Kul begins hustling Pent out of the room.
Kul is easily able to manhandle Pent back towards the scroll chamber.
You detect multiple magical auras in the room; a faint aura you're unable to identify in the vicinity of the hanging ship, and four (one moderate and three faint) pretty much on top of eachother to the south-east, although you can't see what or who those auras belong to.
Ami and Yeen relent to Aldebert moving them, but it's clear that Ami wants to move forward rather than reverse.
Aldebert hugs his brother close, tightening his grip when self-harm rises to the surface of his madness. He speaks to him in low, relaxing tones - telling stories of their last successful mercantile run together. He does his best to try and relax him, and bring him slowly back to normalcy, or at least his usual state.
As the seconds stretch into minutes, he looks uneasily to the north, where he had heard the noises earlier.
Only twice in the confusion does Pent try and actively bite Kul.
Ami continues to vacillate between babbling randomly, acting 'normal' (for a halfing), trying to punch himself in the face, and trying to bite Aldebert's nose off for the next 5 minutes.
He eventually calms down and wonders what is in the mists.
He begins to head back in that direction...
Mahdi sighs and would totally glance at his watch if he had a watch and if watches were a thing during the five minutes that it takes for the muckety-muck to wear off.
When it finally clears, he nods. "Very well-- perhaps we can now discuss what-- Amiamble, your brother just dragged you out of there for a reason."
Aldebert rushes in front of his brother and then, calmly, shakes his head. "No brother, that way is not safe yet. You and Pent both fell into some sort of spell that addled your minds causing you to attack yourself, and others, without a thought to friendship or kin."
He rubs a few sore spots where Amiamble got a few good hits in.
"Please brother, let us check the rest of this dungeon before we again attempt that chamber."
Aldebert attempts to lead the party the other way when everyone is settled.
Amiamble gives his brother a confused look as he's being led away, uncertain about what the problem is with the fun hallway of interesting mists.
Even as he's being led away, Ami looks fondly back.
After seeing Pent hit himself again, Kul would have pulled out his knotted rope and tried to tie Pent's hands. Hopefully, with a briefly lucid Pent's assistance.
Kul's had a lot of experience with hallucinating and dealing with others under the influence of Pesh. He'd make certain Pent can't hurt himself, is comfortable, and then would let him ride it out.
Kul will happily agree to check out the other passageway and will lead the group that way.
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Pent obliges gratefully, allowing himself to be tied up, and even helping, eying his dropped crossbow suspiciously in confused moments. "Ah, I see what you're up to, and I can only speak my gratitude on it and on you." Pent's face distorts.
"I'm no good for meat!! I'm all bones and gristle!! Bind me all you like, but you waste your strength on this side of beef!! Undo what you done, right now!!" Pent's face smooths out.
"What was I saying? Oh yeah, you look like you've had practice doing this sort of thing, am I right? What, were you a previous slaver, recently atoning to Sarah?" Pent's face distorts again.
"Barkley never said it wasn't possible to mate a fish with a rabbit, just that it would be very difficult, but the returns on the catch would be incredible if the fish bred like rabbits, and the rabbits breathed underwater. Wait, you'd have neither, I told him, you'd have some kind of Rabbish, or Fibbit, and either one of them would make anyone's skin crawl, so you'd have no market for something you'd have to store half-in and half-out of water." Pent's face smooths out again.
"I keep missing my point. I think I'm better now. Can you untie me, good man?" Pent smiles pleadingly.
Returning north, you all hear a faint, lonesome piping sound, but it's difficult to determine exactly where it comes from. One moment it seems as if you're about to be on top of it, before it suddenly comes from somewhere else. By the time you reach the entrance chamber, the sounds have emerged from every direction of the compass, while there's been no sign of an origin.
Continuing south, your nostrils are quickly assailed by a foul, metallic miasma emerging from a vast chamber that appears to be some sort of worship hall. Frescoes upon the walls depict the terrifying power of magic, as radiant figures destroy entire worlds. Massive pillars support the chamber's lofty ceiling, each covered with complex glyphs and designs. Between each column, glass lamps hang from chains of green copper, radiating bluish lights pulsing and flickering in unison. At the room's southern end, an alabaster altar gleams in the erratic blue light, its pedestal carved in the shape of winged, scale-covered bulls. East of the altar is a small, empty chamber.
