Taking a quick peek down the stairwell Kend notices the darkness surrounding the landing. He pauses then pulls a sunrod from his pack and tucks it in his belt for easy access. Then he heads down the first staircase slowly alongside Errigal with his warhammer in his right hand and a throwing axe in the other.Knowing the ruins are frought with danger he pays attention to his surroundings.
Perception Check:
Stealth Check at half speed:
Kathrine allows others to check over the area around the entrance to Dragon's Delve as she un-slings her Fauchard from her backpack and quickly unravels the training bandages on the tip. Rolling back up the bandages and setting them with a pin she tosses the roll into her backpack.
Then, Kathrine steps up next to Errigal and says, "Let us both go in first. It would not do well to get separated on our first outing into the Delve."
Kathrine holds her Fauchard with one hand as she uses the other to press against the wall as she moves down the opening stair case. Keeping her eyes open and rolling back and forth between different areas of the room. The quickly darkening entrance beginning to smell of deep layers of earth and stone, like a cellar. Once Errial and Kathrine are at the base of the stair case, she peeks down one of the next stairs and seeing how dark it is she turns back to Errigal.
"I have a lantern we can use, give me a few moments."
Pulling her backpack off her shoulders and laying it on the ground, Kathrine kneels down next to it and reaches deeper into her backpack, pulling out a hooded lantern. Using a flint and steel she quickly strikes the hooded lantern to begin burning it and straps her backpack back onto her shoulders as she stands back up. Turning the lantern slowly she looks over the illuminated room looking for the general idea of the stone work and any markings that might be on the walls.
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The hooded lantern pierces the darkness of the various stairwells from the landing, exposing the rooms beyond.
To the west a hall runs north and south, the walls adorned with painted frescoes of humans riding, running along with, or chasing horses. A few ride winged horses high in the sky.
A skeletal corpse lies near the bottom of the stairs. Two curving hallways branch off the side walls and a door sits to the south.
To the east a massive chamber is filled with cobwebs and dust. A shallow pool lies in the middle of the room, with tall pillars to the east of it, each carved to look like a tall, beautiful, human woman. The ceiling is vaulted, and a crescent moon has been painted at the highest point, which is directly above the pool. Although the paint is chipped, it still retains a peculiar luster that reflects light with a glistening glow. The walls sport a few empty sconces, and you see an imposing set of bronze doors on the east wall. These double doors bear images of winged horses rearing majestically.
North, an ancient hall of mortared stone stretches before you, littered with small bits of rotten, splintered wood and grimy tatters of cloth. The torch reveals a number of wooden doors, all closed. It stinks of urine and sweat here.
Along the western wall to the north a set of stairs rise up to another hallway.
Those who hit DC 19 Perception checks
Perception
Karth follows the group down the stairs wordlessly, leaving his bow in its place as there are already plenty of weapons bouncing about the landing.
He blinks a few times as they reach the last area of natural light, his natural darkvision letting him pierce the darkness the others cannot. Before he can survey much, the hooded lantern comes out and plays hell with his pupils. He grunts and shields his eyes for a moment. After a moment he becomes acclimated, parts of the dungeon in dull gray with a cone of color moving about as Kathrine does.
"Which way, then?" he asks. "North smells like... Trouble," he remarks, thinking it's probably some lair of some sort of monstrous humanoids.
Before entering the Delve, Zeldin fills his pockets with small stones. Once he has around 20 stones that are slightly bigger than those one would use in a sling he joins the others in thier slow descent.
As he moves he muses that this is a change for him... Heading into danger instead of trying to avoid it.
Perception:
As th eparty moves into the chamber Buckwell notices the tell-tale glint of light off one of the bells. Seeing the string stretched across the room he hisses "No one move any further. Someone has set up an alarm across the room." He kneels down to inspect the tripwire "Can anyone else with steadier hands try and remove this?"
Errigal nods at Karth's assesment of trouble to the north, "There's also some sort of string and bell setup that looks like a crude alarm."
Errigal then reaches into his belt pouch and pulls out what looks like a burning rock. He then raises it above his head and releases it, where it floats for a moment before beginning to orbit his head.
"I feel more comfortable going right into the teeth of a threat rather than have it sneak up on us from behind. Let me see if I can disable that string alarm without making too much noise."
Stealth Check:
Perception Check:
Disable Device Check:
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The 'alarm' is simple enough to avoid now that it has been seen, but it still could always cause problems later if it was forgotten about or the party was in a hurry.
Disabling it is a simple process, the bells are tied against the walls and are obviously meant to be sounded when a jerk of the string pulls them free. Errigal is able to make his way to the base of the stairs and simply cut the thread in the center so it no longer serves as a tripline without disturbing the bells.
