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Simon blushes and chuckles self-consciously. "No, I am not interested in getting inside of that thing's pincers. The spines look pretty nasty as well.
I think giving it something else to occupy it sounds like a great idea!"
To Victrix, "I don't know about their fighting style. If I were a giant swimming crab, I would want to knock creatures down into the water where they are at a disadvantage. Who knows about shark-eating crabs?
I wonder if there are any sharks in this lake?"
"That's a great idea! Probably something nice and fat that looks like a tastier meal than stuff drifting along the surface like us. Even better if it's fast enough to swim just out of reach to draw it away while we row away. A bunch of those dolphins might work, or have you figured out how to call in something even more appealing?"
With the decision made Ema focused and opened a portal at teh point where the water met the air. From the portal nothing seemed to appear but she kept the portal open as long as she could before speaking in the language of water.
When she finished three separate "heads" made of water appeared above the surface and she told them what she wanted them to do. Killing that monstrosity wasn't needed but distracting it was and so she asked them to go "play" with it and lead it away from them. With three simultaneous nods the water elementals took off to go play with the crab and lead it away.
As the elementals took off Ema said, "There, that should keep it distracted for a bit, hopefully long enough for us to slip past at any rate." Her eyes flashed a moment as she consumed some of the magic within her to replenish the resrvoir of what she just spent and then asked, "What are you waiting for? Let's go."
The elementals proceed to lead the giant crab on a merry chase. Since they are able to swim faster than the creature, the crab chases them fruitlessly while you safely make your getaway, reaching the island at the center of the lake without further incident.
As you approach the tower, you see that an immense stone double door bars entrance into the building. The right side bears a relief depicting a humanoid woman with ankle-length hair and large butterfly wings holding aloft a single shining star. The left side depicts a stern-looking woman with a blindfold over her eyes holding a single knife above her head, tip pointed down toward herself. At the middle where the both sides of the door join is the symbol of a single spiral with a five-pointed star at its center.
The doors seem to be barred from the other side.
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"Thank you, Ema. Very nicely done, and much better than my suggestion."
Simon traces the symbol of the butterfly wings over his chest as he approaches the double doors, saying a quick prayer to the goddess he gives his respect to.
"That appears to be Desna and Pharasma, though I don't know why they would be displayed here together. This does not appear to be a religious structure."
Grabbing the handle, he pulls at the doors and notices the bar in place.
There doesn't seem to be any way to dislodge the bar from this side of the doors. Barring a magical solution, you'll have to try to bash them down.
Ema felt a wave of relief when her elementals jumped through another gate and went back home none the worse for wear. She hated putting them in ahrm's way like that but she knew it was necessary. When they reached the doors she looked at them and while something seemed familiar about them it didn't pop into her mind. She never was much for religion anyway.
When Simon asked if she had any ideas on how to open the door Ema looked at it carefully. After seeing nothing physically to help she cast a spell and examined it magically in hopes of finding a means of doing it that way.
The door is not magical in nature. A knock spell would open the barred doors easily. A creature in gaseous form could slip through the crack between the doors and open them from the other side. And of course, teleportation effects could allow one to appear on the other side to remove the bar. Unfortunately, Ema doesn't have access to any of those spells.
Ema considered the problem of the door for a few minutes, trying to work out a way through it. Finally her eyes brightened and she said, "I've got it!" She opened another gateway, not holding it open as long as before, and an earth elemental appeared. She spoke to it, carefully explaining what she wanted it to do, and then gestured towards the door.
The elemental went to the door and then shifted over to the wall next to it and simply walked through it. A minute or two late the bar could be heard moving and the doors opened up. The elmental was standing there and looked to Ema expectantly causing the lovely woman to go up to it and put her arms around it in a hug and gestured for it to stay close. "I'm going to keep it around for now in case we have another door like that to get through." She gestured to the open door, "Shall we?"
This great foyer is a picture of faded majesty. Walls once decorated with colorful murals are now flecked with mold, the discolored paint peeling off in large flakes. A strong odor of brine and musk clings to the air. However, no amount of disrepair can diminish the awe-inspiring scale of the two thirty-foot-tall statues that loom in this room, flanking a weathered marble altar that bears the seal of a star and spiral. The eastern statue depicts a robed goddess in a dramatic pose, holding a knife in the air with the blade angled down toward herself. A blindfold shrouds this figure's eyes, and she clutches a stone hourglass under one arm. The western statue depicts a young woman in robes like those of her partner, with hair flowing down to her ankles, a pair of immense butterfly wings, and a five-pointed star held in one hand over her head.
The room is dark, save for the light sreaming in from the open doors. One large staircase ascends to an upper level, while a second one leads down. Two pairs of double doors are set in the wall opposite the entrance, one set on either side of the statues.
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Simon smiles with excitement as the doors open, looking around the entryway.
"Truly fascinating creatures, these elementals. They don't object to this service? Do you have to pay them somehow?"
He moves to enter the building, then thinks of the crossbow trap that they encountered in the last tower they entered.
He looks around for any sign of security systems.
If nothing is found, he will head over to the door behind the statue of Desna and check that door for traps.
"Desna and Pharasma again. At least, I think that is Desna, though I an unfamiliar with the five-pointed star. I wonder if we could ask the constructs from the shrine of the meaning behind this dual representation."
Simon doesn't find any traps in the room or on the doors.
Ema considered what Simon asked as the elemental held the rock and turned it over and over in curiosity. Occassionally it poked it like it was trying to get a reaction. She watched it fondly for a moment and then said in response, "They don't mind fulfilling the asks I ask of them so long as I don't make them act against their nature. Summoning an earth elemental and telling it to go fight a shark in the water would likely result in a refusal but a water elemental would enjoy it. The animals are celestial in nature and so long as I don't try to get them to do evil things they are content. They aren't any more intelligent than a normal version of their kind wich is why I tend to call up what I can communicate with readily or will easily be directed."
