The fierce halfling wipes out another swath of the undead cats with a swing of her Great Axe sending bit and pieces of bone slying through the air in a wide arc.  There is just one pack of undead cats remaining and they're soundlessly hissing and arching their backs as they decide their best target... (1-Dabbert, 2-Jaylan, 3-Krumar, 4-Nefire, 5-Raevyn and 6-Syl) 1

     Launching themselves at their chosen target the cats... Well, are totally ineffective.  (Roll missed everyone's AC so who the d6 roll chose really doesn't matter...)

     Jaylan is next up to act and can, of course, do so if he chooses but I think it is safe to say the party easily destroys the last pack of 6-8 undead cats easily enough before the feline fossils have an opportunity to do more harm.  There is the matter of the three packs (12-24 in total) packs of them prowling around on the first floor but they seem no real threat to you.  Specially if you are not intending to leave the tower yet...

     Now what?  You can head down, east or west... The only direction you know what to expect from is down.  You have a torch and a lantern lit to show you the way, it's about noon by your best reckoning and the options are endless...  Well, not really.  It's just a saying.  I just mean to say... You know what?  Nevermind!  Just decide on something!!  :)

The old whaler catches his breath and moves to lean on one of the chamber walls.  "Say... I meant to ask before all the rings and ceiling holes and magic cats and what for... but wasn't the other bunch of blokes in here just ahead of us?"  He looks around and shrugs.  "They go in some other door?  There weren't no other doors.  Its an ill omen, them disappearin' like that.  What's this tower done with them, eh?"

He leans over, coughs, and spits out some fossilized cat dander on the floor.  "Ptw.  Well, them cats are the strangest thing we're like to see in here, I'll tell you that."

Nefire raises her eyebrow at Syl.. "Strange yes, but strangest?  I'm highly doubting that."

"But you're right, what happened to the other group?  They find another way in or are they that fast?  Also, let's get moving, through the East door?  Shall we?"  And unless someone argues with her, she starts heading that way.

Krumar nods at the suggestion to go east. He gathers his things and remembers he put the ring on his finger "Anyone feeling any side effects from the ring? They are just rings right? I didn't slap myself with a life long curse here, did I?

Raevyn tucks her tiny bell into her sleeve then casually dusts off her robes. Indeed it was curious that the others who departed right before them seem to leave no obvious trace. Mind you, it did feel as though they spent a lot of time thoroughly inspecting the mossy basement before actually making it up into the undeath kitty infestation. Truthfully, the Doctor resigned any hint of competitiveness a while back. It was best to focus on what was in front of her. After a quick review of her wounds, clearing them of any concerns of infection, Raevyn follows Nefire's lead.

With the fight with the cats behind him, Dabbert takes a deep breath and exhales, looking around the room for anything else that could be a threat.  

"I uh...I'm not going to lie."  He said, glancing at the others.  "I expected that to be way worse than a bunch of dead cats.  Anyway..." 

He starts examining the room, looking about for signs of the other group. 

"I uh...maybe they are that far ahead of us?  I don't know..."  

Cleaning the scratches of the undead cat, Jaylan follow the others

"Well, if you ask me... this tower seems pretty weird and magical. Perhaps they found another way to open another portal and went in another direction.... or they ran away from the undead cats... who knows if we could cath up with them, or if they had already left the tower... " 

((You are at the red X.  The crappy boxed Y is the hole to first floor. The lavender stripe is just blocking what you have yet to see...))

     With the skeletal cats defeated or dropped down to the lower floor, the party takes a few moments to do some minor first aid and speculate about just what is going on.  Where could the other group be who entered The Tower first?  There was no sign of them below or up here, despite some searching…. Though what evidence would one expect to find?  

     It certainly appeared that they entered the same place you had and so common sense would dictate they entered the same room… But even if they had solved that in remarkable speed you still would have bumped into them.  They were but moments ahead of you.  Minutes at best?  And if they faced the same test then how would the hand have been grasping the sapphire when you entered if they needed remove it to move on?  

     Here on the second floor there is also no sign.  There was no busted bones littering the floor.  No footprints in the dust.  Though that could just be that there is next to no dust to leave prints in…. For an abandoned tower this place was actually pretty clean…

     Krumar speculates about the rings but while there is not an abundance of magical items in Vaire the common opinion is that rings that hold strong magics often take time to adjust to a wearer.  ((Point in fact, two of the rings do not require attunement… But their use would not be apparent and would take some figuring out.))  A short rest spent focusing on the rings could perhaps tell you more about them but so far the band is eager to press on…

     Speaking of pressing on, Nefire leads the way and starts heading towards the eastern opening.  With the torch and lantern there is still plenty of light to see by, more or less.  It is but a short hallway east before it turns north and then east again… And before you get to that eastern turn you start to hear… Something.

