"I guess I owe you one," Thren admits grudgingly, still moving stiffly.
"Way I see it, your deal is fair, but it's not up to me alone." Thren looks meaningfully at Lark, Lee, and Muffin.
"Ay, come along with us."/[b] Lark stoops to pick up the glowing coin and the cassock, and says, [b]"This is no place to be wandering alone. Does Varossa really think she can tackle this place with only Vancid for help?"
Lee addresses Hinsin:
"I agree with Captain Lark and Threnody. Coming along is best. If you say you'll stay out of fights with your captain, I accept your word. In fact, when and if we find Varossa and Vancid, I'd suggest staying out of sight. That way you won't be ordered to break your promise to us."
"Good. That's settled. Now let me put my insides back inside and we'll be ready to go."
Thren breaks out the sceptre of cure light wounds.
Hinsin looks over at Thren, blue eyes wide in hope (they look bluer against the slashes and bruises decorating his face). "I don't suppose you might be willing to share?"
He really does look to be about in the same shape as Threnody before she healed herself.
He looks at Lark. "To answer your question..." his face grows more sober than is normal for Hinsin, even a nearly-mortally wounded one, "I honestly don't know. Varossa's become obsessed with this. She has always been a good planner, careful. Ever since she had the fight with Warvil though... don't get me wrong, I truly think her killing him was an accident... but ever since, she's been getting increasingly off. And when Lee started asking her questions--so I understand--about seeing the reasons she got even more paranoid. Not that he could have known of course... but it stirred a hornet's nest. I honestly fear for her; she is not thinking straight. But that said, she is a formidable pirate queen, and she knows when to fight and when to flee and does well at both."
Regardless of whether you heal Hinsin or simply move on, you check first the room you found the single-armed gholdako in, but find nothing of interest. Whatever it was protecting appears to be long removed.
The room where Hinsin had been hiding, and lit by his own light-lit pebble, is largely identical to the other room, except that Hinsin has bled in it a good deal, making the floor a little more colorful. Hinsin notes this is where he woke up, so it must be the last place Varossa and Vancid were.
Lark spots slightly blood laden footprints (they stepped in Hinsin's blood as they dragged him into the room) leading toward the east wall in this room. Once everyone's attention is drawn to this spot, the group soon makes out an outline of a door in the wall. There is no discernible handle. There is graven image of a three-eyed cyclops that does not appear anywhere else on the walls; it is similar to a drawing on the map you found in Warvil's stash at the monastery.
"If no one objects, sure, I'll heal you up," Thren tells Hinsin as she feels strength return to her body.
"Thanks, Thren," says Lark as he feels the positive energy from the scepter. He then nods and gestures a 'go ahead' toward Hinsin.
Lark gazes at carved doorway, then turns thoughtfully to Hinsin. He starts digging through his bag and mutters, "In for penny, in for a pound." He hands Warvil's map to Hinsin and says, "Does Varossa have anything like this?"
While Hinsin examine's the map Lark examines the door, including running his hands over it and putting his ear against it.
Hinsin takes the map and whistles. "Varossa has a lot of nice maps--which I'll add we could always just go back and give you some and and then go our separate ways--but not this map. I mean, she has maps of the Shackles, yes. But the quality of this particular map of the Shackles, as well as the markings? No. That..." He taps the area where Brightglass Island is marked. "That is definitely Warvil's handwriting. And this is definitely a drawing of that thing on the wall..." He looks at the map, then at the thing on the wall, while Lark is searching.
Lark can, meanwhile, see the door is definitely untrapped, and that it looks like the eyes of the three-eyed creature carved into the door are buttons--they can be pushed. As Lark examines the shape, Hinsin shows him the map again. "See, look. I thought it was part of the artwork, but it's not. The three eyes are circled. Three-in-one together. What do you think?"
"Maybe it's like the notes on the wall from before?" Thren suggests.
"The eyes seem to be part of some mechanism." So saying Lark pushes on all three eyes at once.
