Sebastain fights off the stun effect and strikes back at Vimanda but she is a canny fighter and parries all the thrusts.
Tyrandro fires a couple more arrows. One hits its mark and pierces Vimanda's back.
Ayako recasts blessing of fervor and Iolana tries another spell that washes harmlessly off Vimanda's spell resistance.
"There is always a need for deception. Even when I am queen, I will continue to plot. You were nothing more than pawns and no real loss to me once you are dead."
Vimanda breaks out into a flurry of attacks against Sebastian. To his credit, he defends against most of them, but his still gets hit once. When the blade slices into his skin, it also releases a jolt of electricity that tenses up his muscles for the brief second that it travels through his body.
Iolana hears a voice in her head as she receives a magical sending. The voice is that of Glorio Arkona. "I see my "wife" is giving you a hard time. I can only watch, but dispose of her and I'll help you navigate the labyrinth."
"I agree to your proposal." Iolana nods then she casts Haste on her allies.
Ayako uses her rmagical flight to move behind Sebastion, little needles darkness dart out of her fingers and begin stitching Sebastion's wounds. Sorry Sebastion, this will be a bit rough.
"What proposal?" Tyrandro asks confused as he made none.
"We are no friends of the Queen, but at least she doesn't have a muzzle!" Vimanda has proven difficult to hit with his sword, so Sebastian hopes he might do some damage with his words. He continues to concede ground to Vimanda, shuffling back. It isn't difficult to pretend that she's got the upper hand - that last strike hurt. He only hoped that his friends would aid him with a superior position to strike back from.
Ayako floats 5' so she flanks the creature with Sebastion.
Ayako's eyes bleed and her mouth opens wide, letting the Rakasha see an endless well with flickering candles along the edges, she seems to be drawn in and the sensation of teeth and blades assail her skin down to the bone and she feels herself drowning and the utter cold of the Crown of the World and endless hunger and down,down,down a whisper enters her ears and taints her being.
A reckoning will not be postponed indefinitely
Mu Shu pops up out of the bag and squeals, but he is much too cute.
Sebastian tries to attack again but still can't hit.
Tyrandro gets one more hit in, slowly weakening the enemy.
Iolana refreshes the haste spell.
Vimanda observes Ayako's intimidating illusion and is taken aback in fear. "A, are you human?"
Vimanda flies past everyone (provoking from Sebastian, Ayako, and Iolana) and charges Tyrandro. "Enough with those arrows!" She swings her kukri at him but he blocks with his bow.
Iolana swings at her with her sickle on the flight by. She holds out her wand one more time and casts the spell. This is the last time I"m trying this. If it doesn't work, I'm going back to acid.
Ayako strikes at the creature with her spear, not really expecting any result
Tyrandro takes a step back. "I liked you much better from the distance - but to be honest I like you best when you're dead."
Fluffy also doesn't like that fox woman. The antipathy seems to transfer.
Sebastian doesn't let Vimanda leave without a parting gift. He skewers a kidney as she turns her back.
Tyrandro is taken aback by Vimanda's sudden charge but still maintains enough focus to plant two more arrows into her chest.
Fluffy also takes a bite into the woman. However, unlike Tyrandro and Sebastian, his bite isn't good-aligned but her tough skin absorbs most of the damage. Fluffy tugs hard to try to trip her but with her supernatural strength, he does not stand a chance to pull her down.
Iolana's spell finally penetrates Vimanda's spell resistance but she finds out the hard way the even shaken, her Will is very strong.
Finally Vimanda's confidence wavers as she bleeds from multiple wounds. She holds up her hands in defeat. "My friends, let us reconsider this. You still need me to escape this maze. I'm the only one who knows all its secrets. We both know that the true enemy is Glorio. He sent you down here expecting you to die. If you can wound me, you can wound him. Let's join forces and get revenge. With my help, you'll surely prevail."
"No I will not agree to help you. You've lied to us, tracked Sebastian for some reason, and just been nasty to us. You also hurt Fluffy for no good reason. You die here." She fires an Acid Arrow at her.
No, because you are a foul evil..oh never mind that. You made my pig cry!
Mu Shu sheds a tear.
Ayako flies back over the pit and babbles strange words at the creature, trying to cloud her mind
As Tyrandro has a hard time hitting that thing he tries something different.
"At least it's not too much arrows wasted. Why don't you hold still and let us get over with you?"
Fluffy bites air.
Iolana singes Vimanda with her acid.
"Fine then. Good luck getting out of here alive. You'll never figure it out."
Vimanda pulls out a wand and creates a dimensional door that she steps through and vanishes.
Iolana receives another mental sending from Glorio. "Don't worry. I'm waiting outside for Vimanda. She won't escape. Let me know when you are ready for instructions to get where you need to."
"Whew that was horrible. Glorio says that she won't escape. He says he's waiting for her. I hope he's being honest. He says he'll help us through the maze. I hope he's being honest about that as well." she leans against the wall.
Ayako pants and wipes some blood off of her mouth. Who here is injured? I have my wands available.
"I am. And Fluffy." Tyrandro replies to Ayako.
"So we have another one of those Furries watching?" he asks Iolana. "How do you know all that?"
Ayako taps Fluffy and Tyrando
Sebastian growls as Vimanda gets away. "She has Blackjack's equipment! Dead or not, we have to get it back."
When Iolana reveals the arrangement with Glorio, Sebastian rolls his eyes. "None of them can be trusted! They're all working together to take over the city. I'm starting to doubt the Seneschal is even here."
