Arra could scare believe her ears. Leave? Without going downstairs? Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, tail swishing faster, and eyed the doctor as if he were but a mouse with cream gravy. Leave, how silly, after they had come all this way to look into things, and there were still things that needed looked into. Like this place. Her claws itched a little, and she made a small movement towrds the good (or not so good) doctor, when she realized her companions were already on the move.

Coming up behind Glitch and Gadget, she couldn't help sniffing a little, but only because the tiny one smelled so delicious and she still hadn't found the mice she'd wanted. Her paw came up to rest on Glitch's shoulder, meant to assure him of her presence. THe excitement in the air was palpable, and she was looking forward to finding the cause of the commotion.

"We should go Left," she murmured, refusing her eyes to the reduced light. "And someone should make a light."

"We should go Left," he heard Arra murmur "And someone should make a light."

"Aye, that would make sense." Ta'nil nodded. "She says left, anyone have any other idea on which side to go into?"

The darkness subsided a little when Brokkrok produced his Everburning Torch. The flickering orange light reacted heavily to the damp air, as if enchanted by the horrid fumes. Shadows fled to corners as they lowered themselves into the underground hallway. The small tunnel was dry, with cobwebbed walls and eerie silence. Behind them, Roy Pikarov stood pleading in the doorway, his voice losing strength with every word.

“Please, don’t go down there!”

But they did.

(OOC: Walking order: Ta’nil, Brokkrok, Glitch, Traubon, Arra)
Ta’nil went first, and inspected the door on the left first. He listened closely, but heard nothing besides his own heavy breathing. Using his thieves’ tools he started picking the lock, only to find that the door was already open.
Behind it lay a very narrow cabinet, ten feet deep with a tile floor and some wooden shelves. A few old brooms and gardening supplies still rested here, but hadn’t been touched in a long time. On the lowest shelf lay a very old chain shirt, which held a small metal plate with the symbol of Solanis on it. Perhaps this was Sofia’s father’s?

Requiring a bit more to keep his mind occupied, the rogue continued to the first door on the right. He listened intently but again heard nothing. He inspected the door for anything suspicious, but soon realized this one was as harmless as the one on the left.

Or so he thought.

Barely had he touched it or a sharp pain shot through his arm, locking muscles and sending his hair shooting straight out. A bright flash erupted from the door at the same time as a stroke of lightning coursed through his body and sprang to the ones behind him. Brokkrok was the only one who was able to jump aside in time to avoid a more painful encounter. Still, the lightning struck him and clasped his jaws so tight that it hurt. Luckily for the two of them, Traubon and Arra were out of the spell’s reach.

(OOC: Ta’nil is down to 2 HP, Glitch to 3. Insert actions here before entering the room.)
With the trap sprung, the door was ready to be opened. A dark and hollow chamber lay before them. It was quite big, and seemingly deserted. But when the light of Brokkrok’s Torch penetrated the darkness, shuffling forms came out of the shadows.

Six skeletons were coming at them. They wore commoners’ outfits, and long chains dangled from their necks to end in iron rings on the walls of the chamber. They were bound, but their chains long enough to reach at least every corner of the room. Hollow eyes stared endlessly in the distance, but their movement seemed focused. Bone scraped over stone tiles as they came for the adventurers.

(OOC: fight will begin with initiative. So state your findings and your intentions. Also, I need to know who opens the door if it is NOT Ta’nil.)

As soon as he touched the door, he knew it was going to be painful....it was. He gasped as if he had run out of breath but when he found it he took a deep breath. He looked around and saw that Glitch was affected by it too, he went over to help him up saying "You alright?"

Calling out to the others "I think we may need some healing over here." Turning back to Glitch "Hey look on the bright side, at least we can open the door now."

_____________________________________________________
combat

Pulling out Orpano'rasro, he avoided the chains as they may lead him closer to the skeles, he went in going for a pommel smash to the head of the closest near him and withdrew so he could go in for to somehow put a crossbow bolt in one of the links of the chains to restrict the length of at least one of them. He pulled out another bolt and tried to do the sane to another one.

((OOC: that is it the walls are made with wood or there is tar he can put them in, or any gaps in the wall itself; if not, pommel smash again to attempt to do damage.))

Brokkrok barely saw the stroke of lightning as he instinctively leaped out of the way ... but it was not soon enough as the bolt found its mark ... causing his jaws to clench tight with pain.

The pain soon subsided and the cleric rubbed his jaw as he surveyed the damage to his companions ... then summoned a Cure Light Wounds in behalf of Glitch ... before summoning a Cure Minor Wounds to aid the impetuous Ta'nil.

