Sarah looks a little uncomfortable at Aldara's mention of a plan involving magic.  But, as the others seem to like the idea she looks at the ground and nods.

OOC:  Sorry, RPOL somehow didn't note that there had been posts.

"The only thing I'd add is a prayer to your Avandra to keep the boat intact for the journey across. Aside from that, I'd say let's get this over with."

"All right, then!" Eoni concluded, clapping her hands together.  "With Avandra's blessing, let's pack up and finish this off."

Silently, Taerix nods and begins loading up for the trip back to the fort.

Having agreed to invisibly return to the sunken ruins of Rhest Town Hall, the party returns to camouflaged site of their reed boat. Removing the vessel from its hiding spot, the adventurers gather around Aldara, whom promptly begins reciting arcane words while completing complex somatic gestures.

The wizard casts an invisibility spell over the entire party and they are soon paddling back out toward the ruins. Unfortunately, invisibility does little to mask the sound of paddles striking water, but the rowers (Marklin and Valthur) do what they can to be as quiet as humanly, or dwarfly, as possible.

It doesn't take long for the adventurers to perceive that some sort of conflict must occurred at the town hall after they departed. Rowing closer to the ruins, they see no signs of ogres or hobgoblins keeping watch on the collapsed roof and there appears to be new structural damage to the main cluster of buildings that had served as Wyrmlord Saarvoth's garrison.

An eery silence hangs over the ruins and the smell of death is thick in the air.

"Over there," Eoni whispered, pointing to the far side of the building, away from the holding pen.  "We'll try to get in there through one of the windows."

She wondered if the lizard people attacked the fort once the dragon rider left.

Sarah looks about and tries to guess where Eoni points.  Her mention of "windows" provides a clue.

[Private to DM Pawn: And Sarah goes to the windows on the far side of the building, and looks in.  Quietly, just in case.]

About half way across the water, Valthur realizes he's holding his breath while paddling. He slowly expels and finds the journey a bit easier then, although still nerve-racking.

"Eoni," Valthur chuckles quietly. "If you're pointing where we're going, I for one don't see it."

Changing focus to the roof, he considers the damage and lack of guards. "What happened to the ogres? Do you suppose that acid belching razorfiend attacked?"

Marklin and Valthur guide the invisible boat to the now mostly destroyed wooden walkway that flanked the town hall's lower level. Visual inspection of the immediate surrounding area reveals no signs of activity. The party sees no sign of ogres, hobgoblins, lizardfolk, ettin, or dragons. Just lots of recent structural damage to what was already a ruined building. A caustic stench also hangs in the air and several sections of wall appear to be scoured away by, presumably, acid.

Now in a position to investigate, Sarah slips off the back of the boat and invisibly stalks to the nearest window. Glancing inside this first room, she is assaulted by the stench of acid. Within, she sees the remnants of a ransacked room. Two large humanoid legs, perhaps those of an ogre, protrude from beneath a disheveled mountain of a ruined tapestry mixed with broken furniture, crumbled masonry and what appears to be a lifelike, but quite taxidermic leopard, wild boar and crocodile!

Moving to another window to peer within another area of the town hall, the second room, she sees another room in total disarray. In this, a ruined stairwell leading to the roof has all but collapsed and is little more than a pile of wood at the base of the stairwell. A pile of shaggy furs is piled up against one wall, but otherwise the room appears bare. This room likewise exudes a fetid stench.

The third room looks into is likewise a wreck. This one must be the interrogation room where Eoni and Marklin captured Nurklenak. Now, its implements of torture are totally ruined and it is little more than a pile of wood and metal. There is no sign of the imprisoned elf within the room, though the mangled cage is visible, buried beneath a partially collapsed wall.

The fourth and final room at ground (i.e., water) level is a large room that has nearly sunk into the lake, its floor nearly entirely rotted away. Additionally, ceiling is likewise almost entirely missing, allowing daylight to filter into the dismal room. Waterlogged and mouldering tomes float in the dark waters.

Whatever happened at this outpost after the adventurers fled was certainly not good.

"Take a look around for anything they may have left behind," Eoni whispered.  "I'm going to look for the iron chest."

She proceeded to the room where she'd originally found the chest and began looking around.

edit:
OOC: Eoni Daflin rolled 5 using 1d6 ((5)) Search for Iron Chest
This message was last edited by the player at 13:38, Mon 12 Nov 2018.

Valthur picks through the rubble in search of the elf, although he fears the poor soul was probably one of many victims of the razorfiend.

"If that winged monstrosity did all this damage," he concludes to nobody in particular. "We might want to see if we can dispose of those blasted eggs before we have thirty more of them belching their wretched acid all across the vale."

Taerix sneaks as best he can to the group of eggs he and Sarah saw before, to see what's left of them. He truly hopes they're all still there, and not hatched.

Eoni and Valthur sift through the debris Wyrmlord Saarvith's Room and the Torture Chamber, respectively, while Taerix slips off to look after the Razorfiend Hatchery. Marklin stands watch within the ruins of the main building, with Aldara and Sarah standing somewhere nearby, presumably waiting for the others to finish their search.

Eoni has difficulty sorting through the debris that now chokes the room. This is where she last saw the iron box, but much of it is now buried beneath a dead ettin, torn tapestries and crumbled masonry. She simply isn't strong enough to move many of these items.

Valthur sorts through the Torture Chamber but sees no evidence of the elf, only the busted cage where Eoni said he may be found. The iron door is split wide open, so it is possible the elf escaped. It's also equally likely something snatched him out of the cage and disposed of him otherwise.

