D&D 5E [IC] THE CURSE OF AMBERSTAR

[Archon Basileus]

AANZU/KETHRA

"Three portals there are. Three were there always?"

"Not always, draconian..." - the eastern prisoner answers. "Once this was an entrance hall, leading to a vast complex of wonder and belief, of wisdom and courage... But a battle brought it to ruin, and the Teraphim left it in this poor state, as you can see."

"To the misty plateau we must go. Destroy the stone heart of our enemies, to weaken them."

"Paths above sound like the wisest choice, we can always come back here."

"If this is your choice..." - the southern prisoner remarks. "But it does sound like a storm outside... Unwise to return, I'd say, since the scorching winds will burn you."

"Remember..." - the western prisoner adds - "...that those who live upwards will not suffer the same fate. Vultures, all of them..."

"Down here, though..." - the eastern prisoner follows - "...you might find a shortcut, protection, and perhaps allies. After all, shouldn't we be grateful if you were able to free us?" - the prisoner pauses.

It is hard to define their gender or origin. It is even harder to distinguish them among themselves, so far gone and aged they are.

HARFIK/THULWAR/EVERYONE

"If the Teraphim went through this work to punish these three we should not release them without great thought to the consequences. I wonder if their crimes were against mortals or Teraphim?"

What do you mean by heinous crimes? What did you do?

"The Teraphim are far from comprehensible..." - the southern prisoner starts, in a sad voice, only to be cut by the western one. "... Or sane." - he adds. After a moment of silence, the eastern one speaks, confidently, "What my colleagues mean is that our crimes are distinct in nature, and yet it is the fear of our return that makes them imprison us like this." - the southern one continues. "What difference does it make to declare our crimes once more? Have we not suffered enough? Should we remain, our fate would be sealed. Never to rejoin mankind, never to find rest, we'd be stuck in here, having only ourselves and the thunderbreed for company. Is there any act under the skies deserving of such fate?" - he silences, and the western one begins once more. "For what is worth, one of us committed an unforgiving crime, the other one, a love crime, and the third one, a crime of honor. Still, those acts were just an excuse for our punishment. The worst of our crimes was to take arms against the Teraphim. So, you see, it is not the nature of our actions that dooms us to this putrid tomb, but the unmatched cruelty of the Teraphim. They could not have rebels running free, after all, eh?"

THULWAR

At closer inspection, Thulwar begins to understand the cruelty of such device. The bodies have been fastened to the doors in a way that will only allow them to be opened if the bodies are torn apart. Also, the lay lines feed some kind of seal, placed over the chest of each body and linked to veins and bones through wires and tubes. Odds are that the bodies are being fed constantly by a sustaining concoction, as well as a constant flux of energy. As for the entities, gods know how long they are down here, since their bodies are closer to undead than living.

Their powers are a topic to be meditated upon, on the other hand. It is said that, in the past, a few men uncovered a powerful ritual that allowed the migration of the soul to the body of a descendant at the moment of death. The discoveries were credited to a secretive group of noble mages that desperately tried to uncover the secret of immortality. This is all they could settle for, as far as it is known. As the legend goes, every time they reincarnated, they'd be a touch different then before, summing up their own past lives to the one that the descendant lived so far. The secrets were lost, though, since the lineages were accused of necromancy, as one might expect, and persecuted accordingly.

This would only complicate the matter of what they might do if freed...

ICOSA

"Combat in this room is likely to attract attention from these other creatures," Icosa notes, his voice lowered in volume. "There must be a way through. The Teraphim would not have built this system unless they could bypass it."

Icosa searches the area, looking for another way out. There used to be several other passages, but it seems that a battle has been fought in here, long ago. A main entrance has been obliterated by a cave-in right at the northern wall. two other passages seem to have been sealed out, one at northwest and the other at southeast. It is as if they were closed up with molten rocks, long ago. The path looks thick and solid.

Icosa sees another option, a simple one: despite the shallowness of the waters - they're puddled around the ruins - it seems that at least two distinct areas, with the greatest concentration of thunderbreed, house two underwater paths tha might be taken for exits. The thunderbreed are not likely to remain undisturbed, though, if the heroes attempt to go through...


[A sidenote: since it was the descent, Thulwar's 'accident' was accounted as a possible cause of disturbance. It agitates the thunderbreed lightly, but not enough to awaken them - I rolled against a percentage change of awakening them, after the failure. The same roll works for moving around. So, [MENTION=24380]Neurotic[/MENTION], if you want to move around without disturbind the creatures, you need to roll and succeed this time, hehe]
[MENTION=23298]industrygothica[/MENTION] [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] [MENTION=6855102]Greenmtn[/MENTION] [MENTION=5044]Charwoman Gene[/MENTION] [MENTION=6776182]JustinCase[/MENTION] [MENTION=8858]hafrogman[/MENTION] [MENTION=24380]Neurotic[/MENTION]

 

[Greenmtn]

Harfik Human Monk

"A crime of unforgiving, a crime of love, and a crime of honor? Half answers from nameless men asking us to end their punishments. Punishments wicked indeed and yet they do not beg nor offer a deal. This does not smell right."