***
Pent ooo's and aaa's as he enters the pillar chamber. He begins to wander amongst the pillars, taking in the pictures, and verbally describing out loud what he sees in the most obvious ways.
He keeps an eye out for shadows being cast by creatures that don't look like the exploratory party.
Pent also points the loaded crossbow in front of him, facing all directions, NSEW, when he comes to each cross section, among the pillars. As entertaining as it was to see my friends as melting candles, it's good to have my senses back.
Ami and Yeen snuffle forward, looking for this brother to take the lead.
Ami looks at his brother, then the weirdness, then his brother again, then he and his cat pad forward to L13.
What's going on in here?
Despite the stench, Mahdi is clearly enthused by this room. The mystery of the disappearing piper is forgotten.
"A true temple of Nethys," Mahdi murmurs as he strides forward, touching the pillars reverently. "I wish I could have been here when the priests held sway! So many seekers of the mysteries gathered in one place-- I might have learned so much!"
Mahdi casts Detect Magic to better understand the enchantments of the lights, and also to look for other spells of interest to him. He ultimately gravitates towards the altar, circling it admiringly.
Aldebert moves into the chamber, admiring the room - though cautiously. Those pillars could hide a veritable army of priests!
Aldebert moves to O12 to start and looks around a bit. His guisarme, as always, is out and ready.
"Maddie, would you surmise that anything in this place has been hospitable enough for you to go wandering ahead of our first line to investigate magical mystical menacing altars? Nethys has proven to be very unwelcoming to anyone wandering about His temple. No wonder this place is in ruins. He likely scared all his followers off- traps, sphinxes, mists, choking brutes... ooo, what if those creatures were followers of Nethys at one time, and they huffed the mists too long, corrupting their very bones?" Pent stands still, and exhales violently several times, for good measure.
The frescoes and carvings are all grim and disturbing, seeming to represent the darker side of magic in a celebration of its destructive potential. Even so, some of the imagery seems to show priests seeking to harden themselves against the allure of such power.
As Mahdi moves towards the altar, you notice a small section at its base almost imperceptibly beginning to move, as if a trap is about to be sprung.
Despite the unusual color, it's clear to you that the light in the lamps is created by multiple continual flame spells.
Moving between the pillars, you soon realize that the carvings upon them are not simply decorations, but rather a series of arcane formulae. Based on just this quick examination, you figure they might be spell descriptions, as if each pillar was a page from a wizard's spellbook.
Mahdi waves a hand in vague annoyance at Pent's words, with an expression of irritation.
"I am a worshiper of Nethys. I have the right to be here. The All-Seeing Eye is neither welcoming nor unwelcoming: he simply Is, like magic itself. With great potential for both harm, or for aid. Ahh..."
He closes his eyes with an expression of happiness. "Can't you feel the power and knowledge in this place? Each-- each pillar-- it's a spell--"
He starts digging out his spellbook from his pack, in the hopes of being able to copy down the formulae.
Pent clenches his buttcheeks, one cheek for each reason they need clenching. First, he's quickly understanding that there is still more danger lurking about, and a teammate is in close proximity. Second, he's about to bark a command at a... human. He almost fails to get out what needs being said.
"Maddie, STOP!!! Don't get closer to that altar!! Something about it doesn't like you, and it's getting ready to receive you, like an offering!! It figures Nethys would be self-sufficient with His altars, and let them do their own bloody sacrifices...!!!"
Pent closes his eyes, wincing at the likelihood that Mahdi will simply ignore what is being barked at him for more babble on top of the recent pile of babble induced by the mists.
"I mean it, Maddie!!! This is no mistmurk misinterpretation of what's about to shock you into submission before the altar. You're getting dangerous close to setting off a trap, is my best guess!!"
Pent gauges the distance between the book rummager and the altar.
"Pent, you asked if I were a slaver earlier and, in a way, I was. I used to harvest, refine, and sell Pesh. I spent a dozen years inside a Pesh pipe. Sarenrae changed all that when she sent a fire to the lab I was living in. I've since been living in service as I best can.".
Kul follows Mahdi down the central hallway, cautiously scanning each row.
Upon hearing Pent's warning, Kul prepares to grab Mahdi to drag him to safety if needed.
Mahdi huffs an exhale at Pent's urgent yelling, but doesn't stop in the process of rummaging in his pack for his precious spellbook.
