"Take this, fugly!"
The spell Lynnda started casting goes off. A ray of blue-white energy arcs from her finger at the creature, striking it right in its face. Frost crystals appear on the creature's sickly green skin where the ray hit.
"Well I suppose it's time for this ugly ass thing to go back where it came from..." Kyrian says as he fires an arrow at it.
|
Cerin forgets his sling and draws his scimitar as he charges towards Halvor. He slams into his giant friend to knock him down so that he can more easily guard him from the creature. "A Vargouille! Keep it away from Halvor, it's kiss can turn you into a fiendish monster like itself!" he calls out as he stands, sword raised and ready to strike should the creature make another pass.
Eww, it kisses you to breed itself? Krissina steps up and takes a swing at it, though is obviously distracted.
As the vargouille's attempt to infect Halvor fails, Kyrian plugs it with an arrow and Lynnda blasts it with magical cold. In an effort to protect his friend from the monster, Cerin topples Halvor's paralyzed body to the floor, then stands astride the warrior's prone form. He slashes at the creature, cutting its membranous wing. Krisina steps around the pool to smash the thing with her morningstar, but her footing is precarious, and she fails to connect.
Round 2
...miss
The creature screeches in rage and flies at Cerin, attempting to bite, but the celestial gnome sidesteps the attack.
"Ugh! That thing's disgusting!"
Lynnda casts the same spell, and another ray of magical cold shoots from her outstretched hand at the thing. This ray also strikes the creature.
"I can tell you right now, there's no amount of ale in the world that'll get me to kiss that thing..." Kyrian says as he launches another arrow at it.
Krissina tries to focus and takes another swing.
Kyrian's aim is true, and another arrow pierces the monstrosity's horrid head-shaped body. Thin, yellow-orange ichor drips from the wound. It shrieks in pain just as Lynnda blasts it with another ray of cold. Cerin and Krissina, however, both swing at air as the hellish beast maneuvers around their strikes.
Round 3
Monster status: hp 3/19
The beast flaps its bat-like wings furiously and it flies almost to the ceiling. It pulls a wingover, then dive-bombs at Cerin! It's mouth is open, baring its needle-like teeth dripping with sickly yellow slaver. Raising his shield and bracing for impact, Cerin deflects the beast, sending it spinning over the pool. It recovers and continues its attack.
The vargouille falls for the ruse. Cerin slashes viciously, severing one of its wings. The battered creature smashes into the floor, where it flops weakly for a long moment, and then is still. Ichor pools around the thing as its tentacles writhe, then twitch, then are limp.
Combat Over
Not long after the monster dies, Halvor stirs and comes back to his senses. He fully recalls the events of the fight, and being unable to move.
Halvor flushes crimson at his fear-driven paralysis during the fight, stepping to the next door while awaiting his companions. He silently berates himself, promising to be more brave in the face of the next monstrosity they might face.
Kyrian chuckles. "Good point Cerin. At least take comfort in knowing that this beast was from the lower planes. I've met a few who I wish they were from the lower plane..." he says as he shudders for a moment.
Lynnda pokes the vargouille with her spear a few times to make sure it's dead. Assured that it is, she looks curiously at the skull-lined pool of water. She casts a spell, and her eyes glow with a faint blue radiance.
She then peers intently into the pool.
After a moment, the glow on her eyes fades.
"That's kind of interesting. As far as I can see, the water is just plain water. There is some kind of magic in the pool that creates fresh water--that's what's bubbling up--but prevents it from spilling over. I think the skulls are just decoration--I get no sense of necromancy at all." She pauses a moment and adds, "I'm still not going to drink it, though!"
Halvor nods at Lynnda's words. Such beauty, intellect, and wisdom was surely a rare combination. He gives a tight smile to Cerin in thanks for his kind words, and a nods of appreciation to Kyrian, as well. He stands by the eastern door, waiting for either Cerin or Kyrian to put their keener senses to the test before he opens it.
