Lukas groans in discomfort, shifting slightly as he hears another zap of electricity nearby.
Iralynash hammers the elemental with his polearm.
Iralynash and Celes smash the 'face' of the elemental, banishing it back to the Plane of Lightning.
A quick look around the room shows a series of cables heading west from the machine, but little else in the room.
Current Status:
Lukas-Unconscious @ 10 Lethal/4 NL; Celes @ 4 NL; Iralynash @ 3 NL; Falzeal @ 3 NL; Jebidiah-Staggered @ 6 Lethal/4 NL
Celes, walks over to Lukas and makes sure the kid is still alive.
Celes knows that Lukas is definitely alive, just unconscious.
I think we need to visit that priest again. the elf says looking at his fallen conrade.
The group backtracks to the outside and visits the temple of Pharasma carring their unconscious companion. Hi father...
The unconscious body of Lukas is carried out of the decrepit tower by Celes while Iralynash helps the limping Jebediah to the exit. The group of people surrounding the base of the tower has all but vanished, only the deputies remain. They are taking stock of the kobold bodies and the damage in tiny notebooks.
The stoic adventurers carry their friends to the local Pharasman temple, where they are given some healing. The Pharasmites will offer the services of their 3rd level cleric for two times the cost of a Cure Light Wounds since you have brought in an unconscious person.
Any other healing will be done at market cost. The highest they have available at the temple is a 5th level cleric. Channels are treated as CL x # of Dice x 10 GP.
As soon as the party is healed, Jebidiah slips away. His gut is telling him that this is a lost cause and even 500GP is too little for all the trouble they are having. The party is put off by the loss and argues loud enough about what to do now that they have lost a man that the deacon of the Pharasmites offers them the services of a new recruit.
Oddly enough, the new recruit looks oddly like Jebediah, but his face and hands look severely burned. We found our new recruit only an hour ago. He says that he has been commanded by Pharasma to accompany you.
Jebediah looks at his new companions. The halflings look is stern as ever but he musters a slight smile.
Glad to meet you. My name is Jebediah. Jebediah Lillywag. To be quite honest I don't know why I'm here but I had a dream. A dream of heading in underneath this tower. It was as if lady Pharasma had guided my hand and showed me where my future lies, in the dark, surrounded by danger! And I was told your bold brand of adventurers are seeking assistance in just such a venture it's such an odd coincidence! don't you think?
Whether he is pulling your leg or being truthful you could not say for certain.
As they try to sort out what to do since one of their Bold Striders is boldly striding away, Lukas is pleasantly surprised that the temple offers them a solution. He's even more pleased to learn that the new addition is another halfling, seeing as how he gets on so well with them.
"Well, it's lucky for us you had the dream, and lucky for you we're here, so you don't have to go into the tower alone!" he says cheerily to Jebediah. "Seems like a good omen, and I'd be happy to have you join us."
After a pause, he asks, "Any chance you could patch us up a little? We paid the temple to do it, but I'm not quite at my best yet."
Lukas chips in for the channel.
If no one talks about healing or what you are doing next, then you are all back in the tower. Just outside the room with the ghost.
Current Status:
Lukas @ 6 Lethal; Celes; Iralynash; Falzeal; Jebidiah @ 2 Lethal
Celes looks at the newcomer, she then turns to head back towards the tower. Before going back however, she spends a few copper to buy a few loafs if bread. She is still a little hungry after feeling the pangs of solitude.
Just don't flake like the other guy did. You got a twin, you look familiar
She heads back down into the tower, back to the room with the electric ball. She searches the room for anything useful.
Jebedia looks at the burns suffered by Lukas and places a hand on his scorched arms as divine powers flows from his grip.
CLW
Jebidiah heals up Lukas to the best of his ability with his newfound powers before the party heads back into the tower.
As Celes approaches the room leading to the secret lever room, a pair of stark white hands reaches through the window in the door. "Oh gods, kind faces! Aroden bless you, noble souls. I ain't seen the jailers in ages, I think they forgot about us! We ain't eaten in days and the water's all but gone-my cousins're both sick. I swear we'd give back the boar if we could, but we ate it, starvin' as we was. We didn't e'en know it was the baron's lands, didn't know we was poachin'! I beg you, we're all gonna die in here! Kindness, noble souls, we've suffered something awful! Good Baron Sarvo wills it!"
The hands reach for Celes, but she stands too far away. Please, some food or water!
Current Status:
Lukas @ 2 Lethal; Celes; Iralynash; Falzeal; Jebidiah @ 2 Lethal
You have got to be Fu--- kindling me?!, she thinks to herself.
Celes will reach into her pack and give the visage some water and bread, hoping it will ease its suffering. This had better work, otherwise God help me
The visage disappears and Celes' food and water rest gently on the table in the middle of the room.
The rest of the room with the lever has nothing of value or worth.
A terrible way to die if I ever saw one. Iralynash thinks looking at the empty cell before moving down the path.
"Nice work, Celes," says Lukas. "Glad we didn't have to go through that again."
He then suggests they go back and check the double doors they passed on the way in, just so they don't miss anything, then explore the rest of this secret hallway.
Iralynash checks the double doors for traps and finds nothing. They cautiously open the doors, but they find only a caved-in hallway. They search the rest of the secret area and find another secret door on the other side of the hallway. It leads back to where they started. They only way to go is to the west. At the end of the hallway on this side, they find another set of double doors. Iralynash checks the door and finds no traps, but the door does seem stuck. With a lot of effort, the group pries the doors open.
