Varian takes a step back from the foe and slams him with his reach weapon.
The orc guard is able to throw his weight against the tunnel wall to quickly avoid Varian's strike. He moves in with a chop, but his ax misses Varian.
Another guard - already half-charred - moves in to hack at Varian.
Robed cultists strafe into Varian's sight, and both toss iron balls toward him...
Chains burst from the orbs as they whip past Varian, and wrap around his waist.
To the north you hear. "You. You will make my size match his! No "
Corum calls and his badger and elemental rush to the main hall.
Corum gestures, and begins to open another portal to the elemental plane.
Corum's three mirror images continue to dance around his position.
Varian takes an aoo on the orc approaching him before he is entangled.
Then after the entangle takes effect, he strikes again...
Anumil climbing out of the pit.
Climbin' out of hole. (^_^)
Varian misses as the orc guard moves into position, but the second swing crumples the guard's armor into his seared flesh... he drops.
You hear the commander in the north room - his voice significantly more "booming" now... "Clear the way!"
Two cultists step aside, the guard nearest Varian advances, and the now-enlarged commander barrels in behind him with sword and shield.
Despite the chains restricting Varian, neither foe is able to connect with a clean hit.
There are other commands being given to the north - in the orc tongue.
Embolden my creation with what arcane energies you have remaining. Yielding your power to this beast of rage will serve us far better than your piddling arcane volleys.
Corum smiles and gestures and a coating of grease coats the chains on his friend. He says to Varian "Glad I saved some grease."
"Behind you buddy."
Corum issues the warning after the newly formed elemental appears behind Varian's foe and hammers him (ends in N13). He found the warning after the fact gave up no surprise benefits and still seemed to indicate the confidence of one in control. The previously summoned elemental moves into the wall and attack the last minion (ends in Q14).
Then the badger rushes up in front of Varian (Q12) (provoking from commander and minion if he survives the elemental attack).
N Small outsider (earth, elemental, extraplanar)
Init –1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +4
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (–1 Dex, +7 natural, +1 size)
hp 13 (2d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref –1, Will +3
Immune elemental traits
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., burrow 20 ft., earth glide
Melee slam +6 (1d6+4)
Special Attacks earth mastery
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 8, Con 13, Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 11
Base Atk +2; CMB +4; CMD 13
Feats Improved Bull RushB, Power Attack
Skills Appraise +1, Climb +7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +1, Knowledge (planes) +1, Perception +4, Stealth +7
Languages Terran
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Earth Glide (Ex)
A burrowing earth elemental can pass through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. If protected against fire damage, it can even glide through lava. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other sign of its presence. A move earth spell cast on an area containing a burrowing earth elemental flings the elemental back 30 feet, stunning the creature for 1 round unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save.
Earth Mastery (Ex)
An earth elemental gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls if both it and its foe are touching the ground. If an opponent is airborne or waterborne, the elemental takes a –4 penalty on attack and damage rolls. These modifiers apply to bull rush and overrun maneuvers, whether the elemental is initiating or resisting these kinds of attacks. (These modifiers are not included in the statistics block.)
The badger is wounded and enraged.
N Medium animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +10
Defense
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 22 (3d8+9)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2
Offense
Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft., climb 10 ft.
Melee 2 claws +4 (1d6+2), bite +4 (1d4+2)
Special Attacks rage
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +4; CMD 16 (20 vs. trip)
Feats Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness
Skills Climb +10, Perception +10
Ecology
Environment cold forests
Organization solitary
Treasure none
Special Abilities
Rage (Ex) A wolverine that takes damage in combat flies into a rage on its next turn, clawing and biting madly until either it or its opponent is dead. It gains +4 to Strength, +4 to Constitution, and –2 to AC. The creature cannot end its rage voluntarily.
Wolverines are territorial, especially when it comes to food, and have been known to defend their kills against much larger predators, such as black bears. They are fearsome opponents, launching into a frenzy when wounded. They tend to give off a very strong, unpleasant musk smell when angry.
Armed with powerful jaws, strong legs, and a thick hide, wolverines are remarkably strong for their size. They are reckless in battle and throw themselves at their foes, clawing and biting furiously.
Varian attempts to break free of the chains.
Sunny continues to be a rousing presence... Even as she shakes the water from her wings and hair.
The Commander and the soldier between the two enlarged battlers both hack at the approaching mad badger. They succeed in putting it down.. while the Commander is slammed in the side of his knee by Corum's earthern minion.
"I have no support! Crawling with vermin! Come to my aid, you cretins!"
He then thrusts his sword at Varian - catching him on the side of his ribs and underarm. The commander swings again, but misses Varian - who has now slipped free from his chains.
Two of the cultists step back into sight, and both direct their hovering iron balls toward Corum and his illusory copies. The chains shoot out, and beyond Corum... One image winks out as its form is clearly struck.
