[Group 2] The World's Largest Dungeon - IC

[Sucrose]

Kulkav is grievously wounded, but as Fredric grants him an opening, there is no thought of retreat in the dragonborn warrior's mind. He rises with a roar, once more taking up more space than he should physically be capable of, and lashes out at the zombie with renewed power.

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Mountain Rage, attack
Attack roll - (1d20+6)[22]
[roll=Damage roll]2d8+9 Damage[/roll]

[Mr. X]

The blow splits the creature from forehead to groin, and it collapses twitching to the ground...

Taribo, rushing to Malthos side, withdraws another of his bardic scrolls, and casts the spell from it...

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Cast Heal Light wounds: (1d8+1)[5]

Congratulations on winning a way overpowered battle. all gain 540xp.

Murgan, gain an extra 75xp. I presume you can make short work of those two rats.

The Map:

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Sorry, I forgot to post the last one.

[Fates]

Malthos wakes, coughing up thick blood. Well, at least he was still alive.
Many thanks, Taribo. Let us rest again, hopefully undisturbed this time. So saying, the shaman immediately falls to sleep, the corpses of the zombies still immediately before him.

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W00T LEVEL to the UP!

[Mr. X]

Fredric nudges Malthos before he puts his head down...

"Malthos, if you feel up to moving just a little, perhaps we could move to a more secure location... Just back to through this door should suffice, but this hallway is dreadfully indefensible."

[SlyJohnny]

The dwarf slinks back into the corridor. He eyes the three corpses on the ground, as if counting them.

"Six. There were six chasing me before. And there's big rats chewing on a dead goblin next door. Don't be sleeping here."

He blinks, rubbing his injured head, his hand coming away bloodstained.
"You bastards. You glorious angelic bastards. You all saved my hide, like as not. I couldn't have taken all three of them."

His eyes cast over each of the party, giving everyone an opportunity to get a good look at him. He's a rather ugly specimen: a large jagged scar is ripped across his left eye, which is constantly and acutely bloodshot, the right eye is permanently seeping a green-yellow discharge, giving it an unhealthy tingue. A thick, ragged black beard almost obscures his thick lips, and you can smell his breath from here. He's carrying a full backpack, wearing studded leather armor, and is clutching a thick iron cudgel, the spiked head of which is stained with old dried blood and matted hair. The door the creatured smashed went flying onto his head, and though he appears to still be alert and not suffering from concussion, the wound looks quite bad. His eyes settle on Fredric.

" 'ey, Fredric. You got better taste in mates than I do. I had you all wrong."

[Mr. X]

"Murgan?" Fredric looks at the dwarf as though seeing him for the first time, "What in the name of all the gods are you doing here?" he pauses thoughtful for a moment before continuing, "Though, as I see you are both present and breathing, must I presume that that concoction I provided you with, last I saw you, performed to your satisfaction?"

The party is in fairly sad shape after that last encounter. The first human and the giant are both severely wounded, Fredric and the gnome are uninjured but filthy, covered by the spatters of rotted gore and ickor.

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Let's get some character descriptions from everyone as they chime in, so we all get a good idea of what we look like.

[Fates]

The tall, bald human sits upright, groaning in pain. Ritualistic tattoos are visible along his arms and chest, and his robed sleeves seem to hiss from within. He talks with a strange, foreign accent. I suppose a proper resting place is necessary. Shall we return to where we just rested, then? Turning to the dwarf, Malthos is unperturbed by his appearance; after all, he himself had dealt with beings far viler in the past. He wipes the gore from his knife, sheathing it, and holds his hammer.
Are you accompanying us hereon, then?

[Sucrose]

The dragonborn warrior stands a head over the rest of the group, with a body that seems almost less a breathing creature than slate-colored scales, checkered here and there with dermaliths, wrapped around an impressive mass of muscle, bone, and blood, and hammered into the vague shape of an oversized man, save for his draconic muzzle. His immense chest is wrapped in a studded leather jerkin, and, along with the oversized weaponry displayed during the recent combat, a bundle of javelins bristle from his back, between two batlike wings, which stretch out simultaneously with the goliath's own working out of battle stresses.

He wipes the blood from his eyes, and a basso rumble escapes his lion-toothed snout.

"We may want to move to the room south of that one. I compromised our initial resting room's defense fairly seriously."

He does not say it as though he were sad, or ashamed, or proud. He simply says it.

