Joe hefts his warhammer and eyes the door for weak points.
In two rapid attacks using all his strength he tears through the wooden door. The lock mechanism shatters and the remaining pieces swings wide. Beyond is a room that takes up both the western and southern wings of the third floor. Two stone altars, one black and one white, sit at either end. The crumbling remains of wooden benches sag in front of each altar beneath rotting ceiling tapestries. Carved symbols and writings snake along the walls. The burnt corpses of two troglodytes lie on the floor in the center of the room. The room is lit by two humanoid skeletons, wreathed in auras of eternal flame. They stand beside respective altars, jaws open in soundless screams as they raise arms and attack.
Colburne
Crael
Gustin
burning skeletons
(17) Colburne
(13) Gustin
(11) Crael
(8) burning skeletons
Third Floor, burning skeletons
Joe noticing the skeleton, "Walking skeletons fellas, be ready!" With that, Joe charges at one while tightening his grip on his hammer.
"Scrabblin skeletons! And they're flaming no less, let's get em'" Colburne readies his axe as he moves into the room.
Arrux follows the others into the room, lumbering up to the first skeleton he sees to deliver an attack. Crael moves into the room as well, taking the opposite side of the door as Colburne.
Round 1, burning skeletons
(24) Joe noticing the skeleton, "Walking skeletons fellas, be ready!" With that, Joe charges at one while tightening his grip on his hammer. The mighty swing crushes straight though the skull, ribcage, and bips of the skeleton decimating it. As the shards of bone fly around Joe the creatures lingering magic detonates.
The fire barely scalds Joe as he turns away from it with a grin and a thumbs up.
(17) "Scrabblin skeletons! And they're flaming no less, let's get em'," Colburne readies his axe as he moves into the room.
(11) Arrux follows the others into the room, lumbering Through the room towards the first skeleton it sees and readies to attack. Crael moves into the room as well, taking the opposite side of the door as Colburne.
As the final skeleton approaches Arrux the eidelon reaches forth and crushes the creature. This one too explodes in a fiery pier.
The fire barely scalds Arrux as he turns away from it with a nervous click-clack of claws.
The troglodyte corpses are mostly burnt but 10 silver can be scavenged. The altars still contain their silver altar services, worth 100 gp altogether, as well as two silver holy symbols of Nethys. In addition, a scroll rests atop each altar.
"Whooo! Looks like we makin' us a little bit o' gold on this trip, fellas!" Eyes wide from the excitement of finding more loot. "All this silver has got to be worth somethin'. But I'm not sure what these pieces of paper are doing here. They don't look like their worth nothin'."
Crael looks at the two scrolls. "There may be more to these than would first appear" He unfurls the two scrolls and reads them, trying to make sense of the arcane writings.
"Well Crael? Can you figur' out what they say?" Joe asks Crael curiously and continues rambling, "Hey Colburne, you find anything? Cuz that's all I could find. So if there ain't nothin' else in here, I guess we head upstairs? What y'all think?"
The magical mysteries of these scrolls are beyond Crael's comprehension. They are certainly spells though.
"Nice job guys, your so lethal, when you slay your foes they EXPLODE! I'm going to give the perimeter of this room a once over to check the walls for secret doors, if I don't find anything we can hit the stairs and explore the next level." Colburne walks along the wall, focusing his attention on the stonework, searching for useless seams or unexplained drafts.
Colburne moves around the room thoroughly checking all the corners and walls. The north eastern wall of the southern wing as a secret door built into it. Unfortunately it is locked again.
"Hey guys, check it out I found a secret door. Looks like it's locked, gonna have to force it open... Hey Joe, still got your hammer handy?" Colburne querries his party while searching his pack for a crowbar.
Good job guys, I'll just be standing over here ready for whatever is through that door."
"Hey guys, check it out I found a secret door. Looks like it's locked, gonna have to force it open... Hey Joe, still got your hammer handy?" Colburne querries his party while searching his pack for a crowbar.
"You got it buddy. Let's see if ol' smasher here can get 'er open!" As Joe rears back and goes to whaling on door.
Crael rolls up the papers. "I cannot decipher these, they are definitely magical writings however. I would need to spend more time studying them to make any sense of them."
Joe goes to town on the not so secret door.
