Croq can't seem to place her, but shrugs at the story. "You're right, I was bluffing. I'm an artist myself: Croquelle Andosana, of the Croquettes. Have you heard of us?
"Anyway, if you really want to come good, tell it to me true. I'm a good judge of character.
"And then help us set this right. See, Hira wasn't just some collector. She was trying to help ancient runelords who would enslave us all if they got the chance. We're here to make sure they don't. And to get our mama back!"
Aurealia waits, letting the more silver tongued in the group do the talking. While she listens, she cleans the blade of her horsechopper.
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Kallie's eyes go wide when she hears the actress give her name. "Oh! I thought you looked familiar! I saw you when you played the role of Rilee Stormborn in Zoli's The Marvelous Montage of Morythine! I thought you did good."
Kallie leans in, her eyes very intense and curious. "So, I heard you had a run-in with--" she glances over her shoulder at Jaya, and drops her voice to a conspiratorial whisper -- "Auronee. What'd she say to you? Which part did you play?"
Croq can't seem to place her, but shrugs at the story. "You're right, I was bluffing. I'm an artist myself: Croquelle Andosana, of the Croquettes. Have you heard of us?
"I thought it was the Scalehearts," Gali murmurs as she steps away to let you talk to Viralane. She reaches into her coat and produces her Wand of Infernal Healing. "Aurealia, you look pretty injured. May I heal you?"
If allowed, Gali takes a few moments to heal Aurealia.
Galatea visits Groog next.
"Uh... Groog hurt. Gali heal?" she offers.
Croq can't seem to place her, but shrugs at the story. "You're right, I was bluffing. I'm an artist myself: Croquelle Andosana, of the Croquettes. Have you heard of us?
"Anyway, if you really want to come good, tell it to me true. I'm a good judge of character.
"And then help us set this right. See, Hira wasn't just some collector. She was trying to help ancient runelords who would enslave us all if they got the chance. We're here to make sure they don't. And to get our mama back!"
"...Runelords? Like Karzoug and Alaznist? Oh dear..." Viralane murmurs. You get the impression that her awareness of those two likely stems from her involvement with Zoli Tileani's plays. Being a ginger, it's very possible that Viralane might have even played Alaznist at some point! "Can't say I've heard of you personally, Croquelle... Wait, Andosana? As in Shalelu Andosana?"
Kallie's eyes go wide when she hears the actress give her name. "Oh! I thought you looked familiar! I saw you when you played the role of Rilee Stormborn in Zoli's The Marvelous Montage of Morythine! I thought you did good."
Kallie leans in, her eyes very intense and curious. "So, I heard you had a run-in with--" she glances over her shoulder at Jaya, and drops her voice to a conspiratorial whisper -- "Auronee. What'd she say to you? Which part did you play?"
Despite her obvious nervousness, terror, and dread, Viralane sincerely lights up upon hearing your words.
"That was one of my favorite roles," Viralane says fondly. "...So you've heard about that little... encounter. For that production, I played Auronee. I had actually applied for Cladissa, but the director thought I was a better Auronee. She... uh... It's a long story. It ends with her cursing me."
Groog doesn’t resist any efforts to heal him, his focus seemingly absorbed by his necklace making. But once Galatea does heal him, his eyes light up and he reaches over and grabs her arm, pulling her down on the opposite side of him from Scared Lady. He pats her head gently (in his own mind) and then resumes his work. Anytime Galatea tries to get up, he puts a hand on her head and pushes her back to the floor beside him.
Looks like Groog has a new favorite pet, as unfortunate as that is for Galatea.
He finally forces the wire through the far side of Sparkle Lady’s head, and slides it along the cord before reaching over and taking the Small Lady’s head. Again he pats the Blue Man’s head and looks at Scared Lady and grunts ”Don’t drop,” before resuming his work.
"Aurealia, you look pretty injured. May I heal you?"
If allowed, Gali takes a few moments to heal Aurealia.
"Yes, please. That would be lovely, dear." Aurealia offers Gali a genuine smile.
Galatea gives Kelhuud a look.
"Same thing happened to me shortly after Groog and I met," the ranger says with a chuckle. "Don't worry; his attention will wander elsewhere... eventually."
"Does he really have to do that to poor Corla?" Viralane whimpers. "She was just my assistant. She doesn't deserve this..."
Kelhuud sighs. "I'll try talking to him, but be warned: it can be very hard to change Groog's mind."
The ranger takes a seat next his friend.
"Small Lady... no fight. Poor trophy. No glory for Groog. Better buried," Kelhuud suggests gently. "Now Blue Man... did fight Groog. Hurt our friends. Good trophy for Groog."
