Arla follows through after Rall, keeping one hand on the back of Ash's neck to keep him close.
Rall thinks he's see's something tucked away behind the broken column, a crossbow perhaps, but no traps.
The stairs going down are reached and still the wolf does not attack, though Bowen noticed he is tensed, as if not sure whether or not there is going to be a fight.
Rall takes a closer look at the object and if he sees nothing suspicious takes it out.
"Theives!!!" growls the wolf as Rall moves towards the crossbow on the floor. He growls from his position in the doorway and moves to attack Rall.
With a curse and a slight glare towards Rall, Bowen steps forward and drives the blade on his klar into the wolf before he can get to Rall.
Bowen's attack wounds the wolf, even if only slightly and manages to distract the animal away from Rall.
Arla is caught off-guard by the speed at which the truce between the party and the wolf turns sour. Her reaction isn't nearly quick enough.
Round 1
Bowen -
Graypelt -
Rall
Arla/Ash
Attacking Bowen: (1d20+8=28)
confirm critical: (1d20+8=12)
Damage: (1d6+3=5)
Trip Attempt (DC19): (1d20+8=25)
The giant gray wolf turns his attention from Rall to Bowen and with cunning and speed, he moves past Bowen's defenses and snaps quickly at the Ranger's legs. With a jerk, he pulls Bowen's feet out from under him and Bowen strikes the floor on his backside.
"Damn!" says Rall. "I was just looking!!"
He pulls out his longsword and attacks:longsword (1d20+2=18, 1d8+2=10)
Oh no... Seeing Bowen suddenly fall after the wolf's vicious attack, Arla rushes to his defense, calling Ash after her. Too late for peace now..
She stabs at the huge wolf with her spear, hoping to give Bowen a chance to recover.
Attack: 1d20+1=14, Damage: 1d8+1=5
Ash darts in beside her, snarling as he bites at the huge wolf's flank.
Bowen tries to stand and draw his scimitar.
As Bowen tries to stand, the wolf snaps at him...
...but Bowen manages to avoid the teeth this time as he rolls out of the way and draws his weapon.
Attacking Bowen again: (1d20+8=13)
As the wolf growls and snaps, Bowen is kept busy trying to defend himself.
Round 2 and Bowen and Graypelt have both acted.
Rall attacks the wolf again knowing it is the children's only hope.
Rall's attack severely wounds the wolf, but it is not yet dead.
Again, Arla attempts to stab the wolf with her spear, while Ash continues to bite at the huge creature's side.
Arla's spear sinks into the side of the wolf and then Ash once more finishes off the foe as he drags the massive body to the ground, ripping out the great wolf's throat.
The creature dies, bloody froth on his jaws and a somewhat surprised look in its eyes.
"Good dog," says Rall. "Now, do we need to rest or can we go find those children?"
With a sigh of relief Bowen rubs his leg. "As much as I want to rush after those children, I fear that if I don't rest and tend to my wound and make sure we are all at full strength then these dragon men may be our end." Looking around the room for something sturdy to sit on he collapses and begins bandaging his injured leg. "So was that crossbow worth it?"
"Yeah... ummm ... sorry. I've got a bad habit of picking up things that don't belong to me," says Rall look embarrassed.
Tucked behind the pillar are a bag containing 354 golden coins, most of them Andoran but a few Chelaxian coins appear to be mixed in there, a masterwork light crossbow sans bolts, a potion bottle filled with a dark blue liquid that seems to swirl and sparkle, and a hazel wand with draconic letters carved into it.
Also, if you plan on resting, pick your room and then, assuming nothing attacks you, level your characters.
After bandaging his wound Bowen stands with a slight limp. "So where do you think we should rest? I'd rather not sleep with this smell if I have a choice though. Perhaps the dwarves had a waiting room back towards the front door. Lets go check them out." Before leaving he cleans both his scimitar blade and klar blade on the fur of the wolf. Then looks to the others.
After bandaging his wound Bowen stands with a slight limp. "So where do you think we should rest? I'd rather not sleep with this smell if I have a choice though. Perhaps the dwarves had a waiting room back towards the front door. Lets go check them out." Before leaving he cleans both his scimitar blade and klar blade on the fur of the wolf. Then looks to the others.
Rall gathers up the crossbow and other treasure and follows Bowen.
