Kenton bows slightly to Lord Xavien and quaffs the potion.
Well, it's not exactly Zimaran vintage, Kenton says with a wry grin, but I've tasted worse.
Lady Aurelia picks up the wig, to find that it was resting on top of another "wig". What looks like a pile of shorn hair twitches almost imperceptibly, as if the locks were moving in an nonexistent wind.
INITIATIVE:
It REALLY catches her off guard. Trant closes in. She looks at the other nobles, and she looks at the other members of the party. She literally grunts in frustration. She enters the room, but doesn't move to help.
Round 1:
Corran: Go
Trant: Close
Kenton: Go
The hair: TBD
Ianthe: TBD
Xavien: TBD
Leo: TBD
Aurelia: TBD
Corran moves to the southern door as fast as he can, following Trant and Aurelia's very audible gasp.
Bardic Knowledge(Dungeoneering):
Not knowing what it is they're looking at, he closes to stand by Aurelia
Kenton, hearing the commotion, races to the door on the west side of the room and opens it (if possible).
Kenton takes a shortcut just in time to see Aurelia's eyes widen and glass over...
Round 1:
Corran: Close
Trant: Close
Kenton: Close
The hair: Murderous Command
Ianthe: Go
Xavien: Go
Leo: Go
Aurelia: Go
Aurelia manages to shake off the magical compulsion.
Realizing what almost happened, Aurelia becomes angry. At the monster, but also at herself for being so easily duped.
Knowing that the other nobles are watching, in particular Trant, she tries to get a measure of their reaction.
Without enough time to get a better read of the inscrutable noble, Aurelia vents her frustration by swinging her sword at the monster.
She then steps back, letting the martially-inclined folks step in.
Aurelia, taken aback by the unexpected, can summon neither thought nor cut.
Round 1:
Corran: Close
Trant: Close
Kenton: Close
The hair: Murderous Command
Ianthe: Go
Xavien: Go
Leo: Go
Aurelia: Miss
Leo rushes into the room to see a mop of hair trying to ensorcell Lady Aurelia. He jabs at it with his shortsword:
, but he strikes only the stone floor.
Round 1:
Corran: Close
Trant: Close
Kenton: Close
The hair: Murderous Command
Ianthe: Go
Xavien: Go
Leo: Miss
Aurelia: Miss
Standing in the doorway, Xavien puzzles over the nature of this "wig" assailant...
According to legend, when exceedingly vain individuals die prematurely, their spirits may live on in the hair cut from their heads shortly before or after their deaths. Such stories might explain the existence of animate hair, a living creature composed entirely of hair...
Ask 2 questions about this ooze...
"A vanity ooze! Steel your minds, friends! And get out your shearing scissors, for blades are best!" Xavien rushes forward to demonstrate the efficacy of a sharp-edged blade.
Xavien cuts a swatch from the thing. It nearly falls apart after the hit, but manages to keep going.
Round 1:
Corran: Close
Trant: Close
Kenton: Close
The hair: Murderous Command
Ianthe: Go
Xavien: Hit
Leo: Miss
Aurelia: Miss
Ianthe moves to the open doorway to stand behind Kenton. She then aims her new crossbow and shoots the wig.
Lady Ianthe's bolt misses but a decent margin.
Round 2:
Corran: Go
Trant: TBD
Kenton: TBD
The hair: TBD
Ianthe: TBD
Xavien: TBD
Leo: TBD
Aurelia: TBD
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Corran prances like a swashbuckler in a serial, as he steps north around the vile wig.
Falcata:, Damage on Hit:
Forgive me for splitting hairs!
And he hazards a look over to Trant to take her measure.
Sense Motive:
That woman is inscrutable!
Corran's sharp wit follows a sharp blade! The hair drops to the ground, naught more than the funeral trimmings from a vain corpse.
Trant looks like she's about to say something, and then bites her lip.
Everyone all right? Kenton says, checking his companions, then looking at Dame Trent. Everyone?
Her performance in this fight cause a few things to click for the cavalier. Trant isn't evil, she's just a product of her upbringing. The strong succeed, and the weak perish. If you can't help yourself, you're weak. The teamwork is intimidating to her.
Trant, "I'm fine. I don't need help!"
