With the assistance of those above, Karel's body was brought back to the surface, and soon thereafter Telemachus and Panatix re-emerged from the well.

Dak's investigations did turn up a dagger on the ground, probably the one that Karel had used.

The visible injury on Karel's body seemed rather minor for having been so deadly, it looked as though he had been bitten twice.  Of course, having been swallowed (partially, to be sure) head-first also did not bode well for survival.

For now, there was no sign of the snake returning.

"Shall we give him a proper burial? He died a sad death, bitten by a snake," Storm says. He then proceeds to use his waterskin and a cloth to wipe the wound and clean his comrade a little.

Thinking to himself, he asks," or shall we try to bring him back to church and see if he can be saved? Those people may charge a lot though."

"It's more than simply money Storm.  First there needs to be devout enough to have the blessings of their Deity to potentially return someone from the afterlife.  Then there is the question of Karel's faith...was he a true believer?  Bringing someone back needs the willingness of the devout to perform the rare magics and the Deity choosing to answer the devout prayer.  Beyond that I've heard that the things you need to put together to do so are quite expensive." remarked Telemachus.

He looked around for a moment before adding, "We should bring him inside and see if we can craft a simple litter to bring him back after we do a quick lookover the rest of the house to make sure we didn't miss the book or clues of where it might have gone."

"Does anyone know any of his people?" Dak asked, recoiling the rope.  "What they want for him."

Most of them had just met him at the festival and didn't know anything about him.

"It is as Telemachus says.  Restoring the dead to life has many facets which much be considered, and accounted for.   The odds of it all ideally lining up are small.    Still, unless anyone can say that Kerel practiced some other faith, I vote to transport his remains to Father Niall's church.   It won't hurt to speak to Niall, just in case."      After a pause, she added-

"I wonder if the serpent just happened to take residence here?  Or if it was lured or placed by Ric's employers.   Which would put Karel's blood on their hands."

"Ric's employers!" Westin says sharply. "Who are they and where has Ric gone to?" he adds looking about.

"I know you said and agreed to what was needed to keep him from cutting my throat, but I wouldn't trust anything that malefactor had to say," he says, his hand rubbing his throat.

"Can we just go and check the cellar before we leave?" Dak asked, handing the coiled rope back to Wick.

"We just need a few torches or a lantern if we can find one."

"Ric may have been a malefactor but he was honest in the bargain in not harming you and he confirmed what I had already guessed even if he gave misinformation.  The people he works for, or worked for if he was being truthful and will want him dead now that he may have cost them their endeavour, use the home here to facilitate a smuggling operation.  The room upstairs where we found him has a window the oversees the bay perfectly and with the use of a lantern from that window could signal ships in the bay as well as read signals from ships to know when and what to do." remarked Telemachus as he looked over to Westin.

"If we want to befoul that operation, catch bigger fish so to speak, we can."

Looking over to Dak he nodded in agreement, "Cellar below and a room above at least before we head back.  First to Father Niall and then later to the individual who hired you to retrieve the tome."

"Who they are remains to be discovered," she said to the mage. "That they do exist I doubt very little.    A one man smuggling operation would be unlikely.    And I don't credit friend Ric with the brains.  I for one am in favor of a little fishing."     

"What did he say they were smuggling?" Dak asked.  It seemed the others had a chance to interrogate this fellow Rick before he fell through the floor and took Westin hostage.

Panatix nods in agreement, with searching the house more before leaving.

As for the body,  "My kind don't much go in for bringing back the dead, seems disrespectful to the life led.  If we are to travel together long, maybe we should make our wishes known, so we don't have to guess.  If I die, please don't try to bring me back.  A decent simple burial will do, and if its in some ridiculous or embarrassing manner, please make up something better to tell people".

"Yes indeed it is hard to raise the dead. For a start the person performing the dead must be of high standing. Still it is only right we try to raise our comrades. As for the house I suggest we split into groups to search the area thoroughly for a moment. Anyone has a light?" Storm asks

Taking back the rope, Wick listened to the others talking about the potential of trying to have Karel raised from the dead.

"Just so you all know should it come up, I'm not beholden to any gods in particular and if I get killed, you might as well loot my remains for all I'm worth and focus on keeping yourselves alive instead of figuring out what to do with my carcass.  If there's enough coin for it, maybe you can hoist a mug or three in my name next tavern you find."

When his mates died back before his being enslaved, they were to a man tossed overboard, their money going to whoever was quick enough, smart enough or strong enough to take it and keep it from the rest of the sailors.  In his mind, he hated that Karel was dead, but his focus would be on keeping the living alive, not what to do about those that were beyond his help.

Dak looked through Karel's pack to see if the man had brought torches or anything useful.

Dak opened the pack that Karel had left behind, finding that the man had had a fairly practical bent--within, wrapped in the spare clothing, were several useful items: a crowbar, flint and steel, a hooded lantern, a flask of oil, thieves' picks, and a small hammer.  Also in the pack was a coil of rope, and a rather worn blanket.

"I agree we should stay in teams,  I'm good for the cellars, there will be no natural light down there to rely on, and I don't need it, let's finish searching this place and get back, who is coming down with me...team cellar dwellers!!".

"Karel had a lantern," Dak announced as he closed up the pack and headed for the back door to the kitchen.  "I'm headed for the cellar."

He'd pull out the lantern and light it up once he reached the kitchen.

"Does anyone want to go back upstairs?" Westin asks hopefully. "If the book is here, I would think or at least hope it would be upstairs. Basements aren't too kind to books."

Despite the encouraging note in his voice, he was beginning to think looking for the book was a mistake. Rogues, smugglers, giant poisonous snakes. No wonder Malachy's servant - or what that Malachy himself - didn't want to come take it. He must have known it would be trouble. Westin also felt bad about Karel. Even though Karel had volunteered and knew the risks, he still felt some level of responsibility. But for his suggestion, Karel would probably still be alive and well. He fervently hoped no one else would die.

"What they're smuggling is anyone's guess," she said to Dak.    "All the props are in place to suggest that is what's being done."  She shrugged.   "But, there's no proof yet."

She understood Wick's take on the matter of Karel.  It was practical thinking.   The odds of him being returned to this life were tiny.    Still, she would see him given proper last and final rites, regardless of whether he practiced Atuan faith or no.

"The upper level is not safe," she reminded Westin.    "With the floors in the shape they're in.    To saying nothing of other risks.    Snakes sometimes nest indoors. I know you wanted to get the book, but.." she looked to the others, to see what their opinions might be.

”I believe it can be done: we need to be very careful and plan well. Perhaps an anchor at the edge with strong ropes while a light footed one advances to grab the book," Storm suggests l. He knows among his friends are some stalwarts and some who are fleet of foot.

In the kitchen, Dak lit the lantern and adjusted the wick.  With lantern in one hand and javelin in the other, he opened the cellar door he'd discovered earlier and descended the stairs.

Storm seeing Dak moving up the cellar l, offered to go with him to serve as an extra pair of eyes and arms in case of danger. Eager as always to protect his friends and comrades and rush into danger.

As the group began to make their way down the stairs, there arose a rather ghastly sound, a melding of screams like that of one under torture and groans of agony.

The stairs opened into a room which was lined with wooden shelves which had the curved openings suggesting that this might have been a wine cellar in the past.  Across the room, there was a door with a symbol chalked upon it.

The room appeared to have been unused--dust and spiderwebs seemed to coat the surfaces, even that of the corpse--a man, presumably, dressed in ringmail lying alongside the wall in the corner opposite that of the door.

Lenelle likewise followed these brave comrades -- The ghastly sound was blood curdling; were they to discover the house plagued by restless dead at last?

The corpse was a sickening sight --  but she pried her attention from that, and tried to make sense of the symbol chalked upon the door.

Lenelle rolled 17 using 1d20.  religion proficiency.  would normally succeed with my wisdom stat --  check to see if it's any symbol familiar to me -

Storm quickly draws his mace and advances towards the noise.’while advancing, he concentrates to detect residue of evil in the place. Seeing the corpse, Storm feels pity and tries to identify the cause of death and The length of death.

Dak let the others push past him and held up the lantern for all to see what was there.  He half expected that one of them would be carrying Karel's body.

"Doesn't look like anyone's been down here in a long while," he pointed out.

Having rescued Karel's body from the snake, there was no reason to leave him outside where the snake might return and resume its attempt at a meal.  Telemachus carried the body into the house, leaving Karel's body near the door they entered.

Storm approves of Telemanchus act of carrying the body of a comrade! As a paladin, he is loathe to leave his comrades behind and he is glad a friend is carrying the body so he can focus on the more important task of protecting the living. It is always a dilemma a warrior of light face! To carry the body of a fallen comrade protect the bodies of the living.

Nothing overtly evil appeared to be present in the wine cellar.

Panatix keeps telling himself it was just the stairs squeaking and their heightened nerves and not some ghoul waiting below.  He does perk up when he sees an old wine cellar, perhaps, some very old well aged bottles have survived!  That is worth checking for, and he does.

In reply to DM (msg # 29):

Storm approaches the body slowly. He draws his mace and shield as he walks towards the body. As he nears it, he uses his mailed boots to gently prod the body and to visually examine the body for signs of life.

With the body safely inside he decided to bring it a little further in so that if some random person happened to walk on by, as unlikely as that would be, they wouldn’t see it and cause a scenario that could turn quite poorly.  Remembering the pack that Dak had left behind after having removed the lantern he collected it up to bring inside and remove the blanket so as to cover Karel's body for the more squeamish.  The sound that came from the others momentarily startled him and his head turned to look towards the stairs but the lack of living screams or the sound of battle eased his mind from rushing to them as of yet.  He then began looking for a length of wood among the broken furniture that would suffice for creating the sled he mentioned earlier and got to work cobbling it together.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:46, Fri 20 Dec 2019.

"That symbol appears to be a warning,"  offered Lenelle, as Storm did his inspections.

"But of what is hard to say."

Wick followd behind Telemachus, keeping his eyes peeled on the undergrowth for snake sign.  Once Keral’s body was inside, Wick moved on down the stars, headed to rejoin  the others.  “Find anything interesting?” He asked of Lenelle, having noted the chalked symbol.

Moving through the house, Telemachus found, by turning up the hall back towards the front of the house, that the room on the right had been a dining room, with considerable broken furniture that might be used to his purpose.  He could see, too, several items and moldy cloth shoved against the underside of the door to his left.

---

Panatix began his inspection of the racks, finding that those that were at the level he could reach were rather disappointingly empty.


Storm moved over to the body lying on the ground, nudging with his toes the form.


As Storm prodded at the body, the toe of his mailed boot turned bright green.

"That depends -- how are we defining interesting?"  she responded, casting her eyes on Storm's boot.

Finding what he was looking for Telemachus placed Karel onto the board and removed the rope from his pack.  He then carefully went about binding the body to the makeshift sled with the blanket covering him for modesty so that when they were ready to go that they could.

"Can you wipe that off?" Dak asked, indicating the splash of green with a gesture from the lantern.

Westin jumps at the ghastly sound. He looks at Telemachus but keyed by his reassuring response, calms down. He starts searching with him for materials to make a sled. As he enters other rooms with Telemachus, he can't help to do a little searching of his own for any place where a book might be found.

OOC:
Does he find anything?

Storm jumps back and rubs the green spot on the ground while moving away from the body. He deftly removes the boot without touching the green spot.

"I hope it doesn't spread! These traps!" He says

"If it seems to be spreading, then please get that boot off, quickly. I think this man died trying to leave a warning of whatever claimed his life. Maybe this was it -- some unnatural mold, or wizardly experiment gone wrong."

"Thank you Westin and certainly lets double our efforts up to see if the book happens to be in these rooms." remarked Telemachus quietly as they moved.

