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While Petals uses her spell, Baolus jumps down. Fortunately, no enemy attacked him in the process. In the meantime, Catina climbs the ladder and, once into the room, attacks one of the enemies in front of her, describing a perfect arc in the air with her glaive. Her attack is more than enough to knock the foe to the ground. Now the girl can describe the scene to the others. There are two more tieflings in the room, each holding a crossbow. Another one lies unconscious to the ground, the one Catina just dealt with. “How…How can she see us?” mumbles one of the tieflings. “’Cause she’s one of us, you darn idiot. Quick, kill her now!”
“Wait! Let’s offer her a chance to…” hesitantly says one the two tieflings, staring at Catina. This one has eyes glowing white and a translucent skin.
“Shut the f&*$ up, you useless idiot! ATTACK! NOW!” belligerently answers the other. This tiefling has missing ears, a vestigial limb on his back and a canine muzzle.
Fortunately, Petals’ spell comes in. The monstrous tiefling warps his canine muzzle in fear. “They’re going to break our asses! LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!” he screams in fear before opening the door behind him and leaving the building.
The other tiefling, who apparently resisted to Petals’ spell, shakes his head and keeps staring at Catina. “Come with us! They won’t never truly accept you!” he says before leaving the room too.
---
A few seconds later, the unnatural darkness fades away and everyone is able to see the room in which the battle took place. Scraps of cloth are pinned to a slab of cork on the wall with needles, and tailoring items such as small scissors and spools of fine thread are hidden under the dust. The tower shield Baolus pushed away to enter the room from below now rests on the floor: it bears the symbol of Cheliax and it’s in surprisingly good conditions. Upstairs is a bed with filthy linens, a small chair and sewing table, and a closet containing a large bolt of linen cloth (partially eaten by moths). Next to the bed there’s a nightstand with a book on it. The tome is thin and its leather cover is worn and crumbled. A red leather bookmark marks a particular page in the weathered book. Although the cover is spoiled, you can still see the book’s title. “A Murder in Hell”, by Ciracina Dioso.
“Some of my kind go years without realizing they are different.” Trezzen felt power radiating off the summoning circle and from the feather-winged beauty standing within. He flexed one taloned hand. “When I turned twelve my skin darkened and my claws came, and then there was no hiding it. She told her friends she’d never suspected what I really was. I’d thought things were bad before, but they got worse. No one would speak to me unless it was to order me around.” He gazed steadily at the devil in the circle. “I’m tired of it. It’s time for me to claim my heritage. Time to go to my real home.” For a minute, the erinyes stared at him wordlessly. Then she laughed—a low, malicious chuckle that echoed in the room. “Oh, honey,” she whispered. “What makes you think we want you either?”
There’s a note written in a shaking handwriting in the margin. It is written in Infernal, and it reads: “FeEls so bAd…”
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Things happen really fast, and Catina scarcely realize that the others can't see what she does. She winces as her glaive strikes the tiefling, still not used to the feeling of its impact on flesh, especially when she's once again reminded that not all of the Bastards are vicious killers, that some of them could be reasoned with. As Petals' spell breaks their morale, she's just thankful for the fight to be over. She tries to reach out to the tiefling with the white eyes. "No, wait!" she calls out to him even as he's already turning around and out the door. "They have. There's people who do..." Her words aren't heard, and Catina is left as the only tiefling in the house, feeling somewhat alone in the darkness.
When the darkness finally lifts, Catina is proud of her actions, that she helped dissolve a dangerous situation. However, the tiefling's words do not put her in a mood to celebrate and she keeps her distance from the others, searching through the remains in the home, blowing dust off the spools of thread and running her slender fingers along them to feel the softness of the thread. She finds the book on the bed stand and flips it open at the bookmark, silently reading the words. She traces the handwriting in the margin with a trembling finger. "Isn't it terribly sad, that we're driving them away from the last place they felt they could run to...? I know what they did, but was there really no other way?" Her voice isn't all that steady, and she wipes a sleeve across her moist eyes.
Petals notices the pain in her new companion. She starts to go with the tiefling woman, to make sure she's okay, but the grunt of pain below makes her realize she's needed below more. Anyway she'd probably just bungle her attempts, emotional pain is so much harder than physical. For all the pretty words Shelyn gives her, Petals tends to pick the wrong ones more than naught.
