While Siobhan quietly prays for 10 minutes, a brief search of this room reveals nothing much, but in an adjoining antechamber you find two beds (one of which is covered in bird bones), a small sack, and an array of old tools. The second bed looks recently slept in, but there's nobody here now.
Moving back into the corridor, the other way forward is through another set of double doors, although the doors themselves are shattered and broken, one of them lying on the floor. The room beyond lies in an equal state of disrepair. What was once a library is now a shattered mess with one corner being completely collapsed and soaked in a wide pool of stagnant water. Thick fungus grows on most of the remaining books on the shelves lining the walls; although it looks like some of them might still be salvageable, and who knows what ancient wisdom they might contain (or, more prosaically, what they might be worth to someone who collects such things)?
Alorea looks over the shelves from a distance to see if she can find any salvageable books. If she does, she'll use mage hand to lift them and carry them over to her. She doesn't want to get close to the fungus!
Alorea's sharp eyes manage to spot a single tome which has managed to avoid the destructive fungus, perched atop one of the bookshelves. This
beautifully illustrated book is written in Dwarven and contains hymns to Torag; it could be worth as much as 10 gp to the right collector.
As her spell dislodges the book, the mould discharges a cloud of spores, choking and poisonous. Fortunately, the range of her spell keeps her (and the rest of the party) safe from danger.
A quick examination of the book reveals one additional treasure: folded into the last page is a scroll of Spiritual Weapon.
Alorea puts the book and the scroll in her pack for later examination. "Let's keep going."
Lucia gives Alorea a smile. "You have good eyesight, i dind't see that at all." She nods in reply. "i'm good to carry on."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lucia grins as she replies. "But then what esxcuse would Vy get to check you out - your injuries, I mean?" She's reasonbly sure that Siobhan hans't clocked Vy's attraction to her, but there's no rule she cna't have some fun with it. To a chaotic cahracter, there are not many rules full stop.
Vyana's eyes widen.
"Why would you ...? I don't ..." the girl sputters before looking to Siobhan for support. She raises her eyebrows questioning when her friend doesn't immediate come to her defense.
Vyana turns back to Lucia. "Von and are friends. Don't be ridiculous. We've got a job to do," she says before stomping out of the room.
|
"What?" Siobhan asked, obviously confused. "Vy and I are friends Lucia, not girlfriends." She continues, speaking slowly and clearly as though to someone elderly.
"Why does everyone think I'm going to sleep with my friends?" She murmurs to herself as she increases her pace to catch up with Vy before she charges too far off.
"Hey Vy, slow down!" She calls. "Are you ok? Lucia is just being silly. Don't worry about it." She adds when she catches up. "We probably shouldn't get too far ahead, just in case."
Lucia rolls her eyes as the pair run off - but she does realise she's crosed the line from having a bit of fun to pehraps being a bit mean. And being mean to those two is like kicking a puppy. Into another puppy. Sche catches Alorea's glance. "Alright, alright, I'll fix it."
When she reaches the others she holds her hands up apolgotically. [b]"I'm sorry. I didn't mean - well. There's a lot going on and I said something I probly shouldn't. I'm sorry
Alorea merely quirks an eyebrow at the antics of the human women. She reminds herself that they are much younger than her. She shakes her head and clasps her holy symbol of Desna as she waits for the drama to subside.
|
|
"You did say something you shouldn't have." Siobhan replies, rather firmly for her. "People's feelings are their own and no-one should be made the butt of a joke like that. You never know how people might be feeling about something, or someone. They might even be missing someone and the last thing they need is to be reminded of that."
She is at least subtle enough to not look at Vy as she says that.
She's got to be upset about Barlus and she doesn't need Lucia bringing this up now.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lucia nods in agreement with Siobhan. "It's true. YOU never do know how someone feels about you. So people - someone - will evenutally have to tell you, insetead of waiting for you to work it out for yourself." Wwhich is probly a good thing on teh whole, she reflects. If the gods made paladins who were quick on the uptake it would make it difuclut to get away with anythhing.
"Of course they should wait until they're ready to tel you in their own time. So I won't say any more on the ssubject, but people should knowo they can alwasy come and talk to me and I prommise not to laugh at them. Like I siad,there''s a lot going on and I let it get to me. I'm sorry."
"... They might even be missing someone and the last thing they need is to be reminded of that."
Vyana cringes as Siobhan seems to be taking every effort to point the finger at her. Part of her wishes that she'd just be quiet before she embarrasses her even more. Although, a different part of her warms at the paladin coming to her defense.
Purely in a 'friend' manner, though.
Because anything else would be ...
Vyana's face reddens.
"Enough about it," she says. "Focus on the important things, okay?"
Your heartfelt heart-to-heart is interrupted by the glint of a thrown knife that whirls past Siobhan's nose and buries itself in Lucia's arm with a meaty-sounding noise. A second knife just misses her, striking sparks as it clatters against the stone wall inches from her head. Out of the darkness ahead, a diminutive coal-black lizard type creature scurries into sight, chittering excitedly.