The soldier shakes the dematerializing badger innards from his ax, and hacks at Varian as well... but just misses.
Sunny moves to 'T-14'
"We should pull back! We's gon'a get more room that way." Sunny calls to her friends.
Varian winces in pain, then takes a step back and attacks the enlarged opponent.
Round 9__________________
"Hm." Said Anumil, looking over the battlefield. "No room to advance. Ah, well..."
He takes up his crossbow and takes a pot shot at the guy at (Q,14).
for a possible piercing damage.
Corum cast and he is shrouded in darkness as the magic concentrates on a copper coin in his hand. Corum tosses the copper coin past the commander into the room. A sphere of darkness 20' in radius messes with the vision of those without darkvision.
"Varian, hope they can't see in that soup. It is you, stoney and the boss man. I am running thin on magic now. Those two fireballs drained my batteries."
Anumil's bolt finds its target before the orc soldier can advance again on Varian. It is enough to bring him down.
Varian's hammer cracks hard against the shield arm of his enlarged foe. The commander has difficulty keeping his feet. He breathes heavy under his misshapen skull helm.
A moment after Corum hurls darkness into the north chamber, you hear a "Shuuuk". A wall of ice forms just north of the commander... where the hall opens into the chamber.
The battle-bruised commander bellows "Noooooo! am your "
Sunny stpes closer to the hall and casts "Calm emotions" on the now poor lonely Orc.
"Save yourself. Give in to our side. Your friends have abandoned you. Join us and seek revenge..." Suny cajoles the lone Orc.
The commander flips up the face of his skull helmet. His face is more misshapen than the face of his helm. His skin droops, and slowly ripples with an oily sheen. He looks bleary-eyed... a bit confused as he looks toward Sunny. "You've dulled my edge." He looks back to Varian then the ground. "Burned, beaten .. mantle of leadership in tatters... and now drained my spirit. However, ... I will not be joining you." He says this last part with an unkind tone.
Corum waits to see if his friends finish the commander.
If not, he triggers more foce bolts using his magic pearl.
Corum's arcane bolts slam into the battered commander's chest.
He falls and his eyes fix on nothingness.
The chamber north of the ice wall is filling up with water. You see a cultist standing on the other side.
His form is "smeared indistinct" through the ice - frosting with the water flooding in against it.
The water level is already a foot high after just 5 or 6 seconds.
The cultist puts something over his face, waves goodbye, makes a rude gesture, then turns away.
"Well... that's not good... Any suggestions?"
"Get his stuff before the flood!!"
Corum helps search the commander.
Varian assists with stripping the commander of anything valuable (casting detect magic before the search).
Sunny walks over to the fallen figure, kneels and whispers quiet words over the fallen form. Kneeling in the water Sunny shifts out of the way for folks to better get at the dead guys stuff.
She bounces up and quickly scampers over to the other chambers still on their side of the wall.
"Oh! Tha other Elf! We's got'a have a looky at her."
Anumil threw his crossbow up on his shoulder.
"Well Sunny? Shall we have a look at that other elf?" Anumil said smiling.
Sunny nods even as she scampers over to the hatch where in the other lass is kept.
Corum nods.
"After we search this mook, we are on our way. This way is a dead end and may get dangerous."
Sunny finds what appears to be her twin (minus wings) within the hatch. She is not conscious, but in good health - apparently able to breathe underwater. She is the Sunny who Anumil and Varian had lost.
The ice wall melts soon after. Water sloshes in from the north chamber, but is not enough to flood the rest of the area. Corum detects the source (an open portal to the plane of water), and is able to determine a way to close it well before the surging water becomes a real danger.
Within the north chamber, you find 22 captives - including the lost, true leader of Schulfjarn, Chieftain Hrulshaga. Though several of the acolytes somehow escaped, you have defeated the leader of the invading forces and restored an honorable Chieftain to power.
After Corum spends some time with what he was able to glean from the ritual's markings, he discovers where the cultists fled to. There is another world - similar to this one - they had discovered a way to reach it by way of the elemental plane of water. Though you do not know how they profited from this journey, they had been using "crafted humanoids" to guide them there (with abilities specifically designed for the task.)
As your actions lead to Hrulshaga and the Black Arrow militia regaining control, you are considered heroes in Schulfjarn, and the undercity Graulton.
Dot
You have a dream of the vile creatures you faced and slew. The moments play out as they were, but the awareness of the evil, the horror is omnipresent - inescapable like heat under a desert sun. As you see yourself felling these abominations of profane power, you sense you are not the only observer. You neither see nor hear anyone who was not there that day, but you feel burning hate breathing hot on your neck.
You awake with your back to a blazing campfire at the foot of a stained stone altar. You are in the woods, but it does not look fully real... details come into focus before your eyes too slowly. This is not where you'd bedded down for the night. There are others here who look equally disoriented.
