Caladra let out a long, low whistle as her eyes scanned the area. "Did not expect this down here," she says.
There's something...over there. In that crevice, Boudra signs, pointing to the far end of the room.
Lily's eyes grow wide with fascination. She wasn't expecting such a curious site deeper into the cavern. Whispering to the party she says,"Want me to quickly scout ahead? I can go invisible so I'll be safe."
"This is... definitely more than I expected." She pokes around some of the reliefs, her hands running over the stone. "Wow."
Judging by the reptilian nature of the carvings, the troglodytes seem the likely culprits.
You suspect that the original builders may have been Derro or even their antecedents, the Pech.
Judging by the reptilian nature of the carvings, the troglodytes seem the likely culprits.
However, your studies at Kitharodien Academy reveal even older secrets about this place.
The original, underlying masonry is truly ancient - perhaps even predating the Age of Darkness!
The notion also brings back to mind the lectures of one of your professors, a paranoid and fanciful Taldan man whose name escapes you but his ever-tangled beard and pronounced limp remain ensconced in your memory.
He used to speak of primordial ruins left behind by a race known as the Vault Builders. Many academics consider them myths, but your old professor was one of a few who suspect they possessed nearly god-like power.
Could this place be such an eons-old relic?
A total of 16 gemstones remain embedded in the walls, likely remnants of old mosaics - the subjects of which are long-since effaced.
Although neither the gems nor the statue radiate magic, you notice a distant magic aura in the direction Boudra points to.
"The gems and statue aren't magical, at least, and I leave our scholars to work out those particular puzzles, but there's something magical over there," Thorek mirror's Boudra's gesture and points the same way, then reaches for his dorn-dergar. "If the rest of the troglodytes are down here, why weren't they guarding the pit? It's an obvious choke-point to try and defend..."
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"If we weren't in the middle of a war, I could make build a career on this place. Look here," she says to no one in particular. "These bits, with the lizard-folk, are fairly recent, probably added by the trogs. But this other stuff pre-dates it by millennia. Legend tells of an ancient people, now known as the 'Vault builders.' There are rumors that they possessed god-like power. I think this is one of their structures. This could be the greatest archaeological find of the Age!"
She whips out a notebook and starts making sketches and rough measurements, taking a few notes. When Thorek ppoints out the magical emanations, she heads over there to take a look, and check for any potential traps.
"How... delightful!" The wizard is obviously happy to have a new intellectual curiousity to occupy his mind. "Well, with a steady light source, I suppose I know where I'd like to spend most of my time once we secure this location. Maybe I'll just make a few notes now..."
Caladra follows her friends as they scurry about the ruins. She can't help but smile at their wonder. For just a moment she forgot about the war going on just a few feet above her. Yet with sword drawn and tossed over her shoulder, she stays ready, watching for any signs of them not being alone.
Lily with her curiosity getting the best of her approaches the floating objects and takes examines then closely.
Cedric follows along, staying alert. As things continue to get more interesting, this seems like the perfect time to make sure that they're prepared in case they encounter some manner of eternal guardians.
"Psst. Caladra, c'mere a sec," he whispers. The odd grandeur of the place making him feel like he shouldn't be too loud.
Once they're close, he'll lay a hand on her shoulder and start pumping her full of divine protection, to better offset her innate recklessness.
Lily discovers a number of items floating within the largest crevice in the collapsed southern end of the hall: a sword, a breastplate, a golden icon, and a pair of gray metal flasks.
Before she can ascertain how or why these trinkets are so suspended, the air ripples and shimmers to herald a large mass undulating forth out of the crevice.
Curiosity has not dulled her reflexes, and Lily nimbly jumps aside before the quivering, slimy bulk can engulf her as it slides across the marble floor.
Like a lump of rubber previously squeezed out of shape, the.....thing that emerges now resumes what must be its natural, cubic form.
Something between a predator and a scavenger, this specialized ooze creeps along through abandoned, underground places, absorbing and digesting whatever organic matter it can engulf.
Although its body is highly caustic to organic tissue, metal and stone are immune to its digestive acids.
Stay back! Damage it from range, and don't let it engulf you - ACID!"