This one is a bit sturdier but it only takes a little extra effort to knock his way through. Looking through the ruined door the group can see the eastern half the the tower. Or what was left of it. Though most of this area has fallen down below. There is a narrow strip of floor left near the central stairwell that leads to the rest of the northern wing. That section is still filled with shadows from Joe's torch at this angle.
"Well fellas, it looks like we got us another room to explore. Man this just gets better 'n better! Whooo!" As he steps through the door into the next room, "Alright fellas," as he turns toward everyone speaking in a loud whisper, "let's be careful...and watch out for any o' them fire skeletons!" Returning to his normal voice and turning back to the mission at hand, "Now let's go see what we can find." His eyes big with excitement
"Feel free to lead the way, We are right behind you." Gustin says. When we enter the room Gustin will take a quick look around.
A living, moving fabric seems to cover the ceiling of this half-collapsed chamber, which stretches northwest into darkness. The pungent smell of ammonia rises from the droppings that litter the floor. A colony of bats roosts on the ceiling of this room. The movement of Joe in the chamber disturbs them and they begin flying about forming two swarms.
Colburne
Crael
Gustin
bat swarms
(22) Gustin
(14) Colburne
(12) Joe
(10) Crael
Round 1
(26) The massive swathes of bats swirl out covering most of the group.
Blanketed in bats and swatting furiously the dwarf exclaims, "ain't no axe gonna cut down a hundred bats, I'm outta here!" Damn, don't wanna let my team down, but spending time in a cloud of bats is bad for your health and down right digusting UNGH...
Noticing Colurne head back for the door, Joe decides it's best to do the same, "DANGIT! Dang bats!" Joe wildy swinging trying to keep the bats off of him, "Let's get outta here! There's just to dang many of 'em!" He turns towards the door they just came through and makes a beeline for it. "Look out! I'm coming through!" As Joe heads out of one swarm and through another trying to make it back.
"Get em off me, Get em off me!" Gustin runs out of the room.
Crael and Arrux follow the others through the door. "Any idea how to handle that many bats? I don't think I brought enough acid."
"Maybe we could use torch fire?" Joe suggests. "Bats hate fire." He stops to ponder that last statement for a moment. "Well, I guess most anything hates to get burned if you think about it." He says aloud to no one in particular then refocuses on the task at hand, "Anyway, just don't know if that's gonna be enough cause there's a lot of 'em. And all I got is that fake torch Crael's been holdin'. So the way I figure, we can either try the torches, if y'all have any, or we're probably gonna have to take the stairs and just forget that room. What do you fellas think?"
As the five of you retreat into the room and watch the bat swarms carefully though the door it's not long before the lot of them disperses into the night. It would seem Joe had just woke them up for the night and a group of adventurers was the closest meal.
"Blasted bats... Glad that's over. If we live through this, remind me to visit the general store and recheck my equipment list. I just realized how much gear I still need to be a true adventurer. Oh well... Guess I'll have to rough it for now. Let's have a quick once over the space now that it's bat free." Colburne walks through the chamber his eyes watching the ceiling for any remaining bats.
The chamber the bats have resided in is filled with a stench of ammonia. Strangely not as bad as the trogs. Despite his thorough search there is nothing of any value or interest in this area.
Joe stepping back into the room and looking up to make sure there are no more bats coming after him, "Find anythin' Col'?" he asks.
"Nah, nothing here, let's move upstairs." Colburne replied.
The stairs lead up to another landing on the fourth floor. This one also has a wooden door. The steps also continue farther leading straight into a fifth floor.
"Let me check the door for traps before we bash it in." Colburne begins lightly tapping spots on the doors surface with one end of his crowbar.
The door is not locked or trapped. You can hear troglodyte voices speaking in the hissing tongue of draconic on the other side of the door.
"Alright fellas, sounds like we got trouble on the other side. I got a few scratches from those dang bats, but I'm fairly alright. How 'bout the rest of y'all?" he asks. "It sounds a lot like those stinky lizard people, but I'm not sure. And if we got a bunch of 'em we better make sure we're ready." As Joe readies his hammer to smash the door when he gets the ok from everyone.
"Not that I've been much help in combat up until now anyways, but this stairway sure does pose a problem for me and my bow. Maybe if I stand over here." Gustin quietly moves up the stairs to N7 hoping that he might be able to shoot over top of his comrades heads.
