handing the sword out for inspectioni was thinking we could do all that once back in our HQ. Cause i certainly wasn't trained in using sword only simple weapons..
Thalrik, using your Spellcraft, you are able to identify the weapon as a +1 longsword. It is jagged and orangish in appearance, and it emits a very faint glow.
The hallway opens up to the South. Taking this path, you soon come across a split in the path that ends with two doors, one South one West. The West door appears very broken and slightly unhinged. It only takes a few minutes to clear an entry way. This door leads to what once must have been a grand staircase descending to the floors below. However, it seems years of neglect has left this stairway completely caved in and all but impossible to get past. If you listen very hard, you can hear faint sounds coming from the lower floors through the rubble, but nothing is clear enough to make out. All signs indicate that this staircase is something that will have to be searched at a later point in time...
The southern door is a finely carved stone door. Many intricate runes decorate its smooth surface. Surprisingly, it slides upon silently and without and effort. It opens up into a very odd room.
This strange room is a fifteen-foot-diameter sphere. Several objects float about the room, spinning lazily in space - a ragged book, a scroll, a bottle of wine, a dead raven surrounded by a halo of floating and writhing maggots, and a twisted iron wand with a forked tip. Yet perhaps the most unnerving aspect of the room is the walls, for they are plated in sheets of strange red metal that ripple every once in a while with silent black electricity that seems to coalesce into strange runes or even words far too often for the effect to be chance.
The room detects as magical, bearing an aura of transmutation.
"I wouldn't touch anything." Thalrik said with urgency at the sight of the room. The look on his face however conflicted with his statement, the half-elven man looking like he very much wanted to do just that...at least to some of it. "Come Fraadok, let us have a look, see what we can discern about this place."
Thalrik moved tentatively inside the room, Rikka scurrying out in a frenzy of curiosity.
EDIT:
The second that Thalrik steps into the room, he immediately begins to freely float about the room. His knowledge of spellcraft leads him to (correctly) assume that this chamber has somehow been enchanted with a permanent Levitate spell, and should be harmless if not annoying. He examines the floating items as he himself floats about.
First off, Thalrik is able to pick out some of the strange lightning runes as being ancient Thassilonian (a language he has studied). Snatches of words appear here and there in the shapes. Words relating to anger, wrath, and revenge. Nothing even close to a full thought ever seems to appear.
The wand most certainly detects as magical / still containing magic. The scroll is magical as well. The book detects very faintly as magical, most likely simply preserved as the book seems very, very old. Thalrik's knowledge of religion indicates that this book is an ancient prayer book to Lamashtu. It is written in a language you cannot read, but Thalrik hazards a guess that it is in Abyssal, due to the circumstance of it being dedicated to Lamashtu. The book also contains many wonderful woodcut illustrations of monsters killing things. Thalrik has only ever read about these tomes, but his studies tell him that such a book would almost read as a bestiary of the world's most horrific and cruel monsters.
The wine appears to be "mundane", but it probably tastes really good. Looks like a good year. Nothing else in the room clues you into this places function, however, it seems apparent to Thalrik that this room is a more recent addition, and probably was not part of the original structure.
"Miss Idril, I forget, can you search for traps," looking at Idril hopefully?
He steps into the Lamashtuian Death Trap with Thalrik and tries to decern any more information, avoiding touching the floating objects. Maybe there is a name on this book, or even a lable on the wine bottle. Maybe the scroll is open enough to read something.
Edit:
Fraadok, you come to the same conclusions as Thalrik. Mostly you can confirm this entire area appears to be dedicated to Lamashtu. However, you can also attest that worship of the demon goddess was not this catacomb's first or only purpose. It seems more likely that worshippers of Lamanshtu came later, or were simply allowed to coexist here. Regardless, at some point the worshippers took full control, converting the whole area to reverence of the demon mother.
The wine bottle appears to only be a few years old, and comes from a local Varisian vineyard. Logic would lead you to believe the wine bottle must be a recent acquisition. There is a note attached to the neck that reads, "Here is to toast our soon to be victory! The mentor to my love is as much a mother to me as to her. Cheers - Tsuto"
Oh, also, you are floating around as well.
Idril is positively giddy as she launches herself in the room. She bounces off the walls and swims lazily through the air with a giggle.
She also amuses herself with trying and failing to lasso objects as they fly through the air (except the raven).
"What? Check for traps?" She looks around. "I don't see any offhand. Isn't that what warriors are for?" She said suspicously innocently.
