Lira also took the time to scan the courtyard as they walked along the corridor.

Lira rolled 12 using 2d6.  Vision test.

Lira was going to look at the body, but it seems Oliver has beaten her to it "Make sure it's dead Oliver." she adds as she searches the crates.


-

What they can see of the courtyard from this angle reveals that it's much as the party left it; eerily vacant. They can see the lance with the Mounted Rangers pennant still planted there, swaying in the breeze.

As Oliver bends down to inspect the body, Lira's warning comes just in time. He turns, looking at her for a just a moment, and hesitating just before touching the corpses. And then it moves. Lurches...

Callum gives a frightened shout, firing off his blunderbuss. The shot nearly takes off the corpse's head, but still the thing manage to get up, reaching out for Oliver. "Draugr," Callum managed to growl, reaching for his sword.

[OOC: Okay, Lira's vision check I think was good enough to avoid any surprise.

Initiative Tracker
Callum: 8
Draugr: 6

HP Tracker
Draugr: 1/5]

Oliver pulled his sword free of it scabbard as he staggered back. Bringing the grip to his ear as he brings the blade forward and a long sweep towards the undead thing.

Oliver Fitzwilliam rolled 12 using 2d6+2.  Initiative.

Oliver Fitzwilliam rolled 21 using 2d6+10.  Attack. Not sure the AC.
Oliver Fitzwilliam rolled 6 using 1d8.  Damage.
Oliver Fitzwilliam rolled 3 using 1d6.  Pierce.

-

Lira had to swing her crossbow on its sling as the undead thing began to stir. She aimed for its chest and let loose the bolt.

Lira rolled 5 using 2d6+1.  Initiative.

Lira rolled 28 using 1d20+9.  Attack.

Lira rolled 4 using 1d6.  Damage.
Lira rolled 3 using 1d6.  Pierce.


-

Oliver manages to behead the thing and draw his sword in the same motion, killing it just inches before it can strike. Lira's bolt lands in its torso a moment later. The withered, ancient corpse collapses to the stone flagstones of the storeroom, well and truly dead this time. It possesses nothing other than the decaying fragments of meager clothing it wears.

"I'm pretty sure that was draugr," Callum muttered, clearly a little shaken. "I've never seen one quite so up close before, but the weak ones can lay dormant for long periods, only waking up when it smells something to eat. Like us."

"Their touch is worse than death, you know," he adds, before dutifully reloading his blunderbuss.

Testing the door to the east, leading to the northeast tower, the party found it unlocked. Doors to the south, leading to the courtyard, were locked but accessible from this side.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:19, Tue 06 Nov 2018.

Oliver nodded along to Callums description of the undead, as he took a closer look at the corpse. "I think it is down for good now." he adds. He takes his canteen from his belt and offers it to the others before taking several mouthfuls himself.

Putting it back on his belt Oliver will open the door to the Northeast tower and enter.


-
This message was last edited by the player at 04:12, Wed 07 Nov 2018.

Lira retrieved her bolt from the corpse and placed it back onto her crossbow as she reloaded. She too took a look at the body, this being the first time she had seen the monster that her parents had used to scare her into submission.


Once she has had her full she follows Callum and Oliver through the door.


-
This message was lightly edited by the player at 04:11, Wed 07 Nov 2018.

The draugr was wrinkled and emaciated. Callum was unable to say with certitude if this was a typical example of draugr-kind, or if this was a particularly malnourished specimen. He did mention, however, that frostbite-blackened skin was a telltale sign of the draugr, though that could apply to any sort of fleshy undead thing when wintertime came round in frigid Golinlund.

Opening the eastern door, the party comes to the northeastern tower, or what remains of it. While the southeastern tower of the outpost was entirely reduced to rubble, much of the eastern wall remained. But not, it seemed, the parts that allowed access to the fortifications. The southern wall of the guard room was dominated by a large pile of spilled and broken masonry. The stairs leading down into the underground portions of the outpost were still intact, however.

While otherwise identical to the other guardrooms the party had seen, this one was notable for the first to show any signs of habitation. There was a brazier, lit in the northeastern corner near the stairwell, still crackling faintly with active embers. Depending on how high the wood and oil had been stacked, it had probably been burning for only a day or two. In the northwestern corner, near the door the party had just entered from, was a small lightweight stand or desk and a chair. There was a tin plate and some flatware set there as well, of a type commonly used by soldiers in the field.

