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After bumping into Eri a few times, and then stepping on someone's toes, Solrisa eventually settles with allowing herself to let by Eidi, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Look at this! I'm invisible!" Sol whispers excitedly.
Solrisa tries to move as quietly as possible, with the group.
Stealth
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Eidi almost fells as his staff goes to the floor when the big man hits him "Oh, take care! My poor back!" he suddenly reminds they are in a quite infiltration mission and forces his mouth to go shut.
The half-elf turns to stare at Mortimer's eyes when Solrisa also steps over his feet "Ouch!" He takes his staff and hits Solrisa's toes back then whispers "I know you see me, it is part of the spell's magic, so don't toy with me." he then smiles "Perhaps next time I shall transform you into a frog to go stealth?"
As you make your way around what is becoming more and more obvious to be a circular hallway, you hear only your party's varied, labored breaths. Paying particular attention to the stairwells located at intervals around the inner circle of the hallway, you hear nothing. It's as quiet as the grave. It may be that the stairwell is spiral, and that the Catafalque's understructure floor is many feet above you. Recalling the depths to which you descended, you gather that you are 50' from the next floor up.
Placing your position around the wheel walkway, the furthest stairwell west leads up to the elevator platform room, where you have been in rising to the floor of the Catafalque, while the stairwell furthest north leads up to the room where the stairs down to the Coenoby's grand hall lead.
All of the stairs you see on the inner circle lead upwards. The Coenoby, it appears, is as low as they excavated.
The half-elf turns to stare at Mortimer's eyes when Solrisa also steps over his feet. "Ouch!" He takes his staff and hits Solrisa's toes back then whispers "I know you see me, it is part of the spell's magic, so don't toy with me." he then smiles "Perhaps next time I shall transform you into a frog to go stealth?"
Mortimer's eyes glaze over slightly as he briefly remembers a dream.
Oh, no! I don't want that!
"I know, Eidi Sir, sorry," he says, baffled by his own clumbsiness. "I just lost track of where you were briefly when I blinked. I'll be more careful!"
After the initial excursion about the circular hallway, Mortimer asks "Twelve stairways. Twelve months? Hours? Where would you keep kidnapped victims? I haven't the slightest idea. Which Hour shall we pick first?"
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"Oh! This place is so round!" Solrisa remarks with glee. "Let's go to *that* one," Solrisa says with glee, and moving in that direction and almost walking out of the circle before remembering her place and waiting for Eidi.
With the maiden carrying the direction upwards, ever spiraling upwards, you eventually emerge into the second circular hallway, this time along its southeast corridor.
You are now on the level of the Catafalque's understructure. You gather that a stroll around the circle to the west will gain you access to the lift up to the Catafalque, while a stroll around the circle to the north will bring you back to the top of the main stairs back down to the Coenoby.
What lies within the inner circle itself is yet to be explored. In the short time arriving on this level, you are unaware of patrols or servants coming and going. Smells of a kitchen meet you shortly thereafter, coming from the southern room. There appear to be two hallways allowing passage into the center of the circle, from the south, and from the east.
Ascaria suggests, whispering, "Let's poke our head 'round into the kitchen, then take the tunnel inward just to the north of it."
He'll move only with Eidi, and he stays close.
Whispering, "Yeh, let's check out the food."
Eri follows Ascaria and Eidi
"Yeh, let's check out the food."
"I just ate. It should be O.K. for awhile."
Staying close to Eidi, he moves with the others.
It takes a great effort to hold everyone together for Eidi. In the end he extends his staff horizontally and whispers "Ok, we all hold the staff. This way we will walk together." the half-elf raises an eyebrow "I hope"
He tries to follow Solrisa, then move with the group to the kitchen, where he smells deep Sniff, sniff "Mmm... pot?"
Solrisa waits outside the cooking area, trying to stay near Eidi and waiting patiently.
"Oh! I like cheese!" Solrisa whispers, looking into the kitchen. She is ready to move on.
