The Arwich Grinder

[drpete]

Up above:
Godwin follows the sound of screaming, warning "Be careful not to kill anyone before we know what's going on..."

Down below:
Milo is crushed to death by the tentacle.

Robin struggles with his tentacle, but is caught fast. [1d20]=5.
He tries to slash at his tentacle with his sword:
[1d20]= 11 (spending luck, if it'll help him hit)
Damage:[1d6+3]=6

Bill, out of the room, goes to find the barrel, and tries to roll it back toward the mud room, but keeps back far enough to see if the others make *any* progress before actually going back in.

[MrHemlocks]

Hearing the screams and sounds of battle, Balin and Pratel continue down the hallway. "Hurry up! We can not hope to fight such a monster." Balin, puts a worried smile on his face and mumbles to himself. "Now they understand why I attacked those Curwens on sight. Did not take a genius to figure out the Curwen clan was up to no good and were behind the evils that plague this place and surrounding area."

ooc... They will run all the way back to the slaughter room. That was the first room they entered when coming down the well. Than will make their way to the other group that is exploring the SE/SW halls.

Change of plans...they will wait for the others within the first room...below the well.

[drpete]

Ooc: Mr hemlocks, all of the people down below were together when we met the mud thing. The only other group is "up above" in the upstairs area of the house.

[Raven_Crowking]

ABOVE: Rushing around the corner, you can see two doors to the left and three to the right. A cord dangles from the ceiling, where a trapdoor allows entrance to the attic above. The woman's voice cries out again, in anguish, "Give me back my baby!" It seems to be coming from the far left door.

BELOW: Balin, Bill, and Pratel must make another DC 10 Will save as they re-enter the room with the holes in the floor. The stench, the gibbering, and the screaming takes on new meaning in light of what they have seen.

The monstrous, and amorphous column of mud rises high in the cavern, pulling Rogett and Robin with it, off their feet and off the ledge. (The thing is AC 14, so Robin spends 3 Luck to hit). Abram smashes into the tentacle binding him, freeing himself. Crying aloud, "Ai Sliggeth! Ai!" Bessie Curwen launches herself at Abram, slashing with the dagger, but it comes nowhere near him.

The towering mass begins to fall in upon itself, dropping down towards the floor of the cave, yes, but seemingly pulling itself also into its own dimension of woe. Rogett and Robin may each attempt a DC 10 Strength check to escape before this happens (although the fall itself may kill them).

[Raven_Crowking]

Balin, Bill, and Pratel all ran last round.

[GlassEye]

ABOVE: Badr Balik races to the door he thinks the voices are coming from and throws open the door. Being a practical (and somewhat cowardly) sort he steps aside to give Brom room to enter before him. He still peers within to see what is going on.

BELOW: Unheeding of the height, Rogett Lammerson struggles to get free of the tentacle of mud before he is drawn into that dimension of torment. His struggle is successful and he feels himself falling free...

Abram Cove snarls. "As if I don't have enough worries already..." He swings the axe around and feels the satisfying bite of its blade in Bessie Curwen's body.

Rogett STR check (1d20-1=13)
Abram attack (1d16+2=13); If this is not a hit Abram will spend Luck.
Abram damage (1d6+2=7)

[MrHemlocks]

Ooc: Mr hemlocks, all of the people down below were together when we met the mud thing. The only other group is "up above" in the upstairs area of the house.

I changed it...thanks.

Did anyone else explore the other room(s) that led SE/SW? from the first room we entered?? Getting confused what was explored and by whom.

Balin
Output: Save Roll: [1d20] = 16

Pratel
Output: Save Roll: [1d20] = 10

[GlassEye]

This is my sketch of explored areas. May or may not contain errors.
So, a ladder and two unexplored hallways.

[fireinthedust]

Brom flies in through the door. He has his sword ready to strike, but wants to see who is beyond the door before striking them down.

