No action by Suekahn is observed.
Hurgah is next - then Moonpate!
Hurgah looks out at the frozen landscape.
What is this place and how did you get here? he asks Lydia.
Hurgah’s questioning seems to help the shaken Scarab refocus.
“I think, I think it’s some kind of throne room – four chairs for four pharaohs, I think. The chairs surround some kind of pool in the floor back there.”
“The terrain’s fake. An illusion. See how it doesn’t feel cold? Well not see, feel, I mean. It changes very fre—“
As she speaks the frozen landscape beyond the double-doors disappears, replaced by a vast tepid swamp.
“That horrid creature, Suekahn, has moved into this room and sorta lives here now, I think. My sense is he’s trapped in this place, the pyramid I mean. I don’t know how it works, but from what I overheard he needs to kill to gain his freedom."
“I’m pretty sure I was bait—I think I still am. The first thing I remember was he was smearing blood on me with his talons when I woke up. I was in this room. He told me if I tried to leave he would kill me and I should wait for my friends to come.”
A mischievous look falls across the wizard's face and his mouth contorts as he shouts in the whooshing sounds of Auran:
"Ilma aello! GRAB THAT CLOUD!!!"
Then, Overhearing the Mithral Scarab's explanation to Hurgah:
"Didn't Halstadt say his faith-leaders sent him to find Ahn'Sehlota to stop an evil from escaping? Suekahn has to be it!"
Suddenly distracted by Lydia's wounds, he adds, "What did he do to you child?"
-----
OOC: Gandel is next and then the Scarab to finish the round.
For no particular reason:
Anu waited in silence as the men slowly gathered. The older slaves would tell their stories, but none of it mattered. He was just glad to be able to finally rest his muscles after a rough day’s labour. The moon was beautiful tonight. But he did have to admit, the two old men had attracted something of a crowd as they waited for their rations.
“Listen, I’m telling you what I heard,” said the first.
“You didn’t see nothing,” said the second
“Exactly – I didn’t see anything. It’s what I heard.”
“And what did you hear then?”
“It was a voice – an empty voice, kinda like the wind.”
“Kinda like the wind?” interrupted Anu sharply. “Or exactly like the wind, cause that’s probably all you heard.”
“It wasn’t the wind. In case you ain’t notice the wind's been dead for days. If it weren’t you’d need to take cover from the stinging sand. But you’re too green to know that yet.”
“Now that you mention it,” said the second. “Khymrasa has been awful lucky with the weather these last few weeks.”
“Luck ain’t got nothing to do with it I tell you,” said the first. “They say she’s hired the Sand Sage, remember? I bet you he controls the weather around here. Now quit changing the subject. This is about what I heard. Not about some wizard for hire.”
“Okay, okay then – what did this mystery voice of yours say?”
“Well I couldn’t make it out exactly, but it sounded like two words. They were spoken slowly and they sounded like they was comin from below, from the bottom of the excavation pit.”
“Yeah?” The men were interested now.
“The first was - well I’m not sure exactly: Ahn Sells anofa.”
“What the &*$# is that?” said Anu.
“Well I said I didn’t know, but it was the second word that got me.”
And?” asked the second.
“The voice was saying ‘Enter’”
“Enter? Are you sure?”
“Yeah – I’m positive.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Yeah.”
“I dunno,” reflected the second. “It sounds a bit like the type of crazy you might hear if you was digging up a pyramid that...
A Fantasy Vacuum Cleaner
Look forward to reading what you all come up with.
On hearing Moonpate’s command, the translucent hand floating in the shaft springs to life. It flies over to the song tube where Xerissa was just moments before. As it does so, it transforms into a large spinning circle, not unlike the head of a windmill or perhaps a turbine.
It spins backwards.
Faster.
Faster.
The song tube begins to squeal with an ear-splitting high pitched squeal as air is sucked out of the tube.
A few moments later, Ilma aello has results.
A purple vapour slowly drifts out of the tube, trapped in the suction of the elemental’s backdraft. Ilma aello greedily sucks up the vapour trapping the cloud within her sphere, holding it in place as she churns it around, again and again.
The net-effect is a whirling purple sphere.
"Well, well, well."
"Just who do we have here?" asks the Potentate.
Gandel knows that without any specific commands, his summoned creature will simply hunt around for any foes to attack. He's confident if Suekahn should reappear Ambriel will strike. Until then, it will just amble around trying to find him without straying too far.
The Mithral Scarab detaches herself from Hurgah and stands ready, collecting herself.
She takes advantage of Moonpate's sudden distraction by the sudden purple cloud abduction to avoid answering his question.
"Wha? What is that?"
Assuming we really need this. . .
Suekahn Vents his Multi-Millennial Rage on the Dune Squad - Round 10
Initiative Order:
On Delay:
In Action:
"Wha? What is that?"
"That, I believe, is someone or something under the mystical effects of a potion of gaseous form - encased in a cage of air, courtesy of my loyally conjured air elemental, Ilma aello."
"As for just who that someone is, I believe we will find out the answer to that, when the gaseous form runs out."
