Gretta is distracted by Dal's statement about Dal, so when the thing starts to shake, instead of running, she says "I think it might-" explode, is what is does, and she takes it full force, thrown backward, than crashing into unconsciousness.
Nelus's cheeks practically burst into flames at Zaburb's retort, and despite being in the middle of a fight he can't help but turn away as if to make it as clear as possible that he wasn't looking at her ass!
And then he gets hit with the worm-goo...
Archa takes only a bit of damage from the blast. She grits her teeth and begins the lengthy process of tending to the injured.
Much like Gretta, Dal is fully hit by the explosion and is thrown against the wall, hitting her head.
Lennor turns just in time to face the full brunt of the blast, just barely managing to withstand it. She rushes to Gretta's aid as the warrior falls, unwilling to let this be where her story ends.
Pale and sweating, she allows herself to take a breath and relax once it's clear Gretta will survive this, at least. Still, it's not long before she gets back to helping Archa treat the injuries of the others.
Nelus racks his brain on the book titles, but only is able to surmise that these three volumes are grim treatises on necromancy.
Thoroughly battered, bruised and basted with worm goo, the party decides a short rest is in order and takes some time to heal up ensuring they are in shape to continue exploring.
Once everyone is ready to go, they open the southern door and find another staircase that leads down to an even lower level. Deciding there is more to explore on this floor, you return to the spiraling staircase you descended from the workshop above and continue east through the closed door.
Seven square alcoves, each containing strange magical apparatuses or alchemical sets of tools, ring this damp stone chamber. The alcove to the north contains a large glass tank filled with liquid. A goblin’s corpse, clad in outdated servant’s clothing, floats inside it. A semicircular worktable covered with tools, moldy papers, and a large open book stands in front of the tank. The northwest alcove contains a doll resembling an armless, legless goblin. It has an indentation in its back the same size as soul focus gem found above inside of the tiny bird you fought.
Gretta lives, her large eyes open to see Lennor trying to fix her battered body. "thanks" spoken tired without much spark in her. She rests her head back against the bandages, then pulls her frame off the ground, wraps her hand around the shaft of her hammer. She is ready.
She doesn't seem to be looking around really well. "Armless. Legless. Why?"
Something in Lennor's stomach twists as she examines the laboratory, and she turns away from the tanks. "Disgusting."
Nelus passes over a flask of herbal tea to Gretta for her to sip on while she recovers. He accidentally sits down facing the goblin jar, shudders, and turns himself so he doesn't have to look at it.
"Maybe the doll just hasn't been finished yet? It's still missing the gem that would let it move, so maybe the other missing parts just haven't been added."
"We could ask it?" Gretta is curious, even if the doll is creepier than the blood cloud that could have killed them all. Searching for the gem, she finds it, gives everyone a moment to yell NO, then inserts the gem in where it makes sense for it to live.
Then she jumps back ready for it to come at her throat.
Putting the gem into the doll causes it to spring to life. It does not appear aggressive however, instead it starts screaming and wiggling.
It takes nearly a minute of calming words from Gretta to stop the sobs and hysteria before it starts speaking. "M-my master betrayed me! Wwaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
The sobbing returns for nearly a minute more before heaving sobbing breaths it continues, " Immortality he promised! B-but a tortured existence in this cursed stone I received!"
Lennor tenses, ready for an attack, but instead finds herself blinking in stunned surprise.
"That is...not what I expected," she says simply.
Gretta picks up the wailing torso, pressing it to her and patting it on its back, like she's seen plenty of mama's doing time and again, "Oh, poor..." she looks at Lennor with a big question all over her face before ending with "thing?" probably not the best endearment, but she was flummoxed! Twice over.
"Shh Shhhhhhhh ShhhHHH, please" the warrior is bobbing awkwardly up and down, trying, when there is any break she tries to ask "Who is your master?"
Between sobs the doll speaks "Wwaaahh, I worked for Master Volluk, a powerful mastermind drow occultist artist crtaftsman. Had a relationship with the book lady down below who worked for mistress Belcorra who is very very scary and none of my business."
"Um... is that you?" Gretta takes her hand away from patting the doll's back to point at the goblin corpse.
