Cautiously, "You want to go instead of them, Roshan?"Samirah looks to Roshan. "You could certainly make it there without attracting attention..." she says, sounding thoughtful. "But you would go alone? Would you want someone from our group to go with you?"
Roshan shrugs, gestures:
Chancre puts his finger to his nose. He takes a drink from a flask. "I'm sorry we weren't able to kill Staunton all the way. Hopefully next time we can do it better."
Míril signs back to Roshan and Samirah.
"You are both useful here." Samirah says, rolling her eyes as she signs. The eyeroll isn't sarcastic punctuation; she's smiling while she says it. "But I understand your point."
"I feel as though it would be better to have someone watch your back while you travel, Roshan, and you do work very well together." Assuming Roshan has made his choice, Samirah hands him an unassuming bag, after first emptying it of a lot of ridiculously flashy jewelry and maybe a few gems. And then draws her scimitar from it. She grins, shaking it a little to make sure she didn't leave anything inside it. "I do not know the limits of what this can carry, but it has been fun to play with so far. It would be of use if you decide to pick anything up from Kenabres."
"I do not know the limits of what this can carry, but it has been fun to play with so far. It would be of use if you decide to pick anything up from Kenabres."
Roshan signs again to the group at large, obvious question on his face.
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"Thank you for doing this for us." She says, and signs. "If you could, please find me a whip. I will need to speak with someone who knows a bit about enchanting, but I do not expect you to do that on my behalf." She thinks for a few moments. "For now, I think that is all I am in need of."
Míril signs to respond to Samirah.
"It's not just that I hurt my friends. I am still under that vampire's control, even though he is destroyed. I can feel the leash still there, waiting for a new master to take it. I'm an automatic liability if we run into another bloodsucker."
Samirah tilts her head and searches Miril's eyes with her own.
Her sign is emphatic.
"I see no reason you should move forward with the fear that you are leashed, as that simply leaves you more open to whoever would try to overcome your will in whatever battles we face in the future." The sign is more emphatic. "We are free. You are free. And if you succumb again, we will kill the vampire and free you before you cause too much mischief. The same as you would do for me, or anyone else here." At the end of this, she finally smiles.
"Thank you for doing this for us." She says, and signs. "If you could, please find me a whip. I will need to speak with someone who knows a bit about enchanting, but I do not expect you to do that on my behalf." She thinks for a few moments. "For now, I think that is all I am in need of."
Roshan nods. Mouths three single syllable words in Samirah's direction with perhaps just the hint of a smirk.
"I see no reason you should move forward with the fear that you are leashed, as that simply leaves you more open to whoever would try to overcome your will in whatever battles we face in the future." The sign is more emphatic. "We are free. You are free. And if you succumb again, we will kill the vampire and free you before you cause too much mischief. The same as you would do for me, or anyone else here." At the end of this, she finally smiles.
Roshan nods, his expression softening perceptibly. He signs, "Yup. Don't worry girl. We got your back." He also flashes what you are sure was meant to be a reassuring smile.
With Roshan and Miril's brave sacrifice, the five paladins hand over the collection of war plans as well as two copies of Irabeth's report. As the pair disappears into the gloomy fog that blankets Drezen, the remaining grout is able to head back into the citadel.
Before the group heads back down to the dungeon to find Aron (and possibly the Sword of Valor), the check out the one corner of the ground level that was bypassed the previous day. Although they find no living (nor undead) lurking, just below the demon catapults which kept Kenabres's army at bay, you find an odd tableau - a room which a dozen dead tielflings, bodies left carelessly on one side of the room while the heads are carefully piled one on top the other.
Down stairs the prison and the entrance to the hidden forge seems the same as when you left the night before.
"Do you hear that?" Konstantin asks.
Venobya offers a small squawk.
"I know you hear it. I was speaking to Chancre."
Venobya ruffles her feathers, somehow conveying she is so much farther above this.
"I do," Chancre says. "I wonder how many verses there are to that song. I only know a few."
At the information of the tieflings, Konstantin frowns. "Execution or sacrifice, do you think?"
Roshan nods. Mouths three single syllable words in Samirah's direction with perhaps just the hint of a smirk.
For a moment, it seems like she's about to explain what she might intend using a whip for, but merely inclines her head and returns what may be a mischievous grin. "Thank you, Roshan."
"If you know any ladies who want to have babies, then send them down to me!" Samirah's voice is strong and clear, and she sounds delighted. "I know that one! But perhaps, Chancre, this is not the place for it?" She jerks her head towards the pile of bodies he was clearly blurting at.
As she takes a closer look at the bodies, and Konstantin asks his question, she drops her hands to her hips. "This looks too neat for a sacrifice, given what we saw yesterday in our time here."
"Execution and sacrifice is my guess."
"The pile of heads makes more sense to me as a sacrificial offering."
"I am not any kind of expert on the whims of gods, but is not the idea of sacrifice to give up something you want or need to gain the favor of a deity? If you give them something you were going to kill anyway, is this not an insult?" Konstantin shakes his head. "This is one of many reasons I avoid entanglements with the ethereal."
