((So both of you can have a reactionary action, to what just happened, prior to initiating combat, if that's what you decide to have happen. At this time, the two of you are still the only ones on this level, who can see in the dark))
Seeing the faint glow of Viilgahan's lamp and the shadows of several of the party members, in the hole below; and being unaware of Ura's predicament since he is unable to see in the dark, Ander cautiously begins moving down to the level below as well.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Feeling the fangs digging into her shoulder, Ura grunts and tries to use the slick floor to help her slide out of the thing's grasp. Disgusting, but less worrisome to skate on poop that to be bat food, she figures.
Acrobatics check (to break grapple): 7
If Ura manages to slip away from the bat, she'll use her bonus action to disengage and run for the hole.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Giant Bat-Like Creature: 14
Using the slick floor beneath her feet, Ura manages to slip out from the creature's grasp. Blood streams from two puncture wounds in Ura's shoulder as the creature's fangs are pulled from it. She successfully slides towards the hole, meeting Uthal and Ander as she reaches it.
Austin moves back towards the room above at the sound of a struggle. She would pause as those from above move towards her. "What's up there?" Austin asks them, glancing past them, but unable to see much due to the angle of the tunnel.
"Big, ugly bats. We're not here for the bats, so unless Anaeris doesn't come after me, stay down there," she says, panting a little and holding her shoulder.
The sudden appearance of both bats sent a rush of adrenaline through Anearis. Ura got wounded, but was slippery enough to escape and make it to safety. With the 2 beasts facing him, Anearis turned heel and ran back to the hole to rejoin the others. He hoped his superior speed would help him put some distance between him and his foes.
As Anearis top jumped down the hole, the entire party managed to leave the throne room, and gain some sense of security from the bat-like horrors in the fog above.
Nik nods towards Ura’s shoulder, that she was holding, “what happened up there?”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Bats. Gigantic bats. We fought one of 'em before in Midgar, when they and their cadre of undead attacked the city. They like to grab people and fly off, presumably to eat them or something. There were two of them up there, and one of them mistakenly thought it had me."
She sighs a little, figuring it's time to get everyone on the same page so they know what they're facing in this dungeon. "Look. You guys need to know what we might be facing down here. The black smoke in the ceiling of the room we were in... it moved like it had a life of its own, and descended onto the city of Midgar in the night a few days ago. While it was there, zombies and bats and banshees and gods know what else came out and attacked the people unfortunate enough to be left outside during that time. We know, because we got caught up in the thick of it. Nearly managed to kill Anaeris here, and then they overwhelmed the barracks we were trying to take shelter in. Which wasn't that hard, because the manpower in the barracks had already been depleted from some royal treachery coming straight out of Cathaan. All they had left to defend the city was some greenhorn scribe boy who lost his mind from the assault and torched his own place in the process."
She sighs, deciding to condense the sordid bit with the Berossus family to the salient points. "If you meet any of the Berossus royalty down here -- a brother and sister, a human named Anton and an elf named Zelda -- don't trust them. They're secret cultists who spent their time in Cathaan kidnapping commoners and experimenting on them for the pleasure of creating their own personal zombie servants. After their dungeon of horrors got exposed to the guards there, they fled to Midgar and brought the same bad luck with them here. They might have done worse, if not for the Arbitrator.
That's the fellow we're looking for, Pas D'Armes... he's a red dragonborn. And he singlehandedly defeated a great many of those creatures on his own. Now, in an attempt to trace the plague that attacked the city to its source, he's tracked it down to here, the ruins of the Castle Aaargh. And on his own, like a fool, because he was expecting to die in the service to the city. He's a good man, and maybe more importantly, he's a powerful man, so we can't let him die down here defending people who don't even appreciate what he's doing. Whatever this down here is, it's already wrecked havoc in two cities. Leave it unchecked, and I'm sure this poison is going to cut a swath of terror straight through the entire continent."
Done saying her piece, Ura pinches her nose between her thumb and forefinger. That was a lot of talking, and she didn't even make a joke once. Definitely a strain on her mental powers, doing that. And with her luck, of course, nobody was going to believe a damn thing. Sighing, she releases the bridge of her nose and shrugs it off. "That's enough damn talking from me. Let's get on with it. Get your treasure if you want. I'm here for D'Armes."
Piece said, she takes a good look around the area, searching for any traps.
