The frog-thing walks on the air out of the reach of the black tentacles.
[spoiler=Possibly with a further +4 and if he's forced to attack an ally he'll be taking penalties due to Unimpeachable Honour]
Whenever you are under the effects of a charm or compulsion effect and would be compelled to take an action that violates your fundamental nature, explicitly violates the strictures of your religion, or would be an act of an alignment that directly opposes your own (for instance, a chaotic or evil act if you are lawful good), you gain a +4 bonus on any saving throw or opposed Charisma check to resist that command or break free from the effect.
Whenever you are compelled to attack an ally, you take a –4 penalty on your attack rolls and damage rolls.[/dice]
Maka had largely not been paying attention to the encounter with newcomer. Instead the fire monk had been focused on muttering a series of mantra's and prayer's since Selina had asked if Maka had ever studied Irori's holy text. However, the black tendrils of magic and swinging of Bulvi's blades brought her attention to the present.
"All right, this ends now. Fin, you and Maka go for The Master. Bull, you and me will take Jeeves. Feathers, you and Saki make sure the Princess doesn't do anything stupid."
"Huh? Oh, right!" Maka replied before sending a blast of fire at the master.
Failing to notice the dark magic that had ensorcelled her lover, Maka tumbled past him with a wink, flames trailing behind her as she moved. Once in the doorway, Maka halted her forward momentum with a sudden spin that sent the flames flying toward the frog creature.
Selena readies an action to counterspell any magic froggie tries to cast, or to release anybody who shows signs of being dominated.
"He's a mindmancer Saki, a dominator. Prefers capture and domination." Selena replied oddly, hard to tell whether she's angry or excited.
Maka's fire blast scorches the creature, but Sakitu's ice seems to have no effect on it. Fin's first two shots strike home while Quasit's shot goes wide, in spite of her finding cover to snipe from. Bulvi starts to turn back towards the party, but snaps out of it before he can raise his blade against his friends.
At this point Selena, on guard against magical attacks, can sense the tell-tale buildup of magical energies as it prepares to cast a spell.
"Time to give him a belly full of trouble then." Bulvi says before moving towards the creature, soaring through the air.
Selena responds to the creature's spell with one of her own making it fizzle out. "Who's your mommy now!?" Selena yells at the creature.
With its last hope at survival countered by Selena, the creature is quickly slain by the barrage of attacks.
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The Dire Bat spends the next 30 seconds whooshing about the rafters, always banking and reeling about in a frantic effort not to run into something at every turn, and shrieking at a pitch and frequency all too close to nails on a chalkboard. Tezuzu steps into the room and watches it, seeming to enjoy the spectacle, and when it suddenly vanishes, he gives off a little burp and simultaneously hops in place. Only then does he come over to examine the frog blob creature curiously.
"Well, well, my friend, what were you up to in here? Not for the carrots I wager." he muses.
The corpse of the frog-monster yields no answers, but it does have an eye of the void hung from a chain around its squat neck.
The red-robed being has a pouch of gems, with 15 small rubies (worth 100 gp) and a single larger ruby (worth 6000 gp). A small humanoid figure seems to be moving inside the larger ruby.
Selena investigates the creatures and their things. "The question now is whether they were equals or if one had dominated the other."
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"Mmmmm rubies. He had a nasty mouth but good taste in jewels. Sorta like my brother." says Quasit as she looks over the small gems before sliding them into the handy haversack.
"The question now is whether they were equals or if one had dominated the other."
"Doesn't really matter any more, does it? But the little one was calling the other one 'Master' and seemed pretty single-minded about bringing us to Froggie. Seemed kinda clumsy for treacherous intent actually. I'd say the big one probably had the little one charmed."
"Also Selena...'who's your mommy now'? We gotta work on your fight banter." She smirks and tosses a rag at the halfling.
The rag hits Selena, seemingly without notice, and it disappears into her clothes somewhere. "Well, it wasn't really a good state of mind for battle, but it was an interesting view into domination magic and breaking control."
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Selena investigates the creatures and their things. "The question now is whether they were equals or if one had dominated the other."
Fin shakes his head. ”No question in my mind. I suspect the Master, aka frog thing, was most likely dominating the red robed fella. Not only did he keep calling it Master, he tried to serve us up on a platter to him…and when a fight broke out, did you see how he rushed to block the door to protect his Master?” His query breaks off as he looks at the creature in red, its horns and tentacled mouth before continuing. ”Whatever that is, it’s a predator not a willing servant, methinks…”
"Doesn't look like a Soul Gem... not exactly anyway. But I'd wager that figure in there is alive somehow--doesn't look like an illusion either. Hmmmm."
Fin nods. ”I say we free it then. If it was trapped by these guys, it must not be as powerful, nor as evil as these guys were. If it turns out to be friendly, maybe it can tell us more about this version of the hut and perhaps what awaits us outside…if hostile, we should be able to dispatch it quickly enough…I think it’s worth the risk…but how would we go about doing that?”
