Death House

[kintire]

Kimber launches Pugsley again and follows Vorj closely. As the creature returns she rolls her eyes a little as it wraps itself around her shoulders.

"Apparently its boring. Which i guess means much like this and nothing moving..."

She stares into the darkness betond the light with her clearer vision

[VAN]

Van inspects the room as well and says:

"Neither the insects can stand this place...lets keep moving always alert since there was another sign that someone else is here."

Van goes first to the next room.

[kintire]

Kimber follows Van closely, looking ahead with her pets on each shoulder. She is growing, if possible even more tense, as her sens of direction tells her they will shortly complete the circle. If there is anyone here, they will meet them soon, and she is not sure she wants to know what kind of people would live in a place like this...

[Ken of Ghastria]

Van reflexively takes a step forward to follow Van and Kintire, but then he stops. "What are these creatures that Kintire has conjured?" he whispers to Burdur, although the dwarf senses that the paladin is mostly talking to himself. "And so soon after the stirring of the demon...? An improbable coincidence." He remains in the room, his senses alert for an attack.

[alhoon]

Burdur eyes the paladin. His frown betrays that he plans to give one of his rude rebuttals but seems to change his mind. He speaks slowly, in short measured sentences with long pauses. The process of filtering his speech to catch insults and complains is visible.
"The royalist says the creatures are like wizard familiars. She said it under her free will, since once the ghost-boy is in control the elf speaks with his voice. So I believe her. At the time, you are of greater concern to me. The demon stirred in you. The ghost-boy hasn't done anything unseemly with Kimber. I have little experience with these things, but I know some things. Like how such evil powers turn one against his allies. Be mindful of your thoughts human."

Meanwhile, Van and Kimber find that the room leads to a corridor that breaks up in two more corridors.
(See map)

The Druid's sensitive ears help Kimber realize that the chanting sound that permeates the dungeon sounds as if coming from the South.

[kintire]

Kimber pauses and whispers so that only Van can hear her...she hopes

"I think the chanting is to the south of us... that way."

She stares intently in that direction, trying to catch any sign of light or movement that might indicate where the sound is.

"Are those stairs? Maybe they are above or below us... maybe that's why its so hard to locate..."

[VAN]

"South it is then. But it's better to be prepared. If someone is chanting will not welcome us...we should try to make less noise possible. Can you sebd your pets again to scout the south corridor and if possible tell us if and how many people are there? We need a strategy. We need to surprise them if possible. Not go inside straight to their trap..."

[Ken of Ghastria]

"Be mindful of your thoughts human."

Vorj looks back at Burdur. "Very well," he says evenly. "Let's catch up. Together, we probably stand a slightly greater chance of surviving." He begins walking after Van and Kimber.

[kintire]

Kimber nods swiftly and launches her scout down the corridor, listening tensely as she tries to locate the source of the wierd chanting

[alhoon]

Pugsley moves down the corridor and reaches the intersection. One flight of steps on the West goes up for a few feet and then levels to a corridor and another to the South goes down, turns and keeps going further down, probably to the lower level of the cannibalistic cult's dungeon.

[kintire]

As the creature wafts back out of the darkness Kimber focusses on it.

"okay they are down there! The chanting is coming from belows us. uh, not from right at the bottom of the stair though. At the bottom of the stairs...its dark...and there are three..things... one of them uh..tasty? Smells tasty... the others...uh.. don't smell very tasty... sorry he has his own take on these things..."

She pets him briefly, stroking the midnight black fur, then lets him slide back around her shoulders

[VAN]

Van thinks for a moment.

"If they are at the bottom of the stairs they will most probably see the light when we are getting closer and probably listen to us...So I doubt we will have the element of surprise."

Van turns to druid:

"Kimber your pets can deal any damage? If they are at the stairs they will not have much room to move and we should use this to our benefit. Me and Vorj can hold a table or something to take cover and also block them from getting closer. Kimber and Burdur can attack them from distance with spells. The bad guys might have spells as well since they are chanting...But I don't think we can do much about that."

[alhoon]

Burdur looks at Van confused "who are them that we are fighting human? You mean the people chanting? That is probably a magical effect; few people can chant forever. From what the royalist half-elf said, I assume the chanting is not from the room the flying ... whatever went to.
On the other hand, I am not against moving that table in the cultist's quarters here to have it ready to block enemies if we have to retreat here, or retreat from here downstairs; we don't know what's in the rest of this hellish dungeon."

[VAN]

"We don't know if they are chanting forever or they started a ritual when we entered the dungeon...anyway, magical effect or no, there are 3 enemies down there that will spot the light or listen to us before we can get in melee. We need to attack them from distance or in close space so they can't come to us altogether. Maybe we can lure them in a room where we have traps ready or where at least we can defend ourselves better. There is no need to fight them where they are or even immediately. I guess they don't know we are here yet. So lets choose where and when. Apparently the only thing that we seem to have here is time..."

[Ken of Ghastria]

Vorj frowns. "'Not tasty' suggests undead," he says. "And the more time they have to chant, the worse things will likely be for us! They probably already know we're here -- this house seems to be alive, after all. It watches us ... and likely has spies among us..." He looks around suspiciously at his comrades for a moment. Then he closes his eyes, as if in deep concentration. "Lure them," he says slowly, repeating Van's words as he opens his eyes again. "All right, Van. I'll go in and stagger around, looking to any undead in there like a solitary, easy meal. I bring them back right here, where the rest of you strike."