Down below, she rests her hand on their deputy.
then seeing the blood still dripping out, reached in her pouch for a thin piece of white wood, pressing against him a warm light shines on his wounds.
and again
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Baolus notices the voices above and imagines the situation was taken care off, even if he doesn't know how yet. This is soon confirmed when Petals comes down again, ready to cure him. He then gestures for her to hold on. "Not yet, girl... not yet..." His hands are covered in blood and wrapped around the bolt that is still deeply buried in his chest.
He starts to pull the bolt but the pain in unbearable, his gritting teeth almost audible. With his left hand he reaches for the other bloody bolt beside him and puts it between his teeth, preventing him from screaming. Tears start to run once more as he resumes the task of pulling the bolt form his chest... A faint sound his heard when the bolt is removed and dropped, followed by an identical sound as the second bolt is also spit from his mouth.
As blood rushes from his grievous wound, Baolus gestures for Petals to come closer. "Now, Petals... now would be a good time..." The dottari begs, his vision almost fading. Baolus feels the healing power washing over him with joy, his respiration returning to normal. "Thank you... I owe you one, elf..."
Petals tenses at being referred to simply as "elf." Her voice a little more cold than it would have been a second ago, Think nothing of it. Are we ready to move on? She stands, brushed the dust and dirt off her skirts, and then moves off a bit from the others, waiting on the rest before heading out.
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As the tieflings upstairs (barring Catina) flee, Faustinia cuts off her spell, falling silent and making an interrupting motion with her gesturing hand. As the darkness clears Faustinia ascends the ladder into the building, in part to assist the exploration and in part to make way for someone else to help Baolus. The sight of his wounds makes her stomach turn, anyway, and she scurries up out of sight.
She investigates the tailor’s house with Catina and Petals, picking over the dust and garbage without much hope of fruitful discovery. She makes a mental note to come back for the shield, following Catina upstairs as Petals heads back down the ladder. As Catina reads the book, Faustinia busies herself going over the moth bitten bolts of cloth in the closet, letting silence have its place until Catina speaks, trembling. If Catina allows it, Faustinia approaches and places a hand on the girl's shoulder. ”I don't know, Catina,” Faustinia admits. ”Arael gave us a task, but he's said himself that he's not our leader in the usual sense. He wants what is best for Westcrown, not unquestioning loyalty, and if we can find a solution that's better for our city he would have us do that. And if anyone can find a better way, I think it's you, Catina.” Faustinia then squeezes the young woman's shoulder affectionately before turning to go back downstairs and face the last remaining tunnel.
Catina allows the contact, slightly leaning into Faustinia's arm on her shoulder. She turns and regards the noblewoman. "Do you really think that's possible? That there's another way?" She tries to envision it, breathing in deep and taking in Faustinia's confidence. "You know that the Bastards are thieves, and killers. We can't just forget that. What if... maybe it's just the ones in charge. If we can deal with that, maybe the others can come back, make a decent living here? A safe haven for people like... like me, who are done with the shame, and the violence?" It sounds like a pipe dream to her, but it's the best she has to offer.
After exploring the tunnel and leaving the fleeing tieflings to the Eyes’ care, you climb down the ladder and move through the narrow tunnel in order to reach the main corridor once again. Bad news are right behind the corner though, for again your light abruptly vanishes as soon as you enter the main corridor. In complete darkness, Catina is the only one able to see.
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Before anyone can react, you hear profane words filling the air just before a missile of magical energy darts forth from the dark corridor, striking Baolus in his chest.
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: darkness (5 rounds remaining)
Janiven
Baolus
Ostengo
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Tieflings
Petals
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Catina's heart sinks in her chest when the light on her glaive dies down once again. Soon after, she realizes that the situation is even worse than she imagined. "Watch out, they're coming from the right as well!" The first thing that comes to her mind, is how to deal with five of the tieflings without causing too much damage. "Blessed Lady, if there is another way to handle this, please show me. I'm trying."
