"This is a challenger's glove, of the sort that might be used when challenging another person to a duel. When the wearer takes one of the gloves off and either hits or throws it at another person, their attacks have a slightly higher chance to hit that person, while the other person's attacks have a slightly lower chance to hit the wearer. The effects last for about a minute, but will end if anyone but the wearer attacks the target. There should be two, and the fact that one is missing could be cause for concern."
Sarela attempts to study the transmutation aura on the keys.
While all of the keys radiate magic, the one with a number nine and a triangle on it catches Sarela's attention the most. She ascertains that while this small iron key is held, the bearer can use open/close at will, but only to open, not to close.
Starting with the nine-triangle key, you head back to the ballroom and unlock it with ease. Inside you find wooden pillars carved to resemble thin trees support the ceiling of this enormous ballroom. Stairs lead up to a balcony at the south end of the room protected by a wrought-iron railing. A low stage under the balcony contains benches and music stands. The walls are painted with misty forest scenes, each image featuring a clearing with a grave or mausoleum.
A gaunt creature stands in this room, wings buzzing behind it. A grasshopper serves as its head. Its arms split at the elbow, and its four claws grip a staff with a hanging lantern. This must be the creature you've been looking for!
A raspy whisper fills your minds. "How did you get in here? No matter. I'll slaughter you are and savor the sound of your screams!"
The creature mutters a few words and its body begins to blurr, shifting, and wavering, making it difficult to see exactly where it is.
Averting Eyes: The opponent avoids looking at the creature's face, instead looking at its body, watching its Shadow, tracking it in a reflective surface, etc. Each round, the opponent has a 50% chance to avoid having to make a Saving Throw against the gaze attack. The Creature with the gaze attack, however, gains Concealment against that opponent.
Wearing a Blindfold: The foe cannot see the Creature at all (also possible to achieve by turning one's back on the Creature or shutting one's eyes). The Creature with the gaze attack gains total Concealment against the opponent.
HP 31/31; Swift Refuge: 0/1
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16, CMD 18 (+1 dodge bonus against Large creatures; +2 vs. Huge or bigger creatures)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +1
Challenge: 1/1; Tactician (5 rounds): 1/1; Champion challenge: 0/1
Effects: Challenge (Vithiz, +3 damage), tactitian 0/5 rounds[/ooc]
"Uglier things than you have tried, Vithiz!" Mithralline taunts it.
"Now give us that staff!" she finishes with a challenge.
She turns to her companions, giving quick instructions, especially to Thras, before moving down the stairs, lance pointed at her prey.
Sam moves a little closer and shouts "We can do it!"
Sarela didn't know what the creature was, but she knew they needed to get the staff from it. Quickly casting a spell, she moved forward and touched Mithralline, saying, "May Sarenrae guide your strikes."
Thras gives a lopsided grin as he sees the creature. As the others raise their hackles, Thras gives a laugh of joy as he steps into the room. "Finally, let us bleed well!" Thras bends his knees and growls, the gold flecks sparking through his eyes and his forearms gaining a faint glimmer to them. With a roar he takes the lead, charging forward to crash into Vithiz!
Thras stares into the eyes of the monster, unbowed by its gaze.
Aira follows the others to the back of the room, maintaining her distance. She stays in the back and maintains a defensive position for this round.
No one in the party is able to recognize the their foe unfortunately. From the rear of the room, Aralah takes aim with two arrows and lets them fly towards the grasshoper. One of the arrows should have hit, but instead it flies through one of the blurred areas of the grasshopper and misses.
Thras fights through the gaze of the creature and moves up alongside of it, striking it once with a powerful blow. Despite his strong attack, most of his damage does not seem to affect this strange creature.
The creature begins to beat its wings in a way that creates a maddening, droning sound that numbs your mind!
Thras reels back from the otherworldly sound. "Horshef...horsehf gannut mi tak ullu!" He roars at the creature!