"He had a nasty mouth but good taste in jewels. Sorta like my brother." says Quasit...
Fin quips. ”Your brother had a mouth like his?”
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Fin nods. ”I say we free it then. If it was trapped by these guys, it must not be as powerful, nor as evil as these guys were. If it turns out to be friendly, maybe it can tell us more about this version of the hut and perhaps what awaits us outside…if hostile, we should be able to dispatch it quickly enough…I think it’s worth the risk…but how would we go about doing that?”
"That doesn't necessarily follow, my friend." says Tezuzu, unconsciously fluffing his feathers up a bit as he does anytime he's about to lecture. "We don't know how these fine fellows here came across that gem -- they may have found it in a dragon hoard or stolen it from a king's treasury or merely picked it up along the side of the road. And the figure inside may simply be a trapped, relatively harmless humanoid -- or it might be a demon or an elemental lord or an undead abomination. We simply don't know."
"I propose we ask the spirits for guidance. This seems like a relatively straightforward question -- will breaking open this gem bring us weal or woe? I shall need about 15 minutes to prepare the ritual and get myself into a good trance. If we have the time?"
"It does seem like something we should resolve now, as opposed to just carrying it around with us.
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"Ask my friend Tiggy."
Clearly lost in translation, Fin is at a loss how to reply. Mentally reminding himself to lay off the ‘not as funny as he first thought’ quips from here on out, he just shrugs, murmurs, ”Sorry,” and turns to listen to Tezuzu…
"I propose we ask the spirits for guidance. This seems like a relatively straightforward question -- will breaking open this gem bring us weal or woe? I shall need about 15 minutes to prepare the ritual and get myself into a good trance. If we have the time?"
The Elf nods in agreement. ”Aye, sounds like a good idea, at least to me…I think it’s worth the time…”
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After getting a nod of agreement from Quasit, Tezuzu sets to work on his ritual.
First he spends about ten minutes with his eyes closed, hopping slowly from one foot to the other in a circle, muttering some chant in a rumbling bass tone. Then, still standing, he takes out an earthen bowl, throws some herbs into it, crushes them, then with a sharp arcane word, sets a spark to it, sending up a thick aromatic cloud of smoke. He wafts some of the cloud into his face, inhaling deeply, murmurs in a curious singsong voice, then wafts in some more and chants some more, and repeats this routine several times.
Suddenly he snatches a handful of knucklebones out of his satchel and tosses them abruptly into the air, letting them fall where they may. He then rushes to one of them, throwing himself to his knees and lowering his face to study the bone intently, then scrabbles off wildly on all fours to repeat this up close inspection of another bone, then another, then another.
Finally he stops, pulls himself up into a seated lotus position, cradles one hand gently in the other, then returns to his rumbling bass tone chant, eyes open but seeing nothing. This goes on for a couple minutes, then stops.
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Clearly lost in translation, Fin is at a loss how to reply. Mentally reminding himself to lay off the ‘not as funny as he first thought’ quips from here on out, he just shrugs, murmurs, ”Sorry,”
As always, Quasit seems delighted to have made Findurel uncomfortable. Her eyes twinkle and one corner of her mouth ratchets up in a wicked little smirk. She gives Findurel a couple wholesome pats on the back to let him know she's only teasing, yet again.
Then she settles in to watch Tezuzu's shaman ritual, fascinated by the strangeness of it, though she has to cover her mouth to keep from laughing as he scuttles about the ground like an insane crab. "We need to make him do this more often." she murmurs to those around her.
Tezuzu feels that breaking open the gem is a good idea.
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As always, Quasit seems delighted to have made Findurel uncomfortable. Her eyes twinkle and one corner of her mouth ratchets up in a wicked little smirk. She gives Findurel a couple wholesome pats on the back to let him know she's only teasing, yet again.
Still unsure of himself, Fin smiles back at Quasit, thinking, Better stay quiet while I'm ahead...I'll never figure her out...
"The spirits say we should break the gem and release the entity within." he announces solemnly and simply.
Fin nods, saying, "That's good enough for me...I'll give it a shot then..."
He removes one of his durable adamantine arrows and tries to use the tip to break open one of the gem's edges, hoping that'll free the prisoner...
It doesn't take Fin long to crack the gem. Fractures spread out from the initial break until the whole gem shatters into a fine powder. A gray mist rises from the ruined gem, swiftly forming into a 10' tall, blue-skinned humanoid with three eyes going down its forehead in addition to two more normally placed ones.
"Ah! I am rescued!" the large figure booms, spreading his three-fingered hands. "My thanks to you, friends. I do not know how long I was trapped within that gem, save that it was too long!"
"Now, introductions are in order. I am Zilvazaraat, a peddler of wondrous wares from across the Great Beyond. I am most grateful indeed to you for your kind rescue."
He looks you up and down. "Perhaps I might be of service to you in return. You look to be capable warriors, which means you need capable weapons and armor, yes? While my stocks are low at present, I have a few items that might interest you--and in the future I could trade for more, if my contacts have not entirely forgotten me. What say you, friends?"
