Varius fusses uselessly over Alessandro and Faustinia. "The temple can cure this, right? You made it sound really bad. ... Really bad. Either way let's finish what we started here."
Steeling himself, Varius also helps with the search as best as he is able.
After the healing, the group heads into the room where they found the mummy. A thorough search of the room reveals the following objects hidden among the clutter: a functional suit of masterwork full plate armor, a mithral scimitar and a rope of climbing!
***
After that, the group moves on, heading south through a series of narrow corridors twisting in the darkness. The party leaves a door to the east unchecked and keeps heading south until a solid iron door appears in front of them. The door isn't locked, and it's easy to open. It has no traps on it, and allows the Irises to enter the room beyond.
Here, a wooden stairway, its risers carpeted in fine silk and its banisters carved of darkwood, descends into a lake of bubbling filth and olive-green sludge in this cavern. At the far side of the cavern, three natural stone steps rise up from the slime to a chamber of worked stone, its floor stained and slathered with strings of dried ooze and mounds of filth. Two alcoves to either side of this part of the chamber hold stone chests.
"Hey! This will be useful for getting us back out of here," Catina remarks when they finds the rope of climbing. She follows up with some comforting words. "Don't worry. We will get out of here, and the priests at the temple will be able to cure you." She takes another look at Faustinia and Alessandro and their bad condition nearly makes her doubt her words, but her faith in the power of her temple holds.
Catina takes a position more in the front, now that Alessandro is so weakened from the mummy's curse. When they find the room with the bubbling ooze, she looks worried. "I don't like this... We should hope that this chests contain the Knot's most valuables things, right? So this must be a final layer of defense?" She utters a small prayer and checks to see whether the bubbling filth is poisonous. Also, she approaches Alessandro. "I know you're feeling weak, but this might help just a little bit." She casts another spell and places it on Alessandro, bolstering him as much as she can.
She looks at the pool again, still worried. Should we dip something into the pool to check whether it's biting? If so, would we have to climb the wall? Could the rope be of use?"[/b]
--
|
“I have the utmost faith in you, Catina,” Faustinia replies. She starts to say something else before she’s consumed by a short coughing fit. Eventually it subsides and she heaves a heavy breath. “Let’s focus on finding the Crux. It can’t be much further now, right?”
Faustinia stays close behind Catina as they enter the southern room. The silk-carpeted stairs makes a curious contrast with the filthy sludge below. Faustinia wrinkles her nose and frowns deeply. “It very well could be, Catina,” Faustinia responds. She then lowers her voice to a whisper. “A bubbling mass of slime won’t be the only obstacle standing between us and our prize, if it is in one of those chests over there. That would be too simple and safe for the Knot.”
Faustinia turns to Petals, continuing to keep her voice quiet. “Petals, you have special training as Shelyn’s agent, don’t you? Can you tell if anything horrendous lurks down there?”
---
Still weakened, Alessandro hangs in the back and takes in the room. "That imp said this was the shortest route. I wonder if the item we seek is within one of those chests. I'll bet you anything the treasure is guarded or trapped. I can check to traps, but let's make sure there are no monsters first."
Varius strides to the forefront of the group, occasionally glancing over his shoulder as he tries to be protective. Once he's face-to-face with the sludge, he pulls out his warhammer, dipping it in a little to test what happens to it.
I can try the elven paladin takes a deep breath and concentrates. She half expects the entire place to radiate horrible awful elf brain sheering evil. So she winces in anticipation.
The heroes immediately realize that the room they’re in is a place full of danger. Initially the source of their suspicions is not clear, but when Alessandro spots some parts of humanoid body floating in the sludge, it becomes clear that this cavern holds not only the stone chests. Catina’s spell does not reveal any poison in the sludge, though—the fluid is thick and slimy, the consistency of half-clotted blood or fresh, not-quite-set pudding. Averaging 4 feet deep, the scent of the stuff fills the room with such foul odors that any creature in this room risks to throw up.
Petals’ detection of evil presences in the bubbling sludge confirms the suspects of the party. There are several evil beings hiding just below the surface of the sludge, waiting in ambush and ready to…
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
ATTACK! Fortunately, the group was prepared, and no one is caught unaware by the sudden appearance of three disgusting and dangerous beings from the sludge. The first two are the less threatening: they’re lemures, devils against which the party has already fought in the past, more specifically during the play of the Six Trials of Lazarod. As such, the party perfectly knows that being devils, the lemures are weak to silver weapons and naturally resistant to all other materials. They’re not particularly strong, but the threat they pose shouldn’t be underestimated either.
