"Oh, Jyra, your friends are coming... good, I was so hungry..."
His voice sounds like a burlap bag filled with broken glass banging on the side of a pregnant cow. In your minds you can feel distant tendrils of other thoughts.
"Gah! I can feel a pregnant cow in a burlap sack being banged against glass fragments in my mind! No wonder they all went mad in here!"
Jyra makes her will save.
She casts a spell, which sets her dragonmarks twitching and undulating until they tear free of her own flesh, forming a whip of life-like energy thrashing about like a dragon cougt by the tail.
for clarity: the 'key' is located at the intersection of II-Y+Z,21+22
The energy surrounding Brick coalesces into a ring of glowing eldritch symbols. The ring begins to spin, first on one axis, then on another, moving so fast as to create a semi-transparent sphere of brilliant positive energy around the warforged.
Brick raises his massive section of steel stock like a paladin's blade, and in a voice not his own, delivers an ultimatum.
"Evil shall not stand in the way of the voice of Irian. One foothold shall defeat the other, daughter of Xoriat. The powers of good are destined to overcome the forces of evil. It has been prophecied. Fight, and you will die. Stand down, and you will live. Join us, and you shall be rewarded. Those are the three choices. We pray that you choose wisely."
Beren accesses the situation and realizes he will need to get closer and higher for a good shot. The Shifter turns his head as Brick starts to speak. Where in all of Khyber did that come from?, he thinks to himself.
He moves swiftly up the stairs, making his ascent closer to the top. While he runs he speaks quietly to himself, "Keep your brains Beren, keep your brains."
I look askance at Brick "Always a surprise from that one. What next I wonder?"
Sari stares up at the strange ugly creature talking to Jyra and grits her teeth as it speaks. She draws her sword and long knife and starts running up the stairs two at a time.
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Valessa:
The ancient elf leads you back down the slave stairs, his tone a mix of two parts panic, three parts curiosity. "Come quickly," he whispers while leading you over to the wall just beyond the stairs.
He glances about, then making an odd gesture with his hands, an invisible doorway opens up, leading directly into the rocks. He drags you along, gently holding your wrist.
"Please, quickly, before the masters find you. You must tell me everything of how you have goten here. You did not come through the portal."
While he speaks, his hand reaches out, and he touches an odd metallic bug like construct clinging to the wall. Instantly the creature begins to move, taking flight, and then passing through the wall obviously by magic.
DM:
“No,” she says slowly, once inside the chamber. “No portal – I don’t think. I was standing on the stair, where you found me – but not when you found me I think. We were about to go into the chamber up there with the giants, only there weren’t any giants then, just Jyra – showing off as normal – and something … I only caught a glimpse, but I think it was what I was afraid of – brain eater, mind flayer, illithid!” Valessa takes a deep breath, calms herself, and continues. “Anyway, I turned back to the others, and caught a glimpse of something on the wall – where you found me – I could have sworn it was my family crest. Then there was a feeling like I was being turned inside out, and then my companions were gone and you were talking to me.”
She looks at the old elf, who seems to be waiting for more. “Well, that wasn’t the first strange thing. There was a picture of me on one of the walls, and Beren saw a double of me near – wait! Are you the old elf in the black room? The one that talked to Rokko? Er, the ugly goblin? You’d remember … You – he – said his name was, um, Kribas or something, the last time keeper. He’d remained behind to pass a task onto us. We needed to shut down a portal or we would disappear – or never be … or something. The key – to shut the portal - was a construct made of the tears of the three dragons – I think it was in the room with the mind flayer – or the giants. Um … that’s it I think. Oh, and you – he – told us to say 'I renew my pledge to the Masters of Time' in giant to open the doors. That’s it I think. Oh, and I’m from the future … probably. And I need to help my friends, and, um, exist.”
She takes another deep breath, then looks expectantly at the elf.
“Hee Hee Hee, I’m gonna get closer to the naked ladeeeee,” Rokko laughs for a moment and moves forward. Quietly, he says to himself in a more serious tone, “I hope those things don’t like Goblin brains.”
