Boros opens the door from the barracks, and is met with the refreshing air of outdoors. He sees a dimly lit enclosed area, actually a bridge that connects the two towers of the watch and spans over the guard rooms and neck below. A wooden enclosure has been built over the bridge, and light filters in through archer's loopholes built into the wooden walls. A set of murderholes in the center of the bridge look down upon the neck below.
Sébastien warily watches the weirdly suspected wind of warning the ghost of their imminent arrival.
Shemar will warily crouch down upon spotting the nest.
"Stop. Stay calm. There is a nest with six large bugs up there in the rafters."
He says as he points upward and begins backing away.
Boros trudges back up to the top and to the outdoors.
He didn't see the threat himself, but comes alert as Shemar warns them.
"Wait, why not just squash 'em?" asks Boros, who starts flipping his dagger in his hand like he means to throw it!
"Great...now more bugs! This place is cursed, I swear!! So what do we do? Attack or try to sneak past?"
The young ranger attempts to get a better look at these bugs to see if he might know what they are.
Know. Nature:
Danus is not quite sure, but they look to be some sort of giant mosquito. They are about a foot long, with mottled, reddish-brown skin and yellow underbellies and four leathery, bat-like wings. They seem to be resting and nesting at the moment, you might be able to sneak by if you're careful.
"Be very, very quiet. I don't like the idea of giant blood sucking mosquitos."
Shemar will cast shield, just in case, and attempt to sneak past the pests.
"That ain't gonna work," mumbles Boros as Shemar sneaks forward, but he decides he better back up the sorcerer, since he was pretty stealthy himself.
Shemar, Boros, and Sebastien all try to sneak past the hive of giant bug-like creatures. Shemar seems to be doing ok, with sneaking, and Boros is a natural, but Sebastien is unable to find anything to hide behind in the open hallway, and while his eyes look upward at the nest, he trips over a loose nail and stumbles. Loudly. An agitated buzzing sound is heard coming from the rafters.
(stealth)
(perception)
(stealth)
(stealth)
(perception)
(perception)
The hangry bugs descend from the rafters and onto our heroes!
Barbed legs strike our sorcerer and attach to his clothes!
Two bugs stick to him!
A third has a hard time finding purchase.
One of the bugs catches Boros too!
A second one critically attaches itself to Boros!
The last one sticks to Sebastien too!
Now comes the fun part. The attached bugs pierce their long proboscises into our heroes and drink their blood!
Boros tries to murderize the bug attached to him. If it dies, he moves to a bug attached to Shemar.
; ;
;
Danus, following Boros' actions, also attempts to remove the bugs from his friends.
Attack (Sebastien's bug):
Damage:
Sebastien's blue eyes widen as the giant mosquito flies right at him and lands on his head!
I am not a vermin fan!
The halfling hops up and down as he attempts to begin his performance.
The frustrated and bothered bard then attempts to call on his Occult magic!
The candlestick that he seen laying on the floor flies at the giant mosquito on his head!
After cutting a path through his foes, Boros stares down another bug as if daring it to stay in slicing range.
"Agh! I believe that we have found our 'vampires,' he says with a tone of disgust.
◆ stride
◆◆spell
Shemar will target one of the bugs and have it jump to a second.
So, sneaking was not such a good idea after all. Should have just roasted them.
Boros quickly decimates the bug that has attached itself to him. As the bug dies and falls away, it's barbed proboscis leaves a bleeding wound.
He then just as easily dispenses of the next bug, and gives another a good stare.
Danus rolls in with Tor in tow and cuts down a bug bugging Shemar.
Sebastien finds his vocal chords and belches out a rousing jaunt. He then mentally flings a conveniently placed candlestick at his bug, and misses!
Not to worry though, as Shemar has a few tricks up his sleeve yet!
He zaps the two bugs before him, but they're nimble in the air, and are only partially hit.
Valkor rushes into the hall and punches at Sebastien's friend!
The bug explodes into ichor! Thankfully, that bug hadn't plunged its proboscis into our bard yet!
The two remaining bugs continue their assault. One ◆buzzes over toward Danus!
The next avoids Boros and ◆goes after Shemar!
Aha! Finally got him! it thinks to itself in buggese.
.
Boros may be hurting, but he was going to do more hurt to these bugs!
;
;
Shemar takes a gasping breath as the thing's proboscis into his flesh. His immediate reactions is to remove it, as this is by far the grossest thing that has ever happened to him, and who knows what that thing could cause!
◆ detatch bug
◆◆ Electric arc
Shemar then sends a zap to the bug he just removed and has it jump to the next one as well.
"Not worse than ghosts, but close!"
◆ detatch bug
The halfling hops up and down as he attempts to begin his performance....again!