Feeling confident that her magic might allow her to save at least one of their attackers, Catina turns to giving instructions to her fellows, but it's clear that she's not quite experienced at the task. "Err, Petals. There's two of them in front of you, in the cave we originally came from. If you take a big step forward, you should be able to strike at them. Baolus, there's three of them, ahead of you, about 15 feet out. The mummy-guy is with them as well, further back. Brace, here they come!"
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A volley of bolts is fired against Baolus and Petals, the ones who entered the room first. Fortunately, unlike what happened a few minutes ago in the tailor’s house, the armors Baolus and Petals are wearing do their job appropriately, protecting them from all of the bolts fired at them, except one particularly well aimed which lodges right in Petals neck, where her armor cannot protect her. The metallic clangor of the bolts crashing against the metal armors worn by Baolus and Petals produces a sudden cacophony.
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“I CAN’T SEE THEM!” cries out Janiven, her voice piercing the darkness. Following Catina’s directions, the woman darts through the narrow tunnel below the tailor’s house. Once in front of the area filled with profane darkness, Janiven hesitates for a moment, but her steady courage almost instantly allows her to push forward despite her fears. One step, two, three…then Janiven feels Baolus’ warmth in front of her and stops abruptly. She had drawn her longsword while moving. She moves past Baolus in the direction indicated by Catina, relying on her hearing to know when to stop. Hearing the sound of a crossbow being dropped on the floor makes her stop. The woman tightens the grip on her sword, closes her eyes and swings her weapon with all the strength she can find in herself, muttering a silent prayer to Desna, asking to bless her blow with the Goddess’ luck. Unfortunately, although she’s able to swing her longsword at a target, the tiefling steps back and avoids the strike.
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: darkness (4 rounds remaining)
Janiven
Baolus
Ostengo
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Tieflings
Petals
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Fear and pain swirl together inside her, clever tactics, lovely song, all gone, just desperation. She stumbles forward and swings with all her might.
"Argh... bastards! Show yourselves!" Baolus yells, with frustration, incapable to holding his anger as he is once more hit in his chest.
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Following Janiven closely, Baolus draws his axe, trying to follow Catina's instructions with precision. When he feels Janiven's elbow beside him, he raises his axe atop his head and swings down. "I'm getting really tired of fighting in such conditions..."
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Emerging into darkness again, Faustinia mutters, ”Damnable tricks…” She seems unsure for a brief moment as she hears the clatter of arrows on armor, but steels herself and steps forward. She places a palm against the wall on the right and slides past Catina and then Petals. Engulfed in darkness, having no idea how exposed she has made herself, Faustinia risks her position as she listens for reloading crossbows and the scrape of hooves or horns or devilish tails on the ground and walls. Standing tall, she points into the darkness to the right and lets loose a blast of colorful patterns that the dark-seeing tieflings will have no trouble getting a look at.
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Catina had decided to follow Petals to the right, but seeing Faustinia cast her spell makes her reconsider. She follows behind Janiven and tries to guide her. "You can do this, Janiven. Just a bit more to the right, he's pressed against the wall!"
Striking past Janiven, Catina trusts in Shelyn's blessing to guide her aim, turning the glaive sideways to disable instead of kill. "I'm not sure that you deserve this, but I'm willing to give you a chance." With her blow dealt, and hoping against hope, Catina tries to reason with the tieflings. She speaks loud enough for all to hear. "Listens. I get that you feel unwanted by the people of Westcrown. I'm sorry to say that by many, you are unwanted. I know... But not by everyone, believe me! We came here because you turned to be a band of thieves, and murderers. We will not allow that. But if there's those among you who would try a different way, we can try and make that happen. Lay down those weapons and walk away now. It's not too late, yet."
--
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Despite the darkness, Baolus is luckier than Janiven and hits the tiefling in front of him. Unfortunately, though, he doesn’t hear the hoped sound of an unconscious body collapsing to the floor after the pleasant sensation of his axe slashing through his foe’s flesh.
In the meantime, Ostengo stares at Catina with his glowing red eyes. “Join us! They will all betray you eventually! Come on our side, you won’t regret it” he maliciously says with an inhuman voice. Unlike Janiven, and much to Ostengo’s frustration, Catina steels herself against the mental flattery and does not allow Ostengo’s malicious invite to get the better of her. “She has chosen death! Kill her!” cries out Ostengo in rage, not recognizing the slightest crack in Catina’s resolve.
