Here's a map of your progress so far. There's a door in the eastern part of the inner circular hallway and you were unable to get a full view of the northern part of that hallway without agitating the grodair.
"We could go back and pick a fight with that floating guy. I think that might be our only way forward at this point."
Fair enough then.
Clayton nodded, looking at the tiefling only as much as was necessary.
"Let's march on then."
Agreed. Back to the room with the Grodair, and see what other doors there are in there, seems to be our only choice.
"Too bad, I was hoping to leave at least one innocent creature alive." Elduin agrees in a sad tone.
You gather your things and exit the golem workshop. Crossing the hallway, you open the door to find yourself back in the inner circular hallway.
While taking a moment to adjust to the strange astral gravity, you spot a flicker of movement among the shadows in the ceiling to the north. It is likely the grodair, which spooked by your reappearance has retreated out of sight.
You now have the option of pursuing it or moving along the southern bend of the hallway.
Do you think it has changed its mind in the last few minutes and will discourse with us now?
Stochelo calls in Sylvan:
"Hello, Mister Grodair. We have returned, and still mean you no ill will. Would you like to converse at this time?"
Clayton sighs, "Let's see what happens. No need to kill it."
He moves into a position near Stochelo, in case he was jumped.
There is no need to kill it, but if we can't determine if it is a threat, we may need to err on the side of caution. Hopefully we can convince it to just leave by whatever means makes it happy.
Silas then has a thought and turns to Dax. Any chance you had an encounter with this creature previously?
The grodair does not respond to your calls.
Dax shakes her head. It must have been hiding when I went through. Everything happened so fast, I was just rushing along to find someplace safe to hide.
Hmmm... be more persuasive
Knowing his contributions to negotiations usually hinder rather than help, Silas leaves the conversation to the more diplomatic of the group.
"Let me talk to it. Animals are kinda my thing. And it is close to an animal, isn't it?" While talking to the group, Elduin also cast some spell on him, making his voice sound a little less rough.
"Please, let us dicuss this matter. We mean you no harm, if you promise us to provide safe passage through your little realm here. Maybe we can be useful to each other even."
Clayton moves up and is about to come up with some lie for someone else to convey but then hears Elduin speak clearly.
"Well that takes care of that."
After a long moment of silence, the grodair slowly peeks it head out from around the bend of the hallway, up among the strange fungi growing in the ceiling.
"This is not my realm. I was wandering through my home in the Riftwood when I noticed a strange light, like a tear in the very air. I was curious and looked inside and before I knew it I was lost and could not find the way back. I was trapped in this horrid place. I am tired, hungry and afraid. I don't want to fight either, I just want to go home..." it burbles pathetically in Sylvan.
The planar scholars among you recognize the Riftwood as a location in the First World.
"This place is not on the First World, you have found your way to the Material Plane, somehow. I don't know if that rift you found remains open, or where it might be, but I will be glad to help you get back if I can. As for food, what do you eat? We have some food we can share, if your metabolism is similar to our own."
The grodair brightens visibly at the mention of food. It floats closer licks its lips, splashing you all as a solid stream of water seeps from its mouth.
"Normally, I'm a bit of a picky eater. I find so many delightful treats on my travels. Once, I came upon the palace of a fairy queen which had mysteriously flooded. There were the most wonderful frosted cakes floating among the flotsam. I don't suppose you have any of those." The grodair bubbles blissfully, waving its belly tentacles in excitement.
The thought of food apparently sets off fresh pangs of hunger, as the aquatic fey's stomach rumbles loudly, generating a new splash of mouth water.
"Right now, though, I can eat almost anything..."
Stochelo pulls out a trail ration package and opens it up.
"Sorry, no frosted cakes, but this will keep you sustained at the least."
The grodair happily gobbles up the offered food, then does a content little circle "swim" around itself before turning its attention back to your group. It almost seems surprised to see you.
"Ahh, that was lovely...Oh...hi...what were we talking about?"
Clayton mentally notes to himself to set aside some rations for Stochelo the next time they sat down. He could do with a little less anyway, not like his life as a criminal started with surviving on scraps on teh street anyway.
Something good at any rate, Grumbles says unloading some rations.
I'll give it all of my rations right now if it agrees to assist us in clearing out the rest of this dungeon.
"I'm grateful for the food, but I won't leave these hallways. In here, I can swim as easily as in water, but in the rest of the rooms where I've been, my movement is hampered. I'll let you come and go as you please, and if something chases you in here, I'll help you fight it, but I can't go with you."
Good enough for me. Silas hands over half of his rations to Dory.
He then turns to Dax. You hungry?
Dax politely refuses the offer.
”It is kind of you, but we mephits do not need to eat or drink. We draw our life energy from the elemental energy of our native plane. A nice, roaring fire at some point would be nice, though.”
"Well, I'm pretty sure we can make a fire at some point. All we really need is some dry wood. Let's go on then. Unless we actually want to camp aorund a fire down here." Elduin shoves the party to proceed to the next door.
Stowing the remainder of his rations, Silas moves to the next unexplored door in the northern part of the room.
Clayton has zero interest in smoking up tight tunnels.
"No thanks. I'd rather stick with trail rations than choking smoke." Looking at Dax, "No offense."
With the grodair placated, you are free to explore the entire inner circular hallway.
You find three doors you have not yet opened:
- One to the direct north
- One to the north-east
- One to the east
North then work around?
Opening the northern door, you step into another section of the outer circular hallway. The only other exit is a door directly across from you.
Beyond it, you find a 50-ft. long corridor which leads due north before ending in a closed door.
After careful examination, you open it to reveal a large semispherical room shaped like a massive dome, with the tallest parts of the chamber reaching over 60 ft. in height.
Smashed glass orbs and various metallic baubles litter the ground, their sheen hidden under a thick layer of dust.
This is something unexpected, says the grizzled ranger looking at the strange room.
"The thick layer of dust tells me, we're in the wrong place. Nobody's been here for a long time. The smashed glass might provide some sort of crude alert system, though?"
Nevertheless, it seems Elduin was keen to get a quick look around the dome walls.
The last room we thought was empty and abandoned quickly proved otherwise. Caution my friends.
Elduin (and anyone else), do you move into the room?
Elduin observes the room carefully, then begins walking along the left wall.
Stochelo casts detect magic and moves in behind Elduin, sword drawn.
Clayton looks over his shoulder watching their flank as those with more magical abilities stepped in.
"Let's be quick and quiet. We still have some blasted fae witch to deal with."
Grumbles follows Elduin.