The party has a hushed conversation about what questions are most critical at this juncture, and Nenne sits down on the dais beside I'Jin's sarcophagus to begin her ritual.
She takes out some incense and a small vial of holy oil, anointing her head with it as she begins to sing. Her voice hardly carries, though the party does hear a deep contentedness in her rich alto. As time progresses and she feels the connection with her beloved god strengthen, a palette of peaches and bronze starts to warm her complexion. A smile passes over her serene face, and she looks nearly unburdened for the first time since any of the others have known her. This is who the cleric truly is. A woman full of peace.
"I, Nenne Amharat, your devoted servant, ask you these things, Fair Judge. Incline your ear and answer: Does the invisible creature watching us now report our movements to Acererak? Are there more puzzles like I'Jin's that can only be safely solved from other floors or rooms? Do I have the power to cure the storyteller of the curses that plague him?
"You are just and fair. Your voice is calm and your judgments, orderly. I await your guidance in humility and faith."
Nenne's eyes remain closed for a time with a peaceful expression at ease on her face. The candles waver with a slight breeze that drifts through the tomb. The air is chilly and cold; Nenne opens her eyes to to look about. The four of you sense a presence in the room - something altogether powerful and terrible all at once.
A shadow passes through Nenne's eyes as if black milk had been shot from a syringe into the whites of her eyes. She doesn't seem to notice, but it makes Boosey and Glimbul take a step back. A slight furrow of Nenne's brow in a question to the action is all she has time for before she feels her connection solidify. Nenne is pulled from her seated position, straight into the air. Her chest heaves towards the ceiling, while her arms, legs, and head dangle to the ground. With her feet only an inch or so off the ground, she begins to spin in place. A small sound escapes her mouth that sounds much like the crunching of an insect under foot. Boosey calls out to her, "Nenne?"
Seemingly in response to the question, the cleric begins to rotate in the air. When she turns so that her face is visible to the rest of party, they came see black tears streaming down her forehead towards the floor in her awkward position. The next sound that comes out of Nenne's mouth is a wail. The wail seems to carry with it the feel and stench of death. Everyone's gut sickens and each of the heroes feel as if they might vomit. The wail carries well beyond the room to volumes Nenne couldn't have made on her own. The room fills with the smell of rotting corpse and Nenne is droppped to the ground. Her tears on the ground partially solidify into the wispy for of a shadow that immediately and violently lunges for Nenne's prone form. She is far from incapacitated anymore and has the sense to roll just out of reach of it's cold grasp. The air is visible cooler as everyone's breath comes out in puffs.
The creature's cold embrace is enough to pass through Nenne's gauntlet, but fails to grab hold of her person. The chilling effect numbs the arm, even with the evasion. There's no doubt in her mind that if she hadn't moved quick enough this thing would have created another wound she could not fix.
Alerted by the sudden appearance, glimbul makes quick work to drat his dart. With expert skill he sends the dart through the head of the shadowy creature. A ripple effect courses through its form as the dart sails through it.
Nenne stares up at the creature that possessed her in utter terror, black tearstains marring her face. Kelemvor's protective red light envelops her (Sanctuary), but she doesn't even seem to notice it.
"Why?!" she screams. She gets to her feet as diluted black liquid rolls down her cheeks with her fresh anguish. "Why?!"
A familiar red shimmer attaches itself to the creature with a vengeance as Kelemvor's divine retribution takes root in its shadowy form. (Path to the Grave)
The thing is between the bard and Nenne, and without a second thought Boosey grabs his staff with both hands, swinging it in a wide arc. The wave of nausea comes again as he swings and the staff swishes through thin air. He curses loudly then shouts to Nenne. “What is this thing?” Lining the words with inspiration.
While the ghost is concentrating on Boosey Allister creeps behind it and stabs at the spot where its heart would normally be. Like always he barely feels any resistance and the blade goes right through the torso. Instead of floating away the ghost turns to Allister and tries to touch him but he simply ducks under the swing and slashes upwards. Again the blade slices through the incorporeal form like paper. Allister just prepares to thrust at the torso again when the ghost turns almost transparent and slowly drifts to the floor. Just to be sure it stays down he pokes it with the rapier but it stays down and unmoving. With wide eyes he looks at Nenne. „I guess when you said you wanted to talk to your god this was not what you expected.“
Nenne's knees buckle. She grips the side of the open sarcophagus and promptly retches into it, her body expelling the final remnants of the unholy blackness that invaded her. She leans over the coffin, shaking, and wipes her mouth.
