"I speak Abyssal. I'll take a look. I can also try again to heal Talon, with Arasmes' aid from his wand and more blessings of luck from my lady. The only consideration is not using up all of our healing and fortune resources with more battles before us. On the other hand, we can't really move forward with Talon in this condition. I don't know what prospects we will have to rest in this place."
"Then we must make prospects. Much as it pains me to get further behind, there seems to be things here that could decimate us even with the benefit of being fully prepared. I believe Kanthuun has a spell we could make use of for this purpose...?"
Kanthuun winks at Arasmes. "I recall a time you begged me to cast this spell at that one oasis...you know, the one with the fan dancers...'for protection against sudden sandstorms', if I recall."
He looks around as he pulls a coil of rope from his gear. "I suppose no one would disturb us in this room--they'd expect a golem. If anyone can create a silent image of the golem, we'd be well hidden indeed."
He twirls the rope like a lasso. "Now, we can't hide this per se, but we can stick it in a dark corner, and climb up for a cozy bide-a-wee. I'd say right behind the golem's pillar would be a good choice."
"What spell is this? I gather the plan is that once we're up in our hiding hole I (and anyone else with healing) will use the rest of my healing and luck divine favor to attempt to heal Talon? And then we will rest to recover our magics, whether arcane or divine? Then we'll check out the lever after we rest?"
"This spell, my dear Rohini. I believe it was first divined in the East, actually, but like all my magicks, lives in my blood."
Kanthuun walks behind the golem's pillar, giving the burnt golem bits a respectful distance, and holds out the rope, speaking slow words and making gestures with one hand, while holding his metamagic rod in the other hand. The rope snaps as if drawn by an invisible string and is pulled up a good thirty feet into the air, whereupon the end of it disappears as if sheared off. The remainder of the rope spills on the ground.
Kanthuun bows and beckons a hand to the rope. "Our chamber awaits, m'lords and ladies."
"I'm okay with that plan. I don't want to drip blood onto anyone else."
It's agreed then. Let's heal Talon and regain our strength. I'll go gather up the rope we left at the cliff so that there are fewer signs of our passage.
Drovya heads back to the cliff warily, a hiding spell on his lips, and gathers the knotted rope back into the bag of holding before venturing into Kanthuun's pocket dimension.
Drovya managed to get the rope without incident, though the intermittent sound coming from the waters below had every capacity to make him jumpy.
---
"One never knows when a sandstorm will strike," Arasmes states with a sagely nod.
"Especially with all those fans making turbulence."
"Which leads me to ask if you think you can make it up that rope without assistance."
"I think so. It still hurts, but I should at least be able to make it up the rope on my own. Unless of course, the rope tries to attack me on the way up."
"We can always knot a second rope around your liver and pull you up...it can't hurt any worse than what the automaton bestowed upon you."
Kanthuun rolls his eyes at Arasmes. "That is what I call fan fiction."
He pats his pockets. "My kingdom for a mousetrap to put at the bottom of this rope, or a magic mouth--none of yours are magic, gentlemen, so don't volunteer. Perhaps what we need are mouthtraps..."
"It's certainly strong enough for it, it'd have to be after what I put it through."
"I'm surprised your skin hasn't turned yellow and fallen off. Perhaps your liver achieved immortality by itself whilst you laid incapacitated on the tavern floor?"
Arasmes managed quietly, followed by an almost inaudible chuckle.
"I wouldn't put it past the bugger."
"I don't know, Kanthuun, Arasmes has always claimed his mouth could do magical things, along with several other parts of his anatomy."
"Petrova...you're enabling them."
"Well, they aren't able to on their own, poor dears, so somebody has to do it for them. Like so many other things..."
She giggles as she grabs the rope to climb up. Getting up five feet, she's suddenly conscious of the menfolk down below gazing up at her posterior. She looks down, yellow eyes flashing, and whispers sweetly, "Avert your eyes, boys, or I might just remove them for you."
Intimidate:
Then she climbs up.
Drovya wanders back into the room in time to see Petrova shimmy up the rope. Even in hell, there are heavenly sights.
He climbs up the rope himself and waits at the top to help others up if necessary.
Just let me know if you need a hand, Talon. We wouldn't want you to strain yourself in your delicate condition.
Rohini will follow Drovya up the rope once she has gathered some interesting reading material -- the books she originally grabbed and anything else that looks interesting on the shelves. She will then prepare to cast an avalanche of healing in hopes of bringing Talon up to full strength.
After the healing (which I'll do in a bit), she'll ask "What should we do with the Manual of Understanding? Any gain in wisdom on my part should aid me in accomplishing my Lady's ends and aid our group, but perhaps there are others among us that could put it to good use? Also, what of the fact that the Manual is of evil origins? I think better understanding evil would only advance our goals, and I understand from my personal history that one can know evil without allowing it to overtake you [she doesn't hide at this point that her mother was a hag], but is there some risk that the magic might have some distorting effect? What do you all think?"
"I can live with that being the last thing I ever got to see. And I think I can manage climbing a rope." Talon mutters as he looks up. He waits for everyone else to make it up the rope before he makes his climb.
Kanthuun shimmies up. "Yoo hoo! Talon! I saved the best for last."
Here's the five channeling attempts:
1) Channel CL check:
Bit of luck re-roll:
2) Channel CL check:
Bit of luck re-roll:
3) Channel CL check:
Bit of luck re-roll:
4) Channel CL check:
Bit of luck re-roll:
Finally a success! Healing:
5) Channel CL check:
Bit of luck re-roll:
Another success with the reduced DC. Healing:
"Blessed be my Lady and her divine gift of fortune. At least we have begun to heal you, but there is more work to be done."
