Aurica finally lets her spell fade as she breathes a sigh of relief. And it is only a few seconds later that the bright light shining from Erylium fades.
"Milah, that was quite a leap! Thank the gods you made it," she says with a laugh.
Now looking at the tiny creature that Maerra has bound up, Aurica wonders aloud, "Any volunteers to carry her? I'm sure she'll probably wriggle annoyingly the whole way."
With a deep breath, Zev settles back on his haunches looking at the wriggiling creature, great curiosity in his eyes. Gone is the cold calculation that was there during the combat.
Looking up at Aurica, "I'll carry the little guy..." he offers.
Mÿsari nods at Maerra and gently takes the dagger. Sitting down upon the ground, she takes a deep breath to calm her mind. Then slowly mutters an ancient draconic incantation. Meditating until the blue ethereal mist surrounds her, she opens her eyes to perceive the magical auras that her spell has revealed.
The dagger in Mysari's hands glows under her mystic vision. The weapon is definitely made of Abyssal metals and has that taint upon it. It is cold to the touch and it seems to be almost magnetized to your hand.
Mÿsari opens her eyes and smiles at the group. "It is magical! Made of the cool iron that hurts the fey, this dagger will return to your hand upon throwing it at an enemy. It is very special." She gently hands it back to Maerra and climbs to her feet.
"Well, I believe there were yet more passages to explore down here. Shall we continue?"
As you ponder which direction to go, Erylium continues to attempt saying something through the rope in her mouth. From the sound of it, you are not sure you want to hear what she has to say.
Aurica moves to the door on the North end of the room and opens it.
In this small alcove, you find nothing but rotted old robes and other bits of old religious vestments.
Milah begins searching the room as well.
Milah also finds nothing else of interest in the alcove. Other than the bubbling of the orange colored water and the splash of water from Mysari's spell, little else seems to have been disturbed in this room. As you finish looking around, all of you hear a strange sound, almost like a whisper in your ear. You don't understand what it says, but a collective shiver goes over your body unbidden.
"Hey Zev--is she wearing something around her neck? Let's have a look."
Zev had been standing in the middle of the room, little trussed-up demon over one shoulder, waiting for the others to finish poking about the room.
At Aurica's request, he's more than happy to dump the demon to the ground for inspection...
You loosen the ropes just enough to get at Erylium's necklace. She is wearing a silver pendant in the shape of a three eyed jackal. Aurica recognizes this symbol as that of Lamashtu, Mother of Monsters.
Upon seeing this, Aurica's unease from the strange sound earlier is only heightened. "Lamashtu! She is the sworn and ancient enemy of Desna."
Aurica moves to the other door in this room and opens it before she is ready to move back into the passages.
Maerra jerks back from investigating the pooll again. "Lamashtu? We don't want her curses nor blessings neither. Let's get away from her damned cathedral."
The other room is as old and decrepit as the first, having nought but rotted old vestments and broken materials. Heading back out into the altar room and continuing alone the hallway, the whispers come and go, and Erylium still struggles in her bindings.
As you round the next bend, returning to the fork in the hallway, your eyes settle on a large statue in the middle of a wide opening. It seems to be made of red marble statue and it is of a strikingly beautiful but, at the same time, monstrously enraged human woman. Her fury evident in her face and the way her body is poised. The woman wears flowing robes, and her long hair is held back from her face by an intricate headdress of hooks and blades. In her left hand she carries a large book, the face of which is inscribed with a seven-pointed star. Her right hand holds a glittering metal-and-ivory ranseur. The hallway continues on past her...
"It's that seven-pointed star again! The Sihedron. Quink told us the points represented seven virtues, but then Ilsoar said they had been corrupted into seven vices..." she trails off as she looks up again at the enraged face.
"With the depiction of the symbol on the book, it's almost like it's a holy symbol of some sort...I wonder if this statue is a depiction of their goddess?" She looks to the others for confirmation, having no background in religious teachings.
"It would seem odd, though, to have a temple for Lamashtu so close, wouldn't it?" Aurica replies.
Milah shrugs, unsure.
"That's a woman with a lot of anger. Lamashtu might not be as far away as some in the moment that statue catches her." Maerra shudders. "Another thing best not to touch..."
"Let's leave closed doors closed for now, shall we?" Milah offers, as she turns right down the hallway.
Aurica renews a Glow cast on her person for some light as the group goes down the next hallway.
The next hallway contains stairs that lead up to a stone door that is slightly open. As you progress, more of the inscriptions that by now all of you have seen begin appearing and disappearing on the walls again. As you near the circular room, you can see a large basin made of stacked skulls in the middle of it. The water within seems to be slowly churning. Another stone door lies just beyond.
Zev follows along with the others, little monster over his shoulder.
Entering the chamber, he looks up and says "Hey, look at that!"
Surprise Round
Zev unceremoniously lets the captured imp fall from his shoulder to land on the ground behind him.
He swiftly brings up his bow and fires at their new foe...
Maerra takes her eyes off checking the floor in time to follow Zev's gaze, but not in time to act before the monster is upon them.
Perhaps it was the forbidding sense of the skulls formed into the basin or possibly it was Zev's muscles tensing just before he dropped the imp and drew his bow. Regardless, Mÿsari moved quickly and summoned a familiar icy globe and sent it hurling at the creature as it swooped down upon them.
As swift as he can, Zev drops the imp to the ground, causing her to land with a muffled grunt, as Zev's arrow sails over everyone's heads and impacts the thing's wing while Mysari's fast casting slams a ball of ice into it. Though both strike true, it only seems to anger the thing as it screams an unearthly sound that seems to drill into your very souls...
Maerra moves forward axe in hand but doesn't reach the winged creature just yet.
Zev nods to himself as his arrow hits the mark, but the thing's strange scream penetrates deep into his psyche, rooting his body, unmoving...
Mÿsari shrugs off the effects of the winged creatures blood-curling scream. "Careful! This is a formidable beast!"
Milah is unaffected by the scream, but takes a moment to react to the creature.
"It's a Vargouille! A vile creature of the Abyss! Do not let it bite those that are helpless," Mÿsari screams. Forming another frozen sphere in her hands, she launches the frosty blast at the vargouille before it reaches them.
As some of you feel the power of the Abyss compel you to stare frozen at the flying thing, Mysari attempts to freeze the creature where it flies. It gets smacked by the ball of ice and decides that Mysari is becoming too much of a pain and flies down over everyone's heads attacking the spellcaster with its gaping mouth full of sharp fangs...
Mÿsari groans as the creature bears down upon here, "Oh, damn!"
The incanter deftly shuffles to the side to avoid the bite. "Not Nice!" she dollars as she takes a step back and flings another ball of ice, striking the Vargouille in the face.
Her limbs frozen, Aurica's eyes watch in stark fear as the hideous thing swoops nearby.