"That's a deep pool. With all of these paths requiring a key, perhaps I should dive down? Can you cast that light spell and drop it on something down there? Or maybe just casting magic on these locks is the key?"
Kayle moves to stop Owens as the dog immediately walks up to lap at the pool, but with the others drawing so near it was probably safe. "Well, a little more light couldn't hurt." he reasons as he fishes a copper from his belongings. Casting the light orison upon it he flicks it into the pool with a soft, "Ekat Kassen keep us safe."
He gives a soft smile at the soft plunk of the coin hitting water, watching as it sinks into the dark. A moment later he is shouting, "Owens! No!"
Seeing the fresh pool of water everyone was approaching perked up Owens' ears and the dog was quick to pad up to the lip and start drinking. Lifting his head a moment later and lapping at his lips the dog caught Kayle pulling something from his pocket. He looked up with interest, and when Kayle threw it into the pool Owens lept in after it!
Only to immediately turn around as the object vanished down into the water, and the water was much wetter than he had planned for!
Nicolette chuckles. There is something about the dog that makes her brightened from her normal self. With Bohrs constantly drinking and cheering, it's hard to keep in a sour mood. At the sight of the dog swimming in the water, she will move to one side of the wall and will start to doff her armor.
"I'll take a look when I get down there. I'm a pretty good swimmer, but I'm not going to be lugging this."
She then stands there a moment, glances at the men, and then pulls up her shirt. As she takes off her garments to keep them dry, it is clear that she's also going to remove the bandages put there on her upper stomach. Nicolette unwraps them, revealing a mostly healed bruise and normal-shaped ribs--an amazing recovery considering the way they looked previous. Then without shame, she will take off her boots and drop her pants.
"Please, keep Owens away from my clothes. I'd like to be somewhat dry when I come out."
With that, she will move to the edge and dive in. The pale-skinned beauty descends toward the light with haste, showing proficiency in at first, swimming with strength.
"Seems a dangerous spot for skinny-dipping, but it's got a beautiful view!" Bohrs says with a chuckle. He winks and smiles a crooked grin before taking a sip of his ale.
Calaithes moves up with the group. "Both doors are safe but that one there is locked. I can try to unlock it if we can't find the key. If it's like some of the others though we're supposed to find the key."
Seeing Kayle put light on a coin and drop it in the water he shrugs. "Wouldn't it be better to put the light on Nicolette's hand so it's with her? And maybe I should swim down there too? I'm a pretty good swimmer. Not like...." He shrugs, but you can guess he was going to say like his father. "Bohrs. Can you put a light spell here on my hand?"
Without waiting for an answer he follows Nicolette's example, stripping off the clothing that he doesn't want to be wet once they got past this challenge and dived in. He takes one of the extra backpacks down to gather whatever they need from the bottom of the pool.
"Well, yes, I should be able to...Hey, wait!" Bohrs starts to answer Calaithes before he very quickly disrobes and dives into the pool. he turns to Kayle and asks, "Are you planning on going in, too?" His tone is one of uncertainty. "Fortune favors the bold, but I never did learn how to properly swim. I suppose I could manage in a pinch, but I'm no expert."
He stands by the edge of the pool, holding his tankard over the water so that Nicolette and Calaithes can orient themselves towards the light of it, should they lose their bearings below the surface.
"Cayden grant you both hale and hearty lungs," he mutters, taking another swig from the cup.
More than half of the party jumps into the pool, though only two begin swimming down. Owens simply splashes around while Nicolette and Calaithes swim down after Kayle's copper coin. Illuminated on either side of the pool, the two swim down 40 feet to the bottom, where they see...
Keys! So many keys! A quick guess would be that there might be upwards of a hundred keys down here, scattered all around the bottom.
As she draws closer to distinguish the mass at the bottom she was seeing. It gleams like gold and silver at first, but then she can see they are keys. "So MANY!" she thinks to herself.
When she gets to the bottom, she will not waste time and will aid Cal in scooping/stuffing keys into his backpack (full-round action).
Nicolette tries to spy out a key that matches any of the doors they've seen.
Kayle goes wide eyed as Nicolette strips before them, his face growing red as he politely turns his head away. Though this hadn't been for his benefit the back and forth teasing they had done was still fresh in his mind. "Yes, I'll keep him out of your small clot- clothes." he agreed without any hint of protest. With Nicolette and Calaithes descending into the pool he did spare a look at her pale form and how the light played off her body in the water.
