[IC] It's All an Illusion

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Six adventurers bide their time beside the hearth, its warm glow and crackling logs warding off the darkness. Outside, a snowstorm rages, fat flakes of frozen hydration aggressively pattering against the inn-

Wake up!

The inn, known as the Prancing Goat, has been sheltering the citizens of Winter's Brink for decades, its meat and mead both well known throughout the town. Soft music permeates the lobby as a bard strums at his lute-

WAKE UP!

Reminiscing about the good old times, the party picks at a loaf of bread that had long cooled. The monk speaks fondly of the cleric, and a sylph laughs as his companion only just comes to realize that they had met long ago, under a different pseudonym-

Come on, please, please, please, wake up! You have to wake up RIGHT.NOW. OR WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You jolt awake, the warmth of the hearth and the comfort of cushioned chairs replaced by a damp coldness, and a jagged pain at your backs. As you all sit up, rubbing your aching heads, you immediately notice the mess around you - your weapons lie scattered around you, as though they had slipped from your hands as you fell. A cry draws your attention - amidst your ring of waking bodies, a woman, clad in simple grey robes, looks at you all with wide eyes. "Oh thank the heavens, you're not too late," she whimpers, one hand clutching at her chest as she points outward with her other hand.

You spin around, and from a yawning darkness comes the clattering of bones.

Many, many bones.

Roll for initiative.

Also:

You see five skeletal forms, three of which look like regular frames, while two more sport an extra pair of arms, each wielding a wicked looking weapon.

[BramsesII]

Beli

The dwarven woman wakes up groggily to the cries of help echoing around her. She gets up slightly unsteadily and looks around, unsure of where she is. Hells. Where am I? The sight of walking skeletons before her quickly wakes her from her half-sleeping state instantly, though. One look around at the party and the skeletons before her, and she knows what to do. She lifts her holy symbol into the air and speaks a quick prayer to Cayden Cailean, bathing the area around her in a slight golden glow that quickly fades. Then, she picks up her heavy warhammer and growls.

"Wake up everyone. Time t'break some bones."


Standard action to cast Bless, all allies within 50 ft of Beli gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and on saving throws against fear effects for 2 minutes
Move action to pick up hammer

[rowel]

Starling was used to get up in a hurry, the instincts running through his body telling him to get up or be scolded by his mother or by his captain. But neither of them was there when he opened his eyes, instead there was this strange woman and some bone-men coming towards them. His already slow mind went blank.

"Not the mama, not the mama, not the mama!"

Starling didn't like to use his lance on foot and he did not knew where his loyal pony had wandered tom so he grabbed a javelin from the heap of weapons on the ground and threw in the direction of the closest bone-man, aiming for the round skull.

Javelin throw (with bless from Beli): [roll0];
Javelin damage (if hits): [roll1];

Move action: pick up javelin;
Standard action: throw javelin.

[Feralgeist]

Opening one eye, sindra sees the ruckus and with a resigned sigh, stands to her feet. She shuffles forward and addresses the nearest skeleton. "Be still. Let them break you."



Move action: step forwards 10 feet
Standard action: Bonethrall (14 DC will save versus intelligent undead, it says it works like the spell Command Undead so i don't THINK mindless get a save, kinda unsure on that, only 1HD undead can be thralled at the moment.)

[Business Scrub]

Cyrus wakes up with a start, sitting up and looking straight into the eyes of a souless monster. Were he not in such a hurry, he could have shrugged. Well, as good a reason to get up as any.
With a flourish, he kick's his bow off the ground into his hands and slings his quiver over a shoulder. He steps confidently towards the skeletons, making poised precise movements.
"Well folks, looks like these old bones picked the inn. Let's make some heads roll."
Grinning widely, Cyrus pulls a nearby chair with his foot and in a graceful move stands on it, one foot on the back and one on the seat, looking down his drawn bow at the nearest skeleton. His confidence is contagious, and anyone that can see him knows he doesn't plan to lose this fight, so why should they?

Move action to draw bow, standard to begin Bardic Performance (inspire competence (+1 attack/damage))

[18th Avenger]

"Breakfast time already?" murmured Liam sleepily as he sat up straight. Waking up on rough ground was not a new sensation to him. The headache, however, was something rather unwelcome. But his natural resilience and training forced his body into a semblance of its usual consciousness. The clatter of incoming bone arrays helped somewhat.

Brown eyes suddenly wide, the young monk exploded to his feet and into a fighting stance, one hand stretching forward into a warding claw. Liam's foot stamped down to where his tonfa lay discarded and he snapped it into the air with a short kick that ended with his free hand catching it. Explanations could wait, time was beginning to slow.

Fight time.

