Kari's water blade slams the skum, causing it to stagger as Urram's magic missiles fly in to finish it off.
Before you can revel in your victory, a viscous looking skum emerges from the ramp to the floor above and advances on Anya, brandishing a pair of scimitars. Catching her unawares, it slashes at the Shoanti woman.
Round 2
Fenna <- UP NEXT
Kari (6 dmg)/Hrolf <- UP NEXT
Round 3
Urram <- UP NEXT
Anya (6dmg) <- UP NEXT
Boss Skum
Kari moved back into the main room and shot a water bolt at the new arrival. "They're not very friendly, are they?"
When Fenna hears more trouble out in the hall she quickly comes back through the door. She moves over beside Kari and tells Anya to "move back"!
She moves her hand in a sweeping gesture from where she stands back to the skum and calls out "huono onnea sinulle!, laying down a coat of Grease on the floor.
Urram activates one of his clockwork constructs before stepping up next to Fenna and preparing to receive the creatures charge.
Anya casts aside her bow, and pulls out a handaxe. She holds it out defensively as she takes a step away from the creature.
The skum slips, managing to catch itself but unable to move. It looks ready to strike anyone who might come near it.
Round 3
Fenna <- UP NEXT
Kari (6 dmg)/Hrolf <- UP NEXT
Round 4
Urram <- UP NEXT
Anya (6dmg) <- UP NEXT
Boss Skum
Kari shot the skum with a another water jet. "Hrolf, stay!", she told the wolf.
With the creature apparently stuck Urram raps his staff on the ground and hammers the creature with missiles of force! As he does so he watches the creature carefully, trying to predict its likely course of action.
Fenna slides over into the spot beside the skum just vacated by Anya. She stabs quickly with her gladius followed by a chop with her machete.
Fenna's steps in and releases a mad flurry of strikes against the skum. Her blades cast a thick black blood across the walls. Kari blasts the creature again with her jet of water. The creature tries to collect itself, but Urram blasts it with magic. Blood starts to pool in his eyes and under his webbed feet.
As the creature falls to the floor, Anya steps forward once again. She holds her axe high, ready to strike the skum, but it doesn't rise.
"Finish it." Urram commands, still watching carefully. "That is a powerful skum soldier. We should not allow it to continue."
With the skum finished Urram returns to the right-hand room to continue the examination that was interrupted when the commander came down the stairs.
"I think it's dead," Kari replied. She examined the creature to make sure.
Kari sees the creature breathing heavily in its unconscious state, at least until Anya happily obliges Urram's notion and buries her axe in the skum's head. Hrolf growls at the corpse until someone calms him.
The skums belongings amount to a small leather pouch and a set of keys on his simple hempen belt, and his well-made swords...one of which gives off a glow of magic.
[ooc]a potion of cure moderate wounds, a masterwork scimitar, and a [url=https://aonprd.com/MagicWeaponsDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Seaborne]+1 seabourne scimitar[/i]
Kari examined the magic sword and offered her opinion on it's properties to Urram.
She checked the body of the skum in the hallway, before moving to the doorway at the end of the hall, examining it for traps and listening for sounds beyond.
Fenna helps Anya check and bind her wound. "You alright Anya?'
"Enchanted to cut well, especially in water." Urram agrees with Kari. "We have many such weapons at the Spire."
"I'm fine, I think," Anya winces and holds the scimitar cut given to her by the skum boss. "Let's follow after Kari."
A long marble workbench runs the entire length of the southern wall, and a rusting metal shelf stands on the opposite wall. Squat stools line up along the bench, which is littered with a variety of small, precise hammers and chisels as well as fragments of crystalline stone that looks like quartz. Kari investigates the exit to the north, determines the door is safe and free of traps.
In a pile of quartz pieces lying on the table, one of the stones on the table glows brightly: a simple ioun torch
Kari healed herself and opened the door.
Urram examines the workbench intently and with apparent increasing delight. "These are Ioun Stones, or could be. This is jeweller bench, to make the stones! I must take all this when we leave - or come back! It could be very useful!"
He takes the Ioun torch and offers it to Five, when the wyrd floats away he shrugs and holds it out to the ladies.
"Do you want want it?"
