The ogre looks back down the hall, back at Price, then the hall, and understands. As stealthy as an ogre can manage, he moves back down the hall... his sword scrapes the wall, hide armor catches on a door, and hits his head on the ceiling. Otherwise, he as silent as an auroch in a glass factory.
Affyria raises an eyebrow at the sight of the torturer's rack, but her face remains passive. "I believe I understand the inscription," she says in hushed tones. "There's someone down here, probably imprisoned, and we have to attempt to sway him to our side. If he turns out to be our enemy, we have been provided with the right tools after all," she motions to the rack.
Stepping towards the door that Price found, Affyria raises her voice. "H─hello? Is someone in there?" Glancing at the others, she grins and winks, before she turns back, all serious again.
Affyria no longer hears the crying. Before it stops, Price hears the slightest of gasps, like a panicked breath catching in a throat.
Daidalos whispers to Affyria, "Beat me to it. My thoughts exactly. However... you may want to, ah, lose the horns though. There's plenty of time to show off later." he says with a wink, then raises his voice, loud enough to be heard by the person inside, "Hello? Are you there? It's okay, we're friends here. What's your name, friend? What happened? Are you okay?"
From the other side of the door, a quavering voice answers, "Go away! I... I have a sword! Just leave me alone. I just... I just...." The words fade as the speaker seems unsure of what to say or do.
"Did anyone catch that? I couldn't make out the last bit." Daidalos whispers to the others.
Price shakes her head, clearly missing whatever the fellow mumbled. She knocks hesitantly on the door again, and pushes her voice higher up the register. "Sir, please. My name is Serena and I need your help... please. We're trapped here and we need to find our way out. Can you tell us anything about this place?"
Affyria falls in with Price and adds, "We woke up here, I believe we were drugged. Are you trapped down here also?"
"What'd he say?"
"I got no idea. Perhaps we should let Affyria have her way with this person; perhaps the person isn't quite what we expect him or her to be like." Asturu shifts his weight from one leg to the other, expecting trouble.
The other side of the door is silent for a moment, then there is some movement--metal scraping against stone--and the door slowly opens. On the other side, with an ill-fitting chain shirt and an old but well-cared for short sword is a young man with blond hair, blue eyes and well-defined features. However, he is covered in dirt, his face is streaked from tears, and his free hand is clutching at his side where he appears to have been wounded from a blast of magic. A tabbard with the symbol of the Kingdom of Talengarde is draped over his chain shirt.
He looks at Price and Affyria, then past them to the men also assembled in the room. "This is an evil place, run by an evil man. I..." He winces slightly as he steps out, "I am no knight, my ladies, but if I can help you, I will."
Affyria smiles sweetly at the young man. "You are brave, good sir, we thank you. My name is Ria, and yours? An evil man, you say, do you know anything about him? How did you end up here? We're a band of adventurers, and we were investigating some disappearances in the area, but we seem to have bitten off slightly more than we could chew," she smiles again. "Like I said, I believe we were drugged, because we're not entirely sure how we ended up down here. Perhaps if we join forces, we can leave this wretched place."
Daidalos goes down on one knee, wiping away some of the dirt from the boy's face (after removing a 'gauntlet'), "There, there. You're a brave lad. What happened to you? We woke up in this... I guess it's a maze of some sort, with no memory of how we got here. We've just been wandering around, trying to find a way out. What's your name, son? I'm David. You say you're not a knight? Well, that's okay. You don't need to fight. We can take care of that. What do you know of this place? How did you get here?"
He blushes and seems to shrug off Daidalos's attention, embarrassed. "It's okay, it's fine... but thank you, sir." Despite the exhaustion, he is trying to observe proper formalities. "My name is Timeon. I'm a squire to Sir Balin, you may have heard of him." As he says this, he is looking down, trying to straighten his tunic and look a little less of a mess.
Looking back up, he continues, "We were captured by..." his voice cracks, "... you won't believe me, but I swear they were devils. I thought I was dead but I woke up here. A man, bald, with black and red robes, he... it was like he was hunting me. Following me from room to room. He hit me with some magic but I was eventually able to escape. I found that room." He gestures to his hiding hole. "And he seemed to disappear, but you should be careful. I don't... I can't..."
It looks like he's about to crack before he coughs, shakes his head, and forces his mind back into the present instead of whatever horrors he had experienced. "I've prayed to Mitra, but I don't think He can see here. We're on our own."
Timo finds a wall and leans against it, watching quietly as those with a bit more tact and subtlety take the lead. "What exactly are we supposed to be getting from this guy? Are we supposed to torture him? To what end? If he serves Mitra, killing him seems good enough."
Like Timo, Asturu stands back and lets Daidolos do the talking. The young man Timeon seems sincere enough, but it is exactly that which irks Asturu so. Nothing down here is what it seems to be.
