[ We find Our Heroes coming out of a room loaded with TREASURE! Which may or may not make this whole trip worthwhile for some of them. ] [ Others have other motivations. Such as destroying undead. And aside from the mopey bard Kenji killed, you haven't seen any of those yet. ] [ But maybe they'll fix that, today! Session Start! ] Enough with the treasure. We're here for a reason. ... as much as I'm not in this for the money, the money *is* pretty nice. * Tia runs around staring at the various shiny things. Look at all this shiny stuff! Can we take it home? * Alcinoe is leaving, as the GM said. "Yeah, but we still got work ta do. Yes, Tia." * Tia nods. "We can come back and get it later, right?" [ Straight ahead, leading south, is a long hallway. To the right, heading west, is the rest of the dungeon. Where do you go? ] Not as nice as this war pick... s'damn nice craftsmanship... *eyes the inscrption on it; shakes head* Back to the ziggurat, people. Okay! Coming! * Seylin nods and gets into position. * Tia trots back toward the ziggurat. * Istvan gets into position a few feet behind Tia, eyeing the pick as he bounces it up and down in his hands. * Patrick starts going back to the Zig. To the south from the Ziggurat, opposite where we entered. Where we first entered, in any case. * Alcinoe nods. And keeps up, because she can. * Patrick whispers to Seylin. * Tia follows along, humming cheerfully. * Seylin stifles a giggle. "You're weird, Patrick," she says quietly. * Tia blinks and turns back to Seylin. "Huh?" Nothing, Tia. Patrick's just being silly. Oh, okay. * Tia grins and keeps going. * Patrick winks to Seylin and keeps moving. Now where do we go, Kenji? The southeast. * HKenji points to two tiny hallways branching off to the southeast. * Tia orients herself and heads that way. "Okay. What's down there?" * Max nods, and orients himself to float that way. But he remembers NOT to zoom off ahead. * Patrick walks in that direction with the rest of the group. * Seylin checks for traps or other things of that nature as she goes. I don't know. That's the point. * Istvan walks along, making sure Tia doesn't start to move past Seylin. [ First is a room, twenty feet by eighty feet, that was once a lavishly appointed kitchen from which a team of chefs could feed many people. ] We bypassed them on the way to save Seylin. That could have been a big mistake. Oh, you guys didn't go there before? No Tia, we haven't. * Tia nods and looks around. * Max gets a bird's eye view of the room, for what little it might be worth. * Alcinoe looks around. Kitchen, okay. See any bad people? Not yet. * Tia explores the room out of curiosity. [ Max sees pretty much what the others do. The steel countertops and kitchen implements are all rusted, now. Doesn't seem to be much of use in here, but there's two doors leading from the room, one labeled 'meat locker' and the other 'pantry'. ] [ Both in Undercommon, natch. ] * Istvan stays with Tia. "Just make sure not to wander out ahead of Seylin, Tia..." Tia, open those doors. Figures. Undead don't tend to prepare food. STOP. Tia, let Seylin check those doors, THEN open them. * Patrick chuckles. Nice job Kenji. Smart. They don't need to open 'em, so the traps'd only get intruders. Us. * Seylin checks the door labeled "meat locker" first. * Tia stops in mid-grab for the door and pauses in disappointment. [ The door is guarded by a complex cluster of fascinating locks that can only be opened by the key of the master chef. The key also disarms the Meteor Swarm spell set to go off at the foot of the door should anyone try to get inside and find out where the beef is. ] [ Actually, the door is unlocked and untrapped. ] (Heee. Stupid people trying for snacks, well, that meteor swarm'll fix them!) [ I mean, it's a meat locker. ] Not trapped or locked. (Hand caught in the cookie jar!) Hm. Not so clever of our friend the necromancer. Place used to belong to a wizard. * Tia takes the door and pulls it open. Helloooooo? Anyone home? Maybe this was his kitchen? Be kinda silly to put traps in your kitchen... wake up one night with the munchies, wander over half asleep, and get yourself dumped into a pit of spikes? * Seylin checks the pantry next. * Tia sticks her head into the meat locker and looks around. * Alcinoe shrugs. "Ya never know where ta