Tak shakes his head as he tries to steady his vision. He can barely make out the shape of the serpent monster as it retreats into the abyss below where Etny fell... into the other unknown rooms this cavern holds secret.
Distracted by the tang of blood in his mouth, he staggers up and looks around. Where was Atriox? Why did he not help? Where was his leader? His brother? Even if he still felt...
The kobold blinks. He sees Atriox standing against the wall, watching. Waiting. Then shimmering.... the dragonborn fades, like a mist. A copy. A reflection.
*****
Atriox.... you stumble through a maze of mirror-like crystals, surrounded by reflections of yourself. When you first came in to the strange, glowing room and managed to shatter the keystone... you were unknowingly sucked into the strange plane that exists within this mysterious place.
Walking along, you could catch glimpses of your friends working out some kind of puzzle. They would ask you questions as if they could see you. But as much as you tried to answer, it felt like no use... they could barely hear you, and eventually couldn't. You watched fractured images of them slowly lighting up the pillars--these glorious pillars of light--and it only gave you time to reflect.
It reminded you of a dream you had, long ago... when you were sure you had died. A dream about drifting through a mist, a prismatic glow and a voice. A gentle, strong, powerful voice.
You realize what this place is, deep in your heart. This is a temple to the great dragon father, Io. A long unused, sacred place. Defiled by some evil that found it.... the evil that took your home.
You watch a monster enter that room. Destroy it, break it apart, desecrate it further. Whatever knowledge that room once held, once led to, destroyed. You can't get through, you can't help. You try, desperately, but again and again the reflection pushes you back. Forces you to watch.
The crystals in this room begin to shimmer in the various colors of the ethereal Io. They show you reflections of your family. Your ancestors. Your childhood.
Who you were. Who you are. Who you could have been. Who you could be.
Tears are drawn unbidden from your eyes.
You pause at one crystal, your reflection fading as a shadow appears... the opposite of the color flooding the rest of the room. Something base. Sinister. Something moves within your chest, uncomfortable and powerful. What the reflection shows. You see eyes--terrible, like the monstrosity that almost engulfed you earlier--but worse. It chills your blood and steals your breath away. The weight in your chest feels heavier and heavier, an iron stone dropping in a void.
The shadow is suddenly brushed away. You see Tak, staring up at you. Tilting his head. Injured but alive. Not a reflection but truly on the other side of the crystal, watching you. Trying to make out if he really sees you or not. He puts his claw out and touches the crystal, a desperate look in his eyes.
Atriox reaches out to his brother on the other side
“Tak.....are you there ?”
He looks surprised and suddenly hopeful.
"Tak here."
Your claws touch, the crystal melting away between your palms.... Once contact is made, the kobold is sucked forth into the crystal and through to your side.
He looks stressed and regains his footing, seeing no way to exit. "This A-Atriox real? Where are we?"
Lights around both of you flicker, mesmerising and colorful as they circle around. He squints at the brightness.
Atriox grunts and looks at the lights wearily. In response to Tak he simply says
“I know not little one.”
The lights pulse around both of you rapidly, and Tak huddles closer. A voice enters your mind. A thought.
"What do you wish to know?"
Tak doesn't seem to hear it, but senses something nonetheless. He almost seems to go into a trance, his eyes glazing over.
Atriox continues to look on skeptically at the unidentifiable voice
“Nothing from someone who has yet to reveal themselves. Words spoken from a stranger can only be taken so far.....I mean no offense but life has taught me to weary of such things.”
Atriox looks a Tak with a moment of worry as well
"I may be estranged from you... but I am no stranger to you..." The colors swirl again brightly. Tak blinks, semi-conscious.
"Especially not to one who bears the ring of this temple, young child..."
You feel a warmth around you. It makes the shadowy darkness deep in your chest recede slightly...
Atriox grunts and kneels in his half naked attire
“My lord. I apologize for my rudeness. I should have known that you would find me again.......I beg your forgiveness.”
"I need not find you, for I never lost you..."