HP 23/31; Swift Refuge: 0/1
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16, CMD 18 (+1 dodge bonus against Large creatures; +2 vs. Huge or bigger creatures)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +1
Challenge: 1/1; Tactician (5 rounds): 1/1; Champion challenge: 0/1
Effects: Challenge (Vithiz, +3 damage), tactician 1/5 rounds[/ooc]
Mithralline starts bashing herself in the head with her lance, drawing blood, which dribbles down her nose.
Sarela easily tunes out the droning noise. "Aira, use magic to make it drop the staff. I'll try to make your job easier."
Sarela moved forward to get in range, then felt a great deal of fear from the creature's steely gaze. Taking a deep breath, she fixes her eyes on it and says, "Sarenrae will not abide your foulness! May ill fortune plague you!"
Sam starts to get confused but then winces as Mithralline hits herself, opening wounds on Sam but closing some on Mith. This snaps her out of it.
Then Sam moves forward a little and taps Mithralline on the shoulder to help her out.
Aira wants to listen to Sarela, but instead her mind confuses ally for foe, as she rushes over and attempts to bash Sarela with her staff.
Aralah gets confused, but even in her state of confusion she manages to fire two shots off towards the creature. The first one misses and the second one hits, but it seemingly does no damage to the creature.
The creature shrugs off Sarela's attempts to pull bad luck on the creature and it continues to beat its wings repeatedly, keeping up the droning madness that is driving you all crazy.
It steps up to Thras and slashes its claws across his chest, ripping open a new wound .
The droning of the creature's wings makes it hard for Sarela to focus, and as she feels her anger at the lack of focus grow, she lashes out with her dagger at the nearest creature.
The pain from the attack allows Thras clarity, although his heart rate spikes with the realization that not only is this enemy dangerous, it is quickly sowing chaos and destruction. Thras stares the creature in the eyes, shaking with both fear and rage.
The staff. They said to get the staff.
Thras snaps out recklessly, groping at the staff the creature wields!
When Thras disarms the creature, it makes him pay for it by slashing him with its sharp claws. As the staff comes free, the grasshopper's eyes go wide in fear and it screeches loudly at its enemy.
Struck by Sarela's blow, Aira cannot control her thoughts as she once again strikes back. Her mind is so torn she swings completely wildly as if she was swinging purely at the air around her.
HP 29/31; Swift Refuge: 0/1
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16, CMD 18 (+1 dodge bonus against Large creatures; +2 vs. Huge or bigger creatures)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +1
Challenge: 1/1; Tactician (5 rounds): 1/1; Champion challenge: 0/1
Effects: Challenge (Vithiz, +3 damage), tactician 2/5 rounds, shaken 2 rounds, ferocious loyalty (+1 morale),
Settling into her armor, Mithralline charges, slamming the lance directly into the creature. "For glory!" she cries, "For Roslar's Coffer."
Sam throws off the confusion once again, determined to help her allies. She moves forward as she takes a little damage to heal Airah. Then Sam moves a little closer to help protect her allies.
Aralah's over come by confusion and instead of attacking the enemy, she buries an arrow into Aira's back!
Mithralline's attack is powerful and blasts into the creature, putting some serious wounds on it. It's hardened skin blocks some of it, but if the charger can do that a couple more times the foe would likely fall.
Despite the large wound, it's attention is not on Mithralline. The creature is extremely angry at having the staff taken from it and does everything in its power to get it back! With amazing speed, the creature rips into Thras's body with its claws four times.
Thras is completely unprepared for the assault, unable to dodge out of the way and his armor useless against the creature's strength. His chest is torn open to an alarming degree, and he hacks blood from between his teeth. But despite the condition of his body, he does not fall. With a shaky but bloody grin he stomps down. "Oh, this? YOU WANT THIS? " Thras roars, taunting the creature with the staff before swinging it!
HP 29/31; Swift Refuge: 0/1
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16, CMD 18 (+1 dodge bonus against Large creatures; +2 vs. Huge or bigger creatures)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +1
Challenge: 1/1; Tactician (5 rounds): 1/1; Champion challenge: 0/1
Effects: Challenge (Vithiz, +3 damage), tactician 2/5 rounds, shaken 1 round, ferocious loyalty (+1 morale),
Mithralline moves in, tempted to charge but deciding the paired positioning is more useful so Thras can use that staff. She jabs again with her lance as she moves into position.
