Atticus prepares to bash their heads in.
Twilight follows the group as they proceed to the right. The tunnel is narrow and she can't see what is going on up front, but suddenly Devan is calling out something about Darro and someone in their underwear for sad sick pleasure or something. This outfit made it hard to hear.
Before she can ask what he is talking about she sees Mirela push her way through the passage and around a corner and then the sound of two bow shots in rapid succession.
She craned her neck, trying to get a better look "What's going on up there?"
Derro Cave - Round 1 - continued
20 Mirela
15 Red Derro
12 Devan
10 Atticus
9 Blue Derro
9 Nargun
7 Twilight
Mirela drops her dagger, and shoulders her way past Nargun while drawing her bow. She fires bu the shot is offline and sails over the small humanoids harmlessly.
Red Derro points at the interlopers and mumbles some gibberish. A burst of sound explodes between Nargun and Devan. The cacophony of sound assails the ears of the bard, the dwarf, and Mirela. The derro then grabs his strange club.
Devan grit his teeth as the cacophony of sound assaulted his ears. The bard looked in concern as Mirela dropped her bow to hold her hands up to her ears, but he shouldered past Nargun and brought his weapon to bear on the derro closest to him, hoping to keep his attention focused so as not to have a repeat performance of that particular spell.
After he lunged at the creature, Devan set up in a fencer's stance, eyeing the derro's weapon nervously but with determination.
Mirela clamps her hands over her ears and closes her eyes and in attempt to block out the noise. But its of no use as the sound waves seem to still beat in her chest.
Derro Cave - Round 1 - continued
As the sound wave wracks the bodies of the front rank, Mirela becoming stunned, Devan - though hurt -- advances to attack the closest of the little beasts. The swordsman is able to puncture the derro, wounding him slightly, and readying in case there is a counter attack.
The professor squeezes into the room, curious about what made the loud blast moments before. With his morningstar in hand, Atticus intends to teach these upstarts a lesson.
Stepping away from the biting rapier of the big man, Blue Derro blinks its bulbous eyes once, then chants something and makes a hand motion. Suddenly, the entire chamber is covered in Darkness which extinguishes or greatly reduces all light output in the room.
Nargun moves toward the derro fighting Atticus, using his greataxe. The darkness doesn't seem to bother him too much
Atticus silently curses that everything is dark!
Wizard 0: Acid splash, Mage hand, prestidigitation, open/close. 1:Mage armour, Magic weapon, Ray of enfeeblement(S) Colour spray. | Subtle misdirection 6/6. Bonded item 1/1.
The cacophonous sound jars Twilight, turning her mind from the uncomfortable clothes to the situation at hand "By Calistria's heaving bosom, what is going on up there?"
Frustrated at not being able to see around the corner she starts moving forward only to stop short as a wall of shadows her light could not pierce manifests before her, ensuring that she still isn't able to see what is going on.
"By the blight of impotence, this is insufferable. I don't have anything to clear the darkness." she calls out in frustration.
She holds up her symbol "Calistria, grant favour to those who seek vengeance against the necromancer on behalf of Gaekhen."
Even though she can't be seen by those inside the darkness, they are still filled with a feeling as if these derro have slighted them and its time to teach them a lesson.
Derro Cave - Round 1 - concluded
Not affected by the darkness, Nargun shuffles up next to Atticus and swings. The adjacent derro just ducks back in time to avoid being splattered.
Moving up to the edge of the dark circle, Twilight tries to instill the blessing of the Savored Sting on her allies who fight on in the darkness.
End of Round 1
Derro Cave - Round 2
20 Mirela (stunned, 7hp dmg)
15 Red Derro
12 Devan (7hp dmg)
10 Atticus
9 Blue Derro (7hp dmg)
9 Nargun (7hp dmg)
7 Twilight
Mirela still stands, stunned by the sound burst, and unable to act while her ears continue ringing.
Flicking its a fluff of cottony material from its fingers, Red Derro attempts to daze the dark-seeing dwarf, after taking a step backwards. The dwarf's fighting stance goes a bit limp and his axe falls to his side, just as the derro intended.
Devan cursed as he glimpsed Nargun go a bit slack through the darkness, unused to the opposition having a bit of magical firepower on their side. The musician stepped forward lightly, squinting his eyes as he tried to make out his foe in the dim lighting. Moving his feet about, he seemed to catch the creature off guard and lunged forward with his slender blade.