"I'll take it if no-one else wants it," Kari replied. "Good for overcoming lesser darkness spells!"
Fenna snorts at Five's disinterest in the ioun torch. "Stone's not good enough for Five Urram?"
"Fine with me Kari, both my hands tend to be occupied in moments of crisis so it doesn't really help for me to carry it around."
Fenna looks around the room as well, but without the particular interest Urram shows. As she pokes around at the stuff on the workbench she wonders aloud about some things she's been thinking on.
"The skum seem very interested in this place. Why do you think that is? What could they get from it? Do you think they just avoid that room with the constructs in it, or do they have a way of dealing with them, maybe like a command or password?"
"Considering how well established the skum are in here, I don't think things look good for that colonist who came in here."
"It only likes undead stones." Urram replies, and then frowns. "Not that kind. It likes stones which still have their magic. That stone is dead but has a spell cast on its remains - a zombie stone!" He finishes triumphantly. "But yes, Five is... picky."
At Fenna's concerns Urram nods, face showing concern if only one could see past his mask.
"Yes. We had better hurry. I will return later."
Urram knows that there are many ways to program constructs and specify how they should react to certain creatures. For the constructs of the ancient Azlanti, it typically involves the use of a key, similar to the ones discovered on the skum leader's belt. It would also be possible to use lock picks to manipulate their keyholes. Reprogramming a hostile construct would involve restraining it before the key could be deployed. Once reprogrammed, they could be put to almost any task.
Kari releases the ioun torch, which begins to orbit slowly around her head, shedding light around the room. With her healing spell set in, Kari opens the door to the north.
This dark chamber is featureless except for a large ring of an unusual-looking metal embedded in the floor. The only door in the chamber is the one Kari peers through.
"What in the gods names is that?", Kari wondered. She recited a prayer and scanned the metal ring for magic auras. Then she approached, looking for traps.
"If we can restrain the constructs then I could reprogram them." Urram offers after a moments thought. "Then they could work for your colony or restore this tower."
Seeing the ring of metal Urram checks it for magic.
As Kari and Urram each direct their detect magic spells towards the ring, there is a flash only the casters can see, and their effect is dispelled harmlessly.
"Beats me what that thing is," Kari declared. "Shall we check upstairs?"
She went back out to the central room and checked the ramp.
"Yes. Investigate this later." Urram agrees, supressing his curiosity with the knowledge that he will have all the time he wants here later.
After a quick review of his magical protections he draws his spear and prepares to follow Fenna up the ramp.
Fenna looks around, but she's really preoccupied with how they could possibly restrain the constructs in the other room. She's drawing a blank on the question so far.
The group moves on from the room with the crossbow trap, finding the ramp on the opposite side where Urram had hid from the trap as Fenna disabled it. Kari leads the way cautiously up the ramp, discovering spots of water that were likely left by the skum who came to ambush them from above. The ramp is not terribly steep and proves easy to ascend, but a hasty run down could possibly lead to a tumble.
Much of this level is a room that wraps around the tower. The ramp from below sits at this room’s northernmost end, and another ramp on the south wall ascends to a third floor above. Against a wall to the southwest is a table suitable for quiet study. The western side of this area sports half a dozen bookshelves covered in the dust of deteriorating paper and leather. The wet skum-prints lead to one of these bookshelves, where a book lies open and face down on the ground.
Opposite the shelves is a small stone plinth holding a clockwork bust of a nondescript woman. A large table surrounded by a few stools occupies the eastern side of this room.
"What's that say?" Anya asks, pointing to the middle of the room. A set of double-doors with an elaborate lock leads to a central chamber, with tarnished brass plaque hanging beside it: Et minus lacus Circumda Observatio
"I wonder what aquatic creatures are doing in this tower?", Kari mused. She followed the wet footprints into the library, staying alert for traps as she went. She scanned the room for magic auras, before investigating the book on the floor.
Urram also scans for magic but heads for the books, keen to see what Azlanti wisdom has survived the centuries.
Fenna starts for the books as well "Do you think the skum read Azlanti? Wouldn't that be very strange?"
But she stops to give the clockwork bust a good look first. She tries to find a way to make it do something.
