"That sounds a lot more difficult than just killing you and figuring it out later, to be honest, but it's up to everyone else."
Eben grumbles and finally lowers his bow, realizing that the spiders bringing Robin out to play just isn't going to happen.
"Robin will be returned alive and unharmed," he ammends Flycatcher's proposition. "Correct?"
Flycatcher's two front legs raise over his head accedingly. "Of course, of course. My word binds me like...like...something very strong that is hard to get out of. Yes."
"Like a web?" Carina arches an eyebrow.
Flycatcher stares at Carina. He skitters back around the wall to ground level. "How are you all so good at those? That's stupendous. Yes, exactly like a web."
"Guess it's just one of our talents, I guess." The undine sighs, scuffing her heel on the floor.
"So who or what is the Marquis, anyhow?"
"Is that river of blood . . . actual blood, or just something blood-colored? 'Cause there was that room with the red-hot floor," Astraden muses.
"Oh, he's a dreadful thing. A wicked sorcerer accompanied by a whole party of dead servants. He smells like carrion and carries a green lantern that makes my carapace crawl." Flycatcher pauses. "At least he's well-dressed. Tad tattered, maybe, but the journey from the White Kingdom can't hardly be an easy one."
The White Kingdom is spread among tunnels and caverns on the north shore of the Sunless Sea, a great body of water deep underground near the Hellfurnaces. Nobles among the true ghouls commonly bear the title marquis or marquess.
"Is that river of blood . . . actual blood, or just something blood-colored? 'Cause there was that room with the red-hot floor," Astraden muses.
"Uh, no, not actual blood, what kind of weird would even that no." Flycatcher's legs twitch irritably. "I have to drink something, I mean, really, couldn't get by on just blood, can I?"
"Sounds like just the kind of guy we're used to dealing with", Tanith adds after what felt like days of silently marveling at the magical oil that still coated his heavily muscled form. "I don't suppose it matters but why do you hate this guy so much? Did he come through here looting graves before us? We usually like to have a little background before we go around smashing undead."
"If he really is a Marquis of the White Kingdom, he's probably a True Ghoul, which means this will probably be a damn tough fight. From the stories Ive heard from travelers who've spoke to people from the Underdark, these things are so tough that even an army composed of a joint force of Mindflayers like Zyrxog and Kuo-Toa lost a fight against that army. BADLY."
"We should probably go in loaded for bear. Magically enhanced demonic owlbears even."
Flycatcher seems to fidget. "He has been...a dreadful trouble, he has. The Marquis has tormented Spitgob and I for ages. He deserves to pay for his crimes against us."
This is a lie.
Even Carina can tell Flycatcher's telling a lie. "Flycatcher, what's the Marquis done to you, really? Please, this Marquis, according to my friend here, is a very difficult opponent for even master strategists like mind flayers to fight."
"That's a lie, but I don't really care at this point. I'm curious as to the real reason you want him dead, and we're going to kill the undead thing regardless, so why not just tell the truth? "
"I don't know what a mind flayer is, but fine. Fine." The spider bristles. "He broke in here, broke a perfectly good trap on the door up there, and stole a very important artifact from its proper place." Flycatcher's tone becomes harsher, more angry, and yet somehow a bit more lucid, too. "I fought him and his minions to a standstill, but the wily bastard nearly cut off one of my legs and infected me with his sickness. I was stuck in my nest for weeks recovering."
The spider starts to edge towards the shadows. "I know he's there. He's waiting. For me to make the wrong move. I need to get the seal back, but I can't leave, it's not safe, I have to guard. He could come back. He could take everything else, cut me down as I return. I daren't try to follow. This is the bridge between Ages. I have a very important job, you know. But the seal of law is everything. Everything."
"Dude, sounds like this seal of law is a kind of crutch for you. You're better off without it," Astraden tells the spider scornfully, then pauses. "But I do hate ghouls. So far as I'm concerned, we've got a deal."
"What is a 'crutch'?"
"It's something humans use to get around when they don't have enough legs." Carina replies before turning to the rest of the party. "If this Marquis really is as powerful as all the stories have told, I'd rather we not go after him without preparing first. I'll need a full complement of bombs, and we should prepare with as many buffs as we can."