Groog pauses his work as Metal Man talks. Without saying a word, he raises his head slowly from his task to look Metal Man in the eyes, his tusks bared as he let’s out a low, deep snarl.
Kelhuud simply nods and leaves Groog to his work.
"See what I mean?" the ranger whispers to Viralane.
Kallie's brow furrows, feeling especially nervous for her friend. Her mother's notoriety was always a touchy subject. "Curse you? How? What is the nature of your curse?"
Kallie's brow furrows, feeling especially nervous for her friend. Her mother's notoriety was always a touchy subject. "Curse you? How? What is the nature of your curse?"
"I believe she used some kind of powerful magic. That's the only logical explanation..." Viralane replies sadly. "Every time I go on stage, I'm essentially doomed to give a terrible performance. It's... not exactly something I can prove right here, right now, but... maybe if we built our own little theater or something, it'd trigger the curse. Regardless, that's why I haven't performed in months."
Viralane sighs.
"Nothing I tried could break the curse," the actress continues. "Eventually, Hira heard of my... situation and got in contact with me. She said that the Peacock Spirit had the power to break the curse, and at that point... I was desperate to try anything."
She glances over at the head in Groog's hands before swiftly looking away.
"And look where that's gotten me," Viralane concludes, a few heavy tears falling from her eyes.
Groog shoots his hand out to hold Blue Man’s head still on the Scared Lady’s lap when she jerks away. ”No move! Don’t drop!”
Groog shoots his hand out to hold Blue Man’s head still on the Scared Lady’s lap when she jerks away. ”No move! Don’t drop!”
"R-Right, Mr. Groog. I won't move," Viralane replies, quickly composing herself and taking care to stay still and comply with Groog's... request.
"Did you try any other clerics before signing on with dangerous cults? Honestly, I should speak with some of the temples. Prophylactic treatments work just as well for societal ills as physical ones."
"Did you try any other clerics before signing on with dangerous cults? Honestly, I should speak with some of the temples. Prophylactic treatments work just as well for societal ills as physical ones."
"I did!" Viralane insists. "Anti-curse magic the very first thing I tried! I visited multiple temples. Nothing worked..."
With this topic of conversation clearly being rather painful for her, Viralane changes course and begins telling you everything else she knows as Croq requested. According to her, Damil (the swordsman in the blue breastplate) was nothing more than a lackey and Hira's bodyguard. She doesn't know how Hira and Damil got the constructs under their control. Viralane also provides you with directions to a safe house in Magnimar that the Peacock cultists used.
As for the cult's objectives, as she said earlier, they were trying to recover two of the Swords of Sin. You're already familiar with Baraket. Meanwhile, the other one appears to have been the Sword of Wrath!
(...The one the Rangers discovered a generation ago and naturally secured somewhere even Alaznist herself could likely never recover it.)
According to Viralane, once they finished studying, Hira also planned to run something called "The Gauntlet" just a floor down from here. Evidently, if she succeeded, she would have been able to talk with the spirit of Thybidos, a previous Runelord of Wrath. Speaking of Thybidos, his crypt is in a place called the Forlorn Sepulchers. Viralane believes Hira discovered a route there via a cave on the southeastern slope of Rivenrake Island.
She informs you that Hira had a superior, a human woman with dark skin and black hair. Viralane speculates that this individual might be the high priestess of cult, though she never caught her name. A few weeks ago at their safe house, Hira and this superior (who she called "Your Eminence") performed a ritual of some sort that gave everyone involved the ability to teleport back to the safe house in a pinch. Viralane finds it odd that Hira never used this magic when she was so heavily outnumbered and outgunned. As for Viralane herself...
"I was the one Hira tried to slip on The Forgiven Queen after her raid on the Black Arrows base failed. I didn't expect Auronee Farwynd herself to be the captain of ship, though. Upon seeing her, I panicked and used the escape magic to get me and Corla out of there," Viralane says with a sigh. "To save face, I lied and told Hira that we got into another... disagreement, which got me kicked off the ship."
"Well," Kallie surmises, "sounds like you've got one of those god-involved type curses that probably has some kind of clause that lifts it... but you're in luck! Some of us have ties to the Cladissan legends, so if you help us, then maybe you'll be helping yourself!"
"So who was the child, during that encounter?"
"Given how you're still here, it seems like this 'escape magic' was a one-time deal?" Galatea observes.
Viralane simply nods.
"Well," Kallie surmises, "sounds like you've got one of those god-involved type curses that probably has some kind of clause that lifts it... but you're in luck! Some of us have ties to the Cladissan legends, so if you help us, then maybe you'll be helping yourself!"
