Another Dragon at Icespire Peak - IC Thread

"Well, shall we continue?" Lia asks, brushing dust from her tunic and moving to the West door. She glances to the others, making sure they are with her,then opens it.

Rhok, crossbows at the ready comes up beside Lia and quietly nods a 'ready' to open the door

Lothlién readies his magic and speaks softly "ay, all ready"

The door to the west opens to a small room three separate sections covered with a tattered wool curtain. Behind it you find three privies, each with a wooden bench set against the back wall. Luckily for you, the fortress has been abandoned for so long that no stench remains.

Continuing to the door on the south wall you find a larger area, roughly 20 feet wide by 25 feet long. Standing before two cold blackened hearths are a pair of steel anvils. A fluttering noise can be heard coming from the southernmost fireplace.

There is an storage space by the west wall, where you see many tools still hanging from hooks along the wall. Some look rusty, but most of them have a protective oil coat and are still in working condition.

"Who wants to be first to check what is fluttering in the fireplace?" Lia asks with a glance in that direction.

Xarroth gives a low growl that matches his glowering face, "Bats, most probably... If you take time to prepare bolt and spell, I can shoot a flashing bang..." his face softens, "I would rather not shoot flame, someone may be stuck." 

"I'll ready to attack anything hostile that comes out of it, if someone wants to take a look." Lia agrees.

"I'll check it out" Rhok whispers and moves towards the fireplace

stealth:   13  

The chimney up the fireplace is dark, most likely blocked. Some ash falls on Rhok's face as he looks up. The fluttering noise sounds louder. A stirge flies out, flapping its leathery wings and tries to latch itself on the ranger.
Attack: 19 Damage: 6

A half mosquito, half bat creature sucks some blood out of Rhok!

No need to roll for initiative here, but feel free to attack. It takes an action to detach the stirge without killing it.

OOC: stirge image in the spoiler block below.

Lia lets fly with her readied crossbow attack as soon as the bat-thing flies out of the chimney...

Attack: 21 Damage: 10

As he had it readied, Lothlién fires a Fire Bolt as soon as the stirge is on his sight, even before he grunts out "What in hell?!"

Attack: 14 Damage: 15

Xarroth also slings a mote of flame at the sudden appearance of threatening creatures!

Fire Bolt
Ranged Spell Attack: 23 Damage: 16 (fire) 

Lia's crossbow bolt and Lothlién's fire bolt collide before reaching their target, neutralizing themselves in a smoke cloud. Xarroth expertly hits the bloodsucking parasite off Rhok, leaving the ranger free to continue exploring.

You don't hear or see any other creatures moving in the smithy. There is some ash in the fireplaces and tools that you could take for yourselves.

"Opsie" Lothlién says, trying to use humor to conceal his embarrassment. "Sorry for your bolt, Lia. I guess I was too jumpy"

"No harm done." Lia says with a grin. "Do we want to take any of these tools, or leave them while we continue scouting the place?"

"GAH! WHAT IN THE.....thank you everyone" Rhok exclaims as he gets a better look at the abyss mosquito

"I don't have any use for the tools..." Lothlién says, ready to keep going.

"We can always stop back for them before we leave then." Lia agrees. She leads the way out of the chamber and then to the last of the normal doors. Once everyone is ready she opens it for a look inside.

OOC: this was the last of the normal doors. The hall with ghouls has these entrances:

North wall:
- hallway connecting to the room with ballistae.
- broken door leading to the empty armory.
- normal door leading to the the barracks.

West wall:
- normal door leading to the privies.

South wall:
- normal door leading to the forge and tools.

East wall:
- closed double doors.

Getting over the surprise, Rhok looks at the dead stirge. Pink fleshy wings and a rat tail look mismatched against the furry head and elongated proboscis. The animal looks half famished, making you wonder how it got here in the first place.

Going back to the hall, Lia listens to the double doors for a moment and, hearing no sounds from inside, opens them. The stone doors glide without a sound, revealing a great hall with a 40-foot-high ceiling supported by four thick stone pillars near the corners.

A thick layer of dust covers the flagstone floor. In the middle of each wall past the entrance is a double door. Arrow slits are set high up in the north and south walls, and a small stone balcony protrudes from the wall above the east exit at the other end of the room, 20 feet above the floor.