Thankfully Traubon and Arra were out of range of the unexpected lightning bolt. He took a few moments more to attend to the wounds of his comrades with his Healing Kit ... then snarled an oath to avenge his teammates as he strode toward the door!

With the trap sprung, the door was ready to be opened … so Brokkrok ... with his torch in his left hand and sword in his right ... kicked at the door in disgust ... then opened the door and lifted his torch high to reveal what was hidden inside.

A dark and hollow chamber lay before them. It was quite big, and seemingly deserted. But when the light of Brokkrok's Torch penetrated the darkness, shuffling forms came out of the shadows.

Six skeletons were coming at them. They wore commoners' outfits, and long chains dangled from their necks to end in iron rings on the walls of the chamber. They were bound, but their chains long enough to reach at least every corner of the room. Hollow eyes stared endlessly in the distance, but their movement seemed focused. Bone scraped over stone tiles as they came for the adventurers.
Brandishing his sword and holding his torch high ... the cleric of Therassor did not hesitate to call upon the aid of his deity as he snarled a command for the UnDead to turn away from the adventurers!

Brokkrok stands ready to strike with his sword against any skeleton that fails to turn or attempts to attack him or his companions!

OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOWOWOWOIEEEEE

"You alright?"

That's what Glitch really wanted to answer, but managed to keep his composure.

"I'm ok I think. I guess I should have looked for a magical trap as well..."

Within seconds their new companion was tending to his wounds with magic of his own. "It's so fascinating, the divine magic. I always heard stories from Helena about how fickle it is, but it looks to me like you have mastered the art. I hope to study a bit of it when we get a chance to settle down. Wouldn't it be great if I could make a wand with this kind of healing power?"

The Brathun stared off into space as his imagination raced with thoughts of such a dweomer, but was quickly snapped back to reality with the presence of undead.

"Ha! Look at them! Someone is keeping them as pets! I want a skeleton pet! Too bad for you guys I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet."

Glitch did have a plan though. A very good one.

He pulled a small unlit candle from his pack.

"Beware the fire beetle. It's a little known predator with a nasty bite. And just because I am just THAT AMAZING, this one specialises in beating down little undead pests."

He grasped the candle and flicked it to the center of the room while chanting in Brathnaii with his typical airy tone that alerted everyone he was preparing magic.

"Behold! You are all witness to my newest ability, and (hopefully) done WITHOUT the use of Technomancy. Look at me! I'm a REAL Mage now! Come to me! My little Angel Bug!" Glitch motioned with his hands in the ancient patterns that spelled out a word in Celestial.

Always the one for Bravado and Excess, Glitch concluded his spell and reassessed the situation...

(OOC: Summon Monster 1 to summon a Celestial Fire Beetle and order it to smite evil on the nearest skeleton (preferably that wasn't turned by Brok. Round 2 actions are going to depend on how the battle is going since I want to ration my spells.)

The problem was the door was only so wide, and her sword so long. Or short, being a short sword. Arra noticed with dismay the obvious lack of meant on any of the bones. And from studying he bodies crowded at the door, versus the space of the doorway itself, combined with the length of her sword, there was no way. Theoretically, though she had no idea it was theoretical or what the word meant, sh could dive into the center and fight from there, but the idea seemed rather foolish.

So Arra stepped back, and watched, purring softly with curiosity. Which hopefully would not kill this cat.

Carefully they came to the first door that blocked their path. Traubon watched as Ta'nil skillfully checked the door for traps and locks, not finding anything. So it was to Traubon's surprise when a white hot streak of lightning exploded from the door, injuring his comrades in front of him. Luckily for Traubon, the bolt stopped short of hitting him, and Brokkrok quickly went to work healing the blisters and burns of Glitch and Ta'nil.

Upon opening the door after the trap, another unexpected surprise waited for them. Six horrific skeletons, rotting decaying forms chained to walls attacked. Brokkrock immediately stepped up, his clerical skills honed to combat such atrocities.

Traubon tried as much as he could to muster up his force to fight. He had faced down the horrors of the beast of Stone's Hollow, but now it was things other worldly. Quickly Traubon knew that such injuries sustained by the lightning could not take a beating from foul undeath, he put himself in the fore front and began to fight, striking at the undead with heavy blows.

