Against the Cult: Getting Away with It (1.8a)

Carrying the mangled body of the torture victim between them, Myrtha and Reptile loped to the west in the starlight. Lit lanterns bobbed toward the barn to the north and south, but their progress was swift and no one saw or heard them. Their goal was the trees at the edge of the finger of the Dim Forest that extended down toward Ramne's grove. Theran followed a moment later, passing them quickly as he was moving without such an awkward load. The druid reached the treeline and scouted ahead in the undergrowth. He would have to help them navigate, he realized, as they would be nearly blind in the darkness. He looked back; they were almost to the trees, and no one was looking their way. So far, so good.

Theran got turned around under the trees and couldn't find a path. But then there was a rustling in the undergrowth and the druid tensed in anticipation of an attack...but instead of a monster, it was Whiskers who scurried out from the bushes. The weasel sat up, chittered softly at the three characters, and then scampered a few feet. It stopped, looked back expectantly, and then jerked its head. It was clear that it wanted to be followed.

---

Myrtha (12/12)
Reptile (7/15)
Theran (13/13)

Whiskers scampers forward, and leads the group onto a small game trail. It wends its way through the woods. As the group continues with the mutilated body, they can faintly hear a raised voice in the distance; someone is speaking loudly back in the direction of the abandoned farm. Most of it is inaudible, but they hear bits and pieces: "...evidence...obvious...blame...strangers...murdered...secret..." It's clear that, whatever is happening back there, the mob is making enough noise that no one is hearing the clanking of gear of these three Dungeon Busters sneaking through the woods. The voice dies down, and they can hear nothing more.

They continue for a few minutes through the woods, Theran following the weasel and whispering directions to his two human companions as they stumble through the darkness. Then the path opens out into a wider open area without trees so that the canopy is not blocking the starlight. Myrtha and Reptile breathe sighs of relief and shift their grips on their load; carrying a dead body while stumbling around completely blind was not an experience they care to repeat. After a moment, Myrtha realizes they're at the grove where she first met the hermit Ramne; there's no sign of the man now. The faint silver light reveals a clearing containing a ramshackle structure made of salvaged and found materials: broken barrels, fallen branches, bits of canvas tarpaulin, etc. Arranged neatly around it are several tidy garden patches. Neither Theran nor Reptile have been here before now. Whiskers stops and looks expectantly at the group; Theran has the distinct impression that the beast wants some food. But then Whiskers starts as if something prodded her, and the weasel slinks into undulating motion again, leading across the glade to the entrance of a south-eastern path. She stops and looks back at the group, waiting to see whether they will follow.

Satisfied that the others are still following her, Whiskers scampers down the path, winding through the trees. After a couple more minutes, the path opens into a more-familiar sight: Orlane's north-south road, pale in the starlight. Looking left, the Dungeon Busters can see the light of the Inn of the Slumbering Serpent shining through a few trees on the other side of the road, and the road continues north, ultimately leading to the abandoned farm where Aanbo and Chase are facing the concerned gang. You can see faint pinpricks of light in the distance, flickering through the bushes and trees: probably the lanterns of the crowd.

To the right, you can see the rise of the stone bridge to the south of you and hear the burbling of the Realstream River as it flows around the pilings. That way leads back to the Golden Grain Inn and Cecily's Road.

As soon as Myrtha and Reptile start heading south, Whiskers scampers along with them, and is the first one across the stone bridge. In the distance, a dog barks. Up ahead on the left is the barn and, beyond that, the longer shape of the Golden Grain Inn. Reptile can feel his heart beat faster, remembering the gang of customers that attacked him inside the common room. While none of you have been in the barn, Chase did tell you about how it was unoccupied, and Theran knows that the rear door of the Inn - which the group can see ahead of them - leads into the room where Bertram was recuperating. To the right is the farm that the party passed when they first entered Orlane yesterday evening.
The starlight is dim, but bright enough to see the buildings and the street in the night. There is no sign of anyone on the street.

