"I'm sure Lady Hallwinter would have wanted you to use it Kit, like she once used it, bravely against the forces of darkness."The young dark-haired man says uncharacteristically firmly to the obstinate half-elf.
"And I'm certain she intended for the person who freed her to have it,"she retorts, "but, since you're clearly too daft..."
She removes her own shield and leaves it leaning against one of the tombs. Removing Lady Hallwinter's shield from her pack and unwrapping it, she quickly stows the blanket back in pack and tests it weight and balance.
(Tabby should absolutely take Kit's shield. She'll leave it behind without even thinking to ask if anyone wants/can use it.)
As the half-elf starts to play her river seed flute the young dark-haired man first listens, and then he smiles and dances around, and then he starts to sing to the cheerful wind instrument music.
"There was a wise god over Toril that many a tome wrote with his quill he screamed, Knowledge is power! from his old dreary tower and probably he's writing there still."
Kit had never really mastered the Elvish art of aloof detachment but she limits her response to a sparkle in her eyes and a slight turning at the corner of her mouth. Jack certainly wasn't graceful by Elvish standards, but his dancing wasn't terrible and the limerick was quite amusing. She could see how a woman like Kevori or Khessa might be taken with him.
Khessa gives a half-hearted smile at the display… she seems to appreciate it in a way, but is less amused than she should be. However, she decides to be optimistic and awaits the outcome...
'It's true that I think we needs something else, to reconsecrate this shrine,' the blonde arcane warrior thinks to herself 'but I still have to remember that these companions of mine are true adventurers... They know about these things. They chose this life. Unlike me, who mainly knows about cabbage (even if I know a lot about it) and who had to suffer this life as a consequence of the bad actions of others...'
Erven stops as the lyrics begin, visibly relaxing and a true smile comes to his face, virtually beaming at Jack. He even taps his foot for a bit, you can see the anger visibly drain from him after the last zombie goes down and there is a hint of music and melody, of mirth. As soon as he’s starting to enjoy the display it ends, and he looks to the end of the short hallway at the desecrated altar, unsure of what it means, but listening to the knowledge of his companions. “It would be nice to restore this place, as it was, end the vile desecration of this cult who apparently likes to leave the undead in their wake, guardians perhaps to slow or stop those who pursue. Before we go, let me look to see if there is a secret passage at the back of this room, like the other…”
Erven moves to the back wall and looks behind the altar, looking for any secret door, any evidence of passage, examining the ground for signs that it could move, etc.
Perception : 5 (passive 13)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
As the party discusses what to do with Lady Hallwinter’s shield, Kit begins to play a melody, which carries through the air, sweet and melodic.
As Jack hears the music flow through his ears, he feels the sound in his soul, and begins to dance about, singing a song of a god of knowledge, a song of endless work and creation.
Though the singing isn’t the best the rest of the group has ever heard, the breathy notes of the Thelarr combined with the reverent lyrics cause something strange to happen:
The symbol on the altar begins to glow, shining with a faint light.
As the song continues, it shines brighter and brighter, until light illuminates the chamber. A whispering of wind, a divine song, flows through the chamber, the presence of a god close at hand.
The altar bursts with light, and is restored to its former glory, repaired and cleaned completely. A light still emanates from it, and it shines bright, illuminating the chamber you are in as well as the one beyond.
The presence of Oghma is with you.
As the once again holy altar shines with radiance, Erven walks forward, his steps pattering softly on the now clean stone beneath his feet. He searches the altar, and finds nothing around the door, but he does find something on top of the altar: an inscription. It reads:
”The power of knowledge and truth shall light your way. Let those who dabble in secrets and shadows be weakened by its powerful radiance”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hi, I'm Raccoon_Master, a young genderfluid actor, writer, explorer, and bass vocalist. Pronouns They/Them/Theirs
My Characters:Brorminthe Devout Crusher; Ellorathe Romantic Rookie
Erven steps aside and looks at Kit with awe, another huge grin coming across his face. He pulls Kit close in a half hug, overjoyed at what has occurred. As the inwardly and outwardly scarred elf reads the words on the altar aloud, he is amazed and bows his head reverently. He says quietly to Kit, “I didn’t know that you could do that…”. He seems to be at a loss for words.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
The young dark-haired man is at first seemingly somewhat surprised as the symbol on the altar begins to glow, shining with a faint light, but he keeps singing, now with old man Oghma himself as an audience to his not completely and all together reverent lyrics, the old man was likely hard of hearing these days. As the half-elf ends her tune so does the dark-haired young man's singing, turning to the shrine with a graceful bow with a flourish. "Well played Kit, truly a performance worthy of a god."He then turns and says to the half-elf with an appreciative smile. "Now, anything else before we resume our search for that murderous cultist?" He says, seeming quite pleased and cheerful in spite of being down in a stinky sewer.