What a lousy healing roll on the first channel. Total of 20 healing so far. DC check is now 15. Here's my last channel CL check; no luck on this one:
If it succeeds: Healing:
Rohini has cured 27 HP so far.
Here's a cure moderate wounds DC 10:
Healing if it succeeds:
No more DC checks needed.
Cure moderate wounds again:
I believe Talon should be fully healed now, and the rest of the group should feel amazing, having so much bathed in Desna's healing energies in such a confined space.
"All thanks to my blessed Lady. Unless I can be of further assistance, I will rest now. The books can wait."
Ummm...wasn't the DC 20 when she started, given that the castings before we went up the rope knocked the DC down from 25?
"So you don't need your Color Spray spell to stun someone into unconsciousness..." Arasmes remarked, making his way into the hide-a-way behind Kanthuun.
---
Once inside, Arasmes watched as Rohini began her ministrations. He moved to help her several times only to realize that her gifts were potent enough to stand on their own.
When Talon's wounds were completely healed, the inquisitor let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Well done, Miss Soni," Arasmes said with a polite pat on the healer's shoulder. "I am sure that we can handle watch without your help, then. Rest well."
This being done, the inquisitor pulled Drovya aside.
"You should also take it easy now, Drovya. Whatever effected your arm could still be in your system."
Petrova just makes certain the men realize that there's their half of the space, and hers and Rohini's half, and anything male that crosses that line might get chopped off.
And the girls' half turns out to be a bit bigger than the men's.
Hanethes smiles good-naturedly, raising his hands in mock surrender.
"I'm neutral in this fight."
Unless anyone else is interested, Rohini will plan on reading the Tome of Understanding, although I think she needs to spend 48 hours over at least six days, so it will be a good while before any benefit kicks in.
She will rely on Pertova to defend her honor and elbow room as they rest. She will, of course, spend some time communing with Desna in order to regain her spells.
"I can't thank you enough for the healing." Talon says as he is healed to full. He shakes his head at Petrova's compulsive need for female dominance. He just sleeps in his own little corner, not bothering anyone.
Kanthuun sleeps the sleep of arcane casters...eight blissful uninterrupted hours.
Ah, Rohini Drovya calls from across Petrova's invisible barrier, Could I trouble you for a bit of Deana's luck before you retire, if you have any more to spare, that is. I'm still fighting off these bug bites. He scratches at his arm for a moment, before giving her his winningest smile.
"Certainly, and allow me to give you some of my Lady's guidance as well. By the way, you misspoke my Lady's name, but that's just as well considering where we are."
Thank you Rohini. Ivan and I are at your service.
Zzzzz
Rohini's dreams were not as lacking as the last time she'd slept. While usually pleasant, she encountered a hangman's noose and statuary often in her ephemeral walking.
The resting period went by without incident. Rations were eaten and the party, reinvigorated, awoke feeling fresh and new. For those who depended on prayer or memorization to prepare spells, there was adequate time to gain daily allotments of power.
Drovya's bite had completely healed by the time he came back into the waking world.
Kanthuun rises. "Good morning, travelers." He flexes one arm, then the other, feeling the magic flow through his being, then picks up the wayfinder. "Let's get some killing done and then resume our hunt."
He descends the rope.
Arasmes finished his silent prayers to the Dawnflower and began packing up any loose gear and putting it into the appropriate bags. Before finishing up, he pauses in front of Petrova, assuming the rule about gender segregation lifted after sleeping hours.
"I would be willing to carry excess weight for you if you wished to use my bow again today. At least until we find you a silver weapon of your own."
Petrova nods in thanks, taking the bow and silver arrows.
"I should have taken up gunsmithing." Hanethes grumbles with a ridiculous smile.
"I could make some silver bullets or something then."
Talon wakes with a loud yawn. "Time for another day of fun.. Let's go."
"Indeed. To the lever? Or are we going through the other archway"
Drovya spends some time poring over his spellbook after he wakes. He splashes some water from his skin onto his face and has a meal of dried meat and fruit. I say we pull the lever, once we're safely out of the room that is. Maybe we could tie some twine to it...
As he speaks, he invokes his arcane sight and studies the lever.
0: Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Read Magic
1: Corrosive Touch, Shield, Shocking Grasp, True Strike, Vanish
2: Bladed Dash, Frigid Touch, Mirror Image, Pyrotechnics
The lever didn't seem particularly magical.
Hanethes nods at Droyva.
"Perhaps one of you casters has the spell that lets you move light objects from a distance"
In the morning, after meditation, Rohini gathers her things and spends a few more minutes looking for anything of interest in the room. She's all for pulling the lever and will join the others out in the hallway when th lever is moved by arcane means. She also notices Talon's ring and mentions, "I notice you and I have similar rings. I can use them as foci for a spell that will allow me to absorb someof the damage you suffer in combat. I will be happy to contribute to our melee effort in that way. Just make sure you allow me to cast it on you before running into a big fight (such as against this daemon we're hunting). I know how much you like to just run on in..."
Drovya nods to Hanethes. I have something that might work, and if not, I'm sure that Kanthuun can take care of it. Shall we clear the room and try our luck?
"That I have, Hanethes. A servant of mine." Kanthuun walks to the threshold of the room.