From the base of the stairs you can see that the first west-facing door in the long hall has a hint of light coming from around its edges.
Kend sneaks towards the northeast corner(about 25ft beyond the exit of the stairwell) to listen at the door there that faces north.
Perception
Stealth
Kathrine watches as Kend steps forward on his own initiative. Not announcing his intent Kathrine casts her voice forward in a sharp whisper.
"Psst! Wait, what are you doing Kend-krid?"
Seeming too focused on his silent movement towards the slightly lit door, Kathrine bites the inside of her cheek in a bit of frustration as she moves the hooded lantern under her cloak in an attempt to hide the light and drowning the group in a silhouette of darkness. Noticing for the first time the light source that is orbiting around Errigal's head she whispers towards him, "Cover your... stone, Errigal, we do not want to give ourselves away."
Then, turning back towards the direction that Kend-krid headed off to, she peers into the surrounding darkness, barely able to make out the shape of his body by the light emanating from behind the western door. Wondering how long he will take.
Zeldin watches Kend-Krid move forward with some trepidation. Hoping that he is going to see what he can see and report back Zeldin whispers to the others I agree with Karth, that our first obvious threat is ahead of us. Likely goblins or the like. Or maybe kobolds. I also agree with Errigal, that it is better to deal with it than worry about it.
If we were to tie a rope to the bells and then position ourselves at the opening we would have a clear killing field for those with ranged weapons and a narrow egress for them to escape, hopefully chopped up by those of us that do not have ranged weapons. Additionally, if the light hinders them that would be to our advantage. The bell tells me that tactics might not be thier strong suit.
Wanting to go on he makes a point to stop talking. The adreneline is making him jumpy and chatty, and he was not pleased with either of these traits.
Karth takes a few steps down the stairs, drawing his longbow as he goes, the weapon a little unwieldy for the space. "Perhaps we should wait for what the Numerian has to report," he says quietly back towards Zeldin. He keeps his steely gaze on the door the barbarian is at, ready to cover him if need be.
Kend attempts to cross quietly to the other north facing door opposite and listen at that one before making his way back.
Stealth Check Modifier +7(Total 17)
Perception Modifier +4(Total 14)
Kend heads back to the rest and whispers, "There's definately occupants in the room to the right, didn't hear anything from the room to the left though. What are our options?"
"I like part of Zeldin's idea where we draw them out and attack from the bottom of the stairwell. Anyone with a ranged weaponw can attack from the stairs over the front line or perhaps just from the side. If too many come at us, we can retreat up the stairs."
Errigal looks at the others, "Let's arrange ourselves, and then Kend can open the door and run back to us."
Errigal, I wonder if retreating to the surface is the best way to handle things. We saw some stairs going up and I do not want to be surrounded if there is another way out of this place. And the commotion of battle may draw more of them or things worse from the side passages in which case, we are handily flanked.
Whatever we choose, Kend-Krid is going to want to don his armour I am certain.
Once Kend-Krid makes his way back to the group and reports on the situation by the door. Kathrine takes a moment to consider the options of the group and listens to the ideas of Zeldin and Errigal.
"Kend-Krid, what did it sound like on the other side of the door? Any remarkable features? I would not want to attack something that was not hostile."
Her voice holding to a low whisper as her mind considers the battle options should it come to it.
"Who will be our ranged attackers? I have a short bow but I must admit to not being very skilled in it. Zeldin also brings up a good point, it would not do to get flanked in these narrow stairs. So, perhaps me and Kend-Krid standing at the fore, while Zeldin and Karth act as our ranged support. Errigal and Bucky can stand at the top of the stairs and watch our backs?"
A strange look passes over Errigal's face for a moment, but returns to normal quickly and he says, "Sounds like a sound enough plan." Errigal then looks at Katherine and Kend-Krid and smiles grimly saying, "Strike true friends and give a yell if things go badly."
Errigal then makes his way up the stairs to the landing, keeping a vigil eye over the other stairwells.
Kend realizes Zeldin is right and starts donning his armored coat. As he does so he remarks, "Definitely sounded like goblins... That is a sound a plan as any, I'll draw them out once everyone is ready and we'll make a stand at the bottom of the stairs. What should we do if any of them flee? We don't want them to warn others or bring back reinforcements. Perhaps I'll just be ready to chase them down, but it would be foolish to run off by myself."
Good point about them fleeing. We do not know what choices they have on thier side of the door, but out here, Karth and I can focus on runners. I agree that you running into the coal black does not serve anyone well if you are alone.
