Gallen moves within the creatures reach to swing at the crimson mist.
Willow let out a sharp 'tsk' as she realized the mist wasn't even in place for knocking the lantern down to do any good. She kept her hand crossbow leveled and ready, in case it rose back up in a better position.
Wesh growls as the mist descends into the grate. He stares down at it, fuming that he can't even try to hit the thing.
The fighter decides he should try making a hole large enough to attack the thing through, so he jumps and puts all the force he can manage into a kick on the grate, hoping to create enough space for his greatsword to enter.
Lutor steps forward, aims his crossbow at a slit in the floor, and looses a bolt at the mist.
I will expend magic only if I must.
Hel, an arrow on the string and another held between another two fingers, glances quickly around at the ground, wincing at the slam of Wesh's foot. "Save your bolts," she suggests, moving into the area. "Lutor and ... um ... Wesh, if you want to hurt it, get to Cole, get an alchemist's fire from him. I'll stay on arrow guard. If this thing pops out again, roast it hard. Willow, check the exits for traps, then see where they go. Start with the one to the left. Sir Gallen, guard her." Most people would say 'please', but when she's in it, Hel sure doesn't bother ...
Cole watches the mist descend. He draws another of his alchemist vials of fire and readies for the creature to come back up. He smiles though as he watches it still burn down below.
Gallen moves within the creatures reach to swing at the crimson mist. Unfortunately, since it had gone below the grate, his sword only skittered along the metal, throwing sparks.
Wesh growls as the mist descends into the grate. He stares down at it, fuming that he can't even try to hit the thing. The fighter decides he should try making a hole large enough to attack the thing through, so he jumps and puts all the force he can manage into a kick on the grate, hoping to create enough space for his greatsword to enter. His kick seems to make no different to the metal flooring, however.
Lutor steps forward, aims his crossbow at a slit in the floor, and looses a bolt at the mist. I will expend magic only if I must. His bolt unfortunately skitters across the grating, not getting through.
Willow let out a sharp 'tsk' as she realized the mist wasn't even in place for knocking the lantern down to do any good. She kept her hand crossbow leveled and ready, in case it rose back up in a better position.
Hel, an arrow on the string and another held between another two fingers, glances quickly around at the ground, wincing at the slam of Wesh's foot. "Save your bolts," she suggests, moving into the area. "Lutor and ... um ... Wesh, if you want to hurt it, get to Cole, get an alchemist's fire from him. I'll stay on arrow guard. If this thing pops out again, roast it hard. Willow, check the exits for traps, then see where they go. Start with the one to the left. Sir Gallen, guard her." Most people would say 'please', but when she's in it, Hel sure doesn't bother.
Beneath the grating, the creature makes angry noises at you. The red mist seems to flow down until it is next to Cole, emerging from the grate to strike at the one who destroyed its beloved darkness! Hel looses an arrow at it, hitting it and making the arrow stick. Cole throws a prepared vial of alchemist's fire at the mist.
This time the Inquisitor is not so fortunate, as a red tendril touches him, draining blood from him, and pulsing a vibrant red as it seems to grow stronger.
Vampiric Mist 20/44 (pending the results of Cole's alchemist's fire)
A fair point. But I am not going near the mist unless I have no choice remaining.
"Cole! Come closer so that we may obtain alchemist's fire!"
Lutor readies his crossbow for a shot should the mist remain above the grating.
Gallen bangs his sword against his shield, the creature clearly had some cunning and perhaps could be unnerved... but clearly not the way Gallen was doing it.
vs Touch
Cole manages to hit the creature with another vial but this time the creature reaches out and drains some of his life as well.
Round 4
Coal's wound seeps as he looses some blood. He steps back just out of the door draws and throws a third vial at the creature.
