Hearing that Auric is nearby, Ten lights up the area around him.
If there are no immediate threats, he makes his way toward the sounds of potentially injured persons.
"I don't think anything's broken, except the city." he responds dryly.
Stand and get my bearings-move action.
Astra panics for a moment until she hears Luna's voice. Just as Ten brings a light into the place, Astra wraps Luna up in a tight embrace as she weeps into her sister's shoulder.
"Desna be praised, you're alive! You're alive! Thank you! Thank you!"
”Be on your guard- we don’t know how many demons might have survived the fall,” Auric warns quietly. ”If you’re all well enough to get up, though, we should go check on the wounded- just stay close together so we can’t get separated in the haze...”
Light springs forth at Tenebris's command, illuminating the cloud of dust slowly settling around you and some of the chamber beyond. You appear to be in a cavern, approximately fifty feet wide, with the ceiling and far walls receding into darkness. Behind you, the wall has collapsed in an enormous mound of rubble; upon closer inspection you notice numerous examples of how close you came to death - here and there the arms or legs of those who didn’t survive the fall protrude.
The walls and floor of this cavern have the rough texture of natural stone. Clumps of stalagmites jut from the ground, and everything seems covered in grit and rock dust. Given the still-settling cloud of dust, you'd guess you were unconscious for less than an hour. As the party gathers near Ten, you can see three more figures along the rubble - a portly man prostrate and coughing heavily, an elf whose face is obscured by long hair siting silently with head cocked to the side, and a woman moaning in pain whose legs are trapped beneath the rubble.
At the dim edge of Ten's light some some forty feet ahead of you a disturbing shape looms: nearly the size of a horse, what appears to be an immense black spider crouches silent and still on the ground just outside the dust cloud.
The spider looks to be a monstrously sized hunting spider (ie non-web spinning spider). Such predators are venomous and capable of sensing nearby vibrations with an accuracy which often proves lethal for their intended prey. They're also able to remain completely silent and still for hours. Through the dim light and/or haze of dust it's impossible to tell if it's dead, dazed by the recent cave-in, or simply lurking...
Spotting the large arachnid, Auric moves to position himself between it and Astra with his sword at the ready.
"Auric, I did not 'prepare' for this this morning" Ten says, as he drops in behind his friend.
At least I rid myself of the stilt boots He muses, thinking back to breakfast.
Laying a hand on Auric as he readies himself, Ten casts as quietly as he can.
Astra, still badly shaken by the events above, stays close to Auric and Luna. The spider does litter for her nerves, however. Four lights with the forms of butterflies just visible in their centers, come to life and move to better illuminate the monstrosity.
"Be careful. It can sense the smallest vibration and see in the dark. It's venom can sap one's strength." She warns the others, torn between making sure they were safe and helping those on the ground. In the end, they were standing, the strangers were not.
"I'll go help the others."
Casting Dancing Lights. 1 minute duration. Lights moved to center on the spider.
Astra is trying to triage the three and will help the most injured first.
”Astra! Stay close to me, don’t separate- we’ll get to the wounded the second we’re sure they’re not still in immediate danger.”
The party moves into a defensive formation before Astra breaks away towards the trio of fellow survivors. The woman trapped in the rubble goes silent as soon as Astra's lights surround the spider while the prone man, who is the closest to the party, continues to cough uncontrollably as Astra reaches him. Astra sees he's only making his plight worse as he inhales gusts of the fine dust that covers the rocks next to his face. The elf, farthest from the party, calls out in a hoarse voice.
"I can hear you talking - who's there?!"
As the dust in the air continues to thin and Astra's magic illuminates the spider, you notice that its posture is all wrong. Its body lies flat on the ground, its legs still "standing" but in awkward disarray and certainly not supporting any weight. You're fairly certain that the creature is dead.
"Auric, I think the spider is dead. Be cautious, just to be sure. I'm going to look after the wounded." Ten says as he makes his way to the trapped woman first.
"Be still, we will get you free soon." he tells her, trying to sound sure of himself.
move- get to the woman
standard- assess the damage/debris situation
free- talk
Auric nods at Ten’s words and cautiously moves with the others towards the wounded. While they check on the injured and begin planning their rescue from the rubble he keeps his sword at the ready.
"Auric, please. Ten is going to need your help," Astra says going to the elf. She could do nothing for the woman until they freed her, and the man would be fine soon enough.
"Please, hold still for a moment. I'm Luna's sister, Astra, and I'll try to heal any wounds that you have as best I can."
