One of the abomination's eyes gently taps against the wall near the entrance where you found a secret door. "The door can only be opened from the other side. He's held in an oubliette. Bring him back here. "
"Or..." Ci Ci replies. "We can just get rid of the door. You may want to step back."
Once the area is clear, he draws upon her power and extends her hand towards the spot on the wall where the secret door was located.
"Diasporatum!"
Rows of cell doors, each fit with a small barred window, ring the outer edges of this room. At the center of the chamber is a dark pit in the stone masonry floor. A thick layer of dust lies on the floor, marred by a recent set of footprints. All but one of the cells hang open, the keys to the cells are suspended on a small hook pounded into the wall near the top of the 20 ft high ceiling. The pit is 30 ft deep with no handholds and extremely smooth walls.
Mara approached the pit and looked down, trying to spot someone at the bottom. She called down, "Erich Zann?"
Dervak looks down into the pit as well.
"I can fly down there to get him if needed."
Theophilus stays with thier Host.
Fancy a game of cards?
THe White Rabbit is seen wearing his pit boss outfit.
Down into the darkness Mara sees a stooped, shabby little old man whose seen better days. His cheeks are sunken in, and his simple clothes are ragged. Still he possess a merry, almost mad, twinkle in his clear blue eyes.
Theo plays a few rounds of euchre with their host. But quickly question the wisdom of letting their partner pair up with one of its eyes.
Mara explained to the man what she was about to do, "Hello there, my name is Mara! I'm going to get you out of there. I'm going to create a short range dimensional portal to move you up here beside me. Please don't resist, and you should be free momentarily."
"Dervak, can you be ready to steady him, so he doesn't fall back into the pit?"
Once everyone was in position, she opened a wormhole in the fabric of space, and shunted the man that she presumed was Erich Zann onto the ground beside her.
The aging man lets out a startled yelp as he's teleported. As you speak to him his satyr-like face twists in both anger and fear. Mara's obvious friendliness finally melts his facade as he cocks his head curiously.
One of the eyes taps Zann on the forehead and some of his confusion is dispelled, but he still does not speak.
The hyakume sounds in your head, "Our business is done, leave the rest of the vampires to me."
Ranalus holds the man steady, but tries his best to not seem aggressive.
He nods briefly to the Hyakume.
Then he turns to Erich Zann.
"Can you speak?"
If he doesn't... well, we managed before.
"We have your violin."
Mara healed the old man's wounds, in the hopes that it would reassure him. Then she assessed the old man's physical condition.
She tried several different languages to see if she could get get a verbal response from him.
Theophilus glances at the White Rabbit. The White Rabbit nods twice. Theophilus looks at the Hyakume. Theophilus looks at his cards. Theophilus looks at the White Rabbit.
The White Rabbit is seen wearing a potato sack with potatoes glued to it with their eyes peeking everywhere.....
Fold!
The man clutches his viol defensively when he's reunited with it. He tests it out, playing a fugue, with a recurrent passage of a most captivating quality.
A glimmer of recognition crosses Zann's face but its followed by anger and fear as Mara speaks in the twisting foul language common to aberrations. Still the man does not speak. Mara determines that he might not be able to.
Zann holds his thumb against his index and middle finger and moves it around in a writing motion.
Dervak listens with appreciation as the man plays his viol.
But, like Erich Zann, he shudders at the Aklo. He knows the language, a vestige of things long gone. "Yeah, don't do that one, Mara."
"Uh, yeah, we did have writing stuff when we met that Ellery guy... I don't know where it is... I bet we can find something if nobody here has it."
Theophilus quickly begins to gather up his cards, chips, and free fancy umbrellas from his free drinks from the casino.
Was such a shame that I got another Ace on both the river and the turn. Luck, right!
He then smiles as he ventures off to find what the others have been up to all this time....
Seeing his good friend Dervak rummaging through his pack, Theo saddles up next to him.
Whatcha look'n fer?
The White Rabbit is seen wearing his scribe outfit; complete with pen and paper from Theo's artisan kit.
Zann takes a look at the gnawed bits of paper and slobbered upon pen from White Rabbit and pales. He looks about the room, upon spying the keys on the ceiling plays a shrill note on his viol. The keys rattle and fly off their hook and into Zann's waiting hands hands.
He ambles over to the only closed cell and struggles a little bit to get it open. But once he does, he's able to pull out a wooden bucket which one by one he pulls the following items: a notebook, a quill and bottle of ink, a water flask, half a loaf of stale bread.
He writes in succession in unfamiliar script:
Sprichst du Deutsch?
Parlez-vous français?
Do you speak English?
Finally and reluctantly he writes in Aklo:
Thank you for retrieving me from my capture and returning my viol to me. Yes I am Erich Zann.
Seeing Mr Zann's discomfort, Mara recited a prayer and then responded in one his preferred languages,"I have cast a spell to allow me to understand your languages; allow me to introduce myself. I am Mara, and these are my friends: Ci Ci, Dervak and Theophilus. You must be hungry; I can offer you some rations for now. I apologize for not having something more familiar to you, but we can provide something different once we're away from this manor."
She opened her pack and retrieved some rations to offer Erich Zann.
"I gather that you've been held prisoner here for quite some time?"
"Are you injured," Ci Ci asks him through Mara. "Do you need healing?"
He writes, "Not long. A few days perhaps, and I am fine. We should escape from here. I'll lead you back to my nexus."
Theophilus snaps his fingers.
