The elf asks glancing around at his new "companions" - mouths stitched shut, adorned in choke collars, or otherwise manacled. "An interesting study in the treatment of prisoners eh? Humane treatment is any treatment the victor deems appropriate. The word hypocritical comes to mind... one final lesson taught by this realm we are being asked to defend and then promptly depart."Amidst the ongoing melee, an incredibly concerned look crosses Eddin's face. As he finishes a particularly brutal slice with his sword, he turns his head toward the elven mage, seemingly unconcerned with the violence at hand. As he strikes blindly at the massive arachnid in front of him with his knife, he shouts to Myth:
"Hey, buddy. Somethin' you said back in the Tower has been buggin' the heck out of me literally forever. I've been rackin' my darn brain for weeks thinkin' about it, and, dang it, I don't think I ever met that "Hugh Maine" guy you mentioned. Not once."
*stab*
"You think he pays cash?"
"No. I think we see all the pay Hugh Maine will ever deign to offer us as it unfolds before our eyes".
Mareth strikes the spider once more irritated with the outcome of this battle.
He turns to the Mage and nods to his armor.
Myth shrugs, "Tomorrow, after rest, I may be able to find a spell that can repair it via magic. Here in these halls without a proper smithy there is no other possible solution to repair it".
Mareth frowns and does his best to don the armor once more. A broken set of armor is better than nothing until the Mage could find a solution. The elf is small enough, perhaps he can be worn as a buckler...
She looks at Mareth's armor with dismay. "Can any here repair these rents, whether by magic or mundane means?"
Geygar shrugs and spreads his hands.
"Sorry Sweetheart. I find, or MAKE, holes in armor. I don't fix them."
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She looks at Mareth's armor with dismay. "Can any here repair these rents, whether by magic or mundane means?"
"You said his armor was rented? Oh man, bud, you are not getting your deposit back."
"No. I think we see all the pay Hugh Maine will ever deign to offer us as it unfolds before our eyes".
"Unfolds before our eyes, eh? I guess that means paper notes only. So... no gold. And here I was getting my hopes up. Dang."
"Shall we push forward? Or does anybody have a recipe for spider?" Chandi's placid mien gives no indication that she is joking.
Kanir looks wistfully at the slain spiders. While the others enjoy the victory, he traces a strange pattern on his leather vambraces with their foul ichor, muttering something under his breath as he does so. He is heedless of any strange looks this may elicit.
Geygar watches Kanir with a raised eyebrow. When the Fetchling finishes his ritual, the rogue shrugs.
"Meh. Takes all sorts." Geygar says sagely. Then he chucks a thumb at Eddin,...
"Even him. I guess."
"Shall we push forward? Or does anybody have a recipe for spider?" Chandi's placid mien gives no indication that she is joking.
"Nah, I'm pretty sure they can't cook. Besides, didn't we just kill the things?"
Geygar moves back to the doorway that the spiders followed him out of,...
:)
Mareth cracks his neck and settles his gaze upon Eddin for an uncomfortably long period. Perhaps the big warrior found the joke funny? Perhaps not, it's hard to tell.
"No. I think we see all the pay Hugh Maine will ever deign to offer us as it unfolds before our eyes"."Unfolds before our eyes, eh? I guess that means paper notes only. So... no gold. And here I was getting my hopes up. Dang."
"Paper notes would be welcome versus the nothing we are receiving".
Geygar rolls his eyes, and waves at the others to be silent,...
Then recalls that if he's doing his job right, they can't see him!
Ash peers back into the room,...
Geygar rolls his eyes, and waves at the others to be silent,...
Then recalls that if he's doing his job right, they can't see him!Ash peers back into the room,...
The cave is empty now, except for a ceiling that is heavily webbed. Ash can see a few web-shrouded forms within, and there are scattered coins on the floor winking among the debris.
"No. I think we see all the pay Hugh Maine will ever deign to offer us as it unfolds before our eyes"."Unfolds before our eyes, eh? I guess that means paper notes only. So... no gold. And here I was getting my hopes up. Dang.""Paper notes would be welcome versus the nothing we are receiving".
Eddin holds one hand up to his ear.
"I think I hear something. Oh, yeah, hey... Yeah, it's the world's smallest violin again. It came back just for you."
"No. I think we see all the pay Hugh Maine will ever deign to offer us as it unfolds before our eyes"."Unfolds before our eyes, eh? I guess that means paper notes only. So... no gold. And here I was getting my hopes up. Dang.""Paper notes would be welcome versus the nothing we are receiving".
