Brezik moves up to the shadow and assists another.
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Allister's fear is multiplied as his greatsword passes through the shadow without doing it any harm, the tip crashing onto the stone floor and throwing sparks around. He begins to tremble and sees clearly for the first time that his friends are in mortal danger.
Instead of swinging again to no avail, he moves 5ft to Vivian, takes the dagger from her so he can pass it to Bel, then attempts to aid Belathorian in his attack on the shadow with the magic dagger.
"Strike this shadow beast down, Belathorian! We can't stay in here much longer, the smoke is getting too heavy."
The Shadow reaches out for the soul of steel next to it.
The Shadow seems too preoccupied by the fact that a weapon was able to hurt it to concentrate on the attack.
Belathorian steps up. Snatching the dagger from Allister's hand as he passes and thrusting it into the dark spectre
"accept this wandering soul my lady, gather it!"
Gad'larr will simply hold his action waiting to react to the shadow's actions in case there is something he can do to help his comrades.
Qina slouched against the wall. She could barely stand up under her own limited strength, her legs shook from the strain. She slipped out of her backpack and let it fall to the floor. She peaked around the corner to see how her friends where fairing, but all she could see was that none of them had fallen, and neither had the shadow monster. She knew she would not survive another confrontation with the creature so she ducked back around the corner to conceal herself. How could you be so stupid Qina?
Gad gets an idea and furiously starts digging in his pouch for the potion of cure light wounds he picked up
from the communal cart at the start of the adventure. (Full round action)
The dagger is passed around to Belathorian, who uses it in a manner seemingly ritualistic. The Shadow again writhes in pain and more shadow essence leaks from the dagger's blade. The shadow flickers and becomes smaller, but stabilizes and glares at Bel.
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Vivian picks up her mace. Knowing that it's useless, she remembers how Qina hurt the creature by eminating energy.
So she plants her feet and has both arms before her like if she was driving a carriage. Focusing, she tries to imitate Qina.
she screams and powerful energy of Gorum is channeled through her.
Brezik attempts to assist Vivian's Ac again.
The shadow writhes under the holy light spilling from Vivian, but it manages to shake off most of the effects. Not knowing which way to turn it gazes at all of its attackers before landing on Belathorian. The sting of a blade must surely be more insulting to it than the wrath of gods and it reaches out to steal his strength and life away.
The shadow looks extremely unstable, flickering in and out of existence like a candle whose flame is about to go out.
Brezik realized that the shadow was not happy with the dagger and seemed to be chasing after who ever had it. Still his goal was to try and distract the creature from attacking whoever held the dagger.
Once again Brezik managed to place himself and use his weapon to help distract and block the creatures view of its intended target.
It Might not hurt to have a weapon going through your head... but it prolly still makes it harder to see...
With a shout of triumph Gad pulls a vial from his pack.
"YES!"
Gad moves to the only open space and pulls open the vial and flings the contents at the thing!
Save DC 11 for 1/2 damage?
Belathorian staggers as the shadow draws strength from him. He grits his teeth and, turning the dagger in the lady's spiral mid air, plunges it between the red eyes of the creature...
As Gad has the Potion ready to be used on the Shadow Belathorian steps forth once more and with a dazzling dagger display fit for his Lady herself plunges it deep into the shadowy essence.
The Shadow begins to shrink and whither on itself, the red lights of its eyes becoming pinpricks,then finally fading to nothing as the creature dissipates.
Mere seconds have gone by that have certainly felt much longer, but the threat is vanquished and the room feels lighter even as the smoke grows heavier.
"Qina?! Where is Qina? That thing got her..."
Adrenaline draining from his body, Belathorian leans heavily on the handle of his scythe in his left hand and begins coughing uncontrollably as he staggers from the smoke filled room.
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Vivian begins to notice the thickening smoke as well. She stares at the space once occupied by the shadow in shock, then is brought out of it by Bel. "She.. cough cough .. left I think.. cough .. let's get out of here."
Vivian scans for anything useful they might have missed before fleeing the smog.
One last check before leaving,Vivian snags a soot-stained key by the fire, slightly warm to the touch, but nothing like the dasher she pulled from the fire earlier.
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"I feel light headed" Allister says softly, then begins to cough deeply. "I need to get out of this room." He begins to stumble back towards the entrance, his hand outstretched to keep him from running face-first into a wall or friend. The paladin is clearly rattled by more than the smoke - he was forced to confront the embodiment his deepest darkest fear and was helpless against it.
