TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY FOUR
(I/C)
“If dat be Guardians we hear,” Wyn whispered, “Den we can use de potion now, Oui?”
“I don’t think using the potion right now is a great idea,” Lyra replied quietly, “but it doesn’t hurt to have it on the ready.”
“Let’s just get to de nord door and get outta here would be my next suggestion,” Wyn opted.
Brendon pointed down at everyone’s feet. “Be mindful not to leave tracks, we don’t need to let anyone know our secret passage.”
Kovid pointed at the bare dirt near the edge of the chamber, “I say we hug the wall around to the north. Stay on the dirt and away from the leaves.”
"Señor Wyngus, can tu ojos de majik see anything in here before we make our way?” Abraxas asked.
“I wish I could, Monsieur Salazar,” the elf replied, “But I am down to un spell and dat is gonna be used to get us in to de Vault room witout walkin’ ALL de way ‘round de halls.”
The Fighter nodded in understanding, spinning his Scythe once. “Tenemos move mas rapido. Con Haste, amigos. No alto until estamos safe. Vamonos amigos, rapido pero con ciudad."
“Oui. Hug de wall. Don’t touch de leaves. H’ok? Allons-y.” The group stepped out from the safety of the fireplace and stayed close to the wall, avoiding the many weeds and leaves around the room. From somewhere in the mess of the chamber we could hear the odd groan and maybe a gnashing sound of squeaking wood, but nothing particularly happened or attracted our attention.
As we walked on, Abraxas had a tight grip on the Morrigaan Scythe, giving the Goddess of the harvest a small prayer for good measure. “Goddess Morrigaan, mother of the harvest, and the wheat. As the wielder of your fine instrument, this wondrous scythe of the harvest, I ask of you to guide mis amigos y mi through this hazard of unattended and untaken care of patch of overgrowth. Wrapped in your protection we seek to step through the thorns and vines, to come out the other side unscathed. Por favor, show us the way, and enlighten us in your path. In the name of Morrigaan, I ask your grace."
“Damn, Hilo,” Lannis muttered, “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Real nice,” Lyra replied with a smile. “You did good, Abraxas.”
“Better safe than sorry, you know?”
As they approached the door, Wyn muttered, “Monsieur du Lac, you’ll probably need to check de door.”
“On my to do list, Wyn,” the Scout replied. Just inside the door was a shallow wooden bin about one third filled with loose leaves with a sign above it, written in three languages (similar to what we had seen on the door with the illusionary Scimitars). It read in Common and Goblin (the 2 we could read), “Beware of Decapus. If need, Call for a Guardian Escort to cross the Gardens.”
Walking around it, Brendon proceeded to check over the door (>Find Traps, Red 52) while the group continued to mull over the leaves and what the hell a Decapus was. Kovid was checking out his map, filling in the few dark spots around where we were, and asked, “Once we get through the door we should be just across the hall from the Summoning Room. I think Wyn is using knock on the hidden door. Do any of you have a crowbar to help pry it open? Abraxas?”
Brendon shook his head, “I have one. But the prybar might cause debris on the floor that wasn’t there before.”
There was some quiet conversation about towels, water, prybars, and axes but it came to an end as the Scout lifted his hand. “Door isn’t locked, or trapped. Opens towards us and to the east. I dunno, but these hinges appear to be well oiled and maintained.” He paused. “And I listened hard, (No roll needed), and didn’t hear anything in the hall beyond.”
“Ok,” Kovid nodded. “If we’re gonna do this, let’s go and do it now.”
The group readied their weapons as the Dwarf grabbed the handle and turned it, opening the door. The hall was the one we had escaped through much earlier in the day (damn, that was today?!) and the group carefully left the Gardens and shut the door behind us, Brendon giving the door on the north end of the hall a quick listen to (WMC: Red/Black 4), hearing nothing. The duplicate version of Lannis faded away giving the group a momentary startling before they followed the Scout through the door and into she short hall. Abraxas once again closed the door behind us and we waited for Brendon to give us the all clear for the next door.
Once all good, we entered the Teleporting and Summoning room, seeing nothing really had changed since we were here last. The secret door on the other side of the chamber was still closed and seemed to be undiscovered. The door to the orc’s barracks was also closed, unlike earlier when it was partially ajar. Brendon made some indication to head that way but was shook off by the party who instead headed to the northwest corner.
Kovid was giving it a serious once over and agreed with Brendon that he had no interest in chipping or damaging any of the stone and (Stonework: Yellow 3 – yes) the best was to work the tip of the prybar along the bottom and the wet towel trick would help out. So he pressed and tapped and wiggled and worked while Abraxas and Lyra kept a ready ear for ANYONE who might be coming to investigate the noise, but once the Dwarf was done, he nodded to Wyn who cracked his knuckles, lifted one hand, and mimed knocking while muttering, “BRAS,” focused entirely on the secret door.
We heard an audible click, and the elf said, “We ‘ave one minute to open dat door afore de spell ends.”
Kovid twisted and worked the prybar back and forth, wiggling and huffing and breathing, feeling the stone wiggle under his efforts (<Open door, +1 Str, +1 tool, Yellow 2) until the side of the door could be seen and Abraxas hooked a few fingertips under it, and the secret passage opened. “Great job,” the dwarf assured the group as they filed in to the secret passage and made their way north, shutting it behind us and making sure it closed and latched in place.
It seemed that no one had made it into this hall and we made it our way to the Vault where Wyn dug out the key, unlocking it for the group, and we all filed in, closing the door behind us again. A weary look around showed that the chamber was as we had left it, including the Ispan’s food stores that we did not take with us. With a heavy heart and aching muscles, the group stripped off shields, packs, and weapons and slumped into the chairs and on the barrels and boxes in here, looking around and smiling sheepishly that they had pulled it off.
Time now is Day 7, 6:30 PM
(OOC)
Made it. Party is tired, and hungry. It’s time to eat – food can come from the stores and water from your skins. Let me know what the plan is for tonight, bandages, watch, order if there is one, contingency, and what the ultimate plan is the next day. At some point they will have to realize they cannot find you down there and whatever their plan is to follow after that.
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