"Mage hand is such a useful spell Thalrik, one never stops finding ways to apply it." Thalrik thought, quoting his grandfathers teaching and simultaneously cursing himself for not preparing it. "How does that saying go, "Fortune favours the bold"." Floating next to the items, he reach out and grabbed the wand, pulling it quickly away from its position as if he expected the immediate area to become hot like a stove.
arthur watch all this with some express concern at the mention of the ancient lore
Thalrik grabs the wand and flinches as he expects something horrible to surely happen. However, after a few moments it is clear that the wand is not going to harm him. As he floats about upside down, he scrunches up his face and studies the magic device for a short while. He comes to the conclusion that this is a wand of shocking grasp (28 charges remaining.
Studying the scroll, you quickly recognize the magical writings and that of a Burning Hands spell (CL 3)
While Thalrik and Fraadok float about aimlessly, Idril seems to master this new found ability, and bounces herself about of her own will, having a blast. All of a sudden, a voice booms throughout the room.
"YOU STOLE FIZZY LIFTING DRINKS!!!"
"Well, lets us gather up these items and continue clearing this complex," Fraadok says happily after seeing no one blown to pieces, peppered with arrows, or burnt alive from fire turrets.
Edit: Fraadok uses his longspear to pole himself to the door.
Idril swollows nervously.
"Well then, perhaps we should leave.
She leaps for the exit.
Perhaps it takes longer than usual, but once there, she'll use her reinforced scarf to throw a line to haul in the others.
Having recovered the scroll, wand and book, Thalrik looked at the bottle and the disgusting raven carcass. "Do any of you want the bottle...or the raven?" he looked at the raven with a quizzical expression "Why would someone keep this here with all these other valuable items? Does its presence amongst them signify that it holds some form of value not readily apparent?"
He hang suspended in the air, as much continuing to ponder the question as waiting for input. Swimming to his side, Rikka began playfully orbiting his head, squeaking cheerfully.
Idril considers.
"Well, perhaps the bottle..."
From the exit, she extends her reinforced scarf. Then with Prestidigitation, she slowly manipulates the far end like a tentacle until it wraps around the bottle, then slowly and carefully draws it in to her again.
Looking at the label; She is unfamiliar with the vintage. Admiring the bottle, she discovers the note and reads it aloud.
She looks around.
"Who are Tsuto, and his Love, and her Mentor; Are they local I wonder?"
Tsuto is a misguided fool in love with someone who is trying to bring devils into the world a worshiper of Lamassu. Can you get the Raven also and lets get out we need to finish up cleaning this place
"I certainly can." Thalrik replied, holding out an outstretched finger and poking the raven in the direction of Arthur. "You carry it though." he added, blowing on the finger in an attempt to remove whatever might have gotten on it in the process.
He then proceeded to accept Idrils offered sash and get reeled back in.
tl;dr - Tsuto is in love with supposed to be dead evil lady and is himself an all around a - hole.
You all make it out of the strange floaty room, and decide to head back to the small room and investigate that door, as this way appears to hold nothing but dead ends.
The door is locked, but is in very poor shape. It takes only a few minutes to bash your way in. The crumbling remains of several chains and a long table clutter the floor of this room. To the south stand three doors, each bearing a strange symbol that resembles a seven-pointed star.
Searching the rubble uncovers the fragments of countless books and scrolls with bits of spiky writing in a strange language all over them. The three doors to the south appear to have once been prison cells. Within each is a single skeleton of a badly deformed humanoid; one has three brittle arms, another has an enormous misshapen skull, and the third has a rib cage that goes all the way down to its pelvis - a pelvis with stunted leg bones strew below its strangely flat girth.
While examining the torn pages, you discover a magical scroll under a broken chair. Studying it for a few minutes reveals it is a scroll of flaming sphere (CL 5th).
Idril, getting bored, wanders towards the southern pathway.
"What is this way?"
i don't know so lets check it out says arthur moving forward
Heading back through the prison, you arrive at the small room where the statue crumbled and you pulled out a magic ranseur. A passage extends East from this room, as well as the Southern passage you come from initially.
Taking the southern passage, you come back to the fork you passed earlier, this time taking the Eastern path. After a short walk, the tunnel widens here into what appears to have once been a small shrine, for to the northeast, steps lead up to a platform of gray stone. Sitting atop the platform is an ancient altar, little more than a jagged block of black marble with a shallow concavity on top of it. This basin is filled with what appears to be filthy water. Two large, intricately carved double doors stand in the southeast.
