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[D&D 5E] Securing the Alliance: An Adventure in Tethyr (IC)
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<blockquote data-quote="Forged Fury" data-source="post: 6814856" data-attributes="member: 95059"><p><strong>The Warded Door, the Laboratory, the Study, and the Armory</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Corilo</strong> led the party back down through the tower, hand crossbow at the ready. Reaching the door leading back into the manor, he paused and peered around the corner to the left, into the southern hallway. After a short distance, the hallway ended in a T-intersection with a door on the southern blocking wall. Moving forward, the crossbowman paused at the intersection and checked both ways. The new hallway was wider. To the left, a smaller hallway branched a short way from the T-intersection and another door was present along the southern wall somewhat further. Looking to the right, <strong>Corilo</strong> frowned. Whispering to the rest of the party behind him, he said, <span style="color: #0000FF">"There's a set of stairs leading down to the west. On top of that, there's a hallway leading south just before it. A smeared trail of blood connects the two."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000FF">"Might as well check it out,"</span> <strong>Lorenzo</strong> suggested and the party moved out.</p><p></p><p>The stairway ended at the foot of a small hallway. The smear of blood continued down the hallway until it reached a large, heavy, circular wooden door with two arcane glyphs glowing with magical power. Given how close the smear got to the door, it seemed likely it continued inside to whatever was behind that door. </p><p></p><p>Approaching cautiously, <strong>Boddynock</strong> spoke softly, <span style="color: #0000FF">"Let me see what I can see..."</span> Using his still-extant spell, he examined the door with his arcane sight. <span style="color: #0000FF">"Strong abjuration. The door appears to be locked by these glyphs. But look,"</span> he said, pointing to a burned scar in the wood, <span style="color: #0000FF">"this looks like the glyph that was in the eye of that homunculus that <strong>Corilo</strong> killed. It appears to have been dispelled by the creature's death. I would bet that two more of those glyphs exist somewhere in this manor. If we destroy them, we can get inside."</span></p><p></p><p><strong>Brue</strong> frowned, <span style="color: #0000FF">"Well, if the staff is in there, I guess we need to get in there as well."</span></p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>Returning to the first floor of the manor, <strong>Gnorth</strong> said, <span style="color: #0000FF">"We should follow the blood, yes? Maybe there are still living people?"</span> Silently nodding, <strong>Corilo</strong> followed the trail of blood south through the nearby hallway. The trail disappeared behind a door in the wall to the west. </p><p></p><p>Carefully inspecting it, the crossbowman nodded to <strong>Brue</strong> when he found no traps and determined that the door was unlocked. The genasi pushed the door open with her maul and stepped in the room, ready to do battle. The room had the makings of some kind of laboratory. Wooden desks were arranged against the walls bearing beakers and flasks of different colored liquids, elaborate crafting devices, and dozens of books thumbed open to marked pages, with notes scribbled upon them. A large shelf on the southern wall housed hundreds of bottles, each stoppered at the top and individually labeled. Other than that, it was empty of any opposition. The smeared blood trail itself continued through a door in the west wall.</p><p></p><p>As was his custom, <strong>Boddynock</strong> examined the notes and vials. <span style="color: #0000FF">"This seems to be the main alchemy laboratory. The room in the tower must have been for storage. Odd, I figure it would have been reversed. Alchemy is just as dangerous as spell research."</span> Picking up a bottle resting on one of the desks, he read the label. Tossing it to <strong>Corilo</strong> the gnome said, <span style="color: #0000FF">"Here you go. Coat your bolts with that and they will be magically enhanced to overcome certain defenses. Might be useful..."</span> The crossbowman nodded his thanks and proceeded to coat about a score of crossbow bolts, moving them to one of his extra quivers. By way of explanation, the crossbowman said, <span style="color: #0000FF">"I don't have too much trouble with the undead or ogres, I'll try to save these in case we run into tougher foes."</span></p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>After a thorough search, the party came up empty handed in their hunt for another glyph. After having been assured that the next door was neither trapped nor locked, <strong>Brue</strong> pushed her way into the next room. The smell of decaying bodies made her stomach turn as she entered the room. Along the sides of the room were small bookshelves, comfortable looking chairs, and sitting tables with empty teacups and bare dishes.