Zeldin is eager start and holds his hands up, ready to begin casting. Small sparks leap from his fingers.
Initiative
Karth grunts an affirmative and readies his weapon, drawing an arrow from the quiver at his hip and nocking it. "Ready."
Initiative:
Bucky spans and loads his crossbow.
"Ready"
Kathrine takes a solid two-handed grip on her weapon, left foot forward, allowing her left hand to act as a fulcrum about half way up the shaft of her Fauchard with her right hand towards the back. Kathrine takes a deep breath as she readies herself, carefully lowering her hooded lantern to the floor adjacent to the corner of the stair case and taking a deep breath.
Errigal sees his fellow adventurers preparing for battle and unhooks his whip from his belt, holding it coiled in his hand prepared in case he is needed.
Looking around, it appears everyone is ready so Kend begins to follow the plan. He creeps up to the closed door, ready to bolt back to the stairwell at any moment. Once there he will try to open it quickly and loudly before heading back swiftly.
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Kend pushes open the door, getting a quick view of the hall within. A tattered and stained red carpet runs the length of it, and though the light grows dim towards its center at the far end he can see an large wooden throne surrounded by kegs stacked with dishes. Two sputtering torches sit on the wall on either side.
Along the north wall are two more wooden doors.
In the middle of the room, just at the edge of the light given off by the torches stands four figures. An orc appears to be barking orders at a mixed group: Another orc who wears banded armor and has a battle axe strapped across his back, a hobgoblin in chainmail who already holds a large steel shield and a longsword, and what appears to be a human but is unlike any person you have ever seen. She is large, almost unnaturally so and her skin is mottled with shards of bone growing through it in places. She, like the leader is dressed in studded leather with a falchion at her waist and javelins across her back.
As soon as the door opens the leader points towards him and shouts something out in Orcish. The barbarian may not understand the words, but the intent to have him killed is clear as the others turn towards him.
Presuming the plan still holds, Kend falls back to the base of the stairs to wait for the incoming charge. It will take them a full round before anyone comes into sight at the doorway, so Kend can call out what he saw and if any of you wish to take a preparatory action with that information you can in whatever order you want. Otherwise, when they appear(The hobgoblin will be the first one in sight at the door) our initiative order will be:
24 Zeldin
20 Thugs
19 Karth
13 Buckwell
13 Kend-Krid
12 Errigal
9. Leader
6. Kathrine
As Kend-Krid rushes back he calls out,"Two orcs, a hobgoblin, and a mutant. Well armed. Empty throne, the boss might not be here."
A bundle of nerves; Zeldin's fingers twitch and he mutters seeming gibberish under his breathe.
A flash of light shoots from his fingers, a dancing ball of electricity and surges toward the first brute through the door.
As Kend-Krid prepares to open the door, Bucky takes a moment to say a prayer of blessing over himself and his comrades.
Errigal waits for the enemy to close, glancing down the side stairwells from time to time.
Scorpion Whip damage:
Kathrine keeps her eyes sharply focused towards the door, waiting for her chance to act. Her nerves slightly frayed when her eyes are filled with a flash of light discharging from Zeldin's hand, and she is forced to blink several times to clear the after image.
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As the group of creatures rush through the doorway towards where the party has made their stand at the base of the stairs a burst of electricity flies from Zeldin's hand, but strikes against the open door the enemies pass through.
The hobgoblin's rush is cut short by a sweep of Kathrine's fauchard, sweeping across to cut a gash across his throat which drops him to the ground clutching at the wound to try and staunch it.
The deformed human comes just behind him, stepping over the body and hopping over the return sweep of the polearm Kathrine tries to use to trip her up with surprising nimbleness.
She raises her falchion high, clearly intent to bring it down in what she hopes would be a killing blow to the woman who dropped her teammate, but her size and lack of finesse plays against her in the close quarters, the top of the blade bouncing off the stone lip of the stair's roof.
The other orc thug is slowed by his heavier armor and hopes to catch Kend-krid off guard by swinging from around the corner but the stone there too provides good cover, allowing the barbarian to duck back where the axe could not reach him around the wall.
19 Karth
13 Buckwell
13 Kend-Krid
12 Errigal
9. Leader
6. Kathrine(end of round 1)
24 Zeldin
20 Thugs
Errigal
Errigal calls out to Bucky over the din of battle and points to the west side stair, "Something is down here!"
Errigal moves to stand just inside the west stairwell and readies a whip attack in case something threatening comes at him.
Karth takes aim at an orc, frowning a little. He lets the arrow fly, unable to put much draw on it but satisfied that it's headed more or less in the right direction.
Attack
Damage
Heeding Errigal's warning, Buckwell will turn and face the west stairwell firing his crossbow if something should appear there.
