THREE HUNDRED FORTY ONE
(I/C)
“Someone wanna put that thing down before it bites one of us?” Brendon asked with a shudder.
Lyra shook her head, picking her way closer, lifting her skirts to avoid trailing them through the fetid puddles of blood and gore. “This is disgusting, we shouldn’t stay in here for long.” She started with the dead elf, studying it as best she could, saving the gurgling and snapping goblin for last.
“Braken, no pienso que killing the Gob es una good idea,” Abraxas advised, making the sign of the evil eye as he traipsed towards the south door to listen. “We need to be as discret as possible. Un otro cuerpa no es bueno.”
“Whatever you say, Doc.” The Scout made his way to the corner where the 2 chests were, giving them a wide berth.
“No one knows what he says,” Lannis shrugged, giving Wyn a sidelong glance.
The elf was standing in the middle of the room taking it all in before swallowing once. “Well... I was not expectin’ dis... well, we be here, so... “ He rubbed his hands together getting ready to cast a spell, “let’s see how much magic stuff dere be in here. Let’s hope dis place bot explode from spells being cast in here.” He cleared his thoughts, wove his hands about slowly and then cast his spell out, intoning, “TEGERE ARCANUS.” A spray of orange sparks flew out from him and bounced about the chamber, setting all over the place where there was magic.
“Wanna spin your sparkle over these chests, Wyn?”Brendon asked.
"If it will expedite us leaving this awful place,” Lannis offered, straightening his hat, “I'll help Shrimp Gumbo look around. Let's not touch anything too noticeable though please?” He gave the Scout a pointed look. “Like the chests?"
“Whatever you guys do,” Kovid muttered, tapping the odd stones and listening while looking about with care, “Let’s speed it up and keep moving. Get to the chapel.”
With his ear on the south door, Abraxas was looking around the room at Wyn and his sparks. “Señor Wyndup, uses tu oyos majik? Que do you see? Cuando estamos terminado aqui, vamonos a el Chapel."
Most everything the group knew was magical that they owned was glowing with a thin scree of orange light, except of the Bracelet that Wyn had taken in the fight with the Duchess. “Hmm,” he squinted looking at it, “Any idea wot it might be?” he asked Lannis.
(Half Int, >Pink 15, no…>Orange 7, no) The wizard and elf gave it a serious once over but without being able to spend considerable time on it and do some testing, nothing came to either of them. “I’m sure it was something that might have to do with her being a murder-bitch,” Lannis said with a grunt. “I’d say, victor and spoils and all that shit. Fuck her.”
“Works for me,” Wyn agreed.
They walked all about the chamber, sighting on anything that had a glow to it and still not touching if they could. Firstly there was something under the canopy bed. Based upon the aura (Half Int, <Pink 6, yes..<Orange 2, yes) it was from the Air school of magic. But without moving the curtain, they didn’t want to risk touching for now. “De spell is 20 minutes, let’s keep looking.”
There was some orange sparks coming from the space gap at the lids of each chest, so something within was magical. In each chest. “That’s my cue,” Brendon said, getting low to look for traps.
There was the faintest residue of magic in the vicinity of the 3 dead bodies but nothing active at this time. “Come wit me, I want to check de Duchess bookshelf real fast.”
“I’m on your dime, let’s do it,” Lannis agreed.
The two men walked through the arch and there was some orange sparks coming from behind the back of the bookcase and near the floor. “Gotcha,” Wyn smiled.
“That case looks real heavy,” Lannis mused. “But at least we know there’s something back there.”
Meanwhile, Lyra had been examining the bodies in succession. “The elf…hmmm, studying its internal organs. Physiology. I’d say she’s a torturous necromantic loving bitch who enjoyed her work a bit too much.”
The next figure was a mystery to her. “ Bipedal, no features. I have no idea what it is, but she’s using its flesh to make vellum. And she’s got lots of little jars of…eyeball juice, spinal fluid, liver extract.” She turned her head, backing away.
“Ok, smiles,” she muttered to the goblin getting closer to it but still far enough away to avoid being touched, scratched, or bit. “Ok. Some of this is self inflicted. Sunken stomach. Ugh, the reek.” She looked closer, fingering her holy symbol (<Wis Check, -4 penalty, White 11) while she looked the creature over from head to toe. “Ok, bad news, and shitty news.”
“That’s lovely,” Kovid muttered, making his way to the door with Abraxas to listen. “Let’s have the bad news first.”
“That,” she said pointing, “Is a fucking ghoul. As in eater of the dead, paralyze you if it bites or scratches you.”
“We elves are immune to de ghoul touch,” Wyn noted while looking around.
“That’s great! So when we’re all paralyzed, you can fight Bitey McStudmuffin yourself.” Lannis shook his head, “Honestly, why do I even try?”
“Stow it, Big Brain,” Kovid grunted, both he and Abraxas listening (Hear Noise, >Yellow 13..>Blue 10), neither one hearing anything south. “Ok, bad news, sounds bad. What’s the shitty news?”
She sighed. “Looking at the area here and the number of scratches on the floor and brickwork above,” she pointed, “some of them are too high and different depths. I have a funny feeling that this isn’t the only ghoul. Only the latest one.”
“I vote we shit in her bed,” Lannis scowled. “I can’t, I just can’t…Really? Ghouls now?” He turned to Brendon and threw his hands in the air in disgust. “Hey, Sparrow, are those mimics? Tell me they’re mimics, let’s really load the nachos on our plate.”
Brendon pushed himself upright after looking over both chests (<Find Traps, +10% expecting to find them, Red 16) and shook his head. “No, not mimcs. But both of them are trapped. Three tumbler locks, but the trigger is deep within. Saw some trace phosphorous blue, and can smell the salt. Cover is pressured. My guess? Aerosol dye and caustic element mixed in, sprays all over. So you pick the chest without the key, get covered in dye and a very bad chemical burn as well.”
“Can you disarm them?”
“I can try, if given enough time, I’d give myself a one in three or so, without the key of course. If I could do one without setting it off, I’d lay 50 50 odds on the second one.”
(WMC: Red/Black 1 – yes! No what roll needed)
At this point, through the archway and the north door in Duchess’ room, we could hear the sound of banging and scraping, followed by some angry hobgoblin voices and other sounds as well. “And now they’ve broken through the door to the goblin room that I jammed,” Brendon said with a sigh. “So no, I don’t have the time. If we kill Mirabellis, get me her key otherwise without an ax, a hazmat suit, and a decon shower and eyewash station, I don’t think opening these chest as is is going to happen.”
The sounds of the hobgoblins, and whoever else was with them, was growing clearer.
Time now is Day 8, 12:02 PM
(OOC)
Alright! Go time. Detect magic is good for another 10 minutes.
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