"Yodi, draw it out into the room. I don't think my daggers are going to do much to clay unless I can find weak point."
Yodi swats at the weapon in its hand, but the thing just begins to shift and move as he does, and it misses hitting the weapon. The move puts Yodi too off balance to recover in time to jab at the statue.
At Omen's behest, Brennan decides to release the hold on the door, to use his talents against the construct, once he can get Yodi to try positioning for a better spot.
Ciyradyl gallops into the room and lashes out with one of her hearty claws. Even with a strong swipe, hitting solidly along the clay surface, she still doesn't manage to affect the thing.
As she moves past the opening, Omen steps up into it and is able to hold the gates open.
With only the barest scrap of his patron's power left, Omen twists his torso past the edge of the troublesome door. With a burning glare of irritation spared briefly for Yodi, he then turns his attention to the graven guardian. Raising one outstretched finger, he snaps off a tiny ray of crackling frost. "Bothersome construct, return to the dust and clay which made you!"
HP: 14/16
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +3/+2/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist 7: acid, cold, fire, electricity
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 7/8
Shield charges remaining: 14
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 7/7
Ongoing Effects
Omen fires a beam of cold drawn from the void beyond, and just making past Yodi in front of him, watches it fizzle into nothing just before it strikes the statue.
The statue blankly regards each of the four people in turn, almost as if looking for something, before it strikes a pose as if receiving a divine gift from the heavens. The stance leaves it open to attacks, though it almost seems unconcerned.
"You arrogant &~!&*+~$+@@! Don't I even deserve your ire!? "
Yodi raises his spear and swings it at the stationary statue's arm.
...
He tries again, then staggers back and to his right to let Brennan in.
...
Both Yodi and Ciyradyl fail to connect with the statue as it stands ready to receive its god-given benefits. As it finishes, his movements seem more fluid and accelerated. Yodi yells at the thing, stabbing with his spear once more, but it only slides off the hardened exterior. He steps back away, giving room for the others.
"If none of you can even scratch this foe, then it is time to retreat. Either show your mettle now or withdraw! This door will not stay open on its own." Omen's voice fills the chamber, his patience with Yodi's petulant tantrums now plainly exhausted.
HP: 14/16
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +3/+2/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist 7: acid, cold, fire, electricity
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 7/8
Shield charges remaining: 14
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 7/7
Ongoing Effects
Brennan took advantage of the statue's attention being on nearer threats and rolled under the waving spear. His right hand blade came forward even as he did, aimed at the joint between leg and hip. In a living creature, that strike might cripple them, or at the very least disable that limb for a time. With this statue, who knew? but they were about to find out!
+
Omen recognizes the effect on the creature to be caused by a spell that hastens your movements and actions to the point you almost get to act twice. Regardless of this change in the statue, Brennan still rushes up on the offensive to stab one of his knives into the hard exterior of the statue. Despite being clay, the thing is hard and solid to the point that he doesn't get the full effect, but a joint is a joint even on humanoid statues. His expertise pays off in delivering a serious blow to the thing.
As Brennan proves that the thing isn't invincible, Ciyradyl lashes out with both of her clawed hands. She strikes solidly with her first claw, but is disheartened as it barely makes much more than a hard scratch on the statue.
Omen, frustrated, launches another beam of cold energy at the statue. Once more, it is solidly lined up to hit, but dissipates just before it strikes.
The statue shifts its focus to center on Brennan, as the scratch caused by Ciyradyl actually fills back up to be a solid surface once more. He spins the staff quite deftly for a statue, before jabbing the butt of it at Brennan. The staff glances off his mail shirt, but the statue spins the other end around to smack him hard on the head, bringing stars to his eyes. Jabbing back behind it at the nuisance that is Ciyradyl, the staff clatters off the nearby wall.
Yodi steps back, only to lunge forward again in a bid to spear the golem's throat.
...
Just hit it harder!
Brennan followed up on that with another strike at the thing's injured joint.
+
+
Yodi moves in to be closer to hit the thing, as well as take some of the focus off of Brennan potentially. Allowing himself the chance to be hit, he brings his spear up against the statue. Lucky for him, the focus was on Brennan, but not in his favor was how easily the now quicker statue avoided his own jab.
Brennan, offering advice in the form of the typical barbarian tactic of purely increasing damage output, manages to hit nice and hard. Sadly, he could not get weak point he was going for, or succeed on a follow up swing. Even with his solid hit, he was still having a hard time getting the full potential of his damage to get through.
Ciyradyl also denies the notion of leaving, her augmented form being almost at its full power, and instead follows Brennan's example of striking twice. She is a ways off with the first, but comes back through with her other claw and lands a nice hit. Sadly, the damage she does just doesn't make it through the solid materials of the thing.
"If you three do not devote your next breaths to departing this chamber with all the haste you can muster, then this door will close and you will be on your own. I will wait for you fools no longer."
HP: 14/16
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +3/+2/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist 7: acid, cold, fire, electricity
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 7/8
Shield charges remaining: 14
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 7/7
Ongoing Effects
"Can't leave Ciy or Brennan behind. So hold that door. I'll be the last out."
