============
============
Varius keeps steady as he works with Alessandro get a rope to Faustinia.
========
========
Catina stands close to Alessandro and holds the rope with him, thinking she can maybe aid if it looks like her friends is about to be dragged down as well. She keeps on eye on the room beyond the doorway, thinking she might spot the tiefling if the woman should show up.
Petals assumes the position on the opposite side with Varius, though she doesn't know if she will be much help.
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
Faustinia manages to successfully grab the rope and the party quickly bring her to safety. Unfortunately, before reaching this relative safety, Faustinia had to suffer the consequences of an accelerating fall into the void. Her reappearance also caused the disposition of the open doors in the room to change. Unfortunately, this time the combination is very unfortunate and the Irises of Westcrown find themselves stoned inside the circular room!
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
: none
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Varius
Alessandro
(-8 hp)
Petals
_________________________________
--- ---
==========
==========
"This is ridiculous!" shouts Varius as Faustinia is collected. "Here, if the pit exits over top then we can simply lower someone down safely in order to open the doors. I'll go. Watch for that tiefling with our uh, incredible valuables." He quickly grabs the end of the rope and once it is secured, hops over the edge.
|
==========
==========
Faustinia ends her plummet hard, grasping the waiting rope. It burns her hands and her stomach stops falling and instead jumps into her throat. She shimmies over and allows the others to help her crawl up onto (relatively) solid land. As Varius descends the rope to try to open the door, she stands off to the side waiting for the door to open. ”Ugh. I think I had too much of that ridiculous feast,” she complains. A burp escapes from her.
She then continues muttering…
---
|
|
==========
==========
Faustinia manages to recover a bit, and watches for Varius descending from above. “I’m glad someone else had the presence of mind to go about this cleverly. Don’t let me act that foolishly again, if you can,” she sheepishly instructs her allies. She gets ready to move as Varius descends. “Let’s try to follow her to the north…”
==========
==========
Ready to move through the next chambers, Faustinia tries to stay close to Catina. She says in a low voice, hanging her head slightly, “I’m sorry that I gave up your things to get rid of that curse - it seemed like the best way. If we can’t find her, I give my word that I will reimburse you - and I won’t take no for an answer.”
---
==========
==========
After landing Varius grins over to Faustinia. "I have a reputation for foolishness I intend to maintain, so I'll try to jump at the next opportunity. I find women like a chap with more enthusiasm than dignity."
Varius draws his weapons.
===========
===========
Varius moves with the group prioritizing north or west. As he does so, he quietly realizes why the backpack ruse happened in the first place. He lets out a low ohhhhhh, but decides not to speak up. One can have too little dignity after all.
If the north or west doors do not open, he'll repeat the climb.
=========
=========
Catina helps Faustinia up, then makes sure that Varius doesn't do anything rash. "Be careful Varius. I think it's a good idea, but just... take it slow and be careful. You can do it."
=========
=========
Catina stands vigil besides the door when she assumes (hopes) that Varius's actions will open it. She's ready for when the tiefling might come through, waiting with her glaive. Should the door open, she steps through and blocks off one of the paths.
=========
=========
Catina is a bit surprised to see Faustinia with her head low, and it makes her feel embarrassed. She honestly shrugs it off, having gotten some perspective. "No, don't be silly. You did me a great favor, and I would never have been able to think on my feet so quickly. It's..." She can't bare to say they're just trinkets, so she changes what she was going to say. "I'm guessing that tiefling isn't going anywhere. Maybe she's stuck here in the Knot, and we're bound to run into her again. Please, don't worry about it." Along with her words, soothing energy subconsciously radiates out from Catina, healing the wounds that Faustinia had sustained during her fall.
=========
Round 9
=========
Petals will hold on to the rope lowering Varius down the pit. With him on the other side no one is quite up to the task of holding on alone, she thinks.
=========
Round 10
=========
She readies herself with the others, steadily holding more of a rear position. The weakness she feels has shaken her confidence in her ability to help much, so she feels being out of the way is best.
