While they wait quietly for Hrim to return from scouting, Cladissa looks back and forth between the other Pathfinders. She drops Cole into the water to let him get used to it and turns to watch the bubbles riding to the surface.
"Potion seems to work," she reports.
As the moments pass to allow the deep gnome time to lurk, Cladissa coughs softly. "So, I'm not seeing Roald anymore," she announces.
She looks at the others again. "In case you were wondering." She falls silent.
|
The tian takes some time to look through the empty rooms just to see if there's anything of any importance while they wait. "No, it's good to know." He replies to Cladissa. "Although I wasn't particularly concerned about them. If they were anything like the mercenaries we'd already fought, that is."
As the moments pass to allow the deep gnome time to lurk, Cladissa coughs softly. "So, I'm not seeing Roald anymore," she announces.
She looks at the others again. "In case you were wondering." She falls silent.
Nyugusk looks over at Cladissa, not really sure what to say but thinking perhaps she could use some support. "Oh! Uh, is that a good thing or not? Do you, uh, want a hug?"
She starts to smile at Nyug's offer, but it fades a moment as her eyes flick briefly toward Argor. "Maybe later. I guess I think it's a good thing," she says though she sounds wistful and sad. "He wanted -- We wanted different things out of the relationship."
Then sofly, under her breath, she mutters, "Jerk."
This cramped and lightless room is empty, save the pungent scent of the sea that wafts from the stairwell set in the center of the room. The stairway leads down into the flooded darkness below.
This lightless room, completely submerged in water, is empty and nondescript but for a stairway that leads down.
This dark, submerged room once served as the bunk of the captain of the Iron Tide. A wooden chest sits in one corner of the room.
Hrim returns to the team and account his reconnaissance. "If you can't break open the wooden chest, I can try magic."
Cladissa perks up when Hrim resurfaces and reports. "I think Nyug can take apart the lock. Otherwise, this could be a test to see how strong Mettera has become."
Nyugusk fiddles for some time with the lock. At first, he's sure he has it...but it fails to open. Oh for the love of Irori, failing constantly when we're in social situations is one thing. I am *not* going to fail at this. Arghh!!
With a pained grimace he tries back in again, and this time he manages to succeed. "Aha! Look here, the captain's log."
Nyug holds it in his pincered hands and begins to leaf through it, looking to learn more, and reading interesting bits aloud as he goes.
The log is mainly lists of targets for the former pirate ship, and the plunder they took from them. There is nothing of interest to the current mission.
"A pity," Argor says as he looks over the potions. "I was looking forward to getting to know the man further."
As Argor receives Hrim's report, he looks to the others and says, "It would seem the path forward is painfully evident. I suggest we all consume our elixirs now, as well as perform whatever remaining preparatory rituals you would desire. Mettera, should conflict arise, I plan to enhance your strength and size at the first opportunity, as Mr. Newblossom is capable of such feats himself. Position yourself accordingly so as to take best advantage of it."
He then drinks the water breathing elixir, as well as one of the endure elements potions, before letting himself down and into the water behind the others.
Hrim offers "I'll drink my potion and first check the stairs in the front of the boat." He still looks from tracks.
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Realizing that Cladissa was talking about something other than the thugs that just left, Mattera berated himself for being so obtuse. He didn't really know if he should say something or not, and eventually decided that his pride wasn't quite worth holding onto with such a stupid mistake. He put a strong hand on the woman's shoulder and spoke, but couldn't quite get himself to even acknowledge his previous mistake. "For what it's worth, I know how you feel."
Mattera looks over the contents of the book, and fits it into a belt pouch with no further comment. As everyone else was drinking their potions, the tian felt like it was a good time to do it as well. The taste was horrendous, but he forced it down through sheer willpower.
He followed Hrim at a distance, not wishing to play their hand to early. At least, he was pretty sure he was following him at a distance. When the gnome didn't want to be seen, it was fairly difficult to see him. He had his spear at the ready as they were heading down, knowing it would work well in the tight corridor, as well as having the reach to fight over the gnome's shoulder. When Argor mentioned that he would be enlarging him, he nodded. "I've been enlarged before. It worked fairly well. I just hope there is room to use it effectively. I'll trust you to make that judgement call."
Hrim offers "I'll drink my potion and first check the stairs in the front of the boat." He still looks from tracks.
[dice=Survival (tracking)]1d20+17
Cold and murky water fills most of this lightless room; the last few steps of the stair leading into it from area 4 lie underwater. This room, like the crew’s quarters above it, is bare. Eight hammocks hang from the ceiling, dangling just above the cold water. There is door going further into the hold.
