Shendalyn takes a breather as Jethryk rushes in to finish the job.
"No need to rise good fellow you're just about to be put down anyway..."
As he says so he calls, no, forces another bull to his aid. Consequences be damned.
BULL SMITE!
Jethryk's sword, Albina's channeled energy and Shendalyn's forcibly conscripted aurochs combine to grievously wound the daemon. Somewhat surprised it grimaces as it begins to fade away... though the look upon it's face does not betray the level of disappointment that you would have expected...
Immediately dismissing the bull back to its evergreen plains Shendalyn slumps to the ground and spares a manic laugh.
"Right, well we've proven not only was the siege of this place a failure on part of the besieged but done incompetenyl on part of those doing the sieging. We also learned that I can rip out things from the heavens themselves at my whim. Sacry thought that. Also arousing."
Mi'Dre leaves Shendalyn to his gloating instead looking around for the necklaces the creatures had been wearing, curious whether they yet remained; perhaps they could be of use... or if not then they would be worthy trophies.
"All the better for us if they did not discover this level. There might be another eye, or some treasure to pay for the unholy water... Albina, can I get some more of that healing?" whether he finds the amulets or not he moves to the door after the search, opening the way forward to get a better look at the next room.
Mi'Dre checks the area but finds no possession of the daemons remaining. Moving to the door shut by Shendalyn earlier, he reopens it and looks through.
The rounded chamber beyond has a high domed ceiling and is everywhere adorned with grisly bas relief depictions of the nightmare realm of Abaddon. A spiral staircase without railing rises at the western end of the room. A curved half-wall blocks direct access to the staircase.
When no more Daemons appear to assault him Mi'Dre moves cautiously into the room, moving along the walls, examining the carvings for hidden triggers, openings or any other sign of secret doors and traps. Should that search fail to turn up anything he will gesture the others through and peer behind the wall and up the stairs.
The bas-reliefs hold merely the image of daemons and there does not seem to be anything lurking physically within. The staircase twists and turns in a steep ascent and you cannot see much without following it upwards.
"Up we go..." he mutters, glancing at the others before starting to move slowly and quietly up the stairs.
Shendalyn will not follow. Instead letting the sneaky part of the group do sneaky.
As Albina sees to the wounds of those below, Mi'Dre makes an ascent of the staircase.
Reaching the end, the stairs open into a large domed chamber that is baroquely decorated and everywhere adorned with jagged daemonic iconography. Visions of spreading pestilence and mortal suffering dominating those decorations. It is a grand chamber: eighty feet across at its widest, ninety feet long and rising at its apex to a dome fifty feet high.
Low partition walls section off areas to the side and dominating the chamber is the statue of Vetra-Kali himself carved from hard green alabaster. He holds three knives and three bowls and leers eyeless over the altar before him. The statue presents a figure of brutal alien malice. The green stone of the altar is stained black in many places and there is a reservoir at the base of the statue. Completely out of place are the heavy silver chains that bind the altar and connect to a heavy argent seal pressed with the holy sunburst of blessed Iomedae.
Circling the dome in perpetual motion is a huge creature of living energy...
More and more stairs. I think we must have missed something again. I saw an entrance of some kind from the outside before dawn and I must be way above that now. comes Mi'Dre's faint voice inside Albina's head. The devil has paused halfway up the stairs to update his fellow cultists. If they really are exploring territory undefiled (or unconsecrated?) by the Victor well... he has no wish to run into more daemons like Hexor and Vexor. He really wouldn't like to find out what the contract with Thorn and his original task had done to his soul, or whatever passed for it for him. He'd always been kind of fuzzy on the mechanics of inter-planar travel...
"It occurs to me our erstwhile revived cultist might have benefitted us by telling us about the daemons locked up upstairs. So I think we should question him on his reluctance to determine the final fate of his comrades."
If he was important enough to know about it. Remember how we found out about the passage? I suspect we are currently in the inner sanctum of this place... Mi'Dre observes from his distant rest on the stairs, still waiting on a decision before he tires himself further.
