World’s Largest Dungeon [D&D 3.5]

[Alyksandur]

((In the interest of having the character sheets somewhere they can conveniently be found (or changed) when needed, I’m linking them here as the first post of the game. Also, any dice rolls for the game should be done on the OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=149444) thread.))

Emily Starsigner (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=205233)

Lady Siren (http://www.coyotecode.net/profiler/view.php?id=8518)

Mirssa Longfang (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=201905)

Requiem (http://www.coyotecode.net/profiler/view.php?id=8464)

[Alyksandur]

It was masterful tale, one of a dungeon that the world had forgotten. Of untold treasure guarded by fearsome dragons, of plotting devils warring with their celestial captors, of demons trapped by walls that denied interplanar travel, of tribes of mortal races sustained by celestial magic without food or water, of undead minions and the lords they served, of long lost artifacts of incalculable power, and of a great evil that was slowly eroding the very structure of the dungeon itself and was even now threatening to loose itself on an unsuspecting world.

Four people — two humans, an elf, and a gnoll — talk amongst themselves after the tale. Following some discussion and a few questions asked of the storyteller, they arrive at the startling conclusion that they recognize the region where the entrance to this dungeon was supposed to be. If the tale is to believed, it would explain a number of otherwise inexplicable occurrences that have been growing increasingly common.

A few days later, following some hasty planning, the four find themselves at a mountain. Climbing the trail upward is easy enough, though rocks and debris make it slow going. A cave mouth grows visible ahead as the path levels off, and just outside lies a man the size of a galleon. Closer still and it becomes obvious that he is dead. Despite the lack of any stench of decay, it’s clear that he has been dead for quite some time.

There are no signs of a struggle. Who was he? How did he die?

[The Dragon Girl]

The elf sets his hands on his knees, catching his breath. He shakes his gaudy, brightly coloured hair away from his face (it had a tendency to stick, what with the sweating) and resettles his back pack, blinking at the (very) large dead creature. After a moment he has the presence of mind to be grateful that there is not a carnal stench about the place, as he pants some from the hike.
"...What..." He clears his throat and straightens himself up, The discipline learned of singing giving him back control of his breathy voice. "What can kill a titan?" He was guessing of course, he didn't know that's what the dead creature was. He wasn't even certain of whom he asked the question, it wasn't all that likely his new companions knew the answer.

[Yuki Akuma]

"Lots of things can kill a titan. A sufficiently aged dragon. A powerful demon. A Wizard. A God," came a reply from the smallest and youngest of the two humans. Her shoulder-length red hair is tied back into a ponytail, and she's wearing green and brown traveling clothes. Her eyes are green, and her features are slightly reminiscent of an elf... although she's obviously predominantly human. Elven ancestry, perhaps?

"I don't think that's a titan, though. Probably a giant..."

[TigerClaw]

The other human, dressed in a dark blue vest with designs looking like waves, and light blue pant and brown boots, watches the dead corpse for a long moment, one hand moving to stroke the two blue locks of hair in front of her right ear, which is adorned with several colored piercings. She gives a couple of experimental sniffs, as if trying to detect the scent of decay that should be here.

"Whatever it is that could do this to such a creature, whether demon, dragon, mortal, or god," she turns her gaze from the titan to the cave, "likely came from exactly where we're heading." She watches the cave for several seconds, letting her fingers slide over the blue locks of hair, then running her hand through the rest of her short black hair while shaking her head, "The power it would take to do something like this? We'll likely have to deal with it sooner or later if it did come from within there."

[Batty]

"There are many things in the wilds that die and lay on the ground." The well learned gnoll grunted to herself as she approached the corpse. She wore piece mail armor, made from various scraps of armor acquired from battle, found or stolen. Gnolls didn't need much else, as they were seen as savage and Mirssa certainly dressed the part. Whether or not the party knew she was female was unimportant. Gnolls had no distinguishing traits between their genders, like humans, and her name was only a vague clue.

Mirssa pulled the glaive from off her back and stuck the beast to make sure it was dead. The fact that it gave off no smell worried the gnoll, but she didn't bother joining in the speculations of the humanoids. What did it matter? They weren't going to turn back regardless of what did this. She'd pull her glaive back and stick it in the ground, making a quick search around the body for anything of use, material or information. The glaive would drag a trail in the ground as she moved around the gargantuan body to peek around the back, leaving a trail to know where she had started her search.

( [roll0] Search check.
Unsure if you want us to roll or not, but here y'are. )

[Alyksandur]

Searching the body and the grounds immediately surrounding it will take a minute or two, though immediately obvious are his chain shirt and halberd. Both are still in impecable condition, but the armor would only be of use for somebody nearly twenty feet tall and the halberd for somebody even larger than that.

((Do your dice rolling in the OOC thread, please; just make a note of what it’s for. Mirssa is going to be busy searching for the next couple of posts, but is still close enough to join in on conversation.))

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem straightens himself up, leaning on his staff and brushing his hair back a bit and glancing at the gnoll as the strange creature began its investigations of the dead body. He snorts very softly at the cleric and turns his attention to her, one of his eyebrows lifting. The bard indicates the body with a tilt of his head.

"It's too big to be a giant, I'm thinking. Besides, there's the lack of stench, which although I'm rather grateful for, is unnatural. I wouldn't think its a creature of this plane." He shrugs one of his shoulders and takes in a deep breath, letting it out and straightening up, squinting toward the body again with a slight bemused frown.

[Yuki Akuma]

The youngest human, Emily, crosses her arms over her chest as she watches the gnoll searching about. "...There are spells to do that. I can't cast them, personally, but I'm told they're not particularly complex..." She hmmms a little bit, peering at the giant. "It could be a titan, I suppose. But don't giants come in all sizes? Trolls are giants, for example... And then there are hill giants..."

The girl seems quite unsure of herself as she speaks, though. "...Anyway, shouldn't we be looking for an entrance?"

[The Dragon Girl]

The bard admits ruefully, talking to the cleric girl. "It could be, I'm not an expert on gargantuan humanoids." He rolls a shoulder and tilts his head toward the furry member of their party. "I believe someones already on top of that, my dear." A wry smile then and he murmurs. "besides, it does give us a moment to rest after that hike."

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren looked calm, but inside she was unnerved by the dead body. She wasn't interested in what the dead body once was, but rather what did this to the dead creature, and more importantly, if they were going to have to deal with it. Glancing at the others, she shifts her own backpack to a more comfortable position as she waits to see if gnoll's search turns anything up.

[Batty]

Mirssa looked about the galleon sized giant, checking as to whether or not the creature was blocking the entrance to the cave. She took no interest in the hypothetical conversations of her soft skinned compatriots. She continued her search with lackluster engagement. There was nothing of use that a creature this size would have for them that could be donned or even carried for that matter. 'Perhaps a scroll or something useless to me,' the gnoll thought to herself.

