Zynazyr retrieves his dagger from the last rat he killed, still proud of himself for taking care of so many rats.
"Unless we have a way to purify it, I'm not interested in eating rat meat, but I agree, the others upstairs may feel differently.
My concern now is with these doors and the buttons with strange symbols. With our guide dead, I'm not sure how to open and close them, as I couldn't see what he was doing. If we leave and they close, we may not be able to open them again, or they could be trapped.
Montague, why don't you and Ferrous go back down the hall we just came and check for secret doors and traps. If we can find an alternate route, then I say we go back up and finish exploring the previous level."
He then helps salvage the rat meat in case they take it upstairs.
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can we get 14 half meals and decrease risk of disease?
You could burn the crap out of it when cooking it. This would lower the nutritional value (thus turning it into half the normal value) and it will likely be safer to eat.
The southern door is mostly closed but slightly ajar, and can easily be opened again. The north door is open - closing it would have kept out the rats, actually.
When you approached the first door from the south, Orocrinos pushed the button on the wall to the south side of the door to allow it to open, but he did not press any buttons near the north door.
He bandages his wounds from the rats while others dress the rats. I agree with Ferrous, we should take the meat up to the others and then finish exploring that level for water He pauses considering, With the death of the mad one we really don't have any lead on water being here. I would suggest we explore the remaining tunnel on the second level, to see if it leads behind to either the door in the cylinder room or the door behind the jail.
Agreed. Ferrous looked down at the wolf man. Spoken like one with his wits about him.
"And the state of his mind questions the safety of his water supply."
Searches the man, trying to decide on whether or not to take his mask, and looks for a place to bury or tuck the body away.....
Montague figures he's probably eaten worse in his life. Sometimes life is tough... and you have to start doing what you must in order to survive. He stores away (6) Chunks of the rat meat, to eat in an emergency, and packages up the rest as well as he can to deliver to the non-adventurers among them.
"We're not going to survive long if'in we don't find a more suitable water source. And, I'm a'bettin that this guy can't be the only one wandering these caverns if what he says is true".
"I'm all for moving forward (North). The Gimp always said if you're not moving forward, your not gettin anywhere".
"Rat meat, eh? Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers. I hear it tastes like chicken! Heh."
Bruno begins to stoke the small fire they have in preparation of cooking the rats.
Well here are the rest of the rat meat then... be sure to cook them well he says to the fat man who is looking thinner.
He heads towards the door, We should go see where the north passage leads and if need be we can retreat back to this area and sleep, recovering resources
He adjusts his shield and readies his sword once he arrives at the door.
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After a bit of discussion the party heads up the northern corridor.
The party reaches the corner where the hallway turns north. The passage reaches a dead end 20 feet north of the corner. At the end of the passage are three large urns (styled like amphorae but with flat bottoms), each about 4' high. On either side of the corridor is a door.
The party detects no traps in the hallway or on either door, nor does anyone hear any noise.
Not seeing any traps Ferrous tries opening the door near him. If it is unlocked he will open it a crack to peer inside.
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The door does not seem to be locked. Ferrous opens it and shines the light inside.
This room seems drier than the rest of the pyramid. In the center of the room are a half dozen small crates. Seated on the crates are nearly a dozen 1' tall winged people. They are talking a strange musical language and laughing merrily.
Fistep moves up with Ferrous, preparing for trouble. Hearing the musical voices, he motions to Ana to come up as well as the wizard in case either of those more mentally enlightened folks might know what they are saying. He moves aside
"Forestals here? I know little of these spirits."
Zynazyr moves up when Fistep motions to him. At Ana's mention of sprites, he looks into the room. "I've heard of them, but have never actually seen one. If you would like, I can try to communicate with them."
He puts his dagger away so that his hands are empty and out in the open. He stands in the doorway and puts on his best smile.
"Greetings fair creatures. I'm Zynazyr. My companions and I stumbled upon this building after becoming lost in a sand storm. How is it that you found your way here?"
Montague stands ready to spring into action, as he doesn't trust any "little forest folk".
Taklishim wonders if such creatures turned to evil is how goblins are spawned. His own people have such beliefs one being the eating of another would make on become a windigo......
Ferrous stepped out of the doorway into the room. He kept behind Zynazyr and lowered weapon to appear less intimidating.
Ana looks over the shoulders of the others, curious as to the little spirits.
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"Greetings fair creatures. I'm Zynazyr. My companions and I stumbled upon this building after becoming lost in a sand storm. How is it that you found your way here?"
The little fae creatures giggle as Zynazyr speaks.
One begins to speak in a tittering, birdlike voice: "He looks like a man / but is not of the land / but of wind and of flame / from beyond his kind came."
Another one speaks up: "Eyes full of sand / he wandered the land / Chance saw and took pity / brought him to the city!"
A third spirte joins in: "We go where we will / for good or for ill / to witness man's folly / it makes us quite jolly!"
