"Karisa?"
To Fulmen, "The only entrance I'm aware of is the stairs you came in through."
As he goes about his attempt to heal he says, "No, I believe we were hired to put Ayala Jeleski out of our misery."Aidon looks at the Tower Girl who spoke, and as he points to the wererat he flings blood in an arc, "Is this Ayala Jeleski?" He stops and looks at his hand and realizes he may have just fling blood on some people.
"We should probably bind her, and these others. In case any of them are also were-gazelles"
With that he turns back to trying to save the tower girl
"Well I suppose attacking the Lodge could account for some of the attention."
"She wasnt s'posed to attack ya, she was sposed to get that artifact back from Natalya. Dunno why she went after you all," the girl says sullenly.
"Not a bounty on you... a bounty on your leader. Is that her?" Braelex gestures to the wererat. "What was her name again?" she asks, in general.
"Nah, that's Karisa, like the halfling said. She trained the rats and all. Karisa and Sasha were just normal girls like us but Ayala liked them, so decided ta "bless them" with her gifts," she shudders. "You can keep that gift, I'd think. But Ayala's the one you want. She's down stairs, trying to figure out that door. She doesn't work with us much any more since we found this place. We hardly go into the city any more."
"Aidon, you might as well keep the shard. It will probably serve you better then me, I aint much for using magic anyway."
Relan turns to the girl, "So just what do you and Ayala know about the artifact and the door?"
Relan turns to the girl, "So just what do you and Ayala know about the artifact and the door?"
"Dunna anything about em, cept we haven't had a real score in a long time ever since we found them. Theres some nice stuff here, of course, but we haven't fenced much ... not really sure what we're doing anymore ever since we got run out of town."
Relan turns back to the bound girl pulling his dagger out, he moves to cut her bonds. "I dont want to hear you causing problems again, or next time you wont be as lucky." With that he cuts the rope and motions the woman and her friends out the door with his dagger.
Braelex frowns as the Tower Girls are set free, but remains quiet, holding her crossbow meaningfully.
Looking at the captive girl Fulmen asks, "How many more of you are there? You mentioned two that were researching the door and Tarisha. Who else is in here?"
"Just the 2 of them ... and some trained rats. You beat up the rest of us. They left us to die so good riddance.". She spits a Varisian curse and then heads off with the others once Relan cuts their bonds.
(I thought I rolled this above) - Heal Check -
Aidon waves at the departing tower girls, "I hope you make better choices moving forward!" With that he looks to the leader, "So, umm, we were told we needed to kill the leader for Natalya, I am not sure about killing a helpless, unconscious woman." Aidon swallows some bile, "So um, yeah, um, what do we do with her?"
"According to that girl this wererat isn't the one we are looking for. She's just one that recieved the curse. Looks like Ayala has been passing out lycanthropy as a reward for loyalty," Andel shudders at the thought
"I think we should look to keep her bound and turn her over to the authorities, after we have dealt with the rest of the group. I am not keen on releasing a wererat either, I do not know if there is a way to reverse the curse, but I do know that were-rats are not known for the kind and thoughtful deeds. I do not know if there is redemption for people like her, but I do know that it is most likely not our place to decide her fate. We should turn her over to the courts and let them decide."
"Let's bind her up and bring her along then. I'd rather not waste the time going back to the city."
Relan shakes his head, "Rather not have to deal with getting to Ayala with one of her "favorites" around."
He looks around the room and at Vuloo, "Seems like they had you tied up pretty well, why dont we return the favor and close her up in one of these rooms? Once we are done here the guards can come deal with her."
Braelex nearly rolls her eyes before adding, ... and seeing that it's unconcious, dragging it around is highly unpractical. We can lock it up, or better yet, toss the diseased vermin from the balcony and do the city a huge favor."
"Look, it's up to you, but I would just assume release her. She's a wererat - she'll just change to rat form and slip her bonds if you tie her up and leave her. Lycantropy is a disease, not a crime. She's just another form of life - no better or worse than you or I. If you want to lock her up, do it because she's a petty thief. But, we released the other thieves, so we may as well release her also. Like I said, up to you."
Referencing his journal and sketching a couple notes and a quick drawing of the wererat before she turned back, Andel coughs quietly.
"Uhh, if I may interject ... and I don't know if it makes a difference, but if this girl is an infected lycanthrope then she doesn't carry the disease. Well, I mean, obviously she does," Andel gestures at the woman pantomiming a rat nose, before he continues, "but she can't make more or pass on the disease. Only the true wererat ... the original, if you will ... can do that. From the girl's story, that must be Ayala."
Aidon nods to Andel, "Ahh that is good to know, I always thought that any were-creature, including the fabled Were-Gazelle, could turn anyone with a bite, not just a true were-creature."
As Aidon thinks this through, he glances at Vuloo, "I agree with Vuloo, I can't just kill a helpless woman, I have seen to often what happens to people when evil is allowed to grab a small handhold on their hearts. I would like to try and keep her bound and captured if possible but Vuloo is correct to say that if we bind her she may just be able to slip out by shape changing, but at least we tried. Aidon moves towards her , "Someone help me bind her, I am all thumbs with rope."
