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Amiri scoffs, what a bundle of nonsense. Time travel? Really? You expect me to buy this maze is sending us in to the future? Sounds more likely we are in the library of a mad wizard who has tried to do the impossible... probably hooked up to our maze on accident when they tried to go "into the future" she says clearly sarcastically. either way, this seems like important information the society might be interested in.
You make note of your findings, no matter how much their content or implications might annoy you, and continue on with your explorations.
Going past the library takes you down a narrow series of halls. You twist and you turn but eventually you come out into a triangular chamber. At its far end is a stairwell that rises up into darkness, the stairs flanked by a pair of copper statues. On the east side of the chamber, set into the wall is a glowing purple crack, emanating a low and eeire baying sound.
From up the stairs you hear a deep feminine voice call out: "Felise? Is that you?"
The voice doesn't immediately respond to either Miladistra or Lynn. the stairway is unlit and rises steeply upwards towards an entire different level of the complex.
Othello meanwhile slinks along to look at the strange phenomena. Getting near it, the champion notices that it isn't actually a crack revealing a peek into a lit neighboring room. Instead the 'crack' seems to be a magical rift, filled with a faintly pulsing swirling energy. The faint baying sounds continue to emit from it, but they don't get any louder as he closes and no objects or clear source are visible amongst the purple haze.
When Lynn begins stepping forwards to try and talk to the voice, suddenly there is movement! Each statue beside the stairwell begins to shift, raising hard fists and moving to position themselves to attack -
- and at that the rift reacts. Othello sees the crack's glow intensify and all of you feel woozy as everything
begins
moving
veerrryyyy
ssssssllllllloooooooowwwwwwwwwyyyyyyyyyy,
TTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTT-
-attuesmoveveryveryslowlytooandthenwithnowarningsuddenlyeverythignbeginstos hiftreallyreallyfastmakingithardtoevenprocess
This takes place over mere moments, but as it does are you you see faint fleeting images of other people - vague human and humanoid shapes - moving in and out and around the room, up and down the stairs; stopping, chatting, checking things, and continuing on, each moving so fast that at any given microsecond dozens of them seem to overlap. You see the statues themselves crumble to dust, then reform, then crumple again while these ghostly images flit about noticing.
Finally everything seems to *snap* back into focus. You hear a clattering as the statues crumble once more, this time not reforming. You all blink and feel fine again, your movements back to normal 'speed'. The purple rift's intensity has returned to a dull purple. But near Othello, and again in the corner, you are no longer alone: two very solid and corporeal 'things' are standing in the chamber with you. Each a horrific fusion of limbs, eyes, and mouths, they look as if multiple men and women had been terribly shoved and warped together. Moaning, they move to attack!
Initiative
Miladistra
Lynn
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"Uh... what are those-" Miladistra clutches her ears.
The screeches tear into her psyche before she forces them out. "Anyone knows what those things are?" She steels herself and pets Deroff.
>Glitterdust< sprays from her hands, landing on the Orange... whatever the heck it is.
Deroff looks to Miladistra, then looks at the thing in Green. Whatever it is, it's going down.
Deroff takes a bite out of... ugh. Miladistra's going to scrub his teeth with some rutabaga. He hates rutabaga!
EDIT I forgot to roll Deroff's Fort Save
Dizzy as she is, Ezra still manages to recognize familiar elements to the creatures. While their source and creation seems radically different, the grotesque amalgamation of warped and twisted human form combined with their moaning makes the psychopomp think they're some form of Grothlut. Aberrant fleshwarps, they are tough, but slow and barely sentient. Best to watch out for their claws and acid spits.
While the not-bird makes these observations, Lynn and Deroff work in tandem to strike at the nearest monstrosity. The wolf's jaws tear, and Lynn lands a finely placed bash
Meanwhile the other Gorthlut confirms its lack of speed and grace by leaning right into the eruption of sparkles. Dazzled and blinking from far too many eyes, it spits back at the elf mage covering her and her mount with sizzling spittle, then shambles over towards her to take a terribly off-the-mark swipe with one of its sharp-clawed limbs.
for
for
Initiative
Amiri 40/50 HP, need Will save
Amir I’d clearly heard worse than these minor moans and races forwards. Unfortunately, while her enthusiasm is admirable, her aim this time less so.
Opposite the wolf, the boxes in amalgam strikes in a frenzy at the creatures hitting it. One claw hits Lynn, but Othello calls on his god to show the enemy another path as it connects. The grothlut’s mind doesn’t seem to change, but Lynn’s injury is lessened and the enemy seems a bit weaker.
for
for
for
nitiative
Miladistra 14/26 HP, Deroff 37/42 HP
Lynn (Ezra sickened 2) 53/58 HP
Othello, sickened 1
[ooc]See, missed that line. Thanks for the reminder!
