The Scourge of Hosteria (IC)

[firstclassmail]

Sparks rose into the night sky, carried on wisps of smoke from a campfire. Small figures crowded around the fire under the red moon, intently listening to a bent and crooked old crone.
“I was there the night my grandfather returned home,” she graveled to the children gathered. Their eyes were wide, bodies wrapped in torn wool blankets, small toes peaking from holes in worn leather shoes. The children’s shoulders sank with the weight of travel and poverty, refugees from across the old Empire.

“He had been dead for ten years, but there he was in our hut, burial clothes falling from his rotting flesh. My mother got up from her bed, half asleep and dazed, she approached my grandpap. At first we were confused, but then he lurched at my mother, ripping skin from flesh with his browned teeth. My little brother screamed. My father finally woke and lunged from his bed to protect his wife. But it was too late…all too late,” the crones eyes trailed off for a moment.

“I remember my father grappling with the rotting figure that used to be my grandpa. My brother and I jumped under our bed and watched as my father was ripped open. Dust was thrown around as our pop wrestled on the floor with the intruder, until he struggled no more.”

“Strangely my brother and I were still as a stone. Maybe it was the shock, or maybe for once in our lives we were being smart enough to survive; we were silent as death. My grandfather ate my father before our eyes like a pigeon pie.”

“His,” she stuttered as she corrected herself, “no, the monster’s appetite was insatiable.”

“After what seemed like hours underneath my bed, I finally looked at my brother and motioned for us to run. He nodded his head, silent tears falling in a steady stream. I held my hand in front of him, and count down with my fingers. When my final finger fell, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Past the thing that used to be my grandfather, past my father and mother’s dead corpses, and out of our hut. I ran through the burning village, through the shambling corpses, through the screams and blood, until I reached the forests’ edge. I was always told to fear the forest, but that all seemed so naïve now.”

“When I reached the trees, I stopped and looked back, gasping for air. My brother was gone. Our village was burning, and a black reunion had come in the form of our dead relatives. A lone figure sat on a horse just outside the village gates. As if it sensed that I was looking at it, the figure turned its head. That’s when I saw him for the first time, the dreaded Count Redsmond. He smiled at me, two long canines behind a pleasant, handsome face. There were still some screams coming from the huts, but I turned and ran farther into the forest, abandoning all hope.”

In the year 3678, during the Season of Frenga, a massive host of undead and vile creatures came into the Midslanden Empire from the northeast. The armies of Midslanden, far to the south, were fighting a war with the Kingdom of Eichen. Unable to rally a defensive force quickly enough, the small garrisons of the Empire were swept aside under a flood of their own dead. The vampire Count Redsmond had pushed his claim to the throne with force, touting an ancient pedigree from a long banished family. The other kingdoms and factions of Hosteria were busy with their own conflicts, as if the forces of evil had worked in unison to usurp the world. The drow rose from below the earth and fought with elves of every forest and tall tower. The duergar harassed the dwarf clans, the High Prince of the Dwarves concentrating his forces at home amongst the mountains and hills. The sand necromancers quarreled with the divine empire of the Sun to the south, keeping the dark skinned cousins of the Midslanden Empire at bay.
When the army of the Midslanden Empire finally returned, they fought an unconventional enemy. Striking at night, with terror tactics, the army was overwhelmed by the vampire’s horde. Eventually, through attrition, the soldiers fell or fled. However, despite Count Redsmond’s effort, the capital of the Empire still stands, far to the southeast on the coast of the Bay of Nephone. With the rest of the Empire overrun, the capital city Flasport, and the weak council that ruled it, barred its doors and protected it’s own borders, effectually becoming a city-state.

Seventy five years later, the Midslanden Empire is ruled by, the now Emporer Redsmond. His seat of power, far in the north east is an impenetrable fortress city called Strawn.
The people of the Empire were not all massacred, the vampires needing someone to work the fields, serve them during the day, and act as cattle when needed. The denizens live in constant fear of their overlords and their undead host, with traitorous sheriffs acting as the hands of the Empire. Emporer Redsmond has also been able to form a living army, as conditions in the army and guard are much better than that of an average peasant. He has thrown down the old nobility of the Midslanden Empire and raised others in their place, with the promise of immorality always lingering over their heads. Trade and travel have resumed, and it is not uncommon to find mercenary work from local villages and denizens. With many of the old Empire’s structures in ruins, treasure and old magic is abound.

You are called to the small village of Thornst on the western edge of the Midslanden Empire. You are responding to an advertisement for needed adventurers from a woman named Teria. Whether you are going for gold, treasure, fame, adventure, or just to help some poor denizens, you find yourself in Thornst. The advert instructs you to meet her at her home, the only stone, permanent, structure in the village.

Hi guys! We will be using rolld20 as our combat and character sheet tracker. Please fill out your character sheet there, I realize that you probably already filled it out once on myth-busters. If you need an example on what it should look like, look at mine that is already loaded in the game. There is also a tutorial on how to find the character sheet option on youtube, along with a ton of rolld20 tutorials. Feel free to post below about your character looking for the house in the village, or arriving in the village, etc. It's just a typical village, so feel free to look for a denizen to ask a question. It is daytime in the village.

Link to the game on rolld20 (https://app.roll20.net/campaigns/details/1439281/the-scourge-of-hosteria)

[firstclassmail]

This page is being saved for future use.

[firstclassmail]

Thylden let out a sigh when Thornst finally came into view. From the Kingdom of Eichen it had been a little under a three week's journey to the village. The journey would have been longer, but he managed to convince some traders to let him ride on their wagons for about half of the way. Three days ago, they had to break off, as they were headed west to the Wilderlands, and Thylden north towards Thornst.

Thylden had been surprised by the normalcy that the Midslanden Empire exhibited, considering the ruling family was the head of a lineage of vampires. He had seen Midslanden soldiers patrolling the roads. They were dressed in similar fashion to the old Midslanden soldiers Thylden had seen before; colorful black and red clothes, landscnecht hosen, steel cuirasses and salade helms. They carried mostly pikes and shortswords, but they had a few crossbowman on horseback. All of their attire had the sigil of Emporer Redsmond. Thylden had not seen any undead or creatures of the night, however, the few locals he had talked to on his journeys seemed terrified of the evenings, and kept their doors barred tightly. One morning, in one of the villages he was staying in, a woman had sworn that her child had disappeared that night. But Thylden had seen nothing of the sort, no ghouls, or even felbats. Although the land did seem to have somewhat of a taint to it. Thylden had heard this vampiric influence was much more severe in the eastern parts of the Empire, closer to the capital of Strawn.

In any case, Thylden was in Thornst now. Up until this time, he had been working as a mercenary doing jobs in the Kingdom of Eichen, but word of the greater riches of the Midslanden Empire reached him. Stories of treasure left in keeps and untold secrets buried deep had coerced him into responding to this call for adventurers from this lady named Thalia. The advert had instructed to arrive on this specific day, an odd request, but one Thylden was easily able to keep since no surprises met him on his travels here.

The village was of normal size, probably 10-20 different buildings scattered about. Since it was the morning Thylden found his way to the marketplace and asked a vendor where Thalia's house could be found. With a grunt and a finger point, the man gestured towards a stone two-storied house with a wooden pointed roof.

Not a bad house for a small village, thought Thylden to himself as he approached the threshold.

Thylden made sure his pack and clothes were unruffled and presentable, then knocked on the wooden door.

An old man appeared, dressed in servants attire.

"Are you here for Thalia's advert," asked the old man abruptly.

Thylden smiled politely, "Yes, I am."

"This way, this way," the old man growled. He led Thylden to a dining room and instructed him to wait here until the others arrived.

This might be a long day, Thylden surmised as he sat in one of the chairs around the table. There was some bread and cheese laid out for the guests. Thylden would wait for their host to partake.

My character will speak in blue, NPC's will speak in orange. Pick one for your characters in this post.

[NightMayer]

Wyllis approached the village of Thornst. It had been a 3 week march from the Dwarven Kingdoms. Wyllis had been a soldier there, but grew tired of the day to day grind there, and so he went out into the world in search of adventure as soon as his commander gave him his leave from the army.

Wyllis was thankful the flatter land of the Midslanden Empire allowed him to reach Thornst by the date specified in the advertisement, although it felt strange to be away from the mountains of his homeland.

Wyllis walked the streets of the village looking for the house described in the advertisement. As he did so, he noticed the villagers going about their daily lives normally, although there did seem to be some uneasiness just below the surface.

Before long Wyllis spotted the distinctive house, and knocked on the door. An old man appeared and asked Wyllis if he were here for Thalia's advertisement.

Wyllis nodded in replay and said "Yes I am"

The man led Wyllis into the dining room of the house where Wyllis spotted an elf seated there. Wyllis joined him, and said "Greetings, my name is Wyllis. Are you also here for Thalia's advertisement? Have you been told anything about the nature of our task?"

[firstclassmail]

Thylden nods his head at Wyllis. He had seen many dwarves in his travels, but their odd appearance and mannerisms had always off put his more polite nature.

"I am here for Thalia's advert, although I am afraid I do not know exactly what we will be doing. I suspect it might be somewhat dangerous, considering Thalia is unwilling to do it herself. The name is Thylden, pleasure to meet you. Hopefully more will come, I believe the call was for four people." says Thylden.

