Leelan’s eyes would also adjust to the low-light environment.

Wis save: (with advantage because gnome) 21

     "Whatever happened to the Dewey Decimal system?" Raqisat remarks snidely as he sees signs of the organizational system which he can't quite decipher.  He never quite got the decimal thing either but at least he knew what it was.

     Further in, upon seeing the tracks, he pauses and points them out to the others.  "Someone may be down here with us," he notes quietly and then continues following them.  

Wisdom Save:  17

Wis: 2

Grugga appreciates Cos' hand at his back - something to anchor him here as his mind is seemingly pulled in every direction by magical sensation. He pads down the dusty hallway hoping for an end to this heavy magic hanging in the air.

Cosette, Leelan and Grugga:

In the dimlight, you see the hallway up ahead widen out into what appears to be an empty storage space; a dead end.

[You failed the save.  Sit tight for a bit! ] 

Aubrey and Raqisat:

The narrow hallway widens out into what at first looks like a wide storage space.  There are more racks and shelves along the walls, along with crates and barrels in the corner.

But none of that is important at the moment.  You see, instead, three things that require your immediate attention.

• First, as soon as you enter this space, Leelan, Grugga and Cosette all come to a stop and stand listlessly, a repeat of the affliction experienced upstairs at the main entrance.  They seem to be awake but don't respond to outside stimuli, as if lost in a daydream.

• In the middle of the room, a creature hovers a foot or so off the ground.  It is a grotesque horror, looking something like a large, dark purple meatball with a single huge eye and multiple mouths.  From the central mass, four snake-like appendages drift out from the body, each ending with a smaller eyeball.  If there is any merciful silver lining to this appearance of this aberration, you quickly take in that it seems as listless as your friends, the huge central eye open and looking, but apparently unable to notice you. The four smaller eyes, however, all lock onto your group immediately and follow you if/when you move about the chamber.

• At the other end of the room, a large metal door stands slightly ajar- enough for you to tell it is open but not enough to see inside.  It has what looks like an elaborate lock mechanism which has been disabled.  On both sides of the door hang painted signs in multiple languages, and a pair of polished stones are set in the wall to either side of the door.  One of those stones is red, and it is currently pulsing rhythmically with red light.

[The thing in the room.]

     At first sight of the creature Raqisat is prepared to attack...  But holds.  There is enough off here that something triggers and holds him from striking out.

     "Hold!" he whisper-commands to the others, moving his lantern hand out to the side to signal the same.  It is then, with a quick glance back, that he notices how futile his directive is.  Grugga, Leelan and Cosette are all still as stone.  Raqisat curses and looks to Aubrey.

     "Let's drag them back, hopefully break this... whatever it is," he suggests.  "Start with Cosette.  She'll be easier for you than Grugga and more helpful for the dragging the others than Leelan.  I'll stand guard in case this thing breaks free..."

     As Raqisat say this he sets his lantern down far to the side of him and draws his second blade in case it is needed.

The young noble too is ready to battle the aberration as he notices his companions again being struck by the annoying incapacitating magic of the House of Glass and Mirrors. He simply nods in agreement with Raqisat and starts to carry Cosette back far enough for her to come around and when she does he will inform her of the situationa and ask her to help carry Leelan and Grugga back too. Meanwhile he is starting to wonder if the team should simply abandon the investigation of this place for now.

While Raqisat watches the dazed monster, Aubrey begins the tedious task of dragging his companions out of the storage room and back down the tunnels, until they reach such distance that they emerge from their incapacitation.  Then they return to the room, where the ally either succumbs to the illusion again, or finds the strength of will to overcome it.

This is an arduous, boring process, but eventually Leelan, Cosette and Grugga are all standing awake and alert in the room with Aubrey and Raqisat.

The meatball eyeball still seems entranced, though its four smaller eyestalks continue to follow and track any movement in the room.

[OK, everybody is tapped back in!]

"What do you think Raqisat, would you prefer us dealing with the aberration before proceeding deeper or should we collect it on our way back? I'm sure Leelan would want to add it to our collection of aberrations, perhaps even releasing it in a safer environtment could be good to find out more about it. Information gathering is the expeditions primary objective after all." The young noble says, looking around at the others in the team, letting Raqisat decide on when and where to go.

Perception to notice threats: 17

Other than the floating, dazed horror before you, there don't appear to be any dangers in this room.  As for what lies beyond, you would need to open the large metal door wider and take a look.

