Simon doesn't find any traps in the next passage. A simple wooden barrier blocks the entrance to the chamber beyond, but it is easily moved aside. This flooded cave is roughly square, and its features have been smoothed by the passage of seawater in and out with the ebb and flow of the tide. A large swath of the southern wall is marred by deep carvings depicting a crude, twisted sigil. A pile of humanoid bones heaped four feet high litter the floor in front of the glyph. Atop this mound rests a stone trough, stained with old dried blood.
Two gillmen flank the entrance to the chamber, while by the altar stands a female gillman clad in mithral chainmail and wielding a rapier. A horned skull hangs about her neck.
Another horrid creature hovers nearby, buzzing wings holding it aloft. A grasshopper serves as the gaunt thing's head
"Praise Zura! She has delivered a fine meal to our doorstep today. Your blood shall slake our thirst, and the marrow from your bones will fill our bellies!" the female gillman declares.
Before you can react, the female gillman chants a spell, causing a cacophonous blast of sound to batter you! The other gillmen step up and stab Victrix with their tridents, one scoring a critical hit!
The insectile thing's form is blurry and indistinct. It opens it mandibles, and a swarm of wasps pours forth, flying over to sting and distract you!
"Uh--"
Victrix gets cut off by the sudden burst of sound.
Then the stabs hit home. "OW! OW! QUIT--"
And suddenly a swarm of stinging wasps engulfs her.
"OH, FOR--BEES?! REALLY?! I'M NOT ALLERGIC TO BEES, YOU F$+*WITS!"
And all of the healing she did is promptly undone. Her rage swiftly surges back to the fore.
The aasimar shrieks and begins to swing her axe with wild abandon.
Knowing that she was light on magic left to her Ema decided that calling up something for support might be the best option just now. With that she focused, stole power from one of her remaining spells, and opened a hole in thin air. behind the hole was a city of such perfect beauty that it hurt the eyes to look at it for the bare instant it could be seen. just before the gate snapped shut a lantern seemed to detach itself and slip through the closing crack.
the lantern came to rest right above Simon and bobbed down to bump gently against Victrixes head as it channeled holy power into her. With that it continued to float there and waited to do what it could to help.
"Ew ew ew, they're crawling all over me and there are too many to eat!" Kip cried out as he retreated back around the corner.
Victrix tears into the nearest gillman, wounding him severely! Ema stand stunned while Kip retreats, swatting at the wasps.
The female gillman presents her unholy symbol and casts a spell, shouting "Halt!" The others attack Victrix, one scoring a critical hit with his trident, the other nicking her with his short sword.
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Breaking out of the effects of the stun, Simon completes his thought.
"That thing is a Whisaak. You need good weapons for full effect, and it is immune to cold, electricity, and sound."
Then, he notices the biting insects. "Ah! What the..."
Taking a 5 foot step back, he grabs an Alchemist's Fire from his Haversack.
The extraplanar horror focuses its insectile gaze on Simon, and the investigator hears a voice in his mind: "Abandon your resistance and prostrate yourself before my glory, and I may spare you and your friends!"
Meanwhile, the wasps continue to sting everybody but Ema.
Victrix howls in pain and manages to power through everything!
She stumbles away from the gillmen, then yanks out one of her newly-acquired potions and practically swallows it whole.
"Time to move people, there are way too many nasty nasty things here to try to fight in a straight line. Let's close up those wounds and move your legs!" Kip hopped across the cave so he could see all of his friends once more, then released a rippling wave of healing.
Ema summons a lantern archon which blesses Victrix with divine aid. The barbarian stumbles back and drinks a potion, then Kip channels healing energy into his companions.
The gillman cleric casts another spell, summoning a spiritual rapier that attacks Victrix. One of her minions steps up to press the attack, while the wounded one falls back and drinks a potion of his own.
As Simon retreats, the cleric turns to the wihsaak. "Don't let them get away!" The insectile creature buzzes acknowledgment and disappears, teleporting into the entrance tunnel to cut off the half-orc's escape!
The wasps swarm around Victrix and the gillman fighting her, stinging indscriminately, though they don't hurt much.
