Ari Zarromyr's page

Ari finds herself surprisingly concerned that her words may have been misconstrued. She doesn’t think so given how easily Rutilux rolls into his natural humour, though she knows herself that she will use jokes to deflect so she errs on the side of caution. ”No apology needed and no offence intended,” she says. ”Not something you can do anything about either, any more than I can hide my skin colour or pretend that I’m not smuggling a tail. Except for when I’m doing just that," she flashes the halfling a grin, "but you know what I mean. Besides, I always had the impression you were proud to be a halfling.”

She’s said her piece regarding the cloak so if the others are fine with Sasha having it, that’s fine with her too. With consensus reached on that and their next moves, Ari is ready to head retrace their steps back to the archive.

"Hard to argue with that," Ari agrees, looking at Kiley's latest message. "We could use some more information though, so I think Sasha's right and we should head back to the library for now. I'm not for trusting dragons or ghosts without good reason," she says, turning to Sasha. "But from our first interactions with the archivist, he's not shown himself to be a malign force, at least not yet. Regarding the king, we don't know whether we're getting a lucid figure who still looks out for his fellow dwarves or someone in the grip of madness. Or, for that matter, how coming back from the dead might have changed his personality. I'm not saying I want to invite him to dinner any time soon, but I don't really like the idea of him being the dragon's dinner either."

"As for the cloak, it's not like any of us are waddling round clad like oversized metal beetles the way you see some knightly orders. So I'm not sure how relevant that is. Assuming that I've understood our hairy-footed friend correctly, I think the thing that would make the biggest difference is the quickstep magic. If it can help Rutilux keep pace with the rest of us that's definitely helpful so I'd say maybe give it to him. It could be useful for Shaggar when scouting ahead too. Just my two coppers," she shrugs.

Satisfied that the cloaker is not for returning, Ari stashes her daggers back in their sheathes. "So I say first we go back to the archive, then we head to the armoury district. The palace is closed off to us unless we want to engage in a little light dragon slaying so we'll need to head elsewhere for wardstones. That was already a consideration and if we can snag ourselves some fabled dwarven metalwork. That might help move the odds just slightly more in our favour."

Suggest we move chat to Discord for next steps and who gets the cloak.

Me too!

Ari isn't used to being able to peer over other people's shoulders but she is able to do so with Kiley and watches her write. "Umbral?" she mouths. "Like... shadows? So does it exist in a real bodily form or is it as insubstantial as its designated dinner?" She's not necessarily sure she'll get an answer but Ari is at least happy to throw out the question.

"If you're all done mocking the hard working halfling.." The ill halfling says as he (presumably?) recovers "You might want to know this is a Cloak of the nightsky. Nice item, Protects the wearer from heat and cold if they sleep with it on, and I THINK even makes non-heavy armor bearable for slumber as well. It can act like a lodestone for direction once a day. I believe those who follow Selene gain additional benefits..."

Ari frowns, Rutilux's comment rightly taking some of the wind from her sails. "Yeah, fair enough. Take a sip of water if you can, maybe have a chew on something bland if you've got anything suitable in your rations." That's probably about as far as the tiefling's illness and hangover remedies go in the circumstances.

"Handy," she nods at the cloak as Rutilux explains his understanding of the garment's magic. "Not sure it's my style though, so probably better one of you wears it," she says generously. "That and the worshipping Selûne part."

"No, I-I-I didn't duel it," Kiley says, growing pale as she recalls what happened. "I-I-It wants us t-to find the k-king's g-g-ghost and bring it back so it can eat it."

The young woman looks far more worried about the ghost than the dragon.

The tiefling's frown deepens as Kiley's words cut to the heart of their conversation with the dragon. So that's why they escaped unscathed. "Eat it? Ari asks. Despite Kiley's quiet voice, she's sure she's heard correctly. It's more that she has questions about it. "How would it do that? Ghosts being, well, famously insubstantial. And why?" Some kind of increase in power, Ari surmises, something that she very much does not like the sound of, particularly for an already formidable foe.

"And let me guess, the negotiations were roughly along the lines of 'you do this for me and in return I won't kill you, at least for the moment'? Forgive the stupid questions but how are we going to catch a ghost? I'm assuming that it's unlikely to willingly submit to us. Not to mention the question of whether we should do this. Other than to avoid being eaten, which I will confess is a point in its favour at least."

