"Uh, I think he's invited us in." Sana sends to Rue. "That's no good. Should we go in separately, in case he does the magic eating thing again? I could probably make myself incredibly annoying for a short time."
With the way ahead opened, Myrna rushes ahead, jumping down to the chapel floor and then diving into the trapdoor. She sees Vang standing there before her and she rushes towards it. Her hammer glows with arcane and divine power together, and she swings it around with great speed in order to destroy the shadow demon before her, blocking the way to Vang.
"Hello!" she cries, "I'm here!"
Beatrix steps through Amber's light into the chapel proper, but instead of chasing after her Captain quickly, she begins casting a spell. Without being sure of how long this battle might last, Beatrix wants to call in some celestial aid. She holds her divine symbol aloft and entreaties Iomedae, "Send us one of your servants, Inheritor, to help us destroy this evil!"
Ehren takes a deep breath before stepping through the light and instantaneously appearing by Sana's side. With a sweeping gesture, the archdruid casts another spell, enveloping himself with a field of energy that crackles once before going silent.
Yui moves off to the side out of the way and begins preparing to battle Xanthir. Focusing on his form, she tunes out everything else, paying attention to his movements and the magic flowing around him, preparing for any attempt to cast another spell.
Haste Rounds: (), 0
Status: Healthy 160/160 | Temporary HP ( rounds) | 0 Nonlethal. (120/80/40) | Healing Pool 0/0
1 Con Damage
Haste, Telescopic Lens, Blur, See Invisibility
Maneuvers Readied: Breath of the Moon, Carnival Swap, Eldritch Consumption, Fluctuation Movement, Time Skitter
Can Gain:
Have Used:
Active Element: Earth
* * *
As she waits to hear back from the others on what the plan is, Sana makes preparations, first moving out of direct line of sight of the door, and then focusing inwards. The ruby light cast off by amber on her allies's weapons and armor shifts to the emerald sheen that it normally shares.
Unafe bounds across the rotting rooftop, diving through the door, and squeezes in beside the shadow demon.
She throws a mighty punch at the villainous mage, hoping to send worms flying.
"You can't run any more, Vang. You're done."
Tracking
29 AC (+2 vs evil outsiders) // +1 haste, -2 berserk
35 CMB (38 vs Grapple) +2 vs evil outsiders
14 THP // berserk
164/164 HP //
9/9 Martial Flex //
6/6 Resolve //
11/11 MP //
1/2 martial focus //
6/18 SP //
34/50 CLW charges (wand 1) //
1/1 barkskin (CL 12) remaining //
3/3 surges remaining // -1 if needed
3/3 stone shapes remaining //
3/3 stone to flesh remaining //
3/4 shout rounds remaining
DR 2/- vs evil outsiders.
Hinagiku leaps from the chapel roof and flies down through the open trapdoor, and lands in the flooded crypt, ankle-deep in brackish water. Unafe's enormous form fills one corner, squeezing through the narrow space, while Myrna ducks across from her in the other corner. The shadow demon hovers near the stairs. She pushes her senses outwards into the space, locating Vang. "Back corner, floating above the water," Hinagiku calls out and points.
Meanwhile, outside the chapel, Rue keeps her starbow trained on the sky. Her eyes scan for any sign of demon reinforcements. "I'll keep the rear," she sends telepathically to the others. "Or, should I follow instead? What does it look like down there?"
Below her, in the submerged chapel, golden light flares as Alase and Tonbarse step through Amber and then appear beside Sana. The summoner's eyes narrow as she looks down the stairs and sees Vang.
"Alright then," she whispers. Tonbarse growls.
The shadow demon sees Myrna charging down the stairs. He lunges out and catches Myrna's shoulder, its fingers passing through her armor like it's not even there. The second swipe swings wide. Then shadowy fangs sink into her arm.
Vang sees his crypt flooding with Crusaders. He shifts, trying to flee by flying past.
Hinagiku glides across the water, a ball of light flaring in her palm. Her strike cuts through the space where he hovers.
