Seline's Light spell illuminates the cellar with a clear, white light.  She performs a careful search of the cellar and finds some burlap sacks with a few rotten potatoes in them.  You could potentially use the sacks for bandages, but the rotten taters have no doubt contaminated them.  However, both Jack and Cole have stopped bleeding, so bandages are not an immediate necessity.  The cellar is dry and musty.  The overall dimensions are around 30 feet by 40 feet.  The only exit is the stairway up to the hatch in the kitchen floor.

Elwood casts Cure Light Wounds on Jack, healing the fighter of 5 points of damage and bringing him to total hit points of -5.  He looks more green than grey now and his breathing has steadied.

Anthony tries to be helpful as Elwood prays over Jack, but there isn't much an amateur can do.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
16:14, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 5 using 1d8.  CLW on Jack.

---

Dreya has a few more berries in her pouch yet, and can cast that spell again. She will even burn a hero point to make super powerful berries of epic proportions, borne of the mightiest might nature can provide. Keeping one berry aside, she rushes over to the new stranger and gingerly crams the remaining berries into the new stranger's mouth before fleeing back a few paces to watch and see what happens. But in dread or anticipation, you can't quite tell. Cupped tenderly in one palm is the remaining epically potent goodberry.

"This is all I can do for Jack right now,  as my power to draw on Flyspamon's divine energy is exhausted except for a few very simple spells. If I can get some rest and mediate,  I'll be able to heal him some more.  Another option would be waiting a few hours until everything is clear,  then we could maybe carry Jack to the temple."

Jack gurgles a bit and mutters something about "more armor" while drifting back and forth in various states of unconsciousness.

Seline after examining the cellar sits down by Jacks head, gently brushing his hair out of his face, in a calm even tone just loud enough for Jack to hear she starts recounting simple stories from her childhood detailing out the colors of the fields and skies of the country side she would wander.

Anthony nods. "I propose we do as you said--wait a few more hours and then carry Jack to the temple. We must be careful in dealing with Oswald. We gave him all we had and could not fell him. This tells me we shall need more help to stop him."

He shudders, thinking of the poor child who died as Oswald's weapon. This steels his sagging resolve a bit, but only a bit, as he was not sure how the party would manage to defeat such a foe.

Cole looks grim at the mention on the dead child.  "I agree, recuperation is what we need most now." Leaning back, Cole tries to rest his weary body, hoping he has enough left in him to make it through the rest of the night.

As Dreya waits to see the effect of her boosted berries, she also agrees.  "Yes, go we should...ack, I mean we...should...go to Flipspring's temple. We can rest. And, uh, maybe plan new? I mean, make a new plan."

Dreya's super-berry does the trick.  One hero point later, Jack is back up to 5 hit points and conscious once more.

About an hour before dawn, the party hears noises from above.  Heavy boots are walking across the floor and muffled voices speak back and forth.  It's hard to make out what is said through the heavy hatch door, but you catch snippets:

"... Oswald said..."

"... pain..."

"... could be anywhere..."

"... Brian said... this way..."

"... pay... wizard..."

"... cellar?"

Footsteps walk across the kitchen floor above you several times.   They don't appear to have found the hatch... yet.  What do you do?

Quickly, Dreya gives the remaining super-berry she held on to to the ranger. Whispering to him, she says, "Here, Sir Hiller. It worked, and did not kill our new friend here."

Turning, she mouths SILENTLY to the rest of the group. "Now what do we do?"

Anthony leads into the others and mouths, "Fight our way out," he says, trying to look brave.

Cole swallows the super berry. As quietly as he can he finds a large crate he can hide behind.

Jack looks around in a daze after he regains his grip on consciousness. After sizing up the location and his nearby friends, he slowly looks to those tending his wounds and gives a nod to everyone, quietly saying 'thanks'.

"So, apparently Ogres hit pretty hard. Who knew? I'm thinking that if I ever fight an ogre again and it runs away, I may just let it get away."

As time goes on, Jack studies their current location a bit more. When voices are heard overhead, he becomes immediately still and quiet, his hand resting on the shaft of his axe, as he waits in anticipation.

OOC: Jack tries to remain still and not make a sound, hoping those above give up and move along, but ready to attack if necessary.

Elwood quietly gets behind a crate, and silently gets out 2 flasks of oil, uncorking them and creating wicks from pieces of a burlap sack lying around.  He gets his Tinderbox ready and gets out his 2 hammers, ready to throw.  He looks around, trying to judge if they're in a fire trap.

OOC: If Dragon Mark once cast on a door would affect both sides or Seline thinks it would she would take this action
Seline walks up the hatch placing her hand on their side of the hatch speaking the incantation as quietly as possible she traces a dragon head with her hand on the door casting Dragon's Mark on the hatch. Once this was done she would retreat to the other side of the room and hide and begin to prep color spray.