Bluff: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Musing a second on Sasha’s question, Ari replies. ”Well yes, that would make sense I suppose.” She’d gone before the dragon had made its appearance, but that’s not to say that she couldn’t have felt the icy claws of fear from its proximity so she decides to roll with it. ”And sincerely I have no desire to be captured, killed or eaten, by a dragon, troglodytes or anything else. It’s fortuitous that you appeared when you did to rescue me, just as I was trying to work out how in the Nine Hells I was going to rescue you all when it turned out that nobody else was following. You’ll be relieved to know the irony of the situation was not lost on me,” she grins, eyes cast upward at the rapidly vanishing cloaker.

"Anyway, tell me what happened?" she says, curious. "Did Rutilux sell the trogs some prime real estate in the Fields of the Dead? Did Kiley duel a dragon?"

* * * * *

Shaggar *hrmphs* at the escaping creature then begins sorting through the paperwork, finding several interesting bits. "Look at these. The King and Queen were acting odd. The King spoke about the Moon watching... reminds me of what we felt above."

The hairs on Ari's arms stand up and she feels her whole body start to bristle at the memory. "That's some serious power if it's affecting things this deep. Light and shadows again - the eternal battle of the twins, right?" She looks to the worshippers of Selune for affirmation.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10 Trying to identify mirror image.

The cloaker seems to multiply and suddenly there are half a dozen of them as it sweeps out of the building and into the street. Ari is unsure how it has done that but she acknowledges it's a neat trick. As it hovers above them, her knives would need to be multiple times longer for her to be able to reach, so she unslings her bow and takes a shot into the middle of the cluster.

Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Damage: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0

Move, drawing as part of the action, attack.

Fort DC 15: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

For the second time, the cloaker unleashes some kind of mind-melting moan. It's painful and Ari bows her head forward, coughing, but she grits her teeth and readies herself to strike back.

I'd like to know if the cloaker has any special defences please.

Escape artist: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18 I'm not sure if that's a success or not. If it fails then I'm going to use my reroll for the day.
Escape artist reroll, using boon: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25 This feels like it's probably a success (I hope!) so writing the post accordingly. If not, please ignore and I'll remain where I am and grappled.

The knowledge that this cloaker is not as large as she'd been led to believe is of zero comfort to Ari as she struggles to escape from the creature which has tightly wrapped itself around her. She's unable to do a lot as it sinks its teeth painfully into her shoulder. She reaches out silently to her goddess, and in her struggle she also remembers the favour she had banked from Selûne. Far below the world, a long way from the moon she may be, but alone and helpless, now feels like a very good time to cash it in.

Contorting her body, Ari suddenly twists and wrenches herself free of the cloaker's embrace. She is surprised to see a large tiger bound into the room - it would appear her prayers had been answered after all - as she backpedals past Pheliks and pulls out the pair of daggers belted to her hip. Senses on high alert and breathing heavily, she glances towards the door, hoping that the rest of the team are close behind.

Escape artist check to escape the grapple, then move (and drawing weapons as a free action).

Will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Knowledge dungeoneering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Despite her caution and careful study, Ari is still taken off-guard when she gets up close and the black cloak turns out to be alive, or at least doing a passable impersonation of it. The fact that it has a maw suggests it is probably some kind of creature rather than an enchantment placed upon a garment and the intense humming reverberating through the room and her entire being causes her to emit an audible cry. Grasping for her blades, she leans back away from the cloak as it unfurls.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Despite the tense circumstances, the cloaks can't help but catch Ari's eye. The fact that a pair of them remain in good condition when the rest are visibly distressed seems worth a look. She warily approaches the cabinet to invstigate.

Yes, I agree! Ari's keeping watch for anybody on the street outside, whether that's the group or trogs or anything else. If nobody comes past then in due course her plan was to make her way back towards the archive and the deep gnomes.

Ari finds herself a room on an upper floor that meets her criteria. It’s also positioned to the front of the building, allowing her to observe movement on the streets below. As yet there has been no sign of pursuit, but neither does it appear that the rest of the group followed her lead.

