Dragons of Autumn-DragonLance II

[wxdruid]

Lagri drags off an irritated and frustrated Vleric by the crest on his head. He stumbles a few times as they walk across the old ceiling and through the southern door. In the next room, everything is dark.

[codexgigas]

Bryce

Bryce kneels down and begins to rummage through his pack. He pulls out two torches and flint and steel. Lighting the torches, he hands one to Hector and the other to Pearl before returning the flint and steel to his pack. He straightens up, replacing the pack and the staff across his back. "Well, I suppose we should get moving. We're not going to find anything standing here," he says. "I'd be more than willing to take one of those torches back. I can fight without my shield if need be."

[Philistine]

Gneiss

Gneiss frowns at Pearl, shaking his head. "You knights and your Measure. Hunting a dragon in its lair isn't enough of a 'tactical error' for you already, so we need to drag along the mad savage's rebellious slave?" he grumbles.

"Plus, I think we've been had. The gullies don't come this way - there aren't enough tracks, and they surely weren't getting past that." he points toward the enormous crushed spider. "Anyway, I need to stick close enough to gut the dragon-man when he tries to turn on us." Weapons in hand, he turns and stumps off after Lagri and Vleric.

[Annalia]

Hector

"It was another way down and that was the goal, no?" Hector said. He took the torch and eagerly advanced through the door, following Gneiss. "You shouldn't worry about Vleric so much. We have killed dozens of his easily before. I'd just rather not attack a bound opponent."

[SilentNight]

Kalrin gives a look at the dragon-man. "I think we could maybe learn some more from him, like the layout perhaps, how many guards this dragon has. Feel like answering Vleric?" As the group moves into the next room, Kalrin whispers, Laissé il y ait lumière," and the ring on his finger comes alight.

[wxdruid]

As a light source comes into the southern room it reveals rotted cots in a jumble on the floor. Water drips from the shuttered windows, collecting in depressions on the floor. The overflow drains through the northern door.

Tygerlilly is distracted from her searching as the others start to leave her behind, Hey, wait up! as she scrambles after them and over the door sill.

There's are double doors about 20ft down on the west wall. The windows are on the western side of the room.

[Philistine]

Gneiss

"Those shouldn't be here - not this deep underground, not in a Human settlement." Gneiss moves quickly toward the windows, angling to keep an eye on Lagri and Vleric as he goes.

Spoiler

Show

Spot: (1d20+8)[28] and
Listen: (1d20+8)[21] at the windows.

[GrassyGnoll]

Lagri

"Hyu vant to hold him?" Lagri offers Vleric to Kalrin like a petulant puppy.

Momentarily, he is distracted by Gneiss' observation and meanders over.

"Zis memories me oof hull oof sleepink. Only, hyu haf vord for eet on land, somezing like 'bare-rocks.' Is hyu-mer-us, for I haf not seen yet mainlanders sleep on rocks."

[wxdruid]

The windows are shuttered tight and there isn’t anything unusual about them. Although you aren’t sure what would happen if you tried to open them. The hinges look quite rusted.

[Toliudar]

"This is indeed a puzzler."

Pearl steps into the corridor with the others, moving to the double doors. She tries to peer through any cracks or keyholes, and looks to see if the hinges are in any better shape than those of the window shutters. Unless she spots something dangerous, Pearl will then try opening one of the doors.

[codexgigas]

Bryce

"I don't think the city was always underground," Bryce says to Gneiss. "It probably sank into the swamp because of the Cataclysm."

[SilentNight]

Kalrin nods in agreement. "Probably flipped upside then too. Wish I could've seen it."

[Toliudar]

Pearl

Pearl speak softly from the far end of the hallway.

"I suspect that the Cataclysm felt less magificent from the inside, if you take my meaning, Kalrin. I rather doubt that the original occupants of this house - if it is a house - enjoyed the ride."

[Annalia]

Hector

"With any luck, they were not home when it happened," Hector replied. He could not imagine being trapped into his house as it sank into the ground. With all the weapons his father hung around, it couldn't end well.

[wxdruid]

Pearl peeks through the keyholes on the doors in the western wall. It's hard to see anything on the other side, everything is dark. The doors look like they'd open with a loud protest, but probably not fall off their hinges. Tygerlilly is busy examining an upside down window. This is really very odd. I don't remember seeing windows like this before. She starts fiddling with it to try and open it. I wonder what's on the other side?

[Toliudar]

Pearl

Bracing herself as best she can using the ceiling rafters, Pearl gives a good one-armed yank on the door.

[wxdruid]

Pearl gives a mighty yank and the door gives way. When she looks in the next room she sees broken tables and chairs sprawled around the room. Swamp water seeps in through the shuttered windows and collects in pools among the ceiling beams below. A huge fireplace against the south wall (nearest the door where Pearl is), receives the overflow, which drains down the chimney. Thin music and hollow laughter float through the hall. Overhead, spirits float upside down as if sitting at tables, laughing and joking over their long-finished meal. They don't react to the noise Pearl made by opening the door.

Tygerlilly is pulling ineffectively on the window shutters, probably because she's bracing herself with her feet on the wall next to the handle and it isn't working to well.

[GrassyGnoll]

Lagri

"Vahvus püha," Lagri whispers at the sight. The shaman of his tribe would bargain away a cog's hull worth of brew and powders to commune in this place.