Hinagiku's hand passes through empty air as the Templar glides past.
Vang melts against the wall, gliding past Unafe who is unawares, and then attempts to surge up through the trapdoor, but Ehren's magical barrier pushes back against him like a physical wall. The worms that make up his body writhe and recoil.
The wizard hisses, then raises one writhing hand and begins to chant.
The Heroes Are Up!
Haste Rounds: (), 0
Status: Healthy 160/160 | Temporary HP ( rounds) | 0 Nonlethal. (120/80/40) | Healing Pool 0/0
1 Con Damage
Haste, Telescopic Lens, Blur, See Invisibility
Maneuvers Readied: Carnival Swap, Eldritch Consumption
Can Gain: Breath of the Moon, Fluctuation Movement, Time Skitter
Have Used:
Active Element: Earth
* * *
"I'm not sure either, Rue. Sana responds to the succubus. "But I'm going to try to disable him as much as I can. Maybe watch Ehren and Alase's backs while Riversoar and Unafe squish him..?"
Sana darts from her hiding spot amidst the pews, now ready to bring the assault to Vang. Amber flies over the roof and down into the stairs, matching her pace as she twists and turns under Tonbarse's massive frame then loops upwards as she launches her starknife towards Vang mid-spin. Several of her fluttering ribbons flutter across Yui's mask, unseen by Sana.
Emerald light cascades around the room cast off by the spinning blade as one of the lights in Sana's eyes flickers, joining the sheen on her starknife, shadow arcing counterpoint to the new light. It crashes against the wall behind the swarm that is Vang and skitters back towards her.
"Amber is with him." she calls to her allies as her starknife slips into her pack and she unhooks her parasol from her quiver, twirling it flippantly around her finger.
Yui watches as Vang desperately seeks exit and fails to make it through Ehren's barrier. His switch to using magic is unsurprising, and Yui immediately begins to study the spell before seeking to unravel it.
Beatrix finishes her summoning, and with a glimmering constellation of light, a celestial in the form of a small red fox appears, wearing a scoundrel's outfit and with a clever gleam in his eye.
Beatrix points down into the basement and gives her summon its directive: "انزل إلى ذلك القبو وساعد في تدمير أي شر تراه هناك!"
The vulpinal nods and runs, hands behind its back, into the basement room. Once inside, it raises its paws and summons the power of a holy smite -- golden light cascades down into the room, searing the flesh of worm and shadow demon alike.
Unable to see Vang, and with her allies able to focus on the worm, Myrna decides to leave Vang to them for a moment and simply finish off his summon. Those these creatures had their limits, it could introduce unwanted complications to the battle, and reducing it to ectoplasm would make focusing on Vang that much easier for the rest of her companions. Emboldened by the swiftness brought by haste, Myrna swings again and again with her hammer of cosmic sundering.
Ehren holds his position, hoping his crackling barrier will prove sufficient to deny Vang physical egress. The druid furrows his brow, unable to see the predictably invisible wizard. Drawing on his reserves of power, he mimics the natural ability of those creatures that inhabit the deep, dark places of the world. His lips part ever so slightly, releasing a sound so high-pitched that only the most sensitive of ears can detect it.
Unafe curses under her breath as she misses Vang, but she says a prayer for her ancestors to guide her and then–when Sana points out his new hiding place–she attempts to shoulder and then uppercut him.
Tracking
29 AC (+2 vs evil outsiders) // +1 haste, -2 berserk
35 CMB (38 vs Grapple) +2 vs evil outsiders
14 THP // berserk
164/164 HP //
9/9 Martial Flex //
6/6 Resolve //
11/11 MP //
1/2 martial focus //
6/18 SP //
34/50 CLW charges (wand 1) //
1/1 barkskin (CL 12) remaining //
3/3 surges remaining // -1 if needed
3/3 stone shapes remaining //
3/3 stone to flesh remaining //
3/4 shout rounds remaining
DR 2/- vs evil outsiders.