Victrix hears the cleric order the beast about, and understands what she must do.
She swings her axe at the gillman in front of her, heedless of the stinging insects.
Ema's archon zipped across the space to where Simon had gone and cast the same blessing of divine aid upon him that it had on Victrix hovering right behind him as it did.
Ema, meanwhile, had an idea to hold back those behind them and said, "Victrix, back away!" She pulled forth a wand and waited for the berserker to hopefully listen.
"Well, we're not getting out that way. New plan, Vicki, hold them in there!"
Kip reached down and touched the ground, sending snaking rivulets of water across the floor into the back chamber. A moment later, the rivulets flattened to a thin film of water, then suddenly froze in an instant and formed tiny cracks in the stone.
Both the gillman and the wasps manage to avoid Ema's flaming sphere. Victrix tears into the gillman in front of her, wounding him badly! Kip blankets the cave with ice, chilling the gillmen inside.
The cleric concentrates through the painful cold and casts a spell, dispelling the grippli's winter's grasp. Her spiritual weapon stabs Victrix. The warrior fighting Victrix steps back away from the wasps and flames, and both warriors drink healing draughts.
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Simon looks at the demon, then down at his weapons. Seeing the Alchemist's Fire, he smiles.
Or, we can burn you out."
Simon takes a 5-foot step back, studies the Wihsaak's movements and launches the vial.
The wihsaak lets out a whistling shriek as the flask smashes against it, setting it ablaze! It hovers closer to the half-orc and tears into him with its claws!
The wasps continue to sting Victrix.
Choking and gagging as wasps start getting into her mouth, Victrix retreats back to the rest of the party.
Ema focused on the sphere of fire and caused it to move, right into the swarm once more in an effort to try and kill it.
She also used the wand to summon yet another of the rolling spheres of fire which appeared on top of the gillman behind the swarm.
[/ooc]dark red[/ooc]
Meanwhile the Lantern like creature floated back and up to shoot down over Simon's head at the creature he was fighting. From the light at it's center a pair of beams shot out.
"Hang in there Simon, I'll be right back!" Kip cried out, then surprisingly, he raised his rapier and charged back towards the roiling swarm and vicious gillmen. Just before reaching the cloud of wasps, the grippli slid to a stop and outstretched his free hand, releasing a focused blast of searing flames.
Victrix gags and falls back, spitting wasps from her mouth. Though the gillman dodges Ema's second flaming sphere, the first one incinerates several wasps, while Kip's burning hands eradicates the remaining wasps and scorches both gillmen! The lantern archon blasts the wihsaak with two rays of holy light.
"Fall back!" the cleric orders. The other gillmen move to her side, and she heals the most wounded of them before redirecting her spiritual weapon to Kip.
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Simon tries to keep the demon's attention. Hoping to allow the archon to do some damage.
Stepping back, he throws the alkalai and grabs his last vial.
The wihsaak chitters angrily as the flask splashes it. It responds telepathically to Simon.
The creature moves in to claw the half-orc again.
Victrix's chest heaves with exhaustion as she fishes out another healing potion.
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"Guys! The demon claims to be the one who has corrupted these gillmen into worshipping a demon lord and feasting upon their friends and family.
We might want to coordinate attacks on the demon, if those gillmen are regrouping."
Simon steps back, slipping the alkalai back into his haversack to have a free hand, then quaffs a curative extract.
Emma focused on first one ball of fire and then the second and rolled them onto the two gillmen in the chamber.
The archon fired another pair of beams at the demon and then floated back behind Simon once more.
Kip hurried back in retreat, then released some healing of his own for his friends.
While most of you focus on healing, Ema directs her flaming spheres at the gillmen. The one who was just healed cries out as he is burned again, but the other dodges the fire. Her archon blasts the wihsaak, wounding it again!
The cleric heals the burned gillmen again and sends them both back into the fight. They move through the tunnel to engage Victrix. The spiritual weapon attacks Victrix and then vanishes.
The wihsaak conjures a blast of vile, greasy energy that washes over Simon, Kip, and the archon!
Victrix adopts a defensive posture and moves as close as she can to the demon to engage it.