With the door open Druhir steps back and smile. Addressing Kjell she says See big guy. Sometimes it pays to be patient. Door is open and no new piles of ash. To the group she says [b]This is an unexplored maze so I do not think it matters which way we go. I do like the new doorway though as fewer people will have taken it. Someone lead the way.
Kjell shrugs and points at Jovich. "What did he say? I do not understand his tongue." He shakes his head and steps forward, into the door. "I can take the lead. Keep an eye out as well, though."
Unless anyone else points out a way they should go, Kjell turns left and begins walking down that route.
Andros waits until most of the group has gone through before he ventures into the hallway, warily scanning the path behind them for danger.
Turning left, you move along inside the wall. Tavius smells a combination of sulphur and mold mixed together. The reason for this soon becomes apparent. After about 200 feet of moving through the corridor, a passage branches to the right. This passage quickly leads to a set of stone stairs winding down into the ground, all from fitted stone. The steps are wide enough for three people to walk abreast down them (about 10 feet) and size for something big. The rise of each step is nearly 18 inches. The air rising out of the stairs is hot like a desert, nearly taking your breath away.
Continuing down the tunnel, you smell damp and mold, and not too far away you see a sort of blue moss growing on the walls.
"This is an odd combination of hot and dry with damp and cool," says Laurelin. "Anyone know what this moss is?"
Tavius will examine the mold from a distance. He will telekinetically scrape a bit off to see if there is any reaction.
Jovich watches the human take point and after a few moments pass he falls in and follows the group.
As Tavius scrapes the mold, it ejects glowing blue spores into the air, and the scraped area glows slightly. You don't recognize this stuff, but you would guess that breathing the spores is not a good idea.
"Oh, that's interesting. I wonder what would happen if.... Iomedae, please wash away this mold."
A mass of water appears in midair above the spores, the sudden downpour coming down hard on the glowing motes.
"Good work Andros." he says. If this seems effective at dealing with the spores and preventing them from being a problem, he will coordinate with the Kasatha to deal with the whole patch.
Jovich looks on as the water comes to wash away the mold.
The water bats the mold spores from the air. The glow scatters acrosss the ground, looking like so many fallen fireflies. The mold doesn't seem to react in any intelligent or even sensitive way.
"Try to avoid stepping on the mold," he will say as he passes by. In his case he will levitate slightly over as he crosses.
Kjell sniffs at all the magic being tossed around, but he looks at the mold with suspicion. He doesn't say it aloud, but he's thankful he doesn't have to worry about breathing it in as he passes by.
"I must agree," Andros tells Tavius, carefully stepping around the mold.
Laurelin moves quietly and cautiously as directed.
Ready to assist against any threats Druhir moves with the group. Wise to keep this mold wet and thus keep the spores our of the air. she praises.
You pass the patch of mold and continue down the corridor. After another 100 paces or so, the corridor dead ends. In the wall to the right is a wooden section that looks like nothing so much as the back of a tall piece of furniture, perhaps a bookcase or hutch. In the wooden panel is a brass inset that resembles a peephole cover.
The wood is dark, finished, and not of a grain that you recognize.
As the advance, Tavius keeps to the front of the group. He doesn't take more steps, but he seems to glide forward between steps as if propelled by an unseen force. He will examine the peephole, looking for magical auras and sniffing for unusual scents as well as examining it in a more mundane way.
If it does not seem dangerous, he will open it and look through.
Flipping up the peephole cover, Tavius finds himself looking into a well appointed study. The wall opposite him is paneled in some rich hardwood, while the walls to his left and right are covered in bookshelves. In the center of the room is a small reading desk. Sitting at the desk is a humanoid with his or her back to you, wearing a heavy fur cloak. Standing against the paneled wall are 4 figures wearing old fashioned breastplates and holding glaives as if on guard. Their faces are decayed and nearly skeletal.
He will close the peephole, gesture to everybody to step back a bit and whisper to everybody. "Looks like there's a study there with one person at a desk and four undead bodyguards with glaives and breastplates. I expect there's a secret door to get in. I expect we could surprise them."
Torn, Druhir will add quietly I am sure we could use the equipment and the room might serve as a safe place to rest if we can take it, but I am reluctant to go looking for trouble here. I suspect plenty of it will find us. What is the consensus?
Stealth, speed or both. Determine what we are dealing with first before we act. When we are ready we prepared ourselves as best as we can and then act. Cast any spells that may disable the enemy, then move in fast and disable the most dangerous foes first.
