Ceirn nods and waits to let the others move forward before following behind as the rear guard.
Simon shrugs and presses forward, focusing for pattern recognition of traps.
Tolenn nods at the suggestion to move forward, commenting as she bobs her head, "At least the can keep a beat...."
She follows Simon, her eyes watching the halfing with professional interest. She quickly determines that he's much better at this than her, and opts to help out instead of compete, whispering to him of any possible signs of traps etc she might see.
Simon steps cautiously forward, swinging his torch to and fro, looking for signs of traps. in the ground, the walls, even the ceiling...
and yet, he finds nothing. just non descript worked walls of stone.
The godling notices the exotic weaponry on the fallen foes. Vonda picks up one of the axes. "Obsidian. Nice."
"Ah yes. Light. The bane of all cave dwellers. I'm sure it will chase them away, and not lure them to us to meet their gruesome end" she remarks as he swings his torch about
Olga dance walks as she seems unarmed, though capable of drawing and throwing a shuriken with ease,e was enjoying herself. She does produce a Iuon Torch and let it hover about her head.
"How about some soft light!" She giggles the torch just hovering about her head.
"I do not mind others attracting hostilities over myself. The grave has yet to call my name" she nods at Olga
Vondal chuckles. "I imagine some days that Call can get rather loud, eh Astrillith?"
"I hear the call every day. But my name hasn't been called. So no need to answer. But I don't mind ushering others if I hear their name called" she looks at Vondal "So far no names present"
The godling silently blows the tiefling a kiss, out of admiration and to annoy her.
"If we move swiftly, the call may not be so loud." Ceirn says as he moves towards the opening.
"We shall see" and her reply to Vondal is simply a half rolling of her eyes, while Pac hisses at him
"Oh to join the Divine Revelry! Music, dancing, games and fun for eternity! It is hard to resist the call. Brightwater is a wonderous place!" She says as she smiles beaming.
"Oh to join the Divine Revelry! Music, dancing, games and fun for eternity! It is hard to resist the call. Brightwater is a wonderous place!" She says as she smiles beaming.
"Many have to traverse other realms first. Styx, the boneyard, to say the very least. Many dangers lurk in the shadows." she adds her own... Insight
"True, I could be gobbled up by the lurkers who sherk the laws of the cosmos. Still I am hopeful and full of joy!" Ogla says unphased.
"True, I could be gobbled up by the lurkers who sherk the laws of the cosmos. Still I am hopeful and full of joy!" Ogla says unphased.
Astrillith looks her up and down and a smirk escapes her usual stoic face "I'm sure many a creature would certainly love to gobble you up" Pac unhinged his jaw as the snake widens his mouth to the fullest
Simon sighs to himself as the party banters in the most dangerous place on Faerun... he pauses and grins despite the dangers, waiting for the others to catch up before he moves forward once more.
Tolenn crosses her arms and shares Simon's amusement at the other's commentary, adding her own ,"Do they usually chat so much...hard to do important work otherwise!" she says with a smile of her own.
You both gather near the end of the long stone hall. Simon hugs the wall while Toleen hangs back. Near Simon, the wall drops away, revealing a large entry into an equally large room. Simon sweeps his light into the room quickly, and then more slowly having seen no immediate threat in the room.
4 large pillars in the center of the room stand, silent sentinels in the underground chamber.
the thick smell of rotted flesh fills your noses, forcing an involuntary disgust frown upon your lips.
Aside from the smell, and from your vantage point, the room is empty....
" Alot of people say I am a banquet to devour, though I'm sure they are just having a good laugh" she says giggling.
"Honestly though I just love to dance and jest and juggle. Drink and make merry. The food is only a bit of fun!" She smiles as she then pauses and looks at the two scouts.
Tolenn crosses her arms and shares Simon's amusement at the other's commentary, adding her own ,"Do they usually chat so much...hard to do important work otherwise!" she says with a smile of her own.
Simon chuckles, "Yes and Yes".
Simon pads back, "Smells like death in the next room, it appears empty, four pillars but I cannot see the entire room from where I stood. Clearly, with my light, whatever in there knows something is near by..."
He pauses, "Astrilith, do you wish to attempt to remove that ring before we proceed or do you still fancy it despite it nature?"
"For now, the benefits outweigh the negatives. I do not mind extra arcane reservoir" she shrugs
Simon nods. fair enough. he looks at the rest of the group shall we?
Simon creeps down the hall and hugs the corner before the opening....
Simon draws his short-spear, ready for battle...
On the other corner, Tolenn advances, glances across at Simon , then back making sure the others are following.
She thn advances, hugging the wall...
Vondal quietly advances.
She shrugs as it seems they were finally continuing their trek inside the cave system. She gets her staff out like the rest, ready to meet out her own brand of death to whom so ever attacked
Olga Stands and advances with the others her hands pulling a few Shuriken . She seems to smile and watch for anything. Her focus is more on support than tanking.
you all move quietly to the corner and make the turn....
inside you a large room with 4 central columns. Made of the same rock that surrounds you (walls, floor and ceiling), they stand silently in the darkness.
