A Lonely Path: a Shackled City Story Hour (the old version, see last post)

[Solarious]

Chapter Three, Part Two


OOC - Wow, two updates in one week! I had a lot of fun writing that last post, and I was on a roll. I thought I might as well post again, since it was already written up. Enjoy!

The sunrod fell from Abrina's grasp as she clawed at the air, attempting to find purchase where there was none. Her legs hit the stone ground and crumpled beneath her, jarring pain shooting up her hips. The rod clattered to the bottom of the pit a few feet away, glancing off a sharpened stake that reached toward the ceiling.
OOC - 20-foot fall: 7 damage. 1 spike attacks +3 against AC 15 (flat-footed, no shield): rolled 9, miss. Abrina at 1 hp.
Regaining her breath, Abrina looked around the bottom of the pit, discovering that she had barely missed one of the spikes. Grasping one, she lifted herself up and gingerly tested her feet. She had definitely twisted an ankle, and she could already feel the bruises spreading across her thighs, but she remained in one piece. Whispering to her patron, she called upon his power to ease her pain.
OOC - Spontaneously casts cure light wounds in place of magic weapon, rolled 9. Abrina at 8 hp.
Abrina picked up the rod, raising it above her head, and examined her surroundings. A few items lay scattered across the pit floor, including a rapier, a light crossbow, and six crossbow bolts, all in good repair and assuredly not remnants of the gnome exodus. Ignoring the rapier, she retrieved the crossbow and the bolts. Picking up the last bolt, her hand brushed against what felt like skin. Squinting her eyes and bringining the sunrod to bear, Abrina made out the nearly camoflauged naked body of one of the tall ones hung impaled on four of the pit's wooden spikes. Bringing her sleeve to cover her mouth, she stepped back.

How will I get out of here? she wondered, placing a hand against the side of the pit. The ledge was far above, and even requesting Ninurta's aid to increase her size would still not give the reach or the strength to grasp the edge. The wall was coarse and sloped very slightly, and Abrina concluded that climbing the wall was her only option.

Methodically she removed her chainmall, knowing that its weight would only serve to pull her back into the pit, and if she fell again when nearing the top ledge, she may not survive a second time. Abrina tucked the sunrod into her belt and removed a length of rope from her pack, tying it through a sleeve of her armor, the grip of her shield, the tip of her spear, and the other end around her waist. It's length was longer than the pit was deep, and once she reached the top Abrina could pull her armor up the side.

Abrina manuevered through the spikes to the corner of the pit. She sought a small handhold and lifted herself up with a grunt. She managed to make it nearly half way when her grip slipped and she slid back into the pit.
OOC - Climb check +3 (0 ranks, +3 Str) against DC 15 (DC 20, -5 for climbing corner): rolled 23, progress 5 feet.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 4, 10-foot fall, 4 damage. Abrina at 4 hp.
In frustration, Abrina pounded the pit wall with a bare palm, but after inahling deeply, braced herself in the corner and attempted a second time.

And a third time. And a fourth time.

Each time, the handholds slipped from her grasp, dust and bare rock tearing at her fingers. Scraped, sweating, and bleeding, she perservered, and after a blur of several tries, she finally discovered herself nearing the top of the pit.
OOC - Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 10, failure.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 11, failure.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 13, failure.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 12, failure.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 7, failure.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 16, progress 5 feet.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 5, 10-foot fall, 3 damage. Abrina at 1 hp.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 5, failure.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 11, failure.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 10, failure.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 16, progress 5 feet.
Climb check +3 against DC 15: rolled 20, progress 5 feet.
Abrina breathed deeply without looking down at the spike-lined floor of the pit. Falling from this height would definitely put her in more danger than she preferred.

"Dear Ninurta," she prayed, pressing her body close to the stone, "please guide my hand and bless me with the strength to escape this pit." A warmth suffused her palms and with renewed confidence she reached for another handhold.

Her foot slipped, with dust and small stones clattering down the pit face to the floor below. Abrina's heart thudded in her ears as her hands struggled to hold her body against the stone. With her god's help, she somehow managed to keep her hold, and slowly crawled over the lip of the edge.
OOC - Casts guidance. Climb check +4 (0 ranks, +3 Str, +1 guidance) against DC 15: rolled 15, reaches top.

Abrina collapsed on her back at the edge of the pit trap, exhausted and worn, staring at the ceiling of the hall. With Ninurta's guidance, she had succeeded.

"Thank you," she whispered under her breath to her god, and struggled to lift herself to a sitting position.

Abrina pulled on the rope, lifting her equipment to the ledge, and took a few moments to don her armor. Readied, she stood and weighed her options, staring at the stone wall at the end of the hallway across from the open pit. She pulled out Ghelve's map and stared at it in hopes of finding another path to take that did not require bypassing the trapped gear doors.

Her eyes narrowed as she examined the passageway where she curently found herself. The gear doors were clearly labelled, as well as the two opposing doors at the end, but the map showed the hall continuing into another room, whereas she saw nothing but an unremarkable stone wall.