Kit doesn't quite pull away from the Ranger's embrace, but she doesn't welcome it either. At best, her response could be described as awkward acceptance.
"I didn't," the Half-Elf stammers as she moves forward to examine the altar. "It wasn't..." She reaches a hand out towards the shrine but pulls it back suddenly without touching anything.
"It's a spell. Just a spell. We must have hit the right note to trigger it," she says to Jack.
Ketangu was surprised by the impromptu performance from Jack and kit. He was not sure if clapping was expected or not so he just kind of swayed to the rhythm. Though the glowing shrine was also a sight to see. Even though he was not a devout worshiper he takes to the time to offer a silent prayer to Oghma. Please keep any eye over us as we pursue this cultist.
He then leaves the shrine room and heads back to the sludgy sewers in hopes those glob-like creatures have departed.
Khessa has an ambivalent reaction to the miracle of the reconsecrated altar... Without a doubt, she is completely surprised, astonished. However, when she manages to convince herself of what she witnessed, of what happened, her reaction does not seem excessively enthusiastic, but almost... resentful.
The blonde arcane warrior kneels in front of the altar that emanates light, as a woman who wants to pray would do... but those blue eyes stare harshly... perhaps even with anger, at the sacred emanation.
The tall adventure remains like this for a few moments, as if she were praying in her thoughts...
'Oh, welcome. You are late. I had called, prayed, and begged you — as well as all the other gods that had come to mind in those terrible moments — long ago, as the drow razed my village, enslaved its inhabitants, and massacred those who dared offer resistance. And I prayed to all of you even afterwards, while I was led as a slave into the darkness of the underground, in an alien environment, subjected to daily abuse and mistreatment and forced to imagine what my loved ones were going through. I see... maybe I should have played instead of stuttering in fear. Maybe I should have sung instead of screaming in pain. I am deeply ashamed that my performance, at that time, did not capture your attention as well as this one. But at least you came. Thank you. So at least I can tell you how much I despise you for letting everything happen. And also where you can put your supernatural light. Because, you see, yes, this light is beautiful, I admit it... I congratulate you, way to go. It beats any torch or candle I've ever seen. Oghma 1 - Torches & Candles 0. Congratulations. But, you see, the fact is that... the true light of my life was my family. The same family that you did nothing to stop from being ripped away from me'.
... then she gets up, determined.
"No other way" Khessa notes. "I must conclude that these Cultists are particularly fond of filth and sewers. It seems we have no choice but to clear the other passage from oozes and then follow it".
With the zombies taken care of, Mud lets out a slight sigh of relief. Dealing with undead was among his least favorite things, and he winces as he gingerly touches his side where the zombie hit him. While not smart, zombies sure did know how to hit things!
He leans against one of the nearest walls and folds his arms before them as he watches the others investigate and experiment with the fallen shrine. It looked like they were all looking fairly well, and he didn't want to get in their way. Besides, he needed to take a breather after getting clobbered by that zombie. On top of that, every group needed some sort of supervisor, right?
He smiles and finds himself tapping along with his foot as music fills the chamber. Probably wasn't the sort of thing you'd want to do in a cult's secret lair, but who was he to stop them? Besides, it looked like Erven needed a bit of a mood boost. It looked like dealing with the zombies touched some sort of nerve with the man, and Mud was glad to see that some of the tension melted away from the elf as the music danced through the musty air of the tomb.
When the shrine began to glow with divine power, Mud finds himself grinning once more. Leave it to the gods to make things start glowing when someone does something they like. They were funny that way sometimes.
As the others begin to talk about backtracking and heading towards the slimes, Mud speaks up. Gesturing towards the southern end of the chamber and pointing out the other hallway, he says, "Alternatively, we could always try that doorway down there. Worth checking it out before we start backtracking."