A voice comes from the fire, or maybe the altar.
"In the fight against evil I came upon it face to face. Now all I see is her hate. From those dreams I summon thee."
Your surround then become quite real. There is a chill in the air, and the smell of turned earth and burning wood. You are near a ruined shack in a tiny clearing with just a slim break in the forest canopy over your heads. You see now the stone altar is a gravestone and the campfire is a burning grave.
The voice likely came from a Magic Mouth spell. You may or may not have an idea what had triggered it.
Arcthyl looks around himself at the strangers surrounding him, then at the altar and burning grave. "who are you and where Is this place? Who's buried here?"
A large blonde haired, blue eyed, human warrior rises from the ground. He wears a well made breastplate, and carries a small backpack. He bashes his left palm against his temple a few times to clear out the cobwebs, as his right finds the Greataxe that is slung over his shoulder. He scans his surroundings and growls, "I know not who the hornmaster is this time, but Norde does not know this "Tevil" and has no reason to fight him." Norde glares at Arcthyl, having never seen a Qlippoth spawn, and being obviously discomfited by the appearance, and demands, "are you Tevil, and why does the hornmaster demand your death if you are?"
"I am not Tevil who or whatever that might be. I am Arcthyl."
*Sniff, sniff...*
*Rolls away from the heat of the fire and curls up tighter in the blankets....*
"zzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzz"
"I call myself Norde. What manner of creature are you? I heard a voice, the voice of the Hornmaster I thought. Not Te-vul, as you say it, It told me I was to fight against Tee-vil," he says stressing the long "E" in the name.
Norde takes a double take, "buried, what do you mean someone is buried here? I see a number of figures, but none are buried. Are your eyes able to see beneath the ground Arcthyl?"
Rolling out of his blanket and to his feet, Anumil looked around wildly, his sword appearing as if by magic to his hand.
"What... what was that?"
"zzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzz"
*Rolls further away from the heat, smoke and bustle...*
Norde moves to a defensive position, while checking out the one with the pointed ears. "Could that be Tee-vil" he considers.
The elven wizard with the fine features looked around.
He calmly speaks: "Words of a magic mouth spell, quite an amusing trick."
He notes the sudden tension. "Stop arguing over who or who is not Tevil. We may be here to dispatch evil."
Arcthyl looks at the others waking then turns his gaze back to Norde. "I know nothing of this Tee-vil, or whatever it is called... I heard a voice say something about a fight against evil - perhaps that is what you thought you heard. Then the voice said something about some female and her fate and us being summoned from dreams. I don't like the idea that I am summoned like some minion, but that might be the truth of it, as I have no idea how I came to be here, or even where 'here' might be. I know who I am..." he strikes his chest with an open palm. "Who are you, elves?" he asks Corum and Anumil... "and the sleeping one... who is that? and whose grave is burning? Hmm... I should do something about that fire."
Without waiting for answers, he moves over to the fire and creates water over it to put out the flames and takes a look at the gravestone to see if it might perhaps give some clue as to who is or was interred there.
"This is your first time being summoned by the Hornmaster?" Norde rubs his chin pensively, "Do you feel compelled to obey the Hornmaster and fight Tevil, or Evil, or whoever it is? In the past, I have felt compelled to serve the Hornmaster, but this time, I do not."
With the flames extinguished, you see the charred remains of several stacked bodies. The tombstone is engraved with...
"Henri the Blind,
Here he lies"
"Folly's no bliss. Stubborn so, no pardon."
You also see a protection from evil spell perfectly engraved on the stone. This could be read from here to protect the area, or scribed to spellbook or scroll.
"Who in the balmy deep?! Some rabble hath doused out our fires!"
Four burly-framed men in leather armor and furs come to the edge of the clearing.
The one in front throws back his hood. He is a man but with unnatural features of a snarling wolf. He nods gravely,
"Aye, in sooth a coven hath sprung whilst we'd relaxed our good vigil!"
The two behind him drop a shivering peasant they'd been dragging between them. The peasant is in mud-soaked rags - beaten, gagged, and bound.
All four armored fellows reach for the weapons.
Arcthyl tells the others what he sees on the tombstone - the name engraved there, then the added words of "It has some other words etched on it: 'Folly's no bliss. Stubborn so, no pardon.' I don't even know what that means."
Then he turns, still stooped to read the tombstone, and stands as he pivots to face the four men. "A wolf-man? And 'twas I who put out the fire, though I'd hardly call us a coven..." He half turns to Corum and says as an aside to him, "We're not a coven are we?"
Sure that no one should be asleep during this, he takes a couple of small steps over toward Sunny and gives her a gently boot in the side, grumbling under his breath, "Get up you, we are likely about to be under attack."
The figure wrapped in blankets wriggles away from the prodding boot.
"I'z done me chores. Stop rockin' tha' hammock....*Mumble, mumble*"