[Sanguin]

A slender man walks the road eastward. Dressed in well worn commoners clothes and a fraying brown hooded cloak, the hood shadowing his face discouraging conversation.. as darting green eyes drink in the landscape.. he comes to a small village of 20 to 30 buildings..

Circling the village from a safe distance he takes stock of his destination, what it holds.. the actives going on and around it.. signs of an active thieves guild or bandits.. satisfied that he has the bulk of the villages story he lowers his hood and approaches the village with a lively step.. Once more he walks through the village making pleasant conversation where he can to glean more information before heading to the lone stone house in the village.. here he knocks.. and greets the old man with a quiet smile..

[Andorien]

Holding a letter of summons in hand, Chen hikes toward the village of Thornst. Having just completed his training and become a full representative for the Temple of Dao, his masters have chosen to send him to this little village to test him. With an air of confidence, Chen approaches Thalia's home and knocks on the door, trying to set a good example.

Bowing deeply, Chen says "Greentings. I am Chen of the Temple of Dao. We have received your request for aid and I am here to lend my services."

[firstclassmail]

The old servant bring the two newcomers to the dining room. A few minutes pass, with the adventurers sitting at the table with their new company.

A bell rings, and a woman walks in, garbed in a simple dress. She is middle aged, has brown hair and blue eyes. She sits at the head of the table and smiles at her guests.

"Well, I guess you can surmise that I am Thalia," she says to the adventurers. Thalia has a calm voice, well practiced in formalities.

"I'm not one to dance around the subject, so I will be direct. A long time ago, my family had something stolen from them, and I aim to retrieve it. The item is a gold necklace inlaid with a ruby, an heirloom of sorts. During the war in which this Empire switched hands to the current...Emporer...my family fled west into the wilderlands in a hurry, as most people that could flee did. There was no time to pack trinkets or most valuables, and my mother forgot this necklace. Now that I have attained enough gold to hire help, I have summoned you," she pauses to take a drink of wine that the old man servant brought out on a tray.

"From what I have gathered, the locals tell tales of a band of former Empire soldiers that have ransacked many of the valuables of the region left behind. No doubt the loyalists of Emporer Redsmond have heard of this, and the local garrison will be sent out to find and kill these bandits. If they get their first, they will confiscate all of the items, and I will most likely never see it again. From all accounts, the garrison troops will do this in about a weeks time. Luckily for us, the keep in which the bandits have holed up is only a days march from here."

"If you retrieve the gold necklace, and bring the necklace back to me before a week's time, you will each receive 200 gold pieces for your trouble. You are also welcome to keep whatever else you find, obviously."

Thalia looks out the window at the sun, "It appears to be mid-day. If you leave now, you can make some distance to the keep. It is to the east of the village. When you hit a fork in the road, take a left on the smaller path into the woods and up a hill. I would be cautious at night. The tales are true, there are undead and creatures of the night that are always watching, and crawling back to their lord. Children go missing, livestock are found ripped open, but many of the villagers believe it is a small price to pay to keep order."

"With that, I wish you luck," Thalia says as she gets up from her chair and leaves the room.

Thylden opened his mouth as if to ask something, but Thalia had left before he got the opportunity. Looking a little confused, he says, "I suppose that is simple enough, albeit abrupt, and somewhat mysterious. My name is Thylden," he says to the newcomers.

"Should we leave now, or seek accommodation for the night? I have enough supplies for myself for the trip, I believe. Before we hit the road, I must prepare some runes and rituals, however, if we want to leave now."

[Sanguin]

Lounging in the chair, gently swirling the wine in his glass Bryn watches Thalia give her terse request. Watching the pulse in her neck, the tone of her voice and her mannerisms he tries to determine if this mission means more to her than a lost heirloom..



[roll0]


"That is good money to rough up the average gang of bandits. While you prep your arts I am going to see if the good man servant might make us a warm meal and glean what information I can on these bandits. If not from the man servant, the common man loves to talk. You two are welcome to join me. My name is Bryn by the way."

Rising regretfully from the comfortable chair Bryn heads towards the door, spotting the man servant in the hall way he compliments him on his ladies wine and asks if they might break some bread together before the companions head out having walked all morning to get to the village. Using lunch as a segue he inclines that his lady forgot to mention any details on the bandits numbers, magic users, any renowned for the strength in arms and if they might have connections to anyone in the village in the event mercy should be shown.

[firstclassmail]

You believe that the mission has to do with a sense of pride for Thalia. Her family possibly could have been wealthy, and she is embarrassed that they lost their status during the war. You do not think that the heirloom is anything more than an heirloom that was lost.

You rolled a 18 in rolld20 (16+2)

The old man brings Bryn to the kitchen and breaks some bread and eats with Bryn. "I probably shouldn't be talking to you, but I suppose a few minutes couldn't hurt. Thalia doesn't really share any details such as that with me. She is a successful merchant, and most likely has some kind of informants I am unaware of. As for if the bandits have a connection to anyone in the village, I'm sure they do. Brothers, sisters, husbands, mothers...who knows. They had to come from somewhere, and I bet a few of them came from this area. Most of them are disgraced soldiers from what I hear. Regardless, they are outlaws, and I'm sure they've killed to get what they have now. I doubt anyone in the village would be mad if you took them out, they know they had it coming. In fact, if the Empire finds out you showed them mercy, it might be your head instead."

Bryn hears Thalia call for the old man from the second floor.

"I best be going, feel free to take some food for the trip, I doubt Thalia would notice it's gone," he says quickly before he walks away.

[firstclassmail]

Thylden gets up from his chair and grabs some of the bread and cheese off the table and puts it into his pack. Enough for about two meals.

"I'll be outside the village on the road to the east. I won't be far, maybe a couple hundred feet. I just want to prepare my rituals away from the eyes of the villagers, so as I don't become distracted," he says to the dwarf and monk.

He leaves the house, and walks out into the street.

I have a feeling this won't be as easy as I was initially led to believe from the advert, Thylden thinks to himself. As he leaves the village, some children stare at him. He chuckles to himself, this is probably the first time they have seen a moon high elf. Hopefully it won't be the last.

He walks a couple hundred feet, moves to the side of the road and grabs his wooden sickle. As he motions around himself in a protective fashion, runes glow on the sickle. Within a couple seconds, they disappear.

Thylden stands patiently waiting for his new companions, taking in the plains around him. In the distance he sees storm clouds. Looks like rain, he frowns to himself.

[Sanguin]

Bryn nods his thanks to the old man. Once the old man moves out of sight he quickly looks through the cabinets to see if there is anything of interest. Finding some dried dates and an apple he sticks them in his pocket for a road snack. Filling up his waterskin from the pitcher on the counter he slips out of the house.


[roll0]
Looking for interesting


Heading to the east road he sees the high-elf up ahead. Not sure if he should give him more time to prep he starts foraging along the side of the road for valuable herbs that might be useful in potions or by themselves.. moving at this slow pace he figures the others will be along soon and they can be on their way..


[roll1]
[roll2]
Trying to find herbs

[firstclassmail]

As Bryn rummages through the kitchen, he sees nothing of value, just of nourishment.

The bushes and grass obscure your view, but you are able to find one type of herb in the area that looks useful. You do not recognize what it is, but it seems like enough quantity to be the ingredients to one fourth of a potion.

While foraging, over your right shoulder, you hear a whisper of Thylden's voice, "I'm done with my spells, whenever you are ready. I suppose we will have to wait for the others."

As you turn to reply to Thylden you see he is over 100 feet away, where he was before.

[Sanguin]

Gathering up the herbs and tying the ends up with a bit of string Bryn drapes them over his shoulder and starts walking towards the wizard Thylden. Settling in to wait, Bryn squats down on his heels looking up at the wizard with a friendly smile.

"Any news from your part of the world friend?"

Offering the wizard a hand full of dried dates..

[NightMayer]

Wyllis gives his thanks to the old man for his offer of food. He takes about two meals worth of the bread and cheese and stores it in his pack.

He catches up to Bryn and Thylden and offers them greetings. "Seems like lot of trouble for a necklace. Still, the pay is good, and it sounds like these bandits are in need of some justice."

[firstclassmail]

Thylden takes some of Bryn's dates and eats a few.

"Honestly, I wouldn't know," he responds to Bryn's question,"petty squabbling between royal families no doubt. Still peace though, at least I heard."

Thylden looks at Wyllis and says, "people do strange things for honor and family. It does sound like these bandits have it coming, especially if the Empire is after them as well. They must be quite a thorn in their side. We seem like an able company at least, maybe Thalia knows what she is doing."

[Sanguin]

I am curious if the empire will call well enough alone. Say they do go to this bandit lair in a weeks time only to find the bandits dead and the treasure once again stolen. These missives that Thalia sent out would lead the empire directly to her and then to us. It might be wise to develop some sort of misdirection.

I wonder if our Monk friend is developing second thoughts, are they not suppose to be a quick sort of folk typically?

[NightMayer]

You raise some good points Bryn. Luckily Tahlia's advertisements were fairly vague, so the Empire will hopefully remain unaware that she is the one who hired the group to dispatch the bandits. Still it would be best to cover our tracks and lay low after completing our task.

