Dervak's mind is soothed by the spiritual power granted to Mara by her parents and he enters the room. After waiting a second nothing happens. Going to each aura Dervak finds lurking between the pages, as overly expensive bookmarks, are four scrolls: Mind Fog, Arcane Eye, Object Possession, and Phantasmal Killer.
"whoa... everything is like... so peaceful..."
Dervak abandons the life of a Bloodrager to become a Serene Barbarian.
Then he realizes he is not interested in 3pp, and decides to feel the Rage again.
But, a controlled rage. He is a civilized Bloodrager after all.
He gives the scrolls to Theophilus.
Once Dervak recovered the scrolls, Mara recovered the prayer she had just recited using her pearly of power.
After healing herself again with her wand, dhe suggested to her allies, "I guess we should turn the angel heads and search for the way down to the next level. I think there's a statue just around the corner."
Theophilus watches with suspenseful anticipation, as Dervak--serenely--glides into the WTF Chamber.
Is he performing a waltz?
The White Rabbit nods in approval.
Theophilus gladly takes the scrolls. He immediately hands them to The White Rabbit.
All but the Mind Fog, I believe.
The White Rabbit nods while tying on a bib.
Pocky is pleasantly surprised by the lack of crazy yelling ghosts. “That went well,” she says in a congratulatory tone.
"Yes, there is that angel head. Should we first check out this corridor here? We don't know where Elder Lythiin might be."
Dervak looks down the corridor directly east of where he is on the map.
All but the Mind Fog, I believe.
As Dervak steps to the mouth of the corridor he and the rest of the party start to hear a cacophony of words in some foreign language from at least a dozen different voices. After listening for a second you determine that it is not language, but babbling nonsense.
Before anyone has any time to react a misty form that at first looks like a wave of melting wax tumbles down the hallway. Soon enough you realize its a pile of molten flesh with half-formed eyes, toothless mouths, and countless malformed organs that constantly shift and dissolve only to reform a moment later.
A veiny pseudopod crashes into Dervak, but his shield spell robs it of enough momentum that when it strikes his breastplate he's only jostled and not hurt.
The constant jibberish begins to distract and disconcert you.
Dervak is distracted by the insane babbling. He rages (+4 Str), attacks once, and steps back to let his allies into the fight.
Ci Ci takes a deep breath and focuses her power on the blob of flesh and mouths.
”Burrnnn, you sonofab*%@*!” she says, pointing at the thing.
Theophilus screams in terror, as the I-bet-it's-better-than-a-Gibbering Mouther sucker slams Dervak!
The White Rabbit begins working on a better name.
The White Rabbit sadly shakes his head.
It's as if a million voices are crying out; but the Deathstar's weapons misfired; so they aren't being silenced!
Theo staggared; decides to Misfortune Hex the beastie!
She wasn't sure what this thing was, but it seemed to be affecting Dervak and Theo in some way. After moving back behind Pocky, she concentrated, causing a stream of twinkling particles to flow from her towards the horror.
Pocky resists whatever the creature is attempting. She sinks into Jabbing Master stance and soars through the air and strikes!
Allegra tunes out the muttering monster and focuses on the battle at hand. She utters the swiftest of prayers to Torag to fortify her equipment, then she steps up and swings at the creature from around the corner.
Dervak swings at the creature but since he’s focused on defense his falchion comes up short. Theo tries to use the force but the not-a-mouther does not fall for such simple tricks. Pocky kicks the thing twice and finds its rubbery body just absorbs the blows, her third kick was aimed at a passing clump of mist. Allegra plants her axe into the creature with a sickening squelch but it doesn’t seem to care or notice about how much of a badass she is.
Theophilus looks aghast at the monstrosity. The gentleman begins to do stretches; deep knee bends, a few waist bends and even 3! push ups!
The White Rabbit is seen jumping rope....
Ci Ci extends her hand in the direction of the point she last saw the amorphous thing, and shouts, "FLASH!"
Mara moved beyond Dervak bestowed the favor of the heavens on him.
Ci Ci's brilliant flash of light briefly lights up the fog surrounding the not-a-gibbering-mouther but it doesn't seem to react or notice.
The mass of organs rolls out into the hallway and over Pocky. Dervak and Allegra work together to push it back, but it seems the halfling has got stock in between some fleshy folds and is squeezed tightly.
