-Posted with Wayfinder
Kurth slices into the yangethe! Milloy and Alice fall over unconscious from the psychic torture!
87 dmg
Harsk takes a few steps back and and channels healing energy, hoping to bring Milloy and Alice back from unconsciousness.
Harsk heals the party! Maffei stabs at the beast but misses!
The yangethe casts a quick spell and then goes after Kurth and Maffei!
87 dmg
Maf: 9 dmg
"Back to hell with you, shrub! Kurth bellows as one of the thing's tentacles lifts him up in the air.
Harsk winces as Kurth is struck and grabbed by the strange abomination.
He steps back into the chamber as he draws his heavy crossbow. He then loads a bolt and takes aim at the creature, waiting for his shot.
Kurth's mighty swing is able to bring the creature down!
Struggling to keep his cool in the grip of the horrific monster, Kurth hollers to anyone conscious (and sane): "Blast the damn thing with whatever you've got! I'm sure it will hurt me less than what this thing has planned!"
Harsk lowers his crossbow. "Now that was a close one!" He says as he stows the weapon across his back.
"I almost thought you were a goner there, Kurth." Harsk reaches walks over and helps the fighter steady himself, then turns his attention back to Milloy, still on the floor.
"I ain't got much healin' left in me, but I ought to be able to get Milloy up an going." He carefully lays a hand on the elf's head and mutters a somber prayer to Torag.
Milloy sits up very slowly and even then he looks like he could be sick at any moment. Quite embarrassing.
However, by studying the arcane symbols you can tell that the two smaller squares are linked to the Dark Window, serving to amplify magical effects that target points within the larger square on the wall (the Window).
Milloy explains that The Dark Window in this room is a powerful magical object, much like a Wall of Force. By studying the arcane symbols he can tell that the two smaller squares are linked to the Dark Window, serving to amplify magical effects that target points within the larger square on the wall (the Window).
Hmmm, force effects in particular seem to be enhanced by the squares.
"Gllbbrgl fughlumberdal? Hoflugger... Er, I don't think anything you just said would make sense even my brain was glrbing straight right now," Kurth says. "That was a close one... Whaddya think we need to do to close that thing?"
It could be possible that using a few of my force missiles could destroy it.
"Well, my vote is you shoot as many of them missiles as it takes to destroy the damn thing, then we barricade this hall and have ourselves a little nap. Harsk looks tuckered out and in need of some communion and I could sure use a drink," Kurth says.
I'm easily convinced in this case.
Milloy will use has wand of Magic Missile to destroy the wall.
= 30 damage
The window shatters from Milloy's spell!
The party is then able to close up the door and rest safely for the night in the room.
Milloy suggests that the party continues on the main floor before moving on. The wizard will also cast Mage Armor on himself fromn one of his scrolls before the party starts the day's exploring.
"Yeah, let's clear the ground floor first. After the nastiness we found in this tower, I'd rather save the other one for last," Kurth says.
"Huh, what? Hrmm... forgot I had this." Harsk's face turns sheepish as he produces a slender length of wood from his pack. He gives himself a few taps. "Can't believe this thing was sitting in here this whole time. Anyone else need more healing before we move forward?"
Before setting out, Harsk meditates quietly as he prepares his divine spells for the day.
Milloy prepares his spells as well. When finished he announces that he is ready to proceed.
The party heads back downstairs and moves to an unexplored room:
This courtyard surrounds a dry fountain. A statue of a woman wrapped in a flowing robe stands in the center of the fountain, her arms extended as though reaching up to touch the sky.
Harsk trundles up to the statue offering it a nod of the head, "Hiya, Saint Kyerixus!" He looks around at the others.
"Well, she's the one that founded the order of monks what inhabited this monastery."
He looks around the courtyard before honing in on the doors on the eastern wall. "Well, onward, then?"
You hear a sound behind you as observe the small courtyard. Moments later a tired-looking man wearing a red hat with a blue feather appears in the doorway.
"I had a feeling you’d be the ones coming here. Did the baroness manage it? Have you brought the ransom? Gozreh’s bones, where is it? I pray the beast will be satisfied—my wife’s life depends on it!"
When he learns that you haven't brought a ransom and are instead here to slay the dragon, the man blanches, "Are you mad? The beast is enormous! You have neither the skill nor the numbers to face a dragon of his size—all you’ll accomplish is an agonizing death, and then Aeteperax will raze Belhaim to the ground!"
I believe that we were charged with the task of ridding Belhaim of this threat. I advise you to leave this place before you fail to see that task accomplished. Milloy then studies the man further and asks, And, why, exactly, are you here at all?
