(OOC: Oops, I must have misunderstood then. Werhann will have described it properly to the others, but other than the smell and the presence of another door, I don't believe there would be any significant difference. As for the different voice, Werhann doesn't mention it at the moment, intending to first see what's behind the door and only then draw conclusions.)
Progo, still hesitant in rushing to the front of thier makeshift company, has stopped verbally voicing his concerns. He still had plenty but if had accepted the fact that he was committed now and needed to see the out and knew excess noise was not only useless but detrimental and possibly be harmful to thier success. Bow raised, arrow knocked, he follows I the back fringes of Lokilia's magic aura.
Normont hears the gnomish nursery rhyme through the door, and doesn't get any hint of a privy smell. He highly doubts it is regular children being sung to behind the door, and he gets a chill as he finds it more than a little creepy.
But what he said before is still true, they can't leave something potentially dangerous behind them.
He briefly looks back to the others to make sure they are ready, then happy that the door is not trapped he will reach forward and look to open it quickly, stepping back as he does so as to put Maggie between himself and whatever is in there.
Amber remains perched on his shoulder.
(OOC: @DM - I assume as you didn't mention anything about traps, there either isn't one on the door, or he rolled too low to spot it. Also, what is Quinn doing in all this? He is our usual muscle)
Dev nods that he is ready, and will take the Dodge maneuver, in case something terrible erupts from the door.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries //Dev Horndin Curious Critters
The door is opened and within is a small chamber lit only by a single brazier.....the walls and floors are discoloured by various dried fluids and there were racks of chemical compounds and a number of flasks of different coloured liquids and materials.
Seated on a small bench was a figure about Normonts size , dressed in the ruined remnants of a dress shirt and slacks he was speaking to two other figures which were crouched at his feet......
The two crouched figures were malformed purple skinned things with outsized facial tendrils and stunted malformed limbs....the other figure matched descriptions some of the others had read about Mindflayers.......just much, much smaller......
As the door opened all three looked up towards the door, watchng Maggie with interest.....and the others with not a little....hunger......
"Mindflayers," Lokilia says in a rather soft voice. "Really tiny ones. I'm no expert, but they're probably still really dangerous." She backs up a little but starts to pull out some stones from her pouch, preparing to enchant them. She looks to the others, mostly Normont, to see what they would do.
Normont stands and stares at the three strange creatures, and something ticks over in his mind as he looks at the gnome-mindflayer hybrid. At least he assumes there is a gnomish part as the creature was singing in gnomish.
He keeps his rifle trained on the room, and Maggie stays alert, ready to defend the group if needed.
"Could this gnome? be the one that the letter mentioned has outlived it's usefulness? Were we on the wrong path thinking that was Glinnick?", he asks in a quiet voice.
Now speaking to the gnome-mindlfayer, he asks, "Who are you? Why are you here? Are there others like you here, bigger ones?". He asks first in common, then in gnomish.
Werhann, although ready to swing the glaive he holds, restrains himself at the moment. He'd attack first and ask questions later, in this case, since having been caught once, he knows the threats here are not to be underestimated (OOC: Does he remember anything from how he was caught, by the way?). The only thing stopping him is the fact that everyone around him, for now, keeps some level of calm. Why do they not attack? He doesn't know, but he decides that, while he's just tagging along, he won't be the one initiating the fight. Furthermore, once the Gnome in front of him speaks, Werhann realises they know a bit more than he does, maybe, so perhaps it's best to leave it up to them, for more than one reason.
But even so, those tendrils... were those the fingers he felt? He shuddered, preferring not to think about what was done to him. Then he tightens and relaxes his fingers around the pole of his weapon. 'Keep it relaxed until just before it hits,' he thinks, recalling his training, while staying ready to swing the blade if either side takes any hostile move against the other.
"Mindflayers," Lokilia says in a rather soft voice. "Really tiny ones. I'm no expert, but they're probably still really dangerous." She backs up a little but starts to pull out some stones from her pouch, preparing to enchant them. She looks to the others, mostly Normont, to see what they would do.
Quinn watched the goings on in the room carefully but he kept glancing back toward the other room....
Normont stands and stares at the three strange creatures, and something ticks over in his mind as he looks at the gnome-mindflayer hybrid. At least he assumes there is a gnomish part as the creature was singing in gnomish.
He keeps his rifle trained on the room, and Maggie stays alert, ready to defend the group if needed.
