As Willa swept here torch close to the dark, smoke like entity retreated a little.  Was it afraid of fire?

  Drex eyes caught something on the back wall, behind the desk.  A continuous seam in the stone wall that was hidden amongst the semi-chaotic pattern of small chisel like marks that Phelan had mentioned was the result of alchemical transmutations.  Looking it over quickly Drex noticed that the seam was too small to get his fingernails into so there had to be some way inside the room of triggering the hidden door.

  Any sort of protection ritual Phelan could think of took far more time to perform then it seemed the party had at their disposal.  Perhaps he could seal a door?  That would keep it out, but would trap the party inside.  And the narayah was certain that they would suffocate quite quickly if they sealed themselves inside a room, unless there was some other way out.
  The teleportation device had suffered some fire damage but the device appeared to be fully functional, if slightly warped by the heat.  He’d also have to gather his companions into an area of about 10 feet around himself before activating the device.

  The hall was suddenly light by an eerie, emerald green light from a bright green fire-like apparition that danced inside the white lantern.  The lantern then began to float beside Jubei, under its own power, and flew towards the room that appeared to have been used as some sort of study.

  The creeping darkness was steadily spreading throughout the main hall, even climbing up the walls of the chamber, leaving only the furthest walls and there adjoining floors free.  As Jubei was forced to press up against a nearby wall, he could not help but notice within the black mass crawled and clawed the half formed remains of various people and animals.  He could even make out whispers, cries, screams, shouts from those within.  It was madness, it made not sense some of it was scared, frightened others were inviting, calling Jubei to join them.  Some even spoke of what they would do to the kaetyma if they reached him.
  It was rapidly getting on the kaetyma’s nerves.

"Uh okay.  Willa do, Mr Phelan, sir.  Also smoke seem not to like Willa's torch much...maybe."

As Willa stood wondering exactly which magic she should try, it dawned on her what Phelan had been talking about earlier.  That light thing must have been the spell she was casting before.  She switched her ever-burning torch to her off-hand and drew her rod with the other.

But the smoke was everywhere.  Exactly where should she aim?  Shrugging, she just randomly picked a spot and fired.  Unfortunately, it seemed to have been a wasted effort.

17:12, Today: Willa rolled 8 using 1d20+7. Dire Radiance - Fighting Smoke with Starlight?

Urk - a natural 1.

"I'm setting up the device, I won't activate it until everyone is ready, but you will need to be in ten feet of me in order to be taken." Phelan announced, eyeing the darkness cautiously. "If we're sure there's nothing else here or if we need to get out, I want you to get to me immediately. I'd rather not see any of us taken by whatever this shadow is."

He eyed Drex curiously. Whilst Willa and Jubei were attempting to stifle the advance of the shadows, Drex seemed to be studying the walls. He quickly ran to the room where the Deseekay was, casting a glance around. "Drex... Please tell me you have something." He considered the thought of the  design of the room. His old instructor's office had a secret cabinet, maybe this room had a similar design?

Perception: 13. Derp.
Dungeoneering, memory of secret passages etc if asked: 16. Welp.

Hi I'm Pointless. How are you today?

"Yes I have, look here by the markings. There is a seem running along here." Drex points it out to Phelan. He turns around as the lantern hovers into the room, casting a green illumination an everything.

"I just can't seem to find the mechanism to open it. This markings might have to do with it but I can;'t be sure of that." Drex said to Phelan as looks to the lantern ones more. "If we can't find it we will have to make use of that teleport thing."

"Jubei, what is the lantern doing?! Isn't it suppose to slow or stop the shadow stuff?!" He shouts over his shoulder slightly concerned about the now active lantern.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:25, Fri 09 May 2014.

Jubei was rather... unsettled by the darkness whispering to him but with a grunt and a shake of his head managed to tear his attention away from it, mostly thanks to Drex addressing him. "Hng... the spirit can't... fight these shadows. It will show us a way out of here however. It knows a secret passage.", he growled as he distanced himself from the shadowy stuff and then looked to Phelan. "I've gotta see what the lantern wants to show first... and make sure that we don't lose it down here. I don't want to have cut my hand for nothing.", he said with a grim chuckle and then followed the lantern into the study with a rather brisk pace, knowing that time was of the essence right now.

