Yahirma watches the two descend the tunnel - one more gracefully than the other - before she thinks to pull out the rope from earlier. Looking from her pack to Derek to the area near the tunnel's entrance, she muses aloud. "Anywhere to tie this? I imagine we may want to ascend later."
The only potentially useful anchor Yahirma can find would be to use another rope to tie the Ghouls and the Ghast together, then tie the rope to the bundle and lower it into the water at the eastern end. The result should function as a sufficiently stable anchor.
"Well, it is gruesome, but might work, not sure how long it would last, the corpses might decay fast in the filth...especially since they are already undead to begin with. Allow me; this is no work for a beautiful lady."
Nor for a dashing swordsman like me to be honest...but who else is there?
Derek will busy himself preparing the "anchor" for descent.
Good thing there is presdignation for cleaning this off.
"Oh, just slide down! I'll catch you. And I'll make sure that the Cow is turning his horns the other way so he doesn't gore you."
Yeah, he's so grazy he just might do it.
"Carefull friend Appario, it may be that he understands us better than we do him, and if *I* was him, I would not enjoy being called a "cow" when I am an ancient spirit of war..."
Yahirma calls down the tunnel "Can you make the climb back up unaided? I would prefer to have an easy way out without wandering the depths for a staircase or ladder."
Call it "rope trick," if you will.
Once the rope is secured, Yahirma will try to climb down to the area below.
Appario's head tilts as he hears Derek's warning.
He's wrong. The beast seemed to respond when I moo'd at him.
Appario will look through his pack for some wine corks to apply to Maddok's horns while he waits for the others to slide down.
Yahirma finds the descent difficult despite the aid of the rope, but she succeeds at getting to the end of the rope (halfway down the tunnel) without slipping. However, soon after beginning to move down unaided, she loses her footing and is unable to catch herself, sliding down the last 30 ft to the bottom of the tunnel. Yahirma takes nonlethal damage in the process.
She learns fast, I did not even have to remind her, unless of course the beast had darkvision.
But I suspect he is not interested in women that way, so he will probably not sneak a peek.
"Look out below...you know, in case I slip or something."
Derek will also begin the descent.
Good thing I'm not one of those Quadiran wardancers, or she could look up my kilt.
Derek has no problems at all descending the tunnel, both with and without the aid of the rope. He virtually runs down the last stretch, emerging with his usual flourish.
Semenya, following Derek, has an easy time of it while aided by the rope, but her descent becomes wobbly once she's past the halfway point. Even so, she manages to avoid falling until the last stretch, taking nonlethal damage as she slides down to bump into Derek's back.
Having had a good amount of time to listen to the "song", The Beast and Appario are both pretty sure it can't be an actual person singing, as the rhythmic chant has been too precise and constant for the past several minutes.
In addition, The Beast has had to move forward a little to make room for the last couple of party members, and has thus received a good look at the western hallway. That hallway is only about 25 ft long before it opens into a chamber with a high ceiling. The prominent feature is a circular pit with a distinct red glow emanating from below. The sound appears to come from this pit.
Several iron chains descend from the ceiling into a large tangle of chains suspended above the center of this pit, and something that appears to be a mutilated humanoid body is wrapped inside this tangle. From the tangle, more iron chains dangle further downwards into the pit. Several other chains float and writhe in the air like strands of hair in the wind, the tips of these fragmented and flaking away in bits of rust.
"What's up ahead? Can I see?"
Derek will carefully make his way to the front and have a look.
"Ooooh...not THAT way, TOO obvious. Straight ahead anyone?"
Appario takes a look.
"Uh yeah. Uhm. Maybe we come back. Think arrows will get it?"
Appario counts his arrows.
Appario is willing to follow Derek the other way.
Sense Motive
Appario nods at Maddok then turns to Derek.
"The beast agrees, we should go the other way away from these chains."
Appario heads down the other corridor.
Appario talks over his shoulder as they move along.
"I'm really glad how unified we all are on our actions. We're a good team."
Getting to the door, Appario will check it out for traps before opening.
