfinn. You are obviously not just good at breaking wind!"
Panting heavily, Thorfinn comes back to his senses. "Not much of a fight. Best to slay the walking dead quickly, though." He wipes his blade clean and resheathes it while he catches his breath.
Bumolin looks at the stricken undead. "I wonder what happened to it. It looked like it smashed into a cliff face. Can one of you hazard a guess how long it is dead?"
Xylas wanders over from looking at the cage to where the dead thing lies. "It looks like it was injured by the tower collapse, but it's definitely been dead a long time before that."
"The price," says the voice of the blackbird as it fades into view standing on top of one of the chests inside the cage. "Has now gone up. I know where the keys are. I went back to see if they were still where they should have been. Now, I can tell you exactly where to find them, buuuuut...well, how about the Dwarf takes that club with both hands and brings it up over his head and smashes the big scary human in the head as hard as he can? I'm a "Punch and Judy" kind of guy. Like to watch my puppets hit each other with sticks, heh."
In one smooth motion, Thorfinn draws a javelin and hurls it at the talking bird. "Bind your beak, bird of ill-omen!"
A few feathers float down after the javelin barely misses the annoying raven's head. It shatters on the wall behind the bird, who jumps and flutters and squawks wildly before fading back into invisibility with a parting, "You'll need me eventually!"
Xylas shakes his head. "That bird. We must have missed something. Let's go over our steps again."
Wisdom
"Backtrack? Boring! Maybe we can break them open?"
[dice=Wis]1d20+2
Xylas shakes his head. "That bird. We must have missed something. Let's go over our steps again."
"Backtrack? Boring! Maybe we can break them open?"
"I reckon if anyone could break those bars, it'd be Thorfinn, but they look pretty stout. Wonder what's back in that creeper's hole."
From the room, the roughly cut tunnel appears small and relatively freshly dug. There is no way it was created hy the collapse.
Thorfinn grunts and, taking a torch, advances to look down the tunnel.
"That "bird" will say anything if it thinks it would make it's game more interesting."
Bumolin shruggs and follows the barbarian into the tunnel.
Thanks to darkvision, the dwarf can see that the tunnel goes a short distance before paasing a pair of hastily constructed barricades made from timber and stone and then finally opening up into a much wider cavern beyond. The ceiling appears to top out at five feet.
Bumolin tugs at the arm of the big human beside him.
"Do you see those barricades, Thorfinn? You probably know a thing or two about tactics in battle - doesn't that look just like the people who lived here had to defend themselves against something coming through this tunnel?
The barbarian grunts and points to the body. "Perhaps it was to defend against the walking dead yonder."
"Then it's probably time to see, if there was only this one...I stay right behind you, if you don't mind."
Xylas looks nervous, "What if the creepy dead guy was barricading itself in here and there is something worse back there?"
Thorfinn laughs. "Then it, too, will fall before my blade!"
"Well, get to felling, Thorfinn. I'm a couple steps behind you!"
"Hold the light, then, and I will lead." The Ulfen passes his torch back and advances into the opening, hunched over to keep from scraping his head on the ceiling.
Xylas offers the torch to Bumolin before setting it on the ground and renews the light spell on an arrow nocked in his bow and pointed toward the barricade.
Bumolin takes up the torch and keeps directly beside and slightly behind (and of course also "below") the barbarian while he moves forward, trying to give him some light with the torch.
Thorfinn crouches and moves forward and starts to clamber over the barricade.
Before he clears it, a trio of broken stalagmites attached to some heavy cords swing down and pelt the barbarian! The trap looks to have been hastily constructed and will need to be reset manually.
The cavern beyond the trapped barricade shows signs of having taken the bulk of the collapse. Tons of fresh earth and stone fill the center of the carved out chamber. A pair of sandal-covered feet peek out from beneath a large boulder. The feet's owner seems to have been crushed by the collapse. A tunnel leads further to the north.
"ARGH! Coward's tool!" He slashes at the cords.
Xylas is startled by the sudden violence, but quickly puts up his bow and renders aid. "Elk Father, please heal the wounds of this tamer of the wilds," he prays as he brushes over Thorfinn's contusions.
The barbarian nods gratefully, then peers into the darkness, ready to face another attack. "What else is in there?"
Bumolin dropped the torch when the stalagmites came down right above him. He picks it up again. He points down the passage "I think Cordia should lead here. She would probably have spotted this in time."
Cordia enters the chamber, walking carefully and frequently bumping her head on the low ceiling. She points to the body as she scouts ahead quietly.
She returns shortly to report the tunnel goes north for a while and ends in a narrow tunnel. It also branches off to the west, where it goes on for far longer than her darkvision can see.
Xylas ponders. "I'm thinking maybe avoid the squeeze for the moment and see where that western tunnel leads."
Bumolin nods absentmindedly and steps up through the tunnel to the corpse and takes a closer look.
The dead human was an older man with a serious countenance. Even in death his eyes seem to regard the world with derision and impatience. Before crushed, torn, and covered in dirt and dust, his clothes may have been high quality and reflecting some wealth and power. There seems to be nothing of real value on him except a key ring that holds two keys. When he gets closer, Bumolin also sees signs of more kobolds. One claw protrudes from the rubble holding a broken shovel. Another leg sticks out from beneath a pile of rocks. The tunnel itself looks like a very tight squeeze and goes on far longer than anyone can see. The larger passageway has a low ceiling but is fairly wide.
Bumolin takes the keys. "I think he doesn't need them anymore - haven't we been looking for a pair just now? Maybe try them?"