The assassin keeps her stone face and proves to be an unreadable target despite Raven Six's skills. Even with the information gleaned from her so far, she keeps steadfast.
Krojun leans against the wall watching the entire situation with passive interest.
"Try breaking fingers. She'll at least make some noise."
"Try breaking fingers. She'll at least make some noise."
Donnell rolls his eyes but doesn't deign to respond.
"You say some got away?”
"Two others turned to mist as they died. Some weeks ago, we fought three such assassins in Vencarlo's home - that's how we knew he was in trouble. They also turned to mist, and now I wonder how that works... I just don't think that's a mystery I ... er, we can solve out here. I need to get back to a city with books and underworld contacts. At any rate, Raven6's instincts are rarely wrong, so I say we dump the armour in the pit, truss this one," jerking a thumb at the Red Mantis, "and either bring them along with us or leave them here trying to interpret the writing on this wall."
Krojun leans against the wall watching the entire situation with passive interest.
"Try breaking fingers. She'll at least make some noise."
Raven Six calmly packs her cards, then walks up to the hulking Shoanti. Right up to him, dark eyes boring into his.
"Ah, I see," she says, her voice cool and emotionless. "You have gone from merely heckling to actively trying to incite dishonorable behaviour so you may befoul our reputations. Please enlighten me, for I struggle with understanding such deviations: is it exciting for you to tread the path of the tshamek? Does it give you a nice tingle in your special places?"
Well, it started out emotionless. There is a hint of a ghost of contempt around that last sentence.
The homunculus - sitting on top of Thod's helmet - sinuously rises to her full height and hisses at Krojun like a scalded cat.
Little Dove dismisses his remark with, "He is here to observe. That is not his preferred role."
"Tell me, now that the immediate known danger is past, what do you know of your goal so far? What are you to do next?"
"We don't know much except that the Thrallkeeper's Mark is somewhere in here. As far as I can tell," flipping to a quick sketch of a map in his notebook, "there are maybe one or two rooms left that we've not yet explored. Could be we've missed something, though..."
Donnell trails off as he reviews what they've seen so far, then shrugs, confident in the group's ability to figure it out.
"Or do you mean our larger goal of gaining the trust and respect of the Sklar-Quah? Thousand Bones and the other elders gave us several ideas to prove our worth, including being cleansed by Cindermaw's fire, which Thod here recently accomplished; seeking Akram the Truthspeaker's endorsement; taking the Trial of the Totem; and," with a wink, "becoming Krojun's sibling, his Nalharest."
"We also thought we might try to deal with the Cinderlander, that one who's been killing the Shoanti, assuming we can find them."
She nods, "I was referring to the more immediate goal, yes. This assassin is probably skilled in techniques of freeing herself from her bonds. If you care to retain her, someone should be set to watch over her." She shrugs, "But that is not my place to say, merely my opinion. Where do you intend to search next?"
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Thod raises an eyebrow, intrigued in seeing Raven standing up to Krojun.
The homunculus - sitting on top of Thod's helmet...
*Swat*
"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO GET OFF MY DAMN HEAD, YOU LITTLE NUDE WEIRDO!"
"This assassin is probably skilled in techniques of freeing herself from her bonds."
"Yeah, the thought occurred to me as well. Probably more efficient to knock 'em unconscious again and just drag them, though..."
"Now then, let's proceed to the south."
Krojun looks between Raven Six and the little naked person hissing on the dwarf's helmet. "You are not like other tshamek I have met, Raven Six. And I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not."
At Donnell's mention of nalharest he simply laughs and motions for his other Sklar-Quah to get in line behind t he group as you push further in.
As you are about to head south, Sevenspawn, who has been even more silent than usual, suddenly looks up, shocked.
"I'm receiving a message. Other Milanists. I... beg your leave. I'll be just outside, the dungeon walls are interfering. Push on without me, I'll catch up."
Sevenspawn quickly pushes past the group, rushing to one of the side passages to get outside without bothering the tentacle monster.
Heeding your friend's word, you start heading southwards... only to come to a cave-in on either side of the tunnel. So instead, you move to explore the remaining rooms on the south side of the pit.
The first room you encounter is an ancient shrine.
A strange bronze statue stands in the center of the room. The statue depicts a half-snake, half-human creature with the lower body of a serpent coiled about a stand and the upper torso of a slender human woman. Her hands are crossed over her chest to clutch two objects at her shoulders—the right hand holds a large quill, while the left holds a jade-handled whip. Six birdlike wings emerge from the torso’s shoulders, and instead of a head, it has a disk bearing a seven-pointed star. Jade runes run down the statue’s belly and along the length of its snaky lower body.
