The man seems to be oblivious to Starker's comments, and to Chadwick now as well until he speaks again. "You are from the Justice Bringer? Come to deliver Justice to me. The Dawn Lord has forsaken me. I am transgressed.............As above...." His mutterings continue in the plodding and slow cadence.
Kragen frowns at Starker's comment, yet recognizes his "approach" has influenced this Tiefling to be more compliant and helpful. Kragen, uncomfortable with the subterfuge, recognizes that to ensure The Companies safety, he may have to use that newly found desire of self-preservation.
"My colleague has spoken true, we have what we came for." nods to Starker "However, if you are willing to assist, we will ensure you leave with us." The Company, knowing Kragen's character, can clearly tell Kragen is uncomfortable with his line of questioning.
"The first step is any information on the workings of your bindings? How do we remove them? I suspect that take a magical means, is there a device or do we need to counteract their enchantment?"
Kragen grabs the Hematite stones with Dwarven X on them from Starker and applies them, one by one to the manacles binding the Tiefling.
Starker:”Father, I recall that if these stones are given to their Xagyg-approved owner, they glow as does mine <shows his glowing blue>. I thought we might use them to verify that these are not more evidence of Illiandil’s cruel cunning by asking them to hold them.
“There are three stones. Do you know the fate of the owner of the third?”
Offering the stones to the captives has differing results. The tiefling woman shows no recognition when shown the stone. It does not glow in her presence. "I know nothing of that trinket, mage. Free me and let us leave this place."
The man becomes somewhat more lucid when the stone is shown to him, "Xagyg...." he croaks. The stone glows a dim blue light in his presence. "The Foul One fed souls to the face to eat. The voices there gave him power. He would have me hold them as their souls were consumed.............As above, unbound; As below, reclaimed.." His speech remains plodding.
Trolkarl motions for others to join him away from the captives, back in the library. Sharing for any that join-
While examining the face, Darkbane warned me that it is very dangerous. And the voices from it say: "Their cries sweeten the void… their pain feeds eternity…"
Then hearing this man mention "as above unbound, as below reclaimed." The level above us was:
Another set of cells in the room, we found the puzzle box associated with the far realm
Also, the Well of Life- why is this in the lair of a lich
Was there some elaborate process to keep his essence through this face? Otherwise I have no idea what above and below might mean
Starker casts his Knock upon the manacles holding the man. The runes and sigils along the length of the chains and manacles flare and resist his spell. INT ability check = 14. The manacles do not yield and the man remains held.
Starker:”Would it be possible to get some Guidance or supplementary assistive prayers, here, as I try with the female tiedling? I am wrestling with a spell which resists with the strength of Illiandil and will likely fail if unaided.”
Starker:”Would it be possible to get some Guidance or supplementary assistive prayers, here, as I try with the female tiedling? I am wrestling with a spell which resists with the strength of Illiandil and will likely fail if unaided.”
Kragen walks to Starker, grabs both his hands in his, and says a prayer to Tyr... dramatically. You can see Starker is visibly uncomfortable while Kragen is touching him and he rolls his eyes as he administers Tyr's divine powers.
Guidance Cantrip 1d4 to an ability check using a chosen skill.
The man in chains tenses up when Starker casts his spell. The flaring runes cause him to flinch. “I cannot say the words……….another…….,” he stammers out and collapses after the failed attempt.
Starker:”Thank you, Father. It seems even Tyr’s mighty flood can not fill a leaky, unworthy vessel. I am sorry, Friends and Colleagues, it looks like I can not craft a shortcut through the daedal maze with my craft. Let us see what my wit can do.”
goes to 6 jeweled whispering face and investigates (=27).
The face whispers its message in Abyssal while Starker is close. It is a gruesome visage to behold. There does not seem to be much to learn from it.
The man continues his muttering, "...must say the words........he made me hold them while the face took their souls.......as above...." He continues to fade in an out of lucidity.
The tiefling woman seems to be becoming more panicked. "Dwarf! You are not going to just leave me here? For that monster!!?? Release me!," her pleas overlapping with a demanding tone. She has a desperation look on her face. She suddenly calms as a puzzled look comes across her face, “How long have you been inside the complex?,” she asks.
Starker attempts to remove the red stones from the face.
The eyes burn with a dull red light……
(( At thefar end of the room, dominating the entire wall, is amassive demonic visage— horned, six-eyed, and grinning with a row of fanged teeth longer than daggers. Its eyes burn with dull red light, and a faint heat wafts from its nostrils. When anyone enters within 20 feet of the face, they hear soft whispering in Abyssal.))
Starker, quite loud:”Not stones … I would be interested in studying this process. … hm, think, think, think … The man is a fellow member of Xagyg’s circle and we may be under some small obligation to him. (There are or were two others). The tiefling is neither here nor there. If she doesn’t make herself useful by giving us specific actionable intelligence about what happens when the 3 hour glass’ top chamber is empty perhaps she could be made useful as the subject of my studies of this hungry face.”
