Chapter 2: Voices in the Dark

The creature shouts in pain, a very human cry, when Crow's strike finds its mark. With a growl, the thing draws a bottle from its belt and consumes the contents. Instantly, its wounds begin to heal. In addition, it continues to burn.

STATUS
Crow (AC 19, 20/20 hit points)
Trig (AC 14, 11/17 hit points)
Tom (AC 13, 12/12 hit points)
Killi (AC 12, 10/10 hit points)
Thing (AC 15, -22 hit points)

The beast-man strikes with its tail again at Crow as he moves, but the agile thief dodges the blow easily. Crow misses the blow with his rapier, but his sap finds its mark, bringing the thing down! Seeing the creature fall, Trig stays her bolt. STATUS
Crow (AC 19, 20/20 hit points)
Trig (AC 14, 11/17 hit points)
Tom (AC 13, 12/12 hit points)
Killi (AC 12, 10/10 hit points)
Thing (AC 15, -29 hit points (7 nonlethal))

You are in what appears to be a bedroom, well-furnished and well-kept. Against the south wall is a neatly-made bed with a wooden chest at the foot. To the north is a sprawling hearth, flanked by bookshelves with several volumes. Before the fireplace is a desk and chair, and a lantern sits on the desk, shining too brightly to be natural. A search of the creature itself reveals three potions and a ring of five keys. You do not find anything that the thing could easily be stuffed in, unfortunately.

How large is the chest?

We can either stuff him in the chest (if he'll fit) or roll him up in blankets and then tie them around him (we could do the same with a rug, if there is one - rugs tend to be more durable).

As you look around, you find that his scorpion's tail crumbles to dust after a few moments, leaving a normal human male before you. He can be fit into the chest with some effort (it would be easier if he were dismembered). There is no rug, but you do have blankets.

He yet lives. Your last attack was non-lethal, but it dropped him to 0 hit points (actually like -2 or something), so he is merely unconscious. In rifling through his papers and books, you find what appears to be a spellbook. The rest of the papers describe various things:

a) Ledgers and accounting for the day-to-day operations of the lair
b) Notes and scribbles on summoning something, though the papers aren't quite clear on what, exactly
c) Several notes to someone named Kalik about a variety of topics, including recruiting, supplies, and the like, from someone named Arestina
d) Time schedules, apparently showing who is supposed to be on guard duty and who is out of the lair

The unconscious man offers no resistance to being subdued. A quick examination of the time schedule provides the following names: Arestina, Kalik, Sheril, Preston, Bellan, Strif, Salvatore, Drumas, Merith, Portious, and Miquel.