Midget? Y'there? Tsakua thinks. Not hearing anything from his new friend, Tsakua brings his arm back, lifting his mace to strike the gem. With a yell, he brings the mace down on the gem, smashing into it with his mace.
Upon striking the gem, a sudden screech rose up from the gem itself, a crack formed where Tsakua's mace struck the gem. The blue magical tendrils that were connected to the frozen ones in the room began to writhe almost in agony. White light was escaping the crack in the gem now.
Harby and Midi wouldn't feel much different, besides the fact they can finally move their eyes. It was an improvement on their current condition at least.
Another solid hit might be enough to break it.
Gritting his teeth at the sound that came from the gem, Tsakua brought his mace down on the gem again.
The gem crack gets larger with the second strike. Surely the next hit will be the final blow needed!
The light from the gem gets stronger and brighter, the blue tendrils are suddenly flailing.
Seems like it's workin', Tsakua thinks. Eyes blinded by the light, he raises his weapon once more. Gritting at the light, he brings the mace smashing down on the gem.
With the last strike everything felt like time began to slow. Everything felt like you were watching it but your own actions were seconds delayed. The gem fractured, the crack splitting the gem in half as light exploded from its core. A deafening reverberating 'boom' exploded as the magic inside imploded upon itself. The explosion threw everyone back.
The magic washed across the room like a tidal wave before receding back to its core. The other prisoners of the trap fell to the ground. The statues crumbling to dust as the frozen bodies decayed at an accelerated rate. Only Midi and Harby were the survivors of the trap. Both falling to the floor.
Suddenly there was an echoing boom outside of the building and the sounds of a roar of some sort.
Jietin jumps at the boom, growling and bringing his weapon to bear. Damnable magic. It's going to be the death of me. He turns at the roar and frowns. And now something else. Here's hoping it's that same dragon. He quickly walks over above the two...creatures that Tsakua just freed. This big brutal-looking bastard of a tiefling towers over them at six and a half feet tall, glaring down. "You have one chance to prove you're not a threat to us. Something big is outside and I got a feeling we're gonna have to kill it."
After the first strike
Midioto sees Tsakua enter his field of vision (which is directly aimed at the gem) and wind up for a strike. --Wait, thats not what I meant when I said "you know you wan...--
CRACK!!
Midioto then panics for a moment, and Harby, tsak and Bree all hear --What happened? Everything went black! Its all Black! Did I die??? Oh, wait, my eyes are closed. They havent done that in...
A few whacks later and the whole thing comes imploding down, and Midioto hits the floor, and collapses in a heap. Then A large, brutish looking Tiefling stands over top of him and starts to make his demands.
Assuming you acknowledge it; --Hang on a moment there buddy. I havnt moved in years and I completely forgot how to... Let me just, umm, drat...--
And Midioto continues to just lay there, sprawled out. Not moving.
--My nose hurts.--
Breewyn had just managed to grab the other scroll, hearing the awful noises arising from the crystal. She turned to Tsakua to say something and was immediately thrown off her feet and backwards. She didn't say anything for several moments, having had the wind knocked from her lungs and dazed. She tried to focus her now muddled thoughts and tried to think to Midioto.
--Hello?-- Immediately only the growling dialog from Jietin was the only thing she heard.
Ishak recovered from the blow over from the gem, getting back onto his feet he quickly moved to Breewyn's side. Bending over he would give her a slight nudge, "You Okay?"
When he would get a response he would help her up to her feet, "Can I see one scroll? I got something to do." He said in a slightly urgent voice. He had no idea that their was a whole other conversation going on, for all he knew, people were going a bit crazy.
Breewyn nodded and handed Ishak one of the scrolls quickly. She had no idea what had just happened, but she trusted the scaly friend as he took the scroll.
Taking the scroll the Kobold would scurry out into the previous room. Deploying a light he would look for Octavian's body. Unfurling the scroll he began reciting the words displayed. The runes would glow in a gold hue as they almost lifted off the page as he read them.
The runes began to pulse in light as they faded when he finished reading the parchment. Letting the others worry about what was within the room and who was in charge of speaking to the others. He knew he might be breaking some trust with the group using a very valuable scroll but it only made sense to do this before the body decomposed.
Octavian's wounds would begin to heal and stitch back together, the magic preparing his body for his soul once more.
Jietin jumps at the mental pressure, rejecting it and roughly grabbing the little creature. "If you try to meddle with my mind I will waste you right here and now, start talking!" He roars.