At the same time, Lady Faustinia creates a blast of colorful patterns, directing it against the tieflings. Unfortunately, just like Catina is doing in the same moment against Ostengo’s spell, the tieflings are able to resist to Lady Faustinia’s magic.
A few seconds after, Catina takes advantage of the spell she previously cast on herself to take down one of the tieflings with a nonlethal attack. The remaining tieflings hear her inspiration speech, but apparently none of them seems to be willing to listen to her advice. “KILL’EM ALL!” keeps shouting Ostengo in the meantime, fueling the tieflings’ bloodlust.
The tieflings in front of Petals and Faustinia take advantage of the darkness to fire more bolts coming from the shadows, or at least it seems like this is what they’re trying to do, since no one (apart from Catina, of course) can see or hear them anymore. What you do hear, instead, is the sound of two crossbows being hastily loaded.
The tiefling in front of Baolus, heavily wounded, had already dropped his crossbow to the ground. Now he draws a short sword and tries to stab Baolus with it. Despite the advantage of attacking from the shadows, the tiefling is not able to direct his strike toward a part of Baolus’ body that is not covered by his armor.
After that, Petals stumbles forward in complete darkness, and when she swings her hammer, she’s lucky enough to hit something. Hopefully, someone.
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Janiven follows Catina’s advice and tries to swing her sword a little more to the right against the tiefling Catina has told her to be pressed against the wall. Although her strike was largely inaccurate, it’s so wide that it hits the tiefling Baolus had already injured, dealing only minor damage but putting the tiefling a step closer to his death.
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: darkness (3 rounds remaining)
Janiven
Baolus
Ostengo
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Tieflings
Petals
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Feeling the poor attack against him, Baolus judges that the enemy in front of him is already pretty wounded. With the intent to finish him as soon as possible, the dottari holds his bigger axe with one hand and draws the smaller one with the other. Armed with two weapons, he swings them wildly but manages to find no one. "Damn! Is he still in front of me, Catina?"
Thinking a bit more strategically, he points his axe towards the direction that comes the voice giving orders. "Catina, can you reach the commander with your glaive?"
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Catina says a silent thanks to Shelyn for letting her disable one of the tieflings without moral injury, and for saving her against their leader's magic. However, her attention is soon drawn back to the fight, and she finds herself looking every which way to guide the others. "Yes, Baolus. He's still there, but crouched low. He's bleeding heavily - Well done, Janiven, you got him - Oh no, Faustinia; your spell did nothing. Does it even work in the dark? Watch out, both of them are still standing!"
She's torn for a moment between aiding Petals and Faustinia, or staying where she is. Either way, she'll have to advance and can't oversee the battle at both end. "I'm sorry, Baolus. Can't reach him, until the one in front of you is dealt with." She swings her glaive, trying to find room between both of her companions. "Hang in there, Petals. Retreat if you must. The one in front of you is weak, but still standing. Faustinia, straight ahead, 15 feet."
Exhausted as she is from dividing her attention, she keeps up her effort to sway some of the tieflings. The mummy-guy must be their leader. He won't budge, not in a fight like this. But maybe the others might. I have to try. "Look," she says for their benefit, "we have to start somewhere. These people here with me, they accept me as I am. There's a place for people like me. For people like... like us."
--
The warm liquid was pooling under her armor. Her own blood leaking out. Sweet Shelyn... she whispers, lifting her steadily growing heavier hammer up to swing again.
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Faustinia frowns, annoyed, as she fails to hear the sound of slumping bodies after her spell. She hones in on the sound of the reloading crossbows in front of her, taking in Catina's instructions. She sneers into the darkness, but tries to pick up on Catina's line of reasoning with them. ”She's right, you know. If you join us, you could make this city a better place. But if you insist on acting like scoundrels then you'll go down like scoundrels. Your choice!” she shouts as she looses her own crossbow bolt.
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This time, the darkness proves to be too much of an obstacle to Baolus, whose strikes miss wildly.
In the meantime, Ostengo starts moving his hands in a strange way while uttering blaspheme words in Infernal. A missile of magical energy darts forth from his pointed finger toward Catina.
