Hinagiku is up!
Ary's downward chop is efficient, if messy. Radiance rips straight through her opponent, killing it instantly. The familiar scent of bubbling babau ichor wafts through the air, and the Lord-Commander knows that she killed the demon once and for all. She is vaguely aware of the presence of at least one more babau near her.
With the adrenaline of battle rushing through Valaria's mind, she adds an unexpected last-second curve to her swing and makes full contact with the demon behind of her, slashing diagonally up its chest. It snarls, snapping at her once, before lunging forwards and stabbing hastily at Ary as if she had a huge bulls-eye on her back. It lets loose a strike that that harmlessly bounces off the plate, her family armor doing its job despite its discomfort.
Hinagiku, Xanderghul, and Isilme are up!
With few relevant spells, bleeding wounds fouling up his favorite dress robes and a mass of demons pressing in on a group that's half darkblind, Xanderghul nocks a bolt into the slot of his crossbow, winds the winch back, and presses the stock against his shoulder. He looses a bolt into one of the babaus menacing Valaria, though the chaotic and cramped battle makes aiming such a shot difficult.
After he takes the shot, he shifts to his left towards drow-Isilme and takes a peek around the corner towards where he can see Hinagiku.
"I can see six," he reports. "Two to my right and three in front of me. One behind us with Hinagiku. I'm alright - I've been grazed a couple of times. Everyone seems okay to me."
Hinagiku and Isilme are up!
”I... I can only sense one here. I am doing well, but the darkness is making it hard to fight.” Hinagiku responds to Ary, knowing that she had so far been quite lucky to avoid her foes attacks so well.
And with that said, she ducks and quickly swipe at the space in front of her, tripping her adversary once more. Her following punches are not so lucky as she simply flails into empty space.
Finally prepared, Isilme uses a small measure of her magic to cast an illusion of the Babaus over the demons themselves, both revealing their locations for her companions and interfering with the babau's view of the battle. Keeping the illusion current would take most of her concentration, but it would give her allies a chance to cut down some of the demons without needing light.
The two babau in the larger chamber continue to rub futilely at their eyes, as they are unable to see anything to stab.
Ehren is up!
Convinced that he can penetrate the demons' defenses if he can just hit them, Ehren follows up with another punch that likewise fails to connect.
Round 253!
After a clumsy punch, Ehren leaves himself wide open. But, as the babau lunges forward to take advantage of this, he manages to block the attack with own stony arm. Next to him, facing down the other tunnel, Valaria fends off a babau using her starknife, the blade wedged firmly between its gnashing teeth.
In the third tunnel, a babau stands and thrusts his spear past Hinagiku's side, grazing her by taking advantage of her own inability to see in the dark. Undaunted, the kitsune manages to dodge as the other babau lunges at her, mouth wide open. She can smell its breath as it passes, reeking of sulfur and brimstone.
Hinagiku, Ary, and Valaria are up!
"Thank you, Xander." Ary says, the first sign of relief bubbling up, followed by the finishing of Isilme's spell, which results in Ary's brow rising. Everything was still pitch black, yet there were the Babau clear as day. It was honestly mind-breaking to think about too hard, so instead she let Radiance and Faith take care of the difficult, pointy bits. "This will do. Thank you, Isilme." she says, before launching into a forward assault on the babau standing in the ichor of its fallen ally.
Hinagiku and Valaria are up!
”ngh” Hinagiku whispers as the spear slices through her skin. ”I was wrong, there are two here.” she then adds.
As she speaks, she withdraws ever so slightly from the fight in a defensive position. She had been striking at the babau in a predictable way and needed to break the rhythm she had just created. Not only that, she needed time to process what the magical shape, floating amidst the darkness, was. And, when her foe comes biting at her again, she understands Isilme's trick and quickly grasps the oni's neck under her arm and forces it down, kneeing it twice as it comes down to the ground.
Round 254!
With a whacking thud, Hinagiku's knee slams into the fallen demon twice, though the maneuver puts her well into contact with the monster's acidic skin, leaving a small chemical burn down her leg. Across from her, Ary also fares better. Radiance severs the demon's flesh, releasing a chilling howl from the emaciated creature.
Valaria is up!
"I'm getting really, really sick of all of these things," Val mutters as the demons keep swarming in, another taking the place of every one that falls.
The babau tries desperately to evade Valaria's final strike, but as it slams home it extinguishes its last glimmer of hope. Across from it, the other demon pauses, creating an opening as it concentrates...
Xanderghul and Isilme are up!
Ehren is not entirely sure why, but finally, the babau deigns to stand still. Taking advantage of its hesitation, he recovers from his last miss with a backswing, attempting to smack the demon right across the face.
