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Anton hugs Alanna congratulations as the the floating head is rent asunder with her onslaught.
"Whoa. Good job, baby."
"Thanks, Anton. You know, these shortswords just feel better than the longsword. More nimble. More maneuverable. And you know I like that," she says with a wink at him. The longsword gets but in a lower sheath as the un-used shortsword get promoted to top right.
"You can search here, Anton. I'll go poke that hornet's nest, make sure there aren't any -other- nasty surprises for us."
You got it babe!"
The two move off, searching the room. Anton opens the drawers on the dressers, while Alanna moves into the closest after ensuring the nest is empty.
Anton notices the dresser is a fake. The dresser has no actual drawers, only handles on the front face, which is carved to look like drawers. The entire fixture is more akin to a box with an open back.
When placed against the wall, the dresser conceals a bronze chest, which is revealed when the dresser is pulled away from the wall. The chest is tarnished, but otherwise in perfect working order.
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"Ooooo!" Anton exclaims as Alanna comes over the bronze chest.
"What an odd way of concealing something," she observes, her long-lashed eyes walking over oddity.
"Well we'd better get cracking. Chest don't just open themselves to you without effort!"
She shoots him a wink as they both start to examine it.
Hickle pats down his beard, giving the strange creature a parting glance, before moving over towards the Eideilon and her summoner. "What do you have there, then?"
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"It's a box!" Anton says excitedly. "It's a box, only it's "painted" so it will "look" like it has "drawers" and is really a "dresser".
Some people would call it a "bureau" but only because they -really- like donkeys.
Oh. You probably mean the secret treasure chest that was behind the cleverly built box. Um we're still seeing it it's trapped," Anton says as he returns to examination of the big chest. And after a while he starts examining the bronze chest.
The gnome spends several long secconds giving Anton a perplexed look, holding his pipe in place with one of uis hands. He then turns toward the eidolon and asks a question with complete sincerity right in front of the boy. "Was he dropped on his head as a child?"
Shmick makes a noise akin to a snort, but otherwise keeps his thoughts to himself.
Anton's examination of the bronze chest does reveal that it is both locked and mechanically trapped. The effect of the trap comes from inside the chest.
At the news of traps, Malavine looked over at Hicklespurn. "Wish for a hand?"
"Well, put it down next to me lad, I can't very well disarm the thing with yo holding it!" Hickle said.
Hickle smiles as Anton puts it down, " Good good! Now... Come here boy, help me out with this now would you?"
ᎽᎾu sᎥmᏢᏞᎽ ᎳᎪᏁᏆ mᎬ ᏆᎾ bᎬ hᎬᏒᎬ ᎪᏁᎠ ᏆᎪᏦᎬ ᏆhᎬ bᏒuᏁᏆ Ꮎf ᏆhᎬ ᏆᏒᎪᏢ's ᎬffᎬᏟᏆ ᎳhᎬᏁ ᎽᎾu fᎪᎥᏞ." Shmick comments, but complies nonetheless and withdraws a set of tools from his wrist.
The gnome merely shakes his head, ad takes the offered picks and chisels to get to work.
Hickle has no problems disabling the trap on the device. The chest contains 20 small gold ingots, each bearing a seal. They're worth about 25 gp each. There is also a black metal headband bearing a black skull emblem.
Curious of the headband, Hickle makes to uncover any magical auras and determine it's potential properties.
Faint enchantment and abjuration. Wearing the headband would increase one's ability to be intimidating. However, Hickle also determines that the band is mildly cursed: it cannot be removed once placed on the head.
"Curious..." He mutters, lifting the band up with a piece of wood. "Magic had been interwoven into the skull to artificially enhance how people perceive you as frightening upon wearing it. However, there's a curse laced within the cloth threads which would force it to latch onto one's head and never let go. I can't determine any other detriments right now, but I wouldn't reccomend putting it on due to the permanency of your decision. Would be tough to sell as well, with the curse."
"I suppose that we can break it later, if needs be. Although we could argue it's a feature. Some rely heavily on intimidating foes - a band that cannot be removed would be beneficial to them." Writing out a note about the Curse - she did not want to have it used by accident - Malavine sighed and looked around. "Shall we continue?"
The gnome snorts, "And here we have this new, one of a kind headband with a spooooky skull! Intimidate your foes, family, abd friends! It comes with a one hundred percent gurantee to never come off no matter how hard that troll pulls on it or your money back!"
Shmick groans audibly, snatching the cloth from his master's hands and shoving it into a compartment inside his body. "We should get back to what we were doing."
Hickle sighs, before nodding. "Fine fine... Come here for a momment though, would you? I have an idea."[/b]
"Oh boy. I can't wait to see what new magical experiment you'll put me through next." The construct deadpan, suppressing a shudder. He however drug s to comply nonetheless.
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Aren't you a magical experiment anyway? Kephry asks tossing a pebble at the machine's head while Hickle casts his spell, slightly upset over the cool headband being cursed.
Shmick catches the pebble with uncanny reflexes, while emitting a noise mimicking a long suffering sigh to perfection. "ᎠᎾᏁ'Ꮖ ᏒᎬmᎥᏁᎠ mᎬ." He intones, before bringing the pebble up bare and observes it with curiosity. "ᎽᎾuᏒ mᎪᎶᎥᏟ sᎬᎬms ᏆᎾ hᎪᏉᎬ ᎥᏁᏟᏒᎬᎪsᎬᎠ mᎽ ᏢᎬᏒᏟᎬᏢᏆᎥᏉᎬ ᏟᎪᏢᎪbᎥᏞᎥᏆᎥᎬs bᎽ ᎾᏉᎬᏒ fᎥfᏆᎽ ᏢᎬᏒᏟᎬᏁᏆ."
