You continue to walk forward!
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"The effect on light and dark, as well as teleportation are interesting. The prolong life has value but not for extending prison stays. Twice the time to make amends or to learn how to reintegrate would be great but I don think that is what we will find. Cat and I are ready to proceed."
Cat uses scent to detect anything sneaking up on the group.
But you also realize that these chains have a life of their own and allow you to enter but impede your movement when you retreat!!
You walk further in and cross the bridge!
Below the bridge, the stream of shadowy ichor is diffuse shadow essence.
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At the end of this macabre hall, a desiccated humanoid husk stands propped up by chains.
Dozens of hooks of all sizes dig into its flesh, suspending the frail looking corpse a few inches above a throne of rusted iron like some corpse marionette. Its head hangs limp against its chest.
The victim hanging over the throne is a shell of a man, but is still technically alive. As soon you approach, a dry coughing breath escapes him, sending ripples of motion up and down the chains that suspend him.
Ancient, empty eyes lift to see who disturbs his rest, though he can barely lift his head and can only speak in a rattling whisper.
"Who goes there? Who comes to disturb... err... Telendrak! Yes, I am Telendrak. I did not forget, Master! Please don't punish me. I REMEMBERED!"
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Betty looks around for the “master” this shell of a man called out to.
As she is doing that, she says “Telendrak, the horselord chieftain? History speaks well of your fight against the Midnight Lord.” Or at least one Desnan did...although they thought you dead and buried.
"Hello, yes you memory is very good and master would be very pleased. Have other people come through here? I bet you can remember that too. Master would be happy if you remembered that I'm sure."
The man thinks and is clearly under stress.
“Others came. They went to see the Lord Above. We could hear the screams, as the Lord gave them the gift of anguish. And there was such blood, cool drops that rained down upon us!!“
Betty looks around for the “master” this shell of a man called out to.
As she is doing that, she says “Telendrak, the horselord chieftain? History speaks well of your fight against the Midnight Lord.” Or at least one Desnan did...although they thought you dead and buried.
“Of course I am. I AM TELENDRAK!“
He looks up to the chains hanging above him.
”I said I am Telendrak. It doesn’t need to come. I obeyed!“
He then thinks again.
“Ahh, yes! The horselords tribes ruled the Atteran Plains, their warriors riding mighty chiardmars and driving foes before them with spear and lance. The tribes were fierce and independent, worshiping spirits of nature and our ancestors. So it was in my day!“
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Gina doesn't need to think hard on this one, she knows from the preparation what Nidalese and Kuthite torture looks like, even if not expecting an actual shadowy demiplane. "You don't have to answer, fair Telendrak, it seems that not doing as your current master commands may draw too much attention here before we are ready to face them."
"If hope is what brings torture, than steel yourself, horselord, because some of us will be simply unable to leave until this barrow is free from this shadowy power and you and your ancestors can rest in peace. We will do whatever it takes. Your people are not forgotten, and I would personally much rather see your ancient glories here without the current decor."
"Stay silent if you must, but a sentinel like yourself must know some secrets of this place or the habits of its shadowed guardians."
She gives Fifi a be-ready-for-anything look.
Gina also tries to assess whether Telendrak is anything other than a tortured soul.
With a surprised look he stares at Gina.
”Secrets?! The shadow obelisk! The Master of Chains wears it, and through it he controls this place. It binds us here, controls the shadows, and keeps this place whole. I have seen such terrible rituals performed in the shadows, with and without the obelisk. Such dark secrets I have seen!!“
Gina suddenly has a spark of insight now that she is here in front of this man.
Nearly 10,000 years ago, during the nearly forgotten time scholars call the Age of Darkness, nomadic tribes wandered the land now known as Nidal. These proud people revered and relied on their steeds, and so the other peoples of the time knew them as “horselords.”
In this distant age, these people suffered greatly. After the near-apocalypse of Earthfall, dust and ash choked out the sun, plants withered and died, and herd beasts starved. In desperation the horselord tribes called out to the darkness—for food, for protection, for salvation. The darkness heard their cries, and sensed their desperation, and the Midnight Lord, Zon-Kuthon, answered.
Fearful and despairing, the horselords struck a bargain with the god, promising him their loyalty and service if the dark god preserved their lives. The cost was high, and the tribes of ancient Nidal endured terrible suffering, but under Zon-Kuthon’s baleful gaze they survived.
Yet not all the horselords agreed to this dark pact and under a sunless sky the followers of the old ways warred against the adherents of Zon-Kuthon. Without the Midnight Lord’s protection, though, these rebels had few victories and found fewer allies. Gradually, they were hunted down, captured, or slaughtered. Those dissenters that could be taken alive were not immediately executed, for that mercy was alien to the new Kuthite religion. In their lightless redoubts the new priests of Zon-Kuthon forced horselord chieftains to watch as their steeds were slaughtered, their sacred lands desecrated, and their people tortured until they accepted the Kuthite cause. Only after being forced to witness these fates were the last horselord leaders taken to Barrowmoor.