Ehren takes his time aiming this punch, and it flies home, knocking the demon square between the eyes. The babau teeters off balance, completely thrown off from whatever it was concentrating on a moment ago.
Xanderghul and Isilme are up!
With the illusion working as planned, Isilme concentrates on observing the Babaus and mimicking their actions through the spell as best she can.
Xanderghul is up!
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Wanting to slow the fearsome demons down and knowing that this particular spell's weakness would be a moot point in the pitch-blackness, Xanderghul hurls a ball of pseudoreal tar at one of the babaus that are threatening Valaria. He hurls it carefully in an arc in order to avoid Ehren.
Unfortunately, his throw is too weak, and he quickly dismisses it at it flies straight at Ehren's back. "Hey!" he shouts out suddenly as he recalls something. "I've totally done this before! Yeah, cramped fortress hallway fight in the pitch darkness? Totally. Except I was on the babaus' side last time!" He cackles with amusement at the coincidence. "Isn't that strange?"
Val spins and delivers a quick stab as the babau tries to escape.
Seeming to second guess their decision to attack the heroes, the two blinded babau in the large chamber of Saint Arymyril vanish, even as Valaria's harsh cut shreds a piece of her opponent into the air...
Ehren is up!
"I can hardly say I am surprised," Ehren says dryly as he slams another fist into the babau, having finally found some kind of rhythm. The acid on its skin sizzles against his earthen hands harmlessly, owing to his magical resilience. Hoping to bait at least one of the demons into Ary's reach, he then takes a step back, off of the unconscious babau's body.
One by one, the demons in the tunnels vanish and leave only darkness in their wake, until only one remains. Ehren bashes the final demon's longspear away as it tries to defend itself, then sinks into the stone floor and punches it square in the gut.
Hinagiku, Ary, and Valaria are up!
"Yes, strange, Xander." Ary says, not quite feeling the same levity in the situation. They were still surrounded by murder demons... ones that were likely regrouping with foes deeper in in order to enact this very same tactic on them in all the fights to come... or at least they certainly would if they were a united force that cared for each other. So, there was still hope.
Seeing the downed foe that she'd knocked unconscious before the lights went out, Ary opted to leave no foes behind them, bringing Radiance crashing through it in golden, if not glowing, arcs, before finishing with a toppling strike against any foe within reach.
Ignoring Xanderghul's comments, Hinagiku falls back toward Isilme. Still alert and in a defensive position, she turns toward her companions.
"The one here is gone, I can't hear the others you were fighting either... is the path free? Should we expect more?"
Round 254!
Shrieking swiftly towards its target in the darkness, Radiance silences the remaining demon once and for all.
Combat ends!
Those with the ability to see in the dark are able to quickly determine that the babaus are gone, and at least for now, haven't come back. The darkness lingers still in the tunnels, but stepping out into the shrine of Saint Arymyril, the heroes find that the darkness stops just at the feet of the defaced statue as if the young saint herself were holding it at bay. As Ary reaches the statue, the golden light of Radiance suddenly suffuses her blade once again, filling the corpse-strewn room with a warm light.
The large room has two exits. The one to the right is clear, and open, though fresh rubble partially obscures the exit to the left. Additionally, the dark tunnels wind onwards, past where Ehren and Valaria were fighting, creating a third option for the heroes to explore. Which was the right way?
"Does anybody know how many we slayed and how many got away?" asks Xanderghul as the group emerges into the light. His eyes prickle as they get used to the sensation, and he blinks a few times to get used to color again. He re-loads his crossbow as he waits for someone else to make a decision about which way to go. "If we wanted, I could use clairvoyance to see if I can see how high up the next floor is and Isilme can use her scroll to bring a few people directly there. Didn't we get a teleport scroll during the siege of Drezen?"
That the babaus would flee was hardly surprising. "Always cowardly when it's clear they cannot win," Isilme quips to no one in particular. "I am not certain how many died... none that I could see."
"Teleporting ahead might work, but I am not sure our divinations will be effective enough to give us information on where to teleport to," she responds to Xanderghul's suggestions. Certainly taking a short cut to the demonscope would be preferable to slogging through all the demons between here and there.
Calling out to Desna briefly again, Isilme listens at the intersection for signs of fighting up ahead again, hoping to discern the best path onwards.
Focusing inwards, you can hear the faint sounds of battle from above you. Screams and shouts of soldiers. The roars of enormous demons. The sounds of buildings and walls being smashed into rubble.
You don't hear anything down in the catacombs with you, though. You feel that the sound from outside is definitely emanating faintly from the passage to the right.
"It appears the right path is the correct one again," she says, gesturing in the direction of the sounds she'd heard. "There is a fierce battle raging above us. We should make haste."
"If there's anywhere that probably has a massive battle, it's the tower," Val agrees. "Let's keep it going. If we're going to get there in time to do something, we can't slow down now."
