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Almost blacking out from the two hard knocks his received on his noggin, Eadric fumbles as he tries to throw the javelin, which drops onto the floor by his feet instead. Luurg fixes some of the damage to his head, while Mariana launches a glob of acid at the creature, whose screams of pain echo through the small chamber. Kitt draws and loads his crossbow, while Terra gets ready to strike.
The humanoid glares at Mariana in vile anger, and leaps at her with his club swinging. Terra sees her opportunity. The earth elemental extends her neck towards the creature, biting deep into its shoulder just before it could strike the gnome, crunching its collarbones. It collapses onto the floor unconscious.
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Eadric looks quite embarrassed at how he handled himself during the fight why can I taste apples? and generally looks quite exhausted "Woah! Those dudes are quick!" he looks to Mariana "Can't be much more, right Sis?" He starts sifting through his pack and pulls out a twig, he then stumbles drunkenly towards Begrilda "It's not as fancy yours Bee, but the dude in the shop said it's top drawer magic... Could you, sorta..." he makes a waving motion the wand "Blammo?" He gives her a big grin, his newly missing teeth and swollen face giving him a less than a handsome appearance.
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After the leapy lizard man falls Luurg puts his spear into it for good measure. "Dunna want that guy waking up and clubbin us again! You ok Bro? He really rattled yer skull a couple times dare."
He puts away his apple wand and pulls out some fresh round orange things and goes to town slurping away. "Orange? Real gud stuff! Why's everyone look so sleepy? Day just started right?"
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Breathing laboriously he looks at the others with his sunken eyes. "Just how long have we been traversing this endless system of halls? Do you think we can rest for a bit?" Bishop fans away the half-orcs's peppy questioning with an irritated wave.
'How he can all that lard and not even break a sweat is beyond me.'
He leans against wall waiting to see what the others plan on doing next.
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During the combat, the nerve-racking whispers ceased, as if it was paying attention to the fight, keen to watch its outcome. And pretty much as soon as the fight ended, the whispers start again.
"IT thought to take over me, but IT MADE ME A GOD!!! My precious morlocks... My precious worshippers... Bringing in me sacrifice..." Following the elation, there is a long pregnant pause before the whisper fades into sobs again, "A bound god..."
Fearing the fate of the Minotaur Prince, the party presses on after resting from the battle, but the passageway leading out from the room abruptly ends at a smooth, white wall. Eager to get out of this labyrinth, Mariana again allows herself to delve deep into the mad ramblings of the "god", and seemingly receives a revelation. She lays a finger on the smooth wall and traces a symbol on it not unlike the maze that the party has traversed through so far and the wall slides aside, revealing a further passage.
After this, Mariana moves ahead as if possessed, leading the party single-mindedly along. You come across a skeleton lying against a wall ahead, a message crudely sketched in charcoal next to it: “Left is back but back is clockwise and right is too hot. I’m sorry, Garanel.” Mariana pauses here, pondering the message, seemingly deciphers it and unexpectedly turn back around a left passage traversed earlier but now leads to a new destination.
As the party progress, a low, rhythmic hum buzzes through the stones of the floor, causing a jaw-rattling vibration. The leftward-curving passage that you are on eventually deadends, but again, turning around to backtrack reveals a brand new passage that slopes gently upward.
Finally, the jaw-rattling vibrations cease as a giant, bronze door appears in the passageway ahead. Mariana points excitedly at the door, exclaiming that behind it would lead to centre of the labyrinth, and hopefully the end of the arduous journey.
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"Haha!" Despite his tiredness Eadric jumps up and down, overjoyed that their time navigating the labyrinth may have come to an end. He rushes over to Mariana, laughing and gives her a hug, lifting her off her feet and spinning "You did it, Sis! You totally did it!" Gently setting her down again, he looks towards the large door "Woah! I just thought... His Gnarliness may be behind that door, surrounded by, like, a lot of bouncy clubby dudes and dudettes. We'd best prepare for a mondo showdown!" He glances at Luurg, who seems entirely too awake whilst the rest of the party look exhausted "Bro! How do you... Dude, I'm totally changing my mind about all that fruit stuff! From now on, cider isn't the only fruit juice I'll drink."
