Jeffrey and Watkins dispatch the last two standing undead creatures with relative ease. With the undead temporarily dispatched, the room falls silent.
The party sets about searching the area but after several minutes of work is unable to turn up anything useful. Deciding to press on, they move north to a closed door. Jeffrey opens the door, and inside you see 3 half-orc thugs inside of what is very clearly a crypt.
A grand crypt stretches toward the room’s ceiling and two large, copper braziers flank its impressive floor-to-ceiling doors. At the building’s base, a faceless statue holds a gibbous moon aloft.
Ornate carvings decorate the walls inside the Ismacco crypt, creating several stylized burial niches. Tall, marbled pillars stretch to the 20-foot-high ceiling, creating three alcoves that hold massive oak sarcophagi. At the rear of the chamber, stairs ascend into a basilica-like dome. A musty smell permeates the chamber, and several dozen torches burn brightly in wall sconces throughout the crypt.
In the northwest-most alcove, two Cassomirite slaves are bound inside a small cage. Several members of the Cult of Nature’s Cataclysm have set up a guard post near a shattered burial niche in the northeast corner of the room
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Alrathien took in the situation and stepped forward. "At last, someone with a mind. Gentlemen, please take care that you do no harm yourselves or anyone else. Alrathien is here to explain all that you need to know about the current situation and ow things may have changed in the expected plans for this day."
The half-orc in the middle stops moving and stares blankly at Alrathien just as Watkins arrow smashes into the one on the far left. The half-orc on the right starts to stare blankly but shrugs it off and shakes his head. "Hey! Get outta my head!" he screams at the wizard.
The thugs look strangely as the group converges without additional attacks. The one adjacent tries to hit Jeffrey but his club just bounces off the fighter's shield. He takes a step back and motions for his companion to try and the next thugs steps in and fails to even hit the shield. They both share a worried look between them.
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"Friend, do you mind asking your companions to please stop attacking us? Everything is well and good, and there is no need for violence. You can see that we are the aggrieved party here, and your companions are in the wrong, can't you? The best thing would be for you to stop them from continuing their rudeness."
Orange looks at Alrathien and nods just as Watkin's arrow rearranges his fellow half-orcs face. The half-orc collapses and the hypnotized creature turns back to Alrathien questioningly.
Perhaps you should convince your other companion that it would be best for all if he put his own weapon away.
The half-orc nods and turns to his companion. "You should put your weapons so they don't hurt us, they just-"
The half-orcs head explodes in gore as Jeffrey's hammer blasts through it. The remaining half-orc wipes the remnants of his friend off his face and throws it on the ground. Looking at Alrathien he shrugs again, "I tried."
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Grethe looks at his companions smashing the half orcs left and right.
He lets out a shrug "I guess dey not friends. OK Den!"
Greth switfly moves up and around red, who seems to focused on the wiggly fingers to do anything about it. As he runs by red, he lets out a little jest. "Hey ugly! Whats going on ugly? BWa ha ha"
Once Grethe reaches behind red he strikes hard with his big sword.
Move action: Move 20 assuming im not provoking since red is fascinated. If i provoke, ill take the hit.
Standard Action: greatsword. Power Attack
And down goes the last of the half-orcs as Grethe dispatches one of his own kin.
With the half-orcs gone, the two slaves inside the northwest cage stare at the party anxiously. Unsure if they are about to be free or something much worse.
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Without bothering to look for a key, or check if the cage happens to be unlocked for whatever reason, Jeffrey heads over and starts hitting the lock with his warhammer.
Once the cage is open, Jeffrey steps back to let the slaves out. "You're the lot from the... uhm, what's the place called again... Hall of Wonders?"
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"Well, that worked out swimmingly. Alrathien thinks his good friends are most skilled at the application of brute force. It is not a philosophy to which he himself is an adherent, to be sure, but it certainly gets the job done in many singular cases." Alrathien studiedly looked around for any arcane signs or symbols, not having a clue as to what to look for in their pursuit onward.
