Lefrik was searching through his supplies for something, and grunts as he does not find it. At the call of normal formation, he takes a spot to guard not too farbehind the good dwarf ready to shield the others.
Bruendor looks back to the angel with some chagrin. "Sorry, forgot we had a new hire," he says with a shrug for an apology. "My preference would be behind me and Lef - that way, you can act as a shield for the portion of our group that doesn't leap into the fray, just in case anything slips past us. You're dangerous at both range and close up, so it makes sense to keep you in reserve, just in case things go sideways."
The spiral staircase wound down and opened into a large cavern. A thin mist floated in the air, and strange, purplish-blue light emanates from a number of large crystals jutting from the walls. The light illuminates the fog and creates a disorienting display. To the south, a 15-foot wide chasm bisects the cave, and on the far side the crystals row much, much larger in size.
"Hello! Caretaker of the Land of Black Blood, Daughter of the Elemental Plane of Earth! Can you hear me? We have driven off the Drow!" Anklebiter calls out - and mutters a quick Detect magic just in case...
Anklebiter does not detect any magical auras here, but within moments of his calling out, a voice rings out in all of your minds.
"Thank the stones! Please help me! One of the drow enchanters sealed me in this crystal prison. I need your aid in breaking free. If you have come looking for the Caretaker of this land, then you must have need of my information or services. Free me and I will offer my aid freely. Surely one of you must have some soft of daylight magic? Only the touch of sunlight will break this crystal prison. Please, will you aid me?"
"As you like, Brue. Say, you don't have any holywater on you..."
At the mention of daylight magic, LEfrik looks at Ankelbitter, "Didn't you have a spell like that?"
"I have it, but not prepared," Anklebiter admits, ruefully. "I won't be able to cast it before I've slept and studied."
Bruendor grows silent at Lefrik's question for a long moment before answering. "No," he says with regret. "Didn't think to get any before we left. And I definitely should have. Dammit."
Bruendor places a hand on AB's shoulder, and quietly speaks to him. "Hvernig vitum við þessa Umönnuntakter er hver við erum að leita að? Myrkur álfar hafa nú þegar reynt að blekkja okkur einu sinni - hvað ef þetta er annað gildra?"
Anklebiter nods thoughtfully, then moves over to the deva and whispers something to her...
"Prithee have patience, Daughter of Earth," the deva says after having nodded to Anklebiter. "Whilst we wait for the Wizard to recharge his energies, wouldst regale us with the tale of how the vile Drow entrapped thee?"
Lefrik says "Frankly, next time we get a chance to buy some.. we should get some holy water. Sprinkle on each and everyone of us...see if it burns of what. Damn demonic shapeshifters have me nervous."
"Wait, after all the discussion up top, you didn't think to prepare it?" Calla asks with astonishment. She shakes her head in disgust that such a basic precuation eluded the usually well-prepared goblin.
"I guess we're stuck here now until the morning then," she adds. "We should take some precautions, as the drow obviously know this place exists and we would be led here."
She begins look around, trying to find some way to fortify their positions.
"After all the discussion up top, I prepared Mass Darkvision. Drow like to throw Darkness around, after all," Anklebiter explains.
The chamber had no other entries, so it was easy enough to simply camp out by the stairs and rest. The shaitan - the real one? - said that she understood your need for preparation, and seemed happy enough to wait another day if it meant the sure end to her imprisonment.
The night passed easily enough, and the magic users among you sensed when the dawn was breaking on the world above. Spells prepared, you stand ready to face the new day!
The imprisoned shaitan was happy to tell the deva all about the treacherous drow and the perfidy that ended with her being trapped in this crystal. Every word of it rang true.
The evening before, Anklebiter casts two spells in rapid succession: Mage's private sanctum - extended by the metamagic rod - to cloak the party's actions from scrutiny, and Secure shelter, so the party has somewhere to sleep. He also asks the deva to use her healing powers on herself.
On the next day, the Goblin studies his spellbooks, loading incantations into his memory.
"Got it," he announces.
And, unless anyone objects, he casts Daylight on his quarterstaff and illuminates the crystal...
