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Message: <blockquote data-quote="carpedavid" data-source="post: 697030" data-attributes="member: 6971">Session 4, Part 2 - in which the characters invade the prisonAs Shoji moves in through the crack and peers up the central shaft, he sees a bright flash of silver light about thirty feet up, then watches Wrayce plummet head first into the charnel pit. The impact sends debris flying, and awakens something within the pit. Shoji snaps to attention and motions to his companions as four large tentacles erupt from underneath the rotting bodies.Wrayce scrambles to his feet as the creatures attached to the tentacles emerge. Aw, crap...otyughs, he thinks to himself as he dodges one otyugh's tentacles. The other catches him on the side of the head, leaving a red welt on his cheek.Laurel draws her bow and fires an arrow past Erendil and Shoji's heads, hitting the otyugh that missed Wrayce. It grumbles in pain and shambles toward the group, even as Wrayce backs away from it. Shoji steps through the crack in the wall onto a small ledge that runs the perimeter of the charnel pit, pulling out his sling as he goes. Erendil lets loose two arrows of his own, which hit the shambling creature at the same time as Shoji's sling bullet.The otyugh turns its attention to Erendil, and tries to sneak its tentacles through the crack in the wall, but misses with both. The other otyugh continues its assault on Wrayce, and grabs the druidic wizard with the massive paddles on the ends of its tentacles.Quara draws her own bow, and sends an arrow past Laurel and Erendil, which strikes the otyugh grappling Wrayce and explodes in a burst of flame. Laurel follows with another volley from her own bow, which distracts the creature long enough for Wrayce to wrap his arms around its tentacles and pin it. Wrayce smiles to himself as an expression that can only be described as utter surprise crosses the otyugh's ugly maw.Erendil fells the shambling monster with two arrows from his bow, while Shoji moves up to the pinned otyugh and dispatches it with a devastating punch to the creature's skull. Wrayce drops the now-lifeless creature into the other dead bodies covering the ground, then looks around as Erendil, Laurel, and Quara join Shoji inside the pit. "Wow," he says in disgust, "I feel dirty."Shoji speaks for the rest of the group when he looks at Wrayce and asks, "How'd you get here?""I'm not sure," he replies, and then proceeds to explain about the exploding bird and the message from the general. "...And then I fell into this pile of..." he looks down, and finally realizes what he's standing in, "of... oh dear. Does anyone have a rag I can use?""No, but this might help you feel better," Laurel says as she pulls out a slim wand made of white ash."Very nice," Wrayce nods in approval, "You mind if I use this on everybody?""That's what I have it.""Great," Wrayce smiles, "So, who needs to be healed?"After liberal use of Laurel's wand of cure moderate wounds, the party turns their focus to climbing out the pile of steaming, stinking, rotting body parts that they're currently standing in. The rough-hewn walls of the pit rise thirty feet above them, at which point an iron catwalk rings the shaft."I guess we go up," Laurel says to Shoji as she looks up at the catwalk."Yep. Got rope?""Yep.""Ok, then. Let's go," he says as he walks to the wall and begins climbing. The rogue and the monk scamper up the walls of the pit, then climb hand over hand to the edge of the catwalk. They pull themselves up, and, after checking that no one is about to put a sword through their backs, tie off a rope so that the others may climb up.Once the rest of the party is out of the pit, they examine their surroundings. Four large steel doors radiate from the central shaft in the cardinal directions. Between the north and east doors is a stone stairway that leads up to the next level, where another iron catwalk hangs above them. Above that, more catwalks mark each of the twenty stories of Áit ar Chúl Éaga."Ok, needle in a haystack time," Shoji quips.Laurel nods in agreement, shrugs, and quietly moves to the east door, which she finds locked. After a minute with her picks, the door swings open, revealing a dimly lit corridor lined with iron doors. She shakes her head in frustration, "This is going to take forever.""Let's start looking," says Quara, as she pushes past Laurel. She quickly spots a small view port located on each of the forty doors in the corridor, which enables her to quickly check each room. "It doesn't look like anybody is in any of these cells," she