The heroes move forwards in the way that Isilme indicates, coming to a wider hall. Suits of bronze plate mail stand silent vigil to each side of this passage. Each bears a sword and shield.
The armor and weaponry are costume display pieces that would hold up pitifully in actual combat. Iomedaens are loathe to use perfectly good armor as a decoration.
In the center of the hallway is yet another statue of an angel. This time it depicts a scrawny man wearing a tattered tunic and patched shoes, but the expression on his face is no less noble.
The bronze plaque on the statue reads: "Hallowed Saint Argil, Patron Saint of the Poor"
In 4638 AR, demonic armies streamed from the Worldwound, overwhelming the crusader-fortress city of Drezen. The citadel endured almost weekly attacks before it finally succumbed to the might of Aponavicius. A few small groups of crusaders were able to make a fighting retreat, protecting common citizens as they escaped. One of the populace's most stalwart protectors during this terrifying time was an Iomedaen sorcerer known as Argil, who would one day become known as the patron saint of the poor.
Growing up as a war orphan on the streets of Drezen, Argil was raised and educated by the church of Iomedae into a righteous young man. As a teenager, he refused to take up space in the orphanage, instead choosing to live on the streets of Drezen. Despite being homeless and poor, young Argil always shared what little he had with others and was always cheerful with everyone he encountered.
Even as his sorcerous powers grew, he chose to swear a vow of poverty, and the scrawny man always clad in the same tattered tunic became a known figure in Drezen. When Drezen fell, Argil - whom had had come to be known as the Pauper Sorcerer - devoted himself to protecting refugees fleeing east to safety. As the demons overwhelmed the struggling city, the Pauper Sorcerer exhorted citizens to leave behind their worldly possessions, and to trust in the goddess of valor and righteousness to safeguard their flight. Argil stood firm against the demonic onslaught, his celestial magic keeping the howling demons at bay. Witnesses saw the Pauper Sorcerer shining on the battlefield, clad in garments of gold and silver, as if his selflessness had become physical armor to protect him. As Argil himself was finally overcome, his body erupted into a flash of holy fire, incinerating his enemies within a hundred yards and leaving only his shattered bones. (Many charlatans throughout Mendev try to sell shattered and burnt pieces of bones as relics of the martyred Saint Argil to dupe the gullible and wealthy.)
Today, Saint Argil is venerated as a ideal example of selflessness and humility. The Saint has only made a few appearances on the Material Plane since his sanctification, and all have invariably been in defense of orphans or the impoverished.
Stairs exit the chamber through the far wall, climbing upward and out of sight.
Just like the rest of these Iomedaen saints, Xanderghul doesn't recognize the statue of the holy man as he strides into the new chamber. A quick scan of the room takes it in and absorbs the staircase up. He wonders briefly about the strange placement of the statues and quickly entertains the maze as an omen that the entire operation is an Ivory Templar scheme to capture them. Then he begins to walk purposefully towards the staircase. There were demons upstairs to slay, and they needed to finish in time for him to be properly knighted.
Ehren frowns, frustrated by the babaus' escape, and even more so by his inability to slam even just a weaker demon into submission. But that was a problem he would have to solve on his own time. Eager to move on, he merely nods when Isilme points out the right direction.
Ary is unwilling to take her time as she leaves the darkness, moving forward as swiftly as she is capable. Once Isilme pauses to listen for what to do moving forward, Ary focuses on the battle at hand, knowing that she'll need every trick she can muster in the coming battles, then, trusting her ally, moves forward in that direction along with her. "We need a longer term solution to darkness for Daisy and I. I'm not sure how to go about that, though." Ary says as they shift through the halls.
As she moves past the statues, she lofts a brow at the gaudiness of bronze plate, but continues forward, focusing her attention on the statue ahead. Like the others, she recognizes this saint, but there were still all of the tasks at hand to worry about - that the way forward needed to remain their focus, lest the lives above be lost. "Good call, Isilme. Let's hurry."
Round 258
The heroes head up the stairs, which leads to a plain wood-paneled room filled with priestly robes and accoutrements. At the top of the stairs, there is a closed door partially obscured by a dark purple curtain. To the right is another closed door. A pool of fresh red blood flows slowly from beneath of it.
After carefully making her way out of the magical darkness, Hinagiku follows the others down the crypts, keeping a quick pace all along so as not to fall behind. And, when the others slow down, either to listen, find their bearings or discuss teleportation, she gently applies her palm to her wounds to heal them. She had to say that
"Yes, it would be better, I was not able to effectively fight the oni in the dark... " she answers when Ary mentions that magic might help them.