When Bohrs turned to him Kayle stood stock still a moment. Realizing he had been caught. "I'm not even as good a swimmer as my goofy dog." he admitted. Owens was treading water fine, but figuring he might need help Kayle leans over the edge of the pool and helps drag him out of the water. Owens shows no desire to go over and roll in any abandoned clothing, so Kayle relaxes a moment. Only to panic as he realizes a second too late what is coming.
Struggles to exit the pool, legs scrabbling on the stone even as Kayle helps pull him free. Tongue lolled out into a happy smile Owens takes a few steps. Looking up at his person's scrutiny. Was Kayle worried about something. When the human relaxed Owens knew everything was good, so he went about the business of getting properly dry.
He gave himself a vigorous shake that sent all the water soaked into his fur flying everywhere.
Bohrs chuckles at the spray of water coming off Owens' coat.
"Good point, Owens!" he says, un-shouldering his pack and setting it on the floor. He retrieves his winter blanket and a torch from his pack. "Here, hold this," Bohrs says handing the blanket to Kayle. He retrieves the flint and steel from his pouch and uses it to light the torch. "There we are," he remarks, as the warm light adds to the illumination of the room.
"The air in here's going to feel a bit, uhh, nippy when they get out of the water. The warmth from the torch and dry blanket will be greatly appreciated. Do you want me to hold the blanket, or the torch, or can you handle both?"
Bohrs winks as holds out the torch, giving Kayle the opportunity to take it from him.
Holds the offered blanket in a bit of confusion at first, but as the cleric elaborates he nodes slowly in comprehension. "I can hold the blanket." Kayle replies, "But Owens is trained to help warm someone. If we can get him dry he'll make a good heater."
He gathered some of what Bohrs was implying, but at the same time Kayle was a bit naïve to such tactics. The only relationship he had been in he had stumbled into, and likewise stumbled out of just as quickly.
Just barely surprised to see so many keys Calaithes starts scooping up keys and dropping them into the pack. He can't breath in the water like his father, but he can hold his breath for a good while....
In the murky depths of the pool, Calaithes and Nicolette manage to grab 4 keys, and Calaithes deposits his into his bag. He grasps for more keys, but the motion of reaching kicks the keys further away in frustrating eddies.
Topside, Owens dries himself off while Bohrs and Kayle discuss the merits of different drying methods.
Kayle keeps a lookout. Both to not make direct eye contact with Bohr and to keep at least a bit of a lookout while they waited.
Nicolette tries to discern with her grabbing a bit more selectively by identifying keys that are a bit more appropriate to the doors, but ultimately, she doesn't feel like bringing all of the keys up.
Perhaps there is something to do with "Magic is the key". Maybe there is a spell that will unlock something or a hidden room path revealed by magic? Maybe even a key hidden by magic? She has a desire to not be scooping up keys anymore and to return.
With a wave his way, she will return to the surface and if Cal is coming, and if so she will help him by carrying up the backpack of keys.
Seeing Nicolette return to the surface Calaithes slings the pack over a shoulder and pushes off from the bottom, also returning to the surface. Maybe she'd spotted something dangerous?
Reaching the surface he treads water while putting the pack on the side to be dumped out. "Is something wrong? We've only got a couple of the keys. Looks like there are dozens more."
Bohrs bends down to look at the keys, trying to see if any of them look to be about the correct size and shape.
”Kayle has a lit torch and a wool blanket, if either of you needs to warm up. He has also offered Owens’ services, if you’re in to that sort of thing.”
He looks up from the pile of keys, gives a crooked smirk and a wink, then resumes searching and sifting.
Frowned at how Bohrs interpreted his dog. "First we'll need to make sure we have the proper key." he reasoned, "Otherwise they'd only be getting wet again." Kayle folds the blanket over his arm and begins to help sifting through the keys. Pointedly trying to not cast glances at Nicolette, though she was hard to ignore when she spoke.
Owens was eager to welcome the two back, sniffing and licking at Calaithes' face as the familiar half elf emerged in prime affection range. Only to abandon him as he turned and pursued the bag he had hauled up. Burying his nose in the keys and trying to find one large enough to pick up like a chew stick.
Calaithes dumps the keys and grins. "There's a lot down there. A little bit hard to grab stuff while swimming but I'm good to go back down. I can use Kayle's coin, but it might be better if you'd put the light spell on my hand instead?" He holds his left hand out to Bohrs and grins, waiting. "Maybe try those keys on that locked door there. Otherwise we'll have to carry all of them around and try at every locked door. Magic is the key? Did they just figure there'd be a mage with every group?"
