Artifact Hunters

[Toliudar]

Ramona

Scanning the room nervously, Ramona jogs lightly over to the dais where Raven is bound. Seeing that he was coming around, the big half orc simply nods at him, then bashes at the chains, a few inches clear of his limbs, to break the links. She shyly avoids looking directly at Raven's head or torso.

Rise an shine, sleepyhead. Any idea where they got the others?

[wxdruid]

Arha looks up from her spot next to Sharon and frowns a little, to many people. She sits up and tries not to wince as she pulls the covers up a little to cover herself.

She starts licking her fingers clean.

[BlueWizard]

Ramona will smash the stone and chains, and can free Raven.

Mira cringes at Arha's finger licking, and says, "Get your stuff! We're getting out of here!"

There are strange scratching noises coming from the hall beyond the main door in to this room.

[wxdruid]

Arha flashes an irritable look at all of them and smiles down at Sharon, "Come on, let's get out of here."

[Roland St. Jude]

Raven

Raven shakes his head as if to clear it, and his whole body shakes as the chains holding him up allow a little movement. Chained up Raven is stripped buck naked, dressed only in blood and that brilliant, if odd, tattoo. Still, he's a handsome, muscle-bound figure, his shoulder length blue-black hair is no longer tied back neatly, but strewn about his head and matted with blood. He looks rather tired and weary.

He fully awakens to the sight of Ramona breaking his bonds. For that he was glad. He had memories of wild night, quite uncharacteristic of the quietly romantic and mostly stoic wanderer. The memories were filled with darkness and blood and...flame lots of flame. From flickering candles to a soul-scorching inferno that consumed him, there was lots of flame.

He fixes his emerald green eyes on Ramona, everyone beyond her is a blur. "Thank you," he says quietly.

He begins to cry. Warm tears wash streaks through the blood on his face. He begins to gather this things and mouths something feebly. Ramona is close enough to hear him say "Illanee" over and over.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Sharon stretches languidly as she awakens, licking the blood away from her lips without being aware of what's she's doing. She grins at Arha before noticing the rest of the group, and slips out of the bed, looking more annoyed than bothered by their presence and her nudity. She murmurs a quick spell (prestidigitation), cleansing both her body and that of her friend before slipping back into her clothing and retrieving her gear. "Hello again," she says by way of greeting, almost purring the words. As she helps Arha dress, she whispers "thank you, I won't forget" to the other sorceress.

[wxdruid]

Arha smiles a thank you for the quick cleaning and gets up. As Sharon helps her dress she lightly kisses her cheek in response to her words.

She gathers up her knives and slips them away and quickly puts the silver box in her dress, in a safe place.

[OniLever]

Ogentep

Stepping through the portal, Ogentep uncharacteristically gapes at the sight before him. He has seen the atrocities of war, the fallout of betrayal, and the occassional demonic ritual, but this is certainly one to remember. He simply mutters to himself, "How... extravagant." He looks around the area cautiously, half-expecting the other participants to materialize around them. The scratching from the outside signals to him that he may not be too far off the mark.

He watches keenly the three they were to rescue. His left eyebrow arches quizzically at their behavior and attitude, especially considering what seems to have transpired. He takes careful mental notes of the tattoo on the man that reminds him of Adonis. Noticing no overt signs of physical harm that could not wait until they left, he goes to inspect the paintings and the scene of the ceremony. He takes care not to step too close, but he shuffles up near enough to see at least the causes of the creatures' deaths.

[BlueWizard]

Mira's cold, austere, haughty appearance is broken at the sight of the distraught handsome Raven. His sweaty rippling muscles are not used to shaking in this manner. Though she doesn't know him at all she kneels beside him and gently hugs him. "My elven friend, Karrous has helped gather your things. Come we must get you to safety if you want to defeat this evil on your own terms!"

As Raven, Arha, and Sharon gather their things, Ogentep will examine the dead animals and fairy that were killed here. The fairy's throat was cut, but it probably was killed another way. The fairy is quite destroyed and shriveled right now. It is only a tiny 6 inch humanoid. The fairy wings and several other internal organs are missing, if a closer inspection is made.

