Filios sheathes his swords grudgingly, but keeps his hands on the hilts.
Well, Esme, since we are all demonstrating good faith, why do you not show yourself so that we can put a face with the voice.
Diplomacy:
Morthos nods, and puts away his axe.
"Fair enough, Esme. Our charter required us to deal with Tripe, and his creations. As far as I can tell, we have no quarrel with you; in fact, no mention was made that Tripe had any living allies, so you fall into something of a gray area... We will, however, take our time searching this lab, and the room beyond, before we go... may I suggest that you be gone by the time we have finished...?"
You hear a small chuckle in reply to Morthos. "Take all the time you want in exploring in here. I will be waiting in the bedroom with some tea where we can properly sit and have a civil discussion like civilized people." With that, you hear footstep going back across the board resting across the pit.
That is not quite what I meant. Ah, well...
Hearing the speaker depart, Morthos immediately begins to search Tripe, using Detect Magic as necessary...
Tripe's items: potions of cure light wounds (1), potions of enlarge person (1), wand of command undead (13 charges), acid (2), alchemist’s fire (2), smokesticks (2), thunderstones (2); Other Gear masterwork studded leather, +1 spear, +1 gauntlets, adventurer's sash (6 pouches) (2), alchemist’s kit, masterwork embalming tools, formula book (contains the formulae for extracts prepared above plus crafter’s fortune, cure light wounds, and enlarge person), masterwork thieves’ tools, 83 gp
You also find amongst the books and notes Tripe had with him Chymists of Life in Death, which seems to be the source of Tripe's experiments. Otherwise, the bookshelves are full of tomes in languages you don't know.
"Tripe dealt with the undead, didn't he? Could that woman have been a ghost of some sort? Not that she seemed particularly malicious... and we probably couldn't kill her even if we wanted to..."
"Doubtful she's a ghost. His undead work didn't stem from any divine power source, but from alchemy it seems. I wouldn' think there'd be a way of makin alchemic ghosts. Besides that, I heard footsteps when she said she was leaving."
Looking at the gap in the hallway, you see a board laying across that appears to run into another wall, but at this point you are pretty certain its just an illusion.
Shall we?
Filios walks to the board and crosses to the door, testing the stability of the board over the pit.
"After you." SOlomon says, while putting away his axe and picking up his spear from where he dropped it.
"I'll take the enlarge person potion, if no one else wants it."
Looking at the board, Darren asks, "Will it support my weight? This armor is pretty heavy..."
If Filios is confident, Darren will cross. Otherwise, he'll wait in the lab and let the less-heavily equipped party members scout ahead, assuming there's only a room or two beyond.
You can all get across the board without problem, though Darren does goe a bit slower than the others. You see a short hallway that leads to a bedroom setup. You can't hear anything while in the hallway, but you can smell the tea.
Filios slowly proceeds down the hallway and pokes his head into the bedroom.
You see a bedroom crammed full with decorations and furniture gathered from elsewhere in the ossuary. You see a young woman sitting on the bed with several chairs, stools, and other sitting surfaces. "If you would care for something other than tea, I do have a little bit of alcohol of various types. (pointing to a row of bottles along one wall) Please sit down, it is so rare to find individuals that are willing to use their tongues rather than their weapons."
Esme looks like that at one time she was a beautiful woman, but something has caused her body to rot and wilt. Her once lustrous blonde hair is limp, and the perfume and heavy makeup do little to hide the damage. The clothes and jewerly she wears were found in the ossuary, and while the clothes themselves are quite beautiful, they look gaudy on her wasted body.
No thanks, I really do not want anything, Esme.
Filios enters the Bedroom and moves to the far side to allow space for everyone to enter. He is gauging Petvar's actions carefully.
So, what keeps you down here now? Why not just leave?
Darren looks Esme up and down, and determines that she's either no threat or too great a threat for weapons to make much difference. He unstraps his shield and removes his helmet, and looks at the bottles she indicated. He figures that she couldn't have poisoned all of them, and she couldn't have known which ones her guests would select, so he figures they must be safe. He picks out a red wine and pours a glass before taking a seat some distance from Esme.
"Thank you, ma'am. You said that Tripe was helping you? What was he helping you with? Er, if it's not too personal?"
Finally seeing the face that goes with the voice, Solomon is a little taken aback by her appearance, though he tries to keep it from showing on his face, though he doesn't conceal it well.
He looks her over carefully for a few moments before fully entering the room choosing to wait til the others have gotten drinks before deciding whether or not to get one himself.