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Begrilda somehow manages to carry on without becoming too overwhelmed by the long hours of marching. She sees many of her friends beginning to flag, however, and gives each of them a touch to restore their spirits.
She recalls that Marianna seems to be acting recklessly, and decides that perhaps the voices and the mental strain of leading everyone through the labyrinth has damaged her ability to think clearly. She draws the scroll they had recovered earlier and uses its magic to restore her small friend.
The eidolon pays no attention to the door, but insist on being the first into the room, under Kitt's orders of course.
"Is the door safe?"
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Despite the exhaustion of the tiring journey, the party is elated to finally reach possibly the end of their journey. Their spirits are buoyed further when Begrilda grants her goddess' healing on them, recharging their energy as if they've had a good night's rest. Even Mariana's creeping madness subsides significantly from the restoration scrolls.
Still cautious nonetheless, Bishop, Luurg and Terra approach the doors carefully, but they appear safe. However, as Bishop lays his hand gently on the bronze surface to examine it more closely, suddenly, its comforting embrace slips further away for everyone. The world spins as colors and sounds blend together into a sickening maelstrom. The chaos passes just as quickly, but the passage is suddenly gone and instead there is now only a scrap of rock, surrounded by inky blackness dotted with distant points of light. Fractured sounds, like whispered curses, float across the darkness. These whispers sound in your mind, but they are completely different from the ones that have been haunting you all these while. These are completely alien. The sounds are nonsensical, but one meaning comes across clearly. "Abysiel failed as a host... Perhaps you would do better!"
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The party finds itself scattered among the floating rocks. Mariana, Bishop and Terra find themselves standing on the peripheral ones, while the rest have landed on the central larger piece. The area is in complete darkness, the few distant pin-point sources of light does little to illuminate the area. Thus, only those with darkvision see that sharing the space with them on the larger island is a grotesque worm-like creature dripping with green eldritch slime. Although eye-less, it swivels what seems to be its head towards the party. The senseless alien whispers continue to smash into your minds, and the worm is without doubt the source of it.
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"Woah! Is everyone a'right?" Eadric starts fumbling around in the darkness for a torch he stuffed in his pack for emergencies, and then blindly searches a pouch on his belt for a tindertwig. The strange whispers make little sense to Eadric as he stumbles around in the pitch black room "Dude! I've never hosted a dinner party before! I'm sure Abysiel wasn't that bad... apart from the lighting."
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The "worm" clearly has no problems sensing it way around the dark. It "senses" movement from Eadric, and slithers straight for him. Eadric, still completely blind, is completely unprepared as the giant "worm" rears up and sinks it giant teeth into his shoulder, puncturing major veins and arteries. Once it has latched on, it hangs on tight and starts draining his blood!
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Luurg watches it unfold and he isn't too keen on it "BRO WATCH OUT THERE'S A WURM THING..." He grimaces visibly to anyone that can see him, then growls menacingly and his grip on his spear tightens.
"I'm comin' Bro! RARRRWWWW!" He growls out loud and charges the creature with his spear point before him.
Terra carefully tries to get herself back to where the party is. However the chains move in a way she cannot predict and is unable to successfully get on it, and she attempts a second time. She manages better this time and just manages to get across.
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Not knowing what hit him, is still attached to him, Eadric's eyes go wide with panic, his skin several shades paler than moments before. Feeling light headed from pain and blood loss, the world is a blur. He just stands there, stunned into silence for perhaps the first time in his life as he tries to make sense of the situation. Someone pats him on the back and runs off, and through the dim light cast from Mariana's halo Is she an angel?, Eadric can just about see Luurg charging straight for him, roaring and pointing a spear at his shoulder.
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"Nooooo!!!" Begrilda shrieks as he runs over to support Eadric. Through the darkness, she had watched in terror as the worm moved with impossible purpose and accuracy to attack and attach itself to her...her...to Eadric. She would not allow the man to fall without having some chance to defend himself, though, so she rushes over and infuses him with as much magical healing as Bolka gives her.
