You’re able to anchor the rope and tie it around Kalem before Zamanda casts her spell. As Kalem enters the glowing circle, the runes glow brighter for a moment before returning to their normal glow. Nothing seems to have changed and Kalem slowly begins to descend under the magic of Zamanda’s spell.
The hole travels 70 ft down before opening into another area. As Kalem’s feet touch the ground, he’s ambushed by four people who are unmistakably Red Mantis assassins. All their initial attacks miss.
Zamanda casts Feather Fall on Bashiel.
A savage laugh echoed up as Kalem went to work. ”Assassins! Ha!” His voice drifted up even as he ducked, dodged, and attacked. ”...you’re stuck down here with me.” He said, as he went about his bloody work.
At the sound of fighting below, Bashiel gives Zamanda a thumbs up and leaps into the hole. As he descends, he calls upon Osiris' divine favor.
'Mantis assassins... here? How? Why?'
He eyes the group at the bottom with the aid of Malen's true seeing, trying to determine if they're all that they appear to be.
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Ilsa had been about to cast her own levitate spell when Kalem is ambushed by the assassins.
"Change of plans--be right there!" she exclaims.
She casts mirror image, creating a cadre of dark images of the mesmerist. She prepares to join the bloodrager soon.
Kalem, a savage laugh echoed up as he went to work.
“Assassins! Ha!” His voice drifted up even as he ducked, dodged, and attacked. “...you’re stuck down here with me.” He said, as he went about his bloody work.
His first blow finds its mark, cutting deeply into the blue mantis. His second narrowly misses the dexterous assassin.
Malen casts wind walk on Ilsa, Zamanda, and himself to expedite the process of getting his allies and himself into the fight.
The assassins, having been foiled in their initial assault, each take a step back and prepare for another strike.
Illusory doubles materialize around all four assassins.
Zamanda casts Feather Fall on Bashiel.
Bashiel, at the sound of fighting below, gives Zamanda a thumbs up and leaps into the hole. As he descends, he calls upon Osiris' divine favor.
'Mantis assassins... here? How? Why?'
He eyes the group at the bottom with the aid of Malen's true seeing, trying to determine if they're all that they appear to be. They appear to be every bit the Red Mantis assassins they initially seemed to be.
Kalem kept up his assault, pressing the assassin whom he had wounded. There was only so much the magical defenses could do when an angry bloodrager was in your face.
Following Ilsa down into the thick of it, the priest gets down to ground level with the others and then called upon another of the Lady of Graves' blessings, infusing them all with a sliver of divinity to aid in their fight against the assassins.
With this blessing, you call your allies to move forth and empower them to conquer and become victorious. Each round for the duration of this spell, each of your allies can choose one of the following bonuses for that round at the beginning of its turn (their choice).
Increase its speed by 30 feet.
Stand up as a swift action without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Make one extra attack as part of a full attack action, using its highest base attack bonus.
Gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls and a +2 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves.
Cast a single spell of 2nd level or lower as if it were an enlarged, extended, silent, or still spell.
Ilsa leaps into the hole, finding power to ride the air with Malen's air walking spell.
When she is close enough, she casts fear on the two assassins against the south wall. The orange assassin resists the spell, but the yellow assassin succumbs.
Kalem kept up his assault, pressing the assassin whom he had wounded. There was only so much the magical defenses could do when an angry bloodrager was in your face. His first strike injures the blue mantis further, but his second only destroys an illusion.
Malen, following Ilsa down into the thick of it, gets down to ground level with the others and then called upon another of the Lady of Graves' blessings, infusing them all with a sliver of divinity to aid in their fight against the assassins.
Green Assassin begins weaving his blades in front of him, directing them at Kalem. The bloodrager succumbs to the hypnotic pattern and becomes fascinated.
Orange Assassin moves up to Ilsa and strikes. He destroys one of her images.
Blue Assassin, with Kalem fascinated, moves over and also strikes at Ilsa. He also destroys an image.