The worm-that-walks raises one writhing hand as he chants. Arcane power builds around him, ready to strip the heroes of their magicks in one sweep. But Yui is even faster. She evokes a spell of unmaking, her magic slicing through his incantation like a blade through silk. The spell unravels and fizzles into nothing. Vang hisses like a cockroach.
The shadow demon lunges at Myrna again, but she's ready this time. Her hammer of cosmic sundering crashes through the incorporeal demon once, twice. Holy power ripples through the shadow-stuff. The demon recoils from her, trailing wisps of darkness, barely holding together.
Hinagiku flows past Myrna as she strikes, gliding across the brackish water, and takes up position in the center of the basement near the stairs.
Rue's voice echoes again in their minds: "Copy that. I've got your backs up here. Squish him flat, would you?"
Unafe attempts to do so. Her first strike, a shove, catches nothing but air. Vang twisted aside invisibly, nothing but a flying swarm of worms in a cloak, his body scattering and reforming.
But the second blow lands. Her fist crashes into the mass of vermin with a wet squishy sound. Worms spray across the crypt walls. Vang staggers, his form losing cohesion for just a moment before pulling itself back together.
Meanwhile, Iomedae answers her cleric's prayers, and Beatrix's summoned Vulpinal agathion appears, raises its paws, and golden light cascades down into the room from the ceiling...
Yui is up!
Visible now, Yui readies herself again to deny Vang his lifeline, spellcasting. While he was physically tough, he was trapped now within his sanctum. Every spell he failed to cast drew him one step closer towards to his mortality and judgement.
Golden light cascades down into the submerged basement. The shadow demon shrieks as divine fire tears through it.
The golden light washes over Vang harmlessly.
The blinded demon writhes. The room starts to dim as Alase moves down the stairs, splashing through brackish water at the bottom, and positions herself where she has clear line of sight on Vang. Tonbarse follows at her heels.
"Dalia fe yma," she mutters, gesturing with her spear. "Paid â gadael iddo ddianc."
"Hold him here. Don't let him escape."
The enormous black spirit-wolf lunges at the air, jaws snapping. Three bites in rapid succession. Not a single attempt finds purchase.
The wizard sees Tonbarse's fangs come within inches of his face. He raises both wormy hands and begins to chant in Abyssal.
The Heroes are Up!
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Ehren adjusts his position, searching for Vang's presence with his magically-enhanced senses. His crystalline eye narrows, not quite seeing the wizard in a literal sense, but finding enough of an approximation to target his magic. He decides to go for broke, drawing on all the magical power Storasta has to offer, melding it with his spellcraft as he incants his latest spell. Appropriately enough, its inspiration was the vile wizard himself.
The archdruid's crown glows luminously as Ehren directs an oppressive surge of abjuration magic in Vang's direction, aiming to strip away as many of his powerful spells as possible.
As Vang begins to unleash another spell, Yui once again unleashes a dispel to undo his magic before he can release it.
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Haste Rounds: (), 0
Status: Healthy 160/160 | Temporary HP ( rounds) | 0 Nonlethal. (120/80/40) | Healing Pool 0/0
1 Con Damage
Haste, Telescopic Lens, Blur, See Invisibility
Maneuvers Readied: Carnival Swap, Eldritch Consumption
Can Gain: Breath of the Moon, Fluctuation Movement, Time Skitter
Have Used:
Active Element: Earth
* * *
As Sana's starknife flies straight through Vang's invisible displacement, her eyes narrow. Tricksy. She huffs, and focuses once more. Her shadow begins to dance along her body and weapon as the light in the room shifts, her lantern shifts from a perceptible sense of home to her allies, to a feeling of clarity. As it does, her shadow elongates until it touches the shadows of her allies, causing their own shadows to obscure their movements ever-so-slightly... just enough to make their movements difficult to track from the periphery.
She darts back past Vang after working her magic, putting him in a significantly more precarious position.
"You know Vang, I read your diary. And I must say, I'm quite impressed. The level of self-awareness it takes to declare you dream of becoming the god of scurrying away to another hole is really beyond the level of most people." she says, head cocked as she drops her parasol back into its slot and catches her starknife once more, continuing the motion of spinning the blade.
