As more words came down from above, she smiled, as if to a privet joke.
It takes some digging around the base of the door. Thick grit has either settled or been wedged into the crack under the door, and opening it is like moving across sandpaper. Finally, he is able to scrape enough out to pull the door open. As the door begins to move, a gust of wind blows it open. Any normal goblin would fall to his death, but Sticky is able to grip the door handle, hanging on as the door slams him violently into the wall. From the door opening spills a cloud of swirling black, which you quickly realize is formed by some sort of tiny batlike creatures. They are furry, leather winged, and have mouths full of spinning rings of teeth like a lamprey.
Beyond the door is a cavern that looks to be carved, scraped, or possibly eaten out of living stone. The stone is dark green with flecks and veins of something gold running through it.
Sticky has never rolled with anything so small. Thankfully there's just so many little bites that he has enough momentum to bounce up to the top of the door, scramble over the other side, and swing into the room the swarm came from.
After tumbling through the swarm Alyln can see quasi-real spikes sticking out of Sticky's clothes. He's also chewing something. Did he just eat a few of those things?
Sven watches as the goblin rolls, and nods approvingly at the ghostly spikes. Most goblins were blithering idiots that killed themselves off after a few years of adulthood. Usually by trying to lick fire. This one obviously was cut from a different cloth. Not that he was willing to jump down and offer his assistance yet. Rather, he just cast heitened awareness on himself, as he could tell that this was a place that would necessitate it.
As the door comes opened and out of it spills the cloud of swirling black tiny batlike creatures with mouths of teeth. She covered her face instinctively with her arm. She is out of sight for a moment covered in a black mass of things. Then there is a ripple of magic from with in.
As you came in and look to where she was, she comes into being in front of you as if out of thin air. She seems unharmed even if her dress seems shredded. She looks down at you a moment, a slight look of disgust in her face.
"Great Dark, did you eat some of them"
Then as if thinking of something she adds.
"Sorry, wait a moment"
With that she places her hand on the door handle and starts to close it, quickly, and lets go of the handle.
Anyone looking down the pit sees a black mass swarm over Alyln, then a ball of lighting forms in the center of the swam and expands out to fill a 40' area. Frying the small like pat things with in it. As they fall away there is no Alyln to be seen.
With your super senses, you spot Alyln's hand close the door, just before the blast.
She smiles at Stickymitts, then sees her dress in tatters and start to clean and mend it, none to happy about what the bat things did to it.
Teleportation, he thought. Would have to keep that in mind if he ever had to shoot the drow. She seemed nice enough, and that's what worried him. It was as his father always said, 'never trust good that glitters in the dark.' The dwarf makes his way to the crow and goblin. Once over to them he says "Nice trick there, darkling. Nay expected anythin' else from yer kind. Ye button'? Could patch ye cuts up if ye want." Be useful, he thought to himself. It'll postpone her inevitable betrayal.
The core of the swarming bats explodes into a sizzling, smelly mass which rains down into the chasm.
Within the tunnel, the air is cold and there is no light. It stretches straight for as far as your Darkvision will penetrate. The floor is covered with droppings, as if the creatures who swarmed out probably roosted here. The tunnel is about 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide.
[spoiler=in the tunnel]Sticky admires her ability to maintain her gear. You took care of them, ya? Good. Tasted like evil spam. He spits a few darkly smoking bones out and asks, Don't suppose you can get us back topside?
When the dwarf arrives Sticky waves. That was fun! See? I told you sticking with me would be great!
Ashok will also accept a featherfall with a nod of thanks and say "Nice work with the swarm. Fascinating creatures, swarms. They really lack intellect, but the react with a hivemind that you don't see elsewhere in nature."
Looking around, he will pick up a rock and use it to mark a quick drawing of a cliff with someone running off it.
Once her dress is mended she nods at Stickymitts comment about her dress.
"Well I do like to keep up appearances, even if I am in some evil mages demi-plan or where ever this place is."
She Checks her dress,
"Yes I think most of those things are dead now Mater Mitts. As for getting us back up, humm, I shall have to think on that."
She then reopens the door and calls up to the others to come down.
As the Dwarf comes and makes his comment about her trick.
"Alyln, my name is Alyln, and O my garments are all fixed now, but thank you for the offer. And I will take I think what you said as a complement."
She says, adding.
"A am just a lowly lost slave happy to be protected by such brave adventures as yourselves."
