Belcher will airwalk up as high as the rooms allows, setting up for a charge if needed.
Artemus, seeing his companions seemingly make short work of these extraplanar foes, contemplates the strange magics that allow the proteans to strike from one wall through the opposite.
Faeros continues his assault on the now doubly wounded naunet, trying to aim where Nilfyr's blade struck.
The trio of arrows from Faeros finishes off the naunet in the corner, leaving Thunderstealer's battered foe remaining.
It frantically flails at Thunderstealer, who with Nilfyr, end the protean's existence with their combined might.
The room is now eerily quiet, although the door on the other side beckons your opening.
The threats defeated, the party patches themselves up . Ready to go, they move forward into the next chamber.
The high walls of this meandering cavern look natural, yet the floor and ceiling disappear entirely. Above and below, this room gives way to a vast sky of swirling pink and orange clouds stretching to infinity. Scattered islands of flat stone float unsupported among the clouds, level with the room’s two doorways.
A pair of serpentine creatures with humanoid torsos, but with avian heads and wings turns to the sound of the door opening.
One speaks to the other, "These interlopers, must be with the inevitables! Let's have some fun then!"
These are imentesh, powerful proteans that seek to create more chaos in the universe. Along with the standard protean resistances, they can strangle foes with their tails, use several magical powers, and worse, can cause ripples in reality that can cause unusual and random affects on those that fail to resist the effect.
They begin to move menacingly towards the group.
Init Order (bold = up)
Nilfyr
Black serpentine
Faeros
Blue Serpentine
Artemus
Thunderstealer
A voice calls out from the other side of the door. "Come back! We have some fun ideas to shear, I mean share!"
Artemus shares what he knows .
Faeros is ready to use an outsider bane gifted from his deity, now awaiting a moment to strike.
The sounds of a woman screaming can now be heard on the other side of the door.
Thunderstealer and Nilfyr move back into the room, where they see a human woman dangling from one of the floating platforms. Now, only one of the serpentine anomalies can be seen, but it taunts the party. "Save this pitiful mortal, if you dare even-more-pitiful mortals!"
Thunderstealer charges forward, knowingly expecting something bad... and as soon as he gets within 20 feet, the visible imentesh glares at the dinosaurian and Thunderstealer feels his gut... no, whole body shudder briefly.
Whatever alteration this thing just tried fails, leaving Thunderstealer to continue his charging momentum.
Thunderstealer's savage fury of tooth and claw causes numerous wounds on the outsider. However, the wounds begin to rapidly heal.
Init Order (bold = up)
Thunderstealer (charged)
Nilfyr
Faeros
Artemus
Black serpentine
Blue Serpentine (38 damage)
Nilfyr follows behind his saurian ally and aims for a single powerful blow.
Nilfyr adds another painful wound to the imentesh!
Faeros darts from around the corner and fires a trio of arrows after eyeballing the target.
Two arrows strike true, but the chaotic outsider still has some fight left!
Artemus launches some magical force at the imentesh to test their resistance to magic.
The missiles are just enough to cause the outsider to fall limp to the ground.
The woman hanging on the ledge, begins to float up as tentacles jut out from her back and serpentine forms once again emerge. "How dare you mortals not see the beauty in what we are doing? The prisoner below will be the salvation to this static world!"
It then lashes out heavily at Nilfyr.
Nilfyr is struck twice, but is still standing tall after the onslaught. The creature then blinks, causing both it and Nilfyr to feel a gut churning inside their bodies.
However, both of them resist the chaotic effect that was attemped.
Init Order (bold = up)
Thunderstealer
Nilfyr (26 damage)
Faeros
Artemus
Black serpentine
Blue Serpentine (131 damage, knocked out)
Thunderstaler moves to the other foe, attacking with reckless abandon causing a couple of attacks to miss, but one claw causes a more gaping wound.
Still, the outsider is still in the fight.
Init Order (bold = up)
Thunderstealer
Nilfyr (26 damage)
Faeros
Artemus
Black serpentine (48 damage)
Blue Serpentine (131 damage, knocked out*)
Computer issues, having to reinstall OS tonight I think, so update tomorrow. Sorry!
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The party licks its wounds (more so literally for Thunderstealer). Using their various magical means, the party easily traverses the floating platforms. However, one of the imenteshes begins to stir, but Nilfyr reacts quickly and strikes down the serpentine outsider before beheading it to make sure it doesn't come back. The other is likewise dealt with in a resolved final fashion
As the party moves through the chamber, Faeros points out a strange outcropping where he sees the outline of a door . A pair of double doors would progress further into the floor, but the sound of whirling air can be heard from the north east around a partially blocked off area of this strange room.
