<Eliaphas> "I fear such things lie beyond my experience as well..." Eliaphas notes dourly, sending a look in the direction of the oddly silent barbarian perhaps in the hope that he has any ideas.
<Corben> "How do we leave?" Corben asks the Lady's simulacrum in the plainest way possible.
<El-Cideon> "Leave?" she says with raised eyebrows, clearly confused. "But you've only just arrived. Well, if you must, doors are traditional, are they not?"
* Eliaphas decides to try the door on the wall facing the Lady. From how Corben reacted earlier it didn't sound very pleasant, but it might make a point.
* Corben shudders at the memory of that terrible door. "This is a painting," he says, moving to take a look at what is being drawn right now. "We looked at it and came here. How do we leave?"
<El-Cideon> Eliaphas opens the door...and sees what Corben saw, a view into the room he now stands within, and across the room himself holding a door open...on and on, smaller and smaller.
* Eliaphas shudders and steps to the side of the door. "Look, Duchess Varas," he bids her. "Does that look like an exit to you?"
<El-Cideon> The lady laughs lightly, with a toss of hair that ripples with the slick gleam of oil paint. Corben sees the painter is working on the finished painting you saw before being pulled in here. The lady glances towards Eliaphas with a look of incomprehension. "Why, out there is the dining hall, of course."
<Eliaphas> Steeling himself, Eliaphas walks through the door!
<El-Cideon> OOC: roll will
<Eliaphas> roll 1d20+15 (+17 vs fear)
* Hatbot --> "Eliaphas rolls 1d20+15 (+17 vs fear) and gets 34."12 [1d20=19]
<El-Cideon> Eliaphas finds himself stepping out of the room, despite appearances--and into what appears to be the well-lit interior of a burlap sack. (OOC: Back to #MV with you!)
<El-Cideon> Corben merely sees Eliaphas step out of the door and disappear, however.
~
<Madeline> After she's spent a few minutes reading and processing the information, Madeline sighs to herself, and turns to head back to the room of body-eating portraits.
<El-Cideon> Madeline's glance outside shows her a flagstone walkway leading north between the two buildings. The building directly across from her has no visible windows, and arcing overhead, from one building to the next, is an extension of the castle wall. Back down in the gallery, Madeline finds the situation unchanged--her allies are still not in evidence.
<Madeline> After quickly identifying which portrait along the wall was the one that appeared to draw away Corben and Eliaphas, Madeline uses a strip of thick cloth to blindfold herself, before going through the somewhat-arduous task of detaching the thing from the wall (blind.)
<El-Cideon> There are only two paintings on that wall, so it isn't hard to stumble her way towards it. Removing a four-by-eight-foot painting all by her lonesome is considerably more awkward, but no real challenge without any distractions around. Nothing untoward happens to her during this.
<Madeline> Depositing it into her bag of holding is a somewhat more difficult task, but by covering it with a cloth sheet first, she regains the confidence to do it with her eyes open!
<El-Cideon> Soon enough, Madeline has wrangled the painting into the mysterious, extraspatial depths of her bag.
<Madeline> A glowing rock is also tossed in, on the off-chance her comrades are somehow able to free themselves from the accursed portrait, as well as a brief note informing them as to where they are and how to get out (if the stacks of quivers aren't a sufficient giveaway.) This done, she considers her options!
<Madeline> She heads back to the curator's office, intending to inspect the the building she could see to the north. Naturally, she does her level best to stay out of sight, no-doubt aided by her camoflague cloak...
<El-Cideon> Suddenly, a muffled thump and a jolt from Madeline's bag!
<Madeline> roll 1d20+33
* Hatbot --> "Madeline rolls 1d20+33 and gets 37."12 [1d20=4]
<Madeline> The jolt prompts her to open it up and look inside!
<El-Cideon> The path to the north leads out of sight, tall hedges blocking your view some hundred feet or so along. The building directly across from the curator's office is of the usual brick construction, and nondescript from the outside.
* Eliaphas squints and looks up from the confines of Madeline's bag. "A deceptively simple trap..." he mutters, clambering upwards and out. "Corben should follow, but if not I can go back for him."
<Madeline> "I thought you were lost," admits Madeline, squinting back into the bag's confines. "Perhaps you would have been, had you looked into another portrait. I believe near all of them may hold this quality, and few seem pleasant."
