Zane looked a bit embarrassed after the half-elf asked the 'real' muscle to help, but was glad to hear the mechanism engage as the stout gold elf put his back into it. That being done, he readied himself to find the fourth statue.
Kardas blinks in reaction to Armithia moving the statue with little to no effort. "Eh, yeah, let's move on. Good job, Armithia."
Azarra casts open on door I.
The knight stoically takes his position.
Azarra's spell caused the door to open with a loud squeak. Clearly its hinges haven't been oiled in some time. Inside is another study cubical, likewise the adjacent doors. As before these all have the same uninteresting contents.
After checking out all the uninteresting little rooms, Azarra turns the corner back near the entrance. She waits for the rest of the party to catch up, with Ser in front as always, and then she casts Open on door G (from where she is now).
Zane tried to maintain a high level of readiness, but as the doors revealed their expected contents the priest couldn't help but think about what might lay in wait for the group down below. A basilisk was terrible enough, but the group's recent encounter with the devil-spawn had taught the cleric that there were worse things. Zane reined his wandering thoughts in as they neared the door that would likely reveal the fourth and final statue, anxious to complete this task and get closer to their goal.
Ishta braces herself, trying to wonder what could be behind that door. "We've had a small share of about everything, since we got here to Phlan..."
"A babbling goner, a bookish haunt and a basilisk. Makes you wonder what b behind this door, eh?"
Kardas grins as he grips his sword. He then nods at his companions, ready to go.
The door has a once bright brass plaque which proudly proclaims the subject matter of this lecture theater as "Theology". Azaras's spell causes the door to swing open to reveal wreckage. Splintered benches are thrown up against the walls, surrounded by the pulped remains of hundreds of books with bits of torn fabric. Among this are a number of statues. One of which is a by now familiar angel, the others are incredibly realistic statues of common people looking surprised or terrified! To the north of the room are a pair of Basilisks!
Sounding rather cross, Delenn snapped "Oh bother!" Before whispering the words to the same powerful spell she used before, filling you with boundless energy!
Delenn
Ishta Khosiv <----- WE ARE HERE
Kardas Rasalas
Basalisks
Ser Armithia-Seendren
Azarra Action posted
Zane Levallis
Spoiler:Delenn Haste (6 rounds)
Ishta Khosiv Haste (6 rounds)
Kardas Rasalas Haste (6 rounds)
Basalisks
Ser Armithia-Seendren Haste (6 rounds)
Azarra Haste (6 rounds)
Zane Levallis Haste (6 rounds)
Delenn Haste (5 rounds)
Ishta Khosiv Haste (5 rounds)
Kardas Rasalas Haste (5 rounds)
Basalisks
Ser Armithia-Seendren Haste (5 rounds)
Azarra Haste (5 rounds)
Zane Levallis Haste (5 rounds)
Ishta Khosiv and Kardas Rasalas are up.
It seems as if we have upped the ante!
Kardas takes wings as Delenn's incantation of haste washes over him. He rushes into the fray knowing that a fight versus a basilisk is a fight against time, let alone two basilisks! You're too barbaric to become a fancy work of art!
Not having any goggles and hearing there were basilisks, Azarra hangs back, cursing herself for being so petty as to not buy a pair for Delenn in the first place.
Yeah, Delenn probably had ulterior motives, but treating her unkindly didn't accomplish anything other than making her (Azarra) feel guilty and evil. The group needed to be wary of a betrayal, but she still needed to remember that she was a decent and good person and not let this intrigue turn her into something else.
Kardas's sword parts the skin of the Basilisk in front of him, exposing the flesh beneath and the creature trumpets in pain!
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Ishta tries to move quickly, finishing the words of an incantation while running to face the beasts. Immediately, a fan of flames spirits from her hands, engulfing both lizards.
Shortly before Kardas's blade sunk into the Basilisk, Ishta rushed forwards and completed her spell, a vivid fan of flames leaping from her fingers to immolate the Basilisks! The one to the right took the brunt of it, it's skin instantly burnt to a crisp with visible charring, oozing fluids!
