"I also know little of natural creatures."
Tatsuo waits a minute to give Oster plenty of time to get into position and the others enough time to do any buffing they need. Once ready, he does his best to try to get as close as he can before attacking.
Tatsuo grimaces as the creature gets through his mage armor. Shifting his position slightly, he thrusts his tattoo'd arms out at the beasts. The storm clouds boil and churn as lightning moves out from his elbows, down his arms, and then out through his fingers to blast the beasts.
Oster drives his rapier at a passing creature!
He stabs at the creature who bit him!
Tatsuo grimaces as at least one creature shakes off much of the damage. "I'm afraid they seem resistant to electricity. Perhaps fire would do better..." he mutters, mostly to himself.
Memnosyne (knowing she isn't sneaky) stayed behind a bit so as not to ruin their efforts at stealth. But apparently, she's not the only one.
Seeing the creatures attacks she flicks out a wand and summons a spiritual dagger to attack. It streaks out at the nearest enemy.
Xango moves forward, past Tatsuo, and smashes the enemy.
Xango and Oster seem to have things pretty well in hand, but Mem directs her knife against the remaining targets (in this case, the one on the left).
Tatsuo moves out to where he'll have better line of sight to the last creature. Seeing that there's only one, he just unleases a small jolt of energy at it.
Oster moves into a flanking position and strikes!
Oster idly stabs the one at his feet, just in case.
"So, a spot of healing before we continue?"
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While you guys take care of healing, I'm just going to have a look at this monument
Calvon moves up to the monument with a singular focus but keeping an eye out for any other creatures that might be a threat. He circles the object, studying each rune carefully. Then, he looks inside the monument at the hollow space.
He is thinking that, due to the prescence of seven runes, each rune is related to one of the Thassilonian schools of magic. That should be easy to determine due to his studies. He is curious why they would be around this object and how they relate to the hollow.
Memnosyne looks down at the corpses of the bugs and shudders. "At least I'm not covered in sewage this time." She touches Oster on the shoulder to give him a little healing surge with her wand and then goes over to examine the runes next to Calvon.
Tatsuo shakes out his hand as the last of the creatures falls. It seems I am a bit out of practice. Or else fortune was far more on their side than ours. He then heads over the monument as well. More because the rest of the group seemed to be doing it rather than because he really expected to find much. Though he had, of course, studied the arcane arts a little, he was no scholar.
"Cheers mem, that hit the spot!", Oster says as his wound closes over.
"So something has broken out then?"
Tatsuo is a little surprised when he actually recognizes some of the runes, nodding gravely at Oster's words. "Yes, this is all that remains of an unusual binding spell. My guess is an unusual binding for an unusual creature, though I have no idea what or how long ago it broke out. The shape appears to be that of a woman, so it could be any manner of devil or demon. But either way, I can't imagine that this bodes well for us." He pauses, contemplating the implications.
After a moment he shakes himself out of it. "Anyway, which way should be head next? One of the two other earthen passages or the worked stone one?"
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As Calvon is studying the runes and the monument, he talks to the rest of the party like a teacher instructing his students in how to study runes. He also relates what he learns as he is studying.
When Oster makes his comment about something breaking out of the monument, Calvon stops and just stares at him and at Tatsuo as Tatsuo explains what he figures.
Mentally, Calvon is kicking himself for not seeing this first. He sees himself as a scholar of the Runelords and their magic and the idea that these untrained people noticed something first makes him feel both embarrassed and annoyed.
"These are the runes of Sorshen, rune lord of lust. As are those over there," she says pointing. "Perhaps this 'knight' claiming to be said rune lord is not so daft after all."
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As everyone is speaking, Calvon continues to study the runes, monument and hollow. His high intelligence allows him a tremendous level of recall so he takes no notes. He does roll his eyes a little when Tatsuo makes the extremely obvious observation about the shape appearing to be that of a woman, but makes no comment.
"It is no surprise that Sorshen's runes appear in the caverns below her only remaining statue. But, what is this you say, Memnosyne, about a knight claiming to be a rune lord?"
"It might not be a knight at all, but the rune lord!? Oh b******s!"
Oster's swearing reverberates in the tunnels.
"Damn it anyway. We still have a job to do. How about the worked stone passage?"
Tatsuo frowns at Memnosyne's comment. Surely she wasn't suggesting this had once been a prison for a rune lord who had now escaped, was she? That would be absurd! And way above their pay grade. And yet, it wouldn't be the first time... His childish desire to have a truly magnificent story such as that for his genpuku warred with the more practical side of him that wished to live, but he pushed such turmoil aside.
"The worked passage makes sense to me. I suspect the other ones lead to similar caves to the one we just came from."
