Seeing the goblin and kobold preparing to flee, Kathrine strikes out with her Fauchard for the last time, barely able to get a good angle on her attack from the haze of pain radiating from her shoulder. Barely registering the outcome of her attack, she slumps back against the stair case wall, sitting curled up so as not to obstruct anyone and she drops her Fauchard next to her, reaching up to hold her shoulder through the rent and torn links of her chain shirt. The blood already soaked into her clothes and skin, drying on her armor...
Not wanting to let any get away Kend-Krid eagerly swings at the fleeing kobold.
AoO
Still wired, even as they flee, Zeldin yells, Do not let them warn any others that may be there!
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Kend brings his warhammer up mightily, smashing the kobold and sending him flying into the wall.
The goblin's sword and shield clatter to the ground and he turns to flee but doesn't quite make it out of reach of Kathrine's fauchard which cuts low along his back, causing his legs to buckle even as her's seem to give way as well. Her wounds are still closed, but its obvious that her injuries are extensive.
For the moment, it is quiet except for the groans of the dying.
As Zeldin moves from one to the next, making sure they are finished off and not going to rise to cause trouble later, he's also able to take stock of just what they all were carrying.
The two new rooms that the enemy poured from look to be small living quarters with no additional exits. The nearest one has seven crude straw beds stacked around on the floor, the further room has 5. Both also have several large bags in them of what must be foodstuffs, but from your ability to smell them from the main hallway, it is unlikely any of you would wish to eat whatever is inside.
x2 Med. Falchion
x12 Med. Javelin
x4 Med. Studded Leather
x1 Med. Chain Shirt
1x Med. Heavy Steel Shield
1x Med. Masterwork Longsword
3x Med. Longbow
1x Med. Battleaxe
1x Med. Banded Mail
2x Med. Longsword
2x Med. Light Steel Shield
8x Sml. Leather Armor
6x Sml. Light Wooden Shield
6x Sml. Dogslicer
6x Sml. Shortbow
2x Sml. Spear
2x Sml. Sling
180x Arrows
After the valuables have been piled in the main hall, Zeldin will take a closer look at the 2 side rooms to see if there is anything of value there.
To no one in particular, I am tired, I can feel that I have used most of the magic in me. My blood feels weak and I do not have much more offer. That and Kathrine's condition make me think we should either find a defensible place to stay here, or start heading back to town.
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Searching through the rooms, in the first you find a small bag with 34 silver coins in it. In the other room one of the beds has a leather necklace strung with various types of animal claws strung along it laid out upon it.
The beds are serviceable, but not very pleasant. They are little more than piles of rank straw with rough animal hides draped over them, the of rotting scraps of meat from the hides shows they weren't properly dried.
Zeldin gathers the necklace and the small bag of coins and puts them with the other items. Taking a step back he stares intently at the pile and murmers to himself.
"I can go on a bit longer, but if you or Katherine would like to retire back to town I am fine with that, in fact I think it would be for the best. Until we explore and secure a bit more of this area I would prefer to rest in the more secure comfort of the inn. It certainly is close enough." Kend gestures at the pile of weapons and armor taken from the dead and continues, "Besides, there is plenty of gear here that is worth scavenging and hauling back to town, we wouldn't want to be burdened by it or have it taken in our absence."
Kend turns and glances at the door he initially opened and remembers it looked like there was a throne of some kind within it along with eating utensils. Perhaps something worth a bit, "Perhaps we can poke around in that hall a bit as well before we go." Kend points towards the room to the north-east.
Karth puts his weapons away and stares off after the fleeing goblinoids for a long moment. Eventually he snaps too and slightly abashedly helps with stacking up the loot.
"It seems a wasted trip, but if you are too wounded to continue we have little choice." The half-orc glances sidelong at Zeldin, wonder if this is really a job for him if he tires so quickly.
Karth follows wordlessly after Kend, not wanting anyone to wander off alone.
Errigal helps with stripping down the fallen enemies and collecting the armor, weapons, and whatever else they are carrying into a big pile. After Karth and Kend enter the throne room to begin searching, he approaches Katherine and places a hand on her shoulder,
"How are you feeling Katherine? Buckwell really came through there, I thought you weren't going to make it."
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Searching through the long throne hallway, Kend is able to find a small bag beneath the large chair. Inside is a small pile of coins, 15 gp, 33 sp, and 61, as well as a small key.
As Karth begins to make his way around the room he finds the outline of a hidden door in the southern wall. Following its edge, there is a small inset lever behind one of the nearby tapestries that causes the door to swing open, revealing a short hallway that ends in another door. Judging from your view at the platform back near the entrance, it likely leads to the room with the fountain.
