"Where is Granophyre?" Varielky asks as they run down the stairs, concerned. When they reach the level with the egg sacks, Varielky exclaims in surprise: "You didn't burn them yet?" As she speaks, the foul smell and the disgusting sight make her shudder. She turns back, meaning to stand and defend against the coming Goblins when Auger calls to action, quickly followed by a strange kind of magic she had not seen him casting before. Surprises everywhere.
Varielky follows Snow's example and pours the oil on the egg sacks on the other side of the room. She feels just a little bit of guilt about burning them instead of fighting them, but the feeling of disgust greatly overwhelms it and silences any further doubts, for now.
Once she'd done pouring the oil, Varielky has a second thought. "Wait, won't we be burnt as well, or choked by the smoke (OOC: do burning egg-sacks even create smoke?), if we can't go back up there?"
(OOC: Varielky: Please roll a CON12 saving throw or suffer the effects of the poisoned condition from the stomach-wrenching odor and microbe-filled air in the crypt.)
Auger’s darkness forms in the stairwell, corkscrewing up and around the stairway’s central pillar, just in time, as the seething horde can be heard cascading down from the kitchen like roiling lava. Auger hears squeals of fear, and a few seconds later, two goblins tumble down the stairs to land at his feet, having been pushed into the inky blackness by the force of the crowd behind them. We’ll say Auger dispatches the two hapless evil creatures quickly as they stretch out their arms, fangs bared, sightlessly trying to get their bearings.
It takes two full rounds for Varielky and Snow to completely splash oil throughout the crypt, and in their haste, it is not impossible that they have splashed themselves by accident; they’ve certainly stepped in oil.
Now six more goblins have tumbled down the steps, falling around Auger’s feet. He dispatches two more, but the other four are trying to stand, their noses crinkled… they can smell the warlock and are experimentally stabbing their blades. One goblin strikes one of its own by accident, and the second goblin exhales in astonishment and falls. The press of bodies above, and the leering screeching cacophony continues. Then Auger smells a new and terrible scent himself, feels the stone steps under him reverberate with the tread of something huge up around the curving stairs, out of view.
Auger enters his Darkness and immediately blasts a pair of Goblins who come into view, sending their dead bodies bouncing backwards and up the stairs. In his Darkness only he can see and the next set who come stumbling down do not know to avoid the two dead bodies. And yet they come, 6 now, stumbling, falling, grasping at nothing. But close. Too close. Auger kills two more, this time he does not send them flying. Instead they fall where they are at the bottom of the stairs, creating more things for followers to trip over. Sensing his ability to hold the mass of Goblins was at its limit, Auger leaves the area of Darkness and scrambles across the chamber before settling at the vault door where he turns and continues blasting Goblins as they come into his view.
"Light the fires then we move through here!"he calls out. So caught up in holding the Darkness Auger only now processes the questions Varielky asked, "There was a survivor living here in this Vault area. Granophyre is with him. We'll be safe through here. I'm sure of it."The others can tell Auger is not particularly sure of it. With a quick thought, Auger adds, "If you can throw some oil into the Darkness there, it might hold them back."
Action: If this is round 9 then Auger already killed 2 goblins before moving across the chamber. Otherwise he will blast while moving as much as he can.
Move: To F11.
Intentions: To focus on Goblins so that Varielky and Snow can finish lighting fires and then leave through the Vault door
Varielky may be utterly disgusted by the smell and sights, but at least their poisonous nature can't affect her body, which has managed (though always with external aid) to resist or neutralise poisons far more potent in the past.
As the oil in Varielky's hands runs out, realising much of it got on her too, lighting the fire did not seem like a good idea, not at all. Moreover, she is puzzled by Auger's answer. "A survivor? Survivor of what? Aren't everyone in this castle either the Goblins or the people whom they serve? I doubt these Goblins keep any prisoners!" Varielky does not like Granophyre going alone with a stranger in a place like this. Especially when she's supposed to protect him. Should she not have stayed upstairs? Probably.
Varielky retreats into the only open path remaining (towards the vault), and a bit farther inside, to be as far from the oil as possible. She can't just create fire out of nothing anyway, and her tinderbox was deep in her bag, which... she probably left upstairs, by the door. She never fights with it on her, for obvious reasons. "Can one of you magically light this up, or think of a more creative idea?"
Snow looks across at the stairway, thinking that even if he has more oil it would take time to get it over there and retreat again.
