"Those double doors are promising." Ezro says as he moves to look over the cursed sword.
"Arushelae has a point. Perhaps we can redeem this weapon at Drezen. The only issue is getting it there safely. Perhaps we should return to pick it up once the area is safe?"
Aerianna nods to Ezro's suggestion of 'get it later'. "I think we'll be doing a good amount of that. What's down the hall?"
Deciding to see where the back hallway goes before heading further into the Sanctum, you come to a door and after Aladir checks it and finds it not trapped and not locked, you do your usual drill, where he moves out of the way and Hyram and Aerianna move to the front an open it.
In this room, two long cabinets line the north and east walls of this room, while pegs on the walls are adorned with cloaks and robes.
Checking the walls, Aladir and Hyram discover that there is a secret door on the short western wall in the southern portion of the room, and Aladir discovers that it is magically locked.
Alikia, Can you open the door? If not we will try to bust it open. Hyram asks the accomplished mage.
Aerianna eyes the magic-locked secret door, considering whether or not it's worth-while to open it, but gives a shrug with one armored shoulder. If it is, it is; if it's not ... well, maybe they will be able to force it. She has vague memories of warnings about magically-sealed portals, but can't remember if Jannet had said that they were very difficult to break with brute force, or if they were usually trapped. Both? she thinks to herself, then presses her lips together, a part of her being upset that she can't remember ... but the rest of her focused in the moment.
"I might still be able to open the lock, even if it's magically done. If you want me to try it, say so, and I will." Aladir offers.
Alikia looks at Hyram with a quizzical look. "I am not a master of lockpicking. I would suggest that Aladir makes an attempt. If that fails, we can always find the head adept, they seem to be the ones walking around with keys." tucking a piece of blond hair behind her ear, Alikia makes her way over to the eastern cabinet, opening drawers at random and flipping through files to see what is stored within.
Looking carefully over the arcane locked door, Aladir pulls out every trick he knows of, and after a few moments, hears a satisfying click as the lock gives to his ministrations and he opens the door.
While Aerianna, Hyram, Ezro and Arueshalae stand guard and prepare for anything that might occur, Alikia rummages thru the two cabinets in the main room. The cabinets contain clothing for religious ceremonies, as well as other ritual implements and accessories.
Looking inside the secret room, you see three stone shelves, that appear to be empty. The room itself is lined with a thin sheeting of lead inscribed with countless Abyssal runes and prayers. There is a low frequency hum coming from the room that you are now able to hear since the door is open.
Hyram reddens in embarrassment at Alikia's rebuke and mumbles, Sorry, I heard magical lock and thought it needed someone skilled in the arcane arts to open it. I do not know anything about that.
Hyram then tries to make sense of the room.
And if any are useful ...
Aeri gives another one-shouldered shrug, admitting, "It's where my mind went too. Fortunately, Aladir had all the knowledge and skill necessary to crack it open." She looks into the room, her lips twisting in uncertainty. "Which ... looks empty. Seems a waste of time and effort, to hide, magically seal, and ... well, whatever those are," she adds, gesturing with her chin at the unsettling runes, her eyes flickering over them; she reads Abyssal, so she knows (somewhat to her sorrow) what they say ...
The cleric looks over the room as the others discuss the misunderstandings of knowledge in magical traps.
"This room is rather uncomfortable to be within. I wonder why the demons would seal and hide a room of their own making...could it be the room was here before the fall of this structure?"
Could there be something invisible in here? I don't have a way to reveal the unseen. And does everyone else hear that humming sound?"
Noticing the change in Hyram's demenor, Alikia scratches the back of her neck. "I'm sorry, that probably came out a little rude. I didn't mean to insinuate that it was a dumb question! Your logic was well founded, I just am not gifted in unlocking things." she sputters.
As the door opens she winches at the droning. "I mean, there always could be something unseen, but I would imagine that the planes are weak here and this might be an effect brought on by the Abyss? It would make sense as to why they had it locked." Alikia glances inside, furrowing her brow. "I didn't prepare anything to see invisible creature for today. I suppose that is something that I will have to keep in mind for our future encounters. Did we want to blindly grope along the shelves? That can always cause amusing results."
Aerianna looks at the shelving with a blend of distaste, ruuefulness, and disgruntlement; the last is because, well, she isn't a tall warrior-maiden. She is, however, the paladin they've got, and stepping into potential danger, threatened by abyssal forces, is what she's here for. "Oh, what the heck." With that, she steps through the door, bracing for the demonic prayers and litanies to impact her in some way, Radiance held firm and ready to strike just in case (to her hope) something manifests that she can smite.
Hyram will hold Aeri back a second, cast the spell on himself and if he sees nothing, will allow the paladin to continue into the room.
I have a spell that will allow me to see anything invisible. Wait while I scan the room.
