With the plate still glowing, and with the end of his spear now giving off a radiant light, Teldon steps onto the plate... and still, nothing happens. It is at this point that Ziomarra, looking at the auras once more, realises that the glow being given off by the plates is not as radiant as the aura itself... almost as if more power needed to be channeled into the plates to enable them to achieve their full effect...
...and there are four statues.
...and the radiance of the plates grows and grows with each statue that is touched.
Joanna puts a hand on Briana's shoulder.
"Do you mind if I go first," she asks.
Joanna touches each of the statues and stands on the plate. Oddly, Halli does not stand by her. The wolf instead lies in a corner and keeps a wary eye on the others has her other eye looks at Joanna, almost as if she were asking her to come back safely.
"With my life," Joanna replies without hesitation.
She shuffles around the fire, closer to Briana, close enough to wrap her arms around the other young woman and hold her tight.
"We're okay, aren't we? We're gonna be okay."
The bright glow that fills Joanna's eyes is, with a phasing of reds and violets, replaced with dim light... and where her friends had previously been gathered around, she is now in a richly appointed marble chamber. Its domed ceiling is frescoed with an image of a starry night sky - it is from here that the dim light emanates, while a thick rug of exquisite manufacture covers much of the floor. A stairway rises to a pair of double doors to the west, while a hallway leads away to the south. A large alcove decorated with gold tiles extends to the north - and black marble benches carved to represent coiling serpents sit on the northeast and southeast walls.
This room is guarded by hideous creatures, four in all, with the torsos of voluptuous women but with arms, legs, and heads of nightmarish parodies of the human form. Turning to see Joanna's arrival, their jaws extend horrifically and their guisarmes lower in anticipation of the fight to come...
Charging, they run at Joanna with their polearms presented afore them...
Joanna steps up towards the more dangerous of the two monsters that had hit her and sends her blade spinning through a blinding flurry that fails to hit the creature, but may push it back from the platform. The paladin says a prayer for strength and the throb of pain from the pair of hits fades as holy light limns her and her armor.
Arsith follows her dear friend...only to find her in the midst of a fight (once again)
Do you need help, Sweetie Pie?
Maybe taken by surprise by the charging creatures, their sinuous movement belying a strength that has already cut through armour, Joanna flails desperately at the monsters.
Polearms slice and cut through the air around Joanna, yet not one of the ancient weapons strikes...
Phasing into reality next to her friend, Aristh barely has time to register the scene before the sinspawn are turning their attention towards her...
"Oh, thank you for joining us, Arsith," Joanna says in a surprisingly chipper tone, "It seems we have some unexpected company. Mind giving me a hand with our 'guests?'"
Joanna ducks one of the blades before parrying a second then a third while the last scrapes off her armor. She doesn't allow the sinspawn a chance to recover before launching herself back under their blades.
These strikes prove to be surer than her last attack.
As Arsith steps onto the plate and vanishes, Shadlah lets out a short, hard sigh. "Very well," she mutters, touching each statue in turn and stepping onto the plate.
As she appears, the tiny spirit balanced precariously on her shoulder lets out a small squeak, like chalk on slate, and vanishes, the myriad stones falling to the ground with a clatter.
I'm always willing to give you an hand.
If only my hand was steadier...
Joanna's blade, driven with full force, pierces the sinspawn's torso... and, as she pulls her sword clear the monstrosity collapses in a shower of gore. Seemingly undeterred by the worsening odds, the creatures continue with their attacks...
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Joanna steps up to the next on in line and continues her deadly dance.
"Well, you could always claim you're distracting them with the lovely head of the mace," Joanna laughs before sparing a glance to Shadlah.
"Hello, Shadlah. Have you come for the festivities?"
After a long moment, Joanna lets go and laughs as she wipes away some tears.
"Thank you, Briana. I know that I'm not the only one that has their demons, but it's hard not being able to talk about it sometimes. When we get back to Magnimar, do you think you could help me rescue my sisters?"
Don't get lusty ideas in your pretty head, Jo..
I hope we made the right choice... if there are hostile creatures on the other side Jo was the right choice to go first but I should have gone second in case there were traps... too late now, I’ll have to trust they won’t trigger anything before I arrive...
Looking at Briana and Zee, Teldon offers, ”Zee, perhaps you should go next in case there is some pressing need for arcane magic?”
"Thank you," Joanna says with a smile before giving Briana a hug and standing up, "I feel a little better now."
Joanna's blade sends one of the sinspawn reeling...
With a sweep of her foot, Shadlah pushes the stones into a small pile and steps away from them, circling around the two women like a cougar. Without spending a moment to gather energy from the stones around her, and with nothing to easily call on lying in the room, she instead opens her body to the planes, calling earth and stone into being as she hurls it at the creature in front of Joana.
Gathering her senses, Shadlah pulls on the power of the rock... and pulverises one of the sinspawn to nothing more than a stain amongst rubble...
As Ziomarra, her guise as Sorshen seemingly having no effect upon the sinspawn, steps through into the room she is in time to observe the dying embers of this frenetic combat...
"It does, and thank you, you've helped a lot."
After a moment, Joanna looks at Briana and asks, "you said your name was Kaddren when we first met, right? Did your parents ever let you play with a young girl named Josephina when you were little?"
