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Briar is first in-line for the chance at some prestidigitation. She spins as she enjoys the lightness of unsoiled clothes and a dress no longer weight down by various liquids. ”Bless you for that! Lady give ya good.”
She is in renewed good spirits with her new cleanliness. Nobody has died or been permanently injured and they are steadily clearing out the place. Between this area being hidden by the mechanism upstairs and the massive amounts of bugs, nobody has probably been down here to loot it already. And it’s not like the bugs would have much of a care about any loot. Hopefully their acid didn’t ruin everything good, though. ”Righto. Let’s take a look about.”
They're quite long-dead, though with the beetles, it's hard to say exactly how long. Their decaying leather armor, now useless, seems to have been accompanied by masks, two of which, made of leather, have worn away to being almost totally unrecognizable as such.
The third, though, worn by the human, is still intact. It is a beaked ivory domino mask, crafted to seem as though it only has one eyehole—though you can tell this is just a simple optical illusion.
The corpses also have coinpurses, each with a few silver and gold pieces. In total, there's 10 gp, 5 sp.
Rosella isn't entirely sure whether the party (sans Alaïs) heard what she said about the hulking shape in the other room. Or maybe they just didn't care, given that it seemed more inclined to hide than attack. Regardless she keeps a very careful eye in that direction while they wait for the smoke to clear out.
She's still distracted by her thoughts of what might lay across the hall when an odd glint catches the corner of her eye. Looking closer, she notices a small ring nested in the ashes. "A ring?" Pulling her hammer out of her pack, she uses the clawed end to fish it out of the fire without getting burned. "Pretty design, that. Like little feathers. Think it's magic?"
Briar’s typical easy-going demeanor and loose body language immediately shifts as she realizes what she’s seeing. Ravens, eh. Could just be a coincidence of course, but she has to be sure. Perhaps Calistria has honored her revenge sampler with a taste of the next course. She immediately gets to work searching the mass of bones for anything she can use. She finally takes the mask, folding it over in her hand. ”Do any of you know anything about this? It ain’t magic or anything, is it?” She tries to keep her usual lightness, but she cannot fully hide the intensity that has come over her.
Broccan recalls Rosella was trying to tell him right after the fight and approached her. ”Di’ya say’eh saw’noth’r one’eh th’big bugs? Where was’it?”
"Another bug? Perhaps we should go and rest up top? Or back in town? Maybe it will leave if we leave?"
Kata casts a wary glance into the darkness that lay beyond their light. "I'm worried that without rest we'll be overwhelmed if we push our luck."
Kata shifts, as if uncomfortable in her cloak, and turns to Briar and Rosella. "I can check to see if the things you found are magic."
Briar holds out the mask. ”Please do check it.”
Broccan pulls out his crossbow, loads it, and replies to Kata. "'ll take'eh look. See'f't's some'where't might'attack'us."
'I'll take a look, and see if it's somewhere where it might attack us."
He moves across the hallway towards the other room at a slow deliberate, pace, keeping his crossbow at the ready.
Broccan makes his way slowly to the western chamber, his sunrod shedding light before him, his crossbow at the ready.
Eight man-sized stone slabs, each about four feet in height, are arranged in two rows here. The long-dead corpse of some strange humanoid bird creature lays sprawled out upon one of these slabs, its dark feathers and leather armor the only hints of contrast in this pale dust-choked room. The short west wall abuts a small stone stage, and standing tall upon the stage is a grayish-green statue carved of petrified wood, depicting a woman with wild-flowing hair bearing what appears to be a weighty driftwood shillelagh.
A hulking acid beetle even larger than the one the party just fought lumbers around between and over the slabs. As the light of the sunrod floods the room and reaches its compound eyes, it hisses, chittering its hostility.
Broccan stops barely too late. As he takes one last unwise step, the beetle begins clicking in menace and shambles forward to engage—its movement slow, almost groggy.
Briar hears the sound of the bug and rushes after Broc. ”Another of the big ones!” She calls upon Calistria’s guidance on herself as well.
The statue, meanwhile, depicts a janiform goddess known as Shimye-Magalla. Most popular in the Mwangi Expanse and along coastal communities of Garund and southern Avistan, Shimye-Magalla is a capricious goddess of freedom, travel, the stars, the ocean, and to some extent, dreams.
Some believe that the worship of Gozreh and Desna actually originate from this Bonuwat deity, but the literally two-faced goddess has few followers this far north or inland. Seeing a statue of her of this quality in the Cairn Hills is a bit anachronistic.
"If the one we killed before was the mama, I guess this must be the papa." Rosella moves back into the hallway to get line of sight on the new enemy, then shoots. Her aim is off though as she's distracted by the beetle's strange movement. "It might be sick or something. Looks like it's moving a lot slower than the other one did."
Rosella's arrow barely misses the seam in the massive beetle's elytra, bouncing off the tough chitin. The beast rears back in alarm—then skitters forward and unleashes a blast of acid at Broccan and Edrukk.
