Slight concern blankets Cosette’s face when she feels some furry bone. That was not a sensation she was accustomed too. When she pulls it out to get a closer look at it, it didn’t look any better than it felt. “So you just carry a sack of furry balls on you?” She teases, questioning playfully. “Are these tiger hairballs?” Cos holds it out, dangling it by some of the fur. “Quite the collection.” She muses. Then finally, she flicks it into a spacious corner to see what happens. 

Grugga clearly seems out of it for most of the evening. He has a far-away look on his face after the latest fight. In fact, he only says one thing in the time between the banshee disappearing and the tiger appearing - after rousing Leelan with his healing contraption, he says to the monster slayer: "Rosie? No... I'm sorry, my friend. It's just me, Grugga." He then offers a hand up to the prone Gnome.

Cosette was right, Grugga had felt like he had had a day-and-a-half. He also wished they had made it back to the boat, both for the safety it offered and because he regretted the fact that their disappearance probably gave the crew a scare - at least Aubrey could set it right with a message from his talisman. Yawning deeply, he quickly laid down on a desk far from a dead person and tried to fall asleep.

The sudden appearance of a tiger, though, shocked him wide awake. "Where in the world... where did that come from?!" He exclaims. Having no reason not to believe him, Grugga falls for Raqisat's interesting story of a forest tribe from the Thousand-Acre Woods. "Are you positive it can be trusted? It's looking at poor Leelan like he's some suckling Piglet!"

As things calm down, though, Grugga's weariness overcomes him, and he sleeps until it's his turn to keep an idea on the door... and walls, and windows, and floor, and wherever else ghosts might suddenly pop up from. As everyone else sleeps, Grugga shudders, overcome with a feeling similar to the one he had when he was cursed by that sea hag, as though someone was watching him.

Zap also on patrol. Darkvision + perception 8

Quote from ixi >>

Then finally, she flicks it into a spacious corner to see what happens. 

(( Not sure if DM wants to roll or if you can... ))

      "It's as new to me as it is to you," Raq answers when asked if sure it could be trusted.  "It seems to listen better than a trained hound, so far...  But honestly, can one ever trust magics from one you wouldn't trust with your life?"  The thought actually seems to give Raqisat some pause...

5

There is another audible 'pop' in the corner where Cosette tosses the pellet.  As if from nowhere, there is suddenly a svelte and hairy black bear seated on its haunches in the corner.  It sniff the air and gives a 'Rauhnggrrrr" to the tiger, with lifts its head lazily to peer at the bear before turning its gaze back to the door.

The conference room, though large, is beginning to feel crowded, what with all the adventurers, mummies, and magical wild animals.

The young noble briefly looks up again, less surprised this time as the svelte black bear suddenly appears in the far corner of the room. He could only assume Raqisat summoned another beast and couldn't help but wonder if this magic had any limits or if the archaeologist had an unlimited access to wild but obedient animals at his disposal. The chances for success with their dangerous expedition seemed more and more promising.

Cosette pursed her lips, getting the impression that perhaps she should be biting her tongue if her play on words are becoming inappropriate and getting brushed by, especially by Raq. Suppose it was time to get more serious then. She’d blow a raspberry and shrug. Her silence wouldn’t last very long though.

“Oh ho ho ho!” Cosette can’t help but chuckle lowly at the appearance of big ol’ Pooh himself. “Raq hookin’ me up with a big ol’ bear tonight! Ya shouldn’t have.” She winks giving him a bit of a playful nudge then strides over to the bear. Reaching up, she offers her hand for them to catch her scent, then she’d give him scritches, telling him he’s a good boy. Cos would then settle in and get comfortable for the night. She never did mind tight spaces with lots of bodies. At least she wasn’t alone.

     "You are NOT hooking up with the bear," Raqisat says with a bit of a growl of his own.  "We're too far from Tijuana for that kind of weirdness!"

     Still Raq couldn't help but wonder at how easily Cosette was comfortable with the animals and accepting of them.  He himself felt pretty sure that these beasts were on their side... Somehow, someway...  Still he wasn't going to be cuddling up with the tiger to keep warm tonight.  Though it may be his other options are gone...

     With the excitement of the new zoo fading and extra guards for the overnight watch, Raqisat suggests they get ready to bed down for the night.  Having previously accepted first watch Raqisat sets himself up comfortably but not too comfortably near the tiger.  "Keep your eyes out for anything, eh?" Raqisat says to the beast.  "You see anything not us you pounce and make enough noise to wake us all up, eh?"

