The party wakes up in the midst of the castle. Rested, refreshed, and as for Lucille and her grimoire, receiving greater inspiration from her patron whose point of contact with the Warlock was within the blood rest text of her grimoire. She could hear his dark whispers as she read, keeping to the corner of the room, avoiding making eye contact with her compatriots for fear of unnerving them as rivulets of crimson energy filled her eyes for the briefest of moments as she gained access to more spells.
Branwell had a similar experience of gaining spiritual enlightenment through meditation, although his experience was calmer and filled with radiant greens and yellows rather than the hellish reds and abyssal purples as Pangborn experienced.
With the party rested, they leave the room and continue north, moving fifty feet and coming to a fork. They struck out for the northeast to Room #12, the northeast turret. Besides the arrow slits, the room appeared empty. The party takes a moment to search and comes up with nothing.
Striking to the west, the party reaches the door at Room #13. Messalina performs a check: 21 - No traps, no locks. The party finds the room has a storage ledge, but is otherwise empty. The party heads to Room #15. Messalina check: 4 - No traps, no locks, but her search is noisy and alerts whatever is on the other side.
Warwick Perception: 7 - Surprised.
Surprise Round
Bandit #1 fires a crossbow at Warwick. Attk: 14 - Miss. He drops his crossbow and draws a shortsword.
Bandit #1 fires a crossbow at Warwick. Attk: 14 - Miss. He drops his crossbow and draws a shortsword.
Bandit #2 fires a crossbow at Warwick. Attk: 10 - Miss. The bandit drops his crossbow and draws a shortsword.
The Bandit Chief draws his sword and steps out in a guarded stance.
Party: 16
GM: 9
Warwick moves to the Bandit Chief and attacks: 14 - Miss
Topace moves in and advances on Bandit #1 with a Warhammer. Attk: 13 - Hit. D: 4. Bandit HP: 7/11
Lucille moves in and from behind Warwick and Topace, she casts Chill Touch on Bandit #2. Attk: 13 - Hit. D: 3. Bandit #2 HP: 8/11
Branwell moves into the room and advances on Bandit #2. He attacks with his Gnome Hooked-Hammer. Attk: 19 - Hit. D: 4. Bandit #2 HP: 4/11
Messalina moves in and draws her Hand Crossbow for the next round.
Bandit #1 attacks Topace w/ Short Sword. Attk: 20 - Hit. D: 6. Topace HP: 16/22
Bandit #2 attacks Branwell. Attk: 7 - Miss
Leader attacks Warwick. Attk: 12 - Miss
Round #2
Warwick tosses his shield and attacks the Bandit Leader. Attk: 16 - Miss
Warwick tosses his shield and attacks the Bandit Leader. Attk: 16 - Miss
Topace attacks Bandit #1 w/ Warhammer. Attk: 22 - Hit. D: 4. Bandit #1 HP: 3/11
Lucille casts Chill Touch on Bandit #2. Attk: 14 - Hit. D: 8. Bandit #2 HP: 0/11 - Slain
Branwell casts Sacred Flame on Bandit Leader. Leader Save: 6 - Failure. D: 2. Bandit Leader: 55/57
Messalina moves around the room and targets Bandit #1 with a Sneak Attack! Attk: 20 - Hit. D: 16. Bandit #1 HP: 0/11 - Slain
The Bandit Chief looks back at his fallen comrades and curses the party. “My men! You’ve slaughtered my men!” He Disengages and charges towards the window, crashing through it towards the moat with an Athletics check for a safe landing. Result: 16 - Success. He takes only superficial cuts from the window, but lands safely in the moat below.
---
Warwick blinked in surprise that a man would run from a duel. He noted sourly: “He’ll be back when we least expect it.”
“They brought a mule into this keep,” Messalina pointed out after the situation called. She used her thumb to point out the mule that was trembling against the wall.
“Do we leave it here? Seems awfully cramped,” Branwell frowned, he hated to see the poor beast looking so scared. The mule was otherwise unharmed, the bandits had taken care of it fairly well.
"I’ll take it into one of the turrets to give it more space and sunlight,” Warwick said before approaching the mule with his hand out, a few steps shy of the beast, he reached into his packet for a piece of fruit to offer as food. Animal Handling: 21 - Success. The mule takes the fruit and nuzzles his hand. Warwick gently unties the creatures reins and leads it out of the castle room and down the hall into the turret (Room #12)
---
---
Q: Is Demelza lurking around?
A: Yes, and she meets Warwick in the open chamber of the turret.
A: Yes, and she meets Warwick in the open chamber of the turret.
---
"The bandits in the other room had the beast with them. One of them escaped after they had tried to attack us."
"Like the other residents, I avoided contact with the bandits," Demelza said, sensing suspicion in Warwick's tone and his looks, "They appeared rough, but they always avoided me out of fear of what I could do."
"You've got that strong of a connection to the Wheel, huh?" Warwick sounded skeptical, although Demelza certainly had an imperious gaze that made him pause in his step when her eyes flicked over him. She said, "Do you wish for me to care for this beast while you continue your work?"
"I would appreciate it," Warwick replied before giving the mule a small wave goodbye and patting Demelza's shoulder as a thank-you for taking care of the animal. She must have liked him, Warwick mused, she let him touch her shoulder.