"The concept of the unwilling sacrifice comes up in the context of evil and chaotic deities."
Aravashnial shakes his head, "And the good deities ask for willing sacrifices. Makes you wonder why we have to bother with them at all."
"Perhaps because the good ones encourage you to find strength within yourself to improve?" Sosiel asks.
A little bit of thought (or discussion for the more verbal among you) is enough to remember the friendly if charmed man in the prison. Who based on the strength of his voice is still doing okay.
None of the demon bodies remain except as black smears on the granite. Stauton and the minotaurs still lay where they fell the day before. The alcove to the north reveals no exits but to the south a pair of double doors encourages you onward.
Aravashnial shakes his head, "And the good deities ask for willing sacrifices. Makes you wonder why we have to bother with them at all."
"We don't."
None of the demon bodies remain except as black smears on the granite. Stauton and the minotaurs still lay where they fell the day before. The alcove to the north reveals no exits but to the south a pair of double doors encourages you onward.
Arcana
Spellcraft
Closely examining the wall, the runes seem to be a physical binding for an inactive portal or gate, making it so that a permanent resonance can be set up between the Drezen basement and an elsewhere.
While you can't pick up quite enough from the rune to determine the elsewhere, you do see a name: Aponavicius featured in the runes.
Aponavicius is the marilith general who (until recently) commanded from the captured dwarven citadel Drezen. She is one of the two most powerful demonic warlords in the Worldwound (with the Storm King being the other) and far more blood thirsty.
Most of the stories of her focus on her reptilian single minded focus and her weapons skill.
Konstantin reveals the contents of the previous post's spoiler to those present.
"We should free the swashbuckler and bring him back to camp once we find Aron." Samirah says, seeming inclined to follow the inappropriate singing downstairs. "I am not opposed to bringing him with us while we search for Aron, either. But if anyone here is opposed, I would be happy to take him back to camp to rest outside of this dungeon while we continue our search."
]
"We should free the swashbuckler and bring him back to camp once we find Aron." Samirah says, seeming inclined to follow the inappropriate singing downstairs. "I am not opposed to bringing him with us while we search for Aron, either. But if anyone here is opposed, I would be happy to take him back to camp to rest outside of this dungeon while we continue our search."
"He appears to be in good spirits where he is, but whatever you choose to do is fine with me."
"I should not have left him there yesterday, addled and apparently cheerful though he is. I would not leave someone in a cage unless they had proven they deserved to be there." Her eyes are hard and voice is firm.
She's clearly guilty about leaving him there for the night and, given her history, not pleased with any hint of suggestion that he should stay there any longer.
She makes her way downstairs to release the man and does not wait for someone to join her in doing so.
"He can come with us," Chancre says. "And I won't even check his teeth for fangs."
"He can come with us," Chancre says. "And I won't even check his teeth for fangs."
She hesitates before answering. "I think it would be acceptable for you to check for fangs." She says, very seriously.
"He kinda got bent out of shape about it yesterday. Might go over better if you suggest it."
"Have you found fangs on anyone?"
Chancre frowns. "Not yet. But I'm the best situated to handle a vampire bite."
Samirah makes her way down the stairs, head held high and looking a little... miffed. She manages to soften her expression when she comes up to the swashbuckler's prison.
"I am here to bring you back to our camp, outside of this... dungeon." She looks the man over, doing what little observing she can to make sure he's not going to try and kill her the second she opens the door.
"I like the song you were singing, by the way. A tavern favorite." She smiles, eyes crinkling in the corners.
Going through the door off the southern alcove, your eyes are assulted by the intense red light of the massive hall. Swaths of pulsating red lichen illuminate this long, 30-foot-high, alcove-lined hall. The alcoves themselves display elaborate, colorful murals of demonic entities, each with inscriptions chiseled into the stone below them. At the far end of the hall stands a massive iron framework that displays a red banner emblazed with Iomeadae's longsword emblem.
One of the alcoves is larger than the others. This one contains a small shrine devoted to Deskari, and includes a lifelike statue of the insectoid demon lord.
Right next to the entrance where you stand at the base of the hall, there is another door leading deeper into the demon crafted area of Drezen.
Konstantin has a look at the murals, going deeper into the room, and will reveal the info under the spoilers.
"I like that." She says, smiling. Though a few moments later, the smile fades slightly. "It is sometimes hard to see the beauty in the world. In particular, I have found myself to have trouble in dark, closed places. Where there is no way to see the sun." Embarrassment creeps into her voice. "I do not like to admit it. If you find yourself in the dark, the cold places of the world... what would you sketch?"
"True darkness is hard." Sosiel says seriously, "It is front and center in a number of theories as to why Dou-Bral lost himself."
"Removing any of your senses is terrifying." He continues after a moment, "Finding yourself in those moments, centering yourself is what lets you search outside." He shakes his head, "One of the final tests I chose to undertake as an acolyte before I came to Kenabres was darkness. I'm a painter, so removing my sight would take away my art, take away my connection to the divine."