"This was the worst by far," she says weakly, clutching her amulet tight.
Allister brings Nenne a waterskin and offers it to her. „No matter what this invisible thing is we have to move now. I guess every creature in this tomb heard you yelling.“
The form of the shade lies torn and unmoving on the floor. The thing has a gaping hole in its head and it ripped clean apart where Allister slashed it. It does not move, though its shadowy form wavers in the partial existence. The corpse, if anyone can call it that, remains unlike the rest of the shades the party has encountered this far.
“We should head down to the next floor again, before the dwarves and their minions come to us.” Boosey suppresses another wave of nausea. “That thing was horrific”.
Nenne follows more than anything still in a daze. The noise from Papazotl's room has stopped, only adding to the sense of urgency to get off the third floor. Since the room with the mirror is what the party knows about the fourth floor, that's where they go. The bodies are all missing from the hallway and the shards of mirror have been swept off the floor. The bare bones of the frame still clings to the wall, even though the reflective surface has been removed.
Waiting to get to the place we will be waiting at. “So now that we have some time. Should we talk about what... that was? Have you been harboring undead?” Glimbul looks to the rest of the party. “Is anyone else confused about this like I am? I can say with certainty that I have not seen an event like that”
„Have seen a stone boar that is munching people’s heads off anywhere else? But you’re right, this was unexpected. Even more unexpected would be a straight answer.“ Allister winks and smiles at Nenne. „I just hope for you it’s gone now.“
The eladrin stares at her hands as they rest in her lap and does not respond for a long time. Perspiration makes her gore-streaked face glisten.
"Not undead," she manages. Two new channels of moisture carve their way down her cheeks, pattering dully against her armor. "And not new. I've told you. My spells, here...the Soul...but normally just in my head."
She closes her eyes. A wince takes over her expression. "In my head," she repeats, hollow.
"I think we should follow the plan from last time. Explore this level and find where the tombs are before entering them. It may be useful to get the layout down here first, if we need to escape quickly." He looks up at the ceiling of the room the group is in. "It may be more dangerous up there now than down here. There was a passage way leading west off the stairwell wasn't there? That would be as good a place to start as any."
As Glimbul and Allister move, Boosey hangs back a little with the cleric. "Are you okay, Nenne? It's true that there are many things that I...we have no comprehension of, but please, try to lessen this burden that you carry. There is nothing in here now that can cause us any more terror than we have already experienced. I have resigned myself to.....well....this place....nightmares", he sighs. "It's getting to us all. This thing....whatever it is...we can help you with it, all of us. Allister and Glimbul have proven to be most resourceful in here, we can help you carry this! Besides," and he gives her a sideways grin, "I need you to keep me on the straight and narrow. Who knows what mischief I'd get up to....especially now I'm a goat."
Nenne and Boosey have a private conversation. When they finish, she rises and wipes the remaining black filth from her face with her priestly vestments.
"Give me ten minutes and I will be of more use to you with my sight. Also..." She walks over to Allister as her holy symbol flares ruby. She raises her hand to poke him in the forehead as she usually does, and instead taps him briefly on the shoulder. (Death Ward)
"If you'll pardon me," she says, and reaches for her prayer book to begin petitioning Kelemvor to open her sight to magic.
The larger western hallway ends with what appears to be a large stone door looming at the end of the hallway, but it bears no handles or hinges. Jutting from the wall on either side of the door are two matching bronze sculptures — each the head and neck of a serpent with fangs bared. On the lintel above the door is inscribed the following message in Common: “Warm like flame, cold for the cruel, still for the dead, gruel for the ghoul.”
A short ways before the stone door, a narrow corridor just off the main psaage to the north. After ten feet, this dusty corridor becomes a staircase that descends fifteen feet to a lower tunnel. Resting on the floor at the bottom of the staircase is an old treasure chest with a rusty built-in lock. Just beyond the chest, the tunnel opens up to a huge, dark chamber.
Not a sound can be heard, save the infernal grinding from somewhere below and the crackling fire of flame coming from Allister's rapier. The stench of death and rot lingers in the air from time to time, but is never really a source anyone can pinpoint.
The party has a hushed conversation about what questions are most critical at this juncture, and Nenne sits down on the dais beside I'Jin's sarcophagus to begin her ritual.