(Traubon will use power attack, sacrificing 1 BaB to gain +2 Strength damage on his attacks)

The bolt of lightning left a sharp smell in the small corridor, while the Khordaldrum cleric went about doing what he did best: patch people up. First he went over to Glitch, who was standing there, shaking like a leaf. He touched his eye-patch and the little wizard’s shoulder. A wave of warm energy flowed from his fingers, but they didn’t do a lot of healing. Sure, the tension in the Brath’s muscles subsided a bit, but he still felt like he had just put his fingers into two tiny holes in the wall, even though he didn’t even know what that meant. The Cure Minor wounds was expected to do just very little healing and Ta’nil was equally treated to a small relief of the pain and pressure.

Still, with the healing done as best as it could, they now faced the task of entering the protected chamber.

When Brokkrok swung the door open and stepped inside he noted the skeletons, and they noted him too. Eager jaws parted and arms stretched out almost as if longing for a comforting embrace. The cleric only took a moment to survey the room and in that moment the two nearest skeletons attacked. Unsure as their footing was, their speed was faster than expected and they clubbed their bony claws onto his head. Luckily for the cleric the skeletons’ haste did nothing good for their aim. They failed to hurt him.

Arra saw the attack and wanted to push through the ranks of her team mates, but decided to hold back until there was more room.

That turned out to be a very wise decision. Brokkrok touched his eye-patch for the second time in under five minutes. The holy symbol of the God of Righteous battle started glowing with a hot white radiance, and the skeletons immediately halted. They held their hands up as if they could do anything to stop the deadly power of Therassor. The first two sank to their knees, then suddenly bucked as if vomiting heavily, and exploded into dust. The four other skeletons just fell into heaps of unmoving bones.

With the threat out of the way, they could enter the room. It proved to be an old wine cellar, long since abandoned and covered in a thick layer of dust. The only tracks here were the sharp prints of skeletal feet dragging in aimless patterns. A quick search revealed a small barrel of wine, 100 ft of silk rope, a small chest with a small magnifying glass and an old handheld harp.

(I need to know who will take what items. The same goes for the armor in the previous post, which hasn’t been claimed yet.)

Brokkrok touched his eye-patch for the second time in under five minutes. The holy symbol of the God of Righteous battle started glowing with a hot white radiance, and the skeletons immediately halted. They held their hands up as if they could do anything to stop the deadly power of Therassor. The first two sank to their knees, then suddenly bucked as if vomiting heavily, and exploded into dust. The four other skeletons just fell into heaps of unmoving bones.


Arra was most impressed by the exploding dead, and her nose and whiskers twitched in fascination. "Frrrrrriend! You do such with your eye? Verrrrry imprrrrrresive!" The swishing of her tail corroborated her pleasure, and she offered a toothsome grin. She was glad to see her two other friends had fared well enough, after some treatment, and appeared fair now.

THe room itself was rather a disappointment. She briefly pawed at the rope. but would have no place for it. Although, she mused, she could always tie it around her waist. But then again, she had to real understanding of what it could do for her should she take it. She didn't play music, because her claws would have snapped strings immediately, so she had no use for the instrument. And being that she preferred cram to wine, she saw no reason to take the wine.

Arra took the moment of inactivity to preen a little, because the dust was making her fur itch a little. "Shall we," she asked the group, "see what is next?"

She paused a moment. "I should like a fat mouse," she confessed quietly.

Ta'nil blinked when he saw how fast the skeletons went away. He looked at the bolt, and he looked at Brokkrok, and he felt his anger rise 3 degrees at magic users and that he never got any fun this time. He shrugged it all off and such a whistle that the others could not help turn round. he said unto them "on Glitch, on Arra, on Traubon and Aly and on Brokkrok my friends, let us open this door in a whistle, and take down the skeletons. May we survive this adventure and rid this town of evil magic." With that he turned and checked the door for traps by looking intently and called out once more "This door may be magicked, would someone please help?" Once that was done he opened the door, awaiting whatever surprise it had in store.

Brokkrok was not satisfied with the outcome of defeating the skeletons. It almost seemed too easy, but he was thankful to Therassor that no one had been harmed more than they had.

There would be time enough for gathering the spoils of their victory, but the Cleric of Therassor was not satisfied with the results thus far. There was still a mystery to solve and missing persons to find and hopefully restore to their loved ones.

His healing spells were spent and he had hoped that Ta'nil had learned a valuable lesson in regards to rushing headlong through a door to see what was on the other side.

Brokkrok was not quite sure if he had, but it was evident that the Sylvan Rogue had a dislike for magic and whoever used spells of any sort. Not even a note of thanks for trying to help assist with his wounds, but Brokkrok was not looking for thanks anyway ... he was looking for answers!

Ta'nil seemed to want to take the lead again in opening the next door. There was no reason to get into strife with the Syl over who was going first into the unknown.