Instead he moves to the doorway of the vault and manifests his invisible hand, right by the torch most easily visible from the vault door.
"Well done Auger, now please hurry!", he calls somewhat unnecessarily, and nudges him a little closer to the vault door.
He quickly makes sure he isn't trailing oil into the vault then moves inside into cover.
Movement: To the Vault doorway Action: Cast Mage Hand Bonus Action: Telekinetic Shove Auger to F12 (assuming he doesn't resist, otherwise DC16 Str Save). Movement: Into the Vault, gaining full cover if possible whilst able to easily pop his head out to get sight of the torch.
Varielky, Snow and Auger stand at the vault door. A glance within shows Granophyre kneeling beside a woman’s body, covered with a cloak, on the floor, her head propped on a rolled rug, her eyes closed. The old man kneels opposite Granophyre, watching him, watching her.
Goblins, screaming and jeering, are piling up on the night-dark stairs, overrun by the surging crowd behind them which continues to press urgently forward.
Two goblins emerge into the crypt, eyes murderous and cunning. They slink behind sarcophagi, and yell back to the horde, helping to draw them through the darkness, and now another ten have come through, making a beeline for the walls, hiding, leaving the center open. A bellow is heard from some huge creature just outside the room, making its way with impatient frustration through the impenetrable blackness of Auger’s sorcery; the floor vibrates with each of its heavy steps, and dust from the walls is jostled aloft to powder the putrid crypt air.
Snow quickly moves into the doorway and uses his invisible hand to grab the torch from the sconce, rotates it so it is upside down, then moves it from one egg-sac to the next at the far end of the room.
If any goblin tries to intervene he will mentally push it away.
He then moves back to cover, once again making sure there is no direct path of oil from the fire to him or his friends.
“Whatever is coming down those stairs sounds big, I hope it doesn’t like fire, and that this door holds. Best close it as soon as Auger is inside”, he says to the others.
Movement: Into the doorway to get eyes on the torch. Action: Use Mage Hand to grab the torch, and the 30ft of it’s movement to light the egg-sacs at far end of the room, up to those nearest the stairs. Bonus Action: Telekinetic Shove any goblin who tries to stop the torch, DC16 Str save or moved 5ft. If none do, he will use it to assist closing the door. Movement: Back to full cover inside the room, allowing space for the other's to close the door
Auger is thankful to feel the magical tugging from Snow and does not resist it as it pulls him back towards the door. Seeing the torch holding the fire moving away and lighting the fires Auger cannot help but smile. This would work to keep the Goblins at bay while also burning out the egg sacs. Perfect! Auger steps back through the door to the vault firing his pushing blasts as he does to force the Goblins back into the darkness to add to the confusion, then he looks to find a way to close and seal the door and points it out to the others if he can find it.
Varielky, helps close the door, ensuring that it is as closed as this door can be, then she quickly steps away from it... just in case some flames pass under the door, or something like that. Then, she turns to Granophyre and those he's with. "Do you know the castle's layout? Is there another exit, or are we just trapping ourselves here?" If they're trapped, there'll be plenty of time to worry about the unconscious, if not dead, woman. If they're not trapped, they should be getting out of here as fast as they can. Besides, worrying is the most Varielky can do, if she forced herself, and that's not very helpful anyway.
While she's waiting for an answer, Varielky also tries to listen to those big, heavy steps. Does it sound/feel as if they're getting close, or have they stopped in place, or even turned back? Only once they're out of danger Varielky will be able to relax. Just because nobody swings a sword at you doesn't mean you're no longer on a battlefield.
In response to the frightful bellow, Granophyre stands and sends a tight ball of fire out into the crypt to assist Snow’s torch in setting flame to the egg sacs and the lantern oil. With a whoosh!, small puddles of oil throughout the middle of the room ignite, and flames dance across the floor and lick up and engulf the egg sacs, which begin to writhe and shudder terribly.
The goblins are too involved in avoiding the flames to attempt to halt Snow’s floating torch, which moves at the bard’s will. More goblins tumble into the crypt only to rush to the walls out of reach of the flames, in fear and astonishment, until the source of the bone-wrenching bellow appears, a massive humanoid, 12 feet tall, green frog-like skin, claws like daggers, as heavy as three prize steers stitched together—over 2,500 kilograms, you might guess—and its eyes, shining with red light, focus instantly on Varielky and, like a bull, it —a troll— charges across the room over the low flames, the floor shaking with each pounding step, and, throwing its shoulder forward like a ram, slams into the door.