---
The party meets back in the hall near room #15 and moves to the immediate south. Messalina begins by checking the door for traps in front of Room #16. Messalina Investigation: 7 - No traps, not locked, not very subtle. Messalina uses her Cunning Action to try and quietly open the door into the room.
Stealth: 21 - Success. Her initial check may have noisily jiggled the handle, but her actual entrance into the room was quieter. She spotted three kobolds lounging on the bed, smoking from and napping to escape the few beams of sunlight on a cloudy day. Messalina blinks and speaks in Goblin tongue to try and get their attention.
Diplomacy: 10 - Indifferent
One of the Kobolds sat in a molded overstuffed and wearing simple clothes looked Messalina over. “What do you want?”
“This is an eviction notice,” Messalina said, “New owner has taken this castle, and we're here to clean you out one way or another.”
“Why should we leave?” the sitting kobold, Urko the Engineer, asked.
“Because I am the adventurers outside this door telling you to go,” Messalina said. She gritted her teeth. She recalled the other items that bandits had found, including six sacks containing 500 sp in each bag. She decided to dip into those purse strings and said, “How about fifty silver a man gets you moving?”
“You have that kind of silver?” One of the kobolds on the bed brightened up.
“Is this all you do is lay around in this bedroom?” Messalina asked.
“We raid sometimes,” Urko said, “Me and my brothers have been raiding like the others in this castle.”
“Well we can offer you 50 sp each if you start making it towards the door.”
“How much silver do you have?” One of the kobolds said.
“Enough to offer you 50 each,” Messalina felt she was at the end of her patience. Her fingers started to twitch towards the grip of her hand crossbow.
“How about 100 each for our cooperation?”
“You’re about to make peace with your ancestors if you try to hold out for more,” Messalina growled.
---
Messalina tries Intimidate: 21 - The kobolds look over and see both Topace and Warwick waiting on the wings and decide to take the deal. 50 sp to leave the castle.
50 x 3 = 150 sp
---
Bandit Treasure
3,000 SP - 150 = 2,850 sp
Six Gems in an ornate box:
X1 Ruby (200 gp)
X3 Garnets (100 gp each)
X2 Smoky Quartz (10 gp each)
---
Messalina breaks up the silver and gives the kobolds their cut.
“I wish there were more monsters rather than just squatters to deal with.”
“Is that the policy of all your clan to clench each and every coin?” Branwell asked.
“As if it were a child,” Messalina said, “Well, at least just value every coin as we came from pennies, thus our name.” Messalina gave Branwell a look and clarified, certain the Gnome had forgotten,
“Pennyweight. My last name is Pennyweight, Branwell.”
“I knew that,” Branwell said, raising his hands under gaze, “I knew that.”
---
The party moves to check Room #14. Although it may feel foolish to keep up with the policy of letting Messalina check the door first, it was a discipline. Any door could be that door that is trapped. Messalina investigates: 5 - No traps, no locks… Messalina opens the door and looks into a room with a single unoccupied bed. She is the first to walk in while danger waits above.
---
A giant crab spider is also in the room, clinging to the ceiling. It makes a Stealth roll versus Messalina and Warwick’s Passive Stealth to get the drop. Stealth: 13 vs. Passive Perception Results: 13 (Messalina) / 11 (Warwick) - It meets or beats results, the Spider acts with surprise.
---
Crab Spider fires a web at Messalina. Attk: 23 - Hit. Messalina is restrained as the spider climbs down to grab her. It immediately turns to face an armed Warwick Lancaster.
Round #1 Initiative
Player: 15
GM: 3
Warwick charges at the Spider and Attacks. Attk: 14 - Hit. D: 5. Spider HP: 21/26
Topace moves in and breathes on Spider w/ Acid Breath. Spider Save: 9 - Failure. D: 6. Spider HP: 15/26. Breath Remaining: 0/1
Lucille moves in and casts Chill Touch on Spider. Attk: 21 - Hit. D: 7. Spider HP: 14/26
Branwell moves in and casts Sacred Flame rather than try to bunch up on the spider. Spider Save: 6 - Failure. D: 6. Spider HP: 8/26
Messalina tries to make an escape artist check: 10 vs. 12 - Failure.
Crab Spider attacks Warwick w/ Bite. Attk: 15 - Miss. Web Recharge (5+): 3 - No Recharge
Round #2
Warwick attacks Spider w/ Greatsword. Attk: 15 - Hit. D: 7. Spider HP: 1/26
Topace attacks Spider w/ Warhammer. Attk: 19 - Hit. D: 9. Spider HP: 0/26 - Slain
---
Branwell helps clean some of the webbing out of Messalina’s clothing while the party looks over the dead crab spider. Unlike the bandit’s hoard or the goblin treasures, the spider had nothing to speak of. The bed would need to be cleaned due to age and when looking closer, a fine layer of spider webbing was smeared across the top of the covers.
Topace attacks Spider w/ Warhammer. Attk: 19 - Hit. D: 9. Spider HP: 0/26 - Slain
---
Branwell helps clean some of the webbing out of Messalina’s clothing while the party looks over the dead crab spider. Unlike the bandit’s hoard or the goblin treasures, the spider had nothing to speak of. The bed would need to be cleaned due to age and when looking closer, a fine layer of spider webbing was smeared across the top of the covers.
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