Despite what little there was to see as his eyes adjusted, Viilgahan's attention was pulled toward Ura once she began her story. He raised his brow, as much as a scaled brow could rise anyway, at the various exploits she began to detail. The light of his lantern took on a dimmer hue in the color spectrum, allowing his eyes to adjust, he returned it to a normal shade as she spoke.
Midgar under attack was only slightly worrisome, the garrison there was large enough to repel any undead force that the dragonborn could think of. Even one raining from the sky if that was to be believed. He only had interest in one shop, everything else was fit to fodder. With any luck there would be enough casualties that a little bit of looting under the guise of 'investigative dispatchment' could occur.
The family name of Berossus meant nothing to him, the exploits that she attached to them however had him listening intently. They sounded desperate, but resourceful, ripe for friendly word, a well placed dagger and a shallow grave. His maw twitched and his eyes sharpened at the thought of what they might be carrying, but he said nothing to interrupt.
Again the name of the dragonborn elicited a shake of his head. His name didn't mean anything. Not that his name translated as 'nothing', his name literally held no meaning to the black dragonborn. That wasn't to say that the tribes here could have had different ways, but to him it was a more human sounding name than anything else. Him being good was irrelevant. Him being powerful? Now that was something Viilgahan could attach a motivation to. He liked being owed. The ruins themselves being a source of Necromantic power also intrigued him. It wasn't exactly a school he was in pursuit of following, but he did recognize the usefulness in some of its less ambulatory spells.
With her piece finished, Viilgahan cleared his throat. "Quite a tale, tall, but with enough details to make me suspect at least half of what you say..." he gestured to their surroundings. "...is more than true." he nodded his head as if deciding something. "I would very much like to meet this D'armes of yours, as much as I would like to investigate these ruins and why such forces seem to muster here. If it's something that can be stopped or contained, perhaps studied in some capacity..." He shrugged. "Knowledge to better forewarn and forearm those like myself seeking to discover what those before have allowed us to lose."
...you forgot controlled... He winced but said nothing to the thing that had become Ura's shadow, crooking a finger with one hand while massaging her wounded shoulder with the other, and smiling it's broken jagged line of a smile all the while. He blinked it away, slowly, glancing at nothing in particular before bringing his gaze 'round again to find her shadow dancing like all the others in the light of his lantern.
“Tough act ta follow.” Nik looked around at the rest of the party to see how they might be responding to Ura’s tale. “I was really juss wanton’ to know what happened ta your shoulder, but if we’re sharin’ me and Nack...” he said pointing to the sleeping sack of dwarf on Uthal’s shoulder, “we’re just here for the treasure.”
"I figured,"Ura said to Nik, "Since you stole my coin." She grins and gives the dwarf a little wave. "No hard feelings, though. Keep it for now. I enjoy trying to get it back on my own. But be careful who you show it to -- people might jump to the wrong conclusions when they find something like that in your pocket."
"We had figured as much..." Anearis said with a tone full of disdain. Ura's retelling of their adventure so far had been fairly exhaustive. There wasn't much to add. Yet Anearis was almost certain that Ura, Ander and Uthal all had other motivations for wanting to aid the Arbitrator. Even he did.
As they continued forward, Anearis tried to help Ura look for traps.
Uthal confirms that for Anearis almost immediately. "I'm only here because the goddess wants me to be. Everything else, including your petty riches, is secondary. The goddess has a plan for what happens here and so I am here to be her instrument, or aid the one whom she has actually chosen." He glances around to the others.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
“You all already know why I am here. Austin said with a shrug. she moves ahead with the others, her rune – carved quarterstaff thumping onto the floor with every step.
The screeching had generally died down, but the flapping of wings and other sounds of movement, could still easily be heard through the hole to the throne room.
"It's not stealin' if I'm simply recoverin somethin' I got claim to." Nack directed the words towards Ura, though his eyes were busy wandering around the tunnel they currently found themselves to be in, and said nothing more to follow up, regarding his initial statement. Instead, he moved onto another subject "Stone here's a lot different than that above." He closely examined the solid slabs that made up the wall.
Unlike the basic standard quarry stone and mortar construction of the castle above, the walls and floor of the tunnel, were much smoother, solid slabs that seemed to run every five feet or so. The tunnel was approximately 10 feet high, and about the same wide, though due to the cave in at the hole from which the party entered, it only ran one way. Ura confidently surmised that in the stretch of tunnel ahead, there were no traps to worry about. The tunnel ran east to west, and continued on far into the darkness, but at about 50 or 60 feet from where the party stood, on the northern wall there seemed to be a large door and a pedestal.
