Kascio seems to shake himself free of his reverie. "I mean.. I meant... I... Let's just move on, right?" Kascio looks somewhat flustered and embarrassed by his words.
Faedrin gives Kascio another sideways glance then suggests, "Ooook. Well let's not go through the heat-radiating door first. Is that something we can all agree on? How about this door over here," he points to the southern door of the easterly pair. "We can work our way around and worry about those double doors last?"
"Sounds good"
Tanjvats headed over to the southeastern door, readied his crossbow and prepared to see into the area beyond once someone opened it.
Kascio moves over to the indicated eastern door, and confident that there is no risk attached to it, safely opens it. The space beyond is oddly shaped as well.
It runs southwest to northeast, past an archway, well over a hundred feet. Halfway along its length, it is bisected by a sharp left turn to the northwest, clearly in line with the other eastern door. It looks as if it may likely be shaped as a giant 'X', except that the archway to the southeast is blocked by luxurious crimson Varisian drapes having
been pinned up across it.
Several pieces of furniture decorate this room, the modern furnishings clashing with the ancient carvings of Thassilonian wizards crafting deformed monsters from dead bodies decorating the walls.
Kascio can hear and smell the sea still, further to the east, possibly coming from somewhere beyond either of the two archways.
Faedrin regards the carvings of the long-dead Thassilonians with a shake of his head and an arched eyebrow. "What were those Thassilonians into, Dareon? Statues are one thing, but these... these are more than a little disturbing."
He sends his cantrip further into the strangely shaped chamber as he and the others look around.
Dareon keeps a post in the center of the group, always around and aware to protect Tanjvats and Esmerelda...despite her unnerving and slightly unpleasant nature, the woman was his new companion, and cooperation was one of the Pathfinder Society's few rules.
Tanjvats followed up Faedrin, glancing back at the protective Dareon and giving an appreciative nod.
Kascio spares a glance for the deformities on the walls, but moves on, toward the smell of the sea.
Dareon seems well-versed enough in the Thassilonians to understand that it was their powerful magics turned depraved and wicked that is discussed in some circles as to their downfall. What caused this turn, no one can say, but several theories exist. In fact, the reason the Pathfinder Society is so interested in any Thassilonian information, is due to all the wild speculation. Finding an answer to one of Golarion's oldest mysteries is a knowledge much sought after.
Kascio can tell the sea is to the east, but he is at a loss whether it emanates from either the northeast or southeast archway, or even both.
"They're disturbing alright, and a symptom of what ruined the Thassilonian Empire." replies Dareon to Fade and continuing to follow Kascio. "I vote we head right, by the way", he interjects.
"You know what they say: 'The one with the most power is the one that is most wicked.' When you're an empire of entirely powerful wizards... Maybe they had this wickedness in store for them."
Tanjvats agreed with Dareon and moved to the right...southeast.
Approaching the curtains carefully, he listened a bit and tried to see if there were any wires or snags attached to the curtains that might act as an alarm.
Unsure of himself, Tanjvats looked back at Kasico and Faedrin for help.
Faedrin absorbs Dareon's words in silence, offering the man a heavy nod as he mulls the thoughts over in his mind. Then, seeing Tanjvats' look but unable to guess his intent, Faedrin approaches the half-orc. "What's wrong, Tanjvats? Did you notice something strange about the curtain?"
Tanjvat's eyes started to blink rapidly and his mace hand started to shake a bit.
"No, but if I'm wrong..." He swallowed hard and staggered a bit. Squinting hard to stop the blinking he began to pant softly.
"Hung up to bleed out, then stitched back together", he whispered with his eyes still closed.
Kascio nods at Dareon, then begins to creep right.
Looking beyond the fancy red curtains reveals a larger chamber, not surprisingly equal in size to the northeastern one, covered all the way around by the expensive drapery. The room is dominated by a single piece of furniture, a large comfortable bed sits surrounded by crimson drapes as well. Pulled out from under the bed is an open and empty chest.