Ten looks over the woman and her plight. A human in her mid-twenties, she has the look of a crusader or mercenary, outfitted in leather armor with a short bow and sword. Both her legs are trapped beneath the rubble, her right to halfway up her shin and her left past her knee, but otherwise appears unhurt. A jumble of stones both large and small trap her. She regards the halfling with a scowl of frustration.
"I can't pull myself out. If you all can shift some of the larger stones, perhaps I can slip free."
"Luna Vale...?"
"Please, hold still for a moment. I'm Luna's sister, Astra, and I'll try to heal any wounds that you have as best I can."
"Astra?! By the gods, I am spared! My name is Aravashnial - I know your parents! I've seen you both before at the observatory, though we've never been introduced. I'd have recognized you sooner, but..." The elf gently parts his hair in front, revealing a gruesome injury. A blackened furrow runs horizontally across his face where his eyes and the bridge of his nose should be. As close as she is, Astra can smell the cooked flesh of the cauterized wound. His voice is full of hope... and maybe a little awe.
"Starsong's chosen, can you heal me?"
The portly man's coughing grows more violent and echoes throughout the chamber as he gets up on all fours and hangs his head down.
From the sounds of things, the man is in danger of doing himself real harm if he doesn't get up to breathe clearer air.
Ten moves quickly to remove as much of the stone as he can.
"Please, be patient, you may be more hurt than you realize."
Turning to Auric, "Try to calm that coughing down, we don't need to draw any more attention than this light already is."
Astra is grateful that Luna was helping the man get to his feet. She'd been wrong to assume that he'd been alright, and the knowledge stung. Thought not as much as the obvious hope that she was about to crush.
"Mr. Aravashnial, I'm...I'm sorry." Her voice wavers as she begins trying to break the news to him. "Desna has given me many gifts, but I can do nothing for your eyes save ease the pain. Your wound is beyond my skill to heal fully, and it looks as if you're very, very lucky to be alive."
Not knowing what else to do, Astra places a hand on the elf's cheek and sends a wave of healing warmth through him. Before the silvery glow fo starlight fades, the sounds of ripping cloth, and the struggles of Astra trying to rip off strips of cloth from her robes and clothing for bandages, echo through the chamber.
Auric cautiously, hesitantly sheaths his rapier and tries to help the coughing man to his feet.
The elf's face drops for but a moment, then he smiles warmly. "Anything you can do would be a blessing, Astra; don't worry too much about me. I'm just glad to know that you're still alive." As she begins to tear at her robes, he gently reaches out and touches her arm. "It sounds as if there are others who need your help more than I do."
Luna and Auric easily heft the man to his feet despite his girth. He leans briefly on Auric's shoulder, his body shaking with each cough, before finally hacking up a large mass of grey-black phlegm which he spits into the dust at their feet. "By the gods..." he wheezes, gazing around the cavern. He takes a few tentative steps away from the rubble and starts to brush himself off before he notices the giant spider and freezes.
"You're all quite sure that thing is dead?" he croaks.
”Sure enough, for the moment,” Auric answers with a slight scowl that betrays his own misgivings about the statement. Moving over to Ten he begins helping to clear the rubble that traps the final survivor they’re aware of.
"You're the only one I can work on at the moment," Astra says calmly as she returns to her work. She makes enough bandages to cover the wound that claimed Aravashnial's eyes. A few moments later, she's finished and helps the elf to his feet.
Or tries to. She's really too short to be much help.
Ten keeps an eye on the others as they help the burly man. When they are close enough, the young priest releases a wave of healing energy, letting it wash over all the survivors.
"Keep calm, we'll have you out of this pile soon."
As he channels, Ten watches the man, the elf and the woman.
Always the pessimist, but if any of these 3 are a demon or undead, the channel won't help them....
Luna and Auric manage to pull up a man-sized chunk of rock enough to allow the trapped woman to slip out of the smaller rubble with Ten's aid. Once free she sits up and quickly checks her gear, apparently satisfied with the result.
Aravashnial sways momentarily on his feet before gaining his balance. "Thank you, Astra. I don't know what sort of peril we're in, but I'll do what I can to help, if you'll but lead the way."
The portly man snorts derisively at the elf's comment, briefly sending himself into another coughing spasm.
"I'd say that if that thing was still alive, it would have attacked or fled by now," the woman says, peering at the spider.
Looking around to make sure they didn't miss any other victims of the fall, and seeing that they are all mobile, Ten suggests they move on.
"We may want to look for someplace safer, more of the city could come down at any moment."
Though, he looks to Auric to suggest a path.
In any round that he does not take a double move, Ten will recast light, so that if trouble finds them, its duration will be optimal.
