Yeenoghu sniffs, then sneezes, not liking the current situation a single bit. His tail flicks and snaps, smacking into the The Other as he peers at the new fat one with deep suspicion.
Coming to the base of the well, Quinn sits by her brother who continues to struggle against the tied scarves.
"If this isn't the beginning of a bad joke. A dwarf climbs down a well and two haltings ask him what brings him here. What do you say Thomas? How's it end. How's any of this end?"
Ami relaxes slightly as Quinn at least recognizes the new fat one.
"Human woman, what should we do with this one?" Ami hisses at Quinn through his covered face. His eyes remain focused on the dwarf.
Should Mahdi prove to be nearby, Pent turns and introduces him. "Where are my manners? Master Door, this is Maddie. Maddie, this is Master Door. You'll find him to be quite impenetrable if you ask him to reveal the beyond." Pent pats the door like a long-lost friend.
"Are you ready, Maddie? What waits beyond this door is... pain. We can heal and heal and heal, but the pain is always there, and it's as fresh the time of late, as much as the time before. Just know that I'll be ready to bring Sarah's Soothe for you, should you be brought the pain." Pent pats Mahdi like a long-lost friend.
"Hello halfling brother" Otah replies. "I am Otah and I'm looking for... that man right there."
Otah takes a second to look over Thomas as he is tied up and struggling. "Haven't seen him so animated before, what's wrong with him? Why do you have him tied up? If you're looking to try and ransom the poor fool, I'm afraid we'll have a problem."
Looking on in amusement, clearly glad for a distraction from her brother's state.
"I am Thomas' sister, Quinn. I came looking for him when I didn't hear from him. You must be the dwarf that was helping him. I'm not sure what happened here, but he isn't himself."
Ami relaxes slightly more and backs up a bit, letting the others take care of things.
"Brother, they got what they came for. Should be not go find gnolls to slay? Or Xulthos? I long to see you beat him up." Ami shushes to Aldebert.
"Hello halfling brother" Otah replies. "I am Otah and I'm looking for... that man right there."
Otah takes a second to look over Thomas as he is tied up and struggling. "Haven't seen him so animated before, what's wrong with him? Why do you have him tied up? If you're looking to try and ransom the poor fool, I'm afraid we'll have a problem."
"I don't know what's wrong with him, but he was attacking his sister here which is likely not preferred activity. You say you were meant to guard him down here?"
Mahdi looks heavenward (well, ceiling-ward), and starts backing up to the junction of the corridor just so he can keep an eye on everyone again. It's like herding cats.
"Pent, we're not opening any doors until we're all together again, so keep it in your pants," he mutters as he goes. "--and stop romancing the door. It won't open for you anymore than the legs of the last lady you talked to, and it's creepy."
He calls down to the other group, "Look. Let her go with her brother, he's probably cursed or diseased or rabid or something but that's the lady's problem to worry about and she doesn't seem to want outside help with him, and also, why are there dwarves? I mean I know we're underground and all, but must they spawn due to mere subterranean exploration? Are they geological formations or something?"
He squints down the hall at the dwarf. "Your client is tied up after having been biting at his sister. I'd stay out of whatever strange little family dynamic they have going on if I were you."
And to think, he'd thought she was kind of cute.
"Hey, Maddie!! Tell the halfling siblings to get their half-asses in gear so we can start opening more doors. Tell the human siblings to get their whole-asses up and out of the well. Tell the dwarf, well, I assume he doesn't need telling so much as he needs warning, since he's not showing exactly which direction he's headed."
"I was supposed to guard him. But he's a curious fellow. You think he'd have waited for his bodyguard when going to investigate some rumor of some sort of evil... what did he call it? Outsider?"
He turns his head to examine Thomas and Quinn.
"If you're going to start looking after the silly one, I'll go find whatever caused this malady and exact what should have been my pay from it's hide."
Otah starts down the corridor, "I assume your loud friends at the end of the hall are waiting to do something similar?"