Hopping across the air, Thunderstealer finds an unusual sight.
The cavern has lost most of its floor and ceiling to endless pink sky, and a multicolored whirlpool floats in the air at the chamber’s center, pulsing with light. Deeper inside, a bleached, serpentine skull several feet in diameter sits in an alcove above a narrow ledge; two red tulips are growing up through its vacant eyeholes. Tiny glass bottles full of liquid and stacks of small stones ring the skull.
Thunderstealer spies some valuables among the various piles around the skull. He finds a soft pink pearl and a cut gemstone within the rocks. Several vials have liquid and perhaps feel of potion. The others investigate, with Artemus determining that the peculiarities Thunderstealer spied are a pearl of power (2nd) and a pink rhomboid ioun stone. The useful vials in that pile are a pition of blink, a potion of haste, and a potion of nondetection.
He also finds that the skull radiates a strong conjuration magic; he can tell that it is somehow portal related, but not sure how exactly.
Thunderstealer feels healthier!
Taking the valuables , the party then follows their counterclockwise path.
The southern end of this chamber is squared off and bare, yet as the room extends northward, the walls and floor twist and melt. Clusters of glowing blue crystals extend from the warped ceiling and floor, and from each cluster emerges a faint sound akin to young girls singing nonsense words.
Another kolyarut inevitable stands guard, its large blade drawn at the party. It speaks with an emotionless voice. "Harbingers of chaos, you shall meet your end here."
Not giving the party time to respond, Nilfyr feels the urge to drop his weapon.
Nilfyr, against his own desires, drops his polearm to the ground. The inevitable darts forward with both hands on its blade and at the half-elf!
However, Nilfyr's armor holds up, deflecting the powerful swing.
Init Order (bold = up)
Kolyarut
Faeros
Thunderstealer
Artemus
Nilfyr (disarmed)
"As unescorted beings entering from the territory chaos, I can only assume your forms and story are an attempt to deceive me. But run, knowing that the might of law will stop you."
Nilfyr, taking the cue, closes the door and retrieves his weapon, embarrassed that he let his mind falter.
Deciding to figure out what Faeros found earlier, the party regroups back in the island room. Ready once again, Nilfyr pushes the outline of the door in.
This small alcove is shaped as if it were formed from natural stone, yet every surface appears to be formed from maroon velvet. The walls are warm to the touch and gently pulse, like a heartbeat. The floor is covered with a number of various items. Sickly potted plants, some risque paintings of inevitables, and a stuffed pigeon with one leg show some of the strange taste of the proteans. However, there is loot of value : a folding boat, a hand of glory, a set of marvelous pigments, and a belt of giant strength +2. There are also a pair of keys, one made of the same green material as the Spire core, and the other a two-foot long mass of twisted and tentacle-like tines with a T handle.
Taking the loot, the party continues through the runed room. There is another door straight ahead and with the party readied, they move forward.
This huge chamber was once square, yet the northern half has bubbled and run as if melted. Above, the ceiling arches up in a dome braced by grand arms of stone carved to resemble the ribs of some great beast. From the dome’s zenith, the perfect green glass column of the Emerald Spire spears downward.
Where the Spire meets the floor, it is clasped by two wide,
horizontal brass doors set flush with the stone. The Spire pierces these doors along their seam, where the bronze conforms perfectly to its smooth cylinder. Runes and hieroglyphics—some crude, some incredibly intricate—cover the doors.
Right in front of you, shocked at the sudden entry, is another one of the serpentine imentesh proteans. On the other side near the opposite door is another kolyrat inevitable. There is a sudden shift in the air as both of the outsiders pause, waiting to see what the party does.
"Nope. Nope. Nope."
The imentesh speaks some strange words and pops out of sight. .
The kolyarut still has its blade drawn and darts towards the party. "You are not inevitable and must be removed.", with Nilfyr being the first target of its wrath.
Init Order (bold = up)
Artemus
Faeros
Kolyarut
Thunderstealer
Nilfyr
Artemus tries to talk down the kolyarut from the back.
Unfortunately, Artemus couldn't provide enough logic to satisfy the outsider.
Faeros readies his bow, but waits to see if the others can talk down the inevitable.
The inevitable points at Nilfyr who hears a voice in his head to back away.
However, Nilfyr doesn't let it happen again and retains his senses. The inevitable then performs one more trick.
Artemus confirms that the kolyarut tried to paralyze Nilfyr, but once again fails.
Init Order (bold = up)
Artemus
Faeros
Kolyarut
Thunderstealer
Nilfyr