Mittens' hand puppet of herself also hugs Kyle's arm.  Kas just laughs and flies in a reclined position next to the carpet.

"Thanks."

Safe passage through this cavern ends almost as soon as
you set foot inside, for the passageway opens into a cavern
from high on one of the cavern walls. You can see another
platform about 50 feet southeast of you on the far wall
with two passages exiting the cavern. Between you and that
other platform is empty, dark space. Floating like islands in
that dark space are rock platforms, each several feet thick.
As you watch, the islands creep from side to side,
slowly enough that you can jump from one to another but
rapidly enough that in a few minutes, the platforms will be
thoroughly shuffled.
A ghost in tattered finery hovers directly above one of
the larger islands, beckoning you closer.
Characters can see at least 100 feet from their
own light source:
Automatic: The rocky stone floor is about 100 feet
below you.
Perception Check
DC 23: There are two dark clouds hovering near the
ceiling, one over each of the largest islands.

Kas ohs.  "Ah yes.  The lich room the giants mentioned.  With the ghosts.  I wonder if the lich can be reasoned with.

"Hello, fellow advanced necromancer.  I am Kevin the Great.  Perhaps you've heard of me?  If not, mayhap you've heard of Tiamat, two of who's exarchs fell to my new friends, The Heroes of The Prime Material Plane.  In more recent history, brushed aside the defenders of this cavern up to this point.  We desire passage without having to destroy any more undead.  Willing to call a very short truce?"

He gets silence in reply.  Kas shrugs to Timothius.  "Not a no.  Care to take a crack at it?"

Timothius shrugs. "The reason we have fought with Tiamat is because she has been invading the Prime Material, using the Githyanki. We have since dethroned her puppet-ruler of the githyanki empire, but this isn't stopping her. We are here to defeat Arantor so we can get to Mornujhar, who is performing a ritual of some kind that will aid Tiamat in her plans. Short version: If you want out of here, follow us instead of standing in our way. However..."

His tone becomes stern and somehow darker than all the beings in this cavern so far as he says, "Continue to stand in our way and I will make sure you are not obliterated, so that you may remain a prisoner here... forever."

Diplomacy: 30
Intimidate: 37

  Kyle provides better lighting for the room, in the meantime.  Well, so far as bright purple can be considered 'better', it still sheds some literal light on the dark clouds situation.

  That done, oh look at that.  It's six pack of potions of flight time.

OOC: If I recall right. Fly 4 is the speed.  Certainly beats fly Zero for those still without it at the moment.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:31, Thu 19 May 2016.

A hideous laughter can be heard from beyond the chasm.  "Heroes would offer a lich passage out of Monadhan?  Your errand must be urgent indeed.  But how do you expect to leave this place simply by destroying Arantor?  If that's all that were needed, this prison would have had quite the jailbreak long ago."

Kas hrms.  "Not sure it's wise to tell him how we intend to open the portal."

Timothius says, "Would you gamble eternity on the chance that the warriors of light would lie to you? We are not going to share the secret of how we will leave. But look at it this way; if we fail, you will get to see us crushed by Arantor and it would at least provide you amusement, I'm sure. The mission is as described. I'm not happy about the goddess of greed taking over the Prime Material. It won't be enough and eventually, there will be nothing left of your home to return to. Even a lich like yourself doesn't like that prospect."

Raichel says, "Timothius, did you have to offer that ultimatum? Can't we just plow past them?" Raichel looks towards the lich and says, "Look; all of us have means of flying; so the pit isn't scary. And even if our only means across was jumping, we have ways to attack you even from this distance. Our specialty is undead, but we knocked out Chillreaver so fast, he only managed a scratch on Kyle's cheek. Seriously, this isn't a negotiation; it is an offer, and only an offer because my brother is ludicrously merciful. Also; you need to take better care of your throat, that laughter is just hideous."

Timothius says, "My offer to bring you with us stands for the next ten seconds; we are in a hurry."