Calla wakens with her usual sunny disposition. Before Anklebiter tries to free the shaitan, she casts greater magic weapon on her bow and heroism on herself, as usual.
She'll also check the crystal for evil beforehand.
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As the daylight fell upon the genie's prison, the crystal cracked, then shattered. The shatain stood to her full height, pushing up out of the prison she had been crouched in for months, stretching to her full height and reaching high. Then, with a surge of stone muscles, she leaped out of the fragmented remains of the crystal to land by Anklebiter. With one swooping motion, she grabbed up the goblin, ignoring the raised weapons of the rest of you, and spun him in circles.
"Free! I am free! Thank you, surface dwellers. I am not sure I could have stayed in that crystal for much longer, separated from the stone by a latticework of magically conjured crystal, without losing my mind. I owe you all a great debt! One I am anxious to repay. What is it that you seek from the Guardian?"
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"For a start … stop … squeezing!" Anklebiter gasps from the genie's stony embrace.
As soon as the geniekin lets up a little, he continues: "Ha. Thank you. Um. Well; the Drow are planning to dump rocks from space on the surface of Golarion, like what happened to ancient Azlant, so they can murder the surface Elves. The shocks will likely reverberate all the way down here -- and the ritual to drop the rocks down is being performed right here, in the Land of Black Blood. We'd like your help in finding the ritual sites -- there's several of them -- so we can destroy them and stop the Drow."
"Help in saving the world, or at least a very large chunk of it" Lefrik says his expression going from alarm to amusement as the goblin is twirled, "Others can explain better than I but that's the core of it." Then he nods as Anklebiter does just that
"Dump rocks from space...like the stone that nearly wiped all life from this planet a few millennia ago? I heard about that. So much innocent stone turned to LAVA! That's outrageous! I will definitely help. Wait just a few moments."
The shaitan knelt so that her lower legs and hands touched the stone floor of the cavern, closed her eyes, and began humming softly to herself. It probably shouldn't have surprised you when the creature more attuned to stone than flesh considered an hour to be 'a few moments', but eventually she rose.
"The stones tell me that the drow have taken refuge on the big island in the middle of the Caltherium sea here as their base of operations. There are five of these ritual sites spread out through the Land. I don't know their purpose, but I can certainly feel their power resonating in the stones.
She shoves one hand into the ground and the stone ripples and undulates, forming a three dimensional representation of the Land of Black Blood before your very eyes. Bruendor whipped out the map the Pathfinder had drawn, and sure enough, the representation wsa very accurate. So much so that he wondered if the elf had drawn his map directly from one similar to the stone map that lay before you.
The shaitan continued speaking, telling you of thing the stone spoke to her, dangers at the various locations, and helping Bruendor find them on his map.
[b]"At the Weeping Cliffs, there are ropers, large ambush predators that look like natural stalagmites. Here at the Crystal Plaza, there is a group of abyssal harvesters that have been placed as guardians. The Bloodforge holds several of the foul drow. This is the Fetid Palace, where a neolithid corrupted by the black blood of this land calls himself The Moldering Emperor. And the last one is at the Rotstone hollows, guarded by chardas. The main force of drow are holed up on the island. I cannot relay the dangers you may face on your travels to these places, though. Stone is slow to sense and thus anything that moves around is difficult for rocks to see."
I do admire a hard bodied woman He thinks as the Shaitan bends to touch the floor.
When the report comes in Lefrik says "I am grateful. My name Is Lefrik Olegson by the way. You have been courteous, helpful, and kind to us.. yes, we helped you first, but you'd be surprised how little that has made a difference in some of our other encounters." As he thinks on the surface elves "But if we might ask if there is another way you can aid us? in either knowledge of how to best defeat or bypass our many foes, or a way to get there quicker? I don't suppose you have a sword specifically enchanted to kill dark elves or these other creatures you're not using this century? "
"And to add to my companion's question, are there any others in this land that we could call Ally, such as yourself?"
"The drow are a relatively new presence to this land, and one of the first things they did when they arrived was lock me in this crystal. There is little more I could tell you of them, nor any weapons against them I could offer you. This sword is bound to me, and would crack and shatter were it away from my hands for a day. Also, there are no other allies you would find here. This land is inhospitable for surface dwellers such as yourselves, and most thinking beings avoid this place. I am afraid you will have to go forth on your own, armed only with what you brought and aided only by the information already given."
