"I hate to say it, but we should have fled the minute it showed itself. Tovar's body - is it still in there?" Esvele gestures to the room. 

"A wave of irrational fright overtook me - that has never happened to me before. I'm ashamed of what I did."

Healing: 7

Darastrag leaps to his feet, then staggers and weaves from side to side, trying to find his equilibrium in this new world. After several moments, he leans against a wall and groans, "Damn that cold stone thing - I thought I had Tovar away from it but I could not move fast enough." He groans again as he touches the place on his head where the stone fist crashed.

"Thank you, N'ruel. I owe you." He tries to walk forward, but staggers and lowers himself to a seated position. "I think I need to rest..." he hisses as his eyes start to flutter shut.

     N'ruel catches the lizardman by the arm and helps him back down to rest. He turns back to Esvele, "That thing carried Tovar's body back into the darkness. I do not think it is retrievable," he says flatly. He peers back into the room where they just fought just to be sure it is not pursuing them.  "Rest may be a good idea, but perhaps not so close to this room?" 

"Pull back to the courtyard?" Aerin suggests.

"We could, but the ground is treacherous and there are those rats about - perhaps the first chamber instead... Close to the exit. We should try to shut the door that leads to the stone monstrosity,"  Esvele replies. 

Darastrag nods to Esvele and drags himself to his feet, then wobbles over and tries to shut the door. "Let's go."

N'ruel shakes himself to and follows after the others. When they get back to the first room, he motions to the alcove with where the skeletons were hidden. "Perhaps a good place to rest, while two keep watch?"

The cleric's words make sense and once in the first room she drops her pack and stretches.

"Sounds good, N'ruel.  I volunteer for first watch if you'd like," Aerin agrees.

The watches pass without incident. You all rest fitfully, your dreams a maze of unsettling imagery. When you awake you have no recollection of your dreams, only the residue of something foul, like the dried slimy trail of a snail, lingering on your mind. Your bodies are stiff and sore, covered with cuts and bruises, but you are feeling as refreshed as one can be sleeping in a cold damp ruin with danger lurking in the shadows.

     N'ruel takes much of his time during his watch to quietly go through his kata, primarily focusing on his work with his shortsword. Every movement of the blade, foot placement and breath is deliberate and measured. Even after hours of repeatedly going through the same series of movements he shows little sign of fatigue when the others wake from their rest. Once everyone else appears to be ready to continue, he says to the group, "Unless we are leaving, there is only one other option ahead without going back to face that construct." The monk motions to the door to the northwest in the circular room. 

At the monk's words, Aerin rises from where she had been meditating.  Her power was coming smoother and with greater strength and upon waking she'd worked to shape it.  The flush of new power, no matter how entrancing, had to be put aside for more important matters.  This place had tested them sorely.  A cowardly part of her wanted to flee but what was brooding in this place didn't make that an option.  So where did that leave them?

"I don't like the idea of leaving Tovar's remains with that... thing but I'm not certain we could survive an open confrontation," Aerin considered.  "If, perhaps, it is tethered to that room we could try hit and run tactics but it would still be high risk with that mental attack it has.  We also have no way of knowing if there is a contingency built into the construct for just such a scenario.  Trying the other door might be the better option."

"Our friend is lost - and I agree with you: we don't have the strength necessary to face that construct head-on. Perhaps we can find a way to shut it down or control it somewhere else in this depressive place," Esvele responds.

"Give me a moment," Esvele states. She casts Find Familiar and a bluish-green flash of light springs forth. When it dims, a beautiful owl appears. She responds to it, "Now, Gwaihir, I know you like flying high and fast, but this form is better suited for the dark." The bird rustles its feathers before taking flight, finding a higher perch to view the room from.

She picks up a dozen or so small stones from the rubble around her placing them into her pouch. She then casts light on her shield and says, "Ready."

Aerin nods and then pulls on her new power to detect magic in the warp and weft of world around her.  Carefully maintaining the mindset needed to keep the spell active, she is ready to begin their quest once more.

Esvele speaks, saying, "Everyone prepped? To the northwest door we go. Quiet as we can be... You, too, Gwaihir."

Esvele quietly approaches the door and opens it. 

The wooden door swings wide with a groaning creak opening up onto a hallway littered with rocky debris. Somehow the darkness seems to be blacker leading further into the ruin of the citadel. Dark shapes appear to dart and skittered across the floor and walls but when light is shone in that direction there is nothing to be seen. The corners of the hall are filled with dust and thick with cobwebs, but the center isle appears relatively clear and seems somewhat well traveled. At the end of the hall there are three wooden doors.

Map

N'ruel gives the cleric nod as he slides past, drawing his wakizashi (shortsword) as he does so. He cautiously pads forward keeping an eye out for threats. Upon catching a glance of something skittering across the wall, the monk twitches ever sk slightly.

Perception 13

(Not sure the light situation. If needed to prevent disadvantage, he will cast his dancing lights and it will hover over his head as he goes down the hall.)

Although she can't see as well as the drow in the dark, Aerin does her best to watch for trouble.  The way the shadows play make her shiver with disgust.  It looks far too much like spiders for her comfort.

Perception15

Darastrag stalks forward, just behind the drow monk, arrow nocked and ready. The shadows do not find their way into his heart with their flickering eeriness - the evil that lays on this place clearly has many tricks, but the lizardfolk are too wise to be bothered by spooks in the night.

All the same, he glances over his shoulder to make sure the others are coming along and are safe.

The glowing orbs of light float about the drow's head illuminating the otherwise pitch dark hall. The shadows seem to skitter and slide over the walls and floor and ceiling keeping their distance from the pale glow of light while lurking in the darkened corners of the room.

N'Ruel notices a trail of blood droplets dotting the cold stone floor leading to the western door at the end of the hall. The handle of the door is smeared red with dried blood.

Doubting the blood heralded anything good, Aerin readies an eldritch blast, should what was behind this door prove to be as disastrous as the last.