Bertolt again blocks the worst of the attack with his shield.
Bertolt shoves the shield hard against it, knocking it off balance!
Beela stabbed twice with her rapier, and then prayed for divine proection, in case the gladiator decided to turn its attention on her.
Not to be discouraged, Zetty telekinetically picks up the mounted manicore's head once more and propels it back the other way, hopefully intercepting the skeleton this time.
Vengis's magic missiles blast more chunks of bone from the skeleton, then Bertolt delivers a devastating combination blow with his hammer and shield! The hulking skeleton collapses into inert bones!
The glowing circle or runes in this room appears to be a teleportation circle, its destination unknown! Other than that, there doesn't seem to be much else of interest in this chamber.
Zetty sighs. Though she didn't get struck herself, the bad beating her teammates had taken in fighting the skeletal monster is clearly stressing her. "Why do all the most dangerous monsters just seem to pop out of nowhere? This room doesn't even seem all that important to Belcorra, right?" She points her ink pen at the teleportation circle "And I've learned me lesson about THOSE things. That ritual is more trouble than its worth."
While the others heal up, she calms herself down by doing a detailed rendition of the chamber as it might've looked back in the day.
"Teleportation, right? It looks exactly like all the other ones we've seen so far. The ones that give you a splitting headache if you mess their ritual up even a little bit." Zetty presses a thumb against her temple.
"How about we go that way next?" She points northward. "I think it should connect back to that room with the spores. So we should be extra carefully opening it or get a face full of them."
Vengis is able to determine that this teleportation circle is not part of the larger network of portals you've discovered so far. It only goes to one fixed location.
"Ah, well, fortune favors the bold does it not? I would be happy to be first through the breach to weather the worst of whatever fate awaits us, just say the word!"
"Ohhhhh... now i get why you were turned to stone in such a weird place." Zetty grins at Bertolt "I'd usually be with you, but this floor has been nothing but horrible traps so far, and I'd rather you didn't test this one with your face." She points towards the north "How about we go explore the rest of the floor first, then come back here when we hit a dead end?"
"We could also do this..." Zetty fishes a piece of chalk from her pouch, inscribes a B for Bertolt on the side, then tosses it into the circle. she says "Maybe we'll find the other end where this chalk came out while we explore."
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Vengis looks conflicted as Bertolt contemplates stepping into the circle.
"As keen as I am to see where this leads, I cannot help but think Zetty's approach might be more sound. Let us explore this level first--perhaps we will have more information before we venture into it."
He points toward the north door. "Let's try that first."
The north door leads to a sitting room that glows from the light of a fire, crackling pleasantly in a web-choked fireplace on the east wall. The door to the west is locked. A large divan has been pushed up against the door to the northwest. Several pitons pounded into the gap between the stone door and its frame ensure it remains shut.
Bella commented to Bertolt, "Yeah, I'm just getting used to you not being a statue. Let's try the other options first: the ones that don't require blindingly teleporting somewhere!"
She checked out the door that Zetty and Vengis had suggested.
"Ah, and this is why I leave the strategizing to brighter minds than mine! Yes, a sound plan Bella!"
"Sure looks like that Vengis. The ghouls we saw before didn't seem like the fireplace type, so maybe this is another of Belcorra's apprentices that figured out a way to keep sticking around." She narrows her eyes at the webs in the fireplace "Oooor, this is some kind of illusion? Otherwise, how else are these webs staying in the heat." She detects magic, trying to tell if there's anything magical afoot.
"Bella, do you want to try that western door? I'm not sure if we want to touch the one thats all barricaded in from this side - it looks like whoever was here didn't want something in there from getting out."
Bella is able to pick the lock on the door with a bit of effort. Swirling runes carved into the stone and filled with silver cover the walls of this circular chamber. The floor is polished smooth, as is the ceiling 10 feet above. This chamber contains another inactive teleportation circle that can be linked to the main network of portals with the awaken portal ritual.