"See! See! Gurltekep no lie! Softskins there are, oh yes! More food for Graypelt. Kill for Graypelt and for glory of King Merlokrep, first and mightiest of his name, yes yes!"
From behind him you hear two low growls, before a pair of wolves race out of the darkness and into combat. One of them strikes at Siobhan while the other attempts to maul the injured Lucia. Roused to a bloodlust of fury, they both miss and their jaws close on nothing but the dank air of this ancient monastery.
From the next room, Alorea hears the danger before she sees it. The children must be in trouble again.
"More wolves!" Alorea groans. She casts a quick spell, raising a shield in front of Lucia. Shen then amps up another spell, lending extra psychic power to it. Four dancing lights appear behind and between the wolves, swirling together in dazzling patterns.
Success The creature is dazzled until the start of your next turn and then becomes temporarily immune for 1 minute.
Failure The creature is dazzled until the start of your next turn and must attempt a new save against the spell whenever it starts its turn adjacent to the lights.
Critical Failure As failure, but the creature is also fascinated by the lights until the start of your next turn.
Vyana turns and sends an arrow trailing sparks at the dagger thrower. She follows it up with an enspelled arrow.
"Ow! Not jsut wolves!" Lucia gives a cry of pain that serves to bring her friends to her defence. She attackes the wolf trying to bite her.
Wolf 1: 16 damage
Wolf 2: 7 damage
Hit, just
Knockdown
Hit
Knockdown
The wolves flinch as the flare from Alorea's spell disorients them, but they still manage to get a grasp on their foes, sinking their teeth in and dragging them to the floor.
With a hiss of fury, the black-scaled creature rushes forward, slashing with his sword over and over again at Lucia's prone form. Over and over and over. There's blood. So much blood.
So.
Much.
Blood.
"Lucia!" Vyana cries out before drawing a bead on the scaly thing.
Teh growing puddle on the floor aroud Lucia is the purplish-red of arterial blood, and it continues to leak from her wounds in spurts taht correspond to her fading pulse. But at laeast there is still a pulse - for now.
Alorea cries out as Lucia falls. She unleashes her psyche, restoring some of Lucia's health, then hurls a projectile at the scaly humanoid.
Wolf 1 (Vyana) 16 damage, Enfeebled 2
Wolf 2 (Siobhan) 12 + 19 damage
(d83 is not a thing)
Alorea's telekinetic spell misses, even with her best efforts it can't penetrate the creature's leather armour; but Vyana's arrow is deadly, striking the black-scaled creature with enough force to lift him off the ground! He lands flat on his back, twitching and sparking from the electricity zapping through his body, and tries to speak. "no... Gurtlekep is strong... fierce... he will kill.... softskins." With enormous effort, he wrenches the arrow out and tries to stand up, but that proves too much and with a last convulsion he dies.
Siobhan's sword cuts deeply into the wolf fighting her, but it still stands and continues to attack her. Its mate ignores Lucia for now, heading directly for the threat posed by Vyana. Vyana is bitten as she tries to dodge out of the way, although Siobhan's power spares her from harm; but even against a prone opponent, the wolf can't manage to penetrate Siobhan's defences and it growls with anger.
Alorea extends her psychic abilities to soothe Siobhan, then she hurls a projectile right into the wolf's head.
With one enemy dead and the wolves fighting other people, Lucia slowly gets up and moves away from the danger. As she moves, whether by acident or fate, her arm catches on the strings of her lute and it gives off a discordeant set of sounds, of conflict and danger and a call to action. Aopart from taht she focuses on trying not to bleed too much.
HP 4/16
2 Focus points
1/3 Hero points
Curent efects: Inspire courage, wounded 1
Cantrips Ghost sound, Lihgt, Mage Hand, Summon Instrument, Sheild
Spells 2/day (magic weapn, soothe, true strike)
Siobhan and Alorea manage to kill the two remaining wolves.
They don't have any loot, but the kobold had 4 daggers, leather armour, a shortsword, thieves' tools and 2 potions of minor healing. A small sack on his belt holds 6 gold pieces and a single hexagonal garnet gem (worth 30 gp).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Unk." Lucia has been trying to hold her wounds together to stop the bleeding. With the fight over, she sits heavily on the floor. "I don't feel well enought to work today, Jak. Can I have the evening off?" Her eyes slowly focus on the gem that Siobhan is holdoing up. "Oooh, shiny. You've got the light from the - thing - keep you all lit up - shine like -" she starts grabbing at the air. "little angels." She looks solumnly at Siobhan and shakes her head. "You can't fix that by geting all - bendy."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"It's a gemstone, Von. Nothing special," Vyana says as she checks to see if Lucia is okay - giving her one of the healing potions the scaled attacker was carrying when she sees the state she's in.
