PBM: Chapter 1: Arriving in New Phlan: Part 8

In which the first PC death occurs and the party splits up...

GM

You look through the hole into an ancient residence, looking as if it has been used many times through the centuries. The frame of what was once the main exterior door hangs empty to your left and piles of trash, rubble, bones, and other debris litter the floor. Evidence of looters, both past and present, is obvious--holes gouged in the walls and floor from berks looking for secret compartments or pulling down wall-hangings, ancient paint and plaster chipped away, scratches on the floor from furniture being dragged out. One corner bears a pile of debris haphazardly heaped into a mound with a slight hollow--perhaps the bed of the lizard-thing. A half-dozen old doors, mostly indicated by empty arches with the rusting remains of hinges, lead off in every direction.

A single doorway to the east still bears an actual door, an old, heavy oaken thing, nearly petrified with age and bearing a huge, rusted lock. It is around this door that the other party huddles, watching one of the red-cloaked soldiers fiddle with the lock mechanism. Only the white-wigged priestess, standing off to one side, cradling the now withered stump of her left arm, sees you enter. She waves half-heartedly with her good hand and whistles at the others. "Hey guys, our rescuers are here..."

Gendry

Gendry ducks a little going through the hole, notices the lack of other monster corpses in the room, and waves his sword at the group picking the lock in a manner meant to be equally greeting and threat, "Good afternoon. Just so we're clear, two-thirds of anything you find in there is ours...Capisce?"

Shaddup

Shuddup follows Gendry in and watches the red cloak fiddle with the lock.

After a while he approaches the other party flaking an affable grin.  "Hi! I'm Shudrigan Nishal Aribostos McPillflup, but my friends call me Shuddup.  I was thinking perhaps I could be of some assistance. Your friend here seems a fair hand, but these old Amnish locks can be tricky. Would you care if I try my hand at it? I fear my friend here can be a trifle impatient."

GM

The ogress looks briefly back and forth between the minotaur's sword and her already beat-up companions, the nods. "Two thirds it is."

She smiles--a smile that seems oddly familiar, with her white teeth glinting against her pale-green skin, or maybe its the very large mace she is holding--and shoves the red-cloak away from the door. "One side, Vince, looks like we've got a real locksmith..." She waves Shaddup forward. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Gnome, I knew we'd be working together eventually."

Shaddup

Shuddup stares uncomprehendingly at the ogress for a moment, not putting two and two together, "I'm sorry have we met, mam?" Before really waiting for a response he turns to the lock and begins to inspect it for any unsprung traps before beginning, "Oooh it's been a while since I've seen one like this. These have a tricky half pin about midway through the set that has to come a little forward before they'll unlock. I'm not sure if that was intentional or a design flaw, but the keys would have a catch on them for it. Either way it's a fun lock." He closes one eye as he begins probing the lock and sticks out his tongue as the first pin clicks into place. "Now a dwarven thunder tumbler, that's a fine lock they have coaxial keys that rotate in opposite directions on a 2/1 gear ratio. A real bugger to pick if you've lost the key but they're a beautiful design..."

Lyra

Lyra tries very hard not to look incredibly uncomfortable with the exchange between Gendry and the ogress, and stays back near Amara keeping alert for other denizens of the ruins and scanning the area for signs of concealed entrances.

GM

Lyra's keen elven eyes are drawn, first, to the crumbling remains of the old fireplace and the heap of bricks that mark the collapsed chimney. Light shining in through a hole in the roof (or what was once the second floor) creates the tiniest of glints off of something behind a loose brick just above the old mantle. Secondly, not quite hidden, she notices a fairly recent looking smear of blood and gods-know-what-else leading around a corner to the north. At about the same time, there is an audible shrill rusty "clank" and the lock falls open.

Donovan

Donovan walks in behind the others and looks around. "Glad to see you are all doing well...mostly."

He begins walking around the outside of the room, peaking into the various side chambers while Shaddup finishes with his lock work.

Gendry

Hearing the click of the lock, Gendry stalks forward, still balancing Brother Rant on his back. "Would one of you like the honor of opening the door?" He tries to gesture genteelly towards the door with his sabre, but it looks more like a pirate thrusting his blade at someone to make them walk the plank.

Lyra

Lyra drops back near Donovan and keeps her voice quiet.  "I recognize her from the boat, or at least her intonation, coloration, and erm, mace.  A bit taller than I remember, though."  She gestures towards the blood smear.  "That blood smear is recent, but I'm not sure what from.  And there is some ... interesting brickwork by the fireplace."

Shaddup

Shuddup takes a few steps back sporting a satisfied look, "So are there any theories on what's behind here?"

GM

The other group stands quietly for a few beats, looking back and forth between each other, Shaddup, and Gendry's sword. Finally the ogress gives a nudge to the second red-cloak, the least beaten-up looking of the bunch--a plain-looking fellow, whose jaw looks square in an unnatural way, like he perpetually grinds his teeth, and who is holding a loaded longbow with a slight fluttering twitch to the string-hand, "Rahm, do the honors." He jerks a little when his name is said, shakes his head, and walks up, draws the bow tighter, nudges the door open with his foot, and aims the bow through the opening before forcing the door further with his shoulder...

As the door begins to open, Amara tugs on Donovan's sleeve, "Ummmm, that's not a good idea..." Then there is a bright red-orange flash, a faint whiff of brimstone, and Rahm is gone, vanished, bow and all.

The door opens into a vaulted chamber, lit by a pale blue glow that seems to radiate from the walls. The ceiling rises a good 30 feet above the floor. Supporting buttresses meet in the center, as in a cathedral's dome. Alchemical equipment lines the far walls, while beakers, vials, chalk, a couple of large books, and a locked metal coffer litter a table close to the center of the room. Dust covers nearly everything from floor to ceiling.

Between the table and the door, a magical circle is inscribed into the floor in solid gold plating. The circle seems completely free of the dust that has gathered everywhere else in the room, though some of the traceries of the diagram outside the golden circle are not as immune to the steady accumulation of the years. The traceries form a much larger circle which runs all the way under the table and up to the threshold of the door.

Donovan

Donovan replies to Lyra, "Yes, I suspect that the ogress is Miss Rietta. She was actively trying to recruit Shaddup for her team before you arrived on Valkur's Wake. A simple polymorph would do the trick, but that would imply access to some rather powerful magic." He barely registers Amara's tug, but then his eyes widen as the man vanishes. He looks down at the girl, "How did you know..."

Then, turning his attention back to the others, he takes a few steps forward and tries to take control before the other party decides to blame Gendry for Rahm's disappearance. "Those symbols on the floor look like a summoning circle. Not a trap. Perhaps a gate or portal." He looks past the crowd into the room. "Maybe those books could tell us more...if we could get to them."