Lark pushes on all three eyes; since this was designed for giant hands, Hinsin is willing to assist as needed.
With a grinding that is loud--but at least less loud than the front door opening--the wall slides away to reveal a corridor of stairs leading upward. Carefully proceeding, checking for any dangers along the way, you emerge into an immense chamber grand in both scale and design. The room and attached southern antechamber measure over a hundred feet long from north to south. A raised dais sits in the center of the hall, flanked by two thick stone columns inscribed with runes. To get the best vantage point, again being careful to avoid any unexpected surprises, you walk up to this dais to get the best view of the chamber. Two alcoves in the western wall remain dark and empty of anything but debris. The northeastern corner has partly collapsed, scattering large chunks of rubble across the floor; whatever was there is now thoroughly destroyed and once again part of the cave out of which this fortress was carved. In addition to ancient remnants left behind by the original cyclops inhabitants of this dungeon, you occasionally see more "human (or smaller)-sized debris" that suggests someone else moved in here at some point, though still very long ago, perhaps a century too (long enough you don't see anything discernibly useful--at least not in this central hall).
That SAID: some of the collapsed rubble in the northeast includes some very nice, sizable chunks of marble. It would take some work to cart it away, but with time and heavy labor, you'd probably have about 4,000 gp worth of salvageable marble.
To the east, you see another staircase lead high upward. Thren can see some of the staircase just barely flickering with faint, strange reflections. The southeast leads to a dark room.
To the south you see a 20+ foot wide pool; even in the dim light you make out a mosaic in the center of the pool shaped like an eye--strangely the water is clear enough to see through in spite of the rest of the area being spotted with debris, rubble, and, near moisture, mold. Lee recognizes the pool's shape as desirable for use for scrying.
Directly south of the statue stairs lead upward to something flanked by large statues. East of that stairway is a less remarkable passage also leading to darkness, and west of it leads to a passage that heads downward and out of sight.
While the floor is rubble strewn, allowing you to see some signs of Varossa and Vancid's continued passage, they wandered a little bit through the area making it hard to discern where they went next--at least at a glance.
Lark gazes around, wide-eyed. "I've never been in a place like this. I kinda wish we could explore it all, but I guess we should stick with Varossa, for now."
Lark looks around, heading back down the steps off the dais, to determine Vancid and Varossa's passing through. He can definitely tell they went south--there are no signs of passage on the east side of the hall--but after looking like they perhaps stopped to examine the pool, they walk back and forth a few times and he loses the trail.
Thren looks around, then back at Hinsin. "I don't suppose Varossa told you anything about this place that we might want to know?"
Is there one "part" of the pool that is magic-ier than the rest? Like, the thing that purifies with water and keeps the pool nice? Or is it the whole pool?
Lee does not need any special powers of observation to note the aura of magic radiates from the whole pool (the container, not the water itself).
Hinsin shakes his head at Threnody. "She kept things fairly close to the hip even from us. My job was to learn the tune to open the door, but she took the horn from me as soon as we got in. I have a sense she is looking for Redclaw's ship, the Fearsome Tide, so I assume this must lead to a cove ssomewhere. I'd guess this complex must have had sea access at some point, but when we sailed past the whole side of the island was blocked by a huge reef of black coral..."
Our bard gets out the wand and uses some of its power to heal Hinsin. While he's not fully healed, his health definitely improves.
"Guess we'll find out, won't we?" Thren replies as she puts the wand away.
"If we're looking for a cove maybe that means we head down rather than up. Or do I have that backwards?" Lark gestures the others to stay close and walks to the mouth of the southwest passage. "I'm going to pick one and go unless anyone has a bright idea?"
"One's as good as another I guess. Though a cove being down makes sense." Thren puts the wand away and gets her bow out, ready to go on.
"Water is down. I don't know if Muffin has any input."
Lee address the cat on his shoulder: "Any thoughts about where the 'cove' could be? Or Varossa?"
Muffin jumps off of Lee's shoulder and sniffs around for Varossa.