A hurt Mialdistra makes a tactical reposition, while Deroff takes advantage of Lynn's distraction to get a single good bite in
Lynn takes advantage of the wolf drawing focus too, bashing down HARD on the grothlut. the staff slams down, into, and through the creature - yeah! But as the momentum of the blow continues to move through it the horror's organs and flesh ruptures entirely and explode out in a spray of disgusting and semi-toxic acid and bile - boo!
Initiative
Othello, sickened 1, need Reflex save
The dying exploding grothlut feels a real guilt trip during its last nano-seconds of living.
Othello just manages to pull himself together as he advances and strikes at the remaingin creature. The halberd slashes through its skin, leaving small pools of acidic fluid dribbling down. Enraged, its attention turns back on the champion as the amalgam steps towards him and swings its claws ineffectively against Othello's armor.
for
for
Initiative
Amiri, raging, need DC 17 Basic Reflex save
Deroff doesn't like this thing one bit. It doesn't even taste good.
And now it's burning his fur coat. This is one of the few times he wants the Missus to bathe him...
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As the thing bursts and sprays acid all over the place, Amiri is able to block the worst of it from hitting her but does experience mild burns. Argggg, why does its blood burn!And how do I get mine to she thinks with a smile. The look on her face is enough to scare anyone, with acid on her skin, intense eyes, and an unsettling smile. She then tries to take two mighty swings to finish this battle.
The gorthlut does not appear that scared of Amiri, though whether its due to Amiri being covered in slime or it not quite getting her is less clear. Either way the barabarian gets a good slash on the creature and a close miss on her backswing.
Initiative
Miladistra 14/26 HP, Deroff 33/42 HP sickened 1
Lynn sickened 1 (Ezra sickened 2) 51/58 HP
Othello 56/60 HP, sickened 1
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Miladistra holds her breath as she sees the thing explode. I'm gonna scrub Deroff down after this-whether he likes it or not.
She unleashes an >Electric Arc< at the surviving monster.
She motions to Deroff to finish off the remaining monstrosity.
The flesh-blob beast improbably dodges most of Miladistra's lightning, but a bash and a chomp and two quick slashes take it down.
...down in an all-too familiar burst of caustic bile.
As the second figure explodes, the purple crack in the wall shrinks and vanishes as well. The voice you heard from up the stairs has stopped now too. You look up and see they seem to go up quite a ways, to an entirely new level of whatever complex you're in.
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Deroff runs over to Miladistra, offering his flank as she loses her balance and leans upon him. "Th-thanks Deroff. You smell worse than a lazy pig in the sun. I don't smell too good, either."
She directs everyone to surround her. "Alright, let's take a minute to recover." She sniffs and instantly regrets it. "And find a fountain to wash ourselves."
---
After patching yourselves up and marking the discovered path upwards, the lot of you double back towards where the advance scouts reported hearing Draconic utterances.
As you approach the area the voices were heard, you see both of the two the archways leading into the next chamber have been barricaded with mounds of junk, rock, and other debris. Voices mutter on the other side.
[b]"Shhhhh! Those monster dogs might still be around. Or their master. Can't go home if we're ate"
"Can't stay alive without water though. And don't wanna drink from those - mamma always taught never drink things with creepy faces."
Looking at the barricade, Lynn once again holds out a hand in caution: the orc points to a trip wire site in both sets of barricades that would trigger a makeshift catapult to launch out rock at reckless intruders.
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Hopefully people don't mind smelling like rosemary for a few minutes. Much better than Grothlut guts.
"Does anyone know what they're sayin'?"
"Howdy ya'll. We're from the Pathfinder Society. We're here to help. Can you open the door so we can chat face-to-face?"
Her call goes unanswered.
"Hmpf. Fine." She turns to her allies. "I can summon another Miflit to check on the trap. Maybe they can slash the wire safely."
At Miladistra's call, the voices stop and you hear a scuffling from behind the barricade. Evnetually a vocie calls back out.
shortly after a scratchy voice calls out again, this time in Common:
"Back off! You won't keep us here forever! The Thornscales will escape and fight you off, you and your monster dogs!"
"Oh yeah?" a voice yells back to Lynn. "That's just what bad dog owners would say..." The tone is still suspicious, though the orc seems to have made some strides in giving the voices' owners pause.
As if Deroff would lower himself to the level of belly rubs!
Okay, just one.
One minute of rubbing.
Per person.
Before he licks them.
”Oh yeah! Just try it!”
