Callie, reeling from the raking claws, takes one final swing while disengaging from the Nothic and moves to cover the creatures nearest escape route from the crevasse room.

Attack: 13 Damage: 11

Malthazar rallies a few feet behind Grum and Brandor and prepares her fire bolt, but the shot is too risky and in trying to take the safest shot it flies over the Nothic's head.

Garr runs to the southern side of the cavern, but as soon as he steps on the bridge it collapses, and he falls to the bottom of the pit taking 5 points of bludgeoning damage and falling prone. The floor is unnaturally cold and the faint mist billowing through adds to the chill. The edges of the crevasse on this side aren't too steep so you are able to climb back up on your next turn but for now you are out of movement speed and thus cannot recover from your prone state this turn.

Callie sends her steel flying towards the Nothic, the blade catching the shoulder of this monster. Before it gets a chance to attack back Callie quickly dodge rolls backwards and heads further back to cover the escape tunnel that looks like it leads to the forest.

(The area to the east of the nothic is the hallway that leads to the bugbear bunks down south and the Redbrand break room up north, and if you wish to cover that area instead you can move inside the hallway out of reach of the Nothic.)

Oddly relishing the fact that he gets a second chance to take the creature's giant eye out, Grum changes approaches. He jabs the Mariner's Dagger upwards, aiming for the soft flesh under the chin in an attempt to hold the Nothic's head in place, before drawing back with the shortsword and aiming for a finishing stab through the eyeball.

Attack: 20 Damage: 9

Bonus Attack: 15 Damage: 8 

While the Nothics back is turned you prepare your blades and strike at the right moment while it's distracted. Your enhanced blade drives into the chin as planned but the shortsword catches the edge of the eye socket, but your blade is definitely lodged in there as it thrashes it head bound by your blade and green pus-like eyeball fluid spills over your arm and mixes with it's nearly black thick blood. The creature is severely wounded now and only *just* clinging on to dear life with two blades stuck in its face.

<Squelch> reloads and fires again.

Attack: 7 Damage: 8

Brandor does his best to finish the Nothic once and for all.

Staff Attack: 7 Damage: 8

Kick Attack: 6 Damage: 4

Brandor grips his staff with two hands and lines it up with the shortsword Grum had placed in it's eye. You angle the staff correctly and slam with full force as Grum pulls back, driving the shortsword all the way in like hammering a nail into a disguting, gooey... monster's eye. It falls, letting out a final cry of disbelief and shock, the sound echoing in the cavern as well as in your minds with its psychic shriek, before the cavern falls silent once again.

<End of Combat>

Garr beginds to climb up the pit but realises that it's dead.

"Good job everyone. This hideout should be finally cleared huh?"

Garr goes back down into the pit and begins investigating whats inside.

Investigation: 12

Exploring the ridge and stepping over the bones and bodies of the Nothic's previous meals, you discover  a little cubby hole under the north bridge that Callie spotted before. Inside is a battered wooden chest containing the Nothic's hoard.The chest contains 160 sp, 120 gp, five malachite gems, two potions of healing, and a magic scroll. At the bottom is a silver-chased scabbard containing a sword with the inscription "Talon" in common and the hilt is worked in the shape of a bird of prey with outspread wings.

Holding it reminds you of a tale you once heard, and you can make a History check to try and recall the details.

(I assume we can get the results of the history check as we're walking back through the hideout/Manor).

"What do we do with the Redbrands we've tied up? I think we need to carry the wizard back to Halia personally, and I'd maybe suggest that we leave the others here and let her send people to get them? The letter identified the wizard as Iarno Albreck? He was Sildar's contact here in town (OOC: Was he with the Lionshields or just another contact of Sildar's?), wasn't he? I suspect that he's turned rogue behind Sildar's back, rather than Sildar being an 'inside man' within Gundren's confidences, but anything is possible. We should tell Sildar once we've delivered him to Halia, and I'm sure the Townmaster will want to know that we've done his job for him."

History 11

(Iarno Albrek is a member of the Lord's Alliance and Sildar's secondary reason for being in Phandalin. Iarno had gone missing and Sildar was looking for him.)

You're not quite sure what exactly this blade was known for but you know it certainly holds special value, and more than likely a relic of the Trescendar family just by instinct.

"Hey where's that goblin?" Garr goes back to the Wizards Workshop to fetch the goblin and investigate the room since they skipped it chasing Glasstaff.

Investigation: 4

Callie breathes a sigh of relief when the monstrosity finally dies. She cleans and sheaths her sword, then mulls over Grum's statement.

"I think you're right about Blackstaff, he's too important to risk escaping. Let's just take him back to Halia for now, we can tell Sildar about it once we've turned him in, and maybe if he wakes up we can learn something from him in the meantime. As for the other Redbrands, I guess we should just double-check the knots and leave them. I don't think we can march them all off to Halia at once. As for the Townmaster..."

She levels a glare at the nothic lying dead on the ground. "He has some explaining to do."

<Squelch> nods in agreement to Callie's words, then slumps down on the ground from fatigue. He begins making 6 piles of treasure on the ground. Afterwards, he pockets the 2nd pile (the one with the most shiny stones) and the augury scroll. He then gestures towards the two healing potions and shrugs. <Gulping sounds followed by loud burp>. Lastly, he takes the two scrolls and holds them up in front of everyone, seeing who can use them.

1st pile:
1 pearl - 100 GP each 
(total: 100 GP)

2nd pile: <Squelch> takes this pile
two green, clear gems - 15gp each
two malachite gems - 15gp each
three dull-red quartz pieces - 10gp each
(total: 90 GP)

3rd pile:
three malachite gem - 15 gp each
two dull-red quartz pieces - 10gp each
10 GP
130 SP
(total: 88 GP)

4th, 5th, and 6th pile:
80 GP
70 SP
(total: 87 GP)

You climb back up from the pit and head back to the workshop. Inside are the same alchemical and magical reagents you've seen before, but even going through slowly you dont notice anything different.

As you begin poking around the bookshelves and tables, Droop awakens. "Wha- Oh my! Again!" He looks around the two rooms. "Where are the others!? Did Glasstaff take them!?"

"They're safe in the cavern room. We killed that eye monster too." Trying his best, Garr begins playing with and picking up the bottles and materials.

"Do you know how to use any of these?" He asks the goblin.

"Oh, thank goodness. Droop sometimes comes here to bring the wizard his food, but Droop isnt very smart. I see the wizard put some of these things in that thing and make potions with them!" He points to the contraption on the east wall which looks like a series of other bottles and reagents that have been set up to mix into one larger bowl, then drain into a small bottle. Next to the setup are a few items: mercury, some green liquid and purple powder.

You can make an Arcana check to see if you can utilize this contraption.

Arcana: 11