'Portal' rushes forward to stab 'Vivec' with it's energy-enshrouded blade....
:twisted: :eatYou:
{edit} That's 8 points of damage and a DC 21 concentration check to cast the spell.
{Edit II} Whether Rey passes his concentration check or not might not be evident to the others, so we can go on ...
The fact that this is a smiley makes me feel horrible and terrified :eatYou: 
The illithid 'Portal' stabs Vivec with its shortsword. Dark energy glides along the blade, and seems to enter into the illithid's arm when he successfully strikes.
The Bloodstone psion, after momentarily coming to his senses after folding himself through space, looks around and sizes up the situation. He hands his sword to Ya'shenn beside him. He holds up his hand and concentrates ...
There is a faint ripple in the air, and a slight breeze seems to eminate from the psion. The illithid 'Portal' on whom the psion's amber eyes were fixed screams out in pain as its skin begins to blister and cook. The smell of burning illithid flesh assaults Rey'arteb's nostrils. 'Portal' turns toward the psion and screams. The Bloodstone takes a step back as if hit with a blow.
"Damn. Quite strong." he remarks.
Concentration Check
fudge... that was my most powerful offensive spell
Rey thinks he understands what just happened, but tries to make it appear to the others as if his concentration did not actually break, but he managed to cast the spell.
OOC: that is Azure, unless you wrote the previous description under the assumption that my concentration did not fail - the dark energy i'm guessing could either be the spell, or Ista?!
Bluff Check just in case
- the dark energy i'm guessing could either be the spell, or Ista?!
Neither, it's been on Portal's sword since it drew it.
Ya'shenn glances askance at the Bloodstone, feeling that he overestimates her skill with the long blade by a rather large margin. Even if he too is a psion, it's likely the sword is more than usually powerful, and she highly doubts she can give it the honor it probably deserves. Even so, the weapon is slightly to be preferred to a broken crossbow.
The ambiguous gith doesn't seem to be winning the fight between the two. He will need help. The psion weighs her options -- she has very few of them, and absolutely none of them has much chance of success.
Well. In the midst of battle, it is a comparatively quick death. Not pleasant, just quick.
She has seldom wielded a proper sword for some time, but she shifts the bastard sword to a more manageable two-handed grip.
[Move, attack Great Red Wyrm with equipped halibut -- I mean, Street, with mysterious bastard sword. I did post being outside one standard move, but she might be able to close the distance by manifesting burst as a free action, if you want. If positioning allows, avoid squares that are adjacent to Portal. Provide flanking bonuses to whichever applicable PCs are around, but don't get between any of them and Street, either.
Not including penalty for nonproficiency here (though, technically, as a githyanki she does have Weapon Focus (greatsword)), any bonus for flanking, or whatever bonuses the weapon might have.]
:help!!:
[Ya'shenn missed, sorry. AC13 for flatfooted grappling illithid. + 3 sword, -4 for non-proficiency.
Daraz must now resist 'Street' from getting the rest of its tenticles on him. Beat the roll below to keep attached tenticle count at 2. {ed} Beat 22.]
{edit}
What, no flanking bonus for Vivec? It wasn't a very good die roll, anyway. Not sure how the others are positioned.]
*Praying*
Escape artist: 15
(OOC: Next time, can I poison my brain to take the ghaik out with me? 
)
[Check below.]
[Not dead yet , but very wounded. If 'Street' doesn't die or otherwise get off this round, Daraz will be de-brained at the beginning of round 5. Du'minh (partial), Daraz, and Rey'arteb all get to go now, then I will do a mega-post, after which Ya'shenn will go again. Daraz can try escaping again, but the 'thid now has all 4 tenticles attached (+8 on grapple, for a total of +16). Daraz can also try to cast a spell with a concentration check, DC 20 + spell level.]
Fear the mighty cone of flame eminating from my hand (Burning hands)...Or not (Concentration: 7)
With the mental throbbing pain finally dying down, the Rish comes to his senses. He blinks and reorients himself, but one thing quickly blots out everything else: there was a fellow gith about to be decerebrated before him.