Aira's body shutters as she is attacked on two front, both from her allies and not her foe. She shakes her head and blinks a few times before shouting. "Keep your wills strong friends! He is turning us against each other!"
Aira moves up to try to position herself safely. Her body trembling as the sight of him, she raises her staff and engulfs the area in glazing flames.
Sam is frightened as she approaches the creature but breathes deeply and focuses on what she is doing. She steps back a little and shouts "The attendant is with us!" Positive energy pulses through her and her allies, closing wounds rapidly.
Mithralline misses, but Thras's attack with the staff connects with tremendous force. As the staff makes contact, the flying creature screeches loudly in horror. It's not pain that concerns the enemy, it's what it knows will happens when he is struck by the staff.
The part of its torso that Thras struck begins to deform, pulling away from its body as it begins to dissolve into the staff as if the creature were made of smoke and the staff was inhaling it. Thrashing its four arms and claws while wildly beatings its wings, the sakhil flounders uselessly as more and more of its body begins to disolve and disappear into the staff.
In Thras's hands the staff jerks wildly as the creature fights it. The bloodrager holds on as hard as he can until the droning sounds disappears completely along with the flying creature. The battle has been won!
Mithralline grunts, somewhat annoyed her lance didn't do as much as the simple staff.
Still, they'd won, and that was the important thing. She looks around.
"So, where's the shoki?" she asks. "Didn't the painting say Kishokish would reappear in the sakhil's place?"
Sarela shakes her head to clear the last of the confusion from the buzzing wings, then looks up just in time to see Thras strike the creature with the staff. She stands as the creature dissolves, exhaling in relief.
Sarela looks at Mithralline and says, ”That is what the painting said. Did it say anything else? Was there something extra we needed to do? I suppose we can take the staff to the portrait.”
"Ha...haha." Thras chuckles as he looks at the staff in his shaking hands. He sways, feeling woozy with blood loss, but manages to stay upright. He blinks a few times, examining his wounds and turning to Sam. "Aye, well done little one. I could feel Pharasma clawing at my soul." He holds up the staff with a mocking grin. "Carrying the weapon that can destroy you. What arrogance."
Sam nods to Thras. "I'm just glad you're ok!" Then she keeps tending his wounds.
Sam pulses out more energy to heal her comrades.
The staff continues to lurch in Thras's hands until another creature emerges from it--a snail-shelled psychopomp who looks exactly like the painting in the hallway. This, at last, must be the master of Nine-Eaves, Kishokish!
He wearily gets to his feet, looking rather exhausted. "Thank you for the save, my friends. Being stuck in my own staff was both embarrassing and enervating. I owe you one."
"You have not just saved my spirit, but prevented an invasion of the Boneyard by sahkil forces. You may have my stamp, plus this magical pearl for your efforts. You may keep any other valuables you might have taken from my house. I can always get more!"
Kishokish stamps your bodies with his personal stamp, a 17-sided die as large as a halfling’s fist, to give you his authorization to travel on the Dead Roads. He also gives you a pearl of power (2nd level).
Thras grips the staff with a frown as it lurches, but relaxes when the painting-creature comes out. Several things he said went right over Thras's head, but he generally understood that they will be allowed safe passage now. "Mhmm, glad we could help." Thras flexes his muscles and grins. Damn, that little one has some serious healing power. "So...time for Salighara." He grumbles.
Aira blinks in amazement at what is happening with the staff in Thras's hands. First it consumes the creature, only to spit out another one in its place. She looks at her staff, then back to the one in Thras' hands. "I suppose I need more training to learn that trick" She lets out a soft giggle, trying to lighten the mood in the otherwise very apparent stressful situation.
She turns to Sarela "I am sorry. I could see what I was doing, but it is as if I had no control over my actions. I hope I did not cause too much pain on your part" She then runs over and gives Sam a big hug. "Thank you as well for tending to my wounds. I am growing used to your warm energies keeping my spirits high."