"In that darkness, I pulled up memories and I let my hands draw what they would." He smiles, "The brothers never did let me see what I drew, but I knew it was art nonetheless."
The singing is indeed louder and clearer as you get closer, although it does fade out on a particularly bolsterous note as he notices footsteps approaching. Happily for Samirah, the group had been able to leave the door to his cell open... because the chain about one of his wrists did a fine job of keeping him from wandering and his rapier from reach.
"I am here to bring you back to our camp, outside of this... dungeon." She looks the man over, doing what little observing she can to make sure he's not going to try and kill her the second she opens the door.
"I like the song you were singing, by the way. A tavern favorite." She smiles, eyes crinkling in the corners.
"Can't go wrong with the classics." He says with a cheeky grin. "Does my release from cruel bondage," managing to insert just enough humor into his tone that the words don't sting, "mean that you've slain the white-haired beauty that sent me to this early purgatory?"
"Oh good. A trap," Konstantin mutters, looking at the velvet banner of the Sword of Valor.
"The banner is illusionary and contains a phantasmal killer. I can temporarily disable it, but it will take significant stores of energy to do so. Let us return to it after exploring the rest of this place. Perhaps one of us can think of a more creative way around it in the meantime."
Konstantin has a look at the murals, going deeper into the room, and will reveal the info under the spoilers.
"Wishful thinking," Chancre says. "Or artistic license?"
"...and I am in agreement about the banner with the trap. No real desire."
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"Oh good. A trap," Konstantin mutters, looking at the velvet banner of the Sword of Valor.
"...and I am in agreement about the banner with the trap. No real desire."
Samirah nods, giving the banner a once over and seeing absolutely nothing out of place with it. "I would be happy to destroy whatever is inside of it, but yes, after we are finished with our other business."
When Samirah looks over the murals, her nose wrinkles in disgust.
"We should destroy these."
"True darkness is hard." Sosiel says seriously, "It is front and center in a number of theories as to why Dou-Bral lost himself."
"Removing any of your senses is terrifying." He continues after a moment, "Finding yourself in those moments, centering yourself is what lets you search outside." He shakes his head, "One of the final tests I chose to undertake as an acolyte before I came to Kenabres was darkness. I'm a painter, so removing my sight would take away my art, take away my connection to the divine."
"In that darkness, I pulled up memories and I let my hands draw what they would." He smiles, "The brothers never did let me see what I drew, but I knew it was art nonetheless."
Samirah waits for a minute to respond, taking real effort to process Sosiel's response. She seems comforted and slightly more relaxed.
"How long did you have to stay in the dark?"
"Can't go wrong with the classics." He says with a cheeky grin. "Does my release from cruel bondage," managing to insert just enough humor into his tone that the words don't sting, "mean that you've slain the white-haired beauty that sent me to this early purgatory?"
"We have not slain her, we chose instead to take her prisoner and she will await a trial." She responds in a friendly fashion. "If she doesn't figure out a way to escape first."
She leans against the cage. "I would be happy to release you from this cruel bondage, if you are ready to leave it." She cocks her head, and although the smile is still there, her eyes are searching his. "The white-haired beauty... you know she is at odds with our reclamation of Drezen? We must put her on trial before we determine her fate, and we would need to keep the two of you separate until that happens." She says this kindly, not sure of the relationship between the two of them.
"We can unconsecrate them to Deskari. Or we could just destroy them. I'm not picky. But maybe better done on our way back."
Turning to the alcove with Deskari's shrine (about halfway down the long hallway) Konstantin pulls himself twenty feet up the wall, claws managing to find minute secure points. One hand reaches up and wedges a claw in a nearly invisible crack, forcing open the door which swings out high in the alcove. The red light from the hall reveals little of the dark room beyond until you get up to the opening.
In the room beyond Konstantin finds himself on a high ledge that runs about half of the circular room. Yen get below is a ledge that follows the full curve of the room from not-secret-door to not-secret-door. Between the doors, sitting on the floor of the took, another ten feet below the ledges, is a life-sized marilith statue, her arms positioned to attack intruders through the doors.
The room has a bright, alost acid smell.
"Anything interesting in there?"
"A marilith statue. Though my suspicious nature says it will come to life to attack, it does not appear to be magical. There is a point of latent magic in here, however."
A bit of a self-directed laugh, "It felt like forever, but it was only few days." He pauses maybe realizing how that sounds, "I didn't have to stay, and I knew there were others checking on me to make sure I was alright, but that was how long it took until I knew that art was something that was mine."
"You shouldn't do that. She a very nice, giving person. Now she got upset with me for no reason and sent me to be blood-sucker food but you can't hold things like that against a beautiful woman." He smiles rakishly at Samiarh, "Just like I'm happy to forgive you leaving me chained here for your protection."
"The door from the main room should be safe," Konstantin notes. "Or you could climb up here with me."