Taking a step forward Atticus tries to bash at the blue scarved derro.
Derro Cave - Round 2 - continued
Devan's short time training with Orsini must be paying off as, even in the pitch dark, he scores a solid hit, stabbing the derro, in a vital area.
Right behind, Atticus comes up and mashes the same derro about the head and shoulders with his morningstar.
Slipping between the two heroes, Blue counter-attacks Atticus, while flanking with its partner. The strange hooked club the derro wields smashes into the shoulder of Atticus, and despite his armor, wounds him slightly, his arm burning with pain.
Nargun stands open-mouthed, dazed for a few seconds by the derro's magic.
Wizard 0: Acid splash, Mage hand, prestidigitation, open/close. 1:Mage armour, Magic weapon, Ray of enfeeblement(S) Colour spray. | Subtle misdirection 6/6. Bonded item 1/1.
"If you are hurt, come back to my voice." Twilight calls out in frustrations as she draws the healing wand again. [i]"I could launch a colour spray into the darkness, but I don't know where anyone is. I've got to find a solution to that as soon as we get out of here."[/b]
Lacking a better option at the moment Twilight glances over at Mirella who is just regaining her senses and taps her with the wand "In Aroden's memory"
Derro Cave - Round 2 - concluded
Considering what to do about the Darkness, Twilight is only frustrated as she has no good options. Instead she uses the healing wand to restore vitality to the wounded Mirela, who is just coming undazed.
End of Round 2
Derro Cave - Round 3
20 Mirela
15 Red Derro
12 Devan (7hp dmg)
10 Atticus (5hp dmg)
9 Blue Derro (21hp dmg)
9 Nargun (7hp dmg)
7 Twilight
Feeling a slight tap on her shoulder the ringing in her ears suddenly clears up
Thank you Twilig... She breaks off as she realizes she can not see anything in front of her. What the... as she realizes her buckler isn't making a difference in the gloom in front of her.
Oh no, Devan! E's in this! The thought flashes through her mind as she looks into the soup in front of her.
On impulse she drops her bow, and makes a brief prayer of protection. Then she moves forward drawing her morningstar as she does.
Devan, I'm coming, let me bless you.
Then she moves straight forward into the darkness trying to find Devan
Derro Cave - Round 3 - continued
Unable to shoot effectively into the darkness, Mirela drops her bow, draws out her morningstar, casts a defensive spell meant for Devan, and wanders into the blackness to look for him. Luckily, she touches him passing along the divine warding spell's protection.
With Atticus still flanked, Red Derro tries to club him from behind, and in the darkness, for which the crazed humanoid is built to operate. But the attack, no matter the advantage, still misses. The derro then steps back from the melee.
Seeing that Mirela and Atticus have the one derro flanked, and Nargun was surely about to try to exact revenge for the spell that had momentarily halted him, the musician tumbled away from the melee in the dim lighting to give chase to the other creature that had just missed braining the Professor, not wanting to give it the opportunity to engage in any more spellcasting.
Pressing his lips into a grim line, the bard quick-stepped forward the remaining distance to the derro, thrusting his rapier to try to skewer the humanoid.
Atticus attacks the other standing behind him.
Derro Cave - Round 3 continued
Devan skips just out of reach of Blue Derro, moving forward in the darkness to where Red has slipped of to. Using his rapier skills mixed with an arcane strike, and it lands against the dark-dweller, for a slight wound.
Behind him, Atticus swivels, using the force of his pivot in the blow, and wallops Blue Derro knocking him to ground, dying.
Nargun doesn't care much about the derros, and his axe shows no mercy either.
He seems disappointed by the result of his blow, however.
Wizard 0: Acid splash, Mage hand, prestidigitation, open/close. 1:Mage armour, Magic weapon, Ray of enfeeblement(S) Colour spray. | Subtle misdirection 6/6. Bonded item 1/1.
Twilight is taken aback as Mirela charges blindly into the darkness "Mirela, wait! You don't know what's going on in..." she trailed off as the priestess disappeared into the blackness, calling for Devan specifically.
Despite the situation Twilight couldn't help but let out a little sigh. Calistria warned against falling in love, teaching that it was a form of servitude that put both constraints and demands on ones choices. Sometimes compelling one to do something that may not be in one's best interests for example.