Taerix stalks across the ruined walkway to the hatchery. In many places, the halfling is forced to leap across now non-existent walkway, but he makes his way there without incident. The large heap of rotting plants and mud within the pen, the nest, has been reinforced and Taerix does not see any eggs protruding from it. It's possible they are now buried within the muck, but determining this would require closer investigation. What Taerix does notice however, is that his companions search within the ruins is making quite a bit of noise.If the Razorfiend is somewhere within that nest, or in the murky water below, assuming it has any sense of hearing, it won't be long before it is drawn up to investigate.

Taerix quickly slips back toward the others, and when he hears too much noise, quietly warns that if that razorfiend is still here, it might hear them, too.

Eoni gave up looking for the chest.  It was unlikely the dragon rider would have left it behind.  Taerix's admonishment just reinforced the hopelessness of looking for the phylactery here.

"He's right," the Sister reluctantly admitted, "we're not finding anything in this mess.

"Were the eggs still there?"

"It looks like it, but I couldn't tell without getting in there to check, and possibly getting cut by the eggs."

"Look around," she instructed everyone, "see if you can find one of those ogre javelins or a sharp stick we can use to stab into the pile or dig with.

"Aldara will keep watch from the wall, with Marklin and Taerix ready with their bows.  Valthur and I will dig.  If it comes for us, I'll try to blind it and we'll retreat back to the building.  Don't bunch up and watch out for it's acid spit."

Sarah does not say anything.

[Private to DM Pawn: Sarah wants no part of being near her noisy, attention-drawing companions, or helping them make said noise.  She will move quietly around away from them, taking advantage of her invisibility to look about for anything interesting or noteworthy.]

Valthur gulps at the thought of digging through the nest of razorfiend eggs. "While I'm not exactly thrilled to dig through a muddy nest in hopes of finding a few eggs before their momma comes home to roost," he grumbles. "I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. So why not me?"

With his protest officially logged, the dwarf turns his attention to searching for a spear or javelin to assist with his upcoming task.

Aldara draws two of her designated throwing daggers, eyes out for anything intrusive.  She is also visibly thankful for watch duty, and that she does not have to touch the prickly, sharp eggs...

Eoni and Valthur enter the smaller ruined building and proceed directly to the greenspawn's nest. With long sticks in hand, the pair begin poking and prodding through the muck and mire in search of the spikey leather eggs they saw during their last visit. Sorting through the skeletal remains of various animals and other unidentifiable organic detritus, they soon discover a few eggs lurking in the mess.

While doing so, the pair feel a tremor beneath them and those keeping watch nearby see a flicker of greenish movement beneath the dark water, a fraction of a moment before a terrible winged beast breaks the surface of the water. A very pissed-off greenspawn razorfiend Mama!

This greenspawn is much larger than the one the party encountered on their way to Rhest. She arches her sinuous neck in a wide arc to locate the would-be egg-bandits, and gives a terrifying roar. Green, acidic spittle hangs from her jagged teeth and her fork tongue flicks the air. The greenspawn beats its vestigial wings and sniffs the air, her nostrils flaring widely...


OOC: The greenspawn is about 10 feet distant from Eoni and Valthur when she breaks the surface. The rest of the party is probably 30 feet distant.

Greenspawn Mama
AC: 3
HP: ??/??


PC         AC   HP    9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1  0 -1 -2 -3
Aldara     8  15/15   9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 20
Eoni       8  15/24   9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 20
Marklin    2  15/19   7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Sarah      4  16/16   8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Taerix     1  20/22   7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Valthur    4  24/26   7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

[Private to GM:

[Private to GM:
<tt>
  HD       9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1   0   -1  -2  -3
Up to 1    10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  20  20
1+ to 2    9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  20
2+ to 3    8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20
3+ to 4    7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19
4+ to 5    6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18
5+ to 6    5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17
6+ to 7    4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16
7+ to 9    3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15
9+ to 11   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14


PCs are UP!!!
]

"May the grace of Avandra light your way!" Eoni intoned quickly, concentrating on the terrifying beast's eyes.  She then tried to turn and head for the walkway, but the muck from the nest sucked at her boots as she stumbled towards the fort.

OOC: Cast light on the acid beast's eyes.
Eoni Daflin rolled 9 using 1d20.  Dexterity Check (10) Don't fall in!

Uncertain what to do, Valthur hesitates. The blinding light in the razorfiend's eyes is just what he needs to fall back safely, however it may also be their last chance to stop the vicious beast before she unleashes an acidic reign of terror over the vale.

With a lump in his throat, the dwarf charges the razorfiend and swings. A hit, but he fears only a glancing blow.

23:07, Today: Valthur Ironhelm rolled 14 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 11.  Axe vs. Razorfiend (gulp!).
23:08, Today: Valthur Ironhelm rolled 4 using 1d8+3 with rolls of 1.  Damage.
OOC: So happy with myself for hitting and then so deeply disappointed with the damage!

As soon as the greenspawn breaks the surface, Marklin is ready with his javelin. The fighter throws it with force, hoping to quickly strike down the huge monster. The javelin deflects off the creature's tough scales.

"Damnit!" he curses before taking up sword and shield. He wasn't spoiling for a fight against this foe, but he is also not one to run away from a fight.

"Captain! Valthur! Spread out!" he calls out.


13:30, Today: Marklin rolled 10,2 using d20+1,d6+1 ((9,1)).

Sarah . . .

[Private to DM Pawn: is unwilling to break invisibility.  She will, if possible, skirt to the other side of the creature for a possible backstab.  But she won't break invisibility as of yet.]