VIII. The Witch Towner - Second Trip

[dmw71]

Assuming someone lends Ingroc a torch, he sets out on his own to check on the status of the burning pit.

Back outside the seemingly haunted cell, Sparrow searches around on the floor outside of the cells looking for signs of recent passage through this area and, aside from the tracks they've made themselves, is unable to discover anything -- the area does not appear to have been used or visited in quite some time.

Before even entering the cell, Ciar wedges open the cell door using his small piton. Once the halfling is confident the door is secure, he steps inside and begins to examine the walls for graffiti or writing, finding none. When prodding the two rotting beds with his sword fails to produce any centipedes or other threats, he looks at them more carefully. After the beds produce nothing, he moves to inspect the back wall of the cell and, after a minute or two, manages to find a not-so-well concealed door. Much like the last secret door, this one also contains a simple notch that appears to be able to slide up and down, and is currently in the down position.

[AleBelly]

"Let's save this for tomorrow. I'm out of useful spells, and I'm not sure what our short magic friend here has left. Let's burn off the slime and come back for this tomorrow…" suggests Sylvan, keeping his face hidden from any light sources.

[onlyme]

Fulp agrees. Better rest that intended second night.

also... He turns off his lantern if he did turn ut on from an earlier post.

[Alethan]

Ciar stops just as he's about to open the door and let's his hand drop to his side."Yeah, sure."

After everyone has left the cell room, he retrieves his piton and follows the others to the slime.

[dmw71]

It takes the group several minutes to collect their belongings and back track to the pit of slime. As the pass through the secret door in the torture room and begin their trip down the long southern passageway, they see Ingroc standing near the corner. As they approach, the the putrid scent permeating in the hallway is the first indicator that the affects of the burning acid are still strong. Ingroc informs them that, around the corner, a good amount of smoke lingers, and a smoldering fire is still lightly burning inside the pit itself.

After an hour, the area is still not safe.

[thirdkingdom]

Ingroc the Impavid

"Let us continue with our original plan, and resume the search of the main hall and adjoining cells in the two groups as previously discussed. We can check back in another hour or so."

[Alethan]

Ciar returns to the main hall and continues his exploration until the allotted time has passed. He checks the insides of the cells, using his piton to prop the door open before entering each cell and removing the piton when he is done searching it.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sparrow follows Ciar to the cells and helps with the searching.

I haven't seen any signs of others being down here anywhere. Looks like we are the first people that have been in here for quite some time. Maybe we should have questioned that imp more?

[Alethan]

Ciar shrugs, "Would have been nice, if we hadn't had to kill it. Damned hotheaded dwarf... DEATH isn't always the answer. He still owes me three coppers, too! Don't think I've forgotten that loan to get past those bullywogs."

[OGRE MAGE]

Sparrow smiles at the halflings words.

He was a bit surly, even for a dwarf, but it doesn't matter anymore now. The things dead and Festus is gone. Perhaps we will find something to explain all this if we keep looking around? It seems like we got more time to kill anyway. Let's just keep searching for now and check the status of the fire once in a while.

[dmw71]

Over the course of the next hour, the party, in its two search groups, is able to check the hallways and empty cells leading from the haunted central chamber back up to the "main" west passage. All searches, from the haunted chamber to the hallways themselves and all previously passed chambers, fail to return anything new.

Hour 2.png (40.89 KiB) Viewed 691 times

Having met Ingroc's two-hour time limit on searches, the group returns to the flaming slime pit. The stench is less, and the smoke almost cleared, but it's debatable whether or not the area is safe for any prolonged exposure.

Note, I filled any cell in the attached map that was searched green, and changed its font color to white. All hallways neighboring these cells, while not colored or marked in some way, have been searched as well.

[Alethan]

Ciar tries to get a look at the bottom of the pit, to see if anything can be found there. If he can't see anything, then he'll resume checking the walls, starting with the area south and east of where they found the first hidden door.

[AleBelly]

Sylvan pulls the sleeve of his cloak up over his nose and mouth and coughs softly.

[dmw71]

Ciar bravely makes his way around the corner and, facing the mostly missing passageway heading west, he peers into the pit of slime opposite the narrow ledge. While the level of slime has decreased significantly, the bottom of the pit can not yet be seen. The slime which does remain continues to bubble and pop as it burns more slowly than before. Regardless of the rate of burn, the slime emits a foul stench and produces a heavy, dark smoke.

Deeming the area to remain unsafe, Ciar and the rest of the group split back into the two search parties and continue their investigation of the area. It takes about an hour, but the group is able to safely explore the remaining empty cells and the walls of the passageway west of the entrance without producing anything new.

Hour3.png (18.1 KiB) Viewed 678 times

With a third hour having passed while the searching was being conducted, the group returns to the pit of burning goo and discovers that, while it hasn't been completely eliminated, areas of the pit floor are beginning to reveal themselves beneath the green mess, and both the foul odor and smoke production has been drastically reduced as well.

[Alethan]

Covering his nose with his sleeve, Ciar once again attempts to search the bottom of the pit for anything useful.

Muffled by his shirt, he says, "When we light the rest of the slime, we should just leave and call it a night and come back in the 'morrow after it's burned off."

[AleBelly]

"Indeed, Ciar. I've had enough of these fumes."

[Storm11]

Kassel agrees to the plan.

[thirdkingdom]

Ingroc the Impavid

"Do not forget there are two areas of slime to address. It would be foolish to leave before addressing both sections. How much Greek fire do we have left? If I am not mistaken, even though I urged that we pool our resources and purchase multiple flasks, only one person had the wisdom to purchase an additional flask."

Not sure if we can set fire to both areas with only one flask of naptha and the rest normal oil.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sparrow also has his shirt up over his mouth and nose. He opens his pack revealing 5 more flasks of normal oil. He nods his head rapidly at the decision to burn and leave.

Mmmm hmmmm. Mmmm hmmm.

[dmw71]

Okay, guys, anyone object to my just ruling that the group is able to simply eliminate the slime during this trip? The group can return to town for the night, make any end-of-day requests, then prepare for a fresh start tomorrow (in game).