Advancing through the tunnel with the group, Anearis was on high alert. Not that he didn't trust Ura's words that there were no traps, simply that they couldn't be too careful. As they walked, he noticed the bite wound on Ura's shoulder.
"Are you alright? Do you need this wound tended to?", he asked the other elf.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Uthal attempts to look as well, trying to see the damage and assess it as he was taught at the temple. "If you turn into one of those things I'm going to be very annoyed, Thief."
Medicine: 19
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
As the party progressed, in the only logical direction, through the tunnel, they soon found themselves standing at the doorway on the northwall. From where the party stood, they could also see where theirown tunnel ended. After another 30 feet traveling west, passed the door way, the tunnel made a hard right turn south.
The doorway, however, or more accurately two doorways, as a pillar seemed to split the two, were both large archways as tall and wide as the tunnel (~10ft by 10ft each) without doors. They opened to another tunnel beyond that seemed to end at a 'T' intersection, with another tunnel running east and west. The most noticeable feature though was a stone pedestal between the two doorways, with a slit of a hole on its surface. Currently, within the hole, a sword had been slid in, blade first.
Uthal's inspection of Ura's shoulder wound allowed him to come to the medical conclusion, that the elf had at least one, possibly two, small holes in her shoulder.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Uthal investigation: 8
As far as Uthal could tell, it was indeed, very much like the swords the party had seen at the Arbitrator's Spire, only a few days before. This particular sword too, had a new depiction on the cross-guard. This one showed two link-chains crossing each other in an 'X', behind it being what can only be described as a wrinkly, lumpy mass. What the mass was, was anyone's guess. One primary difference between this sword, and the others though, is the condition of the blade. While the ones from the Spire were polished and kept pristine, this one (atleast the part of it, not inside the pedestal), was worn, charred, and chipped.
((So both of you can have a reactionary action, to what just happened, prior to initiating combat, if that's what you decide to have happen. At this time, the two of you are still the only ones on this level, who can see in the dark))
Seeing the faint glow of Viilgahan's lamp and the shadows of several of the party members, in the hole below; and being unaware of Ura's predicament since he is unable to see in the dark, Ander cautiously begins moving down to the level below as well.
Feeling the fangs digging into her shoulder, Ura grunts and tries to use the slick floor to help her slide out of the thing's grasp. Disgusting, but less worrisome to skate on poop that to be bat food, she figures.
Acrobatics check (to break grapple): 7
If Ura manages to slip away from the bat, she'll use her bonus action to disengage and run for the hole.
Giant Bat-Like Creature: 14
Using the slick floor beneath her feet, Ura manages to slip out from the creature's grasp. Blood streams from two puncture wounds in Ura's shoulder as the creature's fangs are pulled from it. She successfully slides towards the hole, meeting Uthal and Ander as she reaches it.
Austin moves back towards the room above at the sound of a struggle. She would pause as those from above move towards her. "What's up there?" Austin asks them, glancing past them, but unable to see much due to the angle of the tunnel.
"Big, ugly bats. We're not here for the bats, so unless Anaeris doesn't come after me, stay down there," she says, panting a little and holding her shoulder.
The sudden appearance of both bats sent a rush of adrenaline through Anearis. Ura got wounded, but was slippery enough to escape and make it to safety. With the 2 beasts facing him, Anearis turned heel and ran back to the hole to rejoin the others. He hoped his superior speed would help him put some distance between him and his foes.
As Anearis top jumped down the hole, the entire party managed to leave the throne room, and gain some sense of security from the bat-like horrors in the fog above.
Nik nods towards Ura’s shoulder, that she was holding, “what happened up there?”
"Bats. Gigantic bats. We fought one of 'em before in Midgar, when they and their cadre of undead attacked the city. They like to grab people and fly off, presumably to eat them or something. There were two of them up there, and one of them mistakenly thought it had me."