[Andorien]

"I don't see any reason for waiting around." Chen grabs a small snack for the road before heading out. After catching up with the rest of the group, Chen responds to Bryn: "There's no doubt the empire knows of the missives from Thalia, but I highly doubt they would know the reason for her call for aid. And if I know soldiers, they will be glad that the job is already done for them and they can get back to their ale. Maybe we can make up a story about collecting some pelts for her to sell, if you insist, but I don't think that's necessary. If we're all here, we should get going. Besides, as my master says, 'The successful man is the one who had the chance and took it.'"

Roger Babson

[firstclassmail]

"I doubt the Empire will care much if a couple trinkets are missing, though a story is never a bad thing. Pelts it is. I suppose we can get moving," says Thylden as he walks down the road, pack on his back, wooden sickle in hand.

The group follows down the dirt road, passing some farms and fields along the way. Early in the afternoon, the clouds that appeared earlier create a steady rain, but not quite a downpour. The mood dampens a bit as the rain continues.

Eventually the group comes to the fork in the road that Thalia spoke of, the rain stopping finally.

"Well, this is the path to take, to the left up the hill and into the woods. I think I can see the keep in the distance, although it is probably another half days march. Should we rest here for the night, or do you want to continue until we get there," Thylden asks the group as he squints up the hill. The sun looks like it is about an hour from setting completely.

[Sanguin]

Makes more sense to show up rested I suppose. Do you gentlemen prefer to sneak in the back door or crash down the front door. I am thinking taking them by surprise at night might be a good call.. so either tonight or tomorrow night?

[NightMayer]

I agree it would be best to stop for the night, especially if these stories about the dead wandering around are true. I agree with taking them by surprise. Hopefully with the strange goings on around here, the outlaws won't be extra vigilant at night, on the lookout for things that go bump in the night. Still if we are able to take the keep tomorrow, it would be a good place to camp and hold the door against any undead that may be moving about.

[firstclassmail]

"I suppose we can camp off the road a couple paces, no one is likely to come this way at least. No need to watch guard, I have a little friend up my sleeve," says Thylden with a smirk.

Quite literally, a small black bat flew out of his sleeve into the air above him and into the distance.

"He will wake me if we need to be woken, and no one will be able to get by him without some kind of strong magic. Even invisible magic won't work on him, as he is quite literally blind. I think I will eat some of the food that Thalia gave us and save some rations."

Thylden removes some of the bread and cheese from his pack and begins eating it. Sitting down against a tree, he takes off his bedroll from his pack and lays against it. You see him begin to meditate, as all elves do instead of sleeping.

The other adventurer's eat a bit of rations and prepare for the night, sitting around and enjoying each other's company for a bit as they eat. Eventually the sun fully sets, and the night sets in, our adventurer's begin to drift off to sleep one by one, with sounds of owls and crickets.

Everyone remove one ration, or one ration equivalent from their pack, unless otherwise stated. There are penalties for being hungry and thirsty.

The adventurer's are suddenly torn from their slumber and meditation by a nervous-looking Thylden. He brings one finger over his mouth as a sign to be quiet and whispers,"something is out there, some kind of small sentient creature. Does anyone see anything?"

please roll perception and initiative rolls

[Sanguin]

Bryn slowly raises to a crouch from his meditation, scanning their surroundings and identifying some cover if need be..


initiative:
[roll0]

perception:
[roll1]

[NightMayer]

Wyllis wakes with a start and quickly grabs his axe as he peers into the darkness.

Initiative:
1d20

Perception:
1d20+3

[NightMayer]

Initiative


Perception
[roll]1d20+3

[NightMayer]

Perception:
[roll0]

[Andorien]

lalalalala 10 characters minimum[roll0]

[Andorien]

lalalala derp[roll0]

[firstclassmail]

In the distance you see three hooded figures with beaks. They clearly are not human, and are holding short swords.

The group has a more difficult time seeing in the darkness. As the group peers out to look for the intruder, a voice of a small girl can be heard talking from just beyond eyesight, "help me, I'm lost!"

Bryn throws out a hand in warning, "Don't listen to them! They are holding swords and do not look like a child."

Thylden nods at Bryn and all of a sudden his wooden sickle lights in flames. Thylden makes a throwing motion, and the small flame leaves his sickle towards the directions the voices came from. It soars over the target and hits a tree in the distance, however it illuminates the figures it passes over, and they are clearly some kind of beaked creature dressed in hoods.

"Damn, I missed," calls Thylden.

Thylden (went)
Chen
Baddies
Bryn
Wyllis

[Andorien]

Chen's quick reflexes allow him to dash straight toward the nearest threat, and in an effort to show his fine skills, he gloriously misses his swing with his quarterstaff. Luckily, the momentum from the swing carried his staff all the way around, and poked the kenku in the head for minimal damage.

[firstclassmail]

The creature that Chen hit lashes out with its short sword, but Chen manages to side step the attack. The third Kenku, seeing a fire bolt pass over his head, stands from behind a log and shoots an arrow at Thylden, cutting his arm as the arrow passes. Thylden winces in pain and lets out a yell as his left arm begins to bleed.

The final Kenku advances towards the dwarf in front of him and unleashes a brutal slash at Wyllis, cutting deep into his side. Bryn, seeing his new dwarf friend attacked, runs at the beaked beast and hits him with a flurry of short sword and dagger hits. The bird cries out, as Wyllis brings around his axe, severing the Kenku's head from its body.

Thylden runs behind a tree, grabbing his hurt arm, but manages to hurl another firebolt at the Kenku that shot him. The creature cackles as the flame sails over its head.

Chen once again swings his quarterstaff as a feint, and hits the Kenku with a side kick, crunching bone.

The flightless birds once again try to attack their quarries, but miss both times.

Bryn runs at the Kenku engaged with Chen and scores a clean cut with his dagger, guts spilling to the ground, the creature falls.

Wyllis runs at the last Kenku and with his might axe fells the beast as it tries to run away.

everyone got 2cp and 38 exp.

The group tends to its wounds before once again going to sleep. Their skills tested and their bandaged salves healing, they become more confident in each other. The rest of the night goes on uneventfully. Thylden snaps from his meditation before the sun has risen too high and casts some spells of protection around himself. His bat As the others wake, he eats the remainder of his bread and cheese from Thalia's house.

As he chews on his bread he talks with his companions, "That was a long night, I thought the beasts had us at first," he says as he rubs his arm,"Shall we be off? Maybe on the way I can learn more about all of you?"

As the group packs their belongings, they begin off down the road, Thylden tells the group of his freelance work in the Kingdom of Eichen, sparing no detail in how he rescued a daughter of a noble house to the south.

Remove one meal worth of rations if you want, please post if you do so so I know who is tired and not. Feel free to share a story about your character (if your character wants) so our group knows each other better.Also, please roll perception checks.

[Sanguin]

Finishing his meditation before the others are awake Bryn decides to scout around the camp site, trying to figure out where the little bird men might have come from. While sneaking around incase there might be more he also looks for ingredients to make a tasty breakfast and fresh water..

Perception (trying to spot foods useful herbs)
[roll0]

Stealth (trying not to wake anyone up or attract unwanted attention)
[roll1]

Survival (identifying good foods/herbs/water)
[roll2]

[NightMayer]

Wyllis awakens sore but healing. He retrieves the dagger he had thrown and embedded in one of the kenku. He also eats the last of the bread and cheese from Thalia's house. "I did think those beasts had us too, but they paid the price for disturbing a dwarf from his rest." As he finishes his meal he tells his companions about his time as a soldier in the dwarf king's army and how he took his leave to find adventure and see more of the world.

Perception check
[roll0]

[Andorien]

As Chen munches on his meal, he recounts his simple tale. "I was raised in the Temple of Dao. Lived there my whole life. I just recently passed my tests to become an acolyte of the temple, and I am here because Tahlia requested aid from us. It is common for us to lend our skills in such ways, in exchange for a tribute. I have no idea what she gave for me to be here though. Must not be that valuable for my master to send a fresh acolyte, haha."
lalalalalalla
[roll0]

[Sanguin]

After an unsuccessful venture for food and information Bryn returns to camp to await the waking of the others with Thylden. Quietly munching a ration of dried fruit, smoked fish and a few walnuts he begains the daily ritural of tending to his gear.. Wiping the last dark stains from the short sword and dagger.. he looks up and smiles and Thylden motioning to the others..

"Sleepy buggers, aren't they?" I've often wondered why we that live so long get even more time in our lives than our shorter lived friends. I wonder if in some way they live in a different sort of way in their sleep?

[roll0]

[firstclassmail]

Thylden looks at Bryn, "doubtful," he says as he chuckles.

A short while after Thylden and Bryn's conversation, Chen and Wyllis wake up, and the four adventurers tell stories of their exploits. They eat a meager breakfast. When the time comes, they gather their things and begin down the path towards the keep.