Swift Action
Dropping into Snapping Turtle stance. (15 AC)
Move Action
Pick up tonfa.

[dramatic flare]

The Inn of the Prancing Goat was a good place to idle away an evening. The penny beer was better than average, and he had found a group of companions to join up with after escaping Swordsport with much less than he owned. Alred, or Vikor the Adant'Shur mercenary as he forced his mind to think of itself, wouldn't mind the light guard duty he had been posted on with this trip.
The fact that the other member of his group from Adant'Shur was also on the run helped secure his story from being broken by someone who knew better.
But the music was nice, his normally violent wind was quite calm, and this duck roast was truly-

Wake up!

Alred, er, Vikor felt himself suddenly lurch almost out of his chair. No one else seemed to notice, but those words had been beyond the walls of this building.
What in the nine hells was this?

WAKE UP!

And now the room tumbled about him. Vikor was on a wall, and though the beer covered him he realized he felt neither pain nor wet. With endless logic, Alred began to realize he was suffering from a dream right now. The room itself began to fade as the dreamscape broke.

Come on, please, please, please, wake up! You have to wake up RIGHT.NOW. OR WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE.


With a start, Vikor awoke on the cold cavern's floor. His wind was up and howling, like he had raised it for battle and it rattled his bow on the ground in front of him. Speaking of rattling, more of it came from behind him. A quick glance determined the source to be a group of skeletons approaching them.
Whole skeletons, moving skeletons, armed skeletons! Necromancy was afoot in the worst way.
Alred rose from the ground, noted that skeletons were all armed with melee implements, and then picked up his bow and sword. He could pick his form of fighting once the skeletons made their move.

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Starling's javelin flies true, but as it hits the incoming skeleton it does little but clatter to the floor, glancing off one of its ribs. Sindra, however, seems to have better luck - her incantations stop one of the skeletons in its tracks, its jaw going slack as its will is suddenly superimposed by that of the witch's.

Her proximity to the one skeleton, however, brings her in range of one of its companions. It dashes forward, taking a swing with a chipped scimitar at her. The third skeleton appears on the witch's flank, but strangely, does little but rush past her, gunning straight for what appears to be the center of the chamber. Meanwhile, the last of the skeletons appear from the shadows, each of their eight combined arms holding a wicked looking PCD (Patented Cutting Device). They begin to circle the room, attempting to flank the party. Their eyes glow an intense red, staring straight at the woman in your midst.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage (if hit): [roll1]

[Business Scrub]

Cyrus watched with a bit of anticipation as the skeletons began to flank them. He was used to fighting one opponent from one angle, not several from all. Still, they were just skeletons. They'd be destroyed like all the rest.

Stepping down from the rock he had stood on, Cyrus plants his foot and spins to his left, loosing a bluish glowing arrow suddenly at the undead to their side. Almost immediately, he knocks another, looking for his next shot.

"Don't let 'em surround us, folks!"

Assuming they're within 30 feet. If they're not for some reason, subtract one from damage and attack. If possible, I'm aiming for one of the skeletons trying to flank.

Swift for arcane strike.

Arrows! Attack: [roll0] Damage: [roll1]

Please keep in mind inspire courage is still up, to anyone attacking.

[Feralgeist]

"Think of it as a target rich environment." Sindra says, uncorking a vial with her teeth and chugging the contents. Making a face at the taste, she points at one of the regular skeletons. "Restrain!"
Her newly acquired minion obliges, lunging at its' former comrade-in-harms. Sindra's skin and clothing begins to darken and blur, blending into the surroundings.


Move action: Retrieve stored item (potion of blend)
Standard: Drink potion
Free: Banter and commands! :)
stealth check [roll0]
Grapple for skeleton [roll1]

[rowel]

The little kobold watch the flight of it's javelin and when the spear just glance off the bones, he loses hope.

"Why... why are there manbones coming to get us??! Who are you guys??! AND WHY YOU MAKING JOKESSS????!!!" :smalleek:

The little kobold starts panicking when the skeletons begin surrounding the group, every fiber in his body telling him to run as fear started to grip his heart, despite his training, despite the inpiring song in the enviroment who was boosting everyone's morale. But fear, Obi Wan, fear leads to anger, and anger leads to hate. Red hot anger rised up from Starling belly in response to his fear, mixed with pure black hatred for being a coward. He was a dragon, and dragons don't fear nothing. With no other weapon in hand, he just exploded in anger, letting out a roar (a squeal) and bashed the shield on his arm at the closest skeleton he could find.


:furious:

All right BC, I'm considering the inspire courage.
Standard action: shield bash
Move action: move to closest skelly
Shield bash: [roll0]
Damage (if hit): [roll1]
And Starling loses his shield bonus to AC until next round.