The wizard uses his wand to launch a bolt of force at the creature.
"I guess that's why it's so clean down here," says Cedric. "I don't even know how these things can happen."
He moves to a tactically advantageous spot near the wall, swells in size with the power of Erastil, and tries to skewer the jelly monster with his longspear from a safe distance.
- Barkskin (Caladra)
- Enlarge Person (self, until start of next turn)
- Shield Other (Caladra)
Caladra rolled her shoulders as she felt the magic course through her before nodding her thanks. Seeing lily stick her nose in potentially dangerous spot, she goes to warn her but sees her quickly dodge something. As the thing takes its cubic shape she can't help but laugh. "What is it? It looks like that sweet jelly desert we used to give the children back home."
None the less she takes a few steps forward despite cyrioul's warning, sword ready.
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Lily just stares at the cube. Completely and utterly befuddled by the monster she only utters,"What?"
"Oh, that's not good," Bree moans.
The bolt of magical force from Cyrioul's wand sets the gelatinous foe aquiver, but its slow march is unabated.
Cedric's spear skewers the cube, leaving a deep furrow-like wound.
The creature's acidic enzymes sizzle on the spear's haft as Cedric pulls his weapon back, but the wood appears intact.
The cube lumbers towards Caladra and Thorek, intent on absorbing and digesting them as though they were only bits of detritus.
Bree's arrow sinks deeply into the ooze's bulk. The broad metal arrowhead cuts a swath through its "flesh," even as the wooden shaft of the arrow begins to slowly dissolve.
Cedric winces as the acid bubbles on his spear, but he doesn't have time to worry about it as the jelly monster begins to advance on his allies.
Caladra laughed as the cube slithered towards her and Thorek, not taking the creature seriously.
As the giant mass, about 10 feet tall and surely weighing thousands of pounds, creeps along, Cedric's spear gouges another mighty wound in the cube.
This time, however, he quickly slides his spear out and very little of the digestive enzyme burns the wooden haft.
Caladra, distracted by the creature, stumbles against the statue as she attempts to evade the cube's sudden lurch forward.
She falls to the ground and the creature's bulk slides over her.
Thorek hurls his Dorn-Dergar, and the iron ball smashes into the cube's broad face.
As he attempts to retrieve it, however, he meets strong resistance. His efforts to free his weapon trip him up, and the dwarf quickly finds himself also subsumed.
Absorbed by the ooze, Caladra and Thorek feel the creature's enzymes seeping into their armor - it burns their skin and numbs their muscles.
Ooze and slime leak from the cube's faces and it trembles fiercely, as though having difficulty maintaining its cohesion.
"Nooo," Bree yells as the front liners are engulfed. She draws another arrow and fires again.
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Cyrioul waits to see if his allies with ranged weapons can stop the creature.
If not, just before it acts, he raises his wand again and fires off another bolt of energy...
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Cedric can actually feel the acid starting to burn its way through Caladra, and can only imagine how much worse Thorek has it without anybody to share the pain with. He grits his teeth as he shrinks in size, then maneuvers closer to the cubic monstrosity with the hopes of carving the pair right out of it.
Boudra draws her crossbow and begins to hastily draw the string and load a bolt.
The energy from Cyrioul's wand strikes the creature, sending it into pained spasms, but it is one last mighty twist of Cedric's spear that finally finishes this bizarre beast.
The cube collapses, spilling slime and ooze across the marble floor as it loses cohesion in place of a death throe.
Its death knell is sounded by the chime of the metal objects previously suspended in its body clattering wetly to the ground.
Cedric can feel the digestive acids losing their potency upon Caladra, but the two freed warriors remain motionless on the polluted floor.
"That was a lot of noise all of a sudden. Be on your guard, especially until those two can snap out of it!"
Bree runs to grab Caladra to pull her away in case any of the acid is still active. "Cedric, grab Thorek!"
Cedric feels relief with the knowledge that the pair of engulfed friends aren't still burning. He grabs his holy symbol and channels energy to repair the damage done by the cube.
