Hyo Soon reaches into a purse and pulls out a handful of jangling coins, "I have a few handfuls, that should help. Are you going to throw the vial first?" She gulps a bit, looking at the size of the creature at the base of the stairs.
Sevak nods. "I wonder if it would have responded more calmly if we had offered 'food' from the first. It must be tamed to some degree to be kept here, one would think. I may have ruined our chances of that with my fireball..."
Thinking to test the theory, Sevak takes out a handful of coins and rattles them around, watching the pixiu for its reaction.
Hyo Soon mutters, 'Maybe, but being locked up for a century without meeting anyone probably didn't help its temperament."
Sevak takes the gold in his hand, jangling them. The dark staircase is filled with the gentle jingle of gold on gold, and it occurs to the ex-druid that such sounds were once common here.
The pixiu snorts and cocks a head toward the sound, the massive head turning slightly. Then it sniffs the air, snuffling loudly. A deep growl sounds in its throat.
Once, he might well have been able to soothe the beast through his connection with nature. Now... well, perhaps food would suffice.
"It may be best to try this first," Sevak comments. He tosses a single gold coin down the stairs to the beast.
The coin clatters down the staircase, bouncing loudly. The pixiu eyes it carefully as it gets within reach. With one last jump the coin sails into the air. With a quick snap, the lion head plucks it out of the air. It swallows the gold coin whole in one gulp.
The red eyes look upward, tounge licking lips. The tail thrashes back and forth, waiting for the next morsel, be it gold or flesh.
Hyo Soon looks down, 'How do we know if you won it over?"
"By being very slow and careful," Sevak responds without taking his eyes off the pixiu.
Sevak tosses another coin down, taking a single step closer to the pixiu as he does so. He watches the creature's posture carefully for hints as to its attitude.
Sevak tosses another glittering coin and watches, marveling at the speed of the creature as it snaps it up. With a shudder he glimpses into the tooth-lined maw of the beast.
It appears distracted by the coin but after it has eaten it, looks up sees Sevak and starts to growl again. He can see the shiny burns where he threw the fireball, some still weeping blood.
The ex-druid guesses it is far more hungry for gold then flesh, and it is a useful distraction. But the beast knows who burned it and he does worry the pixui might simply pounce to steal his bag of gold if he gets too close and is too unwary.
"Be ready to run when the time comes," Sevak warns Hyo Soon.
He throws another coin, aiming past the beast's shoulder, trying to force it to turn and move a little to get the coin.
"If this works, a steady stream of coins thrown far from the vault door may get us through," he states.
The beast takes half a step and snatches the coin out of the air, with a satisfied slurp. The bright eyes remained fixed on Sevak and his handful of gold.
Hyo Soon shakes her head and says, 'Mage Hand might help. I can manipulate the coins better then just tossing them. I'll distract him while you dart around the other side."
Sevak nods. "If you would please try," he says.
He takes advantage of the moment to use his healing wand again.
Hyo Soon takes a handful of her own coins, and muttering her spell, begins hovering them down the stairs. The pixiu stares at the weird cloud of gold, licking its lips. The wizard raises them high and makes them slowly drift away from the vault door.
Step by slow step the beast moves to stay under the enticing floating sphere, tail lashing.
'I'd hurry, it might just pounce and wreck it. You are looking for a long white staff." Hyo Soon says, staring at the coin, "My Light should stay with you." Sevak can see she is working hard at concentrating on both spells at once.
Sevak nods, and sprints for the vault door. He slips the fungal stun vial into one hand in case he needs it.
As Sevak darts for the far door, the creature remains distracted for a few moments by the floating coins. For a moment Sevak feels he is going to make it scot-free. Then the pixui jumps into the air, scattering the coins in a shower of gold. Most roll away as the beats snaps them up, grubbing the old stone floor.
Unfortunately they turns it around and it glances up, and spots Sevak running full out. Instantly it gives chase, growling and ignoring the other few coins remaining. Just as Sevak jumps the huge vault door, the beats is hot on his heels, snapping and snarling.
Sevak tosses the vial he has prepared behind him. It can hardly miss, as he can feel the hot breath of the beast on his neck. There is a smash of glass and a rush of yellow vapor, but Sevak is running flat out, taking no time.
He hears the creature stumble and pause for a moment. The vast creature shakes its head but that moment is all Sevak needs. He speeds into the vault, past the bare area the pixui has stripped clean. It is hard to judge how far the chain reaches but once he starts crossing into areas filled with treasure, he deems it safe.
Turning he sees the creature has stopped, eyeing him. It knows he is beyond reach. It roars once, loud enough to shake the vault, then sits down, tail lashing.
Sevak had made it past the creature.