"I feel foolish saying to you to step lightly...especially in the middle of the rooms, being what you are, but if I can spot any weak spots in the flooring, walls of ceiling I will let you know."

Dak gave up waiting for Storm to die of poison and helped Panatix check the higher of the wine shelves for interest.

Scuffing the toe of his boot against the floor rubbed some of the green away, though some remained, prompting Storm to remove the boot altogether.

Dak joined Panatix in examining the wine racks.


A thin beam of light came into the cellar.

Upstairs, Telemachus and Westin continued their task of getting Karel's body ready for a transport back to Monteci, and Westin began searching through the ruined dining room, and while there was a heap of broken dishes in one corner and broken furniture throughout, no books were to be found.

Panatax takes a step back and looks at the room, tilting his head as if thinking.  Something is odd here to be certain.

Closing his eyes, then his mind, he clears it, as he was taught to do before casting any basic illusion, in this case though, it is resist the same.  Reopening his eyes, he tries to look beyond what is meant to be seen, in fact, to disbelieve what is easy and look deeper.

Line

"Is that light coming from upstairs?" Dak asked, looking for the source of the thin beam.  He tried to shield the lantern light with his body to see where the other light was coming from.

Panatix took a deep breathe,  "Um, there is an illusion cast on this room.  There is no corpse, but there is a puddle of green gloop over there, I"d stay away from it.  Plus, there aren't cobwebs or much dust, someone just wants to make this room look un-used, I think we are onto something here.  I can't dispel the magic but if you concentrate real hard, now that you know, you might be able to cast it out of your mind, I have".

((Dak, Lenelle, Storm, and Wick may roll vs spell if believing Panatix))

Dak nodded at the gnome's revelation and wondered what an illusion was.  His takeaway was that he shouldn't stand near the dead body.

Now if he could figure out where th

Wiping away the green slime, Storm pondersover the words of his friends. Indeed, green slime despite their ability to hrm and kill, are not evil. Like lions and bears, monsters are at time devoid of evil desires but they can and are still deadly.

Panatix, now seeing through the illusion, will recheck the room to see if anything was being hidden by it that is important.

Lenelle furrowed her brow, did her best to focus her will, and see beyond the apparency of what seemed to be there...

Lenelle rolled 8 using 1d20. +4 wisdom = 12 save to disbelieve., probably not..

"Very well, so this is some scheme to keep people away.   It does let us know that those running this operation have at least one mage working with them.   Or perhaps masterminding it."

Storm was able to wipe away the green from the mailed boot, though clearly the metal looked as though it had suffered from the contact.  Try as she might, even with the knowledge that Panatix had shared, Lenelle still was unable to see past the apparent dead body and signs of dust and spiderwebs suggesting decades since anyone had been in this wine cellar.


As Dak did his best to try to find the source of the light, he became increasingly certain that the light was coming from a space on the wall between the marked door and what seemed to be a corpse.

---

Upstairs, Telemachus had completed his task of binding Karel's body to the makeshift sled.  Westin had searched the dining room without finding anything that looked like a book.  Jade, meanwhile, seemed to be batting at a rather large spider in the hallway.

"Panatix," Dak said to the gnome, directing his attention at the spot between the door and corpse, "what do you see there?"

He wasn't sure where it was safe to step, so he let the gnome figure out what the spot was.

"Jade," Westin says in an annoyed voice. "Leave the spider alone. Spiders can be poisonous, even small ones like that."

A bit later...
"Wonder why it's taking them so long," Westin says worriedly, towards the door to the cellar. "Do you think we should go down and check on them?" he asks Telemachus, the memory of Karel's death fresh in his mind.

Telemachus nodded his head, "Let's do so carefully now that Karel is ready to go when we head back."

Taking one last look around he added, "I doubt they are in trouble but they might have found something.  No way that a small cellar would take so long to search."  He then led the way back to the cellar door and carefully began down the stairs to find out what his comrades were up to.

Leaving off from the spider, Jade gave an audible sniff, and started walking toward the cellar with tail erect and with the stiff-legged strut of having been deeply offended.

Jade led the way down the stairs, but as Telemachus and Westin followed, the ghastly  melding of screams like that of one under torture and groans of agony were heard once more.

Westin and Telemachus could see the be-webbed and dusty cellar, the body in one corner, and apparent light coming from a space between the body and an obvious door with a symbol marked on it in chalk.  Storm stood, holding one mailed boot, in the cellar.

Storm examines his boot carefully to see if theres any sign of corrosion. He prepares to clean the boot with spare cloth andget ready to continue the journey/ Seeing his companuons, he says,"Be careful, theres some powerful slime here"

He will when he can draw his mace and attack the 'body'.

Telemachus held his ears as the screams rebounded against the walls yet his eyes didn't find any torture victims or seeming ghosts.  His brow furled slightly, "Slime?  What slime?" Looking back to Westin he sought to see if the elf had seen something differently in what they had seen and heard coming down the stairs.

Jade's ears flattened at the sounds of screaming and groaning, but continued down the stairs.  Coming into the cellar, he stopped short of the corner which seemed to be filled with dead, armored body, and arched his back, tail high and expanding.

The thin beam of light that had appeared to come from the wall disappeared, though the lantern light remained.

Westin stops, his dagger before him. He shakes his head negatively when Telemachus looks back at him.

"It must be on the body," he adds hesitantly. He stares at the body looking for signs of slime.

"What is the source of the screams?" he wonders aloud, looking around a bit looking at the other party member's faces, aware there might be more than one danger in the room.

As Storm cleaned his boot, those in the cellar could recognize that the sounds heard when Telemachus and Westin descended were identical in every respect to the sounds heard when the larger group had descended into the cellar.

"I think the screams happen every time someone comes down the stairs," Dak said.

"Is that part of the illusion, too?" he asked the gnome.

That beam of light from the wall reminded him of something, but it was probably just part of the illusion Panatix was talking about.

"Would it help if I put out the lantern?"

"Illusion?" Westin asks. He looks about the room, trying to discern if there are any illusions and what they might be.

OOC:
Save vs spell - normally needs a 12.
21:53, Today: Westin na'Belva rolled 15 using 1d20.  detect illusion - save vs spell.

"A remnant of the other individual that lived here or the people using this place..." remarked Telemachus to Westin before he closed his eyes and concentrated on the stairs beneath his feet.  They were there, solid and ever-present and not an illusion.  Focusing on the basics he opening his eyes again and looked around with a shake of his head.

"So there is an illusion in the room.  Any hidden doors?  Levers?  Other things out of place to tell why someone would go the the effort of making a permanent illusion in this room?"

Though Telemachus did his best to logic his way through, his eyes still told him that the room appeared as it had when he first descended the stairs--dirty, filled with webs and the body that occupied the corner.  Panatix seemed to be concentrating on a spot on the wall between the body and the marked door.

Panatix whispers, "I believe that light was coming from the corner of a door hidden in the wall, I will try to find and open it, but be ready, someone seems to have pulled it shut".

Moving to where he saw the corner of light, he will seek a way to open the door, hopefully so he is not directly in front of it when it opens.

Wick looks around, keeping a healthy distances from the area where the green stuff was encountered.  After Panatix reported there be illusions here, Wick squints and tries to see the truth of them....

Wick rolled 14 using 1d20.  detect illusion - save vs spell.

"Are you sure, I don't see anything."

Despite not seeing or hearing differently Telemachus comes down off the steps and slips the small shield from his back and the scimitar from its sheath and keeps it in a slightly protective stance.  He didn't enjoy fighting but if he had to...

Storm begins to use his mace to hit the green body gently and then see if the mace has any green ooze.
He is unwilling to risk his friend’s lives but he knows green slime can be dangerous. He asks,”who is powerful enough and evil enough to cast a powerful spell to mislead us?”

As the mace came down, it was immediately covered with the bright green which had adorned Storm's boot a moment before.

“Something strange here guys! There is no body here! My mace didn’t strike any body but the floor!” Storm says hoping to convince those who still think there is a body to disbelieve the illusion

"The body is NOT a body but a bright, green slime!" Westin says to Telemahus tensely.

"Be careful Storm!" he calls out to the cleric. "You are almost standing on a green slime!"

Turning back to the druid, Westin asks, "Do you have any oil? Perhaps we could burn the thing. This room has an illusion over it as well. The cobwebs and dust are part of the illusion. They are not real. I hanker someone is trying to deter further investigation of where exits from here go though that is just a guess on my part. Did you say that you had oil?"

“I don’t have any oil, anyone find anything around here that burns well?”

Wick could not make himself see through any sort of illusion.  The body looked real to him, the cobwebs and such making the room look like it hasn’t been touched in a good, long while.  But Wick wasn’t going to go poking and prodding for traps if he couldn’t trust his eyes.

"Yes, there was oil and a lantern in Karel's pack.  Dak took the lantern and it's in use over there but I've got the oil flask and rest of his packs contents with me.  Left pouch on the outside, open it up and take it..." he replied to Westin while trusting him especially since Panatix had already seen through whatever he could not.

"Don't use too much or else it'll burn the entire house down and with it any chance of you finding that book..."

The end of Storm's mace remained covered with the bright green substance named as a "green slime" by Westin as though the designation meant something more than mere description.

Panatix explains what he can see:

there were two things present--the empty wine rack hinged  to pull away from the wall to the left (toward the obvious door in the room) while the other portion was the wall which was a "pocket door" sliding toward the right (toward the pool of green slime).  As such, to open the door would mean either being in the doorway or stepping into the slimy pool.



"Let's see what is behind this wine rack..." Panatix will try to open it and if he's too small enlist one of the others to help him.

The winerack, being empty, was relatively light, and with a little effort, Panatix was able to move it away to the left as they faced the wall.  The wall itself was fairly nondescript in appearance, with little to suggest a doorway, even in the absence of the wine racks.

Dak held up the lantern to examine the wall behind the wine rack.

"Is thegreen slime moving?" Storm asks his friend. He wonders if it is jus a pool of slime to guard an exit or n active guardian placed to defend the exit more vigourously.

Panatix will search the wall for a door, secret or otherwise.

As Dak brought the light to bear on the wall and Panatix looked carefully, they were able to discern the too-regular cracks which marked off the door just moments before the door slid away, slamming into a pocket behind the "body" or the puddle of green goo.

On the other side of the door, they could see that there was a well-lit chamber, though perhaps of more immediate interest was the fact that there was a gnoll, dressed in what appeared to be several pieces of leather poorly sewn together, with the point of a spear leading into the doorway.  Behind the gnoll was another person dressed in mis-matched clothing holding a dagger.

"Oh my gosh," Westin says, startled. He quickly raises and starts waving his hands, sounding an incantation. When complete, he adds softly, "have nice dreams".

OOC:
Westin casts a sleep spell on the gnoll and person.

This message was last edited by the player at 02:09, Wed 08 Jan 2020.

With little more ado, the gnoll dropped to the ground, the spear clattering against the stone of the floor.  Inconveniently, the gnoll seemed to have landed squarely in the middle of the doorway.  Behind the gnoll, the person who had come up behind the gnoll also dropped to the ground in apparent slumber.

"That was certainly fast!" Storm grins. Moving forward, he takes out some rope nd secures the two captives tightly. He is very disinclined to kill them and the best way is to tie them up.
AFter doing so, he tells his friends,"Let us guard him well," before moving forward to explore the new room.

The room was a rather miserable place, with an unkempt appearance and a rather less-than-wholesome odor: a torchlit room with ten crude beds in a row, each with a wooden locker at its foot--two of these beds were notably larger than the other, and arrayed to the left end of the row.  The center of the room was dominated by a long trestle table ringed by rickety stools.  Piled atop the table was the metal cutlery, cups, and dirty plates.

