Aster doesn't detect any magic, nor traps. What she does discover though is that this door, just like all the others, is waterlogged. Instead of immediately wrenching open the door, Aster decides to peek through the serving hatch where guards could pass food trays to the prisoners or just look through them to keep an eye on them.
Floating in the water is a mermaid of light blue scales and long red-orange hair. Her skin is tanned and smooth, but also recently bruised and cut, along with a nasty scar of a bite along both her sides. She has long, pointed ears that are sleek like fins, and sharp cheek bones and a narrow nose which are both cut pretty badly. Her arms are tied behind her back by the wrists. She is fully nude and her body looks terribly thin and malnourished. Her ears twinge when Aster speaks, and she turns in the water to look at Aster with brilliantly blue eyes. She does not speak, but instead sings softly in a language Aster identifies as Elven.
Aster is slightly taken aback by the stunning blue eyes, but shakes her head out of the thoughts that damned sucuabuss put in there. She gestures to her mouth, shaked her head, and says "Sorry I don't speak Elven." She does know one or two Elven words but neither could be called a polite greeting.
She pulls her dagger out and pushes it through the slot. Pulling her own wrist together in the opening and then apart so the mermaid will attempt to cut herself loose while she looks at opening that door.
Aster looks at the door while the mermaid tries to free herself from her bonds. The door has a lock on it, but it's open and rusted solid. The hinges are on this side, which could be taken apart with time. A crowbar could really help regarding opening this door, but not in making it subtle. How many prisoners might there be, with so many doors down this hallway?
Then the mermaid stifles a cry. Blood slips into the water and stains the area like a small mist of red. When Aster looks in, she sees that the mermaid was not bound by a rope or manacles. No, her wrists were sewn together. She's now looking at the dagger closely, like she's thinking really hard. That's when Aster realises something.
She's considering committing suicide...
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Aster shakes her head frantically, grasping her holy symbol to Milian , holding it up to the opening to show her, and plead with her "I can heal you, We can save you, PLEASE don't!"
Aster pulls away and shifts into her wererat from, grasping the door and placing her feet on the frame and PULLS!
When Aster switches into her hybrid form and yanks open the door, she sees that the mermaid is just floating there completely wide-eyed and stunned.
"It's Me!" Aster hopes the same clothes, eyes, and voice are enough the mermaid does completely freak out, but who wouldn't when a huge rat person suddenly appears.
Still she swims forward quickly grabbing the dagger along the way (assuming the mermaid hasn't already).
Ederion waits patiently, and with some eager anticipation at the prospect of possibly meeting a mermaid.
"Hold still" Aster will say uselessly, grow a claw as she moves next to the mermaid, crowding into the cell, and well attempt to cut through the stitching as best as possible.
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The beautiful song raises Tasha from her slumber. Mom?, a distant though is quickly crushed by the realisation that she's still alive, if still underwater. Giving her hands another yank, she feels the thick invader of her personal space crawl down her lungs, as she tries to exhale it. What's going on? Is this a ritual start..., her pondering on the song stops as she hears the sound of broken metal near her. Is someone breaking out? Is someone breaking in?, hope trails its way into her heart once more, as she, despite the ooze's complaints, gently swims back towards the edge of the cell.
This is going to hurt me a lot more than it's going to hurt you, door., Tasha swallows, with immediate regret. Moving closer to the wall, she pushes herself off the smooth cobblestone with all she's got, then crashes into the door with a thud, quieter than the crash before, but noticeable nonetheless. The wriggling of the ooze in her lungs, pushed to scraping by her push, sends her into a fit of coughs and attempts to vomit.
Is it dry heaving if you're underwater?, Tasha gives herself a pained smile, as she gently floats down to the bottom.
Aster carefully slices through each stitch in the mermaid's wrists to make sure she doesn't bleed out any more. When free, the mermaid looks meticulously and curiously into Aster's eyes. This stare lasts a few seconds, but before either can react, both individuals hear a thump at one of the doors.
It's coming from the lefthand side, which is the wrong way for it to be that tentacle woman.
"Was that a thump?" Aster asks, even though she knows she can't be understood. "Is it others prisoners? Or bad tenticle beasts?" once again uselessly, (but SPELLED correctly this time!)
