The room is just barely illuminated in the flickering light of the few candles that had been lit up before everything went sideways. From outside the room, there is still only silence. It is a quiet and peaceful moment, but with tension as thick in the air as the sleeping gas.
Joren awakes from a brief nightmare in which his ear has been agonizingly cut off and is hanging on Razmus' necklace along with five others, blazing afire all of them. He sees the much more pleasant sight of his companions all still alive and blessedly alone. After recovering for a moment, thanks Ashley warmly with a wide grin, then a a tired but respectful bow to the rest, even the... goliath? That's right, he had joined them as things had gone to hell and fought on their side. Six of us, then.
Hand to the chest again. "You are all being more than worthy companions. Honor to serve."
"Was anyone else noticing that the rat creatures seemed to be people imprisoned inside the abomination of a body which they were not controlling? Perhaps what Razmus has been doing to the previous people that are coming through here exhausted. Transforming and binding them. He was seeming to be excited about trapping us, particularly those of us with magic. I am only wishing we had him and the necklace on this side of the door. I am having a few questions."
"Yes, I heard on of them, like a human voice within the torso... Wait here" with that said Vilus puts his hood back over his head and presses an ear against the door, listening for any hint of movement.. "shhhhhhh, stay away from the door"
Silence. It seems to Vilus that nothing but a stygian stillness waits on the other side of the door. That, and a room full of gas. He supposes it should clear out eventually, albeit slowly, through the open trapdoor, but how long that would take and how long the gas bombs will continue to pump more out are two unknown variables.
Vilus starts grunting a bit before it becomes apparent he is quickly deep breathing, with his last warning still hanging in the air he takes a very deep breath and holds it.
Before anyone can stop him he darts out of the door closing it behind him, whilst out there he keeps one hand on the door handle and leans down to where the closest rat man corpse should be, If he finds one he will grab it by whatever limb is closest and using his powerful build, drag the thing back into the back room with the group, all the while seeing to it that the door is only ever open for the briefest of moments..
Ashley watches in stunned silence as the Goliath actually goes back into the room with the crazed rat people and then brings one of them back in with him! She stays well back as she watches him intently. As she does, something starts itching in the back of her mind, she knows from past experiences to just be quiet and listen to it. After a moment it comes to her..
"Hey guys, um... I'm not sure if we're done. I recall what Razmus said when we were upstairs..."and in almost perfect recall she sounds almost like him "If you aren't too squeamish, you are wellcome to take up the spare beds in storage down there for the night, and if you can find and deall with the rat's nest,"then back to her own voice, "I'm thinking we need to find a nest back here??"
As Vilus opens the door, gas begins billowing in. Vilus works as quickly as he can, finding the rat-man he had tried to shove earlier lying just outside the door. Through the dense green fog, he can just barely make out a few more bodies a little further away, including what looks like the two hit by the shatter spell.
He drags the first body back into the room as quickly as he can, but its clothes catch on the door. Vilus spends a few extra seconds getting them uncaught, allowing more gas in, and then he is back inside with the door closed and the body by his side. The gas that made it into the room starts slowly rising toward the ceiling again, filling up enough of the room that the others find themselves needing to duck or stoop to stay clear.
(Anyone who wants to check out the body may, making either an investigation or medicine check, and a note about what you are generally trying to accomplish or check out.)
Vilus begins patting down the pockets of the rat man gently, hoping to find another of the gas delivery pouches 1, after that he crouches low to the 'head' of the creature feeling down the sewn seam connecting the rodent to the torso.
With one swift motion of his arm Vilus shoots a dagger from his sleeve into his palm and carefully starts unpicking the seam removing the rodent attachment and peering into the wound to see what he can figure out, "does anyone have any medical or magical training?" he asks half pleadingly but with a stern voice, He then gestures to the hole in the torso from which the rat has been extricated, and looks around the room at each individual. When he locks eyes with Ashley he lingers slightly, "gathering intel on an enemy is key to defeating them, if these were the minions do you wanna see a more powerful one without knowing their vulnerabilities?"
His voice rings softly through Ashley's head after he is done speaking, but the words shift,
"Untrained, likely not one of them, they wouldn't send someone so... noticeable.. Disguise? no, it would be unnecessary, she's genuine, and naive. Trustworthy? maybe, not actively hunting anyway..."
