Feeling that precision is more important than power for this fight, Felix tempers his strength and tries to focus on hitting the enemy, trusting in the weight of his weapon to deliver the damage needed. He swings at the new skeleton next the wall, letting Kevan attack the target between them.
Felix attacks out with his flair towards the one that is coming down the stairs from the east . His swing causes the skeleton to crumple to dust.
Initiative: Round 2
S
Felix
Esgean
S
Jhessa
Herskor
Kevan
Aldmus
S
S
Rejke contained to fiercely battle the skeleton, even though her teeth and claws found no flesh to rend. The bobcat hiss and spat and flailed on its hind legs.
Meanwhile Esgean swings her quarterstaff defensively.
Rejke’s bite and Esgean’s swing of her quarterstaff finish off the final two skeletons. As their bodies fall and crumple, the dust fills the tomb momentarily possibly causing a few of you to cough and/or sneeze. As the dust settles you see that each skeleton was carrying a sword and some armor. On further inspection, they are corroded and broken.
Without the battle going on, you see the full display of the paintings on the wall. You also notice that the sound of wailing is echoing from the east doorway.
You also notice the wounds on the bodies in this room matches those of the horses outside, and even on what some of you have received in this battle. There is a pair of packs near what looks to be a makeshift campsite.
A large pillow, 2 quivers (10 blunt arrows each), 2 days’ worth of rations, a full waterskin, 2 smokesticks.
As you look at the bodies, you recognize them. They are two men from Kassen, you have seen them hanging around with the mayor. Gerol and Vark.
When the last skeleton falls Esgean clutches the wound to her side, then she sees her valiant feline friend is in even worse shape. She sits next to Rejke on the step.
"It's been a long day. This is not a good campsight but with any luck we've now dealt with the things that got these poor souls. Can we rest here and heal before venturing further into the tomb?"
"So." Aldmus sighs, running the fingers of his left hand through his hair and begins to speak...but then starts to cough due to the dust. This lasts a few moments before he tries to continue. "Um...good job, guys."
Grimble finally settles on Aldmus' shoulder, which further interupts the magic-user, but then he says, "Look. I have to apologize for abandoning you all back there."
Obviously flustered, he adds, "It was the gorge, ok? It was just...it was too high up. Needing to use the ropes and all...well, it was just too much for me, ok? Ever since I fell out of that tree when I was twelve and broke my arm, I just can't handle..."
Another pause, and the half-elf looks at each of the others in turn, "What I'm trying to say is that I was scared, alright? I can't do heights. They bother me so much that I still haven't mastered the 'Feather Fall' spell...which is ridiculous, since it would protect me from the very thing I'm afraid of, but..."
"I walked a couple of miles before I decided I couldn't bear to let you all down." Another pause, before he smirks a bit, and a little of the twinkle in his eye returns, "But don't go thinking that I've gone soft, or anything. Obviously this isn't about guilt or the shame of running away."
"I told you all I would do this with you, and I always keep my word." Aldmus finishes strong, but then momentarily softens, shrugs, and says, simply "Ok?"
"What were those things..?" - Herskor growled, looking at the piles of bones, crouching down next to one of them and poking them.
"I told you all I would do this with you, and I always keep my word." Aldmus finishes strong, but then momentarily softens, shrugs, and says, simply "Ok?"
"It is all well Aldmus" - the half-orc turned back, and stood up to face the wizard - "This is a trial for all of us. And you are here. It is all that matters" - he added, placing a hand on his shoulder and offering a reassuring nod.
"About the tracks outside" - he faced the others - "It looks as if a group of four and some horses came from the west. From the east it was harder to understand. The tracks are messed up, and I could not get a good count - but the trail shows people coming and going. I am not sure how many though. I could find humanoid and horse tracks"
"It's been a long day. This is not a good campsight but with any luck we've now dealt with the things that got these poor souls. Can we rest here and heal before venturing further into the tomb?"