The colors cycle again, slower. Melodically almost.
"You are in a memory of me. A fragment... Lost in time."
The voice gets quieter as if fading.
"Ask and you shall receive..."
Atriox bows his head lower in reverence. His hands spread out on the ground
“ I can think of nothing my lord. I have my home back. The home of my people......your children. I can only pray that your light shines on our Empire in the days to come.”
Atriox decides to be brave and look up slightly
“Is there something I can do for you ? Is there a way I can serve your magnificence?”
The voice has faded, like the hand of a gentle grandfather as the touch leaves you, but the colors in the room flash again. They seem to repeat in a way that makes you feel a "Yes" response from this being."
The voice is faint, but stirs your soul. "Seek to restore what was lost... Seek... balance... my child."
Atriox looks slightly confused but just nods as he bows again
“As you wish.......”
The crystals light up one last time, all fading in sequence until only one is left. A gentle, golden glow like a heartbeat.
Tak shakes his head as he seems to come to. The magical essence from him continues to grow in warmth and heat.
Peering at the golden crystal ahead of you, you see a glowing, orb-like object suspended in the rock.
Atriox nudges Tak gently and approach’s the golden crystal with care as he examines it though he has troubles concentrating from his distraction at his previous conversation
(Investigation 12)
You realize... It is an egg.
A brilliant artifact, about the size of a crystal ball, it looks to be covered in smooth scales... Each one flakes of gold, alabaster and pearl.
Atriox looks at the beautiful object and extends his hand out to it
Your palm touches the warm crystal, the egg snugly and safely behind it.
No way out of here... No way in to the artifact... It is almost like this room itself is a treasury, housing special, priceless items. You're sure there are more hidden, but... How to do anything?
Tak shuffles his feet, head tilted as he looks at the object beyond your hand. He can see it too, it seems. A warm magic continues to permeate from him.
Atriox grunts at the artifact and then eyes Tak carefully
“Are you......feeling alright Tak ? Your radiating magic like none other right now.....”
He blinks, looking at you. Then, in a moment of realization, he looks... Like he used to. Embarrassed and sheepish, he puts his hands behind his back, under his cloak.
"Uh, uh... Yeah... Tak feel fine. Tak just... Warm." His brow furrows and he fiddles.
"Brought Atriox stuff with Tak... You left it outside, and Tak... Wanted to... Keep it safe?"
He holds out your magic rings, and you see he's been carrying your pack too--strapped behind him under his cloak.
Atriox snorts in amusement and thankfully reaches for his things
“Old habits die hard eh ? Well then let’s see about something.Just a hunch but.......”
Atriox reaches out with his reclaimed signet ring
The crystal does not react. Your hand feels cool.
Tak tilts his head, confused. He continues to radiate with warmth. Still feeling sheepish he hands you the rest of your things.
Atriox grimaces and try’s again. When nothing happens he growls and in his anger throws his bag angrily on the ground sending stuff flying everywhere
Tak jumps back in surprise, dodging a few of the things flying his way.
A ring tinks across the ground, the previous one your mother always wore. It rolls to a stop, humming and glowing. It radiates the warmth... And seems to react to being in this room. The magic from it smells like her.
Atriox growls and is about to loose his temper completely when he sees his moms ring out of the corner of his eye....
.....it’s glowing and is giving off an odd energy. It’s obvious why but.....why ? What is special about his mother’s ring ? None the less he picks it up and looks at it before gingerly trying his luck against the crystal
It warms up greatly--but not so much that you can't stand it. Each strand of the ring that makes up the wreath-like shape glows bright.
The crystal opens. It cradles the egg like a nest, and the egg shimmers brightly.
Atriox gingerly reaches in to take the egg with a sparkle in his eye as he hefts it’s surprising weight he smiles and whispers to it
“Now......what are you I wonder....”
It thrums with warmth, reacting to your voice, it seems... You feel a deep tug in your heart. Something running down to your very soul, to the core of your being.
