Barracks - Round 4
22 Olaf (16hp dmg, arcane cascade)
18 Serpens (11hp dmg)
21 Zephira (24hp dmg, commanded)
20 Fentus
16 Valdrin (13hp dmg)
13 Elise (8hp dmg)
12 Trista
With his wounds bleeding, Olaf dares not chase after the bugbear thug, instead he sends an icy ray after her. The spell strikes her, and she squeals as the cold hits home, but it does not end her.
Barracks - Round 3 - concluded
Elise's shots on the remaining foe are once again foiled by the mixture of shadows and dimness, and she cannot draw a satisfactory bead.
After being hurt again, Valdrin calls out in a clear voice to the feisty bugbear. Imbued with divine energy, his command word works, and looks confused and will drop prone on her next turn.
Tired of not being able to see, Fentus enters the room and brings forth bright light into the center of the chamber, highlighting the wrecked beds and the prone foe.
Trista cuts off the now-prone bugbear and attacks it once, but her footing is not set, and she misses, even the prone target.
End of Round 3
[dice=Elise DC5 Flat]1d20
[dice=Zephira DC 17 Will]1d20+5
Barracks - Round 4 - concluded
Recovering from his own grievous hurt, Serpens dashes across the cluttered room and swings his club with both hands, smashing it into the bac of the head of the lone bugbear. This last strike is too much for her, and she collapses, even without the command spell, prone and dead.
End of Combat
Examining the carnage, "Its a real shame we couldn't find a more peaceful way of dealing with these bugbears, that's life sometimes though. Try as you might, sometimes violence is the still the outcome,"
Fentus bends down to search the Bugbear in front of him, seeing if there is anything valuable on her, maybe a key or a something.
"I'm low on arrows," Elise states, stowing her shortbow. "Going to have to get up-close and personal now."
Elise takes a deep, painful breath and holds the javelin wound on her abdomen, the adrenaline wearing off and pain seeping back into her consciousness. "Do any of you have bandages and stuff?" She asks, her voice strained. "Looks like we need to take some time and bandage up."
Holding his wounds, Valdrin grins while hobbling inside, "Guess I'm glad to come along. I have quite a few bandages, though the ointments I used on some of us today, I can't use for about a day. Too much of the stuff, and it'll not go well, at all. I have another prayer I could use to help all of us, and then I can bandage up the rest." With a pained expression, he opens his kit while motioning everyone towards the pillow fort. Grabbing his amulet. the man starts a quiet prayer.
Gasping a little as the final enemy falls, Olaf manages to croak "Medic!". As Valdrin treats his wounds, he thanks the cleric gratefully, then stands watch while the rest of the group is treated.
At some point, when more of the group is up and about he does note from his position, "Anyone want to check the room and bodies for treasure?"
Elise takes a deep breath and stretches, working loose some of the tightness from the adrenaline and the battle. "Thank you, Valdrin. You're a treasure." She grins at him, winking, and then moves over near Mr Serpens.
"Serpens. Felled by a bugbear, eh?" She elbows him and grins good-naturedly. "Be careful. Don't want the spirits of my ancestors coming to haunt me because I've let you get hurt."
Barring any conversation with Mr Serpens or others, Elise gets to looking around the room for anything interesting, particularly anything that may shine some light as to why the bugbears were there and if they were part of the problem with the Bramblebrashers going silent.
Searching the room is much to Trista's liking, and she pokes through the fallen bugbear's belongings and their "lodging."
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Serpens smarts at the wound - to his pride as much as anything. Never you mind that...Ive been spending my time mostly studying and being somewhat indolent lately. I assure you, back in my day I was pretty wild. Of course, back then I mostly used a blade, but this cane is pretty potent in its own way. He resists ruffling Elise's hair - she was a grown woman he had to remind himself. Besides, the great Elise all hot and sweaty - this scene is pretty scandalous isn't it?
Serpens nods at Valdrin as they all apply bandages Besides, we all took uite the beating didn't we? We should be more careful - bugbears are a bit of a challenge for a group of novices like us.
"You know I love a good scandal, Serpens." She chuckles, covering her mouth with the back of one hand mock-coquettishly. "You're right though. We should be more careful. Sneak around a bit, I think."
Olaf grunts at Elise's good natured chiding.
"Those... bugbears... hit like an over laden oxcart."
