Bashiel instinctively delivers a pair of quick, powerful slashes at the blue cultist with his longsword, hoping to clear the way for the rest of the group.
He steps aside to give the others room to make their own attacks.
Varor, not seeing how he could be of any help at the moment, draws his scimitar and stands at the ready.
Varor, not seeing how he could be of any help at the moment, draws his scimitar and stands at the ready.
Zamanda leans to the side of Bashiel, shooting around him into blue. Unfortunately, Bash is just too burly to fire around, and her arrows glance off the doorway.
Bashiel instinctively delivers a pair of quick, powerful slashes at the blue cultist with his longsword, hoping to clear the way for the rest of the group. His first swing leaves a nasty wound across the blue cultist’s chest, but the cultist manages to dodge the paladin’s second swing. He steps aside to give the others room to make their own attacks.
Kalem, having delayed till after Bashiel, moves forward and crushes the blue cultist’s skull. The man crumples to the ground.
Ilsa, from the back ranks, concentrates and opens a black void underneath the remaining cultists. She wills them to fall into it. One of the cultist’s loses his footing and falls prone.
Blue Cultist is dead.
Red Cultist steps over his companion’s body and swings his club at Kalem. His club bounces harmlessly off the bloodrager’s armor.
Green Cultist and Yellow Cultist, clearly not expecting to have to fight in such close quarters, can only wait for their chance to strike. One of them stands up from where he fell.
Having killed one Urgathoan, Kalem cautiously stepped onto the slippery ground and continued his assault. Hopefully now Bashiel and Varor would be able to move in as well.
[ooc]AC24[/dice]
Zamanda shoots again, at red this time.
(point-blank, rapid shot)
However, again, she utterly fails.
Bashiel steps back over as Kalem advances. Considering the tight quarters for a moment, he thrusts his longsword between Kalem and the door frame to strike at the the green cultist.
Varor casts Guidance on Zamanda.
Zamanda shoots again, at red this time. However, again, she utterly fails.
Ilsa's eyes bore into the red-clad enemy. Without a way to reach the bottled-up enemy, she slings a stone past Kalem's head. The man looks disturbed by Ilsa’s gaze, but her sling shot bounces harmlessly off his armor.
Bashiel steps back over as Kalem advances. Considering the tight quarters for a moment, he thrusts his longsword between Kalem and the door frame to strike at the the red cultist. His first blow misses the cultist entirely, but his second lands a solid strike. The cultist looks badly injured… then he clutches his chest, falling over dead, Ilsa’s gaze having ended his life without a touch.
Kalem, having killed one Urgathoan, continued his assault. Hopefully now Bashiel and Varor would be able to move in as well. His first strike lands, crushing the green cultist’s rib cage and badly wounding him. The man narrowly avoids being hit by Kalem’s second attack.
Red Cultist is dead.
Green Cultist swings his club desperately at Kalem but misses.
Yellow Cultist also swings his club at Kalem, but the bloodrager's magical protection wards off the blow.
Zamanda starts singing an upbeat song while she shoots at yellow.
(point-blank, inspire courage, rapid shot)
Varor, seeing another cultist go down, spots the open and charges in, switching his hold on his scimitar as he passes Kalem to attack with the blunt side.
Unable to get into the room anymore, Kalem took a step back. He couldn’t reach the foes, and there was no point using up any more of his power than he had to. He let the rage fade, trusting his comrades to handle the rest. He moved to the back, to watch the doors should the conflict bring any foes from behind.
Bashiel steps in to support Varor, dropping his longsword for a moment to draw his bardiche and stab at the yellow cultist over the cleric's shoulder.
Varor, seeing another cultist go down, spots the open and charges in, switching his hold on his scimitar as he passes Kalem to attack with the blunt side. He strikes the cultist, bruising him on his shoulder.
Zamanda starts singing an upbeat song while she shoots at yellow. Both arrows find their mark, piercing the yellow cultist in a leg and an arm.
Ilsa, seeing things going well, dismisses her spell to clear the way for her allies.
Bashiel steps in to support Varor, dropping his longsword for a moment to draw his bardiche and stab at the yellow cultist over the cleric's shoulder. The paladin finishes what Zamanda started and slays the cultist.
Kalem, unable to get into the room anymore, took a step back. He couldn’t reach the foes, and there was no point using up any more of his power than he had to. He let the rage fade, trusting his comrades to handle the rest. He moved to the back, to watch the doors should the conflict bring any foes from behind.
Green Cultist swings his club at the newly arrived Varor, but misses.
Yellow Cultist is dead.
As you finally get a chance to look more closely at this side room, you see that a number of crates line its perimeter. A particularly large one has been dragged to one side of the room, around which stand four mismatched chairs and stools.
Zamanda examines the crates, wondering what is inside, if anything.
”You all done playing? We need these doors open before the doctor escapes. I have, well, opened my eyes, so to speak. If he is invisible I should be able to see him. But I can’t keep this up indefinitely, so we need to keep moving.”
Bashiel quickly checks over the cultists, removing any holy symbols so they can be destroyed. He also inspects them for any items or information on bypassing the traps outside - clearly they have to have had a way to get around them.
He also spot checks a few more of the crates while Zamanda and Ilsa search the main one, just in case there's something important stored within.