"If our resident deva does not object, I can perform another Planar binding tomorrow," Anklebiter offers.
"Yes...lava," Bruendor replies to the shaitan's horrified response to the concept of a second Earthfall. "Anyway, if we will find no other help within the Vault, may we impose upon your hospitality? We could use a redoubt to regroup in safety."
Calla lays out what she knows about the threats against her .
"Ah - I hope you do not mind," Anklebiter tells the geniekin, "but I cast Mage's private sanctum here. Everything inside its area should be immune to scrying for at least thirty-six more hours."
"I see nothing wrong with that. I too would like to hide what we do here from the scrying eyes of the drow. And do not fear, little savior. You and your companions are welcome to use this place as a base of operations, a safe area for you to rest during your stay here in the Land of Black Blood"
Calla tried to think about the various creatures that were mentioned, but she is not as familiar with darklands creatures as she is those above ground. She recognizes the names for most, but nothing beyond that.
Bruendor confers with Calla for a bit about the beasts the shaitan mentioned, but could not recall any bits of lore about them. "Sorry I couldn't have been of more help," he apologizes. "The tales of my people usually just say that the miners were 'devoured by the dark.' That's less than useful for us."
"Best I know are old wives tales, most of which far less fantastic than what we've already encountered on our journey" The Ulfen sighs "I am no skald nor loreman"
Anklebiter racks his brain, trying to dig up any useful bits of lore he might remember...
"I'll be of little use cut off from the stars and heavens." Kel adds glumly.
"I'll be of little use cut off from the stars and heavens." Kel adds glumly.
"You are of more than use, Kel, wherever you are, you bring hope." The Ulfen says simply but honestly, "Many is the time we have needed your light of personality as much as the holy power in you"
"Where do you intend to visit first? The Crystal Plaza? That is a good starting place. According to the land there, the crystals were raised by a wizard a few centuries ago to focus his power and thin the membrane between the Material Plane and the Abyss. His experiments are what drew the abyssal harvesters there. They and the crystals remained long after his death."
"As good a place to start as any, I suppose?" Anklebiter says. "Maybe I'll find a nice crystal willing to help me in the upcoming battles."
"And laying low the brood of the Abyss is ever worthwhile labour," the deva says, solemnly.
Calla nods. "The Crystal Plaza is as good a place as any to start," she agrees.
Bruendor nods in agreement with his friends. "They probably already know we're here, since we weren't able to kill the impostor before she fled, but at least they don't know where we're heading next."
"if only there weree some way to fool demons into thinking you were reinforcements or something" A shrug
"I have some illusion spells... but I doubt they'd be up to fooling demons."
"I could pretend to be a quasit," Duchess offers. "Hard sell, though; I'm prettier than they are."
Kel is ready to depart after their rest and anxious to get back beneath the stars.
"No no... forget I said anything. last time we disguised ourselves against drow it didn't work to well. Subtlety just doesn't seem to work for us" And he too is ready
The trip to the Crystal Plaza was relatively quick with the Overland Flight spell, though navigating over large distances in this realm of darkness was difficult. Finally, though, you crested a small rise to see a twenty-foot tall crystal erupting from the rocky ground. Beyond it were dozens more, some barely a foot tall, others reaching high into the darkness. The crystals glowed with an eerie purplish light, enough to make them stand out in this place of ever-present darkness, but not enough to actually illuminate their surroundings.
You touch down on the outskirts of the field of crystal spires and arches, and take a look at your new surroundings. There is a brighter shimmer underneath the largest of the arches, near the far side of the field. You know danger lurks here, and you want to see it coming from as far away as possible.
Near the glow of the glyph under the large arch is a unusual rippling in the air, almost as if a thin layer of water were hanging vertically between several of the arches.
"There's something there," Calla points out.
She casts resistance on herself before approaching any more closely, staying behind Lefrik and Bruendor.
"Something indeed. Might this be the effect of these oft-mentioned glyphs?"