Coated in hundreds of tiny particles of gold dust, the resilient Barghest continued to resist Marcus' spells; the magic did not blind him.
"yeah, just like that Durin another good whack and that head will break right open"
Alas another well aimed shot fails to find its mark due the the rapidly blinking creature.
Durin calls out to Zanzu, as he waits for the Tengu to give him room to swing his hammer...
Durin swings twice for the head again...
....with one strike connecting solidly with the thing's noggin!
Zanzu frustrated by his lack of sucess in striking the creature, tries once more.
Khun-duhn staggers back another step as he tries once again to utter the words of a healing spell to mend his wounds.
Durin grunts in frustration when Zanzu fails to move, swinging over his head instead at the enormous Barghest... and hopes his Tengu friend knows what he is doing.
He also casts a concerned eye over his shoulder as he hears Khun-Duhn's healing prayer uttered. Don't be in too much a hurry to be risking your neck... Durin thinks to himself.
Keep it up boys and girls, his luck has to change at some point!
The melee raged on, with the Barghest's defences foiling yet more of Arachiel's strikes as well as Zanzu's; and a well placed bolt from Barak that may well have ended the fight, had the accursed Outsider not blinked to the Ethereal plane just as it was about to land. Durin's hammer slammed into the Barghest's head, this time definitely wounding it. He roared in pain, suffering from the many wounds he bore, spat a tooth at Zanzu; and launched a frenzied assault with his axe, shouting in the common tongue with venom as he did so-
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Round 12-
Ordered Initiative-
Master of the Tower- 25
Marcus- 23
Barak- 15a
Durin- 15b
Arachiel- 15c
Zanzu- 13
Khun-Duhn- 12
???- Kirilarien
Active Effects-
Magic Circle against Evil emanating from Khun-Duhn
Zanzu's right claw enchanted with Magic Fang
Hound Archon paralysed until further notice from DM.
Map-
Notes-
Hound Archon treated as Helpless due to Paralysis and therefore doesn't take up a square.
Master of the Tower has 10 foot reach. Knowledge (Planes) check most appropriate as well as Spellcraft if you are trained in it.
Action-
With an initial swing, the Outsider slashed open Durin's collarbone, cutting deep into his chest through his breastplate and spraying blood over the corridor. His second swing had an air of finality to it; Durin looked horrifically wounded and another blow would surely finish him. The stout Dwarf's battered and cut armour saved him, the axe failing to penetrate the sturdy metal on the backswing.
"Dying hurts though! See you again soon small-pox or whatever your called."
Barak arrow flies true towards the creature... embedding itself into its Armour but not inflicting any damage.
Seeing Durin take another massive hit from the monster, Khun-duhn steps forward and attempts to cast a healing spell on his friend.
Reeling from the greataxe strike, Durin digs in and swings again at the deadly foe, this time giving up strength for accuracy...
....but he still fails to connect this time with either attempt.
With his gaping neck wound bleeding heavily, his magically diminished strength and the energy expenditure from the fight, Durin is almost completely spent. His grip on his hammer is beginning to falter and he is starting to pant.
Doubt begins to creep into his head... but he pushes it away and, ignoring the Barghest in favor of trying to direct the fight in the party's favor, he bellows, Make your attacks count! He is close to defeat! Aim your blows well!
A heartbeat later Khun-Duhn's healing magic washes over him, helping to staunch the blood flowing from his neck.
Round 12
Accutely aware that all of his remaining spells involve some threat of harm to his comrades, Marcus pauses to see if they can finish the beast off while he co-ordinates with Kiri in familiar-speak.
vs DC 20
As Marcus moves toward Barak he fumbles open one of his scrollcases. Wait for my spell before firing, please!
Zanzu tried for another swipe with his claw once he spotted an opening, but the Barghest shifted on his feet and took the blow upon his armour...
Kiri expended a charge from her wand, but the cursed Blink spell upon the Barghest foiled her efforts, her target shifting randomly to the Ethereal plane just as the spell sought its target.
