Unsure of the plan and not wanting to disrupt Helgrim's apparent success, Freyja, sword in hand, stands ready.
Helgrim's bluster earns him passage beyond the duergar. Whilst namedropping the Dark Smith lends credence to his story, it is his mention that "the hags promised me you would soon no longer be needing your chattel" that strikes the duergar acutely. They interpret this to mean that the hags are planning to cheat or betray them.
They withdraw back into the old pub where they had previously ensconced themselves. Once the solid stone door is drawn shut upon its old steel hinges, you can hear them gruffly debating and arguing what they should do next. Between the volume of their heated conversation and the thickness of the door now separating you from them, it should be possible for even the stone-clad Teasel to walk past without alerting them.
Smiling at Helgrim's success Frejya mouths the word Now. an d begins to move past the nasty little dark dwarves.
Now that it is clear it is safe he will approach.
"Wonderful work their! You managed to talk it down without any violence. Now lets go and finish things with these hags."
”Yeah great. Now we gotta get through pissed of Dark Dwarves before gettin past the hideous harpies.”
Helgrim mutters with his brows furrowed.
After a moment of reflection he allows himself a smile.
”Hummm, I was pretty good though. I was really layin it on thick wasn’t I? Heh, yeah, that was superb showmanship really.”
He becomes serious once more.
”Well enough with the praise Tarson. Let’s get on with it.”
He leads the way down stairs keeping his eyes open and touching the stone wall hoping it would speak its secrets to him.
Qitaba's eyebrows climb up his forehead. "Master Helgrim, I am impressed," he says quietly.
The Qadiran takes a moment to scan ahead with magic. "The hags' coven should radiate from a distance, I hope, unless they mask it." He aims a hand towards the stairway down.
"Those Duergar have a weird accent." Wulf notes as he continues on.
"So I would assume the Hags would not have the path commonly used for trade with these Dwarves trapped, Though I would love if someone with experience finding said contraptions would scan as we go"
”That’s what I’m doin Wulf.”
A performance worthy of a bard back therd Hel. I might even make a song about it. Freyja compliments.
You quickly step down the narrow stairs, putting the arguing duergar behind you. This deposits you on a long, thin common area with several sets of empty manacles hanging on the far eastern wall.
"Likely where the hags keep the poor souls destined to be traded to those gray dwarves," Van Dorning says.
A wider set of stairs with a shallow incline descend further down into this portion of the ruined dwarven city. Discordant chanting can be heard rising from below.
"...I missed that part, good sir...are they slavers? What...use..for their captives?"
Qitaba glances back at where the duergar were, thoughts turning in his head.
”Check for anything useful then we head down. We need to strike while our enchantments are hot.”
Helgrim recognizes that the next set of stairs shows signs of recent repair. Until recently - perhaps within the past few months - these stairs likely posed a risk of collapse or crumbling. They have since been shored up by competent if not creative craftsman. He suspects the duergar may have done some of this repair work as part of their arrangement with the hags.
As he leads the party down these stairs, Helgrim does not detect any signs of further traps laid by the gray dwarves.
However, upon reaching the bottom of the stairs - opening upon a wide but low, arching arcade - Qitaba stops Helgrim from moving further ahead, for he sees the aura of some manner of spell laid upon the stone-tiled floor just ahead.
Qitaba focuses, trying to determine the aura and spell.
"Apologies...the nature of the spell is eluding me..."
The Qadiran grimaces.
”Maybe Tarson or Teasel can read the aura?”
Tarson or Teasel? I am an arcane duelist master dwarf. Freyja studies the arua.
Freyja recognizes necromanctic energy infused within the magical aura. With a bit of study, she recognizes that the trap is centered upon a spell akin to a ray of exhaustion. While an adjoining side passage presumably allows the duergar to come and go when they pay business visits, albeit consigned to the upper floor you just left behind, the trap upon this passage is likely meant to sap the strength of those who would intrude upon the hags' inner sanctum.
Tarson or Teasel? I am an arcane duelist master dwarf. Freyja studies the arua.
[dice=Spellcraft]1d20+4
”What!? Oh I thought you were a bard.”
Freyja smiles at the dwarf. I am. But there are many different flavors of bard. But unfortunately what I am not is a disabler of traps.
Teasel intently looks at the magic aura and just kind of shrugs. "I'm not entirely sure what to do. I don't know how to disable traps myself either. Should we just try and trigger the trap deliberately?," she says kind of concerned about the potential issues.
"I can summon something to trigger it, I suppose," says Kit.
”Can anyone tell me what the spell does?”
