Mahb moves toward a wall and motions to her allies to separate. "Step aside and let the elementals pass. They have been trapped here and are trying to escape. I'm not sure whether the Efreet will go with them or not."
"Sure, why not?" and he moves out of the way so the elementals may pass.
Gabriel, still flying near the ceiling, will frown slightly at this, but makes no move to intercept them.
With the excited roar of a summer bonfire, the three large flames burn brightly, a pyroclastic torrent speeding past you, intense heat washing over your face. The flames speed out of the entrance, and suddenly they are gone, fire light fading against the night stars.
The efreet roars in frustration sdeeing his fellows go, screaming incoherent syllables in Common and the four elemental languages. Suddenly, bright flames envelop him and he disappears from view.
"That was rather odd. " he says to nobody in particular.
The hag looks skeptical. She quickly mouths a spell...
Spell Effects:
Ascendant Mage Armor - +6 AC, 50% critical hit or sneak attack becomes normal hit - 15 hours
See Invisibility - 150 mins
Gabriel, already mentally off-balance from the sudden departure of the firy foes, notices Mahb's reaction and becomes more worried. Rather than landing, he will stay airborne, and likewise slowly fade from view.
Since people seem to be doing something, that means it didn't just go away. Thus Vars will move towards the last seen location.
As he has blindsight 30' from Blinded Master, he will eventually be able to see the critter. He will just move up adjacent to him. If there's reach he will provoke (and not particularly care). Getting there will be a double move.
Rasil does what he can to get the creature between him and Vars, even if he has to tumble in close quarters with the being. He'll then attack the being with his dual wakizashis, after which he'll move away to a position from where he can easily return to flanking with Vars.
As Gabriel disappears from view, Mahb points the efreet's direction to her allies, who manage to flank him. Rasil dodges a colossal fist by a hair and manages to stab at the moster with one of his blades, while Vars deflects one against his armor plates, standing in a tight guard. The creature then rises five feet from the ground before opening his arms and roaring. Fire, ash and lavic stones start clouding the air, coating the ground with threacherous, slippery dust.
At five feet he should still be in reach, so Vars will attack.
power attack, blindsight
"Making a mess on the floor like that's not very nice. I could take a nasty fall. At my age, that won't do. "
Been a long time since I've done this...
Gabriel focuses himself, and begins drawing energy toward him. A swirling, rushing mass of aetheric energy rushes into him, and he prepares to unleash a blast at the creature.
A stream of water pours forth from his extended hand, with little bolts of electricity flowing through it, causing Gabriel to fade back into view as the stream pours in toward the firey creature.
Since it seems everyone can see the efreet, Mahb adjusts her plans and waits to see what kind of shape the creature is in after the multi-pronged assault.
All strikes hit home, causing significant harm to the creature's extraplanar flesh. It roars in agony, pain and frustration.
Based on the wounds already suffered by the efreet, Mahb is quite certain these old fogeys will finish him quickly. She decides to save her eldritch power.
"Boy, you should flee, if you can. You are overmatched."
Seeing his blast strike home, Gabriel grins in satisfaction. Still got it...
"Our friend's magnetic now, boys. Metal weapons should find their mark more easily than not."
"Neat trick that. "
If the efreet heard Mahb's words, he chose to ignore them. Showing only madness and violence on his face, he started gathering power for another devastating spell.
Rasil continues slashing at the enemy from his vantage.
Rasil's blades cut deeply into the outsider, wounding him to death. The body falls to the ground, rotting away unnaturally fast, leaving behind only a small pile of ashes. From the pile, however, the image of the efreet rises again, although it is ghostly and translucent. His face is no longer raging, instead calm and serene. His voice resonates clearly in your mind.
"I thank you, travelers, for twice you released me. A prison of iron held my body, a prison of madness held my mind, and you shattered both. Let me not go with a debt unpaid."
"In my long inprisonment, I could listen to those who worked here. I know there is some hidden cache in this room, items stowed away for days that never came. And I know that more and more treasure can be found in the inmost sanctum, Bartolomae Adella's tomb."
"How to reach it, I know not. But I know there are no doors or paths leading to it, and the way could be opened only with four items."
"A lockless key. A dagger befouled. A sister's keepsake. Thrasillus' voice. I hope this can help you. Is my debt to you repaid by such information?"
In a brief moment of uncharacteristic transparency, Rasil reappears, and chokes back tears doing everything he can to keep composed. I've killed so many. Never have they thanked me for doing so.
Seeing his master in such a state, Yura reaches out thinking he might comfort the old man, but thinks better of it, replacing his hand on his dagger-hilt. And addressing the spirit, "I don't speak for everyone, but your gratitude is certainly well received by myself and my master."
Wow, he thinks, two spirits in one day.