"Shaddup, do you think there is any way to rig up some kind of bridge? Or perhaps we can get a rope attached to those buttresses and swing across to the table."

Lyra

Lyra also steps forward, keeping Donovan and Amara nearby.  "It appears to be a one-way portal, likely with a specific destination.  The corners of the room, and, say, the table, should be safe.  I think the rope is too risky."  She looks like she's about to say something else, but stops.

"Miss Rietta, isn't it?  I think we should check out what's hidden in the fireplace first, and then see if there is a better way across."

Gendry

"Fireplace, huh?" Gendry looks at the crumbling brickwork, briefly ponders knocking the chimney the rest of the way down with his horns, just to see if he can, then decides against it in case the loot is breakable. He sheathes his sword, pulls out the shortsword he took off an orc, and starts prying loose bricks free from the mantle.

Lyra

With everyone adequately distracted by the fireplace, Lyra whispers to Donovan "Are you truly set on acquiring what is in that room?  If you can get everyone out of here, either after whatever crawled off that way, or taking care of our dead lizard thing before some opportunists do, there may be something I can do to help.  But I don't do it with an audience."

GM

Gendry priest the bricks away to reveal a much older looking stone wall with a small cubby, lined with the moldering scraps of some ancient velvet lining, and containing three ceramic pint jars marked with the holy symbol of Ilmater, the Crying God, two tiny glass vials filled with what looks like a brown powder, and a small, hinged wooden box, maybe two-inches on a side.

Gendry

Gendry sheathes the shortsword and begins pulling the items out. "Alright, you agreed to two-thirds." He takes one of the jars and one of the vials ans hands them to the ogress. He then scoops up the rest and hands them to Lyra. "Take care of these, we can figure out what they are later."

GM

As Gendry take the box out of the hole, it crumbles to dust in his hand, revealing a single pearl of deep golden colour. He [amazingly] palms the thing and passes it into Lyra's hands without it been seen by anyone save the two of them.

Rietta takes the proffered flasks and nods. "Easy math then. Now, about getting into the other room?"

The other elven woman, who appears to be completely devoid of weapons or armor, looks from the door to the table. "The ceiling's high enough...with a bit of a run I could jump it."

Lyra

Lyra places the objects in her belt pouch discreetly.  "If it requires a running start, what about getting back?"

GM

"The tables a bit higher, so I should be able to make it back." She pauses in thought for a moment, then looks at Gendry and Rietta, "I might need some to catch..."

Gendry

Gendry sets down Brother Rant, brushes the dust from the crumbled box off his hand, "You're free to try the jump, and I'll try to catch you on the way back, but I won't be held responsible if you miss." He then looks at the ground and sniffs. "This bloods relatively fresh though, we might want to check it out before anyone tries jumping over an active gate."

He draws his sabre and follows the blood trail into the other room.

GM

Sawdust fills a metal bed frame without a’ mattress which sits at the far side of this rank-smelling room. Inside the frame lies a corpse, which has been there for some months; the bed that had dominated this room is now squirming with vermin scouring the bones. Other bones, clearly gnawed upon and many gouged and burned by acid litter the floor. The smear of viscera leads to a large closet on the south end of the room.

As Gendry enters, his nostrils flare as his excellent olfactory senses recoils from the smell of blood and offal. He sees something crouching in the closet, mostly hidden save for a large, fleshy knob--like the shoulder or knee of someone extremely obese. The thing moves slightly, as if breathing. A large, gaping wound can be seen on the exposed surface, seeping blood and crawling with maggots.

Donovan

Donovan nods and whispers, "Alright Lyra," then pulls out his hurdy gurdy and follows Gendry into the other room, "Your right Gen," he says much more loudly, "let's check it out..."

"Come on everyone, we night some fightin' music!" He begins playing, loudly, slowly, and as annoyingly as possible...

Born high forever to fly
Wind velocity nil
Wanna high forever to fly
If you want your cup our fill
They call me mellow yellow...

Lyra

Lyra cringes, regretting not also telling Donovan that she needed to be able to concentrate.  But a distraction is a distraction.

GM

Similarly cringing, Rietta and her companions follow Donovan and Gendry into the other room, all save the one-armed priestess of Beshaba who at this point seems to be in something of an ecstatic state, contemplating her misfortune.

As the drone of Donovan's music builds up, there is a sudden lurch from the closet and a pair of grotesque, disfigured blobs of flesh stagger out towards you, their twisted, melted faces molded into expressions of horrid anguish. They move forward with crude claw-like appendages extended, leaving a trail of blood and viscera from numerous large bite-wounds covering their forms--wounds which appear to be closing as you watch.

Gendry

"Well that's just gross," Gendry remarks. "Looks like Mr. Lizard had a self-replicating food source. Also looks like acid clearly won't do the trick. Any ideas? Fire?"

He steps in front of the others and strikes an en garde.

Donovan

Donovan keeps singing, and just shakes his head when Gendry glances back, as if to say 'I have no idea'.

GM

Rietta steps up beside Gendry, mace in one hand, her left hand flipping an electrum coin. "I don't know what they are, but we have them outnumbered five to one. Even trolls stop clawing if you hit them enough." She flips the coin one more time and begins chanting something under her breath.

Another of her companions, a half-elven man with dark hair, a creepy stair, and dark robes that smell like he's been swimming in piss speaks up, in a dispassionate monotone, "They're lemures. Tortured souls used as battle fodder in the legions of Hell." He wanders nonchalantly over to the bedframe and looks down at the corpse within. "You'll want to douse them with holy water..." He pours a vial of foul-smelling water and throws a handful of dirt over the corpse. "Maybe this guy can help..."

Teldicia, the other elven woman, peaks her head in and looks at the things. "Not much I can do to help you guys, other than to say, if it is devils we're dealing with. Acid and electricity will hurt them just fine, silver works good, fire is useless. Of course, they heal so bloody fast that those are just temporary solutions at best." She then skips back to the other door. "You guys keep them busy, I'm gonna jump for the loot. Then maybe we can get the hell out of here..."

The white-haired priestess slumps down to sit beside Rant, giving him a wan smile. She pulls a jar of leeches out of her pack and begins applying them to the withered stump of her arm.

Teldicia, runs for the open door to the portal chamber and leaps, springing a good ten-feet into the air and easily clearing the gap to the table. At the same time, the air above the table shimmers. Just as she is about to land, she passes through the wavering field above the table and vanishes, tumbling out onto the ground right in front of Lyra, who now appears to be holding the two books from the table.

The two fleshy blobs surge forward, more undulating than walking. The first reaches out, its snake-like appendage writhing and twisting around Gendry's defenses, latching a claw onto his forearm.

