Ausk continues his pursuit!
Elxurian moves after the man, but chooses the other way, since she wouldn't be able to attack him for now.
Tsura hustles forward, drawing a large knife from her jacket. "Put him down, quickly, before he can channel energy again!"
Jonas is about to follow the others and pursue the tiefling alongside them when he reconsiders. Seeing Penka unconscious, he pauses and leans down beside her. "Keep going, I will keep our gnome a little company," he calls out as he starts to see if he can do anything to at the very least stabilize her.
The heroes quickly head down the dark tunnel, eager to catch the evasive caster and end the battle.
Snarling at the dogged pursuit, the tiefling curses at Ausk as he closes the distance between the two men. He mutters a few syllables in a strange language and makes a gesture with his hands, attempting to avoid making himself vulnerable to attack, but the large and mostly naked half-orc breathing down his neck is enough to break his concentration and he loses control of the magic he was attempting to harness. Spitting at the warpriest with a vile sneer the man backs away, a careless act on his part that leaves him vulnerable to a swipe from the larger man's borrowed warhammer. The blow crunches into the tiefling, blasting past the spinning bone which does nothing to protect the caster from the attack. Despite the wound, he continues to flee the party, and from Ausk's view the half-orc can see the man stopped at the edge of what appears to be a tunnel dug into the very floor of the cavern itself.
Ausk charges forward The Inheritor smites you!
Elxurian is too slow to pursue the man in her heavy armor, but she manages to catch up with him and Ausk beside the hole. There was something weird about it, and she was thinking some weird monster could come out of it anytime now.
Tsura rushes forward, stopping just out of melee range of the tiefling to avoid drawing any blows. "I'm getting very annoyed. Stop running!"
Jonas continues to stay by Penka's side, checking to see if he can do anything to make the gnome a bit more comfortable. Though his first instinct was to pursue the tiefling with the others, he trusts that his companions will soon make short work of the necromancer.
Ausk charges the tiefling but fails to connect as the rest of the group moves in to prevent the man from escaping. Jonas manages to stabilize Penka and prevent her from joining the corpses on the tables.
The man, left with nowhere to run and seemingly unwilling to dive into the hole, grabs at the object beneath his shirt once more and draws upon the dark forces of his diety, calling out yet again in a strange tongue and sending waves of negative energy passing through the party.
Penka gurgles a bit but is no longer bleeding out.
Die Heathen dog of an evil god! Ausk shouts, the rage of his orcish ancestors taking hold over him
Ausk steps left, better to flank the tiefling with Elxurian.
Tsura advances a step forward and attempts to slash the tiefling with her knife.
mindblade
HP: 7/22
Elxurian understands all too well the other Inheritor's follower's mind. She stepped to the side, splitting the demonic cleric's attention and making him an easier target. Then it was just a matter of piercing through his armor, which her glowing sword should make short work of. "Meet your filthy maker, scum!"
Ausk steps forward, delivering a blow to the man with his warhammer as the tiefling stands at the edge of the darkness below. Tsura flings a knife towards her target, but the attack goes wide and the weapon sinks into the earthern wall beyond. Calling out a challenge, Elxurian slashes her sword at the man in a powerful swing, the heavy weapon blasting through the tiefling's defenses and nearly cutting him in half. The demon-spawned humanoid manages to mutter a final curse before collapsing to the ground, quite dead.
"Penka!" Now that the threat has been dealt with, Elxurian remembers there is a fallen companion back there, so she hushes to help her, lighting another torch on the way.
Ausk hustles back to what he supposes was his gear and grabs his holy symbol of Iomedae. Moving to Penka he heals the gnome Blessed Iomedae, heal this gnome with your power.
Penka coughs and wakes up. "Whu... what happened? Did we... get him? Ugh..."
She stands and looks around. "Ow. That really hurt. Thank you Ausk. I am still damaged, though."
As she's being healed by her comrades, she starts the ceremony to re-summon Tree. Since the plant matter which had formerly made him up has withered away, she instead drags together a bunch of mushroom matter and re-summons him as a large fungal creature.
Tree re-forms, looking similar in shape but now made up of mushrooms and other fungal matter, and smelling much more damp and dingy than before.
"Finally! I thought we would never take them down. I need..." as the adrenaline wears off, Tsura realizes just how injured she is. "I need to sit. Does anyone have some healing? I'm a bit frazzled right now."
HP 7/22
Penka pulls out her trusty wand of eidolon healing and heals Tree. "Unfortunately, this wand only works on Tree."
TREE looks much more healthy, his fungus-like body having formed fully. Instead of two strong limbs, he now seems to have a more threatening mouth.
Elxurian is satisfied that Penka is all right. Once again the day was saved, but was that all? There were other corridors in this dungeon, and a lot to be explained. "Glad to have you and mushroom Tree back, Penka. Now we have work to do. Let's hope there is all about this place, cause we all look in a bad shape."
She picks her torch back up and resumes studying this place. "Let's see what else we can learn about this place and then leave. We haven't found the second centaur yet, although their demise is the probable cause. Let's move."
She investigates the area around the hole, trying to observe what is down there. "Can anyone tell us how far does it go?"
Peering down into the hole it is obvious that this shaft was not a naturally occurring tunnel. The walls have been worn smooth and the incline itself is carved in such a way to allow fairly easy passage.
