"Neolandus? He's on the lower level. The stairs that lead to the maze entrance keep going down. There's magic hiding that part, so it's easy to miss unless you're specifically looking for it. I just know because I've been taken down there a few times since they caught me poking around."
”Right. Ril here will get ye all patched up. And we’ll find ye a blade. Then we’ll all go down there, kick some arse and find the lad! It’s a good plan, aye?”
Yhrrilka nods approvingly. "I've had dumber plans. As far as weapons, the blades that sphinx thing was using, we'll go back and get them." She turns to Vencarlo and asks, "You're good with something like a kukri, I hope?" I sure hope he's good for more than teaching daughters from the Heights to not break a nail if they draw their rapier, she thinks to herself.
Interesting, Yhrrilka's divination reveals that Vencarlo remains in poor health . It seems that the man requires a serious amount of punishment to render him this injured - much more than a normal civilian. In response to her question, he gives a serious nod. "Kukris aren't my preferred weapon, but I've trained with them. Keep a close guard as we go - the creatures down here are resistant to most weapons. This includes both cold iron and silver."
”Sounds like I’ll just need to punch harder. Hold still, I can bandage that leg of yours up at least. Holy fook, who did this to ye?”
"You're a tough old bastard, I'll give you that," Ril nods with admiration as she uses her abilities to heal Vencarlo. Following up on Torsten's question, she prods with, "Was it that sphinx we ran into? If it was, no worries, we took care of her. We're gonna get one of her weapons, we'll find that lower level, find Neolandus, and get out of here. And Dawnflower save anyone that gets in our way!"
"There's four of them: Glorio Arkona, his sister, a woman who's half lion, and a six-armed three-faced thing."
"There's four of them: Glorio Arkona, his sister, a woman who's half lion, and a six-armed three-faced thing."
Ril's face shows no small measure of disbelief at the duelist's statement. "Six what and three WHAT? I don't know what Blackjack was playing at, sending you in here as a decoy, but it seems like a pretty terrible idea to me. At least they're down to three now; like we said, we took care of the lion-lady right before we found you. So let's go get you armed and get downstairs."
Torsten nodded as he turned to go and retrieve the blades for their new comrade.
Vencarlo stifles a chuckle when Ril mentions Blackjack using him as a decoy before pretending not to hear that part.
------------
"That's good. The main threat is the Arkonas. The six-armed creature was the primary torturer. Didn't ask any real questions, though. More interested in reactions to various types of pain."
Something in the tone of Vencarlo's laugh gives Yhrrilka pause, but she doesn't have time to process before getting caught back up in the threat at hand. "Okay, well What's-his-face Arkona was upstairs, probably thinking he was gonna get a good laugh at us getting our asses kicked. If he sees differently and decides to take this personally, he could be headed in at any time, so maybe we move with a little hustle, hmm? Let's get to it."
Torsten was glad to see that Vencarlo's spirits were up. He'd need it. He tossed the man a weapon. "Torture. Sick fookers. Aye, let's do this."
Vencarlo twirls the kukri in an elaborate flourish before nodding in approval. "Well-balanced."
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After much wandering, backtracking, and lever-pulling, you eventually find yourselves in the room with the colored spheres - black, white, green, and gold. Interestingly, the lever Torsten had pulled when he was here earlier (that didn't seem to do anything) has been reset to its previous position.
Ril looks around the room, eyeing up the spheres and levers. She's clearly a bit agitated, as if she wants to just start pulling levers and manipulating controls untl something happens. "So didn't you say there was a stairway back here, hidden or something? Do we just start pulling levelrs until it appears?"
”I guess so?” Torsten said with a shrug. ”This place didn’t come with an instruction manual.”
"Well then, it'd be a shame if I broke anything." Yhrrilka starts looking at the levers, seeing if any of them feel lucky to her.
"This isn't the entrance. It's some kind of portal room. I tried the white one, and it sent me to a locked cell."
”Really? I tried the white one and it took me to the exit. If this means that we can’t stay together, or know where we are going, then they are too dangerous to use. What other options do we have?”
Ril glares at the levers, resisting the urge to pull out her adamantine blade and start slashing away. Talking to no one in particular, she wonders, "What if we were all holding hands, or otherwise keeping contact, while we trigger the damn thing...?"
Yhrrilka turns to the other two. "I don't think that thing can separate us if we all go together. Anyone willing to commit to some trial and error?"
"Aye. I'm game. Worked for me last time." Torsten said.
"Okay then," the young woman says as she starts examining the apparatus. She starts with the lever, verifying whether it only has two positions, and having a brief spasm of up-and-down-and-up-and-down that she stops about a half second before Torsten reaches for the lever himself. "Which way did you have it last time, Torsten, and where did that take you?"
After pulling the lever like Torsten did last time, the three of you you touch the white sphere ... and teleport back to the entrance of the labyrinth.
Yhrrilka's face bears the expression of someone who was prepared to go through a lot more hullabaloo to get where she's gotten to. "Huh. Well then. Vencarlo, you said there was a hidden stairway down to where Neolandus is being held...?"
Vencarlo leads you down to where the staircase ends - and proceeds to step through the rock wall. On the other side of this illusion is a set of double doors. Torsten senses life within: three separate individuals.
”Three inside.” Torsten said. ”We’ve got an idea of who’ll it will be. So get ready for a fight.”
Ril nods, giving her gladius a quick flourish as she snarls, "Ready."
On the other side of the doors, you find a large room lit by a heartily burning firepit in the center. Cages hang on chains dangling from hooks in the ceiling, while racks, strappados, gibbets, and other implements of torture fill the floor space. A set of immense wooden doors stand in the wall to the north, while to the south stand several narrow cells.
