The shadow in front of Caladius, larger than the others, suddenly rushes at the ranger, swinging an incorporeal hand at him. The hand passes through his defenses and saps the very strength from his muscles.
The four smaller shadows rise up from the depths, surrounding the two boats in a rough circle and barely discnerable in the dark of night.
The boat lurches somewhat as Lucon stows one of the oars, looking about frantically. He readies himself for a Shadow to approach him.
Growling at the chill the shadow rakes through his body, Caladius draws his bow as the oars clatter to the floor of the boat. His eyes flash with a purple light as magic suffuses his weapon. The shadow next to him takes advantage of his concentration to swing a ghostly arm at him once more! But the ranger is able to dodge the hasty blow, which surely would have drained more of Caladius' burly strength.
"Call out if you are threatened, Viscount," says the monk smoothly, and steps to the front of the boat next to Caladius. He strikes the shadow, imbuing his strike with divine energy. The energy pulses through the shadow, clearly staggering it.
The Viscount unleashes an acid dart at the shadow to the north, the one battling Caladius and Enko behind too many bodies for a sure hit. It strikes the shadow with a sizzle, the essence of the thing melting away slowly.
Ava looses Avengen's Edge from its holster, swinging it around in front of her as she readies herself against an attack.
"What do we know about these things? The undead isn't really my specialty!" Sabinus uses his misfortune hex to distort reality around the closest shadow and pulls out the wand of lesser restoration. The targeted Shadow, southwest of Sabinus, visibly reels as the hex catches it.
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The shadow in front of Caladius mindlessly attack again, but is smart enough to go after the one who hurt it this time, Enko. The touch fails to land on the agile man, and the shadow is too staggered to act further.
The four smaller shadows rush into the light from all directions, the darkness of their bodies swirling behind them like tattered capes of darkest black. They charge at Lucon, Ava, Sabinus and Enko, with Enko now facing two of the creatures. Lucon swings his readied oar, and it passes right through the Shadow, as if it weren't even there. Ava has more luck, her readies attack slicing through the shadow and finding purchase, cutting the undead creature in half like she'd cut through a satin cloth -destroying it utterly. The first attacks Enko, its hands stretching out to touch him and seeming sure to reach the mark, however, without seeming to exert any effort, Enko shifts his weight back and down, ducking around the grasping hand, flowing around it like water around a tree, and the attack fails. The one attacking Ava is already gone from existence. Sabinus faces one himself, but it's too shaken by the misfortune hex to land it's attack. The last one reaches out towards Lucon, hands grasping the air hungrily, but his warriors instincts protect him, and he easily sidesteps the attack.
- The Shadows - done
- The Group
Enko kicks and punches at the shadow floating diagonally north of him. He imbues his strike with divine energy again.
Enko draws upon the extra knowledge imparted from the Tome of Drowned Jabe to determine the shadows' strengths and weaknesses. "I know this..."
Too frustrated and stunned by the sudden lack of strength in his body, Caladius frowns as his thoughts fail to focus on what he knows about these types of undead. He stumbles back a step and, struggling mightily against the pull of his bow, tries to snap off a quick pair of shots.
[ooc]Favoring the big shadow over the little ones if it's still around to be shot at =)[ooc]
Enko calls out what he recalls of what you're facing, "I know this... it's a Shadow and it's shadow minions." and shouts out a few other helpful tidbits.
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Ava quickly turns her attention to the shadow attacking Sabinus, leaning out from the boat slightly as she thrusts the glaive forward at the creature.
However, she overbalances and misses her stab, stepping back as she tries to regain her balance.
...
...
Enko kicks and punches at the shadow floating diagonally north of him. He imbues his strike with divine energy again, the first blow gashing the shadowy substance.
Too frustrated and stunned by the sudden lack of strength in his body, Caladius frowns as his thoughts fail to focus on what he knows about these types of undead. He stumbles back a step and, struggling mightily against the pull of his bow, tries to snap off a quick pair of shots. The first misses due to his cautioun to avoid hitting Enko, but the second takes a large chunk out of the main shadows center mass.