<Eliaphas> "Hmm... the Duchess was unhelpful, but harmless. Much like her undead incarnation," Eliaphas nods, waiting a moment to see if Corben materialises.
<Madeline> "Many ladies in such a position can be trusted with little," replies Madeline. "Was your escape dangerous?"
<Eliaphas> "No, merely unsettling," the aging inquisitor shakes his head, starting to frown. "Corben seemed dismayed by the magic involved, he must be having trouble. I will go back inside to retrieve him."
<Madeline> "Very well. I will await your return," replies Madeline, opting to return to the curator's office once Eliaphas has entered the portrait.
* Eliaphas turns his gaze to the portrait once more!
<El-Cideon> OOC: will again, +1 bonus from now on. You can choose not to resist if you want tog o in, of course.
<El-Cideon> Again Eliaphas finds himself pulled away from the reality of the gallery! (OOC: Back to #ng)
~
<Corben> "Where did he go?"
<El-Cideon> "Presumably to the dining hall," the lady says, with her usual air of dry amusement.
* Corben grimaces at the mere thought of that terrible door, and asks, "Are you a wizard?"
<El-Cideon> A hand to her chest, a look of surprise. "Me? Why, no. As I said, magic is my husband's affair. Are you certain you don't wish to speak to him?" With an apologetic wave to the painter (who never actually seems to add to the work in progress), she stands up. "Perhaps you're feeling unwell? I could summon the nurse, Mary's quite skilled."
* Corben nods slightly, intending on watching this closely. Maybe he'll get a clue on how to leave from that.
<El-Cideon> The lady nods, picks up a bell from a table and rattles it. Waits.
* Corben likewise waits.
<El-Cideon> Shortly, someone does appear! Eliaphas.
<El-Cideon> A frown from the lady. "I don't recall adding this one to the staff..."
<Corben> "You are the maid?!"
<Eliaphas> "No," Eliaphas replies humourlessly. "You need to walk through the door to leave, Corben, that's all there is to it," he then explains, gesturing to the door he left by.
<Corben> Muttering about trickery, Corben nevertheless attempts just that.
<El-Cideon> OOC: will, Corben
<Corben> roll 1d20+6
* Hatbot --> "Corben rolls 1d20+6 and gets 7."12 [1d20=1]
<El-Cideon> Corben walks through the door! ...And emerges from the other door. The lady glances at him in astonishment. "Sir, are you certain YOU are not a wizard? You walked into the dining room and emerged from my bedroom!"
* Corben clenches his fists, and then turns around walks right back into the apparent bedroom.
<El-Cideon> OOC: ditto!
<Corben> roll 1d20+6
* Hatbot --> "Corben rolls 1d20+6 and gets 16."12 [1d20=10]
<Eliaphas> "It worked for me..." Eliaphas frowns. "It must require concentration..." he waits on this next attempt to play out first, though.
<El-Cideon> Again Corben finds his attempts frustrated! And this time he emerges from the dining hall door.
<Corben> "Are you lying to me?" Corben asks Eliaphas suspiciously.
<Eliaphas> "This might help," Eliaphas offers, praying to the One True God to bolster the barbarian's heroic prowess!
<Eliaphas> OOC: Heroism
<Corben> Mollified by this display of magic, Corben closes his eyes and rushes through the door once more!
<Corben> roll 1d20+8 damn you, door!
* Hatbot --> "Corben rolls 1d20+8 damn you, door! and gets 21."12 [1d20=13]
<El-Cideon> With a little divine intervention, Corben soon finds himself-- (OOC: back in the normal channel!)
<El-Cideon> "Are you traveling performers?" the lady wonders. "Is this an elaborate farce?"
<Eliaphas> "Whichever you prefer," Eliaphas shrugs, uncaring as he follows Corben through the door.
<El-Cideon> OOC: same deal, +1 bonus
<Eliaphas> roll 1d20+16
* Hatbot --> "Eliaphas rolls 1d20+16 and gets 26."12 [1d20=10]
~
* Corben (corwin@109.65.199.235) has joined #mistvalken
<El-Cideon> And shortly thereafter, a Corben emerges!
<Corben> "What is this madness?!" Corben exclaims, looking about.
<El-Cideon> ...And then Eliaphas follows on his heels, simply appearing in the air a few feet away from the painting.
<El-Cideon> The group finds themselves crowding an office with some modest furnishings, windows on the east wall and doors on the others.
<Madeline> "I have transported the painting to a different location," notes Madeline, sitting at ease on the nearby table. "Given your disappearance, I had intended to continue without you, but this is a happy consequence." She fumbles for the notebook which she stole. "Gentlemen, can you explain to me the nature of your escape? If it could prove reliable, I have an idea."
* Corben isn't quite sure what just happened, and looks at Eliaphas curiously.
<Eliaphas> "We appeared in the same study shown on the painting," Eliaphas gestures into the bag after having climbed out, "The only two doors out appeared to loop between each other, but by concentrating and shutting out distractions, walking through one returns you to the real world instead of just looping around."
<Madeline> "Understood. Then, I believe there are two things that could be of use to us. The first; a number of these portraits depict beings that likely still walk Mistvalken's halls. Presuming that they accurately mirror their counterparts to some degree, we could use this as an opportunity to learn more about them from a tactical perspective." (More)
<Madeline> "Risky, but it could give us the means to learn of any abilities they might possess. The second, of course, is that we could set a trap of our own. I believe there are a number of purely hostile paintings that lead to vicious environments unsuited to anyone; as you can see, we have a method of moving the paintings both easily and safely."
<Corben> "If it's safe, we can protect the prisoners with them," Corben suggests, more or less understanding the situation now.
<Eliaphas> "Both ideas seem sound," Eliaphas nods, "But I think we should follow those tracks through the gallery first and deal with whatever was leaving them before we start working on the paintings."
<Madeline> "They lead to another painting," replies Madeline, with a shrug. "Shall we pursue?"
<Corben> "What painting?"
<Madeline> "I dared not look!"
<Corben> "Let's look, then!"
<Eliaphas> "Lets, it will ensure no interference while we work," Eliaphas agrees, letting Madeline lead the way back to their previous path.
<El-Cideon> The bootprints led to the lower-floor gallery with the curtained archway entrance, Madeline can recall.
<Madeline> Madeline's eyes flicker between the two men, distinctly ill at ease. "If you feel we must," she replies, shouldering her bow.
<Eliaphas> "You are concerned?" Eliaphas asks.
<Madeline> "Somewhat. I would consider lying in ambush rather than following this one," she admits. "If he ventured into the painting and does not return for some time, perhaps what is within has consumed him."
<Eliaphas> "If he is inside a painting I see no reason to follow," Eliaphas admits, "But I would rather deal with anyone not inside a painting in case he attacks us while some of us are inside other paintings."
<Corben> "We can just burn it," Corben offers.
<Madeline> "I cannot argue with that. None of the portraits in that room are of particular interest, I feel."
<Eliaphas> "Then lets go," Eliaphas grimly sets off!
<El-Cideon> Following in his own footsteps, Eliaphas returns downstairs. The unknown prints track to the curtained archway on the far end of the portrait gallery, making a one-way trip. Madeline's own also walk there and back.
* Eliaphas brushes the curtain aside and advances into the next gallery!
<El-Cideon> This is a much smaller gallery than the others, perhaps a third the size, and contains only four objects of note. Three paintings: a bathing scene just to your right, on the other walls a scene from some myth judging by the clothes and buildings, as well as a city in flames done in similar style. At the far end of the corridor sits a large urn, half the height of a man. The bootprints stop here, just before the painting nearest the door.
* Eliaphas looks at the bathing scene from a distance rather than getting close enough to risk entrapment, seeing just what sort of scene this Mistvalken denizen chose to remain inside.
<El-Cideon> A collection of young women in clinging white gowns surround a stone basin filled with water. Another, a blonde with an expression of saintly serenity, rises from the tub as a pair of the girls steps between her and the viewer with a white robe. The bath is lit with bright light shining from an archway opposite the viewer, which grants the onlooker view of a silhouette that boasts ample detail of the woman's contours. The plaque reads: Purification of the High Priestess.
<El-Cideon> OOC: also, will roll applies pretty much any time you examine it intently enough to notice details. +1 bonus applies to everyone doing this in future, having passed one before
<Eliaphas> roll 1d20+16
* Hatbot --> "Eliaphas rolls 1d20+16 and gets 23."12 [1d20=7]
<El-Cideon> The picture and its collection of scantily clad young women pulls at Eliaphas's will, but he resists its foul temptations!
<Eliaphas> "Filth..." the inquisitor scowls, looking away. "Whatever's occurring inside that painting is almost certainly more vile than what it shows."
* Corben decides to trust Eliaphas rather than take a look at any treacherous painting himself.