Atriox struggles to look away from it and at Tak. With a somewhat husky and emotional voice he manages
“Say brother.....where’s Etny ?”
***
Etny...
Your eyes open, but they still seem closed. No light greets you or gives solace to you. Wanting to reach up and rub them you find your whole body aching... Terribly sore and bruised. You hear a slow drip of water. The ground beneath you is damp and cold. It smells... uncomfortably familiar. Unpleasant. A smell you remember from many many years ago...
When your family was taken from you.
Where are you?
"Shiza," mutters Etny. "Shiza," she curses louder. "Atriox-dugairon," she calls out, her voice becoming more and more desperate with each passing moment. "Tak!! Are you there?!"
Silence.
She glances around, all-too-acutely aware of her vulnerability and weakness.
(23 Perception
You continue to hear the dripping noise, likely water from the underground lake--now up above--trickling down. You feel the oppressive darkness pressing in on you.
Reaching out and touching around you, you find your full arm length barely able to brush both sides of the walls. It seems to be a tunnel of some sort. Reaching up, you cannot feel a ceiling--you're not sure how you survived the fall, or how far away your friends are. You doubt anyone really knew this was even here--this deep, forgotten place.
Straining your ears, you can tell one direction leads to... water. Far ahead by some unknown distance, the lapping of water splashes against the rocks. The other direction seems to angle up slightly. It's quiet.
Your ears feel as if they are playing tricks on you. The cackling sounds of laughter--cruel, yipping laughter--comes to mind. Spots of lights--are they eyes?--sparkle in the darkness. You feel like you're being watched. Your head hurts. Your hand inches for your bow--which you now notice has a crack in the wood.
"Shiza...," Etny curses under her breath, realizing her panicking from earlier could cause ANYthing to come after her. Anything... She smells the air, and calls upon her magics to bring forth a little light at her fingertips, and heal her wounds.
(Cure Wounds + 10 damage healed.)
She utters a prayer to the All-Mother for guidance and hope in the darkness, and she can feel a black mood coming on. All is lost. All is hopeless. All is not right.
***
His eyes dart away, them back. He fiddles with his claws. "Tak... Not know."
His head bows down. "Fought... the Monster. It broke room we was in. She fell deep down. Could not find... Tak alone. Came to find Atriox... Tak sorry..."
Atrioxs expression heavies a bit as he goes over and pats his brother gently on the back
“You did nothing wrong brother. It was nothing you could have helped. We will try and find her. Together. Now could you please help me with my bag and the things that fell out
The little kobold nods and shuffles about, picking up your things with agile efficiency.
"How we... Get out, Atriox?"
Atriox grunts in response and begins to look around for an answer. Hefting then egg in both hands protectively he searches
(Investigation Nat 19 and insight total 22 )
The egg feels even warmer in your arms, pressed up against your chest. The ring radiates brightly as you bring your hand closer to the crystals surrounding you. Glimpses of other things, faint phantoms glimmer in the stones.
You step up to one, glowing white. It seems larger than the others, almost door-like. The ring activates it, making it clear and shimmery as a portal. A way out.
Atriox roars in triumph before turning to Tak
“This way brother follow me !”
Atriox jumps through the portal quickly
***
(Roll a d100 for me... concordance time)
(That'd be a 37, ma'am.)
"You shall make it right..."
A calming voice enters your heart, your soul. You feel it warm you from the inside, like a small fire. You've followed your goddess this far, and her blessings grace your shoulders.
Your wounds feel gently soothed by the crisp touch of your purifying magic. The light illuminates the walls around you. Wet, cold, slick. No way back up the way you came.
As the light fades, you feel the presence of something watching you again. Something from the far end of the tunnel where the water is.
(Blessed! For the next minute, when you make an attack roll or saving throw, you take a +3 bonus)
"Adna! Irata mukalu zarad nigori! Hie! Zarad!!"
Etny's strong voice, supported by her goddess, echoes through the tunnel. She calls out in Andrayan, saying the self-same phrase again, challenging whatever or whoever is at the end I'd the tunnel.