    Despite her best efforts Willa’s spell fizzled and popped without actually doing anything more than causing a wisp of smoke and a slight spark, which flew into the hungry shadows and disappeared.  Just another reminder of Willa and her companions fate should they fail to escape this dungeon and the creature that now assailed them.

  With Drex’s help it wasn’t too hard for Phelan to notice the seam that Drex spoke off.  It was clear that this segment of the wall had been concealed within the marks left by the transmutation process that had dug these chambers.  Though judging by the fact that Drex hadn’t found anything upon the wall to open it meant that the switch still had to be discovered.
  Phelan considered that perhaps the mechanism to unlock the door was concealed within on the pieces of furniture with the room or behind one of the papers upon the wall, when the floating white lantern shone a beam of bright green light upon the desk.

With everyone in the room and seeing her spell fizzle and die, Willa decided discretion would be the better part of valour, or in her words: "Eep!"

Quickly moving towards the door and slamming it shut.

Jubei looked with a grimace to the door as it closed behind him. "Whatever is causing this miasma... I would really love to bury my axe in it's head.", he rumbled and then followed the lantern to the desk and began to search it... which given his large body wasn't that easily done, as he couldn't really look beneath it or in the nooks of it.



19:59, Today: Iron Jubei rolled 10 using 1d20+4. Perception check, search the desk!

"I Have a feeling we will have our chance to do precisely that, Jubei." Drex said as Jubei stared to inspect the desk. "Common lets help Jubei find the mechanism to open that passage." He said to the others in a rhetorical fashion.

Drex found it a little difficult, but he squeezed next to Jubei and started to help him look. Papers were fining through the air as Drex moved and searched for this elusive switch.

12:27, Today: Drex rolled 24 using 1d20+12. Perception check. (Aiding Jubeis Perception check)

Phelan frowned in curiosity as the light struck the desk. Whilst Jubei and Drx moved to check over the desk, Phelan used his smaller size and  build to check some of the smaller areas under the desk, using his eyesight to peer into the dark nooks and crannies.

Perception check, searching the desk: 26! Much better.

    The group, for the most-part, were looking over the desk frantically trying to find some mechanism that would open the secret passage and it seemed that they wound find nothing but papers and tools and titbits of discarded food, paper, chalk and other knickknacks that accumulated in draws and cases until Phelan noticed something – prompted by a soft twang whenever Jubei shifted his great feet – and found a carefully concealed set of small pulleys which lead him to a tiny turnswitch that was under tension which he of course released.

  Willa heard the soft sound of voices coming from the other side of the door.  Every other noise seemed to go quiet and still.  The moment seemed to stretch out as she heard them, the voices from beyond the door, call out to her.  Telling her to open the door and welcome their embrace.  She would never be alone again after they had torn her flesh apart and consumed her soul…
  Stars flickered about Willa like on that night she had first seen the stars.  The twinkling points in the sky so brilliant and far away yet also so close, she was sure she could feel their light on her skin and even as she stood there in the shadows of those tall buildings she wasn’t afraid.  She had never felt alone since.
  The present caught up with Willa as she realized she might have to get away from the door, maybe barricade it or something.

  The large slab of wall, outlined by the seam gave slid back and was pulled to the side.  All the while rumbling heavily as it did so.  On the other side of the stone doorway a crystal lantern lit up and began to glow from the light of the adventurer’s lights.  Revealing a small chamber, no more then 20-feet across, with a lone tunnel which disappeared was rapidly swallowed up by what the heroes really hopped was natural darkness for a change.

[Phelan, if you think you are rolling crap…you should see some of my rolls.  In effect Willa your Will defence just managed to rebuff a rather nasty attack.  Much as Jubei had suffered not more than a few moments (in-game time) ago.]

Even as Willa mechanically stacked whatever crates boxes and other objects she could find in front of the door, her mind drifted towards the voices.  She might have been tempted to let them in, but their sickly overtly saccharine words were...peculiar.  Though child-like and innocent, Willa was not devoid of life experience.  In the days after she vacated the sewer she spawned in, Willa had met a lot of hostility from the 'bigs' she naively approached on the streets, but worse were those who, at first, seemed friendly.  Like the urchins that pretended to be amicable, only to trip, hit or soak her when she let her guard down.  From them she had learnt that there was such a thing as too nice to be true.

"Umm...Mr Phelan, sir.  Willa hear voices outside.  What means?"

[@author Willa by name, will by nature?]