And thanks, Phantom, forgot about Move / Attack and flurrying. Keepin' up the plunking, though, and this time I can flurry:
Vial, not vile. ;) You are vile, you hold in your hand a vial. ;)
Hel was at least getting /some/ purchase against the thing, and so she focused on the arrows she had to hand. Have to see about alchemical-fire-tipped, she notes to herself as she draws, aims, fires, repeats.
Wesh is annoyed that the ground didn't budge at his kick, but he's still determined to kill the blasted mist. Not caring about the flame that tickled him earlier, Wesh takes a step toward the retreating mist and readies to strike it should the opportunity present itself.
"On it!" Willow said at Hel's direction, and burst into motion. She slipped through the door, trying her best to avoid the mist, as she beat a hasty run towards the north door. She got to work, quickly looking the area over for anything amiss before getting too close.
Gallen bangs his sword against his shield, the creature clearly had some cunning and perhaps could be unnerved... but clearly not the way Gallen was doing it.
Wesh is annoyed that the ground didn't budge at his kick, but he's still determined to kill the blasted mist. Not caring about the flame that tickled him earlier, Wesh takes a step toward the retreating mist and readies to strike it should the opportunity present itself. He lashes out with the greatsword, but it scrapes against the grating and throws off his swing.
Lutor thinks in response to Hel, A fair point. But I am not going near the mist unless I have no choice remaining. He shouts, "Cole! Come closer so that we may obtain alchemist's fire!" Lutor readies his crossbow for a shot should the mist remain above the grating.
"On it!" Willow said at Hel's direction, and burst into motion. She slipped through the door, trying her best to avoid the mist, as she beat a hasty run towards the north door. She got to work, quickly looking the area over for anything amiss before getting too close. Her search found no traps on the door.
Hel was at least getting /some/ purchase against the thing, and so she focused on the arrows she had to hand. Have to see about alchemical-fire-tipped, she notes to herself as she draws, aims, fires, repeats. Both arrows found the mark, although it seemed not to notice the second.
Cole's wound seeps as he looses some blood. He steps back just out of the door draws and throws a third vial at the creature. His vial hits, flaming the mist even more.
The mist falls back below the floor. Those of you near it hear a noise that sounds vaguely like whimpering coming from the aberration.
Cole listens as the creature burns he would smile if not for the life leaving his body. He draws and uses the wand to stabilize himself.
Cole spits on the ground.
"Burn you bastard, burn" He states with a new bit of vigor as he gets some life force back from the wand.
"Everyone else alright?" He looks to the group before putting the wand back away.
Hel steps forward, retrieiving another arrow and nocking it, trying to spot the thing beneath the floor in order to keep track of it. At Cole's venomous comment, she smiles a little. "You were right, Master Hale -- we should have all roasted it at once. My apologies for not taking your advice. And I believe you were the one it was focusing on, so -- are you all right?"
She glances up towards the inquisitor, then back through the grate, eyeballing the 'red mist', as Willow called it, the 'vampiric mist' as Lutor seemed to recognize it as well. "That sounded like speech, so I'd guess it was sentient," she guesses. "Presumably it could have been reasoned with, but I didn't even recognize the language. Everyone, my apologies for my abruptness." She shakes her head, then asks politely, "Willow, did you happen to find anything?"
Willow was relieved that the fight seemed to be over, but still didn't like the idea of lingering in the room any longer than necessary. "No traps here," she answered. "I'll check the other one..." Without hesitation, she padded over to the east door.
The creature lets out a final cry that fades in pain as the flames consume it.
Willow finds no traps on the other door. There is no evidence of which door is to be chosen.
"Sentient probably, reasoned with I doubt it. I would suggest we take whatever writing we see on doorways to be very literal from here on. The Cardinal didn't send us down here to exterminate or deal with pest. Everything was placed to test us. As a team, right now we are terrible and each goes their own way. If you think about it I'm sure that is one of the underlining reasons for such a test. Any that don't make it out would not be worth the Cardinal's or Asmodeus trouble to invest in. Now I have said my rant. Yes Hel I'm fine. A little weak from that strike but fine as I can be. Let's move on."