"Also Selena...'who's your mommy now'? We gotta work on your fight banter." She smirks and tosses a rag at the halfling.
"I liked it, I mean mom's protect you and she protected us from the stupid frog spell. I'm going to say it next time I save one of you." Maka replied as she began rummaging around the room.
"Now, introductions are in order. I am Zilvazaraat, a peddler of wondrous wares from across the Great Beyond. I am most grateful indeed to you for your kind rescue."
"Hi! I'm Maka Na'Shota of the Dragon Eye Monastery!" Maka said with a bow to the newly released planer travler.
ou look to be capable warriors, which means you need capable weapons and armor, yes?
"I don't use either of those. Does the Great Beyond have any food?"
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Fin smiles and bows. ”Findurêl, at your service. We recently went to market and I haven’t much gold at the moment, but perhaps my friends here do. I’d love to peruse your stock in the future though as I foresee needing to upgrade my bow…but how would we contact you? Are you tied to this hut somehow? Do you carry any other types of magic items? And how do you even carry stock since you’ve been imprisoned so long? Sorry, my friend, that’s a lot of questions…”
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"A peddler?" says Quasit in equal parts surprise and amusement. And as the reference to the Great Beyond then leads to a slew of flattering words and ingratiating promises, she relaxes and chuckles, sitting on a nearby chair.
She looks over at Sakitu and gestures the kitsune over. "It just goes to show you, salesmen are the same everywhere. This guy reminds me of home, even with all the extra eyes."
She takes out her flask and takes a good healthy pull, then puts her boots up on a table.
"So, Zilvaz...er... Zilvaza... sorry, can I just call you Zil? Anyway, did you know these guys who were carrying you around? How did you come to be in that gem?"
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"It just goes to show you, salesmen are the same everywhere. This guy reminds me of home, even with all the extra eyes."
Sakitu looks at the strange creature then back to Quasit. "What is the same? You mean, that they sell stuff?" She scratches her nose then leans close to whisper to her friend. "Oh. Do you mean, they just want to take advantage of us? My dad always said to watch out for the guys on the street corner selling stuff. He said they'd promise the highest quality for the lowest price but you usually ended up with the lowest quality for the highest price. But let's give the guy a chance. I mean, he was trapped in a rock forever." At that she turns to face the giant creature and offers a charming smile.
"I don't know if we have much money but maybe we can offer you something else in exchange for your goods. I mean, being trapped in the rock for so long must have been lonely. At least we can offer some companionship."
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"What is the same? You mean, that they sell stuff?"
"No... I mean, yeah, but not exactly." says Quasit, shifting to sit up normally.
"Oh. Do you mean, they just want to take advantage of us? My dad always said to watch out for the guys on the street corner selling stuff. He said they'd promise the highest quality for the lowest price but you usually ended up with the lowest quality for the highest price."
"Well, yeah, that's just good business. I wouldn't think much of anyone who tried it any other way. No, I mean the showmanship. The swagger and the patter, the sweet humble smiles and the promises of treasure. It's like a good stripper. It's art." Her eyes get a bit distant as memories roll behind them. "Oh, you should have seen Silky Barnes. He'd steal handkerchiefs and then sell them. Wouldn't even bother to clean them -- he didn't need to. The way he sold them to you... I tell ya Saki, it felt like an Honor just to have him turn all that charisma on you. Man was he good. I mean, I'm a good talker, but this guy could sell tripe to a Countess and call it a string of pearls."
"I knew all sorts of operators like that back in Cassomir. You had to be good -- anyone can rip you off once. But then you get wary when you see that guy come around again. No, the trick is to beat someone in a deal, and have them still think you're their buddy, so that they can't wait to run into you again. And lemme tell ya, Saki... this guy?" She cocks her head to the merchant. "He's got it."
"But let's give the guy a chance. I mean, he was trapped in a rock forever."
"Possibly." admits Quasit. "And I'm all for giving gentlemen of business a chance." She lifts her flask to the merchant in a toast, then takes a swig.
Zilvazaraat's hand goes to his chest in affected affront. "Please! I am no mere peddler! I am a purveyor of only the finest of enchanted goods! Though, sir," he points at Fin, "You say you are in need of a new bow?"
He snaps his fingers, and a large chest appears next to him. He opens it up and takes out a finely crafted bow with a slight recurve. "I just happen to have one. As you can see, it's crafted of darkwood, with a light enchantment on it to improve its accuracy and the killing power of its arrows. Perhaps you would like to test its pull?"
He goes through and shows off the rest of his inventory.
"But last, as thanks to you for freeing me, I have a small gift which should answer some of your questions," he finishes after giving his sales pitch. He displays a small figurine of a raven carved from obsidian, its every feather and talon carved with exquisite detail. "This figurine is a variation on the type you may be more familiar with--it is capable of bringing messages across the planes! And as such, it will be a perfect means for you to communicate with me when you have further business."
He holds it out to you expectantly.