Though the feeling makes her remember to ask "Alessandro, are you feeling okay?" she remembers him getting hit by the crossbow bolt and that he is looking nearly as feeble as she is. "Can you do anything for him, Catina?"
=========
Round 11
=========
As they start moving through the rooms, Petals follows once again near the rear. She tries to keep an eye out on everything all at once, but the spatial weirdness give her more of a headache than anything.
"Um, yes, I'm fine Petals. Thank you. I'm just waiting for the chance to dish out some more payback. As long as we can figure out these doors. Maybe we can find another way around."
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
Thanks to Varius contribution, the doors to the east and to the south are opened. According to Faustinia’s guide, the group decides to head east, entering a narrow tunnel covered in dirt. The natural, hence irregular walls of this tunnel are made of gray stone. Varius leads the way.
All of a sudden, a bolt darts into the darkness and hits Varius at the gorge. The tiefling appears at the end of the corridor as well, an evil grin on her infernal face.
After firing at Varius, the tiefling flees. Varius can see her moving south, but because of his obstructed line of sight, he’s not able to tell where precisely the tiefling went after fleeing south.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
: none
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Varius
Alessandro
(-8 hp)
Petals
_________________________________
--- ---
--- ---
=========
=========
Varius howls in pain as the bolt thumps into him and he immediately feels the poison working as he begins to convulse. "Why didn't I destroy that damn crossbow."
Quickly, Varius fumbles at his belt before he downs a potion.
"Anyone have any idea where the hell she went?"
=========
=========
Catina is very happy that they're away from the circular rooms with their vertigo-inducing depth, but she quickly realizes that the boon comes with a cost. "Oh, no!" He seems clear-headed enough not to dart after the tiefling in his wounded condition, so Catina strides forward instead. When she turns the corner, she quickly realizes where they are. She looks left and right, but takes the central corridor. "We have to cut her off, or she'll start this entire trip all over again!" As fast as she can, she makes her way to the central room. With the room in sight, she gets an idea and calls out ahead. "Livia, are you there? Can you tell us whether a tiefling ran past?!
--
|
|
==========
==========
Faustinia runs after Catina, advising, “Keep an ear out! Even if she hides, we can still hear her.” She begins to ascend the stairs as well, hoping to get ahead of the tiefling and block off her exits, or at least be able to see her to cast a spell.
Faustinia is briefly confused when Catina calls out to Livia, before she realizes where they are now. Right, I’ll have to tell them eventually… for now maybe the imp can help us once again. Following Catina’s lead, Faustinia calls out, “We can make it worth your while, Livia!”
---
"Varius!" she cries, running over to see if he needs healed, but sees his wound close up from his potion. "I thought you took that thing from her." After hearing him lamenting about not destroying it, she understands. She quickly squeezes his shoulder in sympathy then rushes past to catch up with the others. Once close, she chooses to block one of the other paths.
=========
Round 11
=========
"I'll take the left route then!" says Alessandro and runs down the corridor not yet taken (green). Double move 60 feet.
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
The Irises take different path, trying to block all the possible routes. Catina’s appeal to Livia goes unanswered. Most likely, the tiefling girl is too far away from the room Livia is in, which is at the end of the stairs.
Suddenly, Petals gets assaulted. The tiefling swoops in on her unexpectedly, without giving the elf the time to react. With a wicked short sword, the hellish woman wounds Petals her chest before withdrawing.
After striking, the tiefling retreats further into the pyrophobia room, but this time Petals never lose visual contact with her.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
: none
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Varius
Alessandro
Petals
(-8 hp)
_________________________________
--- ---
|
|
==========
==========
Hearing some commotion behind her, Faustinia rushes back down the stairs to see the tiefling fleeing from a bleeding Petals into the Pyrophobia room. Wasting no time, she starts the motions and chants to cast a spell. Producing a bit of finely ground glittering powder, she tosses it into the air as she completes her final magical syllable. The air around the tiefling explodes with a flash of blinding dust that clings to her, glittering in the light of the rows of candles.