Kyrian nods towards Lynnda in agreement. "Yea, I'll agree that taking a sip of that probably isn't the best of ideas. It may look like fresh water, but I'm not gonna be the subject here. Let's go ahead and press on if that's fine with you all." Walking up to the door Halvor is standing next to, he begins to inspect it, making sure there's no traps or anything nasty behind the door. He surely didn't want to come across another one of those "things" again.
Kyrian does detect any traps on the door. It appears to be unlocked. Sensing nothing out of the ordinary, he opens the door to reveal an empty corridor that heads east for 15 feet to another closed stone door.
Heading down the corridor, Kyrian checks the next door for traps, and doesn't find any there either. This door is also unlocked, and opens to reveal a spiral staircase leading up around a central pillar into darkness above. You follow the stairs up three quarters of the way around the pillar (about 10 feet up), but find the stairs ahead to be blocked by fallen rocks and earth. Apparently, the passage has collapsed at some point in the past.
Finding nothing in this corridor, you return to the chamber with the now-weaponless red marble statue of a very angry-looking woman.
The door to the north being right here, Halvor walks to it, taking a look at it like he has seen Kyrian and Cerin doing.
It was definitely a door. Hinges? Check. Knob or other opening device? Roger. Satisfied that the door was a door, Halvor pushes it open when the others make their way over.
Kyrian looks at the door that hasn't been opened yet. "Hmm... Should we try our luck with this door first? Personally, I don't feel like back tracking just yet..."
As Kyrian asks whether or not to try the door, Halvor lifts the latch and swings it open.
The door opens to reveal a large room that obviously was once a prison, as testified by more than a dozen cells that line the room's perimeter. The door opens onto a old and somewhat uneven wooden platform that overlooks the room, with two flights of stairs that descend to the stone floor ten feet below. A five-foot-wide wooden walkway runs from the northern edge of the platform to another passageway leading into darkness to the east. That passageway is likewise ten feet above the stone floor.
"Perhaps Halvor and I should go have a quick poke in the cells, make sure that there's nothing lurking in them, you call can keep watch from the walkway?"
Halvor nods to Krissina and Cerin, waiting for the redhead before heading down the left set of stairs. He stairs with the cell there, working in a clockwise pattern around the room, sifting his way through whatever is there.
You all enter the ancient prison on the somewhat rickety wooden platform. Cerin cautiously walks forward onto the walkway while Halvor and Krissina descend the stairs on the left. As the pair descend the wooden staircase, Krissina, Cerin, and Lynnda all hear the sound of a muffled hiss and the scrape of claws against the stone floor!
Surprise Round
From the shadows under the walkway step two more of the hideous creatures you encountered back in the smuggling tunnels! Like their dead companion, they wear tattered rags and wield rusty ranseurs. One of the creatures stabs at Cerin, but the gnome heard it coming and sidesteps the blade easily. The other attacks Halvor with its ranseur, but the warrior deflects the blade with his shield.
Krissina reaches forward hand outstretched as fames fan forwards.
"$#!t! Not more of those creeps!"
Perched on the woman's shoulder, her cat folds back its ears and hisses loudly at the abominations.
Lynnda casts a spell. A cone-shaped burst of dizzying colors explodes from her outstretched hand at the same creature Krissina had just immolated.
...fails
sinspawn #1 hp 17/19
sinspawn #2 hp 19/19
As Cerin retrieves his sling, both Krissina and Lynnda cast spells at the hideous monstrosity to the left of the platform. Krissina immolates it in a burst of flame, while Lynnda dazzles it with a dizzying blast of psychedelic colors. It appears slightly scorched by the flames, but unfazed by the colors.
Round 1
...miss
The creatures press their attack with their polearms. The monster engulfed by two spells is enraged, and thrusts its ranseur at the person who'd just burnt it-- Krissina. With poor footing on the rickety wooden staircase, Krissina is unable to avoid the attack, which catches a gap in her greaves by her left knee.