May just examines the room, as if looking for ways through. "Ooo... pretty glows, Kyle."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:14, Thu 19 May 2016.

  "Perhaps they are simply bored enough after all this time to prefer fighting us rather than the dragon everyone already knows about. It would not be the most foolish reason we have heard, at least."

Mits is right there with May in admiring the pretty lights.  But she can't resist the opportunity to play with puppets.  A Tiamat puppet appears on her hand.

"I want everything!  What haven't I tried taking yet?  Ah!  The whole world!  I'll get those slaves of mine to do the deed.  Oops!  Forgot all about that ancient pact with Gith!  And now she's escaped, darnit!  What do you mean, two of my exarchs are dead?!  This is getting costly.  But I've invested too much to give up now!"

The lich laughs some more.  "Oh this is rich.  You make a very good point, kitten.  I will enjoy watching you all.  Oh yes yes.  Come across.  Minions, come with me and enjoy the show."

May giggles at Mittens' puppet show and says, "Sad, but true. But it's funny because of how stupid her evil makes her."

Timothius raises an eyebrow and says, "...OK then." and with that, he gets aboard Sunrise Express, Mittens' magic carpet. Because why not?

May and Rai do the same. But Raichel readies an attack. Just in case.

Raichel says, "I dunno... being a god probably made her realize she can get away with a lot and that even if Gith was restored to power, the githyanki empire pose no threat to Tiamat. At least in her mind."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:21, Thu 19 May 2016.

  "Hmm, it is not often we get an audience that will not die to a stiff breeze or single stray explosions.  I will have to appreciate the novelty while it lasts."

Mits shrugs.  "Maybe.  But even gods have setbacks.  In this case, those setbacks have names.  Us!"

She looks over at lich-face.  "You gotta name?"

"You may call me Void," the lich answers, "Sounds like you have quite the story to tell.  I'm all ears."

"Alrighty then!"

With the help of magic for visuals, she begins to recount the story.  The lich seems quite amused, laughing his hideous laugh whenever the baddies of Mittens' story do something stupid.  Meanwhile, the amalgam of ghosts follows along, moaning and shrieking at random.  Kas seems fascinated with the ghosts and lich both, studying them along the way.

Timothius isn't terribly happy with the company he is keeping, but he still believes he saved them half a minute by talking them out of a fight.

May giggles, "Yay! Another Mittens puppet show!" and claps for Mittens, occasionally showing off a weapon that was featured in a given fight.

Raichel asks, "Hey, Void ...why do they shriek or moan at random?"

  Don't worry Tim, Kyle feels the same way.

  "I would assume because being a smashed together blob of multiple spirits is rather disconcerting."  That, or that 10 INT is a cumulative total.

"It is rather annoying," Mits comments.

"Why not ask them yourself?" Void answers Rai with a chuckle.

Kas nerds it up on undead lore.  http://forgottenrealms.wikia.c...i/Caller_in_darkness

"...so, very likely because they're forever re-living the moment they died."

"So how does that work in this place?" Mits wonders aloud, "Did they all self-destruct in a moment of collective betrayal?"

Void just laughs.  "Oh no.  These souls were living when they came here.  When Arantor re-lives his past, many die all at once."

At the mention of Arantor's name, the caller in darkness shrieks in a chorus of horrified screams!

Kas ahs.  "And their ghosts are stuck here.  And to each other.  Was wondering if death was an out."

Timothius says, "....well, it's an answer. How come they obey you?"

Raichel says, "Magic."

May says, "I wonder if they can move on to the afterlife if we take them with us."

  "Theological metaphysics is always as fascinating as it is at times contradictory."  Could be worse. could be infernal warlock feat optional rules.

"She catches on quick!" Void chuckles.

Mits hrms.  "I was wondering that too.  But if so, the afterlife they head on to is quite possibly worse than the eternal torment they have here considering they got here by being exceptionally traitorous."

Kas shrugs.  "Undead such as this rarely have a happy ending, tis true."

