"Elias, do you have any deductions on which path forward wil be wisest?" Tarysaa looked on expectantly. "Tethis' corridor. Another examination of the spider wine cask 'den'. Or, the ferryman?"
Turning to look at Mival, "Or, perhaps, you can give us a better idea on which of those three will bring us to our goals. Or perhaps a fourth we have yet to uncover?"
Elias stands quietly through the exchange, listening to Mival’s explanations and Ardana’s persistent, precise questioning. He notes how Mival deflects little, if at all, answering with more clarity than he might have expected—perhaps even more honesty than Elias is entirely comfortable with. But when Ardana’s final question touches on the unsettling question of seduction and procreation, Elias feels the shift in tone: the conversation is turning from theoretical exploration to something more intimate… and potentially dangerous.
He clears his throat gently, a soft but deliberate sound—not a rebuke, but a cue for pause, meant to give everyone a moment to breathe before the discussion slides too far into emotional thorns.
Still, he doesn't stop it. He knows that Ardana is onto something—a thread worth following, even if it brushes raw edges.
Then, calmly, he turns to Mival, watching the young man's reaction closely as he steps in to offer a bridge:
“The question, Mival, isn’t just whether a doppelganger can seduce and produce children. Clearly, they can.” His tone is measured, academic, removing judgment from the inquiry.
“The deeper question is whether such unions are ever chosen—or if they're always part of a manipulation. And more importantly, how those born from such unions—like you—fit into the greater plans of those who bred them.”
He steps a little closer, his voice lowering with curiosity:
“Is it instinct alone that drives your kind to reproduce? Or do some seek specific bloodlines? Specific traits?”
A pause.
“Was Kara simply a random target of opportunity… or did Pheryus choose her for a reason?”
Then he turns slightly toward Ardana, nodding to her point.
“And with Nedda… it’s a fair question. Was the girl we knew truly herself? Or was she a doppelganger seeded in that village, playing a role until something went wrong—or exactly according to plan?”
He lets that hang a moment, then adds gently:
“I know this is personal, Mival. You’ve already given us much. But if we’re going to face what lies beneath with clarity, we need to understand the shape of the game being played—and who’s been playing it longest.”
His eyes meet Mival’s steadily, not in accusation, but in quiet plea for insight.
"Greater plans?" Mival doesn't seem to understand "What do you mean? When a Doppelganger looks for... someone to reproduce with, it aims for just that - to reproduce. For obvious reasons, it usually chooses someone with whom the... er... process... is enjoyable. But there are no other particular goals".
"Yes, instinct..." the Doppelganger embraces that definition offered by Elias "It's instinct alone. And yes, it involves invariably manipulation... We Doppelgangers tend to be manipulative all the time. I... will try to be better than that".
"What happened in Nedda's case," the shapeshifter is pained to remember the tragic events once again "I already said I don't know... Probably, if I stayed with the Lords from Below for a few days and talked to them, considering that I could also read their superficial thoughts, I could find out more..." but it is clear that the prospect does not appeal to him at all! Now that she has decided to 'change her life', Mival is more willing to go towards this change, rather than to remain with those she had sought only out of instinct and desperation!
Finally answering Tarysaa, Mival says: "The corridor that Tethis guards leads to a set of rooms where the Lords from Below have set up their headquarters. It is an area that, on this level, has no other connections. There are parts where the floor has collapsed - and which are therefore now in communication with the lower level, but I do not see how you could explore them... I can transform into a sea elf, for example, and breathe underwater. But you do not have this ability. So, if we want to prioritize the exploration of this level, where you too can breathe, perhaps Geados, the ferryman, is our best bet... considering that it is a path that you have not yet explored".
Elias listens intently, watching Mival’s reactions with the same care he would give a bard trying to remember their own tune. The boy—no, the man now—speaks with sincerity, but there’s still that unpolished edge, the lingering pull of instincts he’s only beginning to question.
And that—more than the idea of seduction or manipulation—is what makes Elias uneasy. Not fear. Just caution.
He nods at Mival’s clarification about the lack of “greater plans.”
“Then perhaps that’s what separates you from the Lords from Below,” he says softly. “They do seem to have a greater plan—or at the very least, more than reproduction in mind.”
He doesn’t press further on Nedda—Mival’s discomfort is plain, and Elias sees no value in pushing a young man already trying to redefine himself into the rotted shadows of his former ‘family.’