Perplexed, she pulled out her new crossbow and practiced loading one of the bolts. Raising it, she took aim at the wall and pulled the trigger.

To her surprise, the bolt sped through the wall as if it was air, and distantly she heard it clatter.

Clever, she thought, An illusory wall. What's hiding back there? Strapping the crossbow to her waist she inched along the edge of the pit to the other side and slowly brought her hand up to the illusion. She smiled as her hand simply disappeared through it. Closing her eyes, blocking out the disturbing presence of the wall, she stepped through.

 

[Solarious]

Chapter Three, Part Two (Reader's edit: Three)


OOC - Thanks, Crusade, for your comments. We'll see if she survives... Her periapt of wound closure should be helpful, and hopefully the quick levelling and extra items will help make up for the challenges.

Now let's take a look behind that illusory wall...

Abrina passed through the wall without difficulty, her sunrod revealing two familiar circular doors in the center of the walls on either side of the room. Carved into the opposite wall was a large map with lines that glowed faintly, showing various interconnected rooms and corridors. The passageways outlined on the wall map were the same as those on her own, revealing no secret passageways that Ghelve had hinted at, nor the methods to bypass whatever traps sealed the gear doors.

With a sigh, Abrina returned to the hallway through the illusionary wall and bypassed the pit trap. Gingerly, she slowly made her way to the opposite end of the hall, aware and ready for any other pits that might appear beneath her. When she reached the section of floor just before the two doors at the end, she inched along the wall to be safe. Coming to the stone wall, she lifted a hand and half-expected it to slip through the surface as she touched it.

Her hand fell upon solid stone.

She traced the outline of the mortared stones with one finger, pleading to Ninurta that there was a secret way. The children were down here in this forgotten enclave, somewhere. She did not want to risk the doors and become a permanent resident here, herself. Nor did she want to hazard the crudely made tunnels where skulking creatures lurked. Abrina would, of course, if it came to it, but she prayed that she would not have to.

The stone did not magically reveal any hidden passage, and Abrina dropped her hand in defeat.
OOC - Casts guidance. Search check +1 (0 ranks, -1 int, +1 guidance) against DC 20: rolled 5, failure.
Abrina turned back down the hall, again avoiding the area near the two gear doors, and retraced her steps back to the room with the gnome masks.

The door remained ajar, just as Abrina had left it. She peered into the dark room and saw it just as she had left it: the denizens had not yet discovered the deaths of the creatures. She still had time to find the tall one with the set of keys, and the creature was down one of the tunnels. Abrina stepped into the room and breathed deeply. If none had yet detected her presence, she might have a chance to find the keys unheard and unseen.

Standing before the tunnel, Abrina slowly removed her armor, shield, and bow laying them carefully against the wall. She discarded her spear, as well, considering it to awkward to yield within the confines of the tunnel. She removed the dagger from her belt and grasped it firmly as she ducked her head and entered the tunnel, crawling over the corpse of the tall one. After two intersections she reached another room, barely lit, and Abrina peered from her crawlspace.
OOC - Flip coin to determine right/left: heads, west. Second turn: heads, west. Move Silently check +1 (0 ranks, +1 Dex) against DC -1: success.
Dead rats, burnt tindertwigs, and bits of broken stone littered the floor of the room whose only furnishings included a cot against the northeast wall and a wooden chest bearing a dented lantern. The lantern was lit, but barely enought light escaped through its shutters to illuminate the room. Across from the tunnel was a familiar round door. On the cot was a cloak encasing the form of a tall one, sleeping.

Abrina lowered herself to the rubble-strewn floor and slowly approached the creature. As it slept, she removed a length of rope from her pack, cutting off a piece a few feet in length, and placed them on the cot next to the sleeping creature. Abrina took a deep breath and lowered the dagger to the creature's neck, a hairsbreadth away, and clamped her other hand on the creature's mouth.

"Wake up," she hissed as the pale eyes of the creature shot open. "Wake up, you miserable creature, and don't struggle or your life is mine." She pressed the dagger against the rapidly whitening skin so the creature could feel the touch of cold steel. It froze.

Abrina could not be sure if it understood her words, but it knew it was at her mercy. She flicked her eyes to the rope at the creature's side.

"Now, take that rope and gag yourself. Tightly."

She saw no recognition in the creature's pale face, so she nodded to the rope a second time. Slowly, it reached a hand over and grabbed the rope. Keeping her hand across its mouth, she motioned for it to place the rope in her hand's place.

Slowly, the creature followed her pantomimed directions, placing the rope into its own mouth and tying it in a knot behind its head. Abrina stepped back, keeping her eyes upon the creature and holding the dagger threateningly she picked up the remaining rope and bound its hands. Satisfied it was not capable of attacking her or calling for help, she rummaged through its possessions, discovering a small stone with jagged carvings and a silver ring with three keys. She clenched the keys in triumph.

"You won't be kidnapping any more children now, you skulk," she said.

The bound creature could do nothing but stare blankly at her.