A building she is about to pass piques Ari's interest - it looks fancy and, more importantly, large. She doesn't have the time that she would like to properly check it for defences but it's easy enough to enter and she slips inside. The interior seems to align with the exterior and she assumes it previously solved some kind of political function. Its purpose is secondary to what it can do for her, however, and she quickly scopes it out to find somewhere that offers both a good hiding place and a suitable escape route should that be necessary.

Being invisible, albeit for a brief period of time, Ari risks a glance over her shoulder as she exits the room. So far as she can tell the rest of the group has remained where they were and as yet there has been no pursuit. Certainly she is relieved not to feel the thud of an arrow between her shoulder blades.

She feels a momentary pang of something as Rutilux glibly covers for her. Perhaps if she prodded it a bit, or was prone to such emotions, she’d call it guilt. Now is the neither the time nor the place to consider such things, however.

Ari turns hard after exiting, wanting to be round a corner in the few seconds before she sees her hands reappear before her. She feels as much as hears the rumble of a deep voice reverberating through the chamber and the voices of her companions replying. Presumably this means nobody has been killed - yet. One way or another she’ll no doubt find out later. For now, the tiefling keeps moving speedily back the way they came, looking at the buildings for anywhere that suggests it could be a decent hiding place.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

"Oh, tluin!" Ari whispers as she recognises their welcome party for what it is. Taking a look at the legion of troglodytes arrayed before them, she makes a quick decision. She doesn't believe the words about being under their protection - obviously - and frankly it doesn't really matter. If they're lying, the group is still wildly outnumbered and unlikely to be able to fight their way out. And a guest unable to leave is still a prisoner however you dress it up.

Perhaps a wiser woman would think things through more thoroughly, keep how powder dry and see how things play out before playing her hand. But Ari has no interest in being captured and the time to act is now before they are completely surrounded. Her muscles twitch, cat-like and she works as quickly as she can through the words that will conceal her under Leira's cloak. She knows her vanishing act will wear off all too soon but she hopes that in the chaos she might just be able to make a run for it. Is it a fool's chance? Probably. What happens next? Now is not a time for plans, that can come later. Right now, it's time for action and she has just one thought in mind: get the hell away from here.

Using disappear SLA (effectively vanish), it will last for one round, and then after turning invisible, she'll move as far away as possible. So cast and then move.

Glossing over her own clumsy misstep by saying nothing, Ari responds to Shaggar’s question. ”Everything down here is a risk so it being an opportunity as well tips the scales that way for me. And as Sasha says, we’re better off knowing where they are so we can plan accordingly rather than wandering around blind.” With everyone seemingly in agreement, she adds, ”Unless anyone has any attachment to this particular cesspit of a camp, let’s get moving.”

Knowledge arcana: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

A girl waits years before she gets her hands on a magical dagger, thinks Ari, then three come along at once. She catches the new toy as Shaggar lobs it in her direction. Before inspecting it, she holds out her forefinger and lets the blade sit on it, testing the balance. Satisfied that the work is solid, she turns it over in her hand. Ari turns to the halfling. "Reckon it'll come in handy," she says. "Bit big for your standard mouser so I'd say it's probably a dragon's fang. And not a baby one either, judging by the length."

To Shaggar, she adds, "Tell you what, I'm feeling generous - if we find an axe made of anything that isn't a demon's shoulder-blade I'm happy to let you have that too."

Ari waves Shaggar over and points out the trail, hoping the gnoll with his experience of tracking will have some thoughts on the matter. "Not my area of expertise but they look pretty fresh to me. The question is, are they something to follow or something to avoid?" She indicates the filthy bedding, screwing up her face as she adds, "Best not to look too closely. I worked as a washerwoman for a couple of tendays once upon a time and I thought I'd seen most stains imaginable even in that short period. Turns out I was wrong."

Ari narrows her eyes. The fact the gnoll is no longer trying to murder Kiley is unquestionably a point in his favour. And in her understanding, magics of the mind were usually subtle workings and whatever had possessed Shaggar was very much a blunt instrument. He seems his normal self too so she’s inclined to take him at face value, at least as much as she ever takes anything thus.

At Sasha’s comment she holds her free hand up. ”Point taken. Though unless you can keep it up all day we’ve still got to choose our moments.”