There can be little doubt what purpose this chamber once served. The dank room stores an ancient rack, a fanciful brazen bull, an iron maiden, a cauldron, iron chairs with sharp edges and cruel protuberances, and a wooden table upon which sit various implements of torture. A bronze plaque affixed to the western wall depicts a crowing rooster above crossed spears. Underneath the spear, a short set of phrases is inscribed. "Confession Cleanses the Soul--Pain Clarifies the Mind."
chairs provided here." and your body starts to act of its own accord.
Iralynash's eyes glaze over as a raven appears, perched atop the rooster plaque. "Greetings, fine citizens of our glorious empire. So good to have visitors, though I fear I have no refreshments to offer. I assume you are here for the treasure. Well, I'd be happy to assist, provided that you give me with I require! It have been so long since I was able to ply my trade. I require that each of your shed your life's blood in this room-simply take a seat in one of my lovely chairs."
Iralynash robotically approaches one of the chairs and sits down, the sharp edges of the chairs cutting into his flesh.
Current Status:
Lukas @ 8/10 HP; Celes; Iralynash @ 6/10 HP; Falzeal; Jebidiah @ 8/10 HP
Falzeal watches Ira in disbelief as the elf sits in the wicked looking chair. "What are you doing?" He asks Ira, then turns to the raven. "Who...who are you?"
I am Harzogopas! Mighty servant of his liege! At your service! Please take a seat and then we can converse about everything going on in the world! Or not! Your choice! The raven flits about the room before landing on the iron maiden.
Am I still under its control after sitting or can I stand up and attack? Even if I am still dominted can I speak?
Lukas cries out, Iral, what are you doing?” He rushes over and grabs one of Iralynash’s arms and tries to pull him out of the bladed chair. As he does this, he says to the raven, ”What liege? What are you talking about, who do you serve?”
Celes' jaw drops as she watches Ira walk, albeit oddly and sits in a razor sharp chair. She watches as blood trickles down his hip and leg, she rushes to join Lukas in getting Ira back to his normal senses.
Get a hold of yourself you dumb ass. You are gonna cut yourself to ribbons of you keep doing stunts like that.
Harzogopas flits around the room again and lands on the chandelier above Celes and Falzeal. Squawk! Take a seat and shed your blood, then I can reveal the true secrets of this dungeon!
Seeing that Iralynash seems to no longer be intent on hurting himself, Lukas says to the elf, "Iral, maybe it'll talk to you, since you took a seat like it asked you to. Ask it to tell us what the weird machine was with the ball of lightning floating above it, or something like that. See if it'll talk to you."
#%$&! Iralynash says getting up from the chair.
Bastard screwed with my mind! Yea, I will talk to it alright... The elf says and attacks the creature.
Jebediah's eyes widen at the sudden display of violence.
Wait! Maybe it knows things we do not!
Lukas watches in alarm as Iralynash tosses a bomb at the raven, and joins Jeb in trying to stop the irate elf, "He's right! Wait! We're here to try to figure out this ruin, and this is our first chance to learn something!"
The bomb misses the tiny raven.
The bomb explodes across the room, scorching the iron maiden. The raven squawks and disappears. A disembodied voice drifts across the room. No secrets for you! You have disrespected Harzogopas! Squawk!
Jebediah eyes Iralynash scepticcally.
Well that was clever... the halfling remarks s he moves to examine the chamber.
It was a trick. He just wanted to fool around with our minds. Lets move on. Iralynash says angry at the bird while searching the room.
"Well, that bird said he would tell us about the true secrets of this dungeon, maybe we can find some of them without him, " suggests Lukas. He takes a close look at the room and its contents, aware of the secret doors they've already come across.
Falzeal watches in surprise as the bomb is thrown and the bird disappears. As he begins searching around the room, he says. "I have a feeling we'll see that bird again."
Lukas finds a secret door over near the Iron Maiden in the corner of the room! As the party moves through the door, Falzeal hears a small cackle whisper through the air.
As the group turns a few corners in a long, damp hallway, the floor suddenly drops away as the corridor turns again, though a seven-inch wide ledge continues along the south wall. the walls are very smooth, offering few handholds. The remainder of the passageway is filled with a five-foot-deep trough filled with foul-smelling, thick green sludge.
"Hmmm, don't like the look at that stuff," offers Lukas as he looks at the nasty sludge. "I bet I can walk on that little ledge pretty easily, why don't I take a look and see what's around the corner?"
He walks confidently on the ledge, his time spent balancing on shifting loads of cargo and walking on narrow ship rails serving him well.
As Lukas slides nimbly across the corner, he sees that a long stretch of the ledge is slicked with the green sludge.
Lukas easily traverses the ledge and the slicked ledge provides him with no problem. The rest of the party sees him slip around the corner. Everyone seems to be wary of the sludge.
Lukas calls out to his companions, "It's a bit slippy around the corner, but not too bad! You guys want to give it a shot? Maybe we could rig up a rope or something, in case someone falls in."
Falzeal shrugs. "I'll give it a try, I guess." Falzeal edges out onto the ledge, testing the depth with his staff, and using it as an aid.
seeing Felazel tumble Jebediah comments.
Let's give that rope a try! Shall we?