After that both Catina and Faustinia miss with their respective attacks. It seems like luck has abandoned the group of heroes as the tide of battle turns against them very quickly.
The tiefling in front of Baolus, heavily wounded, does not give up and fights back, launching himself at Baolus with his short sword. This time, there’s nothing the Rundottari can do to avoid the attack. He feels the cold blade of the tiefling delving into his abdomen and making his bad wounds even worst. As his sight begins to fade, Baolus tries to resist and steels himself, trying to find the courage to keep fighting against all odds.
The tieflings to the southern part of the tunnel step back and fire their crossbow, at least judging from the sound produced by their weapons…and from the effects. Unable to see in darkness, and without a way to avoid the bolts fired at her, Petals is targeted by two bolts. The first one is deflected by her armor, but the second one lodges right into her neck. With a suffocated scream, the elf falls down to the ground. She’s dying right in front of you, the blood copiously flowing out of her.
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Janiven hears the desperate deathrattle from Petals and freezes. “CATINA! DO SOMETHING! WE’LL TAKE CARE OF THESE SCUMS!” cries out the woman in rage. “You won’t go away with that. You will pay!” she screams as she launches herself blindly at the tiefling in front of Baolus. But rage and frustration are always bad allies in combat, unless you know how to manage them—but Janiven, as it seems, doesn’t. Her attack misses wildly again, hitting the wall instead of the tiefling.
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: darkness (2 rounds remaining)
Janiven
Baolus
Ostengo
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Tieflings
Petals
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"Yes, yes, I'm on it," Catina replies to Janiven as she spins on her heels - gracefully - and hustles over to the other battle. "He's still to your left, and the mummy-guy is ten foot behind. Don't stumble on the one in front of you!"
With her glaive forward, Catina hurries past Faustinia and takes a quick glimpse down at Petals to assess the severity of her wounds. She shoots the tieflings a fierce glance, and then crouches down to help her Elven companion. "Shelyn, this woman can sing as I could never. She's really badly hurt, which would be a severe loss for us all. Save her, so that she can continue to bring joy and beauty to this world." Gently placing a hand on the woman's throat, she feels the warmth of Shelyn's magic in her fingers, stopping the worst of the blood loss. She then looks up, and gives the tieflings another fierce glance. "If she dies, you'll pay for that!"
--
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Without Catina's instructions, Faustinia is lost in the dark. She cringes as she hears their new elven companion fall, and moves forward after Catina passes her. ”Where is she?” Faustinia asks, blindly grasping in the darkness where she heard Petals fall. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out one of the healing potions as she guides her hand to Petals’ face by touch. She uncorks the vial and opens the elf's bloody jaw with her hand before pouring the liquid between her lips.
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Faustinia's voice makes Catina realize that she forgot to give the noblewoman directions. "Here she is, right by me. Just a little to the left." She guides the woman's hand the last inches, so that the healing potion won't be wasted.
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Petals falling into the ground, probably deadly wounded... everyone missing their attacks thanks to the encroaching darkness... his chest bleeding once more... Catina retreating to take care of Petals and the lady... Things were not going well at all. All of this flashed quickly in Baolus mind. He needed to do something, for dying in a rat's nest wasn't an option.
The dottari, in a moment of sheer coldness, paid attention to the motion of the sword piercing his chest as it was pulled back, giving him at least some idea of its wielder position. Sheathing one of his axes, Baolus grabbed the bigger one with both hands and brought it down with all his remaining strength. When he heard a cry and the sound of bones being crushed, he almost smiled. Now, to take care of this wound...
Stepping back and drawing his healing potion, Baolus asked Jeniven. "Hold on a bit, Jeniven... I'll be back in a couple seconds."
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Petals draws in breath suddenly, sitting upright, but still dazed, thinks she is back in the temple, a young girl late for morning services, where she had been required to sing every day. The confusion doesn't go away immediately, probably thanks to the darkness, so she breaks into her first number. The welcoming of the beauty of the morning by her goddess and saying good night to the moon.
and she will stumble to her feet, wondering why her hammer is in her hand and her neck hurts.
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Baolus brings down his axe on the tiefling in front of him, and finally knocks him down!
Ostengo is now alone and without protection. “You’ve not won yet!” he claims with his inhuman voice before retreating into the darkness, as the sound of his running steps make clear.
