Muscles straining against the beasts strength, Corentin barely manages to hold his feet when the rope suddenly goes slack. Catching his balance the cavalier looks up just in time to see the ruin of Johans body falling through the air. Stunned by the turn of events he doesn't notice as the rope slips through his numb hands and disappears over the edge of the drop off.
The party, shocked by the sudden bi-section of Johan, stands in disbelief as the scene plays itself out. Sasha, the only one with enough composure to react, fires another stone off at the creature, which bounces off of its hard shell. The dragonfly, now without its prey and in the presence of a much larger hunter, hovers for a moment before darting down beneath the level of the floating lily pads and vanishing from sight.
"Johan! Pull him up, Coretin! There may be something we can do," Sasha says hopefully, but the tone of her voice indicates that it is a false hope.
Jaghal shakes his head. "I'm not powerful enough for that something, yet." He looks really depressed.
Not far later his spirit is back on the body! "We should now falter! We came here for a reason!" He grits his teeth, determined to overcome this challenge.
"I will keep the bird aloft and dissuade the insect. Who will attempt the crossing? We must collect what we came for, though the price has been too high by far."
Sasha timidly approaches the chasm, careful to stay back from the edge, as much from fear of tumbling in as from what may come out. She sighs and swallows hard. "I guess that I could..." She bites her lip, considering the gap before her. "I could... I... I can't!" she sobs at last, tears coming freely. She draws back from the chasm. "I'm sorry," she sobs, "I just can't."
The situation demanded them to be fast, or the insect would come back to haunt them. "Do we have more rope?" He shook his head. That would not work. "I can make all of us levitate so we could cross this. It will drain a good part of my capabilities, but I think it's safe enough."
Corentin's mind swims for a moment but his companion's voices bring him back to the present.
"Johan is gone and the beast has been scared off for the moment. We will mourn our friend later but for now we need to act."
Corentin moves to Sasha and leads her way from the edge before kneeling in front of her and looking her in the eyes.
"Sasha, look at me. We have been through much together and that is exactly how we will get through this. Jaghal will enchant us so we can cross and once he does you and I will go as one. He will not let you fall and I will NOT let you fall. I wouldn't ask this of you but we can't do this without you and Trunau...our friends and family....need us to do this. You may called Mouse but you're braver than a lion and I know you can do this."
With that he holds out his hand to his friend.
"Szacha, Jaghal only has so much magic and I hoped you might go back and check on Resolute and Johan's steed for me. I believe the hag only sought escape after our battle but if she chooses to return we'll need to be warned. Could you see to the portal?"
Sasha snuffles and draws a deep breath. "Okay," she says. "I'll do it. Galor, go and guard the horses. I'll be okay."
Jaghal looks excited. "Then let's do it!! Le-le-le-levitate!" He multicasts in the best Ogre Magi style, and right after then start to go up reaching the roof. Although the gnome starts to rotate with any actual anchor, he sends a fist into the air. "YEAH! I knew it would work!!"
Feeling Jaghal's magics take effect Cornetin begins to ask, "So how do we.." but stops short as just the thought of rising has his feet beginning to leave the floor.
Unable to suppress a slight grin at the gnomes exuberance and his own excitement at flying, the cavalier puts his arm around Sasha's waist, gives her a nod and lifts off the ground.
Rising after Jaghal he reaches the ceiling and begins pulling himself across with his free hand.
Sasha, for her part, grips Corentin tightly and closes her eyes.
During the crossing, Giz keeps an eye out for the dragonfly and makes sure his illusory bird appears suitably menacing.
"I was dying to try this out, but I hadn't been under a roof before we got here!"
Szacha nods to the cavalier, and on Sasha's orders he and Galor make for the portal that marks the entrance to the vault. The wolf casts a sad look towards the halfling as it goes as ordered, obviously wanting to stay and protect his master. As they depart Szacha tosses down a coil of rope to replenish the one that was dropped. "Good luck in there, give them hell! the skald says as they depart.
Using his remaining magic, Jaghal enchants each of the remaining party members and they begin floating into the air. After about thirty feet they stop at the ceiling, and slowly begin to push their way across the expanse of lily pads, Gizsmith keeping the threatening image of the giant bird hovering in the air as they move, hopefully keeping the massive dragonfly below at bay. Sure enough, they make their way across the chasm and arrive at the other side. Arriving, they see stairs going down, and begin making their way down. The corridor turns, and there are more stairs, leading further and further down into the vault. Finally they come to a set of double doors which stand slightly ajar.
