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The blobs continue to maul Corso with a kind of frantic desperation brought on by their loss of cover. Fortunately, Corso remains a defensive powerhouse, and none get through.
Both Raids and Omar hit, but none of the monsters are down quite yet.
Edit: The party focuses fire on the right one and manages to bring it low. Rathis now occupies one of the monster's attention, relieving some of the Purdue on Corso.
Can't edit the map now, but will try to do so in the morning.
Party up!
Omar makes the southern one a porcupine, but it doesn't quite fall.
Rathis tears into the final blob, splattering it across the room.
[/spoiler]
Corso will attack the right one til it falls, then move on to the south one, before attacking the left one
Rathis does the southern one in and Corso lays into the only demon left.
Val charges and Attacks one of the weakened things
The three melee members of the party descend on the last demon and smite it into oblivion.
Further exploration reveals a sealed, water-tight chest of iron sits at the back of the aquarium, hidden by seaweed. The chest is locked (hardness 10, hp 25, Break DC 23, Disable Device DC 28) and contains the following: eight pieces of jewelry (6,500 gp each); a small locked jewelry box (hardness 5, hp 20, Break DC 18, Disable Device DC 22) containing two dozen black pearls (500 gp each) and a 4th-level pearl of power, indistinguishable from the others until detect magic is employed; a staff of souls; four candles of invocation (LN); a manual of gainful exercise +3 and six other tomes on Taldan history worth 400 gp apiece; and a lord’s banner (terror) bearing the cross-eyed medusa.
The sword in Bartolomae’s corpse is Infensus Mucro, the ancestral blade you have been tasked with retrieving. The sword is currently dormant. The pommel of the blade bears its name, and the blade itself is engraved along its length with a phrase in Azlanti: “This Is Our Answer.” It is an elegantly wrought +3 speed longsword that remains pristine despite having been sheathed in a submerged corpse’s chest cavity for over 200 years.
The armor on Bartolomae’s corpse functions as a +1 breastplate, but otherwise acts as armor of rage.
"Well, that's the sword then. But we haven't found anything to explicitly exonerate or damn the Adellas, so I suppose we need to keep searching.
"That staff could be useful, if one of you can use it. Same with the pearl. I'll take the book if no one minds. It looks like it could be of some use to me."
The staff is not for my magic. The pearl on the other hand, is of use.
Agreed, let us see what else this necropolis holds. Though, perhaps these books tell something of the tale?
After a quick peruse, the books seem to be of little value to you. You continue your exploration. There is one room you passed on the way here that is worthy of exploration.
This massive domed chamber, peaking at seventy feet above, is painted with knotted geometric designs in muted reds and golds. Another Medusa Triumphant statue dominates the alcove at the room’s western end. An inscription decorates the statue’s base.
The inscription at the statue’s base reads as follows:
“Come out further on our Ledge
Sheathe in me the Family’s Edge
Take the Soot inside my Core
Scatter Ash past Stony Door
Walk into the Scarlet Light
Witness when the Dead had Sight
Two Sad Tales are both revealed
Truth and Fraud, No more concealed
Newfound Wisdom tastes of Bile
And never shall We reconcile”
Further investigation of the iron medusa statue reveals a narrow slot in its chest—the slot is wide enough to accept a longsword blade.
The sword slides in easily and there is a metalic click. Suddenly, the statue springs to life! It clocks Omar across the face twice. One of these hits is directly to his left eye, causing tremendous pain. Then it fires a ray of flame from it's eyes and attempts to burn Omar alive!
Seems pretty simple for a riddle. Stick the family sword in the slot, grab some junk from inside and scatter it outside, watch a vision.
Rathis' eyes go wide as the statue swing into motion.
"Someone grab the sword," he curses.
He steps forward to support the ranger, claws and even teeth cutting into the heavy stone.
Corso will step up to the statue and beat on it.
The statue collapses into a pile of junk and ash.
Ferod, following his deduction, grabs a handful of the ash and scatters it on the floor. The air simmers red for a moment before crimson jets of energy impact youall.
Braziers light a general’s command tent. The general himself—a towering man with handsome features, clad in elaborate breastplate armor—stands on the edge of an elegant Qadiran rug. A gaggle of junior officers, priests, and aristocrats stand before the tent flap and an armor mannequin.
“Well, let’s get it over with,” the general intones haughtily, gesturing to an Arodenite priest carrying a fancy cage containing two fine roosters. The general casts several types of honeyed grain on the ground to the waiting fowl, but to everyone’s chagrin, and the general’s fury, the sacred birds do nothing. After an impossible silence, one of the nobles mutters in an awkward tone, “They… do not eat.”