As soon as she reaches the wood-paneled room, Hinagiku motions for the others to stay behind her and makes her way to the door from which a pool of blood is oozing. Careful not to walk in it, she places her ear against the wood and listens.
Motioning to the others that the way seems clear, the monk slowly opens the door, ready to help whoever might still be alive.
Round 259
You can hear the faint tap-tap-tap of what sounds like someone driving nails into wood.
You can additionally hear several sets of footsteps beyond the door, but no voices.
Isilme admires the suits of armor as they proceed onwards. While never ones to leave good gear sitting unused, the Iomedaeans at least made their replicas look the part.
When they reach the room above, Isilme frowns at the pool of blood coming from the next room over. Between that and the tapping sounds coming from that room, there was no reason to believe the demons weren't up to something awful. Readying her star-knife, she gestures towards the others to signal that she is ready for the coming confrontation.
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As the group braces as the door and readies itself to enter, Xanderghul mutters a grumpy wish that he hadn't been wounded and rubs one of the wounds with a hand. Unbeknownst to him, he channels positive energy and soothes the wound, helping it to close and staunch the flow of blood. At the same time, his shirt of prestidigitation cleans itself, removing the blood.
Using his indirect connection his healing wand, Ehren places a hand on Ary's shoulder and channels a small amount of positive energy, taking the edge off some of her wounds. With another nod, he signals his readiness, prepared to cast a spell or punch something at a moment's notice.
"Crusaders wouldn't bother to nail doors shut against demons that can teleport... only civilians or people deadset on keeping us from aiding others." Ary whispers, nodding to Daisy. "Assume telepathy."
Hoping that Ary was right about it being civilians, but expecting to see some sort of macabre demonic rite taking place, Hinagiku gives ones last silent prayer to the Master of masters, looks to her allies, and then opens the door.
Once everyone is ready, Hinagiku carefully opens the door. The smell is what hits the heroes first. The chapel of Martyr’s Rest is ripe with the stench of unspeakable carnage. Human bodies lay scattered around the pews, stripped naked, their flesh marred with dozens of puncture wounds that have swollen into purplish oozing welts.
Gore spatters the floor, benches, and the stained glass windows that depict life-size portraits of various saints. At various heights, dozens more corpses spiked to the high wooden rafters leak ichorous stains down upon the stained glass, anointing the saints in blood.
1. Valaria (26)
2. Babau #12 (25, unarmed), Babau #2 (23, wounded)
3. Hinagiku (21)
4. Babau #8 (21, grazed)
5. Ary (21)
6. Ehren (21)
7. Babau #4 (18), Babau #10 (16, unarmed), Mad Knight (15), Babau #6 (12, grazed), Babau #9 (11, wounded)
8. Xanderghul (11)
9. Isilme (10)
10. Babau #11 (9, unarmed)
Valaria is the first to move into the room. From her vantage, she can now see the rest of the chapel, though she stops as a babau comes into view. There are eight of them in all in the church, and some of them have visible wounds and burn marks.
You know that the ripples are actually caused by waves of intense magical energy. You suspect its being caused by the Demonscope as the demons attempt to destroy the artifact.
At the head of church, as one would expect, is an altar and pulpit. A babau standing at the pulpit dances in place, pointing at Valaria with a shaking claw. He glances up at a wild-eyed knight standing at the altar, wearing plate mail and a blood-stained tabard adorned with the holy symbol of Iomedae at the center of a golden circle. His flesh quivers and twitches of its own accord as a manic smile spreads across his face.
You recognize this man as the knight known as Ser Calain. He is a paladin and the leader of the much esteemed Order of the Golden Circle. You can see Order of the Golden Circle tabards on many of the slain men in the chapel.
”Ohhhhh?” he says, breathing heavily through his nose as he speaks, staring at Valaria with a crazed expression. ”Reinforcements already? Good, good. I was getting bored!” He smirks, brandishing the heavy tower shield on his left arm. A boy, no older than 12 or 13, is cruelly nailed to the shield with enormous iron spikes. Blood seeps from his wounds, and based on his clothing, he appears to be a squire. ”He’s a tough one. Still alive, even now! Heeheehee!” Indeed, the squire’s chest still undulates with breath, even though he is thankfully unconscious from his many wounds.
Behind the pulpit, a staircase ascends in a steep curve to a choir loft. Three babaus stand on the stairs, busy nailing bodies to the walls. As soon as they hear the mad knight speak, however, they turn, grinning with anticipation of further slaughter.
Round 260!
Valaria is up!
Val draws a hissing breath as they enter the room and the mad man turns toward them. The demons were bad enough, but this was just depraved in all the wrong ways. "A long way to fall for one of the Golden Circle," Val deadpans as she raises her knife again. "Do you think he broke before or after his men were slaughtered?" She sighs. "Here the sun sets on men of noble heart and broken mind."