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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 9811441" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 28They were all exhausted, and with the exception of Folgar, badly hurt. Leana’s healing magic was completely exhausted. Folgar did what he could, using up what bandages and medicines he had left in his healer’s kit. They decided to take a short rest before heading back to the Keep.They fortified the place as best they could. The door had neither a lock nor a bar, but they used some of the junk in the rubbish heap to secure it. Ravani found a set of lead candle holders that were covered in a grainy white patina of corrosion. His magical sword cut through the softer metal easily, creating a set of shims that they hammered into the edges of the doors. They reinforced this with Folgar’s rope, tightly wrapping the handles of the two doors together. Ravani used the remaining pieces of the candlesticks to make some crude caltrops, which he scattered in front of the doors.While he was doing that, Folgar summoned his magical light and headed off for a quick investigation of the complex. Greghan, not wanting to trouble Leana, lit his lantern to brighten the room in his absence. Of the four of them he remained the most badly hurt, but he sat protectively next to Leana, his huge sword in his lap. The halfling had leaned back, against the wall, her eyes closed.Ravani split another piece of candlestick, giving it sharp prongs that he pried apart. He added it to his collection, nudging another one slightly to create better coverage of the space in front of the doors.“Isn’t that going to ruin your blade?” Greghan asked.“Nah,” Ravani said, holding up Vinx’s sword. It caught the light and flashed brightly. “Magical. Keeps its edge no matter what. You’ve never seen a magic weapon before?”“I’ve never seen a magic anything before,” Greghan admitted. “Farm boy, remember?”“Well, we’ll keep an eye out for a big one for you.”Folgar returned. “There are two more rooms, but both are empty. This place has the look of a temple, with infernal iconography, but it’s been completely cleared out.” He gestured toward the heaped trash. “I suspect the gnolls were looking for valuables.”“Well, they didn’t have anything useful on them,” Ravani said.“So those hobgoblins were lying to us,” Greghan said.“Well, obviously,” Ravani said.“We’ve explored or identified nearly half of the caves,” Folgar said. “We’ll find them.”With their scouting and defenses settled, the adventurers settled down to their rest. They’d agreed to take no more than an hour, lest they be caught in the wilderness by the coming of night. None of them wanted to spend the night in this place, secured doors notwithstanding. Leana looked like she’d fallen asleep; even with the healing effects of the potion, nearly being killed by the gnolls had clearly taken a lot of out of her. Greghan felt more exhausted than he’d ever been in his life, and thought he would drift off as well, but he found that he couldn’t sleep. He finally took out some rations from his bag and ate quietly. He was hungry, but he couldn’t taste the food that he mechanically chewed and swallowed. Folgar had settled against the opposite wall, reading his spellbook by the glow of his magical light, which he had affixed to the brow of his hat. Ravani, his injured arm swaddled in bandages, retained a nervous energy and kept walking back and forth in front of the door, his feet nimbly sidestepping his pointy hazards. Greghan found it distracting, and was about to say so when the elf suddenly stopped and leaned against the doors.“What is it?” Greghan whispered. Ravani held up a hand, and listened. A moment of tense silence followed, and then the elf suddenly backpedaled from the doors, nearly stepping on one of his own caltrops in his haste.The stone doors shook with a colossal impact. Several of their shims popped free, and the ropes connecting the two handles tensed with enough force to bend one of the grips visibly inward, the metal groaning in protest. But somehow, their improvised closure held.The delay gave the companions a chance to prepare. Leana’s eyes flashed open, and she grasped her sigil reflexively. Greghan helped her to her feet, then hefted his sword, looking between the doors and his companions in a near-panic. Ravani looked down at his sword for a moment, then he slipped it into its scabbard and darted back, reaching for his bow. Only Folgar reacted without undo haste; he calmly shut his book, dismissed the light, and pushed himself to his feet.A moment later the doors were struck again. This time they gave way; one of the handles tore free from its anchors, whipping around to clang loudly against the stone. One of their shims shot across the room as if it had been hurled from a crossbow; it clanged off the wall not far from Folgar’s head.A hulking, monstrous figure appeared in the doorway. Tall enough that he had to duck his head slightly to clear the top of the threshold nine feet off the floor, he leaned in and looked over the startled adventurers. Clad only in a rough fur loincloth and bits of leather and metal strapped to a grotesquely bulging body, he hefted a greatclub longer than Greghan was tall.“Oh, naughty word,” Ravani said.“Smash you now!” the ogre roared.Game Notes:Folgar has a decent Investigation score, but he failed to find the illusory wall inside the temple. That was probably for the best, given the four zombies waiting there. The ogre likewise failed his first attempt to bust down the doors, rolling a 3 (+4 for a 7); had he succeeded I would have given him the benefit of surprise on the upcoming Initiative check.</blockquote>

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