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The old man's eyes look around as he follows the others, nervously scanning the room for signs of threats. He cannot help the worried look that creeps across his face and unintentionally furrows his brow, as every shadow in the bleak light seems to briefly take on the form of a horned figure with hanging, billowing scrolls affixed to its body.
He tightens his grip on the longbow, ready to release a volley of arrows at the first sign of danger. Of course, he knows if there is a creature, and it is currently unseen becuase it is invisible, then he could be walking into the same trap that killed him mere hours ago. This thoughts sends a shiver up his spine, as he looks to the others, trying maintain any semblance of calm.
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Cyrus scans the room, catching the sight of Ibid's apprehensive look. He slides his step over, nonchalantly putting himself in front of the old man.
"When the wizard I bought the scroll from showed me how to use it, I asked how I would know for sure it worked. You know, being able to see invisibility apparently isn't much different than regular sight. He assured me that I will know it when I see it."
His repeat of the instructions were intended to reassure himself and the others that he would, in fact, be able to see invisible things.
Not sure that came out quite right...
Cyrus moves into the room, scanning carefully for traps.
"I expect if there were to be any traps in here, they will be magical. I am pretty sure I can dodge out of the way if I set one of those off."
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"What this!?!" Amaranti cries out when the magic energies from his spell escapes his control. Surprised and shocked, he doesn't have much time to feel bad about losing the spell, when Kaisharga already carries the two into the air. The giant worm's wings buzz as it tries to maneuver into steady flight in the shaking hallway.
"Magic dangerous here. Best remember!" Amaranti shouts, perhaps as a warning to others, or a reminder for himself. Finally the flight is in control, and the pair join the ranks with their companions. Amaranti grips his weapon, and waits Cyrus' scouting information.
"Careful boy..." he wishes Cyrus, even if the ninja is too far to hear him.
The group stays near the door as Cyrus moves through the first set of columns and stops just short of the second set. As he passes by the second row, he accidentally bumps into a floating book which seems to discharge the magic as it thuds onto the ground.
There don't appear to be any threats in the area for the Drongos to address.
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"Interesting..." Cyrus muses as he reaches out to touch another book, causing it to drop to the floor with a thud.
"I wonder if it takes a person touching it, or if anything can discharge it. Its like a twisted, magical version of static energy."
Cyrus grabs the book he just knocked to the floor and gives it a careful underhand toss towards another floating object.
[dice=Ranged touch "attack"]1d20+12[/dice]
"We might be able to discharge all of the floating energy by touching everything. Though I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried one of these carries a more substantial charge..." he trails off as he tosses books and other objects at the slowly floating targets.
Cyrus' thrown novel clips a floating globe, causing both to be instantly consumed in a burst of ice. The pair of now-ice cubes hits the floor and shatters. The piece of the globe that represented Taldor slides across the floor to Cyrus' feet.
Shrugging, the man signals that it is safe and the rest of the party moves forward, assuming the SOP of two wide to move more effectively down the center of the room, but as Gunari and Lort move into the nearest area, the half-orc's floating foot scrapes a floating book and it erupts in flames zinging through his body and ricocheting off of Gunari and Finarin.
As this occurs, the fog that can barely be seen around the corner seems to float towards the center of the room, appearing almost fully from behind the wall.
Initiative:
Initiative:
1st: Ibid; Gunari; Cyrus
2nd: ???
3rd: Amaranti; Kaisharga; Lort; Finarin
3th: ???
Pending
Reflex Save from Lort, Gunari, Finarin
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"Heh. Heheh. This could be fun. Hey Lort, we can blame it on the magic when they ask why everything is broken..." Cyrus smirks, taking his dagger out of one of the leg sheaths.
"Eh, maybe when we come back through." he shrugs. He leaves the dagger in his off hand, his Wakizashi still in his main as he heads to the other end of the room.
"Better not let them touch you, in case they unleash that elemental energy again."
As Cyrus pushes forward, he bends and ducks, making sure to watch where he is going and avoids touching any more floating objects.
For now.
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Lort leads the way with Gunari, making sure Cyrus doesn't get too cocky touching things. Where possible, he floats 5ft above the ground and also touches the occasional object with his sword to discharge the magical effect.
"I prayed for make whole today, so I've got it covered either way," the half-orc smirks and slashes at another book, "This is way more fun than reading!"
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Lort shows that once more he can be as nimble - if not more so - than Cyrus and leaps out of the way. Why did I have to discharge that book with my foot?
Amazed at his own attention to detail from his lectures, Lort shouts out, "That's a Hungry Fog! It likes negative energy... and graveyards. Apparently, it is some kind of ooze."
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The old man feels an in rush of long forgotten knowledge at hearing Lort's exclamation, and then calls out to the others in reply to his friend. The sound of his voice echoing off the walls surprises even him...
