Six From Gate Pass - Chapter 3: Shelter From The Storm

[Gregor]

Kirio, the properties and functions of the glass bottle elude you.

You also don't know too much about the monolith, but you're sure its made from an alchemically-crafted material called Opalite, which is generally used as a focal component for magical beacons.

The prisoner doesn't flinch or even shift his gaze at your words. Its as if you're not even there. His glazed-over eyes look right through you in a blink-less stare.

Through the other door, you hear the muffled cries for help from a female voice.

 

[digimattic]

Arnir makes his way into the room "Should we heal this fellow up? See what he's got to say? I could detect his thoughts, but Mystra knows what a man in that state is thinking."

Arnir faces the monolith and casts detect magic on it as he attempts to discern its function.

 

[Gregor]

Arnir, the monolith radiates strong Abjuration magic and is a rather complex magical device. In short, it is a teleportation beacon linked to a series of immobilizing trap-like spells which trigger on a contingency. In detail, the stone operates as follows: any creature teleporting to or from any space within 10 miles of the stone is magically drawn here if that person attempts to teleport a distance more than half a mile. Massive objects cannot fit within the cell, and so travel to their destination normally. Once an object appears, the cell is filled with an alarm spell, a glyph of warding trap that casts silence, and a trap that sprays entangling goo like a tanglefoot bag.

 

[digimattic]

Arnir muses on the stone for a mere moment as he hears the muffled cry of the woman inside "A trap" he tells his party "For those who would try and teleport in and out of this place...though given the state of teleportation magic at the moment, I'm not sure this is a pressing concern of ours...Thoughts? I'm sure Bannock here could throw it in the lava."

 

[Gregor]

"There are simple prayers and spells that bestow protection from the elements, such as fire," muses Torrent, "which may be sufficient to protect against the effects of the broken torch ... perhaps if one is travelling for a very short distance? I can't be sure though as only a few of my prayers could protect me from pure fire for very long."

She says her last words while walking towards the other door, being drawn by the constant wails for help. She heaves the door open in haste and looks inside.

Within is a collection of blood-stained torture equipment: chairs with leather belt straps on the arms and legs, jagged and wicked looking tools, a brazier of blazing coals and cast iron tongs, etc. An elven women, dressed in bloody rags is strapped to one such chair. Her body is covered in small scars and her face and hair is filthy. Tears have drawn lines through the soot on her cheeks and she begs the party to release her from captivity.

 

[funkmamagoat]

Kirio follows Torrent and cannot help but grimace at the awful scene. He walks and and kneels by the elven woman and addresses her in elven in as gentle a tone as he can muster as he begins unstrapping her from the chair...

[SBLOCK="If you speak elven"]Rest easy, we will free and heal you.[/SBLOCK]

He then continues in common for the benefit of the others "Who are you? Do you know the other prisoner in the cells outside?"

 

[Gregor]

"My....my name is Faquaniel ... I don't know the other guy except he is the only other one left. I'm a scout for ... for Shahalesti. My master tried to teleport us out of Seaquen and back to our ships at sea. We ended up here, in cages." She pauses to catch her breath. "They killed him ... my master ... and others who also fell victim to some kind of trap they have here. That ... inquisitor has been torturing us ... and when not doing that ... he ... he passes me around for his men to use ... however they like." She shakes her wrists futilely against the leather straps. "Please, by the Jack of the Seelie Court, let me out of this horrible slice of the Abyss!"

 

[funkmamagoat]

"We will get you out, fear not, but we need to stop the storm that is destroying seaquen and no doubt wreaking havoc with the Shahalesti fleet. Are you in need of healing? The inquisitor and his men are dead, I only wish that they suffered more, but they will trouble you no further. During your ordeal did you ever see a bald, tanned, muscular man wearing fisherman clothes...?"

 

[Gregor]

"Am I in need of healing?!", she blurts out, "are you retar- ....." she struggles against the straps again, willing herself to calm down. "Please ... let me out of this chair." Her eyes are welling up. "Yes I saw the man you describe ... he came in a number of hours ago ... at least I think it was that long, though I have lost all sense of time in this place. The Inquisitor was playing with me when he burst in ... he looked like a bald fisherman with bluish-grey eyes. He said something about taking a wand in case he had to change the weather in a hurry ... or something like that ... whatever that means. He then said he was leaving and to wait for his signal. I ... I don't know anything else. Please, let me out!"

 

[funkmamagoat]

Kirio finishes untying the unfortunate woman and leads her out of the room of her torment, then casts CLW on her twice with the wand "You can try and head out on your own, but you will need to swim quite a ways and there is a full force cyclone outside." letting the woman do as she pleases he turns to the others "Lee's got the wand, but is he even here still. Other than that room that nearly killed us I'm not sure there is much left for us to see here..." Kirio begins making his way to the cells and the other prisoner to see if they can learn more from him.