[Yuki Akuma]

The clerical girl can't help but grin at her elven companion. "What, are you tired? Psh. Elves, no stamina." She's grinning while saying that, of course - she doesn't mean anything bad by it. She then calls over to Mirssa. "Hey! Found anything interesting?"

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem manages to keep a straight face, the bard's eyes twinkling. "Well I've never heard any complaints about my stamina, ma'am, but it does pay to be somewhat on form when possibly facing something which has managed to kill a being..ah.." he eyes the corpse speculatively. "..five times ones size."

[Alyksandur]

The gnoll does indeed find something on her search, something that wouldn’t be readily visible from the side the rest of the group is standing on. Furthermore, at first glance, it might even look like her first guess isn’t far from the truth. There’s paper all over the ground beside the huge body, hundreds of pages two feet on each side, and none of it bears writing in any language Mirssa would be familiar with. Even her cursory check is enough to show that the paper trail — so to speak — came from one of the titan’s (or giant’s, whichever) pockets.

[Batty]

"Well, it is not blocking the cave." Mirssa calls out from behind the sea fairing vessel sized corpse. She moves to the cave mouth plants the blade of her glaive in softer ground and waits for the others to gather. The papers were of no importance to her, nor could she assume they'd be useful for others. Surely a bunch of scattered papers were easy enough for the soft skins to spot on their way over had they took interest to it. Or so she had thought. She huffed at the cave and turned back around. Placing her main hand on the haft of her glaive, she unsheathed it from it's gritty casing of earth and stood it on its butt. Her ears on the alert as she stood back toward the foreboding gap.

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem looks up at the call, body tensing and lifts his voice. "Coming 'round then!"

He had his breath and the debate had truly only been to pass the time. The young elf makes his way around the corpse.. and provided what the gnoll believes about the non-fuzzy party member's ability to spot bright white objects en mass is correct.. he will stop part way to their scout and pick up a handful.

"..Huh!" he squints at them, glancing toward the pouch. .. time for industrious gathering of papers, and searching the dead thing for belongings of interest, and not terribly shy about doing so. Yes even if he doesn't recognize the writing himself, when the cleric gets around he will certainly show her.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily follows Requiem around the strangely-not-decomposing giant (or possibly titan). She notices the papers, and hmmms, leaning in closer to get a better look. She might be able to read them, maybe!

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren walks after the others, moving around the dead body. She sees the papers lying on the ground, and Reqiuem picking some up. She glances at the remaining papers on the ground, then passes them by to go look up at the cave's entrance.

[Alyksandur]

The paper, though still in quite good shape and clearly legible, is ancient. Neither bard nor cleric would be able to make heads or tails of the alphabet used on the paper, let alone the language, but the format looks to be along the lines of a diary or journal. Between the sheer number of pages and the size of each sheet of paper, even if the two could gather all of the pages together, it would be more weight than they could carry, and probably more than they could even lift.

Beyond the body is the cave’s entrance. It’s low, shallow, and obviously dug by small and crude hands. Many footprints mark the dirt, and debris litters every corner. At the back of the cave is a narrow, poorly lit tunnel leading deeper into the earth.

[The Dragon Girl]

The bard frowns at the paper frustratedly, and looks up at the sky then at the cave, he quirks a brow at the cleric and changing his tactic. ..he tries to move what he can under the shelter of the cave. He has a vague notion of coming back later for this and doesn't want it to get rained on. He didn't really see any way to get it better protected, since he hasn't got a bag of holding... a handful of them are going into his backpack though, for later. People can help him or try to stop him as they want.

[Batty]

"One person's junk..." Mirssa growled before turning her attention to the footprints and discarded litter. The shallow cave seemed empty enough despite the mess. She made her way in and looked about, using the butt of her polearm to sift through things quickly. She was more interested in what does or has lived here. 'Goblin, Kobold. Probably Kobold' She thought to herself as she moved around the undefined debris of who-knows-what.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily frowns a little bit. "I should have prepared Comprehend Languages this morning..." As she sees the bard starting to move the papers inside the cave, she quirks an eyebrow, then shrugs and decides to give him a hand! Hey, if the elf is doing manual labour...

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren picks up a handful of the fallen papers and gives them a glance as well. As she expected, she couldn't read anything on them. She glances at the elf and other human as they move the papers , "Do you really think these are worth salvaging? We can't read them, and we may not be coming back this way." She looks around at the sheer number of the pages, "And you'd need a lot of help to move them all somewhere you can take the time to study them, after all."

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem gives the Lady a look which suggests strongly that she has said something barbaric. "..If I had a quick way to contact one of those orders or libraries which collect such things I would have already used it, as it is, I intend, at the end of our quest, to return for them to take them myself."

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily stares at the Lady Siren for several moments, freezing in her tracks. "...You... you do recognise the holy symbol hanging around my neck, right? You haven't been so cloistered in your training that you don't recognise the symbol of Boccob?"

She shakes her head and sighs. "Knowledge is sacred. Knowledge wants to be known. Something happened here, and these papers might tell us what. If you cannot know something yourself, you must guard the source of that knowledge until such a time as you can learn from it."[/color]

[Alyksandur]

While the monk, bard, and cleric argue about the importance and value of the ancient journal, Mirrsa’s assessment of the tracks proves to be mostly correct in regards to being made by kobolds. A few heavier and slightly more recent tracks appear to indicate orcs as well. All of the tracks, however, are going in one direction: Inside. None of the detritus on the ground looks to be of any value, though.

[TigerClaw]

The look Requiem gives her earns him a look of confusion from the monk, and the first comment by Emily is received with a blank look as Lady Siren looks down at that holy symble. It would appear as though the monk had been that sheltered. Looking back down at the papers in her hands, she gives a mental shrug and joins in the moving of the papers. It wasn't like they didn't have time, and the two obviously felt strongly about preserving the pages. "Should we take some, in case we find some means of translating them?"

[The Dragon Girl]

The elven bard defrosts a little and treats the monk with a winning smile. "Yes indeed, I've already placed some in my pack, although additional pages and help with translation would be a welcome thing, we certainly cannot take all of them- but as I said, I shall, myself, come back for them, when the opportunity arises...they seem somewhat impervious to the elements as it is.. fortunately."

" Our cloistered friend here comes from an order which is .. renowned for their studious nature." He adds helpfully.

[Yuki Akuma]

"The divine grace of Boccob will allow me to translate them tomorrow," the priestess says. "I didn't think I'd need His guidance in such matters when I decided which of His miracles I would need today, unfortunately..." She shakes her head. "Anyway, this is enough standing around. Aren't we here to seek knowledge?"

[Batty]

Mirssa licked her lips. "Kobold. And Orc." She said allowed. "They appear to have headed inside," she pointed her glaive in the direction of the tunnel and headed toward the entrance of the tunnel. She watched and peaked inside, using her dark vision if necessary while waiting for her party. "Let us move in before these tracks rot," she urged her party impatiently to follow her as she kept her eyes on the tracks of her prey.