Theophilus watches in shock the sudden disappearance of Pocky! The Witch doubles his efforts.
Ci Ci grinds her teeth as the thing shakes of her power. she refocuses her mind and lashes out again.
"I said, FLASH! Ahhhhh!" she screams at the thing.
(Reflex Save, DC 19 or be Blinded for 1d4 rounds, Successful save results in Dazzled for 1d4 rounds)
Pocky can’t possibly overpower this thing. She fights for her life, charging her limbs with lightning!
“I have no choice but to go down fighting.”
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Mara barged her way beside Dervak to help Pocky, who sounded like she was in distress, "Excuse me, the little one needs help!" The Shaman opened a portal next to the monk and shunted her hehind the bloodrager.
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Dervak shakes off the effect of the abomination's insane babbling.
The bloodrager is alarmed at the creature's prowess, and wary of its many flailing tentacles, but he sees no other option than to step up and defend his allies.
He attacks the unnamable monstrosity from beyond reality, his Furious Falchion crackling with eldritch power.
Allegra continues her assault on the beast.
Theophilus, dangerously close to the not-a-gibbering mouther, gives it one of his special curses, sucking the luck out of it. Unfortunately there’s only so much bad luck can do and one of the things it can't do is make it vulnerable to Ci Ci’s blinding flash of light.
Pocky doesn’t stop kicking! She shoves her foot hard into one of the thing’s malformed mouths and zaps it with crackling electricity twice. The thing clamps down on her legs and she can no longer get the leverage she needs. Pocky expects it to seize up and twitch from her lightning feet but it doesn’t seem to react much. Before she gets squished permanently Mara sends Pocky to relative safety.
Dervak steps up and delivers two biting cuts but finds nothing that could be construed as a vital organ. Allegra does a big chop but it is largely symbolic.
An explosion of melted flesh and exposed organs soon follows. Allegra and Dervak are miraculously unharmed, if a bit more moist, but Theo is not so lucky and finds himself on the receiving end of an unwanted hug.
Mara sensed Theo's life force draping, even through she couldn't see the reason through the fog. She stepped next to the hatter, and seeing that he too had tentacles wrapped around him, opened another portal and repeated the trick that she'd done for Pocky. "Best to keep back from the monster that want's to hug you!", she advised as she moved him to a safer place; once again she denied the otherworldly horror its dinner.
Dervak thanks his lucky stars that he escaped unscathed, but notes that his mad hatter friend is in trouble. Fortunately, Mara is there to save Theophilus.
"Thank you Mara!"
Dervak attacks the monstrosity, throwing caution to the wind.
He then steps aside to make room for Allegra (or Pocky).
“Thank you, Mara. Whatever becomes of me, know you did all you can.”
Pocky waits for Ci-Ci and Allegra to strike, requesting of the latter, “Allegra, would you be a dear and sidestep a bit to the center position?”
Only after the others strike does Pocky leap at the massive foe!
If the creature is still alive, Pocky strikes once more!
"Burrnn!" Ci Ci screams, as she extends her hand and unleashes a beam of white-hot light at the thing.
Dervak and Pocky tag team the monstrosity and Pocky gets into the rhythm of the fight and her furry feet of fury batter the globular mass of flesh. After the barrage from her feet and Dervak's blade it collapses filling the area with quickly dissolving flesh, blood, and random organs.
With the creature dispatched you are able to explore the room.
This side room is similar to those in other parts of the Mysterium, clogged with, sagging shelves brimming with books, relics, and other arcane curiosities. Nearly all the once-shelved books lie scattered across the floor in a haphazard mess. In the southeastern corner, wooden shelves lay in jagged splinters with the bloody cassock of a Steward elder among a pile of destroyed books. You're reasonably certain the broken and battered corpse is that of Elder Lythiin.
Mara asked the Hatter, "Theo, can you heal Pocky this time? She's a little worse for wear after her close encounter with that... [i]thing".
explored the side room and discovered a body. After examining it, she told her comrades, "Bad news to report to Elder Thyrr, I'm afraid; I think this is the body of Elder Lythiin."
She surveyed the shelves, and the books strewn across the floor. "I'm going to scan for magic auras. Hopefully it won't trigger an event like the previous room, but you might want to stand back just in case."