The mermaid doesn't seem sure where the noise came from either, but she's suspicious. She swims, very nimbly, through the water to look at all the cell doors. There could be someone in here, but where? She goes to one of them and peers through the serving hatch. Must have been an empty cell, since she closes it and swims to the next one.
The mermaid points to the left side of the hallway for Aster to see.
Aster doesn't see anything different from before, but she gets the sense that the mermaid means to look at the doors. She's already going to the next door to look through the serving hatch. Another dud, apparently as she swims to the next.
Aster finally understands (feels a tad dense for taking so long too) and starts swimming and looking through hatches on the left side of the hall way.
Aster looks through the hatch and sees the skeletal remains of a prisoner, who's manacles are completely rusted shut. There doesn't seem to be anything in there.
It becomes apparent that the monsters are not coming, so Aster has a lot more time to scan the rooms. She finds several other skeletal remains, but in one door she found a living human, floating around while covered in slime.
Through the hatch, Aster sees a young human woman floating around the bottom of the cell, in a film of slime. Her shoulder-length black hair is floating around in the water, as she's seemingly sitting in a coughing fit. Dressed in a simple pair of black breeches, and a badly torn, short-sleeved shirt with a pattern of flowers, the woman's arms are bound behind her back. She is of average height, though the muscled legs and forearms suggests she's not just a clerk. She glances up, seeing the large, rat-like snout peeking through the hatch, and a panicked trail of bubbles leaves her mouth as she leaps back towards the corner of the cell, then starts another coughing fit.
What is that?, Tasha thinks, as the rat monster peeks its head through the hatch. Oh, s!!~, s&+#, s*&*!
Aster's eyes go wide (and a tad confused at the captives reaction) before realizing. A decade of hiding what you are and now you simply wander around all tailly! she chides herself harshly
The fur melts away, the snout retracts, and in a second the furry teethy glimpse is replaced with the face of woman of obvious Tian descent, reddened in embarrassment and annoyance at herself. "If you would be so kind, please forget you saw that. Now, Shhh, and I'll get you out of here as quick as I can."
Moving away, she'll sigh again and shift back to rat woman, since despite everything else she is simply stronger in that. Same technique as before, grabbing the handle (after seeing if it is locked), feet on the sides of the frame and pulling.
Oh, it... she's here for me? To... save me? Despite the murkiness of the water, Tasha's cheeks spark in crimson in turn, as her lips mutter, Sorry!, at the ...rat woman? Moving back to the back of the cage, she grits her teeth and nods at her rescuer. 'Pull!', her lips form, as she pushes herself with all of her power away from the wall, doing her best to ignore the horrid sensation in her lungs and stomach. The woman smashes into the door, shoulder first, sending the steel bars and waterlogged wood shaking.
"I'm trying!" the squeaks the voice on the other side of the door, heavy with strain.
It takes a bit of time, but eventually the three manage to open the damned door. However, the loud crash and insufferable squeaking definitely has the potential to alert any guards.
Fur poofs out of existence again leaving a pear shaped woman who gives a relieved smile. She swims awkwardly toward, her heavy green clothes and breastplate are not made for taking a dip.
She tries again to cut the stitching without damaging the woman, but she's a little more shaky this time.
"I'm Aster. My friends our just outside the well waiting for me to scout, which I'm being a horrible one and making more noise than a two year old filled with pie." she sighs. "Here" she reaches for her mace and hands it to the woman, "There are some very tentacle-ly creatures down here between us and them."
Aster slices through Tasha's bonds, but not without drawing some blood. At least she didn't hit a vital artery or anything like that. She hands Tasha a mace that looks like it's been partially melted into slag. Behind the very polite but not exactly competent woman is nothing less than a mermaid, who are more myth than reality. She sings very quietly in a language Tasha does not understand, but stops when she realizes that no one can speak with her.
As the magic flows through Tasha, the first thing the woman does is turn around, and with a gut-wrenching sound, almost as if choking, hurls out the contents of her lungs and stomach. Coughing, wheezing and retching in equal measure, as she turns around, her eyes are red from the pressure and strain. "I,", she starts saying, then pauses, amazed by the fact she's talking underwater. Her eyebrows furrow in confusion at the situation, then leap up as she sees the mermaid. Is this??? Am I dreaming?, she reaches to her wrists, but the stitches and the blood seeping through suggests that pinching is unlikely to have any further effect.
