Julia breaks into song which encourages you to fight harder! Lope thrusts again but he misses despite Pelligrina's aid. Cyrene's dagger goes wide of her mark, as does Valaria's crossbow but she missed by less than an inch...
Pelligrina once again blesses Lope with guidance.
Triphylla throws another vial of alchemists fire at the already burning walcofinde and the flames rose higher!
Despite the flames that where consuming it, the wretched walcofinde continued to savage Lope. The Aldori trained warrior managed to block one of it's claws, but the other sneaked past his guard, raking him!
<--- HIT
<--- MISS
The other undead walcofinde was clearly not a music lover and its claw like arms scythed towards the bard but once more she was able to neatly sidestep it.
<--- MISS
<--- MISS
Environment: Normal brightness
Buffs and Debuffs:
Lope
Cyrene
Valeria
Pelligrina
Triphylla Dexterity Mutagen (97 rounds)
Walcofinde
Julia
Lope Guideance (1 round)
Cyrene
Valeria
Pelligrina
Triphylla Dexterity Mutagen (96 rounds)
Walcofinde
Julia
Damage Log:Round: 1
Green was hit by Lope for 10 (total damage taken 10)
Green was hit by Cyrene for 13 (total damage taken 23)
Red was hit by Triphylla for 6 (total damage taken 6)
Lope was hit by Red for 3 (total damage taken 3)Round: 2
Red was hit by Triphylla for 1 (total damage taken 7)
Red was hit by Triphylla for 4 (total damage taken 11)
Lope was hit by Red for 4 (total damage taken 7)Totals:
Green: 23 damage
Red: 11 damage
Lope: 7 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Lope
Cyrene
Valeria
Pelligrina
Triphylla
Walcofinde
Julia <----- WE ARE HERE
Julia, Lope, Cyrene, Valeria, Pelligrina and Triphylla are up.
Lope shouts in pain as another claw passes his guard, but feeling the reassuring touch of Pellegrina, he knows the fight needs to keep on. Profiting the moment of the attack, the Aldori thrusts under the second arm of the wall cutting exactly there "So that's why they tell don't fight with a wall!"
This time Cyrene strikes true, but since this creature is aware of her it twists away and her blow is little more than a scratch.
Lope's sword thrusts through the burning walcofinde's centre of mass, severing its connection to the negative material plane. It suddenly flairs up burning away almost entirely in the blink of an eye.
Not wanting to use all her valuable alchemical weapons right away, Triphylla instead pulls the Earl's hereditary dagger out of her pack and throws it at the last undead.
"I hope this thing isn't just for show!"
Lope slays the target in front of her so Cyrene sashays forwards and hurls her dagger at the final creature. It lodges and seems to inconvenience the undead not at all.
Seeing how badly Lope had been injured by the wall based monstrosity Valeria quickly offered up a prayer to her goddess and called forth healing energy. She reached out and touched Lope's wound with the pale gold energy on her hand.
Once more dodging bloodthirsty claws with well-honed grace and skill, Julia goes on the attack and flicks her newfound blade outward and artfully slashes the nearest wall wraith to her.
Cyrene's dagger was accurate but it barely grazed the undead that was menacing Julia. Valeria managed to heal some of the cuts covering Lope's body although a combat situation was less than ideal... Pelligrina hesitated momentarily unsure of what to no next. Triphylla threw another dagger, which cut in almost the same location as Cyrene's with much the same effect!
Once more the last walcofinde standing, attempted to savage Julia and once again the bard simply sidestepped, before lunging into attack with her Rapier. Julia's form was excellent and her sword pierced deeply but not enough to disable it yet.
