Readying another cold iron arrow, the motion fluid and easy, Aladir aims at the next tiefling in the line, releasing the missile to speed toward its target.
This arrow, like the last, finds its' mark, burying itself deep in the tiefling's chest, stealing the breath from his lungs and leaving him injured seriously.
Pulling her trusty wand out of her belt pouch, Alikia sticks the magical stick between the gaps of the banister, whispering the code word. Two bright blue bolts shoot out, both colliding with each enemy tieflings head as the energy shimmers in the air. "Ezro, I just remembered! Desk-rak-i is some sort of Apocalypse bringer. You might want to show them what your goddess can do, eh?"
Hyram, Hyram, Quinn 18
Quinn, Quinn 18
Frickin really!
Alikia, now able to see the guards, sends a magic missile towards each of the two she can see clearly, wounding them. Quinn forced to drop his shield, responds with trying to bite the cultist but misses.
Two of the tieflings continue to try and hit Hyram, and the one tiefling and two cultists in melee with Quinn try to hit him, but all miss their targets. The other cultist in the back yells at Quinn to "fall".
Aladir sends an arrow into the back of another guard, not quite killing it, while Ezro waits for a chance to move up, and Hyram misses the tiefling in front of him.
Alikia UP
Angered at not being able to hit the tiefling, Hyram tries again and again misses.
He prays aloud for Iomedae to guide his hand.
Quinn ignores the command, tearing his sword free of its scabbard and attempting to slash it through the cultist's throat in one sweeping move.
"Pew, pew! Take that you self-righteous butt heads!" Alikia says as she ejects two more missiles out of her wand, aiming the at the barely standing teifling, and the one standing in front of Hyram. Smiling as she manages to amuse herself by making sound effects, she watches as Quinn misses with his attack on the cultist.
Ezro seeing the massive amounts of enemies still, he will reach out with a Touch of Good, and give some of Iomedeas divine blessing to Hyram.
"Brother! Take up the Inheritors cause and strike true! Smite these villainous heathens!"
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Regardless of the action taken by the enemies, Aladir is going to take another shot at one of them. If they decide to bring the fight to him, he'll take a five-foot step backward and fire at that one. Otherwise, the nearest enemy he can fire at.
Frickin really !! Two 1's for damage !!
Alikia, casts magic missiles at the two tieflings in front of Hyram, downing one and hurting the other more. Quinn draws Radiance and swings wildly at the cultist next to him, missing.
Seeing the human continuously miss, all four of the foes that can, swing at the Paladin. Three of them hit him and he is badly wounded.
Still being ignored, for now, Aladir sends an arrow into the back of the tiefling guard that Alikia wounded, but the creature, although wobbly on its feet remains standing. Ezro provides some luck to Hyram, but the Inquisitor is having a bad day and misses even with the Touch of Good.
Alikia UP
Quinn pulls the blade in and makes a more measured slash against the closest cultist. This one strikes home, leaving the cultist nearly dead on his feet.
Quinn quickly pulls a hand away from the blade and lets healing energy flow back into his damaged frame.
Hyram grits his teeth and swings his sword.
A lesser man would be shaken in his faith, but Hyram continues to silently pray.
Watching as Hyram keeps the teiflings distracted, Alikia ponders for a moment what to do, before bringing her wand down for a third time against the agents of chaos. "You're doing great Hyram! Keep it up!" She cheers as two more missiles assault the two tieflings, bouncing off their horned heads before vanishing into thin air.
Aladir's face a grimly-set mask, his movements practically mechanical, he nocks another arrow to his bowstring, letting fly at the next tiefling in the line .
Unfortunately, the elf's run of solid hits couldn't last forever, and his latest arrow flies over the shoulder of his target, solidly embedding itself in the wall behind him.
Ezro will again reach out and touch Hyrams shoulder with a touch of good fortune, imbuing him with some of Iomedeas sacred power.
---------------------------------------
Quinn 18
Quinn 18 - threat
Quinn 18 - not confirmed (just!)
Alikia, continuing to use the wand splits the missiles again, and this time puts down two of the enemy, a guard and a cultist. Quinn attacks the cultist in front of him, almost killing the man but not quite, and then quickly heals some of his own wounds.
The remaining tiefling and the cultist both swing at Quinn and hit him, the cultist just missing a vital spot. The two cultists in the rear cast a spell on themselves and a small shimmering globe surrounds them.