Lark lets the light shine a little further down into the southeastern room. As the dim light goes down the stairs he can see that it goes to a smallish room and probably not at all a cove. Something glints a little in the light. And something seems to be moving in a rippling sort of way. He'd have to move down the stairs and get the light closer to see whatever he is seeing more clearly.
Meanwhile, Muffin sniffs around as he follows the area around which Vancid and Varossa appeared to have wandered.
He pauses at the stairs that lead up to the central chamber, and the fur on his back stands up, and he lets out a low growl.
"Something *Not-Good*, something *Not-Good* up there... very *Not-Good*... should make it stop, SHOULD... but... scaaaaary...." You get the sense empathically whatever he's talking about has nothing to do with Varossa. He shares a scent with you, one of death and despair.
He darts back and leans up against Lee's legs, as if to hide. A moment later, he licks a paw and mews, and then moves just a few inches toward the western stair.
"She and the one who smells of burnt-herbs... went all over. Stopped there, and there... but the scent only keeps going down there."
"Muffin says they walked all around this room, then went down."
Lee indicates the direction the pirates went then pauses.
"Also, there's something to the west here that needs to be dealt with. Evil and frightening but nothing to do with Varossa. Just death and despair. Once we are done with Varossa, we need to put whatever it is down."
Lee picks Muffin back up.
Our bard gives Muffin a friendly skritch. "Guess we follow Muffin's nose then." Thren says. "Whatever there is to the west, with a description like that, is probably some other cyclops mummy undead thing. I don't see a reason to worry about it until we have to. Or if we find some questing paladin to go and smite it into the afterlife. I'll send him down here after it if I see one."
Lee gives Thren a "really?" look.
"Honestly? The old "Questing Paladin" story? My preference would be to sort out Varossa then deal with the potential undead thingness. If we catch some winks and do it tomorrow? That would be good. But I definitely want to be resolving it before we sail off. And who knows? We may need an undead-free place to stash some loot as we go along. This place worked well for Redclaw for a long time. Plus, this is something so evil it smells evil we are talking about. We should just take little tasks like this on just to make the world a better place."
"Let's just say that while we've lived through every fight with the undead so far, it's also gotten us diseased and nearly dead a lot. Not feeling that 'nearly dead' thing. Assuming it's undead over there. If not, hey, I'm game. First things first though: Varossa and treasure. Evil incarnate later."
Hinsin smiles with gratitude at Threnody when she heals him and he whispers playfully at her, "I knew you were my favorite for a reason."
You slowly and carefully head down the stairs into this octagonal room. Carved out of the wall appears to be something that could have served as a weapon stand--for giants. Broken stone furniture litters the floor.
The southwestern wall is covered in an unusual black substance that looks like coral, and massive formations of the material choke the exit to the southwest. A narrow path, just barely wide enough for a human to fit through, allows passage into the room beyond--myriad cut marks and burn marks from Creed's powder-bombs show that Varossa and Vancid forced their way through. The black mass blocks your view of most of the room beyond.
The jagged edges of the black coral are very sharp. Lee and of course Muffin can slip through without issue, but the three human(ish) folk will have to be careful to pass through. Alternately they could try to make the hole wider, but it looks like it took a lot of work just to make the existing gap.
Thren beams a grin at Hinsin. "It's because of my tail and you know it." In response, said appendage twitches back and forth, coils around her leg, uncoiling and then settling down.
When the gap in the black coral is found, Thren gamely steps forward and tries to get through. She almost makes it-then stops cold. "Ow, damn it! My horn got stuck!" The tiefling woman complains.
On the second attempt, our swashbuckling heroine remembers to duck her head a bit further and makes it through the gap just fine.
Lee makes his way through the tight spot with Muffin, joining Thren on the other side.
The young rogue strides confidently up to the gap and snakes his way through.
You all carefully make your way through the narrow coral gap; only Hinsin struggles, scraping himself badly before making it through.
"Of course," Hinsin remarks. "Gods I miss being on a ship."
