Jim shrugs. "Have at it. Watch for shadow hounds, though."
Dingus senses no scullduggery and the book floats from Dingus' hand to hover in front of the paralyzed man's face. It opens where it hangs and the pages slowly turn as Asnaan absorbs the information within. He quickly scans the journal section at the front, but slows and appears intently interested in the older texts and rites collected in the back half. Finally, the book floats down beside him open to a page of old parchment illuminated with butterflies and stars.
The planchette begins moving again. These pages hold ancient Desnan wisdom and power. This page is a rite to pass from the waking world to the Dreamlands. If the cultists were using it, some may be trapped there now and need it to return or they were searching for something in the Dreamlands. Either way, it seems that they have destabilized the boundary between consciousness and dreaming and are releasing nightmares into this world and bringing death to the sleeping. They must be stopped before the danger grows and they would not likely expect an attack in the Dreamlands. I can perform the rite to Pierce the Veil and lead you to them if you wish.
Jim gives the invalid a long, appraising look. "Aye, but if it's all the same to you I'd rather Groom stay here. In case someone else happens by while we're away, hey?"
"I assume we don't wanna be sleepin' while standin', eh?" Corliss points out as he sits on the floor, his back against one wall. After thinking on things for a moment, he draws his rapier and lays it carefully across his lap. "Pleasant dreams, mateys!"
There is a rattling noise from the bookshelves as a tiny blue glowing elephantine creature grabs a bottle in its twin trunks and flies over to land on the nightstand near Asnaan. The planchette scratches, Take one mouthful only. No more than that for it is potent... and expensive... and deadly in excess. The little blue phantasmal elephant stands before the book and begin chanting in a strange high-pitched, but still somehow sonorous tone as the bottle is passed to all excepting the Groom.
For those that bother to sniff the contents first, the clear, leggy liquor is astringent with a hint of malice and Dibbets' eyes grow large as he again tastes the rarified bite of Leng's Tears.
Dingus looks at the elephant... shrugs... then pulls forth a long woolen hat, places it on his stubbly head, and looks for the most comfortable sleeping area he can find. He then slugs down the offered nightcap resisting the urge to drink more.
"Night Dibbets"!
"Night Kaul"!
"Night Corliss"!
"Night Jim"!
"Night Richard"!
"Nighty-night, Dingus!" Corliss calls out over a stifled yawn.
Hope he doesn't take that to mean 'Everyone wear yer finest nightie tonight!' Garn--didn't need that visual afore headin' off to the Dreamlands....
Kaul chuckles at the bouncer's relent, then stays quietly belligerent through the whole explanation.
He casts a baleful gaze at the bottle as it is passed his way. He pauses, ignoring the strange creature's foreboding and taps a drop onto his ax, before taking a swig;
"Drop fir Lopps. Drop fir me.... Hur. Nightmares ahoy..."
Dibbet's takes the bottle with a degree of civility, eyes wide and pupils like cyclones;
"Why Mr Leng. It's been a wee while. Pleasure to make yer acquaintance once again..."
He purses his lips, allowing a syrupy sliver to be permeated...
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the Groom abstains and take a wary posture while the others settle into horizontal positions as a numbing wave rolls over their bodies. Eyelids droop and the droning chant of the strange elephantino lulls on. Then, lulling stops and eyes blink open to find the room now lit by a dim light with no apparent source. the Groom is nowhere to be seen, but the tiny elephant and Asnaan still lie upon the couch.
The old Vudrani man stirs, easily rising to sit and then rising up to stand as the elephant watches closely. He stretches his arms out and reaches down to pet the odd elephantine creature, "Well done, Baku." Asnaan looks around at the rest. "You have crossed over into the dream realm, not just your minds, but your physical bodies as well. Take care, should you die here in your physical form, your body will return to the Material Plane, but your soul will not." He turns and leads the way out of the room's door.
Jim looks over his hands, then takes a couple of quick steps back and forth before smacking his lips and grimacing. "Interesting tipple--personally, I'll take Malört."
The crew follow Asnaan through the doorway and find themselves in the ground floor drug den instead of the main room bar. Couches still line the walls, but none of the users, living or dead are seen. "I avoid stairs, Asnaan explains. "They often spiral down to the true Dreamlands where the dangers become greater. Stairs here often lead to the ancient dreams of the Serpent Empire that lurks beneath the surface and within the subconscious of the city, but there is Leng and other places best avoided as well. This way."