"Could this gnome? be the one that the letter mentioned has outlived it's usefulness? Were we on the wrong path thinking that was Glinnick?", he asks in a quiet voice.
Now speaking to the gnome-mindlfayer, he asks, "Who are you? Why are you here? Are there others like you here, bigger ones?". He asks first in common, then in gnomish.
" Who?", a thin reedy...slightly liquid..voice repeated. " No one now. No one."
The creature twitched occasionally, its hands held out towards the other two twisted creatures.
" He is gone.....thrown away.....new pet..."
" You should go......very hungry....they are......I am."
Werhann, although ready to swing the glaive he holds, restrains himself at the moment. He'd attack first and ask questions later, in this case, since having been caught once, he knows the threats here are not to be underestimated (OOC: Does he remember anything from how he was caught, by the way?). The only thing stopping him is the fact that everyone around him, for now, keeps some level of calm. Why do they not attack? He doesn't know, but he decides that, while he's just tagging along, he won't be the one initiating the fight. Furthermore, once the Gnome in front of him speaks, Werhann realises they know a bit more than he does, maybe, so perhaps it's best to leave it up to them, for more than one reason.
But even so, those tendrils... were those the fingers he felt? He shuddered, preferring not to think about what was done to him. Then he tightens and relaxes his fingers around the pole of his weapon. 'Keep it relaxed until just before it hits,' he thinks, recalling his training, while staying ready to swing the blade if either side takes any hostile move against the other.
( Werhanns only memory of being captured is tracking strange tracks through the Timberlands outside the Western walls of Whitestone, seeing something small scurry away and then his brain felt like it got smashed between two steel plates and he blacked out.)
Normont and Werhann taking in the rather incongruously well dressed gnome-things form you both suddenly note large gold cufflinks shaped in the form of rabbits......this was Phindis Lagom...a travelling tinker and somewhat incorrigible thief....you've both had run ins with him over the years as part of your duties. Completely harmless, bit of a Jack-the-Lad.....itinerant throughout northern Tal'dorei. Drove a colourful yellow and pink goat cart.....always travelled with his two young.......daughters.......
Lokilia continues to warily watch these three. She's waiting to see what the others decide, certainly hoping for a non-violent resolution. However, she says, "I think it's probably too late for these. And I'm not sure why we came all this way if not to do something." Still, she waits to make any attack.
Progo draws his bow on first sight of these hideous hideous creatures. He almost released the string but then the others started talking to them. Curious and yet realizing they planned to talk their way through this, Progo starts slowly backing up, putting more distance between himself and the group, but more importantly between himself and thise creatures. They talk!? Progo almost released the arrow again when they spoke pausing a moment to aim the arrow more then waving it arround as a threat.
(OOC: Would Progo know Phindis Lagom? Possibly as competition of a merchant? If so Progo might have to inquire of the yellow and pink goat cart's status, assuming Phindis had no more use for it in his current state!)
"Hammer and tongs! Phindis, is that you?", Normont asks in a voice filled with shock.
"The mindflayer creature did this to you? And to someone else, their new pet? Where are they both now? Please help us make sure they can't do this to anyone else", he pleads whilst remaining alert. Maggie still stands in the doorway, stopping the three former gnomes from leaving.
Although not sure at first, hearing the Gnome mention the former Gnome's name affirms the thought. Werhann lowers his glaive, not certain that the malformed Gnome can't be dangerous, but at least believing that they aren't the main threat.
But far more worrying is the mention of a new pet. The guards called him that, and immediately, Werhann thinks of that feeling of something coiling inside him. "No," he says grimly, "those guards, when they referred to me, used that word too. 'Pet'. Perhaps I'm lucky, not having reached that state, yet."He goes silent. Does that Gnome now possess abilities, like Werhann does? It could be dangerous, then.
And what the former Gnome said, it sound like it is... not in control, maybe. And if that's the case, then he cannot in good conscience leave it be. It's his duty as a Hunter, after all. But will the others around him accept that? More than anything, how can he tell them without revealing his thoughts to the former Gnome, possibly alerting it?
Werhann looks at Normont, thinking that, if any of them could understand, maybe it's the one with the rifle? 'We should probably put them out of their misery, lest they end up hurting anyone else,' he thinks. Unbeknowst to Werhann, these words are directly, telepathically, transmitted to Normont's mind (OOC: Awakened Mind feature).
(OOC: The feature doesn't say, but I imagine that it should be recognisible to someone who had just heard Werhann talk. Especially if he doesn't try to mask it somehow. Up to the DM though. Either way is fine by me.)