The red-cloak draws a sword and walks up behind Gendry and Rietta, "Vinny's got your back, Hornhead." He then proceeds to jam the sword into Gendry's back, as promised. "Also...Fuck you and your two-thirds."

Rietta flips the coin one more time and says something under her breath. The coin vanishes with a flash and the air between her and Gendry is suddenly filled with little, floating, pink hearts that appear instantly and pop out of existence just as suddenly like little balloons.

Gendry

Gendry drops his sword and collapses to the ground, clutching his side where the sword went clean through and glaring at Vinny. "The Shadowlord smiles on you Vinny, but your timing sucks..." He looks meaningfully at the glassy-eyed ogress.

Donovan

Seeing Gendry go down to such base treachery, Donovan drops his instrument, pulls the scroll of staves from out of his pocket, grabs a splinter of wood off the ground, and begins casting Decastave.

Lyra

Lyra immediately ceases concentration.  "Are you all right, Miss?  Mr. Shaddup, could you please have a look at this?"  She walks over and passes off a small locked chest to Shaddup.

GM

Teldicia looks up, slightly confused by her sudden relocation. "I'm fine...looks like there is more than one portal protecting that stuff...must be good." She stands, brushes herself off, never once looking at Lyra, then notices the commotion from the other room. "Shit Vinny! Rietta I told you hiring the pervs was a bad idea!" She turns and looks at Lyra, Shaddup, and the priests. "Any of you got holy water? It seems like all the fighters are too busy duking it out amongst themselves to worry about the infernal blobs..."

She pauses and looks at the chest Lyra is holding, then back into the portal room. "Well fuck me. Figured out that other portal huh? How 'bout you, me, and the gnome make a run for it?"

Lyra

"Holy water!  Of course!  Miss Rietta has one jar, I have the other two.  Or we could try to lure them into the portal room and send them back to presumably where they came from."

GM

Reacting to Vinny's treachery quickly, Donovan summons forth a ten-foot long staff of glowing, blue force and takes a mighty swing at the back of Vinny's head. Distracted both by his success, and the enraged ogress, Vinny doesn't even see the blow coming until it connects with the back of his neck with a loud, sickening crack. He slumps to the ground, instantly dead. Donovan, meanwhile, feels a sudden surge of vigor as Vinny's lifeforce is sucked through the staff into him.

With Gendry slumped on the floor, the two lemures swing wildly at the next nearest target, Rietta. One manages to catch her across the back, though its soft claws barely break the skin.

Rietta growls and also swings at Vince, just a second too slow. Her huge mace whistling over his head as he falls, spinning her in almost a complete circle and, miraculously, lands a glancing blow on one of the blob-things attacking her, sending a spray of molten flesh against the wall.

Hearing the sounds of combat and talk of treachery from the other room, Brother Rant pulls himself up the wall and hobbles to the the door to see what's going on. The one-armed priestess, hearing the same, mumbles "Screw this..." and runs out of the building.

Donovan

Donovan steps up and swings at one of the lemures. "Lyra, get that holy water in here!"

Lyra

Lyra rushes over to the doorway and carefully removes the two jars of holy water from her belt pouch.

Gendry

Gendry lies on the ground muttering, "I'm not dead yet...I'm not dead yet...I'm getting better...I feel fine...I think I'll go for a walk..."

GM

Still amazingly quick, Donovan slams the staff of force down hard on the top of one of the lemures, its head collapsing inward like a fallen cake with a spray of yellow-brown gore. It swings back at Donovan, but flails ineffectually, unable to compete with the reach of his staff.

Lyra runs into the room, holy water in hand, at the same time as the second blob-like creatures throws itself down and forward, a mouthlike orifice opening to bite at Gendry's prone form. Teeth, or other sharp bone-like protrusions, emerge fish-like from the soup of its waxy body, grinding into Gendry's flesh.

Rietta fumbles with her pouch for a second, coming up with the other flask of holy water. She pops the cork and spikes the flask, full force, into the back of the lemure lying on Gendry. The sanctified liquid splashes all around, fizzing like peroxide against the unwholesome flesh of the two creatures...

...within moments the two creatures bubble away into nothing but wisps of thin, yellowish fog.

At which point, you hear a triumphant shout from the corner of the room, and the robed man shouts "Sick 'em!" He spins around, pointing at where the lemures were, the skeleton, now animate, rising behind him. When he sees them vanish, he drops his finger and sighs in a completely crestfallen way.

From the other room, you hear a sharp "click", as Shaddup opens the small chest Lyra had given him. Within is a small fortune in coins; a shortsword with a rather dull-looking edge; a pair of gleaming copper bracers engraved with a lightningbolt motiff; an 18 inch long, 2 inch thick, silver rod with an end-cap shaped like an open hand, the fingers pressed together; and a small, stoppered flask of opaque blue-white glass.

Gendry

As the yellow blob's teeth grind away at Gendry, he gives a brief anguished cry, and breathes his last.

GM

Brother Rant crawls over beside Gendry and checks his pulse. Rietta falls down weeping over Gendry's body, blubbering such nonsense as "Oh! My love! Please don't die!...blah blah blah"

Donovan

Donovan looks around in shock as Brother Rant checks Gendry's pulse and pronounces him dead. He surveys the scene, taking in the wailing ogress, the depressed necromancer, and his friends, before his eyes settle on the gleaming pile of treasure that Shaddup has just unveiled. He walks over and looks at the items lying atop the coins, examining the markings and inscriptions and touching each of them briefly before shrugging. "If there is anything useful, I have no idea what it is." He looks at them one last time, "If we've got an hour I can properly identify one of them."

He walks over and kneels down beside Brother Rant and the ogress. "Brother, it appears you are relieved of your obligation to our horn-headed friend. However," he gestures towards Amara, "there is the matter of this young girl that was his charge. Gendry had sworn to protect her on her journey to visit her ailing grandmother in Melvaunt. If you wish to justly discharge your debt, protecting this innocent seems like the proper way..."

Lyra

Lyra puts the jars back in her belt pouch, lip quivering and holding back tears.  "There's nothing you - or your brothers - can do?"  She looks at the ogress and the stinky necromancer.  "Your priestess ran off.  She looked like she was feeling a bit too blessed by her Lady."

"If we speak with Mother, I might be able to arrange getting Amara to her grandmother quickly and safely.  However, Gendry also has, or rather had...."  Lyra looks like she's about to start bawling any minute as she corrects herself.   "...another obligation to Professor Aumry to fulfill."

