Vasia's preoccupation with examining the magical field's aura is broken when Morgana holds out her hand. Her face shows her reticence as she considers all the possible meanings. She stands for a moment before an ectoplasmic shoulder gives her an affectionate shove.
"Go on. Have some fun," her bunica whispers with a smile.
Vasia turns back to the paladin and steps into the strange chamber, her lips slowly forming a shy grin.
Jenica then grabs Melody around her small waist and jumps into the space. "Come, my Lovely. Let's join!"
Morgana offers a passable bow as Vasia floats up to join her, giving the motion a slight twist to afford hitting her 'dance partner' in the face with the feather in her hat.
Then she continues to sing as the group dances in midair.
"'Cause they fill the open air
And leave teardrops everywhere
You'd think me rude but I would just stand and stare
I'd like to make myself believe that planet earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance
A foxtrot above my head
A sock hop beneath my bed
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread (thread, thread)
I'd like to make myself believe that planet earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems (when I fall asleep)"
Vasia tips her head in response and does her best imitation of a zero gravity curtsey. She lets the woman lead the improvised dance and just enjoys the experience.
When they finally reach the conclusion and it seems awkward to continue, she gives a small laugh. "You dance very well, Miss Deverin," she says with another head bow. "We shall have to dance again. Preferably something that I know the steps to next time, though."
Melody's eyes light up at the magic and music, but retreats with a shy "no no no Eek!" interrupted with delighted giggle squeak as Jenica has none of it. In the twirling song, she falls into a laughing, clinging mess, ending in a spin away, then pushing off the wall back into Jenica's arms, burying her head in the other woman's chest with a hug.
As the activity calms, Jenica finds herself face to face with the bubbly Melody. She gives her a sly grin. Reaching out, she taps the girl on the end of the nose. "You are a precious gift, my Lovely," she says. "Don't let anyone ever try to tell you otherwise." She then leans in and presses her lips against the halfling's in a gentle kiss. She then grabs the girl's hand and leads her out of the circular room.
Sabriyya steps into the room hesitantly, but starts laughing when for the second time in a week Amethyst helps her experience something she never has before with anyone else.
When the dance is over, she grabs a few tarts from her bag and tosses them into the free space in the room, continuing to laugh as they bump about on Tessa's.
During the fun and excitement, everyone was also able to pick up a variety of items whilst dodging the maggots, including; a bottle of wine, a scroll of burning hands (CL 3rd), a magically preserved but still ancient prayer book dedicated to the worship of Lamashtu, the Mother of Monsters written mostly in Abyssal Written in Abyssal it is worth approximately 100 gp for its rarity. Finally, you could also pick up an iron wand of shocking grasp (28 charges).
Retracing your steps, you head back to the first door you can find which is to the south of the torture chamber.
The crumbling remnants of several chairs and a long table clutter the floor of this room. To the south stand three stone doors, each bearing a strange symbol that resembles a seven-pointed star. A search of the rubble uncovers the fragments of countless books and scrolls with bits of spiky writing in a strange language all over them. The three solid doors to the south were obviously once prison cells. Within each is a single skeleton of a badly deformed humanoid; one has three brittle arms, another has an enormous misshapen skull, and the third has a rib cage that goes all the way down to its pelvis—a pelvis with stunted leg bones strewn below its strangely flat girth. Whilst flicking through the book, a folded up scroll of Flaming Sphere (CL 5th) is found tucked in its binding.
Continuing further on, you head down the other corridor that you dismissed earlier in the room with the red marble statue. It opens out into a small circular room with a circular stone pool. Water ripples quietly in this circular stone pool, the rim of which is lined with skulls. Upon entering, Vasia catches a glimpse of the shadows moving and sends out a warning just in time! From the shadows appears a blackened creature with a bat-winged fiend’s head. Tentacles dangle from chin and scalp, and its fanged mouth hangs agape.
Amethyst attacks the foul creature!
"Don't leave your tongue hanging out like that. It's rude!" Morgana declares, marching across the room and ramming her sword into its mouth. Her heart sinks when Amethyst forces her to step into the fountain to get in range, but at least her boots are good leather.
Sabriyya focuses on the first creature and attempts to make it easier for the party to hit by lowering its defenses with a hex!
Melody starts a babbling brook of a story about kissing brought on by the flapping tongue, while she gets her crossbow ready.
Jenica slashes at the thing with her spectral blades.