(Total 20 Intimidation.)
("What! Come out and show yourself, you coward! Hey! Coward!")
Etny nocks her only remaining Andrayan arrow to her bowstring.
The tunnel's silence deepens. Your eyes focus on the darkness, straining to pick up movement. Anything.
Something is there. Floating, perhaps... Watching. Waiting. Specter-like.
Little silvery orbs of light wink into existence. First like fireflies, they grow in size to a child's fist. Bobbing. Gentle. The glow is soft, only traveling about ten feet around the small orbs. In the pitch black it's almost blinding. They float toward you.
A voice enters your mind.
"Zarad..." It pauses, the slightest bit of humor in the tone. Questioning. Observing. "Cowardice, hm?" The voice is both dry and wet... inhuman. Alien.
"Perhaps... Enough to know the nature of fear. That it might be exploited... savored..."
The lights circle you quietly.
"Adna," Etny says more questioningly this time, wondering at the stranger shade floating about. "Garat malu korana kilar?" ("What? How do you know my tongue?") She stares, puzzled, but no less suspicious of the shade. "Shade..." she says tentatively, "who are you, and why are you here," she continues in Andrayan.
"Shade..." You can tell he had a faint smile.
"Truthfully... I am here because I lost my people."
He floats forward slightly. "The tunnels flooded. Many years I've been here. Your tongue..." A pause. "I know not how it came to me."
Etny, still unsure of this ghostly creature, lowers her bow and arrow. The arrow is still nocked, but she relaxes slightly. Taking her time, she surveys the surrounding area, striving to look past the ghost into the abyss beyond.
"Tell me, shade of the darkness, what is your name and purpose here? And you lost your people? From the floods?"
She pauses for a moment, her mind racing. "I too have lost my people."
"A name... I suppose they would call me Zabrenossk. My purpose... at the time? As a scout.... vanguard... spy... whatever word you wish to use. There is no use speaking falsities at this point."
As you let your guard down he floats closer still, tilting his head. You can see his form now emerging from the dark abyss of the tunnel.
A thin, almost emaciated looking torso, with taunt, dry, pale blue skin covering the bones and muscles beneath, dark leggings covering below where protrudes two-toed, webbed feet, floating a foot from the ground. A thin cloak following behind, black and hooded, with a narrow, elegant trim. One arm extended, non-threateningly, controlling the lights--seemingly missing an index finger, the other digits strangely long and possessing sharp nails.
His face comes into view.
Pinpoints of light reflect in his small milky eyes. A chill runs down your spine. He has no nose, no mouth... just long, thin tendrils of what appears to be skin, flowing down from his face. They move gently. Elegantly. Like tentacles.
(11 nature)
Etny tries to figure out what this thing is. She has no idea why, but she feels like she's seen something like this before. She can't be sure though. Her spine tingles restlessly, unable to shake the feeling that this...creature bodes ill in some way.
"What...what are you, Zabrenossk?"
***
As you enter this room, it is larger still--somewhere completely new. It is completely empty, save for a pedestal in the middle of the room. Broken bits of ceiling have also fallen, perhaps from the Monster traversing the area. If you strain to hear it, it is there... far away.
Atop the pedestal you see a tablet etched in draconic. Two additional pedestals seem to sense your presence and raise from the stone floor--plain, with a hole in the top.
"For the eternities, one must be willing to sacrifice all. To give their lives for the greater purpose of the many. We are all but an instrument in the hands of the cosmos.
Prove your own soul and to your betters, your Altruism.
Insert your hand and grasp a hold of the rod inside. With multiple hearts, there will always be hurt. With multiple minds, there will always be blood.
If all succeed, a sacrifice will be chosen by the cosmos. The mechanism will hold you fast and devour your sacrifical limb, surrendering your flesh. The pain endured will only magnify the resilience of your spirit.
If even only one fails... the destruction of all is certain. All will be chosen as sacrifices, confirming and condemning the sickness that is brought about by hubris."