Aladir run of hits finally ends and he misses the remaining guard, while Ezro provides Iomedea blessing on Hyram, who manages to miss again.
Alikia UP
Hyram beseeches Iomedae to allow him to strike these foes as he steps forward and this time the goddess answers his prayers.
Thanks to The Inheritor and your encouragement Alikia!
Storing her mostly spent wand back into her belt pouch, Alikia removes her crossbow from her waist as she prepares to follow Ezro in pressing the enemy clerics back towards the end of the hallway. "Heh, no problem Hyram! Let's keep pressing forward." Nudging Ezro to do something, the tall half-elf waits patiently to move into the second floor hall.
Quinn completes his attack routine, ending the last cultist in the hallway and kicking the falling corpse to the side, leaving his path clear to the last two sheltering in the room. "Two to go," he smirks his black-toothed smile at the remaining cultists.
Quinn lets another burst of healing energy flow through him, knitting together the worst of his wounds.
Ezro nods to Alikia, "Not a bad plan!" he says with a smirk and a wink.
Moving up the stairs he will situate himself in the room and out of the way, taking stock of the situation before deciding what to do next. Supposedly the others should be handling the last few easily.
Seeing Quinn is hurt, but healing himself, he will abstain for using his resources for the time being.
"For Iomedea my friends! Push these heretics and defilers back! May she guide your blades in her cause!"
Quinn 18
Quinn 18
Quinn 18
Alikia continues to encourage Hyram which seems to help the warrior. Quinn attacks the cultist in front of him, just about splitting the man in two pieces. He then quickly heals himself of most of his wounds.
The tiefling swings at Quinn and misses, and both cultists move into the corridor, swing and miss Quinn. However, Quinn takes the opportunity to swing at the moving cultist and kills him.
Aladir and Hyram manage to finish off the last guard as Ezro moves up into the corridor to encourage his fellows.
The last cultist yells, "Deskari, we fight and die for you!" as he continues fighting on.
Alikia UP
"Yes... Kindly hurry up and die for him, would you?" Quinn sidesteps and slashes a vicious uppercut well wide of the last cultist.
Hyram will take a five-foot step and stab the last cultist. Die in Iomedae's light!
"And it's our pleasure to have you do so!" Aladir jabs back at the cultist's shout to the death, firing another arrow around Hyram.
Ezro continues to support his allies by encouraging them, telling the blessings of Iomedea and the Acts she performed as a mortal on Golarion.
-----------------------------
Quinn 18
Alikia steps up onto the floor proper, reloads her crossbow and fires at the remaining cultist, the bolt hitting him dead center. Quinn tries to finish him off but misses, as the cultist gets one last missing swing in before Hyram and Aladir cut him down.
Well now that we finished off the fodder, let's find the boss and end this! Hyram says as he pulls his sword out of the last cultist.
Aladir responds only by drawing another arrow from his quiver, then pauses for a moment. "Y'know, I've been firing so many arrows lately, a thought occurs to me that it might be interesting to try something new." he muses, drawing a second arrow from his quiver and turning to an empty wall, testing the draw of the weapon with two arrows nocked to the string.
After pulling it to full draw and holding it a moment, he grins. "Yes...yes, I think I can do this. Accuracy may suffer a bit, but if I can stay as good a shot as I was in that last fight, maybe that won't be an issue." he says, releasing the draw on the bow, though he keeps the two arrows in hand and ready to fire.
"From what I have heard, two IS better than one, Aladir." Ezro says with a chuckle.
Stepping up to the group, he checks to determine that the cultists are well and truly dead before raising his holy symbol, allowing the warmth of positive energy to flow over the group, "Perhaps some quick healing first though before moving on. I know some of us have some wounds I would hate to see reopen in the coming fights."
Taking a short moment to catch his breath, he continues, "I do warn you though, my friends. It appears that the blessings that The Inheritor has granted me for the day seem to be running thin. I do hope there is not much more ahead of us."
----------------------------------------------
"I am weary, too," Quinn commiserates. He gathers his fallen shield, strapping it to his back and keeping his sword drawn. "I will sleep soundly, no doubt. But, it will be the sleep of the just, not the exhausted."
He flexes out the cramps in his hands from gripping his sword through the fight, then unslings his pack and opens it. From within, he produces four potions that can heal even the most serious wounds and hands them to each of his companions. "I have some healing power left within me. But, if Ezro's blessings are close to their end, then I insist you all carry at least one of these."