To everyone’s horror, the general grabs the sacred animals by their feathered necks, storms over to an elegant bathtub (which you recognize from your fight just minutes ago) and holds them under the soapy water, hissing, “Then by Aroden’s damned eyes, let them drink!”
The shocked gathering is paralyzed by the general’s hideous blasphemy. He stands seething at the edge of his tub, the limp, dripping carcasses gripped tightly in either hand, glowering at the witnesses to his monstrous sacrilege. Finally, a junior tribune blurts out, “Brother, I will fetch your warhorse!”
The general rouses from his rage and drops the ruined birds on the rug, striding to the tent’s entrance.
“Tribune!” he shouts to the nearest lieutenant, indicating the long map-covered table. “Gather my battle plans! We march on this Qadiran rabble at once!”
The military tribunes scatter to their duties. When the general attempts to plow past the collection of onlookers at the tent entrance, a red-haired prelate grabs him by his rich cape and speaks in a cold, furious tone:
“I know not what will happen this day, Bartolomae, but be assured of this: the tree of thy family shall wither and bear fruit no more. This is the last of your blasphemies in Taldor’s name. From this day forward your name will be cursed along with that of your whole arrogant brood!”
The general shoves the indignant cleric to the ground, and shaking his blade hisses, “You may thank your damnable Aroden that I have other blood to spill today, lackey; otherwise I would take Infensus Mucro and run you through!”
The vision swirls and throws you into disorientation for a moment. When your sight clears, the general’s tent is empty. The mannequin lies on its side, the dead birds still heaped on the floor. The brutal cacophony of battle can be heard in the distance. Suddenly, the general bursts through the tent flap, gore-caked sword in hand, face smeared with dirt, blood spattered over his flamboyant breastplate. The military tribune who broke the silence earlier follows him, also splashed with the filth of battle.
“All is lost, Cadimus,” he pants to the younger man. “Those damned dervishes rolled up my left flank as though it were made of paper!” Cadimus’s silence is his assent.
The general shakes his sword before his own face, cursing, “You! You have done this to me! All of it! You have murdered us all!” He turns to Cadimus, nodding as though finishing a conversation. “‘Sheathe me in my master’s blood’ was the line, no? To put the damned thing back to sleep?”
Cadimus nods back, still speechless. Staring into space, trance like, the general whispers hoarsely to him. “Do what you can to salvage this, my brother. Beldam would have our heads. Pressure Micheaux to aid us—he will be king before long and we must use what leverage we have. Perhaps you could prevail upon our dear sister to utilize her... relationship, with him? If not... ha! Maybe Asmodeus will assist. I go to face the gods’ wrath. You are the head of our House now, brother. Bury me with sufficient irony.”
A strange look of calm comes over the general’s face as he gets to his knees at the corner of the rug. He plants the pommel of Infensus Mucro and lifts his armor at the waist, allowing the blade’s point to taste his bare abdomen. With a suddenness that makes Cadimus gasp, Bartolomae springs forward, forcing the blade up into his chest—a torrent of blood splashes out onto the Qadiran rug, the florid stain spreading as he collapses to the ground. A moment later, a vertiginous blackness sweeps everything away.
A fire burns in the hearth of this well-appointed room. Three men stand about a bed—a handsome man with rolled-up sleeves holding a crying newborn, and two others. In the bed lies a frightfully pale, sweat drenched woman, her dark hair cascading over damp pillows. Her bedclothes are soaked with blood, and her eyes stare into space; she is not breathing.
You one of the men as Cadimus from the first vision. You also recognize the third man as the same man who Cadimus called Parsimus in that overcame you near the wrecked carriage.
“Just as well,” the handsome man says, a single tear running down a cheek, “with all her ranting about seeing the boy grow up. She knew she could never have been a part of his life.”
His attention turns to the child he holds. He nods approvingly, wipes the tear from his cheek, then lays three fingers on the squealing infant’s forehead.
“Stavian,” he croons. “You, too, shall be king in your turn.”
“Our bargain, Micheaux,” stammers Cadimus, almost absently.
The other man’s eyes flash with grief, and then fill with anger as he whirls upon Cadimus. When he speaks, his voice is cold and grim.
“Our ‘bargain’ died with your sister, Cadimus. You are the last of your damned line, and even that is too much. But I shall grant you one last mercy nonetheless—leave Taldor by dawn, and I’ll not send my army after you. The next time I see an Adella face in my empire, it had best be in a grave.”
He turns with the baby in his arm, walking regally for the door, oblivious to Cadimus’s trembling fury.
“We go to meet our destiny,” he coos to the squealing infant.