"So who was the child, during that encounter?"
"...I might as well start from the beginning," Viralane says with a sigh. "I never caught her name, but the girl was clearly another Farwynd; the resemblance between her and Auronee was... uncanny. Anyway, she confronted me after the show was over. She took issue with my portrayal of Auronee; she seemed to think I was intentionally slandering her... relative."
"Why was she there?" Gali asks. "To my knowledge, there has never been a family friendly adaption of Cladissa's life. They're usually intense dramas or... arguably tragedies."
"That night, there was a production in the other theater meant for families. I think it was one of those fictitious Zoli Tileani adventures," Viralane explains. "From what I can tell, during that play's intermission, the girl learned about my show, got curious, sneaked inside, and watched it until the end."
"I think I see where this is going," Gali says. "Instead of just explaining that you were playing a role..."
"I said some very cruel things to her," Viralane confirms with another sigh. "I'd... rather not repeat them, but my words left the poor girl in tears. Her crying drew Auronee's attention, and, well, you can probably figure out the rest from there. I know; I should have just apologized and deescalated the situation, but... my pride got the better of me, and I kept digging myself deeper."
There's a long moment of silence.
"I'm afraid I didn't catch your name," Viralane finally says, turning to Kallie, "but I would like to accept your offer if that's alright."
"I'm Kallie," she says with a smile.
"So what else is around here that we need to check out before we send someone to run the gauntlet? Or should all of us go? I can haste most of us, so we'll definitely take care of the 'run' part."
"We never explored the southern areas near the entrance to this floor," Kelhuud says. "As for the Gauntlet, I would advise that we all go together. Hollow Mountain isn't a good place to explore alone."
"I wouldn't mind waiting until morning and resting first," Galatea admits.
"I've still got quite a bit of magical energy left myself," Aurealia comments. "But if everyone else is worn out, I'm fine with resting before we go further."
"I've got quite a bit of power left, too," Kallie offers. "The aforementioned haste, for example, plus a few offensive spells."
Croq beats out a quick, driving beat on her drum. "Let's do this!"
"It wouldn't particularly need to be divinely fueled, I suppose... Unless you tracked down a high priest or someone of similar magical heft, they might reasonably have failed using typical curative abjurations..." Jaya abruptly realizes she's been quite far down a necromantic rabbit hole, and refocuses on the Gauntlet
"Is there any sort of commonality of origin with the similarly titled dungeon near Absalom?"
Aurelia leads the group to explore the southern area near the entrance to this floor that they haven't looked at yet.
Sounds like I might be using every last charge on you today, Galatea thinks as she inspects the Wand of Infernal Healing in her hands.
"It wouldn't particularly need to be divinely fueled, I suppose... Unless you tracked down a high priest or someone of similar magical heft, they might reasonably have failed using typical curative abjurations..." Jaya abruptly realizes she's been quite far down a necromantic rabbit hole, and refocuses on the Gauntlet
"Is there any sort of commonality of origin with the similarly titled dungeon near Absalom?"
"If it helps, I believe the full name for this 'Gauntlet' is actually 'The Gauntlet of Fury' or something similar," Kelhuud says.
Aurelia leads the group to explore the southern area near the entrance to this floor that they haven't looked at yet.
In the southern area near the entrance to this floor, you discover more reading rooms filled with various documents. In one, you discover the only thing of interest in this area: two ancient skeletons. Each one has a leather cord secured tightly around their neck...
Thanks to her familiarity with the creatures, Jaya deduces that these two skeletons could be the origin of the respawning choking shades. After cutting off the cords at Jaya's recommendation (it might help them find peace), Kelhuud volunteers to give them a proper burial to hopefully avoid another battle with the undead monstrosities. After taking Gali's folding shovel, the ranger assures you that he will catch up soon.
You go back to the library area and follow the Varisian Rangers' ancient footprints south from there. Rather than a staircase like you were possibly expecting, you discover a room (an office maybe?) filled with eight desks covered with several old papers. There is some fancy artwork on the walls, but just as you start to admire it, the art pieces begin flying off them and right at you!
The source of the chaos is quickly revealed to be four poltergeists (each similar to the one back in Roderic's Wreck). With an angry growl, Groog promptly barrels into the ghostly figures, drawing their focus. They try to fight back, but everything they throw at the massive orc just seems to bounce off of him! The Andosana Sisters and Cheshire use this opportunity (and their magic weapons) to help Groog swiftly dispatch the creatures. Remarkably, no injuries are sustained during this encounter, and no resources are expended.