By far the most dangerous creature in the group of foes, however, is without doubts the filthy and horrific creature at the center (picture). This freak is mostly mouth. Three tentacles, two tipped with barbs and one with eyes, extend from its sides. It seems to have something in common with othyugs, whose presence in the sewers below Westcrown is well documented in recent history. Otyughs are part of Wiscrani folklore, and usually feature as disgusting monsters in several scary tales told the children. As such, everyone in the room is able to realize that this creature is not just an otyugh. It seems to be something more, something resembling to an amalgam between an otyugh and another being…Upon closer inspection, the other component of the amalgam becomes clear. It must be a devil of some kind, most likely a barbazu—the creature’s repugnant beard, its black horns, its yellow eyes and the wonderfully ornate swords it holds are all clear signs of this hypothesis. The difficult part comes now, however. How does one fight an amalgam between two creatures whose natures are so different? It will take a lot of reasoning to figure out the resistances and the weaknesses of this horrific being.
While the Irises are still trying to figure out the best way to fight such a horrific creature, the monsters move forward…
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
: Foul-smelling sludge (DC 14 Fort save each round or sickened for 1 round)
The Outcast King
Lemure (Blue)
Lemure (Red)
Varius
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Alessandro
Petals
______________________________________________________
--- ---
|
|
==========
==========
Faustinia retches as the smell of the filth finally rises up into her nose. She clutches the nearby banister and hangs on long enough to regain some composure. It’s quickly broken as the huge amalgam beast rises from the slime with its lemure companions. Faustinia wracks her brain, trying to piece together what could possibly work on this creature, but she draws a blank - she knows devils, but the slithering tentacled horror in front of her defies her categorization. “What in the Nine Hells is that thing?!” she shouts.
She shakes her head. I’ve got to stay focused, she thinks. Whatever it is, we can surely defeat it somehow. She steps back and begins to cast one of her signature summoning spells.
---
=========
=========
Catina's inhales sharply from surprise at seeing the monstrous creature energy from the slime, and she gets hit with a full blast of the foul air, leaving her gasping for air. "It's... Oh- It's... Ack!" She looks at Faustinia to tell them something useful about the creature, but it seems like it's alien enough even for her knowledge. Without any knowledge, she concentrates on what she knows. She touches Varius on his shoulder. "We should deal with the small ones first, I think. Varius, you have the tools to deal with a devil like that. I know you can do it." With his courage bolstered, she steps up to confront the other one, glaive at the ready despite still gasping for breath.
--
==========
==========
Varius' eyes go wide and he is about to scream but Faustinia beats him to the punch. He's about to panic once more when he hears Catina's voice, and feels her blessing. He sucks in a breath, steeling himself. "I know I can too."
Bravely facing the grotesqueries, Varius tosses his poor abused warhammer to the side, drawing his second silver shortsword. "Lemures are devils, right? So we use silver."
==========
Round 1
==========
Alessandro already weakened, is easily sickened by the foul smell. He walks unsteadily into the room unsure if he is physically or mentally prepared for another fight but doesn't have much choice about it.
He doesn't dare enter the sludge and holds the line on the edge.
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
The party prepares to the incoming attacks. Varius and Alessandro wait for the enemies to come at them, while Lady Faustinia starts casting a spell and Catina tries to bestow supernatural luck on Varius. Petals, in the meantime, stays in the rear of the group and starts singing a song about hope and friendship, trying to inspire courage in her companions.
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
The lemures move through the sludge toward Alessandro and Varius, giving to both of the Irises the chance to strike at the attackers. Varius would have missed, if not for Catina’s blessing. Thanks to it, he manages to adjust his attack at the very last moment, and his shortsword cuts through the flaccid body of the lemure. Alessandro has not such a supernatural aid, and misses.
The barbazu-otyugh amalgam doesn’t even need to move. Its innumerable yellow eyes fixed on Catina, the horrific creature uses both of its swords to attack the tiefling, and ends the assault with a bite.
With a surge of heroic perseverance, Catina dances nimbly away from all of the attacks. Shelyn must be watching over her, because the attacks were powerful and even accurate, but she managed to dodge them all.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
: Foul-smelling sludge (DC 14 Fort save each round or sickened for 1 round); inspire courage +1 (Petals, 1 round remaining)
The Outcast King
Lemure (Blue)
Lemure (Red)
Varius
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Alessandro
Petals
For a split second Petals thinks she knows something about this horrible beast. It's just on the tip of her tongue, but no luck. She continues her song hoping it will help her friends.
She'll move up next to Varius, with a plan to distract the foul devil attacking him so he can land an ending blow. Unfortunately she probably does little more than distract Varius.
========
========
Catina feels proud to have dodged the monstrosity's attacks so far. She looks left and right, and feels that she's maybe the most qualified to hold it off for now. So far, she's made it through everything the Knot could throw at her without any ill effects. She shouts at the otyugh-barbazu to get its attention, and then carefully retreats. Before she does so, however, she takes a careful stab at the lemur facing Alessandro. If this works, the men might have a shot to fight it on both sides.