Lagri turns back to Kalrin and Bryce. He was still fuzzy about just what it was mainland kirjaniks did and which spirit had presently favored Bryce with his staff.

"Hyu," he vaguely indicates them both, "Make ritual, da? Much spirits for good favors."

[Philistine]

Gneiss

Standing near the shuttered windows, Gneiss looks over at the sound of Pearl levering the door open and sees the spirits in the next room. He closes his eyes for a moment, then opens them again: no good, they're still there. "This place just keeps getting better and better," he mutters.

[Toliudar]

Pearl's relief that she isn't buried in rubble as the door opens gives way to a cold, dark furrow as she hears, and then sees, the strange spirits goofing off on the "floor". Instinctively, she raises her sword in a defensive posture, but takes no offensive action against the strange spirits.

"Welll, at least they're not dragons."

[codexgigas]

Bryce

"Huma help us," Bryce whispers, the color draining from his face. He slowly removes the staff from its bindings across his back, suddenly afraid of making any sudden movements. He wasn't sure what, if anything, the staff could do, but he was willing to bet that it was more than his sword could.

Spoiler

Show

Religion check to see what Bryce knows about ghosts.

Knowledge (Religion): (1d20+5)[17]

[Toliudar]

Pearl

Maintaining her ready stance, Pearl steps cautiously into the room, examining what she could of the "new" floor while getting a look at what was going on above her. She ducks well out of the way of any spirits that come close to her.

Spoiler

Show

Any chance she can tell, for instance by the spirits' clothing, whether the spirits are from Cataclysm-time, or more recent?

[SilentNight]

As Kalrin walks into the room, he looks up in wonder at the spirits. "Do you think they're from the Cataclysm? I wonder what they're still doing here."

Spoiler

Show

Knowledge(Arcana):(1d20+12)[15]

[wxdruid]

The spirits on the ‘floor’ don’t react when the party enters the room. They’re wearing pre-cataclysm clothing.

Bryce:

Spoiler

Show

There are different types of spirits, some are violent, others aren’t, these seem to be the second sort. He remembers from his history that clerics used to be able to control or turn spirits.

Kalrin:

Spoiler

Show

There are different types of spirits, some are violent, others aren’t, these seem to be the second sort. They probably died when the cataclysm occurred and haven’t passed on.

Tygerlilly finally gets the window open and the shutter clatters to the ground, probably startling everyone. She peers out the window, Wow! That’s a long ways down!

[codexgigas]

Bryce

"I don't think we have anything to fear from the ghosts," Bryce calls ahead to Pearl. "If we leave them alone, they should leave us alone." He follows her into the room.

[Toliudar]

Pearl

Since the spirits seem to have no interest in making her life more difficult, Pearl decides that she has no interest in making their death more difficult. She lowers her blade and, keeping low to avoid the spirits, heads over to the fireplace. She sees if there's anything unusual to the mantle, and looks up/down the chimney to see where the water is draining.

Spoiler

Show

Search (1d20+2)[21]

[wxdruid]

water trickles down the chimney which descends from the fireplace. A medium-sized creature can easily climb down, and there are plenty of handholds in the loosened bricks to help him descend. It's to dark to see what is at the bottom.

Tygerlilly finding out that there isn't anything interesting outside the windows and suddenly realizing that everyone is headed into the next room, she pops her head back in the window. Hey... wait for me! She skips along a ceiling beam over to the door and right on through. She notices the spirits on the ceiling, Hey Pearl! There are ghosts on the ceiling! She watches them for a moment, her head tilted at an awkward angle, What are they eating and drinking? Surely there isn't anything still good down here. More to herself she asks, I wonder what ghost food and drink tastes like? Or, what it would be like to sit on the ceiling and not on the floor. How would that work...wouldn't you always be falling down? hmmmmm

Vleric follows wherever he's dragged to and he's in a foul mood.

[GrassyGnoll]

Lagri

Lagri frowns at his companions passive attitude taken toward the spirits.

"Fine, ve keel dragon vitout spirit blessink. I tink mainlanders are not knowink how to call spirits right anyvay."

The barbarians peers down the chimney, coiling Vleric's leash in thought. Without warning, Lagri sweeps the bound dragonman off his feet like an oversized baby and, cradling his captive just over his waist, throws his own back against that of the inside chimney. The icefolk's feet scurry against the opposite side, scratching out holds to support the two's weight. With caution and no shortage of calve flexing he climbs down.

[Toliudar]

Pearl

Pearl looks up from the chimney, and hit by Tygerlily's barrage of thought.

"Er. Yes. I suspect that, as ghosts, ghost food tastes good. I suppose that we should at least be grateful that these people were killed while eating and not engaged in more energetic pursuits."

She calls back to her companions.

"There may be a way out over here. Not a particularly safe or comfortable way, but a way out nonetheless."

She points down the chimney.

[Annalia]

Hector

"Leave them alone?" Hector repeats at Bryce's words, visibly a bit disappointed. He wanted to touch and nudge them, to ask a boatful of question... to do something with them. "You just happen on a spectral manifestation and go 'oh, let's leave them alone? But this is unique! Maybe they know what happened. They sure look like old-fashioned spirits!"

Plus, a glance at the chimney did not encourage him to leave the place anytime soon. "Come on, we can't pass this up."