The Slaad smiles again and bows when Liarin doesn't reveal her name, as though acknowledging her prudence in not doing so. If Liarin wishes to ask for help defeating the naga she can roll a Persuasion check. Otherwise you can keep exploring the dungeon.
"You seem like you know what's best for you, which would be helping us defeat your captor. Is there any help, even if just advice or information you can give us in defeating her?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards. DM - The Old Keep
The Slaad smiles and nods, "Of course, I can tell you what I know of the Naga. She is a spellcaster, a powerful one. I'd say she has enough fire power to overwhelm your party alone if you're not careful and try to attack her all in a group. One of her most powerful abilities seems to be the ability to dominate people's minds, not many have the power to resist that particular spell. If you do manage to get close to her, watch out for her bite, her fangs are filled with poison." The Slaad looks at you all again, "I don't think you have much chance, but if you do kill the naga, destroy the red gem she has in her possession, that will free me and open your path to the treasure in this room. My name is Zgotar, you may refer to me as such."
Once Liarin relays what it said, Xanrym bows to the slaad for its advice.
"So...", Xanrym asks once they're done talking to the red slaad, "we'll leave this creature to its pool for now. Where next? Shall we check the caved-in tunnel back down this tunnel, or do we go back toward the mud room and explore the eastern part of this dungeon?"
(OOC: Refer to OOC post #380. I assume that 14a just links to the three bedrooms of the Naga's Teeth. We took the tunnel that's south of area 14, heading west and then turning north. So, we're in the top-left part of that map, probably directly west of area 2. To our south was a tunnel that looked at least partially caved-in. Other than that, our options are the last three in that post: option 3 to the east, option 4 to the north, or option 5 to the spot where we stopped the last guards as they ran.)
"Well, that sounds promising..." Theldin says in a sarcastic tone as he hears the Slaad's opinion of the party's chances of defeating the naga. "Perhaps venturing back to the east," he continues with a shrug, "though it sounds like we might need to really rest up and prepare before we run into the naga."
"Well, that sounds promising..." Theldin says in a sarcastic tone as he hears the Slaad's opinion of the party's chances of defeating the naga. "Perhaps venturing back to the east," he continues with a shrug, "though it sounds like we might need to really rest up and prepare before we run into the naga."
"True, it doesn't tell us much that we didn't already know," Xanrym agrees. "But the advice is sound: once we find the naga, we'll need to coordinate our attack, but we'll have to spread out so that she cannot catch all of us with one spell. That might mean that one of us is charmed or even falls to her attacks. But if she has to focus on one of us at a time, perhaps the others manage to kill her and put an end to her domination of Orlane. And with this new magical staff and a healer of St. Cuthbert," he continues, nodding to Liarin's staff and to Toska, "I feel good about our chances!"
Xanrym is on board with heading back east. He'd prefer to head north through the mud room and back to the hallway outside the dormitories (rooms 8). In particular, they've already cleared most of that area (except hallway 7), and now they know that the slaad guards the pond to the west of room 2. So, the area around the dormitories should be the safest place to start their next push.
And Xanrym agrees with Theldrin's last point, "Yes, let's see whether we can finish clearing out any cultists or monsters on this level and also find the way down to the lower level. Then maybe we can find a room where we can secure the door and rest for the night before we attempt going down to find the naga. And -- who knows? -- gods willing, we may find something else down here that will help us defeat the naga!"
So you head all the way back to the eastern part of the dungeon. When you get to the end of the corridor you caught the guards in, the path turns a dog leg and continues south down a long corridor and turns west again, there are also two doors along the eastern side of this long corridor. You don't hear anything coming from the two doors, nor do they look well used. However, you do hear a very quiet, somewhat musical noise coming from around the corner further south. From further around that corner you hear a big sloshing watery sound.
So you head all the way back to the eastern part of the dungeon. When you get to the end of the corridor you caught the guards in, the path turns a dog leg and continues south down a long corridor and turns west again, there are also two doors along the eastern side of this long corridor.
"As Avery once said," Xanrym quotes, "'Never leave an enemy behind you.' We should check what's behind these doors before we go farther. Besides, any of these rooms down here could also be where they keep their prisoners."
(OOC: IIRC, this map uses 10' squares, so the whole party except for Toska could stand on the square in front of the door with Avery and Liarin up front and Xanrym and Theldrin behind. Check to see whether the door is trapped, and then we could burst through and try to surprise anything that's on the other side.)
