The vines, on closer inspection seem to be unable to move on their own, at least not from what little is exposed. Whether or not whatever it is is still alive, you have no way of knowing.
Corvin stares pointedly at the young man cowering on the other side of the room as he speaks to Anarath.
"I say we torch the f#$~in' things. You can do that, right?"
"I'm at something a loss as what to do," admits Anarath, looking down at the strange corpses, flicking his teeth with his tongue. "I hoped we would find answers here, but there are only more questions. I tire of it somewhat..."
"Can I burn them? Yes. I've used my last fire spell, but I have oil, flint and steel, tinder ... we could burn them. But I suggest we do not do so until we are ready to leave this room, and our new friend here," he gestures to the cowering noble, "is ready to leave too."
The cowering noble looks between you, and the corpses of what he thought were his guardians. After a moment he licks his lips nervously, and seems to decide that you are the lesser of two evils. Stuttering slightly, he asks "Where are we going?"
Anarath shrugs. “Out there,” he says, pointing to the tunnel / door entrance. “Unless you know another way?”
Talius shakes his head. Taking a deep breath he speaks "No. I don't know another way out. Who are you people? Why have you invaded my father's keep? What were those things?"
Talius shakes his head. Taking a deep breath he speaks "No. I don't know another way out. Who are you people? Why have you invaded my father's keep? What were those things?"
"We were hopin' you could tell us. Y'know, this bein' your fancy house and all."
Talius' posture stiffens as he eyes Corvin coldly, obviously insulted by his tone. "The only means of egress from this 'fancy house' is this door."
Turning to his gaze to Anarath, he asks "Please, explain what's happening.", his tone slightly more polite.
“This keep – Grimmbold Manor I believe it is called – is a monster infested ruin that we have spent the last several days exploring. Through there,” he points to the door, “is a strange chamber whos purpose I cannot divine; it does not appear to be part of the original manor house. This room we are in should not even exist within the confines of the building, at least not within the normal three dimensions. I know little more than you as to what is happening, but there seems little reason for us to linger here any longer. We are going back through there, you are welcome to come with us if you wish. Or stay, I care not.”
Anarath prepares to head back through the door / tunnel.
“This keep – Grimmbold Manor I believe it is called – is a monster infested ruin that we have spent the last several days exploring. Through there,” he points to the door, “is a strange chamber whos purpose I cannot divine; it does not appear to be part of the original manor house. This room we are in should not even exist within the confines of the building, at least not within the normal three dimensions. I know little more than you as to what is happening, but there seems little reason for us to linger here any longer. We are going back through there, you are welcome to come with us if you wish. Or stay, I care not.”
Anarath prepares to head back through the door / tunnel.
"Yeah. ... What he said."
Corvin follows Anarath.
After a moment's hesitation, the young man follows you, trying to keep a safe distance between Anarath and Corvin. He remains silent, seeming a little dazed by the course of events and what he sees in the peculiar tower.
The tower is quite silent and still as you leave the out of place room and descend down the bony ladder.
After a moment's hesitation, the young man follows you, trying to keep a safe distance between Anarath and Corvin. He remains silent, seeming a little dazed by the course of events and what he sees in the peculiar tower.
The tower is quite silent and still as you leave the out of place room and descend down the bony ladder.
After a moment's hesitation, the young man follows you, trying to keep a safe distance between Anarath and Corvin. He remains silent, seeming a little dazed by the course of events and what he sees in the peculiar tower.
The tower is quite silent and still as you leave the out of place room and descend down the bony ladder.
The walls are covered with carefully etched runes, although they don't draw attention from the room's macabre centerpiece.
Standing at the apex of the slightly slanted floor is a massive iron chair, respledant in chains and spikes. It is shaped so as to accomdate a roughly man-shaped person, and hold them fast as well.Radiating outwards from the chair are a series of lines arrayed in a careful patern; all perhaps a quarter's inch deep and leading to a slightly deeper canal at the base of the wall that rings the room.
You got to that room by walking down a corridor from the room where you fought the Overseer.
