Followed by Fluffy.
Ayako follows as well.
Iolana tests the manacles and finds that they are securely locked. Magic Missile cannot target objects, so it doesn't work. But healing Vencarlo is enough to wake him.
Although he's been beaten and is in pain, his expression brightens immediately upon seeing Iolana, and he even manages a smile as he says, "It's quite the delight to see you, m'lady." He looks around. "You came here alone? Listen, there's a key to the manacles hidden under the throne's cushion. Quickly free me so we can get out of here. I am in your debt."
Meanwhile, Tyrandro over-eagerly pulls the next lever causing the rooms to rotate again. The room to the south of Iolana spins away and now connects to the hallway where the rest of the party waits, except Iolana is still in the throne room. Unsure of exactly where Iolana went, he is unaware of any problem and touches the white orb. He is followed by Tunstall and Ayako. The three of them find themselves standing back at the entrance to the Vivified Labyrinth. Finally free, and the entrance room is back to its original position. One new development to note however is left in a bloody heap, seemingly half in the wall and half out of the eastern wall by the entrance is all of Vencarlo's and Vimanda's gear and sitting atop it is Vimanda's decapitated head. Testing the wall, you find that it was an illusion the entire time and there is a staircase leading downwards.
Iolana on the other hand now faces a new hallway to the south. It comes to an end at a a five-foot-diameter pool of murky green water that nearly fills the small, circular room. But otherwise, it is another dead end.
"Well, that didn't work out as expected. Where is Iolana?" Tyrandro asks looking around.
"I did not come here alone. One of your students is with me or he was with me. Sebastian Merrin. Who brought you down here a man or a woman?" she says as she unlocks his manacles.
She whirls around when the room moves. "I think that was our ride out leaving us behind. I don't have much in the way of things you can use, but here's a magic kukri we found on a sphinx and a cold iron mace. It's better than not being armed in this place."
"Let me think. We can go down the hall and see where it leads, but that is probably deadly. I can ask Glorio for help, but that might push our deal a little too far." she snaps her fingers. "I know." she pulls out her brand new wand of Dimension Door, grabs Vencarlo by the arm, and casts the spell envisioning the room with the orbs.
"Probably captured by Glorio. We can't trust these damned rakshasas!" Sebastian grimaces at Vimanda's remains, but doesn't hesitate to collect the equipment. He quickly cleans Blackjack's equipment before stowing it. "It will need a more thorough cleaning to get rid of the evil, but that can be seen to later. Down the staircase, then?"
"Ehm, we're still missing Iolana." Tyrandro throws in.
"Hence the staircase. Unless you think there's somewhere else we should look first?"
"No. I thought we would arrive in the same place. Which obviously didn't happen. But what do you think? Is she going to wait where she is, or move? Because if she moves and we move too, then we're never going to find her." Tyrandro objects. "But it wouldn't hurt to take a look behind that fake wall."
I am getting this mysterious voice in the back of my mind that whispers. Don't split the group We need to find Iolana.
"Sebastian is here too? If anyone was going to find me, I knew I could trust in him. Who brought me down here? I tried to sneak into the Arkona Palace and rescue Neolandus but I was captured. I was masked and brought down here by Arkona guards. I've been manacled here ever since and have been tortured by a sphinx who laired in this room. Have you found the senschal? If not, that should be our first priority." says Vencarlo. He also accepts the offered weapon with a thank you.
Iolana's dimension door works and her and Vencarlo arrive back in the room with the orbs only the rest of the party is all gone.
Back at the entrance the party checks down the stairs. It only goes for 10 feet before coming to a set of double doors. Beyond you can hear a man sobbing and screaming for mercy.
Before anyone opens the doors, Iolana and Vecarlo pop into the entrance area and hear the others beyond the illusory wall.
I guess Tyrando could check out the doors.
Tyrandro checks the door.
Iolana looks around, "Where are they?" She puts her hand out and realizes the wall is an illusion.
Tyrandro steps out from the wall. "Hey, there are you!" he states with great relief. "I feared we'd have to go through the whole maze again to find you. The instructions didn't quite work out as expected."
"I can see that. I'm glad I got that wand of Dimension Door or I might still be missing, and had to run through the maze."