Vasia grabs a nearby rock with her mind and chucks it through the air at the flying ... thing. There are too many people engaged, though, and in avoiding hitting her friends, the rock doesn't come anywhere near its target.
Amethyst and Morgana slash the horrifying creature as Sabriyya can feel her hex take hold. Jenica just about hits after Sabriyyam muddles its mind and the creature flags in the air before hitting the ground with a thud.
Continuing further, leaving the foul creature behind, you find a a flight of spiral stairs winding up around a circular pillar into darkness above. Yet again these stairs appear to be blocked off towards the top, but the boulders and rubble are not as large as the other set of stairs, and you think with a few hours work and some strong people, this could probably be cleared.
Doubling back yet again, you search down the last corridor left to you, the first one you walked past when you entered this place.
The tunnel widens here into what appears to have once been a small shrine, for to the northeast, steps lead up to a platform of gray stone. Sitting atop the platform is an ancient altar, little more than a jagged block of black marble with a shallow concavity on top of it. This basin is filled with what appears to be filthy water.
This is an altar of very pure unholy water and would have serious physical and mental consequences if most people drank this, especially if they drank from this regularly.
Vasia checks for magical auras and then for any psychic imprints.
Jenica moves up closer to the alter to see if anything happens when she approaches.
"Unholy Water." Morgana says, making a face. She waves everyone back and scoops the water out of the basin with her gauntlet.
"Two to one it'll refill itself." She says with a shrug, "But i tried. It should go without saying, don't drink it."
Once that task is out the way she waits for the doors to be checked before taking lead position. "Somehow I don't think this one is empty." She says, "Everyone be ready!"
The altar does not visibly begin to refill itself as you stand to look closely.
Vasia feels a distinct and nearly overwhelming sensation of anger and fury from beyond the doors to this room that overshadows anything she might feel from the altar in front. Magically, the font it certainly magical, and can detect a conjuration aura from it.
Listening at the doors does not provide any further insight as to what is behind the thick solid oak, and the only way of finding out, is to open them.
This huge room looks like nothing more than an immense underground cathedral. Stone doors stand to either side of the main entrance, but beyond this, the walls are carved with strange, spiky runes. In the centre of the room is a large pool, with a ring of polished human skulls balanced on stone spikes arranged in a circle around the deeper midsection. At the far end of the room, a pair of stone stairways leads up to a pulpit on which sits a second pool, this one triangular and filled with churning, bubbling water that looks almost like translucent lava. Yet while wisps of what look like heat and steam rise from the strange orange liquid, the room itself is deathly cold.
The doors to two other rooms hang ajar here, and the ceiling reaches up to 20ft high.
As soon as you enter, a voice shrieks out from nowhere in particular. "How dare you saints intrude on the Mother's Sanctum!" At this, a tiny woman with rams horns curled back and large wings appears, standing over the pool, dagger in hand, slitting her wrist, letting drops of blood mingle with the water. As she does so, some of the water swirls together, and creates the figure of yet another sinspawn.
The tiny-wiry woman flaps up into the air and casts as she goes.
"Mother's Sanctum? Who exactly are you the mother of, tiny flying ram-thing? That's not exactly a warm greeting, I might add. Perhaps you should get some manner?"
Flipping her eyes up so that they twitch several times rapidly, she hexes the poor hostess.
Empowering her scarf, Amethyst attacks the sinspawn!
Morgana realises what the creature is the moment she sees it, but that doesn't help as magic clamps her jaw shut.
The hex only momentarily halts the winged woman and she continues to focus on the party.
The Sinspawn retaliates at Amethyst biting and clawing at the woman.
A creature bitten by a sinspawn is overwhelmed with sinful thoughts (DC 12 Will save negates). These emotions are so powerful that the target becomes sickened for 1d6 minutes. An affected target that is bitten a second time is staggered for 1 round if it fails its saving throw. Calm emotions, remove curse, or break enchantment negates the effects of sinful bite. The save DC is Charisma-based. This is a mind-affecting effect.
E (-2 AC 1 round)
W -7
Morgana throws off the spell and calls, "Falayna will not stand for this, quasit!"
Jenica rushes forward to engage with the sin-spawn.
Vasia targets the flying imp-like creature with a piece of rubble.
"Oh, she's kind of cute, like one of my little people." she starts her magical story, weaving heroics into their hearts. She slips past Vasia to get a clear shot.