[Alyksandur]

Even the gnoll’s darkvision wouldn’t show much more than she could see from outside. The tunnel at the back of the cave winds deeper into the earth, and it’s by no means a spacious tunnel at only five feet in width and not much more than that in height. Obviously it wasn’t the orcs who created the tunnel.

[The Dragon Girl]

The bard curses softly, his head jerking up to look at the gnoll. "Will you not then wait for our task to be finished? You cannot be so eager to join battle that you must rush to it!" The elf complains, worriedly looking at the papers they've been attempting to move, and the furry thing which was proceeding them, he gathers up another armload, moving it hastily.

[Batty]

"No no. By all means, take your time so we can be the unsuspecting victims of the cave's newest inhabitants," she growled at the bard. She had no interest in papers, books of words. They meant nothing to her but another load to carry. As as visible, she carried nothing but her armor, weapons and ammunitions. No backpacks or containers aside from her quivers and two waist pouches. Besides, the thrill of the hunt and scent of the trail boiled her blood.

[The Dragon Girl]

"Oh yes, I see the confusion now" His tone is dry. "You see for someone to catch someone unawares they have to actually be unaware and the one trying it has to have more than one clear avenue of approach."

[Batty]

Mirssa points at the dead giant with her glaive, and snorts. "Well, unless you want to end up like that one, I would hurry it up." She then steps inside the tunnel. With its small size, she'd have to hunch uncomfortably, but with the glaive faced forward, there was little chance she'd have to worry about being charged.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily grumbles a little to herself. Once she and the bard have finished making sure all the papers are safe from getting rained on, she'll follow.

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem will indeed follow the others ... as soon as he and the cleric have finished their self appointed task, taking a moment before going in to first open his little lantern, and secondly draw his rapier, muttering softly, and somewhat sardonically, to himself. "Onwards and forwards, to glory and battle."

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren scoops up a large armful of pages and moves them into the cave, where she then moves next to the gnoll. She glances into the darkness that awaits them, "Can you hear anything in there?"

[Alyksandur]

There isn’t anything to be found in the cave besides the assorted rubbish on the ground, and it doesn’t sound like there’s anything beyond the cave inside the tunnel. The gnoll’s efforts to be stealthy are effective enough — and might even serve as a good example — but for the moment there doesn’t seem to be anyone (or anything) around that would see or hear them.

[Batty]

To this, there is always someone to hear the tree fall in the forest. The gnoll was always cautious and wary. She pressed on down the tunnel, giving a growl at the light of a lantern being lit, but saying nothing of its ability to give away their position. It was, after all, inevitable that they'd come across the inhabitants of the tracks she was following, and the light would certainly alert them to their presence. Mirssa thought about the situation and attempted to work it into her plans. She wasn't sure how well her other party members could see in the dark, and if they couldn't, her support would surely be hampered. That would be a bad thing.

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem is rather oblivious to the fuzz-butt's displeasure regarding his light. He didn't quite need it yet.. but he knew he would soon as the light continued to fade. The bard fusses with it a bit, adjusting how its hanging on his pack while he follows the gnoll on down.

[TigerClaw]

Well, she was either being ignored, or Mirssa didn't hear the question. She watches the gnoll for several seconds, then sighs, turning to glance at the elf as he follows, then farther behind him to see if Emily was following him.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily is certainly following, but she doesn't really have much to contribute at the moment! Her skills don't lie in the realms of stealth and surveillance.

[Alyksandur]

The tunnel winds its way into the mountain. After roughly 100 feet, it opens out into a larger room that was cut from the stone rather than simply dug — as clear a sign that something lives down here as one can get without meeting them face-to-face.

[The Dragon Girl]

The bard slips on into the more open space behind the monk and the furry creature. He glances around as his lantern pushes back the darkness. The elf could see further in this place than the two humans, he knew at least. He looks for ways out of this room aside from the one they just came in through.

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren looks around the room with distrust. She moves off to the side to let the Reqiuem and Emily into the room. Mirssa and Reqiuem had the best eyes and that made them the best to explore the room. She'd stand by the entrance for now, in case anything tried to sneak in behind them.

[Batty]

Mirssa would look for leads on the tracks she was following. The room was of no consequence to her. Knowledge was not her thing, and power wasn't written on the walls in the form she could attain. Nor the satisfaction of a good meal. She gripped her polearm in both hands, ready for a fight if anything should show up. "Not much of a cave." She grinned, touching one of the carved stone walls. Surely there'd be remains of what lives here or lived.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily follows along, of course, leaning slightly on her staff as she looks around. She can't see very far, though, so she mostly just leaves that to the two non-humans.

[Alyksandur]

Exiting the narrow passageway through the mountain brings the party out onto a worked stone floor. The chamber is square and featureless, unremarkable except for the fact that worked stone instead of just roughly dug. The tracks followed by the gnoll are no longer visible upon bare stone, but two doors are easily seen inside the room. One is on the west end of the north wall; the other on the south end of the east wall. Both are closed and made entirely out of iron that has defied rusting over the ages.

[Batty]

Mirssa made her way to each door, inspecting each for marks, smells or other signs of which direction they should take without so much as touching the doors. She stayed away from the center of the room, more of a habit gnolls like herself tended to have. Was always safer close to solid surfaces then out in the open. In particular, she would listen for noises on the other side of each door.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily hugs herself nervously. "...Have any of you guys ever done anything like this before? I've read about it in books, but..."

[The Dragon Girl]

The elf glances back at the nervous cleric and shakes his head, then smiles. "There is a first time for everything though, is there not? I know well enough the tales of heros." He waits for the gnoll to be done with one of the doors in her prowling and approaches it to curiously examine the thing. He was not so cautious about the middle of the floor, but his footsteps were quiet. After a moment, unless the gnoll gives word of caution for things it hears he'll step back and to the side and use his staff to push it at length.

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren would stand near the entrance, watching the elf and gnoll examine the doors. When it came to examining things as they were doing, she was out of her element. So, she was standing out of their way, and doubling as a guard in case anything came through the tunnel behind them.

[Alyksandur]

Mirssa’s ears would be greeted by profound silence; not the silence of an empty room beyond, but a silence almost as if there were utter nothingness on the other side. The door, once pushed by the bard’s staff, opens easily and soundlessly, but nothing but impenetrable blackness can be seen. Even the door itself seems to have been swallowed up by the blackness.

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem peers into the inky blackness..he takes his staff and cautiously pokes at it, if it does not -eat- his staff he takes his lantern off his back pack and hangs it on the end of the staff and cautiously pokes that forward.

[Batty]

With the elf checking the door on the other side, Mirssa pressed at her door, none too cautiously with her foot. Her pole arm was at the ready and in case she would encounter resistance with anything behind the door.

[TigerClaw]

The monk would look over as the elf pushed the door open. As the door silently moved, she'd shake her head. Things where now entirely too quiet for her own tastes. After looking at the darkness beyond the door, she looks over to the other door as the gnoll pushes it open.