Olania would find that many rich intelligent creatures might live here in this bedroom. Definitely something evil, and probably a follower of something opposite Aphrodite... {this is really the lair of an incubus, which she will probably later find out}.

Karrous moves to the door after he drops Raven's stuff by him. "They're coming!" He motions with his head, the scratching on the door can now be heard quite loudly, and sounds more agitated.

[oliana0]

Olania

Olania steps through the portal to a sight of horror. At first the scene doesn’t register, but then a slight frown appears on her face. She takes a deep breath and lets it out in a large sigh. The tortured soul chained to the wall is particularly disturbing; the two ladies seem odd tempered for their situation, and Olania immediately does not trust them.

Olania strides gracefully and purposefully to Raven as his chains are broken. Helping support his weight, mostly in impression rather than fact, her face is concerned and comforting. Leaning in close to the man, she asks clearly, “Are you injured?” She follows up this question with a whispered question, “Are your two friends here acting normally?”

“Here, let me help you with this.” Olania draws one of the wands at her waist.

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SenseMotive - (1d20+9)[17] On the ladies who are acting odd for characters that are the same mission as Olania, for determining if they are acting under enchantment.
Bluff - (1d20+9)[26] To bluff taking out a wand of CLW or the like, when she’s really taking out a Protection from Evil wand.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

After tending to Arha, Sharon casts the same cleansing spell on the prostrate Raven, looking at the muscle-bound man with a hint of regret. After clearing the blood off of him, she leaves him to the others to help up, and sidles up to Tevrier, an effect spoiled somewhat by the stiffness of her movements. "Are you going to introduce your new friends?" she asks, looking over the three newcomers with a seductive sort of smile.

(For the record, since the question's been asked (and is up to Raven to answer ICly), this is not like any behavior she's been wont to exhibit-- beyond the helping Raven and Arha clean up.)

[wxdruid]

Arha casts one more glance around the room, part satisfaction, part irritation. She follows Sharon, her movements a bit slow as she feels the effects of the prior evening.

[Toliudar]

Ramona

The big woman's response to Raven's thanks are hesitant, suddenly confused.

Illanee? What happened here - nah, too long to tell. Raven: are the others close? Are they alive?

She helps gather the belongings of the other three and get them gathered towards Mira.

[OniLever]

Ogentep

Fascinated, he stoops low toward the fairy to find its wings and organs no longer intact. He wants to investigate the other bodies as well, but Karrous's exclamation and the increasingly urgent scratching compels him otherwise. He stands up and hustles over to Mira, whispering under his breath, "Great Creator, guide my thoughts."

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Discharging Divine Insight to make a Knowledge: Religion check (@ +20)

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= +1 Int bonus + 7 ranks + 12 insight bonus from Divine Insight

to see if Ogentep knows what sort of ceremony could have taken place, given the clues presented: look of the ceremony, the paintings, the sacrifices and how they were killed, the tattoo, and the blood licking

[Roland St. Jude]

Raven

Raven focuses his gaze, with some effort, on Ramona as she asks about the others. He shakes his head solemnly. He last saw Sonny on his way to the bottom of the Abyss and Illanee he left in the clutches of that vampire squid-thing.

Tears continue their tracks down Raven's cheeks, but his look hardens and his steps become more determined. He was uninjured and despite the growing crowd, he knew he was not safe here. He nods appreciatively at those helping him and collects up his stuff, dressing quickly. He flashes Arha a wan smile.

At Olania's question, he merely shrugs. He hadn't seen how they were acting. And he didn't really want to look at them right now. Either he had...or it had.... He shakes his head again as if to clear it; never before had his thoughts been so confused or his emotions so insistent.

As he dresses, his hand brushes the marking on his chest, the head of a bird the same brilliant green as his eyes. As he does, a thought comes to him unbidden,

The secret of death lies in the heart of life
The brightest flames cannot be taken by the dark
The spirit of death was bound by the spirits of hope
In their depths lies knowledge of beyond
In dreams are hidden the gate to eternity

Though tears still fall, though slowly, from his eyes, a small smile plays across the big man's face. He finishes dressing quickly.