Pushing open the doors with his weapon, Corentin sees the bridge high above their heads, their path having led to the area far below their initial crossing. The floor here is a tangled mass of weeds, vines, overgrown flowers and shrubs, as well as several fair sized trees. A rough path leads across the expanse to another set of doors on the far side of the room.
Keeping a tight hold on Sasha, Corentin made steady progress across the ceiling with the rest of the group. He was glad the halfling had closed her eyes as the view was disconcerting to say the least. With the threat of the giant insect returning a real possibility he kept glancing downward into the void below and it made his stomach tighten. The effect had him quietly whispering reassurances as much for himself as for Sasha.
Glad to be back on firm ground Corentin walked a few steps from the edge before putting Sasha down and drawing his axe and shield again. Looking at her he smiled, "The Lioness." before leading the group downward.
Looking at the path before them Corentin sighed at the myriad of places an ambush could come from within the tangle of plant life. "Let's keep close, our eyes sharp and stay to the path. The entrance warned of being respectful, I don't know it will help but I imagine it won't hurt."
With that he starts to slowly make his way across the chamber keeping alert for any signs of danger.
Jaghal is indeed excited to walk like on the moon with no gravity. He was secretly hoping the large insect would come at them again, thinking about how memorable such an adventure would be. But then he recalls what happened to Johan and realizes it's best if it kept its course. They were proceeding to their goal either way, so it was fine.
At the end he takes longer than the others to come down, and while the descend the stairs he ascend the ramp, actually walking on the ceiling of the stair corridor, to enjoy it a little bit more. "This is kinda fun, you know."
At the bushes he does not say much. "Oh there will be something here, there will there will..." He holds his spear tight, certain that he will need it sooner rather than later.
As the group carefully crosses the expanse of jungle-like terrain, the only thing out of the ordinary that they encounter is the faintly shimmering corpse of one of the fey creatures they encountered above, its small form pierced by a pair of arrows, a sad reminder of the companion they so recently lost. Soldiering on, they come to the other side of the large greenhouse and arrive at another pair of doors. Unlike the previous doors, these seem to be sealed fast.
Moving up Corentin gives the doors a look over without touching them.
"Can you tell if there are any magics on the door?" he asks to the more mystically inclined.
Sasha looks over the doors, pacing anxiously. Her nerves still haven't completely calmed after the harrowing flight.
"Or maybe I'm just getting paranoid." He extends his hands in turn to his party members. "May the blessed blood in my veins heal you when you need it the most."
Although he was not the one who had the most knowledge about magic he could try. "Hmmm..."
Looking over the doors carefully, Corentin notices nothing out of the ordinary about them, other than they appear to have been sealed for quite some time, as numerous grasses and small vines have grown over the lower section of the door and door frame.
Examining the door with a magically trained eye, Jaghal detects no magical energies other than the same residual magic that seems to radiate from all of the surfaces within this strange place.
"At this point, I don't think there is such a thing as being too paranoid."
Giz pulls out a dagger and starts to cut away at the vegetation blocking the doorway.
Taking a good grip on the door Corentin tries to pull them open.
The manly Jaghal quickly puts his spear aside and moves to help Corentin's efforts as soon as they finish cleaning the vines. "Think about chocolate on the other side Corentin!"
Without too much effort the group manages to cut away most of the entrapping vines surrounding the door and with a strong heave from Jaghal and Corentin the portal opens with relative ease. Inside, numerous flowers cling to the myriad vines and creepers growing over every inch of this curving corridor. A powerful bouquet of competing floral fragrances floats throughout the enclosed space.
The corridor bends around to the north and ends in another set of double doors.
Corentin was glad the doors opened without the need to damage them. This place had proven dangerous but it had a certain beauty to it as well.
As the air from the next room wafted out Cor could feel his nose twitch at the heavy pollen carried forth. Taking a bit of cloth from his pack he wrapped it around the lower part of his face to try and hold off the worst of it.
Doing his best to keep his eyes sharp he pushed forward.
Jaghal did quite the opposite. It was a privilege to feel floral scents after so much they've been through, and even more in a special place like this. After all, on his way back he kinda went through the marshes, so the smell was not the one you would like to have.
So, he inhaled deeply, trying to figure out which flower had each scent, needless to say, completely confident about the lack of dangers in this section. Moving after Corentin he tried to soothe their spirits. "Well, this place isn't quite bad, is it?"