[Mr. X]

Fredric's loose, woolen scholars robes clash somewhat with his heavy leather boots, and thick cloak. A wide leather belt holds him togather around the middle, from which hang his numerous component pouches and a long, steel dagger. Another dagger can be seen prodruding from the top of his boot.

He helps Malthos up, and begins to head back through the Western door.

"Murgan, was there anyone else with you, or were you mad enough to come here alone?"

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan looks at Malthos with a mixture of suspicion and hope. He clearly didn't expect an immediate invitation, and was preoccupied with not appearing too weak, fully expecting to be robbed. He recovers quickly though, and nods, hiding his relief.

"It'd be for the best. Dungeon could be full of traps, and I can take of them for you. You're a strong group... we'd make quicker progress together."

He turns to Fredric.

"Noone with me. Figured I'd find out if you were still alive down here, and link up with your team. There were two goblin women outside, fighting... they were being chased by a band of halflings. I dunno what their deal was. One of them's dead in the next room, being eaten by rats. The other's an archer called Meste. She split off from me about the same time I heard those things crashing through a door. I reckon she's what riled them up, so I figure she's dead by now."

He looks over the corpses. "What are those sodding things?"

[Mr. X]

"The Walking Dead, apparently... Though that much I'm sure you already knew. More than that, however, I cannot acurately say. Certainly they were greater than the usual stories would have us believe." Fredric replies.

[Fates]

Malthos speaks, his eyes cloudy. Yes, I have encountered the Skal'wafi in the past, and always they were nothing but shambling corpses. I know much of spirits of all kinds, but I have not heard of any practices capable of empowering such a lowly caste of spirits.

[Mr. X]

As the discussion continues (and by all means, please continue) the party works it's way back to the previous room, and sets up camp to rest for the next eight hours.

Room Description, for those(Murgan) who haven't been to it yet:

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you are faced with a wide room. You immediately note a rise in the moisture in the air here... Odd, slightly luminescent fungi dot the area, growing in the cracks and spaces between the laid stones.

A massive carving dominates the Eastern wall. A monsterous, horrid creature, worshiped by droves of small people... Halflings, or Goblins, or perhaps Gnomes, it's difficult to tell... The artwork is clear and meticulous, but the creatures are so horridly mishapen that it is anyone's guess what sort of people they might once have been...

What they are doing, however, is quite clear... Rituals of worship, and sacrifice, battle for glory of their god, farming of the fungi you see growing about... Sergical removal of limbs and flesh, to feed and feralize the growing fungi... And themselves...

You are all suddenly uncomfortably aware of the dark, chunky splotches that spread from the cracks beneath the caps of the fungi.

Shadows cast by the flickering light of your torches lead you to note that many of the stones near the ceiling and have erroded almost completely away, leaving almost a honeycomb of holes a tunnels in the stone walls.

A door sits in the Northern wall.

After putting Malthos down for the evening, Fredric takes the healing kit, and tends the wounded as best he can...

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Go 1 cross-class rank in Healing!
For Malthos: (1d20+4)[14]
For Kulkov: (1d20+4)[22]
For Murgan:(1d20+4)[20]

Come morning, all heal those results+your Con bonus.

Order of the Watch(Just throwing this out, feel free to adjust it, depending on who needs to sleep, and how much you trust Murgan ;-):

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Fredric
Murgan
Kulkov
Malthos
Taribo

The hours pass by uneventfully. During his watch, Fredric passes the time fiddling with his chemical apparatus...

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Craft-Acid, DC 15:(1d20+10)[27]
boil down 3gp.

Come morning, he'll venture out and drag back the weapons the zombies possessed. All are rusted, but are also made of excellent steel, and very well balanced. A mending spell is sufficient to remove the rust, though Fredric only prepared 1 for today.

The Haul:

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Battle Axe
Spiked Chain
Heavy Mace

All Masterwork, all rusted.

OOC:

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No encounters for the next eight hours. If anyone has any actions they want to take, take them. Also, feel free to engage in a little IC chatter if you've got something to talk about.

The Map:

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[Sucrose]

Kulkav picks up the weapons from the zombies before departing for the nearest known safe room.

When they reach the room, he turns to Fredric and Murgan with a slight cough.

"So, how do the two of you know each other? Quite odd for old friends to be reunited in a place like this."

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This is the night where Kulkav's illness will kick in, right? What was the damage, again? Does he need to make another Fort save?