You feel time pass. In the same bedchamber, now oppressively hot, the same woman lies lifeless in the bed, though someone has mercifully closed her eyes. Micheaux and the infant are gone and Cadimus hands a baton to the apron-clad man.
“Hide this downstairs before we leave, Parsimus. I know you saw it in the bastard’s eyes. He has no intention of honoring even his last promise—he’ll have his thugs on us within the hour. We must seek the only safe place left to us—the Tomb of the Iron Medusa. There we can rest and regroup and make plans for the future. The baton contains the key to finding the tomb—if I die before you, ensure that someone you trust knows where you’ve hidden it. Someday, someone will need to know the truth.”
He looks over at his sister’s dead body. “And secure a coffin for my sister. I am not going to leave her here. She comes with us.”
He turns to face the other man, who still seems frozen in shock. “Go, damn you!” Cadimus spits, and finally the other man turns and leaves the room.
“The Adellas are truly abandoned by Aroden,” Cadimus says with dismal certitude to an empty room. “The gods laugh at us... but perhaps my brother was right after all... perhaps there is one left who might listen...”
He pauses, a look of dread and determination washing over his countenance. He takes up his dead sister’s hand in his own, holds it to his brow, and then utters a prayer of blasphemy.
“Asmodeus! Asmodeus, I call on thee! Blood and my everlasting soul if you would but allow me to protect my family and bring my dear sister back to me!”
A sudden light flickers in air, shimmering as if heated by fire. Then the shimmer grows more substantial, becoming a shapeless mass of tangible evil and immense power. A voice sweet as honey and sharper than any razor emanates from the malevolent presence.
“A bargain? You would seek to bargain with me, mortal?”
With this final development, the vision suddenly ends and you are return to where you were standing.
At the same moment, the conviction that, somehow, Asmodeus noticed your observing the secret events fills each of your minds.
With a flash ofnoxious smoke, four vile shapes manifest in the room.
These devils vaguely resemble 12-foot-tall human women with large clawed wings, hideous fanged faces, and bodies clad in strips of metal and leather that seem almost to be growing from angry wounds in their flesh, and each wields a grisly metal scythe that seems almost to have grown from its arms.
All four cast spells and disappear from view.
"Blast! Anyone know what those are?" Rathis growls, spinning as he tries to figure out where the creatures went.
"Where did they go?" shouts Corso as he attempts to learn the answer for himself.
"Let's be on guard, as they could appear from anywhere."
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p:15 (close to 30)
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success
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Ferod casts greater invisibility and moves 5' to the side.
1 59
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There are slight disturbances in the air as the devils move about. One is targeted by Omar and he scores a pair of hits, but they remain invisible. A whisper from several directions floats to you, “Some secrets are not yet ready for the world. And thus, you must die!”
Omar then comes under heavy attack from invisible blades. He somehow manages to evade most of the strokes, but still is hit several times by blade and what feels like barbed wings.
Spell chants begin just after Omar comes under attack.
Having no idea where the infernals have wandered off to, Corso will shout "Grab a spot on the wall and group up in twos, so they can't flank you!" before taking his own advice, and finally readying to to attack anything that attacks him.
Val readies to attack when attacked
Rathis also readies himself for an attack...
The azata moves to Omar and casts heal for 130. She can see invis and avoid the devils AoO.
Ferod will next cast see invis on himself.
1 82
2 108
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Omar suddenly feels fantastic.
Ferod, you spot two of them sweep in on Rathis and corso. They can't flank anymore, but they continue their assault nonetheless.
Their strikes are unerring and come within inches of deadly hits to your ally's necks.
Corso and Rathis both attack and hit their targets in spite of essentially fighting blind. Val is not directly attacked.
The other pair Ferod spots near the wall at the other side of the room. They cast a devastating spell designed to drain the water from living things! As they cannot see Omar or Ferod, they target Corso, Rathis, and the summoned outsider.
The devil attacking Corso appears as its invisibility fizzles upon death. It is pierced by many arrows.
The azata maneuvers to a casting AoO and hurls some chain lightning.
Ferod casts black tentacles on the two that conveniently seperated themselves from everyone else.
Rathis grunts in pain as he's hit by the succession of attacks and spells, but refuses to let up. He calls and bites furiously again at the devil in front of him, hoping to end its threat as soon as possible.
Val Readies to protect the group from attack
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Rathis manages to kill his devil as well in spite of the cover of invisibility.
Both grappled devils at the far end of the room attempt a desperate cast in order to escape the tentacles. One fizzles badly. The other, however, manages to get his spell off. Lightning arcs toward Ferod and then proceeds to bounce to each of you in turn!