She turns to Kiley, wondering how the other tiefling is going to react, especially given her sometimes nervous disposition. Once more she feels compelled to act to try and bolster the young woman’s confidence. Ari flips the blade in the air, letting it twirl a couple of times before catching it. ”Nice trick,” she says. ”You’d need a lizard about six inches long for me to decapitate it like that with one of these.” She waves the drawn dagger before once again stowing it in her belt.

Ari then gets to work giving the room a thorough going over so they can leave the scene of the crime before somebody catches them red-handed.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Ari snorts in amusement. "You did split them up, I suppose," she concedes. "And it's definitely easier to find a weak spot when your opponent is distracted by the large tiger to their rear." Briefly she considers scratching Pheliks behind the ears, before deciding both that it would be a little too familiar as a gesture and that she's still not absolutely positive the big cat isn't going to take a chunk out of her if given the opportunity.

Which brings her immediately back to the current situation and she flicks a blade back into her hand. "Shaggar," she asks a little hesitantly, "are you... ok?"

With Kiley neatly and impressively ending the fight just after Ari had dispatched her own foe, she turns to look at Rutilux. "Leira's left ear," she curses, "'Your chariot's extended warranty?' I've told better lies without moving my lips. You can spin a fine yarn, my friend, but what were you thinking with that one? Trying to baffle them into submission?"

Wiping down her daggers, she surveys the five fresh troglodyte corpses, before resheathing the pair of them. "Still, no harm done, I suppose. Though that one may beg to differ," Ari nods in the direction of the headless shaman.

Ari feels her blade cut troglodyte flesh and she's able to nimbly step aside from the clumsy retaliation. She keeps her feet moving, finally able to sandwich the trog between herself and Phelik's fearsome paws. Thrusting forward with her daggers, once, twice, she punches through any protection it has and can feel the blade sinking into something vital.

5 ft step and full attack.

Attack: 1d20 + 8 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 8 + 1 + 2 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2d8 ⇒ (4) + 6 + (4, 3) = 17
Miss chance, 21+ is good: 1d100 ⇒ 31
Attack: 1d20 + 6 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 1 + 2 = 18
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 2d8 ⇒ (2) + 3 + (6, 5) = 16
Miss chance, 21+ is good: 1d100 ⇒ 84

Realised I forgot the miss chance so here you go.

Miss chance attack 1, need 21+: 1d100 ⇒ 79
Miss chance attack 2, need 21+: 1d100 ⇒ 54

A troglodyte claw catches Ari despite her defensive stands but takes a gash on the forearm in return. On balance it's a reasonable trade, though the tiefling would prefer not to be simply trading blows. She wrinkles her nose, more at the lack of obvious weak spots in the trog's defences than the smell, which is fortunately much more imagined than sensed thanks to the ointment.

Making the best of the situation, she dances to the side, creating an opening for the group's main pair of spellcasters to target her opponent. If she doesn't take it down herself, anyway. Twirling the blade in her left hand, she stabs forward with the right before sending the other arm wide towards the creature's flank.

Attack: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 8 + 1 = 15
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Attack: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 6 + 1 = 25
Damage: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

5 ft step and full attack.

As Rutilux opens the door and throws in some light for good measure, Ari carefully pads into the room. The smoke is thick so she walks cautiously, one blade out in front of her to guard against attacks, the other ready to strike should the form of a troglodyte come into her orbit.

Attack: 1d20 + 10 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 10 - 4 + 1 = 26
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Confirm crit?: 1d20 + 10 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 10 - 4 + 1 = 11 Not this day.
Concealment (Miss on 20 or less): 1d100 ⇒ 21 Barely!

Move and attack, fighting defensively (+3 to AC).

"Tluin!" Ari curses to herself, her mind still apparently in the archive rather than concentrating on what her feet are doing. And that's why we're not trying to murder a whole camp in their sleep. She shakes her head, hair flying, as she tries to clear it and hurries to back up Rutilux. The others can still go through the other door and hopefully they can catch the troglodytes in a pincer, even if they know the group is coming.

Double move.