Pocky is quite pleased with her devastating attack. Looking over the ridiculous amount of organs strewn about, she says, “I wonder, would my heart have become part of the collective? Or would I have been digested in one of its many stomachs.
“A mystery best left unsolved.”
Hearing Mara, Pocky expresses her gratitude in advance. “I would appreciate any healing magic you can provide. My ability to self-heal is rather limited.”
She does, however, perform her only magic trick—which is to will water into her cup so she can take a swig.
"Mara, can you check Theophilus and Pocky? Last time Theophilus got grabbed by something gruesome down here, he got... kind of sick."
Dervak turns to Allegra. "Well done blocking those blows. Your armor is strong."
He cleans off his falchion and catches his breath.
Once the party is healed up and ready to move on, he will reactivate his Wand of Shield (now at 32 charges).
Purity of Body (Ex): At 5th level, a monk gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.
“My immune system is a better fighter than I am,” Pocky says lightheartedly, in spite of the pain kicking in from the monster’s crushing force. “Only the pure may be housed in the inner dome at the convent. Of body, that is—not of soul. Being a nun is not synonymous with being a saint, and the greatest saints are those who had recognized their own sin, and had overcompensated in their penance.
“Forgive the oversharing.” She offers a friendly smile. Or maybe the look is one of gratitude. “The short of it is that any member of The Sisterhood who dons the silver—” She points out her holy symbol: a fan-shaped silver brooch depicting a rainbow joining silver-lined clouds, one black, one white. “—does not get sick.”
"Is that so?" replies Dervak.
"We have encountered a few things that do not follow the laws of reality as you know them."
Pocky nods. “It would be prudent to let the healer be thorough.”
She won’t object Mara checking for disease, or a similar ailment.
Mara gives Theo and Pocky a good looking over and finds no evidence of the infestation of degenerate flesh as before.
In the silence after the battle, Ci Ci pulls her cloak around herself and shivers, as if suddenly struck by a chilly breeze.
”My power did nothing to that thing,” she says to no one in particular. ”I’m sorry. I’m not usually this useless.”
Mara replied to Ci Ci, "It's not just you; I too have a hard time guessing what type of magic will be effective. I think Theo's having a lot of trouble too."
Pocky says, “Aella forgive me for saying this, but I believe we can rule out lightning.”
On the body of the Elder you find the following magical items: Chainmail of mental focus
A pale sapphire ring of feather falling
A leather and iron necklace of adaptation
A rod of escape
A potion of gaseous form
Hidden in a hollow of a book: Ring of Blood Calling
"Are we obligated to return his personal affects, or are we free to claim them?" Ci Ci asks, sensing the magical aura on each of them.
Mara spent a few minutes examining the newly-found magic items and explained their properties to the others.
She replied to Ci-Ci, "We didn't discuss that, but I think we can certainly use them to complete our task here in the Mysterium"
"Yeah, I bet we can use them for now and do whatever the other Elder wants with the stuff afterwards.
Are we ready to go? Can somebody heal Pocky?"
Unless someone else wants it, Pocky will don the ring, saying, “I can think of multiple uses for controlling my fall, however situational, if no one objects to my borrowing the ring.” If offered the rod, she is content to carry it.
But these are simply tools. It is the healing she needs most of all. She bows to whoever is about to heal her, then waits patiently.
Theophilus looks absolutely stunned! He begins arguing with The White Rabbit.
And why hasn't our creator gotten posts updates!
Allegra can help heal Pocky with Infernal Healing charges but that will take a while.
"That was certainly a tough brute of a...thing. I'll hold on to this for now," she says, picking up the ring of Blood Calling. "I can bargain with the bound devil if we have a need for it."
Ci Ci picks up the necklace, and places it around her neck, removing the small talisman and placing it in her pouch in the the process.
"Likewise," she says, echoing Allegra. "We can decide what to do with it on a more permanent basis once we get out of here."
After a moment, she takes a deep breath, and draws upon her power, causing her hand to become wreathed in flames. She reaches toward Pocky and places the burning hand on her.
"Don't worry, it's not that kind of fire. It will help."
"I can only do that one more time today. I'd prefer to save it for a moment when death is imminent."