But a split second before it can cannonball through, Varielky pulls the portal shut, and with a loud click!, the door locks, a subtle blue glow etching its surface with intricate tracings of magical protection.
Outside the door, goblins screech in pain, the troll pounds arhythmically, the flames begin to catch, then die down for smoke and the close air in the crypt give it nothing to feed upon until one of the goblins, feet aflame and in mindless terror, flings open the eastern door to escape into a part of the crypt vented to the cliff face below. Cold air sweeps in, and a fireball erupts in the chamber, goblins shriek in terror, and soon the pounding ceases.
Within the vault, a forty-foot diameter room, with a single magical light in the center of the ceiling illuminating the ornately decorated space, the players are now locked. The servant kneels beside the woman on the ground he told you is his wife, Granophyre now standing with you three.
Empty wine bottles fill a corner, dry and almost odorless. There are several chests, a row of shelves presenting a variety of objects, and, under a dust cloth, a man-sized statue or something similar, and through a narrow 6” grate high in one wall, fresh air.
As Varielky shuts the door Auger stays vigilant, moving backwards into the chamber and ready to blast anything should it break through the door. As the pounding continues Auger stays focused on the door, though he realizes he is unsteady on his feet. As he hears the explosion from next door, and then the eerie silence as the pounding ends he begins to let himself think they might have completed their task. And survived no less. All of them. All.
As Auger relaxes he bends over, rod still in hand, but those hands on his knees, eyes looking at his own feet. The headache hits him harder than usual. He really had used his powers as much as he could and then much beyond. After a long moment, a regular moment with no connection to the Sea of Stars, Auger slowly stands straight again and looks to the others.
"Well done everyone. We did it," he says. Auger lets his mind wander through the events and think on how they all worked together, particularly at the end step there with the fire setting and this... escape? "That was close but I think we have done a great thing just now. The Goblin spawn burns before they can wreak havoc. We avoided, whatever that large thing was, I think a Troll? Perhaps the flames were too much for it as it is silent now as well. And..." Auger gestures towards the old man and his wife, "...and we have saved -- saved. These two. Excuse me sir, in the tumult I never did get your name. I am called Auger. This is Snow and this is Varielky." Auger almost introduces Granophyre by name before remembering to keep his profile low, "And I'm sure you have already met --" Auger pauses to allow Granophyre to fill in the blank.
Auger participates in any introductory conversation as best as he can while attempting to find a place to sit down and let his mind wander. He really had. Used everything. As Auger relaxes and speaks, he still holds on to the Darkness outside as long as he can. Because who knows what else awaits them here.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Varielky pushes the door with all her strength, then jumps back at the last moment, starting to draw her blade already, but the stone door seems to hold.
As the noise dies down and the fight appears to be over - at least for now - Varielky wonders whether the door which kept that huge thing outside wouldn't also keep them inside. Death by dehydration or starvation was not one Varielky hoped for.
For now, Varielky leans against one of the walls, trying to rest for a bit. She watches the servant and the woman, but says nothing for now.
Snow breathes a sigh of relief as the door shuts in the nick of time, just as the troll reveals itself and charges at them. He winces time and again as it wails on the door, thankful for the magic and stonework that kept the creature out.
As he hears the explosion on the other side, and the pounding stops, he finally relaxes a bit and looks around, seeing he body of the lady on the floor. He wanders over to Strewn and the old man as Auger congratulates them all.
"That we survived what just happened is indeed worth celebrating. Never have I been involved in anything quite like that!", he says in reply to Auger before addressing Strewn and the servant.
"Is there anything I can do to help?", he asks, concern on his face.
The old servant looks up momentarily when the door closes and locks, and again when Auger introduces himself, but although his jaws moves as if searching for words, he seems then almost to forgot the urgency to speak, so dire is the concern, etched deeply in his brow, for the woman laid out on the floor.
She is Shian — although the very tips of her ears are pointy enough to make Snow wonder if she has more than a drop of elvish blood. Yet human she must be, for mortality could hardly be more plainly writ then in her pale, motionless demeanor, while only the barest trace of movement is perceptible in the rising of her chest, the long pause, the slow fall, barely filling her lungs with shallow breaths.