"It could babble in a similar manner to a parrot perhaps. And Cole is correct. Our coordination needs much more work. We hang together or we hang separately, as the old adage goes."
Hel gives a slight shrug; she didn't know about the vampiric mist, but she wasn't educated enough in such things, so she wasn't going to challenge either man's guesswork. Their judgements on the teamwork ... well, that she has to concede needs work, and so she nods, going about and inspecting the arrows left behind by the mist. Secretly pleased by her accuracy so far, she inspects -- and discards -- each arrow as she comes across it, whether twisted, bent, or cracked.
Rising and discarding the last arrow, she glances between the choice of doors before gesturing at the left-handed one. "Old story I read gave the advice of 'keep left' when in an unfamiliar place with unknown dangers. I expect it could be 'keep right' as well, but with the structure of these rooms, and it needing to be under the manor, I think the left-hand one to actually be a better choice." She glances amongst the sextet, checking for disruptions to their facades, then nods. "Sir Gallen, Master Meloi, if you would lead off once again?"
Wesh stares down where the mist once was. He still hopes to encounter more corporeal opponents in future rooms.
When others mention that they need to work on their teamwork, Wesh nods and says, "Indeed. If we plan to survive this place, much less overthrow Talingarde, we'll need to be able to coordinate with one another. This place is a test, to be sure, but it's also an opportunity for us to get practice working as a group in a controlled environment. We should make the most of it."
When Hel asks if Sir Gallen and Wesh would lead off, the fighter nods and heads to his left, toward the north door.
Lutor nods, and smoothly resumes his position in the marching order.
Let's see how quickly the group learns. Or perishes.
Cole nods in agreement.
"Left seems a fine choice."
Those of you who passed the previous check do, in fact, know that the vampiric mist is sentient, although you are not sure what language it speaks (DC 13 Linguistics check to figure it out).
Wesh removes the bar easily enough, then opens the door. The north door reveals yet another short, 20 foot long passageway, ending in a door with the inscription, "Cruelty is a tool, not a pastime. Be ruthless to thy enemy but reward those who serve thee well.”
Lutor muses more on the vampiric mist.
"Hmmm. Let's keep an eye out for someone whom can serve us. No pointless murder or cruelty."
You recognize that the language it spoke was Aklo, a language spoken by strange abberations and creatures that have existed since well before the rise of Azlant.
Lutor seems to have a moment of realisation.
"Ah. I believe I have worked out what language the mist was speaking. Aklo, a tongue of aberrations and other pre-Azlanti creatures."
"What or who could the Cardinal put here to server us? I guess we will soon find out. That is a fine insight Lutor. Also after a room that got us ready to fight. Temper yourselves and lets see what comes next."
Wesh nods to Lutor and Cole. He's hoping for another fight, but doesn't voice that thought. He sets his greatsword back on his shoulder then opens the door to the next room.
Gallen stays alert as they press forward. "I'm sure the next room will be, informative in some way."
"Or," murmurs Hel, "to whom we may need to be cruel..." She too is prepared as Wesh opens the door.
Wesh opens the door to reveal yet another 30' by 30' room lit by a single lantern hanging from the ceiling. Directly below it, in the center of the room, is the only other thing in the room - a torturer's rack. An examination of the rack reveals that it is not only functional, but ready for use immediately - it merely needs someone in it.
"Explains why there were two exits to the last room, but surely we are not to torture each other. Perhaps there is something hidden here like in the first room. Let's take time and scout the room."
Lutor begins seeking magical auras in the room.
Willow nodded her agreement with Lutor, recognizing the language even though she wasn't fluent. She was soon much more interested in the newest room, and quickly got to work looking for any traps therein...or anything else that caught her eye.
"Perhaps we will find some other room with a foe to apprehend and bring back here for questioning... perhaps." Gallen checked the are for signs of traps and secret doors.
