Chapter 1: The mystery of Odlo Hillhouse

[Marullus]

Hailey looks dumbfounded at the smashed vial on the floor gor a long moment. It's... just a puddle. She carried that for years. Trusted the gods to provide protection. Here, they face true evil and... she just expected more.

She contemplates Deuteria 's dagger as a set comes to her jaw. "Must fix this ourselves, then," she whispers to herself.

Then, she hurls the dagger at Odlo.

Dagger [1d20]=9[1d4]=2

[AleBelly]

Wenyld draws her bow again, firing an arrow at the backside of the bony tortoise. With a *clink* that sounds like porcelain shattering, the arrow pierces the shell, erasing away any remaining life force within the beast. Its bones collapse and its shell drops several inches with a crash. "GAHHHHHHHHH!" squeals Odlo in anger. His bloodshot eyes look for a target as he readies his dagger to throw, but Palermo bounds forward with his pitchfork. He impales the pale undead hobbit with his weapon. And with that, the battle is finally over, though at the cost of nine adventurers.

Cotgric and Duala come through the newly opened door with tales of a giant grub that has swallowed Ayre and Baye. Less than a minute later, Radahn enters the room, His lower legs and hands covered in muck and guano. He tells a tale of crossing the chasm in pitch darkness and living to tell the tale.

An indentation is present in the stone wall next to the door that Odlo claimed to protect. Three pegs jut from the indentation, each with a key. Above them, written in dwarven runes, is

"A wee little man with a red red coat...a staff in my hand, a stone in my throat...guess who I am to avoid death's bloat."

keys.jpg (556.85 KiB) Viewed 369 times

The heavy wooden door is indeed locked.

Note that there is a lot of loot left behind by the dead PCs. It looks like Yarnold and Wenceslas' character sheets were deleted, so I'll post what is available here. Feel free to divide up however you all see fit:

Nordman
Dagger
Sling and stones
Small sack containing flint and steel and a thin black grimoire
3 torches
17 cp

Rimilda
Club
Small sack containing a pound of herbs, a vial of holy water and flint and steel
3 torches
13 cp

Rolf
Handaxe
Bundle of wood
4 torches
large sack
23 cp

Bobwhite
Handaxe
Empty chest containing 5 lbs chicken meat, 2 days' rations, 2 pieces of chalk, 2 fresh biscuits, a curious item from Odlo's house
15 cp

Sully
Short bow with 3 arrows
A large club with a large humanoid hand attached to one end (1d6 damage)
Large sack with a spyglass, a holy symbol, 2 days' rations
5 cp

Margit
Shovel
Large sack containing a trowel, an empty flask, and flint and steel
12 cp

Sisyphus
Shortbow and no arrows
Rusty shortsword
Leg bone (1d3)
Deer pelt
50' rope

[Marullus]

Int [1d20-1]=17-1=16
Testing IC reasoning. Tales of talking animals are within her repertoire as an animal trainer.

Also of note - Bovwhite has only 4lbs of chicken and has no biscuits left. He ate two and tossed one to Odlo, which sadly still rests atop the tortoise's shell to share after the battle.

Hailey goes over look at the keys and engravings, waiting until Cotgric reads the riddle aloud. She wrinkles her nose. "That's a bit... squirrely, particularly for dwarves. The Brown Owl ignored the riddle but we shall not." She plucks up the key on the left. "...now what does it open?" She looks around the room.

If others don't move to do so, she will pick up Nordman's sack and then Bobwhite's chest as she searches.

[OGRE MAGE]

oops! we crossposted

Palmero keeps one eye on the self opening door to the south as he cleans his tines and joins those at the indentation.

"The answer to this riddle seems to lie before us, friends. As one of these keys has a tag that contains fruit. Red fruit, with a stem, and a pit."

He will not take the key himself, but urges those who will to choose the one on the left.

He then moves to pick up the items left behind by his dead friend Sully.

[CAI4]

Bilberta “agreed, the key on the left seems to be the one. Of course, I’d like to know what you all think before I grab it”

Radahn gives a couple head nods to his comrades before slyly picking up Sisyphus’ rusty short sword

[gurusql]

Cotgric & Duala

Cotgric & Duala will enter through the south, opened door and will check out what is in the table before jumping into this combat.

[Stirling]

Xerxes & Zygmund

firstly deal with the bodies of their deceased comrades, laying them to rest on any trestle nearby.

Xerxes breaks places some broken Tortoise shell across each as a token and folds the demon icon horn into Wenceslas palm. Using the last pieces of chalk, he scrawls an epitaph for both in Yarnold's ledger before committing them to prayer and blessing each with his holy symbol.