Instead, he lets the moment breathe.
When Mival explains the structure of the Keep—the isolated nature of the Lords' headquarters, the collapsed floor, the underwater connections, Elias listens with renewed focus.
“So,” he says, glancing toward the others, “we have two options that don’t currently risk alerting the Lords directly: the collapsed floor that leads to the flooded levels—or Geados’s path, which still remains mostly unknown.”
He sighs lightly, looking at Tarysaa, Ardana, and Koran in turn.
“Much as I loathe relying on fiends, I agree with Mival. Unless someone here has grown gills since lunch, Geados is the most promising route left to explore on this level.”
He gives Mival a small nod.
“And thank you—for answering so plainly. I know these aren’t easy questions. But every answer helps us move forward.”
Then, with a faint smile:
“Though if any more Doppelgangers get ideas about reproducing, I kindly ask they look somewhere far from my jurisdiction.”
He lets the quip settle as a final exhale of tension, before adding, more seriously:
“Shall we go see if the Ferryman is still waiting?”
Tarysaa follows while muttering to herself. She finally looks up to see everyone looking at her.
"My apologies. I was thinking outloud. This is so typical of the Harpells. I am wondering now if they KNEW these ruins were flooded before they even suggested I come investigate." She half laughs and half grinds her teeth at the thought.
"I know of a handful of mages studying under the Harpells that could transform their body into some aquatic form or create bubbles of air to ride in and go underwater without ever getting their boots or clothing damp.
Every time they send me out, it feels like they are testing me. Testing me with insufficiant information or tools to 'get the job done'. They can be very frustrating at times."
Suddenly realizing she said all that outloud, the tips of Tarysaa's ears burn bright red as her cheeks go beyond rosy blush.
"Together we can do this!" Mival approaches Tarysaa - evidently she has heard the elf wizard's 'rant' "Are we or are we not heroic adventurers? Who knows how many times even the great Rassalantar was tempted to give in to frustration..." his green eyes become dreamy "And yet he has done great things. Including the hamlet where I was born! Which may not actually be exactly 'great' - but it is still a safe place where many people have been able to live... people like my mother Kara..."
Meanwhile, the party reaches the fiendish helmsman, who impassively, points his red-luminescent eyes and observes: "The company has grown. And has returned to me. Have you decided to sail away?"
"Oh, Geados is happy to offer his services to a passenger..." the creepy helmsman smiles an eerie smile "...that reminds him of home" and helps the tiefling paladin aboard.
Geados then gets to work efficiently, rowing with the pole he has at his disposal... although the boat seems to move almost of its own accord, so fluidly does it glide across the dark waters.
Soon the boat, following the corridor with the collapsed floor, is forced to turn east, disappearing from the view of the rest of the party.
[[ OOC: But I'll continue to narrate everything openly anyway because it would be terribly boring to tell everything to Tordon alone and leave the rest of the players in the dark. ]]
At a certain point, two short, smaller corridors open up to the north and south of the corridor, with the floor still intact, each one seeming to lead to a room. While the main 'navigable corridor' continues east. Geados pauses for a moment and asks Ardana: "Do you and your followers prefer to stop and explore here? I can wait for you as long as you don't want to go any further... for now you are my only customers! Or do you prefer to continue sailing?"
[[ OOC: Obviously, since there is only Ardana on the boat for now, it is up to her to decide and answer! ]]
"Oh, I just mean I can wait for you and your company here" the red glowing eyes of the find look into the ones of the tiefling. "And when you all are ready to continue, I'll have you sail again with me, resuming to follow the main corridor".
"Yes, for what you paid, I'll bring you from an end of the main corridor to the other, allowing you to stop and restart when you wish to explore at some points, like here" Geados explains. "So it's just a matter of whether you are interested in exploring those smaller corridor or not".
"Yes, of course..." Geados nods "I'm used to transporting troops into battle... I know it's good for a contingent to stay together."
With that, the ferryman drops Ardana off in the corridor she chose, the north one, and goes to pick up the others, transporting them one by one to the same place.
[[ OOC: The journey will go smoothly, as long as everyone can pay. Mival transforms into a sea-elf and swims after the boat, still staying with the party. ]]
Once disembarked, our heroes find that the short corridor leads to a room that is accessed through a solid wooden door reinforced with iron. Fortunately, said door is wide open!