When Ashok comes she hears him out.
"Study such things do you, I have to ask, do you have any idea where we are?"
She goes to help the others down.
Alyln is not her real name and there is more noble about her than slave.
"I pretty much study everything. I find new knowledge to be useful in our line of work, so I learn everything I can. It's part of the reason I go into dungeons: there's a limit to what you can learn just reading books. It's a large limit, but there is a limit none-the-less."
Sven thought to himself 'how many slaves can teleport and blast apart swarms with such ease? And how many slaves keep referring to themselves as such? Alyln sounds much more noble than like a slave...if that is her real name!' He did his best to conceal this discovery. Drow were murderous creatures, and without arms and armor he didn't fancy having his skin flayed from his bone as amusement by some noble sorceress.
Looking at the wall she sort to see what they where made of, where they living or just rock. Moving down a little she places her hand on it.
Detect magic,
Knowledge (Nature)[/ooc]
She then came back to the others, noting a change in the dwarf.
Now what has gotten into him, hes looking at me oddly
Well, well someone is a smart little fellow
She smiles and winks at Sven.
Then says in her slave girly voice.
"O may, my master showed me a simple magic, to keep light on him as he walked at night. I wounder if poor old me, can remember it Master Mitts.
With that three balls of light come into being down the tunnel.
The stone looks like this, though not as polished. It has clearly been cut by tools, or possibly chewed. The floor is covered in guano.
200 feet down, the tunnel lightens, becoming frosted in white. Just at the edge of what the light reveals, the tunnel widens slightly.
Sticky isn't sure when he taught Ashy Elf that trick, so he assumes he had forgotten and assumes that he did, in fact, teach it to her. He nods to confirm that fact.
He tastes the guano.
"We should tread lightly here. Light means living, and it also means that whatever is here likely needs light to see."
Sven moves cautiously, checking for traps as he goes.
She moves her arm inviting the others to lead the way down the tunnel of doom.
"Brave Master Mitts, I wounder if there are things to eat down the tunnel where it gets wider?."
She says in a light and sweet manner.
With light down there now, its just a matter of walking there. She how ever is not very happy walking in bat **** all the way there. Her bear feed covered in the stuff. She gives up with premeditation after a few yards, and with every step in the bat-poop mutters to herself.
"Out of this... hole, going... my sisters... hot pokers...pull out... cut off... feed too... burn...frazzle off..."
The guano does indeed appear to be from the bat things.
As Sven moves down the tunnel, he grows increasingly aware of his lack of adequate clothing. The tunnel grows colder and colder, finally the stone walls give way to thick frost.
Ahead, Sven sees a humanoid corpse, also covered in frost, face down in the frost. Seven arrows protrude from its back and legs, and a pool of frozen blood surrounds it. The corpse is mostly nude, but wears a loose fitting robe and heavy gloves.
Cleverly hidden around the corpse, buried beneath guano and frost, are 4 spring traps (like bear traps).
Beyond the corpse the tunnel opens up into an ice cavern. It is bitterly cold here, your breath comes in fog.
"Got us an arrow filled corpse surrounded by bear traps. I suggest ye all let me scout this out."
With that, Sven casts invisibility on himself. He vanishes from view, and doing his best to ignore the cold, begins the process of exploring the area and looking to see where an archer might be hiding.
Sven doesn't see anything threatening. The 7 arrows are coated with some sort of resin that makes them sturdier than typical arrows. The robe is tattered but still wearable, and almost burns with cold when you touch it. The gloves are heavy leather, fur lined.
Certainly feeling the bite of the cold, Sven goes to pick up the gloves, but at the last second stops when he uses detect magic on them. Deciding that it was unlikely for them to be cursed (as the wearer died to arrows), and because of the biting cold, he slips them on. Using their warmth to pick up the robes, he takes them and the arrows back to the party.
"Got some magical whatsit 'ere. Darkling, what ye make of them? Mayhaps he...noble masters, mayhaps they had ye identity magic as well?"
The cold dose not seem to bother Alyln at all, as she follows the group into the chamber.
She looks at the items Sven brings.
DC25
No idea.
DC20
Trapspringer Gloves
"The Robe and gloves are magic yes, I think the gloves are Trapspringer's, I used to have a some when I was a child, no idea about the robe."
She adds.
