Kyrax stops is footwork and puts the black blade away. We are not slayers of children, even children of our enemy. Stand and answer our questions and you will be safe from us.
The Goblin relaxes a little at Noya's words, then bounds to its feet at Kyrax' growl -- and presses its back against the cage, making itself as wide as it can. Even in the depths of terror, tears and snot running down its face, the Goblin is doing its best to shield the little yapping creatures behind it.
"Gammer answer, boss!" the creature shrills, trembling with terror. "Gammer answer! Truth! No kill, no kill!"
Raina steps forward to help Arma up.
She addresses the goblin while holding her dagger in a non-threatening manner. "Fear not, your babies are safe here."
"No!" the Goblin shrieks, trembling so hard that the whole cage shakes, causing the babies to yap and howl even louder. " Gammer not stay here! Babies not stay here! Leaving! Please boss, no make stay! Bad stuff coming! Crazy Bangu-Bangu comes back; bigjob bad longshanks Wizard comes down for revenge! Bad stuff! Please, we leave! We go far away here! "
"She fears for her children. Let us move from here immediately. We can get our information as we go."
Looking back at the goblin.
"Sound fair to you?" Raina puts her dagger away now.
"You want go? Yes! Dandy! Good journey!" the Goblin says, fairly dripping relief. The green-skinned creature tries to smile, but the expression is rather ruined by all the teeth and the residual terror.
Pontia sneers at the whining goblin beldame. "Go, then. Take your brats with you." She turns away, then snaps back to the goblin. "Wait. Where is Bangu-Bangu now, you puling pustule?"
Noya asks some questions
"What's Bangu-Bangu?
Who is bigjob bad longshank?
Why does the Wizard comes down for revenge?"
Gammer falls on her face and kowtows to Pontia.
"Up the stairs!" she shrills. "He gone crazy! He said, 'I have revenge on Wizard who steals my treasure!' Crazy! Bad-crazy! He went up the stairs in the back, went through the Wizard-door! Him and his guard!"
The Goblin starts to cry. "Bangu-Bangu bigjob head Goblin, now old bigjob Goblin dead. Him talks to gods, gods gives him magic. Good magic, at first, but then bigjob bad Wizard comes. Talks to Bangu-Bangu, makes deal. We guard Wizard-door, Wizard keeps his longshank guards in tower, Goblins not go in, no Goblins get killed. Bangu-Bangu changes. Take new name. Talk to voices in dark, goddess instead of Goblin gods. Crazier and crazier, meaner and meaner! Old trick is best, but Bangu-Bangu says 'kill' instead of 'steal. Bad-crazy longshanks Wizard makes Bangu-Bangu bad-crazy!
Gammer goes," she sobs. "Gammer saves the babies. The others - they bugger off without us! Bangu-Bangu said, 'Kill yourselves while I'm away! Kill yourselves for the goddess!' The others ran! They didn't wait for the babies!"
Pontia nods once in satisfaction. "You heard her. Let's go. I would see this 'Wizard-door' for myself."
Raina looks sharply at Pontia when she hears the venom in her voice. She remains silent for now and follows the party to the wizard door that was mentioned.
Zhu has difficulty understanding everything the goblin says, but he gets the gist of it. He says to his allies, "What she says... is surprisingly close to some of Aniseed's readings!
"Robert, she told you that the Red Debbuls and the wizard were connected, but are not anymore. Also, some sort of arcane knowledge and madness caused them to split apart. If the wizard did something to this 'Bangu-Bangu' to change his mind or spirit -- as this goblin says -- that would make sense."
He pauses to recall something else. "And she told me that the writer of the note was greedy, and was facing a problem that needed the correct tools to be dealt with. Normal goblins do not write such notes, you told me, but it seems Bangu-Bangu is not a normal goblin. The wizard is his 'problem,' and we are the 'correct tools.' He may have written the note to goad us into killing the wizard for him."
Arma with Raina's help stands after pulling the corpse from her body... She looks over to the goblin as the others start talking to it trying to gather information and somewhat listening as the creature worriedly shouts its want to protect the babies it had been shrieking on about in answer to their questions and demands.
"Thank you Miss Raina..." She raises her visor and smiles as she looks around at the others noticing not a wound upon any of them. She attempts to gather her shield and such but purposefully avoids looking at her cracked and damaged pauldron just yet as Raina examines the wound. She picks up her crossbow as the conversation continues. But when Pontia finishes speaking she lowers her backpack and with her uninjured arm rifles through it for a moment.