Vilus's search for more of the gas pouches yields no results, or so he thinks. As he gives up and begins picking the staples and stitches connecting the rodent body to the human torso, he very quickly reaches the horrifying conclusion that the human head was never removed. A space within the rat had been carved away to make room for the man's head. And that, Vilus realizes, is why he heard human moaning from the rat-thing before. Whether the person had been truly alive during the fight, and whether they had had any consciousness is difficult to say without a more medical examination (A medicine check could reveal more. You can also choose to give help to eliminate disadvantage rather than make your own roll. The statistics are better).
Vilus:
hoping to find another of the gas delivery pouches 1,
It's at that moment that another of the gas bombs tumbles from an inner pocket Vilus had missed. It lands on the ground with a thud and a thin concentrated spray of gas hisses out of one side where the stitch work had been damage, causing the bomb to spin erratically around the floor. It looks fit to burst at any moment!
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Joren prepares to briefly open the door again briefly if one of his more magically-oriented companions can use their arcane hand to toss the gas bomb out at a distance. At this point, he is so sleep-deprived and exhausted, getting knocked out again by the gas near the door doesn't sound so bad any more.
Con save if necessary at end of turn 16 for gas near the door, at disadvantage:
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Malachi stands next to the bookshelves, frozen in shock or overcome by fatigue, as Joren drags Marion into the room and the goliath slams the door shut. Malachi shakes off his stupor and jumps into action as Vilus drags one of the ratman corpses into the room and begins to search it “Where are their heads? Who would create something like this, and why?” He helps Vilus examine the corpse, focusing on the connection between the rat and human to figure out how this hybrid was made. Medicine 14.
As the gas bomb spills out of the corpse’s pocket and begins to sputter, Joren opens the door and Malachi summons his mage hand and carries it out into the main room. While the door is still open, Malachi will peer through the smoke to see if he can spot the necklace. Perception 6.
If he can see the necklace, he will grab it with his mage hand and bring it back into the room, calling to Joren “Close the door, quickly”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Samir manages to give Marion a wan smile before he stumbles towards the back of the room, replacing his boltcaster in its case as he does. It was all so... much. The monsters, the innkeeper. The ears. What was all of this? What purpose could the man have for his actions? None of it made sense to Samir. Even as the others set about retrieving one of the rat-monsters, Samir is almost in his own world, his attention turned towards the shelves at the back where Joren claimed there was a passageway. The exhaustion, the fight, the utter lunacy of their situation has left the merchant's son in something of a daze, ignoring the things around him in exchange for the idea of a puzzle that his mind can grasp and understand, something tangible and logical. Steadily, he begins looking for Joren's passage, and the means to open it.
Joren, chin dragging in exhaustion, closes the door as soon as Malachi'sMage Hand has thrown the gas pouch out and hopefully brought the necklace in.
((Let me know if a second con save is necessary)).
Does he still see Razmus sprawled there unconscious?
Once he gets back, if still conscious and not asleep again, he would mumble somewhat incoherently to Samir: "The passageway, I am seeing. There and not there. Like my echo. Only a small rathole up there near the corner for now. But almost as if sometimes, if perhaps the bookshelf is moving, there is a stone passageway beyond..."
(attempting to help to negate Samir's disadvantage).
With the rat almost fully removed from the man's head, Malachi looks upon the poor victim. He looks young, early twenties, with light blond hair now stained and matted from dried rat blood. His eyes are glossed over, and his face is tight and contorted. Whatever he may have been able to sense while connected to the rat, he had undoubtedly been in pain. Perhaps it was a mercy then, that he no longer drew breath.
(Medicine 14) Taking a closer look at the staples that had held man and rat together, he notices tiny runes etched onto their inner faces, and a similar rune tattooed into the man's forehead, perhaps with some magical significance to establish the connection between the rat mind and the human. As far as Malachi can guess, perhaps the rat's brain was insufficient to pilot a human body, so the man's own brain was needed as a conduit.
Vilus:
Kneeling down by the body with Malachi, Vilus feels strange as the face of the young man is revealed. When he looks upon the rune tattooed into his forehead, he faintly hears that familiar buzzing in his head. Surely what happened here is related in some way to Vilus's unofficial mission.