As the first dispel fails, Yui unleashes a second dispel against Vang's magic.
Vang's chanting changes to a different sort of cadence, a different spell - mythic cloudkill. Yui speaks her counter-spell to unravel his magic, but Vang's spell is stronger this time. Her attempt slides and beads off of it like water. But Yui doesn't stop, she pulls deeper, and time it takes. The spell shatters mid-cast.
Though it was taxing her to continue preventing the wizard from succeeding, there was no doubt in her mind that it was the most effective means of ensuring their victory. Yui steels herself and once again prepares to keep Vang's power shackled as the rest of the group focused on wearing him down.
Seeing that it is close for Vang, and knowing that her allies are, mostly, the ones who are able to kill him, Myrna begins her song, also imbuing it with the power of words of hope, filling her allies with righteous fury and also supernatural faith.
Beatrix steps a bit closer to the action, standing behind Tonbarse and taking shelter within the Archdruid's aura of anti-insect. Then she prays to Iomedae once again -- "Iomedae, reveal the unseen!"
She evokes an aura that negates invisibility spells near her, causing Vang to appear in-person.
Meanwhile, her summoned agathion unleashes a second burst of holy power, bringing in a cascade of pillars of golden light to destroy the shadow demon and Vang.
Seeing Myrna take a deep breathe and prepare to sing, Unafe pauses for a moment. The Sarkorian skald's song excites a fervor in the Demetae chieftain and in her ancestor spirits alike.
With renewed vigor, she swings again at Vang, feeling Myrna's soaring epic raising her spirits and empowering her blows.
Tracking
31 AC (+2 vs evil outsiders) // +1 haste
35 CMB (38 vs Grapple) +2 vs evil outsiders
22 THP // song
164/164 HP //
9/9 Martial Flex //
6/6 Resolve //
11/11 MP //
1/2 martial focus //
6/18 SP //
34/50 CLW charges (wand 1) //
1/1 barkskin (CL 12) remaining //
3/3 surges remaining // -1 if needed
3/3 stone shapes remaining //
3/3 stone to flesh remaining //
2/4 shout rounds remaining //
8/10 ignore concealment rounds remaining
DR 2/- vs evil outsiders.
Sana tumbles past Vang, spinning mid-movement. The mass of vermin hisses. "Bold words from a-"
Ehren's crown flares brilliantly with power. The druid extends one hand, and oppressive abjuration magic rolls across the crypt like a wave, cutting him off mid-sentence. Three spells shatter at once. Xanthir Vang suddenly appears, visible to all, and then falls five feet into the murky water with a wet splash.
Next, Beatrix's celestial fox raises its paws. Golden light cascades down for a second time. The shadow demon screams. The holy power tears through what little remained of its form and it dissolves into wisps of darkness that fade to nothing. Vang's worms writhe and scatter as golden light washes over him. Some burn and die. But the worst of it slides off him.
Alase raises one hand and begins to chant a spell intended to bind him here, to cut off his escape. Vang's arm lashes out, the small rod enveloped in worms streaking toward her wrist... but Hinagiku's there in a flash. The kitsune flows across the water in a blur of silver light, her hand catching Vang's wrist and deflecting it aside. Worms scatter. Alase completes her spell, but her aim is off, the ray of amber light shoots wide, missing Vang entirely. She curses under her breath. Tonbarse snarls and positions himself, feinting toward Vang to distract him, creating an opening for the next strike.
The worm-that-walks sees his situation clearly. Contingency gone. He is visible, grounded, and surrounded. He raises his staff high, channeling magic...
Yui is up!
Anna casually spins her starknife upwards through the very edge of the man-shaped swarm as he collapses towards the ground in a heap, the emerald light on her blade singing through his wormy flesh. Her head rotates slightly further, inviting him to finish his sentence.