Brokkrok looked around to see where Traubon and Arra were, before lifting his torch towards the center door to provide some illumination if it was needed. He nodded to Traubon and smirked at the Kazari Fighter who was purring about pouncing on a mouse to satisfy her hunger.

As he gripped the hilt of his longsword, the cleric of Therassor quipped, "Let us see what type of rats are beyond this door ... shall we?"

Glitch was a bit impressed with Brokkrok's display.

"You HAVE to show me that trick later!"

But they still had a job to do, and something still wasn't right here. He lowered his goggles down and began chanting, hoping he would find something of use.

Detect magic on all the items, focusing if he finds an aura. Also making sure to look at the next door before the spell wears off.

Regardless of aura's, Glitch will gather up any trinkets that aren't snatched up by others.

With the skeletons disposed of, and Glitch pocketing all the items they’d found (none of which were magical, to his dismay) they had one final door to investigate.

Ta’nil was hungry for a fight. ‘Fun’ he called it, but what they were going to find next would not be described using that particular word. It would also not be a fat mouse, as Arra hoped for. Brokkrok knew as much when he approached, sensing an unholy aura that sent a shiver down his spine. As the door opened under the scout’s quick fingers a sight was revealed that would stick to their minds for the rest of their adventuring career.

Beyond the last door lay a room as big as the ones that had held the skeletons. But whatever function it had in the past was no longer identifiable. Now it was an insane slaughterhouse under the guide of madness. Barbed hooks hung from the wooden overhead beams, bearing old human bodies, some in faded rags, some naked. They all looked dirty, as if they had crawled through the mushroom beds of the farms on Sedostra’s surface. Most of the corpses were already decomposing and more than one missed an arm or leg. Their milky eyes stared into eternity unseeing.
The walls of the room were splattered with blood. Traces of unholy symbols and evil runes had been formed by human hands, smeared and brushed in haste, others in deadly precision.

On the right side of the room stood a stone workbench embossed with evil runes and the grinning skull of D’hurgen, God of Death. Blood red candles burned on top of it, their flickering radiance sharpening the deep shadows that hung about the room, and illuminating, enhancing the female corpse in their midst. The corpse was half dissected; its abdomen an empty hollow and large pieces of it leg muscles missing. To the horror of the adventurers, its chest moved slowly as if it was still breathing.

Next to the altar stood a large wooden bucket that most of them recognized as being used for the crushing of grapes in the winemaking progress. This one, however, was filled with decaying intestines that spread a sickening odour of rot into the room. Squatting in the darkness next to it sat the slender frame of a woman with long, dirty hair, wearing a cleric’s robe with a chain shirt on top of it that bore the same round disc that was attached to Arra’s new armour. She was fidgeting with something when the door opened, but stopped when the adventurers entered.

She got up, and from her hand fell a chunk of liver into the large bucket. They could now clearly see her undead face. Her mouth was rimmed with crimson liquid and her skin a quaint purple colour. Her long hair was sticky and grew from patches on her skull. Burning eyes looked at the adventurers as she pointed at them. From the darkness beyond the altar came two skeletal warriors, similar to those Brokkrok had diminished so easily. The woman herself began casting a spell.

(OOC: I should remind you all that Ta’nil and Glitch are both very low on HP. Be careful!)

Traubon went along with the group into the room as the skeletons were dismissed with ease. Inside the room they found some mundane items such as rope, a chest, an interesting magnifying glass and a harp.

Glitch quickly scooped them up and Traubon was ok with this. They will dish out everything to who ever needs it later on. But one thing troubled Traubon, the fact that these skeletons were chained up like pets.

"Seems like someone's keepin' these creatures all held up, let's be careful with this last room who knows how many more could be chained up in there."

Traubon slowly stayed in front of the injured group members, unknowing what horrors could lunge at them at the opening of this next door.

As they entered the last room, the horrid stench of flesh and corpses assaulted Traubon's nostrils, sickening him immediatley. Whatever guard he had up was lowered as shock hit him, the sights and smells over whelming. Forever will the image of the slowly breathing corpse stay in his mind, the large bin of human organs and most vividly, the flesh eating creature that was soaked in blood.

The creature stood, and soon made it obvious that some sort of intellect still was kept as it started casting a spell, and other skeletons came from the darkness.

Quickly, Traubon tried to regain his compusure and realized now that death could be upon them, their bodies decorating the room on hooks soon.

"Everyone stay careful, don't let it work its evil magics on yah'!"

Traubon then moved in to fight the evil caster, hopefully keeping it occupied so no harm coud be done to his fellow adventurers.