The frustrated and bothered bard then attempts to call on his Occult magic!
The same candlestick that he seen laying on the floor flies at the giant mosquito on his head!
Sebastien chokes on his words, but whips the convenient candlestick around mid air and smashes it through one of the bugs attached to Danus.
Shemar deftly detaches himself from a bug and zaps it midair. It falls in a smoldering heap.
I hate bugs.
"Boros, Danus, you should see to those wounds. They don't look healthy. Anyway, we have vanquished the vampires, it seems "
"Eh, somebody gimme a hand with this stupid barb!" complains Boros as he continues to bleed.
Danus works on staunching his own bleeding, but has a hard time.
Valkor tries giving Boros a hand.
[b]”Hmm, this looks serious”[/dice]
After the bleeding finally stops, the group regathers. There’s a nest up in the rafters, and a single door at the end of the hall.
"Gee, thanks Valkor," says Boros sarcastically as he fails to help. Fortunately, the bleeding seems to top on it own. And Shemar's insight helps him connect the dots. "These vampire mosquitoes are the worst!"
His gaze turns to the nest to see if they needed to be ready for any more of those things, or if they could move by safely.
Shemar will glance up at the nest to see if they hoarded anything shiny. Afterword, "Yes, who is hurt?"
The nest seems to be a conglomerate of dried mud, sticks, and organic matter plastered among the rafters. The nest is silent, no movement, but you might suspect the presence of eggs within.
Boros does indeed notice the glint of metal among the dried mud nest.
Sébastien offers a Guidance to whomever wants to climb up to the disgusting nest of poop and mud.
Valkor can give it a try.
Valkor tries to do a standing high jump but can't get quite make it.
"Valkor, let's just remember this possible hidden treasure and come back later. I'm sure we'll find a ladder somewhere.'. Shemar says as he looks at the height and decides that there's no way that he could make that climb or jump either.
"let's get to that other guard tower and pull that other lever to open the gates."
Sébastien Raises his Shield, after casting Light on it, and leads the way....
I got a bad feeling about this....
"No, I ain't lettin' those bloodsuckers surprise me from behind!" insist Boros.
He decides to try and make his way into the nest.
But he fails. Being short had its disadvantages.
Humbled, he sullenly continues forward, trying to stay stealthy.
The door at the end of the covered walkway opens up into the eastern tower. The room inside is windowless and dark, but Sébastien shield sheds some light. A stairwell descends from the northeast corner, a door on the far wall leads east, and another door leads south. A ladder bolted to the wall in the southeast corner leads up to a trapdoor in the ceiling.
There are dark stains on the floorboards near the stairs.
Boros quietly moves forward and check out the stains on the floorboard, wondering if they are blood.
Keeping his Shield Raised over his head (who knows what drops down), Sébastien begins heading over to the stairwell to peek down it....
"Fresh blood? Not a zombie or ghost, then. And something that the big mosquitoes didn't get. Interesting. Should we clear this top level before going down? Make sure nothing follows from the roof?"
What Shemar suggests makes tactical sense, but he clearly seems uneasy about going to the roof.
Didn't the ghost go to the roof of the other tower?
The dark stains do appear to be blood, but long dried, not fresh. They appear to be spatters and small droplets. Something or someone bleeding passed through here.
Sébastien peers down a darkened stairwell. Nothing seems to stir in the room below.
Sébastien breathes a sigh of relief when not a single Tentacle, long limb, or big-teeth mouth opens up to grab, smack, or eat him.
The Bard then nods in agreement to Shemar, before heading upstairs....
Shemar climbs the ladder and opens the trapdoor and is met with the bright light of day and a refreshingly cool breeze. The trapdoor leads onto the roof of the eastern tower. From here you get a nice view of the forest and the road below. You might even be able to spot Oona's cart where she's parked it off the side of the road. It's a nice respite from the drafty darkness of the Watch, but the only thing worthy of note is that you can see the western tower across the way is one story higher than this one. it is early afternoon.
Wiping his sweaty forehead, the halfling sighs, turns about and tries the other door....
There's a door to the south and one to the east, which way?
Wanting to split himself in half just to open both doors at once, the bard shrugs knowing eventually he could tries the South door first....
Sebastien opens the southern door and is met with a thick sickening stench of rot and decay. This room contains a bed piled with warm blankets, a small washstand, and a cold fireplace. At the foot of the bed is a padlocked wooden trunk. A simple wooden door leads east.
Sebastien notices unmistakable brown smears of blood on the floorboards, leading from the door to the east to the wooden trunk.
Shemar stares at the cement shock sightings for a moment.
"Why does it look like a dead thing dragged itself across the floor, and into the chest? I know we should probably investigate but it sounds like a bad idea, doesn't it?".