With a grin Akasha begins a slow round of applause at Silian's brutal ingenuity.
Impressive, and the lock is a little bit worrying.
Seeing Silian use the book on the door, he gets ready for the unknown.
As Silian touches the book to the door, the door begins to glow faintly to the naked eye; swirling colors of energy that make quite a lovely display. The light moves into the book, dimming as it does as if the book were devouring the magic itself. After a few heartbeats, it is done and the light is gone. A soft click can be heard.
"Well, here goes nothing." Akasha says grasping hold of the hatch and lifting.
Jonah picks up his lantern and makes ready to follow along.
The circular door opens with mild resistance, and a slight squeak of hinges onto a vertical shaft 5-feet wide and cloaked in pitch blackness. A breeze pushes through the shaft, lifting the stench of the filth surrounded yourself with for a precious few breaths.
I am thinking that we should close it, but I agree that we should still be wary
Taking the rope she carries out and securely tying one end to the mos secure surface she can find, Akasha cast a light spell on the rope itself before dropping it down into the darkness.
Jonah looks at the glowing rope end as it goes into the dark.
It looks like the shaft drops about 30 feet before it begins to slightly curve off.
One by one you make your way into the dank, tight tunnel. Working your way down the rope you see that the shaft is a mix of crumbling earth and ancient stone. Centipedes and other insects cover the walls like living decorations. The long descent takes you deeper into the bowels of Dorasharn Tower. Soon, the shaft begins to angle, and by bracing yourself you can actually walk along one of the surfaces. Further still, and the shaft becomes a tunnel, and the footing is no longer difficult to maintain or treacherous.
The tunnel eventually opens onto a vast changer, though it emerges about six feet above the floor. You can't see the distant walls in the darkness, and the ruins of nearby walls and building appear as deep shadows in the eternal tower night, but you can feel the change in air currents and pressure that indicate a large open space ahead of you.
Casting another light spell on her wrist cuff, Akasha drops down from the tunnel, slowly walking forward, her sword drawn just in case.
Jonah lowers himself down, and then picks up his lantern and follows along with the group.
Well, this is not what I expected. he whispers.
A constant background noise rises from the walls and ruins around you. It takes a moment to recognize, but eventually the sounds of chittering and buzzing can be picked out from among the cacophony. It's not unlike the sound of insects in the King's Forest, except that the chamber seems to amplify and echo the noise in disturbing ways.
"$#!+ beetles incoming!" Akasha yells, sheathing her blade and preparing a spell.
Garotte walks forward and jumps down beside Akasha.
The warforged hears the incoming beetles, but just stands beside the Captain.
Akasha
Tava
Silian
Jonah
Garotte
Vannevar
Beetle Swarm
R1
Akasha, Swarm, Jonah, Vannevar, Garotte, Silian, Tava
Vannevar fails to hear the change in the movement of the insects around him.
R1
Akasha, Swarm, Jonah, Vannevar, Garotte, Silian, Tava
Bracing herself for what she is sure will be painful before it's all over, Akasha waits until the swarm is within 5 ft of her before unleashing her spell, a jet of flame washing over the advancing beetles.
The swarm moves forward, the beetles flowing over themselves like a viscous fluid. Akasha releases a burst of flames from her fingertips, frying some of the beetles but it is not enough to stop them from spilling over onto her and Garotte.
Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn in a square with a swarm must succeed on a DC 12 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution based.
R1
Akasha, Swarm, Jonah, Vannevar, Garotte, Silian, Tava
Move clear
As soon as both Garotte and Akasha are clear, Jonah throws an alchemical fire into the swarm.
Vannevar moves forward and swings his sword through the swarm in a horizontal arc, attempting to break up the massive mound of creatures and hopefully kill a few of them in the process.
Unfortunately, Vannevar's broad swing was too slow to catch any of the vermin who continued to move and flow away from his sudden movement.
R1
Akasha, Swarm, Jonah, Vannevar, Garotte, Silian, Tava
The warforged attempts to stomp on beetles, oblivious to its lack of effectiveness, then attempts to step to the side.
... You can instead target a specific grid intersection. Treat this as a ranged attack against AC 5. However, if you target a grid intersection, creatures in all adjacent squares are dealt the splash damage, and the direct hit damage is not dealt to any creature. You can't target a grid intersection occupied by a creature, such as a Large or larger creature; in this case, you're aiming at the creature...
Tava moves forward past Vannevar and begins stabbing her spear into the swarm, but as with Vannevar's sword and Garotte's stomping, the bugs move and flow around the spear completely.
R2
Akasha, Swarm, Jonah, Vannevar, Garotte, Silian, Tava
Feeling the multitude of beetles crawling over every part of her, Akasha fights down the rising panic that threatens to overtake her. Realizing her sword would be useless, the magus goes into a diving roll taking her clear of the swarm.
The swarm undulates, shifting and moving towards Vannevar and Tava covering them in a wave of beetles.
Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn in a square with a swarm must succeed on a DC 12 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution based.
R2
Akasha, Swarm, Jonah, Vannevar, Garotte, Silian, Tava
Cursing slightly under his breath.
move so we can burn them
Seeing that his sword is not going to aid him against this particular foe, Vannevar attempts to grab a hold of Tava, but her flailing proves too much, as he moves back out of the swarm and a few feet away.
R2
Akasha, Swarm, Jonah, Vannevar, Garotte, Silian, Tava
Confused, Garotte stands idle, unsure of how to handle the many tiny foes.
|
Not wanting to waste more flasks in causing more grief to his allies than the bugs, Silian tries another tactic. With a flick of his wrist and a whispered word in Mabran, Silian's hand holds a small ball of purple flame, that he then hurls down towards his feet, aiming closer to himself and trying not to singe Tava.
Immediately after hurling the flames, Silian's hand flares up again, ready for another toss.
Silian's flame seems to be rather effective, and certainly less dangerous to his allies as it kills off a small area of insects just before the swarm flows over the small corpses, hiding them from sight.
Tava manages to break away from the swarm moving herself back a ways.
R3
Akasha, Swarm, Jonah, Vannevar, Garotte, Silian, Tava
Pulling a torch out of her pack, Akasha snaps her fingers with an arcane word, the end of the torch flaring to life.
Knowing that he cannot really help in this fight, he continues to wait until there are no friendlies in the swarm, at which point he throws his alchemist fire at it.
The swarm appears to like the taste of orc, as it moves to follow Tava, once again covering her with beetles.
Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn in a square with a swarm must succeed on a DC 12 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution based.
R3
Akasha, Swarm, Jonah, Vannevar, Garotte, Silian, Tava
Vannevar heeds the cleric's request and moves himself further back from the swarm.
The warforged holds back, awaiting action or order.
As Silian sets fire to the bugs once more, the suddenly break apart and scurry away in different directions returning to various nooks, crannies, and the safety of the darkness.
"Ooouuccchh," Tava mimics the phrase she's heard her companions use when hurt. Flinging the bugs from her body the best she can she steps back out of the way as the bugs flee.