Dev remains watchful of the passageways behind them, for with the others blocking the door, he can only make out whispers. But the glimpses he sees are beyond belief and he shudders, horrified. (Perception while guarding the rear: 19+2=21)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries //Dev Horndin Curious Critters
Hearing Werhann mention the guards had called him a pet takes Normont back a little, making him wonder what the dwarf had been through during his time in these tunnels. Perhaps Werhann is right, that whatever fate had befallen Phindis would have happened to Werhann in time.
Thankfully they arrived in time. It also occurs to him that maybe the ritual that they have been learning about involved this transformation that Phindis had undergone.
Just as that thought occurs to him, an alien presence enters his mind and introduces another thought. An external thought. A thought he can identify as originating from the dwarf next to him.
His eyes go wide and he reaches up to his head as if he will feel something different. When he doesn't he looks back to Werhann, who can see his pupils are still dilated in shock.
"I..I..agree. But...after they...", he mumbles, automatically processing a response to Werhann's thought, before he gathers his wits. "Nuts and bolts, how did you do that? How are your thoughts in my mind?", he asks, his attention now divided between the dwarf and the former gnome family.
Lokilia is just watching, but ready to spring to action. When Normont says something about thoughts in his mind she nearly leaps into an attack, fearing something has gone the gnome. But she manages to restrain herself and realizes he seems to be speaking to Werhann. All the talk about 'pets' and especially Werhann referencing himself has her concerned. But for now she waits to see how it plays out.
"My thoughts?" Werhann replies in slight confusion. "To what exactly are you referring?" This was hardly the right time for jokes.
Or maybe this is the part where this group betrays him back to the squid's hands? 'No, but rather, could it be another of the squid's influences?' Werhann thinks, again unaware that the thought protrudes from his mind into Normont's.
"In any case, this isn't the time for jokes. Regardless of who they were before, these creatures could be dangerous. I'm sorry, Phindis, if it's really you. But if you think you, these two, can't control themselves, I'll have to treat you accordingly. Do you think you could remain... Humane, provided normal food?" He turns back to Progo, thinking the goodberries he received were his creation. "Do you hold any more of those filling berries, Progo?"
"Hammer and tongs! Phindis, is that you?", Normont asks in a voice filled with shock.
"The mindflayer creature did this to you? And to someone else, their new pet? Where are they both now? Please help us make sure they can't do this to anyone else", he pleads whilst remaining alert. Maggie still stands in the doorway, stopping the three former gnomes from leaving.
There is a slight nod from the form that was once Phindis....followed by other nods and shrugs....Normont could tell there were other concurrent conversations going on between Phindis and his...daughters....perhaps others....
Although not sure at first, hearing the Gnome mention the former Gnome's name affirms the thought. Werhann lowers his glaive, not certain that the malformed Gnome can't be dangerous, but at least believing that they aren't the main threat.
But far more worrying is the mention of a new pet. The guards called him that, and immediately, Werhann thinks of that feeling of something coiling inside him. "No," he says grimly, "those guards, when they referred to me, used that word too. 'Pet'. Perhaps I'm lucky, not having reached that state, yet."He goes silent. Does that Gnome now possess abilities, like Werhann does? It could be dangerous, then.
And what the former Gnome said, it sound like it is... not in control, maybe. And if that's the case, then he cannot in good conscience leave it be. It's his duty as a Hunter, after all. But will the others around him accept that? More than anything, how can he tell them without revealing his thoughts to the former Gnome, possibly alerting it?
Werhann looks at Normont, thinking that, if any of them could understand, maybe it's the one with the rifle? 'We should probably put them out of their misery, lest they end up hurting anyone else,' he thinks. Unbeknowst to Werhann, these words are directly, telepathically, transmitted to Normont's mind (OOC: Awakened Mind feature).
Dev remains watchful of the passageways behind them, for with the others blocking the door, he can only make out whispers. But the glimpses he sees are beyond belief and he shudders, horrified. (Perception while guarding the rear: 19+2=21)
Devs senses are honed but for now he hears nothing.....
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(OOC: Oops, I must have misunderstood then. Werhann will have described it properly to the others, but other than the smell and the presence of another door, I don't believe there would be any significant difference. As for the different voice, Werhann doesn't mention it at the moment, intending to first see what's behind the door and only then draw conclusions.)