Bohrs transfers the light from his tankard to Cal's hand. "We've got the torch, so we won't be in pitch dark. We'll keep sorting through the keys and see if fortune smiles on us!"
Bohrs returns to sorting through the keys.
As she surfaces, she swims to the edge and climbs out.
"It's taking too long, Calathes. It's a riddle. There is a reason they put that spell there, and there is a reason they picked us. We can't be expected to almost drown picking up keys if they are trying to make this easier on us. I really think it has to do with the saying. Perhaps if we put your light spell on one of these keys?"
And no, she seems too distracted and almost frustrated to notice she's fairly bare in front of the men. Her hyper-focused intent seems to be on figuring this out. Cal would have noticed how few keys she was able to grab. They kept slipping through her fingers.
"If you want to go down and collect more, be my guest. I'll try to figure this out up here for now and then keep an eye on you."
Kayle likely failed at any attempt to woo Nicolette, walking over and throwing the blanket over her. "First dry off and put your clothes back on!" he brusquely told her, "None of us are going to be able to think properly with you naked. I'll likely be up half the night with what's been burned into my mind as it is."
His face was growing more red having acknowledged the elephant in the room. Owens briefly looked up at Kayle, wondering what was wrong with his master. Scooping up one of the keys he cast his light cantrip on it and quickly stormed off to try and unlock the door. Not thinking about what he would do if it opened to reveal a monster. Simply wanting to get away from Nicolette before he made more of a fool of himself.
"He likes you, and he's trying, bless' em," Bohrs whispers just loud enough for Nicolette to hear. "It's clear he hasn't had much practice talking and flirting with young ladies, much less a naked and beautiful one!" He nods his head in acknowledgement of her state of undress, winks, and resumes examining the keys.
"Magic. Is. The Key.' he says to himself in clipped tones. "I can't tell if any of these keys are magical; not without resting and praying for the power to do so, at any rate. If the lock just requires some sort of spell, there should be a clue somewhere as to what that spell needs to be, you'd think." The last part of his statement shows an uncharacteristic frustration rarely heard in the priest's voice.
"Maybe it's not in this room? We've been focusing on the locked door, but what about the other one?"
Nicolette will take the blanket, but will not throw it over herself to the point that she begins drying off. It is loose at her elbows and draped lightly over her shoulders more like a sight barrier than anything. It is as if she is ready to jump back in if needed.
She smirks at Kayle's humble words and blinks as he charges off. The Pale Hammer turns her ear to the jolly cleric as he whispers to her and thankfully explains.
"Well...," she replies in brief. "I feel sorry our quest has come to this. I'm also not comfortable myself, nor was I last night, so we'll just have to make do. I just figured you two weren't jumping in," she refers to Kayle and Bohrs. "You can't drink ale underwater," she nervously jokes. Despite her hands full, she manages to pull her hair forward so it doesn't drip on the blanket.
When Bohrs states the elusive key might be somewhere else, she nods.
"I've thought of that. That's why I came back up after seeing how many there were and how hard they were to just...grab. It was hard to get them in the bag. I felt like I was fumbling about while trying to stay down and still."
Although he stayed down longer this time Calaithes surfaces again and dumps more keys. He stays in the water and takes deep breaths, scanning the pool again to decide on where to go down again. "If I ever gain the ability of my father I could just swim down and clear the bottom completely. But for now I still need air!"
The group begins sorting through and trying keys in the nearest door. The light spell doesn't seem to have any apparent effect, and none of the keys seem to fit in the lock. They're all rather large, though, and Owens is sure to find one that is a satisfactory chew toy, though a bit tough (and rusty). Dogs needed iron, too, right?
Ultimately, Calaithes dives back down into the drink, having grabbed nearly a third of the keys in the last trip.
Up above, Calaithes, Bohrs, and Nicolette are standing around when an elf walks through the door to the south, where you all had come from previously. None of you recognize her. She is not wearing any armor, but rather has on a dress patterned with butterflies.
"Well, well, you all seem to be struggling," she intones, gesturing towards the keys.
Listening to the sound, Bohrs and Nicolette both immediately feel like something strange is going on. Although it looks like the elven woman is speaking, she...isn't? You hear her voice, and it certainly seems like it's coming from her, but there's something peculiar about the way that it's all happening, like there is some sort of illusion taking place here.