[BlueWizard]

The Lair of the Incubus:
Olania can't tell if the two other red-heads are acting odd, they sure would be if they were in a temple of Aphrodite, the only licking they do is... ahem...
Anyway, Olania is smooth as she removies her wand, and can use it, I doubt the two ladies will notice in the chaos as Mira tries to round-up everyone close to her.

Mira answers Sharon nervously as she looks into the gorgeous eyes, that enchant by mere glance. {OOC- One more point of charisma and Sharon could charm peasants with a look!} "The pretty braided girl is Olania, a priestess of Love, who can heal us. The one with the long thin beard is Oggie, a wise one of Ptah. And, of course, my personal close friend and old fellow quester, Karrous, finest archer in all the land." She lastly introduces the hooded elf in a fine dark green cloak-robe. "Are we ready?" Karrous nods urgently

The ceremony looks to Ogentep that it might've been used to summon a dark lord of the Abyss. Often they grant requests to evil priests or demons. He can't quite tell who, but surely it smacks of the ancient one. Cthulhu. This horrible beast had many henchmen that have gone on to begin their own Abyssal domains. Long has good fought the evil left behind. Ogentep could've used more time to examine which one, but the scratching outside the door was getting louder, and Mira more impatient.

Raven has faint memories before passing out, of the incubus comforting him... and rescuing him. He was carried away down into the volcano and then he slept. The bat wings are definitely distinct in the memories. As well as the gorgeous ladies he dreamt of too.

Ogentep actually recognizes this bird, it is only a legend and has come in different colors, but the image on Raven's chest was even more life-like than the crude art of his old shrine's manuscripts. The library said they had been gone thousands of years, and were totally extinct. It was the head of a Phoenix! Ogentep cannot see how it would do anything with the ceremony, for it is usually associated with good things.

When you are all ready Mira boosts her spell with a ring, and takes all of you!

To the Hills of Western Zhe:
Mira teleports a safe distance from the lake, but she wanted to be safe. Remember, wild magic is heavy in this zone, those of you who detected magic at various times would get confusing readings from high to none at all, even when examining your known items.

Mira curses when she looks about at the region you land in. None of you can see the legendary Black Lake. Only hill and trees. Lots of pine. Some foxes scurrying away. Not exactly where Mira intended. Her cat leaps off her and scurries behind a tree.

Mira quickly divines your exact location and mutters, "We're two days away. I can get us back, but I'd rather not risk it without a full compliment of teleports, plus my ring. I don't have that much time to waste on this mission. I do need to return to the planes for that Problem. Old Lucifer's trying to own the Astral. Its getting bloody!" {OOC- None of you have clue what she is talking about. Even Karrous looks strangely at her.}

A night here will be restful, and all effects are erased.
{Raven will be shaken the whole time again, when he returns to the darkness here. Mira will suggest skipping the spiral stairway of Doom. She'll even pull out her scrolls if needed to get around.}

Karrous collapses under a tree to relax, "That place is horrible. My elven eyes are scarred forever... I don't think I could go back to my people. I still feel the foul taint upon me." He looks pretty miserable.

[wxdruid]

Arha finds an out of the way spot to sit down and take inventory. She keeps one eye on the party as she thinks about Sharon, Raven and the Incubus. After she finishes she twists her bracelets on her arm, still thinking and considering the next couple of months....she doesn't look forward to them, in fact downright hates the thought.

She watches the priestess of aphrodite out of the corner of her eye, she can already tell she doesn't like her. She's met the type before....her lip curls a little.

Her gaze turns to Raven and a small secret smile turns up the corners of her mouth, although she has no idea how he'll react in the future. She got what she wanted...

Sharon however is a different story, a long time friend, now Arha considers her an intimate friend. She feels a stronger bond with her, one that she doesn't want to break.

The rest of the party....in her opinion they're there to keep her alive.

Arha keeps her thoughts to herself and runs her hands through her hair. She checks where the silver box is and sits back to wait.

[BlueWizard]

Night will pass peacefully in the hills, only interrupted by the sounds of distant coyotes.

