Vlad finds that the rotating passageways are currently set such that there's no way into room 2 without pulling a lever. His bats are dead, and the mimic chest has been thoroughly burned. No adventurers are visible in these rooms.
The flock of bats that is Vladimir returns to his companions, before taking back his form.
"My passagevays are set so that ve can't go up a level vithout moving them, so I suggest ve go together. There may be some sort of an ambush near the entrance."
After no small amount of time and racket from the Forge, Tikkik emerges driving his newly modified W.M.D., now sporting a fashionable split-barreled and unnecessarily sparking shoulder-mounted accelerator.
"Okay, so you were saying that the passages are wrong, eh? Well, since that means we won't be surprising them, we might as well charge right in! I've got a new toy to test out. Though maybe we should work on finding a better way to cram Cephalon into the hallways first."
Vladimir rises from the leather-bound book he was perusing, looking at Tikkik's flamboyant new additions. "Yes, vell, I vas thinking ve could shrink him. Some liberal application of free magic should help. Come here, all seven of you, ve need a vay to avoid you getting stuck again!"
Cephalon takes a moment to count his heads again, then decides against it. No one can count that high. He lumbers over by Vladimir, grumbling about how none of this would be a problem if he had better architectural sense.
"Fine, but this had better work."
Yup
"Hmm... should we try a pincer maneuver? Or just all go in the same door? As long as I get to test out my new invention, I'm not picky."
"Ve can go together, it vould be tiresome to keep up the same disguising and scouting act for every room. Let's just hit them with all ve've got."
"Hey, Cephalon! Get moving already. Shrink yourself or not, I'm getting tired of waiting. But if you don't get small, then you get to be in the back this time; I'm not spending another battle stuck behind your bulk."
Sounds groovy
You get organized and turn the passageway, heading into the passageway between areas 1 & 2.
Glancing into the cells, you see nothing but smashed skeletons. Looking towards the stairs, however, you see a single person clad in elaborately decorated plate mail, with a greatsword in his hand. Just looking at him you get a sense of power, as if he is more than just a man.
He points said sword at you and intones in a deep voice, "You have broken the balance of the dungeon. I shall put you in your place."
The armored man chants, and his sword begins to glow.
The Matriarch, who is striking about in the Ethereal, moves to the other side of the room from her companions and draws both her bows. She had exactly zero desire to tangle with that much glowing-ness.
Startled, Vladimir drops his accent. "Balance? What in the name of sanity do you mean? This is my HOME! My BUSINESS! Then, unscheduled vandals came here, killed ALL of my minions, including my SECRETARY, who wasn't even supposed to FIGHT, and you come and ramble about BALANCE? Vanish!"
The vampire's last word, however, is not a command as much as an invocation: he disappears from sight in a burst of magic.
Much to your surprise, the paladin moves, clanking closer to the W.M.D.
It was with great reluctance that Tikkik admitted to himself that his newest invention probably wouldn't do much to this foe except slow him down a little.
That said, he'd certainly laid down a challenge.
"What do you mean 'balance of the dungeon'? We BUILT this place! And since when have you self-righteous glowy types ever even CARED what happens to us dungeon dwellers!? My kind have been oppressed for ages, and I AM SICK OF IT!"
Tikkik drove his dragon around, keeping some distance, while testing the uppity do-gooder's reflexes with fire breath.
Cephalon storms out of the hallway into the larger room, and imposes himself between the paladin and the vampire.
The paladin show surprising agility in moving aside, receiving only minor burns from the W.M.D.'s breath.
Then he charges forward (provoking an attack of opportunity from Cephalon) and slashes at Cephalon with a mighty swing of his sword.
His sword burns with holy power as it bites deep into the hydra's flesh.
As soon as Cephalon engages the Paladin becomes to hard a target to hit with her bows, so she drops them. She moves up to flank him in the Ethereal, shifts, and attacks!
<-- crap
Reappearing from thin air behind the juggernaut, Vladimir strikes him with a supernaturally powerful slap imbued with necromantic energies.
Cephalon's teeth manage to penetrate the paladin's armor, but he cannot hold onto him as he tears himself free. The Matriarch's attach, however, just scratches off of his armor.
Vladimir's strike connects, however, drawing the paladin's attention. He turns and slashes at the vampire.
Tikkik pilots his mechanical dragon in to also flank the paladin, both because he is no longer alone, and also because he has remembered that holy damage doesn't work on the W.M.D.
"All the holiness in the world won't help you against me, you hypocritical glow-stick! Just go ahead and try to damage my wonderful creation! I dare you!"
Then, in a bit of cleverness, he directs the W.M.D. in an attempt to swat the paladin's greatsword out of his hands.
Claw 1
Claw 2
Claw 3
Claw 4
bite
The matriarch is pleased that the sparkly champion of good is being dumb. It will only lead to his death. She lays into him with tooth and claw, a slashing flurry of death!