"Esgean is probably right - we should rest" - he agreed - "I can keep watch toward the inside of the tomb. My vision can pierce the veil of darkness"
"I'm all for it...but Can we rest with that moaning and wailing going on? Not sure any of us will be able to relax..."
Felix is nodding in satisfaction at the destruction of the undead, but his thoughts are interrupted when he stops to listen to Aldmus.
"Well, I think you're pretty brave, Aldmus. The rest of us travailed the slope down, but you did it despite your fear of heights.
"Sir Dramott says that everybody is afraid of something. What makes people brave is when they do things despite their fear."
He nods at the mage and then turns to contemplate the piles of dust and bones and the dead men.
"Do you think the skeletons came out of the cave to kill the horses outside?"
"What were those things..?" - Herskor growled, looking at the piles of bones, crouching down next to one of them and poking them.
Secretly pleased at a question she has a straightforward answer to, Jhessa replies, "They were animated skeletons, brought into a parody of life by unholy magic of some kind. Such living dead are an abomination, a stain on the beauty of life and a nightmare for the poor souls unable to rest. Destruction of such unnatural creatures does everyone a favour," she declares, her tone surprisingly strident.
As Aldmus tells his tale, she also echoes the thoughts of her companions. "It take real courage to do what you did," she says. "First you faced your fears and then, probably even harder, you admitted them to us. That's no small thing. Thank you for sharing with us and your company is most welcome." She smiles encouragingly at the half-elf. "So yes, it's definitely ok."
"Do you think the skeletons came out of the cave to kill the horses outside?"
"The wounds those poor creatures suffered seem very similar to the ones taken by the people here." Jhessa shudders at the thought of those skeletal claws rending flesh. "It seems likely then that they probably did. Speaking of which, please forgive me but can I take a look at anyone's injuries? If we're going to rest here then we should try to make ourselves as comfortable as possible."
"I'm all for it...but Can we rest with that moaning and wailing going on? Not sure any of us will be able to relax..."
"A good point," Jhessa concedes, "but these aren't the ideal circumstances anyway. We could go look for the source of it but who knows how long that might take or what we might find while investigating. So I'm inclined to say let's stop here and do what we can." She scans the room. "Is there anything we can do to give ourselves as much warning as possible if something is trying to enter, or ideally deter it from doing so at all?"
Aldmus simply nods, doing his best to refrain from blushing at his companions' kind words. He only mildly succeeds, but instead moves on to the topic at hand, "Well, if we're going to make camp, alright, then Grimble can certainly help. I'd like to point out the obvious issue of having three exits from this room, which includes the door we just came through. Definitely will need at least two people on guard, at a minimum."
Esgean was glad to see Aldmus not only returned after a brief interlude but taking charge. She had failed to rally the team around her idea at the gorge and it had almost cost them Felix' life. She never considered herself a leader and did not aspire to the role. It was enough that her request to camp here had been given thorough consideration. She would better spend her energy to heal.
"I am most concerned with that sound coming from the east doorway. But here, we can use the bones from these undead and scatter them in the corridors. Anything approaching this chamber should kick the bones and alert us to its presence. We won't be surprised again."
Esgean sets to work on this task while Rejke keeps watch.
”Good idea,” Jhessa agrees, picking up some of the bones - somewhat reluctantly if she’s honest with herself - and helps Esgean to create a makeshift alarm. She also checks all of the doors for keys or anything that could be used to bar them from the inside.
Herskor finds a place to sit down more toward the inner side of the tomb, and keeps an eye on the 'dark side'
The party discusses using the bones as a makeshift alarm system. The exterior door can be shut and barred.
Climbing up the stairs to the east entry you see that there are no doors, and that the hallway leads to a large chamber that contains a maze of pillars that makes it hard to see anything from the room you are currently in. It is from this direction that you hear the wailing continuing from.
Climbing up the stairs to the west entry you see that it opens into a room containing a pool, you hear the sound of running water.