She sighs a little, figuring it's time to get everyone on the same page so they know what they're facing in this dungeon. "Look. You guys need to know what we might be facing down here. The black smoke in the ceiling of the room we were in... it moved like it had a life of its own, and descended onto the city of Midgar in the night a few days ago. While it was there, zombies and bats and banshees and gods know what else came out and attacked the people unfortunate enough to be left outside during that time. We know, because we got caught up in the thick of it. Nearly managed to kill Anaeris here, and then they overwhelmed the barracks we were trying to take shelter in. Which wasn't that hard, because the manpower in the barracks had already been depleted from some royal treachery coming straight out of Cathaan. All they had left to defend the city was some greenhorn scribe boy who lost his mind from the assault and torched his own place in the process."
She sighs, deciding to condense the sordid bit with the Berossus family to the salient points. "If you meet any of the Berossus royalty down here -- a brother and sister, a human named Anton and an elf named Zelda -- don't trust them. They're secret cultists who spent their time in Cathaan kidnapping commoners and experimenting on them for the pleasure of creating their own personal zombie servants. After their dungeon of horrors got exposed to the guards there, they fled to Midgar and brought the same bad luck with them here. They might have done worse, if not for the Arbitrator.
That's the fellow we're looking for, Pas D'Armes... he's a red dragonborn. And he singlehandedly defeated a great many of those creatures on his own. Now, in an attempt to trace the plague that attacked the city to its source, he's tracked it down to here, the ruins of the Castle Aaargh. And on his own, like a fool, because he was expecting to die in the service to the city. He's a good man, and maybe more importantly, he's a powerful man, so we can't let him die down here defending people who don't even appreciate what he's doing. Whatever this down here is, it's already wrecked havoc in two cities. Leave it unchecked, and I'm sure this poison is going to cut a swath of terror straight through the entire continent."
Done saying her piece, Ura pinches her nose between her thumb and forefinger. That was a lot of talking, and she didn't even make a joke once. Definitely a strain on her mental powers, doing that. And with her luck, of course, nobody was going to believe a damn thing. Sighing, she releases the bridge of her nose and shrugs it off. "That's enough damn talking from me. Let's get on with it. Get your treasure if you want. I'm here for D'Armes."
Piece said, she takes a good look around the area, searching for any traps.
Investigation: 6
Despite what little there was to see as his eyes adjusted, Viilgahan's attention was pulled toward Ura once she began her story. He raised his brow, as much as a scaled brow could rise anyway, at the various exploits she began to detail. The light of his lantern took on a dimmer hue in the color spectrum, allowing his eyes to adjust, he returned it to a normal shade as she spoke.
Midgar under attack was only slightly worrisome, the garrison there was large enough to repel any undead force that the dragonborn could think of. Even one raining from the sky if that was to be believed. He only had interest in one shop, everything else was fit to fodder. With any luck there would be enough casualties that a little bit of looting under the guise of 'investigative dispatchment' could occur.
The family name of Berossus meant nothing to him, the exploits that she attached to them however had him listening intently. They sounded desperate, but resourceful, ripe for friendly word, a well placed dagger and a shallow grave. His maw twitched and his eyes sharpened at the thought of what they might be carrying, but he said nothing to interrupt.
Again the name of the dragonborn elicited a shake of his head. His name didn't mean anything. Not that his name translated as 'nothing', his name literally held no meaning to the black dragonborn. That wasn't to say that the tribes here could have had different ways, but to him it was a more human sounding name than anything else. Him being good was irrelevant. Him being powerful? Now that was something Viilgahan could attach a motivation to. He liked being owed. The ruins themselves being a source of Necromantic power also intrigued him. It wasn't exactly a school he was in pursuit of following, but he did recognize the usefulness in some of its less ambulatory spells.
With her piece finished, Viilgahan cleared his throat. "Quite a tale, tall, but with enough details to make me suspect at least half of what you say..." he gestured to their surroundings. "...is more than true." he nodded his head as if deciding something. "I would very much like to meet this D'armes of yours, as much as I would like to investigate these ruins and why such forces seem to muster here. If it's something that can be stopped or contained, perhaps studied in some capacity..." He shrugged. "Knowledge to better forewarn and forearm those like myself seeking to discover what those before have allowed us to lose."
...you forgot controlled... He winced but said nothing to the thing that had become Ura's shadow, crooking a finger with one hand while massaging her wounded shoulder with the other, and smiling it's broken jagged line of a smile all the while. He blinked it away, slowly, glancing at nothing in particular before bringing his gaze 'round again to find her shadow dancing like all the others in the light of his lantern.
