Garvid grumbles at the floor, pointing towards the gaps in the tiles. "Be on your guard. You can't even trust the Godsdamned floors in this place.", he spits. "You think this opens down to a fall to your death? Sawblades from the roof?", his eyes seem to dart all around, his feet thudding the ground as if unsure even of the ground beneath them. I'd pay dearly to drag them by the hair to Volshenyek...
"The third eye sees all..." mutters Yaziyah as she gazes at the bronze doors in front of them. "The spirits have shown me these doors in my visions, so we are at least on the right track. But there is also danger behind them, some manner of creature I think."
She had spotted the gaps as well. "It could be any of those things, but remember what Glorio said - that the dungeon is a labyrinth, with shifting walls. We should each have something to mark our passage, like a charcoal stick or a piece of chalk. And let's stay together, you get separated in this place you may never find your way out again alive."
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Mouse shuffles her bag off her shoulder, digging into a side pocket and emerging with several thick piece of chalk (only slightly crumbled). "'Ere, I got these," she chimes in, offering a piece forward to everyone in the party. "Few more pieces too, if we need 'em."
Kynes creeps down the stairway with the others until he encountered a wall. Something did not feel right. The wall seemed to him to shimmer, just slightly. Reaching, he found his hand passed beyond the surface.
There, the wall. The east one, I'd guess it would be. It it is but an illusion. The stairs continue down into the darkness.
Li is focused on making sure it's safe for the others. "There ain't be traps so that be a good thing. The cracks in tha floor be concernin' whether it be fer tha rooms ta move or fer it ta fall out from under ya." She digs in her bag when Yazi mentions chalk, "I be havin' some too."
She looks at Yazi, "Did yer vision be showin' ya which way we should be goin'? Should we be goin' tha way Kynes found or be searchin' tha room further?"
Yaziyah shakes her head at Li's question. "No, they only showed me these doors. But also danger beyond them." She looks from the doors to the spot on the wall that Kynes indicated, agonized indecision on her face.
"I feel that if we go beyond these doors, we play Lord Arkona's game, whatever it is. We may not have other choice, if we want to free Vencarlo and the seneschal. This other way may be better, or it may be a trap." She throws up her hands, turning to regard the others. "What do you think?"
Using Yazi’s dancing lights for illumination, the party passes through the illusory wall, finding a staircase that descends another level before opening into a larger room lit by a heartily burning firepit in its center. Cages hang on chains dangling from hooks in the ceiling, while racks, strappados, gibbets, and other implements of torture fill the floor space. A set of immense wooden doors stand in the wall to the north, while to the south stand several narrow cells.
Dominating the room, a six-armed woman with three fanged faces on her head stands over a rack. She wears colorful robes, and her hands wield several exotic weapons. On the rack is a sobbing man who twists futilely against his bonds.
Upasunda asuras in particular seek enlightenment through brutal combat and mastery of life-ending weaponry. This particular specimen seems to have narrowed her focus a bit through the observation of pain and its effects on the mortal mind. In fact, she approaches her role with a detached and emotionless curiosity that only a creature born in Hell could foster.
The creature whirls, her bladed weapons spinning nearly too fast for the eyes to follow. She laughs, a trinity of voices echoed in unison.
Garvid:
Kynes:
Li:
Mouse:
Talfryn: overland flight, Harrow bonus (+2 int-based checks, +1 caster level).
Yazi: barkskin, greater false life
__________________________
Garvid:
Kynes:
Li:
Mouse:
Talfryn:
Yazi:
Neolandus Kalepopolis! He yet lives..
Kynes stops frozen as arms begin to move.
Asurus! Kynes breathes aghast Immortal blasphemer. This one deals pain. A moment later. The Lamp will be tested this dark night. But it CAN die.
THe goings-on of Korvosa's government were still hazy to Mouse - and after all, that government hadn't done her much of any good. As for this Senshiir, six-armed, three-headed women were even farther out of her experience...but it doesn't stop her from leaping into action. Springing forward just a moment before the thing gathers its thoughts, she rushes forward, putting all her momentum into her fists and kicks.
Li gasps as she recognizes the seneschal. How c'n anyone be condonin' treatin' someone like this?
Her eyes narrow slightly in anger. She quickly loads her crossbow as she enters the room. Taking minimal time to aim, she releases two bolts in quick succession at the horrific creature doing the torturing. She had absolutely no idea what the six-armed, three-faced woman was but she did know that she needed killing.