Rule Moment:
The bugbears are both similarly armed and armored, with pieces and patches of leather armor, bastard sword, and 3 javelins apiece. (sorry no arrows...) They carry nothing else of value.
Searching the fort carefully while the bandaging and healing happens, you don't find anything interesting or valuable inside the lair either.
Elise notices the small private bedchambers look less trafficked, and her search of the first room to the southern side successfully reveals a small rosin-like bag (lesser tanglefoot bag) and a glass bottle with a stopper on the top, the universal symbol for lightning ( lesser flask of bottled lightning) is cut into the top of the stopper.
Fentus, being dragged along by Elise to illuminate the room for her, digs into his backpack and draws out a torch lighting the fire on it. "Here, now we can have twice as much light in here," He then casts Light on Elise's Rapier, "Here sc'use me, just gonna touch this here Rapier and Wa-La light for you,"
He then takes his mundane torch and ventures off north to open this closed door he was eying earlier.
Finishing up with the bandaging, hoping that all is somewhat well, the cleric rummages about his kit and pulls out a small vial. Sighing, he then quaffs the contents with a slight grimace on his face. After packing the vial, he casts Light on his walking stick before joining the others.
"I've always disliked the taste of these, though they do help. Where did the others go?" Brushing his pants, Valdrin stands before rubbing the wound from earlier. "At least we're alive."
"Oh, thank you, Fentus. That's genius." She waves her lit rapier around and grins, enamored of the magic.
After searching the room, Elise takes the tanglefoot bag and the lesser flask of bottled lightning to the main room, holding them up to everyone still within. "Found a few things. Tanglefoot bag and some bottled lightning. Any takers? I'm rather partial to the tanglefoot bag, myself."
Olaf looks over from his perch by the door, "Take them if you want them, as far as I'm concerned.", looking over at the group being mostly healed up, he asks.
"Time to move in?"
"I'll hold on to them, then," Elise says, putting them into one of her hip-pouches.
"Onward, then."
"I think, I'll stay by Olaf, as that way I can help him out as best I can. Other than that, I'll keep an eye out for anything." Groaning slightly, he makes sure that he an Olaf are within the light of his staff.
After looking through the bugbear lair and one of the small rooms, the party moves off to see if they can find any sign of the Bumblebrashers or the villain Calmont. Following Fentus' lead, they move to the north door from the barracks room.
The north doo opens easily enough, and reveals a small octagonal room that has another pair of doors in it -- one to the west, and another to the north east. The ceiling in this chamber raises to a great height, maybe 60 in the air, and it while there are no stairs or easy means of ascent, it appears this is the inside of one of towers visible from outside the Citadel. It appears to be merely decorative in function wiht no means of egress or anything built in the upper structure.
Trista consults her books as she walks, but looks up to gesture at the western door, "Farther from the strange dogs."
The team follows Trista's lead and pushes open the western door inside the hollow tower. The door opnes into a small space roughly 10x10 that ends in another door.
Fentus, using his Torch to burn away any cobwebs that come up, "Further away from those strange dogs the better,"
Looking back at the group, "Hopefully we can find something that is willing to talk things out rather than fight things out," he says as he walks forward and opens(or attempts to open) the West door.
"Provided I don't trip over something, I can always scout ahead and give us some warning as to what's coming...just for future reference," Elise says, following behind Fentus. "It would be lovely if we could find something willing to talk. I do not enjoy getting hurt."
Elise stands ready to unlock the door, should they need it.
Trailing behind, Valdrin keeps up with the group, watching behind for anyone or anything that might be following.
The second set of western doors are not locked, and open easily when Fentus pushes on them. Many rows of stadium-style benches fill the southern part of this room. To the north of the benches stands a wide dais. Garbage clutters what was once undoubtedly a pristine floor. A door stands on the western wall near the dais, while to the north an iron gate provides a view into a central courtyard beyond.
Several wooden cabinets stand at the southern end of the room, but appear to have been rifled through haphazardly, with some doors ajar and others off the hinges altogether.
From the north, outside the iron gate, you hear a series of barking growls and the grating sound of claws scraping on stone. Further in the distance, you haar the sounds of voices, more than just one or two, arguing or shouting, the actual words lost to the distance.