Pulling his rapier back out, Auric shrugs when Ten looks to him for direction. "I trust your lead," he answers Luna's offer, "that spider didn't come from the plaza, so there must be a tunnel around here somewhere."
Astra takes a look at the woman's leg as the others worry about the spider. Her normal cheeriness is absent as shock begins to wear off and the magnitude of the disaster begins to sink in.
"Kenebras is gone," she mutters softly to herself as she works, softly enough that she isn't even aware that she was speaking out loud.
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"No." Auric announces louder than necessary- as if the very volume would indicate the conviction of the statement, or imitate it...
"Kenabres has been dealt a blow, to be certain, but the city will not fall and neither can our courage. We will find our way out of here; and, if the demons haven't been completely driven out when we do, we'll join the fight to push them out. And, when their abyssal taint has been purged from the city, we'll be here to help rebuild it."
His words hang in the air for a moment as he looks at the faces of the small group of survivors. Then he concludes, "Now, are we ready to move?"
Luna begins to search the cavern, starting at the edge of the rubble and moving out towards the spider. As she progresses she finds no sign of any tracks - not surprising given the bare rock of the cavern floor and the very recent coating of dust and grit from the collapse. She's fairly certain there hasn't been any movement across the floor since the cave-in that brought her here.
"No. Kenabres has been dealt a blow, to be certain, but the city will not fall and neither can our courage. We will find our way out of here; and, if the demons haven't been completely driven out when we do, we'll join the fight to push them out. And, when their abyssal taint has been purged from the city, we'll be here to help rebuild it."
"Now, are we ready to move?"
All three survivors nod in response to Auric's query. "Quite right!" the portly man wheezes. "Kenabres is made of sterner stuff than most, young lady."
As Auric makes his brief speech, Luna approaches the spider.
A moment after Luna shouts her warning and steps back, two enormous maggots burrow out from the spider's abdomen. Pale and glistening they crawl down to the cavern floor, their dripping sphincter-mouths showing tiny, sharp teeth as they search for fresher meat.
Ten wastes no time dealing with the threat, drawing his bow and loosing an arrow at the slimy worms. Then stepping back to keep a safe distance.
for
lol, take that! fell beast!
Ten's arrow sails high over the maggots and strikes the dead spider's carapace, snapping in half.
Auric advances, cautiously arcing around the putrid worms until he arrives next to the one further from Luna. When he does, he thrust his rapier at it without any flourish or fanfare.
,
Astra opens her mouth to reply to Auric and the man, but the words die on her tongue, unsaid as violence erupts around her again.
Auric plunges his sword into one of the dog-sized maggots and it reflexively curls itself around the wound, it's head swaying in his direction.
Luna steps forward to be adjacent to Auric, blocking the maggots' path to her sister, and brings the blade of her starknife down through the top of the wounded worm's head. It immediately lays flat and ceases moving, gelatinous blood oozing from the wound onto the cavern floor.
The other maggot turns it's head towards Luna, it's body shaking all over before dousing her with a stream of foul-smelling bile spewed from it's mouth.
Dropping his bow, Ten draws a dagger and move around the combat to gain an advantageous position on the stinking acid spitter.
Astra thinks quickly for a moment before weaving a spell of illusion right over the maggot. She hopes the beast is too stupid to not recognize the trick for what it is as a dome of black obsidian centered on the worm flashes into existence.
"It's just an illusion! You can still strike through it," she calls out once the spell is done.
Cast Silent Image centered on the maggot.
DC 15 Will to disbelieve the illusion.
I think the PCs succeed automatically since she pointed it out?
Auric steps up next to Luna, across the worm from where Ten has positioned himself. Drawing back his rapier, he takes Astra at her word and finds he can see the creatures through the dome, more or less. He thrusts at it, hoping to bring the fight to a close quickly.
,
The maggot's head tentatively pokes through the illusory dome, it's body vigorously wriggling, as if trying to burrow through the base of the imaginary wall. It stops for a moment as if confused, then rears back up and displays its teeth to those surrounding it.
The wounded woman cries out in pain and collapses to the ground as she attempts to stand up. The portly man gingerly steps back into the rubble, eyes glued to the melee. The blind elf keeps one hand lightly on Astra, though his body is tense.
Astra thinks for a moment then times another spell to take advantage of the maggot being off balance while it attacks, and douse it with a deluge of water.
Readying to cast Create water on the maggot as it goes to attack someone. I'm hoping that it getting doused with 2 gallons of water on its head will stun it enough to cause it to miss.