Lorelei said nothing as the others talked, taking in the drow and the planar beings with a look of awe and frustration. They kept running into beings she would have intense troubles fighting, and honestly it was getting frustrating. A pair of magical gloves and boots where most definitely on her list of purchases in the future as she paid careful attention to the room and the drows words. Something in here was not adding up to the young monk.

Move: Stay at G-15
13:40, Today: Lorelei rolled 22 using 1d20+7. Sense Motive.
13:40, Today: Lorelei rolled 17 using 1d20+7. Perception.

"Arudal? Can't say I've heard of someone that goes by that name but I'd have to agree with the nasty side effect bit considering my current situation." She seemed put out and slightly ashamed by her current predicament and with both arms outstretched to each gate, she seemed weary to say the least.



Attempting to draw herself up in all the regality and pride the subterranean elven race was famed for, her voice taking on the often haughty demeanor they were known for as well, she spoke with no uncertainty. "I am Zatara of the regal house of Barriarn, Third House of Donargul, Emissary of the Fourth Dominion of the Drow and I have been here exactly as long as I have been, no more, no less. What you should currently set yourself about doing is figuring out what this magic is doing. And for your information ogre, it is not my magic that has me stuck here." With the prospect of potential help near at hand, her demeanor had begun to change back into one befitting a drow, rather than that of the cowed and helpless woman. "And indeed I am stuck here. Apparently when I crossed the floor onto this symbol, the runes activated and began using my energy to power the gates. If I could end it and close the gates and move myself from this spot, believe me, I would. I have no love for this place and am eager to return home. Other than that though, I'm afraid I know little of how to dispel this magic. Those who helped me accomplish this would likely find themselves rewarded..."

OOC: Perception check from Dale and Kass.

As Dale and Kass approached, Zatara eyed them curiously, especially Dale who had the nerve to approach her so closely. She said nothing but the upturn of her nose and the narrowed eyes betrayed her contempt for his infringement of her personal space. "The faster the better. I am unsure of how these creatures will react to the prolonged stay of others and I have little desire to find out."

Meanwhile Strange approached one of the shadowy specters and began to inspect it. As soon as he got within arms length, the creature lunged forward a few inches, its may opening and letting out a vicious hissing as its red, pupilless eyes stared into the gargoyle's eyes. While the two may have shared some similarities, it was obvious that there was no kinship to be had here.







This message was last edited by the GM at 00:21, Thu 06 June 2013.

Nori remained where he stood, the hammer once again in hand even though he knew it would do next to nothing against these spectral creatures. He wasn't as eager as Dale or the others to help the captive, Nori had very little love for the elven race..especially the drow. This is actually the first time seeing one, but from the stories shared of his people, they were not a race to be trusted.

One thing did catch the dwarve's ears though,


Nori eyed the drow maliciously, "Wat 'f dey drain all ye power? Wouldn't dat turn it off?" No drow could be trusted, especially one who could use the arcane arts, well as far as Nori was concerned at least.

Zatara's cocked an eyebrow as she considered Nori. "A surface Dwarf hmm? I wouldn't be too sure of that half-man. The more likely scenario is that it releases the beings in the room do to as they will which would be most unfortunate for everyone." It took no reading between the lines to realize the drow's disdain for the dwarf which begged the question what in the world she was doing in a Dwarven fortress to begin with.

Lorelei spoke two simple words as she stared at the Drow woman. Her eyes where piercing and she didn't go into detail about how or why. She stared the woman dead on refusing to move into the room as she continued watching her carefully and cautiously.

"She's Lying".

And judging by the tone of her voice, Lorelei was damned sure of it.

A low and rumbling, "Hmm.." was his sole reaction to the creature's outburst.  Physical similarities aside it seemed as if there was little to no intelligence behind those red and glowing eyes.  Disappointing, but also a relief in a way.  He turns away slowly, looking towards the center of the room for a moment before heading in that direction, carefully circumventing the shadow beast.

"Tell us how to destroy these creatures.. hmm.. then perhaps can see about setting you free.  I do not think it would bother any us.. hmm.. to simply cross through this room and leave you to your fate."  It wasn't even meant as a threat, he spoke so matter-of-factly, but it may very well make her more pliable in case anyone else tries to pry information out of her.

OOC - Consider my statement to Zatara an attempt to assist the next person's attempt at Diplomacy/Intimidation.  Also, driftwood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?f...v=M4jvwi9wHek#t=279s

Dale frowns when he catches Zatara's eyes flick to one of the braziers.  He's all for rescuing the damsel in distress (it's one of his favorite things to do), but he doesn't appreciate being lied to.  And all the racism in the room is making him crabby.  "Hey Kass, why don't we go check on that?  Give everyone a chance to be haughty towards each other without us in the way."  He points to the brazier in question and moves towards it.

---

Move towards back left corner as well as monsters and magic runes will allow.
Spellcraft 25, Perception 12, if those might be useful.

Gren seemed oblivious to the social tension in the room.  The threat of the planer creatures was quite plain to him however.  If the elf was somehow in control of them she likely would have used them by now.