 

[Solarious]

Chapter Three, Part Three (Reader's edit: Part Four)


OOC - Another quick update, mainly to move things along so that Abrina can actually get a chance to level up...

Abrina returned to Ghelve's shop above with the creature in tow and immediately had the gnome summon the town guard. He tried to object, but when she threatened to unbind the "tall one," he paled and scurried out the front door in search of one.

She handed the keys over to the guard sergeant and his patrol that arrived an hour later, explaining their function and pointing out the creature as one of the kidnappers residing in the structure below. Ghelve confessed his involvement, shaking in fear and unable to avert his eyes from their breatplates emblazoned with the town emblem, a watchful eye wreathed in flames.

"Don't take me to jail," Ghelve pleaded, clasping his hands. "They forced me to do it, they threatened me! And they took Starbrow! What was I suppossed to do?"

The sergeant, a grizzled veteran with a red face and bulging nose, rolled his eyes as he motioned for the other guards to remove the creature.

"You won't go to jail, Ghelve," the sergeant said, "but you will have to come with us. You'll likely pay a fine for your involvement, and you will help us find the rest of the kidnapped victims. In the meantime, your shop is closed."

Ghelve gulped and nodded.

"Get your things. You won't be back for a while."

Ghelve nodded again and retreated upstairs. The sergeant turned to face Abrina.

"As for you, thank you for your help. We will need you to answer some questions, though, as soon as you're able."

"Thank you," Abrina said, leaning heavily against a wall. The adrenaline of victory had worn off, and her aches had already begun to take their toll.

"I still want to help," she continued. "When will I be able to go back and search for the missing children?"

The sergeant scoffed. "That is not your concern. I thank you for your help, but now that we know the location of the kidnappers, we will find the missing victims. Rest, then let us know what you have discovered so far. We will take care of the rest."

"But, the Church..." Abrina protested as Ghelve slowly made his way back down the stairs.

The sergeant held up a hand. "No. I have said before: it is not your concern, and we do not need the Church's help. Ghelve, are you ready?"

The gnome nodded. "Can I say good-bye, and thank Abrina for her help?"

"Yes," he said, turning to secure the bonds on the creature.

"Pleas find my Starbrow," Ghelve whispered to Abrina, clasping his small hands in her own. She felt the touch of cold metal in her palm as he stepped back.

They left the shop, escorted by the guard, and Ghelve locked the door behind them. Abrina blinked in the sunlight, finding it hard to believe she had been gone only a few hours.

"Do you need someone to help you to the temple?" asked the sergeant.

"No, no, I'm fine," she said, concealing the key Ghelve had given her moments before and placing it into one of the pockets of her vestments. "Thank you."

She hurried to the Church of Enlil, eager to report to Jenya of her discoveries, and at least a partial answer to the riddle.

* * *

Jenya had seemed reluctant to allow Abrina to return to Jzaridune. If the guard had forbid her from returning, then Abrina should not interfere. Yet, the guard had also promised to resolve the kidnappings and shown themselves incapable of doing so. And Jenya had made a vow of her own to find the children and bring the kidnappers to justice. In the end, she agreed with Abrina, but encouraged her to rest for the night first before returning in the morning.

Jenya called upon the blessing of Enlil to heal Abrina so that she may rest peacefully, and when Abrina awoke she felt invigorated and ready to face Jzaridune once again. Before leaving, Jenya approached her and provided her with a small vial of clear liquid, a potion that would cure any moderate wounds she might sustain in the underground enclave. Abrina thanked her, hefted her spear, and headed for Ghelve's Locks in the bright morning sun.
OOC - Check out Abrina's new character sheet in the third post to see her as a 2nd-level character!

 

[Solarious]

Chapter Three, Part Four (Reader's edit: Part Five)


OOC - Abrina has enough experience to level up a second time, to 3rd-level, but I think it would be a bit much for that to happen twice in one day. I will try to work it so that she levels up only overnight.
The heavy rains of the previous nights had washed the filth and the smoke from the air, leaving the sky a deep, brilliant blue and the cool morning air crisp and clean. A smattering of clouds dotted the sky and raced above the cauldron of the volcano, throwing huge areas of the city into shadow to emerge just as quickly into the bright sunlight.

Abrina was well rested and fully healed, empowered with the blessings of Ninurta and ready to face the challenges of the day.

She tested the door to Ghelve's Locks, which remained locked from the previous day. No watch guards stood outside and Abrina assumed she had arrived in time to continue her own investigations and reach the children. She removed the key from within her robes and slid it into the lock, satisfied to hear the resulting click.

Removing the key, Abrina shut the door gently behind her, ducked through the hanging curtain, and entered the secret door. No camouflaged creatures attacked, and she hoped that none would. Without activating a sunrod, she crept down the staircase in silence and without light.

She entered the room with the slight breeze and giggling voices, and she saw the faint glimmer of light coming from the crack in the gear door of the room were she had battled the two tall ones the day before. She could make out two distinct voices within the room, speaking to each other in a strange, unknown language filled with hisses and harsh consonants. As she walked toward the room, the voices suddenly fell quiet.

