”She’s right on all accounts. It be the right thing to do for this wee lad.” Bharak said, all the while continuing to hold the gnome in place.
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Listening to the conversation as he cuts a length of rope, Elathras looks towards Axton as the sorcerer removes the bloatmages spell book. Gesturing towards the mages belt. "Azton would you disarm him also? Oh, and remove any magical items, I don't want to leave him any advantage over the librarians, not in the condition his in."
Turning towards Bharak, he gestures towards the gnome's hands, "let's tie them behind his back." Tying the gnome's hands behind his back, he takes the long end of the rope and ties the gnomes ancles as well, effectively hog tying the little fellow. Pausing long enough to admire his work. Nodding he reaches back into his pack drawing out his clean pair of socks. Stuffing the first sock in the gnomes mouth he uses the second sock to tie tightly around the gnome's head, keeping the first sock in place. Realizing some may be looking in disgust, he turns and shrugs, barely noticeable in the armor. "What? their the only cloth I had in my pack."
The gnome ready for transport, "Ok he's ready to go, let's take him back to the library." Shouldering his pack, he continued, "It looked to me like the library should have enough money to get him fixed, but if we need to chip in to get his mind right, I would help."
Picking up his Guisarme, he asks Bharak, "If you carry the gnome I'll take point." Without waiting for an answer he begins to head back towards the library.
The party roguesorcerer relieves the captured mage of his magic items.
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Loot:
MW dagger,
Amulet of natural armor +1,
Fortifying leeches,
Ring of protection +2,
Spellbook:
0-acid splash, bleed, detect magic, light, mage hand, message, prestidigitation, read magic, resistance.
1st-burning hands, comprehend languages, entangle, identify, mage armor, magic missile.
2nd-flaming sphere, glitterdust, hideous laughter, invisibility, web.
3rd-deep slumber, fireball, fly, summon monster III.
4th-fire shield, poison, shout.
5th-cone of cold.
You take him back to the Librarians who are arranging scrolls of Heal for the insane. Three ways you can progress. Up to B11. SW to B8 or SE to B12. Where are you heading?
.
Having dropped off the bloatmage at the library, Elthras, with his fellow pathfinders, heads back the way they came. When they reach the door of the room where they found the gnome, he points up the hall to the left, "Shall we see what's up that direction before we check the other two doors?" As he points he heads that way
”Aye, we could.” Bharak agreed. ”Don’t see any blood around here or other signs that yon gnome hurt anyone with his lever. So whatever is in these rooms likely isn’t the kind to roam around. With any luck it’ll be easy digging from here on out.”
Axton is very happy with any direction the group decides!
B11. SUN ROOM
This small, octagonal room blazes with light-each wall is seemingly made of glass that glows like noon day sun.
Bharak opens the door and blinks as the light is overwhelmingly bright this far underground.
.
Bharak is hit twice by something unseen.
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What is everyone doing? Just to be clear the light in this room is so bright Glitterdust won't help you.
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Seeing the bright light Elathras isn't sure what to do. Turning from the light, he asks, "Should we shut the door and make a plan?"
You opened the door, reacted to the sudden bright light and then heard something fly past and slash you twice with a small dagger. You can't see anything, even as your eyes adjust to the light. That perception roll does tell you that there are more than one of whatever it was that attacked you in this room.
What now. You are currently reacting like someone who has just turned on a bright light in a gloomy room. Momentary blinking and glare problems. But it soon fades. Even when you do recover your vision you can't see anything in the room?
”Retreat to the door.” Bharak said as he fell back. ”More than one enemy. Small and fast. We take up a defensive position, don’t fight to their advantage.”
As the party retreats and discusses strategy, Axton pulls out the Dust of Appearance that he keeps in his Handy Haversack.
.
.
You have little more than an impression of small, flying enemies as Bharak moves back. Until one of the creatures follows and becomes visible in the dimmer light of the corridor?
Even when visible it is hard to see. .
This small humanoid lurks at the edge of illumination, its fine features bleeding away at the edges, making it appear blurred and out of focus. Moving into the light, it vanishes, but its invisible presence is tangible as a feeling of being watched.
[urlhttps://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/fey/lurker-in-light/]Lurker in light[/url]
What are you doing now? You may all act
Seeing the fairy-thing flying near Bharak's head, Elathras knows he doesn't have space to use his pole arm. Dropping the Guisarme to the ground, he draws his sword, grasping it in both hands and thrusts it at the 'Lurker.'
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"Well done!" Bharak yelled out, feeling a deep sense of relief. "Very well done indeed!" He added as his hammer found purchase, with him working together with Elathras to bring the foes down.