Before anyone enters, Aerianna tries to detect evil in the room, seeing as she can read Abysmal and what she reads disgusts her. When she scans into the room, she is almost staggered with the chaos and evil emanating from walls. She goes to step into the room to feel along the shelves, when Hyram remembers that he has a spell that allows him to see invisible things, so he stops her and casts it on himself and peers at the three shelves. You hear Hyram audibly gasp.
The northern shelf contains only two objects. One is a suit of +3 mithral full plate armor emblazoned with the holy symbol of Iomedae. You recognize this suit of armor once belonged to the paladin Yaniel, who wielded the sword Radiance, which Quinn gave to Aerianna. There is also a metamagic rod of quicken spell, and a spell book.
The southern shelf—as with the western one, include a +3 greataxe, a sword of the planes, a rod of empower metamagic, a staff of healing with 6 charges, a 5-foot-by-5-foot carpet of flying, and an instant fortress.
It's a treasure! Most likely a misbegotten treasure but a treasure nonetheless!
He will then point out all of the items especially the armor to Aeri and the spell book and rod to Alikia.
Aerianna's mouth opens to debate the use of 'misbegotten', but then closes it; really, her mind is on the overwhelming power of the evil within. "All right," she decides. "Ezro, may you please grace me with a particular protection from the evil held within this room?"
Once she gets it, albeit from either Hyram or Ezro, she'll step inside, physically, psychologically and spiritually braced against an attack of any form. If nothing physically manifests but she's under some form of attack, she'll immediately clear out the northern shelf (I figure that's one round's work) while trying to gauge the intensity of the assault. If she is resisting but doesn't think she can do so for long, she will clear the southern shelf (1-2 rounds, I think) then quickly estimate the balance between the time she might have left and the time it'd take to clear the western shelf. If she thinks she can do so quickly (or if she judges at the start that she can resist such an assault for a minute or two), she will clear the western shelf, emptying the room; if she doesn't think she can clear it, she'll abandon the items that are effectively just of monetary value, as they are (at least in her judgement) less important than the others, and might be able to be retrieved at some point after the stronghold is cleared of foes.
If there's a physical attack, of course, that's much less confusing. ;)
Ezro shakes his head to the paladin, "I apologize, I need not ask Iomedea for such a blessing this day. Perhaps Hyram has been provided such?"
Yes, I do have that spell prepared. Hyram says with a nod.
He then casts it on Aeri.
And after a nod of thanks to Hyram, Aerianna steps into the room, ready to fight.
"I do not think stepping into a room bathed in unholy writings and evil is a good idea...has anyone detecting unseen forces within? Nothin lurking in the shadows?" Ezro says, in a somewhat worried tone as he watches the paladin.
vs DC 15 (ie. don't roll a 1)
Aerianna, after receiving a protection spell from Hyram, steps into the room, and while there is no physical assault on her, the evil emanating from the rune covered walls assail her mind and spirit. For just a moment she staggers against the assault, however she bravely goes on and manages to quickly and not so gently clear everything off the shelves, tossing the objects outside the room, which turn visible as soon as they leave the shelves. She then moves out of the small room, and you see that she is sweating and weary.
As the group looks thru the gear, Radiance starts to glow as soon as it is near the armor. Alikia looks over the spell book and the two meta magic rods.
Good always overcomes evil! Hyram says as the treasure becomes visible. The demons should have known better than hiding it in an evil room![/b]
Good always overcomes evil! Hyram says as the treasure becomes visible. The demons should have known better than hiding it in an evil room![/b]
"They had quite the haul hidden in here!" Aladir says, impressed.
"Wait...hey, Aeri. Radiance is glowing. I haven't seen it do that spontaneously very much...what do you think it means?"
Flipping open the spellbook, Alikia freezes at the cover page. Gently tracing the glyph, she takes a shaky breath. "By Sarenrae's light." she whispers, before carefully storing it. Hooking the quickened rod next to her maximized metamagic rod, Alikia shoves the remaining items into their bag of holding before pausing at the carpet. "Well now I can reenact all of my Casmaron fantasies." she deadpans, unfurling the magical item before sitting down upon it. Speaking the command word, Alikia smirks, "Ezro, you better prepare a restoration spell, because these shoes are never touching the ground again."
There is temptation in good as well as in evil; Aerianna is on one knee next to the silvery full plate armor, light blazing out of the slight gaps in Radiance's[/s] scabbard. "When she's drawn, she does," the paladin says quietly, and that, at least, has always been true in her own experience. "This ... Lady Yaniel wore this. I'm not holding [i]Radiance, but I can feel her call to this armor; she wants to be reunited with it."