[Fates]

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It was Fredric who knew Murgan.

Malthos takes the time to scavenge some of the bodies of the poisonous insects the party encountered the day before. He attempts to extract any poison remaining into three of his vials, so as to use for his own purposes.

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Craft (Poisonmaking) Checks/ Self-poisoning risk (1-5 poisons Malthos)
(1d20+4)[11] (1d100)[74]
(1d20+4)[23] (1d100)[95]
(1d20+4)[16] (1d100)[64]

Spells Prepared:
0: Mending x2, Create Water, Read Magic
1: Burning Hands x2, Summon Nature's Ally I, Bless, Hide from Undead

[Mr. X]

For Kulkov:

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Yes it is. Symptoms are a bit of a cough and a growing fever. Take Damage Constitution - (1d3)[2] and damage Dexterity - (1d3)[2]

Make a Fortitude save, DC 12 To kick the disease. If you fail, you'll take the damage again in 3 days.

For Malthos:

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Unfortunately, the bugs were not poisonous. The damage they dealt was purely done through draining your fluids in fairly vast portions. There is still a fair bit of your blood contained within their stomachs which may be salvaged if you so choose. The digestive breakdown stopped mostly when the creatures died, so it's even still fairly fresh.

"Murgan and I are more acquaintances, than 'old friends..." Fredric replies, "The circles we operated in overlapped from time to time, and so we've had the opportunity to conduct some business togather on occasion. By reputation, I can attest that he is more than capable in his chosen profession..." He turns to Murgan...

"Though dungeons have never been said to be your preferred territory. Might I deduce from your presence that, like myself, you've perhaps fallen out of favor with those circles?"

[Fates]

Malthos is disappointed (though also somewhat relieved) at his findings. He speaks to anyone who will hear him. Luckily, the insects were not poisonous, so any harmful effects on our bodies were caused solely by blood loss. Hopefully, this means that we should be in perfect physical condition soon enough.

[SlyJohnny]

"I skipped town before the music started, and noone knows I headed here. It's nothing that'll come back to worry you." Murgan says, deciding frankness is the way to roll with this lot. "I heard that Fredric was down here. Thought I'd see if you needed another axe."

Murgan will take whatever watch is agreed upon, and sleep with his back up against the wall. When he awakens, he makes a hurried meal of bread and hard tack.

"Which way did you come in from? The dead orcs in the hall, that rat-eaten corpse to the south... does that mean you've already searched this corridor?"

OOC:

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Is Fredric communicating that information to us, and soliciting our opinion on what weapon he should fix first? If noone needs one, I'll cast a vote for the heavy mace, to replace my own weapon.

[Sucrose]

"We've begun," Kulkav rumbles, "but we were seriously wounded enough that we had to make this our stopping point, before fully exploring the hall."

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Fortitude save - (1d20+3)[8]

[Mr. X]

OOC: yes, Fredric will let it be known he can fix one of the weapons today, and will fix whichever the party would like.

[Sucrose]

"If one of you is trained in the use of the chain, I would suggest it. It seems like a very effective weapon. Otherwise, though, I would suggest the battleaxe, as we may have to carve through the remaining zombies."

That said, Kulkav coughs again, and readies himself for a fitful night of sleep.

OOC:

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Could someone with either a good Wisdom modifier or some Heal ranks try to help Kulkav? I'd prefer not to eat more Constitution and Dexterity damage.

[Mr. X]

For Malthos:

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you're too busy bleeding at the moment, but come morning you'll quickly become aware that Kulkov has come down with a fairly serious fever.

[Fates]

Malthos continues lying down, speaking in a somewhat raspy voice. I think we may need to devote this entire day to rest.

[Mr. X]

For all:

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The Spiked Chain is a Martial [Exotic] weapon, so anybody who's proficient can use it.

We can consider the rest period past... Gain your Hp and Attribute points back.
If you all want to rest a further 8 hours, Fredric will prepare 3 Mending spells, rather than just one, so he can fix all the new gear.

Go ahead and start taking morning actions.

[Sucrose]

Kulkav stretches as his latest 'morning' arrives. He shakes his groggy head, unwilling to let a minor illness prevent him from carrying out his duty.

"So, how much have you explored, Murgan? Are there any places that you haven't checked nearby? We should deal with any enemies before they have the chance to attack us from the back."

