As soon as the party reached the bottom of the stairs, the door from the scullery opened and three men began walking into the room. One of the men from the back was chatting with his friends, hoping that they could get a chance to spook ‘Fitzy’. They stop short when they see the party staring at them.
Leonidas Intimidation: 22 - Hard+ Success.
“Drop your weapons and surrender if you want to walk away from this alive,” Leonidas barked at the men.
---
Q: Do the men surrender?
A: No, the men try to run back to the warehouse and alert the others.
---
Initiative Round 1
Leonidas: 9
Jaboli: 7
Staniwick: 10
Orlando: 8
Antos: 5
GM: 4
Staniwick casts Armor of Agathys. Slots: ½ Remaining. Temporary HP: 5. As a second action, he uses his focus gem to summon Pipqua, his Imp familiar.
“I see the pact is complete and I’m ready to serve, Master,” Pipqua said, bouncing to and fro with excitement at destruction.
Leonidas charges Smuggler #1 and attacks w/ Greatsword. Attk: 15 - Hit. D: 12. HP: 0/11 - Slain
Orlando casts Blade Ward on Self.
Jaboli shifts to one side and performs a Stealth for Ambush. Stealth: 13 - Success. Ambush w/ Bow. Attk: 24 - Hit. D: 8. Smuggler #2 HP: 3/11
Antos holds action.
Smuggler #2 retreats towards the stairs and starts making his way to the cellar.
Smuggler #3 retreats towards the stairs and starts making his way towards the cellar.
Initiative Round 1
Staniwick: 10
Leonidas: 9
Orlando: 8
Jaboli: 7
Antos: 5
GM: 4
Staniwick holds his action and lets Leonidas go first.
Leonidas rushes forward and gets in range of Smuggler #3 who is blocked by Smuggler #2 going down the stairs. Attack: 15 - Hit. D: 10. Smuggler #3 HP: 1/11
Orlando follows into the room stabs between the stair spindles at Smuggler #2. Attk: 13 - Hit. D: 6. Smuggler #2 HP: 0/11 - Slain
Staniwick and Pipqua move in. Staniwick casts Eldritch Blast through the spindles at Smuggler #3. Attk: 9 - Miss. Blast hits one of the spindles instead, shattering the object.
Jaboli makes a running jump and tries to strike Smuggler #3 with the ball of her foot in a flying kick. Attk: 15 - Hit. D: 4 - Smuggler #3 HP: 1/11. Non-lethal. Unconscious for 1d6+1 (4) hours.
---
The Smuggler was laid out cold from a flying kick that caught him on the cheek. The party looks down at him and then to the stairs leading to the basement below.
“There is still an upper wing we haven’t investigated,” Staniwick noted.
“I think we’re very close to the sinister secret of this house,” Orlando countered.
“Let’s go down. Brother Antos,” Leonidas held up his sword.
---
Antos casts Continual Flame (2nd Slot: ½ Remaining) that causes Leonidas' sword to glow with harmless flames, as bright as a torch. The party descends to the cellar below.
---
The party moves down ten feet and reaches the bottom of the stairs. On the west and north side of the room (Left and Up) are empty racks made for wine bottles while a set of crates are immediately to the south. At the southwall is a hearth and lying before the hearth is the cold body of an adventurer who had visited the house previously. An ominous sign, had the party not already bumped into several smugglers. Jaboli looks over the body. Her Passive Perception: 16 warns her that there is something off about the body. A single nudge causes several lines of squirming white lines to blossom from holes in the armor. Studying it for a moment, Jaboli recognizes it as rot grubs.
“Toss some oil and a flame. Fire is the only thing that will deal with them,” Jaboli said.
“I hate crawlies,” Staniwick made a face at the mass and moved as far as away as he could from the body. He might have dealt with the forces infernal as a Warlock, but Staniwick could do without creepy crawlies on his traveling clothing.
Jaboli poured the oil and Antos struck the torch, tossing it on the pile which quickly burned through the squirming grubs.
Q: Does all the commotion alert the guard on the other side of the secret door?
A: Yes, but he thinks it’s the other smugglers wandering around upstairs
Part of the back ‘wall’ detaches, becoming a secret door that ‘Cook’ the bandit who was scrubbing the dishes used to get into the basement. He was expecting the trio of bandits who were looking for FitzMaldred and his friend to be in the room. He was surprised when he saw a body on fire with a catfolk standing over the corpse, a couple of humans, and a gnome keeping his distance from the conflagration. Several eyes turned to him.
“What are… you lot doing here?” Cook asked.
Initiative Round #1
Leonidas: 7
Jaboli: 24
Staniwick: 5
Orlando: 18
Antos: 20
GM: 10
Jaboli charges and performs a flying kick on Cook. Attk: Natural 1 - Cook ducks and Jaboli flies past him, landing with a hard thud to the ground. 1d4 Damage: 2. Jaboli HP: 21/23
Antos moves up and uses a shield bash on Cook. Attk: 10 - Miss
Orlando attempts to Persuade to get the man to surrender by holding up his Rapier. “You can get out of this unharmed if you just put your hands up now.” Persuade: 20 vs. 12 - Cook puts up his hands and surrenders to Orlando’s rapier point.
The rest of the party follows through as combat settles down. Under guard, Cook leads the party into the main hideout of the Devil’s Due criminal organization. The smugglers who are behind the sinister secret at Saltmarsh.
To be continued...
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