When others are ready, she explores another direction.
The smells coming from the kitchen in the southern room are reasonably pleasant. Not nearly as mouth-watering as your private kitchen in the Coenoby, so one might gather that this food preparation station is assigned to the guard and attendants of the understructure. From the doorway, you count half a dozen cooks working several stations, cutting onions here, butchering pigs there. None of them seem aware of your ghostly visit.
Down the circular hallway to the west, you can barely hear two guards holding conversation, which focuses mainly on when they're off duty, and what entertainment awaits them back in the barracks.
As Solrisa brings the party full round to the inner circle's southern hallway, you all arrive at a T-intersection, where one door awaits to your right, two closed doors await to your left, while an open hallway greets you to the north.
From the north, two Gold Cloaks can be seen, walking in your general direction. Perhaps they'll continue past you, towards one of the closed doors. At the moment, it's hard to say.
"Let's get out of the hallway so they can pass if they're coming this way..." Ascaria whispers clutching the staff. He backs down the hall, if the party agrees, to get out of the way of the soldiers.
Solrisa stifles a giggle as she presses herself against the wall, hoping to be out of the way. Her eyes are full of delighted, and barely suppressed, mirth.
Eidi steps away with the party and let's the guards pass trying to avoid any kind of contact with them.
”"Let's get out of the hallway so they can pass if they're coming this way..."
”Yes, back out to the big hall. There isn’t room enough for all of us.”
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Mortimer glances at the gnome hanging off of the end of Eidi's staff.
"Yes, I don't think we can all stay close enough together to stay here."
Gripping the staff, he begins to try to "steer" the Eidi Mobile back towards the big hallway.
If Eidi moves, Solrisa will move with him. She continues to struggle to contain her giggling.
Tynan moves with the rest, out of the guards' path.
The Gold Cloaks snake around the first corner, the pass through the T-intersection. As they do so, one of them stops, catching a sound coming from your general direction. He looks at you, well, more like through you, before his mate barks at him to hurry up, else they'll miss their chance at the cards table. The perceptive guard shrugs his shoulders, then turns back to follow his partner.
With that, the corridor empties, as the door to east opens, allowing you to hear the rowdy sounds of more guards gathered. When the door closes, all becomes quiet again. You are, for the most part, alone again.
What do you do? Where do you go?
Solrisa continues to follow Eidi. If she were leading, she would continue to go north into the center of the map. She continues to struggle to not giggle.
"Sounds like a guard barracks. I suspect this floor is all guards and servants, we might not find much here. Should we ascend one floor up and see where that leads?"
Unsure how long the invisibility will last, Ascaria either rushes for the nearest stairs or the next door, depending on which way Eidi's staff goes...
Eidi holds his breath until the guards leave from sight "Uff... that was close..."
Then, agreeing to hurry up, the half-elf moves with the team to the northern door to check it out.
Solrisa follows Eidi to the north doors.
The gnome brings his persuasive personality to bear upon the invisible amoeba that is your party currently, taking a left turn at the intersection, and stopping in front of one of two doors facing you, down this hallway. The hallway does extend further north, but only small sets of stairs greet you on your way towards the center grand chamber.
Stopping at the first door, you find it has all the characteristics of a prison wing, with a locked door, and a small slit through which to look into the next hallway. Opening the slit, you see four prison cell doors, two on each side of a small hallway. The second door to the west is unlocked when checked quietly.
Looking down the northern hallway, you see a circular chamber that becomes the hub for the hallways that attach to it from the north, west, and south. A large, darkglass dome sits in the middle of the room, with a height of roughly four feet from the floor. Short enough to see down the northern hallway over its top.
With Eidi's magics still fully in effect, the party debates which way to go- through the locked prison door, through the door to the west, or through the northern hallway to parts unknown...
Tynan move up to the locked door, and whispers.
"If she's being held captive, she's more likely than not in here..." He gets to work quickly on the lock while the invisibility still holds.