Exitus Acta Probat
“Tough act ta follow.” Nik looked around at the rest of the party to see how they might be responding to Ura’s tale. “I was really juss wanton’ to know what happened ta your shoulder, but if we’re sharin’ me and Nack...” he said pointing to the sleeping sack of dwarf on Uthal’s shoulder, “we’re just here for the treasure.”
"I figured," Ura said to Nik, "Since you stole my coin." She grins and gives the dwarf a little wave. "No hard feelings, though. Keep it for now. I enjoy trying to get it back on my own. But be careful who you show it to -- people might jump to the wrong conclusions when they find something like that in your pocket."
"We had figured as much..." Anearis said with a tone full of disdain. Ura's retelling of their adventure so far had been fairly exhaustive. There wasn't much to add. Yet Anearis was almost certain that Ura, Ander and Uthal all had other motivations for wanting to aid the Arbitrator. Even he did.
As they continued forward, Anearis tried to help Ura look for traps.
Uthal confirms that for Anearis almost immediately. "I'm only here because the goddess wants me to be. Everything else, including your petty riches, is secondary. The goddess has a plan for what happens here and so I am here to be her instrument, or aid the one whom she has actually chosen." He glances around to the others.
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
“You all already know why I am here. Austin said with a shrug. she moves ahead with the others, her rune – carved quarterstaff thumping onto the floor with every step.
The screeching had generally died down, but the flapping of wings and other sounds of movement, could still easily be heard through the hole to the throne room.
"It's not stealin' if I'm simply recoverin somethin' I got claim to." Nack directed the words towards Ura, though his eyes were busy wandering around the tunnel they currently found themselves to be in, and said nothing more to follow up, regarding his initial statement. Instead, he moved onto another subject "Stone here's a lot different than that above." He closely examined the solid slabs that made up the wall.
Unlike the basic standard quarry stone and mortar construction of the castle above, the walls and floor of the tunnel, were much smoother, solid slabs that seemed to run every five feet or so. The tunnel was approximately 10 feet high, and about the same wide, though due to the cave in at the hole from which the party entered, it only ran one way. Ura confidently surmised that in the stretch of tunnel ahead, there were no traps to worry about. The tunnel ran east to west, and continued on far into the darkness, but at about 50 or 60 feet from where the party stood, on the northern wall there seemed to be a large door and a pedestal.
((Mapposted in discord))
Advancing through the tunnel with the group, Anearis was on high alert. Not that he didn't trust Ura's words that there were no traps, simply that they couldn't be too careful. As they walked, he noticed the bite wound on Ura's shoulder.
"Are you alright? Do you need this wound tended to?", he asked the other elf.
Uthal attempts to look as well, trying to see the damage and assess it as he was taught at the temple. "If you turn into one of those things I'm going to be very annoyed, Thief."
Medicine: 19
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
As the party progressed, in the only logical direction, through the tunnel, they soon found themselves standing at the doorway on the northwall. From where the party stood, they could also see where theirown tunnel ended. After another 30 feet traveling west, passed the door way, the tunnel made a hard right turn south.
The doorway, however, or more accurately two doorways, as a pillar seemed to split the two, were both large archways as tall and wide as the tunnel (~10ft by 10ft each) without doors. They opened to another tunnel beyond that seemed to end at a 'T' intersection, with another tunnel running east and west. The most noticeable feature though was a stone pedestal between the two doorways, with a slit of a hole on its surface. Currently, within the hole, a sword had been slid in, blade first.
Uthal's inspection of Ura's shoulder wound allowed him to come to the medical conclusion, that the elf had at least one, possibly two, small holes in her shoulder.
((Updated map posted on discord))
Uthal moves to inspect the blade without picking it up. He wants to see if it's like the ones hanging on the walls of the Arbitrator's Spire.
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
Uthal investigation: 8
As far as Uthal could tell, it was indeed, very much like the swords the party had seen at the Arbitrator's Spire, only a few days before. This particular sword too, had a new depiction on the cross-guard. This one showed two link-chains crossing each other in an 'X', behind it being what can only be described as a wrinkly, lumpy mass. What the mass was, was anyone's guess. One primary difference between this sword, and the others though, is the condition of the blade. While the ones from the Spire were polished and kept pristine, this one (atleast the part of it, not inside the pedestal), was worn, charred, and chipped.