The room measures 10' x 20' and its walls are almost entirely occupied by racks of weapons (in detail: 10 Halberds, 23 Javelins and 7 Battleaxes). The weapons show signs of aging (dust, traces of rust...) but are still in good condition and perfectly usable.
Mival, from outside, eagerly waits to enter to explore and asks: "What did you find? Can I come in too?"
[[ OOC: You wouldn't have been there, all of you, outside the room, so I assumed that most of you had taken at least a step or two inside. ]]
As the party cautiously enters the room they find weapons resting in silent rows, aged but formidable, a small arsenal left behind by time.
Elias, ever methodical, steps just inside the doorway and kneels near the threshold, his fingers lightly tracing sigils in the air, drawing a fine pattern of golden glyphs that shimmer for a moment before fading.
"Give me a moment," he murmurs, not looking up, "I'd like to be sure we're not about to handle anything cursed… or enchanted."
He begins the ten-minute ritual, speaking soft words under his breath as the arcane weave draws inward. Once completed, his eyes flare with a subtle blue sheen as he slowly scans the room.
He sweeps his gaze across the racks, the walls, the floor… looking for any trace of divination, evocation, transmutation—or worse. If any magical aura lingers on a blade or haft, he’ll see its glow, and he’ll know its school.
Still crouched in concentration, Elias calls back to Mival without breaking his focus:
"A small armory—battleaxes, javelins, halberds. Some rust, but nothing broken. Give me another moment, Mival—just checking for anything... arcane."
((Elias ritually casts detect magic and scans the weapon racks as the rest are looking around the room))
Elias begins his magic ritual... but just a few minutes later (well before he can finish it) a giant spider appears out of nowhere in the empty part of the room! And, taking advantage of the surprise, it tries to close its large, venomous mandibles on one of our heroes!
"Elias, do you have any deductions on which path forward wil be wisest?" Tarysaa looked on expectantly. "Tethis' corridor. Another examination of the spider wine cask 'den'. Or, the ferryman?"
Turning to look at Mival, "Or, perhaps, you can give us a better idea on which of those three will bring us to our goals. Or perhaps a fourth we have yet to uncover?"
Elias stands quietly through the exchange, listening to Mival’s explanations and Ardana’s persistent, precise questioning. He notes how Mival deflects little, if at all, answering with more clarity than he might have expected—perhaps even more honesty than Elias is entirely comfortable with. But when Ardana’s final question touches on the unsettling question of seduction and procreation, Elias feels the shift in tone: the conversation is turning from theoretical exploration to something more intimate… and potentially dangerous.
He clears his throat gently, a soft but deliberate sound—not a rebuke, but a cue for pause, meant to give everyone a moment to breathe before the discussion slides too far into emotional thorns.
Still, he doesn't stop it. He knows that Ardana is onto something—a thread worth following, even if it brushes raw edges.
Then, calmly, he turns to Mival, watching the young man's reaction closely as he steps in to offer a bridge:
“The question, Mival, isn’t just whether a doppelganger can seduce and produce children. Clearly, they can.” His tone is measured, academic, removing judgment from the inquiry.
“The deeper question is whether such unions are ever chosen—or if they're always part of a manipulation. And more importantly, how those born from such unions—like you—fit into the greater plans of those who bred them.”
He steps a little closer, his voice lowering with curiosity:
“Is it instinct alone that drives your kind to reproduce? Or do some seek specific bloodlines? Specific traits?”
A pause.
“Was Kara simply a random target of opportunity… or did Pheryus choose her for a reason?”
Then he turns slightly toward Ardana, nodding to her point.
“And with Nedda… it’s a fair question. Was the girl we knew truly herself? Or was she a doppelganger seeded in that village, playing a role until something went wrong—or exactly according to plan?”
He lets that hang a moment, then adds gently:
“I know this is personal, Mival. You’ve already given us much. But if we’re going to face what lies beneath with clarity, we need to understand the shape of the game being played—and who’s been playing it longest.”
His eyes meet Mival’s steadily, not in accusation, but in quiet plea for insight.
"Greater plans?" Mival doesn't seem to understand "What do you mean? When a Doppelganger looks for... someone to reproduce with, it aims for just that - to reproduce. For obvious reasons, it usually chooses someone with whom the... er... process... is enjoyable. But there are no other particular goals".