--
|
|
==========
==========
With Faustinia’s spell complete, a small pile of rocks is sucked into the material plane into the sludge behind one of the lemures. The rocks rise from the slime in the shape of a short but stout roughly person-shaped creature with a few jagged crystals poking out from its back and a pair of beady eyes deep in its rocky “face.” It immediately swings at the fleshy devil in front of it with incredible strength for a creature so small.
Faustinia continues to reel from the horrific smell of the slime below. She manages to keep her dinner down enough to cast another spell. She smears a bit of butter from her component pouch on her fingers and makes a greasy snap at the huge otyugh-barbazu. One of its swords becomes coated in a greasy substance that smells of silver polish.
---
Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +4
AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (-1 Dex +7 natural +1 size )
HP 17 (2d10+6)
Fort +6, Ref -1, Will +3
Immune elemental traits
Str 20, Dex 8, Con 17, Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 11
Base Atk +2, CMB +6, CMD 15
Feats Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack
Skills Appraise +1, Climb +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +1, Knowledge (planes) +1, Perception +4, Stealth +7
Languages Terran
==========
Round 2
==========
Alessandro is still sickened by the horrible smell however he manages to keep the contents of his stomach down enough to manage an average swing at the lemure.
===========
===========
Having scored a hit on the lemure, Varius keeps an eye on the giant ... thing and then quickly tries to finish off his sludgy opponent.
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
Varius attacks the lemure twice, with enough strenght and accuracy to kill it. The boiling mass of flesh collapses on itself and the lemure sinks into the sludge. Lady Faustinia’s earth elemental, in the meantime, hits the other lemure with a mighty blow, but the devils is able to continue the fight.
For the moment, the barbazu-otyugh amalgam manages to hold its grip on the sword targeted by Lady Faustinia’s spell. In the meanwhile, Catina barely hits the lemure close to her with her glaive, although she deals much less damage than she would have hoped. Fortunately, Alessandro delivers the killing blow to the devil, causing it to sink in the sludge in the same way as its brethren.
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
But now it’s the time for the Outcast King to retaliate and avenge the death of those who it considered as its loyal minions. The hellish otyugh roar terribly, a spray of sludge coming out of his cruel maws. Fallen prey to anger, the horrendous creature gives chase to Catina, stopping right in front of the walkway. It then attacks with unbelievable fury.
Thanks to Faustinia’s wisdom, the otyugh is unable to attack properly. Just before the attack with the keen lonsgsword, the weapon slips to the King’s grasp and sinks into the sludge. The following attacks are full of frustration. Catina can’t avoid the first one, and the other longsword delves a deep wound in her leg . The second attack, a bite, is significantly slower, and the tiefling girl, regaining her defensive stance, dodges it.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
: Foul-smelling sludge (DC 14 Fort save each round or sickened for 1 round)
The Outcast King
Varius
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Alessandro
Petals
Just as the last of her magic song finishes, the horrid gunk seems to fly up her nose nearly suffocating her. Despite the stench, she is elated that Catina has lured the beast up to the walkway. So elated she nearly forgets her current weakened condition and charges into the fray.
"No, not enough room for all of us. Varius, Catina, and Alessandro is better suited to this at the moment."
Instead Petals moves up next to Catina and casts healing to make sure the cleric (who seems to be the brunt of its fury) doesn't fall. A leg wound in a melee is a terrible thing.
|
|
==========
==========
The earth elemental doesn't seem to react much to the lemure next to it falling to Alessandro's blade. It simply continues in its duty and turns to the hulking mass of barbs and tentacles next to it. Shrugging off the fumes and sludge, it raises its arms above the water level to slam into the fiend amalgam’s hide.
Faustinia can't seem to recover from the foul stench. She holds herself together just long enough to cast another spell. This time the creature’s other sword becomes similarly slick, adding to the overpowering smell in the air. Faustinia promptly clutches the beautiful wooden banister in order to lean over it and retch onto the carpeted stairs below.
---
Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +4
AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (-1 Dex +7 natural +1 size )
HP 17 (2d10+6)
Fort +6, Ref -1, Will +3
Immune elemental traits
Str 20, Dex 8, Con 17, Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 11
Base Atk +2, CMB +6, CMD 15
Feats Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack
Skills Appraise +1, Climb +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +1, Knowledge (planes) +1, Perception +4, Stealth +7
Languages Terran
=========
=========
"Thanks Faustinia," Catina manages to call out when one of the sword slides out of the creature's grasp. She nurses the wound in her leg, and looks left and right. At least my plan worked, and we lured it close enough for Varius and Alessandro to strike. "We're doing great, everyone. I can... I can keep it busy for a little while longer, I think." She hops on her wounded leg and hopes she's right. The tiefling girl then ducks low to the ground and slices her glaive from left to right. It's not a particularly powerful maneuver, but she hopes to keep the beast's attention while still being able to jump out of harm's way.