GM

Brother Rant sits up, still wincing, and looks at Lyra. "I'm sorry, miss. There is nothing we can do. His spirit has passed on to be with his god. The Bishop might be able to call him back, but is unlikely to do so for a Maskarran, even if I intervened, assuming that his lord would release his spirit into the charge of our order, which is highly unlikely." He looks back at the corpse and grimaces. "He would probably want to be interred in the manner of his faith, which, morbid as this may sound, means that you should loot his body of all his possessions, making sure to take every last scrap, and then bury him in a shallow, unmarked grave..."

Brother Rant then addresses Donovan, "Mr. Donovan, I would be happy to take charge of the girl and see her safely to her grandmother." He stands, somehow looking instantly more sturdy, and bows, only a little shakily. "I swear, in Tyr's name, to see her safely to her destination."

Rietta continues to weep and wail over Gendry's body, odd, given that they only knew each other for a few minutes. The green-haired elven woman walks in, straitening her dress a bit, "Ry, the theatrics are very nice and all, but I forgot to bring the black veils." She looks at Lyra and smiles, sending a chill up Lyra's spine, "So Beryl ran off, Vinny got his head smashed in, and Rahm went to hell, literally. Our little group is not having the best day, and you've lost your muscle too it appears." Her eyes linger on the books Lyra is carrying. "I'm Teldicia. Care to team up? Six have a better chance of survival than two threes, and I'm sure Sur and Ry would rather be receiving a fifth each of that treasure, rather than a third of a third."

The moist-robed gentleman walks over to where the girls are talking, the skeleton trailing along, and looks down at Gendry and Vinny's corpses. "Can I have them?" he asks matter-of-factly.

"Right," Teldicia interjects, "so, he wants the bodies and Ry will want a full share of the loot. I'll cut myself out of any arguments over magic items we find, but would like a share of the funds to cover my studies."

Lyra

Lyra picks up the silver sword where it had fallen next to Gendry, and then kneels next to his body.  Her shoulders shaking and tears streaming down her face, she quickly and efficiently strips him down to just his blood soaked clothes.  Her face bright red, she turns to Brother Rand.  "When you say loot everything, you mean ... everything everything?"

GM

Brother Rant also blushes, "Ummm, yes. Maskarran morticians are more properly known as rag-pickers. The more devout ones will even shave the deceased hair to be sold as wigs and pluck out their teeth to be sold for...I don't want to speculate what. I think that, as long as you get everything that you believe would be of value, then that will be sufficient." He pauses, looking slightly disgusted even to be discussing the topic, "If it will make you feel less like a grave-robber, you might try to think of it as collecting mementos to remember him by."

Donovan

"Oh!" Donovan interjects, "Horns can be used to make drinking horns and instruments, as decorations, and in constructing high-quality composite bows. Minotaur horn is also ground up and used as an aphrodesiac in some of the less reputable potion-shops. Ox-tails make great stews and broths...I bet more exotic eateries would pay well for a minotaur tail. We could probably sell his testicles too..." He makes a faux-evil grin, but tears are visible in his eyes as he speculates. "You know, getting a nice bow made from Gendry's horns might be a nice way to memorialize him."

Lyra

"I'm sure he would've done the same for us."

Shaddup

Shuddup looks up from the lock box appearing not to have noticed the brief but devastating altercation, notices Gendry on the ground and assesses the situation. His bottom lip starts to quiver, "if you want a bow I'll see what I can do."

GM

As everyone stands around discussing what to do with Gendry's earthly remains, Rietta's head snaps up. Her face is soaked with tears and her eyes are flaming red, with grief or rage it is hard to say. "WHAT!" she cries. Rage, you think, definitely rage. "That's my love you're talking about butchering!" Her gaze falls on Lyra and the sword she is holding. "And what are you doing with that, you bitch?! It's mine by right as his next of kin! Or...had h-h-he not died s-s-s-sooo sudd-d-d-enly, I would have beeeen his next of ki-i-iiiiiiiin..." The last sentence is barely understandable as she breaks down sobbing again, but stands and readies her mace as she does so. She holds out a hand to Lyra. "Give it back!"

Teldicia takes a step back, looking perplexed. "What got into her?" she asks no one in particular.

Lyra

Lyra stands back up, sword and scabbard in hand.  She speaks softly, with nothing but compassion in her voice.  "I am truly sorry for your loss."  She hands her the sword and scabbard.  "He meant much to everyone, and they merely wish to honor his service to his god."

She also hands the scrollcase to Brother Rant and whispers.  "I believe these were originally yours, sir."

Donovan

Donovan lowers his glowing staff, but keeps it in hand, "Madam Rietta, please cease this unseemly blubbering. Master Gendry was certainly a charmer, but you knew him less than a day, such weeping and wailing is unbecoming a woman of your...stature." He rubs his eyes and puts on a sterner look. "As to your rights to his belongings, you are no more next of kin to him than we. I saw no clasping of hands, no signing of contracts, no exchange of rings or vows. He did not so much as cast an adoring glance your way. Per your agreement with him, you could be said to be entitled to a third of what we take from him, but no more Madam. Now please, set down the weapon and get a grip on yourself!"

Lyra

"Mr. Donvan!  She's clearly heartbroken.  Clearly you don't believe in love at first sight."  Lyra steps away from the ogress, not quite hiding behind Brother Rant.

GM

Brother Rant takes the scrolls and tucks them into a sleeve, "Thank you, I should have known that is where they'd be." As the ogress rises, weapon at the ready, he takes a step backwards. "My apologies, Miss Lyra," he says to her in low tones, "but I am not in no condition to aid you further at the moment. The gates are not far. I believe I shall take the girl Amara with me back to the temple and leave you all to your grieving. I shall meet you at the gates tomorrow morning to escort the girl to Melvaunt." He bows politely, keeping a wary eye on Donovan and Rietta, and backs out the door into the other room.

Lyra

"You shouldn't be walking with those wounds, and even short distances in this town seem to be dangerous.  Please, allow me to escort you."  Lyra follows Brother Rant around the corner.  "We'll be at the temple, you can pick up your shares there."

GM

Rietta releases one shaky hand from the mace and accepts the sword from Lyra. As Lyra and Brother Rant vanish around the corner, literally, Shaddup peeks back into the other room and there is no sign of them, or Amara, she drops the mace on the ground and draws Gendry's sabre from the scabbard, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "What were you saying little man?!" she croaks out between sobs.

Teldicia leans in towards Donovan and whispers, "You probably don't want to make her mad...she looks a little off her rocker...even more than usual." She looks over and makes eye contact with the robed guy, makes a subtle gesture, then turns back to Rietta, "He's right Ry. I don't know what got into you, but you shouldn't waste your tears on that horny joker, or Vinny, or Rahm, or anyone else for that matter. Lighten up..." The soggy guy and his skeleton begin to slide around behind the ogress, the man pulling a short-handled scythe, or maybe a long sickle, from under his robes. "...Would your masters really approve of this behavior? You're on a mission remember. If you're going to get all blubbery over the death of every swordsman who steps in to help us, how are you going to conquer this tow..."

