As the moaning intensified, Lucina looked up and finally noticed the creature. Hmm...I think I've seen this before. she thought, as she considered how suicidal it would be to fly up to the creature that was quite a bit larger than her current size. Maybe that's not a good plan. What about the others. Bronwyn isn't doing so well. Palisade and Vi probably can't reach. Her eyes turned to Squeak. Bombing seems like it would be effective. Maybe I can help Squeak... Landing near him, she prepares to flap her wings, hoping to create a wind effect that would keep any bomb thrown on target.
The rooms are 15 foot high. The hallways are 10 foot high. You can remain in eagle form that is fine.
Squeak...
Squeak passed his Lucerne Hammer to Palisade. "Protect." he stated - not feeling the need to designate who.
From his sactchel he drew and threw a bomb in an arc. The volatile projectile exploded above the creature, dousing it in burning naptha.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, yes
, hit
Vi stepped forward, hesitating a moment, as she didn't want to harm Squeak while attacking the cloaker. Instead, she resheathed her weapons and grabbed the "shoulder" of the creature with both hands. Pulling with all her strength, she shouted, "Squeak! Get out of there!"
Bronwyn wasn't aware of much except thinking she was going to die. There wasn't much contents left in her stomach but this didn't stop her body from trying to spew whatever was present out the wizard's mouth. Even though she couldn't focus, she did reach for her wand. She clutched it tightly and waited for the sickness to end.
Accepting unit Squeak's offered hammer just in time to see its old squadmate go down under the mass of leathery wings, Palisade resolved to make good use of the loaned weapon, even though he no longer needed it, as the enemy had decided to come down where it could be reached.
Palisade stepped over to stand behind Squeak and swung the long-hafted hammer above his head, landing a heavy blow on the strange creature, smashing it against the wall.
Lucina watched as the creature latched on to Squeak. That's not good. It will engulf him. We need to get it off of him... Shifting towards the creature, she lashed out against it with wings and beak.
"'M fine..." Squeak assured everyone from under a leathery cloaked weight.
A moment later, still immobile, he spoke again. "just kill it"
"'M fine..." Squeak assured everyone from under a leathery cloaked weight.
[dice=grapple+aid]1d20+5+2
A moment later, still immobile, he spoke again. "just kill it"
Just to clear things up. The cloaker is dead and I've moved things along to the next room.
However, I can use this for a response to 'Actions 1?'.
Questions?
Game on!
"I really want to smash this altar." Squeak whined (literally, hos voice having been damaged earlier) "Can I smash this altar, B?"
As the others discussed destroying the altar, Lucina flew upwards to examine the hooks and chains, as well as how they interacted with the altar. Surely this strange design has some significant. However, once again she found that her knowledge of the Dhakkani Empire to be extremely limited.
When unit Squeak managed to untangle himself from the leathery folds of his enemy, Palisade offered its hand to help the other 'forged back to his feet. "Grateful. Thank you for the loan of your hammer. It is a very serviceable weapon," it said, offering the lucrene hammer back to its rightful owner.
waiting for some sort of decision...
"Either we wait while I smash this altar, or we move on." Squeak demanded. "We are on the clock."
Squeak raised his fist, and slammed it into the stone. Admantine rammed into stone, and Squeak proved himself a siege 'Forged when the stone gave. Cracks starred out from the point of imact.
Squeak gave a low noise presumably meant to be a whistle. "Let's move."
The companions resumed their formation and moved on into the darkened tomb. Their intent; to kill or save the vampire - and even they knew not which.
Action 1:
Bronwyn slowly got to her feet. She wrinkled her nose, "Ugh, the taste in my mouth is horrid. I could really use some wine."
Action 2:
Bronwyn held up a cautionary hand, "Don't smash it just yet, let me think."
"Acknowledged." Squeak responded flatly.
"Hang on," Vi said, "There's a secret drawer back here. Let's see what's in it before you turn this thing to dust."
"Acknowledged." Squeak responded flatly.
"This one believes destruction of the altar might draw the attention of the entity it was sanctified to... assuming such a state persists over decades or centuries of neglect," Palisade offered. "But there is always the possibility a sanctified altar functions as the nexus for spells cast upon the temple itself, and its destruction would unravel said spells. If required, this one can assist - the blessing of the Creator-Goddess grants this one the power over inanimate matter."
Lucina trotted around the room, anxious to keep moving. Don't they know we have a vampire to catch? However, she calmed her pacing when Vi mentioned a drawer. Hmm...That could contain information.
Squeak's well-honed fear of falling stood him in good stead. As the first stone started to fall he flung himself on to a chain.
Vi was so intent on extracting possible treasure from the drawer that she did not respond to the tripping of the trap with her normal quick reflexes. Crying out in alarm, her hands flailed around, hoping to find purchase, but she only managed to swipe at empty air.
Her cry of surprise quickly changed to one of terror as she fell backwards into the inky dark pit. A crunching sound accompanied her arrival at the bottom, and then she was silent.
Bronwyn was so distracted from first puking and secondly trying to remember what she could about the temple that she was completely unprepared for the floor to drop out. Her scream echoed throughout the chamber as she disappeared from sight.
"Bronwyn!" Wailed Squeak.