put that extra 'gator pit." Under the meat? Well, I s'pose if the meat goes bad, you just drop it down. [ The meat here is a shriveled black mass spread over some bones. It's been here so long it's even stopped smelling awful. ] * Tia sniffs at the black meat, then gives one piece an experimental nibble. * Seylin is busy looking at the pantry, else she'd tell Tia that she probably doesn't want to do that. Tia, don't eat that. Ya don't know where that's been. [ The former meat is gel-like, sticks to Tia's teeth, and tastes about how you'd expect meat to taste after it's been in cold storage for millenia. That is to say, ew. ] Man, that's just nasty. * Patrick goes over to Seylin and looks at the, um... Pantry. Yeah. * Istvan winces. Poor Tia. ...ew... * Alcinoe grimaces. Yuck. [ The pantry is likewise full of grains and sundries to old as to not even be rotten anymore. ] [ You're lucky you weren't here a few hundred years ago. Would've smelled awful then. ] * Tia chokes a little, sputters, and spits out the mouthful of black goo. * Tia runs out of the meat locker, coughing. * Istvan pulls out his water and offers it to Tia. * Seylin looks back at the group. "Nothing here either... what happened to Tia?" She tried ta eat the meat. She... uh... tried to eat whatever was in there. I hope it wasn't terribly poisonous. ... At least, Ah think it's meat. Yeah, she... Let's hope she can handle that. * Seylin wrinkles her nose. "Eww. Poor Tia." Blech! [ In the kitchen is a decanter of endless water. That should help Tia wash her mouth out. ] Ooooh! I've always wanted one of those! *floats around it excitedly, eyes wide with almost child-like excitement behind his glasses. Specs hoots disapprovingly at this display* * Tia thanks Istvan hoarsely and emphatically rinses out her mouth with water. We'll decide what to do with it later, Max. Seylin? The other door? What was behind it? Ancient, rotted food. Nothing else. * Max nods, tearing himself away from it. "Right. Business first. Toys later." * Tia is still drinking water. * Max pushes his glasses up his nose. [ Tia still has some stuck to her teeth. Maybe if she swished the water around some. ] * Tia swishes furiously. Her face is a mask of concentration. * Alcinoe watches Tia with some concern. If she swallowed any... * Tia runs to the sink, lifts the decanter out, and spits the contaminated water into the sink. "Bleah!" [ Some of the goo starts coming loose from Tia's mighty incisors! ] [ And it goes into the sink! And sticks there. Eyugh. ] * Tia notices the decanter she's holding and makes use of it. * Istvan winces s'more. * Istvan deciees that watching the door into this kitchen is a good idea. I mean, eeeeeeeeew. * Max watches with avid curiosity. Occasionally comenting "ew". * Seylin decides that maybe the pantry needs another checking. Hm... Hold still a moment, Tia. *gestures, says a short phrase, and taps the grime between Tia's teeth. The grime falls away and disintegrates* * Tia runs her tongue over her teeth in wonder. "Wow, Max! How'd you do that?" * HKenji gently takes the decanter from Tia's hands and tucks it away somewhere. * Tia grins at Kenji as she hands off the decanter. "It's really cool! The water never runs out! I've always wanted a pitcher like that!" She wags her tail and beams. Magic, I bet. Naw. There's gotta be some natural explanation to it. * Alcinoe doesn't have any sarcasm here. Nope. Not a bit. * Patrick smirks. * Seylin giggles softly. Ooh, right! Magic! * Tia lets her tail thump cheerfully against the floor. Could make loads of money makin' a toothbrush that did that automatically. Hey, Kenji, can I have the cool magic pitcher when we go home? I'll never be thirsty again! * Tia tugs on Kenji's sleeve pleadingly. ... * Tia makes puppy-dog eyes. Pleeeeease? ... I promise I'll take real good care of it! Really! I promise! * Tia wags her tail harder. [ Tia makes with the cuteness. How anyone over seven feet tall can do that is beyond the lot of you. ] It will go to the person best suited to use it, Tia. * Istvan looks over his shoulder, and snickers. * Tia grins. "Okay! That's fair!" * Patrick smiles at Seylin and whispers again. * Tia, of course, feels that she is well-suited to drinking water, and therefore, suited for using the decanter. ;) * Seylin grins and nods. We all