</p><p></p><p>The blood-smeared trail led to a heap of corpses piled in the middle of the room. The smear seemed to come out the other side of the pile and led to a door in the north wall. The corpses appeared to be mostly humans, male, some wearing light armor and others dressed like common folk. Undoubtedly, these were the unfortunate victims of the ogres’ raid on Port Kir. Inspecting the corpses, <strong>Lorenzo</strong> offered, <span style="color: #0000FF">"The armor looks like the Port Kir guardsmen. These must be the folk that were carried off by the ogres."</span></p><p></p><p><strong>Boddynock</strong> added, <span style="color: #0000FF">"The ogres don't eat human flesh, so that makes a sort of sense. But why bring them in here at all?"</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000FF">"There are no women."</span> <strong>Brue</strong> stated. The rest of the party looked closely. Sure enough, of the dozen or so bodies on the ground, none of them were female. <span style="color: #0000FF">"None of the bodies in the cave were feline either."</span> <strong>Gnorth</strong> added with a thoughtful look. After a second, the rest of the party grasped what he was trying to say. Frowning, <strong>Corilo</strong> added, <span style="color: #0000FF">"But we know for sure that the ogres grabbed at least one woman, the cook at the Triton's Tankard, and probably more. So where are they?"</span></p><p></p><p>Shrugging, <strong>Gnorth</strong> pointed to the blood smear leading to the door in the north wall. Opening it, the party uncovered what appeared to be a cloak room. The small, unlit room was roughly twenty feet from wall to wall. Along the sides of the room were hooks with traveling cloaks hanging from them. There were also an assortment of walking sticks, traveling bags, boots, and torches gathering dust and cobwebs. Another door was set against the north wall through which the blood smear continued. Pausing, <strong>Lorenzo</strong> said, <span style="color: #0000FF">"If I have my bearings right, I think this is the other entryway, the one the ogres had blocked off with those stones. I guess they dragged the bodies through here and piled them up in the other room, then took the female corpses downstairs?"</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000FF">"We aren't going to be able to figure out that mystery, or get revenge for those dead people, until we find and destroy the last two glyphs,"</span> <strong>Brue</strong> said, anger written across her face. <span style="color: #0000FF">"Let's go..."</span></p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>Returning through the laboratory and following the blood smear north into the hallway they had previously explored, <strong>Corilo</strong> offered, <span style="color: #0000FF">"The glyphs could be hidden in any of these rooms, we should probably check each one as we go."</span> Approaching the first doorway they had spotted after searching the tower, the crossbowman checked out the door and gave a thumb's up. <strong>Brue</strong> shouldered her way into the room. Yet again, it appeared empty of threats.</p><p></p><p>The room must have once served as an armory. Weapons and armors of different ages and cultures lined its perimeter. An ancient elven shield was prominently on display, mounted in a showcase between two plate armor-bearing mannequins in the center of the room. Piping up, <strong>Boddynock</strong> announced, <span style="color: #0000FF">"There is magic emanating from the shield. Evocation, oddly enough."</span> Before he could discern more, his spell finally collapsed, ending his arcane sight. <span style="color: #0000FF">"My spell has ended, but I was able to determine that the mannequins appear to be normal, or at least not magically enhanced."</span></p><p></p><p><strong>Corilo</strong> moved forward to inspect the mannequins for traps while <strong>Brue</strong> inspected the weaponry. To her disappointment, the armor appeared to be largely ceremonial and wouldn't stand up to attack. It was, however, extremely well made and possibly ancient. <strong>Lorenzo's</strong> attention was on the shield in the middle of the room. <span style="color: #0000FF">"The mannequins don't seem to have any moving parts, so I don't think they're a trap," </span> <strong>Corilo</strong> announced.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000FF">"That's good,"</span> <strong>Lorenzo</strong> replied, as he reached out to take hold of the shield, <span style="color: #0000FF">"I imagine this may provide a fair bit of protection."</span> <strong>Corilo's</strong> eyes suddenly went wide as he finally noticed the faint sparks dancing around the edges of the shield. Reaching out, he grabbed <strong>Lorenzo's</strong> shoulder and yelled, <span style="color: #0000FF">"Wait!!!"</span></p><p></p><p>His warning was too late. As the cleric took hold of the shield, a massive bolt of lightning blasted out from the shield, catching Lorenzo full in the chest. The lightning arced through his armor and into <strong>Corilo's</strong> body. The main bolt carried through the cleric and ricocheted around the room, grounding itself through <strong>Brue's</strong> splint armor and boots. As one, the two humans and the genasi slumped to the ground amidst wisps of smoke and groans of pain.