While Catina and Lady Faustinia take care of Petals’ wounds, the tieflings in the darkness do not lose their chance to attack from the shadows. This time, with Petals still down, they aim for the noble woman. Fortunately, only one of the bolts actually finds its way to Lady Faustinia, lodging right into her arm.
Then Petals stands up and starts singing to encourage her companions.
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“Take your time, Baolus. I’m going and give them a hand with the others”, confidently says Janiven as she stumbles into the darkness following Petals’ harmonious voice and Catina’s indications. Sensing the presence of both Faustinia and Catina, Janiven slowly takes position behind Petals, ready to launch another attack at the tiefling as soon as possible.
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: darkness (1 round remaining)
Janiven
Baolus
Ostengo
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Tieflings
Petals
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"AUGH!" Faustinia screams as the bolt imbeds in her arm. She points her other arm toward the dark tunnels, unsure where to aim. Unsure which tiefling landed the shot, she points her uninjured arm to her left and conjures a sharp dart of acid to fly off toward the sound of crossbow fire.
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Catina is incredibly relieved that she was able to save Petals with Faustinia's help. The elven woman's song upon waking seems like encouragement directly from the Heavens, to her. With staunch determination, she rights herself with glaive in hand, turning to the two remaining tieflings. "Do you hear that? You almost killed her, and that song would never have been heard." She steps up and strikes with her glaive against the already-wounded man. However, anger makes her forget her training. Along with the cramped quarters, she doesn't strike true.
--
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Baolus nods at Jeniven and drinks his healing potion. There is no warm feeling this time, probably because it's source is a potion, and not the direct channeled power of a deity. When he knows the potion took its effect, he also remembers that Jeniven probably did not see his sign. Shrugging, Baolus draws his axes once more and follows towards their voices, moving past Lady Faustinia in the way.
"I'm here ma'am. Don't worry, I'll shield you from any more harm... I'm starting to think myself as a magnet to bolts lately..."
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Petals mind clears a little with Catina's words. Underground... bad people shooting at us... darkness... she steps toward Catina's voice, swinging in front of her Please don't let me hit her thinks, keeping her song going strong.
But she's still too hurt and blind to make a connection.
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As Baolus heals himself up and moves closer to his allies, Faustinia and Catina both have a hard time trying to hit their tiefling opponents, and their attacks miss.
In the meantime, the tieflings in the tunnels keep taking advantage of the darkness and fire their crossbows. One of them steps back in the darkness and aims for Catina, the bolt he fired bouncing on the tiefling girl’s armor. The other tiefling carefully aims for the singing elf, and his bolt lodges in Petals’ chest. That’s enough to knock her down again, bleeding and dying, although not so close to death as before.
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The magical darkness abruptly ends. As your eyes adapt to the dim-light, you start discerning the tieflings whose attacks have been putting you in serious danger.
“NOW!”, cries out Janiven as she charges forward, longsword in hand. Unfortunately, the tiefling is very reactive and, although wounded, dodges the attack.
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: none
Janiven
Baolus
Ostengo
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Tieflings
Petals
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It takes Catina a moment to get re-accustomed to the light. She hadn't needed it personally, but the warm glow coming from her glaive is still a comfort. When Petals is struck down once again, Catina takes a quick moment to check that she's not in critical condition. "I'm sorry, Petals, but we have to deal with these now." After dodging his attack, she strikes out with her glaive at the one in the right-hand tunnelShe grumbles at missing once again, and makes way for Baolus to move past her. "Go, go. Faustinia, will you keep an eye on our rear?"
--
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Baolus moves swiftly, not needing Catina to usher him. Unfortunately, he was too eager to finish his opponent and produces a clumsy attack, making it easier for the tiefling in front of him to dodge his attack.
Slowly, he breathes, focusing himself on this new opponent. "You were lucky... I won't miss again. You could very well surrender and spare yourself some bruises."
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Faustinia loads her crossbow and fires off a bolt at the injured tiefling ahead. With the darkness fading, her resolve grows and her expression turns to deadly focus. "Got it," she confirms to Catina, rapidly turning to check behind them, to watch Petal's condition, and to keep an eye on the tieflings launching their barrage of shots into them. She takes a moment to call out to their attackers, "Your wrapped-up leader has abandoned you, it seems. Care to surrender?"
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Baolus misses again, just like Lady Faustinia and Catina. These tieflings are an agile lot, apparently.
Without the cover of darkness, the tieflings must find a way to gain the upper hand in the battle. Thus, while one of them, the injured one, further retreats into the tunnel, the other one picks up a small rock and tosses it in the middle of the group. The darkness fall on the group again.
At this point, the injured tiefling loads his crossbow and fires at Janiven, but the shot is poorly aimed and misses. The tiefling lets out a frustrated grunt.
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Janiven moves forward. The narrow tunnel and the grunt from the tiefling allow her to know where the tiefling is without Catina’s help, although she cannot be sure until her sword hits something…And indeed, it hits something, but not what Janiven had hoped for. With a noisy clunk, her sword hits the wall. Catina can see that the tiefling had no chance to dodge the blow, but was lucky enough to be protected by the shadows.
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: darkness (9 rounds remaining)
Janiven
Baolus
Ostengo
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Tieflings
Petals
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Faustinia makes a low, annoyed sound in the back of her throat as the group is once again plunged into darkness. However, she picks up on a key tactical error on the tiefling's part: where Catina's light was on her blade, their enemy merely used a rock. If Faustinia could find it, it should be easy enough to snuff out… ”Find that rock!” She drops to her hands and knees, turning to where she thought she heard the stone land, and starts feeling in the dark for it.
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Catina lets out a frustrated sigh, when the light on her glaive winks out again. However, immediately after that, a thought hits her. Could that be how they can walk outside at night, without fear from the shadowbeasts? If they can cast this supernatural darkness at will, could they shut out creatures of the shadow? Being tieflings, they wouldn't be bothered by their own darkness, like me. How odd, that all the lanterns we light don't lessen our fear, while this darkness might be the tiefling's solution.
The sound of Janiven's sword against the wall brings her back to the reality of the battle, and she starts looking around for the rock that the tiefling had thrown. "Working on it. I saw how he did it now. Hang on..." Catina search around in vain. "Blazing Hell! Where is that stupid rock?"
--
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"Blasted thieves! Fight like a man, you cowards!" Baolus exclaims as the room is once more bathed in darkness. He moves ahead in the tiefling's direction and swings with his two weapons. When he finds nothing but air he spits, hoping that at least his spit would hit the bastard.
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As thankful as she is for Faustinia's help, Catina can also see the hopelessness of her actions. If I can't find it with my sight, Faustinia will never find the right stone. "I'm sorry, Faustinia. I'm trying to find the right one, but this place is swarming with rocks just like it. I don't think you stand any chance of finding it, except by an angel's luck."
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Much to its members frustration, the group seems to have fallen into an incredible bad luck. Baolus can’t hit his opponent, while Catina and Faustinia can’t find the shadow-radiating rock. All of this, while the tieflings in the tunnels keep firing at them, taking advantage of the shadows to conceal their position. For some sort of compensation, though, the tieflings keep aiming poorly—in fact, the combat remains at a standstill.
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“ENOUGH!” Janiven’s angry voice echoes in the tunnels as the woman swings again her sword with frustration mixed with despair. Rather surprisingly, there’s no mocking following her attack, nor the sound of her longsword hitting the stone wall. Instead, you can clearly hear (and in the case of Catina, see) the wounded tiefling being beheaded by Janiven’s attack.
Luck is apparently back on your side!
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: darkness (8 rounds remaining)
Janiven
Baolus
Ostengo
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Tieflings
Petals
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Faustinia scowls at the ground, realizing that Catina is right--there's no use scrambling around in the dark for a pebble. She stands up and brushes the dirt and blood off her hands before bringing them together. "I know a way. Just stay alive for a bit longer. Baolus, hold tight! Janiven, are you okay?" she calls out, before clapping her hands together and uttering a sharp arcane bark. She feels her eyes open in a new way and the echoes of magic around her start to form in her mind.
