It's not until Pip steps in that the Pathfinders finally lay out the naga. Extremely injured, but not dead, the party finally catches their breath!
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Well, that was sort of unexpected but she does seem a bit mad. I wonder what caused it? A bit coincidental that it happened as we arrived...Does anyone have a good way to tie up a snake, can you even tie up a snake?
Garam looks around for somewhere they could leave the naga until they can get access to a restoration.
I guess we better find our missing pathfinder asap.
Nothing jumps out for tying up the naga... Though you also have no reason to suspect she could follow (not that that helps if you find yourselves returning this way.)
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Boom stops with the suddenness of the other shoe dropping. Her intense curiosity of the beyond has been overcome but curiosity of what's in Garam's bag:
"Say! Didn't you find a scroll with a restore-y spell (store-ey hee hee!!)?"
Before leaving, Boom halts the action...
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Mohok pauses, grunting as he realizes how right Boom is, and how useful the realization would have been just minutes ago. "Guess it wouldn't be fair to say you should have remembered this earlier, since none of us remembered it either," he remarks. "Shall we see if we can help that crazy snake?"
As he speaks, he pulls a wand from his belt and taps himself, healing the charred spots where the lightning struck.
The spell seems like it worked...
Her gimlet eyes slowly widen as the magic undoes the madness within her. The naga quickly looks about at what her madness has wrought. she is overwhelmed with remorse, especially looking back at her mate and clutch. She gives a cry of anguish before thinking hard about what to say next, “That girl unleashed Moukadeem’s madness and she foolishly seeks to steal the lamp. Go! Undo this!”
The naga begins to sob, uncaring of the remaining wounds.
Garam opts for speed over additional intel, and none too soon!
A burning river of molten magma bubbles and churns, surging ever forward, smoldering the edges of its obsidian shores. Globs of molten rock shoot skyward, only to splatter against the ceiling some 40 feet above. The resulting impact causes globules of magma and sharp debris fragments to cascade into the magma stream below. Two small beaches rest to the east and west of this section of the underground flow.
The tremors are getting worse, and to add to the danger a cohesive body of fire rises up from the magma. The crackles and pops forming a language foreign to mortal ears.
"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
The elemental rises up to meet and stop the party, eager to burn something... It doesn't seem to be interested in conversation.
Round 1:
Garam: Go
Fire Elemental: TBD
Pip: TBD
Velidor: TBD
BOOM: TBD
Svetlana: TBD
Mohok: TBD
This is a fire elemental, and an elder one at that. It's huge! It's touch burns, and can set things aflame rather easily. It's particularly vulnerable to cold, but weapons don't really do much against its elemental body. While they can see in the dark, they are fooled by things such as invisibility.
Round 1:
Garam: Go
Fire Elemental: TBD
Pip: TBD
Velidor: TBD
BOOM: TBD
Svetlana: TBD
Mohok: TBD
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Oh my, what an enormous fire elemental you are. Watch out everyone, it's hot and burny and weapons may not hurt it much. Use cold attacks if you have them!
With that Garam raises his hands and quickly casts a spell. Ice and snow begin to form around his outstretched arms and then erupt out into a cone of pelting snowballs.
Then, taking discretion as the better part of valor Garam retreats behind his allies.
The ice and snow streak like comets as they streak towards the elemental! The ice seems to do little to harm it, but the fire cracks and twists a bit, as if impeded.
The elemental convects its way forward and a pair of flame pillars lash out from the body. Unable to target Garam it goes for the cover in front him, Velidor.
for
for
Also make a REF DC 22 or catch fire, immediately taking an additional
Round 1:
Garam: Rime Flurry
Fire Elemental: ATK
Pip: Go
Velidor: Go
BOOM: Go
Svetlana: Go
Mohok: Go
Elemental: 6
-Posted with Wayfinder
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"OOOOH! A FIRE SNAKE!" Boom exclaims, abandoning her affection for the carpet and vaulting over the elemental on her wings . Once behind it, she twists mid-air and torques her torso into a terrific thrust of her titanic broadblade -- which sails right through a gap in the writhing beast's ember coils.
