Thistletop, part 8 (Friday, Lamashan (X) 12, 4707 AR)

Eventually the quasit escaped the heroes by fleeing down the second level of the Thistletop dungeon. The heroes followed.

Cracks lined the walls here and there, but the rooms were fairly clean. The following areas were lit by lanterns left on the floors.

This entire level was sloped downward towards the west. While the canted floor didn't appreciably impact movement, it did grant creatures a bonus on attacks made against foes who stood in squares west of the attacker's square.

Air quality in these chambers was good. The temperature was comfortable. 

Ancient Door. A stone door just around the corner from the steps hung slightly ajar, the detailed carvings that once covered its surface defaced by chisel marks and hammer blows to the extent that only a few remnants of images (mostly of gemstones and crowns) remained. The floor here was slanted downward toward the west.

Hall. Two pillars supported the ceiling in here. In many places the stone walls, floor, and ceiling were caked with ancient grime and soot. Alcoves in the north and south walls contained partially damaged statues of a man in robes clutching a book and a glaive. The entire room was canted toward the west, and whatever ancient upheaval caused the complex to tilt knocked the statues from their bases so that now they leaned against the western walls of their alcoves. The statues were too damaged to be recognizable beyond their basic shapes.

Trapped Hall. This short hallway rose in a slope to the east. Five feet from the western door, the floor was polished and shiny, unlike the dusty floor elsewhere. A pair of stone statues depicting stern men wielding glaives stood in alcoves north and south of this section of the hallway. At the eastern end stood two stone doors, their faces carved with strange runes. Just past the doors was a third alcove in which a partially collapsed statue stood. The top half of the statue was missing, leaving behind a rugged stump of a torso.

Two hidden iron portcullises were recessed into the ceiling around the polished section of floor. When Tsela stepped between them, a pressure plate caused them to both drop with a clang. He managed to jump to an adjacent square as they dropped.

The quasit flew over the trap before Tsela. A while later, the portcullises raised, and Urtrigor disabled the pressure plate after some effort.

Observation Deck. Wide stone ledges of red marble lined the curving walls of this room, which was well lit by four burning skulls that sat in each corner. Three chairs rested in the room, and both stone ledges were covered with old books, scrolls, teeth, bones, scrimshaw artwork, jars of deformed creatures soaking in brine, taxidermied animals and limbs, and other strange objects. To the north, a large round fountain filled with frothy blue water filled the room with the gentle sound of bubbling.

The primary villain of Sandpoint's troubles was encountered here. Nualia's left hand had been transformed into a red demonic talon. With the exception of her demonic hand and her scarred belly, the rest of her body was incogruously beautiful. Nualia had silver hair, violet eyes, and a shapely figure. She wore the mark of her devotion to Lamashtu proudly, keeping her midriff bare to expose the ugly scars and wounds across her belly. Tsela recognized this as the Mark of Lamashtu, denoting the carrier not only as one devoted to the Mother of Monsters, but one capable of birthing monsters from her own body. A yeth hound was also her companion.

Nualia cast a spell on herself at the start of combat. She prefers to fight with her bastard sword, her face an impassive mask save for her eyes, which blaze with anger. She also channels negative energy. The heroes are still fighting all three adversaries.