Aldebert looks askew at the dwarf, seemingly eager to delve into the evil that lies ahead.
"Well, we can use all the help we can get I suppose. My name is Aldebert, and this is my brother Amiamble. That man down the hall there is Mahdi, and the bellowing you hear around the corner is Pent. Welcome."
Aldebert does what he can to help Quinn hoist her sibling out of the pit and then rejoins the others by the door Pent is talking to.
Ami stares at the dwarf from between the folds in his scarf. He nods very briefly when his brother introduces him to the dwarf.
"Brother, are you *sure* about this one? He is a dwarf! Remember the last short one that started to follow us..." Ami shushes to Aldebert, looking over his shoulder at the bellowing, belligerent, be-doored gnome.
"Ask him what he does and where he has been. Maybe he has been working for the gnolls too."
Aldebert sighs at his brothers whispering. I need to get him more comfortable around strangers.
He considers trying to get Ami to ask the questions himself, but quickly gives up on that idea - at least while everyone is watching. Shrugging he turns back to the dwarf...
"Er, so what brings you to town? Have you been long - working for the gnolls perhaps? Or are you a fresh draw to the town."
Warming to the subject, he realizes the dwarf's presence is a little odd after all.
"Yeah, what did draw you out here? Surely our cleansing of the region hasn't made news far beyond here yet."
Looking with concern toward the top of the well.
"I appreciate the help, but I don't have any means of keeping those angels at bay. So if you don't mind I'll wait here until all of you are ready to return to the surface."
Otah points at the bound body of Thomas.
"We arrived recently, he was interested in following up some leads in an old church. So here I am. No news of gnoll cleansing reached my ears, but I've no love for the beasts."
"Maybe, if I'm lucky, we'll find whatever that foolish book-smart man was looking for, and I can recover the costs of my travels."
Ami continues to stare at the dwarf from between the folds in his scarf...leaning forward on Yeen's haunches to sniff at the dwarf's words.
Sense Motive
Ami finally nods welcome at the dwarf.
"You can come, but you might not find the company as nice as us halflings...we have a gnome with us," Ami warns, but waves the dwarf forward. "If you have any questions, I would ask Mahdi...he is as bright as Sarenrae's shine. And my brother Aldebert is as strong as the noonday sun. This here is Yeen, Sarenrae's battlecat...woe betide those of gnoll blood when Yeen is angry." Ami pats Yeen's neck as he speaks.
With that, Ami follows Aldebert to where the gnome fails to open a door.
Yeen circles forward, sniffing at The New Fat One. He sneezes once, then twice, then circles back to The One, rubbing his tail against the newcomer as he goes.
He smells trustworthy.
Pent can be found at said door, pressing his cheek, and slowly moving in half-dance from one side of the door, to the other. When he stops at the end of the door, he reverses cheeks, and moves back the other way.
He is seemingly unaware of the team's approach, the resultant revery of his boredom quite focused.
"Come, Brother! Come, Dwarf! We have the foes of Sarenrae to slay," Ami tugs at his brother to follow as he and Yeen race to the door (top right of hallway).
Mahdi gives an exasperated wave of hello to the dwarf.
"Yes, yes, very nice to meet you I'm sure, and yes there's probably a devil or a demon or something wretched of that nature down here," Mahdi says off-handedly. "But you're a dwarf, which means you're stubborn enough not to care, I suppose. Dwarves!" he grunts, and then makes his way back down the hall again to the door Pent is abutting.
He pauses, wishes he hadn't seen it, and yells for good measure back to Quinn, "Keep your brother tied up, woman! For your own sake!"
In a mocking voice.
"O nooo. He's gotten loose. Please. Come save me!."
Aldebert follows his brother to the door Pent is so carefully guarding.
"Stubborn!? Nah, I suppose it's true. Demons and devils I don't fear. Ah suppose that's why that idiot hired me."
