Gwerm scowls. "Have it then," he mutters, handing the scale to the halfling.
Much as with the first scale, as soon as you touch the one Gwerm hands you a flash of insight fills your mind. You see yourself struck by frost and lightning with no effect, and know that this new scale can grant you resistance against such elements. However you also know that the scales will only work if you're carrying one, not both of them.
Ten relays the information he gleans from the scale, then hands it back to Gwerm.
"It seems this one is capable of protecting you against cold or electricity a few times each day. It also seems as though the two scales we found cannot be used by the same person." Ten explains. Though Gwerm is terse, Ten shows no hesitation when handing it back.
It has been a stressful day for all of us
Before Luna moves ahead to scout, Astra give her a hug.
"We can't mourn her yet. We can't mourn any of them. Not until we're free of this place." Astra's embrace tightens just a little more. "And as long as we have each other, we will be free of it."
”Thank you,” Auric says as Ten hands back the scale. When Luna moves ahead he reminds her, ”don’t get too far from the rest of us...”
Gwerm's scowl remains on his face until the party makes ready to move again with Luna on point. She finds the passage east quickly branches off, one passage continuing east and another curving back towards the way they came. It seems certain that the curving passage meets up with the second exit from the large cavern they started in.
You can hear heavy animal-like wheezing sounds and the shifting of rocks coming from the curving passage.
"We can't risk leaving a dangerous creature behind us," Auric quietly answers, "and we shouldn't risk leaving a survivor trapped back there..."
With his rapier at the ready, he informs the survivors under their care, "You can stay back here if you like, or you can follow behind us; we're going to go check on the sound." He looks to Astra and Ten to see that they're ready then nods to Luna to lead the way.
"Yes, of course, Auric. Venia, Gwerm, you stay back until the way is safe; I shall follow behind Astra." He once again lays a gentle hand on Astra's shoulder, ready to follow behind her when she advances.
Peeking around the curve of the tunnel, Luna witnesses a troubling sight: a schir! Standing unsteadily amidst a pile of rubble, the goat-demon looks to be badly wounded, it's horns cracked and fur matted with black blood. It steadies itself with one hand against the wall, then begins looking looking around in the rubble, kicking rocks aside with it's hooves.
After hearing what lies in wait;
Drawing his small blade, Ten whispers to Auric, "Do you want me to loop around and approach from the other side?"
Recasting light on his blade, he says "If I come in from behind him with the light, you all may get the drop on him."
Astra opens her mouth to protest Aravashnial's suggestion, but seeing that the others are already moving, she changes her mind.
"I'll try to warn you of anything that might trip you," she says before following the others.
"I don't think we should split up. I'd rather Venia and Gwerm were with us, if for no other reason than to keep us from losing each other."
As they travel, Astra keeps up the small lights that help the others see.
Auric signals for the lights to stop moving and whispers to Luna, "On my signal, follow me in..."
Then he quietly creeps towards the demon.
Ten smiles and vanishes around the bend keeping his light up. Making no move to be hidden, he approaches with blade drawn.
Auric lines up at the mouth of the tunnel that leads to the demon, his cold-iron rapier in hand. As Ten starts to move, he gives Luna a quick nod and charges forward to stab at the creature...
,
Astra stays back, unsure if she should move forward or not.
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Ten circles back around through the large cavern, taking the light with him. Gwerm sucks in breath to begin grumbling as the halfing passes, then thinks better of it as the light fades. Venia leans herself into a slight crevice along the wall of small chamber. As the halfling hurries down the other passage, he enters a new chamber to see the wounded schir. It turns to face him, brow furrowing as it bleats out a challenge to this dimunitive foe just as Auric erupts from the passage behind it.
The cavalier thrusts his blade through the demon's shoulder and it's eyes widen in surprise. Bellowing in rage, it lurches free of the blade and puts it's back against the cavern wall as Luna rushes forward to surround it. Squatting down and jutting it's head forward, the schir narrows bloodshot eyes and glares at the trio.
As the sounds of combat come down the passage, the elf's grip tightens on Astra's shoulder.
"Do not falter, Astra, advance - surely your insight can help those in battle!"
Auric draws back his blade and stabs at the demon again. "Stay tight around it," he advises his comrades, "don't give it room to charge with those horns like it did to some of the people in the plaza."