     Early on in the dragging people out and back in process Raqisat suggests thwacking Grugga to see if being hurt awakens him from the spell or effect.  Nothing too much, just a little bit of an owie should test the idea?  This would possibly lead to awakening their friends easier and quicker... But could also provide them with information on whether it is safe to attack the aberration or not.  If damage awakens them then Raqisat suggests leaving it in it's frozen state may be safest for now.  If damage does not awaken their allies he instead suggests perhaps they should put it out of their misery before it can indeed cause them misery...  "We may not get another chance like this."

     "We also should remember the tracks..." Raqisat says and again looks around to find them once more but also to try to determine if they made it all the way to (and beyond) the door that stands ajar or not.  If the tracks do not go beyond the monster than it would suggest either the monster somehow eliminated the creature that left them, or it was the creature that left them.  Perhaps the stunning effect reverted it to it's original form?  More likely, if the tracks go beyond the creature, it would seem that they released the creature, likely accidentally?

     "And the red pulsating light... Some kind of warning.  Or alarm," Raqisat reminds.  "But not of the aberration here.  The door and alarms would seem to have been here before the aberrations came so not warning that the creature is loose or standing guard?  Perhaps a warning that the door was opened and the dazing effect has been triggered?"

     "Anyway, the door seems to be our destination for now... Once we decide if we should kill this thing or not."

((Again, if a HP of damage to teammates could awaken them, then Raq believes we leave the thing frozen for now.  If it doesn't awaken them, then after they are awoken, he suggests we gang up to kill this thing now while it can be done without threat.))

"If I had to speculate I would say that the tracks are from the outsiders we are here to find and this aberration is simply one that followed them down here and got caught the same way we did." The young noble suggests, although leaving the decicion with whether to deal with the floating horror now or later to Raqisat.

[assuming damage doesn't wake him] As Grugga reaches the magical threshold, he suddenly blurts out, "Ugh, a dead end, we'll have to - wait... [groan] not again... I thought we were done with that particular mind magic, but it seems that there are layers to it."

As he gets caught up on everything going on, Grugga can't quite stomach the idea of killing the creature in the magical trap. "I agree it's safest to take care of it right now and let Leelan run some tests on it, but... I don't know, most of these creatures have been sentient and look, it's little eyeballs are watching us. Maybe if we free it, it'll help us." ((ooc I'm not against killing it. I'm fine following the lead)).

Regarding the door at the end of the room, Grugga asks, "can anyone make out what those signs say?" as he squints in vain to read them.

"The horrors that came through the breach, they are ultimately the enemy and while I appreciate your concern about us simply killing it Grugga I seriously doubt this one will be anything but unhelpful to us. I fear the most help we can hope for is what the eye-ball-ball outside would offer, that is not much at all." The young noble says with a quick grin.

[Previously, you had tried to slap the entranced PC's.  OOC this triggered new saves but none of them passed.  So IC you would have seen light, aggressive handling fail to waken the entranced.  You would have no reference for what happens if/when severe injury is inflicted on the entranced.]

     "Let's leave it for now," Raqisat decides.  "But watch your back!  Killing this here could draw more dangers or waste resources we may need later.  If it stays frozen as it is now then we can always come back to it later..."

     That said, Raqisat leads the way past the stuck aberration and towards the door.  He treads lightly and pauses a couple steps away so he, and the others, can take a better look at the writing and try to decipher it.  He moves to try to peek past the ajar door without actually touching it...  and once he has seen what he has seen he'll look to the others and wait for them to be ready for him to open the door... 

(Basically want to give people time to decipher languages, check out polished stones and all before he actually opens the door.)

Here are the signs...

Common:

Above the door is a sign that reads 'Special Joint Research Laboratory.'

Old Imperial:

 Elvish:

Dwarvish:

Aubrey would translate the text in Old Imperial to the others. "So it would seem like visitors came down here and caused a containment breach which drew the breach horror here. The effects we've been feeling might be due to the cointainment breach then rather than a natural defense of this place or some ward placed by the visitors. We should obviously proceed with the utmost caution." He says quietly to the others.


Intelligence on Xxotic: 13

     "So we stop the problem that thing back there gets freed?  That is something to keep in mind," Raqisat notes as he tries peeking through the cracked open door.  "We have something we want to achieve on the other side of the door or we just too curious not to look?"

"A bit of both I would say." The young noble says with a small smile. "If anyone thinks it is unwise to proceed then by all means say so but I believe whatever is beyond that door could help us when we eventually face Deinochlorodon. You make a good point though Raqisat, perhaps we should deal with the tentacled horror now when it is less active."