Vishnu will follow slightly behind, also quietly.

Stealth: 26

Ven makes a suggestion and Shai and Vishnu act on it. The two of them approach cautiously, taking advantage of the shadows created by Kalak's and Quadere's lights. 

(OOC: Assuming some light is brought a bit closer to the vanguard duo...)

Fifty feet on a side, the walls of this rough-cut room have been scoured clean and smell strongly of chlorine. Benches have been carved directly from the stone walls, though constant exposure to the winds of the plane have left them structurally brittle. Several aged and rotted vestments lay scattered across the floor, constantly being swept up by the winds and giving the impression they are dancing in the air.

Like the last room you were in, this second chamber also only seems to have one tunnel leading in and out of it. The ground is also covered in fine sand, which also swirls in the air occasionally.

((Hope everyone had a safe July 4th, if you're a fellow American!))

Kandalou will carefully spectate the swirls in the air, without stepping on the sand. Does it seem to go with the wind? Or does it move in a pattern of its own? (I assume Perception is the proper skill: 12)

He will glance at the sand, "Careful. Might be some sort of trap. Maybe quicksand?"

Vishnu will examine the room from a distance, and prod the vestments with her mage hand.

Investigation: 12

Kalak will prod the sandy ground with his quarterstaff to judge the ground ahead of him to make sure it is solid while he looks around the room.

Investigation: 24

@Kandalou: As best as you can tell, the pieces of fabric and clothing are indeed just following the many random gusts of wind. They do not seem especially animated to you.

@Vishnu: Your mage hand has no trouble grabbing one of the passing vestments. Once it does, it very much looks like someone holing a flag up in a windy field. It flaps back and forth vigorously, but ordinarily. In looking into the room without entering it, nothing jumps to you as being strange.

@Kalak: Following Kandalou's vocal suspicions concerning the sandy ground, you prod it with your staff here and there. It is just as solid as the ground in the last chamber, and in the tunnels you traversed. In fact, the sand here doesn't look any different from that elsewhere in this place so far. Entering the room to have a better look around, you notice that the closest you get to the walls the stronger the chlorine smell gets. You gather that they must have been washed with that substance repeatedly for a very long time in order for the smell to get this impregnated into its pores. Then, just as you are about to leave, a glint of metal catches your attention coming from one of the corners. Getting a bit closer to examine it, you find a mithral brooch adorned with gold tracery embedded in the wall. A good tug is all it takes to remove it from a divot in the wall. You can feel its magical essence now that you are touching it. To the best of your investigative knowledge, there is nothing else of apparent interest here.

Shai eyes off the brooch with interest, obviously wondering what it might do, then falls back into line as the party finishes the investigation and presumably heads back to the intersection to and turns down the unexlored passageway....

“Who is cleaning this place and why?  Kalak, what is that brooch? May I inspect it?”

Nothing seems of particular interest to Ven. He only tries to memorise the feeling of being in the Plane of Pandemonium, this will make the greatest song.
"Let's move on, friends. Nothing to see here and time is running against us..."

Kalak gives Quadere the brooch saying, "Of course, just take care not to concentrate too hard on it."

Quadere studies the brooch, looking for familiar runes, inscriptions, symbols, or other arcane clues.

Arcana 20

Kalak shows the brooch he found to the rest of the party, and Quadere shows some interest in it in response. When given a chance to examine it, the cleric recognizes a few of the etched runes, small as they may be. This is not a language she understands, but one which she has been fascinated by for some time. Quadere knows that they can only mean one thing: the brooch was crafted by a celestial artisan. Whatever it is, it must be a boon to the rrakkma, but finding out exactly what that might be will require some magical analysis or a time-consuming study session.

The group reconvenes at the intersection and begins heading south. You eventually arrive at an elongated chamber (fifty-five feet by eighty-five feet) with a twenty-foot high ceiling. The room may have once served as a guard station, as the many hooks and racks for weapons are arrayed throughout. The few weapons that remain resemble glaives, though the blades are pitted, scored, and brittle. The wood that makes up their hafts is all but rotted away. About a dozen of the aged polearms hang from the walls haphazardly about the room. Interestingly enough, this room also has an unique smell. It smells like the creosote bush, which gives out the peculiar sweet scent of desert rain.

More pressing, however, right at the center of the room, stands a human woman in studded leather armor. She breathes hard as she turns to notice your approach. Red droplets adorn her armor and clothes, as well as her forehead. Her left arm holds a torch, and a few feet behind her, a circular shield lies on the ground. She points a longsword at you for a couple of seconds, before sighing in Common: "You are not mind flayers... You looks strange, but you are not mind flayers. That's a relief." She lowers her weapon for a moment before pointing it towards the back of the room. She turns sideways as she points in that direction, revealing a large pool of crimson liquid by a curved section of the southern wall. In the center of it, a motionless body lies sideways with its back turned to you. The warrior adds amid tired breaths: "My friend. She is dying. We fought the flayers but couldn't stop them. My friend paid the higher price. Can you help?" She motions with her head and torch-bearing arm for you to follow. "Please help if you can," she pleads as she sheaves her blade and bends over to pick up her shield from the ground on her way to the back of the room, after switching the torch over to her sword-hand.

