While Amir fidgets with the locked door, Karethas inspects the jar. The paste smells something like crushed granite and looks quite gritty. Yes, it contains 2 doses of stone salve.
Amir is having problems and when Karethas glances up at the curses with his detect magic still in effect, he sees that the door is warded with an arcane lock.
Karethas tsks, "That's going to be a hard one to open, my friend. Someone has warded it magically. Do you still have that Chime that opens magically sealed portals?
Karethas knows that such wards often have a password or phrase to allow one's minions to pass as well.
Kzrira returns to the Faelar look-alike, and searches her for any notes regarding passwords.
Perception:
Meanwhile, Karethas will search the door itself.
I have the chime, yes. Amir pulls the chime from a pocket on his person. Pulling it forth the rogue points the chime at the door and rings it once.
Amir raises his eyebrows expectantly looking at the door...
If the door doesn't open the rogue spits at the door and says in Elven In Case of Emergency rolling his eyes as he does.
Th door holds no secret script and Kzrira gets ready for a trek back to the odd elf. She is cut short by Amir's efficient use of the chime, however. The iron door creaks open.
Varkata says, "Well done. I was going to suggest dispelling it... but that seems even more effective."
Amir nods at Varkata as he leads on looking for trouble...
Kzrira shrugs:
Lets hope we do not need that chime again. Hopefully our good mage or cleric can open any other magically sealed doors we should happen upon.
With that, she prepares to follow Amir through the portal.
Varkata shifts her grip on her longsword and says, "Worst case, we hack through the door."
Amir cautiously leads the way through the strange passage. It opens after about thirty feet into a hexagonal chamber with a floor covered in hexagonal cells. There are two organic looking pillars in the room's center that reach the ceiling. Each pillar is about five feet in diameter and the five foot wide path leads between them. A smaller passage at level leads off to the left.
Only about a six inch ledge lies between each oubliette that is covered with some sort of thin wax window revealing a captive humanoid languishing in each cell. The whole set up is disturbingly reminiscent of a honeycomb with captives rather than larvae in the chambers.
Varkata says, "Now I wish that Nasir was still with us... it would be useful to get a read on the prisonners and determine if we should free them. Does anyone see the Dean?"
"Doesn't this seem like a strange way for some slave trader to keep his wares? I urge extreme caution here. Someone should examine the wax on the windows of these cells more closely..." Clearly Karethas does not believe that he should be that "someone".
Amir pauses, his hand resting on his chin as he looks the situation over. As the wizard talks the rogue's line of sight drifst to the young man as the older man cocks an eyebrow, Someone should hmm?
Shaking his head Amir heads to the closest "cell", holding Simin close to the wax and looking to see if anything of its nature jumps out to him...
Kzrira keeps her bow raised watching carefully for anything that moves.
Perception:
Amir's finely tuned sense of smell developed from appraising fine perfumes detects an acrid tone to the wax as if it might be infused with a substance that might burn someone attempting to cut through it or remove in incautiously. The blurry wretch inside as seen through the cell cover peers up blankly and hopelessly at the rogue.
Kzrira keeps a sharp eye out in the dim chamber, lit only with the light you've brought yourself. She spots something odd, two tall dark figures spy on you from around the pillars about midway to the ceiling.
Kzrira points up at the pillars.
We have watchers. One of you magic types might want to shed some light on them.
Kzrira continues to watch the two hiding by the pillars, prepared to shoot should they make any movements that she might consider dangerous. Which, in the case of Kzrira, is probably anything.
Karethas digs in his pouch for a cooper coin. He casts Light on it and asks loudly, "We are looking for an associate of ours, can you help us?" He tosses the coin in front of the pillars in an attempt to light up the shadowy figures.
Kzrira smiles as Karethas brightens the area:
Nice.
Varkata turns to where Kzrira is pointing, hoping her Darkvision will let her see more details, and then watches a light arc in that direction. That works too, I suppose...
She says, "It's be nice if they were friendly for once. "
She says, "It's be nice if they were friendly for once. "
The priestess of Cailean remains characteristically optimistic in the slave pits of Katapesh though it is not to be.
Karethas
Kzrira
Varkata
foe
The radiant coin clatters between the columns and the strangers drop from their vantage point landing with a flutter of their wing-like cloaks expertly balanced on the edges of the cells on either side of Amir. The figures are masked and clad in form fitting black armor like laquered leather that displays a strange gaunt physique. They are masked at least for a moment and then the masks split revealing a horrible insectile head!
Acting without thought, the old rogue ducks beneath a glob of spit. Varkata is not so fast and is hit in the face. It burns and she calls upon her reserves of fortitude as it threatens her sight.
Round 1
Not wanting her companions to take any more hits like the initial spittle, Kzrira steps to the side and then begins to unleash arrows at the bad guys.
5-foot step to B-5.
Attack D-5
Attack-rapid shot:
Damage:
Attack-rapid shot:
Damage:
Attack-rapid shot:
Damage:
Karethas recoils in disgust as the creatures reveal their true form. "Revolting!" Noticing their balancing act, Karethas quickly casts Grease on the ground below one of the creatures and takes a step back.
Varkata curses, "My eyes!", and quickly calls upon the Drunken Hero for aid, causing gallons of water to appear and wash her face and eyes, hoping to remove the acid before any permanent damage occurs.
On instinct Amir steps back to be side by side with Varkata as she struggles, putting distance between the two attacked and avoiding the grease. As the rogue steps back, Amir pulls Sholeh with his other hand and begins to attack...
The rogue lashes out but the angle and chaos cause him to swing wildly with his off hand...