A cookstove stood near the table, the pot still holding the remnants of what was likely the last meal eaten in the room. Hanging from a loop of twine near the stove was a large ham. A sturdy set of stairs led to the trapdoor in the ceiling above, and there was a wooden door at the end of the room to the left from the wine cellar.

Wick had watched things move on, concerned about moving when he couldn’t trust what his eyes saw.  But when the gnoll and the other one were revealed, his dagger practically flew into his hand.  But he managed to keep from making it fly again towards the gnoll.  As the collapse, Wick moved forward to help Storm tie them up.

Afterwards, he moves forward to look at the revealed room, seeing if there was anything to catch his attention.

As the group took time to investigate the room and take a closer look at the person, they could tell that despite the mismatched and rather masculine-style clothing, the person was, in fact, female with signs of half-elven heritage.

Lenelle was minded briefly of Odelia, the half-elven girl who'd been in the groups's company when she'd first encountered them.    But, it was not her, she could tell, in looking at the features.

"Gnolls are unfriendly sorts, to put it mildly.  I wonder if she was with him, or sneaking up from behind to put a blade in his back?   Westin, once they're bound, can they be woken up as from normal sleep?"       If they could quicken this investigation by getting some answers from this pair, she was all for it.

A colorful parrot was now flying in graceful circles around the room, just under the ceiling level.

"Well I think it is a good ide if we can secure the room, check for traps or danger and then wake the captives up to find our answers," Storm says to his friends.

He looks at the parot and wonders if it is a familiar of the captives.

"Yes, they can be woken by shaking them as you would wake someone from a normal, deep sleep," Westin replies. "Let's be sure to disarm them first though, and..."

"Lenelle, would you mind searching the half-elven woman for me? I may been hasty it sleeping them both," he admits, looking a bit pained. "Perhaps she was sneaking up on the gnoll to attack. Maybe something on her person will indicate who she is and what her intentions might be.

"Is there someone who can discern or detect evil?"

“Or maybe you saved her from getting the business end of my dagger buried deep in her eye socket.  Good, bad or something in between, I’d say you put them down with as little damage and pain as possible.  They should thank whatever gaurds the are beholden to for their good fortune.”

Dak moved around the others to the wooden door.  He still had the lantern in one hand and javelin in the other.  He carefully tried to open the door to see what was behind it.

Storm moves to take a cloth to clean the goo off the mace before searching the captives to remove any weaponry. He will be careful when searchin the female.

Lenelle nodded at Westin's request, and would perform a search of the other half-elf.  Or, if Storm is already doing so, she stands aside, and lets him continue, confident one who's taken the vows of paladinhood won't do anything he should not.

"I already used the spell," she said concerning the topic of detecting evil, "but that's his specialty," she added, meaning Storm.

As Storm cleaned his mace before the strange green goo ate it away, Lenelle moved to search the female captive.


A search of the gnoll uncovered a dagger in addition to the spear that had been in his hand.

Dak opened the door at the end of the larger room and looked inside.

Westin takes and stows the gnoll's dagger. He will then take the spear and prop it up in a corner of the room, away from the exits.

"Did you find anything that indicates who the half-elf is and why she might be here?" he asks Storm and/or Lenelle.

Leaving the wooden door open, Dak moved to try the trap door at the top of the stairs as he reported what he'd found.

"Room with no exits. Looks like maybe the leader's room."

"She bears only the dagger as weapon," Lenelle reported, after searching.

"But, hm, there is a pouch."     Lenelle did a check of it, not by reaching in, but just by opening and looking, if possible.

Line

"Shall we open the pouch? Be careful though. This place isnt what it seem," Storm cautions.

"Perhaps it would be better to waken her and ask some questions," said Telemachus.  "Then we can waken the gnoll and can try talking to him.  I don't know gnoll, so we'd have to hope he speaks some Calandian."

Pan raises an eyebrow, "Gnolls are as evil a race as has ever lived...in case you've never met one.  Just sayin'"

Seeing nothing to draw his interest, though remembering that seeing isn't necessarily a trustworthy thing around here, Wick leaned back against the wall in what he thinks is a safe corner and waits to see how things play out.

"I don't see a book here, but that doesn't mean much.  If I was going to hide a book by a bunch of magicks, I'm thinking put it under that green slime thing.  Think we can get rid of it by burning it?"

If they could illusion one room, perhaps they did more than that.  Pan will go into the "leaders?" room and search it, trying to see if anything is hidden by illusion.

"Evil or not they may have information that we can use.  Either in warning the town or thwarting what is going on here." remarked Telemachus with a simple nod. Returning his weapon to its sheath and tying the shield back to the pack he stepped over the sleeping gnoll to get to the half-elvish woman.  Looking over to Lenelle he added, "I'll lift her over to that bed, be close so when I shake her awake so she sees more than perhaps just another ruffian, eh?"

Kneeling down he ever so gently put his hands underneath the half-elvish woman to lift her up and place her just as carefully on one of the beds to not waken her from the magically induced slumber.  Once ready he then firmly grasped one of her shoulders to wake her...

"Make ure she remains tied," Storm says. In the meantime, he turns to Pan and says,"Let us stay together as a team. We shall be safer together. It will be sad if anyone is detached and attacked."

He stands with his weapona nd shield ready when Tele wakes the girl.

Panatix went into the next room, finding that indeed, it did look like its resident lived in a manner finer than the crude furnishings of the larger room suggested.


As Dak made his way up the stairs toward the trapdoor, the parrot started flying in circles around him, squawking "Password".  At the top of the stairs, he saw evidence that the trapdoor opened upwards--which was little surprise, but that somehow the whole seemed to be bound so as not to open.

Jade jumped onto the table, and was nosing into the pile of dishes.

Meanwhile Wick looked about the room, taking the whole place in, while the others had started to gather around the bed where Telemachus had moved the bound woman and had started to try to waken her.

"Stupid bird," Dak grumbled.  "There's no one here to tell a password to, anyway.

"Is this somebody's bird?" he called down as he tried fruitlessly to push open the trap door.  It probably opened into one of the rooms above, but he wanted to see where it was.  It might be easier to leave this way than back through the cellar.

Panatix sticks his head out of the "leader's" room.

"Hey, its nice in here, nice stuff, nice bed, desk, several books, and a chest, a wardrobe, lots of nice things.  I'm going to start searching the closed footlockers and whatnot...anyone good at detecting traps or breaking locks?"

"She might be a spell caster and that pouch might contain spell components," Westin comments. If no one else opens it, he will come over to the woman and open the pouch, peering in to see what appears to be inside. However, when he hears Panatix, he will closes the pouch.

"Books? Did I hear you say books?" Westin says quickly, momentarily losing interest in the half-elvish woman. He moves over to join Panatix, looking to find the books he is referring to.

OOC:
What does he see inside the pouch. Does he spot the book he's looking for?

Sorry, I had looked and the GM informed me, but didn't get back before now to make the reveal:   

"It's merely some coins and a whetstone," Lenelle supplied, as regards the belt pouch.

She nodded at Telemachus' good sense suggestion, and followed him over and awaited for the sleeper to awaken.   Once she had, Lenelle addressed her politely:

"Apologies for the sleep magic.  It was the gnoll whom our mage meant to target.  You just happened to be there too.  You've come across us at something of a stressful time;  we've some reason not to trust random strangers, so we took the usual precaution.   We aren't dangerous, not to those who don't mean harm, at least.  May I ask what brought you here, standing behind a gnoll?"

Wick gave a nod.  "I'll take a look, I'm fairly good at finding traps and the like, and I've been known to break a lock or two in my time, those I wasn't able to open some other way at least."

Wick moved over to follow Panatix into the room.  Besides, looks like several of the others were already focused on the prisoners, so one more sharp blade probably wouldn't be missed.

 The young woman awoke slowly, and took in the scene through drowsy eyes. Magical sleep was not quite the restful nap you would expect it to be. She slowly took her bearing.

 First she looked at the bold man and the half-elf woman, then noticed the small crows behind them, and glanced at the doors —just in case. Only then did she notice she was bound, wrists and ankles.

 She stretched her jaw open and said softly: "I thank you for your kindness, I am glad you gave me sleep not steel..."
 Her calandian was flawless, with some intonations that suggested some Tanasi influences.

  As it was obviously not enough of an answer, she carried on: "Those creatures took me in when I was in need, and I've been playing housewife and lookout for them since. And by creatures, I don't mean the gnolls, they're arguably the nicer of the lot. I'm not going to pretend I was a prisoner here, but I couldn't build up the courage to leave."

 Her eyes dropped, avoiding eye contact with anyone as realised she was being shown more sympathy than she reasonably deserved.

"I am sorry for what you have gone through. I am Storm. Are you injured in anyway?'Storm asks, before continuing,"When you said you were taken in here, any idea who were the nastier than gnolls who took you in? What do they need a housewife and lookout for? Something evil i presume?"

He looks at the lady and told his friends that they should perhaps, untie her bonds. If tere are no objections, Storm will unbind the lady and help her to her fet once she is ready to stand.

As Dak pushed on the unyielding trap door, the bird stopped flying, coming to rest on one of the beds--a bed which was about as untidy as any of the others, although a lurid book My Life at Sea could be seen atop the covers.

In the smaller room, described as a "leader's" quarters, Wick found that the light from the larger chamber did not quite reach into the room, leaving it seeming to be furnished by shadowy shapes, although the glint of the metal of the three-armed candlestick atop what looked to be a table was notable in the gloom.

Westin, drawn by the mention of books, found his way into the room, finding the lack of light not much problem for him as he looked amongst the books for the one that had been put as a task for him.


In the main room, the bound gnoll slumbered on as the others considered the woman who had been awakened and Panatix found that the footlocker in the nicer room was both closed and locked.

“This’d go faster if we had some light.  Got a lantern handy?”

Wick didn’t want to risk much without being able to see, so he stays in place as his eyes try to pierce the dimness.

Abandoning the trap door, Dak backed down the stairs to see how they were doing with their interrogation.

"She know about the book?" he asked Telemachus as he came up behind the man.

"Don't know yet, pass that lantern along to Wick so they can see things easily in the other room if you could and we can use the light from in here..." responded Telemachus to Dak. Looking to the girl and then Storm while gauging her words he nodded his head mostly, "Remove the bonds of her feet, just for awhile longer keep the hands bound.  I'd rather she get away if she's false than borrow a weapon and have a repeat of what happened upstairs."

He seemed to be pondering what she said a bit longer before he added some clarification to Storms questions, "So you can tell us what they were smuggling in?  And do you know his tongue?"

Looking back to Storm he added, "Why don't you move that gnoll to the first large bed there and use the rope you just untied from her to bind his arms to the frame and be close if it decides to be unwise."

“Yes that’s a good idea to bind the gnoll. Too bad we haven’t gotten the ability to read thoughts,” he says. Storm concentrates for a moment to detect evil before saying, “now watch the lady please,”

He goes over to the gnoll, binds his hands and feet and searches him again for any item.

Westin looks with interest at the first book. He flushes a bit as he hastily glances at and then quickly puts down the next several books. He sets the next book aside, while scrutinizing the piece of parchment he found inside.

"What do you make of this?" he asks Panatix, holding up the parchment. "Do you understand the language? Not Calandian, the other one?" Afterwards, Westin will continue examining the books, shaking his head with a confused look when glancing through the last book .

As he puts down the last book, he sighs. "No Ars Mathematica," he says disappointingly. None-the-less, he will stow two of the books  in his knapsack, but keeping the piece of parchment out to show the others. He then returns to the main room where the other are at with the new awake female half-elf.

"Hello," Westin says to the half-elf, the rolled parchment in his hands. "Sorry to sleep you but I was startled when I saw the gnoll. So whatsoever are you doing here and how did you get here? Were you actually going to attack that gnoll?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:00, Sat 18 Jan 2020.