Tsakua lay on the ground, eyes closed, fingers rubbing the bridge of his nose. Feels like a hammer between the eyes, he thinks, remembering the flash of light that three him back. He kept his eyes closed for a second, waiting for the flashing lights to go away. Hearing the roar outside, he lets out a sigh. "Whose bright idea was if t'come t'this mouldy ol' ruin anyway?" he grumbles aloud. Sitting up, he sees Jietin holding Midioto, and runs over to Harby's side. "Midget Toe, are ye alright?" he asks the gargoyle.
Breewyn manages to dust herself off and then walk over towards Jietin and a small strange looking gnome. She looked around at all the people and things that rapidly crumbled into dust on edges of the room, but the two in the center with Jietin and Tsakua appeared completely fine.
"Which of you is Midioto?" She looked a bit tired, but her tone didn't hold the flatness that her countenance did. If anything it had a somewhat musical lilt to it every now and then.
She did wonder for a brief moment where Ishak scampered off to with the scroll...
Midioto has a dilemma as he gets roughly hoisted into the air and on his feat.
Enchant him? Don't enchant him. Enchant him? Don't enchant him... Midioto finally decides against it as failure could mean having an angry Tifeling ripping his head off while he was practically defenseless. Good news tho, the rough treatment finally clued his brain in on how to move. Somewhat.
So Midioto concentrates.
You guys hear a noise echo around the room, Its Telepathy you dolt. Mind Talking. Can't move, much less talk. And I'm Midioto. Mid-Ee-O-To. a short pause, Yellow one. The Gargoyle is Harby-sause. Release me please?
Midioto weakly waves as his recording sounds off, all the while staring directly at Jietin.
I am Harbaestus. Guardian of the stone, eternal pray to the lawful Irori. My life and my duty had been dull as stone to me, besides my faith on the Master of Masters.
The gargoyle tries to move, feeling his freedom coming back to him.
I am of no threat to you. In fact, my path shines as fate wants it to be walked, and if you're giving me freedom - I shall them guard you. It's the will of the enlightened.
Jietin growls but sets the creature down. "Fine. But if you mess with my head we're going to find out what the inside of yours looks like." He gives a curious glance at the gargoyle. "Are you...a paladin?" He asks tentatively. The concept is ridiculous to him.
Tsakua stood there, confused at what was going on. "So ye're Harpy," he says, pointing to Harbaestus, "And ye're Midget," he concludes, pointing at Midioto. "Well, at least that makes more sense, this fella ain't really very short," Tsakua says with a grin, patting Harby's shoulder. "An' now, m'good friend Midget is free!" he exclaims, lifting Midioto off the ground in a big hug. 's weird, Tsakua thinks, never heard o' th' little guy 'fore now, but I feel like he's one o' m'best friends... Hearing Jietin's comment Tsakua starts thinking...
Harbaestus shakes his head in agreement, and bows respectfully.
The Master of Masters made me his Fist on this land. I'm a Paladin of Irori.
He stands up, tall. He is around 6'5, made of pure stone and looking fairly strong. He's holding a greatsword, and his hands end in sharp claws. Immense stone wings are visible in his back, that he opens, stretching.
... And who are you, my new friends?
Breewyn turns over to the see the massive stone statue-creature and she meekly replies. "I-I, uh, I'm Breewyn. I am a speaker for the celestial bodies..."
She looked rather nervous and fidgeting. She appeared to be a small female gnome, about 3 feet tall, with heavily encircled eyes as if she doesn't get a whole lot of restful sleep. Her dark brown hair is matted and tangled, and she's covered in a dirty longshirt that she has the sleeves ripped from it to make a rudimentary dress for herself and few belongings.
"Jietin. Breaker of skulls." He growls.
Midioto tries once more to make mental contact with Jietin, reaching out to him. Come on you dumb oaf, its easy, just let me in...
If he does make contact, he says to Jietin --Hia big guy. You wanted to see what the inside of my mind looked like? Well here you go.--
And then he talks to everyone (Tsak, Bree and Jietin if he accepts) --Hia guys! Time for a better introduction, I am Midioto, and this is Harby, hes not very vocal, but he is a great listener!-- Midioto uses his hand to indicate the lifeless statue that is nearby.