”Actually . . . Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”
The dwarf rubs his hands together and opens up his pack.
”Okay, here is the plan. Teasel give me Fey Guidance. Freyja, you play me a little dwarf tune to get my confidence up. Van Dorning, you aid me by handing me my tools when I ask for them so I have two hands.”
Tarson is unable to provide much help in the picking of the traps but is able to cast guidance to assist with the use of disable device.
"Abadar guides us through all trials." + 1 to your roll
"...well, that was impressive, Helgrim."
"Onward?"
Freyja chants encouragement adding +2 to the attempt. With Lingering Performance she should only have to use a single round of Performance.
In an admirable team effort, with the assistance of his compatriots, Helgrim effaces the hidden runes placed by the hags, written invisibly in a twisted version of Sylvan. Thus, the magical energies that fuel the trap begin to slip away, and the lurking spell slips from dormant to inert.
The way is clear, although your path only leads to more danger, as the hags' chanting grows yet louder from its source down the dark stone hallway.
"Helgrim, or Wulf, when we get closer, I'll cast Bull's Strength on you. Teasel, you had that Silence spell? It'll be useful. We need to hinder these hags and let our brave warriors cut them to pieces. Beware that ash hag in particular."
Qitaba looks around. "Whom amongst us can sneak ahead to get a glimpse of our foes? I want to prepare, spell-wise, before engaging."
"Seems a crucial strategy. We also need to hinder the Hags. Many of them I hear are diabolic" He says trying to remember the things from the stories his Gran and mom told him.
"Tarson, you're the holy fellow here--what do you have to fight diabolical foes?" Qitaba gives him the best smile he can for someone not of the Dawnflower.
"I have an arror of law prepared to deal with that, but otherwise, I will need to rely on steel to slay. Most of my spells are prepared to support our group."
”Well let’s check our preparations and make ready. I will go for the Ash Hag if the way is clear for me. Otherwise I will cut my way towards her.”
He taps his armor.
”I can feel the magic has awakened.”
Frejya smiles at the preparations knowing that no plan survives first contact. She seems ready to advance.
Kit returns Freyja's grin. "Do you think the hags might have stashed a keg or two of cider?"
With Siffa and Van Dorning at your side, you march down the hallway and descend the broad stairs plunging downward. You are deposited within a vast, broken plaza carved from the ancient stone of the mountain. The Rending took an undeniable toll upon this former marvel of engineering.
Walkways that once crossed above lower levels have been shattered, leaving jagged dead ends over empty air. Stairs rise and descend to different levels, once connecting to other branches of Jernashall, but many of these passages have been buried or collapsed into chasms.
You spot the two hags upon a circular platform held aloft by a stout column rising from the levels below. They stand on opposite sides of a circle-bound pentagram, long arms raised as they chant in harsh words that echo and race along the stone arches and columns lining the ruins of the dwarven city.
Kit casts Bull's Strength on Helgrim as quietly as he can.
Wulf approaches his staff ready to strike. he peers about hoping to pick out any areas of possible surprise attackers.
Seeing only two Hags he pauses and holds up one fist to signal for a halt. he gestures for the others to come in close and points out with gestures 'Where is the Third one'
Freyja looks up into the cavern and frowns. No easy approach. she laments.
"DO any of us have a way of closing that empty space between us?"
"I can send an air elemental over there, or perhaps better, an earth elemental to knock that column down," offers Qitaba. "We need one of those oracles. I recall one that could make a bridge...hmmm."
"Unfortunately, while I can control small pieces of wood I am unable to make a bridge. "
"There is more here than just hags," Siffa hisses quickly. "Beware! Above us!"
Your swan maiden ally's warning comes just in time. A pair of deep voices bellow from a ledge high above you.
"Watch out, dear!"
"We gots this!"
Some sort of giant comes hurtling down from above. Helgrim manages to jump aside, but Wulf is caught beneath one of the brute's broad, thick feet as it lands. Now that it stands among you, you see that it is a two-headed behemoth standing some 12 feet tall, with a crude flail held in each of its hands.
Freyja starts up a song, pulls her longsword, activates Arcane Strike and steps forward.
Using his new magic quarterstaff, passed along from Van Dorning, Wulf is able to give himself the leverage needed to roll out from beneath the two-headed giant's foot.
Kit summons another earth elemental, directly behind the ettin.
It gives the giant a slam from its rocky fists.
He scoots forward tentatively.
Helgrim, bolstered by magic, rage, and urged on by Freyja’s cover of Godsmack—“I Stand Alone!”, runs and attempts to leap the gap in order to close the distance with the Hags!
”Ancestors! See me now!”