She watched as Storm moved the bound gnoll over to the other bed, then asked the awakened woman "What is the gnoll doing here, if I may pose another question? Awfully far from his own people, isn't he?  But then, you said Gnolls -- implying there are more of them here?"

Dak moved back to the room and held up the lantern.

 The young woman was a bit overwhelmed by the questions, and suffered from a want of understanding. Or at least she feigned it very convincingly.

She tried her best to answer truthfully and without detour, in no particular order:
 “There are two gnolls, this one and his cousin or brother I’m not sure. I was not going to attack him, or anyone else tor that matter. I’ve only ever used my dagger for defence...”

She seemed surprised that anyone had the impression she was about to strike.  Relieved when the group decided to untie her feet, though nothing indicated she had any intention of running away. She sighed and resumed talking: “They run a smuggling gig, Brandy and the like... it seemed pretty harmless when they described it.”

 “I was doing the dishes when I heard a noise, so I called for help. Usually the gnoll just roars and people run away...”

Panatix quickly comes to Westin, curiosity always at the front of his motivations, and takes a long look at the parchment.

Telemachus piped up with some explanation to her surprised look, "We crossed paths with a man tied up above who when freed produced a blade from somewhere and took Westin hostage.  There are also illusions around the place.  So perhaps you can understand we wouldn't want a repeat of the hostage taking nor freeing a potential practitioner of illusion magic that could befuddle our senses."

In the room now given light again by the lantern Dak carried, those within could see a finely furnished room--at least, definitely by comparison with the larger room where several of their number were yet speaking with the woman who had come up behind the gnoll, while the bound gnoll still slumbered abed.  In this finer room, they could see a comfortable-appearing bed was in the far left corner of the room, a wooden footlocker (which had proven to be closed and locked) at its foot just like the less-comfortable appearing beds in the other room.  In the corner opposite the bed was a closed wooden wardrobe.  Nearer the door was a table with a three-branched candlestick, candles currently unlit and looking neither new or nearly spent.  A padded leather-covered chair was at the table.  Above the table was a bookshelf with several volumes visible, these having been checked over by Westin who had placed two volumes in his knapsack.

As Panatix and Westin pondered the paper found within one book, they did not find that the non-Calandian text was familiar to them.

After binding the gnoll securely, Storm searches him again before bringin him along to the elven lady. He tells her,"We will certainly free you once we have solved the mystery. For now please consider yourself to be in our ptotective custody. We will protect you."

 “My name is Vendavel,” the young half elven woman eventually says by way of introduction.

 “I understand you,” she responds to Telemachus. “You have no reason to trust me, and I was not exactly a prisoner here. But I’m glad this episode comes to an end this way... let me know if I can help or guide you — though I understand you would receive my guidance with a hint of distrust.”

 “Protective custody sounds better than imprisonment, or death...” she add with a glance to Storm.

Wick turned his attentions to the wooden footlocker, first looking for any nasty surprises and if not finding any, turn his efforts to picking the lock.  People had a way of putting interesting things behind lock and key, which always tugged at Wick's curiosity.

He also looked at the wardrobe, to see if it as a lock and key, and to see if it holds any nasty surprises that could be detected before opening it up.

Panatix looks over the scroll, "I don't understand this one column, or even what language it is in, perhaps whatever these vile gnolls speak, but its clearly used as a translation to give commands.  Mind if I hang onto it, I might be able to make sense of it given time".

In reply to Vendavel (msg # 134):

“As a warrior sworn to protect light and truth, I cannot kill for no reason. Yet I have my friends lives to guard. So the best I can do for you is to guard you in this manner my lady. With trust, we will certainly free you. Are you injured in anyway?”storm
Asks.

Panatix sticks his head in the door where the discussion with the woman is going on, "Excuse me, chance to earn some good faith, do you know where the key to this lockbox is kept by any chance?  Also, is that bird just a friend, or are you more familiar with it?".  The small gnome raises an eyebrow, curious to judge the answers.

Wick's examination of the wardrobe revealed that it was locked, though no key seemed to be in immediate evidence.

Of the footlocker, just as he managed to pick through the lock he felt a needle prick one finger.  Rapidly, a vivid blue spread from the finger and began to discolor his entire hand.

"Is that normal?" Dak asked as he watched the other man's hand turning blue in the light of his lantern.

Wick pulled back at the sense of the needle.  “No, it’s not normal.” He said with a bit of heat.  But after a moments consideration, “I don’t feel anything, maybe it’s a dud.  Can one of you healers check me out.”

"Sure, though let me know when you figure out what language it's in," Westin replies. "Maybe we should show it everyone in the group and see if anyone recognizes it?"


"I'm sorry I cast a sleep spell on you Vendavel," Westin says a bit guiltily. "I saw you standing there with the gnoll with a dagger in your hand and suspected the worst..." He pauses, while thoughts rolled in his head.

"But then you said you weren't going to attack it, you called for it...," Westin mulled. "You said they took you in and you initially thought they were smuggling Brandy or stuff like that, which isn't so bad. I'm guessing it's much more serious than that because you mentioned imprisonment or death. You said you wanted to leave but were afraid to. Was it because you were afraid to be on your own again or was it because what they might do if they found out or caught you or maybe some other reason?"

As he waits for Vendavel's reply, he hears Dak's and Wick's conversation and looks over at Wick's discolored hand. A look of shock encompasses Westin's face.

"Uh, uh," he says loudly in distress. "I think that's poison! Someone best apply a tourniquet and stop the spread before it's too late! Did something byte you? Does someone know what to do?" he asks urgently, looking over at Lenelle and the other party members.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:03, Thu 23 Jan 2020.

Hearing the commotion, Storm rushes over, saying aloud, "look after the lady and gnoll.! Check our friends."

He rushes over and examines the companion trying to see if it is poison or disease. He prays very hard that it is some disease

Hearing the mentions of 'poison', and Wick's possible peril, Lenelle's attention redirected swiftly from other matters, and she made her way over to him.

"Let me look," she requested of the hand.    And used the training she had in medicine to try and assess how serious this was, and if indeed a tourniquet was appropriate.

Lenelle rolled 12 using 1d20.  healing nwp @ wisdom -2. - would normally make it.

While she looked, one thought did occur to her, and she commented -  "If I were poisoning devices and traps in my own home, I think I'd keep an antidote on hand.   If our new friend happens to know if her employers had such, this would be a good time to say."

"It also may not be a poison to injure or kill," he tilted his head as he remarked in that direction and saw the strangely colored hand, "it may be just to identify who stole from them."

With Lenelle tending to Wick he stayed back by Vendavel and added to Westins questions, "There is no reason to kill you, unless you try and harm us, and while what I know about gnolls isn't much different from my small friends experience I find there are few that are truly evil for evils sake.  To add to Westin's questions...what did you do before you fell on hard times?"

Line

Storm examines his friend by checking his vital signs such as pulse, heart rate and other signs. Whether it was due to his inexperience or the lack of such symptoms, Storm could not find any signs of poison or disease.

"I cant find anything wrong with him. Perhaps another healer can,"Storm declares. "or he is really not ill."

Lenelle rolled her eyes and smiled a little bit at Storm, with the 'another healer' bit, as she was standing right there.

"I have a name, sir Storm. It's Lenelle.   Anyway, I can't fault your diagnosis.  The hand is not swelling at all, no sign of toxins,"  she assured Wick.

She shrugged, addressed the group, "My strong guess is that Telemachus is correct."

"So what's in the chest, then?" Dak asked the obvious question now that Wick was going to live.  He also wondered how many more people they could fit in this room.

Westin quietly breathes a sigh of relief. No one else was going to die today, at least not yet. So glad I didn't come here alone. He picks up Jade, petting her and scratching behind her ears.

"You might want to wear gloves until your hand turns back to normal color," he says to Wick.

Wick wasn't so sure.  It was good enough that they all thought he was fine, but they weren't the ones with a hand turning blue.  Still, curiosity tugged at him and he looked through the chest.

"There's some clothes in here, and a book.  Also a small pouch."  He decided to look in the pouch, see if there was anything worth mentioning in it.  If nothing else, he half-unconsciously wanted to distract himself from thinking about his discolored hand.

Wick looked through the box which had been secured under the bed.  The clothing was clearly high-quality--perhaps too nice to be wearing in such a location as this.

In reply to Lenelle (msg # 148):

"Apologies my lady. I am unsure how many people are skilled healers here and thought there might have been more than one," Storm says, abashed.

Dak was tempted to ask Wick if there were any gloves his size in the chest, but it would have let Storm off the hook.  The woman was right there next to him and he was asking for another healer!  She'd even been examining the hand at the time.

Dak wasn't sure if the man was prejudiced against the woman, her faith, or if he had a really bad memory.

"Book? Did you say book?" Westin asks Wick, peering around the others. He tentatively moves forward til he spots it. After staring at it for several moments, he musters up the courage and reaches in. He grabs it be the edge and carefully retrieves it. Once he has it, he will take a few steps back and starts leafing through it.

OOC:
What does he find?

This message was last edited by the player at 11:17, Sat 25 Jan 2020.

XP Line

Lenelle waived a gauntleted hand in good humor, "No matter, I was just giving you a bit of a bad time," she said to Storm, though she would have appreciated Dak's respectful sentiments had she heard them.

"You make a dedicated and admirable paladin.    Well.   It seems we finally have a book, after all of this..."

She stood and awaited to see what Westin would make of it, once he concluded leafing through it.

"This appears to be a spell book," Westin says distractedly while perusing it. He looks up and smiles. "A magic-user's spell book!" he says excitedly. "I would need to cast a Read Magic spell to know its exact contents but there is no doubt in my mind it is a magic-user's spell book. I would guess it was Máelodor's which would mean he died here or nearby as I can't imagine a magic-user going anywhere without their spell book. If he had apprentices, though, I suppose it could be one of theirs. While it's not the Ars Mathematica it certainly is valuable!"

After a few moments, he takes off his pack and carefully places it inside, adding it to the other 2 newly acquired books. With a deep breathe he hefts his pack onto his back.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:00, Tue 28 Jan 2020.

"So, still not the right book," Dak concluded before summarizing his own findings.  "The trap door at the top of the stairway is stuck good or locked somehow.

"Did anyone ask the servant girl where everyone else went?  And when they might be back?"

With as many people stuffed into the room, one of them had to have been around when she'd been questioned.

Digging through the contents of the box, trying his best to ignore the discolored hand, Wick called out the contents.  "Here's a pair of gloves, I'm going to keep them for now.  Some clothes, here's a belt which has five little bottles.  Here's a pouch, about a dozen asil and a couple of stones, both dark.  Will need better light to do a better job of identifying them."

"I was working as an apprentice, learning navigation and astrology," replied Vendavel, realizing that the attention to the caught blue-handed of their number was not sufficient to keep attention away.  "Then I lost my berth."

"I thank thee for your kind words my lady. I am bginning to think you are an swesome lady," Storm replies.

Hearing Wick cling out the contnts of the pouch, he asks,"Do the bottles look like they contain some potion or something? Perhaps you could open one and smell its contents to see if it is just ordinary liquid or something?"

Telemachus listened and nodded, "If the footlocker seems like a good one we can use it to transport anything of use with us back to town.  Between it and your hand Wick the good Brother at the Church may be able to help identify what was done to your hand and how long it might last.  We can also let the authorities in town know about the smuggling ring so they can put a stop to it if they so choose.  They may be complicit and ignore the warning from us but that's for them to decide."

Looking over to Vendavel he continued, "Depending on how this business concludes we may be able to point you in the direction of a new berth."

"Maybe."  Wick responded.  He pulled up one of the bottles and worked out the stopper.  Putting it to his nose, he took a bit of a sniff.

