Zilean's Revenge (Part 3)

"Firewood... Tableware.... and a general lack of food. We can eat the mice I guess." He grabbed some of the logs and put them in the hearth, and then took a random book and tore a few pages for kindling. Finally, digging through his pouches to find his flint, he lights the fire. "I suppose as far as housing goes, it isn't the worst for people like us." Once he had the fire going decently, he went over to try the other door.

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Trying the barred door: Order of Operations- removing bar, opening, picking lock, kicking in.

The powder does not appear to be inherently magical, and Rolf's recollections include far too many substances of such description to determine what it is from a glance. For all he knows, it could be chalk, ground teeth, or something he's never seen or heard of before.

The mice continue scuttling about the room, hiding behind the furniture, running away towards the hallway, or squeezing under the various doorways.

The barred door opens easily, once the bar is removed, and it appears to lack a keyhole altogether. It leads into a short hallway with a spiral staircase, going upwards. The only notable things here are a single broom, leaned against the wall, and more torch-holders.

Rabiah speaks up to break the temporary silence. "So, you say you've fought undead and bad men? Nothing too scary, I hope, or as mean as those metal men?"

Bronymous wrote:"We can eat the mice I guess."

"W-what? How can you say that?! They've just lost their nest, now you want to gobble them up like a mean old cat? I mean, I am hungry, and they do look pretty tasty... No! I couldn't! They'd never forgive me, the poor things!"

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Just a reminder, Rabiah has animal empathy / speak.

".....yeah." Horizon chooses not to point out that Hawks are supposed to eat mice, and instead climbs the stairs.

"Hey, those books could have high order governmental secrets coded within them," Jeraylia said, salvaging a burning page from the fire. She glanced at the snippet from the torn and torched tale of 'The Drow that wouldn't say no'. And then flipped it over. "Or at the very least provide some humorous entertainment in the form of terrible writing."

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Roll to decode governmental secrets XD: 27 (17+9 history+1 grandeur)

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Rabiah wrote:"So, you say you've fought undead and bad men? Nothing too scary, I hope, or as mean as those metal men?"

"Yes. They have been plaguing the city of late. Can't walk three steps without stumbling over a cultist or a zombie." She bent down to recover the next page of the story, smothering out a scorched corner. "But we can talk of that tomorrow. Gotta grab some shuteye while we can."

I thought we voted against keeping Rabiah, now she's talking???

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"Good, Zthulan. I'd rush over and claim one but, Knifey is opening a door to who knows what so, I thought I might stay here in case it's something valuable he'll decide to throw in a fire or another generously provided 'feature' that will try to kill us."

I'm having her talk because it seems appropriate enough. She'll be out of your hair soon enough.

Also, just to be clear - the box with the logs has plenty of sawdust / wood snippets to use as tinder.

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Using her deciphering skills, Jeraylia succeeds in "piecing together" a few embarrassing tidbits of info on Drow romantic practices. At the very least, they might be useful for joke-telling (+5 bonus to your next attempt at romancing/comedy via persuasion).

The light gradually decreases as Horizon goes up the stairs, forcing him to take a torch to navigate without risking tumbling down them. He passes a number of burnt-out torch holders along the way. He eventually reaches the top of the stairs, and they continue into a very short stone hallway with nothing but more torches and a dead end.

As the party idles, the bell above the pipes suddenly rings a few times, followed by the piping below it clunking and vibrating loudly a few times.

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Turning to the pipes Zthulan almost gets up to investigate before yawning.  "Rolf, can you see what that was about?  You're probably more qualified, and I don't think I can stay up much longer."  Making the way to his room he turns momentarily.  "If you do need me however, just knock on the door, Koras will wake me for you."

"This place is stupid." Horizon uses the torch to light a few sconces and then examines the dead end for any ways in or out.

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When you said "torch holders" I thought they were devoid of actual torches, which is why I didn't take one at first. But.

Perception: 17+10=27, also +5 FK in illusions in case that's a thing here.

Zarhon wrote:Rabiah speaks up to break the temporary silence. "So, you say you've fought undead and bad men? Nothing too scary, I hope, or as mean as those metal men?"