---

Myrtha (12/12)
Reptile (7/15)
Theran (13/13)

Still carrying the body, the three Dungeon Busters approach the rear of the Golden Grain Inn, and the closed door on the left side of the rear wall of the building. Theran notices that there is still smoke coming from one of the chimneys, on the west side of the building: it probably corresponds to the hearth in the common room. That could mean that there are still people in the Inn, or it could mean that they didn't extinguish the fire before they left.

Each of you remembers the door which Theran suggests leads to the cellar; it faces the street. It is the work of just a few moments more to lug the body through the dark to there, but you find that the cellar door is locked. Theran didn't see that as a spider. How do you want to proceed?

Reptile, glancing around as they stand there in the starlight with the limp body dangling between them, looks back and can see a faint glow among the trees on the north side of the river. The arch of the bridge is blocking direct view, but it looks like someone is approaching with a torch or lantern!

The fighter sets down the dead man's legs gently, not out of concern of the body but as to not make a loud noise. In the middle of the night, every sound seems unnaturally loud. Rummaging in her pack, Myrtha chooses a pair of pliers, a center punch, an oiling rag, and a small hammer. Working with the efficiency of long years of using these tools, Myrtha grabs the bent metal pins in the hinges. She twists the ends to straighten them, then uses the center punch and the hammer with a couple of firm taps to remove the pins, using the rag to muffle the blows. With the pins in hand, Myrtha is able to lift the door off of its hinges, swinging it open with the lock still attached. There is a bit of resistance, which she realizes is a bar on the inside of the door...but there's enough give for Myrtha to pull the top of the door toward her. As soon as the door is clear of the jamb, Myrtha straightens her legs, lifting the door up. Luckily, the brackets holding the bar are open at the top, so the board that is being used to bar the door lifts enough to make a gap wide enough for..."Theran...my sword...!" Myrtha hisses softly, her arms straining. Theran draws her sword and sticks the blade in the gap, levering the bar up and out. As the bar comes free, the door swings wide, and between them, Theran and Reptile catch the board so that it doesn't fall, clattering, down the stairs.

Myrtha sets the door down. A set of steep stairs leads down into darkness. Whiskers chitters very lightly, drawing Myrtha's and Theran's attention to the north. Everyone can see the light approaching. Whoever is carrying the light stops for a moment.

The three adventurers see the approaching light silhouetting the stone bridge, exchanges glances, and have a quick whispered exchange about what to do.
Myrtha sets down the door, which leans slightly, held up by the lock. She stuffs her tools and the hinge pins in her pack, grabs the corpse under the arms, and waits until Theran has the legs. Then the two of them hustle the dead body through the doorway down into the darkness. While they are doing all that, Reptile pulls out his lantern, sets it on the top step after they've entered, and then grabs the door, pulling it shut behind him, resting the hinges in place with a soft clunk. Then he feels around for the lantern in the dark, and lights it, pointing the aperture down the stairs. In the indirect light, he finds the board that was used to bar the door and slides it gently back into its brackets. The door will hold, held up by the board, and no one outside will notice anything amiss with the door unless they inspect it closely or try to open it.
Stone bricks laid across packed earth form the steps leading down into this cool wine cellar. The stairs are steep, and Myrtha is carrying most of the weight, having gone first. She realizes that she's reached the bottom when her boots hit hard-packed dirt rather than stone. It is cool and a little bit moist down here. As Reptile arrives with the lantern, he and Myrtha can see what Theran already knows (and can see) is here: a bunch of casks and barrels. A wooden door opposite the stairway should open onto the rest of the basement. The three consider what to do: they could stash the body here, continue deeper into the basement, listen at the door to see if they can tell who is coming, or some combination of those.

Theran cautiously opens the door; the main basement room is large and dark and empty of any other people. Seeing it through elven eyes rather than spider ones, the experience is very different, but the room appears largely unchanged. The door opens 5' from the northern wall (on Theran's left), apparently sharing that wall with the wine cellar room where Myrtha and Reptile are still lugging the body. The room extends about 50' deep to the east, supported by two pillars in the center of the room, and is about half that wide. The northern wall sports many torch brackets, though some don't have torches and none of the ones that are there are lit. A staircase leads upstairs on Theran's right, and on the other side of that, there is another door mirroring the one that Theran has just opened, 5' from the southern wall. The southern wall is jumbled with various pieces of furniture - mostly tables and chairs - some of them broken. The ceiling is supported by heavy rafter beams, festooned with many cobwebs.