"Yes, instinct..." the Doppelganger embraces that definition offered by Elias "It's instinct alone. And yes, it involves invariably manipulation... We Doppelgangers tend to be manipulative all the time. I... will try to be better than that".
"What happened in Nedda's case," the shapeshifter is pained to remember the tragic events once again "I already said I don't know... Probably, if I stayed with the Lords from Below for a few days and talked to them, considering that I could also read their superficial thoughts, I could find out more..." but it is clear that the prospect does not appeal to him at all! Now that she has decided to 'change her life', Mival is more willing to go towards this change, rather than to remain with those she had sought only out of instinct and desperation!
Finally answering Tarysaa, Mival says: "The corridor that Tethis guards leads to a set of rooms where the Lords from Below have set up their headquarters. It is an area that, on this level, has no other connections. There are parts where the floor has collapsed - and which are therefore now in communication with the lower level, but I do not see how you could explore them... I can transform into a sea elf, for example, and breathe underwater. But you do not have this ability. So, if we want to prioritize the exploration of this level, where you too can breathe, perhaps Geados, the ferryman, is our best bet... considering that it is a path that you have not yet explored".
Elias listens intently, watching Mival’s reactions with the same care he would give a bard trying to remember their own tune. The boy—no, the man now—speaks with sincerity, but there’s still that unpolished edge, the lingering pull of instincts he’s only beginning to question.
And that—more than the idea of seduction or manipulation—is what makes Elias uneasy. Not fear. Just caution.
He nods at Mival’s clarification about the lack of “greater plans.”
“Then perhaps that’s what separates you from the Lords from Below,” he says softly. “They do seem to have a greater plan—or at the very least, more than reproduction in mind.”
He doesn’t press further on Nedda—Mival’s discomfort is plain, and Elias sees no value in pushing a young man already trying to redefine himself into the rotted shadows of his former ‘family.’
Instead, he lets the moment breathe.
When Mival explains the structure of the Keep—the isolated nature of the Lords' headquarters, the collapsed floor, the underwater connections, Elias listens with renewed focus.
“So,” he says, glancing toward the others, “we have two options that don’t currently risk alerting the Lords directly: the collapsed floor that leads to the flooded levels—or Geados’s path, which still remains mostly unknown.”
He sighs lightly, looking at Tarysaa, Ardana, and Koran in turn.
“Much as I loathe relying on fiends, I agree with Mival. Unless someone here has grown gills since lunch, Geados is the most promising route left to explore on this level.”
He gives Mival a small nod.
“And thank you—for answering so plainly. I know these aren’t easy questions. But every answer helps us move forward.”
Then, with a faint smile:
“Though if any more Doppelgangers get ideas about reproducing, I kindly ask they look somewhere far from my jurisdiction.”
He lets the quip settle as a final exhale of tension, before adding, more seriously:
“Shall we go see if the Ferryman is still waiting?”
Tarysaa follows while muttering to herself. She finally looks up to see everyone looking at her.
"My apologies. I was thinking outloud. This is so typical of the Harpells. I am wondering now if they KNEW these ruins were flooded before they even suggested I come investigate." She half laughs and half grinds her teeth at the thought.
"I know of a handful of mages studying under the Harpells that could transform their body into some aquatic form or create bubbles of air to ride in and go underwater without ever getting their boots or clothing damp.
Every time they send me out, it feels like they are testing me. Testing me with insufficiant information or tools to 'get the job done'. They can be very frustrating at times."
Suddenly realizing she said all that outloud, the tips of Tarysaa's ears burn bright red as her cheeks go beyond rosy blush.
"Together we can do this!" Mival approaches Tarysaa - evidently she has heard the elf wizard's 'rant' "Are we or are we not heroic adventurers? Who knows how many times even the great Rassalantar was tempted to give in to frustration..." his green eyes become dreamy "And yet he has done great things. Including the hamlet where I was born! Which may not actually be exactly 'great' - but it is still a safe place where many people have been able to live... people like my mother Kara..."
Meanwhile, the party reaches the fiendish helmsman, who impassively, points his red-luminescent eyes and observes: "The company has grown. And has returned to me. Have you decided to sail away?"
Ardana steps forward, quick to volunteer.
I will go first, I suggest Wood last and Mival in the middle.
Ardana steps up and pays the ferryman.
"Oh, Geados is happy to offer his services to a passenger..." the creepy helmsman smiles an eerie smile "...that reminds him of home" and helps the tiefling paladin aboard.
