Dweeble made her way to where the others were gathered.  Morg was busy gathering cultists that didn't seem dead enough for Dweeble's standards but what was more interesting was the pink bubbles coming from Asano's lips.  Her wide eyes grew wider still as she watched the residual magic take its shape though she had no idea what the heck she was looking at.  She opened her mouth to ask something but thought better of it and turned away with a shake of her head as she began to do what she did best.  Hunt for loot.

Her hand wondered into one of her pouches, pulling free the half-eaten pickle she'd found on Grund's corpse.  Her loud, crisp chewing soon followed as she knelt down at the pile of gemstones and coins near the broken statue that Morg was doing his best to impersonate now.  She quickly began to separate coins and gems, putting them in neat piles of what she believed to be ascending order of worth, from copper, silver, and gold to the least cloudy and largest of gems.

More importantly, at least to her, was the dagger among the pile.  After splitting the piles, she gently took the dagger by the blade and held it up in front of her eyes, her loud chewing finished with a final swallow.  She slid her thumb softly over the blade's edge, testing its sharpness, while her eyes looked at the decorations and grip that were of a much brighter color than her other blades.

---

OOC:  Dweeble's going to go ahead and examine the dagger at least.  Let me know if she's cursed!  XD

Once the Bringers of Woe realize they've been disarmed and trussed up tightly, they cease struggling and simply lay on the cold stone of the chamber.

Dwee examines the dagger and notices it is particularly well made. Dried blood coats the dagger however, and the word "Reszur" is graven deeply into its pommel.

---

Map updated & zoomed out.

Let me know next steps - short rest? Moving on somewhere?

Dweeble pulled her waterskin from her waist and poured a small amount of water over the dagger before using her shirt to wipe at the dried blood and clean the weapon as best as she could quickly.  She didn't notice their prisoners move or struggle, her eyes too focused on the shiny new weapon in her hands.  She squinted as she spotted the inscription on the pommel, her mind turning the word over in her head as she wracked her brain for some meaning.  "Hey, anyone know what a 'Reszur' is?  You read books, right Glasses?  Whassit mean?"  She held the dagger up for Bram to read, a befuddled wrinkle to her brow.

---

16:36, Today: Dweeble rolled 10 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 7.  History - Reszur?

As soon as Dweeble speaks the word "Reszur" the dagger suddenly starts emitting a faint, cold glow.

Bramwell was eying the dagger as well and was just about to answer Dweeble's question when the weapon suddenly began to dimly glow when she spoke the word.  His brows raised and he said, "That seems to be this dagger's command word, at the least.  Very interesting.  I wonder what the light signifies...?"  The half-elf touched a finger to the flat of the blade to check if it felt unusual in any way.

Arcana roll to see if Reszur has any special significance:

• 17:15, Today: Secret Roll: Bramwell Caulder rolled 24 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 20.  Arcana.

Bram approached the bound stone-masks and stood a few paces back to address them in an oddly conversational tone considering the circumstances, "Hello there.  I'm Bramwell Caulder, a Glyphscribe of Deneir and it is my calling to collect and record knowledge for posterity.  My comrades and I have been investigating strange occurrences in the Dessarin valley, and those investigations have led us here."  The Glyphscribe retrieved his travel journal and flipped it open to a blank page and held his quill at the ready, "I would like to understand your organization's beliefs and goals, both within this ancient place and beyond it.  The knowledge you impart to me will live on beyond the imminent disbanding of the Bringers of Woe, if that's any consolation.  Would any of you be so kind as to enlighten me?"

Seems that the stone-masks might not be as interested in academic discourse as Bram is :)

• 17:53, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Persuasion.

It seems pretty clear to Bram that the dagger is magical, but it otherwise doesn't feel different than other blades. The word "Reszur" doesn't mean anything to him, but it does seem like somebody's name.

The bound prisoners don't immediately respond to Bram's question, but one of them chuckles briefly, then goes silent.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:11, Thu 15 June 2017.

Dweeble's eyes lit up much as her dagger did as the blade shone with an unnatural light.  Almost as soon as Bram had touched it she quickly pulled it away, holding it before her eyes with a bright smile to match her sudden cheer.  "Shiny!  The light means it's shiny, duh!  Oh, Dweeble likes you already.  You're her new favorite, yes you are Reszur!"  She twirled the blade in her finger tips nimbly as Bram turned away towards their prisoners.

