Morgan rifles through the lab, looking for any bottles or vials that appear to be potions or elixirs . If she finds anything, she puts it in her pouch.
She then returns to the bedroom via the portal.
"We're gettin' nowhere fast," she says irritably. She turns to the elf-girl.
"Listen here, little miss pointy-ears. You were the one who told us we needed to use the hat to go in there, and once we got in there, it was a dead end. Do you know the way out of here, or not? I've no interest in killing you, if that's what your worried about, but I don't plan on letting you stick a knife in my ribs, either, if you're just one of this fella's agents pretending to be a damsel in distress. So, if you don't want me to keep pointing this sword at you, you better start being a little more forthcoming, got it?"
What if they don't come back? Lorcan ponders after a few minutes. Do we go through?
Crom will carefully search both lever rooms, looking for any secret doors.
Crom begins a lengthy search that is not nearly complete (will take many minutes). Eventually everyone is together, and the elf states.
"I showed you how to use the levers, as you were ignorant. I want to go out the way you came in. Or is that not possible? Did you get lost?"
As you wander around, stymied by the impasse, from the long well with the magical disk comes a high-pitched elven voice.
"Dwarves, come out and Play-AAAH, Dwarves, come out and Play-AAAH." There is a light tinkling sound as if glass is contacting glass. The long tube must be amplifying sound and carrying it acting as a large megaphone.
At the top of the shaft you suspect is the dark elf encountered earlier.
The elven lady immediately gasps: "The underdark thieves are here!!"
Crom sighs, "I look forward to killing that elf."
He turns back to the elven woman, "What does the lever do in the other room? I pulled it to no effect. Is it a teleporter, like this lever, or does it do something else?"
She looks exasperated. "I tried to show you the one I know, and have been treated rather poorly. Just keep out of my way."
She adds: "Those underdark thieves, maybe you should ask them."
"If you want to be treated poorly, that can be arranged," Morgan replies acidly. "I'm treating you as an unknown. You're here under unusual circumstances, and the less you tell us, the less reason we have to trust you. If you're expecting better manners, you best make with the happy, helpful attitude towards the folks who are trying to get out of here alive."
When she mentions the thieves:
"So, do you know them? Are they friends of yours?"
Crom walks back into the other room and pulls the lever down again, "It must do something."
He then walks between the rooms and into the statue room to see if anything has changed.
Looking around, you find no hat to activate the other lever. Maybe it is gone, maybe someone took it.
The room with the lab is a dead end at the end of the lever that does work.
The group is back together with two ways to go. Up the magic elevator, or through the obviously very magic guide to the portucullises. They have their unhappy elf prisoner, and ran into the drow and deep gnome they met earlier, who seem to be taunting them.
TO the guide/portcullis, then?
The elf shrugs: "They have been sneaking in and out of the shrine for days. The bad man that is here complained about them. Then all these other thieves kept showing up looking for treasure."
The magic portcullises were a dead end, you couldn't get them open.
Crom nods at Kelgan, "Some how we must open the portcullises."
The elven voice continues as it resonates down the long well: "We have found some interesting things up here, maybe they open the magic gates down there? We may never know."
You find yourselves in the room with three gates again. Unsure how to get them to open.
Crom looks on with frustration at the lowered portcullises, "Alas, we have no other choice but to return to the elevator."
He turns and heads back, wincing at the elven chatter echoing down through the well.
"Hesitations aside, I think it is time for us to feed this hungry statue."
"Who's blood are you going to feed it? I have a certain elf in mind. Let's deal with him and then come back."
The statue that 'judges by taste' is still there. The underdark thieves continue to speak to you down the elevator shaft.
You consider what else besides blood to give to the statue.
The high pitched elf asks: "Did you not bring mining equipment to tunnel back here to the top? Red rover, red rover send up the pretty elf we hear talking over--or up if you will."
"If the statue judges by taste, and it is located in a place built by elves, wouldn't that mean it prefers the 'taste' of elves in order to work? I can't imagine that they would drag humans or dwarves some other race around with them as a key to this thing. I say, put her hand in its mouth and see what happens," Morgan says, pointing at the elf-woman.
"Or maybe some elf blood, suggests Horster. "Nothing too brutal", he adds as an afterthought.
"Let's start easy. Let's just see if it likes the 'taste' of elf, first."
"Come on, missy, put your hand in its mouth," Morgan says to the elf-woman.
The elf puts her hand in the statue's mouth. Nothing happens. You seem to missing anything that would trigger the magic.
Mit'l tries to understand the statue's nature batter ...
First he casts guidance for some divine aid, then
he casts detect magic
Then
And, with the right liquid, each of the three portals will open. There is a trigger for each one.
"I judge by taste." Lorcan recites. What liquid is judged the most? Wine! Its gotta be wine.
Crom nods at Lorcan, "Aye, that would make sense. Pity we have none for the statue, or to drink. Let's deal with the bandits."
Crom walks back to the elevator.
"and what about the lab you were talking about ... I was ... Ahem ... Sleeping ... Ahem during that ...any liquids in there?"
Crom shrugs his shoulders, "I don't remember seeing any wine, but you can put on the hat and confirm."
The search for wine is unsuccessful in the lab.
The thieves at the top of the well seem bored at taunting. They seem to be trying to convince the elf maid to come and visit them upstairs.
Morgan opens her waterskin and pours some water into the statue's mouth.
"Taste this, ya bugger," she growls in frustration.
"Is our elven friend willing to spare a drop of blood for us?"
The thieves upstairs call down and wish to trade.
"We have looted what appears to be many bottles of the finest wine. Would you want to trade?"
Crom draws his axe and steps onto the elevator, "Yes, I'll trade the wine for your miserable lives."
He waits for the others to join him and then he says the activation word.
Morgan motions for the elf-girl to step onto the elevator, then follows after her.
Two step into the elevator.
Mit'l will follow ...
Ozmund follows as well
Horster is armed at at the ready, following. He chuckles at Crom's version of trade and diplomacy. :)
Kelgan follows
Thinking about his last encounter with these two the sorcerer reluctantly steps on, but stays in the back.
The ten foot diameter platform is ready to ride up. Lorcan finds no cover on the platform, and back seems relative.
Are you going to make the 1000 foot ascent?
Seems like that was the intent ... "To infinity and BEYOND!"
UP we go.
Yes, Crom says the command word to raise the platform.
The platform raises, and you find out a mass of caltrops impacts those on the platform.
The thieves seem to be dropping things from above. There is little cover on the platform.
More objects seem to be on the way.
The elf staggers and falls. She will not take much more punishment.
Morgan unshoulders her bedroll and tosses it to the elf. "Wrap this around yourself. Some cover is better than nothing!"
She then holds her buckler over her head, ready to deflect anything else that might fall.
"These little bastards are gonna feel a lot of pain for this!"
"AH ... Gods damn elves! I don't think I like any of them!"
"Damn you b*stards!", yells Horster, bracing himself against further attacks.
Ref save #1:
Ref save #2:
Invoking the arcane bond within his ring, Ozmund creates a disk of force which hovers 3' off the ground.
"Quick, get under here!", he calls to his companions.