(CLOSED) Zirus' Little Adventure

[Antman9]

The door opens to a series of staircases that rise to hatch at the island surface.

[Sol]

[Zirus - Lizardfolk Aspiring Cleric 0] (HP 14/10) (AC: 16)
Actions: Attempts Southern Door

Zirus descends back into the dungeon and tries the Southern Door - avoiding the blood if it is possible. He stays at the ready with all his senses.

[Antman9]

Zirus opens the door to the south to find a large rectangular room. A large blood smear arcs from the doorway to a large grated drain in the SE corner of the room. There are various items scattered around the room: A steel bucket, A lether satchel in the NE corner, A table along the south wall, A cabinet with doors in the NW corner, some form of diary on the floor near the cabinet, and a large pile of rags and other debris in the SW corner.

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Actions!

Calendar Day:
3:10 pm
The 9th day before the Kalends of Lunius
Full Moon

[Sol]

[Zirus - Lizardfolk Aspiring Cleric 0] (HP 14/10) (AC: 16)
Actions: Examines Diary

Zirus looks at disdain at the bloody mess moving down into the drain. He does a cursory search of the room and comes upon the diary. He picks this up and looks inside.

Afterwards, he considers the grate before ultimately deciding to backtrack two rooms and then go south along the previously unexplored passage.

I think Zirus can read using just his Darkvision - but if not, he will light a candle first.

[Antman9]

The journal/diary appears to be a combination of notes and loose letters penned by someone named Calmert, which you believe to be a priest from the letters he has written, addressed to a man named Lareth. The last page of the diary suggests that the people who resided here were leaving for a fortress in the Great Desert.

OOC: If you wish to read further let me know.

As Zirus looks through the diary he hears a faint sound in the SW corner near the pile of rags. Looking in that directions a small figure, standing roughly 2' tall and 3' long, crawls from beneath the pile and says in a quavering voice of common tongue, “I thought you had left me for dead master.” Then it stops mid-stride and stares hard at Zirus, its tail flattens and the hair of its back raises up. “Are you here to kill me then? I may be weak, but you will not kill me without paying a price first. I promise you this much stranger.” After speaking its peace, The cat-like figure crouches into a readied position, rigid as a board, waiting for Zirus’ first move.

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[Sol]

[Zirus - Lizardfolk Aspiring Cleric 0] (HP 14/10) (AC: 16)
Actions: Takes Diary Interacts with Cat

Zirus moves closer to the cat, but circles far enough away so that the cat cannot strike him easily. "What have we here?" he asks the cat. What to do with it? Is it friend or foe or a lost familiar? Best to let the goddess decide. The Lizard Man removes the holy mirror from within his armor and presents it to the cat - allowing the neutral back to present itself first, then allowing the circle to rotate fully around so that the warmblood can see itself.

"Be you friend or foe to my people?" asks Zirus, "Tell me now, are you an ally or are you prey?" He thoughtfully flicks his tongue toward the creature.

[Antman9]

[Tobias – Grimalkin] (HD: 2) (AC: 12)
Actions: Verbal dance with the Lizardman

Tobias eases his posture and slowly, methodically, strolls around Zirus in a wide circle. “It is I who should be asking the questions sir. Is it not my domicile to which you have so rudely intruded? In better times it would be you on the end of a hot poker my snaky tongued friend. My former master would have you crying snaky little tears and begging his allegiance. And your little mirror is very pretty, but of no concern to me. But then my master left me here to die, didn't he?”

Tobias stops in front of Zirus, a good distance away. “It would appear as though you are my intended savior, if in fact you find it in your cold heart as an entertainable option. Otherwise…” Tobias extends a set of very long, very sharp looking claws from the end of one large paw and scrapes them across the floor, forcing the stone to screech in a gravely tone. “Shall we dance?”

His former poised, tense stance returns as he awaits the fate of the encounter.