Myrtha looks around in the lantern's light and realizes that she hasn't seen Whiskers since they opened the cellar door.

Both Reptile and Myrtha hear shouting from outside, but the thick door and the distance down into the wine cellar muffles and distorts the sound, so they can't make out words.

Theran is in the main basement room: a large space with some items to explore.
Reptile, Myrtha, and the mutilated body are in the Wine Cellar, a smaller room with various casks, barrels, and tuns of beverages that could be investigated. The stairs to the outside are in the Wine Cellar.
The Wine Cellar connects to the main basement via the door Theran used; there is another closed door to the south of that one in the main basement.
There are also the stairs up to the Inn in the main basement room.

As Myrtha and Reptile are stuffing the body behind a wine cask, all three Dungeon Busters hear a shout from outside, from someone who is yelling loud enough that even though the words are muffled by the door and the sound bouncing down the stairwell, they can still make out the meaning: "...GET OUT OF HERE ALAN! SAVE YOURSELF! YOU HAVE A WIFE AND KIDS!!" then there is a clatter and clash of metal.

@GeneCortess - which stairs are the ones that Reptile's moving to?

The rafters are thick and the ceiling is finished, so the movement of people on the ground floor above you would not be obviously audible. Theran has shared that the basement stairs (as opposed to the Wine Cellar stairs) lead up to the kitchen door, and there was only one person in the kitchen when he scouted it yesterday.

It's tough to say how far the fight outside is to the Wine Cellar door without climbing the stairs and listening, but you think it's pretty close. It is the middle of the night, so slipping back outside unnoticed through the Wine Cellar door might be possible if the combatants are far enough away and you don't carry a light source with you...Theran would have the best chance, given that he has darkvision.

Let me know if that doesn't answer your questions.

Theran, meanwhile, sees some small object on the floor at the other end of the room. Is it something that someone dropped?

Reptile mounts the Wine Cellar stairs back to the door held in place by the bar (where the Dungeon Busters entered moments earlier). He hears combatants in a fierce fight.
Amidst the sound of blows and clashing weapons, someone is saying: "What part of fighting should be fair, Grover? You know who complains about not getting a fair fight? Losers. Losers like you will never belong in Orlane!"
Another person says: "There's someone else out there! A bowman in the dark! Let's finish this quickly for her!"
A third person says: "Get away and get help Alan! Don't worry about us! Why are you and Hulbar fighting against a fellow dwarf? What hold does Grover have on you?"

Thinking back, Myrtha and Theran spent a fair amount of time during the previous day talking about the layout of the Inn, refining details and clarifying discrepancies. It's clear to everyone that the "door out of the storeroom" that Theran mentioned is the door they just used to enter the cellar; namely, the Wine Cellar Door (where Reptile is now). What Theran remembered of the whole Inn's layout is depicted in the maps thread; each character has that rough understanding of what he could see as a spider.

Meanwhile, Theran examines the small object he sees on the ground.

@MaJunior - Theran can roll an INT (Investigation) check or a WIS (Perception) check, reflecting whether he is looking for expected clues (Investigation) or just trying to observe anything out of the ordinary (Perception).

Reptile calls down to the others about hearing the other Dungeon Busters. Still at the door, he hears more combat repartee:

Chase: "I don't want to have to kill you Donovan. Come to your senses."
Someone else: "Looks like you may the loser, Alan! Maybe you should follow the murderer's advice and run, huh?"
Another speaker: "You don't want to have to kill me?? I think you're misreading this situation. You are pretty good. It's a shame you didn't sleep long enough to get taken."
Yet another voice: "If you think I'm going to turn my back on these thugs, you're wrong. Something has taken hold of them, they're idiots, but they're still dangerous...I don't want to be responsible for the deaths of heroes!"

