"Stay wary, this thing is dangerous!" cries out Lucien to no one in particular as his armor absorbs the hit from the carrion golem. "Let's put it down, Sebastian!" roars the paladin as he swings his greatsword with furious resolution.
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In spite of Lucien's warning, Nadya's impetuous nature in battle rears itself again. She puts a hand over her nose and mouth and doing her best to ignore the construct's smell, she slips into a corner of the room, drawing one of her daggers in the process.
"If we kill it, d'you think it will smell even worse?"
Sebastian tries to hit the carrion golem again and again the golem bats his mace away unharmed. Lucien has better luck. He swings his greatsword in a sweeping arc underneath its raised arm and cuts a long gash across its midsection. Whereas a normal creature would bleed out from such a wound, the golem is a bloodless husk. Nadya, having recovered from her nausea, moves into a better position to assist in the fight.
The weight of Lucien's attack throws the golem completely off balance and it flails its arms. Neither slam comes close to connecting. Sebastian takes advantage of the situation and parries the off-balance arm then follows up with a backhand swing that bashes in a kneecap. The golem is beginning to look ragged from its multiple injuries but will not give up the fight until completely destroyed.
Lucien is bolstered by the turn in the tide of battle, and keeps attacking with righteous fury. "Let's find it out Sebastian!" he cries out as he swings his greatsword in another arc, aiming for the golem's head.
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Ayako sends another sling stone at the golem.
Reasoning that her hexes and spells are likely to have little effect, Nadya throws a dagger at the golem, then draws another one to have in hand.
Ayako fires another sling bullet but it whistles past harmlessly.
Sebastian takes advantage of his flanking position and slams down hard on the creatures back as it turns.
Lucien continues to swing with fury, aiming for the golem's head, but, either by instinct or accident, it ducks out of the way. Nadya must still be feeling a bit queasy because her dagger throw clatters against the back wall.
Being a mindless construct, the carrion golem has no sense of tactics but moves only to maximize its targets. It shuffles past Lucien and swings its fists at Nadya and Ayako.
The girls are both surprised by suddenly becoming targets. Nadya somehow manages to lean back and avoid the blow. But Ayako stares dumbfounded as a rotting fist slams her right in the face with a critical strike.
"Leave her alone!" Luciens moves behind the golem, his fury fueled by the sight of Ayako being hit by the golem. Mindless evil is blind evil...I must put it down, now!. With a quick swing, Lucien tries to put down the golem with all of his strenght.
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Ayako 5' back and Heals herself, using her Harrow point to increase AC
AC 18
Having nearly had the creature take her head off, Nadya darts back into the hallway outside the room, attempting to dodge the creature's blows as she goes. From the safety of the hallway, she tries to throw another dagger toward the golem and pulls out her final dagger.
Ayako steps back and heals.
Sebastian dances around the outskirts of the room to get into a better position and attacks with his mace again but it fails to connect.
Lucien tries again but the creature seems possessed by some unholy strength that it keeps dodging the strikes. Nadya successfully dodges safely out of the room but her knife throwing skills need some work. Another knife clatters harmlessly somewhere in the room.
The golem lurches to the right and swings the severed arm in an underhanded swipe that catches Sebastian on his right flank causing a stinging bruise. It swings its other fist at Lucien which glances off his armor once again.
Why do I keep missing him? Focus Lucien, focus! Your allies need you, you can't let them down!
Mustering his courage, Lucien scowls and tightens the grip on his greatsword, looking at the golem with resolute determination. Then, he moves forward, feints to hit the golem on the left and brings his greatsword down to his foe's right side.
""
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Sebastian, battered and blue from the pummeling, swings at the creature again. "I can't take much more of this!"
Sebastian bashes the golem desperately trying to fend it off. Then with Lucien's declaration of "Enough!" he cleaves through the construct. It let's out a loud moan as the magic holding it together fails and clumps of its constituent parts thud to the ground into a rotting pile of flesh.
Ayako starts tapping Sebastion
Then herself
"Phew, that was though!" Lucien wipes the sweat from his forehead and moves closer to his companions. "Are you alright? Sebastian, how you're doing with your wounds? Nadya, is everything alright? I've seen you throwing up at the start of the battle...I suppose it was that disgusting smell, wasn't it?"
When the group has finally recovered from the wounds caused by the golem, Lucien joins them again after having taken a quick look around the room. "I suggest we search this room thoroughly before leaving. Then, we are somehow forced to move north, I suppose. There was a passageway north of the prisoner pits, if I recall correctly."
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This room used to be a pantry but everything inside appears to have been smashed to bits by the golem. Nothing of worth remains. You sift through the discorporated pile of parts to retrieve the Shoanti arm.
Once you are done there, you head through the northward passageway and open the door at the end.
