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Freeday, 19th of Goodmonth
Early Morning, Partly Cloudy, Warm, Humid

There is no answer from the three figures at the end of the tunnel.

In fact, they dont even seem to move when called out to. It is as if they are statues themselves, though they dont appear to be turned to stone.

Actions?

map: Gramble 14/16
Saracen 26/33 1/5 1st 1/2 2nd
Tlachtga 6/8 1/4 1st Torch: .7(40'r)
Cu AC:3 11/13
Lerrick 11/11 0/4 1st Torch:1.5(40'r)
Alordan 16/18
Maag 12/12
message on tiny decorative box

Saracen will sheath his sword and grab his rope from his pack. I will close my eyes and move towards them. If you can direct me I will walk to the nearest figure and tie a rope around them, then walk back. Once here we can pull them away from whatever they are staring at. How does that sound? If one of you has a spare rope, can you tie it around my waist so that if anything happens you can pull me back?

Oops!!! My bad! Andron did save.

As Saracen speaks up again, the priest of Rao slowly turns around to address the voices behind him. He looks unsure about what has just happened to him. Cresty and the other man do not move.

Sorry bout that one Q! We can just pick it up here.

Alordan will unpack his rope and tie around Saracen quickly. "Maybe you need to forcibly pull them back to break the spell?!? This can't be good...."

Andronichishche faintly hears a voice, rough, raspy, yet familiar. He attempts to ignore it as he continues to stare into the inky abyss. I almost have it ... it's at the edge of my mind ... the answer ... to life, the universe, everything! Again he hears another familiar voice. This one much louder and annoyingly intrusive. Suddenly, a brief flash of recognition slowly blossoms from deep within his reverie. Saracen, Maag?

He slowly turns about, confused, uncertain how long he was staring into the pit. Minutes, hours, days? All seemed equally plausible answers as he had no recollection or awareness of time. His confusion is quickly replaced by a feeling of frustration and anger. He almost had the answer! His eyes finish focusing, and after seeing the concerned and alarmed expressions of his companions does he finally remember what happened here. Whenever it happened ...

Andron thrusts out his arms with palms open wide when he deduces Saracen's intentions. "Stay back! Don't come any closer!" Without turning around he reaches back with his hands to locate Sir Crestbrook and attempts to shield his eyes from the impenetrable void. "Sir Crestbrook! You must close your eyes! Cora needs your help!" If this procedure elicits a response he'll try the same with Carucenus, but this time mentioning Talkhor's name.

Tlachtga

Tlachtga will keep Cu back and take an end of the rope. "Do we need to pull them away from whatever has them frozen?" she directs to Andronichishche.

Andronichishche pauses in his desperate plan to help free the minds of Crestbrook and Carucenus. He ponders Tlachtga's query, unsure himself. "That may be necessary, although I don't know how they would react to it. There is a ... black void ... impossibly black ... in the floor behind me. The merest glance is enough to imprison the mind!"

Quonundrum wrote:Andronichishche "Sir Crestbrook! You must close your eyes! Cora needs your help!"

I am gr...what?...cora?...is that you...I'm...coming...I'm coming. Turing slowly he see a friendly face. What?! Andron? Is that you. Wh what happened here? .

Andronichishche breathes a sigh of relief when Crestbrook regains his conscious awareness. He quickly points down the tunnel toward Saracen and the rest of their group. It was also at this moment he realized the Light spell cast on his dagger sheath was still active. He concluded therefore they were held in thrall for less than an hour. "Careful. Don't look back. We were mesmerized by the same black void on the floor as Carucenus ... although, fortunately, for far less time. Perhaps a few minutes at most." He tilts he head in the direction of Carucenus. "Go ahead and rejoin the others. I will help him snap out of the trance."

Thank you Andron. What a terrible fate to those who all who have fallen victim to this. I wish there was a way to destoy it one and for all. The paladin then moves towards the rest of the party, resisting the urge to turn around and look back at the black pit. Seeing Saracen up at the front of the group the paladin grabs the shoulder of the huge warrior priest, then releases. Thank you for coming back for us. I don't know what happen. I was ready to attempt to unscrew the cap to the scroll tube and then everything changed. I no longer had the pole in my hands and I was in encased in total darkness. Andron fell victim to the same fate. We moved down this corridor and ended up...here. He pauses for a second. Did someone ever discover what was in the tube?