...and emerge into a cavernous chamber. The ceiling is at least 30ft above you, obscured by dark shadows and thick strands of some pallid tubules filled with black liquid that pulses regularly. The strands extend from a central nexus, a misshapen sack of black fluid suspended from the apex of the ceiling. As you look more closely you notice another pulsating, tumorous mass above it. It looks as if its grown right into the domed ceiling. A milky sack covers the alien mass, obscuring it’s details from vision. Thick strands of pale, rubbery white stringers extend from the occluded mass and merge with the walls near the floor, vanishing into the lower part of the tower. Four door-sized plates of something black and shiny are set into the slick black walls at regular intervals. The air in here is moist and humid, filled with an acrid stench that bites at the back of throat and nose.
Scattered about the room are short black pedestals with strange occult devices perched on them and hand sized divots in their otherwise smooth surfaces.
Which you got to by climbing the sinewy ladder from this room...
Sickly green vines studded with blood-red thorns cover the black walls and four dirty white ovals stand to your left, secured to the floor by dark grey slime. A slight breeze, hot and moist, circulates gently through the room, causing over a dozen bundles of spongy white threads to swing back and forth on the vines from which the hang. The air is warm and damp, filled with a vaguely fetid stench combined with the smell of decaying mulch coming up from the floor, which is covered in at least an inch of the stuff. A dull thump can barely be heard reverberating through the tower's walls every few seconds.
The ladder extends to the next floor, where a few vines have tentatively crept onto the unseen upper floor.
Which is above this room...
You easily ascend the sinewy ladder and peek over the edge of the next chamber's floor. The room is a completely dark but your keen dwarven vision cuts through the darkness. A desk, built for a short creature, sits in one corner and cages and book-filled shelves line the wall.
Which is above this room...
The ladder seems sturdy enough, although it looks more to be knotted sinew and viens that pulses a little than actual rope, and you ascend to the second floor easily. This room is very similiar to the one below you in layout, with a hole in the floor and ceiling.
The rope ladder continues unbroken to the next floor and a few racks of weapons sized for the kobolds stnd against the walls. Bits and pieces of possessions from previous victims cover the floor in several places with mounds of broken armor, weapons, and more mundane supplies.
A small section of the south side of the room is clear of weapons or 'treasure', bare except for a crumpled suit of armor. A small puddle of blood sits near it, slowly soaking into the floor.
Which is accessed via a rope ladder from the first floor...
The chamber, which is about 20 feet in diameter, is featureless except for a flimsy rope ladder leading through the 10 foot wide hole in the ceiling in the chamber. The ladder seems to lead to another room above you, with another hole in it's ceiling. Looking up, you can see several more floors, all with holes in them. The holes form a shaft leading straight up, presumably to the top of the tower.
Apologies for the wall of text.
Corvin emerges from the short tunnel, then turns to Anarath.
"What do ye think, boss?"
Anarath chews at his lip and shrugs. “The mysteries here are beyond anything I have encountered. You’re guess is as good as mine … still … the chamber where we fought the Overseer … those door-like panels, I do not recall – this place seems to do odd things to my memory and sense of time – did we investigate them? They looked like doors … perhaps they are?”
Anarath chews at his lip and shrugs. “The mysteries here are beyond anything I have encountered. You’re guess is as good as mine … still … the chamber where we fought the Overseer … those door-like panels, I do not recall – this place seems to do odd things to my memory and sense of time – did we investigate them? They looked like doors … perhaps they are?”
"I think we, uh, checked 'em. Maybe our friend here can make 'em open."
Anarath chews at his lip and shrugs. “The mysteries here are beyond anything I have encountered. You’re guess is as good as mine … still … the chamber where we fought the Overseer … those door-like panels, I do not recall – this place seems to do odd things to my memory and sense of time – did we investigate them? They looked like doors … perhaps they are?”"I think we, uh, checked 'em. Maybe our friend here can make 'em open."
"Hey, why'd everyone just freeze like that?"
"Hmmm? I was just thinking ..."
"Yeah, me too. Feels like we've been standin' around for a whole bleedin' year."
"Hmmmm..."
"Hmmmm..."