Hrolf follows along with Kari, sniffing at the prints until she finds the book on the ground. Kari picks up a the book, and spies a stack on the side of the shelf just out of her reach...but just in reach for the skum.
What exactly the skum was doing here is a secret he took to his grave.
Urram carefully looks over the shelves of books. As he's about to reach for one, he spots an arcane rune covering a particular shelf.
Fenna finds her way around to a plinth holding a strange clockwork bust of a woman. A small slot half as long as Fenna's thumb is built into the forehead of the bust. The bust is not warded, but doesn't respond to Fenna's prodding.
Anya, unable to read the Azlanti writing on the plaque, stands to the north with her bow readied for any danger.
Urram examines the glyph carefully with his magical senses.
"There is something here." He calls, unable to decipher the magic.
Kari looked at the book that was lying on the floor, curious to see what it was about.
Fenna takes a look at the glyph along with Urram, but doesn't know anything more than him about it.
She casts Detect Magic and tries to find some particular magical aura. She also mentions as she's doing these things "There's a slot in that clockwork bust. I think there may be something like a key that goes in it to make it work. Keep your eyes peeled for that sort of thing."
Together, Fenna and Urram look over the wards covering a particular shelf of books. After a few minutes, while they are unable to determine the nature of the wards, they determine that it seems to cover a few specific shelves of the collection. Surprisingly, all the books appear to be in fairly good condition. With some chalk marks, Urram is able to draw visual indications around the borders of the protective spell so that investigation can continue without activating the trap. Determining it's effects and how to disable or circumvent them will take a considerable amount of time.
Anya moves very little as everyone moves about the room, watching over the whole scene and ready for danger to come from anywhere.
Hrolf looks on as Kari peruses the book dropped by the skum.
The third volume of an Azlanti collection on Human Anatomy, Fenna's question about the skum's ability to read the ancient language may have its answer: While the book contains very detailed and well-researched information about human anatomy that test Kari's understanding of the language, it also features quite a few diagrams for a hand-written tome.
The nearby shelf contains volumes IV and V, while volumes I and II look like they were tossed a bit more carefully onto the floor.
"We will return later to examine this more." Urram decides when he and Fenna make no progress. "What else is there here?"
"The skum seem to have been looking at volumes on human anatomy," Kari told the others. She moved over to check out the magic aura that Urram had found.
She then returned to the library and looked around some more.
Fenna takes a look at the book Kari is holding as well.
"I can't put my finger on exactly why, but that creeps me out to no end. It's hard to imagine this curiosity isn't a result of us being here, or the first colonists being here."
Fenna moves on to checking the double doors to see if they are unlocked and safe to open.
Urram makes his way over to the desk as Kari, Fenna and Hrolf continue to review the book. Anya tensely watches over the whole scene, ready to draw her bow at any sign of danger. More Azlanti books from the collection sit atop the desk on the east side of the room, though Urram discovers an object he's only read about: a single gemstone with a faint transmutation aura known as a recording gem.
Satisfied with the readings, Fenna and Kari ready to open the door to the floor's central chamber, which appears safe and unsecured. With everyone ready, Fenna opens the door.
This enclosed area is an octagonal walkway illuminated by a soft, pervasive light. The overwhelmingly dominant feature is another chamber inside this area, which has transparent walls and appears to be filled with gently bubbling water. This tank appears to extend up into the next floor, although there is a stone ceiling 15 feet above this external walkway. On the east side of the tank is a transparent door, complete with an opaque handle.
Urram merely glances into the tank and, once aware that it is uninhabited, turns back to the recording gem and the strange head shaped statue. Aware that it might well be a play-back device he investigates if there is any way to put the gemstone into the statue.
Kari eyed the tank suspiciously, in case something was lurking within.
As Urram begins to walk away from the tank in the center of the room, Anya, standing next to Kari, gives the strange glass a very gentle rap. In response, the water swirls wildly for a moment, revealing the presence of a medium water elemental naturally blending in with the water. Hrolf immediately barks in reaction, and Anya pulls her bow taught, pointing it defensively at the door the the tank.
The creature continues to swirl about in the tank, but the door inside remains closed, despite Anya's arrow and Hrolf's barking.
you can use the Knowledge skill associated with your primary element to identify elementals of your primary element’s subtype
Skilled Kineticist
Fenna looks at the water elemental, as well as she can given the difficulty of separating it from the surrounding water, for a minute.
