Re: To the 'Town' on the Hill

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Sep 29, 2018 3:21 pm

"I still don't think this fog is natural," Aeris murmured uneasily, looking around.

Zoltan walked right up to the door and looked at it. The door had no lock, and when he tried it, it opened easily under his fingers.

"In we go," he said, pushing it open wider and stepping inside.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Sep 29, 2018 3:30 pm

The moment the group stepped in they found themselves in a 35 by 20 feet room that was devoid of furniture. Judging by the marble flooring the room was probably used as a greeting room and maybe even as a place for a small party to take place. If there had been a table in here, it might have been long gone, or perhaps they were one of those families that had a collapsible tables that gnomes and master woodcarvers could make. Good for minor noble families who wanted to create the illusion of having more space than they actually had.

Whatever the case, very low light came through the windows due to the fog. The party as a whole could barely make out the eight candles still on their wall holders lining the room, and the set of stairs to their left. Those with darkvision could see all of this clearly including the door on their right and the door in front of them.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Sep 29, 2018 3:47 pm

"Aeris, ligh' the candles, if ye will," Zoltan said quietly, his hands still gripping his greataxe tightly.

Aeris used prestidigitation to light the candles in the room.

"Upstairs, forwar', or righ'?" Zoltan asked the group, looking for direction.

Suddenly Aeris noticed that the candles were moving. "Better wait to move forward," she murmured. "Something strange is happening here ... the candles are moving!"

It wasn't a spell or anything invisible that she could tell, but that didn't tell her enough. They might be constructs of some kind, but whatever they were, they were animated.

She pulled her daggers out, preparing to defend herself if she had to.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Sep 29, 2018 4:04 pm

The candles began to float off their candle holders and surround the party, their lights burning dimly and casting a soft glow that lit up the area around them for 10 feet. Reed tried to edge away from the one closest to him without actually moving, he could feel the heat from the candles and that was making them nervous.

It was then Risa realized what it was they were seeing, "They're undead, and territorial!"

Which meant that they would attack and Risa got out her sword since they were in close quarters.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Sep 29, 2018 4:11 pm

"Undead candles!?" Aeris cried in disbelief.

Daggers in hand, she turned and swiped at the candle that was between her and the wall. Whoosh! It dodged out of the way of the first one, which threw Aeris off balance enough that her second swing missed as well.

She moved away from the candles to get some distance between herself and them, ducking towards the southwestern corner of the room.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Sep 29, 2018 4:24 pm

Reed whirled around and stabbed the candle that Aeris tried to take down. It created a hole in it that he could see through but it still floated around. Said candle tried to get back at him but he managed to dodge out of the way before he got hit by the fire on it's wick.

One of the candles near Zoltan headbutt him on his shoulder and left a nasty burn from the fire.

Risa had also tried to dodge one of the candles, but it too got her in the chest and left a nasty burn where her armor didn't cover to protect her.

Another candle made it's way towards Aeris and tried to strike her but didn't manage to catch her at all.

Risa gripped both hands onto her long sword and swung at the candle that had attacked her. She cleaved it in two, the fire went out and it dropped to the ground as if it hadn't been alive in the first place.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Sep 29, 2018 5:57 pm

Zoltan swung with his greataxe at the candle next to him, slicing it down the middle. The flame went out, and it fell to the ground.

Aeris slashed with her two daggers at the candle that had followed her into the corner. The flame went out, and it fell to the ground, motionless.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Sep 29, 2018 6:26 pm

Reed tried stab the candle again, but he didn't have as much luck as last time. Not a surprise, it was a small thing and easily moved out of the way. Though at least he managed to get out of the way of it's attack again, which was a good thing, he didn't fancy getting burned.

The candles moved to attack again, including one separating from the group to attack Aeris. Another candle (a different one since Zoltan had killed the one that attacked him), attacked Zoltan with another burn from it's fire. Once more Risa took more damage, but from a different candle this time. She grimaced at the burns along her chest and arms.

The candle that left to try and attack Aeris didn't manage to get her at all. It just missed her completely.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Sep 29, 2018 6:44 pm

Zoltan was taking quite a bit of damage, and his world turned red again as he felt himself fill with rage. He swung at the candle that was closest to his line of sight, the one just southeast of him, and sliced it to the ground as he had done with the others.

Aeris was getting quite good use out of her daggers, as she attacked the one right next to her, slicing it as well and sending it, dark, to the floor.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Sep 29, 2018 6:51 pm

They were slowly getting there and Reed breath as he stabbed another candle and put a hole through it. Once more there was a hole the candle that he attacked but it was still floating, if barely there.

This time none of the candles move to attack Aeris, instead they stayed where they were to attack the three adventurers, each taking a turn. Reed once more tried to move out the way but still got a slight burn for his troubles. One of the candles once more seemed to do a full body tackle on Zoltan giving him more burns, and Risa only barely dodged the one that attacked. her.

Risa attacked it back but only sliced off a small portion of the candle.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Sep 29, 2018 7:01 pm

Zoltan swung at the candle nearest him, but he missed it.

Aeris ran closer to the fray, coming up behind the furthest east candle, and slashed at it with her daggers again. The first one hit, taking a small chunk out of the candle, but it was still floating and lit.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Sep 29, 2018 7:06 pm

Reed thrust his sword forward again, putting a second hole into the candle, it appeared that was too much for it and it fell to the ground with its light snuffed out.