In the unlikely event that Axton can see any of the enemies from his position down the hallway before the others get them, he'll cast scorching ray.
Elathras & Bharak kill Yellow. Then Bharak & Axton end Orange.
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The shimmering light-bending panels on the wall have an unusual effect on the fey creatures known as lurkers in light-the extraplanar ripples the panels send out into the First World attract the fey creatures like moths to a flame.
Just recently, a trio of lurkers in light sacrificed several prisoners to open a portal from the Ethereal Plane to this chamber to investigate the room, only to discover that they'd become trapped in a dungeon
after their portal closed.
The lurkers have scouted out some of the nearby rooms, but the denizens within have, to date, proven too much for the fey to safely sacrifice to
open a return portal.
If the PCs don't defeat them on their first pass through this dungeon, though, the three lurkers finally grow brave enough to move up into the Therassic Spire above-whereupon they immediately start seeking out victims to sacrifice so that they can open a portal back to the First World.
Where are you heading now?
As the last fey falls, Elathras sheaths his cold iron sword and retrieves his pole arm. Having realized the illuminated room is a dead end, he gestures, "So back towards the room with the dais."
As they move around the cylindrical room, Elathras stops at the southeastern door, furrowing his brow he asks, "Isn't this where the painting said to "kill the fish"?"
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After some light scouting, he reported back. ”There be a brain ooze in the first room. Some call them killer brains. I wouldn’t want to tangle with one of those if it could be avoided, they’ll eat your thoughts and I’m told it isn’t pleasant.” He said this, tapping the first picture. ”And the other room?
[b]”A gibbering mouther. Don’t let the name fool ye, they be full of eyeballs and formless flesh too. It can drive anyone nearby crazy and then it’ll eat ye. At least it will be ye body and not the mind.” He sighed. ”Nasty shyt down here. Right abominations. But it seems we need to kill the fish, so let’s get on with it.”
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Listening to Bharak's deductions, Elena nods thoughtfully. "Neither option sounds pleasant. Looking at the map layout, the swarm we saw earlier is in the direction of the Brain Ooze and Gibbering mouthers, just behind them. If we're going to try and reclaim his body for the reward - now that we have the Swarmbane clasps - we'll need to visit those rooms at some point. Besides, if they're dangerous, there's a good chance useful things remain there to help us. I'm confident we can cut through them. Especially, since, you know, if I drew this in the future, we obviously managed to do it."
"If we lost someone to something, I would have drawn a more insessant warning... right?"
Following his glance to the other door, she nods. "Yes, Elathras, that should be the Fish door. We can do that first, sure. I'm very curious as to why would I would ever advise us to 'kill the fish before entering the door'. But it never hurts to be careful and do it, I suppose."
She looks up for her drawn map and noticed Bharak's wounds. "Oh, right. Sorry!"
B12. DROWNING CHAMBER
A pair of large archways provide access to this circular room, its recessed floor covered in two feet of clear standing water. Glowing runes adorn the walls just above the water-level. Near the middle of the room stands a metal cage.
Inside the cage is a 7-foot-long, four-eyed fish. Trapped in the cage, its spines and tentacles sticking out awkwardly between the bars, the creature has been sustained by the magic of the room for over 10,000 years, and in that time has become little more than a living vegetable.
.
On its head is a curious metal cap, with long wires that trail down and
disappear beneath its body.
What now?
Raising an eyebrow as Bharak described the two monsters, Elathras had not heard of either creatures, and he'd learned about many. As Elena pointed out the different angles and the direction of the rooms they'd been in, he considered the idea of just going around the ooze and mouther, back to the swarm room. He was about to add that 'maybe' they'd fought the things, or maybe one of the other adventurers had warned them afterwards, but Elena had continued about the 'Fish door' and they could talk about the other rooms later. Maybe the future would repeat itself and they wouldn't need to bother the beasts.
As the door opens, Elathras sees the large fish stuck in the cage. Surprised to see a Grodair in the cage, he turns back to the others, "That's a Grodair. Must be the fish your message spoke of." Frowning, he adds, "Looks like, well, like it's vegetative doesn't it."
Turning back to the 'fish' he calls out in aquan. ">Grodair, how long have you been here?<"
”If it be brain dead, can we kill it from afar?” Bharak asked. ”I don’t see a reason to get within arm’s reach.”
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Looking at the creature in pity, Elena shakes her head. "The cables from that helm linking it to whatever is beneath the floor is probably what makes it dangerous, even if its mind looks damaged beyond repair. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have written to kill it instantly. I'd have tried to help it instead. Maybe I did previously," She comments as she ponders what to do.
