Aladir, ever wary, makes use of his new ability before the group enters, willing himself into invisibility after Quinn opens the door, keeping his bow in his hand and an arrow nocked to the string. "Still here, don't be concerned." he says in a low voice to reassure the others.
Sometimes it was hard to remember all these new powers they had were even there...he made a mental note to try and make more use of them in the future rather than simply letting them rest.
"Hello!" Alikia waves to the men, "As my friends stated, we were in the area and had heard tales of your clan and wished to introduce ourselves!" Offering the barbarians a sweeping bow, Alikia waits to see how they will react.
"We take you to Chief Marhevok. You come with us." They start to turn, expecting you to follow.
Quinn keeps his drawn sword low, though he makes no attempt to hide it. He does his best to avoid smiling as the taciturn inquisitor intimidates the door guards with little more than a harsh word.
"Carrot, meet stick," he mutters to Hyram as he follows to meet the Chief.
With a sneer Hyram says, Excellent! We have traveled long to get here. Make it snappy!
Carrot, meet stick
Hyram winks at Quinn and likewise keeps his sword and shield at the ready.
Covering her mouth to cover a snicker at Quinn's comment, she follows the others into the close quarters. Staying behind the Iomedaeans she cautiously glances around the room that they find themselves in.
Aladir follows quietly behind until the men start to turn; once their backs are fully to the group, Aladir wills himself into visibility again. Once they see him, it'll be easier to convince them that he was there the entire time and that they just didn't see him than if he just popped back into sight out of the blue.
Following Hyram order, the men move quickly to the north thru the double doors. The room contains a simple fire pit in the middle of the room, and a few tattered bearskins lie on the floor nearby. To the north slumps an old wooden shelf heaped with weapons and pieces of hide armor. The walls are decorated with partially defaced murals depicting men and women in some sort of ceremonial fight. Moving east, thru another set of double doors, into a plain room with a double door at the far end, and a double door in the middle. The two men open the center door.
A one-foot-high ledge runs around the length of this room, upon which stand columns carved to resemble men and women, gazing down into the room in silent judgment. To the southeast, a raised dais supports a fur-covered stone throne, while to the west of this throne sits a pool of water on which a thin rime of ice glitters.
Chief Marhevok sits on the throne, and when you enter the room, he stands bolt upright and speaking to Hyram "welcome home brother. I see that you have been traveling with unworthy ones. Kill them, and then we can do our mistress bidding and claim these lands for her!"
Quinn hesitates when Hyram and the Chief show common recognition. Still his grip on his sword goes from relaxed to ready and the smile he hid earlier reappears as a sneer.
"No offense, Hyram... but, your 'brother' is ugly as sin, the demon-faced Quinn mutters without a trace of irony.
As soon as he saw Marhevok, his bow was already being drawn...but then he called Hyram brother, and that was enough to give the elf pause. Though not yet relaxing his arm, neither did he fully draw the bow, instead waiting to see what Hyram would do in response to so...curious...a greeting.
Raising an eyebrow as the Chief proclaims his kinship with Hyram, Alikia glances between the two. "To second what Quinn said, I do not see the familial resemblance, unless of course that this is more of a bond forged through other means?" When Chief Marhevok bequests Hyram to turn on them, Alikia's limbs lock up, as she scans for all possible exit routes.
ONLY you see his scars glow red, the others do not.
As the Chief greets Hyram, the two stare at each other, but other than the stare and the Chief words you do not see anything unusual.
Aladir looks with growing concern at what is going on, whispering back to Quinn.
"What if he is ensorcelled? Like with the succubus before?"
Quinn gives a quick shake of his head. "Within our midst, with none of us the wiser? Something else is happening here..." he whispers back.
When Hyram sees the creature, he is glad he will end some demon's existence-until he looks closely at the demon and hears his words. He felt like he knew him somehow. His mind drifted back to that day his parents were killed. He remembered that day but forgot the wound that was inflicted on him-almost. Seeing the demon with the same matching scar on his body caused the wound to throb. Whether it was physical or mental, Hyram could not say. He wanted to ram the demon through with his sword and curse him and his kind, but he could not. For once The Inquisitor was at a loss for words!
Well...uh..I..we..hmmm...I... he stammered. He did not obey the 'order' but neither could he slay the demon in front of him. Not knowing what to do, Hyram sheathes his sword. He stares blankly at the demon and can't seem to hear his companions. His mind in another place and time and a wound he did not fully understand until now.