done in here? Where next? I think so. * Tia wags her tail as she makes for the door. Yeah, think so. Back out, and up to the dais opposite the portal, please. Okay! Race you guys there! * Tia makes a break for the dais. Tia, wait? [ Directly east is a room with stars in it. It has three exits, one north (the portal room), one east, one southeast and up the dias. ] * Istvan thinks about getting in Tia's way, then thinks better of it and just waves her down as she runs by. "Slow down! Seylin goes first, remember?" * Tia skids to an awkward stop. "Oops. I forgot." It's okay, Tia, but try to remember next time. * Seylin heads out! * Istvan reaches up and patpats Tia. "S'okay." * Patrick smirks and follows Seylin. * Tia grins at Istvan and waits patiently for Seylin to check for traps. * Seylin does so! * Max pouts. He wanted to race Tia. Then he gets over it and putshes up his glasses again. Which way you wanna go first, Kenji? Leave the Dais for later, and we've already done the portal. Which way, then? Up the dais, Seylin. * Seylin heads up the dais, checking for traps as she goes. She smiles at Tia as she passes. * Istvan walks alongside Alci, thudding along. * Tia grins back at Seylin. Her teeth, thanks to Max, gleam beautifully. (*ting!*) * Patrick keeps moving along. * Tia trails along after Seylin, glancing curiously at the ground where she sees absolutely no traps. [ The eastern path leads to a room. It has two exits - one east, one south - and three spherebots, which actually flee at the sight of you, heading south. ] * Seylin blinks. "They're running away?" Whoa, what are those? * Tia points at the receding spherebots. ... that's either really good, or really not good. They're targets, Tia. Get 'em. * Patrick snaps his bow into position and will start losing arrows once he gets the chance. "Take'em down, right?" That's right. Get them? Okay! * Tia roars energetically and rushes off after the bots. [ Tia smashes it. The other two keep going. ] * Tia keeps running at the remaining bots. * Istvan lumbers after 'em. * HKenji stands right beside Patrick and sends flight after flight of arrows after the other two. * Patrick starts pelting them with arrows. * Seylin ...stays out of the way, really. [ Patrick and Kenji manage to take down another one. ] [ But the third one gets away! Unless Max wants to waste a spell on it. ] * Istvan is too slow. ;_; [ Which he doesn't. ] * Tia roars in annoyance when she misses the last one. [ Max is busy studying inscriptions on the north wall. ] Sorry, Kenji. I missed. * Alcinoe frowns, slowing down, because... yeah, she wasn't going to keep up. "That ain't good." * Istvan slows, and returns to the group. "Scouts?" Sentries. Probably. Should we go after the last one? Alcinoe... since Will and Max don't appear to be paying attention, don't hesitate to use any offensive capabilities you have in your granted spells, should this happen again. And no, we should not pursue. Pursuing a sentry in his own territory is suicide. Yeah, someone's gotta kick his ass if we're occupied. ~_^ We proceed slowly and carefully, just as always. * Seylin nods. * Tia nods. "Okay. Seylin goes first, then?" Yes. They will be forewarned, however, so stay close. * Tia nods and scoots closer to the rest of the group. Is this close enough? * Max takes up his now-familiar position in the middle of the group. On all three spatial axes. * Alcinoe loosens her sword and nods. * Istvan takes up his usual position, and advances as the group does. Proceed east, Seylin. They went south, so we will not. * Seylin nods and heads east, checking for traps and signs of returning sentries or other lurking dangers as she does. * Tia trails after Seylin again. * Max floats along, as myopically cheerful as ever. * Istvan looks back. "Everyone in the back just watch our backs, though." Hey, Sey? What do traps look like? I don't see any. The path to the east leads to a thirty-by-thirty room which appears to serve no purpose. Anything it once contained has been taken out and put somewhere else. However, near the entrance to the room is another exit leading south. ] * Patrick keeps moving, listening for the sentries of stupid to return. Now we can go south, Seylin. * Seylin proceeds, checking as she goes. * Tia lumbers along. "Do -you- know what traps look