Looking directly into what he imagines is the face of the shadow in front of him, Sabinus begins to cackle to extend the misfortune surrounding the abomination. The guttural, rhythmic jeering is a now familiar sound to the group, and it has become marginally less annoying as the others have become more familiar with its purpose. He takes a five foot step away from the shadow on top of him in the direction of whichever of Lucon is in Sabinus' boat. Finding himself too far away from the boss shadow, Sabinus will target the shadow attacking Lucon with the new misfortune hex, but in a startling display of Will, it resists.
The boat lurches suddenly as Lucon's oar passes through his opponent. Lucon stands firm, steadying himself, and adopts a defensive posture.
Corneleous casts Magic missile, using his wand, and attacks the larger Shadow, following Caladius' example.
Ava quickly turns her attention to the shadow attacking Sabinus, leaning out from the boat slightly as she thrusts the glaive forward at the creature. However, she overbalances and misses her stab, stepping back as she tries to regain her balance.
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The largest shadow, still sluggish in it's movement, tries to reach the dodging monk again, but misses.
The northern shadow swipes futily at Enko, though the attack surely would have landed on a less agile member of the group. The southwest shadow glides forward to attack Sabinus once more but misses him as the cackle clearly affects it. The southmost attack Lucon, but again he is ready for the attack and dodges away, perhaps taking lessons from Enko.
- The Shadows - done
- The Group
Steadying the tremble in his arms, Caladius rips another two arrows from his quiver with startling speed, despite his obvious fatigue. He continues to focus fire upon the larger shadow.
...
...
Sabinus cackles to maintain the ongoing misfortune and uses his accursed hex feat to retry the misfortune on the shadow attacking Lucon (DC 18). Backed up as far as he can go, he remains in place for now.
Steadying the tremble in his arms, Caladius rips another two arrows from his quiver with startling speed, despite his obvious fatigue. He continues to focus fire upon the larger shadow. The first shot is enough, the arrow seeming to initiate a minor explosive within the large Shadows core, as it bursts apart in a violent scattering of shadow. The smaller shadows suddenly contort and twist as the largest of them is destroyed, the one Enko injured bursting apart as well, but in a more subdued explosion of formless black.
Apparently freed of whatever power the largest held over them, or possibly afraid of the magic arrows of Caladius, the remaining shadows turn tail and flee back beneath the waves, quickly fading out of sight.
Sabinus will urge Lucon to bring our boat alongside the other boat so Sabinus can heal Caladius' ability damage. Assuming that can be done without difficulty, Sabinus applies the wand of lesser restoration three times:
Once things settle down, Sabinus turns to Ava and says, "May I please borrow the circlet? I would really like to be the one to open this doorway, and the circlet will give me more of a chance."
"It's yours to do what you will." Ava says, handing it over to him.
Once the group is finished with their parting shots and Caladius is brought back to full strength, Sabinus, clearly eager to proceed, shines the wayfinder on the revealed doorway. Apparently eager to play the part of a real pathfinder, he places the circlet on his head, stands up straight and proceeds to recite Delvehaven’s Oath in a loud clear voice.
The group is impressed with Sabinus' attempt, considering the witch's lack of personal magnetism and his unimpressive voice, as everyone recalls from our time on the stage. However, the attempt is just barely not good enough. Clearly disappointed, Sabinus immediately launches into another attempt:
Growing frustrated, Sabinus ignores any sounds of objection from the party and breathes deeply before making a third attempt:
"Aargh! Sabinus growls. Enko puts his hand on Sabinus' shoulder, as if to suggest that maybe another in the group should try, but Sabinus shakes him off and starts to recite the oath even louder:
This time Sabinus' voice literally squeaks as he recites the oath. Sabinus looks around at the group, an almost desperate look on his face. He then looks around the waters and, not seeing any threats, he pleads for one last opportunity to attempt. He again stands straight, he pats Tycho on the head, he stares at the doorway for several seconds, and he one more time recites Delvehaven’s Oath...