Vuloo will assist Aidon in binding Karisa.
To the group, "If I understand you correctly, you are here to capture the leader of the Tower Girls? Ayala most likely is hiding in the lower levels of the Crow. My intent in coming here has always been to explore the lower levels. With your permission, I would like to join your party. My dreams tell me that a relic of great importance lies in the depths of these dungeons.
If you are ready, I recommend we proceed at once."
Braelex nods to welcome Vuloo.
The party finishes exploring this level of the Crow as Aidon's eagles return to whence they came.
Two tables of planks and trestles have been set up in here, and a large alcove holds the ashes and soot stains of many recent fires, along with a stone statue of a beautiful woman wielding a ranseur. A hooded lantern burns atop one of the tables.
Several crates, barrels, and sacks lie here, stacked in an orderly fashion in the middle of the room. Two donkey rats are rooting around, and shriek when the party arrives. When Braelex comes around the corner, however, they return to rooting, ignoring the party.
This otherwise empty room has a couple things of interest. The eastern wall depicts a fresco of a tall, redheaded woman with a ranseur standing over a short, hunch-backed man—the ranseur is impaled in the man’s belly, and his twisted demonic hands clutch at the shaft as black smoke wafts up from his face and wounds.
Stairs head down to the south.
Relan nods at the party, "If she cant spread the disease she lives. But we've wasted enough time with her, lets find Ayala."
"Let's take the stairs down."
"We're here for the leader of the Tower Girls, find a way through the ancient door in search of artifacts, and retrieve any trinkets of historical value for Sir Heidmarch. I haven't see many books or other valuables so far, but the statue in the common room and the painting in the Victory room seem interesting since they show the same woman. I don't know much about Thassolonian history. Any of you find value in this stuff? Aidon? Anyone?"
Braelex eyes the colorful fresco and shakes her head, moving to follow the others.
Andel studies the statue and fresco for as long as the party lets him, takes some notes and moves on.
Relan looks over at Braelex then Andel, "Well? What are they?". His eyes gazing over the objects feeling a unique curiousity about the pair.
Assist Andel
Arcana -
History -
Arcana -
History -
Andel snaps his fingers after discussing with Aidon, "Of course! These images are of Azlanist, Runelord of Wrath! That must be who either created or used this piling, maybe even the entire Irespan! Careful, Azlanist was the most gifted evoker of her time. A dangerous woman, if the research is correct."
The party heads down the stairs and down a long hallway, entering a door at the west end. Braelex scouts for traps, listens for enemies and then opens the door.
A massive pair of double doors dominates the western end of this spearhead-shaped chamber. These doors are made of a silvery metal decorated with images of burning eyes that look inward toward two sets of runes carved onto the face of each door. The walls bear the remains of complex mosaics that once covered much of them, but which has crumbled and collapsed in heaps of colored tiles and debris around the edges of the room.
Andel squints from the far door and whispers, "The left set of runes spell LISTEN and the right set spells THE EYES. These must be the doors the other Tower Girls and Natalya were referring to."
Braelex holds up a finger to her lips and gestures to the three other doors exiting the chamber.
Relan nods to Braelex and quietly readies his sword and shield, being sure that the silver dagger is within grasping range.
Vuloo cautiously enters the room, cautiously looking for danger. He studies the runes, attempting decipher their meaning.
Perception Check:
Knowledge Check:
Fulmen searches for signs of others recently entering the room...
Moving quietly into the room, the party glances around. Vuloo focuses on the door runes and notices the temperature in the room gets slightly warmer near the doors.
Fulmen spies a trail of blood leading to the NE door.
Relan whispers, "I bet Tershia (sp), got here first. Be ready for an ambush."
Braelex shrugs but then moves into the room cautiously, listening carefully.
Braelex hunts around carefully exploring every nook and cranny of the room. She,too, notes the blood trail but also hears faint voices on the other side of the door.
On the other side of the room, Vuloo continues to study the massive bronze doors that look as if they were crafted yesterday. The runes and architecture are obviously Thassilonian.
"The runes must be a clue. Listen for what? Eyes see, but what?"
Vuloo turns outwards from the door and looks into the room and listens.
Perception:
Vuloo doesn't notice anything else of significance.
Relan keeps a watchful eye on the door, but in a whisper asks. "Alright, so who remembers how we solved the puzzle box. No doubt thats the key to this door. That said im not sure we want to go opening the door till we are sure Ayala and her friends are dealt with."
"Something on the other side of the door must be creating this warmth."
Vuloo feels around the door trying to determine the source of the heat.
Perception:
Vuloo hunts around the door, searching for the source of warmth. He touches one of the runes and instantly scalds his hand as he leaps back choking back a shout.
The rune begins flashing with a red glow and then no glow. It continues about every half second.