Josh's DnD: Ep07

Josh: You wake up the next morning, the darkness is still lessened though you can see wisps of it at your feet.
Cheslia: "Think there's anything to this Chosen stuff?" Cheslia asks as she gets moving at a cautious pace.
Ileleste: "Well, Chosen or not, we're stuck in this and there's no real way out of here that I can see."
Cheslia: "I hope it's just a case of mistaken identity."
The_Reaper: "Maybe or maybe not we are chosen but does that change anything?"
Ileleste: Ileleste finds herself leading the group back the way they came, avoiding the foreboding looking chained door, and back to the open corridors they found earlier.
Cheslia: "If we want to entertain wild ideas, then maybe. They spoke of a betrayal. What if there were past versions of ourselves and one of us did something terrible?"
Josh: The path splits left and directly ahead.  The hall on the left is lined with murals, more of the ‘story’ as it were. The room in front of you lies open and bare.
Josh: Continuing from the last panel, the murals depict a world slowly consumed by inky blackness.  Until a group of warriors, washed in light appear.  The gods and mortals, consumed in their own battles, take no notice of them.  But the warriors fight back the darkness, gain more followers to their cause, those followers become bathed in white.  The darkness shrinks. But then tragedy, dark spots among the white, then slowly it grows in patches until all but one warrior remains.  He drives a sword into his heart.  The last panel shows a world above, bathed in light, and a world below, covered in shadow.  Directly below that lies pure darkness.
Josh: You see a faint glowing coming from the next room, it almost, but not quite, pierces the darkness.
Cheslia: Cheslia looks at the mural, none too pleased by the end of it. She gets super twitchy.
Ileleste: Ileleste frowns as she walks the length of it, peering into the next room and inching forward.
Josh: The light is coming through a now open doorway, brightly as you walk through.  It gives you a sense of hope.
Ileleste: "Should we go back and check that last room before proceeding?"
URZOGA: "Whatever gets us out of here, I'm very tired of caves," grumbles the half-orc.
Cheslia: "Whatever is in here might be a powerful force against the enemy. I'd like to check it out sooner rather than later."
Ileleste: Ileleste nods heads forwards into the room.
Cheslia: Cheslia wanders inside too.
The_Reaper: Reaper follows a bit behind.
Josh: Before you lie ten pedestals, glowing brightly with different colors.  Some seem to be glowing with double brightness while others, notably the one in the middle and the ones on either far side, are not glowing at all.
Ileleste: Illy creeps in further, and may be pulling Cheslia with her.
Rylian: "Careful now, we have no idea what these things do."
Josh: The tops of the pedestals are marked with designs.  (As depicted.)
Cheslia: "I see one has something like looks like the god Pelor's symbol." She points out the solitary extra bright one. "The rest don't seem familiar."
Ileleste: "Huh." Ileleste responds. She looks a little dumbstruck again and wanders in further towards the pedestal Cheslia pointed out.
Josh: Unlike the others, the cog seems to draw in light, not give it out.  Looking at it gives you a head ache.
Ileleste: She averts her eyes after a short moment blinking.
Cheslia: Cheslia squints and looks away. "Guess it makes sense that it could hold some power here."
The_Reaper: "Wonder what these are here for."
Ileleste: "This whole place with the murals and everything else seems like a place of worship, so maybe these are some sort of alter to gods?" Ileleste shrugs.
Cheslia: "It could be. It might be that the other glowing altars are feeding this one."
Josh: You notice the only altars glowing with two shades of light are the one with the emblem like a heart and the one with the emblem of the sun
Cheslia: Cheslia goes over to the heart one to look at it carefully.
Josh: It glows steadily, you don’t really feel anything upon approach.
Ileleste: Ileleste steps back from the pedestal suddenly making an awkward noise.
Ileleste: "I don't like this place."
Cheslia: "Is something wrong?"
Josh: You see the light flicker on the heart as Ileleste passes by.
Cheslia: "I think this one just reacted to you somehow."
Ileleste: "I. Nhn." She rubs her hands together. "That one, I felt like touching it, like it wanted it."
Cheslia: Cheslia looks from Illy to the pedestal. "Some might call it sensible. I'm thinking that maybe there's a connection to the story anyway.
Ileleste: She steps towards Cheslia and the heart pedestal to see if anything happens.
Josh: It begins to glow brighter, a deep crimson.
Cheslia: "It's definitely reacting to you. Now I wonder if there are others here that might react."
The_Reaper: "To one of us?"
Cheslia: "Yes. You could come closer to this one and we could see if it's just her or not." Cheslia takes a few steps away.
The_Reaper: Reaper shrugs and goes closer.
Josh: None of them seem to react in any way.
URZOGA: The half-orc grunts, only partially curious, and approaches as well.
Josh: The heart begins to glow even brighter, this time with the same shade of purple as the unglowing pedestal with the emblem of a mask.