---
=============
==============
Varius rushes up behind the group, managing to fight off the effects of the poison, although he continues to tremble. Getting a sense of what everyone is doing, he bolts southwards to the main chamber before blocking the exit to the pyrophobia room.
Catina pushes onwards as fast as her armor allows. As she gets closer, she calls out to Livia once more. "Varius, can you try disarming her? Erm... Again?"
--
=============
Round 13
==============
Petals doesn't even have time to cry out as the sword slices deep into her. The pain is intense and she nearly crumbles to the ground. Can't let her get away she thinks. Despite being near death, she stumbles forward to box her assailant in.
Clutching her gushing wound with one hand, she keeps the point of her sword between the two of them with the other, feebly trying to keep her at bay until the others arrive.
=============
Round 13
==============
Alessandro backtracks to catch back up to Petals. He can just spot the tiefling from the end of the hall and takes a pot shot at her with his longbow.
Standing next to Faustinia, he whispers. "That runecurse was in the bag, wasn't it? I don't recall the particulars, but wasn't it supposed to activate? Unless she isn't the originator. Did we determine that or just guess? I'm just saying, because it sure would be nice if she'd just die already."
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
Lady Faustinia covers the room in glitterdust, while Varius and Catina desperately try to reach the tiefling. Alessandro fires an arrow, but it is inaccurate, and it misses. Petals tries a more direct approach, but she fails to connect as well.
The tiefling steps back and grins mischievously. Her hands reach for a potion in her belt, and the grin turns into an evil smirk. She’s going to flee again.
But not this time. Suddenly, Catina’s backpack starts to radiate a red, bloody light. In an instant, the backpack explodes in a cloud of smoke. A towering monstrosity emerges from the thick cloud. Merging the most horrifying features of carrion-fed insect and withered cadaver, this bony devil moves in unsettling lurches. Faustinia, and everyone even only a little inclined to the knowledge of devils, immediately recognizes this being as an osyluth, also known as a bone devil.
The runecurse has suddenly triggered. The osyluth is a foe far beyond the abilities of the Irises. Fortunately, however, he doesn’t seem to be interested in them. Its only concern is the tiefling. The devil pounces on her and in a matter of instants, it tears her apart in a gory show that you will never forget. When everything is over, there’s blood and pieces of tiefling’s body everywhere in the room. The osyluth has vanished right after fulfilling his duty.
______________________________________________
The cloud appears, a horror emerges, and poor Petals gets a front row to the entire gruesome display. She falls back, stumbling to land on her rear, too tired, too wounded, and too numb with shock to do a thing to stop it.
As the others come in afterward, the wide eyed pale elf whispers No one deserved that.
Varius flips his short swords in hand, gesturing dramatically to the tiefling. "Your chicanery ends he-- OH SWEET INHERITOR WHAT IS THAT?!"
Unable to look away, Varius watches as the tiefling is completely ripped apart by the bone devil. Once it is gone, he slowly walks into the room, turning to stare at Faustinia with a slack jaw.
"That was a very good idea."
Once he's recovered, he searches the body - or what remains of it.
|
|
Faustinia replies to Alessandro in a low voice, “Whether she’s the origin of it or not, we needed to get it off Catina. In any case, we--” Faustinia is interrupted as the bone devil emerges and fulfills its bloody obligation. She watches in stunned silence. This is…horrific. What have we gotten ourselves into?