     Nefire signals the party to halt.  And to hush.  Everyone pauses and listens…. There is a sound ahead, but what?

     Is that… crying? Nefire wonders.  

     Dabbert hears that too but also something more.  Closer.  A clacking of some kind.  Not constant but… But he can tell no more.

     You are behind a bit of an outcropping of wall.  Heading just a bit east will put you in front of the open stone archway but for now you can see nothing… And presumably nothing can see you.

Actions?

You can rush in, stealth in, try to gain more information, retreat the way you came or whatever your feverish little brains come up with!  

Dabbert pauses and squats down, examining the sounds that are around them as he tries to ascertain what is happening.  He closes his eyes and listens.  

"There's something else."  He whispers to the group as he studies.  He levels his breathing as he lets the sounds float to him.  "Something moving.  Clattering sounds, shifting.  It's closer than whatever is sobbing, I think.  Be ready.  Something weird about it..."

With his sword still on his hand Jaylan whispers 

“In ust heard someone over there… crying?” He doesn’t seem sure “we should check it” 

"Skeletal cats, weeping somethings, more clatterings.....What could possibly go wrong moving forward" Krumar says to the group less than excitedly about the prospects of another trap

"It could be one of the others who need help. Let's proceed with caution..." and Jaylan moves forwad trying to not make much noise

( Stealth: 7 of course ) 

[Moments earlier...]

When Krumar comments about the rings:  "Eh?  What, you think they might be magical?  I just assumed they was parting gifts... 'Ay! Congratulations on visiting the Tower of Terror!  Take one home to show the kiddies!'  These wizards that build places like this got real sicko senses of humor, right?"

He pulls out both rings from his pockets and looks at them closely, then slides them both on, closing his eyes.  When he opens them he asks Krumar, "Well?  Am I invisible or all-glowie like?"

[Back to the present...]

His curiosity piqued, Syl lies down and tries to belly-crawl along with Jaylan to inspect the strange sounds.  Stealth: 10

     Syl, unfortunately, has no immediate reaction to putting on the rings.  

     As Jaylan starts to quietly move closer to the opening Syl puts a restraining hand on his arm and motions him to wait.  Getting down onto his belly Syl crawls forward a bit and peers around the corner… with just human senses it is very dark and he cannot see just how long the room is but just within sight he sees something rather odd.

     At first he sees four forms seemingly huddled together but as his eyes start to adjust he decides it’s not so much huddled as gathered, and then when one tosses something on the floor in the midst of them all he realizes what is going on - They’re at having a game of dice!

     But soundlessly?  No cheering or groaning?  There is the crying but that seems further away…

Syl - Perception roll for more?

Perception:13

Syl watches for a moment, his fingers itching to get involved in the game... but then remembers he is supposed to be scouting so he wriggles back to the others to deliver a report.

Meanwhile Raevyn removes her mask and proceeds to give the eyes a polish with her sleeve. Once satisfied with their clarity she reaches into one of her medicinal pouches. Then with just a pinch of powder she rubs some on her gums. Soon her eyes dilate wide and she re dons her mask. The doctor scans the area, eventually taking a peek into the room.

Eyes of the grave: As an action, you can open your awareness to magically detect undead. Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any undead within 60 feet of you that isn’t behind total cover and that isn’t protected from divination magic. This sense doesn’t tell you anything about a creature’s capabilities or identity.

"There's uh...a reason I didn't touch the rings."  Dabbert whispered as Syl made his comment.  "No, I think the clattering..is...oh.  Yes.  Dice...yeah.  You see that now..."

Jaylan looks at his finger, where he put the ring almost without thinking about it. "Perhaps I should be more careful in this weird place.." he thoughts to himself. 

He keeps himself quiet as the others relay the information. 

"Playing dice?" he whispers "A weird place indeed..." 

"Dice?  Just a bunch of people playing dice?  Well that's odd... and I wonder the crying is about.. the loser?"  She watches in fascination as Raevyn rubs something on her gums but decides not to pry and turns back to Syl, "Did you see anything else or should we just saunter on by?"

"Hmmn?"  Syl responds to further questioning.  "No, nothing else unusual, apart from them bein' skeletons."

"I did mention they was skeletons, right?  Yup.  Just four skeletons having a friendly game of dice in the hallway."