There are no traps on the door and it open easily and it opens up into a medium sized room. While the room certainly seems disused, it clearly was not always so. You see bowls littered around and mats on the floor. The most interesting thing about the room is a fairly well designed relief scratched into the wall at the back of the room. You can tell by just a glance that this carving depicts Explictica Defilus herself.
No secret doors. Again, the only thing of interest is the relief on the wall. As you move closer with light, you see that it actually shows Explictica Defilus various times in different sections, growing larger in each section. The smaller version of the naga doesn't have the human like head but is simply a snake, then the next section has a shadowy figure casting a spell and giving her the horrible look you've seen depicted before. Then the next section has her meeting a group of four people, after that she is in a swamp with troglodytes digging a hole for her. After that section is two more, one of her looming over a town with a church on a hill. Then after that, a crowd with thousands of people bowing to the naga and a crown on her head.
No secret doors. Again, the only thing of interest is the relief on the wall....
Xanrym sets his lantern down and studies the bas-relief sculpture while Theldrin searches the room. He's fascinated by what it shows and takes out pen and paper to make a few notes. He says, "These four. I bet these four figures are the 'Naga's Teeth': Blayze, Benn, Jarvis, and the fourth one whom we haven't met -- the one whose room was locked and where we found the Staff of the Python. The other three didn't seem like spellcaters, but this one must be the fourth Naga's Tooth: a dark cleric perhaps." He points at the relevant part of the sculpture that shows the transformation of the giant snake into a human-faced naga.
Xanrym talks to Theldrin (and anyone else who is interested) for a bit. He always thought that nagas were some ancient and dying race of magical snake creatures from before recorded history. But this bas-relief -- assuming that it's true and not just a trick to keep the Naga's Teeth in charge of the cult -- seems to show that the nagas are created. Or perhaps that a naga is formed when a dark cleric summons an evil spirit and houses it in the body of a giant snake. "If that's true, it would be quite a discovery!", Xanyrm says with an inspired and excited tone. He drifts off into a daydream for a moment. He has imagined writing his own book of tales before, but now he can practically see the cover of Xanrym's History of the Heroes of Orlane. He imagines future sages copying the book and sending it to distant libraries because it records important new discoveries on the origins of nagas and other exotic creatures. Thinking of exotic creatures, Xanrym feels a surge of curiosity about the harpy the cult guards mentioned: Araphise.
Xanrym blinks, returning to the present. He updates his map of the dungeon to their current location and then puts away the pen and paper for now. "Unfortunately," he says, "I'm not sure whether this information helps us. Only the most powerful wizards and priests have the knowledge and power to banish demonic spirits back to the Abyss. Perhaps this final Naga's Tooth -- the dark cleric -- knows how to unmake the naga. Or after we find them, perhaps we can at least use the scroll for one of us to take the form of the cleric and get close to the naga, the better to surprise her."
Xanrym suggests checking the other room next, just south of the current room. Same approach: check the door for traps and then open the door suddenly, ready to strike anything that attacks them.
Theldrin joins Xanrym in looking at the relief. "Interesting," he muses as he rubs his beard. "I think you're right, this depicts the Naga's Teeth."
He continues after a long pause, saying with a frown, "This cleric is may indeed be the key to taking down the naga.... in any case we don't want to face them both at the same time if we can help it." He then agrees to move on to the next door.
the path turns a dog leg and continues south down a long corridor and turns west again...you do hear a very quiet, somewhat musical noise coming from around the corner further south. From further around that corner you hear a big sloshing watery sound
Does Xanrym know anything about harpies are what to expect from them? History13 (in game log), or if that should be Nature, it would be a 12.
When the others are ready, Xanrym douses the lantern and puts it away: he wants both hands free for his crossbow. Xanrym creeps forward quietly in the Light from Theldrin's dagger until he reaches the corner where the hallway turns to the west. He peers around that corner, looking for any signs of danger. If it all looks clear, he'll continue forward until the next turn or doorway, following the sound of the musical noise.
Ok you round the corner and get to the source of the noise, a large door marked with a giant black 'X'. It sounds as though there is singing coming from behind this door. The hallway continues on to the west though, where you see another water source, this time much larger than the Slaad Pond. You know from your studies that harpies use song to transfix and beguile their prey, so as to kill and torture witless creatures.