“She is in a coma,” Granophyre whispers in response to Snow, “very near death. Her soul seems to wander far, and I cannot say with certainty that it will ever return. I have attempted to heal her, but… she is beyond healing. I fear any moment could be her last. They have been in this room for weeks and ran out of food long ago, drank the last of the wine two days ago…”
“My wife. My wife of fifty years.” He whispers to her, his voice unsteady. “Wake up Ayyur!, the Lord has guests we must see to! Open your eyes!…,” but there is no response.
He looks up at Snow and Auger. “We are the winter keepers of Abziri Castle. I am Juba Isgaden, traveler. And this is Mrs. Isgaden. We, along with poor Reszki Satid, the grounds man, keep — kept — the castle in running order during the cold winter months when the viceroy stays in Kalahata. Until the desert air becomes uncomfortable, after the Spring Festival, when the Lord and house Abziri come here to the dacha. Indeed, we expect him any day…,” he trails off, hopelessness in his voice.
“I am afraid of it is the Abziri Viceroy you are waiting for, then he may be delayed by some time. There are issues in Kalahata at present, and there are rumours that the Viceroy has been taken into custody”.
“How did the Dacha come to be overtaken by goblins though? And what part do the Jlasi have in all this?”, he asks curiously.
“It’s that Valet Sekkura Tadefi, that lying scoundrel. So many lives lost. So many. And my sweet Ayyur…,” he chokes on his words for a moment before Turning up to face Snow, his eyes moist, his countenance furious. “I didn’t know it until this all came to pass, but I met him long ago, and I should have remembered. But I did not. He is a Jlasi, or my name isn’t Isgaden. And he has plotted and forged his name on letters and agreements, and — I’m sure of it — kept our letters of warning from the Lord Abziri’s eyes. A kind-hearted soul is he, the Viscount (OOC: I mistakenly wrote Viceroy above), too kind, unwilling — unable to believe — that his trusted servant could betray him so completely.
“And now, he is imprisoned?? Never was there a more honorable soul, for his heart takes after the Yemma, his mother, whose courage was unequalled in all of Orraca u Shia in the summer of her proud life…,” and he trails off again, having already forgotten, apparently, Snow’s question.
As the others speak Auger finds a spot nearby to sit and closes his eyes. He does not allow his mind to wander this time. He listens.
He hears something of Granophyre's reply to Snow. Clearly the older lady on the floor was very sick. Was there something else they needed? Wine? Oh. They were starving down here. When the old man whispers his wife's name, it sounds a little like his own, so Auger opens one eye, and then seeing he is being addressed he rises and moves over to join the conversation. As the old man speaks of his role and then finally of the Yemma, Auger attempts to make eye contact with Granophyre. There is still a person we can talk to and he is alive here! But clearly he is beside himself with concern.
Auger again looks at the ol--at Mrs. Isgaden and thinks to himself for a moment. The healing arts had never been his specialty but a lack of food and water seemed to be the matter of importance. Auger opens his waterskin and draws forth a swallow of water which he leaves in a small globule floating in the air. The effort in this action had never been substantial, yet for the moment it feels like the limit of his powers. To Juba he simply asks, "May I?"and if he gets a nod of permission, Auger brings single droplets down to Mrs. Isgaden's lips, hoping the water would be revitalizing, "We have food as well. If she can keep any down. And you, Juba, you should probably eat and drink yourself."
"Even if she wakes up, she might not be able to eat. Neither should you," Varielky calls from her sitting place. "After fasting for so long, your body can't immediately take food the way it used to. You should start with soft things that are easy to digest, or fruit." Varielky sounds as if she's reciting something. Never did she fast for this long herself. Not even close.
"Anyway, the best we can do to help, right now, is rest so we can fight what's waiting outside later. Or, if you can't sit idly and rest..."Varielky knocks on the door behind her, "find a way to open this thing, so we don't end up in this situation ourselves."
Varielky looks at the wife from where she sits. The pair chose to hide, rather than fight, and this is the situation they ended up in. Punishment from the gods. Now, she did the same. Oh, what a fool. But, she does not plan to stay here for long. Once she regathers her strength, she will find a way out.
(Varielky wants to take a short rest here, unless someone has some other plan of action.)