--Ummm. Not to sound ungrateful, but what are you guys doing here anyways?--
"Doin' here? Well, we were lookin' fer treasure, some gem or somethin' like that," Tsakua says. His eyes light up as thoughts connect in his mind, and he sheepishly puts his mace back into his belt and mumbles, "Yeah, some gem, or somethin'..." his voice trailing off. Scratching the back of his head, the large half-orc scuffs his foot on the ground and looks sheepishly up at everyone else.
"Something wrong Tsa-?" She looked down at the ground and saw the gem fragments littering everywhere. She stood there with her mouth slightly agape for a couple moments before she brought herself out of her revelry. "Well that's unfortunate..." She finally managed to say at last.
Iraldia stood in the doorway with her mutt of a dog Gommie, staring in bewilderment. There seemed to be a part of the conversation that she was missing as her companions answered unheard questions. She watched the exchange silently, not sure how to react.
Gommie sniffs at the air. He limps forward and closes in on the small golden eyed creature. It sniffs it curiously, before licking it's hand. His stump of a tail wagged lightly.
"Could have sworn that statue was just talking...oh well. Let's go find out what's making all of the noise."
The scroll was now inert and Ishak had nothing to show for it. Clearing his throat he hesitated for a moment, rerolling the scroll and hurrying back across the tiles into the room where everyone was occupying, though he couldn't help but stop at Iraldia, giving her a look over then giving her a playful nudge with his hand before scurrying to Breewyn to hand her back the scroll.
"Used it on blue man, he not moving still. I think magic too old? Inert?" he frowned and looked at the situation at hand, though he picked up the piece of the blue crystal, holding it up trying to figure out if it was valuable or not. "Should we keep the blue gem shards?" he inquired to the group.
How easily distracted a kobold can be!
Breewyn thought for a moment. "Can magic get old? Can it spoil?" It was a concept she had never considered before. Magic had always been, well, magic! It's supposed to be panaceas and cure-alls and ultimate cosmic power. It's not supposed to go bad...
She bit her lip some. "Octavian didn't get back up, huh?" She had hoped that he would have returned to them. She then looked back to the blue gem shards. "Not sure what taking the shards would do for us, but if we want to I can help gather them."
A loud coughing sounded from behind as the blue man's limbs suddenly jerked with life. He tried to sit up and fell onto his side as ragged coughs tore out of him. A second later he was coughing up globs of blood and phlem as he tried to clear his lungs from the results of the pierced lung he had received from the constructs. A moment later he had flipped over and was on his hands and knees, coughing up blood and heaving red vomit. Though the magic had healed his wounds the results of those wounds still plagued his body and it was several minutes later before the wizard fell back into a sitting position and looked at the group with a confused expression. "Wha...what happened?"
Midioto gives a look of suprise as he sees another female that he had missed before, and her dog that had just bounded up to him.
reaching out, he connects to her mind.
--Hi. Im Midioto. I havent seen a dog in ages! Whats his name?--
Midioto gives the dog a good head scratching, and he enjoys the feeling immensely.
Midioto then talks to everyone (except the kobold) --Go outside? YES! Can we? Ive been locked up in here for ages. I honestly dont remember what the sun even looks like anymore...--
--But, before that, arnt you guys going to take some of this stuff? I know that I came here for a reason, needed weapons, but that was so long ago...--
He then heads over to inspect some of the scrolls.
Breewyn jerks her head to back where Ishak had come from. "There isn't anything else in that room was there?" She slowly started to scoot towards the door to the other room, hearing the vile noises and curiosity was peaked.
"Shouldn't be, ever'thin' there's dead 'r it's in pieces," Tsakua responds. The relief that was in his voice was pretty obvious, and he was glad no one was upset about him destroying the magical gemstone. He had started wandering around again, and noticed a door on the far side of the room. hmm, he thought, maybe the real magic whatsit's in there...
Ishak looked to the others for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and started putting the gem pieces inside his own satchel. If no one wanted it he was sure going to have his go at the pieces. He looked around the room after he was done and rubbed his chin. [b]"Everyone get what they want? Good stuff here..." He would then move to some of the items and begin shuffling through them, perhaps there might be something of use to him specifically.
He actually started to pack up all the scrolls they would find so far. Finding the ring of protection he inspected it.
He huffed as he placed the ring in his pocket, he wasn't able to discern what the ring was but it definitely was magical.