"Observe: I am getting out my spellbook to focus on copying the inscriptions from the pillars."
He does dart another sidelong look at the altar though, taking in the gnome's words. "What exactly are you sensing? I don't suppose you can be any more specific than 'a trap'? Where is its point of origin?"
"Pent, you asked if I were a slaver earlier and, in a way, I was. I used to harvest, refine, and sell Pesh. I spent a dozen years inside a Pesh pipe. Sarenrae changed all that when she sent a fire to the lab I was living in. I've since been living in service as I best can."
As Kul finishes untying Pent, the gnome jumps up and approaches Kul more closely. In a flurry of hands, Pent pats down Kul from the torso to the knees. "So, you say you're free and clear of the manufacture of Pesh? And that you don't sell it anymore? Does that mean that any pre-refined Pesh you do have, you give away for free? Did your Pipe have a name? A dozen years, huh? How did the Pesh affect you when you first started? How does it affect you these days?"
Pent resists a second pat down.
...
Pent watches Kul prepare, and he giggles. Maddie's stuck between a Rock and a Hard Face. "Thanks, Kul. You see what this place is doing to Maddie. It's like Magic is his own Pesh."
As Mahdi speaks up, Pent relaxes only after he fails to see any movement in the altar. "It. Well, it started to wiggle its rump. You know, the lower part of it, it started to move. I swear. I mean, of course I do swear when it's necessary, but this time I'm using the word as a form of promising that I'm telling the truth that is known to me, and what I know is that as you got closer, things got more interesting around the base."
Ami stops his own investigations as Pent begins screaming at Mahdi to duck (or something). He and Yeen both look at the 'quack' in the stones that Pent swears is trapped.
He leans over Yeen's head to get a better look.
Perception
Ami's eyes go from Pent to Mahdi, worried that something was going to happen.
Ami slides a stone into his slingstaff.
"...why are you all looking at me?" Mahdi says, looking irritably up from his spellbook at both Kul and Ami eyeing him warily.
"I'm the one who hasn't gone into a state of mad babbling so far-- although, really, it's very hard to tell that from Pent's normal condition-- or hit myself with a crossbow!"
He shakes his head in dismissal, mutters a few non-complimentary things beneath his breath in Ignan, and turns his attention to the first pillar, his spellbook open upon his knee.
"So, you say you're free and clear of the manufacture of Pesh? And that you don't sell it anymore? Does that mean that any pre-refined Pesh you do have, you give away for free? Did your Pipe have a name? A dozen years, huh? How did the Pesh affect you when you first started? How does it affect you these days?"
"I have not touched the stuff since the fire, nearly a year ago. I used any pipe I could get my hands on -- improvising one when necessary. I used to escape life. I ran to that escape, so saw no need to ritualize or fetishize the vehicle. Living hand to mouth on the streets of Khatapesh, I also found it was pointless to become attached to possessions.
Anyway, Sarenrae woke me from escape by bathing me in fire. They said I should not have survived my burns. However, I have been fire-hardened and She is not done with me. I do not seek escape any longer."
"I have not touched the stuff since the fire, nearly a year ago. I used any pipe I could get my hands on -- improvising one when necessary. I used to escape life. I ran to that escape, so saw no need to ritualize or fetishize the vehicle. Living hand to mouth on the streets of Khatapesh, I also found it was pointless to become attached to possessions.
Anyway, Sarenrae woke me from escape by bathing me in fire. They said I should not have survived my burns. However, I have been fire-hardened and She is not done with me. I do not seek escape any longer."
Pent takes in all of Kul's history. He nods when Kul mentions the pointlessness of becoming attached to possessions, then hurriedly pats his crossbow in consolation. You're not a possession, your a weapon. There's a difference. "Well, my master didn't find it wise to let me have stuff either, but he did encourage the Pesh, and I'm glad of my acquaintance. Makes some things less difficult to bear."
When Kul mentions fire, Pent frowns and shakes his head. Then he quickly raises his forearm up to show Kul, forgetting to keep the middle finger lowered. He corrects his rudeness by nudging the middle finger down with his chin. "Yeah, they liked fire, too. But it came to some good when I got my tattoo. Still hurts when I raise my arm, but that's a constant reminder of what I do in Sarah's Name." Pent lowers his arm. "Your scars. Hope they don't bother you much. They might remind you of things that make you forget." Pent taps his nose, and points at Kul.
