"Somethin' there," Boros whispers. He starts counting down with his fingers before opening the door. 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .
Sébastien decides to Raise his Shield as Boros opens the door.
The plain wooden door to the south is thrown open to reveal an abandoned larder. Rusted hooks hanging by chains from the ceiling drip with the fetid remains of butchered animals. Barrels and bags have been gnawed through by rodents, and their contents have been emptied and spilled across the floor, grown moldy. A foul stench hangs in the air, and a pile of trash and rubbish occupies the floor.
After a moment standing at the door, possibly wrenching from the stench, Danus notices the pile of trash begins to move, and then suddenly, a swarm of ravenous cockroaches erupts from the heap!
(perception)
(perception)
(perception)
(perception)
(perception)
(stealth)
Catching the group by surprise, the swarm gets the jump on them. In a sickening display of creepy crawliness, the swarm moves en masse out the door, like a glistening brown carpet, and surrounds Danus, Boros, Tor, and Valkor!
Fail!
Fail!
Fail!
Crit Fail!
Crit Success!
Success!
Success!
Success!
The swarm of roaches bite and nibble at fresh, warm, living flesh! Valkor gets the worse of it, as the roaches swarm into his mouth as he screams in terror and pain. He falls unconscious to the floor! Tor the Boar looks faint!
Knowing nothing of nature, or bugs, Shemar witnesses the terrible damage that they are inflicting, and unleashes his most potent spell. Magic Missile!
◆ ◆ ◆ magic missile
Wanting to move away from the death swarm, Shemar finds he is too slow, having taken too much time trying to blast the bugs!
at the start:
Boros (10dmg)
Valkor (7dmg)
Danus (8dmg)
Tor the Boar (6dmg)
Shemarm
Sebastien
First Swarming Bite: 7dmg on a fail, 3 halved on success, 14 doubled on crit fail. Results:
Boros (unconscious and dying 1)
Danus (15dmg)
Tor (13dmg)
Valkor (unconscious and dying 1)
Second Swarming Bite: 5dmg on a fail, 2 halved in success, 10 on crit fail. Results:
Well since Boros is unconscious, he doesnt technically get a save. As with Valkor. They just take damage and go to Dying 2.
So that leaves Danus at 17dmg and Tor at 15dmg.
So, and hear me out, the roach swarm will just continue to chow down on those unconscious folks, which means if you cant exterminate the bugs, your friends will be dead dead next round. If you want my friendly GM advice, drag them out of the room and shut the door. Its ok to retreat.[/ooc]
Know. Nature:
Grabbing the downed Valkor and directing Tor to get Boros, Danus calls out.
"Back...back...let's get out of here. Tor get Boros and drag him out!'
He swiftly takes some meat from his pack and throws it into the centre of the swarm to try and distract it while they escape.
Sébastien watches in disgusted horror the swarming cockroaches invading every nose, ears, mouth and boots of his dying companions!
The halfing Strides to the door and through to Ready shutting it once everyone is out!
Shemar will make ready to help Danus, or Tor, in dragging his friends out. If they don't need help, he will move out on his own, spitting fire at the swarm on his way.
Shemar blasts the hungry swarm with missiles of pure force, reducing their number by about half. Seeing his companions fall, Danus commands Tor to pull Boros to safety, as he does Valkor, forfeiting some of his rations along the way. Tor, being a good pig, grabs Boros by the sleeve and pulls him out the door. The cockroaches fall upon the meat, as well as cannibalize their fallen brethren, giving Shemar a chance to escape. Sebastien quickly slams the door shut once everyone is out.
.
Sebastien looks at the bleeding Boros.
Who knows how to use bandages?
The Bard will cast Guidance on whomever does....
Danus quickly gets to work on Boros
Healing (Nature):
Healed:
He next moves on to Valkor, who is slowly slipping away!
Healing (Nature):
Healed:
While Sebastien and Danos see to their comrades, Shemar will keep another swarm of magic missiles ready in case the roaches approach from under the door, or some other way.
Sébastien watches helpless to help.....
As Danus tends to the near death Valkor, Boros slips a little further away. He's still clinging to life though!
Moving to Boros, Danus quickly tries to stabilize the wounded halfling.
"Hold on little buddy...almost there!"
Medicine (Nature):
Danus quickly moves to Boros and is able to stabilize him as well.
You are back in the mess hall with four twice dead zombies, and two unconscious companions. The shut door seems to be keeping the cockroach swarm at bay. What's next?
Sébastien will begin pouring a Potion down each of their mouths, as Danus takes the time required to complete the task.
Valkor and Boros sputter back to consciousness.
Valkor Treat Wounds:
Heal:
Boros Treat Wounds:
Heal:
Once Valkor is back on his feet he can help out with treating Boros.
From here there is an unexplored door to the east, or there was an unexplored door upstairs and a whole level left unexplored upstairs. Or, you might want to retreat back to Oona's wagon at this point. What's the next step?
Sébastien sighs in relief.
Perhaps we might want to retreat back to Oona's wagon at this point
"We did get banged up, but it seems as though everyone has been healed up. If we leave now, whatever baddies are left in here might be given time to prepare. I'm ready to try and finish this, except for maybe that stupid ghost, but if any of you are not, then we can go back to the wagon so you can lick your wounds."
Shemar states that he is ready to push on, but he is fairly clearly shaken.
Once the more seriously wounded have been healed, Danus tends to his and Tor's wounds.
Danus Healing:
Healed:
Tor Healing:
Healed:
Boros gasps as he comes back to consciousness. he shouts, swatting at his own clothes. It takes a moment for him to realize that he's somehow been rescued. "Did we kill the buggers?" He's extremely disappointed to find out they hadn't.
As he is restored to remarkably good health, his fighting spirit returns. "I say it's time fer some payback."
Feeling slightly better, Danus looks to the door to the east.
"Well we might as well see this through...right?"
He moves to the door and listens to see if he can hear anything beyond.
Perception:
Danus hears the sound of wind whistling through an empty space.
If the door is not locked, Danus will open it.
"Ok, be ready, I am opening this door...I can only hear the wind beyond, so let's hope nothing too dangerous!"
He opens the door
Boros crouches in anticipation of Round 2 of their fight.
Sebastien raises his shield and awaits the onslaught of death!
Danus opens the door to reveal a dimly lit room. Sunlight filters in through narrow arrow slits looking out onto the road on either side of the fort. Danus realizes they are on the ground floor, and this is one of the gatehouses flanking either side of the neck where the road runs through the fort, currently blocked by heavy portcullises on either end. Oona needs you to raise these portcullises in order to be able to pass her wagon through and on to Hearth. Two huge winches sit in the far corners of the room, built into the floor.
"Well, that's everything but the roaches and ghosts, right? Let's raise the gate and reevaluate."
Shemar will move to one of the winches.
Danus scans the room before entering and examining the huge winches.
Perception:
If all is clear he calls back to the others and enters the room, making for the winches to discover how they work and open the way for Oona.
"Come and give me a hand here mates! Let's open the way up for Oona and her wagon."
Each winch consists of a large wooden drum, half sunk into the ground, and long wooden handles spaced around it. The winches are large enough that two people can work together to turn them. Two thick iron chains wrap around each winch’s drum. One snakes up to a hole in the ceiling where it runs along a channel and attaches to one of the Watch’s two gates. The other hangs into a shaft beneath the winch itself and connects to a massive counterweight. The counterweight is necessary because each iron portcullis weighs about 1,200 lbs. Thanks to the counterweight, a single person can operate each winch. Each winch also has a chock attached to a lever so the winch can be locked into place.
Each of the two gates, the northern and the southern gate, has two winches attached to it, one in each Gate Room. To raise a gate, both winches must be operated simultaneously. To raise the gates, the heroes will have to man both Gate Rooms and shout through the arrow slits to coordinate their efforts.
So, it appears you will need to gain access to the other gate room and split the party between the two gate rooms in order to operate the winches and raise the portcullises.
"Oh.". Shemar says after getting a good look at the mechanisms involved.
"Looks like we will need to make it to the other gate room to open this up. Let's all find the other gate room, then send a couple of his back to this one, yeah?"
Sébastien looks over the gate mechanism, nods to Shemar and Danus and wait for Boros to do his thing.....
"Well, guess we're all headin' ta the other gate room," concludes Boros as the mechanism for controlling the gate becomes clear.
Although you can see the other gate room through the narrow embrasures and arrow slits, there is no direct path there from here. You will need to find means of accessing the other tower. There was the door upstairs in the barracks room that you had surmised lead outside to the east.
"Might have ta go back upstairs," concludes the halfling, as he leads the way back up."[/b]
Danus shakes his head as he follows the others back up the tower.
"Upstairs...down stairs..zombies...bugs! I'm telling you Tor, this adventuring life is a lot different than I thought it was gonna be!"
Sébastien seems a bit anxious, but the bard follows along.
"up top? With a ghost? That's okay, I've got a magic missile for him this time."