Looking more closely at the floor in the darkness, Theran considers: ::Why would a dirt clod be all the way over here? It could have been kicked, perhaps, but then it would have been in pieces. No, it's much more likely that it was caked to someone's boot and then it fell off as that person was walking around here.

::But why would someone be walking around here, in an empty corner?::

Theran feels the wall, and what his eyes can't see his fingers detect: there is a slight edge to the wall here: a part of the wall that juts out infinitesimally in a vertical line. It's either a bit of construction that was bricked in, or possibly a secret door! Theran begins probing and tapping along the wall around it, but doesn't immediately find a switch or pressure plate.

In examining, poking, and prodding around the join in the wall, the group discovers that one of the torch sconces is hinged. When it is pulled, it triggers a mechanism that causes the section of the eastern wall to slide back, revealing an unlit chamber beyond.

Myrtha, Reptile, and Theran each gain 25 XP.


Reptile shines the dim light of the hooded lantern up the ladder to illuminate the trapdoor so that he and Myrtha can see. There is no lock on this side, and the hinges are above. They have a pretty fair idea that it leads up to one of the back rooms of the Inn on the ground floor. Casting the light around, they see that this area was used as a lounge or possibly secret meeting place; there are two long benches and a table with chairs around it; at least sixteen people could meet and have a place to sit in this room.

Theran, meanwhile, has glanced at these things with his darkvision. His attention is drawn to what they haven't seen yet: a sturdy oak door in the southern wall, that has been barred on this side. Like the bar on the Wine Cellar Door, the bar for this door is held in place by metal brackets on the door and the wall on either side.Edited to correct "bullseye lantern" with "hooded lantern"

As Myrtha heads back into the basement and Wine Cellar to retrieve the torture victim's body, Reptile advances on the barred door. The door is quite solid, made from thick lumber and reinforced with iron bands. He bends down and puts his ear to the seam between two heavy timbers...

...after a few long moments of silence during which he almost stops listening, Reptile does, faintly, hear a noise: a scrape, as of a leather sole scuffing on a dirt or stone floor. Then there is a rapid scuttling, scampering noise intermixed with footfalls that quickly recedes. Then nothing again.

He doesn't think you've gone so far east that it would be beyond the Inn itself; he's pretty confident it comes up somewhere in the eastern part of the building. Maybe the trap door wasn't obvious or was somehow concealed from view when he was viewing the rooms as a spider?

While Reptile listens at the barred door and Myrtha returns with the stiffening dead body, Theran cautiously inches up the ladder. The trapdoor is not locked and opens upward, but there is something heavy on top of the door. Theran steadily applies more and more force to gauge whether the object is too heavy to lift from beneath...and slowly the trapdoor rises enough for him to peer through the gap. He can't see anything.

After a moment, the druid realizes that there is a rug thrown over the trapdoor. Theran figures that the trapdoor must be in the bedroom where he saw Bertram in bed yesterday, covered by one of the many carpets in that room. That he was able to open the trap door at all means that the carpet isn't too large, and the party could open it fully...but they won't be able to tell anything about the current state of the room above until they push it all the way open and shift the carpet.

Myrtha sets down the dead body somewhere in the secret room in time to see and hear this from Theran. Reptile continues listening at the barred door.

Unlike the bar on the door above the Wine Cellar, this bar is held in place by iron rings in the back of the door and on either side of it, so that the bar cannot be lifted out. The only way to open it is to slide the bar out sideways: a much more secure way of barring a door (to be fair, there isn't space to do it that way in that narrow stairwell but there is space here in this secret room, which is much larger).

Theran slides the hefty wooden bar out of the metal rings and opens the door a crack. It is dark on the other side, but his eyes can see that the passage beyond is unfinished: it is a tunnel that has been dug out of the dirt, with no stone or wood laid in for floors or walls. Heavy wooden timbers shore up the walls and ceiling 5' in from the doorway, and Theran sees a startled rat scamper away out of view on the hard-packed dirt floor. The air is cold and musty with the smell of decay. He's no expert, but to him this passage looks like a mineshaft. Unfortunately, the passage leads southwest, so he cannot see far without opening the door further and sticking his head through the doorway to look around the jamb.

