Grim Deed Part 10

Where the sun does not shine; or within the Manor Umbergloom...

After the party had 'defeated' the roiling oils, or rather, left them unhappily harassed by Culix's shadow, had discovered another large cavernous room with plenty of vegetation. Carver, with her extensive knowledge, easily identified the several species as the corpse devouring Crypt Flowers, Weedwhips and other unpleasant growths. Luckily, the most dangerous sort seemed to be deep in the pits, but the the large bridge still had greenery over it. Across the distance, a room was just about visible; with looks like rack of wine bottles across the wall.

Returning where they came, was a corridor blocked by a very large pile of compost and other garbage that left but a small gap at the ceiling.

And now resuming the sickly story of the Grim Deed...

"We've completely taken burning this entire damn house to the ground off the table, right?" Skyler stares at the various foliage and vegetation with an expression of distaste, sword slung across his shoulder as he shakes his head. "I mean, sure, there's a payday to be had, but we didn't sign an guild contract so the penalties can't be *that* bad."

"Mostly off the table," Carver says as she looks down the long hallway of assorted devilish plants. That's a weeding that would be very difficult to complete. She crosses arms over her chest as she takes a moment to think over assorted options, tapping her foot.

<OOC> Culix says, "Right, I'm going to try sneaking across the plant bridge. I can double move 80' thanks to +10 speed from boots, and don't take a stealth penalty because fast stealth."

<OOC> Culix says, "I'll start sneaking from 22, -4 and should be able to make it to 23, 12"

<OOC> Aelwyn says, "Roll for stealth!"

GAME: Culix rolls stealth+2+4: (4)+21+2+4: 31

GAME: Aelwyn rolls +4: (4)++4: 8

GAME: Aelwyn rolls +1: (13)++1: 14

"Let's not burn down the basement while we may or may not be stuck in the basement, okay?" *Reithak sighed.* "We'll figure out what's going on here, I'm sure of it. Just gotta keep moving forward, however that might actually be."

"Never say never." Culix replies to Skyler and the others on the topic of burning the place down, and then, "Right, I'll sneak down the hall and see what all is at the end. If I shout, come help." she tells the others then and begins making her way towards it, pausing at the corner so she can peek out at the various plants there. And then she's a blur, dashing along the bridge towards the far side, keeping her eyes peeled and her head down as she moves without even a whisper of footsteps across the bridge over the pit of carnivorous plants. Her outline is still hazy from the spell she cast from her wand earlier, and in the dim light of the basement she moves like a shade flickering in candlelight.

Once she reaches the far side she ducks low and presses her back against the wall, checking back the way she came for any signs of aggression from the plants she flew past. Once she's certain she's not being pursued, she pauses to take a proper look into the room ahead and cants her head at an odd sight. She doesn't call back to the others for now, though, doesn't want to alert the hallway of angry foliage between herself and them.

A vague rumbling sound echoes in the basement once again. It could be the slimes being harassed by the shadows - it could be a gurgling sound somewhere down the corridor. Either way, it did not sound pleasant. The vines remain unbothered.

"I mean, obviously we'd all go outside. Maybe stop in the kitchen on the way out for some sausages to roast in the fire while we watch it all burn down." Skyler tells Reithak in an offended tone, before pausing and considering that. "Well. Maybe skip the kitchen. The way this place is, there's a lich in the ice box or an ancient dragon in the ovens."

But then Culix is racing forward and he adjusts his grip on his sword, laying the blade against his leather-clad arm as he prepares to sprint forward if necessary. And waits. And waits. And then relaxes, standing up straight.

"I think she made it. Do we wait, or next person try to run for it?" Skyler asks, looking from person to person.

"Do you particularly want to run across the poison-spitting flower tunnel?" Carver asks. "I am fine waiting to preserve my own strength." Which might be why she so cowardly fled from the slimes. "If you want, can enchant you so that nothing may grab hold."

Reithak says, “I think they got across just fine, but it really defeats the purpose if we go right on over and blow their cover." Reithak shrugged. "I don't like the sound of whatever's going on back their either, so, I don't know, give them a bit, and if they don't return, then we hazard getting eaten by plants?"”

<OOC> Culix says, "I'll sidle up to the doorway and peek into the room properly."

<OOC> Aelwyn says, "Roll perception!"

GAME: Culix rolls perception: (16)+14: 30

<OOC> Culix says, "Also, is there a relevant knowkill for the weird sack I saw? I have several."

<OOC> Aelwyn says, "K/Nature"

GAME: Culix rolls knowledge/nature: (13)+6: 19

<OOC> Culix says, "Alrighty, I'm going to sneak back to the group."