<--- MISS
<--- MISS
Environment: Normal brightness
Buffs and Debuffs:
Lope Guideance (1 round)
Cyrene
Valeria
Pelligrina
Triphylla Dexterity Mutagen (96 rounds)
Walcofinde
Julia
Lope
Cyrene
Valeria
Pelligrina
Triphylla Dexterity Mutagen (95 rounds)
Walcofinde
Julia
Damage Log:Round: 1
Green was hit by Lope for 10 (total damage taken 10)
Green was hit by Cyrene for 13 (total damage taken 23)
Red was hit by Triphylla for 6 (total damage taken 6)
Lope was hit by Red for 3 (total damage taken 3)Round: 2
Red was hit by Triphylla for 1 (total damage taken 7)
Red was hit by Triphylla for 4 (total damage taken 11)
Lope was hit by Red for 4 (total damage taken 7)
Red was hit by Lope for 12 (total damage taken 23)
Blue was hit by Cyrene for 2 (total damage taken 2)
Blue was hit by Triphylla for 2 (total damage taken 4)
Lope was healed by Valeria for 2 (total damage taken 5)
Blue was hit by Julia for 7 (total damage taken 11)Totals:
Green: 23 damage
Red: 23 damage
Lope: 5 damage
Blue: 11 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Lope <----- WE ARE HERE
Cyrene
Valeria
Pelligrina
Triphylla
Walcofinde
Julia
Finish it! Party is up.
Pelligrina is liking Julia's results so she changes allegiance, give her guidance this time.
"Oh thanks!" Lope opens wide his eyes as one of the wounds suddenly disappears, the man loses no time though and showing the diligence of a duelist used to combat, rushes through the corridor changing targets with a guarded attack at the last walcofinde.
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"Good form, Lope. Apologies for putting you on the spot; I'm sure you would have warned us had the predicament been clear, but these monsters gave us no time to consider it."
Triphylla retrieves the Earl's ceremonial dagger and returns it to her bag.
Then, reconsidering their surroundings, she checks the door (G) for traps or tampering before deciding whether to open it.
"Well that was horrible and terrifying" Pelligrina gasps.
She remains well clear of the walls and continues to look around.
"What were those things?"
"Not sure," Julia answers as she rather momentarily sheathes her rapier and ends her battle song. "Lope seemed to know a bit about them but it seems pretty obvious they were some kind of undead."
Well certainly not wanting to get near any of the walls after what they just endured, Julia forces herself to mirror Triphylla's search with one her own as she looks at the door (A) nearest to her in search of an exit.
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With the last of the creatures gone Valeria went to Lope again and cast her spell once more. He was in rough enough shape she didn't want to take chances on something smiting him like that first thing had. "That will have to do for now," she said after she was done, "Fortunately I thin a lot of my blessings will be of little help down here."
Lope nods at Triphylla in acknowledgement and smiles "No worries"
"Yeah, they were the workers that build the catacombs of the Senate" Lope explains what he was told in the Archives "Or at least what remained from them. Let's be cautious those things left my arm badly injured."
Then his wounds completely disappear "Oh, wow, that was a real show off Lady, it does not longer pain at all" he makes a few gestures demonstrating the arm moves perfectly now "So... is this what you were doing in... in the Wound?"
Lope helps Triphylla explore the central room first, then Julia with the southwest door if nothing relevant is found.
Lope thrusts viciously into the last undead's skull, the sword shatters the bone and pokes out the other side. Suddenly the negative energy suffusing the wretched thing gave out and it crumbled away into nothingness, blown by a wind you couldn't feel.
You have a moment to catch your breath before one of the wooden doors creeks open and suddenly the adrenaline is back and you snatch up weapons only to see the frightened face of a senator poking out. Rather hopefully the man calls out, "Rescuers? Have you come to save us?"
From behind a different locked door a female voice rings out, "Wilfen did you say rescuers? I heard the most awful noises, like with poor Manshum. Is it safe to come out now?"
Julia eyes the new arrival trying to place him in her mind but ultimately coming up with nothing. Instead she opts to just come about and greet the man. "I'd like to say we are here to do just that, good ser, but alas we've been trying to just get out of here," she jests with a deprecating smile.
The opera singer walks up to Wilfen and gives out her hand for him to shake. [b]"Julia Aubigni. A pleasure to meet you and your companion though I wish it was under better circumstances. Tell me, how did find yourself in this place? We think we got here on account of unexpected magical teleportation just as things went mad in the Senate Hall."
"Lord Wilfen Botoles?" Lope much relaxes after spotting the minor noble "No need to worry, we took charge of the undead monstrosities "
The Aldori listens to the answers for Julia's questions and adds " How long have you been here trapped?"
Pelligrina stays behind Lope and Julia, on tippy-toes to peek at the new potential threat over their shoulders.