[Alyksandur]

The door opened by Mirssa gives way to the same impenetrable blackness as the door opened by Requiem. The elf would find, once his staff has been prodded through the door, that he could not withdraw it again. While still able to move up, down, sideways, or even further in were he to experiment, pulling it back is simply impossible.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily frowns a little bit at this impenetrabable blackness! She closes her eyes for a moment, offering a quick prayer to Boccob, before opening them again. Suddenly, her senses become open to the flow of magic in the world...

Casting Detect Magic (CL 3).

Prepared spells:
0-level
Create Water
Detect Magic
Mending

1st level
Nimbus of Light
Ray of Hope
Identify

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem frowns and tugs at his staff.. he moves it back and forth, then pulls. Then the elf braces his feet on the floor and takes the staff in both hands and tenses as he pulls with all of his.. very little strength admitted. "..Nine hells."

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren turns her gaze back to the elf and is met with an interesting sight, Requiuem tugging fruitlessly at his staff. The monk stands near the entrance for a second as she takes in the odd sight, then she was moving towards the bard.

[Batty]

Mirssa turned and watched the elf for a moment, then looked back at her door. She slowly closed it and made her way over to the elf. "Guess we are going through this door then," She huffed at the elf as she passed by and walked through the blackness, spear point at the head of her move. It wasn't as if they had much of a choice, it was either leave and forget the dungeon, or leave the staff and take the other door. Which was nothing different from the one the staff was poked into.

[Alyksandur]

Requiem’s tugging at his staff would have no real effect, other than possibly looking rather comical. The cleric would have just enough time to ascertain that the barrier is, in fact, a strongly magical one before the gnoll impatiently barges through it. Just that quickly, the gnoll cannot be seen, heard, or any other way sensed by the humans and elf in that first room.

The room is unlit, but the darkness isn’t the impenetrable blackness of the barrier. Otherwise the room is similarly built to the the one behind her. Two iron-bound doors, one directly across from the one just passed through and another barely visible at the edge of Mirssa’s darkvision to its left, are all the break up the monotony of worked stone walls. The air is chilly and damp, and apparently felt by more than just the gnoll if the hoarse cough coming out of the darkness is any indication.

[The Dragon Girl]

"He startles as the fuzz-butt impatiently storms past him into the darkness and stares after her disappearing form. "Of all the imbecilic..!" he sputters. She of course can't hear him at this point. He furiously looks at the cleric and the monk. "We should just leave. It would be the smart thing." the set to his jaw and lips suggests he isn't actually considering doing this, hes just annoyed.. and somewhat worried about the one way passage.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily stares at the gnoll as he just strides impatiently through the barrier. "...Oh sure, walk through the magical black wall that could just disintegrate you for all we know..." She grumbles a little bit. "...Yeah. We should totally leave."

Sighing, the Cleric walks on through the barrier herself. She doesn't actually think for a moment it could be a disintegrating field or anything.

[The Dragon Girl]

The bard applies his palm to his face for a moment with a sigh and mutters under his breath - draconic is a wonderful language for cursing in- and follows her into the unknown.

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren would stare as the gnoll just walks into that darkness, her jaw hanging open at the stupidity of it all. The monk continues to stare at the darkness, then at the others as they go into the darkness after the gnoll. She casts a longing glance back in the direction they had come from, certain that they were getting in more than they were prepared for, then cautiously she walks through the darkness.

[Alyksandur]

Even with the bard’s lantern, the scene doesn’t really change much. It’s still the same stone walls, the same black barrier behind them, and the same poorly muffled cough coming from somewhere to their north.

[Batty]

Mirssa would sniff the air for any smells of occupancy as she moved forward into the room. Just like in the other room, she avoided the center as she came around to get a better view of the larger room. She kept quiet as she moved, it was obvious they were not alone.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily checks herself over to make sure she didn't spontaneously disintegrate or anything, sighs with relief, then gives Mirssa a withering glare.

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem pats at himself a bit then looks unhappily at the barrier behind him, he gives it a couple of pokes with the staff, but he already knows it won't go through. The bard tilts his head at the coughing sound and quirks an incredulous brow at the sneaking gnoll. Oh yes. Coughing. That's terrifying and obviously dangerous. He rolls his eyes and makes his way, soft footed, toward the source of the sound. Time to investigate!

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren makes it through the darkness, and finds herself with that others. She's about to vent at the gnoll when she hears the cough. Freezing, she looks towards the direction the sound came from before slowly beginning to move towards the it.

[Alyksandur]

The bard would be the first to make them out, with his low-light vision, though the rest would see the three orcs sitting back against the northeastern corner soon enough. With the party clustered near the light, the orcs have already made them all out of course, but they don’t seem interested in trying to look menacing. The closest they come to a threat is baring their teeth at the bard, but they don’t bother standing or even reaching for their axes leaning against the wall.

[Batty]

Mirssa gave a snarl at the orcs lazed about, "Any of you see any kobolds run through here?" She asked in the guttural goblin tongue. Or at least that was the idea, goblin is a very limited language. She looked about again, watching and listening for a possible ambush. She planted the butt of her glaive on the floor beside her and stood in waiting for a response from the orcs, or lack thereof.

[Yuki Akuma]

"Why are we even tracking kobolds? Does it really matter?" Emily wonders aloud, also in Goblin. "Why do you assume they automatically speak Goblin anyway?" She sighs a bit. "Common is called that for a reason. It's safer to just speak in Common unless you know they don't speak it."

[Batty]

"For someone who has never been in a dungeon before, you sure do sound like you know a lot about living in them." Mirssa huffed, "Speak to them in Orcish then." She growled at the cleric. "Common is your language, soft skin. Just like Gnoll is mine, and orcish is theirs."

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem looks back at his companions and pinches the bridge of his nose, then asks in clear goblin. "Why are you so interested in kobolds, anyhow?" He didn't find it a limited language, it was nothing on elvish or draconic of course but it was servicible. The bard turns his attention back to the orcs and smiles charmingly. " Excuse my companions please, Does anyone speak common? It appears we -do- actually have a regrettable lack of people who speak your language particularly, And I couldn't help noticing but you seem to be in some distress, are you quite well?" He inquires earnestly. They might be orcs, but they also might be useful which precludes any attempts at racial revenge or any such nonsense. No matter how personal the 'racial' revenge was.

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren would look at the orcs with distrust and remain silent, especially while the conversations were in a language other than common tongue. This is because she couldn't understand a word that was being said. While her companions talk among themselves and the orcs, she'd stay in the back and wait for... Well, she wasn't sure what she was waiting for, the poor ignorant monk.

[Alyksandur]

The orcs give no indication of understanding the gnoll’s question, but they aren’t immediately much more responsive to the assorted comments in questions in Common, either. They simply sit there and give the mismatched group surly glares. The largest one finally grunts at the elvish bard, giving him a malicious but impotent smile. “No. Not okay. You find out why soon.” The other two laugh coarsely and briefly, the smallest of the trio breaking off in a cough afterward.

