Rissi squeaks in derision. "I would have rather not made a scene in the course of our mission, but I suppose these creatures will force our paws... errr, hands."
She quickly draws and lets fly with fire!
She quickly racks her brain for information regarding snowmen and their habits.
Kufieno roars in a primal fury he hasn't seen fit to share until now. His mouth distends grotesquely as he unleashes lightning from it.
"Snowmen? Aim for the carrot nose, it's their weak point!" yells Lucian, happy to jest and lighten up the general mood.
He opens with a wall of fire, aiming at locating his wall with the most snowmen either on it, or behind it.
Before the place gets too crowded, Rissi singes most of the hair off the yetis! Kufieno then leaves them completely bald with his own burst of electricity. Finally Lucian cuts through them with a wall of fire that finishes them off!
Scattered among their lairs, the abominable snowmen have collected several pieces of treasure. You find a cobra-shaped platinum armband with rubies for eyes worth 2000 gp, a ring of the ram with 5 charges left, a +2 vicious kukri that ears the unholy symbol of Lamashtu etched on its blade, and a bronze griffon figurine of wondrous power.
As Seal finishes his drink right before going into battle, the iron flask clears his vision to reveal the burnt corpses of near nude yeti. With a shrug he let's Thunderpuss get a few licks of whiskey from the cateen's rim before pulling another drink for himself. Putting the flask away, Sealman shrugs and continues along the path.
"At least they weren't giants."
"Don't worry Sealman; I have the notion that we'll possibly drown in giant blood before this is over." grins Lucian.
"How about avoiding the city? I guess that if the Spared weren't caught by the giants, then they'd live in a remote place."
Intrigued by the lava flow and trying to avoid the bustle of the city overflowing with Karzoug's followers, you head to the east. As you are about to pass into the lava field, however, the rattle of falling rock attracts your attention to an opening in a nearby building.
The source of the sound, you discover, is from a skulk although you now realize that the skulks of this city look quite different from those you have heard about; he is bloated and pudgy, likely an adaptation to the cold mountain-top climate. In Thasillonian, the skulk says, "Greetings, newcomers. My name is Morgiv. I have come to talk."
"You are not of the Spared and you are heading towards the realm of the Hidden Beast, yet I have gathered that you are not doing Karzoug's bidding, nor are you under the control of the Beast. I would know what your purpose is here."
Lucian nods politely to the creature, a grin on his face at the perspective to find out about the mysterious Beast from his divinations, as well as on the Spared.
"Greetings Morgiv, I am Lucian Arvandru, and these people are my friends and companions. It's a pleasure to meet you! We seek nothing less than bringing down Karzoug and sabotage his plans of invasion."
"I have heard of the Beast you speak of through my divinatory skills, though I am at a loss to tell anything else than our duty to bring an early demise to it. Could you tell us more about the Spared, and this Beast? Perhaps we have a common interest in destroying it."
Morgiv gives a slight smirk when you speak about fighting against Karzoug and the Beast. "You are very brave in speaking so. It is a noble cause."
Morgiv then explains the history of the Spared and how it connects with the Beast. "This story must necessarily go back deep into the history of our ancestors. The tales have been passed down for generations but which parts are true and which are fables are for the scholar to decide, I suppose."
"It is said that after Thassilon’s collapse and the volcanic eruption that destroyed nearly a quarter of the city, many of Xin-Shalast’s slaves found themselves suddenly freed, yet without the gear or experience to make escaping the city possible. Instead, they retreated to the deep caves below Xin-Shalast, where they found themselves safe within cysts that formed among the ruined buildings. Led by a woman named Mesmina, a powerful cleric of Lissala who had abandoned her loyalty to Karzoug with the empire’s fall, they remained beneath the notice of the remaining inhabitants of the ruined city above, and over the course of hundreds of generations, they evolved into something beyond humanity—the skulks like myself."
"Calling themselves the Spared, these survivors-my ancestors-believed in a divine mandate handed down from Mesmina that we were meant to survive, no matter the cost, and find freedom in the city that once oppressed us. Over the years, the Spared excavated a series of tunnels through the earth and grew to know the tangle of caverns connecting various cysts and partially intact buildings buried in the flow. We scavenge vermin and what plants and fungi are able to grow in our humid tunnels"
"After centuries of undisturbed isolation, trouble has come to the tunnels of the Spared in recent decades. About thirty years ago, diggings to expand our warrens broke through into the passages of the Hypogeum. Though the breach was quickly repaired and camouflaged to avoid the notice of the savage tribes occupying those subterranean quarters, it was not done quickly enough, and something passed undetected into our tunnels. With this creature, known as the Hidden Beast, we find ourselves once again enslaved. It is ensconced within the inner chambers of these tunnels, surrounded by dominated skulks who do its bidding."