The giant patch of fog actually is a type of ooze known as a Hungry Fog. It is closely aligned with graveyards and has an affinity for negative energy.
The ooze is not quite an ooze as it doesn't have a corporeal form, but is a gaseous entity that is susceptible to wind. It also cannot trap people inside of it like other oozes, though you do not want to stand inside one for long.
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"Hungry Fog, eh? Well, as they say, if it bleeds, we can kill it. But does it bleed? I dunno, so I guess I'll have to find out!"
Gunari rushes forward, feet firmly on the ground. He charges the thing, hoping to determine if he can actually affect it. However, before he does that, he does use Sacred Weapon for an additional +1 & Ghost Touch, just in case.
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After calling aloud to the others, it is as if another piece of the old man has returned to him. He could instantly recall sitting in a stuffy lecture within the protective walls of Promise, learning of all manner of peoples, races, and creatures. The strange mist-esc creature before him and his friends was but one of many he had learned about, not with intention of learning how to kill such entities, but knowledge by its very nature lent all sorts of wonderful gifts. As this memory came flooding back to him, Ibid could feel the familiar weight of the bow in hand and with a quick narrowing of his eyes, he took a moment to wrestle with his pack and draw free a set of arrows.
He took a step forward, clearing a firing lane to odd wall of grey fog and drawing back on the string, preparing to release an arrow tipped with the hardened ectoplasmic remains of some long destroyed formless undead creature.
[dice=damage, weapon blanch ghost salt]2d8+10[/dice]
Burning Arc strikes the rapier which has a hardness of 24 (adamantine and +2). Maximum damage from the blast is 3d6, so it cannot penetrate the hardness of the weapon, thus no damage.
Relevant rule: Items Surviving after a Saving Throw
Unless the descriptive text for the spell specifies otherwise, all items carried or worn by a creature are assumed to survive a magical attack. If a creature rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against the effect, however, an exposed item is harmed (if the attack can harm objects). Refer to Table: Items Affected by Magical Attacks. Determine which four objects carried or worn by the creature are most likely to be affected and roll randomly among them. The randomly determined item must make a saving throw against the attack form and take whatever damage the attack dealt.
The flames scorch Lort, Finarin and Gunari, though only the last seems to take the full brunt. As Gunari is caught unawares, the flaming burst screams past Gunari's rapier, but the flames aren't hot enough to damage it due to the adamantine and magical enhancements.
Ibid steps up and draws his bow, choosing to loose a ghost salted arrow at the foggy ooze, but the arrow catches on his sleeve and clatters to the ground as the brittle ghost salt crumbles from the tip.
Gunari, not pleased at being burned, rushes the ooze, but the creature is self aware and lashes out with its tendril to strike down the man before it reaches him.
A wisp of fog lashes out piercing the man as he charges, but the vapor seems to pass right through him as he feels the very essence of his body withering and dying.
Undeterred, the warpriest takes a mighty lunge with Cayden's Churchkey and slams it into the ooze.
Initiative:
1st: Ibid; Gunari; Cyrus
2nd: ???
3rd: Amaranti; Kaisharga; Lort; Finarin
3th: ???
Status
Lort @ 72/81 HP
Finarin @ 50/57 HP
Gunari @ 41/75 HP
Ooze @ 28 damage
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What in the blazes am I going to do against this? the ninja thinks as he blinks out of view.
Invisible, and able to see invisible things, he sprints across the room, dodging floating objects and hoping to not set off another fiery maelstrom that might hurt one of his friends. He looks at the invisible wakizashi in his hands, and hopes that its magical enchantment is enough to do something to this clouded creature.
As Cyrus and Gunari move closer, the former invisible, the ooze doesn't seem to react to his presence, though this is only apparent to Cyrus as his own compatriots have no idea where he is either.
That being said, swarms of tiny spiders seems to be swarming around inside the ooze as a large animated husk, seemingly from an enormous spider, filled with thousands of living spiders that fall from its body like drops of blood appears from around the corner and moves through the Hungry Fog.
The exoskeleton of a deathweb is cracked and full of holes to allow the resident spiders easy passage into and out of it. Although the exoskeleton can be up to 10 feet long, the largest spiders within are only 6 inches in length. The variety in the sizes of the internal spiders allows them to ably move all parts of the exoskeleton, giving the massive carapace amazing dexterity and swiftness, as well as cleverness, perception, and presence. These creatures swarm around the outside of the carapace at times and attack nearby targets automatically, trying to poison any potential food.
The spider-like creature moves through the ooze and whips out an appendage as it strikes at Gunari.
The attack sends Gunari flying through the air, but the column right behind him stops him from moving too far as he slams into the marble.
The column crumbles a bit as Gunari collapses to the ground, nearly feeling his ribcage collapse in on itself from the attack as the spiders begin to swarm towards the prone Gunari.