"Works for me," Ari agrees, pulling both blades and following the gnoll.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

”Probably depends how many there are. Five or six in a group we could probably take down pretty quickly, especially with spells to keep noise to a minimum, Ari nods at Sasha as she says the last bit. ”But a bigger number, say a couple of dozen, that could go badly wrong and leave us exposed and outnumbered without a way to ensure they’re staying asleep. Before we put them permanently to sleep, I mean,” she clarifies. ”Then again, it’s definitely a better option than trying to take on the whole lot of them in a pitched battle,” she shrugs.

”That’s not a terrible idea,” Ari muses. ”If we needed to fall back in a hurry the last thing we’d need is to end up fighting our way through to get back here.” She thinks of the number of beds at the troglodyte camp, and tries not to think about the smell. ”There are a lot of them though, so we can’t just go charging in and end up outnumbered.”

Ari snorts at Shaggar's blunt turn of phrase. "You don't say," she comments.

"That sounds promising," Ari replies to the archivist. "Having just taken an unwanted bath in lizard drool I'm hoping I might find something that affords some better protection. So long as it keeps me moving looking good and moving freely and doesn't make me stomp around like a dwarf. Can you imagine..." she drawls, drawing attention to her slim form and letting the others imagine the nimble tiefling clad from head to toe in heavy dwarven plate mail.

"Very nice indeed," she says, sidling over to Shaggar to get a look at the map. "Maybe we try the Anvil Quarter first then? We might find a forgemaster's pass stone or two while we're there as well - feel free to reuse your expression about babies and soft furnishings for that too," she says to Shaggar with a grin. "The High Temple and Noble Quarter seem like reasonable bets for pass stones that are nearby," she says, pointing at a couple of other points on the map. "I don't know that it matters if we go there before or after the palace. We've got ourselves some options, anyway."

"A rare gift," Ari says, accepting the necklace, "thank you." She peers at the glossy black stones, both the intact ones and the inert ones. Its magic sounds undeniably useful and she swears she can almost feel it hum with power. She doesn't don it, however; as much as she values her own skin, she reluctantly accepts that they should discus who wears it later.

"Do you know of anywhere else we could find supplies? An armoury, for instance?" she asks. "If there's one thing I know about dwarves it's that they take pride in their craft and their reputation for arms- and armour-smithing is known Realms-wide. Given it seems inevitable we're going to be facing beasties and zombies and Beshaba-knows what else then we'd do well to be as prepared as we can be."

Brazenthrone is a place of great danger now. It is no longer the safe stronghold it once was, and you should tread carefully outside of my archive’s walls. But you may always return to rest and recuperate in safety should you require a place to do so.”[/b]

"Tell us something we don't know," Ari mutters under her breath, though the offer of refuge is at least welcome. She presumes that either the archivist, the building, or both have some kind of defences that can be put to use if need arose, otherwise it wouldn't be a place of greater safety than anywhere else.

"These shadows," she asks, "Is there a way we can lay them to rest without engaging with them? I'm sure I speak for us all when I say that tangling with such creatures isn't something to relish. Troglodytes are one thing, the tortured remains of dead dwarves are something else entirely. And along with that, do you have any further knowledge of them or protections you can offer?"

Ari does indeed have some guesses about the firestar's nature and the archivist's answers seem to align with her own beliefs going in. She can be quite happy to ignore advice that she doesn't want to hear but the suggestion that the glowing creature was waiting for them, or at least her, and that they should follow it is something she's more than willing to take on board. Her hand slips to the hip above her hidden holy symbol.

With her questions answered to her satisfaction, she listens to the other answers. It seems to Ari that the undead creature has been alone with his own company for some time, given the lengthy responses he regales the party with, though she can't deny their usefulness. At the mention of the Pits of Justice her gaze darts over to Kiley. To her mind, they sound like the ideal place for tortured souls to return to some pale imitation of life. "Was the trading post at Black Lake run by the dwarves?" she asks. "Or was it more of a neutral ground?" Based on her knowledge of cities on the surface, anything that fell within a couple of days' ride would likely be within the protection of a city's patrols but perhaps things in the Underdark are different.

