"Works for me. We'll probably have to explore them all anyway," Kallie says as she follows Aurealia. "Unless we wanted to go alphabetically?"
"Interesting. Most magic conferring understanding of unknown languages falls within spheres of magic that Runelords rather famously disdained... Alaznist's extraplanar alliances are likely the source of that functionality, but it is interesting that they preferred to future-proof their work...
"Oh, but yes, the betrayed door."
Seeing that they were in agreement as to where to go next, Croquelle sings a rousing song about her own Heroism.
Then--unless anyone else has any preparations to do--she leads the way through.
Groog waited around for someone to answer his question, but an answer never came. He growls in frustration before snorting up a wad of snot out of his nose and swallowing it.
He then steps over and picks up Fire Lady and holds her in front of his face, asking again, more slowly so they can understand ”What. Words?”
Kallie turns to the big, yet simple orc. "The words that Croquelle used in her song just now. They opened up these doors here. We're going to go through the one called 'betrayed.' Hopefully it won't be as bad as that."
Groog turned to Horse Lady as she talked. She was saying way too many things, way too fast.
He unceremoniously dropped Fire Lady and growled as he turned to follow Bat Lady through the door.
And he still didn’t know what “words” meant.
Seeing the confused look on Groog's face, Croq tries a new tact. "Try singing , like that. See how it makes that door open?"
Groog looks at Lizard Lady with a funny look. He then looks at a part of the wall and, surprisingly, sings out in a passable semblance of a tune:
”Beeeeeeeef jeeeeeerkyyyyyy”
Croq briefly considers correctting him, and then thinks better off it.
"Hmmmm not bad. You may need to sing it higher though. How's your falsetto? You know, like this?"
As you draw close to the "betrayed" door, you eventually realize that you are not alone. Standing nearby is a human skeleton adorned in tattered black robes. Several worms with wicked teeth slither about the man's remains. Seemingly confused by his location at first, he takes one look at you before growling aggressively.
"Uh... Kallie, Jaya, will my magic even affect this guy?" Viralane whispers to the two arcane casters.
"He looks undead, so probably not," Kallie says to Viralane as she thinks on what it could be.
Seeing the skeletal foe, Croq immediately starts to drum and sing a rousing song, causing the spirits of the Roderics to swirl around her and her companions.
Aurealia casts a shield on herself as she waits to see if the others know what this thing is.
Singing raucously, Croq surfs forward on her magic carpet, and swings down at the thing's head.
Eugeni only talked about the Worm that Walks phenomenon once, so besides the general idea of what they are, you can only recall one set of specific details about them...
"It's not undead... quite. The skeleton's just a chassis, it's really just those worms. They're all individual parts of it, so selecting out individuals with magic and the like won't be of any use, and if you don't hit like an Andosana or Groog, you probably won't accomplish anything. Its mind is strong, and far from humanoid, but you might still be able to affect it, Kallie"
Groog spots Lizard Lady run up to play Smashy with the Bone Man With Wigglies. Not wanting to miss out, he runs up and swings as well, trying to win the game before Lizard Lady can!
Kallie scowls in frustration that her usual spell repertoire would likely not be useful against a creature made up of thousands of wriggling worms. She moves to take cover behind a pillar while pulling out a flask of acid. "Can't believe I'm reduced to this," she mutters.
"Or maybe not," Kallie amends when Jaya announces her assessment of the creature.
She decides to test her friend's theory by coming closer and casting a spell through her lash.
Jaya's Fireball proves to be highly effect and immediately causes the Worm that Walks to collapse in a charred heap. Though heavily blunted, Groog and Croq's strikes ensure that he stays down.
"Nice one, Jaya!" Aurealia says, relived that they won't have to endure a dangerous combat at the moment. She offers her fellow mage a high five. "Let's go through the door now?" she asks the others, pointing at the Betrayed door again.
"Nice one, Jaya!" Aurealia says, relived that they won't have to endure a dangerous combat at the moment. She offers her fellow mage a high five. "Let's go through the door now?" she asks the others, pointing at the Betrayed door again.
Once the dust settles, Galatea approaches the "Betrayed" door and frowns at what she sees.
"It's a dead end," she says as she pokes the stone interior with her hand. Indeed, the "path" only goes a few feet before stopping. "If I had to guess, that guy was trapped in there until Croq's song freed him."
"Crazy. On to faithful then!?" Aurealia says, making jazz hands and clearly feigning enthusiasm.
"Yeah, now I'm startin' to wonder: was that someone who betrayed her? Or what she wants to 'gift' to someone interested in Betraying her?
"Either way, Faithful it is!"
She gives the charred body a quick look, trying to find anything of interest, and then heads over to Faithful.
Kallie rears up slightly when Jaya's fireball blows up the worm mage. She twirls her whip around, its tip still dancing with spell energy. "Wow. Good one. Glad I missed it, since my spell would have been wasted."
She follows the others to the next door.
Jaya gives her friends a faint smile, and her palm a rueful rub after Aurealia's high five, thankful for the vaulted ceilings that made her evocations safer to work with.
"Or perhaps someone she betrayed in a way she felt was worthy of memorializing. In any case, on to the Faithful."
Groog didn’t understand most of the big noises the people girls were saying. He was just happy to amble along behind them, looking for things of interest. Like the little wiggly worm from worm man that was still on his sword. It was funny. And cute. Little Puppy Worm. And it smelled like cooked chicken.
SLURRRP
Tasted like one too.
You venture through the "Faithful" door, and after traveling up a flight of stairs, you find yourselves in what seems to be a tomb. The chamber itself is quite long, and its floor is decorated with elegant, if abstract murals. These frescos are a multitude of yellows, light browns, and oranges. Altogether, this makes the room look like it was carved from mineral ores.
You see a number of sarcophagi in this tomb. Each sarcophagus is spaced exactly twenty part from each other. Their surfaces are made of smooth stone, and each one depicts a man or woman adorned in an elegant robe. Each individual is holding a bastard sword; the hilt rests in clutched hands on their chest, and the blade is pointed downward to their feet.
From the entrance, the room goes north a ways before taking a sharp turn east. After about twenty feet, this eastern path turns a sharp corner south. At the end of the southern turn, you see a small passageway that goes west and then takes a sharp turn north. When you reach the entrance of this smaller corridor, you have seen six sarcophagi.
"Interesting. Esteemed advisors or guard captains, perhaps?" Kallie surmises as they move past the sarcophagi.
"I fear we're succeeding at overcoming challenges rather than recognizing and circumventing them... But perhaps that is how Alaznist and her minions designed this place. She did value a certain... directness."
Croq nods. "Let's do it!"
As they walk, she keeps looking for anything magical that catches her eye.
The small passage leads to one final room, which hosts another sarcophagus. However, unlike the others, this one is open. Inside rests a set of dried but otherwise well-preserved remains. For instance, the head is still adorned with a surprising amount of red hair. Whoever this was wears the same robes and carries the same bastard sword as the others.
And then a feminine voice echoes through your minds...
::Are you here to free my lord from his chains?::
"We're here to have a chat with him. I won't say we will free him, but we might have an 'enemy of my enemy' situation here. So him talking to us would be, well, advantageous."
Kallie's words... seem to bring the mysterious voice pause, but after a long moment, there is a response.
::And who is this common enemy?:: the voice asks.
Kallie quirks a smile. "Come now. We're not here to waste Thybidos' time. Who does he have cause to hate above all else?"
::Very well:: the voice replies, a very faint hint of amusement in her telepathic tone. ::Take this gem. It is one of the four keys you will need to speak with Lord Thybidos. Find the entrance to his prison and then say his name::
The mouth of the corpse opens slightly, letting you take the peridot that had been resting there without trouble.
::Now go:: the voice says once you have the gemstone in hand. ::Leave me in peace::
"Certainly," Kallie agrees as she gives the gem a small toss in her hand.
She starts heading out of the chamber. "Easy enough. Let's look for the other keys," she says to her adventuring companions.
Aurealia nods in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds good. We still haven't looked in the beloved or beast rooms yet. Let's check out beloved first?"
Jaya nodded, eyeing Groog speculatively. It's out of character for her, but 'Beloved' could be used by the dramatic to describe some sort of enchantment-based trap. Perhaps stop up his ears with wax? No I'm certain he has enough of that already...
She withdraws a miniscule phial of a silver suspension from her component pouch, then dips a fingertip in it before tracing a protective sigil in the air before the hulking orc.
Probably a more sure thing in any case.
Groog looks at Little Lady making weird moves with a look of confusion. Also known as his normal expression. He then shrugs and heads on into the Bee Love door, excited to possibly pet some bees.
"Good call, Jaya," Aurealia says, offering her a heartfelt grin as they move into the next chamber.
"...One moment please," Galatea says before you head through the "Beloved" door. From atop Cheshire's back, she steers the tigress to where you fought the Worm that Walks and then examines the area where the creature had been trapped. Just as Jaya casts her spell on Groog, Gali returns holding a circular gemstone.
"I found this bloodstone inside that guy's makeshift tomb," Gali says as you head into the "Beloved" area. "Now that we know about the keys, my gut says that this might be one of them. Four words, four keys..."
To reach this next chamber, you venture down a broad flight of stairs. The room itself is large and elegant. It is made from marble, with the walls in particular having a pretty rose-tinge. On the floor, you see images of the six-headed, coiling serpent that seems to represent Thybidos, though the symbols are all tarnished and worn.
Along the northern wall, there are two semicircles that form alcoves. These areas are blocked off by thick, sturdy iron bars. Inside each alcove, you see four golden urns (eight urns in total) that are just as tarnished and worn as the serpent symbols on the floor. They are each rest on a short pillar made of stone. Each of these pillars has a big, red gemstone attached to it.
To the east, there is an archway. Venturing through the openings on each end of the arch leads to a smaller (but still large overall) side chamber. About halfway through this room, the floor suddenly gives way to a yawning pit about 10 feet in width and 30 feet in depth.
Aurealia doesn't know what to make of the urns, so she goes into the side chamber and looks down into the pit.
Croq joins her sister in looking down the pit. If she doesn't see anything, she'll surf over the edge on her magic carpet, and then slowly spiral toward the bottom.
Kallie keeps her eyes open as she nervously flicks the tip of her whip in time with her tail.
At a glance, Aurealia, Croq, and Kallie discover that the pit is full of bones.