[The Dragon Girl]

Lifts an eyebrow at the one who has actually shown some intellegence, although the other two do appear to understand him as well. He wasn't particularly worried about the ragged group but he tilts his head, gesturing vaguely with his staff. "Perhaps a trade? It would be good to have some idea of what awaits us, and it seems you are in some small need of aid." Another charming smile and if this one has a slight edge to it, who notices? "Perhaps we can help each other."

[TigerClaw]

The monk reaches up and strokes the locks of blue hair as she eyes the orcs. You'll find out soon? That did not sound good. Moving closer to them, she kneels down so she's eye level with the one that spoke and looks at each of them in turn, frowning as she does. She's wondering if the dead creature the group had passed when entering the cave had been sick, and if these orcs had that disease. Would that mean that they themselves had the disease now? She mentally shrugs it off, probably just paranoia. She looks back to the orc that had spoken to them, eyeing him.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily winces a little bit as the orcs speak. She then shakes her head as the speaker seems to be trying to deflect the question. She steps forward, kneeling down and reaching around to take her backpack off. "What's wrong? Are you sick? I'm a cleric of Boccob. I know we're not exactly well known for our healing expertise, but trust me, we are trained..."

[Batty]

Mirssa stands guard over the priest as she nears the orcs. Orcs weren't trustworthy, anything with a salty taste happened to be that way. She'd growl and lean against her glaive as its butt dug into the crevices of the stone floor. She kept a good eye on the orcs, and their particularly nasty axes. If it had been her in the priests shoes, she'd have left them to die simply for the threat they posed. It's not like they knew how debilitating the sickness was. Perhaps they were faking illness all together!

[Alyksandur]

The orcs glare sullenly at the four, but further conversation isn’t forthcoming. None of them appear to be in particularly bad health, cough notwithstanding, but they show no interest in either being helped or being helpful. Mirssa would be the one to guess what their real problem is, however: They’ve simply given up of surviving in this place and are waiting for the inevitable. They fully expect that they’re going to die soon, and if ‘you find out why soon’ is anything to go on, they expect the same for the new arrivals.

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren gives the orcs another long look before sighing and glancing over at the members of her group. She gives a small shrug of confusion, not understanding what was wrong with the orcs before pushing herself up to her feet and moving to look around the room some more. "Is it possible those papers we found could be a guide to how to navigate this place?"

[Batty]

"We can not read the written words of whatever wrote those pages, we have less then half of the book and it's certainly not a drawn map." Mirssa responded to the monk. Mirssa made a frown at the orcs, or as much of a frown that a gnoll could make. "These are of no use to us, let us move on and leave them to their fate." She snarled as she turned and went towards the door furthest from the orcs. Her glaive rang as the butt pulled from the stone. She had no intention of bothering with the orcs any further. If they had given up life, they were no longer worth their weight in meat. It'd be best if they could avoid whatever atrocities that had driven the orcs to their impotent state.

[Yuki Akuma]

"We can check the papers tomorrow morning when I commune with Boccob," Emily states, while packing up her healing supplies. If they weren't sick, there wasn't anything she could do for them. She looks at the orcs, considering for a moment or two.

"...Have you tried to leave? Or is that the problem?"

[The Dragon Girl]

The bard barely keeps his lip from curling at the apathetic beings who were of ..no reasonable help and glances at the gnoll. He lingers only to give Emily a light source before following. The staff he carries is carefully set to a sleeve for it on the back of his outfit, the rapier free in his hand now, and no distractions while in the use of it. He murmurs to Emily. "Leave them, the creatures are in no ways going to give aid, to us, or even themselves. One imagines the thought of us meeting the fate they imagine for themselves is their only source of amusement."

[Alyksandur]

Emily’s question gets a vague gesture and grunt from one of the orcs, directed more or less in the direction the gnoll had taken. Mirssa is on the opposite side of the door she had investigated in the previous room, and the black barrier is still very much in effect — getting out that way is obviously not an option, either for the orcs or the party. The four are strung out in a ragged line along the western branch of the room, though with the bard being the second furthest west, the two humans would find themselves in steadily increasing darkness as the only light source in the room moves away from them.

[Batty]

Mirssa made somewhat of a grunt as she looked over the black portal before turning about to the two doors at her rear, she was just about equidistant from all three doors. She went up to the left-most one and tapped it twice with the butt of her pole-arm, as if testing for traps and creatures on the other side of the door. The sound it would make with the taps was also of interest to her. As she went about these tasks, she urged her compatriots to move on. "We could give one of these rooms a try," she offered as she continued her inspection of the left door.

[The Dragon Girl]

Our bard wandered closer to Mirssa, taking his light with him, and looking at the doors illuminated by it, studyingly, and paying little attention to what his wandering feet were doing to the ability of the human girls to see what they were doing further back. "Do you like either of them better?" He inquires mildly of the proto-scout while he evaluates them for himself.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily looks at the orcs, then sighs a bit, shaking her head and moving over to join her new companions. Maybe she'll try to convince them again on the way back out.

[Batty]

"Well, this door seems kind on the outside, but it is not the face of the door that counts," Mirssa snickered in jest as she continued evaluating the left door, "Why don't you have a look and tell me what you think."

She moved on to the right door and began her inspection just the same, tapping and then searching the door for marks, clues or traps.

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren looks into the darkness ahead of her, then back at her companions. She stands there for several seconds, one hand stroking the blue locks of hair, before pulling them behind her ear. Turning and walking back to the orcs, she kneels in front of the one that had spoken before. "How long have you been down here?"

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem nods at the gnoll and moves over to look at the door she'd been inspecting, and illuminate it better with his lantern.

[Alyksandur]

Neither the gnoll nor the elf see or hear anything with their initial checks. It's when they trade places that the fireworks start. …Literally. When Mirssa taps on the door with the butt of her glaive, she sets off a trap that sends a quick spray of fire directly at her. The orcs ignore Siren’s question and chortle maliciously at the gnoll’s misfortune.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily gives a yelp of surprise, jumping back as she watches the gnoll getting blasted by the firey trap! "Gah!" She puts one hand to her heart. "Boccob... are you okay? Think before hitting things! This is a dungeon!"

[Batty]

Mirssa winces as she jumps back and brushes the fire from her armor and pelt. The smell of singed fur certainly wasn't a pleasant one. "Oh, I thought, and it did as I intended," She retorted as she finished checking that all her gear was intact. "Though those giggling idiots may want to mind themselves or I will have dummies for practice with my spear," She growled at the chortling orcs and slammed the butt of her glaive into the stone punctually in her temper. She turned her gaze to the door after speaking and opened it, just in case it was one of those annoying automatically resetting traps.

