As Crystal makes her way over to the door, she is caught off-guard as a strange, sticky filament suddenly attaches itself to her torso! Both Crystal and Czein look up to see a strange crablike creature sitting on a high shelf, attempting to haul Crystal up off the ground!
Taken by surprise, Crystal wriggles frantically to escape the creature's sticky line!
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Ragnar stubles out of the way of his comrades that might actiually have anything that could help against this creature. HE also tries to think about what he might or might not have read about this thing attacking them.
Although Czein fails to identify the creature, it's not a spider. Looks like a cave crab or something. With a mighty swing, he hacks at the filament to no avail; his weapon bounces off uselessly.
Crystal tries to disentangle herself but fails. She is suddenly yanked into the air towards the crab-thing and is now hanging 10' above the ground.
Plan B then.
Crystal dangles from the ceiling, her hat having fallen off. "LET GO!"
She shoots an arrow at the beast!
Ragnar does the only thing he can think of at that moment: he grabs Crystal's legs and simply hangs all of his weight on it. Thus if that thing wants to draw up Crystal, it now has to pull his weight as well.
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Juid rushes down the corridor and sees the setup. With a prayer to Sarenrae, he shoots off a firebolt at the spider, accepting the minus to not hit Crystal or the others.
The bolt pounds into the ceiling over its head, singing a few webs.
Czein's axe and Crystal's arrow both slam into the crab-thing, which lets out a strange kind of squealing sound. Still, it continue to drag Crystal up towards the ceiling. Juid's firebolt goes wide, missing the somewhat obscured target.
Raven rushes into the room, unable to act before the crab. Crystal is effortlessly yanked up into melee range with the creature. Up close its strange mouth parts work hungrily as the claws reach for Crystal.
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Czein places his axe haft in his teeth and starts to climb after Crystal.
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Ragnar stands in the middle of the room looking clueless as to what to do next after letting Crystal slip from his grip. He gives the creature a look of disdain and hatred, unsure if that particular trick will even work on it.
Ragnar's evil eye appears to have no effect on the crab thing while Czein makes his way up the side of the wall.
Crystal winces and braces herself for the monster's attacks.
The group have been searching for hours for the whispering Cairn. Rakarech's bear Grobu is now asleep. Vaashti is quietly but urgently arguing with Shartol, and Rukh is just kicking rocks around aimlessly. Having given up talking to the others for a short while, you head towards a nearby copse of trees. As you look around, you are startled to discover a woman in brown leather with a heavily-tattooed face. She crouches and looks up at you with a grin.
"Sutandir? Oh yes, you must be. I can smell your power."
Juid quickly summons another ball of fire from his deity and throws it up at the strange crab thing. The firebolt connects squarely, drawing a squeal of pain and outrage. Its grip weakens and looks about ready to collapse.
Although Crystal gamely defends herself as best she can, one claw still manages to land, wounding her badly.
Sutandir stands with his hand near his rapier, trying not to look aggressive but also not to look weak. He looks around, checking for a possibly ambush or trap, and keeps an escape route open to get back to his friends.
Ragnar now really doesn't know what to do and only stares at the scene.
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"I am Ysania." Her voice is throaty and rich. She straightens up and approaches you. Your companions and nowhere to be seen. "I'm afraid I don't have much time, so I will make my questions quick. Please answer to the best of your ability. First, have you ever displayed strange powers or any indication that you are different from others?"
"I'm half-elf raised in Taldor. I've been different all of my life. As to 'strange powers,' I'm not sure what you mean. I do have a gift for alchemy. I have invented a few recipes and found ways to speed up processes, but I don't know if that's a 'power'."
He thinks for a moment, then adds, "My companions and I were visited in our dreams recently by a being who claimed we were destined for ... something. I briefly felt ... I don't know how to describe it. More myself?"
He shrugs, not sure what else to say.
Czein realizes his error part way up the wall and lets his Axe fall to the ground. "Keep that safe beardy!" upon reaching the crab thing he jams his meaty hand into a crag and yanks the remaining throwing axe from his belt.
CRUNCH
Czein hammers his throwing axe home and a vicious crunching sound echoes in the cavern as he ends the existence of the miserable crab thing. The weird cave crab's thread on Crystal slackens immediately, and she begins to fall.
"Yes, we saw the funny little man. But you're different from the others. However, you see nothing? What a pity." She winks at you, and a horrible paralysis begins to creep across your limbs!
The sight of the throwing axe ending the beast's life brings a wave of relief to Crystal's face. "Thank you Czein!"
