Malthir strides to the front of the group, his silence finally broken,
I grow tired of playing games with this undead horror. Fenna, please drop a bridge so we can get to it. Kalev, Ricter and I will charge forward to combat it. Who knows how many scrolls, wands, potions it might have to continue to bolster it defenses. Most of them are down now, lets take advantage of that.
Malthir starts to move forward, assuming the rest of the Guardians will support his decision.
"Is that what we're supposed to tell Vaysh when we drag your body back to Swordhaven? That you died because you were too tired to wait another minute to rush at the foe, even if it meant taking wounds you didn't have to take. We have no idea how many more enemies we will have to hack our way through to cleanse this place, and we can't afford to shed a single drop of blood we don't have to." Casimir says coldly as Malthir strides past.
If Malthir and Ricter insist on moving forward, Casimir will move with them and ready a bowshot at the enemy if he attempts to cast.
Kip is taken aback by Malthir's words. Games?! I am not playing games! he exclaims uncharacteristically in a voice laden with disappointment and disapproval. If you didn't like the plan, you should have said so before I risked my neck to put it into action.
Cas, I am just saying that we can wait forever but it is likely to have to have some type of magical defenses. At some point we must fight it. It has one spell going...now is a good a time as any.
Waiting for Fenna's action.
Cas, I am just saying that we can wait forever but it is likely to have to have some type of magical defenses. At some point we must fight it. It has one spell going...now is a good a time as any.
Waiting for Fenna's action.
"Malthir, you are of course correct that waiting indefinitely will solve nothing," Fenna speaks softly, "but Casimir's caution is well founded; we are all wounded, and our resources are heavily drained."
"I have every confidence that we can defeat this creature, dangerous though it may be, but not without further stretching ourselves. Given we do not know what else awaits us, we must either minimize our risk, or face the need to fall back to regroup, thereby sacrificing our advantage of surprise... of course, that advantage diminishes every moment we delay here."
ok, we wait another minute, then we move forward and attack.
It becomes clear to Ricter that this stand-off is a complex problem of tactical spell craft. There's a time and a place to scorn the cowardly enchantments of a spellcaster, charge straight at it and strike it down with force of arms, but the discussions of his more magically-learned allies made it clear to the Hellknight that the Guardians had seldom dealt with a magical foe as potent as this.
As a result, he waits silently as the minutes tick by, waiting for Casimir's signal. He breaths deeply, getting oxygen into the blood to buy extra precious seconds before he has to risk breathing the blighted air of the cavern.
He takes up position near to Malthir as the final seconds count down, though not close enough to form a shield wall - such tactics are useless against fireballs.
"The magical tactics in play are beyond you and I, Malthir. You are right to trust the consel of our spellcasters. I do have one suggestion, however - get ready to hold your breath"
Casimir's illusion was pummeled by magical force as it nocked an arrow, Kip artfully improvising on his illusion to include cuts and bruises as the grimly silent illusion nocked an arrow and fired, the projectile appearing to fly just over the mage's shoulder. The mage seemed to recognize the illusionary nature of its attacker and expended no further magic upon it. A couple of minutes passed, with Kip occasionally peeping out from his hidden position and eventually abandoning the illusion that the mage utterly ignored in favor of intently watching the corridor. Either unwilling or unable to fly out above the pool of bubbling tar to give chase, the mage produced a dagger from its tattered robes and held it in a mangled grip.
By this time, Kip was confident the mage's defensive spell had expired. It had, however, pulled a spell component from its pouch and clutched it tightly in a closed fist, apparently ready to cast at a moment's notice.
Round 2-
Ordered Initiative-
Guardians- X
Active Effects-
Resist Energy (Fire) on everyone (PLEASE MARK CHARGES OFF).
Notes-
Action-
"Right, looks like it was worth the wait. He probably has something nasty prepared, but at least we got him to waste a powerful spell. Now, the question who of us exits first. I can lay down a smokestick to provide some cover, if you like. I also have five charges left on the wand of haste. Might be worth spending a charge to help us get to him faster. The less time we spend inhaling those fumes the better."
"Let us use that wand of haste, purely to protect us if the foe has it's antithesis prepared. Few things will doom a warrior as surely as slow."
"Form up on the edge of the tar with bows at the ready in loose formation, then drop the bows and charge as soon as the bridge is conjured?"
To be honest I have the best magical defenses because of Iomedae's blessings. I should appear first and take the brunt of whatever it has in store. Fenna can help remove anything it does to me. Then me, Rictor and Kalev should charge over and engauge it.
Cas, can you and Kip try to disrupt its casting with bows or spells while the three of us try to destroy it with force? If you can stop it from casting it will be almost helpless.
"I agree with Malthir. Fenna should deploy the bridge from cover before he steps out into the open, and I'll cast haste right before we move. Kip and I will give you ranged cover. Let's go."
Kip draws his wand of magic missiles and nods silently at Cas that he is ready.
"Pharasma will judge this wretch harshly"
Ricter inhales deeply just before the guardians step back into the fume-filled chamber, and holds his breath thereafter. .
"Unfortunately, I am unable to call forth a bridge from the cover of the corridor, I must reach the tar's edge, first."
"With the benefits of the haste, I should be able to provide the bridge before the creature can react again, if Malthir provokes it into lashing out first."
Well, at least the bridge should take him totally by surprise.
So be it. Malthir walks forward from the group to about 10 feet from the edge, but in full view.
Undead horror, I am Malthir, Paladin of Iomedae. I am here to finally put you to rest! Malthir rears back, as if he is going to throw his sword or swing in some way at the undead.