<OOC> Aelwyn thummub!

<OOC> Aelwyn says, "You make it back no problem."

Culix slinks along the wall to the doorway, and leans so that she can peek around it to the room inside. She spends a few scant moments glancing around, and then nods once. She moves back up to the corner of the solid wall, and then after a moment to plan her return route, dashes back across the verdant corridor, retracing her steps from before and just as quiet, she arrives back to the group stepping out of the shadows and moving close enough to speak softly. "Alright, there's more plant critters in the wine cellar at the end. Tsaaalgrends, I think. They're made of gas, so probably a pain in the ass to fight. Also seems like there might be a hidden door there, one of the wine racks, and used recently I think."

"To be fair, there's a lot of shit I don't wanna do that we've had to do in this damned house." Skyler says with a sigh, and perks up when Culix pops out of the shadows, putting his sword across his shoulder again. "Oh, hey! You made it back."

His cheerful expression falls when it's revealed what they're going to face, and he sighs, closing his eyes momentarily before opening them. "So what's the plan, then?" He asks, glancing from Culix to Reithak to Carver and back again. "To be honest, I haven't got the foggiest idea what we need to do."

"I do not suppose it would be the vampire using it." Carver reasons. Which means coulda been anything or anyone. "It does not seem that anything more has been discovered that way, so perhaps we continue on."

Reithak says, “It might be, it might not be, but if it's used recently and someone's dumping bodies into the plants potentially? Well, it makes sense for a vampire, at the very least." *Reithak mused.* "I say it's worth taking a look potentially, but I'll leave the final decision to the rest of you."”

Culix scratches her cheek and nods at Skyler, "I haven't known what's going on pretty much since we walked in through the front door." she admits. "Seems like this whole place is just a mess of dead ends. Everything we do leads to more questions and no answers." she adds then. "I mean, we saw the mimic go that way." she says and thumbs towards the pile of garbage. "But I'd put good money that we go that way and find a... I dunno... rats having a tea party or something. That way has a secret door." she thumbs back the way she just came from, "But we'd probably open it and find pile of talking odd socks. Any of you any good at detecting mojo? I got a decent eye for illusions, but that's about it. I'm halfway thinking this whole place is some kind of mind screw."

"I can commune with the plants and nature, seeking out certain truths from around us." Carver says. "Even underground. There is enough 'life' here that the spell should work."

"I can rub my belly while I pat my head, but that's about the extent of my mystical talents." Skyler tells Culix seriously, nodding along with the Gobbo's description of what they'll probably find. He then snaps and points to Carver. "There we go! Carver, go ask the evil cannibalistic plants if they saw the mimic run through with the damn deed." Beat. "Well. Carnivorous not cannibalistic. Cannibal plants would be if they ate salads not us."

"Well I mean, we could ask them, but do we really want them to be aware of our desire to potentially pass through? I feel like if we tried to come to an agreement to pass, they'll just lie and tell us whatever we want to hear to go through." *Reithak sighed.* "Could learn something, could not."

Culix points to Reithak with a slow nod of her head. "Story of this whole job right there." she says, agreeing with her last statement. "Well, I figure going checking out the secret door is faster but more dangerous. Digging out the sludge pile will be slower but safer." she says, and then looks back towards the room they came in through. "My shadow should still be dealing with those slimes. So I say we dig through the sludge, so we have a way out if things go tits up." she suggests.

Carver will do just that! She will commune with the corpse eating flowers, seeking their wisdom. A small blanket is spread out and incense lit. She kneels there at the entrance, just in 'sight' of the corpse flower and lets the smoke waft over to them. "Go ahead and begin, we should be able to manage both."

So with that resolved, she waits for the enchantment to take hold.

GAME: Carver casts Speak With Plants. Caster Level: 13 DC: 16

"... do we need to leave someone to guard Carver?" Skyler asks the other two, brow furrowing, "I mean, in case the flowers get mad at her and attack?" He scratches his jaw, adding, "I mean, I dunno if plants lie, y'know? That seems more like a mammalian trait: milk producing breasts, live births, and lying." Beat. "Although Sith-Makar lie, and I don't think they have nipples. Or are they under little scale flaps?" Where's Aelwyn when you need him?! For science.

He gives himself a full body shake, dismissing that line of thought and says, "So we're going to dig through the cesspit while Carver asks the flowers nicely not to eat us, right?"

"Has a pale creature passed through your halls in recent times?" Carver asks, resting hands on her knees. "She might have seemed like smoke, or of gas, passing faintly with the smell of perfume in her wake."