Then she feels the filament slacking.
Then she remembers how high up she is.
"MOTHERF--"
She drops like a rock.
Crystal hangs in mid-air, for a moment before plummeting down. Astonishingly, the nimble Inquisitor manages to kick her feet off of a shelf, scrabble down an opposite wall, and then manage a backflip before landing on her feet.
Then the cave fisher lands on her.
Juid moves quickly to stabilize her . Is that still a Heal check?
Working methodically, Juid manages to set Crystal right and she lies there at rest. Unfortunately the cave fisher has nothing of value on it. The shelves in this area have been long-looted.
An open exit leading out is to the east, blocked by a boulder. A bit of light shows through a corner. It is clear the daylight is almost gone.
"Owwwww..." Crystal comes to while Juid & Ragnar fix her.
Your limbs totally freeze and Ysania neatly removes your cap before chanting a spell and tossing it over her shoulder.
"Your friends have been granted great power by that meddling fool. I don't want them to come looking for you. That should kill them properly."
She searches at her side and produces a small scroll. "Fare well Sutandir. I've known you for many years and it's sad we end like this, but I don't really have the time today." As she reads, the scroll crumbles in her hands and you are falling... falling...
---
The first thing you feel is helplessness. You are paralyzed and appear to be floating in place, unable to move and do much more than breath and move your eyes. As you adjust to your surroundings, the first thing you notice is the heavy, cloying scent of incense and incessant chanting. The chanting is deep, sonorous, with many voices speaking as one.
You open your eyes. The room you are in is massive, lit by strange green and purple lights that hover in the air. Your eyes flit down and alight upon a crystal sphere. Scenes from your life over the past ten years play rapidly. There you see your life at its best, at its worst, and at its most private and vulnerable. The room itself is many sided with at least twenty sides, each of which are a good five to teen feet wide. And on each side is a large, circular symbol with a humanoid, floating in front of it with their own crystal playing scenes from their lives. Your eyes flick around and you can see others awakening, looking to you with expression of panic and confusion.
Within the centre of the room are dozens of figures in purple and green robes. They dance around, chanting with several of them casting spell after spell. One man stands directly in the centre. Wizened and old, he looks to be Keleshite and strangely naked save for a large blue crystal around his neck.
The chanting increases in volume, and slowly, you and the other victims begin to rise in the air over top of the Keleshite man. Ten feet in the air, you begin rotating amongst each other, like gears. A burning energy begins to build within you and you can see strange auras building around the floating people in the room. Each aura is a different colour, shade, and intensity. The energy you feel begins to build rapidly as the chant reaches a fever pitch. It is almost unbearable.
Something has gone wrong.
A blast of yellow light explodes from the centre of the room. All of the figures in the room are sent flying and you, as well as the other floating beings, crash to the ground in a heap. But the strange burning power within you has changed and grown. You feel powerful. Invincible. Better yet; you can move. The naked Keleshite man staggers to his feet.
”NO! STOP THEM! THEY’LL RUIN EVERYTHING!”
A portal suddenly opens in the centre of the room, and three dark-skinned women, covered in glowing tattoos emerge. The scrying spheres around the room start exploding as the women step out.
"Destroy the spheres and protect the prisoners!"
You can now move. All around you, a great melee has started as the three women start attacking the cultists all around them. Lightning cracks and booms around you as strange beasts are summoned and a great magical battle erupts.
You can now move freely. What do you do?
Czein cautiously does a bit of light bouldering to ensure that none of the other shelves hold dangerous critters.
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The room seems empty. The remains of some meals from the cave fisher, including the dessicated carcass of a goblin, sit in a couple of the shelves.
Sutandir draws his rapier and looks around, trying to find some means of escape. He is not prepared in any way for this, and does his best to stay out of the way while he tries to determine what is going on, and who is more likely to be a friend.
Crystal tries to sit up, wracked with pain.
"...what the hell was that thing? Some sort of spider-beast?"
Shaking with fight or flight response, you look around wildly, trying to find a way out of this chamber. Although there is a great domed hall leading out to your left, it's a good ways away and somebody just summoned a balor.
Near you, a huge half-orc grabs an axe, roaring in rage and swinging out at the nearest hooded figure. However, the axe-swing goes wide as the figure, whose hood falls back to reveal a tiefling, jumps back.
Spells begin to arc across the room, punctuated by the occasional bomb from an odd-looking, petite young woman. A crackling lightning bolt fires two inches past your face, singing your eyebrows.
