Mission 4 - Temple Turn 3 *Next turn starts
3 AM UTC, 7 December NOTE: 2 turns after this until the Gillyweed stops working.
It seethed. Raw, unadulterated
seething rage.
How? It was a question becoming all too common now with this Fae and this Crew. He was supposed to teleport in and be taken. They were all supposed to teleport in and be trapped, separated and taken by the portals. Its minion had heard it all and believed it was to happen.
How had the hundred times bedamned Fae known? All they had to do was use the potion, see the illusion and teleport in. The barrier would trap them, its servants would activate the portals separating them and then she would be forced to bargain for them and it would have her and the Ship too.
The Fae was drawing on its walls again! The outright defacement and disrespect shown to it by that Fae was .... The vitriol almost burned out the simple mind of the single slave left to see. It made one final adjustment, turning the wheel, then withdrew. If it could not have them alive, then it would have them dead. Either way, this Crew and that Ship would belong to it.
Once this starts, launch the attack. Keep her busy, it ordered its servants.
SHE is not to be able to help them. If there truly is a link as its minion now reported, then let her feel their distress, their agony, let her make the mistake and come like last time. Victory would be all the sweeter when she finally bowed.
-----
Aylar takes a moment to think.
Aeshma said the chamber be empty, the eel still be hiding;
Clíodhna speaking of whens and where's and why's and choices.
The Guardian, it seems, too, has to still its hand and wait. He nae likes it, the notion of "playing someone's game" as she mentioned, thinks about those chess games he had played with
Bellandra fer fun, only with rules all scrambled like weighted dice. This time the board itself, judging from what he has heard, might be stretching in the directions they be nae seeing fully! Are we be playing with black figures and have to wait fer that water slug to move its pieces then? He is nae as annoyed as to turn over the table, but oh how he be wishing to make some pieces fall over or to switch them places while the other nae looking. He stays calm and even-faced fer the morale, but some of his thoughts leak through the link towards the phoenix. (roll dice)
Aylar feels a faith in him and the Crew flow back through the link and his charms move slightly.
*Trickster. Turn their own magicks against them, Aylar.* He picks a section of the wall,
writes down another runic sequence, just to kick the imaginary game board oh so slightly, then
drops the zombie finger into the water and, both weapons drawn at the ready, stations himself within striking distance to both the secret-filled room, and the room Argy be intending to peek into, mindful to leave their sharpshooters a good line of sight ready to attack any foe that shows itself and to assist or defend any Crew member that might require it. Aylar assures himself that the Crew be ready to meet whatever trap the fish be readying to spring upon them, and
attempts to pass that confidence along to all his mateys as he waits for the figures on the proverbial chessboard to move.
As the corridors begin to flood,
Argy panics for a moment and quickly clings to Captain Baldbeard. A moment later she remembers
Kyp's lessons and her Abalone Shell and calms down. She decides to re-investigate the door to the right and the rooms where the Chuulpions had previously come from. She makes sure each Chuulpion corpse kicked back into the room is beheaded, just in case. Like
Bellandra's investigation with the mirror before her, she finds some bones and a half eaten carcass of a Merrow, but that is all. Returning to the corridor with the lantern in front of her, she once again shuts the door.
Bellandra informs the crew of what she's seen in the mirror. "
Captain Aylar, mateys, be ye careful of that
sconce near the entrance, that one near Grog'tial - methinks that one
be trapped. But there be something in this room, a
hidden floor in the center, I'd stay clear of it for now. Also
something hidden in the north wall, a compartment perhaps, I know not yet what it may contain. This
sconce behind me and Karnstein, it be some sort of trigger - my vision shows a knob we can turn, it be related to water. My guess be that the
knob opens the floor, and drains the water. But what else it may unleash I know not. I'd say we try it, but be ye prepared in case more foes arrive."
Bellandra takes another quick look through the mirror at the walls and ceiling of the room as well, since she remembers that Cliodhna had earlier mentioned walls and ceiling of the mechanism room as having hidden parts - then perhaps there might be here too. Nothing more hidden turns up, so
Bellandra reaches forward and carefully turns the knob to where it indicates the water flowing upside down. (roll dice) Several of the hexagon tiles drop lower in the floor and the
water begins to drain from this upper section of the temple, although it will still remain ankle deep at the entryway and deeper as the corridor progresses.
Count Karnstein himself is a little surprised by his newly discovered whip-handling talent. Encouraged by the success of his action, and seeing it's in decent enough condition,
he decides to keep it. "Don't be foolish, folks. We may not drown but that doesn't make us fish! We won't stand a chance fightin' underwater," he says, kicking a zombie head across the big room's floor. He stands next to
Bellandra while she operates the hidden mechanism, ready to fight or move away if any danger appears. As the tiles recess and the water begins to drain,
Count waits to see if any enemies appear. When none do, he moves carefully along the wall to
check the hidden compartment on the north wall of the big room.
Finding another lever with a similar water symbol, he pulls it. (roll dice) There is a slight sound but nothing seems to happen. However
Durik now sees the water starting to drain from the lower part of the corridor as well. Once that is done,
Count goes back to the entry area, ready to go deeper into the temple with the rest of the crew.
As
Argy clings to him for a moment,
Captain Baldbeard scents her fear. As she manages to get it under control, he steps carefully everywhere,
entering the rooms after Argy, ready to sick his sharks on any enemy that may present itself, if needed. He sniffs the air to try and get a sense of any secrets that smell different from what he's smelt so far, while waiting for the more magically inclined among the crew to do their thing. (roll dice) Besides the odors of dead Chuulpions and zombies, and the stench of decaying Merrow, all he smells is the sea and dampness everywhere. Back out in the corridor he smells an ozone scent, like a storm rising.
(roll dice) The slamming against the now solid entry stops. Instead of relief, somehow the sudden quiet seems almost ominous. A series of small almost metallic clinks echo down the corridor, as if some clamp or lock has been released. Stone slowly moving against stone can be heard and the whole temple vibrates slightly as the crystalline blocks start to glow with energy.
A hairy spider the size of a halfling's palm crawls along the ceiling just over Grog'tial's head.
(continued below ...)
