Pixie decides that sitting there staring hopefully at the door isn't going to open it. He rushes over to the trog weapon cache and grabs a club and has at the stubborn oaken door!
Have at thee! he shouts as he brings the club down on the door in a 2 handed overhead smash! . Vulgar and Kellic both give him a look of disgust! We waited nearly 48 hours for THAT?
And with that, the first round ends. I will update the start of round 2 in the next post but I do have some advice to offer. Since you are not in combat Vulgar you can drop the shield and wield your axe two handed. That will give you 1.5 times your strength bonus and will help get this door down faster. Just sayin!
Round Two: the door still has 18 hp left ...
Kellic unleashes a flurry of blows on the door yelling damn you oaken beast! YIELD!. His first kick unloads 6 pts of damage on the door and you hear a resounding "crack" as the wood starts to give way under the assault.
Vulgar, inspired by his friends unbridled fury, hacks away at the door with his axe for an additional 6 points of damage and again the door gives a bit.
Pixie swings at the door with his new found club. He sighs with exasperation and says to his buddies golly gee whiz! I cant seem to hit this thing! Vulgar looks over at him and thinks to himself My kid hits harder than that with a nerf hammer
The door now has only 6 hp left. You cannot yet see into the room but you can certainly hear what is going on. You hear the sound of a dog growling as it "worries" its prey. You also hear a loud hissing noise and the sound of an axe burrying into flesh ...
Sheesh. I'd never have done that. I would hold position, ready to shoot through the door. I add nothing to door bashing....
Pixie falls upon his rapier was the pace is too much...
Not trying to be offensive here Pixie, but it seems you would have been just as effective doing nothing. lol
Rd 3: flurry again
fordam
And
fordam
That's enough. The door finally gives way under Kellic's furious assault. As the door comes off its hinges it falls backwards into the room with a resounding thud.
Pixie lets out a slight gasp as he sees the carnage within. In the centre of the room the still smoking brazier is giving off the scent of roasted flesh and boiled blood. The instruments of torture are lined up, organized, and ready to use.
On the north side of the room you see a scene of carnage. There are 4 bodies lying motionless, battered, bruised, and lifeless. You see a human male who had clearly been the victim of torture still clutching what appears to be a chair leg in his cold lifeless grip. He is lying motionless atop the corpse of what you believe to be a a shaggy feral beastly looking dog. You are not entirely sure as it's head has been stove in by a blunt object.
Lying nearby you see what appears to be the decapitated head of the torturer who plies his trade in the room. He is a hulking brute of a troglodyte and clutched in the fist of what you believe to be his body nearby is an odd looking axe. It seems to be an implement of torture.
You also see the bloodied corpse of your fallen comrade lying motionless next to the executioner. His rapier still wet with the gore from severing the head of the torturer. Vulgar looks at the corpse of the troglodyte and proclaims that it would have taken a mighty chop to take the head off that thick necked bastard. Byron appears to have taken several blows from that wicked looking axe and indeed perhaps even a bite from that mutt as his leg appears to be a bloody chewed mess.
By the tangled titties of Torag!! What a bloody mess! I canna tell who is who...wait a minute...where's the thief?
*in a panicked state, starts rolls over corpses, tossing things left and right*
HEY Thief!! Speak to me laddie
*turns to look at Kellic and pixie*
what was that fella's name again? Bryon? Baryon? I kinda liked him...shoulda got to know his name better...damn!!By the way...what are yer names again? Never mind ...no time for that nonsense...get yer butties over here and gimme a hand eh?!
Is the dog still there?
*Cough sputter cough bleed cough*
Now if memory of Calistria's dogma serves correct, I should be opening my eyes to appear in the middle of an orgy right now, better and wilder than that one in...
Wait, pain shouldn't be a part of that orgy. Ewww, neither should little men with beards.
The dog is still there. Its dead but still present. You have earned enough xp to advance to level two. Level up and update your sheet please.
Ok, you manage to revive Byron. He was lying "knocked senseless" but in no real danger. After reviving him and who he describes as "the prisoner" you manage to get the details of what happened in after the door slammed shut.
Basically, the torturer and his mutt were waiting in ambush for you guys with the torturer standing behind the door and the dog behind the table. Byron managed to avoid getting flanked by running south and then back to the north. In desperation, he opened the sliding bolt on the cell door hoping that whatever was in there wasn't too friendly to the torturer. The gamble paid off and a badly beaten and tortured man came out and beat the mutt to death with a chair leg. Meanwhile, Byron took on the torturer and managed to land a nasty blow with his rapier (a crit).
The two of them are a bloody mess, but they will live. The guy from the cell tells you his story. His name is B'horosar and he is of the Pathfinder organization. He is here looking for artifacts and relics from the long lost civilization that built this place. The building has long been inaccessible but the recent earthquake collapsed the wall and now the tower has attracted the attention of some unsavory sorts ... many of which you have already met.