As Gunari groans on the floor, Lort notices that the flaming book seems to be reconstituting from its ash state, almost as if time around the book is rewinding.
Initiative:
1st: Ibid; Gunari; Cyrus
2nd: Spiderthing
3rd: Amaranti; Kaisharga; Lort; Finarin
3th: Hungry Fog
Status
Lort @ 72/81 HP
Finarin @ 50/57 HP
Gunari-Prone @ 4/75 HP
Ooze @ 28 damage
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"Gunari!"
Shocked by the brutal beating the priest just took, Amaranti doesn't stop to hesitate. He sends a mental command to his eidolon to charge forwards, and the eidolon soars over the half-orc and the elf. During the flight, Amaranti lowers his lance, and aims it towards the spidery thing. That looks at least more solid of the two possible targets.
Now he just hopes Lort and Finarin will be joining him soon.
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A fog and a swarm of spiders? Still, no mortal flesh to feed upon, but battle must be joined. Reluctant but obedient, Kaisharga lashes it wings for momentum, and charges through the air. The massive creature rushes towards the spider husk, and reaches out with it's teeth-filled maw. Thousand of spiders disappear into the gaping mouth, making crunching noises as they are being smashed into pieces.
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The old man looks on as the stranger forms of tiny spiders within some larger exoskeleton pour into view...
"Gunari, watch out!" he shouts, and watches as his friend hit by the monstrosity. He takes a moment to recall what he knows, then calls it out to the others...
This is a deathweb. A deathweb is the undead exoskeleton of a massive spider animated with the vilest necromancy. The spells that create this monstrosity bind to it thousands of normal spiders, which together form the mind of the undead beast like an arachnid hive. These smaller spiders live in and direct their exoskeleton home, working together to swarm around the deathweb and weave its web sheets.
The exoskeleton of a deathweb is cracked and full of holes to allow the resident spiders easy passage into and out of it. Although the exoskeleton can be up to 10 feet long, the largest spiders within are only 6 inches in length. The variety in the sizes of the internal spiders allows them to ably move all parts of the exoskeleton, giving the massive carapace amazing dexterity and swiftness, as well as cleverness, perception, and presence. These creatures swarm around the outside of the carapace at times and attack nearby targets automatically, trying to poison any potential food.
Being an undead husk, the creature is actually healed by negative energy and it tends to use its overwhelming strength to subdue enemies.
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"Gunari, do you need a channel?" calls out Lort, unsure if his friend would prefer a small amount of healing over a big , "Otherwise, I'm sure I can beat these things down for you!"
Lort brings his greatsword down like he's chopping wood.
Lort prays to Kurgess to shine his radiance upon the situation.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Taking a few quick step forward, Finarin sees his dear friend thrown mercilessly across the room. At the same time, in his periphery, he can see the book manifesting into its original state.
What is it about this book? It must wait, but this is a mystery that must be solved.
"Fear not friends, for it is time for .... magic and steel."
Funneling his arcane power into his scimitar, and whispering words in the arcane language, Finarain can feel his body transforming. As his friends look on they can see him streak out, barely moving his feet as blurred image of Finarin trails him across the tiles of the library floor.
Ending next to the swarm, he strikes out multiple times against the foe that assailed his friends.
Lort cuts down the ooze (somehow) as Amaranti, Finarin and Kaisharga charge the deathweb. The each land harmful blows, but the swarming spiders around the deathweb charge and swarm Finarin, biting him repeatedly.
As this happens, the book seemingly catches fire against, possibly stuck in a time loop and sends a blaze of magic at Amaranti that bounces to...
Kaisharga and Finarin.
Initiative:
1st: Ibid; Gunari; Cyrus
2nd: Spiderthing
3rd: Amaranti; Kaisharga; Lort; Finarin
Status
Lort @ 72/81 HP
Finarin @ 47/57 HP
Gunari-Prone @ 4/75 HP
Deathweb @ 71 damage
Pending
Reflex Saves from Finarin, Kaisharga, Amaranti (11, 7, 20)
Fortitude Save from Finarin (Poison)
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"Gunari, stay down!" the old man yells as he steps closer and prepares to release arrow after arrow the towering spider creature. "We'll get you out of this!" His heels clatter gently together and he can immediately feel surge of adrenaline that sends his heart into a racing flutter. As he pulls back on the bowstring, he readies to continue firing if the monstrosity does not fall away from his friend.
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Cyrus breaths a sigh of relief when the monstrous mist is cut apart.
I have no idea what I was going to do against that thing...
With a more solid target to attack, despite the natural revulsion of spiders, he steps his invisible form forward. His wakizashi hacks once, then twice, trying to cut the husk apart. In the back of his mind, he worries about where the spiders will go once they no longer have a husk to control.
for
for
for
With a volley of arrows, Ibid successfully strikes the deathweb and sends it back to Count Ranalc's realm. The swarm of spiders perish as Kaisharga avoids flames and the group quickly moves away from the continually erupting book.
