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Shirzon moves closer to the statue and waits for Calden to position himself to strike the common enemy while it’s flanked. In the meantime, Merephel casts an inspiring spell on his teammates and Korech fires an arrow at the statue. The arrow flies right where the construct was, but something has betrayed Korech: the intense heat radiating from the golden guardian’s body creates a wavering shimmer in the air that makes the construct difficult to see clearly, and this caused Korech’s arrow to miss.
As soon as Calden gets behind the construct, Shirzon swings her mace at the golden statue, and right when she thinks to have missed her target by an inch, she feels something, similar to a warm breeze, guiding her hand and allowing her to hit her target. The shimmering aura around the construct does not prevent Shirzon from hitting her target, although her mace is not so efficient as the half-orc girl hoped. Although her attack fails to deal all the damage she had thought, however, Shirzon’s attack actually succeeds in harming the golden animated statue.
Calden’s attack comes right after, and the Kassenite guy successfully hits his target, although his quarterstaff fails to produce the maximum amount of damage just like Shirzon’s attack. It seems like the gold covering this statue somehow protects it from most attacks. The statue is however partially damaged now.
« | | | | »
The golden statue answers mechanically to the last attack, unleashing its mindless fury on Calden. The statue proves surprisingly fast despite its mass, and manages to catch Calden off guard twice. The golden guardian slams the Kassenite lad twice, almost stealing the breath from his lungs.
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Shirzon
Merephel
Korech
Calden
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Shirzon takes sharp, shallow breaths as the statue's oppressive heat makes the air thin and hot. She tries to turn her face partially away from the blistering heat, keeping her head down. She lashes out with two quick blows, trying to do as much damage as she can despite the strangely hard gold.
"Are you okay, Calden?" Shirzon asks, keeping her eyes on the enemy. "You can do this!"
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Merephel, already sweating, wades further into the fight. She casts another spell as she hustles, trying to not lose the spell while still getting to Calden quickly. She casts Shield of Faith on herself as she goes.
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Planting his feet, Korech's hand becomes a blur as he begins firing arrow after arrow.
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Calden shouts in pain as the blows sear into his flash. "Yes," he says through gritted teeth in reply to Shirzon, "but we'll need to deal with this thing fast." Calden exhales slowly despite the pain, summons strength and makes himself feel like a soothing stream, cold and rippling, unable to be contained. His quarterstaff isn't a spinning blur anymore, but a swaying weapon that takes occasional poke at the golden guardian.
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Shirzon takes advantage of her position to swing both her maces at the golden statue, managing to hit her target only once. As Merephel moves closer, Korech tries to hit the golden statue again with his bow, but he fails twice. Calden tries to retaliate against the statue, and manages to hit it once with his quarterstaff. Now the statue is half destroyed, but it keeps fighting.
« | | | | »
The golden statue answers mechanically to the last attack just like a few seconds earlier, unleashing its mindless fury on Calden once again. This thime, however, the Kassenite is quick and prepared for the attacks and easily dodges them all with nimble dexterity.
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Shirzon
Merephel
Korech
Calden
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Scowling, Korech keeps trying to hit the statue.
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"Ha!" Shirzon cries in triumph after the last successful series of attacks. She feels beads of sweat form on her forehead from exertion and the sweltering heat. The urge rises to wipe them away, but she feels them evaporate in the statue's fiery aura.
Confident in the team's momentum, she continues to swing at the statue, trying to catch the small dents she's already put it the metal.
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Merephel torn between her desire to help Calden, and to finish the statue, decides it best to help her friend. She moves around the battlefield, careful to stay out of the statue's reach. When she is within touching distance of Calden, she lays her hand upon his back.
"Shelyn! Heal your servant, and help this man defend us from this creature!"
She calls out to her Goddess, and the power flows through her.
"You got him guys! Take him down!"
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Feeling the soothing energy of Merephel's healing flow through him, Calden feels confident to abandon a bit of defense. From its swaying motion, Calden shifts the grip on his quarterstaff and aims two devastating blows at the statue of gold. Seeing Shirzon struggle with gaining a grip on the guardian, Calden tries to motivate her with one of Ilimara's teachings. "Come on Shirzon, stop trying to hit it, and hit it!"