(OOC: That's awesome you're doing that)
The Slaad smiles again and bows when Liarin doesn't reveal her name, as though acknowledging her prudence in not doing so. If Liarin wishes to ask for help defeating the naga she can roll a Persuasion check. Otherwise you can keep exploring the dungeon.
Persuasion: 17 (13 before guidance)
"You seem like you know what's best for you, which would be helping us defeat your captor. Is there any help, even if just advice or information you can give us in defeating her?"
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
The Slaad smiles and nods, "Of course, I can tell you what I know of the Naga. She is a spellcaster, a powerful one. I'd say she has enough fire power to overwhelm your party alone if you're not careful and try to attack her all in a group. One of her most powerful abilities seems to be the ability to dominate people's minds, not many have the power to resist that particular spell. If you do manage to get close to her, watch out for her bite, her fangs are filled with poison." The Slaad looks at you all again, "I don't think you have much chance, but if you do kill the naga, destroy the red gem she has in her possession, that will free me and open your path to the treasure in this room. My name is Zgotar, you may refer to me as such."
Once Liarin relays what it said, Xanrym bows to the slaad for its advice.
"So...", Xanrym asks once they're done talking to the red slaad, "we'll leave this creature to its pool for now. Where next? Shall we check the caved-in tunnel back down this tunnel, or do we go back toward the mud room and explore the eastern part of this dungeon?"
(OOC: Refer to OOC post #380. I assume that 14a just links to the three bedrooms of the Naga's Teeth. We took the tunnel that's south of area 14, heading west and then turning north. So, we're in the top-left part of that map, probably directly west of area 2. To our south was a tunnel that looked at least partially caved-in. Other than that, our options are the last three in that post: option 3 to the east, option 4 to the north, or option 5 to the spot where we stopped the last guards as they ran.)
"Well, that sounds promising..." Theldin says in a sarcastic tone as he hears the Slaad's opinion of the party's chances of defeating the naga. "Perhaps venturing back to the east," he continues with a shrug, "though it sounds like we might need to really rest up and prepare before we run into the naga."
"True, it doesn't tell us much that we didn't already know," Xanrym agrees. "But the advice is sound: once we find the naga, we'll need to coordinate our attack, but we'll have to spread out so that she cannot catch all of us with one spell. That might mean that one of us is charmed or even falls to her attacks. But if she has to focus on one of us at a time, perhaps the others manage to kill her and put an end to her domination of Orlane. And with this new magical staff and a healer of St. Cuthbert," he continues, nodding to Liarin's staff and to Toska, "I feel good about our chances!"
Xanrym is on board with heading back east. He'd prefer to head north through the mud room and back to the hallway outside the dormitories (rooms 8). In particular, they've already cleared most of that area (except hallway 7), and now they know that the slaad guards the pond to the west of room 2. So, the area around the dormitories should be the safest place to start their next push.
And Xanrym agrees with Theldrin's last point, "Yes, let's see whether we can finish clearing out any cultists or monsters on this level and also find the way down to the lower level. Then maybe we can find a room where we can secure the door and rest for the night before we attempt going down to find the naga. And -- who knows? -- gods willing, we may find something else down here that will help us defeat the naga!"
So you head all the way back to the eastern part of the dungeon. When you get to the end of the corridor you caught the guards in, the path turns a dog leg and continues south down a long corridor and turns west again, there are also two doors along the eastern side of this long corridor. You don't hear anything coming from the two doors, nor do they look well used. However, you do hear a very quiet, somewhat musical noise coming from around the corner further south. From further around that corner you hear a big sloshing watery sound.
"As Avery once said," Xanrym quotes, "'Never leave an enemy behind you.' We should check what's behind these doors before we go farther. Besides, any of these rooms down here could also be where they keep their prisoners."
(OOC: IIRC, this map uses 10' squares, so the whole party except for Toska could stand on the square in front of the door with Avery and Liarin up front and Xanrym and Theldrin behind. Check to see whether the door is trapped, and then we could burst through and try to surprise anything that's on the other side.)
Theldrin agrees and pauses by the first door, waiting for Xanrym to check for traps.