Harfik speaks to his allies in a soft voice taking care to not disturb the strange glowing creatures.

 

[Neurotic]

Neurotic, if you want to move around without disturbing the creatures, you need to roll and succeed this time, hehe]

Stealth: 1D20+7 = [17]+7 = 24 very careful this time...

After the examination, Thulwar returns, his movements careful and measured, his speech low
"If we open the gates, we will tear the prisoners apart. I recall something about cabal of mages that sought immortality. And obtained it, of sorts, through rebirth. Only through eradication of the bloodline could one be killed. I wouldn't kill them without knowing more. But it is cruel punishment. What are these Teraphim? Some kind of devils? The name doesn't sound harsh enough to be from lower planes. We could wait out the storm, how long do they usually last? Are they longer over night or in daylight? How...ah, forget it. This is magical storm, right? So it can end in heartbeats or cover the whole surface."

 

[hafrogman]

Yttrian remains silent as the others debate the trio of door guardians, watching warily around the room, and careful not to disturb it's living inhabitants. He is still on edge from the meeting outside, and these three though cryptic in their own ways that he cannot quite place until Harfik speaks.

"I suspect their words are barely their own, if at all. The Teraphim for whatever reason, set this puzzle, making up their own rules for their games. If I were truly trapped in such a fashion, and wished to be destroyed so that I might be freed... well, I wouldn't say anything at all, I would merely rely on the practicality of others to cut through a forgotten corpse on their way to wherever. No, I expect these announcements, riddles and hints are all part of some magical compulsion laid upon them. Anything they say, it is because the Teraphim wanted or allowed them to say it."

 

[Neurotic]

"So, we're to release the honor-bound one or the love-stricken one? I doubt the answer is the criminal, unless these Teraphim really are monsters. A riddle?" Thulwar nods and sits down to think.

 

[industrygothica]

"Leave them for now." It was Lyllie's voice, seeming to rise from the darkness after having been quiet for so long while studying the surroundings. "If these creatures are alive at all, they are surely mad. But it's more likely a ruse set forth by our grim friend up top, set out to convince us of is dark foreshadowing. I say we find another way if we can. Use these doors as a last resort, lest we walk into the fiend's trap and afford him the opportunity to say 'I told you so.'"

OOC: Although I don't have any sort of Detect Undead spell, if even such a thing exists in 5e, one would think that, given Lyllie's choice of vocation, she'd be able to manage with some sort of observational check as to whether these things were "truly" alive, or simply being animated by some magical or alchemical means. Also, these thunderbreed... what type of creature are they? If they're considered a beast, Lyllie would like to attempt to communicate with them to get the skinny on this place, and maybe to get them to stand down so we can do what we do without hurting them. She is part tree-hugger, after all...

---

[B]AC:[/B] 16; [B]HP:[/B] [COLOR=#FF000]52[/COLOR]/52
[B]Initiative:[/B] +3
[B]Saves:[/B] INT +7, WIS +5
[B]Passive Perception:[/B] 15
[B]Languages:[/B] Common, Gnomish, Sylvan, Druidic
[B]Skills:[/B] Arcana +7, Investigation +7, Nature +7, Perception +5
[B]Stats:[/B] Str 8 (-1), Dex 14 (+2) , Con 14 (+2), Int 18 (+4), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 11 (+0)
[B]XP:[/B]14,075 / 23,000

-[B]Inspiration[/B]? [[COLOR=#FF0000]X[/COLOR]] Yes, [ ] No

[B]Spell Save DC:[/B] 13/15
[B]Spell Slots:[/B] 4, 4, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
[B]Slots Used:[/B] 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
[B]Spells Prepared:[/B] (4/8) 
[list]
[*]1st Level: 1st Level: Healing Word (D), Entangle (D), Faerie Fire (D), Speak with Animals (D), Ray of Sickness, Color Spray, 
Mage Armor, Witch Bolt, False Life
[*]2nd Level: Blindness/Deafness, Ray of Enfeeblement, Misty Step
[/list](D) Druid Spells modified with Wisdom. All others are Wizard spells modified with Intelligence.

[B]Rituals[/B]
Tenser's Floating Disk, Find Familiar, Identify, Gentle Repose

 

[Shayuri]

"There may be another way to proceed," Icosa stated, joining the others so he could speak quietly.

"The water conceals what could be a path into the mountain. However, we would very likely disturb these creatures in trying to use it."