Faustinia returns Varius’ look, blinking. After a beat she seems to process what he says. “Yes… it was a good idea, wasn’t?” she repeats cryptically. Her brow furrows in thought. “For that osyluth to have shown up so quickly, that tiefling must have been the one to originally have started the runecurse. And as fiendish as she looked, she was still a person - that is to say, not some immortal devil or undead creature trapped in this hellish knot. She ambushed us - did she know we were coming? Did she leave that curse for us?” Faustinia wonders out loud. The wrinkles in her brow deepen. “This seems like a lot of trouble just for one person. She must have been working for someone, right? I fear we have attracted some unwanted attention…”
She manages to regain enough functionality after the shock witnessing such a bloody destruction to start magically cleaning blood off of her allies and the tiefling’s things. Handing the cleaned backpack to Catina, Faustinia nods. She hesitates for a moment, unsure what to say. She swallows and just says, “Are you alright?”
---
Once everyone is patched up and a bit calmer, Faustinia takes a deep breath as she checks the straps on her haversack. “We know how to open those strange doors in the stairwells now. Livia confirmed that through there is the most direct path to the Chelish Crux. Let’s keep heading west until we find it - there can’t be that many more stairwells past the ones we’ve already seen… right?”
Alessandro is horrified by the devil's brutality. "When I said I hoped the runecurse would trigger, I had no idea how truly violent it would be. I'm certainly glad we saved Catina of that fate."
"If west is the most direct route, I say we take it. Do we have any charges of levitate left? One of us could float up the tunnel until the doors configure the way we need them to. That's probably what the tiefling was doing. It's too bad we can't question her. I bet she knew some secrets."
Catina stands transfixed as the osyluth tears the tiefling apart. She want to look away, but finds that she can't. After it is over, she's still dazed, wandering around aimlessly with a somewhat blank look in her eyes. She only regains her sense when Faustinia hands her the backpack, although she apparently had heard everything that went on around her. "Indeed she didn't, Petals. I'm sorry." She then looks Faustinia deep in the eyes. "I know that it had to be done, and I'm very grateful that you did. But I guess I hadn't even thought about how truely dangerous the curse was. None of us did, probably."
She motions for everyone to gather, and grabs the hands of the two closest person before starting a small prayer. "I may have just avoided the gravest threat we've ever faced, even if it came at the cost of someone else's life. Regardless of whether she created the curse or not, that weighs heavy. Still, I feel blessed to know that I have such good friends to watch out for me. And that together, we can deal with what comes our way - and with the consequences or our actions." As she speaks, positive energy flows out from the tiefling girl, soothing body and mind. She lets go, and turns to Alessandro. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea. But come here for a minute first. It seems like that poison has taken a lot from your body. I should be able to rejuvenate it."
--
It takes Petals several minutes to pull herself from the numbness. Seeing Catina alive and not ripped apart like she could have been, helps that process a lot. Combined with the healing energy and the optimism of her friend's speech, Petals is ready to face the next horror, and the next and the next.... This place never seems to end, does it? she asks rhetorically as she finishes closing her wound. [b]West is good with me. If we need to dangle someone into the pits, I'll volunteer. I'm lighter than our warrior here and if something does pop up again, I'd rather he be ready to face it."
It takes some time for the group to process the trauma, but thanks to Petals’ simplicity, Varius’ nonchalance, Faustinia’s rationality, Alessandro’s pragmatism and Catina’s blessings, the group manages to stay together without losing concentration. And most importantly, without losing the courage needed to undertake such a dangerous task.
After a quick discussion, the party decides to head west. Now that there’s no one assaulting the group, it just takes some time and a little of wits to find the way out of the disorienting maze. Although the group tries not to mess with their original direction, they soon find out that the task is harder than expected. When a room closes completely, it’s very hard to say if the west is still to the left or otherwise.
|
|
Faustinia watches nervously, holding the rope from the back as the others are lowered down through the stairwells’ infinite loops. “I think we can safely say that we now know why this place is called the Asmodean Knot,” she grumbles as they pass through the various rooms. Livia said her old master built much of this place… she thinks, trying to mark their progress through the confounding Knot. Surely I can figure out how to keep our path true. I don't need to be capable of more powerful magic to pursue another wizard’s way of thinking.
