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“Well, I guess I did my part” says Ben while hunching his shoulders to Florence, on his side. “There’s nothing more I can do to help them. But my trick worked!” In the meantime, the scholar puts his dagger back to where it was and draws his crossbow from behind his back.
Round 4, Init 17
Zilchus strikes normally.
to hit; (flank, bard)
slashing damage.
The AoO’s fell the poor now inanimate object with Zilchus performing the killing blow that Cahal setup and Florence managed to contribute a little to. The quarterstaff spins to the ground as the statue collapses.
Nidhi puts away her weapon and looks at her companions. "Nice going," Nidhi shifts her weight between her feet. Not like I helped much...
Nidhi follows her companions and into the next area, looking around.
Assuming Nidhi examines the doors as well as the room, she quickly discovers that the eastern door is unlocked, while the western door is locked. Close examination reveals evidence that someone picked the eastern lock recently.
"I don't know...Ben said it was something called a 'graven guardian'..."
"Craven? Nah...this wasn't craven at all," Zilchus irks. "Seems to me that Ben misidentified it." Zilchus gives Ben a look.
He then kneels down to confirm the tracks that he saw before.
"Just want you to know that I think 3, maybe 4, people entered here before us. They managed to bypass the craven guard without a fight, but only one has left here so far...and it was the one that was bleeding," Zilchus confirms. "So...we might have 2 or 3 human-ish foes ahead of us...or they might be dead with only the one survivor."
Zilchus will take a look at Flo's doors, then open them when others are ready.
Perception
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Ben paces back and forth like an savage animal in a small cage, his cage being the room in which the party defeated the graven guardian. The rivulets of sweats on his forehead reveal that something worries him, and the furrowed expression of his brows testifies that he’s think hard about something. His fingers scratching his head show that he’s right in the middle of a deductive process, his other hand forming a symbol similar to a “C”: a sign that Ben is analyzing the major premise of him reasoning.
Then, quite abruptly, Ben stops and with an anxious gesture of his hand invites the party to gather around him. “I may have something. Finally”. His voice is hurried, as though he was eager to reveal the results of his reasoning, but also filled with the enthusiasm of one who knows that his syllogism is almost perfect. “Let’s reflect on it together, right? Asking the right questions is usually the first step toward the solution, so Cahal has a great merit in all of this”. Ben smiles to the woman, then takes a deep breath.
“We’re chasing those who have preceded us here, and we have good reasons to suspect that they throwed some dangers at us intentionally. Who are them? I believe I know the answer, my friends. It was there in front of us, and for all this time my eyes were blind. But Cahal’s question was like the decisive spark which lighted up my mind. Listen. I know, and I told you several times, that the Woman in Purple and her group, the Scorched Hand, were particularly interested in this particular site. They talked to me personally a few days ago. And you should also remember that I never trusted them. I don’t know why, but since the first time I saw her, and it was precisely in the very moment I was selected to join this group at Milki, I could feel that there was something strange in her. She and her men had a deal with Abdur, but broke it. They found another sponsor. Well, anyway, I believe that we’re after the Scorched Hand, my friend. And I’ve got an analytic evidence, if the fact that they were interested in this place shouldn’t suffice”.
Ben points to the destroyed construct. “This creature. This creature is a graven guardian. Not a craven guardian, a graven guardian, Zilchus”. Ben smiles a bit to his friend, then ensues. “I don’t know much about it, but there are many things we can infer about its nature a posteriori, that is, after seeing with our own eyes how it behaved. It was a guardian, as our name tells us. A guardian in a temple of Nethys, so perhaps a guardian somehow linked to the god of magic. It held a quarterstaff, another proof of its bond to Nethys. Let’s assume I’m right. This is when Cahal’s question comes into play. Why it did not attacked the Scorched Hand, if I’m right? Well, because, as you should recall, they’re follower of Nethys! Perhaps the graven guardian had a means to distinguish the faithful from the looters. And they were counted among the faithful, hence avoiding an attack. This makes sense.”
Ben takes a long breath. He’s satisfied. “This is the result of my deductions. What do you think about it? I think I can’t be wrong, but if you have any arguments in contrary, please express them. If you think I’m right, we should prepare for a tough fight and try to discuss what we know about the Scorched Hand and its members. If we’re going to fight them, assuming they’ll be hostile when we will meet them, we could use any advantage we could get from a tactical discussion.”
“Not a craven guardian, a graven guardian, Zilchus...”
Zilchus makes the ooh-ahh face as if that should have been more obvious to him. He shrugs. Small mistakes.
