The ghost of Zee sort of just hovers around, looking sad and stuff. You all make your way to the other green pipe, which leads directly into the tower.
Once you look into it, you notice that it has an iron gate, effectively locking it up tight. However, as you approach, the star gem in Beylinda's bag begins to glow so bright that it can be seen through the fabric. Suddenly, the chains holding the gate shut break off and the gate creaks open!
*SCHLOOP!* as you jump into the pipe and get sucked up, you find yourselves in a decent sized square room illuminated by torches. The room is finely decorated with paintings of strange turtle creatures and a large red carpet. On the far wall stands a fireplace, and above the mantle is a painting of a beautiful princess wearing a pink gown. Sitting in front of the fireplace is a large chest, that appears to be padlocked shut.
Approaching the chest, you notice that the padlock appears to be some sort of spinning mechanism with three parts. Each part contains three symbols, the same three on each; a mushroom, a leaf, and a flower. It would appear you need to get them lined up in the proper way... but as you try to turn the parts, they wildly begin spinning!
This is what you see on the lock.
[Edited to align with Vai's already established arcane paranoia]
Malbrighka studies that spinning parts, watching the pattern of mushroom, leaf, and flower blur. She stands before the device, hands poised for the moment — Now!
The gods only know what possessed you to go gallivanting through The Pit by yourself, but gods be damned, that is what you are doing! You have been waiting up on the surface a long time to try and join up with an adventuring group to delve in with, but for whatever reason you just never seemed to find anyone. Either they left before you could try and sign up, or they had no desire to share the treasure with one more person.
After seeing this most recent rag-tag crew climb into the pit, you told yourself enough was enough and you were going to follow after them! Unfortunately... you got a bit lost on the way and they eluded you. Last you saw of them, some dark gnome was leading them away down a sewer system...
Well you found that sewer system, and you followed it up to an immense museum! It would seem that due to collapses of parts of town, this sewer must be the only way into the museum any more. You track their prints through the dust and arrive in a room full of paintings, an art gallery of sorts. And here the trail stops cold, as if they disappeared into thin air!
Dejected, you decide to rest for the night in the painting room. A few hours later, you awake to a high pitched voice talking to itself. Your eyes flutter open and you see a deep gnome (the same one in fact) busily pouring over a nearby bookshelf. He jumps in surprise when you speak to him. He looks you up and down and then addresses you in Elven:
"AH! Who!? How!? How did you get here? Adventurers? Who you talk about?"
His shifty eyes dart back and forth.
"Please don't hurt me. Here, follow me, I bring you to them!"
And with that, he runs towards a painting of a beautiful forest and jumps straight at it, disappearing into the painting. Jumping into the painting yourself, you find yourself in a beautiful clearing in the middle of a forest at dusk. It is beautiful. Except for the ring of angry fey creatures surrounding you, with the gnome nowhere in sight. They do not appear to want to hurt you, so long as you stay put. It looks like they are attempting to keep you here in the clearing, for if you move closer to the woods they buzz angrily in sylvan.
______________________
Mal, you successfully stop the first row of the rotating puzzle! Give me two more dex checks!
Farrin goes to give it a try, but Mal pushes him down and he thinks he tripped. "My turn!" she shouts.
Jax eyes the surrounding creatures suspiciously. They are certainly fey... but he has no idea what exactly they are. It would seem there is at least a half dozen different species, almost all of them small. Some have insect appearances and butterfly wings. Some appear to be made of twigs. Some appear to have red hats and white beards. Some are hairy and fat and round. Sound are impish with bat ears and yellow eyes. Some are tiny and humanoid save for their wings. Some are blueish, some are pink, and of some you don't know what to think!
It proves impossible to count them, as while some are not too much smaller than you, some of them are barely bigger than a small bird and flit around all over the place.
They do not respond to you other than to buzz about and glare.
Suddenly, as if by divine intervention, a frosty mug of ale appears on a stump next to you! Cayden rewards those who serve him!
Drinking the ale gives you an overwhelming sense to stay put and wait in this clearing. It's a nice clearing, and you feel like maybe important things are meet to happen here.
So, are we going to keep trying to open the chest?
Marrant will give it a try
Marrant tries to stop the spinning wheels and gets so close, but they shift at the last second! They then reset.
Malbrighka reaches for the spinning disc once more.
*click!* the three symbols align and the chest pops open.
Masterwork Falchion
Potion of Magic fang
Arcane Scroll, Suggestion
Splint mail Armor
Masterwork Studded Leather Armor
Arcane Scroll, Slow
Divine Scroll, Remove curse
Light Mace
Masterwork Buckler
2 Potion of Cure moderate wounds
Masterwork Longbow
2 vials of Ink
Shovel
250gp worth of gems and jewels.
642 gold coins
- - - - - - - - -
Seeing nothing left in this chamber and no exit other than the pipe, you all head back outside. Almost immediately you hear a familiar shrill voice yelling in undercommon. Zee's ghost translates in a ghostly voice.
"HELP! HEROES! THERE IS A STRANGE ELF IN THE MEADOW!!!! HELP! HE WANTS TO STEAL ALL THE BOOKS AND PAINTINGS! MY MINIONS ARE GUARDING HIM RIGHT NOW! HELP!"
Beylinda will ask if she can take the Falchion. She will hand a potion of CMW to Vai and Farrin
178.4 gp (split for each on the cash)
----
Beylinda will rush to the location of the screaming weapon drawn and ready
It doesn't take long for you to find Tumblefoot wandering the forest, obviously lost. He explains that a bloodthirsty elf has come to claim their souls! And is apparently getting drunk in the clearning.
Beylinda will take everyone and head toward the clearing getting ready to confront this soul sucking elf
You come to the clearing after a short journey and see a myriad of fey surrounding a poor elf clad in a mithral shirt with a battleaxe slung across his hip and a mug of ale in his hand. The tell tale symbols of cayden cailean adorn his armor. He certainly doesn't appear to be sucking souls, if anything he looks perturbed and unsure of what exactly is going on.
|
Farrnin sees Jax's face. Jax's facial expression is so horrified, that you would think he was a character in a horror movie.
Are you guys the party group I was looking for? I heard about an adventuring group far away. I asked a gnome about an adventuring group that passed through here. And I don't know why but I got surrounded by the fey. I thought I was going to be kidnapped. So I asked by God Cayden for help and he sent me this ale to calm me down a little. I'm not here to claim any souls. I don't know where exactly I'm at. I don't know what is going on. All I know is that I'm looking for an adventuring group that I was told was in this town.
Other characters around Jax can see and hear Jax breathing heavily.
marrant, would you mind doing the honors?
She turn toward jaxx. while your story does have a certain interesting side to it would you mind staying there untill we do some checking ?
Marrantt will give the stranger an appraising look, detect evil
The stranger certainly does not detect as evil. He does detect as slightly tipsy.