Tol is about to warn Hess not to get them killed when…Hess absolutely disables the trap.
”Fair enough, Hess. I should not have doubted you.”
"Good job" - Reknar nods at Hess, then proceeds to check the racks, without touching anything.
After investigating the racks, and allowing the others some time for their own explorations, Reknar goes to listen on the western door.
Reknar can hear rustling noises coming from beyond the western door. By contrast, there is only silence beyond the northern door.
Tol stops his own investigation of the room and backs up Reknar, as the fighter has clearly heard something.
"I kind of like silence. Let's try the Northern Door".
Hess moves to the Northern door to see if it is locked or trapped.
Perception
The door is neither locked nor trapped. Beyond it, a hallway leads east to west. Doors are set at either end, as well as to the north halfway along the hall's length. You are able to surmise that the eastern door leads back to the large chamber where you fought Ragnulf.
Cracking his neck, Reknar leads the way west, fist pausing to listen to the northern doors.
Reknar does not hear anything beyond the northern door.
The western door opens into a very large chamber. Torches illuminate this fifteen-foot-high chamber. A pair of massive columns of rusted metal loom in large alcoves to the east and south, each fitted with complex hinged armatures and drooping lengths of wire that connect them to one of two large metallic worktables. Gears grind slowly and glowing crystals periodically pulse from these worktables. A stone well ten feet in diameter stands in the center of the room between the two strange worktables, capped with a stone slab engraved with a singular broad rune with three downward spikes. Bookshelves line the northern wall, though most of their contents have fallen to ruin—save for one faded red tome near the center of the northern wall.
A group of three robed cultists work here, periodically adjusting the crystals and gears on the worktables. Of course, as soon as they notice your intrusion, the cultists reach for their daggers!
No need to ask for their surrender here... Ed thinks as he takes a defensive posture to begin with.
The cultists move in to attack. Two of them gang up on Reknar while the third, tougher-looking man moves to attack Tol!
Cursing the cultists, and unable to provide a flank for Reknar, Tol calls out to Vanda…and Turac…
”Vanda! Help Reknar! Turac, on me!”
Then, growling a low purr, Tol drops into his powerful feline stance and tries to eviscerate the stronger cultist…and steps back to force the cultist to follow…
◆ Enter Tiger Stance ◆ Flurry ◆ Step
With a snarl, Reknar turns on the closest cultist, swinging hard.
Now that Ed is under some defensive cover he turns to offense here, sending a large rock at the cultist pestering Tol!
Hess is caught a bit off-guard by the aggressive cultists, and takes the time to draw his hand crossbow, load it, and fire off a shot at the closest with no cover.
◆ Pull Hand Crossbow
◆ Load Hand Crossbow
◆ Strike Hand Crossbow
Crossbow
Bolt
Hess scores a critical hit, his crossbow bolt catching the nearest cultist in the neck and taking him down! Reknar delivers a crushing blow that shatters the skull of the second of his assailants. Tol misses with his attacks, but Turac moves in to assist the monk, slashing the last enemy twice with his sword. Then Ed hurls a large rock that hits the cultist in the head, finishing him off!
”Alright…what in all the planes is going on in here?!?” Tol exclaims, breathing hard from his air-striking exertions - arms wide taking in the gears, slab, crystals and columns.
”If the cultists we just dropped don’t continue their ministrations, I wonder if this….stuff will explode?!? What do you think Hess?”
Reknar goes to take a look at the slab with the rune.
"Let me have a look at those wounds Reknar," Ed offers.
Once Reknar is taken care of Ed moves closer to the contraption. "I don't like the looks of this at all, but let me see what I can find out..."
"Thank you Ed!" - Reknar nodded, then proceeded in searching the cultists for anything of use.
Hess throwing caution to the wind starts to poke and prod the devices and equipment for clues as to what it is.
Crafting?
Ed recognizes the rune on the well as the Thassilonian rune of envy. Ed can see that the stone slab is relatively weak and wouldn't be too difficult to break or force open.
Meanwhile, Ed is able to determine that the spires here are some sort of magical "battery," and the workbenches are meant to help focus the energies for various purposes.
"Let me deactivate the magical energies here then we can move on," Ed suggests.
Tol stands on guard while Ed does…whatever Ed is doing.