Kynes fingers the vial he'd prepared this morning. One ingredient further was required. His thumb moves to his belt where bits of various dire creatures were carefully secured. Many options. Most loathsome. Kyne's fingers move to the third catch, flipping open the delicate springed buckle.
A Popobala. His skin crawls.
Not all Lamplighters sanctioned the use of these darker physiques. Nightmares. Hellspawn. He bites down, and his heart races with anticipatory adrenaline.
I am the Legate of the Lamp; I do what must be done.
Yaziyah had heard enough descriptions of the seneschal that she recognizes Neolandus even in his currently pitiful and undignified state. As to the other... thing - she hadn't known they were called asuras, but she knew of their kind, oh yes. They were most unloved by Pharasma, they who sought the destruction of life, of creation, the upsetting of the balance and the undoing of all divine works.
And now they were facing one.
Time to tip the scales a little.
"Pharasma sap your strength, monster!" utters Yaziyah, not shouting, not muttering, simply speaking each syllable with crisp precision as her left hand twists and gestures and shoots forward, palm facing the asura.
Seeing the seneschal, bound and tortured, Garvid stares viciously at the devilish, six-armed woman. "Looks like I'm short on manacles, sunshine." Putting a fist on his jaw, he cracks his neck. "So we have to do this the hard way." Roaring, he dashes forwards, swinging his halberd in a brutal, overhead strike, the axe head crashing with the demonic creature's vicious spear.
As Kynes' eyes begin to fuse into a single nightmarish orb, Kynes studies the Asura intently.
Garvid:
Kynes:
Li:
Mouse:
Talfryn: overland flight, Harrow bonus (+2 int-based checks, +1 caster level).
Yazi: barkskin, greater false life
Mouse, undaunted by the asura’s challenge, charges across the room and releases a storm of deadly strikes. Caught off-guard, Senshiir is able only to deflect a single attack with one of her forearms, and Mouse is able to land three hard strikes culminating in a savage uppercut that sends her foe reeling. Li takes advantage of the creature’s reduced defense, shooting through the flames and planting both of her bolts in its ornately-wrapped torso. Kynes quaffs an extract, studying Senshiir’s combat style even as his features begin to distort and transform into something…otherly. Yazi twists the threads of fate that bind mortals and immortals alike. Garvid hefts his weapon and sprints around the northern edge of the fire pit, murder etched on his face.
Fury burns behind the asura’s inscrutable, milk white eyes as one of Senshiir’s heads glares at Mouse. Her longsword flies from the left and slices once, twice, thrice, even as her spear cuts into the mortal creature who dared to injure her pride. As Garvid draws near, she thrusts her kukri with precision into a gap in his armor. Droplets of blood spatter into the fire pit’s edge as she spins her kukri and sword. They sizzle from the heat.
Her voices boom.
__________________________
Garvid:
Kynes:
Li:
Mouse:
Talfryn:
Yazi:
Senshiir: Evil Eye (-4 saves 1 round)
The sheer ferocity of his Papolas form takes over and the Lamplighter leaves his bladed scarf upon his shoulders, hanging between leathery wings. With a heave of his haunches, the golden Popobala moves through the air, ignoring the heat of the fire below. His muscular jaw clamps down hard into Asura's blasphemous flesh.
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"Heh-heh-heh!" chuckles Yaziyah as she feels the threads of fate twisting despite the asura's strong will. "We shall send you back to hell, to be reincarnated as a weakling and a failure. But much, much later." To the others, she adds: "If you have any blessed weapons, now is the time to use them."
Her left hand twists again as she wills Senshiir to stumble, to fail, to weaken. A low, throaty laugh escapes her lips, cut short by the sight of Kynes's monstrous transformation. "By the gods!"
Talfryn, about to unleash some magical barrage of his own, stumbles and curses aloud at Kynes' monstrous transformation, and for a moment, the briefest of seconds, he considers casting his spell upon his ally.
But no. The Papolas launches itself upon the Asura. All is well.
Kind of.
Wiping sweat from his brow, rising up for a little more safety, Talfryn unleashes his favorite spell, one that he no longer even has to memorize.
