Orsal sees most of the nest of rats going down and decides to try to end the combat with a crack of his whip, "Ratman, ị na-outnumbered! Atọgbọ!"
As the large rat man drops to the ground, Kelwyn grimaces as he mutters the word, "vermin," and moves to thrust his rapier deep into the creatures back.
Rapier
Sneak Attack
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Kelwyn stabs the prone ratman and he gurgles his last bit of life out as Kelwyn removes his blade from his back and then goes still.
The room grows quiet. The shadows seem to hover at the edge of your vision and you hear a faint creaking to the south. The wind outside howls softly through the courtyard and kicks up leaves that blow into the open archway.
Orsal cracks his whip to break the silence. "Find one of these ratmen alive, so we can find out what's going on in here." He orders to no one specific. He heads toward the big ratman without skills in healing.
Vaelus snaps his katana back into its scabbard with a scowl and prods the felled ratman before him with a foot for any further sign of life.
Taking a deep breath, Jesset rolls his shoulders then bends to clean his falchion on the fur or clothing of the nearest ratman. He then proceeds to kick the remains down to ground level, taking care not to hit any of his companions.
He then advances, on the alert for other ratmen.
Perception
"Mind the fleas," Kelwyn says as, with a look of disgust, he searches the big rat man's body.
Seeing the others have things well in hand, Tony sheathes his sword and picks up his crossbow with a grimace.
"Yes, that was a surprise. Could I get some healing here? That big one hit hard."
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Jesset you check the landings and find no other ratmen up on the ledge or landings but you do find evidence that they have been living in this area for sometime almost like they had been squatting in this room for sometime. You do see two doors up here on to the north adjacent to the top of the stairs. The other is on the landing the rats came from it looks like it goes into one of the towers as the door is on a rounded section of wall.
Orsal your examination of the big ratman leads you to realize he is truly dead. . While your examining him Vaelus search him and find nothing more than a used greatsword among his possessions.
"Right. I know I'm new to this adventuring thing. But on the high seas, we like to keep a few alive, so we can question them. Find out what they are carrying? Where they are from? Useful things. I know those ratmen don't look terribly civilized, but they have a language and something of culture below the city. So can we try harder to keep at least one alive next time? Because they might have been able to tell us how to get out of here." Orsal ends his slight rant with a genuine question. He coils and attaches his whip to his weapon's belt.
Jesset walks back to the ledge, and crouches at the edge. We have some doors up here, plus looks like our ratty assailants had been living here some time. Perhaps they had suffered the same trap as us. "
The elf smirks at Orsal and chides sardonically "what, no laud? I thought I did pretty well at that."
He checks on Tony, despite having no healing to provide, and mills about a bit on the level below before heading into the area above where Jesset and Kelwyn are.
With no healing available, Tony grits his teeth and continues on up the stairs and into the rooms the ratmen were guarding.
Orsal shakes his head at the elf, "Yes, you're an good killer. An excellent killer gets the most information from their victims before they finish."
He notes Tony's complaints and appreciates him gritting through the pain. 'Anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger,' his old captain used to say. The pain still hurt though. I'll keep him alive, but I hope more people can heal than me. Pirates are not terribly altruistic.
Orsal wrinkles his brow at Victoria's response and remembers her earlier moral conviction. "Not to belabor this point, but you realize that we intruded on these ratmen's home and slaughtered them for defending themselves, right? We don't even need their home. It just happens to be in our way."
After an uncomfortable pause, he asks, "So which door first?"
Pointing to the door closest the fallen large rat man, Vaelus shrugs and says "one is as good as another, I suppose. How about this one?"
"I do hope whatever is in the chest is well worth it and that we can do this without further bloodshed," Keliwyn says as he eyes the door Vaelus is pointing at.
Tony carefully aproached the designated door and looked for traps.
Carefully disabled any traps and opened any locks.
Then carefully turned the knob and thrust the door open, stepping aside for the heavies to barge through.
The elf shoots Tony a sideglance, nods to indicate that he was ready and moves through the open portal, a hand readied on his sheathed blade.
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You find no traps on the door or locks for that matter, you open the door and look inside within you find a room that contains four beds covered with silk sheets and pillows, now layered in grime, dust, and cobwebs. Silk draperies filthy with mildew and dirt line the walls. Between the draperies hang lewd, moldy paintings in wooden frames. You see brass braziers that once lit and likely heated this room, but today they lie dust-covered and overturned. The floors are carpeted with thick rugs, now worm-ridden and rotten. The room smells of mold and mildew.