Realizing that Cladissa was talking about something other than the thugs that just left, Mattera berated himself for being so obtuse. He didn't really know if he should say something or not, and eventually decided that his pride wasn't quite worth holding onto with such a stupid mistake. He put a strong hand on the woman's shoulder and spoke, but couldn't quite get himself to even acknowledge his previous mistake. "For what it's worth, I know how you feel."
Cladissa looks up at Mettera, studying his face. Slowly, she nods. "I appreciate your empathy. Perhaps, when the time and circumstance allows, we can commiserate together about our lost loves?" Before he can respond, Cladissa quickly amends, "Though if I'm to be perfectly honest, Roald was more of a reckless infatuation."
Hrim continues to stealthily swim down the stairs. While the engulfing darkness reminds him of home, the surrounding cold water heightens his attention to danger.
Hrimnagel creeps forward and opens the door.
The gloomy water in this room is much more chilled than the normally pleasant waters of Absalom’s harbor. The room once served as the cargo hold of the Iron Tide. Now it
sits empty save for the lurking presence of three unfortunate souls. Three translucent, ghostly figures fades into view in the dark water, their faces distorted by wrath into a hideous masks. They look to the door, trying to spot what opened it.
One of the undead points right at Hrimnagel's patch of shadow. "Intruder..." it hisses through the waves.
Initiative:
Party 16
Spectres 14.6
"Ack!" Hrim reacts to being seen and by scary creatures.
He jets toward the stairs and hustles past Mettera yelling underwater, "translucent, ghostly unfriendlies! They saw me!"
Nyugusk scowls at Hrim's warning. "Marvelous. More incorporeal foes. Couldn't we be fighting big fish down here?
"Cladissa and Argor, lets see if you can harm them from up here. I'll stand ready to attack if they come up after us."
"And where, pray tell, would you stand to attack?" Argor asks sarcastically. "If they are incorporeal, then they could slip up through the floor at any point. Our best tact may be to go at them head on, though I doubt any of you have invested in means of harming their kind as of yet, despite our repeated encounters with them?"
He sighs before adding, "Unless you can prove me wrong on that point, the task will once more fall to me to try to harm them to my fullest capacity, though it is likely to expend much of my arcane power to do so. They will likely immediately seek to eliminate me the moment I begin my casting, as the undead did back at the latest Blakros venture. Be prepared to try to dispatch them, as best you can, given the circumstances."
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Cladissa looks up at Mettera, studying his face. Slowly, she nods. "I appreciate your empathy. Perhaps, when the time and circumstance allows, we can commiserate together about our lost loves?" Before he can respond, Cladissa quickly amends, "Though if I'm to be perfectly honest, Roald was more of a reckless infatuation."
"I don't really talk about it much, but I'll be willing to listen. It sounds like you're already thinking about it positively." said the tian. He would normally tell them he was contractually obligated to remain silent, but Argor had researched him and could probably deduce who it was.
---------------------------------------
Mattera was initially confused, as they seemed to have experience that he didn't really know about. As Nyugusk was preparing to attack as well, it only made sense that damaging the creatures was at least somewhat useful. If it was going to be useful, and they were going to come up here, where there wasn't any water, he would use his trusty Tetsubo. "If they're going to come after you, then that's where I want to be."
"The extent of your condescension knows no bounds," Cladissa mutters in response to Argor's sarcastic response to Nyug. "Almost to the limits of your magnanimity."
Upon hearing that the undead were translucent, she quickly casts a spell to allow her to view ethereal and invisible beings. Cole slinks into a corner and lends his witch some additional luck.
Nyugusk extends his accordion arm, goosing the arcanist from 10' away. Smiling through his annoyance he says "I figured a brain the size of yours would remember how well I can reach foes, whereever I see them...or did I overestimate you again? And yes, I think part of the point of a team is that I can shred physical threats before they shred you...but that a Master of the Arcane might be relied heavily upon when fighting spirits.
"Or do you consider your role in our team to now be limited to criticizing and strutting like a peacock, oh Mighty Varlokkur?"
"Ack!" Hrim reacts to being seen and by scary creatures. He jets toward the stairs and hustles past Mettera yelling underwater, "translucent, ghostly unfriendlies! They saw me!"
Nyugusk scowls at Hrim's warning. "Marvelous. More incorporeal foes. Couldn't we be fighting big fish down here?"
"Cladissa and Argor, lets see if you can harm them from up here. I'll stand ready to attack if they come up after us."
"And where, pray tell, would you stand to attack?" Argor asks sarcastically. "If they are incorporeal, then they could slip up through the floor at any point. Our best tact may be to go at them head on, though I doubt any of you have invested in means of harming their kind as of yet, despite our repeated encounters with them?"
