The ceiling of this long chamber rises to a height of twenty feet overhead, the shallow vaulting supported by stone pillars. Significant sections of the walls and floors have been inscribed with etchings of tiny letters, while statue-filled alcoves stand guard along the walls. Each of these statues is made of stone and depicts a feminine figure, although the details seem more like they were formed in clay that was allowed to harden rather than carved directly from rock. The westernmost statues depict the woman as a beautiful winged figure, while the easternmost depict her as skeletal, with the middle statues depicting a transition between the two forms. To the east, a stage supports a stone altar presided over by a seventh statue of the same feminine form, her right half skeletal and her
left half beautiful.
The woman sitting on the altar explains herself. "I was inducted into this cult with false promises. But they are all evil! And as I tried to escape them, they caught me and wanted to sacrifice me to their godess."
"Oh wow... That is so terrible... I'm glad we could help!" Zea beams up at the woman.
[b]"Who is the Goddess that you speak of?"{/b] Fhingle asks looking at the woman.
"Mahathallah." the woman answers.
Zea's jaw drops and she looks at Jarithe utterly bewildered. I think that means trouble? She puts a hand on her black scimitar, which responds Oh good. I like a little trouble.
"Why would you say that?" the woman replies with the most innocent look.
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"Say, doll-face, we are happy to come along and rescue you. Tell me, you must know something about that infernal guard the next room over. Turn over his contract to us, and we'll be happy to let you go."
Jackdaw approaches her, and he must seem to be some otherworldly creature with his strange black costume and bird mask.
"I don't know of no contract, but I saw the other cultists give orders to that abomination. I don't know if it will listen to me, but if you want something from it, I can ask it." the woman tells shyly.
"She can lead the way then, Saul's spear at her back." Fhingle says to the woman
"What do you want me to say to the devil?" she asks.
"Tell him that the cult is dissolving and formally releases all of the prisoners and the devil from his contract to guard them." Zea states firmly.
The woman walks to the room with the devil at the pointy end of Saul's spear and tells the devil as told. "Your services are not needed anymore, you're free to leave." she tells.
The devil bows with a grin towards the adventurers, and then simply disappears.
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Jackdaw was half expecting to be attacked, and with the devil simply gone he can't help but be a little worried. "Did you... did you just free a devil with no constraints? What will it do? Where will it go? And...if you have the power to do that, you are no prisoner. You are one of them!"
Jackdaw immediately grabs her arm and fishes out shackles to secure her.
"Of course it recognizes me as one of them! I was, until an hour ago!" the woman protests.
"And where are you from? Lastwall? Every child in Cheliax knows that a serving devil is bound by a contract and on fulfillment it will go back to from where it was summoned."
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Jackdaw listens to Jarithe's words. He nods. "We can't let her go, because she could tell anyone where we are. She just confessed to be a member of the cult. Just like the other cultist, there is only one thing to do."
As he stabs down at her to end it, he whispers. "For the greater good? I'm sorry. But you did bring this on yourself."
Then he looks at the others. "Jackdaw is... that is... I'm sorry too. But there is no other way. It is not who I wanted to be."
A little bit of Saul shines through Jackdaw's disguise.
Zea gasps as Saul stabs the woman. She still wasn't used to killing prisoners like this. She shakes her head silently as a few tears trickle down her face but she doesn't say anything.
It's not hard to guess what Saul is getting at and while he is giving his monologue the woman speaks a word and disappears from sight.
Cassius Color Sprays in her direction. "She's still here, just invisible!"
Zea casts detect magic to search for the invisible cultist.
The cultist starts sparkling.
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The cultist doesn't sparkle, but as the cultist isn't seen, it's unclear if it had any effect.
Zea scans the area for the invisibility spell.
"That way! She went that way!" Zea points, shouts, and runs after the cultist.
Fhingle looks around for the cultist that they are trying to find, Fhingle moves around kicking out with each step he takes.
Fhingle walks up and down the free area where he suspects the cultist, but doesn't run into her. Jarithe finds like Zea, that a faint magic aura is in their midst, where the cultist should be.
Zea points where she guesses the cultist might be. "There, maybe?"
"Would it help if we offered to kill you on your special sacrifice bed?"
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Cassius' request is answered by silence.
The door into the next room - the one you haven't visited yet - opens.
Two young men, both thin and disheveled, cower in the southeast corner of this otherwise bare chamber. Faces dirty and streaked with tears, both teens are bound hand and foot by manacles chained to a single ring set in the stone floor. Scratches on the stone walls from desperate fingers attest to the fact that these twins are not the first of this room’s recent prisoners.
Zea begins scanning for magic in the room that just opened.