In taking positions on the platform it seems Braggi and Musami switched roles, with the dwarf providing the lift and Braggi supporting his line. The platform lowers thirty some feet down the side of the pillar, into the dark cavern below.
The air is cold and frosty near the pillar, the thing acting like a large chunk of glacial ice chilling the air around it. Near the bottom a thin cloud of cold vapor pools like fog, obscuring things around the narrowing base.
Within the pillar the veins of purple seem to follow you, twisting and roiling but not able to pierce the sides of the stone to reach out at you.
The rope seems to be slippery or the cold is getting to Musami.
Naghbakh attempts to steady the line:
[+4 Str, +1d6 Action point]
Lunging out Naghbakh grabs hold of the strange pulley apparatus and mauling it tightly arrests the free fall of the platform, jerking it to a stop a mere 20 feet from the floor of the cavern.
Though her eidolon successfully stays the platform, Kaaro can't arrest her own downward momentum, falling to a splayed condition, arms and legs an ungainly akimbo.
The platform below slides and Musami loses his footing. He falls and stars burst in his eyes as he hits the platform hard.
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Zokama, who had been ready to cast a spell to save them from falling, finds the sudden drop exhilarating, and rides it out with style, surprised that they pulled it out and she didn't have to cast her spell.
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Miraculously, Braggi manages to keep balance, falling on his feet and having time enough to perceive his surroundings...
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a deeper and darker black than the regular stone. Rising from the middle of the cave, a small thin pillar, three by two feet, fashioned of purple stone supports the black-and-violet mass of the enormous obelisk on whose surface you recently stood. On the other side of the cave, water spilling from above collects into a pool. Shadows move among the fog, one in the far corner, two closer, circling the pillar.
Zokama describes what she sees to the entire party.
"We were standing on that?" Kaaro breathes, incredulous. She listens with deepening anxiety as Zokama describes the area.
"Shadows? That move? I'm fairly certain that those are not pleasant entities. I don't want off this hanging driftwood if we can't get back on easily. Can we make it go any lower?"
"Right, but don't just discard having to deal with them any time soon..." Braggi helps the entity from beyond which accompanies Kaaro, in an attempt to have a smoother landing this time.
Musami stands and peers over the edge of the platform as Braggi and Naghbakh lower the group. Hearing that there are figures moving in teh shadows he grips his mace and makes sure his shield is securely fastened to his arm.
The outsider seems to know its mistress' desires, and heaves at the ropes.
[+4 Str, +2 Aid Another]
Zokama casts Feather Fall.
Naghbakh.
While the group slowly floats twenty feet to the ground below Naghbakh and the platform crash heavily to the ground with a resounding crash.
The platform cracks along the banding from the fall, the pulley clattering to the ground, the rope pulling clear of the device. The mist billows out and away from the impact, momentarily clearing the area.
A quick glance shows that the enormous pillar stands atop a small obelisk, each ending in a point resting an inch above or below a small black sphere hovering between the two.
Shadows in the mist begin circling the group, while another off towards the end of the cavern begins cackling ominously...
Naghbakh attempts to save himself from a bad fall...
Naghbakh lands prone upon the battered platform.
"What kind of..." Braggi explains, surprised, at the fact of floating like a soap bubble. When he lands, gently, he quickly produces his weapon at the sight of predating shadows sneaking in him and his companions.
Musami lands lightly on his feet, his hand is on his mace and his shield at the ready.
Zokama draws her bow as she lands, wondering if arrows will do any good against shadows.
Kaaro frowns at Naghbakh’s failure and subsequent fall, though some mirth is evident as the eidolon stands and steps off the platform. The Suel draws a pattern in the area, ensorcelling her space.
The laughter to the south grows quiet, replaced by a whispered mumbling and a soft gurgling, like tar bubbling as it is heated, or hot air and gases escaping a warm, muddy pool.
The strange shadowy figures continue to circle your group, floating above the floor, but do not seem ready to approach any closer. The platform lays on the floor behind you, to the right of the stone from which you descended.
You stand gathered near the short pillar, south of it, above which incredulously seems to rigidly hover the large stone monolith across which you recently traipsed, while between that stone and the pillar a small black orb rests, balanced on the tip of that short four sided obelisk. The orb is smooth, black, and pulses with occasional ripples of purple or greenish energies.
Musami looks around to ensure there is nothing approaching, then peers up at the orb and the obelisks.
You realize the orb is not an orb at all, but rather a fist sized black diamond of rare beauty and clarity. It would easily pay for a forge and several pounds of rare minerals and rare ores to start your crafting career, easily giving you the chance to craft the goal of a lifetime, a true master craftsman's pinnacle project, one which would surely win you a place at the side of Fortubo the forgemaster. All you need do is take it before the others realize what it is.
You suddenly find yourself at the middle most point of a perfectly spherical room of black walls with purple veins. No light is present, but you find that you can still “see” within the darkness here. A rumbling voice echoes about you in low, hollow sounding tones. My faithful servant seek the hearts of four forgotten moons. Together they can sunder the walls of my prison. For now, eat of my bounty and be forever blessed.
After the voice speaks, a lustrous black fruit suddenly appears in the your hand, smelling sweet, like a cherry plum at the height of the season.