Bastargrae decided to forgo imbuinghis extract of bottled explosivesneezed and dashed after his companions, pausing to assist Hasta from the netting.
How fun, once more an encounter in a limited space, and I find myself unable to reach an enemy.
Indio does move forward so he can at least see one of the enemies. After all, if he can see them, then he can glare at them.
Despite the surge of panic, Idril took a firm grip on her feelings and squelched them down.
Idril rolled jumped and tumbled into a flanking position with Erodel.
Then she made a flank (sneak) attack against the enemy between them.
for a possible slashing and precision damage.
Hasta struggles to bite and claw the woman while staying out of the others way.
Nio takes his time, aims, and fires a pair of shots precisely into the fray.
Stricia moves in to the now completely surrounded cultist and tries to slash her.
The rapid strikes from Idril Nio and Stricia bring down the cultist. No others are currently in sight.
Bastargrae paused to check the downed cultist.
Idril proceeded to move to the north doors and investigate the cells there.
Idril finds (at least the first two rooms) to be rank and slovenly bedchambers... currently empty.
Bastargrae finds a wooden amulet with a strange symbol around the neck of the fallen cultist. She appears to be dead.. looks very human apart from the claws.
To his left, Erodel spots a door currently ajar and dark inside. To his right he sees a ten-foot-wide pit in the center of a small room, leaving a five-foot-wide walkway surrounding it. No railing guards the edges of the pit, which are decorated with shards of jagged glass and metal. Sconces emit faint light on either side.. casting little more than moonlight glow.
Idril continued to warily explore the rooms at the north side of the main chamber, circling around counterclockwise.
Nio clucks at Hasta and the dinosaur returns to his side. The pair of them watch carefully as Idril explores the rooms in the large chamber.
Erodel sees floor-to-ceiling shelving lining the walls of this storage space, although little beyond cobwebs and dust-covered fragments remain on the shelves. A large nest of filthy rags, soiled clothing, and moldy pillows lies in a heap to the west. A small shelf has been tipped over revealing a tiny door handle and small (no longer hidden) door on the south wall.
Indio moves to the nearby open door and peeks inside the room.
Idril goes out to the main room and waives at people to follow her.
Then she goes back to the same room she saw the indicators and, drawing on her stage magician familiarity, felt around for a catch. Or rotating candleholder. Or tilting book lever.
Nio and Hasta follow Idril, with the dinosaur moving in right behind her and the armored archer hanging back and ready to shoot.
Stricia cautiously moves to closer to the pool so she can see down the corridor and into the north and south passageways as well.
Stricia nears the ten foot wide pit. There is no hallway leading north.. just a five foot walkway around the pit (with no railing), and hallways to the east and south. As Stricia steps closer, the floor gives way - the five foot walkway is hinged, and swings down toward the spikes below. Fortunately, the monk is quick enough to jump back to solid ground.
Meanwhile, Idril passes through the secret door in the bedchamber to find a hallway. At the corner of which is another of the cultists... she lowers a wand at Idril and speaks an arcane command. She hisses "The Whore Queen herself shall descend upon thee!"
Indio peers into the nearby room.. which appears to merely be another filthy bedchamber.
Hearing muffled sounds of combat Stricia moves back with surprising speed.
Idril rolled forward so she was next to the cultist...
Then she made an attack against her.
for a possible slashing and precision damage.
Nio whistles and clicks and Hasta rushes forward to duck past the cultist then spin and slash at her from the other side.
Nio follows the little bird-lizard, taking up a spot behind Idril to fire over her shoulder.
Over his shoulder he shouts through the secret door "In here!"
Aware that there is likely to limited amount of space for fighting, Indio holds back to allow the more capable fighters more room.
Idril is unaffected by the spell flung from the cultist's wand. Hasta and Nio topple the skulking foe. At the end of the dark passage, another secret door leads into the storage room Erodel had discovered. With no cultists in sight, and (to your knowledge) all hidden spots in this area brought to light, you have a moment to breathe and reconvene.
Leaning against a wall, Idril hung her head and rested for a moment.
"Anyone know who these cultists are?" She asked quietly. "I don't recognize them.
"One mentioned the 'Whore Queen'. Who are they talking about? It doesn't sound like they're talking about Thrune."
Nio squats by the body to check the cultist's clothes and accessories.
Seems like they wanted to be hidden from the authorities as well, if it worked for them, it should work for us...
Nio looks at Idril and Stricia and points at various telltales on the cultist's clothes and accessories. "They worship Mahathallah. She was once a handmaiden of Pharasma, but now serves under Asmodeus in Hell. She is a demigod of Death, Evil, and Trickery."
But... devil worship is supposed to be what's done in Cheliax. Stricis says confused. Why would they be hiding? Nevertheless, let us make sure this place is clear of them and then start cleaning up. I have no wish to bunk with such foulness around.
Idril nodded. "This place is ours now. Let's go convince them to give up the keys." She said grinning.
She stood up straight and whipped her bladed scarf about. It made a bloodcurdling *wheet* sound as it passed through the air.
She quietly hummed the overture to a popular opera before she slid silently out of the doorway...
Idril nodded. "This place is ours now. Let's go convince them to give up the keys." She said grinning.
She stood up straight and whipped her bladed scarf about. It made a bloodcurdling *wheet* sound as it passed through the air.
She quietly hummed the overture to a popular opera before she slid silently out of the doorway...
Nio nodded at Stricia. "That's a good question." He stood and turned to follow Idril through the door. "Let's go finish clearing this place out and we can talk about it."
Nio holds up the key. "She had a key on her, plus this other stuff."
As the more magical confirm that areas are safe Stricia starts to drag out the more odious parts of the devil cutlist hideout and cleaning up.
It's like being back at the monastery, with more corpses and blood, not anything like that actually.
"We should make sure this area is secure, as we do not have too much time we can spend here before our rendezvous.
That is sadly the more vital task at the moment."
After giving the immediate area a fair once-over investigation, you find little of worth beyond what the cultists carry.
You find another wand which appears identical, 238 gold pieces, and a couple more empty vials (all with dark smudges of residue, and capped by a full moon with the faintly indented features of a skull's face).
You do not discover anymore traps, hidden objects, or secret doors on this side of the large pit trap.
Idril searched around carefully.
"Well, I guess we've done all we can here at the moment.
"Though we need to think of where to dump the bodies, let's head to the rendezvous first." She said, thinking practially.