Mukluk seems pleased that the bodies are still there and that there doesn’t seem to be too much movement.
He trots over to the left tower to see what might be inside if others want to open the door.
Kisaiya is naturally up first in the morning in order to take care of breakfast. ”How do you all like your eggs? I prefer mine between over-easy and over-hard, that kind of jelly-like consistency you get in-between. Don’t always get it right, but it's always what I shoot for for mine.”
She is likewise glad that the main opposition in the keep seems to be taken care of. She follows Rory towards the next door, happy with one place to start as another.
The tower, like (probably) all the others, has a simple ladder affixed to the wall leading upward to the walkway above.
Moving clockwise for convenience…
The walls of this wooden stable are gray with age and sag ominously, yet the building seems relatively sound. An old forge sits to the south, while empty horse stalls stand to the north. There’s ample evidence of spider activity in this area - maybe even something larger, but a light check reveals nothing at this time.
Durgan follows along behind Rory, keeping Guidance active.
He has his axe in one hand and buckler in the other.
Mukluk keeps caught up. He has his pick in hand and expects to see undead behind every door. He is pleased to be wrong again and again.
”Maybe there is nothing left but thems undead.”
He waits for the door to be opened.
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Very excitingly Rory opens to the door to a washroom.
If you thought the birds were foul, this place - shared by troglodytes, ogrekin, and birds. Well, nausea spreads through the party quickly before the door is again shut.
This is the downstairs section of the ballroom you saw from above.
This large circular room features a ring of pillars that support a balcony just over fifteen feet above. A flight of stairs winds up to the balcony along the southern wall.
Faded paintings of dancing elves decorate the walls, spattered here and there with ancient bloodstains.
A terrible battle took place here long ago, but also that at least one of the aggressors in the fight possessed prodigious strength, judging from the deep gouges in the walls near the largest bloodstains (the gouges appear to have been created by an enormous axe or similar weapon in several places).
The door next to you leads to a staircase going down again.
Mukluk waddles rushes to keep up with Rory and Storm as they storm the keep. He moves up to the next set of double doors after checking for things of interest in the battle-marked room.
Perception
”We’re movin’ faster than Moose on the hunt for good chewin’ leaves. Ol’ Moose gets a scent and he’s off.”
Durgan moves to back up Rory. He is faster than Mukluk, though not so fast as Storm.
He looks at the bloodstains. There is magic that divines answers from blood... even blood so old as this. It is beyond me, for now. Though I may learn.
This section is largely storerooms, north and south with arrow slits piercing the walls. However, the chamber to the east is… ah… surprising.
It’s impossible to tell what this room may have originally been used for, as the walls and floor are decorated with countless preserved animals and creatures, ranging from small birds and forest creatures to fearsome predators. Several of the displays look uncomfortably fresh or humanoid in shape.
- - -
I should add, that spending a little time peering through the arrow slits, particularly the one to the north, reveals something interesting.
This courtyard may have once been a delightful garden, but now it’s a tangle of weeks surrounding a pool of water choked with thick, slimy green algae. But what’s interesting is the Giant Toe Biter that resides within… Six powerful legs, each ending in a hooked claw, jut from the shieldlike body of this massive insect.
It chomps a little on what’s left of a deer which has been dumped in its enclosure.
The belostomatid is the monstrous form of its diminutive counterpart, a 5-inch-long “giant” water bug commonly known as a “toe-biter.” A monstrous belostomatid has a flattened, oval-shaped body measuring 12 feet long, and four rear, oarlike legs, which it uses to thrust through the water. The belostomatid’s front two legs are thick and end in sharp, single-tipped claws, which it uses to slay its prey. Two large black eyes are mounted on each side of the creature’s rostrum, and it uses its 2-foot-long, beaklike proboscis to inject its deadly acidic enzymes into its victims.
- - -
Some of the taxidermy is from decades ago. Possibly dating back to when Brinewall fell. Some is very fresh, only a few days old. There's one current project - though the subject is dead at least.
"Oh yeah, I ain't any toe biter that big. That's bigger than Moose that is. Probably just as ornery. That's for sure. Good thing it's down there and we're up here, it is," Mukluk says when he can look out the window.