With Hyram hesitation, the Chief roars at him, "Mistress Jerribeth assured me there were others out there who carried her blood in their veins, however diluted, and who needed only the touch of a demon to unlock their full potential—we are kin, you see! Now join me and kill these unbelievers that you travel with. NOW!"
The priest blinks and looks between Hyram and the demonic man. Reaching out he touches Hyrams should, "Strength and conviction brother, never have I seen you lack these. Remember that The Inheritor guards us and shields us."
Turning to room he holds his holy symbol of Iomedea up and declares, "End your evil here! Iomedeas light will expel the wicked and vile!"
Almost in slow motion, Alikia watches Ezro step up and seek solidarity with Hyram as he casts a spell. Feeling as if someone else were in charge of her body, Alikia pulls a piece of mica out of her pocket and goes through the well practiced motions of her favorite conjuration spell. "Time to show us your sparkling personality." she quips, covering Chief Marhevok and his two bodyguards with a fine layer of glitter.
Hyram stares blankly at Marhevok It..can't be! Could it? He thinks back to the priests examining his wound. He remembers words like 'tainted' and 'infected'. He just assumed that the wound was infected biologically, but now he realizes that they might have been talking about another kind of infection. Hyram's hands shake and he moves his head from side-to-side. I am not! I cannot be! He barely resgisters Ezro's hand on his shoulder. At his mention of The Inheritor, Hyram tries to picture the goddess, but she seems so far away! He calls in his mind, Iomedea! Iomedea! but she seems to fade further. he roars at the demon as tears well up in his eyes. The internal struggle whirling in his mind.
Quinn wasn't a subtle man. He liked his friends. He hated demons. He carried a golden sword. He might hold his sword a moment for an interplay between a friend and a demon. But once that broke, well... Quinn wasn't a subtle man. "He's first," he points Radiance at the closest guard as the golden glow from the sword raced up his arm and flashed from his eyes.
Ignoring all the others, and roaring at Hyram, "you are not worthy. I can not understand Mistress Jerribeth choosing you. I challenge you to the death now!"
Hyram blinks back his tears and focuses all of rage, sorrow and confusion on the being in front of him. Pulling Irabeth's outsider bane longsword free, he will cast wrath and pronounce judgement on the demon. .
If that is what you want, then it will be your doom! Hyram says in a barely controlled rage Let's begin.
Being ignored as they are, Aladir maintains his stance of readiness, even going so far as to have his holy arrows the ones about to fire, but he still waits for now, wanting to see how this situation with Hyram plays out.
Quinn's righteous fury and the golden flame that appears with it dies in a still born flash. He hesitates for a moment before lowering his sword, almost comically disappointed.
Quinn considers a spell of protection, but lets the idea go, choosing not to interfere directly. "Watch for him to dip his shoulder before he moves. The big ones always dip their shoulder. You may get the advantage of him," Quinn mutters to Hyram. "Fight well."
vs AC 24 Hyram threat
vs AC 24 Hyram critical no
vs AC 24 Hyram
As Hyram accepts the challenge, the others back up out of the way. When Hyram casts a spell, Marhevok bellows "Spells! Beverach attack". The drake in the pool moves out, as Marhevok rages.
Marhevok moves up, and smashes Hyram with his fist. Beverach, the drake, moves up to within 10 feet of Hyram and bites him.
Hyram ignores the other creature and just focuses all his hatred on the demon.
"They have the drake too. Is this not 2 versus 1? Should we help him?" Ezro asks, anxiously, as he watches the fight begin.
He begins saying a short prayer to Iomedea, making sure to keep space.
vs AC 24 Hyram
vs AC 24 Hyram
Hyram lays into the savage barbarian, and wounds it, however the creature takes slightly less damage than he thought.
Marhevok swings three times at Hyram, and also tries to gore him, but two of the swings miss, however he is wounded very slightly only. The drake also attacks, but the Inquisitor fends off all the attacks. The barbarians from the other room, come to the door but stay out in the hallway, and the two barbarians in the room just watch.
Alikia steps back from the fight nervously twirling a blond lock of hair. "I would not advise it, Ezro. Most tribe structures will acknowledge a defeat of their leader as a sign they are unfit to lead. That being said, if this particular one does not follow those beliefs, we may have to fight our way out." Offering a nervous chuckle, Alikia's gaze darts to the two bodyguards.