A large pillow, 2 quivers (10 blunt arrows each), 2 days’ worth of rations, a full waterskin, 2 smokesticks.
As you look at the bodies, you recognize them. They are two men from Kassen, you have seen them hanging around with the mayor. Gerol and Vark.
Felix helps out with the bone trap, announcing, "After we return the Everflame to town, I'm going to come back out here and put these bones to rest. This is not the worst thing these skeletons were forced to endure, but this feels disrespectful."
After the work is done, Felix limps over to a place to take off his armor and sit down.
"Jhessa, between my ankle, and a couple of good shots the skeletons got in, I'm pretty banged up. Can you take a look at my injuries?"
Esgean considers Felix' pledge. "I admire your conviction, Felix. I'm not overly familiar with the magic of evil, but I believe the spell used to create these undead gives them a singular purpose. The spirits that once inhabited the flesh are long ago released. Yet if you are compelled by a greater purpose to set these bones to rest I will aid you later."
With Felix calling on Jhessa's talents, Esgean focuses on healing herself. She had made poor choices for spells this day and was left with a diminishing supply of goodberries - enough to heal her wounds and fill her belly twice over. She gave one to Rejke to satisfy her hunger while the poor cat licked at her egregious wounds, then Esgean forced herself to stomach the rest, and by time for sleep she was nearly feeling whole again.
Consumed last 5 goodberries: 4 to Esgean and 1 to Rejke
Taking the large pillow from the meager goods she let Rejke sleep on it and rested her head near the cat's matted fur. She also takes the rations; tomorrow's spells will be heavy on cure effects.
"Esgean, that was really awesome how you and your cat did this and then that and smashed those skeletons." Kevan does a little bob and weave as he describes the battle. Then he checks on the two bodies to see if he knows them and to see what they have on them. If no glimmer of recognition hits him he moves to the packs and snakes the smokesticks unless someone else calls dibs. "Ooo, these look useful."
When the group goes to explore the east and west doors, Kevan picks up his still glowing rock and holds it aloft when the doors are opened. "Anyone think that water is safe? Probably has an octopus in it. I heard they will grab your face and try to suck your brain out your nose. Nasty things." When looking at the room with pillars, [b]"It almost looks like a maze. Can I try it out?" Kevan asks. Obviously, curiosity and not self preservation is high on Kevan's list of priorities.
Did the bodies have belt pouches? Any coinage at all?
"Mind the bones on the floor please, Kevan," says Esgean, not wanting to risk a false alarm. She sees the harm in any member of the group venturing ahead alone, but she has not the energy nor the desire to go with until the group is rested and Rejke is healed.
Aldmus grins at Esgean, "Clever idea with the bones. Will have to remember that one."
He then frowns slightly, thinking, "We'll need a fire. Will probably have to collect wood and kindling from outside, unless one of you has a lantern? Until then..." Aldmus simply reaches out to touch the end of his staff and says, "Lux"
Instantly the end of the walking stick flares brightly, glowing with a pale blue-white light that illuminates the area in roughly a 20' radius circle. He then makes his way over to each set of steps (along with at least somebody else) to take a look at what's there.
Kevan is careful to avoid bones on the ground and since Esgean didn't say no, he slips into the room that looks like a maze. "Be right back," he says over his shoulder and then slips into the east room getting close to the eastern wall and hiding as best he can. 'As a wise halfling once told me, when in a maze, follow the right hand wall.' he thinks and so he does. As he goes he looks for trip wires or pressure plates like in the stories.
Felix helps out with the bone trap, announcing, "After we return the Everflame to town, I'm going to come back out here and put these bones to rest. This is not the worst thing these skeletons were forced to endure, but this feels disrespectful."
After the work is done, Felix limps over to a place to take off his armor and sit down.
"Jhessa, between my ankle, and a couple of good shots the skeletons got in, I'm pretty banged up. Can you take a look at my injuries?"