"As my Master says, you can't read tea leaves on a Wealday, while the tea is still to be drunk."
-
No, unfortunately this chamber is rune-free. That in itself is quite unusual when contrasted to the rooms in the pyramid's upper level.
WIth his newly gained light source, Gandel can see there are three exits from this small square room - not including the tube he descended from.
The room also has a bas relief in the south wall - it is another firefly bug - one matching the relief in the room where the rest of the Dune Squad is up above.
Donkor, can you use your divine sight to see what is beyond the small sand wall there? If the fiend put it there, he may want to keep us from something we can use to our advantage. Hurgah says, indicating the sand wall in the south-east corner.
The Return of the Eye
Donkor places The Eye of Sooron beyond the barrier of strangely compacted sand and peers into it to see what he can see.
The Eye of Sooron:Inside is a small square chamber . The room is unoccupied. The chamber itself is rather unimpressive, lacking murals, hieroglyphics, or other décor. Inside is a squat wooden table surrounded by four modest but comfortable chairs. A ceramic Osirion tea set sits on the table, the cups empty.
There are no entrances or exits to this chamber (other than the small doorway blockaded by the wall of sand).
Based on Donkor’s snapshot, it is difficult to see what all the fuss over this room could be. There is no sign of danger or treasure.
Donkor calls back to Hurgah: "I didn't see anything that would help, just simple furniture, but I hear what you are saying. Perhaps there is more to the room than it appears."
The spider continues to search without success.
That takes us to Breach, Xerissa and Hal.
Too true, he would be rather busy, teleporting fiend and all, but I nonetheless prefer to blame it on the rain, because that's what Milli Vanilli would have done.
Big Hurgah also moves closer to the captured gas cloud, axe ready.
The room also has a bas relief in the south wall - it is another firefly bug - one matching the relief in the room where the rest of the Dune Squad is up above.
"Alright, Trapspringer, is the lass really up there?! I'll know if yer lyin' so ya better tell me straight!" He glares at him with one raised eyebrow.
A familiar voice echos down the shaft in answer.
"I'm here Breach! I'm here! Are you OK?"
-
Sounds like a reasoned deduction, but it certainly doesn't sound like anything the beetle would ever do.Uh, I mean "No comment".
-
Sounds like a delay, which takes us to Hal!
-
I might have.Delay it is. Check!
"Lydia! Glad you are well! My friends make your way down, there are several tunnels to explore down here".
Big Hurgah also moves closer to the captured gas cloud, axe ready.
The above happens,
As eyeballs it closely, Hurgah thinks the cloud is showing signs of solidifying. Every now and then he sees flashes of what might be the outline of a limb or a head. But then again, perhaps that's just a natural product of every humanoid's predictive tendency to see shapes in clouds, or patterns in randomness, even where there are none.
“We’ve got a situation up here now!” calls the Potentate in answer to Halstadt’s echoing call from below. “Ilm-aello has captured a gas cloud, possibly a passenger from the potion room way above us.”
“I’m not yet sure if it’s Suekahn or not.”
To Hurgah, Karek, Xerissa and Donkor he adds, “Truly our band were ever cursed be split in twain. What should we do now?”
Following Halstadt's voice, the Mithral Scarab makes her way to the edge of the deep shaft near the center of the mosaic-covered chamber, but stops when she sees there is no obvious way down. Looking over the side she can see Gandel encircled by his dancing lights far below.
At this point everybody is either on delay or making adjustments to their positioning, unless somebody does something significant, I’d be much happier to call the combat. These are things we can do outside of initiative and I’m not sure how many more “does nothing yet” posts I can come up with. But if somebody has a plan that needs round control, don’t hesitate to let me know. For now we’ll go one more round. . .
Suekahn Vents his Multi-Millennial Rage on the Dune Squad - Round 11
Initiative Order:
On Delay:
In Action:
A familiar voice echos down the shaft in answer.
"I'm here Breach! I'm here! Are you OK?"
Quickly snapping his attention to the sound of the voice, his heart beginning to race as his hopes begin to rise. "Lass?" Breach moves to the bottom of the tube. "LYDIA LASS?! IS THAT YOU?! HA-HA! THANK TORAG! BY THE...? HOW DID YOU...? WHAT DID...? OHHHH I'LL TALK TO YA MORE WHEN YA GET DOWN HERE! ONE O' YOU LUG HEADS GET HER DOWN HERE NOW! My voice is startin' ta crack." Looking to Gandel, Breach glares at him a moment before a large grin forms. "She's alive, Trapspringer! Alive!" He moves over and grabs the halfling in a massive dwarven hug. Eventually letting him go and allowing him to breathe again, Breach moves back to the tube, awaiting Lydia's arrival.
-
OK! We are out of initiative.
Folks can now do as they please - just send me your actions.
If anyone is still worried about spell durations or other such things, just let me know what you want to accomplish before whatever it is you are worried about runs out.
Meanwhile,
Moonpate appears to be engaged in a duel of sorcery. Ilma-aello's time in the material plane begins to grown short and the wizard is doing his utmost to hold her here while she continues to imprison the purple cloud of mist.