Inspecting the disfigured limbs, Malachi detects a faint but abrasive scent coming from them. Like they had been exposed to some kind of chemical to make them the way they were. To make them look more rat-like. But why?
(Perception 6) He sees the gas bomb drop at the same time as Joren, and without so much as a word between them, Joren opens the door just a crack and Malachi throws it through the opening with his mind. Looking out through the swirling vapours, he hopes to see the necklace so he can get more answers, but the smog is too thick and then the door is closed again. (Constitution 13) Joren managed to hold his breath and plug his nose, and walks away from the door unharmed, though he coughs a few times as he waves the air away from his face.
Meanwhile, Samir looks over the bookshelf, trying to see if he can verify what Joren is saying about a passageway. He sees the small rat hole in the corner as Joren points it out, and wonders if that is what Ashley means when talking about what Razmus had said earlier, or if Razmus's words may have intentionally held a double meaning. The book case itself though does none of the flickering Joren mentioned. It seems that whether it happened or not, Joren was the only one to see it. (Investigation 19) It takes him a while, almost ten minutes. He starts with trying to pull the bookcase from the wall with the strong half-dwarf's help, but it seems firmly secured. He checks all over every inch, looking for some mechanism or keyhole. He looks at the names on the spines, searching for some code, but they all appear to be perfectly mundane recipe books. Finally, he sighs and indulges the cliché, beginning to pull each book one by one to see if any of them are actually some secret switch, and instructing Joren to do the same. He works from the bottom to the top, and is starting to question whether Joren knows what he is talking about when something catches his attention. None of the books triggered anything, but when replacing books on the top shelf, Joren puts one down rather heavily and Samir notices the shelf itself has a bit of a wiggle to it. The rest of the bookshelf seems like solid construction with hardy wood, so for just one shelf to be a little loose seems a little odd. With bated breath, he tries to push the shelf inward.
It doesn't budge.
Of course, Samir thinks. You wouldn't want someone stumbling across a secret passageway because they accidentally bumped into your shelf while drunk on your free wine. He grabs the shelf and pulls instead.
Click--Thunk
There it is. Samir would recognize the sound of a mechanical catch being triggered anywhere. Joren grabs the side of the bookcase and pulls. It swings open revealing a dark, rough passageway carved right into the stone and through dirt behind the book shelf.
As Ashley starts thinking about a nest and how to find such a thing, she looks over as the sound of the door breaks her out of her concentration.. why is the door? and she sees the goliath bring one of those rat things in the room with them. As she watches, he locks eyes with her and she hears in her head...
She bolts upright and stares him down, flames building on her head again, "What do you mean untrained?? And how dare you call me naive!! And no, I'm not hunting.. who the hell do you think you are!!" her voice gets louder and it starts to crackle like fire as she ends up shouting the last bit, glaring daggers at the goliath. At this point, having completely forgotten the ratman and the nest she was looking for.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Joren stares in surprise. First, despite himself, at the passageway that he thought he had seen an 'echo' of once Samir finds the trick to opening it. Then, with growing alarm at Ashley. The bright fire genasi he had grown fond of, but who is suddenly saying things that Joren does not understand. And at the strange goliath that had fought at their side. Something is happening between these two but his head feels too stuffed with cotton to think about it clearly. Still, he tries to understand.
Vilus clutches his head in pain, the ringing, buzzing echoes through his mind, Ashley hears it too as he continues projecting his thoughts his eyes bow locked with her's in anger "what, I said nothing of the.. get out of my head! Stop what you're doing"
In her mind Ashely hears,
"She's reading your mind,she's reading your mind, ermm... Rats rats rats rats rats rats.. um. think of something else..." Then the buzzing sets in irritating and invasive
Vilus sits next to the body, dagger still in hand avoiding the gas at the ceiling.
Still weary, but feeling strong enough to stand, Marion returns to her feet. Watching silently as the Goliath dives into the gas and returns with one of the rat creatures, seemingly unaffected by the noxious substance filling the cellar, she unhooks her handaxe warily, not quite able to trust him despite his aid. The distaste on her face is clear and evident as he begins to carve into the creature, though she has studied medicinal techniques she would not be taking part in this barbarity.