[BramsesII]

Beli

Beli looks around for a moment as the battle is joined by several of her allies. A grin appears on her face as she rushes forward, her shield held up in front of her, then suddenly swinging her shield out of the way and attempting to bash the nearest skeleton into a pulp with her heavy warhammer.


Okay, so I'm assuming there's a skeleton at most 30 ft away from Beli ((correct me if there isn't))

Move action to move next to the skelly
Standard action to attack (with inspire courage (+1 atk, +1 dmg) and bless (+1 atk))

[roll0]
[roll1]

[18th Avenger]

"Sometimes they're all we have, little scaly person!" Liam laughed and leapt into battle. The monk had guessed the intent of the skeletons and moved to block the path of the one bumrushing their center to get at the woman in robes.

Not on his watch. Like a trout in the current, Liam interposed himself between the clattering bone-rack and its prey and let loose with a lightning flurry of blows, starting with a roundhouse knee strike that spun him in place and using his spinning momentum to end with an airborne roundhouse kick meant to take something's jaw off.

Actions
Move Action: Move to protect the robed lady in our center by blocking the path of the charging skelly.

Standard Action: Flurry of Blows
To Hit: Unarmed Strike -
Unarmed Strike- [roll]1d20+3In the OoC

Damage:
[roll1]
[roll2]

[dramatic flare]

Liam attacked the same Skeleton as I'm intending to. If I can flank the boned bastard, add the sneak attack damage and +2 to the attack. If not, ignore both of these.

Move action: sheathe bow
Free action: five-foot step
Standard Action: (back?)stab

[roll0] and add two more if flanking
[roll1] normal damage plus [roll2] if flanking.

Seeing the battle quickly switch into melee right in front of him, Vikor put up his bow and took a step into the fray. He brought his short sword up in a jab at the skeleton's neck-bones. With a little luck and a lot of distraction the skeleton wouldn't even see this blow coming.

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

The party gangs up on the skeletons charging the center. Both Cyrus and Sindra's attempts to halt the skeletons prove unsuccessful, as the former's arrow puts little more than a small crack in one of the skeleton's heads, and the latter's skeleton fails to get a good grip on his former companion.

However, the rest of the party's efforts are more effective - Starling's rage lends his shield the extra strength it needed to knock one of the undead off its feet, hitting the ground in a shower of scattered bones. The other invader manages to parry Beli's attack, but disintegrates under Liam and Vikor's assault, leaving only the four-armed abominations still standing. With an unearthly howl, the two monsters advance, one from each side, with the kobold and sylph in their paths. Their arms come down in a whirlwind of blows, wicked edges looking for blood.

Attacks against Starling:

Attack 1: [roll0]
Attack 2: [roll1]
Attack 3: [roll2]
Attack 4: [roll3]

Damage 1: [roll4]
Damage 2: [roll5]
Damage 3: [roll6]
Damage 4: [roll7]

Attacks against Alred:

Attack 1: [roll8]
Attack 2: [roll9]
Attack 3: [roll10]
Attack 4: [roll11]

Damage 1: [roll12]
Damage 2: [roll13]
Damage 3: [roll14]
Damage 4: [roll15]

[Feralgeist]

"back away and fall down" Sindra commands her skeleton. It obliges, fleeing and laying down. She then walks closer to the other living people, focusing her willpower on the one attacking starling.


Skellys' actions: Move 30ft, fall prone

Sindras actions: Move; walking to 10ft behind starling and alred
Standard: bonethrall (DC 14)

[Business Scrub]

Cyrus curses as his ineffective arrows, then shuffles to the other side of the group, aiming at one of the abominations. This one would bring it down for sure, he thinks as he knocks a third arrow and lets loose.
He calls out to the woman they are protecting in the middle of all this.

"Hey lady! Any info on who sent these? Like what they're doing here?"

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[dramatic flare]

"Bloody ****s!" Alred cursed, barely switching his accent over from swordsport to Adant'Shur properly. He ducked away from the wildly swinging skeletal abomination and its heavy implements, throwing a fireflask in its face as he moved.

"Little help here guys? The wind may not be in my favor much longer."


Free Action: five-foot step backwards
Move Action: Draw fireflask
Standard Action: Throw Fireflask
[roll0] v. Touch AC
[roll1]Fire damage

[BramsesII]

Beli

Hearing Alred's curses, Beli decides to help the man out, and she quickly advances on the skeleton - quicker than her short legs should allow - and swings her hammer in the direction of the four-armed bony abomination. "Ha! Dodge that!"