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Pip has had nothing but bad experiences with elementals so far, and she's quite intimidated by the size of this one. The way it's pummeling Velidor does't help, and she knows it's time to pulls out the big guns. She leans back slightly on the carpet to cause it to fly backwards, then begins casting a spell. Her chanting start slow, but very quickly increases in paces. "Go, like the wind," she jokes before immediately shrugging an apology. "Sorry, couldn't resist that one."
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Velidor does his best to steady himself on the carpet as this is a new experience for him... carpets are for walking on... not flying on... he then tries to take aim with his musket to send all the shots he takes at the same place... but his musket jams up on the second shot and he spends the rest of his round clearing the misfire...
Mohok closes, which gives the elemental an opening to strike: for and a REF DC 22 of catch fire and immediately take another Fire damage. Still the Half-orc's swipe cools the creature's fires just a bit.
Right on his heels, the Hellion makes a single hit of her own!
Boom goes for the big positional shift, leaving a massive opportunity for the guardian. for and a REF DC 22 of catch fire and immediately take another Fire damage. And the capricious Pathfinder misses.
Pip hastens the party to give everyone a better chance at not only defeating the guardian, but also avoiding the flames.
Round 1:
Garam: Rime Flurry
Fire Elemental: ATK
Pip: Haste
Velidor: Go + REF
BOOM: Miss + REF
Svetlana: Hit
Mohok: Hit + REF
Elemental: 31
Velidor looks to cluster all his shots, but even the one he gets off misses the target. the elemental takes the moment to lash out, yet again! for and REF DC 22 save or take an immediate extra and catch fire.
Round 1 Saves to be made:
Boom
Mohok
Vlidor
Round 2:
Garam: Go
Fire Elemental: TBD
Pip: TBD
Velidor: TBD
BOOM: TBD
Svetlana: TBD
Mohok: TBD
Elemental: 31
Garam again uses a persist spell, this time to to try and overwhelm the elemental. , and the elemental's flames swirl and crack as the spell takes hold!
It lashes out with rage at both Mohok and Boom finding his aim regardless of the glittering dust:
MISS
and
for and REF DC 22 or take and catch fire.
The elemental tries to burn the spell away , but can't
Round 2:
Garam: Glitterdust
Fire Elemental: ATK
Pip: Go
Velidor: Go
BOOM: Go
Svetlana: Go
Mohok: Go
Elemental: 31 (Blind - save each turn, Entangled through round 2)
With the elemental blinded, it's incredible speed of reflex makes it a MUCH easier target as all three of the Hellknight's swings connect.
Round 2:
Garam: Glitterdust
Fire Elemental: ATK
Pip: Go
Velidor: Go
BOOM: Go
Svetlana: Hit
Mohok: Go
Elemental: 81 (Blind - save each turn, Entangled through round 2)
Mohok's supernaturally fast falchion works quickly to press the advantage. Flames spit and exinguish as he works through. The elemental is now sporting holes where it is simply coming apart..
Round 2:
Garam: Glitterdust
Fire Elemental: ATK
Pip: Go
Velidor: Go
[b]BOOM: Go
Svetlana: Hit
Mohok: Hits
Elemental: 127 (Blind - save each turn, Entangled through round 2)
The party begins to pile it on, taking quick advantage of the blinded guardian. Pip is no different, striking hard. Still fire burns inside it, and it's going to take more. Can Velidor and Boom take it down before it has a chance to thrash about again?
Round 1 Saves to be made:
Boom
Velidor
Round 2:
Garam: Glitterdust
Fire Elemental: ATK
Pip: Hit
Velidor: Go
BOOM: Go
Svetlana: Hit
Mohok: Hits
Elemental: 139 (Blind - save each turn, Entangled through round 2)
Boom's somewhat masochistic reaction bears no resemblance to the onslaught she brings.
By the second swing she's cutting at smoke. By the third swing it's just for fun...
The party looks about for a moment, but finds nothing on the ledges. Whatever this elemental was guarding is well behind it....
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The woodsman curses his luck for not knowing to shoot so close to the foe and taking an attack which forced him to rush his shot causing the miss... but the agile woodsman, while taking the initial attack manages to put out the flames on him before any of them ignite his blackpowder...
a bit singed, the woodsman puts his powder horn away in his magical bandoleer and decides to use alchemical rounds for the time being... a tad safer in this environment.