Line

His arm getting tired and the room overcrowded, Dak set the lantern on the table and shifted through the crowd into the main room.

He looked over the gnoll to make sure he was still secure before facing the young woman.

"How many more of them are there and where are they now?" he asked her, waving in the direction of the other bunks.

While waiting, Storm turned to the captive lady and ask,” Are you hungry and would you like something to eat or drink?” He was worried that the lady could be hungry or thirsty after being kept in this place and may not have sufficient nourishment.

Panatix looked excited when 'spell book' was mentioned.  When it turns out to be mage spells, he sighs.  Illusionist items are hard to come by.

"I'm fine, thank you," she replied to Storm as the parrot settled onto her shoulder.  "The others ... they're all downstairs, working."  She flushed, and said, "There's the other gnoll, and Eliphas, and the rest of the group."

"Oh thats good to hear. Can you tell me who are the others, how many of them and what are they working below?"Storm asks, not wanting to overwhelming her with questions.

"And where's the door to get downstairs?" Dak added.

"Probably not ordinary bottles," Westin says. "I wonder if there is a way..." He pauses as he watches Wick sniff the potion.

"You doing ok?" he asks Wick. "Do you notice anything different?"

"The door is here," said Vendavel, moving to the corner of the room just past the row of beds on the end farthest from the small room.  She set her hand on the wall, fingers splayed, and seemed to give just a little push while sliding a piece of wall into an apparent pocket behind the beds.  The other side was relatively dark, although there was enough glow to the left as one faced this opening from the room that told of some sort of activity in the area.

"Quick two here..."

"How many in the group?  What are the working on?" questioned Telemachus as this entire thing got more and more dangerous.  While he waited he did his best to orient himself and see if he could guess.  Two options that came to mind were a back way into the mine to take the resources and a tunnel into town so that they could avoid any taxes or oversight on what they were smuggling in.

Dak pulled a torch from the wall of the barracks room and approached the new opening Vendavel had revealed.  He still held the metal javelin in his right hand.

He kept in mind her evasiveness in responding to how many more there were.  More than a few by a count of the beds in the room and at least one of magic by what the chest had revealed.

Storm peered into the darkness and tries to determine the distance of the passageway. He thinks that it will be dangerous to plunge into the unknown.
“Anyone else hiding under the passageway? And how dangerous are there? Also what other stuff are in fhere milady?”’Storm asks politely. He prepares for throw something into the passageway to test if anyone will investigate and casts his eyes around for something suitable.

"If they're still doing what they were when I came back up," said Vendavel, "two of them were drinking up some of the brandy and Eliphas will really have it in for them if they're caught at it.  They were playing cards, too.  The others were down in the storeroom."  She sighed.  "Eliphas and the other gnoll, and five other guys."

Before he got hit in the back of the head with whatever the big man was about to find, Dak ducked in through the now unsecret door with his torch and tried to move quietly in the direction of the glow.  He turned his head from side to side in an attempt to discern if there were any noises up ahead.  Any clue that might give him an idea of how close any of these bunkmates might be.

And whether they were close enough to hear what was now going on behind him in the barracks.

Line

Lenelle bit her lip faintly in thought, wishing she'd prepared her spells with an eye toward facing living adversaries.    Though she was trained to fight, she liked the idea of striking fellow humans with a mace less than animate skeletons.   Hopefully, it needn't come to violence...

Telemachus quietly added to Dak as he left, "If it'll be a fight try and let me know right before and I can call on the earth to grant us her favor for a short while."


---
ooc: Bless Spell, only works for those not in combat and lasts 6 rounds

"I guess we can overpower a group of drunkards and gambling addicts,"Storm smiles thinking of smiting his first evil

---

((If you're following Dak, please indicate a march order (single file), since group composition has changed considerably since the last time there was a formal march order.))

OOC: Marching order but i guess we need the composition of our members and I am lost as to who and what we have.

Panatix watches as the bird lands on the capture ladies shoulder.

"Storm, if you don't sense any evil about this woman, I say we untie her.  In case things don't go well if we confront the men below, we shouldn't leave her tied up so."


ooc: if there is a marching order, Pan will be at the back.

"It's actually safer for her to stay here tied up with the gnoll. If they spot her with us, they'll assume she betrayed them and likely seek revenge."

"The other option," he says turning to Vendavel, "is for you to flee this place. The town isn't for, only an hour or two walk. If there are spies in town you could travel the other way on the road, only a couple of days if that to the nearest town. We could even give you some supplies," he says thinking of Karel's pack. "Which would you prefer?" he asks Vendavel.

When it comes time to join the line, Westin will opt to be 2nd further in the back, reluctantly agreeing to be in front of Panatix.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:44, Wed 05 Feb 2020.

While the others decide how they want to enter the passageway to where there was drinking and gambling going on Telemachus made his way over to where the sleeping Gnoll was and used some of the sheets to put together a gag for the unconscious one.  Tying it carefully in place so as not to wake them he shook his head at the predicament they were in.  Ideally Westin could make more of them sleep and lessen the chance they would resist but it wasn't likely meaning capturing the rest was going to be more difficult if not impossible.

Wick shrugged at Weston’s question.  “As far as I know, doing okay, at least I feel okay.”

"I suppose," said Vendavel, her voice rather soft, "if I were allowed to, I'd just take my own things and flee the place.  Maybe I'll have better luck in a different town."

---

Lenelle considered what Vendavel had said, she nodded.

"I'm not in favor of leaving her here bound up, either.    There's too much going on, it isn't safe.   No more death today, if it can be avoided.  If she wishes to depart, that solves both issues." She began moving to untie the rogue, unless anyone made to stop her.

Pan nods and moves near Lenelle, "I agree, however, milady, rather than run, I might suggest you join up with us.  We are not all as charming or educated as myself, but a decent bunch of explorers, we are newly formed but seem to have excellent long term prospects."

"She doesnt emit evil,: Storm says. "Well Let us go forth. I can take the van."

Telemachus managed to get the sleeping and bound gnoll gagged without awakening the gnoll, whose response to the gag was a bit of snoring.

Meanwhile, Storm prepared to follow Dak down the stairs, while Panatix and Westin had determined to take the rear, and Lenelle had begun completely untying Vendavel.

---

Vendavel was not quite sure what the others meant by sending evil or emoting evil, so she chimed in:
 “I have not evil intents towards any of you, I can assure you of that. I feel like I need to make amends before I set out on my own, so at least in the short term I’d rather stay with you...”

 “And given a chance, there is one particular drunkard I’d like to reprimand myself...” she added.

Before Dak went further into the secret passage, she offered a quick description of the layout ahead so he would know what to expect.

Line

---

Line
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:10, Wed 12 Feb 2020.

---

In reply to Vendavel (msg # 198):

"Let us go forth,"Storm says to Vendavel. "I shall witness your reprimand while protecting you."

Storm moves carefully into the unknown guided by the light his party used.

---

Storm started down the stairs, noting the way simply sloped with some rough matting in place in some parts, while cut stairs in others, the narrow way turning right before the final descent.  Here, torches could be seen in brackets leading off to the left, a dark opening to the right.

((Unless otherwise stated, I'll presume you do go with the "height order" I'd joked about.))

---

Westin picks up Jade and follows the others down the stairs/slope. Silently he wonder if this is really necessary. The Ars Mathematic, after all, is probably on the ground floor or upstairs not underground in a basement. At least he would hope so, otherwise condensation and moisture might have ruined it.

The group, for some reason, seems to have been very taken by what seems to be smugglers. Not quite sure why, but humans act in strangely ways sometimes.

Well, this house is far to dangerous for me to explore alone, he says to himself. Maybe there will be another chance later. Even if nothing else is found, this outing has already been quite profitable in terms of books so even if nothing else turns up, it has already been worth it.

As the others move forward and down, Panatix pulls a bit of folded up cloth from a pouch at his belt.  Unrolling it slightly, he pulls out a small, thin plate of fine smooth metal.  Putting the cloth away, he then holds the bit of metal in his right hand, and traces a pattern over the palm with his left hand and speaks softly.  The metal dissolves into a fine powder.  Satisfied, he follows the others.

ooc: cast phantom armor

Storm proceeds slowly, weapon and shield in hand, ready for action.

---

As Storm led the way down the stairs, those descending could hear what sounded like soft conversations, though the words were indistinct.  Moving down the lit hallway, as it seemed to both slope slightly downward and curve, there was a hallway carved leading off to the right.

---

As they pause at the intersection, Westin puts Jade down. Go up near the front but stay quite and out of the way, he silently ordered his cat. He drew has dagger and then paused, waiting for the leaders of the group to decide which passageway to go down next.

Having been set down, Jade turns and gives Westin a look. He then softly pads the way down the passageway immediately adjacent to the wall until only one person is in front of him. He pauses, listening and smelling.

---

Jade made quick steps down the corridor, getting a little past Storm.  As Storm reached the juncture with the passageway to the right, a man came out of the passageway with a rather aggrieved expression.

"Clank, I done ...  Who are you?"  His eyes passed beyond Storm to see Vendavel in the group, and he said, "Ya worthless bit ... What, you gonna let a whole town come in 'ere?"

Storm advances with his weapon," foul despoiler of women and kidnappers of children. Yield or face my righteous wrath you evil doer!"
His righteous anger roused, storm moves to attack if the man refuses to yield.

---

Vendavel looked to the man with a casual expression, and simply said:
 “It’s over Toran... give up easily and no one will be hurt. I’ve send them drop the gnoll like he was a old towel.”

She purposefully doesn’t make it clear whether she is captive or had switched sides, knowing well that a bit of psychological warfare could go a long way.

Lenelle had advanced along with the others, mace in hand, shield at the ready.    Personally, she still hoped this needn't come to violence.   But, these scoundrels needed to be rutted out of this place, that was for certain.     She waited, ready, seeing what would come of Vendavel's suggestion of surrender...

---

"Whatcher talkin' about?" said the man, looking rather befuddled by Storm's pronouncement.  "I ain't despoil no one what didn't want despoiling."

A second man bolted out as Vendavel made her appeal for surrender, "Eliphas, we gots trouble here!"  He started to run down the passageway, around the bend.

"What'dya mean?" said Toran, looking past Storm to Vendavel.  Perhaps it was notable that he had not gone for the sword at his waist--but then he might well have decided against it upon seeing the direcion of numbers for his side and the opposing side.

Storm moves in to block the man and attacks if the man puts up resistance. He informs them that they should yield

---

As Pan listens to Storms words, he slowly also draws out his own dagger.  Storm was so confident and, well, possibly aggressive.  He taps his finger on the side of his dagger as he thinks.  What it must be like to be that big and physical that you could speak thus, trusting to your blades and bulk.  Pan has never had that, small, and relying on  wit alone to navigate the world.  Even so, his thought drift elsewhere, tap, tap, tap, finger on knifeblade....what to do, he wonders.

---

"What kind o' lunatic you takin' up with, Vendavel?" said the man who remained in the passageway.  He still had not gone for his sword, the hint of brandy on his breath enough to suggest where his nerve came from.

Storm informs the man that he is here to find out the truth and asks the man to introduce himself.

---

"Uh, I think he's stalling us while the other man alerts the others," Westin says nervously. He really didn't want to fight an armed group smugglers. For one, he wasn't sure his group would win especially if it was a large group. But just how big and threatening of a group was this smugglers group? He looks over at Jade.

Staying as far away from the stranger as he can, Jade casually trots past the man arguing with Storm. Once clear of that man, he runs down the hallway where the other man bolted until he can see what's beyond the bend or spots people coming his way. He will slow down before approaching any doors or rooms.

Wick keeps to his place in the line, not having much of anything to add.  In truth, his focus is on his stained hand than the rest.  Having snagged a pair of slightly over-sized gloves to cover both hands.

