Njord quaffs an herbal mixture to hopefully help him shake his lethargy and tries the not-quite-a-door again.
With his "herbs" to fortify him, Njord finds that he's able to overcome the feeling of dread he experiences when he approaches the door.
Njord rubs his eyes.
”Hey, I think I’m outside”, the big man says happily. ”Come on, let’s go!”
"Hrmph, the big guy just walked out. I wonder." Jametor muses.
Xiddik completes her performance as she moves up behind the elf and attempts the same.
Fíriel takes a deep breath and walks up beside Njord, then looks back at the others. "It's okay! We're not exploding into balls of fire or anything!"
"Okay, so something keeps us here, I wonder how well it might stand up to some magical intervention." Jametor says sadly.
Randall returns to the banquet table, glumly polishing off an entire platter of pastries without a thought.
Seeing the rest of the party return to the meal table, Njord frowns.
"Hey guys, you don't have to leave. Just come over here and wrap this rope around your waists. As soon as you're done you can go back to the muffins."
Fíriel tries to smother a giggle.
Jametor gloomily wanders over to wrap the rope around his waist.
"Oh bother..."
Randall narrows his eyes at the suggestion, but the big guy's always been really straightforward, so he toddles over - carrying the tray of muffins.
"Mouf foo, srry. Hnds too." He holds the tray up so his arms aren't in the way.
Xiddik hangs back, eying Njord suspiciously. She doesn't even dignify the suggestion with a response. Her tail is pointing straight out behind her.
"Jametor, do Randal a favor and toss it around his waist for him."
Njord rolls his eyes. "Come on Xiddik, are you scared of a little rope? This will just take a second and then you can go back to moping."
"Nobody binds me!" Xiddik spits out, her voice suddenly vehement. Her face has gone devoid of expression. "Never. I know you try to make me leave. But nid paagol kolos Zu'u nis kiibok*, and I do not...do not go where I do not want to go. Maybe...maybe I do not want to leave here. Is that so odd?"
The kobold's voice cracks slightly. She visibly swallows and continues. The prospects of the open doorway and the loop of rope loom before her, like bottomless chasms she's this close to falling into. "What lies for me out there? Down there? You all think I to be a typical monster. Spawn of the depths. Think I like the Dark Down Under. Well, we play the hand we dealt! I did not ask for these cards. I never had a speak in it. Well. Well, what if I just stay. Right. Here?" She hesitates, then lowers into a chair. She grips the sides of the table, tail trembling. "I can just...stay. Stay here."
Njord frowns as Xiddik has a breakdown.
"Now there's no need for any of that. I don't think you're any kinda monster, a little awkward maybe, but nobody's perfect. I wouldn't make you do anything you don't want to do and I don't think I could if I wanted to. Now get your scaly behind over here and humor me."
Asht'el rolls his eyes slightly at Xiddik's freak-out, then says kindly, "Look, Xiddik, I don't know what a 'typical monster' is, I've never gotten much of a chance to meet one - they just want to kill me. And I don't think you're that kind of monster, so you're already not typical." He pauses a moment, unsure if he's made any sense or whether it's at all helpful to Xiddik to hear this.
He lays a hand on his head, making a sort of thoughtful, scrubbing motion in his fiery red hair, then continues, "Let me try putting it another way. We have fought and traveled side by side for a while now, and we've helped each other in a lot of ways - you've helped, I've helped, even Jametor has helped. So I trust Njord. Because, really, except for those times when he gets kind of...feral, he is always a great, reliable guy, right? So how 'bout we see what kookiness he has in mind with this rope, and then we can get back to eating our muffins, okay?"
He then goes and ties himself in to the rope, assisting Randall with his knots in the process.
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Randall nods vigorously, "Mffns!" He only sprays a few crumbs as he does so, but he holds the tray out to Asht'el to help himself once he can let his arms back down.
Quilindra raises an eyebrow at Njord's suggestion. "A rope, eh? Ropes have... possibilities..." With a wink at the big bear-man, she takes up one end of the rope and looks to him to tie it around her.
Njord finds himself chuckling at Quilindra's persistence as he loops the rope around her waist and secures it with a knot.
Jametor ties Randall to the rope train and holds an end waiting for Xiddik to stop throwing her tantrum, his foot tapping.
"Big guy said to tie the rope, that's not making me sad, even though I know that magic is preventing us leaving, we need to do as the big guy said. He's boss bear, while Randall is boss halfling..at least the Gold Goblin. Me? I dunno. I just along for the ride I suppose, certainly not in the plan." Jametor's voice trails off as he lost whatever point he had..
He takes a muffin and eats it.
Asht'el rolls his eyes slightly at Xiddik's freak-out, then says kindly, "Look, Xiddik, I don't know what a 'typical monster' is, I've never gotten much of a chance to meet one - they just want to kill me. And I don't think you're that kind of monster, so you're already not typical." He pauses a moment, unsure if he's made any sense or whether it's at all helpful to Xiddik to hear this.
He lays a hand on his head, making a sort of thoughtful, scrubbing motion in his fiery red hair, then continues, "Let me try putting it another way. We have fought and traveled side by side for a while now, and we've helped each other in a lot of ways - you've helped, I've helped, even Jametor has helped. So I trust Njord. Because, really, except for those times when he gets kind of...feral, he is always a great, reliable guy, right? So how 'bout we see what kookiness he has in mind with this rope, and then we can get back to eating our muffins, okay?"
He then goes and ties himself in to the rope, assisting Randall with his knots in the process.
Xiddik stares at Asht'el for a moment.
Claws digging into her palms, she walks over and takes the rope. She gives Njord a calculating look, then loops it around herself.
"We can't win," she mutters, voice petulant and acidic. "You all know this, yes?"
Big swallow. "Win? Free muffins! What more could we ask for?"
Njord grins and nods. "This'll just take a second..."
After retrieving a vial and chugging the contents, Njord grips the group with both hands and tugs. Hard.
Even suspecting the plan, Randall fails to keep the tray under all of the muffins, losing almost half of those that remain. Looking mournfully behind them, he notes, "I didn't get to try one of those with the walnuts."
A moment after the group emerges (rather suddenly) from the gold-curtained chamber, a low buzz begins to emanate from the two wasp statues flanking the exit. At the same time, their wings and feet begin to move slowly, as if waking from a deep sleep. The group finds that although they still want to return to the chamber, it doesn't seem quite as appealing as it did from the inside.
Xiddik's eyes bulge as she suddenly finds herself flat on her back outside her new safehaven. She springs to her feet, giving a shrill hiss as her mind races for the Taldane words. "Traitorous wormling! Your mother should have crushed your egg! You all—all of you—all alike! I am...cursed, with this seabird on my neck, forever witless...witless, disloyal, conniving allies, all with hearts of...pumice! I'm strapped with elves and worse!"
The bard finishes disentangling herself—and tongue-lashing her would-be rescuers—and makes to bolt back for the sanctuary.
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Jametor studies the wasps.
Asht'el is a little more able to imagine a life somewhere other than the beautiful muffin room. And, though Xiddik's logic is more than a little opaque to him, he understands the kobold's desire to return to sample all possible varieties of muffins.
Jametor and Asht'el, now that they're out of the chamber, are able to throw off the compulsion to return. Jametor is able to identify the wasps as some kind of stone golem, and he knows that they're immune to magic, very difficult to damage with weapons, and can cause their victims to feel sluggish and slow. These two also appear to be able to fly.
Quilindra seems to have overcome the enchantment as well, but Randall and Xiddik find that it's just pure torture to be away from the delicious muffins.
"I saved some of the muffins!"