Goti manages to resist the effects of Vashta's spell - he appears to be very tough bodily - though he grimaces at its painful effects. He retaliates against her, seeing that she is un-engaged.
He unleashes a ray of intense acid against her. She activates her psychic defenses and two copies of herself appear, but he still manages to hit the real her, searing and burning her flesh and skin painfully.
Tallak offers a nod to Calder as he floats upwards, then offers up a blessing to the group.
__________
Ursus continues to slash and bite at those around him, stepping closer to the largest threat in the room.
Ursus tears into the man with his teeth, sending the Ulfen warrior toppling to the ground before stepping forward to deal with Goti. He lashes out with both claws, though both are rebuffed by an invisible barrier of force energy before they manage to deal any harm.
Calder moves immediately to solid footing.
Calder levitates up to the top of the pit, axe in hand, and steps onto solid ground, ready to retaliate against the warriors in front of him.
The slope of the pit is slippery, but Calder manages to keep his feet this time.
Clara cranes her neck to see up into the room, but it's clear she'd fall in the pit if she tried to get back into the room.
"Dammit." She says, looking down at her remaining extracts. Turning to Shalellu, Clara shrugs. "If only I'd prepped Monkeyfish. Or a third fizzy lifting drink. I guess as is, we're stuck as rear guard for now, eh?"
She backs away from the edge to avoid the risk of slipping in, and then peels her eyes and ears for indications of foes hearing the commotion and coming from below.
Calder levitates up to the edge of the pit, stepping forward onto solid ground and up into combat with the thugs, while Clara steps back down to await any threats coming at them from behind. She can definitely hear movement from down the hallway that they came from...
The thugs that stand in front of Calder pull battleaxes from their belt and swing at him, hoping to cut him down quick.
One of them manages to score a hit. During that melee, Sandru vaults over Ursus and into a space next to Goti. He keeps his footing on the grease and lashes out at the half-troll sorcerer with his scimitar when he gets into range.
His blade ricochets off of an invisible force shield, just like Ursus' claws.
HP: 40/48
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15, CMD 16
Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +5/+8 (+1 vs. charm/compulsion)
Tricks: 2/6 (mesmeric mirror on myself, shadow splinter on Sandru)
Touch treatment 0/6
Spells: 1st 1/5; 2nd 0/4
Effects:
Maintaing most of her concentration on sorcerer, Vashta glances for a moment at the man behind Sandru, hoping to keep him from hurting the Varisian.
The thug is overcome by Vashta's enchantment magic, turning ominously towards his comrade on the other side of him.
Meanwhile, Goti lashes out desperately his the heavy pick he pulls from his belt - first at Ursus, and then at Sandru. He continues to heal, the wounds from Clara's bomb nearly gone, as he strikes.
His first blow slides off of Ursus' four-mirror armor, scratching it but delivering no real harm, while his second blow successfully strikes Sandru. Vashta's magic creates a shadow replica of Goti which strikes the man next to Sandru, and makes the wound that Sandru gains shallower.
Ursus continues trying to tear the troll to shreds, while Tallak waits patiently in the pit.
__________
Ursus lashes out three times against Goti, biting and clawing deeply into the half-troll. He roars, and Goti roars as well although Goti's roar is in pain.
Meanwhile below, Clara and Shalelu spot a pair of human ninja come out of the nearest door to them . They wear all-black shifts, carry curved blades which glisten with poison, and look menacingly at Clara and Shalelu. Silently, they utilize their ki and vanish from sight.
Calder is in a hurry so he grunts as he tries to cut through both his opponents.
Calder easily fells both opposing warriors in an impressive display of martial prowess.
Vashta's eyes drop as the big Ulfen kills both men.
I don't want to get on his wrong side... she thinks.
Clara hollers, "Invisible ninjas on their way to the party!"
Clara hurls one of her bombs into the room, filling the room below the staircase with a loud boom and steaming, stinking gas.
Shalelu stands ready alongside Clara, nocking an arrow to her bow. Above in the tower office, Sandru attempts again to strike at Goti.
Unfortunately, he loses his easy footing on the grease and his attack suffers for it. He recovers, but he grits his teeth in frustration.
HP: 40/48
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15, CMD 16
Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +5/+8 (+1 vs. charm/compulsion)
Tricks: 2/6 (mesmeric mirror on myself, shadow splinter on Sandru)
Touch treatment 0/6
Spells: 1st 2/5; 2nd 1/4
Effects:
With more foes on their way and not wanting to use all her spells here, Vashta pulls and flings a starknife back toward Goti. Aiming high, however, to avoid hitting the bear, she completely misses, the weapon clanging against the stone wall well above the green man's head.
"I have fire if we need it," she calls out.
Goti manages to resist the effects of Vashta's spell - he appears to be very tough bodily - though he grimaces at its painful effects. He retaliates against her, seeing that she is un-engaged.He unleashes a ray of intense acid against her. She activates her psychic defenses and two copies of herself appear, but he still manages to hit the real her, searing and burning her flesh and skin painfully.
Vashta flings a starknife at Goti, though it doesn't quite come close to hitting him. It clangs onto the floor.