Looking at his master, he notices that the gnome seems to have spotted a fly flitting about at the far end of the room. "ᎪᏁᎠ ᎽᎾuᏒs hᎪᏉᎬ ᎥᏁᏟᏒᎬᎪsᎬᎠ Ꭺs ᎳᎬᏞᏞ. shᎪᏒᎬᎠ mᎪᎶᎥᏟ. Ꭺ ᏉᎬᏒᎽ usᎬfuᏞ ᎠᎥsᏟᎾᏉᎬᏒᎽ. ᎥᏆ shᎪᏞᏞ sᎬᏒᏉᎬ us ᎳᎬᏞᏞ."
Hickle smiles at his construct, before taking another look around the balcony. "Hmm... How about we try this big room first, then go through the rest in succession?"
Malavine nodded, moving to see if there was anything shiny...
The "big room" is actually a balcony overlooking the courtyard where you fought the dragon. The balcony wraps around a twenty-foot-square opening in the floor, overlooking the inner courtyard below and connecting the rooms of the second floor. Above, a square skylight in the ceiling provides natural light to the ground floor and ventilation
for the entire building. To the southwest, two small staircases ascend from a landing on the grand staircase between floors.
You do not find anything of particular interest in the balcony area itself.
Six different sets of doors lead off of this balcony.
Since you didn't specify, I'll assume a clockwise rotation starting at the room on the upper right.
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Opening the doors to this room, you cough as the air moving around you stirs up a cloud of dust. In fact, dust blankets this room. The walls, once brightly painted to depict life in ancient Wati, are now faded.
The scenes painted on the walls depict the arrival of a Keleshite sultana in Wati by royal barge, a ceremony or possibly a party where a young woman is being anointed and crowned while a gathering of onlookers observe, and another where three young women swim in a river while armed guards with spears watch from beneath the shade of a tree.
A smaller room or alcove takes up the northeast section of the room; it was once closed off by a wooden door that since has rotted away, leaving only its hinges in the doorframe. A strong, cloying odor of decay pervades the room.
Movement stirs in the alcove, and you realize you are not alone. The creature that emerges is a blackened, bat-winged fiend’s head. Tentacles dangle from chin and scalp, and its fanged mouth hangs agape.
Initiative:
Creature:
Anton:
Hickle:
Malavine:
Kephry:
Zelda:
Zelda goes first, followed by Anton. The creature is after that, followed by the rest of the party.
Zelda will hold her action as she tries figure out what the hell this thing is...
Zelda's bite damages the creature. Allana's third attack also damages the creature, but it is still up.
The creature screams a hideous shriek.
Fort Saves all around.
Malavine winced at the hideous noise and tried to resist.
Those who failed a 14 (which seems to be everyone but Hickle and Alanna) is now paralyzed! The effect wears off after a number of rounds (below) OR if the creature attacks you.
Malavine:
Zelda:
Kephry:
Anton:
Hickle/Shmick may act now. Note the creature is injured.
"By the clockwork goddess, what is this?!"
"ᎥᏆ's ᏟᎪᏞᏞᎬᎠ Ꭺ-"
"I don't care what it's called right now, take it out now before it kills someone!"
"ᎽᎬs sᎥᏒ.
Top of round. Alanna may act.
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"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the eidolon screams as she unleashes a flurry of attack on the floating head that held her lover. "No one gets to make him stare into space as if he's just experienced the greatest pleasure possible but me!"
The creature attacks Zelda with a horrid bite:
Zelda Fort Save:
Zelda is unaware of any effects related to the save currently.
Note: now that Zelda has been attacked, her paralysis is gone and she may act normally next round.
Hickle's action.
Hickle, seeing how the violence seemed to snap Zelda out of her stupor, moved over towards Kephyr and tried to shake her out of it with a slap onto her face.
Shmick continues to adjust his aim and fire at the creature to no effect.
Hickle's slap seems not to have the same effect. Hickle considers perhaps it is similar to certain enchantment type effects, where once the caster does something violent to the enthralled, it breaks the enchantment.
Shmick's attack is ineffective.
Top of round. Alanna and Zelda's actions.
Alanna and Zelda finish off the creature; immediately after it's killed, everyone regains their senses.
The scenes painted on the walls depict the arrival of a Keleshite sultana in Wati by royal barge, a ceremony or possibly a party where a young woman is being anointed and crowned while a gathering of onlookers observe, and another where three young women swim in a river while armed guards with spears watch from beneath the shade of a tree.
A smaller room or alcove takes up the northeast section of the room; it was once closed off by a wooden door that since has rotted away, leaving only its hinges in the doorframe. A strong, cloying odor of decay pervades the room.
Malaviune shudders as movement returns. "That was exceptionally horrible," she muttered as she moved just about every joint, rolling her neck and scrunching her toes. She examined the scenes after a moment, peering at them in her near-sighted way, in case they became useful deeper into the complex.
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"Indeed! Powerful magic, that!" the now free Anton says, hugging Alanna fiercely and cracking every single knuckle in both hands.
After assuring Anton that she is not overly hurt, the Eidolon seems unnerved by the paintings, and two give in to curiosity, checking out the smell of rot coming from the door-frame beyond.
Shmick is quick to inform the now recovered party of the creature's name, and it's otherwordly nature. "A planar being you say?" Hickle starts, before taking a puff of his pipe. "And there was another a short distance away... I wonder, what forces did thos household invole themselves with to bring about such creature? Hm. Let's investigate further shall we?"
Shmick will also have a look around.
Buried amid the debris in the room is a large box containing coin and gems worth 1000 gp. There is also white silk Osirian wedding robe that is extremely fragile with age.
The source of the stench in the room is evident as there is a body, about six months dead, lying on the floor, no head in sight.