With a mad gleam in his eyes the bard continues his melody thrusting his spear at the engaged werewolf and quickly steps away.
Ortensia rose into the air above the stairs, feeling exhilarated in the rush of flight, combat, and that satisfying sensation of attaining one's goals.
She watched her companions stab and maneuver around the werewolf,who slashed and bit desperately.
The forces of reason and justice overcoming evil and deception.
She felt her face twist into a grim smile.
Ortensia set her heavy flail swinging overhead in a blur before she dove in to deliver a devastating blow with all of her weight and momentum of the drop.
Jeremiah raises a hand to the sky, his eyes a dark mass. His hand glows with a black light, almost if it wanted to consume light itself.
"Let me share with you a tiny bit of my madness."
You can give a creature a vision of madness as a melee touch attack. Choose one of the following: attack rolls, saving throws, or skill checks. The target receives a bonus to the chosen rolls equal to ½ your cleric level (minimum +1) and a penalty to the other two types of rolls equal to ½ your cleric level (minimum –1). This effect fades after 3 rounds. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
"This was a temple to Desna. It is possible that there are powerful artifacts here. It has also been occupied by the Whispering Way. My recommendation as an investigator is to try and explore it but avoid the ghost at the front door."
"Not to be gruesome, but we're going to need that werewolf's heart."
"That's fine. I will get it."
Ortensia landed gracefully, treading over Mathus's corpse as she did so. She saw him revert from a hulking wolf hybrid to a rather unimpressive mangled human form.
Hmph.
She stooped to divest the corpse of its items of worth, shaking out the cloak and the mithril chainmail shirt. The bastard sword was wiped clean on his corpse and set aside.
Mr.Creeden, do you require this potion? You gave as good as you recieved. You are looking a bit worse for wear. I summarize we still have to contend with the spirit to be free to explore the stairs.
Ortesnia held up the surprisingly uncracked potion vial.
"Just a bit of s scratch. I guess the bite of the werewolf was overrated."
Lysandar agrees with Wrenn, ”Wouldn’t mind poking around a bit too.”
Jeremiah's eyes swiftly return to their standard colour, after the werewolf's death.
"Well done, friends. And forgive my... different appearance. When calling powers of my god's domain, I become more attuned to shadows and darkness. Creeden, you got hit, we need to check if their curse has spreaded in your body. May I check?"
To the female: "You betrayed your friend. Why did you do this?"
"Let me rephrase that question. You clearly made the smart and rational decision given the situation. What was you rationale?"
"You were the unfortunate sacrifice. We were sent by the speaker of the Vollensag clan to stop the ritual and restore the balance between the clans."
Hm. I suppose that was the reason Estovain was working with Mathus. He contrated lycanthropy and probably sought to secure himself within the packs. Still doesn't explain why he was involved with Vrood. Ortensia clucked her tongue.
Question is...should we deal with the wolf spirit first so Estovain cannot utilize it when we confront him or simply trounce him as we did Mathus? If he k ows how to dispel it, it probably means he's been using it in some manner.
As an afterthought, she gave the corpse a swift kick that sent it tumbling over the edge of the stairs to the forest floor below.
I do not know much of the practices of goodly dieties, but I doubt they like rubbish upon their sacred altars. Also, I do not wish to contend with dealing with that spirit possibly puppeting Mathus corpse.
"I'm also interested in this place's history. Do you know if there is any connection to Desna remaining?"
Elericis taking notes this whole time.
"This wolf spirit could be important to the supernatural balance of the area. Spirit often keep thing in check. If there is a way to deal with it by dispelling it I would very much like to find that and test it. It prove useful in the future."
"It looks like we should head down while we can."
Estovain it is, then. Let us head down and deal with the vermin hiding in its hole. Ortensia decided, rolling up the sleeves of her blouse.
She considered the spoils. Does anyone require any of this before I pack it away? Eleric, do you need the cloak? I suppose I can make use of the shirt. I am not privy to blades. Especially obnoxiously hefty ones.
"The cloak would be nice."
Lysandar shakes his head negatively at Ortensia’s offer to choose from the spoils. ”Lets find this scroll and deal with this Estovain.”
"We all got fooled, and we knew he was in the fray of the events. Let's fix this, shall we? Oh, we might also try to keep him alive to ask him some questions. I would really like to."
Well,well. Here you are, Estovian. Anything to say in your defense? Ortensia approached at the head of her party, flail held at her side.
Her eyes scanned the room and its seemingly sole occupant as the rest of her companions fanned out, blocking the door in a wall.
She swept over the dank chamber with her mind as well.
Eleric will cast detect magiclooking around the room. First pass trying to spot any auras that might be illusion magic.
"It seems unlikely that we will do that."
If he makes a move Eleric will cast blindness DC:18 fort.
Jeremiah tries to calm down the situation, hoping that leaving him alive will help finding some answers.
"You are outnumbered. Surrender now, and we might spare your life."
Manacles can bind a Medium creature. A manacled creature can use the Escape Artist skill to slip free (DC 30, or DC 35 for masterwork manacles). Breaking the manacles requires a Strength check (DC 26, or DC 28 for masterwork manacles). Manacles have hardness 10 and 10 hit points.
Mithral Manacles: These bindings are more difficult to break than standard bindings and are particularly useful against lycanthropes. They have hardness 15, 30 hit points, and a break DC of 30.
Rear Restraint: Manacles might be employed to keep a creature’s hands behind its back. In such cases, the creature cannot use its hands to effectively employ any weapon or shield. The creature can attempt to use its hands to perform a skill, but at a –10 penalty (–25 on Disable Device checks to pick the lock of manacles the creature is wearing). While manacled, a creature can attempt to flip its arms beneath its legs, bringing its hands in front of itself. This requires a successful DC 25 Escape Artist check (a separate Escape Artist check is then required to escape the manacles).
Ortensia hovered nearby, ready to either grapple Estovain into submission to get the manacles onto him or strike him down if he lashed out.
"Listen to reason Estovian," the bard pleads. "We have you out numbered, surrender."
"Let's take everything magical. While Jeremiah starts using the scroll to concentrate the room. Can do the Jeremiah or should someoneless dedicate this room to Desna?"
"Tell us how to deal with the wolf spirit downstairs, Estovian."
To Elric, Creeden says, "Some people think of Desna as frivolous, but she must have learned so much on her journeys through the stars. I definitely respect that. I'd be happy to consecrate the temple, if Jeremiah doesn't want to."
"I will do it, even if it is not my god. I bear no grudge to the Great Dreamer, and we will all be part of Groetus some day, so, it doesn't bother me."