Auric stabs at the demon again, but this time his blade fails to puncture it's hide.
Knowing all too well that this foe would be difficult for him to harm, Ten tries to pen him into a spot easier for Astra to hit.
In melee combat, you can help a friend attack or defend by distracting or interfering with an opponent. If you’re in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action. You make an attack roll against AC 10. If you succeed, your friend gains either a +2 bonus on his next attack roll against that opponent or a +2 bonus to AC against that opponent’s next attack (your choice), as long as that attack comes before the beginning of your next turn. Multiple characters can aid the same friend, and similar bonuses stack.
You can also use this standard action to help a friend in other ways, such as when he is affected by a spell, or to assist another character’s skill check.
Tenebris tries to force the schir up against the wall as Luna closes with her starknife but the demon ignores him. Luna needs no help, however, to slash open the demon's belly with her steel. Though it's flesh mostly seals back together, blood still seeps from a wound left behind.
Astra weaves another spell as she moves closer to the fighting. Once she sees the demon, she completes the soft chant and fans her fingers wide. All around the Schir are dozens of shimmering, distracting motes.
The schir flinches back at the appearance of Astra's light motes before issuing an enraged, bleating cry.
"Pathetic mortals!" Specks of bloody spittle fly from it's muzzle and it's eyes roll madly in their sockets. Lowering it's head and levelling it's horns at Auric, the demon thrusts forward in a wild lunge that the cavalier easily sidesteps.
The elf advances with Astra, head cocked to the side.
"What manner of demon do we face?" he asks, urgency in his voice.
oh, you speak common do you?
Stepping back and giving his throat a deep, authoritative tone, Ten yells "Drop now! Drop to the ground!"
As if to punctuate Ten's command, Auric thrusts his cold-iron blade at the demon before it can react.
Whether the halfling's spell had any effect will likely remain a mystery for the ages. Auric's rapier pierces through the demon's chest and it collapses to the ground past Luna's starknife, overcome by it's many wounds. Thick black blood begins to slowly ooze out from underneath it across the cavern floor.
”Luna,” Auric sort of hisses in an awkwardly loud whisper. Bringing his voice down to an actual whisper he continues, ”he lost his eyes... he can’t look at anything...”
"Let's have a look around for anything that might have dropped with him." Ten adds, searching the corpse and surrounding area.
"We are all stressed and preoccupied, don't think a little slip is an accurate reflection of your intellect." Ten reassures Luna. "I have a hard time believing you lack brains, Auric's tone with you belies respect, and Auric has little tolerance for stupid."
"Aravashnial, will you be alright for a moment if I go talk to my sister?" Astra's question is soft and low as she sees Luna go off towards the edge.
Tenebris deftly pokes through the rubble around the schir. Glancing upwards he sees a vertical passage in the ceiling above that the demon presumably fell down; in fact, grit seems to still be intermittently sifting down from somewhere higher up the shaft. His eyes also spot a patch of glistening silver - another dragon scale, lodged in a crack near the shaft's opening but still far out of the diminutive priest's reach.
"Aravashnial, will you be alright for a moment if I go talk to my sister?" Astra's question is soft and low as she sees Luna go off towards the edge.
"Yes, of course, Astra." The elf's tone is sympathetic. Removing his hand from her shoulder and placing it against the passage wall, he slowly makes his way towards Auric and Tenebris at the downed demon.
"Gentleman, are we in the clear? If I'm not mistaken, we've left two of our number in the dark."
"There is another scale up near the opening of the shaft that demon fell through. I'm going to use the scale I have to get up to it."
If no one objects, Ten activates his scale and levitates up to the scale.
Remembering that the scales cannot be used together, he is careful not to touch it. Working it loose with his small dagger, he lets it fall to the group below before returning to the ground.
Once back on the ground, he looks the new scale over.
Cast detect magic and examine the newest scale.
Auric cringes just a little as Ten pulls out and activates his scale.
we may miss that use later... we should have at least tried to climb it first...
When the scale falls to the ground he picks it up to see if it will impart knowledge of its use to him the way the others have to Ten.
Ten activates his scale and clouds materialize under his feet, lifting him up into the air as he wills. Underneath him the vaporous column is difficult to see through, but Auric still picks out the dropped scale without a problem.
As Auric grabs the scale, he receives a vision wherein he sees himself transform into a gnoll before passing among schir unmolested.