There isn't much in the way of treasure in the room as the torturer seemed to value other things than gold and gems. He did however have that bizarre looking axe but it isn't a weapon of war. It was obviously made for cutting off fingers and gouging out eyeballs and such. It is of exquisite quality though and will fetch a fair coin back in Absalom. Back in the guard room you don't find much either. You dig through the foot lockers of the guards and you find.
silver pieces.
Thanks fellas, am I ever glad to see you bunch. Though I am still feelin' a slight bit woozy... *woobles*
There is also the room behind us if I'm not mistaken...
*Kellic takes the torture ax and looks it over*
Aaahhh... just like the one mother gave to me on my sixth birthday... but that was lost when... no time to dwell on the past, focus!
Each of you examines the axe and you come to the same conclusion; its very good quality construction (masterwork) but it wouldnt be as effective as a normal hand axe (1d2 damage). It would probably fetch a fair price with a collector (400 gp).
As for the layout, yes there is one more room on this floor and as you know from your last look outside that you are on the top floor but there is still the roof left.
Oh, and here is the updated map
*Kellic searches room 11 for secret doors*
perception
There are no secret doors.
Listen at the H7 door
perception
You hear the faint sound of water ...
So just out of curiosity, are we just completely ignoring the fact that you have freed a prisoner? Just going to ignore him like a stranger you passed on the street? Lol. It does seem a bit unrealistic. If you were evil, you would probably at the very least continue torture him. If you were neutral, you might at least give him a club and send him on his merry way. If you are good, you might actually say hello and try to help the poor bastard out a bit.
But you guys just pretend that he isn't there? BAHAHAHAHA.
Hello, you poor bastard. Are you alright? Thanks a bunch for helping me out with that mutt. That was quite the whallup that you dropped him with, and with a chair leg ta-boot. Have they been holding you a while? How came you to fall into the dire clutches of these two evil-doers? I am Byron Halfleaf and these are my companions; Vulgar, Kellic and Pixiedirt. Did I mention 'thanks'?
Diplomacy:
*Kellic whispers to Vulgar*
I don't trust this new guy... How is it that they took him prisoner but tried to kill us? He may be a plant... Keep a sharp eye on that one!
*kellic opens the door*
Well, Byron rescued the guy by letting him out of that cell. If he didn't unlock that door, it is likely the party would be short one member. As such, the DC to befriend the guy would be about -2. After all, you are his hero!
With a roll like that he goes on to tell you he is a member of the Pathfinders and he was here on a mission to learn more about the magic of the people who built this tower. The recent earthquake has created the opportunity to study this place that had been long inaccessible. He discovered what he believes is a key on his first visit here and he came back to see what the key opened. However, in the gap between his visits this group of troglodytes moved in and set up base here. They captured him on his return and then started torturing him to find out what he knew about the magic. That was weeks ago.
It won't take much of a heal or sense motive check to see that he is apparently telling the truth about the torture bit. He is missing several fingers, his teeth are smashed in, one eye is gouged out, and it looks like someone tried to "sand" his nipples off with a coarse object. He is also walking with a bad limp as one of his legs is quite messed up.
Kellic, we will get to the door in a bit. We should play this out first. I know you can be quite sensitive about these things if I don't acknowledge everything you say ...
Ouch, *sucks air between his teeth and winces* no wonder you look a mess. Do you have any idea of how many more there are hiding in this tower? Any rumblings of a big, half-orc fella moving about? Are you able to walk with us? Swing a table leg? Heh, just kidding, you can use this while you're with us. *Holds out other, non-magical rapier.* We're trying to get to the top of this tower, anything else you can tell us about it? Or what you found here in your first visit that brought you back here a second time?
B'horosar says to the party Others? Troglodytes? Well I'm not too sure. It seems most of the troglodytes were afraid of my captor. They kind of avoided the place I think. I know for sure the boss is some kind of shaman Troglodyte. He came down for visits but I could never quite make out what he was saying for I do not speak the language. All I know is that every time he left, the big torturous bastard went to town on me with renewed vigour. I've not seen a half-orc at all though sorry. I can't help you out much either. There isn't much of the old me left at the moment. As for my visits here, well I found a key on my first visit. I came back to discover what that key unlocked. After they captured me they took it though. Say, have any of you seen a flat blue gem? Kind of round in shape?
Hmmmm, was the torturer interested in asking you questions or doing it just for fun? *Shudders* Do you still have this key? *Looking to the others.* I have no idea about this blue gem that you are talking about. Flat you say? Will you stay here while we investigate the rest of the tower? Find whatever this key opens for you.