Affyria smiles again. "Have faith, Timeon, and believe in your prayers. He is always watching," she says with complete conviction. "Now, what can you tell us about this place? Devils, and a bald man, you say? Have you been in any of the other rooms down here?"
I wonder what Thorn hopes we accomplish with this sniveling squire, I suppose we need to determine if he's any use to us.
Daidalos raises an eyebrow in partial surprise, "Sir Balin? The Sir Balin of Karfeld? Well, well. This is quite concidental," he sighs, and looks the boy square in the eye as though breaking terrible news to him, "We were on the hunt for your master. You see, Timeon... we had heard rumors that the great witch-hunter was secretly in league with demons. Not devils- are you sure that they were devils you saw?- But demons. From what we figured out before being captured, and what you just told us, we- or at least I- think that that the two of you were en route to meet up with Balin's secret master, to either convince you to join them... or to be a sacrifice. I won't lie, it's a distinct possibility. I don't know the man you describe, but it's likely that the bald man was, in fact, the lead cultist. You managed to escape him, and have been hiding since." he furrows his brow, "But why capture us? And why keep us alive? There's more at work here than any of us know, that's for sure. But we're here now, okay? I'll take care of you. And we'll take care of your traitorous master, too."
First, destabilize his trust in his master. Next, destabilize his faith in Mitra. And then he's all ours. What a perfect corruption.
Timeon stares warily at the rack as he reflexively licks parched lips. "I don't remember much, not while I was running. He was trying to kill me. But I heard him, in here... He was talking with a woman. This place, it is death. He said it was no matter that I'd escaped because the traps here would kill me. He said things I didn't understand but he talked of metal snakes, that a secret door across from a set of stairs hides the way out, that light in darkness would result in unholy shrieking--I swear, he was mad, why would light do that--and that drowned men would rise when called."
He winces slightly, the wound at his side having split open and starting to bleed again; nothing immediately life threatening but certainly painful and will likely kill him from infection if dehydration doesn't do it first.
Asturu steps up and joins the conversation, eyeing the man's wounds with worry written all over his face. Well, worry. Care for the man's life he did not, but it was obvious that losing him now would hinder them in their success. "It sounds like he had a good time planning your demise. Tell me, where are your companions for surely you didn't stumble into all of this on your own?"
Daidalos raises an eyebrow in partial surprise, "Sir Balin? The Sir Balin of Karfeld? Well, well. This is quite concidental," he sighs, and looks the boy square in the eye as though breaking terrible news to him, "We were on the hunt for your master. You see, Timeon... we had heard rumors that the great witch-hunter was secretly in league with demons. Not devils- are you sure that they were devils you saw?- But demons. From what we figured out before being captured, and what you just told us, we- or at least I- think that that the two of you were en route to meet up with Balin's secret master, to either convince you to join them... or to be a sacrifice. I won't lie, it's a distinct possibility. I don't know the man you describe, but it's likely that the bald man was, in fact, the lead cultist. You managed to escape him, and have been hiding since." he furrows his brow, "But why capture us? And why keep us alive? There's more at work here than any of us know, that's for sure. But we're here now, okay? I'll take care of you. And we'll take care of your traitorous master, too."
Timeon nods to Daidalos's identification but then goes wide-eyed and disbelieving at the following indictment. "No, no, he couldn't. I've been loyal, with him for two years. But he's not here; it's just me."
As to the devils versus demons, "I don't know, I... They're all the same, aren't they?"
He shakes his head, trying to rid if of the confusion evident on his face. "I... I don't know what to believe. He's never been anything but kind to me. Maybe a little strict, but kind. Why would he lie to me? Kill me?"
When Asturu chimes in, Timeon just stares blankly at one of the walls, trying to process all of this. "Sir Balin, he, uh... I haven't seen him. We were traveling alone. It was just us. And then the devils, or demons... and then I woke here, in this maze. Maybe... maybe it was a trap."
Daidalos bows his head in 'sorrow,' then returns to caring eye contact, "I know it's hard to believe. I'm personally hoping against it as well. It just doesn't make sense. However... so far as I can tell, it's the truth. I don't know why he would do such a thing. Maybe, when we find him, we can ask. For now, we have to assume the worst. In any case, we need to do something about your side. Let me see, where did that go..." Daidalos pats his pockets, pulling out a small bottle, "Ah, here we go. Here, drink this. It's a healing potion. Should put you back on your feet in no time." he hands Timeon the potion from the soldier's barracks.
Considering any cast healing would require the presentation of a holy symbol of Asmodeus, it might not be the best time for that. Plenty of time to corrupt him later; for now we just don't want to scare the boy.
While the squire sips the potion, Daidalos talks to him, in the same soothing voice, "Now, like I said, I don't know why your master would turn on you, or anything like that. It could be power or greed. It could be blackmail. It could be that the man you've known was always a front- a ploy to break you, or to prepare you for some sort of ritual. Or, we could be wrong altogether. I... don't know" he gives a halfhearted laugh, "And you have no idea how hard it is for me to admit I don't know something. I also love passing on knowledge, so since you were wondering the difference between demons and devils, well, I'll do my best to explain.