"That's a good idea. Like with the body by the lake, I think there's looking like a lot that we want to set in order once we're done. Jhessa looks at the skeletal remains, the bodies on the floor and thinks of those they passed outside. I'm thinking this isn't going to be the procession I believed it might be either."
She moves over to where Felix has seated himself to check out his wounds. The strapping on his ankle seems to be holding up ok but the gashes from the skeletons look nasty. She doesn't have any ointment or herbs but she can at least wash the wound. She opens her waterskin and decants a small amount. "Here, let me rinse it. This might sting a bit but should help prevent infection." She carefully pours water over the scratches. "Assuming we're going to rest shortly, I have one more healing prayer for the day so I think the best thing is to cast it now. Flipping her hair out of her face she looks Felix in the eye. "May I?" she asks, before gently placing her hand on the wound. She chants through the spell, offering thanks to Shelyn and praising Felix as a good man who fought bravely and led by example. As she finishes the casting, divine energy pours forth from her splayed fingers and the wounds rapidly turn through an angry shade of red before knitting together and fading until they are the same shade as the man's skin. No visible trace of them remains.
While she's been tending to Felix, Kevan has disappeared out of the room. "I thought we were stopping for the night," she mutters to the paladin. "I hope he knows what he's doing - this place is clearly dangerous."
Felix nods in response to Jhessa's question, and then breathes a sigh of relief as his wounds magically knit together.
"Thanks."
If your Heal check is successful, the patient recovers hit points or ability score points (lost to ability damage) at twice the normal rate: 2 hit points per level for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 hit points per level for each full day of complete rest; 2 ability score points for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 ability score points for each full day of complete rest.
While she's been tending to Felix, Kevan has disappeared out of the room. "I thought we were stopping for the night," she mutters to the paladin. "I hope he knows what he's doing - this place is clearly dangerous."
"Halflings age differently than humans, and Kevan has been alive a lot more years than we have. I want him to be careful, too, but I also want to respect his experience."
As most of the group is securing this entry room for a place to rest for a short while, Kevan has other plans as he moves east to see what that room holds.
Aldmus uses his Light spell to reveal the rooms to the west and east from the entry way. He sees no immediate threat. The only sounds are running water to the west and the wailing to the east.
Jhessa looks over Felix’s wounds with concern of infection. With Shelyn’s energy moving through her into Felix, he begins to instantly feel better. Even his ankle feels better, though it is still tinder and he knows he won’t be as spry as usual.
Esgean feels better after taking her last Goodberries. Rejke seems thankful for these oddly place pillows as she rests on it.
Kevan moves east… this large chamber contains a maze of pillars that obscure the far side of the room. As you enter, you see three brooms leaning against the walls before it opens to the pillar filled room. The wailing here grows louder.
Kevan follows the right side of the wall and you come to a dead-end alcove, nothing there. Continuing east you find a second alcove, here you do find something. A small switch set in the wall. As you are looking over the switch you notice the stone work of the floor to your left doesn’t quite line up. You find a pressure place and discover that there is a trap here . Possibly a pit trap. You are able to find a way to lock the pressure plate in place and disable the trap.
Herskor shakes his head as again Kevan goes off on his own, then moves to the entrance of the cave, standing watch - "One day he will get into more trouble than he can handle" - the half-orc grumbles to himself.
Kevan continues forward stealthily, checking for traps and spying out the door. He pads along quietly but the light makes him obvious to see, need to fix that at some point in the future, he thinks.
"How does that feel?" Jhessa asks Felix, part of her wanting to touch the smooth-again skin, a tangible mark of her goddess. How could anyone ever get bored of such a blessing? she wonders.
"Let me re-do that bandage on your ankle though, make it more comfortable for resting rather than movement." She undoes it, before wrapping it again, still supportive but bound more loosely in order to let the swelling go down.
"Halflings age differently than humans, and Kevan has been alive a lot more years than we have. I want him to be careful, too, but I also want to respect his experience."
