The xill makes a chattering sound at the next questions, its mandibles clacking together (not entirely unlike Valais's own teeth). Possibly it's laughter?
"-chrt- We use the creep to sail, meatborn. And you do not 'go back through.' Once here, you are ours. I perceive you do not answer me. Enough, then."
The xill's body seems to lock up, burning eyes staring upward at nothing in particular.
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"YOU WON'T GO ANYWHERE, FOOLISH CREATURE."
She brings down a massive hammer blow on the xill's head.
She then begins chuckling and spasming again.
"Hehehe...no running away for you, little one bug of bone and blood. I finally get to use my spear again...."
Valais reaches behind her, taking the longspear off her back. The spear has a vicious blade covered in fangy protrusions, and the entire shaft is of a dull, dark grey. Anyone that has fought a babau before would recognize it in an instant. She holds the tip up to the xill's face.
"Hehehe...bad luck for you...."
The xill's mandibles chatter at Darro's statement, possibly in further amusement, but before it can say anything further, Valais drives a powerful fist down towards its skull.
The blow hits, and the creature goes limp with a rattling of its respiratory system. Its body becomes fully solid again, its planar travel disrupted. Six seconds later, Valais's spear skewers the creature's rail-thin body, though it seems there were few signs of life before the impact.
Darro, meanwhile, tests the plants and creepers. It's slow going, as tendrils and vines appear and disappear where he wishes to pass. He can squeeze through, but Blackthorn's larger size makes it difficult-- the wolf must wait here and there for certain branches to phase out of existence, but ultimately they can pass.
Reaching the arch of the doorway, Darro can peer through to a wedge-shaped chamber beyond. The walls are marked with angular lines that all meet together at the tip of the chamber in a terminus point ringed with concentric circles. The convergence point of all the lines pulses with a faint glow.
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Kleetus blinks. "Ah'm learning all sortsa stuff 'bout ann-a-tommy today. Oh well, Abadar don't say nuthin' 'bout murderbugs with swords." He sheathes his sword and makes his way to the fore, before turning around and motioning towards Vals: "Anyway, c'mon Val-y girl, Ah think yer punchin' a murdertree next."
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Seeing the Xill about to disappear, Kris curse his cautiousness for not being able to strike it, however seeing Valais' well placed strike he gives a shrug and turns on his heel, heading towards the great plant curtain that seems to be the groups next obstacle.
"Well, If they ain't linked mentally they shouldn't have warning, if they are get ready for lot more bug kicking action" he says almost cheerily as he follows Darro and Blackthorn through the portal.
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Valais takes control of her body once more. She gasps and drops the spear, the weight of the spear pulling the still-impaled xill to the ground. She rapidly glances about, tears welling in her human eye.
"Oh my goodness...did...did...I do that?"
She turns away and closes her eyes, hold her claws up against her ears as she squats down. She tries to remember her breathing exercises.
"Just follow the way...everything is okay...just follow the way...everything is okay...just follow the way...everything is okay...."
As her breathing calms, she opens her eyes, rolling her vertebrae up into a standing position one-by-one. She turns to the xill.
"I am so very, very sorry, Mrs. Xill. Please...forgive me."
She pulls the longspear out of the corpse, cleaning it off with a cantrip. She gazes at it for a moment, her grip loosening enough that the smallest movement would let the spear drop. A small voice--a giggling, red voice--insists that it is very, very important that she hold onto this spear. Such terrible things would happen to her if she would leave it.
Her grip tightens once more, and she drags it along, the tip screeching softly as it scrapes against the floor. Her free claw shears through the plant growth to help clear the way.
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Though the plant material makes people leery, it doesn't attack or otherwise harm you. It just slowly phases in and out, in and out.... and slows down your progress, somewhat, as you push through the fronds and creepers (or in Valais's case, shreds them with her claws) and occasionally need to slip sideways around a larger, temporarily-solid growth.
