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Faliana gives a small mental sigh as the were bat doesn't target her. She let's Moke move about as he wishes, but does take a moment to talk to everyone. "He's definitely a lycanthrope and is probably pretty much invulnerable to anything not silver... and apparently these weapons. If what the prisoner was saying is right he's a recent convert as he's apparently Kaghaze, the patrol leader everyone was talking about in town, Dale."
While Faliana is running her mouth off, Moke runs right up to the base of the ledge where the bat man is hanging out drawing the spear as he goes. At the base of the ledge, he pauses for a second letting Fali's body catch it's breath while he examines the rock surface in front of him. He makes sure to keep one hand off the spear in case he has to block an arrow.
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Brady and Dale both fire crossbows at the were-creature across the cavern. Brady's shot goes wide, but Dale's manages to clip the creature slightly, the bolt leaving a dark painful furrow across the werebat's hide.
Dru feels a familiar light caress from Tad's invisible tongue, healing some of her wounds, but not many. She continues to fire her bow, slowly advancing as she does so, but her second shot is not as well aimed as the first, and she too misses. A moment later, Faliana, perhaps motivated slightly by her current spirit, rushes right past her, running across to the far platform.
The medium finds herself at the base of that rocky rise, but with her foe still out of reach. A quick assessment shows that it appears climbable, but quite difficult, and she'd have to take her time, and would need both hands free... and she'd be vulnerable the whole way.
Monty continues to fight with the tiny demon. He thought he had the creature lined up as it approached, but the oppressive evil aura of the place pressing down on him, causes his first swing to miss. All of his followup swings do no better, the little fiend moving way too quickly, despite it seeming to be having issues moving its wings.
None of that stops the demon from continuing its assault, its tiny high-pitched voice almost chanting as it does so. It manages to latch its teeth onto, taking a small chunk out of the back of one of the Monty's hands as it swings past , then it slashes him with its tiny claws... The first just misses, as whatever is tying up its wings seems to be hindering its claws as well, but the second one manages to connect. What should have been little more then a painful scratch though, ends up burning with intense agony as Monty feels unholy energy lancing through his body where the claw touches.
The werebat, who was once the elf scout Kaghaze, continues firing at Drusilla, apparently unconcerned about the grounded Faliana below. His aim seems to be getting more accurate with each shot, as again the shaft flies true, and he sinks another arrow into the spear-maiden!
Fola looks around wildly, unsure who to help.
She says a quick chant, and a flame bursts into existance in one of her hands. "Kaghaze stop! This is not you! It is this place!" She cries.
He feeds the The Hungry Dark now. You will all feed The Hungry Dark now. The voice whispers in your heads.
With a pained yell, Fola hurls the flame in response. The small ball of fire shoots across the cavern where it bursts against the werebat's chest, singing him.... before reforming in Fola's hand once more.
- Round 3 -------------
demon (entangled)
Fola, Dru (-22), Monty (-10), Dale, Brady, Tad (invisible), Faliana <------ We are here!
werebat (-17)
Party is up!
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Dale looks around at their situation How come nothing ever fights on the ground around here! He starts to bark out some orders, doing his best to organize things after being ambushed. "Tad keep Dru alive, poor girl is losing a lot of blood!"
He looks over to Monty "Get back down into reach so Brady can get in on the action, no fair getting all the fun yourself you know..."
He then returns his attention to his own crossbow, reloading it with another yellowwood bolt and firing at the once Elf "The yellow wood seems to work on Kaghaze." He repeats that last bit in Polyglot for Moke.
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Moke quickly decides that trying to climb the ledge might be suicidal, and isn't worth it for a not demon. Faliana, thinking about what might have given the former elf his disease and new outlook on life, suggests that the two instead get the elf one the podium off of it, in case the group ends up fighting another werebat.
She moves away form the ledge, spear in one hand, and back blatantly turned to the former-Kaghaze. With a slight sashay, she mentally directs her lights to expand to their largest area and move a little closer to illuminate the shrine. "You know, 'The Hungry Dark' It ain't that dark in here anymore. Can I call you The Hungry Twilight? Also didn't your mother ever tell you eating too much is bad for you? I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to cut you off." She however keeps one ear cocked for the bow twang in case she has to deflect an arrow.
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Tad, still safely invisible to all, manages to heal Dru once more, his spell proving a little more powerful this time, though the warrior woman quickly then moves away once more.