Move action towards skeleton near Alred
Standard action to attack including inspire courage and bless
Attack:[roll0] (you can add +2 if Beli happens to flank him, which she'll try if she can)
Damage [roll1]

[rowel]

Seeing the skeleton disassemble and scatter on the ground gave hope and courage back to Starling. He looked around and saw the others fighting hard too and the music gave him strenght. They could win, they could kill the dead! But the dead could kill them too, he realised, taking a heavy hit to the head while his shield was away. A foul bone creature with four arms was raining blow after blow on him. The other hits stopped of the armor, but the creature didn't seemed to show any intentions of stopping. Starling used the momentum of the first shield swing to spin and hit this four armed sack of bones with the shield too.

Adding +2 to attack and +1 to damage due to Inspire Courage and Bless.
Shield bash: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[18th Avenger]

Liam stretched his neck. "Four-armed bone bags?" The monk snorted. "Just like the training dummies back home."

He took a deep breath then exploded into motion, letting out his inhalation with a wild ki-yai cry.The monk assaulted the one attacking and let loose with a brutal flurry of tonfa and twirling elbow strikes.

Actions
Move Action: Helping Starly with his skelly.
Standard Action: Flurry of Blows
To Hit: Unarmed
[roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
To Hit: Tonfa
[roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

The mutant skeletons are no match for you, and by your combined efforts they crumble to dust, weapons and armor clattering to the ground with a hollow ring that seems to echo eerily from the darkness. Eventually, the only things you can hear are the sound of your own breathing, and the beat of your heart. A shaky sigh from behind you reminds you of the woman's presence. Standing, she brushes off her robes, hefting a bag that looks far too heavy for a woman of such fragile stature. "Thank goodness," she says, sniffing and wiping away some stray tears, "I really thought we were going to die there - what did you guys get pulled into? Judging by the sounds you were making I would guess... a tavern?"

As she speaks, you notice something strange - the darkness dissipates. No. As you look closer, it almost seems as though it were receding, like a great, all-encompassing tide. By the time the woman finishes her words, the darkness has all but disappeared, leaving behind a most incongruous sight. Just beyond where you stand, now clearly a stone dais, rock gives way to plush red carpet. Like a sea of blood it stretches out, ending at the foot of a gilded marble wall that continues all around the room, big enough to comfortably host a feast, and then some. As you look around, you realize that this in fact is a banquet hall, even now filled with painted, life-size statues dwarven lords and ladies, eating, drinking, dancing and singing. The woman gasps and whispers a prayer to the gods, and starts toward a large set of double doors at one end of the room. "Come, we must move quickly," she calls out behind her, "remember what the ministry told us - time is of the essence. I know you must have many questions about the goal of this expedition, but we really are in a hurry, so you will have to ask as we move."

[Business Scrub]

"Aha, and that's what happens when the undead try to mess with Cy-- huh?"
Cyrus takes delight in the fight's end, but only briefly as the world around him changes. He had seen illusions before, in his home city, and they had never been pleasant things: usually meant to decieve someone so he could be killed or looted. Or both.
Needless to say, Cyrus looked around warily, not slinging his bow until the woman told them to move. As much as he didn't trust this lady, there didn't seem to be anywhere else to go, and he didn't enjoy staying in this enchanted room, or cave, or whatever it was. He pushes past her in his eagerness to open the door.
"Just a few. First, why the hell should we trust you? Second, where the f*ck are we, and third, are there more things looking to die up ahead? Everything else can wait."

[18th Avenger]

"Whoever she is, she seems to have a handle on the situation. But we can't ask her if whatever we're running from catches us!"

Liam gathered his pack and put away his weapon, signalling that the others ought to do the same before scurrying after the woman.

"But the bowman's got a point: first things first, who are you!?" Liam called to her as he tightened his gear and tried to match her pace.

[dramatic flare]

Vikor's sword remained in hand as the darkness faded from their vision. This strange occurrence was not by necessity over yet. His allies were moving, but Vikor chose not to follow yet. This, "come with me now," crap was exactly like the low-level cons Alred used to pull back in Swordsport. He didn't trust it, and he had absolutely no idea what ministry she was talking about.
What did this woman want and why were these guys, the other random individuals Alred had woken up with, suddenly going along with it? Alred hated not knowing what was going on.
For lack of a better option, Alred dropped a further two questions.
"What ministry? Why should I, or we, trust you?"
Alred set his feet against moving forward.


Perception: [roll0]
Sense Motive: [roll1]

[rowel]

Starling smiles as the shadows go away, giving room to light. He gather the rest of his weapons from the ground and starts attaching them to hooks and loops on his clothes and backpack so he can transport and draw them wasily enough. The weird woman talks but he doesn't really pay attention until he collected all his things and looks at the wide marble walls around him. He looks confused to everyone there, seeing people nervous.

