The Sea of Starry Night II [IC]

[Dr._Bob]

After a quick march, you approach the stone walls of Sphur Pentak. Everburning lanterns are placed at fixed intervals along the crenellations, but there are no obvious sentries manning the wall.

The stone doors are truly enormous, each one ten times as tall as it is wide. Elaborate carvings cover the entirety of the doors, depicting various Underdark flora and fauna and, presumably, famous locations.

Entering the city, as it turns out, will not be a problem as the doors have already been forced open.

Claw marks are visible, gouged into the stone about two or three feet above eye level. Whatever made the marks was at least eight or nine feet tall and strong enough to pull one of the massive doors open.

There is no challenge from above and no sound from within. The space between the doors is three feet wide and a hundred tall - a sinister dark slit. If the mind flayer is to be believed, beyond the doorway lies passage to the surface ...



OOC: If you enter the city, I will need a marching order, three or four abreast.

[HempRope]

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

Achkby walks in silence, at first straining his eyes to see into the gloom, but eventually resigning himself to letting others watch for danger -- or help.
I actually wouldn't mind running into some more Dark Elves. They were nice back on the boat... and maybe if they have food, we can barter for some.

When they stop at the doors, he thinks, these are enormous. It's really rather fantastic down here. If only I could figure out how to see, I might actually grow to like it.

"We are definitely going in," he announces. "If the way out of this unbearable darknes is in there, we are going in."

He takes a few steps forward, and waits forthe others to come along with him.

[Zeal]

Hajih, Human Ranger

Hajih stares at the gouge marks for a moment then draws Thokk's sword.

(Hajih will linger near the middle)

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

Darius pulls his sword out of his sheath, twirling it a circle again. His eyes seem to gleam when he does this.

He chuckles quietly, "Simple pleasures, friend..." he says to himself.

He examines the claw marks. "Don't hesitate." he says, once again to no one, and enters in the front of the party.

[bhdrake]

Lumpy, Half-Orc Warrior Pugilist

Lumpy growls as the other hurry to rush in. It was amazing how they accused him of being rerckless the way they acted sometimes. His voice rings out, scarcely more than a hiss,

"Gods ferbid ya spend twenty or thirty more seconds in the dark actually being cautious."

The surly orc jerks an armored thumb back to thunk hollowly against his chestplate,

"I go first, 'cause I can see without the torches. Anyone with decent nightsight sticks ta the middle and keeps their eyes on the flanks and rear. And if fighting goes down, ya gotta keep them lights protected, 'cause they're all ya got.

Pausing at the threshold, Lumpy surveys the claw-marks on the door, peering for a moment through the open gates before slowly stepping though.

[Muzzleflash]

Djital

Carefully removing his sword from the pants, he walks up to one of the clawmarks and reaches up to trace his free hand along it. Shaking his head as he steps back to position himself to the right of one of the torchbearers, he shivers. "I'd say that I didn't want to know what happened here, but I really do. And for sun's sake people, can we listen to Lumpy and form up proper-like first?"

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz

Seeing as everyone else has drawn weapons, Aeroz chooses not to, but keeps his hand on his rapier, just in case something does come up.

"Well, hopefully after this we'll finally reach the surface. And some real food, and maybe even a comfortable bed if we end up some place preferable."

Aeroz takes a position in the middle of the cluster, allowing whoever would go first to go first.

[OOC: Unless it was given to Hajh when I was away, I thought that Thokk's bastard sword was in Aeroz's posession.]

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"Ahh, I don't see whats wrong with this place. A little paint and some renovations and it could be livable"

Callos slipped toward the back of the party and kept his eyes constantly roaming around the darkness around them, muttering to himself for a long moment before looking out behind him again.

[Dr._Bob]

You slip between the massive stone doors, bracing for ... anything really.

You enter Sphur Pentak (a medium sized town of low one or two story buildings and wide boulevards) cautiously and begin carefully exploring the city.

Streetlamps glow softly at every corner, and lanterns hang outside some of the larger structures, but the streets are deserted. Truly, it appears that "the lights are on, but no one is home."

It is immediately obvious that the doorways (simple post and lintel construction) and ceilings (6 ft high) are sized for smaller humanoids. Lissa, Achkby, and Fizahn find the scale comfortable and familiar, but the other members of the party are forced to hunch over indoors.

After exporing a few buildings, another anomaly is noticed - the entire city is made of stone, not just the walls of the buildings, but every object. The "wooden" doorframes and shingles are actually stone cunningly carved with "grain". At first it appears that perhaps the entire city was magically petrified, but on closer inspection, you note clear signs that the stone has been carved. The carving is intricate and artistic, but definitely representational (rather than some kind of transmutation).