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Look, we don't know who you are and we really don't want to have to hurt you. But here is the thing, we have the means to get through this barricade and if you are going to make us do that, it isn't going to go well for you. So how about you open this door so we can have a real talk, okay. We already know about the trap you put in here and it doesn't scare us one bit.
Amiri steps forwards and raises her voice to put on a formidable display. There's a moment of silence, then you hear muttering from behind the barricade:
”She does seem real mean.”
”Yeah, but if they know about the traps, the element of surprise is gone.”
”If we make her angrier....”
A louder voice calls back ”Fine. But no funny business!” You hear movement and scraping sounds as the barricade is slowly dismantled – partially at least, leaving a narrow passage into the room beyond.
Inside you see five kobolds, weapons in hand though not currently raised. One, a female with green scales and a laurel of red roses atop her head appears to be the leader. ”So, you say you not harm. But who are you? How did you get here, and get past the monster dogs?”
The kobolds are standing in a rectangular chamber containing three large pools, each 10 feet wide and filled with a different colored fluid. You see images reflected in the pools, images that don’t match at all the contents of the room itself.
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"Howdy ya'll." Miladistra makes sure to dismount Deroff. "I'm Miladistra, from the Pathfinder Society. This is my friend, Deroff. He ain't gonna bite ya. We... haven't seen any monster dogs." Deroff scratches himself a few times.
She leaves Deroff outside for a moment, to make sure the Kobolds don't panic. Once they're alright, she motions Deroff in. He promptly flops down and prepares himself for the indignity of petting.
Miladistra falls to her knees to make sure she's non-threatening. "Huh, what are these pools? I have no idea. Hey, Amiri! Look! I wasn't up on moonshine! I knew it." She points to the green pool, highlighting the curved pod.
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You made the right choice, no need for "funny business. Amiri says gruffly as she enters the room. We didn't encounter any dogs to find you, just followed your voice. Did you happen to get here from a hedge maze?
Ohh right, I am Amiri, a Pathfinder.
Amiri looks into each pool. What are you doing in here? Know anything about this weird water?
When Miladistra points out the green pool, How weird that that box is here! Glad I am not going crazy though!
”…Itzi” the lead kobold says. She eyes your group’s large dog warily but doesn’t freak out. At Amiri’s mention of a Maze, she relaxes somewhat. ”Yes, the Maze. We Thornscales live there: got pulled into strange Maze by accident year ago. But it’s a good home, place of power. We left to hunt, and found this old place, had never seen before. We looked for a way back, but came across monster dogs. Smaller than your pet there, but scarier. Lean, hairless, sickly gray color. Had bulging eyes and long licking tongues.”
”Dogs chased us, but we managed to get away, slow them down with quick traps. Found this room with those weird pools. Don’t know what they are or how they work. but if dogs came back maybe risking splashing them with this would’ve worked!”
As the champion mentions a teleportation network, the kobolds quickly chatter amongst themselves. Itzi then responds: ”Those monster dogs could be danger to us and you. But if you have gate to here, could you get us out? We want to go back to our tribe’s home in the Maze.”
"Huzzah!" the kobolds cry as you offer to guide them back to the base camp by the archway.
---
After dropping off the Thornscale clan, your group continues on through the ruins to the last point of interested still to be explored. The area isn't actually very far from the Arch chamber, but as you apporach it from the north you see a small door ahead of you that leads deeper into the complex you've been brought to.
Of course between you and the door is a wide path that leads over and bisects a pair of deep pits. Pits filled with bones.
This chamber is bisected by a pair of bone-filled pits. A wide path crosses them, connecting the north and south ends of the chamber. An exit to the north leads back to the Maze of the Open Road, while a small door to the southeast leads deeper into the ruins. Glancing down the skeletons seem to be of humanoids of varying kinds and sizes.
As you enter the room, you hear a voice calling out again, its source again unclear. This voice also sounds feminine though its not the same as the one you heard before: this is a bit higher pitched, and softer.
“Heraxia? Heraxia, where are you?”
It's unclear whether the voice is indeed an echo, or nonsense, or possibly just hard of hearing, but it does not respond.
That doesn't mean Lynn doesn't get a response though. As the orc calls, two suits of armor that had been slumped near the pits' edges suddenly rattle and fly together at the end of the bridge. Facing away from you, you her a low monotone voice emitting from them:
<HALT. THE INNER SANCTUM MAY NOT BE ENTERED.>
The empty helms tilt slightly back and forth as if in confusion, then both armors swivel around to face you lot.
<HALT. INNER SANCTUM BREACHED. BREACH MUST BE SEALED> The metal figures begin moving ominously towards you...
Luckily Amiri and Lynn are quicker on the draw than these floating full-plates!
Initiative
Amiri
Lynn