Yodi sidesteps to try a lunging feint beside Ciyradl, then jabs his way over to Brennan.
...
Omen launches another beam of cold energies at the statue, and this time the spell doesn't dissipate before it arrives. It does, however, just miss the hastened statue.
The statue has no reason to switch its focus from the previous target, swinging its heavy weapon once more at Brennan. Even as it does, some of the damage just caused by Brennan begins to fade. The staff cracks Brennan upside the head, dropping him to the ground. The statue whirls instantly on Ciyradyl, hitting her once in the shoulder, and following it up with a jab to the stomach. Her form starts to flicker and fade, hinting at a smaller shape beneath, but you hear her grunt with exertion as her tauric shape resolidifies.
"That's it! Run Ciy!" Yodi stoops to grab the harness of Brennan's pack and begins dragging him toward the door.
Yodi is already fairly heavily encumbered as he tries to grab Brennan off the floor. The man's rather bulky muscles show that, although he didn't look to be slowed by it, Brennan is carrying a hefty amount of stuff. It's the best Yodi can do to drag him five feet closer to the door. The statue takes advantage of the hampered movement, swinging at the man trying to help.
The gods must be on Yodi's side, as the thing just can't seem to connect on him with any regularity. Sadly, that doesn't get Brennan any closer to the door. Ciyradyl, decides to try and buy some time the same way Yodi did, moving to stand in between him and the statue. She does, however, offer him some magical assistance in getting the man out. With a spell cast on Yodi, he suddenly feels able to hoist Brennan into a carrying position, at least enough to move with some degree of speed.
Brennan looked over to the soft face only inches from his own, and smiled. Gineen always said she loved that smile, crooked and scarred though it was. He never showed it to anyone but her. She leaned in and gently kissed him.
"Are you sure you have to go? I mean, we could just stay here in bed. Surely Karsan can wait another day for his thingie."
She was so beautiful, soft and warm beside him, that Brennan was on the verge of saying screw it, and sending a runner to Karsan calling off the job. Sure, the man had a bad reputation, and Brennan had agreed to do the work, but surely...
Gineen crawled on top of him, straddling his torso and teasing him with her long, long hair. He was definitely going to call off the job.
Then, a torrent of blood fountained down on him as a huge gash appeared in Gineen's throat. She slumped forward, falling on Brennan with the weight of a thousand innocents, and the world went black.
Omen watches as Yodi struggles to move Brennan's fallen form and he shakes his head somberly. His gaze slowly turns to look back down the hall to the stairs they'd descended, before swiveling slowly back to Yodi. His gaze then looks up to the graven guardian and he looses a stiff breath. He snaps off one final beam of frigid magic.
Against his better judgment, Omen holds the door a few more breaths.
HP: 14/16
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +3/+2/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist 7: acid, cold, fire, electricity
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 7/8
Shield charges remaining: 14
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 7/7
Ongoing Effects
Yodi feels the strength flow into him, and glances to Ciyradyl. "Thanks." The response is uncharacteristically warm, but necessarily brief. The man jerks Brennan upward to get a better grip and resume pulling him toward the door.
Omen's spell merely fizzles out before it can get to the thing, and even if it didn't, his aim was far from the mark. The statue strikes Ciyradyl, hard, and she doesn't think she can keep the form up anymore without greater personal risk. Suddenly, she shifts from the shape of a four-hooved, clawed, tauric creature, to that of a fairly frail elf woman. The shift seems to throw off the statue, no longer recognizing the threat it was. It steps down off the pedestal to the side of her, and strikes at Yodi, smacking him twice with its staff. The pain is incredible, and it has does a number on the two remaining.
After lifting Brennan, Yodi begins backing toward the door, step by limping step. He scuttles past Omen and swings Brennan around to try to clear a path for Ciyradyl.
Brennan flopped like dead weight in Yodi's arms, oblivious to the combat continuing about him. In a few moments, he will simply be dead, and there would be no point to carrying him at all.
Without her armored form, the elf sees no point in continuing combat and retreats past the gate, behind Omen.
Brennan's bleeding stops as Yodi hoists him up and out of the room to safety. Ciyradyl is fresh on his heels, as the two of them make to escape the statue that just did quite a number on the group.
Omen falls back to the stairs heading back up to the upper floor, letting the door snap shut behind him. He offers no words or encouragement for Yodi as he passes the man, just a wordless glare as he sweeps up the steps.
"We need to get somewhere safe so we can heal and help him," She groans out as she follows Omen up the stairs. How could I have let that happen? How could I have lost that much and let Her go?
Omen releases the door as soon as the others move out of the room, and the pressure on the gate forces it closed. The act of the gate closing re-enables the lock on it with a very distinguishable click. As the happens, the statue stops, turns around, and returns to its pedestal. Stepping up onto the small dais, it resumes its former pose as if nothing had happened.
Omen's stoic mask offers little insight into his thoughts as the group ascends the stairs with the limp form of Brennan in tow. Once in the chamber above again, he plucks his ioun stone back from Yodi and watches impassively as he and Ciyradyl begin tending to Brennan's wounds.