She waves her hand in Vencarlo's direction. "Look who I found. I hope he's the real one this time." She kicks the body of the woman on the floor.
"Master Orisini!" Sebastian practically falls over himself to get to his master, who still looks somewhat worse for wear. In a low voice, he asks, "How did you lose your fingers?"
Looks at Vencarlo with suspicion and Mu-Shu sniffs.
"How did you lose your fingers?"
"That's an odd question...Ah, I see. A test. You are wise to be cautious. It is a memory that I hate to recall but if I must. I lost my finger in a dual with your sister, Sabina, over a misunderstanding engineered by my other pupil Grau Soldado. I lost my two star pupils that day. They both had such potential. But they've found their true callings elsewhere."
Tyrandro examines the door and finds the door unlocked and not trapped. It also sounds like someone else is in the room with the prisoner. Most likely his torturer.
Iolana adds the wand to her ever growing stash. "Dimension Door is becoming my favorite spell." She pulls out her wand of Cats Grace at taps Tyrando, and Sebastian with it. "This is my second favorite."
Anything else before we go see who is yelling?"
"Depending on who we find we might need Ayako's blessing again" But let's see who it is this time.
Tyrandro steps through the door, his bow ready.
Ayako gets MuShu back into her bag. We shall see. I can't really use any of those items so any of you are welcome to them. Ayako stands ready.
Sebastian grins, eager to have the real Vencarlo back. He claps the other man on the shoulder, but quickly apologizes when he sees him wince. "Master, we found these in the... remains of your home." It had been bad enough having to tell his master the bad news the first time. The second time was just dreadful. "The Red Mantis Assassins - there was nothing we could do. We defeated them, but not before they burned it to the ground." Eyes downcast, he retrieves Blackjack's equipment and hands it over once again.
Another bout of screams finally catch Sebastian's attention. "The Seneschal! He must be behind the door! What are we waiting for?" Once again throwing himself into action without thinking, he barges into the room.
Looks like we have the old Sebastion back. Ayako hurries after him.
"That's a shame about my home. I knew the Red Mantises were after me. It was only a matter of time. But I'll rebuild it and the school once the Queen has been ousted and peace restored." Vencarlo looks at the gear Sebastian offers. "Looks like you caught me. Well done. But we don't have time to talk about this. Let's rescue Neolandus and get the hell out of Korvosa first. We'll have plenty of time to talk this over later, I assure you."
You then charge into the torture chamber.
This large room is lit by a heartily burning firepit in the room's center. Cages hang on chains dangling from hooks in the ceiling, while racks, strappados, gibbets, and other implements of torture fill the floor space. A set of immense wooden doors stand in the wall to the north, while to the south stand several narrow cells.
The torturer, you discover is not human, but neither is she rakshaa. This six-armed woman has three fanged faces on her head. She wears colorful robes, and her hands wield several exotic weapons. She's just finished placing a sobbing Neolandus Kalepopolis into one of the stretching racks, but hasn't quite begun her sadistic work.
They have DR/good and also regeneration/good. They are immune to curse effects, disease, flanking, and poison; and resistant to acid and electricity. They also has SR and can cast a couple of spell-like abilities.
The creature, with three heads, sees in all directions, and is not caught off guard. "Intruders!" says one head. "We have devoted ourselves to physical perfection. As imperfect beings, you do not stand a chance against us." says another. "We seek enlightenment through pain. You're suffering will further our understanding." says the third. "Die!" say all three at once.
Round 1, the creature, named Shenshiir, casts haste on itself.
"At least it is clear about it's intentions." Tyrandro sighs before he starts shooting.
We need blessed weapons to harm it and prevent the wounds from healing. Don't bother trying to flank. Acid and electricity have a difficult time hurting it.
Ayako casts Shadow Trap on the creature
But the fingers of shadow just slip off.
"Then let's grab the Seneschal and leave. I don't care for that thing." Tyrandro suggests.
"It might resist acid, but what about a fall?" Iolana casts Acid Pit right below the creature.
Ayako's spell is deflected by the enemy's spell resistance. Iolana opens an acid pit under Shenshiir but she leaps with perfect acrobatics out of the way.
Tyrandro manages to hit Shenshiir twice with arrows but since his weapon isn't currently aligned good, it doesn't do as much as it could.