Yellow Assassin, unable to safely get past Ilsa, cowers in place.
Bashiel drops to the bottom with rapier at the ready, his magically enhances vision piercing through the veils of illusions flickering over the forms of the assassins. He notices the way green has Kalem entranced and focuses his attacks that way first.
"You've picked a poor time to strike." is all he offers before stabbing his rapier at the green assassin.
Zamanda windwalks down the hole and then 30 feet away from the assassins, drawing her bow as she moves.
She then fires at Green.
(Blessing of fervor, point blank)
(acid, cold, point blank)
Zamanda windwalks down the hole and then 30 feet away from the assassins, drawing her bow as she moves.
She then fires at Green. She destroys one of his images.
Bashiel drops to the bottom with rapier at the ready, his magically enhances vision piercing through the veils of illusions flickering over the forms of the assassins. He notices the way green has Kalem entranced and focuses his attacks that way first.
"You've picked a poor time to strike." is all he offers before stabbing his rapier at the green assassin. His first strike finds its mark, injuring the assassin. His second destroys an image. His third misses the assassin and his images entirely.
Ilsa, not liking her positioning in the middle of the assassins, thinks of being elsewhere and instantly appears there. The orange and blue assassins strike at the mesmerist as she attempts to move. Both only manage to destroy a couple more of her images.
Kalem continues to be fascinated.
Malen floats down the hole and joins the rest of the group below, stopping near Zamanda and pulling out his light crossbow as he goes. Then he loads a bolt.
Green Assassin continues concentrating on weaving his blades at Kalem, taking a step forward as he does so.
Orange Assassin steps forward and strikes at Bashiel twice, once with each of his sabres. Both attacks miss.
Blue Assassin begins weaving his own sabres in front of him and focuses on Bashiel. The paladin easily resists the effect.
Yellow Assassin continues cowering in place.
With the green assassin creeping closer to a wobbly looking Kalem, Bashiel does his best to draw the fellow's attention, as well as the attention of the rest of the assassins in the room. He raises his rapier up to tap at his own mantis helm. "You won't be the first of your order to fall against us. Better quit while you still can."
He flurries with the rapier, striking first at green and then at orange if green falls.
Kalem wobbled back and forth, his rage over...all he could do was stare dumbly ahead.
Zamanda continues to focus on Green.
(point-blank, rapid shot penalty)
(Rapid Shot)
(Blessing of Fervor)
(acid, cold, point-blank)
Zamanda continues to focus on Green. Her first two shots destroy a couple of green’s images. Her third manages to strike the assassin. Her fourth misses the assassin and his images.
Bashiel, with the green assassin creeping closer to a wobbly looking Kalem, does his best to draw the fellow's attention, as well as the attention of the rest of the assassins in the room. He raises his rapier up to tap at his own mantis helm. "You won't be the first of your order to fall against us. Better quit while you still can."
His first strike misses, but is close enough to destroy the assassin’s final image. His next three strikes all miss.
Ilsa casts displacement, then moves toward the battle again.
"Kalem, snap out of it!" she yells.
Kalem continues to be fascinated.
Malen fires a bolt at the green assassin, enhancing his attack with fervor as he does so. His bolt finds its mark, injuring the assassin a bit. Then he reloads his crossbow.
Green Assassin continues concentrating on weaving his blades at Kalem. He’s nearly touching Kalem with the blades now.
Orange Assassin strikes at Bashiel again. Sandwiched between orange and green, Bashiel takes two massive blows from the orange assassin, the Mantis’s blade slipping in between Bashiel’s armor and dealing significant damage.
Blue Assassin, his attempt at fascinating Bashiel foiled, steps forward and strikes at the paladin twice. Both of his attacks land, injuring Bashiel further. It doesn’t look like the paladin can take much more.
Yellow Assassin continues cowering in place.
Bashiel calls upon Osiris' favor once more, undoing some of the grievous injuries he just sustained.
He clicks his heels together to activate his boots, before entering into a deadly whirl of attacks, with the hope of opening up a place to back up to. He strikes first at the elusive green before making a few flickering, rapid stabs against orange.
Things seemed to be getting worse, and weren't going to be over quickly, so Zamanda takes the time to maximize their power, and starts singing to inspire everyone's courage and then casts Gravity Bow.
Zamanda sees that things seemed to be getting worse, and weren't going to be over quickly, so she takes the time to maximize their power, and starts singing to inspire everyone's courage and then casts Gravity Bow.
Bashiel calls upon Osiris' favor once more, undoing some of the grievous injuries he just sustained.
He clicks his heels together to activate his boots, before entering into a deadly whirl of attacks, with the hope of opening up a place to back up to. He strikes first at the elusive green before making a few flickering, rapid stabs against orange.
His first strike is enough to finally kill the green assassin and end Kalem’s fascination. His next three strikes all hit orange, the last with the aid of Zamanda’s performance. Then he takes a step back.
Ilsa, with things not going well for Kalem, or for Bashiel, for that matter, could feel fear welling up within her.
No--*I* am what there is to fear!
Waves of dread emanate from the mesmerist, striking friend and foe with terror.
Both the orange and blue assassins retreat as far away from Ilsa as they can before cowering in place.
Bashiel sighs with relief as the assassins begin to flee. He puts a hand on Kalem's shoulder to see if he can return the bloodrager to clear thinking. He eyes the cowering assassins with caution, but isn't sure what to do with them yet. Instead, he pulls out the wand of cure light wounds and begins healing himself.
"Should we try to apprehend them? Where did they come from?"
Suddenly snapped out of the trance, Kalem looked around wildly. Suddenly fatigued, he turned to Bashiel. ”W-what happened? There were assassins, but...” He trailed off.
Maybe that is why someone's been trying to scry on us. So they could kill us. Good thing it didn't work.
She starts searching the body of the one that is dead, to see if they have any information (or loot) on them, and, eyeing the others she says
Shall we tie them up? Maybe take them back up to face Shoanti justice... if there are consequences for trying to murder "tshamek"?
"Ilsa managed to get them Kalem." He points to the cowering assassins. "Thankfully. They did something strange to you."
"Ah, Zamanda, you're probably onto something. Otherwise, I can't see how else they could have found us here." He shakes his head. "Still, I thought the red mantis were servants of the Rakshasas back in Old Korvosa. Did I get the wrong impression? Or are they simply working for the highest bidder."
Bashiel moves to disarm the three that are cowering while they're unable to fight back.
Zamanda finds a pair of +1 sawtooth sabres on the assassin along with studded leather +1. She doesn’t find any information or other identifying markers on him. Bashiel relieves the other assassins of their weapons and finds that they have the same gear as the one Zamanda disarmed.
That's an interesting thought. I'm sure the Rakshasas do want us dead, so if someone has taken over for the ones we killed, it could be them, if only as revenge for killing one of them. Or it could be the queen... wasn't doctor evil bird-mask guy a red mantis? Anyone else we've pissed off enough for them to want to kill us?
Once the assassins were tied up, Kalem went over to the first one. Putting a clawed finger to the man’s neck, he said ”We don’t need both of you alive. To be honest, we don’t need either of you alive. And if we decide to kill you, we don’t need to do it quickly. So we are going to ask a few questions, starting with who sent you? If I were you, I wouldn’t hesitate in answering.”
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As the others find up the assassins, the priest pulled out one of the wands the group had bestowed upon him and started to heal the paladin's grievous injuries.
Once Bashiel's wounds had been mended, the cleric stood nearby as Kalem and Ilsa started to interrogate them. He was uncomfortable with the bloodrager's threats to the assassins, but imagined that the group's face would have been much worse were their positions reversed. When Ilsa started trying to weave her mental magic upon one of the men, the priest could only agree. They needed answers, and soon. Malen doubted very much that these assassins were part of the 'regular' trials that went on in this place.
Bashiel thanks Malen for the healing, and looks towards the remaining assassins to see how they respond to the combination interrogation. Much like Malen, he feels uncomfortable regarding Kalems threats... though mostly out of concern that the bloodrager would be more than happy to follow through. Ilsa's mental magic is cleaner, but in some ways more terrifying.
Ilsa's chosen assassin easily succumbs to her magic and is soon little more than a puppet before her. Kalem's efforts, while terrifying, don't seem to be as effective. The remaining assassins simply keep their lips shut.
Ilsa's assassin says to her, "We were sent here to kill you by one of our own, Cinnabar. She told us you would be here, or that you would come. She said she would find us afterwards were we successful. If not... well, we needed to be successful."
Tie them up, leave them here, finish the quest, then gather them up on the way out and turn them over to the Shoanti for whatever justice they see fit to apply?
”Kill them. They are assassins. If they can’t unite themselves then they aren’t worth the name. They’re no different than anyone else we killed before this.” Kalem said, knowing that the others would think ill of the idea. ”I’ll do it so nobody else has to get their hands dirty.”
Bashiel rubs gauntleted knuckles against his chin and asks "Where do you think Cinnabar is? Is she somewhere in Korvosa or outside?"
"The idea of giving them over to the Shoanti... After all, they did trespass on the site of one of their proving grounds. Surely the Shoanti have some rules around what happens to tshamek who do that without permission." However Kalem's comment causes him to be a little less certain "Surely we can bind them well enough and retrieve them after we're done here? If anything, delivering assassins to face justice might earn us some more honor in their eyes."
The assassin obediently stands in one place at Ilsa’s order.
The Mantis attempts to resist Bashiel’s questions, but can’t. “She is in the Cinderlands.”
Zamanda moves between Kalem and the assassins.
I am not saying they are not worthy of death. They likely are. But killing helpless people is different than defending ourselves. I feel like we are getting too much like the bad guys. There needs to be a line, if only to keep ourselves in check, and to make sure that we stay working for the side of good. Let's turn them over to the Shoanti.
You don't have to take on that burden for us.
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Kalem sighed. ”Fine. I see your point. Can we at least turn them over now then? I just don’t feel safe leaving them tied up here unsupervised. I want to be moral too, but I also don’t want my throat slit.”
|
Ilsa folds her arms across her chest. "Your boss--did she say who hired your group?" she asks the dominated assassin.
Turning to Zamanda and Kalem, she says "I don't like these guys at our backs, either. Or getting intelligence back to Cinnabar about our capabilities. Something tells me we will already see more of them later. Why not leave them with our escorts above? They can probably handle them."
Motioning to the dominated one, she says darkly "This one, on the other hand, is going to continue to help us. I find him much more pliable than before."
Malen continued to feel uncomfortable as the discussion over the assassins' fates continued, the thought of killing the helpless prisoners not sitting well with the priest. Though his Goddess venerated death as a gateway to the next stage of life, She did not condone needless killing if it could be prevented.
When a diplomatic solution started to show itself, the cleric smiled in agreement, nodding. Pharasma sat as the final arbiter of a soul's journey. So these Shoanti should sit in judgment of these evil people who had defiled their sacred place. "I agree that we should escort these others to our four Shoanti guides."
At Ilsa's words, the priest frowned, though more at the tone than the words themselves. This group seemed to walk a fine line, at times, and Malen would have to be careful to not ultimately erode his faith by following suit. They were good people, but good people sometimes did bad things in the name of the greater good. Sometimes they were right.
"Agreed. Without their weapons and well bound, these assassins are unlikely to be much of a threat." He nods "Lets hope the Boneseekers are willing to play baby-sitter."
He ties up each of the captives, and offers to do the same for the one that's currently dominated, until Ilsa clarifies that the dominated assassin will be coming with the group. The idea unnerves him. "Very well, but we bring him back to face justice with the rest."