---
Varius remains silent and troubled during Catina's prayer, but whispers a word of thanks. Despite his rather mercenary approach to the tiefling's grisly death, he remains a little disturbed.
---
While turning his new sword over in his hands Varius speaks to no-one in particular. "It's unfortunate we didn't get to speak with her before... that happened. But she had to have been here for a reason. Everything else we've met has been a guardian or feature of the Knot. The idea she's working for someone else makes sense. Perhaps we have a rival towards the same end. She clearly understood this place better than we do though."
To punctuate his point, Varius helpfully tries to guide the group through the Knot. He hopelessly loses his bearings and eventually just gives up in frustration, realizing that there are some things he is just not good at.
"Maybe she was the one who was singing before" Petals wonders. The voice had been lovely, making the idea even more depressing.
Petals' own sense of direction says "Follow Faustinia".
"I am so lost. Whoever thought this maze was a good idea."
"Thank you for the restoration, Catina."
With his Strength restores, Alessandro switches back to his kukris.
Catina looks grim as Varius shares his thought. "It could be possible. We've already seen things in here that we hadn't expected, at all. Best keep our guard up and try to be ready for anything." She sighs at Petals' suggestion, mirroring the woman's sorrow. "I guess it could be, but we'll never know." She wants to say something about how dealing with devils ultimately always ends in disaster, but she knows that's not really fair and holds her tongue.
As they progress through the Knot, Catina is able to keep her sense of direction reasonably well. She's spent many days navigating the warrens of Westcrown's lower districts, which seems to help in this case.
--
Thanks to Faustinia’s guidance, the group navigates through the disorienting maze of rooms of the Knot’s Heart without too many difficulties and managing to keep the original direction. Anyway, the first path out of the maze leads northwest, and the Irises decide to exit the Knot’s Heart there.
After walking through a 20 ft. long hallway, the group arrives into a trapezoidal room, and from there into a small circular room. This strangely shaped chamber is empty of furnishings. A large, circular side chamber nearby contains what appears to be a weirdly flickering spiral staircase leading up into the shadowy shaft above.
The group examines the room, but it reveals nothing more apart from the fact that is seems that the constructor of the Knot left unfinished this area.
The Irises leave the room and navigates through another twisting corridor, before appearing into a chamber is filled with clutter and junk. Crates, old weapons, partially assembled suits of armor, statuettes, poorly preserved monstrous trophies, torture instruments, coils of chains, and more are piled ten feet high along the walls, oars and spears and flagpoles and ships’ masts pressing at angles across the room to support one wall with the other.
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
There’s something standing motionless amid the clutter stacked high along the southern wall, partially hidden by a draped sheet and several chains. Suddenly, it leaves its cover and becomes visible. Wrapped from head to toe in ancient strips of moldering linen, this humanoid moves with a shuffling gait. Although it is clearly a mummy, it seems like a particularly flawed one: it has only one arm and a single leg, but perhaps the mummy’s most hideous feature is its missing lower jaw and tongue.
The mummy attacks, but fortunately all of the Irises have noticed it before it was too late, and now have a chance to prepare for the attack. Anyway, they have to resist the terrible effects deriving from seeing this horror.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
: NONE
Varius
Alessandro
Catina
Petals
Lady Faustinia
The Flawed One
______________________________________________________
--- ---
rounds
Mummy stories were wildly popular at one point in Petals life, so the elven bard knows all their strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately hearing stories about mummies is very different than seeing one stumble toward you. You're not a coward, little one her mind whispered to her, It's magic.
Either way she is completely frozen in abject terror.
|
|
==========
==========
Faustinia mutters as she reaches into her haversack for something.
Perhaps through a combination of the mummy’s sorry state and her own mental fortitude, Faustinia manages to overcome the waves of fear emanating from the dismembered corpse. She takes out Drowned Jabe and starts to flip through the pages to see if there's some weakness of this creature to exploit, but fruitlessly. Snapping shut the book in frustration, she instead reaches for one of her recovered scrolls. “Hold it off, I've got just the spell!” she urges the others.