---
Below, Calaithes reaches for a key in a pile that he had not yet explored, when he spies something that he hadn't seen previously. It looks transparent, but there's something dark within, like a mass of keys. He is about to reach for it when he he sees more than just keys--it looks like there are bones! And it starts to move!
Elf
Calaithes
Kayle & Owens
Bohrs
Nicolette
Watery Blob
Map
”Are you here to offer assistance?” Bohrs asks the elf, not entirely convinced she is actually real.
Seeing the moving bones Calaithes feels certain it was a skeleton! Undead in the water! Why it hadn't attacked.... didn't matter.
With panic giving power to his legs he pushes off as hard as he can, abandoning the pack and swims for the surface, and safety!
Because Calathies went back down, and Kayle's attempts with magic failed, she figures they are going to have to try each key. She will cast aside the wool blanket to Bohrs or Kayle once more and go back into the water to help out.
As she descends, upon seeing Cal swimming up toward the top in fearful haste with wide eyes and bubbles, she too rises once more.
"I probably could," the elf replies to Bohrs, crossing her arms and leaning to the side, within the door frame. "But can and will may be miles apart."
Kayle quirked a brow at the elf's response. "If I may be so blunt." he began, "What is your purpose here? You aren't of the village, and this tomb has been invaded by murderers and kidnappers. Would you help them by delaying us?"
Owens looks at the elf with confusion. Where did this one come from? He sniffs the air before him to try and catch her scent.
The elf grins and shakes her head. "I don't know much about that, silly druid boy," she says. "The night sky is pretty here. That's why I'm here."
As Calaithes tries desperately to swim away from what he thinks must be an underwater skeleton and Nicolette swims down to meet him, the transparent blob pushes off the ground and swims easily up towards the half-elf. It reaches out a protoplasmic pseudopod towards him.
Thankfully, the blob misses Calaithes entirely.
Elf
Calaithes
Kayle & Owens
Bohrs
Nicolette
Watery Blob
Map
Calaithes continues his panicked swim to the surface, certain that the bones had formed into some undead monster that would try to drown him.
Calaithes feels the blob swing after him again as he swims further up, but manages once again to avoid injury.
Nicolette chooses to swim up seeing that Cal is not out of breath, and is rising fine, if not in terror. Assuming she doesn't see the blob (or even if she does), she will surge upward.
Once making it out of the pool, she announces, "Something is wrong down below. Caliathes is coming up fast, with terror in his eyes."
The near-naked heroine rushes to grab her hammer, as she intends to move to the water's edge to potentially aid him. Her eyes catch sight of the new womanly figure there in front of them and she indicates by her body position that she is going to move to the pool rather than toward the stranger.
Bohrs draws his rapier and stands ready to stab whatever follows Calaithes out of the water.
Owens will pursue this odd scent he has picked up. Unconcerned with the stranger for now.
"Well we are here for much more serious reasons, I can assure you." Kayle responds with a disapproving scowl and noticeable agitation, "Iffin you think rescuing a girl is silly t'would suggest you stay as far away from me as you can."
He turns at the warning Nicolette gives and moves to the pool with his club drawn. Looking down into the water he tries to spot this threat that he might point it out to all.
"Oh, I didn't say your reasons were silly, Kayle," the Elven woman says, smiling at the druid's scowl, "Just that you are."
Kayle hears a faint flutter of wings echo around the chamber, but can't locate it. Meanwhile Owens follows the smell around the pool to the back. It smells like there is something near the statue...
The watery blob continues to swim up after Calaithes and reaches a pseudopod towards him once again.
halved
Despite his luck on ascending so far, the ooze wraps a tendril around Calaithes leg, grabbing a hold of him and squeezing him. He feels a burning sensation as something begins crushing his leg.
Elf
Calaithes
Kayle & Owens
Bohrs
Nicolette
Watery Blob
Map
Bohrs tosses the torch onto the floor and jumps into the pool, rapier in hand. He takes a deep breath and looks under the surface at what is attacking Cal. He does his best to swim in the direction of his friend.
Jumping into the pool, Bohrs feels water flush up his nose. With the awkward non-buoyancy of his armor, he flips around and loses his sense of which direction is up and which is down.
Without waiting, she makes it to the water's edge and jumps in with her hammer. The great earthbreaker will help the warrior to descend to aid her friend when she is ready. She looks downward and is in shock when she sees that he is grappled.
Nicolette struggles to get into a position to dive to where she can effectively angle an attack. A moment's hesitation makes her ineffective for Cal's rescue. Also, Bohrs is distracting with his floundering.