Oliver and Lira also notice a small pressure plate set on the top step of the staircase. Ropes connected it to a pulley, from which dangled a small satchel, hanging over the brazier. It certainly looked like a trap of some kind. It would have been difficult to spot walking up from below, but was quite easy to see here, from the top of the staircase.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:45, Wed 07 Nov 2018.

Oliver slipped into the room and moved the sling of his carbine off his shoulder, he brings the weapon up as he cocks the lock. While the others searched or dismantled the trap Oliver guarded the staircase.

Oliver took a knee and checks for signs of passage from whoever had been using the space, foot prints or the like in the dust of the floor. Once the search and trap was dealt with Oliver decided it was time they confronted whatever was below and he prepared to descend into the lower level.


-

Lira wondered over to the desk and took a knee as she checked for any obvious traps or trip wires. If the piece of furniture had drawers she would search them before standing and checking for any other hiding places.

Lira rolled 9 using 2d6+1.  Search.

Lira will go dismantle the trap as well and she takes a look in the satchel. Before she lowers it down she moves the brazier with Callums help, Oliver being somewhat occupied with the staircase.

-

Lira is able to disarm the trap with little difficulty after she and Callum move the brazier. Inspecting the satchel finds it to be full of gunpowder, spare ammunition and nails. Stepping on the pressure plate would have no doubt sent the charge into the brazier, detonating and peppering the area with embers and shrapnel. Likely not fatal, judging from the distance between the pressure plate trigger and the brazier, but nasty. An alarm, maybe?

A quick search of the room reveals a drawer in the table. Inside is a pouch containing fifty gold coins, again of Aventinian mint. Little else in the room is salvageable or looks recently-used.

Glancing down the staircase, Oliver sees it is very dark below, but recognizes the vague shapes of the room where the party had encountered the summoning of Barbatos, the bearded daemon with the blunderbuss. The room was dark now, no longer illuminated by the flickering light of the summoning circle.

Lira again lifts the lamp as she follows the others down the stairs, she recognizes the room and does a quick sweep of the floor looking for new tracks before again following the two men as they enter the narrow tunnel on towards the second set of stairs.


-
This message was last edited by the player at 01:38, Thu 08 Nov 2018.

Oliver begins to descend the stairs and once at the bottom he sweeps the room with his carbine before entering the tunnel that leads to another set of stairs. He stopped for a moment to look for traps or tracks and then continued down.

Oliver Fitzwilliam rolled 10 using 2d6+1.  Traps & Tracks.


-
This message was last edited by the player at 06:57, Thu 08 Nov 2018.

A cursory search of the entrance to the tunnel reveals no obvious tripwires or other traps. There don't seem to be any signs of obvious, recent passage, either. The tunnel has twisted walls and is strangely composed, smooth and almost glass-like in parts. Lira thinks it might be caused by volcanic activity, but she isn't sure. And that wouldn't make any sense at all for Golinlund...

[OOC: I forgot to mention the results of Lira's earlier intelligence check to identify the tunnels, but she didn't quite make it and is kinda clueless.]

The tunnel is very dark and largely featureless, but after a turn Lira's lamp illuminates four strange, scrawny, one-eyed ape-like creatures. The creatures stare at the party, dumbfounded, for a moment, before they suddenly erupt in aggressive hooting and screeching. All but one are armed with sticks they wield like clubs, and as soon as they raise them to attack, Callum instinctively fires his blunderbuss, peppering the swarming creatures with shot.

[OOC: You're fighting likho! They all have an AC of 7. They all have a unique, evil eye gaze: they inflict a -1 penalty to attack rolls and skill checks for anyone they're looking at, stacking to a maximum of -2. The likho are essentially staring at the individuals they intend to engage, so Lira and Oliver both take a -1 penalty to attack rolls, while Callum is taking a -2.

Callum got a Piercing blow with his blunderbuss again, but a low-damage one, so he just used it to soften them all up.

Initiative Tracker
Callum: 11
Likho: 8

HP Tracker
Likho 1: 6/7 HP
Likho 2: 6/7 HP
Likho 3: 6/7 HP
Unarmed Likho: 2/3 HP]
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:13, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

Oliver raises his carbine at one of the creatures and pulls the trigger. He feels the familiar push back on his shoulder as the powder ignites and sends the bullet forward.

Oliver Fitzwilliam rolled 8 using 2d6+2.  Initiative.

Oliver Fitzwilliam rolled 24 using 1d20+8.  Attack.