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Kynes bursting into a monstrous form and pouncing at the creature seems to do little but irate Garvid further. "What in the...", he growls out, shaking his head at the Lamplighter's form, only to see the asura tear into Mouse, barely even noticing the blade in his side. Noticing the beast being distracted by the malformed shape of Kynes, fangs deep into its side, Garvid's face grows into a vicious grin. "So here's the thing...", he roars out in the asura's face, as his fist slams hard into the back of her knee, bringing her to the ground. "...we the Korvosan Guard, really, really hate...", he continues as his heavy boot slams in the asura's ribs, stamping mud onto her colourful clothing. "...anyone who f~@+ with the peace. Now stay down, drop the weapons, or else.", he finishes with a swift kick to her ribs, spinning the halberd to point at her chest.
The cuts come, one after the other, and Mouse reels from the onslaught. For a moment, she finds herself confused as the new monstrous creature flies overhead - another o' Meliya's monsters! But then the demon bites into the three-headed woman, and she starts to retch as the thing releases its fangs. Then Garvid adds both insult and injury, taking her to the ground with one sweep of his halberd and attacking her mercilessly. This was too good an opportunity to pass up - instead of backing away, Mouse joins in the onslaught, kicking loose dust and gravel from the tunnel's floor into the asura's eyes and driving a heel into her ribs. If this'n's gone, I got all th' time in th' world for Yazi t' fix me up.
Li shakes her head at Yazi's mention of blessed weapons. Maybe that was something to look into when this was all over.
She reloads her crossbow as two things happen. She feels the familiar rush of Talfryn's magic course through her body and she sees Kynes turn into something...unnatural. Her eyes widen and she stifles a yelp. It takes a concerted effort on her part to tune out this new occurrence and focus on Senshiir. Although it becomes considerably easier when she sees the asura practically gut Mouse.
The rogue shoots bolt after bolt at the creature.
Fangs release, then close again lustily. Her flesh sliding down his throat, Kynes feels a thrill born of the dark hunter.
Garvid: Haste
Kynes: Haste
Li: Haste
Mouse: Haste
Talfryn: overland flight, Harrow bonus (+2 int-based checks, +1 caster level).
Yazi: barkskin, greater false life
Talfryn toys with time itself, blurring the boundaries between moments as his allies speed up. Yazi weaves a spell of misfortune that blankets the Beatific One like a death shroud. From all sides, Senshiir’s enemies give her a lesson in mortal pain. Garvid’s boots strike hard and Kynes’s teeth find their mark, though Mouse and Li have worse luck as the asura twists and writhes. As she launches herself to her feet she weathers further attacks from Garvid, Mouse, and Kynes. But still, she stands.
Faces twisted in fury, Senshiir unleashes a calculated series of strikes, first to incapacitate her weakened opponent, Mouse, and the rest targeted at Garvid. She strikes hard with her longsword, skewering Mouse through the torso! Her kukri and spear slice through Garvid’s armor, raining dark crimson upon the ground.
Garvid, Li, and Kynes quickly extinguish Senshiir’s earthly incarnation.
The man on the rack sobs. ”Please, gods, please! Make it stop!”
__________________________
Garvid:
Kynes:
Li:
Mouse:
Talfryn:
Yazi:
Senshiir: Evil Eye (-4 saves 1 round)
possible crit!
miss
miss
hit
hit
Lust fills Kynes, an unnatural hunger that impeded all decency. He stoops down on haunched talons, jaws open, and lifts the body to him, then tears out her throat. This was my hunt! the Popobala thought. It was but a brief moment, but Kynes is shocked back into himself, swiftly regaining command of the alchemical physique. Emotions roil and a wail erupts.
She had taken a calculated risk - but as the blade bites deep into Mouse's gut, she realizes she's still learning this math. The room spins, then fades from view, and the blood-soaked floor rises to meet her...or does she go to meet it? The cool of the flagstones gives way to a bitterer cold, and the pits of the rough stones become the dips and hills of a plain surrounding her. A tall tower rises to scrape a starless sky, and from it a line of people issues in a spiral so long as to boggle her mind...
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Yaziyah opens her mouth to shout in triumph as the asura collapses under the combined assault of her companions (although she is unsure about including the currently transformed Kynes under that designation), when she notices Mouse's inert form on the floor, blood running in rivulets to spill into the fire pit, where it hisses and steams.
[larger]"NO!!"[/larger]
Pushing Li aside, the shaman sprints to the fallen Mouse, her hands spidering across her torso, trying to stem the flow of blood.
