I look at Kzrira disappointed, "Why would you want to kill it, it's done nothing wrong? It may even be able to help us."
I look to the creature, smile and bow to it.
I await for the creature's response before raising my head again.
The fiery creature snarls,
I reach into my pouch and pull out 10 Gold Scarabs, I place them in my palm showing that there is nothing else there and slowly walk up to the bowl. Once there I place the coins into the bowl and then back away slowly.
The burning manling watches Faelar closely and then inspects the gold. He shrugs at the sight.
Kzrira would be grimacing at this point if she spoke Ignan.
Karethas shakes his head ruefully and whispers, "Full disclosure is not always the best policy."
Hearing Karethas whispers Amir frowns,
The mephit switches to the common human tongue, "The Carrion King dwells above in the House of the Beast. Why are you really here?"
I turn to face Amir confused,
I then turn my attention back to the Mephit,
"Gnome? HA! The little liar sent you here. Half truths! The thoqqua's tunnel leads to the House of the Beast, but this way is not safe. Let that be known. Move quickly or I will call my masters to devour your ashes!" The impish creature gestures to the low passage on your right.
Kzrira looks confused as the creature speaks in common and her companions speak in a number of unintelligible tongues.
You know the gnome? Who is he? And why would he lie to us?
"Because you are FOOLS! BEGONE!" the flaming creature shouts as it flits back to the central passage. Strange incoherent moans come from behind it and a red glow is seen in contrast to the low blue flames of the crack.
Kzrira's bow suddenly takes on a white-blue glow as her arrow turns to ice. She calls out to the retreating mephit
We are prepared for fire, are you prepared for ice?
She does, however, look to her companions to determine whether the choice is to retreat.
I smile and nod at the Mephit, "Thank-you for your assistance and sorry for intruding upon your territory, we shall leave you at once." With that I Head towards the tunnel that the Mephit is pointing to and once I reach it I turn to see if everyone is coming.
Realizing that the fiery creature was directing them, and hoping that it was not lying like the gnome, Kzrira follows Amir toward the instructed passage.
"Move quickly, I will try to slow them down" Karethas moves to the center of the room and orients himself towards the indicated passage. He casts Obscuring Mist and moves towards the passage. As he joins the others he whispers, "Perhaps that will confuse them about which way we went. Keep quiet if possible." Of course, we may have just been shammed by that mephit.
Amir aids in Kzrira in understanding by putting a hnd to the bow and pushing in a downward motion while bowing graciously to the mephit. A thousand apologies for the intrusion noble one, we will depart and bother you no more.
Amir produces a platinum coin and flips it into the bowl. Another pittance but a thank you none the less. The rogue turns and gestures in the directed way to get the hell out of there.
More willing to avoid an unnecessary fight, the others quickly steer Kzrira toward the indicated passage. Karethas lingers a moment to conjure a screen for their escape and catches just a glimpse of the mephit's strange 'masters'.
The tunnel is perhaps eight feet in diameter and starts to loop around when a chimney intersects it leading upward toward the mountain's top. It disappears upward into the darkness, but the cleft is narrow and with Amir's guidance you safely ascend by bracing against the walls for what seems like miles, but is likely a couple hundred feet. The chimney ends in a wide low ceilinged cave that leads away to the west.
As you stretch and rest a moment from the exertion of the climb, you feel a rumble below.
In between large gulps of air, Karethas quips,"Well, at least we have moved in the right direction: up." At the rumbling, he looks nervously towards the chimney. "Perhaps we should move further down this passage?"
Kzrira agrees and leads forward with the elderly rogue.
Getting back on their feet and bending already aching backs to duck beneath the low ceiling,the adventurers move forward just as there is a crashing sound and a plume of rock dust rises from the chimney. Apparently, there will be no returning that way.
Continuing, the passage continues to slope gently upward and narrows to a tight hole. On the other side, the way takes on a more excavated aspect as it continues southward and you see a roughly repaired hole in the east wall. It looks like three boulders were packed in to patch it and the clay mortar is still drying.
I wonder what lies beyond this patch. SEems like it is still wet. Do we risk breaking through here?
"I could send an earth elemental through to see the other side for us, if you think that is the best use for it."
Seeing that none of the others seem to disagree, Amir nods at the wizard, Not the most effective use but perhaps the most prudent. Summon your creature.
Kzrira shrugs:
Knowledge(dungeoneering):
Seems too easy. As though it is a trap.
Kzrira pauses, while continuing to hold her bow tentatively in her hands, still completely oblivious to how hot it truly should be in this place.
