As the little winged creature disappears again, Sophy turns to Wren, seeking guidance.
Unfortunately, the only guidance that Wren was able to give at the current time was drowned out by the sound of her retching fromt eh stink bomb that was just dropped on her. "Urghk!" she exclaimed, moving backwards 20', trying to get out of the line of fire.
Eponine was just picking up her stride, really getting some length to her paces as she fled, when even her low light vision failed to provide any more visibility. She'll slow to a 5' step and all out defend.
Sophy stands there a moment, overwhelmed. Victor and Eponine have fled into the darkness; Wren is violently ill, maybe dying, from whatever poison the little creature spit at her; her own skin is broken and bleeding from unnatural wounds. Her blade and Wren's arcane fire seemed to have no effect on the horrible little thing, and there is no one left to tell her what to do.
Coming to a point of decision, she quickly runs up and puts her hands on the doors to the creature's sanctum. "Brock, get out of there," she shouts at him with an unfamiliar aura of command in her voice.
Victor continues to stumble in the dark, trying to trace his way back to the Glassworks and safety when the overwhelming urge to run fades.
Back at the shrine, Sophy looks to Wren for guidance but finds the spell caster retching from the effect of the demon-things saliva and retreating backwards. The timid woman summons courage to call for a retreat, "Brock, get out of there." As she calls out the order she moves to seal the door and block the enemy in.
Eponine's feet stumble in the darkness as she follows after Victor. She can hear him just up ahead, even though she can barely make him out in the darkness. The terror that was driving her forward disappears like the memory of a dream.
Brock grunts as he hefts his heavy hammer to attack the creature again, but sweat and blood have slicked the handle and it falls from his grasp clatering the ground at his feet. The creature squeals in some sort of twisted delight and attacks again. It's claws bounce of the warriors armor doing nothing harmful to him this time.
There is an unnerving stillness in the shrine despite the sounds of Brock fighting inside the cathedral, and Wren's gut wrenching dry heaving. The creatures harsh raspy voice seems to come from everywhere at once, echoing off the ancient stone walls. "You have not brought Queen Erylium a tribute, you are not welcome here. Be gone from our sight or we will destroy you."
"Sophy, close the door, get yourself out of here. I ain't leaving!" Brock picks up his weapon, taking the AoO, if necessary.
"As for your tribute, devil, you take this spawn's head?!"
Brock uses the momentum of picking up his weapon to try and smash the head of the hammer into the spawn's face!
Wren keeps retching.
"What the...?" Victor gathers his senses and becomes angry at the fact he has left everyone behind. He immediately tries to find his way back by using the wall as his guide, talking to himself as he does. "This is so stupid! I am stumbling my way in the dark, Wren is probably dead, Sophy also...Oh great! That's all I need! More deaths on my watch! Especially hers! Victor calms a bit, catches his breath before muttering to himself. "I am already responsible for her mother's death. I cannot live with hers also. I cannot. I WILL not. This I promise." Victor, obivously extremely ticked off as he continues making his way back to the others at the best of his ability, is unaware Eponine is with him.
"Brock!" she shouts again, with tears in her eyes. She dithers at the door, wanting to close the tiny creature and her monsters away forever but unable to shut the door and leave Brock in there alone.
Victor starts stumbling his way back towards the fray. The summoned dog hot on his heals, sniffing it's way back to the one that brought it into existence. Wren holds her ground, but the swirling in her stomach and the taste of bile in her throat keep her from doing anything else. Sophy hesitates wanting to be sure Brock will be safe when the tiny creature appears at her head again. "We told you to leave Pretty. We must make you pay for ignoring our orders," It screams as it grasps Sophy's hair tightly in her foul little claws. Sophy screams in shock, as shrill cry that even Eponine can hear so far away echoing off the stone walls. Sophy stabs at the creature, but in shock almost drops her dagger unable to strike the fast moving demon.
Damnation! A spell! I should have known! Eponine will move back toward the fight as quickly as she can, throwing caution to the wind.
Sophy tries to stifle her panic at the horrid little thing in her hair. She sheathes her dagger and reaches up to try to grab it and pull it away from her. "Brock!" she screams again, in tears.
Eponine turns and runs back to the fight, leaping over the summoned dog, spinning past Victor, and nimbling making the two tight right turns back down the hall. Rushing past Wren, she arrives in time to see Sophy struggling with the creature in her hair. Sophy tries to grasp the putrid smelling thing but it is to quick and maintains it's grip in her hair. Brock drops low and grasps his earthbreaker as the creature bounces a claw of his back. Hefting the weapon in an upward swing he pounds the creature in the gut with all his might, forcing the thing to spit slimy blood. Struggling for breath the creature fails to hit Brock with it's flailing arms or bloody maw.
Victor stops abruptly after hearing Eponine shout. "Epon...," was all he manages as he feels her brush past him quickly. He attempts to quicken his pace, in hopes to get back to the others a bit faster.
