The crusader is a big lumbering target and Hannik finds the mark again, acid dribbling through the gaps in his armour.
The two tieflings gang up on Sol while he is distracted with the crusader.
Mulluq moves to stand protectively over the form of the fallen Lady Valerious. "By the Inheritor, you will pay for your crimes against the godly." He swings with all his demonic fury at the crusader that downed his church liaison, maybe even friend. Once again he shines in defense of those he considers ally. His anger fueled, he snaps sharp fangs soon after his blade crashed down.
Demonic fury overwhelms Mulluq. He plunges his golden sword through a gap in the crusader's armour, through the armpit and into the lungs. The crusader's eyes bulge in surprise as crimson froth bubbles on his lips. Then Mulluq's jagged jaws close, tearing off half of the crusader's face.
Muray does what any sensible person would under the situation. He turns and runs.
Rhok moves to flank a tiefling before stabbing at it with his knife.
Tieflings!
Rhok stabs the tiefling in the arm, its blood running down its hand. It replies with riposte aimed at Rhok's throat.
Ghroth kicks out at the tiefling with one taloned foot then drops back to the ground with claws thrust at its midsection. The eidolon slides to the side as its eel-tongue slithers out snapping for flesh.
,
,
,
The tiefling fends off the claws but the eidolon's hideous prehensile tongue finds the mark, boring through an eye and into the brain.
Hannik moves over to get a clearer shot and continues flinging globs of acid.
Demonspawn have many resistances, but acid isn't one of them. The tiefling cries out as acid burns its skin.
After the brutality he exhibted during his last attack, he calms and takes stock in his actions. Overcome with shame, he reigns himself in a little, but not so much that he reduces his effectiveness entirely.
Mulluq cuts the last tiefling down.
As the fight has progressed, one of the bound librarians has been trying to ease himself to his feet. As the last evil tiefling falls to Mulluq’s blade, the man lurches awkwardly to his feet and half shuffles, half hops over to where the female librarian lies in a spreading pool of her own blood. The man falls to his knees beside her and twists around as he tries desperately to stem the flow with his hands bound behind his back.
He looks around at the victorious crusaders, his dark eyes wide above his gagged mouth. “Mmmmff,” he says through the gag.
Jod, seeing the tiefling fall, tries to aid the librarian, though he has little hope.
He doesn't even know where to start. Kneeling there in the woman's blood, he slowly looks down at the potion vial he just emptied as realization dawns on him. To the bound man, he tries to explain as he helps remove his gag and bonds, "I was hurt bad and we were still fighting and I wasn't going to be any help to anyone dead and I didn't even think about giving it to her instead and" he gets very quiet, "I'm really sorry I couldn't save her."
With the application of the potion, Kira wakes. Suddenly and completely awake, she moves to stand, and then obviously dizzy, sits again.
"What did I miss? Who needs healing? I can't help much, but I can offer something."
"Save the potion for later, Sol. The librarian is, unfortunately, beyond all help. Why don't you start freeing the victims instead?"
Rhok, standing above Kira, helps her to her feet. "Our foes are all dead. Mulluq did a number on the demonspawn, and Hannik's bound totem tore the traitor to pieces. I'm getting low on healing magicks, and wouldn't mind a little assistance if you can provide it."
"It looks like that sniveling little wretch Muray ran away. I don't think it is worth the effort to try and find him. However, we do need to go back down to reestablish contact with the deep dwellers, now that we have secured a base of sorts."
"I agree, we should make this area secure, then get our things. I have one healing spell left."
Jod looks up at the news that Muray has fled. A sudden anger comes over him and he walks to the door of the cathedral and looks around, torn between searching for the mongrelfolk and staying with his friends.
He opts to not leave the immediate vicinity and doesn't dare yell to draw attention, but he studies the shadows looking for a certain misshapen little craven...
Jod, seeing the tiefling fall, tries to aid the librarian, though he has little hope.
[dice=Heal (untrained)]1d20 + 1
He doesn't even know where to start. Kneeling there in the woman's blood, he slowly looks down at the potion vial he just emptied as realization dawns on him. To the bound man, he tries to explain as he helps remove his gag and bonds, "I was hurt bad and we were still fighting and I wasn't going to be any help to anyone dead and I didn't even think about giving it to her instead and" he gets very quiet, "I'm really sorry I couldn't save her."
The short librarian draws in a gulp of air as Jod pulls the gag free. Tears in his eyes, he shakes his head. "No," he gasps. "I think ... she was already gone. He just ... he killed her." He takes another deep breath, then shifts about so that Jod can more easily untie his hands. "If those monsters had killed you crusaders, they would have finished us all off at their leisure anyway," he continues more calmly.
"Thankyou," he adds sincerely. "We haven't known much of what has been happening outside these walls since ... since the Wardstone fell. You are crusaders? The liberation of the city has begun then?"
Free of his bonds, the librarian climbs to his head, absently smooths his thin beard and blood splattered robes and surveys the group. His eyes widen slightly as he takes in Mulluq's features, but he makes no comment. There is a hint of confused recognition as his gaze lingers for a moment on Hannik, then he notices Sol.
"Sol?" he asks, confused. "You're a crusader now?"
Mulluq stares silently at the dead librarian, "I... I was, useless. I wanted to save them... but... but the evil of my kin struck this poor woman down." his scowl deepens, "What did I do, I reveled in striking them down. I could have rushed to her side. I could have asked great Iomedae to spare her life, begged for the divine to grant her safety. Instead, my rage, my blood, my thirst to lay them low took over. I am nothing but an animal." He growls loudly, picks up the body of the tiefling that cut the woman down, and throws it as hard and far as he can toward the door.