After Zhu speaks she finds what she has been looking for. "Gammer... Here..." Arma's tone is calm and pleasant as she can make it while she tosses over 2 of her rations with her currently uninjured arm. "Gammer... Are you well enough to take good care of your babies? Do you need healing?" Looking to the wounds on Gammer and noticing Raina still looking at her own that she had avoided examining herself she keeps looking with a friendly if strangely muted smile to the goblin.
She stands and finally looks to the pauldron. She spends some time looking from that point though and seems to be examining it quite interestedly. Almost distractedly she looks from her arm to the remains of the pauldron near the floor. She picks up the piece of broken armor with her wounded arm as she looks between them. "I... I will be fine Miss Raina... I am ready to go..." Her voice seems very confused but still again level in tone.
"No writing," the Goblin says -- and then claps her hands to her mouth, eyes bugging out in terror as she stares at you all. If no one shouts at her to shut up, she eventually lowers her hands and whispers: "Bangu-Bangu not writing. Red Debbuls not writing. Suck words from head. Soul empty and gonging forever! Goblin sin!"
The Goblin flinches when Arma tosses her food, but snatches it up as soon as it has hit the floor and failed to explode - then starts ripping the rations to pieces and feeds them to the yapping, leaping offspring in the cage. The unexpected meal has the very welcome side-effect of causing the little horrors to shut up.
"Gammer fix Gammer," the old Goblin says, bobbing her head to Arma. "Gammer protect babies. No one else. Not go Red Debbuls. Ptooie! Run off... Gammer take babies away and away, make Blue Debbuls. Make smart. Sing the songs, tell the stories, beat the drums. Do the trick, do the steal, not kill no more. Too much danger for Goblin."
Gaining some respect for the old goblin Kyrax thinks to cast a detect magic spell to see if she might be hiding anything that the group might need. If he finds anything he will offer to trade food for the item(s).
You detect a light magical aura on Gammer, located in one of her pockets. It feels like Conjuration magic. By the by, remember that amulet you got off the Goblin Bard during the big fight?
As Kyrax casts his spell at the old Goblin, you can all hear a buzzing sound come out of his belt pouch. Gammer's ears twitch and point towards the Bard -- then hang limp. The Goblin seems to sag and heaves a deep, deep sigh.
"You has a Goblin pretty in your pocket, boss," she says with a leaden voice. "Is you the one who kills Gammer's boy? I make you trade for the pretty, please. Gammer got bottle."
Arma smiles and nods calmly at the goblin mothers words as she pulls her distracted mind from her own thoughts. "Then be well Gammer... And be careful."
She waits for the others looking toward where they need to go. Her head every once and a while looking toward the damaged area of her armor. Still hearing Gammers conversation with Kyrax makes her listen again wondering how it would go.
Pontia pauses in her near-march towards the stairs the goblin indicated, addressing the well-armored fighter. "Arma, if there is time tomorrow I can prepare a spell that should be capable of repairing your armor."
Kyrax will remove the bobble and offer it to the goblin woman.
The Goblin very carefully accepts the amulet that Kyrax got from the Goblin he duelled, back when your adventure began. As soon as the metal disc falls into her hands, it stops buzzing and starts to make a different sound. Your ears hurt and for a moment you fear treachery -- only to realize that the sound is a Goblin's voice, possibly Gammer's when she was younger, singing a tune that is just barely recognizable as a lullaby.
"Gammer make for stupid Goblin boy who have good voice," the old Goblin says, tears running down her wrinkled cheeks again. "Gammer boy. Sing like Gammer. Now gone. All gone. All but babies. Longshanks have bottle like promise."
From out of her rags, Gammer produces two bottles, which she hands up to Kyrax. One contains a thick, amber-coloured liquid; the other, a much thinner, light blue liquid. "Gammer brew," the old Goblin says as she hangs the amulet around her own neck. "Boom-juice and hurt-away."
Unless any of you have any other business for her, the old Goblin limps over to the cage, peg-leg clacking and rattling against the floor, and laboriously levers and pushes it onto a wheelbarrow. Grunting with effort, the wizened old creature starts to push her burden out of the cage, singing half under her breath:
"Put your baby in the cage
They come out when they of age
But storm fool-head to kill in rage
Pharasma take you from this cage
Of flesh and bone, of blood and dung
And then all songs they have been sung..."