[Sol]

[Zirus - Lizardfolk Aspiring Cleric 0] (HP 14/10) (AC: 16)
Actions: Interacts with Cat

Zirus stares blankly at the cat in his usual sociable fashion. "Your Master sounds to be a worthy devourer of his prey. Yet if he has not returned for you then perhaps it is he who has been devoured. Calmert?" the Lizard Man muses. He pauses, then continues.

"It is so that I would find you to be a delicious-s-s morsel since you are small and warm and could probably be swallowed whole. Yet..." he gazes into his mirror. "The goddess-s-s says nay, and perhaps there is yet a purpose in our meeting. You may join me as you wish and we may yet return together to the above-world. For I do not suspect that either you or I belong here."

Unless the cat attacks, Zirus takes some time to pull something made of meat, probably jerky, from his rations and tosses it on the ground before the cat. "I am called Zirus," he tells the cat.

[Antman9]

[Tobias – Grimalkin] (HD: 2) (AC: 12)
Actions: A greeting of sorts

Tobias watches Zirus closely as he speaks, eventually easing his posture a bit, but maintaining a wary distance. "Calmert? Ha! that bumbling buffoon doesn't know a scepter from a stick. Some grand plan he has...He will fail like all the rest. He was not my master."

Tobias edges up to the meat offered by Zirus, sniffing it carefully, while maintaing an eye on Zirus. Then, without further ado, he snatches the meat and begins gnawing at it with gusto and alternating purrs and low growls. Once complete he licks his paws and cleans his face gracefully. "I thought I would never eat again. That filthy master of mind will wish he were dead if I see him again."

Tobias then suddenly changes from a cat to a 3' tall Lizardman. "Does this-s-s appearance s-s-suit you?" he asks looking up at Zirus. "I was called Tobias-s-s, though that is not my true name. You may call me what you like. Though I fear a part of you would rather tas-s-ste my flesh."

[Sol]

[Zirus - Lizardfolk Aspiring Cleric 0] (HP 14/10) (AC: 16)
Actions: Interacts with Cat, moves to investigate unexplored area

Zirus begins to backtrack 2 rooms, then takes the passage going south to see what lies there. When the cat transforms into a small lizard man, Zirus takes notice and tilts his head.

"Ah, I s-s-s-ee that you have los-s-s-t your accent," he says. "How interesting. So you can change your form as well. You look very much like my brother, Hazir," says the Lizard Man, "Ah, I have fond memories of him. He was small like you are and we shared a nest after hatching. You have his coloration. I honor his memory - he gave me strength, rest his soul."

[Antman9]

Zirus returns to the previous junction and heads down the south tunnel. It runs down at a 35 degree angle for roughly fifteen feet and ends at another hermetically sealed door, the same as the others so far. The baby lizardman following him at a short distance, speaking casually the whole way, "You do not was-s-ste time dallying I s-s-see. Do you have a nervous-s-s nature? I knew a man once with a nervous-s-s nature. He died at a very young age I recall. Do you fear death my friend?"

[Sol]

[Zirus - Lizardfolk Aspiring Cleric 0] (HP 14/10) (AC: 16)
Actions: Cat Chat, Opens Door

Zirus examines the door, punches through the paper on the window, then peers in before ultimately opening it. "Tell me Little Brother, how did you get through these tunnels without disturbing the hermetically sealed doors? And why are there so many dead about?"

[Antman9]

[Formerly known as Tobias – Grimalkin] (HD: 2) (AC: 12)
Actions: KittyChat

"I cannot tell you much, I was-s-s never allowed out of that tiny crypt where you found me. My former mas-s-ster was a very unkind man. He left me here to dye when they left. I only know they were planning something big called the Elemental Temple. He us-s-sed this facility to experiment on humanoids-s-s. He has-s-s some grand vision or s-s-something. I chose not to lis-s-sten mostly."

