Since they all were in agreement, more or less, Desra led the small band back to the first relatively safe place they had encountered.

  "We should organize shifts to stand guard through our brief rest. The construct will probably help by its presence, but that can't be our only alarm."

 She proceeded to strip off her armour, a complicated procedure for someone who has never seen it. It takes a few minutes until the young priestess is down to her clerical robes.
  "An odd place to camp..." she commented.
 Her eyes drifted to the bodies of dead hobgoblins in the next room.

The group, finally in agreement about resting, begins to settle down for a period of quiet.  Even though it's only been a short amount of time, removing armor and dropping packs feels quite good.

First priority is making the space a bit more livable.  Desra and Guelph start to move the goblin and hobgoblin corpses, clearing the balcony space above the room where the howler was found.  The beds are not especially comfortable, but are better than the stone floor and a bedroll...and this room gives the best vantage point in case something does come wandering around.

As a matter of habit, a couple of adventurers start to break out some rations.  They quickly realize however, that they have no apparent hunger or thirst!




OOC:  Just need watch order and Mina's spells

Guelph offers to take last watch before bunking down for a good sleep.

Indifferent to watch order, in case it matters to someone else :)

Before doing anything resembling resting, Scalesa sticks an ear to the danger-door, in an attempt to listen for any...danger.  She volunteers to take the first watch.

23:31, Tue 10 Feb 2015: Scalesa rolled 6 using 1d20+4 ((2)).

Oh, honey...

Watch order?  I volunteer to go first.  Priority is on minimal exertion, so I can re-memorise spells.  I recall Mina being curious about Scalesa's spellcasting ability, so there could be a brief sentence about how the two have a quick back-and-forth about that before Miss Spellbook gets some shut-eye?  Thought it might make for a nicer post than "Scalesa keeps an eye and an ear out for danger.".

   "I do not need to memorise spells," states Haaj, "so put me on the middle watch. Actually, we elves don't sleep as such, so I may be alert at other times too."

In reply to Haajrayn (msg # 356):

"I will take last watch, if that's okay with everyone else." the pale mage stated. "Anyone else notice that they aren't hungry or thirsty? Or is it just me?" she added.

Guelph nods and heads to sleep.

Just put me anywhere :)

The group sets the watch and makes the transition to slumber.  Weary from battle, sleep comes easy.  The only sounds to be heard are the faint thuds of Karga's feet as he continues his endless watch.

As the group prepares to bed down, the light from Desra's shield slowly dims and dies away, leaving only shadowy illumination from a torch in the other room (L6).

Scalesa takes the first watch and spends some time chatting with Mina, each interested in the others ability to recall spells.  The topic, combined with Karga's footsteps, quickly puts Guelph and Haaj to sleep.  After a while, Mina succumbs to the night as well, leaving Scalesa alone.

The rest of the hours pass uneventfully, and the group awakes feeling as refreshed as one could expect.  The one exception is Guelph.  In the night, he has sweated through his sheets and wakes with a high fever.  His muscles are sore and he goes between hot and cold flashes.  He musters the energy to rise and is able to function normally, albeit not at 100%.

Guelph does his best to get ready despite his illness, and does so in silence. When the others are ready, he shoulders his pack and prepares to continue on.

 Desra takes some time to pray when they wake up, but she is soon alarmed by Guelph's condition.
  "This might be an infection, spread by the rats or the hobgoblins... we cannot let this go untreated... let me pray for you first."

 The young priestess spends a long time in silence, her lips barely moving. As she finishes her prayers, she starts donning her armour, as a ritual. She places herself in the service of Heironeus for one more day.

 She then goes back to Guelph and checks his vital signs. There's little her spells can do for him, but she tries to keep his fever down with a wet towel.

 Desra Jalarond rolled 15 (heal check for Guelph)
 If Guelph needs to make a fortitude save against the disease, she can cast resistance. 

Guelph nods a thank you to Desra for her efforts before getting ready to move out. "Is there anywhere we have not searched? Are we done?" he asks.

   "Just the copper doors leading east from their sleeping area," replies Haaj. "Are we all ready to go?"

Guelph nods and prepares to follows the others out to the unexplored copper doors.

  "Let's go then..."

 Desra picks up her sword and shield, she adjusts the straps on her amour and pack, and starts moving towards the lofty area.

 As the group proceeds there, she warns Guelph:
  "If you start feeling dizzy or feverish, let us know. We might need to get out of here sooner than we would wish to."

OOC: I don't think anyone has darkvision.  Let me know if I'm wrong.  I'm also going to try to hold truer to the 'vision and light' rules (on both sides of the coin.)

Having issues with the map, but it should be up soon.

The group picks up and packs up, dons armor and is soon ready to continue the search of the underground network.  Once everyone is set, the team uses a similar tactic to open the eastern copper door that they did for the others.  On Guelph's nod, the heavy doors push open without issue.

The dim light from the torch in the "operating room" reaches a few feet down into a 10' wide corridor, albeit only a short distance before natural darkness takes its place.  Before the light fades the group sees nothing but the smooth stone on the walls and floor of the hall.  Straining, the group hears nothing from the darkness.

   "Hmm, maybe we should try and retrieve some of those lights from that other room," muses Haaj.

Guelph heads back and removes one of the torches from the room and brings it forward slowly to light the way.

He'll move up until the light reaches the point where they have seen to, then proceed more slowly.

Low-light vision.

Scalesa's cross bow is loaded with a bolt, and she holds it at the ready, assuming her usual position in the party.

 Desra walked in carefully. She asked Guelph for an extra torch and strapped her shield back on her shoulder.

 They both take point and proceed slowly into the room, always casting enough light ahead of them to not be taken by surprise.
  "If someone is waiting for us, they will know we are there long before we do..."

  Haaj follows a little way behind, bow at the ready...

With Desra and Guelph in the lead and holding torches, our adventurer's proceed down the hallway.  After a turn to the left, the tunnel opens into a large room.

Four zombies, all obviously once hobgoblins, shuffle listlessly across the floor of this room. An ornately carved arch takes up the entire western wall.  It's a larger, more detailed version of the demon arches you've seen, but this arch doesn't just have a blank wall beyond it.  Two of the smaller demon arches, one above your heads, pierce the southern wall.



Order
Haajrayn
Scalesa
Guelph
Zombies AC: 14; Touch: 10; FF: 14
Desra

    "My arrows won't do much to those foul creatures," Haaj tells the others. "We should retreat down the corridoor a little so we can fight them two-on-two: I can then step up if needed."

OOC: Intending to move 15' west, but waiting for others to agree.

"Same here.  I doubt my bolts would be of much use.  I could try to distract them with a display of light..."

Guelph mutters some tribal words and grips his club before nodding and moving carefully back to let the zombies come into the corridor.

Standard: Cast Shillelagh on club
Move: NW (as we look at the map)

With a shrug, Scalesa makes use of a very simple spell.

[Language unknown: "Werntiund inonno larithand esno he, ss lotha, ousnd pavir!  Witourive topail ca ni erlous o taect!"]

It wsa a glamer spell, that she hoped would work on the undead.  Nobody who trained her in the more arcane arts of beguilement said a word about whether or not undead were subject to sensory tricks like the living were!

Casting ghost sound with the intention of creating a noise like a jaunty marching order in Goblin, to attempt to distract the zombies.

Sound should originate between Zombies 1, 2, and 3 - Zombie 4 is exempt from this class!