I am away from the internet from later tonight until Wednesday or so (8/12). Let Tessa tag along if things ramp back up to speed while I'm gone- she'll stick to healing via wand unless things get much worse.
OOC: I'll wrap this battle up as we are just in clean up.
Ashlyn and Avron, working together, manage to disable the thing of chains while Marot rushes downstairs to find his brothers. Khensu, traveling up them, soon hears the faint words of the warlock, and they meet somewhere halfway between the first (Chapel) and second (library) floors. Apparently, the trap lifted the three high above where they had been before (third floor).
Just as Jarrith is about to finish off the beast, a weakned blow from it indicates it had risen again. Regeneration! Of course! Kill it with fire! Her words had a bit of madness to it, but with Jarrith knocking the beast out and Ravikia applying fire to it, it was soon dead, the hall quite once more.
__________________ stonegod -- LEB judge and spawn of Khyber since 2005 (Blog)
As the chain creature falls, Ashlyn speaks to Avron, "I don't like leaving the portrait there, it's too dangerous. If you can keep an eye out for the others, I'll deal with the portrait."
She then steps back onto the landing and taking a two handed grip on her blade she begins to destroy the portrait, making sure that it remains face down on the floor while she does so. (If it seems to take no damage from the sunsword (1d10+4), Ashlyn will try her silver dagger (1d4+3), and if that fails, will then bash it with her shield (1d4+2). If none of the above damage the portrait, then she'll pause and rethink.)
Whilst Ashlyn occupies herself with the portrait, her raven will maintain a watch.
Sir Khensu nods at Marot. "Aye. Lets. When you, Lady Ashlyn, and Avron are all set, we should then return downstairs to make sure the other have finished off the invisible beast that was released when you were sent hurtling upwards."
The shifter follows Marot up the stairs to find the others.
"Stupid thing..." Jarrith mumbles, and doing his best to avoid kicking the body like an angry twelve-year-old. "Well let's see if we can get this thing moved against a wall or something, so it isn't in our way in case we have to come rushing down this hallway again, eh?" He slides his rapiers into his scabbards, and then reaches down in an attempt to find the invisible thing at his feet.
After seeing that Avron and Ashlyn have defeated the chain monster, Marot runs back down the stairs to the rest of the group, and to see this invisible creature.
OOC
Head downstairs and get a view of the invisible creature -- using See the Unseen -- he does his best to describe its appearance to the others.
The scholar does as The Lady says, that is until Marot's exclamation of an invisible creature. The crazed man shuffles after the warlock after a moment, his old task forgotten. As the warlock speaks aloud it's appearance, Avron searches his cloudy memory for it's identity.
The group manages to reconnect. After a moment, it is determined that the trap lead Ashlyn and the others to the room above the library level they had explored previously. Quite a trap, indeed.
With Marot's eyes and Avron's brain, it is soon determined that the large corpse was a war stalker. Rare, rare! Weapons of war from the time of Giants or beyond. Only seventy there were, all invisible troll-like creatures bound to the will of another. Fascinating!
Bound to the will of another... perhaps that explains its strange behavior?
Marot tells his brother of the safe, and with a shrug, he heads back up the stair. He finds the lady paladin fishing of the destruction of a painting. Smiling, the Stalker takes up the safe. After a while, he manages to open it, finding a delicate lattice of jewels in a baroque design—and ancient necklace of some value. [Its pricey, let me tell you. At least a few thousand gp by Jarrith's estimate]
Ravika breathes a sigh of relief with the invisible monster dead and the group still breathing. She will wait while the others decide on the next move, she hardly bats an eye at the expensive necklace, material goods having no hold over her.
As he swings the door of the safe open, then reaches in to grab the necklace, Jarrith looks back at Marot and gives him a lopsided grin. "A safe hidden behind a picture. Interesting. In a few hundred years this might be cliched, but right now it's kind of impressive." The stalker chuckles to himself.
As he pulls the bejeweled piece out of the safe, Jarrith's eyes widen and he lets out a low, slow whistle. "Now, speaking of impressive..." He turns back to the group. "Anyone want a pendant? Nice little trinket?"
"I can expect animated portraits to be all the rage this fall in Sharn..." Marot says as he rolls his eyes,"With luck, we can be out ahead of the curve and perhaps turn a small profit from the high-society types."
Jarrith notes the safe is quite old, but notices something odd about the ruins of the portrait out of the corner of his eyes.
Picking up the pieces, he mutters, Son of a... before showing the it to the others.
On the back of the frame is clear as day: The mark of House Kundarak.
OOC: Let me know if you are going to check out the door on the portrait level, the stair up on the portrait level, or the door in the basement once you decide.