We still need to perform a ritual on the star stelae in this nexus before leaving.
Theo winks.
The White Rabbit is seen wearing a ceremonial outfit for said ritual.
"The rest of you are good at that stuff," notes Dervak.
"I will stand guard and try to keep you safe while you do it.
Do we want to rest soon? It is nearly midnight.
How far is it to the Star Stelae?"
Mara said to the others, "We should get well away from here before midnight."
She explained to Erich, "Apparently tonight is the Blood Moon Festival, when vampires who are unaware of their true nature will suddenly remember their primal urges! Or so I gather; the estate above us is filled with Lord Avaric's Vampire guests. Lord Avaric himself will not be joining the activities, having encountered an unexpected burst of intense stellar radiation a few minutes ago.
"I possess magical flight, and I can likely carry you if need be."
The aged man writes furiously in German, ”Lord Eldarius told me that the Stelae is in the center of a vineyard that Avaric’s people tend.” He thinks for a moment and catches on quickly, ”One of the cities of your world is being devoured by Carcosa? I will do what I can to help, but I must return to the Paris Nexus after.”
Small paths run between rows of dark grape vines that stand just over five feet tall. In the center of the field a mass of misshapen vines gather in a tumorous pile that has a vague tree-like quality, looking at it puts you at ill-ease. Near this tree stands the Star Stelae of Aevan-Vhor.
Assuming Mara translates, Dervak will thank Erich for his offer of assistance.
The tree looks disquieting, but Dervak notices nothing specific about it or anything else nearby.
Ci Ci shudders at the sight of the tree, but manages to hold back the nausea threatening to foment in her guts.
"I won't be offended if one or all of you want me to burn this thing to the ground," Ci Ci offers.
Once they got to the vinyard, Mara surveyed the pile of misshapen vines with a practiced eye, declaring. "There's a pair of dark, glowing eyes staring from the vines in the center of the field!'
She stopped to study the vines, consulting her ancestors for advice, but they didn't know much about them either.
Theophilus walks along with the others. He nervously watches each shriveled and dried grape with caution.
Those grapes have eyes!
He looks a bit confused as to why those grapes are blinking at them.
The large tumorous and misshapen mass of vines rouses from its hiding spot amid the rows of the vineyard. The lumbering vaguely humanoid shape is heavily laden with dark red fruit, and its face, marked only by a pair of glowing crimson eyes regards you with malice.
Theophilus decides to activate his Flight Hex. He then ventures 15' into the air, while moving a bit south.
Dervak, if you could convince it to get within 60' of me?
Mara concentrated, speeding up the flow of time for her friends. Then she stepped back slightly and waited to see what the creature would do.
In the blink of an eye the monstrous mass of terrible tumorous vines and bloodfruits melts into field only to rise from the ground, crossing half the field in the blink of an eye. A vine at least thirty feet long lashes out at the witch who should be careful what he wishes for. It pulls him a down and closer into the field and grasping pull disappears into the ground only to rise again and pull the witch farther and farther into the field. The multitude of biting thorns spill the blood of the witch into the field.
Erich takes up his viol setting the score for this battle.
Shocked at the speed with which the enemy plant creature attacked, Mara recited a prayer, imploring, "Mommy, we need some orcish battle fervor!"
Then she moved up and took cover behind a row of vines
Ci Ci draws upon her power and directs it down upon the thing.
"Immolatus!"
She then draws upon her power again, channeling it through the rod.
"FLASH! Ahhhhhh!"
Theo straightens his grand Hat and presses down his newly wrinkled clothing.
Just rude!
He winks at Dervak.
Not too certain that was what I meant.
"Theophilus, get me close to it!"
(+50% for empowerment = 22 points.)
Theophilus shakes his head, attempting to clear the cobwebs out!
My dear Dervak, I am a bit opposed to actually casting any spells while this Plant is occupied with me.
The Witch uses a Hex on it instead!
He then flies 5' upwards.
Some of the vines begins to wilt and wither as she unleashes her power on the creature, but it doesn't burn much or start on fire. It seems unaffected at all by Ci Ci's flash.
Theo tries to escape it but the vines grasp and pull him tight.
Dervak casts Monstrous Physique II. He becomes huge and shaggy, his face turning animalistic and feral. His sword and armor grow along with him.
He enters a rage, preparing to end this evil tree as quickly as possible.
Mara spoke a command word to loosen the plant creature's hold on Theo, and give him a chance to escape. Then she moved back to Dervak and told him quickly, "Moving you across the rows of vines!" She concentrated, opening a wormhole to transport him to a spot with a clear charge lane to the enemy.
Ci Ci flies over the hedge and positions herself with a clear line of sight down the row towards the thing. She calls on, and unleashes her power.
"Diasporatum!"
220 points of damage! Unless...
Bits of the burned parts of it regrow rapidly as it crushes the remaining life out of the witch, but as it does so it begins to wilt and die. It's piercing red eyes turn to Mara.
Ci Ci's green ray strikes the center of the plant and completely disintegrates the monstrous creature.
Erich hobbles up to the bleeding form of Theo as fast as he can, which is quite fast with haste, and with flourish on the viol he's healed.
"You're no daisy," Ci Ci declares to the scorched earth where the plant creature once stood. "You're no daisy at all!"
She makes a twirling motion with her hand, and reaches towards the the front panel of her robe, just above the sash. She then flies forward to join the others checking on Theo.
"Is he alright?"