When Elathras tries speaking to it, she turns to Axton, Vhane and Bharak. "Everyone... like I said, I wouldn't have advised to outright kill it without good reason. Be ready to shoot it from a distance if something goes wrong, all right? Maybe mercy killing it is the best we can do for both sides here," She says, and waits anxiously to see if any attempts to communicate with the creature would be succesful.
"If future you told us to kill it instantly, then us standing here talking to it or debating about what future us did in the past is present us not taking future you's advice."
Axton pauses to make sure he got all of his tenses right. He nods to himself before continuing.
"It's a mercy killing, as you said. I think we should begin that."
There is no response to any of your questions.
It is very clearly brain dead. What are you doing?
Resisting the urge to consider the possible impact of timelines and actions, Elathras turns to his friends, "The Grodair is clearly brain-dead." He looks towards Axton, asking, "Is it time for a fireball?"
"It most certainly is!"
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Stepping back from the door as Elana had recommended, Elathras Watches the flames burst around the fish. His stomach growling, the smell of fish cooking reminding him they'd not eaten lunch yet.
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"Let's make sure we're outside of the doorway so that if it-"
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As Axton ends the Grodair's long suffering the water in the room vanishes.
.
Karzoug sometimes found it useful to have an aquatic environment for his experiments, and rather than leaving one constantly flooded, he captured a grodair, a species of intelligent, fey fish from the First World.
The grodair is a 7-foot-long, four- eyed fish. Trapped in the cage, its spines and tentacles sticking out awkwardly between the bars, the creature has been sustained by the magic of the room for over 10,000 years, and in that time has become little more than a living vegetable.
On its head is a curious metal cap, with long wires that trail down and
disappear beneath its body. Through a combination of magic and technology, Karzoug managed to turn the poor creature into a half-mindless servitor, programmed to raise or lower the water level in this room at his command,
as well as to defend it against all others.
In addition, the grodair's life energy-sustained magically for thousands
of years-is also partially responsible for powering the magic glyphs and doors of this room.
The grodair itself is locked into the operation of the dungeon, and has no free will of its own. The bars of its cage are a foot apart, offering the creature little protection. If the PCs kill the grodair or can remove its metal cap (via a successful disarm, sunder, or grapple combat maneuver), the water in the room immediately vanishes.
Trap: As soon as the grodair believes that it has as many PCs as possible inside the room, it triggers the trap.
Steel doors slam down from the arches, sealing the chamber, and the water rises quickly, flooding the room halfway in the first round, and completely in the second.
In addition, the runes begin blasting electrical current through the water, targeting everyone touching the water except for the grodair. The trap itself governs the electrical discharges, but the rise in water is controlled by the grodair-disabling the trap prevents the electrical damage but not the room's flooding.
To stop the flooding, the grodair must be slain or it must be detached from its cage.
.
Where to now? Back to deal with the Hellwasp swarm, or on to the next door?
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Knowing the Grodair had once been a sentient creature, Elathras resists the urge to cut a filet from the cooked fish. Moving into the room, he gestures back towards the west, "We know what's that direction, let's finish exploring the other side of the fish-cage."
As he speaks he moves towards the southeast, gesturing towards the door, asking "Bharak, what do you think? Trapped?"
It was hard to get the cruelty shown to the fey fish out of his head. The casualness in which a sentient creature had been tortured was astounding. Death had been a mercy. It was a welcome distraction to check for traps.
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Elena gets up from her kneeling position near the creature, finished with her prayer for the deceased tortured spirit. "All right... we can keep heading that way, sure. But at some point, I do want to go back and explore the other way. The longer we leave potential threats behind us, the more likely we're to encounter them in a bad situation... such as with the two of you not having the clasps out. If we head into it knowingly, at least we can prepare accordingly."
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Bharak finds no traps on the door, and it is not locked. The door opens easily to reveal.
B13. RUNE DOOR
This small room contains two intricate black-and-gray mosaics covering the north and south walls. To the north, the mosaic shows a curving, forested valley with a small black castle in the center, its sky cut off by a great arch of twining leaves and peering, childlike faces.
The other wall shows a subterranean city of great domes, spires, and soaring bridges, populated by humanoids with no eyes and two mouths. The eastern wall is unadorned, and contains only a heavy metal door whose
face is adorned with an etching of a seven-pointed star surrounded by runes. The center of the star is a polished seven-sided polygon of shiny onyx.