Arma looks to Pontia and seems almost as confused by her words as she appeared looking at her armors damage... "Miss Pontia... I don't..."
Looking to the woman with some still confused concern on her face Arma calms her features slowly and clears her voice. "I... Appreciate the offer... But I don't... I don't know..."
Arma seems conflicted about it and while claiming gratitude she appears more than a bit reticent about the offer. As if she is weighing something in her mind on what should be a simple decision.
The pale blood covering her shoulder makes her odd heritage more noticeable and in truth while she seemed fairly awkward she has behaved as if a strange human it is clear she is not. She seems to be something else. The next words she whispers.
Having missed what happened with Kyrax and Gammer Arma only barely notices the end of the conversation. She however seems still more concerned with what Lady Pontia will say in answer though a look of earnest interest crosses her features as Kyrax returns the amulet. That look is still muted under the nervous look that overtakes it when she returns to looking at Pontia.
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"They're not in my specialty, but I know something of curses. How do you mean, stuck again? Does your armor bear some sort of curse?" The scholar's habitual look of scorn is gone, replaced by a curiosity that may in its own way be more disconcerting.
Arma speaks to her plainly since she is speaking open though her discomfort with such becomes obvious. "My father... Who made me... Was a well known but not respected Andoran wizard by the name of Quaerere Homini Sustinuit... He made this armor for me to wear... Perhaps as another of his, experiments on me... I have been unable to remove it. Father was not careful or concerned much with others needs or opinions. Since he died shortly after, when the townspeople tried to chase us both off by burning our home. I have no answers from him before he passed. Perhaps it is not a curse but what it is made to do? I don't know... But now that it is breaking off, I am concerned that fixing it might leave me trapped again. I will fix it if I must for the quest but..."
Her voice seems level but frustrated by the tale not the telling of it and her eyes show some measure of perhaps shame for some odd reason but mainly they seem to want to know if Pontia understands anything that could help her.
Pontia shakes her head slowly. "I'm afraid that this is far beyond my immediate knowledge, or capabilities. I could use a divination to analyze the nature of the bond between you and your armor, though--as with the mending, it will take some time to prepare."
Arma nods... "Thank you Miss Pontia... I understand. Whatever you can do when perhaps we are clear of this danger is appreciated... But as long as the armor is not too damaged then save your spells. It does not seem compromised fully just yet." The rather confused look of moments ago lessens and she seems to focus back on the task at hand. "We must make haste anyway..."
She goes over to the path once again and occasionally still looks at the damaged portion of her armor for a time. But then, after a moment of this closes her visor after reloading her crossbow and slinging it on her back. She then draws her scimitar and shield to be at the ready and waits for the others.
Once the goblin is gone Kyrax examine the two bottles. Boom-juice and hurt-away. Hope I can tell which is which!
As soon as the wolves are down, Robert approaches Arma and makes certain that she is alright. He nods in her direction and asks how she feels.
Then, after she answers, he excuses himself and goes towards the cage, thanking the old goblin and asking what are the Babies, really.
He also agrees to go inspect the door, but first he tries to get back the bolts he fired.
IN RESPONSE TO ROBERT BEFORE: Arma looks to Robert as he quickly moves to check upon her while she pulls herself to her feet rising from the wolf carcass upon her. His question of how she is feeling draws her gaze to the mans own with some shared respect. "I will manage Sir Robert... Thank you." She will rise and return the nod with a pained but still confident smile as she looks about to see if the others are wounded.
He had rushed up to her so quickly and after her answer and his excuse for departure the strangeness of that to her brought a bit of distraction to her thoughts until Raina had begun to examine her wounds. Still a glance to him questioning Gammer leaves her to wonder shortly as other talk and happenings continue.
As soon as the wolves are down, Robert approaches Arma and makes certain that she is alright. Then, after she answers, he excuses himself and goes towards the cage, thanking the old goblin and asking what are the Babies, really.
The old Goblin blinks, confused.
"Babies is babies," she says. "Goblin babies. 'Put your baby in the cage, he comes out when he's of age.' All Goblins looks like this as babies."
Eventually, when all bolts have been recovered and all business with Gammer has been completed, you make your way through the cave to the 'wizard-door'.