(What the actual fuck Jessi )
(😂 It's a trap/puzzle/test for resolve.... Andrew's been put though this puzzle before)
Tak hovers nervously beside you, looking around the room. He can hear the far away noises too. His yellow eyes look up.
"What... what it say, Atriox? Where the exit?"
Atriox sneers at the contraption
“It’s asking us to stick our hand in the holes Tak. It’s a trial of some sorts.........I don’t like it....but I don’t see much choice.”
Atriox steps forward shifting the egg fully into one arm while he does as the it says
Tak looks confused, but seems satisfied with the explanation. He trusts you.
Clammering up the other pillar he tries to reach in, his fingers barely brushing the device inside, and he realizes that's part of this. Dropping the rest of his things and undoing his cloak, he struggles again with no avail. He finally sits down on the edge of it, letting his longer tail wrap in around the handle of the object.
As soon as you are both making contact, the room grows dim and blue, draconic runes light up the ceiling... glowing in a circle. Every second, one rune turns off--like a clock, counting down from 8.
7...
6...
The pillars you're interacting with begin to vibrate, gears clacking inside. Old... ancient... loud.
5...
The room grows dark, the only light now coming from the runes up above you... they're brilliantly blue and sharp. The ceiling rumbles slightly, a grinding noise... stone against stone, coming closer. It senses activity here.
It senses you.
4...
Tak tenses up, nervously waiting. The runes now turn red. A large BOOM sounds above you. Then another, shaking the room.
3...
Something crashes down on the other side of the room from up above, crunching the floor with its heavy, massive form in the darkness. The Monster.
The whole back end of it is swollen as if it has devoured something. Bloated, disgusting, unnatural. You see the stony head turn toward you, a hundred tongues flicking between rows of teeth. Tasting. Smelling. It begins to move.
Tak looks terrified. He glances at you, and back down at his belongings on the floor--including his sword. He is defenseless where he sits, and inches slightly to the edge of the pillar.
Looking back at the monster, then to his weapon, then to you, he seems to wait for your signal to drop and grab his weapon. He does not know what will happen if he lets go of the lever.
Atriox holds his hand up
“Hold brother.......... have faith that there’s a plan”
2....
The pillars begin to make a louder grinding noise. Tak swallows his fear and nods, squeezing his eyes shut. The snake inches closer, 20 feet. 15 feet. 10 feet.
1....
The room becomes pitch black.....
(Roll a d100 for me)
(Tak got a........ 73.)
(LOL 71
The room lights up again, almost blinding. The rod in your hand breaks loose and you stumble back, Tak jumps from the pillar immediately atop his sword. Neither of you lost a thing... your faith was proof of your altruism.
Tak's tail holds onto whatever broke free but he doesn't care at the moment--his eyes are large with fear at the monstrosity now between you both, covered in eyes and teeth and dripping ichor.
Atriox grunts and draws his sword weighing his options as he holds on tightly to the egg
This creature is stone and flesh......suddenly Atriox gets an idea
He aims as best as he can at the beasts open maw and spews acidic breath from his own as he does he also mentally activates all of his blood hunter abilities and gladly pays the price (-9 health)
Electricity arks down his sword as jumps forward and also slashed up along its neck
(Sword attack 26 to hit 24damage with his elemental damage buff, breath attack 22 to hit , 16 acid damage)
(Holy crap)
(7 and 13* lol
The acid blasts across the rocks and flesh of the aberration, and down the gullet in a horrid torrent. It doesn't seem to affect it, like all the previous times you, Etny and Tak have attempted to fight this monstrosity. But this time...
SHHHHHHING!
Your sword slices up the rock of its neck, undoubtedly gargoyles it has enveloped from this place--perhaps old guardians attempting to protect the treasures from it--and the acid seems to have weakened the structure of the stone. Pockmarked and brittle, they shatter. Your blade digs deep into the acrid flesh of the monster. More tongues and snakes erupt from the wound, spilling out along the floor along with pools of your acid.