Nodding in agreement with Thras "Yes, I suppose its time to move on. Thank you Kishokish for your stamp. I am glad we could come to your aid."
Sam nods, a slight sad gleam in her eyes. "Yes I'm glad we could help. I just wish we could have helped peacefully..." But such seemed to be the nature of this insane place. They had to fight to get through it. She found Thras particularly terrifying and unsettling. He seemed to take joy in ripping things apart with his bare hands. Sam shudders slightly in distaste. At least Kishokish seemed a pleasant, amiable fellow. He liked riddles, after all, so he must be fun and nice.
"You are welcome, Kishokish. However, in case this happens again in the future, you may wish to instruct your portrait to skip the puzzles and go straight to telling someone how to save you."
To Sam, she says, "Well, if what we've been told of Salighara is accurate, getting our next stamp should be quite peaceful. Dull, but peaceful. Honestly, after some of the things we've fought since we got here, I think I'll take dull and peaceful."
"What?! No Puzzles? My dear, there is no joy in such a path, I'm afraid. You prevailed, even after the puzzles, did you not? Hmmm"
After resting, you bid farewell to Kishokish and take to the Dead Roads once more. A few hours of walking along the pathways leads you to Salighara's Scriptorium. This sprawling wood-and-stone structure looks like a misplaced university building, with a grand entry on the southeast corner and a tall tower to the northwest. A path from the road leads directly to the entry.
Outside, you see a grim woman with a mostly humanoid form enwrapped in a cocoonlike lower body, wielding a large quill. She looks forlornly at the building, and as you draw near, she turns her dour gaze on you. "I am Salighara, a scholar and scribe of no small repute among the esteemed psychopomps. And you are Dr. Ulrich Kurbanov, Eldarel Japhol, the Filosovici twins, and Elká Syrellè, late of Roslar's Coffer. If I might hazard an educated guess, you seek to leave the Boneyard and return home to your world. To do so, you need my approval."
"I know why you would want to leave—Mictena has set her sights upon you as abominations. She wants to see you well and truly dead. I know all this because, frankly, she told me. Mictena came to me a short time ago, explaining that I would be well advised to see you slain. I'm a creature of logic and process, and Mictena's pleas were more impassioned than logical. In fact, I outright refused, insisting that I had more critical work to do. She was not well disposed to that response."
"My current field of study is dreams, and how mortal dreaming intersects with their fates and their desires. Don't assume I'm going on a tangent here—my conversation is scrupulously intentional, you'll see. My chief assistant and associate researcher, Mrs. Pedipalp, had been using my research equipment for her own studies into nightmares—things that terrify mortals. I wouldn't abide by it, and although I knew she coveted my Dream Gate, I'd assumed her distractions were mere... frippery."
"Well, after I declined Mictena's offer, it seems she went right to Mrs. Pedipalp. The rattletrap ousted me and appointed my assistant. My assistant! Mrs. Pedipalp is now master of the scriptorium, my staff, and my Dream Gate. An outrage! Well, her time as my assistant is finished. I will make this deal with you—if you enter my scriptorium and dispatch Mrs. Pedipalp in whatever manner you see fit, I will give you the stamps you need to continue on your journey home."
Thras beds down, propped up against the door, wanting to make sure that if something decides to visit them in the night it will run into him first.
When he wakes up in the morning, the heavy weight on his shoulders seems to have lifted. He is still very much the big bravado-filled warrior, but he no longer has the crushing hatred weighing down his bones. "Aye, up and at 'em, new day and we have another stamp to get!"
Thras takes point again, but does not march ahead with complete disregard for his newfound allies, rather sharing the vanguard with Mith. As they walk he shows his jovial, if somewhat crude, personality, making some casual jokes about the road they're on and the situation they've found themselves in. "And that we continue fighting while dead! Oh what a story it will make, I'll have to drag one of you up onto a table with me so I'm not called a liar!" He roars with a laugh.