In the next room, you reach... a seeming dead end. Once again, going by all the cabinets and scrolls, you seem to have discovered another office. On the central desk, you see a neatly arranged set of papers and a plaque that reads "Augus Premm" in Thassilonian. However, unlike the last one, this room appears to be empty!
"...Mom mentioned an Augus Premm to me once. She mentioned that his spirit still haunted his office as a, well, haunt. I think he sat right at that desk when they found him," Gali recalls. "Zoli tried talking to him, but he got angry when she got close. Hilariously, Zoli dodged everything Augus threw at her before tiring himself out and fading away. Not liking the clutter on the guy's desk, Eugeni arranged all those papers in alphabetical order. That... apparently put Augus to rest; Eugeni heard a faint 'Thank you' in Thassilonian."
Following the Rangers' footprints, Aurealia quickly spots a secret door in the northwest corner of the room. Opening it reveals a downwards spiral staircase...
Kallie blows on her pointer finger, a few motes of positive energy still sparkling from all the disrupt undead spells she cast against the poltergeists. "And there's more where that came from," she says with a grin as the last one is destroyed.
She gets ready to follow everyone down the spiral staircase.
Croq renews her Heroism and lines up behind Groog.
Jaya re-shield's herself in preparation for the delve, reluctantly putting away her preliminary catalogue of the office's papers.
As the group ventures down the stairs, Galatea uses the Wand of Infernal Healing on herself and then fades from sight.
After everyone makes their preparations, you head down the spiral staircase. Upon reaching the bottom, you see an archway to the west that looks like crossing ranseurs. On it, there is an ominous inscription written in Thassilonian...
Sensing no immediate signs of danger, you head through the archway, into another hallway, and down a second flight of stairs. You end up in a larger room that appears to be a lobby of sorts. The floors, walls, and ceilings are covered by mysterious mosaics and patterns.
You see a set of six marble statues, three along the northern wall and three to the south. Each one depicts a robbed warrior wielding a strange weapon and an expression of contempt. At the western end of the room, there is a bronze gate with the rune of Wrath on it...
Aurealia peeks into the gauntlet room, seeing what she can see and smell there. "Not ominous at all..." she comments as she looks.
Groog marveled as everything got very small around him. He giggled like a gigantic child as the magic effect took hold. He found moving through the complex as a Big Groog the funniest thing since that time he found a sticky in his nose.
He lumbered past the stone men towards the bronze gate without a care in the world.
"Be careful, Groog. The hallway is a test to see if you're angry and strong enough to get through, and there might be people who do bad things and traps in there! I don't want you to get killed. Then who will protect the puppies?"
"Huh. What's that over there?"
Jaya murmurs a brief divination to see if the arch or its rune carried any magical auras.
"What? Where?"
Aurealia, Croq, and Kallie all quickly spot the trap. As such, everyone stops well before springing it... except for Groog! The giant orc keeps advancing seeingly without a care in the world. Upon reaching the area between the two middle statues, he is suddenly caught in a massive explosion!
Fire erupts and engulfs the massive orc! As the flames dissipate, a burned, soot covered Groog stands there looking around, confused. Then, he looks at you all and starts giggling, the laughter growing until he is outright cracking up.
Kallie winces as she sees Groog blunder into the trap. "Oh, are you all right? Who's got some healing?"
Aurealia uses her last first level spell slot to cast infernal healing on Groog before he continues forward. "That should keep him from dying completely?" she ventures, stepping back quickly before he sets anything else off.
"That should be enough to heal his remaining burns," Gali's invisible voice remarks.
"Okay, Groog. Let's go!"
With his wounds healed, Groog continues his march towards the bronze gate. It proves to open easily enough. Thankfully, this action does not trigger another trap!
On the other side of the gate, you discover a large pool of water that occupies most of an even bigger room. There is a small path around its parameter, but it is only about five feet in width. The water itself is about ten feet deep. In the center of the pool, perched up on a platform roughly the same size as Groog, is another stature. This one depicts a twisted monstrosity. It is hunched over, and it holds a big red gem of some sort in its mouth.
You can see another bronze gate to the southeast. However, it seems to have been forcibly torn open at some point. Perhaps by the Rangers when they explored this area? On the wall to the northeast, you see an iron slab. On it, there is a depiction of another monstrous creature.
"That's not a sculpture. A spell turned this creature to stone."
"Whoah...someone who's been frozen as stone for thousands of years!! Damn!! That's Metal!
"Could it be undone??"
"Of course. But not by me. It's a pretty potent spell, and the spell to undo petrification is similarly powerful. I'm... not there yet." Kallie pulls out her spell book and flips through a few pages. She makes a couple notations in the margins, then closes it.