Darryl also eyes the rogue carefully trying to discern if it is all an act.
You are easily able to unlock the manacles with your deft hands, and she gets down on her knees thanking your profusely.
"Oh thank you, by the gods, thank you. This place is so horrible. I have to get out of here. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it. "
Darryl also thinks she is baring her soul.
"It was a trap, made to lure us in by our greed and pride. Be careful, be safe, keep close. With the help of the Dawnflower we will prevail in this test."
Lucian scowls at the "deal" offered by the tiefling. What a bastard. I'll remember this when he needs help. The half-elf stays invisible, scanning the room for anything of interest.
"Before we proceed, I think I'd like to hear how our new comrade came to be locked up in this room."
Sazzat Tamm looks her over, gauging what equipment she's carrying, and looking to see if she appears to be wounded.
She looks pretty beat up.
"I came into the Hall of Wards, but it didn't seem like a door. I like doors. Usually I deal with doors well, but this wasn't a door. My uncle used to make doors you know. Well I cam inside and looked around, and around and around...and I found the tentacle lady who put her tentacles all over me and locked me up. Not like I was even dressed like a schoolgirl!"
She has leather armor, a belt, and a short sword is present in the room outside of her reach, when freed she motions to it as if she wants to retrieve it.
"What's your name?" he asks the woman.
and then "If you require healing, I'm sure our friend Raphael can help." he says to the rogue.
"I wonder what this 'tentacle lady' is exactly?" Tamm says to the rest of the group. "Doesn't sound like anything I've run across before."
"I'm Illia Ean. I think I'm OK, just scrapes and bruises. "
"So you where captured by a demon? Please describe it as closely as you can."
"It was a lady. Kinda. Well it had breasts, you know. Face was kinda pretty, except for the horns and fangs. And those tentacles. Brr, those tentacles. I still feel the damned tentacles!"
Raphael tries to identify the creature from the description.
You think it might be a squid lady, and that's a technical term to you.
"So it is probably safe to go forward with a general policy of: 'if it has tentacles, kill it.' I'm glad we've got that settled."
"I think we're ready to proceed. Shall we examine the room across the hall?"
Tamm steps out into the hallway and listens at the door across from their current room.
You hear some rather frantic shouts from a male humanoid in Taldan. There's also a noise of rustling paper. No traps are apparent.
The eidolon opens the door.
Opening the door you see what appears to be a library. In it are a bunch of books moving from shelf to shelf, and they are chased by a man in robes. The eidolon smells that there isn't just the visible man in the room.
When the man sees you enter he speaks "You have to help me! I must find my book!"
Lucian retains his invisibility, letting the others deal with the librarian. He searches the room.
"There are other creatures in this room I can't see."
"If it is in our power to help you, we will do it gladly. Where is your book? Why do you need it? Who are you?"
He tries to use his own scent ability to detect the invisible creatures.
Mu'aqquibat the Protector moves into the room and tries to find the unseen creature(s).
Tamm doesn't rush into the room, preferring to remain cautious as the eidolon floats forward and as he feels the displacement of air from their invisible companion move past into the room.
He looks to Raphael and Laurel as says in a low voice "If there's trouble, can either of you cancel out these mystery creature's invisibility."
Raphael nods, a slight smile on his lips.
"If it is in our power to help you, we will do it gladly. Where is your book? Why do you need it? Who are you?"
"I am Terentius. My spell book is in here somewhere. I cannot leave until I find it. You have to help me!"
With your scent ability you are able to localize the invisible critters to where the books are moving about (which is all over the place and in fairly continuous motion).
"Are you a participant of the breaching festival? This is a very dangerous place, please leave with us, you can make a new spellbook, your life is more important."
There are six of the things that move the books around.
"No, I need my book. I HAVE TO HAVE MY BOOK! I cannot leave without it! You have to understand!"
"No, I don't understand. What is so important about your book, that is more important than your life? After we escape, we can always return to retrieve it, in any case."
Mu'aqquibat The Protector, with her angelical voice, tells the others.
"There are 6 invisible creatures here..."
"Why do you vex me? I CANNOT LEAVE WITHOUT IT! I am bound here until I find it!"
"I see... it is a curse? Maybe we can lift it? Or it is something else? Don't despair, we will help you, and set you free from this accursed place."
Laurel looks about the room for magical emanations from outside. He looks at Tamm, "Can make them more visible. Let's see what we can learn first."
He then pulls out a scroll from his backpack and addresses the man inside. "I know I'd want to keep my spellbook, but not at the cost of my life. What does yours look like and what's inside it?"
He then turns to the group, "This looks more like torture than anything to me. He's imprisoned himself."
He describes it in pretty complete detail, but with all the books being moved around constantly, you cannot imagine finding it in the tumult.
"No, I am bound here until I find the book. It is in the contract! I MUST FIND IT!" and he goes back to looking at books, but he has no more look with books running away from him.
"What contract? What are you talking about?"
What the hell is going on in this place? Are they all nuts?
Retcon:
Darryl Goes up to the released rogue.
"Stay near me. I will make sure you are not recaptured."
Darryl will keep an eye on her so that she doesn't suddenly slip off, just in case.
Now:
"Invisible creatures? Are they living or some conjured entity?"
waiting to see if there's any reaction to Lucian and Mu'aqquibat entering and searching the room.
There are no traps in the room. The search doesn't yield anything terribly interesting (other than the invisible figures moving books around).
to Raphael Tamm says: "Do we want to try to persuade this fellow further to leave or do we wish to try to discover an exit and come back for him then? If he's unbalanced I don't know that we want him traveling with us if there is trouble."
Laurel tries to concentrate on one of the beings holding a book to see if he can get it's shape through his detect magic.
Detect magic is not see invisibility. There is no way a 0 level spell negates a 2nd level effect.
"Let's see what he has to say about the contract that binds him here... and then let's try to find his book. I'll try to make the creatures visible, so we can make them stop moving books, and then scan the room for his spellbook."
"Sounds reasonable. I'm just starting to think that if this place is a prison full of people we should focus on finding the keys to the exit instead of gathering up all of the lost souls." Tamm answers.
"You are right, this is a prison. An infernal one. We need to release all the prisoners, including ourselves, from it."
"How do you know this? How do you know they may not just be constructs of the challenge? You seem to arrive at conclusions with no information."
"Ask this other "contestants"... ask the body we found in the entrance. Ask why no one has won in 150 years. And If I am mistaken, and this is only a contest, I will be the most happy of all for it."
"If he's not going to answer any questions we will either have to restrain him and get him to talk or leave him and come back for him later." Tamm says to Raphael and Darryl.
"Who do you think you are?! Restrain me? I've done nothing to you, and if you're not going to help me, get out and let me solve my own problems. "
"We are your best, and probably only chance to deliverance. We don't need to restrain you, as you are already a prisoner. Helping us is your best change to help yourself. We are not here to judge you, as only the gods can do that. We only want to help you. I beg you, tell us, what contract?"
"I signed Chyvomm's contract to get me out of here. I have to find the book! Why can't you just help me find my book?"
"You did good, if that kept you alive. Who is Chyvomm? What can you tell us to defeat it, and release you from that contract? We will help you find the book. Please prepare, I'll try to make the invisible creatures seen, and then we will deal with them."