Rolf looked over at Rabiah for a few moments, then sighed. "Rabiah, you seem to be willing to help aid the needy, and your skills would be very valuable to us, but it would be unfair to lie to you. Yes, we have fought scarier and meaner just earlier today. We have faced skeletons made of blood, a gigantic serpent made of bones, and a horrific digging machine made of whirling blades. Our enemies have attempted to blow up innocents with bombs, tormented a child for sport, and have enslaved several more for gods know what reason. And then there's Zilean, a powerful undead lich who has set all of this in motion. While he may have been content to "toy" with us before, I believe that he now fully wishes for our utter, painful deaths...and our next mission is to head straight into his headquarters."


"I'm sure that there may be ways for you to help the soldiers in city hall patrol or fight the more "regular" zombies, but...if you felt that those two suits of armor were the worst we have yet to face, perhaps Scythe isn't quite right for you."

undefined wrote:As the party idles, the bell above the pipes suddenly rings a few times, followed by the piping below it clunking and vibrating loudly a few times. 

Turning to the pipes Zthulan almost gets up to investigate before yawning.  "Rolf, can you see what that was about?  You're probably more qualified, and I don't think I can stay up much longer."  Making the way to his room he turns momentarily.  "If you do need me however, just knock on the door, Koras will wake me for you."

"Very well. I'm guessing that the tubes contain some messages from our employer asking why we decided to "test" her security measures." Rolf went over to the pipes and tried looking for a way to open them.

Perception... 10 + 7 + 3 (Sharp Eyes) = 20

Because I can:
ASSIST ROLL: Natural 1 ( 1 + {8 Mechanics that don't matter})

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"Just unhook the doohicky from the whachamacallit and lift the latchy bit that's under the holey thingamajig," Jeraylia explained disjointedly, half noticing Rolf's attempt to open the message pipe, but too engrossed in her literature.

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At least I wasn't doing anything important

I should totally solo the other two suits.

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"About what I thought. At least it's not more tunnels." Horizon retreats back down to the main room, closing the the wall behind him. "Found the other way out. We should see about getting more of those key rings, in case we get separated, or locked out, or killed or whatever. Also, we need to get some more food, if nothing else than for breakfast before we storm the dungeon. Or wherever we're going."

"Those all sound like good ideas. I'm going to grab a bed. It feels like months since I've last slept. Longer still in an actual bed." Skitters says and then finds and nearby room with a bed, briefly checks the room to assure it's safe, then locks the door and goes to sleep on the bed.

Which rooms are you all staying in, precisely? There are three on the right side of the hallway (looking from the big room, rooms A, B, C), and five on the left side of the hallway (D, E, F, G, H):

Prison Cell ---- A  ---- B ---- C ----

-- D ---- E ---- F ---- G ---- H ----

And to anyone going to sleep/room checking: Roll perception, please.

Dibs on D. Closest to the bathroom.

Technically, you all have bathrooms in your own rooms with the fountain pillar things (let's avoid details). The prison one is similar/based off of it.

Also, I just realized you all lack "hygiene paper". Assume you have a roll of it in your rooms/chests, or something akin to a sponge-on a stick (the ancient Roman method).

Medieval plumbing / hygiene sucks.

"I'll take the room down the end," Jeraylia announced, grabbing the rest of the Drow themed novel off the floor. "G'night everyone."

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Taking room H.
Perception check: 16 (7+9 perception).

Edit: I meant D, I suppose? Unless it's taken?

Skitter took room C, it was closest.

Edit: And yeah... I was trying to avoid discussing hygiene all things considered. Or not considered because I really don't want to.

Oh that's a good idea, I'm going to search my room too. And H is the closest to the main room you were just in, btw.

Perception: 9+10= 19

"Well, food's going to have to be grabbed on the way, or we'll get resupplied later once we help the soldiers or Damiana's agents secure some areas of the city," Rolf said to Horizon. He then turned to Rabiah. "This letter is from Damiana Dale, the mayor's wife. She is...well, the closest thing we have to a direct "sponsor" at this time. I imagine that she will be able to find a way for you to be helpful, even if you choose not to stay with our group. Just head back up to City Hall (and be sure to close the wall behind you), and you can ask someone to direct you to her office.

Also, I may have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: Damina does NOT want anyone else to know about our little arrangement. The secret passages, the fighting suits of armor, our present mission, all of it isn't to be told to anyone, not even the Mayor. Do you understand?"

I'll take G.

Broken Logic wrote:Edit: I meant D, I suppose? Unless it's taken?

Bronymous wrote:Dibs on D. Closest to the bathroom.

Yeah, kinda taken. I mean, we could share, if you really wanted...

Broken can have H, I already declared for C.