* * *
Mukluk enters after the wolf squad, taking a look around. And then even casts Detect Magic in case anything pops.
Perception
"Whoever did this started on some of these creatures before they were dead."
"They were what? They were taxidermifizing on the living, were they?" Mukluk startles, not like the implication of that at all. "That ain't right. That ain't right at all. I wonder how they would like being taxidermifized while they were alive."
Kisaiya’s knowledge of wilderness life is more about raw survival than intricate processes like tanning. She shudders as Rory explains how some were likely taken from people alive. ”What motivates someone to such cruelty.”
She takes a turn at the arrow slit, spying the toe-biter. ”Whose toe does it bite? The Oliphaunt of Jandelay?”
Durgan comes to the same conclusions as Rory.
"The Oni was a type of fiend, was it not? Such things are basically evil incarnate. What would be nearly-unthinkable depths of depravity for you or I could be a typical morning for a fiend.
It's possible that some mortal could resort to such evil... but if I had to place a wager I would put my money on the fiend.
Do we think we will need to slay the vermin to complete our explorations of the castle? I am no Iomedan glorying in a fair fight. I would not mind dispatching it through the arrow slits, or at least wounding it to make our task easier. But if there is no need to dispatch it, then there is no need."
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”Whose toe does it bite? The Oliphaunt of Jandelay?”
Mukluk’s head turns to look at Kisaiya. ”The HollyInfant of what?”
He turns his attention back to the toe biter, actually taking the time to examine it.
Know (Nature) -
”Yeah, might be we can shoot it down. No way we should leave it to starve in here if it can’t get out on its own.”
Mukluk doesn't find anything additional, nor any magics.
He also doesn’t think the creature can get out. It doesn’t fly, doesn’t climb well, and is more suited to the water than land. It must have grown there, like a pet. No DR. It can be easily killed from range - though you’ll be better off on the walls above then through one arrow slit it can try to hide from.
Either way, if you have ranged weapons, we can hand waive this poor creature.
”Oliphaunt of Jandelay. I don’t know anything about it except that it is supposed to be larger than a castle and there is a certain music to the words.”
She adjusts her eyepatch as she muses. ”For a normal water bug, I would suggest frying, but a pot of oil that big would be quite the ordeal and nobody could bite through that carapace. Would probably have to treat it more like a large crustacean.” She absent-mindedly licks her lips. ”Could probably feed the whole caravan on that.”
Mukluk snaps out of his Oliphauntish reverie and hustles to keep up with Rory and refocuses on the searching of the Keep.
”Yeah, we gotta help Ameiko.” He will open the doors (and step aside) when others are ready.
Kisaiya shrugs as she follows the others. ”Don’t assume something is unappetizing based on its looks. Bugs of any size are just another type of animal, and you just need to know the right techniques to prepare them.”
You open the door to a hallway with stairs up and a few doors.
Old tapestries depicting a seaside castle hang askew on the walls of this circular room and a thick layer of dust cakes the floor. The air is musty and weirdly cold. Old bloodstains splatter the walls, along with numerous brutal gashes and slashes to the stone itself. Two doors hang askew on hinges in a passageway to the south, while to the north, a third door lies in fragments on the floor, opening onto a flight of stairs leading down into darkness.
However, there is a guardian on the northern door (image).
Wights are humanoids who rise as undead due to necromancy, a violent death, or an extremely malevolent personality. In some cases, a wight arises when an evil undead spirit permanently bonds with a corpse, often the corpse of a slain warrior. They are barely recognizable to those who knew them in life; their flesh is twisted by evil and undeath, the eyes burn with hatred, and the teeth become beast-like. In some ways, a wight bridges the gap between a ghoul and a spectre - a warped animated corpse whose touch steals living energy.
- - -
- - -
Round 1, Init 16
Mukluk, lacking even rudimentary religious or historical training, backs up from the door.
What he sees he doesn't like.
If the foe moves up to attack Rory/Storm, Mukluk will try to slow it down as it hits the doorway with an appropriate glob of mule phlegm.
Kisaiya is drawing a complete blank on what kind of creature this is, so she enters her battle stance moves up in front of Rory and takes a defensive posture.