--
===========
===========
Varius flips his shortsword as the lemure falls, all in all feeling pretty bloody great about himself. He then turns to the super-otyguh, rushing in and trying his best to parry the inevitable attacks in order to get into melee range with the thing. "You! You crawling pustule, look over here!"
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
Varius rushes in and parries the inevitable attack in order to get into melee range with the devilish otyugh. He then swings one of his swords at the beast, cutting a deep wound into its viscous flesh.
In the meantime, Lady Faustinia’s elemental slams into the fiend amalgam’s hide and deals more damage, while its master casts another spell.
As before, the barbazu-otyugh amalgam seems to be capable of holding its grip on the sword targeted by Lady Faustinia’s spell, at least for the moment. Catina in the meantime attacks again, and hits.
Using Petals’ earthbreaker, Alessandro tries to contribute to the fight, taking advantage of the diversion caused by Varius’ movement in order to get into a good position to strike.
Alessandro hits, dealing more damage to the otyugh. Finally, Petals heals Catina.
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
Instead of immediately retaliating, the otyugh decides to withdraw for now. It moves back carefully, and after a quick search of the slimy bed of the lake, it extracts its second sword, the one it had missed before.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
: Foul-smelling sludge (DC 14 Fort save each round or sickened for 1 round)
The Outcast King
Varius
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Alessandro
Petals
========
========
Catina gives Petals a very warm smile for the healing, even if she can't spare a lot of words in the heat of battle. She knows the feeling must be understood wordlessly. It worked! The momentary victory makes Catina inhale deeply, and she immediately regrets it, feeling her body convulse due to the vile vapors in the room.
With a momentary reprieve from the creature's onslaught, Catina prays for Shelyn's blessing. "We've come so far, and stood together against all the evils of the Knot. Rose Eternal, do not let us faulter now. Let us remember why we're here, and what we're ultimately trying to accomplish. For hope, and a better future!"
--
|
|
==========
==========
The earth elemental slowly wades through the sludge towards the aberrant fiend, dutifully trying to continue it's silent assault.
Faustinia finally is able to catch her breath and steel herself against the noxious fumes from the sludge. Seeing the horrible amalgam creature starting to back off, she mutters, “Retreating won't save you now, you filthy abomination.” She then begins to cast another summoning from the safety of the back line.
---
Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +4
AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (-1 Dex +7 natural +1 size )
HP 17 (2d10+6)
Fort +6, Ref -1, Will +3
Immune elemental traits
Str 20, Dex 8, Con 17, Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 11
Base Atk +2, CMB +6, CMD 15
Feats Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack
Skills Appraise +1, Climb +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +1, Knowledge (planes) +1, Perception +4, Stealth +7
Languages Terran
==========
Round 4
==========
"I'm probably going to regret this..."
Alessandro dives into the sludge and submerges. Underwater he double moves into a flanking position.
Oh dear Petals will worry as she sees their friend dive into the sludge. Hoping beyond hope he resurfaces.
Until then she'll quickly go over to Faustinia and borrow the hand crossbow from her magical loot backpack. Getting it ready to fire at the beast as soon as she can.
==========
==========
Varius sees Alessandro jump into the muck, and he lets out a miserable sigh. Two can be that stupid.
He leaps into the sludge, and tries to get towards the mega-otyugh before - rather than attacking, trying to knock its non-greased sword into the muck.
Faustinia! the elf will say as she rushes over toward her I need something to shot at the creature. Do you still have that woman's crossbow?
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
Varius enters the sludge, and as soon as he does it, his organism has to face a hard challenge.
It seems that, for the moment, Varius is going to resist to the foulness of the sludge. But dangers are not over yet for him, because as soon as he starts moving toward the otyugh, the beast roars and brings down one of its swords on him.
Varius can’t dodge the attack in time and gets hit terribly.
Fortunately, he can still fight and attacks the otyugh. Hit disarming attempt meets success, and the devilish amalgam loses its keen longsword again.
The earth elemental can approach The Outcast King unnoticed, thanks to the diversion created by Varius. Unfortunately, the summoned creature fails to connect this time.
In the meantime, Catina invokes the blessing of Shelyn on the Irises of Westcrown, while Alessandro dives into the sludge with great courage. He swims around the otyugh, emerging in a flanking position.
Lastly, Petals prepares for a shot.