<Madeline> "Doesn't it refer to purification?" asks Madeline, uncertainly. "What does it depict?"
<Eliaphas> "A female saint being bathed by two other nubile young girls... do you think the man who entered it has anything chaste in mind, really?" Eliaphas asks dubiously.
<Madeline> "I, uh, see," replies Madeline. "I feel duty-bound to pursue him, I am afraid," she adds, sighing a moment later and moving to front up to the picture.
<Corben> "We're not breaking it?" Corben asks, sounding quite disappointed.
<Madeline> Madeline stops! "We could still do that," she admits.
<Eliaphas> "The beings in the paintings do seem to be self aware..." Admittedly Eliaphas does feel some desire to 'rescue' them himself, but are they really real?
<Corben> "I will try to cut it," Corben says, drawing his falcion. "And if that man appears, we cut him too."
<Madeline> "They are not magical constructs as I know them," replies Madeline, pursing her lips. "But even if they are real, I wonder if death would not be preferred to an eternity of stillness. Certainly I would prefer it to.. whatever that man is doing," she mutters, with a shudder.
<Corben> With no objections appearing, Corben swings his falcion at the painting, intending to cut it roughly in half with all his strength!
<Corben> roll 2d4+10+6+24 die!
* Hatbot --> "Corben rolls 2d4+10+6+24 die! and gets 46."12 [2d4=2, 4]
<El-Cideon> The canvas parts before Corben's mighty blade just as one might expect! And then...the women depicted on its bisected surface writhe as if in agony! The paint melts, bubbles--a wrenching shriek issues forth as the pigment pools on the floor in an ocher puddle and leaves behind dead gray canvas, a death wail that reaches inside each of you and claws at your sanity! (OOC will, everybody)
<Madeline> roll 1d20+9
* Hatbot --> "Madeline rolls 1d20+9 and gets 10."12 [1d20=1]
<Corben> roll 1d20+8
* Hatbot --> "Corben rolls 1d20+8 and gets 13."12 [1d20=5]
<Madeline> roll 1d20+9 I will reroll that
* Hatbot --> "Madeline rolls 1d20+9 I will reroll that and gets 10."12 [1d20=1]
<Eliaphas> roll 1d20+15
* Hatbot --> "Eliaphas rolls 1d20+15 and gets 16."12 [1d20=1]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d6 WIS damage to all, wow Hatebottery
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d6 WIS damage to all, wow Hatebottery and gets 5."12 [1d6=5]
<El-Cideon> The scream echoes off the walls, fades...all find themselves mentally wrenched in its aftermath, something ajar in each's head.
* Corben steps back haltingly at the scream.
<Madeline> "I- ah, it is all so bright," mumbles Madeline, reeling back from the painting. "Corben, you destroyed a world, a whole world! You are the destroyer- and that must make the painter a god! I see!"
* Eliaphas buckles and almost falls to his knees, but with supreme effort rights himself. A prayer to the one True God helps to reaffirm his sense of self, and another is given on Madeline's behalf afterwards.
<Eliaphas> roll 1d4 lesser restoration me
* Hatbot --> "Eliaphas rolls 1d4 lesser restoration me and gets 2."12 [1d4=2]
<Eliaphas> roll 1d4 lesser restoration Madeline
* Hatbot --> "Eliaphas rolls 1d4 lesser restoration Madeline and gets 3."12 [1d4=3]
* Eliaphas changes topic to '6Corben: 82/137, Eliaphas: 92/102 (-3wis), Madeline: 64/96(-2wis)|'
* Corben changes topic to '6Corben: 82/137 (-5 wis), Eliaphas: 92/102 (-3wis), Madeline: 64/96(-2wis)|'
<Madeline> "I- I still- let us not do that again," murmurs Madeline, unable to remove her eyes from the puddle of pigments.
<Eliaphas> "I... I don't think we should destroy any further paintings," Eliaphas agrees, breathing raggedly as he tries to regain his centre.
<Corben> "Devilry," Corben mutters, shaking his head.
<Eliaphas> Breathing out one last deep breath, Eliaphas draws himself up. "I think we are all weary from our efforts and pains. Perhaps we should retreat back to the prison and take some time to rest?"
<Madeline> "A short break would be appreciated. The response from Mistvalken's occupants has not been what I expected, overall," notes Madeline, somewhat bemused. "I believe we would be relatively safe."
<El-Cideon> --------------------