When they reach Salighara's Scriptorium, Thras looks up at it with a bemused expression. But even more bemusing is Salighara herself. Thras folds his arms and listens to the grim woman, raising an eyebrow in questioning when she gets every single one of their names wrong. "Huh, think you got some bad information there. Not the right names, but you're right in that we're looking to get outta here." He chuckles when he hears about her refusal to bow to Mictena. "Well I suppose thanks are in order. Wouldn't want to have to dirty my hands on such a pretty thing like yourself."
Once she finishes her offer, Thras grins from ear to ear. "Aye, I was worried you'd have us do something boring. You want to overthrow this Pedipalp, consider it done." He cracks his knuckles, looking up at the tower with relish.
Sarela listened to Salighara's explanation, then sighed. She really had been looking forward to something dull and boring, instead of having to fight who knew what. "We can do this for you. Before we go in, can you tell us what sort of obstacles we might encounter in the Scriptorium?"
Salighara adjusts her glasses and leans forward, "Hmmm. It appears you are the ones, but not the ones. Nevertheless, the task still stands. Take care of this and I shall stamp you moving you onward."
She nods to Thras and responds to Sarela "There's Pedipalp, of course, she now commands my staff. The little... sort of clicky people. Made from wood. I don't know all their names. Their job was to not get in my way. I think it would be safe to assume that she is fully prepared to kill you if given a chance. I caution you against mind games though, she's become adept at messing with nightmares."
To help you in this endeavor, I shall offer you a boon. If one of you will step forward, I will loan you my ability to regenerate."
Bidding her farewell, you step up to the door and open it stepping inside the scriptorium. Two wooden doors, deeply carved with images of quill pens and open books, stand to the east and west of this entry hall. The double door to the west has frosted glass windows that reveal only shifting shadows behind them. To the north is an alcove with several empty coat hooks. Another door stands to the south, and a sharply angled hall leads to the southwest.
"The ones, but not the ones? Who was it you were anticipating to see here? Are there more of us trapped trying to get home?" Aira pleads with Salighara for more information.
"And what of Pedipalp and this staff? What secrets does she, and the staff possess, so that we may be best equipped to defend ourselves?"
She inquires with Salighara, but steps to the side to allow one of the other folks to accept the glyph.
Sam things back to what she knows from Rose's lessons on creeping creatures. "This Mrs. Pedipalp... Is she some kind of spider or somethign?"
Mithralline grins at Thras, thinking maybe he's not as bad as she first thought. "Oh, yes, it will indeed be a story. I'll definitely let you stand with me when I tell it, so everyone can realize it's true."
She easily trades barbs and jests with him as they travel, joining him in smiles as she realizes her skills are going to be called for again here.
"And your equipment? Can you tell us anything more about that?" she adds to the others' questions. "Is there a way we can shut it down or stop Pedipalp from using it?"
"What secrets do my staff possess? I don't know anything about them, Pedipalp handled all of that for me."
When you continue to ask questions, she begins to grow a little irritated. “Were you not listening? She is my research assistant. I brought her over from the Dimension of Dreams originally, just to interview her about her experiences, but she seemed like a perfectly
acceptable housekeeper, and so I kept her on. This little incident certainly tarnishes my opinion of her. I will not be providing her with a letter of recommendation.”
“More about my equipment? The nomenclature is perfectly suitable. It is a gate. To dreams. Ergo, Dream Gate. I constructed it myself at this site of planar thinness, for my studies.”
Thras grows similarly bored with the line of questions, and moves forward to the building.
Bidding her farewell, you step up to the door and open it stepping inside the scriptorium. Two wooden doors, deeply carved with images of quill pens and open books, stand to the east and west of this entry hall. The double door to the west has frosted glass windows that reveal only shifting shadows behind them. To the north is an alcove with several empty coat hooks. Another door stands to the south, and a sharply angled hall leads to the southwest.
Mithralline's face flushes as she has to resist teaching this woman something about rudeness, but Thras' way seems to do the job just as well.
Lance at the ready, she looks around the room, checking the alcove first. If she doesn't find anything, she gestures to the western doors, with the shadows behind them.