As soon as he heard Halek's reaction, Raknesh blade materializes on his arm.

"What now?" he asked, looking both worried and angry. Apparently their new friend proved to be a threat.

"Don't make a move or I shoot." he warned.

"Relax, the gem is harmless.. may I study it closer?" Prizzard begins casting another spell while shifting his over-sized robe more to his other hand.

rolled 6 using 1d20+3. Bluff. For the part about it being harmless.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:29, Wed 24 Sept 2014.

Stefan had watched Prizzard and the halfling's verbal repartee with interest, keeping himself away from the gem.  He had already had to be exorcised of an evil influence, and had no wish to go through it again.  "Halek, what is it you and Prizzard are doing, is there some way I could help instead, as I may be less spent then Prizzard for the nonce."

PM:

Fin lets out a meek laugh at everyone's curiosity with HIS Gem. Making sure to make no threatening movement he shows his gloved hands and replies, "in my profession one should never touch strange items with bare hands."

Tanzy kept back watching the others examine Fin's treasure. If Halek was upset by it then it obviously wasn't a good thing, though she wasn't sure why their new companion needed to be restrained. "I have rope if you think we need it," she chirped up helpfully.

Prizzard suddenly slaps the gem from the halfling's hand and it goes flying with surprising force, slamming against the stone wall and then dropping to the floor. Nobody go near it!! Halek snarls with surprising ferocity. It is clear he is adamant about its dangers. He looks at Fin with intense scrutiny. Your gloves may have protected you but I cannot be certain. Do you feel strangely? He turns to the rest of you. We will leave him unbound so long as he displays no strange behavior, but we need to watch him for a few days, make sure he was not compromised. His voice softens then as he turns back to Fin. I'm sorry to be so harsh. There are numerous other gems you may have. Ones that will not risk your soul. I'll make sure you are compensated for your help.

In answer to Stefan's question the boy gives a thoughtful nod. Yes, I could use your energy to assist. Any of you who would be willing to help would make it easier, though I warn you that you will be drained severely when it is done. We will need to finish cleansing the taint from us first though. The priest nods then and informs you that he is already working on the solution as he speaks. Loden suggests that you all stay the night in the chamber with the well/pit (which you are currently in), keeping watch and helping the priest with whatever he needs. It is safer than running into more of those things outside and at least we can barricade the room if we need.

Stefan:pm

Raknesh is taken by surprise by Prizzard's action, like Fin, apparently. And the gem lands safely away.

"Should I destroy it?" He asks, the energy gathering around his hand.

"Halek may look like a child, but his knowledge has made him our leader in many ways." He continues watching the gem, trying to discern more with his vision (school of magic, caster level).

The druid, suddenly turned, and looked around a little wildly, fear in his eyes and maybe even a touch of madness.  "Halek, I either need to be cleansed or gone from here.  I feel something is hunting me here, maybe a shadow from what infected me before.  I thought I saw it for a second..."  He trails off, looking a little like an animal about to bolt for safety.

Raknesh frowns as Stefan tells them about his feeling of being hunted and, as he mentions the fact he almost saw something in the shadows, he closes his eyes for an instant. With a deep breath he opens them again and looks around.

Fin's eyes go wide when the gem is initially slapped from his hands, his face forming a frown. He's about to protest about all his hard work retrieving the bauble, but stops when talk of compensation comes up. With a weak smile and nod, he moves off to sit by himself and mutters more to himself than towards anyone in particular. "I feel perfectly fine, all he had to do was ask politely. So much hostility from these strange folk."

He starts looking around for the bottle he produced earlier but decides to sit back and inventory his gear.

Prizzard follows Fin "I detected a presence in the gem. Between the presence that infected Stephan and the presence in the black daggers that slowly rots everyone, we have to be cautious."

"Do we really have to stay here?" Tanzy muttered hugging herself. After all that had happened it seemed almost foolish to linger longer let alone sleep. Fin's gem and Stephan's unease didn't make her feel any better.

We cannot destroy the gem I'm afraid. It's far too powerful. We should throw it down the pit, without touching it of course. he warns. At Stefan's words of a form Halek's eyes widen. Whatever is in the gem he is terrified of it. He rushes towards the druid and grips his hand, eyes closed tightly as though in deep concentration. You are clean. Well, except for the rotting taint. But I do sense a presence, around both you, he turns to look at Raknesh as well, and Raknesh. His eyes are worried. I-I think something followed you back from the land of the dead. Did you make any enemies there? Raknesh, you cannot see anything invisible but as he speaks you feel a chill on the back of your neck and for a split second you could swear there was something behind you, though when you turn there is nothing there.