Cyrene doesn't know the taldane nobility, but since she has time or place to switch back to her more inconspicuous guise she simply saunters off to collect the thrown daggers.
As she returns to Triphyllia she is handling the Earl's dagger with obvious appreciation and seems reluctant to give it back.
"Where did you find this beauty?" She asks. "Lovely blade. I'll trade you a magic wand for it?" It is quite apparent that Cyrene has a thing for blades...
"Hmm?" responds Triphylla to Cyrene's overture. "I just learned myself how useful it is. I think I need to get more of these to throw around. But a magic wand, well, it depends. Do you have a magic wand to trade?"
"One of those noble jerks gave it to me for entertaining his kids." Cyrene says, giving a sinuous shrug as her tail brushes down Trip's side. "So... swapsies?" The look she gives the dagger is almost sensual...
Triphylla has to work to suppress a smile. Cyrene really wants her dagger.
"You don't say. What does your wand do?" The halfling raps the inappropriately roaming tale with the flat of the blade.
"I have no idea." Cyrene replies with a rather dazzling smile. "Spells aren't my area darling, although some say my charms can be magical."
The spanked tail retreats, waving almost coyly as it does so as Cyrene smirks.
"Oh is that how we want to play it darling? Very well, do you want to spank me? Or would you rather I spanked you?"
"Perhaps Lope can tell us if these things are actually useful. Until then I'll hang on to mine. I rather like having something to throw when the need arises."
The spanking comment is over-the-top for Triphylla's tastes, and she lets it land with a thud.
She moves to peek around Pelligrina's gown.
She has no idea who these noble goofs are and doesn't particularly care. Better to keep moving.
Lord Botoles replied, "Long enough for Lord Manshum to get torn apart unfortunately. Such a horrible surprise that, whisked away from certain death at that madman Stavian's hands only to get eaten... Still I think you for dispatching them!"
A moment later he's joined by two more senators who introduce themselves as Sir Gryphus Plastion, and Lady Gael Urbaen who both thank you profusely.
While you're talking another door opens and a pair of newcomers sheepishly make their presence known. One of them a deeply tanned man introduces himself as, "Jowuan Zubari of Abadar at your service. I hail from Sargavan and was visiting Senator Trant, I wish my visit had had been under better circumstances. I didn't expect to see him gutted on the senate floor while the grand prince smiled..." Jowuan shudders at the memory.
Next to him is a very sheepish and unhappy looking Malphene Trant. It's clear she's been crying and she looks scared of Cyrene, flinching when she looks at her.
Finally one more surviver turns up, a one of the serving staff, a halfling Imistos Gulbend. He seems rather confused as to what happened and is more than a little shy of so many big people as he puts it. But brightly he offers, "If you can get me out of here, I'll shine your shoes for free every day! I can start now if you like!"
The curious corridor you're in circles around what turns out to be a common room styled in a fashion centuries out of date. Inside this rectangular room is a long table, covered in green felt. Silver trays dot the table’s surface, each hosting a set of crystal glassware and a tall decanter of wine.
A dusty document box on the table includes a number of scrolls!
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Then his wounds completely disappear "Oh, wow, that was a real show off Lady, it does not longer pain at all" he makes a few gestures demonstrating the arm moves perfectly now "So... is this what you were doing in... in the Wound?"
Valeria hesitated a moment and then shook her head, "No, I was a Paladin of Shelyn and went to fight to protect those who could not protect themselves and to preserve the art work as best I could. Then the Wardstones failed and Kenabres fell and I," she choked up a bit, her emotions starting to break through her self control. After another moment she said in a dreadfully quite voice of horror, "I didn't make it out."
Valeria said nothing further and it was obvious she was done talking on the subject for now as she grasped the symbol she wore, one that was most definitely not Shelyn's, and began to pray as she tried to get control of herself once more. Consequently she wasn't really paying attention when they found the survivors and instead continued to pray.
Triphylla starts to get sour with all the nobles who managed to weasel their way out of certain death the same way she did. How many of them were there? Still, each was a potential ally to Eutropia which counted for something.
And now an unexpected boon - another halfling fellow! One of the help of course, but at least this one appeared to have some dignity--oh wait, no.
"There now, Mr. Gulbend, stand up straight and proud. Don't humble yourself for these fools with such feeble promises. Half as tall but twice as clever, we are. Don't go disproving that."
