Corliss scurries up to Kaul and casts Besmara's blessing on the half-orc. "Iff'n ye be turned to the side o' the Voice, just remember that yer new pal Corliss tried his best to keep yer brain on our side!"
He repeats the spell on each of his mates, ending with himself.
Kaul flashes a mako grin at Dibbs;
"Right. Cally-'orequeen. Explains all the ruttin' I reckons..."
At Corliss' ministrations the thug tips him the nod;
"Hur... 'er voice'll need to shout loud above all the others! Hur-hur! Yer blessin' be graciously accepted tho' shipmate."
The brute takes point, hefting Lopper as he enters the chamber;
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Kaul spots a bloody hand print on the wooden doors across the entry hall. As the crew move toward the doors, corrupted elves shouting "Hawana!" pour in from the arches!
Keelhaul Kaul-
Madman Jim-
Corliss-
foe-
Corliss takes aim at the nearest elf on the left and calls on Besmara's aid to batter the target with wind and rain. Capricious Bessie's apparently cleaning her sock drawer at the moment...even though Corliss suspects she doesn't even wear socks.
for
Corliss sends a blast of buffeting wind and rain at a wall.
;
Lopper leaps at a fiend and slices a bloody path across his chest. The creatures continue chanting "Hawana" as they bite and claw at Kaul and Jim. Kaul suffers a bite and a claw from the mob. Jim receives a bite and two claws from the corrupted male and female on him. Another snaps at Dibbets, but misses.
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Shrugging off the fell effects of the deviant elves, Kaul bellows in anger and attempts to dip, duck and dive his way into a flanking position;
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Jim shrugs off the effects of the claws and strikes back, his crackling blade a blur.
The seasoned adventurers have no problem resisting the sleep-inducing saliva. Jim's blade strikes twice and the fiendish elvf threatening Dibbets goes down.
Corliss moves near Kaul, stabbing at the elf on the half-orc's left.
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for
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A moment later, Dibbets returns the favor with a musket blast right through the chest of a corrupted female. Thankfully, if this one is pregnant at least it isn't showing. Corliss moves up attempting to engage a fiend on Kaul, but it dodges. Kaul ducks around to take the rear of the creatures.
Forewarned, the mates guard against the anesthetizing fangs of the monsters, but all receive a savage clawing in the melee.
Jim snarls at the attacker, "Hawana yourself, ya feckin' idiot!" Once again, his blade takes a lethal toll on a maddened elf.
Corliss steps into flanking position opposite Kaul and tries to stab the mad Hawana. Again, the priest proves he's not much of a swordsman.
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As Corliss moves into a flanking position, Kaul leers a grin and sets to work on the nearest longear;
"Hur... Chop. Lopp. All drop!"
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Cackling with glee at the ruinous path wrought by his musket ball, Dibbets focuses on getting the cantankerous blunderbuss ready for another volley "Sing out iffin yer in need o' indiff'rence lads"
Jim efficiently dispatches another sex fiend with a crackling assault. Kaul and Corliss attempt a pincer maneuver against the remaining trio from the left door. Having limited experience fighting together though, it is a comedy of errors as they fumble their attacks. Kaul expertly overextends his swing enough to open the creature to a follow-up attack from Corliss. The furious feral fiends focus on Corliss and Kaul. Corliss suffers a bite from the side and Kaul gets clawed and bit from the pair assailing him.
Jim closes with the trio on Kaul and Corliss, attacking the one on the priest. "I think you two need a bit of practice, hey?"
Jim steps up behind Corliss and with a skilled stroke finishes off the wounded elf-fiend.
Corliss tries a second stab when the Hawana's attention seems fixed on Kaul but only makes a bigger fool of himself.
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Battered, bloodied and suddenly damn tired, Kaul staggers like a dockside drunkard then collapses into a deep slumber...
Grumbling at Kaul "Oi... nei nappin on tha job" Dibbs looks to see if he could withdraw the nubbins from the fray...
Corliss continues to demonstrate why most priests are not on the front lines. Without much blood left to diffuse the sleep-inducing venom in the fiends' bites, Kaul keels over. Dibbets takes a route around the trail of dead left by Jim to reach the rear of the room and Kaul's side. Corliss bears the brunt of the two remaining Hawana chanting crazies' attacks. He dodges any bites, but receives a savage clawing.
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The Taldan grimaces as Kaul collapses, snoring. "Dibbets, mate--slip him some tongue! That'll rouse him sharpish!" He then turns his attention to the remaining pair of cultists. He nearly trips over Kaul on his approach, though.
Jim recovers in time to land a solid hit on the cultist.
If at first ye don't succeed, stab, stab again!
Corliss again thrusts at the Hawana to his north.
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Hobbling near to Kaul's prostrate form, Dibbets delivers the sweet embrace of his lord's indifference through the preferred conduit of application... a swift kick to the arse... or kidneys, Gozreh being unconcerned as to which of the tender spots is roughly managed in pursuit of rousing healing. The solemn task of provision of lifegiving soul sustenance is honoured through pontification in lilting tone "Oi! Lummox, up an at em eh? Git movin ye bugger"
Jim steps past Corliss to engage the remaining Hawana. His first attack is deflected, but a quick second strike pierces the creature leaving it staggering. Corliss is on defense after the furious attack and is unable to provide the final blow. Meanwhile, Dibbets gives Kaul a kind kick which is greeted by a murmur and a loud snore.
The gravely wounded creature topples over, but manages to bite Corliss' ankle before passing out. The other leaps upon the distracted priest mauling him with sharp claws.
Corliss manages to fight off the poison in the Hawana's bite...but can't dodge a pair of deadly claws that lay him low.
