Armand nods at Selena's observation regarding the food in the room. "That's the same conclusion I came to as well, our 'friends' have had free run of this complex for a while now at least...lets hope they've not found what they're looking for...Kaerin doesn't strike me as the type of person who would try to double cross us, and when we talked with him he seemed genuinely in need of someone for this mission. I suspect he has no idea this other party is down here and that can only mean something bad."
Lash moves south, down the hallway carefully and as silently as she can. No noise reaches her ears outside of that from the party about 40' to her north and Lash stops at a thick wooden door to listen. The door itself strikes Lash as strange since most of the doors in the complex so far have been iron and/or wood banded by metal, while this particular door seems to be made of wood only, nailed together by wooden cross braces on this side of the door. There is no lock on the door other than an indication that it can be barred from the other side. The door is latched closed through another wooden mechanism that allows the user to twist the handle and latch/unlatch the door.
The room beyond the door is fairly silent, there is a slight shuffling or scratching from beyond the door indicating a presence there but whether human or something else is impossible to tell. If human it's attempting to stay quiet, if animal it's obviously not moving much.
In the mean time Mird moves north. He, too, tries to move as quietly as possible though has somewhat less success in his metal armor, and in the unnatural setting of this dungeon. Moving up to the north door Mird sees nothing out of the ordinary. The door is solidly closed and a quick examination indicates it is locked as well. A couple scrape marks and dents on the door indicate that this door has taken some abuse recently, potentially in an effort to force it open.
The room beyond is silent, no movement or footsteps can be heard coming through or under the door or by listening at the keyhole. While the room is silent, warm air comes from underneath the door and the metal on the doorway is warmer (not hot) than most of the rooms you've entered.
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Mird will go back to the group saying:
"The northern door seems to be very strong and it is locked. It looks like someone force it to open recently, perhaps our "friends". It is also a warm, there could be a fireplace inside or something else"
"I don't think they succeeded going that way, if we want to follow them that's not the path we want to take."
"Interesting...I think we can wait on that room. Our "friends" must not be very strong nor dexterous if they couldn't get that door open. My guess is they aren't human, maybe Kobolds or some other similar creature.
When Lash returns we can have her check the eastern door as well before we decide on our path."
Using her dagger to provide a support by sticking it in the door perpendiculat to the cross pices, Lash props a flask of alchemists fire at the edge of the door where it opens so that the flask would fall to the floor should the door be pushed open.
She then makes her way back down the hallway to the others.
Disable device
Softly sliding her dagger into a crack in the wood, Lash carefully takes a flask from one of her pouches and sets it, precariously, on her stuck dagger. A few deft and silent movements later, and Lash quickly backs up out of range of her trap, moving back up the hallway toward her companions.
Getting filled in on the situation at the northern door, Lash moves a few steps away from the party to check the east door.
Another iron bound door with a keyhole indicates the door's potential to be locked, and inspecting the hole provides the needed information: The door here is indeed locked.
Looking now for scratch marks and other signs of forced entry (as she heard about on the north door) nothing becomes immediately obvious, either your friends skipped this door completely, noticed it was locked and didn't bother to attempt to open it, or they managed to get in and locked the door behind them.
Either way, you're not getting in here without a key, whether on Fyird's keyring or one of the "special" keys you carry in your belt pouch.
No sound comes from beyond the door, and no light comes from within the room.
Lash creeps back to the group with the news.
"East door's locked, I can probably pick it. No sign of entry or attempt to force it. The first one I went to I left them something nast so if you guys want we can leave that one for last. Just mark it on the map in case we end up looping around."
Dirk nods taking in the information, then quietly says, "Nice work you two". Then, with a shrug, "I guess East is a good of a direction as any."
Dirk makes eye contact with Lash and waves his hand in the direction of the locked door.
"I have this ring of keys, if you wish us to try them instead".
Lash gives the door a cursory check for traps then allows Fyird to try the keys.
Perception
Nothing noticeable on either the door or the handle, nothing looks spring loaded in either the lock or the door frame, and nothing you can see indicates any other kind of trap associated with this door.
