Nenne frowns at the bard. "Are you mad? Get down! The warrior can handle himself for now, and we shall step in when necessary." She steps away from the statue and peers into the pit, noticing a humanoid hand protruding from one of the golem's sundered arms.
"Magic will not permeate, but what about the gods?" she murmurs curiously. Her amulet glows red as she stretches out her hand and points at the golem. (Channel Divinity - Path to the Grave)
The gnome practically snarls in frustration. “And what if that thing manages to knock him out, who’s going to save him. Get me in there before Allister is turned into a pulp.”
He sits down arms folded with his legs dangling over the plinth and, looking Nenne in the eye, turns invisible.
Allister is forced into the corner by the creature's repeated strikes. The warrior desperately searches for a way out and rolls out when he sees an opportunity. The creature's speed matches the movement though and it slams the shield into Allister as he comes up and around. The fighter is blasted into the wall by the creature's might and it plants a solid foot into his chest. Black energy drains out of Allister and into the golem. Nenne, Glimbul and Boosey sees the fighter open his mouth in a scream of agony, though it is silent to them. When the golem retracts its foot, the thing has slowed back to its normal speed.
Wincing at the pain in his chest where the foot hit him, Allister rolls under another swing with the greatsword. He ends up between the legs and punches the rapier upwards. He can feel that his attacked is much more powerful than it should be when he buries the flaming blade all the way to the hilt in the golem. He slashes forward and tears huge pieces of clay from the torso and back. The golem topples over but wants to slam the shield into Allister, but he jumps onto the arms and stabs the blade into the golemˋs head. It explodes into tiny fragments, and Allister jumps to the ground. He looks upwards to his friends, smiling weakly and giving a thumbs up. He moves to the chest and opens it.
As the pieces of the golem are removed and the thing is destroyed, the companions realize that there is more than one body part inside the golem. There appears to be the body of a large man pressed inside the clay.
Nenne taps on the barrier with her staff and points to the unmoving humanoid in the golem. She mouths, "What? Why?" to Allister and gives an exaggerated shrug.
"Allister needs medical attention, and I do not know who that person is. Let me inside." She climbs up on the plinth and waits for the gnomes to turn the statue.
Allister returns the shrug. He points to the man, makes a fist, sticks out his thumb and slowly turns it down, but not completely. Then he checks for wounds.
Glimbul turns the statue and with a Pop! Nenne and Boosey teleport into the pit with Allister. As the fighter pulls the clay off the unconscious man, he realizes that there is a lot more inside the golem than just a man. It appears to be stuffed with traveling equipment and gear. If the creature could do this with a sword and shield, who knows what it would have done with a coil of rope and several javelins...
Allister steps back to check the chest while Nenne investigates the uncovered body. The chest contains two one-inch-diameter glass eyeballs resting on a red cushion. One eyeball is pale green and the other is pink. The lid of the chest has an intricate bit of a mechanism leading to a stone box screwed to the lid.
Nenne finds several double spines hooked up to a net of wires stabbed into the unconscious man. Pulling them out, she discovers runes that she is familiar with. The magic placed in these is for preservation. The man's eyes search blindly behind his closed lids after the first of the trinkets are removed but otherwise doesn't move.
"This is odd," Nenne says, kneeling beside the stranger. A hint of rose colors her skin as the silver threads in her hair trend toward gold. "Preservation magic should not cause harm. This is." She looks up at Allister. "I fear he is a victim of this place. I am going to free him. Stand ready in case I am mistaken."
She spends the next few minutes carefully extracting the wires from the man's skin and clearing off the golem rubble. Once she's done, she moves back a few inches and waits for him to rouse, her sharp eyes tracking every twitch of his face for the earliest sign of life or danger.
Once the wires are removed, the large man's eyes moved slowly than before; still closed however. The clay bits, crumbs and pieces, begin to shake and fall and the being begins to move. Finally, the mans grey eyes pierce the air. A sudden heave of air is heard as he takes in a breath for what seems like days. A deep voice rumbles through the room. "Where are those dwarves?!" He straightens his back, now in a sitting position, when he stops and notices those around him. His eyes flicker about as his grey face scans his saviors. "You aren't dwarves..." He begins to stand up, however grunts from where the wires were placed in his body. After some effort, he stands to his full height. Seven feet of pure Goliath stands before the team as he once more takes in a breath of air. He then moves to put a hand on his weapons however stops short, knowing his saviors would probably like to question him.
"I believe you have questions for me, and for your generosity of saving me, I shall answer without resistance. Now. What are your questions?"
The gnome stands there open mouthed as the Goliath emerges from the ruined golem and seems to fill the space of the pit. “Wha.....how.....where.....?”
It’s a few seconds before he gathers his wits back in. “Do you know where you are and how you got here?” He asks in wonder, then realises something.