Goti himself growls and begins casting a spell, his little beady eyes darting between Ursus, Vashta, Calder, and Sandru.
Knowing that both Ursus and Vashta have unleashed successful attacks directly on him, he splays his hands wide and unleashes a thin but wide barrage of acid against them.
Neither of them manage to get out of the way in time, and are covered all over in burning, searing acid droplets that hurt intensely.
HP: 3/48
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15, CMD 16
Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +5/+8 (+1 vs. charm/compulsion)
Tricks: 2/6 (mesmeric mirror on myself, shadow splinter on Sandru)
Touch treatment 0/6
Spells: 1st 2/5; 2nd 1/4
Effects:
Tallak mutters a curse under his breath, and suddenly the floating spear lunges forward at the troll!
__________
__________
Ursus roars with rage at being burned, and continues ripping into the troll.
Tallak's spear and bear make overtures at the half-troll. The spear is rebuffed by a protection spell, but Ursus manages to power through the half-troll's protections and lay down three solid, powerful blows. Goti grunts and weaves back and forth, bleeding from many wounds now.
Below in the room with Clara's stinking smoke, there is no immediate sound or sign of the ninjas.
One ninja approaches you invisibly (betrayed by the sound of footsteps) up the stairs, though there is no sign of the other ninja.
Calder takes a step cautiously onto the grease beside Sandru and swings at Goti.
He keeps his footing.
A light blow as his footing makes him overcompensate.
Clara stairs down into the impenetrable fog. She strains to listen for the vanished ninjas, but all she can hear are the sounds of battle up beyond the pit.
"Uh, guys, how's it going up there?", she asks.
Meanwhile she decides to dump some powdered chalk on the stairs between the stinky cloud and Shalelu, hoping to see footprints if one of the invisible ninjas appears.
Calder steps into combat with Goti and slams his axe into the half-troll. Goti groans and begins to lean downward, when Sandru slices along his back with a final connecting blow. Goti falls to the ground, unconscious. His troll blood keeps his wounds healing, but he's down for now at least.
Below on the staircase, Clara hurls some powdered chalk onto the stairs, and it falls over the form of a ninja who was stalking closer and closer to her. As a response, Shalelu draws three arrows and snaps them off into the space where the invisible creature is. She hits with all three arrows and the invisible ninja slumps to the ground, dead.
"Phew!" Clara whistles. "Nice shooting, Shalelu!"
Then she hears a thud from above and cocks her ear for a report of what's going on beyond the pit.
Shalelu smiles at Clara. "Nice chalking, Clarabibulus." Her face turns serious as she looks down at the cloud of smoke. "That will keep enemies at bay until it dissipates, but something tells me we don't have long until more men are mustered against us."
Calder lifts his axe again and takes Goti's head off. "One less pestering us." Is his comment.
Vashta falls back, whimpering slightly as her skin blisters and peels under the onslaught of the troll's acid.
Her eyes widen as Calder takes off its head; "One of these might be able to tell us some information we could use," she says, wincing.
Calder nods, recognizing the sense of Vashta's words, he holds up Goti's head in one hand. "True, I'm sure the rest will be more than happy to talk once they see the other choice."
"Tallak, if you hang tight I think this pit will disappear within the next thirty seconds. When that happens you should be magically back in the room above...and Shalelu and I will be able to get in too.
"I have a few fizzy drinks of wondrous light healing, if needed."
Tallak appears on the ground once more, and calls to his ancestors to heal the group of the wounds they've sustained during the battle, closing axe wounds and scabbing over acid-burns.
Below on the tower staircase, Clara's cloud gradually disappears. The invisibility on the dead ninja wears off, revealing his corpse riddled with arrows. As the smoke disappears completely, it reveals that the room below is empty, as is the hallway beyond which can be seen.
Sandru hops from foot to foot, looking pensively around at the bodies. "So, what next? Do we want to beat a retreat and come back when there's no alarm? Move on quickly to where we think the next person is? Attack whatever forces are here head-on?"
When the pit Clara disappears, Clara comes back in, relieved to see that none of her friends had fallen.
"Vashta, this fizzy drink will make you feel a bit better, if you'd like."
When Sandru asks his question, a draconic voice thunders in Clara's head:
Clara nods and says, "Oh yes! Let's look for Shuishen. Or clues! (Or just cool stuff.)", and she begins to poke around the room.
Vashta sighs in relief as her skin heals.
"I must look a mess," she sighs, patting her hair. "These clothes are all going to be destined for rags -- they're halfway there already..."
She seems to pull herself together and nods at Clara.
"Dear Clara is right. They won't know what's going on right now, so we should see what we can find while we still can. It's harder to flush the snake out of the caravan once it's in than prevent it from getting in after all, as they say."
Clara searches around the room, finding some interesting things. There's no treasure chests or anything, but the big table in the center of the room, as well as some bookcases and cupboards, have plans of great interest to the group.