"She said she'd use the Seneschal herself. I'd say there is a fair chance they have him here." Tyrandro objects.
Fluffy sits down next to Ayako leaning at her and licking her face. He is grateful for the healing.
Ayako starts using bandages and needles on Sebastion, since he doesn't really like her magic.
I say we should continue to search this place for the Seneschal. At the very least we should see if we can escape this place and properly arm ourselves
Once Iolana's acid pit spell ends, the darksphinx's corpse (or what's left of it) is deposited back into the hallway. The strong acid has left her as little more than pocked bones but her magical gear is intact.
She had on her:
wand of dimension door (18 charges), wand of magic missile (CL 9th, 18 charges), +1 leather armor, +1 kukris (2)
With the threat gone, you are able to explore the immediate area unhampered. (Some traps remain, but there are none that you haven't discovered, so you can avoid them by being careful.)
You quickly determine that there is no way out of the area that you are in, and the one switch to rotate the rooms is not working.
Perhaps there is another hidden door that leads somewhere?
Mushu hops out of the bag and sniffs around.
"You were right about the ring. Glorio has sent a couple of messages. Seems he's not so happy with his "wife", and she seems just as not happy with him. He may have sent us down here with a ring that tracks us, but he hasn't tried to actively kill us yet."
She takes the wands and tucks them away. "Seb do you want a Kukri or two? I'll take one if you don't want it."
"I can ask for assistance when we need it. Let's keep looking for a secret door." She searches for a while clearly unable to focus.
"I don't know about you, but I could use a rest. I'm almost out of spells. This area seems safe enough. We know what to expect and can avoid it. The lever isn't working so we should stay put while we rest. What does everyone think?" Iolana asks as she leans against fluffy giving him pats and rubbing on his ears.
We could do that, I have to wonder just whether or not Glorio and his 'wife' are going to leave us alone. I do have some holy incense I could burn that will help heal our wounds.
Iolana had forgotten to heal herself until Ayako mentioned it again. She downs a couple of potions.
Tyrandro starts collecting Arrows on the floor. "Can you bag the ring, so we are only visible to him when we want to?" he asks.
"As for resting. That fox said the room with the black stone was safe. I don't know if that's true from that liar, but it doesn't have a seam in the floor and no trap sprung in it. And as a plus it has only one door."
"I can try to tuck it away. I don't know if it will work. Let's head to the room, and rest there."
Very well
Tyrandro walks into the octagonal room assigns a place to Fluffy to sleep and places himself on top. Animal fur is still the best for a sleeping place. Even if the animal is still wearing it.
Snore
Fluffy can't sleep with all the snoring.
Ayako lights some incense where they rest and wraps her cloak around herself as she keeps watch for any possible threats. Mu-Shu sniffs around the room and snorts as he bravely guards everyone.
"Wake me up to keep watch last. I need uninterrupted rest to get my spells." She finds a place to curl up and sleeps.
-Posted with Wayfinder
You find no other secret doors.
You safely rest and feel surprisingly calm while in the room with the stone as it gives off a peaceful hum.
The only event is a single rotation of the rooms during the 'night'.
After you rest, Glorio sends Iolana another sending, "You're welcome. Left switch. One man green orb. Wait then right switch. Everyone white orb. I left a present for you when you get out."
"Morning all. Glorio says "you're welcome. Left switch. One man green orb. Wait then right switch. Everyone white orb." What do we have to lose? It's that or starve down here. I volunteer to be on the green orb. That way if we die it's just me."
She pulls out a trail ration and nibbles on it. "Anyone else need one?"
Ayako nibbles on some jerky while feeding Mu-Shu some fruit. We don't seem to have many option so let us take the chance.
"Uhmm, what about the Seneschal? And the real Vencarlo? Or are we coming back later and better equipped to finish this?" Tyrando asks his companions who seem to have changed their mind rather suddenly.
"Maybe I misunderstood the sending. I didn’t think that was the exit key. I thought that was guiding us to a new part of the labyrinth. We need to check and see if the room movement made it possible to get to a different section."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Yes, I believe Iolana is correct that we will have a new path.
"Then you're welcome to move through that glowing mist thingy to find out." Tyrandro replies.
Following the instructions, you pull the left switch and then Iolana touches the green orb. She is instantly teleported to a new area that she hasn't seen before.
A great green throne sits atop a dais in the northern end of the room. To either side stand statues of a tiger-headed man—each holds aloft a pair of chains from which manacles dangle. Dried blood spatters the walls, the floor, and even the throne and statues, filling the room with its stale reek.
Manacled to the western statue is Vencarlo Orisini. He is dressed in tattered rags and his body is a display of bruises and partially healed cuts and scrapes. He is currently unconscious, suffering from starvation and exhaustion.
To the south is a dead end chamber. The filthy floor of this chamber is covered by a thick layer of rubble, bones, and other debris. Otherwise, there is nothing of interest.
"Well you look like that fellow from before. I really hope it's you this time. I also hope I can get back to the others." she studies his hands closely to make sure they look human before yanking on the chains to make sure they are tight. She touches him with the Wand of Cure moderate to see if he becomes conscious.
"How am I going to get you out of those? I could go get Tyrando with the dimension door wand or I could try this." She pulls out her new wand of magic missile and fires off a charge at the manacles.
She fires off another charge.
Tyrandro pulls the right switch. "Onwards then." he tells and walks into the white orb.