2 sacred (from being a deity =P)
2 natural armor base (from advanced template)
2 natural armor enhancement (from mammoth’s hide)
4 armor bonus and 2 shield bonus (inspired spell aegis [armored magic])
Fortunately for you, you're able to dodge out of the way of the charging Hyaenodon.
Skaar growls in surprise but manages to wrestle away the beast’s jaws before it can get a good grip on his knee.
Rearing back with his mammoth fists, the Unfailing Pillar punishes the hyenadon before it can snap at him again.
The gnoll pulls out a scimitar and *barely* misses you with a powerful slash . The hyaenodon, still reeling from your blows, also ineffectually attempts to bite you.
Pressing his advantage, Skaar continues to pummel the reeling hyenadon.
Your second blow rocks the hyaenodon but fails to drop it. Fortunately, you're easily able to avoid the retaliatory attacks.
Between his sturdy forearms and thick hide, his opponents couldn't get a lick in but Skaar continues his assault on the battered hyenadon hoping to bring it down before it could get lucky.
It takes you a moment to locate Syl, who's slowly maneuvering behind your opponent. She looks utterly terrified, but also determined. By the time you've taken down the hyaenodon, she's in position and dives at the gnoll as he falls from his mount. Her dagger inflicts a grievous wound that appears to sever a ligament . Capitalizing on the distraction, you unleash a devastating series of punches that immediately render your foe unconscious. Syl's eyes are wide, and she's breathing rapidly as she stares at the gnoll's corpse. "neveragainneveragainneveragain"
With the guard defeated, Skaar laughs and claps Syl on the back in comfort. "That's right girl, never again. Search him. He might have keys or a map of where we're goin'."
While Syl searches, the Unfailing Pillar stands guard.
Syl uncovers several items of note.
Loot
Potion - cure light wounds x1
+1 studded leather armor
MW scimitar
MW composite longbow (STR +4)
Arrows x20 (poisoned with Huge scorpion venom)
Continuing onward to the great dome, you find a set of crumbling marble stairs that climbs to a forty-foot-wide stage and a pair of rust-encrusted doors.
After testing the pull of the bow, the Unfailing Pillar slips it over his head and around his broad torso. He nods to Syl to take whatever else she has use of.
Skaar’s massively muscled form bulges as he forces the heavy rusted doors apart.
The great doors slam open with a thunderous *boom*. Inside, six wide stone columns inlaid with tiles made from bits of colored glass stand upon a slightly-raised dais. On either side of the room, stairs twist inward, leading up to a large atrium. Heaps of yellowed skulls lie piled about in the alcoves to the north and south of the central walk that approaches a large pair of doors to the east.
As you quickly scan the area, you realize that a half-dozen gnolls are hiding in alcoves and behind columns. They're well-concealed, but their glowing eyes give them away. Based on the quick intake of breath behind you, Syl sees them too.
Skaar gestures subtlety for Syl to hold her position behind him.
"Listen up you sorry lot. My fight isn't with any of you. Show me where the fool callin' himself the Carrion King is and nobody has to get hurt."
"But if you get in my way", the huge orc explains while cracking his knuckles. "You're gunna get a lot worse than what I gave that door."
The gnolls look at each other before running out of sight. A minute later, you hear a door close.
Skaar scratches his head. "I guess that worked, though it woulda been nice if they'd told us how to find the Carrion King."
"I'm gunna take a look inside those alcoves. Check out the doors."
Syl holds up a warning hand and shows you that the steps leading inside are trapped. As long as you only put weight on every other step, you'll be fine. If you step wrong, your foot will break through the thin covering and land on poisoned spikes. The alcoves, meanwhile, are empty. The doors and unlocked.
After giving Syl a nod of gratitude, Skaar lunges forward avoiding every other step and pulling open the double doors.
A narrow hallway circles the inside of the dome, its walls crawling with beetles. Loose chunks of plaster and bits of rubble clutter the floor, and old smears of blood stain it brown. A flight of stairs winds down around the outer wall of the inner dome to the east. The three doors are quite stout, all barred from your side. Several coils of thick rope and a few bloodstained grappling hooks lie in a heap near the western door.
Skaar picks up one of the thick coils of rope and affixes it to a grappling hook. ”This might come in handy.”
Making his way to the circular wall, he circles around to the northern doors. ”Let’s see what’s inside here.”
The dome climbs high overhead. Long ago, the inner ceiling collapsed, leaving its timbers and skeletal framework exposed beneath its brass-plated shingles. The ground is cluttered with rubble, heaps of animal skeletons, and countless bloodstains.
Whatever you expected to find inside, it's fairly safe to assume the answer was not a 22ft-long scorpion. As luck would have it , the way the ground slopes into a rough ramp means the doors you opened are at ground level with the giant vermin. The doors to the East and West open to balconies that look down on this odd arena. At least now you know where the gnolls are getting their poison.
Skaar growls when the giant scorpion skitters into view. He didn't derive any joy out of killing mindless creatures but this one was in his way.
The Unfailing Pillar thunders forward loosening the bonds on his polearm as he goes. With a roar he cleaves into into his target.
Your weapon hits home but fails to penetrate the insect's thick plating . It retaliates with pincers and stinger, but you're able to deflect the assault - for now.... Unsure how to best to maneuver around this monster, Syl looks to you for guidance.
"Hold on", Skaar growls in warning when he sees Syl looking for direction. Spotting an opening, the Unfailing Pillar lunges for the scorpion's snapping pincers.