If fraadok sees no obvious danger in the room he does the follwing.
Fraadok will cast Guidance, look at the shrine from a distance and then cast Guidance and Detect Magic.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
On Going Effects: Detect Magic, 2 min
Having steadily grown more confident in Rikka, Thalrik softly asked her to look around the room. He himself went to check the doors, looking for signs or markings upon them.
arthur will move in the room and stand guard at the great double door while the rest of the party does its usual investigation
Fraadok, you are unsure exactly what this liquid is, but you can tell it bears an aura of evil an transmutation. Your knowledge of religion tells you that since this is apparently a shrine to lamashtu, and she loves demons and monsters an mutants, that this vile liquid probably does horrible horrible things and shouldn't be touched.
Besides that, noone sees or hears anything. Eerily silent in fact.
Not particularly lol.
The doors appear to be made of a smooth hewn stone. They are covered in intricate carvings depicting the shapes of animal headed humanoids and other monstrous deformed creatures involved in all sorts of heinous acts. The carvings appear to be filled in with gold and other precious metals. The doors are very old and appear to simply swing inward when pressed upon. They are seemingly unlocked.
"Be careful of these waters. While I cannot know the exact results of touching the corrupt fluid, the shrine is dedicated to the Mother of Madness and Monsters, so I can only image the worse.", thoughts race to his mind of the mutated goblin as soon as the words come out of his mouth.
"Once we have cleared the complex, I would like to return with proper tools and equipment to destroy this shrine of evil."
"I Must confess to some professional curiosity about this room. Although I do not disagree with you on the fate of the alter, I should like a brief time to study it beforehand. This place bears many traces of Thassilon, and I would like everything that may be from that time to be documented." Lightly pushing the left door slightly open he added over his shoulder "But that's for the future, these doors are what concern the present."
Arthur is ready to move Inside weapons in hand
The door swings inwards without a sound other than a slight thud as it hits the wall upon swinging fully open. You can hear the faint sound what seems to be bubbling water and a steady yet quiet rhythmic beating that sounds somewhat like tiny wings.
This huge room looks like nothing more than an immense underground cathedral. Stone doors stand to either side of the entrance, hanging slightly ajar. Beyond this, the walls are carved with strange, spiky runes, similar to those found on the doors.
In the center of the room is a large pool, with a ring of polished human skulls balanced on stone spikes arranged in a circle around the deeper midsection. At the far end of the room, a pair of stone stairways leads up to a pulpit on which sits a marble altar engraved with a giant seven-pointed star.
In the middle of the ring of skulls stands another pool, this one triangular and filled with churning bubbling water that looks almost like translucent lava. Yet while wisps of what look like heat and steam rise from the strange orange liquid, the room itself is deathly cold.
Idril moves to (W,22) and opens the door there.
Behind the door is what appears to once have been a closet. It is barren and empty now save dust and cobwebs.
Arthur will move inside in order to let his compagnion investigate the place
Idril idly taps the walls in the closet with her staff.
"Hmph. Nothing but dust and cobwebs in here..." She stops as a thought strikes her.
She sticks her head out into the main chamber.
"Wait, there's dust and cobwebs in this closet; do you see anything like that out there? Because, if there isn't..."
"Go on..." Thalrik said, arching his brow with curiosity. He looked rather sceptical however "What could she possibly think of that I havnt?"
Idril gares at Thalrik.
"Then the chamber is visited enough to keep it clean. And if we wait here in ambush our quarry, whoever it is, will come to us. Is that plan enough for you, o mighty wizard?"
Fraadok thinks about Idril's comments and her impressive deductive reasoning.
"Idril has a point, this room is much cleaner then the rest. Maybe an ambush is in order, it would be nice if we had the upper hand for a change."
"We should probably keep our voices down, so that the only things our target hears when they come in is the bubbling of the liquid in the pool and that constant flapping sound."
[dice=Bluff, Send secret message to party DC15]1d20+2[/dice]
Fraadok concentrates to scan the room to look for the source.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
On Going Effects: Detect Magic, 15 rounds;
Fraadok, the pool in the center of the room emits a very strong aura of necromancy. The sounds of wing beats are very faint and intermittent, and in contrast with the bubbling of the well, it is nigh impossible to determine their exact location. Also, you successfully send your message.
The party slowly begins to enter the chamber, carefully scanning about as they do.
As you progress further into the room, the airs begins to get much colder
Once everyone is fully inside the room, the torches along the wall suddenly blow out, leaving the only lighting in the room coming from the eerie orangish glow coming from the pool.