"Push on without me, I'll catch up."
Donnell's face crumples into a frown of concern and confusion: "But we're ...wai ... and he's gone. Alright let's see what we've got in here, then."
Looking up at the statue, his hands on his hips: "Huh. Is that the Mark, then? Little Dove? Krojun?"
The first room you enter is an empty chamber but one which contains a fit-foot-diameter hole in the centre, surrounded by a ring of tangled runes, inside the hole is a shaft filled with brilliant emerald light that drops into the depths.
The room with the statue is adjacent to this room so you explore both at the same time.
As Donnell studies the statue, he recognizes the Thassilonian sihedron rune, which he now matches to what the Shoanti are calling the Thrallkeeper's mark. As he knows the Thassilonians are the ancient, mighty, and evil empire that once ruled over Varisia and whose ruins can be found all over the landscape. They were wiped out during Earthfall, when a mighty star hit Golarian and created the Inner Sea, plunging the world into thousands of years of darkness. It got better though. Mostly.
Very likely the the same people.
Unfortunately even with Donnell's impressive historical know-how he's unable to identify whatever figure this once was.
And although he does not detect a trap, he does see a shallow drawer at the base of the statue. Inside is a 4-foot-diameter circular frame containing several wedge-shaped metal plates which are punched with intricate designs.
Little Dove stands next to the halfling, sharing what insights she has on what they see in the room.
The white donkey rat sniffs around from his perch on the witch's shoulder. It looks over at the Shoanti observers and snorts, creating a small puff of smoke.
It seems to whisper in Little Dove's ear, to which she narrows her eyes, but she shakes her head. Ivory just snorts again and moves to her other shoulder.
a 4-foot-diameter circular frame containing several wedge-shaped metal plates which are punched with intricate designs.
"ooh! what's this?!"
Thod simply follows, looking at the assembly, and not really understanding most of it.
Krojun meanwhile is just staring in awe at the hole. Donnell can hear the Shoanti talking to each other about if someone should jump down or not to see what happens.
As Donnell starts trying to piece things together and sure enough, the wedge-shaped plates easily lock in to the circular frame. Soon he has a nice circular ring-thing with weird holes in it that's around four feet in diameter.
Also, he notices that the statue's whip is independent and as Little Dove looks around, she clearly sees that it pings with a detect magic spell.
Little Dove focuses on the whip, concentrating to glean more information from the weapon’s aura.
"I have an uneasy feeling about these emerald depths," says Daeshna, moving to peer over the edge and see if she can discern the source of the light
Little Dove concentrates on the weapon and aside from knowing it is magical, she can't tell too much from it. It is fairly powerful though with a moderate aura.
As Daeshna stares, she can't quite determine what's going on with the light as she's staring directly into it. She doesn't know too much about magic so learning about what it does may require piratical experimentation.
Donnell moves over and fits his ring over the pit - it fits perfectly. The beam of light shoots up through the ring to create a bunch of seemingly random patterns on the door. As Donnell plays, he realizes he can adjust the ring and perhaps create sense of the patterns.
"WHAT?! ThisIsAmazing! Raven 6 - come look at this"
Little Dove's frown of concentration changes slightly to one of frustration. She mutters under her breath and shakes her head. As she starts to turn away, Ivory chitters something, causing her to stop.
"Krojun, the whip appears to be a separate item. Are we able to make use of it or is that offensive to the ancestors? My knowledge of what lies within these walls is limited."
Raven 6 makes her way over, gazing with her placid stare at the ceiling. She begins to neatly point out how to adjust the ring while Donnell works his magic - after a few moments it clicks into place and suddenly the weird patterns make sense.
Overhead is a massive map of what was once the full acropolis during the height of the Thassilonian empire. Donnell and Raven Six manage to puzzle out between the two of them that the rooms they are in are but a fraction of what was once there. But with what you know of the cave-ins you've spotted, there should be more intact rooms beneath you.
Krojun snaps his attention away from the magnificent map. "Hrmph. You are the wise one here. This is some figure of the Thrallkeepers - disrespect or respect to our ancestors? I am unsure, they were our slavers. I will not object if you take the whip, Little Doe. Be wary though. This area is a test, remember."
She nods, "Indeed it is. I am curious why this whip is here after all these years. What does it mean? Can someone give me a boost or hand the whip down to me? It's a bit out of my reach."
She doesn't look at Krojun, knowing his role is only to observe.