Culix nods at Carver but she heads towards the sludge pile and considers Sky's words, "Well we're all pretty weedy here so I guess it doesn't matter who shovels and who guards." she says, and once more takes out her goblin army knife. It's availed itself extraordinarily this job, and this seems to be no exception as she manipulates its frankly arcane levers, and produces a fold out shovel from the device. "But I actually have a shovel." she adds with a brief smirk. Which fades when she realizes this means she's volunteered herself for shovelling muck. Well, no use balking now- she gets started on it. Better to do it now while Carver is distracting the plants anyhow.

"I'll keep an eye on things, then. I can't say I envy any of you, so if you need me to shovel, just say the word. I'll take care of it." *Reithak offers.* "Saying anything of note, I hope?"

"Thank you for your service." Skyler tells Culix earnestly, and he cracks his knuckles as he moves to stand beside the goblin. He wiggles his fingers, and adds, "I'll loosen stuff up for you, push the sludge away while you dig."

He then mutters under his breath, and moves his hands in a vaguely pushing gesture as he summons up a mage hand that begins to push against the mountain of stuff.

When Carver settles down to commune with the not-so-holy plants, the rest of the party (or Culix) gets to work shovelling the dirt. It is not pleasant work. Most of it is refuse, compost from the kitchen - but beyond the meat and bones, she occasionally finds animal skulls, ribcages. Even dead rats; and naturally, all the living insects that were consuming it. It was not pleasant work. Thankfully, everything else was dead. And not moving. For now.

The bridge remained quiet - but not empty. A trio of floating gas filled sacs with tentacles and vines were slowly flying across the space. Moldy patches covered their exteriors, shaking off into the air, whilst the heavy pair of tentacle underneath them lazily swayed. These must be the tsaalgrends Culix was talking about.

"I will not replant you. I will take a seeding to find you a new home in exchanges for these secrets." Carver counters, still resting in the meditative posture. Her own green eyes flit briefly to the floating Tsaalgrends.

As they get closer, the spores that were constantly being expelled into the air between the floating gas / vine bladders were visible. It was near constantly puffs and tuffs of particles in the air; some were even thrown Carver's way. A large vine falls from a pillar and flops onto the bridge, but does nothing else.

Culix continues shifting the muck, huffing as she does so. If she wanted to do honest work like this, she never would have gotten into a life of crime. But all the same, she continues toiling away. She does spare a glance towards Carver when she hears the thump of a vine dropping onto the bridge, but since the woman doesn't seem to be in immediate danger she carries on.

Reithak was watching the goblin shovel, and watching Carver speaking to the plants. Also, the strange things that were floating closer by the moment. "I think that all that shoveling is going to need to take a back seat, real soon." The egalrin mused, drawing out their weapon.

The Swashbuckler continues to assist Culix, pushing at the mound she digs with the mage hand he's summoned with his gloves. It isn't much, but every little bit helps, right? And there's only one shovel and Culix is stronger than him...

Skyler turns when Reithak warns them about the approaching spores, and he drops the mage hand to re-draw his sword, moving to stand beside them. "Yeah. Looks like it." He frowns, and considers. "Could you... I dunno, use your wings to flap the spores away? It sounds like Carver's making good progress! That or she'll gotten distracted and is getting some cuttings for her garden at home."

The pile doesn't seem to get any smaller any time soon, but at least the top is starting to get nearer. Soil starts to be unearthed from underneath the _worst_ of it, but so did rocks and more bones. Those looked like proper animal bones now.

"Not good enough." Carver says simply. "I will take a seedling to a new home. Dark. Moist. Away where you can grow wild and free." She could be nervous about the other predatory fungi, but at this point she's more or less committed to it regardless.

Culix curses and then plunges the shovel into the muck and draws her dagger, moving back towards Carver with Skyler so that she can help if it does come to blows. "Got a flint and steel in that thing too. Just saying." she asides to Skyler as she eyeballs the approaching fungal sacks.

"Yeah, no, that crap definitely doesn't look particularly healthy to breathe." Reithak grumbled, taking a hop over to where Carver was, wings outstretched, and flapping quickly, sending the air hopefully in the opposite direction, away from the group, spores alongside it.

The wind from Reithak sends the spores floating backwards - and this causes the floating balls of vines and gas like sacs to bumble unto each other. But they do not seem to react otherwise. Just continue to puff and huff the spores in each others' general direction. Not so much towards Reithak and Carver. Rude.

Carver tilts her head, even as wind from Reithak's wings brush through her furs. Still perfectly serene. "Go on then. Your secrets."

"Huh." Skyler lifts his hat with the little scrap of black netting to run a hand through his hair as he watches Reithak flap away, "What do you know.. It worked." He shakes his head in surprise, and turns to Culix, "Do you think we should interrupt Carver, or just continue to see what happens?"

kept flapping their wings from behind Carver while Culix kept digging. It wasn't overly strenuous, but she didn't wish to rile up the plants any more than necessary, just in case.

