[Game Thread] Chapter 2: The Haunting Horror

[DukeofTuring]

Watching Lunigen examine the door, Marcus instead remains farther back, keeping an eye on both the paladin and on all of the visible entrances to the room. Muttering a casts Detect Magicquick prayer to his god as he clutches his holy symbol, Marcus in particular makes sure to scan the room for any sort of magical auras.

"This wouldn't be the most elegant solution, of course, but a good sized hammer can usually open up most doors in a pinch..."

[Quadra Wield]

After Lunigen points out the hidden door Holly walks over to

Dice Knowledge Engineering:

d20+5

(6)+5

Total = 11

examine it as well. Hearing Marcus's suggestion about attempting to break down the secret door Holly quips, "I'm guessing this hidden door has the same properties as the rest of this place's walls and doors in this place Sigmarite. Bashing it would probably do more harm to us then good."

[darthcharon]

[dbaque]

"Friends, hearken to me. There is a lever here. Stand back, & let's see what this does." Once they've taken a few steps back, Lunigen first pulls out his dagger from his belt & tries to fit it into the gap to switch the lever with the blade.

 

Lunigen returns his dagger to his belt, pulls off his left gauntlet, & reaches for the switch.

[darthcharon]

Upon pushing the lever down with the dagger, the "door" suddenly lurches to the right, smashing into the dagger. You suddenly feel very grateful that the dagger was inserted rather than your hand. Then the door begins to slide down. The first thing that hits you is the smell of decay, and as the wall slides all the way down, you see why. In the corner of the five by five room is a dwarf, wearing a rusty chain shirt and clinging desperately to a dwarven ax, in full decay. About half of his flesh has already been consumed by maggots, while the other half has turned a sickening greenish color. The eyeballs are still partially intact, though severely shriveled. A few pieces of hair are still attached to the scalp and chin, of a raven black hue, but it is clear that this body has been rotting here for some time. What frightens you most, however, is that there is something very familiar about this dwarf...

[dbaque]

Lunigen's gratitude soons turns to horror mingled with no little confusion. Eyeing the shirt of mail & the large ax (nothing else was intact enough for an identification), he exclaims as much as asks: "By the Lady's grace, is that Grimnash? What fell magic is this?" Lunigen advances to the doorway (not past it) with sword drawn, watching the decayed form warily, in case the fell place had the same macabre idea as he. The knight spares a brief glance to Marcus: "Can your magical sight make out anything?" While still not trusting the dead to stay so, he Take 10 on Perception: 12.looks about the room from his spot in the doorway. He tries to see if he can reach the body with his sword to prod it, but he is not passing this doorway. His mind's eye can imagine far too many ways this could be a trap to brave the room right now.

[DukeofTuring]

"Eargh," Marcus groaned, recoiling instinctively from the wretched looking and smelling corpse. "Sigmar rest him, that would seem to be Grimnash. Although, in such a place, one never knows what's real and what's only in your mind's eye."

Presenting fourth his holy symbol, Marcus casts detect magic again for good measurecalls out, "Sigmar, guide my sight, that I might see beyond the trickery of this den of inequity." Examining the apparent corpse, the priest searches for signs of magic, illusory or otherwise.

[darthcharon]

[DukeofTuring]

Eyebrows raising in modest alarm as he looks first at Grimnash and then the room around him, Marcus promptly but fairly calmly states, "There are powerful necromantic energies filling this whole room and emanating from the body."

"I hate to leave a fallen companion like this, but whatever slew Grimnash might still be around. Everyone, out of the room. Lunigen, close the door behind us. Now." The priest's tone books no argument, and Marcus quickly gets his companions out of the room and away from the aura of death by whatever means necessary. Keeping detect magic active, Marcus keeps an eye out for any more magic auras, particularly that of death magic.

"We need to stay far away from this place, at least until we figure out what foul energy is maintaining this house. May Sigmar and the Dwarven Ancestors watch over his soul, that chamber might well have to make do as Grimnash's tomb. He knew something like this might happen, and we can't afford to risk our lives for the sake of ritual." Obviously speaking as much to assuage himself as the others, Marcus lapses into a frustrated but determined silence, clearly not entirely happy with the course of events.

[dbaque]

Not wanting to test his deathly taint with the room's terrible magics, Lunigen gives a nod before stepping back from the doorway & sheathing his sword. With a whisper of a Breton prayer over their fallen comrade, the knight maneuvers the dagger still stuck in the door frame to switch the lever back & hopefully close the door.

"It seems the opened room you two found is our next course, trap or no trap."

[Quadra Wield]

As the door opens Holly recoils at the sight of Grimnash. Whatever happened to the dwarf, she definitely didn't want to happen to her, so she nods at Marcus's command and backs off from the secret doorway.

"Well, actually there is about four more doors in this hallway, we could try one of those instead, maybe whatever is happening here has been 5 feet away from us this whole time."

[DukeofTuring]

"The other doors, I think, might be good to try first. The magicks surrounding Grimnash's remains were powerful indeed, and... probably best not confronted by us unless necessary. Going in there could easily prove to not so much be courageous as suicidal."

Looking over at the elven spellcaster, Marcus added, "And should we decided to return that way, I'd hope that Ollona could add her expertise. My education was more theological in nature than anything else, and hopefully she could add some insights about the nature of magic and chaos of that nature."

[Insacrum]

Ollona was a little surprised that everyone was so willing to go into a room that held a secret door. 'Really, wouldn't a secret door be more likely to be trapped?' Her thought was confirmed by the speed in which the door opened, which would have removed Lunigen's hand, had he not used the knife in opening the door.

Upon opening, she wasn't sure which was worse, the smell of Grimnash, or the fact that since they had last seen him, he had managed to get himself killed.

Once Marcus made the comment about the necromantic energies congregating within the room, she was the first one out the door after his command to leave.

"I will more the welcome continued exploring, as well as vigil throughout the house. I'm not sure if my views on such things will be welcomed, but anything to ensure our survival."

[dbaque]

"They are more welcome than you think, m'lady Ollona." The knight returns the dagger to his belt & continues: "If we wish to avoid the opened room, let's explore the rooms by the side of the hallway." Drawing his sword, he warns: "Stay close, friends, & stay wary." Lunigen goes with the group to the hallway, turns right & then left at the indent in the hall. Once everyone has gathered round, arms ready & barring objection, Lunigen opens the door to the next room, ready for anything (though this place has certainly pushed the limits of 'anything').

[darthcharon]

OOC I put the map in the combat thread, but for your convenience here it is again.

The door creaks open into a small coatroom. The walls are made of poor material, and are peeling in multiple areas. Half a dozen moth eaten coats hang from a slightly bent bar, and a collection of equally poor boots line the far wall. A large painting sits against the far wall, but it faces away, hiding it's image from your eyes.