Caspia easily stabs the last remaining rot grub with her short sword. It writhes on the end of the sword until she carefully wipes it away. The room now appears free from danger.

Zi turns back to the group, looking exhausted, "We can't keep taking fights like this nonstop, at some point we should sit down and rest for a few minutes, try to recover some of our strength. While I wouldn't want to go to sleep in this mansion until we know it is clear, if we keep eyes and ears peeled maybe we can take a bit of time to regroup?"

"Aye, seems reasonable. Let's salvage the plate off this poor fellow, then take a breather in the mess hall. Someone find me an empty grain sack or bedroll to put the pieces in."

Gulin, keeping an eye for any remaining rot grubs, gets to the gruesome task of stripping the body of the armor.

"Ogh, smells almost as bad as Granny after an all-mornin' whiskey bender."

Good for a short rest after.

It appears that the fire flushed most of the rotgrubs out of the body. A few charred bugs remain inside the corpse, but with a little work the armor is easily removed. The plate mail is banged up and there is an opening almost a foot long where a longsword has been brutally forced through the armor. Other than it appears serviceable. The longsword and shield are in good condition. An explorer's pack, lacking the rations and water, is under the corpse.

Short Rest Hit Points Recovered:

Gulin Runehammer: 6

Caspia Aspergina: 4

Angus McTavin: 3

Zilvi Brinehanded: 6

Josh, shouldn't Gulin's total HP be 9, not 11?

Yep, sorry. Fixed.

After finishing gathering the mail and placing it in a spare sack, Gulin also straps the sword and shield to his pack, and dumps out the explorer's pack. He picks through, grabbing the mess kit, tinderbox, and three torches and sliding them into his own pack. Setting down his gear for a spell, Gulin lights a small candle and his pipe, kicking back in one of the mess chairs with his feet up. He detaches the iron-bound tome from his belt, flipping through the pages while smoking on the pipe.

Arcane Recovery to get back a level 1 slot.

"Well, shall we find this Sanbalat character?" He closes his book, looking towards the southwest corner.

"Indeed. let us continue on."

Caspia closed one of the books she had taken and put it back in her pack. She gathered her and things waited for her companions.

Stepping back through the wine cellar that has been turned into a small eating and living area with the beds and large dining table. Glancing over your shoulder you notice the blocked off door in the southeast corner with the wooden bar across it marked "Danger!"

However, you continue to head to the southwest, pushing open the secret door. The passage behind the door is well lit with torches, and the path begins to decline perceptibly. The passages appear largely natural, but there are signed of worked stone here and there.

To your southwest lies an uneven, naturally formed cavern that is about twenty feet in diameter. To the immediate south is a roughly circular, naturally formed cavern that is slightly larger. There doesn't appear to be anything of note in either cavern.

"Down we go." Gulin lights the bullseye lantern, pointed it down the passage.

The four adventures slowly continue down through the caverns, heading east. The torches along the wall are no longer lit, though they still line the passage you are following. An iodine smell permeates the air.

Angus McTavin Perception: 21

*Whispering to all*

"Careful everyone, I hear something breathing hard ahead. Prepare yourselves for another fight."

Jarsh prepare to throw something besides a nat1

Angus quietly pulls his sword from its sheath without a noise. With his sword up he advances down the eastern passageway prepared to defend himself from whatever lies ahead.

Zi whispers to the group:

Caspia smiles wryly and unsheaths her weapons slightly. She whispers to her companions.

"It does seem our approach of rushing directly in has resulted in several injuries. I can limit the sight of whatever is ahead of us, but it could also limit our sight." 

i.e. I can create a fog cloud, but I'm not sure how useful that will be.

"Zi, you can cast a light spell, yeah?" Gulin fishes in his coin pouch, pulling out a copper piece.

"Cast upon this coin, and I'll give it a good toss. Worse case, they get lit up with no recourse. Best, they flinch and we can strike from the shadows ourselves."

So, cast light on the coin, then Gulin covers it in his fist so no light gets out. Angus/Caspia get in a good position at the entrance, stealthily. Then, Gulin chucks in the coin and lights up the room. Can rush in after, and they shouldn't be able to hide as easily with a sudden new light source.

Remind me to buy a sling, some small clay pots, and a bunch of handaxes when we get back to town. For... reasons.

Zi grabs the coin and backs up further into the caverns before using her spell-casting focus on her shield to cast Light, careful not to let any light escape down the tunnel. Clenching it in her fist she returns to Gulin, handing him the coin and whispering:

 Zi then motions to Angus, her hands counting down from three to two then one, then finishing with a closed fist motion Angus to move forward. As Angus leaps into action, Gulin throws the coin into the small cavern.

Angus Initiative Roll: 16

Sanbalet Initiative Roll: 18

With a howl Angus with Caspia in tow, charges into the room. It looks like you've got the jump on the would be ambushers, if only barely.

The coin illuminates the cavern. This cavern, like the passage leading to it, is lined with torch brackets that are currently unlit. The unnatural light coming off of the coin thankfully lights up the room. You can see five small bolts of cloth stacked against the wall to your left, and to your right are eight small casks in a neat row.

