Silently unsheathing his scimitar, Aimo walks through the double doors as well, following 10-15 foot behind Lucian.
Keiran moves up next to Derryn. "Doesn't look like they went up the stairs," he says quietly. The footsteps seemed to lead to the north, but he didn't see anything yet.
It is absolutely quiet and still in the granary. Yet everyone feels a sense of hate and malice roiling forth from the room ahead.
Tayllon calls his bear to defend him and prepares his shortspear for the nasty work that lies ahead, ready to follow Lucien and the others through the door.
Keiran advanced to the mouth of the next room, halberd at the ready. "Iomedae give me strength," he said quietly to himself. He turned back to see if his comrades were advancing, just for a moment, before looking further into the darkness.
The paladin makes his way to the threshold of the room ahead and discovers five cloaked forms within. They turn to Keiran, revealing bodiless, floating skulls. The horrors advance, brandishing rusted scythes in their ghostly hands.
OOC:
Monster initiative
"Dammit." mutters Lucian as he bounds through the grain towards the paladin.
initiative
strength check
"Sarenrae's will protect us." Aimo mutters and he prays for help from his goddess as he advances. He channels the will of Sarenrae into a mighty blast aimed at the undead.
Initiative:
Channel energy save for half damage: DC 13 Will (no addition of channel resistance)
Channel energy damage:
Keiran steps to his right, clearing the door for the rest of the group. He readies his halberd to slash the first undead that comes within range.
Initiative:
Attack Roll:
Damage Roll:
Init
Bear is already defending him, so Tayllon will prepare his sling and attack
Attack
Damage
Initiative:
Derryn mutters under his breath, "It's never easy, is it?"
He then moves up behind Keiran and fires a bolt from his crossbow at the nearest undead horror he can see.
Attack:
Damage:
One of the spectral killers glides in from Kieran's left. The paladin slashes at it, cleaving its skull in half. Three more undead immediately descend on him ...
Ghost #3 attacks Kieran - HIT
Damage
Ghost #2 attacks Kieran - MISS
Ghost #5 attacks Kieran - MISS
Tayllon attacks with his sling, but his shot goes merely ricochets off a wall.
Lucian dashes across the grain to Keiran's side. He swings at a ghost ...
Rolling for Lucian, attack - HIT
Damage
... and destroys it. But another moves forward to take its place.
Tallyon's bear stays protectively by his little master's side.
Aimo channels the power of life, obliterating the remaining undead!
Combat is now over.
In the silo the skull-ghosts gathered in, a rusted metal chest sits on a pile of grain. The chest is open. Inside are ten ceramic vials.
Kieran looks around. "That's all of them, right?" He moves forward to see if the vials are opened or still sealed.
After a silent nod of approval towards Aimo.
"I think this Nessian needs to step up his game" boasts Lucian to Keiran as he cautiously bends to inspect the chest and it's contents. "The poison, I would guess?
Having been made paranoid by battles and undead attacks, Derryn slips over to check through the doorway to the next room to see if there are any other enemies in the building.
Keiran shrugs. "Most likely, though I am no expert. We should take this with us until we find a safe place to dispose of it," he says, closing the chest.
Kieran looks around. "That's all of them, right?" He moves forward to see if the vials are opened or still sealed.
No vials seem to be missing from the chest. All are still stoppered.
Having been made paranoid by battles and undead attacks, Derryn slips over to check through the doorway to the next room to see if there are any other enemies in the building.
Derryn finds no more lurking enemies in the granary.
Keiran shrugs. "Most likely, though I am no expert. We should take this with us until we find a safe place to dispose of it," he says, closing the chest.
"Agreed. Lets get moving"
"Agreed. Lets get moving"
"Indeed, but where? Didn't these creatures come from the sea?"
"Indeed, but where? Didn't these creatures come from the sea?"
Aimo offers up a silent prayer of thanks to Sarenrae. He then sheaths his scimitar and walks to where Keiran and Lucian are talking.
I bet old Yargos can shed some light on this. He saw the creatures coming out of the water, and we might get some hints from there. Otherwise, we'll just have to go to this other guy, Nessian, who seems to be holding the key to all this.
The party finds Yargos waiting nervously outside. When asked about the undead, he responds,
"Yes, yes! There are more of them waiting to be roused from the sea! But that won't happen unless a specific set of signal lights are shone into the bay. These signal codes were all in the book Nessian stole, and I fear that he will summon yet more horrors. No one knows where Nessian lairs. What to do, what to do? Wait, Grandmaster Torch would know. But he never answers questions without demanding a heavy price ..."
Tayllon looks meaningfully at his companions then back at Yargos...
"Why do I get the feeling this price is seldom paid with standard coinage?"
Keiran nodded. "Be that as it may, if it's to avoid cataclysm, we have little choice in the matter. Yargos, show us to this Grandmaster Torch."
Tayllon mutters to Aimo: "Do you suppose there is any hope he is grandmaster of the cookfire?"
Tayllon mutters to Aimo: "Do you suppose there is any hope he is grandmaster of the cookfire?"
With a wry grin, Aimo replies "I don't think so. But if needs be, I can teach this 'torch' something about fire."
It might be Tayllon's imagination, but he can somehow see small embers glow in Aimo's eyes and - although it's impossible - also sees two small wisps of smoke curl up from them.
"Yes, I'll take you to the Grandmaster. Now, please stay close behind me. I don't want you to get lost."