Raichel says, "I was born with magic, so... kinda got used to telling people such things. Partly because I didn't really understand it myself."

Timothius says, "Some day, I hope to give a happier ending..."

  "As much as it is dressed up, quite often it really is the answer when you get down to it, Raichel."

  Tim's afterlife will clearly have community service and icecream.

Mits addresses the amalgams, "You'd much rather not spend eternity in hell or here, am I right?"

The callers in darkness moan.

Mits continues, "Well then.  Follow this angel here."

No reply.

Kas thinks about it.  "They're likely bound to Void's service.  So until Void releases them, they can't agree to anything."

Mits shrugs.  "Something occurred to me.  What if Void's phylactery is in this place?  Suppose he leaves and is then destroyed, will he re-appear here?"

Void shrugs and giggles.  "Who knows?  I suppose there's only one way to find out!"

Raichel smiles at Kyle for affirming her statement.

Timothius says, "His phylactery could actually be in the prime material, considering there is no way out except the way we are taking. I mean, just look at the amalgam."

Raichel says, "Are we there yet? The sooner we leave this place, the better."

May says, "Just think! We'll have leaving an unleavable place as yet another notch on our belts."

  "To be fair, the entire reason we are here in the first place is because our enemies are already freely traveling through it."

"Yeah it's generally a given that the baddies will do things before us," Mits agrees.

She was of course headed in the direction of the next bit of dungeon during the conversation.  The lych seems fascinated with Kas's vampires and studies them.

Kas shrugs.  "Maybe?  Maybe this ritualist guy had to go through the same hassle we're going through.  Say, Void.  Did an especially powerful ritualist of Tiamat pass through here recently?"

Void just laughs his hideous laughter and doesn't answer.

Kas sweatdrops.  "That's probably a, 'Yes.  And we let him through unhindered.'  Tiamat goon, so I'm guessing he's extremely good at greasing palms.  Even skeletal ones."

The purpose of this cavern is clear: imprisonment, torture,
and execution. Along the side walls are prison cages
fashioned from unnaturally smooth stalagmites. Three
are empty, and the fourth one, in the southeastern corner,
has a grayish giant within it. A guillotine stands in the
center of the room with its blade raised, iron maidens are
immediately to your left and right, and wooden stretching
racks are arrayed on the far end of the chamber. Two
passages exit the far end of the room.
A groove has been cut in the floor, connecting the iron
maidens, the guillotine, and the center of the southern wall,
which bears a fresco of eladrin lords and ladies gazing out
upon a pastoral lake.
Two bipedal tiger-creatures are fiddling with the
guillotine mechanism. A third such creature stands near the
rack in the southwest part of the room.
Perception Check
DC 25: The floor of the room is slightly sloped. The
iron maidens are at the higher end and the fresco on the
south wall is lower.
DC 30: It looks as if there’s someone on the southwest
rack. It could be human but it’s hard to tell at this distance.

Raichel asks, "Is there something about being a lich that makes everything funny? Because you sure laugh a lot."

May says, "Can you blame him? There is a Mittens present. And where there is a Mittens, there is joy and laughter."

Timothius smiles. Raichel smiles also. "Good point."

And then torture room.

May says, "So should I go in first, or do we all just go in, flying on the carpet?"

  "As tempting as it may be, please refrain from dispatching the enemy with their own traps unless necessary.  The last thing we need is providing the ingredients to the sort of thing we are hired to stop."

May says, "Try not to feed those grooves with any blood; even our enemy's."

She rushes to the south, roars like a dragon, and whacks two of the enemies before shifting down to the one who wasn't quite drawn to her.

---

Move: South to be in position. Move 8 thanks to Greaves of Maldeen
Standard: Come and Get It v D1, D2, D3. Hit(37)! Miss(33) Hit(48)!
 dmg: 11
Minor: Shift down 1 to be in melee with D2, who I missed.

D1 HP: 196 - 11 = 185
D3 HP: 196 - 11 = 185