i will wait to see what nemoris reports
Epik and Jenya move in to intercept the mob having gotten ahead of them by cycling along the inside circle path. As the paladin steps onto the street and sees the wall of people coming towards him, yelling and making a cacophony of noise, he realizes he can barely hear Jenya yelling at him from a few inches away.
"There's no way they're gonna hear us ... we need some way to get their attention!"
The others move and cast spells as annotated. Magma is kicking it at the Drunken Morkoth Inn with Gryphon Marek.
Nowzai will relay what he sees to Dalamus, Nemoris and Sama'el below. "Let's keep moving towards the mob. Try to find out what's going on, and see if we can calm things down before they cause too much destruction."
Epik yells back to Jenya. "Let's put the fear of Iomedae into this mob!"
He activates his divine bond with his sword . He then swings the flaming great sword around his head and points it threatening at the crowd. "In the name of Iomedae, I command you to stop this madness!
Dalamus will keep running to keep up with Sam and Nowzai.
Epik's flaming sword causes a few in the front of the mob to pause, but the mob as a whole simply flows around them and while it gives the paladin a wide berth on both sides it keeps moving.
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Sam will continue to move up trying to get to the front of the mob and will use AP to recall a Stinking Cloud spell once he gets close enough and if there is a bottle neck he can cast it at that will block the mob from moving forward
Epik turns to Jenya, "The bishop has magically agitated the mob. Can you use your divine power to calm their emotions?"
He will then cast Communal Protection from Evil on 11 of the mob around him.
Epik reaches out and touches as many people as he can, casting a protection spell. Several of the nearby members shake themselves awake but the mass keeps moving ...
... until Jenya also casts a spell, sending a wave of peaceful feeling producing serene thoughts in Epik and he sees the wave visibly as men and women stagger and stop, looking around in a daze.
They see the man waving a flaming sword and immediately crowd around, voicing concerns and questions.
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The fliers can see the mob has stopped and is gathering around an individual with a flaming sword.
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Putting on all available speed, Nowzai flies down to the mob.
Dalamus will try to make his way through the mob to see what is going on.
"Jenya, Epik... what is going on here?" Nowzai calls down after he arrives.
Sam will follow Nowzai down to assist and find out what is happening as well
Epik will rally the crowd. "Attention, faithful servants of Iomedae! You have been tricked by the bishop! He has magically subverted you into a mob bent on the destruction of Cauldron." He swings his flaming sword around his head once for effect. "I command you to disperse and return to your families. Tomorrow, return to the Church of the Inheritor and begin assisting Jenya with the reconstruction of the damage that has been wrought. Together we will persevere over the evil that now faces Cauldron."
He turns to Nowzai and Sam. "The bishop has been exposed for the fraud that he is. He is a member of group calling themselves the Cagewrights. Likely the Cagewrights are linked with the events at the temple of Pharasma. We have driven the bishop away for now, but he and his minions will be back. We must complete our preparations and then continue our quest to free Cauldron from the Cagewright threat."
There is a murmur of awe as the two casters fly in and alight next to Epik and Jenya and then an explosion of questions respond to Epik's demands.
"What do you mean tricked?!"
"Where are we to get food and water, everything is closed or given to the refugees?!"
"Who's running the church?!"
"Who's running the city?!"
"Where's the Town Guard, what are you going to do about the increasing crime and safety?!"
"Is the church paying for this work?!"
"Maybe we should just get drunk like the Cailenites and forget this s+**!"
Epik douses his sword and then sheathes it. "Jenya is the new leader of the Church. Please follow her and she will answer your questions and will assist you where possible. My friends and I will assure that the city is returned to law and order. We will do everything in our power to protect you and your fellow citizens. There will be more dark days, but we will restore the light - if the Inheritor is willing. For now, we need you to return to your normal life. I ask that you trust me."
He then turns to Jenya. "I would ask you to take leadership of the church. Protect the congregation. Be vigilant against the Cage Wrights and their minions. They are insidious, but Iomedae will give you the wisdom to stop their treachery. You must trust no one - assume the city's leadership has been completely compromised. I will return to the church when I have more information. God speed."
Nowzai nods grimly. "I knew there was something fraudulent about that man. It was not just his demeanor that fouled the place." He frowns in thought before continuing, "That is two major temples that have had their leaders compromised. Can we trust that the others have not?"
Epik's calm words delivered with sincerity and humility cut through the haze of near violence and the mob begins to disperse, many folks just dropping weapons in the street where they were standing. Several appear embarassed as they break into smaller groups and head back into the city.
Jenya nods to Epik, but before she departs she strays a moment and says, "In the excitement, I almost forgot ... Embril Aloustinai will be returning to the city tomorrow before sunset. If you wish to do something about the Temple and that portal, you'll need to do it before then. Call upon me if you require aid from me or the church."
Epik shakes his head at Nowzai. "We must assume that the temples and the city leadership have been corrupted. I fear that we cannot trust anyone until we have proven their innocence."
He then thanks Jenya and gathers up the others. "We must resolve the situation in the temple before Aloustinai returns. Let's use the remainder of the day to re-stock our gear and then head back to the temple first thing tomorrow."
"How do you suggest we resolve the temple?"
Dalamus, Nemoris and Fellian Shard come jogging up as the mob disperses.
"What in the Hells happened here?" the half elf Strider asks?
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Epik will lead the others back to the inn. "We must permanently neutralize the portal. We may lose access to it once Embril returns."
When Fellian arrives, Epik gives him and the others the synopsis of the events with the bishop and the mob. "Cauldron is under assault by the Cage Wrights. We must stop this insidious evil before it completely takes over the city."
