Kascio allows the fighter to move in front of him, grinning as he does. He shrugs and looks around.
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Sighing with a bit of daunt in her tone, Esmeralda follows them, with Penance behind her in the main back. She'll opt for the middle, if she can help it. Looking at the preserved things, however, she can't help but detect magic. With a soft tone under her voice, she extends a finger in the direction and starts to look around.
The hallway leads north for a ways before coming to a set of stairs, just like all the others, leading down into darkness. Again, all of the area looks untraversed for who knows how long. Although there are no signs of magic present, it's fairly clear to all of those trained in in arcane knowledge that something magical had maintained the place in the condition it's in. The effect may have just finally wore off after such a long time.
When the stairwell comes to an end, the original three members of the group are able to gather that they went down roughly one floor, factoring in how large the space between floors has been thus far. The stairwell empties into a short hallway, taking two right turns before opening up. Up ahead, the room expands to triple the size, at the top of a balcony, with a set of stairs leading down on each side. From this angle, it is still too difficult to see what lies below the edge of the rail. Kascio and Faedrin, with their keen eyesight, can make out the far wall close to the limits of their vision.
Faedrin strays to the edge of the balcony and sends his cantrip spiraling out through the enormous room. As it zips around the large space, the elf looses a low whistle, impressed by the size of the chamber.
"Well, one thing I know for certain about those Thassilonians, they sure didn't like to do things on a small scale. This place is enormous!"
Kascio whistles. "Indeed. I think they were compensating for something, eh?"
"Uh, it doesn't appear that Ayala came this way. Should we not try to find her first, and then explore these newly discovered halls?"
The ancient dark was starting to make Tanjvats tremble a little.
Faedrin shakes his head at Tanjvats' question, "No, I don't think she's around any more, Tanj. Everything we've come across in the rest of the structure points to her gathering what she could and leaving in a big hurry. I think the only foes we're going to find are those the Thassilonians sealed in these halls."
Tanjvats attempted to display several non-verbal forms of demurral all at once. He ended up slightly hunched and bobbing his head. "Then I suppose we can report on what we find to Lady Heidmarch, and look for the shard later."
He tongued his tusks nervously and shuffled on behind Dareon and Kascio.
"Oh, I think the shard is in here. Somewhere." Faedrin gazes around the room, still slightly awed by the size of it.
Sending his lights up ahead, Faedrin and the others can make out some more features of the room. The first, is that there archways to the left and right of the room at the bottom of the stairs, leading east and west out of the chamber. Second, that there is a reflection off of his lights coming up from down below, and dancing around the chamber. Clearly, there is a fairly still body of water sitting at the northern end of the chamber.
Tanjvats moved forward to the balcony to eye the water below carefully. He left room for others to take the stairs down while he covered the area with his crossbow.
Kascio steps up with Tanj, his daggers still out as he scans the waters below. He looks at the cleric, then steps down the left staircase to see what's going on with the water at the bottom.
"Mind your step, Kascio. If those murals from earlier were any indication, I don't think we'll like anything these Thassilonians might have left locked back here."
Faedrin renews his cantrip and follows to the left, his steps soft and cautious.
Kascio descends the stairs to get a look at the water below. A green, scum-covered pool extends across the far end of this room. The passages that exit to the sides can be seen in a little more detail. To the east it nears an alcove which sits just before a set of curving stairs leading downward. To the west the floors and walls are streaked with dark smears of guano in thick layers.
Above, on the balcony, there is a crevice in the southeastern wall that looks just small enough that anyone of the group could just manage to squeeze through, albeit with some difficulty.
As Kascio nears the pool, the surface starts to wobble as two large bubbles grow across the top. It doesn't take long to see that they are actually large slimy blobs making their way out of the pool toward Kascio.
"Uhhh... Kascio, maybe back away from the slime-covered pool?" Faedrin lets his rapier clink to the stone at his feet as he slips his bow free from his shoulder and fires hesitantly at the left-most approaching ooze.
HP: 12/12
AC: 19 (15 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +3/+4/+4 (+2 vs enchantment, immune sleep)
Arcane Pool used: 0/5
Harrow Points remaining: 2
Spells Prepared:
Cantrips (4) - dancing lights, daze, ghost sound, read magic
Level 1 (2+1) - feather fall [ ], jump [ ], shocking grasp [ ]
Ongoing Effects
Dareon carefully studies the things, trying to see if he remembers anything from his past education about them. Then, he takes his shortsword and he steps protectively in front of Kascio, shield at the ready. He actively hides behind his shield.
Despite the hasty draw and weak pull, Faedrin manages to strike the slow-moving blob, making a small hole in the thing where the arrow sticks out. Some of the contents of the thing seep from the hole, and the arrow actually begins to dissolve.
Dareon recognizes these as the most basic of oozes. They are not the most common, but are an ooze at its lowest form. They are giant amoebas. Slow-moving waterborne oozes, that lash at prey, stick to it and begin to dissolve it, as it feeds on the deteriorating portion.