"Arrgh!" Broccan cries out as a blast of acid catches him full-on.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, he fires his crossbow, then drops it and draws his hand axe.
Briar rushes up behind Broc and grants him more guidance. ”Why’d they have to always do that?!”
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Broccan's bolt strikes the beetle's leg, knocking it slightly off-balance.
Rosella's eyes narrow as the beetle sprays acid all over Broccan and Eddruk. She's getting really, really sick of these bugs. The quicker they can get rid of the (hopefully) last one the better.
Resolving to pay better attention to her aim this time, she draws back and releases another arrow. Then, seeing how badly injured Edrukk seems to be, she steps forward and grabs the tree-wand from Briar's belt. "Edrukk, here!"
This arrow flies true, striking the sluggish beast in the back. It barely seems to notice, but it's a solid shot.
"'at mask, 't looks like th' symbol o' one o' th' Children o' th' Mask. Associated with No'gober, Blackfingers, Father Skinsaw, and such. Not generally folk ye want t' know."
Edrukk takes a face full of acid and is reduced to zero hit points.
Edrukk is almost out on his feet again. He steps behind Briar and gasps out, "Lass, gimme th' wand 'n Ah c'n 'eal meself..."
Grabbing her spear and sprinting forward, Kata recites another verse of Blakerly's poem to inspire her allies. It may be for naught, she fears; both of their warriors look to be barely on their feet, the beetle, however, still has all six.
These things can’t be rushed, and Alaïs is still mentally sorting through the possibilities the auras suggest, in the others’ wake, when she realizes that Broccan’s startled something big, and the others’ chorus of confirmations rises shortly thereafter, along with an alarming sound that, er, sounds like a gush of beetle juice.
Knowing that that would be a bad thing to be caught in, Alaïs rushes forward as quickly as she can, taking up position beside Broccan and launching another furious blow at another furious beetle.
Alais leaps past the others to the front lines alongside Broccan and slashes furiously at the beetle, cutting a shallow gash along its right eye. It recoils with a spooked chitter, then lashes out wildly, trying to lock its vicious mandibles onto his side and bring him to the ground.
The world goes sideways, then fades to black for the second time in the same day. Broccan collapses to floor, the smell of acid, burned flesh and beetle dung assailing his nose as the last sensation before everything goes still.
Now’s not the time to worry about the statue she can just see – but not appreciate, yet, Killer beetle, girl! – behind the monstrous insect, but thinking, even momentarily, of likenesses…
“Goddesses! The mask! It stores spell power for priests and wizards!” she calls over the melee. She thinks. She’s fairly sure. They need all the help they can get, and Edrukk’s on his last legs, otherwise…
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Rosella shoves the wand into someone's hands, she doesn't really pay attention to who at the moment. Broccan is down, Edrukk is staggering, and the beetle needs to die, now, before one of them does.
Then she backs away across the remains of the dead swarm from earlier. She doesn't need to be close, and having all of them trapped in that tiny corridor is a recipe for disaster if the beetle spews acid again.
As she draws back her bow, she takes a deep breath. "'Nature encourages no looseness, pardons no errors.' So don't make any." Eyes locked on the beetle's, she releases.
Edrukk puts his axe in his shield hand and snatches the near-forgotten wand from Rosella as she realizes the gravity of the situation and her focus goes to her strongest option, the bow, and backs away from the scrum. Muttering a prayer to the Lord in Iron, he taps himself with the wand.
Realizing Broccan has been struck down, Edrukk slips past Briar to stand over the fighter, wand in his free hand where Briar could take it if she wishes.
"Thank'ee, lass. Want 't back?"
As with the previous bug, Alaïs punctuates her thrusts and swings with cautious steps around the foe.
“Oh, well done!” she calls out, as an expertly-aimed arrow whistles past her to bury itself beneath the beetle’s chitinous armour. She tries to press an advantage through the momentary opening…
Once again, despite the force she puts behind her blow, trying to strike a vital area as she moves gets the better of her. <"Damn you,"> she hisses in Elven, knowing the vermin isn't clever enough to respond to the malice in her tone and, hopefully, spare Broccan its unwelcome acid attentions.
Briar takes her goodberry and stuffs it in Broc’s mouth, holding onto his jaw as sh drags him back around the corner and out of the way of a potential second blast of acid.
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Time goes all wiggly; Kata blinks and it seems the whole battle has shifted. Things were dire just a few seconds ago, everyone packed in the hall like a tin of fish, and then Rosella's arrow flips everything, and Eddruk is back and Alaïs is dancing around the beast...
Kata blinks again - get out of your head, Kata! - and rears the spear back, plunging it towards the beetle, her eyes closing as she does so, a whispered plea to Pharasma silently mouthed...