Khessa rubs her eyes for a moment, in disbelief: "How could I fail to notice that passage? Something..." the gaze of those blue eyes runs furtively for a moment at the luminous altar "something must have distracted me. Yes, of course Mud! It is much more likely that the cultists are along this route, which passes through the place they had desecrated".
The blonde arcane warrior approaches the mouth of the passage, at least to see where the corridor leads...
"The heavenly light of old man Oghma shining on the path of enlightenment, truth and rightful justice, how fitting." The young dark-haired man says with a small smirk as he looks over at the newly discovered hallway appearing in the divine light from the reconsecrated shrine, then staying back to follow the others at the rear, his hope of finding the elusive murderous cultist renewed.
Meanwhile a tiny unseen figure flies ahead to scout and look for threats. Stealth: 22 Perception: 12
Kit blinks away the bright light. Once her vision adjusts she notices the passage previously hidden in darkness. Strange, if she'd spotted it before she would have never risked playing the thelarr...
It's not a miracle,she thinks to herself, there's no such thing.
She moves up to examine the passage, giving Jack and Mud a nod of acknowledgement as she moves past them. Reaching up, she pats Khessa's shoulder to let her know that she's ready for her to lead the way.
Mud points out the previously unseen passage, and the party, a bit confused at how they didn’t see it before, realizes it must be a blessing from Oghma. The light of the shrine must have revealed the new path.
As the party prepares to set off deeper into the hideout, Jack sends forth his little friend into the darkness to scout.
I know Kit offered to play a Song of Rest if the party took a short rest. Is that something you guys want to do, or would you rather keep continuing on?
Jack:
The little sprite flies down the corridor, which stretches maybe 40ft, then turns northward, with familiar bubbling sounds emanating from beyond. As the fairy flits over the stone, it turns to it right and notices a set of massive, ornate double doors made of green-tinged stone which seals of further progression into the catacombs. Facing the double door is a large carving of a grinning skull; one eye socket bears a wide eyeball with a jeweled iris, while the other is an empty divot.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hi, I'm Raccoon_Master, a young genderfluid actor, writer, explorer, and bass vocalist. Pronouns They/Them/Theirs
My Characters:Brorminthe Devout Crusher; Ellorathe Romantic Rookie
The young dark-haired man relaxes slightly as he is informed about what is up ahead, no particular threats but imagining the eye they found with the dead brother will come to good use soon, but he is simply following along for now.
(jAcK is okay to rest first or not, but he would slightly prefer to get this stinky business over with. :-)
Ketangu would like to continue onward since everyone is still standing and I don't believe anyone is critically injured. He will follow Jack from a distance to allow that man to scout ahead.
(Though if anyone wants a short rest, he is fine with waiting)
(Nevermind :-P)
"And I'm certain she intended for the person who freed her to have it," she retorts, "but, since you're clearly too daft..."
She removes her own shield and leaves it leaning against one of the tombs. Removing Lady Hallwinter's shield from her pack and unwrapping it, she quickly stows the blanket back in pack and tests it weight and balance.
(Tabby should absolutely take Kit's shield. She'll leave it behind without even thinking to ask if anyone wants/can use it.)
Kit had never really mastered the Elvish art of aloof detachment but she limits her response to a sparkle in her eyes and a slight turning at the corner of her mouth. Jack certainly wasn't graceful by Elvish standards, but his dancing wasn't terrible and the limerick was quite amusing. She could see how a woman like Kevori or Khessa might be taken with him.
Khessa gives a half-hearted smile at the display… she seems to appreciate it in a way, but is less amused than she should be. However, she decides to be optimistic and awaits the outcome...
'It's true that I think we needs something else, to reconsecrate this shrine,' the blonde arcane warrior thinks to herself 'but I still have to remember that these companions of mine are true adventurers... They know about these things. They chose this life. Unlike me, who mainly knows about cabbage (even if I know a lot about it) and who had to suffer this life as a consequence of the bad actions of others...'
Erven stops as the lyrics begin, visibly relaxing and a true smile comes to his face, virtually beaming at Jack. He even taps his foot for a bit, you can see the anger visibly drain from him after the last zombie goes down and there is a hint of music and melody, of mirth. As soon as he’s starting to enjoy the display it ends, and he looks to the end of the short hallway at the desecrated altar, unsure of what it means, but listening to the knowledge of his companions. “It would be nice to restore this place, as it was, end the vile desecration of this cult who apparently likes to leave the undead in their wake, guardians perhaps to slow or stop those who pursue. Before we go, let me look to see if there is a secret passage at the back of this room, like the other…”
Erven moves to the back wall and looks behind the altar, looking for any secret door, any evidence of passage, examining the ground for signs that it could move, etc.
