"What!? No! No!" Tomaru is shocked at Neveletu's sudden demise. Though he feels the relief the man feels, Tomaru still feels responsible. "Follow a hunch, but bear the consequence." He recites a Desnan aphorism. He says a prayer to Pharasma for Neveletu's soul.
Aurora gathers up his ashes. "When we leave this place, I will spread his ashes into the wind. That way, he can truly be free."
"This is a bad thing to have happen, but we cannot afford to spend too much time grieving. Not here," Lym says. "Let's reforge our weapons, then sweep through Runeforge and get out. I long for clean air."
"Yeah reforging our weapons to end this place is probably the best idea. This place stinks anyway."
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”Just give me a sec...” Praxim says. He takes one breath. ”Okay, I’m done grieving over the death of the evil military leader who no doubt was responsible for decades of atrocities in the name of the Runelord Sorshen. I think I’ll be able to go on, now.
You emerge from the mouth of the tunnel that led to the Iron Cages of Lust, into the main entry chamber.
This domed chamber is nearly two hundred feet across. A large pool of bubbling prismatic liquid occupies the center of a raised dais in the middle of the chamber. The spiky flanges of the seven pointed Sihedron are engraved into the marble floor. Each tip of the enormous rune points at a twenty-five-foot-tall statue facing the pool with its back approximately ten feet from a partially concealed arched opening in the wall directly behind it. Each statue depicts a different figure, but all are imperious and finely detailed.
But you are not alone...
A young woman stands across the chamber from you, engaged in the study of the statue of Karzoug. She sees you almost as soon as you notice her, and she whirls to face you.
Praxim raises his bow and stares intently at the strange woman for a few seconds before slowly lowering his bow. He knows there are spells which block his ability, but she doesn’t register as evil.
Plus, there’s just ... something about her...
Lym raises one hand in a threatening gesture, and closes the other around the hilt of her falchion.
"State your identity, stranger," she says. "Don't reach for a weapon or try to cast a spell. You are outnumbered and we've been having a ... nervous sort of day."
You see a Varisian woman of about 30 or so. Her hand moves towards the colourful scarf she wears, but she lowers it again at the statement made by the half-orc with the falchion.
With a smile, she says, "Oh, hello. Is this your place? I suppose you're wondering what I'm doing here. Well, there was this gateway, and I kind of stepped through it. Then it closed. And well, here I am. This is quite the place you have here. I'm something of a Thassilonian scholar and so it really fits my sensibilities. That said, you don't look in the mood to talk about architecture and history. I should point out that, while I mean you no harm, I am more than capable of defending myself. I'm Veronica by the way." She takes a single step forward and holds out a hand to shake with anybody willing to approach her and shake it. There is a slight look of worry on her face, however.
Lym stands in stunned silence for a moment.
Then she claps a hand to her face and groans.
"She closed the gate," Lym says. "Wonderful. Now we're going to have to find a way to bust out of here once we're done forging the bloody weapons."
Still moaning, Lym leans her forehead against Tomaru's shoulder for a moment.
"I hate this place," she states, emphatically.
”I’m sure she didn’t intend to,” Praxim says to Lym.
Turning to Veronica, he takes her hand, bows over it slightly, and says, ”My name is Praxim, Paladin of Erastil. To those who are righteous, we mean no harm. What brings you to this vile pocket dimension?”
Veronica eagerly shakes Praxim's hand. "Good to meet you, Praxim. If you're a paladin of Erastil, I take it that means you don't actually reside in this place. That's a bit of a relief."
She looks over to the half-orc. "And I swear, I didn't knowingly close the gate. I just stepped through it. I suspect it was either on a timer and I just happened to step through just before its time ran out, or it only allows a certain number of people through and I just happened to be the last one. I take it that's how you all got in here."
Looking back to Praxim, she continues, "Oh, ah, what brings me here? I'd heard legends about this place. As I said, I'm something of a Thassilonian scholar, and well, the idea of this place was just too tempting. I had to investigate. And when there just happened to be an open gate allowing entrance... Well, my curiosity got the better of me. Don't worry, I know the kind of powers that might be active in a place like this. Like I said, I can defend myself. I'm no slouch. So what brings you here?"
"Forget it," Lym sighs, waving the subject of the gate away. "We'll deal."
The Half-Orc narrows her eyes at Veronica in a measuring sort of way. "You can defend yourself, you say. Fine. You're going to need to. Cliffnotes version: one of the Runelords has woken up, and he's making plans to take over what used to be Thassilonia, and probably more of the world besides."
