Hudak drapes the quasit's gown over his shield as a vulgar trophy.
Heh-hee, Me guess is he be takin' a fancy ta de gown and will be lookin' fer a tailor back ta town so ta replace 'is soiled pants....
Larken searches diligently, but finds no traps, and the door is not locked. The door on the balcony opens into a very odd chamber. A 15' sphere, objects float lazily in the air - a book, a scroll, a bottle of wine, a dead raven surrounded by a halo of similarly weightless maggots, and a twisted iron wand. The walls are covered in sheets of odd red metal that ripples with a black electricity that seems to coalesce into symbols or words.
(If you read Thassilonian, the letters and symbols are in that language but mostly do not seem to form anything other than fleeting gibberish. Occasionally words connected with anger, wrath an revenge appear, but not as coherent thoughts or sentences. (Sorry, can't do spoilers on my blacberry.))
"Somebody tie a rope around me, and I'll go grab those things. I don't want the bird or the maggots mind you, but I think if I walk in there I'll start floating too. Which might be fun, or might suck; I don't know yet."
I got me a rope 'ere. 1d20+4=17
We be needin' ta 'ave a couple more strong arms on dis rope ta haul in da fishy if'n we be needin' ta.
Tie me a good knot, somebody!!!
Hudak steps into the room gingerly, but nothing appalling befalls him. He simply floats about in an ungainly fashion, grabbing the items and trying to avoid squirming airborne maggots. The black lightning seems to be a harmless, visual effect.
(Try a DC 12 Relex save - if you make it, you avoid crashing into the raven and its friends. Otherwise, you emerge with a few hangers-on - no bad game effects, but after your "accident" fighting the goblins I just enjoy inflicting the indignity.)
Hudak at last manages to grab what he wants and Dravite hauls him back in. He has retrieved the wand, the scroll, the book and the wine bottle.
(The scroll and wand look like fairly normal items of the type, if ancient examples. The book is written in Thassilonian, but a quick flick through shows is contains beautifully-rendered pictures of vile mutated monsters. The wine bottle looks fairly recent - it is empty, and the neck of the bottle has some nasty green encrustation around the top.
(Spellcraft checks on the scroll to identify it (DC 16). Knowledge (Religion) checks, DC 15 on the book. Knowledge (The Planes), Knowledge (Arcana) or Knowledge (Nature) (pick one - you only get one roll) DC 15 on the bottle.)
reflex r12+0
"Awwnasty!! Ngggh!!! Gnnng!!!"
Hudak hurls in zero gee.
If you want a save, I'll say......r3.
Eeeeew! What's it do when it hits the wall? Am I pushed backwards by the force? Puke maneuvering jets!!!
(Gah - both ends!)
Globules of Hudak's vomit accompany him around the room, splash into the walls, and divide and coalesce like chunky amoebas.
However, he gets the items and is dragged back in, with a foul, dripping coating and maggots writhing in the folds of his clothing.
I'm back.
Ever laugh while eating and do the Heimlich on yourself? Well, I came close.
"Hmmm... Now what could this be?"
As soon as it is apparent that there are no tiny fiends or mythical rage-beasts waiting to rip into us on the the other side of the door, Illes breaks off the song and relaxes. Leaning casually against the balcony railing he addresses the youngest Varisian,
"Larken, I have to say you are pretty flash with a blade for being barely old enough to wear one. Your old man show you those moves? Wish mine had moves like that to show. I got flute lessons..." he laughs, "It's something to be sure, but it isn't exactly the same either is it?"
(The scroll is Burning Hands, CL 3. The book is full of Lamashtu iconography and doubtless a holy text of that cult. The green stuff round the top of the bottle is dried quasit drool.)
(It is somewhat more arcane-looking than a toothbrush, yes.)
“What an odd chamber,” murmurs Elisile, peering into the spherical room – and then quickly withdrawing as Hudak once again loses control of the contents of his stomach.
“I have such a spell prepared,” the elf informs Alwyn, as he examines the wand and mentions detecting magic. She utters a few arcane syllables, and then gazes intently at the objects taken from the room, and from the quasit – before sweeping her gaze over both chambers, especially the orange pool.
This done, she suggests that the group search the rest of this complex before returning to the surface. “We’ve dealt with the quasit, but there may be more sin spawn or other horrors lurking within the place.”
(Of the unknown items, the goblin-freak's battleaxe, the quasit's dagger and the wand detect as magical. The wand displays a weak evocation effect.)
(The pool shows a strong evocation effect.)
(Next moves?)
Head back the way we came. There's only two doors in and out of here. Head back to where we find a hall we haven't been through.
