Shale was not heartless. He knew the import of the dwarven corpse -- that Eagle's friend and comrade was dead. The loss touched him deeply, and he shared a sad glance at the druid. Even so, there was a bounce in Shale's step as he approached the scene more closely. This whole gruesome adventure was more disgusting than he had anticipated. Surely, it would lead to many future opportunities for brooding contemplation. This was just the sort of adventure the young elf had been seeking when he left the Old Forest Homeland. And to be here, side-by-side with an orc -- well, Shale was almost elated.

He kept back a few paces, his long and supple bow in hand and an arrow on the string. With a bright gleam behind his grey eyes, Shale nodded to Mirella. "Indeed," he agreed, in a voice barely deeper than hers, but with more enthusiasm. "Into the Pit!"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:02, Tue 13 Jan 2015.

In reply to Shale (msg # 4):

Eagle steps back for a moment, taking on the enormity of what has happened. 'Rest in peace, my friend' he whispers as he steps back from the mangled shell of the dwarf.

Snapping back to the present, he focuses on the jabbering of these strangely enthusiastic new companions. 'Careful,'he says in a calm voice.'This is a dangerous place, and my powers are better in the open. Let us wait to investigate while I summon some useful weather - if anything then attacks us get them out in the open as quickly as you can.'. He will then return to the courtyard and start - what looks to his companions - a strange ritual involving mistletoe and arm movements.

As the sky darkens he looks at the eager faces, and remembers his first meeting with Norion - while beset by whip scorpions.

Looking particularly at the elfin and goblinnoid looking adventurers, he speaks again.'If any of you see in the dark perhaps you could investigate first?' He pauses for a moment.'The world is a dangerous place - be careful in there.'

OOC. Eagle will cast call lightening and wait the required time for the storm to gather - keeping careful watch in the courtyard before letting the others investigate - he will be very reluctant to go charging down a dark passage without finding out what's down there.

In reply to Eagle (msg # 5):

Miralla smiled ruefully at Shale. "Must you be so enthusiastic?"

Despite her carefully honed cynicism the half elven girl was secretly in awe of meeting a real elf. Though she had sometimes delighted in playing up her exotic elivish looks she had been raised very much by humans and didn't know quite what to expect from his kind.

"Okay druid, if it means getting paid, I'll check first. I might not control lightening but I'm good at what I do."

Miralla carefully stepped down into the pit, trying to make as little sound as possible.

---

OOC: 11:22, Today: Miralla rolled 53 using 1d100 with rolls of 53. Move Quietly vs. 20%.

Tyrien hasn't said much on the journey, he mostly seems to listen to others talk, and occasionally spends time staring in a leather bound book he carries with him.  At the keep,
he holds his flail in one hand, shield in the other.

"Smells really bad, worse than I thought it would..."  as the others talk of descending and the Druid begins conjuring, he says rather quietly..."we could knock?"

Grakh'tuul nodded. He looked over at Miralla. "Okay, you go in first. Any sign of trouble you come back behind me." He gestured towards his large shield, implying that he might be better at blocking whatever might come at them. He was no hero, but guessed that whatever had killed the sturdy Dwarf would make short work of the half-Elf.

As Miralla entered he followed close behind, sword and shield ready to combat whoever, or whatever, appeared.

Bethany pauses at the sight, and concentrates on the presence of evil, if any.


Detect evil please

Shale edged forward toward the top of the narrow stairs. His eyes were keen in dark places, but he didn't want to clog the tube, so to speak, if the Miralla and the orc had to flee something horrendous. The elf watched them descend, with an occasional glance to the sky to assess the storm. This druid's power was impressive.

[OOC: I'll keep on eye on the two as they climb down. If they get out of Shale's 60' range of vision, he will carefully descend at a slow pace after them.]

Tyrien is mesmerized by the gathering clouds for a minute and then quietly turns and leaves the keep.  He finds the most in charge of the other travellers, and pulls him aside.

"One of the hero's who stayed here has been found dead, and no sign yet of the others, there may still be some danger in this place.  The storm that is gathering above is the druid's spell, it is controlled but may be frightening, you may want move a safe distance away until we give the all clear, someone will come with more reports once we know more..."

He then returns to the keep, occasionally glancing up at the darkening sky. He never liked thunder and is increasingly worried by storm.

From atop the stairs, Bethany does not detect evil in the chamber below.

Miralla and Grakh begin their descent of the narrow stairs, no more than five feet wide and quite steep as well. The stairs pitch rapidly downward, opening into a larger roughly circular-shaped chamber at the bottom. The rotting carcasses of numerous humanoids litter the chamber's floor and angry flies audibly buzz about the room, which likewise reeks of death. Additionally, the chamber's walls are visibly cracked at numerous points, with several large slabs of masonry lying on the floor.

Two corridors extend off this room: one headed north, the other south.

Miralla silently points north and carefully begins to move forward, clinging to the darkness where possible.

---

OOC: 10:48, Today: Miralla rolled 86 using 1d100 with rolls of 86. Hide in Shadows vs. 25.

Grakh'tuul nodded to Miralla. As the diminutive half-Elf edged forward he gestured to those following behind that they should come down and join the search. He then watched the other door and held his sword and shield ready.

Shale stepped lightly, despite his heavy armor, moving slowly down the steep and narrow stairs into the charnal pit. The reek of death was intense, but it did not overwhelm him. His eyes were everywhere, watching for movement and danger, but also observing his new companions to gauge their reactions to this mess.



OOC: Shale has a 1 in 6 chance of detecting a concealed door by passing by it. Does he notice anything on the stairs, walls, or floor of the round chamber?