Jade, being small and gray in the dark, easily by-passed the man in the passageway to continue around the bend out of sight.  Even though there were torches lit across the way, there were still plenty of shadows.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:40, Wed 19 Feb 2020.

---

"Ain't naught fer yer worryin' about down here," said the man, who had not bothered to provide his name since Vendavel had identified him only a short time ago.  "Ye might as well go back the way ye came, and take her wit' ya."

Westin telepathically orders Jade to return back. "Four men and a gnoll," he says out loud. "They do appear to be staying put which is just as well. Maybe we should return to town and forget about exploring any more of this house. We've found some useful things already and we can always notify the authorities what we found."

Vendavel clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She was not much of a fighter, and from the few skirmishes she had seen at sea, and the few tavern brawls she had experienced on land, she’d rather not be involved.

 This being thought though, she didn’t want to seem like she was working for the ruffians still... so she kept quiet about it.

In reply to Crewman (msg # 229):

“I am thinking of clearing this place out if it is used for nefarious purposes,” Storm says. He tries fo ascertain the man’s intent and see if he is evil by focusing on him.

Jade padded back toward the group, eyes shining from the shadows in the torchlight.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:58, Thu 20 Feb 2020.

---

Toran glared at Storm and the rest of the group. "Ain't none yer bizness," he said.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:58, Thu 20 Feb 2020.

---

Seeing the man action as dishonorable. Storm will try to subdue him. He keeps his mace and attacks by giving the man a punch to subdue him so that his party can proceed. He will not attack with weapons as it goes against his Paladin code.

Ooc: rolls a 1!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:08, Fri 21 Feb 2020.

Line

---

It was perhaps with more zeal than skill that Storm threw the first punch, the swing wild and telegraphed such that Toran was fairly easily able to evade the connection of fist-to-face, and instead fist met wall.

Toran drew his blade at last, holding it to give himself room as he took two quick steps backward before turning to run down the hall away from the group.

---

The group led by Storm stood at the juncture of a path leading to the right and a torchlit passage leading a curving path forward.  The walls, in the torchlight, appeared to be wet or slimy, the path seemed, judging by the torches, to have a downward slope.  They had not seen any sign of Dak though they knew that he had moved down the stairs before them.

---

---

As Storm seemed to be pondering how the rather stubborn man had turned into a wall, or whether it was just that his righteously angered fist had gone astray, a gnoll came just close enough around the bend for the group to see.  This gnoll, like the one that they had encountered previously, was armed with a spear.

[Language unknown: "Con o io omhoma."] said the gnoll, and then it vanished back behind the curving passage walls.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:34, Tue 25 Feb 2020.

---

Pan, having already encountered one illusion in this place, concentrates on the corridor.  See no tracks from either Dak or the cat or anyone else, it just doesn't add up.

In the meantime, he puts his knife away and instead pulls out a tidbits from a pouch.

In reply to Gnoll (msg # 244):

"Anyone knows what the gnoll said?" Storm asks. He wonders if he should chase after the strangers.

Turning to the ex-captive, he asks her,"Is that the gnoll who captured you?"

Wick remains up against the nearest wall, dagger in gloved hand, waiting to see what results.  He wasn't going to start a fight, but he wanted to be ready if it starts without him.  He shakes his head slightly when Storm asks if anyone speaks the Gnoll.

Telemachus shook his head, “No one does or we would have asked the other one above questions Storm.  If we are going to follow we should before they have time to fortify or set traps against us...”

"That was odd," Westin says to himself out loud, wondering about the gnoll's behavior and fidgeting. He felt increasingly uneasy about the waiting in the corridor.

He nods in response to Telemachus. Follow them or leave and return to town. I could go either way.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 22:39, Wed 26 Feb 2020.

Pan nods to the big guy,  "Storm, if you go after them, I'll be right behind you.  I'm not much use in a hand to hand fight, but I have a spell that might take one or two of them out"

---

Storm nods to Panatix. He says he is curious to find out the truth and is sorry that he has to strike the man as he was obviously stalling for time . He follows

Vendavel offers some insight. She points to the corridor to the right and says;
 “This is where the guys have their breaks.  Ahead is a storeroom, and before that a corridor thats leads to the water.”

She also implied that she did not quite understand what the gnoll said - even though she will claim to have some rudiments of their language.

 To Storm she succinctly clarified: “I wasn’t exactly captured...”
 That wasn’t too much of an explanation, but she felt the full story would have to wait.

"Do you know how the gnolls came to be working with these people?" she asked of Vendavel.

"Just a matter of mutual profit?  Or something more to the story?"

---

In reply to Vendavel (msg # 255):

"Oh thank you for telling me that. I should have clarifired that first. In other words, perhaps we shall proceed with less haste and more surety," Storm says, saddened.

After taking some time to consider things, Storm led his companions down the curving passageway, whereupon they saw a thick veil of gray mist utterly obscuring the area which Vendavel had told the others would be a storeroom.

"Perhaps you might wish to explain yourself," came the voice from beyond the mist.  The voice sounded pleasant and rather cultured.  "Why is it that you come and invade our home?"

Barely a beat passed before the voice continued, "My dear Vendavel, if your employment was not to your satisfaction, I give you leave to depart.  But take only that which is yours and nothing more, lest I be forced to hunt you down to retrieve that which is not yours."

---

---

 Vendavel murmured: "That is Eliphas... the leader and a bit of a magician."

 One near her could tell that she was torn — leaving did seem like a good idea. A heavy drop of sweat rolled down her forehead and to her chin.

 "You know I am a free spirit... and I have no intention to harm anyone," she replied in a voice that tried to be stern, but quivered ever so subtly.

---

Wick sighs.  "Okay, I'm going forward to scout.  If I don't come back in a couple of minutes, come after me."  He says the last with something of a smirk as he pushes lightly off the wall and starts to move around others to go forward (into the fog).

As Wick moves forward, the small shadow of Pan follows, right up next to Storm,

"Eliphas, er, nice name by the way, I must imagine the illusions in the house are your doing, and they were well constructed I admit.  Almost fooled me for a moment.  Many men fall prey to wicked ways by sheer ignorance, and it can almost be excused, but someone able to learn the ways of magic, well, surely there must be legitimate dealings going on here...yes?  Although, dealings that include gnolls, I've never heard tell that were not dark.  Intelligent and still willing to use ones talents for darkness...not as easy to be excused.  Please set my mind at ease, explain away my misgivings that I may greet you as fellow practitioner and we may leave in peace".

---

"If it's their house, maybe we should leave," Westin says to himself, crossing his arms. Jade, go check behind us and make sure no one is sneaking up on us, he silently communicates to his familiar. If I had known there were people living here, I wouldn't have come.

Though some others continue, Westin comes to a stop. His elvish ears listening for sounds as his eyes are unable to pierce the fog. The fog can't last forever, he says to himself as he waits for it to dissipate.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:36, Mon 09 Mar 2020.

Jade padded away back up the stairs.

"I am not the one who comes into another's house, steals from him and then demands explanation," said Eliphas, still hidden behind the fog.  "I suggest all that you have taken, you put back and leave here."

Vendavel whispers to whoever is closest:
“Did you have a plan, walking in here? I assumed you were here to stop the smugglers, did I misinterpret something?”

She starts having second thoughts about the whole situation— these adventurers seemed very keen to take her and the gnoll down, but now hesitant to carry on the “home invasion”...
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:34, Mon 09 Mar 2020.

---

Pan is unimpressed with the answer, leans near to Storm, "Let's go put this to rights".

Storm nods at Panatix. "Let us find out more."
He speaks to Eliphas,"Does this house belong to you? May I ask who are you? I have some friends who are injured here and I too almost got into trouble. Please speak plainly."

"As well, the matter of a large serpent that happened to kill someone.   Your own pet, perhaps?   Or, do serpents that size just happen to wander this area?"

Hearing the others helps Westin find some courage. “Wait a minute. I was told this was... someone else’s house. Would you care to tell me who you bought this house from?”, his voice tinged with suspicion.

---

"Enough," said Eliphas.  "I will not be questioned by you--let the rest of you band of thieves come forward."

The fog in the passage melted away, leaving the way clear and the torchlight undimmed, though there was yet another bend before they would come to the chamber Vendavel had told was at the end.

Pan agrees, time to see what's around the corner.  He won't be first in the line but he's happy to follow close behind.

Storm cautions his friends to be careful, saying there has to be a trap since he so willingly invited the party forward. M
“Anyone got a mirror or plan?”he asks

---

“Actually I do,” Vendavel replied. She reached for her belt, where she kept a few pouches of various sizes and makes.

“Here,” she handed Storm a small metal mirror, simply adorned with a leather trim.

He wants us to come forward but doesn't want us to talk, Westin says to himself and shakes his head. Having had a dagger at his throat once this day already, he wasn't eager to repeat the experience. Nor would he even consider asking Jade to go down the hall, not that Jade do so anyway. He wasn't dumb. Eliphas was up to something, something wicked. That he felt certain.

"Do you know of any other way in," he quietly asks Vendavel. That there was an exit and perhaps another way he, he felt confident of. That Vendavel know of it or that they would be able to find it, that seemed much less certain.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:09, Sat 14 Mar 2020.

"Either leave--and leave anything that does not belong to you, or come forward, you cowardly bunch of thieves," said Eliphas.

---

"Wish I had memorized Charm Person," Westin says to himself quietly. "but I wasn't expecting this ruined house to be inhabited, at least not by living people."

"We can always come back in a hour or so," he says to no one in particular. "Any spells that might have been cast should have been dispelled by then..." He knew, though, that humans didn't like waiting. If not Storm, then probably someone would charge in and take whatever had been prepared for them. Well, if that is the case, I won't be left behind. He prepares himself to move in should someone in the party charge in. Maybe not with the first wave but soon thereafter.

In reply to Eliphas (msg # 285):

“Who are you calling a cowardly bunch of thieves? What have we stolen from you and who is the coward who ran away?”Storm asks in his measured voice.

Taking the mirror from the lady, he thanks her and advances using his mirror to check for traps or ambushes around the corner. “If you are brave and honorable, show yourself for a parlay instead of running away and insulting us,”Storm continues.

"You are the cowards who will not come forth," said Eliphas.  "We have been at work, and you sent forth your man who has clearly stolen from me.  The color of his hand tells all."

"Of course," and here Eliphas' tone turned more gentle, "you may always leave the thief behind and depart, making sure to take naught but what belongs to you.  Either way, come forward and explain your thievery or disavow the thief and leave.  Stop dithering about like gormless cowards."

The mirror revealed plenty of light around the corner, but was not distinct enough to tell anything about who might be standing in the end chamber.

---

As the group stayed in the middle of the passageway, neither moving forward nor back, suddenly a gnoll came running around the bend.

[Language unknown: "Oreie, anstiv!"] and the gnoll stabbed at Storm with the spear, and just as quickly backed away around the corner, once more out of sight.

((-2hp Storm))

---

In reply to Gnoll (msg # 291):

Storm has his weapon already and attacks back in retaliation. If he cannot attack he will say to the man,"do u call sending your gnollw to attack us as not a cowardly act? You claim out man stole from you. What did he steal?"

---

The gnoll had moved too quickly for Storm's response to be of effect.

Telemachus, behind Storm had been seemingly distracted as he studied the walls and ceiling with great concentration.

"You think I would not recognize my own possessions?" said Eliphas, scorn in his tone.  "Or the mark of the thief set upon him?  Now, I am being generous to allow you to leave--but I warn you to take nothing what does not belong to you.  Or you can come forth and show yourself no coward."

---

Pan whispers to the others, "They have Dak, we have no choice but to make a stand, be ready to fight, back up a little, I"m going to try to draw them to us".