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Catina hates to admit that she can't even find a stupid rock, but she has wasted enough time as is. She turns back to the fight, and to her previous task of giving out directions in the dark. ]"Janiven seems to be already. She has... dealt... with the tiefling in the left corridor. Petals needs our attention soon. We have to find a way to handle that last one. Baolus, he's five foot up from you. The corridor is narrow, you can hardly miss him if you can avoid getting your axe stuck against the wall. I'm right behind you."
Catina steps up right behind him, waiting for an opportunity to strike when the man steps up his his opponent.
--
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"Hardly miss him? Girl, you are utterly wrong about this! For Abadar, I'm trying but..." Baolus once more strikes with his axes, but finding nothing but air. "...he is not a statue. The bastard keeps moving away, like a rat."
Noticing Catina coming behind him, Baolus can't hold himself. "Try to hit him, girl... you'll hardly miss him, since you can actually see him!"
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Baolus misses again with both of his attacks while Lady Faustinias focuses on her spells in order to find the shadow-radiating rock. In the meantime, Catina tries to hit the tiefling herself with her glaive, but she fails as well.
The tiefling, now left alone and with three opponent to handle at a single time, looks around himself for a moment. “See you soon, losers! You’re gonna die here anyway!” he says with a raucous voice before fleeing in the tunnel behind him.
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Initially Baolus thinks about following the tiefling, completely pissed that his enemy has evaded him time and time again, but then he comes back to his senses. Our mission here isn't one of extermination... this one will soon be caught by the others surrounding this place.
The rundottari sheathes his axes and turns around, moving back towards the center of the tunnel by using the walls to guide him. "He's gone... I could not stop him. Is Petals alright? Her song ended quite abruptly... can you heal her, Catina?"
He then remembered that Catina mentioned she had exhausted all her healing miracles, but he also remembered that Petals had a healing wand. "If you can't heal her solely by your goddess will, I think Petals has a healing wand with her... let's just pray for it to still have a couple more charges."
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Faustinia continues to concentrate on her spell, focusing her concentration on the magical energies around her until the location of the magical darkness reveals itself. She moves to pick up the stone and closes her hand around it to obscure the emanating darkness before tossing it down one of the tunnels away from the group.
”Didn't we stop him? He's not firing at us anymore,” Faustinia responds to Baolus, relieved not to be in mortal peril for a moment. ”Whatever precious few charges Petals has left in that wand, let's get her up and awake. I'd like to ask her permission for a bit of healing myself, if she can spare it…” she adds, wincing at the bolt still lodged in her arm.
Baolus doesn't see it, but Catina's face turns crimson at his outburst. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like... I'm..." She doesn't know how to explain, so the easiest way seems to be to put some distance between them. "Yes, I saw it and I remembered the command word she used. We haven't yet practiced a lot with wand, at the temple, but I'm told it's pretty easy." She leaves Baolus in the dark and quickly moves back to Petals. She retrieves the wand, gives it an unneeded whisk for good luck, and then gentle taps the elven woman with the wand while whispering the command word. Unhappy with the result, Catina sighs, tries to straightens her shoulders and repeats her actions, this time uttering the command word in a clear voice.
When Petal still doesn't wake up, Catina looks around for support, which isn't there, in the dark. "I'm sorry. I must be doing something wrong. It's... She won't wake up." With confusion clear in her voice, she says a hasty prayer. "Please, Lady of all that deserves love. Petals has raised the most beautiful song in your name, and I... it's... This stupid wand doesn't seem to be working!" With a mind full of doubt, she tries one last time, jabbing the wand at Petals in near-panic.
--
Janiven looks to her surroundings with a suspicious gaze. “They’ll come back for us soon, I’m afraid” says the woman to the group. “Here, Lady Faustinia. Take this please[/b]” she says as she offers the last healing potion she have to the elder woman.
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Immediately after Catina uses the third charge from the wand, you all see a cloud of thick darkness approaching from behind the corner of the main tunnel. “They’re back” whispers Janiven through clenched teeth. “Seems like our old friend has brought the backup. Get ready!”
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Before anyone can react, two bolts of raw magical energy dart toward Catina. “Kill the tiefling girl!” calls out a voice from the shadows. Its raucous tone is rather familiar to you. “She’s the only one who can see in darkness!”
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: darkness (8 rounds remaining)
Ostengo & Buddy
Petals
Tieflings
Baolus
Janiven
Lady Faustinia
Catina
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