As Theran slips through the door, this is what Reptile and Myrtha can see:


Meanwhile, Theran steps through the door and out of the bar of light coming through the opening. He can see that the passage continues southwest for a few feet, then forks into three separate passages: the right passage heading nearly west, the middle passage heading roughly south, and the left passage opening slightly southeast. The width of the passages varies wildly, from narrow to really narrow.

Theran leads the way up the stairs with Myrtha and Reptile close behind him. Theran opens the door to the kitchen and casually walks in; all is dark, which is not surprising on reflection. It is the middle of the night, after all. When there is no immediate danger, Reptile lowers the hood on the lantern to dim the light. They close the door to the cellar softly behind them.

They all can see well enough to navigate through the cramped and cluttered kitchen area, and the lantern is dim enough that Theran can tell that there is a light source elsewhere, as light is showing through under the door to the common room. Either someone is still awake out there now, or they left a fire burning and it hasn't gone out yet.


Note: the stairs behind Reptile are the ones leading down to the basement. The kitchen curves around that stairwell, with a door in the east wall opening from the kitchen into the common room.

Myrtha opens the door and steps through into the Golden Grain Inn's common room, with Theran and Reptile right behind her. A low fire flickers in the fireplace in the southern wall, backlighting three figures seated at a table near the bar, between the party and the stairs: two smaller figures, and the unmistakable bulk of Bertram Beswill. The three of them turn in surprise as the door opens, and Bertram exclaims: "You...!" and as the three PCs emerge, they rise to their feet. Bertram smiles. "Welcome back. I guess the same trick won't work on you again, eh?"


Just a few reminders:
- the front door is to the southwest, currently out of view.
- the stairs up are to the southeast (just seen in the lower right of the map above)
- there is a closed door just a few steps away from you (to the right on the map above)
- the light is dim, but there is enough for targeting and navigating the environment without darkvision

Each of the PCs should roll initiative.

Theran's words send a chill in Bertram's heart: ::how could they know...?::
"Evil sorcery!" the innkeeper cries, snatching up a dagger. But he's clearly worried. His one companion, a burly man in a robe with the hood thrown back, looks angry. The other man - whom Theran recognizes as the torturer he saw in the room upstairs - squints at them, calculating.

ROUND ONE
(this is followed by round two)

Reptile growls, his burning eyes focused only on Bertram. He leaps forward and strikes at the Innkeeper, who steps back; the cleaving blade splits the chair that Bertram had been using, splintering it with a crack.The long scar down the right side of his face gives the shifty-looking torturer a permanent sneer, so it appears that "D.D." draws his short sword with contempt and tries to stab Reptile with it. The sword slides between the barbarian's ribs, and for a moment he doesn't realize that he's taken a mortal blow. He spins and then slowly collapses onto the table. D.D. then dashes for the stairs."You! You tortured that poor person that was wrapped in bedding in your room!" Theran yells as the man runs away.

"Derek, get back here!" Bertram cries out to D.D., but the torturer pays him no heed. Bertram steps forward and tries to stab Myrtha. The dagger finds her flesh; Myrtha takes 2 piercing damage."You'll pay for this!" Myrtha's sword cleaves into the Innkeeper and Bertram falls with a cry, struck down with a single blow.Myrtha rushes forward to engage H.A. and prevent him from interfering with Theran and Reptile on the other side of the table. The brutish figure of H.A. meets her rush and tries to club Myrtha with a flurry of hefty club swings. A much-more experienced warrior, Myrtha sidesteps the one swing and lets the other bounce off of her mail."Damn." After a split-second of indecision, Theran expends a spell slot and heals Reptile for 4 HP. Infused with the green growth of nature, Reptile is able to breathe easily again, and his eyes refocus on the spilled drinks on the table he's sprawled across. Beyond that, he sees Myrtha stolidly taking the fierce blows of the bastard with the club, H.A..

