The hike out to the Spire is more than familiar for four of the morning’s travellers but for one the experience, the relative silence of the woods, the manner in which civilisation seems to cease to exist after a mile or so… and the inexplicable clearing, a huge circle around the Spire ruins where nothing larger than a hardy shrub has taken hold, is all new. It is close to midday by the time the group clamber up the rubble-strewn slopes of the ‘Tower Ruins’ and, taking the opportunity to enjoy their last sunlight, they eat a hearty lunch and prepare themselves for a long hike… into the depths and to an appointment with the Mistress of Thorns.
When it can no longer be put off, the group make their final preparations – securing armour and whetting blades – and move into the enveloping darkness of the ruins. Listening out for movement as they move towards the stairs in the centre of the building, the group remain on guard against ambush… but arrive at the spiralling steps – leading downwards towards the crypts - with no difficulties. From there, it is a relatively familiar journey through the dead tombs of Gorloth, the abandoned hideout of the Splinters and on to the strange troglodyte enclave… asking Titania to merely observe rather than interact, Rallos makes a nominal sacrifice of scrap metal to the ‘God in the Box’ and the group’s journey continues onwards. Through the drowned level where the Undine once were… and into Klarkosh’s Clockwork Maze. Mindful that the Div, which they had encountered after slaying Klarkosh, had escaped the last time they encountered it, Yasmin encourages the group to be ever-vigilant… she need not have been concerned though, the area seems devoid of life – the endless ticking of the clockwork is the only sound here. Below these levels are the two serpentfolk lairs… one which they need to trek through, the second they can, mercifully, avoid…
In total, it takes more than two hours to make the descent to the chambers that had previously been infested with morlocks… and so, after taking some time to refresh themselves for the negotiations to come, the group make their way into the darkness of the ‘Spire Axis’. Instantly they get an unsettling feeling that they are being watched… but they press on regardless, through the fetid tunnels and chambers where Grayface had led them in a running melee against the morlock denizens… and out into the corridors that lead to the Spire Crystal. And as they turn the corner towards the central chamber, a voice – like a thousand slicing razors – calls to them, ”So… the time for our meeting has arrived… you have the Lady Commander with you, yes?”
As usual, Yasmin readies herself with magical armor of force as the party approaches the dangers of the spire. She was particularly concerned about the deadly devil that they now approached. She makes introductions, hoping to smooth over the coming storm.
"Mistress of Thorns, we come bearing news. Lady Commander Druvost no longer leads Fort Inevitable. By decree of Lictor DiViri, authority over Fort Inevitable now rests in the hands of Maralictor Dandru Wolfhelm of the Order of the Nail. The Maralictor send you his emissary, Titania Olivia Thrune to speak on his behalf."
Calling her an emissary was probably overstating things, but it seemed better than calling Tot a mere Armiger. If Yasmin could puff up Tot's importance, maybe the message she was about to deliver would be taken better.
Tot found keeping her discipline hard as she made the trek. She'd never been in the wilds, the true wilds, and the woods had a relaxing effect on her. By the time the group began their descent, the young fighter had put all thoughts of this meeting with the "Mistress of Thorns" out of her mind and was enjoying the hike. During the trek into the caverns below, Tot found herself almost mesmerized by the oddities that abounded, but it wasn't long before her nerves began to gnaw at her.
As she hears the voice of the devil she'd come to meet her hands tighten around the hilt of the black blade she carried on her shoulder, though still in its scabbard. Even with the armor covering her, it is easy to see her shoulders tense. At Yasmin's introduction, she steps forward and rests the tip of her blade on the ground in front of her with one hand reaching up to rest where the hilt and crossguard meet.
"I have come to speak with the Mistress of Thorns. Please, show yourself so we may be properly introduced," she says with a slight quiver in her voice.
Relax. You are in control. You are a hellknight. You've faced rogue fiends before, with a group you've trained years with, and not one you met yesterday, and probably wants you dead, like Maralictor Wolfhelm.
I'm doomed.
Tot is terrified by this coming encounter.