Abrina froze in place within the darkness, the rustling of leaves covering the sound of her breathing. After a few moments, the creatures resumed their conversation and Abrina relaxed.
OOC - Move Silently check +1 (0 ranks, +1 Dex) against DC 12 (rolled 11, -1 Wis, +2 aware): rolled 13, success.
Slowly, she drew her shortbow and retrieved an arrow, nocking it against the string as she slowly stepped forward, keeping to the enveloping darkness, until she could see into the room. The two creatures were standing, with rapiers already drawn, just within view of the door. As she drew back the arrow, one glanced out the door, toward her, and stopped in mid-sentence, eyes widening.
OOC - Hide check +1 (0 ranks, +1 Dex) against DC 5 (rolled 6, -1 Wis, -2 20 ft., +2 aware): rolled 3, failure.
Her heart thudded in her chest as adrenaline surged through her system, and Abrina let the arrow fly.
OOC - No surprise round. Abrina's initiative +1: rolled 3. Skulks' initiative +2: rolled 21.
Skulk's move out of view. Abrina attacks without a visible target.
The two creatures dodged in opposite directions, avoiding the arrow that hit the opposite wall, and disappeared from sight. Cursing her luck she dropped her bow and drew her spear as she ran into the room, wincing as she passed through the door expecting an attack from either side. To her surprise, neither of the creatures remained, but both had managed to escape, one through each of the tunnels. Making a snap decision, Abrina scooped up the used sunrod from the floor and charged into the closest tunnel.
OOC - Flip coin to determine right/left. Heads, south.
Abrina squeezed into the tunnel and abruptly found herself facing the familiar fork in the passage without knowing which direction the creature took. With a frustrated growl, she crawled through the cramped tunnel to find it come to a a dead-end and rise upward, with a cone of light illuminating the stone.
OOC - Flip coin to determine right/left. Tails, east.
Abrina climbed the sloping tunnel, and when she neared the edge and looked up she was startled to find another of the tall ones waiting for her with a crossbow pointed directly at her.

Abrina did not see the creature pull the trigger, or the bolt speed toward her, but she instantly felt the jarring pain in her left shoulder and the thick, warm blood that began to seep into her robe. Without glancing at the bolt sticking out of her muscle, she gripped the spear in her other hand and with a loud cry launched it at the creature.

The smile of victory on the face of the tall one evaporated in a split second as the spear penetrated its chest and the creature stumbled backward from view and collapsed against a wall.
OOC - Abrina's initiative +1: rolled 18. Skulk's initiative +2: rolled 18. Skulk has higher Dex.
Skulk attacks +3 (bab +1, Dex +2) against AC 17 (flat-footed): rolled 22, critical hit, 9 damage. Abrina at 5 hp. Abrina attacks +2 against AC 12: rolled 22, critical hit, 20 damage. Skulk at -9 hp.
Abrina struggled over the lip of the tunnel to find herself in a small, closet-sized room. She grasped the bolt in her shoulder and with a gasp of pain she wrenched it out, feeling woozy as a rush of blood spilled down her arm. Taking deep, heaving breaths, she called upon Ninurta's favor.
OOC - Spontaneously casts cure light wounds in place of magic weapon: rolled 8. Abrina at 13 hp.
Abrina put her back against the wall as she recovered, the dead tall one across from her lying in a spreading pool of its own gray blood. She raised the sunrod and surveyed her surroundings and noticed an etched outline of a door in one wall. Abrina scrambled for the map she still carried and found that she was in a small, hidden room off the side of a much larger chamber.

It seemed she had found another way.

 

[Solarious]

Chapter Three, Part Five (Reader's edit: Part Six)


OOC - This story hour has just gotten more and more fun to write. I love having the guideline of the Dungeon adventure to direct Abrina and the flow of the story. It has been great fun for me, and I hope that my readers are enjoying it as much as I.

Tracing her fingers along the outline of the secret door, Abrina found a hidden panel in the stonework. She pressed it and stepped back to watch the four-foot square section of stone pivot on a central vertical axis to reveal a dark chamber beyond.

Abrina held up the sunrod to see empty weapn racks lining the walls of the dusty, 10-foot high room. In the middle of the floor rested a large wooden chest with a flat lid and iron hinges. Atop the chest sat a small silver cage holding a rat with a white star-shaped splotch of fur on its tiny forehead. It gripped the bars and squeaked excitedly at the sight of her as she stepped into the room.

"So, you must be the infamous Starbrow, huh?" she asked as she approached the rat's cage."

Abrina came within a few feet of Starbrow when suddenly in a guttural language.

Abrina yelped and jumped back from the talking chest, not understanding its tongue. It said a few more words, perhaps the sound of a question in its voice, and then the chest creature fell silent and once again resembled an ordinary chest.
OOC - Spot check +4 against DC 22: rolled 6, failure.
The rat familiar continued to tug at the bars, squeaking in desperation.