Varielky | Werhann
Progo, still hesitant in rushing to the front of thier makeshift company, has stopped verbally voicing his concerns. He still had plenty but if had accepted the fact that he was committed now and needed to see the out and knew excess noise was not only useless but detrimental and possibly be harmful to thier success. Bow raised, arrow knocked, he follows I the back fringes of Lokilia's magic aura.
Dev nods that he is ready, and will take the Dodge maneuver, in case something terrible erupts from the door.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
The door is opened and within is a small chamber lit only by a single brazier.....the walls and floors are discoloured by various dried fluids and there were racks of chemical compounds and a number of flasks of different coloured liquids and materials.
Seated on a small bench was a figure about Normonts size , dressed in the ruined remnants of a dress shirt and slacks he was speaking to two other figures which were crouched at his feet......
The two crouched figures were malformed purple skinned things with outsized facial tendrils and stunted malformed limbs....the other figure matched descriptions some of the others had read about Mindflayers.......just much, much smaller......
As the door opened all three looked up towards the door, watchng Maggie with interest.....and the others with not a little....hunger......
"Mindflayers," Lokilia says in a rather soft voice. "Really tiny ones. I'm no expert, but they're probably still really dangerous." She backs up a little but starts to pull out some stones from her pouch, preparing to enchant them. She looks to the others, mostly Normont, to see what they would do.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard || Iromae Quinaea, Cleric
Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Normont stands and stares at the three strange creatures, and something ticks over in his mind as he looks at the gnome-mindflayer hybrid. At least he assumes there is a gnomish part as the creature was singing in gnomish.
He keeps his rifle trained on the room, and Maggie stays alert, ready to defend the group if needed.
"Could this gnome? be the one that the letter mentioned has outlived it's usefulness? Were we on the wrong path thinking that was Glinnick?", he asks in a quiet voice.
Now speaking to the gnome-mindlfayer, he asks, "Who are you? Why are you here? Are there others like you here, bigger ones?". He asks first in common, then in gnomish.
Werhann, although ready to swing the glaive he holds, restrains himself at the moment. He'd attack first and ask questions later, in this case, since having been caught once, he knows the threats here are not to be underestimated (OOC: Does he remember anything from how he was caught, by the way?). The only thing stopping him is the fact that everyone around him, for now, keeps some level of calm. Why do they not attack? He doesn't know, but he decides that, while he's just tagging along, he won't be the one initiating the fight. Furthermore, once the Gnome in front of him speaks, Werhann realises they know a bit more than he does, maybe, so perhaps it's best to leave it up to them, for more than one reason.
But even so, those tendrils... were those the fingers he felt? He shuddered, preferring not to think about what was done to him. Then he tightens and relaxes his fingers around the pole of his weapon. 'Keep it relaxed until just before it hits,' he thinks, recalling his training, while staying ready to swing the blade if either side takes any hostile move against the other.
Varielky | Werhann
Quinn watched the goings on in the room carefully but he kept glancing back toward the other room....
" Who?", a thin reedy...slightly liquid..voice repeated. " No one now. No one."
The creature twitched occasionally, its hands held out towards the other two twisted creatures.
" He is gone.....thrown away.....new pet..."
" You should go......very hungry....they are......I am."
( Werhanns only memory of being captured is tracking strange tracks through the Timberlands outside the Western walls of Whitestone, seeing something small scurry away and then his brain felt like it got smashed between two steel plates and he blacked out.)
Normont and Werhann taking in the rather incongruously well dressed gnome-things form you both suddenly note large gold cufflinks shaped in the form of rabbits......this was Phindis Lagom...a travelling tinker and somewhat incorrigible thief....you've both had run ins with him over the years as part of your duties. Completely harmless, bit of a Jack-the-Lad.....itinerant throughout northern Tal'dorei. Drove a colourful yellow and pink goat cart.....always travelled with his two young.......daughters.......
Lokilia continues to warily watch these three. She's waiting to see what the others decide, certainly hoping for a non-violent resolution. However, she says, "I think it's probably too late for these. And I'm not sure why we came all this way if not to do something." Still, she waits to make any attack.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard || Iromae Quinaea, Cleric
Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Progo draws his bow on first sight of these hideous hideous creatures. He almost released the string but then the others started talking to them. Curious and yet realizing they planned to talk their way through this, Progo starts slowly backing up, putting more distance between himself and the group, but more importantly between himself and thise creatures. They talk!? Progo almost released the arrow again when they spoke pausing a moment to aim the arrow more then waving it arround as a threat.