</p><p></p><p>At the doorway, <strong>Boddynock</strong> stood wide-eyed in shock. <strong>Gnorth</strong> having been outside the room guarding the hallway, walked up behind the gnome and asked, <span style="color: #0000FF">"Oh, did they decide to take rest?"</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Forged Fury, post: 6814856, member: 95059"] [b]The Warded Door, the Laboratory, the Study, and the Armory[/b] [b]Corilo[/b] led the party back down through the tower, hand crossbow at the ready. Reaching the door leading back into the manor, he paused and peered around the corner to the left, into the southern hallway. After a short distance, the hallway ended in a T-intersection with a door on the southern blocking wall. Moving forward, the crossbowman paused at the intersection and checked both ways. The new hallway was wider. To the left, a smaller hallway branched a short way from the T-intersection and another door was present along the southern wall somewhat further. Looking to the right, [b]Corilo[/b] frowned. Whispering to the rest of the party behind him, he said, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"There's a set of stairs leading down to the west. On top of that, there's a hallway leading south just before it. A smeared trail of blood connects the two."[/COLOR] [COLOR="#0000FF"]"Might as well check it out,"[/COLOR] [B]Lorenzo[/B] suggested and the party moved out. The stairway ended at the foot of a small hallway. The smear of blood continued down the hallway until it reached a large, heavy, circular wooden door with two arcane glyphs glowing with magical power. Given how close the smear got to the door, it seemed likely it continued inside to whatever was behind that door. Approaching cautiously, [b]Boddynock[/b] spoke softly, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"Let me see what I can see..."[/COLOR] Using his still-extant spell, he examined the door with his arcane sight. [COLOR="#0000FF"]"Strong abjuration. The door appears to be locked by these glyphs. But look,"[/COLOR] he said, pointing to a burned scar in the wood, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"this looks like the glyph that was in the eye of that homunculus that [b]Corilo[/b] killed. It appears to have been dispelled by the creature's death. I would bet that two more of those glyphs exist somewhere in this manor. If we destroy them, we can get inside."[/COLOR] [b]Brue[/b] frowned, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"Well, if the staff is in there, I guess we need to get in there as well."[/COLOR] [HR][/HR] Returning to the first floor of the manor, [b]Gnorth[/b] said, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"We should follow the blood, yes? Maybe there are still living people?"[/COLOR] Silently nodding, [b]Corilo[/b] followed the trail of blood south through the nearby hallway. The trail disappeared behind a door in the wall to the west. Carefully inspecting it, the crossbowman nodded to [b]Brue[/b] when he found no traps and determined that the door was unlocked. The genasi pushed the door open with her maul and stepped in the room, ready to do battle. The room had the makings of some kind of laboratory. Wooden desks were arranged against the walls bearing beakers and flasks of different colored liquids, elaborate crafting devices, and dozens of books thumbed open to marked pages, with notes scribbled upon them. A large shelf on the southern wall housed hundreds of bottles, each stoppered at the top and individually labeled. Other than that, it was empty of any opposition. The smeared blood trail itself continued through a door in the west wall. As was his custom, [b]Boddynock[/b] examined the notes and vials. [COLOR="#0000FF"]"This seems to be the main alchemy laboratory. The room in the tower must have been for storage. Odd, I figure it would have been reversed. Alchemy is just as dangerous as spell research."[/COLOR] Picking up a bottle resting on one of the desks, he read the label. Tossing it to [b]Corilo[/b] the gnome said, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"Here you go. Coat your bolts with that and they will be magically enhanced to overcome certain defenses. Might be useful..."[/COLOR] The crossbowman nodded his thanks and proceeded to coat about a score of crossbow bolts, moving them to one of his extra quivers. By way of explanation, the crossbowman said, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"I don't have too much trouble with the undead or ogres, I'll try to save these in case we run into tougher foes."[/COLOR] [HR][/HR] After a thorough search, the party came up empty handed in their hunt for another glyph. After having been assured that the next door was neither trapped nor locked, [b]Brue[/b] pushed her way into the next room. The smell of decaying bodies made her stomach turn as she entered the room. Along the sides of the room were small bookshelves, comfortable looking chairs, and sitting tables with empty teacups and bare dishes. The blood-smeared trail led to a heap of corpses piled in the middle of the room. The smear seemed to come out the other side of the pile and led to a door in the north wall. The corpses appeared to be mostly humans, male, some wearing light armor and others dressed like common folk. Undoubtedly, these were the unfortunate victims of the ogres’ raid on Port Kir. Inspecting the corpses, [b]Lorenzo[/b] offered, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"The armor looks like the Port Kir guardsmen. These must be the folk that were carried off by the ogres."