Oliver Fitzwilliam rolled 3 using 1d8.  Damage.
Oliver Fitzwilliam rolled 8 using 1d10.  Pierce.


-

Lira drops the sights of her crossbow onto one of the beasts and lets a bolt fly, as she instantly drops the weapon and begins to reload.

Lira rolled 7 using 2d6+1.  Initiative.

Lira rolled 24 using 1d20+7.  Attack.

Lira rolled 3 using 1d6.  Damage.
Lira rolled 3 using 1d6.  Pierce.



-

Oliver's carbine kicks in a manner almost comfortable and familiar. The blue-skinned little goblin is splayed out on its back, dead, from a direct hit. Lira's bolt likewise lands right in the eye of its target, and the unarmed likho falls howling to the ground before it dies.

The remaining two creatures, perhaps fearing the thunderous boom of gunpowder, or perhaps simply seeing the fates of their fellows, dropped their sticks and ran scampering into the dark, deeper into the tunnel.

[OOC: These things failed their morale check pretty hard, haha. Let me know if you immediately chase after them, let them go and try to track them, etc.]

Oliver raises his hand to let them go as he reloads his carbine. Once the task is done and no one else raises any concerns they continue on. He stops for a moment when Lira indicates she want to look the corpses over, and once that task is done the move off.

"Lets be careful in our approach, I am sure these beasts will regroup in greater numbers so be vigilant. That and we have a lieutenant still unaccounted for who is as well armed as we are."


-
This message was last edited by the player at 20:19, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

Finishing reloading her crossbow even when the monsters turn tail and flee Lira asks to look at the bodies before they continue on. She takes a knee and searches them before getting up and following the others.


-

Callum nods, reloading his blunderbuss and letting the remaining creatures scamper into the safety of the dark.

Lira stoops down to take a closer look at the two corpses. They are diminutive but surprisingly human in seeming, albeit with a single, staring eye and numerous ivory horns on their head. One of the dead things has three horns, the other five. Though she hasn't seen one of them up close before, Lira has read of these creatures at the university: likho, malicious little goblins that seem to mysteriously appear in the presence of cursed items or people, particularly cursed items that have been left alone for a very long time.

Once the party is fully reloaded, they progress further past the bend in the tunnel, coming to  a heavy-looking door awkwardly installed in the the smooth, strangely grooved tunnel. Oliver spots the fleeing likho scurrying beneath a small gap beneath the door and the tunnel floor. The gap looks to have been painstakingly dug out with likho claws, and is only large enough for them to barely wriggle through.

The party arrives just in time to see the last of the potbellied little goblins wedge itself under the door, leaving the chamber empty. However, a moment later, a large snake slithers out from beneath the same space. A loud rattling sound fills the air as it approaches the party, then coils up, ready to strike. It is still too far away to hit anyone, however, being about 15' away from both Oliver and Callum, and 5' from the door. It shakes the rattle on the end of its tail, staring the party down in defiance. It appears to be an ordinary snake, but is a large and dangerous-looking specimen, measuring about three feet long.

[OOC: Give me a Charisma reaction roll for anyone trying to interact with the snake, or roll an attack roll if trying to attack it. Let me know if you do anything else.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:40, Sun 11 Nov 2018.

Lira stops for a second as she slightly lowers her crossbow as the snake appears. There was something strange in its behavior, at least to her.

Lira rolled 8 using 2d6+1.  Cha check.

"Was it protecting the little goblins ?", she thought. Lira raises her hand in greeting to the snake.


-

Given the distance to the threat and that the snake was not at this point trying to attack then Oliver held off shooting the thing while it seemed that Lira was trying to strike up a conversation with it.


-

The snakes hisses and continues shaking its rattle, but doesn't seem to otherwise react to Lira's gesture. Callum makes a a tentative gesture toward the door beyond the snake, but it hisses and snaps at him. Callum retreats back instinctively, and so does the snake. It resumes staring at them, guarding the door, its forked black tongue slipping out to taste the air every few moments.

"It's a Golish rattler," Callum mutters. "Not too uncommon in the southern parts, like near the border here. They usually rattle to warn people off, but as far as I know, they can't be trained to guard doors."

Oliver steps forward and sees if the snake will react to his presence better then it had the others, though he could not think why it should.

Oliver Fitzwilliam rolled 7 using 2d6+1.  Cha roll.


-

"IS it magical...?" Lira asks no one in particular.

-