The small dirt path winds for hours, trees on either side. The sounds of wildlife sings through the small woods. A little after mid-day, the group can see the keep farther up on a hill in the distance. Guards of the bandits can be seen walking around the entrance to the keep, laughing and talking among themselves. The keep itself looks rather small. It seems to be a single, circular building, possibly five stories tall. It might have once served as a watchtower for the old Empire. The guards themselves, from what you can see, are garbed in leather armor, with some in crude chain mail. You see four humans guarding the entrance. The entrance is a wooden door atop a stone staircase circling along the wall up a story high above the landscape; clearly meant for some protection from intruders.

Thylden turns to his companions and says, "How should we approach this? I'm not a very sneaky type."

[NightMayer]

"Hmm, I'm not very stealthy either. In the dwarven army, we always faced down our enemies with our superior numbers. Still it seems in this case, the head on approach probably isn't the best." Turning to Chen and Bryn, "How are you at moving around undetected? Maybe if someone can circle the keep, we can spot a weakness in their defense. Or possibly we can create a distraction to try to draw the guards away from the keep."

[Sanguin]

I can try and move around the fortress. You guys stay here out of sight and watch for what times they change guards or anything else we can take advantage of. Perhaps we can take them at night or dawn when they are glad the night is over but still to sleepy to be alert.

With those words Bryn starts circling the for looking for any advantage points they might be able to capatalise on. He stay back into the trees out of the sight watching for traps any means that the bandits might have set up to alert them in the event of an attack. He also keeps a look out into the woods, unsure who else may be eyeing up the fort.

Stealth
[roll0]
[roll1]

Perception
[roll2]
[roll3]

second roll is just incase I have advantage unless its an added plus.. in that case lets just add it to the first roll and hope for the best.. :P

[firstclassmail]

You circle around the keep and notice no traps or secret entrances on the outside. You see a window into the first floor, the floor that the door you saw from the outside leads to, and can see no one on that floor. Looking at the four human guards outside, you see two carrying short swords and wearing leather armor. A younger one is standing on top of the staircase to the entrance with leather armor and a short bow. The final one is in chain mail and carrying a spear.

Bryn leaves to scout the area. About ten minutes later, the adventurer's see him making his way back to the group behind tree cover.

[Sanguin]

Bryn glides up to where the others and sitting and reports.

"There seems to be only one way in and that is through that door. There is a window on the same level as the door is on but not really reachable from grade. Unless one of you have spider relatives? It seems as though our options are limited. We could try for a surprise rush or perhaps try and lure some of them into the woods. If we storm the front gate maybe we all try and take out the look out on the stairs so he cant go and lock the door or get help. While we then engage the other three?

I am not a general by any means, do you have suggestions master dwarf? Or perhaps Thylden has a spell that will give us a bit of an advantage?"

(feel free to read the above spoiler, Bryn shared his findings)

[Andorien]

What if we just walked up and asked for the necklace? As my master says, 'Honesty is the best policy.'"

Aesop

[firstclassmail]

Thylden looks out to the bandit guards, "I could cast a small illusion, but it won't last very long, and I would have to get somewhat close. I could also try to cast a spell that might make them fall down. Either that, or we just surprise them with a barrage of quick ranged attacks and try to take a few down before we engage. I can cast grease, try to knock some down, then we could cast some ranged attacks?"

[Sanguin]

Bryn's eyebrows furrow as he is trying to comprehend this strange Monk..

You have an interesting background friend, but these are fellows that killed for this loot. I am not sure they would just give it back for a please and a thank you. This grease spell you speak of sounds good. How about this, we sneak into range to take out that archer fellow. you hide in the shadows, and as the other three charge us you put a grease patch in front of them. Time it so they fall close enough that we can be upon them before they get a chance to rise?

[firstclassmail]

Thylden nods his head.

"That sounds like a good plan. I think we have them unawares, I will stand behind a tree, wait for you all to finish your ranged attacks, and then cast grease. Hopefully it goes according to plan."

Thylden gives another quick nod at his companions and then moves behind a tree, readying his spell.

We have them in an ambush situation. Please do an attack/action, then roll for initiative in the same post. You should find yourselves on the correct map in rolld20.

[Andorien]

Chen positions himself behind a tree near the northern bandit, and lets loose a piercing dart that sticks right in his targets neck.

Attack roll: 13. Damage: 7 Init: 23

[Sanguin]

Bryn, also set up behind a tree waits to see if the first strike will be successful, seeing the archer grab at his neck he releases a sling stone straight for the unsuspecting targets face. A dull crunch is heard as the archers face caves into his skull.. teetering at the edges he falls to the ground below as the life drains out of the now still figure.

Bryn, hoping to set things up for Thylden's trap sprints into the open before ducking once more behind a tree..

Attack roll 1d20+5 = 23 (Hit)
Damage roll 1d4+3 + 1d6 = 11 damage (kills archer)
initiative roll 1d20 +3 = 13

[NightMayer]

Wyllis takes aim with his crossbow and fires a bolt at the southernmost enemy.


Initiative: 11 Attack: 11 Damage (if hit): 4

[firstclassmail]

Wyllis' bow flies over his target barely, hitting the stone keep behind.

The guards, seeing one of their friends fall to the ground, cry out and charge towards the adventurers.

"Show yourselves," they scream.

Chen, Bryn, monsters, Wyllis, Thylden

[Andorien]

Chen rushes forward and swings with his quarterstaff, followed up by a swift palm strike.

Quarterstaff [roll0] [roll1]
Unarmed [roll2] [roll3]

[Sanguin]

Bryn's eye brows raise in surprise as the monk charges in, not sure what to do he lets loose another stone with his sling.. yelling at Thylden that the monk is most likely going to be needing some help..

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

attacking the one that the monk has engaged, since i attack before him still get my sneak attack.

[firstclassmail]

The bandits' eyes widen as Chen rushes him. Chen's quarterstaff whirls over the bandits head, but a quick elbow comes up and hits the bandit in the chin. A stone quickly follows, but whistles by the bandit harmlessly.

The bandit engaged with Chen slashes out with his short swords, but Chen parries away the blow with his quarterstaff.

One of the bandit yells at the other, "go wake the others!".

The bandit wearing chain mail begins to run for the stairs. As soon as he does, Thylden turns from around the tree, mutters an arcane word and throws some kind of substance from his wooden scimitar. It hits the stairs in front of the bandit. The bandit slips a bit and seems to regain his balance, but then falls backwards onto the landing, prone.

The last bandit grimaces and dashes forward past the stairs towards Thylden.

Bryn, you had a disadvantage to attack that guy because you were too far away. Your second roll was the lowest and missed.

[NightMayer]

Wyllis grabs his trusted battle axe and bolts into action, attacking the bandit charging toward Thylden, and hoping the Bandit's friend on the stairs won't be able to regain his footing any time soon.

Attack: 1d20+4=15, Damage: 1d8+4 = 10

[firstclassmail]

Wyllis' blow hits the bandit square in the back, piercing the leather armor. As he falls forward Thylden places the end of his dagger below the bandit's chin and into his neck.

Thylden attacks the bandit with his dagger. Then moves into towards the bandit on the stairs.

[Andorien]

Chen sidesteps around his target, swinging again.


Quarterstaff [roll0] [roll1]
Unarmed [roll2] [roll3]

[Sanguin]

Darting across the field and pulling his short sword and dagger out along the way he lunges at the bandit next to
Chen and then slashes with his dagger.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
[roll3]

if either hits I can use my sneak attack
[roll4]

You don't need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn't incapacitated, and you don't have disadvantage on the attack roll. (Page 96)

[firstclassmail]

The bandit in chainmail looks back while he is on the ground and sees his friend's throat slashed open by Bryn's shortsword. Frantically, the bandit begins to crawl up the stairs in order to not slip on the grease, it is difficult going, but he manages to crawl out of the mess and on to the final staircase.

[NightMayer]

Chen, stop him from alerting the others inside the fort if you can!

Wyllis charges toward the stairway and in desparation throws his dagger at the enemy

Attack (1d20+4) = 12, Damage (1d4+2)=4

[firstclassmail]

Wyllis' dagger deflects off one of the bandits pauldrons.

Thylden, seeing the bandit make towards the entrance, turns to attack him. He mutters an arcane word as he hurls a fire mote at the bandit. The mote hits the bandit in squarely in the back, and the bandit cries out in pain as the chain mail turns molten-red.

[Andorien]

Chen races up the stairs and masterfully maintains his balance on the grease. Upon reaching the first landing, he throws a dart at the fleeing bandit, gloriously missing.

[firstclassmail]

As soon as Chen releases the dart, Bryn runs up the stairs gracefully, and jumps on to the back of the last bandit sinking his short sword down into shoulder. The group quickly looks around for other bandits, while trying to make as little noise as possible.

Shedding some of their gear to make them more quiet, Chen and Wyllis store their packs outside near a tree.

The group lines up on the stairs with looks of determination as Wyllis slowly opens the door with a creak. The comrades quickly move into the bottom room of the keep as quietly as possible, scanning the room. Inside they find a entrance room with some benches for sitting. On the west side is a locked wooden door, while on the east side is a staircase upstairs. Not finding anything of value in the room, and unable to unlock the door without causing considerable noise, they begin their ascent up the staircase on the east side.

Wyllis is the first up the stone staircase, with his back against the wall he quietly moves up the steps. No sooner does he reach the second floor does one arrow hit his shield with such force, it pushes him back leaving him exposed to a second arrow which embeds itself in his shoulder.

