Last Stand of the Dorinthians (Chapter 3 - The Imperials)

[Deuce Traveler]

Surprisingly, Silas moves first, striking the creature firmly across its side as it scrambles off the rocky platform. Danica fires a bolt next, missing the creature, but tearing a hole through Silas' sleeve. The abjurer is surprised, but unhurt as the lizard attacks and also misses.

Chalik yells and swings his rapier, but the creature's thick hide is too much and the blade almost snaps. Dartis moves to Chalik's side and swing his own blade, cutting deeply into the creature's flesh with a mighty cleave. It's Kel, though, that finishes off the beast, his strike biting into the lizard's throat and silencing it forever.

There are no more bestial sounds, and it would appear that the party are the sole survivors of the carnage.

 

[GlassEye]

Silas sighs with a quiet outrushing of breath, fingers the new hole in his sleeve, and flashes Danica a grin accompanied by an arching eyebrow. For a wizardly sort he certainly seems to enjoy the rush of battle. "Well, now that that unpleasantness has been put aside..." He waits a moment for any orders that Dartis may have, all the while staring at the expired lizard, then again climbs the stone platform, this time to the top. He glances around then moves to the lizard-like man to search for any weapons, valuables, or anything else that might enlighten him about their nature.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Silas is able to get to the top of the stone platform and searches the disgusting remains of the lizard-like humanoid that was torn apart. On the corpse he finds a keyring with four black keys with curvy shaped lengths.

In a pouch by the corpse he also finds a well-made sling, two small sapphires (150 gp each), and ten crude gold pieces with the face of a lizard-humanoid emblazoned on both ends. Also on the corpse, Silas finds a silver ring with runes of an unknown language etched upon its surface.

Reposting the appearance of the room (with corrections):
The tunnel that you came from is to the south. You are now in an irregularly-shaped circular room about 40 feet in diameter. From the entrance of this room, you can see a passageway directly to the north and another that leads to the right, to the east. The ceiling is about 30 feet above you.

In the northeast, the corner of the room is raised like a platform and stands about 20 feet high.

 

[GlassEye]

Silas packs away the items that he has found with the intention of sharing the treasure with his companions when they return to a place of safety. He'll examine the ring +5 Decipher Script and jingle the keyring. "Found some keys and a bit of stuff that may be worth some coin if we make it out of here alive." He grins. "So. Which way now?" He ambles over to check the walls near the two exits to see if they have markings similar to those they found previous.

 

[Fenris]

"Let's try that tunnel" says Dartis pointing to the tunnel to the north.

OOC: Which if I am correct is NOT the tunnel the lizard people came out of. For that is my intention.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

"Let's try that tunnel" says Dartis pointing to the tunnel to the north.

OOC: Which if I am correct is NOT the tunnel the lizard people came out of. For that is my intention.

OOC: Correct. They came from the other tunnel. I'll post what you find down that tunnel in a couple of hours, but I want to give the rest of the party a chance to ready any actions, if need be.

Silas can see that the language on the ring is a blend between aquan and undercommon, but leaning more towards the undercommon side.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Danica smiles at Silas, a coquettish grin which acknowledges the danger she had put him in. "I'll aim for the lizard, next time," she offers, looking down as she re-loads, and glancing up again quickly to see if he is still watching her.

She adds: "I can try and mend that for you later, if you wish." And with that she prepares to head down the tunnel, lifting her everburning torch to help illuminate the passage.

With her hair cut short, she Danica is missing the strands with which she used to habitually play. As she walks, she does so with a grace that she knows will appear feminine to most, and she winces at the thought that, such a short time ago, she actually hoped to disguise herself as a boy. The memory aches, but she fights back the embarassment. But are all my secrets this transparent to the others? she asks herself.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

The smooth, circular corridor goes for 40 more feet, with a slight decline that makes it impossible to see the next chamber at first. As you near the end of the tunnel it does come into sight. You are just before the entrance of a very large chamber, about 90 feet from east to west, and another 40 feet from south to north. Two large pools of water stretch from the west and stop at a large statue in the east.

The statue is in the shape of one of the humanoid creatures, but showing only its torso and higher, the rest of the body submerged in another pool of water. It stands 40 feet above the water, its head just barely touching the ceiling. On the forehead is what looks to be a large gem, while two outstretched hands with palms up are held 10 feet over the strip of earth that forms a path between the pools. Another tunnel is in the north.

 

[GlassEye]

Danica smiles at Silas, a coquettish grin which acknowledges the danger she had put him in. "I'll aim for the lizard, next time," she offers... She adds: "I can try and mend that for you later, if you wish."

Still grinning, Silas shrugs. "It's just a hole. The bears did worse." Truly, his clothes do look a little worse for wear. He turns away and quickly retrieves his lantern still sitting on the floor near the cavern wall. Trotting down the hall he hurries to catch up with the others.

He stops as they arrive at the next cavern. "Ai! That thing's huge. At least there's no bloody alters. Think they're lurking just under the water waiting for us to pass?" His grin has faded into a smile that, coupled with his eyes that dart about the cavern, seems more strained than jovial.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Danica grunts approval at Silas's idea--it does seem likely that something awaits in the water. Still, as the party begins to enter the room she is looking up, at the ceiling and the walls, looking for places of potential ambush. With her back to the wall of the new room, she side-steps her way 10 to 20 feet along to the right. She is not going in the water, yet.