She kneeled, clasping her hands in prayer to Ninurta. She had been worried she would need to understand the language of the creatures that dwelled here, and prepared for just such a circumstance. Abrina did not expect she would first need to call upon Ninurta's aid when a chest began to speak with her.

A calm reassurance of understanding fell upon her, and ABrina lifted her hands in peace as she approached the talking chest. It's mouth once again opened and spoke, but she simply shook her head and held out a hand to establish the connection she needed to understand.

The creature allowed her to approach, and Abrina placed her hand upon it, somewhat startled to find its texture like slick flesh. She withdrew her hand quickly, but found that she could now comprehend its language.

"What do ya want?" it asked.

Abrina pointed to the cage with Starbrow within.

"Oh reallly? It'll cost ya. The skulks around here think I can live off just rats and spiders. I have better taste'n that."

"Skulks?" questioned Abrina.

"Yeah, those guys with changin' skin. I'm sure you've seen 'em. They raid the surface for slaves and hand them off to some hobgoblins, who then take the slaves to a place called the Malachite Fortress."

"Oh," responded Abrina, the words to the divination coming to mind. Descend into the malachite ‘hold, Where precious life is bought with gold.

"So do you want the rat, or what?"

"Yes, yes," Abrina said, nodding, holding out her hands in question. What could this creature possibly want?

"Got anything worthwhile on hand?"

Abrina nodded and turned to dig through her pack, pulling out some of her remaining rations, including bread, slices of meat and cheese, and pieces of fruit. "How about some of these?" she asked.

Emotions were impossible to read on the chest creature, but she got the distince sense of exceitement from the tone of its voice. "Or those... apples ya have there?" it asked.

She held one up, picking up a pear as well, and nodded.

"Give 'em all to me, and you can take the rat."

Amazed at her luck, Abrina dumped the remaining pieces of fruit from her pack and gave them to the chest creature. In a flash, a thick pseudopod sprung from the creature and scooped all of the food into its mouth in one, quick gesture. A few moments of crunching sounds, and then nothing. The creature seemed satisfied.

"Ya might want the key, though. The skulk back there used'a have it."

Abrina nodded again, in thanks, and returned to the secret closet. Cringing, she searched the skulk's body to find a tiny silver key around its neck. When she returned to the chamber, the chest creature ignored her as she unlocked the cage and carefully removed Starbrow, seemingly unharmed.

"Thanks," she said over her shoulder as she returned to the hidden closet. The chest creature, not understanding her, gave its equivalent of a shrug. With Starbrow under one arm, she climbed back into the tunnel and soon returned to the surface.
OOC - I gave no experience to Abrina for this encounter, since there was no real challenge and no rolls made.

 

[Solarious]

Chapter Three, Part Six (Reader's edit: Part Seven)

Abrina left Starbrow behind in Ghelve's bedroom with a small handful of food pellets she discovered in one of his drawers. She wanted to return as quickly as possible to Jzaridune, before any more creatures discovered her presence in the underground enclave.

The guardroom adjoining the chamber of giggles and rustling leaves was empty when she returned. The room where she had found Ghelve's familiar had no obvious exits besides the ubiquitous gear doors that she refused to challenge. Two choices remained: the unknown fork in the tunnel she had already explored, or the other tunnel that extended indefinitely beyond the light of her sunrod.

With a shrug, she ducked into the familiar tunnel and followed the unexplored fork.
OOC - Flip coin to determine right/left: heads, south.
Flickering light spilled from a great hall into the tunnel as she reached its end.
OOC - Listen check +4 against DC 10: rolled 6, failure.
Slowly, she lowered herself from the tunnel and stepped into the large hall, illuminated from end to end, corner to corner, by four bright lights. They flickered and danced like torchlight and drifted aimlessly about the hall, changing altitude and direction on a whim.

Eight black marble pillars supported the thirty-foot high ceiling of the majestic hall. The pillars were carved to resemble gnome artisans and warriors standing on each other's shoulders, bracing the vaulted roof with their collective strength. The walls were adorned with faded murals depicting gnomes in reverie--playing pipes, dancing, performing acrobatic stunts, drinking wine, and so forth. Abrina could almost hear the joyous exultation of the gnomes, as if the enclave had never been abandoned.

The forty-foot wide hall widened to sixty feet at the south end, where Abrina saw a large circular pool enclosed by a semicircular, one-foot high veined marble wall. Carved into the wall above the pool was a gnome visage with water spilling from its wide grin, the sound of trickling water filling the chamber.

Two piles of rubble, one in the near corner to her right, and another to her right in the far corner at the end of the hall, added elements of imperfection to the grand hall.