The tunnel walls and the way they have been worked suggest that the craftsmanship is likely that of a native underground race. At first it would appear dwarven, but certain things stand out about how the walls have been smoothed, rather than left in a naturally rough surface. Only the deep dwelling duergar work stone like this.
The shaft itself heads down at about a 45 degree angle as far as anyone can see, and the warmer air rising from below hints that the depth is considerable indeed.
Taking a few moments to better study the opening, Jonas appears deep in thought for a minute before finally speaking up. "The way the walls have been worked probably points to some native underground race. My first guess would have been dwarves, but it does not feel quite right. It looks more like the work of deeper dwellers than them, such as the duergar."
Looking up, he smiles. "Say, did that tiefling have anything of note on him? Perhaps something that could shed some mroe light into this whole thing?"
Ausk drinks a potion and expends his godly energies healing his new allies
I am much more able to combat evil, now that I have my blade. Thank you for the warhammer Mistress Elxurian.
Elxurian takes the weapon back, and puts each of them in their sheet. "Anytime. You have impressive healing skills. All I can muster is to heal some minor wounds."
She listen to Jonas, and it doesn't make any sense at all. "Duergar? I know nothing about them. Are they evil like the drow? Why would they be communing with a creature such as this scum? I haven't looked at the necromancer yet, Jonas, but there is something weird about this place. Can you tell us if this cave is also made by this race?"
"Did anyone check that thiefling's body? Perhaps he carried some healing potions?"
Tsura shivers as the holy energy knits together her wounds. "Thank you. I hope that the tiefling was the worst of what we may encounter in this warren."
Tsura goes and searches the tiefling's body.
HP 12/22
My holy purview was the apprehension, or death, of the necromancer...I believe I have fulfilled that task. However, A further exploration seems prudent...I will accompany you if you would have my blade.
"Yes, we're clearing this place, but first let us rest a bit, search this place and go the other way. The other centaur might still be alive, and whatever is down that hole can wait."
"Rest! Rest would be great. You know, to stop bleeding and things." She looks around with arms akimbo. "Where should we stop for the night? I wouldn't trust inside this cavern."
"I think the responsible for this place is now dead." She looks at the deceased necromancer on the floor. "The other wing, if there's such a thing, should be smaller and not challenging. If we leave any minions they could follow our bleeding path and attack us at night. I think we should not rest until this place is clear, but we can leave that hole unexplored for now." She look at the hole, wondering if anyone would answer if they called out. It could be a prison, couldn't it?
"Well, we could rest, but do so in shifts," Jonas offers. "One or two of us can stand watch for part of the time and then switch. Not ideal, I know, but at least this way we all get some sleep in relative safety. I am unharmed, so I do not mind continuing, but others are not quite so well."
I think we should cleanse this place of evil... Ausk says hand resting on his blade
Searching through the fallen corpse of the tiefling you find he was wearing a fine chain shirt beneath his robes. Around one finger is a worn silver and jade ring bearing the design of a viper. A bulging purse of coins of a strange mint is also discovered, buried beneath his armor. Around his neck hangs a strange looking onyx amulet. Around the perimeter of the amulet is the skeletal image of a snake, its small fanged mouth nearly touching the tip of its tail. In the enter of the amulet is a skeletal image of a serpentine mouth, complete with fangs, opened as if striking a victim. The adornments of the amulet are in bone and the whole device is traced with gold inlay.
Ausk will stand watch as Penka inspects the items We could put those to use in vanquishing the evil that lairs here.
"If they are not the product of evil acts, you mean. Common, let's search this place and begone." She looks at Jonas, who gave the idea of resting before proceeding. "I don't think we will find more enemies, guys. Would you like to rest or proceed? I won't rest well in a place like this, but it's not me who should choose."
Tsura furrows her eyebrows when she sees the ornate amulet. "Ummm... guys? Does this scream evil cult to anyone else? You don't have this kind of symbolism on personal jewelry."
"I wouldn't know much about evil gods, but perhaps our friend Elxurian here could shed some light on it?"
"Let me see it then, please." She analyzes the pendant for evil auras and also for its meaning.
"Well, given the necromancer and now the pendant, I am going to venture a yes as the answer to the evil cult question," Jonas quips, injecting some levity to the situation as he waits for Elxurian's examination of the piece of jewellery to finish.
Penka gives the items a close examination, calling upon some of her innate understanding of magical forces to unravel the mysteries contained within them. She recognizes the ring as an item used by some to extend their natural stamina and aid in their ability to conduct hours of additional research. The chain shirt has been worked with a minor enchantment to increase the protection it provides its wearer.
Elxurian takes a moment to study the pendant, and detects a residual aura of moderate evil about the device. Try as she might she cannot place the symbol itself, but it does strike her as the device of a deity or the like, and not just a standard piece of jewelry.
"This magical armor will help one of us resist attacks... and this ring will allow you to ignore hunger for long periods of time."
Ausk moves back to the original lair, the spot where he was kept and searches it thoroughly for clues to what the necromancer was up to here.
"Well done, Penka." She shows the pendant on her turn. "This is evil, I can feel it, although I've never seen such emblem before." She watches Ausk moving back and the others a little lost in their search.
"We will not be safe sleeping in this place, close to this hole with whatever is down there. Let's go back and take the other path. If it's a dead end we leave this place and come back tomorrow. We may still find a centaur alive in there."
"Would anyone mind if I used the magical chain shirt?" Tsura is somewhat wide-eyed at the shiny armor.