...
Pent watches Mahdi becoming fixated on the pillars. "You're saying that these pictures and glyphs are ways of learning new magics?" The gnome grows a little suspicious. "Are you sure you're not just seeing what you want to see here, Maddie? Could be this is the way the scents are getting to you. Make you want to sit down here and waste away copying bad poetry off of old stone." Pent gives the pillars a closer look.
Aldebert takes an interest in the conversation between the two Pesh addicts, but keeps a respectful distance in case they meant their discussion to be private.
Conscious of Pents trap warning, but interested, Aldebert moves to within 10' of the altar (R-9) and examines it as carefully as he can from that distance.
Noticing nothing special, he wonders if it's another fancy of Pents - these traps - or if they're real. Looking back on the party, each in their own investigations, he decides to wait.
He stands guard and watches over the group while they each search their respective corners.
You notice nothing that might explain the gnome's outburst, and Yeenoghu also seems oblivious to any danger.
Scanning the space between the pillars, you can't help but notice that the frescoes and carvings are all grim and disturbing, seeming to represent the darker side of magic in a celebration of its destructive potential. Even so, some of the imagery seems to show priests seeking to harden themselves against the allure of such power.
However, you notice nothing that might explain the gnome's outburst or Mahdi's sudden interest.
You notice nothing unusual about the carvings on the pillars, certainly not anything that would explain Mahdi's sudden interest.
Pent finishes appraising the pillars, looks at Mahdi's sudden interest, and opens his mouth. Then he closes his mouth. Open, then closed. He trots away from Mahdi for the moment, approaching Aldebert instead.
He places his hand on Aldebert's chest, and steadily pushes him back to what he can gauge as 10.1 feet. As long as Aldebert acquiesces, Pent begins to mark out the same 10.1 foot radius from the altar in the dusty floor, dodging and weaving through the pillars to do so.
"It appears to be the ten-foot tension that altar feels. You get closer, it starts to wiggle. I'm only suggesting that when you're ready to see exactly what the altar does, all you have to do is step across my line. Cross the line, and you're lined up for a very cross altar. I only say that because nothing but those dancing lights engaged us with anything but hostility." Pent nods to each, before approaching Kul. He leans in, and starts to mutter only to him.
Mahdi rolls his eyes at Pent's question to him.
"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Spells. Knowledge. Those things that are a part of Nethys's jurisdiction and, therefore, completely logical to find in a temple devoted to him."
That said, the young wizard grimaces in a displeased fashion as he squints closer at the old carvings. "This isn't going to be quick," he mutters to himself in disgust. More loudly, "We are planning to spend the night in this complex, yes? That is the entire reason we retreated here, to rest, so that we are fresh for Kelmarene in the morning?"
Pent looks at Mahdi quizzically. "If you say so. I don't see anything that looks like spells on those pillars. That pillar over there looks like it has a picture of a rat being eaten by a spider. How in Sarah's light is that a spell? And that one. That looks like an elf flying away with that guy's sword. These are all spells?" Pent motions to the surrounding columns, and scratches his head.
Pent gives Kul a knowing look, and taps his nose. "Yeah, Maddie. I think we're going to try and use this place as a resting stop. But we haven't seen all of it to know if we're safe. And, come morning, we're off. Can't stay here copying limericks all day. The Battle Market awaits."
You notice signs in the dusty floor suggesting that someone else has been here no more than a day or so ago. These signs continue past the altar and into the smaller chamber beside it.
Pent looks down, points, pursues, and almost breaches his own perimeter. "Those prints. They're the ones that we've been following, eh? Looks like they walked past the altar, all the way past. No stopping. No telling where they stop." Pent stops talking.
Amiamble looks at his brother and gives the 'magicky-magicky' shoulder shrug (used for when he doesn't understand magic) and waits to see what his brother wants to do.
Yeen snuffs at the prints that Pent points out.
Aldebert is moved back by Pent, and then watches him point out the tracks.
"Pent, we can't have it both ways. We must see who this resident is - friend or foe. We must pass the altar to do so. So unless you can disarm whatever trap you see..."
Aldebert waits for Pent to nod. When he does not (presuming - my action may change pending Pent's response) Aldebert walks past the altar to look in the next room (move cautiously to U15). He's gritting his teeth and waiting for an explosion.
