Sebastian hunches just a little as they walk through the corridor, not wanting to get too close to the walls or the ceiling. "When Vimanda showed me this place, it seemed charming and exotic. I don't think I like it much now."
Maybe we can burn the whole place to the ground later.
Tyrandro steps into room decorated with wasps and waits. At first nothing happens. But after a few seconds, without any prior warning, thousands of 6-inch-long needles stab out of the walls, floor, and ceiling of this room, jabbing in and out of tiny holes several times a round. The needles jab in waves, creating a beautiful rippling effect as they stab repeatedly.
Just then, the door to the north opens and a bedraggled Vencarlo Orisini stands in the doorway. He is dressed in tattered rags and his body is a display of bruises and partially healed cuts and scrapes. But he is also armed with a kukri and javelins.
"Quickly, this way! That room won't stop until you leave. The room up here is safe!"
"Ouch."
Taking a look at the others Tyrandro can see that they recognise that guy "Lets move." He hurries to get out of the wasp room following Vencarlo.
"Everyone except Tyrando, hang on a moment. I'm going to give you all Cat's Grace. It might help with getting through the trap. Tyrando I'd give it to you, but you're probably better off diving for that door."
Iolana will use her wand to tap Seb, Ayako, herself and Fluffy with the wand.
Ayako waits. Just a moment Vencarlo. Ayako accepts the wand tap. When everyone is ready, she makes sure Mu Shu is secure in the sack and will rush across.
Ayako manages to get over, landing on her good leg.
Iolana makes a run for it, and gracefully dives across the room, tucks into a roll and barrels into the other room skidding to a stop when she hits the back wall. "Who are you?" she asks the man who waved them in.
You make it past the gap into a small diamond-shaped room.
A six-inch-tall bronze dais on the floor in the middle of this otherwise empty room supports a polished column of black marble. The black stone seems to be vibrating softly, filling the air with a faint hum.
"The name's Vencarlo. I know Sebastian and Ayako. I see they've made some new allies. It is a pleasure to meet you. I've been trapped in this maze for days or weeks. I've lost count of how many. There is no way to tell time down here. I am so glad to see a friendly face. I hope you are here to rescue me. I have not been able to find my way out but I've determined that this room seems to be safe enough. In fact, it seems to have some sort of restorative properties. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to study magical objects. Rest but not too long. Something else lurks within these ever-changing halls."
This pillar of black stone is another Vudrani import: a slab of magical rock known as a sonorous stone. The stone’s magic is as much tied to its hexagonal chamber as the stone, and once created, requires a year to attune itself to its surroundings, at which point the stone begins to vibrate and hum softly. This vibration is soothing and relaxing, and any creature that spends 1 minute within 5 feet of an active sonorous stone receives the benefits of a calm emotions spell. In addition, a creature that touches an active sonorous stone is targeted by a restoration spell that also allows it to recall up to 3 levels of spells it had prepared or three expended spell slots—the spells are prepared again or spell slots are once again available, just as if they had not been used. A sonorous stone can be activated in this manner up to four times per month, after which it becomes dormant for 1 month while it rebuilds its charge.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Tyrandro." Tyrandro replies.
Fluffy sits in front of the wasp room and waits.
Pleased to meet you again Vencarlo, unfortunately it isn't under better circumstances. The Queen has seemingly gone mad and so we are trying to find her wayward senschel as well as yourself. Hopefully he can help us deal with the queen. Have you come across any evidence that he is here?
"I don't know what the room does. We have some things for you. Who has the gear we found?"
"Sebastian. Tyrandro replies.
Seeing his master appear at the other end of the hall, even in the state he's in, immediately revitalizes Sebastian's nerve. "Master Orisini!" Sebastian nimbly makes his way through the room, avoiding the predictably-patterned trap with ease.
Safely on the other side, Sebastian is alarmed at Vencarlo's plight. "Fear not, we'll make it out of this together." As requested, Sebastian retrieves the bag of equipment they'd recovered previously. "We found these in the remains of your home. We were attacked by Red Mantis Assassins, and I'm sorry to tell you that they set the house ablaze before we could subdue them." He hands over the bag with some reluctance. It had made him feel important somehow to be carrying Blackjack's equipment, if only for awhile. "We kept it safe, just as you would have. But if it helps you get out alive, I would hope that Blackjack would see the sense in you using it." Seeing that the other man is wielding a kukri as well, Sebastian offers the one taken from the tiger-headed creature. "Have you met another of those beasts?"
Vencarlo accepts the gear from Sebastian. Since he's only wearing rags, he slips right into the armor. He takes a few test thrusts with the weapon and then holsters it on his belt.
"Yes, Blackjack would see the sense it that. Thank you Sebastian. Luckily I've managed to avoid any beasts down here so far. These weapons were scrounged from another room. The seneschal, yes, I came here to find him. Unfortunately, it turns out that most of the Arkona family is actually a family of rakshasa and they captured me and trapped me in this maze. I assume the senescahl is down here but I have not found him yet either. But now that you are here, we can surely overcome the obstacles to find him and escape."