Abrina hefted her spear, certain that the skulk that had escaped through the tunnel not long before hid somewhere in this chamber, but she could not see the creature anywhere.
OOC - Spot check +4 against DC 42: automatic failure.
She called upon Ninurta's favor and slowly began to walk down the hall.
OOC - Casts divine favor.
After her first step, she heard a whistling in the air and a crossbow bolt clattered against the wall behind her. In the distance, at the other end of the hall, she heard a short growl, and wasted precious seconds trying to figure out exactly from where it came. The second bolt that skidded against the stone floor only inches away prompted her into action, and she dove for the nearest pillar.
OOC - Surprise round. Skulk attacks from cover, +3 against AC 17 (flat-footed): rolls 15, miss. Abrina's Spot check +4 against DC 20 (Hide check +22, -20 sniping): rolls 16, failure.
Abrina's initiative +1: rolls 17. Skulk's initiative +2: rolls 21.
Skulk loads crossbow, attacks: rolls 16, miss. Abrina moves to pillar for total cover.
Abrina took slow, deep breathes, straining to hear any noises that might give away the skulk's movements, and heard nothing. Her heart pounding loudly in her ears, Abrina peeked from around the marble pillar in hopes of catching a glimpse of the hidden creature. She nothing.

Clenching her spear for strength, she whispered a quick prayer to Ninurta and dashed from behind the pillar. She passed the next one as another crossbow bolt flew through the empty space just behind her, and she skidded to a stop behind the second-to-last pillar of the hall, pressing her back firmly against the cold stone.
OOC - Skulk's ready action. Skulk attacks +3 against AC 17 (flat-footed): rolls 9, miss.
Abrina clasped both hands on her spear, pointing it upward, and prayed to Ninurta for his blessing of size. She felt His touch upon her, and the pillar began to rub against her back as she grew in height and the floor fell away beneath her.

She stepped from behind the pillar, now much smaller to her than before, and peered into the shadows behind the pillars as another bolt was loosed in her direction. It struck her, glancing off her chain armor, and Abrina smiled as she saw the outline of the creature.
OOC - Abrina casts enlarge and steps out from behind pillar. Skulk's ready action. Skulk attacks, +3 against AC 16 (-1 size, +0 Dex): rolls 7, miss. Abrina's Spot check +4 against DC 21 (Hide check +22, -20 sniping): rolls 24, success.
Abrina lowered her weapon, grasping it tightly with both hands, and charged the creature with a yell as the skulk stared at her with wide, luminous eyes. She ran the creature straight through, her spear jutting out its back as the creature's eyes rolled back and its crossbow fell from its limp hand.
OOC - Abrina charges, +8 (+2, +4 Str, -1 size, +1 divine favor, +2 charging) against AC 16 (+4 cover): rolls 18, hit, 14 damage. Skulk at -4 hp.
At least one more, she thought to herself, roughly removing her spear from the skulk and wiping off its gray blood on its small pack it carried. Wonder where they could be?

With the skulk on the ground, its skin slowly shifting color to match the stone floor, Abrina examined her surroundings as the dancing lights cast flickering shadows throughout the grand hall. The rubble at the large end was gathered at the entrance to another tunnel, and two archways were open on either side of the fountain. Two other archways, she had noticed, were at the other end of the hall, as well. Glancing at the map, she returns to the tunnel entrance of the hall and takes the passage to the left, entering a smaller hallway.

Smaller passages branch off at right angles, leading to more gear doors. Abrina skipped over them and ascended two short flights of stairs leading up to a seventy-foot long, thirty-foot wide octagonal gallery with a fifteen-foot high vaulted ceiling. She stepped into the gallery with her nearly spent sunrod to see twenty web-shrouded pedestals standing about the room, and walls showing signs of having once born tapestries and other fixtures. However, the items once displayed here have long since been removed. Two familiar flanked either side of the empty gallery.

Abrina's footsteps echoed in the large, dusty room as she walked slowly from pedestal to pedestal. Everything was gone, but she could not help but wonder what magnificent works had been beheld in this very room by the gnomes of so many decades past. She began to imagine mesmerizing landscapes woven from silk and gold adorning the stone walls, sculptures of marble and bronze depicting nobles and lovers displayed upon the pedestals. She wondered what could have caused the gnomes to abandon their home, what disaster had struck, and why strange, unnatural creatures were wandering their ancient halls and kidnapping children from the city above.

Abrina sighed and turned away, descending the staircase and leaving the lonely gallery behind.
OOC - Abrina gained 600 xp for defeating the skulk.

 

[Solarious]

Chapter Three, Part Seven (Reader's edit: Part Eight)

Abrina returned to the grand hall with dancing lights and took the second passage near the pool, glancing over her shoulder at the remaining passages with stairs ascending into darkness. Leaving the hall behind, she entered another large room.

Four ornate pillars supported the twenty-foot high vaulted ceiling of the room, which was illuminated by lanterns hanging in the corners. Tattered red curtains dangled from iron rods mounted on the walls and pillars. Four rows of ornately carved benches stood in the rectangular area defined by the pillars.

Partially set into the south wall was a raised wooden stage with two short staircases leading up to it. Black curtains partially concealed the back wall of the stage, which was painted with an elaborate woodland mural in faded colors.

Abrina stepped into the empty theatre, walking down a row between benches, discarding her expired sunrod. Much like the gallery, the theatre had been long abandoned. She traced her fingers along the walls of the chamber as she approached the stage, taking one of the short staircases to the wooden platform. The black curtains creating a small area between the stage and the stone wall behind them disintegrated at her touch. Abrina walked across the stage, staring into the weakly lit audience chamber, when she noticed the outline of a small trapdoor in the floor.