Cheslia: "It must be you two." Cheslia extends her tentacle, passing it over the nearest pedestals, aside from the cog.
Josh: The pedestal with wings glows a bit more brightly as the tentacle passes over it.
Ileleste: Ileleste looks to Urzoga. "Us?"
Cheslia: She moves over to the wing pedestal.
URZOGA: Urz can only shrug.
Josh: It glows as brilliantly as the heart does for the others.
Ileleste: "Try moving to another one Reaper." She suggests, standing closer to the heart.
Cheslia: "Time to be brave." Cheslia very carefully pokes it with her tentacle.
Josh: The room flashes bright with yellow light and the pedestal goes out.
Ileleste: Illy blinks. "What happened?"
The_Reaper: "I don't know."
Cheslia: Cheslia jumps back at the flash and ends up falling down on her butt. "I feel enlightened..."
Ileleste: "Enlightened? So it wasn't, bad?"
Cheslia: "No." She says after a small delay. Then she looks up at the ceiling in thought.
Ileleste: "Should I?" She looks at the pedestal, then at Urz. "Should we, touch it?"
URZOGA: "Hrn. Doesn't seem deadly, so..."
Cheslia: "Yeah. It's like... the time I accidentally ate a mushroom. A lot of things made sense all of a sudden but I couldn't explain how."
Ileleste: "Well, here goes." She hesitates, her hand hovering over it.
URZOGA: A larger green hand comes down on top of Illy's, forcing them both to touch it.
Josh: Bright lights, red and purple flash and then go out.
Ileleste: Illy blinks and staggers, pulling away.
The_Reaper: "You okay?"
Ileleste: "I... I think so." She looks around blinking more, adjusting her eyes to something.
Ileleste: "Oh... this is neat." She mutters to herself. Her viper seems quite active all the sudden, crawling across her body and inspecting the room.
Rylian: "Are you sure you are alright, milady?" Rylain says, seeming worried.
Cheslia: Cheslia gets up, retracting her tentacle. "I'm glad we stopped by here."
Ileleste: "I think I am more than alright." she says almost dreamily.
Rylian: Rylain moves his hand towards the one next to Ileleste.
Josh: Nothing happens.
Rylian: He puts his hand in towards the pedestal with the red symbol
Rylian: Rylain now tries with the sun symbol
Josh: Nothing happens
Josh: The blue symbol starts glowing brightly as you near.
Rylian: Rylain reaches his hand to touch the blue symbol
Josh: Bright flash, just like the others.
Josh: The green one glows brightly for Reaper
The_Reaper: Reaper goes to touch it.
Josh: The light flashes, and goes out.
Ileleste: Ileleste takes the time to look around the rest of the room, to make sure they didn't miss anything while being so entranced by the pedestals.
Josh: Nothing else of interest in that room.
Josh: Sylkis eventually touches the white spiral, it goes out with a flash like the others.
Ileleste: Not finding anything else, she heads back to the doorway.
Cheslia: Cheslia exits as well.
Josh: After having all received some handy new abilities and learning some history from the many murals along the walls, the Heroes regroup and prepare to take on the Shadowdark at the behest of the now gone Hasshiir, the Shadeling protectors of the dungeon.  They have learned of a great threat soon to be released upon the world and also now have knowledge on a way to not just send it away but to destroy it permanently.  It's growing army, the source of its power and also its main weakness.
Pinko: "I'm getting tired of the darkness.” comments Sylkis with a huff. "I just wish I could be back in the capital, enjoying a warm bath given by a maid or something..." She dusts herself, looking miserable after so long of wandering and fumbling in an environment her eyes could never get used to.
Pinko: “‘Hey, maybe I could do my major about Shadow Magic. I wonder why no one's ever touched the topic'. I am such a genius." She keeps rambling like that for a few moments.
Cheslia: "Maids are the best." Cheslia says absently, the majority of the rambling going over her head.
Ileleste: Ileleste watches Sylkis for a moment before shaking her head. "Where do you think we should go?" She asks Cheslia.
Rylian: "I had my a few maids myself back at my home at Castle Whiteraven." Rylain responds to the two.
Cheslia: "Let's check out some of these other ways first. Unless we see anything indicating otherwise I feel like the door that was chained should be our last stop."
Ileleste: Illy wanders down to one of the passages to peer down it.
The_Reaper: "That door might contain something."
Josh: The light from your magic and the torches only pierces so far, this area choked by the pressing darkness that once blocked that passages you have cleared.
Ileleste: Ileleste presses forward, making sure the others stick close to her.
Cheslia: Cheslia is right behind, peering along at the nearest wall.
Pinko: Sylkis sticks close, annoyed huff as she keeps Rylain close to herself.
Josh: You spot two figures in cloaks barring your way forward.  They stand silently for a moment, simply looking at you from behind the cloth of their robes.
The_Reaper: Reaper just walks behind them keeping close.