[The Dragon Girl]

The elf yelped in an all together undignified way, startling when the fire exploded from the other door frame. He looked rather silly threatening fire with his sword though, and quickly straightened his expression out, wrinkling his nose with a scowl at the smell of burned fur. Requiem casts an unfriendly look toward the orks, rather unimpressed. "This should be all manner of .. fun." His tone is terribly bland.

[TigerClaw]

As the trap activates, the monk would promptly fall on her rear, startled. Quickly, Lady Siren gets to her feet and looks to the gnoll, trying to see if Mirssa was alright. Judging by Mirssa's words and the attack on the poor floor, the human guesses that Mirssa isn't hurt, at least not hurt badly. She watches the gnoll for a few seconds more, then looks back down to the orcs, pondering. She was wondering just how long they had been down here, and if there was any useful knowledge hidden in those skulls of theirs. But if so, how to get them to talk?

[Alyksandur]

The monk wouldn’t be able to see much of the orcs, not with the only light sources on the far end of the room — one being Requiem’s lantern, the other being the fiery trap again set off by Mirssa. This time she was ready for it though, and manages to avoid it. …Barely. The orcs continues to chuckle at the trap, especially since it was quite deliberately set off the second time and still almost caught the gnoll. They are ignoring Siren altogether, finding Mirssa’s antics with the door to be much more entertaining.

[The Dragon Girl]

Now Requiem rolls his eyes at Mirssa. "Is that quite nessicary?" He asks the gnoll, and makes an attempt to open the untrapped door. He nudges it open with his foot, if he can, sword firmly in hand.

[The Dragon Girl]

The elf, after a glance towards the chortling orks raises his voice to carry to the monk lingering near them. "I would not keep their company in the darkness. Its fairly likely that they haven't seen any females in a very long time, and one cannot speak as to their sense of courtesy in such matters." His attention goes back to the task hes set himself, opinion voiced.

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren is about to try talking again when the elf speaks to her. She pauses, not looking back at the orcs as she gives the words some thought. She didn't believe she was in any danger of the orcs trying anything, but... With a soft sigh, she moves away from the orcs, heading over to where the door Mirssa was.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily stares at the gnoll for several seconds, then facepalms. "On second thought, if you do need healing, suck it up, I'm not wasting magic on you."

[Batty]

Mirssa snorted at the priest's comment, "Perhaps you would like to go ahead and test the traps then?"

"I would assume that, since this door is trapped, it would be the direction we want to head in." She snickered aloud, "At least, that is what you'd expect, no?" She leaned her pole-arm on the wall next to the door and, careful not to set off the trap again, she did a thorough search of the door with the knowledge of how the trap is activated and where the fire comes out from.

[Alyksandur]

There are no further fireworks with nobody touching the door — a fact which the orcs quietly grumble amongst themselves about — but studying the door further offers no clues on how to disable the trap upon it.

The other door, nudged open by the bard, would immediately alert him by smell alone that something is amiss, and the further it opens the worse the stench gets. Its source is obvious enough by the light of his lantern, coming from more than a score of corpses piled up inside, all in varying stages of decay.

[The Dragon Girl]

The door is -slammed- shut, the elf staggering back away from it, a hand over his mouth and nose, gagging. He goes to the other side of this end of the hall to have some alone time and breath in deep lungfuls of untainted air, leaning against the wall.

[TigerClaw]

Requiem isn't the only one left gagging from the stench coming from the opened door. Coughing and covering her mouth in a futile attempt to block the stench, she looks to the door which is slammed shut by the elf. Her stomach threatens her as she looks around at the various doors, "Someone pick a door so we can get away from the stench!"

[Alyksandur]

Mirssa had managed to get the trapped door open while avoiding the second blast of flame that came from it. It isn’t open completely, but it’s open enough to squeeze through without bumping the door and setting off the trap again. Inside the room are several piles of moldy sacks in each of the room’s four corners, the sour smell in the room indicating that their contents have long since spoiled. Another door is directly across from the open one.

[Batty]

Mirssa hadn't noticed the other doors on the other end of the room, as they were outside her range of vision. "Which of these doors would you rather enter? They both wreak of rot." She flared her nostrils and took her glaive. The smell of decaying flesh didn't bother her as much as it bothered the others, but it certainly wasn't pleasant to her. She cleaned her nails and leaned against her pole arm as the others recovered from the aroma of the other room. After a moment, she'd simply straighten and carefully fit herself into the room with the trapped door. Rotting bodies were bad, but undead were worse. Her mother had always warned her to steer clear from the scent of rotted flesh.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily's nostrils wrinkle as she cringes. "Eugh..." She shudders lightly, bringing one hand up to the holy symbol hanging around her neck. "Boccob preserve us. Let's hope we don't end up like them..."

She stays where she is for the moment, not really wanting to try squeezing past that door until it becomes totally clear that that's the only way to go.

[The Dragon Girl]

The elf spends a minute regaining his composure- that is to say, making sure he isn't going to throw up, and straightens himself, glancing over at Emily, then the gnoll squeezing herself through and grimaces with a sigh.

"It looks like we have little choice, she is not exactly giving us time to deliberate." He mutters, somewhat loudly, and goes after her into the room which, while it does not smell like the door -he- opened, is never the less an unpleasant olfactory experience.

[TigerClaw]

"I'm tempted to take my chances with that orcs," Lady Siren mutters under her breath, her face grimacing at the new stench. Still, she follows into the other room, also careful to not touch the door. While she's normally wanders a room, this room she moves straight to the unopened door, though she stops a couple yards from it, not willing to touch it in case it too proves to be trapped.

[Alyksandur]

The light reveals (to those more reliant upon it, at least) the bags to have mold growing on them, and even mushrooms on several of them. The smell alone is enough to tell anyone that the contents have not only gone bad but are probably beyond identification even if they were to be checked. The room otherwise looks much the same as they just left, albeit much smaller — less than thirty feet per side. Even the far door being inspected by Siren looks no different from the ones leading into this room or the neighboring one.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily coughs, covering her face with her hand. "Boccob's book, this place is foul... why did I ever agree to come here?" She looks down at the bags, wrinkling her nose. "There had better be information worth it in this gods-forsaken place..."

[The Dragon Girl]

The elf suggests to Emily mildly, wrinkling his nose in distaste at the bags and prodding one with the tip of his sword. "Glory and honour in the eyes of our gods? Are any of those mushrooms eadible?"

[TigerClaw]

She winces at the thought of eating anything from from this room. Granted, it was better than the room with the corpses, though her stomach wasn't caring much for the differences. She stands there, one hand on her stomach not moving as she waits for the gnoll to test the door, "If every room from this point forwards smells like this, I'm going to take the first doorway out of here that we find and throw up."

[Batty]

"From goods grows good enough, or something like that." The gnoll snorted in response to the bard's question regarding the mushrooms. She'd pluck one and take a bite from it as she made her way up to the door. Upon reaching the door, she gave it a shove with her glaive at a distance in attempt to avoid any traps and test the door's security. "Try one if you're hungry, you'll know in a few minutes whether or not you should take another bite." A grin spread over her face at the humans' comments, but that was all.