Lucina tried to take to the sky reactively when she saw the floor fall. However, in her panic she flew too close to one of the hooks in the altar and as in snapped tight, part of her wing got caught inside of it. She let out a loud squawk of pain as she flew back from it wildly. Landing near the edge, she nursed the wing for a few moments until she finally stopped seeing white. Opening her eyes, she looked and saw that Vi, Bronwyn and Palisade were all gone. .
Realizing this was more serious a clipped wing, she hovered over the edge to see them injured at the bottom. She began looking at each of them to see if anyone had rope tied to their back.
Squeak clung to the chain high, high above the pit. Hundreds of pounds of adamantine suspended precariously over his companions.
Somewhere a rivet popped.
"I want you to stay calm." Squeak said in a voice so calm it was obviously effected. "Look around, and see if you can see some stairs, or something."
Palisade fell headlong into the chasm that opened beneath its feet, scraping against a wall to land in a heap of armor and weapons with an almighty clatter. Bastion, far nimbler than his little brother, had launched himself from Palisade's shoulder to land on Squeak's head, scrambling for purchase on the alchemist nigh-indestructible body with his tiny little claws before finally managing to secure himself.
"Status report. Medical aid would be appreciated," Palisade declared as it got up to its knees.
The bottom of the pit had a musty smell to it; there were puddles of water at the bottom but was otherwise unremarkable.
The fact that no bones were at the bottom and that the trap could not be armed again without great effort attested to the fact that they were the first to trigger it.
---------------
time to get out...
Not seeing any kind of rope on Squeak, Lucina flew down to the fallen party members. Flying towards their backs with urgency, she began rummaging through their bags, until finally she found what she was looking for on Vi. Pulling out the rope from Vi's pack, she threw it on the floor in the middle of them. Grabbing one end, she flew back upwards and all but charged into Squeak's torso with it, pecking at him incessantly until he took it from her.
Vi cried out again as Bronwyn landed on her, and barely rolled out of the way to avoid being crushed by Palisade. After she caught her breath, she painfully pushed her way to her feet. "Okay, that sucked. Wiping blood from her forehead, she held a hand on the wall to steady herself. Seeing that Lucina was readying their exit, she called up, "Squeak? You okay up there, big guy? Feel like hauling us out? Don't wanna climb..."
Lucina scowled at the creature, trying to determine what is was. However, she was sure that it wasn't friendly. Not wanting to waste too many spells before reaching Lucan, but also nervous to approach the creature at her current side, she instead hung back near Bronwyn, attempting to keep the injured mage shielded from any incoming attacks.
Action 1
"Thank you for your assistance," Palisade said the moment Squeak managed to drag it from the pit. "This one will take over now. Suggestion. Please make use of your wand to repair some of this one's damage - we do not know if all this noise has attracted the attention of guardian creatures."
Getting Vi and Bronwyn out proved much easier for Palisade than hauling the 'forged's considerable bulk had for Squeak - all in all, it was a blessing the alchemist had been quick enough to save himself, for lifting his adamantium-reinforced bulk might have been beyond any and all of them, even if they could work together on the rope. The moment everyone was out Palisade drew its healing wand to perform first aid. "Belatedly. It would seem traps are a real hazard here. A more cautious advance might be called for," the 'forged declared, stating what was now obvious.
"Belatedly. It would seem traps are a real hazard here. A more cautious advance might be called for," the 'forged declared, stating what was now obvious.
Vi rolled her eyes and her shoulders as Palisade made his stunning leap of logic, and Lucina healed her bruised bones and dislocated shoulder. "Thanks, big guy. I'll try to keep that in mind."
Action 2
"Ohugly!!" Vi yelped as the undead creature reared its head at them. Ice already in hand, she pulled her second dagger and got down low into fighter's squat. She didn't want to rush to engage this fella - she waited for it to make its move, to see if she could find some advantage.
unlikely?
1d6 cold, 3d6 SA
Action 1:
"Owwwwww!" Bronwyn moaned. "Why do these things always happen to me?"
Once out of the pit, she thanked both the 'forged for rescuing them. "Let's not do that again, okay?"
"Thank you Palisade. I regret I did not bring a block and tackle to do the job properly. I will start repairs while you pull." Squeak acknowledged the instruction, ensured his feet were firmly planted on solid ground and pulled out the wand.
"Vi: What was there something in the drawer you found?" He asked.
Squeak indulged in a quick game of "Construct or Undead" with Palisade. "No obvious runes" he started.
Squeak indulged in a quick game of "Construct or Undead" with Palisade. "No obvious runes" he started.
"And no visible stitch marks to indicate the creature was constructed from bits and pieces," Palisade replied calmly as it prepared its hammer and shield. "Also, the decay of the biological components would indicate the creature has previously expired and its body put to use later, and this one believes magewrights and artificers would have preferred more pristine components for a golem. Still, a formidable opponent, whichever proves to be the case."
"I'm not sure. Your arguments are persuasive though. Alright - I'm prepared to say NOT a construct."
Lucina sees to Vi's wounds, trusting that the warforged will see to Bronwyn.
Bronwyn was still clutching her magic missile wand so she sent a missile streaking towards the undead minotaur while she tried to remember anything about it.
This seems to be an animal sacrifice chamber and this creature was probably the executioner of the animals.
It now served as a guardian for the big baddie here but he is not it.