Speaking of the taint, I'm afraid no one is going anywhere until I remove it. the old priest informs you gravely. It will take me about half an hour to finish my preparations. If you can just hold out until then we can leave after that. He gives Tanzy a sympathetic look. In the meantime you all deserve to be compensated. This place ceased to be holy years ago, some good of it may as well come from it now. Please, feel free to search the upper chambers for anything of value to you. It is the least I can do after all you have done here.

Do not go into the pit again though. It is tainted down there. Halek adds warningly. No matter what you hear....There's something unsettling about his last statement.

ooc: Treasure hunt guys! Roll spot and search checks if you are interested in loot :)

Stefan listens as calmly as he can until Halek mentions enemies from their time in the land of the dead.  He suddenly stills his face growing a slightly paler as he passes a long, meaningful look with Raknesh.  Without another word he listens to the boy and the priest, heading up the stairs to search fro anything useful to take his mind off of what may be hunting him.

30 spot, 15 search
10:24, Today: Stefan Aruello rolled 14 using 1d20. +16 spot.
10:23, Today: Stefan Aruello rolled 13 using 1d20. +2 search.

"Well..." begins Raknesh, a bit annoyed by the fact they couldn't destroy it.
"I suppose I will push it back then... from some distance."
That being said, he puts his hands together and the energy gathers around them, extending a lot farther than it ever did.
It took only a moment but now Raknesh is holding a long blade (two hand sword) and begins to push to gem with it toward the hole.

Once the gem fells, the weapon disappears and he joins the others to check the surrounding, Rocky doing the same, by literally walking on the walls and ceiling.
"Is there a way to close that hole?"

16:38, Today: Raknesh Kaltash rolled 29,7 using d20+17,d20+1. spot search Raknesh.

16:38, Today: Raknesh Kaltash rolled 21,22 using d20+17,d20+4. spot/search rocky.

Fin's ears perk up when the priest mentions treasure hunt, and before anyone can say different he's off to see what fortunes he can find.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:53, Tue 30 Sept 2014.

"I'll scan for magic, so don't worry about taking your time discerning such things." Prizzard will split off as well and continue searching through the cleansing ritual, attempting to quickly look at everything in the temple.

Casting Detect magic as many times as I can during the search
60' cone, up to 13 minutes per cast.

rolled 8 using 1d20. Search.
rolled 18 using 1d20. Search.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:27, Tue 30 Sept 2014.

Tanzy headed off to search as well, though she was wary to touch anything suspicious looking after what had happened to Fin. The Priest said the upper levels were safe though so she would take his word for it.

search: 25 (13+12)
Spot: 27 (17+10)

The Priest pulls a lever to close the pit up, looking relieved to have the gem safely away from everyone. Halek follows the rest of you in your search, though he doesn't take anything. Instead he seems to be studying the place though it is in a strangely familiar way. As though he is remembering rather than exploring. You all are successful in your little treasure hunt, finding everything from gold carved statues, decorative gems, and magic items. It's nice to have a reward for all of your troubles and the upper levels seem to be far less sinister than the pit you survived.

Soon you have returned to the priest and he has readied the ritual. It's not long before you feel cleansed again. Between your treasures and healing, life is suddenly feeling pretty good. Halek though still looks sober. I hate to ask, but who will help me free this place? I cannot do it alone.

ooc: I am PMing you guys your loot!
If you don’t have access to the Dungeon master’s guide to look up your items let me know. I tried to make things as balanced between everyone as I could, so if in the future it looks like that's not the case I will even things out.

Fin makes sure that all of his spoils are securely tucked away in his bag before heading back to the room with the well and the rest of the group.

"I don't know what help I can lend, but I will give you any assistance that I can." he says in response to Halek's question.

On his way in Prizzard is inspecting his hand for a moment before addressing the group: "Is anyone capable of identifying magic items?" Responding to Halek when he speaks of the souls: "You promised I'll survive, so I'll do what I can." He shows up unburdened.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:53, Mon 06 Oct 2014.

Putting most of his share in his bag of holding,including the slippers.
Raknesh fastens the amulet around his neck and puts the ring on his right forefinger.

"You know you can count on me" he answers Halek.
"The only question I have is : did we get what we were looking for, and, if we did... what did we get, in fact?"

Stefan tucked most of the loot away but used the black staff he had found as a quarterstaff, walking comfortably with it as though he had often used something just like it in the past.  He stayed silent for the time, trying to keep himself calm while they waited, his eyes still glancing nervously around from time to time.

Tanzy replaced her old rapiers with the new ones she'd found and then tucked the rest of her findings away to be looked over at a later time. "I don't know that I would be much help," she admitted to Halek, "But I'll do whatever you need me to if it means we can leave this place all the sooner."