<--- PASS
<--- FAIL
The pair of Basilisks, evidently a mated pair, roar in pain and turn towards you with hypnotic eyes glowing with a smoldering pale green fire! Under that terrible eldritch glare, you skin starts to crystallize and your limbs become rigid! Yet you fight this with all your might, this wasn't a fight you could afford to loose. Digging deep you manage to fight the ossification, and aided greatly by the goggles, break free!
<--- PASS
<--- PASS
<--- PASS
<--- PASS
<--- PASS
<--- PASS
<--- PASS
Delenn
Ishta Khosiv
Kardas Rasalas
Basalisks
Ser Armithia-Seendren <----- WE ARE HERE
Azarra Action posted
Zane Levallis
Spoiler:Delenn Haste (6 rounds)
Ishta Khosiv Haste (6 rounds)
Kardas Rasalas Haste (6 rounds)
Basalisks
Ser Armithia-Seendren Haste (6 rounds)
Azarra Haste (6 rounds)
Zane Levallis Haste (6 rounds)
Delenn Haste (5 rounds)
Ishta Khosiv Haste (5 rounds)
Kardas Rasalas Haste (5 rounds)
Basalisks
Ser Armithia-Seendren Haste (5 rounds)
Azarra Haste (5 rounds)
Zane Levallis Haste (5 rounds)
Ser Armithia-Seendren, Zane Levallis, Delenn, Ishta Khosiv and Kardas Rasalas are up.
Calling on the power of the Morninglord, Zane holds aloft his holy symbol and allows the light spilling forth from it to hit his companions, infusing them with a sliver of divine essence. Then he charged nimbly into the room, taking position next to Kardas to allow Ser Armithia more room to maneuver on the other side of the room.
Oh dear. In that case poor Ser Armithia rolled a 14 and got turned to stone!
Ishta steps back and shoots a rat of utter cold at one of the basilisks!
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Seeing Armithia turn to stone triggers something with Kardas. The swordmage teethers on the razor's edge, swinging back and forth between cold anger and raging fury.
He calls upon his magicks and unleashes a maelstrom of cuts and blows upon the basilisk.
Ishta casts a cantrip next which sears the flesh of one of the Basilisks with utter cold. The giant lizard snorts in indignation.
Azzarra thinks and realizes she knows how to save poor Ser Armithia.
Infuriated by what just happened, Karda's blade flies like a butcher's knife as he hacks the lizard into pieces!
Zane then calls upon the power of the morning lord to defend them against the remaining Basilisk.
Delenn extends her hand towards the remaining lizard and whispers a spell, and a fusillade of miniature missiles pulses out, detonating along it's flank.
Badly wounded but not out, the remaining Basilisk turns on the one that slew his mate. Darting forwards faster than you believe such a large thing could move, it tears a chunk of flesh from Kardas's shoulder!
<--- HIT
Delenn
Ishta Khosiv
Kardas Rasalas
Basalisks
Ser Armithia-Seendren
Azarra <----- WE ARE HERE
Zane Levallis
Spoiler:Delenn Haste (6 rounds)
Ishta Khosiv Haste (6 rounds)
Kardas Rasalas Haste (6 rounds)
Basalisks
Ser Armithia-Seendren Haste (6 rounds), Turned to stone
Azarra Haste (6 rounds)
Zane Levallis Haste (6 rounds)
Delenn Haste (5 rounds)
Ishta Khosiv Haste (5 rounds)
Kardas Rasalas Haste (5 rounds)
Basalisks
Ser Armithia-Seendren Haste (5 rounds), Turned to stone
Azarra Haste (5 rounds)
Zane Levallis Haste (5 rounds)
Zane Levallis, Delenn, Ishta Khosiv and Kardas Rasalas are up.
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Ser Armithia seems even more stoic than usual....
The Raumathar's lust for blood isn't sated by the basilisk's demise and so his rampage continues. The shock of pain that then follows as the basilisk's mate bites Kardas only throws more oil onto the fires of his rage.
Zane gasped as the stalwart Ser Armithia is petrified before his eyes, pausing for a moment even as Kardas flew into a rage and sliced apart one of the lizard-things. As the Rashemi kept pressing the attack on the other creature, the priest realized there was nothing he could do for his companion at the moment, instead concentrating on bringing the second beast down.
Azarra listens for the sounds of battle to be over, so she can go in and help Ser.