     Raqisat didn't really expect the tiger to be up on it's listening skills but he kind of trusted it to be a good guard whether it understood the directions or not.  Assuming it didn't get hungry and want to snack on some gnome in the middle of the night...  During his watch Raqisat thinks on the bag and it's powers.  Can one ever trust magics from one you wouldn't trust with your life, he had asked half jokingly but the seriousness of it worked on him during the night.  Where did this bag come from?  It seemingly dropped into his lap...  It's easy enough to consider it good fortune but what if it is the opposite?  Could it not as easily be a tool of the one which almost killed him as the ones here that were already dead?  Even if it was innocent it surely did them no good.  And taking it...  It was akin to grave robbing, no?  Not a concept Raqisat is entirely unfamiliar with even if his archeologist story is just that, a story.  Still, he's sleeping in this room with these corpses... Or will be soon.  Stealing from them seems more taboo than looting an abandoned library or museum.  And the bag was someone's personal treasure, not a relic enshrined for all to see.  It seemed... wrong.  And, oddly, Raqisat couldn't shake the thought.

     Near the end of his watch, when he is sure the others are fast asleep and he is unobserved by any cept perhaps the tiger, Raqisat decides the bag should rest here with whoever owned it in the first place.  Doing his best to not awaken the others, Raqisat does his best to recall which corpse he was near when he found the bag and then hides the bag back upon the body, preferably under some clothes so the others will not spot it before they leave.  Some things are best left where they lay...  Then after double checking, several times, that the body does not look disturbed or the bag to be showing, Raqisat waits until the end of his watch before waking up the next watch...

((If Raqisat is not first watch then these events can take place on whatever watch he is...*shrug*))

Overnight:

The party settles in to ride out the night in this fortified conference room/tomb.  As the others find passable spots for sleep, Raqisat settles in near the door, the tiger beside him.  At some point, once he believes the others to be asleep, he slips the pouch back onto the corpse of the elven woman.

...

Raqisat's watch passes without incident, and he rouses Cosette from her sleep with the bear and passes the torch to her.

...

Cosette's watch is equally uneventful.  The tower is still and whatever - if anything - is happening out in the open night air is separated from your group by thick walls of stone.  After her time is up, she rouses Aubrey.

...

Aubrey takes up his own spot of watch, with Furvus patrolling the tower from the ethereal realm while he listens to the quiet night and tries not to get too close to the tiger.

It is sometime past midnight when Aubrey becomes aware of a sound.  It has been there a while already, he realizes, but too faint for his conscious mind to detect.  It is, for lack of a better description, a whistling.  Not a tune or melody... but not the whistling of the wind, either.  It is a long, unsteady and atonal note.  At times it rises in pitch, so high his ears lose it; at other times it falls so low as to be more like a hum than a whistle.  But it never stops.

For a long time, the whistled note sounds far off, but Aubrey has the unshakeable feeling that it is drawing nearer.  It must surely be inside the tower somewhere... and soon it sounds as though it must be on the same floor.  Directing Furvus to seek it out, the familiar claims there is nothing there, on the material or border ethereal to be seen.  And then the whistle is just outside the door... no change in its fluctuations or urgency in its pitch... just there.  Right outside.

Zap continues his patrols, seemingly oblivious to any issue.  The tiger, its eyes fixed on the door, utters a low growl.

The moment the tiger makes a sound, the whistle stops dead.  There is no resumption, no sound of it moving away, just dead silence.  And somehow that is even more unsettling than the sound itself.  Once again Furvus confirms there is nothing there.

The sound doesn't resume and the rest of Aubrey's watch concludes without incident.

...

Aubrey hands of to Grugga, who in turn hands off to Leelan when his own time is up.

...

Near the end of Leelan's watch, the tiger rises from its place near the door.  Leelan eyes the tremendous cat warily but the beast is not going for him.  Instead it approaches the remains of the deceased elven woman and roots its nose around in her belongings.  Then it pads back softly to Leelan and opens its mouth, dropping a small tan pouch at his feet.

With a 'pop', both the tiger and the black bear disappear - the absence of the bear body pillow dropping Cosette to the ground roughly.

[It is dawn in Amnifortis.  

As suspected, the magical item is a tan bag of tricks.