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Once in the Beetle Room Vivian slumps against a wall and rests.
"That wasn't good, but could have been much worse. (sigh) Can anyone identify what made that dagger strike the Shadow? I found this key as well." She holds up the key to show whomever is in the room with her.
"Qina, Bel, how do you two feel? Some rest should help, but if you two are feeling up for it we could go back to the other corridor off the entrance room.." She is worried about her friends, but knowing that they are alive she gives them some room so they can breath some fresher air before she attempts first aid.
"I'm...I'm okay, I guess. Just a little weak...well, weaker I guess. I've always been weak. We have to push on. We have to find his sister. And I don't want to sleep in a crypt." She sighs heavily and tries to stand up, but her legs are so shaky that she only makes it to her knees. She tries to quickly change the subject away from her physical ailment.
"That dagger, it must be magical. Can I see it?"
Qina whispers a few words as she touches her closed eyes. When she opens her eyes they glow with a soft, blue light. She turns the dagger over and over and closely examines it with a quizzical expression on her face. "Well, its definitely magical, but I have no idea what it does." She offers it up to no one in particular, waiting for anyone to relieve her of it.
It is a very simple +1 Dagger, though the handle is well worn with use.
After making sure his friends are as well as can be expected Brezik will go into the room with the fire and look to see if their is anything else in the room that could aid them.
Coughing and gasping for fresh air, Gad stoppers the potion and leaves quickly with the others.
"That dagger probably saved our lives. It deserves a name. Gorum's Punch? Pharasma's Needle? Or we could just call ourselves the Order of the Dagger and Flame?"
Gad'larr smiles at the last one.
Brezik finds nothing else of use in the room.
Gad looks at Vivian.
"No... Too Gothic? How about: Soulscratcher!"
"Pharasma's Fang!" You know, since Bela used it..."
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Allister slumps down against the wall in the next room feeling rather shell-shocked by the recent events. His heart is still racing and the corpse near the far wall does not help to calm his nerves. With his knees pulled up by his chest and his back against the wall, Allister rests his head in his hands.
"I just need, uh, a couple minutes before we go any further." The paladin looks unusually pale even though he has not taken the brunt of any attacks. He pulls a waterskin from his belt pouch and drinks deeply. The refreshing warm water brings color and life back into Allister, though his mind is still a mess.
The shadow's are real...they move...the darkness nearly killed my friends. But I must be strong for them, for Qina. I will not let my fear keep me down.
After a few minutes have passed whispers a brief prayer to whatever god will listen, then stands. "Okay, I'm ready. Qina, do you need me to carry your belongings for you?" He can see she is visibly weakened. "We will carry you if we have to. Nobody will be left behind."
The talk of naming the dagger distracts him from his anxiety. "How about Hotknife?"
Once outside the next chamber, Allister peers inside hoping this time to spot any trouble before it nearly kills him. You've got to be more careful or you'll get us all killed.
Allister's peeking into the room reveals a large pool of clear water, fed by a fountain on the wall above it.
Belathorian reverentially hands the dagger to Qina for inspection, then takes it back when it is proffered.
"This crypt is more than I was expecting, there is a great unbalance here, I must consult my lady."
Belathorian sits cross legged on the floor as Allister rests, dagger held before him.
After some minutes the pale Samsaran rises to his feet,
"The blade is old, but has never been given a name. Pharasma's Fang suits us fine, thank you."
He turns to Qina, and presses the hilt of the dagger into her hand
"I failed you back there, please forgive me. The undead will never touch you again whilst I draw breath. Please hold on to this... Just in case..."
In the center of this room is a large pool of clear water, fed by a fountain on the wall above it. The fountain has a stone statue of a weeping maiden holding the slain body of Kassen, but his head has been broken off and is nowhere to be seen. A voice booms out from the darkness, saying, The voice slowly fades, leaving a dreadful silence.
Looking into the pool reveals glinting objects reflecting the light from your spells in strange wavy patterns on the walls.
Gad'larr will try and get a better look at the shiny items in the water to determine what they are.
"A wishing fountain? Magic is the key? Hmmm...can someone cast a light spell on a coin and toss it in?"
The coin sinks swiftly, illuminating the pool as it travels down. At the bottom there must be a hundred keys, all similar in nature.