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
The otyugh roars and raises a huge mass of sludge as it moves, its countless eyes busy deciding who should be attacked. Eventually, the beasts decide to focus on Alessandro.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
: Foul-smelling sludge (DC 14 Fort save each round or sickened for 1 round)
The Outcast King
Varius
Lady Faustinia
Catina
Alessandro
Petals
===========
===========
Varius yelps as he's slashed, but he knows full-well he's in a good position with Alessandro. Moving in, he starts stabbing wildly into the side of the otyugh.
|
|
==========
==========
Another elemental springs up as if summoned from beneath the stone steps on the south side of the room. Like the other, it’s little more than a vaguely humanoid assembly of stones. They both make their respective attacks, plowing into the creature’s vast hide with untiring effort.
Faustinia quickly looks over to Petals, nodding. “Yes, it’s in there somewhere. Take bolts as you need them!” she replies. She reaches around to one of the side pockets of her haversack as well, producing the pearl they found earlier. She grasps it tightly, and the sheen on it dulls as Faustinia draws on its power. She outstretches her hand and the now-familiar silvery bolts of her magic missiles fly out to strike the abomination.
---
Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +4
AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (-1 Dex +7 natural +1 size )
HP 17 (2d10+6)
Fort +6, Ref -1, Will +3
Immune elemental traits
Str 20, Dex 8, Con 17, Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 11
Base Atk +2, CMB +6, CMD 15
Feats Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack
Skills Appraise +1, Climb +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +1, Knowledge (planes) +1, Perception +4, Stealth +7
Languages Terran
========
========
Catina looks in awe as the men take to the sludge and come out the other end. She can't decide whether they're incredibly brave, or really stupid. She believes it's the former, but can't shake the feeling that there's a bit of the latter as well. Now that her spell is cast, she steels herself against the vile ichors and rejoins the fray, glaive spinning in her hand. "Watch out over there, Alessandro. It's going to take a lot of effort to heal you over there." She balances on the balls of her feet as she's been taught, then brings down her weapon in a swift strike that seems quite accurate.
--
Her friends are a well oiled machine of hacking and slashing, making Petals almost whistle in awe. Eager to help in someway, she loads, aims and fires the little crossbow harvested from Faustinia's pack. It looks like a normal crossbow, just smaller, but for some reason Petals has a hard time getting the hang of it. The bolt goes pretty far off the mark, thankfully not hitting anyone else.
========
Round 5
========
Alessandro raises his silver hammer and smashes down on the creature's skull.
"Yes, Catina, I will try to be careful. However, sometimes the best defense is a good offense."
"I'm already poisoned, diseased, sickened, and bleeding. I'm amazed I'm still standing at all at this point. Let's end this so I can take a bath. A really, really long bath."
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
Varius stays in the sludge and tries to attack the otyugh.
The first attack misses, the second one hits, causing a lot of damage.
Lady Faustinia’s elementals, in the meantime, make their respective attacks, plowing into the creature’s vast hide with untiring effort. They cause a lot of damage too, but it’s still not enough to kill the amalgam.
Time to shine has come for Catina, who has the chance to end the combat and does not waste it. The tiefling girl lunges forward with her glaive and pierces the heart of the otyugh. The beast roars desperately, then his fury slowly stops and the creature collapses into the sludge.
This is an epic win that deserves to be celebrated properly. But this is not the time for celebrations yet. The Irises still need to find what they came here for originally. The Chelish Crux.
Alessandro and Varius quickly swim out of the pool of sludge, but instead of joining their companions, they reach the other side of the cavern. Here, they search the two chests in the alcoves for traps, and finding none, they take the chests and bring them on the other side of the pool, where they open them together with their companions.
Both chests are locked (both physically and via a spell, as Faustinia points out)—the keys are nowhere to be found, but this is not an effort beyond Alessandro’s skills. The Chelaxian has to try several times before succeeding, but in about twenty minutes, while his companions rest and recover from the fight, Alessandro manages to open both of the chests.
In the meantime, Lady Faustinia has detected something inside the sludge. Something magical. He indicates the results of his divination to his companions, and the group decides that Varius, who’s been already infected by the disease carried by the sludge (as Catina points out) will get back in the pool and pull the objects indicated by Faustinia out of it.
Varius has to stay in the sludge more than he would have liked to, but eventually his hard work pays off, earning a group the following magic items, as identified by Lady Faustinia: a +1 cold iron battleaxe, a wand of cure moderate wounds (33 charges), a ring of feather falling, and a minor crown of blasting.
Just while Petals is helping Lady Faustinia to put all the treasures inside the magic haversack, Alessandro lets out a sigh of relief. One of the chests has been opened! While he immediately starts to work on the other one, the rest of the group analyzes its contents. There are several pounds of long-outdated investment papers, lists of debts, and various notes on blackmail victims inside the chest—while once totaling nearly 120,000 gp in value, these papers are now worthless thanks to the passage of time and the deaths of most involved, among which are the Xerysis. They were blackmailed for several decades when Faustinia was still a child, and their debts were enormous. Of greater value are this chest’s other contents, including several valuable books. These books include an early Andoren philosophy book worth 200 gp, an illustrated scenic journey through Osirion worth 230 gp, a three-volume work on the teachings of a spirit naga entitled the Libra Malfactum worth 400 gp, and a spellbook containing 30 useful spells.
