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Message: <blockquote data-quote="theredrobedwizard" data-source="post: 3207471" data-attributes="member: 21340">Chapter 1.2: The Room"We should go left," Joi said as the group approached a crossroads in the catacombs."Left?" Jaysen argued, "we must go right, for it goes downhill; and you know what that means.""A better chance of having the ceiling fall on us and crush us into flatness?" Mykel quipped."Course not, we're going with gravity, so it'll be less work, stupid," Jaysen replied."Hang on," Mika said as she held up her hand in kind of a 'stop moving and talking you dorks' way, "we should go straight.""Straight? But there's a brick wall there," Raczel replied, "I don't seem to remember packing any pickaxes or shovels.""No no, silly cleric," Mika laughed, "it's a false wall, see?"Mika pushed her hand against the wall, and after a few seconds, her hand slid right through the surface as though it were so much air."Well shut my mouth," Raczel said."That'd be a first," Jaysen said as he walked towards the wall.The group walked single file through the illusionary wall until they all stood inside a large chamber.  The smell was a horrible, stale, sterile smell; like that of week old bleach.  As they entered, torch sconses suddenly flared to life, bathing the room in an almost eerie purplish glow."This doesn't look ominous at all," Mykel stated sarcastically, "nope, doesn't look like a deathtrap by any means.""Fine, I'll check for traps," chimed the voice of his sister, "but nobody move until I've checked for sure.""That'll take like a *thousand* hours," Taelor whined.She shot him an angry look before she slowly paced around the room, checking for any signs of trip wires, pressure traps, or magical ouchie makers.  Finding the immediate area clean, she signaled for the group to move on."All clear kids," Mika replied happily."Are you sure, or is it 'all clear' like that room where the ceiling fell on us?" Jaysen asked.Mika let the comment brush off  her shoulder and she commenced the search for loot.  Joi didn't let the young 'treasure hunter' more than a few yards away from her at any given moment."I believe that this may be some sort of Umbragen ritual chamber," Joi said dryly as she picked up a shard of bone, "from the looks of it, the chamber hasn't been used in over 1000 years.""Well, lets hope that the trend continues," Taelor said, his eyes scouring the room for any traps that Mika might have missed.Meanwhile, Jaysen meandered around the edge of the room, admiring the workmanship on the stone statuary that adorned the walls.  Seemed very lifelike.A drip of water fell from the ceiling, finding its way to Joi's glasses.  She looked up and saw a small crack in the roof, the obvious source of the water.  A bit annoyed, she cleaned off her glasses and headed on down the chamber.The sound of stone grinding against stone filled the chamber briefly, followed by the sound of one man screaming."Somebody get me down from here," Jaysen yelped as he curled his fist into a ball and began to smash his attacker in the face.  He rained down blows upon his enemy, but it seemed to be a moot point.Mykel sprung towards Jaysen and his attacker, both axes at the ready.  They too began to cut at the attacking monstrosity, but seemed as equally ineffectual as Jaysen's fisticuffs.Joi looked inquisitively at the assailant for a moment before announcing, "It's a stone golem, adamantine weapons are much more effective than those normal ones.""Thanks for the heads up, Dr. Science, next time tell me something I don't know about; like vampires not liking the sun, or werewolves disliking silver," Jaysen yelled as he reached for his sword.  The golem's grip seemed relentless, not allowing Jaysen any movement."Who the crap guards an empty chamber with a stone golem," Taelor asked as he rushed forward."Not so much *a* stone golem," Raczel observed, "there appear to be 8 of them."The other statues grinded to life, advancing on the band of weary adventurers.  Joi knew that they were no match for such an encounter.  Plans began to formulate in her head, and she arrived at the most logical conclusion she could."RUN AWAY!" screamed the normally demure elf as she bolted for the doorway.  Startled, Mika and Raczel followed suit.  Mykel and Taelor stood on opposite sides of the golem that held Jaysen in its grasp.  Their weapons seemed utterly useless."Guys, I think we might have to let Randal out of his bag," Taelor said in an uncharacteristically even tone."Um, won't that *hurk* get me killed?" Jaysen yelled."Better you than me, chief," Mykel said."Myk, I've got a plan," Taelor said as he unslung his bag of holding, "Get out of here. If I don't make it back, punch that guy in the head," gesturing at Jaysen."Gotcha," Mykel said as he withdrew from the room, leaving only Jaysen and Taelor to deal with the approaching mob of golems.Taelor leapt up onto the golem that held Jaysen, his gauntlet glowing a brilliant red color. He raised his fist and began to punch the golem in it's carved granite teeth.  Suprizingly, the tactic seemed to work on two levels.  The golem let Jaysen go and small chips seemed to be falling from the golem's head."Open up the bag and run like Khyber's behind ya," Taelor yelled, "don't try to be the hero, it'll just get us both killed."Jaysen reluctantly opened up the bag of holding that his changeling friend had dropped, and a spiked metal hand emerged.  Jaysen ran for the doorway, passing through the illusiory wall to safety.The metal arm gave way to a metal head and torso, and within a few seconds, an eight foot tall metal man stood outside the bag.  His eyes glowed hotter than the core of a Meteor Swarm spell.  He strode forward, his fibrous innards growing bulkier, forcing his plates to open up ever so slightly.  The massive metal blades on his arms seemed to grow even larger as he charged the nearest golem.  With a resounding *ka-chunk* Randal shouldercharged the larger combatant, throwing its passenger to the floor.  Taelor landed on his side, and struggled to get up.  When his feet finally found the floor underneath him, he started a dead sprint for the door.Unluckily for Taelor, the golem noticed him.  With a massive swing of its arm, the stone colossus knocked the changeling across the room, headfirst into a wall.  The impact knocked the wind out of the artificer, and he lapsed into unconsciousness.-----------TRRW</blockquote>

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