Tak leaps up and darts beneath the strange, unnatural legs of the creature... bent the wrong way and with too many joints... His sword glances off the stone there, and he narrowly avoids being stepped on by the swollen bulk of the body. (3 to hit, failed)
The snake's eyes all turn in their sockets toward you, Atriox. It sees the egg in your arm and looks livid. Ravenous. It launches itself at you and crashes against the pillars in the middle, breaking them apart and cracking the floor. (Rolled a 7)
Atriox jumps out of the way as it clumsily crashes to the ground in a failed attack
As it squirms around Atriox take the opportunity to slash horizontally across his previous cut on its neck
( 24 to hit 18 damage)
As his sword slices through he spins in a deadly arc and stabs it into its chest
(21 to hit 19 total damage)
(Both hit!)
More ichor, acid and snakes pour from the wounds. The ground is becoming thick with snakes, alive and dead, making it difficult to move. Several start to bite at your pants and legs, a few making contact with your scaly skin and digging their fangs in.
(Multiattack, two slams... 15, and.. nat 20)
The large snake monster thrashes from the new wounds, not used to this pain. This frenzy. It begins to vomit up more snakes and... coins, apparently. Golden glints fleck the green acid.
It slams down again closer to you, wrapping its coils tighter. Tak keeps trying to jab at the joints, unable to make contact. His eyes redden with anger and he bares his teeth, going into a rage.
Trapping you against the wall, you see the maw of teeth and black blood crash against you. All the wind is knocked out of your lungs. (32 damage, make a Dex save to protect the egg.... and a Con save)
(18 dex 22 con how much total damage ?)
(does a 15 hit? idk it doesn't sound like you have armor on)
(Or like, only some)
(No I don’t have armor so does that take it to 0 or what ? I don’t a know)
(Oh gotcha--base Armor is 10 + Dex modifier plus any other bonuses from your class and stuff)
(Yes it hits then )
(total 48 damage... you BARELY save the egg, you matched the DC lol and Con was DC 15 so you succeed that too)
You manage at the last second to turn, the egg safely tucked against your chest and abs as the beast hits your side with the force of a trebuchet. Being as large as it is, half of it smashes against the wall as various fangs, tongues and snakes pour over you, cutting and lashing and digging into your skin.
As it makes contact with you, a strange feeling floods your veins. A blackness, creeping up along your arms, your skin, up into your eyes. Something you haven't felt for some time now. The warmth in the egg shrinks slightly and your heart beats faster.
(Confirmed how blood hunter class worked... basically ko-ed myself. Felt like a pokemon move there, dang it. XD)
As the pain courses through you, your breathing accelerates and magic floods from your body. Through every pierced wound, the energy flows outward with the blood and up into the monster. It seems to electrocute it, sending spasms through the stone and flesh. Black lines of... something join it, like thin threads needling their way into the aberration's face.
It pulls back, writhing on the floor like a skewered snake. Belly up, it throws Tak to the ground and almost crushes him beneath the bulk. Tak leaps from the flailing, broken legs just in time (15 dex save) and darts to the far wall to avoid the 30 feet of torment.
You feel... strange. The black threads retreat back into you, and seem to bring with them a healing sensation. The pain recedes, wounds being stitched up with the black thread. It stings, but inadvertently helps.
In its final death throes, the snake begins to vomit up more coins. And even then some: gems, old platinum statues, gargoyle heads and wings, ancient weapons and bones, and the final item, a crown... before it crashes to the ground, to move no more.
Tak's chest heaves and he sinks to the floor. "No wonder skaven not come here... Absolute suicide."
***
Zabrenossk floats closer, his feet finally touching the ground in silence. He stands just a few feet from you; about your height, and definitely corporeal. No longer attempting to use a mental connection to speak with you, he opens his mouth for the first time.
A sucking, husky, dry sound emerges--his real voice. "I am an illithid, child."
He lifts his hand and the orbs drift closer, lighting up more of his alien form. His fingers inch toward your face, but... they stop.