As Vang falls to the floor, Yui begins to sense that this time was going to be different. Stripped of his protections, and dependent on casting in the middle of a melee, Vang was likely to become increasingly desperate. If she could keep him locked out of his magic for a few moments longer his desperation would cause him to make errors that would seal his fate.
When he begins to cast, she once again unleashes a torrent of arcane power which tears at the foundations of the spell he is gathering power for, causing it to dissipate harmlessly.
As Vang splashes into the water, Sana's starknife whips up, acid burning through worms, causing a mass of bugs to shrivel and die. The worm-that-walks raises his staff high, channeling magic through it, but Yui's counterspell tears through his cast. The summoning magic dissipates like smoke. He begins to chant again, weaving the gestures carefully despite the Crusaders surrounding him.
Once again Yui reacts to Vang's attempt to cast, quickly unleashing yet another dispel against the wizard. In two prior battles they'd had with the wizard she'd gradually mastered the ability to fire them off without tapping into her reserves of divine energy. This greatly increased her ability to react to Vang's attempt to cast spells back to back to try to prevent her from interrupting him.
Vang reaches outwards and a portal starts to appear behind him, but it suddenly snaps shut mid-formation. Unafe flows into Silver Crane Stance, then charges. She first shoves into Vang, and worms scatter. He staggers back, barely keeping his form cohesive. Then her fist punches through the mass of vermin with a wet splat. Worms explode outward, spraying across the basement walls.
The Heroes Are Up!
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Yui stares through Vang as if gazing into his soul and points Kurushimi at where his heart would be. "Your mortality looms large, Xanthir Vang," she calls out to the wizard, "the Boneyard's call cannot be denied forever. Your judgement awaits." Her gaze is unshakeable, and the pronouncement of doom echoes through his mind with terrifying force.
Haste Rounds: (), 0
Status: Healthy 160/160 | Temporary HP ( rounds) | 0 Nonlethal. (120/80/40) | Healing Pool 0/0
1 Con Damage
Haste, Telescopic Lens, Blur, See Invisibility
Maneuvers Readied: Carnival Swap, Eldritch Consumption, Time Skitter
Can Gain: Breath of the Moon, Fluctuation Movement
Have Used:
Active Element: Earth
* * *
Darkness runs along Anna's starknife once more as her lens flickers in her eye. "Gods, Vang, I'm beginning to think you don't even know who I am." Sana says, as her starknife slips forward to the end of her reach, her blade slashing through the wrong edge of his copy. "I thought you were a proper demonologist, but it looks like you're just a mundane traitor." she adds as her starknife arcs out once more, leaving a sound of sizzling in its wake, unknowable whether she'd done any real damage initially.
"Found you!" she calls excitedly as the light in her eye flickers out, and she plunges her starknife forward once more.
Myrna continues to sing and percuss, knowing that Vang was close to his end. Wanting to do her part in destroying the wizard once and for all, she leaves the taunting to her allies and just brings the hammer down on the wizard, summoning the power of righteousness around her hammer to finally deal with him.
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Her heart still lifted by Myrna’s song, Unafe attempts to finish off the sick, twisted caster. ”Do you see it yet, Vang? No one you forced to serve you is here to help. No one wants to serve one as coldhearted as you. You’re done!”
Tracking
31 AC (+2 vs evil outsiders) // +1 haste
35 CMB (38 vs Grapple) +2 vs evil outsiders
22 THP // song
164/164 HP //
9/9 Martial Flex //
6/6 Resolve //
11/11 MP //
1/2 martial focus //
6/18 SP //
34/50 CLW charges (wand 1) //
1/1 barkskin (CL 12) remaining //
3/3 surges remaining // -1 if needed
3/3 stone shapes remaining //
3/3 stone to flesh remaining //
1/4 shout rounds remaining //
7/10 ignore concealment rounds remaining
DR 2/- vs evil outsiders.