As Torsten sensed, there are three individuals inside the room. One is a middle-aged man strapped into a stretching rack. The second is a three-headed six-armed creature holding a variety of exotic weapons. The third is Vencarlo, strapped into a second stretching rack. He cries out in excitement as you enter. "You came back! I'm saved!"
The torturer is the quickest to react, casting a protective spell and readying its numerous weapons.
"Kill the torturer first. Then deal with the manlings, aye? Aye." Torsten didn't wait for an answer, as he moved forward. He delivered a punishing blow to the sternum, and then grabbing the torture, tried to brute-force his way into throwing it towards Ril.
Ril scowls at the scene. Glancing at the many people, she snarls, "One of you is in a s!@@-load of trouble in a minute," staring at the various Vencarlos before her. Her eyes come back to the one with whom she entered the room, and she adds, "Probably you, I'm thinking."
With that she launches a fiery blast at the many-armed torturer, while also trying to figure how to attack such a creature.
vs touch
Fire
vs SR
+ whichever skill applies
Yhrrilka realizes this creature is native to another plane, but isn't sure which one. Torsten, meanwhile, lands a pair of powerful punches to its sternum. He's unable to move it from its spot, however, so Ril's forced to aim her blast wide to avoid hitting her friend.
'Vencarlo' leaps off the stretching rack as 'Vencarlo' lunges toward him. The two immediately begin a fierce battle: kukri versus exotic martial arts.
Three-Face becomes a whirling dervish of sharp steel as it strikes out with all six of its arms at both of you. Its speed is unnaturally fast, and you can see its wounds beginning to heal.
Three-Face: 42pts damage
The creature lunged at Torsten, turning into a whirlwind of blades. He dodged, weaved and parried as best as he could, but even with his magically hardened skin blood was shed. But he did not give ground, and responded with one more solid blow. His fists took on a golden hue as he channeled magical power into them so as to overcome the creature’s defenses.
Ril does her best to weave in among her opponent's weapons, but can barely keep up with the wall of steel that presents itself.
vs PMD
vs FF
Piercing, adamantine
vs CMD w/o Dex bonus
vs FF if Feint succeeded
Piercing, adamantine
vs SR
Fire
vs CMD w/o Dex bonus
Torsten, don't forget on your next turn, Expert Feint makes it lose its Dex bonus until beginning of my next turn.
I'm posting an AOO in case Torsten's reposition worked, to speed things up.
Piercing, adamantine
Piercing, adamantine NEVERMIND
vs CMD w/o Dex bonus
Torsten continues to pummel the creature, creating an opening for Yhrrilka to stab it - and then unleash a gout of fire directly into the wound. It falls to the ground. Torsten's divine-infused fists make sure it can't heal.
The question now is how to handle the other battlers. The kukri one Vencarlo entered with has apparently been disarmed, so both men are fighting with fists and feet.
One 'Vencarlo' is using something reminiscent of the House of Unfolding Wind. The other 'Vencarlo' is using a style you've never seen before.
As a Borderline Obsessive Blackjack Fangirl, does Ril know if Unfolding Wind Style has ever been associated with the man?
"Me little guy says that one there is using the House of Unfolding Wind style, whatever that is." Torsten said. "It ring any bells to ye?"
"Little bit, I mean I know the name..." she said, staring intently at the two combatants.
After another moment of observing the identical combatants, Ril says. "The other one, not the Unfolding Wind guy. That one moves a little more like Blackjack. A little slower, more like an old man imitating him. Get the Wind one off him without killing, okay? I want some answers."
Ril does her best to muscle in between the two combatants, and with Torsten's help, pry them apart. "Okay, that's enough from both of you!"
vs CMD
OK, non-Unfolding-Wind it is!
For his part, Torsten went to the other one and did what he could to force the combatant away.
Yhrrilka's unable to move 'Vencarlo' from his position, but Torsten's able to move his 'Vencarlo' solidly out of reach. Now that they're separated, both men glare at each other. "This shapeshifter is trying to confuse you," says Torsten's 'Vencarlo.' "Our conversation earlier should prove that I am who I say I am." Yhrrilka's 'Vencarlo' shakes his head desperately. "Don't listen to him! There's a wand on the table behind me that compels truth. Use it on me, and you'll see that I'm the real one."
"Uh, 'Ril. Can ye see magical auras? If so, then the fake one would have illusions about him and such, aye? Perhaps we can try that."
Yhrrilka nods approvingly at Torsten, glaring at both Orisinis as she does. "Yeah, that's as worth a try as anything. And both of you, in the Dawnflower's name, shut your yaps!" She uses her sword to gesture at both men in turn. "It's been an annoying day already, and the two of you aren't making that any better. One of you wanted to do something to make me less annoyed, now's the damn time."
With that, Ril takes a moment to start trying to detect the presence of magic on the two men.
"Torsten, while I'm doing this be a pal, look for the wand Dummy Number Two was going on about? Let's see if that does what he says."
Yhrrilka detects a magic aura on the second Vencarlo...
... but is unable to identify the type.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -
Torsten finds a wand where the second Vencarlo indicated.
Yhrrilka identifies it as a wand of dimension door (3 charges remaining).
”Look. Ye be covered in magical whatnot. So it makes sense to say that ye be the Changeling. But we aren’t ones for senseless violence. Don’t harm us our ours and we’re good, aye? So, how about ye just take your own form and we can talk. Nay reason anyone has to be hurt.” Torsten said.