"Nonononono. This cannot be. She had just come back to us. Please, no." A bloody hand reaches out, covering the half-elf's face, as if to stop her spirit from escaping. A moment later, Yaziyah takes her hand away and leans over until her lips almost touch Mouse's half-open mouth.
"Come back to us." she breathes.
The fight is over before it's even begun; Talfryn, fell magics coruscating through his mind, is forced to stow his mighty spells, for they are unneeded; such is the violence that his companions visit upon the entity that even an Asura cannot last longer than seconds against them.
"What I wouldn't give to understand the relationship between that Asura and this cousin of Glorio," he says, adjusting his monocle. "If this lady indeed summoned and bound such a being, than she is far, far more powerful than we surmised."
His reverie is shattered by Yazi's cry of negation, and blinking, he sees Mouse's fallen form. His face pales, and he watches anxiously as the shaman seeks to revive their fallen comrade.
The scene is ripped away, spiraling into nothingness, as the bitter cold is replaced by the familiar pain of stab wounds. The world regains meaning. The heat of a fire and the hard floor against your body orient you to your surroundings.
At Yazi’s insistence, Mouse’s eyes flutter open.
Summoning an upasunda asura requires the power of a very potent spellcaster. Binding it would require power of another level of magnitude.
Releasing the man bound to the torture rack is a simple matter with Li’s knowledge of lockpicking. ”Gah! Thank you. Thank you!” The man is stable, but extremely weak and leans on Garvid. . ”Wh-who are you? Are you here to help me? My name is Valek. I was c-captured by the Ark-k-konas for robbing a merchant under their protection. Please, there’s another m-man here, a friend. He’s in the dungeons. You have to help him t-too!”
You retrieve Senshiir's weaponry and a collection of torture instruments.
"Former Seneschal Kalepopolis, it is a great honor to make your acquaintance." Talfryn makes no mention of the man's attempt at dissembling. "I am Lord Talfryn Blackoak, and my companions and I have worked closely with Field Marshall Cressida Kroft. We have come to this dungeon in the hopes of rescuing you. Events in Korvosa are taking an ever more tragic turn for the worse. Madness reigns in Old Korvosa, and the Queen... well."
Talfryn's grim expression speaks volumes.
"We would be pleased to heal you, but before we can leave, we must rescue another prisoner, Vencarlo, the former sword master. What more can you tell us of this dungeon?"
Yaziyah realizes that she had been holding her breath and inhales deeply as Mouse opens her eyes. "Hold still, girl, let me patch you up."
A few applications of the healing stick later, the grievous wounds caused by the Asura close and all her companions are in peak physical condition again. No telling what a brush with death has done to the half-elf's psyche, but there is little time to deal with that now. Yaziyah wraps Mouse in a brief, tight embrace. "It's alright. You're alive. You're fine. It will all be fine."
That done, she turns her attention to Kynes' current form. "You in there, Lamplighter? Do we need to muzzle you?" She distinctly recalls the ferocity with which he - it, had attacked the asura, and watches him warily.
Without taking her eyes off the transformed legate, she snorts as the seneschal speaks. "We know who you are, we descended in this cursed dungeon for you. I will attend to your wounds in a moment. If there is anything you can share with us about this place and its guardians, now would be the time."
In spite of the darkness, Neolandus’s expression brightens. Although he clearly suffers from physical abuse, he grows more animated and excited. ”Thank Abadar! I’ll help you! If I can just--Ow!” He tries to stand. Staggers. ”The Queen. Yes, she’s gone mad. Worse! I warned Vencarlo, but he’s ever an optimist. I--”
The senechal shrieks in horror at Kynes, and it’s a good minute before you can manage to calm him enough to speak again.
”Vencarlo! We have to save him! If you heal me, I shall join you. I don’t know much of anything about this place, other than that it’s terrible. The Arkonas, curse them, placed us down here and separated us. I was kept under the charge of this wretched--” He kicks Senshiir’s corpse, nearly losing his balance. He clutches Garvid's shoulder. ”B&#&*!”
Kynes stares with a single orb at the woman who had just used the breath of life to save a life, while he had been ripping out an immortal's throat. Indeed. I did get lost in the thrall for a moment, but I've regained control...I...typically engage non-lethal techniques, so I'm a bit disturbed at myself...
Kynes looks again at the lifeless and bloodied body. In seven years, Senshiir will respawn with revenge in her heart...but in the meantime, we should examine her gear most closely, lest some have evil that should be extinguished.