Donovan

Donovan watches Lyra and Brother Rant leave and does some quick mental math. Three to two, four if you count the skeleton, did not seem like good odds to him. Of course, Teldicia and swamp-boy and his skeleton look like they might be gearing up to deal with the ogress, which makes it either five on one, or two, and a skeleton, on two, which is somewhat better. And what is this talk of conquering the town? Maybe if...

"You should listed to your friend, Rietta." he speaks up.  "Teldicia's right, the people of Phlan would never accept a sniveling woman who goes to pieces over every man who falls at her feet as their ruler. Man up and lets discuss your great plans for this city.." Then, looking as shocked as possible, he shouts, "Look! Behind you! More treachery!"

When she, presumably, turns away, he gesticulates wildly at the door, encouraging Shaddup to close the box of gold and run for it.

PBM: Chapter 1: Arriving in New Phlan: Part 7

Making a TODO List

GM

You all walk the last two blocks to the barely-standing tower. It looks as though significant work has been done--the braces and scaffolding that are in place hold it roughly upright, and you can see several areas where new stone and mortar have reinforced the old--but it is weeks away from being stable, let alone habitable. Possibly months given how lazy the many workers and guards appear to be. Nearly a hundred workers stand around. By the looks of them, most have been recruited from the Slums locals, with even a few orcs and goblins in the mix. Most of them are just standing around, making no attempt to look productive. Some even appear to be napping. A few lazily shuffle bricks around or hammer nails into the scaffolding, but make little progress.

As you approach, you see one man--presumably the foreman judging from the schematics he is holding--jump up from where he had been lounging in a folding wooden chair. The man has long black mustachios, close-cropped hair, and is wearing a set of well-made banded male with a stylized yellow "Z" emblazoned on it. "You, Stop!" he says, drawing a broadsword and looking at the minotaur carrying a bloody, half-dead body. "Not a step closer..." A few workers turn dispassionately to look as he yells, and a small handful, maybe seven or eight, guards stand up and reach for spears, swords, and cudgels.

Gendry

Gendry stops just behind the gnome, and mutters under his breath to Donovan and Lyra. "Any idea what the Z is for?" He stands still, keeping his hands on the body, and thus visibly well away from his weapons. "Hey now, no need for the pointies. We're just here to see your boss..."

Lyra

Lyra steps forward, also indicating that she is unarmed.  "Is this the tower of Professor Aumry of Umber?  We are escorting his niece, Amara, at his request."

GM

The mustachioed man glares at you. "Master Aumry is not here, and even if he was, I don't know why he'd want his niece coming out to this place..." He pauses for a moment, as if considering before asking the obvious question. "What are you doing with that body?

Lyra

Lyra continues, despite his obvious skepticism.  "'He's a priest of Tyr, and we're in the middle of saving him from a small group of orcs, probably Xvim's followers. We managed to get him stabilized, but need to get him somewhere safer than the middle of the street.  And we were headed here to speak with Professor Aumry about the Melvaunt job anyway.  Do you know when he'll be back?  He told us to meet him here."

GM

The foreman's eyes go wide and he spins on his heel sharply, "BOSS IS COMING!" he shouts. The workers immediately animate and begin looking very busy. The foreman then turns back to you. "A Tyrran huh? You're better off just turning around and putting him right back where you found him. Xvim doesn't much like his kind, nor those who help them."

Donovan

Donovan speaks up, "I believe our good fellow here is correct, we should take the monk somewhere else." Then, under his breath to Gendry, "That 'Z' means Mr. foreman here is a Zhent, and apparently proud of it, and thus, most likely a Xvimlar himself..." He begins backing away.

Gendry

Gendry looks down at Amara, "Looks like your uncle isn't here yet." He looks back up the street. "Perhaps we can kill some time at the livery over there while we wait..."

GM

As you turn to head towards the livery, there is a loud popping sound, and Aumry appears next to the foreman. "Good afternoon, Captain. Have you made any progress today?" He looks disapprovingly around at the many laborers busily acting like they were busy, and makes a tsking sound. He turns directly towards the tower, makes several large sweeping gestures, and begins chanting:

Eruimus effodientes effodientes effodientes effodientes 
effodientes muniunt nostri per totum diem meum
Fodere effodientes effodientes effodientes effodientes 
effodientes effodientes est quod vere amo efficio
Nullum dolum est non ad divites vivos
Si fodiat rutrum vel cum foderit effodientes pick
In mea! In mea! In mea! In mea!
Ubi lucere diamonds million!

Eruimus effodientes effodientes effodientes effodientes 
effodientes effodientes a mane usque ad vesperam?
Eruimus effodientes effodientes effodientes effodientes 
effodientes effodere omnia in conspéctu
Eruimus ex adamantibus score
Mille carbunculorum interdum
Quam eruimus sed quia non potuimus propter
Eruimus effodientes foderunt-effodientes effodientes!

The entire leeward side of the tower rises a foot, jacking the tower slightly closer to a plumb vertical, and the cracked and crumbling stones around the base fuse and smooth over.

"There, I've made my contribution for the day. Was that so hard, Captain?"

Donovan

Donovan pivots on his heel and walks back. "Professor Aumry, we were just about to walk over to the livery next door to ask about renting a wagon and team to haul your component shipment. Would you care to accompany us so we can finish our business?" As they walk away from the tower he continues to speak. "I believe your foreman is failing to drive your workers sufficiently. When we arrived they, all of them, foreman included, were lying down on the job. Perhaps a problem with hiring Zhents. If you would like to replace him, I can recommend a number of competent local contractors..."

Gendry

Gendry nods his appreciation at the high-speed construction, then resumes walking when Aumry joins them. "It seems to me like you don't even need all those workers, Mr. Aumry. A couple of those spells a day and you'd be done, right?"

"Also, I think Shaddup here would like to offer his services installing some security measures in your new tower..."

GM

Aumry walks along beside you with a strange, wobbling gait, as if unused to moving under his own power, much like that of a sailor or someone who spends too much time in the saddle. "You are correct in your assessment, Mr. Minotaur, if my teaching duties were not as demanding of my resources, I could, indeed complete the tower largely on my. Unfortunately, I cannot always spare those couple of spells. Still, I do not expect much of the workers. I largely pay them just for show, to discourage less reputable vagrants or gangs from re-occupying the premises."

When you reach the livery he stops. "I have already arranged for your transport, Mr. Donovan. It will be ready and waiting for you here in the morning." He reaches into the folds of his robe and pulls out five small pouches, handing one to each of you. Then a pair of scroll cases, which he hands to Donovan. "Half in advance, as promised..."