After adjusting his gear and tapping off Velidor is ready to continue.
The party's victory is hard to celebrate. As Velidor and others heal their wounds, the seismic activity in the Furnace grows worse. Moving quickly everyone makes for the end of the hall.
A mosaic covers the upper half of this iron hall. The mosaic depicts a sad scene, for several Qadirans lie dead and burning before a mighty temple and their families weep nearby. The scene flows toward the south wall, where a man garbed in white silk robes embroidered with gold thread looks to the west with hopeful eyes. On the hall’s south wall, a set of ornamental double door seems incomplete; its center is devoid of decorations in a six-foot-diameter circle. Flanking this door, four additional cast iron doors, two on the east wall and two on the west, stand closed.
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Once the elemental is defeated, Mohok draws his trusty wand from his belt and heals the spots where he's been smashed and burned. He puts the wand away, then rubs his chin with a pair of massive, gnarled fingers as he studies the mosaic and the doors. "Anybody know who that is in the picture? Aside from just somebody sad?" he asks.
Turning his attention to the double doors, he groans deeply, "Another set of tricky doors! Wonder what the puzzle is here?" His fingers wander to the top of his head, scratching in thought as he ponders. "Before we had six doors, and six little slices of pie to find in them. Now we've got four doors, I hope this big door only needs four slices."
His fingers then *snap* as he recalls the inscription on the armor they found. "While six and sound is safe and sound, four may find you buried underground..." he recites. "That's what it said, right? So is that just telling us we're underground, or is it a warning? Better look carefully for surprises, folks."
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"Awww, where'd it go?" Boom grins, stowing her weapon and swooping to retrieve her rug. She produces a healstick and pops back a few vials.
In the next room, Boom studies the murals intently. "Such artistry! Ooooh, and the pigmentation has kept in the heat! I wonder if there's something in the paints!" She takes an etching absentmindedly with her spare hand and tail.
"This white robed figure is looking west, so maybe those doors first!" The excitement is bubbling from her mouth. "Maybe the ceiling will collapse on us if the pieces are put in place! Or put in place incorrectly!" Her smile doesn't fade until she realizes the implications. "I did bring a crowbar..."
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Hovering at the entrance of the room Garam looks around, openly sceptical. I think we should take the warning seriously, I really don't want to get buried, that could be really bad. Concerned, he takes out a slim wand of pale birch and tries to activate freedom of movement.
He then takes out a second one of light blue crystal and does the same for heighten awareness but it starts to sputter and spark alarmingly.
Bugger! Well this stupid thing won't work for me any more but the rest of you are welcome to make use of it if you want. Pip, Boom, Mohok, you should all be able to use it if you want to.
Composing himself he mutters a quick spell and scans the room with detect magic before giving it a once over check for more mundane traps and possible secret doors.
Certainly those are most interesting murals. Once we have recovered our missing Pathfinder I would love to stay here a while and study them in proper depth, assuming the ceiling doesn't fall on us of course!
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"A ceiling falling in would be really inconvenient, and not quite the ending one would expect for a Hellknight. Perhaps when we have time to peruse this place in more detail you can weave us a lovely tale about the place" the Hellknight offers hopefully.
The Hellknight keeps watch at the rear, in case anything comes flying in over the way they came.
Indeed there are 4 such wedges in the double doors. Garam looks about as he's pretty sure he catches Boom licking the walls to test the pigments... This main room, however, has nothing untoward as far as Garam can tell.
In the back, the Hellknight keeps watch on the rumbling and bubbling river.
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Pip has been silent so far, still quite impressed with the way they dealt with the fire elemental. "I'm with Garam on this one," she adds cautiously. [b]"The warning rings a little too true, and the setup seems obvious; lure in people with six doors and six wedges first, then hit them once they're unsuspecting and try to collect the wedges for this door. I don't want the find the entire roof to collapse on us.
She studies the double door in the south wall for any other features, or a way to open it that doesn't involve the wedges.
Pip looks the double doors over, finds that the door is, in fact, trapped. She almost missed it, but it looks like a magical trap similar to the one in the first puzzle room.