The nauseating mixture of decay and strange chemicals fills the air of this large room. Glinting saws, pliers, long stitching needles, and other surgical equipment are organized on shelves and benches along the walls. A sturdy wooden table in the center of the room supports a large humanoid shape—a thing stitched together from a patchwork of dozens of different bodies. The thing would stand nearly seven feet tall if it rose.
The head stitched to the body is strangely small for its massive frame—a head crowned with brown hair and bearing a distinctive scar upon the left cheek. This must be Gaekhen’s head.
Two other passages exit from this room: one leading northwest and one leading southwest.
Ayako carefully removes the head for transport.
"Disgusting. They didn't just kill the poor man, they completely dismembered him. Should we check to the southwest first?"
Anyone need more healing? southwest is fine.
Happily, this golem does not rise to attack you for it is much larger than the carrion golem you just fought. This appears to be a full fledged flesh golem only it is lacking magic to animate it. Ayako removes the head without any difficultly by sawing through the stitching that attached it to the body.
Like a carrion golem, a flesh golem is a ghoulish collection of stolen humanoid body parts, stitched together into a single composite form. However, a flesh golem is much bigger and stronger. Also only adamantine weapons can hurt it fully. You are lucky it isn't animate because it would be out of your league.
Next you take the southwest passage and open the door.
Two wide, freestanding bookshelves stand in this room, the shelves filled with row upon row of tomes and scrolls.
The books and scrolls are mostly treatises on necromancy or the art of crafting golems, but there’s also a surprisingly large number of books about diseases and plagues here as well. Knowledge checks made on these topics while using these books as resources gain a +2 circumstance bonus.
You also find two magic scrolls wedged between the pages of a fat picture book on humanoid anatomy.
You find another secret door that opens into a small crawlspace linking this room to the alchemy lab just south of it.
A scroll of identify
A scroll of command undead
The collection of books as a whole is worth 300 gp.
Books on disease and plagues, useful if one was to research about them.
Ayako stdies the scrolls A spell that can identify items and command undead.
There is a hidden door there.
"Let's search these shelves then" says Lucien with a smile, looking to his companions. At least, we have a break from battles...
After spending a few minutes searching the shelves thoroughly, Lucien turns to his companions: "Hey, look at these. These books and scrolls are mostly focused either on necromancy or golem crafting. But there are also many books about disease and plagues. If you don't mind, I would like to keep these"
Lucien feels a sudden ache in his heart. Talking about disease and plague reminded him of his beloved wife and daughter, both died because of a disease. He shakes his head, trying to push the pain away, but it doesn't seem to work. If I study these tomes, maybe in the future I'll be able to save someone from this grim fate. I don't know if I have the strenght for this, but I have to try. For you.
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Perhaps sell them as well. I guess there is the door tot he east to check.
I have this odd feelin that the areas to the north will be the most important, so we should make sure we are ready.[/b] Ayako taps herself with her wand again.
"I was fortunate not to be hit by that carrion golem. I think I'm ready" she adds as she casts mage armor on herself.
After collecting the books and preparing yourselves, you head north. The next room is a human-sized bedroom.
This chamber holds a large fourposter bed and a simple writing desk, along with a full-length mirror propped up against one earthen wall.
A narrow hallway to your right connects to another room.
Before you get a chance to examine the room thoroughly, zombies and skeletons begin shambling out from the room beyond followed by a flying derro wearing a black robe embroidered with various undead creatures and wielding a wand made of bone. "Disturb the great necromancer Vreeg, you do! Run in fear, scream in pain, suffer and die, you will!"
Vreeg floats along the ceiling of the room. It squints its eyes in pain from the daylight spell. "Remove that light you must!" It points a finger at Ayako and she becomes filled with fear.
Ayako has to make a Will save DC 15 of be frightened for 2 rounds. If she succeeds, she is only shaken for 1 round.
A frightened creature flees from the source of its fear as best it can. If unable to flee, it may fight. A frightened creature takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. A frightened creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
The zombie lazily swipes at Sebastian but the attack is easily avoided.
Ayako screams like a pantywaist and limps away.
A flying derro? Dammit, there's always a way for things to get worse.
Lucien, greatsword ready, his eyes reduced to fine fissures for the focus, carefully looks around himself, in an attempt to assess his tactical options. The flying derro is clearly the one who controls the undead. I would focus on him, if I could. But I'm not that good with my crossbow, and I must protect my companions from the undead. I hope Ayako and Nadya can hit it with ranged attacks. In the meantime, my only option is to focus on the undeads. Guess I'll start with the zombie.
A resolute expression written all over his face, Lucien tightens his grip on the greatsword and steps forward, trying to swing his greatsword at the zombie with all his might. "Come down if you dare!" he yells at the flying derro as he lashes out with his greatsword.
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Lucien cleaves through the zombie in a single slash. Gore splatters from the two halves as they drop to the floor.
The skeleton adjacent to Lucien claws at his eyes with its bony fingers.
"Going to be trouble up there isn't he? Less trouble if he's blind though." Nadya casts glitterdust trying to target the derro while avoiding catching Ayako. A burst of glittering motes fills the air around the derro, leaving him coated in shiny dust.
Ayako blesses the party once again.
Sebastian attacks the nearby skeleton and shatters it to pieces.
The glitterdust spell washes around Vreeg with no effect. "Resistant to magic, derro are. Hehehe!"
The remaining zombie, an undead goblin, punches Lucien but his armor holds.
"Blind me you tried. My turn it is!"
Vreeg hovers in place and calls upon the powers of unlife to curse Nadya.
Ayako sends a sling stone at Vreeg.
With the undead minions apparently in hand, Sebastian looks up at the flying derro. He feels a tingling itch at the base of his brain and an urge to put the evil thing in excruciating pain. "You're not as safe up there as you think!" Closing some of the distance, he draws the silver dagger from his belt and hurls it at Vreeg.
Vreeg fails its save versus the glitterdust and is coated in a film of sparkles. "Arg! Blinded I am! Wait...bad this is not. Gone the daylight is and helpless I am not."
Blinded, Vreeg doesn't see Sebastian's dagger coming and it drives into its abdomen. Stunned by this development, he is successfully demoralized.
Disoriented, Vreeg drops to 10 feet off the ground.
"Cause you pain I will!" Unable to target anyone while blind, Vreeg calls upon his innate abilities and creates a sound burst in the area where he last saw Nadya.
Her ears ringing, Ayako fires a sling stone but is too shaken up to aim properly and misses.
As soon as he notices that the flying derro has dropped about 10 feet off the ground, Lucien instantly focuses his attention on him. "That was an error!" he shouts to the derro as he rushes to him. He tries to avoid to lower hid defenses while moving away from the zombie goblin, but his armor hinders his movements.
Once he reaches Vreeg, Lucien feels the strenght of Abadar's might flowing through his very veins as he holds his greatsword tightly and prepares to hit the flying derro necromance. "By the power of Abadar! Thou! Shall! Perish!" he cries out in righteous fury as he swings his greatsword.
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Ayako's teeth rattle but she manages to hold steady.
Nadya isn't prepared for the sudden loud noise. Her teeth rattle, but o does her brain. She stands stunned for a moment.
Lucien rushes over to Vreeg. His sword charged with holy might easily cuts into the necromancer. The zombie swipes at Lucien as he leaves its reach but the weak undead has little chance of succeeding against him.
The zombie then mindlessly shuffles up next to Ayako.
"Defeat me you shall NOT, holy knight!"
Vreeg's hand glows with unholy energy. He reaches down and clamps onto Lucien's forehead and drains some of his life force away. Vreeg then floats straight up and back out of reach.
Ayako drops her sling(free) and draws her sickle(Move, draw AoO) she then slashes at the zombie
As Vreeg lets out a piercing shriek, Sebastian drops what he's holding and claps his ears to his head, sinking to one knee.
"Well, this could create its own problems, but I'm going to see if I can stop him now!" Nadya waits for Sebastian and Lucien to make their attacks and then fixes a fierce glare on the derro, wishing that he would stop his inane banter and fall asleep.
"Argh!" Lucien shakes his head to wear off the pain caused by the flying derro touch. That felt...bad. As his foe tries to fly away, Lucien takes advantage of the situation to swing his greatsword at him, but he's still shaken by the unpleasant touch.
"Here I come, Ayako!" Seeing his companion being attacked by the goblin zombie and realizing that he won't be able to hit the flying derro again before him drops off again, Lucien moves toward the goblin zombie at swings his greatsword at it furiously. "Your undead servant shall be destroyed!" he yells at the derro as he strikes. After the attack, Lucien channels the energy of Abadar in order to heal himself. A soft, tenuous light emanates from his hands as the paladin heals his own wounds.
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Sebastian is stunned and claps his ears in pain. He is unable to take advantage of the fleeing necromancer. Lucien is able to attack, however. Unfortunately, the necromancer proves quite agile when he is not blinded or shaken and the sword swings harmlessly underneath him.
Ayako switches to her sickle and slashes at the zombie. The zombie retaliates but neither is able to hit the other.
Lucien then intercepts the zombie as well and he destroys the foul creature. The light of Abadar then heals his wounds.
And finally, Nadya stops the necromancer with a single fierce glare. Vreeg's eyelids get heavy and unable to maintain its flight while unconscious plummets to the ground. The falling damage jostles it back awake but it is now prone before you.