Zetty's ink blot familiar is able to squeeze through a gap beneath the barricaded door to see what's on the other side. A glowing circle of runes covers the floor in this chamber. Parchment covered with cramped writing sits on a desk situated against the north wall, and the splintered remains of a bed are piled in a corner.
Within the runic circle is a mummified man, wrapped tight with strips of parchment paper! He leans heavily on a staff and does not appear to notice the ink blot.
With Inky back and floating above her pen, Zetty looks the familiar over for any damage. "We didn't hear anything after Inky went in there, and it doesn't look like it's hurt at all... so if there's something barricaded in there its probably not instantly dangerous or instantly hostile. Or at least, not to floating globs of ink." She falls silent, pondering how best to handle the ambiguous situation.
After a bit, she clambers up onto the divan and thumps her fist on the stone door. She calls out "Hello? Anyone trapped in there?" in common and then listens for any response.
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Vengis watches as Zetty's familiar separates itself from her papers and makes its way into the next room. He looks over at his bizarre flying cat with one bulging eye.
"Not bad--you're going to be out of work soon," he says, eliciting a hiss from the cat.
Turning back to Zetty, the sorcerer says "We can bypass it for now or bash the barricade down. But I'm fine coming back later."
A muffled voice responds from behind the barricaded door. ”Hello! Hello, there! My name is Chafkhem. I have been trapped here for far too long. Please, would you be so kind as to release me? I promise that I intend no harm.”
Zetty's about to agree with Vengis when the voice behind the door speaks out to her. "Oh, hi there Chafkhem. You've been really well barricaded in there. Could you explain who locked you in and why? We'd like to free you, but everything else on this floor has tried to trick and kill us so far." She ponders for a moment and then also asks "Could you also say what just came to visit you in there?"
"Visit? I'm not sure what you mean," the voice responds. "To answer your question, I don't who, exactly, trapped me inside of this room. But I have imprisoned here for centuries. I only wish to finally be free."
Zetty senses no deception from the speaker.
Bertolt feels a familiar sting from the voice. Centuries...one of my kin? No...how would he get the food and water to survive? "Centuries, I understand your pain! How have you stayed alive so long in a small room without food or water?" Bertolt cautiously inquires.
"I have not," the voice replies matter-of-factly. "I managed to mummify myself to preserve my existence, if not my life. But my undead state was a necessity, not a choice."
Zetty takes a step back and whispers to her allies "So, they're a mummy? Do we want to let a mummy out? They seem nice. Probably. They didn't notice my familiar when it went in there, so maybe they're also blind. And chances are good that anyone Belcorra wanted to trap is someone who might turn out to be able to help?" Zetty kind of just wants to see what this mummy looks like.
While the rest of her party is deliberating, she asks the mummy "While we work out if we can free you, can you tell us more about who you were before you got trapped? Beyond your name, that is."
"I was the administrator of the arena here in the Vaults," Chafkhem says. "Belcorra recruited me to oversee operations and manage her stable of gladiators. Belcorra trawled the Darklands for dangerous predators and bloodthirsty aberrations, but their feral power wasn’t enough for her. She needed to mold them into an army. Here, she had these forces forged for battle, in body and in mind.
"I did as good of a job as I was able to, but there were those who did not care for me and likely plotted my downfall. Release me, and I will tell you more of these beings, who may yet lurk on the level below this one."
Bertolt lowers his boisterous voice. "Mine heart tears at his plight. He was forced into this foul deed and it may have planted darkness within him, but the intent was survival. Did you not take such a risk with me? And he is honest about his circumstances, he could very easily have lied and said he had magic to conjure up food and water. I say we free him."
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Vengis smirks as he considers their poor options.
[smaller]"While I am eager to have him tell us what he can about this place, he has been trapped for centuries and could likely tell us little. Releasing an undead creature upon the world should not be taken lightly. Still--if he is telling the truth he could be relatively harmless--perhaps we could have a conversation once he's out and put him out of his misery if we think he is lying."