"Mmmm." Hel sounds doubtful. "I don't think so; these lessons seem ... self-contained. If we do well at one, we are perhaps rewarded for the next, like the alchemical ice for the moss, but ... everything so far has been right there."
Uncertain if she's seeing anything, she frowns, then turns and quietly pushes (or pulls) the door closed to block off the exit, staying right there in front of its handle before she lifts her voice to call out, "Hello? Is there anyone in here who can hear me?"
Wesh steps up to the torturer's rack and examines it more closely. He wishes he had one of these when he went on his spree a while back. The murders would have been so much more satisfying.
The fighter stays alert while Hel calls out.
Gallen finds a hidden door along the eastern wall. Opening it reveals a young boy in his early teenage years. He wears a dirty and somewhat tattered tabard of a squire of the Knights of the Alerion. Looking at those who found him, he sees only a group of Mitran soldiers, and breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Mitra, you've found me! I am Timeon, squire to Sir Balin of Kierkegaard, of the Knights of the Alerion."
Sir Balin the witch hunter is a well-renowned Knight of the Alerion. He is especially well-known for hunting down worshipers of Asmodeus. He is well-celebrated by the Church of Mitra, the common folk, and the nobility alike.
Glad for the group's precautions, Lutor holds his crossbow to attention, much like he saw guards do before his escape.
I am no liar. At least not an accomplished one.
Knight of Alerion bunch of do gooding holy warriors.
Cole looks over and studies the boy. He then extends a hand.
reward those that sever you well.
"Timeon was it. Glad we could find you. What in mitra's name are you doing down here. Do you remember how you even got here? Here take some water." He pulls out a cup. Over the cup he speaks a few divine words and a bunch of water falls over it filling the cup and splashing to the floor.
"What of Sir Balin is he here too? Sorry for all the questions. As you can see I am a holy warrior as well. I am not a Knight of Alerion though."
"You are deep in enemy territory Squire Timeon, but we must know for our own mission."
Also, for being quiet with Willow:
Hel's attention, including the general direction of her threat zone, shifts to where Sir Gallen finds and opens the hidden door. Her lips twitch as the youth makes the mistake he should, with the group following the First Lesson -- Deception is a tool. Deceive always thine enemy. -- and immediately begins to open up. Glancing at Timeon being bracketed by Cole Hale and Sir Gallen, she eases over to Willow and goes to one knee to murmur to the halfling, "Get him to open up. Let's find out everything he knows -- where he's from, where he's been, how long he's been Sir Balin's squire, how he came to be here. If he knows anything else about this place. The more we know ..." She glances towards the boy, then suggests, "Maybe say you're hungry, so we can take a break -- something about it taking a while to destroy this nest of Asmodean vipers or whatever. Give you some time to work with him."
Straightening up, she takes a few more steps, and examines the torturer's rack, a slight frown on her face as she examines its setup.
Wesh is clueless about the boy, but seeing as there's no need for an immediate fight and that diplomacy isn't his specialty, the fighter is content to stay near the back and let the others do the talking. Still, he stays alert for any other threats that might present themselves. He doubts the torturer's rack is intended for the boy.
Timeon says, "Sir Balin and I were hunting those villains who escaped from Branderscar when we were ambushed. I don't remember what happened, but I woke up in the manor house above. There was a mean, bald man and a woman who chased me down here, threatening to kill me. I found this room and hid. They couldn't find me - they must not know this secret room is here. I'm sure Sir Balin is here somewhere, as well. We should find him!"
"Good, Timeon good. Yes we should find Sir Balin. Timeon when you ran down here did you see a pendant. It is made of silver and sapphire. I'm not sure what it means. I believe Mitra showed it to me.for a reason."
If I did not know differently for a certainty, I could be persuaded that Cole was a dutiful Mitran. That is a high degree of skill indeed.
Gallen let Cole take the lead for now as he was doing so well, too many voices would only confuse the boy.