"Seriously, acting so high and mighty is not going to win you any friends! Especially if you wreak havoc on our home first! Are you going to defeat us all on your own?"
Taking a step back while the large gash on his chest starts closing back, Vladimir pats on a pocket and raises his hand, unleashing magic on Cephalon while beginning a monologue on how rude it is to crash a party.
Cephalon tears into the paladin as viciously as he can.
The paladin easily keeps a hold on his sword, in spite of Tikkik's attempts. The Matriarch, however, manages to get a hold on him and tears into him savagely. Cephalon only manages to penetrate twice with his teeth, but one bite is particularly deep.
The paladin heals somewhat and then begins pummeling The Matriarch with his fists even though she's holding him.
Taking a calculated risk, the Matriarch releases her hold and attacks with her full fury.
Claw 1
Claw 2
Claw 3
Claw 4
bite 1
The Matriarch tears into the paladin with all of her claws... and is rather surprised when his armor falls apart under her assault.
Well, that might not be so surprising. What is surprising is that, as the different pieces of armor land, they're all empty. There was, it seems, no one in the armor.
You all have only a brief moment to take this in before each of you are struck with a splitting headache, as you think you see ghostly shadows of the adventurers you've fought today. They all come in simultaneously, but seem unaware of each other, sometimes even walking through each other...
Then the images fade, along with the pain in your head(s).
The matriarch shakes her head. That better not mean he infected us with his sparkle or something like that. She grumbles and starts going through the loot.
"Grr... Hmmm... Does this mean that this heap of animated metal somehow brought those adventurers in? And kept them from noticing each other, despite the obvious signs of passage they must have left? Hmm... How was that armor animated? Maybe I can learn something from this... Heheheheh....
"How fascinating. I may write an ode about a spirit of justice, bolstered by the souls of those slain by the evil overlords... And then, the spirit's tragic demise as it's reduced to rubbish."
Vladimir kicks a scrap of debris, searching among the remains for anything of value.
Looking through what was once the paladin, you find a +2 holy greatsword, +5 full plate armor, an Amulet of Natural Armor +2, a Belt of Giant Strength +4, Boots of Striding and Sprining, Bracers of the Avenging Knight, and a Ring of Protection +3.
Battered, but not defeated,the party quickly loots the ghostly holy warrior's possessions.
Having completed the floor of their Vampire companion's, the group of lords has a feeling of freedom, knowing that they may have some amount of time to rest, if you so choose to do so.
Actions?
Alright. Time to get this place re-sorted. I hope my eggs hatch quickly. I could really use the help.
The matriarch busies herself around this level putting everything back the way it was before those pesky adventurers ruined it all.
"Well, that's this one done. I need to do some maintenance and oiling, but after that I'll be ready to go. I'm sure they've made an absolute MESS of my workshops, and terrorized my clan into hiding, and I want to get moving onward quickly."
Tikkik takes his W.M.D. back for its routine checkup, and also checks to see if that alchemist has cooked anything sufficiently dangerous up yet.
"Oh, and don't toss all of that armor into the forge just yet. I want to check it over and see if it's got anything interesting left in it."
With a twist of his bracers, Vladimir mends his garish clothing. "Eh, vhatever. Ruins are sort of my aesthetics anyvay, I vill have Kevin take care of that, once I can raise him. Do ve vant to ascend to Tikkik's lab?"
The matriarch looks annoyed at the state of the place, but nods nevertheless.
Very well. It is your level, after all.
The party begins to head towards the staircase, with Cephalon in the rear. As he takes his first step upwards, something happens.
It seems as though he has run into an invisible wall of sorts, though none of you seemed to have any similar issues. And as he begins to rise his frustrations, he is quickly cut off as a black line, seemingly made of ink, cuts through his body horizontally, like the stroke of a pen. As the ink settles, the many headed lord begins to fade from view, disappearing into nothingness.
Well. That's disconcerting. mutters the Matriarch. Let's hope that doesn't happen again.
"What the... that didn't look paladin-y at all, either! Is there some no-good RIVAL here trying to horn in on our turf?! Or is there something else?.... Anyway, not much we can do about it, at least without our ressurector device. Keep moving forward!... but check for traps, this thing's expensive."
Tikkik votes to keep moving. He'll drive with the dragon's head low so he can watch for traps as they go.
"Oh, this is just SO inappropriate! Are ve now facing vizards hiding in the shadovs? Cephalon vas such a great arrow sponge, if somevhat crude!"
The group, though slightly concerned about Cephalon's issue with now being seemingly non-existent, presses further upwards, though now slightly more aware of the dangers that may lie ahead...
"Grr... we'll have to go through the Matriach's level to get to mine, won't we? And it's going to be full of adventrers too, no doubt..."
Tikkik grumbled, wanting to check on his clan and workshops sooner than was physically possible.
I just hope they fell for my traps. After your level, TikTik, some probably jumped at the chance to relax for a moment.
"Vould that mean that ve've faced off against the toughest ones? Or perhaps they sent disposable scouts forvard."