"Prepare yourselves," he says closing his pack and readying his sword.
Quinn turns through the door the cultists attacked from. He keeps his sword leading as he circles the massive table, before looking around the room.
Before the group moves on, Aladir re-checks the security of the Rod of Cancellation that he is carrying. After making certain it is secured, he looks to the others. "By the way...just to make sure my intentions are clear. I don't have any intention of making a noble fight of it to the wardstone fragment. If I see an opening to get to to it, touch it with the Rod, and see this thing done before any and all demons are laid low, I'm taking it." he says, trying to keep his voice at a low enough volume that there won't be any chance of any less-than-welcome presences eavesdropping on them.
I would not see this place left to the demons and cultists, Quinn grouses in a low grumble. "But, you are in the right. That is a fight for another day. If we get sight on the Wardstone, I will clear the path. We will see to it that you touch that menhir, should all the Abyss stand before us. Then we will flee or fight as it suits us.
Following behind Quinn, Alikia moves around some of the papers on the table, trying to discern the purpose of this meeting room. Unable to find anything useful, she merely shrugs before leaning up against a wall, waiting to see where the others want to go. "I agree. The cultist won't fight clean, so we should keep that in mind. Aladir, if you get a chance, go for it. We might not get another shot."
"I agree with Alikia, our window of opportunity may be slim. Its best to take it as it appears." Ezro says, checking his gear before moving into line.
Hyram will follow Quinn into the room keeping an eye out for foes.
+1 vs traps
Stacks of scrolls, books, maps, and more sit atop a large hexagonal table in this room. The walls are painted with detailed maps of Sarkoris, over which features of the Worldwound have been painted.
Searching thru the stacks of scrolls, Aladir finds two that are interesting. One is a magical scroll that he gives to Alikia, who in turn gives to Ezro who tells the group that it is a Scroll of Restoration. The other is a NOTE that mentions Irabeth fathers sword.
Quinn reads the note over Aladir's shoulder. "I imagine Irabeth will not be pleased to read this. We should tell her. But, this is not a time for scavenger hunts... even for an heirloom of an ally."
Agreed. Let Us move on! The Inquisitor says grim-faced.
"No, likely not pleased at all. But there may yet be an opportunity to recover her heirloom in the future. Regardless, as you said, right now we have bigger fish to fry. I'm ready to go when you all are."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Quinn leads the group out of the room after bundling up the documents to be brought to the Eagle Watch. Going to the door across the hallway, he opens it and there are six cots sitting in two orderly rows in this room. The bedding has
been tossed on the ground, and an iron lockbox lies on its side, empty. A lidless box holds scraps of moldering food, while a pair of large barrels nearby look to be filled with water.
Moving down the hallway to the next door, Quinn opens it. The southern portion of this room holds a wide alabaster basin filled with bloody entrails. The outside of the basin is carved with images of warriors around a raised sun, holding longswords aloft. A flight of stairs ascends to the west.
Standing around the basin are six undead, and they turn towards the adventurers and starting walking slowly towards you with fists raised.
Aladir UP
For the Inheritor! Hyram cries as he runs into the room and towards a zombie slashing him with his longsword.
Aladir steps quickly into the room, standing away from the stairway and next to the room's entryway , hoping to take advantage of the momentary advantage of first strike to deal a decisive blow to one of the undead, one that he will likely not repeat since does not carry a bladed weapon.
Quinn steps in with Hyram and Aladir. "Just when I thought I'd seen all the atrocities these cultists could've conceived of..." As Hyram challenges one column of zombies, Quinn steps to the other, slashing the leading undead back fully to death.
Seeing Hyram prepare to charge, Ezro reaches out, touching him on the shoulder, "Go with the Inheritors grace!"
----------------------------------
Aladir steps quickly into the room and shoots at the zombie closest to him, wounding it severely. Alikia moves behind Quinn so she can see into the room and reloads her crossbow. Quinn steps into the room and finishes off the zombie that Aladir had wounded. Ezro provides Hyram with a touch of the Inheritors Grace, which Hyram uses to hit the closest zombie to him as he moves into the room.
The zombie next to Hyram swings at him and misses. The other four stagger up to be next to Hyram and Quinn, ready to slam the warriors.
Aladir UP