While you are talking, the rooms shift yet again. Tunstall, who stayed behind goes spinning away. Luckily for you when the rooms finish re-configuring, the hallway still connects between you two. The wasp-trap stops and Tunstall can see into a new room to the north.
Four alcoves in the walls of this room contain floating spheres of mist, each hovering three feet off the ground. Each sphere is one foot in diameter and of a different color—black, white, green, and gold. Just north of the strange floating spheres, two levers protrude from opposite walls. The eastern lever is in the up position and the western lever is in the down position.
"Like I said, we can't stay here long. Something is hunting us. The wasp trap resets but it has a delay before it activates. We should be able to safely pass through if we all run at the same time."
Oh dear, I think we need to recover the doggie.
Tyrandro readies his weapon. "Then let's move." he suggests and once everyone is ready to come along he moves to the levers.
Fluffy doesn't like this spinning world. He looks around confused. But as he hears the voices he moves back to the group and meets them half way.
"I'm ready. Let's go." Iolana moves when the group does.
"The Arkonas are rakshasas?" Sebastian is horrified at the news, even as they make a move for the levers. "Then we'll have to rescue Vimanda once we find the Seneschal!"
"I might not have paid attention all the time, but who is this Vimanda?" Tyrandro asks.
I seem to have forgotten as well. Akyao looks embarrassed. An insane queen and Rakshasas? This city is doomed.
Iolana studies Sebastian closely. Is he trying to trap Vencarlo in some kind of trap? I don't recall a Vimanda.
"Oh I wouldn't worry about Vimanda. I'm sure she can take care of herself. But we do need to find the seneschal. I've never been in this room before. What do you think the orbs and switches do?" says Vencarlo.
Ayako tries examining the orbs with Detect Magic
"I thought you are in this fun place for a while already. How about you tell us how to get where." Tyrandro suggests.
"Perhaps," Sebastian says. He remains unconvinced, but he knows better than to argue with his master in the midst of danger. Reaching into his pocket, Sebastian draws out a copper pinch and tosses it at a nearby orb (.
Ayako examines the orbs with detect magic. She determines that the orbs emanate conjuration magic, likely teleportation.
Sebastian tosses a coin at the white orb. When it touches the orb, there is a flash and the coin vanishes.
"I thought you are in this fun place for a while already. How about you tell us how to get where." Tyrandro suggests.
"I have been, but I have not discovered all the room or all the secrets. This place is still mostly a mystery to me. It is constantly changing and impossible to keep track of where you are. If I recognize a room, I'll let you know."
Well no time like the present Ayako is ready.
"What happened to the coin?" Tyrandro asks.
Iolana also studies the orb. "Interesting the coin went somewhere else. I wonder if it takes things like people through as well." she shrugs. "We could always try to touch it, but that's not really advisable."
I advise against it as well, we can't get separated.
How about the door in the north wall of the previous room?
Let us try the south door through the Room of Stinging Wasps
You head back to the wasp room and open the southern door. (You can choose who opens the door. I'm selecting Sebastian as default but feel free to correct me.)
#5 Eight alcoves line this long, narrow hallway. Inside each alcove stands a human-sized, upright iron casket, the image of a sobbing woman decorating its lid. The hallway’s floor gleams bright red, a mosaic of tiny red stones giving the appearance that the hall is awash in blood.
Sebastian needs to choose quickly if he is going to enter the room or retreat back. He only has 1 round before the wasp trap reactivates.
"We're standing on different sides of the dividing line again. Hurry up, or you might get pretty lonely." Tyrandro comments.
Sebastian what do you see?" Iolana asks. She's ready to dash through the room if needed.
Or move back and see if we can disable the wasp trap.
The new room appears on first glance to be free of tiger-headed rakshasas or other immediate threats, so Sebastian enters without much thought. The red stones are pretty, but utterly grotesque. If the whole Vudrani continent is like this, he would have to rethink his plans to visit.
"It's alright in here," he calls. "Nothing but a lot of iron coffins by the looks of it." He approaches the closest one to examine it, attempting to pry it open if he finds nothing.
When Sebastian tells you its okay to proceed, you quickly file into the room. Due to the narrow corridor, you need to line up single file in order to fit.
Sebastian examines the closest iron coffin. Sebastian does not detect a trap and it appears that the coffin can open but he isn't able to pry it open on his own. While searching, a strange clicking sound begins to tick throughout the hallways.
"I don't like the sound of that." says Vencarlo. "Are you sure this hallway isn't trapped?"
Also because you passed through the wasp room, that trap reactivates and the waves of needles spin around the room again preventing you from leaving the way you came without getting stabbed.
Iolana casts Detect Magic on one of the coffins. "What is that sound? I don't like this. It probably is trapped. Every room in this place has been trapped somehow."
It sounds trapped, let us get out of here right away. Ayako begins moving south.
Tyrandro helps Sebastian to pull the coffin open.
"Whatever it is, how much worse can it be than what we've faced already?" Sebastian's bravado gives way to some annoyance as the casket remains closed to him. "Master Orisini, do you think these coffins serve any purpose? I don't yet know how this maze is arranged against us, and perhaps they are just part of a strange ruse."
There are no doubt viscous undead in them ready to bash tomb robbers.