Tasius added, "Lets try the hallway again? But cautiously, perhaps the goblins are not allowed to come into this part but they must be somewhere!"
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By now, Galfon has long lowered his bow and returned his arrow to its sheath. This upset his more vigilant sensibilities, but tiring out his arms over nothing would be a waste.
"Not one living creature since we've entered this place," he murmurs as he moves down the hall. "I'd expected a goblin stronghold to be... noisier. Do you think they've even noticed our intrusion?"
"I do believe Lady Luck has smiled on us thus far, it can't last however..." Tasius Grinned.
He paused for a moment, straining to hear any noises that might suggest signs of life.
"Which direction? Should we go north?" asked Tasius.
Caelryl looks around to try to get his bearings. "I don't think we've been through this door, he says motioning to the door he's standing in front of. He then searches for traps.
Cautiously Tasius starts walking down the corridor, and motions his comrades to follow.
Eristinian follows along as well.
Tasius strains to hear any noises through the door. He waits for one of his companions to check the door for traps before making ready to open it and step through.
Caelryl waits for Tasius to finish listening to the door before stepping up and checking the door for traps.
"Curious." remarks Tasius. He approaches the nearest pool, but stops short and whispers the words of chant, which helps him enter a trance. Opening his senses he searches for any tall tail signs of magic in the room.
If there's nothing magical, he examines the pool he's closest to.
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Several of the pools register as magical (a, c, e, g, h, i, j, k, n), each with a different aura. Sorting them all out will require some effort, as the overlapping auras are quite confusing.
Pool K
This pool has several small colorful fish in it. All the fish are alive and well and the water is crystal clear.
Tasius was taken aback, "Oh my! Most of these are enchanted, the auras bleeding into one another. We must be very cautious."
Tasius attempts to concentrate on the closest pool, trying to discern it's properties.
"Goodness, all these auras are giving me a headache!" exclaimed Tasius. He then knuckled down, trying carefully to identify the major properties of each pool. He was careful not to get too close to and, and resisted any temptation to touch anything.
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Pool A: Strong aura of necromancy; regenerate spell. Has the appearance of pinkish goo, but no odor.
Pool B: No magical aura. Clear, slightly fizzy liquid, giving off a metallic scent. A ceramic key, about eight inches long, is at the bottom of the pool, barely visible.
Pool C: Moderate aura of necromancy; poison spell. Filled with a murky grey syrup.
Pool D: No magical aura. Filled with a clear syrupy goo. In the center of the pool is a large keyhole.
Pool E: Strong aura of enchantment; unknown spell. Filled with clear, watery substance.
Pool F: No magical aura. Filled with a deep red liquid that looks and smells like wine.
Pool G: Faint aura of illusion (glamer); invisibility spell. Pool is empty.
Pool H: Strong aura of enchantment; unknown spell. This pool rolls with heat, but there is no steam. There is a whitish crust of minerals built up around the edges of the pool.
Pool I: Strong aura of divination; unknown spell. This pool of shimmering water seems to have a slightly rainbow sheen on the surface, but not as pronounced as if it were oily.
Pool J: Moderate aura of enchantment; sleep spell. This pool is a purplish liquid, its depths slightly swirling with streamers of darker color. The liquid has no odor.
Pool K: Strong aura of enchantment; unknown spell. This pool has several small colorful fish in it. All the fish are alive and well and the water is crystal clear.
Pool L: No magical aura. This pool steams constantly and the air nearby is very cold. The liquid inside appears to be solid underneath very light, almost gaseous liquid; like a whitish rock that constantly emits cold vapors.
Pool M: No magical aura. This basin is filled with what appears to be normal water, and has piles of cash on the bottom, mixed with sparkling jewels.
Pool N: Faint aura of necromancy; unknown spell. This pool is almost empty, only a small amount of what looks to be water remains near the bottom.
Caelryl enters the room behind Tasius. Seeing the size of the room, he sheaths his sword, pulling out his bow and nocking an arrow. He follows Tasius around the room as he inspects the various pools. He takes a moment to inspect each pool but doesn't get too close. He mostly keeps an eye on anything approaching them while Tasius tries to figure out what each pool is.
Caelryl walks around the room, eyeing the pools suspiciously. "I don't notice anything different that you have mentioned, Tasius. It would seem to me that anything useful has already been taken, such as the empty pool that appears to grant invisibility. I doubt that the items we see are truly there or if they are it is a trap. Either way, I don't think I want to stick my hand in to find out. Perhaps if we had a long pole, we could stick that in. Unless Tasius wants to try to determine more about the pools he couldn't identify, I suggest we look into the secret door I see over there," he says pointing to the corner.
"Perceiving is only half of understanding," Eristinian says to his companions, approaching the pools. "You're wise to exercise caution around these unknown liquids, Caelryl. Fortunately, I have some alchemical training. I might be able to identify them." He begins to examine them for any hint of what they might be.
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Pool A, you have no idea.
Pool B contains a powerful acid.
Pool C definitely contains a poison of some sort, probably magical in nature (given that it radiated magic).
Pool D is a variant of the dreaded green slime!
Pool E, you have no idea, but the substance looks to be water.
Pool F is exactly what it looks like; a fine wine.
Pool G is not empty, but what it contains you cannot be certain. The contents appear to be invisible.