Seeing the blade pierce Mouse's ribs sends Garvid into a stupor. But, not a second too soon, Kynes is at the asura's throat and Yazi'd leapt to aid with the healing magics. As the fighter rises up in Yazi's embrace, he shakes his head, exhaling through bared teeth. "You're crazy, Mouse.", he shakes his head. "But, damn. You're a dogpile savant.", he jabs her shoulder gently.
Casting a last glance at the trampled corpse of the asura, Garvid shakes his head. Devils, demons, undead and whatever else. Half a year ago, the worst was graveyard shift in Old Korvosa. Not much has changed, actually. His lip raising in response to his thoughts, he braces the Seneschal as he stumbles, grunting with approval as not all the spite and fire appears to have left the man. "We'll get you on your feet, Seneschal. I'll give you a hand if you want to throw her in the fire pit.", he offers. "Wait...", he pauses. "The Arkonas? Both of them? And here I was, offering Glorio the benefit of doubt."
To Kynes' remark about the asura, Garvid chuckles. "If she's wise, she'll choose to do so at the other end of Golarion." Shouldering his weapon, he stares at Neolandus. "Don't suppose you have a clue as to where to?"
It was impossible to know if she'd walked that strange plain for an instant or an eternity. But then, the soft caress of a warm breeze in the cold, a voice echoing through the silence. Come back to us. Her eyes once again once again to see Yazi hovering over her, concern etched into the lines of her face. She breathes again, hesitantly at first and with great pain, but that soon lessens as Yazi and her healing charm do their work. Quickly she looks around - 's still this crazy dungeon o' th' Arkonas'. Garvid's still bloodied up, Kynes's still that...thing. So 'twasn't so long at all. But I did...
"Dead, wasn' I?" she ventures forth softly to Yazi, already pushing herself up onto one elbow as Yazi releases her embrace. This wasn't a safe place - only an idiot slept in a lion's lap. The fear and panic rising inside is a distraction, something that would only hasten her return to that tower, something she can't afford right now. It's only when she's on her feet examining the fallen asura that she realizes that tears cloud her vision and soak her cheeks; wiping them away with a corner of her tunic, she starts mechanically separating the asura from her equipment at Kynes' suggestion, grateful for the distraction.
Li is a virtual statue as her eyes catch Mouse's still form on the ground. She feels helpless, unable to do anything but watch as Yazi rushes over. The rogue doesn't move a muscle, doesn't even breathe, until Mouse sits up. It's then and only then that Li rushes over. She waits until Yazi releases the brawler and then gives her a fierce hug of her own. "Ya ain't allow'd ta be leavin' us ag'in. We just be gettin' ya back. Me heart couldn't be takin' it..." The rogue's voice dies off as her words come out in a jumble.
Grateful for the distraction of focusing on something familiar, Li moves over to deal with the locks imprisoning the seneschal. "Glad ta be findin' ya alive, sir. Korvosa be needin' ya." She removes his restraints so that he can get up. "Now we just need ta be findin' Vencarlo."
Her eyes harden as Neolandus shares that it wasn't just Meliya who trapped him and Vencarlo in this dungeon. "Glorio be an expert in lyin' so it be seemin'. Makes me be thinkin' that even with findin' Vencarlo, we won't be havin' an easy time gettin' back out of this labyrinth. Glorio must o' been thinkin' he be sendin' lambs ta tha slaughter with us askin' ta come down here."
Yaziyah snorts as she looks pointedly at Kynes. "Some lambs."
She had known you couldn't trust nobles, hadn't she? The revelation that Glorio is just as guilty doesn't surprise her, but she imagines that the Lamplighter feels somewhat disappointed. He had seemed so earnest to have the supposed cooperation of Lord Arkona.
Ah well, at least they had the seneschal by their side. A few more applications of the healing stick to get him on his feet and not falling over like a drunk, and she pats him on his shoulder. "We have plenty of equipment with us, pick something you know how to use."
"The Arkonas? Both of them? And here I was, offering Glorio the benefit of doubt."
"Glorio be an expert in lyin' so it be seemin'. Makes me be thinkin' that even with findin' Vencarlo, we won't be havin' an easy time gettin' back out of this labyrinth. Glorio must o' been thinkin' he be sendin' lambs ta tha slaughter with us askin' ta come down here."
"Of course! Tell me you don't think anything happens in Arkona Palace without Glorio's hand on the lever? Nevermind that I haven’t actually seen Glorio down here. He must know what goes on in his own dungeon, what torments we would endure when he allowed us to be held here!"