HP: 31/31
AC: 25/16/19
Saves: F5/R3/W5
Hero Points: 2
Smite Evil Used: 0/1
Lay on Hands Used: 0/3
Second Chance
Spells/Effects Active: Shield Gauntlet Style
[ dice]1d20+7[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+3[/dice] damage.
The undead begins to move up, and is immediately pinned down by the powerful excretions of a certain Moose.
vs DC 16
It immediately tries to break free...
vs DC 16
…and muscles its way forward!
Round 2
Mukluk takes total defense and as he waits for the hallway to clear.
"This is a powerful undead that can drain your life away!"
Seeing that Kisaiya is already near melee range with the wight, Durgan moves up (guarding Mukluk in the process) and casts Guidance on the paladin.
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Kisaiya’s eyes pop as she realizes what they are fighting because of Durgan’s warning. ”Have storm fall back! This is no normal undead! Let me handle it and draw it out!”
HP: 31/31
AC: 25/16/19
Saves: F5/R3/W5
Hero Points: 2
Smite Evil Used: 0/1
Lay on Hands Used: 0/3
Second Chance
Spells/Effects Active: Shield Gauntlet Style
[ dice]1d20+7[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+3[/dice] damage.
Rory charges in and hits the undead twice despite partial cover from the corner (-2). Durgan steps up and aids Kisaiya, who takes total defense. Mukluk harrumphs in total defense.
The wight reaches out at Storm, ignoring its longsword, and tries to smack him.
Fort DC 14 or lose a level.
The creature misses Storm as it lurches around.
Round 3
Mukluk takes total defense and as he waits for the hallway to clear.
"Did any of you take holy water from Desna's font? Throw it!"
Durgan uses Total Defense.
Kisaiya heartens at seeing the wight give ground and moves up to try to get in a slash of her own.
HP: 31/31
AC: 21/12/19
Saves: F5/R3/W5
Hero Points: 2
Smite Evil Used: 0/1
Lay on Hands Used: 0/3
Second Chance
Spells/Effects Active: Shield Gauntlet Style
[ dice]1d20+7[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+3[/dice] damage.
Rory does better than Storm, but just grazes the creature before him. Durgan makes a suggestion as he takes total defense. Kisaiya scrapes her weapon across the wall, and can’t land a blow. Mukluk holds his own - unable to get into the mix.
The wight reaches out at Rory next.
and lose a level.
Durgan continues to take Total Defense.
Kisaiya tries another slash against the wight, this time remembering Durgan’s guidance, but she still struggles to attack with the corner there.
HP: 31/31
AC: 21/12/19
Saves: F5/R3/W5
Hero Points: 2
Smite Evil Used: 0/1
Lay on Hands Used: 0/3
Second Chance
Spells/Effects Active: Shield Gauntlet Style
[ dice]1d20+7[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+3[/dice] damage.
Round 4
Mukluk moves up to take total defense.
Rory trips his opponent and attacks while its down. However, he doesn’t finish off the wight… Durgan continues to take total defense. Kisaiya continues to fight the corner (ugh what rolls!). Mukluk continues to take total defense.
The wight reaches out at Rory again, after getting up! (AoO’s from Rory, Storm, and Kisaiya)
and lose a level.
Kisaiya reacts instantly instead of overthinking it and hits with a powerful, accurate blow.
She then begins chastising herself for overthinking, this causing her to overthink more and miss the follow-up.
HP: 31/31
AC: 21/12/19
Saves: F5/R3/W5
Hero Points: 2
Smite Evil Used: 0/1
Lay on Hands Used: 0/3
Second Chance
Spells/Effects Active: Shield Gauntlet Style
[ dice]1d20+7[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+3[/dice] damage.
Round 5
”That’s how you knock the stuffing out of it, Kiss’ya! That’s how you do! That’s exactly how you do!” Mukluk cheers the nice hit by Kisaiya.
He takes total defense.
Rory hits with his AoO, but doing so little, leaves the wight with strength left to fight. And then Kisaiya comes in and finishes what Rory started the round before with a solid blow of her own.
The wight crumples in on itself and collapses to the floor, helmet falling aside and sword clattering.