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This time, Shirzon’s strikes fail to connect with the golden statue. As Merephel heals Calden, Korech keeps firing arrows from a distance, but this time his shots are far more accurate than before. The first arrow misses, whistling far from the statue, but the second one lodges in the construct’s golden chest. Calden takes advantage of the statue’s distraction to hit it twice with his quarterstaff, almost destroying the golden guardian.
« | | | | »
The golden statue attacks Calden again: the first slam hits him right in the face, but thankfully Calden manages to avoid the second slam dodging it with uncanny nimbleness.
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Shirzon
Merephel
Korech
Calden
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Merephel drops her shield, and grips her mace in both hands. She plants her feet, and swings at the statue as hard as she can.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH"
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Shirzon scowls as her attacks can't seem to get through, and furrows her brow deeper at Calden's suggestion. "What does that even mean?" she shoots back, aiming two more quick blows at weak joints and dented metal.
She flinches a little at the sound to her side, and gives a surprised look at the battle-cry-howling Merephel. She's really got some lungs on her. She's getting to really hold her own in a scrap, too.
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Calden's eyebrows shoot up in surprise as Merephel joins the fray, but he can't spare much words for it, pressured as he is. When Shirzon dismantles the guardian, Calden steps back with a triumphant smile, proud of her. Putting on end of his quarterstaff on the ground and leaning on it slightly, he points at her and at the remains of the statue. "That's what it means. Great job! I knew you could do it."
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Shirzon resorts to all of her strength and swings both of her maces with deadly violence: the first attack almost cracks the statue’s golden helm, and the second swing completes the job. As soon as the statue is destroyed, however, the golden guardian superheats and instantly melts into a pile of molten gold, exploding into a burst of burning gold.
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Shirzon's face undergoes a metamorphosis as the statue falls, shifting from victorious celebration to panicked horror as the gold melts and blasts out a wave of shining heat and fire. Shirzon twists away, diving under the blast of heat and avoiding the flying chunks of molten gold. She ends up on the ground with scuffed palms, but no worse.
She stands up and pats herself down to brush off the dust, looking nervously to her companions. "Are you all alright?" she asks softly, hoping the humans didn't get burnt up.
Merephel, in the middle of swinging her mace at the statue, is caught off balance when it explodes. The heat washes over her, scorching all her exposed skin, and burning off large chunks of her hair.
"Aaaaaaaggghhh!"
She screams again, this time in pain. She quickly stands and looks around. Her hair is smoking.
"Is everyone okay?"
She drops her mace, and holds her holy symbol up high.
"Come close, and I'll heal your burns...I'm really glad we were cautious. That could have gone a lot worse."
Korech's eyes go wide as Merephel charges in, intent on destruction.
Scowling, Korech hurries in with his wand.
"Hate statues. You okay? Your nice hair is all burned."
He frowns for a moment.
"Maybe cultists run away from statue and it not chase, maybe pay more attention to tracks. They have these fights before us."
Merephel's hands shoot to her hair, and when she pulls her hands down, clumps of burnt hair come with them. She begins to tear up.
"Shelyn, forgive me!"
She pulls out a brush, and begins furiously brushing her hair.
Calden doesn't really pay attention to the guardian's corpse, feeling smug at having motivated Shirzon into her kill. It's only her face that tells her that something is up. Subconsciously, he connects the sudden change in her expression to the two pools of molten gold at the start of the bridge. Out of instinct, he pushes off with the help of his quarterstaff, which was already butted up from the floor. As he dives back, he notices that Shirzon is diving for the ground, and that Merephel doesn't seem to react as all. "Meph!" he tries to warn, but it's over in a second.
He lands in a crouch, without any damage from the melting guardian. As soon as the danger is over, Calden hustles over to Merephel, taking her by the shoulder when he notices that she's near to crying. "It's ok... Your magic can restore that, right? Power of healing, and all...?"
"Not really no. It's not even my hair, it's just...we've been through so much, and everyone has been so stressed. We've seen so many mean people..."
She sits down, rather abruptly. Lifting her hand, she holds up a clump of hair.
"Honestly, it really isn't about the hair. The past few weeks just sort of hit me all at once, you know?"
Her eyes still glisten with unshed tears, but she isn't actively crying anymore.