"A good point well made," she acknowledges.
"How does that feel?" Jhessa asks Felix,
Felix nods in answer. "I think I just need to rest it for the night."
Aldmus, seemingly oblivious to the romantic tension between Jhessa and Felix, scowls after Kevan and says to Herskor, "Is he trying to get himself killed? There could be more of these skeletons...or worse, whatever it is that's wailing could find him, all alone, in the dark..."
"I already warned him once Aldmus..." - Herskor grunted.
Kevan moves slightly further east before coming across a door that leads south. The wailing is coming from that direction. Checking for traps, Kevan notices none at the door. What he does quickly notice is that this door’s locking mechanism is either beyond anything he has ever seen, or there is another way to unlock this door.
The rest of the group can use what firewood was already at this makeshift campsite to start a fire. You can only assume was set up by the two men that now lay lifelessly in the middle of the room. Which you are thankful for because standing next to the outter door, you can hear the rain starting to come down even harder. It would be a chore to find usable firewood at this point.
Not hearing anything besides the wailing coming from the east could be concerning, why aren’t you hearing anything from Kevan? Maybe that’s good. maybe that's bad. The common thought on the issue is that the halfling is going to get himself killed.
Still from the west you hear the sound of pouring water into the pool.
Jhessa tends to Felix’s sprained ankle. He won’t be perfect tomorrow, but she thinks he will be mostly back to normal.
Esgean snuggles with Rejke and closes her eyes. Kevan is nothing if not resourceful, probably.
Kevan bounces back the way he came and walks around the bones as best as possible. "It looks pretty exciting in there. I found a trap and a door, but a door with a special locking mechanism. I thought we could try to figure it out tomorrow." Kevan then sits down to eat, drink some water and crash pending his time on watch.
"Sounds like a solid idea" - Herskor replied, while munching on some dried rations.
"Well done Kevan, thanks for taking a look," says Jhessa, sitting up from where she had placed her pillow as the halfling re-enters the room. "Hopefully that means it'll be harder for anything to come through that way if they're not as careful as you in seeing the trap. I think that makes sense - best to explore and figure it out properly once we're properly rested." She yawns but she has to confess that Kevan's boundless enthusiasm is infectious.
Aldmus frowns, glancing back and forth between Herskor and Jhessa, and then over at Kevan. "While your efforts are definitely appreciated by all of us, Master Nimblefingers, I guess I'll have to be the one to bring this up: Perhaps you could wait for the rest of us, the next time you find a mysterious maze that could be laiden with traps? It would have been truly a shame if you had stumbled across more skeletons, or ...worse...while all by yourself."
A pause, then the half-elf adds, "Wouldn't want to lose you."
"Thank you for your concern master wizard but don't worry about it. I've got halfling luck and things like that don't happen to me. Why I remember when we had a town gathering out by the big sycamore and a bee nest fell from the tree right in the middle of everything. I didn't get a sting, halfling luck. What I don't have is eyes that see in the dark. I need to fix that somehow. I don't suppose you have a spell that fixes that do you?" Most who have been at the town for the last few years would likely remember this and Kevan's unique proximity to the center of madness, hmm.
The group hungers down and decides to rest and recuperate following the incident of those who slipped down the gorge and the skeleton attacks in this first room. Outside of the turns taken during their assigned watch times. Jhessa provides long-term care for Felix’s ankle. Esgean cuddles with Rejke. But everyone else tends to their own doings while at watch.
While on watch, the constant dripping and flowing of water coming from the west and the never ceasing wailing from the east could potentially drive a person mad. The now rolling thunder coming from outside the massive wooden doors that are could give the group some comfort knowing that not many things would be lurking about in that kind of weather.
Once everyone is up and ready to go, you realize it is still the same day. Though it is late in the day. The wood supply that was here from the two dead in the room is virtually depleted. Not enough to last another night’s rest.
You have three options: east, west, or return home.
