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Hugo frowns and holds up the letter they found in the first room.
Very well. We will seek the contract. Would you happen to know what said contract description or is that something else you cannot divulge?
If no further response, he turns to head back down the hall to see if the others were checking other doors with the thief or other occupants.
"Contracts are with the master and the signee. I cannot discuss it. I also grow tired of this. Mortals and their curiosity. I suggest you move before the Master figures out that you don't intended to go quietly into hell."
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Roakar listens to the back and forth between his comrades and the untrustworthy squid woman.
"Deal is OK by me, though I am not sure what I really get out of it. You get your life and freedom and I get...." Roakar pauses for a second or two while thinking well...not much. In the end though I don't wish to overly risk my comrades lives if it can be prevented."
Roakar replies to Roos in a tongue and cheek fashion. "Roos, just do what you always do. Nominate me to open the door and then hide in my shadow while singing. I like the singing. It's inspires my mayhem."
"Now lets go save the little thief." Roakar says. As he is leaving the room he turns his head back to the squid woman and says "If I see you again I will assume you mean to get in our way and you'll be fair game. I suggest you hide until you're free and then run to somewhere that I will never find you."
Which door, the one your mini is next to?
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Roakar walks out into the hallway, checking over his shoulder every now and then. "The thief is behind this one." Roakar says as he points to the door leading to the lecture hall. "It a dark room with desks and chains on the wall. The little thief seemed asleep or unconscious. I didn't see any overt threats but that doesn't mean they ain't there."
Hugo declares the door safe and opens it. This room is dark, moist, and rank with the smell of sweat, mildew, and iron. Desks sit in even, tiered rows facing the southern end of the room, where thick metal chains hang from the slate-covered wall. The opening of the door brings her too, albeit barely.
Illia is mostly incoherent, saying that a “tentacle woman” tried to “get it out of me.” Her voice cracks horribly, and she begs for mercy: free her or, kill her rather than leaving her to die.
The desk seems to be completely devoid of anything interesting. The drawers are empty, and it looks like it has never been used.
"Heeeelp" she manages to get out.
Roakar smashes the chains with ease. Illia looks up, disbelief in her eyes. She's clearly afraid of everything right now.
"I.... I can help. Please I need to get out of here. I don't want to wait."
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Approaching with empty hands held high, "It's okay, dear girl. We will not leave you here. But we need to be sure of a few things first." "If you will allow me to take a look, how we might free you, and at your wounds." Hoping to gain her confidence and trust as he examines her for injury, and set the ground work for possibly bringing her back towards the light.
"How long have you been here, my friend?"
Turning towards the others, "Now that we know what we are to deal with, perhaps it is time to all upon a blessing that may aid us greatly. Gather around. You too," h mentions towards Illia, "Let us all partake in this gift."
Targets of the spell gain a +2 sacred bonus on Bluff, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks attempted against creatures of the selected type, and a +2 sacred bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls made against creatures of that type.
Furthermore, they gain a +2 sacred bonus on initiative checks, Perception, Stealth, and Survival checks while they are in the type of terrain you designate.
Lastly, when tracking the designated creature type in the chosen terrain, the targets can follow the tracks of such creatures untrained, even if the DC for the task is 11 or higher.
Ignatious senses no evil, just a VERY frightened and confused woman. She seems to take a strong liking to the Flame Seeker though.
"I've been here for.... hours, a day? I'm not sure"
She has wounds that were suffered outside that you saw. They look like they've had a day to heal.
If she can partake, she will!
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"Yes, of course, come, allow my father's inner rage to fuel your senses in this place, and I'll ask my mother for her kind hand in mending our ailments. It seems your wounds have had some time to heal naturally, so that is a clue at least as to how long you may have been trapped here."
I'll go ahead and Channel Energy as well, bringing a small amount of purity and sanctity to this vile place, and healing all in need.
"Another "woman" we encountered mentioned bargains. Deals with the devil. Have you made such a deal?"
After she answers, "I do not speak for all, but I'm willing to allow you to join us as we destroy this place and make our way back to our own realm. If you choose. Regardless, I shall not leave you hear once we find our freedom."
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Hugo nods at the actions and appreciates the healing.
While we may be able to help you from these chains and injuries,
we do not necessarily have a way to help you escape presently.
Be warned, the path to the exit could be risky to body or soul.
Hugo then disregards the girl and moves down the hall to the west to check the office-looking door for traps.
"We best keep moving. We are still under a time table here.
She seems considerably more willing to help after the channel. "I'm in, let's do this. I checked you before we started, I'm nowhere near the warrior you are."
She shudders, checks that her gear wasn't taken and nods, "After you."
She seems shaken (literally and mechanically). Sounds like she's coming. She prefers staying in the back, stealthily. She mentions that she'll wait, then rush up and try to backstab foes that are preoccupied with someone else. She's also still pretty bloody.
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"You are still wounded, Illia. You should have said something. Here, if you will allow me, I'll call on more of mother's grace to bind your wounds."