Seeing Wyllis cry out in pain, Thylden rushes up the stairs and throws a fire mote from his scythe at the first foe he sees. The mote hits the man directly in the chest, burning flesh and leather together. Chen follows Thylden up the stairs, quarterstaff whirling, and he brings it down on a bandit nearest to Thylden, cracking his right arm.

Bryn is the next up the stairs and runs at the bandit engaged by Chen. He rolls and buries his sword in the bandits side, blood rushing down the blade. The bandit falls to the ground, grasps his side and screams in pain.

A crossbowman, seeing his friend fall, sends an arrow at Bryn. The arrow embeds itself in Bryn's back. Bryn coughs specs of blood and drops his weapons. He falls to his knees and then slowly leans over on to the ground.

Wyllis runs forward in anger, seeing his wood elf companion dying on the ground. He brings his axe down on one of the bandits head, cleaving it in two. Another bandit quickly runs up behind Wyllis and cuts him deeply with a shortsword. Wyllis falls over, unconscious.

Chen dashes and whips his quarterstaff to the bandit's face, crushing bone and pushing the bandit back against a wall where Chen punches him solidly in the throat in quick succession. The bandit gurgles a cry and slouches down.

In retribution, the last bandit raises his crossbow and aims it at Chen. The quarry flies and lands in Chen's side. Chen plucks the arrow out quickly, and blood spurts from the hole. He falls to the ground, and begins to bleed out.

Thylden looks around in horror at the scene unfolding. He locks eyes with the bandit that just shot Chen. The bandit quickly begins loading his crossbow, and Thylden begins chanting an arcane ritual. The bandit looks up, raises his crossbow too shoot, but a mote of fire meets him square in the face, and he falls dead. Thylden is standing across the room, scythe smoking from the spell he just cast.

Seeing his companions dying, Thylden quickly runs about the room and stabilizes them. He unleashes his companion to guard in case intruders interrupt his work.

"Too close...too damn close," he mutters to himself as he fumbles with the bandages. He had never been good with medicine. Luckily he is able to stabilize his companions and they take a short rest, tending to their wounds with salves and bandages. Gingerly, they get up, determined to go on. If they leave now, the treasure might be lost to them.

The companions mutter thanks to Thylden, and they all continue upstairs.

Bryn goes first, silently moving up the final staircase. In front of him he spots a tripwire, and motions to his companions. They step over the tripwire. The room they stand in is clearly the top floor of the small keep. It looks to be some sort of master bedroom, with a large bed and furnishings. Wyllis finds an ancient looking book, which he is able to determine is a ancient ritual book for the elder god Trusde. The group is unable to determine exactly what the book says, but depictions of gruesome, ancient rituals are found inside. After searching the room, they also find a key underneath one of the pillows of the bed.

Discussing the situation, the group decides to push on, so the bandits that are possibly gone don't come back to find them.

[NightMayer]

"Whew that was quite a battle. Those bandits fought ferociously - you have to give them that much even if they are scum. Many thanks to you Thylden - if it wasn't for you, we'd all be worm food. Hopefully I can repay the favor to you someday. I'm still not in top condition, but I say we look try this key in the locked door (after making sure it isn't trapped) to see if the necklace is behind it. I don't want any of these guys' friends slitting my throat in the night if they happen to return if we make camp here."


For whenever we decide to leave this floor, I rolled my acrobatics check to keep from hitting the trip wire on the way out on d20: Result 20 (Wyllis should have a fine career in the traveling circus if adventuring doesn't work out)

[Sanguin]

"Yes, Wyllis I agree. The sooner we are out of this place the more likely we are to leave it. Lets move with quiet caution." Looking at Thylden Bryn says with a crooked grin, "I hope to never need to repay you."

He then starts moving back down the stairs as quiet as possible listening and looking for any new signs of bandits..

Acrobatics
[roll0]

stealthy
[roll1]

perception
[roll2]

[firstclassmail]

Thylden responds to the two, "No worries. I am not without honor. Although I'm not sure I could have stayed around if there were more than one of them alive to fight."

The rag-tag group gingerly moves over the trip wire. They slowly descend the stairs of the keep, ears listening for any possible bandits that might come. The first floor of the keep still has the entrance door wide open. Thylden walks over to it and quietly shuts the door and then blockades it with a bench.

"Maybe this will stop any bandits coming into the keep from outside," he tells the others.

They all get into position, and Wyllis turns the key and unlocks the door. The group stands there for a tense moment. Nothing happens. Wyllis sighs in relief, and then slowly opens the door. Below is a staircase winding down, stone on either side with torches lighting the path. Moss has grown on the walls, and dampness covers the stone steps. The group can see down the staircase, until it makes an abrupt turn. No sounds are emanating from the stairs.

[NightMayer]

"Hmm, it's quiet down there - maybe too quiet. Only one way to be sure. Let's see what we find down there. Shall I lead the way?"

Wyllis scans the stairs to make sure there aren't any more trip wires or other traps before sneaking down the stairs.

Perception: 4
Stealth: 7

[Sanguin]

Bryn also watching for traps moves silently a few steps behind Wyllis..

Perception
[roll0]
Stealth
[roll1]

[Andorien]

Chen has been lost in thought since his brush with death. Peering down into the darkness he mutters "Master would say 'We all have two lives. The second one starts when we realize we only have one.' That seems more relevant now."

Quote: Tom Hiddleston
Perception [roll0]
Stealth [roll1]

[firstclassmail]

The group gingerly looks down the staircase. Satisfied that there are no traps, they slowly descend into the dim-lit cellar of the keep. The staircase ends in a hallway. Four doors are visible, all wooden. The cellar is as quiet as a grave, save for the few drops of water dripping from the ceiling occasionally. Torches adorn the walls. One of the doors has a glowing light coming from underneath it, much like the light from a fire.

[Sanguin]

Bryn puts his finger over his lips to signal silence, then slowly moves forward into the damp corridor gingerly placing his feet to avoid any hidden traps or weird little creatures. Checking the different doors to see if they are locked he listens for any activity behind the doors..

perception
[roll0]
stealth
[roll1]

[firstclassmail]

Bryn moves stealthily down the hall as his companions watch on. He is as quiet as a cat as he pads softly to each door. Thylden, Chen, and Wyllis are still, staying close to the stairs.

At the door with the glow coming from underneath it, you hear the crackle of a fire, it sounds as if it is dying out. The door on the east side is silent. As you approach the door at the far end of the hall, you realize that there is blood coming from underneath it.

[Sanguin]

Not sure what to make of it, but all seeming quiet Bryn wonders if maybe the floor is deserted. Moving over to the rest of the group he whispers his findings. Signalling that perhaps they open one door at a time and all have their ranged weapons ready incase there is a resident or two left..

feel free to read the spoiler.

[NightMayer]

"I agree Bryn that we should try opening one door at a time. Should we try the door with the dying fire first? If there is anyone in there, maybe they are sleeping and we can catch them unawares. While we decide if we agree on that, I will check that door for any traps anyone may have laid for us."


Perceptions roll (1d20+3) = 9

[firstclassmail]

Thylden sighs, "If we go this slow we won't be able to get the necklace before the Empire comes. We don't even know if its on this floor, and if we dally they may think we are bandits ourselves and put us to death...I have a spell prepared, I'll open a door."

Thylden cautiously walks up to the door with a glow coming from underneath it and reaches out to turn the handle. He looks back at his companions, nods curtly, takes a deep breath, and throws the door open. A few seconds pass as Thylden surveys the room from the doorway.

Thylden breathes out in relief, "See, its just the kitchens...a fire is dying in the fire pit."

[NightMayer]

"Yes you are right that we shouldn't dally here too long. I guess my recent brush with death has made me overly cautious."

Wyllis examines the kitchen to see if anything of value is there, and then goes to open the door on the east side.

Perception roll (1d20+3)=11

[Sanguin]

Bryn, watching Thylden, half expecting the brave wizard to sprout arrows from his stomach breathes a sigh a relief when the room turns up empty. Seeing that it is a kitchen and hoping to find something useful, food or another ingredients for a potion if not the neck less itself, he slides into the kitchen and gives it a good search. Being as queit as he can.

Before readying himself for the next door to be opened...

Perception:
[roll0]


Stealth:
[roll1]

[firstclassmail]

The group straightens up slightly after Thylden opens the kitchen door. They file in, looking around the room. The group find no gold or jewels, but do find a day's worth of trail's rations each. The kitchen seems as if it was left in the middle of a cooking session, with food being cooked for the day left in various states of prep work. The fire is dying slowly in the hearth of the pit where a rabbit is burnt to a crisp clearly over cooked.

After grabbing some rations, the group files back into the hallway. Wyllis takes the lead this time and opens the door slowly to the room to the east. The room is much larger than the kitchen. The first thing you notice are two wooden chests on the far side of the room. Various other trinkets and armaments lay around the room. Clearly this is some kind of store room, possibly where the bandits kept their stolen goods. A couple of wooden chairs are also in the room, possibly to house a guard or watchmen for the loot.

"Aha," Thylden exlaims, "this is more like it."