 

[JustinCase]

Aanzu looks at the doorway figures, not trusting them.

"More words," he remarks, obviously not impressed.

Turning to Icosa and the pools the warforged refers to, the dragonborn continues, "The Icosa speaks true. Water leads to beyond. This one volunteers to scout; the spirit of the Great Blue Dragon cannot be harmed by tiny lightning."

OOC: Obviously not completely immune, Aanzu has resistance to lightning damage, which is what I expect these creatures to do. Although I am curious to see if Lyllie manages to make contact with the thunderbreeds, to maybe bargain for safe passage.

 

[Neurotic]

"A moment more if you please, prince." Thulwar takes what looks like hollow tip of a stalagmite, takes the point and points wider part toward the walls.

Ooc: want of secrets [MENTION=6855545]Archon Basileus[/MENTION], are there secret doors or otherwise hidden things? Use two charges if the room is bigger than 60'

 

[Archon Basileus]

EVERYONE

The three figures fall silent as they await for a decision. It is hard to tell what goes on through their minds, since their visages seem to have been long lost to a web of grayed wrinkles in parchment-like skins.

HARFIK/YTTRIAN

Half answers from nameless men asking us to end their punishments. Punishments wicked indeed and yet they do not beg nor offer a deal. This does not smell right."

"I suspect their words are barely their own, if at all. The Teraphim for whatever reason, set this puzzle, making up their own rules for their games. If I were truly trapped in such a fashion, and wished to be destroyed so that I might be freed... well, I wouldn't say anything at all, I would merely rely on the practicality of others to cut through a forgotten corpse on their way to wherever. No, I expect these announcements, riddles and hints are all part of some magical compulsion laid upon them. Anything they say, it is because the Teraphim wanted or allowed them to say it.

"Anything said and done here is their choice..." - the eastern voice says, surprisingly having heard the heroes' remarks at a distance. "Many have called us mad for confessing our crimes... But the truth is we could not agree on a better path than this. I wanted to come clean, for I could not have another be punished in their sick game, or even unleashing a bestial enemy upon the land once more. My southern companion did not care for our posture. He solely wanted to be free... As for the western prisoner" - he stops for a moment - "... he wanted to hide his crimes and lie about them. As time passed, I made his crimes clear, he lied about me, and the southern prisoner frowned on the results. After many arguments, we settled down and decided to be clear about it."

"It would avoid further debate" - the southern one took over - "...and since we are our only options for companionship, well... Why not?" - he halts as the western one begins. "We did try to remain silent, indeed. But it did not work, for one reason or another, and the ones that came before you decided to leave, taking our presence as a stern warning of the Teraphim against any intruders whatsoever."

The trio seems to have even more on hold, but falls silent as if in common accord.


LYLLIE

The gnome knows for a fact that the trio lives, despite their appearance. They still breathe, even though lightly, and Lyllie does not feel the unnatural hint of death upon the creatures.

As for the thunderbreed, Lyllie soon discovers that they are as bestial as any surface species. Without much effort, the gnome is able to make contact with them, simply listening to their humming, slumbering murmurs as they cross the hall. One of the closest creatures, a small specimen of light temperament, seems to be intrigued by the presence of the gnome. Agitating itself lightly, it approaches the stone, gliding and leaving a trail of thick, colorless mucus behind itself.

"...Have... you found... food?... Has it... fallen... again...? We'd... realize.... if it... had fallen... Wouldn't we?... Loosening flesh... from bones... food... rotting, delicious food...." - the small creature says, in a mix of ferocity and innocence.

THULWAR

As the metallurgist employs his wand, it pulls around, seeking out secret paths just as the needle of a compass seeks north. Indeed, quite precisely it remains still when it is pointing the old northern gate. Thulwar imagines at first that the path lies around it, but then he realizes a half concealed window, shut with carefully placed stones above the caved-in portal. The round path is small, but it should be enough to grant passage to the group, should the heroes choose to employ it.


AANZU

The dragon prince can see through the bodies of the thunderbreed and beyond the ripples in the water. The way is sinuous and a bit deeper than a careless glance would suggest. No marks whatsoever surround the passages, ut they appear to have been done by explosions, a long time ago. The way the floor sunk in suggests a lower floor at least as big as this one, probably even bigger. Air pockets are bound to exist, as well as clues to the true nature of this place - that is, if years of stale submersion haven't destroyed any valuable clues.
[MENTION=6776182]JustinCase[/MENTION] [MENTION=6855102]Greenmtn[/MENTION] [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] [MENTION=8858]hafrogman[/MENTION] [MENTION=5044]Charwoman Gene[/MENTION] [MENTION=23298]industrygothica[/MENTION] [MENTION=24380]Neurotic[/MENTION]