"I don't want to run into an octopus, let's explore the maze room?" Kevan suggests and starts walking that direction.
Esgean wakes to the soft sound of Rejke purring. She know the cat well enough to hear that this is a sound not made from joy but from pain - a cat's way of healing itself.
She takes an hour to memorize her spells for the day, then quickly exhausts them. Her hands comb through the bobcat's thick fur and the druid whispers in an ancient language known to few.
Most of Rejke's wounds disappear, and the cat wakes with a contented look on her face.
Esgean then whispers the words to another spell, and a small pile of goodberries appear in her lap.
She feeds one of the berries to her companion. "There, all better."
Esgean is content to let Kevan lead the way. She takes a femur and casts a cantrip on it, Light. Then, once they get moving, she casts Guidance on Kevan.
"Show us the way, Kevan."
"Wait for us, though, Kevan," Felix says while laboriously slipping his hauberk on over his head.
"We don't know what might have come sniffing around while we slept and already knows we're here. There's no need for anything to find you while the rest of us are still catching up."
"Roger, dodger, big guy." Kevan says and gives a rough salute. He then stands by at the top of the steps grinning whenever someone looks at him. Once they begin to move he takes the right hand turn, points out his handiwork with the trap, and takes everyone to the door. "This is as far as I got. I figure if they trapped one spot they probably trapped another. Do you want to search more of the maze or wait for me to try and open this door? It's got a squirrelly locking system so it may not open at the door."
Felix smiles and salutes back to Kevan, then bends down to strap on the rest of his armor.
Jhessa sleeps a strange, slightly discombobulated sleep and is woken to find herself not in her bed at the temple. Quickly remembering where she was and she's been doing, she splashes water on her face to feel more alert and takes her turn on watch. I know we've not been here for that long but being underground like this is disorientating in terms of the passage of time.
When everybody gets up and ready to move on, Kevan is champing at the bit to go and explore the maze further. "So..." says Jhessa, walking through her thoughts aloud, "I'm making some assumptions here but I think Kevan is right in that there are probably more traps within the maze. Perhaps it was sheer halfling luck to find one but it seems likely there may be others." She pauses briefly before continuing, "And I think it's probably unlikely that anything alive - or undead - is lurking in here as nothing attempted to come through the door when we were resting and we never heard anything. So to answer the question, is there any reason for us not to continue searching the maze while you work on the lock?"
Thinking further, she asks "Can you show us the trap please, Kevan? It might help us find others if we know what this one looks like?"
The group moves in following Kevan’s path that he first explored earlier this day. You all see the switch that is set in the wall.
Kevan also shows the group the trap that he found based on Jhessa’s question. Had Kevan not shown all of you, you would have walked right over it as if it was another section of this stone floor.
The group finally ends up at the last spot that Kevan went before turning around, another massive wooden door that is locked.
Kevan initially tries to open the door (based on the earlier description I'm not sure this is possible).
"Aha, halfling ingenuity at its best. With such a special lock I bet there is something extremely special behind it. Maybe even something valuable. I can't wait." kevan says and then allows someone much bigger to open the door that he has just unlocked.
"Hmm, it looks like this is not your typical lock. I'll have to look around for some other means of opening it." He looks at the gathered group and concern for their safety crosses his mind. "There are traps as noted by the first one. If one of you big people goes tromping around in the maze, be very careful, you're not a halfling." Then he starts heading east along the right hand wall again intent on working his way around the area following that wall.
Sleep came, not easily, but Aldmus was perhaps more weary from his experience coming all the way down the gorge than he was from casting spells. The young magic-user spends an hour refamiliarizing himself with his arcane text, and preparing his spells for the day.
Glowing staff in hand, the half-elven mage looks on intensely when Kevan points out the trap, knowing that he would have absolutely blundered right into it without being shown where it was.
Impressed by the flippant halfling's skill, Aldmus holds his tongue and watches as Kevan as he turns his sights on the locked door.