When it is revealed that a person remained trapped within whatever abomination has been created Marion is horrified. Standing over the body she speaks a brief prayer, wishing the souls of these poor victims rest in the afterlife.
"O' Lady Above;
Guide these souls to Thine side; Grant unto them the peace they did not find in life; To share in Thy grace; And suffer no more;"
As she finishes suddenly there is a flurry of activity, while Joren, Malachi and the stranger desperately deal with another gas bomb. But before she can react it is dealt with. "Caution is not without merit, friends. Do not let haste imperil us further."She says, while looking pointedly at the Goliath.
It is with relief that the passageway is discovered by Samir, for this small room is beginning to grate on Marion. She is not one to sit idle, but the situation leaves her with few options. As she begins to move towards the passage Ashley's words suddenly bring her to a halt. Turning around she quickly interposes herself between the Genasi and the Goliath, lifting her shield up defensively and gripping her handaxe firmly, prepared should the situation escalate. A little confused by some of the words being spoken, none the less she wants answers. Speaking firmly she chimes in:
"Who are you indeed, stranger. Though you fought at our side there is much about you that endangers the trust between us. Such a thing must be earned, and so I ask of you your name and your purpose."
Gripping his head still, angrily staring Vilus barks out in frustration, "I do not need your trust... All I need is for Her to stop invading my mind!"He points aggressively at Ashley "And to know if anyone here is hunting me?, if anyone here knows who I am?.. you aren't a likely candidate, being in a religious order and all that.." he gestures at Marion waving his dagger around to exaggerate his point, "as for my purpose I have no clear direction, Or not one that I can explain in words... all I know is I need to find out why this is here," he points at the tattoo on the rat victims head and picks up one of the staples and tosses it to Marion's feet.
Vilus remains seated on the floor next to the body during this exchange, coldly assessing the group in front of him, a group of many to be sure, but all tired and haggard looking, like they haven't slept in days. Similar to Vilus himself.
The slap jolts Joren back to the waking world.
The room is just barely illuminated in the flickering light of the few candles that had been lit up before everything went sideways. From outside the room, there is still only silence. It is a quiet and peaceful moment, but with tension as thick in the air as the sleeping gas.
Joren awakes from a brief nightmare in which his ear has been agonizingly cut off and is hanging on Razmus' necklace along with five others, blazing afire all of them. He sees the much more pleasant sight of his companions all still alive and blessedly alone. After recovering for a moment, thanks Ashley warmly with a wide grin, then a a tired but respectful bow to the rest, even the... goliath? That's right, he had joined them as things had gone to hell and fought on their side. Six of us, then.
Hand to the chest again. "You are all being more than worthy companions. Honor to serve."
"Was anyone else noticing that the rat creatures seemed to be people imprisoned inside the abomination of a body which they were not controlling? Perhaps what Razmus has been doing to the previous people that are coming through here exhausted. Transforming and binding them. He was seeming to be excited about trapping us, particularly those of us with magic. I am only wishing we had him and the necklace on this side of the door. I am having a few questions."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
"Yes, I heard on of them, like a human voice within the torso... Wait here" with that said Vilus puts his hood back over his head and presses an ear against the door, listening for any hint of movement.. "shhhhhhh, stay away from the door"
(Perception if needed 3)
Silence. It seems to Vilus that nothing but a stygian stillness waits on the other side of the door. That, and a room full of gas. He supposes it should clear out eventually, albeit slowly, through the open trapdoor, but how long that would take and how long the gas bombs will continue to pump more out are two unknown variables.
Vilus starts grunting a bit before it becomes apparent he is quickly deep breathing, with his last warning still hanging in the air he takes a very deep breath and holds it.
Before anyone can stop him he darts out of the door closing it behind him, whilst out there he keeps one hand on the door handle and leans down to where the closest rat man corpse should be, If he finds one he will grab it by whatever limb is closest and using his powerful build, drag the thing back into the back room with the group, all the while seeing to it that the door is only ever open for the briefest of moments..