OOC: If Seline knows Dragon Mark doesn't affect the other side of the door  she would do the following action"

Seline would position herself and attempt to hide as best as possible in a position or spot across from the bottom of the stairs and ready the spell color spray with the intent to cast it as soon as a foe steps off the last stair onto to the floor of the basement
This message was last edited by the player at 19:13, Tue 28 Mar 2017.

Dreya shuffles close to the Cleric and where her friends can hear her without having to speak loudly.

Whispering as loud as she dares, she says, "Simply Elwood, I will hop outside in the alley and draw them away. Fast, I run. I mean I can run fast. I can meet you all at that inn we ate at before. Or...I can hop myself and one other person with me..." She points toward the ranger, worry evident in her gaze.  "We cannot have another fight. You and I could go?"

The druids amber eyes are wide, fear glimmering in their depths. But whether it is fear of being found down here, or fear for the two very wounded men, one cannot tell amidst the murkiness of the basement they all huddle in.

The party braces for incoming enemies.



The boot steps get closer to the hatch.  You're fairly certain they stop right next to it and the metallic clank you hear is the handle being lifted by someone starting to open it.  However, just when the tension becomes almost unbearable, you hear a new voice begin speaking and then footsteps quickly leaving the kitchen area.

You spend a few minutes nervously listening for anything at all, but all is quiet.  It seems you have caught a lucky break.

What do you do?

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
17:14, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC GM, rolled 2 using 1d6.  Die of Fate.

---

(I could have burned my last hero point to do it, no? No matter, they seemed to have moved on.)

Dreya turns to the others, ready to hear what new plan they want to make. "Do we stay here longer?"

To help move things along, if you want to sneak back to somewhere safe (the Filthy Unicorn, the Temple of Flyspamon, etc.), that is an auto-success at this point.  If you want to attempt something riskier, just let me know.

Hell to the no onthe risky. We sneak back to the Filthy Unicorn, helping their wounded limp along as quickly as possible.

Anthony sighs silently in relief as the fight--which he thought might be the last of his life--passed them by. He turned to the others. He retreated quickly back to the Filthy Unicorn with the others, though he suggested that one of them go to the Temple to fetch a cleric.

As he hears the footsteps of the searchers retreat, Elwood silently offers a prayer of thanks to Flyspamon.  He then joins the others as they make their way sneaky-like back to the Filthy Unicorn.  As Anthony suggests, Elwood heads over to the Temple of Flyspamon to report his findings regarding Oswald, and to see if any clerics would offer their assistance in helping his wounded comrades.  As he heads back to the Filthy Unicorn, he makes a brief stop at Hugh's master to inform him of Hugh's fate, the circumstance of his death, and where Hugh's final respite is located (also explaining the circumstances that prevented Elwood from bringing back Hugh's body back himself).

A few minutes after the last of the noises up above have passed, Jack lets out a long sigh of relief. He motions a suggestion to everyone that they wait a few more minutes before heading back up.

Jack lets the other, more stealthy members of the band proceed first to make sure the way is clear and follows closely behind, helping the other wounded where he can and leaning on a few of his friends when his own wounds start to flare up.

Jack's tongue loosens up a bit when everyone is safely away from the Temple of Pain and closer to the Filthy Unicorn. "Thanks for patching me up back there friends, I thought I was a goner! I never had time to ask before, but why exactly were we chasing down a terribly ferocious ogre in the first place?"

"He has little regard for the life of a child.  There was a precious innocent in that sack he was carrying, a precious innocent who is most likely dead now...  And more innocents suffering because of him."  Cole grows silent as he follows his comrades back to The Filthy Unicorn.  The gravity of his injuries barely registering as he tries to tamp down the rage boiling within him.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:00, Wed 29 Mar 2017.

Elwood's trip to Flyspamon's Temple is somewhat fruitful.  The cleric on duty (Sherry) is quite alarmed to hear about an unusually ferocious ogre kidnapping children and returning to the Temple of Pain.  This does not fit what is commonly known about the Pain God's followers and ways.  Flyspamon's Temple is not in a position to intervene directly.  Sherry suggests Flyspamon appears to have designated Elwood as his champion on this issue.

While the Temple's refusal to provide manpower is disappointing, Sherry does offer some material support.  She provides Elwood with 3 potions of extra-healing and a potion of neutralize poison to help the party in its efforts to combat Oswald.

OOC: An extra-healing potion can be consumed in one giant gulp to heal 3d8 hit points, or sipping 1/3 of the potion can heal 1d8 hit points.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:35, Wed 29 Mar 2017.