"That mud drake thing in the courtyard was from the jungle, too. I'm betting there's a connection there," She comments distractedly, moving quickly toward Serpens' unconscious body. She kneels down next to him, frowning deeply.
"Valdrin, anything you can do for him? I couldn't face my family again if something happened with him while we're out here," she says, a little pleadingly. "Ugh, remind me to get a first aid kid next time we're in town."
Fentus watches Trist begin plucking the bird of its prized feathers, eying the remains of the bird hungrily, "Do you think it tastes any good?"
Looking to Valdrin, then to Mr. Serpens, "We should be able to wake 'em up, doesn't look like he was hurt too bad, just knocked out,"
Valdrin kneels beside the wounded elf, and dresses the wounds as best he can based on his healing training and divine gifts. He spends 10 minutes or so ministering to Serpens, who eventually coughs, sputters, and returns to consciousness.
The elf rises, grabs his cane, and announces. "What are you all waiting for? Let's go, let's go!" in his playfully arrogant way.
There are 3 passages to the north, and three to the south that lead off from this large vaulted hallway. At the far eastern end, there are three wooden doors adjacent to each other. Near the doors, a pile of rubble indicates where the stairs from above have fallen or been filled in with masonry and detritus from the battlement collapse above. They do not seem passable without days of effort to clear.
NICE
During the time while Valdrin is tending to Mr. Serpens, Fentus will take a plucked bird and use his firey magic to cook the bird.
Holding a torch in one hand, and a chicken/turkey/emeperor bird Leg in the other hand he says "We know that the Goblins home was north, they claim Undead to the south and Monsters to the East, I'd suggest we go North and investigate their home. If we can clear it out of any cultists it could be a decent base camp and place to rest if we need too,"
"Good idea, Fentus," Elise comments, glancing about their current vicinity. "If you all let me scout ahead quietly, I can give things a look and make sure we don't run into any traps or anything."
"And we might be able to meet Big Bumble!" Trista adds, excitedly as the group makes its way toward the goblin territory.
After finishing up patching Serpens up, Valdrin looks around at the others, hands still in his bag, "Does anyone need patching up as well? I hate to take too much time down here, but will if in need. Other than that, I think we should take the middle path to see our friend's home."
"Middle path sounds excellent," Elise replies, taking point to slowly search the middle path ahead of the party for any traps or nasty surprises.
"Let's try the left door first!"
The group comes to consensus on the middle hallway towards the Bumblebrashers' lair. Elise takes the lead, creeping along slowly checking regularly for traps or other hidden surprises along the narrow, dark hallway.
The passage runs northeast, then after 20' or so, turns true north, but only for about another 10 feet before ending in a door that is closed.
Olaf heads in with the main group, shield raised while the scouts did their thing.
Trista follows along, eyes and ears peeled.
Elise stops at the door, and as others watch (there is artificial light from spells and torches, otherwise pitch dark), she looks for traps and tests the lock on the door. Finding no traps, and determining the door is not locked, she slowly opens the door, the light spilling into this long, narrow room.
This room is filled with once-fine seating made from mahogany and velvet which has been broken into pieces and used to fashion crude shelters along the floor. To the north, a door is heavily barricaded by crates, trash, and other detritus. There are doors on both the east and west side of this room as well.
Standing in the room, prepared for your arrival from the noise in the central hall way, are three humanoid figures. One is a tall, lanky frog-like amphibian looking foe with a bow and a club. Behind him are two simian looking humanoids who cavort about wildly. They carry sickles and whips along with hide armor.
All three of the creatures in this room prepare to attack upon the door opening.
Antechamber - Round 1
24 Werrt, Amphibian
20 Fentus
19 Venak, Red Simian
16 Elise
16 Serpens
12 Valdrin
12 Skorp, Blue Simian
7 Trista
6 Olaf
The amphibious humanoid croaks in a strange language, making attack motions at the simians. It then fires its bow at Elise who is first in the door. The foe then drops his bow, and draws a club, emitting a very loud croaking sound that instills fear in all within 30'
Fentus unable to really see what's happening but hears Elise cry out after the "Thwip" of a bow goes off, casts a spell offering her divine guidance against whatever threat she faces farther in the room.
Fentus unable to really see what's happening but hears Elise cry out after the "Thwip" of a bow goes off, casts a spell offering her divine guidance against whatever threat she faces farther in the room.
Elise gasps with blinding pain, an arrow slamming into her shoulder. "Three enemies ahead," She cries, taking a moment to assess the amphibian in front of her before moving in to stab at the creature.
Antechamber - Round 1 - continued
After Elise takes an arrow to the shoulder, Fentus feels a little hemmed in by the hallway and the party, but he casts a cantrip on Elise, giving her just a little more ability with whatever she chooses to do.
