Sylvar watches Kamen for a second, then looks back at Tam.
"I don't think I want to know."
He holds his hand out toward the key/wand.
"Tam may I examine the key/wand? Something hidden above a chained hydra probably isn't just a souvenir."
OOC:
: If Tam hands it over, Sylvar casts Detect Magic and studies the wand, looking over the mithril caps and the runes. Sylvar casts Detect Magic on the wand/key. If we are tracking rounds, he will concentrate for the full 3 rounds to determine aura strength/location and use Spellcraft +18 to identify the school. After that, he’ll use Knowledge Arcana +14 and Bardic Knowledge +17 for anything he might know about the runes, construction, or history. If the writing itself is magical, he’ll cast Read Magic. He is not using UMD yet.
Sylvar says "well this would come in quite handy had the Hydra put up more of a fight" as he passes the staff back to Tam. He relays the staffs properties back to the group and comments. "It still doesn't explain what it was doing up that pipe and how it applies to our current path. Unless it's a boon to help us as we face whatever is next."
Anyone have any ideas?
He glances back over at Kamen and begins humming a tune he heard once, something sensational that was surely written by an overly enthusiastic bard trying to impress a bar maid. The lyrics said something about blood thirsty giants drinking the blood of their enemies while listening to the lamentations of their women.
You (the party) have all four lesser keys. That's how you activated the elevator.
You have ONE of the greater keys. (This one, the iron-shod staff.) You're not sure how many greater keys there are, but a logical guess would be two. The lesser keys were 4 smaller objects, while the greater keys are larger objects, so you would probably need less of them.
The player (Jeff) has too much real-life stuff going on, and simply doesn't have the time to play anymore. Plus, he admits to having lost interest because of the hiatus we took, which is totally my fault, although I intend to rectify that, if you guys will just stick with me. I am "parking" Jeff's characters, so that he can come back and "re-activate" them at a later time, if he so desires. This is NOT the DM deciding to declare war on the players, LOL.
As the party is standing around, discussing their options, offering thoughts on the newly-gained key and what its potential uses might be, etc., there is a moment, where everyone is distracted, and no one is paying attention to the corner of the room, where the shadows are beginning to deepen...
Suddenly, out of the deep shadows, springs a giant spider, seemingly non-corporeal, made of shadow and mist, with glowing red eyes and pulsing, neon-green chels*.
In spiders, chel is shorthand for chelicerae (pronounced kuh-LIS-uh-ree). These are the pair of appendages located at the very front of the spider's head/body, just above or in front of the mouth. They generally act as the spider's jaws and consist of two main parts: a stout base (paturon) and a sharp, hollow fang used to inject venom and hold prey. In certain highly visual groups like jumping spiders, these jaws are often called "chels" and are brightly colored.
It waves a shadowy leg at both Respen and Vale, and a swirling, purple trail of glittering energy strikes both of them, slamming them into one another, and virtually "mummifying" them in purple, stringy-looking, energy wrappings; the spider utters something in Draconic, and the mummified pair are jerked backwards, like puppets on a string, back toward the shadowy spider.
"Return."
The spider grabs the "bundle" with his enormous chels, being careful not to pierce them; it is obvious that it wants the pair of heroes alive, and is refraining from injecting them with venom. The spider cackles with glee, saying something else in Draconic, before vanishing in a flash of blue light, leaving behind fading purple motes of spent energy. Respen and Vale are gone!
"Clare's new pets are now mine! My new mistress will be SO pleased! So long, peasants! Enjoy your impending deaths!"