"I wonder how long it's been in there? I suppose we should try to do something for it? Eventually at least. I mean if it's been in there since this place was in use a little longer shouldn't make a big difference."
She almost immediately loses interest in the tank and wanders back over to the clockwork bust.
A creature from the Plane of Water, the elemental is immune to many different things, including bleeding, poison and paralysis. It has no need to eat or breath, and cannot be damaged by taking if taken by surprise.
It may have other abilities, but Kari has never met such a creature.
-------
Urram makes his way to the clockwork bust on the plinth. The recording gem slides easily into the, lighting the eyes of the statue but producing only sound in the old Azlanti tongue. Even Urram struggles to understand the ancient version of his native tongue, though Kari and Fenna are less experienced with Azlanti, the old dialect is very similar to their instruction by the celedon sisters.
"Et hoc habet recordum gemmam et indicium est quod non solum in ordine ad usum internum est scriptor divulgatione ad publicam, sub pena juris."
"Attractio captivus: Coepi constat. Ex serie in victoria exploratorem fuisse, inter quas etiam permaneat spiritu evangelico rerum temporalium magicae statis. Et originali fama de conclusione vinctum, de quo posset esse necesse sunt dryadalem ex habitu Celwynvian humanum. Difficile est dicere, ut ipse tradit recentes Electi tamen ille manet tenax, versutus et periculo. Keeping eum in Compass dignatus est etiam a periculo de ducibus Trochleæ Solutio et attinentibus renovatis nostra facility ut has been suo maneat adiutare. Inquisitores remanebit ex gradu inferiore ignarus captivus repono in planum superius."
The recording pauses momentarily, before it starts again.
"Et hoc habet recordum gemmam et indicium est quod non solum in ordine ad usum internum est scriptor divulgatione ad publicam, sub pena juris."
"Pre-captivus Interrogation Report: modificationes in qua capta est causa recte constitutis, et in tutum interrogationes sunt, ut prius citatus probat. Solutio in turbine fusum ducibus indicavit apparent infiltration ut posset esse peius quam primum descripsit. Currently, in publico manet in comminatione ignarus. Quod clarum ab aquatilibus Azlanti machinationis genus imperii subditi. Adhuc ignotus est per exploratorem network gradus illis irrogare."
At the end of the message, the lights in the eyes of the clockwork device blink. With a touch, the message replays from the start.
"This recording gem and the information it contains is for the organization’s internal use only and not for dissemination to the public, under penalty of law."
"Prisoner Intake: Initial Report. Transfer of the spy has been a success, including the persistence of the temporal statis magic. The original report mentioned the prisoner could be an elf from Celwynvian disguised as a human. Recent reports say that it is unlikely he is an elf, however he remains tenacious, resourceful, and dangerous. Keeping him within the Compass has been deemed too dangerous by the leadership of the Spindle Solution, and our facility has been renovated to accommodate his stay. Lower level researchers remain unaware of prisoner storage on the upper level."
"This recording gem and the information it contains is for the organization’s internal use only and not for dissemination to the public, under penalty of law."
"Prisoner Interrogation Pre-Report: Modifications to the prisoner's case have been completed, and tests to ensure safe interrogations are already underway. Spindle Solution leadership has indicated that the apparent infiltration could be worse than originally described. Currently, the general public remains unaware of the threat. What is clear is that the Azlanti Empire may be subject to manipulation by an aquatic race. Still unknown is the degree of insinuation by the spy network."
-------
"What does it say?" Anya asks nervously when the message ends. She stands with her bow ready near the bookshelf, where she has the best view of the room.
Kari replied to Anya, "Something about a captured spy. Held in the upper level, I think. Then something about the Azlanti Empire being subject to being manipulated by an aquatic race."
Though it's well beyond his current capabilities to cast, Urram is well aware of the Temporal Stasis spell mentioned in the recording; specifically, the possibility that its effects may last millennia.
"They seem to have held the spy in strong time magic." Urram says. "The spell is almost infinite - the spy may still be above or below us. We must be careful."
The rest of the information is filed away in his methodical mind, to be further examined later on.