For a long moment, the paladin seems torn, but finally she lifts the armor and, turning to Alikia, says quietly, "But I cannot abandon my sisters or their memory. Let us keep this armor safe for now, and maybe when we return to Drezen, we might find a way to bring the virtue of this armor together with that which I wear; failing that, perhaps Yaniel's ghost and Radiance will be satisfied if we find someone suitable to wear this." She indicates the armor just found, and helps in its careful stowing.
Turning away with some amount of wistfulness, she looks at the rest of the items, and the Flametongue smiles with amusement at Alikia, floating on the carpet. "You had your own amazement, I thought I heard; what did you find?"
Flustering at Aerianna's question it takes a moment for Alikia to regain her composure. "Oh, ah, this spellbook," pulling the green book out of her pack, "belonged to my mother. While this rod was my father's property." tracing the etching in the magical item, Alikia gives the two items a wistful look before ensuring that they are stored properly.
"However we don't have time for me to unpack those emotions, we've got a wizard to bring to justice!" she jokes, obviously trying to change the subject.
Aladir takes a moment to process what Alikia has just revealed, seeming about to speak, when he hesitates. "Right you are. We still have a mission to complete that we can't allow ourselves to get sidetracked from. Not right now."
"More than just a wizard," Aerianna says, but it's clearly in agreement, and she leads the way back through the passage, tromping along with Radiance in hand to set up at the next portal in sequence.
Alikia takes her parents items, and fondly recalls memories of them, but stows them for later use, while Aerianna has Yaniel armor also stowed, as she does not wish to remove the armor so dear to her.
Moving back to the west, the group has Aladir check each door, listening and looking for traps before exploring. Checking out each room as you go on, there is nothing of interest, nor anything magical in any of them.
A total of nine beds line the east and west walls of this barrack. A single large wardrobe stands against the southern wall.
Washroom and Latrine.
Four combat training dummies stand in this large room, while empty weapon and armor racks line the west wall and part of an alcove to the north. A few benches sit against some of the walls, while to the west, a pair of large archways open up into what seem to be a pair of classrooms.
The northern third of this long room of this room contains a stove, a fire pit, and a table. An open door leads to a well-stocked pantry. In the central part of the room sits a long wooden table surrounded by stools, while to the south stand three long bookcases and a pair of writing desks.
At the southern door, when Aladir checks for noise, he hears muttering in the room beyond, at least four or five voices. The door does not appear to be trapped.
Hyram whispers to the others, Does anyone have anything they need to do before I open this door?
"I think that staff may be of use to me." Ezro says, picking up the Staff of Healing.
Giving Alikia a grin, he says"Beware there is no bed bugs in that carpet from the last owners."
Moving along with the others, he nods to Hyram after his query, "Allow me a moment to pray for us."
Walking up to Hyram, Alikia touches the inquisitor on the shoulder. "Here, this should help confuse our enemies." She states as she casts as Hyram suddenly appears 2 feet away from her.
Hyram smiles, Thanks Alikia! That should keep them guessing!
Aerianna closes her eyes for a moment, murmuring a prayer to Iomedae, a quiet call for aid. Once more, the glow of the already-drawn Radiance brightens just an erg further as the tempered champion's request is honored, a shimmer that is subtly different than how it was only a few minutes ago. Opening her eyes again, she looks out from within the mithril of the maiden's helm she wears. "Ready." Her voice is calm -- not remote and distant, but present, focused, steeled to the purpose.
Aladir stows his bow in favor of his rapier, not knowing the size of the room or its occupants, then gives a short nod to indicate his readiness. With a slight grin on his face, he waves to the others, then slowly vanishes from sight, invisibility creeping up from His feet until he is utterly vanished. His grip on his weapon tightens, anticipating the fight that might be able to happen.
vs AC 25 Aerianna (29 damage)
vs AC 25 Hyram (23 damage)
vs AC 10 Hyram levels
vs AC 36 Xanthir (are you frackin kidding me!)
EDIT:
Preparing for the upcoming battle, Aladir quickly goes invisible, Aerianna prepares Radiance, while Ezro blesses everyone and Alikia casts displacement on Hyram.
Hyram and Aerianna throw open the double door and see two demons, six Templars, four of the Wizards, and thru the open double doors in the room beyond a dwarf who must be the dreaded Xanthir Vang, and the demon Jerribeth.
The two demons up front, with their ten foot reach, attack Aerianna and Hyram, damaging both of them, and injecting them with poison with their bite and sting. Xanthir, in the back, casts a spell and a black ray of negative energy is aimed at Hyram and he feels much weaker.
Arueshalae sensing that Xanthir is the greatest threat clicks her boots together, grant her haste, and fires four arrows at him, however she misses with all her attacks and lets loose a scream of rage.
The Templars step up to be next to the demons and ready their glaives, assuming that the front two come into reach.
"VANG! You will pay for your crimes!" Alikia shouts, dipping into her mythical abilities. "It's time to move people!" she snarls, casting haste upon the group.