Buckwell looka around the group. "Is anyone else injured? I can still call upon Sarenrae's healing fire if it's still needed." Looking towards the west hallway, he says "There was a creature over this way, some kind of big cat. If we do press on I, for one, would like to find it and deal with it now. Rather than keep looking over my shoulder for it to attack us from the rear while we're searching."
Karth grunts loudly to catch Kend's attention and gestures to the hidden passage. "Good thing none tried to outflank us." After checking to see if the door can be opened from both sides, Karth closes the door back.
The room searched, Karth returns to the group. "There's a hidden passage into the fountain room. We would do well to remember it." He looks around the group again, crosses his arms, and awaits their decision.
Sensing Karth's dismay at his comment Zeldin seeks to clarify.
Karth, I do not understand the magic in me... I can feel it leave me. And when it is gone it is sort of like being physically weakened. it is noticable, but all at once I can do physical tasks. If we choose to go on, I can use my spear, though not as adroitly as you I fear, but reasonably well. I just have very little magic left in me. A good meal and a good nights rest should fix that.
Now... does it look like the passage has been used regularly? If not, it might make the perfect hiding place! For when we are ready to stop of course.
Buckwell, if you have any boon left, I think Kathrine is most in need.
And to know one in particular: Is it not strange that both the mindless beasts and the mindful ones avoid the room with the water? if I were to live here, having fresh water would be a great advantage. I wonder if the water is fouled, or gaurded by something worse.
Errigal nods to Buckwell, "The beast must be extremely hungry or crazed to attack us so brazenly, I definitely think we should remove it as a threat before exploring any further."
"After that, perhaps we can see if the fountain provides fresh water."
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If you look through the bags of food stores there are several skins within that contain some sort of rotgut alcohol and water that looks less than sanitary. The skins, much like those for the beds don't appear to have been well cleaned before use and the water in particular gives off a scent of rot.
Kathrine looks up at Errigal, and lets a smile form on her face as she responds, "Yes, Bucky does seem to have the touch of Sarenrae. Fortunate for me that he does."
Then, shakily standing up she picks up her Fauchard and looks about the room filled with the corpses of their recently slain foes. Speaking towards the group in general.
"I would not mind exploring a bit further. I can push ahead through this," Kathrine rolls her shoulder as if testing it, "If nothing else, it would be nice to know if there is a source of good water nearby and secure it."
Moving to look over the growing pile of weapons and armor and ignore the stench of blood and sweat filling her nostrils, Kathrine examines some of the weapons.
"There seem to be a few good pieces of equipment here, surprising considering the nature of our enemy here. We should not let it all go to waste.
If it is one animal alone, and now wounded we should be okay. if it is guarding cubs or has a mate we could be in trouble. Bucky, Errigal, how do you think we should do this? Zeldin asks.
He is back on the stairs now, enjoying the bio of the light that reaches him here and peering down the stairs that hold the lion.
Karth blinks a couple of times in response to Zeldin's speech and shrugs at the end.
"The beast likely has something to protect if it attacked," Karth says. "If we go after it we should be prepared for the worst."
He moves over to the pile with Kathrine, looking over it. "We shouldn't weigh ourselves down if we intend to press on. Perhaps we could stow what we intend to leave with in the passage."
His eyes continue going to the fine longsword and he picks it up. "This seems to be the best of the lot. I prefer my own blade," he says.
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The passage was pretty easy to find, but didn't show any real signs of recent use. Since it amounts to little more than cutting a corner to slip between rooms, its unlikely to be very frequented, even by those who may be aware of it. It would likely be a much safer place to sleep than the other rooms you have seen.
Errigal listens to the others, then says, "For now, stowing all this gear in the hidden passage makes sense. After we do that, then let's find that lion."
Errigal then begins the process of moving the loot to the hidden passage.
Zeldin happily helps Errigal stow the found gear. What should we do with the coins? he asks Errigal.
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With multiple hands at work, the bodies are able to be quickly stripped of any gear that may be considered valuable and it is all placed between the two secret doors out of sight, in a stack ready to be retrieved later.
Looking down the western stair, beyond the corpse that lies in the doorway there is a fresh faint bloodtrail that leads further west through the smaller hallway.
Errigal smiles at Zeldin, "You hold them for now, if we make it back to town we can divvy it up."
"Now it's time to take care of the lion." Errigal moves down the western stair, his shield up and whip held ready to strike.