Even before Earthfall Barrowmoor existed, a rocky land filled with the burial mounds of the horselords’ most honored dead. This ancient people considered it a sacred place, a somber site were the spirits of nature and great ancestors were praised atop the hillocks where their last horselord leaders taken to Barrowmoor.
The horselord chieftain Telendrak, a name virtually lost to history—but remembered by a small number of the secretive Desnan cult of Nidalese freedom fighters known as the Whispering Song.
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Gina is almost overwhelmed by her recall of the history in this moment. She relates the story in oratory nearly bending into song. ”I have seen the lingering effects of Earthfall and the Age of Darkness before, but never like this. Whatever bargains they made, the Kuthites do not have claim over this place for this long, not ten to one. I think we know what must be done. Break the master of chains, take the Obelisk and remove it from this place or destroy it, and free Barrowmoor from millennia of darkness.” she looks to her companions, ready to continue into the next place.
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Gina looks at the chains and replies to Betty, "yes, this place is most definitely demi-planar. The obelisk sounds like a mechanism holding it in place. Taking the obelisk from its master could very well break up the location violently, but done right, it would be no worse than being inside a bag of holding when it comes in contact with a portable hole, we'd just pop out somewhere else. We might even make it outside as it happens, not that I like Nidal that much."
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Truddig is silent in awe as the Pathfinders press further through the chains into this dark and terrifying space. In such a strange place, he does what he knows best when encountering more of the shocking strangeness the Society continued to put in front of him... observe and listen. He remains silent through Gina's educated oratory, in awe that someone holds so much detail of history within them.
The only thing the ranger does of particular note is--when Telendrak mentions the rain of blood from above--study the ceiling for holes that might allow that to happen.
While chains hang throughout this entire area, those directly above the horselord stretch much higher. Rather than stop at the vaulted hall ceiling 50 feet up, these stretch another 150 feet up a shaft.
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"Well, that's an awfully tall shaft there," Truddig comments, peering above the unfortunate horselord. "If you had any doubts about this being an extradimensional space, that makes it pretty clear."
Turning to Telendrak, he gets back to the point. "So, ahh..." he begins, "which way to the Master of Chains?"
Turning to Telendrak, he gets back to the point. "So, ahh..." he begins, "which way to the Master of Chains?"
The man looks up.
“The Master of Chains. The Lord Above. Giver of the Gift of Anguish. Our only god, now. He made me Telendrak, when the last Telendrak was so foolish as to die!“
You all decide to investigate the stairs.
Unlike the areas near it, this wide hall has no chains within. Rough, uneven stairs run from landing to landing.
There is the scent of old blood, and disturbing stains mark the walls. A single black wooden door sits at the end of the run of stairs.
Awkin looks into the hallway and immediately sees that the floor is trapped.
You do not see the mechanism.
Together Truddig and Awkin realize that the door could be trigger.
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"Now this is why I never go up front even if we're expecting traps, I've always got my mind on the history. Found a trap once that magicked the floor to mud for a few seconds to trap explorers. But yes, I've been practicing since then and I can dismantle just fine, just need to get creative."
Gina examines the door and mechanisms as described by the others, pulls out an excellent set of hidden tools, and gets to work on removing this hindrance.
Gina can expertly disable the trap which would have triggered to let the floor fall after a small touch.
And she realises that the door is only fake. There is nothing behind the door but stone.
Gina can even open one of the floor boards and sees spikes below!
Gina sees something strange below but it is hard to identify.
Gina finds and retrieves 8 small ruby songbirds and hundreds of platin coins.
As you are now looking also below the other floor boards and see the bodies of several adventurers.
(Cat has scent)
(Cat has scent)
You all search and indeed find a secret door. And it is not trapped in your opinion.
You open the door.
This large chamber is more than twenty feet wide and thirty long.
Two walls have black wooden doors set in them, each tall enough to allow an ogre to pass through. Spiked chains fill the chamber, stretching upward endlessly.
Dozens of corpses hang from the chains, cruel looking hooks dig deeply into flesh, suspending the bodies several feet from the ground. Some of them appear to be the subjects of extensive unnecessary surgeries with chains, hooks, or spikes replacing limbs. The faint rasping of labored breathing fills the room.
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Fifi enters the room, gasping quietly as she sees the bodies suspended above the ground. She touches the nearby bodies, trying to see if they are alive-"These poor people. We should lower them down, and try to heal them. I can channel the Everlight's energy through me, and maybe help alleviate their pain."
Awkin, you realize the following: The bodies hanging from hooks in this room all seem alive, but most are actually dead, only retaining the semblance of life due to the nature of the demiplane. Only two of the bodies here are truly alive.