Wren spends her third round in a row puking, glad to see that Epi and Victor were back in the thick of things.
Seeing Sophy in trouble, Brock takes a 5' step to U31 and swings his hammer at the creature grabbing her hair...Better not miss....."Let her go!"
Victor picks up the pace, seeing the light up ahead rushes to join his fighting companions. Wrens summoned dog never returns. Wren leans against the wall, the room spinning as sweat drips off her forehead and her stomach churns.
Sophy is freed from the creatures grasp as Erylium yanks to drag Sophy by the head, and only pulls out a tuft of hair. Hate in her eyes, she vanishes from sight again.
Sophy's relief at seeing the awful little thing vanish is quickly replaced by trepidation at where it might appear again. She eyes the air above her warily.
Eponine will run to U30 and ready her vial of ink.
Sophy raises her arms to defend agaisnt any attack. Eponine pulls a vial of ink from her pouch and rushes to the doorway of the cathedral. Brock swings at the creature smashing it hard in the head and knocking it to the ground.
Victor having finally made his way back, looks towards Sophy to see if she and the others are still in combat. Noticing none, he stops to check on Wren. "Miss Wren, are you all right? You are not looking so well." Then noticing her insides seem to have congregrated on the floor, "Ah, now I see...unfortunately." He turns his sights back to Wren. "Please forgive me, again, Miss Wren. You are probably gonna have to get use to me really irritating you in some fashion and me apologizing." He tells her with an defeatist look.
"Keep your wits about you people, there's still an enemy around, a little bugger who can vanish at will. If he has any sense, he's run back and hid in his hell hole!"
"Urgkh!" Wren again exclaims, this time only dry heaving as nothing was left in her stomach. She points towards the general direction of Brock and Sophy, knowing that they seemed outmanned by the little demon like things and her servants.
Victor rushes into the shrine room and seeing no opponents stops to check on Wren, who struggles to keep her stomach inside as she motions towards the others.
Brock calls out, "Keep your wits about you people, there's still an enemy around, a little bugger who can vanish at will. If he has any sense, he's run back and hid in his hell hole."
In response Erylium screams, "He? HE? We are a Queen and you will address us with respect, you oaf. You poor excuse for an Orc!! She reappears in the center of the room above the large pool, a ring of polished human skulls balanced on stone spikes arranged in a circle around the deeper midsection. With an arcane wave of her hands she points at Brock and shouts, "Ka'rack!" A loud ringing fills the air and his Earthbreaker begins to vibrate rapidly in his hands. Suddenly the mighty hammer is sundered into a dozen metal fragments.
Sophy stares a moment in shock and horror at seeing Brock's large and comforting weapon shattered across the room. Then she calls out to him again, "Brock! Get out of there! The sergeant sent us down here to find Ameiko, not die fighting! What if something has her somewhere else and we don't get to her in time because we were drawn into a meaningless battle here?" There is a desperate edge in her voice.
Victor looks up at the sound Brock hollering about a invisible creature, then turns back to Wren as she once again attempts to spill her insides out, yet noticing nothing coming out. Then something akin to an explosion goes off and Victor snaps his head back in the direction of the others, his eyes going wide, wondering what that could have been. "Miss Wren, I do believe...this is very bad."
Brock looks at the shattered pieces of his weapon on the ground and snarls. He then flexes his muscles and looks at the flying creature: "Impressive....now know this, I'm going to go find a sharp sword and I'm coming back later today to lop your head off and no bit*h queen of yours is going to stop me! Follow me now and I will rip off your wings and strangle you to death with my bare hands!" With that, Brock walks out of the room, as Sophy closes the door behind him.
Sophy leans against the closed doors for a moment, gasping with relief that almost turns to sobs, but she pulls herself together. "Oh, Brock," she says. "Your big hammer. And Victor seems to have lost his sword somewhere, too." Remembering the rest of the party, she swings around sharply. "Is Wren all right? We have to find Ameiko and get back to the surface."
Eponine keeps the ink in her hand, and picks up her rapier in her other hand once the door is closed.
Brocks frightens everyone with the honesty of his threat. He exits the cathedral and Sophy slams shut the door. Eponine retrieves her drop weapon. From behind the door you hear the timid and muffled scream of Erylium, "We are not afraid of you, half man!" After that silence.
Hearing the voice through the door, Sophy shivers. "Brock, do you think that big stone thing moves?" she asks, nodding toward the basin on the dais. "Maybe we could block the door with it? She doesn't seem too interested in coming out, only in keeping us from coming in...."