The Red Simian is up next. But you notice some hesitancy in the baboon-like creature before it attacks. It spends a few precious seconds not attacking, but just waiting and watching. The monkey-man shrieks loudly and beats its chest in a show of defiance. When it does act, it grabs a large chunk of furniture detritus and throws it at the doorway where the party entered, but misses quite badly it seems, as the furniture crashes into the nearby wall, loudly but harmlessly.
Elise tries to place the amphibian creature, and even with a touch of magical aid, she cannot place this creature. Maybe she doesn't know much about the wider world at all, so far? She then rushes in, knowing the others are stuck behind her and assaults the frog-thing, hitting it with her rapier for slight damage.
Valdrin will move forward, and looking at the grouping will aim a spell towards the blue simian. "These things don't look friendly, be careful!"
Antechamber - Round 1 - continued
Valdrin steps to the threshold of the narrow room and casts a spell meant to mentally damage the ape-creature's mind. The spell has good effect and he can see the monkey wincing in internal pain.
Serpens strides forward twice, into melee range with the simian and raps it really hard with both hands swinging like a baseball bat. The poor victim reaches to cover his head, but drops to the ground a second later, apparently stunned to death.
CRITICAL
18 dmg
Trista consults her tome about the amphibious creature, then advances on it and takes a swing.
for
Unable to come to grips with either of the remaining creatures, Olaf strides forward as best he can and casts as spell, electric arcs shooting from his outstretched blade.
Antechamber - Round 1 - concluded
Knowledge of the amphibious humanoid escapes Trista for now, but she moves in to attack physically anyway. She scores a hit on the frog-man, exploiting weakness a bit to get extra damage.
Olaf enters the narrow room, and since he can't get into melee, he casts a spell sending a bolt of electrical energy arcing from foe to foe. The amphibian takes limited damage, but the full bolt and then some. The simian target lets out a loud screech, and all its fur seems to stand on end as the electricity courses through it.
End of Round 1
Critical Fail
Antechamber - Round 2
24 Werrt, Amphibian (11hp dmg)
20 Fentus
19 Venak, Red Simian (12hp dmg)
16 Elise (10hp remaining)
16 Serpens
12 Valdrin
7 Trista (frightened 1, fading)
6 Olaf
Fail
The croak of the great frog thing fades but Trista was frightened throwing off her memory of the beast. Werrt moves back from the melee, finding a more advantageous position. Its tongue shoots out of the mouth, striking Serpens and grabbing him -- holding him still and flat footed. The amphibian follows up with a strike from his club that flattens Serpens, knocking him unconscious.
Critical Hit
18hp dmg
Running into the room, dropping his half-eaten drumstick, shocked to see Mr. Serpens down again, then eying the half-frog warily. Summoning a ball of flame he throws it at the Frog creature.
Looking to the others, "Its wrong to eat this thing right? We can't just consider it big frog legs?"
Antechamber - Round 2 - continued
Fentus pushes into the room, and flings a ball of conjured flame at the amphibian, hitting and mildly burning the slimy skin.
Where the Red Simian was perhaps hesitant before, the killing of its kin, and the electrical arc on it, have brought it whole-heartedly into the fray now. The monkey-man grabs a chunk of masonry and hurls it at Elise, trying to smash her skull with it. Luckily the stonework only grazes Elise, but she is still pretty wobbly after. The simian then moves farther back, shrieking loudly and tosses more debris at Trista, but this pile of rubble misses.
Trista steps up to the amphibious creature and slashes again.
for
for
Reaching into his divine powers, Valdrin send forth the warm energy into Serpens, stabilizing the elf before moving into the room. "Might need another break after this!"
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Ohhh, you may need to be stabilizing me soon," Elise groans, staggering forward over Serpens and stabbing into the amphibian.
Antechamber - Round 2 - continued
As the fight continues, Trista stabs out at Werrt, missing with one strike, but skewering the frog-thing on the second as it blurts out a loud croak.
Valdrin uses his divine healing to stop the bleeding on the fallen Serpens and stabilize him for the time being.
Heedless of her own wounds, Elise continues to press the amphibian, but her strikes are both affected by her pain, and she misses twice.
Olaf strides forward as the combat intensifies and stands over Mr Serpen's prone form, shield raised and blade flashing.
Antechamber - Round 2 - concluded
Stepping over the body of the unconscious but stable Serpens, Olaf lunges with his bastard sword hitting the wounded frog-man in the midsection and tearing a mortal wound into its innards. Werrt drops to the ground dead, while Olaf raises his shield to protect against any thrown missiles from the remaining foe.
End of Round 2
Antechamber - Round 3
20 Fentus
19 Venak, Red Simian (12hp dmg)
16 Elise (2hp remaining)
16 Serpens (unconscious, stable)
12 Valdrin
7 Trista
6 Olaf
Roaring at the remaining Simean creature, "Surrender or be damned to Hell! the Hellknights that lived here cursed anyone who died within to eternal Damnation!"