Dru, Brady, and Dale continue to shoot at Kaghaze, out of reach on the ledge. Only Dale manages to connect though, as once again he wings the werebat with a yellowheart bolt, scoring a long gash along his thigh. He growls in irritation, turning his baleful gaze towards the alchemist.
Monty continues his one on one battle with the little demon. He waves the lighted end of his staff off to one side, easily distracting the tiny creature, before bringing the other end around, and cracking it solidly across the side of the head.
The demon screams in rage and pain, before renewing its efforts to tear the vanaran into shreds. Monty is able to deflect its fangs, and one of the claws, but the second scratches him yet again... and like the previous wound, he feels a sudden influx of profane energy flowing along with it.
The sudden activity does seem to finally shake off whatever was entangling its limbs, and it squeals in triumph. Down below, Fola continues to glare back up at it, and the demon's squeal of triumph suddenly gets cut off, as it starts to look around a little distracted by something unseen.
Faliana, unable to reach the werebat, starts to taunt the voice speaking in her head, as she moves over towards the altar in the middle of the cavern. As she gets near the pit, she will realize that the slight breeze you felt on the way in, is coming from down there, but this close, the smell of death is strong. The hole is twenty feet deep, and the bottom is littered with the bones of dozens of bodies.
The bound and gagged elf does not look at her, his eyes closed, though she sees him breathing raggedly.
"You would mock the Lord of Stolen Blood?!" Kaghaze yells angrily. "Then perhaps you would like to meet him!"
He pulls back his bow, and fires another arrow towards Faliana, who quickly moves to deflect it... only to realize it was not aimed at her at all! The shaft sails past and pierces the bound elf beside her and his eyes suddenly open with the pain. As his blood flows onto the alter, the look becomes one of terror, and he convulses once and collapses, even his ragged breathing no longer noticeable as blood slowly pools on the stone beneath him.
Faliana feels like something invisible slams into her chest. An evil force, so oppressive it seems like a physical entity. It radiates outwards from the altar, almost sending her to her knees. Everyone feels the evil aura in the cavern grow even stronger, all of you having a hard time keeping your thoughts your own, as it tries to corrupt your minds.
Yes... The voice whispers, forcing its way into your heads with ease now. Let the blood flow... You will all serve.
In the back of your head, Moke is screaming at you to destroy it.
(But he tends to react to perceived demonic threats on the extremes)
- Round 4 -------------
demon (-9, evil eye (AC))
Fola, Dru (-17), Monty (-13, -1 nl), Dale, Brady, Tad (invisible), Faliana <------ We are here!
werebat (-19)
The Party is up!
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"Ugh, the air got real heavy in here... stop that bleeding Faliana!" Dale grunts a bit, sweat starting to form on his thick browline, he steps a bit closer to the Archer, reloading another yellowwood bolt and firing off again at Kaghaze.
Another bolt flies true, narrowly missing an eye. "Damn, I'm getting good at this!"
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Faliana turns with a slight smile as the bow twangs behind her, hand at the ready. The smile drops into one of surprise and then sudden horror as the arrow sails past her and buries itself into the elf behind her. She whips around and looks at the elf with a look of concern as the force of the wave of negativity washes over her.
That BASTARD! Faliana flexes her free hand over the flat lineated wand on her belt, before deciding that Moke has a point; taking care of the source of the demonic prescience would be better than healing and possibly letting the elf bleed again.
She turns to the general area where Tad was last seen and calls out, "Tad! If this doesn't work, I might not be able to heal this man. Can I ask for your help just in case?" She then turns to the statue. Oh, Ashava and all the Emperyeal Lords above please let this work!
Faliana closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, as she releases it, Moke open his eyes with a fiery look. With his back turned to the werebat, Moke gives him the rudest gesture in the Expanse, regrips the spear and with a prayer of his own stabs at the statue.
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Though it is still a reach weapon, so you'd have to back up a space... (moved you right one square)
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Dale and Brady continue to pepper the werebat with crossbow bolts, but Brady still has no luck getting the hang of the unfamiliar weapon. On the flip side, Dale seems to have his locked in, as he once more wings Kaghaze. Nearby, Tad manages to catch up to Drusilla once again, and heals her a little more as she continues to fire as well. This time, her aim is good... but not good enough to do more then a scratch.
As Monty continues his battle with the skitterdark demon, it is obvious that he is starting to flag, the evil-infused scratches and tears all starting to take their toll. Still, he fights on though, attempting to distract the tiny creature once more. The demon tries not to look, sure that it is a trick once more... but eventually, he can't stop himself, and turns to see just in time to catch Monty's yellowheart wood staff right in the face. For the first time, the demon is starting to look a little worse for wear as well, black ichor flowing from where its bulbous nose was crushed. It continues tearing at Monty with less gleeful, more rage-filled, abandon, landing another bite, and scratching him with one more evil claw.
Faliana decides to try something else... turning her yellowheart wood weapon on the obviously evil stone altar beside her. With Moke at the helm, she steps back, and jabs the hardened wood directly at the center of the altar. Though a spear is a poor weapon for sundering stone, she does manage to take a small chip of rock out of the edge.
The small bit of damage does not seem to do anything obvious to the altar, but Kaghaze's reaction is immediate, as he gives a scream of anger, and turns, aims, and fires another deadly shot directly at Faliana, the arrow aimed directly at her heart! Luckily, the medium's recent training and current readiness is prepared for it, and she suddenly bats the shaft away at the last second. Kaghaze yells in frustration.
The voice in your heads, continues to assault your minds. Nothing you do will matter The sibilant voice whispers. Give yourselves... your blood, to The Hungry Dark!
The evil aura in the room, continues to weigh on you, not the least bit diminished.
Fola continues trying to help Monty, as she gives the demon the 'eye' once more. The little fiend starts to really get nervous, sure that some kind of doom is looming, but unable to figure out where it is!
- Round 5 -------------
demon (-20, evil eye (AC*, attacks))
Fola, Dru (-11), Monty (-17, -3 nl), Dale, Brady, Tad (invisible), Faliana <------ We are here!
werebat (-27), altar (-3)
The Party is up!
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Monty acts like he's about to slam into the beast again, but at the last second hops back a smidge blowing a big raspberry at the beast, withdrawing over the edge of the cliff and sliding down hooting at the creature.
Come on batsy! Surely you can fly faster than a monkey?
As he lands with a little more "Omph" than he perhaps meant, he looks to Fola.
Potions in the right pocket of my bag, that things not going to be happy!
He turns spinning his staff and preparing for the expected angry demonic bullet to come over the edge of the cliff.
As Tad's tongue flicks out, sending healing energies into the elf, bleeding on the altar, there is no response at all. He can only assume there is no life left to bolster.
Monty, trying to avoid a similar fate, finally decides that perhaps being within reach of the others might be wiser. With a final taunt at the demon, he quickly backs away from the tiny creature, and half slides, half climbs, down the steep rise to the cavern floor below. Fola just looks at him confused, when he starts talking about his pockets, then a bit worried when she realizes how bad a condition he is in.
Drusilla takes careful aim, doing her best to fight through the evil blanketing her like a shroud, and fires another yellowheart arrow. Her aim is good, as it catches the werebat directly in the chest, and he howls in pain!
Meanwhile, Dale, deciding he's proven his crossbow skills well enough for now, goes back to his tried and true alchemical mixtures. Moving up to the base of the platform, he pulls out one of his bombs and with a heave, lobs it up at Kaghaze. Still reeling from Dru's arrow, the werebat is unable to dodge in time, and the bomb crashes over him and explodes! Within moments he is engulfed in flames! By the time the fires go out, he seems barely able to stand.
- Round 5 -------------
demon (-20, evil eye (AC*, attacks))
Fola, Dru (-11), Monty (-17, -3 nl), Dale, Brady, Tad (invisible), Faliana <------ We are here!
werebat (-47), altar (-3)
Brady and Faliana to go!
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Faliana/Moke gives a laugh as she gives a slight chipping to the statue and finally draws the attention of the man firing all the damn arrows. They do note how the weapon seems to be ill suited to being used for this and decide that setting it aside might be a better idea. Bending down to set the important longspear down, Moke grabs the Lucerne hammer from Faliana's back pack. He hefts the heavier and much more blunt weapon, before taking a back handed swing at the statue.
When he finishes he give a look at the werebat. "If you want to stop me, you're going to have to come down here!"
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Faliana switches to a bigger stick, and smashes it down on the altar. This weapon proves far more effective, as a small crack forms along one side.
Kaghaze, barely standing, cries "My blood I give freely, to my Lord!" as he spreads his arms, and launches himself off of the stone platform and swoops around to literally crash onto the stone slab beside Faliana, the effort proving to be more then his battered body can stand, as he falls unmoving, blood from his numerous wounds flowing out onto the altar to mingle with that of the elf.
Once more, the aura of evil energy pulses out from the stone.
Just one of many, who bleed for the Master of Black Wings. The voice whispers. There are more. There are always more...