He sighs before adding, "Unless you can prove me wrong on that point, the task will once more fall to me to try to harm them to my fullest capacity, though it is likely to expend much of my arcane power to do so. They will likely immediately seek to eliminate me the moment I begin my casting, as the undead did back at the latest Blakros venture. Be prepared to try to dispatch them, as best you can, given the circumstances."
Mattera was initially confused, as they seemed to have experience that he didn't really know about. As Nyugusk was preparing to attack as well, it only made sense that damaging the creatures was at least somewhat useful. If it was going to be useful, and they were going to come up here, where there wasn't any water, he would use his trusty Tetsubo. "If they're going to come after you, then that's where I want to be."
"The extent of your condescension knows no bounds," Cladissa mutters in response to Argor's sarcastic response to Nyug. "Almost to the limits of your magnanimity."
Upon hearing that the undead were translucent, she quickly casts a spell to allow her to view ethereal and invisible beings. Cole slinks into a corner and lends his witch some additional luck.
Nyugusk extends his accordion arm, goosing the arcanist from ten feet away. Smiling through his annoyance he says "I figured a brain the size of yours would remember how well I can reach foes, whereever I see them...or did I overestimate you again? And yes, I think part of the point of a team is that I can shred physical threats before they shred you...but that a Master of the Arcane might be relied heavily upon when fighting spirits."
"Or do you consider your role in our team to now be limited to criticizing and strutting like a peacock, oh Mighty Varlokkur?"
While the Pathfinders verbally snipe at one another, the undead move to attack. They appear suddenly through the wooden floor beneath Cladissa. Two of them reach out to touch her, while another flits past, going for Nyugusk. Nyugusk intercepts one of the undead with a ready claw, but doesn't seem too damage it overly much. The spectres reach into Cladissa draining her life force away. The one going for Nyugusk enters the beam of sunlight entering the hold from the open door and hisses, freezing in place and writhing in pain.
____________________________________
This attack saps a living opponent’s vital energy and happens automatically when a melee or ranged attack hits. Each successful energy drain bestows one or more negative levels (the creature’s description specifies how many). If an attack that includes an energy drain scores a critical hit, it bestows twice the listed number of negative levels. Unless otherwise specified in the creature’s description, a draining creature gains 5 temporary hit points for each negative level it bestows on an opponent. These temporary hit points last for a maximum of 1 hour. Negative levels remain until 24 hours have passed or until they are removed with a spell such as restoration. If a negative level is not removed before 24 hours have passed, the affected creature must attempt a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the draining creature’s racial HD + the draining creature’s Cha modifier; the exact DC is given in the creature’s descriptive text). On a success, the negative level goes away with no harm to the creature. On a failure, the negative level becomes permanent. A separate saving throw is required for each negative level.
For each negative level a creature has, it takes a cumulative –1 penalty on all ability checks, attack rolls, combat maneuver checks, Combat Maneuver Defense, saving throws, and skill checks. In addition, the creature reduces its current and total hit points by 5 for each negative level it possesses. The creature is also treated as one level lower for the purpose of level-dependent variables (such as spellcasting) for each negative level possessed. Spellcasters do not lose any prepared spells or slots as a result of negative levels. If a creature's negative levels equal or exceed its total Hit Dice, it dies.
"Imbeciles!" Argor mutters as he turns to the other Pathfinders in this chamber.
"The overly sensitive ones have allowed the creatures to get the drop on us. They are being swarmed in the next room."
Argor conjures up some light and brings it into existence so that it illuminates both rooms, then slips into the next room to observe their foes.
"Spectres. How lovely. Focus fire them down one at a time!"
__________
Spectres! Those are awful. Hrim thinks as he hears Cladissa scream. He steps toward to the door and whispering a prayer to Count Ranalc. He then snaps off two special ghost salt-tipped arrows at the spectre that he can see. But his fear makes him miss.
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Mattera gives a bit of a glare at his employer in the darkness as he insults his teammates for continuing a line of reasoning he began. Hearing the action in the other room, the tian moved through the door and up to one of the specters on Cladissa. Hoping he could get in a good shot as well as take the attention of the monsters in the area, he came in twirling his heavy weapon in one hand. "Let's see how you like the taste of cold numerian steel," he postured.
=14
[ooc]Snake style improves Touch AC to 40 against the first attack per round. [/dice]
With a shuddering cry, Cladissa recoils from the undead apparitions in front of her. She tries to bring up her ward against their draining attacks.
This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls.[/dice]
Cladissa feels a wave of relief as her spell raises a field of protection around her, making the spectres completely powerless against her for the duration of the spell.
Her relief quickly turns to anger. "Call them imbeciles?! They were following your instructions. Or did you forget you said to 'face them head on'? Are you trying to get me killed?"
"I said to attack them, and then pointed out exactly this scenario as why it would be preferable to do so! But please, continue to disagree with me."
