"Sure, we can do that when we go rest for the night. You'll see, it's a pretty sweet accomodation." Rantic Dragore the Blue-faced Drow seems in pretty good spirits as he pieces the maps together. Alright here we go:" "Great Hort," Rantic taps the east door from the Giant room with his gloved finger, "That way then."
The room is 15'x35' with the long side running north/south. The only door is the one you are looking though. it is just south of the centerline on the west wall. In the room are dead rats. Hundreds of dead rats. But they are all standing up, and seem to be moving around. Some are rotting corpses, others are just skeletons. All of them are looking at a man standing in the center of the room. He is wearing a black robe, and is facing the door. The red symbol that Danton described is prominent on the front of his robe, and he lacks both eyes, as well as his lips and the surrounding skin up to his cheek bones, and down to his jawline. The missing skin area extends back to his ears. He looks up at you and speaks, "Ah, there you all are! Wonderful! I have been waiting a while. I almost expected you to get farther then this. Well, no worries. You will get there before long. I have high hopes for you all." Contrary to his apparent disability, he speaks quite well.
Rantic hears the voice and whispers: "That's the guy who tried to kill me! Why is he talking?" He takes the wand of Detect Lies and activates it, peeks inside and is unsure whether to attack outright or to hear him out.
Dragore doesn't reply but looks around trying to spot the creature that has the man's eyes, hoping it's true what Danton said. He's still battleready as well.
Rantic looks at his aura expecting to see sign of betrayal, lies and dishonesty, while continuing to search for the eyes as well. He doesn't step forward either. "You tried to kill me, what do you expect? I want you to tell me you don't want to do anything I might consider bad to me or the people travelling with me for as long as you exist, and that your organisations doesn't want to do that either and maybe then I will hear you out."
" Maybe you don't bite but I'm sure your skelettal rats 'd love to get some meat, besides, no offense but this room smells putrid. How about you come outside to have a lil' chat ? "
"I have nothing but the best intentions regarding you and your companions. I want you to get to the bottom level and destroy Dredmor. And I have issued orders to my people that you are to be left unharmed so you can destroy Dredmor. And if my rats bother you, I can remove them." He lays a piece of cloth on the ground, and it becomes a hole. The rats all rush forward to jump in the hole. He then picks up the hole, and folds it up and tucks it away. "There, is that better?"
"Intentions are important, but they only tell half the story, you can regret future actions but still do them. Answer me this: Is hurting me or this party an option for you? Do you have plans to hurt or disadvantage us is in any manner? Do you see us as assets to be used? Realistically, how big do you think the chance is you or your people will never harm us in any way ever again?"
"At the moment, no. No, not at all. Yes. That last one is a multi-part answer. If you do not attack me, and continue on you current path, which I take to be the destruction of Dredmor, I will never harm you directly. I cannot speak to indirect and unintentional harm. My people have orders not to harm you, but I do not have direct control over each individual. I cant stop something I am not present for. Are you satisfied?"
"Satisfied? I am a Drow. I come from a society that prides itself in subterfuge. Everything that happens is a lie, deceit is the order of the day and conspiracies and changing loyalties are as common as air is on the surface. Even marriages are about the struggle for power and rely on temporary advantages or secret plotting to work. No, I am not satisfied, nor shall I be. You are telling the truth, I can see that. But actions still speak louder than words. Your actions will be weighed. Also, I will not forgive you for your attack. I simply see no need to do so. But I'll give you ample opportunity to explain why you changed your tune." Rantic steps inside and acts friendly towards the man. Inside however, he's still tense and ready for anything.
" Hmmm not planning to disavantadge us... But didnt one of your people did some casting when we were fighting Ettins ? Rantic seemed quite unhappy about that so... why did your minion do that ? If you plan on mutual help, you will not have any of your necromancers interfere with us again. " Torma goes in as well and steps to the side.
"Rantic, I am sorry for what happened before between us. At the time, you were an enemy, and potential threat. We did not know you planned to come here. Please, accept my apology. I know you can see I am telling the truth." He looks to the others, "As I said, I do not have the others in thrall. If someone in my group did inconvenience you, they will be severely punished. They all have orders not to hinder you in any way. But, to business." He begins pacing back and forth as he talks, "I would like to encourage you to move on to the next floor. Having explored this floor in great detail, there simply isn't anything else of consequence here. Wait, I take that back. There are two useful rooms left. One is the second Inconsequentia statue, which will net you all some useful practice and a probably useful magic item. Having a priest of Inconsequentia will help you there. The second is the other Krong anvil. That one is fun. I will place a portal here that will take you to the statue first. Once you are finished there, a portal will appear to take you to the anvil. from there, a portal will take you to the stairs. Please accept this as a peace offering. We all want Dredmor gone. There is no reason to fight each other." He points at the ground, and a glowing circle appears. "You know I am telling you the truth, Rantic. Think about it."
Despite his distrust of this disgusting-looking man, Danton is eager to find the next Inconsequentia statue.
Hort thinks about everything that was said, and also tries to gauge how powerful this man is. (Sense Motive (+4))