"Well, I guess we leave, and since we can't take things with us, let's burn these items we found so they don't fall into evil hands.  I'll start with the spell book." Pan will tear out one of the blank pages from his own book, and light it on fire so the smell and sound is real.

"Wait. Don't burn that!" Westin starts to say to Panatix, but then stops as Panatix sets a page on fire. "I would have carried that." he whines doing his best to sound convincing and proceed with the narrative Panatix is attempting.

He thinks about for several moment and then has an inspiration. He looks at Panatx and says, "No, you need to stay down here to burn things. Otherwise, you might set the whole house on fire."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:06, Wed 25 Mar 2020.

"Kill that thief," said Eliphas, his voice coming clearly to the group which still hesitated in the hallway to go forward or back.  His tone sounded almost bored, as though ordering death was part of a normal day's work.

The group might well recall that Wick had gone forward to scout, confident in the group following after him if he had not returned--and now, the words that had come from Eliphas suggested that his group had taken Wick prisoner, and were now planning to kill him.

Something takes hold of Pan, unlike anything much he's felt before, and before he knows it, he has slipped past Storm, and dashed forward.  As he moves, quiet as his small body and soft boots allow, he begins to cast a spell so when he turns the corner, the first enemy he sees gets a spray of bright colors in their faces.


ooc: color spray

In reply to Eliphas (msg # 296):

Storm is a noble and he walks forward abiet his shield and weapon drawn.

"I am no coward like you," he says to Eliphas calmly. "I have stepped forward and you should too, to parley. I will not attack you underhandedly."

As he speaks, Storm moves forwardly boldly, gesturing his companions to keep a distance in case of an ambush.

As Storm and Panatix, followed by the rest of the group--Telemachus, Vendavel, Lenelle, and Westin--emerged around the corner, they saw the well-lit large chamber where a group of people seemed to be waiting for them.  In a corner of the room, they saw one man--one of the two who had been in the passageway before near a bound Wick, clearly intent on slitting Wick's throat.

A burst of colorful light came from the hand of the diminutive Panatix, and that man slumped down, his weight crushing down on the still-bound Wick.  It was at that moment, too, that the ground seemed to turn to ice beneath their feet, not from the cold but from the effort it took not to slide and fall upon the suddenly very slick ground.

(Storm, Panatix, Telemachus, Vendavel, Lenelle, and Westin--make a save vs spell; if you succeed you'll be able to continue forward; if you fail, make a DEX check to avoid falling)

Westin, displaying the litheness and nimbleness of his race, rushes over the slick ground, nearly effortlessly, herded straight for Wick.  A shadow of pain covers Westin's face as he charges forward while a dagger is held firmly in his hand, ready to free Wick from the bonds the moment he is able. He knows all to well what it's like to have a dagger at his throat, to have ones life held in balance, to wonder if this will be the end.

OOC:
23:18, Today: Westin na'Belva rolled 20 using 1d20.  sav vs spell.

Order of actions
1. Free Wick (or fight to protect him, if need be)
2. Disarm  man holding Wick hostage.

This message was last edited by the player at 03:46, Fri 27 Mar 2020.

Pan made the turn, cast his spell, and then nearly slipped but made a nice adjustment to just slide a bit and keep to his feet.

The group, now moving quickly into the room found that the way was far more treacherous than expected.  Storm made his way into the room, just able to hold his footing before Telemachus entered, sliding and falling and knocking into Storm in a tangle of limbs and possessions, bringing the larger man down as well from the impact.  Vendavel managed to keep her footing, easily skimming across the way and getting to more certain ground.  Lenelle, making her way in, struggled but just managed to hold her footing.

As Panatix's spell lit the space, the man threatening Wick collapsed, unconscious, atop Wick.  Westin now had to decide whether to permanently end the threat of the man or just move him off Wick to free his ocmpanion.

Then, from behind the group, they could hear more men coming from behind them with swords drawn.

Westin frowns at the sight of the large form of the unconscious man lying on top of Wick. He sheaths his dagger and deftly takes the weapon the man had at Wick's throat and quickly disarms him of any other obvious weapons. He probably deserves to have his throat cut, but no, I'm not going to do it.

He rolls the unconscious man off Wick and begins freeing him. If Wick is blindfolded or otherwise can't see Westin, he will whisper to him, letting Wick know it is Westin. He will then remove any blindfold first and then cut the bonds tying his hands and/or arms. Once Wick is free to hold a weapon, he will offer him the unconscious man's weapon.

OOC:
If Wick wants to loosen the rest of his bonds himself, Westin will let him do so. However Westin will help unless Wick lets him know otherwise. If Wick wants to kill the man, or anyone else wants to kill the unconscious man for that matter, Westin won't stop them.

Wick is happy to let Westen cut him free.  Maybe Wick could do so himself, but slipping bonds had a way of leaving skin behind and no reason for that if it could be avoided.  Once his arms are free, Wick takes the offered blade with a grim nod.   He turns at the sound as more armed men approach.

Vendavel came to regret but having any weapon with her. She understood that the adventurers, or intruders, didn’t trust her yet. She got that they would rather protect her themselves rather than equip her with tools she could potentially use against them. But still at the moment, she thought she would feel a lot more comfortable with her dagger or short bow.

She walked in, kept her footing, helped Lenelle keep hers, and stayed out of the “danger zone”, at the back of the group.

Falling down, Storm tries to stand up and help Tele up as well. After helping his friend up, Storm will proceed cautiously with his weapon drawn and shield raised.

---

"The time for talk has ended," said Eliphas, the man in the center of the group in tawny robes.  "You are putting us behind schedule, and perhaps a little exercise is needed."  With a chopping gesture he stepped back, allowing the men in his group to move more freely, his form seeming almost indistinct around the edges somehow.

Pan answers, "Mom always said not to die with a spell still on your lips...".

With that, Pan takes a small pearl and tosses it directly at the gnoll.  Gnomes hate gnolls, so he grins, despite the bads odds of the fight before them, when it squarely hits the creature.


19:27, Today: Panatix rolled 2 using 1d4.  damage.

19:27, Today: Panatix rolled 17 using 1d20+4.  orb toss. (hits AC: 4), creature that fails it save will also be blinded for duration of the spell.

OOC:Are we in combat?

Having freed Wick, Westin moves quickly back over to the unconscious man who had been threatening Wick. Pulling out some rope, he swiftly ties the man's hands and arms, tying them behind his back. He then ties his feet as well, hog tying his tied hands and feet together if he has a chance. "No entering combat for you," he says quietly.

From the back, Dak closed in to engage Storm with his sword.

On the edges of the room, Vendavel and Lenelle seemed nearly forgotten as they stood ready, while on the opposite wall, Westin was concerned with tying up the unresisting crewman who had been rendered senseless by Panatix's first spell, and with dagger in hand Wick began pondering where his skills might best be put to use.

In the center of the room, however, there was a flurry of swords and clashing.  Panatix released another spell, this time centering a light into the eyes of the gnoll who stood, armed with a spear, ready to attack again, the spell bursting into its light just before the gnoll stabbed at Storm.  Perhaps it was the sudden blindness that caused the tip of the spear to just  barely catch Storm.

As Storm and Telemachus tried to regain their feet, Dak and the men with Eliphas were not about to stand still when Eliphas had suggested otherwise.  Toran, now standing near Eliphas, struck out with his sword to stab at Storm ((-3hp)) and a heartbeat later, Anrai from behind struck into Storm's back ((-5hp)).  Dak struck out with his new sword, just missing Storm as the large man was falling to the floor again.  From near the gnoll, Tad and Ivar pressed the attack against Telemachus, though the druid managed to bob and weave away from the sword points in front, although as Cadan and Osgar came from behind, Cadan managed to just draw blood ((-1 hp))

---

Status:  Storm at 0 hp and bleeding, Telemachus -1

Vendavel was still torn between inaction and engagement... but seeing Storm drop to the floor spurred her into taking action.

She stepped forward and ignored the swordsmen— she took it they wouldn’t aim their attacks at her anyways.

While she was no healer, she knew how to apply pressure and stop a wound from killing — at least temporarily.

stabilise Storm

"Flee now that your thieving leader has been vanquished!" Dak shouted, trying to kick the woman away from the prone body.

Storm lays unconscious. Before he falls, he reflects on his life so far, wondering if he will see the light of day again.

OOC: I was unable to attack?

Wick looks about to see which of the enemy are closest, at least those that are on their feet, with an aim to sneak up on them and take them out with the dagger.

Westin's eyes go wide as he watches Storm go down. He hastily starts casting a spell to protect himself.

OOC:
Cast Shield Spell.

Telemachus draws his scimitar to defend himself, the situation had spiralled out of control!

He strikes at the closest foe in frnt of him, intent on moving toward the spellcaster if possible.

"Get the wizard!" he shouts as he swings his weapon in vain.

---

11:55, Today: Mac rolled 4 using 1d20.  base attack roll - a miss, I'm sure!

Nell seems overcome by the enemies and  battle around her,
She seems near tears,  overcome she staggers and falls, her hand
Brushing the prone Storm.

Ooc: cast cute light wounds on Storm

See dice roller for results

Vendavel hurried to the side of the fallen Storm, trying to stanch the bleeding for the moment.  Dak kicked at her, but the nimble woman managed to slide away from contact, though it certainly had the effect of disrupting her attempt at helping Storm.

Anrai, one of the men from the rear, stabbed toward Telemachus, though the druid's fluid movement to his feet allowed him to avoid the point of that sword.  Pleased with his efforts, Panatix looked at the gnoll as the light in the gnoll's eyes winked out.

From beside Eliphas, Tad took note of Wick—who had just determined that either the gnoll or the man who now faced him was the most likely target—and with intensity, the man fighting beside Eliphas pushed his sword deep into Wick's right thigh ((-3hp Wick)).

Ivar stabbed Telemachus, jabbing well into the man's right side ((-4hp Telemachus)).

Cadan and Osgar, having taken notice of Panatix and perhaps taking Telemachus' cry to heart, both jabbed at the little magician, though neither were able to cause him harm, thanks to the phantom armor he wore.

As Lenelle dropped beside Storm, the warm touch of Atu's healing roused the man ((+3hp Storm)), Toran buried his blade well into Telemachus' belly, causing the druid to fall to the ground again, though this time insensate ((-4hp Telemachus)).  The gnoll, meanwhile, blinking rapidly stabbed his spear in what seemed to be a random direction as nothing was struck by the point of that spear.

“We do not need kill you,” said Eliphas, his words smooth.  “Surrender, and you may live.”

---

Final tallies:

Wick  -3hp

Telemachus -8 hp (0 and bleeding)

Storm +3 hp (total 3hp)

Lenelle, still on the ground from where Storm was just healed enough to rise up and hopefully wreak holy vengeance on these people, Nell sees Telemachus drop down.  She pivots and works her best healing on him, not much but enough to revive him, hopefully long enough to get at least one spell off.  Thought things are looking down, Nelly is filled with her saviors spirit, calm in the midst of it all.


20:37, Today: Nell rolled 1 using 1d3.  healing check Telemachus.

20:37, Today: Nell rolled 1 using 1d20-2.  healing check Telemachus.  (although with a PERFECT healing check roll of 1, maybe it should be more like 10 :-).

Storm stirs from the aid given by his companion. Sensing that something is not right, he rises to his feet and scans his surroundings.

Seeing his old companion on the ground, Storm dashes over and using his divine energies, tries to staunh Tele's bleeding.

OOC: Laying of Hands on Tele

Seeing that the thieves weren't interested in accepting their generous offer of surrender, Dak slashed at the big man he felt the most threatening.

OOC: Dak rolled 10 using 1d20.  Thaco 20 Slash Storm.

Westin leaps forward and stabs at Toran while the others work to revive Telemachus.