Ed disrupts the workbenches, cutting off the flow of magical energy. As you look around the laboratory, you can see quite a lot of bric-a-brac and curios all around the workbenches and bookshelves. It will take quite a while to look through everything here.
"We should get moving here," Ed advises, "Once whoever is in charge figures out what I've done here they will send someone to investigate."
"Thank you Ed!" - Reknar nodded, then proceeded in searching the cultists for anything of use.
"We should get moving here," Ed advises, "Once whoever is in charge figures out what I've done here they will send someone to investigate."
"Very well" - Reknar nods and pushes onward, returning to the hallway and opening the northern doors when the others are ready.
"Can anybody here check to see if there are any magical goodies lying around? I'd hate to think we left behind something we might could use"?
Tol chews the inside of his cheek looking around, his gaze falling on the bookshelf on the northern wall.
"Hess, there's a faded old red book in the middle of that bookshelf. I bet if you pull it out, a secret door will open...or it will explode..." he says nonchalantly.
Reknar decides to wait for his companions.
As his companions seem to be hesitating, Reknar moves ahead and pulls the book - "What? this one?"
Pulling on the book activates a hidden lever that opens the secret door behind the bookcase! A sluggish clicking sound fills the air in the vast chamber beyond. A wide, rusted metal cylinder stands in the northeast corner of the room. Long cables and articulated armatures attach from the cylinder to cube-shaped devices with ticking gears and monotonously clicking weights that swing in lazy circles. Just west of the metal cylinder, a copper cauldron stands on a rusted iron stand; one of the legs has bent, growing weak from the encroaching rust. The fire under the cauldron has burned down to mere embers.
In the southeast corner sits a stone basin holding a broad, sloped bowl with runes carved along the outside rim. Across from the basin in the southwest corner is a wooden cage built into the stone floor. Chalk-drawn runes surround a circle of chalk drawn around the cage. In the northwest corner, an empty bookcase stands against the wall behind a staircase that descends into darkness.
Two sinspawn wielding halberds stand guard at the top of the staircase. Upon spotting you, they hiss with anger and move to attack!
Ed yells, "Those are Sinspawn!" He then recalls what he knew of the foul creations while he casts
"ah! They're ugly! Kill them".
◆ Pull Hand Crossbow
◆ Load Hand Crossbow
◆ Strike Hand Crossbow
Crossbow
Bolt
Sneak Attack
"Sinspawn? What are Sinspawn".
These are the same type of creatures as Azomi was, who you fought beneath Stonehome. Ed cannot recall any additional details about them. Hess manages to hit one in a tender spot with his crossbow. Then the sinspawn rush forward, using their halberds' reach to attack Reknar from 10 feet away. Reknar blocks most of the attacks, but one slips past his defenses, the pointed tip of the polearm impaling him!
Badly wounded, Reknar ponders his options - with a shrug, he decides to advance.
Tol’s mouth hangs open momentarily as the door slides open. Mostly irritated that Reknar didn’t discover a manual of gainful exercise or some other equally unlikely magical treatise, Tol takes a few moments to get up to speed, and thus is late to the halberd party.
Nevertheless, he rushes in to flank with Rek while also not becoming flanked himself…
”Let’s focus on this one to even the odds! Turac! Vanda!”
◆Stride ◆ Enter Tiger Stance ◆ Flurry
”Gah, there things *are* ugly!!!” Tol shouts, getting up close and personal with the foul creatures…
Badly wounded, Reknar ponders his options - with a shrug, he decides to advance.
As the others prepare to advance upon the Sinspawn Ed casts a spell at the pair, hoping to end the fight quickly...
◆ Take cover
◆ Load Hand Crossbow
◆ Strike Hand Crossbow
Crossbow
Bolt
But is too quick on the movement or the aiming one and the bold flies wide.
Tol, Reknar, Turac, and Vanda all converge on one of the sinspawn. Each hits the creature once, their combined assault taking it down!
The other sinspawn becomes momentarily drowsy but otherwise resists Ed's sleep spell. Hess' crossbow bolt whizzes past the creature as it drops its halberd and attacks Reknar with its teeth and claws.
Ed takes the chance here to try finishing off the remaining sinspawn!
Tol moves to set up a flank with Reknar once again…not even bothering to move out of danger after he attacks in his desire to end this creature…the result being that he misses with every strike…
◆ Stride ◆ Flurry ◆ Strike
With a growl, Reknar continues his attack.