As usual the seconds stretch on to minutes as Fyird works through the keys one by one till the right key to the door is found. The turn produces the usual snick/click of the lock being released and a pull on the handle opens the door.
The chamber you enter is average size for the rooms you've been in before () at somewhere around 20' on a side. The chamber is decorated in azure with sky blue accents, and has chairs, footstools, and a large brass bowl on the east wall. The carpets here are thick and luxurious and show barely any wear on them...unlike many of the rugs and carpets in this complex, this one shows no decomposition due to the ravages of time, abuse, or failure of upkeep, speaking to it's strong craftsmanship.
The whole room has a different, and very refreshing, smell to it...slightly spicy and sweet, much different than the musty, damp, smoky, and semi-rotting smells you've become accustom to in your several hour trek through this underground home.
The elements of the room are very familiar to Thantos and somewhat so to both Selena and Armand. Generally a setup like this indicates some kind of mediation room, usually used by those studying the arcane to help unlock the deeper mysteries of themselves and the weave of magic. Also used by the more monastic orders of the priesthood to assist them with communing with their chosen deities and their agents.
The smell generally indicates incense used to dull the sense of smell and taste, while silence and darkness generally accompany the incense to allow the user to concentrate on matters less physical and more metaphysical.
This particular meditation room is much more opulent than most any of you have seen or know of. The furniture and decorations are high quality and comfortable, soft and inviting.
"Ah, what have we here? A meditation chamber of sorts. There's possibly something here we can use."
Selena begins looking around the opulently furnished room, hoping to find some small treasure or decorative item that appeals to her. She suddenly stops herself.
"Lathre vienta." Her eyes glow softly in the dim light as the magic sight is restored to her.
"Before I get too ahead of myself, Lash, can you help me look aroud for any traps first?"
"Of course," Lash says with a smile.
She begins to comb the room, starting her sweep along the walls, then focusing on the carpet, fixtures and finally the brass bowl.
Perception
Dirk will take up his usual post centered between the two doors - senses tuned to any sign of danger.
Uncomfortable in the wizards lair, Dirk advises, "Don't let your guard down... "
"I feel completely at ease in here."
Thantos stands quietly for a moment absorbing the energy from his surroundings.
"I doubt there is much of anything in here", he says as he begins to look more closely at the items in the room.
Perception check:
Everyone stands still as Lash starts her search around the room, scanning the walls, floor, furniture, carpeting the north east door, and finally the bowl. The minutes stretch on as Lash performs her delicate probe of the room's contents. Finally, after what feels like forever, Lash stands from her crouch and nods, indicating the all clear.
The rest of you start your own investigations.
Your magical detection doesn't pick up anything out of the ordinary. The sword and the two rings the party carries obviously glow but no other items in the room give of any kind of magical properties. Even the brass bowl which you assumed might be magical doesn't give off any hint of magical properties.
Your furniture search doesn't turn up anything useful. Nothing in the room indicates it would be a holder for the tiara (no cabinets, no pillows or stands, no display cases, etc.) and it doesn't look like anything is "out of place" or moved (i.e. Stolen). As far as you're concerned, the Tiara was not being stored in this room.
Keeping your eyes peeled for any movement or sounds you calmly wait for the others to complete their work. Your senses pick up nothing other than the 7 of you in the room.
Examining the contents of the room provides you very little information other than confirmation that the room is indeed what you are used to (if a bit more opulent) in a meditation chamber. As you reach the brass bowl, you notice a bit of incense still in it, obviously what is giving the chamber the smell. Recognizing that the incense in the bowl is almost gone, and realizing that there are very few other places for incense to be kept, but knowing that there must be at least someplace where an additional piece is kept, you start poking at prodding at the bowl itself.
Your persistence pays off as you find and trip a small catch on the front of the brass bowl. A small compartment drops down out of the bottom of the bowl revealing a small ornate wooden box (about 10g) inside of which are six sticks of what look and smell to be the same incense that is currently in the bowl. The incense sticks are obviously high quality and some of the scent speaks to exotic herbs used in the creation. It's likely the sticks are worth a significant amount of coin each (20 - 25g / stick).
A door stands closed in the north east corner of the room, Lash indicates it is not locked.