Triphylla eyes up the crowd and decides this opportunity to turn the tables on them is too good to pass up. She hops atop the long table, rests the sickle on her shoulder, and paces slowly in front of the gathered nobles.
"Now listen up! I don't care who you claim to be or where you hail from. You may have narrowly avoided getting cut in two by the Emperor's guards, but as you see here the living are not your first concern. We can escort you to safety, but there's a price to be paid for putting ourselves at greater risk.
"So what are your lives worth? I'd say one-thousand gold pieces, each. Now I'll understand if you can't pay in advance but we'll take the fine jewelry each of you wears as a deposit. Of course you can try to follow us, but only those who agree to pay will be protected. So what's it going to be? Safety for a reasonable price, or take your chances and end up like that other poor bastard?"
The crassness of the halfling Triphylla is so beyond the pale that Pelligrina is humiliated to be found in her company. She must act immediately.
Pelligrina steps out into direct view and points at Triphylla.
"Ignore her and her grasping demands. She speaks only for herself. We have all suffered through the horrors of this evening together. We survivors are bonded to each other by the awful sights we have beheld and the grief we feel."
"We must go forward together and find a way out. We must do this as partners, not preying on each other like jackals. We will help you, and we ask the same of you in return."
Of course the wealthy human nobles would protect their own. Wasn't that exactly the kind of privilege they were trying to overcome?
If nothing else it was a reminder of how little she really knew about her companions. Well, she won't be deprived of her agency.
"We are most certainly not all in this together. Any objective view of the situation puts Taldor on the brink of civil war, and we are supposed to be aligned on the side of Empress Eutropia. I have no idea who these people are but you cannot be naive as to put full trust in your fellow nobles in this moment of chaos. Unless you can personally vouch for their credibility, I don't see how we can strike a partnership on faith. A contract of coin for services is a reliable bond that adheres to longstanding legal tradition.
"Furthermore, I deeply resent being referred to as a jackal. You will apologize immediately for that remark."
Julia notably cringes as Triphylla and Pelligrina have their argument. She has hoped that such divisions would be beyond them, especially after they just worked together to fend off the wall monsters, but she supposed that was wishful thinking. "Let's save the money talk later shall we? We still have to find a way out of here if we ever want to spend another coin again."
She turns to Malphene. "Mind watching the others while my compatriots and I keep hunting for an exit? You seem more than capable, if I do say so myself," she tells her with surgery smile.
With that said, Julia promptly starts with her search, first going to the odd circles on the floor. At first she thinks its some kind of magic circle but soon realizes its just chalk on the ground. "Hmm. Nothing here. Just chalk."
"They have told us who they are. If you wish I will vouch for them. I will not be party to your paranoia, or mental instability, or greed, whatever precisely this is. I will apologize for nothing."
"Then you really know nothing beyond vanity. When forced to look down on someone from your ivory tower you are confused. The hardscrabble life most of the residents of this rotting city live is beneath consideration. I have held no aspiration of reaching any level of parity among humans; I know too well how the rest of us are treated. And here you demonstrate that contempt openly. Had I previously assailed your character? No. We're on the same team, afterall. But that's an illusion, isn't it? You're all alone on team Pelligrina."
Valeria was snapped out of her praying when she heard Tripylla and Pelligrina start arguing. She felt the halfling had gone to far in trying to extort money from the survivors they had found in exchange for their safety but she could understand the reasoning as well since doing so would make their own chances of survival less certain. In hopes she could help end the fight before it got any worse she stepped forward and moved between the two.
Valeria looked first at Pelligrina and said, "I get why you are angry at Triphylla right now but I would point out she is not entirely wrong about the danger down here and the fact that aiding them will make it harder for us to get out alive. With that in mind it asking for compensation is not the worst thing in the world as compensation for the risks helping them will cause."
Valeria then turned and looked at Triphylla and continue, "Do you not think that extorting money from them, because that is what you are doing right now, is not an evil thing? They are in more danger here than we are and that is why they can be trusted. The simple fact of the matter is they need us to survive down here and so they don't dare stab us in the back until we are out. Because of that we know when we need to be wary and the threat of it is greatly reduced." Her look turned more severe and she added, "And what will you do with those who simply can't afford to pay that kind of money, will you leave them here to die?" She pointedly looked towards the halfling shoe shiner feeling confident he couldn't afford that sum of money.