Attempting to hide within a room are a bandit, a scout, a large goblinoid with dark orange and red skin, and a tall man with a shaved head and piercing green eyes. Given his fine robes you think that the last of these malcontents must be Sanbalet.

Gulin rushes forward after tossing the coin, steps behind Angus. Seeing the cluster of foes along the south wall, along the barrels, he raises his left hand, shouting an arcane phrase and releasing a massive torrent of flame that fills the south half of the chamber.

Move to the square south of Angus. Cone per discord.

Burning Hands (DC14 Dex Save): 7

Hobgoblin Dexterity Saving Throw: 12

Sanbalet Dexterity Saving Throw: 6

Scout Dexterity Saving Throw: 15

The Hobgoblin and Sanbalet both easily dodge out of the full force of Gulin's burning hands. The scout is not quite as lucky and looks quite worn from the flames.

Angus once again charges straight at the enemy with a roar. He singles out the enemy beyond the cloth, thrusting the short sword at the bandit.

Sword Attack: 10 Damage: 4

If the sword doesn't kill then Angus follows the sword thrust with a vicious punch aimed square at the temple of the bandit.

Punch Attack: 22 Damage: 6

Caspia steps forward to attack the enemy closest to the group (assuming Gulin hit everything else?).

She lunges with her scimitar and short sword, swiping and thrusting her weapons at the enemy.

Short Sword: Attack: 17 Damage: 4

Scimitar: Attack: 16 Damage: 3

After attempting her attack, Caspia steps back, staying on the balls of her feet to help avoid a counterattack.

Angus' short sword misses, but his fist easily connects with Bandit. As the Bandit stands there dazed from the blow, Caspia easily skewers the enemy, who falls over attempting to stem the bleeding from his neck.

You feel the your hair stand on end as Zi rushes forward muttering an incantation. As she reaches the clump of remaining enemies she shouts, "For the glory of Procan!" An instant later the chamber is filled with a deafening force. Loose items and rocks are scattered out of the way. Your ears begin to ring.

Zi Casts Thunderwave:

Thunderwave Thunder Damage: 2

Hobgoblin Constitution Saving Throw: 15

Scout Constitution Saving Throw: 7

Both the scout and hobgoblin stand their ground against the force unmoving. It takes what feels like an eternity for the ringing in your ears to subside. The Hobgoblin who first appeared unmoved by the blast slouches over and slowly crumples to the ground. The scout regains her composure and slashes at Zi with a shortsword. Zi readies herself.

Zi will use Wrath of the Storm if she receives a hit.

Short Sword Multiattack 1: 16 Damage: 6

Short Sword Multiattack 2: 13 Damage: 8

The first strike expertly snakes between the shield and Zi's armor, slashing her shield arm. Suddenly, lightning emits from Zi's shield engulfing the scout.

Wrath of the Storm Lightning Damage: 7

Scout Dexterity Saving Throw: 14

The air fills with a charred spell as you watch the Scout's hair stand on end. For a brief second the skeletal structure is visible, and the water is boiled out from the poor Scout's body.

Sanbalet yells, "You may have dispatched Sanbalet's minions, but he shall not be an easy mark! You will soon rue the day when you stepped foot in Sanbalet's mansion!" After comically referring to himself in third person, fire begins to build in his hands and points towards Zi.

Sanbalet Casts Scorching Ray first targeting Zi, if she goes down he will then target Angus, then Gulin, with this attack.

Scorching Ray Attack 1: 20 Damage: 11

Scorching Ray Attack 2: 12 Damage: 7

Scorching Ray Attack 3: 7 Damage: 8

All three attacks sail wide of Zi, uselessly slamming into the wall behind her. You hear a loud panting sound coming from behind you as a second Hobgoblin comes to his masters aid. The Hobgoblin slides to a stop next to Caspia, too winded to attack. The loud sound blast from the thunderwave, still echoing throughout the caverns, has most likely alerted anything still living in the mansion.

Hobgoblin took the dash action to reach the combat.

Green health bars will be added to fights. When creatures go below half health I will try to remember to turn the bar red to signify that they are injured. Numbers will only be shown for party members. Also you guys got really damn lucky.

Gulin takes out one of the flasks of lantern oil in his belt satchel, holding it up in his hand while eyeing Sanbalet. He moves his aim slightly, keeping a clear line between his hand and the mage, unimpeded by Zi.

"Catch."

The clay flask launches out of his hand in a flash, whirling through the air.

Catapult, DC14 DEX. 9

Next time I have this idea, I'll make sure Angus has a torch ready for immediate followup... he could always hold a sword in one hand, torch with the other, and elbow/kick dudes for his bonus martial arts attack. Recommend Angus and Zi pummel that dude while Caspia holds off the new Hobgoblin.

Sanbalet Dexterity Save (DC 14 for the Catapult, DC 18 to avoid the oil): 12

Sanbalet lets loose a howl as the flask of oil nails him right in the chest. The clay shatters with a large portion of it burrowing deep past Sanbalet's shirt and into his skin. Within the close confines of the cavern, he undoubtabley had little time to react. He bends over retching blood, "You think your puny magic compares to Sanbalet's?" Oil drips off of his now tattered fine clothes and onto the floor.