Donovan

Donovan accepts his pouch and the scroll cases and immediately opens them up, "I hope you won't be offended if I count it here..."

He casts _read magic_ and continues to converse as he examines the scrolls, "Do you have any recent news about the condition of the road between here and Melvaunt, Professor?"

Lyra

Lyra accepts her pouch.  "The wagon teams might know as well, Mr. Donovan."

Donovan

Donovan cocks an eyebrow at Lyra, "Can you talk to horses and oxen?!"

Donovan reads off the list of spells to Lyra and Amara. "The first scroll has a wax seal that looks like an octopus and bears three spells: Adhesion, Hand of Tentacles, and Protection from Amorphs. The second scroll is also sealed in wax, the seal looking like a pair of crossed sticks, and also has three spells: Divining Rod, Decastave, and Staffspell. Would either of you like one of these?"

Lyra

Lyra thinks before she responds for far longer than the question would seem to warrant.  "No, probably not."

Amara

Amara looks at the scrolls blankly.  "Those look funny."  She whispers to her cat, who fades out slowly and then fades back in, like a slow motion flicker.  Amara hums a little ditty, and her eyes glow.  She looks over the first scroll and exclaims, "Eewy!"  She looks over the second and and says, "Boring...."  Then she holds up the first scroll, "I like this one better."

GM

"There are only the usual stories--kobold tribes getting uppity, lizard men raids, bandits. Nothing that the good men out at Iniarv's Tower can't keep a handle on." Aumry waves to the man tending the horses at the stable. When the man walks over, he continues. "Ernst, these are the men who will be picking up the wagon in the morning. Miss Lyra, if you need to hire a teamster to handle the wagon, talk to Ernst, he can direct you to appropriate parties, though any additional hires will be your responsibility. Good afternoon. I look forward to your successful return, but now I must return to my classes." He pivots on his heel and vanishes with another loud popping sound.

Lyra

Lyra stares into the empty space that Professor Aumry previously occupied, fingers splayed to try and feel the rush of air filling the previously occupied space.  Lyra looks resentfully over at the wagons.  "Getting one of those through a swamp is going to be slow going."

Donovan

"There is a paved road between here and Melvaunt. Better than the one we're on actually. We won't be able to wander much, but we should be fine going through the swamp as long as we stick to the road..." Donovan pauses in thought. "Of course, that means any raiders will know exactly where to look for us."

He looks back and forth between Ernst, and the rest of the party. "Professor Aumry made a good point. Do any of you know how to drive?"

Gendry

Gendry shakes his head. "I may look like a draft animal, but I don't know a thing about them. What about you, gnome, know anything about steering a prairie-schooner?"

GM

Ernst speaks up. "Pleased to meet you folks. Aumry has arranged for some pretty nice transportation for you guys--an eighteen-foot covered wagon, extra-wide wheels for muddy terrain, water-tight keel for stream crossings, and a pair of oxen, single-beam head-yoked for better downhill breaking." He sticks out his hand, as if expected a shake. "It shouldn't be too hard to manage, even for inexperienced drivers, but if you do want a good teamster, I'd suggest talking to Jack. Funny looking fellow, even by Slums standards, but," he looks hard at Gendry, "it don't seem like you guys have a problem with that. He'll do pretty much anything you ask him to and works cheap."

Gendry

"Ok, it sounds like most of the travel arrangements are dealt with, and we've got 10 platinum each and like sixteen hours to kill." Gendry snorts, then looks a bit embarrassed. "Our todo list right now includes; (a) Go buy some candles for Amara's grandmother, (b) find this Jack guy and see if he'll drive our wagon for us, (c) meet the sailor-dwarf at the Bitter Blade for a pint before calling it a night, and (d) drink several pints. So, what shall we do first?"

Amara

"Yes, yes, let's go shopping!"

Donovan

"Ernst, where can we find this Jack fellow?"

GM

"Jack has a small shop right by the old Rope Guild. It's about a block from the wall and about midway between the gates. Walk back down the road, hang a right at the old washer-woman's place, then go about two blocks. You might want to make sure you go during daylight hours though, as that street is Dogripper territory." Ernst looks around furtively, then adds. "Or you can go around back of the Livery and ask Huafk for a pass, but those aren't always cheap."

Lyra

"It sounds like we'd better head over there soon, then.  It sounds like a dangerous route.  Mr. Donovan, where would the best place be to buy provisions, weapons, clothes?"

Gendry

"OH!" Gendry realizes that he still has the near-corpse of the monk slung over his shoulder. He carefully sets the man down and casts _cure light wounds_ on him. "Sorry guys, I almost forgot we had this joker to deal with..."

GM

The monk coughs suddenly and opens his eyes. He then lets out a ear-piercing scream when he seems a minotaur looming over him.

Lyra

Lyra kneels down next to the monk.  "Sir, please calm down.  You've been injured by a group of orcs.  This gentleman has not only carried you to safety, but mended some of your wounds."

Donovan

Donovan quickly addresses Lyra's questions. "We can get provisions either from Jerome of Melvaunt here in the Slums or Cockburn's Grocery in the civilized section. For weapons the best quality are from Matteo's on the far side of the Slums Market, but he usually only does custom orders, so we're more likely to find what we need at 'Petroff's Fine Swords' next to the temple of Sune inside the wall. There weren't a lot of decent tailors in town last time I was here. Jerome's and Cockburn's usually carry basic clothing, or we might ask around either of the markets to see if someone new has set up shop as a clothiers."

Donovan then kneels down by the monk and tries to calm him. "It's okay, the minotaur is not going to hurt you. Master Gendry here just healed you, in fact. You were set upon by a group of gray-skinned orcs. We found you unconscious and bleeding. The orcs were dispatched and we brought you here to heal you." He gives his best, friendly, fatherly smile, and lays a hand on the man's shoulder. "Please calm down. You are in no danger now. Can you tell us what happened?"

Gendry

Gendry moves back, avoiding rising to his full height, and quickly turns his head to slip off his eye-mask, stuffing it back into his pouch. "I'm sorry sir, I know my appearance can be frightening..." He turns his back and walks over to see what Amara and Shaddup have gotten themselves up to, leaving further discussion to the bards.

GM

The man stops screaming and looks around at you all, his hands moving to confirm that he is whole and his gaze lingering overly long on Lyra. He takes a few deep breaths then tries to sit up, holding his grimacing noticeably--conscious and no longer bleeding, but clearly far from fully healed. "Um, thanks. Sorry for the screaming. I am in your debt, Master Gendry."