You have all gained Level Seven.  Congratulations.]

The eerie whistling follows Aubrey into his dreams for the remainder of his sleep and he wakes up just in time to see the beasts summoned by Raqisat last night disappear. Maybe they simply stayed on until next dawn. He had communicated to Captain Neck that they would not be late for being picked up at next dusk and he intended to keep that promise. 
"You alright?" He asks Cosette as the cosy black bear suddenly disappears, then getting up from his bedroll, also looking around to make sure everyone was still there and seemed alright.

"Are we ready to proceed to the grand Universitas Vitae?" Aubrey asks the team as they seem to have finished up their sparse morning meal and gathered their gear.

Arcana check to know anything about the eerie whistling: 4
Furvus Arcana: 21

During Leelan’s watch, he keeps a close eye on the tiger and the bear. Having read and documented his manuscript about these beast, he knew well enough what they were capable of. He begins to worry as the massive feline approaches him. The big cat, making him feel smaller than he actually is, has him worried the most. He’s never been in the right environnement to observe one up close.

As it drops the tan bag in front of him, the gnome goes to pick it up. "Thank…you?", he utters, still not sure how to feel about this offering.

As the tiger pops out of existence, he inspects the bag and its content. 

With the new day starting, Leelan is feeling refreshed and ready to head out.

     Upon waking Raqisat goes through his normal routine for when living rough - Limited but essential ablutions, a meager but necessary morning meal, a checking of weapons and belongings and a few minutes or ritualized practice movements...  He of course noted the absence of last evenings beasts and wondered briefly if it was due to a certain length or time or perhaps the morning sun?  But magic was not his forte and it was no longer his concern so he mentally shrugged it off.  

     "Hopefully it is more grand and less infested than this place," Raqisat notes to Aubrey but nods his readiness. 

     If he notices the bag has been moved from where he put it he makes no mention of it, nor if he notices Leelan possessing it.  Instead he sets about un-barricading the door so that they can indeed set about their day.  

Thump. “What the f-“ Cosette blinks. “Alrighty then.” She groans, picking herself up off the floor. Cos exhales and rubs her hip. “It’s whatever.” She says to Aubrey. “Just makin’ an ass outta myself. Nothin’ new.” She shrugs, grabbing her things. Accepting her wake up call as a hint, she shuts her mouth, fades to the back and lets the boys lead their adventure.

The otherwise mostly polite but firm expression of the young noble softens slightly at the Anthropologist's response. "You couldn't possibly have known that cuddly bear would have the insolence to just disappear like that Ms. Cosette." He says softly and politely with a reassuring smile, offering Cos a hand to help her up. "And I might not have expressed yet how much it has meant to the progress of our mission here that you and Raqisat decided to help us, your contribution has been quite crucial to our success and survival so far." He continues with a sincere grateful smile. "And  thank you for your beautiful music last night, I would love to hear more some time."

"You don't think this place is grand?" Aubrey says to Raqisat with a wink, looking around at the mummified corpses. "Regarding the infestation though I'm afraid that is something we would have to expect in Amnifortis, in fact it is the expeditions primary objective to find and reasearch the multitude of aberrations that are infesting the city ruins." He adds plainly, as he gets into helping the archaeologist with dismantling their defenses. "Still, perhaps a fewer at a time would be preferrable." He concedes with a friendly smile.

     "That's why ya can't trust strange magic," Raqisat says with a frown at Cosettes rude awakening.  

     "Straight shot to Amnifortis then, eh?" Raq replies to Aubrey.  "Still not sure it's the wisest considering who sent us there... But I suppose one destination is as good as another."

"Well, we're already in Amnifortis actually, and I fear we will face dangers in all parts of these ruins. For now I thought it prudent to play along with Deinochlorodon considering he might well be the mightiest opponent we will have to eventually overcome in Amnifortis. I'm sure we will be able to gather both knowledge and resources to better our chances againt him as we inevitably will confront him. That said, I'm sure what we will face at the University will be quite a challenge too." Aubrey says with a polite smile as he continues to clear a way out of their fortified position.

Grugga seems a bit haggard after yesterday's trials and a less-than-comfortable sleep, but he still retains a look of wonder and determination in his eyes. As the group departs the room of dead people, Grugga takes a last glance at the corpses. "I wonder what happened to them. It's incredible that they were here during the beginning of the breach. If only they could speak..."