All around him stood the vast wealth, the treasure of empires. He knew there was more here then even his old Mistresses had secreted away in her storerooms. Still, in all of this, how could he find the staff?
Sevak pants for a moment, the adrenaline of his close call still causing his heart to race in spite of the fact that he hadn't really expended much effort in such a short sprint.
He takes some time to slowly look around. Surely a place like this would have an order of some sort, and organization to it. If he can discern it, that might suggest where such an item might be kept.
I am guessing you have never been here, Zhèngyì? Sevak mentally asks while he carefully looks around. For that matter, how much of your surroundings do you perceive?
It is hard to describe. I can...sense my surroundings with something similar to sight and sound.The sword says, And I can detect some of your thoughts and memories. Indeed, I gain more through your senses then on my own. But no, I was never brought here. I was no mere bauble to be locked away and fawned over, I was a weapon of war, of justice.
Sevak looks over the treasure vault about him, seeing if there is an order to it. There appears to be. The coins are stacked together in great chests, while the jewels are kept in one area. The books and scrolls of magic and power are ordered neatly along one wall.
A row of crates containing magical items seems to stretch off, out of sight. Indeed, it appears the items are more powerful as they go deeper into the vault.
Another direction weapons are stacked, some ceremonial while others look bloodstained and worn.
Well, the logical place for it would be with the other magical items. Warily, Sevak again draws Zhèngyì... though thinking of possible danger, he heals himself one last time before putting his wand away.
Then he cautiously advances down the row of crates, looking for traps and long white staves.
Sevak moves through, keeping his eyes open. He touches nothing, wary for traps. The ex-druid walks past crates full of magical rings, of amulets, of other, stranger things. Finally, near the back wall he finds one podium.
resting on it, lit by a dim magical light, is a long white staff, nearly as tall as he is. It is simple, elegant, carved from one shaft of white wood. Topped by a single blue stone, it looks clean and fresh as if just made this morning.
It does not appear chained or attached to the pedestal, but on it, he sees a small keyhole. There are no other signs or markers.
Sevak eyes the pedestal warily. A keyhole? Was there some trap or defense that had to be deactivated to remove the staff safely? Or perhaps a spell to hold it in place?
Sheathing Zhèngyì again, he instead takes out his sling and stands well away from the staff. He doubted a sling bullet would harm such a powerful magical item, but it should serve as a test for danger. He loads a bullet into his sling, and then hurls it at the staff with a broad sweep of his arm.
The bullet shoots across the room, humming as it flies. It hits the staff with no magical flashes or bursts of arcane energy. There is the sound of metal on wood, and the staff slowly rolls off the pedestal. Sevak winces and waits for acid to pour out of the walls or a giant boulder to fall and chase him.
Nothing happens.
Then he hears the pixui yowling and Hyo Soon shouting. It is too distant to make out, but then he hears a much more terrifying sound. The scrape and squeal of a vast steel door closing.
Alarmed, Sevak surges forward and grabs the staff, then starts running back towards the entrance... though he doubts he will make it in time.
As the ex-druid grabs the staff, it is cold to the touch. Gripping it was like plunging his hand into an icy stream and holding it there. Sevak wondered if this was what ice was like. The pain was bearable though and he pelted toward the door, ignoring the wealth around him.
He saw, with relief, the vault door was closing slowly. Age and lack of maintenance must have hindered the closing mechanism. Still, through the now half-shut door he could see the pixui standing there, eyeing him, as if it knew he would come running right at it.
Even farther he could see Hyo Soon on the stairs, having come lower to see better.
The screeching of steel on steel went on as the vault door swung inexorably closed.
Hoping the staff would help him get back past the pixiu was all well and good, except he had no clue how to use it. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he waves it towards the waiting beast, hoping it would react somehow.
He waves the impressive looking staff, feeling the frigid cold seep into his hands. His scales feel iced over and clumsy, his grip loose.
Nothing happens.
The door continues to slowly close.
We must not get trapped in here. Zhengyi says, a trace of emotion in the usually reserved voice.
Indeed not! Sevak agrees with the blade.
Well, if the staff would not serve, he would have to try something else. Shifting his grip on the chilly shaft to his left hand alone, he reaches and pulls out the horn of fog as he again begins sprinting towards the door. As he nears it, he takes a deep breath, then blows, sending a cloud of fog through the narrowing opening before him. He can only hope it will be enough to through the creature off of him until he can run past...
Sevak pulls the horn and blows on it, his breath ragged gasps as he runs. Luckily it still works and suddenly the entire area is full of thick, pearly-white smoke. The ex-druid pelts through it, head down, staff in hand. Even as he sees it, the door is closing faster now. His way out is becoming narrower and narrower.