"No, it's beautiful really, a magnificent achievement by the druid circle. But this garden has long returned to the wild. Keep in mind that nature is an indifferent mistress and expects those who would survive and thrive to do so on their own merits or perish in the attempt. As idealic as this place is we've already seen that it's lovely appearance can hide many dangers."
Sasha also covers her nose and mouth with a cloth and ventures in behind the cavalier and the oracle.
"That dragonfly was pretty natural, so ya... yay nature. Druids are crazy. Give me a nice cozy city any day."
Giz keeps an eye out for any dangerous flora.
He looks from Corentin to Giz, then back and fro again. "Spoilsports!" Finally he stares at Sasha for a couple seconds. At least she was not pessimistic like them, thus he smiled at her.
Corentin smiled at his companions banter. He'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the excitement of the adventurer's life but it was just such camaraderie that he truly appreciated.
Gizsmith's trained eye shows no immediate dangers and the group manages to carefully walk through the tangled corridor without incident. Corentin spends some time examining some of the blooms and selects a few for his own keeping, pocketing several small bulbs. Heading through another pair of doors the group finds themselves in a sparse hallway with stairs going down. Following these, another door of similar make to the others presents itself. Opening this, the companions find themselves in a large, arched chamber that provides a grim contrast to the Vault’s other life-filled rooms. Instead of lush vegetation, a massive briar patch and layers of thick humus form high mounds throughout the room. Hundreds of varieties of fungi choke out any attempt for healthy plants to root, and the air is heavy with the stench of decay. At the chamber’s eastern end, a large, swollen wooden chest sits atop a high mound of compost.
"The optimist in me wants to take this at face value, but the pessimist in me doesn't want to die horribly. We had best tread carefully."
Giz scans the area thoroughly, using mean both magical and mundane:
or
"Agreed."Corentin says, pulling the cloth around his mouth and nose a bit tighter. Keeping an eye out as the rest of the party prepares he leads them along the Northern wall once they are ready.
Detecting no magic in range, the party begins to move towards the seemingly harmless chest, making their way along the northern wall of the room and through the rotting vegetation. Without warning, a large mass of vegetation deeper in the room shivers and shoots upward. Two long vines covered in sharp thorns protrude from what appears to be a massive rotting bundle of barbs that’s topped with a heap of berry-red eyes. It looks like the treasure of the vault may have yet another guardian barring the way of the heroes.
Your studies in the natural world have hinted at the existance of something that is similar to what you see before you. You believe this is known as a Brambleblight. Drawn from the First World, these corrupted plant creatures feast upon decaying flesh and spread their vile rot to any other plants they are near. Surrounded by an aura of decay, few creatures, especially animals and other fey, are able to stomach being near them. Attacking them at close range puts the attacker in peril, as the barbs that cover them serve as a suitable defense against those that get too close. Most horrid still is their ability to animate other dead plants that they have corrupted, using them to further protect the brambleblight from danger. They have no known weaknesses recorded.
The plant creature rears up to a full 15 feet in height, nearly touching the ceiling of the room, and the two thorny limbs on either side lash out at the party, sending a hail of thorns and barbs into the air at an astounding speed. Reacting faster than should be possible, Corentin brings his shield up to meet the hail of thorns, deflecting most of the projectiles and shielding the party from harm, the rest harmlessly bouncing off of the group's armor and protective spells. As the creature removes the rest of its bulk from the debris mound a wave of foulness washes over Corentin and Sasha. The halfling manages to keep her composure, but the cavalier seems to sag a bit, the vile energy seeping into his bones and sapping his strength.
The foul stink of rotting vegetation and mold fills Corentin's nose and turns his stomach. Pale and trying to keep control of his stomach he pushes forward towards the creature with his shield held high.
"Why can't anything be easy... Attack from range if you can, those thorns aren't just for show." Looking at all the dead vegitation in the room, "We should probably pull back into the hallway, the blighted thing can animate dead plants. I have a feeling that it's going to get crowded in here soon."
"Get those muscles ready Corentin. You're about to get a whole lot bigger."
Giz pulls out a scroll of enlarge person and casts it on Corentin.
Jaghal is disappointed, definitely, with the next room. He should know that his joy would not last in a place like this, but he was hopeful there would be better rooms ahead. And no monsters.
But for now there was something to beat, some weird creature that stood against them. He couldn't help but feel they should not be fighting, but rather talking. Of course, now that it was attacking them it would actually not be a good option, so he thought about his choices. "Weapons, no, healing, no, fear, no, ah, protect!" He moves after Corentin to back him up.
Sasha loads a stone into her staff and lets fly.