Ashley watches in stunned silence as the Goliath actually goes back into the room with the crazed rat people and then brings one of them back in with him! She stays well back as she watches him intently. As she does, something starts itching in the back of her mind, she knows from past experiences to just be quiet and listen to it. After a moment it comes to her..
"Hey guys, um... I'm not sure if we're done. I recall what Razmus said when we were upstairs..."and in almost perfect recall she sounds almost like him "If you aren't too squeamish, you are wellcome to take up the spare beds in storage down there for the night, and if you can find and deall with the rat's nest," then back to her own voice, "I'm thinking we need to find a nest back here??"
Athletics; 6
As Vilus opens the door, gas begins billowing in. Vilus works as quickly as he can, finding the rat-man he had tried to shove earlier lying just outside the door. Through the dense green fog, he can just barely make out a few more bodies a little further away, including what looks like the two hit by the shatter spell.
He drags the first body back into the room as quickly as he can, but its clothes catch on the door. Vilus spends a few extra seconds getting them uncaught, allowing more gas in, and then he is back inside with the door closed and the body by his side. The gas that made it into the room starts slowly rising toward the ceiling again, filling up enough of the room that the others find themselves needing to duck or stoop to stay clear.
(Anyone who wants to check out the body may, making either an investigation or medicine check, and a note about what you are generally trying to accomplish or check out.)
Vilus begins patting down the pockets of the rat man gently, hoping to find another of the gas delivery pouches 1, after that he crouches low to the 'head' of the creature feeling down the sewn seam connecting the rodent to the torso.
With one swift motion of his arm Vilus shoots a dagger from his sleeve into his palm and carefully starts unpicking the seam removing the rodent attachment and peering into the wound to see what he can figure out, "does anyone have any medical or magical training?" he asks half pleadingly but with a stern voice, He then gestures to the hole in the torso from which the rat has been extricated, and looks around the room at each individual. When he locks eyes with Ashley he lingers slightly, "gathering intel on an enemy is key to defeating them, if these were the minions do you wanna see a more powerful one without knowing their vulnerabilities?"
His voice rings softly through Ashley's head after he is done speaking, but the words shift,
"Untrained, likely not one of them, they wouldn't send someone so... noticeable.. Disguise? no, it would be unnecessary, she's genuine, and naive. Trustworthy? maybe, not actively hunting anyway..."
Vilus's search for more of the gas pouches yields no results, or so he thinks. As he gives up and begins picking the staples and stitches connecting the rodent body to the human torso, he very quickly reaches the horrifying conclusion that the human head was never removed. A space within the rat had been carved away to make room for the man's head. And that, Vilus realizes, is why he heard human moaning from the rat-thing before. Whether the person had been truly alive during the fight, and whether they had had any consciousness is difficult to say without a more medical examination (A medicine check could reveal more. You can also choose to give help to eliminate disadvantage rather than make your own roll. The statistics are better).
It's at that moment that another of the gas bombs tumbles from an inner pocket Vilus had missed. It lands on the ground with a thud and a thin concentrated spray of gas hisses out of one side where the stitch work had been damage, causing the bomb to spin erratically around the floor. It looks fit to burst at any moment!
Joren prepares to briefly open the door again briefly if one of his more magically-oriented companions can use their arcane hand to toss the gas bomb out at a distance. At this point, he is so sleep-deprived and exhausted, getting knocked out again by the gas near the door doesn't sound so bad any more.
Con save if necessary at end of turn 16 for gas near the door, at disadvantage:
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Malachi stands next to the bookshelves, frozen in shock or overcome by fatigue, as Joren drags Marion into the room and the goliath slams the door shut. Malachi shakes off his stupor and jumps into action as Vilus drags one of the ratman corpses into the room and begins to search it “Where are their heads? Who would create something like this, and why?” He helps Vilus examine the corpse, focusing on the connection between the rat and human to figure out how this hybrid was made. Medicine 14.
As the gas bomb spills out of the corpse’s pocket and begins to sputter, Joren opens the door and Malachi summons his mage hand and carries it out into the main room. While the door is still open, Malachi will peer through the smoke to see if he can spot the necklace. Perception 6.