This time there’s no hesitation, only instinctive action. Du’minh throws himself with all his mass and bulk of spiked plate into the illithid, to tear it from Daraz.
OOC:
Not sure if I’m doing a grapple or attack with armor spikes to attempt this, but I’ll just roll my BAB+Str.
Sorry sorry sorry for the delayed response
With no time to cast, Rey unleashes a flurry of fists at the ghaik dishonoring Daraz.
Ya'shenn rushes the illithid trying to kill Daraz and hits it with the Bloodstone's sword, but it merely ratchets down tighter on the gith's skull. The mind-gem on Du'minh's armor flashes with an inner fire, and he painfully struggles to his feet. Instantly seeing his companion's plight, he stumbles over to Daraz and starts pummeling 'Street' with his armor spikes. Vivec gets into the act too, using his fists to beat upon the wounded illithid, but it holds fast, working its tenticles into a screaming Daraz's skull.
The other illithid, 'Portal' sees that the melee has turned on its companion. It stabs its energy-encased blade into Vivec's side [damage below, critical not confirmed]. As it does so, the assembled gith notice the burns inflicted by the Bloodstone start to heal before their eyes.
The Bloodstone psion casts a quick glance at Daraz's plight, but decides instead to keep concentrating on the greater threat, the unwounded 'Portal'. Once again, the air between the two ripples with heat.
"Think you *know* of fire, ghaik? You *know* nothing!"
The Bloodstone's amber eyes light up with an inner flame, almost as if the inside of his skull was filled with fire. 'Portal' turns back towards him and the two lock eyes. An awful stench of cooking illithid slime fills the sewer, drowning out all else and bringing the assembled gith close to retching. The illithid starts to scream ... and this time does not stop. The illithid's shreeks must seem like music to the Bloodstone's ears for he begins to laugh maniacly as his eyes light up further.
"Now you will *know* the flame!"
The illithid screams as its flesh first blisters, then blackens. Soon, however, the illithid's skin is bypassed, as the Bloodstone's mind of flame touches the illithid's mind. First smoke, then shooting flames, come from the monster's eye sockets. Impossibly, it does not die right away, but continues to screech out its unfathomable agony. Laughing at its pain, the psion does not desist until his foe is a blackened, smouldering husk.
Ya'shenn has just enough presence of mind to notice that the Bloodstone is apparently a pyrokineticist. That is only the most fleeting of impressions, though, for her mind has little room for anything beyond the weapon in her hands and Daraz's immediate peril.
The psion is familiar with the surge of adrenaline, but this time she begins to feel something she has only seldom experienced herself -- an almost blinding hatred and rage, an overwhelming urge to put down this abomination before it kills even more of the People. Under more normal circumstances, the Double-Edged would normally resist such an emotion -- if only because of its irrational strength -- but this time she gives in to the nascent battle-rage, only maintaining enough of a hold on her normal consciousness to guide the blade as accurately as possible.
Unconsciously gritting her teeth, the psion lashes out with the borrowed weapon, relying on years-ago weapons training and pure rage, hoping to land a hit on at least one of the Tamer's vital organs -- before her companion is violently divested of his own.
"Die! Die! Die!"
[Given that there are 3 people attacking 'Street' right now, Ya'shenn can probably get a flanking bonus on the attack roll. She will take a 5-foot step to get said bonus if necessary.]
...
Initiative = 16
Destruction Domain's Smite Ability- +4 to attack, +6 damage (equal to Rey's cleric level)
Harnessing negative energy, Rey continues with his fisticuffs.
Not rolling damage for fist 2- it's a nat. 1 ... hilarity ensues.
...
Ya'shenn impales the illithid with the sword and jinks it back and forth. The monster spasms and elbows her in the face. Then all three, Yashenn, Daraz, and 'Street', fall into the water ...
When Ya'shenn struggles back up, she sees, as the others do, that the ghaik is dead. Its eyes are pale and vacant, its form twiches spasticly.
... but its tenticles are still burried in Daraz's skull.