"I am a being of a hive. Or was... connected to all of my fellows through the Elder..." His head tilts ever so slightly the other way. "A connection of intellect. Unending knowledge of all minds we devour."
"Illi...," she tries the name, "...thid," her accent making the pronunciation of the word slightly difficult. "I have no memory of your kind in the histories of my people."
She flinches ever so slightly at his reaching, grasping fingers. "So...your people were flooded out? You have no more connection to this 'Elder,' I take it?"
She thinks some more, her violet eyes searching in the dimness of his magical lights.
"What...what do you want, Zabrenossk? And what do you mean 'all minds we devour?'"
"We feast on the brains of intelligent beings, child."
The illithid's tentacles reach forward soundlessly, brushing up under your chin. They feel sickly, clammy and unpleasant. His eyes remain cool and emotionless.
"And my, you are a smart, resourceful, brave young girl."
He withdraws his tentacles and steps back slightly. He turns his eyes away from you.
"Yes, I've been severed too long from the Elder. I am on my own now. As for what I want..." Zabrenossk pauses. "You are the first humanoid I have seen in years. I want to know how you got down here. And I would like a way out."
Etny cringes at the touch of the sallow tentacles against her face, shuddering. She takes a careful step back, and while cautious, deems this creature to not be an immediate threat. At least...not right away.
She shoulders her bow, and looks the illithid in the eyes, her own blazing.
"Zabrenossk," she says truthfully, "since you...," she stops short, almost not wanting to voice it, "since you feast upon the brains of living creatures, can I have your word and a promise that mine will stay intact," she pauses, mulling over his request, "especially after we have gotten you out?"
(Persuasion check please)
(8...gay)
He notes the withdrawal with grace, eyeing you from the side. There is a quiet pause. He turns his face away. The light catches his cold face.
"You have my promise."
Folding his arms behind his back, he turns away from the salty water lapping at the end of the tunnel.
"Do you know how you came by this place?"
"I...," she stammers slightly, "I know not, save I fell from above, into a dark hole. I was in a room full of crystals, fighting against some horrid creature, snake-like and stone all at once. I took a wrong step, and tumbled down here. That is all I know, I'm afraid."
Etny looks back the way she came, the tunnel a deep abyss before her. She turns back to the illithid, her eyes studying the creature. She does not fully trust him, but maybe, if he knows his way around these tunnels, she can utilize her strengths as a ranger and tracker to do the rest.
"Snake-like and stone... how intriguing."
With a gesture from his tentacles, he sends the glowing orbs up toward the ceiling. Up, up, up they fly... leaving the two of you in the pitch dark below. It's deathly quiet. You can't even hear his breathing now, and wonder if he's begun to hover again.
You feel a three-fingered hand on your shoulder, an almost too-gentle touch. "Look. There."
The orbs bounce like fireflies upon the stone above, a slanted crack in the rock leading to the rooms and halls beyond. The angle of the drop likely tumbled you on a slide until the last bit, causing you to fall the rest of the way. It is no wonder you are sore with a broken bow.
Etny feels an involuntary shiver and a an urge to leap into the air when Zabrenossk rests a hand on her shoulder. The touch was almost too light for her to realize it was even there. It's everything she can do to fight that urge.
After watching the orbs bounce and waver near the crevice, she slowly turns her head to the side, addressing the illithid. "Let us be off, I suppose," she says, gesturing toward where his lights are. "That way."
Zabrenossk nods, looking up the tunnel that runs under the crack--the opposite direction of the water--where darkness permeates for miles.
The touch of his hand disappears from your shoulder like a ghost, and he moves on ahead, arms behind him once more. You can just barely sense his movement now.
As the lights retreat back down, they dance between the two of you in a spectral parade. You can now see his back, his cloak hovering behind him like a death veil.
"I have wondered these tunnels many years, child. I could make my way up that crevice you fell from, however..."
He talks over his shoulder, his voice still sucking and dry. "If there is a great snake... gargoyle... I do not have the power to fight such a beast."