Sana's starknife burns through the mass of writhing vermin. Vang staggers, worms spilling from where his mouth should be. "Y-you're the one who-" He hisses, trying to form words, trying to maintain his shape. "Meddling children playing at-"
Myrna's hammer crashes into him mid-sentence. Silver light blazes around the weapon, punching through Vang's body and scattering worms across the flooded room. Then, Yui suddenly appears and stares through him as if gazing into his soul, Kurushimi pointing where his heart would be. Dark magic coils around him, curses, hexes, doom pressing down on the worm-that-walks. He tries to resist. He manages to shake off the worst of it, but he's weakening, his form losing cohesion.
Then Unafe is there, shoving him and sending him reeling. Her second punch drives straight through his center mass. The swarmbane clasp flares with light and worms explode outward in all directions. The cloak that held him together falls into the water below, coated in dying, writhing worms. The worm-that-walks falls apart. Xanthir Vang is dead.
Combat Ends!
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Ehren holds still for a moment, waiting for whatever contingency or plan Vang might have laid in advance that would spare him from his impending doom. But as it turns out, for all the wizard's cunning, preparation, and quasi-immortality, his luck had finally run out. Ehren descends into the chamber, his invisible shroud chasing the murk away from his legs, and eyes the incoherent mass of dead worms. It was always a strange feeling, seeing a longtime adversary, beyond his reach for years, finally meet an inglorious end.
"I suspect Deskari will have his fetid soul soon enough," Ehren surmises, shaking his head in disappointment. "Whatever is left of it, anyway. Vang's ambitions of godhood will have to wait for his next stage of wretched half-existence."
Myrna exhales, surprised by how smoothly and crushingly the battle had gone. They had chased him into his last hole, going all the way even to Storasta to hunt down the worm-that-walks.
She was glad he was dead. No replacement would readily appear to take his place, but she was also sure that killing Xanthir Vang might be something that attracted the attention of the powers-that-be in the area.
She puts her hammer away and pumps a fist, celebrating. "Alright, we did it!"
"We don't wanna stay too long in this hole, but I'm sure it's long enough to go through his stuff."
"Have we figured out how to reach the Riversoar family mounds yet? Or how we're going to get out of here, once we're done?" She turns to Alase to ask the Widowknife clan leader. "You're our guide. Do you know the way?"
Lt. Medici feels a small sense of satisfaction as the evil wizard is finally destroyed. However from her perspective, there isn't much time to relax. Thanking the celestial for its aid, she dismisses the vulpinal that she had summoned. Then, she retires aboveground to join Rue.
"Did anything notice us doing this?" Beatrix asks the succubus archer. She eyes her warily, though.
"Finally," Yui says, looking down at the pile of dead worms that once was their foe. Hoisting Kurushimi over her shoulder, she drifts over to the cloak and picks it up, shaking it off. The wizard had posed substantially more of a problem than she would have liked, but it was finally over.
"I doubt our adventure here has gone unnoticed, but things might be inclined to stay away from Vang's sanctum. It could be a while before they realize no one is home. Any demons that noticed and cared would have joined the fight already."
"Myrna is right though, we should move quickly. We can always return to the Pharasman tomb in the Cathedral if we need a place to hide."
Yui casts detect magic and begins searching the wizard's final resting place, starting with his corpse-pile and then the room itself.
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Sana slumps slightly as she sees the worm-that-was discorporate into a mass of dying worms. She huffs heavily as he begins to fill the wet floor. "We got him, Rue." she sends to the succubus telepathically as soon as she sees his form settling.
"Gods, that was stressful. Between trying to convince him I was middle management, and the fact that I was growing steadily more and more assured that he was going to kill me in my sleep if he got away this time... I think it's time to go thank the gods. Maybe there's not much time, but there are two local ones we could work with... she says, heading towards the door, and glancing towards Unafe.
"I'll give you back your cords after I have the chance to use them to clean up a bit out there." Sana says motioning back to the chapel. "I'll look over whatever you find as well, Yui. No sense in just trusting one of us to catch everything... like last time." she says as the other woman begins to search the room.
"I'm not great at geography and star charts." Sana says as she moves past Ehren, "Would you mind helping me to fix the altar somewhat accurately? Pulura would probably appreciate the effort. I think some of my thieves tools and art supplies should be able to work in our current pinch."