"The ancient prophecies of Mesmina say that when the Spared become enslaved once more, strangers like our ancestors pictured in the tunnel murals will come to free us. These strangers are yourselves. I am convinced of it."
"Interesting. I wonder if it is either a squeak psychic creature, or perhaps a servant of the Mother of Beasts.". After a moments thought, she adds "Or both!.
"The hypogeum... this is an underground temple of some sort?" She cautiously asks Morgiv the next question that pops into her mind. "Do the Spared still pay homage to the chitter Mistress of Insanity?"
"Then our path is clear, Desna is showing it to us implicitely. Let's destroy this Beast and free the Spared!" enthusiastically interjects Lucian.
Then to Morgiv: "Can you give us any information about the Hidden Beast's powers, besides that it dominates the Skulks? Are we to expect many Skulks to defend it? We will try not to destroy those, but that may be hard depending on how our confrontation goes - what do you think?"
Sealman knuckles his forehead a bit in confusion.
"So is the Hidden Beast the blue dragon?"
"No, I don't think they are one and the same. I would guess a demon, or something from the dark places between stars, perhaps. Something that loves the darkness and does not mind the passage of time."
"The hypogeum... this is an underground temple of some sort?"
"Underground chamber, not necessarily a temple. We only call it such to distinguish it from our own chambers and tunnels, for the Spared do not dwell in those places."
She cautiously asks Morgiv the next question that pops into her mind. "Do the Spared still pay homage to the chitter Mistress of Insanity?"
Morgiv shakes his head. "No, when Mesmina left Karzoug's service she forsook her former life and those who followed her also followed her example. We have instead looked to her prophecies. However, those under the Beast's persuasion treat this monster as their own deity, I am afraid."
Then to Morgiv: "Can you give us any information about the Hidden Beast's powers, besides that it dominates the Skulks? Are we to expect many Skulks to defend it? We will try not to destroy those, but that may be hard depending on how our confrontation goes - what do you think?"
Morgiv lowers his head and looks to the ground. "Unfortunately, anyone who has come too close falls under its enchantments and is turned into a vampiric monstrosity of their former self. This is all we know."
"So is the Hidden Beast the blue dragon?"
"Most certainly not. Ghlorofaex stays to the north."
Morgiv shows you across the lava flow away from the city until he reaches the secret entrance to the tunnels beneath and ushers you to follow him down. The region is a tangled network of caves and chambers made from the Slave District buildings which were buried completely by the lava flow. Explorers could spend weeks if not months wandering these tunnels and never see them all. For thousands of years they have been home primarily to the Spared. As you traverse this underground society, invariably a few skulks in every chamber recognize you as the prophesied saviors and begin praising your courage and bravery.
With Morgiv as your guide, you quickly make your way through the system until you reach a part where not many skulks dwell. Morgiv indicates that following the next tunnel would lead to the lair of the Hidden Beast. "I have never been that way myself and I dare not go now. But I wish you all the luck, Prophets and Saviors of the Spared."
The tunnel opens into a large room, a cyst in the earth under the weight of the buried city formed by some ancient basement gallery. A raised balcony to the northwest is accessed by two stairs and has a low stone balustrade. Pillars along the room’s perimeter rise to a vaulted ceiling, while in the center of the room sits a dais holding an ornate throne. Seated upon the throne is a skeletal figure shrouded in musty robes bearing arcane symbols. It does not make a move as you enter....
The wizard contemplates the arcane symbols, reflecting upon their meaning.
She will also use her senses beyond senses to read the auras of the room.
"I wonder who they were in life? A servant to a Runelord? A former Runelord?"
Before entering, Evanya and Lucian bestow a measure of grace upon the party.
Moreover, since no visible threat is in sight, he also empowers his vision with true seeing. as they enter.
Sealman casts Longstrider on himself and takes the mantle of the Stone Giant as his skin develops a pebble-sheen. (Adaption +2 to AC)
"So this is a devil you say?"
With an affirmation, he draws the large greataxe and taps it with his wand of Lead Blades.
Miana does not detect evil from the skeleton and furthermore Rissi notes an illusory aura as it speaks, "Have you come here to bow before me?"
"Not really. We are looking for something. Are you the dragon, the Hidden Beast or a giant?"
The voice again bellows out (in Abyssal), "Which of you would offer your blood to me? Step forward and feel the embrace of your new lord! No? Then it will be the death of you either way."
Rissi casts see invisibility and retreats up the tunnel.
"The skeleton isn't speaking - the Hidden Beast lives up to its name, though I suggest we change its name to the Cowardly Beast." jests Lucian, motioning to his friends that the real beast is probably underneath the throne.
Regardless, he blesses the party with a blessing of fervor.
Kufieno dashes off to the side, reflexively flicking his claws out. The blood of dragons flows through him as he peers into the realm of the invisible.