Finding the light inscrutable, Daeshna returns to the statue. "Perhaps I can be of some assistance, Little Dove." She kneels down and cups her hand.
Daeshna cups her hands and gives Little Dove a boost and between the two of you, you manage to get up on the statue to free the whip. It has an odd feeling in Little Dove's hands. Krojun looks wary but his respect for Little Dove keeps him silent.
[ooc]Little Dove failed her original spellcraft check to figure out what it does. Someone else can attempt ot identify or you will need to wait a day.
"Thank you, Daeshna."
Returned to the floor, the little witch studies the weapon in her hands some more. She finally shakes her head and looks up.
"I can feel power in it, but the nature of it... escapes me. I will reconsider it tomorrow."
Looping the whip into a convenient circle, she hangs it from her hip .
Little Dove looks pretty great with the whip on her belt. You all head to study the map up top a little more but can't yield too much information beyond the fact there are passages beneath you. How many or how far they go it's impossible to tell thanks to the collapse of so much of what was once a massive structure.
Donnell will make a quick sketch of the map in his notebook: "So, whatcha thinkin' Raven 6? Gotta get downstairs somehow - looks like there's this well, or the pit with the beast." Leaning out over the well, Donnell looks down: "I wonder... Oh hey, Little Dove - didja manage to - ah the whip. Do you mind...?"
"Huh - interesting."
"Oh, right, the well - hey Daeshna, lemme have one of those torches for a sec, willya?"
Little Dove hands over the whip and accepts it back when The Fox is through looking at it. She raises an eyebrow at dropping an unlit torch into the hole, but waits to see what he learns from the tactic.
Donnell identifies the whip as a +2 axiomatic whip (that is it harms chaotic creatures). There's something else to it but he can't quite figure it out.
From what Donnell can tell there's some kind of portal rather than a pit in the northern room. The monster is in some other reality and reaching into this one. Which is comforting.
Donnell drops the torch and hears an "Oh yeahhhh" from the Shoanti in their language as the torch slowly floats down to the below chambers.
"We'll have to spend a little more time with that whip when we can, but for now - is everyone excited to leap into the unknown?"
"I can bring magic to bear tomorrow to see if the whip holds any surprises for us. I'm not skilled with this particular weapon - who's interested in using it?"
"So what we want is in even older caves, eh?"
"Off we go, into the great dark yonder. I'm not one for spelunking, but if we must," sighs Daeshna.
"who's interested in using it?"
"Oh, wait, let me take the lead, there, Donnell. I was born in caves, y'know. Well, born in Janderhoff, which is mostly underground, but still."
Thod secures his gear, and prepares to descend.
Handing the rope over to Thod: "Yeah, sure - no problem. Oh, just a sec..."
YOu set up a rope, check for traps, seems good. Krojun folds his arms, watching suspiciously but somewhat impressed at your willingness to dive down the hole.
Thankfully, the featherfall spell does take hold, and one by one, you sink into the depths. As you do so, Raven Six is the last to descend but she suddenly calls out "I hear Sevenspawn calling, I will catch up!" before she vanishes to check in on your missing cleric.
With Sevenspawn and Raven Six up above, you find yourselves landing on the floor together with Little Dove and Daeshna, a very different group than the one who first entered the dungeon.
It's a strange feeling to slowly sink down into the room below, but you all do it safely with the Shoanti floating down behind you.
This wide corridor, composed of polished black granite, runs north to south. A blue stone disc sits on the floor to the south, with a glowing column of blue light rising up from the disc through a hole in the ceiling. To the north, a five-foot-wide circular opening in the wall opens into a smaller chamber. The ceiling here is only fifteen feet high.
Little Dove looks around the chamber for iconography and symbols of the thrallkeepers.
Retrieving the discarded torch, Donnell walks over to inspect the disc:
"Huh. More weird glow-y things - Hey Rave... right. Well, anyone else think blue might take us back up?" Without waiting for an answer, he chucks the torch into the light.
Despite Donnell being a little out of sorts, his keen eyes spot a strange, but massive stone plug in the eastern wall. It is truly huge - at least ten feed wide. It appears to be plugging -something- though.
Little Dove looks around the room they find themselves in, noting the others in her party are unconcerned with the darkness. Nodding to herself, she touches her amulet and says a word, causing it to glow like a torch.
Donnell's torch catches the light and floats up to the top floor. He hears a clunk as the torch gets spit out of the light. The Sklar-Quah also produce lights, looking around the room with open wonder on their faces. The fact they're quite young becomes apparent at times; Krojun probably isn't much older than nineteen.