There are likenesses of Ameiko, and of several party members who have clashed with the group in the past - of Sandru, and Shalelu, of Clara, and of Calder. There are reproductions of the letters that you found in Asvig Longthews' office, as well as itineraries detailing the average daily schedules of Fynn Svaenald, Ulf Gormundr, and Ukshakka. There is a map of Kalsgard with a note on it locating your caravan, as well as a quick accounting of the manpower that was present there.
There are reports about the theft of Suishen, as well as the renting of the Aril's Hammer for the very first raid against the caravan, back at the border of the Lands.
There is also an unsent letter addressed to somebody named Anamurumon as well.
The letter reads,
"My Lord, I apologize for not communicating earlier. I believe that I have made contact with a scion of the House Amatatsu. It is a young Tian woman traveling with a group of Varisian pilgrims, shortly after the brief magical flare of the Amatatsu Seal. She matches known descriptions of the Amatatsu line. Attempts to waylay, capture, or kill her have so far failed, and so I am writing to ask you for reinforcements. Send the might of the Five Storms against this woman, and prevent her from reaching you in Minkai."
It is signed, "Your loyal servant, Kimandatsu"
There are also a few items which Goti carried, including a +1 heavy pickaxe, a scroll of animate dead, a wand of command undead with 11 charges, a masterwork heavy crossbow and 20 crossbow bolts.
"Yes, we should put an end to this threat quickly, to make our journey over the edge of the world safer. And the faster we move, the more likely our success."
"You seem to have some enemies awfully far away," Vashta notes as Clara discovers the letter.
"Sandru, come here, dear, and we'll see if we can't help keep you safe a little longer," Vashta says, letting her hand linger on the older Varisian's face for a moment as she stares into his eyes.
When Clara's mouth opens, her voice is again booming and draconic
Clara reacts to the words she just voiced as if hearing them for the first time. "Huh! I'm good at catching things on fire! Let's go find that Kimadnutsername!"
Kolung's voice corrects.
"Right! Kimandatsu." Clara agrees.
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Ogre mages are the most common of all Oni, which are a diverse race of evil spirits who have taken over a mortal body. Oni constantly seek out hedonistic pleasures, and not having their own natural body which can feel them, they enslave mortal beings to live their lives.
Ogres mages are, predictably, the oni spirit having taken over an ogre body. They are better in every way than an ogre - faster, stronger, tougher, smarter, and with a slew of spell-like abilities including the ability to fly, the ability to become a cloud of gas, to evoke a region of darkness, to charm any monster into a friend, the ability to become invisible, the ability to put foes to sleep and the ability to evoke a large and powerful burst of offensive cold magic.
They have a natural resistance to magic, and they are both physically and mentally tough, although their reflexes are somewhat lacking - a holdover from the ogre body. They can see perfectly in the dark.
Oni will regenerate from any wound not dealt by acid or fire and can assume the form of any humanoid or giant between three and twelve feet high.
Calder singes Goti's neck on a torch to stop it dripping blood and gives it to Tallak. Nodding when Vashta suggests moving.
The party collects Goti's head, some notes, and Goti's heavy pick, and heads down into the main building of the longhouse. Shalelu waits for you on the stairs, bow at the ready. She confirms that nobody has tried to attack her, though she did loose an arrow at somebody who poked their head around the corner to check on them.
The party heads down and kicks open a door into the nearest room. The room is empty, chilly, and dark. Barrels filled with rice and grain sit around the borders of it, and bundles of vegetables hang alongside animal carcasses from the rafters. There is a door on the left side of this room, and you can clearly hear hurried movement and shouts coming from behind it.
"Shall we try to catch them before they get organized?" Vashta asks hurriedly. "I can try to blind them again, which should also help with that little disappearing trick they have.
"If not, we should find another way to try to go, and quickly."
Tallak looks the room over, and says "Sandru, Shalelu, cover the stairs down. Rest of us: clear this level. Ursus!" he finishes with a command to his bear.
Save your magic until we know what we face," he says to Vashta as he moves to throw the door open for his bear to charge through.
Tallak and Vashta decisively move forward, Tallak throwing open the door into the next room. The next room is a wide longhall festooned with blazing torches and the heads of various hunted beasts.
Nine people are in this room, dashing back and forth in final preparation for movement farther into the longhall. It seems that people have been marshalling in this room, and they are led by an imposing-looking ninja woman who carries a long dagger which glows with a soft blue light and who wears a red shozoku.
She points at the door which Tallak opens just as Ursus charges into the room. Without words, the room's inhabitants - two warriors, two human ninja, and four tengu ninja, turn towards the group.
1. Omoyani
2. Tengu Ninjas
3. Clara
4. Tallak
5. Human Ninja
6. Vashta
7. Calder
8. Warriors
The ninja's leader reacts first, concentrating for a moment to summon her ki and summon several illusory copies of herself. Then, she reaches into a belt pouch and withdraws several shuriken which blaze with fire.
The tengu ninja pull blowguns from their belts, fitting darts inside of them and maneuvering to get a good angle on Tallak. Two tengu fire darts at Ursus and two more fire darts at Tallak.
Two blowgun darts clatter harmlessly off of Tallak's new rhino hide, but the other two ninja manage to get the first strike in against Ursus, hitting him in vulnerable pressure points with poisoned darts.