Aurelia once more casts her spell to detect magic, looking to see if anything magical remains.
There is still a wig that radiates faint illusion.
Aurelia once more tries to study the wig.
Lady Aurelia confirms that this is actually a Hat of Disguise. Perhaps a supercilious noble was wearing it when his hair was shorn before execution?
"Everyone alright?" Xavien asks, looking around. "We had better take that raven from the display room just in case, but I doubt we shall find anything further of note here." He moves to the western door, looks it over, and opens it.
"I'm well, thank you Lord Xavien. I can hold onto that raven and this wig, which has some interesting magic in and of itself," Aurelia says, stowing both items for now. She moves to be a few steps back from Xavien as he inspects the door and opens it.
The nobles nod, but they do not follow. Xavien hears nothing, so he opens the door. Intricate banners hang motionless against a wooden pillar in the center of this room. Wooden racks line the south and west walls, each bearing up a unique banner of its own. Two additional banner racks lie on the floor in the northeastern corner of the room, their flags pulled away and inked with dozens of circles. Two doors exit this room, the other to the north.
Kenton heads in to investigate the banners, marvelling at each in turn while at the same time frustrated he can't place to which houses they belong.
I wonder if Uncle ever chose a banner for House Bowe.
Ianthe follow Kenton into the room to look over the banners.
Nothing stirs in the recesses of Kenton's mind, though Ianthe feels a twinge of familiarity. The banners in this room belong to old regiments of
the Taldan Phalanx, various baronies, and a few foreign allies, and at varying times have been hung in the senate to welcome visiting dignitaries or war heroes. But names? They're beyond her ken.
Knowledge (Nobility):
Knowledge (History):
Corran recognizes the names, but it's a bit of a disappointment. Most of the banners here belong to disbanded regiments and have little value beyond the historic purpose they still serve. Beyond their historical notability, the banners serve no purpose other than another pompous display of Taldan military supremacy.
Xavien also takes note of the banners, and whispers a brief spell to see any magical auras that may be present.
Xavien confirms the forgotten nature of the colors. Nothing in here is magical either.
Corran motions to the door to the north.
That way? Or back east?
Corran moves to the north door and listens...
Perception:
If Corran doesn't sense anything, he'll check the door to see if it's locked. If it's not locked and he doesn't sense anything, he opens the door.
Several large doors line this 200-foot-long hallway. A large, metal door to the north is covered with chalk circles and mathematical notes.
Leo allows the magically inclined folks to look over the circles before opening the door, but he observes,"The person who was practicing making circles seems to be improving their craft."
At Leo's behest, Ianthe steps forward to inspect the chalk inscriptions.
Aurelia joins Ianthe, knowing that two minds are better than one.
Lady Ianthe finds them... utterly fascinating, but can't wrap her mind around the geometry.
Lady Aurelia understands enough to conclude that this is unique. It is different it is a pattern never before drawn. The circles are like a mental ouroboros. It's fascinating.
Both women seem captivated by it. To the others, they seem simply focused.
To them.... a whole world of insight erupts:
You break away for a moment. You look down the hall, but it never ends. Gone are the turns, there is only the tunnel. You look the other way and see a similar infinity. There's something wrong with these circles. There's something maddening
The circles are dangerously close to driving you insane. You don't think it's purposeful, there's an accidental transcendence in their design. If you simply smudge the chalk the perfection will be destroyed, and it's power over you will vanish.
Aurelia shakes her head, her senses returning. She steps forward and with a her palm smudges the chalk circles. She releases a deep breath. "That... should make this safe. Though it was probably accidental, the design behind those circles could have driven someone mad."
While Ianthe and Aurelia investigate the circles in the hallway, Xavien puzzles over the ones on the discarded banners.
The intoxicated confusion that the circles induced vanish instantly
Xavien goes back to the banner room and finds nothing of note at all about these circles....
Leo opens the door.
This ten-foot-wide hallway leads north for roughly forty feet before abruptly ending in a wall of dirt and broken wood. A door exits to the west
"Come, let us see what we see along this hall, before we travel a new one." Xavien moves to the west, where the hall turns a corner.
Aurelia moves with Xavien, her sword at the ready.
There's little to see around the corner except another door.
Xavien gives it a look before opening it.