1st level – burning disarm, comprehend languages, detect charm, detect secret doors, erase, grease, liberating command, protection from Chaos/Evil/Good/Law, reduce person, unseen servant
2nd level – acid arrow, arcane lock, detect thoughts, fog cloud, locate objects, minor image, misdirection, resist energy, summon monster II, suppress charms and compulsions
3rd level – claroudience/clarovoyance, dispel magic, dweomer retaliation, fly, magic circle against Chaos/Evil/Good/Law, phantom steed, sepia snake sigil, twine double
4th level – aura of the unremarkable, dimension door, emergency force sphere, scrying
Hidden in the spine of the spellbook is a scroll of contagion (CL 9th).
Under the books is a layer of 1,300 gp, along with a narrow ivory box with a carved lid depicting an army of golems destroying a city wall. The box is worth 800 gp, and it contains a golembane scarab and a wand of rusting grasp with 7 charges.
There’s quite a lot to catalogue, but after ten minutes, Alessandro rejoices so loud that the group turns its attention to him. He has opened the second chest. Unlike the first one, this chest contains only one object—the Chelish Crux. This strange and baffling object appears as a wooden and metal dodecahedron that measures about 6 inches in diameter—each face of the crux is carved with a different rune, and when one looks upon the thing, the observer has the unsettling sensation that he can see too many or too few sides at once. The Chelish Crux is the object of the Irises’ mission, but the puzzle box is quite difficult to open (even with force or as intended by tracing the runes in certain patterns and in certain order with one’s fingertips). Rolling the Crux reveals that it is hollow, with numerous objects within sliding around inside. For the moment, though, opening the Crux reveals an effort far beyond the Irises’ tired minds capacities.
The mission is over now. And fortunately, no one has died. The group has to find a way out of the Knot now, in order to join with the Eyes of Westcrown and flee the Mayor’s estate.
__________________________
Varius lets out a hysterical whoop as the Outast King collapses into the sludge. The incredible emotional weight of the adventure falls on him and he nearly falls into the goo from the weight of it. Leaning on Alessandro, he pulls himself out before he cheers again. He stops short of hugging his companions, considering he is covered in disgusting death-sludge. Wearily, he pulls out his wineskin before drinking half of it and offering it to the others.
"I don't think I've ever simultaneously felt better or worse in my life. Hell of a killing blow there Catina. Beautifully struck. Even with that damned weapon."
He takes a moment while Faustinia scans for magical items, incredibly pleased with himself. This is what heroes do. Once Faustinia points out the magical items in the sludge, and noting the state of Alessandro, he lets out a miserable groan before ditching his gear and jumping back in.
"You... you can cure us right? The temple can cure us?" He calls out as he drags in the equipment, the magical battleaxe clattering noisily on the solid ground.
Although interested in the papers, Varius is too exhausted and weak to be of much help - that is until Alessandro finds the Chelish Crux. "You found it?! We can stop the shadow beasts?!"
He rushes over, and once he realizes it's a puzzle, he shrugs. "Let's get out of here. We will have time. Well done everyone. I'd be dead several times over if not for all of you."
---
Now with the gear catalogued and sorted, Varius lets out a breath before he starts coughing again.
"Ack. So we know there's another way out. Where did that imp go? Maybe she knows. Failing that, let's just backtrack and try that door we missed, and see if there's another way out through the knot."
Catina isn't quite sure what to feel. She's at once elated at having vanquished such as foe, and bone-weary at everything they've had to face. The sacrifices that the others have made - some of them not quite voluntary - also weigh heavily on her. She's quick to easy Varius's worries when they man asks about it, feeling a bit bad about sending him back in again to dive for treasure. "Yes, of course. Of course. They're the most knowledgable and wisest priests. Any kind of disease of curse, I'm sure they'll be able to sort it."
The tiefling girl has some harrying and impatient moments as Alessandro works on the chests; there's not a lot she can do to help, save dive into the sludge herself and watch him work. Instead, she patches whatever wounds she can with the spells she has left, and helps sort the treasure. "It sort of feels like we're stealing. Which is silly, really, because the entire point of this mission was to steal something. And nobody probably realized this stuff was still here. And if they did, they probably didn't come to it by honest means anyway." Catina realizes she's babbling somewhat, and shut up with a bit of a crimson stain to her cheeks. "We'll just have to figure out how to get everything out of the Manor, and see what to do with it when we're safely back at the shrine."