Still, soon enough you're all at the little wedge-shaped room, with its terminus of convergence points. Someone bites the alchemical cartridge, so to speak, and tentatively pokes the pulsing circle at the end. That individual disappears!!! You are not shocked, since you harvested the xill intelligence informing you this is a portal point. Instead, you do what Pathfinders have done since time immemorial (alright, since 4307 AR) and hurl yourself into the abyss of "not really sure where this goes, but let's try it!"
The world fades and twists around each of you after you touch the pulse-point. You feel yourself stretched by your component particles for an infinitely-long nanosecond, and then... you snap back into your proper shape and configuration.
You're in a chamber identical to the one you just left, save that instead of a doorway at the wide tip of the wedge, it's a stairwell that leads upwards. Looks like it heads into a larger chamber-- from which you can all hear, or perhaps even feel, a faint, throbbing hum, that causes your teeth to kind of ache a little bit.
This oddly-shaped chamber feels like the heart of the strange ship, and the pulse of its energy is almost palpable. The cabin is dominated by a cube composed entirely of brass, that balances on one point atop a 3-foot crystal plinth, where it rotates slowly counterclockwise. Every inch of this cubiform monolith is covered in cramped script, symbols, schematic designs, and glyphs. Blue tracers of power flash across its surface every few seconds and are absorbed into these etched characters.
A cursory inspection of the spinning cube reveals that it is not, in fact, solid brass, but contains dozens of panels that can be moved and rearranged in various configurations, simply by sliding the panels into new positions.
On the far wall from the stairs by which you entered, two doors are set, currently closed.
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Deaglan casts a minor spell and then follows closely behind Kleetus, trying to keep as many of his companions within the protective circle
"Where?" he asks and then "Does it just have 2 arms? It is quite hard to make out through that material. Would it be alive?"
Deaglan thinks for a moment and then adds "Only one way to find out I guess, shall we try to free it?"
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Darro and Blackthorn join Deaglan and Kleetus. The wolf is a bit testy after having to squeeze through the tight quarters. Darro scratches the wolf behind the ears to show his appreciation.
"Good eye Kleetus, there does appear to be someone or something in there. How odd." Darro says. "How to free it is the question... or should we free it..."
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Pushing them self through the strange phasing plant life as if it were a simple stroll across a country park, Kris admires the pulsing light for a mere moment before hopping through it, hoping that the Xill wasn't simply trying to get him disintegrated in the odd radiance.
Stepping out the other side he quickly he checks himself for all of his component parts before heading up the staircase, making sure to stay away from the testy wolf Blackthorn. He admires the bronze panels and lightly runs his fingers over one before muttering a cantrip himself.
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Valais pauses to gaze wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the fantastical room.
"This place seems nice...."
When someone points out the creature in the crystal, she scoots up behind Kleetus, softly chewing on her lip as she huddles behind him. Her babau mouth and the kalavakus half of her head are hidden behind the half-orc's back and neck, respectively, leaving a single human eye and her long hair peeking out.
She waves at the crystal.
"Um...hi."
There is certainly magic in the cabin, the bulk of it centered on the slowly-rotating cube. The spells that Lucija and Kris attempt to identify are not entirely a match with magic as they themselves know it: they detect auras that seem to have commonalities with teleportation spells such as dimension door and plane shift, and likewise transmutation spells similar to passwall, though these do not appear directly identical to the spells in question. Beyond that, the cube radiates numerous divination auras that are likely related to the ether ship's navigation in some way-- a spell that has superficial resonance with the humble cantrip, know direction, but seems considerably more complex. There are several dozen unique auras associated with the cube, many of them quite strong and, as near as Lucija and Kai can tell, unique.
One of the passwall-type spells seems to be tethered to the plinth itself, and could theoretically be triggered to release the figure inside the plinth. The other passwall-type spells seem tethered to the crystalline bulkheads that line the room.