The smell is what hits you next.
death.
rot
decay.
you look around for a source, but find nothing.
but it's there, lingering in the air.
it assails your nostrils, making it difficult to breath.
all of you have been around death before. The hand of the Balanced Coin being no stranger to the battle field, where the smell of spilled blood, chopped flesh, bile, excrement and filth are all common smells.
but this is different.
it's horrendeous to behold, and leaves a chill upon you.... upon your soul. your mind revolts, unwilling to allow such a smell to register upon your mind....
Ceirn stops himself from throwing up and says, "That smell is obscene. What happened here?"
" Dasen Macabre!" Olga exclaims as she seems to rummage through her bags.
"I recommend if anyone has something sweet or strong smelling to counter the smell, as for the unnatural feeling.." She begins to rummage through her mental audience hall full of music and movement.
"Well, this is unexpected. Rather visceral if you ask me. Not that you will. Someone went through quite the meat grinder. Wonder what did this?" she states as she takes in the scene
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Yes. You are right Pac. I find that statement funny" she replies to the unheard words in her usually dry tone
"Facking Hell.."
Vondal quickly takes off his bag of concealment, rummages through it to find a bar of soap. The godling starts to rub it into his mustache.
"Eh. That helped out a little."
Will DC 14
Simon feels the panic well up within him and races back the way the group came! He bites his lip as to not yell out.
"Well, there goes our trap Smith. Great. Vondal, guess you're up. Touch all the objects. See if any are trapped" she sighs
Tolenn feels her gorge rising as the smell truly hits her, but with a cough and a shake of her head, she resists the impulse to run away from the fetid air.
She blinks as her scouting buddy run away from the smell, but shrugs, she can't really blame him....it is quite atrocious.
Squinting her eyes in an unconcious reaction to the smell, she wracks her brain trying to figure out what might be causing the stench.
She moves forward commenting over her shoulder, "I'm no slouch when it comes to sniffing out traps...."
"Redundancy, not bad i guess." she nods at Tolenn
Ceirn turns and follows Simon to make sure the little halfling is safe.
It smells like a freshly opened vault in a crypt.
Lots of the undead are associated with the smell of a deadman's vault. however, you are pretty darn sure that those creatures are Grimlocks. Humanoids that are half undead, half alive. as though they have one foot in the grave, and brought the grave with you
from where you stand, you look around the room, and notice several piles of some random items spread throughout the room.... perhaps they are the source of the smell?
You run! you pump your arms and churn your legs, screaming loudly as the cowards curse fills your mind to flee! your arm moves up and down, filling the tunnel with light with every swing from your wrist torch.
you get to the junction in the tunnel, you have to make a decision. which one to safety? which one? have to choose! have to run! have to run! run from the fear! run from the smell! the smell! oh lords of mystery, the smell! it claws at you, its in your nose! twisting in your hairs, a suffocating at the back of your throat! it clamps on your throat, making it hard, so hard to breath. am i safe? Safe? what is safe hahahaha you cackle madly as fear forces the sound from your throat. it fills the hall, echoing distantly down the tunnel before you. which way? which way is safety? Can there be safety down here?
straight is safety!
You rush down the tunnel.
[
[
Watching the halfling haul ass down the hallway, Vondal comments.
"Hmm. Guess I'll go get 'em."
Unless stopped, the godling walks down the hallway with some level of caution.
Tolenn eyes the interesting columns and what looks like piles of possible loot on the floor.
However a glance back shows at least two of her new companions have turned back to assist the panicked Simon.
With a sigh, she backs out of the smelly room, commenting, "I think we'll all go get'em..."
you run down the hall, your torch flashing light all over the place, allowing you a path to see, but unable to focus on one thing.
all you can do is run!
The audible click is your only warning as the floor drops out from under you....
instinct kicks in, and you leap! you clear the hidden trap and continue to run, not daring to look behind you....
you continue down the hall, pushing hard, your breathing coming harsh, tearing at your throat, your lungs burn! but you have to run! run from the fear! run from the smell! run from your past! Its sick, it clings to you! it works its way into your soul! you have no control!
your torch flashes down the tunnel. you see the end of the tunnel! its a junction! you have to choose! which way? left or right? Left or-
Lightning flashes out, stretching from wall to wall, floor to ceiling
the pain is intense! any thoughts of fear, of panic, of death and decay, all of it is thrown from your mind as you run through the trap and receive its electric embrace!
Your muscles spasm and twitch, causing you to flop and land hard upon your side, sliding into the opposite wall...
smoke rises from your body (damn, what smells so good? ), pain lances through your body with every twitch. you look at your hands and see black burn marks.
you hurry after Simon, for a halfling he runs pretty fast.
Your chase stops abruptly as the floor between you and simon suddenly drops away. You only have time to look at it when a large rock falls out of the ceiling and falls down the shaft, landing with a sickening crunch.
You barely have time to register how horrible this would have been had Simon actually fallen into the shaft when a brilliant blue light flares to life at the end of the tunnel. Lightning stretches from wall to wall, ceiling to floor. it crackles and snaps as it whips upon simons small frame. The small halfling is flung from his feet and falls to the floor...
Olga skipped after the others. She followed a close distance behind as she giggled. If only Simon was closer, she had a spell to help. A Total infusion of Joy from the Goddess herself. A blessing to turn fear and despair temporarily.
Still she followed ready to do what she must to help the party. Madness, boredom, fear, anxiety and despair were as deadly as an trap or monster. Morale was important. She would tend to hearts and wounds. It was her job after all.