"I'm with Bertolt. He definitely didn't need to say he was a mummy if he wanted us to want to save him. That he did speaks to his honesty... I think. The fact that he knows some old lore about this place would only be more helpful." Zetty nods.
"Bertolt, lets move this sofa, then do you think you could get those pitons free?"
While she suggests that, Zetty also detects magic to try to sense if there's another layer of protection of the door beyond the obvious.
Bella tried to assess the trapped man's truthfulness by the tone of his voice.
She conferred quietly with her comrades, "OK, just be ready if he turns out to be hostile."
Zetty detects abjuration magic coming from the room beyond, though not the door itself. You are able to remove the barricades on the door and open it up.
A glowing circle of runes covers the floor in this chamber. Parchment covered with cramped writing sits on a desk situated against the north wall, and the splintered remains of a bed are piled in a corner.
Within the runic circle is a mummified man, wrapped tight with strips of parchment paper! He leans heavily on a staff, but he holds up his wrapped arms to show he means no harm. "Ah, thank you, my friends! Thank you for releasing me! As I told you, centuries ago, I was the administrator of this arena, and this was my office. In the chaos following Belcorra's fall, someone locked me inside here. As I had previously warded this room against extradimensional travel, I was effectively imprisoned! Fortunately, before I succumbed to starvation, I cobbled together reagents to mummify myself, that I might one day escape my bounds and inflict revenge on the one who trapped me here. And that day is today!
"Now, tell me--what is the state of the Abomination Vaults these days? Have you seen any wormlike monsters skulking about?"
Bertolt puts a hand on the man's wizened shoulder. "I too was trapped by these vaults, turned to a statue by the wicked basilisks. It seems even in this I must be grateful. Your resolve in survival is admirable."
"Wormlike...hmm...I am no expert in creatures, and we have fought many. Perhaps my companions could advise on this."
"Wellllll..." Zetty flips rapidly through her sheaves of drawings until she pulls out a particularly horrid image. "We did meet Vol... Vollu... errr? Belcorra's apprentice. His name started with V. He'd managed to turn himself into a giant pile of walking worms." She shows the man in question off, the art capturing the wriggling worms in uncomfortable detail. "This it? He'd managed to make himself a sort of leader in the upper levels. Up there were a lot of ghouls and ghosts and shades and things, all leftover followers who ended up undead. The Vaults are in pretty bad shape, particularly the upper levels. Mr. Vol something-or-other didn't seem to be much into keeping things spick-and-span."
She gladly fills the group's new ally (?) in on other things that were going on in the floors above, but is more vague regarding things on the surface. She's not 100% sure that this guy won't go on a brain-eating-spree if left to his own devices. She does mention that the Gauntlight seemed to be activating slowly but surely.
"We'd love your help, any help you might have really, for the dangers down below. What else can you tell us about that arena?"
Bella was apprehensive about releasing the mummy. She hoped he would be able to control any hatred of the living.
She told the mummified man, "There's a network of teleportation circles. We've figured out some of them, but any more information would be very helpful."
"Volluk," Chafkhem says in disgust. "Leave it to that craven drow to extend his own life in the most repugnant manner possible! But no, he is not of whom I speak. I speak of the seugathis, vile wormlike aberrations from the Darklands! Belcorra permitted those monsters to operate their fleshwarping laboratory on the next lower level of the Vaults, displacing many of the arena functions under my control!
"The worst of the lot is an alchemist and fleshwarper named Jafaki. I am certain it was they who locked me in here and left me to die all those centuries ago! I will have my revenge, and you will seek it on my behalf!
"Go down and slay Jafaki! I will stay here and make plans to finally leave this place and return to my native home of Osirion. Return with proof that the seugathi is dead, and I will reward you. Take the stairs down from the mess hall to the west. You’ll pass through the training grounds, then exit through the southwest doors. Jafaki’s main laboratory is at the end of that hall. Kill them, and I’ll tell you everything I know about Belcorra and this place.”
Zetty reflects on what she might know of Seugathi . "Sounds like trouble, but we haven't turned away from trouble yet! It's amazing how many horrible but super interesting creatures this place holds. And all this time they've just stayed in here and out of the public eye."