She screws her face up at the description of the plague. Whether divine or magical, it sounds horrible, not to mention powerful given that with the resources of an entire city to throw at it, its wealth and its magic and its might, Brazenthrone still fell. The one thing she assumes is probable about it is that it doesn't have a natural origin - Ari has never heard of a disease which left behind shadowed souls so it seems likely that some kind of fell magic was involved.

And there it is, she thinks as the archivist mentions the pass stones. It's convenient that what the librarian desires also fits with what the group needs to progress with their goals, though she can't fault the logic. Or the dangled reward, and, Ari assumes, the potential for further treasure and information in the palace. Equally, the tiefling doubts they will simply be able to stroll in. The dwarves may be no more - at least not any living ones - but the chances of there being no other protections or guardians strikes her as slim. She tosses her hair and looks to the others. To her mind they don't seem to have much choice in the matter.

Ari mentally lets out a low whistle. Rutilux has the right of it, now that is a good secret. I hope you appreciated that one, Mistshadow, she silently pays her respects to her patron.

She turns to Sasha. There is probably a time and a place for such things, and almost certainly they have more pressing matters, though neither of these things have necessarily ever stopped Ari from speaking up before.

Sense motive vs Kiley: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

Besides, she thinks, eyes darting to Kiley's shaking hands and the fear she appears to be trying to mask, perhaps the tone could do with a little lightening.

"Please tell me your given name was Princess Sugarsparkles," she says to Sasha, a mischievous grin on her face. The tiefling holds up a blue-skinned hand before the obvious rebuttal can be made. "Yes, I know that you literally now can't - that was the point of the exercise, after all. Just know that it will amuse me greatly to think so." The smile vanishes from her face as quickly had appeared. "In all seriousness though, that was quite something. Your reasons are your own to guard but that was no small thing and I respect that."

Ari returns her attention to the Curator, craning her head back to look up at the decidedly non-dwarf-sized archivist. She tries to get a read on the more hale but still clearly undead figure.

Sense motive vs archivist: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

What do we hope to learn? Lots of things, she thinks. So I hope Sasha's bought up a good amount of credit with that. She has plenty of questions that she's sure they all share - information about what happened to city and other things that may more directly affect, and ideally aid, their quest - but perhaps selfishly they aren't her top priority. Is it selfish if your concern is of your goddess? she wonders fleetingly, before shrugging. It's not going to change to her mind.

"Well met, Curator Velithar. Have you seen a ball of pale blue light withn?" she asks. "About this big -" she holds her hands out to show the rough size, "a creature like a will-o-the-wisp, sometimes called marshlights or witch's candles. We saw one and it seemed to be leading us here. I believe it to have been a divine manifestation."

To be sure, Ari has no shortage of memories that she wouldn't be upset to lose. A childhood of brutality at the Twin Towers, dozens of moments of prejudice, each a tiny brushstrokes on the canvas of her life. Losing a barely remembered comment - casual, callous - well, she's got plenty of those to spare. She doesn't consider herself a victim though, hasn't for a long time. Perhaps she's got some edges that could be softened. But people aren't wood to be endlessly turned, smoothed and shaped into functional forms.

Naturally she doesn't trust the archivist. The request sounds easy, perhaps too much so, though the tiefling is sceptical about hidden costs. At least they know that assistance is to be the other end of the bargain. Is this where you were leading us? Ari wonders, glancing around for a sign of the firestar. Looking at it from one angle, the archivist is essentially a repository of secrets. Her tail swishes slowly from side to side metronomically, the thick white fur on the tip standing on end as she stands alert.

Certainly she could see how tempting it could be to give away bad memories, once you've committed the first to give another, and another. At least if you seek escape in a bottle or the arms of an unwise bed companion the morning will bring a lesson in the form of a painful reminder. There's a wisdom there, of sorts, at least if you squint a bit. No such mementos here. How easy it would be to keep going in a bid to push away the pain. And if you give away too much of yourself, is the person that remains the same? That's a question that would keep sages busy for years, something that needs more than a moment's snap decision. So for now Ari waits, wanting to see if one of her companions will volunteer something.

Relieved that things have remained civil so far, Ari listens carefully, trying to parse the archivist's words. "So you're saying that you were previously the archivist but now you have... melded with the archive itself? Or you're now a physical manifestation of it?" she asks.

Knowledge religion: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9 Nope.