"Well, it seems that no one has any reservations to your offered aid. I am Ignatious. These are my friends. I'm certain you know of them, but, for the sake of your mortal proprieties, introductions can not hurt. This is Sir Shump the brave knight, and Roos scholar and gentleman of great expertise. There Roakar, perhaps the greatest warrior I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. And finally we have Hugo the Victorious. I've only known Sir Shump and Hugo a short while, though we are brothers in arms. I trust them, and I trust mine life in their hands. Should you wish, after all of this, I have a few options you might consider. All of which you could find a home and your talents needed. . . If you should wish."
"But, we have a Hell to destroy first," as he walks over to join Hugo as he prepares to enter the Office, "and who knows how much time or other dangers may await before then."
Roos decides to let the others take care of Illia...
"I don't know much about anyone else here. MY time was.... short."
Shump and the party move to the library. The door seems safe enough...
Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves cover the walls of this dimly lit library, with shorter stacks creating small dividers in the room’s interior. A reading table sits empty and unused in the library’s center. The shelves are a mass of fluttering pages, and books rearrange themselves and fly across the room constantly. Inside is a man who has seen better days
He is Chelish, and looks to be in his late 40s. Upon entering, he immediately sets upon you with a torrent of words,"HELP ME! I MUST FIND MY SPELLBOOK! THE DAMNED DEVIL HAS HIDDEN IT FROM ME! I MUST FIND IT! I made a deal with that damned devil and he's twisting it! I can't leave this library until I FIND MY SPELLBOOK!"
"It's in this "place", he promised! It's these damned books, they keep moving and I can't track where I've looked! Are you going to help me or what?!"
"STOP ASKING AND START LOOKING! IT'S A BLOODY SPELLBOOK AND IT'S MINE!"
He's got a few screws loose.
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Taking a moment to look things over and observe the mortal stirings within the mage's mind and soul, Iggy offers an idea.
"My incomplete understanding on these Soul Binding contracts suggests that the stipulations must be something that can be achieved. That is, difficult, even nearly impossible, but not impossible in the literal sense. Although, if we assume that there is a contract involved here, it does seem out of place with hellspawn. More in line with spirits and fey, I think. . ."
"But, regardless, we where told that "the master's power lies in his contracts, and so, perhaps if we can break one of those, his or her power will be depleted."
"If we consider what we have heard, that the books rearrange themselves, that it is a spellbook, and likely both something that stands out as personalized, but of some material value as well, and if we assume that the book must be here, and is something that can be found, a wise tormentor would probably arrange it so that a mage would have some difficulty locating it. Perhaps we stand a better chance? And again, I could be utterly wrong here. Most of my knowledge of the Pit is hearsay."
Stepping in, the first thing I'll attempt to do is see if I can observe any sort of magical alteration in the room as the others begin looking through books. With the aid of Detect Magic, perhaps we can see traces or lines of magic being used. And while I did say it's most likely going to be a type of trick that a mage would have difficulty solving, it's best to make sure the simplest tools are not forgotten first.
If this fails to offer any clues or help locate the book, I'll assist Hugo in finding out more about the specific book from the mage, "We are willing to help, friend, but in order to do so, we really need your expertise on the matter. Can you tell us anything about this book that could help us to find it? I can only imagine what you are going through," he continues, in his monotone, unfeeling voice, "losing something so precious, but I'd thing it would be even more frustrating if we where to find the wrong one and get your hopes up because we have no way of knowing which is right. . ."
"IT'S BLACK AND RED! IT SAYS TERENTIUS ON IT!"
Terentius was the conjurer who was the sole participant to make it into the Hall of Wards last year... But he was a young man, maybe 25.
Ignatious's words seem to help, albeit just a little.
Hugo casts his spell, and the news fits the musings of the Fire Seeker, the book isn't in this room. It's in the lecture hall across the way...
He turns to begging, "PLEASE I need to get out. I'm begging you. Before he breaks me for eternity."
It's the room next to it I believe.
-Posted with Wayfinder
The book is in the office next to the room where you found Illia. Roakar did not see anything moving in that room when he used his magical gloves.
This room resembles an academic’s office, albeit the office of a very messy professor. Tattered books and broken furniture lie strewn across the floor. Some long-congealed dark liquid pools on the floor beneath a solid cascade of the same substance along the south wall, and what appear to be bone spurs protrude from the dark wooden wall surrounding an iron door on the opposite end of the small chamber. Bones from dozens of creatures rest in neat piles on the bookshelves, with the skull from each sitting atop its stack, staring into the room with vacant, hollow eyes.
Hugo finds something else, disturbing. Scratched into a skull is a cryptic message, “This is no Hall of Wards but a Hell of Magic. The Breaching is a sham. Flee, if you can, before the whispers drive you mad.”
Additionally, Hugo finds the conjurer's spellbook hidden rather well under a pile of books. He also finds a scroll of Banishment.
Hugo brings the text back to the man. He begins to speak as it is handed to him, "My...."
You never hear the rest. The instant his hand touches the book he teleports away to parts unknown.
"This place does stuff to you.... You have no idea. Let's get out of here."
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How rude! I am curious if he is still in this quasi-dimension or whatever Roos called it."
Hugo will check to see if he picks up anything on his locate object for the book...assuming the man was not disintegrated.
Iggy, you are welcome to the scroll. I already have the spell in memory from Abadar.
Hugo will head back to the hallway and to the east if we have checked all the rooms.
The party stands poised to move to the east, having explored all they can before the door...