IC: Dichotomy's Age of Worms Redux, Part I

[Dichotomy]

While the porch groans slightly under Trenton's weight, after a moment it settles and feels stable enough. After peering through the door, it looks as if the place is truly deserted. Small mounds of debris litter the floor. Loose stones, dead weeds, and grime cover virtually every surface. Paintings must have once adorned the place, as indicated by the particular stain patterns marring the walls. The only light comes from thin shafts sneaking in from outside, illuminating clouds of dust dancing through the stale air. To the left of the entry, a staircase, choked with debris, leads to the remains of the second floor. Fortunately, the thin, but apparently sturdy, pillars in the room managed to keep those remains from coming down, and the interior of the building seems quite dry given the weather. Judging by comparing the exterior and this room, you'd guess that behind the staircase is a doorway leading into more of the building.



[sblock=OOC]Sorry for the not-so-good map. The morons actually didn't give a map of this building. Though I think I could get one if I decided to by a back issue of Dragon. Bah.

Edit: The squares are actually only 2.5 feet, so the bigger squares are 5.[/sblock]

 

[TiCaudata]

Nav swings his pack off his back and leans it agains the nearest pillar. Fishing around briefly, he pulls out and lights his lantern to help with the gloomy room.

"This room looks sound enough. Let's check out the rest of the place before getting too comfortable."

 

[michael_noah]

"Fine, then. Just barge right in!" grumbles Boldak as he follows Nav into the building.

Quickly moving in front of the skeleton of a man, the dwarf gave him a stern look then continued, "If you went off running into unknown areas like that in a mine, you'd be fired! Even if you were dead already." He abandons his attempts at stealth, for it's obvious that if there were some lurking danger it was already aware. He moves about the room searching, both for any information and for signs of danger from beings or lack of structural integrity.

[sblock=ooc]Boldak searches (+6), and though he is making noise now, he'll try to peer up the stares and into the door without being seen (Hide +6)[/sblock]

 

[TiCaudata]

Nav looks around somewhat sheepishly. "This room looked safe enough after all..."

He somewhat obediently waits for the dwarf to finish his search, only fidgeting occasionally.

 

[o3caudata]

"I think our greatest danger here is the ceiling. It's likely one we can't do much about however. Take care not to jossle anything too harshly, just in case."

Alexis drops her pack near the door and pulls out her lantern. After lighting it, she examines the rubble on the stairs, attepmting to determine if one could move past it and not bring the building down in doing so.

 

[Dichotomy]

As you move about the room with your lanterns lit, the place does feel almost cozy, despite its disuse. Boldak and Alexis only just begin looking up the stairs, however, when the group realizes that something is coming out from underneath the staircase.

Billowing from a crack of some kind comes a swarm of spiders. The creatures crawl atop each other and form what amounts to a pool of them on the floor. They are clearly agitated by your presence and there are enough of them to pose a real hazard.



[sblock=OOC]Initiative:
Nav 21
Alexis 20
Boldak 13
Trenton 12
Swarm 8

Lucky you guys.[/sblock]

 

[michael_noah]

"Damn bugs! Smother the things or something, my sword's no good. And spread out!"
[sblock=OOC]Boldak looks around for something that might help combat the things. If he doesn't see anything (a piece of wall that wants to crush all of them, an old lamp w/oil, etc.) he'll move just outside the door and retrieves his tindertwig.[/sblock]

 

[TiCaudata]

Nav looks at his lantern and groans. "Damnit! I just bought this thing!"

He then takes a 5 foot step to the east and throws it at the floor beneath the northwest corner of the swarm.

[sblock=OOC]+2 to throw; lantern does 1d4 points of fire damage and breaks[/sblock]

[sblock=Dichotomy]I, sadly, got the lantern damage info from the srd where I did a search for lantern damage and could only find it in the swarm page. I didn't read up beyond damage.[/sblock]

 

[o3caudata]

Alexis follows suit and hurls her lantern toward the side of the swarm closest to her.

[sblock=ooc]+1 ranged; 1d4 fire(+2 bludgeoning?) and a broken lantern[/sblock]
"Damnit. There's more oil in my pack. And don't get bitten." She moves through Trenton to her bag on side of the door to retrieve more oil from her pack.

 

[michael_noah]

"Good call there, woman!" exclaims Boldak at the actions of the young lady. He hurries over and attempts to find some oil in her pack, rifling through it without the slightest bit of discretion.

[sblock=ooc]Boldak moves to the square furthest away from the swarm but adjacent to the pack and, if he can do so as a move action from someone else's pack, retrieves some oil. If he can't, I suppose that he begins a full round action.[/sblock]