The chamber beyond is dotted with old broken chairs and tables; stone columns mark the center and have been carved with graffiti in various languages.
As your light spells fill the chamber with dim light, a voice calls out--but you cannot see its source. Simply loud, desperate, fearful as it is furious: "You fools! They'll see you! They're coming! We're dead, we're dead, and it's YOUR FAULT!"
A smoking flask flies toward Lark's face.
The flask explodes squarely in Lark's chest, setting him on fire.
The burning alchemical flames blow all around Lark as well, singing everyone else.
As the flames and smoke die down, Vancid Creed appears where you saw nothing before, just outside the brightest edge of your light. He is wild-eyed and shaking, and in spite of his attack upon you, he looks with fear toward the corridor to your left (his right). Those of you who spent time with Creed know he was always, if anything, annoyingly level-headed, straightforward, and calm, so he is barely recognizable now.
And the ??? arrive in...
Hinsin peers from where he is cowering behind Threnody. "Good god Creed, it's me! Snap out of it! Where's Varossa? What's happened?"
"I could try to enthrall him," he whispers more quietly to the others... "But if I fail he might blow us up..."
Hinsin waits for the others to respond...
Lark scrambles to pat out the fire, but he can't get every spot and flames continue to crawl over him.
Hinsin waits on a decision on spellcasting, and in the meantime moves to hide behind a broken table and begins playing his flute.
From his new position on the ground Lark growls, "Hinsin, just keep playing. Save what you've got for whatever it is Creed's afraid of."
Thren realizes that if she stays back, Creed could potentially blast them all to bits and their remains to ash. She puts her bow away and then sweeps past the prone Lark and up to Creed, whipping out her sword as she goes. "You singed my tail Creed! Knock it off and tell us what's happened!"
Round 1
Lee walks W then W then SW.
Lee casts Web into the passage leading off to the SE.
Lee speaks in calm tones and in an even, measured pace.
"Calm down, Creed. That will slow up nearly anything. What are you concerned about? If you tell us so that we understand you we can probably do something about whatever it is and save us all."
Muffin rides shotgun with Lee.
"Always trying to show off your spellslinging, you meddlesome slip!" Creed taunts Lee. "You don't understand... none of that matters. It gets in your HEAD. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!" Tears stream down his cheeks.
Whatever has such a usually-methodical and level-headed man as Creed so spooked, neither well-meaning commands to "calm down" nor soothing flute music are adequate to snap him back to himself. Nor does he appear to be under a spell influence--he is simply the victim of some serious mental trauma, and it will obviously take more than reassurances spoken with minimal effort to snap him out of it.
He begins to reach for another bomb assembly, but he does hesitate at Threnody's more carefully chosen words, especially since she approaches but does not attack him. He instead pulls out one of his smaller extract vials, drops a reagent into it, and drinks it--and disappears. "You should have left well enough alone. You should have stayed put... you were safer. We could have been safe... Varossa!" his voice sobs as his footsteps recede.
Meanwhile, a commotion raises up in the hall where Lee cast his web. There do seem to be creatures trying to shove their way through the sticky strands.
Thren lets Creed slip away, realizing he's truly not himself and taking no action to stop him.
Round 2
Lee listens to whatever it is struggling through his Web.
"Do you want me to go on "full blast" and try to kill whatever is on the other side of the Web before we even see it? I mean Fireballing sight unseen isn't responsible spell casting, but is there any chance at all that whatever's back there will do anything but try to kill us?"
"I doubt anything friendly would be trying to plow through your web, and something around here drove Creed moon-witted, so I'd say it might be a good idea."
Muffin does not smell or detect anything like he did by the staircase. He says his senses are somewhat overwhelmed by a bad rotting smell coming from the south, the scent of dead fish in seawater.
Hinsin says, I am all for blowing up anything that might kill us, but noting that tossing fiery explosions is something Creed is capable of, either whatever is coming isn't what he is afraid of, or you may be wasting your magic. I would hate to die because I was wrong though."