[SlyJohnny]

"Came in through the main hall, dead orcs at the corners. A band of halflings were following us, but they were chasing the goblins. If they're even still around, they might not pick a fight with you if we just tell them we don't know where the goblins went." He says, loosely waving a hand to indicate Kulkov's hulking frame, for emphasis.

"I didn't get a look at much. Came in from the south, but I wasn't stopping to sightsee. Found a corpse of something. Something you killed? Saw rat trails down there. Been hearing movement in the walls. Almost like they were following me... rats around here don't seem scared, like city rats... I dropped that damn goblin for less than a minute in that room opposite the door you met me at, thought she'd be safe, but they must've come out and started chewing on her as soon as I was gone. They're dangerous and hungry. Come out the walls."

Murgan points to the east.

"Room I left the goblin in had altars to some messed up looking gods or monsters. Like those crazy Eastern gods that aren't even people, animals and slimy reptiles... no offense, big feller... but worse. And there were ugly pictures on the walls like in here and everywhere else. Altars mean valuables... you already checked over that place?"

[Sucrose]

Kulkav shrugs.

"None taken. We slimy reptiles aren't much for looting shrines, though, so checking over such things isn't generally a concern. In any case, I doubt that we'd find anything as valuable as the weapons those unhallowed creatures were carrying."

He lifts the three rusted weapons out of his pack.

"If these could be repaired, they are of excellent workmanship. In any case, it seems that you came from much the same direction as us. Let us continue exploring to the east, probably starting with the hallway that the zombies apparently came from."

[Mr. X]

"I can take care of that." Fredric takes the axe and the mace, and chants quietly over each of them. A greenish mist swirls off the weapons, syphoning away the corroded metal, and leaving them gleaming. A few licks with a whetstone brings them back nearly as good as new.

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With two votes cast, Fredric shall prepare 2 mending spells for the morning, and so fix both the usable weapons.

Moving back through the broken wall to the eastern corridor, you find the rats done their work with remarkable efficiency... The zombies are now piles of nearly bare bone, scattered all across the hallway, and even many of those bones are missing... Dragged off and and gone.

In the room to the east a wet, bloody stain is all that remains of the goblin Murgan had carried here...

The room to the right appears to be a shrine of sorts. Centered in each wall is a large carving of some monsterous deity surrounded by depictions of what must be their worshipers and followers. The worshipers, again, though they are clearly carved, are so mishappen and malformed that it's anyone's guess what sort or people they might be... Or once have been.

Small steps lead up to each deity's carving.

There are no further doors in this room.

The Map:

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Also, for your information, The Complete Map so far:

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[SlyJohnny]

Murgan moves toward each of the altars, meticulously checking them over for traps, secret compartments, or other features of interest.

"Wonder what gods these are supposed to be."

((OOC: Thank you for that map! It's awesome.))

[Mr. X]

There are no traps, nor secret compartments, nor offerings around any of the alters. It is apparent that it has been a very, very long tim since anyone besides the rats has visited this place.

The carving on the Northern wall depicts a deity that is perhaps a monsterous worm, or a goat... It is somehow at once both and neither. It's worshipers gather around it, dancing maddly, engaged in some profane fertility ritual... The carvings are quite explicit... The deity is depicted to swallow some worshipers up, and then regurgitating them back, mutated and changed... These new creatures appear to be held high in regard by the rest of the worshipers.

The carving on the Eastern wall is of a strange, geometric shape... Robed figures surround it in solomn ritual, gazing upon it, and learning strange knowledges from it... Some of the worshipers' minds are broken from the revelations, becoming insane, wild animals, while others are consumed completely... Their beings vanishing from this plane. Still others are empowered, becoming incredibly powerful beings.

The carving on the Southern wall depicts some horrid fish god. Rauchious cerimony surrounds the thing, and a thin line of carvings stretching off across the floor depicts pilgrims traveling great distances to join the revelries, and the departing another way... The same, yet somehow changed.

The carving on the western wall is of some amibous beast, sleeping and dormant... Its shape is beyond description, and the sheer scale of the thing leaves you quaking in your boots... The very mountains dwarfed by its bulk... It sleeps alone. No worshipers dare to come near, and fear to worship at all... But fear greater still to disturb it's rest by Not worshiping, and so they huddle around small shrines and carvings, far away, and pray they do not draw it's eye.

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Would someone please give me a knowledge(Religion) roll.