---

22 - Reptile (4/15)
15 - Derek
10 - Bertram
9 - Myrtha (10/12)
5 - H.A.
1 - Theran (13/13)

The long scar down the right side of his face gives the shifty-looking torturer a permanent sneer, so it appears that "DD" draws his short sword with contempt and tries to stab Reptile with it. The sword slides between the barbarian's ribs, and for a moment he doesn't realize that he's taken a mortal blow. He spins and then slowly collapses onto the table. DD then dashes for the stairs."Derek, get back here!" Bertram cries, but the torturer pays him no heed. Bertram steps forward and tries to stab Myrtha. The dagger finds her flesh; Myrtha takes 2 piercing damage.

---

22 - Reptile (0/15) Dying
15 - Derek
10 - Bertram
9 - Myrtha (10/12)
5 - HA
1 - Theran (13/13)

"You'll pay for this!" Myrtha's sword cleaves into the Innkeeper and Bertram falls with a cry, struck down with a single blow.

---

22 - Reptile (0/15) Dying
15 - Derek
10 - Bertram
9 - Myrtha (10/12)
5 - HA
1 - Theran (13/13)

Round one, continued
Myrtha rushes forward to engage HA and prevent him from interfering with Theran and Reptile on the other side of the table. The brutish figure of HA meets her rush and tries to club Myrtha with a flurry of hefty club swings. A much-more experienced warrior, Myrtha sidesteps the one swing and lets the other bounce off of her mail.

---

22 - Reptile (0/15) Dying
15 - Derek
10 - Bertram
9 - Myrtha (10/12)
5 - HA
1 - Theran (13/13)

Round one, completed

"Damn." After a split-second of indecision, Theran expends a spell slot and heals Reptile for 4 HP. Infused with the green growth of nature, Reptile is able to breathe easily again, and his eyes refocus on the spilled drinks on the table he's sprawled across. Beyond that, he sees Myrtha stolidly taking the fierce blows of the bastard with the club, HA.

---

22 - Reptile (4/15)
15 - Derek
10 - Bertram
9 - Myrtha (10/12)
5 - HA
1 - Theran (13/13)

Round Two
(this was preceded by round one, followed by round three)

Seeing Myrtha assailed by the enemy, Reptile snatches up his axe as he rushes around the table, trying to sink the head deep in H.A.'s side. Once again, his target sidesteps the blow, and another chair is destroyed.Derek continues his sprint up the stairs, vanishing from view.

"Eager to join Bertram in hell?" Myrtha taunts while circling around H.A. to stand protectively by Reptile's side. As she does so, she gets a few slashes in under his guard. H.A. takes 8 slashing damage with a grunt.

"Derek's getting help. All I have to do is keep you busy!" H.A. coughs with a blood-flecked smile, then lashes out with his club again, once at Myrtha and then, hoping that it will work as a feint, swinging around to try to club Reptile next to her. The feint works; Myrtha deflects the club aimed at her face with contemptuous ease, but the club is already lashing out at Reptile and she and the barbarian are both unable to stop it. The club cracks into Reptile's temple and he collapses.
Reptile takes 6 damage and is dying again.
"...or I can just kill you all! She would've preferred that you join us, but it's too late for that now."Theran groans, "Oh come on!" and casts Chill Touch, but the injured H.A. dodges the disembodied hand with a shudder.

---

22 - Reptile (0/15) Dying
15 - Derek Gone
10 - Bertram
9 - Myrtha (10/12)
5 - H.A.
1 - Theran (13/13)

Round two, continued

"Derek's getting help. All I have to do is keep you busy!" H.A. coughs with a blood-flecked smile, then lashes out with his club again, once at Myrtha and then, hoping that it will work as a feint, swinging around to try to club Reptile next to her. The feint works; Myrtha deflects the club aimed at her face with contemptuous ease, but the club is already lashing out at Reptile and she and the barbarian are both unable to stop it. The club cracks into Reptile's temple and he collapses.
Reptile takes 6 damage and is dying again.
"...or I can just kill you all! She would've preferred that you join us, but it's too late for that now."@MaJunior - it is now Theran's turn.