Curious, she gently placed her fingers through the hole in the wood, the handhold, and pulled up the door. Beneath was a ladder leading into a three-foot tall, cobweb-filled storage area, lost in flickering shelters from the lights above.

The cobwebs were not undisturbed.
OOC - Wisdom check +3 against DC 15: rolled 21, success.
Abrina loaded the crossbow at her side and silently drew her spear, holding its tip directed into the small area, and prayed to Ninurta to enhance her sight. In the darkness, she saw a shifting figure, limbs far too long and twisted for the creature to be any kind of humanoid. Two narrow eyes stared back.
OOC - Casted guidance. Spot check +4 (+4, +1 guidance, -1 10 ft. distance) against DC 19: rolled 23, success.
From the darkness a tentacle uncoiled with frightening speed, lashing out for her neck. Abrina reflexively held up her shield, deflecting the rubbery arm at the last moment. She did not see the second tentacle and as she tried to regain her balance a spiny pad wrapped around her neck.

Abrina cried out as the pad began to constrict around her windpipe, but she battered at the tentacle with her shield arm as she jerked her head to the side and felt the suction grip loosen. Just in time she dodged another tentacle from the creature beneath the stage. As the tentacles withdrew, Abrina gritting her teeth and launched her spear.

Her spear glanced off the creature's hide, clattering against the stone floor below. She cursed her luck, bashing away the tentacles that whipped toward her in response, the dull thuds reverberating up her arm and into her shoulder. Boxes tumbled over as the creature skittered across the small room, diving behind a clothing rack of decaying garments.

Abrina drew her crossbow, training the bolt on the rack below. A tentacle appeared from between pieces of clothing and she loosed the bolt. She barely caught a glance of the speeding bolt lodging itself in rotting clothing before the tentacle again found purchase around her neck. Again, she bashed at the tentacle until its grip loosened and Abrina stumbled, raggedly gasping for breath. The other tentacle caught her in the chest, slipping against her chainmail, and Abrina somehow managed to duck another follow-up attack.

Abrina stepped away from the trapdoor and tossed the crossbow to the ground, fishing out the small vial that Jenya had handed to her before she had even heard of Jzaridune. She held it to her lips, swallowing the thick fluid in one gulp. The grace of Enlil healed most of the flaring red welts around her neck, easing her pain.

Her shield arm, still bruised from fending off the rapid tentacles, weighed her down as she inhaled deeply, catching her breath. More boxes from the storage area below toppled over, and two spiny pads grasped the ledge of the trapdoor, pulling up the rubbery form of the creature. Its mottled, hairless body was no larger than a halfling, yet its arms extended to over three times its height, coiling in the air like writhing snakes.

Abrina cringed, weaponless, behind her shield, preparing herself for the coming onslaught.
OOC - Abrina's initiative +1: rolled 3. Choker's initiative +6: rolled 10.
Choker attacked, +6 against AC 18: rolled 7, miss. Second attack, +6: rolled 26, hit, 5 damage. Abrina at 9 hp. Grapple check +5: rolled 21. Abrina's oppossed grapple check +4: rolled 24, grapple failed. Third attack (quickness), +6: rolled 17, miss. Abrina attacked choker, +3 against AC 17: rolled 14, miss.
Choker attacked, +6: rolled 11, miss. Second attack, +6: rolled 11, miss. Moved, Hide check +10: rolled 20. Abrina drew crossbow. Spot check +3 (+4, -1 10 ft. distance) against DC 20: rolled 16, failure. Readied action to attack when choker attacks.
Choker attacked, triggering Abrina's readied attack. Abrina attacked, +1 (+3, -2 one-handed): rolled 13, miss. Choker attacked, +6, rolled 18, hit, 6 damage. Abrina at 3 hp. Grapple check +5: rolled 17. Abrina's oppossed grapple check +4: rolled 20, grapple failed. Second attack, +6: rolled 13, miss. Third attack, +6: rolled 14, miss.
Abrina took 5-ft. step back. Used potion of cure moderate wounds, healed 7. Abrina at 10 hp. Choker moved out the trapdoor.
With lightning speed a tentacle shot out, knocking aside her shield as if she held a piece of parchment, and encircled her neck. Desperately she brought both hands to the tentacle, clawing at the rubbery skin as the spiny pad bit into her skin and squeezed. She could not breathe and as the tentacle tighted its grip darkness overcame her sight.
OOC - Choker attacked, +6: rolled 19, hit, 5 damage. Abrina at 5 hp. Grapple check +5: rolled 25. Abrina's oppossed grapple check +4: automatic failure. Constrict, 6 damage. Abrina at -1 hp.
As Abrina lost consciousness, she felt the tentacle's grip loosening and at the edge of her quickly fading hearing she thought she heard shouts in the distance and the fluttering of the black curtains behind her. Her eyes closed, her arms went limp, and Abrina fell to the stage floor.

