Caerth looks at the weapon racks curiously. One the one hand, these could have held the weapons that were wielded by his childhood heroes, and that is an exciting thought!
But looking at the state of the interior of the room, on the other hand, brings sorrow about the neglect this place has seen for so long.
The half-orc holds the magical staff Thundershadow in his hand, a finger tracing the beautiful carvings. At least this one has been preserved.
He suddenly thinks of a passage in the archdruid's journal, that he skipped at first. Something about focusing the shape of animals in particular parts of a druid's body, rather than completely transforming into that creature. How he would love to be able to see through an owl's keen eyes while still standing on his own two feet! Or to have one hand transform into the claw of a ferocious bear, or even to fly on huge wings without the discomfort of his face scrunched up in the peculiar shape of a wrinkle face bat...
Lost in thoughts, Caerth refrains from taking out the journal until later. Instead, he saunters after his companions, not really paying too much attention to anything but his own musings.
Angus gives the doors a sharp push, and realizes they are stuck fast. Angus says,"Thaese es gunna taeke some doin'."
Angus ponders the situation for a few minutes.
OOC:
Take 20.
Angus backs up about a step and a half, counting to 3. On the third count, he charges forward and slams his shoulder into the seam between the double doors. His compatriots, who can easily surmise his plan, push the doors at the exact moment of impact, and together, the three heroes manage to open the doors, breathing a sigh of relief as they swing open, quite violently.
"The door might not be heavy, but stuck in webs. Or simply blocked from the other side by the rubble. Let me try with Angus and Maur."
Litrix gently moves Aureus from the door. "Opening of unknown doors is best done by the heavily armored. You did your part, let us do ours."
OOC:
I think Angus is strongest, assuming we can all fit around the door, Maur and Litrix can help (aid another). Or we can just bust the door.
Phar places himself behind Angus so that he can have clear line to the doors once they are open... and Angus is out of the way.
Quinn considers moving in to help open the doors, but he soon realizes that with Angus leading the effort, he'd just be in the way. He stands back behind the centaur and Litrix with his sword at the ready.
Caerth looks at the weapon racks curiously. One the one hand, these could have held the weapons that were wielded by his childhood heroes, and that is an exciting thought!
But looking at the state of the interior of the room, on the other hand, brings sorrow about the neglect this place has seen for so long.
The half-orc holds the magical staff Thundershadow in his hand, a finger tracing the beautiful carvings. At least this one has been preserved.
He suddenly thinks of a passage in the archdruid's journal, that he skipped at first. Something about focusing the shape of animals in particular parts of a druid's body, rather than completely transforming into that creature. How he would love to be able to see through an owl's keen eyes while still standing on his own two feet! Or to have one hand transform into the claw of a ferocious bear, or even to fly on huge wings without the discomfort of his face scrunched up in the peculiar shape of a wrinkle face bat...
Lost in thoughts, Caerth refrains from taking out the journal until later. Instead, he saunters after his companions, not really paying too much attention to anything but his own musings.
Once Aureus finishes searching the room, she comes to stand next to Caerth as he examines the remains of the old Armoury. She seems to sense his thoughts, or perhaps Qi is reading his mind and relaying them to her. No, Qi promised to not do that without asking him first, and he doesn't feel the presence of her in his mind.
"Maur should be able to fix most of the damage with his magic," she glances out the door. "And his skill with stone. We can rebuild this place, if we want."
She follows him to the doorway to watch their trio of companions try to take down the door.
Maur comes next to the door and crouches in the middle of the door, letting Angus push the door above him. He sets his compact frame against the door and on the sign from Angus pushes with all his considerable might.
It takes a moment for Maur to realize that Litrix is pulling outward on the door, not pushing in like the dwarf and centaur.
Tellerian Hawke said:
Angus ponders the situation for a few minutes.
OOC:
Take 20.
Angus backs up about a step and a half, counting to 3. On the third count, he charges forward and slams his shoulder into the seam between the double doors. His compatriots, who can easily surmise his plan, push the doors at the exact moment of impact, and together, the three heroes manage to open the doors, breathing a sigh of relief as they swing open, quite violently.
The doors don't so much open, but crack and tear off the hinges on the wall. More of the stonework gives way next to Maur, but luckily, none of it falls on him. The two wooden doors seem to hang in the air for several moments, and then there is a tearing sound. The doors fall inward but the thud is muffled.