He takes a few more deep breaths before continuing. "I hope you weren't too harsh in your reprisal against the orcs. They were infected with ontontis, orcish leprosy. I volunteer at the soup kitchen by the market and they recognized me. They asked me to cure them and became rather emotional when I explained that removing a disease such as theirs was beyond my abili..." He falls into a coughing fit and clutches at his side harder. He coughs for over a minute, and wipes a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "They must have hit an organ. I should have listened when Brother Francis insisted that I should always wear armor when outside the gates." He coughs again. "I recant my previous statement. If you killed them, justice was served, and they are likely glad to be free of their suffering."

He groans and lays back down. "You have already done much, but if you could do me one more favor, I will forever be in your debt. Might I ask your assistance in getting back to the temple in New Phlan? My brothers there should be able to tend to my other injuries."

Donovan

"We have a little girl who is very anxious to go buy a gift for her dying grandmother, and we need to hire a teamster for a trip we are making early in the morning, but given your state, I think we can take the time to get you to your temple." Donovan looks around at the others. "Agreed?"

"Amara," he lays a hand on her shoulder, "I'm afraid our shopping trip will have to wait."

"Gendry, can you carry him further? Or should we find something to use as a stretcher?"

Gendry

Gendry wanders back over. "Yes Donovan, I can carry him to the temple."

He kneel down. "What is your name sir?"

GM

The man looks Gendry in the eye, still looking a bit frightened. "I am Brother Rant Harmell of Tyr, Mr. Gendry, and you have my thanks."

Gendry

Gendry picks the man up and grins rather evilly. "Well, Brother Rant, I've heard much from you Tyrrans about honesty and repaying debts over the years, so I trust one of your order to fulfill a life-debt. I am Gendry FitzTeldar, son of Teldar the Pirate King, and under the watchful eye of the Lord of Intrigue, I expect to be repaid."

Gendry waves the others on. "I'll make sure the law-man makes it safely to his temple. You all go on ahead and get your shopping done. I'll meet you at the Bitter Blade at sundown."

GM

The man's face goes white and he struggles weakly as Gendry picks him up. "I've heard tell that a Maskaran can turn even the best of intentions to their advantage. I guess this is my second lesson for today." He continues as they walk away. "I would rather die than aid a criminal, but I am alive...thanks to a pirate. I will repay my debt, Mr. Gendry, but I will not violate my oath to Tyr to do so. A life is worth a life, so I must protect yours, but I cannot vouchsafe your continued freedom."

Gendry

Gendry walks towards the gates. "I'm sure you aid criminals every day at that soup kitchen of yours, Brother Rant. The poor and destitute always turn to the Shadowlord. While you might offer a meal, we offer them a way to better their situation in life. By the Shadowlord's grace, even the lowliest guttersnipe can live like a king." Gendry snorts. "You don't need to turn me in for anything, Brother. For now, at least, I am here to help this city of yours. A surprisingly enlightened city, I must say. The Council of Phlan has not only overlooked my appearance, but has given me amnesty for all of my past misdeeds. So, I have no intention of 'corrupting' you or making you break any of your vows, but my friends and I do need all the help we can get...and you should consider yourself drafted."

Donovan

Donovan watches Gendry walk off taunting the priest, then realizes, "Gendry wait! We're going the same way."

He turns and bows, "Thank you Ernst. We'll be by in the morning."

"Come on, Lyra, Shaddup, Amara. That Jack fellow is supposed to live in that direction. No need to split up the group quite yet." He runs after the minotaur.

Lyra

Lyra follows after them.  "Mr. Donovan, you also have the charter, if Mr. Gendry needs to get past the gates."

GM

Rant stares long and hard at Gendry, looking almost dumbstruck. "You are not at all what I would have expected, Mr. Gendry. You are correct, there is more to Tyr's justice than just upholding the law, and for now justice demands that I repay my debt to you and your friends." He stops for breath as Donovan and the others catch up. "As soon as I am able, if you wish it, I will accompany you on your adventures, or provide whatever other aid is appropriate."

You pick your way through the rubble and refuse and are not more than two blocks away from the stables when you hear crashing and clanging noises ahead. You then hear a deep, yet feminine, voice shouting, "Lípa úp orm! Horpa pyrur andann hunnar! Hlaupa! Hlaupa fyrur lípu pínu!"

Donovan

Donovan shakes his head. "Any chance you are a linguist, Brother?" Then draws his knife. "I'm fresh out of sleep spells, so lets hope that whatever it is is friendly, or at least that there aren't that many of them..."

Lyra

Lyra cocks her head, listening.  "Something like ... "Hark up worm! Harp <something> breath knob! Run! Run agile floor has a bit!".  Ok, so I'm definitely not a linguist, but that doesn't sound especially friendly to me."

Gendry

Gendry turns and smiles at Lyra, "You're translations are always fun at least." He kneels and sets down Brother Rant, then rises and draws his sword. "Shaddup, would you mind standing watch over our new friend while I go investigate?"

Shaddup

Shuddup snaps to after apparently daydreaming about life with a small child, shit job, and always being in the run.  He looks down at the priest, "Don't worry I'll protect you." With an easy grin. He hands the priest his arquebus, "I may need this if this crossbow doesn't function properly. "

Donovan

"Worm...breath...run? Sounds like someone found a dragon or something..." Donovan shakes his head. "I fucking hate these slums."

"Amara, stay with Shaddup and Mr. Rant. Gendry, Lyra, let's go...cautiously." As he walks slowly forward, Donovan casts _protection from evil_ on Lyra and _gauntlet_ on himself.

"Oh, and Amara, is there any chance that one of those secrets your kitten whispers to you could be a highly damaging one? You clearly have some formidable magic at your disposal, but I'm none too clear on the specifics. If you can muster some artillery, it would be very helpful right about now..."

GM

With a loud CRASH, a wall of a nearby building is blown open and the nine-foot frame of a ogrish woman is thrown out through the newly-created hole to slump against a pile of rubble in the street. A pair of men wearing matching chain armor and red cloaks then back out of the hole, shields raised before them towards something inside the building, moving to shield the ogress with their bodies against something inside.

Gendry

Gendry halts his advance, wondering what could throw an ogre through a wall. "Hey Don, are those the ass-watchers from the boat?"

He looks at the opening, gauging distance to it and line of sight out of it, then moves immediately adjacent to the wall of the building and moves up beside the gap, positioning himself to backstab whatever might come out. He gestures to the men trying to indicate his intent and that they should neither talk to, nor look at him.

Shaddup

Shuddup hands the crossbow to the Tyrian priest and begins dragging him to cover in nearby debris. He then begins scanning the nearby buildings for structural weaknesses in case he can bring one down on whatever is coming thorough the wall.