Marcus' pit was for more indiscriminate; the pit beneath the Outsider's feet cared little for whether or not its victim was ethereal when it was conjured, and sure enough, the Barghest was forced to plant its feet against the walls themselves in an effort to avoid falling in. Once again, the wizard Marcus felt frustration as his magic failed to have its desired effect. He moved back into the corridor with Barak, the Barghest choosing not to try and strike Marcus and his images.
Round 13-
Ordered Initiative-
Master of the Tower- 25
Barak- 15a
Durin- 15b
Arachiel- 15c
Zanzu- 13
Khun-Duhn- 12
Marcus and Kiri- 11
Active Effects-
Magic Circle against Evil emanating from Khun-Duhn
Zanzu's right claw enchanted with Magic Fang
Hound Archon paralysed until further notice from DM.
Map-
Notes-
Anyone ending their turn adjacent to the pit must make a Reflex save (at a +2 bonus) VS Marcus' pit- DC18.
Master of the Tower has 10 foot reach. Knowledge (Planes) check most appropriate as well as Spellcraft if you are trained in it.
Action-
Balancing carefully above the pit, the Barghest continued to focus its strikes upon Durin; slashing him twice more with his greataxe and maintaining his precarious position above the pit. It was clear that the cunning Barghest was trying to use the pit to its own advantage, as it deftly avoided falling in.
Round 13
At the limit of his endurance, Durin summons the strength for two more swings of his mighty hammer...
....and is rewarded with two staggeringly deadly blows!!
Durin roars as he crushes the Barghest, before collapsing to the floor in exhaustion.
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Seeing the barghest's lifeless form slump down into Marcus's pit, Arachiel steps back away from the edge, wiping bits of slaughtered barghest from his face.
With a grin toward his tired friend and a pat on the shoulder, the paladin says, "You know, you could have done that sooner and saved the rest of us a bit of trouble."
With two unstoppable hammer blows, Durin masterfully batted aside the Barghest's axe like a toy, sending it sweeping so far wide that he bought himself a clear opening.
The first, overhead swing of his hammer caved in the brute's skull as flesh and bone were splattered across the west wall. The second blow was so hard it removed Tloxox's head from his body, decapitating him as surely as any blade could. The swing was so hard compared to the resistance it met that Durin was taken aback by the sheer force and near-collapsed from the unchecked swing and his fatigue; while Tloxox's headless body plummeted into the extra-dimensional pit below!
With a twisted sense of irony, the Barghest's goblin-like body stopped blinking the moment its body hit the bottom of the pit; the defensive spell had finally expired.
5600
As the adrenalin of battle wears off Barak begins to acutely feel his fairly hefty wounds. grunts it off and moves over to the rest of his friends
"Bloody hell Durin when you take my advice yo do so with gusto. I couldn't hit the blinkin' thing and you turn it to paste. HA! blinking" Barak laughs deeply wincing at his wounds. looking around finaly he says. "Hey, where is Vincent?"
Zanzu clucks in frustration, the creature being too damned difficult to hit. He bows with a sweep of his wing to Durin and his bloody exhausted body. "You have reason to rest, you have gotten us out of a bit of a spot. Damn thing, it was." He looks down into the pit, scratching his chin, "Have I got time to go down there and retrieve that ruddy great axe, and anything else I can before that pit swallows me up?" he asks, with a little cheerfulness in his voice.
As Durin's devastating two blows bring the Barghest down, he roars out in triumph, before collapsing to his knees in exhaustion. A moment later he pitches over.
Durin sits up with a gasp and looks up at those standing over him. What? I was... I was... just taking a nap. This is hard work you know. This hammer is heavy! he says with a smile.
After getting up he responds to his comrades praises and teasing, I would have done it sooner but Barak didn't mention it would be that hard to hit its ripe melon!
Yeah! Where is Vincent?
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The paladin moves to the slumped over form of his friend and touches the dwarf, sending the last of his healing energies into Durin.
As the dwarf returns to consciousness, the paladin pats his friend on the shoulder and with a grin quips, "You know, you could have done that sooner and saved the rest of us a bit of trouble."