Was Ya'shenn too late? Would it matter if this gith's parents were yanki or zerth, if in the end he gave all in battle with the ghaik? Daraz's scalp is covered in blood and illithid slime , his eyes closed and jaw gritted down hard ...
Then, as Ya'shenn looks into his pain-contorted face, he opens his eyes!
Daraz is, barely, still alive, but 'Street' is not. Very carefully, his companions pull the flayer off of, or more acurately out of, Daraz. The sensation is the second worse that he has ever felt.
[Due to the horror of the situation and stench of burning illithid, everyone has to make either a fort or will save (your choice) or loose their last couple of meals. Anyone who does not post in the next hour is assumed to have failed this save, and may afterward be teased for having a weak stomach. Daraz has a -3 situation penalty on his save, but nobody's going to say anything if he looses it.]
{edit} Due to being a heartbeat away from having his brain torn out, I will give Daraz a character development bonus. I'll come up with something cool, OR Daraz can 'let go', in which case he'll die if you want to go for a new, full githyanki character.
[Rolling Will, but so tempted to forego the save entirely, due to Ya'shenn's weak stomach. ]
][She made it tho]
The Bloodstone walks up behind Ya'shenn and puts a hand on her shoulder. She looks at him and he smiles. Somehow, through a massive display of will power, she manages not to throw up.
"Well done." he nods approvingly, then retrieves his sword from the illithid's corpse. Flame errupts from the blade as soon as he touches it, searing the already-fatal wound as he withdraws the sword, and burning the illithid blood off before he re-shieths the blade.
He then bows to Ya'shenn, "I am Lahar the Burning Mind, Firebringer of the Band of Bloodstone."
(Fort save, Will post in full later tonight)
[OOC: Assuming here that Daraz appears to be stabilized enough for Ya'shenn to leave him alone for a few seconds.]
Less familiar with the atavistic rage than some of her kind, it takes the psion longer to recognize that the ghaik is truly dead, and longer for the searing hatred to start to wind down. It doesn't help that the psion is genuinely afraid of Tamers, above and beyond other illithids. Mind flayers despise their rebellious ex-thralls as a matter of course -- but killing Gith's children is part of a Tamer's mission in life, and they tend to be very good at it.
She's very aware of their prowess in physical combat, and it seems almost impossible that she, with her limited expertise when it comes to physical combat, had just finished off one of them with a blade.
Had we not just been incredibly lucky, that Tamer would be wearing our skulls as trophies.
~Daraz...?
He is certainly taking this calmly! For a few moments Ya'shenn envies him that trait she's observed in so many of her brothers, their insensitivity to violence. At least now she knows, spattered by the blood of an illithid warrior, that at least she's not a complete coward. In some things.
Firebringer...?! Did he really just say--?!
It's only through considerable effort of mind, and exercise of will, that the Double-Edged forces herself to stand. The effort of killing the Tamer has put her badly off balance. The part of the brain -- not often put to use, in her case -- that guides a sword blade shares little in common with the centers that control etiquette and polite speech, and for a few moments Ya'shenn has genuine difficulty accessing the latter.
The psion bows as deeply and formally as Lahar's vaunted title demands. "You honor us with your presence, Firebringer." Ya'shenn is about to say something else, then looks the Bloodstone directly in the eyes as something -- ever so belatedly -- occurs to her. The Tamer (Tamers?) had fully occupied her attention until this moment.
It isn't common, but there have been red-haired githyanki since the Liberator's generation -- probably even longer than that. The eyes, though, are very abnormal. And there was the way his mind had felt, and the fact he's a pyrokineticist...
He is a duthka'gith.
While Ya'shenn is skilled at concealing her emotions, she's not certain that she can completely obscure the instinctive flash of distaste she feels from a psion of Lahar's power. Then there is that brief startled look, one that the half-dragon has probably seen before, when a githyanki realizes his true race.
"It's fortunate indeed," she continues, recovering, "that you were in that particular place just then. At the time, I had good reason to believe one of these ghaik would be heading for the surface. It seems they changed their minds. I am grateful for your aid, and even moreso for the loan of your blade. This fight would have been much more -- unpleasant -- otherwise." The psion means what she says... mostly... even if she doesn't feel all that grateful just now.
"Thank you, sister. This night would have otherwise been just the typical drudgery of trading and cross-trading with the graith, but instead I got to kill a ghaik! Are you the commander of this band? What is your name?" If Lahar picked up on Ya'shenn's startled look at all, it served merely to amuse him.
Speaking of barbarians, some of them have a proverb... what was it? 'No good deed goes unpunished.' Yes, that's it. She had been the one who had found the Bloodstone and requested his assistance, after all.
She'd hoped to avoid giving her name, particularly with Schaaz-Khaal's reaction to it so recent in her mind. Particularly in light of Lahar's title. Perhaps the Tamer would have been better. I mean, it is quick. The brain itself doesn't feel pain, only the skull.
To the others, she sends, ~Someone should search the bodies of these ghaik, or at least what's left of them. 'Portal' is probably...a bit warm to the touch, though.
"I believe our band is a bit... informal. I am not its commander, though perhaps you could speak to the large Rish-i-Chal over there." Indeed, Ya'shenn does not covet such a position, and is eager to shove it off on Du'minh if at all possible. She does not mind influencing, but direct command is not to her taste. Technically, Gy-Nath is presumably the commander of this group, but he is not here.
Not willing to let Daraz go any longer -- and also hoping to divert at least some of Lahar's scrutiny, as well -- the psion turns to examine the horribly wounded gith and offer whatever help she can to him. She's not sure whether or not he's going to make it. "As for myself? I am Ya'shenn of the Double-Edged Mind, psion of the Band of Amber." She puts every effort into keeping even the slightest trace of irony out of her voice as she adds, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, I am sure."
"Informal, perhaps, but effective. I am honored to meet such slayers." Lahar bows first to Ya'shenn again, then to the Rish-i-chal.
Faint echoes of the mind flayers’ taint, mental as well as physical, still dims the Rish-i-Chal’s perception. He registered the presence of another gith and its psionic display of power to crush one of their foes, but the other illithid had preoccupied him wholly.
Now the mind flayers were slain and Daraz seemed alive… enough. Du’minh kneels to examine his head wounds, inspecting if there’s any contamination and removing bits of illithid slime. It is only when the Bloodstone psion speaks that Du’minh gives him his full attention, and he rises from his kneeling position to his full towering height and bows ever so slightly.
“Du’minh of the Rish-i-Chal, warrior of the Band of Steel.”
“Your aid is appreciated but we cannot linger here – one of our numbers has brinked cerebral extraction, and we need to have him properly tended to.”
Ironically, Du’minh fails to notice fine blood traces trailing down from his own temples as he speaks, but the Rish is currently more concerned about how their encounter will impact their impending raids. He overlooks Lahar briefly for magical emanations, then sends note through the mindlink:
“Excellent work, sister. We should head back to Gy-Nath and discuss how the assassination missions have developed beyond our expectations, then see that we all recover in full.”
Du’minh picks up his bonded flail and flicks off the worst bits of tissue, then rests the Arbiter over his shoulder for now rather than replace it in its holding contraption. He turns to inspect the illithids and their possessions, starting with examining their blades.
OOC: What relations, if any, do the Steels have with the Bloodstones?
Ya'shenn allows herself to relax a little. If her name meant anything in particular to the Firebringer, he was choosing not to make an issue of it. Indeed, he'd been unfailingly polite, even pleasant. She looks up from the wounded 'githyanki' -- odd, how fiercely she'd resented Daraz's questionable and inconvenient racial heritage not long before, only to be desperately worried for him now.
"Have you been in the city long, brother? I should hope I would have remembered you if we had met before." She deliberately keeps the question open-ended, for there are many githyanki in Sigil who would not care to have their doings questioned too closely. It's not inconceivable that something similar might be true of half-dragons.
Ya'shenn busies herself with Daraz again while she converses silently with the others.
~Brother, I would very much like to take a look at the... 'listening post' those two ghaik were using, if we have the time for it. They spoke more than once of an 'array,' which, from their description, appears to be capable of tracking psionic activity. I would either disable or appropriate whatever devices they have left behind -- and we may learn something more of their plans, and more about what the Enemy knows, as well. We should not give up an opportunity so hard won.
~I do not know this Firebringer, but he is a psion himself, though of a different discipline. He may have some insight to offer. We might also give some thought to disposing of the corpses of these Enslavers -- and a pyrokineticist is one way to handle that, though I want to examine the two ghaik myself for clues before that takes place.
“Agreed. I shall gather what valuables and documents the ghaiks might carry, and take their heads for spiritual interrogation, then join you for scouring their hideout.”
“The Bloodstone psion is unknown to me, and though his aid was welcomed I would not involve him if it can be helped. Operations the scope of which we soon will embark upon cannot be allowed to be compromised.”
The Rish-I-Chal's concern is not an expression of mistrust of Lahar. He has simply recently experienced treachery so deep that he would rather avoid unneeded risks, when at last there has been such an immense breakthrough for his mission in Git’riban.
Particularly the infiltration within the Silver Eyes motivates him to exhibit even greater vigilance than before.
"Have you been in the city long, brother?
"The portal I used opens once a month, and I must remain here for about another week, before returning. This was not my first time in the City of Doors, however."
Ya'shenn and Du'minh can see by the look of the pyrokineticist's gear that he has most likely been sleeping in the street, though he carries himself with pride. Ya'shenn notices that Lahar has the leather statchel which he was buying from the scruffy dwarf on the street.
"Well met, Du'minh of The Steel, may you conquor."
(OOC: I assume that a 12 is not enough to suceed on the save.)
Daraz is dimly aware of the fact that he is vomiting. Very gradually, he comes to his senses...and fully apreciates how badly damaged his skull is. Griimmacing, he accepts the flask offered to him by Lahar. Feeling slightly better, he shakily retrieves a potion from his cloak and untoppers it. He tries to stand, but thinks better of it and sttles for sitting instead. (Potion of cure moderate wounds to heal 14 points of damage)
”Silver winds at your back, Firebringer.”
Du’minh gives a parting nod, then turns his attention to the illithids and unsheathes his ring-dagger. With well-practiced technique he decapitates both and secures the heads at his belt, considerably separated from other gear.
Then he carefully searches their bodies to recover all worthwhile possessions.
OOC: Taking 20 on Searching the bodies.
OOC: Taking 20 on Searching the bodies.
The party finds that, to remove Daraz from the grasp of 'Street', they must sever the tenticles. They then carfully remove them, but one is so deep that they dare not pull it out with the neccissary force, for fear of injuring Daraz further. Thus he is left with a good portion of his scalp dissolved away, and an illithid tenticle still imbedded in the back of his head. The head in Du'minh's bag is tenticle-less, and still has bits of Daraz's skull between its teeth.
'Portal' is a smoking pile of carbon, but his gear survived. Du'minh can collect a blackened skull, darker on the inside. It is a point of honor that Lahar left the trophy for them, and laid no claim to loot. It shows that he considered the kill, and the operation, 'theirs'. 'Portal' carried a small 'leather' satchel with a few crystals. There is a second dorje, and a dozen smaller crystals. The satchel is burned, but mostly intact. Considering his experience with the hubris crystal earlier, Du'minh wisely touches none. 'Portal' also wielded a shortsword with faceted crystals in the hilt. It no longer seithes with energy, but it is a well-made blade.
'Street' has little on its person. The matched pair of scimitars is also well-made, and closer inspection reveals drowic design influences, but they seem otherwise unremarkable. From these and other clues, especially from what was revealed in the fight, the party surmises that these tamers were fairly young recruits. Moderately experianced, 'Street' slightly more so perhaps, but it is likely this duty was part of their training.
Once the Firebringer leaves, Ya'shenn has the time to form conclusions about Daraz's condition. Her shoulders slump with visible relief as the marksman begins to show further signs of life and consciousness. He's alive, for now, but there's not much more positive to be said. It's rare to come so close to such a death and survive.
