#83 - Enter the Weaver

As told by Magnus of the Island of Seren.

We were safe and confined in a clean space but we weren’t clean. The smell from the globs and smears of the ghouls’ blood and flesh, still caked on our armor, was just awful. It kept me awake for a few minutes, listening to Irakas and Cypher talk and make a map of our floor here underground. Her time sitting in the throne and wearing the Emperor’s Key medallion had given her awareness of this level’s dimensions. I scraped the smelliest bits off me and then drifted off to sleep to the sound of Cypher unpacking and re-packing all his stuff.

When we woke up, hours later, again we had improved in our manifestation of the dragon in each of us, new spells and new abilities.  I am feeling more durable than ever. The smell from the undead slime on us all was overpowering and we were all ready to leave. Except Irakas.

She wanted to stay near the throne and study the “altar” here. When we asked for the Emperor’s Key back, she suggested that she would like to stay here, with the Key and her guards and try to learn more about the keep. She even suggested that if we were to find the scepter that once filled the empty brackets on the altar, her knowledge and power here might grow. The awful smell kept the conversation short.  It might be useful to have the Key with us to open doors and stuff, but having her here, learning more and guarding the one safe place we have found would be better still.  She escorted us past the bronze golem and there we discovered some skeletons and a corpse (obviously killed by the golem) lying in a puddle of blood before it.  Someone had come looking for us and died. The corpse had been a living man, and had been cut in half by the golem’s glaive.

In looking at the corpse, we noticed that he was a member of the Emerald Claw, a mercenary group dedicated to its own (evil) purposes. What are they doing down here? As Simel drew in for a closer look and lifted the body to examine it, we all noticed that the inside of Simel’s reversible cloak was the same color as the Emerald Claw’s green uniform.  He said he used it as a disguise to kill Claw members in the past. We still do not know much of his story. He seems to look forward to killing members of the Claw here underground. We agree on that at least.

We left Irakas and made our way to the curtain, feeling very exposed here in the giant throne room.  We sidled along the edge and up to the massive curtain where Cypher sent Rungo up to the ceiling to scout ahead. As he cleared the room/ hallway beyond the curtain, we followed along.  As we made our way, and approached the wall of rooms, we heard music coming from the weaver’s room—the room where the chained man had been. Using “stealth” (as we understand it), we entered the rug room and then Kard opened the weaving room to see what was going on. The chained man pointedly ignored him. The whole group entered and Cypher unlocked a few more doors.

Not all onis look the same, but most are big,
blue/purple, and carry massive swords.

As the group went over the room again, I lied down on the bed (why didn’t we sleep here?), it did seem like someone slept here recently. Kard suggested I look around and I peeked under the bed. Seeing a spear, I grabbed it but it sprouted spikes.  I dropped it and let the group have a look. Soon enough I poke it back under the bed as we are deciding to leave.

I head out into the hallway with Cypher.  I hear Aleae talking about the jar she had seen in the chest full of cloth, and she started to rummaging about for it. Just then a new voice speaks. “There is no need for violence,” I heard it say after something else. I spared a peek into the room and see a silk-clad oni with fangs and flowing garments, and a very larger curving sword. A large, shimmering white-clear hand had appeared and wrapped itself around Aleae, holding her in place. Threatening to squeeze. She did not like that! Kard tried to negotiate with the oni, whose spell, he assured us, could snap her bones easily. The oni spoke as though this was his home and we had trespassed. Aleae started scolding him about keeping a creature (the human) chained.  The oni asked the party to drop their weapons as were obviously the group that has been killing and making messes all around here.  The party refuses and the oni raised scimitar to strike. Aleae was bound to be crushed by the conjured, disembodied hand.

The battle began just as Cypher and I heard, then saw some creatures headed our way down the hall. Cypher called Dar for light and Rungo reported some kind of beaked creature walking towards us. The creatures were lit up by my torch as they got closer and Dar casted her entangling vines spell on the two large creatures. They had shelled backs like giant beetles and huge sweeping blades built into their arms where hands should have been.  I don’t know what they were but they didn’t quite seem like the abominations we have fought. No tentacles or slime. But they were something new to kill!

While the rest of the party was dealing with the oni—lots of spells going off, and Aleae somehow just magically stepped from inside the closing fist to a space fifteen feet away—I charged the two beaked creatures and landed a jumping smash on the one that was not held in vines.  Flames and ice flashed brightly as I took on the aspect of greatest of dragons!  It withstood my two blows from Defiler’s Bane but will still rather pulped.  Rungo, Dar, and Cypher rushed in to help kill it.

After some more fighting, the oni flew out into the hallway and blasted Cypher and Dar with a lightning bolt. Both avoided the worst of it. One of the hooked, beaked things died and we turned on the other. Having foughtan oni in the arenas of Droaam, I knew that its spells will make it very hard to kill.  I intended to try.

Then a black, misty darkness began to envelop the oni, and I felt an unpleasant sensation in the palm of my hand.