As for their next destination, Grugga agrees: "The Universitas Vitae it is. Perhaps the people Deinochlorodon sent us after will still be there. I wonder who they could possibly be. The ratfolk, perhaps? Probably not, or else Deinochlorodon would have said so... The cult we came across is supposed to only be in the south east. Perhaps some clerics? I'm getting ahead of myself. Hopefully we'll find out soon." Grugga recalls Zap to its cage he carries on his back and sets back out into the ruins of Amnifortis with the rest of the group.

Aubrey had his thoughts about the horrible way these people likely slowly had died in the darkness, besieged by the horrific swarm of tentacled aberrations outside their door, but he decides to not bring down the mood by answering the orc artificer.

"Nothing wrong with sharing your thoughts and speculating a bit, could prepare us for what's to come my dear Grugga." The young noble says with a friendly smile, seeming confident as the team sets out once more into the ruins of Amnifortis. "I agree it is unlikely it is the sewer people Deinochlorodon is sending us to find. If I had to guess they are people coming here in search for knowledge, hopefully knowledge dangerous to Deinochlorodon that we might utilize for ourselves. If possible I suggest we try to find out as much as we can about this other expedition rather than take them out. Hopefully Furvus will be able to report about them before we confront them so that we can decide on a plan on how to deal with them based on who they are and how many they are."


Once the team is on it's way north through Amnifortis, Aubrey sends Furvus ahead to scout for threats.

Perception: 17

After reviewing and reassessing her repertoire, rations in hand, Cosette would follow along with the group to the Universitas Vitae. She'd hum a few different melodies quietly to herself between bites as she goes. Having reflected on the last few days, while also inspired by her dreams, Cos had recalled some old lullabies and haunting fey tales. She was paying attention, especially when they would say Deinochlorodon, but didn't have much to add at this time. The archaeologist definitely did not want to forget that name.

The party disassembles their barricade and emerges from their nighttime hiding place.  The halls and corridors of the Praetorium Magisterium are as empty and quiet as you left them on your way in, save for the occasional corpse of a Choker or decayed bones of one of their long-ago meals.

Down in the main hall, however, there is a change.  All of the Choker corpses are gone.  Bootprints and clawprints from the battle still litter the sand, and you can still see the whorl marks where Aubrey's spells summoned outer darkness, but except for a little bit of their dark blood, the Chokers have all vanished.  Contemplating this new mystery, the party passes by the old abandoned Red Band campsite and emerges once again into the city ruins.  

It is still early morning, with the sun still struggling to crest the taller buildings to your east.  It is cool this morning, but the dewpoint is high and beads of moisture cling to walls and the odd mushrooms poking up from the plaza floor.  Across the plaza, the broken ruins of the Cathedral Universalis glisten and sparkle with morning dew.  It is likely to be humid and warm later today.  Turning northwest, the party proceeds slowly and carefully up the main promenade in the direction of the University.  It is unearthly quiet here.  You're now well aware of the dangers hidden in the dark places of this city, yet even so you could be forgiven for believing this place was completely and utterly empty given the lack of sound and movement.  Even the breeze seems arrested this morning. 

Passing the outside of the Praetorium (and the main road to the castle branching off on the other side of the street) the next major landmark is an intersection.  The promenade intersects with an east-west road.  On one corner, nearest the castle, stands a 30' statue of cloaked and hooded figure, a shepherd's crook in his hand and longsword fastened at his hip.   All but Raqisat [sorry, no history proficiency] immediately recognize St. Christopher, human hero and founder/reformer of the 2nd Empire.  He was also said to have ascended to join the godly pantheon after surrendering his title as emperor hundreds of years ago.  On another corner a tall - though not so tall as the Praetorium - marble building stands.  It isn't a manor house, but it is well appointed.  Through broken windows, you can see into a dimly lit lobby or entry hall, decorated with shining metal trim.  Its purpose isn't readily apparent; if the building once had a sign or other identifier, it has long since collapsed to join the silt, loose stones and debris in the road.  You do see something interesting on the building.  Graffiti, or something like graffiti, is scrawled on the side.  It is written at an odd angle, starting high up near the second floor and continuing down until it ends near the street.

[Those who can read Old Imperial...]

 The road continues on past the intersection.  Several blocks further ahead, you can make out the campus of the Universitas Vitae, and next to it the magical college known as the House of Glass and Mirrors.