"Well, if your theory is correct, then they might have stolen into our dig and we'll report them to the Pharasmooks, I guess. Assuming we don't kill them when we find them inside, or find their corpses within. We'll see once we encounter them...I'm pretty sure at least 2 or 3 remain within," Zilchus readies his weapon cord and falchion.
"I think the answers to a lot of questions are through this door."
Zilchus opens the door when the group is ready.
Two things are immediately evident. One, you are at an L intersection with hallways going to the east and south. Two, there is light coming from the east around the corner. Not a lot of light, but reflected light none the less.
For no particular reason, please keep your actions to two rounds. Thanks!
Zilchus moves into the hallway, nodding at Cahal.
He gets to where he is on the map. He waits to see what others do.
"You're right, Florence. They all seemed like seasoned fighters and gifted spellcasters, but we don't know much about them. Guess we will find out..."
Ben takes a long breath and allows Zilchus and Cahal to go first. Then he follows behind, his eyes anxiously darting around. When he sees Cahal making place for him, Ben smiles to her and takes place behind Zilchus. He then casts a simple cantrip to light up the hallway. He keeps his crossbow, already charged, in his left hand.
"Let's go check the room from where the light seems to come", he suggests to Zilchus.
The party moves, with their own light sources, into the hallway. As they do so, the light at the end of the tunnel goes out.
- - -
We're a bit beyond surprise per se, and I'm putting us into initiative maybe a bit early, but we'll see.
Benedictus (acts in surprise round)
Cahal
Florence
Nidhi
Zilchus
Good Folk
"Hey, did you see? The light at the end of the tunnel went out!"
Ben squints his eyes, trying to see something more. He eventually, and slowly, moves his dancing lights forward. He doesn't move anyway, preferring to stay behind Zilchus.
_________________
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Benedictus moves his lights forward to see around the corner when you get there, but he hears nothing of note, save perhaps some fierce whispering - as do you all.
Round 2, Init 11
Zilchus moves up to the corner to look around the side (move action).
Zilchus goes to the edge, and sees another set of bars ahead, closed. They seem to lead to another chamber or larger hallway continuing to the south, but he can't really tell from where he stands.
Round 2, Init 11
Zilchus casts light on his falchion, just in case.
He looks over his shoulder and shrugs at the rest. Part of him wants to go to the bars and set up a fortified watchpoint, waiting for the intruders to run out of food.
Ben follows behind, lighting the path ahead for Zilchus. "Should we try the way to the south?" he asks, a little doubtful.
Florence whispers a warning to the party as she moves up. Cahal keeps the rear covered as she moves up. Zilchus spies a pair of gates and lights his weapon. Nidhi moves up and pulls out her thieves tools, ready to pick the lock if need be. Benedictus follows along, bringing light as well.
You all hear a distinctive sound from the south, could be speech, could be spell casting.
- - -
Benedictus
Cahal
Florence
Nidhi
Zilchus
Round 3, Init 11
Girding his loins Zilchus moves up to look around the corner. He may or may not move back after he sees what he sees.
Two rows of columns support the vaulted ceiling of this large chamber. Inscribed hieroglyphs cover most of the room’s walls, but the southern wall is rough and unfinished. Two passages, each closed with a bronze gate, exit the room to the north and east. You don't see the other half the room from where you are.
You do see someone hiding behind a post however. They're well hidden from view, but you can just catch a flare of purple robe. It reminds you of Velriana's robe...
I've marked the spot on the map in purple.
- - -
Zilchus moves 5' back and out of sight and whispers what he sees to the party.
Ben takes a long breath. The Scorched Hand. I knew it. "As much as I don't believe they will be willing to solve this situation with a peaceful talk, I'm still hesitant at the thought of attacking other human beings, especially when we're not being attacked yet...What should we do?"
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"We can speak, or what's more bluff..." Zilchus looks at Nidhi. "We can say that we're waiting them out. And that we've sent a runner back to the Phasarmans/reinforcements, etc."
Zilchus doesn't seem like he's the one to lie, but he might be...but he keeps looking at Nidhi.
The party spends the round discussing what they might do, having not thought it out already. All is quiet to the south now…
The question remains. Do you attack? Retreat? Parley?
"Hey, Nidhi", Ben puts a hand on his companion's shoulder. "You up for it?" The scholar tries to be as encouraging as he can, a small smile on his lips and confidence painted in his eyes. "Don't feel like you have to do it. I can do it, if you'd rather not do it yourself".