At the sound of the ancient voice, Ari's hands instinctively jump to the daggers at her hips. The fact that the undead creature - a dwarf almost certainly, and a librarian presumably - spoke rather than just launching an attack when it had the advantage of surprise keeps her twitchy fingers from pulling them, however.

Content to let Rutilux and Shaggar take the lead for the moment and not overwhelm the skeletal figure with too many questions, she stays silent and wary. Ari scans the room looking for further signs of movement or life.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

Wordlessly signalling her agreement, Ari waits till Shaggar is ready and then turns the key.

”You said the glowing ball is a sign. Do you believe it? If so, this is the right choice.” He opens the door and moves quietly inside.

"I do," Ari replies seriously. "I've had such visitations before, though very rarely. The last one brought me a boon - I think," she adds, "though it was not a bargain made without cost." As the gnoll acts decisively and slips through the door, Ari considers that ironically perhaps she needed a little more faith.

* * * * *

Shaggar leaves the ornate and locked door for Ari, their expert. He does look around the room, trying to imagine what the lives of the dwarves here were like. The paperwork catches his attention, suggesting that the strange disease they were fighting may have been the death of the city. ”They spent much coin on items of necromancy. Their need must have been great.”

"If by "great" you mean "desperate" then yeah, I agree," Ari says. "Me, I'd always rather bodies stayed hidden and very much dead."

Looking at the desk, Ari raps lightly on it, listening to the sound of the wood. "Someone was doing alright for themselves. I've not really seen anything this fancy outside of nobles' houses and important public buildings - town halls and the like." Taking her own advice, she whispers a prayer to Leira and explores the desk, hoping that it will reveal any secrets it may possess to her.

Casting guidance.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 7 + 1 = 20 Just!

Arcing her slender fingers into the back of the drawer, she bends them back into an angle that would be unnerving if anybody could actually see them working. She feels a small knot of wood and pressing it in, releases a small hidden drawer. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" she says to herself, looking pleased. She removes the contents and carefully spreads it out on an empty corner of the desk. Ari looks from the ornate brass key to the similar-looking lock on the door. "I'm guessing this will save us - by which I mean me - a job," she says, holding it up.

She starts flicking through the accounting book and lets out a quiet whistle. "With donations like this it's easy to see how they got to have a fancy desk. Whoever House Vael were, they were clearly keen on the archives judging by the amount of gold they funnelled its way."

Casting guidance again.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 7 + 1 = 27
DD: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15 In case of traps or the key not actually being for this lock.

Giving the main archive door a once over, Ari figures that there's no harm asking for a little more divine inspiration. "Shall we?" she asks, before trying the key.

Having decided that the wall is solid enough and not hiding anything obvious, Ari tiptoes over to Shaggar. "While I do think this might be important, I also don't like leaving those trogs behind us while we go wandering off. Besides, I don't think it's likely to lead us to an axe of ugly-son-of-a-b#%$% slaying, even if that would be nice. This place is huge and we don't know our way round it," she whispers. "We do know from that miserable excuse for a dorm that there are dozens of them. Taking them out in small groups is better than trying to fight the whole tribe - that probably only ends one way. But are we better staying quiet and not provoking fights we don't have to?

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

That's some proper feast and famine rolling.

Ari’s eyes widen as she takes in the will-o-the-wisp, for that is surely what it is. Last night was one she is unlikely to forget in a hurry and the similarity between the glowing orb ahead of them and her divine messenger is unmistakeable. She can’t help but flick a glance down at her hand but there’s no sign of movement, no noticeable recognition or awareness. Not that she was expecting anything but she does reach towards her new dagger, checking its solidity as if to prove that the whole thing wasn’t a figment of an overactive imagination.

”I think that’s a sign from Leira,” she whispers to Shaggar. Such creatures are often used to convey messages or to show favour. We should pay attention to it. Don’t expect anything to necessarily be straightforward where the Mother of Illusionists is concerned though,” she adds, a half-smile playing on her lips.