Also, does anyone have a light source for Bethany? I don't want to burn off my only offensive spell just yet. :)

Miralla enters the cadaver-filled chamber at the bottom of the stairs, her step light, while looking and listening for any signs of trouble. The chamber itself appears quite empty, though she does hear scuffling noises emanating from the corridor leading south.

Meanwhile. Shale comes to the bottom of the stairs and begins examining the circular-shaped chamber's walls for any signs of secret of concealed doors. He finds no evidence of such things, but does notice quite a bit of damage in the room.

None of the maggot-ridden cadavers on the floor resemble any of Eagle's former companions. These are a collection of presumably victims from the surrounding villages, with a few goblinoid creatures as well, Norkers, and quite a few game animals as well: generous offerings from the Horned One no doubt.

Moving to the far western end of the chamber, one can catch a glimpse down both corridors. The north corridor continues for about 10 feet before opening into what looks to be another chamber, its extent stretching out of view to the east. The southern chamber continues for 20 feet before also opening into a chamber, this one much larger. The southern chamber's south wall has collapsed and is filled with rubble. This chamber also extends outside of view to east, but that is not the most noticeable feature. While peering down the south corridor, Miralla catches sight of a robed humanoid crawling on all fours, like an animal, across the floor toward a pile of rubble in the chamber's southwest corner.

The thing stops, growls, and begins sniffing the air around it...

Miralla nearly gagged at the stench from the cadavers and quicked her pace. The half elven woman drew her sword, now unwilling to go unarmed in this awful place.

At the sight of the robed humanoid Miralla shivered and instinctively looked for a place to hide from view. She whispered a silent prayer to Sehanine that she would go undiscovered, at least til she found out how many of the vile creatures made their nest here.

---

OOC: 20:34, Today: Miralla rolled 5 using 1d100 with rolls of 5. Hide in Shadows vs. 25.

Meanwhile, topside, Tyrien stands near the Druid watching in awe at the storm,  "Can you talk and do that, or does it require your full attention?"

Grakh'tuul watched the half-Elf carefully. Had she spotted something? His first thought was to call out to her, but instinct held his tongue. He held sword and shield tight and waited for the others to come down the passage.

Can we assume Bethany is coming down to join me and Shale? I think Eagle and Tyrien are still up top...

Bethany descends the staircase and joins the other companions who have already pushed forward. Upon reaching the bottom she takes stock of the room, searching for the others. Of course Grakh is easy to spot. Miralla, not so much, but she assumes the elf is hiding somewhere. Elves are like that.

As Bethany appeared, Grakh'tuul held his finger to his lips and silently pointed in the direction that Miralla had disappeared.

The robed humanoid crawls across the floor, drawing closer to the corridor leading to the adventurers. From her hiding spot, Miralla gets a better look at the strange humanoid. The creature was clearly a human at one point. A tall, slender bearded man dressed in a blue kaftan marked with red designs wearing a partially unfurled red turban. The man has obviously lost the spark of life however somehow it still moves!

A ghast!

The creature takes a few loping steps toward the corridor before turning and lowly growling, "Do you smell it?! Flesh!" Its voice is pained and watery.

Then, more scuffling sounds are heard, somewhere beyond the ghast, out of sight.

OOC: The robed ghast is about 20 feet south of Miralla, who is at the corner of the circular shaped room, allowing her to see down both the north and south corridors. The rest of the party is further back in the circular shaped room, near the staircase.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:14, Tue 20 Jan 2015.

Grakh'tuul held his position with sword and shield ready. Something was coming and it didn't sound friendly...

Miralla shivered at the sight. Worse something about this Ghast was familiar...

The half elven woman drew a deep breath and then ran for the chamber with the stairs. "They're down here, they're down here!" she called out, voice tinged with fear.

Deciding the time was right, Shale trusted to luck and rolled initiative.

03:47, Today: Shale rolled 5 using 1d6+3 with rolls of 2. initiative.

Hearing Miralla's warning and the growling voice in the darkness, Grakh'tuul began to back away. He was no coward, but the fear in the young sneak-thief's voice warned him that there was a foe to be wary of. This, coupled with the sight of the mangled dwarf up top, convinced him that they were in danger. "Quickly now!" he hissed. "Fall back into the sunlight where we can deal with this foe together."

He kept his shield raised and backed away, ushering the others past him. As quickly as he he could he retreated up the stairs.

Hearing the voices echo up from below, the sound of retreat, Tyrien moves a few feet to stand between the druid and the stairwell.  Although not a very bright man, and that is being generous, Tyrien is wise and with that comes a sort of strong common sense.  His common sense is telling him the druid will decide whether he lives or dies today.  And so, he will shield the one called Eagle.  Pulling out his bow and arrows, he stands ready to fire when an enemy comes up those stairs.

The ghasts begin growling louder and the sound of shuffling feet is heard in the chamber to the south...

OOC: Roll for initiative.

Ghasts, 5
AC: 4
HP: x/? (G/B), x/?, x/?, x/?, x/?, [Private to GM: (17/17, 15/17, 13, 20, 20, 19)]


PC       AC    HP    AP  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10   Notes
Beth     3   10/10   4   20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
Eagle    6   38/41   4   16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9  8  7  6
Grakh    1   14/14   2   20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10    +1 Init
Miralla  7   05/05   3   20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
Shale    2   07/07   2   20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10    +3 Init
Tyrien   5   09/09   2   20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10


Round 1
Stage 1: Ghasts (6)
Stage 2: PCs

OOC: Ghasts won init.


This message was last edited by the GM at 07:52, Sat 24 Jan 2015.