As Kleets and Kai look around, they also both notice that there are very faint, thin outlines of probable-doors spaced on the walls every few feet (aside from the very visible two doors you can see on the map). There appears to be no way to open these, however, as you only see the outlines, and not hinges, handles, locks, or other mechanisms.
It's possible that the cube itself might be used to access these doors.
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Kris takes several moments wandering around the cube and plinth, hand under his chin and finger tapping onto his pursed lips. He takes a brak to peer at the walls and run his fingers along set points, before spinning around.
"Well, there are secret panels in the walls around us, no idea on that or where they might go. The cube is bizarre but the plinth looks like I can operate it, it seems to be a mad conjuncture of spells, might be able to free the guy in the goo, want me to give it a shot?"
Kris bends his attention to the strange cube, carefully sliding this panel over here and this other one over there... he stops several times to re-cast detect magic, study the auras, and then pick the next panel to manipulate based on his understanding of the arcane matrices at work. And after a few minutes, he's managed to access one of the cube's functions-- the crystal plinth quivers and parts open like a curtain of water, and a figure is ejected from it moments later to sprawl gasping on the white floor. This state only lasts a few seconds-- the creature hurriedly stands, albeit shakily, with its back to the plinth. It-- or she, rather-- is hunched in a defensive posture, narrowed eyes gleaming at you all warily.
With the plinth no longer obscuring details, you can all see the creature plainly: tall and thin to the point of emaciation, dressed in tattered rags. Long, gnarled grey hair hangs around her face; her hands, held up defensively before her, end in wickedly curved nails. Her face is wizened with deep creases, and sharp teeth are bared in a silent snarl in your direction. Hanging on a leather cord around the woman's neck is an opal the size of a child's fist, glinting and gleaming.
Though the hideous woman hisses weakly, she does not move to attack, staring wildly around at your group.
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Darro slaps Kai on the shoulder as a sign of friendship after the man seemed to solve the riddle of the cube...Darro sizes up the now freed figure looking for anything of value...
After the plinth events transpire Darro moves to see what he can discern from all of it via his planar knowledge...
"I believe this is a night hag....they have some resistance to spells to some degree if i remember correctly. Take care friends."
The hag's cracked lips pull back further from her fangs at the words you say to each other.
"Free me, only to slay me, mortals? So be it then," she rasps, her voice a rattle in her throat-- perhaps just from disuse, perhaps that's how it normally is. "Who is first to die??"
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Valais remains hidden behind Kleetus, her human eye peeking out from behind him. She suddenly starts shouting in Blue's booming voice and his vile tongue.
"DAUGHTER OF THE ANGRY HAG, MOTHER TO ENDLESS SPITE, THESE LESSER CREATURES SEEK PASSAGE THROUGH THIS SHIP. REVEAL TO US ITS SECRETS, AND YOU MAY YET LIVE TO SEE TO YOUR REVENGE AGAINST THOSE THAT PLACED YOU HERE."
Valais waves meekly at the hag.
"Um...hi. Nice to meet you, Madam."
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Kris steps away from the cube to have a long look at the creature being soilled from its gooey prison with a look of concentratiin, he visinly flinches at Darro's slap before realizing it is the ranger and calms down.
He seems taken aback by the instantly murderous attitudes of his companions, and soeaks up, trying to get the place to calm down. He looks around at his friends anf yhe hag with his empty palms showing.
"Woah woah, let us not be so hasty, yeah I freed you, any chance you feel grate ful enough to tell me why you were trapped there?"
The hag's head snaps Valais's way at the booming voice, then back to Kris. The black, cracked lips rise in a sneer, but the hag maintains her defensive posture, claws raised.
"Grateful? Tsssh. Little mortals armed with steel come hunting, but will you let me go my way?"
The hag's distrustful gaze settles on Deaglan. She grinds out, "I would leave this confining, miserable plane! I have no wish to be here!" She doesn't answer the specific question of if she has a way to leave the ship.
