As if she hadn't been flustered enough by Jaheira's snark--or was that frankness? With the druid, it was sometimes hard to tell--Ajantis had to draw attention to her again. With a compliment of all things.
"A-Ah! Um... Th-Thank you, Ajantis." It took her a moment to remember the proper response to a kind remark, even as the blush burned brighter in her cheeks.
But before she gave herself or Ajantis the time to dwell on the moment, she followed her party's shared resolve to return upstairs. "A-Alora's right, we should finish exploring the upper levels! This way, everyone!"
Neera notices Aerie's obviously flustered-ness and decides to not tease her; had it been anyone else the snark floodgates would have been opened but Aerie is too nice/cute.
Jaheira rolled her eyes and wondered which of the two paladin types would strike proverbial gold with the waif. She'd pick Ajantis, hands down, but that wasn't saying much: Anomen stood absolutely no chance with her, even if she hadn't been married to the hunkiest elf-warrior of them all...
"It's too bad we don't have that gnomish turnip peddler with us. He seemed like a fellow who could fill the awkward moments with a bit of story telling. Of course, if anyone is interested, I could share some fascinating insights I've learned from the older paladins on the nature of good and evil."
Okay. Back up it is. You wind up back in a 20' by 20' room. Huge logs are stacked along the north wall, and your rope is affixed to several of them to hold it in place. There is a door to the south along the western side of the room, and a door to the north directly opposite. The door to the north, you remember, leads to a blacksmith's forge area. You have not been through the door to the south.
The door is unlocked and leads to a corridor running east-west. The east ends in a wall, and the west leads back around to where the door to the blacksmith's room was. From here, you can only go north.
"There's no pond here," Alora announces. *I didn't think there would be. Let's take the passage west and then north, then back east and try the door on the north that we didn't try yet."
The first door leads to a 20' by 20' room that is full of dust and char. A small pile of char lies against the northern wall. It appears to be charcoal dust. Other than that, the room is filthy, but empty.
The next door to the north leads to a split corridor. Part of it does directly east to a pair of double doors to the north 40' down the corridor. Another part runs due north for 30' before beginning to curve east.
Alora will go east to the double doors and check for traps before opening them. "These look like the kind of doors that lead to a magical pond," she announces.
The room revealed when Alora opens the doors is far different than anything you have seen thus far. It appears to be a library. The floor has been set with blocks of polished red granite. The whole is dusty, but otherwise in excellent condition. Towards the center of the room, the red is replaced by white granite, with the letters R&Z picked out in red granite. The edges of the walls are the same black stone as the rest of this place, and the red, black and white makes a stunning, if austere, display.
The room has three tables, one each to the north, east and west, and appears to be unlit except for a strange radiance from the north wall quite unlike anything you have seen before. Torch sconces, meant for illumination, stand empty around the walls, and a group of plush-cushioned oak chairs occupy the center area. Around the edges of the wall, you can see divans covered in some sort of plush fabric, now gone gray and dusty with age and disuse.
Along the edges of the wall are bookshelves, and to the north is a carrel holding scrolls. They are not entirely full.
Alora, using her infravision rather than relying on torchlight, will go in and search the room for traps She will very cautiously go forward to try to find out what is creating the strange radiance to the north.
The strange radiance to the north is provided by cages of beetles, with three red spots on their abdomen. The spots glow with a fair amount of brightness, but there is no sign of what is keeping the beetles alive or what they are feeding on.
Alora will give the beetles a wide berth in case what they like feeding on is halflings. "Someone must be feeding these beetles so maybe someone should guard the door in case whoever it is comes back," she suggests.
She then proceeds to start searching the tables looking for traps, hidden drawers and secret compartments.
Comments
. . . yet when I suggest it. . . *muttering to himself* (when Alora states going back upstairs)
A sudden inspiration hits him and he turns to Aerie. "You are a most beautiful lady, Miss."
"A-Ah! Um... Th-Thank you, Ajantis." It took her a moment to remember the proper response to a kind remark, even as the blush burned brighter in her cheeks.
But before she gave herself or Ajantis the time to dwell on the moment, she followed her party's shared resolve to return upstairs. "A-Alora's right, we should finish exploring the upper levels! This way, everyone!"
His hypocritical righteous preaching is not what this group needs.
"I think we must be near the pond now," she declares. "I feel certain we are going the right way."
The room has three tables, one each to the north, east and west, and appears to be unlit except for a strange radiance from the north wall quite unlike anything you have seen before. Torch sconces, meant for illumination, stand empty around the walls, and a group of plush-cushioned oak chairs occupy the center area. Around the edges of the wall, you can see divans covered in some sort of plush fabric, now gone gray and dusty with age and disuse.
Along the edges of the wall are bookshelves, and to the north is a carrel holding scrolls. They are not entirely full.
She then proceeds to start searching the tables looking for traps, hidden drawers and secret compartments.
"Good idea, Aerie. I wonder if we might find a map of the entire complex in this library."
Ajantis then follows Alora's advice and turns to guard the door.
OOC: Yes I know he has a wisdom of 12.