OOC: The string to the Attic: when we look at it, was it moving? Like, before we passed by, what is swinging in place or very still?

[drpete]

Up above:
Godwin rushes to the door where the screaming is coming from, but will wait at the entrance, so he can watch the trapdoor into the attic, as well.

Hole room:
Bill, never squeamish, spits in disgust as the deeper horror of the figures in the holes becomes clear. "We can't help them. Let's give them a minute to see if anyone else can get away..."

Will save:[1d20]=14
Mud room:
Robin struggles against the tentacle, but is unable to free himself. He screams in horror as the tentacles fall.
[1d20]=7
(ooc:he's only got 1 HP left, so he would fall to his death if he broke free, anyway )

[Raven_Crowking]

ABOVE: As the door is opened, whatever it is above you moves heavily, making dust and plaster fall from the ceiling.

Beyond the door is a filthy-looking bedroom, which smells of rotting meat and blood. Facing you is a sickly-looking, skinny woman with lank hair. Her abdomen flaps like a large, but now empty bag, and her face is devoid of reason. She launches herself at you, screeching "Try to take my baby, will you?!?! His father will do for you!”

Roll for initiative.

BELOW:

GlassEye, good sketch. That seems about right to your recollection.

Bessie Curwen lies dead, and the horrific mud-column is gone. Rogett managed to free himself before being sucked into a dimension of horror, but falls into the mud for 10 points of damage (2d6), Reflex save DC 10 for half (but unlikely to help). In addition, if he somehow survives, he suffers a broken bone.

At this point, all survivors in the "below" section gain 4 XP. I remind you that when you gain 10 XP, you are 1st level. If you need help with that, I am happy to supply it.

[MrHemlocks]

Balin and Pratel will wait, in the well room, hoping others will meet up with them. After a few minutes pass and the sound of the distant battle quiets, they will head back toward the LARGE cave, where the tentacle monster lurked. There they will look for injured villagers, in need of help, before moving on to explore the nearest hallway.

[GlassEye]

BELOW: Abram Cove looks around. With Bill, Balin, and Pratel making a wise and hasty retreat he is the only one left living in the cave: Randow gutted, Rogett fallen to his death, Milo smashed, and Robin, gods help Robin, lost in some other dimensional horror. Abram certainly isn't climbing down into whatever muck and misery lurks below.

Abram searches Bessie Curwen and then Randow. He takes the few copper pieces he finds on Randow's body and the sack. Nothing else is of interest to him. Bloodied and with the iron axe clutched in one hand Abram stumbles from the cave to the room with the holes in the floor where he (hopefully) finds Bill and Balin and Pratel returning.

He rubs at his face in weariness leaving a ghastly streak of mud and blood. "Everyone else is dead. We came down here with over twice this number. Maybe we should go see if we can find the group that split off to the house." He laughs but there is no humor in it. "Safety in numbers and all that, you know."

ABOVE: Badr Balik is tired of being afraid. When the screaming harridan comes rushing out at them he wildly swings his dagger in defense and by some chance manages to get it between himself and the witch (and hopefully cutting short her horrific screams).


Initiative (1d20=17)
Badr dagger atk (1d20=16)
Badr dagger dmg (1d4=4)

[drpete]

Up above:

Godwin rushes up to the woman and hacks at her with the butcher knife.
[1d20-1] =12
[1d4-1]=1-1=(1?)

Down below:
Bill is relieved to see at least one more survivor emerge from the room of the mud tentacles. "Alright, let's get these damn Curwens" He follows into the unexplored passage to the west.

[fireinthedust]

ABOVE: Brom rushes forward to knock the woman down, someone obviously robbed of their child by the foul sorcerers involved here. The mercenary is ready for some answers!

1d20+1=11, 1d8+1=8

Initiative: 1d20=17

OOC: I... don't know if that will do it. I'm guessing that 11 is enough to knock her down with a grapple. I rolled the damage by mistake, I don't think she takes it.