Jethryk waits for his wounds to heal under Albina's Infernal ministrations, then waits patiently for the party to continue.
The stairs lengthen into a great spiral stair case that rises more than two hundred feet straight through the heart of the rock. Though steep and an arduous climb, Mi'Dre sees no sign of traps or other dangers yet. Every twenty feet are rough iron sconces that bear green flickering continual flames and the walls are decorated with images of the Horsemen ascending to higher planes and slaying celestials.
Reaching the end, the stairs open into a large domed chamber that is baroquely decorated and everywhere adorned with jagged daemonic iconography. Visions of spreading pestilence and mortal suffering dominating those decorations. It is a grand chamber: eighty feet across at its widest, ninety feet long and rising at its apex to a dome fifty feet high.
Low partition walls section off areas to the side and dominating the chamber is the statue of Vetra-Kali himself carved from hard green alabaster. He holds three knives and three bowls and leers eyeless over the altar before him. The statue presents a figure of brutal alien malice. The green stone of the altar is stained black in many places and there is a reservoir at the base of the statue. Completely out of place are the heavy silver chains that bind the altar and connect to a heavy argent seal pressed with the holy sunburst of blessed Iomedae.
Circling the dome in perpetual motion is a huge creature of living energy...
We might have to reconsider our assumption that they didn't find this place. I think we've found Vetra-Kali, and there's a big silver seal and some sort of... well I'd say it was left behind by the 'good guys' to protect the place. the devil sends down to the toiling mortals while he waits near the top of the stairwell for them to catch up.
Shendalyn takes this news into consideration. "A magic circle? Mi'Dre can you get closer and tell us what the outline of the seal appears to be made of?"
No not a circle, a seal. Big silvery looking thing with a friendly looking sun stamped on it holding silver chains in place around a statue and altar. I aint going up there til you lot arrived, I have no wish to get ambushed by the shiny guardian.
Shendalyn looks at the others. "Are we honestly prepared to face off against such a guardian? I imagine the creature to be quite potent if the daemons were unwilling to face it for this long. Unless they were barred by other means? No, that's not possible or else our friend Mi'Dre would be a bit annoyed right now."
Mi'Dre doesn't know what it is exactly but it appears to a be an elemental force, almost like a living storm.
Jethryk shrugs.
"Well, we will probably need to deal with it at some point... We still have not found all of the things that we need."
"True but it's not as if they're going anywhere today. I'd certainly like to know what it is before we blunder off into it and get our arses thoroughly handed to us again. I'm not so proud as to pretend we didn't nearly die here."
Well you're the expert. I suggest you come up and take a look... Some sort of energy cloud, like an elemental maybe?
”Ahem.”
From behind you all a familiarly saccharine voice announces the arrival of your once and future associate Cruxcarr.
The Initiate Hemothurge floats gently at the top of the stairs before gently allowing his considerable bulk to stand upon solid ground;
”So my most beautiful Blackhearts your trail of perfect destruction was... most didactic and enlightening... The golem and the daemons were most impressive yes? The stairs less so. Thank the Malebranche for the majicks of flight... And Oh to be once again in the... bosom of such iniquitous deliciousness...”
The corpulent mage licks his lips and leeringly smiles at you all before casting his gaze beyond and above, taking in the dome, the statue and lastly the guardian;
"Ahhh... So what have we here Blackhearts?"
:
Cruxcarr filters enough information from Mi'Dre's description to know that it is indeed an elemental, likely birthed from the conflux of energies between a leashed daemon and holy seal. It seems to be borne of lightning, though Cruxcarr does not know explicitly what strengths it may have. It is large, and likely powerful though...
Jethryk nods to Cruxcarr.
"So kind of you to join us, Oh Corpulent One. Shall we take the thing upstairs on today, or another time?"
He then shrugs.
"If not, may I suggest we conduct a careful room-by-room search of the rest of the complex? I doubt that the previous residents were only able to access the other chambers by flight; there *must* be more secret doors..."
