Lopo gaped at Kellen and responded in a language he could actually speak.
Kellen speaks to the others, He says there's a chief Vardak, a powerful Shaman, who commands dragons and demons. There are two great servants Lorghulo and Igreili. He's asking for me to let him go free, but let's get some additional infomation before we proceed.
turning back to Lopo in goblin,
Oh Lorghulo won't be bothering you any more, Igreili the same as Lorghulo?
Keeping an eye on the goblin's response, he says to the other group, So one of the great demons was that Barghast, I'm asking if the other one is the same kind of critter or not. And this Vardak is human according to Lopo here. If we can find out about this Igreili I think we can let the goblin free? he asks.
"Only good goblin is dead goblin." Bas deadpans.
"We can let him go into eternal tunnels wherever his faith will take him." [i]too many teeth visible
Daymar simply shrugged. It seemed more likely they'd get more information if they let the goblin live - or at least let it believe that would be the case - but his people didn't generally consider goblins with any more fondness than, say, an infestation of termites.
Kellen nods at Lopo, making a dismissive gesture to the goblin and turning back to his companions, Okay the goblin says there's another one of those Barghest things around here, the mate of the other one. Its apparently bound or summoned by Vardak, the human master. So there we are! One human, probably magical, and another barghest thing.
"So, we can go now?" Basdemar asks
"I let this one go for one minute and come after him. A bit of sport for me." he makes a show of teeth toward a goblin and flexes his claws, hopefully understandable even without language
Since the others didn't attack the goblin, The Green Knight will just watch it warily, trying to guard against a sneak attack.
Then he moved south to the entry corridor next to Daemar, looking south into the next chamber.
Lopo scampered away through the open door to the west, then disappears to the south into the hallway. Alfric follows along a few seconds later, finding the doors to the south unlocked. Opening them, the Green Knight found a large, open room decorated with dozens of framed paintings depicting faraway lands in exacting detail and dominated by two large statues seemingly facing each other in battle.
The one on the left was a flame drake carved from black marble, rearing up on its hind legs with its mouth open as if to breathe out a gout of flame. The other was the same bald man in the tapestry from the entry hall Lord Vardak, carved from white marble with his staff raised high in the drake's direction.
Oddly specific paintings yes? Would this be a parlor or drawing room do you suppose, or a gallery? And I wonder if that statue is our gracious host - what do we think the staff signifies, Daymar? Kellen asks as he heads into the parlor room, admiring the artwork.
Almost every major city in Avistan is represented here, along with several cities that appear to be in more exotic locations.
For DC 15-19: The paintings are pretty nice, probably worth around 300gp each, for a total of 3000gp. To an interested wizard you could probably get a premium of as much as 25% over their price as mere art.
DC less than 15: These paintings are masterpieces worth a fortune individually (500gp each) or a king's ransom if you could sell them as a collection (10000gp). An interested wizard might pay as much as double for these amazing works of art.
"Hm." The Green Knight paused as he looked upon the bare room with naught but a couple of life sized statues with great suspicion.
"Mayhap we should have tossed the little fellow in here first." He commented aloud.
"The precision of the statues...could they be actual creatures, frozen in stone? At least the drake one?" asks Basdemar
But he is more interested in the statues, in particular, space between them.
OOC: Are there traces of fire or other hazards?
Bas noted the telltale signs of an extremely hot flame on the stone floor in between the two statues. The dragon statue had smoke stains around its mouth and face but the statue of Vardak looked completely untouched by char or ash.
Even with this hint, though, Bas can't find any sign of a tripwire or pressure plate or other trigger that would indicate a trap.
Kellen seems enthralled by the realistic paintings, gazing with wonder into the accuracy of the landscapes.... I suppose they could be frozen like that, so lifelike and all...
Bas gives the detailed once over to both statues, given the traces of flame.
"The inscription here says 'Cast the living flame into me.'" Bas points the inscription to others.
"The wizard seems untouched, maybe he is actual source of the fire? Maybe that raised staff shoots fire?"
OOC: taking 20 to search, taking care not to step between them (so kinda one-sided unless one can climb behind them)
Bas didn't find any other helpful clues beyond the inscription.
The Green Knight moved south into the big room with the statues, then moved West to explore.
"A teleportation room," Daymar said, indicating the paintings. "These paintings are detailed enough to allow someone who had never been to any of these cities to travel there as surely as if they were looking down on the place directly. Assuming they were a powerful enough mage, that is."
It was only after those words that the elf seemed to realize there was anything else going on in the room. He blinked.
The others were already moving on to the next area. Daymar shrugged, gave the statues another thoughtful look, and then followed along, thinking.
The western wall, like all the other walls, held expertly made teleportation-target paintings. Alfric didn't find anything but the sharp eyed among the group notice the faint telltales of a hidden door.
Daymar's satisfied he had noticed everything there was to see about the paintings but as he thought about the statues, the inscription, their positions, and the secret door he was more and more certain that casting a fire spell on the drake was the missing key to opening the wall.
A magical secret door! That's a first for me. Do we expect this to be where they keep the coin? Kellen muses as Day prepares to open the way.
"How droll," Daymar said, then pointed at the appropriate target. With a word and a snap of his fingers, a spark of flame magically appeared.
