Quest #44 "The Ethereal Job"

[OGRE MAGE]

Grumble shrugs at Alordan.

"I ain't sure. But it's not likely to be good."

Both gnomes look to the party to see if anyone wants to investigate deeper into the opening, in front of them.

[sastaz]

Amun cannot let go of the idea that she has found a way in.

"What shape? Don't threaten it and maybe it will leave us alone. I am very close to opening this trapdoor, just let me...."

She tries frantically to get the trapdoor open. She will use the "The Knife" knife to try to pry it open.

"Come on friend ghost, don't fail me now!" she whispers to the knife (The Knife).

Another percentile if needed: [1d100]=61

[gurusql]

Torbath

Torbath will quietly give up his attempt to penetrate the shield for now and move with the group.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche


"Let us illuminate the situation, see what is waiting for us inside." Casts clerical Light inside the dark opening.

[Jernau35]

Maag

Maag slips his new shortbow off his shoulder, grinning at the thought of being able use it so soon.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Ethereal Job
The Rock

Despite the warning from the gnomes, Amun seems almost obsessed with opening the trap door she just found. Pulling out The Knife, she feels the little gnomes presence more than ever, nearly goading her into prying the suddenly appearing door open. When she sticks the blade in the seem, it pops open almost effortlessly, revealing a tunnel underneath leading off in two different directions. Taking a closer look inside, the tunnel appears to be no bigger than a tight crawl space to the human.

Clearly a Door.jpg (8.89 KiB) Viewed 4810 times

All of the other explorers regroup at the natural opening Feanol discovered, both gnomes excitedly inspecting this entrance for the first time.

Te opening.jpg (24.63 KiB) Viewed 4810 times

It's difficult to tell what's moving around beyond the dark opening, until Aliendron illuminates the entrance with magical light.

The spell seems to function normally, shedding enough light inside to reveal a formerly unseen obstacle stretched tightly across the opening. This blockage is positioned just a few feet inside the cave mouth, and appears to seal off the entrance completely. Walking up for a closer look, the seal appears to be a translucent skin-like material, soft to the touch, and as thin as the membrane of a common chicken's egg. It vibrates softly if touched, and feels slightly moist on your hand.

Peering through the curtain allows visions of at least 2 humanoid shaped figures milling about on the other side of the amber hued membrane. None of them show any reaction to seeing you or to seeing the light shining from the other side of the membrane. The gnomes look at each other with hope and uncertainty in their eyes, shrugging their tiny shoulders and awaiting a conclusion from the group.

Actions?

Alordan AC3 22/22
Torbath (M3) AC8 18/18 RM, CL, DM, 1st 2/2 2nd 1/1 (top of backpack/inside helmet) Comet AC:7 4/4]
Aliendron AC10 17/17 (CL4) 1st 4/5 2nd 4/4 (MU3) RM, CL, DM, 1st 2/2 2nd 1/1
Feanol (MU3) AC:10 14/14 RM, CL, DM 4/4 1st 2/2 2nd
Amun (F3) AC:2 33/33
Magg AC4 20/20
Theo AC:5 13/13 (Sword)

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche


An organic membrane, he thought to himself. Already suspicious that this rock is deliberately luring intelligent explorers to it, this new revelation makes him pause to consider whether it's a huge snail or clam like creature. The false doors simply traps to snare prey. Of course, this is still pure speculation, so he continues to keep these thoughts to himself, for now ...

"Perhaps a small slit in the membrane will yield a better view of the inhabitants?"

[gurusql]

Torbath

Torbath thinks about the barrier that he bounced off and wonders if this seems like the same barrier or a different one.

[sastaz]

Amun finally stands up and sees what the others are doing.

"Hey, I have one more opening here! The one more strange than the other. This one looks like someone tried to dig a tunnel beneath the whole thing."

She walks closer to the others.

"I'm beginning to think we're being tricked here. Entrances everywhere, I mean why?! None of this makes sense."

She turns to the gnomes.

"Gnomes! Why is this rock tricking us?! Is the whole thing some kind of trap? Who built it?"

She tries to keep track of the strange membrane's movement while waiting for the two crazy scientists to respond.

[ravenn4544]

Alordan thinks about all the crazy stuff they have seen over the past few weeks, maybe this is getting even weirder. "Maybe the whole thing is alive...?"

[Jernau35]

Maag

"Dat skin might be keepin' wotever dem fings are inside, not just keepin' us outside. Might not be a good idea to mess wiv it" Maag cautions.

He waits to see if the gnomes have any further information to add before selecting an entrance.

[Ahlmzhad]

Feanol

"Amun has a great thought there. What can you tell us about the creature or at least its nature that built or used this thing?" She says to the gnomes.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Ethereal Job
The Rock

Torbath pokes at the flexible membrane, certain this is not the same blockage that kept him from slipping deeper into the stone earlier. He can see where the sticky film is adhered to the wall, looking more like a natural substance than something magic or manufactured.

The gnomes are so preoccupied with investigating this dark tunnel they barely hear Amun's question. "Oh, um, yes. We don't believe this rock is necessarily alive, though there is clearly some kind of strange magic at work here. The weirdness of this place is what's kept us coming back time after time. Syd was convinced there was something more to this ancient place, and he was usually right about almost everything."

Both gnomes nod when Andron suggests cutting the membrane a little to see what they might find beyond, when a startling noise is suddenly heard from the other side. It sounds like a woman shrieking and a man yelling or complaining, as if they were being held against their will.

Actions?

Alordan AC3 22/22
Torbath (M3) AC8 18/18 RM, CL, DM, 1st 2/2 2nd 1/1 (top of backpack/inside helmet) Comet AC:7 4/4]
Aliendron AC10 17/17 (CL4) 1st 4/5 2nd 4/4 (MU3) RM, CL, DM, 1st 2/2 2nd 1/1
Feanol (MU3) AC:10 14/14 RM, CL, DM 4/4 1st 2/2 2nd
Amun (F3) AC:2 33/33
Magg AC4 20/20
Theo AC:5 13/13 (Sword)

[sastaz]

Amun turns her attention towards the screaming voices and addresses her comrades.

"Or are they warning us not to cut it? I can't make out if they screaming at us to cut or not to. They did start when you cut it though. Maybe back off and see if they continue screaming or if they stop? Maybe their life depends on that membrane being intact? Stranger things have happened in this place."

[OGRE MAGE]

For the record, the membrane hasn't been cut yet. You can hear the voices coming from beyond it.

[sastaz]

To clarify, what Amun meant (which might not have been very obvious) is that she suspects that the gesturing and poking on the membrane could have made the humanoids inside think we plan to cut or break it to come through, which might be causing their panic (?)

[ravenn4544]

Alordan offers his constructive help, "Cut it or don't cut it. Whichever one we decide is going to be the wrong one, you all know. So let's get on with it..."

[Jernau35]

Maag

Maag laughs at Alordan's comment. "You 'ave got dat right mate!"

He steps up to the side of the cave and cuts a small hole with his magical dagger. If nothing dangerous happens immediately, he takes a peek through the hole.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche


Leaning in, he takes a much closer look at the material consisting of the membrane, as its form and function appear very similar to the "helmets" they are wearing. He asks the gnomes, "Speaking of Syd, was he the one who invented our helmets?"

[jemmus]

Theo stands not far from the membrane, glowing bastard sword resting on his shoulder. He smiles at Alordan's comment. "Whichever one we decide is going to be the wrong one, you all know." He commits it to memory to throw out later. It's bound to come up.