"Wh...", she starts saying, before shaking her head. "Thank you. Thank you very, very much...", she says, gripping the mace, though casting a second glance at the dagger. I sure could use that. Taking in a deep breath of water and freedom, a tentative smile crawls on her face. "The tentacled creatures sound like my recent hosts, and I'd very much like to thank them for their hospitality." She pats the mace's head in her hand. "We'll talk later. Lead the way."
HP: 45/49
AC: 12/12/10
Status: Water Breathing, Liberated and vengeful.
Aster notices the gaze toward the dagger. "If you'd rather..." she offers it to the freed woman.
Before heading out, she sniffs, long and deep (assuming waterbreathing allows her to smell through the water). "Oh my!" her instintcs perk up at the smell of blood, something she is rather good at crushing but still notices. Turning back to the woman, she stops her and says "Aparently blood in the water is rather noticable, so..." she places her hands on the wounds and gives a quick prayer.
Giving a satisfied nod, she leads the other two out toward the exit. She gives a slight worried look at the mermaid, not having any idea if she can escape into normal air. But she doesn't have any other ideas at the moment. At least Ed should be able to talk to her.
As her wounds are healed by magic, Tasha throws another surprised glance at the rat woman. Ah. A druid? Must explain the mermaid, I guess. And the, uh, ratness. Gasping a sign of relief, she nods, taking the dagger, then muttering a "Thanks, again." Gripping the dagger in a vicious back-handed grip, she gives the mace back, then glances down the corridor, seeing nobody. "Wow. We're really polite for people in a tentacle infested hell prison, aren't we?", she blurts out nervously, sending a wide, if still worried smile at the woman. "Is that the way out? Should I go first?", she mutters, knife at the ready.
Ederion places his head on the stone wall and hears doors being opened and closed, things swimming in the water, and even the faint sound of a mermaid's song. He squeezes into the shaft and starts crawling through, but he will have to climb in order to get up the shaft. He hears voices, one of which is definitely Aster. She's casting a spell.
That's when the door suddenly crashes open and the tentacle Skum looks right at the escapees. She shows no emotion, nor signs of calling for help, but she starts moving forward with hostile intent.
Pushing herself off the wall, Tasha moves past Aster, then stands ready. "We'd like to leave now.", she says to the Skum, dagger held out at her chest, ready to stab at the first opportunity.
Tasha doesn't receive an answer from the mutant, but she can tell that the creature understood what she was saying.
"You heard the lady" - he snarls, raised eyebrow, and rapier in hand.
"Well here we go. Catapult Stone! Bazzle drops down the center of the well into the water.
Bazzle leaps down the well for a 20ft dive, yelling Catapult Stone all the way down. When he hits the water, he goes all the way to the stone bottom, but by that point he just takes a soft nudge to his bottom. That being said, the splash is large (and loud) enough to send waves down the room to areas unexplored.
At first, Ederion tries scaling the wall directly, which he finds to be neigh-on impossible, however the spark of an idea got him. He shuffles a little, and uses the back wall as a brace so he can climb much more efficiently. It took a little time, but he squeezes into the top vent.
Bazzle swims toward the side passage where he saw Ed head off in.
Bazzle tries to quickly swim over to the vent, but he's still reeling from the catapult stone. He doesn't make any progress.
Rexandi is less than enthused about getting wet, including all of her gear. She decides to spend some time sorting through her stuff to see what can survive underwater, then leaves the rest with Tarnagius who is standing guard.
The skum woman charges forwards with her tentacles and undersized flippers and tries to smack Tasha, but Tasha kicks off the wall to dodge the tentacle. She uses the push to jab the skum with her dagger, but doesn't have the weight behind her to really put her whole body into it.
Nothing seems to be coming, yet.
half
"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..." - Ederion grunts as he squeezes through the shaft.
Once at its edge, and seeing the fight below, he ponders the foe facing Aster, a woman and... A mermaid!?? That does it for him - he simply jumps in and attacks.
Aster being behind Tasha, decides she can't do much to swing at the creature, so she'll start to conjure an octopus or squid to help out.
Rexandi sighs and strips off her backpack and her clavichord and leaves them behind, but pockets the cure potion.
Dazzle swims toward Ed.
Seeing an elf and a gnome descending into the water, Tasha kicks off the wall once more, jabbing the knife into the woman's tentacles once again. "Look who's surrounded now...", a smile appears on her face as she prepares to lunge again. "Just give up!"