Farooq holds his ground and readies another flask of alchemist fire.
Zariah draws out a flask of flammable oul, prparing to throw it at the creatures should they again come within range.
The odd creatures move forward a bit, but do not get closer than ten feet to the flames. They wave their feelers anxiously and continue their high pitched keening.
The start inching closer at the oil begins to burn off and the fire recedes.
Zayid, having dropped all the metal he was carrying, moves up just past the archway, holding his bow like a club.
The oil fires die down and the keening creatures rush forward again, but the group was ready for them.
Zariah's flask of fire ended the first. It screeched and ran erratically, unable to put to the flames, eventually slowing and collapsing in a smoldering heap. Mahatsi let loose with a sling bullet that knocked the leg off the second just as it began to close on Zayid and Cahal. A couple of heavy blows later and it was a broken thing, it's insides leaking out of it's cracked shell.
The Debtors were safe again, for the moment.
Zayid collects his equipment and moves forward carefully, his eyes peeled for more traps.
"Hmph. Filthy creatures." Moving back a brief way to retrieve her hammer, Mahsati breaks her usual routine by taking this chance to push her way up towards the front of the group. Not all the way to the front. She was no scout. But this time, she was determined to not be caught in the rear and away from the combat.
Looking up from his survey, Zayid nods. "Filthy indeed. Ruined my armor, for one thing. Wonder what they survived on for so long down here... gold doesn't rust."
"Let's just get this over with. Lead on to the next room. Stay together and keep an eye out for trouble."
"Probably a long history of treasure seekers bearing metal, in fact the only better place for such creatures would be the remnants of a battlefield." Zariak says as she Picks up her khukri from where she tossed it.
Down the hall they went, half moving forward as an advance group, the other half staying back and quiet, guarding the rear in case anything more came out of the side rooms they hadn't been bothering with.
Like all the others, the hall curved. Unlike all the others, this one had stairs. It was essentially a spiral staircase with a very wide curve. At the bottom was a door with an actual doorknob, the first they'd seen so far.
Zayid took a moment to check it. It was unlocked, and interestingly, the door bar was on this side.
He slowly pushed it open. The door swung out into empty air.
The floor of this room, whatever it once was, had collapsed. He peered down into the dark shining his torch as best he could, wishing he still had a lantern so the light could be focused better. The floor looked as though it had simply fallen in to the level below. He could see the large stones and rubble at the bottom, and a glint that looked like metal. Lowering the torch as much as he could without dropping it, he could just barely make out a body lying broken on the rocks.
Zayid retrieves a large coil of rope from his shoulder and begins tying a sturdy knot around the door bar. "Who's our best climber?" he asks, looking around the group. "My thought is to close the door a bit with this bar on the other side; that should keep it from slipping through. I'd like to not lose the rope, though... I guess I can climb back up to retrieve it when the rest of you are down. Who wants to go first?"
After some discussion, Zayid secures the rope and climbs slowly down it to the floor below, keeping his eyes open for trouble.
The rubble is still and packed. It has obviously been there for a long time. The body, though, is new. The blood running from the back of the head down a stone is hardly finished drying. Strangely, the dead woman's belt is sprawled open as if it burst free on impact. Her tool pouch has been ripped open as well.
Zayid was confused for only a moment when he realized the belt buckle was missing, and the inside of the pouch was covered in red rusty powder.
Further down the slope of the collapse, something scraped against the stones.
Zayid grimaces and calls softly up to the others. "More of those metal-eating bugs, I think... hurry down."
Putting his metal gear down near a wall away from the exits, he holds his bow in a defensive position and waits.
Rolling up his sleaves and hitching up his robes to reveal his skinny legs, Farooq shimmies down the rope .
Once back on the ground, he goes through the dead woman's things, looking for anything that might be of use.
Unfortunately all the woman's metal belongings have been reduced to rusty dust, save for a a half dozen gold coins. Around her neck is an amulet in the shape of a small golden hand. It must have had a chain of a different metal, because all that's left is a black smear.
A scroll case made of bone contains a number of scrolls that look magical in nature.
It looks as though these creatures can't eat gold.
Gold doesn't corrode. It stands to reason that if they gain sustenance only from corroded metals that gold would be impossible to eat.
The scroll on top is Shatter.
Farooq collects the gold and leafs through the scroll case.
"Looks like these creatures only care for metals that they can rust. Gold doesn't rust, you see. Shall we carry on? Oh and does anyone remember how many more surveyors we're looking for? This unfortunate soul is what? The third or forth so far?"
You get the distinct feeling you are being watched.
As she joined the others down at the bottom of the rope, Mahsati peered around cautiously. The body she more or less ignored, as the others were tending to it.
"Bah, who has the time to study this things. I'll worry about them later." Farooq stuffs the scroll case in a deep pocket."[/b]
Zayid coils his rope again and continues forward, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for anything worth seeing or hearing... or both.
Zariah nimbly makes her way down, her supple form shimmying down the rpe with ease.
The rubble from the collapse is highest where the group stands. Is slopes off toward a far wall. The door was blocked by the debris, but it has been partially dug out and bashed through. The fit looks like it will be tight.
Zariah kneels, studying the amulet as a flicker of silver flame passes across her eyes.
Zayid approaches the door carefully, studying the collapse and trying to determine the area's stability while simultaneously looking around for traps.
Zariah sees the telltale aura of magic about the golden hand, but she can't make out it's purpose.
If there were any traps, the collapse has likely rendered them useless. Other than being a tight squeeze, the broken door looks safe.
Zayid shrugs at the others and pokes his head through the crumbled doorway for a look.
Plucking the amulet up delicately, Zariah places it in a pouch at her waist, determined to study it later in depth.
The hole in the broken stone door is a tight sqeeze. It looks like someone left a few layers of skin behind recently.
Beyond is one of the most amazing sights Zayid has ever seen.
A garden. Lush and green and completely overgrown. Plantlife of all kinds. The smell is utterly intoxicating. Thickly grown bushes and flowers cover the ground. Vines crawl the walls holding up thick fruit. Hanging plants even drape down from trellises on the ceiling creating living curtains. The faint sound of running water can be heard in the distance. Strange colorful insects with wide wings flutter through the air. Others buzz quickly between plants. In the center of the room is the silhouette of a wide, sprawling tree. A soft golden glow filters through the leaves from directly above it as though the tree itself had a halo.
It was like looking into the garden of paradise.
"Um..." says Zayid, glancing back into the other room to make sure everyone's still there. He rubs his eyes in case he's hallucinating. "You all had better take a look at this... it's probably sorcery." The last is muttered half under his breath as he steps into the room and begins examining it carefully.
The ground is a thick, soft bed of green. Zayid had never seen anything like it. And it was warm. Not the uncomfortable oppressive heat of the desert, but a damper, more comfortable warmth.
Farooq pulls up his robes, revealing his bony legs, and tries to follow after Zayid, but manages to get caught on something.
"Drat and be bother, I think I've caught a snag. A little help if you please?"
Zayid glances over from his examination of the room. "Oh... sure."
Grasping Farooq firmly by the hands, he attempts to help him get through.
Farooq hisses with pain as he is forced through the hole, leaving behind a fair bit of skin.
"Sorry, Grandfather..." says Kal as he pulls the older man through. "Look at this, though; is it sorcery? How can such a place exist below ground?"
Zariah fluidly slips through the opening, gasping in surprise at the beauty before her.
Acrobatics
Try as she could, Mahsati could not -quite- figure out a way to fit through the crevice the smaller members of her party had managed to scramble through. Frowning, she scanned the wall around the hole, trying to determine if she could smash the hole to become large enough for her to fit through...