Perception
Appario doesn't find any traps or wards on the door.
Once the door is opened, a crossroads is revealed. To the immediate right (west), a rough, cave-like tunnel winds away. Ahead, the road diverges into 3 staircases; the central staircase leads upwards, while the two staircases to the left and right both lead downwards.
Wooden signs with writing on them hang above each staircase.
Over (east) the sign says "Arachnophobia".
Over (west) the sign says "Ophidiophobia".
Over (central) the sign says "Observation".
"Well you know Appario, I always thought I was the cunning linguist in this little party, but not even I have managed to learn a language where you can apparently communicate fully using one word of three letters.
Tell me, is the length of the oo's that makes the difference, or is it the pitch? Maybe a combination?"
Derek takes a moment to study the signs.
"Oh, interesting, they mention phobias...I believe that is fear of something...I do not know exactly fear of what, Arachnophobia for that one, Ophidiophobia for that one...and the third one says "observation"."
Appario watches as Bull-Maddok thrusts erect toward the central staircase.
Sense Motive
"There are probably women that way. Let's go."
Appario moves down the center.
The staircase continues up for 35 ft before it opens into a square 15-by-15-ft room with walls painted in a nauseating yellow color. In addition to the staircase you came up from, five other staircases lead out of the room; two to either side of the one where you entered (both leading upwards), and three on the opposite wall (the central one leading upwards, the two on the sides leading downwards). There's also a wooden door in the western wall. All six staircases (including the one you came from) have signs above their entrances, and words are also burned into the door. Ruined heaps of what may have been chairs and a table lie scattered on the floor.
The words burned into the door say "Abandon All Hope".
The sign on the staircase you came from and the sign on the opposite central staircase both say "Exit".
The sign over says "Arachnophobia".
The sign over says "Ophidiophobia".
The sign over says "Hematophobia".
The sign over says "Pyrophobia".
About half-way up the staircase, The Beast begins catching another, stronger scent in addition to the lingering scent of the Tiefling woman. No creatures can be seen in the room, however.
As Appario enters the room, a shrill, female voice calls out. "You poor things! Suffering so from baseless fears! Please, step into the therapy chambers and face your terrors. Bring me your prizes and I'll pronounce you cured. You want to be cured, don't you?"
Appario looks at Yahirma.
"Is this you talking again?"
Appario wonders why Yahirma didn't mention she could throw her voice.
With a few sniffs, The Beast determines that the scent comes from above, near the ceiling in the center of the room. As he stretches towards the spot, he can also hear the nearly-silent flutter of small wings.
Directed by Maddok's flaring nostrils, Appario will look up and detect evil.
"Can anyone translate that?" Appario looks around, again linguistically clueless.
Appario detects moderate evil in the given area.
"Uhm...well, my head hurts from the yelling beasts, I drank some dirty water, and my butt hurts from that slide. Can you fix that? And how?"
"No, no, no. I can't cure you of such .. physical things. Fears! Fear of spiders, of snakes, of blood and of fire, those are the things I can cure! Go into the therapy chambers and face those fears. Once you're cured, perhaps then I can help you. It's no good helping those whose minds still suffer!"
"What exactly will be get from confronting those fears? And who are you?"
Appario sheathes Extortion.
A deal is a deal...but would like more information.
"If you do well and bring me your prizes, I can help you with things you want to know! I can help six times! Ask me six questions and I can get the answers for you!" The voice takes a breath, then answers Appario's second question. "My name is Livia."
Sense Motive
Appario tries to intuit Maddok's bleating.
"Are there any loose women around?" Appario asks carefully, trying to speak for Maddok. "My friend is horny."
"And what kind of stuff do you know? Do you know about the chain thing we saw in that room over there?"
"A woman did come here yesterday. Maybe she is loose? You can try to find her! Although, I think your friend is too big! There are no other women here."
"I know some things, but that's not the question you should ask! You should ask "What does Asmodeus know?" I will ask him, and he will give me the answers to your questions!"