Eddin holds one hand up to his ear.
"I think I hear something. Oh, yeah, hey... Yeah, it's the world's smallest violin again. It came back just for you."
"I at least can take solace in that when this endeavor ends, I will be me and you will still be you. Remember the sounds that violin makes while you lay dying as you undoubtedly will be stabbed in the back by some human younger and quicker than you in oh ten or perhaps twenty years in some filthy back alley street of a hovel you humans call cities. In five hundred years I might remember you... but it's unlikely".
Myth pauses as Ash turns about and stares at he and Eddin trading barbs and shrugs.
The cave is empty now, except for a ceiling that is heavily webbed. Ash can see a few web-shrouded forms within, and there are scattered coins on the floor winking among the debris.Geygar rolls his eyes, and waves at the others to be silent,...
Then recalls that if he's doing his job right, they can't see him!Ash peers back into the room,...
Geygar stealthily enters the room, and quickly picks up the scattered coins. Leaving the copper ones for the departed dangling above to bribe their way into whatever afterlife they believed in.
"Waste not, want not!" Ash smirks to himself as he makes his way back out.
As Geygar emerges from the room, he chucks a thumb over his shoulder at the armored spiders lair-room.
"Empty now, unless you count the remains of the occupants previous lunches. I suppose we could torch the webs. MAke sure there are no grown-up baby spiders waiting for us, later." Geygar offers helpfully.
"Otherwise,... shall we?" he asks Chandi, chucking his other thumb at the corridor ahead,...
"Burn the webs. Let's see who else has been down here... or on their way up." Chandi looks around the group. "Don't tell me nobody here is a pyromaniac?"
"Burn the webs. Let's see who else has been down here... or on their way up." Chandi looks around the group. "Don't tell me nobody here is a pyromaniac?"
"I've still got a couple of those little glass bottles, but I'm saving 'em for something important. You'll see what I mean when the time comes."
"I at least can take solace in that when this endeavor ends, I will be me and you will still be you. Remember the sounds that violin makes while you lay dying as you undoubtedly will be stabbed in the back by some human younger and quicker than you in oh ten or perhaps twenty years in some filthy back alley street of a hovel you humans call cities."
"No, no, sad violin. That right there, if that ever happens, which it won't, because I'm just that good... If that ever happens, though, I can absolutely say that it would be the funniest gosh-darned moment of my entire life."
"In five hundred years I might remember you... but it's unlikely".
"Maybe so, but at least I'll die with a smile on my face."
Eddin pauses, looking thoughtful, then gives Myth a sidelong glance.
"You do know what those are, right? You... actually, what was your name again? I can't remember."
Geygar rolls his eyes, as only elves truly can, and digs through his pack with the look of one subjected to Hades eternal torments.
He emerges from his backpack with a common torch, and lights it with a flick of steel on flint.
"Alright ladies. Stand back. It should be pretty, but I doubt it will be fun breathing right here in a moment."
Ash tosses the torch at the nearest bundle of webs, with the casual ease of one who is good at it. (Well, he IS good. At everything. Just ask him!)
And saunters off down the hallway as the webs catch,...
Once the web burns, Chandi will enter the room and examine the wrapped corpses - race, age, any interesting stuff - to see if there is a clue to why they are here, if there's any reason beyond plain adventuring.
---
Myth cocks his head at Eddin and grimaces, "What, what are? If you were not babbling so much we could have a conversation that got somewhere. Feel free to refer to me as Master or Sir". He cracks s small grin and then gestures for Eddin to go first, "Don't let the Rogue collect all of the treasure..." He trails off as Ash throws the torch.
Ash tosses the torch up, with a smirk. The flaming brand hits a stalactite sticking out of the webbing and falls down, smacking him on the head. After a panicked moment beating the cinders out of his hair, Ash hurls the torch angrily into the webbing, catching it on fire. It goes quickly, and several bodies fall out of the inferno, one with a very loud *CLANG*
"Rassin'-Frassin' Sunuva,... Your mother was kindling!" Ash growls, double checking that he got all of the cinders from his hair.
Then Geygar gives the fiery-webbed room another glance. He heard a noise. And this far underground noises meant monsters, or treasure. Or both.
Usually both,...
Chandi and Ash notice the plume of web smoke flows along the ceiling, and vanishes into the eastern wall instead of pooling there. This wall must be illusory as well
Chandi checks out the clanging corpse, hoping that Mareth's issues might be solved.
Chandi checks out the clanging corpse, hoping that Mareth's issues might be solved.