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Luurg roars out loud as he charges at the worm with his spear. The worm, intent on its prey, is oblivious to the attack and the spear pierces into its hide. Mariana, hearing all kinds of scuffles and shouts, lights up. Terra, separated from the rest of the party, attempts to balance her way across the chains. Unfortunately, she slips and falls into the void!
Begrilda, her eyes only for Eadric, races up and lays her warm healing touch on him. That restores him sufficiently to yank the worm off his back and retreats.
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Aided by Mariana's light he almost wishes shr hadn't summoned it. He looks about trying to determine a safe escape route from this rocky isle.
"Leaving you here wont do any good for either of us and who knows how far the bottom is or if one exists." Just then he watches as Terra falls into the dark void. "By the night!" he takes out his crossbow and loads a bolt.
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Using the formula s=ut+(1/2)at^2, plugging a=32.2ft/s^2 and t=6s for 1 round, Terra has fallen 579.6ft. :)
Despite the poor lighting, Mariana recognises that although the creature takes the form of a giant leech (and hence have the typical traits of a vermin), its mental whispers and the dimension that you've found yourself in gives her strong hint that it is more than that. She recalls a vague reference to a creature known as the void whisperer, a force that dwells in the void dimension that constantly seeks ways to enter reality through subversion of the minds of the willing. But on closer study of both the plane that you are in and the shadowy form that is attacking, she gets a sense this might not truly be void dimension, and that this creature seems to be just an essense of the real creature. But then again, its teeth seems real enough.
Bishop draws his crossbow and looks in dismay as Terra slips and fall into the void, falling unceasingly.
As Eadric makes his escape, the "worm" screams in all your minds in frustration at being denied its prey. Angered by Luurg's spear, it rears up and smashes its giant maw into Luurg's neck, latching tightly with its teeth. It begins to suck the half-orc's blood.
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"Hey dats MY BLOOD!" Luurg twists and struggles against the wurm like creature, trying to get the upper hand in their 'wrastlin' match.
But he seems pretty preoccupied with not squashing his dangling cherries more than winning. "Someone stab this ting ok?" He drops his spear and draws out his mithril dagger.
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Begrilda, terrified of the writhing creature, moves past Eadric and Kitt. She stands near the chain connecting the central platform to the one the others are on and calls across. "BISHOP! GET OVER HERE BISHOP! YOUR FRIENDS ARE DYING!" She raises her left hand, and for a brief moment, a huge area of the strange setting is illuminated by a brilliant pink glow. The glow washes over all of Begrilda's friends and fills them with divine power to strike true and to keep from fear, so long as they have divine protection. The light soon fades, but the feeling of empowerment stays with them all.
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For a moment, Kitt yells as he watches Terra fall through the cracks. "Terra! Noooo." But not a moment after he keeps his cool knowing that elementals don't really die. "I'll save you!...see you soon?". He concentrates very hard mumbles a few words. Terra soon disintegrates back to her home plane.I'm sorry girl!
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Thankful for Mariana moving closer, Eadric takes advantage of what little light there is "Bro! I can't see it properly..." He takes a tentative step forward, one hand resting on Luurg's shouder for guidance "A'right, hold still!" He takes a second to make sure that he is actually aiming for the 'worm' and throws his punch, perhaps holding back slightly, just in case he's mistaken.
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Luurh attempts to wrench the worm from his neck but fails to get a good grip on it. Begrilda calls on her goddess' divine blessing on the party. Kitt, fearing for Terra's fate, dismissed her back to her home plane. Mariana gets ready a spell, for when the creature is moved closed enough. Eadric steps around and punches the giant leech, which intent on draining Luurg's blood, does nothing to dodge the attack. Bishop leap frogs the the next nearer island, almost falling into the void.
The shadowy leech, oblivious to all these maneuvering, continues sucking at Luurg's juices. "Soon, I will cross over!"