She knelt down, though she was already short enough to look them in the eye, and held the dagger out towards them.  "Oye, you answer Glasses right now or you'll have to answer to me and Reszur.  Got that?  Mr. Shiny ain't been christened yet.  Y'wanna be the first?"  Her eyes weren't even on the man she'd pointed the dagger at, they were too busy staring at the cool light emanating from her new blade.

---

At least the intimidation role was fitting...

18:09, Today: Dweeble rolled 6 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 5.  Intimidation.

When Dwee speaks the name Reszur aloud once again the light from the dagger goes out, then returns when she speaks the name a third time.

Jak narrowed his eyes at Dweeble and playfully and lightly swiped at her with one foot, just giving her a nudge. "You sure you want that knife, Dweeble? I'd be happy t'carry it for you." He raised an eyebrow and smiled at her. "Nice. Try not t'give us away when we're sneakin' with the light now, eh?" He was clearly teasing her.

Turning to the prisoners, he frowned. "I really would suggest talkin' t'Bram there. He's the kind gentle one among us, an' even he has been known t'get frustrated an' violent at times."

22:34, Today: Secret Roll: Jakrynn Redgate rolled 14 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 10.  Intimidation.

Dweeble turned towards the young man as he jokingly prodded and pressed her about her new 'toy'.  Her eyes were wide and perhaps a bit angry with his joking questions but, after a moment at least, even she understood his jesting manner.  She held up the dagger and shook it at Jak, as if to say he'd better be careful.  "Mr. Shiny chose me, Jak!  Plus, finders keepers and all that, right?  And Dweeble has plenty of 'sperience with sneakin' about!  Mr. Shiny won't cause us no problems, you betcha'!"

She gave Jak one last quick glance of suspicion before moving so that she sat on the foot of the statue of the dwarf.  The piece might've been broken and damaged but to her it still looked an awful lot like Morg.  Then again, she didn't have the best time telling dwarves apart.  Rather than worry about the piles of gemstones and coins or the men who were tied up and keeping to themselves, Dweeble was happy to focus on 'Mr. Shiny'.  She began flipping it in between her fingers, turning it to making stabbing motions, or simply hiding it up her sleeve and muttering its 'command word', as Bram had put it, to test how bright it was when secreted about her person.

---

I'm assuming we're taking a short rest, though I'd imagine Bram or someone will want to get something from those men we bothered to get tied up as well.  Dweeble's going to be spending the short rest attuning to the dagger either way.

Morg takes out one of his handaxes, rearing it back at the wood frame holding up the statue. "Tell us about the moving stones, or the statue gets it."

---

09:44, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 5 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 3.  Intimidate woe-ers about chopping down statue's wooden frame.

Mayon smiles a bit at Dweeble's thrill about her new 'toy,' and walks over to join the others around the masked men, standing a few feet back and studying them in silence for the moment, waiting to see how his companions fared before making an attempt.


15:05, Today: Secret Roll: Mayon Graycross rolled 6 using 1d8+1 with rolls of 5.  HD roll for HP
This message was last edited by the player at 21:05, Thu 15 June 2017.

---

2nd wind - heals
 7 HP

22:27, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 7 using 1d10+2 with rolls of 5.  HP recovered from second wind.

The woe-bringers don't visibly react to Jak or Morg's taunts.

Morg notices a neat inscription on the frame holding the statue together, which reads:

Petrified Ironstar (?) dwarf,
found 1459 DR in Red Larch West Quarry
in broken condition.

---

It seems we're taking a short rest here, so if anyone wants to do any short-resty things now's the time =).

The dagger is a dagger +1, no attunement needed. As you've probably already gathered, if the wielder speaks the name "Reszur" the blade gives off a faint, cold glow, shedding dim light in a 10-foot radius until the wielder speaks the name again. The dagger doesn’t make noise when it hits or cuts something.

Seeing the inscription, Morg puts away his handaxe and takes a closer look at the dwarf. "Huh. This isn't a statue - any of you wizards know how to unpetrify someone?"

After a while, he goes to collect the ball bearings and puts them back into the bag, while keeping an eye on the entrance to the corridor of cages.

The hour of rest passes without incident, though Bram's driftglobe winks out abruptly near the end of it.

---

Where to next?

Dweeble absentmindedly tossed her new dagger into the air as she stood up from where she'd sat at the foot of the dwarven 'statue'.  She caught the weapon by the blade, its light extinguished, and flipped it into the air again as she quietly made her way from the statue and towards the eastern door.  She slipped the blade up her dark sleeve for ease of access and used both hands to try and push the door open enough to peer through to the other side.  If she managed to do so, she'd silently look to see if anything caught her eye before sliding away and back to the others.

