The Secret Alliance

[Cespenar]

Daen

Daen spent almost all of his time trying to help the ogre, carrying people and such. Now that some of them are waking up, he tries to quicken the process and tell them briefly about what's going on, and gets them on their foot. Then he waits till everyone entered the passage and follows from behind.

[Deathslayer7]

Sabriel

As the priests are just waking up, Sabriel gives out a berry to whoever is conscious, or starting to become conscious.

She quietly tells them Eat this, it will make you feel better.

Then she will help a priest out into the secret tunnel.

[Wiz]

Liam

Having finished gleaning any bit of information he could from the diagram, Liam begins helping others out through the secret passage.

[Ipphli]

Bruug

Bruug grabs those priests that are still unconscious and carries them into the tunnel after the others. He glances at the footprints, then around the tunnel warily. He speaks quietly to the old man."Goblins came through secret tunnel?"

[BlueWizard]

Liam can see this could call a minor devil of sorts... that is if it was used properly. Though Liam knows studying this stuff too much could cause him to go a little insane.
{OOC- Yes, I use insanity, but it is more for fun role-play additions.}

Daen notices that 3 of the 6 men can stand with help, but are whoozy. The three fallen living men are bloody and are in need of healing. Bruug can actually carry two with relative ease, without causing the 'little' things any more damage.

Sabriel's berries are the strength the 3 shaky priests need to move.

Daen is able to safely carry the last human and the group moves onwards through the secret passageway. It leads to a tiny spiral stair that Bruug has to slow down a lot to move through with 2 unconscious priests. Behind you the roof of the secret worship chamber begins to fall in, as the wooden parts above begin to collapse.

Liam is last, for he has looked at some evil magic of a divine source, it is hard for him to pull away from. Like watching a trainwreck wagon's crash.

At the base of the tiny stair is a storage room. This room is carved out of the very rock of the earth. The most notable feature is a fine mirror that peeks from behind a tarnished, yellowed slip-cover. There are also many old musty crates and boxes here, but the polished brass frame is of fine detail.

Cathar points at a recently dug hole in the ground still rushed. "The goblins came from here, they are better sappers than many humans give them credit for. I am sure there's a way!"
The hole leads into darkness.

[Ipphli]

Bruug

Bruug's eyes seem drawn to the mirror. He walks over to it and looks at it more closely. He glances at the others, then at the hole, looking at it dubiously. "Need wake these two up. Not sure me can go through hole with them." He looks over at Sabriel expectingly.

[The Bushranger]

People always underestimate that what they're afraid of and don't understand.
Shrike's tone is bitter as she says this, as if she has personal experience of this prejustice.
I'm Shrike, by the way.
She gives Sabriel a small smile, and nods to Bruug and Liam. She seems to be giving Cathar the cold shoulder...

She steps over torwards the mirror , intriguied by it. Strange that something like this would be hidden away down in this hole... And she reaches to pull away the cover...

[Cespenar]

Daen

Keeping it mostly silent, Daen examines the storage room and finally fixes his eyes on the hole in the ground. Lying the wounded man gently near the wall, he takes a random pebble (if he could find one) and drops it through the hole.

Spoiler

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Listen - (1d20-1)[0]

[BlueWizard]

The mirror is a strange one, and as Shrike removes the mirror's covering Cathar is frantically yelling, "Come on!! Quickly!" Though he stops when Shrike and Bruug stop to examine the mirror.

The pebble that Daen drops down the hole plops about 10 feet down, and in the nearby torchlight {Cathar now has a torch}, Daen can just see the outline of a few rough ladders.

Cathar seems just as interested as everyone else in the mirror once it can fully be seen.

One moment you look at your reflection, between metalwork detail of two Great Thors holding hammers up. Between them is the polished silver mirror. The image changes for only a moment, but all of you saw the hills and forest surrounding the temple for just a second. You all thought you saw it.
Cathar studders, "Dddid you...?" But, quickly looks up because of the crash above.

Above the roof crackles, the secret worship chamber is likely now buried. A flash of flames comes down the stairs following Liam, the last of your group to come to the secret storage. A fearful expression clear on his face, and it has no doing of his own to get there.

[The Bushranger]

Shrike

I didn't do anything! All I did was pull off the cover.
Shrike throws her hands in the air and takes a step back, then whirls around at the crash and flames.
I vote we get out of here. Now.

[Deathslayer7]

Sabriel

I can only do so much for them. she says to Bruug

Cast Cure Minor Wounds, once on each.
+1 hp each.

They are on their own from now on. I cannot do anything else.

[BlueWizard]

Daen sees the woods as he looks at the mirror. This time the image stays.

Sabriel can see that the little healing wouldn't be enough, but at least they were a little more stable for lowering into the goblin tunnel below.

Cathar gasps, as he touches the mirror's frame delicately, "What do you suppose it is? Perhaps a valuable... treasure... of seeing?"

Shrike can easily hop down the hole. Bruug would be uncomfortable down there.