Karethas acts quickly greasing the top of the wax chamber that one creature balances upon. It falls smashing through the seal into the oubliette below. Amir hardly notices as he steps to the side to avoid being flanked. Simin darts past the section of mask now being wielded like a buckler and cuts the armor-like exoskeleton. Then the wax seal beneath his feet gives way.
Intent on red mayhem, Kzrira pays no mind and steps off the safe path to fire at her target. Unfortunately, her shots fly in every direction. Varkata tries to wash away the burning spittle with a gush of conjured water.
Reflex:
Kzrira suddenly realizes the err in her ways and quickly steps back onto the path.
Kzrira quickly jumps back onto the narrow sandstone walkway. Amir barely leaps onto the path before the wax caves beneath his feet leaving the prisoner below screaming as he is sprayed with falling acid leaked from the cell lid.
More panicked screams are heard from the cell where the creature fell. It scrambles out a moment later and attacks Varkata who is attempting to rinse her eyes. A second set of arms emerge below the ones ending in the halves of the mask that hid its insect identity briefly. The lower arms end in long, sickle claws that hack at the cleric. The blinded priestess suffers a critical wound that leaves her bleeding badly.
The other bug man follows Amir slashing with both its razor sharp claws. One darts through his defense spilling blood. [ooc]Amir-11 slash
Round 2
Kzrira calls out. Karethas, back up. Amir and Varkata, focus on one of these bugs.
If Karethas backs up AND Kzrira can still shoot from the passage, Kzrira will back up as well. Otherwise, she will just fire from where she is and risk the AoO.
Attack-rapid shot @D5:
Damage:
Attack-rapid shot @D5:
Damage:
Attack-rapid shot @D5:
Damage:
Her shots are more accurate, and although they do not do much damage.
Karethas pulls out a small piece of root and casts a spell. The others feel the familiar sensation of everything around them seemingly slowing down. The screams of the slaves in the pens linger in the air far too long and the creatures attacks become easier to block or dodge.
Attack-Haste:
Damage:
Amir retaliates, defending himself.
Karethas casts a spell and his allies suddenly move at an astonishing rate. Amir leaves his foe bloodied before stepping back to Varkata's side as she releases a wave of healing energy that spurns the strange bugmen.
Kzrira retreats a step and manages to hit her foe despite the crowded platform. The farthest insectoid falls to the flurry of arrows and she even hits the other before it hurls a glob of acid hitting her in the face.
Fort:
Kzrira closes her eyes as she sees the acid glob lancing toward her, and then cringes as the stuff burns the side of her face.
You will die for that bug.
--------
Round 3
She then once more begins to fire at the annoying multi-limbed creature.
Attack-rapid shot:
Damage:
Attack-rapid shot:
Damage:
Attack-iterative-rapid shot:
Damage:
Attack-haste-rapid shot:
Damage:
Some of her shots are accurate, some not so. Nonetheless, the bug is beginning to look much like a porcupine.
The second creature falls as another pair of arrows pierce it.
Through continued rinsing with water, Varkata's vision is soon restored and the two broken cells are inspected. One contains a pregnant woman, the other a man with an equally bloated stomach. Both prisoners are naked, badly burned by acid and cringing in terror to the point that they are unresponsive to your questions or attempted assistance.
Varkara says, "Not exactly who we were looking for... but they probably deserve better."
Kzrira looks to Karethas:
What were those things? You have any idea?
Karethas looks at the prisoners, "Varkata, try to get them coherent, we need to find out how the slavers safely opened these cells so we can let the others out. Amir and Kzrira, can you see if the professor is in any other cells?
He then goes and studies the bodies of the creatures, thinking back to his studies in Introduction to Extra-Planar Ecology and Professor Bazzard's horrendous class, Arcane Zoology 110.
Indeed the misery endured from Professor Bazzard has paid off in this one small case. Karethas recalls a short paper he came across which spoke of strange creatures dwelling in the undercity. Insectoid, but not extraplanar nor otherworldly like the formian, the author's hypothesis was that they were an offshoot of the great ankheg which burrow beneath fields and the like to ambush and devour the random draft animal or farmer.
Though much smaller and unable to burrow, this more social variety could modify sewers and dungeons to meet their needs. They also had somewhat more developed intelligence and physical adaptations to mimic above ground dwelling humanoids allowing them to make short forays to capture prey. The author, Hafaz perhaps, also asserted that their ability to spit limited amounts of acid, usually to temporarily blind their victims, was evidence of their ankheg ancestry which otherwise seems a bit dubious. The things themselves are immune to the acid which they often incorporate into the structures they create.
Careful inspection determines that there are only three other victims in the cells. Even through the wax seal, you can tell that none resemble the dean. They are as unresponsive to your activity as the two freed captives that are beyond Varkata's ability to heal. In fact, you are repulsed to notice that something is moving in the man's distended gut!
Varkata asks, "Karethas, they wouldn't happen to lay eggs in hosts to reproduce? It would explain the acidic wax seals, and, a mite more urgently, that man's stomach movement... Since I'm rather sure he's not pregnant in the normal way. "
She shakes her head, " The magic to kill a parasite is powerful and I didn't prepare it today... We may be able to save them if we can get them to a temple... But if that one's gut is writhing... I think it may be a little late for him."
Karethas "hrmmph"s quietly to himself. "These creatures have been known to infest sewers, but would not make particularly good guards for a slaver. This suggests more to me that we are either off track or have been purposefully lead astray. We should try the side passage over there to be sure though." He goes and checks on Varkata's progress with the prisoners and seeing the man's gut moving almost loses his breakfast.