He approaches the door and the gnome and a look of confusion strikes his face. "Uh... why is your gnome trying to court a door?"
Ami shoots an 'I-warned-you' look at Otah as he opens the door.
The gnome ain't bad, just takes some getting used to.
Pent shakes himself from his moment, and turns to the not-gnome-three-quarters-man. Rubbing his cheek, he looks at Aldebert, Ami, and Mahdi, seeking some kind of understanding of their dispositions towards the dwarf. Finding all focused on the door behind him, Pent moves up on dwarf to make way for the others to open the doors.
"Why? I'll tell you why, since no one seems to be in a hurry to confront what waits on the other side of said door. It's because I had the time to do so. Plenty of it, too, while half-speed halflings took their sweet time addressing the bottom of a well and its contents, which seems to have become more populous by one. Why are you here, of all places? Why are you slowing my boys down? Why are you joining us? Are you trying to free Xulthos? Are you popping the corn so you might sit down and watch us tackle a glomeray from the sidelines? What... are... your... intentions?" Pent pokes the air in front of Otah's chest, but does not touch.
Otah smiles at the gnome. "What is a Xulthos?" He pauses for a bit, "My intentions are to reclaim my fee I have lost from my charge, half-boy. I'm not sure what popping the corn means, but I uh..." he scratches his beard, "... mean you all no harm. I know the value of teamwork. And I'll be thrice-damned if I sit on the side-lines when there's a good fight to be had. Only way to learn is to do."
"Who's your charge?" The gnome puts two and two together. "Who, that almost-dead man, recently drug away from this door here? What, he got away from you, and you chased him down here? You supposed to protect your charge, but you can't protect what's out of arm's reach, eh? He simply quicker than you, or did he slip away while you snored your board?" Pent looks over the dwarf's face.
"Next time, you do what I'd do- tie one end of a string to his foot, the other to your Willie-Walnuts. If he thought to sneak away from you in the dead of night, you'd receive the rude awakening that begins with a pain that dumps all your vim and vigor into your bloodstream, and you awake for a fight. Makes sense? You follow me? Yeah, sure, next time just tell me, and I'll tie you up tighter than Maddie's buttocks, wading through the river waters."
Pent watches as Ami opens the door, finally, after all this time.
"Alright now, Dwarf. You manage to help us here, and we'll see you properly represented in your dispute against your employer. You manage to get in our way, and we'll see you properly represented in your defense."
Otah fails to stifle a laugh as the strange gnome details his alarm method. "Vim and vigor!" he laughs a little more. "You're a disturbing fellow. I think we'll get along fine."
He grips his horsechopper and lays it over his shoulder, waiting to see what lies behind the door.
This chamber stands in stark contrast to the craftsmanship of worked stone of the rest of the crypt—instead, here looms a vast cavern. The air is damp and cold, and moist, writhing roots hang down from the ceiling twenty feet above. Puddles of reeking fluid dot the floor, and at the far end a jagged upthrust lance of stone rises from the ground to form a steeply-sloped platform.
This is a large worked chamber perhaps forty feet square. Two rows of three marble columns flank the main walkway leading from east to west. A series of low, curved stairs at the opposite side of the room leads to a large concave recess in the western wall, with an elaborate throne perched at the top of the stairs.
"Whoa..."
"Why would they have a throne room down here...?"
vs DC 17
Aldebert takes two steps into the chamber, hammer at the ready, looking for more skeletons.
Will Save (Ami)
Will Save (Yeen)
"This place smells bad, evil. I like it not," Ami hisses from under his scarf.
"Throne room? In this dreary place? Is your mind still captivated by the door behind you?"
"Yeah, yeah, my cheek's still warm and all, but you've got to let your eyes adjust to the dark. You'll see it soon enough."
The gnome waits until everyone has entered the room, before returning to the doors, and closing them. He pats the door on its back for a job well done. Or is it its front now that I'm on this side? Ah well. No matter now. "All right now, master Door. Do your duty, and stay closed for as long as it takes for the occupants of this room to become one fewer. Much obliged."