Yodi produces his wand and begins casting with it.
When he's finished, he's in a sober mood. "We were lucky to get out alive. How are we going to beat that thing?"
With the group gathered in relative safety, at least somewhere it seems the statue doesn't follow, Yodi works furiously with a wand to pour positive energy into the heavily wounded bunch. Brennan getting the brunt and coming back to full consciousness. As they all come to and recover, Yodi poses a good question to the others.
Omen's voice is harsh in its coolness, "Perhaps by not letting petulance and childish bitterness drive us into mindlessly whacking at it with sticks." He then slowly turns his gaze to Yodi, but an edge of steel works into his otherwise still cool tone, "You put all of us at risk with your tantrum. You will not do so again. We are surrounded on all sides by malevolence and danger. Learn to master yourself, and learn it quickly. For I will not linger or wait for you to seize your senses like I did a second time."
"Childish? Tantrum?" Yodi barks a single HA of laughter. "I don't have the words to describe the depth of my hatred for the gods, especially Nethys whom I loved. That feeling is forged, tempered, and quenched in the injustice that they did me. The gods took my friends, my home, and everything that I treasured about myself. What would you know about that? Who are you to judge me?"
"We're all just grave robbers in the world's biggest burial yard. We're here to steal the treasure and secrets of the dead. That's what I was trying to do. Brennan and Ciy came to help. When Brennan fell I didn't run, but stayed to drag him out. Ciy stepped between us and the statue to make sure we got out. All you had to do was hold the door.
"I'm not the man I was, but I haven't sunk so low that I'd threaten to leave my companions in danger.
"You were not trying to steal the relics of the dead, you were trying to spite the god who abandoned you. You can cast it in whatever light you wish, but your true intentions were clear." Omen, still calm and somehow powerfully present, continues as his voice fills the chamber. "Three times I called for retreat, and three times you refused to budge, held fast by your boorish need to spit in Nethys' face. Do not paint yourself the hero for dragging Brennan from the chamber, Yodi. It was you who put him on the ground in the first place."
He continues, his tone even but his voice heavy and weighty, "You think yourself wronged and wounded. No one who is born escapes that fate, Yodi. If you find the burden so untameable, then write a poem or get lost in your cups like the rest of the rabble in this miserable wasteland of bones and dust. But know that we, here," Omen spreads his arms, indicating each of them, "are not common rabble."
"Why I went in there, doesn't matter. I was doing what we all came to do. Sooner or later, Brennan would have been in there, with or without me.
"And you are right. We are all UNcommon rabble."
Brennan ignored the byplay as he sat on the floor. Why didn't they let him die? He wanted to so badly. Couldn't they see that? Gineen. He hadn't thought about her in years. No, that wasn't right. He hadn't let himself think about her in years. His near-death experience has lowered all of his defenses. No, he couldn't stop thinking about that day when Karsan had decided the punk kid had stalled too long and sent his goons with a message. Now, nearly eight years later, Brennan was still looking for a means to send a message of his own. Perhaps this score would be the one.
Slowly he climbed to his feet and nodded at Yodi, then said , "All right, shut it. He said, she said, it don't matter. Either we go back in there and power through that damn statue or we go home. I'm pretty sure that there's nothing else up above. So, do we have a plan, or we calling it quits?"
Omen's eyes flash behind his mask at Yodi's last words. "My power may be diminished, but it will not remain so for long."
Brennan cuts in then and Omen turns to him, nodding. "I do not think it wise for us to throw ourselves at the graven guardian again in our present condition. We should take what time we need to recuperate." He then turns toward the door that leads back into the structure's first floor. "But do we take our rest here, in this chamber, and risk being set upon by the ahkhat? Or do we leave this place entirely and return on the morrow, hoping that Velriana and her jackals don't seize the opportunity made by our absence to sweep through the lower level?"
"It didn't want to chase us when we were right in front of it. I don't think it will come after us tonight. Let's stay here and keep the jackals off."
Ciyradyl appears much less bold without the external tauric form she had been 'wearing'. "I can't get my form back until tomorrow, and if the notes we read on this ahkhat are true, we may not be safe staying in here. Who is this Velriana you are talking about? I thought each site has a claim given by the Grand Mausoleum."
"You speak true, Ciyradyl. Velriana is the leader of a rival group, and in my brief experiences with her, it seems as though she would care little for rules if they kept her from what she wanted. I do not think our victory in the lottery will dissuade her from trying to poach it, as it were."
"Let us camp outside then. We shall keep watch and if Velriana and her band try to poach, we will let them soften up that statue."
The group works their way to a nearby building allowing for cover while still maintaining a clear view of the one they just exited. It takes a little time to recover all the items discarded near the entrance, as to leave it all there would surely indicate that something was awry if the the claim stealers were to exit the building.
It is nearing the end of Omen's turn at watch when he spies a pair of men walking up the road. They are brazenly lit by the torch that one carries as they peer purposefully into each building as they pass. As they draw nearer, Omen can see that they wear the mantles of those that ran the odd lottery, members of the priesthood that seem to control the majority of Wati now.