Seeing that everyone's search seems to be wrapping up, Dirk steps over to the door in the North/East corner of the room.
Looking at Lash, Dirk says, "Seems likely that this is a second entrance to the room you trapped. If there was someone, or something, in there, it's probably still there. We might as well have a look while we are here."
Then looking at Mird, "If you'd please, watch the rear."
With a last look over his shoulder to ensure everyone is ready, Dirk will open the door.
Thantos adds the box to his pack saying, "These will do nicely." and continues moving with the group.
The door opens silently into a small anteroom or closet (you're unsure which).
On a couple of pegs stuck into the wall hang a pair tattered gray robes that seem to be somewhat threadbare and a pair of well worn gray slippers.
Other than these items, there is nothing else in this small room.
A door in the north wall stands closed but again not locked.
Dirk steps aside to allow Lash access to the new door.
The door opens silently into a small anteroom or closet (you're unsure which).
On a couple of pegs stuck into the wall hang a pair tattered gray robes that seem to be somewhat threadbare and a pair of well worn gray slippers.
Other than these items, there is nothing else in this small room.
A door in the north wall stands closed but again not locked.
Fyird will check the pockets of the Robes, and the shoes just for the heck of it, while the other door is searched.
Lash creeps forward and begins scanning the door for any sign of traps. If clear she proceeds to begin work on the lock.
Perception
Disable Device
As Lash is intently working at the lock, Dirk reaches over her, turns the latch and pushes the door open. He pauses only long enough to make eye contact with Lash and to poorly conceal a grin.
Lash's glare almost covers the reddening of her face as she stands straight, putting away her tools.
Lash detects no traps on the door and starts looking at the lock after a few seconds of poking and prodding Lash realizes the door is not locked but not quickly enough to save face. Dirk reaches over, grabs the handle and pushes the door open, which swings wide, opening into the next room.
As the chuckling at Lash's expense subsides and the door opens, Dirk glances up into a nightmare.
A human sized crystal man comes charging straight at Dirk!
Before Dirk has a chance to react to the statue's movement it covers the 10' to the door and slams it's fist into Dirk's face, cleanly breaking his nose and staggering him a bit. (7 points of damage).
Selena jerks at the sudden sight of the crystal man, but reacts swiftly. She calls the golden flame to her hand once again, and rushes forward to Lash's side.
Initiative
Assuming he found nothing in the objects in the closet, Fyird raises his head at the intrusion, and begins a stirring speech to bolster his comrades, while at the same time drawing his new Battleaxe.
Initiative
Shocked by the speed and violence of the crystalline creature Lash falls into a defensive posture as she pulls her mace from the hip opposite her rapier.
She can’t help but to let out a thrilled breath as Selena’s hand touches her back, the golden flames enshrouding her form to provide an added measure of safety.
Shocked by the speed and violence of the crystalline creature Lash falls into a defensive posture as she pulls her mace from the hip opposite her rapier.
She can’t help but to let out a thrilled breath as Selena’s hand touches her back, the golden flames enshrouding her form to provide an added measure of safety.
Dirk rocks back in surprise as the crystal fist slams into his face, but the pain is gone almost before it registers as his warrior instincts flood into every fiber of his body.
"Blades of Hell!" Dirk's two-handed elven blade is out in a heart-beat, up over his head, and slamming down on the vile glass monster!
Initiative:
Armand "Cure Light Wounds"
The crystal statue draws both fists back and punches forward at dirk with a devastating double punch. Dirk's sword comes up to block, catching one of the fists cleanly but the second gets through the defense, clipping Dirk's right shoulder, a small dent in the armor and a grunt from Dirk being the only indication he was hit.
The shoulder clip, however, does cause Dirk's descending sword to fly free of the mark, missing the monster completely and clanging off the ground in a shower of sparks.
Lash's eyes go wide at the continuing onslaught of the statue as Dirk takes another hit and she immediately drops into a defensive crouch, mace up before her, weaving in a pattern obviously meant to foil incoming attacks.
