These creatures are not only poisonous, they are able to use a supernatural shrieking ability that renders their less sturdy foes paralyzed. Sometimes they have eyes, and sometimes they don't, but they don't depend on them to see with their perfect darkvision.
Vargouilles reproduce by kissing helpless targets, which sparks a hideous and painful transformation that lasts about a day that corrupts the nature of their soul and kills the victim's body. It is considered a disease effect.
Arasmes calls out casually as the fight begins "Careful, these things are venomous. And prone to causing magical fear."
Attack
Initiative:
Knowledge: Planes:
The Shadow Dancer will dash forwards to help Arasmes and Talon.
Attack:
Damage:
Her AC is currently 21, 25 against attacks of opportunity caused by moving into position.
"Arasmes, these things look like your last date!" she calls out as she strikes.
Looks like Petrova's going stiff with fright.
Monster's Initiative-23
Kanthuun Initiative-19
Drovya-15
Talon Initiative-14
Hanethes-12
Petrova-7
Arasmes-5
Rogar-3
In their advancement towards Rogar, one pauses halfway and emits a shriek [c]DC 14 to avoid paralysis for three turns[/b], while the other one charges Rogar to bite him. However, the things fangs end up gumming on his metal armor.
Kanthuun cast colorspray.
The seem perpelexed but unharmed.
Drovya moves to intercept the one that paused to shriek. He grips Black Ivan in both hands and chops at the daemonic scavenger.
Beware! Drovya calls out. Their shrieks can paralyze and their poison is especially hard to heal. Defend anyone who is paralyzed, for the creatures will try to turn the helpless into one of them!
Rogar shivers at the shriek, but is otherwise unaffected. As the creature tries to bite through his plate he takes the opportunity to swing his axe at its head.
Drovya stepped forward with Black Ivan and slashed at the screaming Varguoille from behind, getting a good blow in that splashed thick, foul-smelling blood on his arms.
Talon attacked the one on Rogar and managed to do a great deal of damage, too. After this attack hit, Hanethes made a voracious assault on the monster Drovya had just marked, dropping it in a bloody mess (or, more precisely, exploding it into a bloody mess that caused a little bit of pain for Drovya as a super-heated bit of tentacle hit his face doing (2) damage.
Petrova and Arasmes found it impossible to move, and Rogar overcompensated with his axe whilst the damned Vargouille pestered him.
"Trickster! Stupid squat thing! I will EAT YOU!"
The fiend tried to bite the dwarf again, accepting that it probably wouldn't survive, but that this blasted creature had lured it out of the relative safety of the bush and (according to its evil little mind) tricked him.
Again, the monster simply ends up gnawing on Rogar's armor to no avail.
Drovya hisses in pain and charges the remaining Vargouille, bringing his two-bladed sword to bear against the tentacled horror.
Kanthuun hisses unintelligble words of power and points at Drovya.
Talon will try to finish off the remaining Vargouille.
Between the three who acted first, the vargouille went died like a rabid dog, first being slashed by a now-enlarged Drovya, the battle finished with Talon's scythe cleaving through its flesh.
The thing dropped to the ground in two pieces, and the spell over Arasmes and Petrova, which had already begun to wear off with the death of the first screaming fiend, lifted completely.
"Well that went well." Talon says as he cleans the blood off his weapon. He walks over to Arasmes and Petrova who just came out of their frozen states."You two okay? No permanent damage right?"
'Aye, that wasn't so hard now, damn brute of a creature. We should get moving I reckon, doesn't do to linger to long.' Rogar states, matter-of-factly before clipping his waraxe to his belt and brushing some goop off his armor.
Arasmes shakes his head "Yes, I'm fine, but damn, that's annoying. I hate those kinds of effects. Being helpless has never been my favorite thing, though I suppose it's not for most people." the last is said a trifle self-deprecatingly, he turns to Rogar, then "I agree, let us be off."
"Yes, I'm fine. Just pausing to take in the breath-taking scenery."
"Their bark was still not as bad as their bite could have been," says Kanthuun. He pulls out the Wayfinder again and points in the direction it indicates. "This way."
"Well, it is said that fortune favors the bold. I think most of that success was due to a compelling blessing of luck from the Merry Drinker himself." Hanethes wipes his blade off on the leaves of the bushes, shaking his head a little as he smiles.
Drovya grimaced and quickly mumbles out a cantrip. The daemonic blood on his face, arms, clothes and weapon quickly flakes off and falls to the ground. Disgusting creatures, he growls. Bark or bite, to me the smell is worst.
The dark haired half elf looks down at his elongated limbs and surveys the rest of the group from his newfound height. Well, at least the weather is a bit nicer up here, he jests.
Before he sets off to follow the others, he makes a search of the bushes the vargouilles emerged from to see if they contain anything else of interest.
A mangled, mostly eaten fiendish rodent of some sort is strewn about in the brush, and while most of what is present is garbage, there is a single shining gold coin protruding out of what might be the remains of the stomach.
It is approximately the same size as the Inner Sea's legal tender, but is emblazoned with a polyp-covered and diseased-looking scythe.
"Just looks like the money they use here." Talon says picking up the coin.
Arasmes shakes his head "No, daemons use mortal gold, or souls themselves, as coinage. This is something else entirely..." he tilts his head and examines the coin more closely.
"Oh really? Then what is it?"
As usual, our silver-tongued friend speaks true. Perhaps if we pooled our knowledge of this place, we might find the missing piece of the puzzle.
We are near to Apollyon's realm, and this is his sigil. The sooner we procure some souls to trade, the better off we will be. And if memory serves correctly, if we continue on our path, we may eventually reach Styx.
Arasmes nods "Pooling our knowledge certainly sounds like a good idea, sadly, I don't know anything, but it seems worth noting, to me, that this is a religious as well as secular symbol. The kind a priest of the Horseman might bear to identify himself, perhaps..."
Knowledge planes:
Petrova looks at the coin. She nods. "Yeah, that's not really money. It's..." what's under the last spoiler.:)
"How did you know that?" Talon asks while looking the strange woman, his eyes blinking a few times.
Petrova returns the stare. "My family has lots of stories of planar lore. You pick up a few things. Besides, as much as Arasmes would prefer it sometimes, I don't only go up to the boobs." She taps the side of temple knowingly.
"Ah I see. You got a good woman there, Arasmes. She's smart. I like that."
The yellow eyes beneath the mask flash. "Arasmes does not 'have a woman' of any sort, despite whatever things he's allowed you all to believe. The only feminine companionship he's been enjoying lately can be found at the end of his wrist."
"Hah! I guess she does know you." Talon pats Arasmes on the shoulder. A look of realization dawns on the Taldan. "So does that mean you're available?" He asks with a smile.