OOC:
12:14, Today: Westin na'Belva rolled 20 using 1d20.  to hit Toran.
12:15, Today: Westin na'Belva rolled 4 using 1d4.  damage to Toran.

Does natural 20 provide any critical?

Wick flails about with the little blade, just trying to keep Tad from drawing too near.  A knife was not much use against a sword and a thief wasn't much of a warrior when facing a swordsman.  Wick's plan, such as it is, is avoidance as he tries to circle around and rejoin the others and he keeps one eye out for anything that can be used as a makeshift missile.

With a wound to the leg, running isn't Wick's strongest talent at the moment, but feet were still the thief's best defense if it comes to that.

Pan, with little else to do, will try to charge Eliphas, and attack him.

While Panatix and Vendavel started to maneuver toward Eliphas and Storm and Lenelle turned their attention to the fallen Telemachus, it seemed that Eliphas' companions were not intent on just standing by and allowing the group to fully regain their footing.

With a barking laugh, the gnoll stabbed its spear at Panatix--the armor disappearing with a pop as the spear continued its way into the gnome.  ((-5hp Panatix, -1 to the armor))

Toran, seeing Westin's moves attempted to meet that mage, though Westin was just able to dodge through to come through unharmed and bury his dagger deeply into Toran, the blood pouring over Westin's hand, making the blade difficult to retain a grip.

Wick and Tad seemed to be feinting with each other, neither able to land a blow as Wick edged back to the rest of the group.  As healing went on in the middle of the room ((+3hp Telemachus)), one sword flailed near Vendavel--Ivor being far from able to strike her, while from the rear Osgar plunged his sword into Lenelle ((-10 hp Lenelle)).  Dak slashed toward Storm, though the blow just failed to connect--perhaps, though, it was enough to help Cadan, who now managed to stab Storm once more ((-2hp Storm)), while Anrai's blade seemed to do little more than continue to herd anyone thinking of backing into the corridor from leaving the room.

Eliphas said, "Why do you reject my generosity?  Surrender, and you will not die."

---

One of Eliphas' men is injured (Toran)

Telemachus: now at +3 hp
Panatix: -5hp (1 hp remaining)
Storm: -2 hp (1 hp remaining)
Lenelle: -10 hp (-2hp, dying)

"WE SURRENDER!" Telemachus shouts above the din of he clashing swords, as he tosses his scimitar to the ground.

"THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPONS," he shouts to his companions, "This is over."

He turns to Lenelle and casts Cure Light Wounds on her.

---

Doing a miserable 2 points of healing!

Storm has no wish to see his companions die and puts aside his weapon.

"To attack us while parleying isnt honorable. But you have the advantage, We yield."

Confident in Eliphas' victory, Dak stepped back to interpose himself between the thieves and his leader.  This outcome had been inevitable.  It had just taken them a while to understand how far outmatched they were.

Vendavel is still a bit dumbfounded, and tries to understand what happened and how bad it really was. There was still a chance she could twist this in her favour —maybe.

For the time being she remained quiet— she had no weapon to put down to signify a surrender or anything else anyway.

Pan sheathes his dagger and turns and heads for the exit,

"The man said we could leave unharmed if we didn't steal anything, since I never took a thing, I'm going to take him up on that, I'd suggest the rest of you drop anything you took and follow me back to town".


He tried to walk confidently but fully expected a spear in the back, but, in the gentry classes, even evil men sometimes held their word of honor as sacred.

With a gesture, Eliphas indicated that his men in the entrance to the chamber should make a gap, allowing Panatix to continue, along with any others who seemed willing to follow the gnome's lead.

Telemachus' spell had stabilized Lenelle, who was still unconscious but at least not getting any worse ((now at 0 and stable)).

Wick, anything he'd claimed already reclaimed aside from the little knife, sets it down gently and limps over the fallen Lenelle.  He was bleeding a bit, but that was pretty minor compared to some of the others, so he's ready to help move the wounded and unconscious allies out of harms way.

Westin leaps back from the man he had just stabbed and lowers his dagger. In a quick motion, he wipes the blood of his dagger and sheathes it. He then hastily wipes the blood off the front and back of his hands, unconcerned at the moment with ruining his tunic. He's simply glad it's not his blood and hopes it stays that way.

Westin smoothly takes off his pack, putting it on the floor. He quickly pulls out down the 3 books he found upstairs and starts walking for the exit, slinging on his pack as he goes. Once his pack is on, he holds out his empty hands to show he is not holding any weapons while silently telling Jade to scout ahead the passageways and rooms to the outside. Though he walks nonchalantly, is anyone verbally or physically moves to block his way, he will immediately run as fast as he can.

Storm rases Lenelle and supports his companion while leaving the room. He will be sure to guard his friends.

Watching several of the group leave, Eliphas looked at Vendavel and said, "Of course, you may leave, too, if you wish--and take your things with you."

"[Language unknown: Undis k iv.]" he added, and the gnoll leaned his spear against the wall and began to work to stanch the wound that Toran had suffered in the fight.

Telemachus, nods to Eliphas, acknowledging that the wizard is keeping his word.

He picks up his scimitar and sheathes it [drops anything that he may have picked up in the house], and throws Lenelle's arm around his shoulder and helps to walk her out with Storm.

He pauses, and turns to Eliphas, "You have ensorcelled our companion Dak, will you free him too?"

Vendavel was still uncertain about the outcome, and dreaded being left here after she had clearly betrayed the smugglers. When Eliphas clarified, she slowly walked out without a glance back.

She did not have anything that did not belong to her, in fact she did not even have her own weapons with her.

"Dak," said Eliphas in reply to Telemachus, and then glancing toward the young man. "Hmm--seems to me, he is a free man, to choose his employment as he wishes.  I rather hope that he wishes to continue in my employ, of course.  He is a fine, strong lad."  Then, seeming to more directly address him, he said, "And what is your wish on such matter, Dak?"

"I'll stick with you, sir," Dak replied without pause to Eliphas' question.

She did her best to focus, but found it largely impossible.   The world was perceived through a haze of distorting pain, unclear shapes and sounds; some of which did register enough to give the impression her comrades were mostly okay.   It was enough for the moment.

Once the group had exited the chamber at the end of the hall, it was a bit narrow for Telemachus and Storm to try to move side by side with Lenelle between them, but she was in no particular shape to be walking on her own strength.

Otherwise, there was nothing stopping them from continuing up to the room which had been barracks, where one footlocker held Vendavel's belongings.

((Of course, Storm can easily carry her, armor and all.))

Unless something or someone stops him, Pan leaves out the door of the house.  He walks slow and steady, though his face begins to perspire and is somewhat ashen by the time he manages to leave.   The wound he took was nearly enough to bring him down and the pain is wearing on him, but his wish to live is strong.

Westin follows Pan up the stairs, occasionally glancing back nervously. As he exits the house, he begins trembling with relief, glad to be outside with the sky and grass, birds and trees. He looks back anxiously to see if everyone made it outside.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:05, Sun 26 Apr 2020.

Storm informs Tele that it is easier for him to carry the down companion and slings her over his shoulder while keeping a hand free for fighting if necessary. If need be he can help carry vedevel’s items

Telemachus nods to Storm, and lets the paladin lift the unconscious half-elf over his shoulder.

The druid, lets the entire group pass before following them, keeping an eye to the rear as he expects treachery from Eliphas.

Once the group has exited the house, he breathes deeply, as if to remove the air from the house.

"We must plan a return, to rescue Dak. There is no doubt in my mind that Eliphas has ensorcelled him. In essence he has been made into a slave."

Moving outside, the group made their way outside.  Vendavel had paused to empty one of the footlockers, which contained her own things--which Eliphas had said she could take.


The group emerged--most of them wounded to some degree or another--only Westin and Vendavel had not been wounded, nor had Westin's cat who now walked through the tall grass with tail high as though that would have allowed Jade to see above the overgrown grasses.  Lenelle was still unconscious and the mild journey of four miles along the road seemed far longer now than it had when they had left Monteci.

Judging by the sky, it was at least None, perhaps later, but still possible to reach Monteci before Vespers.

Line

After walking for an hour or when they are sufficiently far from the house, Strm pauses and addresses his friends,"Shall we stop here to rest, eat and also dress the wounds of our wounde?"

He lays Lenelle down, examines her and using a cloth, wets her lips to ensure she doesnt suffer from dehydration.

Turning to his friends, he continues,"We have perhaps made a mstake and are too eager. We shall seek advice in town with the authorities and report this."

OOC:Dak left the game?

Wick had been limping along, the wound on his leg making the walk painful.  “Stopping to lick our wounds sounds like a good plan.  I don,t know about the town leaders though.  Wouldn’t surprise me if one of them, or more, are in Eliphas’ pocket.”

"A rest would be prudent, though we should be wary of Eliphas and his gang following us.

It's hard to imagine that he would simply let us leave, knowing we could go straight to the authorities...unless Wick is right...or he thinks we will not report him for fear of harm coming to Dak.

Vendavel, perhaps it is time that you provided us with all of the details of how you came to work with Eliphas?"

---

DM - do you recall if Telemachus cast another CLW today? If not, he will cast it on Lenelle.
22:52, Today: Mac rolled 3 using 1d8.  CLW.

Vendavel has followed the group outside, still unsure what their plan had been walking into the house. She remained silent, very aware that her position was still in the blurred lines of prisoner of war, rescued damsel and witness in protective custody...

She was checking her gear when Telemachus called out her name.
“I was an unlucky sailor. But a clever one. I noticed something about the smuggling operations around here, and Eliphas offered me to join him and his Merry men. He said I had potential. I thought of them as romantic and philosophical rebels, helping out the people getting their hands on goods otherwise kept for the palates of the rich and powerful...”

“I soon realised that not all ruffians are as worded and gentlemanly as Eliphas — and evening his manners are just varnish on a darker mind. Their life is one of violence and I wanted out, before things got ugly. But I never worked up the courage to leave, they had implied a number of times that I knew too much about their operation to go out free...”

“So I bid my time and I waited for an opportunity—and you came. It sees the Stars have answered my prayers. I could tell you a lot about how things work inside and below the house, but they may well change their routine very soon.

((Unfortunately, Telemachus is completely out of magic for the day.))

---

Once on the road outside the grounds of the house, the group began making more deliberate efforts to bandage up the wounds suffered in the fight than had been done as a makeshift to get out of the house.

Pan is happy to take a few minutes rest, his own injury is wearing on him, and he's thirsty.

His brain is cloudy too, probably the adrenaline and pain, he just wants to get back to a safe room with a bed and sleep for a week.

"Do you think we should head back to town?" Westin asks worriedly. "I'm glad Eliphas let us leave but I'm worried he might change his mind."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:37, Wed 29 Apr 2020.

As the companions continued dressing their injuries, they could see that someone was traveling on the road toward Monteci.  They would be able to make the trek, although it would be difficult with Lenelle still unconscious.

---

HP:

Vendavel 7 (uninjured)
Westin 4 (uninjured)
Telemachus 3
Panatix 1
Storm 1
Wick 5
Lenelle 0 (stable)

Wick gives a slight shake of the head.  “That seems the obvious choice, I hate doing the obvious.  I say we find a nice out of the way camp site and recover a lot more, then figure our next move.  Besides, having blue hands makes me feel way too noticeable, draw all sorts of unfriendly attention.”

Although he is strong and fit, the recent ordeal has weakedn him. Storm approves of the suggestion and agrees that the team should rest and recover their strength.

Pan has taken several deep drinks of water, he was dehydrated by the blood loss and excitement of the recent events, it had clouded his mind.  He can almost feel his body coming back, and with it a bit more pain.


He laughs, "Ne're tangle in the affairs of wizards..." he laughs harder till the pain of his wound stops him. "Eliphas,  I wonder if he's Maelodor, or his apprentice".