He does run after Laori, trying to get in a private word before she goes.
Like a puppy chasing his master as she leaves the house.
"Don't worry, Briar. Now that I now what you like, I can direct you to the right place."
When Laori is well and gone, and they are well on their way, Barael questions Briar.
"You stay your arrows for one cultist, but ready it for the other. Is it because he's not an elf like her? He would have likely received this fate had he joined us instead of her. Do you think he knew, and so deferred to our 'choice' in accepting her companionship? Do you know something we do not?"
Barael sniffs the air, and takes in the way forward.
Laori pauses for the briefest moment as Briar speaks to her. She listens, and blows him a kiss as she's half-dragged outside to her fate. She laughs nervously at something the Darkwalker says as they depart.
Barael searches the lower chamber for a while, but finds nothing new. The walls are moist here, and do seem to be living somehow. If you make a fresh cut, they bleed and seem to react slightly as if in pain. It's like you're in a living being.
Fondo leads the party upstairs and it is as Laori described. There are two main rooms with a handful of smaller ante-chambers and closets. One seems to be a residence and the other an office, but both are so worn by age as to be very nearly just empty rooms. The walls in the upper portion do not seem to be alive.
You also find a stairwell leading up into a small, featureless, 10'x10' chamber - presumably the pill box on the roof.
You find no other entrance or exit save the pit of blue mist in the middle of the room on the first floor from whence the Darkwalker came.
Barael moves back down to the first floor, and the blue mist pit. He takes a long gander at what awaits.
"Really? This is the way? No set of stairs that I can see past the mist. I can't tell if the bottom of the pit is 5' down, or 500'."
Barael looks to those who can fly, and awaits their investigations.
Fondo ignores Barael's ethical chatter as the party explores.
Barael sees that the mist fills the pit and is obscuring - especially as it seems to provide it's own faint light with each droplet of water. The walls of the pit are perfectly smooth, and feel like the same stuff that the interior chamber is made of (living flesh).
As you gaze into the mist, shapes seem to form, but they never quite finish their process and so you never see a finished result. It is mesmerizing however, and you have to pull yourself away. When you do so, you find you were creeping ever closer to the edge...
Briar gives Nikolay a look as if seeing the man for the first time in a while.
"You think you can direct me, 'Sward?" Briar replies with a smile on his face. "I think I'm glad that someone has directed you to your voice."
Briar looks down into the misty pit, drawing an arrow, casting light, and letting it go.
"This seems interesting, does it not?" Briar asks, stepping into the mist.
If nothing happens, he will slowly continue down, using his telepathetic bond to keep others appraised of his progress as he AirElfWalks down. He'll stop at 30' down or so.
Barael ignores Fondo's observations, but perks up when the telepathic bond is acknowledged again.
Barael watches Briar move into the mist, and waits.
Fondo takes out his rope and grappling hook and looks for a place to secure it. Assuming he finds one, he begins rappelling down into the pit.
Dandi tries to watch as Briar sinks into the mist, followed by Fondo.
"Stay, Waif. I'm just having a look...I'm sure I'll have the sword in no time...just hang on."
Barael waits at the pit's edge, backing off a little from his gazing, when he turns to Dandi, herself intent on seeing through the mists. The blue light intensifies the blue of her eyes, and Barael finds himself staring past her locks of hair. She's really... focused. The way her eyes dart for a parting in the mist, each time hoping that she'll detect them. It's like anyone watching her isn't there. Focused. I could probably call her name several times, and she'd not lose that focus. As she gets older, I'll bet she never loses that.
Briar's lighted arrow disappears quickly in the light of the mist. However, he does not hear it land...
Fondo's grapple sinks, but holds firmly, in the fleshy ridge around the hole. It bleeds a little. As Briar and Fondo get into the mist proper, please make DC 20 will saves.
Dandi's hair curls like fingers digging in, trying to will the others to safety as they go.
"They'll be ok, won't they, Barrie?" returning her gaze to the blue mist, she none the less reaches for his hand, and reassurance.
Will Save (+2 more vs. enchantments)
"That might be best."
Fondo, your rope is 10' short of the floor, so if you jump to the bottom, make an acrobatics check to avoid falling damage.
Fondo and Briar disappear into the mist. The rope remains taught however and shifts every so often as Fondo moves around below.
Briar casts See Invisibility, then Detect Magic.
He will scan the area for several moments, taking in what he can.
Perception
If things are clear...
"Looks like a simple 60' drop or so though the mists, then what appears to be the floor of the tower. I can't imagine too much danger in here, what with that Nightwalker at guard. There is a door as well. Come down when you are ready."
Fondo jomps down and retrieves a scroll from his bag.
If nothing interrupts him, he attempts to use the scroll.
He goes to the door and examines it with his merely competent eyes.
"They'll be ok, won't they, Barrie?"
As Dandi takes his hand, Barael looks down at his own, and he regrets a little.