Everything in here seems to not be as it should.
The temperature has moderated the further you've moved from the strange shrine below. Even without your magical protections, you would be comfortably warm at this point. Karethas feels something else though. A weirdness in the atmosphere similar to how he felt in the shrine to Nethys some months ago.
I nod with Amir, "I agree, it is a mystery that I would like to solve, but it may be nothing of importance. It is a shame our little friend from the previous room was not with us, he may have been able to tell us what lay beyond there and why they felt the need to close it up."
I take a few steps back as Karethas summons his Terran assistance, nervously waiting to hear what lays on the other side.
Karethas frowns at the weirdness of the area and then sighs. He steps back and tries to cast a summoning spell.
If successful, Karethas tells the elemental,
Karethas begins his conjuration and then feels the normally controlled and reliable magic that flows through him surge in unpredictable ways. There is a tremor through the tunnel and the desired earth comes from much closer though not sentient as the section of tunnel collapses above you.
Reflex:
Kzrira take a pummeling, but nowhere near as much as she could have.
What the heck was that?
I try to roll out of the way of the falling rubble, but instead manage to roll into a large boulder that is falling. The boulder pins me to the floor, it pressing down on my back heavily. After a few moments I am able to rock the boulder enough for it to roll off of me, "Owww!"
A large rock falls onto Karethas' shoulder, momentarily stunning the spindly wizard. As the rubble settles and he regains his wits, Karethas quips to Kzrira, "That is the world telling a young wizard that he is not as all-powerful as he would like to believe." He brushes dust off of his robes and sighs, "There is some sort of aura here or something. It makes my magic somewhat unpredictable."
The rogue rolls from the main area and dodges the few rocks that do come his way. Working to steady his companions the older man cannot help but cast an icy glance at the wizard, Not exactly what I had in mind.
Karethas grins at Amir's dig, "Then you can tame the arcane energies of the universe using naught but your knowledge and will, and tell us all what is on the other side of the wall."
Karethas and Faelar take the brunt of the cave-in. The wizard has to be assisted to free himself from the mound of debris that covers him. Faelar manages to roll the heavy rock off himself.
As soon as Karethas can manage to stop coughing, he puts his mind to what just happened. The spell was certainly cast correctly, but something is off about the flow of magic here. Eastern Garund is no stranger to disruptions to the current and flow of magical energies- just look at the Mana Wastes. This could be something similar. Perturbations in the magical field left from the overuse of wishes in the genie war that once centered on this mountain. Or perhaps something else.
Feeling the pain throbbing though my back still I begin to speak in some holy words, my hands glows a warm golden colour and I place it onto my back.
I let out a relieved sigh as the pain starts to dissipate. Once the spell has finished I stretch my back and then look to Karethas, "So the world doesn't want us knowing what is behind those boulders?"
Karethas almost casts a spell to clean himself, but catches himself and sighs. "No, I was more commenting on the results of my hubris than on the will of the world. Rather, I think that in this area the flow of arcane energies has been disrupted, probably by the Genie Wars in the Age of Enthronement. I would suggest we rely on physical strength until we leave the area."
Nothing untoward comes of Faelar's spell, but Karethas favors a more cautious approach in light of the unpredictability of magic in the area.
There was a clang from beyond the roughly patched wall with the slight tremor. Inspection reveals that the loosely mortared rocks have shifted and sharpened iron stakes have been dislodged from the ceiling. It appears that the unfortunate spell did manage to set off a trap.
"Magic once again solves the problem! There was a trap on the other side of that wall!"
Kzrira looks at the spikes and then at Karethas.
Two questions, what would they be focusing a trap at here? And why have they apparently attempted to cover it?
"Well, as the gnome indicated, there are creature here making their way up from the lower caverns. The gnolls probably put up the wall as a first line of defense against such wandering creatures, and the second line of defense was the trap. Obviously it was meant for anyone who tried to get past the wall." Karethas seems quite content at the very rational explanation.
Amir nods absently at Karethas while he investigates the wall and whatever portion of the trap he can see past it.
If it appears relatively safe Amir will pull a crowbar and work at the wall. Traps are put in place to protect things of value. I say we invest ourselves in seeing what was so important...
The rocks are quickly pried apart to reveal an empty side chamber off the passage. A heavy wooden door stands in the wall opposite the rather crude trap.
Kzrira moves in following Amir helping him check for any additional traps or other things of note.
Perception(aid another): <-- +2 more if gnolls
Nothing unexpected happens as you cross the room to the wooden door.