The elven enchantress incants another short arcane phrase. With a flick of her wrist, she sends another glob of acid at one of the two spheres.
Round 2.
Seeing the nimble swordsman alone and undefended spurs the oracle into trying something new.....
Face still in concentration, lips sliding around sylvan's alien syllables, eyes staring intently at the stone floor near Kieran.
A stone floor that begins to move....
Akirra moves into the room and begins to make his way around the spinning blades while sending another arrow at the same flame spitting globe he hit previously...
The glob of acid soared unerringly through dozens of blades and sizzled as it burnt away a small part of the closest sphere's armour. Akirra's arrow had far greater difficulty getting through, torn apart into three pieces as it was by the heavy cover of the blade wall. Jakob focused on the stone, whispering in Sylvan as he coaxed an elemental of earth to the material plane.
Round 3-
Ordered Initiative-
Kieran- 24
Qhude- 22
Wax Golem- 15
Spheres- 9
Jakob + Elemental- 8
Akirra- 5
Ansha- 2
On Delay- Tebati
Active Effects-
Map-
Notes-
The path I mention in narrative is marked out in yellow. It would require a successful acrobatics check to pass through unharmed, failure would invoke a reflex save for half damage (Evasion applies).
The red squares are the denser areas where the blades are too dense to even hope to pass through (and will clearly deal high damage). These areas are dense enough to provide cover though.
Narrative-
Round 3:
Resisting the urge to re-establish distance between him and the waxen figure, Qhude instead keeps the fight intimate. Leading with a couple of high jabs to keep his opponent upright he collapses his body height and twists his shoulder to ram his cestus into the golem's hip...
Power Attack Cestus: Damage:
With Qhude dealing with the wax construct, Kieran remains focused on the metal spheres, approaching one of the two remaining ones and striking at it with a diagonal slash.
Both Kieran and Qhude further damaged the constructs facing them with telling strikes, but neither one fell to the warriors. Qhude managed to ward further blows into his armour as he settled into the rhythm of the brawl, while both the spheres changed tactics. Small, bronze claws were unleashed from compartments on either side of the spheres and the two constructs wasted no time trying to carve Kieran into pieces. Flanked and trying to defend himself from both sides, Kieran took two nasty slashes to his thighs...
Hang on my friend! Akirra calls out dropping his bow and pulling out his greatsword as makes his way around the spinning blades to get in behind one of the spheres attacking Keiran . As the weapon clears the scabbard Akirra calls upon its mystical powers to imbue his weapon with magical energy. Once in position he cleaves downward at the construct with all his might...
...crashing into the animated orb with tremendous force.
Round 3.
Veins of green magic pulsing along it's rocky muscled the small elemental attempts to force one of the Spheres into the whirring blades.
Jakob follows the reanimated warrior along the narrow gap between wall and blades. Settling into the corner the sphere finds that where the warrior's greatsword isn't a spear point is.
Seething her frustration at being separated from the action by the blade trap, Tebati enters the room and presents her holy symbol, withholding the benefits of the burst of energy that results from the spheres and the wax man.
Ansha hangs back and bides her time, watching the remaining golem and the two surviving spheres with interest.
The small sphere proved to be as sturdy as a Dwarf, resisting as the similarly sized elemental of earth and stone attempted to shove it into swirling blades of death. On the other side though, Jakob skirted the edges of the blades and plunged his spear straight through the sphere, tearing through the armour on both sides of the construct and truly mangling the interior workings of it in the progress.
This time, Akirra's arrow made it past the wall of blades but glanced off the sphere's armour.
Round 4-
Ordered Initiative-
Kieran- 24
Qhude- 22
Wax Golem- 15
Tebati- 10
Spheres- 9
Jakob + Elemental- 8
Akirra- 5
On Delay- Ansha
Active Effects-
Summon Monster 2 (Earth Elemental)
Map-
Notes-
The path I mention in narrative is marked out in yellow. It would require a successful acrobatics check to pass through unharmed, failure would invoke a reflex save for half damage (Evasion applies).
The red squares are the denser areas where the blades are too dense to even hope to pass through (and will clearly deal high damage). These areas are dense enough to provide cover though.
Narrative-
Round 4:
Beginning to feel some frustration at being delayed, Qhude crowds the waxen figure by shuffling forwards. As it pulls back to regain some distance, he follows it with a brutal uppercut towards it's throat...
Power Attack Cestus: Damage:
Akirra lets an arrow fly at the remaining sphere, but it glances harmlessly off of the tough exterior. Realizing the ineffectiveness of his arrows he changes tactics. Hang on my friend! Akirra calls out as he makes his way around the spinning blades to get in behind Keiran . Once there he asks, Can you get on the other side of it?
"Nice job, Jakob," Kieran compliments the other man, his almost customary smile apparent on his face as he slashes at the last remaining construct.
Kieran sliced another metallic chunk from the sphere with his adamantine blade, while Qhude found himself fighting too close to the Golem, his uppercut lacking the distance to do any real damage to the tough Golem which had just stepped closer itself. Taking his punch firmly on the chin, the purple eyed construct countered with a sharp jab to Qhude's chest with the force of a strong (and utterly unfeeling) man behind it.