"You know I considered actually summoning a lightning elemental earlier? Would have been nigh useless...I wonder if we could communicate with it. Oh hello Cruxcarr still large and creepy? Good to hear. Yes we should explore the rest and save the being of pure power and fury for a day when I've not had my daily dose of high voltage lunch.
"About time you dragged your fat ass out of bed." Mi'Dre greets the errant wizard 'warmly'. "Better float your ass back down those stair again though. This bunch of cowards are scared of a little lightning." he says, pushing past the others to lead the way back down.
"How do you know about the Daemons anyway? They poofed to nothingness. You haven't been watching us while you lazed around with the boggards have you?" He asks the Wizard as he descends. When he reaches the room where they fought the daemons again he stops to consider and try and put his mental map together.
It seemed likely that this matched the level that he'd seen outside, but he'd already checked all the walls for secret doors. "Unless there's another stairwell hidden somewhere, I think going out past the oozes and climbing might be the only way. Considering how well fortified this place has generally been, forcing a besieging enemy to climb the horn to reach the upper levels seems like a good tactic to me... Hell that hole was probably created by the Mitrans just so they didn't have to climb all the way. So either you lot can clamber up outside, or..." he looks pointedly at one of the walls which should be shared with the rest of the level, and then at Jethryk's sword. "we make a shortcut."
Cruxcarr shakes his head at the Gaav’s audacity and brazenness;
”Ahhh Mi’Dre! Your concerns with matters of my generous rump are touching although perhaps if it were Master Shawn or Mistress Mariposa I would be more touched..."
Literally and figuratively I assure you......
"....However to bottle lightning such as our friend here, at this juncture in our plans, would be folly... Yet I admire your chutzpah my little devil-in-waiting. We shall dine on its essence another day rest assured!”
Still empowered by his flight enchantements the corpulent wizard once again lifts his blubberous bulk off the ground and floats gently down the stairs as he continues his discussion;
”The daemons? Indeed vaporised save for an faint aura... a taste... a delicate sliver that perhaps only the most... cultivated... yes cultivated palate could discern...”
The wizard licks a fat finger and grins, his sharp yellowed teeth in contrast to the runic tattooing around his maw and chins.
"Let's just bust a hole in the wall. We can worry about remodeling later.
Jethryk sniffs.
"I can certainly support the application of brute force to a situation to solve a problem, but how about we actually check for secret doors first, rather than simply busting holes in walls?"
Your poking and prodding reveal no secret doors of any kind.
"Already did that when we were here last." he replies lazily to Jethryk's suggestion. "Just cut us a hole, and Albina can reconnect it when she can get another of those spells to mold stone."
"Very well. It really does lack finesse, though."
Jethryk then proceeds to attack the wall.
Cruxcarr also casts his eyes skyward;
"Indeed. I concur with Master Devarre that while a necessary evil, this approach does not befit a skilled surgeon of his abilities... However needs must..."
Jethryk's blade rings out with a clanging boom as it cuts into the wall with a deep gouge. A few more lusty blows and it should break through.
Jethryk pauses.
"*Surely* there has to be an entrance somewhere. Perhaps we should check all of the rooms carefully, leaving this as a last resort...?"
Mi'Dre glares at Jethryk. "Right. Only from the outside. Or have you forgotten when I mentioned that already? he asks sarcastically "Just get on with it. Albina can fix it later..."
The Western wall gives way after a few more lustily delivered blows and opens into a small and empty room. Wasting no time, you immediately cross it and open the only door present.
Beyond the small room is a high-ceilinged entry chamber that opens south into the greenery that covers the side of the Horn. The landing platform is baroquely adorned with every surface decorated with countless daemons tormenting and triumphing over mortals foolish enough to oppose them. Prominent among these decorations to the left of the southern entry archway is a bas relief of Vetra-Kali sitting cross-legged.
The walls are covered with Abyssal script that would take a couple of hours to sift through entire - but more pressing are the other four doors that exit the chamber. Two on the western wall, one on the eastern to the south of the one you just exited and one to the North.
The room is lit by six green ominous flickering continual flames - one beside each of the single doors and two beside the double doors to the North.