[The Dragon Girl]

The elf grimaces at the gnoll. "That is a truly terrible way to test if something is poisonous." He was going to stay well back from the door while it was being tested.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily stares at the gnoll for a moment or two. "...I agree with him. I can't cure disease or poison with my magic, you know."

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren merely stares at the gnoll, the groans in disgust. When she had agreed to a quest to traverse a dark, deep and dangerous dungeon, having party members eating fungus and rooms that stank of death were not on the things she had considered. One hand still on her stomach, in a vain attempt to keep it settled, she tries to ignore the stench choking her and forget the sight of Mirssa eating that mushroom.

[Alyksandur]

Both Requiem’s prodding the bag with a rapier and Mirssa’s snapping off a mushroom result in small puffs of mold spores rising from their respective bags. The mushroom might very well be the vilest thing the gnoll has ever tasted though, and probably couldn’t have tasted any worse if it had grown from the tainted earth of some demonic cemetery. It would settle none too well, either, though she suffers no ill effects from it. Edible, technically, but not advisably so. The door she tests is considerably safer, not producing any soft of pyrotechnics such as had guarded the other door. It opens easily at the prodding of her weapon, revealing a hallway leading to a T-shaped junction. The door is off-center to the right side of the hall, and there’s only a five foot walkway between the east wall and the stacks and piles of barrels, crates, and sacks lining the west wall, all similar in condition to the ones in the room they’re in. The smell is no better, either.

[The Dragon Girl]

The elf peeks around the stupid fuzzball into the hall, sneezing into one elbow. "Aha..Barrels. ..Barrels have alcohol in them! Alcohol doesn't go bad." He seems to perk up a bit at this thought, optimism rising a bit at the idea of available liquor.

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren glances at the elf, her face a picture of pain from the stench that surrounds them, "Barrels of alcohol are also very easily poisoned as a trap. A lot easier and likely that fire breathing doors, and as we've encountered that already, I'm not about to trust anything down here." She looks uncomfortable as she moves to go through the doorway, one hand remaining on her stomach.

[The Dragon Girl]

He sighs a little bit theatrically. "Must you ruin the moment for me, m'lady? There is little cheer to find in this place as it is."He doesn't seem to be expecting an answer, slipping after her to shed light on the hallway, looking for doors. "It rather seems that this is a storage area for goods long forgotten, though. The servants entrance perhaps?"

[Batty]

"You sure you can stomach eating or drinking at all with these surroundings?" Mirssa snorted, dancing the mushroom back and forth in her fingers over her shoulder at the elf, a good chunk missing from its cap. She tapped the ground in front of her as she moved along with the butt of her glaive, she was more worried of traps then making too much noise at this point. She gave the mushroom a quick flick backwards at the rest of her party, hoping to see them scatter. It amused her at the very least. She kept rubbing the top of her tongue against the roof of her mouth to scrape off the taste. Certainly was edible, but it needed a good figurative make-over to be palatable. "Servant's entrance? Yes, that would explain the room of decaying bodies." She cackled aloud in a typical gnollish fashion.

[The Dragon Girl]

He gives the laughing fuzzball a withering look at the mushroom, failing to flee its horrifying presence for her. "The bodies appeared, from the brief look I had at them before the stench overwhelmed me, to be much fresher than these rooms contents, I surmise, that since that door is untrapped, something has been killing adventuring parties and hiding the bodies in there out of the antechamber."

[Batty]

Mirssa stopped a moment, as she stepped into a posture of thought. "Or perhaps the kobolds that left the prints outside the dungeon entrance." She shrugged the rest of the speculation. "Not like it particularly matters. We will meet whatever fate we're ordained, be it riches or rot." She smirked again, all the pointless banter keeping her quite amused.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily utterly fails to scatter as the mushroom is thrown their way. "...If you're thirsty, I can create water with magic. Don't drink anything you find in strange barrels unless you see someone else drinking it first."

[TigerClaw]

The monk watches the mushroom, but doesn't evade it either, instead giving the gnoll a dirty look. "And we can't talk about these things after finding an area that does't smell like this?" May the next door we find lead us away from this stench forever, she wishes to herself.

[The Dragon Girl]

He graces The monk with an exaspirated look. Was she not supposed to be a fighter? Emily gets a quirked brow and a grin. "Well I thought we may talk her into trying it first, as she seems inclined to test things by direct method." He tilts his head toward their fuzzy companion.

[Alyksandur]

At the T-junction at the end of the hallway, there is a short hallway to the west — and more barrels and crates at its end to match the ones just passed — and a small alcove to the east with an opening in the south wall that appears to be another hallway roughly the width of the walkway between the wall and spoiled goods the group had just traversed.

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem holds his lantern up, looking back and forth. His nose wrinkles at the moldy goods in the dead ended corner, and he tilts his head towards the opening he sees. No way but forward. The man begins walking thataway, lantern in his off hand and sword in his other. "Such a large amount of waste here. One has to wonder what happened."

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren look down the narrow walkway, then glances back at the rest of the group. She doesn't move down the passageway, instead letting the rest of the group move on before her, her gaze now resting on the way they had come, in case the orcs had decided to follow them. Certainly no point in leaving their backs unguarded, after all. Left hand on her stomach, her right hand moves up to slide through her hair as she waits for the others to move past.

[Batty]

The gnoll stepped in front of the bard before entering the narrow passage. "I wouldn't know. Gnolls hunt what we need when not at war." She growled as she continued onward, turning the corner to the expanding hallway. She tapped the floor ahead of her with her glaive, walking slow enough that if the tip of her glaive did hit a trap, it'd hit the glaive or miss entirely if it wasn't delayed. With that precaution in place, she followed the hall down to its secondary T section and looked down both ways. Seeing a door, she approached it and gave it a light push from the 5 feet length of her glaive. "I hear you human-types like storing foods though." She added after a bit.

[Alyksandur]

Mirssa wouldn’t even get close to the door — and would have just set a foot into the intersection leading to the door, in fact — when a glowing green ball of acid is fired from the near end of the corridor facing the door. Being poorly aimed, it splashes against the door rather than the gnoll, sizzling briefly before dissipating. The trap doesn’t fire again as she approaches the door, and touching the door doesn't set off anything else either. It opens easily. Beyond is a room which, while damp, lacks the fungus of the preceding rooms. Coils of rope, barrels with nails, and open crates full of tools are lined up against the walls.

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem frowned- but he had no true objection to raise when she brushed past him. After all, she was supposed to be scouting ahead for them, her dark vision made her invaluable for this- and there his thoughts were cut off as a ball of glowing ...something... is shot at the gnoll, startling backwards with a small oath.

"..How did they navigate this place?! Perhaps this is what happened to the people these things belonged to- they fell to their own traps."