There is another door near to the door leading into the wolfs' lair. South of the double doors into the chapel, there are two doors, one going east and one going west. Across from the double doors leading into the chapel, there is a set of doors in the entrance hall, one going north and one going south.
Arla follows the other two out of the room.
"You certainly have a knack for trouble, sheriff.."
Bowen moves south back to the main entrance and then chooses the north door. "Rall think you can check these two doors for any surprises?"
Rall checks the door and though it is not trapped, it is stuck, requiring Bowen to put his shoulder to it to open the thing.
With a loud crack, the door finally gives way, shattering an ancient chair that had been propped against the door on the other side. The room beyond is dark and smells deeply of dust and decay.
In the center of the ten foot square chamber, when the light is brought within, the three see the mummified remains of a dwarf. He is slumped on the floor and garbed in the manner of a blacksmith. There is a glass vial in his right hand and a parchment in his left. Tucked into his belt is a silver light hammer with markings upon its head.
Rall scans the mummy for any sign that it is going to stand up and lead an army of undead against Falcon's Hollow.
If it seems safe, he will carefully withdraw the parchment from the mummified dwarf's hand.
Arla follows the other two out of the room.
"You certainly have a knack for trouble, sheriff.."
"It's not that I attract danger," says Rall, "It's that danger finds me attractive ... I mean, who doesn't?"
The dwarf appears very dead. There is some sort of holy symbol on his silver hammer (Religious check DC 15 to identify) and the note is written in Dwarven.
Check: You can decipher writing in an unfamiliar
language or a message written in an incomplete or archaic
form. The base DC is 20 for the simplest messages, 25 for
standard texts, and 30 or higher for intricate, exotic, or
very old writing. If the check succeeds, you understand the
general content of a piece of writing about one page long
(or the equivalent). If the check fails, make a DC 5 Wisdom
check to see if you avoid drawing a false conclusion about
the text. (Success means that you do not draw a false
conclusion; failure means that you do.)
Both the Linguistics check and (if necessary) the Wisdom
check are made secretly by the GM, so that you can’t tell
whether the conclusion you draw is true or false.
Bowen removes any thing of value from the corpse and stacks them in a pile then looks around. "So do we put him in the sanctuary with Fee? We also may be able to find something inside there that we can use to rest or we can try to rest inside there though I think the creatures will begin to stink tonight. Any ideas on the matter?"
Rall thinks the note might have something to do with a family matter but its all dwarven to him.
The silver light hammer is the only thing of value on the dwarf.
...
...
"Do you think it is safe to rest here? He doesn't smell as ... freshly dead as that wolf ...," Rall asks timidly.
...
...
"We already slept in a room with fee and those black things but I don't really wish to do it again. Let's move him to the sanctuary." Bowen grabs part of the dwarf and begins to pull him to the sanctuary Where he then looks for something they can use to block the door for the smaller room.
One of the ancient pews can serve to block the door, provided some alterations are made to its length (i.e. chop it in half). Though the sound of chopping echoes throughout the complex, no creatures venture forth to investigate the noise.
The Dwarven Note
Tired Bowen joins the rest in their makeshift chamber. "Arla I hope you don't mind staying in such a small quarters with Rall and I." Then quite beat Bowen makes sure the door is secured shut and then puts out his bedroll in the corner with his scimitar and klar laying out ready and next to him.
Rall lies his head on his backpack and thinks about all the things he did wrong today. ... Then he thinks about the things he did right. ... And then about the things he did wrong again.
There are fewer sounds outside the room as the party spends another day and night hiding. The only howling heard is distant and the sound of movement outside is minimal.
Nevertheless, early in the evening, something does come to the door, a very large rat perhaps, or one of the kobolds the three know are around. There is the sound of something metallic being dragged a little later and then all is silent.
"No, of course not." Arla replies to Bowen, laying out her bedroll at one side of the room. With Ash curling up beside her, the tired druid soon falls asleep.
When Rall awakes, he sits and stares at the holy symbol taken from Fee and tries to remember a time when he believed in something other than saving his own skin.
Rall suggests going back to Graypelt's room and taking his word for where the children are.
Having risen from her rest, Arla will agree with Rall.
"I think we should continue from where we were before."
Though Graypelt's room is lit from the hole in the ceiling, it is obvious that the stairs descend quickly into darkness.
From below, the sound of rock dragging on rock can be heard, accompanied by the sound of high pitched yapping voices.
Since we entered, have we seen any light sources? Torches?