Asnaan continues to the door of the map closet with the secret door, but this time it opens to a web tunnel of tight gray strands. Asnaan does not seem perturbed and continues on walking through the springy, but apparently unsticky strands.
Corliss follows, silently and hesitantly. The memories of dangling in the web of smoke is still firmly a part of his otherwise shaky memory. He looks around for potential dangers...or maybe one of the buxom mermaids that often inhabit his usual dreams.
Kaul chuckles menacingly at Asnaan's advice on death;
"Hur. Some o' us ain't got souls 'cept them on our boots matey. This realm should be fearin' me an' Lopps."
The ax head bobs in agreement as the thug flexes his klaw...
Dibbs' for his part hobbles along, curious but wary;
"Place looks a mite more empty than afore Asnaan. Howcums we ain't seein' the flotsam o' the streets?"
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Mental Note find some stairs and descend to fulfill my destiny.
Dingus raises his eyebrows at the possible fulfillment of his destiny, but is worried that his friends might not be so lucky there... so he decides to accompany them for now... until he can establish his sovereignty over the Serpent Empire.
Lucky we woke up when we did...have to watch for stairs. Jim follows Asnaan, keeping his balance easily on the yielding surface.
The crew follows Asnaan through the eerie tunnel of webbing. Corliss keeps a keen watch though perhaps he shouldn't be looking for mermaids given that the most recent half-women met were half-spider, not fish. Kaul keeps a lookout for something to kill which is perhaps the better attitude, but he sees nothing besides the dense woven tube directing them toward some horror ahead no doubt.
Instead, the end of the webbed passage opens into an ornate room that resembles the ramshackle location where the cultists took your newest recruit, Moses, not too long ago in the waking world. The room in the dream realm has been restored to its former glory with a polished mantle and cheery fire that still provides no heat. The floor rug is clean, bright and intricately woven with celestial scenes. The impressive ascending stairway now nearly glows from polishing, but it goes no further than the landing with night skies seen beyond. Again there is a doorway directly ahead though a velvety blue curtain conceals the view of the next room and another doorway to what was the ruined chapel before where now comes the distant sound of chanting.
"Heh--this'll prob'ly cause me head to explode, but...." The Besmaran priest casts detect magic and starts to scan the room, starting with the very suspicious 'celestial rug.'
Kaul nudges Dingus and cranks a no-neck noggin toward the same rug that Corliss seems wary of;
"Make fir a nice cloak or poncho there matey. Very you. Regal like."
The thug grins;
"We should roll it up. Take it back. Worth a pretty penny rugs like 'em. Gentile folk love 'em."
Dibbet's for his part, wanders o'er to the fire... before fumbling at his kilt;
"See iffin' I can't put out this fire with some sea spray o' me own!"
The grubby oracle hits the flickering flame with a stream of p1ss, then chuckles to himself;
"'Ere that chanting lads... Never good a sign."
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Despite its wonderous beauty, the rug in not magical. Corliss ponders Kaul's looting advice. Meanwhile, Dibbets finds the flames unaffected by his littlest fireman routine. They are apparently illusory flames and register as such to Corliss' magical detecting.
"The rug be real; the flames be fakey," Corliss announces quietly. "Methinks Dibbets be right 'bout the chantin'. I'll be ready to cast a prayer to Bessie to bless us some an' curse the spider-lovin' cultists. I'm assumin' we're past negotiatin' at this point?"
Dingus hearing the chanting starts that way immediately... but slows down a bit to wait for the others as a moment of clarity at the possible danger worms its way into his consciousness.
Kaul pauses, cocking a cauliflower ear to the distant noise;
"Want me to go shut 'em up lads?"
He flashes a jigsaw grin as his axe nods excitedly...
I'll let you lead the way," Asnaan offers and Kaul moves toward the sound. The polished mahogany panels and floor end abruptly at weatherworn stone arches- revealing the old temple walls that frame the mansion's core. The glimmering glass butterfly mosaic spreads across the floor between the carved marble columns, but there is an erratic shift and the mosaic dims and warps pulling the wings into a compact web-encased image.
Up front, the raised wooden dais is gone and the excavation seen in the conscious world has expanded into a pit with spiraling stairs descending down the walls of the pit. Hanging from thick web-cords from the ceiling above the pit is a massive stone spider of terrible and alien form. The detail is so exacting and strange that the horrible realization that it is a fossilized creature rather than a carved effigy occurs quickly. A pair of human sacrifices hang cocooned in webbing in front of the petrified beast.