"You might be on to something, Varius. If we go for the second exit, we probably won't have to go through the manor again. On the other hand, we have no idea where that exit leads to. It could go anywhere, I suppose. Doesn't even have to be in Westcrown, does it? I'm not sure that's a chance we should take. Maybe the other people at the party haven't woken up yet. It might get close to dawn, and we can just sneak out before the others are awake."
|
|
Faustinia sees the barbazu-otyugh fall to Catina’s blade, then stands up straight and lets out a long sigh. She is not boisterously rapturous at the creature’s defeat but all at once relaxed. Her clenched nerves ease, confident in herself and smiling faintly at the other Irises.
She regains some of her seriousness and agitation when the slop-covered warriors return with their prizes. “Ugh, and I thought it smelled bad from up on this staircase. Hold still,” she commands as she renews her casting of prestidigitation and promptly begins to magically clean off her companions and the retrieved chests. She makes sure to give Varius a thorough second cleaning once she helps him locate the other items in the muck.
The opening of the first chest is at first triumphant, then worrying. Faustinia silently pores over the extensive documents naming het family. Blackmail, debts - was this what had happened to her family's fortune? Were they tragic victims or shameful pawns? Faustinia says nothing, and once she's done reading she places the papers back in their chest along with the other books and small prizes.
“It's time we left,” Faustinia agrees. She sighs heavily, suddenly feeling her fatigue catch up to her. Between what she found regarding the old House Xerysis and the disease eating at her being, she's exhausted despite their recent rest in the cells. The often commanding noblewoman is unusually quiet, nodding at the others’ suggestions. “Livia said there's another way out - hopefully we're close to it.”
Faustinia blinks and her eyes shift in thought as if remembering something. She mutters something, searching the ceiling as if it held answers.
"Oh mercy, thank the heavens... is this over?" Petals asks no one in particular, wanting to slump down into a heap and sleep for days. But letting ones guard down in this place has nearly killed them time and again.
She'll keep an eye out as the others collect, catalog, and discuss. "There is that secret door we saw in the gardens on the way in." It seemed like years ago when they saw it, not just a handful of hours "Maybe it has something to do with the second exit? Too much to hope for. Not that it matters, I don't think we can take on the shadows to get back the way we came in. We could try running for our lives past them, but... I think we are all pretty tired."
Can your backpack hold all the treasures we've found, Faustinia?
|
|
Can your backpack hold all the treasures we've found, Faustinia?
Faustinia snaps back to focus and turns to Petals. It takes a beat for her to process what she said, but she replies with a Hmmm..." and peers inside the haversack's miraculous pockets. "A lot of it, but perhaps not quite everything. Mostly I'm worried about the weapons: even an extradimensional bag doesn't bear a tear well. It bears it quite worse, actually," she warns.
---
"Oh thank goodness. Yes, I am way too exhausted to figure out this puzzle right now. Let's just pocket it and solve it back at the base. I think I need to sit down."
Following Varius’ suggestion, the group retraces his step and, after retrieving the intelligent glaive, the Irises open the door they left unchecked before.
The far wall of this otherwise empty chamber is fitted with three wooden doorways. The left doorway is decorated with a carving of a book, the central doorway a carving of a glaive, and the right doorway a carving of an unholy symbol bearing a pentagram.
Each of these doorways leads to an identical chamber beyond—one with three doors at the far side, opposite a single door by which the Irises have entered, each door of which leads to another chamber, and so on. The chambers continue forever and endlessly as long as the Irises continue taking one of the three doors, but returning through the single door in the opposite wall always returns the traveler to the hallway beyond, no matter how many rooms through which he has traveled.
There seems to be a connection between the carvings on the doors and two of the items you’ve found: Drowned Jabe’s book and the intelligent glaive. Each time an Iris passes through the door with the glaive, he/she receives a brief vision of Catina holding it; passing through the door with the book gives a vision of Lady Faustinia and her haversack; passing through the door with the unholy symbol produces a vision of a wide, circular chamber of thick yellow sludge—a lake of disease and decay over fifty feet across. An island of filth, broken weapons, dead bodies, and worse floats in the center of this chamber, the walls of which loom nearly a hundred feet above and appear almost as half-melted walls of some grand cathedral. You’ve not seen this place yet.
Anyone who opens a door that matches one of the items he carries knows immediately upon touching the door that he can cause the door to open into his home by concentrating. When the door opens, it looks into that character’s bedroom—or if he lacks a home, into a room he currently pays for or rents in a tavern or other location, including the old shrine of Aroden the Irises use as a safe house. Those on the other side of the door simply see it open as if on its own, and as a character steps through, he appears as if from thin air on the other side—he cannot reenter the Asmodean Knot in this manner. The link to the PC’s home remains for as long as the door remains open, or for 1 hour, whichever comes first.
The Irises can use this method to get out of the Knot together.