"What about or friend Allustan?" Eben asks the spider. "Have you seen him pass through here? Brown hair, long bushy beard..."
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"It's something humans use to get around when they don't have enough legs."
"Oh, you mean always? Ho-ho! That's a...that's an arachnid joke. You wouldn't get it."
"Brown hair, long bushy beard..."
"Hm? Oh, the hairy one in the red robes with the pompous voice? I don't think I saw him. The Hungry Prince noticed him going..." Flycatcher thinks. "Door behind—ahead of you, I mean—and to the left."
The spider pauses, turning around. "That's your right, I mean. Perspective. Crazy, huh?"
Robin stares at the spider and hangs his head. I'm going to die here.
"I GUESS we'll look for the wizard first, then," Astraden says. "But I think Robin is more important . . ."
"Of course Robin's more important; I was just asking so we'd know if we're on the right track to kill two birds with one stone..." Eben replies, as he proceeds south with the others. "Just seemed prudent to ask now, since," he lowers his voice, "Let's face it, Flycatcher is totally going to double cross us when we come back so we'll wind up having to kill it anyhow, so may as well pump him for info now while we can..."
Farrukh opens the door atop the staircase.
A small statue of an armored Wind Duke, his left hand resting on a sword, his right held up to shield his eyes, stands at the far wall of this room as part of a small shrine. The statue seems to be made of gold, with sparkling blue gems for eyes; a beam of bright light shines onto the statue from above. The walls are carved with bas-reliefs of Wind Duke servants bowing and soldiers saluting. An elaborate carpet covers the floor, but it is badly worn and the colors have faded—only small patches of the complete pattern remain.
Carina keeps her crossbow trained on the room beyond.
"Farrukh? Is it safe?"
Farrukh checks the room for any shady business.
Farrukh does not see any traps or monsters.
Eben heads into the room and investigates the source of overhead light on the statue.
Eben sees a small glass circle in the ceiling. It seems to go up indefinitely. Currently, light is shining down through it. It actually hurts a little to look at directly.
Farrukh opens the southern door.
The room beyond is full of flickering bluish light and a breeze that smells like thunderstorms. The floor slopes down toward the center from all directions, like a funnel. At the bottom crackles a sparkling globe of lightning. A metallic spike protruding down from a stone block in the ceiling above touches the very tip of the globe's upper curve.
Inside the globe floats a human figure, a man with a long dark beard wearing torn and stained red robes.
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"Well clearly this room is unimportant, we should move on."
Carina steps into the room after Farrukh.
"Wait--is that Allustan?" She asks, her eyes widening in surprise. "What the hell happened to him?"
Good question.
"I agree with Farrukh," Astraden says, peeking in and appraising the scene before returning to her examination of the room the rest of the group is in. She uses a dagger to check the statue's gold, tries to pick out the meaning of the bas-reliefs and carpet, and lastly casts a spell to look for magic.
"Looks like Allustan got himself stuck in some sort of magic trap or whatever." Carina looks over at the others and fingers one of her dispelling bombs. "Want me to try to get him out now?"
"Why don't we see if I can find a switch or something first?"
"Go ahead, Farrukh." Carina nods while keeping one hand on one of her bombs.
As Farrukh moves towards the room, Astraden starts scratching the statue with her dagger.
A mere fraction of a second later, three of the bas-reliefs on the walls shift, rush around the room, and leap out of the walls. They take on the three-dimensional appearances of stone Wind Dukes as they do so. They rush towards Astraden, and one of them takes a swing.
Farrukh believes he can disable both—first removing the zapping trap to allow him to enter, then disabling the globe. One could also destroy the iron spike to end most if not all of the effects.
This trap seems to reset almost instantaneously.
The statue itself is worth 9,500 gp (it's of fine make, but the gold is just a thin layer over ceramic and nickel-plated iron). It also weighs 2,500 pounds. The eye gems are pale blue topazes worth 1,000 gp each.
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Farrukh makes a disgusted, annoyed sound.
"How many times have I told you guys not to touch things?"
"Eek!" Rodrigo squeaks. He begins trying to cast a spell defensively.
He completes his spell, and disappears.
The archons shoot at the statue closest to their summoner.
All at +3
"Well, you said the room was safe!" Eben retorts, nocking an arrow.
"Things change when you go around stabbing important looking things!"