He pointed his club at the concentric circles.  "Each ring of runes seems to be a mix of Ignan and Terran.  I believe among them are the instructions on how the braziers and the portals are tied to one another.  Unfortunately, I speak neither."  He looked up from the runes long enough to look at each of his companions.  He raised a brow silently asking if any of them could speak the a fore mentioned languages.

"No, Dale, stay back," Kass told him, raising a hand to warn him not to come closer. "I think the fire portal is somehow channeling an unnatural heat. You could get hurt." She was sweating and looked flushed (a darker shade of pink), and it was the first time he'd seen her like that, hadn't even known she could sweat, what with her scaled skin and all. While people were talking about what to do, she stepped back away from the fire portal, rather than stay in that sweltering heat the whole time, and wiped the sweat off her brow. "I think I could reach the braziers. Perhaps we have to douse these, while we light those?" she pointed to the flaming ones as she spoke, then the ones that were not lit. "Or would that just make the portals switch positions?" her question was a confession that she was just speculating.

When Gren mentioned Ignan Kass turned to him. "Tevlin can speak Ignan," she said, in case the two languages were unknown to everyone else as well. "He might be able to help with the braziers, too. In the meantime I'll see if I can inspect that brazier, but you stay here, Dale," She gave him a look like a mother teaching her child not to cross the road without holding her hand and then moved towards the back of the room and then up the wall towards the burning brazier.


OOC: I'm assuming 'back left' means the top right brazier when we look at the map. So yeah, she goes there, assuming she doesn't get mauled en route and that the heat doesn't start to melt her face. If it does, she'd take a step back at that point to avoid the face-melting.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 02:26, Fri 07 June 2013.

The closer Kass moved to the brazier, the hotter and hotter the air became until it was almost unbearable, even for her infernal heritage. With every breath her lungs burned and the air felt like she was breathing in liquid fire. As she made her way, the fire phantoms watched her go, making no sound save for the soft rustling of their cloaks that crackled every so often with snaps of flame. As she reached the brazier, she realized that it was a dull red from being superheated and the flame that was burning bright within it was almost blue at its base so intense was the heat that fed it. She knew that if she was going to do something with this brazier, she was going to need to do it now and do it fast.

No need for a map update, Kass only moved to in front of the brazier.

Kass was panting, shying away from the heat as she crouched down and got as close as she could bear to inspect the thing. This fire was hotter than any she'd ever seen; it must be magical. It felt like it was heating her bones, her scales peeling off in the heat, her head throbbing and making her feel dizzy. "Dale, Gren, can you put this out?" she asked the two magic users in their party and stepped out of their way so they could aim without fear of hitting her with their spells.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:42, Tue 11 June 2013.

"But we don't know what effect...." he started to bark annoyed that these muggles were traipsing about the summoner's room without any concern for safety.  Still, he did not hesitate to help one of his travelling companions.  He thrust out an arm, palm towards the brazier, and wiggled his fingers.  "Hctnerd," he called out summoning a cold downpour over one of the braziers.

After the fact, he wondered if he should have cast it on Kass instead.

"...but you stay here, Dale."

Dale crosses his arms and pouts.  "'M not a little kid," he mumbles.

But then Kass gets rapidly overheated and asks for assistance.  Luckily, Dale prepared for fire beasts today.  He casts ray of frost at the brazier and hopes that the extreme temperature difference doesn't cause it to explode outright.

---

Cast ray of frost.  Only 1 damage.  Since it's a cantrip, I'll keep casting it if I need to.

With Gren and Dale's combined efforts to put out the brazier, which seemed harder than it should be for a simple fire, the light, and most importantly the heat, in that corner of the room quickly began to drop to normal. Kass no longer felt like she was about to become a tiefling omelet, instead she looked back to thank the two spellcasters. They weren't the only ones looking back toward her though. The two closest of the fire phantoms had turned and fixed their empty hoods directly on her. Neither moved but she had the distinct impression that getting close to either would be a very, very poor survival choice.

Zatara let out a relieved sigh as the first brazier went out. "Oh, I can already feel the relief. You seem to be on the right path." The accusation from Lorelei had gone ignored for the most part since she had spoken it but the drow seemed like now was the time to address it. "Lying? And just what about little girl? What reason do I have to lie, trapped here as I am? As the saying goes, 'the truth shall set you free.'" She offered a smile but her tone was placating and condescending as if she was talking to a toddler who could hardly survive on her own without careful observation and a helping hand.

Taking up a position behind the drow, opposite Dale, Strange studies the woman carefully.  Though his experience with these fleshy beings was limited he could easily tell she was different from, say, Kass or Gren.  She was obviously withholding information and it seemed unlikely she was going to volunteer it anytime soon.  He paid close attention to her clothing and accessories (rings!) and any visible items that might assist him in identifying her purpose here.  At the same time he mentally readied himself to rend her apart should she prove to be a danger to him or his group.


01:02, Today: Strange rolled 17 using 1d20+6. Perception. (To notice any unusual items on her person)
01:03, Today: Strange rolled 8 using 1d20-1. Sense Motive. (To see if he can discern truth from lies.)