[Sanguin]

Bryn's eyes light up when seeing what he hopes is the treasure trove, then wincing he rubs the raw arrow wound in his gut. "This does look more promising than toasted rabbit. Lets be careful, if those chairs were meant for guards and given the trip wire up stairs, I wouldn't be surprised if there was something else protecting this stash."

Watching carefully where he steps and looking for traps he surveys the room..

Perception Check:
[roll0]

[NightMayer]

Wyllis opens the door and his jaw drops as he sees the treasure. Even though he can barely contain his excitement, he lets Bryn examine the room first, having trust in his ability to spot any traps. "Careful now you don't want to accidentally set off any traps looking around."

[firstclassmail]

You see a strange trigger on one of the treasures, you are sure it is some kind of trap. You believe you know how to disable it, as you see a loss tile ceiling that looks like it may contain something.

The group stands behind Bryn has he searches the room for treasure, Thylden in the back observing carefully.

[Sanguin]

Bryn looks back at the others and nods towards a ceiling tile above. Slipping a few tools out of his back pack he studies one of the treasure chests. Holding his breath, sweat beading on his forehead he sets to work disarming the trap..

Disable Trap
[roll0]

[firstclassmail]

Bryn's fingers nimbly coerce the trap with a sudden click. Confident that he has disarmed the trap, he puts away his thieve's tools and opens the chest that was trapped. Thylden, Chen, and Wyllis crowd around Bryn to see inside the first chest. Inside are various belongings that the thieves have stolen, many of which are too heavy to carry from the keep. However, you do notice six onyx gems and a gold necklace with a ruby inlaid.

Thylden walks over to the second chest and opens it, but the chest is empty.

"Well, that was disappointing," mutters Thylden, "This one is empty."

[NightMayer]

Wyllis congratulates Bryn for noticing and disarming the trap, and turns to Thylden.

"Yes that is disappointing, but it does look like we found what we came after". Wyllis picks up the necklace and examines it to see if he can see anything unusual about it. He also takes one of the onyx gems and examines the empty chest to make sure there aren't any hidden compartments.

"Now that we've found the necklace we should decide if we want to retreat or if we want to see what's behind the other two doors. Even though I'm wounded, I wouldn't mind exploring the rest of the building. We dwarves never turn down the chance for more treasure," he says with a chuckle.

Perception 1d20+3 = 16

[firstclassmail]

Wyllis peers in the chest Thylden opened to make sure the night elf didn't miss anything.

"Don't trust me after I saved your life," Thylden says with a grin, "I agree with Wyllis. We only have a couple of days before the Empire's troops come to this place, so we won't be able to go back to the village and here to investigate further. Besides, something strikes me as odd about that book we found, I'd like to see if we can find out more about it."

Thylden walks to the door, "shall we? I suggest we open the door without the blood first. Who knows what's behind that."

Thylden walks calmly out of the room into the hallway, his wooden scythe in hand.

[NightMayer]

Wyllis goes to the door without the blood. Holding his breath, he carefully opens it...

[firstclassmail]

"Freeze," a voice cries out from the room of the door Wyllis opened, "or I'll put a bolt in ya!"

The group huddle around the door behind Wyllis. The room is some kind of small shrine, with a statue of some kind of malformed angel in the middle. Behind the statue is a young thief, hands shaking as he points a crossbow at Wyllis. The thief's leather armor is covered in blood, whether it is his or someone else's, you aren't sure. The young thief looks desperate and tired.

On the walls of the room are some shelves with glass vials, possibly concoctions. The room possibly doubled as a storage room for the bandits, however, most of the supplies seem missing.

Everyone, I forgot to give xp for the trap, so add 20 xp to your sheets.

[NightMayer]

Wyllis holds the door and talks to the thief while avoiding making any sudden movements. "Now, now lad. There's no need for any more violence today. Lower your crossbow and let's talk this over. How did a young lad like you end up with these bandits?"

[Sanguin]

Bryn picks up the remaining onyx gems, handing one to Chen he says, "We can sell these extra two when we get the opportunity and split the gold, if that seems fair to you guys?" Rummaging abit more in the trunk he mutters, "Seems like these bloaks just collected anything."

Following Wyllis down the hall to the next room Bryn watches the exchange between the young theif and the sturdy dwarf. Waiting for the silence to sink in he stats as a simple fact. "Firing that crossbows seems like a very good way to die." I suggest you set it aside and tell us about this weird angel character your standing behind. Its sort of odd looking, isn't it?"

Perception
[roll0]

Persuasion
[roll1]

[firstclassmail]

I rolled a persuasion for Wyllis. He got a 19! This dwarf can do it all.

The young thief looks hesitant at first, but seeing the number of people he is against, he slowly lowers his crossbow, but still keeps his guard.

"How did I end up with the bandits? What other choice is there? I could be working in the quarries and mines, breaking my back for little pay. I could join the Empire's new army like most of the youth, forget the past; I remember what they did to the people. So I became a bandit," he said, with a tone of desperation.

The thief looks at Bryn, "I'm not sure what the statue is. A couple of weeks back a priest, or a monk, or something came to the keep and persuaded our leader to do some digging underneath of it. This morning a whole bunch of the group went down with him to do a ritual around a shrine they found. I was supposed to guard this floor."

The thief's eyes trail off to the unopened door with a blood pool underneath it. "I heard screaming and pounding on the door, and then silence before I could get there. I saw the blood, and began to run upstairs, but then I heard shouting and fighting as well. I thought I was surrounded, so I hid here. Did you kill everyone?"

[NightMayer]

"Among my people, working in the mines is considered honorable work, even if the pay isn't that good," Wyllis tells the bandit with a little pity in his eyes.


"Aye we did kill all the people upstairs although they put up quite a fight. We'll try to find out what happened on the other side of the door but it sounds like maybe your friends dug up something they shouldn't have. How many people went in there? Also, can you tell us what's in these glass vials? Is there anything there that will help us if we need to fight against whatever is behind the door?"

Persuasion check if needed (hopefully not - I must have used up all my persuasiveness): 5

[firstclassmail]

The thief looks down briefly, "So you are not with the people that attacked down in the cellars? That's a relief. I suppose that woman from Thornst actually was serious about that necklace."

The thief pauses for a moment,"If you let me go, I won't seek revenge, I swear! The other bandits had what was coming to them, we all knew it could happen. If you let me live, I'll tell you what they were looking for down there!"

"I'm telling the truth. Those vials are health potions we had some stock of, there's four of them, perfect for your numbers! Take them if you let me go."

The young man seems to be working himself into a frenzied desperation.

[NightMayer]

Wyllis tries to calm the young man, "Now, now we don't want any more violence. We got what we came for, so we'll let you live - but you'd better be telling the truth or you'll be joining your dead bandit friends soon. Now tell us what you know about what they were looking for behind the door. Perhaps we can still save some of your friends"

Wyllis takes one of the potions. Speaking in a low voice to the others in the party so that the bandit can't hear "Hopefully he's telling the truth about these being healing potions. With the blood coming from under the door we may need them."

[firstclassmail]

Thylden walks past the others to the potions. He grabs one off the shelf, opens the cork and takes a whiff. "He is not lying, these are healing potions."

The young thief looks reassured and lowers his crossbow and holsters it on his back. "I don't know what they were looking for, or why that strange priest was here. All I know is, we've been in this keep for a couple of months now, and this statue has been here the whole time. None of us really knew what it meant."

"Well, if we are going to let him go, we might as well do it now. No sense in dilly dallying. Anyone opposed? I'm impartial either way," Thylden says to the group, "although I wouldn't mind a servant to carry my books."

[NightMayer]

After hearing Thylden's reassurances about the healing potions, Wyllis drinks from his potion.

"I feel like a new dwarf now. I'm ready to take on whatever's on the other side of that door now whenever everyone else is ready. I have no objections to letting our friend here go."

[firstclassmail]

You regain 6 health points, which I have added to your character sheet. You are now 11/12.

You see Wyllis' wounds heal before you, almost completely closing the marks.

Thylden smiles, "See? It is slightly useful having a wizard around."

[Sanguin]

Bryn looks around the room, pocketing one of the potions and gathering up all the ingredients/equipment that might come in handy for brewing potions of his own should time permit.

Looking at the small pile of material Bryn peers at the lad, "Are you very good at carrying things?" If you dont mind some hard work and a little danger we could use some help. You might find a greater purpose for your life, or it might end. What say you?



looking for ingrediants and an herbalism Kit.
[roll0]

Insight - Can this young thief be trusted
[roll1]

[Andorien]

Chen awakens from his silent meditation, and says "I believe we should let the boy go. He's been through enough today."

Insight check to believe the wretch: [roll0]

[firstclassmail]

"Well, I probably will leave you to it. I wouldn't want to go down there, and I sure as hell don't want to be here when you open the door."

The young thief clutches Thylden's tunic and profoundly thanks him and the rest of the group for letting him go, "I swear from now on I won't steal nothing!"

Thylden looks down with slight disgust at being touched by a thief. Before he can say anything, the young man runs out the door past everyone else, throwing a key on the ground and shouting, "you might need this to open the door!"

Everyone gets one healing potion (common), except for Wyllis, who used his.