"Ummm... do we want to, though? I'm still unarmed, and most of my magic is targeted for bolstering my kukris, not replacing them."
Andros seems as worried as ever.
All five of the figures are undead. The 4 guards are undead guardians known as Crypt Things. The are resistant to damage in a way similar to skeletons, slashing and piercing weapons tend to slide between their bones. They have a powerful teleport attack that can send those who invade their tombs to random locations.
You can't really see enough of the figure with its back to you to tell what it is.
There is definitely a secret door here that you could open into the room. The breastplates and glaives all exude an aura of magic, as does the fur cloak.
"The armored figures are colloquially known as 'crypt things'. They are not the most formidable undead. The most significant problem is that they have an attack that could teleport us, splitting up our little group. They do have magic armor and weapons, and their unknown leader has a magic cloak. I'm good with the decision of the group."
"There is no glory or victory in retreat," Kjell says. He folds his arms and regards the rest of the group. He isn't dumb enough to push in on his own, at least against undead... but nor does he like the prospects of turning tail. "And if we run from every fight for lack of weapons, I don't see how we might get them."
"Undead? Umm... I think I might be able to handle one of them. My healing abilities prove dangerous to them, and I can call for help from Iomedae in the blink of an eye."
Jovich waits patiently as he looks at the others to speak up about the opinion on the matter at hand.
Everyone needs to be on the same page or this will fail
"Fists will harm these creatures better than swords. My chains are magic and they extend five paces in any direction from me. I can stay in the center and try and keep their focus." he offers. He seems confident despite the fact that none of you see any chains on him.
Druhir nods in the affirmative. I can try to summon help before we open the door. she says quietly. And web them while we have surprise. That may catch one or two of the warriors, allowing us to deal with a fewer number of them at a time.
"If I could get my hands on a blade or four, I can aid a lot more than I could with just my spells, but I can absolutely take down one or two of them, particularly if we catch them by surprise."
Andros seems really fond of reminding everyone that he needs weapons. You're guessing he's just nervous.
"Excellent ideas, Druhir!" His praise in genuine and enthusiastic. "Ideally, you should summon something that slams over something that tears. Blunt damage or enchanted damage is needed to harm them. Many such creatures are big, which will let them block the way on one side. If they can occupy one or two for long enough to let us kill one of the others it will be a great advantage and give us a weapon to pick up."
At Andros' comment, he will nod. "We will get you blades when we can. I believe That Iomedae's words were'I will learn the weight of my sword. Without my heart to guide it, it is worthless-my strength is not is my sword, but in my heart. If I lose my sword, I have lost a tool. If I betray my heart, I have died.' There will be pain and suffering in this maze. Do not let it break you. Use the pain to strengthen yourself. Your body may fall, but keep your soul strong and you shall never be defeated."
"Five finger death punch it is," says Laurelin wryly.
Kjell laughs at Tavius's speech, and he claps a hand on the kasatha's shoulder. "Pretty words. Let me say it simply: stand strong and hit hard. We will find you knives."
He cracks his knuckles and nods at the secret entrance. "Who goes first?"
Give me a moment to conjure. The witch says and her features change to old and withered. When everyone is ready she will begin her summoning spell, timing its completion with the opening of the door.
Tavius will step up, "I'll go first. My magics protect me and arm me."
Just before we open the door, Tavius will unleash an aura of good fortune.
As Laurelin opens the door, Tavius charges at the one opposite the door. "Prepare to end your unlife."
Before they open the door, Andros quickly mutters a few prayers of protection
As the door is opened, a transformation overtakes Andros, and he becomes a quiet, deadly assassin, bounding into the room ahead of even Tavius, skidding to a stop on the far corner of the room, sliding through a golden mist that solidifies into a dog-headed celestial, who takes a swing at the middle target with his massive sword.
Kjell enters the room with a roar, his eyes wild with battlerage and his fists up and swinging. He's untrained in unarmed combat, but he hits hard.
The round before the door opens Druhir uses a Summon Monster IV spell to summmon 1d3 Lantern Archons. After the door opens, on her initiative of the surprise round, they appear in the room above the battlers bathing the undead enemy in their Aura of Menace.
All three fire their light rays at the potential caster who is flat footed.
For her surprise action, she sees that the room is too small for the web spell. So instead she casts Glitterdust on all the enemy forcing them to each make a DC 20 Will save or become blinded.