Alorea just shrugs. She puts her hands to her temples and wait for her psyche-induced headache to subside.
After everybody's had ten minutes to catch their breath (during which time, she meditates to regain her focus), Alorea stands up and begins looking around again. "Let's keep on. Are there more paths to follow here? If not, perhaps we missed something earlier. We could go back and look around again."
Lucia gives Sibhan a painful grin as the other woman heals her. "MAgic hands." Now that she feels better, she politely waves away the offer of a potion from Vyana. "Thanks, but let's save that for an emercgency." She spends 10 minutes or so tuning up her lute, and humming a few tunes, there's a magic in it that restores her back to full health.
She shakes her head at Alroea's suggestion. "People are dying, we need to find the mushrooms not amuse ourselfves looking around." She stands up. "Come on, let's keep moving."
Vyana stows the declined potion with a shrug.
"Yes, we need to keep searching," she says tersely.
Beyond the dead bodies of the wolves and the kobold, the passageway continues onwards. Your torchlight reveals a doorway to one side, the door that blocked it once heavily fortified and barred but long since fallen to rot and mould and rust. Old cobweb-covered racks and armour stands fill much of this small chamber. What must have once been a well-tended armoury is now devoid of arms and armour.
A little further down, you find a small, cramped room. One side of this dark chamber is a wall of bars. Four rusted doors in this wall once opened into four cramped cells. The doors have long since been broken down, and the floor is littered with bones.
When you enter, there is a rattling sound and three skeletons rise to attack you! There is a strange yellow flickering in their empty eye sockets which adds to their unnerving appearance.
As they move through the armory, Vyana stoops down and reaches underneath one of the weapon racks to retrieve a pair of arrows that glimmer in the dim light.
"These are enchanted," she says before stowing them in her quiver.
~~~~~
"Undead!" she calls out as the skeletons advance.
Alorea casts shield on Siobhan before hurling a large bone at one of the skeletons!
Lucia nods at Vyana's explantion for the arrows, she'll take the half-elf's word for it. She gives a yelp as teh bones put themselves back together, and moves to put herself betwen them and the archer.
LUCIA
SIOBHAN
Vyana's arrow doesn't do a lot of damage by itself, but the magic that she has enchanted it with is enough to tear apart one of the skeletons. Alorea's spell flings something across the room, hitting nothing. Lucia's sword just bounces off, doing no discernible damage. In reply, the skeleton rakes its claws at Lucia, gashing her cheek open.
The other remaining skeleton lurches towards Siobhan, its claws lashing out at the paladin as it tries to strangle her! The yellow-glowing eye sockets seem to flicker with renewed intensity of hatred at the holy symbol Siobhan is wearing.
Alorea unleashes her psyche, heals Lucia, and misses with a hurled projectile.
The pain from her injury is gone almost as soon as Lucia feels it and she gives Alorea a quick nod to say thanks. She continues her inspiring enchantmnet, and hacks at the skeleton. Hoping she can actualy damage it this time.
Vyana looses another pair of arrows at the remaining undead.
Lucia's sword hits with enough force this time to destroy the skeleton she's fighting, while Vyana's ensorcelled arrow punches through Siobhan's attacker, putting it down.
A quick look around this cell reveals one skeleton that did not arise: lying peacefully on its straw cot, hands clasped together at rest, it has a ring on one finger. Alorea, who knows a little about dwarven relics, is able to identify it as a Ring of Torag.
Activate [one-action] Interact; Frequency once per round; Requirements You’re taking persistent fire damage; Effect You call upon the ring to put out the flame and its magic attempts to bring the fire under control. This is especially effective assistance against persistent fire damage, so you gain an immediate flat check to remove the persistent fire damage, and the DC typically decreases from 15 to 10.
Activate [reaction] envision; Frequency once per day; Trigger You’re targeted by a fire effect; Effect The ring’s red gemstone flashes with light, granting you resistance 5 against fire and a +1 status bonus on your AC or saving throw against the fire effect targeting you; these benefits end as soon as the fire effect is resolved.
Alorea examines the ring. "This is blessed by Torag. It can protect you from fire and help extinguish the flames if you catch ablaze. Very useful for those who work the forge."
She offers it to whoever would like it, then prepares to continue exploring.
The door to the next room hangs half-open on rusted hinges. It was presumably once a small study, but it is now given over to other purposes. Gnawed bones litter the floor, and tufts of grey fur lie scattered here and there. An old stone desk sits in the centre of the chamber, scratched and cracked in many places. The stench of wet fur hangs heavy in the air.
The desk is curiously made, carved out of the same stone that forms the floor; almost a sculpture. Save for a few tattered and ancient quill feathers, it is bare.
The prayer book is written in Dwarven and seems to describe the worship of Droskar. To a scholar interested in such things, it would be worth 15 gp. A handwritten note is scrawled on the inside of the book.
DWARVEN