The smoldering body is of a withered Orc, mummified and bloodless. Unlike the common orcs Chandi has seen, this one sports a very nice suit of silvery platemail, with a niello inlay of interlocking spiders along the breastplate, greaves, and vambraces. The helmet is fashioned with a rearing spider atop its crown. Chandi also notices the orc’s tusks are inlaid with gems, and a haversack still sits on its back
Chandi bends to pull the haversack from the corpse. "Mr. Gornn, will this armor suit you? It may serve you until yours is repaired, or perhaps is better. Obviously, its design did not save the wearer from the creatures it worshiped."
She dumps the contents of the haversack on the floor. "Some of you may be interested in this one's dental decor, as well."
"Some of you may be interested in this one's dental decor, as well."
"Dibs on the gem-encrusted teeth. Gems included, by the way, Smart Guy. I'm calling it."
"Rassin'-Frassin' Sunuva,... Your mother was kindling!" Ash growls, double checking that he got all of the cinders from his hair.
"Oh, heck, buddy, you sure can't seem to catch a break. I'll bet the next time you see something shiny, it turns out to be a pit full of sharp, gem-encrusted spikes, and you find out after you jump in. I saw that happen to a guy once. True story."
The sack pours out a stream of large golden coins, much more than the bag should hold. They are strange octagonal-shaped coins, with a spider inscribed on one side, and a head profile of an elven woman with flowing script surrounding her
Drow:
Abyssal:
a few miscellaneous items are mixed in: a coil of silken ropes, a grapnel, a silver pendant of a double axe with enameled red edges on a chain
Knowledge (religion) DC 15
"Rassin'-Frassin' Sunuva,... Your mother was kindling!" Ash growls, double checking that he got all of the cinders from his hair.
"Oh, heck, buddy, you sure can't seem to catch a break. I'll bet the next time you see something shiny, it turns out to be a pit full of sharp, gem-encrusted spikes, and you find out after you jump in. I saw that happen to a guy once. True story."
Geygar arches a thin eyebrow in that infuriating way that only elves seem to be able to do on command.
"Did he find out after he jumped in, or after he was,... helped in? I know, I know, Po-TAY-toe Po-Tah-to,..""Some of you may be interested in this one's dental decor, as well."
"Dibs on the gem-encrusted teeth. Gems included, by the way, Smart Guy. I'm calling it."
"Yeah Yeah, you beat me too it. I'll just count and inventory all of this nice, more-easy-to-spend gold coins here. Less messy." Ash smirks back, eyeing the large flow of gold coins from the small bag.
Geygar casts a practiced eye over the other items as well.
"Interesting. But I think that these may actually come in handy." The elf says as he reaches for the silken ropes and grapple.
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"What a mess. Sorry." Chandi kneels and begins scooping the coins back into the pack.
"Did he find out after he jumped in, or after he was,... helped in? I know, I know, Po-TAY-toe Po-Tah-to,.."
"Nah, the little guy was just stupid. Really, really stupid. Not my fault the dumb dangus saw something so shiny that it made him lose his balance."
Eddin snaps his fingers.
"Seriously, I had to climb all the way down there to pry out the gems and take his coin purse. If he'd had any gosh-danged sense, he would have seen the spikes and climbed down himself. Afterward, all I'd have had to do was wait for him to come back up, and then I could have just grabbed the gems and the coin purse, then shoved the guy back into the pit. Easy. But no, we had to do it the hard way."
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"That reminds me, ever hear the one about the blind guy who fell down a well? He just couldn't see that well."
There are a few other bodies and other debris fallen from the web.
Perception DC 20
"Interesting. But I think that these may actually come in handy." The elf says as he reaches for the silken ropes and grapple.
The rope is some of the finest and lightest Ash has ever felt. And he's done a lot of rope climbing in his time. It seems very strong as well.
The grapnel is covered in flowing Abyssal script, and is created to fold up into a compact ball in flight and spring open when it hits a solid surface. Rows of fishhook-like barbs line the tines
Abyssal
Geygar admires the workmanship of the rope and Grapnel.
He squints at the script on the obviously magical hook, but the writing seems to squiggle painfully out of his focus. Finally he shrugs.
"I don't know what you say. But I got a feeling we're gonna have a good time." He smirks at the hook.
Ash is too busy admiring his new useful toy to pay attention to much else.
Except the bag of overflowing coins.
Kanir looks with some interest at the coins, tracing a finger over the design. ”What manner of folk lived here, I wonder?” he muses aloud. ”Can anyone read the script?”