"Narf... Me don't understand what's going on..."

He starts following the woman, but now looking at all the statues, with a really weird feeling. The kobold was now listening to her, but not really convinced that he was in such mortal danger. The shadows were gone after all.

"Ministry? Expedition? Are you coo coo in the head, lady?... Oh crap, sorryses."

Starling whispers to Sindra:

"Is the lady coo coo in the head, lady?"

The kobold continued following the group close anyways, since he doesn't want to be alone somewhere he doesn't know.

[Feralgeist]

Sindra frowns as she feels her grip on her minion dissipate. <How odd, it didn't die...it's just....gone... where have i heard of this...> She wracks her brain trying to think of where she heard about this

She gathers her meager possessions and chucks them in her cauldron, hoisting it up and following the group, walking alongside the kobold

"I'm thinking so, but let's see how this plays out. I have no idea where we are and i need to find my wagon before my animals starve. Maybe she knows the way out." She whispers to starling.

"My name's Sindra. Are you hurt? I can fix you." She holds out a vial of blood-red liquid that gently glows. Thinking aloud she says "What is this place? are we still in the same world?"


Vial of infernal healing.
Knowledge: Arcana to identify the spell effect of the location change [roll0]
Knowledge: The Planes to try and recognize what plane of existence we're on [roll1]

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

As far as you can tell, she is sincere, though now a little surprised.
The woman stops in her tracks as half of the party accosts her, brow furrowed as she tries to understand the situation. "What are you talking about?" she says, looking at each of you, perplexed. Eventually, realization dawns on her, and she takes out a notepad, furiously jotting down notes. "That illusion spell must have been laced with something else, a Modify Memory spell, or some very, very powerful variant of it, judging by just how little you remember." She eventually finishes writing, and puts the pad away. Sighing, she laces her fingers and turns to face as many of you as she can, muttering something about how the Director had told her this might happen. "You," she says, then pauses, thinking through what she is supposed to say before restarting. "You were hired by the Andromerean Ministry of New Frontiers to enter a new cavern previously discovered by another team. They had been recommissioned, but have since disappeared. The original team had only been some 3 strong, so we've doubled the number and treated this as both an exploration and rescue/retrieval mission. Depending on the whether the original team is found, and whether or not they've shuffled on from the mortal coil, there is a bonus associated with that information." She bows, and continues with her introduction - or to her, a reintroduction. "My name is Salma, I work for the Ministry as somewhat of a historical consultant, as well as a general informations officer. I am your appointed Guide for this tour, though I must apologize that the title is outdated, and incredibly misleading - I have about as little information about this particular location as the rest of you. My duty here is simply to record the progression of the mission, and assist with any queries you might have to the best of my abilities." She takes another pause, thinking about whether or not she had missed anything. "Well then," she concludes, "I'm pretty sure that covers all of it. Again, if you have any questions I would happily answer them - I just ask that we move as we speak, so that we do not waste time dilly-dallying."

So long as you are within speaking distance of Salma, you receive +1 to all knowledge checks except History, to which you receive a +2.

[dramatic flare]

Alred sheathed his sword. This answer was far too detailed, and far too ridiculous, to be a normal scam like back in Swordsport. Occam's razor said she was probably telling the truth. Alred then asked a particularly pertinent question to his own personal standing with the ministry he needed to know.
"Ah, well then what's my name, eh?"

Even as he spoke he was trying to dredge what memories, if in indeed his memories had been rearranged or misplaced or what have you, could be brought up on the Andromerean Ministry of New Frontiers. Almost as an after thought, he also began examining the hall they were now in, if indeed it was one, for any further clues to ensure he didn't get blindsided by an obvious fact.


[roll0] Dungeoneering
[roll1] History on the Ministry.

I did not apply the bonus granted by Salma, so if they apply they are applied after the roll.

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

"I should hope your memory did not deteriorate so much as to forget your own name, Mr. Havas," Salma replies, smiling, "and just in case, I shall reaffirm that I am in the presence of one Vikor Havas, one Beli Stonemourne, one Cyrus Blackbriar, one Starling Fireburper, one Liam, and one Sindra - that would be the six of you standing before me, yes?"

[Business Scrub]

Cyrus glares at this 'Salma' character.

I wake up not knowing where I am, and suddenly a helpful lady says she'll explain everything? Sounds like whoever sent her is trying to get me off my guard. No dice, woman.

He points at her accusingly. "For the record, I don't believe a word that comes out of your mouth. Lucky for you, there really only seems to be one way out, so let's g-- huh?"

From the corner of his eye, Cyrus catches something peculiar. He watches the eyes of the statues closely, as they follow him around the room.