You find stone furniture like tables, chairs, and chamberpots, even beds carefully carved with unmade bedsheets. You find household items like pots and pans, ladles and forks, even "half filled" mugs. In one home, you find a stone roasted chicken sitting on a table. The fireplaces have stone logs and ashes. In a larger building that appears to be a stable, you find stone "hay" and tack carved onto the walls. Hajih even notes stone "road apples" in the street, carefully carved to mimic actual droppings.

The city appears to be an exquisitely detailed "model" of an actual surface town. There is no sign of any kind of catastrophic event, though an occasional chair has been tipped over. There is no explanation for why the city exists or where its inhabitants are ...

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

"Well, this is just great! Find some food, and we can't eat it. Who the hell makes food outta stone!? Stupid city..."

[HempRope]

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

Achkby, from somewhere in the middle of the party, adds, "I don't care that much about food right now. There is supposed to be a way out in this city, but if there's no one here, I don't see how we're going to find it."

He pauses for a moment, and then asks, "Does Sphur Pentak mean anything in Undercommon, or Elven, or some language? I don't think it's any meaning in Draconic..."

[OOC]Does it?[/OOC]

[Phasm]

Lissa, blind rogue

Lissa's nimble fingers run over the carvings nearest her position in the middle of the group, and she shakes her head. "Incredible. Absolutely incredible. Baravar, I wish I could see this- the detail I feel here is amazing!" Only her left hand is busy exploring; the right wields her now-unsheathed rapier. "But who in the Underdark would simulate wood grain, and why? And the work would have to have been done by someone who has seen and touched woodwork on a large scale, which means they would have to have been to the surface." Lissa frowns, hand running over a carved apple. "You don't see many Underdark natives on the surface, mostly because they tend to get shot on sight. Maybe not the swirfneblin, but I can't see the Gray Cousins putting so much time and effort into surface detail like this..." She pauses.

"Um. You people WILL tell me if you see the least little sign of attack, right?"

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz

"Well, this is getting a little too weird. I wonder, maybe this is all an Illusion of some sort? Either way, the flayer said we could find a portal to the surface here, so I say if we want to figure this whole thing out, we do it fast."

Aeroz begins to see if any of the stone stuff is actually an illusion, hoping that if it is, there would be real food masked by it.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan II

Elthan Examines the fake droppings, and gives a small chukle.
"All the little details... I am reasonably certian there is no reason at all for any of this to be illusory. Let's just try to get to the surface as quickly as possible."

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

The orc growls defeatedly, "Godammit, why can't anything EVER be normal down here? Who has this much free time?"

His disappointment melts to simmering anger as he smashes a gauntleted fist against the nearest wall, steel on stone throwing off a few sparks. Scowling a bit, he shakes his hand a few times, glancing around with a low rumble in his throat,

"No, ferget it, I'm sure we don't really wanna know. Let's just find the way out'a this worthless hole"

At least the humans have to duck. heh

As they move along, Lumpy also keeps an eye out for anything he can pry up and use as a big stone club. If there's nothing vaguely club shaped he can lay hands on, he'll uproot a whole chair and drag that around, provided they're not too absurdly heavy.

[Muzzleflash]

Djital

Picking up the first good sized empty stone mug (or a tankard / stein) that he sees, Djital runs a finger around the inside and then grips it by the handle in his left hand as a sort of improvisational weapon. "This is simultaneously the most amazing and disturbing thing I have seen in my entire life. Can I make a few suggestions? No extensive looting beyond small, easily returnable souvenirs like this, no splitting up, no entering little dark holes that might be hidden here or there, maybe under a table or behind a bed, and most of all, no yelling 'hello'. Yeah. No yelling of greetings or queries as to anyone being home."

After an appropriate interval of conversation flow, he perks up again.

"I've got it. I know what this is. Invasion plans, that's what. All these centuries, those dark elves have been planning to banish the sun and take over the surface world, right? So what would they be doing- practicing! And what would they build a training ground for invading a city out of, 'cause I don't see any trees growing down here? Stone!"

"Well, either that or the city shapes itself according to what our perceptions of home is, and then we'll encounter family members from long in the past who will then kill us in our sleep. I heard a tale along those lines once."

[ooc: knowledge check on the city name ;)]

[Dr._Bob]

Aeroz nibbles on a stone ear of corn, nearly chipping a tooth in the process. The stone items do not appear to be illusory.

Achkby and Djital rack their brains, but come up with no interpretation of "Sphur Pentak" in other languages that would have any meaning. Hajih thinks that he might have heard of other Underdark cities with the appellation "Sphur", but he is not sure.

Lumpy picks up and discards a number of different items before settling on a stone cylinder carved to depict a folded up umbrella. He swings it a few times and is satisfied by its heft and balance.

[hr]
The city appears to be organized about four main avenues that intersect each other at 90 degree angles forming a "tic tac toe" board of sorts, dividing the city into 9 sections.

The central square is open, but deserted. Stone stalls line the perimeter of the square, filled with fruit, vegetables, and knicknacks - all stone of course.

