Vuloo thinks back on his Thassilonian history to see if he can recall anything about a lie.
Andel will do the same.
Nalar will do the same.
Neither of you recall any great lie in Thassilonian history, but you do recall that every Runelord was almost the living embodiment of the sin their magic represented. You feel as if the answer should be here in front of you.
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Braelex taps a finger to her temple as she looks over each alcove. "Illusions are often considered lies of a sort... perhaps the Xanderghul statue is the second one."
- A beautiful redhaired woman with a look of fury twisting her expression -- Azlanist, Runelord of Wrath
- A handsome, haughty man with arms crossed contemptuously -- Xanderghul, Runelord of Pride
- A stern-looking man offering the gift of a golden rose with his left hand. -- Karzoug, Runelord of Greed
- A beautiful, voluptuous woman, in the act of sensuously opening her robe -- Sorshen, Runelord of Lust
- A plump and homely woman, face twisted in resentment as she looks upon the beautiful woman's alcove with jealousy -- Belimarius, Runelord of Envy
- A short man with a hooked nose and beady eyes, his shoulders slumped as if in fatigue -- Krune, Runelord of Sloth
- An obese man with diseased, leprous flesh, who hungrily gnaws at a huge haunch of meat -- Zutha, Runelord of Gluttony
Nalar will go and touch the statues of Sorshen and Xanderghul, in that order.
Vuloo rubs his chin. "Perhaps one of these statues contradicts the runelord that it depicts." He walks over to Karzoug. "Would the Runelord of Greed be offering a gift? He would never give away the golden rose if he were greedy, no?"
Vuloo will first embrace Sorshen and then will embrace Karzoug.
Nalar touches the two statues and nothing happens.
Vuloo embraces Sorshen and that statue begins to glow. When the halfing embraces Karzoug it glows as well and golden mist begins to form in the empty alcove to the east.
Vuloo will watch the mist for a couple of minutes to see if anything emerges from it. If it appears safe, he will turn to the others. "If we are to ascend the Lady's Light, I believe we must step into the mist."
He then steps into the mist.
"Very clever," Braelex grins at Vuloo.
Once the group is gathered and ready to enter, Braelex will quaff an extract to enhance he reflexes.
Vuloo watches the mist for a couple minutes and eventually disappears. However, re-embracing the statues brings it back.
With a final pull on her extract, Braelex follows the rest of the party in and disappear into the now familiar teleportating feel.
Each of you steps in and reappears but find yourselves paired up in different rooms. The room glows around you and a yellow light shines on each of you and scans down for a moment before it disappears.
You hear female voices arguing outside the door.
Before everyone enters Nalar makes a few hand signs and taps everyone on the shoulders.
0
Read Magic
Detect Magic
Dancing Lights
Prestigtidtation
1
Memory Lapse
Magic Missle (3)
2
Admonishing Ray(2)
Glitter dust
Hideous Laughter
3
Dispel Magic (2)
Heroism
4
Wall of Ice
Dimension anchor
Vuloo will cast bless on the group.
He will attempt to discern what the women are arguing about.
Vuloo can't make out full sentences but hears the words "Sorshen" and "invaders" clearly a couple times.
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Pan right
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Vuloo turns to Andel. "I'm guessing we're the invaders that she's talking about. Well, we may as well get this over with."
Andel readies his quarterstaff and then opens the door.
Braelex will motion for Relan to open the door while she stands ready a few feet behind him.
Alone except for his faithful familiar Nalar gives his friend a shrug before opening the door, walking through with a cocky smirk on his face.
The party all open their doors near simultaneously into a heptagonal chamber. The seven stone walls of the chamber are polished to a reflective sheen. A red metal door sits in one wall—the only other feature in the room is a five-foot-wide mosaic of a coiled serpent slightly offset from the room’s center in the floor. A 3-foot-tall
post capped by a horizontally aligned wheel protrudes from the center of each mosaic
Vuloo's door nearly smacks the Gray Maiden lieutenant from downstairs in the backside. She swears and immediately stops her arguing with a a beautiful dark auburn-haired woman with a creamy complexion, and deep blue eyes like brilliant sapphires. The left side of her face and her mouth are a criss-cross of scars that do nothing to mar her beauty, rather they serve to enhance it and give her an air of danger. Her armor is that of the Gray Maidens but is etched in places and has a golden badge on the left collar bone.
"Get behind me, Quennelle," the auburn-haired woman states placing her gauntleted hand on the lieutenant's arm preventing the younger woman from drawing her blade and pulling her easily behind her.
She addresses you all with authority and controlled rage, her gaze catching each of you in turn, "“Who are you? Sorshen’s latest pawns? Her newest playthings? You have one sentence to convince me not to welcome you to this cursed place with all you deserve!”