Rissi is pretty certain there is something invisible hiding below the throne so she tries to expose it's form if it ever exposes itself. Lucian calls out a blessing in preparation of taking on the beast as Kufieno fearlessly rushes into the room.
Whatever is below the throne, it is not yet revealing itself. Instead Rissi notes a new aura within: a displacement effect, her expect training tell her. Meanwhile, four skulks rush out of the nearby passages to defend their Master. However, these skulks do not appear normal, nor are they the pleasantly plump variety like Morgiv. Rather, these have large incisors and blood running from their mouths, clearly the result of vampiric transportations of the unfortunate subterranian species.
Lucian further bolsters his friends' resolve with a prayer to Desna.
"Great traveler among world, grant us your wisdom to find the true path in these darkened lands! Give us the means to triumph against evil!"
Kufieno focuses for a moment before fading from view.
Now under the effects of greater invisibility, he circles stealthily behind the skulks, ready to lash out if they move away.
plus plus plus hampered movement (half speed)
Rissi points her finger at the stone throne. She looses a thin green ray from her fingertips, and ten cubic feet of it dissolves where she the ray touches.
Sealman doesn't like the way these skulks look, so he takes a more measured approach to his strike this time ... perhaps for the first time.
Thunderpuss guards the rear.
While Kufieno turns invisible and Lucian offers up a prayer, Rissi dissolves the throne, sending the bones atop tumbling to the ground. Although it is invisible to everyone else, Rissi can see that it is a swollen cephalopod with ten writhing tentacles and a hideously monstrous face with pale, milky eyes on its bulbous body.
The decapus is a fairly intelligent creature—an ambush predator that makes excellent use of its ability to weave magical visual illusions and to imitate the voices of other creatures it has heard speaking. Typical decapuses know only the Aklo tongue, but when they use their sound mimicry ability to imitate creatures speaking in other languages, they can typically form short (up to three words long) sentences even when imitating a language they don’t actually know.
Meanwhile Seal destroys one of the skulks and Miana helps to finish off the other. As the other two skulks rush at Seal and Miana to give payback, Kufieno lashes out invisibly and cuts the hamstring of one of the vampire skulks. It barely reaches Seal but the other is able to stab at the dwarf:
Meanwhile the Hidden Beast works its tentacles into a spell which reaches into Rissi's darkest fears....
Lucian comes one step closer to the throne and retreives a scroll from his handy haversack. Reading it out loud, he sends a blast of energy throughout the room, revealing all hidden things!
Rissi notes the various flaws in the phantasmal killer image.
"Amateur" she hisses in Aklo, and launches a fire ball from a wand.
DC 24 halves
Kufieno races to strike at the creature he hit before, spoiling his invisibility, but he has a flank now.
plus plus plus disoriented (-2 attacks)
Sealman winces as he is stabbed in the flank. He then swings his axe around to teach him a lesson. The dwarf slowly shifts closer to the tentacled monstrosity.
Thunderpuss slinks into the room. He lies in wait.
Lucian reveals the beast hiding beneath the throne for all to see! Rissi then hits it with fireball while Miana and Kufieno work together to take down one of the skulks as Seal dices the other. Recognizing Seal's power, the Hidden Beast tries to take control of the dwarf's mind and turn him against his allies....
2. The Hidden Beast
-1 attack/damage/saves/skills
gr: 26 dmg
hb: 30 dmg
Smart as a steel trap Seal is. No killing fellow party members this time...this time.
The ratfolk launches another fireball, which blossoms in the far side of the room.
DC 24 halves
She then retreats a bit up the hallway.
Kufieno pulls a short sword and ducks opposite of Seal. "Don't just stand there dreaming about sheep and ale - smash it Seal"
plus plus -2 AC 1 rd
If it has an abjuration effects up, add:
damage
"Sheep & ale... ale & sheep..."
Sealman snaps to and calls Thunderpuss to action. Together they turn feral and unleash primal fury on the beast from the unknown.
It appears Sealman was really distracted by the mention of sheep & ale.
Lucian's spell dazzles the beast as Rissi set it aflame again! Seal becomes overconfident and only lands one hit, although Kufieno is able to stab the monster from behind. The Hidden Beast retaliates by whipping its magical tentacles at Seal:
Sealman get beat around like a silver copper piece mule. HE is able to resist being grabbed however. After the slam, some of the life drains from his flesh, but Seal battles on. Not wanting to be slammed again, Seal returns to his defensive stance.
Thunderpuss tries his best as well to help bring down the Horror.
Kufieno does his best to keep up with the dwarf.
plus plus -2 hit 1 rd
If it has an abjuration effects up, add +2 to hit and damage
plus
If it has an abjuration effects up, add +2 to hit and damage
plus
If it has an abjuration effects up, add +2 to hit and damage
plus plus
plus plus