”They’re going to die in the crossfire!” shouts one of the tattooed women. ”Cast it now!
”But we’ll lose track of them!” complains another as she slashes out with a glowing greatsword.
”SO WILL THEY!” shouts the first.
The third looks at everyone in the room and swears to herself. She starts casting, and throws up a hand. One of the people in the room, the strange-looking young woman throwing bombs, starts to glow violently green. Her head snaps back and she begins screaming.
”I’m sorry!” calls one of the tattooed women. ”If we can find you we’ll explain!”
Suddenly, the world falls away once more. However, instead of darkness, it is a whirling vortex. People are falling, pinwheeling, screaming. A donkey lets out a loud HAW, somehow caught up in all of this. The world spins, and spins, and spins... and a hand catches you. The strange little man who blessed you seems to reach out of the void, and grab your hand.
The world suddenly stops spinning. You are in a nicely appointed house. An enormous golem dressed as a butler stands before you, at least ten feet tall. You are sitting in a chair. Windows look outside, but only stars stare back.
Czein climbs down and tests the boulder to see if he can move it alone.
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The boulder easily rolls to the side, being set into a neat groove. The group now stare out into the foothills, facing southwards. Trees block most of the vision, but the lake, and a bit of the village can be seen. The village looks to be several hours walk from here. Around you, a great deal of rubble from an avalanche blocks what was the main entrance to this hall.
"Um ... sure. And maybe a splash of whiskey? No, strike that. Whiskey with a splash of tea. And feel free to hold the tea."
He sits back, and adds, "And just out of curiosity ... where the hell am I?"
The golem turns and stomps its way over to a hearth. With shocking grace, the gigantic stone automaton picks up a kettle, fills it with water from a barrel, drops in a pinch of tea leaves, and sets it in front of the hearth. It then stomps across the sitting room to a cabinet where it procures a brown bottle.
"...My portal, yes, good. Thank you ... er, how will I know MY portal from anyone else's? And will it be taking me home? I have friends who are going to be missing me very soon, and a town of sick friends and relatives to attend to."
Sutandir moves to a window, keeping an eye on the golem. He looks out, trying to get any sense at all of where he might be.
The golem neatly pours a cup of tea, and leaves it by the hearth. He then hands you the bottle of what is presumably whiskey.
Sutandir accepts the bottle. Opening and giving a sniff he determines it to be decent quality whiskey.
"Thank you ... er, Dennis Four. Fascinating name, it doesn't sound Taldan though. Where are you from?"
While keeping up the patter with the golem, he moves around the room to see what there is to see.
"That is a very good question," Ragnar answers as he helps Crystal sit up. "You are sure you can stand? You took quite a hit there."
Ragnar looks outside and tries to assess their situation. Even if they leave now, they will reach the town long after dusk. And travellers coming in late always alert the authorities, that is they even let them in during nighttime. Some cities keep their gates strictly closed.
Where have I gotten myself into here. Maybe Bjorn was right all along and I shouldn't have come to Varisia. Maybe. I hate maybes, Ragnar thinks.
Crystal tries to stand, getting to her feet on shaky legs.
"I can stand, but I am in no condition to fight." She gasps, clutching her side where the crab-thing injured her. "I have no magic to heal myself."
Czein yanks the boulder back into place. "we're in no condition to make it to town, and it would be late. This place will be relatively defensible for the night and it will at least give the pale one a chance to scab over before we make the walk." He paces around as he talks in a matter-of-fact tone as if everyone is listening.
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"This room looks like our best bet for a safe place to rest. I don't like the idea at all, but I agree that we don't have much choice on the matter. "
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The house is small but exceedingly well-appointed. It appears to be floating in the middle of nowhere; looking out the window yields only stars. It looks like a smaller version of a wealthy person's house you may find in Taldor or Andoran. However, the furniture and art is bizarre with no rhyme or reason to it. The art itself is a dizzying array of styles, some being extremely realistic depictions of battle, others in a strange, blotted abstract style you've never seen before. The chairs near the kitchen table have only a single leg, yet easily remain upright while a large pillow is set out near the floor, made of a material that tingles to the touch.
There is a front door to the house, locked fast, and stairs leading upwards that you haven't looked at yet.
As you continue to look over the house, the golem stomps over to you.
As it speaks, the front door flies open. A swirling vortex awaits within.
Exhausted, hurt, battered, and weary, the group finally decides to rest. There is no ventilation for a fire, but thankfully the dungeon is not too cold. With the careful attention of Nilus, everyone is able to rest well, and heals well overnight.