That's not good. He thinks as the ray strips his magic from him. Nalar looks the woman over as he steps into the room, unbuttoning his shirt. A patch work of scars and gruesome wounds covers his torso. "Gifts of Sorshen's abomination, believe me when I say I hold no love for that b@$~+." He says, his face deadly serious as Thyrl jumps up into his shoulders.
Vuloo nods as Nalar speaks. "We have all suffered from Sorshen's machinations. We are explorers."
Andel studies the woman with curiosity.
"You are a platoon commander of the Gray Maidens, one of the elite warriors in Queen Ileosa's guard - very impressive."
Holding his weapon in a defensive position Relan adds We have not hurt the maidens we left behind after besting them when they tried to prevent us from going forward, and we even saved one from a hag that your sisters saw fit to abandon. Others we put down with the flat of our blades even though they attacked us with lethal force. We do have a mission here but it has nothing to do with serving Sorshen.
The woman seems unaffected until Andel mentions Ileosa and then as Relan talks about the other Maidens, she states, "You found Halima, then? She is OK?"
She turns to give the Quenelle a reproachful look.
"Why are you here then? What are you exploring for?"
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Yes Halima if fine, or was when we parted. Was her abandonment your choice of punishment for her? Seeing no reason to be deceitful Relan looks to the others, pausing in case they want to jump in, and finally adds We seek a shard of stone that matches somewhat this one. He shows here the shard of greed that he carries. But as he does his eyes flash dangerously and with some greed and he adds This one is mine, and I will fight to keep it.
Vuloo nods at Relan's description of the stone shards. "Yes, we seek the fragments of the legendary Sihedron. I assure you, we are no threat to you or your faction. Perhaps, we may even be able to assist you. What is it that you seek here?"
"I don't know what that is or how it's connected with Sorshen. You know she lives just beyond here. Her power is absolute and her enchantments are subversive and hateful ..." the woman's face flashes in anguish before she regains it.
At nearly the same time, Quennelle angrily begins to object, but is silenced by her commander. For a moment you see confusion on the lieutenant's face.
"I seek nothing here, any more. All that exists for us here are death or eternal slavery. Are you seeking to deal with Sorshen for your piece of rock?"
Unsure about the descent from Quenelle, Relan watches the two carefully and waits for others to react.
"I doubt there will be any dealing. The other shards did not come without a fight. And are we really dealing with a Runelord here? I find it hard to believe one is just hanging out in an old, busted up lighthouse."
"I know my history, I doubt that is the real runelord. If it were we would never have gotten this far. No, I at the least have no intention of bargaining with her." Nalar says with conviction. "This is personal, and I will have my vengeance. You appear to have your own grievances, perhaps you would help us?"
Vuloo nods when Nalar speaks. "The wizard is right, the real Sorshen no longer lives. Anything within these dungeons bearing her likeness is arcane trickery. If we work together, we will both live longer."
The woman's eyes widen in sudden understanding and hope. "I hadn't considered that before, but it makes sense. Quennelle, go back to the others and ensure they are settled. I will treat with these explorers."
Turning back to you all after her lieutenant departs, "My name is Oriana, commander of this fist of Gray Maidens and I have led them on a misbegotten attempt to salvage a lost cause. This "Sorshen" has kept us under mind control to have us do her bidding. Mine has worn off and I've been waiting for her to come kill me or reinstate it. Most of the others are still under its effect."
"I am willing to accompany you to the Lady's boudoir above. I have no illusions about winning, but waiting to die seems to be a poor way to end our stay here. I'd only ask that if I should fall, that you will see my Maidens out of here and to safety, preferably somewhere that will grant them amnesty, perhaps Magnimar."
"Fair enough," Braelex nods. "What 'lost cause' were you trying to salvage in this place?"
Vuloo smiles at Oriana. "I give you my word that we'll see your maidens to safety. Now, what lies behind that door? How do we get to the 'Lady's Boudoir' that you mention? What waits for us there?"
"You have my word, though I have every confidence that we will make it through this." Nalar says, Thyrl brushing past him to place a paw on Oriana's shoulder.
"That should help throw off any magic that comes your way." The outsider says, flying around the woman before returning to it's master.
"Thank you," Oriana nods to Thyrl and Nalar, watching the cat-like creature with interest.
To Braelex, she responds, "We fled the downfall of Korvosa, knowing what was coming. I took my most loyal troops to central Varisia where we served as mercenaries for a time. But it ate at me that we lost Korvosa” and it drove me to this stupid ... although at the time, I would've said daring ... plan to loot the Lady’s Light of its magic and wealth in order to fund and bolster an attempt to retake our home."
