"I don't know if it wants to talk or not. I guess our best option is to just try."
I know something of such creatures.
Hernvet describes as best as he can the creature on the other side of the door. From that, Kyras and Maffei are able to guess that you are facing a Lunar Naga. It is one of the weakest Naga species. The are not usually evil, but rather unpredictable. They have some arcane magic, evocation mostly with a mixture of enchantement and illusion. Aside from that, they have a poisonous bite and are able to hypnotise people by weaving and coiling their body while they are hissing.
Maffei inform the others about the Luna Naga...
"We should take a chance and talk to it, we may learn a lot and that could help us in our quest."
I suppose so. We should all enter together. Let's hope it's willing to talk. Should we knock first?
"Knocking would be appropriate"
Agreeing, Kyras knocks on the door and speaks as he opens it. Greeting great naga. We would speak with you and seek your wisdom. He says as the door opens.
The door opens and reveals the atrium. The naga looks old, but how much it is hard to tell. "Oh! Pardon me, but have you heard word from Szangi? He’s not emerged from his lair since his last visit to that little human village, and I worry for the dear!" She looks at you with hope in her eyes.
"Szangi? Who's that? I mean, what does he look like?"
Hernvet whispers to the group "Do we want to be honest with this creature and tell them our story? afterall we did break in and I doubt someone locked in a coffin would scratch that name in the lid for nothing, perhaps hes dangerous and this creature seems to be allies with them."
Talk, Hernvet. Get her talking. We don't want to fight her if she can tell us more about Szangi, Hoga whispers back.
Let's get a bead on this "Szangi."
Hernvet nods at Hoga and looks at the naga and says "Hello there ma'am might I introduce myself I am Hernvet Bargill" Hernvet bows then asks "Who might you be?"
She first to Kakrish's question about the name. "No! I mean Mighty Aeteperax! Don’t tell him I said that!" At Hernvet soft words, she smiles as she answer. "Well, I'm Thaena. It is always a pleasure to meet allies of Aeteperax. I do miss him so much though. Do you know if he is coming back here soon?"
Hernvet replies with "It is nice to meet you Thaena, We have come here looking for someone I believe this Aeteperax of yours might be whom we are looking for. Do you know where you last saw them?"
The naga thinks for a moment. "Oh! I haven't seen him for some time now. Not since he went to that human village not too far. Are you more of his servants? His power attract more and more of them."
"Ha. His servant? Seriously? Right. We're more like his best friends. I mean, look at us."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Kyras considers the situation and prepares for the discussion to break down to something more unfriendly. But he tries to bring it around.
What my friend means is that we would like to have the opportunity to be best friends. We have yet to meet the the mighty Aeteperax, but of course his fame has reached us and we hope to be able to meet him. Could you help with that?
The naga looks at Kakrish with a puzzled look, but before she could react, Kyras corrects the situation. "His fame you say? Yes, he is getting quite impressive and powerful. I just wish he would come to visit more often. Would you mention it to him when you see him?" She smile at Kyras, awaiting a reply.
Of course I will do that. Do you expect him back here any time soon? Honestly we do not know where to find him. We thought might be here.
"Yeah, we came here looking for him. We're from Belhaim. Have you heard of it?"
"Here? No he isn't here. In fact he hasn't emerged from his lair since his last visit to that little human village. I worry for him, he hasn't come to visit me for some time now." She looks at Kakrish as he mentions Belhaim. "No, is that far from here?"
Then we will seek him in his lair. Could be so helpful as to direct us to his lair?
"His lair? Yes, he should be there. What a nice spot he picked. High in the mountain, it provides a nice view of the stars at night. It is hard to get to, but he was nice enough to make a tunnel in the basement. I'm just too old now to make it there." She seems to drift a bit into her own mind as she just smile.
"Wait? A tunnel in the basement? Here? Or where do we find this tunnel?"
"Oh, yes. The tunnel is in the basement here. He was nice enough to make it for me. But I'm too old to go crawling is a tunnel now." She looks at the group again for a moment as if in deep thought. "Are you allies of Aeteperax? I haven't seen him in quite some time now."
We would love to be allies of Aeteperax, under the right terms. As I said earlier, we have yet to meet him. Do you think he will demand a high price from us when we speak with him?
"Price? To speak with him? He doesn't ask for a price. But if you want to be generous and get him a gift, then you can always try to find a book about the stars and what lies between them. His library is getting quite big, but there is always more books to be have."
I thank you for your wisdom. We shall go and find this tunnel I think. Are there traps or guardians that we should know of?
"Traps or Guardians? No, no... just a few test place by the monks that used to lived here. It is a way to make sure that only the strong serve him. Those monk were really sneaky, the path isn't always the obvious one." She smiles again, lost in her head for a moment.
I see. Kyras sees, somehow anxious for the challenge.
"Test? Of course we're strong enough. Seems a bit unnecessary. But you know how ol' Atty is, right?" Kakrish winks at the naga.
He turns to the rest of his group. "Ok. So let's go run through this tunnel so we can get to our friend."
The naga just smiles and stare at nothing for a bit more. Eventually, she looks at you as if you just appeared out of no where. "Oh! You shouldn't sneak on an old naga like that. Are you more allies of Aeteperax? I haven't seen him in a while, could you tell him to come and visit when you see him?"
Kyras only nods seeming agreement as he takes his leave.
We can do that. Farewell!
A flight of stairs descends to a cellar room with alcove-lined walls. Each alcove hosts a statue of an athletic man or woman with a long braid, and each figure is in different pose of martial performance. Kyras notes that the layout of this room is a common one in places sacred to Irori—this room is the start of the Aspirant’s Path, a series of challenges that form a sort of obstacle course meant to train worshippers in the various physical traits and skills Irori demands on the road to self-perfection. He also remembers that though the nature of the areas along any one Aspirant’s Path can vary, the first task is always one of observation. The actual entrance to the path is invariably a secret door the aspirant must locate in order to even begin the trial.
Hoga takes a good look around.
Kyras explains the series up upcoming tests and that the first is usually observation to find the entrance before studying the path forward himself.
This room has a fifteen-foot-high domed ceiling and no floor except a two-inch-wide ledge that skirts the edges of the room around a deep pit that drops away into darkness.
Kyras recognizes the room as the aspirant’s pit. It symbolize to the monks the darkness of chaos. Monks are expected to traverse this pit however they wish, via jumping, balancing along the ledges, or using supernatural methods.
I don't think we can jump that... Any ideas?
Kakrish studies the room for a bit. "You know, I have a rope and a hook. Maybe we could swing the hook across and catch it on something. Then someone else could go across with another rope. We could make a two-rope bridge."
I can get across. Hand me a rope.
Hoga can cast Spider Climb on himself when he rages. He'll bloodrage, and do that. Shouldn't take more than a few rounds. He'll secure, or maybe just hold the rope so the others can climb over.
Hell, he'll be raging. He can carry someone with him on his back to help anchor the rope on the other side.
It looks to be at least 40 feet across. We need someone with really good balance to try to cross on that ledge or someone to spider climb or levitate across
Hoga can do it.
"I can walk on walls also!