... and, in the glow of the wayfinder, something begins to happen to the doorway! At the same moment, it seems almost as if a second glow appears, this one coming from Sabinus himself, such is the satisfaction and relief exuding from his person. He says low and quiet, aloud but clearly to himself, "Maybe I could make a good Pathfinder someday after all."
He hands the circlet back to Ava, giving her an almost courtly bow.
Each attempt from the witch brings a pulse of light from the door, as if it was somehow aware it was being called upon to open once more. But as the performance sputters and struggles, over and over, the door responds less and less to Sabinus' voice. At the end, even the door itself seems reluctant and disinterested in the oratory efforts. But then, out of nowhere, Sabinus' performance catches the attention of all who are near, including the Wave Door. Once Delvehaven’s oath is spoken with the proper performance, the disk of pale light flashes brightly as it irises open to reveal a 5-foot-square chamber beyond. The door itself rises and falls with the waves passing underneath it.
The locker contains a package of six sets of false identity papers, each marking the bearer as Chelish nobility in good standing with House Thrune. Even though they are vastly outdated, the papers still provide a +2 bonus to any Bluff checks made against the dottari, Hellknights, nobles, or other Chelish authorities. Each set of papers is worth 300 gp. Under these papers lie four potions of gaseous form, six potions of cure moderate wounds, and six potions of lesser restoration. A thin wooden folio sits on the bottom of the chest under the potions; pressed between its covers are several scrolls and sheets of parchment. Above, a teak wand case wedged into the locker’s lid contains a wand of restoration (13 charges). A key ring sits around one of the potion bottles.
The wooden folio’s contents are a scroll of clairaudience/clairvoyance, three scrolls of dispel magic (CL 10th), three scrolls of erase (CL 10th), a scroll of sunburst, a scroll of true seeing, and a *piece of parchment*.
Ava gives Sabinus a pat on the back as he finally manages to open the door.
"Got there in the end. Well done." she says. "Now, my turn."
Ava takes a step back, waiting for the wave to crest before leaping over the gap. She barely makes it, wincing as she hits the rocks, clinging onto the slippery surface. Waves crash over her legs as she pulls herself up and into the chamber, where she brushes herself off a little.
"Ah, that hurt." Ava blinks, her eyes quickly adjusting to the dark. "Let's see what we have here..."
"Wait, Ava! Hold on to the... rope." Lucon says, sagging slightly. "Well. I guess there's nothing for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?"
The carpenter, checking the line is secure around his waist in case the worst should happen, stands tall. The boat lurches as he places his boot onto the side, nearly tossing poor Sabinus into the brink. Try as he might, he cannot seem to make the leap into the portal as it dances atop the water. "Sabinus, lad. Can you give me a boost and fly in after me?"
Caladius nods gratefully to Sabinus for his minstrations, flexing his suddenly reinvigorated muscles as the magic washes over him. A few minutes later though and the ranger languishes in his boat, quickly wearying of Sabinus' progressively worsening attempts to open the door. At last though, the odd man's perseverance pays off and the door opens.
He waits for the other boat to empty before bringing his in line with the floating portal.
"Enko, you want to go first? I can give the Viscount a hand then follow along behind."
The sight of scrawny Sabinus trying to help the hulking Lucon through the door will doubtlessly make even Caladius chuckle, but after releasing Tycho from his cage with a quick flick of the wrist, Sabinus will do his best:
In his awkward position on the rocking boat, Sabinus can't manage to give Lucon any lift and the big man slips into the water, and Sabinus almost tumbles over the side himself. "Sorry, Lucon! I haven't spent the time you have heaving big hammers."
Sabinus immediately grabs the rope attached to Lucon and flies over to the doorway. Once there, he asks Ava for help in pulling Lucon up, calling down, "Lucon, I can see Ava trying to make that leap, but next time let me fly across and secure a rope first."
