Underfed Returns! pt5
When last we left our brave heroes, they had finally gotten a peek between the wagons to see several undead soldiers and a few living ones gambling. There are likely more, to say nothing of the pit in the center of the area, perhaps some kind of excavation?
Victor moves towards the pit, which a quick spell had indicated contained some source of magic...
GAME: Asmli rolls perception: (5)+4: 9
As silently as he can, Asmli taps the others on shoulders, hips, whatever he can reaches, and holds up a hand, a clear signal to wait. He fishes in his pack, producing from it a glass flask of a thick liquid that the others might recognize. He gestures with the flask in the direction of the axle and wheel of the nearest wagon, eyes on the others.
GAME: Victor rolls perception: (14)+7: 21
Victor looks at the flask and then at the wagon. He glances around at the other wagons and the visible guards. He's starting to turn back to Asmli, but instead of responding he tilts his head to one side and turns it, to listen more closely.
Still Asmli says nothing, but he stops, the questioning look plainly obvious.
With a bit more strain, now that Victor's caught it, you can both hear the muttering. Yes, they're inside, and yes, they're complaining about work, and about how many of them are now dead and how they never should have taken this job even if they pay was that good and they've been sitting her for *days* now.
Asmli listens more closely, face screwed up as if listening intently, then nods to Victor. Ducking as silently as he can under the wagon, he takes the flask and smashes it firmly on the wooden part of the axle, as close to where the axle meets the wheel as he can get it. The tinkle of breaking glass is shortly followed by a scrambling khazad, grinning wickedly and gesturing to the others to -run-. In the -other- direction. And is quite taking his own advice and taking himself in the direction indicated.
Victor breaks into a run and follows after. He casts alternating glances back over his shoulder to watch for the first signs of fire, and ahead to make sure he doesn't run into anything - including the Khazad.
GAME: Asmli rolls athletics: (9)+5: 14
GAME: Victor rolls athletics: (1)+9: 10 (EPIC FAIL)
Good news! The fire is set. The bottle of Alchemist's fire does its thing. As Asmli and Victor rush away, Victor unfortunately trips over something en route. It takes a moment to gather what it is. It's a hand. A hand that's reached up out of the sand and grabbed on to his leg. One rotted and skeletal in patches.
This is why your approach was so easy. Their defenses are a bit... different.
GAME: Asmli rolls weapon1: (10)+8: 18
GAME: Asmli rolls 1d8+4: (3)+4: 7
Dashing through the wagons, in a suit of plate so loud - Asmli turns and stops short, his eyes widening as he half-hears, half-sees Victor go down behind him. He turns back to help, when the nature of the problem becomes clear. Off comes the harness, out comes the urgrosh - and with a single, well-placed blow, the half-rotting hand is severed clean, picked-clean arm bones wiggling ominiously in the sand, the fingers falling away from the war golem's ankle. "Come on!" the khazad snarls through gritted teeth, as low as he can.
Victor nods in thanks. Threatened and then saved almost before he can react. He pushes himself to his feet and then glances back at the wagon before hurrying after. He adds the ground in front of his feet to the growing list of things he's dividing his attention to watch as they run.
The hand is lopped off, easily freeing Victor, but it's clear it's not the only one out here. Several mounds of sand are moving, as if triggered by its presence. They don't seme to have any idea where you are, though, so you're able to avoid them for the moment by sticking close to the wagons. A minute passes, two, and you're hearing calls of 'fire' as one of the wagons is indeed now aflame, the axel being the source.
"It's working!" Victor risks a low-pitched whisper. "What now - more fire? Set fire to all of the wagons?"
At the calls, Edinaz looks at Victor and Asmli, and points into the centre hole. He takes a moment to look for moving mounds, then starts sprinting through the minefield, trying to get to the middle pit fast.
GAME: Edinaz rolls athletics: (14)+6: 20
Asmli might have preferred to wait a few more minutes, to be sure of the full distraction, but shakes his head at Victor, taking off running after Edinaz.
GAME: Asmli rolls athletics: (12)+5: 17
GAME: Victor rolls athletics: (19)+9: 28
It's good enough at the moment. There's a lot of chaos as the living are trying to get to the wagon, helping their friends out of it and trying to figureo ut what to do.
Water is, after all, a scarce resource in the desert. They're unhooking the agon and trying to push it away from the others.
You're able to reach the hole as figures ewmerge from it, climbing up the half-spiral ramp that serves as the way into it. Undead in rags, carrying large amounts of stone on their backs.
Asmli flattens and waits for the two to go by, but casts a hurried, wide-eyed look at the fire in progress, and doesn't wait for the others. As soon as the first two have their back to them, he dashes for the entrance to the hole, harness in one hand, urgrosh in the other, gesturing the others to follow.
Edinaz grabs something from around his neck as he rushes in, with Asmli -- he doesn't need any encouragement at all.
Victor does indeed head for the ramp, and tries to go in the lead as well. He can repair himself - to a limited degree - if harmed. And he casts a further protective enchancement as he goes.
GAME: Victor casts Shield. Caster Level: 5 DC: 16
You rush down the spiral while the guards are distracted by your monkeying, soon finding yourselves proceeding into the dimly lit pit. Soft mana lights are placed at intervals along the way. Enough to see by, but not terribly well. The air begins to smell heavy with rot.
Low light is no problem at all for the underground-raised Asmli, and he looks around him eagerly, lookingg for the signs of - or directions to - their quarry. As he does so, hefishes two more flasks from his pack, just like the first.
Victor moves ahead into the pit, training his senses on ahead of them. He doesn't need to breathe but has learned to inhale occasionally to test the air for scents.
Edinaz is not fussed by the light levels, as he hustles forwards. His one sword is held low, his necklaces in the other.
SO here's the big prolbem.
AFter a long trek thorugh the desert, dodging horrible things like elementals, undead, dragons, thri-kreen and more, you are now... in a partially excavated facility of some kind. It's definitely Kulthian, given the script on the plaques over the opening doorways, but yeah... that's where you are.
In a Kulthian facility. Where the Agony Engine is, no doubt, located.
...and it's full of cHarnese soldiers and undead. You can hear the groans of the latter, and the conversations of the former.
Oh boy.