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"Sorry 'bout that Mrs Old Decrepit Woman o' The Night. We're just nervous-like 'cause we've met nuthin' but things that wanted to eat us. Or smash us. Or burn us. So far. They ain' got us yet. But y'ain't done nuthin' wrong by us so how 'bout we all play nice and chat a tick?" says Kleetus with a smile; a smile that grows incredibly off-putting as he continues "'Course ya could go all hag of night on us, but then we'd have ta remind ya of all 'dem so-cial conventions and all that. And Ah don't know 'bout the other's here, 'specially that flyin' chaos worm over 'dere that just turned one o' 'dem planar hive bugs inta puddin' but Ah'm gettin' mighty tired of havin' ta pick out bone pieces out o' my armor. Ah ain't even gonna talk about 'bout the goop some o' the things we fight have fer blood. Pain in the butt is what it is right there."
Kleetus is certainly fairly scary in his own right; Darro provides a little bit of divine assistance to the half-orc's amiable, grinning threat.
The hag recoils further, pressed against the plinth, but her body language seems resigned. "Were I... not weakened..." she mutters grimly. "Tsss.... what do you wish to know of this... accursed place?"
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Kris takes a casual step away from Kleetus, a soft whistle escaping his lips Aren't I glad he's on our side. Realising the submission of the Hag, Kris puts on a wide smile and irects his line of questioning at her.
"Well first of all, how and why did you get put in that jelly place? Was it the Xill? Any idea how to get away from this accursed nonesense plane?"
The hag's hideous face contorts in a grimace of fury. "Not... xill. Little insects, pah! No. Manlings from your plane, sailing mine."
The hag claws at the air briefly, as if imagining scratching out the eyes of her captors, then continues. "This... ship... the walls, inside, had spells-of-force... to cage even the plane-traveling... catch us, hold us... curiosities to study!"
She spits onto the crystal floor. "Subdued by... strong spells, I was locked... away. In something like sleep, but not. My mind was aware, my eyes saw. Prisoned in my own body. Long. Long years. Dozens of your manling lives, end-on-end! It's a wonder--" the hag grins showing a mouthful of razor-sharp, yellowed fangs, "--that I am still sane..."
The hag drops into a crouch, raking at the floor with her nails as if she wishes she could rip it apart, but her claws do not even leave scratches. "In time... the ship failed. My captors... gone. Dead? Left? I do not know. Still trapped, was I! Still unable to move or breathe or scream! More time to pass: how shall I count years? Empty and dark, the ship. The force-spells must have died also, for the next I saw, the xill came in."
She speaks of the xill with obvious indifference, clearly considering them lower beings. "They learned to sail this hell-ship, using their wretched shrub... barely. As a child learns letters, and thinks itself to read. They travel-- plane to plane-- waiting for the curious-- ambushing them.
"The ship... sails itself, largely. It is powered by... lives. Souls. It takes from its... cargo, the captives.... draws us into-- here--" again she snarls, and slaps at the plinth with one hand, "...takes all that is in us until death, and then it... draws another from the cargo, and continues."
The hag lapses into a brooding silence, clawed hands covering her face so that only her dark eyes peer out between her fingers. "It has eaten at me for years," she whispers hoarsely. "Taken my power, my heart! May its creators' souls be consigned to the gibbering pits and devoured slowly over eons!
"Now that I can move again, breathe-- I will test the bars. I will see if the force-spells are gone. But you? Flesh-caged? I do not know how you leave, little sweetlings. Unless you want Skarja to take you with her," she says with a ghastly snicker.
"There, dreamers and warriors. Tss, I have told you. Now, may old, tired Skarja leave? Let Skarja go home..."
To Lucija's question, the hag merely shrugs. "Your dead manlings knew the art of the cursed ship. Not I!"
Skarja seems genuinely surprised at the offers of healing, dark eyes widening. She cackles darkly at Kris calling her dear.