---

15:14, Today: Dweeble rolled 9 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 2.  Sleight of Hand - Hide Dagger.
15:15, Today: Dweeble rolled 21 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 18.  Perception.

Bram gave up on the taciturn stone-masks, and was content to leave them bound and disarmed for the time being.  He decided to join Morg in examining the broken dwarven statue and shook his head, "Powerful magic is required to return stone to flesh, if indeed this once was a living dwarf."  The half-elf nodded to the badly broken pieces barely held together within the wooden scaffolding.

The Glyphscribe said dryly, "Even if we could restore this fellow I doubt he'd thank us for it, however.  Flesh and blood doesn't reassemble as easily as stone, in my experience."

He then retrieved the darkened orb and with a touch it began to glow again, albeit not nearly as brightly this time.  He approached the door to the North of the broken statue and turned to the others as he readied to open it, "Are we all ready to carry on?"

---

Taking the Driftglobe in hand and activating regular old Light to create a 20 foot radius of bright light and 20 more feet of dim light beyond that.

Moving to the door to the North of the dwarf statue and opening it once everyone is ready to move, unless another course of action is suggested.

Morg, pointing to the eastern door, asks Dwee what she saw there, but follows Bram to the northern door.

Dwee peers through the eastern door and sees another ten foot wide hallway hewn out of the rock, running forty feet ahead to another stone door. A small lit lantern hangs from a hook in the wall next to the door at the east end of the passage. A wooden stool sits by the lantern, but the hallway is otherwise empty.

Bram opens the north door and sees another similar hallway extending into darkness.

---

Map updated. I lined everyone up as if you're headed north, but feel free to change your minds.

Is Dwee the new owner of the dagger then?


This message was last edited by the GM at 22:19, Tue 20 June 2017.

Dweeble slid between the taller men around her and moved up to stand next to Morg.  She shrugged her shoulders at his question, looking back to the eastward door.  "I'unno.  Hallway, lantern, stool.  Looked like a lookout or somethin' to Dweeble.  The grey skins always kept a post like that, keep watch out front.  Didn't see a door though so maybe Dweeble is crazy.  Kidding, course she ain't!"  The dagger slid down from where she'd secreted it up her sleeve.  She brandished it upwards in one hand, keeping its light doused for now but seemingly ready to use it.

---

No one seemed to say otherwise so I think so?

Also, we never did anything with the other Bringers of Woe...

Morg follows Dwee's eyes back to the hogtied believers, and goes back to tie them to the wooden frame, "Don't wriggle too much, or you'll cause the petrified pieces to fall on you - and I'm sure you wouldn't want to be pinned under large pieces of stone."

Walking back to the northern door he asks Dwee, "Grey skins?
Do you mean duergar? Or orcs?"

---

Re: dagger: Morg is fine with anyone else taking it, especially Dwee since it's both light and finesse.

Dweeble tilted her head to look up at the dwarf standing beside her.  Her wide eyes seemed to be staring at nothing though, lost in some thought or worry.  She did answer his question though.  "Not just orcs, monsters.  Big tusks and harsh words.  Fists and clubs and cages.  All for gold and shinies, but none for Dweeble.  Never for me, nono.  Just fists and clubs and words and cages for Dweeble."  A light sheen of drool fell down her chin as the words bubbled forth.

She shook her head violently and twirled the dagger in her hand, her arm lunging just a fraction forwards to strike something that wasn't there before she reigned in the motion.  "But they're dead now.  They got what was comin' to 'em!  No more nasty slop and forking over shinies for Dweeble no mores.  They're all hers now.  All mine, mmhmm!"  She nodded her head eagerly with that statement of fact and turned back towards the door, her dagger gently scraping the stone blocking their way as she waited for the others to be ready.

The tunnel opens into a square room. In the center of it, a black rock about a foot cross hovers three feet from the floor.

---

Map updated.

Just moving things along; feel free to go back if you prefer.

Bram regards the levitating stone with a look of fascination on his bespectacled face.  "Well, this is quite remarkable, isn't it?  I wonder if this has been here since the time of Tyar-Besil, or if it's new..."

Seemingly having forgotten that they are trespassing in the stronghold of a malevolent cult, the Glyphscribe approaches and begins to carefully experiment with the hovering stone.  First he runs a hand through the air beneath and then above it to check for strings or any other force, then he lightly touches the stone itself to check how firmly it is fixed in its position.