"Probably our dear Ayala's ill-gotten gains." murmurs Dareon, pointing at the empty chest. He walks over to see if it has a functioning lock and to see if it's as old as everything else in here. "Too bad. I could have used some cash."
"Further indication she left in a hurry though." Faedrin looks around, checking behind each of the drapes in turn, "Regardless, she has a taste for the opulent. Are you able to tell with your shard if the one we're looking for is nearby, Dareon?"
As Dareon and Faedrin examined the room, Tanjvats moved to look at the northeastern "arm" of the x-shaped room. He tried to be alert as possible, but also wanted desperately for his latest episode to pass.
Once his hand stopped shaking and his eyes returned to normal, he drew a deep breath and relaxed slightly.
Faedrin offers Esmeralda a shrug then shoots Tanjvats a concerned look as he works his way around the drapes. Despite his worry, he doesn't draw attention to the Desnan, letting the troubled man work through his struggles with as much or as little space as he wants.
As Fade and Dareon pick over the room, Tanjvats moves away from the others to give himself a brief moment to collect his thoughts. The garishly appointed chamber, is mostly just that, simple materials worth little to nothing beyond trying to look fancy. The chest is of decent and modern make, nothing too special.
Esmeralda looks at the murals and paintings, but can make neither hide nor hair of them. It could be their scale, or mild disinterest, or maybe they run together like some image hidden within a simple recurring pattern. Either way, nothing about the murals give her any indication of arcane functions or acts whatsoever. If it weren't for Dareon and Fade's discussion of them, she might not have had any inclination that it meant anything at all.
"Wait. I've found something. It looks like another of those false walls. Like the one Dareon fell..." Tanjvats stopped awkwardly there, not willing to recall the event.
"I'll check it out." he concluded lamely.
Moving to southeast, he probed the fake wall gently with his mace.
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Kascio stops and stares as the cleric prods a perfectly real wall with his mace. 'Maybe he has some sort of fear of architecture?' Kascio thinks to himself.
"It makes sense there'd be more than one illusory window. They may dot the whole of the Irespan."
Moving over to the illusory wall, Tanjvats' thoughts are confirmed when his weapon passes easily through the solid-looking surface. Much like the one before, however, he can't see through it even after recognizing it as an illusion. He does manage to catch sound and smell of the bay.
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Esmeralda lost what little grin she had as she walked into the room with them and took note of the commotion. "Walls are one thing, but this place is pretty ruined, isn't it?" she asks, looking towards Penance, who shrugs. Looking back to the rest of them, she smirks. "If these are all over the place, it'd be best to just avoid walls altogether, or at the least prod our way through the rest of the place." she states as she receives a gold from her pouch. "Penance"
The enormous shrouded Eidolon looks to her with above-average enthusiasm in it's red eyes.
"Take that enormous sword of yours and tap around as we traverse forward. If we make it out of this reasonably enough, there's another gold in it for you." she explains. "Though, that depends on whether we still want to be stealthy. I for one, do not want to fall through a floor... but then again, with my locale in regards to the rest of you unfortunate meaty types during a scuffle, I don't much have to worry about that. So what have you?" she asks the rest of the party.
Dareon stops in his tracks on his way to check out the illusory wall, swivels around to face Esmerelda, and gives the woman a blank stare. "I hope you weren't just referring to me as "meaty". I'm for far more than just standing in the way of our enemies' weapons for you, you insolent little woman."
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"Fairly speaking, Dareon, it wasn't exactly an insult. Although out of everyone here you seem very sensitive to insults, even if they're not exactly meant to be such." she says with a sigh. "I rely entirely on Penance during a fight, you're aware? But it stands to reason that those of you who are far more... vigorous, would be in front." she explains with her arms crossed as Penance stands next to her with his bastard sword on his shoulder.
Dareon opens his mouth, and then he closes it again. And then he open his mouth again. "I don't understand how any of that was relevant to what I said to you."
"You seem to have this air of entitlement about you. One that irks me, and one that I would prefer you to avoid expressing."