If he can see the necklace, he will grab it with his mage hand and bring it back into the room, calling to Joren “Close the door, quickly”
Samir manages to give Marion a wan smile before he stumbles towards the back of the room, replacing his boltcaster in its case as he does. It was all so... much. The monsters, the innkeeper. The ears. What was all of this? What purpose could the man have for his actions? None of it made sense to Samir. Even as the others set about retrieving one of the rat-monsters, Samir is almost in his own world, his attention turned towards the shelves at the back where Joren claimed there was a passageway. The exhaustion, the fight, the utter lunacy of their situation has left the merchant's son in something of a daze, ignoring the things around him in exchange for the idea of a puzzle that his mind can grasp and understand, something tangible and logical. Steadily, he begins looking for Joren's passage, and the means to open it.
Investigation: 10
Joren, chin dragging in exhaustion, closes the door as soon as Malachi's Mage Hand has thrown the gas pouch out and hopefully brought the necklace in.
((Let me know if a second con save is necessary)).
Does he still see Razmus sprawled there unconscious?
Once he gets back, if still conscious and not asleep again, he would mumble somewhat incoherently to Samir: "The passageway, I am seeing. There and not there. Like my echo. Only a small rathole up there near the corner for now. But almost as if sometimes, if perhaps the bookshelf is moving, there is a stone passageway beyond..."
(attempting to help to negate Samir's disadvantage).
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
With the rat almost fully removed from the man's head, Malachi looks upon the poor victim. He looks young, early twenties, with light blond hair now stained and matted from dried rat blood. His eyes are glossed over, and his face is tight and contorted. Whatever he may have been able to sense while connected to the rat, he had undoubtedly been in pain. Perhaps it was a mercy then, that he no longer drew breath.
(Medicine 14) Taking a closer look at the staples that had held man and rat together, he notices tiny runes etched onto their inner faces, and a similar rune tattooed into the man's forehead, perhaps with some magical significance to establish the connection between the rat mind and the human. As far as Malachi can guess, perhaps the rat's brain was insufficient to pilot a human body, so the man's own brain was needed as a conduit.
Vilus:
Kneeling down by the body with Malachi, Vilus feels strange as the face of the young man is revealed. When he looks upon the rune tattooed into his forehead, he faintly hears that familiar buzzing in his head. Surely what happened here is related in some way to Vilus's unofficial mission.
Inspecting the disfigured limbs, Malachi detects a faint but abrasive scent coming from them. Like they had been exposed to some kind of chemical to make them the way they were. To make them look more rat-like. But why?
(Perception 6) He sees the gas bomb drop at the same time as Joren, and without so much as a word between them, Joren opens the door just a crack and Malachi throws it through the opening with his mind. Looking out through the swirling vapours, he hopes to see the necklace so he can get more answers, but the smog is too thick and then the door is closed again. (Constitution 13) Joren managed to hold his breath and plug his nose, and walks away from the door unharmed, though he coughs a few times as he waves the air away from his face.
Meanwhile, Samir looks over the bookshelf, trying to see if he can verify what Joren is saying about a passageway. He sees the small rat hole in the corner as Joren points it out, and wonders if that is what Ashley means when talking about what Razmus had said earlier, or if Razmus's words may have intentionally held a double meaning. The book case itself though does none of the flickering Joren mentioned. It seems that whether it happened or not, Joren was the only one to see it. (Investigation 19) It takes him a while, almost ten minutes. He starts with trying to pull the bookcase from the wall with the strong half-dwarf's help, but it seems firmly secured. He checks all over every inch, looking for some mechanism or keyhole. He looks at the names on the spines, searching for some code, but they all appear to be perfectly mundane recipe books. Finally, he sighs and indulges the cliché, beginning to pull each book one by one to see if any of them are actually some secret switch, and instructing Joren to do the same. He works from the bottom to the top, and is starting to question whether Joren knows what he is talking about when something catches his attention. None of the books triggered anything, but when replacing books on the top shelf, Joren puts one down rather heavily and Samir notices the shelf itself has a bit of a wiggle to it. The rest of the bookshelf seems like solid construction with hardy wood, so for just one shelf to be a little loose seems a little odd. With bated breath, he tries to push the shelf inward.
It doesn't budge.