GM

The building that the lizard-thing is exiting from looks extremely old. The construction is largely brick, which appears to have been plastered over several times. Judging from the uneven roofline, it probably had a second story at some point in the distant past, but is now all one floor. The entire facade is crumbling and it looks as though the wall that the ogre just went flying through was load-bearing. Shaddup suspects that the application of significant force on the far side of the building could bring the remainder of the damaged wall tumbling out into the street in such a way as to be significantly damaging to all in the area. The surrounding buildings are all shanty's, built of twigs, straw, rubble, and canvas tarps. The kind of things that look like they would blow over in a stiff breeze.

Donovan

Donovan moves to the side of the road opposite Gendry and calls out in Auld Wyrmish--because hey, maybe it is a dragon and maybe it's willing to negotiate, "Ho Worm! Is that any way to treat a lady? Sure, she's a little horny, pun intended, but maybe we can talk about this..."

He holds his magically gauntleted hand up in front of his face in case whatever it is decides to breath fire or acid or the like at him. If nothing else, he hopes to keep the thing's attention focused on him and not on the minotaur getting ready to shove three feet of steel into it's backside.

GM

As Donovan begins to call out, you hear a scream and three more people come running around the side of the building, one, a woman in a slightly-askew white wig cradles her left arm, which looks like it has been badly burned or scarred by acid. You all quickly recognize one of the others as the green-haired elven woman from the ship. All three look badly beat-up.

At about the same time, a large reptilian head with four long horns appears out of the hole in the wall, followed by the body of what appears to be a huge, mottled-green lizard, maybe fifteen feet in length, most of that being tail. It looks directly at Donovan with what can only be described as murderous fury, and roars, droplets of spittle bubbling and hissing as they strike the cobbles...you suspect that the creature does not appreciate your sense of humor.

Donovan

"Acid spit but no wings? Hey, Lyra, you're an educated young girl, any idea what this thing is?"

Donovan tries to keep up a constant stream of patter in Auld Wyrmish, just in case it actually understood him, to keep the thing's attention on him and away from anyone who might be able to actually hurt it.

"Come on you overgrown gecko!"
"Is that your face, or does your butt have an acid attack?"
"I find your propensity toward accumulating monetary wealth through violent means of highly dubious sensibility!"
"You are so ugly that even Tiamat doesn't like you"
"Your skin will make a nice shield!"
"I've seen better hoards come from between sofa cushions."
"You call yourself a dragon? My cohort can fly better than that."
"You call that a breath weapon? Talk to an ogre in the morning, now that is a breath weapon!"
"Seriously, sharpen your claws. A blind farmer with a dull pitchfork could do more damage."

Lyra

Lyra crouches behind a large piece of rubble as close to midway between Donovan and Shaddup as she can manage, and takes out a sling.

Lyra calls out to Donovan as she places a large rock in the sling and starts to build up momentum.  "Based on the coloration and presence of acid glands, but lack of wings, I'd say that it is most probably a swamp dwelling subspecies of ... big lizard ... thing."

GM

As Donovan continues taunts the thing, it rears back and unleashes a gout of acidic spittle towards him. Donovan holds his mystically gauntleted hand up in front of his face, fingers outsplayed to deflect the worst of it away from his face and vitals.

When they see the lizard-thing turn its attention towards you, the other party heads back into the building, the ogre first, followed by the others. Last to enter, Teldicia waves and throws Donovan a coquettish smile and mouths "Good luck," before disappearing into the crumbling old building.

Gendry lunges at the thing's back, his gleaming blade entering between its ribs, through a lung, and out the front. The thing begins bleeding profusely, but collapses dead, choking on its own blood, long before it could bleed out.

Lyra tries to stop her sling and a rock goes flying wildly off into the distance.

Gendry

Gendry pulls out his sword and grins. "Think that's close enough to a dragon that I can get 'dragonslayer' engraved on the blade? 'Big Swamp Lizard Thing Slayer' just doesn't have the same ring to it..." He then turns and looks at the hole in the wall that the other group just darted into. "You're welcome!" he yells after them.

"Don, Lyra, what do you think the chances are that those guys just ran back into the building from which the big lizard monster that was kicking their asses came for some reason other than there being large amounts of loot inside?"

Shaddup

Shuddup retrieves his weapons from the priest and emerges from concealment. "Wait. If we're going in there we need to support the wall here and here." He searches for a moment for a log that doesn't appear to be to rotten, then pries loose a cobble stone. "Gendry, can you put one end of that beam in here and wedge the other end against the wall... Here." He pauses for a moment, "If we had a bell we could run it on a line so if the wall did start to give we could get some forwarning."

Lyra

Lyra rushes over to Donovan.  "Mr. Donovan, are you all right?  We might be able to use some of this limestone to counteract the acid, but without a proper heat source I'm not sure...."

She fusses over Donovan for a bit, checking his injuries before moving to examine the big swamp lizard thing.

"Mr. Gendry, 'Wyrmslayer' would typically be appropriate, since this is, or was a wingless variant.  Do you think Professor Aumry would be interested in it for research purposes?"

Donovan

Donovan slumps against the wall of a small shack and shakes the acid from his gauntleted hand as best he can. "I'm...fine..." He winces at the pain of where a small droplet touched his cheek. "Gendry, any chance that your god has some healing left for me?"

Gendry

Gendry wanders over and picks up Rant. "I have the scrolls Don, but that might be overkill." He hauls Rant over. "Brother Rant, would you be able to assist me in patching up me friend?"

GM

Brother Rant leans against the wall by Donovan. "I'll need clean water and something for bandages..."

Assuming the party has anything like those two items on hand, he carefully washes the acid-burns and wraps them up. "There's not much else I can do with these kind of wounds, but that should help a bit."

Donovan

Donovan stands up and looks at the dressing on his wounds, "That feels better, thanks."

He starts walking towards the hole and smiles. "Well, someone mentioned the probability of large piles of loot..."

Gendry

Gendry grabs the log indicated by Shaddup and sets it to brace the wall. "Here?"

He then picks up Brother Rast, piggy back, using one hand to steady him, the other holding his sword ready, and follows Donovan.

Shaddup

Shuddup, inspects the log and shoves against it as though he might move it once a minotaur has set it. With a satisfied nod of his head, "That looks good, this beam should support that stone to act as a keystone to hold the wall if anyone applies force from the other side. So now the question becomes do we foray into the ruins with two of our band on the mend or hazard a trip back to a friendly temple? Perhaps it would be wise for us to invest in some herbs and I can make us some home brew that would perk up our spirits... No orc pee, I promise."

Lyra

Lyra crouches next to the big lizard thing, and mixes a handful of dust from the crumbling limestone building with a pool of acidic drool near the head, stirring with a large splinter from a shattered wooden beam.  She mixes it carefully, then looks at the end of the wood and frowns.  "No, I don't think that is going to work."

She stands up and runs to catch up to Gendry.