"She wanted . . . everything!" sobs Illia. "How many entrants . . . what they could do . . . how far ahead I was . . .I don't know what she is, but she's evil!"
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Helgar smiles remembering.
"What a fascinating couple and they are paired together for power."
"The female, is a skilled torturer, notorious really even for a gylou. The fact that she paired up with a male is really interesting as she generally hates males on sight."
"At any rate we should get going and try not to use their names if we can help it. I would love to interview the two of them. It would make a lovely lesson for the extra-planar class I am teaching now."
He turns to the sobbing woman not insensitive to her pain and tries to console her.
"Not to worry. We will not let her hurt you again. I am sure that Flyn will put a few arrows straight into her if she gets too close and the rest of us are not without our own resources."
32 Diplomacy on a take 10 (including the planar penalty of -2).
Illia nods gratefully at Helgar's promise. It seems clear that however tough she was on the outside, her will has been broken by her time in this demiplane.
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Flyn nods at Helgar. ”Aye, a skilled torturer indeed…a single, human-sized creature did this…and not all of the blood here is fresh…this place has been used as a torture chamber for a long time, methinks…”
Looking to Ilia, he adds, ”…and aye, m’Lady, we will protect you…”
Turning to his friends, he queries, ”Where to next?”
As the Pathfinders move into the hallway so Helgar can check the opposite door for traps, Illia follows along behind. "You can't leave me here!" she whispers.
Illia nods and rushes over to the pack, outfitting herself with a shortsword, leather armor, a couple of wands.
When the door across the hall is opened, the Pathfinders see a large library. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves cover the walls of this dimly lit library, with shorter stacks creating small dividers in the room’s interior. A reading table sits empty and unused in the library’s center.
Bizarrely, the shelves are a mass of fluttering pages, and books rearrange themselves and fly across the room constantly! A half-crazed man is feverishly running back and forth, chasing the books.
"My spellbook!" the man shouts. "I can't leave until I get my spellbook! But the books keep moving! Help me find it!"
"It's magnificent! Bound in angel-skin leather with Terentius' Grimoire etched on the spine! Hurry! Maybe that's it!" The frantic man rushes to one shelf only to have the books fly into the air and land atop a higher one.
"Shut up! Find the book! Or are you the ones who have hidden it?" The man turns with crazed eyes and looks you all over with a paranoid gaze before returning to his search. Books flap through the air and constantly rearrange themselves. Some seem to fly just out Terentius' reach, as if mocking him.
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This man is clearly dangerous Quenly tells the pathfinders. A mage driven close to madness, perhaps beyond. If the Hellscape is built only to thwart Terentius, we may be able to assist him. If not, he is liable to think us his tormenters.
We have just arrived here, but as my colleague says we will try to help he tells the tortured wizard.
Quenly starts looking for the grimoire.
"Curse that Chyvvom! Why can't we find it?" Terentius glares at you. "Well! Are you helping or just getting in the way?!?!"
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Flyn shrugs. ”This man has been looking for at least a year…if he hasn’t found by now, I doubt we can…if this is a model of Hell, this seems like a never ending punishment to torment this fellow…perhaps we should move on? Mayhap we can better relieve his torment by finding and killing the devil responsible for it…”
Terentius continues racing around, looking more and more agitated. he shouts at you.
The Pathfinders continue the search, but have no luck. Suddenly, Terentius turns and shouts, spittle dripping down his chin: "You're helping them hide it from me! I'll force you to tell me where it is!" With arcane gestures and guttural words, the deranged man conjures a shimmering sphere around himself!
INITIATIVE (ROUND 1)
Helgar
Shel
Quenly
Flyn
Terentius
Bold may go!
Meanwhile the little dragon retreats to a safer location (it hopes).
Quenly's magic isn't strong enough to bring down Terentius' defense!
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I have referenced the dragon's blindsense on multiple occasions in Discussion, as well as in Gameplay, in addition to the alias' banner.
We might still end up in combat, but clearly there was ample opportunity to address the actual situation.
After an exciting and dramatic battle, Terentius is defeated! It turns out that invisible stalkers were tormenting him! But there’s no spellbook in the room!
With the distractions gone, Helgar does a thorough search of the room.
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Flyn shakes his head at the fallen Terrentius. ”What a waste…we should’ve just left the room, he was obviously agitated and borderline bats…his blood is on our hands…”
The Elf leaves the room and checks out the door across the hall…
…if he finds nothing hinkie about the door, when his companions are ready, he’ll open it…
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Helgar holds up a hand for a momentary pause and begins to identify the wizard's magical equipment.
"Hold on Flyn. He might have been crazy but he has some nice gear."
Blue Rod:
Purple Amulet:
Red Cloak:
Bronze Ring:
After examining the wizard's loot Helgar has a look for traps on the door across the hall.
39 Perception on a take 10 with planar penalty applied.
After Helgar and Flyn pronounce the door across the hall free of traps, they open it to reveal what must be a laboratory. The overpowering stench of potent alchemical and arcane reagants fills the room, the cluttered surfaces of which are piled high with half-full beakers, alembics, and retorts, each holding what appears to be a different bodily fluid.
Standing calmly at the center of the room is a glamorous and delicate human female.
"Ah, you must be the other competitors I heard about. Now, tell me, why should I let you live?"