He then throws a fireball at it, grinning wickedly.
Antechamber - Round 3 - concluded
Fentus shouts curses at the ape-like creature, and while it does not seem to understand the spoken language, the body language is clear enough. The baboon thing seems to shrink inside itself a bit, cowering somewhat in fear of the roaring sorceror. Then Fentus pitches fire at the last foe, and with the pungent smell of monkey fur filling the room, the bit of fire is the end of Venak.
End of Combat
As the smoking creature falls, Fentus casts his gaze at the creatures bodies, "Truth be told, I made that last bit up," He says with a slight chuckle.
Moving forward to Mr. Serpens, looking to Valdrin, "Is there anything I can do to help you with him? I'm not much of a healer but I can offer you guidance while you try,"
Elise takes a deep breath and leans against the wall, still holding her rapier, and moves over by where Serpens lays, sinking down onto the ground next to him. "Gods, again...yes, please, anything you can do for him," She says, trying to put pressure on her own wounds. She looks around at the rest, her face drawn and exhausted. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but I can't hit anything and it's driving me mad," she grumbles, leaning against the wall and working to catch her breath.
Trista surveys the scene, and she attempts to console Elise, "Well, we're dealing with such unfamiliar foes. Have you ever seen such a thing? I haven't, and my education was very thorough. What are all these strange creatures doing in the middle of nowhere?"
She looks over the fallen creatures and there equipment, searching for anything interesting or useful. "It's no wonder the resident goblins fled. These intruders were as fierce as they were unusual."
Making his way to Serpens, Valdrin looks at Elise while pulling out bandages and ointments, "Have the entrances covered, and I suggest we all sit tight for a while. I only have one spell left, and it isn't the healing variety. It looks like mostly everyone here needs some treatment, though I'll see what I can do to help our elf first." Chuckling a bit, he looks at the two ladies as he starts to treat Serpens' wounds, "Honestly, the both of you frighten me more than these creatures. While your aim hasn't been as true as the others Elise, your tenacity is quite something to watch. Trista, you seemed aloof when we met, but your skill with the knowledge you have, is quite something to behold."
Bandaging the elf, Valdrin sighs a bit, "This venture has become more challenging than expected. Should we find a better spot to rest up a bit, or should we continue?"
Elise sighs again, adjusting painfully as she watches Valdrin work on her guardian. "I don't know how much further I can go in this state," She admits. "It might be a good idea to find somewhere to properly rest up."
As the sounds of melee die down in the cluttered antechamber, you can clearly the angry roar of a big animal behind the barricaded door to the north. It seems the door is secure enough for now, so the group hunkers down as Valdrin tends to the wounds of Mr Serpens. The elf fight comes to after a few minutes, but the priest continues to spend time with him, restoring most of his lost vitality in the process.
As Trista searches over the bodies of the fallen foes, she finds the usual mundane weapons: club, bow & arrows, whips, sickles and the like. One thing of note: each of the fallen foes wears a similar symbol on a thong about their necks. It appears to be a smoking dragon claw.
In addition to the door you entered, the room has the barricaded door to the norht, and one each on the east and west walls as well.
After 30 minutes or so of rest, nothing has interrupted your rest...yet.
Checking the holy symbols while Valdrin heals up Mr. Serpens and Elise, "I've seen a lot of temples in Absalom, but nothing for whoever this is,"
While wondering around waiting, Fentus will return to his dropped drumstick on the floor and pick it up, brushing it off, scorching it a bit more before continuing to finish eating it.
A little annoyed he let another get in front of the enemy and get hurt while he was stuck back in the hall, Olaf stands guard in the middle of the room in such a place where he can quickly charge any of the doors while the group rests, heals and loots the bodies.
While watching for danger, Olaf does get a better look at the simian things and eventually grunts, ”Oh, right. Those are Charau-Ka, also from Mwangi. Fascinating. They are supposed to be real good at throwing stuff, as we’ve learned. Wonder if that strange symbol has anything to do with why creatures from so far away are here.”
Elise shakes her head at Fentus, frowning at the holy symbols. "I don't know much about religion, honestly. Seems more Valdrin's wheelhouse." She watches the sorcerer's slightly feral behavior with mild amusement, huffing with pained laughter.
At Olaf's words, Elise purses her lips and furrows her brows in thought, adjusting her seat on the ground painfully. "Everything odd we have encountered so far is from the Mwangi Expanse. How in the world is it all getting here in Breachill?"
Trista compares the symbol to illustrations in her book, but she doesn't find anything that matches.
"I don't want to press beyond our capacity, but I am so curious about what is behind that door."
Trista points at the barricaded door to the north.