Seeing another of their party fall insensate Dibbs rolls his eyes "Fecks sake lads... Jimmer, put paid tae that piece o' sh1te eh?" and hobb-shuffles to where he can lay a grimy hand on Corliss...
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Seeing Corliss fall as well, Jim grimaces and closes with the final visible enemy. "Last chance to surrender."
"I lied."
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With a crackle-zap, Jim leaves the last elf fiend down and bleeding out. Corliss rouses from his injuries at Dibbets' touch. Kaul is a bit more difficult to wake, but a dash of conjured salt water smack in snoot does the trick.
The insidious voice in their heads congratulates the crew, You are worthy opponents. Come forward quickly and receive your reward.
Corliss thanks Dibbets as he stands back up.
"Not sure 'bout the rest o' you, mates, but I ain't big on givin' 'a reward' to me 'opponents,'" he says to the crew. "Lemme heal everyone up some afore we meet Master Head-Voice in the flesh."
He leads the others a safe distance from the bleeding out hawanas to make sure they don't benefit from his channeling and flashes three pulses of healing over his mates
ADDENDUM: The more Corliss considers actually meeting Brainvoice face-to-face, the less he likes the idea. "Here lads...lemme steel yer minds against the creep what haunts our thoughts. No tellin' what he intends fer us; might be hewana make us slaves to replace the ones we just killed. Well--the ones Jim an' Kaul killed, mostly."
He casts guidance on everyone before the party proceeds.
Snorting up some phlegm to spit on a fallen hawana Dibbets concurs "Feckers runnin out a stooges aye... but we ain't seen nei big kahuna neither. Ain't like culty types like tentacles tae fib about wi'out a big nasty" accepting Corliss' guidance before musing "Taint all I gots tae offer bar stern words... but best we all keeps together eh? Nei sneakin ahead Kauly... we get this fecker all as one like" checking his musket to make sure it's recharged with exploding death powder.
Awake and knitted back together Kaul grins eagerly as talk turns to choppin' the cult master;
"Hur... No worries there matey! Ain't plannin' on sleepin' through this..."
The thug hefts Lopper, who nods in agreement.
Corliss rallies the crew with Besmara's blessings and they takes a quick gander through the arches left and right before moving forward. There is an unused cooking area and what looks to be servants quarters on the right, and a long abandoned workshop on the left. An assortment of metallurgic, stonecutting, and woodworking tools and equipment fill the impressive workshop. Raw materials needed for each craft rest on the floor near the appropriate work area. There are three large blocks of stone and a partially completed stone statue, a pile of surprisingly viable timber, and two mounds of rock ore. Strange little pallets of litter in all these areas look to have served as beds for the Hawanas. The feral fiends don't appear to have made use of either the kitchen or work area other than as a place to sleep and probably procreate. The doors ahead open at a touch and the blood and body strewn entry room is left behind.
The large square chamber beyond is once again lit by ruby torches. It looks to be some sort of laboratory. Despite the apparent passage of centuries since its usage, a faint whiff of dried resin and other pungent, organic materials hangs in the air,particularly in the vicinity of an iron cauldron that rests atop an elevated fire pit surrounded by the vague, circular outline of charred incense etched into the floor. There are two large bookcases on the far wall that are stuffed with dusty tomes and dog-eared ledgers. Hundreds of clay, ceramic, and glass jars and vials rest on two rows of shelving that line the near walls. There are also two intricately carved wooden desks and chairs. There is another pair of wooden doors ahead and a single door on the left.
"Roight... we deals wi' tha tentacle bastard then we comes back fer lootin… Kauly - shufty what's inna cauldron eh?... I'd do it... but..." putting his hand at head height and moving it forwards to show that his diminuitive stance won't even see o'er the edge.
"Aught of magic here?"
At Jim's direction, Corliss casts detect magic and begins to scan the laboratory.
Corliss prays for magical insight while Kaul sniffs around the cauldron. Despite possible conjecture, only a pungent alchemical crust remains in the vessel. If the Hawanas have any redeeming traits it is perhaps that at least they aren't cannibals. Corliss narrows the detected magical fields to three of the many vials and pots on the shelves and a heavy wizard tome resting on a desk. The creepy book is written in elvish. Dibbets translates the title, Erithlan Fiendbinder's Guide to the Diabolic.
Kaul eyes the book with a scowl;
"What ye reckon Dibbs? Raw material fer the privvy or worth a few coin to the right diabolicals?"
Nodding at Kaul, Dibbets flicks open the tome to see if it's got any footnotes in the margins, or if it's all written of a same hand "Aye matey, worth a penny or sail tae some bugger. Less bag 'n tag an keep sniffin though... biggest baddest bugger's yet tae be put doon"
Corliss peers and sniffs at the three magic liquids, trying to identify them.
Kaul pads to first the single door to the left, then to the doublers in an attempt to discern what lies beyond each;
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Corliss gathers the three potions that seem to have retained their potency and clears a space to study them. Unfortunately, identifying potions isn't really his area of expertise, but the last two appear to be illusionary magic anyway and he can definitely identify the second one as a potion of displacement. Nearby, Dibbets flips through the big book of fiends. It discusses all manner of fiends, their planes of origin, and wards and magics to use against them. If one were interested in such things, it would be a good reference. It all appears written in the same elegant hand and there are no notes, but a placeholder marks the chapter on a race of fiend called the Qlippoth.
Meanwhile, Kaul creeps from door to door listening. Nothing is heard, but his nose detects the stink of carrion beyond the double doors ahead. The voice sounds impatient as it again goads the crew forward, Come along now. Do not dally.
"Let's be to it, hey?" Jim advances towards the double doors, blade ready.