The sprites begin to fall over each other in gales of laughter.
Zynazyr maintains his smile and laughs briefly when the sprites start laughing.
"Yes, we were fortunate to find this place to shelter us from the desert heat. However, we are in need of water. Might you be able to direct us to some?" he says kindly once the laughter subsides.
Montague mumbles under his breath...
"Never take food or drink from the fey".
"They speak and act as the wind, one cannot befriend the wind it blows as it will in shifting strength and direction."
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Ferrous hearing the mumbles of the members of his party behind him addressed the creatures before him bowing his head slightly.
Beg the pardon / but we haven't the time / to stand and bard in/ the so wondrous rhyme
He then took a wary step back from the fairies.
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One of the sprites bows to Zynazyr. "The lakes and rivers no more to be found / water remains only under the ground."
Another sprite jumps in: "Yes, that's why there are wells!"
The first turns, irritated. "Quiet! I wasn't finished."
"*Ahem.* The fools of the city in darkness below / oft carry their water as they go to and fro."
Beg the pardon / but we haven't the time / to stand and bard in/ the so wondrous rhyme
The sprites laugh merrily at Ferrous' words.
One shakes his head. "pardon / bard in? A most noxious rhyme. Horrible, horrible."
Another chirps: "Perhaps the dwarf is late / for a most important date?"
Two others sing in tandem: "Wouldn't you know it? / A dwarven poet! / For a people so dour / his words are aflower."
The first stands up straight and addresses the group. "What do you seek / in the land of the mask? / Just taking a peek? / Or on some sacred task?"
Speaks up, I ain't no poet, so I'll be blunt... our scared task is to provide water to those in need. Masked, or unmasked, water be our need.
Ferrous seeing that his rhyme did not offend but rather amused the small winged creatures he was emboldened to make another attempt.
By the end of me beard/ I never did behold / a reception so cold / with me rhymes un-cheered
He then smiled and laughed at himself while scratching said beard with a twinkle in his eye.
"Remember what you have seen, because everything forgotten returns to the circling winds."
The dwarf sensed the rest of his party's patience dwindle mad one last rhyme for the fairies.
We need not go / where the masked dwell / a bucket and a well /will make the water flow
Then with bow he ended with
Oh Fairies, where be the well / where the masked do not dwell?
While the poetry competition is going on he steps over to the other side of the hall to examine the other door. What do you think Montague, look good to go this way?
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Speaks up, I ain't no poet, so I'll be blunt... our scared task is to provide water to those in need. Masked, or unmasked, water be our need.
One of the sprites in the back flies up into the air, and recites: "The blunt man may find that upon this floor / some sensible men have laid in a store / but why would they share? They have no remorse / so use charm or use guile or just take it by force!"
Many of the sprites start laughing uproariously at this. "Haha, those grumpy frumpies will fume!" one says. "Oooo, a fight! Can we watch?" another says, before being shushed by the others.
Ferrous seeing that his rhyme did not offend but rather amused the small winged creatures he was emboldened to make another attempt.
By the end of me beard/ I never did behold / a reception so cold / with me rhymes un-cheered
He then smiled and laughed at himself while scratching said beard with a twinkle in his eye.
Another sprite joins the one currently flying.
"Like his stature his lines are short / but he tries so hard; he's such a good sport! / He treasures his beard, this we can surmise / so in light of that let's give him a prize!"
Giggling, three more of the pixies fly up into the air. The five now flying seem to work together, and something sparkling appears between them, which swirls for a moment, then shoots towards Ferrous. It strikes him on the chin and disappears in a cloud of sparkling dust. Ferrous seems unharmed, but he can feel the roots of his beard tingling.
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"Remember what you have seen, because everything forgotten returns to the circling winds."
One of the sitting sprites speaks. "We will remember, o son of Coyote / who has travelled far from his house of adobe / no one like you has ever been here / even your friends will seem awfully queer!"
"Agh! Coyote doesn't rhyme with adobe!" one of the flying creatures shouts.
"What rhymes with coyote then? Throaty? His voice was deep and strong and throaty... Ah, never mind."
The dwarf sensed the rest of his party's patience dwindle mad one last rhyme for the fairies.
We need not go / where the masked dwell / a bucket and a well /will make the water flow
Then with bow he ended with
Oh Fairies, where be the well / where the masked do not dwell?
Several of the sprites giggle and clap.
"The wells of this land have all gone dry / and hardly does rain ever fall from the sky / some water gets piped up from deep below / to the hands of the masks or your gobliny foes!"
One of the sitting sprites mumbles to himself, "Hey, he said fairies! We're not fairies, we're sprites!"
"Shush!" says another.
Giggling, three more of the pixies fly up into the air. The five now flying seem to work together, and something sparkling appears between them, which swirls for a moment, then shoots towards Ferrous. It strikes him on the chin and disappears in a cloud of sparkling dust. Ferrous seems unharmed, but he can feel the roots of his beard tingling.
