With Cole's aid, and Hel's flanking, Wesh swings his greatsword yet again, confident this will be the finishing blow for their slithering foe.
Willow, seeing Wesh finish the other, attempts to aid him.
She isn't very useful in this.
Gallen tries once more to hit the slithering steel snake, but misses the mark.
Still on her heels, Hel fights to box the snake in so that the knight and the fighter can pound on it. However, she is less effective this time.
Lutor does his best to assist, but is unable to do so.
With Cole's aid , and Hel's flanking, Wesh swings his greatsword yet again, confident this will be the finishing blow for their slithering foe. His greatsword slams into the snake, but it's plating absorbs some of the damage and it does not fall.
As Wesh seems more capable of dealing massive damage Cole shifts and begins to aid his attacks.
The snake bites at Gallen.
Its fangs graze Gallen's ankle, leaving only a small gash.
Cobra 1 - 4/20
Cobra 2 - disabled
Gallen - 4/22
Wesh - 17/26
Willow - 9/13, 2 Dex damage
Hel - 7/16, 4 Dex damage
"'By their might' indeed!!" Hel seems almost as irate at the snakes as she was at the guards in the tower ambush, but she continues to strive to box the second one in to give a better chance for Wesh to make violent contact with it.
Lutor continues his work of assisting Gallen, but says:
"If the way is cleared, I could blast it with fire. It may be worth it."
"Let me try something different." Gallen sheaths his scimitar and reaches out to touch the Iron Cobra.
Thoroughly exasperated by these blasted creatures, Wesh swings again. He doesn't plan on stopping till the snake is in at least a hundred pieces.
Willow again attempts to aid Wesh. She succeeds.
"Let me try something different." Gallen sheaths his scimitar and reaches out to touch the Iron Cobra. It evades his grasping hand.
"'By their might' indeed!!" Hel seems almost as irate at the snakes as she was at the guards in the tower ambush, but she continues to strive to box the second one in to give a better chance for Wesh to make violent contact with it, succeeding at doing so.
Lutor continues his work of assisting Gallen, but says, "If the way is cleared, I could blast it with fire. It may be worth it."
Thoroughly exasperated by these blasted creatures, Wesh swings again. He doesn't plan on stopping till the snake is in at least a hundred pieces. With Hel, Willow, and Cole having boxed it in, his greatsword slams into the cobra, lifting it off the ground slightly before it falls, all movement ceased.
Cole starts to assist on the harvesting of the mithral.
"I wish it not need be said again but these doors have been quite literal, if we do not head these and work together now then I fear we will all fail the cardinal in whatever he has planed for us. Now who needs wounds healed?"
Cole pulls out the wand to administer some healing.
The second cobra inert, Hel staggers back a few steps, then puts a hand out to brace herself against the wall before sliding down to sit at its base. She lifts her hand in response to Cole's question. "Here," she says, and lets her head drop back against the stone. "It might be wise," she adds, "for us to take a bit of a break. I can still feel this poison in my veins, slowing me down."
Immediately upon seeing the cobra struck down, Lutor speaks firmly to Wesh:
"Cease striking it, Wesh. There is mithril to harvest, to provide us with stronger equipment later."
Turning to Hel, he adds:
"I am in agreement, Hel."
"A bit of rest is fine by me as well. We were given twenty four hours and have been down here what maybe an hour."
Cole takes a seat rolls out his bed roll and gets comfy.
"Wait," Hel says, holding up a hand just as Cole is preparing to use the wand on her. "No, not here. Let us ... pull back to the room where the young squire is. If he does not hear from us for such a long time, he might come out and try to poke around. Best we set up next to him, and cut that possibility off -- it would give those of us who can a chance to charm him some." Here she nods to Sir Gallen and Willow. "Find out more about him, perhaps. Cole -- everyone -- if you need to do any praying, don't do it in front of him, or even in the same room. Back to the first room, I would gauge, so there's no risk of him even overhearing. But if we rest there, we'd be in a better position to control what he might do.
"Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?"
"I would return to the young potential recruit. Furthermore, I want to discuss if there are better tactical synergies to be created with my magic. I know several spells, but only so many can be memorised at once beyond my armour of magic..."
3 spell slots a day at current level. Default memorisation is Burning Hands, Mage Armour, and Vanish. It would take a very good argument indeed to convince him to drop Mage Armour.
Burning Hands
Color Spray
Enlarge Person
Grease
Mage Armor
Silent Image
Vanish
"Thank you Cole. A break would be agreeable. I think my new tactic would have faired better. It just keot dodging left... I'm not used to fighting constructs, I'll admit it threw me somewhat."
After hearing Lutor out "Grease could be tactically advantageous. Mitigate the numbers of an advancing group or disarm a powerful warrior... potentially."
Wesh's face widens in a gleeful smile as he raises his greatsword to begin chopping up their fallen opponents. Only Lutor's words stay his hand.