As soon as you wounds are healed and you’ve taken some time to discuss about the golden guardian fight, you start moving deeper into the City of Golden Death. After walking through the bridge and a long, gold-paved road, you reach one of the eight major intersections in the First Ring: the intersection is bordered by a channel carved into the street and untouched by gold, enclosing a 50-foot-square area.
Before stepping on to the area, Shirzon checks it for traps, but she doesn’t find any signs of danger. As a result, Korech moves forward, but as soon as he steps inside the borders of the intersection, he springs a trap. A trap you’re rather familiar with, having previously stumbled across a similar one in the Temple of Razmir. A glowing series of rune carved in the floor suddenly begin to shine as they form a circle of conjuration. In the blink of an eye, a being made of pure fire emerges from the ground. This creature looks like a living, mobile bonfire, tongues of flame reaching out in search of things to burn. It is immediately clear that it acts as a guardian, much as the watery guardian you fought in the Temple of Razmir’s underground chambers.
« | | | | »
Although you previously encountered similar elemental guardians, this is the first time you face a being made of fire. As a result, you don’t know anything about this creatures’ skills, weaknesses and resistances. Of course, you can easily figure out that cold damage would likely prove particularly effective against this fire creature, and that probably its strikes will cause you some sort of burn.
The elemental is quicker than you: as you’re still surprised by the creature’s sudden appearance, the elemental moves forward and closes in on Korech. Fortunately, although caught off guard, Korech manages to pull his head out of the creature’s reach, avoiding the burning slam.
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Shirzon
Merephel
Korech
Calden
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Calden stays at Merephel's side, dropping in a cross-legged seat on the bridge without any effort. "Yeah, I know. We've seen a lot ever since we left Kassen. And going from Tamran straight to the Isle here, after just having dealt with the Razmirans there. And now we've had this oppressive atmosphere here for days. When you start to think about it, it adds up.."
He puts a hand gently of Merephel's arm. "Maybe it's good to remember the good things, what we've been working for... The friends we've made, and the people that will be waiting for us when we go back."
"Gods help us," is the first thing that comes to Calden's mind when he is confronted with the size of the fiery elemental creature. He sighs and walks up to it, knowing there is no turning back from their mission.
He looks at his quarterstaff and tosses it to the ground, assuming that it will burn to a crisp if used against the elemental. Attacking it with his bare fists likewise seems a poor option. That means that once again he finds himself with his new sword in hand.
He approaches the elemental without fear, ducking under its reach on the approach, and swings his sword.
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Shirzon holds her breath as Korech steps over the gold line, then releases that breath as an Orcish vulgarity as the summoning trap activates. "I think I read the lay of the trap wrong..."
Frustrated at her failure, and not wanting to rush in against the raging fire (where would she even hit it? At least the statue had a body with vulnerabilities, this was a twisting mass of flame), she drops her mace and pulls out a tanglefoot bag. She wrinkles her nose a little at the thought of the smell she's about to create, but hurls the glue filled bag anyway, hoping to slow the creature down.
Merephel smiles at Calden's attempt to reassure her.
"You're right, of course. We are making a difference. I just think I need a vacation from adventuring for a while...
Later:
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Merephel isn't sure how to handle this creature, but she is feeling a bit off still, and decides to handle things a bit more aggressively. She moves up to the creature, and swings her mace at where it's torso should be.
"I have a spell to grant magical protection from fire for one of us!" She reminds the group.
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Shirzon’s tanglefoot bag hits the elemental, and the fire produced by it helps the sticky substance within to melt. Goo bursts out, entangling the elemental and then becoming tough and resilient upon exposure to air. Although not being glued to the floor, the elemental has been slowed down and made much less dexterous by Shirzon’s bag.
As soon as Merephel draws closer to the elemental, the creature notices her and tries to slam the Shelynian cleric. Merephel gets hit by a searing slam as she moves forward.
Although her vest has caught fire, Merephel swings her mace with resolute determination and manages to hit the elemental, although the creature proves partially resistant to the girl’s assault.
: Korech steps back and fires two arrows at the elemental, but both of them fly high over the creature’s blazing head.