She takes out some incense and a small vial of holy oil, anointing her head with it as she begins to sing. Her voice hardly carries, though the party does hear a deep contentedness in her rich alto. As time progresses and she feels the connection with her beloved god strengthen, a palette of peaches and bronze starts to warm her complexion. A smile passes over her serene face, and she looks nearly unburdened for the first time since any of the others have known her. This is who the cleric truly is. A woman full of peace.
"I, Nenne Amharat, your devoted servant, ask you these things, Fair Judge. Incline your ear and answer: Does the invisible creature watching us now report our movements to Acererak? Are there more puzzles like I'Jin's that can only be safely solved from other floors or rooms? Do I have the power to cure the storyteller of the curses that plague him?
"You are just and fair. Your voice is calm and your judgments, orderly. I await your guidance in humility and faith."
Nenne's eyes remain closed for a time with a peaceful expression at ease on her face. The candles waver with a slight breeze that drifts through the tomb. The air is chilly and cold; Nenne opens her eyes to to look about. The four of you sense a presence in the room - something altogether powerful and terrible all at once.
A shadow passes through Nenne's eyes as if black milk had been shot from a syringe into the whites of her eyes. She doesn't seem to notice, but it makes Boosey and Glimbul take a step back. A slight furrow of Nenne's brow in a question to the action is all she has time for before she feels her connection solidify. Nenne is pulled from her seated position, straight into the air. Her chest heaves towards the ceiling, while her arms, legs, and head dangle to the ground. With her feet only an inch or so off the ground, she begins to spin in place. A small sound escapes her mouth that sounds much like the crunching of an insect under foot. Boosey calls out to her, "Nenne?"
Seemingly in response to the question, the cleric begins to rotate in the air. When she turns so that her face is visible to the rest of party, they came see black tears streaming down her forehead towards the floor in her awkward position. The next sound that comes out of Nenne's mouth is a wail. The wail seems to carry with it the feel and stench of death. Everyone's gut sickens and each of the heroes feel as if they might vomit. The wail carries well beyond the room to volumes Nenne couldn't have made on her own. The room fills with the smell of rotting corpse and Nenne is droppped to the ground. Her tears on the ground partially solidify into the wispy for of a shadow that immediately and violently lunges for Nenne's prone form. She is far from incapacitated anymore and has the sense to roll just out of reach of it's cold grasp. The air is visible cooler as everyone's breath comes out in puffs.
//roll initiative\\
The creature's cold embrace is enough to pass through Nenne's gauntlet, but fails to grab hold of her person. The chilling effect numbs the arm, even with the evasion. There's no doubt in her mind that if she hadn't moved quick enough this thing would have created another wound she could not fix.
Alerted by the sudden appearance, glimbul makes quick work to drat his dart. With expert skill he sends the dart through the head of the shadowy creature. A ripple effect courses through its form as the dart sails through it.
Nenne stares up at the creature that possessed her in utter terror, black tearstains marring her face. Kelemvor's protective red light envelops her (Sanctuary), but she doesn't even seem to notice it.
"Why?!" she screams. She gets to her feet as diluted black liquid rolls down her cheeks with her fresh anguish. "Why?!"
A familiar red shimmer attaches itself to the creature with a vengeance as Kelemvor's divine retribution takes root in its shadowy form. (Path to the Grave)
The thing is between the bard and Nenne, and without a second thought Boosey grabs his staff with both hands, swinging it in a wide arc. The wave of nausea comes again as he swings and the staff swishes through thin air. He curses loudly then shouts to Nenne. “What is this thing?” Lining the words with inspiration.
While the ghost is concentrating on Boosey Allister creeps behind it and stabs at the spot where its heart would normally be. Like always he barely feels any resistance and the blade goes right through the torso. Instead of floating away the ghost turns to Allister and tries to touch him but he simply ducks under the swing and slashes upwards. Again the blade slices through the incorporeal form like paper. Allister just prepares to thrust at the torso again when the ghost turns almost transparent and slowly drifts to the floor. Just to be sure it stays down he pokes it with the rapier but it stays down and unmoving. With wide eyes he looks at Nenne. „I guess when you said you wanted to talk to your god this was not what you expected.“
Nenne's knees buckle. She grips the side of the open sarcophagus and promptly retches into it, her body expelling the final remnants of the unholy blackness that invaded her. She leans over the coffin, shaking, and wipes her mouth.
"This was the worst by far," she says weakly, clutching her amulet tight.
