A Merc's Life: Howl of the Carrion King [01]

That creepy feeling begins to intensify somewhat as you move to the north. Smaller areas open up to the east and west, and there is a series of shallow steps to the north. Still no other critters visible or otherwise apparent. Small piles of wood and rubble strewn over the ground of both the east and west alcoves (rubble not shown on the map).

The late afternoon light coming through the ruined ceiling of the western alcove reveals a huge bas-relief statue of a muscular humanoid man with a pointy beard gesturing toward an enormous mountain in the background, his face a picture of mortal concern.

Searching his prodigious memory, Keeland is able to identify the mountain in the background of the bas-reliefs as Pale Mountain, largest of the Brazen Peaks and the site of many fell legends.

Aodhán's superior vision reveals a similar statue in the eastern alcove, in this case with the bearded figure appearing on a hilltop to a group of robed pilgrims. The being holds up his hands, palms out, in a sign of peace. Though many of the faces and limbs on the bas-relief have been worn down or cut away, the expressions of those range from beatific to horrified.

The Abhac instantly recognizes that the bearded figure is depicted in a manner similar to the way in which the faith of Sarenrae depict their saints,
but this is not one of the more frequently honored saints of that faith. The appearance of the subject strikes a cord with him, but Aodhán is not quite able to identify him.

Houwlou Groulenas

"Let's move up and examine the rest of the nave of this structure before we venture off to the east," suggests Houwlou. OOC: Have we fully examined the 'alcoves'/niches shown?

[sblock=Stat Block, Houwlou]
Houwlou Groulenas - Male Olcán Ranger 1
Initiative: +1, Perception: +8(?)(+2 more smell/sound,+2 more vs. undead), Low Light Vision 60'
AC: 17 (4Chain Shirt + 2Lg. Shield + 1Dex);FF16;T11
Fort:+2 | Ref:+3 | Will:+4
HP: 21/21
[/sblock]

Leif said:

OOC: Have we fully examined the 'alcoves'/niches shown?

Click to expand...

You are in the middle of the main hall of the nave. Everything I described you've seen from there but haven't actually gone into the alcoves to poke around.

Harn shudders at the increaaseing of the creaps creaping. He takes note of the bas-relif artwork and listens to Keeland's description of the moutain.

Houwlou Groulenas

"Let's clear the building first and make sure that there are no more foes to defeat, then we'll be able to investigate the nooks and crannies at our leisure." So saying, Houwlou will move toward the unexplored area to the rear of the house of worship.

Keeland

Singing softly, Keeland summons a pleasant light upon the bow in his hands to cast back the shadows and better reveal the interior. "Pale Mountain," he says nodding to the image, "A place of many fell legends." He follows deeper into the ruined temple.

The soft glow from Keeland's bow joins with streams of late afternoon sunlight filtered through stained glass to illuminate this entire room. A short set of wide ceremonial steps leads down to a cavernous chapel in which the congregants would gather for sermons in happier times. The vibrant orange and red starburst of Sarenrae still stands behind a film of rusted rainwater and dirt along the north wall overlooking the collapsed altar. Between the stairs and the altar stand dozens of old marble benches, many overturned and even more broken into two or more pieces. A wide walkway bisects the pews, leading directly to the raised altar. Here and there a few clumps of the original red carpet along this thoroughfare hang on against rot and neglect.

Above the center of the chapel, dangling about ten feet from the floor, hangs a cluster of gnoll skulls in various stages of decay. Strung together like a ghoulish candelabra of twine and bone, the boulder-sized ornament hangs from the wooden rafters about twenty feet above the ground.

[sblock=OOC]I think you'll be able to figure out who's who amongst the character icons. Let me know if you want the placement to be different - I went with a standard 'protect the spellcaster' configuration.[/sblock]

Haarn finds the bundle of bones and twine to be an abomination, so he draws out his wand and says,"naught not the Knot" as the string unties it self

{Cantrip: prestidigitation- untie)

Pugwampis, Part Deux

Harnry feels the menacing aura in the room working against his magic. His spell sputters and coughs to life, unraveling the rope holding the grisly chandelier just as a runty little dog faces pugwampi begins scampering down the twine. The whole contraption falls ten feet to the floor, crashing on the marble and shattering into its component parts. The pug lands in the jumble, pierced by one of the sharpened leg bones and slain.

Cries of outrage mix horribly with tittering laughs, drawing your eyes upward. Twenty feet above the chapel floor the rotting rafters have been papered over like a wasp’s nest in an interwoven mish-mash of soiled tapestries, tablecloths, altar runners, and other bits of salvaged cloth, creating a sort of hanging “tent” in the rafters above for a tribe of your favorite little pests. You see five of the creatures poised in various places above you, capering about and preparing to pepper you with tiny arrows.

Keeland's keen elvish eyes note a ladder in the southwest portion of the room extending up the wall to the rafters.

[sblock=OOC]Now would be a good time for initiative rolls.

For the duration of this encounter please roll any d20/spell failure checks/etc. twice and take the worst of the two rolls . . . [/sblock]

Houwlou Groulenas

"Harnry, what say you light that 'nest' afire with some of your arcane might? Those not burned alive should be driven from the rafters by the smoke," says Houwlou as he is taking cover behind the largest furniture fragment possible within about five to ten feet of his present position.

[sblock=Stat Block, Houwlou]
Houwlou Groulenas - Male Olcán Ranger 1
Initiative: +1, Perception: +8(?)(+2 more smell/sound,+2 more vs. undead), Low Light Vision 60'
AC: 17 (4Chain Shirt + 2Lg. Shield + 1Dex);FF16;T11
Fort:+2 | Ref:+3 | Will:+4
HP: 21/21
[/sblock]