Bel'Tanis' shoulders slump visibly as the more and more indications of just how deeply depraved Nualia has become are discovered. "Skulls... jarred heads... her father's desecrated corpse?" He shudders, deeply saddened by it all. "Nualia..."
"I believe the girl has gone into dark territory. I do not think she even sees how deep she is." Matthias mutters as he examines the heads in jars, the body of her father.
"But she is not here, so the question remains, where is she?"
"Escaped, most likely. We should check the rest of Thistletop to ensure that she's not here, though - let's check the bedrooms upstairs first. Perhaps we will catch her asleep." Scoria tells them, heading in that direction.
Thaddeus will maintain his focus on the skull radiating magic, hoping he could determine what type, and maybe later if it has any special properties.
He decides to grab it, and see if it may prove useful in the future. He adds his brief thoughts on the matter, "I hope she was not able to complete the foul ritual she was attempting. It may make her harder to deal with. I also worry that she remains in rooms beyond the shadows."
Khrondak's face contorts in fury, nostrils flaring, as he spots his cousin's severed head. He marches towrd it and takes it in both hands, raising it in front of his face.
He wraps the head and places it in a bag. He turns to the party with fiery eyes. "Nualia's head will be mine."
He walks over to Matthias and furiously grabs him by the collar. "Find her, diviner!"
Matthias's eyes go wide as the Shoanti man lifts him from his feet. He spreads his hands wide, "I don't have the skill yet! With time, preparation, perhaps! But I can't simply magic her up! I swear to you, if I could, I would!"
"Iron Forged! Calm down!" Bel'Tanis rushes over, grabbing the wrist holding Matthias by the collar. "IRON FORGED!"
Still maddened, Khrondak lets Matthias go as Bel'Tanis grabs his wrist. He pulls his arm war, releasing it from the aasimar's hold. "Hmph. What help can you offer, then?", he grunts looking away.
Crouched on the floor, he starts looking for tracks that could lead to Nualia, even though he knows it is probably futile.
He also analyzes the room trying to identify what sort of ritual Nualia was performing.
"He's here risking his life beside your own for starters, Iron Forged. Do you think you're the only one troubled or hurt by all this?" Bel'Tanis waves his hand to indicate the rest of the jars and the broken mess of Father Tobyn. And though his voice is raised to get the angry shoanti's attention, kindness and compassion are still plainly evident in his tone.
Scoria watches the Shoanti's outburst calmly and quietly, before nudging Thaddeus. "Put him to task and do not let him dwell on his anger. We still have the shadows to deal with," She advises.
"Till we face real danger again, whether your diviner will risk his life remains to be seen", Khrondak replies while conducting his inspection.
Matthias rubs his neck where his robes cut into him. He forces a smile, turning to Thaddeus. "Your friend is...intense. I would NOT want to be on his bad side."
As they're leaving the room, Matthias goes ahead and casts mage armor and see invisibility on himself, glancing around the room before leaving.
Thaddeus is clearly saddened by what Khrondak said to the head within the jar, and more so when he witnesses the exchange that takes place afterward. He turns to Matthias and offers his apologies "Please do not be offended by his rage. I think he just knows you least, and it makes you easier to direct his frustration towards. I am certain with time he will treat you almost as kin like he does us."
To Scoria he simply explains, "Distracting someone from grief does not always dismiss it. He is best served with understanding and compassion, in the way of his people."
Finally, he approaches Khrondak in his frantic search,
He turns back to the others, "I think we have found all we can of use here. Matthias, there were odd runes adorning a relief, or bas-relief I was not always keen on art. Do you have any skill with various tongues or deciphering runes?" With that he leads the man toward the carving of coins with the runes on it. "Being so close to where it looks as if she performed the ritual, they could be her notes or something."
Matthias' face lights up at talk of runes. "I do! I was chair of the Runic Society at my wizardry school! I also have some proficiency in several tongues." Matthias will examine the runes or language if he can.
Khrondak seems soothed by Thaddeus' words. He looks the sergeant in the eye and speaks in his native tongue.
He then looks suspiciously at Matthias.
Midori speaks to Iron Forged in Shoanti "I too, will join you in honoring you kin when the time comes."
She then turns to the rest of the group, commenting as she joins the search "I wonder if, perhaps, it was Nualia who was responsible for what we saw up above. If so, I fear for our oh-so-temporary ally."
The pillar runs from floor to ceiling, made with apparently thousands of gold coins fused together.
Matthias your knowledge of the Thassalonian language leads you to believe the image on the coins is some sort of Thassolonian symbol. In fact this entire complex appears of Thassolonian design.
Thaddeus
Bel'Tanis
Khrondak
Matthias
Midori
Scoria
The pillar does appear to be made of gold, and interestingly there is a gold piece sized slot in the middle of the pillar. It looks as though you could put a coin in it.
"...It seems one needs to fit a coin in here for some purpose." The oread speaks up, picking out a gold piece from her coin purse, before fitting it into the slot.
"The entire structure is Thassalonian in nature and the symbol on the coin is as well, but I do not discern its meaning. I am not certain why such a structure would exist in a complex like this and I'm not certain it would be a..." He trails off as Scoria drops her coin.
Scoria you put a coin into the slot. The coin rattles down the interior of the pillar. Then suddenly it clanking of the coin stops. Then without warning the pillar sinks into the floor revealing a hall. The hall has three sets of double doors. One straight ahead, one north, and one south. The floor is covered in dust. It looks as if no one has been here for a long time.