He leads the way for some time, hovering like a shadow ahead of you. You see branches in the tunnel as you plod ever onward, twisting and winding away from the central canal. As if noticing this, Zabrenossk speaks again to you mentally.
"I sense questions in your mind, child. These paths are ancient lava tubes from the mountain... old volcanic activity. When I was last here, there were other creatures prodding. Exploring."
He pauses. "Then... an earthquake... and the halls below flooded from the sea, though it be miles and miles inland."
He turns down one path, assuming you will follow him and his light.
"You need rest and supplies if either of us is going to leave. Come."
Etny, still uncertain about her newfound...companion, steps forward following him around the corner.
She needs to mend her bow, somehow. This was passed on to her by her father while he was still alive...back before the raids...before the Einhycacht...
Einhycacht..." You hear his voice slithering in the darkness ahead as he draws out the word... There's something else. Something faint. You can sense his mind probing yours... Gently.
"I seem to recognize this word, too, it seems... Yes... you mean the little ghostly white beings... do you not? Vicious, wild creatures..." He turns another corner like a shadow.
Etny hurries to keep up with the unsettling, enigmatic illithid. She can't shake the feeling that he is somehow sinister in his devices, and ways nothing more than to feed upon her mind. She quells the thought quickly, striving to concentrate on their joint goal to get out.
She nearly stops short at his mentioning of the white kobolds in her native tongue. An old vengeful heat rises in her heart, and she can't quite sate the urge to want to find the Einhycacht...the white kobold beasts, and hunt them down. "You have seen them, then," she replies aloud.
(22 Insight to see if she can read Zabrenossk's intentions right.)
"Seen them... eaten them... their memories are interesting, child. But their intellect... tsk."
He floats up into a room a little higher in, a place where you'd have to climb to ascend to. "One cannot be too picky when one is isolated and alone. Isn't that right?" His words have a bit of humor to them.
It's not too difficult to follow after, and the change in environment surprises you. You find yourself in a pod-like space, smooth walls and rounded ceiling. There seem to be some comfortable belongings--at least, as much as one could have in a place like this.
"Sit. Please." He stresses the word slightly. You feel his intentions, with everything he's told you thus far, are genuine enough. Nothing feels like a lie, and he moves about the room with his back toward you, vulnerable to any attack you might strike upon him.
Etny takes in everything she sees, relaxing a little in the presence of the illithid. As she watches Zabrenossk, she pulls her bow off of her shoulders and examines it closer.
(16 Survival to survey the damage done to my bow, and what I'll need to do to repair/mend it.)
"Z-Zabrenossk," Etny inquires tentatively, "when you were a part of your...," she can't think of the word for a moment, shrugs, going with the next best thing, "...tribe? Colony? You said you were a spy of some sort. On what, if you are comfortable sharing, did you spy?"
He turns his head to the side, his tentacles writhing slightly as if tasting the air.
"For new recruits."
He turns back away from you, pouring something on a makeshift table. He turns around, handing you a cloth with a strange chemical on it. It smells bitter and sweet at the same time. Almost like spoiled honey.
"Take."
(Sorry forgot to address your survival check XD I'll do that too)
"New...recruits...," she says absently, taking the cloth. Not wanting to offend or be somehow impolite, Etny takes the cloth, and first smells it, then, discreetly while his back is turned, licks it.
(Yes, I'm serious, she does that! XD)
(14 medicine to determine what this is.)
You notice your bow has a long crack down the middle, at least a foot long. It would need to be restored with a sap compound perhaps, something to strengthen the hold. Then bound with a resin-soaked leather. You feel this would be enough to save your bow.
The taste of the cloth is intoxicating. It's not anything you've tasted before, but it definitely seems... relieving. You feel your joints and muscles ease their stiffness, their pain. Your eyelids feel heavy... so heavy.
"Rest, child. You will need it."
(Weyell crud....)
Etny falls unbidden into an intoxicating and dizzying sleep, spinning down...down...down into an embracing blackness...
***
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