Attack roll:
Damage:
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Karth's bow twangs as an arrow cuts loose, sailing over the heads of those below him on the stairs to graze along the orc who hasn't yet approached. He roars in rage at the wound, shouting angrily.
In Orcish
Buckwell falls back a step to give himself a view down the western stairwell, paying heed to Errigal's words, ready for anything that should approach.
13 Kend-Krid
12 Errigal*
9. Leader
(end of round 1)
21 Zeldin
21 Kathrine
20 Thugs
19 Karth
13 Buckwell*
Seeing the deformed woman step inside Katherine's guard Kend sweeps his warhammer at the enemy to try and force her back.
Attack
Damage
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The falchion wielding woman's defense seems to be better than her offence as she brings the blade around, bracing it to block the barbarian's swing with a resounding clang.
Errigal falls back to the western stairwell to join Buckwell in their rear defense. Seconds later the gnome's crossbow releases and a animalistic yelp of pain is heard from the base of the stairs.
Errigal and Buckwell
The remaining orc doesn't seem to be nearly as eager to rush into battle as his thugs are, but after just a moment he does rush through the doorway and down towards the party with his falchion in hand. As he goes he shouts up the northern hallway, his booming voice tripping over the goblin language even though it may be so similar to his own.
Those who speak goblin
When he reaches the base of the stairs he swings his blade at Kathrine, though is eyes are on Karth behind her, its clear this one holds a grudge.
His blade strikes true and deeply, cutting into her shoulder with a blow that would have felled a lesser warrior but still leaves her barely on her feet.
21 Zeldin
21 Kathrine
20 Thugs
19 Karth
13 Kend-Krid
12 Errigal*
12 Buckwell
11 Creature from west
9. Leader
(end of round 2)
Zeldin looks like his nerve is about to break. Every instinct he has is about self preservation. Still he forces himself to stand and face the creatures before him.
Muttering again, his fingers produce a wicked bit of blue light like a dart that flies straight at the mutant woman.
Upon hearing the orc's pidgin goblin, Buckwell shouts "Be careful, he's calling for reinforcements"
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The little streak of blue light streaks out from Zeldin's hand to strike the woman squarely in the chest, evaporating in a flash that leaves a scorch mark on her leather armor and brings a grunt from her.
21 Kathrine
20 Thugs
19 Karth
13 Kend-Krid
12 Errigal*
12 Buckwell
11 Creature from west
9. Leader
(end of round 2)
21 Zeldin
Kathrine cries out as she feels the wickedly sharp Falchion carve into her shoulder. She staggers backwards with her eyes closed from the intensity of the pain and bumps up against the wall. A spray of her own blood covers the wall section behind her and she opens her eyes quickly as her training in the militia kicks in. Barely holding herself together she slides back from the front line, her entire arm hanging limply at her side with the other gripping her Fauchard tightly. Coming up to the stair case, she leans against the wall on her good shoulder, looking at Bucky through a face splattered in her own blood.
"Please... help..."
Just after she speaks those two words, she collapses as her legs give out under her, and she falls unconcious at Bucky's feet, sliding down to bleed out on the stairs.
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Somehow managing to keep her Fauchard up and between herself and her foes, Kathrine keeps the enemies back far enough she is able to squeeze past Karth without drawing any blows to fall near Buckwell.
The mutant woman smiles grimly as the woman falls back, showing her eagerness to please the orc leader, edging forward to bring up her blade and swing it at Karth, trying to take down the man who injured her master.
She steps in, swiping powerfully at the half-orc with a impressive blow that only his skill allows him to narrowly evade.
The other orc raises his axe again, swinging it with an almost wild abandon at the barbarian around the corner, nearly clipping the enemies leader in his eagerness.
The blow is impressively accurate, were it not for the small defense granted by the wall the axe would likely be embedded in Kend's chest. As it is the barbarian is able to duck back enough that the handle bounces against the stone just before the blade hits him.
The nearest west facing door pushes open and the reptilian head of a kobold peeks out, blinking stupidly at the party for a second before it seems to click to him what is happening. Then suddenly he is chittering back into the room behind him and pointing down the hall towards you before dashing off north down the hallway to the next door which he starts to bang on, yipping at whatever is on the otherside.
19 Karth
13 Kend-Krid
12 Errigal*
12 Buckwell
11 Creature from west
9. Leader
(end of round 2)
21 Zeldin
21 Kathrine
20 Thugs
Kathrine! Zeldin whispers sharply as she walks past.
It was all happening so quickly. And if she could be hurt so soundly, so could any of them! One minute quiet and the next this...