He growls a bit to himself, but eventually lowers his blade. Stripping them for their mithral is a good enough retribution anyway.
Wesh nods gratefully to Cole when the inquisitor provides healing to those injured. The fighter had been ignoring his wounds, but having most of them healed certainly makes him feel better.
When the group begins discussing plans to rest, Wesh finds himself somewhat reticent to the idea. It feels like they've barely begun. He begrudgingly recognizes that straining themselves won't accomplish anything.
"I think we should sleep in the room next to him, at least a couple of us, if nothing else. Someone needs to keep an eye on him. We should probably only go back to the first room out of necessity, like for prayers. I don't want us to look weak to the Cardinal or his people. If we retreat to a point where they can see us, they might wonder about our abilities. We can't have that."
"I prayed this morning just a couple hours ago. I have not used any of my magic yet today. I have no need to pray other than for guidance, but I understand and shielding our faith from the boy would be the best play for now. Come let us go rest then."
Hel nods, and after collecting her pack follows the others back through the previous room to the 'torture chamber'. Eyeing the rack, she gives a little exhalation -- not quite a sigh, but close -- before calling out, "Squire, it's us again. You can come out; we need to rest for a while. Some of us have been poisoned."
Shrugging off her gear again, she works on the ties holding her blanket and bedroll to her backpack, then curses under her breath and, standing up, kicks the thing several times before squatting down and, her hands trembling from the poison's effects, tries again. The third time's the charm, and she drags the bedding together before pulling her blanket over herself and, using pack and cloak as both pillow and light-shroud, composes herself to rest quietly, if not outright sleep. They have been up for most of the day ...
Wesh follows Hel's example and gets his gear out to bed down for the night. He offers to take one of the middle watches if no one else wants them, since he doesn't have to worry about spells and such. If nothing else, one of them needs to stay awake to keep an eye on the squire.
Lutor silently enters the room and finds a corner to meditate in.
If the squire comes out to speak with them Gallen will speak to the lad but other than that he tends to his gear and reflects on the battle with the cobras, to learn from the combat and strengthen his resolve.
Timeon cautiously pokes his head out and, seeing it's you, breathes a sigh of relief. "Are you sure it's safe to rest here? What if the scary man and woman come down here again?"
"I do not believe they will, still when you sleep you should retire to your hiding spot."
There is silence for a few moments from the woman wrapped up in blanket and cloak, but then her voice is heard. "We have reason to believe they are occupied with other things." True, as far as it goes -- so not the entire truth, but ... truth. Factual, at least.
"Let us rest for ten hours -- whomever else is poisoned, take first watch; I will take last, so that my chance for recovery might be uninterrupted."
First, damage: I'd suggest swapping Prestidigitation out for a damaging cantrip -- looks like you have Acid Splash and Ray of Frost, both of them ranged touch for 1d3, so that would be a good idea, IMO. While a 1st level damaging spell would be good, you only have Burning Hands, for 2d4 (1d4 on DC 15 Reflex save).
Which brings us to Part 2: control. Grease is good; it forces a continual DC 15 Reflex save to use the thing you Grease, presumably an opponent's weapon -- I'd expect your target to be the one carried by Timeon's knight. With your other spell, however, I'd suggest not a one-shot spell (and I did seriously consider suggesting the DC 15 Will save-or-die Color Spray), but a spell that buffs one of your compatriots: Enlarge Person, to be used (I would suggest) on Wesh as we get into combat again; 2d6 damage goes to 3d6, and while it may hammer his AC (-2 Dex and -1 AC), another d6 worth of damage might well be worth it. Add in that it lasts 2 minutes, which means 20 rounds, and we have enough for one combat, quick healing, and then another combat, if we push the encounters.
I'd also personally suggest swapping Dancing Lights out for Flare -- because hitting someone repeatedly until they fail the spell's DC 14 Fortitude save and thus have a -1 on attack rolls for 1 minute would, IMO, be a wicked good use of spell slots.
Lutor says little, either to the youth or his colleagues in reply, but thinks on suggestions from the latter.
0-level Cantrips
Detect Magic
Flare
Mage Hand
Ray of Frost
1st-level
Enlarge Person
Grease
Mage Armor
In addition to Sir Gallen and Hel's words, Wesh adds, "You needn't worry even if they do come down here. We'll deal with them."
Cole doesn't say anything, just lays out the bedroll in the new spot and takes a nap after removing his armor.
The night passes uneventfully. Timeon asks if you have any food, as he hasn't eaten in a day.
The next day, those of you who were poisoned feel a little less sluggish, as though the effects of the poison have worn off slightly. Timeon, still looking fearful, asks, "Should I remain in the hidden door?"
Gallen will share some rations with the young squire. "For now that would be wise, this place still has many dangers and challenges to be overcome."
Lutor has much time to quietly observe, as elven meditation does not take as long as human sleep.
He keeps an ear out for unexpected sounds.