The gas like sacs slowly float against each other and bump lightly. Spores continue to explode from their bodies at each other in agitation - but then it stops. Slowly they drift apart, their vines swaying slowly. Two mold like patches on their bodies seemed to be 'staring' at the party.

Carver nods and rises to her feet, "It would seem that even the plants are exhausted of feeling trapped here. The butler no longer quite feeds the plants like he once did, it would seem. I believe that the vampire is now across the bridge waiting in ambush."

Culix grins at that bit of news and then she nods once, feeling for the makeshift stake she crafted from a chair leg earlier. "Great." she says. "My favorite kinda ambushes are the ones I know about. Makes it easier to ruin them." she says then, "Will the plants let us pass, you reckon?" she asks Carver as she prepares to head across the bridge and go confront that vampire.

"Perhaps..." Carver says, "They also said Graves was Passed, now buried." That last part seems to puzzle her.

"We also got the floating blobsters to deal with." Skyler reminds the group, frowning as he cocks his head first one way and then the next, "Although... We could always turn them into bombs. Shove'm towards where the bitch is waiting to ambush us and then light them up." He mimes an explosion with his fists, "Booooom!" And then uses two fingers to mime people walking, "Rawr!" And he jumps his other hand with the walking fingers, before slicing them across his neck to indicate death.

"I think we have to deal with them, I'm not going to be able to keep them away forever." Reithak grumpbled, seeing the floating things hone in on them. "Yeah, yeah, I think they see us. Better to fight them here, you think?"

Culix brings a palm to her forehead then, "You know what, should have seen that coming." she says to Carver. "I mean, he's called *graves* how can it be any more obvious?" she says. "He's some kinda thinking zombie. Maybe a vampire too, but I didn't get that vibe." she says then. "He probably wants the deed, and the arcanists or whoever- I don't even remember at this point- want the property because he's dead and heirless. Don't think the law has provisions for people keeping their shite after they come back from death, 'least not unless you come back all the way." she says then. She eyes the floating sacks, "Wish I hadn't blown my shadow gale earlier. Could probably have pushed them back to the wine cellar with it. Well here's hoping the other plants don't mind us scrapping with the mouldy triplets. Plants don't like mould, right? Or are they kinda cousins? I get mixed up." she yaps.

"I think they will let us pass, if we give them freedom after." Carver says. "Them and the corpse lotus both desire it, and think we can provide it for them." Then again, they might just change their mind without warning.

"The lotus though struck me as... more likely to just eat us," Carver says. "They focused not on what was offered but food and hunger."

The sacs continue to be knocked about by the wind and they continue 'staring' passively. The threats of murder, being set on fire, being fed to the flowers and so on, did not seem to register to them at all.

"Well, we should probably make a run for it before they change their mind." Skyler glances around the group, "I mean, the more we wait, the more likely we are to have shit go pear shape." He glances around, "Maybe we charge the sacs, push them into the wine cellar and follow up by setting them on fire once the plants are safe?" That last is said a little more loudly, as if he wants to make sure the plants can hear him say he's going to be careful of them.

"The sacks are the one who offered the secrets," Carver clarifies. "I think... of the two, they might be the only one worth saving."

"Ohhhh... wait they do count as plants?" She asks Carver. She looks at the sacks. She looks back at carver. And then she just shrugs, "This is why I stay in the city." she says. "Alright, so stay on the bridge away from the hungry hungry flowers down below, go stab that vamp some. Let's get to it, my dagger hand is itchin'" she says, and starts to cross the bridge hoping that Carver's negotiations won't end up with her strung up by vines. Once in a lifetime is one time too many.

"Mhm," Carver says. "They also said fire would quell the corpse lotus, the flowers below, long enough for us to maybe get across. So that should be a delight for at least one of those of us here."

The airborne plants - transluscent bladders filled with gas, covered in vines and mold - continue to drift apart as the adventurer's talk. One of the vines retract from the bridge; but another slowly slides into their place. If anyone could speak plant, it seemed like it was the kind of bored looking gesture.

Indeed it is! And Skyler perks up, grinning broadly and from seemingly nowhere and everywhere at once he's suddenly got a vial in his hand of something red, faintly glowing, and liquid. "Did you say fire?"

"Did they say fire like, setting them on fire, or just using a torch near them?" Reithak wondered, sparing Skyler a glance as she resettled her wings again. "You know, before we start burning this place down?"

Carver shrugs is a nihilistic gesture. What does it all matter anyway?