Shikyo moves over and attempts to finish this fight
A dazed condition typically lasts 1 round.
Shikyo cuts deeply into the dazed cultist, despite the terrible wound the man stands there distracted by the lights of Pratavh's spell.
Bvar
Pratavh
Alywn
Shikyomaru
Lilly <----- WE ARE HERE
Darkness Acolytes
Lilly is up, finish him!
"WHY..YOU...DAMN...SONOFANOGRESS!"
*
*
Lilly attacks the dazed cultist in a frenzy. The first savage attack misses but the second opens him from sturnum to navel. He collapses in a heap.
COMBAT OVER
Lilly spits on the cultist.
"Really now....too cowardly for a ?
Cheap prick."
She takes a look at the note.
"Well, look here, they wanted to use us as a sacrificial offering.
All for the glory of 'Dhalavei'. Well, that's off the schedule now, isn't it?"
Being a pretty ticked off girl fighting evil right now, Lilly would decapitate the cultists and get their heads into a makeshift bag, made from a cultist's robe?
This to try and scare the future cultists, out of sight of the others, if at all possible.
Too much?
Any rolls needed?
Ok, then it's off the drawing board.
Gross you say, well you see it in movies....so i was just asking ;)
Where to next?
Alywn heals the party up and leads you down the corridor to the right. You find what must be the acolytes austere dormitory. Each cell contains a sleeping mat, and small trunk. There's nobody here, and an oppressive pall of silence smothers the place. It's so quiet your breath sounds loud and your can hear the rushing of blood through your ears.
Shikyo doubles back and heads down the next hallway
Pratavh dismissed the grease and picked up his staff after the fight and gave Alwyn a nod of thanks for the healing. When they continued he followed with them staying near the rear of the group with Hirati on his head. He made it his task to keep his eyes open and Hirati's mischief under control. The little dragon was actually very well behaved, she knew just how dangerous this could be and she didn't want to lose her dedicated servants, especially Pratavh. So she too kept her eyes open and sense alert for danger.
Shikyo leads the group north into what must be the complex's refectory. There's a variety of mundane cooking and cleaning equipment. Above the firepit is a six inch wide crack which goes more or less straight up into the mountain. Judging from the soot staines this serves as the chimney.
Again everything is so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Lilly look around the room.
"Hmm, their cooking must be bad too, i'm seeing grease and whatever's left on these plates is....well, i don't know 'what' it is. Ugh."
Lilly doesn't find anything terribly interesting in the refectory.
Alywn looks through the door and finds a well stocked larder. It contains food and other basic supplies. Dried meat, grains, spices, and a large quantity of rice and pulses are stored here as well as fresh water. There are enough supplies to feed a dozen people for three maybe four months.
Shikyo shrugs at the mundane findings, he guesses even evil cultists must eat.
This way... he whispers and moves across the complex
Shikyo leads you down an unremarkable corridor leading to a junction beyond which is a shadowy chamber with what appears to be some sort of shrine. You can't see that clearly because in the way is a large multi-armed stone idol which seems to watch over the room. Deep-etched abstract designs decorate the walls leading up to the chamber. Some kind of dull red paint has been used. There are parchment skins hanging on the walls decorated with more abstract symbols.
As the group enters the chamber, Lilly notices the statue.
"As much as i enjoy a brawl, i'm not in the mood of one with such a large statue."
Having said that, the thought of the corridor brings back flashes.
".....guys, this corridor....i've seen it before.
It leads to some sort of sacrificial chamber, where life is sucked away from the victim. It has an altar, that has metal loops to restrain the limbs, head and torso. There are blood channels dug into the altar which lead to a rectangular pool of inky darkness."
Pratavh followed along with the group as they explored keeping a careful eye out for trouble. When they found the skins with writing Pratavh was curious but couldn't make any sense of them so decided to keep watch for one he did know just in case. When they reach the room and Lilly began to speak describing what they would see he asked, "When did you have this dream and what else happened in it?"
"I didn't mention anything of a dream, is there something to you we don't know yet, Pratavh?"
She eyes him with a questioning look.
"Right, but the dream was only a short while back.
In it, i woke up in cuffs and i was loweder to the altar, where my life was sucked out of me, becoming part of an inky well."