Tynan's skill with picks becomes an intimate performance, what with you all hovering about within the sphere of invisibility. He might have impressed a passing guard with such dexterity. A shame, really.
The door opens cleanly within seconds, leaving the way clear for you to enter.
The four cells sturdily constructed, and clean. Only one of them is occupied, by a young, dark-haired man, who sits at the back of his cell, in the darkness, where the central hall's torchlight doesn't reach him. He doesn't move at all, either inured to the sound of the door opening, or he isn't very perceptive.
"If she's being held captive, she's more likely than not in here..."
Mortimer takes a close look around the room.
Only one of [the four cells] is occupied, by a young, dark-haired man, who sits at the back of his cell, in the darkness, where the central hall's torchlight doesn't reach him.
Mortimer leans into the Team and very quietly whispers: "Even from this angle, that doesn't look anything like Lahaka! C'mon, lets go check the other door,"
He points to the West door.
"... or the Dome to the North. Maybe it's another scrying device."
Solrisa seems unsure what to do next, but she is happy to continue to follow the group/Eidi.
”Lets go check the other door," He points to the West door."
”Yes, let’s check out the west door.”
With Eri's encouragement, the group moves to the west door. It swings open into a large pantry/wine cellar, abounding with the smells of freshly cut basil and anise, but moreso vinegar. Very strong smell, coming from the back of the room. The room is almost as grand as the kitchen, and maintains a healthy stock of wine bottles, hundreds of them in racks along the west and north walls, as well as barrels of various food stocks.
Along the north wall, your trained smithy eye notices metal brackets that hold the shelves in place. Normally, they would secure the uprights against the ceiling or upper wall, but not these. The upper metal brackets appear to sink into the wall, suggesting that the entire wine shelving can be pushed into the wall, at least on the side you can see.
Mortimer stocks up on fresh mint, summer sausage and cheese.
"Watch this --" he steers the Eidi Mobile five feet towards the north wall, reaches up to the wine rack and gently tries to push it into the wall. Remembering Ekaym's similarly featured wine rack he says, "Hiding your wine. This sort of thing seems to be catching on around here."
He takes a closer look at the wine in the racks.
Upon pressing the wall of wine bottles, the giant begins to pivot the section of wall around a center post, revealing a landing at the top of a set of stairs, descending into the darkness.
A waft of a new smell meets each of your nostrils, eventually. The smell is not unfamiliar, nor is it pleasant. With the mixture of smells buffeting you from the pantry, combined with the vapors rising, it almost reminds you of the Mistmarsh. More specifically, the egg chamber of the Twisted Branch Lair. But no. This is less mildewy. Ah, yes. This smells of Theo. Of those hideous things that roamed the basement of Blackwall Keep...
"Well, now," Mortimer says, taking a step back. "That smells... promising. Worm promising. Something we might want to check out." He bows slightly, gesturing toward the open bookcase.
"Ladies first?" he asks, looking at Sol. He'll take up the rear if everyone agrees to checking out the space now.
Are we going to have to burn the whole place down? Pity. Mortimer snickers to himself.
Ascaria is wowed by the shifting of the wine, and somewhat repulsed by the odors it reveals. He grows a little nervous, and takes out his rod of extend, though he stops short of casting bless... so far.
He suggests, "This is something we should definitely check out. Could be nothing more than a root cellar, but..."
He hangs onto the staff, hoping it descends.
Eidi smiles while Mortimer pushes the wine racks "Witty!"
"Ok, let's try to find out what are they hiding. If you are familiar with this smell, all the best to think this place is related with our quest" and then the half-elf tries to move coordinately with the rest of the team in their descend.
"Ladies first?"
Solrisa looks around for a moment before startling forward as she realizes that Mort means her. She giggles at herself...more than happy to pretend to be a lady in this, another charade atop the charade of invisibility and sneaking about.