"Where is Granophyre?" Varielky asks as they run down the stairs, concerned. When they reach the level with the egg sacks, Varielky exclaims in surprise: "You didn't burn them yet?" As she speaks, the foul smell and the disgusting sight make her shudder. She turns back, meaning to stand and defend against the coming Goblins when Auger calls to action, quickly followed by a strange kind of magic she had not seen him casting before. Surprises everywhere.
Varielky follows Snow's example and pours the oil on the egg sacks on the other side of the room. She feels just a little bit of guilt about burning them instead of fighting them, but the feeling of disgust greatly overwhelms it and silences any further doubts, for now.
Once she'd done pouring the oil, Varielky has a second thought. "Wait, won't we be burnt as well, or choked by the smoke (OOC: do burning egg-sacks even create smoke?), if we can't go back up there?"
Varielky
Round 8-9 results
(OOC: Varielky: Please roll a CON12 saving throw or suffer the effects of the poisoned condition from the stomach-wrenching odor and microbe-filled air in the crypt.)
Auger’s darkness forms in the stairwell, corkscrewing up and around the stairway’s central pillar, just in time, as the seething horde can be heard cascading down from the kitchen like roiling lava. Auger hears squeals of fear, and a few seconds later, two goblins tumble down the stairs to land at his feet, having been pushed into the inky blackness by the force of the crowd behind them. We’ll say Auger dispatches the two hapless evil creatures quickly as they stretch out their arms, fangs bared, sightlessly trying to get their bearings.
It takes two full rounds for Varielky and Snow to completely splash oil throughout the crypt, and in their haste, it is not impossible that they have splashed themselves by accident; they’ve certainly stepped in oil.
Now six more goblins have tumbled down the steps, falling around Auger’s feet. He dispatches two more, but the other four are trying to stand, their noses crinkled… they can smell the warlock and are experimentally stabbing their blades. One goblin strikes one of its own by accident, and the second goblin exhales in astonishment and falls. The press of bodies above, and the leering screeching cacophony continues. Then Auger smells a new and terrible scent himself, feels the stone steps under him reverberate with the tread of something huge up around the curving stairs, out of view.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Auger enters his Darkness and immediately blasts a pair of Goblins who come into view, sending their dead bodies bouncing backwards and up the stairs. In his Darkness only he can see and the next set who come stumbling down do not know to avoid the two dead bodies. And yet they come, 6 now, stumbling, falling, grasping at nothing. But close. Too close. Auger kills two more, this time he does not send them flying. Instead they fall where they are at the bottom of the stairs, creating more things for followers to trip over. Sensing his ability to hold the mass of Goblins was at its limit, Auger leaves the area of Darkness and scrambles across the chamber before settling at the vault door where he turns and continues blasting Goblins as they come into his view.
"Light the fires then we move through here!" he calls out. So caught up in holding the Darkness Auger only now processes the questions Varielky asked, "There was a survivor living here in this Vault area. Granophyre is with him. We'll be safe through here. I'm sure of it." The others can tell Auger is not particularly sure of it. With a quick thought, Auger adds, "If you can throw some oil into the Darkness there, it might hold them back."
Details
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Constitution save: 14+4=18.
Varielky may be utterly disgusted by the smell and sights, but at least their poisonous nature can't affect her body, which has managed (though always with external aid) to resist or neutralise poisons far more potent in the past.
As the oil in Varielky's hands runs out, realising much of it got on her too, lighting the fire did not seem like a good idea, not at all. Moreover, she is puzzled by Auger's answer. "A survivor? Survivor of what? Aren't everyone in this castle either the Goblins or the people whom they serve? I doubt these Goblins keep any prisoners!" Varielky does not like Granophyre going alone with a stranger in a place like this. Especially when she's supposed to protect him. Should she not have stayed upstairs? Probably.
Varielky retreats into the only open path remaining (towards the vault), and a bit farther inside, to be as far from the oil as possible. She can't just create fire out of nothing anyway, and her tinderbox was deep in her bag, which... she probably left upstairs, by the door. She never fights with it on her, for obvious reasons. "Can one of you magically light this up, or think of a more creative idea?"
Varielky
Snow looks across at the stairway, thinking that even if he has more oil it would take time to get it over there and retreat again.
Instead he moves to the doorway of the vault and manifests his invisible hand, right by the torch most easily visible from the vault door.
"Well done Auger, now please hurry!", he calls somewhat unnecessarily, and nudges him a little closer to the vault door.
He quickly makes sure he isn't trailing oil into the vault then moves inside into cover.