Bluff: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

The tiefling slinks over to the wall the ball of light disappeared through and starts to examine it.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Ari doesn't need to be told twice, almost bouncing on the balls of her padded feet as she follows along behind Shaggar. The smell is overpowering and if the circumstances were less dire she would probably make a show of mock retching. She remains silent, however, and is far from unhappy to hurry past. It's not really in keeping with the subtlety of her patron but once they have dealt with the trogs, the tiefling would be quite happy to set this whole room ablaze - from a safe distance, as fumigating the place would most likely be a nightmare.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Lovely, thinks Ari, taking in both the faded glory of the architecture and the impressive collection of bleached bones. She keeps an eye out for anything showing signs of life, though can't help but check that the skeletons are just that.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Freezing as the door moves even as she barely touches it, Ari waits for a change in the chatter but none is forthcoming. Assuming that she has not been heard, the tiefling sneaks a look through the gap and takes in a large hall set up for eating, drinking and making merry. In different circumstances, she can easily see how a fun night of revelry might lay ahead of them. As it stands, however, the handful of troglodytes sat huddled round a table and talking quietly do not look in a party mood.

Ari ducks back and inches over to Shaggar, stretching up on tiptoes so she can whisper directly into the gnoll's furry ear - once he's lowered his head, anyway. "Trogs," she confirms, then asks "Ambush?" She holds up five fingers and points at the hall to indicate the number, then at the potential hiding places either side of the feasting hall door, should they be able to lure the troglodytes out. She then moves out of the way and indicates that Shaggar can look for himself should he care to.

As Shaggar beckons Ari forward, the tiefling sighs inwardly but steps up and begins a silent inspection of the door and surrounding area.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
DD: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16

Briefly holding up a hand to acknowledge Shaggar's comment, Ari keeps pace with Kiley.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

"Appreciate it," Ari replies as Rutilux is able to conjure a little light magical scrubbing to remove the worst of the acidic remnants.

She then takes the wand, rolling it around in her hand to get a feel for it. Somewhat to her surprise, its magic seems easy to both understand and access, and she lightly touches it to her wounds. As they fade, she inspects them, before offering the curative device to Shaggar.

Ready to go again, she tries to keep to the shadows.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Ari takes her part in avenging the acid attack she caught full on and the combined weight of the group's attacks brings its life to an abrupt and bloody end. She coughs violently, once more glad of the magical silence, before wiping her daggers and resheathing them.

Swaying on her feet slightly, she moves carefully until she can hear own breath and knows she is outside the enchantment's effect. The tiefling prudently avoids touching her face or clothing where the spittle still clings. "A bath in the mould of the Friendly Arm is probably wishful thinking but if you've got a cleaning spell up your impeccably turned-out sleeves I'd appreciate it," she whispers to Rutilux. "Maybe I could bearhug a trog and wipe this stuff off on them but I'm not sure I'd come out of it smelling any better and they're not really my type," she quips, trying to make light of how hurt she is.

Then, somewhat grudgingly, "I could probably use a little patching up," she admits. "That stung like a m–" Quite what Ari was about to say is unclear as she begins to cough again, though you're as certain as you can be that it was not going to be pretty. She muffles the sound immediately, looking down at the saliva she's coated with in disgust.

I'd appreciate a quick prestidigitation to clean up and some healing please. Probably best to save spells and use the healstick?

Ref vs DC 15: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11 Ouch

Ari is simply too close to the lizard to be able to avoid the jet of spittle and she curses as the acid singes her skin. At least her cry of pain is muffled by the effects of Sasha's spell. She doesn't waste words, instead concentrating on acting but internally she promises it a world of pain. Assuming that Sahalya will do likewise, she shimmies along to keep pace with it and twirls and darts before thrusting both blades forward.

Attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2d8 ⇒ (1) + 6 + (4, 4) = 15
Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 2d8 ⇒ (2) + 3 + (3, 3) = 11

5 ft step and full attack

Ari can add her sneak attack dice, now that Sahalya is in the mix.

For this round? Rolling dice assuming you mean this, ignore if you don't.

Sneak attack: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7

With the lizard now awake - and angry about either being disturbed, the invaders on its turf, or a combination of the two - Ari squeezes close to the wall behind Shaggar in order to circle the creature and try and surround it. She darts forward and slashes at the giant reptile with her new blade.

Attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Move and attack. I'm assuming that I can move through the squares behind Shagger and avoid provoking (unless it has reach in which case it's irrelevant anyway).