"They'll be fine," he assures Bree as he channels. "I can feel that Caladra isn't continuing to be hurt. I assume it's the same for Thorek. We'll just need to make sure we don't go anywhere until they're back to normal." Once he's repaired their physical damage, he kneels down to hold Thorek's head up and make sure his airways aren't blocked.
Boudra hurries over to join Cedric in inspecting the warriors. As he checks Thorek, she carefully makes sure that Caladra's able to breathe, and racks her brain for any way to remove the paralysis that the two are clearly suffering.
Lily stands there befuddled. "What was that? Im sorry I didn't point that out before I went over there," she says confused.
"I hope there aren't more of those down here. And if there are, let's remember not to get close."
In a couple of minutes, Caladra and Thorek begin to stir and rise.
Their limbs are wracked by a simmering pins-and-needles sensation that fades gradually.
The slime-slick items now littering the floor, disgorged from the dead cube, include a well-made longsword, a breastplate emblazoned with a bronze angel, a wrought-gold icon of a sword and sun, and two flasks made from tin and stoppered with wax.
"Wow, I wonder how long this stuff has been down here," she says picking up the icon.
This all has the symbols of Iomedae on it, Boudra signs. She frowns. Sweet Immonhiel, I hope they're not the remains of some poor knight errant that thing ate...
Caladra pushes herself up, careful to not slip on the slick stonework. She felt her sromich churn as it fought and expelled what remains of the ooze she had swallowed in her striggles.
"That... was horrible..." she said between breaths. She stood and took her sword in hand and looked around with fire in her eyes. "please tell me there is something for me to kill."
As she approached the others and saw the breastplate she felt the rage bubbling insode her calm. She knelt beside it and traced her fingers along the emblem and look at some of the other items. She bowed her head for a moment to say a silent prayer for her fallen comrade before looking up at the others and saying, "If it's alright with you i'd like this breastplate. I think it may help with my anger."
Thorek is scowling as sullen as he comes too, his pride pricked at having not gotten so much as one good hit in before being overwhelmed.
He takes the potion flasks and offers them to Caladra and Thorek. "These will make you substantially stronger, for a few minutes at least. Don't forget that you have them if you have an inkling that we might be going into a fight."
Looking over the shield and armor, he thinks about the enchantments that his own master would lay into such items, and hopes that he can replciate that some day.
The wizard looks to Cedric, "Which way now?"
Cedric shrugs. He's more worried about lasting effects, both physical and psychological, to really give the question much serious consideration. "West, I guess?" he suggests. "Unless someone else has a better idea, of course. I might as well have flipped a coin. I just the fact we didn't draw any more attention from elsewhere down here is a good sign."
With no opposition Caladra unfastens the buckles that fasten her current breastplate on. She stretches her arms slightly once the armor is off revealing the thin leather jerkin she wears beneath along with the old and broken symbol of Iomedae that she wears around her neck. After a few minutes she has her new armor on, and while it seems to constrict her movements slightly more than the previous one, she seems more happy than before.
"Just point whichever way and I'll lead." She says.
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Bree moves to check out the 'door' in the western wall before they open it.
"I don't see any traps," Bree says as she tries to open it.
The ancient sculpture and masonry that once blended this door with the mosaics adorning the walls have long since eroded with time, tampering, and the partial collapse.
Any fine mechanisms guarding the door have fallen into uselessness, so the door grinds open without any spectacle or disaster.
The chamber beyond is all but buried in a pile of rubble.
Finished walls encircle part of the room but end in a collapse to the south.
Three stout, ragged figures stand by the west side of the room. Their wizened arms swing hammers in jerky downward arcs, striking dull iron bars at an old forge lined against some sort of well or vent opening from the ground.
Dry, yellow skin clings to their limbs like parchment, and wisps of ghostly white hair hang in stringy clumps from their scalps.
Their backs are turned towards you, and they show no sign of stopping their work as you watch.
Cyrioul does his best to peer through the darkness, but can’t quite make out what the figures are doing. ”Are they constructs? Undead?” he whispers.
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Boudra waves her hand frantically to get attention. I smell something, she signs urgently. Maybe some kind of gas? From that well, perhaps? It's coming from inside the room!