Crystal smirks at the sound, nodding at Victor's words. "Agreed, sir. And obviously trying to drive us off. But not bringing the fight to us. Let us advance."
She prepares to climb behind Sarcon, then notices that he seems transfixed. "It's not real, Sarcon. Get moving!"
Doc will tie the rope around his waist then proceeds to climb up.
Struggling, Doc still manages to reach the other side, thanking Sarcon and untying himself. He then takes up a position behind Crystal.
Near the top, and behind the others Doc can't get a good look when he all of a sudden hears the roar of a dragon!
What? A dragon? Here? But that's not possible! There's no way that this crooked tower could support such a creature. Besides. There hasn't been reports of dragons in this area for a long time. Hmmm. That in NOT possible, which means that there must be some deceptionat work here.
Calling out.
I second what she said. I am a doctor and I heard that there was need of medical attention here. I'm coming up. Peacefully.
Doc grins evily. Every word of it true.
"Hmm, peaceful you say? I called for no doctor. You have the wrong tower!" a voice calls out from above.
Crystal mutters to herself, scowling. "This is stupid." She turns to her companions, hands on her hips.
"I, for one, am for busting open that door and making whatever is in there miserable just for having to sit through this. What say you?" She again starts tapping her foot impatiently.
Fate nods at Crystal, then steps forward. Her voice booms. "PITIFUL VORM! Fate itself stands before your door! You should know that you cannot hope to hold off Fate!"
Sarcon slams the door open and climbs up. Inside he sees a 20-ft diameter circular chamber lit by sunlight pouring through the many arrow slits punctuating the exterior. Above him another ladder leads up to an open hatch through which he can see the sky. Around the chamber are a few old and rotting wooden chests, not quite succumbed to age. There is also what appears to be a bed of hay surrounded by scraps of fine linen and dyed cloth. However, no one appears to be present.
On an unrelated note,
Sarcon heads up to the top of the tower, where he sees the remains of what was once likely a siege weapon of some kind. As he stands on the roof, he sees
A voice speaks directly into your mind. "You will be meat upon my table, weakling."
Crystal proceeds up the ladder and gives the place a quick once over.
If she doesn't see anything unusual, she will continue up to the commotion.
Well you may need a doctor after my com.. Ah, these random people get a hold of you. You may as well be kind to me now and save yourself the embarasment later.
Hmmm. Sarcon seems. Excited. And eager. I wonder if he realizes what a dragon ACTUALLY is?
Doc then climbs up the ladder after Crystal (3rd in line) and gives a quick scan at the top.
Victor continues his barrage of complaints as he crosses up the newest flight of ladders, the words "Blood illusions" and "well deserved deaths". As soon as he reaches the next floor he rotates his head and takes a look around the chamber, drawing a scroll from his robe's inner folds.
"Hmmph, does someone seek to challenge Fate?"
Sarcon climbs the ladder and confronts [REDACTED].
Crystal follows, climbing up into the top chamber.
Doc - 20
Victor - 19
Sarcon - 17
Crystal - 16
Fate - 7
[someone] - 6
Fate is up!
Fate climbs up to the top chamber, but sees no one. She does, however, hear a voice casting a spell. At the same moment, the ladder leading up to the top chamber becomes slick with grease!
Doc - 20
Victor - 19
Sarcon - 17
Crystal - 16
Fate - 7
[someone] - 6
Crystal notes the new grease on the ladder with dismay, then calls upon Asmodeus once again, sweeping the top chamber for magic. She would find the rotten bastard, if he was in here.
Victor grumbles with a hint of contempt as he reaches down into his satchel, pulling out a 50' piece of robe and an already fitted grappling hook. He swings it back and forth for a moment before launching it forward in an attempt to secure it on the ladder's hinges.
If it should stick, he would attempt to crawl on it to reach the next level.
Crystal discerns magic in the area!
Victor is able to secure his grappling hook, and attempts to climb the rope.
"Sarcon, you'll find no enemies up there. Come down, and secure the door behind you." The priestess continues to focus on the magic aura, attempting to get a fix of where it is, and what it is. She is pretty sure of what it is, but overconfidence was a vice she tried not to indulge in. This petty wizard would soon be found, and then he would beg for mercy!
"One of you others, block the exit to the lower levels." Her eyes narrow as she focuses in on the magic.
Ahhh! I see! Very good plan there Crystal. I will attempt to do so.
Doc then moves back towards the stairway entrance, planting himself just in the the resess a bit and takes up a defensive stance with his saw out in front of him.
And heres to hoping that nothing tries to push me down these stairs..
Edit. Yes. Tell Sarcon to come down the greased ladder.maybe he will get his second fall of the day in! :)
I believe there was a ladder to the upper room, then another ladder to the roof.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Last chance to beg for mercy, worm." Crystal grins as the Prince of Darkness continues to guide her, homing in on the source of the magical aura.
With annoyance, she notes the clumsy arc of the grappling hook. She hoped Sarcon would get down here soon. She was actually feeling pretty vulnerable without that big meat shield.
Victor resigns himself to remaining on this floor and pulls a scroll from his robes, unfolding it with a great methodical care. "Dearie, do hurry up. I am quite eager to get out of this accursed ruin."
Realizing he is going to have no chance climbing up the slick ladder without aid and that there is likely no one to offer him that aid, he decides to make his own aid.
Taking out his Spider Sac and aiming it at the roof above the ladder, he lets it fly.
Despite their name, spider sacs have nothing to do with spiders
but rather are alchemical devices with a unique delivery system. Used for climbing as well as combat, these grayish, gourd-like pouches are made of a specially grown fungus with a tough but rubbery exterior. The fungoid is carefully harvested, pierced at one end, hollowed out, and then injected with a strong alchemical adhesive that hardens to a fibrous material almost instantly when exposed to air. When squeezed, a spider sac's adhesive shoots out to a maximum range of 10 feet and sticks to whatever it strikes, whereupon the strand dries instantly into a durable fibrous rope. For the purposes of climbing, treat a spider sac as a grappling hook except that all surfaces are AC 5. A spider sac can also be used as a lasso
except with AC 10, 4 hit points
, and a DC 24 Strength
check to burst. A spider sac is a single-use item.
Victor seems daunted by the task of climbing, so The Good Doctor approaches and squirts an alchemical fiber onto the ceiling of the top chamber. One can only assume he smirks at Victor.
While Sarcon runs around like a chicken up above, Fate and Crystal search for their opponent in the top chamber. Doc and Victor down below seem to have trouble getting up.
Suddenly, Crystal and Fate hear a small voice begin speaking arcane words.
From the chanting words, Crystal attempts to make out the spell.
DC=15+spell level
Crystal then moves as far from Fate as she can get, not wanting to give the cretin a perfect target for an area of effect spell. She keeps winnowing down on the wizard (or whatever it is), homing in on their position. A look of concentration replaces the evil grin.
"There's a couple of illusion spells active. I would say that one of them is a spell of invisibility. The other likely a minor protective spell to throw off our attacks. Guesses only. If anyone has any bright ideas, I am quite open to them."