The other stabs at Cerin, but the gnome deflects the blow with his sheild.
Halvor frowns as Krissina receives a hit from the hideous monster, chancing the thing's reach weapon as he scurries down the stairs to get in range to attack the monster.
Kyrian moves forward and takes aim at the creature. "These ugly things again?" he says before letting loose an arrow.
Lynnda runs down the stairs on the right, and casts a spell at the creature. Ghostly motes of color dance in the air around its head.
...saves
...saves
Halvor steps inside of the creature's effective range of its polearm, shield raised and sword drawn. With a series of vicious swings, he slashes the creature deeply across the thigh. Kyrian lets loose an arrow, and it strikes solidly in the creature's abdomen. It roars in rage at the pain.
Krissina steps forward, balancing herself on the edge of the platform. She starts to cast a spell, and the monster thrusts its ranseur at her, but she easily sidesteps the attack. Jets of flame shoot from her fingertips, immolating the creature.
On the other side of the platform, Cerin's slingstone strikes the creature solidly in the face. However, it appears to ignore the effects of Lynnda's spell.
Round 2
Sinspawn #2: hp 15/19
...miss
...miss
...hit
...miss
The monster fighting Halvor appears both severely wounded and completely enraged. It drops its polearm and rushes at the fighter, a blur of slashing claws! Pulling at Halvor's shield arm, it leans in and bites him. Its fangs pierce through his chainmail and rip backward, delivering a savage bite. At the pain of the injury registers, flashes of fury race through Halvor's mind... he sees the face of his old rival Vachedi superimposed on the monster's, and Halvor remembers every cruelty and indignity that the man had inflicted upon him in his days as a guardsman. Halvor imagines inflicting great bodily harm on Vachedi in numerous creative ways...
On the other side of the platform, the creature glares balefully at Lynnda. It steps beneath the wooden walkway, thrusting its ranseur at the sorceress. Thankfully, the creature telegraphs its move, and Lynnda easily sidesteps the attack.
Halvor feels the rage course through him as the pain from the creature's bite burns. His discipline and training take over, not allowing the anger to take over as he again raises his sword, hoping to end this creature and go assist his friends against the other one.
Since the creature dropped it's Ranseur Krissina decides to get in close, she hops down the steps and swings her 'star as she gets close.
Keeping his focus on the creature in front of Halvor, Kyrian once again fires an arrow towards it. "You doing okay there buddy?" he says towards Halvor after releasing the arrow.
While dodging the creature's ranseur, Lynnda casts another spell.
Another cone of scintillating colors explodes from her hand around the thing.
rounds.
The creature on the left successfully evades Halvor's follow-up attack, but in doing so, takes its eye off Kyrian. The half-elf's shot hits is mark, and the monster glares at Kyrian and roars in fury. But this leaves it open to Krissina's sudden lunge, and she bashes it across the chest with her morningstar. Purplish blood sprays from the impact, and the creature crumples to the floor, the glow of its eyes fading to black.
On the other side of the platform, Cerin lets fly another slingstone. The angle is bad, and the stone bounces off the walkway above its head. Lynnda casts another spell and the thing is engulfed in a dizzying blur of color. This time, it appears to be effective: as the color fades, the things loosens its grip on its ranseur, and it clatters to the floor. It stands motionless, seemingly staring off into space. Both of its arms and the arm-like projections on its lower jaw drop limply.
Round 3
The monster continues to stand still and stare blankly at nothing.
"I'm fine, I think!" The warrior calls out to Kyrian.
Halvor, noting the creature's vulnerability, rushes over, swinging his blade downward in a vicious slash.
Lynnda steps toward the creature and stabs it with her spear.
Moving around and down the stairs past Cerin, Kyrian quickly lines up another shot as he fires another arrow at the other creature.