[/COLOR] [B]Boddynock[/B] added, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"The ogres don't eat human flesh, so that makes a sort of sense. But why bring them in here at all?"[/COLOR] [COLOR="#0000FF"]"There are no women."[/COLOR] [b]Brue[/b] stated. The rest of the party looked closely. Sure enough, of the dozen or so bodies on the ground, none of them were female. [COLOR="#0000FF"]"None of the bodies in the cave were feline either."[/COLOR] [b]Gnorth[/b] added with a thoughtful look. After a second, the rest of the party grasped what he was trying to say. Frowning, [b]Corilo[/b] added, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"But we know for sure that the ogres grabbed at least one woman, the cook at the Triton's Tankard, and probably more. So where are they?"[/COLOR] Shrugging, [b]Gnorth[/b] pointed to the blood smear leading to the door in the north wall. Opening it, the party uncovered what appeared to be a cloak room. The small, unlit room was roughly twenty feet from wall to wall. Along the sides of the room were hooks with traveling cloaks hanging from them. There were also an assortment of walking sticks, traveling bags, boots, and torches gathering dust and cobwebs. Another door was set against the north wall through which the blood smear continued. Pausing, [b]Lorenzo[/b] said, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"If I have my bearings right, I think this is the other entryway, the one the ogres had blocked off with those stones. I guess they dragged the bodies through here and piled them up in the other room, then took the female corpses downstairs?"[/COLOR] [COLOR="#0000FF"]"We aren't going to be able to figure out that mystery, or get revenge for those dead people, until we find and destroy the last two glyphs,"[/COLOR] [b]Brue[/b] said, anger written across her face. [COLOR="#0000FF"]"Let's go..."[/COLOR] [HR][/HR] Returning through the laboratory and following the blood smear north into the hallway they had previously explored, [b]Corilo[/b] offered, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"The glyphs could be hidden in any of these rooms, we should probably check each one as we go."[/COLOR] Approaching the first doorway they had spotted after searching the tower, the crossbowman checked out the door and gave a thumb's up. [b]Brue[/b] shouldered her way into the room. Yet again, it appeared empty of threats. The room must have once served as an armory. Weapons and armors of different ages and cultures lined its perimeter. An ancient elven shield was prominently on display, mounted in a showcase between two plate armor-bearing mannequins in the center of the room. Piping up, [b]Boddynock[/b] announced, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"There is magic emanating from the shield. Evocation, oddly enough."[/COLOR] Before he could discern more, his spell finally collapsed, ending his arcane sight. [COLOR="#0000FF"]"My spell has ended, but I was able to determine that the mannequins appear to be normal, or at least not magically enhanced."[/COLOR] [b]Corilo[/b] moved forward to inspect the mannequins for traps while [b]Brue[/b] inspected the weaponry. To her disappointment, the armor appeared to be largely ceremonial and wouldn't stand up to attack. It was, however, extremely well made and possibly ancient. [b]Lorenzo's[/b] attention was on the shield in the middle of the room. [COLOR="#0000FF"]"The mannequins don't seem to have any moving parts, so I don't think they're a trap," [/COLOR] [b]Corilo[/b] announced. [COLOR="#0000FF"]"That's good,"[/COLOR] [b]Lorenzo[/b] replied, as he reached out to take hold of the shield, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"I imagine this may provide a fair bit of protection."[/COLOR] [b]Corilo's[/b] eyes suddenly went wide as he finally noticed the faint sparks dancing around the edges of the shield. Reaching out, he grabbed [b]Lorenzo's[/b] shoulder and yelled, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"Wait!!!"[/COLOR] His warning was too late. As the cleric took hold of the shield, a massive bolt of lightning blasted out from the shield, catching Lorenzo full in the chest. The lightning arced through his armor and into [b]Corilo's[/b] body. The main bolt carried through the cleric and ricocheted around the room, grounding itself through [b]Brue's[/b] splint armor and boots. As one, the two humans and the genasi slumped to the ground amidst wisps of smoke and groans of pain. At the doorway, [b]Boddynock[/b] stood wide-eyed in shock. [b]Gnorth[/b] having been outside the room guarding the hallway, walked up behind the gnome and asked, [COLOR="#0000FF"]"Oh, did they decide to take rest?"[/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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