Movement: To the Vault doorway
Action: Cast Mage Hand
Bonus Action: Telekinetic Shove Auger to F12 (assuming he doesn't resist, otherwise DC16 Str Save).
Movement: Into the Vault, gaining full cover if possible whilst able to easily pop his head out to get sight of the torch.
Round 10 results
Varielky, Snow and Auger stand at the vault door. A glance within shows Granophyre kneeling beside a woman’s body, covered with a cloak, on the floor, her head propped on a rolled rug, her eyes closed. The old man kneels opposite Granophyre, watching him, watching her.
Goblins, screaming and jeering, are piling up on the night-dark stairs, overrun by the surging crowd behind them which continues to press urgently forward.
Two goblins emerge into the crypt, eyes murderous and cunning. They slink behind sarcophagi, and yell back to the horde, helping to draw them through the darkness, and now another ten have come through, making a beeline for the walls, hiding, leaving the center open. A bellow is heard from some huge creature just outside the room, making its way with impatient frustration through the impenetrable blackness of Auger’s sorcery; the floor vibrates with each of its heavy steps, and dust from the walls is jostled aloft to powder the putrid crypt air.
Please post round 11 actions.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Snow quickly moves into the doorway and uses his invisible hand to grab the torch from the sconce, rotates it so it is upside down, then moves it from one egg-sac to the next at the far end of the room.
If any goblin tries to intervene he will mentally push it away.
He then moves back to cover, once again making sure there is no direct path of oil from the fire to him or his friends.
“Whatever is coming down those stairs sounds big, I hope it doesn’t like fire, and that this door holds. Best close it as soon as Auger is inside”, he says to the others.
Movement: Into the doorway to get eyes on the torch.
Action: Use Mage Hand to grab the torch, and the 30ft of it’s movement to light the egg-sacs at far end of the room, up to those nearest the stairs.
Bonus Action: Telekinetic Shove any goblin who tries to stop the torch, DC16 Str save or moved 5ft. If none do, he will use it to assist closing the door.
Movement: Back to full cover inside the room, allowing space for the other's to close the door
Auger is thankful to feel the magical tugging from Snow and does not resist it as it pulls him back towards the door. Seeing the torch holding the fire moving away and lighting the fires Auger cannot help but smile. This would work to keep the Goblins at bay while also burning out the egg sacs. Perfect! Auger steps back through the door to the vault firing his pushing blasts as he does to force the Goblins back into the darkness to add to the confusion, then he looks to find a way to close and seal the door and points it out to the others if he can find it.
[Late Edit to clarify things]
Details
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Varielky, helps close the door, ensuring that it is as closed as this door can be, then she quickly steps away from it... just in case some flames pass under the door, or something like that. Then, she turns to Granophyre and those he's with. "Do you know the castle's layout? Is there another exit, or are we just trapping ourselves here?" If they're trapped, there'll be plenty of time to worry about the unconscious, if not dead, woman. If they're not trapped, they should be getting out of here as fast as they can. Besides, worrying is the most Varielky can do, if she forced herself, and that's not very helpful anyway.
While she's waiting for an answer, Varielky also tries to listen to those big, heavy steps. Does it sound/feel as if they're getting close, or have they stopped in place, or even turned back? Only once they're out of danger Varielky will be able to relax. Just because nobody swings a sword at you doesn't mean you're no longer on a battlefield.
Varielky
Chapter 8: Friends in Unexpected Places
In response to the frightful bellow, Granophyre stands and sends a tight ball of fire out into the crypt to assist Snow’s torch in setting flame to the egg sacs and the lantern oil. With a whoosh!, small puddles of oil throughout the middle of the room ignite, and flames dance across the floor and lick up and engulf the egg sacs, which begin to writhe and shudder terribly.
The goblins are too involved in avoiding the flames to attempt to halt Snow’s floating torch, which moves at the bard’s will. More goblins tumble into the crypt only to rush to the walls out of reach of the flames, in fear and astonishment, until the source of the bone-wrenching bellow appears, a massive humanoid, 12 feet tall, green frog-like skin, claws like daggers, as heavy as three prize steers stitched together—over 2,500 kilograms, you might guess—and its eyes, shining with red light, focus instantly on Varielky and, like a bull, it —a troll— charges across the room over the low flames, the floor shaking with each pounding step, and, throwing its shoulder forward like a ram, slams into the door.