As far as equipment goes, they had a combined 176 unspent copper pieces, a lantern with oil flask and each had a weapon. The miner carried his mining pick and the tax collector a pointy sword which Zygmund has picked up.

I will offer the Mining Pick to any who needs it or trade it for something.

Xerxes adds the lantern to his personal inventory.

Zygmund, will keep the longsword until we are clear of dangers. It is probably not a weapon he can gain proficiency in (unless mages can use them?). He would be interested in the spyglass of Sully and happy to trade the longsword for it with whoever is acting as attorney to his goods.

I think it best to add the total loose coins from deceased into a pot and share them out equally.

So +176 copper pieces to the party trove.

[Rex]

Wenyld

She takes the 3 arrows and a hand axe, then tries to recover her arrows.

[Stirling]

If no one else goes to check through Odlo and the Tortoise and his bizarre throne, then Xerxes & Zygmund will do that after dealing with comrades bodies.

[gurusql]

Cotgric & Duala

Cotgric will pick-up Rimilda's small sack containing a pound of herbs, a vial of holy water and flint and steel and Duala will pick-up Margit's large sack containing a trowel, an empty flask, and flint and steel.

Then Cotgric will go over and try an read the runes

[AleBelly]

The party tends to the corpses of their fallen comrades, paying their respects and taking necessary items. Make sure to update your character sheets please.

After reading the riddle of the runes, Hailey takes the key hanging on the left peg, which depicts a cherry. She wonders what it opens; the locked door just to the left of the hanging keys seems most likely, as a search of the tortoise, throne, and tables reveals nothing of value.

Zygmund, will keep the longsword until we are clear of dangers. It is probably not a weapon he can gain proficiency in (unless mages can use them?). He would be interested in the spyglass of Sully and happy to trade the longsword for it with whoever is acting as attorney to his goods.

Upon reaching level 1, PCs gain proficiency of their class/race AND the last weapon they wielded. So yes, Zygmund could wield a longsword if it's his last weapon used and he becomes a wizard.

Silence returns to the old dwarven hall, their former denizens at rest once again. There are three entrances to the room - the one the majority of the party came from, the south door through which Cotgric and Duala arrived, and the locked door next to the keys.

Actions?

[Marullus]

Confident in her answer, Hailey holds her breath and unlocks the door.

[Rex]

Wenyld

Once done recovering her arrows she moves over to cover Hailey opening the door.

[Stirling]

If no one else goes to check through Odlo and the Tortoise and his bizarre throne, then Xerxes & Zygmund will do that after dealing with comrades bodies.

Was there anything to find in searching these three places?

I think it best to add the total loose coins from deceased into a pot and share them out equally.

So +176 copper pieces to the party trove.

Is there a group 'piggy bank' which we all put in and share equally? If so how much do we get dividing the total coins between us? Or shall I split this between Xerxes & Zygmund?

So yes, Zygmund could wield a longsword if it's his last weapon used and he becomes a wizard.

Zygmund will belt the longsword and scabbard to his waist and go forward as a warrior-mage.

[OGRE MAGE]

Palmero looks over the pillars near the door that is about to be opened.

He keeps his turnip fork at the ready in case of oncoming trouble.

[Marullus]

I think it best to add the total loose coins from deceased into a pot and share them out equally.

So +176 copper pieces to the party trove.

Is there a group 'piggy bank' which we all put in and share equally? If so how much do we get dividing the total coins between us? Or shall I split this between Xerxes & Zygmund?

Hailey readily agrees to splitting the coin.

I am unsure how many people are alive to divide it by?

[AleBelly]

If no one else goes to check through Odlo and the Tortoise and his bizarre throne, then Xerxes & Zygmund will do that after dealing with comrades bodies.

Was there anything to find in searching these three places?

Nope, there was a sentence to this effect in the last update.

[AleBelly]

As she's covered by the others, Hailey takes the key with the cherry, inserts it into the door, and feels the satisfaction of the bolt giving way. She pushes open the door to a short hallway that immediately turns left, where stairs ascend. A sickly green light is emitted by sconces set about 5' apart along the walls. They appear to be magical in nature. Peering around the corner, the stairs ascend at a shallow pitch for at least 50'.

Actions?

[Rex]

Wenyld

Wenyld moves up and looks over the stairway. She will try to determine if it is trapped in any way.

[gurusql]

Cotgric & Duala

Duala will help checking for traps and Cotgric will examine the stonework for any clues.