"Ah, useful. Keeps me fingers warm an' our arses out o' the fire. The robe though. Ashok, ye say ye be educated. Can ye tell what this is?"
"Alas, knowledge of spellcasting is the one knowledge I've never had any capacity with. It's a shame, too; being a wizard in this situation would probably alleviate a lot of our issues."
"So much for reader, well lets have a look again, see what school it is"
She looks again,
1st Round: Presence or absence of magical auras.
2nd Round: Number of different magical auras and the power of the most potent aura.
3rd Round: The strength and location of each aura. If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Knowledge (arcana) skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each. (Make one check per aura: DC 15 + spell level, or 15 + 1/2 caster level for a nonspell effect.) If the aura emanates from a magic item, you can attempt to identify its properties (see Spellcraft).
checks to determine the school of magic involved in each.
Knowledge (arcana) DC20
"Aura moderate abjuration and evocation, thing is cold as hell so, I would say some kind of cold magic."
She hands it back and looks on to where Sven may have gone.
"Well he is full of surprises"
She then waits to see what the others do with such a large space.
"If you need light, just let me know"
"Sounds like a finger waggler robe to me. Put it on an' lets go. If ye need it mended, I'll glady help out once we be in a safer an' warmer place."
Sven cautiously leads the party deeper into the cold before them...
Sticky skips along beside nobody in particular until the room turns to ice. It had to be stinking ice... he grumbles. Let's get moving and find something or someplace warm!
Goggh limits himself to fly a little behind the group, keeping an eagle eye on the surroundings. If he's stuck with the dark elf and the little green annoyance, he might as well try to keep everybody alive.
He was, however, fairly used to the analysis of special items - using the power of his mind. He approached to look at the objects and analyze them.
These are definitely Trapspringer Gloves, Alyln. - he carefully used her name, but pronounced with all his unavoidable accent - The robes are Voidfrost Robes. Besides some protection against cold, a spellcaster with spells related to low temperatures can cast them in a heightened way. Oh, it also allows for a small daily wave of cold that can harm friends and foes in a burst.
"Well thank you, Goggh of Castrovel, and if no one wants it, a lady has to cover up, for modesty. I don't want any of you getting the wrong idea about my clothing."
She walks with Goggh, take the robe, cleans it, and then slips it on over her the scant bed clothing. She says with a smirk, then to Goggh,
"Well, well, well a flyer A, that will be useful for our group. If I was to levitate, could you pull me along?"
She seems to still be not so keen on walking on now frozen bat *** in bear feet.
Sven almost made a joke about elves and modesty, but decided to keep it to himself. He reminded himself that it would be awfully more cold without his skin to keep him warm...
Sticky is uninterested in the clothes. They may be magic, but they were most definitely not shiney.
Now dress and seeing how the others are moving off she says to
Stickymitts.
"You said you where hungry Master Mitts, there is a whole pile of meat there just going to wait. Frozen yes but also cold keeps it nice and fresh."
She then sends at bold of fire into the body, cooking parts.
Auto hit, object, Fire DMG [sice]6d6[/dice]
"See, nice and hot now"
Sticky looks overjoyed. He years of a free hunks for his pockets and a few more for his face before hurrying after the others.
Sven continues to move forward, scouting ahead of the rest of the motley band. As he comes to a place where two ice caverns meet, he hears a quiet snort from off to his right. Turning, he stares directly into the eyes of a small white haired minotaur. Labyrinth, minotaur. What a cliche! The minotaur loosely hold a longbow which glows with magic. He appears to be waiting for someone to appear, but also seems to be looking right through the invisble Sven. Heeling behind him, quite well behaved, is a massive badger/wolverine or something similar, also white furred.
"See you stay with me Master Mitts and I will keep you feed"
She smiles at the others.
"I just wish I had my ring of sustenance, it was always helpful to stay awake longer and not have to eat so much. A girl has to watch her figure you know"
She says with a giggle, she is very attractive, not just in looks but also in other ways.
Alyln stops as if remembering something, then looks around at the group and counts. Then it hits her.
"Rat"s!!! I forgot the rodent, it's still up there. I asked if everyone who wanted to come down. It did not jump down. Humm well I'M not going back through all that bat **** to ask it again, it's stuck there an no fault of mine."
She says, a little miffed.
Sven reports his findings to the group. "I want that bow. Drow, Gogh, can your magic melt a minotaur?"