Feeling she had made her point Valeria stepped back and said, "Now, why don't we all a moment to calm down. In fact I think it would be a good time to rest fora while and recover from what we've already been through unless we feel up to pushing on a bit more."
"Oh, I heard about the events at Kenabres. That must have been terrible..." Lope does not press the matters here and respects Valeria's silence. Instead he kind of laughs when the nobles start to appear "Ha! Who would have tell it would be that crowded in here"
"Let's all relax a bit here, it is clear today's events have put us all on edge." the Aldori adds with a conciliating tone "I agree we all will need to work together in order to have chances of getting out of this place" he stares at Malphene " Could you please help us find a way out?"
He then adds looking at the nobles "I think our friend here means coin would be appreciated to support our endeavors, as not everyone of us can eat out of our properties rent. Anyway I am sure anyone surviving this will pay back the favor when the time comes we also need help " Lope smiles and winks an eye to Tripylla "I know this might come as unfair to you but this is how we nobles usually trade up in favors rather than real coin. If you want to try be patient, I promise you it will pay larger in the long run than any petty coin we could scrape now putting them on edge "
He tries to make this sound as good as possible for everyone.
When having time, Lope will carefully study the scrolls.
" Fortunately it seems we have some healing scrolls here"
Triphylla follows Valeria's gaze to the other halfling. "He knows I didn't mean him. I'll remind you, extortion is illegal. Acting in one's employ as a guard and expecting proper compensation is most definitely not. Quite the opposite, really. So no, I find the idea that we should require coin for placing ourselves between these people and whatever unknown horrors lay ahead decidedly proper and not at all evil. And if they value the sanctity of fair trade they will happily agree to pay even now despite your collective rebuke."
It is Lope's typically cool demeanor that settles her temper. "The next noble that trades favors with a halfling would be the first. But I trust your instincts, friend." "Perhaps you're right, Lope. It may be a fair exchange for protection to be shown the way directly out of this madhouse. The spot has been put on you, Malphene. What say you?"
Pelligrina's eyes glaze over immediately from the dreariness of listening to the bitter halfling. She endures about a sentence and a half of the tirade before walking away to make better use of her time and attention.
She goes to the the group from the other room and greets them all in turn before beginning to give directions.
"I apologize for Tryphilla's outbursts. She is of the opinion that we 'elites' suffer from the moral deficiency of being willing to extend aid to those in need without shaking them down first. It is trying to have to hear her but we must hold together, numbers are our means to safety."
"We cannot be sure how long it will take us to find out way out of here, so we must gather any provisions we can find to take along. Scour through the rooms you were transported to carefully. Find anything that could be of use and collect it to bring along. We need food of course. Also water or alcohol, anything we can drink. Medical supplies and tinctures, or cloth suitable for binding wounds. If there are weapons, armor, or tools of any kind bring them as well. If any of you have experience or training with weapons, arm yourself."
"We should be prepared to travel as quickly as we can be so we can rest here where we can still count on safe rooms."
Pelligrina manages to overhear what Lope quietly says to Tryphilla in his attempt to reason with her.
Lope understands, at least in part. That is something thankfully.
Triphylla rolls her eyes. "Such 'elites' have been shaking down the rest of us time-eternal, so no, I do not think you suffer from any quality of morals. Your snobbery is boundless, but at least you're engaged for a change. Yes, set them to work. That is actually a good idea."
Cyrene stays well out of the conversation and simply watches all the back and forth with a rather mocking smile on her crimson lips before slipping away to join Julia.
"Well that seems to be going wonderfully" She comments to the bard. "And someone here is not a fan of straight lines!"
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The halfling Imistos Gulbend smiled when Triphylla spoke to him but made no comment.
"So what are your lives worth? I'd say one-thousand gold pieces, each. Now I'll understand if you can't pay in advance but we'll take the fine jewelry each of you wears as a deposit."
Lord Botole's eyebrows rose, "That's more or less highway robbery. Wait didn't I see you all talking to Martella? Boy she's let her standards down!"