But a split second before it can cannonball through, Varielky pulls the portal shut, and with a loud click!, the door locks, a subtle blue glow etching its surface with intricate tracings of magical protection.
Outside the door, goblins screech in pain, the troll pounds arhythmically, the flames begin to catch, then die down for smoke and the close air in the crypt give it nothing to feed upon until one of the goblins, feet aflame and in mindless terror, flings open the eastern door to escape into a part of the crypt vented to the cliff face below. Cold air sweeps in, and a fireball erupts in the chamber, goblins shriek in terror, and soon the pounding ceases.
Within the vault, a forty-foot diameter room, with a single magical light in the center of the ceiling illuminating the ornately decorated space, the players are now locked. The servant kneels beside the woman on the ground he told you is his wife, Granophyre now standing with you three.
Empty wine bottles fill a corner, dry and almost odorless. There are several chests, a row of shelves presenting a variety of objects, and, under a dust cloth, a man-sized statue or something similar, and through a narrow 6” grate high in one wall, fresh air.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
As Varielky shuts the door Auger stays vigilant, moving backwards into the chamber and ready to blast anything should it break through the door. As the pounding continues Auger stays focused on the door, though he realizes he is unsteady on his feet. As he hears the explosion from next door, and then the eerie silence as the pounding ends he begins to let himself think they might have completed their task. And survived no less. All of them. All.
As Auger relaxes he bends over, rod still in hand, but those hands on his knees, eyes looking at his own feet. The headache hits him harder than usual. He really had used his powers as much as he could and then much beyond. After a long moment, a regular moment with no connection to the Sea of Stars, Auger slowly stands straight again and looks to the others.
"Well done everyone. We did it," he says. Auger lets his mind wander through the events and think on how they all worked together, particularly at the end step there with the fire setting and this... escape? "That was close but I think we have done a great thing just now. The Goblin spawn burns before they can wreak havoc. We avoided, whatever that large thing was, I think a Troll? Perhaps the flames were too much for it as it is silent now as well. And..." Auger gestures towards the old man and his wife, "...and we have saved -- saved. These two. Excuse me sir, in the tumult I never did get your name. I am called Auger. This is Snow and this is Varielky." Auger almost introduces Granophyre by name before remembering to keep his profile low, "And I'm sure you have already met --" Auger pauses to allow Granophyre to fill in the blank.
Auger participates in any introductory conversation as best as he can while attempting to find a place to sit down and let his mind wander. He really had. Used everything. As Auger relaxes and speaks, he still holds on to the Darkness outside as long as he can. Because who knows what else awaits them here.
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Varielky pushes the door with all her strength, then jumps back at the last moment, starting to draw her blade already, but the stone door seems to hold.
As the noise dies down and the fight appears to be over - at least for now - Varielky wonders whether the door which kept that huge thing outside wouldn't also keep them inside. Death by dehydration or starvation was not one Varielky hoped for.
For now, Varielky leans against one of the walls, trying to rest for a bit. She watches the servant and the woman, but says nothing for now.
Varielky
Snow breathes a sigh of relief as the door shuts in the nick of time, just as the troll reveals itself and charges at them. He winces time and again as it wails on the door, thankful for the magic and stonework that kept the creature out.
As he hears the explosion on the other side, and the pounding stops, he finally relaxes a bit and looks around, seeing he body of the lady on the floor. He wanders over to Strewn and the old man as Auger congratulates them all.
"That we survived what just happened is indeed worth celebrating. Never have I been involved in anything quite like that!", he says in reply to Auger before addressing Strewn and the servant.
"Is there anything I can do to help?", he asks, concern on his face.
The old servant looks up momentarily when the door closes and locks, and again when Auger introduces himself, but although his jaws moves as if searching for words, he seems then almost to forgot the urgency to speak, so dire is the concern, etched deeply in his brow, for the woman laid out on the floor.
She is Shian — although the very tips of her ears are pointy enough to make Snow wonder if she has more than a drop of elvish blood. Yet human she must be, for mortality could hardly be more plainly writ then in her pale, motionless demeanor, while only the barest trace of movement is perceptible in the rising of her chest, the long pause, the slow fall, barely filling her lungs with shallow breaths.
