Return To The Ruins (Warlords Palace)

[hedgeknight]

Ceana

The druid stares at the drawing of one of the Elder Gods...a Great Old One as her tribe refers to them. Sibilant whispers tickle the recesses of her brain and she shudders and shakes them off, turning back to her companions.
She slings her bow across her back and pulls out a torch. Lighting it, she holds it high and draws her falcata.
"I'm ready," she says with a shaky voice, glancing one more time at the drawing.

[silifi]

Just to be clear - we're at the staircase near the kitchen, (14) right?

[Rex]

Drest

"We only found the one way down, but there could be more. The dwarf things can see in the darkness I think and definitely tried taking the light sources out so be prepared to defend them if we encounter more of them."

Drest will lead the way down the stairs.

[OGRE MAGE]

Just to be clear - we're at the staircase near the kitchen, (14) right?

Correct.

[Ahlmzhad]

Taibhse

Taibhse is troubled by the god staring at them. He does some small chantings to Raven and Modezzan to ward against any ill that the image might bring. He continues to hold his bow as he is not in the lead.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Zakath Desert
The Ruined Warlords Palace
Afternoon

Drest winces and waits for the pain after hearing the sound of the reset trap at the bottom of the steps. Looking down, he sees the iron claws he forgot about now clamped tightly around his badly damaged ankle. The pain is exquisite. 4 dam

Shining their torch into the next opening, the party finds the mezzanine area. The walls in this 15' x 30' room are covered with painted bucolic murals, and two more iron bound doors can be seen from the stairway. There is no evidence of habitation inside this area. There is no sign of the dwarves anywhere.

Actions?

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Xenos (DS3) AC5 17/17
Drest (Sc4) AC7 18/22
Kainaxarthos (C2) AC6 11/11
Cyril (Pr2) AC8 7/7
Ceana (D2) AC5 13/13
Akhilleus (F3) AC4 32/32
Taibhse (Sh1) AC7 7/7
Belloc (M1) AC6 9/9
Sik (Ba1) AC5 12/12

[Rex]

Drest

Once Drest frees himself he will take the time to try and disable the trap so that it can not be reset again.

Then he will check the doors, starting with the door on the west wall.

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus waits for the scout to check the doors before attempting to open any of them.

"Be careful. This is the last room we were in. We don't know what awaits us beyond these doors."

[shaidar]

Xenos gestures to the southern door

"If my memory serves me, we fought the dwarves in the room beyond that door."

He looks at Drest and Akhilleus:

"Did you shut that door when you retreated?"

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril steps up and helps Drest free his ankle. "Yes, let's disable this for good. I mean this in the best way possible but...better your ankle than mine. Would you like a touch of healing?"

[Rex]

Drest

To Cyril, "Yes, healing would be excellent if you do not mind."

[hedgeknight]

Ceana

The druid steps out into the chamber, holding her torch high so as to light as much of the murals as possible. Ignoring the sweat running down her back, she tightens her grip on the pommel of her sword and is ready for someone to open a door.

[Belkregos]

Belloc
moves into the room behind the others, positioning himself in eager anticipation. With quick movements, he updates the map him with a few essential notes and sketches and then remains in place, ready and waiting for what's to come.

[Karaunios]

Xenos gestures to the southern door

"If my memory serves me, we fought the dwarves in the room beyond that door."

He looks at Drest and Akhilleus:

"Did you shut that door when you retreated?"

Akhilleus

"That's true. We did fight them in that room beyond.

Good call, I don't remember any of us closing the door. When we killed those dwarves, my thought was that there might be more of them."

[The_Wanderer]

Drest

To Cyril, "Yes, healing would be excellent if you do not mind."

Cyril
"Of course I would not mind..." He closes his eyes and grabs Drest's right wrist...
Azathoth provides [1d8]=5 points of healing

Cyril holds your right wrist in a vicelike grip while something slithers around the other, lashing it in place. Your vision goes dark, slowly resolving into a blurry image of a colossal circular mouth full of sharp teeth. Your vision flashes and you are back in the present.

"There you are. Good as new..." Cyril's stares down at Drest, a smile on his face. "Ah - would you look at that. I've not been given more healing today. Of course I do have other capabilities. Let's just all try not to die."

[Monsieur Rose]

Kainaxarthos

Kain raises his torch to examine the murals more closely. He's trying to date the keep and determine its prior use.

"Interesting. And rather beautiful. So, which way now? Maybe we try the other if you know what was past the one door?"

[Rex]

Drest

"Thank you Cyril. As always, that was ... Disturbing."

[OGRE MAGE]

The Zakath Desert
The Ruined Warlords Palace
Afternoon

At the Scouts request, either frivolously wasting valuable magic, or keeping his companions at the top of their game, Cyril uses his only healing magic on the minor injuries. (only going off the sheets here, so if you haven't updated spells per day yet, that's on you)

Kainaxarthos peers around to find paintings of seasonal crops, a swelling river, and views of abundant harvests. None of these scenes comports with the current landscape in the dry, barren desert above. If he had to guess, these ruins have likely been here a very, very long time.

The trap from the stairs is dismantled and the doors are checked again, revealing no concerns. Both are pulled tightly shut again, however. There is no sound coming from beyond either closed portal and neither feels locked.

Actions?

Xenos (DS3) AC5 17/17
Drest (Sc4) AC7 22/22
Kainaxarthos (C2) AC6 11/11
Cyril (Pr2) AC8 7/7 CLW
Ceana (D2) AC5 13/13
Akhilleus (F3) AC4 32/32
Taibhse (Sh1) AC7 7/7
Belloc (M1) AC6 9/9
Sik (Ba1) AC5 12/12

[Rex]

Drest

"Same way again?"

[shaidar]

Xenos

"That's a good question. We know the southern door heads into a deeper complex. We should try the other door just to get an idea where it goes, and to make sure there is nobody hiding there ready to cut off our exit."