My hope is that knocking her down will not result in the others hacking Brom to peices!

[MrHemlocks]

Standing nervously, in the center of the room, and pointing into the west hallway wait Balin and Pratel. "Balin speaks up. "Now who is going with us down this hall? I need a head count."

[drpete]

Bill sighs, and looks around the room. "I only count four of us down here, so this won't take long... Tell you what, I'll go with Abram... Do you want to go upstairs, or explore the hallway, Abram?"

[GlassEye]

Abram Cove looks at the four remaining out of the ten who ventured down here and has an uneasy feeling. Finally he sighs and nods. "I would rather see if we can regroup but I won't break up our little party. The hallway it is. Anyone know anything about healing?" Abram winces as he lifts up his shirt to reveal a nasty looking purple bruise that girdles his abdomen. "I think that mud-thing might have cracked a rib."

[Raven_Crowking]

ABOVE: With a last scream about her baby, the emaciated woman is grappled and stabbed to death.

BELOW: The western hallway leads to a room that seems to absorb light, making torches and lanterns dim. In the centre of the west wall is a shrine containing a black onyx cup before an amorphous image that seems like a vaguely toad-like cross between an octopus, a wolf, and a man.

[fireinthedust]

ABOVE

Bron grapples the woman, hoping to stop her and get answers... and sadly only holds her in place for a right stabbing. *drops body and pinches the bridge of his nose from stress* "Blast it... what did she mean its father?"

Arvandra the herbalist looks at the room and the woman. "Likely she was just robbed of her own unborn child, untimely ripped from her own womb! The books of magic, the smells, I'd guess this was human sacrifice. Bron! We must find the child!"

The Trapper doesn't miss a beat, however, and runs back to where the attic rope hangs from the ceiling.

"Oy, lads! Someone's in the attic! Plaster fell from above while we was stopping that woman. Let's go!"

He yanks the cord, but it fully expecting whoever is waiting above to shoot an arrow or throw a knife.

Lady Amalthea, kind-hearted yet simple elven lass that she is, calls up sweetly. "Hello there? Whoever you are, please come down. We're here to save people! Someone's been stealing babies. Do you know what happened? We're from the village, we're here to help!"

[Raven_Crowking]

When the trapdoor is opened, a loud, rushed stomping noise, as of two elephants, rushes towards the east. As the trapdoor opens, the attached wooden ladder comes down, giving you access if you desire.

[MrHemlocks]

Balin looks at Abram Cove, Bill and Pratel. "Let's get the hell out of here!" Leaving the strangely darkened room Balin and Pratel stop once within the hallway. Pratel shouts out. "We heading back up to meet with the others. Sorry guys but our numbers are too few and the dangers underground are far too many! You all coming?"

[GlassEye]

ABOVE: Badr Balik is horrified over killing the woman and steps out into the hallway. "She was crazed. It was a mercy." And considering what he's seen in the house so far he might actually manage to convince himself that it is true. Badr looks up at the ceiling as the heavy tromping continues. "I'm not sure you can reason with things here, Lady."

BELOW: Abram Cove is tempted, sorely tempted, by the onyx cup and pauses just within the doorway. He looks around to see if there are any other exits from the room. And the strange image keeps drawing his eye. "Coming," he says to Balin though he hesitates a moment...

Question: Is the image a carving or painting or something manifesting...?

[Raven_Crowking]

There are no other obvious exits. The image appears to be carved from stone.

[fireinthedust]

ABOVE: Bron recovers himself, and quickly takes his sword and heads out of the room, following the trapper.

The Trapper leaps up the steps, looking towards the east and the source of the sounds as he runs up. Bron is shortly after him.

Lady Amalthea also heads up, curious about where the others are heading.

Arvandra clucks her old tongue, then reaches down to close the poor woman's eyes in death. She takes a moment to look around this bloody room, knowing that racing up stairs is not the thing for an old herbalist woman!