Perception : 5 (passive 13)
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
"Good idea, Erven" Khessa agrees. "You found another secret passage not far from here... there could be another one here as well".
[[ OOC: Helping Erven with his rolls, giving Advantage ]]
Perception 2nd roll, with help : 18
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Hi, I'm Raccoon_Master, a young genderfluid actor, writer, explorer, and bass vocalist. Pronouns They/Them/Theirs
My Characters: Brormin the Devout Crusher; Ellora the Romantic Rookie
Check out my EXTENDED SIGNATUR (hasn't been updated in forever, fyi) and don’t forget to join the Anything but the OGL 2.0 Thread!
"I don't make sense to you, and I don't make sense to myself. Maybe the only one I make sense to is God" ~ Me, trying to sound smart
Erven steps aside and looks at Kit with awe, another huge grin coming across his face. He pulls Kit close in a half hug, overjoyed at what has occurred. As the inwardly and outwardly scarred elf reads the words on the altar aloud, he is amazed and bows his head reverently. He says quietly to Kit, “I didn’t know that you could do that…”. He seems to be at a loss for words.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
The young dark-haired man is at first seemingly somewhat surprised as the symbol on the altar begins to glow, shining with a faint light, but he keeps singing, now with old man Oghma himself as an audience to his not completely and all together reverent lyrics, the old man was likely hard of hearing these days. As the half-elf ends her tune so does the dark-haired young man's singing, turning to the shrine with a graceful bow with a flourish. "Well played Kit, truly a performance worthy of a god." He then turns and says to the half-elf with an appreciative smile. "Now, anything else before we resume our search for that murderous cultist?" He says, seeming quite pleased and cheerful in spite of being down in a stinky sewer.
Kit doesn't quite pull away from the Ranger's embrace, but she doesn't welcome it either. At best, her response could be described as awkward acceptance.
"I didn't," the Half-Elf stammers as she moves forward to examine the altar. "It wasn't..." She reaches a hand out towards the shrine but pulls it back suddenly without touching anything.
"It's a spell. Just a spell. We must have hit the right note to trigger it," she says to Jack.
"No," she says as she gives the shrine one last uncomfortable glance, "we should get moving."
Ketangu was surprised by the impromptu performance from Jack and kit. He was not sure if clapping was expected or not so he just kind of swayed to the rhythm. Though the glowing shrine was also a sight to see. Even though he was not a devout worshiper he takes to the time to offer a silent prayer to Oghma. Please keep any eye over us as we pursue this cultist.
He then leaves the shrine room and heads back to the sludgy sewers in hopes those glob-like creatures have departed.
Khessa has an ambivalent reaction to the miracle of the reconsecrated altar... Without a doubt, she is completely surprised, astonished. However, when she manages to convince herself of what she witnessed, of what happened, her reaction does not seem excessively enthusiastic, but almost... resentful.
The blonde arcane warrior kneels in front of the altar that emanates light, as a woman who wants to pray would do... but those blue eyes stare harshly... perhaps even with anger, at the sacred emanation.
The tall adventure remains like this for a few moments, as if she were praying in her thoughts...
'Oh, welcome. You are late. I had called, prayed, and begged you — as well as all the other gods that had come to mind in those terrible moments — long ago, as the drow razed my village, enslaved its inhabitants, and massacred those who dared offer resistance. And I prayed to all of you even afterwards, while I was led as a slave into the darkness of the underground, in an alien environment, subjected to daily abuse and mistreatment and forced to imagine what my loved ones were going through. I see... maybe I should have played instead of stuttering in fear. Maybe I should have sung instead of screaming in pain. I am deeply ashamed that my performance, at that time, did not capture your attention as well as this one. But at least you came. Thank you. So at least I can tell you how much I despise you for letting everything happen. And also where you can put your supernatural light. Because, you see, yes, this light is beautiful, I admit it... I congratulate you, way to go. It beats any torch or candle I've ever seen. Oghma 1 - Torches & Candles 0. Congratulations. But, you see, the fact is that... the true light of my life was my family. The same family that you did nothing to stop from being ripped away from me'.