Ema contemplated her next words as the elemental just absord the rock wich reappeared partially jutting from one of it's "shoulder". When I summon them they aren't exactly here, it's much like the spell a wizard or sorcerer can cast for the same purpose but I cheat and summon a specific entity, augmenting it with power stripped from the gate I open to bring it through. This lets it last longer than the spell should at the cost of limiting the summoning. If one I call this way is killed, while it doesn't die it's body is destroyed and it's essence returns to it's home while it rebuilds itself. This takes time but when they are done they are none the worse for wear. until they're done I can't call them again because unlike most mages I summon a specific one in a specific way."
Ema looked again at the elemental as it extruded the rock and began to mess with it some more before placing it on top of it's head like a poiny hat. It said something in Terran and Ema giggled before responding to the snow seemingly content elemental. "I don't have to pay them, not with this form of summoning but I still like to reward them occassionally anyway."
Looking back at the stairs Ema said, "Shall we check upstairs first?"
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Simon nods along, trying to understand the magical theory, but as he has no formal training in conjuration, he isn't fully following. "Well, as long as they enjoy the visit, I guess it is like a vacation. Hopefully you don't call them while they are the middle of an important business meeting or a bath. That would certainly be embarrassing."
Passing over the question for now, Simon gets back to the matter at hand, responding to Ema's suggestion about the stairs.
"I would personally like to clear this floor to make sure there are no surprises behind us first, but up sounds good as a direction after we see what is behind these doors."
Emma giggle an t the thought of what Simon said about summing them when tey were in the bath and said, "I think we're safe from that happening."
As Simon mentioned clearing this floor before moving up Ema couldn't help but agree, "You're right of course, We should be on the look out for a room we can use to rest in or defend if it becomes necessarry while we do."
Centuries of disrepair and water intrusion have caused considerable damage to this corridor. Mold blotches the walls and floor while the stink of sulfur mixes with a musky odor. A nest of filthy rags, damp cloth, seaweed, and bones occupies the corner by the northern door.
Two hulking, green-skinned giants are in this room, crunching on some old bones. When they see you, they snarl and prepare to attack!
"Oh, hi there guys! We're just here... for the tour? Do either of you two know what the deal is with the fancy statues out here? Why does she have a blindfold. Does the butterfly lady have a surprise for her? Uh.... what's that over there?!"
Kip used his hurried distraction to step close and tap Victrix on the back, causing her skin to rapidly toughen.
The scrags don't answer Kip. Instead, they roar and step forward to attack Simon and Victrix with teeth and claws!
Ema quickly pulled forth the wand when the creatures attacked and called up a sphere of fire on top of one of the trolls. The blazing sphere began to roil and cook the flesh of the troll it appeared on top of.
The earth elemental, determined to protect Ema, sank into the floor and out of sight.
"Okay, we're doing THIS now!" Victrix roars and swings her axe at the troll who struck her...
Kip slipped back with Simon and tapped him with a wand. "We need you in tip top shape!"
The troll manages to dodge Ema's flaming sphere. As Simon falls back and Kip tends to his wounds, Victrix flies into a rage and steps forward to hack at the troll that struck her, scoring two deep cuts with her axe.
Roaring in pain, the troll retaliates, and its companion assaults the aasimar as well! Teeth and claws tear at the barbarian's tender flesh.
Victrix keeps hacking away at the wounded one, bleeding like mad.
Victrix's brutal assault lays the first troll low! It groans and thuds to the floor, bleeding out!
Ema, seeing one troll drop, sent her ball of fire rolling into the same one it appeared on.
She then said a few words and sent an arrow of acid sailing at the troll.
It sailed over Victrix's head and splattered around the creature's chest where it hissed and sizzled as it began to eat away at it's flesh.
The elemental moved a little closer but didn't completely close the distance as it really didn't want to get smashed by the large creature.
"Nice job, Vicki! Now take the other one down!" Kip cheered his encouragement while he whirled the wand around and sent a pulse of healing out along his tongue.
The remaining scrag avoids the flaming sphere again, dodging away from it. Ema's acid arrow sizzles into its chest, though, and it howls in agony. Even as Kip literally licks Victrix's wounds, the sea troll roars and tears at the aasimar! Its teeth snap shut on empty air, but its claws latch onto Victrix as it rends her flesh, leaving behind a brutal wound!
Victrix, looking ragged and bloody, keeps swinging at the troll in a blind rage.
Unable to enter the room to help fight the troll the elemental stayed where it was to protect Kip from the thing should it try to come through or until a space opened for it to step into.
At the same time the ball of fire rolled into the troll once more as the acid sizzled hungrily as it melted into the troll's chest. Sure the thing was about to die Ema decided not to cast another spell just now.
"That looked like it hurt Vicki! How about something a bit stronger?"
The scrag dodges the flaming sphere for a third and final time, but the acid arrow continues to sizzle and melt its flesh, and both Simon and Victrix score solid blows. The giant is faltering, as evidenced by its failure to land any hits on Victrix this time! One or two more good hits should finish it off!
Simon drives his sword deep into the troll's guts, eviscerating the giant! It falls to the floor, entrails spilling out beneath it.
Each of the trolls wears a necklace of air adapatation like the ones the band of sahuagins had. There is otherwise nothing else of value in this room.
Victrix raises her axe and grunts in exhaustion. "Ow... well, that was more painful than I expected."
Victrix starts chugging potions.
She's so hasty in doing so that she spills most of the first two potions, but takes her time with the third.
Simon doesn't hear any noises coming from behind any of the three sets of doors in this chamber.
"So... what's behind door number 1, eh?"