He takes her hand in turn, and holds it steadily as he transforms back to his other form. He watches her intently as his hand reverts to a more human guise, hoping. Hoping that it doesn't repulse her.
He smiles through the familiar pain as it dies. "Those two? Oh, don't you worry. Not one bit. If worse comes to worst, they have each other, and that's what counts the most."
...
As assurances are given, Barael looks to Dandi, then to the others. "Are we ready to join them? Drifting down, do we all have the means still to fall below?"
Barael readies to descend, and realizes that he hasn't let go of her hand. He looks to her to take them both.
Dandi smiles as Barael changes form, giving his paw/hand a little squeeze when it's done. "You're right, as long as they're together, it'll be ok." Double checking to make sure the others have a way down, she gives then squeezes his hand, gathers him close and floats them down.
Will saves for everyone in the mist please. DC 20. If you fail, please continue to try until you succeed.
Barael loses his grip on Dandilion in the mist, and just as quickly loses sight of her as he descends falling safely through the use of his ring.
Dandilion arrives, unharmed, a short while later describing a much longer shaft, but she eventually makes it.
- - -
Briar sees no invisible creatures, nor does he detect any magics other than the parties goods and the background stuff in the walls themselves. Neither Briar nor Fondo see anything of interest in the chamber - it's very clean. Fondo sees that the door is barred on this side (preventing creatures from the other side from entering the Tower), but the door is easily opened on this side.
Barael squawks softly as Dandi lets go, but only because she would have not otherwise done so. He scans the mists, looking for an antagonist. He draws Black Tooth, readying to swing on anything unfamiliar.
When they meet up at the bottom, Barael looks inquiringly at Dandi, but doesn't question out loud. Questions have largely been unwelcome and unanswered as of late. Until later, perhaps.
As everyone descends, you see the mist opens up into a large room 30' below you. The air in this empty chamber is cold and still. The jagged walls of the tower are broken to the northeast by a single stone door, and the floor is polished to a reflective sheen.
Nikolay watches as the rest of the party descends into the mist.
Was I on guard duty?
-I don't think so.
Nikolay begins to descend into the mist on Fondo's rope, trusting in his boots to save him if the rope fails.
Those two sound a bit more chipper than seems warranted. Maybe I should be more trusting? Naaah.
If the sense motive goes well or reveals nothing, Charlie will try to not eat dirt.
take 10 climb
Charlie reaches the bottom, and though he did not pass Nikolay on the rope, Nikolay is still somewhere in the mist.
Oh, Charlie, the bottom of the rope is 10' up from the bottom of the floor. So acrobatics DC 15 or take damage.
"Whoa, I made it? Hey, where's Nik?"
"Where did everyone go?"
Nikolay dangles at the end of the rope and waits for a response. If he gets none after a while he'll go ahead and jump, trusting in his boots.
If I fall for too long I can always recall a fly spell and get back up, right?
--Sure. Sounds great. Just find that other sword. I've never met another one.
Nikolay falls to the bottom some 200' from the top taking (roll, roll, roll) 15 points of damage from the fall and landing on his feet. (nice boots)
The party is all together in the large chamber facing a regular sized barred door.
Briar turns too late, words leaving his lips as Nikolay faceplants into a roll then to his feet.
"...just gimma a second and I'll carry you...Oh."
Briar looks up to from where Nikolay fell, then at Nikolay.
"I would have come for you."
"Ooomph!"
Nikolay lets the adrenaline finish running through his system before he tries to speak.
"Wow! What a rush! Never jumped that far. I'll admit it hurt, but wow!"
Briar nods at Sward a worried look on his face, both for the pain incurred and the reaction.
Keeping one eye on Nikolay, Briar turns to the Rat.
"The door, Rat?" Briar nods at the door, the only way out.
Fondo smiles as Dandi, Barael, and Charlie descend.
"We're close to end, or I'm a dreaming fool.
Varisian and elf and in between,
We've 'friended death and liberated shades,
And now we'll claim the means to stop our foe.
He takes Dandi's and Barael's hands and brings them together.
"Through hazards grim I've brov and sister found,
who bring each other light in chambers dark."
He gives them a knowing, affectionate look before turning to Charlie, putting an arm over the vagabond's shoulder.
"An uncle, too, who good in evil sees and seeds.
A thirst for drink and friends, instead of blood."
His journey continues on to Nikolay, whom he claps on the shoulder.
"But blood, alas, must flow. Tis destiny.
And Shadow's Death has chosen rightly here."
Finally, he ends facing Briar, extending his hand.
"Dear Brother Rose, we've traded barbs enough.
And yet you see us well and living through
Both battle and Pharasma's lands, quite whole."
He goes back to Barael and takes his hand. "Brov, what do Brother Rose's magics show you of what lies beyond?"
Barael raises his eyebrows in appreciation, imagining the acceleration through the mist. "A little pain at the end of the road to remind you how easy you endure it, compared to the deep agonies you've suffered through."
Barael listens to Fondo wax eloquent, and nods with a smile. Hard to tell if it's the moment or the mists that have overcome him now.