Geados then gets to work efficiently, rowing with the pole he has at his disposal... although the boat seems to move almost of its own accord, so fluidly does it glide across the dark waters.
Soon the boat, following the corridor with the collapsed floor, is forced to turn east, disappearing from the view of the rest of the party.
[[ OOC: But I'll continue to narrate everything openly anyway because it would be terribly boring to tell everything to Tordon alone and leave the rest of the players in the dark. ]]
At a certain point, two short, smaller corridors open up to the north and south of the corridor, with the floor still intact, each one seeming to lead to a room. While the main 'navigable corridor' continues east. Geados pauses for a moment and asks Ardana: "Do you and your followers prefer to stop and explore here? I can wait for you as long as you don't want to go any further... for now you are my only customers! Or do you prefer to continue sailing?"
[[ OOC: Obviously, since there is only Ardana on the boat for now, it is up to her to decide and answer! ]]
I don't know what that means - "as long as you don't want to go any further?" - can you explain?
"Oh, I just mean I can wait for you and your company here" the red glowing eyes of the find look into the ones of the tiefling. "And when you all are ready to continue, I'll have you sail again with me, resuming to follow the main corridor".
For the same coin?
"Yes, for what you paid, I'll bring you from an end of the main corridor to the other, allowing you to stop and restart when you wish to explore at some points, like here" Geados explains. "So it's just a matter of whether you are interested in exploring those smaller corridor or not".
Ardana considers this bargain. I suppose then I stop here and explore. Are you going to fetch the rest while I wait?
Ardana hops out to the northern alcove and takes a look.
Perception: 18
"Yes, of course..." Geados nods "I'm used to transporting troops into battle... I know it's good for a contingent to stay together."
With that, the ferryman drops Ardana off in the corridor she chose, the north one, and goes to pick up the others, transporting them one by one to the same place.
[[ OOC: The journey will go smoothly, as long as everyone can pay. Mival transforms into a sea-elf and swims after the boat, still staying with the party. ]]
Once disembarked, our heroes find that the short corridor leads to a room that is accessed through a solid wooden door reinforced with iron. Fortunately, said door is wide open!
The room measures 10' x 20' and its walls are almost entirely occupied by racks of weapons (in detail: 10 Halberds, 23 Javelins and 7 Battleaxes). The weapons show signs of aging (dust, traces of rust...) but are still in good condition and perfectly usable.
Mival, from outside, eagerly waits to enter to explore and asks: "What did you find? Can I come in too?"
[[ OOC: You wouldn't have been there, all of you, outside the room, so I assumed that most of you had taken at least a step or two inside. ]]
As the party cautiously enters the room they find weapons resting in silent rows, aged but formidable, a small arsenal left behind by time.
Elias, ever methodical, steps just inside the doorway and kneels near the threshold, his fingers lightly tracing sigils in the air, drawing a fine pattern of golden glyphs that shimmer for a moment before fading.
"Give me a moment," he murmurs, not looking up, "I'd like to be sure we're not about to handle anything cursed… or enchanted."
He begins the ten-minute ritual, speaking soft words under his breath as the arcane weave draws inward. Once completed, his eyes flare with a subtle blue sheen as he slowly scans the room.
He sweeps his gaze across the racks, the walls, the floor… looking for any trace of divination, evocation, transmutation—or worse. If any magical aura lingers on a blade or haft, he’ll see its glow, and he’ll know its school.
Still crouched in concentration, Elias calls back to Mival without breaking his focus:
"A small armory—battleaxes, javelins, halberds. Some rust, but nothing broken. Give me another moment, Mival—just checking for anything... arcane."
((Elias ritually casts detect magic and scans the weapon racks as the rest are looking around the room))
Elias begins his magic ritual... but just a few minutes later (well before he can finish it) a giant spider appears out of nowhere in the empty part of the room! And, taking advantage of the surprise, it tries to close its large, venomous mandibles on one of our heroes!
The spider targets (1-2 = Ardana, 3-4 = Woodrow, 5 = Koran): 1
Bite Attack: 13 Damage: 12 (piercing)
If it's a hit, the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking damage: 23 (poison) on a failed save, or half (11) on a successful one.
At this point, let's all roll for Initiative!
(Ardana too, because even if the attack knocks her out, someone in the party can probably heal her)
Initiatives:
Mival: 10
Pop-up Spider: 16