"I have, or more accurately had, a disease that wasted away the body. I came to Kaer Maga to look for help, and was about to give up when I met Mr. Tripe. I don't know exactly what he did, as he destroyed his notes is a fit when it didn't work as quickly as he expected it to, but it healed the disease, so I have stayed down here in an attempt to pay him back by making it comfortable as possible for him, but the last week or so, he had been getting more and more erratic in their behavior, so I've mostly stayed out of his way, despite the fact that he was the only person to talk to until you showed up. I suppose I will return to the city and see what kind of life I can carve for myself up there." She seems be a mixture of bored, straightforward, and naive, although sparks of genuine intelligence show up every now and then before her mind drifts on to something else. You're not sure she could deliberately tell a lie, though her perspective is skewed enough, that any actual details probably need to be taken with a grain of salt even when she seems to be getting the basic underlying facts correct.
Petvar will put away his swords knowing that they are but a breath away if needed. After Petvar walks across the plank and into the room he tries to discern this woman's intentions, if that is what she is. Petvar stands by the entry unwilling to partake in this . . . discussion. Petvar is conflicted, his nose and eyes are telling him one thing, but his mind is unsure if it is the truth.
Perhaps there are others in the city above who could help you. I could check with my contacts and see if anyone would be interested in stu...hosting someone with your unique abilities. Petvar is unsure what to make of this creature. But he does know he won't let any harm come to his city.
"You're not going to lead me into a trap just to kill me, are you? I am capable of taking care of myself if need be, and I can guarantee that your plans would not go as you think they would."
My lady, your situation is . . . unique. I know of a group that can help you get re-assimilated into Kaer Maga. There are a couple of other groups that would like to help you, and there are groups that would like to kill you. At the very least, allow us to escort you back to the surface and make contact with these groups that can help you. Petvar is sincere, however, he is more interested in getting her to the Duskwardens and doesn't care from there. It is too bad that she had to find Tripe to help her, when no one else would. She probably didn't know what she was getting into and what she has become is not her fault. And it is that fact alone that keeps Petvar from lashing out and killing her. Petvar shakes his head in empathy.
"I suppose that will work as well as anything. You were wise enough to put your weapons away so I am willing to trust you enough to meet your friends. Just give me some time to pack things up before we leave."
Morthos nods.
"Very well. I would suggest that we get you out via a different route to the one we came in by, though, as the Pharasmans are unlikely to be sympathetic to your cause, as a known associate of Tripe..."
Filios scans the room for anything of value that he could pilfer after the lady/thing packs up her/its belongings.
Perception:
"Oh yeah. There's that tunnel the tengu came in through."
You don't see a lot, as what little was still here when Esme and Tripe showed up has already been looted or packed up by Esme, but you do see some trinkets with various ancient symbols and styles that would likely appeal to merchants up top.
"Why don't we give the lady here time to gather her things while we go check out the lower level of the place, just in case anything is lurking down there. We want to be thorough, after all. After we are done, we come back to get her, help her out the tunnel so the Pharasmans dont know about her, then head for the regular exit, and meet up outside."
As everyone heads out, Filios will grab up some trinkets!
Excellent plan Solomon, let's do it!
"Sounds good. Ma'am, we'll let you pack, and we'll come back to escort you to the city on our way out."
You going down the stairs or the elevator?
"I vote we take the stairs first. If I remember correctly, the elevator system didn't look like it was in the best shape."
You find yourself once more in the small room at the bottom of the stairs with the rubble filled hallway going north and a door stuck in its opening on the south wall just by where you came down.
"After you", Solomon says, motioning Darren and Filios forward.
Ok, Darren, you know the drill.
The door is jammed shut, and will take some effort to open. ALso, you still hear sounds from behind it.
Morthos studies the door critically, and then rummages around in his back-pack for a crowbar.
"Stand back, boys; this looks like a job for a Dwarf!"
Well done Morthos!
Filios shoulders his way into the room, brandishing both swords behind Morthos, and he quickly scans the room for enemies and tactical advantage.
Perception:
Darren
Filios
Solomon
Petvar
Morthos
It
As Morthos's shoulder knocks the door open, you see a skeletal snake like creature with a humanoid skull rush forward to the doorway.
Filios moves by Morthos and acrobatically tumbles through the space occupied by the skeletal snake to a flanking position with Morthos at G6 and attempts to attack.
Acrobatics:
LS ATT:
LS DAM:
The creature stops Filios dead in his tracks as stares down the entire party.
Will:
Solomon stands slackjawed, arms at his side, staring at the pretty stars that now circle his head.
Round 1:
Morthos is momentarily distracted by the creature's gaze, but quickly shakes it off...
...Despite having no idea what this creature is, his eyes narrow into determined slits, and, drawing his axe, he takes a swing!
Despite being slightly hampered by the fact that taking an axe to a skeletal creature isn't usually effective, Morthos still manages to slice the thing in half. Looking past the slain creature, you see a hallway that goes east and west with rubble keeping you from going very far on either side. There are marks on the walls, floors, and ceilings that suggest that whatever that thing was, it was leftover from a major fight.