"Where there is a holy symbol, or perhaps unholy symbol, there is or was a priest around."
Enko peers at the muck.
There are pieces of bone in the muck, but it's hard as everything is goey and disgusting.
Sabinus is bent over retching. He sees the bones, but just can't focus.
"Inheritor's Blade. Let's get out of here," says Enko, not sounding much like a monk. He keeps an eye on the muck and begins to back out of the room.
Sounds fine. Sabinus is a follower in these sorts of decisions.
Repeating the process to get through the multiple rooms with the shifting doors, Enko getting quite adept at leaping down the hole, and then sliding the wall with his remarkable monks skills. You come to a long, twisting hallway running north, with closed doors to the west and south.
Caladius strides forward to the western door, glances back to the group to ensure they're ready for trouble, then with a nod throws the door open.
Ava steels herself, her bow drawn and ready for whatever foul surprise awaits them.
The far wall of this otherwise empty chamber is fitted with three wooden doorways. The left doorway is decorated with a carving of a book, the central doorway a carving of a glaive, and the right doorway a carving of an unholy symbol bearing a pentagram.
Caladius frowns at the three doors and their iconography, "This is definitely better than that other hallway at least."
"Agreed, although the meaning of the labeling of the doors eludes me. What does that book remind me of? Ava, this might be an appropriate moment to search for traps."
"If I had to guess it'd be the book about Drowned Jabe. The holy symbol looks like the one from that hideously gross hallway. And the glaive... well didn't that crazy devil we found further back have a glaive?"
Enko steps up to the door with the carving of the book, to see if the book fits the carving like a puzzle piece.
"I'd rather not have to retrieve that glaive..."
|
But if they are keys of some sort? Do we dare try one door without all three keys?
The Viscount takes some time to sketch a rough outline of the map, and the images shown on the doors, in his little log book for future contemplation.
Is there a theme that unites these three items? Historicalicity? religioulousness? Literaturation?
When you near the door to give it a closer examination, your mind is suddenly filled with the certainty, almost the instinct, that if you opened the door with the book in your possession, you'd be able to instantly transport yourself to wherever you consider home.
Enko pulls the book back, his eyes thoughtful. "...Possession. In the case of Jabe's book, it's somewhat literal, but it's the holding of the items that takes one back...home. To the place your heart desires most to go."
He turns to the group. "For myself and most of us, that would be the headquarters of the Torchbringers. Once we find what we're looking for, we have a way out."
Enko extends his hand. "Someone stand with linked arms with me. We have only two items, and I don't know if the symbol does the same thing...and I don't know if the portal works only once. Let us see if two people will experience the same sensation."
Conducting a couple experiments you both notice a similar sensation, but it doesn't extend to three people, only one or two. Also you seem to understand that the wielder of the artifact will drive the destination location, rather than each of you being drawn to different locations.
There is no reaction from the door, other than what Enko felt already, a sudden... revelation of the power of entering the appropriate door with the corresponding item. The holder and one other will be able to step through to the place they consider home in their heart, as it is not a conscious choice of location.
"That's our ticket out, then..." Ava says. "But we still haven't found what we came for."
She'll do a search around the room as the others experiment.
"My gut says we need all the pieces of this puzzle before we can really solve it. Unfortunately that means we might need to backtrack..."
Other than the doors and information already discovered here, nothing new is revealed during Ava's extensive search of the room.
Caladius crosses his arms as he considers. "So we're going to need that glaive if we all want to get out of this twisted place. Might as well double back now, right?"
"I suppose it looks that way, but how do we get the glaive from that devil? Isn't he beyond our ability to fight? Is the idea he would trade the glaive for his freedom? Can he be trusted to keep his side of the bargain? Is he not too insane?"
"You saw and heard how he reacted to Cornelous, that devil is as crazy as crazy gets. And yeah, I doubt he'd want to have a warm and fuzzy chat, so my money's on there being violence." Caladius shrugs. "It'd be kinder to kill him here than leave him jailed and crazy for eternity. Doesn't seem like we'll have much choice in the end if all of us want to get out of here though."