Ferrous shrunk back as the Pixies sparkling ball strikes his chin. He felt the roots of his beard tingling inside his chin. A very unnerving feeling for any Dwarf. He looked down at his beard as the cloud of sparkling dust made it way down his beard a mere 14" in length being a youngish dwarf. As the cloud moved down it left his beard clean and shiny like a freshly washed and combed masterpiece. As it reached the end Ferrous watched as before his eyes the magical cloud of fairy dust continued down and as it did the ends of his beard grew to keep up with it. Ferrous eyes bulged out as he watch his beard continue to grow at a tremendous fast rate. It took about two seconds before Ferrous realized that he was cheating on his beard and he didn't wish to misrepresent to other dwarfs and as his amazement switched to a desire for the growth to stop so it did with his beard a good 10 inches longer than before.
Thank you much each fairy/ I am now so much more hairy
Ferrous said with a deep bow and twinkle in his eye.
I rolled the will save but since you said I could fail if I chose I decided to play it out as above. Let me know if this is unacceptable.
While the poetry competition is going on he steps over to the other side of the hall to examine the other door. What do you think Montague, look good to go this way?
"Sure this way is as good as any. And, if I don't get away from this bad poetry contest I might just slit my wrists".
Watching the dwarfs beard grow and the sprite's acknowledgement of coyote made him wonder if these beings were part of the trickster if so a word play alliteration combined with a rhyme might get help out of the reluctant creatures....
"Then magical wind folks who bring clouds from naught can you then bring forth a gentle rain to sooth our draught?"
"Anywhere but here," Ana grumps.
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I rolled the will save but since you said I could fail if I chose I decided to play it out as above. Let me know if this is unacceptable.
Thank you much each fairy/ I am now so much more hairy
The flying sprites chant in unison: "What dwarf wouldn't trade for a beard his gold / A beard as long as those very old / yet it's only hair and you'll come to see / bare chins are good; they can set you free!" The sprites all laugh uproariously.
"Then magical wind folks who bring clouds from naught can you then bring forth a gentle rain to sooth our draught?"
One of the sitting sprites looks Talikshim over, and whispers to the others for a moment. He turns back and nods, and the five sitting sprites dance together as another sparking ball appears. It flies out and strikes Talikshim's waterskin, which is suddenly full!
Talikshim takes off the cap and takes a sip - and spits it out. It is salt water! At the sight of Talikshim spitting out the water they roll around laughing again.
"May as well collect your tears as you weep / for only what you earn you will keep! / Without fresh water as bones you will lie / so good luck in your quest and we wish you good-bye!"
The flying sprites create another sparkling ball, which strikes the wall to the north. A small hole appears, perhaps 1' wide, rimmed with swirling pixie dust. The sprites all fly through the hole, which closes behind them. They are gone.
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"Sure this way is as good as any.
Montague investigates the door to the east and finds no evidence of any traps or noise (nor does anyone else who checks).
However, now that the sprites are gone you have the opportunity to investigate the room the sprites have abandoned, as well as the amphorae to the north.
The amphorae have no lids. Two are completely empty, while the third is full of sand. Poking around in the sand with small implements reveals nothing buried within, though you can, if you wish, dump it out to check more thoroughly.
The party quickly searches the room that held the sprites, but they find no secret doors, traps, or compartments. The crates hold a variety of interesting objects. They are mostly old tubes of various sizes that look to be made of parchment, which have little bits of twine coming out of them. There are also a large number of small pouches. Zynazyr recognizes these objects as Fireworks. They are quite old and look somewhat fragile, and Zynazyr thinks that there is a good chance that age has rendered them inert.
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Inventory of Fireworks:
* 21 small bags of powder the size of a belt pouch (the powder is clearly different from the powder the strange woman gave you)
* 45 small finger-sized fireworks with a small wick
* 30 tubes 16" long and 1" wide with a wick coming out one end.
* 15 large tubes, about 30" long and 3" wide, tapered to a cone at one end and a wick at the other. At the end with the wick there is also a slender 16" long stick sticking out beside the wick.
"Though they meant harm this brined water is something when before the skin had naught."
Taklishim is fairly certain this water mixed with pure can be consumed in a cooked stew....unless someone knows purify water...
Zynazyr looks over the fireworks, separating the best 1/4 of them. "These could be useful, if they work, but could also be dangerous if they don't. To be safe, I should be able to light these from a distance. I don't think we need all of them, but if someone wants some, I think these look the best," he says pointing to the ones he separated out. He takes 2 of the small bags and one of the 1" tubes.
Bah keep them sorcerer's sticks away from me. Ferrous mumbled as the group looked over the fireworks some taking a few for their journey.
"Some of these may help if another swarm of rats were to appear."
Tak takes some of the smaller fireworks....