"Let's finish it off and help Ser Armithia!" Ishta thinks she's got a solution, though ending the battle quickly is priority. Then, it would be wise to consult with Azarra and the elven woman.
In moments the remaining Basilisk has been smashed, frozen and chopped to itty-bitty pieces. After the last blow landed and the beast stopped thrashing in it's death throes, silence descended upon what is after all a library.
Ser Armithia seems to be looking sternly at the dead basalisks....but it's difficult to tell for certain.
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Ishta rushes to the basilisks' corpses. "Azarra, Delenn. I think if we use the blood quickly on Ser Armithia, we can revert his condition. What do you think, can you confirm? I wouldn't like to be wrong and make it worse."
"It's worth a try. Grab its left claw, Ishta, and make a cut on the inside of the arm, where its tissue is soft. There should still be enough pressure inside the beast, so be careful or you'll be covered in its blood, but with a right squeeze, you might just shower Armithia in it."
Shower might not be enough, we should cover him completely. Let's use both of the corpses.
It took an awful lot of blood in the end. Poor Ser Armithia had gone completely grey as his body crystallized. Rubbing in blood seemed to help, it was as if it was getting absorbed and slowly it softened the skin and helped his natural skin tone to recover. Looking more like an abbetoir nightmare than a noble Paladin of Helm, he started spluttering weakly as the blood dripped from him. Yet more blood was needed to fully awaken him however, and it was an act of kindness when Ishtas's spell washed away the worst of it.
Blackness. A deep dark of nothingness. Absent of feeling. Alone. Timeless immortality. The pointlessness of sound. Eternally empty experience.
Ser Armithia painfully opens his eyes. The blood-blue pale colored orbs stare blankly.
Did we get them?
Yep. You okay?
Duty allows for certain degree of uncomfortableness. Now, shall we continue? Banes servants are still about.
The knight then salutes his team.
Thank you!
He winks.
Hopefully things will be better now, despite the rocky start...
Zane could only chuckle as the sturdy paladin made light of his most recent unfortunate predicament. After the lizards were disposed of, the priest would pour a bit of oil on the fourth and final statue, hoping to get it moved into position so the group could move along. This section of the library had been quite nerve-wracking, so far.
Ishta moves her head from side to side in disapproval. "And to think that these creatures have been here for who knows how long... What if they had found a way to get to the people? It would have been a disaster!" She follows how Zane and the others try to manipulate the statue, and awaits for something special to happen.
Shivering at the experience, Delenn remarks, "Lets pray there's no more of those. I can't repeat my spell many more times today. Fortunately there's a single statue left, and that should open the portal to the levels below."
After the statue has been oiled, Zane manages to manipulate it with ease and you hear a local metallic THUNK followed by a distant and deeper bass KLUNK-KLUNK-KERRCLUNK!
Delenn leads you north and you can see the iron seal had opened like a camera iris, revealing a shaft that descends to a crossroads of arched
corridors. Beyond the doorways, the walls are laden with shelf upon shelf of books, curious objects, and things of an arcane nature.
The drop is a good twenty feet but it's simple enough to attach a rope to a small iron ring in the wall above and rapell into the gloom below.
As you reach the bottom, Delenn looking concerned warns you "This doesn't feel right. There should have been an alarm that went off sounding like a gong."
Ser Armithia scans the way.
As they encounter the shelves, Azarra uses detect magic to scan the books, objects, etc. to see if there is anything of value they can take with them/keep safe/deliver to the council.
Turning to Delenn, Ishta asks "What should we expect down there?" She hopes the absence of the alarm doesn't mean the basilisks have managed to go through, though there could be even deadlier things...
"The level below is the main library stacks, there's sections on math, philosophy, religion, history, rhetoric, arcarna, alchemy and so on. There was a menagerie full of stuffed animals. Then there's The Angry Library full of tomes considered blasphemous by the priests of Oghma, naturally they wouldn't destroy such things. Separately there's the Occult Collection full of strange and unreliable lore. In one of the side rooms there's another one of these angelic gates leading down, this is our destination. I expect it to be easier to open. What I don't expect to hear is that howling..."
The sound appears to be coming from the north.
Azarra can see a great many books lining the wide corridors, but nothing so far appears to be enchanted.
Now that you mention it, I do hear howling... coming from the north I believe. We might want to take care of that first.