Once Mira is studied and spelled up she is ready to go, and will be eager for all to finish their breakfast. Then askes, "Where exactly should I ATTEMPT to teleport us?" She looks at all seeking everyone's opinion.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Sharon, sitting close to Arha, as she lingers over her breakfast says, "How about back where we were? Must be all sort of valuable stuff in those rooms. Some of it'd probably be useful in finding that Eye we're supposed to be after."

[Roland St. Jude]

Raven

Raven passes the evening in what appears to be meditation or prayer. He pays no attention to his companions new or old and shows no sign of emotion. Those who have traveled with him know he is typically rather stoic, but not normally so pious or contemplative.

He sleeps heavily and wakes early. He has no answer for Mira's question, so he remains silent.

[Severedevil]

Tevrier

Tevrier blinks at the freakish pleasure-cavern, stunned and disturbed by its grotesque display. Shaking off the feeling, he quickly scans the room for threats. Finding none, Tevrier approaches the bed and swiftly checks his sprawled-out comrades for vital signs. Their healthy complexions suggest no serious injury, and the ranger is quite glad to leave the tasks of assisting and collecting partymembers to the others.

At the sounds of scratching, Tevrier strides swiftly to the door and begins shoving heavy dressers and cabinets against it, hoping to buy time with a makeshift barricade in case such is necessary. Fortunately, Mira seems to have matters under control.

Or perhaps not, as the ranger can clearly see they've appeared a fair distance from the intended location. "Fine, we can walk." he tells the planeswoman abruptly. "That way we don't appear lost and stupid in some dark hole."

Though irritable from the repeated teleportation and seeming invasion of outsiders into his once-logical existence, Karrous's condition resonates with him. Tevrier approaches and squats down beside the despondent elf. "Aye. Gross forces poison everything around us." Though he begins in a disaffected tone, his bitterness is quickly subsumed by a burning determination. "So we fight back. We carve out a space in this world where the corruptive influences of civilization, murder, and rape are cast out before they can..." the ranger hesitates on choice of phrase, worried his audience might not appreciate a scavenging metaphor, "...take root."

[oliana0]

Olania

With the transportation out of the den into the wild, Olania breaths a sigh of relief. The tall trees and peaceful nature brought immediate peace to the priestess. "Two days walk is not bad. It may clear some heads a bit, prepare us for the obvious fight that is before us." She chances a glance towards Raven.

Whether they decide to walk to transport, Olania will try to find a moment where she can speak with Raven in relative isolation. "Do you want to talk about your experience? It may help."

[wxdruid]

Arha eats her breakfast in silence before agreeing with Sharon.

"I agree with Sharon, and if possible I'd like to avoid the undead illithid. But if you can't be accurate, then we should probably walk."

[amanodel]

During the night, there was something that perhaps disturbed you. Sometimes people could feel like if a light wind was passing by them, and that the feeling made them sweat with the feeling that someone is around. Those who were awake or didn't sleep well could notice the aura of death lingering in the very air around them. But should someone care for this, it's gone before she could take a second look.

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You thought you can rid of me that easily?

[BlueWizard]

Morning in the misty hills:
Mira looks impatiently at Olania, "I don't have two days. I expect to wrap this up by this afternoon, and be back on the astral before it is night here." Karrous rolls his eyes at the wizardess' plans.

Karrous smiles and glances nervously at Arha and Sharon.
"If we can trust these two....... let us return to the bedroom, but will you even arrive there?"

Mira shrugs and gives her old friend a pat-smile.
"Let's find out."


Into the Lair:
When you are all prepped and ready, Mira will gather you all close, and use a teleport from her main ring.

Where you appear is totally dark, and not the bedroom you were expecting. Mira does a quick divination and determines that you are indeed in the former Lair of the incubus.