Lady Urbaen's cheeks colored, she looked like she was about to swear at Triphylla before she primly turned to Malphene said primly, "Dame Trant I hear you're pretty handy yourself. That pipsqueak isn't getting a single copper of my money, but if you help us I'll make sure my family and Lord Botole's protect you now that you've been bereaved."
Malphene seemed to consider the situation, still weary of Cyrene she stood a bit taller as she replied, "Tempting... Tell you what Jowuan and I'll protect after you for half of what she's demanding."
The nobles stared debating among themselves with many angry looks sent in Triphylla's direction. Gulbend didn't join in the conversation but he smiled at Triphylla, clearly emphasizing with her talking points.
Pelligrina's intervention seemed to help a bit, but it wasn't easy to smooth over ruffled feathers. The subsequent argument between the two seemed to be swaying the noble trio in Malphene's favour.
"Now, why don't we all a moment to calm down."
Jowuan replied, "That that would be an excellent idea, fighting among ourselves aids nobody."
"I think our friend here means coin would be appreciated to support our endeavors..."
Lord Botole replied, "Yeah I've worked with mercenaries before on occasion..."
He put a lot of emphasis on the word mercenaries as if he'd tasted something nasty.
"The spot has been put on you, Malphene. What say you?"
Malphene eyed Triphylla distrustfully, "I don't care about the politics. If there's more undead or any of Stavian's killer's still lurking about, I think that we're all likely to die tonight. As it happens I do care about not dying and logic suggests sticking together but it's real hard to trust." She eyed Triphylla and Cyrene.
Pelligrina suggested more or less the same thing () and it seemed grudgingly like everyone agreed. Any further talk of money was quickly shot down, although Sir Plastion who had kept his own council so far suggested that, honest work would be rewarded.
The key you found earlier fit the secret door to the north's lock, which opened into a larger square room which was lined with pristine glass display cases along the walls and in the center of a once impressive display room. The displays along the walls contain various types of dusted and decayed armor from a dozen different historical eras, and have been labeled with faded and crumbling tags tied to each with twine. Tarnished and discolored weaponry fills the cases in the center of the room. Most of the weapons look useless but one case holds a finely crafted light crossbow whose inlaid brass fittings depicting Taldan military symbols still glint like new. A simple brass plaque inside the case labels it “Dignity’s Barb.”
"HA!" Triphylla bursts out laughing when Malphene makes the better offer. "Extortion! Moral deficiency! But here's Malphene Trant, the only honest one among you! HAHAHA!"
She jumps down and puts an arm around Mr. Gulbend. "Come with me good countryman. We'll leave these sharks to devour each other."
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In looking about the new room Pelligrina is drawn to the crossbow in its glass case. Upon reading the plaque she knows exactly what's she's looking at.
"This is quite a find! A true relic from ages past! This is Dignity's Barb, owned by General Gerefein of the Seventh Army of Exploration. In his most famous act, the general turned the tide of a prolonged and vicious battle with a canny Kellid warlord. Through the driving snow of a chaotic blizzard, General Gerefein shot practically blind, yet his bolt struck a lethal blow, dashing the warlord from his mount. As the Kellid soldiers watched their leader fall, they broke their charge, leaving General Gerefein the victor on that day."
"There was a reproduction of it in display along with the other artifacts in the Senate. Apparently it was considered lost to time, but now we have found it."
Pelligrina prods or helps as needed in getting useful gear collected and moved out of the second set of rooms that had sheltered the other survivors.
As Triphylla continues to rant on Amandine marks her as vindictive, lacking in self-control, and far too stubborn to adapt to the waters in which they will probably be swimming during any future tasks given to them by Lady Martella. Prelligrina doubts the jobs would involve gutter work, and the halfling will probably be a serious liability in any other area.
She's glad to be paired with Lope as she deems him the most trustworthy all around at this point in time. The others she's not yet completely sure about, while Triphylla is clearly a lost lost cause, extra baggage the rest of them will have to bear the weight of and clean up after.
Cyrene never loses her smile, clearly finding the whole situation between the arguing nobles to be quite amusing. Malphene's fear of her is even more amusing and she makes a point of slipping through the group until she's near the noblewoman and watching in amusement as Malphene tries to get away from her again.