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Luurg struggles but the wurm tightens its grip draining more and more of Luurg's precious fruity blood "Dis damned ting is wicked good wrestler!"
He gives up on getting free and tries to sink his dagger into its side instead "HA! I'll take you's and mine'd blood back! Luurg's got lots of blood, how much you got?"
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Eadric's fist punches right where Luurg's dagger had pierced earlier, tearing deeply into the wound. The scream of the giant leech-form in your minds threaten to tear your sanity from you, but stops before that happens as the monster collapses onto the floor, releasing Luurg from its maw. Its forms starts to slowly dissipate.
But before you could examine the creature any closer, the floating rocks and the void around you start dissipating as well! Before you can get your bearings, you find yourself back in the labyrinth tunnel right in front of the giant bronze doors. Terra is standing amongst you, looking just as confused. You start to wonder if it was simply an illusion but the gaping wounds on Eadric's shoulder and Luurg's neck remain as evidence that there was at least some reality to the planar encounter.
If there was any doubt, the soft sibilant whispers start again in your minds. "Heeheeheeheehee... Was that the Void Whisperer? Or just an echo... a shadow... Hope you enjoyed it nonetheless..."
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Eadric looks at the big belly with a morbid fascination "Woah, Bro... Kind of looks like a cabbage. Eat somethin' you shouldn't have? Burst right out lik--" but quickly gets distracted by the annoying voice "Seriously?! Dude... Shut up!" He shouts out in exasperation to no one in particular. Looking to the rest of the group, he holds out his sorry excuse for a wand and rolls his eyes "Honestly, that dude could drive a zombie insane. Anywho, it'd be totally awesome if one of you could, like, make my stick work."
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"Put your shirt down, Luurg. Eadric is right your stomach looks like shredded cabbage." he pauses as he waits for the voice to finish its ominous message the strain causes him to rub his temple, "Alright. Mariana are you ready to move? Whatever this creature is it needs to be quieted. Forever." his crossbow loaded he waits for the others to move on while doing his best to keep out the voice's dreadful message.
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Very gingerly, after convincing himself that there are no traps on the bronze doors, Bishop cautiously pushes the door open, revealing a large chamber lined with symbols like those near the entryway. There are obvious signs of a recent struggle, including blood and the corpse of a morlock. Drag marks slide through a pool of blood formed around the head of the morlock, indicating a large creature was pulled through the sealed door on the north side of the room. The double door in the northern wall, even more massive than the one you just came through, is intricately formed from bronze.
After some time going through the chamber, the party finds nothing else of interest, other than what appears to be five chutes in the ceiling. Being out of reach and too narrow anyway for even a small-sized creature to enter, you can only put it out of your mind for now.
The party eventually turns its attention to the northern doors. Four interconnected, circular windows on the doors reveal a confusing series of cogs and sprockets within. Levers, dials, and knobs protrude from the frames surrounding the window, but nothing appears to be an obvious latch. The door is clearly locked, however, and the secret to unlocking it is clearly connected to these random-looking levels, dials and knobs.
However, as soon as someone lays their hands on them, the door suddenly groans, followed by a series of metallic clicks before the great circular plates on its face spin and rearrange at random. Levers spin and knobs turn, protrude, or retract, creating a rearranged mess of clockwork oddities. At the same time, with a metallic creak, the bronze door in the southern wall slams shut and bolts with an definitive clang.
A few moments of ominous silence hang in the air briefly before a rushing, gurgling mass of water starts pouring in through several five-foot-wide chutes in the ceiling!
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Within a very short time, the water has already risen 1-2 feet. Knee-high water turns the entire room into difficult terrain. Although the ceiling is high, estimated at about 15 feet, at the rate that the water is rising, the room would be completed flooded within a minute!
Clearly one way to escape this death trap would be through the northern doors, but that would mean tackling the strange mechanisms within it and it appears you have a few options. One, try to figure out the mechanisms of the levers and dials . Two, use brute strength to jam the mechanisms . Three, try to disable the locking mechanisms directly . Four, use intuition and make the best guess of how the mechanisms work .