There are no traps on the door and it open easily and it opens up into a medium sized room. While the room certainly seems disused, it clearly was not always so. You see bowls littered around and mats on the floor. The most interesting thing about the room is a fairly well designed relief scratched into the wall at the back of the room. You can tell by just a glance that this carving depicts Explictica Defilus herself.
Theldrin moves into the room warily, then searches for anything of interest, including checking for secret doors.
Perception: 7
Investigation: 8
No secret doors. Again, the only thing of interest is the relief on the wall. As you move closer with light, you see that it actually shows Explictica Defilus various times in different sections, growing larger in each section. The smaller version of the naga doesn't have the human like head but is simply a snake, then the next section has a shadowy figure casting a spell and giving her the horrible look you've seen depicted before. Then the next section has her meeting a group of four people, after that she is in a swamp with troglodytes digging a hole for her. After that section is two more, one of her looming over a town with a church on a hill. Then after that, a crowd with thousands of people bowing to the naga and a crown on her head.
I am back
Xanrym sets his lantern down and studies the bas-relief sculpture while Theldrin searches the room. He's fascinated by what it shows and takes out pen and paper to make a few notes. He says, "These four. I bet these four figures are the 'Naga's Teeth': Blayze, Benn, Jarvis, and the fourth one whom we haven't met -- the one whose room was locked and where we found the Staff of the Python. The other three didn't seem like spellcaters, but this one must be the fourth Naga's Tooth: a dark cleric perhaps." He points at the relevant part of the sculpture that shows the transformation of the giant snake into a human-faced naga.
Xanrym talks to Theldrin (and anyone else who is interested) for a bit. He always thought that nagas were some ancient and dying race of magical snake creatures from before recorded history. But this bas-relief -- assuming that it's true and not just a trick to keep the Naga's Teeth in charge of the cult -- seems to show that the nagas are created. Or perhaps that a naga is formed when a dark cleric summons an evil spirit and houses it in the body of a giant snake. "If that's true, it would be quite a discovery!", Xanyrm says with an inspired and excited tone. He drifts off into a daydream for a moment. He has imagined writing his own book of tales before, but now he can practically see the cover of Xanrym's History of the Heroes of Orlane. He imagines future sages copying the book and sending it to distant libraries because it records important new discoveries on the origins of nagas and other exotic creatures. Thinking of exotic creatures, Xanrym feels a surge of curiosity about the harpy the cult guards mentioned: Araphise.
Xanrym blinks, returning to the present. He updates his map of the dungeon to their current location and then puts away the pen and paper for now. "Unfortunately," he says, "I'm not sure whether this information helps us. Only the most powerful wizards and priests have the knowledge and power to banish demonic spirits back to the Abyss. Perhaps this final Naga's Tooth -- the dark cleric -- knows how to unmake the naga. Or after we find them, perhaps we can at least use the scroll for one of us to take the form of the cleric and get close to the naga, the better to surprise her."
Xanrym suggests checking the other room next, just south of the current room. Same approach: check the door for traps and then open the door suddenly, ready to strike anything that attacks them.
Theldrin joins Xanrym in looking at the relief. "Interesting," he muses as he rubs his beard. "I think you're right, this depicts the Naga's Teeth."
He continues after a long pause, saying with a frown, "This cleric is may indeed be the key to taking down the naga.... in any case we don't want to face them both at the same time if we can help it." He then agrees to move on to the next door.
Sorry i didn't mention before. Both of the doors lead into this room. It's fairly big, and the two entrances are at the north and south end.
(OOC: Ah. Got it.)
Does Xanrym know anything about harpies are what to expect from them? History 13 (in game log), or if that should be Nature, it would be a 12.
When the others are ready, Xanrym douses the lantern and puts it away: he wants both hands free for his crossbow. Xanrym creeps forward quietly in the Light from Theldrin's dagger until he reaches the corner where the hallway turns to the west. He peers around that corner, looking for any signs of danger. If it all looks clear, he'll continue forward until the next turn or doorway, following the sound of the musical noise.
Stealth 13
Perception 8
Ok you round the corner and get to the source of the noise, a large door marked with a giant black 'X'. It sounds as though there is singing coming from behind this door. The hallway continues on to the west though, where you see another water source, this time much larger than the Slaad Pond. You know from your studies that harpies use song to transfix and beguile their prey, so as to kill and torture witless creatures.
Avery looks at the door with a large "X" on it, "This can't be a good sign, a warning perhaps, stay out?"