Know (History)
"Don't feel like you have to do it. I can do it, if you'd rather not do it yourself".
Zilchus moves his gaze from Nidhi to Ben.
"Do you want to go talk to your girlfriend, Ben? She might listen to you, but the last thing I want to do is rush the gate and them attacking us while we are exposed."
Zilchus shrugs.
"We could also wait them out. We have access to food and more troops, plus the higher ground if we move back to the stairs. We have time to get reinforcements."
The church of Pharasma might well get involved. They are the guardians of the old city, and do not wish to see it's treasures simply looted.
How much trouble would they be in? That's rather harder to say. You can still buy your way out of most transgressions with a slap on the wrist and a steep fine - along with the usual promise to never do it again. That's if they're connected in some way to the church which they may be through their sponsor.
Ben gives Zilchus a sarcastic smile. "She? My girlfriend? Oh Zil, she would break me up! She doesn't seem the kind of woman who has any patience for such frivolous things as love, in all honesty..."
The scholar though quickly refocuses. He gives Florence a nod. "So three of us believe that we should talk our way out of this...or at least bluff them into giving up their ambush position...What do the others think?"
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Zilchus looks at Ben and shakes his head, pitying the man for the missed opportunity. His face lights up a moment later, a realization that might save the day. He swings off his pack and eagerly searches for something.
"Ah ha!" Zilchus cheers as he draws out his prize: a gallon of liquid courage, aka applejack (a strong drink). He looks at the bottle, then at Ben. "Here you go, Ben. Start drinking some more courage. You need to go save your girl in there. You need to be the hero...because if we go in there, we'll likely be killing the lot of them. Or if we wait for our reinforcements to arrive, they might not be as nice as we are. So...drink, get your tongue about you, and see if they will disarm, leave any treasures behind, and leave peacefully." Zilchus gets a steely glint in his eyes.
"Because if you don't...if you don't, Ben, they are not likely to walk out of here alive."
Zilchus takes a swig of 'Jack before giving the bottle to Ben.
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"I'm not worried about their fate so much, Zilchus. But I believe I will accept a bit of that liquid courage nonetheless, 'cause I'm going to expose myself very much in a few minutes..." Without further ado, Ben takes the bottle from Zilchus and brings the bottle to his lips twice. "Mmm...That's quite tasty! I think I need some more!" Ben drinks again. Then, the dizziness hits his senses. His courage is now amplified. "I'm going" he says with a confident smile to his friend, before leaving the relative safety of his friends' protection and reaching the grates.
Once there, Ben clears his throat. "He-Hem! Is anyone there? Come on, we know you're there! In fact, we have already alerted the authorities, and they're about to arrive just now..."
You're cornering them. You're not leaving them any option. Why should they accept to even talk? You're going to fail if you don't fix the shot.
His mind warning him of his likely failure, Ben takes a long breath and adds something. Something important. "I know who you are. The Schorched Hand. Lady Velriana, we already had the pleasure...I guessed it was you and your group as soon as I recalled your words, your interest in this place. What are you looking for here? What's to precious to you to drive you to break the rules and risk punishment? It must be something sacred to the All-Seeing Eye, isn't it? Very well, let's talk about it. If it's some sort of relic that you want, we could come to an agreement. We could even let you leave this place with the relic. We just don't want to kill you. Because it is how it's going to end if you don't accept to parlay".
The party waits breathless as Benedictus puts his absolute best foot forward. His words echo richly in the subterranean lair, but they fall on deaf ears.
”You lie - you’ve already called the law down upon us! You have no interest in allowing us our holy relic - !” she shouts at the end. Though Benedictus did everything he could to save their souls, their religious passion is unbounded, and unswayed by the small professor.
Though he acted in good faith, Velriana commands her troops, ”Attack him! We can thin them by just one to start, so let’s make the best of it!”
Velriana points a wand at the good professor and a blaze of fire erupts from it!
(cover)
The youthful Azaz is the next to follow his mistresses commands as he casts from a scroll.
A large flaming sphere appears over Benedictus, and he must make a reflex save DC 12 or take damage
Idorii is more circumspect, and waits to see the results of the magical onslaught before committing to combat. She continues to hide behind the pillar for cover.
Khelru, behind another pillar, can be heard casting a spell as well, but the effects aren’t seen or felt and so nothing comes of it… for now.
As I've described them, and put them on the map, you can indeed catch glimpses of them, so this is all good.
Sadly my DM luck didn't hold, and both are, at least temporarily, blinded!