---
=========
=========
Suddently seeing the malformed creature makes Catina's skin crawl, but she steadies herself with thoughts of empathy. He can't help if that something turned him into this. Although he was probably an awful man, to get caught up in a place such as this. She tries to remember whether her training at the temple had ever included anything about mummies. There's nothing that comes to mind: if it was ever mentioned, she probably had thought that those only existed in far-off Osirion. Except, they were facing on now. "Sorry, I guess it's undead, but I know nothing else..."
She's not quite sure what Faustina has in mind, but the noblewoman's words make sense anyway. "Right, we'll box him in there." She moves forward with her glaive in front, carefully shuffling between the clutter that fills the room. She takes a stab at the mummy to bar his way, but finds it hard to aim properly with so little room to maneuver.
--
==========
==========
Chatting mindlessly as always, Varius is completely taken aback by the mummy. The scent of the grave overwhelms him, and he turns white-faced and slack with terror.
I need to run I need to run I need to run I need to run...
So overcome, he is unable to move. He simply stares at his doom.
==========
Round 1
==========
"M-m-m-Mummy!"
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
Varius and Alessandro are just too paralyzed by the horrific mummy to do anything decisive. Instead, they stare at the disgusting undead, mouth agape in terror. Catina is unaffected by their fears, but lack the precision to hit the mummy with her glaive. Petals is scared just like her male allies.
Lady Faustinia tries to find some information inside the book of Drowned Jabe and his Brothers and Sisters, but her search is useless…at least in terms of information gathering. Because for the rest, it is providential! As soon as it spots the book, the mummy freezes in place. The mummy stands transfixed by the object.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
: NONE
Varius
Alessandro
Catina
Petals
Lady Faustinia
The Flawed One
"That's great thinking, Faustinia," Catina starts before realizing something. "Wait, you said you had a spell, but you didn't even cast anything yet." She looks at the transfixed mummy, still pointing her glaive at it. "So, now what?"
|
|
==========
==========
Faustinia blinks, looking from the transfixed mummy to the uncast scroll in her hand to the book in her other. “I'm - I'm not sure,” she answers Catina. She moves the book gently back and forth, watching the mummy follow it with his gaze. What sway does this book hold over the undead? What did these people suffer to be stuck in this place?
Deciding to test the book's power, Faustinia swallows nervously before trying to address the mummy in a practiced, commanding voice: “Creature! Kneel before me.” Her voice is clear, her tone imperious, and her posture characteristically straight and confident - there only hint of hesitation is a frightened darting of her eyes.
---
In an eerie silence, the undead kneels before Lady Faustinia.
Catina still holds her weapon ready, unsure how long the effect might hold. She looks in awe of the effect Faustinia has on the mummy, but also quite uneasy of the situation this has created. "Should you try talking to it? It obviously understands you, maybe it can talk?" She then hisses to the others, a bit fearful of breaking the spell. "Alessandro, Varius, snap out of it. It's... it's under control." Voice a little softer, she also calls out her elven companion. "Petals... It's OK."
|
|
Faustinia watches in silent wonder as the mummy kneels before her. But why? Something about this book? She turns her attention to the tome, brow creased. Does something of Dargentu Vheed reside in this? Is that what Livia meant that he was “with us” somehow?
Faustini shakes her head at Catina’s questions. “He won’t be saying much with his tongue cut out. I'm not really sure why he's listening to me. This… could be useful to us,” she speculates. She moves past the paralyzed Irises in front of her and stands in front of the mummy. She addresses it again, this time still confident but less imperial. Perhaps even with some gentle pity. “Please, rise. Will you fight for me? Nod if you will serve as my warrior,” she instructs.
---
Petals knows Catina is speaking words, really simple easy to understand words. If only her heart with stop pounding so loudly, she might be able to hear them.