Germain turns to the others, "If there's fighting, it might be good for us to support the lizardfolk to make sure they aren't wiped out."

Toc nods, “Perhaps. We are headed down anyway. I agree we help the lizard folk if we can. Let’s go down and see what we see.”

"Or burn them all and sort out the "good" ones afterwards." Taviel was not going to do it, it was just the excitement of the battle.

You head down the stairs, where you find a large group of lizardfolk fighting with a mix of cultists and frogmen at the top of the stairs that lead further down. As you approach the cultists and frogmen pull back, going down the stairs fully. The lizardfolk hold their position though, not pursuing. The familiar figure of Snapjaw moves from among the ranks of lizardfolk and approaches you.

"The dragon kneelers and their frogs have retreated to the dungeon level." He informs you with a wide grin that shows off lots of sharp teeth. "We hold the rest of the castle above-ground."

Toc nods to the lizard folk. “Excellent, let’s get this done then and finish them off.”  He glances back at the party, “I expect arrows. Anyone want to go first?”  He grins an unusual and fierce smile. 

"I can lead, well at least a version of me will lead." Then Naroth summons his Echo and has it travel down the stairways first, hoping to attract any arrows that may come flying up the stairs. If his Echo disappears he will summon it again and then continue down after it, by about 15'.

[OOC: Echo has an AC of 16 and 1 hit point.]

Taviel was not much of a shield anyway, and traditionally let others walk ahead.

Germain pulls out four ball bearings and causes them to emit a small amount of light and tosses them down the stairs ahead of the group before following Naroth and Toc.

Magical Tinkering: 5' bright and 5' dim.

The steps down from the southwest tower of Castle Naerytar spill out into a chamber, with a pool along one wall.

The chamber is brightly lit by one lantern hanging next to the entrance steps and another hanging near the northwest opening. The chamber is empty. Only the sound of dripping water comes from the direction of the Northwest and Southeast openings.

Steps to the northwest and steps to the southeast are two exits from this chamber. There is also a crack, in the wall with the pool, it is only about 3 feet high above the water, so most must crouch to get through.

The water flooding the side of the chamber is little more than a puddle; it reaches a depth of 1 foot near the center. The water is slightly acidic, but not enough to cause damage.

Any sound of which way the enemies who just ran away went?

Perception: 26

Toc frowns as he glances around at the three other exits to the room. He moves over to the southeast steps and glances down that direction.

Germain
You hear splashes coming from the passage Toc has just moved to check out. You also hear muttering coming from the northern exit.

Toc
You see muddy prints on the ground of the southern exit. The stairs lead down, then have a landing, before leading down a bit further. Clear sounds of splashing comes from that direction.

Ulric looks over to the southern exit, "They've split up. Which group do we pursue?"

 "The smaller one? To kill them faster."

Toc frowns, thinking about it, "This is where they bring the treasure right? Can you tell which way they've been moving large crates or treasure? Rather than play a game of chase in some tunnels we don't know while they extricate the treasure, we should head straight to their storage and go from there."

Germain moves close to the others and speaks quietly, "They seem to be trying to lure us downward and ambush from behind, I'd say ambush the ambushers. Can anyone create an illusion of us heading down the stairs? I can create the sound of footsteps headed down the stairs, either as well as or instead. That way, the group below calls out, the group up here tries to ambush our illusions and we ambush them instead. Otherwise, we can simply attack the ones up here first, especially since they may just be waiting for us to leave so they can escape with whatever treasure they have." As he speaks, you notice his usually rather calm, expressionless demeanor becomes somewhat excited at the prospect of planning the death of these folk.

(There are muddy footprints on the ground in the SE stairs. If you want to examine them closer I will need a survival check. No one has looked at the NW exit yet, so you don't know anything about that passage at this point.)

Germain moves to examine the northern exit where he heard the muttering, checking tracks and trying to hear what is being said.

Survival: 13
Perception: 9

Naroth whispers, "Well I can have my Echo go down the stairs in conjunction with your walking sounds, but I can only move my echo 30' from me before it disappears. I am good with ambushing the ambushers." A wicked grin spreading across his face.

Germain
Moving to the NW exit, you notice it has stairs that go down, then a room that seems somewhat filled with mist or fog of some sort. The muttering you find is lessening for some reason, either people going quiet or moving away. It is hard to tell without actually entering the chamber. The stairs seem wider than the Southern exit.

Those near the Southern exit
The sounds of splashing has stopped by now.