"We will finish up here shortly and be back for you. Stay hidden, stay safe. Shall we go?"
Cole packs up his bedroll and things and is ready to get back to the matter at hand.
"Yes.", says Lutor tersely, still maintaining his disguise around the youth.
Wesh decides not to speak to the boy. The others seem to be handling him just fine. The fighter prefers to focus on other matters anyway.
At Cole's question, Wesh says, "I'll lead the way."
He proceeds to do so once everyone is ready.
Gallen checks over his gear one last time before they go.
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As Hel sleeps, whomever remains awake and chances to look over at her on the side furthest from the light will be able to notice her curling instinctively up. This is not just the fetal position, this is someone huddling up into as tight a ball as they can, trying to hide from the world, from a situation that's as bad as Branderscar ... or perhaps worse in many ways.
When she awakens late, for the final shift out of the ten hours, there is a sharp little catch to her breath as she emerges from sleep, as if she was being startled awake. Nevertheless, she lies there for several handfuls of seconds, perhaps mentally clawing away the cobwebs of sleep, composing herself for the day, or making herself aware of her surroundings -- who can say, besides Hel herself? Nonetheless, she does finally rise, eyeing her trembling hands and trying to determine whether or not their instability is lesser than what it was some eight hours before.
On her watch she will, if it has not already been done, try to salvage the mithril snakes. Closing the door to the torture chamber turned temporary sanctuary, she'll go retrieve the metal cobras, dragging them back down the hall and into the grate-floored room, there to work on disassembling them.
When it comes time to rise, she will go about waking the laggardly by lightly gripping their foot and giving it a shake. She remains quiet and thoughtful during breakfast, and will help feed Timeon; she is wise enough to keep her thoughts and attitudes behind her teeth, giving the youth the social courtesies without delving further into the myriad of conversational pitfalls that would await her in speaking with such a Mithran.
When the others are ready to proceed, she glances at Timeon, nods towards his hidden cupboard, and watches to make sure he is well hidden away before she nods to Wesh and Sir Gallen, falling into her third-row slot in the marching order.
Timeon nods and moves back into the hidden area, closing the door. Once the boy is clear, you move out, heading back to the room where the remains of the metal snakes lay You then head out the southern door, into another 20 foot hallway that ends at another wooden door with the message, "Suffer not the fool. Stupidity is our faith's cardinal sin."
"Well that is a vague description. Let's not rush to any decision whatever we find. We need to take time to understand I would suspect."
"Yes. Even if we encounter someone, they may still not be the fool warned of."
"Let us not be the fools, and we shall be all right -- at least for a time," says Hel quietly, eyeing the lesson to be learned. "Certainly stupidity is a cardinal sin in any religion ... well, any one of which I would be a part." She gestures towards the door. "So let's see what we have to work with."
Wesh shrugs at his companions' words. "Sounds like it's giving us permission to kill whoever we determine to be a fool. And it sounds like we'll find at least one of those in the next room. That's fine by me."
Once everyone's ready, Wesh leads the way into the next room.
Opening the door, you find yourself in a square chamber, lit by a single oil lantern hanging from the center of the ceiling - much like all the other chambers. This one also has a white stone plinth in the center of the room, upon which sits a velvet cushion. On the cushion is a silver amulet in the shape of a dragon, with sapphires for eyes. On the eastern wall is a set of stairs, leading up.
Wesh is disappointed with the room's contents. He was hoping to find at least one fool to murder. Alas, his bloodthirst will have to be quenched another time.
He considers poking the silver amulet with his greatsword, but thinks better of it.
Looking back at the rest of the party, he asks, "Can one of you magicky types identify what that thing is? Is it safe to touch?"
Wesh turns back to the room and eyes the stairs. He rounds the stone plinth and stands near the foot of the stairs in case someone or something appears. He also looks up the set of stairs to see if he notices anything.
"Doing that, Wesh," says Hel clinically as she reviews the room, "would itself be foolish. Identifying fools for eventual disposal ... now that seems to me to be more in line with the patience the Cardinal has shown to date." Eyeing the amulet and the stairs, she adds, "Is it just me or do the empty rooms concern anyone more than the ones with active threats in them? I feel like I'm fencing with Thorn himself when I step into one of these."
"We should check the area for traps both mundane and magical. Those with the ability should check for magical auras. Illusion magic might conceal something of great significance..."
Wesh sees nothing up the stairs - except darkness.
Lutor remains quiet while he seeks magic, systematically looking at walls, ceiling, floor, and items.
As he works, he speaks softly.
"I am inclined to agree with Hel here. This feels like a dangerous trap, even by the standards of this maze."
Lutor finds no magic auras anywhere within the room, save those carried by the party.
Gallen begins preparing to search the walls and stairs. Remembering Timeon's words - "There's a hidden door across from the way out" - he searches the wall opposite the stairs, and finds a secret door directly across from them.