Daring and brave (at least in his own mind) Dareon attempts a leap over the balcony to be in front of Kascio.
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As Dareon brashly decides to jump the ledge in order to make it in front of Kascio, an odd floating feeling overtakes him. As the last to cross the ropes earlier, he still bore the ring of feather falling. He lands gently right below his place on the balcony, before going to stand protectively before the others.
Kascio starts as the blobs begin to swim toward him. He steps back just as Dareon slowly lands in front of him. He'll throw a dagger at the nearest blob! for damage!
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Walking a few feet to the left as everyone begins to start towards their first actual engagement, Esmeralda smirks as she quickly taps Faedrin on his shoulder as he descends the stairs, whispering an incantation beneath her breath.
As she finishes that, she spins her hand around to the other stairwell and points at the gelatinous bulbs that seem to be causing trouble, and nods her head towards them. Penance lets the bandages fall from his enormous weapon and proceeds forward down the stairs, carrying the weapon clumsily down the stairs as he lets it bounce down each one.
"Penance"
Biped (Claws)
NE Medium outsider
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+1 Dex, +6 natural)
hp 17 (+2)
Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +3
Defensive Abilities evasion
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +1 (1d4+2) and
. . Large Masterwork Bastard Sword +5 (2d8+6/×3) and
. . unarmed strike +6 (1d3+4 nonlethal)
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Statistics
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Str 19, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +2; CMB +6; CMD 17 (can't be tripped)
Feats Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword)
Skills Bluff +5, Perception +5, Sense Motive +13, Stealth +6
Languages Common
Other Gear Large Masterwork Bastard Sword
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Special Abilities
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Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Evasion (Ex) No damage on successful reflex save.
Tanjvats tried his best to align his weapon on one of the amoebas as they swam towards his comrades. He fired, and rapidly reloaded.
Where Esmeralda moves left, assisting Faedrin, Penance moves right to assist Dareon. The eidolon adopts a stance like the man across the water.
Kascio leans around Dareon and tosses a knife at the same one that was shot by Faedrin. It is an easy target, as the thing seems both unwilling and incapable of dodging. The blade has the same effect of the arrow, just a little better.
The western blob sloshes through the muck, heading straight for the armor-clad man nearby. It makes a solid but clumsy swing at Dareon, but doesn't manage to make an impact. The second one heads for the other armored lunk, also sloshing through to slam into Penance. It manages to bash itself against the big outsider, and begins to burn through the tough armored skin. It tries to cling to the eidolon's leg, but doesn't manage to hold on.
Tanjvats loads and fires a crossbow bolt, but even with the thing so close to Penance, he only misses by a little bit. The slow round blobs being very easy targets.
Kascio draws another knife as he steps back and flips it at the same squishy mass. dealing damage!
Faedrin sends another arrow into the amoeba harrassing Dareon, more willing to lose arrows to the obviously caustic things than any of his blades.
"Are we hurting these things? What... are they even?"
HP: 12/12
AC: 19 (15 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +3/+4/+4 (+2 vs enchantment, immune sleep)
Arcane Pool used: 0/5
Harrow Points remaining: 2
Spells Prepared:
Cantrips (4) - dancing lights, daze, ghost sound, read magic
Level 1 (2+1) - feather fall [ ], jump [ ], shocking grasp [ ]
Ongoing Effects
high ground: +1 to hit
firing into melee: -4 to hit
Dareon comes out from behind his shield, gripping his shortsword strongly and going in for a deep stab into the amoeba.
"Stay behind me if you can, people!" he shouts, and then waves his shield towards the other amoeba, trying to attract its attention.
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As Esmeralda walks over and taps Faedrin on the shoulder for yet another of her guidance spells;
She looks to penance as he's subsequently harmed. "Penance. Crush that."
Immediately, Penance raises his bastard sword, swinging it down and allowing the weight of his weapon to do the bulk of the damage. Did it hit, she wondered? These slimy things were so watery she could hardly tell.
Feadrin launches another arrow into the thing, ooze and acid dribbling out again. Dareon just finishes it off with a quick slash of his blade, almost popping the thing as the rent he creates causes more of the inner liquid to pool out.
As Esmeralda casts her spell on Faedrin once again, Penance simply drops the heavy blade on the thing, causing the ooze to bubble big on both sides like it's about to burst. With no target remaining, Kascio flings a knife at the last one, and the pressure of the eidolon's hit causes the thing to split along the seam of where the blade struck it.
The two simple blobs just sit torn and seeping out into the brackish water of the scum-covered pool.
Faedrin shrugs as the things ooze and pop, leaking back into the pool. He shrugs as he recovers his rapier, "I guess we were hurting them after all," he mutters to no one in particular.
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Esmeralda walks down the stairs with a bit of a scowl. "Tut tut, it seems as though penance and his irrevocable bulk took a clean blow on accident. A damn shame, that..." she says as she drags her hand along the wounded, sizzling skin within his cloak. She rubs her fingers quickly and splashes some water on them to stop the acid, however, before it can sear her fingers. "Strange creatures, were they not?" she asks, looking to the rest of them.
