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Rokgurn shakes his head in Alie's direction. He is amused that they would have to utilise the proscribed method of exiting the tomb.
"I can think of several ways of exiting this structure without even blinking. The least glamorous would be to blast a hole right through one of the walls. That being said we can always set them up in Jack's pad (Portable Hole) for now. That bottle of air can come in handy after all."
"Daathiel, perhaps a nice song or dance would soothe their nerves a bit and put them at ease. I am going to put a couple of berries down for them to eat. Their diet of late has not been exceptional."
"I am certain that their father Lucius would be anxious for their return."
As the Druid speaks he examines the young ladies to determine their condition. He places a couple of Good Berries down a good distance away from the ladies so as not to frighten them further.
(Rokgurn's take 10 on Heal is 21)
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"I could lecture them into a stupor, if you like."
"The Portable Hole is a good option for now."
Daathiel will cast Good Hope on the party, making sure to also catch the girls. "This may raise their spirits."
"We are here to help. You are safe now. Your father did not give up hope, and asked us to find you. We will get you home."
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Rokgurn discovers that their necks bear fang wounds; you infer that as the pale lady had fed on them periodically, she must’ve done it with enough caution to preserve their lives—although only just. The Manvale sisters are mute and uncommunicative at first, traumatized by their ordeal and frightened of you.
As you minister to their wounds and weakness, with both spell and words, after initially shying away, they slowly acquiesce as your intentions become clearer; they warily reach for and eat the goodberries left by Rokgurn. However, they offer no guidance, as they keep chewing on fingernails or the ragged end of a sleeve, unresponsive to the your queries...
Whisper pops his head out to look at the ladies. At the sight of the vampire bites he looks at them carefully for any traces of arcane signatures left behind by a previous enchantment.
(His take 10 on K-Arcana is 36 which is more than enough to identify the signs of any active spell effect still in place. His take 10 on K-Religion is 37 which should allow him to know about what types of magical effects a vampire could place on their victims.)
He communicates what he knows to Rokgurn through a series of natural sounding bird chirps (their shared language) so as to not alarm the young ladies.
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Rokgurn listens to the chirping of his bird while he makes his own assessment of the sisters strange behaviour.
In isolation Rokgurn is unsure what to make of their behaviour but combined with the fact pattern provided it becomes pretty obvious that they must have been under the control of the Pale Lady. If she controlled them through fear, magic or a combination of both he is not entirely sure. How else would she be able to feed upon them so readily without the possibility of them escaping during the daylight hours? He waits patiently for Whisper's report.
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Rokgurn confirms that the Manvale children are under the Dominate ability of the pale Lady; you realize that it will slowly wear off in time by itself...
While pondering what to do about the children, you warily explore the rest of the chambers, sensing no other creatures or trap present...
In the southwestern chamber, you discover a grisly site, the bloodless bodies of other shepherds, travelers, and unfortunates the vampire obviously abducted, and brought back here. You know now with near certainty what the funerary baton found upon the vampire was used for; as with the one Hanoris Dallum gave you to enter the Necropolis, she used hers to reenter the tomb after venturing forth to procure new victims to feed upon. There’s a mound of nearly four dozen corpses in here, filling most of the room...
As you spy an open and empty casket, you surmise the final chamber to the south is where the pale Lady spent most of her time...
Other than the Manvale sisters and the items you found from the vampire's remains, you find nothing else of significance...
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Rokgurn scans the room (including the corpses) for any magical auras. He looks around the room for any hidden doors.
(Detect Magic, Take 10 on Perception is 43 currently)
"Their bodies will be reclaimed much faster by nature if left exposed. I would not suggest moving these bodies now but we can come back latter to reclaim their bones without any concern of possible disease."
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All of you make it up the hole in the ceiling...you make your way through the chambers and back up the misty stairs. You make your way over to the Medusa head carving in the floor from which you first arrived in the Tomb of the Iron Medusa...
Looking over the Medusa, you insert the key you found earlier into the keyhole in the right eye...the amulet you just retrieved from the pale Lady is a perfect fit for the starburst indentation in the left eye...the dagger you found in the fouled pool fits neatly into the thin slot of its mouth...and the gem you found in the skull fits snugly in the oval indentation of the Medusa's chin...
After inserting all four, the Medusa lights up...you all step onto it and "POOF"...
You arrive in this great, domed chamber standing atop a mosaic of the cross-eyed medusa in the center of the floor...
The ceiling of this grand chamber peaks forty feet overhead, and is covered with frescoes depicting the prophecy of Aroden’s return. In mockery of this, however, a massive fresco on the northeast wall depicts an infernal figure, black as soot, with the head of a goat and hairy bat wings. The devil holds a wicked-looking scythe in one hand and with the other feeds a brazier fire with pages from a book entitled The Prophecies of Aroden. A huge, defiled symbol of Aroden, its wings clipped bloodily, occupies the southeastern wall.
A 25-foot-tall iron statue of the Medusa Triumphant dominates the west end of the chamber. It depicts a naked medusa standing over a decapitated corpse, holding a sword in her right hand, blade parallel to the ground. The other arm is extended, grasping her grisly trophy by the curls, gore dripping from where the head was severed from its body.
You detect no traps nor any foes within this chamber...nor do you detect any magic, aside from the teleportation circle you arrived on...
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Rokgurn looks at the others ready to proceed.
"Perhaps we should check behind the curtain?"
As he says this he soars straight up.
"At least this room is far more roomy."
@GM Otha - Are we underground here or is this room at ground level?
He activates his wand refreshing his enchantment (Heightened Awareness).
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@GM Otha - Good to know. So Good Hope is no longer up then as it is only minutes/level. I will remove one of my buffs as well as time has expired. Good thing for extended hour/level buffs and extended 10 minutes/level buffs. :)
Rokgurn looks at Daathiel to check the door that Alie has mentioned but has a quick look himself for traps. He floats effortlessly above the ground.
(Take 10 on Perception is 41 with Hunter's Blessing)
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"Ah, so 'the Iron Medusa' proves to be more than just someone's epithet...who knew?"
Less than certain that their involvement would do more good than harm, Vladek and Qadathra had held back during the retrieval of the wretched Manvale sisters (besides, they'd done their part already); frescoes and statues, however? This is something Vladek can take an informed interest in! He carefully studies what he sees before him (keeping a prudent distance from the statue)....
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Vladek gives the rooms a thorough lookover...while he doesn't discover a lot, he does discover a couple of tidbits of information...
Prior to Daathiel's disarming it, Vladek sensed the magic emanating from the medusa mosaic and could determine that the trap when triggered inflicted a flesh to stone spell on the unwary. Also, his knowledge of sculpting and engineering reveals both the northern and southern doors in the current chamber to be false doors...
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Yuri suddenly experiences that small, odd, sweet voice in his head again.
'The Dragon and the Dwarf'...Goodman Twobeards, have you ever thought about investing in joint-proprietorship of a tavern somewhere?...or perhaps a bank, with lots of vaults in the back to sleep in? Oooh, or a haberdashery...!