Neolandus selects a masterwork studded leather and a collection of throwing axes, giving a few practice swings in the air. ”Takes me back! I trained as a ranger, you know, but soon realized my true strength is in diplomacy. Something tells me we won’t be negotiating our way out of this place.”
”I don’t know the way. I’ve been confined to this room. But there is more to the dungeons, there must be. Vencarlo is here somewhere.”
While Neolandus arms himself, Li moves over to the doors to the north and listens to see if she can hear anything in the next room.
Kynes slides into the corner, monstrous wings folded, as Li works.
"One way is as good as another," says Lord Talfryn, smoothing down his glorious mustache. "Especially since this maze re-arranges itself on the fly, does it not? I say we clear this place of its perfidy and then find Glorio and have an accounting. That said, gather round. Let us prepare for our next encounter. I shall make us invisible so that we may proceed with greater confidence."
That done, if Li gives the clear, he'll fly over to hover beside the doors to the north, ready to go through when a more doughty party member gives them a shove.
"The spirits shall bless us." Yaziyah adds as she twirls a wand in either hand and taps the others in a quick staccato.
Li finds the northern doors unlocked and free of traps. Talfryn and Yazi prepare for the worst...
This vast cavern stretches into the shadows, the true extent of its area difficult to discern due to a thick maze of wooden timbers that rise up to support the roof. A ledge winds along the eastern and northern sides of the cave, with the floor dropping away to a depth of thirty feet. Four immense stone pillars support the ceiling above. Where these pillars connect to the ceiling, a network of wooden braces and timbers radiate out in a wheel shape, forming four forty-foot wide disks flush against the roof. Dozens of chains hang down from these beams to attach to the pillars themselves, many of which are decorated with rows upon rows of bells.
The lowest ten feet of the area are left quite open to give the chamber’s denizens plenty of room to toil. Each of the pillars is attended by an apparently undead, skeletal elephant. The creatures are chained to the pillars.
This may be the key to the whole dungeon. Note how the pillars are configured into the interlocking gears of the ceiling above. Those pillars serve as axles, I think. Above this floor are the dungeons, and these axles must in some way rotate or reorient the dungeons above, creating a most dastardly maze. Destroying these pillars or the undead elephants that are its engine, probably leave the dungeon in a permanent state...possibly a state of permanent imprisonment. Kynes hisses.
Talfryn smooths down his greatcoat. "A few expertly aimed incendiary missiles will no doubt reduce that complex machinery to a fiery conflagration. I am willing to execute the task, if only to annoy the Arkona's to no end. Unless anybody sees reason not to?"
In the meantime, he scans the great chamber, searching out for some sign of more active defenses or enemies.
Well, yes. The reason not to do so without due consideration is clear. If the dungeons are now shifted such that there is neither an exit out of the dungeon, nor a door to Vencarlo's cell, then breaking the machinery would be extremely foolish...we may need to puzzle this one out systematically.
Lord Talfryn shrugs. "With enough time I could teleport us all out of here." He tries to keep his tone modest, and fails. "It's a new spell I've been working on. Finally made sense of it a few evenings ago. We're no more trapped here than we are anywhere else in the world."
That it is a difficult spell to master, I am to understand. Certainly the wands cost a fortune. Tell me though, Lord Talfryn, how this accomplishment helps us find Vencarlo if the door to his cell is only revealed in certain orientations?
"We can always go back the way we came, so we are not trapped here, no." Yaziyah looks sharply at Lord Talfryn. "But Vencarlo is. So let us not conflagrate anything just yet, eh?"
Li listens carefully to the others discuss the purpose of the pillars and undead elephants. When she realizes the implications of disturbing the contents of the room she looks disappointed. "It be nice ta be makin' it so tha dungeon can't be changin' but we can't be riskin' trappin' Vencarlo in a place we can't be findin' 'im. I be guessin' we have ta be goin' back tha way we be comin'."
Lord Talfryn scowls at Leah's tone. "I merely sought to allay your fear of being trapped in this place, lamplighter. That we'll have to find Vencarlo first should go without saying."
He huffs and tugs on the lapels of his greatcoat as he glances sidelong at Yazi. "And fine, fine, we shall leave the destruction of these engines for later. In fact! I can teleport back in at our leisure once we're free of this place to destroy it."
That prospect, it seems, is heartening.