"My injuries are not of the flesh," she hisses. "But you deal... generously. Here: a payment for my freedom..."
The hag reaches into the tatters of her ragged clothing and produces a handful of tiny, winking opals. The hag thrusts them at the first willing to receive them, and then she seems to hunch in on herself.
"Fortune to you, manlings! Slay the insects! Or do not. It is the same to me! I test the bars!"
The hag seems to further collapse on herself, like a hollowed, rotting gourd. For a moment she is nothing but a pile of rags hanging in space, and then that too is gone. You think you hear a last screech of "Freeeeee..." but it trails away into nothing.
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Lucija is then able to attempt to manipulate the cube as well. With Naghamadi whispering tutelage in her ear, she successfully activates the door function-- a panel appears on the same wall you came in by, shivering silently open like a curtain of water parting. It leads to a small chamber, with another narrow stairwell that goes downward. Glancing down this stairwell reveals that the xenophage plant growth appears to thicken considerably in that direction...
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Kris catches the opals with an outstretched hand and quickly stuffs them in a pouch upon his belt. He gives the hag one last wink before she departs fully and breathes a sigh of telief when she is gone.
"Well, that coulda been nasty, now whispering about people aint proper. It would seem we know why the Xill wanted to catch us, so they could feed us to this ship, how revolting. I wonder if there prisoners being kept here, should go rescue them if so."
He waits awhile whilst Lucija fiddles with the panels and looks in fascination as a door opens. Making his way to it he gives a listen before pressing on further.
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"Bye, and Abadar bless you Old lady hag missus!" waves Kleetus, that selfsame goofy smile on his face. "And yer right Kris, by all of Aktun's regulations, you, are, right; Abadar forgive that over-sightation 'bout mumblin' and all. So where ya think they keep the ship food? That sounds kinda nasty. Ya think if this ship can eat, it can have babies? Little ship babies flotin' 'round and eatin' folks fer supper? That don't sound right; Ah say we give that ship an abo... Ah'm ramblin' aren't Ah. Let's git and get folk outta here 'fore they become pregnant ship food."
Kris listens at the head of the stairs but beyond the occasional rustling-- as of something brushing or moving through the plant fronds, perhaps-- he hears nothing. He takes the lead in carefully sidling down the stairs until he can peer into the next chamber.
Kai can see the chamber ahead is entirely overrun with the xenophage growths. They blanket the floor so thickly that the white crystal can barely be seen in places, and hang from the ceiling, and overgrow the walls. It looks like it'll be hard to move freely in there.
The chamber itself is large, with twenty vertical feet between floor and ceiling. The walls slope slightly outward, and, in those few places where the tendrils provide a clear sight of the walls, Kai can see that the walls are honeycombed with alcoves, each one glowing on its surface with a 'door' made of humming force that shimmers and distorts the air before it. Behind the 'glass', he can see various figures-- about half the alcoves are full, with creatures great and small, most of them decidedly inhuman, inasmuch as he's able to tell on his quick glance. Each of these imprisoned figures is also as still as death itself.
However, there are moving figures in this room as well. Three more xill are climbing about among the vines and creepers in the large chamber, perhaps... pruning... the strange plants? It's difficult to be sure. Further back in the room, the cargo bay rises to a second, higher level, with stairs leading up to it: this appears to be the heart of the alien plant, as a thick, swollen trunk-bole sits here, the tendrils spreading out from it like a cancerous octopus. Sitting at the crown of this fat, vertically stunted tree is another xill, this one appearing to be dressed in heavier and more ornate armor than her fellows.
Kai's feet are very quiet, and the creeper branches offer plenty of cover.... but one of the xill reacts, head snapping up Kai's way, orange eyes glowing. It snarls to its fellows.
Fortunately, Kris is very quick in his reflexes. He knows he's been spotted, but he can choose how to react.