"It doesn't look like Nualia went this way, if that dust on the floor is any indication. Maybe we should turn back and keep looking for her elsewhere?" Bel'Tanis looks at the long forgotten passage suspiciously, despite its obvious disuse.
"That may be wise. We still have the shadows to deal with - then there's the shrine that mercenary spoke up we haven't yet explored. Which should we deal with first, sergeant?" She asks Thaddeus.
Thaddeus looks at the dusty floor beyond the coin pillar, then around the corner at the room where they faced the shadows, "Well, this looks as if none have passed recently, so it can wait. We do not know if the undead work with her or for themselves, so let us investigate the shrine. She appears to be strong in her following of Lamashtu, so a shrine may be an appropriate place to find her. Also, if she is down here, then it will place us above her floor wise in the chance she tries to pass us coming in or heading out of where she is currently."
"I think it would be wise to keep an eye on this area, though. I'd rather not find our quarry, only to learn we've released something worse."
She thinks about that, then continues "In which case, we do need to deal with the rest of the area, in order to clear our path to retreat if necessary. Hm. Can anyone cast an Alarm spell? I don't have knowledge of it."
Two large stone doors sit along the western wall. The doors are carved with images of horrific, deformed monsters clawing their way out of pregnant women of all races.
Bel'Tanis grimaces at the iconography. "Ugh. This is Lamashtan, isn't it?" A shiver ripples down his shoulders and back as his gaze sweeps over the imagery. With a roll of his wrist, he whips his scimitar in a quick circle and secures a tighter grip as he edges toward the doors.
Stone fonts containing frothy dark water sit to the north and south of the entrance. Twin banks of stone pillars run the length of the chamber. At the western end, shallow stairs rise to a platform about two feet off the ground. The walls surrounding this platform are lit by hanging braziers emit glowing red smoke, giving the place an unnerving crimson lighting that throws the bas-relief carvings of countless monsters feasting on fleeing humans into a lurid display.
A black marble altar stone, its surface heaped with ashes and bone fragments squats before a ten foot tall statue. The sculpture depicts a very pregnant but otherwise very shapely naked woman who welds a kukri in each taloned hand and has a long reptilian tail. birdlike taloned feet and the snarling head of a three-eyed snarling jackal with a forged tongue. The left kukri flickers with a fiery orange light while the right one glows with a cold blue radiance.
"NUALIA?" Bel'Tanis calls out as he looks into the shrine. "Nualia, are you here? Why are you doing all this?!"
Matthias peers in as well, taking advantage of his see invisibility spell.
The stonemason grabs Bel'Tanis and pulls him close, looking up at him in the eyes. "I understand your need to confront her, but you must control yourself. We do not know what is here, or where she is, or if she will even talk to us instead of attacking outright. I do not want you getting yourself killed because you failed to think," She tells him before letting him go. She takes a look around, though the glowing kukri in the hands of the statue seem somewhat important.
Thaddeus gets a chill, the very nature of this shrine to evil sickening him. He eyes the glowing blades with suspicion and concern, "Divine Lady of Justice allow me to decipher what evil magics inhabit this place."
Bel'Tanis' face falls as he looks over Scoria and into the shrine, "It doesn't matter. I don't think she's in here anyway." He seems to deflate at this as he looks down sadly at Scoria then turns to the others. "Where else would she be?"
"Her room perhaps, sleeping. Or fled, in which case, we've succeeded most likely in disrupting her plans." She tells him, placing a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "Let us explore everywhere we can in this place."
That said, Scoria stalks out to check the bedroom cells she found the mercenary in yesterday - as well as to see if the goblin women and children were still alive.
"I begin to sense we've tipped our hand here. Nualia has fled and left very few witnesses behind her. Still, this complex is a treasure trove of historical significance! I've not heard of many Thassalonian complexes being found in such a state." Matthias continues to look around eagerly, curious as to the use of such a place.
Midori enters the place cautiously, obviously disturbed by the - decorations. "I think you're right. I hope she didn't slaughter everyone on her way out. I feel responsible, somehow. I know, just goblins, still...this isn't right. I don't know enough about religion to figure out what she was trying to do here - or why! let's see if she left any notes."
"Notes! Excellent idea! Check the fireplaces for anything that she tried to burn! Criminals always feel a need to burn things. Perhaps some things have not burned completely."
It appears that no letters or notes was burned. It just looks as if the coals have not been replenished.
Scoria, you search the bedrooms that you found earlier and find none of them are occupied.
Bel'Tanis frowns at Matthias' words and quips, "Well, it wouldn't be the first time she used a fire to cover her tracks." As nothing of worth is found in the coals though he shrugs, "Figures."
"We should ensure this level is clear before we head back down. No sense in leaving live enemies behind us."
Thaddeus nods, I agree, that is both an astute observation and a good tactical plan."
"I think Nualia's done to the goblins what she planned to do to Sandpoint. I don't know that there's even anyone left here to be an enemy," Bel'Tanis notes morosely. Despite his melancholy tone, he readies his shield and scimitar and makes ready to move with the rest of the group through the remaining portions of the goblin warren.
"Indeed, but best to be sure. I rather dislike surprises in my equations. I like them to be simple, straightforward and easily dealt with."
Scoria returns to the others and glances over at Bel'tanis briefly, before speaking to the group. "Nualia was not in the bedchambers. Let's keep moving," She tells them, heading off again.