Quadere tentatively goes over to the wounded individual and checks her wounds, and casts Spare the Dying if she is unconscious and appears to be fading.

Medicine 9

Shai is instantly suspicious of the human, on guard given the surprises to date, as it seems a little too much of a coincidence that they should meet friendly strangers, despite the non-threatening actions.  As the human turns toward her companion and Quadere moves forward Shai will unsling her crossbow and ready it in case this is yet another ambush and she will also look to slink off into any shadows to conceal herself.

Stealth 9

If either of the pair of strangers move to threaten an attack it will trigger her readied action and she will shoot at the human who greeted them.

Ven shares Shia skepticism and try to feel if the human is telling the truth.

passive insight 20. 
if you need a roll : 16 ; Help from Kalak 27

Vishnu will fade into the background with Shai.

Stealth: 15

From afar, Kandalou will attempt to read the warrior woman, using his insight (12). If she seems okay to Kandalou, he will help the wounded warrior to the best of his abilities. 

Medicine: 9

Kalak will keep this individual talking to help Ven get a feel whether it is telling the truth or not.

Questions include:

"Did you come with only your companion, or were the two of you part of a larger group?"

"How did you come to be here and how long has it been since you fought the ilithids?"

"Do you recall how many of them came through this chamber?"

Vishnu will also keep an eagle eye on the woman, watching to see if her hand goes towards her weapon or any similar hostile move.

Perception: 8

If still at disadvantage: 10

Insight: 11

DM's Screen:

@All: All of what I describe below happens within a few seconds.

@Shai: You load and train your crossbow at the human warrior in the center of the room. As you walk sideways along the shadows near the walls, she turns her head to catch a glimpse of you. She waves in a way to say "I understand your suspicious,"  but doesn't seem threatened or uncomfortable with your actions. Instead, she keeps gesturing for your and the party's help. (OOC: Your attack is readied but you are not hidden.)

@Vishnu: You share Shai's concerns and attempt to also make use of the shadows. You look less aggressive than the monk while doing it but the response you get is very similar. The human adventurer waves neutrally at your direction as well, simultaneously pleading for your help and letting you know that she can see you. Nothing that you see around you (not at disadvantage because of Light) raises an immediate alarm, and the woman's actions are not aggressive in any manner.

@Kalak: The woman is happy to answer your questions. She starts by pointing to a tunnel leading west (the only other exit apart from the one you came from.) "We were in a group of three. My other companion went that way, in search of a way out. As for our arrival, we trailed the four or so illithids to their portal and made use of it when no one was looking. We've been here for less than a day." She takes another arduous breath and adds: "Our fight was over no more than a couple hours ago, I think. It is hard to tell time in here. My friend has been unconscious since then, but if you can help I think she can make it."

@Quadere: Eager to help, you walk past the woman as she talks. She nods at you to show her gratefulness, even bowing a bit. You make your way to the fallen adventurer and realize you have to step a bit on the pool of red sticky liquid to get to her. You are cautious, but approach your patient nonetheless. The fallen woman is covered in crimson, but is breathing.

@Kandalou: You wait a few seconds before advancing, but nothing the woman says or does raise a red flag in your mind. When you see Quadere make her way to the fallen warrior, you approach her and lend some support. As far as you can tell, this second warrior is indeed in a bad shape.

@Ven: As the woman talks, you pay attention to her mannerisms and story alike. Her troubled breathing indicates pain. Her many nods and gestures towards your friends seem legitimate, but something still feels a bit off to you. It's the smell. The room smells like the desert would after a storm, but there is no reason why there should rain in here in the first place. Also, the layer of sand on the ground here is thinner than in the other rooms, and it is definitely not wet. Could this warrior asking for your help be capable of such an illusion? If so, why would she care about how this room smells? Something is fishy. And you know what else... This woman sure is quite insistent that you all move closer to help her friend. You'd be insistent too if one of your companions had fallen, but if they had been alive for a couple of hours already, surely their condition is stable, so... why the rush? As you decide that you should say something to your friends, you turn to notice that both Kandalou and Quadere are already next to the fallen companion, examining her wounds and stepping on the pool of... Is that really blood?

At this moment Quandere and Kandalou are looking over the fallen warrior's wounds. Without warning, both of her eyes open rapidly, and she gaps forcefully for air. Except, it is not air she seems to be sucking in. Quadere notices this now (passive insight), but Kandalou doesn't arrive at the same conclusion in time.

-> Kandalou's WIS saving throw {DC 18}: 19, Damage: 55 psychic.

Kandalou screams as he grabs the side of his head. He begins having trouble remembering how he got to this place, who are these people they are trying to help, and what the mission was in the first place. (Kandalou takes 46 psychic damage and is considered Memory-drained. While in this state, he must deduct a d4 of from every ability check and attack roll he makes.) 

Noticing the attack, Shai releases her crossbow bolt. (@MuggsHill: You may roll your readied attack.)

The pool of "blood" begins to bubble up and rise in the shape of columns here and there. It moves as if it was alive.

ROLLING FOR INITIATIVE: