Outside the building Stonebreak the treant smashes into the walls.
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Vera drops a Holy Smite on the enemies
The enemies all save, but smart with the holy damage all the same.
Valins attack hits home and takes a big chunk out of purple
Purple returns the favor with some surprised slices with his scimitar
Blue casts Crushing Despair, dispelling the good hope effect.
Valin (-8)
Makda
---
Blue (-20)
Purple (-50)
---
Vera
Tree
Arisira
---
Red (-20)
Yellow (-55)
Buffs active:
All: Haste, Bless
Arisira: Mirror Image
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It becomes clear from his chopping that these creatures have tougher skin than you might have hoped, but Valin is able to fell the first of them with his repeated chops.
Meanwhile, Arisira nails the yellow one between the shoulders with an arrow, but its not nearly as effective as she would have hoped.
Vera follows up by dropping a dismissal on red.
Red poofs out of existence and goes back to his plane.
The tree continues to wreak have and busts open a hole in the doorway, creating an entrance for himself.
Blue rushes to confront the tree and makes a mighty swing but misses wildly.
The yellow one follows suit, smacking Mak'da and then trying to get away
Valin (-8)
Makda
---
Blue (-20)
Purple (-50)
---
Vera
Tree
Arisira
---
Yellow (-55)
Buffs active:
All: Haste, Bless, Inspire Courage +3/+3
Arisira: Mirror Image
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Valin and Mak'da lay into the incubi but their demonically enhanced skin resists the damage some.
Valin (-8)
Makda
---
Blue (-48)
Purple (-50)
---
Vera
Tree
Arisira
---
Yellow (-70)
Buffs active:
All: Haste, Bless, Inspire Courage +3/+3
Arisira: Mirror Image
Purple runs off in pursuit of the treant
meanwhile blue lashes back against Mak'da.
both of which miss.
Stonebreak continues to hammer on the outer wall.
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Valin makes a powerful blow against the foe.
He grimaces, realizing the battle has gone poorly and steps back to teleport away.
Left in the cells are a chelish woman in archeological gear and a morlock, both badly beaten but stable.
After a moment, Karn awakes, weak but grateful for the rescue.
Oh god...I'm going to have the worst headaches for weeks to come. I don't suppose any of you have water do you?
She tries to get her bearings. You know, I have spent my whole life in Chelix high society and I thought I was prepared for extraplanar entities interfering in my life and my work... but that fiend that was called here that interrupted our work. I have never seen anything like it in person. Sure, you read about kalavakus demons in books but...in person they are so terrible. It has enslaved the morlocks, my fellow scholars and even the Hellknights that the Chelish crown sent to rescue us have been turned into little more than golems serving this fiend on some sort of desperate dig at the site we had been exploring.
At the word Golems, Bogipfen grows quite irritated and begins desperately trying to get into the cell that holds the other morlock.
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Mak'da rises up inside the cell with the woman and offers her a waterskin. You are Karn yes? We have been sent to recover you and complete your investigation. What can you tell us about the door you found?
As they chat she mutters a spell, turning the stone floor under the two cells into malleable clay. She then promptly pulls the iron bars out to free both of the prisoners.
Looking to Bogipfen she asks, Who is this morlock, do you want us to heal her?
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Arisira walks over to the locked door, and glances at the device holding it shut. "Surprisingly enough, I don't have much skill when it comes to locks..." but her voice drops off as Mak'da's magic quickly frees them.
"I suppose that will work, now to the task"
She turns her attention to the new faces in the room, specifically Karn.
"We put a lot of effort into breaking you free, ya know? How did you find yourself in this place to begin with?"
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Bogipfen exclaims She is Golem Speaker Agajrpak! She can move the golems without the commandy stick! She is special!
Bogipfen produces smelling salts and wakes up the other Morlock, who without the magic amulet possessed by Bogipfen is completely unintelligible.
Karn smirks It was the tomb of her the last despotrix of Rachikan, and of the Jistkan Imperium. Helsprex herself. And...since you did go to all this trouble of saving me. Yes, I can show you this door- this hidden fourth entrance into Rachikan.
She dusts herself off, looking snootishly past the non-scholarly types amongst you. She shakes her head at the Morlocks. Try to make nice with them too. That golem speaker may be our only chance of getting down there to make this discovery and living to tell the tale.
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Vera goes to the Golem speaker. "Bogipfen is she hurt? I can heal her if she needs it." She glances at the archeologist assuming she'll mention needing healing if she needs it.
"The demons turned Hellknights into golems? That's not something you see everyday. Do you think we can return them to their Hellknightness?"
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Bogipfen gratefully accepts the healing but motions towards the other morlock.
Agajprak is golem speaker - rare talent. She can communicate with the golems without needing the golem-talky stick! At least til someone steals golem talky stick... Bogipfen explains .
But she is unsure if she wants to help you. She loves this place and doesn't like you humans trying to take it for yourselves. She cares only for the safety of her golems and to get the stolen golems away from your fellow humans!
Arisira recognizes language Agajprak is speaking as Undercommon.
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"What is there to take? I would expect that her presence, and her ability to command the golems- will do far more to protect the golems than anything else I can think of. If we were to come across any and need to fight them, it would run the risk of us destroying them. If she is hear, that scenario need not happen!"
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Agajprak responds Ah right. we need to save the golems! We need to get them out of that foul place. Your human friends...are expendable. But not my pretties! We will need more help. Perhaps those foul smelling humans in the pit beneath this room...
She says tearing through the floorboard to show a group of men chained together in the pit below. Leading them, one of the hellknights you met before, looks up at you and grimaces Time is wasting. Let us out so we can go rescue the scholars ourselves.
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"Then it is settled- accompany us and we will along side of you to protect your golems. However, if your actions cause threat or harm to my companions..." Arisira allowing the sentence to trail off to silence.
As they approach the pit, Arisira makes her way along side Mak'da- eyes glancing down the hole. She answers the half-elf's questions bluntly.
"Appear to be Hellknights, if you ask me. Looks like they have made a couple of poor choices."
Her voice gets louder and projects down to the lower chamber.
"Funny seeing you all here. What circumstances have lead you to the point of so clearly requiring our aide?"
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The leader of the hellknights, paralictor shouts up I am Primo Ambusta, I was tasked with guarding the archaeologists that House Cheliax was sending to investigate the Door down below holding the remains of the last Despotrix of Rachikan. When the creatures starting taking over people with their charms, that worked on some of the lower ranking members of our squad and on the scholars but...not on us. So instead we were chained up down here by our charges - we were sworn not to harm them so we did not resist. We could use your help
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She turns her head, and speaks unnecessarily loud to her companions."Hey guys, did you hear that? The Hellknights need the help of a Slip. I didn't even know they were allowed to accept help from someone like me..."
She turns back to the Hellknights, this time much more serious.
"What does freeing you benefit us? You would have prevented our exploration, and likely threatened our very lives, had we met on different terms."
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Mak'da is perhaps a little more suspicious than Vera.
Well, we can probably come to some sort of mutually beneficial agreement. We have work we want to do down here once we have dealt with whatever has taken your archaeologists. We help you secure them and get them out and in return we get to finish our work down here and then leave Cheliax. How does that sound?
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The Paralictor, obviously no fan of his chains, nods his assent.
You have a vow of a hellknight Order of the Rack, we shall allow you to leave when all of this is over. And...well at this point, I think it would be best for the world if we simply sealed this place, salted the earth and forgot all about it but...we can discuss that later.
He does seem to be sincere, even to Arisira.
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The halfling stands aside, while Mak'da and Valin tie off there knots to the giant oak tree friend of Mak'da. Supervising the "escape", she coldly ignores the hellknights.
If there is knowlegde here, then I want it. After that, I couldn't care what you do with it... Sir. But please, make sure your official report includes that you were saved by a halfling. I am sure the order will love to hear that bit of news."
Without waiting for a reply, Arisira turns briskly and walks towards the entrance of the building- glancing out into the surrounding caverns.
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The paralictor stares at Arisira coldly. He gives a harumph. Yes I know saved by interlopers who had a mole in my operation. Quite the black eye.
Karn grins and gives the man a brief apology for her months of deception. Bogipfen and Karb guide the group towards the door where dozens of Morlocks and a massive stone golem stand guard. Your gloom called ally calls forth an iron golem and the Hellkbights charge the ranks of the Morlocks.
Paralictor Primo grits gus teeth Follow in the wake of my men and get beyond the door. We will hold back the hoards. Go end this Fiend!
The whooping cries of the morlock tribes echoes out in the cavernous chambers as the party takes advantage of the opening and get past into the veritable fortress that lies beyond the cavern.
The interior is perfectly preserved, a rare completely unruined example of Rachikan as it was in its final days. A portion of entrance connected to the plaza by a series of travertine stairs, squats atop a partially buried beast. the size of a whale. Carved onto the fortress’s interior are miniature elephants, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and myriad other four-legged monstrosities.
You must find a way atop the beast and into the fortress as the battle rages on behind you.