Teldon nods and gives Briana's hand a quick, reassuring squeeze as she heads for the portal. "The portal takes about six seconds to reset... I'll see you then."
As soon as she's gone he begins reactivating the portal.
Moving around to the stain on the floor, Shadlah sweeps up the rubble before it can vanish and sends it towards the last foe standing.
The rubble, still wet with the remnants of the sinspawn, is flung at a frightening velocity towards the last of the creatures in the chamber... and, as the rocks finally fall to the ground, it is all over.
Teldon and Helanda phasing into existence amongst the remnants of the fight have missed it all - the once magnificent marble chamber with its thick rug now covered in rubble and gore has two obvious exits; the stairway rising to a pair of double doors to the west and a hallway leading away to the south.
"I don't think so," Joanna asks as she looks Arsith and Shadlah over before looking down at herself.
"Oh. I forgot about that,"she says as she spots the two scratches on her arm.
Joanna gives a girlish grin despite her emotional fatigue.
"Guilty. I'm sorry it took so long for me to remember. So what happened when you started being able to speak with spirits?"
"It was worse. They got me right as I showed up. Iomedae was kind enough to let me mend it."
There is little of particular note here in the chamber - the furnishing were certainly once grand but it seems to be little more than an antechamber to somewhere else... and, of all the decoration, it is the double doors at the top of the steps that are most grandiose...
Once satisfied that there is nothing of significance in the antechamber, Teldon begins to inspect the double door for traps and an opening mechanism. ”It seems this is the way forward... should we check the other way quickly before advancing?”
"I think we should. I'd rather not leave any surprises at our backs."
Once Teldon's checked the door, Joanna takes point starts heading down the passage.
The passageway, heading off to the west and into the gloom, is seemingly unoccupied - and is remarkable in being sparsely furnished in comparison to the room itself... some hundred feet or so to the west, it turns to the north and out of view.
Joanna asks for some light on her shield before moving deeper down the hallway. As she approaches the corner, she cautiously turns it and sees what lays beyond.
As Joanna nears the corner of the passageway she hears, reminiscent of so many soirees in the high society of Magnimar, the sound of a large party in full swing — delighted laughter, spirited music, the clinking of fine crystal, and the murmur of a large crowd — becomes increasingly obvious the closer she gets.
As Joanna realizes what she's hearing, her sword lowers to a less threatening position and turns the corner. She still leads with her shield, unsure of what to expect.
What's happening, Jo?
Arsith waits for further informations
Shadlah sweeps the carved stones into a pile and cradles them, watching as the fledgeling spirit scuttles back into them. "Welcome back," she murmurs, helping it onto her shoulder. She watches as the rubble she blasted the creatures with sinks into the floor and disappears, then follows a distance behind Joanna, staying level with Briana.
Teldon follows about ten feet behind Jo... close enough that he can step forward and stab past her with his spear should the need arise, but not close that she can't step back if necessary. He looks and listens intently as they go...
"I'm not hearing things am I," Joanna asks, "It sounds like there's a party going on."
Joanna, still taking the lead is the first to see the grand room at the end of the corridor, the cavernous hall is made of marble, with two rows of pillars carved to resemble tree trunks supporting the ceiling thirty feet above. The frescoed ceiling is painted to depict the canopy of foliage such trees would produce, and a star-flooded sky, full moon aglow, peeks through the boughs here and there. A lavish rug, coloured burnt orange shot through with threads of gold, runs the length of the room. Two great tapestries of rich burgundy hang from the sides of a balcony on the east wall that overlooks the ballroom from a height of thirty feet, while at the opposite end of the room, four statues of a beautiful woman guard a large stage.
The grandeur of the room is hardly noticeable above the incongruity of the masked ball in full swing here. Dozens of men and women dressed in fine clothing dance to the music of a small orchestra on the stage, while just below the stage sits none other than Runelord Sorshen herself on a ruby throne, clad in a scandalously revealing gown. As Joanna enters - followed by her friends, she rises from the throne and claps her hands twice. This causes the orchestra to fall silent and the members of the dance to immediately hush and turn their attention to her as she speaks.
“Oh my sweet subjects”, she coos, her voice seductive and penetrating. “Now is the time for us to enjoy the succulent fruits of our labor. I give you license to indulge your appetites, every unexpressed libidinous impulse, for by such indulgences you honour me. Those who would interfere with this sacrament are like the blind chastising the sighted for looking with pleasure upon a rainbow. Why, some in our midst this very moment actively work against us — obstacles between us and the indulgence of our passions. Behold the cold and bloodless prudes who even now stand before us!”
At this point, the crowd turn to face the arriving group, their expressions a mixture of contempt and disgust.
Joanna raises an eyebrow at the Runelord.
"What do you want me to do? Strip naked and dance about as I walk in," she asks, "I mean, you do know the rest of this place has been falling to ruin, right? Not exactly the place you expect to find a masquerade happening with so many finely dressed people."
The paladin takes a deep breath in and closes her eyes for a moment. They glow silver as she opens them once more and the runes burned onto her breastplate shimmer with light.
"Though given what little I know of the Runelords, I suspect more than a few of you have wicked hearts hiding underneath that silk," she says in a far colder voice as she raises her sword and sweeps her gaze across the room.