Elise frowns at the sounds of barks and growls and voices, looking around at the others. "I can't make out what's being said," the redhead says, dropping her voice low and drawing her rapier.
"Someone is out there shouting about a 'dungeon'. Doesn't sound like a goblin to me." Trista tilts her head. "Oh my. He's got quite the mouth on him."
Trying to peak around the corner, "Someone's arguing, huh? I'll try and take a look,"
Fentus will move up to the gate, trying to get a better look at whomever is arguing.
Checking the Iron Gate to see if its locked while he is there.
"I can hear that from here, and I'm sure their mother wouldn't let them talk like that in their household. Should we go further and see what's going on? Valdrin whispers towards the others.
Elise nods, tightening her grip on her rapier. "I hope it's Calmont. He has some explaining to do... let's go. I'm ready." Elise will try to stealth behind everyone to gain the advantage should whatever this upcoming confrontation be turn to battle.
As Fentus approaches the iron gate, he can see that is resting just slightly ajar. Interestingly, a single lock pick is still stuck in the lock, its shiny metal at contrast with the rusty iron of the gate.
Beyond the gate, a short flight of stairs leads down to an open-air courtyard surrounded by imposing octagonal wall. The heavy, rusted iron gate sits on the south side. A few errant milkweeds and tufts of crabgrass protrude from the cracked cobblestone flooring of the courtyard. The ground to the west is sunken in, creating a natural pool of rainwater. To the north, the battlements above have partially collapsed into a huge mound of stone and wooden rubble, under which some sort of reptilian creature seems to have been crushed. The top of half of a flight of wooden stairs rises up to the battlements above the collapsed section of the walls; broken planks from the bottom half lie amid the rubble below. A thick rope has been affixed via a grappling hood to the lower portion of the stairs, dangling down to within a few feet of the top of the rubble pile.
The desperate shouts and barking growls continue here, but nwo the sources are obvious. The shouts come from the battlements above, where a few goblins and a halfling man, holding another goblin at knifepoint, can be seen. The man seems to be threatening the goblins, while the goblins look like they are pleading for mercy. The source of the growling is of greater concern though -- for it comes from a large, draconic beast not far away at ground level, roaring at the delicious but inaccessible prey above.
"Well...looks like we found what we are looking for. Now, to get to them!" Trista makes ready to enter the courtyard with the group.
Olaf eyes the argument, but is more concerned with the lizard thing. "Well that's some beastie there, what is it?" he asks softly, gripping his blade and shield.
Gulping loudly, he quietly speaks matter-of-factly with his eyes on the beast, "Olaf, if that thing is hostile, I'll see to it that you can hit it harder than usual."
Courtyard - Round 1
26 Lizard thing
24 Serpens
23 Elise
22 Valdrin
21 Fentus
18 Trista
8 Olaf
Despite their attempts to be quiet, the great beast hears the part open the iron gate and move into the cobblestone courtyard. It moves ponderously across the open parade ground, closing enough to sweep its long tail across the entire line of the party. The club-like tail sweeps the feet of the group, trying to trip them all, but each party member avoids getting hurt or knocked prone. As it approaches you can smell the foulness emanating from its body, and seemingly its mouth. The smell is terrible, but not overpowering yet....
Shocked and unsure about the creature and its ability to sense the party, until Fentus looked over at the Torch he was holding, thinking to himself why didn't I stow this torch, augh idiot
Fentus spurs into action and moves away from the creature, skirting the pond in the middle of the room, worried of worse lurking in the murky water. He summons a ball of fire and throws it at the back of the lizard, trying to draw its attention.
Shouting at the lizard and waving his torch "Over here ya overgrown Gecko"
"May the light of Sarenrae guide your blade," the man mutters as he touches Olaf's blade, pouring in some divinity before running a bit from the creature. "Make your blows count! This creature looks hungry!"
With the monster right in his face, he grunts a thanks to Valdrin Olaf hefts his weapon and shield and growls, "High? Low? I'll take the middle"
Elise tries to recall what she knows about this creature, but can't, for the life of her, figure it out. She growls under her breath with frustration and nods to Serpens over the creature, lunging forward with her rapier twice.
Trista tries to remember what she knows of such creatures.
...But it doesn't seem to be listed in the book. She'll have to take some notes after this confrontation. She applies some alkali salts to her blade, thoughtfully. Almost everything hates these.
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