Breathing heavily, he turns back to Rhok and Kira, and quietly and meekly offers, "I can offer some healing with a touch. Iomedae has wasted this gift on me, and I chose to take life instead. If she has not seen fit to remove such a blessing, I can tend some of the wounded."
Kaygan takes an involuntary step back from the enraged tiefling.
"Alisia was the bravest of us all," he murmurs, indicating himself and his fellow librarians. "She was the only one of us who had the presence of spirit to stand up to them, and for that they made her help them burn the books ... and killed her. I've studied to fight demons, but when it came to it I wasn't brave enough to stand against them. If I had, maybe things would have been different ..."
He shakes his head and speaks more loudly, addressing Mulluq. "So do not blame yourself, uh, crusader. Honour Alisia's memory by helping the rest of us survive this."
"Mulluq, you did the right thing. You could not have saved her life except by endangering yourself and others more. Where one is dead, it could have been two, or three."
"I can do some healing myself, but I will accept your gift as well, I seem to have taken the biggest thrashing of us all in this."
Mulluq waves his hands at the librarian, "No, do not label me crusader. I warrant no such honor. I am but a lowly mendicant to Iomedae's glory. I am only here with a dream to aid those that crusade against evil in her name. I vow to do all I can to stand between evil and those under my care. I would give my curse-plagued life so that they may continue to draw breath in the shining radiance of the Inheritor." It seems he now considers the librarians another one of his wards, much as he did everyone else when they woke in the depths.
Apologetically, he nods at Kira, "Yes, Lady Valerious. You are no doubt worthy and requiring of Iomedae's gifts. I should have given it sooner, but I was wrathful toward the one that struck you down."
“Ah, very well, I will not call you crusader,” Kaygan agrees. “But you are helping to liberate the city are you not?” Again, he glances uncertainly over at Sol. “Who is in charge now, did Prelate Shappok survive? You should inform your commander that the demons appeared to be looking for something in the Librarium, a specific book or books I think – and I think they found them.
“No, I’m afraid I don’t know what exactly they took.” He looks at his fellow librarians, who are variously rubbing sensation into their recently bound limbs, crying, or thanking their rescuers – but none of them seem to know either.
“On the day that the city shook – I can only assume from subsequent events that the demons somehow managed to destroy the Wardstone – the library came under very heavy assault – it almost seemed like specifically an attack on this place, though I’m not sure how the rest of the city fared to be honest. A few of us had to work during the festivities, and when the attack began those of us who could fled here – this hall is strongly reinforced as you can see,” he gestures vaguely up at the heavy vaulted ceiling.
“Soon after, there was a pounding on the door – we all hid, fearing the worst, and indeed in it came; a horrible creature that walked like a man but who seemed to be composed entirely of wriggling worms beneath its hooded robe, leading a force of demons. As I said, they seemed to be looking for specific books, but we all remained well hidden and could not see what exactly was taken. Anyway, they seemed excited about finding something and left soon afterwards.
“We decided to hide out here – there seemed little else we could do, and we thought we might be safe enough, as the demons seemed to have found what they were looking for in this place. This lot,” he indicates the dead tieflings and the human false crusader, “only turned up a few hours ago. Forced their way in, roughed us up a bit, and then started burning books, telling us how they would burn us – or do worse – all the while … anyway … you need to tell your commander that the demons may have found something important here.”
"Would that we had a commander. We were in the main square when the attack began, and were dropped into catacombs below the city by the damage. We were lucky to survive, and have been fighting our way to the surface since. We don't even really know how many days it has been since the attack. We are doing what we can, but we have no backup."
"Would that we had a commander. We were in the main square when the attack began, and were dropped into catacombs below the city by the damage. We were lucky to survive, and have been fighting our way to the surface since. We don't even really know how many days it has been since the attack. We are doing what we can, but we have no backup."
“Oh …” the bearded Sarkorian librarian looks bitterly disappointed that this is not part of a city-wide liberation. One of his compatriots begins to sob again.
“I’m not certain how many days have passed either, holed up in here, hiding. It seems like at least a couple. So … what will you do now? And … can I help? I owe you all my life, and … I think I have spent long enough hiding. I need to do something. I am Kaygan by the way, though some of you know me already,” he nods in Sol’s direction, and doesn’t quite avoid glancing at Hannik.
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Sol looks down at the crusader's tabard that he is still wearing, then back up at Kaygan. "I'm no crusader yet. We ran into some renegade crusaders in the catacombs. We had to kill them and took their arms and tabards to help disguise us when we ran attacked their camp. It's a long story."
"Kira's the closest to an official crusader among us, but everyone has an axe to grind with the demons, especially now. Jod and Rhok and Hannik all came to fight. "
"And we've got others still in the catacombs. They were hurt in the fall, but we're getting them out."
He turns to his companions, "Kaygan's a good guy...." Realizing that he doesn't know the librarian very well at all, Sol runs out of words.
“Soon after, there was a pounding on the door – we all hid, fearing the worst, and indeed in it came; a horrible creature that walked like a man but who seemed to be composed entirely of wriggling worms beneath its hooded robe, leading a force of demons.
"Hmm, that doesn't sound like any daemon I've heard of. It may be a sort of, not quite undead, I've read about though. Why would it be after books?"
After helping with freeing the remaining librarians, Jod stands and considers a rather nasty gash in his side that his actions had hidden from the healers.
"Say, folks, if anyone has some healing to spare, I think I could use a bit here."
Hand outstretched in greeting, he leans toward Kaygan. "Welcome aboard, Kaygan! If Sol's vouching for you, that's good enough for me!"
"So, if we are going to bring the wounded up from the depths, is there some place here we can keep them safe? Or do we need to find a different spot to hole up?" He looks around at the recently-freed and his friends.