The goblin's sobbing stops as the doll takes note of the corpse, gasping at the shock of seeing its body. "Yes. That was me. Borbo the goblin."
With a heavy sigh the doll says "Take my gem out and smash it into a billionmillionzillion pieces! I do not wish to live this miserable existence any longer, I can't take it!"
"Oh, um... I'm Gretta, nice to, I mean, Hi, Borbo." Gretta looking at her companions, rather lost, until her eyes fall on their barbarian "We should bury you first, your body... um, to make sure you have a nice resting place."
"Or burn it? I know some goblins prefer that, but that doesn't mean that you'd have to- Erm. I just- Whatever you're most comfortable with?"
"Don't you wish some revenge?" Dal asks the doll. "Before you go? If you feel that much betrayed, not resolving such issues could make it difficult for you to make the final crossing."
"Or burn it? I know some goblins prefer that, but that doesn't mean that you'd have to- Erm. I just- Whatever you're most comfortable with?"
Borbo the considers the suggestion. "Hmm. Burn. Yes. Fire always good."
"Don't you wish some revenge?" Dal asks the doll. "Before you go? If you feel that much betrayed, not resolving such issues could make it difficult for you to make the final crossing."
"Revenge? Not possible. Volluk is a cruel mastermind and Borbo is a doll who can't even walk."
"We could make you legs... well not me, but Nelus over there, he's a genius. I bet he could make you legs, then you could walk All Over." Gretta prods towards living "Um,Volluk? Didn't he own this place once?"
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"Legs are overrated," Archa remarks, blinking her reptilian eyes slowly.
"Yes," Lennor says. "We can help get you new legs and take your revenge on this Volluk creature."
Borbo's sobbing slows as it considers your offer. After a moment of thinking this over it agrees to postpone the idea of gem smashing for now. "Okay. You help Borbo not be useless and take revenge on Master Volluk and Borbo help you best he can. Agree?"
"Volluk Azinrae was an evil-genius drow who was apprentice to Mistress Belcorra. The keep belonged to Belcorra, but this building was his. This area was his workshop. He created lots of creatures to help him and Mistress Belcorra here. That is when he wasn't spending time with the book lady down below."
Borbo does his best to swing his neck towards the southern alcove. He mentions "Lever in toolbox there opens secret door down to book-lady floor."
Nelus looks slightly panicked to be put on the spot. "Oh! Well I errm, I haven't made legs for a construct before, but... I suppose the principles are... Yes, I can do it. I think I can do it."
"In the worst case," Lennor says, shrugging, "Absalom is not far from here. I am sure there is an artisan there who may be able to help. Now, shall we continue?"
"He can do it" Gretta assures the torso in her arms "I'm sure of it."
Tucking Borbo away safely, the group heads back upstairs and out of the workshop, back across the bridge and into the main keep before traversing the set of secret stairs you found hidden in the office.
The stairs descend for fifteen feet to a wooden door which opens with a loud creak. Beyond you find an empty cold, damp stone room. Three plain wooden chairs sit along the east wall and another door heads west.
Both Lennor and Nelus identify there is a secret door hidden in the east wall behind the middle chair on the wall.
"There, behind the chair," Lennor says, pointing a slender finger. "A cleverly hidden door. Shall we investigate?"
"Why would they need two secret doors just to get into an empty room? Oh! But you're right, we should investigate."
Since the two smartest of them think it is a good idea, Gretta moves toward the door, taking a moment to study it with her magic. She adjusts Borbo so it can see over her massive shoulder, then opens the door.
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"Standard move would be to put something here that is interesting enough for those who have found the first secret door think 'oh, look at this, so shiny' and don't bother looking further and finding the second door." Dal voices her opinion.
"They did the opposite... made it so boring that when we entered we were like 'wait, is that it? No there should be something more'."
"Too clever for their own good."
Gretta's big fist wraps around the secret door's... knob? latch? shiny red button?... then slowly, ever so slowly, she opens the hidden door. Or hopes she does, maybe she is trying to open the wall next to the secret door and no one has the heart to tell the poor girl she is making a mistake. Maybe the goblin doll with no arms or legs resting in a pouch against her chest, whispers "no, not there, there!" which Gretta listens to, and THEN opens the door, hoping no one notices.