The room to the north has four exits: a collapsed wall to the west opens out to the the roughly hewn tunnel you originally approached the complex along; a short corridor to the north ends at a door; a corridor to the east heads into darkness; and there is the south corridor through which you entered it. In the centre of the room is a red marble statue, finely carved and life-sized, of a beautiful, though apparently extremely angry, woman wearing robes, a strange headdress of blades and hooks, and carrying a book in one hand and a glittering metal and ivory polearm in the other. The cover of the book is inscribed with an odd, seven-pointed star.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
We could go back to this room, and go through the north door, or back into the tunnel.
"My old man...." Larken muses in response to Illes, "Nah... he taught me a lot of nothing, unless I wanted to be a drunk." He touches the hilt of his sword.
"No, I was taught swordwork by the crow-warriors of the distant East. What they were doing in Varisia is not something they felt the need to tell me, but they sure did know swordplay." He nods toward Illes' flute, and says, "I could trade you lessons. I can't carry a tune on one of those with a very large bucket."
"Crow-warriors, eh?" Alwyn's face shows a combination of great interest and grave doubt. "Sounds intriguing. Remind me to ask you more about them later. Now, I would agree with Elisile - we might have some unfinished business here." He indicates the corridor leading north from the statue's chamber. "I guess this is our next destination, then?"
Hey! How can crows teach you to fight?!?!
Once everyone is ready to head to the unexplored passage north from the statue chamber, Elisile waits for Larken to investigate the door at the end of the short passage for traps, before putting her ear to it.
Onward. We be needin' ta be sure dere be no more vile critters in dese tunnels.
Hmmm...de axe be magic......maybe Hudak can be hittin' somfin wit some magical help....
"Crow warriors? Even more impressive, exotic even... How far East are we talking here? Ameiko's homelands?" It couldn't hurt to pick up a little swordplay from her homeland, even if I only manage a few stances and the superficial style it's the impression that counts. "You're on kid. We'll run through some moves once we find Tsutu's girl and bring her down. Speaking of which... where the hells is this woman?"
As the group makes their way past the fountain again, Illes surreptitiously nods an obeisance. Evil god of mutoids or not, it's never a good idea to have gods aligned against you.
"The scroll is something I could use, but it is a spell I frequently employ anyway, likely to much greater effect than the scroll's author intended." Vethran says so with a slight smirk at his own pyrotechnic superiority. "So if someone else has a use for it, I will gladly hand it over. Otherwise... well... maybe it'll come in handy."
"As for the bottle, it appears that the quasit has been drinking from it. Nothing more."
(You pretty much have everything on the bottle - the quasit was boozing from it.)
(Waiting for Larken to do his thing with the door.)
"The scroll is something I could use, but it is a spell I frequently employ anyway, likely to much greater effect than the scroll's author intended." Vethran says so with a slight smirk at his own pyrotechnic superiority. "So if someone else has a use for it, I will gladly hand it over. Otherwise... well... maybe it'll come in handy."
Elisile shakes her head. “I do not employ such spells, as effective as they can be. You keep it.”
Larken doesn't find any traps, but he does notice the hinges of the door are very rusty. He lubricates them with lamp oil to prevent them making too much noise when the door is opened. Elilise doesn't hear anything when she listens.
As nobody hears or sees anything sinister about the door, Alwyn pushes it open.
The door opens smoothly on to a rickety-looking wooden platform and walkway, suspended about 10’ about the floor of a large chamber. This would appear to be some sort of prison, judging by the rusty iron gates opening on to cramped cells at floor level. A set of stairs leads down to the floor while the walkway extends to another door to the east.
“If Nualia or the quasit are keeping prisoners here we should attempt to free them,” comments Elisile in a quiet voice. She keeps her bow to hand – after all, where there are prisoners there may well be a gaoler.
listen r=14 urrrrk!
know eng/arch 10 it ain't Frank Lloyd Wright
(I know I can't roll untrained...)
"The platform looks solid enough for three... but I wouldn't risk more. It appears that th..." Vethran silenced himself, his eyes going wide and scanning the room, the air above them in particular. "Something's coming..."
Hudak forward, mighty Hudak the slayer, bastard sword and shield out.
"What? More unseen?"
“Something that flies,” says Elisile, straining her ears to pinpoint the noise more exactly, whilst nocking an arrow. “Ware; it could be another quasit.”
"QUASIT!!! I GIRD MY SHIELD WITH THY B$*!& QUEEN'S SMOCK!!! COME AND DIE WITH ME!!!!!"
Listen check 1d20+4=10
I am behind Hudak, as I gave him the lead.....