Zamanda examines the crates and finds that they are all empty.
Bashiel finds that all four cultists have the same items: leather armor, a masterwork club, their distinctive mask, and a healer’s kit. The paladin doesn’t find any holy symbols on these cultists, nor does he find anything to indicate how the cultists bypass the traps.
Zamanda suggests that everyone else get into the crate room. She either stands at the door (where Varor currently is, if he is willing to move), or where she is now, so she can see the doors in order to cast the spell.
Not feeling far enough away from the eastern doors (based on current position), she decides to cast Open on the north door first.
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Bashiel retrieves his longsword and stows his bardiche, keeping the shorter weapon at the ready. Fully expecting more enemies, he also pulls out his heavy shield and holds it at the ready.
Despite the potential danger of the magical trap, Bashiel steps forward to serve as the first line of defense against any foes that might come through after the door opens.
Ilsa is able to identify the masks. Each one is a Plaguebringer’s Mask. These magical masks grant a +2 resistance bonus on saving throws against nauseating scents and immunity to one specific disease. The masks also veil the wearers’ alignment(s), making their aura register as neutral to alignment-detecting effects. Each one appears to be worth 2,000 gp.
Everyone gathers in the side room before Zamanda casts her spell. The bard works her magic on the north door and it opens. And… nothing else happens. It’s hard to tell what’s inside without moving closer.
Kalem took a deep breath. His role here was to be the first through the breach. This was part of the job. Steeling himself, he walked in.
Cabinets and low benches fill the chamber that Kalem enters. From pegs on the opposite side of the room, the empty black eyes of two beaked plague masks glare soulless, unblinking stares. Dark leather robes, high boots, wide-brimmed hats, and solid canes fill most of the cabinets. A closed door leads out of the room to the east.
The glass-paned doors of one large cabinet against the west wall reveal glass shelves covered in a variety of delicate doctors’ instruments, including containers of unguents, syringes, magnifying lenses, and the like, plus a medicine jar full of black onyx gems. A small brass lock keeps these doors firmly shut.
There are enough Queen’s Physician robes and other accouterments in this room to outfit 20 doctors. Each set is well made and only slightly used, so each is worth 5 gp. There are also the two Plaguebringer Masks on the far wall.
Breathing a sigh of relief Kalem waved the party in. ”Could put these on, but I’d prefer to just keep killing them.”
Zamanda attempts to unlock the small brass lock.
While Zamanda tackles the cabinet's lock, Bashiel moves to the eastern side of the room in case anything suddenly comes through the door. "We've already raised the alarm here, so I doubt disguising ourselves would do much good. Plus..." He looks at the robes with distaste "The thought of looking like them turns my stomach."
Zamanda finds the lock to be stubborn on her first attempt, but a few tries later she hears a satisfying click and the lock opens.
Inside the newly-opened cabinet, in addition to the various pieces of doctors’ equipment, Zamanda and Ilsa find four healer’s kits and 23 black onyx gems worth 50 gp each. At the back of the cabinet are four identical flasks, which Ilsa recognizes as magical.
Ilsa’s Detect Psychic Significance spell gives her a brief spark regarding one of the flasks and its contents, but nothing else stands out.
Bashiel gives the area around the eastern door a quick once-over for any traps.
~սեւ օնիքս Զգուշացեք երիտասարդից, դա խոսում է այն նեկրոմանտային կախարդության մասին, որ այդ վարդապետությունները օգտագործում են:~
Almost unconsciously, Bashiel opens his mouth and directly echoes the words Harize speaks in his mind. "Black onyx. Those are for necromantic magic, are they not?" He blinks to himself for a moment, separating his thoughts from those of his ancestor "They are, right?"
Varor thinks about what Bashiel says before shrugging. “Lots of spells require materials in the forms of gold and jewels in order to function. Or it could just be symbolic.”
Detect Magic
Bashiel doesn't notice any traps on the eastern door and no one detects magic on it either.
Zamanda casts Open on the eastern door.
The door opens easily for Zamanda to reveal a larger room beyond.
Black-sheeted cots fill this room; their satin coverings and overstuffed pillows seem more akin to funerary trappings than the resting places of the living. Numerous skulls are set evenly within the room's stone walls. Candles inside them cause them to glow like morbid jack-o'-lanterns and cast dim light across the room. Two doors lead out of the room to the south.
The sheets and pillows have been haphazardly thrown halfway off the cots, and a few pillows lie on the ground. It seems whoever was in here left in a hurry.
Ilsa’s keen gaze spies several noteworthy items. She notices 12 bottles of midnight wine worth 15 gp each, a magical robe bearing a human skeleton and a wolf skeleton, and a rune-etched onyx sculpture of a skull worth 40 gp. Within the various footlockers near each cot, you find a total of 150 gp.
Bashiel scans the room and adds "Brazen is right Ilsa. This isn't another lab, this is a whole barracks, or temple. And you're right, lets keep up the pace. We should probably leave all the doors open, so we can hear if they try to reach the elevator." He heads to the first of the two southern doors. Considering the lack of resistance thus far, he expects the Urgathoans must be mustering their strength somewhere. And the room beyond may very well be a choke point.
He listens at the door to see if he can hear any of the preparations he suspects on the other side. If he hears something, he gestures for the others to come together and get ready, then opens the door.