PC who succeeds at a DC30 Knowledge Local identifies the valley depicted to the north as the legendary realm called the Dark Forest, home of the Dark Rider, and the southern mosaic as a depiction of Xavorax, City of Silence, a mythical city of vampires and eyeless scholars as old as lost Thassilon.
A successful DC25 Knowledge(arcana) check recognizes the eyeless figures as caulborn.
The room is not empty of life the last member of the previous adventuring party is a Naga (often derisively called "wormfolk" in Kaer
Maga) named Silasni.
She turns to face you as the door opens and greets you courteously as "reinforcements," It seems she didn't fall for the trap as h the others in her party did.
"Sadly the others in my party fell to the Symbol of Insanity in the first room. I have been trying to puzzle out this door after avoiding their efforts to kill me. Perhaps you can assist me in solving the doors puzzle?"
What are you doing?
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After apologizing to Elathras for missing that he was in fact wearing his anti-swarm clasp, Elena turns back to her notes. Was she too absorbed into the cryptic clues of her future self to pay proper attention? Perhaps. But she also had faith in her teammates to have her back if needed.
Which it seemed would happen shortly indeed. If her warnings were true, then they were welcome only as long as they were useful to her.
Ignoringn the strange painting, she regarded the Dark Naga.
"Greetings, Salasni. I am Elena Neidthard of the Pathfinder Society. We found your friends and managed to recover two of them alive, with hopefully their minds soon restored. The scholars asked us to try and get you back safely. Would you be willing to come with us and abandon this foray you have? You're alone out here. Surely you can see how dangerous this is to follow on, if the very first room here had Insanity effects? What if the next trap breaks your mind and you are out here by yourself?" She tries, wondering if there was any non-violent way out of this despire her future self's best attempts had apparently ended in failure.
...And just as she remembered that her kin could read their thoughts, meaning she was able to just glean the answer from anyone who had watched her maps - which was most of the party. Meaning that if she even gained momentary access to one of their minds, their usefulness to the Naga was at its end.
Oops?
Still, she would try and parley for the sake of her Patron's gentleness.
Wanting to show Elena he wasn't worried, Elathras points at the clasp, "I'm more than happy to go back and clear those rooms." He smiles, "It would be against my order not to."
As Elena spoke with the Naga, Elathras considered the information the paintings had provided. He had learned that here in Kaer Maga monsters walk the streets as citizens, but he still had trouble wanting to aid the Naga. So when Elena asked the serpent to give up the search and join them, Elathras nodded, it was clearly the best idea to return the Naga to where it could do them no damage. Chiming in, "My friend speaks true, we were asked to return you to the library, would you please accompany us?"
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Silasni stares intently at Elena for a second and then smiles. [b]"So that is it!" She exclaims. Turning she sketches the rune of Greed on the onyx star in the center of the door with the tip of her tail.
Where she touches it the star glows blue? For a moment there is a glowing blue rune of greed showing on the door, which slides open to reveal a natural stone chamber.
"You can go back now." Silasni tells the party dismissively, "I have this under control."
What are you doing now? She doesn't seem interested in returning, or being friendly :).
"Madam! That's excellent news! Exemplary! I'm impressed and grateful that you've found the way forward so that we can proceed! However, the Therassic librarians have charged us with our own goals beyond that door, so it's untenable that we return just yet.
"Let's go through together!"
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"You can go back now." Silasni tells the party dismissively, "I have this under control."
"Until she runs into the next puzzle and dies..." Elena mutters, shaking her head at the naga's boasting. She would have pressed that point if not for Axton making an unexpected offer. "Fine. Come with us for now then, and we'll explore together. It's a good and fair offer - you should take it."
She shares a glance with Elathras and Bharak and subtly points to the line on the future map that said the naga 'Will attack if we don't leave', silently signalling them to get ready.
Raising an eyebrow as the Naga dismisses them, Elathras realizes it clearly did not understand that her job was done and they were here to return her back to the library. Stepping forwards, Elathras was about to explain the situation, when Axton offers to let her accompany them. Turning towards Elena just as the cleric softly spoke, he smiles. wondering what she thinks of Axton's idea. As Elena affirms that Axton's idea is the best offer she'll get, Elathras, seeing Elena's gesture moves forwards. Just within reach of the creature he asks, "So are you going with us forwards, or are we taking you back to the library?"
The Naga shifts slightly, "I think not." She drawls arrogantly as she faces you and starts casting a spell.
She is casting Lightning bolt!
Elena & Axton may act!
"...well, that can't be good!"
As quick as he can, Axton whips out a dispel magic to try and counterspell the naga's spell.