Twilight often mused about the paradox of this teaching as it was love that had driven her to vengeance that had eventually led her to Calistria in the first place.
Well, at least she has armour, hopefully it will be enough.
All her life Twilight's elven heritage had afforded her the privilege of seeing clearly in all but the dimmest light, but this magical darkness vexed her. She knew all about magical darkness, but had never really considered the implications of being exposed to it.
It sounds like things are going ok in there, but I have no way to know for sure.
Twilight tucked the sunrod into her belt and took out the wand of magic missiles. With both wands in hand she kept watch to make sure nothing came up behind them and was also ready to heal anyone who stepped out of the darkness.
Yes, they were her friends, but she wasn't about to stumble about blindly in darkness filled with something she hadn't even seen yet.
Hearing the sounds of combat up in the darkness ahead Mirela gasps:
Are you all OK?
Devan called out from the darkness, his voice a bit quivery despite the bravado in it. "So far so good! Thank you for your blessing, dearest! I have a feeling it will come in handy before long." Hearing a meaty thud from nearby along with a grunt of effort from his dwarven companion, the musician suspected their derro problem might be nearing its end.
Derro Cave - Round 3 - concluded
Cold and determined, Nargun stalks the derro unfazed by the darkness. His axe sweeps a murderous arc, and the derro takes a slashing wound across the chest.
Twilight eschews entering the inky circle, and readies her action to heal or to harm, depending on who shows up first.
End of Round 2
Derro Cave - Round 4
20 Mirela
15 Red Derro (16hp dmg)
12 Devan (7hp dmg, shield of faith)
10 Atticus (5hp dmg)
9 Nargun (7hp dmg)
7 Twilight (readied action)
Hearing whatever is in front of her stop moving Mirela carefully follows Devan's voice as she moves forward.
I can 'elp a bit more... Let me touch you again!
As she nears the combat that remains she hears someone swiftly flowing between fighting stances before her.
It's either the Professor or Devan. None of the others moves like that...
She offers a quick prayer and then reaches out to grant an additional blessing on the person fighting in front of her.
But in the oppressing darkness she is unable to find the person before her to grant her blessing.
Derro Cave - Round 4 - continued
Scrambling in the dark, Mirela casta a supportive spell, but cannot find an ally to touch to deliver it to.
Feeling a bit cornered, Red Derro steps away from Nargun and over some of the nasty sleeping pelts. He swings his funky club at Devan once again but the warrior parries the stroke, and thrusts his rapier into the inky blackness and just catches the derro skewering him once again.
Devan heard Mirela's entreaties in the darkness, but found himself fending off the derro's attacks and unable to drift to her so she could touch him. Focus, Musician! No time for that right now! He thrust forward after he parried the creature's strike away with a deft flick of his wrist, smiling with grim satisfaction in the dark as he felt the slender blade slide into something that had some give to it.
Hearing the remaining enemy retreat away from the powerful dwarf, the bard turned with it, trying to gauge where the derro might be standing before snapping the rapier forward once again.
Keeping in touch with Mirela, Atticus manages to get close to the last enemy and attacks.
Nargun moves toward the last derro to strike
But the axe only hurts the air
Wizard 0: Acid splash, Mage hand, prestidigitation, open/close. 1:Mage armour, Magic weapon, Ray of enfeeblement(S) Colour spray. | Subtle misdirection 6/6. Bonded item 1/1.
Twilight continued to linger at the edge of the darkness. She could still hear the sounds of combat from within but things sounded like it was in their favour, so she continued to wait.
Lord Deadeye be my eyes in this unnatural Darkness!
Hearing all of the sounds of combat coming from right next to her, Mirela lets the blessing go and swings at the area where she is guessing the strange dwarf is being attacked by all her companions.
As her morningstar connects with something she smiles believing her faith has been rewarded.
Derro Cave - Round 4 - concluded
Having hit the derro with his riposte, Devan follows up with a purely offensive stroke infused with arcane energy that hurts the strange derro once again.
Atticus moves around Mirela and tries his turn mashing the last foe, but he is bit more disoriented in the dark then he thought and his swing hits only empty air.
Nargun can see just fine in the darkness, but his axe stroke simply misses, carving the air fiercely.