The fog seems to confuse the pixui and it lets out a bellow of rage, pawing the stone ground. The doorway narrows more, now a mere crack. Sevak speeds up and at the last moment throws himself through the space, feeling it brush him on both sides. Even as he hits the floor, there is a loud clank, as the vault door slams to.
Sevak is on the ground, staff in hand, silent for the moment. Near him, hidden somewhere in the fog, the pixui snorts and snuffles, as if searching for him. Everywhere is a blank white void. In the jump he had totally disoriented himself. How was he going to get out...
Then he hears Hyo Soon say, 'This way, Sevak. Follow my voice!" her words are coming from dead ahead and high up, still on the stairs.
As quietly as he can manage, Sevak gets to his feet and creeps in the direction of Hyo Soon's voice.
Carefully, keeping the staff off the ground, Sevak sneaks through the fog, heading toward the voice. Several times the snuffling seems very close to him, just above. Once, he even glimpses a giant hairy paw next to him, long claws gripping into the stonework.
But the pixui doesn't see him and Sevak soon finds the stairs. In a rush he leaps up them, out of the fogbank. Quickly he is above it, and he can see the back of the still searching beast scouring the small room. Beyond the vault door is closed and sealed.
"Is...is that it?" Hyo Soon says, voice shaking, staring at the staff. Sevak realizes this is the culmination of probably months, if not years of work for the female wizard.
Sevak holds the staff out. "You would know better than I," he states.
Gingerly, with her hands shaking, Hyo Soon takes the offered staff. For a moment her hands hover over it, then she snatches it up. Instantly the icy feeling in Sevak's hands subsides.
The female wizard holds the staff, peering at it closely, "It has been so long...I never expected to find it, and certainly not in such condition..." her voice is soft, barely audible. 'A true Imperial relic, untouched by anyone for over a hundred years....' She looks closely, muttering various words and spells under her breath, lost int he moment.
The fog slowly dissipates, and the pixui roars and spots them. It pulls at the rusty chain, trying to reach them.
"I think we had best examine it somewhere safer," Sevak suggests, waving Hyo Soon up the stairs, then following after.
Hyo Soon says, distantly, 'Hmm, what? Oh, of course." Still clutching the staff she follows Sevak up the stairs and then down the hallway that had once held the ooze. Nothing happens to them, and Sevak leads the way quickly but carefully. He has a feeling they are being watched however, and the sense grows as they enter the vast room with the Emperor's statue.
Then, dead ahead of him, he sees the ghost glimmer into view. The shadowy figure seems to stare at the staff, "You have retrieved it." the voice sounds choked, as if the ghost was surprised. The vague fingers are clenching and unclenching, the whole body quivering with excitement, barely restrained.
"Told you, you should have released the pixui" Hyo Soon mutters in Sevak's ear.
"Yes, and you will be free once we take it from this place, yes?" Sevak says to the ghost, warily.
The ghost seems to shudder and nod but then says, "Yet, I am bound to protect this place. I cannot allow you to leave unscathed, nagaji." A smoky sword swirls into existence in it's hands, and it drifts forward a few feet. An internal struggle is going on, but Sevak is unsure.
Behind him Hyo Soon mutters, "I can perhaps uses the staff to destroy this spirit."
"If you can get the staff outside swiftly, we will not have to destroy him," Sevak whispers back, without removing his gaze from the spirit. "Go quickly. If you have spells left to help you escape faster, use them."
He raises Zhèngyì and focuses on the ghost. "Then we will proceed to do our best not to kill each other, yes?"
Hyo Soon looks both annoyed and scared, gripping the staff tightly. She edges off as Sevak and the ghost square off.
The shadowy figure suddenly flies directly at the ex-druid, the sword moving quickly.
Sevak dodges it fairly easily, but the spirit still blocks him from the door.
Hyo Soon is edging toward the wall, trying to leave a wide berth around the fight.
Sevak swings Zhèngyì back, though he focuses more on defense than offense.
Sevak fights cautiously, holding back and keeping his guard up. Still, he has not gotten used to the sheer power Zhengyi unleashes with each blow. The blade slices through the shimmering figure and he sees the figure writhe in something like pain.
It howls and Hyo Soon bolts in the confusion. Instantly the ghost spots her and turns, as if to chase after her.
Quickly Sevak tried to place himself between the ghost and Hyo Soon, his blade ready to strike should the spirit try to pass.
Sevak darts around the distracted being, trying to give Hyo Soon that extra few seconds. The wizard is running fast now, cradling the staff in front of her. She is near the door, but thent he ghost charges Sevak.