The corridor beyond is FULL of webbing. While the trio can see deeper into the corridor, it is so choked full of webs that it is impossible to tell if there are spiders right next to the door. What does hit the trio is the smell of death. It is horrific. And, for Maur, seems familiar. He's smelt this kind of decay before, but he not sure when and where. Most likely, somewhere in the deeps.
"Oh, that smell is terrible!" Aureus says. Her sensitive nose can detect it even from inside the armoury's open doorway. "That's what I smelled over there." She points back to the hole in the wall in the armoury. "What is it?"
OOC:
DC 20 Knowledge (dungeoneering) check for Maur to know the smell. DC 25 for everyone else.
"Caerth, your expertise is needed!" Maur calls out "There are webs here, spiders! If you want to try diplomacy first."
He takes a breath to speak something else and stops "Gah! I know this smell!"
"Caerth, your expertise is needed!" Maur calls out "There are webs here, spiders! If you want to try diplomacy first."
He takes a breath to speak something else and stops "Gah! I know this smell!"
Maur's mind flashes back to the deep Underearth. He was just learning to fight when he first encountered that smell. He'll never forget it. A year before the tunnels in his home became infested with undead, there was a rise in spider activity. The vermin came out of the darkness in swarms that nearly overran his home a half a dozen times.
There was always that smell.
The spiders, themselves, weren't that dangerous on their own but something was controlling them. At first, the elders thought it was a pack of ettercaps, but it turned out to be more sinister. Magical beasts that were both spider and extraplanar menace: deadly nightshade spiders. Maur knows that is what he is smelling now. There is no doubt in his mind, and he knows that where there is one, there can be dozens. They can control normal spiders and cause them to fight with ferocity.
It will be massive.
"Thare! ah kin see th' beast," Angus warns. "Tis a muckle yin tae."
Maur looks into the webbed corridor. The Nanilth Zuak will be able to come down this corridor even with so many webs clogging it. It can glide through such webs like a fish through water. Maur prays to Moradin there is only one. The webs around it will become alive and deadly on their own.
OOC: While your Spot check is good enough to see the spider that Angus sees, Maur isn't in a position to see it. At this point, we are into a surprised round. Maur is aware of it due to Angus's warning.
Neurotic said:
EDIT: I didn't misremember, OOC says Arcana, and the post here says dungeoneering anyhow, I rolled great, but only Dungeoneering is trained so...
Caerth knows the spider, or spiders, are there. He can hear movement coming from inside the corridor, although he isn't close enough to see it yet. He hopes he can keep the creatures from attacking.
The smell is bad. It is likely that there is webbed food somewhere in the corridor. Yet, the smell is a bit unusual. But, he doesn't recognize it.
When the door opens, Phar holds his spell and, instead, listens hard and looks to see what might be beyond the webs...the smell makes his stomach lurch.
When the door opens, Phar holds his spell and, instead, listens hard and looks to see what might be beyond the webs...the smell makes his stomach lurch.
Phar can't see the spider that Angus is motioning towards, but he can hear it. Something in his minds makes him think something else is lurking behind that spider, but he can't see that far down the corridor.
But, when the smell hits him, he knows instantly that there is something a lot more dangerous beyond the corridor. A extraplanar spider known as a deadly nightshade. While he's never seen one, he's saw a depiction of one in a tome read many years ago. It is not a creature of the natural world. Caerth is not going to be able to reason with it. Nightshades are intelligent and evil.
As Phar scans the corridor, he can hear another spider moving around next to Litrix, and he sees and hears a spider lurking in the wall next to Maur. When the doors came down and the wall crumbled, it left a large enough gap for one of the spiders to silently move through the wall towards the dwarf. It is almost on top of Maur.
And, Phar sees the outline of something much bigger lurking behind the medium-sized spider. The nightshade? Phar can't tell, but he knows he has only moments to act before the spiders are upon them.
OOC:
Phar's positioning on the map doesn't allow him to see the entire spider at the end of the corridor. The angle might allow him to see one of its legs moving. But, he clear hears it.
He also hears and sees the medium-sized spiders that are lurking in the crumbling walls of the ruins near Maur and Litrix. And, there is something bigger lurking behind the medium-sized spider, but Phar can't actually see it. There is too much stonework and debris in the way.
Maur does not see the one about to come out of the wall next to him. The dwarf is focused on the corridor. Neither Angus nor Quinn see or hear the smaller monstrous spiders. Caerth doesn't see or hear them either.
Phar can't actually see the one near Litrix, as there is wall in the way, but he hears it.
Another quick map update, and then I'm going to have to be done for the afternoon.
(init: 4; dungeoneering: 20; listen: 6; spot: 12)