Maag

Maag nods and grins as their comrades start moving and talking. Ah...der old 'virgin an' der dragon' trick. Works every time". He returns to watching the walls and the party's rear.

Saracen claps the handsome knight on the shoulder. You are very welcome. We couldn’t leave you. He nods and indicates his charred clothes and dreadlocks. The scroll went.BOOM! Good job it was only me! He grins that grim toothed smile.

Having an idea he waits for Andron and the stranger to return to the tunnel. Andron, can I have my enchanted vials back please. I am in need of their elixir.

When he does he opens up one and guzzles it down.

Days of alertness and healing : [1d4] = 3 : [1d4] = 4

Andronichishche helps Carucenus in his weakened state back to the group. He reaches into his backpack and returns the enchanted vials to Saracen. "My apologies, Brother Saracen, I forgot to return these in the confusion with Brutus." He looks over the recent burns suffered by Saracen and is visibly surprised at the result of the experiment. "It exploded? It didn't radiate of magic. I'm not aware of any mundane material or process capable of generating such an explosion ..." Surprise turns to consternation as he considers the implications of this news. Where did these items, and by extension, where did Brutus come from? Or perhaps ... when? Andron keeps these thoughts to himself, but is suspecting the black void behind them is only a small part of something much more significant and profound. He gestures to Carucenus now in preface to an introduction.
"We inadvertently fell into the same predicament with the void as Carucenus. Fortunately, you were able to find us quickly. His group arrived on the island nearly two months ago. With how starved and dehydrated he was though, he should not have been able to survive that long; without water, at least. I suspect time itself may be dilated in proximity to the void ... moves more slowly for those affected. I have never read of anything like it, though, but based on my personal experience time seemed to simply stop ..."

He indicates the unnaturally shaped walls of the tunnel now. "Brutus shaped this tunnel. Whether that void is something he stumbled upon or was trying to find is unknown. That he placed those statues as a warning is quite odd. Whom was it intended for?" Andron sighs heavily and wearily rubs his eyes with both hands. After a few moments he procures his map of the complex and lays it flat upon the floor. "That void may be where the wizard imprisoned Marqueesa? We're definitely not equipped to investigate it further at the moment, so that leaves us with the leaning statue. I suspect that scroll tube was not actually a scroll tube at all, but some kind of explosive device. Technology far beyond any I know of. Given Brutus's proclivity for traps, it's likely another of these is under the statue. Therefore, we should follow Gramble's earlier suggestion to use a rope ... a very long rope ... to pull it down."

He then turns to regard Carucenus and offers a sympathetic smile. "There is much to explain, my friend. While we proceed I can share with you what we've learned. Cora has ... or, had ... not been truthful with you. Mr. Maag?" He looks over his shoulder at the half-orc keeping watch. "Would you give Mr. Carucenus the drawing you made of the ... fighter ... we found?" To the group as a whole, "Let us proceed back to the dais chamber and discuss our options there."

Lerrick

The cleric lets out a sigh of relief now that the two, now three, adventurers where found. She takes her place the marching order and wonders allowed. Is there anything we can do to warn future explorers of this cave about the dangers of the pit?


Cresty

already posted

Back To Work
Freeday, 19th of Goodmonth
Early Morning, Partly Cloudy, Warm, Humid

Getting everyone together again, the party moves out of the area with the strange black void in the floor. Andron notices that only the statue chamber was widened and smooth. The rest of these tunnels, including the one containing the void, appear to be natural rock. Saracen takes back his precious elixir, drinking one down immediately. Healed 4

Once back in the smooth walled chamber with the minotaur statues warning you to stay away, Carucenus takes the time to introduce himself. He tells the others that Cora was acting very suspicious when they met her, but they figured it was from being cooped up in these weird caves all alone. She was very covetous of her amulet, touching it often and looking into it whenever she thought nobody was looking. She was kind, but there was definitely something off about her. She was adamant that the minotaur's name was Brutus, though.

When he sees Maag's drawing, he hangs his head. "Yes, that looks like Talkhor. He was turned to stone you say? Did you find any of the others?"

Andron suggests heading back to the tilted statue while Lerrick expresses a concern about future spelunkers entering this area.

Actions?