Thylden begins to rummage through his pack. "I wonder," he mutters to himself. He pulls out the ritual book everyone found on the top level of the keep and begins to flip through it quickly. "Ah ha!" he cries as he stops on a page.

"The statue is in a picture on one of the pages of this ritual book of Trusde that we found, although I cannot make out what it says."

He looks up at the group,"Whatever or whoever is down there is one of his followers I would wager."

Thylden walks to the door and picks up the key the thief dropped. "Shall we? Dwarves first," he says with a chuckle and hands Wyllis the key.

[NightMayer]

Wyllis takes the key from Thylden. "After drinking that healing potion I feel like a new dwarf! I'll be glad to lead the way."

Wyllis puts the key in the door and slowly opens it...

[Andorien]

With a nervous voice, Chen says "Why go down, though? Didn't we get what we came for?"

[firstclassmail]

The door swings open with a loud creak. The sounds reverberates through the depths of the dungeon. The room is lit by torches on either side. The source of blood pooling under the door is evident. A bandit corpse lies on its side, guts spilling onto the floor, looking as if something had pulled them from the man. The corpse seems to have been crawling from a round staircase leading further down into the depths of the keep.

"Well, at least we have health potions now I suppose," Thylden says, "Are we sure we want to continue? Chen makes a valid point. I haven't lived over a hundred years to die in some countryside keep. Curiosity urges me on, however."

Thylden looks at the dead bandit and approaches the corpse and begins observing the wounds, "Maybe the young thief that left was the smart one. Luckily I am quite an expert at investigation."

Thylden begins to prod the guts with his wooden scythe, like he is dissecting some kind of small animal.

"Most definitely some kind of un-dead wounds. See the bite markings on the intestines, and how they are ripped out of the stomach? Oftentimes they go for the stomach because there is no bone to get in their way. Could be some kind of necromancy involved here. Not surprising considering the area we are in. My guess is, if whatever is down there isn't running up here now to get us from the noise of the door, they probably are a non-sentient un-dead. If we are careful, we could most likely get the surprise on them."

Everyone add 50 experience to your sheet for the interaction with the young bandit. Also, luckily Thylden nat 20'ed his investigation roll.

[Sanguin]

Bryn kneels down to look at the corps, "Nicely said Thylden", looking up at the others as he rifles through the dead bandits belongings. "It might be better to deal with this issue here and now versus letting it loose on the country side on its own terms. This is just the sort of thing I am tired of seeing, fortunately this time it wasn't a child or a young mother or an honest miner. Besides, maybe we will learn something to help us once we leave this place, if not knowledge might not be the only treasure here."


[roll0]

[Andorien]

Turning to Bryn, Chen sighs. "Very well then, let us push on."

[Sanguin]

Standing up and taking a silent stride to the top of the stairs Bryn listens intently. Looking at Thylden, When we get to the bottom of these stairs how comfortable are you letting your little bat friend scout for us. If it truly is non-sentient he might be able to give us an advantage without being noticed. I try to avoid more than one stomach wound per day.

[firstclassmail]

Standing up and taking a silent stride to the top of the stairs Bryn listens intently. Looking at Thylden, When we get to the bottom of these stairs how comfortable are you letting your little bat friend scout for us. If it truly is non-sentient he might be able to give us an advantage without being noticed. I try to avoid more than one stomach wound per day.

Thylden ponders Bryn's suggestion a moment, "That could work, although if there are any closed doors or dead ends, he won't get very far. One moment. Please be on watch."

Thylden sits on the floor cross-legged. His bat-familiar climbs out of his sleeve. Thylden looks back at the group, gives a quick wink, and then his eyes roll back into his head. The bat flies silently down the stairs.

Thylden's eyes regain their normal appearance and he stands up, "Below us there is a curved hallway that ends in a large door. That's all he can see at the moment. He's hiding right now down there. Shall we?"

Thylden motions towards the stairs.

[NightMayer]

Wyllis subconsciously adjusts the armor around his stomach after seeing the unfortunate bandit. "OK I'll lead the way again." Wyllis attempts to quietly go down the stairs and opens the door.


Steath Roll (1d20) = 10

[Sanguin]

Walking silently behind the dwarf he whispers in his ear, "Watch for traps, I suspect non at least till the door as that poor bloak would surely have tripped them. But still tread carefully."


Stealth
[roll0]

Perception
[roll1]

[firstclassmail]

The group pushes forward, despite trepidation. Wyllis walks down the spiral staircase loudly, although trying to be silent with his best effort. The others follow, Bryn, making no noise with his light footsteps. At the bottom of the stairs is a hallway that curves off, the ending of the hallway out of view. The stone walls have mold and lichen growing on them, torches in their sconces, freshly lit.

"There is a door at the end of the hall that I saw, nothing else I know of," Thylden tells the others.

[NightMayer]

"Let's go see what's down the hall." Wyllis proceeds to the end of the hall watching for traps as they walks. He stops to listen if there are any signs of activity on the other side of the door.


Perception: 1d20+3 = 7

[Sanguin]

Walking behind the sturdy Wyllis Bryn keeps a look out for indications of what is to come, the tell tale indication of a trap, the dry shuffle and stench of mindless undead..


[roll0]

[firstclassmail]

As the group moves there way down the hallway, all they hear is the burning of the torches. The farther they walk, the hallway's structure seems to become older, with stone becoming more smooth from age. When they round the curve, they see an ornate stone door, with different symbols and effigies. Next to the door is a hole in the wall, only about five inches wide, in a circular form.

"Peculiar," Thylden says.

[Andorien]

"Five copper says whatever gets put in that hole doesn't come out. I could poke my staff in there."

[NightMayer]

"Aye, you could try that, although I'd stand to the side if you do. Who knows what may came poking back from the other side."

[Sanguin]

Bryn arches his eye brows at the commentary and studies the door for anything that might give a hint of how it works or if it is trapped.. Have you guys seen anything like this before?


[roll0]

[firstclassmail]

Thylden looks at the markings on the large door.

"It appears as if there is some sort of sacrifice going on...but it is beyond my history to know."

You notice carvings and etchings on the door depicting someone's hand being chopped off and set upon an altar.

[Sanguin]

Bryn looks at the others, then nods. I think it wants a sacrifice to be placed in that notch. See this engraving, it wants hands. If we really want to get in it seems like we need to place some hands in there? Maybe we could try that poor bandit up the hall abit. Maybe he could stick his hand in there, I dont think he needs them anymore..

[Andorien]

Chen turns to Bryn, "It's morbid indeed, but he probably doesn't need it anymore."

[NightMayer]

"I think it's worth a shot. Hopefully the door doesn't care if the sacrifice is alive or dead." Wyllis drags the bandit down the hall and pushes the bandit's hand into the hole.

[firstclassmail]

Thylden looks a little bit disgusted at the morbid task. Wyllis drags the dead bandit from the top floor, leaving a trail of blood and guts along the stone surface. As he places the hand inside the hole, a mechanism can be heard moving inside the wall, clicking slowly. There is a loud crunch and the bandits arm slides from the hole, handless. The stone door creaks open, revealing a large round room. The ceiling is domed, the center being the highest point, with a small raised circular platform rising from the floor. There is nothing in the room save for five staircases leading down, some torches burning on the walls.

"Well, at least the bandit was able to give us a hand," Thylden says with a smirk on his face.

[NightMayer]

Wyllis smiles at Thylden's joke. Turning to Thylden, he says "This is an odd room. Maybe it's time to bring out your little bat friend again to see if he can see what is down the stairs."

Wyllis examines the platform and the rest of the room to see if he notices anything unusual about them.

Perception: 1d20+3 = 17

[Sanguin]

Bryn, studying the door mutters, "I wonder what happens to the hands." He checks the door to make sure it is not going to shut them in without donating more hands.

Looking at the five staircase leading away from the pedestal, Bryn scans for any signs that might indicate where they go.. after looking around carefully he looks at the others.. "Do you suppose the five staircase might be tied to the hand concept, as in five fingers leading away or something like that? Just seams odd that access would demand the sacrifice of a hand, why a hand?"

[roll0]

[firstclassmail]

As you look into the room you notice that the ceiling tiles look stranger than you first thought. It seems that certain tiles in the ceiling are a slightly different color, with symbols drawn into them. They seem to go in a linear pattern from the raised circle in the middle of the ground to each of the staircases. There is also a straight line of discolored, symbols above you leading to the raised surface in the middle of the room.

[firstclassmail]

Thylden looks out over Wyllis' back.

"Interesting..." he mutters to himself.

He points a grey finger to the ceiling and floor.

"Do you see the ceiling tiles? Some of them have symbols drawn in them. They appear to be in a linear formation around the center of the room and leading towards each individual staircase. If you look at the stone tiles on the ground, it appears that the ones underneath the symbols are more well-worn. I'm not quite sure what they are for, however."

[NightMayer]

"That certainly is peculiar. I'm not really sure what to make of this room, but since the stones under the symbols appear to be more well worn, perhaps whoever was using this room followed the symbols as some sort of ritual. Maybe if we follow one of these paths, we might find out who has been here before. Does anyone else have any ideas?"