"Oh, 'attack them', what a brilliant strategy! I'm so glad you're here to provide such tactical acumen!"
"Uh, guys, let's back out into the sunlight. See how it's thoroughly f^&king with that one?
"And, uh, I did attack that one the second it came out of the ground. You know, with my arm that can reach anywhere. But hey, let's have this argument out in the sunshine where our souls aren't getting sucked dry."
"Uh, guys, let's back out into the sunlight. See how it's thoroughly f^&king with that one?
"And, uh, I did attack that one the second it came out of the ground. You know, with my arm that can reach anywhere. But hey, let's have this argument out in the sunshine where our souls aren't getting sucked dry."
"Oh, no, didn't you hear Argor? Let this fight fall to him. I'm ready to see how he handles this with his supreme arcane might. We should all just stand slack-jawed in awe of his incredible prowess."
"Continue to bicker if you desire, but clearly sunlight bothers them, so I suggest we take Mr. Newblossom's council and take the fight to grounds that are to our tactical advantage," Argor says as he soars through the room and into the open air beyond.
"Imbeciles!" Argor mutters as he turns to the other Pathfinders in this chamber.
"The overly sensitive ones have allowed the creatures to get the drop on us. They are being swarmed in the next room."
Argor conjures up some light and brings it into existence so that it illuminates both rooms, then slips into the next room to observe their foes.
"Spectres. How lovely. Focus fire them down one at a time!"
Spectres! Those are awful. Hrim thinks as he hears Cladissa scream. He steps toward to the door and whispering a prayer to Count Ranalc. He then snaps off two special ghost salt-tipped arrows at the spectre that he can see. But his fear makes him miss.
Mattera gives a bit of a glare at his employer in the darkness as he insults his teammates for continuing a line of reasoning he began. Hearing the action in the other room, the tian moved through the door and up to one of the specters on Cladissa. Hoping he could get in a good shot as well as take the attention of the monsters in the area, he came in twirling his heavy weapon in one hand. "Let's see how you like the taste of cold numerian steel," he postured.
With a shuddering cry, Cladissa recoils from the undead apparitions in front of her. She tries to bring up her ward against their draining attacks. Cladissa feels a wave of relief as her spell raises a field of protection around her, making the spectres completely powerless against her for the duration of the spell.
Her relief quickly turns to anger. "Call them imbeciles?! They were following your instructions. Or did you forget you said to 'face them head on'? Are you trying to get me killed?"
"I said to attack them, and then pointed out exactly this scenario as why it would be preferable to do so! But please, continue to disagree with me," Argor retorts.
"Oh, 'attack them', what a brilliant strategy! I'm so glad you're here to provide such tactical acumen!"
"Uh, guys, let's back out into the sunlight. See how it's thoroughly f^&king with that one?" Nyugusk interjects. "And, uh, I did attack that one the second it came out of the ground. You know, with my arm that can reach anywhere. But hey, let's have this argument out in the sunshine where our souls aren't getting sucked dry." He claws the spectre and runs outside.
"Oh, no, didn't you hear Argor? Let this fight fall to him. I'm ready to see how he handles this with his supreme arcane might. We should all just stand slack-jawed in awe of his incredible prowess."
"Can you believe thessssee mortalss?" the spectre previously attacked by Nyugusk asks, before slipping back through the floor into blessed darkness.
The other two spectres flow around Cladissa and attack Mattera.
________________
Miss, hit
When the others begin to make their way into the light, Argor says, "Mettera. Nyugusk. Clearly the things are averse to sunlight. Let us use that to our benefit. Think you gentlemen could bust open a large enough section of the floor here to let the light penetrate the area beneath us and keep these at bay?"
Cladissa takes a step back and casts a spell to disrupt the undead's consciousness. She unleashes a silent scream that causes the spectre to pause in its actions.
Fail, dazed
"That should give you a moment!" she shouts.
Nyug's broad tusky mouth grins at Argor's suggestion. "Alright, credit when due, that's a fine idea!"
He steps to the side and does his best to bust through the wall facing Mettera, and then if he's able, to start in on the floorboards.
As one spectre is dazed by Cladissa's spell, Nyugusk tears down part of the wall, and a segment of the floor, flooding the room with light. The Spectre writhe in pain, freezing on place.
Hrimnagel continues to fire on the suffering undead. He destroys one of the spectres.
Mattera wastes no time in turning on the other. He smashes it with his staff.
The wounded spectre sinks through the floor in misery.
================================
__________________________________
/2=17
"Excellent work, Mr. Newblossom. A few more sections like that should suffice," Argor says as he keeps an eye out for any further surprises.
With the calm in the combat, Hrim waits for a good shot. "Mr. Black, we don't always bicker. We had recently all become quite cordial. Must be the spectres. We hate these guys."