"Now!" the hulking orc shouts while he holds the monster's natural weapons at bay.
The scorpion's pincers prove too large to grab easily. You'll need to try a different angle of attack if you want to grapple him .
In the process, it clamps down hard on your arm before you can move out of the way .
Skaar grunts in pain as he's painfully pinched by the giant vermin.
"Sorry Syl. We're gunna have to do this the hard way", he warns before bellowing a roar and stepping in to smash his huge fists against the scorpion's shell.
You connect solidly with the insect as Syl comes running in. As she tries to tumble between its legs, a massive claw comes down to block her way. She throws up one of her blades at the last second and deflects it, but her return slash proves ineffective. As your fists continue to leave large dents in the insect's carapace, it snaps you again with a claw. Syl takes advantage of the distraction to quickly pry loose a portion of its back shell and inflict a large gash. Pushing forward, you tear the gap wider and force your hands inside, where you finally manager to sever the creature's spine.
Scorpion: 114pts damage
Skaar: 11pts damage
Half-buried in sand near one of the corpses in the arena, you find a thin metal rod.
"You okay girl?" Skaar asks once the giant vermin's collapsed to the ground good and dead.
He concentrates briefly, taking the edge off the gash left behind by the scorpion's claw.
Picking up the rod, he weights it in hand. "I wonder what this does..." Unable to determine the trinket's purpose, he tucks it away for now.
The Unfailing Pillar gives the arena one more cursory glance and then doubles back. "Let's check out that corridor south of here."
The southern corridor leads to the dome's other entrance. The stairs leading back outside are badly damaged, however. It's doubtful that this entrance is used much - if at all.
"Let's see where those stairs lead. I don't think there's much else to explore up here."
The staircase winds down to a large underground chamber. In the center are five dens of scattered bones and matted hair. To the southwest, another flight of stairs descends deeper into the earth. To the north, a crude, wooden barricade has been erected over the mouth of a tunnel, while to the east, a larger path through the mounds of sediment leads into a large, dark hall. The southern wall appears to have partially collapsed, but glimpses of another large space can be seen through gaps in the fallen masonry. In the central chamber, you can see a pair of Hyaenodons being tended by their Gnoll handlers. As you're still descending the staircase, they haven't noticed you yet, although that will likely change soon.
After studying the passages below, Skaar nods to the next descending staircase. "The 'Carrion King's' chambers are gunna be in the heart of this place but we've gotta clear out some of his muscle before we make a move on him. Follow my lead. We've gotta take out the beasts first, they're dangerous."
Before pouncing on his opponents, the Unfailing Pillar concentrates working a charm increasing the striking power of his fists.
Syl nods in assent and draws a pair of daggers. She seems to have an endless supply of them. Once your charm's complete, she waits for your signal.
Skaar mouths the words silently as he counts down and then leaps down to attack the guards!
You leap from the staircase, landing a devastating flying ellbow on your target. Syl's right behind you, diving down daggers first.
Your blows speedily drop the closest Hyaenodon, but the Gnolls are quick to react. Drawing scimitars, they slash wildly at you and Syl, while the remaining beast charges you angrily.
Skaar snarls in pain when the beast's jaws savage his forearm but the Unfailing Pillar manages to tear away before he can be pulled to the ground. With a roar, he brings his fists to bear against the other hyenadon before taunting the gnoll handlers. "Your fight's with me! Leave the girl alone."
You pummel the Hyaenodon as Syl nimbly dodges her attacker and slashes its throat. Moving to flank with you, she swiftly dispatches the other Gnoll just as you bash the last Hyaenodon's skull in. Syl gives you a slight smile as she wipes her blades clean.
Skaar returns Syl's smirk and starts searching one gnoll after gesturing for the girl to search the other. "Nice work. Keep it up and we'll be done with this place by dinner."
The gnolls don't have much on them, unfortunately.
Loot
Studded Leather x2
Scimitar x2
Leaving the meager loot behind, Skaar gestures for Syl to follow and moves west boldly.
Thick pillars of stone line this oversized hall, draped in cobwebby ropes strung with tattered prayer flags. Along the north and south walls, various doors, arches, and stairwells offer exit. In the center of the room, a pair of elaborately-tiled, diamond-shaped columns etched with coils of twisting vermin rise up; the column to the east is hollow and contains an ancient iron staircase that spirals down into darkness. Many of the doors along the walls are storerooms containing poorly-preserved meat, barrels of water, poorly-maintained weapons and armor, and a few foul-smelling barrels of fermented hyaenodon milk.
As you enter the room, you see a Gnoll throw a small gemstone onto the floor. There's a puff of smoke, and an Large Air Elemental materializes, blocking your path forward.
Knowing Syl's knives will be of little use against the pillar of animated wind, Skaar gestures for her to keep her distance and charges forward to face the elemental.
Your fist connects solidly with the Elemental but does less damage than expected. It retaliates with a series of buffeting gusts of air.
The elemental's buffeting blows hit Skaar solidly but are deflected harmlessly off his magical defenses and hairy hide. He rears back with his huge fists to return the favor.
Next Round:
Your second set of blows connects with the elemental but fail to drop it. It's looking rather beat up, though. It retaliates with a pair of blows.
And again...
Skaar grunts in surprise and pain when one of the elemental's gusting blows cracks him square across the jaw. With a growl of rising anger, he keeps on punching. Out of the corner of his eye, the Unfailing Pillar watches the gnoll guard to make sure he doesn't have another elemental trinket.
Next Round: