Charlie sighs in relief. "Alright, so we just need to kill some more xulgath's and we are good?"
Mmm, Chark says, tapping her finger to her lips and deep in thought. Possibly. Though I suspect there's more to it than that. But, at the least, we should finish cleansing this tower of their taint, and then investigate the library Ulthadar said we would find.
She moves up to the intersection and peers down each hall.
Chark looks around. To the East and West there are halls that end in doors. She sees, moreover, that there are also poorly hidden secret doors in both directions.
To the north lies a more open room, lit by everburning torches. From the hall it's hard to see what's in store.
Chark reports her findings and suggests turning down the left hallway first.
Tiny nods "I've got soap too. Never know when you'll need to get cleaned up quick for a new performance. may help with the Xulgath stink."
The hidden doors likely fit better centuries ago. The door her is nondescript.
"Well then let's descript that door open!" Dendillion says with surprising enthusiasm. He points at the secret door on the left.
The door is opened quickly as the party prepares for the worst. It's a broom closet. Ironically, thick dust and tangles of cobwebs blanket the abandoned cleaning equipment.
Tiny flinches, ready for danger only to chuckle and relax a bit "Ha, just some brooms and the like."
Charlie gasps, "Shut it q..q..quick! There could be sp..sp..spiders in there"
Chark smiles in spite of herself, and gives the closet a quick detect magic before shutting the door .
Chark shuts the door, since there's nothing of note or magic within.
Haldan, who wasn't really paying attention, is startled by Charlie's outburst and jumps into a battle stance accidentally releasing some magic fire at the door.
Slightly embarrassed by the surprisingly unsinged door, Haldan moves over to the door to the east.
"Maybe we should try this door next?" And he opens the door after checking for traps.
Haldan brazenly opens the door.... to another closet.
"Well, if we even wanted to find a home somewhere, we have plenty of closet space here. Let's open the last one as well."
Haldan goes back to the group and opens the door above them after checking it for traps.
Haldan flagrantly opens the door.... to another closet. This one, however, has a door in the back wall.
"A-HAA... as I suspected... another door."
Haldan repeats the process, thinking that this will be the door that finally causes him trouble.
Haldan dauntlessly opens the door....
A large stone fireplace occupies the kitchen’s northwestern corner. Remnants of charred wood and ash rest in the hearth beneath a cast‑iron cauldron. A dozen pans and skillets dangle from hooks. The kitchen is remarkably clean.
Chark follows Haldan on his closet excursions, then steps into the kitchen he has found. Clear the xulgaths didn't come into here, she muses aloud. Much too tidy for that. She takes a quick look around, looking in particular at the cauldron and seeing if the fire was recent enoguh to still be warm.
Indeed, Chark finds nothing at all. Elena and Haldan both conclude that there's a spell keeping this place tidy.
"And it doesn't stink." Charlie smiles taking a breath of fresh air as he looks around. "Should we head west?"
"Go west? This is what we're gonna do. I'd put money on that it's a pantry. Which is nice because I'm hungry."
"Or another closet!" declares Tiny dramatically.
This room is filled with the strong smell of spilled wine. Puddles of wine cover the floor amid smashed bottles. There is magic in this room.
Attempt to identify the magic.
Charlie kneels down and runs his finger along the wine. "Such a waste." He notices Haldan poking about. "You ss..see something Haldan?"
Haldan finds that each statue is its own magic, though he struggles to discern exactly how or what the enchantment is. The party also notices that each statue is wearing a mask that is NOT part of the statue itself. Two statues, however are missing their masks.
Tiny peeks under the second statue's mask.
Tiny peeks under the second statue's mask. It's a willowy man who carries
a sculptor’s tools and a painter’s palette. This statue wears a mask woven of boar’s bristles. Suddenly, Tiny' eyes go wide like there's something wrong.
The statue turns sinister. It turns to look at you with an unnatural, homicidal rage. It lurches for your throat!
"Is it weird that I want a mask even more now?"
Tiny's reels backwards a bit
Having seen this in action, the party takes a moment to digest what just happened.
Haldan pauses to consider the masks and their clear origins in the Occult. Then, moves quickly to trying to safely dislodge a mask, whichever one looks the coolest.
Haldan works his mojo and manages to deactivate this statue. Unfortunately the mask seems to be mundane. Still, No visions attack....
Tiny slumps and rubs his temples "Glad that didn't hurt anyone else. I'd be even more glad if it didn't hurt me too though."
Light investigation on the other statues in the room leads to a more complete picture of what's going on here.
Chark looks about the room at the statues. These are the twelve guises of Aroden, she says, identifying each in turn. What you disabled there was the Artist, Haldan. Perhaps we should try to do the same to the rest — no more headaches for Tiny, I hope.
Chark identifies the other statues. It's obvious that's someone's been here. It also looks like they've ever disabled two of the statues, or survived the consequences as a simple detection reveals that they're each magical in a similar way...
Haldan only barely hears Chark as he's playing with the mask on his face. Disappointed that playtime is over, Haldan is ready to help in whatever way he can.
Charlie sits back and waits. "Let me know what you need h..h..help with Haldan."
"I know a thing or two about the trickier parts of a dungeon. Might be I can apply that knowledge here."
Haldan works as best he can, starting with the Artisan statue.
The statue lurches forward and grabs you by the throat! [ooc]Make a Will save
Haldan shakes the spell, but the damage is done. His mind takes
"Not sure if this can be done. I'm happy I got one mask done. Anyone have any ideas here? Also... medic..."