"The tattoos are only put on those that have spent enough time with the guild, if it has any other purpose, that's above my level," he says with a tone of defeat in response to the question.

Tyrus sits back on his haunches from where he's been questioning the duergar and says, "Well, if no one else has any questions, do ye have any thoughts as to what we should do with this one?"

He then adds, "I be thinking that we get him to show us the way to this Nihiloor person he seems to be so impressed by. Maybe then he'll be telling us something about him, once he kens the life of a suspected traitor is just as much at risk as ours. We might also use him to get past any traps, or more of them goblin archers in their little hidey-holes."

Then, for the sake of the duergar, he says, "Or, should we lock him outside in the sewers in his underwear, to show his true value to any potential future employers?"

The duergar shakes his head "I will not get near that monster, I would rather die," he said in response.  "Only a fate worse than death befalls the peop... no... no... NO!" as he speaks, his head explodes, what appears to be a brain on stumpy legs jumps out from where the duergar's brain would be, and teleports away, leaving the body of the duergar behind. 

[OOC: Way cool, and very much not expected.]

Tyrus throws himself backwards away from the headless duergar's corpse. "Moradin's beard. What just happened?" [Arcana roll to see if he has heard of anything like this before: 21. ]

"Shit.."  Alron is scared now. 

"Let's go. They know we are here." 

(Can Arlon make an Arcana check t know what this is?  Just in case: 8 )

Arlon has never seen one of these creatures, but Tyrus has heard something about creatures that eat the brains of a "host" species and effectively take over the entire function of the body, as a puppet.  The duergar would have had his brain eaten alive by the creature you saw briefly and then it would take the place of the host's brain until it no longer has use for the shell, at which point it will jump out and go towards a weak target.  The moment the creature overtook the brain, this duergar was a lost cause.

They are very uncommon and usually native to the Underdark, it's possible that a creature planted this odd abomination within the duergar's brain, but with what is left behind, it is hard to tell how long ago this was.

OOC: I marked off 10 crossbow bolts, "rounding up" liberally.

"Holy hells... abyss... body horror... what was that?" Briga points at the ruins of the head and covers her mouth with her other hand.  "We all saw that, right?"

"Damn Tyrus, you didn't have to make his head blow up!" Griff wiped brain and skull from his maw. "I mean it was cool, but gross and I had the sword right here man." Griff will bend down and check the Druegar if he hadnt yet. I'll probably take his weapon because I can see my sword corroding .

Briga waits until Griff has re-armed himself with an intact weapon and steels her nerves to go into the next chamber.  

OOC: I think there was one other exit from this room, correct?  3 total - the one we came from, the barricaded one hiding the ooze, and # 3, the one we have yet to explore, correct?

Badly shaken, Tyrus looks at Griffdar and says, "But I didn't! Did ye no see! There was something in his head. Some tiny horror where his brains shoulda been."

He will then, in his own accented way, tell the rest of the party of the stories he's heard of such things that dwell in the depths, and how he as a child was frightened into being a good dwarf by being threatened with them by his mother. He will also add that, up until this point, he'd thought those stories were all make believe.

Still in shock, Tyrus will then start collecting together his gear and repacking his backpack. He will also strap the scimitar the human gang member was carrying to the outside of his pack as a spare weapon, just in case there are more of those metal-eating monsters about.

Then, senses alert and staying well in the rear, he will follow the rest of them into the next room.

You all regather your composure after this shocking site, and head through the southern door.  Keeping your wits about you for any sign of danger, the corridor turns instantly towards the south, where it continues 30 feet towards a staircase going to a raised section.  

(OOC: If you want to be stealthy, roll a stealth check)

Griff picks up the war pick from the duergar, pulls out his shield and sneaks over to the door, "You ready?" 

stealth: 9

Tyrus is definitely trying to be stealthy and is also keeping an eye out behind because he is still expecting the rest of the gobins to appear at some stage.

Stealth roll: 17

Perception roll: 12

He's also very conscious of the fact he's carrying the light source and has closed the hood of his lantern to the barest minimum needed for the others to see.

13 - Stealth

Prior to entering the room quietly, Brigas briefly responded to Tyrus, "I guess I wasn't the only one who had a rough childhood, sorry, Tyrus.  Growing up I always felt like the scariest monsters were my own people.  The splinter group from the Bear tribe that worshiped Auril were actually legit scary people, but they were the only family I knew.  We're all grownups now.  We're damn heroes.  We don't need to be afraid of fairy tale monsters anymore.  We can reject that scary s*** from our childhood. We can crush those nightmares.  What's what heroes do."  She gives Tyrus a fist bump, and then goes into the aforementioned stealth.  

Tyrus cautiously bumps knuckles with the tall, scary, barbarian woman and says, "I ain't being no hero, but I'll watch ye back for ye." 

“Don’t be so sure.”

Briga creeps along, covered in sewage and gore, another fashionable outfit and pair of boots rendered disgusting by the adventuring lifestyle.  She clenches the polearm in a white knuckled grip, the tightness of her jaw and periodically bulging tendons in her wrist and neck betraying that her spoken confidence likely hides her own fears about what they might be approaching.  

(OOC: Arlons gonna be offline for a few days, so I'm gonna roll for him now)

Stealth Check for Arlon: 14

(OOC: Arlons gonna be offline for a few days, so I'm gonna roll for him now)

Stealth Check for Arlon: 22