"Whatever these things are are alive. And they're watching us, so be on your guard people."

[18th Avenger]

"Well, I am Liam. And you did explain that rather nicely..."

But the young monk wasn't finished, even as they followed Salma. He felt that they were schoolchildren led by their 'marm on an outside jaunt. Some small voice he'd often ignored was was wishing they were outside. Something about the paintings of all the figures. Liam, as he always did, ignored that voice. He was a hero. Heroes listened to voices in their head, noted what they had to say, then subsequently ignored those voices.

"Okay, I get we're in some sorta cavern," the monk hazarded as he matched their guide's pace easily. "On the trail of some scholars as we explore these caverns. And then we got hit by a real powerful magical spell. So given the bone-racks we came across, do we assume them scholars woke up something really bad? Something that needs to be put down?" Liam could not keep the excitement out of his voice this time.

[rowel]

"Yes, me need to find little Smaug too! What if he gets hungryyy, poor little thing? Does the wagon animals have names too miss Sindra? My name's Starling, miss Sindra, and me got bonked in the head a little bit, yes."

Starling keeps quiet for a while, listening to everybody with a growing feeling of doom, especially after the bit about statues being alive. He didn't like having his mind messed with. He already had little control over it. But the kobold gets distracted and forgets about it when he hears his name, though.

"Yes, me is the Starling Fireburper! Oooh, nice to meet you all! Lady Salma, where are we going? How do you know my names? And why weren't you in the dream tavern with us? This is all making my brainses go "?huh?"."

[Business Scrub]

Cyrus looks like he's going to claw his ears off the more Starling speaks.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me. This thing is coming with us?"

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Cyrus's antagonism does little but bring a chuckle to the Guide's lips. "I guess the circumstances do lend to a certain measure of incredulity. I had expected something like this to happen, especially having been warned of it beforehand, but I never figured the spell to be powerful enough to make you forget all of it." She sighs, then turns to the archer. "Then how about this," she proposes, "if you would like, I can lead you back to the entrance, the way we came in. All of your animals are waiting outside, along with two pack horses. You, and anyone else who would like to go along with you, can make your way back to Farlon, the town where one of the Ministry's outposts is situated, and we can produce documents to show you had personally agreed to this expedition, including what I hope are your bona fide signatures. The trip back would take about two days, but we have plenty of food and water." She crosses her arms, amused. "Either way, I'm going to be leading you around until you feel you're safe and can be on your merry way. So, either you can suspend your proclivity for distrust and complete this mission, or we can waste a week to achieve the same result. Also, yes, the kobold signed all the necessary paperwork, so he has as much a right to being here as you."

Turning to Sindra and Liam, she continues her line of answers. "Madam Sindra, I know not whether you are of the same plane as where we are now, but I assure you that this is the Material Plane, and you have been with us as of at least four days ago. As for your concerns, Mister Liam, they are certainly warranted, and not ones I am able to answer with confidence, I'm afraid. It's possible the previous team had awakened something that had been sealed away, or it's possible that these skeletons have been wandering these halls for as long as this place has been sealed. Whatever the case, I am glad that you were all able to dispatch them." Lastly, she turns to the kobold, a smile playing across her face, almost as if she were facing a child, though she still addresses him properly. "You made yourself and your name known to us when you signed up for this mission, Mister Fireburper," she says, "you gave the residents of Farlon a bit of a scare when you entered town, but you managed to make your way to us before anyone tried anything stupid. Something about a dragon 'needing his own lair and treasure hoard', I remember you saying, and that you'd heard our call to explore and thought it the perfect opportunity."

[18th Avenger]

"Well, if you vouched for him and we vouched for 'im, even if we don't remember, I s'pose Master Fireburper's okay." As far as the monk could tell, they were all still in unknown territory and would need to cooperate if they were to survive. "Lead on, Ms. Salma. Sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can figure what it was that took our memories."

With a sudden thought in his head, Liam reached into his pouch and pulled out a little spheroid trinket. Without thinking about it, he brought it to his lips and whispered into it. The little sphere began to cast light on their path and orbit around his head. "Handy trinket, this!" The monk grinned.

[Business Scrub]

Cyrus gives her a long, unhappy look.
"Yeah, cause that'll solve anything. I've seen this before Salma: I'm sure you can produce a signature with my name on it., whether or not it's really mine. I'll say I never signed this. You'll say 'yes you did,' and get a bunch snivling cowards of yes-men to agree with whatever script you gave them beforehand. Then you'll get all the officers to drag me back here, but then I'd also have to deal with your smug grin.

So fine, let's go. Consider it a personal favor that I'm not making a bigger deal out of this. Which makes the second one today by the way, so you know: be honored."