They trade blows, Zhengyi bouncing off the suddenly substantial shadowy sword. Sevak gives ground, fighting defensively, and he is pushed back slowly toward the massive front door. It is tricky to avoid the traps built into the vast floor, but he manages it.
Suddenly, when Sevak is nearly at the door himself, the ghost freezes in place. It seems stuck in a horrible contortion of pain, and a low, groaning sound emanates from it. Turning quickly, Sevak sees Hyo Soon has cleared the building and is standing outside, in the bright sunlight.
The ex-druid turns back, staring at the spirit in front of him. Slowly it begins to straighten, like a man setting down a heavy load after a long day's labor. A smile flits across the face and the moaning stops. The sword vanishes into smoke and the spirit intones, 'Thank you, young warrior." With great dignity it bows, then there is a flash of light and it is gone.
Sevak bows back to the now-empty air. His first thought was that he much prefered this outcome to most of the other possibilities.
His second was one of gratitude. Thank you, Zhèngyì. Doubtless we would have fallen without you. Now to turn to these bandits...
The thought of bandits made him realize that Hyo Soon had just run out into the bandit-infested ruins alone. Quickly he turns and jogs out to join her.
Sevak runs out of the cool and dark building into the green brightness of the outside. He reaches Hyo Soon in an instant but before he can say anything, another voice cuts in.
"Halt.", It is a deep gravelly voice coming from somewhere above them both.
Hyo Soon looks confused and then Sevak realizes why. the voice was speaking druidic. The nagaji looks up and around the ruins that surround them. He sees a black shape drop from a wall and land near by.
With a flash of surprise Sevak sees it is Paq, bound and gagged with some type of study vine. The rogue is at least alive, his whiskers twitching and his bright eyes darting around. Still, he had hit the ground out, and Sevak can see some blood among the glossy black fur.
"Do not move." the rough voice says again.
Sevak looks up again, straining. Then he sees movement among the tumbled remains of some pillars. It is a large lizard, the size of a horse, climbing down to ground level.
It is a huge type of chameleon Sevak realizes, recognizing the three horns, the independently roving, turreted eyes, and the curled tail. The lizards were not uncommon in the jungle homelands of his youth but they were small reptiles that could fit in your hand. This beast could swallow Paq whole.
Then, Sevak sees the figure riding it. Astride the slowly descending reptile is a humanoid figure, bulky and solid. Much of it is covered in a thick layer of clothing made of plant material embedded with stones, creating a crude armor. All that is revealed is the head and the strangeness makes Sevak blink.
The flesh, as it were, was milky white swirled with veins of green, like expensive marble. The face is hard, as if carven out of that strange material, nose, chin, mouth. The eyes are set in deep, and flash with the green fire of emeralds.
In one stony fist rests a long spear, tipped with obsidian.
The figure stares at Sevak unblinkingly as the chameleon comes to rest a dozen feet above the ground, clinging to a ruined pile of stones.
Sevak freezes, watching the strange being warily. Was he... it... some kind of creation of a druid, or a druid himself? Or perhaps both? Whatever the case, he was clearly dangerous, and not necessarily friendly.
"He says not to move," he translates in Common to Hyo Soon, without breaking eye contact with the strange 'man'.
In Druidic, he then says, "I am Sevak. May I ask who you are?"
The figure's eyes gleam brighter and it says, "You have a dark shadow behind you Sevak, and nature is troubled by your presence." a pause and then the voice goes on, a note of confusion, "And yet you understand the Green Speech? Explain yourself and why you are here, robbing the graves of the dead Empire."
One of the lizard's conical eyes turns on Sevak.
"I was once a druid, but in my fear I made a dark decision which still haunts me, severing me from the natural world," Sevak admits, still speaking in Druidic. "It has proven... far easier to fall than to climb back up again, but I have not given up."
"As for why we were here... my companion is a student of history, and had hoped to find a relic of the past that she had learned might be here."
Sevak realizes this being is a oread, a mix of elemental and human. They are rare in Tian Xia but not unheard of. Sevak has never met one before.
The blazing green eyes seem to bore into Sevak, 'A fallen druid?" the words are curious, "I have never heard of such a thing...but I have been alone for a long time."
It seems to lean forward, "You are here for study?" and waves a hand at the bound Paq, "You expect me to believe this one is a scholar?"
The deep voice is hard now, "I do not care for liars, Sevak of the naga. Speak true, what is your masters goal in sending you to my woods?"
"Exile," Sevak replies. "I am an exile, sentenced to death if I am seen again in naga-ruled lands. I have no master any more."
"She is the scholar," he points at Hyo Soon. "As for myself, I had hoped to do something about the depredations of the bandits that dwell here. What they do to the poor farmers her is not right."