That thankfully left only two candles in the room, the one that had been attacking Zoltan had it's attention taken by Aeris instead now. Though it didn't manage to get her as good as it got Zoltan, and Aeris casted Shield to prevent it from hitting. As a result it bounced off her magical shield anyways.

Risa managed to dodge the candle she was fighting and taking her long sword ended up only swiping air.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Sep 29, 2018 8:09 pm

Zoltan turned to the one on the other side of him and swung at it with his greataxe, slicing it in half and extinguishing its flame.

That left only one, and Aeris swiped at it with her daggers yet again. Her first swing missed, but the second one connected. There was a hiss as the flame went out, and the candle hit the floor, leaving them once more in only dim light.

There was a moment of quiet, and then Aeris murmured, "I think I'm going to not light things on fire anymore, no matter how much sense it should make."

Zoltan dropped his greataxe, his rage falling away as well.

"Don' know abou' any o' ye," he murmured, "bu' I coul' use a rest, if no one minds. Jes' a short'n."

He was not doing very well at the moment.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Sep 29, 2018 8:25 pm

Reed looked around, as far as he could tell, there didn't seem to be anything else. He nodded after a moment.

"Let's take a rest," he replied as he went through his pack for his flute.

After their rest, he would take another look at them all and see how they were doing. If they were going to go further into this place, they would need to.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Sep 29, 2018 9:07 pm

They rested for a while, tending to their wounds, and when they felt they were ready, they all got back to their feet again.

"I think we should check these doors and clear the first floor before going upstairs," Aeris suggested, looking around. "Perhaps we could start with this door?"

She indicated the door on the southern side of the room.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Sep 30, 2018 12:43 pm

"Sounds like a good plan," Risa replied as she carefully drew a box to represent the room they were in, "We don't even know the layout of this place."

So it might be wiser for them to clear the first floor and see what they would find.

"Agreed," Reed nodded.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Sep 30, 2018 1:57 pm

Zoltan slung his bag onto his back and moved to the door in the south wall of the room.

"Be ready, everyone," he growled, giving it a try. The door swung open slowly under his touch. It was a small sitting room, with sunlight streaming in through a large window. There were some couches, but nothing else, not even candles.

"Looks clear," he told the others, looking back at them. "Let's search it."

by **Kara Winters** Sun Sep 30, 2018 2:03 pm

Risa peered over Zoltan's shoulder curiously, "It's not very big..."

Not that she had ever seen a proper sitting room before, but at 10 by 20 feet, it wasn't as large as one would think a sitting room would be. However, this was the home of a minor lord, so maybe that was to be expected.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:56 pm

"Well, I'm sure it's big enou' te hide a magical thing," Zoltan replied, entering the room. He began to search, looking under the couches, between and under the cushions, in the corners, everywhere he could think.

Since it was a small room, Aeris stayed out in the main room, watching and listening for anything else that might try to sneak up on them.

by **Kara Winters** Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:02 pm

There didn't seem to be anything dangerous or of interest in the room. The couches were of good quality, made of very soft leather, though it was cracking due to neglect. There was some embroidery tools here suggesting the lady of the house may have come here often to do needle work, perhaps even with friends.

Nothing of value, not unless he wanted to take the picture off the wall, and that picture was also damaged from the neglect of this place. Also it was high up, and bigger than him.

by **Nara-pyon** Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:18 pm

It was only a few minutes before Zoltan emerged from the room without having taken anything.

"Nothin' worth takin'," he told the others. He gestured towards the door in the eastern wall. "Shall we?"

Aeris nodded. "Maybe we should check and make sure nothing is going to happen when we open it," she suggested, hesitant to interfere with things in the room after what had happened with the candles. She checked it over, but there didn't seem be be anything odd about it. When she felt confident, she opened it and stepped forward.

by **Kara Winters** Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:42 pm

The door led to a hallway that was dark due to the lack of windows. There did seem to be a bit of light coming from the an open doorway in the north of the building, but considering how foggy it was outside, it wasn't much light. Without darkvision anyone peering through would be able to see very little in the dark.

"We can only fit one at a time in there," Risa commented as she tried to peer over Aeris' arm.

by **Nara-pyon** Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:46 pm

"I can't see much, and I don't want to use fire again," Aeris said, backing up slightly.

Zoltan stepped forward. "I'll take a look," he said. He had abandoned his greataxe, and now had two handaxes in his hands. He stepped into the next room and looked around.

by **Kara Winters** Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:53 pm

Zoltan can see there are two open doorways, one to the north and one to the south. They seem to be doorless, and the one to the north has a bit of light shining through but not much. At the end of the hallway is another eastern door. Unlike the main room, this place is devoid of candles. He can also make out the layers of spider web covering the the floor and ceiling, it is going to be unpleasant to walk through.

The hallway, as Risa had stated can only fit one person at a time, the group would need to go single file down this hallway.

by **Nara-pyon** Tue Oct 02, 2018 10:17 pm

"This is ridiculous," Aeris muttered to herself. She pulled a torch from her bag and prestidigitated it alight, hoping to see more.

Zoltan stepped into the room to the north to look around. It looked like a small kitchen. At least, that's what it looked like to him, though he couldn't see the fireplace that would have been used for cooking.

When he looked up, he spotted a giant wolf spider on the ceiling. He didn't relish the idea of being attacked from behind at any point, so he did what his instincts told him to do.

He attacked.

"Spider!" he growled to the others, throwing both of his handaxes at the spider, one after the other. Both axes sunk into the spider's torso, spattering blood on the ceiling and dripping to the floor, but Zoltan could see a leg twitching - it was still alive.

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