“Um...sorry....you must think me awfully rude.” He goes to hold out his hand, but thinks better of it due to the size of the thing. “Boosey Sackbut.....we seem to have liberated you from this...contraption....golem? Care to tell us how you ended up in there?”
Nenne rises with the goliath and steps backward to allow him more personal space. Nodding gracefully, she says, "I am Nenne Amharat, a medic. Those hooks in the golem had a bizarrely deleterious effect on you, and I did my best to remove them gently. How do you feel? And what is your name, if it is not an offense to inquire?"
Allister is standing a few feet away from the group, his weapons drawn and eyeing the stranger closely. „I bet he is talking about that creature I saw from the staircase. But it’s not good that he speaks of dwarves, not dwarf.“
His eyes squint carefully around the room, as if half expecting a dwarf to jump out once more. He then looks to Nenne first, "Thank you kind elf. I have only heard of your kind's warm generosity so I know now first hand it is true. I feel fine. The wires were only to restrain me and let the golem use my equipment."
The Goliath stands tall and pounds and fist on his chest. "I am Lo. Sent from my shaman to rid this evil and become chieftain of our clan in the Spine of the World. I came here days ago only to be swarmed by a mass of rotting dwarves. They covered me in clay and... that is how I was put here. I believe that answers your questions, yes?" Lo proceeds to finish his process and grabs hold of his gear to put on his person. He looks around the group. "I know of this place and who I seek. I can only presume you seek the lich as well. Do I presume correctly?"
Nenne slightly raises an eyebrow at the man's faulty deduction about the wires, but is assuaged enough at his assertion of good health that she decides not to press the issue. "It pleases me to hear you are well. And yes, we do intend to find and defeat this lich, as well as destroy a device called the Soulmonger, which is causing a death curse upon the land and stealing souls from their rest or resurrection. Judging by your weaponry, you seem a man of action. As our goals appear to align, would you care to join forces?"
Boosey gives Allister a sharp look. "I'd forgotten about that figure. It ran off towards Kubazan's tomb and that horrid tapestry room, didn't it? It vanished without a trace down there, where could it have got to? This place seems to be riddled with secret passageways and doors, perhaps we should revisit the area?" He pales a little. "Though maybe not that tapestry room"
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Nenne frowns at the bard. "Are you mad? Get down! The warrior can handle himself for now, and we shall step in when necessary." She steps away from the statue and peers into the pit, noticing a humanoid hand protruding from one of the golem's sundered arms.
"Magic will not permeate, but what about the gods?" she murmurs curiously. Her amulet glows red as she stretches out her hand and points at the golem. (Channel Divinity - Path to the Grave)
The gnome practically snarls in frustration. “And what if that thing manages to knock him out, who’s going to save him. Get me in there before Allister is turned into a pulp.”
He sits down arms folded with his legs dangling over the plinth and, looking Nenne in the eye, turns invisible.
Allister is forced into the corner by the creature's repeated strikes. The warrior desperately searches for a way out and rolls out when he sees an opportunity. The creature's speed matches the movement though and it slams the shield into Allister as he comes up and around. The fighter is blasted into the wall by the creature's might and it plants a solid foot into his chest. Black energy drains out of Allister and into the golem. Nenne, Glimbul and Boosey sees the fighter open his mouth in a scream of agony, though it is silent to them. When the golem retracts its foot, the thing has slowed back to its normal speed.
Wincing at the pain in his chest where the foot hit him, Allister rolls under another swing with the greatsword. He ends up between the legs and punches the rapier upwards. He can feel that his attacked is much more powerful than it should be when he buries the flaming blade all the way to the hilt in the golem. He slashes forward and tears huge pieces of clay from the torso and back. The golem topples over but wants to slam the shield into Allister, but he jumps onto the arms and stabs the blade into the golemˋs head. It explodes into tiny fragments, and Allister jumps to the ground. He looks upwards to his friends, smiling weakly and giving a thumbs up. He moves to the chest and opens it.
As the pieces of the golem are removed and the thing is destroyed, the companions realize that there is more than one body part inside the golem. There appears to be the body of a large man pressed inside the clay.
Allister, still holding his flaming rapier, approaches the man. He kicks his feet to see if he reacts. If not, he checks his breathing
Nenne taps on the barrier with her staff and points to the unmoving humanoid in the golem. She mouths, "What? Why?" to Allister and gives an exaggerated shrug.
When the man doesn't respond, Allister finds that the man does indeed have a pulse, even if it is faint. He appears to be completely unconscious.
"Allister needs medical attention, and I do not know who that person is. Let me inside." She climbs up on the plinth and waits for the gnomes to turn the statue.
Allister returns the shrug. He points to the man, makes a fist, sticks out his thumb and slowly turns it down, but not completely. Then he checks for wounds.