"Miss Wren is doing...better, Miss Sophy. She seems to have managed to lose everything she has eaten this day. And/or yesterday as far as that goes." Then noticing the wounds upon Sophy, "Miss Sophy! What in the Abyss happened to you!" He starts to panic as he sees how dreadful looking her wounds are. "Use the wand Father Zantus has given you, please! I pray it will help!" He again has to attempt to calm himself from his mortal failure. "I am truly sorry, Miss Sophy. I was nowhere around to protect you." The utter look of guilt upon his face could not be more obvious. He ponders a moment all the damage he has caused inadvertently as he looks around at the others. "Sorry, Brock, for the whole...you know." He says with embarrassment. Gathering himself, Victor switches back to the task at hand, more than ready to stop talking about his mistakes. "Use the wand, Sophy. And let us continue." He says somewhat distantly.
"Ugh,that smell is like nothing I have ever experienced," Wren moans from behind the group. "What happened? I sort of lost focus after I got hit with the stinkbomb. What is that thing?"
Know. Arcana
Know. Planes
to see if I know anything about that baddie.
"Ugh,that smell is like nothing I have ever experienced," Wren moans from behind the group. "What happened? I sort of lost focus after I got hit with the stinkbomb. What is that thing?"
"I ... don't know." "It ... she called herself Queen Erylium." She looks at Wren and Eponine, hoping the name might mean something to one of them.
Sophy winces as she looks down at the unnatural wounds on her skin but insists, "No, Victor, I'll be all right. I don't want to waste Father Zantus's wand. Someone might need it more than me. We do need to go find Ameiko, though, quickly. Maybe the Father will be able to tell us how to deal with that awful little thing," she cheers up a little at the thought.
"Ugh,that smell is like nothing I have ever experienced," Wren moans from behind the group. "What happened? I sort of lost focus after I got hit with the stinkbomb. What is that thing?"
"Hmmm...well, I am pretty sure that thing was a demon. I have heard stories of evil wizards that summon demon familiars known as Quasits. These foul creatures are said to be made in part with the spell casters living soul forming a tight bond between demon and master. Most are resistant to poison and electricity. Also, normal weapons will have little effect on it, as we apparently demonstrated earlier. I've never heard of such a demon pronouncing itself a ruler or being a master of divine or arcane magic before, though."
Sophy winces as she looks down at the unnatural wounds on her skin but insists, "No, Victor, I'll be all right. I don't want to waste Father Zantus's wand. Someone might need it more than me. We do need to go find Ameiko, though, quickly. Maybe the Father will be able to tell us how to deal with that awful little thing," she cheers up a little at the thought.
Anger welling up inside him as to why she won't heal herself, Victor keeps his calm, albeit barely, and keeps his response cordial. "Very well...Miss Sophy." He says unable to look at her directly. Unwanting her, or anyone else, to notice the anger that might be shown upon his face.
"Hmmm...well, I am pretty sure that thing was a demon. I have heard stories of evil wizards that summon demon familiars known as Quasits. These foul creatures are said to be made in part with the spell casters living soul forming a tight bond between demon and master. Most are resistant to poison and electricity. Also, normal weapons will have little effect on it, as we apparently demonstrated earlier. I've never heard of such a demon pronouncing itself a ruler or being a master of divine or arcane magic before, though."
Turning his attention upon Wren, he listens to her explain what this creature was. "I do not care what or where it thinks it rules. It cannot remain down here alive. We are going to have to find a way to end this threat and unfortunately, I do not know how we propose to do that. It destroyed Brock's weapon, how can we stop it from destroying ours?" He pauses a moment. "Regardless, we can do nothing about it now. Let us see what else is down here and then think on what to do about our little, 'Queen'." He says as he readies to move on, bow in hand.
Then we should keep moving. Brock, I know if isn't ideal, but do you want to take my rapier until we are out of here?
Grabbing his shortspear, "Or you can use my shortspear if you wish, Brock. That way Eponine can keep her rapier and not be weaponless. It is not as devastating as your hammer was but it is better than nothing, no?" He asks him as he holds it out for him to take.
"I have a dagger," Sophy offers, as the game of musical weapons continues. "Almost anyone could make better use of it than I do."
Victor looks around at the offered weapons. "You wouldn't happen to know how to use two weapons at once, would you Brock? It seems you have no shortage of offers." He says with an ever so slight wry grin.
Brock graciously accepts the shortspear.
After the weapons are exchanged, the party heads back down the long hall. Turning right they enter a small chamber. A red marble statue of a strikingly beautiful but, at the same time, monstrously enraged human woman stands in the middle of this room, her stony expression twisted in fury. The woman wears flowing robes, and her long hair is held back from her face by an intricate headdress of hooks and blades. In her left hand she carries a large book, the face of which is inscribed with a seven-pointed star. Her right hand holds a glittering metal and ivory ranseur. The hole in the western wall leads back into the old dug tunnel you entered this place through. This could be the groups last chance to head to the surface before pressing on.
"Ah, this is more to my liking. Do you mind, ma'am?" Brock moves to the statue and takes the ranseur from her right hand.
"Ah, this is more to my liking. Do you mind, ma'am?" Brock moves to the statue and takes the ranseur from her right hand.
The weapon pulls free of the statue easily, and a quick once over shows that it is a high quality weapon as much as it is a work of art.