... then she gets up, determined.
"No other way" Khessa notes. "I must conclude that these Cultists are particularly fond of filth and sewers. It seems we have no choice but to clear the other passage from oozes and then follow it".
With the zombies taken care of, Mud lets out a slight sigh of relief. Dealing with undead was among his least favorite things, and he winces as he gingerly touches his side where the zombie hit him. While not smart, zombies sure did know how to hit things!
He leans against one of the nearest walls and folds his arms before them as he watches the others investigate and experiment with the fallen shrine. It looked like they were all looking fairly well, and he didn't want to get in their way. Besides, he needed to take a breather after getting clobbered by that zombie. On top of that, every group needed some sort of supervisor, right?
He smiles and finds himself tapping along with his foot as music fills the chamber. Probably wasn't the sort of thing you'd want to do in a cult's secret lair, but who was he to stop them? Besides, it looked like Erven needed a bit of a mood boost. It looked like dealing with the zombies touched some sort of nerve with the man, and Mud was glad to see that some of the tension melted away from the elf as the music danced through the musty air of the tomb.
When the shrine began to glow with divine power, Mud finds himself grinning once more. Leave it to the gods to make things start glowing when someone does something they like. They were funny that way sometimes.
As the others begin to talk about backtracking and heading towards the slimes, Mud speaks up. Gesturing towards the southern end of the chamber and pointing out the other hallway, he says, "Alternatively, we could always try that doorway down there. Worth checking it out before we start backtracking."
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
Khessa rubs her eyes for a moment, in disbelief: "How could I fail to notice that passage? Something..." the gaze of those blue eyes runs furtively for a moment at the luminous altar "something must have distracted me. Yes, of course Mud! It is much more likely that the cultists are along this route, which passes through the place they had desecrated".
The blonde arcane warrior approaches the mouth of the passage, at least to see where the corridor leads...
"The heavenly light of old man Oghma shining on the path of enlightenment, truth and rightful justice, how fitting." The young dark-haired man says with a small smirk as he looks over at the newly discovered hallway appearing in the divine light from the reconsecrated shrine, then staying back to follow the others at the rear, his hope of finding the elusive murderous cultist renewed.
Meanwhile a tiny unseen figure flies ahead to scout and look for threats.
Stealth: 22
Perception: 12
Kit blinks away the bright light. Once her vision adjusts she notices the passage previously hidden in darkness. Strange, if she'd spotted it before she would have never risked playing the thelarr...
It's not a miracle, she thinks to herself, there's no such thing.
She moves up to examine the passage, giving Jack and Mud a nod of acknowledgement as she moves past them. Reaching up, she pats Khessa's shoulder to let her know that she's ready for her to lead the way.
I know Kit offered to play a Song of Rest if the party took a short rest. Is that something you guys want to do, or would you rather keep continuing on?
Jack:
The little sprite flies down the corridor, which stretches maybe 40ft, then turns northward, with familiar bubbling sounds emanating from beyond. As the fairy flits over the stone, it turns to it right and notices a set of massive, ornate double doors made of green-tinged stone which seals of further progression into the catacombs. Facing the double door is a large carving of a grinning skull; one eye socket bears a wide eyeball with a jeweled iris, while the other is an empty divot.
Hi, I'm Raccoon_Master, a young genderfluid actor, writer, explorer, and bass vocalist. Pronouns They/Them/Theirs
My Characters: Brormin the Devout Crusher; Ellora the Romantic Rookie
Check out my EXTENDED SIGNATUR (hasn't been updated in forever, fyi) and don’t forget to join the Anything but the OGL 2.0 Thread!
"I don't make sense to you, and I don't make sense to myself. Maybe the only one I make sense to is God" ~ Me, trying to sound smart
Kit offered Song of Rest because she thought we were in a secure room with only one entrance/exit to guard.
The offer still stands, but the context it was offered in has changed.
The young dark-haired man relaxes slightly as he is informed about what is up ahead, no particular threats but imagining the eye they found with the dead brother will come to good use soon, but he is simply following along for now.
(jAcK is okay to rest first or not, but he would slightly prefer to get this stinky business over with. :-)
Ketangu would like to continue onward since everyone is still standing and I don't believe anyone is critically injured. He will follow Jack from a distance to allow that man to scout ahead.
(Though if anyone wants a short rest, he is fine with waiting)