Pratavh replied to Lilly's questioning words, "No, I do not know anything about dreams at all really, other than sometimes they are visions. I assumed that it was a dream vision since I was quite sure none of us have been here before. I suspicion we have all had some visions since this mess began, it seemed only natural that if you had seen this before, that is where it was."
|
Alwyn listens as Pratavh and Lilly discuss her dream, keeping an eye out on the hallway behind them for anything passing by. Momentarily inspecting the parchments on the wall, Alwyn recoils in disgust. "Well Lilly, if you made it past the alter in that vision..... uh nevermind, suffice to say these parchment are made from human skin."
Studying the hallway beyond the intersection, Alwyn continues to watch for magic signatures, if nothing noted he will send light down to illuminate the darkness.
"Anyway, that room's altar has to be destroyed, it's likely whoever didn't talk under normal torture, ended up becoming part of the pool."
Lilly remembers the words of revelation accompanied in the dream.
"The dream told me, that the altar is the source of their power and has not been violated for millennia.
Here comes the tricky part....it can only be destroyed by forgiveness and love."
*Pouting sigh*
"I've not got much on that towards these folk.
Maybe if we kill them first, then try it, maybe i could try ."
"I can examine them but Ican do nothing to dispell any effects,, not until I have the chance to refresh my spells tomorrow."Pratavh cast a spell once more and looked at the statue and then alter, examining them and trying to identify what they do.
You don't know what spells are on the altar but it reeks of foul magic.
"That statue has a magic weapon and blurr spell on it. I think it might be some kind of guardian, though I am not entirely certain." He shudders slightly, "As for the alter, other than necromancy I have no clue what spells are upon it. It is not good whatever they are."
Well, this is not my area of expertise....I would say we should stab it but...that might prove unwise. Shikyo quips
"Let's clear out this place of any cultists and see what we do with it afterwards."
Lilly shows a short despising look at the altar.
Master Bvar nods, "OK, what direction do you suggest we go to search for cultists?"
Shikyo says I need someone to kill.. and he traipses off north
Shikyo and Alywn creep north. They find a junction room that's empty apart from more of the creepy painted human-skin wall hangings. There are exits down long narrow corridors to the west, north and east.
The the west they can distantly see columns, to the north double doors and what is to the east is lost in the gloom.
Shikyo stalks forward as quietly as he can....
Shikyo ghosts forwards. A soft, reed floor fills the large high ceilinged stone hall. A gaping pit centered around a series of small platforms drops into darkness in the room's center. Well used target boards line the walls, and training dummies are spread around the room.
"They sure seem properly trained, by the looks of this."
SURPRISE ROUND!
A peal of amused feminine laughter rings out from on top of one of the pillars, followed by a flurry of burning Chackrams! You catch a glimpse of a most striking woman. Could this be the Deepti that Lord Pandisar mentioned?
Like fiery meteors, the chackrams come aimed at each you! Yet you are not unprepared, Varunasi of Niswan made your armor. She imbued it with resistances to fire and acid, you are glad of that now...
--> HIT
--> HIT, CRIT?
--> YES CRIT
--> MISS
--> HIT
You fight one of the masters of the order! Will you survive?
Initiative rolls:
Combat order:
Deepti
Shikyomaru
Alwyn
Master Bvar
Lilly
Pratavh
Another flurry of deadly accurate chackrams comes screaming out, you may be immune to the fire but they still hurt!
--> HIT--> HIT
--> HIT
--> HIT
Good guys are up.
Deepti
Shikyomaru <----- WE ARE HERE
Alwyn
Master Bvar
Lilly
Pratavh
|
|
Alwyn will speak an arcane phrase quickly before bursting into singing voice.
"Dark eyes, burning eyes
Passionate and splendid eyes
How I love you, How I fear you
Truly, I saw you at a sinister hour
Dark eyes, flaming eyes
They implore me into faraway lands
Where love reigns, where peace reigns
Where there is no suffering, where war is forbidden
Dark eyes, burning eyes
Passionate and splendid eyes
I love you so, I fear you so
Truly, I saw you at a sinister hour
If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't be suffering so
I would have lived my life smiling
You have ruined me, dark eyes
You have taken my happiness away forever
Dark eyes, burning eyes
Passionate and splendid eyes
I love you so, I fear you so
Truly, I saw you at a sinister hour"
Standard action - caste haste on our group
start bardic performance - Dirge of Doom
Shaken: A shaken character takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Shaken is a less severe state of fear than frightened or panicked.