While exploring the square, a flash of blue light down one of the avenues catches Linda's eye. She quickly points it out to the rest of the party, but in a moment, the blue light vanishes ...

[The_King_of_Durf]

Darius

Darius gives Djital a funny look, "Psh... whatever."

Darius twirls around to spy the light. "Here we are, the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn follows the others, looking at everything in silent contemplation. "I personally don't like it. I think it's supposed to be a detailed representation of a city that it's built under. The closer it looks to the city it's underneath might aid in the teleportation process to the surface that... it mentioned. I doubt there's any way for us to figure this out though, so let's just find our way out of here."
Fizahn seems suspicious as Linda tells them about the light. He looks warily down the alley. "I'll check it out." He draws his dagger and begins stealthily padding down the road.

OOC: Move silently 14 (4+10)

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"This place is down right eerie. Who builds a city out of stone with such detail? I could almost say that all of this stuff was petrified but what could do that...and where are the people? Can we get out of here quickly?"

Callos kept his eyes constantly searching around the stone city for any sign of movement or of a light. When Linda speaks up the mage spins around and stares down that way intensely. He was determined not to let anything catch him by surprise if he could. When Fizahn begins to move down towards where the light was he gave a strangled yell of frustration. It seemed as if he would have to spend more time down here.

[HempRope]

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

Maybe I should scan that light--DOH! I'm an idiot... we're all idiots... can't believe I didn't think of this earlier.

Achkby quickly casts a simple spell.

[OOC]Casting Detect Magic. First the area in general, then the place where the light came from. Will, of course, try to aim around party members.[/OOC]

[Phasm]

Lissa the sticky-fingered

Still making appreciative noises over the quality of the stonework (at least, the stone she can feel), Lissa locates and pockets a stone pastry, a delicate stone leaf, and a tiny stone figurine of a dancing humanoid from one of the 'market' stalls. I'm sure nobody will miss a few little souvenirs... and I just HAVE to see this craftsmanship once I get my sight back!

She turns toward the sound of Achkby's voice, recognizing the language of a spell. "Hey Elthan, Linda... what's he casting?", Lissa asks in a low tone.

[Elmorwen]

Sheyra

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Sheyra tells Lissa after seeing her palm a stone leaf. "I can't imagine why, but I have a bad feeling about this place. Of course, that may just be because I was hoping to find some food here."

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

Lumpy taps his umbrella impatiently against the left pauldron of his armor as he stares out towards the direction the light was reported in. Finally, he lets it rest there against his shoulder, chuckling softly, mirthlessly,

"No, the bad idea was coming down here in the first place. now that we're all blissfully stuck in the thick'a it, ain't much worse we can do. I somehow doubt nicking a few rocks'll put us in it any worse. Whatever awful thing lives here'll find us either way. Just wait fer it.

[Dr._Bob]

Fizahn pads softly down the street towards the source of the light.

The faint blue illumination seems to have moved around a corner, down a small alleyway.

As Fizahn approaches, he hears what sounds like the flapping of small wings. He pauses before turning the corner to see if anyone else will be joining him.

Behind him, Achkby casts detect magic. Interestingly, the stone city does not radiate a magical aura.

Aeroz stands apart from the others, hand held ready on his rapier hilt. The elf turns as he hears a faint flapping noise behind the party down a different street ...

[HempRope]

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

Achkby looks at his feet and shakes hs head, thinking on his new findings.

Strange that there's nothing magical here... even where that light came from. Ah, well...

"Hmmm... that's odd. The city's not magical at all... not even over where that light came from. And, Lissa, it was a simple spell to check for any magic around. it didn't pick up anything except for us," he explains, moving closer to the bling gnome. He places a hand on her shoulder, and says quietly, "Let's head over to where everyone else is going..."

He shrugs, and heads in Fizahn's direction.

[Phasm]

Lissa

Lissa frowns, following where Achkby leads. "No magic at all? That's very strange. The way out must be a mundane tunnel or something then... or it's out of range." Her rapier is still out and ready, though it would take an awful lot of luck for Lissa to actually hit anything in her current state.

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz

[OOC: I had a post last night, but it got deleted by the forum reset]

"Hold on" Aeroz whispers "I think I heard something"

Aeroz draws his rapier and begins to head towards the source of the noise. He keeps his eyes open for anything that could possibly be making the noise.

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

The burly orc sighs, "Yeah, swell idea.. everytime one of us hears or sees something odd, let's split up and investigate it alone."

He shifts a bit, glancing around down the streets he can see, "That's exactly what they want, is ta get us all antsy and spread out. Basic night tactics."

[Muzzleflash]

Djital

Moving closer to Callos and Lumpy, he scans the houses and shadows for movement. "Right. Mages to the center and swordsmen facing out sounds like a winner to me. We might even make it through without gettin' jumped, if'n everyone doesn't go off on on their lonesome."

He holds his short sword in a ready position and chews at his lip nervously. "No magic? Huh. Not even a little?"