"I don't know much about devils. What kind of devil he is? Do we know how powerful he is? I wouldn't want to have had to fight the one that took away the tiefling..."
"Perhaps there is something here that can cure him," says Enko. "And devils honor contracts, do they not?"
"B... But can we fell a devil? Just we six?" he says, struggling to recall his journey through this labyrinthine place. He looks to the Viscount expectantly. "Milord?"
Corneleous learned/recalled about Beared Devils;
Elite warriors in Hell's legions, bearded devils—or barbazus—fight savagely in the name of their infernal lords and command mindless hordes of the damned into battle. They collect and train with their infernally forged glaives among the vaults of Hell's third layer, Erebus, but inevitably return to the first layer, Avernus, to serve at the side of the dread lord Barbatos.
Barbazus are fond of making charge attacks with their glaives, and try to maintain a 10-foot gap between themselves and their foes so they can use their signature polearms to great effect. Against a foe that has greater reach (or one able to otherwise avoid the devil's favored tactic), they drop their glaives and resort to their claws and hideous spiked beards.
At attention, bearded devils stand over 6 feet tall (though their squatting battle stances often make them appear shorter) and weigh upward of 200 pounds.
Sabinus learned/recalled about runecurses;
Sabinus does not know what type of devil is attached to the runecurse in his possession. Only that the devil is a named one, and agreed to be a part of the curse in an agreement with the curse's creator. But typically they are of stronger ilk than a bearded devil.
Enko thinks for a moment while the Viscount relates the information regarding bearded devils.
"To my understanding, if one kills a devil, here on Golarion, their shade returns to Hell, does it not? Eventually? Perhaps that death will even cure the devil's madness."
The monk opens his hands. "It seems beneficial, then. We kill it and take its glaive, and our gift to it is a release from this world and insanity. A fair exchange."
"Like I said when we first found him, no one deserves to be locked up like that. Even if he didn't have an item that we needed, it'd still be the right thing to do."
"I'm pretty strongly in favor of personal freedom, Caladius, but I think I'd draw the line at a homicidal devil. I think he and lots of other violent maniacs probably do deserve to be locked up like that, although I probably agree with the suggestion that death is the kinder punishment. In any event, although I share Lucon's hesitation, I'm willing to go with the group consensus. Hopefully the beast is not immune to my hexes."
"We smugglers always carry silver in case we run afoul of a binder. They say it's the devil's bane." Ava says. "It certainly cut through those lesser ones we fought earlier. Perhaps it'll work as well against this one as well."
"The devil's bane... Ermolos certainly knows what he's doing, I'll give him that." he says, spinning his silver hammer in his hands and admiring the craftsmanship once more. "Let's hope it's not just superstition, eh Ava?"
"We could be in trouble, then." she says wryly. "Caladius, if you're feeling up to it you can use my hammer - I'm still weakened from those spectres' touch."
She retrieves her hammer and offers it to Caladius. "They say that dwarven craftsmanship is the best. But then, they say a lot of things."
Caladius shakes his head, "You keep it. If you're still feeling weak, you'll need that silver all the more if you want to try to hurt it."
The group moves cautiously back through the Asmodean heart, carefully moving back up the slick tunnel with some luck and rope work (not looking forward to the way back) and past the pool where the drowned creatures fought you, back into the cell block, your path taking you right past the transparent rear wall of the bearded devils cell.
"Ava, I have silver coating for my sling bullets, and even weakened you are stronger than I. Or perhaps you could shoot a bow. Friends, let us discuss a plan before we rush in."
Caladius looks at Enko, "When he starts swinging, I'll make my sword glow purple again and then I'll hit him with it repeatedly. At least that's what I'm planning to do, anyway."
"I will pursue my usual course of action -- try to plague him with misfortune and then try to put him to sleep. If that fails, continue to plague him with bad luck, so as to turn the tide of battle to our favor. I will also heal as necessary, and folks should call out for assistance if they need healing."