---

22 - Reptile (0/15) Dying
15 - Derek Gone
10 - Bertram Dead
9 - Myrtha (10/12)
5 - H.A.
1 - Theran (13/13)

Round two, completed

Theran groans, "Oh come on!" and casts Chill Touch, but the injured H.A. dodges the disembodied hand with a shudder.

---

22 - Reptile (0/15) Dying
15 - Derek Gone
10 - Bertram
9 - Myrtha (10/12)
5 - H.A.
1 - Theran (13/13)

Round Three
(this was preceded by round two, followed by round four)

Reptile writhes, clutching his bloody face, and attempts a death saving throw.Myrtha and Theran hear a splintering crash in the distance.

Derek is out of view upstairs. Bertram is dead. Still standing, H.A. looks at the two of you warily.Seeing her companion cut down once more, Myrtha trusts Theran to do what's needed while she seethingly deals with the brute that smashed Reptile in the face. Raising her shield, Myrtha catches the battery of club blows and knocks the weapon to the side, making on opening for the longer sword to do its work. H.A. tries to back out of the way, but Myrtha's reach is long and her blade slices a long gash down his arm, ripping the fabric and flesh up to his shoulder. H.A. takes 8 slashing damage.

"Lucky strike!" The burly robed man is looking much more worried now, but he's trying to talk himself up with bravado. "Now I'll show you how I treat little girls like you!" Remembering how he's beat up women in the past seems to work: H.A. switches his club to his other hand and attacks Myrtha again. The switch catches her slightly off guard, and the club manages to strike her shoulder painfully. Myrtha takes 4 bludgeoning damage.

Theran's disembodied skeletal hand snatches at H.A. again, but the villain twists and dodges away from its grasp. "Oh, you're gonna get yours!" he exults. "Did you hear that noise? That's Derek, bringing our friends!"

"This way!" someone yells nearby.

---

22 - Reptile (0/15) Dying two failures
15 - Derek Gone upstairs
10 - Bertram Dead
9 - Myrtha (6/12)
5 - H.A. (-16)
1 - Theran (13/13)

Round three, continued

Seeing her companion cut down once more, Myrtha trusts Theran to do what's needed while she seethingly deals with the brute that smashed Reptile in the face. Raising her shield, Myrtha catches the battery of club blows and knocks the weapon to the side, making on opening for the longer sword to do its work. H.A. tries to back out of the way, but Myrtha's reach is long and her blade slices a long gash down his arm, ripping the fabric and flesh up to his shoulder. H.A. takes 8 slashing damage.

---

22 - Reptile (0/15) Dying two failures
15 - Derek Gone upstairs
10 - Bertram Dead
9 - Myrtha (10/12)
5 - H.A. (-16)
1 - Theran (13/13)

Round three, continued

"Lucky strike!" The burly robed man is looking much more worried now, but he's trying to talk himself up with bravado. "Now I'll show you how I treat little girls like you!" Remembering how he's beat up women in the past seems to work: H.A. switches his club to his other hand and attacks Myrtha again. The switch catches her slightly off guard, and the club manages to strike her shoulder painfully. Myrtha takes 4 bludgeoning damage.

---

22 - Reptile (0/15) Dying two failures
15 - Derek Gone upstairs
10 - Bertram Dead
9 - Myrtha (6/12)
5 - H.A. (-16)
1 - Theran (13/13)

End of round three

Theran's disembodied skeletal hand snatches at H.A. again, but the villain twists and dodges away from its grasp. "Oh, you're gonna get yours!" H.A. exults. "Did you hear that noise? That's Derek, bringing our friends!"

---

22 - Reptile (0/15) Dying two failures
15 - Derek Gone upstairs
10 - Bertram Dead
9 - Myrtha (6/12)
5 - H.A. (-16)
1 - Theran (13/13)

"Secret room?" H.A. is puzzled, but he raises his voice in the hopes that it will speed up his reinforcements. "He's just getting them out of bed!"

"This way!" a voice yells nearby, and the door behind the bar slams open. He wasn't lying about the reinforcements!

This is continued in the "Meet Me at the Bar Fight" thread.