Josh: Before long one of them speaks.  "Leave or Die."
Pinko: "I haven't heard that before today." Sylkis raises an eyebrow, staff at the ready.
Rylian: Rylain readies his new longsword and says, "We will do neither, but there will be no shame if you do."
Josh: "Then Die."
Cheslia: Cheslia takes a step back, attempting to tug Ileleste along with her.
The_Reaper: "Why don’t you die instead?" Reaper says a mad glint in his eyes.
Rylian: "Like I said, we will not!"
Ileleste: Ileleste lets herself be pulled back from harm while shielding herself magically.
Pinko: Sylkis mutters a few arcane words, and a cloud of dust in conjured into reality, coating the two figures.
Josh: The stone makes a metallic clank off of the cloak of the figure though it staggers back some.
Josh: The larger one steps forward, moving rather confidently despite its impairment but only strikes a gash in the wall with its greatsword, narrowly missing Rylain.
Rylian: deftly ducking the slash from the large being, Rylain ripostes. Unfortunately the swing was wild and missed the mark.
Pinko: Sylkis sighs, resigned, as caltrops spring from her palm to underneath the feet of the assailants.
Ileleste: Ileleste fires another stone forth from her sling, missing anyone and everything.
Rylian: As if guided by the hands of a deity, Rylain strikes again and plunges deep into the body of his adversary.
Ileleste: Ileleste takes a step back, keeping her distance from the creatures.
URZOGA: The Monster, missing its first attack, manages to connect with a second.
Cheslia: Cheslia's tendril sneaks along the ground and wraps around one of the cloaked thing's legs, giving a hard yank before it flails about wildly, failing to hit anything.
Rylian: The creature stumbles on its feet, Rylain takes his sword and drives it in to it, killing him.
Josh: The one with the falchion screams angry at Rylain, its voice is a woman's. In her anger she misses wildly.
Ileleste: From a distance, Ileleste weaves some magic, confusing the last being's mind, causing it to stand around dazed.
Rylian: Rylain is visibly taken aback upon the woman screaming, both the volume and the fact that the being is a woman.
Josh: As the last one collapses under the blow of the Monster's fist the hood of the robe falls off and you see a human silhouette cloaked in pitch black skin.  They both wear full plate of masterwork quality and their weapons, a falchion and a great sword, are both of masterwork as well.
Josh: The shadows in this room recede slowly and you feel a weight lift off your chest that you hadn't noticed there before.
URZOGA: The Monster takes the females sword, simply grasping it with seemingly no idea of how to wield it.
Ileleste: Ileleste relaxes a bit, and after a tentative moment, steps forward to search their bodies.
Rylian: Rylain cleans his blade, then sheathes it as he breathes a sigh of relief
Cheslia: "Feels a lot nicer now, doesn't it?" Cheslia takes a deep breath.
Ileleste: After a moment she holds up some small golden bands on steel chains, one from each body.
URZOGA: The Monster scoops up the other sword too, adding it to the collection of items it made Urz carry.
Pinko: "I wonder that was about." Sylkis offers only a halfhearted shrug as she steps into the room proper.
Cheslia: Cheslia begins looking about at the better illuminated room.
Ileleste: After pocketing the rings Ileleste joins Cheslia in looking around the room, watching the others for a moment as she walks past them.
Josh: There are rooms to the southwest, northwest and southeast.
Ileleste: Ileleste peers into the room to the northwest, assuming it would connect to that previous path but wanting to be sure they don't miss anything./
Ileleste: She calls back to the others. "There's something shiny in this room here."
The_Reaper: "What kind of shiny thing."
Ileleste: "Gold maybe?" She inches forward a bit more.
Cheslia: Cheslia runs on over at that, stopping once close to Ileleste to peek over her shoulder at the shininess. "In a dark place shiny seems positive. Can we get one of our front liners to take point here?"
Rylian: "But of course, milady."
Rylian: Rylain then moves into position
The_Reaper: Reaper just kinda follows behind them.
Josh: As Ileleste steps into the doorway a magical runes fizzles brightly and spits acid out at them before fading away.
Ileleste: Ileleste screams, covering herself but mostly too late.
Cheslia: Cheslia screams as well, falling on her butt and sizzling. She looks over her injuries with an odd sort of fascination.
Ileleste: Ileleste whimpers a bit. "Is... is my face okay?" She asks nobody in particular.
Rylian: Rylain manages to dodge a good amount of the acid, some gets onto him. However, his attention is focused to the two ladies who took the brunt of it.
Cheslia: "I could drip on your face if you like. Or wherever it got you." Cheslia says quietly... and creepily.
Rylian: "Are you alright?!" he asks almost hysterically.
Cheslia: "I'll be fine."
Ileleste: Illy doesn't really respond, she seems more caught up with actually having been harmed by something.
Cheslia: Cheslia starts putting her slimy fingers on Illy anyway.