Unsure how she can help in this fight, Twilight holds her position, just watching and waiting for now.
End of Round 4
Derro Cave - Round 5 - concluded
Mirela turns from a spell-casting buffer to an offensive powerhouse in an instant, tiring of working in the dark. She puts all her frustration into the blow, which connects with the skull of the derro, crushing it like a melon. The foe falls to the ground, dead and the darkness lifts, allowing the others to see the fight is over for now.
End of Combat
The darkness was lifted, the crushed head of the derro on display along with the red-headed woman and her mace clutched tightly in her hand. The musician blew out a sigh of relief...he was not afraid of the dark, but fighting things in the black that could see was frustrating. He reached out and squeezed Mirela's shoulder, "Nice hit! It seems Old Deadeye has a special fondness for you. Hopefully he's willing to share." The bard chuckled, locking eyes with the young woman before helping with looking about for any loot or anything else of interest.
"Hopefully there won't be any more of these around here." Of course, there were probably many nasty surprises up ahead, with this being a wizard's lair and all. He couldn't understand why people couldn't just leave well enough alone, though his head was still ringing from the sonic damage he had taken earlier. He doubted the answer to that question would be forthcoming even with a clear head.
As the magical darkness ends, and the light spells from the casters returns, all blink their eyes trying to adjust to the rapidly changing condition. His ears still ringing, Devan looks about. He does not see anything worth looting, but does count 4 little blanket-nests and only 2 derros here, - which means there may be others nearby.
Atticus shrugs and points to the nests.
"There should be two more. Well, a penny for a better light source. But unless we have, we have to have faith."
And he smiles at Mirela.
Those were probably grunt soldiers, tasked as guards. Heard about those derros, back at home, but I used to see them as dark legends, Something to keep young dwarves on their toes, to scare them if they don't do their duties or wander off from our customs. It's a shame these derro truly exists. Do you know more about them, Atticus? What can we expect?
Mirela holds Devan's gaze and with a relieved voice says:
I 'ope there isn't more of those Derros. That darkness was more then a little scary.
Then after obviously scanning Devan up and down she turns to the others.
Was anyone 'urt? I couldn't tell in that murk.
While she waits for her answer she collects her dropped bow and dagger.
Wizard 0: Acid splash, Mage hand, prestidigitation, open/close. 1:Mage armour, Magic weapon, Ray of enfeeblement(S) Colour spray. | Subtle misdirection 6/6. Bonded item 1/1.
With the darkness finally dispersed Twilight gets a look into the room. "That was frustrating, I have the wand here if anyone has any wounds that need tending."
She catches Devan and Mirela glancing at each other "Come on you two, there will be time enough for longing stares and dewy eyed looks when we get back to the Juggler. I'd like to get this over with as quickly as possible." she says with a little irritation.
Remember where we are, and why we are here. We are Under a cemetary, to stop a necromancer, and get the bones of a dead man back to his angry father so his people won't start a war.
Nargun tone is somber and serious
But why did derros got involved..and where do they come from?
When Mirela inquired as to their health, Devan brought his hand up to his head, rubbing his temples. "My head hurts from whatever that thing did to me..." When Twilight reminded them of the wand, and also added her own snarky little comment, the musician walked over to the half-elf and waited to receive the flick of the dead god's blessing, smirking.
He nodded in agreement with Atticus, one not having to use any serious jumps of logic to come to the conclusion the Professor had. As the group waited for the Professor to divulge any information he might have on the derros, Devan glanced over at Nargun, wondering if his short speech had also been directed at him and the priestess. They had accounted for themselves fairly well in the fight...what was everyone worried about?
Once everyone was ready to move on, Devan would move with the others back to the fork to try the left-hand passage, eyes open for more threats. He had to agree with Twilight...getting this over as quickly as possible sounded like a great idea.
Mirela blushes slightly at Twilight's comment, but after a moment holds her head up and stoically puts away her bow and dagger.
I didn't do nothing wrong... It's not like we 'id in the fight...
As Devan steps up to receive Twilights healing, Mirela pokes at the bedding looking to see if she can find anything of value in there.
But she is clearly paying more attention to the others comments about her behavior then what's in the nests.
When the rest of the group is ready to move, she resumes her place with her morningstar and buckler at the ready.