To get to the door, you first need to pass to the back of the cave, passing the signs of years of Goblin habitation -- and very recent Goblin abandonment. Your magical lights shine on fireplaces full of cooling ashes and abandoned bric-à-brac, even a few items of genuine value. Here a warrior abandoned his dogslicer; there someone left a small golden ring with a garnet in the setting. You even find a Goblin-sized shortbow with a full quiver!
Then come the stairs, and you are startled to see them. This is definitely not Goblin work; some ancient race must have hewn these steps out of the mountain's bedrock, or maybe it used magic or some other technique, for although they look ancient and a little too large for human use, each step is flawless, its edges straight as a harpstring and its edges as sharp as a knife.
There is a deep gloom at the top of the stairs, and you struggle a bit getting up there because of the steps' odd size. But when you do get there, you are confronted with a portal that looks as though it is taller than the cave wall it is set in allows. The woodwork set in the frame looks to be newer than the stairs, but the stone door-frame and the decorations carved into it is clearly just as old. The carvings in the stone show a menagerie of odd creatures, either fighting or dancing with one another, surrounded by curls and loops of ancient writing.
You see Asuras, Divs and Star-spawn cavorting and fighting with each other, as well as performing unspeakable acts for which you have no words -- and your stomach has no tolerance. Fortitude save DC 15 or vomit right here and now as you dimly perceive just what is going on!
You think the language used here is a mixture of Orvian and Senzar, but that is about all you can make out.
The door is also heavily decorated, but this is a modern style. You have little trouble recognizing the scene as the final battle between glorious Sarenrae and the monstrous Rovagug. There is no doorknob, but a line of ornate writing, decorated with gold leaf, stands above a keyhole set between the two battling deities. The writing reads:
Kyrax studies the carving for a moment but can't quite understand what he sees.
Next he reads the text that is written in common. I am a follower of the Dawnflower. He looks puzzled. In gratitude, let all faithful what? Perhaps I should go first.
As others study the writings and carvings he will take 20 looking for traps on the door.
Pontia studies the door with considerable interest, an interest which is not blunted by a sudden attack of nausea. She turns from the door and vomits onto the floor. "Well, that was unpleasant. And unusual, as well, although asuras, divs, and star-spawn represent so-called 'evil' in its proper ordered form, its selfish form, and its most capricious form. Perhaps that suggests something of the maker's character?" After pausing to clean up herself and the puddle with a quick prestidigitation, she returns to her examination of the door. The language is beyond her, though.
"'Raise their hands,' perhaps. It has the virtue of proper scansion, at least. However banal it might be otherwise."
Arma stops a distance from the intricate doorway and looks at it impressed by the craftsmanship and simple presence of such in the cave they were in but she does not advance. She simply stands at the ready while others move in to examine the mystery it presents.
She watches as Sir Kyrax and Miss Pontia move in to examine the structure before anyone else. She knew the path to the princess and their enemies supposedly lay beyond the strange stone structure. She stood ready however to run to the aid of those near the door or to any of the others in a single charge if needed.
But Pontia's sudden sickness followed by her words leave Arma a bit confused. "Are you well Lady Pontia?"
Mirandix simply stands there waiting for the others to complete their inspections and speculations. Languages and obscure knowledge are equally uninteresting to him.
Pontia frowns. "I'm fine. Some of the pictures were...well, if you don't know what you're looking at, they appear as mere abstractions. I, however, recognized them for the blasphemies they are."
"I'm guessing what is on the wall is worse than what some would think?"
Arma looks at the wall for a moment as if in thought but then turns back to attention at guarding the others.
"If you say so Lady Noya. I cannot see what Lady Pontia is talking about at all. I am just glad she is not truly ill."
"Kyrax, try holding your hands up."
Zhu showed little emotion, one way or the other, toward the condition of the older goblin woman and the "babies." If anything, he seemed to view their situation as a minor nuisance, and he's pleased when the group moves on.
After Pontia's reaction and comment, he glances at the bizarre carving, but he avoids studying it. "For perhaps the first time, I am grateful for my lack of formal training," he says.
"Give me a moment, please... I will try to find out if these many carvings hide a threat beyond blasphemy." He mutters a few syllables. His eyes take on a purplish tinge.
The stonework radiates Transmutation magic. Looking at the spells woven into the stone puts you in mind of the first time you saw a mountain; the age of this magic is impressive -- and terrifying.
The wooden door radiates powerful Abjuration and Conjuration magics, the former woven throughout the door, the latter concentrated around the general area of the keyhole.