Hyram will step into the room and attack a demon.
Aeri will be unaffected by the poison.
All right, first thing: IF Mythic Haste's additional Move Action means you can take a 5' Step as well as the movement from the Haste, she will be able to first take a Free Action 5' step backwards, to put her right in front of Erzo.
- - If she can: Everyone benefits from Aura of Justice, which has a 10' radius.
- - If she cannot: Only Erzo, Alikia, Hyram, and herself benefit from Aura of Justice; neither Arueshelae nor Aladir do, as they are 15' away.
Free Action - Amazing Initiative, +1 Standard Action - 1 MP
Standard Action - Aura of Justice, 10', 2 smite: allies declare target of smite, gain +5 to hit, +11* to damage, bypass DR, +5 deflection bonus to AC, all vs. target of your smite; lasts for 1 minute or until target is dead.
Free Action - Declare Target of Smite: Demon in front of her (left side)
Free Action w/ Smite Evil- Smiting Aura (1 MP), 4 dmg, 4 rnds
Free Action - Mythic Smite: Recover 1 Smite (1 MP), attacks vs. evil creatures bypass DR for rest of turn.
Move Action (Haste) - Advance to current map position inside doors.
Full Attack on target of Smite, the left-side demon. 'Leftover' attack goes against second (right-side) demon.
Immediate Action: Target evil outsider (Jerribeth) with dimensional anchor use of Anchoring Aura (ranged touch attack, SR applies) -- 1 smite.
* -- if your smite target is an evil outsider (in this case), +11 more damage with your first strike.
Radiance: +3 holy evil-outsider-bane cold iron longsword, 1d10+9: base +20/+20/+15
current bonuses: +1 haste, +1 bless
vs. current target: +5 smite, +2 bane
Damage Base: 1d10+9
vs current target: +22 (first strike), +11 (subsequent), +2d6 bane, +2d6 holy.
I believe the demon is dropped by the third hit; the fourth would go into Hyram's (right-side) demon.
Ranged Touch Attack vs. Jerribeth (dimensional anchor):
All evil foes within 20' will take 4 points of damage from Smiting Aura; that'll be the demon, all the Templars, and the closest mage, I think.
Anchoring Aura is active.
Now Active:
Haste (M): +1 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves, +1 move action, +1 attack at highest w/ full-round, +1 bonus to attack rolls
Halo (Light, 20', 40', 110 min.): +2 Intimidate vs. evil, saves vs. blind/dazzle.
Anchoring Aura (20'r, Will DC 20): dimensional anchor.
Aura of Courage +4 (10'): Allies gain morale bonus vs. fear.
Smiting Aura (4 dmg, 4 rnds., 20') (Su) Spend 1 pow. when smiting evil. 20-ft. aura damages evil creatures that start or move into it.
Bless: +1 to hit, +1 save vs. fear
Smite Evil (4/day) (Su) +5 to hit, +11 to damage, +5 deflection bonus to AC vs. target of smite
Possibly: Damage Reduction: 10/adamantine
Smite: 0/4
Mythic Power: 4/12
Divine Bond: 0/2
Lay/Hands: 10/11
Anyone/everyone who has a Smite (which is hopefully everyone, but you never know), you have to declare your target as a free action before I go again.
Everyone within 10' of Aerianna also receives a +4 morale bonus vs. fear.
For a moment, the foes of good must be encouraged, for the paladin of Iomedae actually takes a step back from them once the doors are opened. But then she says, on the heels of Arueshelae's scream of fury, "With faith, courage, and conviction, rising one. Pick the foe most worthy of destruction, my friends." And with that, the golden halo about her head, seemingly the same that is the glory of Radiance, soundlessly bursts out of her, to limn the hands and heads of her compatriots.
Immediately, she points her sword at the demon who'd struck her and seemingly made her backpedal. "And for you, demon, it's back to the Pit." Striding forward, Aerianna lashes the abyssal with Radiance once, twice, a third time to make it fall, then shifts to deliver one last strike, this one against the demon that Hyram has gone against. "Not the time to fence with it, Inquisitor!!"
On the withdrawl from the still-active demon, Aerianna flicks the sword's point towards Jerribeth; from the tip of the weapon ripples a beam the emerald color of her eyes, clearly targeting the demoness. "Don't go anywhere this time, Jerribeth!!"
Ezro, feels the energy rippling through the air from his allies and their foes. Moveing forward behind Aerianna, he raises his Holy symbol up and releases a quick wave of healing energy. Seeing the amount of foes in the room, he calls upon his own mythic power, recalling a powerful Prayer from Iomedea.
"In the name of the Inheritor, and those fallen who serve her, let my allies be bolstered, and may Her foes face woe!" Ezro exclaims.
The powerful Prayer will wash into the room.