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Drest

Drest checks the side doors before moving onto the area that smells of snake men.

Cyril
"I must say, Sik's predatory sense of smell toward snake folk did not come up in the interview process when we recruited him - but in hindsight this seems like just the thing we needed all along. It might be that we have to adjust the attributes that we look for in our companions.

...and can we talk about how this warlord built his palace with tree columns in the basement? It seems like quite a juxtaposition since these columns will clearly never see the light of day. Now if they were somehow carved into roots descending from the ceiling...that would provide some level of verisimilitude."

The Zakath Desert
The Ruined Warlords Palace
Afternoon

The party makes their way into and through the extravagantly carved pillar room, expecting an ambush at any moment, though the proverbial coast remains clear.

Sik loses the stench he smelled earlier, but is certain the serpent creatures came through this area at some point recently.

Nothing stirs in the darkness ahead as the pair of ajar doors in the next hallway are approached.

The room to your right (19) looks to have been an office or living quarters of sorts at one time, but there is now trash and refuse scattered all across the floor. Ruined furniture including a rotting desk and crumpled divan in the corner make up most of the interior, while a heap of mouldering cloth blankets etc. sits piled in the center of the floor.

The room across the hall has a far more sinister appearance, its walls and floor showing signs of ancient blood stains everywhere. A pair of massive stone tables dominate the room, one of them set up as a torture rack used to stretch victims limbs. The other table is filled with rusting implements and devices such as gags, pins, shackles, tongs, and even a rat cage.

There are a pair of closet-like stone coffins in each far corner, standing upright on the floor. They look as old as the rest of the items in this room, but there is an obvious fresh bloodstain at the base of the one on the right. (SE corner)

The lower room beyond with the steps leading further downward (21) is dark and silent, as are the areas behind the group.

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

Cyril enters the room on the right (19) and approaches the desk, investigating any drawers it has and trying to spot anything out of the ordinary.

Ceana

The druid walks along with her companions, growing more and more nervous about this place. Glancing into what looks like an office, she wonders aloud, "Why pile all of those blankets in the middle of the room?"
She smells the room across the hall before she peeks in. Her mind concocts a myriad of horrors that must have taken place therein. She shudders and silently asks Yoon'Deh for protection from evil.

Taibhse

Watches as the party reaches the exit and pauses. Not sure why they've paused, but he maintains his watch behind and waits for them to proceed before moving up. Saying some prayers to Raven while he waits.

Drest

"Looks like something has been in that stone casket recently. Is someone willing to back me up if I check it?"

Xenos nods

"I will."

Akhilleus will move the blankets and rubble in the room to the right (19) with his foot, maybe something valuable is hidden there.

Xenos

"Is there a cleric that wants to help us too? Just in case there is some undead monstrosity inside" he says with a grin.

Ceana

"I'm with you," the druid says, following Drest and Xenos.

Kainaxarthos

He grins when his services are requested. "As am I." He follows and stands at the door, watching both coffins for movement.

Kain looks around the room, appraising the devices. "Yet another side of our forest-loving lord."

Although having lost the scent of the creatures, Sik suspects they have gone further down the hallway. While the others search the side rooms, he stands at the top of the stairway, on guard.

Drest

Drest moves in and checks the casket and area around it for traps, secret doors etc., then tries opening it carefully.

Detect Secret Doors 3:6
Determine Depth and Grade, 2:6
Disguise, chance of being discovered is 2 in 12
Climb, 8:12
Discern Noise, 5:12
Hide, 6:12
Manipulate Traps, 4:12
Move Silently, 6:12
Open Locks, 4:12
Track - Wilderness, 7:12
Track - Non-Wilderness, 9:12

The Zakath Desert
The Ruined Warlords Palace
Afternoon

Cyril pulls out the drawer on the rotting desk, the handle pulling away from the punky wood in his hand. The drawer falls to the floor and breaks apart, revealing a once hidden compartment containing a cinched up rotting leather bag.

Sik takes in the sights, staying alert outside the rooms, ready for trouble if it should arise. Ceana asks Yoon'Deh to protect her as she looks over the horrible scene in the torture chamber. Praying himself, Taibhse continues to stand watch from a distance, unsure what the group has found. Belloc looks around as much as he stares at his black staff.

Akhilleus kicks at the pile of rotting cloth in the center of the floor, revealing two things. The first is something shiny peeking out from the top portion of the mass, the second is movement and screeching from the central area of the mass.

Drest, Xenos, Kain, and Ceana enter the ancient torture chamber across the hall, the Scout heading straight for the bloody upright coffin. Finding no traps, they cautiously open the spiked enclosure to discover a rather gruesome and awful smelling sight. Inside is an obviously dead bloating body covered in wriggling maggots. The figure is short, muscular, and heavily tattooed, reminding you of the underground dwelling dwarfs you encountered last time you were here. It seems this fellow was either a victim of their own insatiable curiosity, or they had other enemies down here to contend with as well.

The body is punctured in many places, with dried blood running down the interior of the device where it pooled on the floor underneath. He once looked like this:

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

Ceana

The druid gags at the sight and smell of the corpse and staggers back a few steps. Trying to swallow the bile rising from her stomach, she closes her eyes and breathes through her mouth. "Yoon'Deh save us from such!" she manages.

Kainaxarthos

"That's unpleasant. Someone make sure it's not undead." He says from the doorway.

The screeching from the other room forces him to turn away from the iron maiden, but a moment later he remembers to keep watch on the other coffin.

Drest

"I am not touching that, have at it if you want." He backs up and exits the room.

Akhilleus will prode carefully with the tip of his sword at the shiny object peeking out of it, and start removing the fabric with his weapon. He's suspecting rats eating a corpse, or something similar, so he wants to make sure he knows what's in there before reaching directly with his hands.

He hears the fuzz coming from the other room but, since there's no sounds of combat following it, he keeps focused on his current task.

Cyril
"Ah, the whims of chaos! Even in the heart of madness, Azathoth grants treasures. What have we rescued from the infinite entropy?" He carefully looks inside the leather bag.