Glimbul turns the statue and with a Pop! Nenne and Boosey teleport into the pit with Allister. As the fighter pulls the clay off the unconscious man, he realizes that there is a lot more inside the golem than just a man. It appears to be stuffed with traveling equipment and gear. If the creature could do this with a sword and shield, who knows what it would have done with a coil of rope and several javelins...
Allister steps back to check the chest while Nenne investigates the uncovered body. The chest contains two one-inch-diameter glass eyeballs resting on a red cushion. One eyeball is pale green and the other is pink. The lid of the chest has an intricate bit of a mechanism leading to a stone box screwed to the lid.
Nenne finds several double spines hooked up to a net of wires stabbed into the unconscious man. Pulling them out, she discovers runes that she is familiar with. The magic placed in these is for preservation. The man's eyes search blindly behind his closed lids after the first of the trinkets are removed but otherwise doesn't move.
"This is odd," Nenne says, kneeling beside the stranger. A hint of rose colors her skin as the silver threads in her hair trend toward gold. "Preservation magic should not cause harm. This is." She looks up at Allister. "I fear he is a victim of this place. I am going to free him. Stand ready in case I am mistaken."
She spends the next few minutes carefully extracting the wires from the man's skin and clearing off the golem rubble. Once she's done, she moves back a few inches and waits for him to rouse, her sharp eyes tracking every twitch of his face for the earliest sign of life or danger.
Once the wires are removed, the large man's eyes moved slowly than before; still closed however. The clay bits, crumbs and pieces, begin to shake and fall and the being begins to move. Finally, the mans grey eyes pierce the air. A sudden heave of air is heard as he takes in a breath for what seems like days. A deep voice rumbles through the room. "Where are those dwarves?!" He straightens his back, now in a sitting position, when he stops and notices those around him. His eyes flicker about as his grey face scans his saviors. "You aren't dwarves..." He begins to stand up, however grunts from where the wires were placed in his body. After some effort, he stands to his full height. Seven feet of pure Goliath stands before the team as he once more takes in a breath of air. He then moves to put a hand on his weapons however stops short, knowing his saviors would probably like to question him.
"I believe you have questions for me, and for your generosity of saving me, I shall answer without resistance. Now. What are your questions?"
Made you look.
The gnome stands there open mouthed as the Goliath emerges from the ruined golem and seems to fill the space of the pit. “Wha.....how.....where.....?”
It’s a few seconds before he gathers his wits back in. “Do you know where you are and how you got here?” He asks in wonder, then realises something.
“Um...sorry....you must think me awfully rude.” He goes to hold out his hand, but thinks better of it due to the size of the thing. “Boosey Sackbut.....we seem to have liberated you from this...contraption....golem? Care to tell us how you ended up in there?”
Nenne rises with the goliath and steps backward to allow him more personal space. Nodding gracefully, she says, "I am Nenne Amharat, a medic. Those hooks in the golem had a bizarrely deleterious effect on you, and I did my best to remove them gently. How do you feel? And what is your name, if it is not an offense to inquire?"
Allister is standing a few feet away from the group, his weapons drawn and eyeing the stranger closely. „I bet he is talking about that creature I saw from the staircase. But it’s not good that he speaks of dwarves, not dwarf.“
His eyes squint carefully around the room, as if half expecting a dwarf to jump out once more. He then looks to Nenne first, "Thank you kind elf. I have only heard of your kind's warm generosity so I know now first hand it is true. I feel fine. The wires were only to restrain me and let the golem use my equipment."
The Goliath stands tall and pounds and fist on his chest. "I am Lo. Sent from my shaman to rid this evil and become chieftain of our clan in the Spine of the World. I came here days ago only to be swarmed by a mass of rotting dwarves. They covered me in clay and... that is how I was put here. I believe that answers your questions, yes?" Lo proceeds to finish his process and grabs hold of his gear to put on his person. He looks around the group. "I know of this place and who I seek. I can only presume you seek the lich as well. Do I presume correctly?"
Made you look.
Nenne slightly raises an eyebrow at the man's faulty deduction about the wires, but is assuaged enough at his assertion of good health that she decides not to press the issue. "It pleases me to hear you are well. And yes, we do intend to find and defeat this lich, as well as destroy a device called the Soulmonger, which is causing a death curse upon the land and stealing souls from their rest or resurrection. Judging by your weaponry, you seem a man of action. As our goals appear to align, would you care to join forces?"
The large man bows his head, "I would be honored to say the least. You saved me, as I should only return the favor."
Made you look.
Boosey gives Allister a sharp look. "I'd forgotten about that figure. It ran off towards Kubazan's tomb and that horrid tapestry room, didn't it? It vanished without a trace down there, where could it have got to? This place seems to be riddled with secret passageways and doors, perhaps we should revisit the area?" He pales a little. "Though maybe not that tapestry room"