Before Phelen could reply to Willa, Drex squeezed by the Jubei's big bulk towards the Willa. "The only thing out there is the shadow-stuff and if will surly kill us. I don't know what the voices are saying but we need to bar that door." Drex moves to the tables where the skelatel remains are laying and starts. Picking a large-ish table to push it in front of the door. "Willa I think you need to help Phelan with the thing he has found under the table. This is not a good place to stand." He said with some irritation as he pushes the table past Willa.

Drex didn't mind Willa but this is getting a bit much for him. "Patience is a virtue." he mumbles to himself. Saying a soft prayer to the gods, asking that the barricade will hold long enough to let them escape from this morbid place.

Jubei gave a grunt as he realized that the secret passage had opened... quite without his own doing, so he took a step back to see Phelan beneath the table, who had activated the contraption that opened the door... or deactivated. The large dragonblood didn't quite care about that sort of distinction right now. Nonetheless he gave a nod to the Narayah. "Well done.", he said and then also gave a nod to the lantern floating next to him which had directed them to this desk in the first place and gave a short, quiet prayer as thanks, before grabbing it and walking over to the open passage. Holding the lantern just a bit ahead of him to light the way, and of course making sure that it was indeed normal darkness, rather than ... whatever the stuff in the main-hall was.

16:57, Today: Iron Jubei rolled 12 using 1d20+4. Perception check, TRAPS! and other dangers.
Jubei is about as perceptive as a goldfish right now I think.

Willa felt the admonishment behind Drex's words.  She was a little confused by it as it was not entirely clear what she had done wrong.  Still, she quietly slipped out of his way.  As Iron Jubei congratulated Phelan, it was obvious that the Narayah really did not in need her help either and she realised that she was 'being passed around.'

Standing in the middle of the room, swinging her arms and wondering what to do next, the little umbrean's sight was caught by the giant skeleton on the table and something occurred to her.  Those other skeletons were made to move by shadowy tentacles and the smoke outside was also dark and tentacle-like...

It was a bit of a stretch (after all, Willa could make tentacles of her own).  She felt like it would be best to ask someone, but then again may be it was her questions that had upset Drex in the first place?  Looking around, it appeared that everyone was already busy with their own thing.  So, not wanting to disturb anyone, she pointed her rod and...

Boom!

A blast of raw, crackling eldritch energy crashed into the inanimate frame.

Charisma vs Reflex
          16:49, Today: Willa rolled 22 using 1d20+5. Eldritch Blast against the
          skeleton in the room.
Untyped Damage
          1d10+4 (Charisma Modifier)
          16:50, Today: Willa rolled 10 using 1d10+4. Damage vs Skeleton.

This message was last edited by the player at 16:02, Tue 13 May 2014.

    A shooting store flies from Willa’s wand and collides with the large skeletal thing upon the table shattering it into its component pieces, which sent whole pieces and scraps of bone flying across the room.  Some flecks harmlessly hitting Willa’s companions.  All while Drex had been dismantling part of the tables that had supported the skeleton to serve as a barricade for the door.

  Grasping the white lantern, Jubei noticed that the flame inside was warm but not hot, something of a small surprise to the kaetyma but not entirely unexpected as he lit the space beyond the opening in the wall.  Casting his gaze about he noticed not only the slowly increasing brightness of the crystal lantern hanging from a hook at the edge of the dark passage way on the opposite side of the secret room but also that there was a small handle that seemed to be part of a switch just beside the doorway they had opened here.
  As for the darkness of the passage it seemed to be blessedly normal, retreating from the light as it shone.

Phelan's eyes had widened at Willa's comment. He didn't say anything, not wishing to air his suspicions as to what the shadowy material was. As soon as he had opened the door, he had followed Jubei toward it. Looking nervous, he urged Jubei, "I would advise we move with a certain speed. Remaining in this room doesn't seem to be good for our health."

Peering around the Kaetyma, he frowned into the darkness, checking for anything dangerous.

Perception, checking for traps or hazards: 22

Drex just finished with the makeshift barricade as Jubei and Phelan entered the tunnel. "Common Willa we don't want to left here alone, do we?" As he puts a hand on her back nudging her toward the passage. This is the very first time Drex ever touched  Willa, he realized. He moves his hand away, feeling a little awkward. Trying to hide this he asked Willa:"Why she attacked the skeleton?"