observes as she moves down the hall. The rest of the party joins her in the search, and they finish checking the entire hall in a matter of minutes.With shrugs all around, the group continues their search through the southern, western, and northern corridors, each time finding nothing but empty cells. As they emerge from the northern door, Laurel and Shoji both spot a guard walking along the catwalk three floors above them. They quickly motion for silence, and then watch as the guard unlocks a door, goes through, and shuts it behind him."We need to take him out," Quara whispers."I agree," Erendil replies, "we can't risk capture this early on."Laurel and Shoji nod to each other, dash up the stairs without making a sound, and flank the door. After a quick listen at the door, Laurel motions to the others to join them. Once up the stairs, Wrayce and Erendil join Laurel on the left side of the door, and Quara joins Shoji on the right.With everyone doing their best to stay out of sight, Laurel crouches down and listens at the door again. When she hears the guard walking back toward the door, she signals the group and draws her longsword. As the iron door opens and the guard steps out, Laurel steps forward and swings her sword at his midsection. Unfortunately for her, he turns to close the door and narrowly sidesteps the blow. As the sword passes by the guard's torso, he suddenly notices the presence of the five adventurers, and a look of alarm crosses his face.Wrayce points at the guard and a golden bolt jumps from his fingertip and strikes the man in the chest. Shoji tries to harness his chi to perform a stunning blow, but loses focus at the last moment and ends up tripping on his own robe. Laurel draws her short sword and swings at the guard with both blades. He is aware of her now, though, and actively dodges his her blows.Quara tries to shoot past Shoji, but her aim is off, and the wooden arrow smashes into the stone wall, sending splinters everywhere. The guard pulls a large silver whistle from around his neck and blows. Everyone stops for a moment as the sound of the whistle echoes up the central shaft. The adventurers glance at each other uneasily as they realize that reinforcements are only moments away.Then the guard breaks the silence with a bestial scream as he draws his sword and lunges at Laurel. His face twisted in rage, the guard slices into the shoulder of the beautiful elven ranger, who mouths a curse as the pain shoots through her body. Then, in the space of a heartbeat, the guard is hit with another magic missile from Wrayce, an arrow from Erendil, and a crushing fist in the kidney from Shoji. Laurel slides her Oakenblade through the stunned guard's armor, piercing his heart. He collapses in a heap at her feet."Mother f-----!" Wrayce exclaims as he grabs the dead guard's body and hurls it over the side of the catwalk into the charnel pit fifty feet below. He turns to his companions, "We need to hide." They all nod in agreement as the sound of iron doors slamming shut and hastily barked orders echoes down from above.The group hastily moves up the stairs and, after Laurel picks the lock, down the east corridor. At the end of the corridor, Laurel picks the lock to one of the cells, and the five adventurers pile inside. Each tries to blend into the available shadows when he or she hears the door at the end of the corridor open. The sound of footsteps slowly makes its way down the corridor, punctuated by the sound of view ports being opened, then slammed shut. A collective breath is held as the view port of their cell is opened.Quara realizes too late that she hid directly in the line of sight of the view port. The small sliver of light that pierces the darkness reflects brightly off of her silver armor. Before the guard can react to her presence, though, she lifts her bow and fires an arrow directly into the man's eye. He screams in pain as he steps back, and the rest of the group bursts through the door to silence him as quickly as possible.A golden bolt from Wrayce's finger starts the melee, with a stunning palm from Shoji quickly following. Laurel tumbles through the open space, which allows her to flank the guard and shove her longsword deep into his midsection. An arrow from Erendil later, and the guard collapses.The damage has already been done, though, and the five adventurers turn to look down the corridor. The iron door is slightly ajar, and from behind it, they hear a multitude of footsteps, and the sound of swords being drawn.Stay tuned for session five...</blockquote>

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