”A Thrune???”, there is a rattling noise from within the emerald-lit chamber as the fiend, standing near nine feet tall and her spines aggressively bristling, strides into view. ”We had an agreement… I would allow you safe passage through my domain and, in return, you would bring me the Lady Commander. Not some Thrune lapdog… not some emissary from the Chelish pretenders... I was clear on this – and I am VERY disappointed”. Moving forwards such that she is silhouetted by the green light of the spire column behind her, she scowls, ”Speak Thrune… and convince me not to kill you where you stand”.
"Get ready," Tot murmurs to Yasmin as she steps in front of the mage.
"I'm afraid that I'm not the most eloquent speaker, so allow me to make my argument with this," she says as she draws her sword and steps up to the fiend and puts all of her strength into the blow she aims to deliver on the Mistress' of Thorns ribs.
"Maralictor Wolfhelm has no desire to negotiate with a known agitator against House Thrune and the Cheliaxian Empire. I am impressed that you managed to get the first letter right, but the word you wanted was 'executioner' instead of 'emissary,'" Tot tells the Mistress of Thorns with a half-mad grin as her eyes glow under her helm.
"I did, I have, and I told you she wasn't going to like what I had to say!"
Striding forwards to deliver her message, Titania slams her sword against the ribcage of the devil… crunching and bending the spikes that cover the Mistress of Thorns’ body, the armiger feels the sword dig into flesh…
…and then, as she pulls her blade clear, the bent over barbs of the devil spring outwards and slice into Titania’s wrists and hands…
Snickering to herself, the Mistress of Thorns hisses, ”It seems, my dear, that negotiations have reached an impasse!!! Very well, let me make some counter-arguments…”
Murassa's summoned blade slices through the barbs and into flesh... and, brushing too close to the bristling spikes of the fiend, Murassa cuts his forearms...
...and then, in return, the devil slashes at her attackers - cruel talons slashing into flesh and, worse still, lifting Titania off her feet and onto her erect barbs... the Mistress of Thorns, true to her name, gasps ecstatically as the Armiger's blood drips across her spikes...
Well, that plan went all to hell... Rallos says as he rushes forward and draws his rapier. He slices at the devil.
Tot lets out a surprised yelp of pain as wicked barbs manage to get around the armor of her gauntlets and hurt her. The distraction proves to be costly as she cries out again as she is yanked off her feet and finds herself embraced by the devil that was nearly twice her height. She struggles to free herself as thoughts of giving in and begging for her life begin to worm their way into her mind as the barbs stab her through the chinks in her armor again and again and again. she fights on despite the fear and knows that she'll likely die here, Even if she survived the fight somehow.
Seeing everything going wrong, and knowing that Yasmin's magic can deal some good impact, Ea choose to heal the wounds of her allies instead
Cut terribly by the Mistress of Thorns and with her laugh ringing in his ears, Murassa turns... and runs!!! Nearly bowling Rallos over in his eagerness to flee from the devil, his clumsiness doesn't distract the tiefling from rushing into the fray - and stabbing deep into the spines and thorns of the fiend.
...and like Murassa and Titania before him, Rallos suffers cruel tearing and ripping of his flesh as the barbs cut into his wrists.
And all the while, Titania, held aloft on the spines of the Mistress, struggles - to no avail - to break free... but she, at least for the first time, feels the grey wash of Ea's healing...
"What? But ... Gah!" As she finally shakes off her immense surprise at the betrayal, Yasmin sees that Tot is now in peril. She decides she needs to act fast. First, she coats Tot in a layer of slippery grease! Then, with just a flick, she uses magics to help Tot wiggle free!
Yasmin also draws her Rod of Piercing.
Finally, she moves with heroic speed to increase everyone's speed!
FYI, if anyone is grappled again, Yasmin will use Liberating Command again, so you can just assume it happens and roll your escape artist check on your turn before acting - might allow you to attack that turn.