[Ipphli]

Bruug

Bruug glances over and sees the mirror, and the image in it. He looks over at Sabriel and points at the mirror. "Magic mirror. It take us away?"

He picks up a pebble and, as gently as he possibly can, tosses it at the mirror's surface.

[BlueWizard]

The pebble goes through the mirror, and lands in the wood that materialized before Daen's eyes.

[Cespenar]

Daen

"What... how?" His accented words falter as he draws closer to the mirror, almost enthralled by the vision. Reluctantly, he extends a hand and touches the mirror.

[BlueWizard]

Daen's hand goes into the mirror, and he feels a cool breeze on the other side.

The fire above is getting hotter.

[The Bushranger]

Shrike

Shrike looks back and forth between the hole and the mirror.
I don't really care about the 'how'. All I know is that it's a way out and it doesn't look like there's anybody waiting in ambush, which you can't say about the hole.
She swings her arms around in a limbering-up motion, behind her back, then across her chest, then back at her sides as she readies to jump.
So I say we take the magic mirror ride.
And with that, the fiery-tempered redhead jumps through the mirror...

[Ipphli]

Bruug

Bruug shrugs before picking up the men. He moves towards the mirror, but stops just before it. He looks at Sabriel. "You come too?"

[Deathslayer7]

Sabriel

Sabriel stared in astonishment as the pebble exactly went into the mirror. It wasn't possible. Mirrors weren't supposed to do that, yet it did. Seeing Shrike jump through it, she just barely hearing Bruug asking her if she was coming.

She nodded her head slightly, and goes in after the half-orc.

[BlueWizard]

Shrike appears in the wood, she can tell by the black cloud of smoke that she is relatively near the Temple. There is an altar here, it is ancient with dedications to Thor carved in the white stone.

The ogre is next with two men and then Sabriel. They pop out onto the shrine, and see no place to go back to.

Those in the basement will see those who stepped through in the mirror.

[Wiz]

Liam

Liam comes up from behind and seeing the other's go through the mirror, follows suit and escapes into the woodland scene. "Let's get out of here!"

[Cespenar]

Daen

Persuading and helping the men go into the mirror, Daen is last to go in and disappear to the other side.

"We left the way open." he exclaims. "I hope the fire will cover our track."

[BlueWizard]

Once Daen helps the last man through and steps through the himself mirror the party is all at the ancient shrine. It is mostly grown over.

The basement of the temple a distant memory it seems.
Cathar is amazed, as are the rescued men.
"I can't believe it. I thought we'd be crawl through bloody-hell... goblin tunnels! Probably their crap and disease all down there."
He looks to the column of smoke. He is still naked. "What now?"

[The Bushranger]

Shrike

Well, for starters, there's this concept called 'modesty', you might have heard of it, so you could try maybe finding a fig tree and picking a leaf from it or something.

Shrike sighs and looks back torwards the temple...and her shoulders slump. Between her rant and having gotten away, the adrenalin high is wearing off...and the full horror of what has happened is finally sinking in. She bows her head and begins whispering an appeal to Eilistraee for the souls of those who had been good to be rewarded...and for those responsible to find their reward as well, in the Demonweb Pits.

[Wiz]

Liam

Liam looks around, slowly and carefully.

Spoiler

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Take 20 on Spot - result 20. ;)
Is this merely the ruins of the temple we just left, or someplace similar?
Does it seem to be the same place but somehow different (as though in a parallel historical version)? Does it seem to be the same place but possibly in a different time frame?

[BlueWizard]

This is someplace new, that few know about, let alone any of you. This seems to be an abandoned shrine maybe a mile from the big temple still on fire.

Cathar laughs at Shrike and grabs his crotch. "That better."
He motions to the fire, "Let's see what we can... but there are goblin tunnels beneath here, that might swarm with their filth. There must be another way down to them"

[The Bushranger]

Shrike rolls her eyes and sighs deeply. Men...

She shakes her head, and turns to examine the area. Well, the tunnel does have to have another end to it somewhere. Are there any known places around here that goblins like to hang out at?

Spoiler

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Search check for any useful objects that might be laying around the abandoned shrine...she'll take 20. So that's Search=27.

[Ipphli]

Bruug

Bruug shifts the two unconscious men a bit, then begins walking towards town. "Me no fear gobbos. Me want get rid of little men soon." He does glances from side to side as he walks though, obviously keeping an eye out.

Spoiler

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Spot (1d20+8)[16]
Listen (1d20+8)[25]

[Deathslayer7]

Sabriel

We should head back to the temple soon. I have a question though. How did you manage to stay conscious when everyone one else was unconsicous? she says turning to Cathar and asking him, looking directly at him.

Modesty didnt bother Sabriel, as elves shared hot springs together, and more ofthen than not, 100 years is a really long time, so most elves dont have that problem.

Spoiler

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sense motive to see if i can tell if he is lying.
(1d20+3)[17]

[Cespenar]

Daen

"Once we return these men home, we should come back and investigate." Daen states calmly, with a hint of anger. "Whoever did this must pay."