Standing upon the upthrust stone shelf is a towering muscular man wielding an immense axe—whom you recognize as Kardswann. He addresses you all as you enter.
"Many years have I languished in this foul place, trapped here by the wards placed by your Pactmasters. Endless decades have I endured the whispering spirits of the wholesome dead, cursing my captors, hating the world I could no longer corrupt. When the Templar came eight weeks past he walked through the walls. The red-men’s seal remained intact. But you, you have broken the seal, and my long captivity is finally at an end. But before I go, I will kill you one by one until the last of you willingly allows himself to be my slave.” The genie rises from his throne. “Which one of you, I wonder, shall that be?”
Pent's face lights up bright red as Kardswann makes his declarative. "Slave?! You are quite deluded if you think any of us will willfully allow your will to subvert our own. Now, you're confusing me, because I could have sworn we already have a Kardswann in our collection. He's already bound and warned us of you, so I'm assuming you aren't Kardswann, just look a lot like him, not that I like him a lot, as he attacked us, and so will you."
Pent raises his scarred forearm high, raises his middle finger higher. He scoots just close enough to the throne in order to clench.
Ami's hackle's rise as he hears, (but does not see?) the voice. Yeen also recoils reflexively, going to a crouch and ready to spring.
Ami leans down to hiss in Yeen's ear.
"Vardishal...do you know this one? It it him?"
Ami will cast Barkskin on Yeen.
"Trouble finds you all quickly, doesn't it?"
Otah readies his horsechopper, readying for a fight.
As the wave of energy slams into Kardswann an eerie sound is heard.
Will (Ami)
Will (Yeen)
"What just happened?" Ami asks, looking at the gnome.
Ami tries to pinpoint the source of the wave of energy.
Perception (-1 for effect)
"Wanted to see if it flinched against Sarah's Touch. I think it did, because something just punished me, and the punishment doesn't feel like Sarah's. Let's see if it'll flinch again."
Pent readies to fight, expecting that everyone is gearing up to do the same.
vs DC 18
Aldebert peers into the room at the creature Pent just channeled and wonders at the sound.
"Let us not fight here good Pent, where it is protected by it's illusions and powers. Draw it out into the hallway!"
Aldebert smites evil on the genie and steps out of the room gripping his hammer - but he stays by the door so the others can follow with some cover.
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"I see no throne," Mahdi says with brow furrowed at Pent's initial words. "More madness, like that floating ship...?"
At the appearance of 'Kardswann', however, he jerks to attention, tightening his grip on his quarterstaff and getting ready to fight. He opens his mouth to answer their enemy's words with spellcasting of his own...
...but that's not quite what comes out.
"Fig. Musical. Purring. Semiotics. Implacable," Mahdi mumbles to himself, staring fixedly into space.
Kardswann pursues.
"Run if you will. You won't escape."
Initiative
(with Yeenoghu)
Round 1, Init 14
AC = 15 (Shield of Faith)
HP = 35/35
Weapon Equipped = Light Crossbow, and Middle Finger
Condition(s) = Blessed Shielded
Pent sees Kardswann advancing, and hears Aldebert's sensible words, and the redness clears from his vision long enough to understand that the hallway feels like a very reasonable place to be right now.
When he dives past the halfling, he turns and insults the thing that calls itself Swann. "Your face says Kardswann, but your reputation preceding you says Xulthos. Either way, you are a blight to Sarah's House, and we'll burn you from it!!" He maintains his scarred arm, face-forward.
"Uh, Maddie's muttering words that don't sound a thing like anything he normally mouths when he brings his magics to materialize. Are we concerned about that?"
Ami looks around.
Round 1, Initiative: 22
Otah runs forward to the area behind Mahdi, and readies an attack should the foe move close enough for his reach weapon to strike.
"You might want to stop your babbling there lad, and step back!"
The spiritual weapon manages to scratch Kardswann.