[Batty]

Mirssa strolled into the room and looked about. She moved to some of the rope and lifted some of it, pulling it taught to test its durability and condition. "Some of the things we find in this room may prove useful to us later. Take a look around." She offered the party. It also acted as a moment of respite. A break from the weary walk through the fungal decaying hallways of packaged goods.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily follows along at a fair distance, because, well, the gnoll's set off two magical traps by now and she doesn't particularly want to get hit with one! "Those are magical traps. They're probably keyed to specific people, so they won't set them off."

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem gives Emily a dubious look but nods- it made sense enough. The bard eases carefully into the room and looks around, then idly prods one of the rope coils with the tip of his sword.

"They could indeed- I'm terribly surprised the metal has not been eaten away completely by rust in these conditions"

He seems slightly subdued since his outburst about the traps, and will happily search the room for useful trinkets with the others, while getting an idea of its lay out and exits.

[Alyksandur]

The acid arrow trap doesn’t go off again as the other three move into the corridor, though whether this is because it doesn’t reset or just hasn’t yet is open for debate. The rope tested by the gnoll doesn’t break when she tugs at it, though it’s obviously worse for the wear from the storage conditions. Weakened though it is, it could still serve for light duty. The tools are apparently for stonemasonry — primarily hammers, chisels, and nails. All of them are rusted, most beyond any hope of salvage or repair, but a few of them still look to be sound and servicable.

[TigerClaw]

The monk would give a soft sigh as she entered the room, taking a moment to look around. Traps, and magical ones at that! She was beginning to think this place was nothing more than a glorified death trap. She'd cut that particular thought off as she looks around at the old tools, curiousity on her face, "Why set a trap when there isn't anything of value?" she says softly as she glances around again.

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem idly picks a chisel up , holding it as if hes afraid it might contaminate him, but giving it a highly interested look.

"Oh I wouldn't say they're of no value. I imagine these things were of good quality when the traps were set." He tells the Lady absently. "I also imagine, for instance, that such as this, and one of the still solid hammers would be invaluable should we come across an inconvenient lock."

He gives the girls a glance with a quirked eyebrow. "Unless one of you is quite skilled at opening locks another way?"

[Batty]

"The amateur's lock picks?" Mirssa chuckled at the idea, it'd certainly work! Mirssa would make her way around the room after cutting loose a good 50ft or so of rope and coiling over her left shoulder. Perhaps the others might find something else while rummaging about. "Have any stories to tell about this kind of works?" Mirssa grinned at their bardic companion as she strolled about, testing doors should she find any.

[Yuki Akuma]

"Of course none of us are skilled in opening locks," comes Emily's deadpan response. "Bringing a locksmith into a dungeon would have been the smart thing to do." She seems amused more than annoyed, however.

She's not really doing much - she hasn't seen anything that intrigues her yet.

[The Dragon Girl]

The bard affects a lofty expression. "Of course not, why would I? Perhaps some of my ..colleagues, may have shared a few of their own escapades in passing, but I certainly have not been ah, quite so adventurous, or desperate to get into a noble woman's bed" Sniff.

[Alyksandur]

There’s nothing else of any interest in the room beyond the tools and rope. Unfortunately this also includes any other sort of exit to the room. The only way out is going to take the party past the acid arrow trap again. …Assuming it has reset, that is.

[TigerClaw]

Lady Siren, after glancing at the elf at the mentioning of getting into the beds of noble women, moves over to the door they had come in through. Provided it was open, she'd look through the doorway cautiously, or if it was shut, she'd slowly open it. "I am going to be so angry if the only way for us to continue onwards is to go through that room with the dead bodies," she says softly, more to herself than to any of the others, one hand again reaching up to stroke the blue locks of hair.

[The Dragon Girl]

He grimaces in distaste, glancing around as he carefully adds the chisel and hammer to his backpack. "..It is not a cheering thought, no. It appears this was indeed a storage area, and naught more though."

[Batty]

Mirssa snorted and placed her pole arm against the wall.

"Well, this may come in handy." She lifted the edge of one of the smaller crates, or chests or what have you, and dumped its contents onto the stone floor. She held the crate up on her shoulder and took the pole arm from the wall.

"If you prefer, I can search the room with the bodies while you keep the orcs company." She cackled at the monk, much like a hyena. Using the box to lead her path, at around shoulder height, she made her way back through the hallway. Traps bothered her. Magical traps even more so. "Quickly now."

[Alyksandur]

Mirrsa’s idea of using a crate as a makeshift shield, while undeniably clever, suffers from a major design flaw: The wood of the box is in such poor condition that it offers practically no protection against the trap at all. It fires again as soon as she gets to the intersection, and this time it doesn’t miss. The magical ball of acid dissolving its way through the wood, losing little of its speed or potency before striking the gnoll squarely in the abdomen!

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily winces as she watches the gnoll getting hit by that orb of acid. "Uh... are you okay?" She's starting to think maybe she should take back her statement on not healing her...

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem flinches back as glowing acid splatters and eats through the gnoll's makeshift shield. "By the nine hells.. Are you alright?!"

[Batty]

The trap hit Mirssa a lot harder then she anticipated, it busted through her makeshift shield and hit her hard. With a yelp, it sent her toppling backwards onto her back. The acid sizzled on her piece mail armor and under it, bringing back the smell of burnt fur, with a hint of burnt flesh. Mirssa neither responded nor moved, but given the smell and look of it, she was not in any good condition.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emily's face goes pale. She doesn't waste any time, however, dashing over towards the fallen gnoll. She's already drawing power from within herself, performing a very quick mudra with one hand, converting the stored spell energy into pure positive energy. The energy wreathes her hand, as she drops into a crouch and pressing her hand against the gnoll's abdomen. "By the grace of Boccob, be healed!" There's a faint trace of power in her voice...

[The Dragon Girl]

The bard takes a moment to observe the fact that the gnoll is still quite unconscious and looks up at Emily.

"..Ah. Your god is not fond of gnolls then?" the question is posed with a slightly forced sardonic humour.

[TigerClaw]

From the doorway would come a very unladylike curse, followed by the monk rushing forwards. Acting on impulse, she reaches down and hooks her arms around the gnoll's shoulders and begins pulling Mirssa backwards, moving back to the supply room. She doesn't spare the time to ask for help moving the gnoll, instead just working on getting the two of them to the general safety of the room behind them.

[Yuki Akuma]

[...So, what's happening here then?]

Emily is dragged out of the line of the trap, having forgotten all about personal safety when confronted with a dying gnoll! She looks up at the elf with a bit of a blush. "Um. Healing isn't always... the same effectiveness, you know? Sometimes the positive energy just doesn't do much. I could cast another, but then I'm out of first circle healing magic..."

[The Dragon Girl]

Requiem doesn't offer the monk help dragging the gnoll into the room. He does close the door as soon as its clear of people, rather firmly. What? The monk is actually a good bit stronger than he is.

"Uh..huh. Guess we need to wait- hows her condition?"