You can go ahead and read through this thread now if you like: viewtopic.php?f=446&t=9436

map: Gramble 14/16
Saracen 30/33 1/5 1st 1/2 2nd
Tlachtga 6/8 1/4 1st Torch: .5(40'r)
Cu AC:3 11/13
Lerrick 11/11 0/4 1st Torch:1.3(40'r)
Alordan 16/18
Maag 12/12
message on tiny decorative box

Andronichishche nods in agreement with Gramble's recount. "As Mr. Gramble so ... eloquently ... said, Cora did indeed lie to your group. I wasn't present when our group first encountered her, but the amulet she wore had a very evil influence upon her. Whether this was some type of possession or domination is unknown. She had projected an image only Mr. Alordan was able to see briefly, resembling a medusa. The amulet was destroyed, with great cost, as a dangerous evil mist was released that caused a death among the group. I suspect the spirit of a medusa was imprisoned within that amulet which was freed with the amulet's destruction."

He pauses briefly and gestures at Maag. "Mr. Maag discovered Cora's diary. She had told the group she was a priestess of Apep, but according to her diary actually a devotee of Athena. She arrived on the island about three months ago and fled from the minotaur when it attacked her. The amulet was not found on the mainland as she told your group. It was found in the altar in the antechamber of her lair. It apparently mentally called upon her to wear it and she was ultimately unable to resist …"

Andron now indicates the dais on his map in the entry chamber. "That dais actually summons a minotaur ... or, at least, we've never seen more than one together. Based on the numerous statues I suspect it may be the same every time. Forever resurrected as a permanent guardian. Do you recall seeing the message written upon the wall? We think it refers to some wizard that long ago imprisoned the medusa and created that magical dais."

He then refers to the large natural cavern in the northwest of the complex. "Mr. Gramble mentioned the creature we thought is named Brutus. We believe he wrote that message along with another that guided us to discovering a secret door leading to that cavern. He didn't overtly attack us, though, not initially. As if he wanted to keep us in that cavern until we found a box that contained three items. What looked like a scroll case, a vial of unknown magical dust, and a sealed coffer containing a strange liquid. It was at that point he attacked me, but as yet hasn't pursued us ..."

He rubs his chin briefly in thought and simply shrugs his shoulders. "We had thought that the creature's name is Brutus, but if it is the minotaur then that suggests the one who we call Brutus arrived after the wizard and somehow made contact with the medusa. The contents of the coffer I believe were used to transform Brutus, for lack of a better name, into a creature with similar abilities to that of a medusa. In effect, transform him to be more like her. The minotaur would be no match for such a being. As for the vial and the coffer, I think Brutus needed somebody else to retrieve them, but for what eventual purpose we still don't know. He hasn't accosted us since being in the cavern area."

Andron folds up his map and returns it to a pocket inside his long coat. His attention is suddenly captured by the walls of the cave and the tunnel they just came from. "Interesting. I had not noticed before. It's only this chamber that Brutus enlarged and shaped. Placing statues as a warning for others isn't normally an altruistic deed one would expect from an evil aligned monster …" He sighs again. "It's impossible to communicate with him in any event as he has acted quite insane in our previous encounters. I also agree with Sister Lerrick, although I'm not sure how we could deter access to this area without collapsing the tunnel itself. For now though it seems the only path yet to explore is the one blocked by the tilted statue west of the entrance."

Saracen is lost deep in thought.

You know I wouldn’t be surprised if the phase creature isn’t an amalgamation of the medusa and some other creature. Perhaps the wizard trapped her spirit in the Amulet, and fused her body with her lovers. Not that it will help is any.

Andronichishche silently stares at Saracen for several moments after the champion of Pholtus shares his hypothesis. The quiet air is then shattered by a sudden outburst from the normally measured cleric of Rao. "Brilliant!", exclaims Andron. He begins pacing the length of the small room as he expounds on his assessment. "That theory ties together all data points as we currently know them. Consider this. Assuming Brutus is indeed the name of the minotaur, the medusa was imprisoned in some way by the wizard, and Brutus was condemned to the dais as a permanent warden of this place, what happened to interrupt the equilibrium?"

He stabs a finger into the air for emphasis. "Brutus! Or the amalgamation we call Brutus for lack of another name. Consider also that Cora was seduced by the amulet. The minotaur, Brutus, may have fell sway to the medusa's charm in a similar way. And so, I expect the human who later discovered this place and was also enchanted. If the medusa lacks a physical form, trapped as she was in the amulet, she would need a host to inhabit. One who was willing to do anything to unite them in their love ... as one. Based on his current condition though, this process was prevented. Until that is, others arrived, like us. What then is our purpose, if we are to be pawns in this?"