Sebastian charges the creature and attacks. He also manages to hit her and like Tyrandro, his damage is reduced, but does hurt her.
Vercarlo, still weakened, holds back for now.
The torturer unleashes a barrage of attacks with her six arms against Sebastian and leaves a couple of bloody wounds.
However, Shenshiir wasn't able to step away from the slippery slope around the edge of the pit and topples over. She is injured from the fall but her natural resistance to acid prevents the acid from harming her and despite the acidic nature of the pit, her wounds slowly being to heal.
"Can you cast a lid on that? Nevermind, let us grab the Seneschal and get the hell out of here." Tyrandro suggests.
Ayako casts Align Weapon on Tyrando's bow to help keep the beastie down if it hops up.
"Let's hope it can't fly or teleport. Just in case move faster." Iolana casts Haste on the party, and then she moves toward the Seneschal.
Sebastian isn't used to fighting foes with so many arms, and the flurry of steel overwhelms him. He's silently relieved when it falls in the pit. Not waiting around for her to climb out, he hurries over to release the Seneschal.
Just out of curiosity, what is the incentive to explore the rest of this level? I mean besides metagaming XP and loot?
Ayako aligns Tyrandro's weapon to good. Iolana hastes the party then moves over to help release the seneschal. With Sebastian's help, Neolandus is taken down off the rack and is free. "Thank you for freeing me. I don't know who you are but if you are friends of Vencarlo, then I'm guessing you are not agents of the Queen. That pit won't hold that Upasunda for long."
Shenshiir stands up and casts a spell on herself.
"You won't escape us that easily!" one head shouts. "We are a perfect being." says another. "We can counter any trick you'll try." says the third. "You have no hope."
The acid does not harm the creature and a few more of her wounds heal up.
"She's going to start climbing out of that pit.She just cast Spider Climb. Do you think we can outrun her?" She grabs the seneschal by the arm, pulls out her wand of Dimension Door and moves them both the other side of the room behind Fluffy and Vencarlo.
"Just get us out with that stick. Who needs running?" Tyrandro suggests. Meanwhile he waits until the creature is out of the pit again.
Ayako casts Cure Critical Wounds on Sebastion
"Yes, let's not wait around," Sebastian says anxiously. "Seneschal, take this." Sebastian produces his Pharasmin healing potion for the other man's wounds.
"I can only take one at a time with me. Ayako can you use this spell?"
I am afraid not.I can try throwing a spell inside to try to hold it but it might resist.
Sebastian gives Neolandus a healing potion then heads back towards the exit.
Ayako waits for Sebastian to get closer and then heals him.
Iolana casts dimension door and takes her and Neolandus back to the entrance.
Tyrandro waits for the creature to re-emerge.
On her turn, Shenshiir scales the pit in a single move. "Where do you think you are going? You can't outrun me."
Upon appearing, Tyrandro hits her directly with three aligned arrows that send her reeling.
"You're blasphemy cannot be allowed! Freeze!" Shenshiir casts hold monster on Tyrandro.
Shenshiir maintains her footing on the slope and doesn't slide back into the pit.
Ayako grits her teeth and places her hand over Sebastion's weapon, Little sparkles of light flow from her palm and make the rapier shimmer with rainbow colors.
Show her some footwork, Sebastion.
Tyrandro freezes in place.
Iolana casts Grease on the Shenshiir's longsword.
Ayako aligns Sebastian's weapon.
Iolana hurls grease at the upasunda's sword but it pulls its weapon aside avoiding the effect.
"Let me help you, son. Let's finish this." says Vencarlo.
Vencarlo moves up and swings but the creature parries, however, Sebastian moves in harmony with his master and sneaks his own blade underneath the parry and into the enemy's flesh. It gasps and wobbles on weak legs. She looks severely wounded from that attack.
"This cannot be." "We will live to fight another day." "You have taught us much in this fight."
The upasunda uses greater teleport to flee.
Ayako pants and rubs her leg, so much standing and hurrying around has made it ache again. I think we better get out of her right away, there is no telling when she will come back.
Tyrandro 'enjoys' some more time frozen in place.
Fluffy sits and Tyrandro's feet whimpering. The he and licks Tyrandro's face, nudges him with his nose, puts his paw on Tyrandro's shoulder, but all to no avail.