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I assure you, I've no such thing. Though I do admit to a condescending demeanor. That aside, even if that were the case, I'm afraid that's just my grating personality. I'll not be apologizing simply because I meant no true offense in the first place. If you're pride can't take that, it's unfortunately your problem." She says rather coldly.
With a smirk, however, she somewhat tilts her head and places a hand on her hip. "Frankly speaking, my only vice is that I'm avaricious, and it shows in my Eidolon. If you want the scientific explanation, you're able to take more hits than this fragile, yet delicate, lanky body of mine. Hence the jokingly placed adjective." With a pause, she continues. "Is that enough to appease you?"
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Faedrin stops in his tracks and turns to regard Dareon and Esmeralda. He cracks a faint but wry smile, the first since they'd rescued Natalya from the influence of the first shard, and gestures to the spacious bed, "There's a bed right there if the two of you would like some time alone?" He then pats his hands in the air defensively before either can offer a retort, "You know, Dareon, while we've not been working together for very long, it just occurred to me that this is the first time we've been working at something and not been knee deep in offal or blood fighting for our lives." Something shifts in Faedrin's posture as he regards the stiff-necked historian, he seems looser somehow, more relaxed.
He turns his attention to Kascio and Esmeralda then, and adds, "The two of you never met my sister." He chuckles and shakes his head, "Tanj, can you imagine the scene she'd have made coming into this room and seeing that bed? Dareon would've never heard the end of it!"
"Your sister has a thing for the garish? Because this chamber is decorated such that only a cheap Chelish whore could love it. Hmm, perhaps your sister and I would get along quite well!" Kascio grins wolfishly, then smiles at Dareon. "Esme's quite the charmer, I'll warrant, but she means well. And she's smart as a whip. Her choice of words need polishing, but there you are; we all have our faults. I, for example, am too charming and handsome by far than is good for me, but I labor under this burden, as we all must." Kascio sighs melodramatically and assumes a saintly position. "It is our lot in life."
"Elrawien wouldn't have even noticed the decor, I'm afraid. She is rather... single-minded in her fixations. She's found a place with the Calistrians, if that clarifies anything for you, Kascio." As the roguish half-elf finishes with his melodrama, Faedrin adds, "Oh yes, she'd have taken quite a liking to you too, I'm sure."
"An apology would suffice better, Esmerelda. I didn't think it's prideful to want a little bit more consideration from my teammates." huffs Dareon, eyes flicking to Fade as he begins to speak. "Of course I'm here to protect all of you, but acknowledgement of my personhood above all else is best, I think."
He then turns to Kascio and Faedrin. Completely ignoring the quips about Elrawien (who is a woman he'd honestly rather forget about than anything), he humorlessly replies, "Indeed. And based off of what we've seen, we might avoid sinking even deeper in blood yet. This wererat appears to have fled."
He walks over to Tanjvats, realizing that he'd neglected to do something. "Grab my arm. I want to check something out." He holds out his arm for Tanj to brace, and then he sticks his head out through the illusory wall, looking to see if it leads outside just like the other one.
Leaning out the illusion covered window with someone holding him for extra measure, instead of boldly walking out self-assuredly, Dareon is able to see the open shaft they have become so familiar with. This time, it is only about fifty to sixty feet off the surface of the water. He can also see where the other illusory opening that he spotted from the other room is at.
Tanjvats blushed at Faedrin's question. Elrawien would, no doubt, have had much fun teasing Dareon about the bed.
Faedrin shrugs at Esmeralda's question, "The Thassilonians, obviously. The 'why' behind their enduring illusions for what seem to be naught but large windows eludes me though." He taps his index against pursed lips as he paces about the room before coming to a sudden stop and looking up. "Dareon, if these windows dot the whole of the Irespan, there may be access to other parts of the structure from the outside. Access to parts behind interior collapses! We'd just need to know how to find the openings!"
Kascio frowns. "Is the illusion two-way? If we could gain some access from the outside, would the gaps look solid from there, too?"
Intrigued by the discussion, Tanjvats tapped along the walls of the room, searching for more false walls, or any other secret passages.
Kascio, seeing the cleric searching, nods and does the same.