Gabriel gently lands, drawing his cane back to his hand and settling his weight onto it as he regains his feet, flinching slightly as he does. He looks at the spirit with a frown and says "A lockless key, a dagger befouled, a sister's keepsake, and Thrasillus' voice? What the blazes sort of riddle is that? Why can't people just use a bloody key? I appreciate the help, spirit, but do you have any further clues about where to find these things?"
"It pains me to tell you that I do not know. For scores and centuries I was trapped behind those bars, for spite and revenge. I can tell you what I heard from my captors, but I know nothing more than I said: those four items shall lead the way to the crypt which no path can reach."
"Go in peace, Brother. Bask in the Eternal Flame." She waits for the spirit to depart before responding to Gabriel. "I've got no idea what any of those things are. Guess we'll just have to keep our eyes open."
"Yeah, you only know what you know. "
After regaining his ample composure, Rasil makes his way to the doorway, listening for any more potential threats.
"Thank... you..."
As the spirit fades away, you check the north wall. After a small amount of time, you manage to find a hidden, locked door, too small to be a passage. Likely, the cache the efreet was speaking about.
Mahb rubs her hands together briskly. "Right! Which one of you strong lads is going to open this door... or do I have to do it?"
"You folks are getting so paranoid. Not like anything has tried to hurt us yet. I'm starting to think this place is all smoke and no fire. " and he will head over to D3 and see what is what in there.
Gabriel shakes his head in dismay. "Really, Duke, you're just asking for it with a line like that. It's like asking 'what could possibly go wrong'."
He then frowns slightly at the locked door, and with a flick of his head, attempts to telekinetically pick the lock.
"Bah. I've lived this long taking stupid risks, why change things now?"
The alcove pops open, showing three items hidden inside. The first is a silver and sapphire necklace, exquisitely crafted. The second is a wand, and the third is an iron key, engraved with a cross-eyed medusa.
As soon as his eyes land on the wand, Gabriel holds out his hand and the wand snaps into it. He casts Detect Magic, and examines the wand.
"Ah, a wand of fireballs, this could be fun." He puts the wand into his quiver with an eager grin, then looks back up. He squints back into the room, ignores the necklace, and focuses on the key.
"A faint transmutation aura on the key, but it doesn't seem to be magical itself; almost seems like the aura of something else rubbed onto it. I wonder if this is our lockless key?"
Vars will give the area a good search before heading back to the rest.
Mahb looks over the necklace and clucks in speculative approval. "Looks expensive." She holds it at hair height for the scarred raven to see. Regarding the key, she merely shrugs. "Pocket it. Hopefully, it will prove useful."
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The raven casts a greedy eye on the necklace and hisses "Shhhhiney." Then it snatches the item from her hand and adds it to the hair-nest.
Seeing that the rest of the geriatric wing had made quick work of the secret cache's contents, Rasil makes his way to , taking in all he can with his remaining senses.
Following his master, the farm boy gasps at the sight of the desecrated temple, "Erastil's bow!" he swears.
Vars finds a dagger lying in a pool of reddish water, pieces of gore still clinging to it, although the metal does not show traces of rust, and still gleams with the silvery sheen of mithral. There is also a word written in dried blood on the ruined mosaic.
Abandoned.
Realizing that the gunk is probably bad for his weak liver, he calls out "Hey, found a nice dagger in here, but it's in a pool of some gunk. Anyone able to get that out without touching gunk?"
Gabriel grabs the floating key in front of him, and stows it in his bag. He then flies over to join the others. At Vars' question, Gabriel gives a grin. "Heh, I think I can manage..." With a glance in that direction, the blade rises up out of the pool of water, then bobs up and down a couple of times, causing droplets of water to bounce off. It then sets back down on a clear space on the floor. He then casts Detect Magic on the blade.
"Thanks. I really didn't like the looks of that puddle. "
Detect Magic shows that the dagger carries the same faint transmutation aura that the key had. Also, there are residues of some strong necromancy, likely coming from the red-tinged water.
Gabriel nods to Vars. "Good thing, too - the water seems to be radiating some pretty strong necromancy. The dagger itself doesn't seem to be magical; it has some faint auras, but they almost seem rubbed off of something else, like the key." He then stops investigating the dagger (pointedly not actually picking up the dagger that had been floating in necromancy juice...), and proceeds to look around the room more, to see if there was anything else of interest.
The hag glances at the men in the room - all avoiding the dagger like it asked to marry them - and snickers. She takes the dirty hem of her dress and uses it to pick up the weapon and place it carefully in the small bag at her hip.
After an accurate analysis of the room, you find nothing more of interest. Everything here than was sacred or precious has been thoroughly smashed and defiled, in an act of blasphemy against the Dead God.