Barael moves to the door, and looks for smoky shadow, before checking for traps.
He then places his gloved hands on the door, the elven face looking back at him. Yep, that's Briar. Always thinking on how something coulda worked better. 'That shoulda worked'... 'I would have come for you'... He'll probably be thinking the same thing when he's at the end of his life... 'I could have avoided this'... Barael fails to stifle a small chuckle.
Barael detects not traps on the door, but his gloves fail to function (though they do drain a charge). It's as if the door were more than 15' thick.
"A little pain at the end of the road to remind you how easy you endure it, compared to the deep agonies you've suffered through."
Sounds like he had a lil more of a crush on Laori than I thought. Everyone wants to be like the elves...he's beginning to sound like her.
Barael looks to the rest, save Charlie, and indicates the bar barring the door. "The gloves didn't work. Nothing to report." Barael looks at Briar knowingly. "Shall we get this bar down?"
Barael welcomes any help in getting the door unbarred. Barred? Against what, I wonder? We did fall quite a bit. So, what? Perhaps more demons or devils lurking about? Maybe giant moles.
Fondo happily helps to heave the bar aside. "May fortune smile upon us."
Barael and Fondo lift the bar away from the door, and (presumably) someone opens it. You see a small roughly hewn tunnel, barely 5' wide (though it does widen out in spots as you travel along it), leading off into the darkness. The walls of this cave look moist, yet are strangely dry to the touch, covered with a sheen of glittering mineral deposits. The ceiling averages fifteen feet in height.
Moving into the cave you quickly come to a split in the path. You think you hear water gently lapping to the left and there is a breeze from the right. Taking the right path first, you find it dead-ends rather quickly in a hole in the ground ending at a fifteen foot wide shaft that plummets into the darkness.
A faint warm breeze flows up from the pit, carrying with it strange mineral scents. What appear to be a series of three foot wide handholds run down along the closest side of the shaft - a crude, primitive ladder, perhaps, but judging by the length between holds, one sized for a creature almost three times the size of a human or elf.
You can either go down the shaft or head back toward the water.
Briar pauses in the right path (about 20 feet in from the split) and casts a Magic Mouth spell. It will serve to alert the party should something that is not the party pass (medium or larger sized).
He is then ready to continue down the path to the water (checking that area first) climbing to as high as the ceiling will allow.
Fondo looks down into the darkness and shrugs. He follows after Briar in case the water route is a more immediate option.
Barael follows close behind the others, glad to avoid the darkness of what lies deeper. He keeps his eyes peeled and ears open.
"Of course the sword is buried deep beneath the earth. An impenetrable vault in the tower would have been a better option, don't you think? Can't it be scryed for how well known it is? Why doesn't that spell that locates objects not work on it?"
"Who needs spells when destiny guides us here, Brov? And in some cases the Lady of Roses." Fondo gives Barael and Dandi an appreciative look.
Nikolay follows along and takes in the surroundings.
"Is this the kind of work you'd do with your magic Briar or has this been burrowed by some creature?"
Briar feels this is natural stone - or at least not made utilizing stoneshape (after all what does an Elf know of stonework?). As the party moves along, the sounds of lapping water grow louder. You turn the corner to find a large cave, filled with cool and clear, though deep water. The water is bubbling and roiling as three towering menaces with horrible, vertically aligned mouths and arms that split at the elbows into twin clawed hands (pic) seem to be worshipping something in the deep lake.
They come up out of the water to face you as your light filters into the cavern. One is gnawing on a svirfneblin leg though he tosses it away in favor of the fresh meat before it. The creatures contort and shift their limbs and torso's through the rocks and boulders on the shore to fill the spaces between them. It's very unnerving watching one of them un-hinge a leg to step around a tight spot.
Barael
Briar
Charlie
Dandilion
Fondo
Nikolay
Good Guys
First up Barael and Briar!
"Is this the kind of work you'd do with your magic Briar or has this been burrowed by some creature?"
Briar nods Nikolay to the approaching creatures.
"I think there is your answer, Sward. I don't know what they are, but I'm sure they are eager to meet us."
Round 1, Init 21
Briar moves to N20 (no elevation change), casting Divine Power and Quickened Bulls Strength.
Briar readies himself and backs up slightly. Barael, rather than charge in alone against all three, delays until they move up so he can get a full round in (and after Fondo for the expected bonuses and after Charlie hoping for further boosts).
The three Gugs, for that’s what they’re called, look to each other and they pray to the lake which boils and roils in response. You get the sense that something is coming up from the depths. Something large. They then turn, and nearly in unison, cast spells upon the party - their 12 arms flying about them like synchronized swimmers following a pattern.
Everyone please make three DC 19 Will saves as a cold, cloying miasma fills the area centered near Charlie. Three layers thick.
and sickened for rounds
and sickened for rounds
and sickened for rounds
If you fail two or more, take the longer duration on the sickening, don’t add them together. Briar, you save for half or quarter and cannot be sickened.