Caladius shakes his head as he watches the floundering spectacle in, and out of, the other boat. "Quit goofing around you two! I'd like to not be stuck in this boat all night."
Enko scans the scene in some wonderment, then nods to Caladius and climbs across...
With the assistance of her tools, Ava just manages to get the locker open, and is examining what's inside as those in the boats slowly get through the Wave Door.
The locker contains a package of six sets of false identity papers, each marking the bearer as Chelish nobility in good standing with House Thrune. Even though they are vastly outdated, the papers still provide a +2 bonus to any Bluff checks made against the dottari, Hellknights, nobles, or other Chelish authorities. Each set of papers is worth 300 gp. Under these papers lie four potions of gaseous form, six potions of cure moderate wounds, and six potions of lesser restoration. A thin wooden folio sits on the bottom of the chest under the potions; pressed between its covers are several scrolls and sheets of parchment. Above, a teak wand case wedged into the locker’s lid contains a wand of restoration (13 charges). A key ring sits around one of the potion bottles.
The wooden folio’s contents are a scroll of clairaudience/clairvoyance, three scrolls of dispel magic (CL 10th), three scrolls of erase (CL 10th), a scroll of sunburst, a scroll of true seeing, and a *piece of parchment*.
Enko gazes at the aquatic antics and leaps to the Wave Door entrance.
Enko reads the note carefully. "Liriam, author of the cipher, has led us here, while Ilnerik flees to Nidal with half of an artifact, I presume, called the Aohl--this Totemrix. Who the Vyriavaxans are, I do not know, and what relation this Morrowfall has to the other items, I'm not sure...perhaps it's the other half of the Aohl. Liriam, we thank you...a map and glossary would have helped," he says with a mild and irreverent smile.
He eyes the ring. "Viscount, Sabinus--do you recognize that ring?"
Caladius calls out to everyone who's entered the strange floating cavern, "Do the Viscount and I need to join you or should I stay with the boats?"
Enko startles. "Ava, let's just gather these up...no need to have everyone fall in the water."
"I think you might be right, Enko." she says, nodding at his observations. "In any case, we've got some questions to run by those pathfinders, should we come across them."
Ava gathers up the papers, carefully wrapping them before placing them into her bag.
"We'll be back in a moment." Ava calls out to Caladius. She moves over to the bench, running her hand across the surface.
"No harm done, lad." Lucon says, reeking of the harbour. He tears off his woolen surcoat, soaked through, and begins to detatch his pauldrons and greaves, pouring the grimy dockwater onto the floor of the chamber. "Does... that does say vampire?" Lucon says, nearly ruining the parchment with his soaking hands. "No good can come of waking up no vampires..."
Caladius leaps to his feet and draws his bow in a rush, shouting in concern, "Did one of you just say 'vampires'?! Are there vampires in there?!"
"We're going to need to spend some time pouring over these materials to try to make sense of it. But at least we succeeded in getting what there is to be gotten. Although the nature of the items makes me a bit nervous. The undead aren't really my specialty."
"I will address that area, Sabinus, in terms of knowledge, and the foes we face will be similar to the ones we have faced before," says Enko placidly.
Not hearing a response, Caladius shouts to be heard over the lapping waters, "HEY! DID ONE OF YOU SAY SOMETHING ABOUT VAMPIRES?! DO YOU NEED ME TO SHOOT SOME VAMPIRES?!"
"No vampires in here, Caladius! Ava is just gathering up the stuff she found and we'll be right out! But I'm glad you're so enthusiastic."
"Is there a vampire out there, Sabinus?" says Enko.
Working together, Ava and Enko get the chest out through the door and hand it off to the wet lucon. The rooms appears unremarkable otherwise, the bench seems quite ordinary, though comfortable. It seems the Wave Door was hiding the chest and the room itself, and that is all. Laden with new-gotten goods and not suffering any ill effects from the fight, the group distributes itself into the boats.