Nearly everything is gone. Only the dancing succubus wall-art and dais remained, even the doors to the wardrobe and hall were gone. The whole cavern now looked like an empty, black underground cavern and was missing all of the nasty decor of the previous morning. This was indeed the same place, for the incubus left the blood stained black rock, and left a note addressing Arha and Sharon.
It was in a non-magical bone scroll. {Mira will determine the magicness of it. Then read it.}

"My pretties-
I hate to rush off as I am doing, but this is too good an opportunity for me. I will hope to see you soon. I took the best of the dragon's treasure, but there is enough of the bulky, heavy stuff for you. Be careful of that vampiric illithid, I think I heard it moving close-by. I was able to save your big warrior once, while it ate the drow and imperial-noble-girl. Do not let it fool you, it is a sneaky bastard. I won't be around to save my pretties this time. Stay strong. And if you are successful. Use the Eye of Hel wisely, it has a life of its own.
Your Lustfulness,
Lord Luxurious"

Mira looks up from the note and gives Sharon and Arha a dirty look through narrow, slitted eyes. "What happened here... I'm not sure I'm liking this... at all."

She moves near Raven and Olania. Karrous ***** his pointy ear to his side.
"There's no door now... and I hear that scratching noise coming down the hall."


OOC- I confused my time, when Mira teleported in, and Raven, Sharon, and Arha out of the dungeon, it was technically morning. Raven and some others still needed recovery time. Arha and Sharon never got proper rest. Anyway, the whole day was spent in the woods and hills, with only an occasional wandering wild animal passing, but nothing dangerous. If you had plans at this time, I will accept retros. If none are needed, on to the former Incubus Lair!

OOC2: Welcome back amanodel!

[wxdruid]

Arha slowly smirks and thinks to herself, He was certainly that, as she listens to the end of the message.

"If you want information, I suggest you wait until we're done down here."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

While still in the hills Sharon replies to Karrous with a seductive smile. "Of course you can trust us."

Sharon sits on the dias and runs a hand along one of the bloodstains while Mira reads the note. "Can I have that?" she asks, once she's done, indicating the note. "It's not for you, after all." She shrugs and stretches, still working out some of the kinks. "As to what happened, I don't think it's any of your concern-- unless you were wanting to join in next time." She gives Mira a blazing look as she tacks on the last comment, then eyes the rest of the newcomers speculatively-- particularly the elf.

As Karrous mentions the scratching sound she says, "It might be the creepy undead tentacle thing. Right nasty piece of work. I wouldn't get too close to it if you can help it. Most spells seem to fizzle on it too. Although after last night, I might not be as useless as before."

[wxdruid]

Arha adds in a low chuckle with Sharon's invitation... and her smile widens.

[Roland St. Jude]

Raven

Raven speaks quietly to Olania in response to her questioning.

"I had a wife. Illanee. She was brave, and strong, and beautiful. She was a good person, a far better person than I, though I think she rubbed off on me a bit. Enough to bring me into Thor's good graces, anyway. We traveled together through her world and mine. We met on a mountain top where her journey to sun met my journey into the earth. I showed her the surrounding villages and she led me to meet her people." He pauses briefly as if lost in thought, but it's clear he isn't quite finished.

"We were married in Megna, less than a year ago." He's demeanor darkens a bit. "She was taken by that...illithid. And I was led away by a dark figure." Why was I led away? Why did I go?

He locks his gaze on Olania, "I survived a very confusing and harrow time after that. And then you found me."

That appears to be all he has to say on the matter, which is more than he typically says in one go anyway.

-----
In the room...

Raven crosses his well-muscled arms and watches. He says nothing about the room, its appointments, or the note.

[Toliudar]

Ramona

On the trip back to the complex, Ramona passes out a potion of illithid ichor to each of her remaining companions.

Here. We used ta money from ta dragon skin ta buy these. Supposed ta stop the squid-head from zappin' yer head. Supposed ta taste like death onna sausage too, so be ready fer it. Only works a short bit.

She can think of nothing to say to comfort Raven, nor does he seem to desire words. She can't forestall a glance at her increasingly silent but ever-attentive man. Friend! Friend! She didn't want to think what it would be like to lose him, and they hadn't even...

--

Back in the chamber, Ramona draws her bow, and her own illithid potion. Others would be better at teasing out the secrets of the chamber. She stepped closer to the hallway, enough to be able to see a bit down it with her orc-eyes.

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Listen and Spot (1d20+6=12, 1d20+1=21)