Watching to see if there are any objections and then percieving that there are none, Zeldin tucks the small key into a pocket and the coins into his backpack.
We best be careful when trying to kill this lion... This make me nervous. Zeldin follows Errigals lead on the stairs.
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The corpse is old, likely years old judging from how clean the skeletal bones are, though the scavengers likely have something to do with that as well. It doesn't seem to have any equipment on it, a different type of scavenger would assure that, though the rotting padded cloth that surrounds the body suggests that the body once wore heavy armor.
From the bottom of the stairs you can see that the walls are adorned with painted frescoes of humans riding, running along with, or chasing horses. A few ride winged horses high in the sky. The room has the scent of musk about it as if it were marked by animals.
A low warning growl is heard rumbling up from the western hallway, which narrows and bends preventing a clear view down it.
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Anyone who makes a DC 20 Perception Check
Anyone who made the above check and speaks Elven
Kathrine follows behind Errigal and the others who go forward into the next hallway. Her mind preoccupied by the recent battle, thinking on how she had slipped up so badly as to be wounded like that and how she could prevent it in the feature.
Those thoughts kept her rather distracted and unfocused on the situation around her, giving most things in the hallway only a cursory glance keeping an eye out for the lion.
Errigal pauses to stare at the skeleton and swallows audibly and whispers, "Kinda creepy, isn't it?"
Oblivious of any other features of the hallway, Errigal moves towards the source of the growl, shield held high.
Perception (didn't look up my mod since... Well, it won't help)
"Carefully," Karth whispers. "If we have it backed in a corner it will turn vicious."
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Walking down the winding hallway you come to this odd-shaped nexus of corridors, you realize that you've stumbled upon the den of some beasts. Two feline predators snarl at you, one of which bleeds from a wound on its shoulder. You can see that they protect a mewling litter of cubs settled on a nest formed of cloth scraps.
Errigal freezes at the sight of the cats and their litter then backs up slightly and quietly says, "I was sure it was feral, but I guess not - it was just providing and protecting."
"Anyone have any ideas on how to deal with them without killing them?"
Does it need to be dealt with? I think they have learned we have pointy bits, and will be wary, and we know what lions defending cubs will do. Why not live and let live. With sentient enemies that will want revenge, lets not pick a new fight. Zeldin whispers.
I wonder if they would eat goblin or kobold? We could bring one of the beasties here as a sort of peace offering. I still want to know why they did not choose the space with the water.
Karth stows his weapon and says, in low tones, "I can try to calm them down. Perhaps enough they will not attack us later. Or perhaps they will attack now."
Karth also wracks his brain, trying to recall if these cats are particularly aggressive and if Zeldin's theory is correct.
Knowledge (Nature)
Errigal gladly continues to back off and let's Karth take the lead, "If it isn't a shark or dolphin then I'm out of my league, give it your best shot Karth. I'm all for letting the lions live, but exploring these ruins is dangerous enough without these things lurking the dark behind us."
Errigal ponders Zeldin's words, then says, "It is strange they didn't lair in the room with the water pool. We had better be alert when we search that place."
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Karth
Zeldin will back into the preceding room...
"They are unlikely to attack us if they believe we are a danger to their nest or their young. Still, we will be coming by here often, so I will try to calm them."
Karth spends a minute 'talking' to the lions, alternating between soothing coos and tongue clicks. He moves forward a few steps and draws a couple of bits of salted meat from his trail rations, knowing it wasn't exactly normal mountain lion fare but hoping the gesture in combination with his natural bond would at least show they were not hostile.
Wild Empathy
Buckwell breathes a sigh of relief as the lion's stance seems to shift to a less hostile tone.
Karth, I will drag a goblin this way so they are fed. A full lion won't try to eat us!
To all: We can rest, go back to town, or explore the water room. What are you thinking is best?
Seeing that Karth has the pack of lions taken care of for now. Kathrine turns back to the rest of the group and whispers, not wanting to disturb Karth's work.
"I think it would be best if we explored into the water room. I would like to know if it is a place we could camp for the night. A source of water would be useful to secure and increase the amount of time we can stay out here before heading back to town."
Karth nods at Zeldin and grunts noncommittally.
"I think we should see what lurks in the water room as well," Karth says. "It is probably stronger or meaner than the others we have encountered."
Errigal looks on, impressed, as Karth calms the animals, "Good work Karth, are you good with all animals like that?"
Upon seeing that the others would rather chance an attack than kill the animals who were defending their young he says, Ok, so we leave the lions alone for now. Let's go check out the pool." Errigal then leads the way back towards the stairs and then the room with the pool.