Following Faustinia's lead, Catina agrees to search for the other exit. Once they get to the room with the repeating three doors, she kind of wishes she hadn't, at first. "Gods, that island seems awful. Do you think it's a part of the Knot that we didn't find? If so, I suppose we should be glad we didn't. That place looks worse than anything we found..."
Once the connection with their two items becomes obvious, she takes a stab at solving the rest of the puzzle. "Do you think there's another significant items - an unholy symbol of Asmodeus, maybe - hidden somewhere in that awful lake?" Her tone makes it clear that she does not advocate searching for it. Instead, she points at Faustinia's haversack containing the book. "Could we go to your manor, Faustinia? If you all follow me, we'll end up at the temple. It would be safe, and a quick way to get you all the healing you need, but... my room doesn't quite hold all of you and it could lead to a lot of questions that we can't really answer. Yours might be better, and then we get to the temple in the morning."
Varius lets out a loud groan of relief as the fact the doors are a portal is explained. "Wherever that isn't here is good enough for me. Avoiding holy symbols of Asmodeus is a hobby of mine. Faustinia's manor works. We can also use my tenement, but that may be crowded. A manor house sounds much nicer."
|
|
Faustinia immediately nods in agreement. “I’ve had more than enough of this place to last a lifetime. We were here for the Chelish Crux, not some devilish unholy symbol in another lake of filth. I’ll take you all to my estate and you may stay in the guest rooms.”
She gestures for everyone to step back and places a hand on the door marked with the book. She concentrates, following the magical instinct imbued in the door’s function and thinking of her bedroom. Once it activates she steps through, suddenly enveloped in the familiar scent of her bedchambers: the old wood; the carefully made bed; the smell of old books lining a small bookshelf against one wall. She moves out of the way to accommodate the others coming through, then looks around her room. Her hand seems to absentmindedly go to her ivory cameo, and she looks at peace after their long struggle. “It’s good to be home.”
Once the others pop through, she closes the doorway, shutting off their connection to the Asmodean Knot. She gestures for the Irises to follow her as Faustinia pads through her darkened house, trying not to wake anyone. She shows them to various guest rooms: thinly furnished affairs that have obviously seen better and more luxurious days, but all very clean and (most importantly) with beds. “Good night,” she whispers as she heads back to her own room. Their task finally done - with more to come in the future, no doubt, at least as dangerous - she allows herself to finally let go. She removes the bulky robes of her costume and leaves them in a crumpled heap as she crawls into her bed and drifts off into an exhausted sleep.
The silence of the house. The steady calm. "We're alive." spoken with a hesitation, like she's tasting the phrase, worried it is untrue. No demons or disgusting worms. No burrowing insects or bloated corpses... nothing...
"We're ALIVE!" Practically bouncing in uncontained relief, finally believing it. Sorry. Sorry. she whispers at the scolding to keep quiet that comes. But her eyes and smile are screaming even if she isn't.
A tight grasping of a hand, a long squeezing hug, or pressing foreheads together in a brief thanking of the heavens. She'll reaffirm their lives and friendship to each of them before thanking Faustinia and crawling into bed.
While buried in blankets, she'll whisper the story of this evening to her mother, even though she knows she knows. Only getting to the imprisoned devil before words become slurred and sleep claims her hard.
The group finally leaves the Asmodean Knot and returns to Faustinia’s estate, where the members of the Irises of Westcrown can enjoy some rest on some actual beds. When they wake up, it’s midday. Apparently, the day after the Cornucopia. Faustinia’s butler, alarmed by the sounds, had asked some questions to the Lady of the house upon the group’s arrival, but apart from that, no one has disturbed the party’s rest. As such, when the Irises wake up they feel a particularly sweet sensation of fear. They can lower their defenses, for the moment.
Lady Faustinia’s butler has prepared a hearty breakfast for the group.
While eating, the Irises have a chance to decide their next move.
Catina gracefully thanks Faustinia for the hospitality and retreats to her guest room. Modestly furnished but in good taste, it quite reminds her of her room at the temple. She props up both glaives against a wall and disrobes. Seeing the bed makes her realize that she should feel very tired, but she's not. Instead, she's full of energy. If she could, she would have run straight to the temple, to ask about her companion's illnesses and to learn about how she can help to heal them. We've actually done it! We've retrieved the Chelish Crux, and we're going to explore the Pathfinder Lodge. To stop the shadowbeasts once and for all!
Because she can't sleep, she sits on her bed and sings, softly so as not to disturb the others. It's not a glorious song, but a humble chant of praise and hope, meant only for herself and for her deity. She sings thanks for finding her place in life, for having met such courageous and good friends, and for being granted the powers to help them in their common goal. When the tiefling priestess finally lays down on the bed to sleep, she still carries that positive energy and is as happy as she's ever been.