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"Well, apparently Sorshen loved art in all its forms, and not just her own. This room is magnificent. It must have taken quite some time to sculpt these statues.
He scans the room briefly, as much as he can see from his position at the rear of the part. Later I will go over this room in detail and commit every single detail to memory so that I can describe it to a scribe later. You can tell his breathing has quickened and his excitement has risen. Truthfully, this is the first time that Calvon has seen works of one of the Runelords in person.
"If we are going up into the Lady's Light, I'm not exactly sure why there is a shaft leading down though. Perhaps this is not where we need to be going? And yet, the presence of the runes and statues would indicate that this is indeed the entrance to the Lady's Light. I would suggest caution though. Sorshen would likely protect her monument."
Calvon casts detect magic, thinking that if there is any trap or protection that Sorshen left behind, it would be magical in nature.
Tatsuo notices Calvon's excitement and edges away from him uncomfortably. Staring determinedly at the pit and only the pit, he adds, "It could be an underground passage leading to the base of the Lady's Light." Edging closer, he attempts to see if there's a ladder or some other means of actually heading down the hole.
As Calvon detects magic, he moves back to the hallway to grab a pebble, waiting for the other man to finish before casting light on it and holding it over the hole below. "Shall I?"
As they examine the fascinating artwork, Mem fills the new folks in quickly on what Maroux (the grumpy half-orc hermit who lives nearby) told them.
But then, a few months back, we had some new visitors. A troop of women knights or something, clad in plate and wearing red plumed helmets. Their leader was a woman named Oriana-pretty enough, at least till she took her helmet off and showed off her scars. She sat down to dinner with me only she gave me a fine magic wand as a bribe. She told me that she and her sisters were from Korvosa, soldiers of the rightful queen who'd been tumbled off her throne a few years back. They'd had to flee the city once their queen wasn't in charge, and fell into mercenary work until Oriana got the idea to plunder the Lady's Light for the treasure they think's hidden inside of it. Made me chuckle a bit, since I've heard there's secret rooms in the Lady filled with treasure too. I've tried to find a way into the place before-there's caves under the area that are supposed to connect to the chambers below the Light, but those caves belong to the trogs and frogs and bigger critters. I didn't get far, and since then I've steered clear of the Light-the b+*$~ gives me the willies, anyway. Some powerful magic going on in there.Anyway, Oriana was intent on getting under the Lady's skirts, and she asked me if I knew a way in. I told her about the caves and warned her of the trogs 'n frogs, but that didn't seem to bother her. Unlike me, she had herself a whole group of ironclad soldiers to back her up, after all. So off she goes, and damned if she and her mercenaries don't make friendly with the frogs! Got them some better weapons, gave them some fighting tips, and then helped them launch an attack on the trogs. In return, the frogs gave her permission to use their tunnels.
"But here's the kicker. Oriana found a way inside the Lady or at least she says so. She came my way ten days ago with a story that she'd found none other than the Runelord of Lust herself in there, and that the runelord had recruited Oriana to help her reclaim her lands and rebuild her kingdom! Oriana asked me to join their crusade! I politely refused and wished her well and she went on her way. Gods above an' below, I couldn't get her out of my hut quick enough! "The way I see it, there's three possibilities. First, Oriana is lying, for whatever reason. The second, Oriana, sad child, is off her nut. And the third, someone or something in there is masquerading as Sorshen the Grand Whore of Thassilon and has tricked Oriana into being her minion. Well, I suppose there's a fourth possibility-that Sorshen really is alive and well in the Lady's Light, but if you believe that claptrap, there's a bridge across the Straits of Aroden I 'd like to sell ya.
"Get ready.", Oster hisses, as he eyes the statues suspiciously, rapier in hand.
Tatsuo freezes in his tracks, his attention suddenly turning to the statues he had just been avoiding looking at. Well, that's creepy. Without turning around, he slowly tries to back away, immediately freezing once again if they do anything other than return to their previous, not-staring-at-him positions.
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Knowledge check (arcana, dungeoneering, history, or local) to see if I know anything about creatures like these, which, unfortunately, I likely do not.
"They do not radiate magic, so I'm going to assume that they are living. We will have to get past them somehow to continue on. Hopefully, we do not have destroy such well preserved historical items in order to do so."
Calvon keeps detect magic going, focusing it on one of the creatures in case something changes and a magical effect happens. If combat starts, he will dismiss detect magic though.
Memnosyne does a double take seeing the statues move. "That was unexpected. For the moment, let's assume this is some sort of trap. Is it possible to remove the weapons from these things? Or bind their legs perhaps so that they trip if they move forward?" For once, she would rather there be some sort of puzzle again.