Lym gives this information a moment to sink in before she continues: "We're here to forge the only kind of weapons capable of killing the bastard. If you join in with us, you're pretty much walking into war with one of the mightiest wizards ever to live; a master of the Sin-school of Greed. On the upside, you'll definitely learn a lot about Thassilon. Downside, none of it's looking good."
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”If you’re going to accompany us on this quest, we’ll have to get you your own mirror and sex toy,” Praxim says, and then immediately goes blood red in the face.
”What I mean is...you’ll need a Runeforged-weapon, so we’ll need to get you a...I mean...”
Praxim suddenly notices that his bow string is a little slack and steps away to attend to it.
"He means we've been gathering materials connected to Pride and Lust, to prime the forge," Lym explains. "This place is repulsive like that."
Tomaru has spent the last several years traveling. Its a long shot, but has he met Veronica?
The exotic looking fellow that Lym leans against speaks up.
He puts his arm around Lym. "I am Tomaru. Greetings. This is Lym, Thordak, Aurora, and Rexil. Praxim has already introduced himself. If you are a scholar of Thassilon, then you have, unfortunately, come to the right place. There's much to be learned here, but the only way out closed behind you."
"By the way, time may work differently in here. Was there still a battlefield full of corpses when you came in? What day is it?"
Veronica's look of surprise at the mention of a runelord waking up turns to a look of horror at Praxim's comment. "Excuse me?" she says. She takes several steps away from him. When Lym fills in the added details, she relaxes a little. "Ah, that actually makes sense."
She grins at Tomaru's question.
"A pleasure to meet you all," she says to the group.
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”If you’re going to accompany us on this quest, we’ll have to get you your own mirror and sex toy,” Praxim says, and then immediately goes blood red in the face.
”What I mean is...you’ll need a Runeforged-weapon, so we’ll need to get you a...I mean...”
Praxim suddenly notices that his bow string is a little slack and steps away to attend to it.
Upon hearing the paladin's words, he looks over at Praxim with a look of shock and awe and he doesn't fail to catch the elf's embarrassment. The dwarf then totally fails - or just doesn't even try - to contain his excitement. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I love it!!! Ya meet a pretty lass and boy did ya screw that one up big time, elf!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Boy I'm glad that doesn't happen ta me!" Once his laughter finally dies down, he wipes the tears from his eyes and moves over to introduce himself, his grin unfading. "Hello, lass. I'm Thordak. Pleased ta meet ya," he nods.
Praxim winces as Thordak’s laughter fills the area. He studiously avoids looking at anybody.
Upon hearing the paladin's words, he looks over at Praxim with a look of shock and awe and he doesn't fail to catch the elf's embarrassment. The dwarf then totally fails - or just doesn't even try - to contain his excitement. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I love it!!! Ya meet a pretty lass and boy did ya screw that one up big time, elf!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Boy I'm glad that doesn't happen ta me!" Once his laughter finally dies down, he wipes the tears from his eyes and moves over to introduce himself, his grin unfading. "Hello, lass. I'm Thordak. Pleased ta meet ya," he nods.
"Likewise," Veronica replies. "I get the impression there will be much entertainment in watching the two of you at odds." She grins.
"So what do we have to do to forge these weapons?" she asks the whole group.
Praxim and Rexil are just waiting. They have no idea how to go about forging weapons in a Runeforge, though Praxim would suggest that finding the Runeforge might be a helpful first start, and that it’s probably accessed through the common area.
As the group approaches Veronica to shake her hand, Lym's pack begins to hum audibly, and a bright glow can be seen through the material.
"Oh, bloody blast, what now?" Lym growls.
The Wizard quickly takes off her pack and opens it to see what is happening...
Thordak looks over and shrugs. "Looks like ta me ya got somethin' glowin' in yer pack, lass," he responds as if she has no idea. Thinking nothing of it as he figures it's just something she owns that's magical, "Okay. Where to? How do we get ta this 'Runeforge' place and forge these weapons? I haven't got all day so let's go!"
Stroking his beard as he puts his dwarven "dungeoneering" skills to work, "I'm quite positive that it's probably maybe more than likely that way," he points in one direction rather loosely before deciding to change his mind and point in a whole different direction. "Yep, that way," he states confidently.
Lym opens her pack to find the mirrors and 'toys' glowing brightly and vibrating violently. As the opening in the pack exposes the light from the objects, the pool begins to bubble and froth...
"Ah," Lym says. "So that's where it is. Good."
Without further ado, the Wizard throws one of the mirror-shards and a 'toy' into the pool.