Calden moves forward, trying to engage the elemental in melee. Taking advantage of the creature’s distraction caused by Merephel’s advance, Calden approaches the elemental and swings his sword, but hit strike is inaccurate and the dexterous elemental manages to avoid the slicing strike with ease.
« | | | | »
The elemental darts to his left with a quick move and unleashes its fury on Calden and Shirzon. Fortunately, at least Calden manages to dodge the blazing slam, while Shirzon gets hit.
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Shirzon
Merephel
Korech
Calden
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Korech winces as his companions are slammed and burned. He slows his attacks, picking one shot and firing it carefully in an attempt to hit the difficult target.
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Korech winces as his companions are slammed and burned. He slows his attacks, picking one shot and firing it carefully in an attempt to hit the difficult target.
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Merephel is already wary of fire, from the way the last fight ended. Thankfully, her nerves actually help in this instance. She avoids the flame catching her clothes on fire, and swings again angrily.
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Shirzon reels from the fire creature's attack, and after a brief moment of disorientation sees that the fire has spread to her clothes. The flames lick at her arms, leaving bright red burns. She starts to panic, stepping back and patting out the flames, eventually falling to the ground and trying to stop the hungry fire's spread.
"Aaahhhhhh! Help!" she cries, before realizing that she's smothered the flames. She breathes heavily and looks back at the battle, too focused on the fight to be embarrassed. "Never mind! Just kill it!"
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Calden squints his eyes at the heat coming off the elemental. He looks worried at the ease with which it put Shirzon out of the fight. Sweat starts pouring from his face. "Come on, Meph. Let's make quick work of this thing. If you have any help, that'd be appreciated." Taking a deep breath, he summons strength in preparation of a flurry or strikes. He lunges at the fire elemental, slicing and stabbing at its legs.
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As Shirzon falls to the ground, trying to stop the hungry fire’s spread, Merephel positions herself to Calden’s side and bravely attacks the elemental. Resorting to an unexpected surge of strength, she hits the elemental again, but her mace seems not be working properly against the creature, failing to inflict any damage to it.
In the meantime, Korech fires a single arrow from a distance to the elemental: this time, the half-orc archer’s aim is good enough to hit the blazing mass of writhing flames, and even though his arrow is not able to inflict its full damage, at least it inflict some minor wounds to the elemental.
Right after, Calden attacks furiously with his sword. The elemental is though very nimble and manages to avoid all but the last attack. With a slicing strike, Calden manages to damage the elemental with his last attack, although his sword fails to deal its full damage as well.
Until now, the party has been battling the elemental with all of its strength, but the creature is only partially damaged due to its natural resistance to all types of weapon, as Merephel’s mace, Korech’s arrow and Calden’s sword has made clear.
« | | | | »
The elemental steps back and unleashes its blazing fury on Merephel and Calden: thankfully, both Merephel and Calden manage to avoid the fiery slams of the elemental, gaining another chance to attack!
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Shirzon
Merephel
Korech
Calden
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"What do we do?" Calden asks as he looks around to his companions for support. "It seems to resist all of our weapons. Can we freeze it somehow, or use magic? Otherwise we'll just have to power through..." Rolling to the side to avoid the creature's slam and wiping his brow to avoid sweat dropping in his eyes, Calden doesn't look happy at the prospect.
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Merephel, realizing that the party's luck has turned, spend a few seconds in concentration, and lays her hands on Calden.
"Shelyn, return your Blessed Luck, and bestow it upon this man."
Her voice is solemn and low, and her fingertips glow with a faint purple light.
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Calden feels the blessing of Shelyn as a tingle in his hands. Trusting in the powers bestowed by Merephel, he takes the sword in both hands and goes for broke. He swings his sword right, takes a breath and swings left, then spins on his axis to finishes with an overhead slash. Stunned at the effect of the blessing, he grins at Merephel.
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Scrambling to her feet, Shirzon flexes her wrist, and the leather sheath on her forearm pops open and deposits a wand in her hand. She points it at the elemental and concentrates, trying to will bolts of force to strike it. She winces as one of her burns flares up, and the momentary distraction is enough that the wand refuses her. She grumbles, beads of sweat trailing down her temple. "Just work, dammit... Keep it up! It's tough, but it's just an oversized bonfire!"