The reason for Yargos' warning becomes obvious when he leads you into the city sewers. In the filthy, suffocating labyrinth Yargos momentarily loses his way more than once. It is a great relief when you finally arrive at a well-lit, guarded chamber that somehow has fresh air piped in from above. The hulking, half-orc sentries know Yargos well, and soon agree to let everyone inside.
"Beware of the Grandmaster," warns Yargos with his voice full of fear, "he has powerful friends. Do not insult or threaten him. And you would do well to keep your weapons sheated in his presence."
After a long wait, you are led to a tastefully decorated receiveing room. Grandmaster Torch lounges in a shallow pool while two servants gently recycle the water over his scarred form. His two heavily armored, half-orc bodyguards remain close at hand.
"Please, make yourselves at home," the Grandmaster smiles. "So I hear Nessian has the Book of the Silent Tide. Which makes me wonder, what would happen when an most ambitious young man like him do when given the power to rend the city asunder?"
Tayllon scratches Bear on the scruff of the neck and replies coolly,
"I don't expect a city torn asunder would bode well for those who live beneath it, hmm? Perhaps your interests do not diverge so far from our own."
Diplomacy
Knowing these situations are often, at first, left to those with a more subtle tongue, Lucian stands quietly at Tayllon's side. Ever Vigilant of the half-orc guards and any signs of trouble.
"That degree of power in the hands of the reckless often leads to disaster. Such events benefit none of us, for who can profit from a city laid to waste?" Keiran doubted that altruistic or idealistic appeals would work on this gentleman, but appealing to his avarice might. Keiran had larger concerns than whatever enterprises this 'Grandmaster Torch' ran, for now.
Diplomacy
Tayllon clears his throat uncomfortably and takes a not-so-subtle step away from Kieren... if there ever was a way to screw up talking to an underworld kingpin about making money, leave it to the paladin to find it!
Hiding a silent chuckle. Lucian looks at Keiran and mouths "Smoooooth" then addresses the Grandmaster "Forgive our ignorance my lord but our time is short. Of course a man as well informed as you knows the whereabouts of this Nessian. The only matter we should be discussing is the price, be it purse or deed, for such information."
"That degree of power in the hands of the reckless often leads to disaster. Such events benefit none of us, for who can profit from a city laid to waste?"
"I agree with you in principle," nods the horribly disfigured man, "but to cross someone as dangerous as Nessian is a very great risk. Why should I be the one to suffer for the good of the many? No one ever helped me when I was but a gutter-dwelling orphan."
Nessian breaks the uncomfortable silence.
"I’ve recently come into possession of a series of safes. Unfortunately, the safecracker I employed has turned out to be quite useless. If you can coax even three of the five safes open, I could be persuaded to disclose Nessian’s location and dispense with my regular fee entirely. These chests are remarkably unique and I have the foreboding suspicion that, in this case, the receptacles just might be worth more than their contents, so I’d rather you didn’t smash them open. Oh! One more thing: if I find that you have crossed me and stolen the contents, there will be repercussions."
Derryn interlaces his fingers and then turns his palms outward, cracking his knuckles loudly.
"Well, it just so happens that safecrackin' is a bit o' a hobby a mine. I'm sure I'm better'n anyone ya picked up offa the street. And dontcha worry, Kieran'll be there ta make sure nuthin' goes missin'."
Derryn gives a gap-toothed, yet angelic grin.
"First chains, now safes" Tayllon thinks to himself, "will these city dwellers never grow tired of locking things away?"
With a sigh, he prepares to aid Derryn in whatever way he can.
Keiran nods. "I give my Oath as a servant of Iomedae, that we will not steal the contents of the safes." While he wasn't stupid enough to think that the safes had come into Torch's possession through legitimate means, neither was it worth endangering their task over. He had not been party to acquiring the safes, and they were not going to be stealing from them. But he knew that after they stopped Nessian, he would likely need to seek atonement for his role in things. He does not interfere with Derryn's attempts to open the safes, and watches only to make sure the contents remain. He trusted Derryn well enough, but it was his role to be diligent about his oath.
The Grandmaster seems pleased by Keiran's oath.
"Good then. I'll give you the night to open the safes. May the gods smile on you."
One of the bodyguards leads you to a large store room. In the back are the five safes.
The first one from the left is made of iron. The door is decorated with a laughing devil’s head.
The second is painted red. The door is inset with a trio of golden faces. The first appears stern, the second angry, and the third fumes with hatred.
The third is made of stone. It has a lid covered with a relief of carved ivy.
The fourth is also of stone. It has no visible lock or hinges. No decoration or writing of any kind can be found.
The fifth is a rectangular wooden chest. A strange stylized writing wraps around the lacquered sides. Ten small holes of the same size run along it's lacquered lid.
Doing his level best not to interfere with Derryn's work, Tayllon investigates each box carefully, hoping beyond hope not to set off any nasty traps...
1st iron
2nd red
3rd stone
4th also stone
5th wood
The devil’s head on the first safe can be turned in both directions.
Tayllon, for the second chest, please make a Sense Motive check.
On the third chest the individual letters of a riddle is carved in between the leaves on the chest’s lid. It reads:
Though different now sounds my name, the spelling still remains the same. Once prior to the leap of night, now becomes the birth of white.
You discover nothing on the fourth box
There is a hidden panel on one side of the fifth box, but no apparent means to open it.
Perception checks:
1st:
2nd:
3rd:
4th:
5th:
Sense motive if necessary:
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
sense motive