"Before we go, can you at least tell us a bit about this 'arena' you've been mentioning. That's this floor? What was this arena all about anyway?" She raises her pen "And you mentioned functions. Are those the traps we've been encountering? I think it's only fair for you to warn us about any we might see on the way over to Jafaki."
Zetty recalls that seugathi are wormlike abominations from the Darklands. Seugathi fog the minds of those around them and are skilled with magic wands and other implements. Their rubbery bodies resist bludgeoning weapons, and they are immune to mental effects.
Chafkhem confirms their abilities and defenses. "As I said before, Belcorra used this arena as a place to train the creatures she collected from the Darklands and mold them into a pliable army for her own purposes. She never got the chance to put that army to use before the fall, though. And good riddance! She was paying me a princely sum to perform my duties here, but I never truly agreed with her ultimate goals! The world is better off without her!
"I've said all I care to say right now. Go! Do not return until Jafaki is dead!"
Zetty finds herself rather reassured by Chafkhem's passionate comments regarding Belcorra. It seemed that being trapped for centuries in a small chamber had only helped to fortify and focus the mummy's feelings. It was also lucky that being isolated so long hadn't just driven the fellow mad. He probably wasn't mad, right?
Zetty nods "Sure, we'll go and take a look. Not sure if we'll be able to kill him, but we'll do our best." She looks to the others to see if they have any last minute questions, then heads back out into the larger room.
"So, the training grounds should be somewhere past the mess hall... that might've been the room we fought the giant skeleton, though that was more to the south than the west. That must be it, right?"
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Vengis seems interested in the wand-use of the seugathi.
"Perhaps I'll end up with a few more for my collection," he says, patting a few wands in his belt.
Not having a good mind for directions, the sorcerer nods at Zetty. "Sure--let's try that room over there we haven't explored," he says, pointing to the chamber to the south. "Then we can make our way over there," he says, pointing west.
Zetty nods. "Let's." She looks over at Bertolt, Kragga and Bella. "You guys coming, or are you going to let me and Vengis get pulverized by falling stone blocks or whatever the next terrible trap is going to be?" She grins widely and scampers back out and toward the unexplored room to the south of the large chamber.
"This one Vengis?" She listens to the door and looks for traps before trying to open it. "Or were you talking about the one down that way?" She points down the wider hall with the set of steps descending.
Bella followd Zetty over to the door she indicated."This one looks like a good choice," she said, checking it for traps. "I can go through first if you'd like."
There are no traps on the door. Opening it reveals a flight of stairs leading down to the next level.
The stairs open up into a vast chamber. This 20-foot-high chamber’s stone floor is heavily stained with blood. A wall of transparent stone separates this room from an observation gallery that rings its north, west, and south sides. The northeast corner features a short stone well. The room juts out a side hall to the east that ends at a charred circle in the stone with a double door nearby.
A bizarre creature is here, systematically shattering crystal chunks with destructive sound waves! The hunched, reptilian beast lopes on two clawed feet, its eyeless head dominated by a huge circular maw filled with jagged teeth. In the gallery above, a wormlike monster seems to be issuing it commands.
Upon noticing you, the worm-thing points its tail in your direction. The eyeless beast turns towards you and bellows a challenge!
The creature moves closer before unleashing a sonic cry! This discordant ululation resonates along your nerves and bones, manifesting as waves of incapacitating pain washing over you!
Success: The creature is sickened 1 for 1 round.
Failure: The creature is deafened for 3 rounds and stunned 2.
Critical Failure: The creature is deafened for 1 minute and stunned 3
Bella reeled from the terrible cry. Recovering, she studied the beast and tried to offer advice to her friends, or those who could hear her at least!
Deafened and staggered by the awful wailing, its all Zetty can do to not cry out. Not that she could hear if she *did* cry out, given the din echoing in her head. She sways for a moment and then heroically starts taking down a picture of the horrible creature.