Jysson targets the leader who is injured.
The flail swings upwards, connecting with the leaders chin and lifting him up off his feat, while at the same time shattering his jaw.
Jysson then moves to attack the other leader, using his bonus action to shift his Hunter's Mark to him.
Unfortunately, Jysson is distracted by the halfling getting knocked around by pure air. It causes his swing to miss the second leader.
Seth feels pleased that all immediate enemies are dead by now. Without the pressure of nearby opponents, the half-elf cast Faerie Fire in order to illuminate pindleton's attacker
As Jysson drops the hawk, an otherworldly purplish glow surrounds those near the runed door, like light from an alien world on dew covered leaves.
Zephyros, now mildly aware of the melee, stands upright in midair, pointing at the invisible stalker "YOU! Trespasser! You were not given permission!"
The amalgam of glowing, whirling winds crashes to the stone floor like a wave breaking on granite. Sohar-wolf stands triumphant.
Gloriana takes the opportunity to lay steel to the stalker, hoping to send it back to wherever it came from.
Beesunn's blade bounds into the beast's body, finding a hidden lifeline deep in its bizarre physiology, and thrashing it.
Round Three:::::
Sohar, Pindleton <---UP
Cultists
Seth, Jysson, Gloriana
Pindleton steadies himself against the assault but it takes him a moment to regain his bearings.
The cult leaders use the stalker's distraction to cast spells. They chant oddly in unison until foot-long golden hawk talons materialize on the party's flank.
The stalker turns its attention to Gloriana in vengeance...
Everyone in party may act. We are technically at the latter half of round 3.
Pindleton waves his bow around trying to track the invisible foe and lets loose with an arrow.
Gods! Gloriana manages to gasp, spitting blood from the wounds to her internal organs. She grits her teeth and attacks, because that's all she knows to do.
She then steps back and tries to catch her breath.
Pindleton's cautious stance against the attacks of the stalker prevent his usual uncanny precision, regardless the arrow hangs midair as it penetrates the glowing flesh.
Gloriana's onslaught continues with 2 more strikes against the elemental hulk.
Seth, Jysson, Sohar still up.
Seth tries to finish the cult leader
The cult leader writhes in agony from the fey bolt "Damnit...you again..." His neck is badly charred, like an electric burn.
Jysson, Sohar up. And reminder to roll advantage against fairie fired foes (the injured leader and the invisible stalker both have it).
Jysson goes after the living cult leader, which he has Hunter's Mark on:
Jysson topples the last standing cult leader with a few nimble blows, before turning his prowess upon the stalker.
All other enemies dead or asleep. Zephyros still Zephyrosing. Sohar up.
The stalker resists Sohar-wolf's takedown and does everything it can to eliminate him...
All PCs up
Gloriana waits for the Sohar/wolf to break off and then she attacks without mercy, hoping to dispatch the invisible killer.
The last thought running through the air assassin's mind was regret in underestimating Gloriana.
Jysson will grab a sleeping cultist by the ankle start dragging him to the edge, tossing the cultists over one a time, unless someone stops him.
As for the vultures, he'll try calm them down, un-saddle them, feed them (plenty of dead bodies around), and groom them. If there is a rookery around, he'll bring them to that and prepare them for the party to use.
THe guys seems to be telling the truth about their gift... In any case, Any idea of what to do with big Z up there?
And about Jysson actions
We need at least one living for interrogation
Jysson, the vulture's first response seems to be to attack you when you advance to a certain range, certain cues in their stance and your natural intuition tells you so-after all you've seen that trick before. Perhaps you could get closer if you donned the garb of their former masters, fooling them long enough to mount and attempt further coercion.
Seth, Z seems to still be writhing loosely in the air, his gaze is distant, his mouth drooling. You might start to wonder just who in the hell is driving this thing.
The vulture squawks in surprise flitting its wings, slashing out in a futile manner before disembarking the cloud. The others follow suit and take up a attack pattern in air, seemingly about to dive bomb you...but the griffons intervene at the last minute and manage to drive them away.
The castle continues to careen from cloudtop to cloudtop, you might start to wonder if this inescapable prison will be your last stand.
As the party debates its next move, Jysson swears he spots a dragon coasting near a thundercloud.
After a few hours, Zephyros seems to calm, returning to the ground to meet you all again "F-forgive me, Wardens...my spell failed. There are sinister diviners that lay traps on the astral sinews I reach through..." he glances down at the sack of pixie dust "I should not have accepted this, it was meant for you." he hands it over.
Zephyros helps ID the magical nature of the smiling bag (which the invisible stalker was released from) as well as the pixie dust.
Bag of Holding - weighs 15 lbs regardless of whats inside. Can hold up to 500 lbs, no bigger than 64 ft^3. 10 minutes of air for breathing if one creature. Opens gate to astral plane if combined with other extradimensional spaces...
Pixie Dust - 10 uses, can substitute for any 3rd or lower spell material component. If sprinkled on a creature, roll d100:
0-70 flight 60 speed for 10 minutes
71-80 unconscious 1 minute
81-90 confusion as spell
91-100 invisibility 1 hour
Also some mundane gear there as well of course.
Stupid birds, Jysson mutters to himself. Well, are we there yet?
At this point Seth is not really accepting any dust from that giant. Is there gold?, letters? something that hints what were the guys intentions?