The chanting comes from the half-dozen cloaked and hooded cultists that face the idol with their backs to the crew.
"Say, Asnaan...'fore we mix it up here, is there anything odd about stairs that go up? They won't take us to some place of starry madness where the Yellow Sign shines?"
Asnaan startles at Jim's question, then shake his head slowly. "I've never heard of stairs going up leading to the Dreamlands, but it could very well be that the darkness between the stars bleeds into the dreaming realm as well."
The chanting continues as the crew stare seemingly frozen in horror... certainly, they will be noticed soon if they do nothing!
"Bessie--bless our crew an' curse our foes so that we might slaughter these creeps...fer yer greater glory, o' course!"
Corliss casts prayer, draws his rapier, and closes on a cultist.
"Let me see what the deal is here".
Dingus casts Invisibility, and slinks into the room along one wall.
Jim draws his rapier silently and advances, ready to strike.
Lopper readied, Kaul leers at the macabre scene, then moves purposefully and sneakily forward...
Dibbs for his part hangs back, mindful of the chaos that will likely erupt.
The grubby oracle primes his musket, then levels it expectantly at the stone spider...
Asnaan stays behind as the crew enter the transformed chapel. Dingus disappears and slithers unseen along the near wall toward the dais. Jim and Kaul creep forward to the unaware chanters while Dibbets loads and readies his musket. Just as Corliss is about to offer Besmara's blessing to counteract the tangible menace of the chanting, one of turns his head to sneeze and catches sight of the creeping doom. He shouts a warning just as Corliss preaches divine fortune.
Keelhaul Kaul-
Madman Jim-
Dingus-
Corliss-
foe-
Dingus will stay where he is and hold a lightning bolt until the most dangerous enemy seems to be... ie not one of the normal cultist... perhaps the spider???
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Corliss chants a quick prayer to Besmara and causes a loud burst of sonic energy to trigger right in front of the stone spider, catching several cultists as well, temporarily drowning out their chanting.
Dingus lurks unseen waiting to see if a bigger threat appears. Corliss sends a thunderous crash amid the cultists suppressing their chanting for a moment.
The Taldan opts for simplicity, striking repeatedly at the cultist closest to him.
Perhaps panicked by the explosive sound behind them, the cultists rush Jim with unexpected ferocity. Sickles shaped like segmented spider legs slash at him from all directions throwing off his attack. Jim is overwhelmed by the mob and suffers several slashes.
As the mob surge, Dibbs' musket tracks from spider to a cultist and he blasts the unlucky target;
"Bugger off ye bugger!'
Kaul for his part merely wades into the mob with a malicious grin and Lopper;
Dibbets split the difference between the dangling stone spider and the cultist mob and fires between them... Kaul doesn't do much better as he is shoved by the fanatical throng and can't get a proper swing of Lops.
Dingus thinks maybe he sees a leg twitch on the idol, but he isn't certain.
With the cultists still huddled close together, Corliss uses a second sound burst to weaken them further.
Jim hisses as the blows strike, takes a short step north to pin one of the cultists between himself and Kaul, then unleashes a pair of rapid blows against the one immediately to his west.
Corliss second thunderous burst is hardly an echo of the first and barely rattles the cultist rabble. The ominous chanting rises again countering Besmara's blessings. Jim's lightning assault takes a heavy toll though as the closest robed murderers fall to steel and spark.
Unable to resist the temptation any longer, Dingus lines up and releases a forked tongue of electrical energy at the Stone Idol... then ducks behind something to lesson shrapnel.
LB (DC17 Ref for half).
Dingus just isn't buying that the rock spider is just a rock; he unleashes a lightning bolt into it preemptively. The huge spider-shaped rock rattles and drops a leg, swaying a bit with the change in the center of gravity. The mob of cultists engulfs Jima and Kaul hacking wildly with the spiderish sickles.
The rock continues to quake and a weird mist emerges from the cracks as it dance on the webbing that suspends it from the ceiling of the chapel. The mists congeal in a horrible ghostly spider of the same immense size and horrible form as the petrified statue. It pauses a moment, floating above its idol as its numerous black, round eyes search for the fool that dared assault it...
The Taldan continues to press his return attacks, blade darting at the maddened cultists with lethal accuracy.