"Aldebert's right. We have to deal with this now. Something came through this room and went past that altar. Let's deal with it and the possible threat of the altar before we settle in and study all this crazy Nethys stuff.
Assuming no objections, Kul follows behind Aldebert, also bracing for explosions.
"Just... just, be careful and wary for all the things scary about to careen your way." Pent puts one finger in his right ear, while holding onto the crossbow, ready to fire it at anything beastly that happens.
Pent scurries around, trying to keep a line on the altar, while Aldebert approaches.
"Say something nice about the altar, you know. Try and talk pretty at it, and maybe it will let you pass..."
Mahdi purses his lips disapprovingly at Kul's disrespect for the All-Seeing Eye, but says nothing. He gives the column a last, reluctant pat, and puts his spellbook away for now.
He edges after the others, in the rear position. He will glance at the altar with Detect Magic up, to see if he can get an idea what it is that has Pent's panties puckered.
Ami resists the urge to plunge ahead of his brother to allow whatever trap to affect him first, but stays Yeen's reigns with a deep, worried breath. He pats Yeen's neck to keep the cat calm, expecting explosions of fire and lightning at any moment.
"Be careful, brother!"
You notice two faint magical auras surrounding the altar.
One is of abjuration and one of conjuration (summoning).
"Bide a moment, I can see the spells on the altar," Mahdi murmurs to the others.
He places a hand on his temple and peers intently at the altar for twenty seconds. The hand on his temple is not necessary, but there is something to be said for showmanship.
"A protective spell," he says after the elapsed time, "--an alarm would make sense, although I've no proof of that-- and a conjuring, a calling forth of some sort of creature that most likely will not be best pleased to see us."
"You mean us, don't you? You're welcome here, but us interlopers might set it off. An alarm? Like a trumpet? And me, all out of underwear. That's just cruel irony right there. As for conjuring, can you subdue it as a worshipper of Nethys? Or can you just make the altar go to sleep for the duration of our stay, so we can stop worrying over it?" Pent uses his eyes to get Mahdi to concentrate harder on the altar, looking back and forth between them.
"The altar is pretty large. Does the creature crawl out of it, or appear in front of it? What kind of creature, you figure? One with wings, or one that sings? One with horns, or one with thorns? One with suckers, those are awful..." Pent frowns a bit, and waits for Mahdi to make the call on the altar.
Ami listens to the conversation, trying to make out what the problem is. Amiable leans over to his brother, awhisper.
"Brother, this way is fraught with unknown danger and peril. We should go the other way! With the fun gas of funness! Let us see what lies beyond that way!"
Ami begins to steer Yeenoghu back to the confusion hallway, confident his brother will follow.
Aldebert stops and sighs, Will we ever get out of this chamber? Now is not the time for careful research and reflection!
Frustrated, he turns to Mahdi, "So can you stop it? No? Then let's proceed shall we? ...and hope for the best..." he adds under his breath as he says a quick prayer to Abadar.
Aldebert waits for Mahdi's response before proceeding to the altar.
Mahdi rolls his eyes at the question from Pent and Aldebert.
"Flattering as your confidence in me is... No, I cannot currently dispel a ward placed by either a high priest of Nethys, or a mage elevated in his service," he says shortly.
"My pardon, I presumed we would all like to know the nature of the trap that Messire Pent was squawking over, but in the future I won't distract you with such tedious concerns. Do lead on."
Mahdi eyes Amiamble leading his cat around. "Where are you going?"
Mahdi eyes Amiamble leading his cat around. "Where are you going?"
Ami and Yeen stop in their tracks, the cat's head swiveling to match its riders in looking back.
Ami's eyes widen in surprise from being addressed, then return to normal.
Ami waits for the Mahdi to realize this way is trapped and the Hallway of Giggly Mists was the way to go...because that way is both completely safe and free of danger, uh huh.
Shortly after Aldebert and Kul move inside Pent's protective perimeter, two sections of the altar's base wiggle and squeeze their way out of the alabaster, transforming into a pair of very real vipers slithering out against the two frontrunners.
***
Current Initiative order:
27 - Mahdi
16 - vipers
11 - Amiamble (with Yeenoghu)
8 - Aldebert
7 - Kul
4 - Pent
***
Keeping a keen, magically-enhanced eye out for any altar-based shenanigans, Mahdi reacts quicker than everyone to this development.
***