To Joseph, while inspecting my crossbow
“I am called Taye, my friend. A Romani woman I met some weeks back set me on this path. I would join you, if you please. But keep in mind, Taye does not come cheap!”
To Zachary, in a whisper…
“You are a medical man of sorts, are you not? Take heed, the young Valente was bitten by the abomination. We may be facing more of the creatures on our return.”
Valente gives you a cold look. For a commoner to give orders to a member of the nobility is quite an insult in this day and age. You get the sense that he considers himself generous for not actively punishing you.
You had me at “reward you handsomely”. Should have led with that, really. 'Sides, I never liked mages. Um… present company excepted.
ETA : thank, applecider. I’ll have to be a more bit careful and conservative then 
Oh, right, nobility. Giacomo bows to Valente. “My humble apologies for my presumption earlier my lord. In the heat of battle I forgot myself. We shall secure your family’s possessions immediately.”
I attempt a diplomacy check here.
Ever on the lookout for opportunities to grease the wheels of noble relations, Joseph watches Marco’s reaction critically. If it looks like he needs to (sense motive), he’ll sidle up and turn on the charm.
“Che Dio ti benedica, my Lord. Your generosity of spirit has rallied men of all stripes to your cause! Pray watch over your noble father whilst we, your humble servants, act on your behalf!”
If Valente is pissed off enough to push him into “unfriendly” territory, I get a reroll on my Diplomacy check if necessary, due one of my traits.
Very quietly, to Taye: “I’ll not mislead a companion in peril: I have yet to see any medicinal compound that would arrest zombification. May the good Lord have mercy on our young friend.”
Valente looks mollified. He gestures at the palace and tells you to hurry!
You don’t know precisely what sort of zombies these are. Their bites may or may not be infectious.
Right, let’s go and plaster the library in fire bombs, then. That will cheer our noble host no end.
So, we go to the library then, maintaining the same marching order?
The group re-enters the building and turns the direction Marco had indicated. Solsken’s wolf has long since run off. Only 1 round/level. The party begins to climb long flight of stairs, and reaches the top. There’s a rather ornate door with a fancy iron lock. Behind the door, Harald and Giacomo note the sound of heavy breathing and thuds, as though small but heavy items are being dropped on the floor.
Again, We’ll need a batterin…
On second thought, you lot deal with the blasted door. I’ll stand right there.
Forward the lockpickers and door-batterers (which doesn’t mean me).
I will check the door for traps, disable any I find, and open the door. Hopefully I will succeed at all of this.
You detect an arcane trap, likely similar to the one that caught Harald and Aji earlier. You aren’t able to disarm it, though.
Sorry, I don’t have anything that blows doors up.
“Friends, there is another of those magical infernal devices warding this door. It is beyond my ability to disarm. If anyone has an ability to destroy this door from a distance, that is the only way we will get past it.”
If Giacomo is able to determine the mechanism of the trap’s triggering device, I may be able to use [COLOR=“Blue”]Mage Hand to remotely detonate it.[/COLOR]
I don’t know if I can figure out the mechanism of the arcane trap. If not, I suggest using your mage hand to fiddle with the lock until it goes boom, while we take cover.
If the door is not locked I should be able to use Open/Close to open the door. Is it possible to check if the door is locked separately from the trap?
It is. That’s a Disable Device roll for DC 15. Failure detonates the trap.