"Demons come from the Abyss, an eternal swirling plane of destruction and death. They want for nothing more than power, and to see the entire multiverse come crashing down. They delight in tormenting the righteous, to see families and loved ones torn apart, so long as it causes pain and suffering. They are chaos and evil incarnate. Now, devils, on the other hand, come from Hell. They scheme and make deals, fighting against chaos, and happy to make deals with those that share their goals. Their society is one of order and stability, with the strong dominating the weak. There's plenty more nuance to it, of course, and I can teach you everything I know later, once we're out of here. Deal?"
Timeon's gaze slowly comes back into the room as it drifts towards and settles on Daidalos. "I'm not sure about about devils. But if it means getting out of here..." He looks around the room, then at the others, and back to Daidalos again. "Okay. And... thank you for the healing potion, sir."
[i]
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"Thank you for your help, Sir Timeon. The bald man, did he mention anything about some sort of devil's amulet... a pendant of silver and sapphire? It may be the key to breaking his power."
Timeon shakes his head, "No, Lady Serena. And I'm no knight, just a squire. It's just 'Timeon'. I'm sorry, he didn't, and I haven't seen one. It's possible it's hidden further in this maze."
Any who look down the passage to the room where you fought the vampiric mist see Grumblejack playing shadow puppets. Right now he's making a hippity-hoppity bunny that turns into a dragon and eats a man.
"Okay, Timeon. Thank you for all your help. You look parched. Serena, do you have your water spell prepared? Can we get the poor boy a drink? Do you need anything else, Timeon? I would rather that you stay hidden for now- we can come get you later- and your hidey hole seems like a well-hidden spot, considering the bald man couldn't find you." Daidalos stands up and looks around for something that can serve as a cup.
Once done, he helps Timeon back into his hiding place, and asks his companions, "Well? Shall we carry on now? We still need to accomplish our goal."
Ineluki stays silent during the discussions with Timeon... he has nothing really to add, the others doing an excellent job of befuddling the boy's thoughts and turning him toward viewing the group favorably.
When the boy is encouraged to get back in his hiding place, he shrugs. Might have been handy to have along... but I guess if his knight is down here too and we have to fight him, best he not see that."
"He's right you know... best stay hidden and safe til we find the way out of here, and we'll come back for you then and guide you out."
He nods to DAidalos. "Yes let's go."
Asturu eyes Timeon one last time before returning his attention to Daidalos. "I'm ready to move on."
Timeon looks like he's about to protest and insist that he follow in order to protect "Serena" and Affyria, but is shortly convinced its better to stay here. "Very well. You're probably right. I haven't slept in...I don't know how long. May...luck be with you." Did he just interrupt a traditional Mitran blessing?
Affyria smiles at the squire and even goes so far as to curtsie for him. "Stay safe, brave squire." She then exits the room and waits until she's out of earshot of Timeon before speaking again.
"Alright, so we did learn a few things from that boil-brained codpiece. Metal snakes, a secret door across from a set of stairs that's an exit, some light in darkness that causes shrieking, and drowned men that rise when called. Pretty cryptic all of it, but there we go."
"I admit it would have been amusing to bring him along and find his knight in this cellar. That's one interaction I would like to partake in, especially after that tale Daidalos spun about his demon-worshipping master. Pure gold. You seem to know alot about these entities, I will have to pick your brain sometime," she winks a wicked eye at Daidalos.
She then opens the next door, and directs her glance upwards, looking for the next inscription she expects is there, reciting the warnings that the squire informed them off.
Opening the next door, Affyria finds a passage heading north, perhaps sixty feet, before it briefly turns east and terminates at another door. Above the door is an inscription:
“The chosen are revealed by their might. The weak deserve no sympathy.”
"I doubt my particular skill set will be of use here. Perhaps, Timo, you ought to lead the way this time?" Daidalos indicates the tiefling should open the door.
"With pleasure. Miss Price, would you mind checking the door for traps?" Timo says with anticipation of finally being able to get some aggression out.
Price examines the door and finds no traps.
Timo nods at Price and pushes open the door, weapon at the ready for whatever may be lurking.
Timo pulls the latch and pushes the wooden door open, swinging into the chamber. As with the others, this is another 30x30 chamber lit by a single oil lantern hanging in the center.
Affyria follows Timo, mace in hand. "We are mighty, for we serve a greater cause."
Ineluki stands a pace or two behind Price, peering forward to see what's in the next room...
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As Timo opens the door, a few of you realize there is movement in the chamber as metallic snakes coil and tense to either side of the door. Only Price is able to get an exact count: three.
"Metal snakes. It seems the kid wasn't delusional," Affyria says as she squints.
She then grips her holy symbol and utters a quick blessing to Asmodeus.