Alais and Kata fight desperately, determined to hold the line. But this hulking behemoth is much tougher than the last. Alais's blade screeches off of the beetle's chitin, unable to find a mark. Briar darts forward, dragging the badly-burned Broccan to safety, and Edrukk hurriedly acts to repair his seared nerves into working order before his body fails him. As he returns to the melee, the beetle rears back, mandibles chittering, ready to strike again.
Just then, another arrow from Rosella flies by. This one finds its mark right in the eye Alais slashed at earlier, sinking in all the way to the fletching, and he beetle lets loose a horrid sort of inhuman scream. As it recoils in instinctive panic, Kata sees a weak point—a seam in the chitin between its abdomen and its head—and she lunges.
Her spear impales the beetle through what passes for its neck. The beetle stiffens, trembles, and collapses. Kata is nearly pulled off her feet by its weight.
As it hits the ground with a loud thud, the chamber is silent once more.
Briar let’s out a long exhale, happy that the bug was downed before it could breathe again. ”Right, that was another rough one.” She points out the mask with the spell-recalling power. ”I think you’re the only who can use that Ed, so maybe you could use it to pop a heal on Broc? I wanna check for any loot in here before we head back up to rest. Could either rest upstairs or head back to the old homestead if we’re worried about getting jumped.”
Briar is immediately hit by a wave of fatigue, but she pushes through it for the moment. ”The rest a’ you stay out there. Whatever was exhaustinf the beetle is still goin’ on in here.” By the time she thoroughly searches, she is absolutely ready for a nap.
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“Oh, well done!” she calls out, as an expertly-aimed arrow whistles past her to bury itself beneath the beetle’s chitinous armour.
“And again!” Alaïs calls out, complimenting Kata in turn as she finishes the beetle off, throwing the thing down before the elf’s words even leave her mouth. As a heavy silence falls over the chamber again, disturbed only by the adventurers’ breathing, Alaïs takes a quick look around at the room’s contents, but her first concern is seeing what can be done for Broccan.
Briar let’s out a long exhale, happy that the bug was downed before it could breathe again. ”Right, that was another rough one.” She points out the mask with the spell-recalling power. ”I think you’re the only who can use that Ed, so maybe you could use it to pop a heal on Broc? I wanna check for any loot in here before we head back up to rest. Could either rest upstairs or head back to the old homestead if we’re worried about getting jumped.”
“I hope we can get him on his feet again: I shudder to think what it would take to move him safely in the state he’s in. If we have to, we should be able to feed him all the goodberries,” she considers. She offers a weak smile and a quibble that she hopes will relieve some of the tension, expressing her firm conviction that it will all work out, “He won’t thank me for it, but the boy’s a resilient one: his head will be heavy anyway with the beating he’s taken, so I doubt some strong fruit will make him feel that much worse. I would say it’s a shame he won’t likely be able to enjoy the berries, but I’ll have ample opportunity to introduce you all to the delights before too long, I’m sure.”
While waiting to see just how many berries Broccan might need, her eyes skip briefly over the dead body laid out on one of the slabs nearby – curious, but – and focus on the statue at the far end of the room.
“That is lovely, isn’t it? Fossilized wood is such a fascinating thing, not least for sculpture. The things one can do with the grain…” She steps forward to take a closer look, her aesthetic enthusiasm almost palpable.
Bizarrely, it doesn't seem to last. That is, Alaïs' expression remains rapturous as she notes approvingly that, indeed, the sculptor carefully handled the stone so that the grain of the petrified wood complemented the textures of the subject's carved, flowing locks, among other artistic felicities, but the connoisseur's bearing becomes even more languid than usual after only a few moments, and she positively droops.
There's something to be said about the low following an adrenaline high, but this is rather extreme for someone as used to swinging a sword as Alaïs, even if, admittedly, she's never done so when the stakes have been so high. She politely stifles a yawn, of all things, and for a moment she's sure she hears a soft sound as if the contagious breath has caught an invisible other nearby.
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"Well done, again, Miss Kata. Yer not needin' aid from me. Mebbe Ah'll get lessons from ye! Briar, thank'ee fer th' wand. Ah'll be givin' 't back n'. T' bad Ah dinnae prepare 'ealin' t'day. Ah c'n try bringin' back one o' me other spells 'n see if'n Gorum le's me swap 't fer 'ealin' like a normal spell."
Edrukk takes the one-eyed mask with a bit of a frown of disgust and dons it. He tries to feel how to use it and finally settles on a brief prayer to Gorum, asking him to grant the divine favor once more.
"Ah think Ah recognize th' woman, th' statue. 'tis a goddess called," he slows down and speaks very deliberately to avoid misunderstanding from his accent, "Shimye-Magalla." He nods, "Aye, 'at sound right. Pop'lar 'n th' Mwangi 'n coastal Garund 'n southern Avistan. Goddess o' freedom, travel, stars, oceans, mebbe dreams. Like me Gorum 'n temperament, 'n some folk think 'at Gozreh 'r Desna be related wit' so many common 'nterests. Odd t' see 'er s' far north 'n far from water."