At the same time the mist appears to be trying to hang together as long as it can. Perhaps, it bears the hope that once the elemental vanishes, it can make its escape.
The room goes eerily silent, save for the dull hum caused by the continuous churning of Ilma-aello's revolving sphere of air.
Quickly snapping his attention to the sound of the voice, his heart beginning to race as his hopes begin to rise. "Lass?" Breach moves to the bottom of the tube. "LYDIA LASS?! IS THAT YOU?! HA-HA! THANK TORAG! BY THE...? HOW DID YOU...? WHAT DID...? OHHHH I'LL TALK TO YA MORE WHEN YA GET DOWN HERE! ONE O' YOU LUG HEADS GET HER DOWN HERE NOW! My voice is startin' ta crack." Looking to Gandel, Breach glares at him a moment before a large grin forms. "She's alive, Trapspringer! Alive!" He moves over and grabs the halfling in a massive dwarven hug. Eventually letting him go and allowing him to breathe again, Breach moves back to the tube, awaiting Lydia's arrival.
-
"Fantastic!" she calls down the shaft towards the embracing halfling and dwarf. "But how did you guys even get down there?"
Meanwhile,
Moonpate appears to be engaged in a duel of sorcery. Ilma-aello's time in the material plane begins to grown short and the wizard is doing his utmost to hold her here while she continues to imprison the purple cloud of mist.
At the same time the mist appears to be trying to hang together as long as it can. Perhaps, it bears the hope that once the elemental vanishes, it can make its escape.
The room goes eerily silent, save for the dull hum caused by the continuous churning of Ilma-aello's revolving sphere of air.
Question: Would it be possible for Ilma to hold the purple cloud and yet have someone ride down the shaft on the swirling ball of air (just had a vision of some avatar air bender mojo). We need to get down while we can. Also, if the earth elementals are still around, I would like them to plug the entrance to the tube that our purple visitor came through, maybe with some of the sand. We can unplug later if needed, but that might keep others from following us.
"Karek, Hurgah, prepare to grapple whomever this purple cloud turns out to be. It looks like it will materialize very soon and we should be prepared. Of course, we could also just have great Ilma hold it over the shaft and let it go if it turns out to be one of those devil monks. Yes, that would seem most fitting."
Question: Would it be possible for Ilma to hold the purple cloud and yet have someone ride down the shaft on the swirling ball of air (just had a vision of some avatar air bender mojo). We need to get down while we can.
-
You think so - and so does she, tricky but doable. But if so, she should do so quickly as she won't be with us too much longer.Also, if the earth elementals are still around, I would like them to plug the entrance to the tube that our purple visitor came through, maybe with some of the sand. We can unplug later if needed, but that might keep others from following us.[/ooc]
-
Cool idea. They are not doing anything right now and could certainly take care of that. If I have it right, both elementals were cast with an extended metamagic boost from Donkor's spell so they will be around several rounds still. There is plenty of sand for them to work with. on hearing Moonpate's commands in Terran, The Shaz-am bros get to work on that right away.
Hurgah secures his axe across his back and flexes his massive enlarged hands, waiting for the right moment to re-enter rage and bring out his claws and fangs.
"Fantastic!" she calls down the shaft towards the embracing halfling and dwarf. "But how did you guys even get down there?"
Arching an eyebrow, Breach scratches his beard as he's unsure how to properly explain that. Shrugging,
Karek and his personal cleric companion Donkor will examine the firefly relief. Karek will touch it and see what happens.
Karek and his personal cleric companion Donkor will examine the firefly relief. Karek will touch it and see what happens.
-
Nothing happens - sorry to disappoint.Though I suppose Karek does need to make a DC 16 Will save.
Unless, of course, as he anticipates a beneficial effect he voluntarily wishes to fail his save?
"Karek, Hurgah, prepare to grapple whomever this purple cloud turns out to be. It looks like it will materialize very soon and we should be prepared. Of course, we could also just have great Ilma hold it over the shaft and let it go if it turns out to be one of those devil monks. Yes, that would seem most fitting."
-
Perhaps it is due to the sight of Hurgah preparing his terrible claws, or perhaps due to the earth elementals' clogging the purple cloud's escape route, or perhaps it was Moonpate's threat of suspending the vapor cloud over the shaft, but the cloud seems to end its struggle and almost appears to slump in defeat.
Breach has kindly reminded me that he failed a poison save back there - kudos for being forthright. With his hardy constitution the effect is only making its way through his circulatory system only now. Unfortunately, once it does, it proves to be potentially rather deadly.
And then he immediately requires a second DC 23 Fortitude save as the poison grows worse. He does though have a dwarven racial bonus to poison which could prove handy.
Breach grimaces in pain as he suddenly feels sick, and far weaker. His face going far paler than normal, "Oh crap. The demon's stinger got me, Trapspringer. It's poison's runnin' through me." Breach grits his teeth as it courses through his system, "C'mon you blasted body! You're a dwarf! Don't let some pansy demon poison be the death o' ya!"