As Fyird's battle song starts somewhere behind Lash, raising her spirits (as well as the parties) she feels the presence of someone just behind her. A soft chant announces Armand's presence and a warm glow fades slowly from his hand as he touches the back of Dirk's neck.
"Fall back Lash, let me handle this." You hear as Armand moves to the side, allowing you to fall back if you wish.
Selena, right behind Armand, touches Lash's back and a dim outline of magic surrounds the Rogue as her mace weaves a pattern in the air before her.
Mird:
"GET BACK!" you shout at your companions as a strange feeling overcomes you. Your vision narrows to a point, the battle seems to be happening in slow motion. You're conscious of your action as you nock an arrow and draw your bow, waiting on an opening to come your way, hoping your companions fall back as you asked to give you a clear shot and to clear the small hallway to a larger field of battle. As time seems to slow down for you a small black dot at the center of your vision seems to appear in the middle of the statue's head. Again, without conscious thought you take a half breath and hold it and then release the arrow, right into the throng of your engaged companions.
The arrow's dark shaft flies straight past Thantos, between Lash and Selena, just over the top her outstretched arm and hand now resting on Lash's back and past Armand's left ear. The arrow barely clears an upswing of Lash's mace and then splits the very small hole between Dirk's shoulder armor and blade as he performs a side swipe to block another incoming attack.
As your vision clears and the world speeds back up you realize you just experienced one of those zen archery moments as you watch the head of the crystal statue snap back violently, a black shaft buried almost to the feathers in the very center of it's head, between it's eyes.
As if on cue the guardian's head simply explodes in a shower of crystalline dust and the body falls backwards, barely missing a table in the room, to crash into the ground. A sound like shattering glass greets your ears as the body hits the floor and cracks in several places. Seconds later, the crystal pieces of the body simply disintegrate into powder, leaving almost nothing solid left.
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As Mird sees the creature disintegrating with his shot he takes more time then usual to lower his bow. He has a surprised expression that starts to go away at the same time the bow gets lower.
Once he gets to a non attacking position he is back...
"Ok, That was really something"
[ooc] Illydth-DM, Thanks for the Robin Hood moment ;)[/occ]
As the noise of the battle and the shattering of the statue subsides from around you and stops echoing off the walls of the largest room you have yet been in in this complex, you manage to pull yourselves together and cautiously enter the room.
The room is large, measuring at least forty feet across by thirty feet deep. Glassware, brass and bronze vessels and an assortment of similar items clutter almost every flat surface in this room, including the floor in some places.
The flickering flames from several iron burners set around the room dance shadows on the walls in the strange and obscure shapes of tables, chairs and the curved forms of beakers and vials.
The atmosphere in the room is heavy and warm, heated by the burners, and strange and obscure, even disgusting scents waft by to assault your sense of smell. Sulfurous rotting smells mix with sweet and spicy herbal scents which also mix with the normal earthy moist scents you associate with the underground smells from your trek through this complex. The effect is one you would chose not to experience again.
As you observe the room at large a soft sound as of a small glass item shattering comes from somewhere deeper in the room. Looking up, you see a small iron brazier/burner dispensing a small amount of smoke into the room and half a glass tube shattered midway up hanging above it from some kind of holding contraption. The discarded shards of what used to be it's bottom half strewn across a table in the center of the room...smoking droplets of some small amount of liquid sizzling into the finish of the table. A patch of black, scorched wall, about the size of a man's head near another burning iron bowl next to another shattered glass item, this one obviously larger than the tube that just broke, indicates the disastrous end of an experiment, whether the scorch is recent or old is unknown.
A glinting catches your eyes from another area of the room as either your torch light or the brazier light shines through it...it's obviously a small ruby sitting on a table in the middle of a complicated set of tubes and beakers. Looking around, you see other rare substances laying out in the open or in open cupboards hung on the walls. Sulfur, mercury, gems, crystals and other rare substances are lain strewn somewhat haphazardly throughout the room.
How anyone could manage to move around effectively in this maze of glass, bubbling and smoking components, and small bowls of fire without setting themselves on fire or destroying large sections of the room are completely beyond you...yet, here and there, there are pathways, and some of those materials laying around look like the might be worth a pretty goodly sum of money...