“She is in a coma,” Granophyre whispers in response to Snow, “very near death. Her soul seems to wander far, and I cannot say with certainty that it will ever return. I have attempted to heal her, but… she is beyond healing. I fear any moment could be her last. They have been in this room for weeks and ran out of food long ago, drank the last of the wine two days ago…”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Snow goes to take a look at the Shian lady for himself, but can glean nothing about her condition (Medicine: 4).
”Who is she?”, he asks the servant, reaching out to touch the man’s shoulder so as to indicate he is speaking to him.
“My wife. My wife of fifty years.” He whispers to her, his voice unsteady. “Wake up Ayyur!, the Lord has guests we must see to! Open your eyes!…,” but there is no response.
He looks up at Snow and Auger. “We are the winter keepers of Abziri Castle. I am Juba Isgaden, traveler. And this is Mrs. Isgaden. We, along with poor Reszki Satid, the grounds man, keep — kept — the castle in running order during the cold winter months when the viceroy stays in Kalahata. Until the desert air becomes uncomfortable, after the Spring Festival, when the Lord and house Abziri come here to the dacha. Indeed, we expect him any day…,” he trails off, hopelessness in his voice.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Snow looks to the others then back to the Juba.
“I am afraid of it is the Abziri Viceroy you are waiting for, then he may be delayed by some time. There are issues in Kalahata at present, and there are rumours that the Viceroy has been taken into custody”.
“How did the Dacha come to be overtaken by goblins though? And what part do the Jlasi have in all this?”, he asks curiously.
“It’s that Valet Sekkura Tadefi, that lying scoundrel. So many lives lost. So many. And my sweet Ayyur…,” he chokes on his words for a moment before Turning up to face Snow, his eyes moist, his countenance furious. “I didn’t know it until this all came to pass, but I met him long ago, and I should have remembered. But I did not. He is a Jlasi, or my name isn’t Isgaden. And he has plotted and forged his name on letters and agreements, and — I’m sure of it — kept our letters of warning from the Lord Abziri’s eyes. A kind-hearted soul is he, the Viscount (OOC: I mistakenly wrote Viceroy above), too kind, unwilling — unable to believe — that his trusted servant could betray him so completely.
“And now, he is imprisoned?? Never was there a more honorable soul, for his heart takes after the Yemma, his mother, whose courage was unequalled in all of Orraca u Shia in the summer of her proud life…,” and he trails off again, having already forgotten, apparently, Snow’s question.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
As the others speak Auger finds a spot nearby to sit and closes his eyes. He does not allow his mind to wander this time. He listens.
He hears something of Granophyre's reply to Snow. Clearly the older lady on the floor was very sick. Was there something else they needed? Wine? Oh. They were starving down here. When the old man whispers his wife's name, it sounds a little like his own, so Auger opens one eye, and then seeing he is being addressed he rises and moves over to join the conversation. As the old man speaks of his role and then finally of the Yemma, Auger attempts to make eye contact with Granophyre. There is still a person we can talk to and he is alive here! But clearly he is beside himself with concern.
Auger again looks at the ol--at Mrs. Isgaden and thinks to himself for a moment. The healing arts had never been his specialty but a lack of food and water seemed to be the matter of importance. Auger opens his waterskin and draws forth a swallow of water which he leaves in a small globule floating in the air. The effort in this action had never been substantial, yet for the moment it feels like the limit of his powers. To Juba he simply asks, "May I?" and if he gets a nod of permission, Auger brings single droplets down to Mrs. Isgaden's lips, hoping the water would be revitalizing, "We have food as well. If she can keep any down. And you, Juba, you should probably eat and drink yourself."
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
"Even if she wakes up, she might not be able to eat. Neither should you," Varielky calls from her sitting place. "After fasting for so long, your body can't immediately take food the way it used to. You should start with soft things that are easy to digest, or fruit." Varielky sounds as if she's reciting something. Never did she fast for this long herself. Not even close.
"Anyway, the best we can do to help, right now, is rest so we can fight what's waiting outside later. Or, if you can't sit idly and rest..." Varielky knocks on the door behind her, "find a way to open this thing, so we don't end up in this situation ourselves."
Varielky looks at the wife from where she sits. The pair chose to hide, rather than fight, and this is the situation they ended up in. Punishment from the gods. Now, she did the same. Oh, what a fool. But, she does not plan to stay here for long. Once she regathers her strength, she will find a way out.
(Varielky wants to take a short rest here, unless someone has some other plan of action.)
Varielky