The demon gives a cry of rage and pleasure, as Monty flees his clutches, and the evil wave washes over him. It immediately dives over the side, having no intention of letting the vanaran escape!
Monty takes a desperate swing at the creature, but it is not enough to stop it from nicking him with one claw across the hand. A tiny scratch, that comes with another painful wave of unholy energy. It proves too much for the old monk, who collapses from his wounds. The demon lands on his chest, and does not look like it is going to stop tearing at him just because he fell down.
Startled, Fola instinctively steps back, away from the ravenous demon, and flings the last remnants of the flame still burning brightly in her hand at it, but it comes nowhere near, splashing harmlessly against the cavern wall. It does not reform in her hand this time, as she digs in her belt for a potion.
- Round 5 -------------
altar (-13), demon (-20, evil eye (AC**, attacks*))
Fola, Dru (-11), Monty (-20, -3 nl, unconscious), Dale, Brady, Tad (invisible), Faliana <------ We are here!
Party is up!
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What in the.... Brady stares at Kaghaze as he flings himself to his doom, unable to believe that the elf was so far gone. His combat instinct breaks him from his befuddlement, and he quickly assesses his options--briefly thinking to try to force a potion down the elf's throat to steal the demon's sacrifice...
But he instead quickly throws down his crossbow and begins running towards the small demon that has begun tearing into Monty's flesh, drawing his yellowheart club as he hurtles forward.
"Aaaaaaaaargh!" A bellowing scream is all that Brady can muster as he closes on the pair, swinging the club across his body with all the power he can put behind both of his arms.
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Dale watches the Elf fly down and faceplant into the altar "Well that was unexpected..." He quickly assesses his options and decides to move to help Faliana with the altar.
As he hustles over he draws a small silver vial from his bandoleer, uncapping it and pouring it over the altar "Lets see how this god/demon thing of blood and evil likes holy water shall we?" I do hope this works.
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Faliana gives a sigh at the idiotic actions of the werebat. Wasting your life over something that took control of your mind like that! This evil needs to be purged!
She dodges the few drops of holy water that splash her way when Dale pours it on. "Good idea, Dale! I'm sure Mr. Hungry Twilight isn't going to be happy about that!" Faliana then lets Moke heft the hammer again and smack the altar now dripping in holy water.
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The little demon, turns to scream foul obscenities at Brady, as he comes up and clubs it across the side of the head. It stops suddenly, and its heady slowly turns towards the approaching Drusilla, as if sensing something. It suddenly smiles a wicked little smile, then launches itself at her, teeth gnashing, and claws trying to tear her flesh, with gleeful abandon!
She manages to fend off the teeth, but both its tiny claws find exposed flesh, and where they scratch, profane energy flows, causing intense pain to course through her body!
At the altar, Dale pulls out a vial of blessed water and pours it over the evil reliquary. At first, it seems to do little, beyond washing a little of the blood away, until Faliana smites it once more with her lucerne hammer. Where she strikes the area damp from the holy water, the altar cracks even more, as if the stone had softened, small fractures radiating outwards.
So much effort... all wasted... The whisper hisses in your heads. If not Kaghaze, there are always others...
Two of the three elves in the cage on the west side of the cavern, suddenly start screaming, as they collapse on the ground, curling up on the floor, thrashing. Fola too suddenly staggers, her hands going to her head with a small cry of fear.
"It hurts!" She cries, in a quiet, desperate whisper.
- Round 6 -------------
altar (-18), demon (-28, evil eye (AC***, attacks**))
Fola, Dru (-22, 1 nl), Monty (-20, -3 nl, unconscious), Dale, Brady, Tad (invisible), Faliana <------ We are here!
Party is up!
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Monty blinks awake to the familiar tongue of healing.
Thanks Tad!... Gah, I'm getting to old for this nonsense!
He sees the thing assaulting Dru and hops up, grabbing his staff from the ground.
Oye! Dru, you holding up? Ya seem to be going a bit batty!
He hoots at his joke, wincing a little from the pain and oppressive atmosphere, but he'd be condemned to the 7 hells before he let some demon tell him how he felt.
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"Hrm, interesting effect I must say." Mutters Dale as he wipes the mixture of blood and water from his eyes after Faliana sprays it everywhere. "Lets test my healing spoon on it and see if we get the same or similar result shall we?"
Dale draws out and taps the altar with his spoon in a cracked spot, then gestures Faliana to strike there. I do love me some hypothesis testing!
"MMM SOUP!" Giggle!
Afterwards he turns to the thrashing and moaning Elves "Please be calm, we're working on a solution here. Hopefully just a few more moments.."