Pool H, you have no idea.
Pool I, you have no idea.
Pool J will put a drinker into a catatonic state for who knows how long.
Pool K contains water, enchanted with a spell to keep it clean and fresh.
Pool L is a substance that you know as dry ice.
Pool M contains normal water, and you find that the cash and jewels beneath the surface are visible through the crystal bottom of the pool, which appears to focus an image below. You surmise that it would be futile to attempt to break through the bottom of the pool; the crystal is much thicker than it looks.
Pool N, you have no idea.
Tasius shakes his head in confusion and glances at Erstinian, "Somebody went to an awful lot of trouble to construct all this. I'm really glad I didn't try to touch anything - green slime and acid indeed! I wonder why though? What is this for?"
Eristinian nods his head in agreement to Tasius. "There's little in this place that's made sense. I wonder if the former occupants went mad at some point, and this made sense to them in their madness. So, the ceramic key almost certainly opens the ceramic lock, but we need to get it out of an acid bath and deal with this transparent slime." Eristinian begins to formulate a plan to deal with these particular hazards.
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Galfon paces around the room as the others carry out their analysis of the pools' contents. He could not help but to feel useless in their given situation - he was good at shooting a bow, and not much else. Once the others give him a general idea of what is in each pool however, he sets his brain to work.
"Could one of you just, you know, magic it out?" he suggests only half-jokingly, miming the act of plucking the key out of the slime. The halfling did not exactly know much about the particulars of arcane magic.
"Minor telekinesis would be an easy way to get it out, and the preferred solution," Eristinian replies, his eyes still shut as he strolls through his mind palace. "Unfortunately, my talents do not extend to the eldritch. Tasius?"
"There's a spell known as Mage hand that could probably do it. Unfortunately it's not one that I know. Maybe we'll have to fish it out with something?" suggested Tasius.
"That's probably solution we have left, unless we come across a comically large amount of lye somewhere," Eristinian says dryly. "But I doubt we have the resources to render the acid inert via alchemical processes."
Tasius ponders the situation, pacing a little. After a few moments he points out, "You know come to think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if one of these pools contains something that could neutralize the acid. We could take a cup from each of the ones we didn't identify and pour it in and see what happens."
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Galfon rubs the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "Huh. That's certainly a possibility. After all, there has to be some purpose to all of these pools being here."
The paladin kneels down and starts to dig through his backpack. A few seconds later he pulls out a battered iron cooking pot. "Probably shouldn't make stew in this after all is said and done, but this should do the trick."
"Perhaps this one might be alkaline." Tasius points to the mineral encrusted pool, "Caution it's terribly hot."
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"Looks like it's just hot water. Maybe with salt in it?" Galfon thinks aloud as he carries the pot over to the acid pool and pours it in. He does not seem surprised when nothing happens, but he is disappointed.
"It was worth a shot. And there are more pools to try. Hm." The halfling looks among the other pools, wondering which one might work - or if this was indeed the solution to this apparent puzzle at all. He decides to repeat their "experiment" with the invisible pool.
"Might as well try the ones we couldn't figure out."
"I wonder how strong that acid really is...", Tasius eyes it suspiciously, "I once saw my alchemy master pour some concentrated oil of vitriol over sugar, turned into this mass of black icky stuff. Apparently it turns lard into soap and it dissolved metal, skin and bone - pretty much anything in fact except for glass and beeswax."
He pauses for a moment before adding, "Say that gives me an idea! What if we were to rub candle wax all over a fishing hook and line. Perhaps we pick the key up with that? I suppose I'll just have to try..."
And that's what he does, lighting a candle and dribbling it all over a fishing hook and line. He then lowers it into the pool and tries to hook the ceramic key.
"Excellent, Eristinian remarks at Tasius' solution. "Now, to deal with the clear slime..."
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"Objective statement: destroy the translucent slime," Eristinian says, kneeling down and shrugging his pack off his shoulders. "Research findings: variant of the green slime, adapted to mimic its surroundings but no other mutations." He rummages around in his pack for a few moments, looking for something. "Removal methodology: powerful magics - lacking; sunlight - unfeasible; extreme cold - unavailable; extreme heat - easily obtainable." He withdraws a flask of liquid, and chucks it into the bath, hardly reacting as it explodes in a burst of flames.
"In other words," he says, withdrawing some torches from his pack. "Kill it with fire. Anyone have some lamp oil?"
Tasius watches Erstinian try to burn the clear ooze. He exclaimed "A good notion! Afraid I don't have any oil, got too reliant on the art. Still does it have to be only fire? That pool over there with the cold vapours is dry ice is it not? Let's break some of it up and dump it in here!"
Eristinian winces as Tasius mentions the dry ice. "Of course, foolish of me to forget that. Yes, that's our solution." He withdraws his bedroll and unfurls it. "We should be able to use this to insulate our hands from the extreme cold of the alchemical ice. Anyone want to help me transport?"
Tasius replied, "Certainly! Perhaps Caelryl can smash the ice up a bit for us with his morning star?"
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"Well I'll be!" Galfon comments when Tasius's little fishing hook trick works. He did not completely understand the magus' explanation as to why it worked, but he wasn't exactly beating himself over it.
At the mention of something being needed to transport the dried ice, the halfling waves around his handy iron pot again. "This should do the trick, yeah?"