Paralysed while invisible by the Barghest's spear, Lord Vincent eventually recovered from the powerful toxins and rejoined the group, quite unhappy at his role in the battle.
"Well onward and upward lets see if this guy had any good loot upstairs. Shall we?"
Marcus dispells his pit and the watery orb with a word and a gesture each, the barghest's headless torso returning to the floor level.
The wizard looks relieved at the group's victory and Durin's recovery although a bit peevish as well, perhaps at the relative failure of his spells.
He shakes his head a few times and seems to snap back to the tasks at hand.
I'd say make doubly sure of the body but Durin seems to have already taken care of that. Lets make sure this tower is all ours shall we?
I make it the tower top and that hidden door on the ground level left... although maybe we want to leave the latter until we've rested, my magic is nearly exhausted. We should be able to rig a make-shift seal easily enough.
We need to remain wary of that ghost as well. Giving the poor soul a proper burial might free it but then again it might not. If its waiting on vengeance for its killers say we may need divine magic we don't currently have.
Zanzu seemed to come into his own as the group took stock of the cleansed outpost.
After identifying that the gruesome sack of oily flesh was actually the Barghest's stash, Zanzu slew the six lardworms that were lying in wait inside; tiny, parasitic creatures that paralysed their hosts. The Barghest was likely immune to their attacks by virtue of his hardened skin. The sack seems to be the sewed up remains of some creature's abdomen. Reaching his hand inside the thing was nauseating and the Tengu almost retched, but the prospect of treasure kept a glint in his eye. One by one, he produced various items from the fleshy sack-
#1- Four pearls, each in a small sack. Zanzu confidently appraised them as being worth 100 gold pieces each.
#2- Three brown jugs. One contained nothing but urine, the other extremely questionable water, but the third contained a potion of Neutralize Poison.
#3- A pair of bejeweled calfskin gloves that Zanzu appraised as being worth 1,200 gold pieces based on the gems inset into them.
#4- Beautifully crafted, etched leather bracers. The symbols upon these bracer's seem to match those on the sword found by Zanzu. Marcus is able to identify them as an especially old pair of Bracers of Falcon Aim
The Barghest's breastplate, spear and greataxe were entirely mundane. However, the shackles upon the non-Dwarf skeleton in the Gaol seemed to be magical in nature when inspected from a distance with Detect Magic.
The door at the western edge of this level led out to a defensive platform; with murder holes opening out over the trench below. It was underneath this defensive platform that the group fought and slew the Mohrg. Arrow slits looked out on the western, northern and southern edges.
The stairs leading up first led to a parapet; a small firing platform which could be used by a ranged combatant in defending the outpost.
The final door from the stairs led out to a High Tower, the highest point of the outpost. This high point provides an excellent vantage point over this portion of the Boiling Lands, though the view is obscured by the omnipresent steam clouds that hang over the landscape. A single catapult rests in the center, and a wooden palisade battlement surrounds the platform. Strangely the catapult appears to be in good shape despite the constant wetness. The moving parts are new and well oiled, and it stands taut in a cocked position as if ready to fire at any moment upon the ghosts of enemies from long ago. A wooden beam extends from the corner of the tower with the ancient remains of block and tackle used to haul up the catapult’s heavy ammunition from the ground below.
Although the group were eager to inspect the seemingly functional catapult, Zanzu spotted a hidden snare that would have led to an unwitting person being flung off the tower and onto the spikes lining the ground west of the trench; a gruesome fate to say the least. Zanzu deftly disarmed the snare trap. The block and tackle next to the catapult are rotting and no longer operational, and the catapult lacked ammo; but otherwise it was actually ready to fire.
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"Seems like we have this place pretty well cleared, of course with the exception of anything that lies in wait beyond the secret passage. I know many of us have exhausted many of our resources, but I am willing to continue on if you are."
"That being said, if you would just as soon barricade the secret door and get a bit rest that would be fine too." the paladin adds with a weary grin.
Even a quick glance at Durin is enough to see he still suffers from many open and bleeding wounds and looks too spent to continue. I'm afraid I don't have much left today... I really do need a nap, he manages in a quiet voice.
