The Gaming Den

The hobgoblin puppeteer is swiftly crushed to death against the floor before Valzeller slices him him half for good measure.

There's some stairs leading down to the first floor.

From the tower you observe the keep's inner courtyard. It is made of hard-packed earth and has an eerie air of desolation. Jagged boulders emedded in the ground seem to have been dropped here, or thrown from a great distance, many of the walls bear large dents and cracks where these boulders might have one struck. Two massive skeletons lie at opposite ends of the courtyard, one propped up by the watchtower and the other sprawled at the far end by a building that could be a stable. To the south, where a section of the keep's outer wall has collapsed, a third giant skeleton lies partially buried in the rubble. From above, you can see there's a hole in the roof ot the south-east building.

(overhead map)

You're on the upper part of the west-south tower, aka the room on the left side of the map. Going down the stairs will take you to the blackened room below on the "main" map.

Zeph will stronger channel earth on the floor to make a tiny peephole and look through (Darkvision 60, Spot 13, Listen 13, Sense Motive 15). He'll also ask the others to take a look.

Malakar will now fly into the room they are in and prepare for the assault down the stairs.

Valzeller will take a look through the peephole Zeph made before (Baatezu see in darkness 90', spot/listen/sense motive -1; mostly I'm checking to see if there's anything that could be seen through magical darkness) and relaying what he notices (if anything) telepathically before joining Malakar and heading down the stairs.

Below you see a circular chamber that has been outfitted with a mix of furniture, including a large desk, an overstuffed chaia, a massive four-poster bed, and a large easel that holds a sizable canvas covered with a sheet. A flight of stairs up along the south wall to the upper floor, and a fair amount of rubble lies heaped on the base of these stairs. There is an open door to the right-east side of the room, and some low light coming from the other room it connects to.


(Listen check DC 18)

While peeping below and getting in position, you hear loud sounds from the east side of the keep, as if something big was moving in that area.

(Listen check DC 20)

As above, plus there are sound of four creatures with armor moving on the room the light is coming from, seemingly unsheating weapons of metal.

(Listen check DC 25)

As above, plus there is another creature on the room the light is coming from, with lighter steps and less noisy armor, moving away from the tower.

(Listen check DC 30)

As above, plus someone exited the room below just before Zeph created the peeping hole, and is now walking further away from the tower, besides the five creatures already mentioned. There's also some kind of whispering.

(Listen check DC 40)

As above, plus you can understand what's being whispered if you understand goblin:

“Intruders at the top of the tower! Karkilan with me, the rest stands guard here!”

(Assuming Malakar tells us about what he saw)

"Let's go after the one who went outside." Zeph will fly to the Window and see if he can find them (Spot d20+13, Listen d20+13).

Looking through the window, Zeph sees a Manticore clambering out of the ceiling hole you had seen on the south-eastern building area of the keep. The winged monster clearly also spots Zeph, but makes no move to attack, seemingly just content to observe from a distance for now.

(Malakar doesn't say anything, make your own listen check.)