"How are we to do that, exactly?"
Fellian clears his throat, "I may be able to help. Dalamus and Nemoris agreed to help us find Fario, who has been abducted and has recently been cut off from mental contact ... assuming ... " Fellian breaks off for a moment, overcome with emotion for his cousin.
Clearing his throat and shaking his head he continues, voice breaking a touch, "Assuming he isn't dead, he was investigating corruption in the city and may have come across something that is related to this threat."
"Perhaps we should explore both opportunities. "
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"I was able to do a small amount of research on the portal. Unfortunately, it was not very fruitful. As we suspected, a permanent two-way planar gate requires extraordinarily powerful magic. I do not know any way to neutralize it, barring its destruction, which may be beyond our skills. Perhaps an answer lies on the other side, but I am not sure we are yet ready for an excursion to Karran-Kural, especially after yesterday."
"I need more time," he says, clearly frustrated.
Epik looks grimly at Nowzai, "I fear that time is one thing we don't have. We'll need to split into two groups and simultaneously deal with both the portal and the striders. I would suggest that Dalamus, Nemoris and Magma rescue the striders, while Nowzai, Sam and myself explore the portal. What do you think?"
"Splitting up is a terrible risk, but I fear we may not have another option."
"I agree, splitting is a bad idea. If we were not to split and seek out Fario, the answer may be with him, but if we split there is a chance that we will fail. On the other hand, if the answer is not with Fario, we have wasted time. This is far from ideal. If we are to split, let's not waste another moment. I am fine with the split that Epik proposed."
"I think splitting up has shown that it's a bad idea"
splitting up is a bad idea.
we are on a time crunch with the portal lets take care of exploring and destroying the portal first and then go find Fario.
once the priestess is back we will have to contend with her.
What do we know about the portal.
what extra gear will we need?
let's brainstorm on equipment and then go.
"It seems splitting up is a lesser risk than leaving one problem til later. Perhaps Sama'el should go with Dalamus and Nemoris, in case they need some arcane help. Magma can join Epik and I at the temple. Agreed?"
"That seems like it makes more sense than the previous arrangement. Can you arcane guys communicate with each other over long distances?"
Fellian nods his head in agreement, "Yes, this is good. We will want stealth and Sama'el would be extremely helpful in that regard, I think "
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Sam nods finally but doesn't look happy
"Then let us get started, divination spells are not an area of expertise for me, I will have no way to keep in contract with the other group. That is more of a scholarly pursuit and my skills lie in more destructive areas."
The next morning Epik will begin the day in prayer. He will update his spells as follows:
1st: Divine Favor, Bless, Protection vs. Evil, Lessor Restoration
2nd: Resist Energy, Inheritor's Smite, Ironskin
3rd: Good Hope, Dispel Magic, Litany of Sight
When the others are ready, he will lead Magma and Nowzai directly to the tower portal.
Conjurer Spells Prepared (CL 12th; concentration +20)
. . 6th—disintegrate (DC 24), greater dispel magic, summon monster VI
. . 5th—communal stoneskin, summon monster V, teleport, wall of stone
. . 4th—acid pit (DC 23), black tentacles, control summoned creature (DC 22), dimensional anchor, stoneskin, summon monster IV
. . 3rd—daylight, fly, magic circle against evil, sound lance (2), summon monster III, wind wall
. . 2nd—baleful transposition, darkvision (2), resist energy (2), sonic weapon (2)
. . 1st—benign transposition, feather fall, lesser orb of sound (3), shield (2)
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, light, message, sonic snap
. . Opposition Schools Illusion, Necromancy
Nowzai casts mage armor, resist fire, darkvision, and magic circle vs evil on himself when they arrive at the temple. He will also cast communal stoneskin, sharing 30 minutes to Epik and Magma, while leaving 50 for himself. He will ask Epik if he wants darkvision as well.
is Jeyna going with either party?
ready to follow Epik in
The party rests up for the evening, collects gear and heads out just before dawn with part of them breaking off near the Brass Trumpet and the others continuing on to the Portal.
Returning to the Temple of Pharasma while it's still dark, Epik, Nowzai and Magma find it exactly as you left it, dead bodies beginning to rot where they were left. It doesn't appear as if anything has been disturbed.
You wind your way back up the stairs to the portal room. As you walk in, almost as if your very presence gave the portal the fuel it needed, it flickers back to life with a blast of multi-colored light and a chill wind. You again feel as if you're peering into a window to somewhere else.
Sam, Dalamus, Nemoris and Fellian peel off near Orak's Bathhouse looking across the street at the abandoned inn. An iron sign set with a brass trumpet hangs outside the front doors, which appear newer than the rest of the building. The building's walls are made of mortared volcanic rock and all of the windows on the ground floor have been bricked up. The windows on the second floor have solid wooden frames and opaque, smoked glass.
"Let us see what can be learned with my latest divination," Nowzai says, holding up a gold and ruby lens. With a short incantation, he thoroughly examines the portal.
"Well it appears that we have a few options here. We can go in through the front door, go in through the windows on the second floor or look for a secret entry into the building."
"Personally, I think we are dangerously low on time, so looking for a secret way in is probably not the best choice, but the front door is clearly intentionally left unused, so they would be made aware of our entry and it is probably trapped."
"I can check the door for traps, which I should probably do anyways, but I think entry through the windows is the best option."
If no one objects to the search of the door, here is the roll
Disable Device
Epik looks uneasily at the portal as Nowzai performs the incantation. He stays on guard for anything amiss within the tower.
Portal
guarding the elder, magma scans the the room for any hidden danger.
Perception