No, no. I think my career as a Pathfinder is done. I am very sad that I didn't get a chance to unearth the secrets of this ancient culture. I will pass my findings on to my superiors in the organization and then I believe it is time to retire to a nice safe desk job. If you do find this blue gem, I beg of you, please bring it to my order in Absalom. But do not let Tassadar know you have it.
With that, B'horosar climbs slowly to his feet and gathers up a few meager supplies from the troglodyte guard room and heads down the stairs.
Kellic, are you still interested in opening that door where you heard the watery sounds? We can pick up where we left off on that now if you like.
Very well. Good luck, but is there any reason we should be wary of this.... Tassadar? Why wouldn't he want to know about this gem?
Note what he said above about the "blue gem key" ...
"I came back to discover what that key unlocked. After they captured me they took it though. Say, have any of you seen a flat blue gem? Kind of round in shape?"
He believes Tassadar to be a traitor to the Pathfinder organization and possibly even connected to something even bigger. He has no proof to support this hypothesis though.
*cue plot music*
dum da dum dum!
yes I still want to open that door...
what's so special about that blue gem ya keep blathering on about skinny man?
Vulgar, your gem is red.
You head over to the door and push it open. You see ...
Cracks in the walls and ceiling of this chamber have allowed rainwater to collect here, flooding the room and giving rise to a profusion of mold and fungus along the walls and ceiling.
I will update the map first thing in the morning.
Perception Checks:
Kellic:
Byron:
Pixie:
Vulgar:
What's the plan gentlemen? Is anyone going into the room? Or are you hanging out here to rest up?
i enter the room with a readied action to attack anything that moves in the water.
I ready an action as well ready to attack anything
Perception
After you gentlemen...*cough*
*Chuckles quietly to himself* I wonder what would happen if I started yelling, really screaming, once the two of them got into the room, tee-hee.
Ok, Kellic entered the room with a readied action. What specific square do you move to Kellic? Vulgar is waiting at the door. Byron will move to H7 or h8 after Kellic enters the room?
Soon as I know Kellic's square, we will begin the encounter.
I move to j6
I'll be at J7 if you need me.
Ok, Kellic entered the room with a readied action. What specific square do you move to Kellic? Vulgar is waiting at the door. Byron will move to H7 or h8 after Kellic enters the room?
Soon as I know Kellic's square, we will begin the encounter.
*Creeps forward, nocks an arrow and increases the tension in the bowstring. Ready.* Stealth:
Whatever li'l beastie lies in wait for us here better be prepared for a lung full of shaft, arrow shaft that is.
As Kellic enters the room, there is a violent splashing noise from the pool to the north west of the door. A giant amphibious head rises from the pool and attacks Kellic at his location. Everyone is surprised except the comatose bard Pixie so I will gimp him to do a standard arrow attack.
Frog attacks Kellic for but misses.
Pixie shoots the frog with his short bow for but misses.
Initiative: Please check your initiatives boys in case things have changed since level 1.
Kellic:
Byron:
Pixie:
Vulgar:
Badguy(s):
Ok, everyone misses on the surprise round and the initiative order is as follows ...
Vulgar, Kellic, Byron, Pixie, and Froggy
On my turn I'll flurry!
to hit for damage
And
to hit for damage
And I'll stunning fist my 1st attack so that he'll be stunned till my next turn DC15 to save
Well that was a whole bucket of suck, so I then 5' step to k6
I go around the long way to J5 and...
ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCKKKKKKKK
to hit
damage
take that ya dirty fly eatin' freak
Kellic steps warily into the room with his fists primed and ready for action. At first nothing much happens. The pools of water on the floor remain calm. As soon as Kellic approaches the north pool, a pair of amphibious eyes pop up above the surface of the murky pool ever so briefly just before a gigantic green maw opens up and surges upward towards to grab Kellic's arm. Pixie, the mute bard, silently screams a warning that sounds like this ...
Pixie: " "
... and then in one fluid motion he raises his short bow, knocks an arrow, and lets fly a shot and the giant green beast in the murky pool. Byron notices that his arrow is almost as effective as his warning ... shout? But the arrow does manage to distract the frog enough such that it doesn't grab the monks arm.
Kellic, seeing the danger he is in, quickly recovers and tries to punch the frog in one of its bulging eye sockets. He managed to land the blow but the slick coating on the frog's skin causes the blow to slide off with no effect.
Vulgar, seeing the danger his friend is in, steps in and hammers a blow to the head of the frog with his axe. The frog's head explodes in a shower of green slimy ichor and as the beast slumps lifelessly back into the murky pool, Kellic gives the dwarf an relieved and thankful nod.
Dissatisfied, Byron unnotches the second arrow from his bow and smiles at the mess that Kellic and Vulgar made.
Nice work boys. Mind the ichor now.
Anyone still out there?
Anyone still out there?
Been waiting on loot and details