Not that Drex thinks about it why did she attack the skeleton. His focus now on Willa, the irritation forgotten, now that they are no longer trapped and fearing for his and his companions lives. He does not see the lever at the crystal lantern hanging from a hook at the edge of the dark passage, which could hinder the shadow's pursued even more. If not stop it entirely, by sealing the passage.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:00, Wed 14 May 2014.

The large kaetyma was rather tense given the current situation, which made the sudden explosion of bone dust and splinters behind him all the more startling and he swished around, his tail knocking over a stool and sending some smaller things flying as it crashed into them. "What the...", he muttered and then looked at the damage Willa had so willfully caused with some confusion. It took him a couple of seconds before he smirked and gave a nod. "Good thinking, Willa. Would have been nasty if that smoke possessed that thing.", he then turned back to the corridor and boldly walked into it, just passing the switch on the side for now. "I'd think that this will close the door behind us.", Jubei rumbled and then turned to motion to the others. "Let's get out of here. We can still come back later if we really want to."

Willa nodded and grinned at Drex, cheerful that he seemed to be somewhat happier with her again, only to suddenly stiffen at his touch.  Contact with another intelligent creature was not something the little umbrean was accustomed to.  She wasn't embarrassed by it, or concerned in any ordinary way that one might be, but instead felt very guilty.  As Drex drew back, it quickly became apparent why.  A little slimey something remained attached to the Deseekay's hand, glistening lazily on its new perch.

"Uhh..." Not quite sure how to react, Willa fled, taking off after Iron Jubei and Phelan as quickly as her stumpy legs would allow.  In doing so she barely heard Drex's question and called back to him: "No trust smoke!"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:12, Wed 14 May 2014.

    Phelan’s concern was soon justified as wisps – or perhapse those were tendrils? – of the black smoke had begun to spill through the cracks around the door that lead into the main area they had been in only minutes ago.
  Carefully looking over the small secret room Phelan judged it to be save of any traps and so turned his attention elsewhere.

  With all the other adventurers entering the chamber Phelan pulled the lever as the heavy rumble they had heard before returns and the section of wall that had slid away re-emerged and sealed the secret passage they had used to escape the encroaching, smoke-like shadows.

  It was very still in the small chamber after the door had shut.  The only passage out of this small room now was the dark passageway which led out from the room.

[Congratulations!  You have survived another encounter!  You may each receive 200 XP and you have gained 3 Fame and 3 Fortune tokens.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:05, Wed 14 May 2014.

Now that Drex thinks about it the shadow might be able to poses the skeleton, it does look similar to the things that animated the other skeletons in the main chamber. "Cleaver thinking Willa, I'm pleas to tell you that you surprised me with that quick thinking." He smiles at Willa, shaking the snotty substances off of his hand as discreetly as he can.

Getting out of here sounds to Drex like an excellent plan. Letting Jubei, Phelan and the Spirit Lantern take front he will cover the rear as they move through the tunnel. He's lantern lit he moves forward, but now and then he takes a glance back the way they came.

12:43, Today: Drex rolled 32 using 1d20+12. Perception check. (rolled a 20)

Jubei let out a snort as he quickly looked around the room. Really quickly that is. He seemed a bit too eager to leave the place for now, which he signaled to the others by giving a nod to the stairs leading out of the room.
"Well, that was quite a nice start for the day. Let's see if it continues to be so thrilling.", he said with a bit of a laugh as he began to move his large bulk to the stairs to climb them with axe at the ready. After all they didn't knew where they would come out and what might try to ambush them there.


17:47, Today: Iron Jubei rolled 6 using 1d20+4. Perception check for some last clues.
Perceptive as a brick.

Willa took up a position ahead of Iron Jubei.  She was not the most attentive creature in the world, but her vision was, comparatively, unimpeded by the dim light cast by his lantern and her torch.  As she plodded ahead, her eyes wandered to the sides of the walls, looking for any more of those secret umbrean markings...

17:01, Today: Willa rolled 6 using 1d20-1. Perception check - Tell tale scratch marks.

Much like Willa, Phelan seemed mostly unaffected from the dimness of the lantern. Whilst Drex kept an eye out for anything mundane that might catch them by surprise Phelan focused his magical senses, attempting to detect magical traps that might harm the party, as well as other magical sources.

Arcana: 32!

"You detect nothing of note."
"FFFFFFF"