Unless Daraz prevents her from doing so, she kneels beside him, holding the ambiguous gith as he empties the contents of his stomach, and trying to repress her own feelings of disgust and horror.
Ya'shenn looks up at the others. "I'm going to have to heal him. It... should make him fit to travel, but it will drain the dregs of my power. I can buy time for him, but he will need a healer beyond my own small talents. Otherwise he will develop an infection of the brain. There's at least one on Transcendent Way we can take him to."
The woman visibly hesitates. She seems almost... afraid. It is a different sort of fear than facing down a Tamer in the midst of battle. "I... " She tries again. "I'll have to take on his injuries and his... pain, myself. I'd... appreciate it if someone would make sure I don't injure myself further if I collapse." Or scream, or vomit, or otherwise disgrace myself.
Assuming again that Daraz does not prevent her from doing so, Ya'shenn reaches into the very last of her power, assensing just how awful his injuries are. She reaches up and touches the gem set on her forehead for a moment, reassuring herself of its presence, for she may well need its ability to help her focus throughout blinding pain.
[Manifesting Empathic Transfer and Body Adjustment. Azure, I think I'll let you handle the description of the gruesome results...]
[Oh, and the Will save, including the -3 penalty.]
{edited}
Ya'shenn sees Daraz reaching for his potion, and she recognizes it as a healing draught. She kneals beside him and applies it to the worst places of missing skull. The magic potion is effective in regrowing much of the missing bone, though she naturally fears far more for the tissue underneath.
Ya'shenn closes her eyes and enters a trance ...
Blood begins to form on her head, first in three spots (she wisely bypasses trying to heal the wound the tenticle is imbedded in), then spreading across the top of her scalp. It takes a tremendous amount of will for her not to start screaming. The brain has no pain receptors it is true, but the physical horror of decerebration is only half of it. Ya'shenn *KNOWS* it was not just killing him. No, it was trying to do something else as well, for she still feels the psychic residue left by flayer. The illithid's tenticles wrapped nearly all the way around Daraz's brain, the deeper, unremovable tenticle still twiching slightly with nerve reactions in the gith's cerebellum ...
This realization is the last straw. Ya'shenn stands and stumbles away, vomiting uncontolably. Several yards down the sewer, she re-focuses herself enough to heal the damage she absorbed from Daraz.
Luckily for Daraz (and the rest of the party, likely enough) Ya'shenn knows that the illithid could not have drawn a mind mark. Such things usually involve alchemical mixtures or powdered psionicly-attuned crystals.
Daraz feels shiveringly cold all over, in addition to a throbbing pain in his head. Strangely, he has a blank area in his field of vision, just off-center to the right, and more prevalent in his right eye.
Du’minh overlooks the eerie act, understanding little of the specifics despite having experienced similar treatment on the field of battle. He takes a new inspection of Daraz to see what effect potion and psionic treatment has had, and finding bone regrowth of his skull tissue he gives him a reassuring pat.
“Let’s get you to a healer that can safely remove that new headgear of yours.”
The Rish stands to check up on Ya’shenn and waits respectfully until she has composed herself, then walks over and offers her an arm, should she need it.
Ya'shenn hesitates for an instant, not wanting to break the veneer of Githyanki stoicism, then leans heavily on the offered arm. While she feels better than Daraz is right now, the psion certainly isn't feeling very good. One of the downsides to being both a telepath and a psionic healer is a much greater than usual familiarity with the pain of others. She's vicariously experienced any number of injuries, but even within that portfolio of knowledge, Daraz's wounds were... bad. The Double-Edged isn't particularly strong, physically, but her fingertips press into Du'minh's arm so hard that it is actually... uncomfortable.
~Thank you.
Aloud, she says, "The array." She tries to ignore the blood on her scalp, or the way her entire braincase is feeling right now. "We should not leave it behind us." Even if we only end up smashing the thing.
The psion has enough presence of mind to remember not to leave her crossbow behind. It's not as distinctive as, say, the dagger worn by members of her Order, but it was clearly made by githyanki hands. It would not do for future illithids to come across it. Once she feels that the sympathetic pain has died down to a manageable level, and that her own self-healing is complete, she lets go of the Rish and picks it up off the ground.
As they head towards the array, Du’minh shows Ya’shenn the crystal-filled satchel.
“This seems like psionically imbued tools, perhaps they and the rod-like crystal from the battle might prove useful to you.”
The Rish gazes warily at the pipe entrance, half-expecting more intellect devourers and explosive crystals to roll out any second. Then he reminds himself that Daraz’ condition may be deteriorating minute by minute and without further hesitation climbs up and into the pipe, helping the others up as well.
Even if it failed to fire (at the worst possible time), Ya'shenn's crossbow is still loaded. She takes care to remove the bolt, making sure to bring it with her rather than discarding it.
“This seems like psionically imbued tools, perhaps they and the rod-like crystal from the battle might prove useful to you.”
The Rish gazes warily at the pipe entrance, half-expecting more intellect devourers and explosive crystals to roll out any second. Then he reminds himself that Daraz’ condition may be deteriorating minute by minute and without further hesitation climbs up and into the pipe, helping the others up as well.
Ya'shenn visually inspects the dorjes and the other crystals, but does not touch them -- not right now. She's sure that at least some of them are explosives, but do these items bear any markings or inscriptions, or anything to distinguish some crystals from others?
~I can... and probably should... examine them in closer detail later. Bear in mind that at least some of those are probably explosive.
She keeps an eye on Daraz as they enter the pipe that the ghaik came out of. The psion knows that he's fairly well stabilized for now, but he is definitely not in good shape.
[Appropriate Psi-related skill checks on the dorjes and crystals, to see what she can glean from them. Also, Spot and Listen checks, in case anything else nasty is in the area...]
The foursome (and Rey'arteb's hidden passenger) climb into the pipe, and carefully crawl up towards the listening post. Daraz needs help, of course, but thanks to Ya'shenn's efforts, it is not impossible. Howevever, it is Du'minh, in his heavy armor, who must d-door up into the pipe after boosting the others.
The listening post is an old cistern, shaped like a hexagon about ten foot across. It has been modified such that most of the water entering falls into a contrived basin in one corner, with a narrow drain in the bottom. The overflow from the basin spills onto the floor to be carried away by one of the 4' diameter pipes, which intersects the cistern a foot below the floor. The 4' diameter pipe they are crawling up now opens about a yard off the floor of the cistern, hence why it was dry. There is also a ladder leading up into a narrower pipe in the ceiling.
There is a short wooden table and four short stools in the listening post. One of the stools has a piece of rawhide draped over it, upon which is drawn a very complex pattern of lines. At some of the intersections of the lines are smooth pebbles, some dark, some light. There are also two small wooden bowls with dark and light pebbles in them on the table. By the look of things, light was winning.
On the table sits what almost looks like a metal tree with branches pointing upwards. At the end of each branch or arm sits a crystal, perhaps three dozen in all. Some crystals glow slightly, while others pulse between dim and brighter. At the center of the array, the top of the 'trunk' splits into sixteen parts, which form a cage in which sits a massive piece of flawless clear quartz a full two feet in diameter. The entire affair's surface is crafted to resemble flowing liquid. The top of the main crystal's cage is crafted to look like an illithid's head with two tiny rubies for eyes. Closer examination reveals that several crystals are missing, especially from a ring of 'branches' close to the central crystal. The strangest thing about the array is that the 'branches' actually wave like a wind was blowing through them, as some crystals attract or repell their neighbors. The ring of branches with missing crystals are still, however, and it throws the entire effect off somewhat, as waves of 'wind' encounter the empty 'branches' and are blocked.
Also on the table are four large metal containers, each one like a bowl with a metal lid. Two are sealed, two open.