Allister brings Nenne a waterskin and offers it to her. „No matter what this invisible thing is we have to move now. I guess every creature in this tomb heard you yelling.“
The form of the shade lies torn and unmoving on the floor. The thing has a gaping hole in its head and it ripped clean apart where Allister slashed it. It does not move, though its shadowy form wavers in the partial existence. The corpse, if anyone can call it that, remains unlike the rest of the shades the party has encountered this far.
“We should head down to the next floor again, before the dwarves and their minions come to us.” Boosey suppresses another wave of nausea. “That thing was horrific”.
Nenne is vaguely aware of her companions, but Boosey's words pierce through the fog in her mind. She shakes her head.
"Is," she corrects him, looking only at the unmoving shade. "It is not gone. It is never gone. Nothing makes it stop. Nothing."
Nenne follows more than anything still in a daze. The noise from Papazotl's room has stopped, only adding to the sense of urgency to get off the third floor. Since the room with the mirror is what the party knows about the fourth floor, that's where they go. The bodies are all missing from the hallway and the shards of mirror have been swept off the floor. The bare bones of the frame still clings to the wall, even though the reflective surface has been removed.
Waiting to get to the place we will be waiting at. “So now that we have some time. Should we talk about what... that was? Have you been harboring undead?” Glimbul looks to the rest of the party. “Is anyone else confused about this like I am? I can say with certainty that I have not seen an event like that”
„Have seen a stone boar that is munching people’s heads off anywhere else? But you’re right, this was unexpected. Even more unexpected would be a straight answer.“ Allister winks and smiles at Nenne. „I just hope for you it’s gone now.“
The eladrin stares at her hands as they rest in her lap and does not respond for a long time. Perspiration makes her gore-streaked face glisten.
"Not undead," she manages. Two new channels of moisture carve their way down her cheeks, pattering dully against her armor. "And not new. I've told you. My spells, here...the Soul...but normally just in my head."
She closes her eyes. A wince takes over her expression. "In my head," she repeats, hollow.
Allister slaps his thighs as he gets up. „Well, that was informative. Now we need to focus on the this level. Where do we want to go?“
"I think we should follow the plan from last time. Explore this level and find where the tombs are before entering them. It may be useful to get the layout down here first, if we need to escape quickly." He looks up at the ceiling of the room the group is in. "It may be more dangerous up there now than down here. There was a passage way leading west off the stairwell wasn't there? That would be as good a place to start as any."
As Glimbul and Allister move, Boosey hangs back a little with the cleric. "Are you okay, Nenne? It's true that there are many things that I...we have no comprehension of, but please, try to lessen this burden that you carry. There is nothing in here now that can cause us any more terror than we have already experienced. I have resigned myself to.....well....this place....nightmares", he sighs. "It's getting to us all. This thing....whatever it is...we can help you with it, all of us. Allister and Glimbul have proven to be most resourceful in here, we can help you carry this! Besides," and he gives her a sideways grin, "I need you to keep me on the straight and narrow. Who knows what mischief I'd get up to....especially now I'm a goat."
Nenne and Boosey have a private conversation. When they finish, she rises and wipes the remaining black filth from her face with her priestly vestments.
"Give me ten minutes and I will be of more use to you with my sight. Also..." She walks over to Allister as her holy symbol flares ruby. She raises her hand to poke him in the forehead as she usually does, and instead taps him briefly on the shoulder. (Death Ward)
"If you'll pardon me," she says, and reaches for her prayer book to begin petitioning Kelemvor to open her sight to magic.
The larger western hallway ends with what appears to be a large stone door looming at the end of the hallway, but it bears no handles or hinges. Jutting from the wall on either side of the door are two matching bronze sculptures — each the head and neck of a serpent with fangs bared. On the lintel above the door is inscribed the following message in Common: “Warm like flame, cold for the cruel, still for the dead, gruel for the ghoul.”
A short ways before the stone door, a narrow corridor just off the main psaage to the north. After ten feet, this dusty corridor becomes a staircase that descends fifteen feet to a lower tunnel. Resting on the floor at the bottom of the staircase is an old treasure chest with a rusty built-in lock. Just beyond the chest, the tunnel opens up to a huge, dark chamber.
Not a sound can be heard, save the infernal grinding from somewhere below and the crackling fire of flame coming from Allister's rapier. The stench of death and rot lingers in the air from time to time, but is never really a source anyone can pinpoint.