She sighs, "We were quickly overcome by the crystal statue and the man-demons, losing a couple of our sisters along the way. Sorshen's will crushed us easily and she turned us into unwilling slaves near instantly, separating those of us that didn't respond well. It was when she asked me to kill the swamp witch, Maroux, who had been fair with us. I questioned that a death sentence was a bit much for just turning down an invitation to join her "army" and then she struck me and banished me here. I've been waiting ever since with Quennelle and the others still downstairs as sometime guardians ... but they haven't forgotten who I am. Unfortunately, if Sorshen were to ask them to kill me, I'm afraid they wouldn't hesitate."
She then moves to indicate the serpent-headed wheels "I can activate the mists to send us to the boudoir, Sorshen's chambers. I would assume that she, or rather whomever you think is posing as her, would be in that room and ready to fight, so get ready now before I send us forward. I don't know if she is entertaining anyone, she can teleport throughout the lighthouse freely, so she doesn't bother to come this way except to deposit me here."
Andel will cast heroism on Relan. Vuloo will cast bless on everyone else, including Oriana, and will cast protection from evil on Relan. He extends a life link to Oriana.
He then turns to the others. "Let's finish this."
Nalar will cast Heroism on his new friend Oriana and nods grimly. "Indeed"
Relan notes If we could wait until tomorrow then I would regain the ability to haste myself. If we believe waiting is to dangerous then I am ready now. He eyes Nalar in an unfriendly way as the wizard casts a valuable buff spell on someone not in their party.
"I will need a few minutes to prepare an extract, but then we can press through." Braelex breaks out some vials and ungents and quickly puts together a couple new extracts. Once she is done, she imbibes them.
"Ready!"
Once the party indicates they are ready, Oriana turns one of the wheels on the posts. A loud rumbling sound precedes the rotation of the mosaic underneath the post. Oriana holds the wheel in place until the head of the snake points at the other mosaic and then walks over to that mosaic and repeats the action with the second post. When the two snake heads are aligned, a semi-transparent curtain of golden mist appears between them.
Steeling herself, Oriana puts on her helmet, closing the visor and drawing her blade, "Be ready." and she steps through the curtain, disappearing as she does so ...
... and assuming you follow.
You appear between two black marble pillars in an ovoid, white marble chamber. It is an opulent, domed affair, with a ceiling of polished silver peaking twenty feet above. A pair of mosaic snake patterns decorate the floor to the north and south. More polished black marble pillars rise up along the edges of the room, metal manacles hanging from their inward-facing sides at a height of five feet. A woman's body hangs from the manacles attached to the pillar in the southeast portion of the room. Her body is strangely brittle and dry, and bears obvious signs of torture. A strangled gasp escapes Oriana's mouth as she spies the hanging body, obviously recognizing the woman.
Articles of armor and clothing lie scattered on the floor, while to one side of the room an upraised platform sits a foot above the rest of the room. This platform is strewn with furs and blankets, and at its back near the wall sits an enormous canopied bed. Reclining on the bed is a stunningly gorgeous woman that you recognize from the frescoes and even from the coffin that you saw several days ago. In person, she moves with a languid grace that oozes sexuality and she slowly rises from the bed as she sees you, her every move accentuating that unearthly beauty. You each find yourselves, regardless of sex or race, catching your breath and feeling your heart race.
She speaks seductively, her voice dripping with the arrogance of power that only the Lady of Eurythnia could pull off, “Oh, this is a delicious surprise! Greetings, new supplicants, you’ve arrived just in time. My latest lost her allure when she lost her life. Perhaps you can keep me entertained a bit longer?”
She wanders slowly over toward the body on the wall and then seems to notice the Maiden's anguish, "“Oriana, my love, this is unexpected. Am I to take your return to my boudoir as indication you’ve had a change of heart after our previous... conversation?” She trails her hand along the outside of the corpse's leg as she speaks.
Vuloo cautiously backs against the wall. "Madame Sorshen, we are not fooled by your ruse. We know that the real Sorshen is long since dead. So, why don't you tell us who you really are and perhaps we can negotiate a settlement that does not involve us destroying you."
Andel attempts to identify what sort of creature or arcane trickery this is.
Braelex holds her shard of pride, sensing if it being drawn to anything in the room, or on Sorshen.
The Shard of Pride points you directly at Relan.
Andel notes the woman appears to be human, but with features that aren't consistent with any of the known human ethnic groups. He doesn't notice anything arcane about her other than the gems embedded in her shoulders and upper arms appear to be ioun stones ... over 30 of them.
Relan advances to threaten her but does not strike. He readies to attack her should she move away or try to attack them with weapon or magic.