As soon as the lights go, the stone doors slam shut behind you! You hear an ear-piercing scream as the pool's light appears to pulsate and strange eerie lights start to flicker frantically about.
A tiny, horned creature with bat-like leathery wings suddenly appears with a flash flying over one end of the pool. This creature bears obvious signs of a female. She looks pissed. And like this.
"Who is it that dares disturb my Mother's sanctum?! You think that you can stop her? This is but the first domino, you fools! My dearest student will soon have the entirety of the goblin clans united at Thistletop under the banner of the Mother of Demons, and Lamashtu herself will know that her servant Erylium masterminded this all for her glory! Do you think that your precious town of Sandpoint will be able to stand before this army or Nualia's mighty wrath and hatred? This is the beginning of the end, and it starts with your deaths!"
Ending her monologue, she lets out another ear-piercing screech as she produces a dagger from within her gown. Slashing her own wrist, she lets her blood fall into the bubbling waters below. As soon as the blood hits the pool there is a bright flash and a large rubbling. The water appears to almost boil, and then, with a huge splash, a Sinspawn jumps out of the pool! After this, the water's glow diminishes noticeably.
As the glow in the well diminishes, the creature gives a sudden look of worry upon seeing it glow less bright.
This creature is a Quasit, a tiny demon from the Abyss. They are formed from living souls when a spell caster wishes to summon one as a familiar. Once bound, most quasits will wait until the caster makes an error, allowing it to free itself and live unbound. Some, however, do develop a close bond or even friendship with the spell caster, and will follow them to the after life.
This particular quasit most certainly has not served a caster in a long, long while.
Quasits have the ability to alter their shape and cast detect good/magic and invisibility at will. Sometimes, their claws are also capable of secreting poison.
Quasits are immune to electricity and poison, and they have resistance against acid, cold, and fire. They also have fast healing capabilities and damage reduction cold iron/good
This was the moment Thalrik had been waiting for, something to prove he wasnt just a conjurer of cheap cantrips! Rushing forward with a reaction time which surprised himself as much as anyone else, he unleashed a multi-colored spray upon his enemies, sparks and a chorus of sound spraying everywhere.
"Kill her before she turns invisible!"
Ok, so our Initiative Order is:
1. Thalrik
2. Erylium (little flying imp boss thing)
3. Idril
4. Sinspawn
5. Arthur
6. Fraadok
Round 1
Thalrik rushes forward with the quickness of a jaguar king and unleashes a color spray upon both enemies before they can react to what he is doing (they thought he would be much more frightened by their dramatic entrance, but what can you do?)
The baddie fails its will save and is stunned for 1 round!
She drops her dagger and it falls with a small splash into the pool below. The creature, however, manages to keep herself hovering and does not fall herself.
______________________________________________________________
Thalrik, the Sinspawn has some SR, so let's see if he is effected...
... and Thalrik manages to overcome the Sinspawn's resistances to his spell!
The Sinspawn is blinded and stunned for rounds, and then stunned for another 1 round.
________________________________________________________________
Idril will whip our her reinforced scarf and sling a stone at the tiny flying demon!
But her attack flies low, hitting with a splash into the pool.
_________________________________________________________________
Fraadok retrieves his wand of Magic Weapon, and use it to enhance Arthur's club.
When steps 5 foot forward, longspear equipped.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
On Going Effects: Detect Magic, 14 rounds;
Round 1
Yady yada. Like we haven't heard that one before. Actually with the help of these fine ladies and gents, Yup i really think we can stop those goblin's from putting the town under the torch. And you my friend should take care of the here and now says arthur longing agianst the demon
Round 1
Edit: I took a look, and Arthur, you would need to move 30' to get to the little demon, so I'm going to have you attack the sinspawn instead.
Realizing he would not be able to reach the winged creature before it was able to move away, he decides to remove the threat of the Sinspawn before it regains its senses.
Arthur's club manages to connect with the vile Sinspawn, dealing 6 damage! (Though you feel that if it hadn't been all stunned and stuff, you probably wouldn't have even gotten close to landing that blow)
The tiny demon screeches between clenched jaws and it seems she is attempting to talk, but she can't seem to form the proper words and just sorta mumbles.
Knowing that the foul little creature might turn invisible any second, Thalrik ran up and tried to grab it, arms flailing uselessly as he tried to grab hold. All the while he was yelling a loud "aaaaaaah" seemingly going for a roar but managing nothing of the sort. He really did look rather pitiful.