[firstclassmail]

"That certainly is peculiar. I'm not really sure what to make of this room, but since the stones under the symbols appear to be more well worn, perhaps whoever was using this room followed the symbols as some sort of ritual. Maybe if we follow one of these paths, we might find out who has been here before. Does anyone else have any ideas?"


Thylden nods his head in approval.

"That seems wise to me, dwarf. Maybe one of our more light-footed compatriots will blaze a path?"

[Sanguin]

Studying the worn path laid out in the symbols, Bryn looks back to the door confirming that it will not shut and lock them in this stoney tomb forever. Then stepping forward he is about to take a step out on to the symbols following the path when it occurs to him that perhaps there is some hints to this place in the book that they had discovered up stairs..

"Thylden, is there anything with these symbols in that book we found upstairs.. If there is maybe it would give us some indication as to what lies ahead."

[firstclassmail]

Thylden looks puzzled. He shrugs at Bryn, slightly worried.

"I don't even speak the language. I'm not sure exactly what these mean."

[Sanguin]

"Rats, I was hoping there might be some illustrations that would give us some hints. If our intelect fails us lets look to luck I suppose." Scanning the well worn runes Bryn looks for any indication that might hint at a trap or the best place to place his steps.. Then carefully sets forth based on how the runes have been worn..

Riding on the Nat 20 from earlier on what Bryn could see on the room, going to try another perception check for anything new that would only be visible or notable from the new location as he carefully goes accross the runes based on the wear.

[roll0]

[Andorien]

Chen carefully follows along.

[NightMayer]

Wyllis also carefully follows along, offering words of moral support and encouragement to those in front.

[firstclassmail]

Thylden follow behind the others, as carefully as possible. The path along the runes leads to the first staircase in the northwest of the room. Every step the group takes, Bryn carefully puts his foot down to avoid any traps. As the group reaches the staircase, those closest to the stairs see nothing except darkness below. The dungeon is quiet.

Hi guys! I marked the pathway on the map to make it a little more clear. The runes go in strange lines to each staircase.

[NightMayer]

"Ahhh, I think I see now. It looks like these runes mark the path through this room. I'd wager a copper that if we went off the path something nasty would have happened. Shall we proceed below?" Wyllis lights a torch to see if he can make out anything in the darkness

[firstclassmail]

As Wyllis lights the torch, it illuminates the stairwell. At the bottom of the stairwell is an ancient stone door, smaller the the one leading to the large room behind the group, but still covered in depictions of sacrifice and dismemberment. There is a door handle to open this door, unlike the macabre opening mechanism of the large door. The group can sense that this part of the dungeon is much older than the keep.

[NightMayer]

"Let's see what we have behind this door". Wyllis checks the door for traps and opens it assuming he doesn't find any.

1d20+3 = 14

[firstclassmail]

Wyllis opens the door, after finding no traps. As soon as the door creaks open, the group sees to shambling corpses in a corner of a square room. They look long-dead, with several appendages missing. Their heads slowly turn and their mouths open, issuing a dry moan.

Roll for initiative in RollD20

[firstclassmail]

Thylden runs forward into the room and produces a ball of flame in one hand and shouts, "Zombies! Quickly, rush them!"

When he passes Wyllis he throws the flame at the zombie closest to him, hitting the zombie in the chest, flames bursting on collision.

Thylden, Chen, Bryn, Wyllis, Baddies (Chen's turn now)

[Andorien]

Chen rushes forward to swiftly take down the monsters, striking fiercely with his quarterstaff, followed up by a swift punch.

Results of roll20:
Quarterstaff A: 21, D: 8. Unarmed A: 11, D: 4

[Sanguin]

Slipping past Thylden and Wyllis, Bryn moves to where he can get a clear shot with his sling and lets a bullet fly at the wounded (unless its dead, then the other) undead..

[roll0]
[roll1]

(note: this is a bludgeoning weapon, in case it matters.)

[NightMayer]

Wyllis scoots his way past the rest of the party and charges toward the wounded zombie (or the other on if it's already dead) with rage in his eyes. He takes aim with his axe at the zombie's skull.

Hit: 19+4 = 23 Damage: 1+4 = 6 Looks like his aim was true, but weak

[firstclassmail]

Sensing urgency from Thylden's plea, Chen runs forward and unleashes a flurry of blows, hitting squarely every time and damaging the creature.

Bryn runs up, swing loaded and twirling, unleashing a stone that hits the zombie square in the forehead and bounces off. The zombie falls to the ground, but quickly shambles up again with renewed vigour, although clearly damaged from the blows.

Wyllis runs up to finish the nearest zombie, and his axe strikes true, ripping off an arm, the zombie once again falls and once again rises.

The zombie nearest to Chen reaches out with a clenched fist and hits Chen in the chest. A clear crunch is heard upon the impact, ribs breaking, and Chen coughs up some blood.

The undead creature next to Wyllis reaches our, grabbing with yellow nails. The nails scratch harmlessly against Wyllis' armor, a couple popping off and falling to the ground.

Thylden side steps his companions, fingers glowing, and flings a flaming mote at the zombie attacking Chen. The mote hits the zombie squarely in the head. The flame spreads across the zombies face, melting flesh, and the undead creature falls to the ground in a heap of flames.

One down one to go! Chen's turn, then Bryn, then Wyllis, then baddie.

[Andorien]

Chen climbs over the corpse of the downed zombie and lands a gigantic smash with his staff into the skull of the second, and closes with a powerful kick to the chest.

Quarterstaff A: 25 (crit), D: 11.
Unarmed A: 12, D: 7 (max damage!)

[firstclassmail]

As Chen runs over the zombie corpse, he brings his staff down on the zombies skull. The skull iplodes, the staff traveling all the way to the nape of the zombie. The zombie crumples and does not get back up.

zombies don't get saves on crit hits! yay! combat over.

[NightMayer]

Wyllis raises he axe to strike the last zombie down, but then lowers it when he sees Chen dispatch it. He gives Chen a nod of approval. "Nicely done! Nicely done indeed!" He then checks to see if the zombies had any valuables in their previous lives.

Peception: 4+3 = 7

[firstclassmail]

Wyllis fumbles around the fallen zombies, but does not find anything of use. The room is dark, no torches lighting the way, but the party's non-human nature allows them to see as if it is a dimly lit room. There is a closed ancient wooden door at the south of the room. Meanwhile, Thylden is looks carefully around the room, walking slowly against each wall. He gingerly steps over one of the zombies and stops all of a sudden.

"There, can you see it," he asks,"I think there may be some sort of hidden door here. It could possibly be trapped though, I'm not certain."

The party looks around the room at the ancient stones and notices an indentation in the wall, slight, but still present.

[Sanguin]

Let me take a quick look Thylden. Bryn approaches the area and begains searching..

Perception check for trap on secret door
[roll0]

[firstclassmail]

Bryn approaches the indentation in the wall and begins examining it. He runs his fingers over the edges, probing for any kind of trap. Once he is certain there are none, he turns to the others and nods in approval.

After examining the door for traps you are convinced that all you have to do is merely push the door on its right side and it will swing inward.

[Sanguin]

mhm.. looks okay to me Thylden, just a good push should do the trick. Bryn gives the door a push curious to see what would be behind a secret door in scary undead dungeon...

[firstclassmail]

Thylden steps back quickly before Bryn opens the door.

As Bryn pushes, the party hears a large click. A hiss shortly follows, the secret room exhaling years of stale air. The door opens revealing a small room, pitch black like the rest of the dungeon. The chamber seems to have been dedicated to some kind of experimental rituals. Two figures are inside, both made of various animal and human body parts sewn together in grotesque fashion. They are chained to the wall with rusted iron shackles, and both appear quite dead. The room smells like corpses and rot. On a table lies what appears to be a notebook. There is a small chest in the corner.

Thylden looks at the group and says forbodingly, "This must be some kind of dark magic."

[Andorien]

Chen moves forward and inspects the notebook on the table.

[NightMayer]

While Chen looks over the notebook, Wyllis heads over to the chest and examines it to look for traps, all the while keeping an eye on the shackled figures.

Perception: 1+3=4

[firstclassmail]

As you move forward to inspect the notebook, it is clear that the binding of the book is made of some kind of flesh. Burnt into the binding is the symbol of the elder God Trusde, similar of that to the ritual book found upstairs.

Looking carefully at the treasure chest, you find no traps that you are aware of. However, you are wise enough to know that you are not especially good at looking for traps.

Thylden walks closer to the chained figures. "Curious," he says," it's as if someone has stitched them together. No doubt some kind of necromantic magic..but it seems older, more feral."

[NightMayer]

Wyllis starts to examine the chest, but the chained figures gave him an uneasy feeling in his stomach, making it difficult to concentrate. "A dwarf can't think straight with these..these..abominations around. Would one of you guys mind taking a look at this?"

[Andorien]

This book looks similar to the one we found upstairs. Let's take it with us. Chen stashes the second book with the first. Where's that dwarven resilience I've heard so much about?

From roll20: Perception = 21

[Sanguin]

Observing the others move about the room Bryn, decides it must be mostly safe and starts searching for treasure, hints and of what might have been going on here.. Starting with the abominations to confirm that they wouldnt be spring to life before looking at the chest as well..

Looking for poition making supplys, loots and traps.. and secret doors!
[roll0]