__________________ stonegod -- LEB judge and spawn of Khyber since 2005 (Blog)
Once she finishes dismantling the malignant magical portrait, Ashlyn, noticing that several members of the group are in need of healing, once again reaches deep within herself and waves of healing energy emanate from her and wash over the group.
As Jarrith opens the safe and whistles at what he finds within, Ashlyn looks at the ancient necklace with obvious appreciation for its beauty and craftsmanship, and with a touch of nostalgia she responds "Not for me I'm afraid, although it is a truly exquisite piece."
After a few moments, and noticing that no-one else seems to have any particular interest in the piece, Ashlyn gingerly takes the necklace from Jarrith and places it in the haversack with the rest of the group gear.
A few moments later when Jarrith makes his observations regarding the frame of the portrait, Ashlyn frowns "Kundarak, ... what business does the banking guild have with the creatures that reside here? Perhaps it is nothing to concern us, but I like this not!"
"Kundarak, ... what business does the banking guild have with the creatures that reside here? Perhaps it is nothing to concern us, but I like this not!"
Jarrith raises an eyebrow. "Curious. You don't suppose this safe is connected through Kundarak's arcane vault system, do you? Although I'm sure it would be useful for the Lord to access whatever was in here from any House banking facility outside these lands... it would have cost a pretty penny for that to have been set up." He glances at the necklace as Ashlyn puts it in the haversack. "I hope that someone isn't going to come looking for that thing from the outside world at some point. They'll gt a bit of a shock when they find their connecting safe empty."
The Stalker hitches his belt and prepares to return downstairs to continue in the direction they were going.
If the Castle is as old as it seems, House Kundarak had not formed as a major force when it was built. The safe may be old, but the picture is recent. Very odd considering the place's supposed isolation.
Jarrith, Marot, & Ashlyn
You remember something Ireena said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ireena
"The only other strangers were the dwarf more than two month's hence, and those unseemly gentlemen nearly a year ago. Father had words with them all, and I have not seen any of them since."
__________________ stonegod -- LEB judge and spawn of Khyber since 2005 (Blog)
Jarrith raises an eyebrow. "Curious. You don't suppose this safe is connected through Kundarak's arcane vault system, do you? Although I'm sure it would be useful for the Lord to access whatever was in here from any House banking facility outside these lands... it would have cost a pretty penny for that to have been set up." He glances at the necklace as Ashlyn puts it in the haversack. "I hope that someone isn't going to come looking for that thing from the outside world at some point. They'll gt a bit of a shock when they find their connecting safe empty."
"I doubt that this safe was connected to Kundarak's arcane vaults. For one thing this safe had but a simple lock, whereas Kundarak's vaults require a special word of access. I've used them in the past and they are very reliable, albeit a bit on the expensive side."
"No, what I was referring to was the portrait insofar as whether it was provided by House Kundarak as a security device. The thing is, I had thought that this place had not had contact with the outside world for some significant period of time. Perhaps the dwarf that Irene mentioned earlier was of House Kundarak?"
Ashlyn is quiet for a moment before she asks a question aimed at Jarrith, Khensu and Marot, "How well do you trust your employer and those backing the expedition? I must admit that I have my doubts about the wisdom of providing Mateush with what he seeks. He does not inspire my trust. And this matter of House Kundarak's prior knowledge of this place ... "
Ashlyn's voice trails off ...
"I can only wonder if they had something to do with that trap as well- the dwarves have quite a reputation, and that was a very impressive set-up," Tessa mused as they headed back down the stairs. "Hopefully that means we're on the right track..."
Ladreth stands by while Lady Ashlyn's healing magicks wash over his body in a welcome respite from the incessant pain sourced from his invisible foe. The talk of different houses and stuff didn't make too much sense to the half-orc, the mistrust of his employer was a sensitive subject, however. Ladreth, thankfully, didn't ask questions, he left that to better, more capable people.
The one thing the brute silently hoped for was more tangible opponents, as he was ill-equipped and scared of the psychological torture that seemed eminent with a place this ominous. Yet still the warrior remained stoic and strong throughout, ever alert for danger.
After inspecting the safe, Avron nods enthusiatically. "No the safe is too old for the Kundarak's. It would have been made before the house existed formally. The painting though..." The scholar trails off, scratching his forearm where the aberrant mark lay. He then yanks hard at his stubbly beard, and pulls out a dagger, trimming it, and manages to cut himself. A thin line of blood is seen dripping down his jawline to his chin. He doesn't seem to care.
![stonegod's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Ch. III [IC]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/iconimages/playing-game/stonegods-expedition-castle-ravenloft-ch-iii-ic_ltr.gif)
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