Hyram doesn't say a word and just keeps at the demon.
vs AC 28 Hyram - 3rd attack threat
vs AC 28 Hyram
vs AC 28 Hyram - 3rd attack not crit
Hyram pronounces another judgement, this time making him harder to be hit by the chiefs fists, and then silently smashes the chief again.
The chief continues to pound on Hyram, doing on slight damage, and the drake misses twice.
Round 3
vs AC 28 Hyram
vs AC 28 Hyram
Round 4
vs AC 28 Hyram
vs AC 28 Hyram
Round 5
vs AC 28 Hyram
vs AC 28 Hyram
Hyram continues attacking, and hits Marhevok.
Marhevok and Beverach attack Hyram, hitting him.
Hyram continues attacking, and misses Marhevok.
Marhevok and Beverach attack Hyram, hitting him.
Hyram continues attacking, and hits Marhevok.
Marhevok and Beverach attack Hyram, hitting him.
Round 6
vs AC 28 Hyram
vs AC 28 Hyram
Round 7
vs AC 28 Hyram
vs AC 28 Hyram
Round 8
vs AC 28 Hyram
vs AC 28 Hyram
Round 9
vs AC 28 Hyram
vs AC 28 Hyram 2nd threat
vs AC 28 Hyram 2nd not crit
The combatants continue the battle, hitting each other, but each others resistance to damage makes this a battle of a thousand cuts.
Hyram swings and hits Marhevok critically once.
Marhevok and Beverach attack and hits Hyram once slightly.
Hyram swings and hits Marhevok once.
Marhevok and Beverach attack and hits Hyram once slightly.
Marhevok yells to the other barbarians, "kill him and the others" however his men and women, look around at each other. The two in the room, having no place to go just look in disgust at their chief, while the four outside the room turn and leave.
Feeling that he has the advantage now, Hyram steps up his game and hits the barbarian twice, hurting him badly.
Marhevok and Beverach attack and hits Hyram once slightly.
Hyram, pushed himself so much last time, that he misses both of his swings this time.
Marhevok and Beverach attack and hits Hyram slightly.
Quinn watches impassively as the fight carries on. The two to one matchup brought some level of parity, he thought as he watched Hyram dish out enough damage to the demon chieftain to keep him off balance. But, to Quinn's mind, that would just grant Hyram's victory the greatest credibility... especially with Hyram dipping into his goddess granted mythic powers so sparingly.
Still, Quinn didn't like the chieftain summoning aid before the fight had even begun. So, he started chanting a refrain of battle to the Inheritor's warriors.
Ezro tenses up as the chieftain calls on his warriors to enter the fight but then relaxes with a smirk as he sees that the demon had already lost the support of his men and women.
"It seems the end will come to no ones disappointment for you demon!" he yelled.
Alikia watches the match with a mounting worry. As Marhevok calls out for aid from his men, indignation causes her to speak out. "Feiging! Hvordan tør du despoil folkets skikker når kampen strever mot deg." Spitting at the ground, Alikia turns to follow the other men and woman out of the room. "Hyram, don't let this coward defeat you. He's just overplayed his hand."
Still in a rage, Hyram turns his full attention to the drake after the demon has fallen.
vs AC 28 Hyram
Hyram hits Marhevok once.
Marhevok also only manages to hit Hyram once.
Beverach, seeing his master wounded badly, slinks back to the pool and submerges in it, disappearing from sight.
Hyram hits Marhevok, who with his dying breath, "Mistress Jerribeth will know of my passing, and your treachery" and he dies.
Hyram continues to attack the fallen demon well after it has passed from the land of the living. His armor and blade drenched in the creature's life blood. he roars, his face streaked with tears and blood!
Quinn ducks and dances through Hyram's flying blade and manages to finally get a calming hand on his shoulder. "The fight is done. Honor is satisfied and your victory is complete." Quinn lets healing energy flow through the touch to help calm the inquisitor.
"Forget this one," Quinn says. "We need to fish that lizard out of his hole and we need to do something with those two," he points towards the door guards.
"Aye, my friend, you did well. And you did it on your own. Even the demon's own allies saw his dishonor and defeat. I hope that they will simply decide that we won the day and allow us passage..." Aladir says, in response to both Hyram and Quinn.