Of course, Samir thinks. You wouldn't want someone stumbling across a secret passageway because they accidentally bumped into your shelf while drunk on your free wine. He grabs the shelf and pulls instead.
Click--Thunk
There it is. Samir would recognize the sound of a mechanical catch being triggered anywhere. Joren grabs the side of the bookcase and pulls. It swings open revealing a dark, rough passageway carved right into the stone and through dirt behind the book shelf.
As Ashley starts thinking about a nest and how to find such a thing, she looks over as the sound of the door breaks her out of her concentration.. why is the door? and she sees the goliath bring one of those rat things in the room with them. As she watches, he locks eyes with her and she hears in her head...
She bolts upright and stares him down, flames building on her head again, "What do you mean untrained?? And how dare you call me naive!! And no, I'm not hunting.. who the hell do you think you are!!" her voice gets louder and it starts to crackle like fire as she ends up shouting the last bit, glaring daggers at the goliath. At this point, having completely forgotten the ratman and the nest she was looking for.
Joren stares in surprise. First, despite himself, at the passageway that he thought he had seen an 'echo' of once Samir finds the trick to opening it. Then, with growing alarm at Ashley. The bright fire genasi he had grown fond of, but who is suddenly saying things that Joren does not understand. And at the strange goliath that had fought at their side. Something is happening between these two but his head feels too stuffed with cotton to think about it clearly. Still, he tries to understand.
Insight at disadvantage: 12
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Vilus clutches his head in pain, the ringing, buzzing echoes through his mind, Ashley hears it too as he continues projecting his thoughts his eyes bow locked with her's in anger "what, I said nothing of the.. get out of my head! Stop what you're doing"
In her mind Ashely hears,
"She's reading your mind,she's reading your mind, ermm... Rats rats rats rats rats rats.. um. think of something else..." Then the buzzing sets in irritating and invasive
Vilus sits next to the body, dagger still in hand avoiding the gas at the ceiling.
Still weary, but feeling strong enough to stand, Marion returns to her feet. Watching silently as the Goliath dives into the gas and returns with one of the rat creatures, seemingly unaffected by the noxious substance filling the cellar, she unhooks her handaxe warily, not quite able to trust him despite his aid. The distaste on her face is clear and evident as he begins to carve into the creature, though she has studied medicinal techniques she would not be taking part in this barbarity.
When it is revealed that a person remained trapped within whatever abomination has been created Marion is horrified. Standing over the body she speaks a brief prayer, wishing the souls of these poor victims rest in the afterlife.
"O' Lady Above;
Guide these souls to Thine side;
Grant unto them the peace they did not find in life;
To share in Thy grace;
And suffer no more;"
As she finishes suddenly there is a flurry of activity, while Joren, Malachi and the stranger desperately deal with another gas bomb. But before she can react it is dealt with. "Caution is not without merit, friends. Do not let haste imperil us further." She says, while looking pointedly at the Goliath.
It is with relief that the passageway is discovered by Samir, for this small room is beginning to grate on Marion. She is not one to sit idle, but the situation leaves her with few options. As she begins to move towards the passage Ashley's words suddenly bring her to a halt. Turning around she quickly interposes herself between the Genasi and the Goliath, lifting her shield up defensively and gripping her handaxe firmly, prepared should the situation escalate. A little confused by some of the words being spoken, none the less she wants answers. Speaking firmly she chimes in:
"Who are you indeed, stranger. Though you fought at our side there is much about you that endangers the trust between us. Such a thing must be earned, and so I ask of you your name and your purpose."
Gripping his head still, angrily staring Vilus barks out in frustration, "I do not need your trust... All I need is for Her to stop invading my mind!" He points aggressively at Ashley "And to know if anyone here is hunting me?, if anyone here knows who I am?.. you aren't a likely candidate, being in a religious order and all that.." he gestures at Marion waving his dagger around to exaggerate his point, "as for my purpose I have no clear direction, Or not one that I can explain in words... all I know is I need to find out why this is here," he points at the tattoo on the rat victims head and picks up one of the staples and tosses it to Marion's feet.
Vilus remains seated on the floor next to the body during this exchange, coldly assessing the group in front of him, a group of many to be sure, but all tired and haggard looking, like they haven't slept in days. Similar to Vilus himself.