As Yasmin casts her spell, Titania suddenly feels a degree of freedom upon the Mistress' spines... and flexing once more, works herself free... cursing the sorcerer, the fiend slashes at Rallos and, with the rogue caught on her claws, moves back into the narrow space next to the Spire...
Tot lands on her feet and stumbles back a step as her helmet catches on a spine and comes off and falls with a clatter to the stone. Her eyes glow red-tinged white as she spits out a mouthful of blood and wipes the blood from her mouth with one gauntlet-clad hand. She looks up with a predatory grin as she feels her wounds knit and time slow around her.
"What's the matter? Am I too much for you," she taunts the devil before attacking.
The tiny hellknight proves that her sword is not for show and does her best to carve great bloody gashes into the Mistress of Thorns even as she chokes up on her grip to use it more like a short spear than a sword.
Rallos tries to wriggle out of the Mistress' grasp.
Yasmin sees if she can identify the Devil's weaknesses. .
Though she doesn't have any luck, she assumes the Mistress of Thorns has spell resistance and perhaps cold resistance. She just hopes the Devil is not immune as she conjures ice to pierce her enemy!
;
Let's see how I can help turning this fight to our advantage..
Between them, Yasmin and Titania give the Mistress of Thorns moment for thought... blasts of ice being followed by the armiger's forceful attacks...
Ea's consideration of the fiend suggests a number of things... that it is immune to fire and furthermore has resistance to acids, cold and poisons - the creature is, after all, resident to the most noxious regions of hell. And, further - it has an innate resistance to weapons that are not good aligned.
Injured by the Mistress of Thorns claws, Rallos is momentarily shaken... and fear threatens to take hold...
3 questions..first...is it possible for me to land behind here if i escaped...second..if not can I 5 ft step so i can flank her next round? I am unsure if the green circle is solid o5 not..i think it is...just checking..last...is it possible to do an acrobatics check to get behind her ?
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Tot is covered in her own blood, but she refuses to relent, pressing her attack to try bringing the fiend down with her brutal blows, but even with the magic making her quicker, her next strikes are so sluggish that they are easily avoided. With a roar of defiance and rage, she brings the sword high over her head and brings it down in a vicious chop that sends the young hellknight to her knees as the wicked barbs find their way to something damaging. Tot struggles to get back to her feet, to continue the fight, but her body doesn't move as she fades from consciousness and collapses in a heap at the devil's feet.
Wrenching himself clear of the devil's spines, Rallos sprints after Murassa... the chill dread of the thorns spreading through his veins as terror takes hold.
With only Titania now facing up against the towering fiend, the mistress of this place slashes once more with her fearsome claws... yet somehow, despite the rivulets of blood that are flowing beneath her armour, the Hellknight avoids the worst of it...
...and, wielding her blade with conviction, Titania fights back - and, even though the pain of the spines cutting her arms is near unbearable, she draw some satisfaction that the devil is starting to show some sign of being in pain.
"Back up, Tot! I'll teleport you out of here!" Once Tot takes a step back, Yasmin tags her, and she vanishes from view. . Hopefully the Devil believes Yasmin's bluff.
She then starts to back up, moving past her otherwise fearful allies. It seemed Yasmin was also pretty afraid.
Ea prays to Pharasma to cast out the devil and send the Mistress of Thorns back to Hell
Ea's prayer, so very close to ripping the Mistress of Thorns away from this plane, fades as the gathering energy ripples over the fiend's spikes... but luck smiles on the friends briefly - the fiend is apparently taken in by Yasmin's misdirection... and she doesn't follow.
Instead, she retreats towards the southern side of the spire calling out in a self-superior voice, "Go ahead and run then... go mewling back beneath the petticoats of your pitiful masters. I will send my plaything to escort you out!!!"
...and then the sound of banging comes from the door to the south of the spire - the same hammering that the friends heard the last time they visited the Mistress of Thorns - yet more excited than ever now...
Yasmin was pretty worried about what might be coming out of that door. She really hoped her allies would get back into the fight soon. "Come on, Rallos - pull yourself together and kill that demoness! I can hide you from her sight!" Yasmin casts Greater Invisibility on Rallos also, hoping that the sneaky rogue could do some real damage with that advantage.