Seth, the thing that stands out as far riches go are the solid gold daggers the leaders were equipped with (likely a good 1000 gold each). To the right buyer, the steel hawk motif'ed armors are finely crafted and might catch the right price...especially if the buyer was unaware of the connection to an evil cult.
You also find a document in the boot of one of leaders written in Dwarvish script, but the dialect is totally alien, it may be a wholly different language or code.
"The cloud giants seek part of their artifact in Nightstone. Use this gift to ally ourselves with one and bring us closer to the Holy Yan-C-Bin. -AK"
So, The cloud are after something. That might explain Z's hospitality
If zephyros is not around I keep the document until I'm sure I can share it to the others without interference. If he is around, I'll leave it where it is until he is gone.
Gloriana tugs on Zeph's leggings to get his attention. Once done, she holds up the long dagger and says, The vulture riders called this the Sky Kris and said it controls the runed door. What does that mean, great one? They also mentioned Yan C-Bin and the Howling Hatred. Who are those people? Do they mean us harm?
She then sits down to rest, breathing heavily as if extremely tired all of a sudden. She drinks a little water, waiting for the giant to explain.
Seth, Zephyros takes occasional breaks upstairs, allowing you to share the note.
The journey is nearly halfway complete by Z's estimates, 5 of the 11 estimated days have passed.
On the tenth day, everyone but Gloriana freeze in their tracks. Off the starboard cloud, a huge silver dragon glides through the sunshine, approaching on a collision course quickly. As it flies closer, you see a number of armored dwarves clutched in its claws...
"Yes...you offered to help so I made you my sentry. The one who wields the Sky Kris controls who can pass that door. Obviously those riders were clever enough to find a loophole...I swear my mind is going.
I did not know it before I dove the astral, but Yan-C-Bin is the Evil Prince of Elemental Air. Those cultists follow him...I suppose they find beauty in the primordial stages of our worlds spiritual evolution.
I took their gift as a courtesy and was attempting to divine their intentions when I was waylayed by a certain neural-psychic snare...eh...are you following?" he cocks his head to one side in earnest assessment.
He grins but quickly returns to a serious face "It isn't the first time I've been assaulted on my planar excursions...every time I feel I lose a piece of myself, scattered there among the stars...without direction. But I've mostly returned, and with something new: a new thought, a proper course. I suppose its an exchange..." He glances over you all "I'm sorry you had to witness that, hardly hospitable. And I will have to revise the door...I hadn't considered extra-dimensional spaces."
On the tenth day, everyone but Gloriana freeze in their tracks. Off the starboard cloud, a huge silver dragon glides through the sunshine, approaching on a collision course quickly. As it flies closer, you see a number of armored dwarves clutched in its claws...
The dwarves are armed and armored and seem to be using the dragon's claws as transport. Their hostility isn't clear, but its a damn scary sight. All but Gloriana have a round to prepare.
edit: Sorry, not a round. You have 1 minute to prepare. So Gloriana could surely be notified in that time as well...
Pindleton creates a magical image of a puff of cloud near the door drifting out of the cloud base the tower is on. He tries to position so that he can slip into it unseen, where he activates his Winged Boots and drifts into the air with it.
I have the feeling walking would had been a better idea for us
Seth looks for a high place where he can snipe in case the dwarf are less than friendly.
Seth, outside the tower has a few flying buttresses that you could climb onto (see map, bottom right). They reach about halfway to the second floor where Zephyros does his mysterious business. If you warn Z, he might be willing to lift you up. Inside, there's the furniture mentioned previously (table, chair, statues).
"...no. No dragon is a friend to giants. Take cover, Wardens! They will seek the navigation orb in my upper chamber, the reigns that guide this flying horse...without it we would be stranded, but they'll never let me live." he starts casting a spell "Contradictus...impellus."
As the group gets closer, some of you might recognize the uniforms of the dwarves, their faction: the Lord's Alliance.
The Lords’ Alliance is a coalition of rulers from cities and towns across Faerûn (primarily in the North), who collectively agree that some solidarity is needed to keep evil at bay. The rulers of Waterdeep, Silverymoon, Neverwinter, and other free cities in the region dominate the Alliance, and every lord in the Alliance works for the fate and fortune of his or her own settlement above all others. The agents of the Alliance include sophisticated bards, zealous paladins, talented mages, and grizzled warriors. They are chosen primarily for their loyalty, and are trained in observation, stealth, innuendo, and combat. Backed by the wealthy and the privileged, they carry quality equipment (often disguised to appear common), and spellcasters tend to have a large number of scrolls with communication spells.
To seek out and destroy threats to their homelands, agents of the Lords’ Alliance must be highly trained at what they do. Few can compare to their skills in the field. They fight for the glory and the security of their people and for the lords who rule over them, and they do so with pride. However, the Lords’ Alliance can only survive if its members “play nice” with one another, which requires a certain measure of diplomacy. Rogue agents within the Lords’ Alliance are rare, but defections have been known to occur.
BELIEFS
If civilization is to survive, all must unite against the dark forces that threaten it.
Glory comes from protecting one’s home and honoring its leaders.
The best defense is a strong offense.
GOALS
To ensure the safety and prosperity of the cities and other settlements of Faerûn by forming a strong coalition against the forces that threaten all, eliminate such threats by any means necessary whenever and wherever they arise, and be champions of the people.