Daymar's spark ignited in the drake's open mouth and a huge gout of flame erupted from inside the statue's throat. The stone gem on the end of the spellcaster statue's staff grew red hot, then yellow, then white as the fire kept pouring out of the drake's mouth. The flames cut off suddenly, leaving the statue's staff glowing brightly with the absorbed heat.
After a brief moment, a catch in the wall released with an audible click and the wall moved a few inches inward. Pushing the secret door open revealed a hallway that took a turn to the north after about 20 feet.
The Green Knight followed the secret passage west, following Bas.
Alfric peeked around the corner, then turned back to his companions.
"Something big, hairy, and not running away." He reported.
Then he readied his sword and shield; then advanced up the hallway.
How descriptive, I suppose we should see what's around the next bend in this strange place... Kellen grumbles, more to himself than Daymar, but Daymar was definitely included in the 'we'. The shaman advances to the corner, spear held in hand, waiting to see what strange creature they would find next here...
"He...it may not be animate. It seems to be stitched together, but maybe it is not finished."
Bas is not sure what he's seeing.
Daymar followed the others around the corner. Recognizing the magical laboratory of a practitioner when he saw one, was both immediately curious and very aware of the possibility - nay, likelihood of traps and other security measures. Nevertheless, he was Daymar, and the curiosity rendered the additional knowledge almost irrelevant.
Though he was no longer concerned with stealth, Daymar did stop short of actually entering the workshop, instead turning his fascinated gaze on the figure.
"Fascinating," he murmured. "It is likely a construct of some kind, best not to cross the threshold just yet."
"Yes," Daymar said almost immediately after laying eyes on the creature," "Flesh golem, as I suspected. Fascinating concept, but far too much overlapping with necromancy for my tastes. From what I've studied they're very tough, strong enough to take on a group of people like us, maybe even stronger. Most creators craft them with eyes that can see as well as an elf or a dwarf in the dark. They can hit very, very hard. But most constructs tend to take their instructions quite literally. Thus my admonition to not cross the threshold."
Alfric froze as he was about to step into the room, then backed up a step.
"What then?" He whispered back to his companions.
Immunity to Magic (Ex) A flesh golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below.
A magical attack that deals cold or fire damage slows a flesh golem (as the slow spell) for 2d6 rounds (no save).
A magical attack that deals electricity damage breaks any slow effect on the golem and heals 1 point of damage for every 3 points of damage the attack would otherwise deal. If the amount of healing would cause the golem to exceed its full normal hit points, it gains any excess as temporary hit points. A flesh golem gets no saving throw against attacks that deal electricity damage.
Relevant Construct Traits
-A construct possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry).
-No Constitution score. Any DCs or other statistics that rely on a Constitution score treat a construct as having a score of 10 (no bonus or penalty).
-Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms).
-Immunity to bleed, disease, death effects, necromancy effects, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning.
-Cannot heal damage on its own, but often can be repaired via exposure to a certain kind of effect (see the creature’s description for details) or through the use of the Craft Construct feat. Constructs can also be healed through spells such as make whole. A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.
-Not subject to ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, energy drain, or nonlethal damage.
-Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless).
-Not at risk of death from massive damage. Immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points or less.
-A construct is hard to destroy, and gains bonus hit points based on size, as shown on the following table.
Construct Size Bonus Hit Points
Large 30
-Constructs do not breathe, eat, or sleep.
"Can we kill it from here? Or it will activate as soon as it is attacked? What if we attack, close the door. Open and attack again, close it. Would it continue toward us or deactivate each time we close the door? Is there anything of value anyhow? Can you casters check for magic within the room? Can you get something from a distance? Can we even close the door again?"
Young kobold is fairly bursting with questions, barely keeping from rushing inside. At the last one, he actually bothers to check the door.
"Lets... ah, go investigate the rest of the castle and come back later. Perhaps something will occur to us as to how to deal with the Flesh Golem." The Green Knight proposed.
"Let's ease back through the entry hall." Muttered Sir Alfric to his companions.
"There were traps. I'm going first. Follow."
Basdemar slinks into the hallway, just a bit of darker shadow on the wall.
Bas slinked into the hallway, silent as a ghost. He found an L-shaped hall with double doors to the south and a single door at the end of the north passageway.
The Green Knight stacked up in the Vestibule, waiting for the signal from Bas to advance.
Basdemar tries the smaller doors first.
OOC: If they open
He moves aside immediately to not be seen from the other side. He waits for several breaths for reaction before peeking in.
OOC: If it is locked
He moves back motioning for others to join him by the big doors
The single door at the end of the hallway to the north was unlocked. Bas opened the door and ducked behind it, waiting several seconds before peeking around the edge of the door.
In the far corner of this room was a throne sitting on a raised dais. Made from black stone, the solid throne was padded with plush red fabric and bejeweled with tiny rubies. Behind it was a tall window that looked out into the mountains.
Standing in front of the throne was a chiseled man with slightly elven features. He was wearing red robes, trimmed in black. Like the statues and tapestry, he had no hair on his head except for a black goatee streaked
with gray. He leaned on a tall staff and was peering at the empty doorway. It looked like he was muttering a spell to himself.
At the foot of the dais was a huge barghest, laying on the floor like a nobleman's hunting hound.