The last sphere stubbornly held its ground and duelled Kieran with its razor-sharp metallic claws- the speed at which they moved rivalled Kieran's own natural agility. His blade was swift enough to turn one claw into his armour once again, but he suffered another leg wound from the backswing of the other.
On your left! Akirra calls out as he squeezes past the unmoving Keiran , his boots flashing with a red glow as he maneuvers. . He drops his bow as he goes and draws his sword. As the weapon clears the scabbard Akirra calls upon its mystical powers to imbue his weapon with magical energy. Getting into position behind the sphere he cleaves downward with all his might...
...crashing into the animated orb with tremendous force.
Round 4
Stone hands grating on the smooth metal sphere the Mighty Pebble attempts again to move the multi-legged foe.
The oracle steps up to support Kieran.
To little effect.
Seeing the metal ball slash Kieran yet again, Tebati pushes past Ansha and lays her hand on Akirra's arm. "Destroy the sphere before it cuts him to ribbons!" she demands. "May Shimye-Megalla strengthen you for the task."
The mighty pebble still struggled to force the sphere into the blades, but it proved a great distraction until Akirra edged his way around the melee, leapt high enough to evade any slashing claws and brought his sword crashing down with a great deal of force behind it. The sword cut right through the sphere, colliding with the floor beneath it as the damaged sphere was utterly destroyed.
Round 4:
Qhude rolls with the golem's blow, a stinging sensation felt... but nothing compared to the worst of blows that he had seen before. Keen to end the creature, he presses forward with repeated heavy blows rained from high to try and drive the waxen image to it's knees... then crater it's head...
Power Attack Cestus: Damage:
Another wound inflicted on his body, another retaliatory strike as Kieran starts feeling just a little lightheaded from the blood loss. Nevertheless, the half-elf perseveres, the smile still on his lips.
Qhude and Kieran destroyed the final wax golem between them, the sword slicing off an arm before a powerful haymaker caved in its head from an angry Qhude. The room, while containing a deadly trap, was quite safe to traverse provided one stuck to the outer edges of the room.
Qhude follows the golem down to the ground, baring his teeth and growling at the now insensate creature. Noting that the blades in the chamber yet turn, he narrows his eyes slightly before looking betwixt golem and blades. Picking up the fallen waxen image as he gets to his feet, the bas'o grunts as he puts his core strength to use - and flings the creature into the thickest midst of the blades...
Akirra sheathes his sword and picks up his bow while watching Qhude throw the waxen figure into the spinning blades.
I presume we will continue down once Qhude has finished punishing that golem?
.
"You have a nice house Akirra but the staff and furnishings are downright unfriendly."
With what can only be described as disgruntled look on its alien features the elemental sinks slowly into the floor leaving no evidence of it ever having existed.
I guess we didn't want any uninvited guests, Akirra shrugs.
Besides, this was more of a challenge than a true barrier. Now, if the blades had extended all the way to the walls...
"True, I've been wondering about that. Why is this so easy?"
"I mean look at this place. If your order wanted to make this place really secure they could have. Instead we get traps you can walk around and guardians that you can stab or punch."
"The only way this makes any sense is if it is a test, like those gods forsaken trials. But what are they testing for? It's not membership in the order unless rank was determined by the ability so smack angry bronze balls.... What do they want?"
Without my memories I am left to wonder just as you are. Shall we carry on?
Ansha skirts the edge of the room, making for the stairs. "There's only one way out at this point, anyway," she responds to Akirra.
Akirra moves with Ansha towards the stairs.
The hungry blades did not hesitate and cut the Golem apart in mere split seconds with no sign of slowing or causing any damage to them. The Golem was sliced into wax almost instantaneously, no solid part of the construct actually landing to the floor in any sizeable piece.
Descending into the fourth level of the structure, the group were suddenly at a dead end. The stairs led into a small room with a cold stone, unadorned floor and four stone walls surrounding the stairwell.
Ansha frowns. "Huh," she murmurs. She quietly incants a spell, and looks the room over for magical auras ().
Qhude doesn't speak, though the grimace on his face and grunted dismissal give an impression of his emotions.
As Ansha casts her spell, Akirra attempts to assist by searching the walls for irregularities that might indicate a hidden opening...
Jakob assists Akirra.
.
.
.
.
"This will go faster if I pitch in as well," Kieran offers, moving to join Akirra and using both his eyes and his fingers to look for any secret doors and such.
"Oh, and just in case we do find something only to have some creature or wax man or murderous plant jump out, I could use with a bit of healing," he quips, almost as an afterthought, looking at both Tebati and Jakob. When his eyes are on the former, there is a wink and a warm smile added for good measure. That and because, due to all the searching and fighting and such, it had been a while since he last smiled at her.
She smirks at Akirra. "What was that Third Treatise, again?" Looking around the room, she adds, "Could this be a false passageway? Perhaps the true portal is protected by the spinning blades. Should we examine the room upstairs more closely?"
Akirra looks at Tebati somewhat perplexed, I'm sorry, what?
Hearing Tebati's words, Qhude measures them and finds the answer in the examination at least providing something more engaging than crowding into the small stone room. Unless given pause by one of those looking intently at stone, Qhude begins a slow and steady ascent back up the stairs.