Once the First World invaders are defeated, you search the sealed wing for signs of the fugitive and Cyrus finds a human arm severed just below the elbow lying under one of the library tables. On the hand of the arm glints a gold ring with an arcane rune emblazoned on it. Next to the arm is a longbow that gives off a magical aura.
The day grows late and the group knocks on the door to tell of their clearing of the library as the Second Archivist hands you the requested codices.
"Thank you for clearing the room. Hopefully, this book will be able to aid you." he remarks.
The more intelligence-based members of the group look over the codices. The unwieldy ledger describes a lantern with an intricate metal frame included as part of an estate auction in the Chelish city Kintargo. An anonymous buyer purchased a sizeable lot that included the lantern, and that person in turn donated much of the objects to the Blakros Museum in 4668 ar. The documentation detailed the lantern’s legendary ability to absorb the soul of a dying man, and anyone holding the lantern could demand that the imprisoned spirit answer her questions. The stories suggest that it could hold but one soul, and the curator speculated that capturing another might set the current captive free. However, the lantern’s inactive state suggested the powers were either fictional or dormant.
"Did you find the woman with the lantern who started all of this?" asks Qilaus out of curiousity.
Status
Lort @ 72/81 HP
Finarin @ 42/57 HP
Gunari @ 37/75 HP
Amaranti @ 47/67 HP
"The woman who caused all of this damage." Qilaus says as if that is apparent.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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"Woman? See no woman. Just big dead spider. How you know woman make damage?"
Amaranti is happy to let the others dig in to the stack of codices, while he waits for his healing magics to work. Something the Archivist mentioned bugs the Garundi, but the thought takes time to process. But finally:
"Wait! You say woman have lantern?"
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Without even thinking, Finarin pass his wand to Gunari.
Turning to the Archivist, "Woman ... with a lantern you say? I believe the First Archivist would not have failed to mention that ... important detail.
"We did find ... well part of a fugitive in there, but I fear that his soul is not at rest.
"The object we are looking for seems to have come from Kintargo. Do you, or more importantly the First Archivist, know of any large donors from that Chelish city? Perhaps if they were philanthropic enough to donate to the museum ... they likewise donated here."
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"Yea, what Amaranti said." Cyrus adds. "And Finarin." he masks his annoyance, though still punctuating Finarin's jab at the man's rank.
"So why exactly didn't you just give us this information from the beginning? You didn't think it was important? What in the nine hells is going on here? First Nigel conveniently drops us off in a death trap after leading us on a merry goose chase for three days, and now you withhold critically important information as if it was obvious to everyone, despite the fact that you are working so hard to keep all of what is going on here a secret."
Cyrus shakes his head, holding his hand to his forehead as if a headache is growing in his temples. "I just don't get you people." he mutters.
"Just tell us all of what you know. I think it's pretty clear all of this is linked. We are searching for the Aspis agents who stole Arem Zey's soul in that lantern, and they are one step ahead of us trying to destroy any link to the artifact that might help us track them down. Maybe you don't care about Arem Zey or the pathfinder society, but you do care about the decimvirate's political pull. Stop being coy and secretive and just help us."
"It would behoof you, second archivist, to make our jobs easier. I can also say it would be rather detrimental to your career path, should you choose to continue to be obstinate."
Cyrus licks his stretched, thin lips and gives the man a withering stare.
Cyrus holds up his hand all of a sudden, cutting the second archivist off before he even has a chance to answer.
"Wait a minute. Nigel had us digging in his basement for two full days before he dumped us in that absurd death trap. We never found what we were looking for, because he had it all along. He didn't give it to us until after most of us survived the battle. Now we are here, and yet again someone is witholding information from us while we flounder and waste time, until we survive yet another trap filled with obscene and horrid things meant to kill us. Only after we have dealt with stuff and made it clear we aren't going to die so easily do we get the information we are after, when both times it easily could have been given to us before hand."
Cyrus purses his lips for a moment, letting those thoughts settle on his companions. "We are being played." The ninja whips around, pointing his finger at the librarian. "And you are a part of it, willing or not. Now $*%&ing answer me, before I get really pissed."
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"Cyrus, you really have it in for that elven librarian," Lort laughs and claps the ninja on the back, "I didn't know that having Ibid die would make you so paranoid. I'll try my best not to let him perish again."
Lort looks around confused for a second time, "What? Too soon?"
Lort towers over the second archivist, placing his mailed hands over each of his shoulders and squeezing slightly. "Don't fret, friends," Lort smiles, "He's snooty but he has been cooperative, and I'm sure he'll continue to be cooperative. Isn't that right, Qilaus?"