"Thordak, you're up. Hold the metal part of your weapon in the pool."
"Take care, my sweet" Tomaru warns Lym. "I do not trust this place" He then goes as far from the pool as he can while still being able to be witness to the proceedings. He puts of a Wall of Stone to give himself and any who want it a measure of protection. He then casts Communal Resist Energy (fire) on the group and Resist Energy (electricity) upon himself.
Taking a cue from Tomaru, Aurora puts up a Resilient Sphere. It would be tight, but would give protection to all within it. Any who needed to come in or go out could be transported by herself or Tomaru.
Veronica joins the others in the protected area. "I see we're assuming the worst. Probably a wise idea in a place like this. I take it you've already faced opposition in here?"
"Ah," Lym says. "So that's where it is. Good."
Without further ado, the Wizard throws one of the mirror-shards and a 'toy' into the pool.
"Thordak, you're up. Hold the metal part of your weapon in the pool."
Shrugging, "You got it, lass." He then does as instructed.
"This place has had ten thousand years for it's evil to fester. I suggest you stay ready for anything."
Thordak's axe no sooner touches the water than the pool erupts in a geyser 30' high, and the golden light becomes blinding in its intensity. A ancient arcane power thrums through the weapon, where even the dwarf can feel it.
But that feeling is short-lived...
A second after the axe is infused, the geyser explodes outwards, and a beam of golden light stabs outward to bathe the statue of Karzoug. Immediately, the towering statue animates, transforming into an enormous stone golem. It stares down at you and speaks, the voice the same you heard issuing from Mokmurian in the depths of Jorgenfist. “You. Again. I can’t help but be inspired by your optimism, but alas, your weapons will never reach Xin-Shalast. Your fate is death, here in Runeforge.”
The huge statue takes three great strides forward, reaching the far edge of the pool. Like lightning, it strikes at Thordak with a massive fist.
Praxim moves forward to be with 30 feet of the statue. He activates smite evil, and then lets a normal arrow fly.
+4 more if the thing counts as evil
+14 + if it counts as evil
If it doesn’t count as evil, no doubt there’s some DR in play.
”Rexil, get ready to pull Thordak out if the big rock man takes him down!”
As soon as she has recalled what she might know of such stone golems -- and shared it with the group -- Lym starts up a droning chant, her voice reaching into strange distances.
"See! I bet you didn't expect that."
Who is inside the protective wall and sphere? Aurora's first action will be to transport those who are inside who want out.
As the dwarf works to recover from that massive punch to his entire self, his fury boils to unprecedented levels. "Good one, rock for brains! But now it's my turn!" The dwarf lets his rage consume him and as a result, right before your eyes, he doubles in size before attacking the stone Karzoug with reckless abandon.
Praxim stayed outside the sphere, just in case Thordak needed help.
"See! I bet you didn't expect that."
Who is inside the protective wall and sphere? Aurora's first action will be to transport those who are inside who want out.
"Not that precisely, no," Veronica says. "Big, isn't it? This should be fun."
Aurora casts Dimension Door to take the group out of her protective shell. She then hits it with a Quickened Magic Missile
Once Tomaru has made it out of the sphere, he goes over to Thordak and uses Bit of Luck.
Praxim's arrow hits the statue and glances off, barely affecting it. Thordak's axe flashes in the bright light of the pool, hacking large chunks of stone from the statue.
A burst of gray energy emanates from the statue, enveloping Thordak.
Then it attacks.
Tomaru hits Thordak with of Bit of Luck. Aurora's missiles splash off the statue without effect.
"The weapon," Lym says. "The weapon! The golem is weak to weapons treated in the Runeforge!"
The Wizard's shout comes on the tail of a creature appearing in response to Lym's summons.
A large earth elemental rises out of the floor, lumbers around to look at the Karzoug-shaped golem -- and starts to lumber forward, building up momentum and speed as it goes, until it slams into the thing!
"The golem is protected from spells!" Lym yells. "Everybody take a mirror and a toy, get your weapons into the pool, enchant them!"
Lym launches into another chant, calling out to allies from beyond...
Veronica begins a graceful dance to music only in her head, yet her movements are such that everybody else can almost hear that imaginary music and all feel uplifted. As she dances, she combines in the delicate movements and words of a spell. Finally, she whips her scarf into her hands.
"Rexil, get me a pair from Lym!" Praxim calls out as he switches to his 5 durable adamantium arrows.
Rexil goes to Lym and takes a pair of items from her bag. He readies to toss them into the water at Praxim's command.