"Guys, Stop. If she doesn't want to tell us the truth, I suggest we leave her to her Friends. I'm opposed to messing with Magic when we're being tricked into it"

Lorelei blatantly ignored the Drow but shot her an unreadable glance. She didn't deign to respond to her taunting or snide comments. The fact was simple, for her attitude and half-truths Lorelei was voting to let her rot with the shadow and fire elementals. While the dangers or benefits to walking away was unsure to Lorelei herself, it seemed obvious to her that the Drow would only be penalized by this choice of action. Whether her words scared the woman or not Lorelei didn't care, but she was honestly of the opinion leaving was the best bet.

18:43, Today: Lorelei rolled 7 using 1d20+4. Intimidation.

PM

Dale sighs in relief at the drop in temperature.  Then he overhears the arguement between Zatara and Lorelei.  "You," he points to Zatara, "stop being a bitch, or I'll side with Lorelei out of spite.  That said," he walks back to Lorelei and lowers his voice.  Not so much to hide what he's saying but enough so that he's not shouting across the room, "I don't really want to leave these portals here."

He sees Strange looking at the Terran runes.  "Any ideas?"

"Someone should ready a torch and move to the the braziers on the Shadow side.  We'll extinguish the other brazier and see what happens.  If the dark ones move we light the braziers on their side," Gren suggested.  It was just a guess.  The runes were languages that no one person could read.  If he didn't know what they said, not amount of arcane knowledge would be able to unlock the mystery of the mystic circle.

"As far as I can tell from these runes.. hmm.. the braziers are what hold our new friend here in place."  His emphasis on the word 'friend' clearly indicated it as sarcasm.  He paces around the drow in a circle, reading the runes as he goes and spending as little time as possible with his back turned in her direction.  "It is possible they hold the shadows and the fire-demons too.. hmm.. but it is difficult to tell - this mystical nonsense means very little to me." he repeats the words of the innermost circle of runes, a string of words which, when put together, are something much less than coherent.

Kassadria wiped the sweat from her brow as the brazier finally went out and the metal turned back to the colour of metal, rather than that of pure heat in solid form. She turned in time to see the two nearest fire creatures staring at her and jumped a little. Rather than tempt fate, she tip-toed between them, keeping equal distance to either and keeping a close eye on both in case they tried to strike.

"So, Strange, what you're telling is that the braziers are holding them where they are?" Kassadria questioned the gargoyle, and thought for a moment. "In that case, we should deal with them while the braziers remain as they are. Right?" There was an implied 'oops' in this statement.

"I'm not a particular fan of Elves.  And I'm not willin' to trust anythin' that draws breath in this cursed place.  However, if this maiden is holding the creatures back somehow and her strength fails her.... I'd rather not be forced to deal with them next.  Someone try lighting one of the braziers on the dark half of the room."

Gren readied himself to summon a torrent of chilled water again if he deemed it necessary to put out one of the fires.

Dale gives a guilty shrug to Kass and decides to give Gren's idea a shot.  "Light the shadow side and then extinguish the fire side?  Let's try it."  Dale lights one of his torches and moves towards the nearer shadow brazier, going around the shadow monsters.  He really doesn't want to meet any more of them.

Dale took his torch and moved carefully passed the beings of pure shadow, making sure not to come too close to them in case they lashed out despite their previous inactivity. The closer he got to the unlit brazier though, the colder the air in the room became. It was similar to what happened with Kass but the polar opposite effect. It felt as if all the heat had begun to be pulled out of his body toward the black portal as he made his way to the brazier.

OOC: Fort save time!

The chill was so intense as he stepped up the brazier, that the rim of his vision began to go black as tunnel vision began to set in. The ends of his extremities had begun to go numb and everything else felt as if sharp pinpricks of ice were being forced into his skin. Luckily, Dale had enough sense to quickly light the brazier with his torch whose flame had begun to dwindle the further the magus walked into the room. The brazier roared to life and immediately Dale began to feel the relief of the warmth washing over his body as his body began to move back from the edge of hypothermia. As with when Kass extinguished the other brazier on the side of the room with the gate of flame, the two nearest creatures of shadow spun towards Dale, the crimson sockets where their eyes should be staring with a hollow intensity at the man as he moved.

"Two down it would seem," Zatara noted encouragingly. She eyed Lorelei with a mean gaze, daring her to question her again. "Soon we will all be able to leave this place. The door beyond seems like it will only open if this...well whatever it is, is not activated. Once it has been dispersed, the door to the mountain pass will open and we can be done with these creatures of shadow and flame."


Dale takes 5 cold damage
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:10, Wed 31 July 2013.

Dale works his hands a bit, trying to get blood back into them, while keeping an eye on the nearby shadows.  Bad ice!

He yells over his shoulder at Zatara.  "Even if these doors close and the mountain pass opens, what happens to these monsters that are already out?  I'd rather they not stay out."

Dale then sidesteps the shadows and makes his way back towards Zatara.  Someone else could get the last two braziers.  "Hey, on a side not, I don't suppose you've seen a statue golem around with a black longsword melted into it, have you?"