He turns away, back towards the room. Despite the stony exterior, he seems to be curious enough that he doesn't mind the task before him.

"Tell me about the three we're looking for Salma: what did they look like? Were they soldiers, workers, scientists?"

If it's not barred, Cyrus will continue through the doors as he speaks. When he hears Sindra's name, he looks at the girl with a bit of panic and excitement. It quickly turns to dissapointment, however, and he turns back towards the doorway.

[dramatic flare]

Vikor Havas gave Salma a sudden, long, and introspective look. Inwardly, he was playing numbers games and attempting to figure out exactly what he had gotten himself into. Outwardly, a cool, professional, somewhat mercenary detachment graced his features and airs. This is just another job, they said, even if does weird things to me.

"You'll handle it, Cyrus, just like you always do. Dashingly to the point of infuriation," the mercenary punctuated this with a sly grin and a wink. He stashed most of his weapons, but left his bow and an arrow free in case of attacks.

[Feralgeist]

"Well I'm satisfied. It doesn't matter why we're here, I'm sure we'll find a way to regain our memories in time. Let us not delay any further. Lead on, human wench!"

<wish i could find some bodies...>



Sindra keeps pace with the others, muttering a few words and touching her cauldron with her free hand. It begins to glow softly. Seeing Cyrus glance at her, she grins, showing a mouthful of filed teeth

[rowel]

"Yikes, these adventurers just like everyone else, looking down on Starling... But thanks misses Salma, yes me needs the moneys to me be dragon and get my lair. If me scare, me good dragon then. But let's going, the sooner the betterer, ignore this grumpy scared pants!

The kobold resented the treatment given by some of his colleagues. He would clearly not rush to help Cyrus with the same eagerness he would help Syndra or Liam. And he was getting anxious to get to the next room and remember where he is and understand what is going on.

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

"Whatever you'd like to think is fine by me, Mister Blackbriar," she says as they walk, throwing the man another sly grin, "but if you should choose to depart, I suppose whatever spoils we find in this place will simply be divided into larger portions for the rest of the remaining crew." Finally free to move, Salma pushes through the large double doors, both swinging silently on well-oiled hinges. Before you stretches a long hallway, hewn from stone. The same blood-red carpet extends down this path, eventually disappearing around a corner. Large oil-painted portraits line the passage - bloated faces of dwarves long gone stare down upon you with stern eyes, the genders of which become less and less apparent to you as the generations extend further and further back.

"As I mentioned, the original party consisted of three members," she says, "two men and one woman. A strange lot, they were - one man a practiced doctor specialized in hand-to-hand combat, another man a mercenary, and the woman a summoner of sorts. I never had the chance to meet the three personally, but from what I hear, the woman possessed substantial arcane powers, and was the reason for the group's coming together. They had signed up as Explorers for the Ministry several months ago, and happened upon this place some time after that. The rest of the story, well, you know already. That's why we're here."

After several turns, down hallways that continued to display paintings of dwarves long since turned to stone, you reach the end of hallway. Another set of double doors beset you, this one gilded in golds, silvers, and inlaid with stones of all shapes and colors. Vines frame the outer edge of the doors, while two intricately-carved lions stand guard upon either panel, expressions fierce as they stare you down. "Okay, we've reached the master bedroom, but judging by the dust layer on the carpet and doors, it doesn't look like anyone has been here for a while, at least long enough for me to be reasonably certain that the previous group isn't here," Salma says, stopping the group as she examines her surroundings. "If you want to go look for them, we can try the other corridors, but as I mentioned rescue is the secondary objective, while the exploration and documentation of these ruins is our primary goal. If you want to cover both goals faster, we could always split up - I would, of course, remain with the group designated for exploration, while the rest of you continue your search. Barring any secret passages, these mountain mansions aren't incredibly large, so unless you really went spelunking, we should be able to meet back here in, say, a half hour. What do you think?"

[18th Avenger]

"I think the first step is to split into halves," Liam sat on his haunches, chin in hand as he eyed the corridor. The torch hovered around his head like a miniature planet. "Somebody who can take hits with others... Can't take hits too well." The monk looked sheepish as he looked back at them.

"Whole place makes me wonder. Who'd wanna live in the mountains? I mean, speaking as a plainsman, it all seems unnatural."

[rowel]

Starling promptly took out his dagger and started trying to pry the gems from the door while the guide explained what they could do. He set his eyes on a big red one for the first try. Very shiny.

"Me don't want to be away from everyone, misses Salma and mister Liam... when kobolds go in small groups to do stuffs in the forests, sometimes mall groups don't come backs... Me thinks al together is best!"