Once Pellegrina gets stuck into some sort of crossbow Cyrene moves to corner Trant with a seductive gleam in her eyes.
"Why so shy, my lady?" She asks the shrinking dame. "I promise that I don't bite, unless you'd want me to..."
Lope soothes his mustache waiting for the initial chaos to settle, then when everyone seems more or less on line, he nods and follows into the northern square room.
"Well, in that case I guess General Gerefein would approve his infamous weapon is put to good use once again in helping the Taldan Empire, rather than accumulating dust in a place no one visits nowadays" the Aldori comments while carefully retrieving the crossbow from the case and casting detect magic to study if the legend retold by Pelligrina is supported by arcane power.
He profits to scan the rest of the room with the same spell.
Then offers the crossbow to the party "I know it feels kind of stealing, but we are going to need every bit of help we can gather to escape this troublesome situation, any of you without a weapon knows how to use this?"
Cyrene stays well out of the conversation and simply watches all the back and forth with a rather mocking smile on her crimson lips before slipping away to join Julia.
"Well that seems to be going wonderfully" She comments to the bard. "And someone here is not a fan of straight lines!"
Julia can't help but nod at Cyrene's clear meaning. "I had hoped that we'd all start getting along after fighting those things together, but I guess that's going to take more time."
Afterwards, once the group thankfully managed to move beyond Pelligrina and Triphylla's argument, Julia paired off with her Valeria as they entered a rather impressive looking display room. While the sights all around them caught Julia's eye her mind was largely focused on summoning the courage to finally have a real talk with her old friend.
"Um... I should have asked this earlier but... are you feeling better, Val? Really I mean. You were in a pretty bad way when we first got here and I was seriously worried," she says with obvious concern before swiftly adding. "Actually, I've been worried about you for quite a while now. I know this made not be the best time but do you think maybe you open up a bit more about what happened to you up there in the Worldwound?"
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Malphene looks confused when Triphylla describes her as being the only honest one there.
She shrunk back into herself when Cyrene approached
"Why so shy, my lady? I promise that I don't bite, unless you'd want me to..."
Her eyes seemed near fit to pop out as she stumbled a reply, "I err... I've heard so many wicked things. Father would never- Well father's dead."
Her cheeks color and she clams up.
The halfling servant Imistos seemed quite taken with Triphylla and he spoke to her in their language.
There are two rooms leading north from the display room, the western room turns out to be full of waxworks. At first when you stepped in it was as if there was a celebration frozen in time with gaudy nobles crowing the corners of this room, all dressed in the pretentious ostentatious fashions of several centuries ago. Tremendous wigs soar toward the ceiling, each covered in thick layers of dust. A larger gaggle fills the center of the chamber, each aristocrat presenting a jovial or mocking leer as it stares out blankly. One of the figures is sprawled on the floor; overlapping circles cut into its waxen chest and face.
Lady Urbaen gawked at the cloathing, "Just look at all this stuff, those corsets in particular look so uncomfortable. I'm glad they went out of style!"
[spoiler=Appraise DC 15]Most of the stuff here is junk but some of the jewelry and smaller clothing articles are valuable. All in all you managed to find 675g wort of things.
The eastern room leading north turns out to be a storage room lined with shelves that run from north to south. Glass windows—some with handles and others bearing locks—cover the front of the shelves. Dozens of objects line the shelves, resting on satin pillows behind the protective glass covers. A door exits from each of the four walls.
This chamber houses numerous antiquities, most claimed from lands conquered or visited by the Armies of Exploration—orc scarificators, Kellid war drums, a ceremonial Brevan scabbard—all broken and faded from time. The items stored include dwarven mining equipment, a stone-and-gem chunk from an elven aiudara gateway, the bone totem of an Isgeri shaman, and even an inert technological gadget from distant Numeria.
Lord Botole suggested, "I'm torn, the items here belong to the nation but I have a sinking feeling that with Stavian dead we're headed for a civil war." Eyeing Malphene he said, "Most of us voted for Eutropia, perhaps we should pass the more easily portable and valuable things on to her to raise troops?"
Malphene snorted and looked set to retort but stopped her self and looked thoughtful.
Within the shelves are assorted cultural trophies worth 750 gp, weighing 10 pounds. Along with these items is a single magical item, a figurine of a raven.