2x Masterwork Longspear
Masterwork Shortspear
Masterwork Battleaxe
Masterwork Composite Shortbow (+2 Str bonus)
Masterwork Tower Shield
Scroll of Alarm*
Scroll of Resistance*
Scroll of Scorching Ray*
Scroll of Hold Portal*
Scroll of Know Direction*
Scroll of True Strike*
Masterwork Dagger
Masterwork Greatsword
2 x Masterwork Heavy Crossbow
2 x Masterwork Hide
2 x Masterwork Longbow
2 x Masterwork Scale Mail
2 x Masterwork Chainmail
Masterwork Leather Armor
Masterwork Padded Armor
Masterwork Gauntlet
Oil of Light
Potion of Pass without Trace*
Scroll of Entropic Shield*
Potion of Guidance*
2 x Potion of Touch of the Sea*
Potion of Spider Climb*
Masterwork Breastplate
Ring of Climbing*
Ring of Maniacal Devices*
Ring of Protection +1*
Pipes of Haunting* (Knowledge check history can identify this)
Mithril Heavy Shield
+1 Composite Longbow (+1 Str Bonus)
20 Arrows of Fire* (These arrows are distinct from their red tail feathers and red tip.)
The next room was smaller then the previous, though there was an elaborate display right in the center. It looked like the podium itself was hand carved out of the finest marble, depicting several dragons locking hands and twirling around each other with wings overlapping one another. Their heads curled up to spew flames upwards. Their breath joining into one magnificent stand. Upon the stand hovered a small glowing gem. This time this gem was of the deepest purple you ever saw. The room was flooded in its light, giving off a marvelous display.
The room was decorated to match the podium, dragons curling around the pillows and inlaid beautiful gold that adorned the room in accents. Hues of blue were dashed across. The room had a clearer smell to it, almost crisp. The walls seemed to have been painted in some type of moral or story of the people of the city all dressed in some exotic garb, meeting with the dragons and what they seem to be, trading things and conversing with them.
The gem hovered there, the glow pulsing almost like a heart beat.
Tsakua took his time heading over to the new door, eyes wandering over the treasure. Spotting a couple of rings, he tosses them to Ishak. "Any chance ye could tell us what these'n's do?" he asks.
Reaching the new room, Tsakua opened the door and was floored by what he saw. Remembering the trap set off by the previous gem, Tsakua reaches for his mace, and then thinks better of it. "Ye might want t'see this, ev'ryone," he calls out to the room. He shifted uncomfortably, adjusting to the armor he'd picked up out of the treasure and the weight of the crossbow on his shoulder. Leaning on his spear, he took in the architecture of the room, enjoying the craftsmanship.
Jietin grins at his new equipment, taking a swing with the large sword. Much better. He hears Tsakua and strolls over. "What is it, tiny?"
Breewyn wanders over to the piles of armor and stands and looks for a small suit of dense armor. She smiles as she manages to find a smaller set of chainmail and begins to don it slowly, a faint familiarity slowly coming back to her.
Once she had fully donned the armor, she moved around testing it some. It was heavier than she had been used to for a very long time, but it gave her a sense of protection she was sorely lacking for the last couple of days.
Reaching out to grab his spear Octavian used the weapon to push himself to his feet and check the bags at his belt. He found everything intact and looked around once again. He saw that the door behind him was still closed but that all of the statues had been dealt with. Ahead he could see that door was now cracked open and he thought he could hear voices from inside. He stumbles the first few steps as if his muscles were waking up after hours of immobility as the last vestiges of death loose their teeth from his spirit.
Halfway across the room the wizard finally began to walk normally and the butt of his spear thumped solidly into the ground with every step. "HELLO!?"
Tsakua snorted at Jietin's comment, and lifted a hand, pointing at the gem. Looking around the room, he checked for any obvious sign of a trap.
He started to speak, but stopped at Octavian's voice. "Did y'hear that, Grandpa?"
Ishak perked up, hearing the voice he rushed over to the door where Iraldia was standing and pushed the door open, letting light flood the room to show Octavian standing there.
"Blue man alive! Blue man alive! Scroll worked!" At this point the kobold was jumping up and down and waving his arm to try and convey what he was trying to say, as well as getting everyone's attention.
Tsakua kneels down to examine the blue segments of the floor. "Dunno what this stuff is," he mutters to himself, taking a closer look.
His inspection was halted by Ishak's cries. Standing, he turned and stepped back into the treasure room. alive? he thinks, Octavian?
Breewyn slowly turned around when she heard Ishak start chattering about something. When she finally saw him, she looked just a little past him to see a familiar face. "Octavian?" She managed to say, a little smile forming on her lips.