Y-y-yes...just need a s-s-second to focus....Rallos pants as his fear slowly leaves him. He lets a deep breath as he comes back to his normal self.Better now...thanks Yasmin! he says as he looks about for a way to sneak up on the creature...whatever it is.
...as the Mistress of Thorns continues to gloat about her victory, and the banging at the door grows to a crescendo, there is a sudden popping sound - as if a large volume of air had just moved to fill a gap. And although the banging at the door continues, the self-superior pronouncements from the fiend have ceased...
The sound of scraping metal and slithering chain comes from where Tot was standing. A sword appears as it clatters to the ground and a deep shaky sigh of relief can be heard.
"Glad that's over," she mutters in a trembling voice as the pop of a cork echoes in the chamber.
.
As the Mistress of Thorns seems to vanish from existence, Yasmin heads back into the room.
"Ea! Did you just send that thing back to Hell? That was amazing!" She walks around the room, peering carefully around the spire, as if needing to confirm for herself that it really happened.
Nice job, Ea! I am glad we don't have to deal with her anymore....now, let's see if she left anything behind...
With that, Rallos looks about for anything valuable.
Rallos, quick to rush in to confirm that the Mistress of Thorns has indeed been banished and also to explore for any treasures that she may have left behind, finds a number of shards from the Emerald Spire scattered on the floor... and, within the pile of green gemstones, he finds two that have been machined similarly to those already held by the group allowing teleportation along the spire - and also, slightly apart from the green debris, a blue crystal perfectly cut into a five-pointed star. Yasmin, looking for the arcane, finds that this blue stone has a Faint Illusion aura.
...and the banging at the door still continues.
Yasmin picks up the five-pointed star, then sends it spinning around her. She concentrates and suddenly her appearance changes to a tall, slender elf. "This is a Western Star ioun stone. It lets you magically change your appearance! Seems like you could just keep changing your look all day." She concentrates again and reappears as a chubby dwarf. "Anyone want to give it a try?"
"Anyway, seems like we should heal up, then get ready to fight whatever that thing is behind the door."
aye...I don't like the sound of it...
Eveything cannot be resolved by violence. But Pharasma guided my hand. I was just the vessel of her power. Maybe even the strange energies of the Spire helped me. I thought it wouldn't work. PLease let me heal you first.
...after a while the banging at the door subsides and stops altogether - as if whatever lies behind there became disinterested.
Yasmin snatches the whirling Ioun stone and reappears as her normal self again. "Okay, guess we should see what's trapped in the other room? Here's the plan. I'll speed up everyone's movement again right before we open that door, and we see if it's something we need to fight. Maybe there's the Morlock chieftain inside? Who knows."
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As the strange fear slowly left his body, Murassa gave a shuddering breath before rejoining the others. Walking up to Ea, he gave a bow before saying, "Thank you, Ea. I don't know what happened to me, but I know it would have been worse without your magicks to help us." Taking one more deep breath, he joined Rallos and scooped up some of the unworked shards. "Do you think these might be worth something?"
Tot a vial of some potion in one hand and the cork to it in the other, looks up at Ea with a stunned expression on her face.
"You healed me," she asks in a slow, disbelieving voice.
Yasmin chuckles. "Hey, how about some credit for the woman who helped you slip from that creature's grasp? Oh, right, let me help you with that." Yasmin waves her hand and the slippery grease on her armor vanishes. "Anyway, you were pretty amazing in that fight - held your own when everyone else was running away. Even though your really should've told us what you were up to."
Yasmin was clearly warming up to Tot after seeing her fight to the brink of death.
Rallos listens at the door to see whether the insistent banging is going to come back... and hears something stomping around beyond the reinforced door. Intriguingly, there is no evidence of talking... nor, in the quiet between the loud steps, is there any sound of breathing...
Yasmin takes a few steps back from the door, ready to let Rallos and Titania lead the way. "Just gimme the signal and I'll speed everyone up. Then we open that door."