The slaves are fearful and uncertain. After a moment to convince themselves that this isn't a trap, they proceed to thank Jeffrey energetically for freeing them. "The bad man is below! Ghastly, just ghastly... he's been using magic to turn us into undead, one by one...", the prisoner shudders, "I think I heard someone say his name was... Dalirio? Maybe."
"Can you take us out of here?" the other asks timidly. "I don't think I can face the dark again."
Looking around Alrathien discovers a sarcophagus labeled Rashim Ismacco that has a masterfully decorated scimitar laying on top. The blade is labeled Rashim's Caress.
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Jeffrey rolls his eyes. "I didn't ask any of that. I asked you if you are the lot from the Hall of Wonders. We're supposed to rescue them along the way, and it'd be nice if we know you are or aren't them. So?"
If the prisoners answer Jeffrey's question, he'll start guiding them out. All the while Jeffrey smiles an incredibly friendly smile at the prisoners, which contradicts what he says during the walk. "It'd be nice if you'd piss off as soon as possible, so we can get back to our job. 'Kay?"
Once the prisoners have been escorted out Jeffrey tries to find the 'below' the prisoners spoke of, and will descend.
The prisoners look at each other, frightened and do not budge until Jeffrey offers to walk them out. They hesitantly accept and acknowledge that they are indeed from the Hall of Wonders. They seem completely shocked by his language despite his actions offering assitance.
Jeffrey locates the stair down to the lower level and leads the group into the darkness beyond. Several ornate burial niches adorn the passage walls. In the passage’s southwest corner, shattered niches reveal a massive set of iron double doors. An image carved on the doors depicts a dispassionate figure holding a gibbous moon.
A purple glow washes over this cold chamber, creating an otherworldly sheen. A large desk adorns the south wall; behind its oaken bulk hangs a large map of Cassomir. Straw-lined cages line the chamber’s east and west walls. In the center of the room, resting on a small pedestal, a black rock absorbs the chamber’s bright torch light. Sitting at a desk on the opposite end of this long chamber is a man whose skin is stretched far too tight. He's working on something when he looks up as you open the door.
Impossibly you see the face of Dalirio Teppish staring back at you. He looks up from his paperwork, "Interesting and foolish. Come here and let us discuss what it's going to take for me to let you out instead of locking you away in one of these lovely chambers..." as he finishes speaking he gives you a big smile full of sharp teeth, and he runs his elongated tongue along the entire line of his jaw.
Dalirio definitely looks much different than the last time you saw him, which was dead of course. He shouts, "Kill them!" and two skeletons emerge from cages to step before you. The first skeleton catches Jeffrey unaware and slashes him with a critical strike. The second skeleton falls in line behind the first one.
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"Well that explains something," Jeffrey comments when he sees the undead Dalirio.
A frown is added to Jeffrey's big smile when one of the skeletons finds a weak spot in his defense and wounds him. "Huh... Let's hope that won't happen too often."
Jeffrey raises his warhammer and swings it at the skeleton.
Kimiya is unable to get a solid hit on the undead creature but Jeffrey obliterates the first skeleton, leaving on the second in your way to Dalirio.
Watkin's arrow flies past those in front of him and blasts the second skeleton into many pieces.
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Alrathien moved forward as well, chanting a spell and pully a slick ball of grease from a pouch. "Allow me to introduce to you the amazing powers of friction, and what the lack of it can do to a person's balance and overall efficacy. It is truly amazing that what we take for granted as normal behavior between static and kinetic masses is actually comprised of several factors, including how well the surfaces of those objects can touch each other. For example, leather buskins slide on ice because the leather and the ice form a transient and weak bond. Put crampons onto the buskins, and the metal spikes dig into the ice, forming a much larger and more robust bond. Likewise, boots on a greasy floor tend to slide..."
The reincarnation of Dalirio slips and falls in the grease casts underneath of him. He stands up and looks at the advancing party and casts a spell on Grethe.