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Moke gives a smile as the blow he'd failed to get enough weight behind still results in more damage. The smile falters though when the elves in the room started screaming out in pain. He mentally double checks that Faliana isn't feeling the effects herself, before squaring his shoulders and winding up a swing, before taking a second to remember some of the advice his aunt, who'd specialized in hitting demons so hard they didn't get back up, taught him. With a smile he readjusts his grip.
Coming back to the present, he realizes the hairy man is doing something else with the statue. The spirit frowns, until the man explains. Moke gives another mental thanks that his host understands this odd language, before commenting in Polyglot. "I don't think it will help, little hairy man. Healing is not good or evil, but we can try. But step back first, not taking any fingers today. "
With a growl he releases the swing at the spot Dale had been pointing.
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Dru is so used to her favorite morningstar that her attacks with the yellow wood terbuje have an hard time finding their mark
Don't move, and I'll make that as quick and painless as possible. Just kidding, of course. Not about the "don't move" part, but if I can inflict you some pain, I'd be glad to.
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Monty awakens, from what he can only vaguely describe as a nightmare, to the now familiar feeling of Tad's tongue sending healing energy coursing through his body. It takes a moment for him to shake off the uneasy feeling of dread that lingers from wherever he was, but he quickly gets back to his feet, grabbing his new staff as he does.
Nearby, Dru and Brady continue fighting the demon, though the tiny creature moves far too quickly to be easy to strike with the evil voice distracting them in their heads.
Inspired by the reaction to the holy water, Dale decides to try a more direct application of positive energy, hoping for similar results. He is only somewhat disappointed to find it does nothing at all... but only somewhat... data is data!
Faliana focuses, putting all the force she can behind her next swing, bringing the hammer down precisely on the point from which the cracks in the stone radiate. The sound of the weapon slamming against the rock, is followed a moment later by a loud crack, and then the entire thing splits down the middle, one piece sloughing off and tipping over into the pit, while the rest remains rooted where it was.
Like someone, somewhere slams shut a door, the voice that has been boring into your heads since you entered is suddenly cut off. Everyone finds only their own thoughts rolling around in their minds as the evil force that has been pressing down on your since you entered, suddenly lifts
The two Ekujae in the cage suddenly let out weeping sighs of relief, their screams ceasing as they lay there, gasping for breath.
Fola too relaxes, bringing her hands down from where they were clasped against her temples, tentatively looking around. "It stopped?" She exclaims in breathless, but thankful, surprise.
The demon's reaction is a little less serene, as it gives an angry howl, and attacks Dru with a renewed frenzy. It manages to scratch her one more time, and take a small bite out of one hand, before she, Brady, and Monty gang up on it, and finish it off for good.
Beside the altar, Faliana and Dale notice that the werebat's form suddenly starts to shift and reshape itself, until a few seconds later, all they see is a tall, slender elf... an arrow still protruding from his chest, and still sporting numerous wounds from the fight. He appears to still be alive but unconscious, as they can hear ragged and hoarse breathing. The other elf, his body still bound, is not so fortunate, still quite dead with the arrow that finished him still protruding from his chest. The last elf, the third prisoner in the cage, hasn't moved since Kaghaze silenced him with an arrow earlier, his fate uncertain.
Fola hurries over to the cage, pulling at the barred door futilely for a moment, as she calls to the three inside, though none of them immediately respond.
"Can one of you open this?" She asks, looking back towards the Pathfinders.
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Dale's face gets a bit of disappointment as his wooden spoon doesn't help the destruction of the stone altar, but its quickly replaced with a smile as Faliana does what his magic wand couldn't... get that damned voice out of his head. "Well, and now I know... apply large blunt instruments and brute strength to the problem and good things 'may' follow!"
Seeing Kaghaze return to his Elven form and still breathing, Dale reaches his spoon over in a quick jiff and taps him gently. "Wake up our Elven friend, no longer foe... We are FRIENDS!" He speaks to him in Elven.
"MMM SOUP!" Giggle!
"Bah, that one was a dud... lets try that again.." He taps him a second time, this time directly on exposed skin.
"MMM SOUP!" Giggle!
"Come on Nethys, work with me here on this!" He hits the Elf for a THIRD TIME!
"MMM SOUP!" Giggle!
"Oh that should do it, my name is Dale, and this is Faliana, Fola is over there with the others." He turns towards the crew at the cages "You need any help over there? I'm pretty good with locks too!" Bah, I'm good at everything, obviously, but just in case they forgot...