I think we should bury the dwarf and hole up someone secure if we can...
Khun-duhn exhausts his remaining spells for the day healing Durin.
Zanzuu clucks, satisfied his work has saved one of the party from injury, even death.
On the parapet Marcus was clearly moments away from fiddling with the odd catapult and thanks Zanzu for his efforts.
The whole place seems a charnal house but the wizard does his best to clean a safe place to camp in the upper level.
Lets get some of that wall debris in front of the hidden door. Might not block it completely but should give us a warning at least.
After talking to the dwarves he seems less confident about the bones.
This ghost is probably going to keep re-forming then. We can bless them at least.
"Bury him at the camp? either that or do you know of any great dwarven battalions who fought out in this wasteland if we lay him to rest among his fallen comrades he might find peace." Barak look at Durin "Great dwarven battalions is a bit redundant. ALL dwarven battalions are great."
Barak's eyes widen as he picks up the bracers, automatically being drawn to them even before Marcus tells him their wondrous properties. "Well I have found my share. If that is OK with all of you."
satisfied the tower has been looted Barak gingerly rubs his wounds "Kiri have you got anything left in the healing wand of yours"
Kiri hands her wand to Khun-duhn to top up Barak and other wounded.
If we take the bones with us the ghost may well reform where we are. Which could be a major problem depending on what we are doing at the time. On the other hand if we leave them here we are going to have to deal with the ghost everytime we come back. Which makes it a bit hard to use the place as a safe place to rest.... Although if we could communicate with the ghost .. if its not too far gone to madness.... it would make rather a good guardian until we can find a way to free its spirit...
I suggest we rest up and try that door tomorrow. Depending on what we find I wouldn't mind staying here at least for another day after that. We aren't in any rush and I would like the time to clean this place up and identify our remaining items.
"Aye," Khun-duhn growls as he moves to help Arachiel barricade the door.
"Blah, send its remains far afield, we got just the thing for that." Zanzu clucks pointing at the catapult. "Let him go rest in some other place in this hell."
Although it was still only midday, the group were dubious about their chances of venturing further today after the battle to gain the outpost. They busied themselves barricading the single door to the place, taking inventory, cleaning up the muck, gore and viscera and moving the bodies of the slain. There was more than enough work for everybody and the band of adventurers were tired by nightfall, with the place looking a little like its glory days. The group built a primitive roof for the High Tower containing the catapult and used it as a lookout spot throughout the day and night.
Other than the constant mists and gases and the endless fields of mud visible on the rare occasion that they dissipated enough to allow vision, the group spotted a few other potential threats, noting that most seemed to consciously steer clear of the Outpost:
#1- A sinister looking black and green cloud that seemed to be sentient. It looked incredibly poisonous and toxic in nature.
#2- The sharp-eyed Barak spotted a couple of mudmen moving around to the west of the trenches. He dispatched them with ease from his high perch, but it seemed the mudmen were not merely limited to the Outpost...
#3- Two more intense periods of acid rain hit during the night. The outpost itself was very sturdy, but the primitive roof the group had fixed up to protect their lookouts barely survived. It would need something a little more permanent and durable.
No consensus was made on what to do with the Dwarf bones. Marcus knew of the existence of several well-established Dwarven clans living in the Stoneheart Mountains west of the Dead Fields, who occasionally made forays into the cursed land. He could not recall the location of any particular Dwarven battalion that fell here long ago, though. The scholarly Wizard stated that it usually took several days for the Ghost to reform in any case, and thus a solution may present itself in time.
The next morning at breakfast, the normally chatty Lord Vincent seemed very quiet and somewhat morose. Eventually, he spoke up.
It seems to me that much of our effort could be completely redundant, if we wander off and some other nasty comes in and lays claim. There certainly seem to be enough deadly monsters in this accursed place. Perhaps I could stay here and keep an eye on the place, maybe send for some of my house's servants to patch it up a bit? Its no castle but its not like i'm going back to my estate for several years at any rate. What say you, friends?