"She is not cute! She's a mini-flying demon thing!" Sabriyya corrects. "She's ugly with a capital UG!"
"but... look at the... up grapes in the tight pretty dress, like she is going on a date with a nice other mini-flying demon thing. It's sweet in a way."
E: -4
W: -7
The quasit takes a mighty blow by the flung piece of rubble, but it doesn't seem to hurt her as much as expected, causing a small gash on the right side of her face. Just as the gash appears, it starts stitching itself up again. The woman begins casting, chanting with a very small candle and bag in her hands.
Once more overcome by wrath, Amethyst slices the sinspawn again!
"Oh, Amethyst! Um... anger leads to hate, hate to hungry, hungry to dark cookies." Melody tried to remember the saying she heard once but got it very wrong. Her magic story stops for a moment focusing on Amethyst, giving her a Do Over, then the story continues, about Valery JiggleyPaw and her... um... abundance topside.
The wrath still consumes Amethyst.
Sabriyya swats at Melody "Hate does not lead to hunger, love does! And what's wrong with my dark cookies?!"
Realizing they may need to deal with the sinspawn first, she turns and hexes that creature instead.
"How does love lead to hunger?" Vasia questions, her eyes never leaving the diminutive flying figure.
The wrathspawn roars in pain as Amethyst slashes it and retaliates with force.
E: -4
W: -13 (-2 AC for one round) 18 |25
Her boots are already wet so Morgana goes splashing into a second fountain in order to save Amethyst.
Vasia continues to pelt the winged figure with debris.
"Why couldn't you have been a creature of lust instead of wrath!" Jenica shouts at the creature. "You'd get more party invitations that way!"
As more blood flies out of the Swan, Melody struggles to continue her story about the queen and jigglepaws' torrid love affair spoiled by cute twin succu-bats. Doesn't seem like the right place for it, but magic requires words. To help she focuses her fear into a sharp tone and says to the sinspawn "You Do Not Belong In This Story!"
The winged woman dodges Vasia's debris with ease, however the wrathspawn is less fortunate. Melody's biting words appear to physically harm the creature's life force and Jenica follows it up with her sabre, slicing its skin into shreds. Unable to stand much longer, it collapses to the floor, blood pooling around it quickly.
A goblin dog appears at the side of the room as the woman finishes her casting and bounds forward to bite at Sabriyya.
A goblin dog’s dander is highly irritating to all creatures save those with the goblinoid subtype. A non-goblinoid creature damaged by a goblin dog’s bite, who deals damage to a goblin dog with a natural weapon or unarmed attack, or who otherwise comes into contact with a goblin dog (including attempts to grapple or ride the creature) must make a DC 12 Fortitude save or break out in an itching rash. A creature affected by this rash takes a –2 penalty to Dexterity and Charisma for 1 day (multiple allergic reactions do not stack).
Remove disease or any magical healing removes the rash instantly. This is a disease effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.
The quasit begins chanting in a strange barking-like tongue and stares directly at Melody.
Her wounds from Vasia's earlier projectile continue to stitch themselves up so they are nearly no longer visible.
E -2
Summon -
The wrath clouding Amethyt's mind passes, but her body bears numerous teeth and claw marks. She staggers through the pool to avoid the summoned dog's jaws as she moves to Sabriyya. "Darling... I could use some healing..."
Morgana wades out of the pool again to deal with the dog.
Dodging the dog, she spins towards the magus quickly and lays her hand on Swawn's forearm. "Then you shall have it." Sabriyya says, turning towards Amethyst and casting a healing spell on her.
Turning to Morgana she says "Thank you, Morgana!"
Seemingly determined to demonstrate that she can be useful, Vasia mentally seizes one of the skulls surrounding the fountain and sends it flying towards the the hovering pest. It misses by a significant margin, however, and smashes into the wall.
Jenica also directs her violence towards the quasit, taking a few steps forward to swing at the creature.
Melody's eyes droop, flutter, and then close tight as she curls up in sleep.
The quasit casts again, shouting "Halt!" in poor common at Vasia, fed up of the projectiles she has to keep dodging.
Her wounds have now vanished, as if she had never been hit by the flying rubble.
Melody's leg runs in her sleep.
Seeing she only did a halfass job the first time, Sabriyya focuses a little more clearly on her task at hand and sends another burst of divine energy into Amethyst to seal their wounds.