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Sweating and furious, Korech keeps firing arrows, speeding up to forsake accuracy for volume.
"We can kill! Keep up fight!"
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Shirzon is unable to activate her wand of magic missiles: for the first time, the magical device betrayed her in the time of need. Fortunately, her companions actions meet a success that largely makes up for her failure.
In the meantime, Korech fires two arrows at the elemental while keeping himself far from the elemental’s reach: both of his arrows hit the “giant bonfire”, as Shirzon just defined the elemental, and although the creature keeps resisting to them partially, Korech has fired them with such a strength that they damage the elemental almost critically.
Right after, Calden, imbued with the luck of Shelyn thanks to Merephel’s mediation, attacks three time with his temple sword, managing to hit the elemental twice. The creature is now critically damaged and it’s only matter of time before the Heroes of Kassen defeat it.
« | | | | »
The elemental hisses furiously, burst of flames exploding into its mass of fire. Flared up by the many attacks it took, the creature moves forward and blows off his blazing steam on Merephel and Calden. Once again, both of the Kassenite heroes manage to avoid the flaming slams of the creature, sending it into a fiery frenzy.
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Shirzon
Merephel
Korech
Calden
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"Come on..." Shirzon coaxes the wand again, trying to force it to her will. As the fire creature rages, she's relieved to see that despite its fury it can't manage to get past her comrades' defenses. Turning her attention back to the wand in her hand, she manages to produce two missiles of force that fly out and strike the elemental.
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"YAARRRHGHHH!!"
ALmost in a panic as the enormous creature keeps taking hits, Korech keeps on firing, his hand shaking and bathed in sweat.
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Merephel keeps herself focused on channeling the power of Shelyn's Luck into Calden, while keeping her shield raised.
Before Calden can even take advantage of Merephel's blessing, Shirzon and Korech manage to put down the elemental with their attacks. The creature roars in frustration as it vanish, leaving nothing behind.
______________________
Calden feels Shelyn's blessing flow through his body, but the fire elemental is dealt with and vanishes before he can use it. The energy tingles at his fingertips, needs a way out. Incongruously, he drops his sword and launches into a series of elegant cartwheels and majestic flying kicks. At the end of it, he takes a deep breath and walks back to Merephel. "Wow, Meph! I had no idea that you could perform such powerful blessings. It feels... like I could take on the world."
Merephel smiles a tired smile.
"The Blessing of Luck is not to be given lightly, nor to just anyone. But it is a remarkable gift, is it not?"
She turns to the rest of the group.
"How is everyone feeling? Shirzon, did you want me to heal that burn? I'm sure Korech will gladly use his wand on you too!"
After the fire elemental’s defeat, you’re able to cross the intersection. Korech resumes tracking the cultists, although it’s now unclear whether the tracks that the half-orc is finding were left by Razmiri faithful or from those who walked the gilded streets of the City of Golden Death before. Anyway, one thing is sure: you need to access the second ring as soon as possible. If the city is going to be flooded by molten gold, you have to hurry. Armed of this awareness, you devote every inch of your energy to explore the city ruined streets and structures in an attempt to find a way to enter the second ring.
A few hours pass, and as you explore one of the many ruined portions of the city, a sudden clanging of shields and weapons resounds as a pack of flaming, gold-plated skeletons bearing golden scimitars rise up from the nearby ruins and advance.
« | | | | »
Fortunately, everyone in the party – except for Merephel - has noticed the skeletons coming out from the ruins.
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Shirzon
Korech
Calden
Merephel
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Shirzon grimaces at her wounds, craning her neck to look at her burned arms. "Yeah, I could use some help with these..."
After some soothing healing, Shirzon puts her wand back into her wrist sheath and clicks the spring into place. "You two are quite a force, huh?" she says with a nod to Merephel and Calden. "Hopefully we won't need that kind of power all the time here, but it's good to know there are real gods on our side when we go up against these faker cultists."
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Shirzon quickly drops into her fighting stance, shooting looks at the risen skeletons. Noticing a crest on the bones that matches the mural from before, she raises an eyebrow. "This place still has a lot of the original defenses, looks like. Fortunately for us, I know where to hit these things."
Before the golden skeletons can react properly, she leaps at the closest one in a vicious, all out strike.