"Penance is good to keep going, otherwise I would unsummon him. I could also heal him, but he's yet to take a substantial blow... and I've also yet to see someone give true reason for him to release his bandages." she says with a wry smile.
Kascio retrieves his thrown daggers, unless they've been dissolved in the goo. He shakes his head. "Think those thinks were more Thassy-magic, or just goo gone big?"
Faedrin shrugs, "I don't know, Kascio. Either seems plausible to me." The elf eases his way down the stairs and turns to Esmeralda as she descends the other set of stairs. "Thanks for the help, Esmeralada." As he gets to the bottom, he doesn't bother trying to recover the arrows he loosed, having clearly heard them sizzle after hitting home.
"Well, if I didn't think so before, I'm pretty certain that we're the first ones to come by this way in Nethys knows how long. Hopefully this other shard is nearby and we can get back to the manor."
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"It's no surprise a bunch of petty thieves such as them weren't able to figure this sort of thing out." she says with a slight chuckle. "Well, on the bright side, if the doors haven't been opened then I guess we'd best begin looking around then, shall we? Probably some trinkets lying around..." she says with a wry smile.
"Those were no Thassilonian magic." grumbles Dareon, tersely. "Just a couple of parasites looking for food. They might be involved with the Thassilonians in some way - some leftover summoning result of something - but they weren't magical."
Kascio laughs. "Yep, we're much better than petty thieves, Esme, we're pretty thieves and that makes the difference!"
With the battle having quieted, the gentle lap of the just recently disturbed water is heard, as it sends dancing reflections from the light sources across the walls. From the east can be heard a series of faint squeeks, almost akin to chirping.
Kascio holds up a hand to signal quiet, then gestures toward the east and creeps in that direction.
As Kascio creeps closer, the rest of the group waits to see what it is that has caught his attention. As he closes the distance between himself and the room beyond the hallway, the squeeks and chirps grow more frequent, more plentiful, and louder.
Softly, Dareon says, "Those are bats. Anyone got burst spells prepared?" While he says this, he takes his pack off and sets it on the ground. He takes out one of his torches and proceeds to start lighting it.
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"Unfortunately, I lack any such spell. If there are many, then shielding will do you little... Penance could take point, but I don't want to risk losing him so early." She says as she tosses the towering lug a glance, obviously in deep thought. Without much else to go on, she proceeds to touch her own forehead, casting Guidance on both herself, and then on Penance.
"My best idea is to increase penance's size and let the girth of his sword do the work." she points out.
Responding as well to Dareon's question, Tanjvats shook his head.
"I have some alchemist fire and acid, which I guess might work somewhat, if we're lucky."
Dareon is familiar enough with bats and how they act, to recognize that the chirping could signify a number well into the thousands. Four to five thousand diminutive, flying biters. He knows no weapon would avail you. Even his torch would possibly sway a few of them, but not enough to turn them from their intended target.
As the talk surrounds what it is and how to deal with them, the sounds grow louder and the fluttering becomes much more frequent. The swarm has clearly been roused, and is drawn to all the commotion.
Luckily, the sounds of the swarm rousing gives most of the group time to prepare.
"Bats? Thousands of bats?!" Faedrin looks around for cover or something that might disuade the oncoming swarm, but it's obvious by how his face twists that he's not pleased with his own idea. Scrambling, he darts to the water and submerges himself up to his neck as best he can. "They don't swim, do they? Quickly! Just until they fly off again."
Kascio looks down at his knives, then at Faedrin. "When in Magnimar..." he mutters and jumps in!
Dareon holds his hand out to Tanj. "Any extra? Give them to me. We need to kill them fast. Start with the alchemists' fire."
He points at Esmerelda. "You or your eidolon should go back until you find Tower Girl corpses. Take any alchemists' fire you find, and then hurry back. Either the bats will be dead, by us, and we'll just have some extra alchemists' fire for next time, or we'll be hiding underwater because we ran out and we need you to kill them."
Dareon then sheathes his sword and concentrates on the Shard of Pride. He remembers that he can create illusions with it, and does so. He says, "Step back, Kascio," before creating an image of a roaring inferno in the hallway in between them and the bat noises.
Tanjvats watched incredulous as Faedrin and Kascio jumped into the water, while fumbling at his own belt for a scroll.
Dareon's commands were oddly calming, and he instinctively obeyed, handing his alchemists fire to Dareon.
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"Right. I'll see what I can find. Be careful!" she says as she turns on her heels (somewhat literally) and flees up the stairs as far as she's able to go. "If penance is injured beyond repair, I may come back worse for wear." she points out. "Though we'd all do well to run!" she says as she makes her way up the stairs.
Faedrin splashes into the water and then realizes the pool is far too shallow to shield him or any of the others from the bats. Frowning, he pulls a smokestick and, striking it, tosses it toward the opening the bats are coming from. "Well, I don't have any way of cutting down thousands of bats, but maybe they don't like smoke. Running might be our best bet."