like, Mr. Axe?" They're hidden, Tia. s'why we need Seylin to look for them. * Tia glances at Istvan. "Is it a hard job? Maybe I could help her if I knew what they looked like..." I've never managed it, so it must be hard. * Max pushes his glasses up his nose. No, Mr. Axe? Okay. I guess we should just let Seylin do her job, then. * Tia grins at Max. "Wow, you too? But you're smart!" [ Seventy feet of hallway later, you enter into a big-ass chapel. It prominently features a large drow man with a woman - who could very well be Llolth - cowering at his feet. However, both the face of the statue and the inscription at it's base have aged very poorly, fracturing and pealing back like baked earth. ] ...It's another statue. Does this one move too? I hope not. * Seylin cautiously heads towards it. [ The statue fails to come alive and grab at Seylin. ] * Alcinoe lets out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. Hey, Mr. Axe, what do you think of this statue? It's bigger, at least. It's also old. * Patrick states the obvious. ^^ * Tia nods and repeats to Mr. Axe, "And it's also old." Looks like it's just a statue. I think. ... isn't it usually the drow guys bowing to the women? * Tia pads over to join Seylin. * Tia taps the stone of the statue with a cautious foreclaw. * Tia blinks suddenly. "Someone's done something weird to the stone? Like what?" * Patrick laughs. ...yes, Istvan...it is. This is...peculiar. And, yeah. You're right. ...You don't know? Hmmm. Magic? * Seylin narrows her eyes and concentrates on the statue. * Patrick stands next to Seylin (of course) * Max crawls on his book, opening to a rather clean page, and begins scribbling. Might be an attempt at sketching the statue, but it's not art. * Tia circles the statue. "What kind of magic d'you think, Mr. Axe?" * Alcinoe clanks over, looking at Tia, then Max. * Seylin shrugs after a moment. "Well, it might have been used for all kinds of nasty rituals in the past, but now it's just kinda... here." ...Divine?! Really? Looks kinda evil to me... Mmm, wonder if some collecters would want it... Naaaah. * Tia scratches at some of the peeling stone. "Or is that why it's all messed up?" [ The stone comes off easily, by Tia's standards. ] Is there any lingering magic? * Tia stops picking at it as soon as it crumbles off, and she turns around and shuffles around innocently as if she hadn't done anything. I don't know about magic, but it's not evil. Like I said, it's just kinda there. * Tia blurts out, "Mr. Axe thinks there was some divine magic done to it." Well, Drow do love their clerics. Or hate, or... Well, you know. * Patrick grins. * Alcinoe raises an eyebrow. She gets a better look at this statue. "Everyone loves clerics." She looks back at the others with half a grin. "Ain't that right." I wouldn't say love, precisely. * Tia grins back. * Seylin smiles briefly. Divine as in someone castin' a spell on it, or divine as in 'an angry god smote this statue'? What do ya think, Mr. Axe? * Tia seems to space out for a moment. "Handmaiden of Lloth? What's that?" What's a Llolth? * Alcinoe frowns. "It's somethin' that ain't good. What's he sayin' about her?" He said maybe a Handmaiden of Llolth was offended by it. Yeah, that'd happen. ...And he wouldn't be surprised if Llolth hit it. Of course. Seylin, check the rest of the room, please? For exits and traps? * Tia chews on her lip and looks slightly embarrassed. "Well, I'm sure I'm not the only one who didn't know who Llolth is..." * Seylin nods and goes to do just that. [ Seylin finds an exit to the south. Twenty foot-wide stairs leading up. She finds no traps anywhere, but she finds piles of ash where religious paraphernelia used to be. ] Lloth the Spider Queen. Goddess of the drow. * Tia follows along behind Seylin and eyes the piles of ash as she passes them. * Istvan practically spits out the name, frowning. * Alcinoe nods, frowning. She keeps up. Yeah, makes you wanna wash your mouth. * Patrick follows. * Tia nods too. "She's evil, right?" * Seylin climbs the stairs. "Very evil." About as evil as they get. * Tia nods and frowns. "I don't think I would like her." You wouldn't. She probably doesn't even play chess well. XP * Tia blinks. "I don't play chess well, either..." [ What awaits them up the stairs? Let's find out some other time. Session End! ]