"Look buddy. We just took out an old undead martial arts master and a tentacled horror from the great beyond. We're punching above our weight class, and old Eighty-per-axe is next," Kurth says, trying to look menacing.
Harsk adjusts his belt as he does what he can to help intimidate this gentleman.
"Aye, my friends are right. We'll not let this dragon off so easy. We may be just four, but these three here are three of the toughest bastards I ever ran with - and that dragon, well... he hasn't seen the likes of us, but we'll be the last thing he does see. Best step aside, or give us some advice to help."
"Those weapons. . . that stuff you carry. . . do those belong to the legendary Tula? Trying to recreate the old stories, then? Hm...."
"I suppose it might not be as hopeless as I thought. I've been hostage here for some time, being held by that foul beast Aeteperax. He hides his appearance mostly but he's green if you haven't found that out yet. I've spent weeks studying old journals and tomes in the monastery. It's fairly obvious the monks here were tinkering with knowledge about the Dark Tapestry-the space between the stars-a subject Aeteperax is also obsessed with. It's no wonder he came to this region and took over this monastery."
"I saw you coming down from the floor above. Did you find the Dark Window then? The monks created that aperture as a way to observe and communicate with alien entities on the far side of the universe. Their intent was to study the chaos and madness of the Dark Tapestry in order to identify similar traits in themselves and work to expunge them."
"Of course, the first time they used it a malevolent alien teleported in and attaced them. Abbot Kanjougas banished it but not before it slaughtered the other inhabitants of the monastery."
"Aeteperax spent some time up there. Did you destroy it?"
Hearing that you did, he sucks in some breath, "Well, that's good and bad. It needed to be done but now Aeteperax will know you're coming for him. You'll need to act quickly."
"At the least, you can be glad that it is closed as the Dark Window was how Aeteperax was able to summon those batlike grioth monsters from beyond. So if you make sure they're all gone from the rest of the monastery you can at least be assured there won't be any coming to aid him in battle."
"When you're ready, Aeteperax's lair is in a large cavern north of the monastery. Reaching it from above ground is difficult but the dragon had his kobolds dig a tunnel between the cave and the monastery's dungeons so his minions could report to him secretly without giving away the location of the cave."
"Before you go running off there, though, be assured that the dragon had three "lieutenants" here. The enormous grioth Goladryth was upstairs so I'm guessing you already found and took care of him. There's also a mad alchemist named Pentosh up in the belfry and a lunar naga named Thaena somewhere on the third floor. The naga has served him the longest but is nonsensical and distracted most of the time."
The man pauses to take a breath. "Dragons have true names, as we all know, and of course Aeteperax isn't his true name. There was a fourth lieutenant-a half-orc named Hapscot-who figured it out and was killed for saying it. Perhaps one of the othher lieutenants knows his true name as well and given Aeteperax's violent reaction I'm guessing it could give you some leverage when you finally take on the dragon."
"I can't help you fight the thing; likely Aeteperax would kill my wife instantly if he caught wind that I was helping at all. But if you need any healing or other spellcasting come back here and visit me. It's the least I can do."
Captive? Well, we will have you released once the dragon is taken care of. Can you tell us about any weaknesses these creatures have?
"I'm afraid that's not in my field of expertise."
"Well, you mentioned that Aeteperax is green. Did you mean as in color, or that he's a bit young and inexperienced - or both, perhaps?" Harsk looks over at Milloy, "You'd know more than me, but I thought I heard somewhere that a dragon's color can tell us something about it."
At the mention of the half-orc: "Well - I guess that was our friend we found in that boulder-covered casket. Just fer clarity's sake - you're sayin' that we can get an advantage if we know this dragon's true name?"
"Both I would say. Yes, his color is green and I've seen him spit out a foul acid but he is also younger and less experienced than some of the dragons I've heard tell of in the popular tales. That is not to downplay his ferocity though."
"And yes, some of the old tales hint that a dragon's true name holds some sort of power and the fact that he reacted so violently to his lieutenant speaking it aloud only proves the old tales as far as I'm concerned."
"So, the dragon has your wife? Why don't you help us rescue her? Better odds that way, Kurth says, before turning to the others.
"Sounds like we need this dragon's name. You want to go back to look at those books upstairs again, or see if we can't beat it out of one of these other lieutenants?" Kurth's expression makes it clear he favors the latter approach.
Harsk nods, "Applying the right amount of pressure to one of these other lieutenants will likely be quicker than poring through a whole library."
I agree, intimidation would be faster. Milloy thinks of what he may know of these creatures.