With a smokestick down as cover and the group magically Hasted, Malthir revealed himself, buying time for Fenna to touch the edge of the foul chasm and conjure a bridge of magical, illuminated force over it. Malthir paid for his bravery as five dark-grey, sickly looking clouds of force battered his body, but the well-oiled plan worked. In moments, Casimir, Kalev and Ricter set upon the physically weak mage, grappling and then destroying the twisted, broken-necked shell in moments with magical blades and flail. The negative energy powering the corpse shattered, the body began to crumble into ash the moment it stopped moving, leaving some magical equipment that the mage no doubt owned in life.
A Ring of Protection +2 with an inscription upon it in finely marked engraving-
A token of my sincere gratitude for your continued service, Lorentus.
A +1 Dagger
A Spellbook
Another stone door led south, with a slight incline suggesting a further descent into the complex the group found themselves in. Alternatively, the room with the central crypts that the Soul Eaters were encountered in still had one unexplored door, leading north from an alcove in the south-east corner.
Kip looks at the ring quizzically. Lorentus... Lorentus. Lorentus? trying to place the name.
Anyone wish to claim anything here at the moment?
Cephas Lorentus was a Wizard of quite some repute in Varnhold. A commoner with an unusual aptitude for reading and writing from an early age, he served Maegar Varn and it was rumored that the Swordlord had sponsored his education from childhood. He was a quiet, reserved man who was particularly passionate about spell research.
Ah, yes. Now I remember. Cephas Lorentus was a Wizard of quite some repute in Varnhold. A commoner with an unusual aptitude for reading and writing from an early age, he served Maegar Varn and it was rumored that the Swordlord had sponsored his education from childhood. He was a quiet, reserved man who was particularly passionate about spell research.
A powerful evil force must be at work to have turned him into that thing so quickly.
Looking at the pile of ash and belongings, all that remains of the man, Kip remarks sadly, Rest in peace.
"More evidence that Varn and his people ended up here. I shudder to think of the possibility of facing Maegar himself in undead form. We may as well take the ring and dagger, and use them to fight the evil beings in this place."
Casimir looks down the incline leading further into the complex, then back towards the room they just left.
"The fleeing Soul Eater is probably long gone by now. I think we should check the remaining doors behind us before moving on. With luck, we'll come across some much needed supplies. And if all else fails, it is probably best to make sure the area is secure, in case we have to make a retreat and fall back here."
Malthir rests his hand on the fallen man, We have finally put the man to rest...as you say Varn may have shared this man's fate, let us pray not.
Healing supplies in an undead's stronghold? I guess we might find something...or do we press ahead and try to finish it now? Fenna, can you heal Cas and I?
Kip picks up the spell book and tucks it into his satchel. That should make a nice addition to the Academy.
I don't actually have a magic dagger... but then again, I don't ever plan on using one either. Other than to slice apples and such, he adds with a smile.
As for the ring?
The ring, I have no need for it at the moment.
"I too am content for now with the defenses I have"
"Pressing ahead and finishing this now sounds like a fine idea."
I can better deal with wounds than you two, Kalev says, indicating Fenna and Kip. [/b]One of you should wear it, at least for now.[/b]
"Let us press on then, while our magic defenses last.
Kip exchanges one magical ring for the other before slipping the old one into his pack. Lead on...
Although initially the stairs the group found themselves traversing led down, they sharply turned upwards once more and they climbed a full two flights of stairs as they ascended at least 40 feet into the stack. Clearly, flooding was not going to be an issue anymore.
Having ascended, the corridor led to two stone doors at the end of the hallway. One led left and one right, resulting in a T junction. Taking the left door, the Guardians found themselves in a narrow, long chamber. Sending their lights in first, they stood near the door and peered inside.
This crypt stretches into darkness. The floor of this crypt is strewn with rubble and the filth of opened graves. Sprawled on the floor is a fairly fresh corpse of a middle-aged Ulfen man, no more than a week or two old at the most.
Casimir lifts his hands to signal everyone to be on their guard, then scans the corridor for hidden threats.
Ricter, too, peers into the darkness. He doesn't rely on mortal vision, but instead looks to the gods of order to warn him of any chaotic forces lurking in the crypt.
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Malthir does do a quick sweep for evil while Rictor looks for chaotic eminations.
A trap that killed this man?
Standing at the front of the group and scanning the room with various deity-sanctioned powers, Malthir and Ricter sense nothing amiss.
At this distance, the body is impossible to examine properly. However, wary of their diminishing resources, the Guardians hesitated to venture into the long crypt...
"Let us push forward, but carefully. Something killed this man, whether it be trap or foe, and I suspect the threat still lingers. Kalev, you have the sharpest eyes, can you take point and look for traps?"
Yes. Stand back and let me check the room for danger first, Kalev says before carefully examining the long chamber.
"Of course," Fenna replies to Malthir's request for healing, before uttering a string of prayers.
"Is anyone else badly hurt?"
Kalev could see no obvious threats and thus moved over to inspect the fallen man. Bones were scattered upon the floor of the obviously disturbed, looted crypt. The man was Ulfen in ancestry, an explorer or tomb robber judging by his garb. A hunting knife lay on the ground beside him, his life ended by one hideously powerful slashing cut- likely from an especially large axe by the looks of it.
Casimir follows behind Kalev, and inspects the knife and body for magic from a distance of a few feet.
Another victim of those cyclops zombies, I'd wager. One of Varn's men?
Probably, lets keep moving. There will be time to mourn and search him later. Malthir moves up and past Casimir.
Though his weapons are held at ease for now Ricter keeps roughly in formation, moving into the room alongside Malthir
"It's strange that a lone man was able to get this far into this fell place, given the horrors we've had to battle to get this far. Either he employed stealth, or there's another entrance nearby."
Kip nods in agreement with Ricter's assessment while studying the body. Or perhaps he found this place before recent events? Before the place was so well... stocked. Indicating the desecrated tomb, His actions here might have been the triggering event.