((GM checks his map) Just two more, and nope.)

The next door opens onto another dirty, decaying bedroom without furniture. From the doorway, the floor in here does not look particularly safe; some floorboards are missing, while others appear to have suffered partial collapse.

There is only one more door on this end of the hallway...

Neide decided not to enter the room behind the second door... one fall through the floor was enough!

She moved on and checked the third door...

(Wis check, please...)

01:27, Today: Neide rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,5.

Phew :)

It's locked.

Buuuuuut... Neide notices a key on the nearby windowsill...

"Ah", Neide thought, having spotted the key.

She walked over to the windowsill, picked up the key and tried unlocking the door...

The key unlocks the door easily.

Opening the door reveals a dirty, decayed bedroom-- indeed, the floor looks rather unsafe, especially in the middle.

However, in the far corner lies a man; he is visibly breathing, though bound and gagged.

Now... this was not what Neide expected to find in this house.

"Hey", she waved at her companions to come closer, then pointed at the bound man, "Do you see that? Why would the witch hold a prisoner..?"

She eyed the decayed floor with unease.

"We need to help him... I'm not keen on going in there, though. I've falled through the floor one time too many already... Any ideas how to make this floor safer? Any magic you know that could help with it..?"

Neide's companions sadly inform her that they don't have any miracles prepared for such an eventuality-- Ondreya's magic is mostly for attacking, Aden's is for affecting people (who aren't bound and gagged), and Kerran's prayers are mostly for healing (up close) and other effects.

"There are prayers to Veles to strengthen stone, or to make it easier to work, or to reshape it, but I'm not far enough along in my order to be able to call upon them... And this floor isn't stone, anyway," he adds. "If it were, we probably wouldn't be having this problem..."

"Alright, then", Neide sighed, "Let me try getting to him. Let's hope I don't end up falling through the floor again..."

And so, with utmost caution, Neide started making her way to the bound man - trying to circle around the most obviously unstable parts of the floor...

OOC: I guess it needs a DEX roll... BTW. will I get some modifier for being cautious?

01:51, Today: Neide rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,1.

Neide stays to the edge of the room, headed to the bound man.

It's nerve-shattering-- there are many noticeable creaks and groans from the floor. It sounds a little like a lot more ceiling plaster is falling onto the floor of the room right below.

But, she makes it to the man without anything bad actually happening...

Neide wiped off the drops of sweat from her brow, relieved that the floor didn't break under her... not yet, at least.

She moved to the bound man and kneeled to examine him...

OOC: Is the man even conscious? Any visible wounds? How does he react to Neide coming over?

The man seems unconscious, but alive, with no visible wounds. Perhaps he's been drugged, or is under a spell?

"... hello?", Neide spoke to the man. Would it be possible to wake him up?

At the same time, she started removing the man's bonds, beginning with the gag.

He doesn't wake up, so far.

Neide removes the man's gag and bonds, but he remains unconscious... and, therefore, a dead weight... (Might be safest to kind of drag him...?)

"Damn", Neide thought, "What should do with him? We can't carry him around... not while the witch might still be here..."

"Hey", she spoke up, shaking the man's shoulder gently, "Can you hear me..?"

The man seems warm, and to be breathing, but he does not awaken...

"Damn it...", Neide muttered. She didn't want to leave the man behind - and yet, they couldn't drag him around, if they were planning to get into a fight. And they *were* planning it...

And yet...

Neide eyed the floor with a worried look. Was it even possible to drag the man to safety over this faulty floor..?

OOC: This is actually a question :) Neide has already went across the room one time, so she has some idea of what the floor is like. So, does it seem remotely possible to carry the man over and not step onto the damaged floor parts?

(Yes, it does seem possible. The important thing would appear to be to stay as close to the walls as possible//as far from the center as possible.)

"Oh well...", Neide muttered, "Let's try this..."

She waved at her companions.

"Could you come closer and keep watch?", she asked them, "If this floor breaks, maybe you'll be able to catch me... or this fellow here... before we fall"

Then, carefully, she started dragging the stranger to the safe side of the room...

OOC: DEX test or something else?

"I think more of us entering the room will increase the danger, but yes, I'll stand ready in the doorway," says Kerran.

(I could see this as STR or DEX, your choice.)

OOC: Let's go with DEX:

01:42, Today: Neide rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,2.

I certainly hope it's enough!

Neide moves the unconscious man as carefully as she can...

When Neide is right near the doorway, the floor gives way. There's a creaking and shaking that warns her, first, though, so with a mighty heave, she bravely tosses the man's body to the doorway, where Kerran and Aden grab it and move it into the hallway, and then Neide herself jumps.

She is caught by Kerran, and he and Aden pull her in.

A splintered piece of wood did puncture her leg, though. (Neide takes 1 new damage.)

Once she's pulled up and into the hallway, she and the others look at the body that Neide fought so hard to retrieve safely.

It's a dummy.

A vague sort of bundle of rags and bandages, with a crudely-painted face and hands painted behind its back.

"...Now this is witchcraft," says Aden. "Look in the room, see a sleeping man. It's stopped, because you've taken it out of the room." Aden sighs. "I am so sorry. I never saw it coming. This stupid house is the perfect place for a witch-- she can mix her own craft with whatever leftover spells the previous owner placed to scare people away. I am so sorry," he repeats.

"At least it's confirmation we're in the right place," says Ondreya.

"Want me to heal your leg?" Kerran asks Neide. "Or save it for an emergency later?"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:13, Fri 18 Sept 2020.

When Neide took the look at the man she thought she was saving and saw that it was just a dummy, Neide punched the wall and sweared furiously. All of this... for nothing?!?

Then, she hissed in pain, as her leg wound started hurting.

"Please, do so", she replied to Kerran's offer of healing it, "Then, let's find that witch. I've had enough of these tricks..."

She turned to Aden.

"And don't feel bad about falling for this dummy...", she said to her friend, "It's not your fault. None of us suspected it might be another illusion..."

(07:13, Today: Kerran rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,6.
07:14, Today: Kerran rolled 6 using 1d8 ((6)).)

Kerran places his hands on Neide's shoulders and whisper-murmurs some words, and Neide's wounds all feel better.

"Good," says Kerran. "Veles is generous. I can do this again later, if I need to."

"So... since there's that big hole in the balcony floor..." muses Aden, "I suppose we go back to the first floor now... look for a back stairs, perhaps...?"