[Psicraft check for the crystals/dorjes off Street and Portal. +2 bonus to the result if anything involves powers from the telepathy discipline. If you use synergy bonuses, it'd be another +2 for having multiple ranks in Knowledge: Psionics.]
[Psicraft check for the array.]
{edited: ... Done (I think)}
About a dozen of the crystals are the missing ones from the central array. Ya'henn 'hears' Mim's voice talking when she handles a few of them, and they appeared to be stored in a separate pocket in the satchel. Also mixed in with them are similar ones which appear to contain tortured nightmares. Ya'shenn thinks they are psionic traps, until she realizes they are all from the old sharpener's perspective. There are a fwe more that are likely power sources or detection crystals, integral parts of the array which were removed as the ghaik fled.
There are two dorjes are going to be activated by thinking about the power they contain, of that much she is sure. Both have a line of carven runes filled in with silver along one side, in qualith. Ya'shenn's reading of one, she is fairly sure, means that its power is "force". This is the one that 'Street' grabbed, and was subsequently knocked out of its hand. The other one is more confusing, and will take some research to decipher [because the DM hasn't decided what it is yet 
]
There are three more small-fist-sized crystals like the one that exploded. Each one has a qualith mark signifying "explode" carved into several facets, and a single mark signifying "wait" on a single facet. It is generally a good idea to think "Wait" before thinking "Explode" while concentrating on the crystal, but they might also be remotely triggered at range (line of sight) by not doing so.
Both the dorjes and the crystal grenades require, at a minimum, the ability to use missive or a successful use psi item check while held. Illithids can use telepathy at will, of course.
DC 19 for the passive telepathic array:
Surmised powers:
1) Generates a field of nondetection.
2) Able to passively record psionic eminitions from mind-marked thralls at a respectable range. The old sharpener's shop is way down in the Heart of the Void, hundreds of yards away at least.
3) Able to detect and possibly analyze auras in the immediate vacinity, though only of the truly psionicly gifted, for the illithids did not notice the party, only Lahar. Likely, the fact that Ya'shenn was so drained aided the the party. Had she been anywhere close to full power, the array would have detected her. At a close range, it reacts to her as if a weak but steady breeze were blowing from her, and certain crystals glow brighter.
Thing is, without training it its use, Ya'shenn doesn't know how exactly to 'read' the array. She thinks she sees some of Lahar's influence on it, in the form of a counter-breeze, but it has also been partially disabled. It will take trial-and-error experimentation to even replace the vital components that the pair of watchers removed before they fled, and an ever greater task to deduce how the whole thing opperates.
“Great Liberator! This crystal contraption is huge and seems more intricate than a Slaadi’s mindset!”
Though not expecting any magical auras, Du’minh nevertheless studies the crystal-tree carefully from a variety of angles. With no noteworthy insight into novel psionic contraptions he leaves the device for Ya’shenn to examine and manipulate, and glances about the rest of the room.
“The patterned hide here seems more like a game, however,” he thinks privately, then steps over and looks into the open metal containers.
Deeply absorbed in her examination of the array, Ya'shenn just barely manages to notice what the Rish is prying into. "You probably don't want to do that..."
If you're squeamish. She's virtually certain of what they contain, after all.
[OOC: Working on a long post, but thought it dramatically appropriate that she interject here. :mrgreen: ]
OOC:
Actually, having read Lords of Madness I suspect the same, but horrible discoveries are always fun (and Du'minh is not exactly the squeamish type)
“That crystal tree may be worth studying more fully, but I would rather we move it to a safe locale first. Illithid House will eventually notice that their lackeys have failed to report in and send someone to investigate.”
Du’minh reaches out through the mindlink to one of their operatives who have been more silent of late, hoping for some aid in this task:
“Gy-Nath, Du’minh here. We have much to report and a situation that needs some subtle handing.” The Rish sends a brief telepathic report of recent events, along with a mental picture of the crystal tree. “This should be taken into safe holding without raising attention – if we carry it through the sewers to a suitable exit, could you or a trusted associate of yours help us in this regard?”
Casts: Inflict Serious Wounds, and gets in position to strike the squid now grappling Daraz.