[Sol]

[Zirus - Lizardfolk Aspiring Cleric 0] (HP 14/10) (AC: 16)
Actions: Cat Chat, Opens Door

"I can tell that you have no love for your former master," says Zirus, "And I am beginning to dislike him as well. How was it that you became associated with such an uns-s-s-savory personage? Clearly, he has abandoned this place now. Why did he do this? From your words I can tell that he was not acting alone, either."

He examines the door one last time before opening it and exploring inside.

[Antman9]

[Formerly known as Tobias – Grimalkin] (HD: 2) (AC: 12)
Actions: KittyChat 2

"I was more a s-s-slave than anything else." the Grimalkin says. "A wizard trapped me when I wa-s-s-s but a wee kitten. He sold me to this-s-s master who has a wizard of his-s-s own. I feared for my life and therefore bided my time in this hell." He watches as Zirus inspects the door. "I do not know their full plan, only that it involves something called the Elemental Temple."

[Antman9]

Summary:

Zirus finds nothing unusual with the door, but then it is hermetically sealed like all the others and thus difficult to inspect in anything other than a cursory capacity.

[Sol]

[Zirus - Lizardfolk Aspiring Cleric 0] (HP 14/10) (AC: 16)
Actions: Opens Door

Zirus stares at Tobias emotionlessly, blinks his eyes, then turns and opens the door.

[Antman9]

The door opens with a loud creak revealing a large circular room with a torture rack on the far wall (SW corner) and a small desk and stool in the NE corner. On the desk is a piece of parchment with writing, an ink well, a quill pen, and several small surgical tools.

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A large drain surrounded by paving stones is sunk into the floor in the center of the room. A pool of grayish-brown ooze, pooled near the edge of the drain, comes to life as the creaks open. The mass of viscous fluid, roughly 3' in diameter, morphs into strange shapes as it sucks the remainder of its mass up out of the drain and drags itself along the floor toward Zirus.

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Actions!

Calendar Day:
3:20 pm
The 9th day before the Kalends of Lunius
Full Moon

[Sol]

[Zirus - Lizardfolk Aspiring Cleric 0] (HP 14/10) (AC: 16)
Actions: Attempts to Light a Torch

As the mass emerges and begins coming toward him, Zirus tells Tobias sharply, "Get the parchment - then get behind me!" As the creature comes closer, Zirus fumbles into his pack, trying to bring out his Flint and Steel plus a torch. Under the circumstances, doing so is not easy, but Zirus perseveres, attempting, too, to dodge the blob. The result is dramatic and tense as Zirus can be seen dodging whilst slamming the flint and steel together - the torch between his teeth as he does so.

Dexterity Check:
[3d6] = 10

[Antman9]

Zirus franticly fumbles through his pack to find a torch and his flint & steel as the anomalous blob forms before his eyes in the center of the room. He shouts at Tobias to grab the parchment and get behind him.

Tobias quickly obeys, running around the edge of the room, as far from the blob as possible, and swipes the parchment from the desk. He quickly runs back as the blob completes its task and moves across the room toward Zirus.

Somehow Zirus manages to juggle the torch, flint, & steel and still get the torch lit without dropping any of the three items. As the torch flares into life, filling the room with flickering yellow light, a somewhat muffled pop issues from the creature, now halfway to Zirus’ position. Zirus looks up to see the creature swelling rapidly as an expanding darkness begins to form in the center of its mass.

It swells to nearly twice its original size before splitting in several places. A thick dark grey smoke begins shooting out and the former creature begins to writhe, changing from one hideous form to another.

The dark gray smoke quickly fills the room engulfing Zirus and Tobias before they can even turn half way around. The smoke is moving at an alarming rate, filling a 10 square foot area in a matter of seconds. The dungeon will be filled with the smoke before a minute has passed.

Nothing can be seen through the smoke and surprisingly it doesn’t seem to affect either Zirus or Tobias. The torch doesn’t seem to penetrate the thick smoke very well. Zirus can just make out the glow of the torch at arms length.

Actions!

Calendar Day:
3:21 pm
The 9th day before the Kalends of Lunius
Full Moon