 

[Solarious]

And... that's as much as I can find off Google's caching system, up to the Feburary 1'st updates. I'll find time later to format the posts with sblocks or colors.

Hope this helps Jeremy.

 

[hbarsquared]

Immensely, Solarious. I owe you one.

Actually... *counts*

I owe you eight.

Thank you!

 

[hbarsquared]

Found another post...

Chapter Three, Part Eight (Edit: Part Nine)


OOC - Abrina at -1 hp, automatically stabilizes.
* * * * *

Felian lowered his spyglass and shifted his position on the rooftop after the cleric unlocked the door to the locksmith's shop and stepped inside.

She's in, Felian mentally communicated to Fario on the neighboring rooftop.

Of course she is! Fario responded. I can see as well as you.

Felian gave a mental shrug. They both knew quite well that if Fario had indeed been the first to notice, Fario would have made absolutely sure that Felian knew exactly that.

Felian tucked away his spyglass in a beltloop and slowly crawled back from the ledge, hoping to avoid being spotted by any of the passerbys on the cobblestoned road below. When he reached the ladder against the side of the brick shop, he lithely swung his leg over and scurried down the rungs. He jumped the last few feet, landing quietly in the alley, to find Fario already there and grinning.

"I won," Fario said.

He stood with hands on his waist in a triumphant stance. Fario was a young and eager half-elf, as was Felian, but that was where the similarities ended. Fario had a pale complexion with crisp blue eyes and silky blonde hair pulled back in three braids and avoided the sun whenever he could, preferring winter and all the rainstorms and cold fog that accompanied it. Felian, on the other hand, relished the spring and summer, with tanned skin, bright green eyes, and curly black hair.

Felian smiled back, unperturbed. "I wasn't racing."

The two half-elves crossed the road to stand at the front foor of Ghelve's Locks, where moments before Abrina, the foreign cleric of Ninurta, just entered.

"Hold on a moment, let me get out my tools," Fario said, digging into his pockets. "You stand in front while I try to open the lock."

Felian nodded and reached out to test the door handle. It opened easily.

Fario wrinkled his nose and sighed, pocketing the tools he had retrieved. The two entered the brightly lit room and closed the door behind them. Felian slid the bolt into place, locking the shop.

Fario and Felian explored the shop, opened the unlocked chests and examining their contents, sifted through the keys on display, and rifled through some of Ghelve's possessions on the second floor. Abrina was not in sight, and there was no evidence pertaining to either the kidnappings or the Cagewrights.

She didn't just disappear, Fario said mentally, pulling open an empty drawer.

There must be a secret passage, a hidden door, or something, replied Felian through their telepathic bond.

They entered the kitchen, which contained all the basic amenities, including a table with an hourglass resting atop it. A fireplace dominated one wall, with pots hanging from hooks on either side. Two cabinets with frosted-glass doors held dishware and utensils. A half-barrel washbasin stood in the gar corner next to a pantry. All of the furniture seemed perfectly sized for a gnome or halfling.

Felian was examining the fireplace when they both heard a loud squeal from downstairs, and a voice drift up from below.

"Hungry, Starbrow? I'd think so. Let's get you something to eat."

Felian's eyes met with Fario. We need to hide, now!

Fario frantically searched the kitchen and his gaze locked on the pantry door. In there! he thought, and grabbed the handle. It jiggled in his grasp and refused to open.

Quick, unlock it! yelled Felian into Fario's mind, glancing over his shoulder. He could hear Abrina's footsteps on the staircase already.

Fario fumbled for his tools, inserting them into the pantry lock. He shifted the prongs around within the keyhole, trying to get the tumblers to fall into place.

Hurry!

The cleric had reached the landing.

I am! Fario pulled out a slightly smaller prong and slid the tool in next to the other one last time. He twisted, and the lock clicked.
OOC - Open Lock check, +6 against DC 20: rolled 12, failure. Open Lock check, +6: rolled 23, success.
Fario silently opened the door, motioning Felian inside. The expected supply of preserved foodstuffs and spices lined the walls of the pantry, with just enough room for the two half-elves to fit, standing face to face. Fario pulled on the door, closing it from the inside and plunging the pantry into darkness. The two held their breaths as they heard a nearby door open and close.

They heard Abrina's muffled voice a few times, then silence.

You're standing on my foot.

Sorry. Let me just...

"Ow!"

Shhhh!

You just stepped on my other foot!

I didn't mean to, it was an accident.

You did that on purpose.

What? I can't see a thing in here, let alone your foot. And stop poking me with your hand.

That's not my hand.

Oh, you've got to be kidding--

Shhhh! Hear that?

What?

Shhh.

From downstairs came the same loud squeal they had heard before, then nothing.

"Okay, let's go," said Felian. "There's a hidden door down there, and we are going to find it. Now, open the door."

Fargo grasped the handle and pushed.

"Uh, Felian?" Fario put his weight against the door and pushed again, without success.

"Yeah?"

"It's locked."