"Thanks for that Gustin, feelin' better already." He says as he rubs his hands together and grips his warhammer tightly, readying himself to smash in the door. "Alright fellas, here goes nothin'."
Joe crashes through the unlocked door. Crude bunks line the walls of this room, which is filled with the nauseating stench of troglodytes. Three of the creatures stand in the middle of the room. They stare at the fighter with jaws open wide. They quickly raise their claws to attack.
Colburne
Crael
Gustin
young troglodytes
(14) young troglodytes
(11) Gustin
(6) Colburne
(5) Crael
The terrible reeking smell fills the stairwell. It rolls almost visibly through the air.
Colburne
Crael
-Arrux
Gustin
Only Crael succumbs to the smell and begins to choke on his own bile.
Crashing through the door Joe screams out, "DIE, YOU STINKIN' LIZARDS!", as he charges the nearest one.
Disgusted by the sight and smell of the filthy lizard men, Colburne drops his crowbar and reaches for his trusty axe. With speed and determination he joins his friend Joe in battle. "Hey there buddy, need a hand bashing these smelly scalebacks?"
Gustin moves up the stairs to get a better view into the room.
Crael gags and covers his mouth, he pushes his back to the wall as his eyes water from the smell. Arrux makes his way past Crael and into the room, swinging at the first creature he sees.
Round 1, young troglodytes
(21) Crashing through the door Joe screams out, "DIE, YOU STINKIN' LIZARDS!", as he charges the nearest one. His hammer slams into the ground beside the troglodyte.
(14) While letting out a hiss the one before Joe attacks.
The other two quickly move up on opposite sides of the farmer and attack from flanking positions.
(11) Gustin moves up the stairs to get a better view into the room. He draws his bow and shoots, but his target ducks behind Joe at the last moment causing Gustin to miss.
(6) Disgusted by the sight and smell of the filthy lizard men, Colburne drops his crowbar and reaches for his trusty axe. With speed and determination he joins his friend Joe in trying to roll onder the claws of a trog. "Hey there buddy, need a hand bashing these smelly scalebacks?"
(5) Crael gags and covers his mouth, he pushes his back to the wall as his eyes water from the smell. Arrux makes his way past Crael and into the room, swinging at the first creature he sees. His powerful pincher crushes the skull of a trog into bloody pulp.
The thrill of battle obviously overtaking the discouragement of missing, "I'll take all the help I can get, Col' ol' pal! Whooo!" Joe says while swinging again at the smelly trog.
Watching his best attempt with his bow fail such a challenging shot, Gustin advances on the encounter to help his friends in a different way. Gustin touches Colburne and Says "No worries my friend, Desna is with us"
Arrux steps over the downed foe and attack again.
"worries....? The only thing that's got me worried is my buzz wearing off! Don't sweat these smelly finheads guys, let's finish em' quick, and there may still be time for a drink after our adventure. Desna and Cayden Cailean be praised!" With renewed vigor at the thought of a drink, Colburne springs into position behind one of the lizardmen assaulting Joe, aiming his axe strike for the creature's spine.
Round 2, young troglodytes
(21) The thrill of battle obviously overtaking the discouragement of missing, "I'll take all the help I can get, Col' ol' pal! Whooo!" Joe says while swinging again at the smelly trog.
(14) The troglodyte in front of Joe moves to the door. As it steps away Joe takes another swing.
Finally a blow connects and it is eviscerated.
The last trog attacks Joe from behind again.
(11) Watching his best attempt with his bow fail such a challenging shot, Gustin advances on the encounter to help his friends in a different way. Gustin touches Colburne and says, "No worries my friend, Desna is with us."
(6) "Worries....? The only thing that's got me worried is my buzz wearing off! Don't sweat these smelly finheads guys, let's finish em' quick, and there may still be time for a drink after our adventure. Desna and Cayden Cailean be praised!" With renewed vigor at the thought of a drink, Colburne springs into position behind one of the lizardmen assaulting Joe, aiming his axe strike for the creature's spine.
The blade drives deep into it's back, nearly cutting the trog in two. It begins to bleed and die on the ground.
(5) Crael continues to be sick in the staircase and Arrux looks around chittering considering tearing up a bed...