"Hmm, the chain thing.. There is a power node with a kyton," The voice breaks off and whispers "although some silly people call them chain devils. The nerve!" before continuing. "But I heard sounds of a fight yesterday, just before the woman came here. Could the kyton be the chain thing?"
Wary of this unseen interlocutor, Yahirma asks "What can you do that might cure us of these fears of venomous things? When last I was offered a cure, it involved wrestling my way out of a behemoth's gullet in the name of purification."
To Derek she mutters "It seems the stage has come back to haunt us. Hopefully our lessons learned in front of the audience will minimize the damage. Can you imagine the Shoanti Beast having to go through dress rehearsal?"
"Face our fears, get answers in return eh? Well, I do have a bit of a fear of blood, especially my own that is..."
Derek goggles at at Yahrima before breaking out in a sidesplitting laughther.
"Ahhahahahahahahaha! Go...go...good one!"
Kytons are sadomasochistic evil outsiders that are often referred to as "chain devils" by those who don't know better. Kytons are not part of the hierarchy of Hell's devils, and are in truth a race of their own.
The most commonly encountered Kytons are adorned with chains which grant them a defensive bonus. In addition, the Kyton can direct its own chains or other chains nearby to attack its foes.
In addition, a Kyton can make its face resemble that of an onlookers bitter enemies or departed loved ones.
Yahirma remembers that the lowly devils known as Imps have the ability to commune with Asmodeus (or one of his agents) once per week and receive answers to up to six questions, and that Imps are tiny flying creatures that can become invisible.
They are cunning, manipulative fiends, and they often find themselves left alone to roam the Material Plane when the spellcasters who called them as familiars end up deceased (often due to the machinations of the Imp itself).
The voice becomes even more shrill with laughter. "Oh, that sounds like a fine cure! Yes, a fine cure indeed!" Calming down, the voice continues slightly more seriously. "What can I do to cure you? Well, the best cure for any fear is to face that fear and defeat it!"
Yahirma's mismatched eyes watch Derek collapse with mirth, and she crooks a smile in return.
It looks like I made a better joke than I thought. I could get used to this region's humor.
To the invisible creature she responds, "I believe I can predict the nature of your therapies, Spirit. There are many things I now know and fear only half as much, though I am loathe to face them again. First, tell me where your master is - the one who bound you to this place and now allows you to roam free?"
The voice grows somber. "He went below to create more power, but that power destroyed him. Although he still walks, he is no longer my master."
Returning to its normal shrill self, the voice goes on. "You ask too many questions! Answers to questions is supposed to be your reward when you're cured! I think you're afraid to be cured! Oh, isn't that ironic! Afraid to be cured of your fears!" The voice trails off into mirthful laughter.
"Right, well, information is always good, so I say we try to earn that. I mean, how hard can it be? After all, it's only spiders...and the other things."
Derek glances at the staircase.
"Come on, I always wanted to fight a spider, this may be my only chance. Let's go squash a bug."
"Squashing spiders works for me. I do not fear the concept of spiders, for the creature plays host to a Greater Spirit in the Mwangi lands. The spiders we are to find here may be less spiritually-inclined."
Yahirma walks up to the Beast and reaches up to tap on its shoulder. Once she has its attention, she uses one hand to make spider-like motions while balling the other hand into a fist. She pantomimes a few feats of spider-squashing, smiles, and points towards the "Arachnophobia" staircase as if to say "Wanna crush spiders? Come on, it'll be fun!"
After a relatively short climb, the staircase opens into a 15-by-15-ft chamber . Another staircase continues upwards on the opposite end of the room. The ceiling is obscured by thick tangles of drooping cobwebs. Within seconds of entering, the cobwebs shake and rustle as a rain of diminutive spiders comes tumbling down from above.
Current Initiative order:
22 - Spider Swarm
15 - Appario
13 - Derek
8 - Semenya
7 - The Beast of War
2 - Yahirma
The swarm of spiders immediately begins crawling all over The Beast, dealing damage to him, but he resists both the poison of the hundreds of tiny bites as well as the threatening nausea.