(OOC: Would Progo know Phindis Lagom? Possibly as competition of a merchant? If so Progo might have to inquire of the yellow and pink goat cart's status, assuming Phindis had no more use for it in his current state!)
"Hammer and tongs! Phindis, is that you?", Normont asks in a voice filled with shock.
"The mindflayer creature did this to you? And to someone else, their new pet? Where are they both now? Please help us make sure they can't do this to anyone else", he pleads whilst remaining alert. Maggie still stands in the doorway, stopping the three former gnomes from leaving.
Although not sure at first, hearing the Gnome mention the former Gnome's name affirms the thought. Werhann lowers his glaive, not certain that the malformed Gnome can't be dangerous, but at least believing that they aren't the main threat.
But far more worrying is the mention of a new pet. The guards called him that, and immediately, Werhann thinks of that feeling of something coiling inside him. "No," he says grimly, "those guards, when they referred to me, used that word too. 'Pet'. Perhaps I'm lucky, not having reached that state, yet." He goes silent. Does that Gnome now possess abilities, like Werhann does? It could be dangerous, then.
And what the former Gnome said, it sound like it is... not in control, maybe. And if that's the case, then he cannot in good conscience leave it be. It's his duty as a Hunter, after all. But will the others around him accept that? More than anything, how can he tell them without revealing his thoughts to the former Gnome, possibly alerting it?
Werhann looks at Normont, thinking that, if any of them could understand, maybe it's the one with the rifle? 'We should probably put them out of their misery, lest they end up hurting anyone else,' he thinks. Unbeknowst to Werhann, these words are directly, telepathically, transmitted to Normont's mind (OOC: Awakened Mind feature).
Varielky | Werhann
(OOC: Can Normont tell that the telepathic communication is from Werhann? Is it his ‘voice’ for example?)
(OOC: The feature doesn't say, but I imagine that it should be recognisible to someone who had just heard Werhann talk. Especially if he doesn't try to mask it somehow. Up to the DM though. Either way is fine by me.)
Varielky | Werhann
Dev remains watchful of the passageways behind them, for with the others blocking the door, he can only make out whispers. But the glimpses he sees are beyond belief and he shudders, horrified. (Perception while guarding the rear: 19+2=21)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
( I'd say Normont recognises the thought a coming from Werhann.)
Hearing Werhann mention the guards had called him a pet takes Normont back a little, making him wonder what the dwarf had been through during his time in these tunnels. Perhaps Werhann is right, that whatever fate had befallen Phindis would have happened to Werhann in time.
Thankfully they arrived in time. It also occurs to him that maybe the ritual that they have been learning about involved this transformation that Phindis had undergone.
Just as that thought occurs to him, an alien presence enters his mind and introduces another thought. An external thought. A thought he can identify as originating from the dwarf next to him.
His eyes go wide and he reaches up to his head as if he will feel something different. When he doesn't he looks back to Werhann, who can see his pupils are still dilated in shock.
"I..I..agree. But...after they...", he mumbles, automatically processing a response to Werhann's thought, before he gathers his wits. "Nuts and bolts, how did you do that? How are your thoughts in my mind?", he asks, his attention now divided between the dwarf and the former gnome family.
Lokilia is just watching, but ready to spring to action. When Normont says something about thoughts in his mind she nearly leaps into an attack, fearing something has gone the gnome. But she manages to restrain herself and realizes he seems to be speaking to Werhann. All the talk about 'pets' and especially Werhann referencing himself has her concerned. But for now she waits to see how it plays out.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard || Iromae Quinaea, Cleric
Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
"My thoughts?" Werhann replies in slight confusion. "To what exactly are you referring?" This was hardly the right time for jokes.
Or maybe this is the part where this group betrays him back to the squid's hands? 'No, but rather, could it be another of the squid's influences?' Werhann thinks, again unaware that the thought protrudes from his mind into Normont's.
"In any case, this isn't the time for jokes. Regardless of who they were before, these creatures could be dangerous. I'm sorry, Phindis, if it's really you. But if you think you, these two, can't control themselves, I'll have to treat you accordingly. Do you think you could remain... Humane, provided normal food?" He turns back to Progo, thinking the goodberries he received were his creation. "Do you hold any more of those filling berries, Progo?"
Varielky | Werhann
There is a slight nod from the form that was once Phindis....followed by other nods and shrugs....Normont could tell there were other concurrent conversations going on between Phindis and his...daughters....perhaps others....
Devs senses are honed but for now he hears nothing.....