Despite the talk, he continued on the work, using his shield as a hammer to insert the small dagger between gem and door so he could try to take it off.

"Ah, Starling would like to live in a mountain, yes, yes. In fact me plans to, nice place away from towns, where me can sleep lots... Hey misses, do you think me can keep this place for me if it is not full of deadses and curses and trapses? It is kind of ugly and weird but me can changes the places..."

[dramatic flare]

Vikor winced. Splitting up the group could be effective, but they didn't know they area. Splitting up the group would probably be a death sentence for someone in their little group.
"I'd rather we all stick together. After all, taking a little longer and not dying to whatever might've killed the previous party seems the wiser course. More eyes, more weapons."

[Feralgeist]

"I say we stick together and explore. If we find the missing party we can heal them if they're still alive, or put them to use if they aren't. We'll have a little more muscle either way and we can split up then."

Sindra rubs her hands together, eyes lighting up at the prospect of finding bodies.

"Besides, this place looks like it hasn't changed in awhile. It won't change that much more in the time it takes to look"

[BramsesII]

Beli

The dwarf, who had been silent for a while, trying to piece together everything that happened, speaks up as well. "Staying together's key here, I think. These mountain mansions can be dangerous. I should know. Better be careful and take things slow than rush to a boney doom." She nods sagely, trying to appear as serious and knowledgeable as possible. In truth, she's extremely confused - and slightly terrified - at the moment, but being a dwarf means you do not show such things. This is a dwarven place. My territory. Can't let them know I have no idea where we are.

She looks around at the assembled party. "I don't remember signing up for anything, though. Especially not travelling with a kobold." She eyes Starling for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders. "I suppose it's possible, though. There may have been ale involved. There usually is. And we are all in this together now. We owe it to each other - and to those who used to live here - to find out what happened."

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Salma nods. "Stay together it is, then," she says, "probably for the best, too. This way we'll all be searching together, and no one gets the blame for missing something." She gasps when the kobold lunges for the jewel in the door, half wanting to restrain him, half wanting to take enormous steps away. But when Starling's dagger meets the door with a loud ching and nothing happens, the guide relaxes. "Okay," she says as she lets out a long sigh, "no traps then. But please don't do that again Mister, er, Fireburper... may I call you Starling? It was what got us into that last predicament, and I would hate for any of you to lose any more of your memories."

Salma reaches for the door, resting both hands gently on the large wooden panels. With a grunt she pushes them open, which swing apart just as quietly as the last set. A puff of cold air sighs from the room, smelling of mold and age. Within, a large bedroom, the light from the torches in the hallway just barely reaching into the room, the carpet under your feet stretching into the abyss.

Make a Perception check.

[BramsesII]

Beli

The dwarf looks ahead into the chamber. "Looks ominous. Still, doesn't seem like there's anything in there." She takes a step forward, standing next to Salma when she suddenly stops, realizing something.

"Anyone need a light?" She holds her holy symbol close to her chest, mumbling a simple prayer to Cayden Cailean. When she lets go she is holding a small ball of light in her hand, which she attaches to the front of her shield. "There. Who's going in first?"

Casting light (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/l/light) (lasts 20 min)

[dramatic flare]

"No, but thank you all the same," the mercenary replied airily as he entered the room. He took up a flank just past the door frame, sword presented to any immediate threats inside, his wind up and quietly angry.
Everyone's hair (excepting Starling the Hairless) is tussled.

[18th Avenger]

"I have a light, lady," With his ioun torch orbiting his head, Liam stepped into the room carefully to flank the other side of the door with the mercenary. "Not to worry." The monk let out another low whistle at the musty sumptuousness of the room.

"All these riches and things... I'm not one for possessions, but surely the relatives of those who lived in here would have come to claim them? Lady of the Young God? Is that not the custom of the dwarves?"

[Business Scrub]

Cyrus peers through the darkness. "I can't see sh*t! Ahh, there we go. Thanks for the light er... guy." He says, already forgetting Liam's name.

"I still can't really see though, you say there's treasure in there?"

[rowel]

"Sure you can calls me Starling. Oh? I don't remember don't remembering to remember of traps!.... Weird!"

Starling takes a step back to calm Salma and because he can't get nothing from the door. As the doors open, starling squints his eyes, but can't see through the darkness. Never the less, he steps forward, keeping himself between the darkness and the rest of the party.

[BramsesII]

Beli

Only when Liam speaks up does Beli notice his ioun torch. She surpresses the urge to facepalm; that's not what a dignified dwarf would do. "Right you are. Still, can't hurt to have more. You know, for the people who can't see well in the dark." She steps forward to take up a position beside Alred, casting the light of her shield into the chamber. "Well now..."