The man seems to be oblivious to Starker's comments, and to Chadwick now as well until he speaks again. "You are from the Justice Bringer? Come to deliver Justice to me. The Dawn Lord has forsaken me. I am transgressed.............As above...." His mutterings continue in the plodding and slow cadence.
Kragen frowns at Starker's comment, yet recognizes his "approach" has influenced this Tiefling to be more compliant and helpful. Kragen, uncomfortable with the subterfuge, recognizes that to ensure The Companies safety, he may have to use that newly found desire of self-preservation.
"My colleague has spoken true, we have what we came for." nods to Starker "However, if you are willing to assist, we will ensure you leave with us." The Company, knowing Kragen's character, can clearly tell Kragen is uncomfortable with his line of questioning.
"The first step is any information on the workings of your bindings? How do we remove them? I suspect that take a magical means, is there a device or do we need to counteract their enchantment?"
Kragen grabs the Hematite stones with Dwarven X on them from Starker and applies them, one by one to the manacles binding the Tiefling.
Starker:”Father, I recall that if these stones are given to their Xagyg-approved owner, they glow as does mine <shows his glowing blue>. I thought we might use them to verify that these are not more evidence of Illiandil’s cruel cunning by asking them to hold them.
“There are three stones. Do you know the fate of the owner of the third?”
Offering the stones to the captives has differing results. The tiefling woman shows no recognition when shown the stone. It does not glow in her presence. "I know nothing of that trinket, mage. Free me and let us leave this place."
The man becomes somewhat more lucid when the stone is shown to him, "Xagyg...." he croaks. The stone glows a dim blue light in his presence. "The Foul One fed souls to the face to eat. The voices there gave him power. He would have me hold them as their souls were consumed.............As above, unbound; As below, reclaimed.." His speech remains plodding.
Trolkarl motions for others to join him away from the captives, back in the library.
Sharing for any that join-
While examining the face, Darkbane warned me that it is very dangerous.
And the voices from it say: "Their cries sweeten the void… their pain feeds eternity…"
Then hearing this man mention "as above unbound, as below reclaimed."
The level above us was:
Was there some elaborate process to keep his essence through this face? Otherwise I have no idea what above and below might mean
Starker:”I wonder if it could be as simple as replacing the red gems in the face with something else to release the prisoners.”
<also, if either of the imprisoned held Xagyg’s tokens and they glowed blue, Starker did cast Knock on the manacles>
…
Starker casts his Knock upon the manacles holding the man. The runes and sigils along the length of the chains and manacles flare and resist his spell. INT ability check = 14. The manacles do not yield and the man remains held.
Starker:”Would it be possible to get some Guidance or supplementary assistive prayers, here, as I try with the female tiedling? I am wrestling with a spell which resists with the strength of Illiandil and will likely fail if unaided.”
Kragen walks to Starker, grabs both his hands in his, and says a prayer to Tyr... dramatically. You can see Starker is visibly uncomfortable while Kragen is touching him and he rolls his eyes as he administers Tyr's divine powers.
Guidance Cantrip 1d4 to an ability check using a chosen skill.
The man in chains tenses up when Starker casts his spell. The flaring runes cause him to flinch. “I cannot say the words……….another…….,” he stammers out and collapses after the failed attempt.
Starker:”Thank you, Father. It seems even Tyr’s mighty flood can not fill a leaky, unworthy vessel. I am sorry, Friends and Colleagues, it looks like I can not craft a shortcut through the daedal maze with my craft. Let us see what my wit can do.”
goes to 6 jeweled whispering face and investigates (=27).
“six slots, six red jewels, six cells …”
The face whispers its message in Abyssal while Starker is close. It is a gruesome visage to behold. There does not seem to be much to learn from it.
The man continues his muttering, "...must say the words........he made me hold them while the face took their souls.......as above...." He continues to fade in an out of lucidity.
The tiefling woman seems to be becoming more panicked. "Dwarf! You are not going to just leave me here? For that monster!!?? Release me!," her pleas overlapping with a demanding tone. She has a desperation look on her face. She suddenly calms as a puzzled look comes across her face, “How long have you been inside the complex?,” she asks.
(( Your guess is three hours+ ))
(Did either/both of them cause a xagyg stone to glow blue?)
The man. See post 9570
Starker attempts to remove the red stones from the face.
The eyes burn with a dull red light……
(( At the far end of the room, dominating the entire wall, is a massive demonic visage — horned, six-eyed, and grinning with a row of fanged teeth longer than daggers. Its eyes burn with dull red light, and a faint heat wafts from its nostrils. When anyone enters within 20 feet of the face, they hear soft whispering in Abyssal.))
Starker, quite loud:”Not stones … I would be interested in studying this process. … hm, think, think, think … The man is a fellow member of Xagyg’s circle and we may be under some small obligation to him. (There are or were two others). The tiefling is neither here nor there. If she doesn’t make herself useful by giving us specific actionable intelligence about what happens when the 3 hour glass’ top chamber is empty perhaps she could be made useful as the subject of my studies of this hungry face.”
"How long have you been in the tomb?," she repeats. This time more calmly and directed at Kragen.
(( Her question has not yet been answered by anyone, so expectations from her about that information are excessive....))