Moving together, you walk down the corridor and round the corridor, carefully looking for traps. The opening leads into a square room, of which the walls, floor and ceiling are decorated with a complex mosaic depicting an immense swarm of angry wasps. Subtly worked into the artwork, single doors are set into the northern and southern walls.
Absinthe is alerted to danger, yet does not notice any traps. You enter the room and start to examine the two exits. Just then, Melianthe picks up a low hiss, like the sound of sand through an hourglass, and a *click*.
Just then, long needles extend out from the thousands of wasps, piercing with numbing poison!
;
;
;
;
;
The needles retract as quickly as they attack. Melianthe hears the hissing sound start again.
Melianthe Withdraws from the room. "Ok, out!," she yelps.
"It will happen again!"
Once out of the room, Mel will scan the ceiling for magic to see if this can somehow be magically disarmed (?).
Segang happily follows the witch out of the stabby room.
Absinthe curses at the sting and the numb feeling that spreads through her body, then hurries ahead of the group.
Stung by the wasp trap, you retreat back into the corridor.
Standing just outside of the room Segang ponders Now what? Can those stings be disabled? Did we step on some pressure plate?
"One endeavours to find out," Absinthe growls, as she subjects the room to an intense study.
"I could try to fly through the room, but there's no guarantee I can find something on the other side of the room to disarm it," says Melianthe. "Labyrinths. So arbitrary."
Absinthe spends several minutes carefully searching the edges of the room, careful not to enter and set off the trap once more. She determines the trap is triggered by a floor weight sensor, but she is unable to disable it at first try.
"That is one word for them, sister Mel," Absinthe says while she continues to try and jam the floor trap.
With a little more time and refocused effort, Abisnthe is able to disable the trap's floor sensor.
"On to the next disaster," Absinthe says as she stands up.
"I suppose we aren't in a hurry, so we should take all the time we need to inspect each room--provided there isn't a demon or sphinx waiting," says Melianthe. "Good work, Absinthe."
Seren rubs his arm where he was injected as Absinthe disarms the trap, "That sucked, let's not do that again."
With the wasp trap disabled, you are able to move into the room and safely check the doors to the north and south. Finding no traps, you open them to see what lies beyond.
The north door leads to an octagonal room, empty other than a six-inch-tall bronze dais on the floor that supports a polished column of black marble. The black stone seems to be vibrating softly, filling the air with a faint hum.
The south door opens to a long, narrow hallway. Eight alcoves line the walls. Inside each alcove stands a human-sized, upright iron casket, the image of a sobbing woman decorating its lid. The hallway’s floor gleams bright red, a mosaic of tiny red stones giving the appearance that the hall is awash in blood.
"What is wrong with these people to voluntarily build this below their home? This goes beyond wealthy crime family, don't you think?" Seren breaks his previous nervous silence with nervous chatter, switching his veil almost unconsciously to another disguise taking on the form of the drunk Watchman, Grau.
He then whispers, "Please, no vampires ... please, no vampires."
"Let's prepare." Melianthe applies the Ward Hex to Segang. "No falling asleep on the job this time."
She summons a Mount and hops on. "I'll give Jarha the Fortune Hex--I think I've given it to Segang and Abby already. And then, we'll start prying open blood-goddess vampire tombs. You know that's what they are, Seren!"She gives a throaty chuckle.
Jarha, invisibly, waits for the party to decide how to proceed with this latest bizarre situation.
If we are determined to search this whole place, lets start with this smaller room with no visible exits. Segang suggests. [b]You search there Ab and I'll take a look down this passage to the south. He moves to the entrance and scans the hall without yet entering it.
Without entering, Jarha scrutinizes the room to the North:
Jarha does not pick out any obvious dangers. The soft vibrations coming from the stone are soothing.
*
To the south, Segang gets a closer look at the grusome 'artwork'. While disturbing, he does not spot a visible trap.
Jarha invisibly stealthes into the room and looks around for exits, traps, or other hidden details.
Absinthe adds her efforts to Jarha's.
Melianthe dutifully Detects Magic.
Jarha and Absinthe search the meditation chamber carefully and find no traps or triggers.
Melianthe detects a strong aura of conjuration magic from the humming stone.
"Seren...what's that spell on the stone?"
Seren moves over hesitantly to inspect the stone, then gets an interested look on jis face, "Huh, it's some sort of arcane revitalization device. Brings back lost spells, heals drained spirit."
"Should one of us try it out? I'm not in need, but maybe one of you is."
I have no need of this device. But if it is a safe room, it is good to know that we have a place we can rest. Should we need to rest that is.
"Abby needs it. And I agree, we should mark this place. Thank you, Seren.
"I'm not too low on spells right now..." says Melianthe, thoughtfully.
"Thank you, sister Mel, one can use this," Abby says -- and touches the stone.
Id wanna keep it for the restoration benefit more than the spell slots, so recommend holding off. Remember vampires!
Absinthe touches the stone and feels the effects of the wasp poison fade away. She feels instantly refreshed, rested and invigorated, as if just after a long rest in a comfortable bed.
"Shall we proceed, then? Through and to the south or back to spin the wheek?"
South. Segang recommends.
"Sounds good to me."
"Maybe a scout first, past these wailing maidens," says Melianthe.
"On it," Absinthe says, as she proceeds to move forward -- taking her sweet time.
Jarha will gather energy and wait invisibly at the entrance to the corridor, ready to help Absinthe if needed.
Absinthe leads the way, slow and careful, checking every possible inch before moving forward. The process is laborious, taking a couple minutes for each yard or two of progress. The caution bears fruit, however, as she finds the indications of a pressure plate on the floor between the first set of alcoves.
It appears to be a combination of mechanical and magical trap that tilts the floor towards the space between the statues and then barraging the victim with sonic pulses from the western maiden. While they try to regain balance, the long spears drive out from the eastern maiden to impale any in the alcove.
"Can you disarm it, Abby?" says Melianthe cautiously. Her ashy face turns towards the sculptures. "At least they aren't vampires."