Sana moves back fully into the chapel and moves to the altar, it was odd to find a legitimate chapel in the swamp... she briefly wonders what sort of people might have built this place as she does her best to remove the grime from the altar, knowing that filling in the scratches would be basically impossible without magic... but knowing she could drill the stars a bit deeper with her tools all the same.
"Oh Desna's blessings... that is good news! Rue descends from her perch on the chapel roof, starbow still in hand. "Nothing came. Either we went unnoticed, or they're smart enough to stay away." She eyes Beatrix back. "We should still move fast. This place won't stay quiet forever."
"The barrowmounds are about a third of a mile west, across the Sarkora River," Alase says, walking back up the steps and shaking water from her boots. Tonbarse follows behind her, equally soaked. "The crossing is normally tricky - the water's fast and cold this time of year. I was thinking I could enchant Tonbarse to fly, then he can carry us."
Yui wades through the calf-deep water, which is filled with floating dead worms. Lots of dead worms. Some are even still twitching. There's not much left of Vang but a sodden black robe - her detect magic reveals a bright aura. Sunk beneath the water is a golden ring with an inset ruby. She then bends down and holds up a crooked walnut staff that was half-submerged in the murky water. Then, she finds two different magical rods. Inside the robe are pockets full of worms, but also three keys, and a scroll-case, thankfully waterproof, with 2 scrolls inside.
Sana moves back up into the chapel proper, studying the desecrated altar. Water has pooled around its base. Deskaran symbols and crude cuts mar the constellation patterns that once honored Pulura.
Sana knows the goddess well enough. Pulura, the Shimmering Maiden. Goddess of constellations, homesickness, the northern lights. Her worshippers were common in old Sarkoris, especially among those who traveled or followed the old nomadic ways. The altar should show the aurora borealis as her holy symbol, with specific northern constellations etched around it.
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Wading through the fetid pool of dying worms was hardly the worst thing she'd had to do in her life. Gathering up the rods, the robe, the ring, staff, keys and scroll case, she moves back out of the water. Summoning a set of dancing lights to better illuminate the basement, she begins to examine each of the items in turn.
The robe radiates powerful abjuration magic, and is made of black silk, with silver threadwork. A black robe of the archmagi.
The ring is of greater fire resistance.
The first rod is a lesser maximize metamagic rod.
The second rod is a quicken metamagic rod. Rare and valuable.
The staff takes longer to understand. She traces the carved symbols along its length, feeling the conjuration magic thrumming through it. It is a staff of conjuration. Useful for summoning, for creating walls and barriers. There are 8 charges remaining.
The scrolls are easier. Greater dispel magic on one. The other is Limited wish. They are scrawled in Vang's messy Abyssal script.
Myrna nods, satisfied. "A third of a mile isn't far. We can go as soon as we're ready here. I still have lots to spare."
She thanks Alase for being there and helping them, and then turns back below to see if Yui found anything useful among Vang's belongings. Rods, staves, robes, and scrolls weren't useful for her, but the ring interested her. "May I take that?" she asks. "Better on my finger than left here."
"We don't have far to go to the Riversoar barrow mounds," she adds. "Are we ready to head out? There's nothing else for us here, I think."
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"Is Tonbarse doing okay after tripping the trap?" Anna asks Alase as she continues her work of cleaning up the altar. She carefully dries it off with some spare cloth before pulling out some of her pastels and trying to etch an outline of a proper borealis to start blending. "If it was another cloudkill, Opal will be able to purge some of the sickness from him." she offers, trying to pick out the former constellations from the claw marks as she works.
She tilts her head side to side as she works, remembering when she'd first heard of Pulura when she was much younger... had she heard of her much earlier, she may not have wound up as a polytheist. A goddess of SKY RAINBOWS would have surely gotten a tight grip on her younger self's heart... particularly the aspect of homesickness, given the number of homes little Sana had lost. She hums quietly to herself as she works. "Rue... are you any good with constellations and stars?"