Ruuz looks away from Jyra as her dragonmark becomes a long strand of energy. With is crossbow in hand he runs up the stairs past Beren looking for cover.
I draw my crossbow and load it while reciting a short prayer for luck.
Guide our hands,
Guard our minds,
Luck protect us,
Fair Fortune guide us.
I aim my crossbow at the hovering squid-face and prepare to fire at it.
The mind flayer glances around the room, otherworldy disdain reflecting in the black orbs of his eyes. Suddenly he begins to rise up in the air slowly, until he is 'standing' within reach of the key. He begins reciting something...
Jyra watches calmly as Ruuz makes the long run up the ramp and onto the upper tier of the chamber. As he approaches within easy earshot she begins talking. "Thank the Host you've come, Professor. I need your help against that creature..."
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The elf looks at you, the corners of his eyes twitching, the elven equivalent to going flush. "That is to be my sons name, but my wife has not yet bore the child. Tell me more--"
He is interrupted as another elf enters the chamber. "Ah, good, Aeren, thank you for coming. It seems we have a visitor from beyond the Darkened Dreams. We must decide what to do with her."
The new arrival, a much younger elf, nods in acceptance. "Yes, Master."
Turning to Valessa, "So tell me traveler, from what time do you hail?"
Valessa looks at the elf sharply. “Well then … congratulations, you’re having a son. Make sure you tell him all of this – in fact, write it all down now As for when I’m from … I’m not sure we have a common point of reference. You lot haven’t rebelled against the giants yet, have you? Have the Quori invaded yet? Let’s see, the Age of Giants ended about forty thousand years ago from my point of reference … the Quori invasion was …”
Brick advances a few steps, bringing himself into range of the illithid, the glowing rings spinning faster and faster. Suddenly, a panel in his chest irises open, revealing a glowing disc of searing energy. A low throbbing sound begins to pulse in the background, becoming deeper and deeper, until finally, it releases itself in a burst of subsonic force so powerful as to be seen by the naked eye.
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Brick advances a few steps, bringing himself into range of the illithid, the glowing rings spinning faster and faster. Suddenly, a panel in his chest irises open, revealing a glowing disc of searing energy. A low throbbing sound begins to pulse in the background, becoming deeper and deeper, until finally, it releases itself in a burst of subsonic force so powerful as to be seen by the naked eye.
The tentacled beast shakes its head to clear the ringing, though it appears unstunned.
A gentle rain of gold and black crystals fall from the key.
Brick is standing near the foot of the central column.
Damn it, I will have to look up the mods now... It was 16 without looking anything up....Unfortunately Ruuz makes his save, despite tossing some penalties his way...
That is okay though, she can do it 5 times per day...
Beren continues moving up the steps while keeping the brain sucker in his side view. Reaching the top tier, the Shifter hears Merreck’s words and an intensity courses deep into his soul. Puffing out his chest and curving his fang-like teeth into a wicked smile, he pulls back his bow, shouts, “Hey Squid-Face, take your hands off that thing. Don’t you know that WE are here to save the world. Shouldn’t you be drowning in the Thunder Sea, anyhow? Here, let me help you die,” and lets the arrow fly.
"Naught but death awaits the Khyber-spawn!"
Sari watches as the Mind Flayer takes to the air and towards the key. "Crap, Crap, Crap" Sari says as she realizes running up was clearly the wrong way to run and she puts her long sword and knife away and pulls her shortbow out as she starts to run back down the stairs towards the Mind Flayer.
Sari is 25ft away from the Mind Flayer and she aims her arrrow at the beast adjusting for it as it floats around. She takes a deep breath and slowly exhales as she lets her arrow fly hoping that it will meet its mark.
using action point.
attack 20+2+5=27
action point 2
confirmed hit 15+5=20
damage 6
critical 2+3+4=9
Dragonmann:
About 48', he is not levitating much, and you had to get onto the first tier to be with range