Solrisa reaches to her back and brings her shield to her arm, then descends the stairs (using her special blue light, as needed).
Mortimer ever the gentleman lets Solrisa take the lead, the glow of the blue torch mounted to her shield lighting the way. As she steps onto the landing at the top of the stairs, a brief flicker of unnatural light ripples in a pentagrammic pattern, and for a moment, the rest of the party sees the maiden highlighted by a red aura.
The Glyph of Slay Living has been triggered.
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Fort
Solrisa's eyes open in shock as she takes a burst of pain. She looks back at the party recommending caution as she moves forward.
"Careful now, it tastes like pain here!"
healing
Solrisa continues down when others are ready.
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"Zounds! That looks painful. I think it may have been some sort of spell."
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"Yeah, it should taste like wine, but no..."
Ascaria, just in case, draws the wand of cure light wounds and tops off the shield bearer.
*tap!*
While Ascaria take a moment to draw his wand and heal Solrisa, Solrisa agrees that danger is in the offing and draw her unused wand of Barkskin and applies it to herself.
And offers a charge to Mort if he wants it. She puts the wand away and draws her new sword, BluespRae and continues down.
Mortimer winces when the flickering pentagrammic thing blows.
"Careful now, it tastes like pain here!"
Huh, well. That's done in that blue flower in her hair. I'm just going to have to buy her more...
"Zounds! That looks painful. I think it may have been some sort of spell."
"Yeah, it should taste like wine, but no..."
I wonder if have some kind of item crafted that morphs into flowers after you do something to it... like maybe break it... He thinks.
"Seriously, does anyone have any inkling of what the Hells kind of spell that was?"
It is with great appreciation that Mortimer accepts the offer of a Barkskin Wand charge.
With healing shoring up the maiden's health on a couple of fronts, Solrisa takes the lead down the stairs, which descend downwards roughly twenty-five feet. The lower landing lacks the same surprise as the upper landing. What awaits is simply a short hallway that turns right, and abruptly ends in a stone wall.
Solrisa looks at the wall, pushes on the wall once, then makes room for others if it doesn't open.
"There is a wall here." Sol smiles happily, but she is confused by it.
str check
Tynan scans the wall for traps, or any mechanism which might open a secret door.
Eidi keeps descending with Solrisa and the rest of the group when the trap triggers. He instinctively jumps back, almost removing Solrisa from the sphere zone.
The half-elf touches Solrisa desperately worried "Are... are you ok?" he looks at the half-woman surprised as if he saw a ghost. Then observing her smile once more Eidi smiles back and sighs relieved "You are as strong as a mountain Miss Sunlaugh" he taps her shoulder then explains "That was a slay living glyph spell. It is a miracle you are still with us as that is a powerful necromantic spell"
The half-elf seems to place a thought on the idea of the necromancy "That means we are definitely in the good track. Yet we have to make our eyes wide open from now on" he starts to descend once more with the party "Does any of you have read magic? That might help to find the glyphs"
From that point Eidi starts to walk more carefully and look for possible traps even if that means the spell duration might reach shorter. Once at the bottom he helps Tynan to look for secret doors.
"We likely passed the entrance. Given the trap at the first landing I suggest the real entrance might be there" and if the party agrees he moves back there and inspects the area for a secret door.
Otherwise, search all along the stairs for an exit.
Eri makes sure he’s cast mage armor on himself and casts gravity bow. He then casts detect magic and keeps an eye out for more glyphs that taste like burning.
"You are as strong as a mountain Miss Sunlaugh" he taps her shoulder then explains "That was a slay living glyph spell. It is a miracle you are still with us as that is a powerful necromantic spell"
Solrisa smiles at Eidi, partially not understanding what he is saying and partially because she is being spoke to.
"Sunlaugh? I don't know what that means, but I like it! That's a very sweet thing to say!" Solrisa beams. "And I'm alive because The Dragon protects me. I do not fear any evil while I walk under the protect of his talon."