"If there's no way out, check another door." Orsal suggests to the door-openers.
Tony shruged. He carefully aproached the next door and looked for traps.
He carefully disabled any traps and opened any locks.
Then he carefully turned the knob and thrust the door open, stepping aside for the heavies to barge through.
"Hm. This looks promising..." Commented Tony. He carefully crossed the room to aproach the Tower door and looked for traps.
He carefully disabled any traps and opened any locks.
Then he carefully turned the knob and thrust the door open, stepping aside for the heavies to barge through.
"Nice work," Kelwyn says to Tony as he looks over the door for traps. As the door swings open, he waits for the others to go through so he can take up the rear.
Orsal wrinkles his brow at Victoria's response and remembers her earlier moral conviction. "Not to belabor this point, but you realize that we intruded on these ratmen's home and slaughtered them for defending themselves, right? We don't even need their home. It just happens to be in our way."
"The ratmen are vermin. There's a bounty on their tails, has been for some time. They usually keep to the Undercity, where they're hunted. These are some of the few that come to the surface; such as these are always hunted with extreme prejudice." Jesset states as he cuts the tails off of each of the ratmen.
He then joins the others as Tony pokes and prods at the various doors. At Kelwyn's hesitation, Jesset takes the lead and enters the tower.
Orsal shakes his head at the Litorian comments. They accept talking ogres out of their treasure but can't find the time to ask ratmen for directions.
He falls in line behind Vaelus who follows Jesset. Tony follows Orsal, then Victoria and Kelwyn.
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Tony you open the door after verifying its not locked or trapped, to the tower, and beyond the door you find a room filled with the remains of wooden furnishings that are covered in crime and cobwebs. A wooden ladder leads up up to the next level and you can see that it extends beyond to a trapdoor that likely leads to the third level.
Tony anchors the ladder and looks back at Jesset to see if he wants to go first.
When it is his time to climb, he watches the trapdoor area for ambushes.
Kelwyn keeps an eye behind them, ready to take up the rear.
Jesset takes the lead, clambering up the ladder with feline adroitness.
Climb
Reaching the top, he pauses to listen
Perception
After scanning for magic, Orsal climbs to the third level.
Tony clims up after Jesset.
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You all begin climbing the ladder you get to the second level, the room is mostly empty aside from cobwebs and leaves that probably blew in through the window across from the ladder. Orsal you scan the room on the second level and see nothing magical. You continue on through the trap door into the room above. The only thing in this room is a table with four rickety looking chairs around it. The room is also covered in cobwebs. On the table are three items. One is a jar with a yellow liquid in it, a book sitting nearby, and a candle with strange etchings on it sitting on a copper plate. There is no door out of this room nor does the ladder continue.
Orsal scans the room for magic and starts methodically searching. They have time.
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You examine the room Orsal and two things show as magical first is the jar and second the book. The jar glows strongly with a Conjuration and Transmutation aura. The jar is well-sealed with a brass lid and there is a slightly odd scent coming from it when you get closer to examine it. The book glows of strong enchantment. The book itself looks to be a very basic magical tome.
Orsal Reads Magic to peruse the magical tome and says, "The jar has strong auras of Conjuration and Transmutation. It's well-sealed with a brass lid, but there is a slightly odd scent coming from it. The book appears to be a very basic magical tome. Anyone else with magical skills to identify them?
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Orsal as you stare down at the book and begin to read the magic runes in they seem to change before your eyes. You find yourself enraptured by the shifting text in the book as it spirals and morphs into stranger and more menacing looking arcane runes. About the time this occurs you feel as if you mind is exploding like a volcano behind your eyes, and suddenly blood drips from my nose and out of your ears. Some of the blood splashes on the table and you snap out of it. You look away from the book as fast as possible when you finally come to your senses.
Everyone else you watch as Orsal begins reading the book. He becomes fixated on the book and starts screaming all of the sudden. You see the pain in his eyes and his ears and nose begin bleeding. He looks away after a rough 30 seconds and his screaming ends as suddenly as it began.
Orsal finds himself staring at the wall bent over the table with his hands supporting his weight. His head spins, and blood drips from his nose down his cheek. He takes another 30 seconds of labored breaths and stands up casually brushing the blood from his face. He closes the book and puts it into his backpack with slightly trembling hands.
After another 30 seconds or so, Orsal says a magic word causing his blood to disappear from the table, his face, his clothes, and everywhere. Can't leave my blood behind.
He looks for anyone else to examine the jar before he puts it away, too.
Jesset approaches Orsal carefully.
"What just happened, here?" he asks