With a last desperate gamble, Perfire unleashes a bolt of acid against Klarkosh. The bolt flies true, striking the Clockwork Mage full in the breast. It sizzles as it burns its way into his flesh and mechanisms.
The mighty Numerian wizard looks down at the acid eating into his chest and blood bubbles out of his mouth. He tries to say something, but it is lost in the clatter as his spear falls from his nerveless fingers. He drops to his knees before pitching forward onto the ruined carapace of the Emerald Automaton. For a moment all that can be heard is the hissing of the acid arrow and the clicking of his clockworks, slowly winding down.
Moments later, Slaagh rushes back in, claws bared. Seeing Klarkosh downed, he draws out a water flask and pours it over Perfire's acid burns. At the same time, the resilient sphere ends at last, releasing Lilika!
STATUS
Lilika -
Lukas - 0/48 hp; hideous laughter (cannot use reactions); Sickened 1; Slowed 1 (1 minute), Stable, Unconscious
Frizz - 0/48 hp, Dying 2
Wymond - Dead
Klarkosh - Dead
Perfire - 3/30 hp, Sickened 2
Triath - 31/40 hp
Slaagh - 20/21 hp
As the battle ends, Triath turns and rushes over to the fallen Wymond and nudges him a bit, before realizing his state and laying his head on Wymond's chest, tears streaming down his face.
The gruesome sight materializes in front of Lilika as the sphere slowly dissipates. Her druidic instincts tell her the danger is no longer present and she steps over to stand next to Perfire.
"You did your best." She says laconically while briefly placing a hand on Perfire's shoulder.
She walks over to Frizz and Lukas in turn.
"I can't help them now, my magics are exhausted and I cannot heal without them."
Lastly, she moves to Wymond. Her mouth tightens with brief emotion and then relaxes to its normal stoic expression.
Kneeling down next to his motionless body with her back to the others, she silently begins to stroke Triaths coarse fur, a single tear rolls down her cheek.
Triath leans into Lilika's strokes, snuffling as he continues to weep.
Perfire stands heaving for a moment in stunned silence before doubling over once more wracked with his body's desire to expel every last bit from his stomach, barely registering Lilika's kind words. As he straightens back up he takes in the scene of absolute carnage around him. He hurries over with a look of worry plain on his face and sets his pack amongst his downed friends and begins rummaging through it's contents. Fishing out a pair of potion vials he holds them up to Lilika.
'These should help! I think if we can get Wymond and Lukas awake maybe one of them can help Frizz!'
Frizz stabilizes. Wymond has healing potions in his pack.
Tell me what you want to do next.
Upon learning of Wymond's fate Perfire's already dour demeanor darkens. Almost mechanically he administers his potions to his living allies. That seen to he moves to his dead friend's side and sits next to the larger man staring at the still form. After the others recover he speaks softly to no one in particular, eyes fixed on his friend. 'I think I'd like to go...'
Frizz bolts upright with a gasp and residual lightning crackles between the usual strands of hair sticking every which way.
"Did we kill him!??"
She turns her head, frantically searching the room. Her eyes finally settle on Triath laying on Wymond.
She watches Perfire walk over to the jovial paladin and sit, her eyes wide. "uuuuhm... Perf... Lilika... is he...?"
Her voice is lost as the tears begin to well in her eyes.
Too shocked to move, she sits in place for a while, cradling her legs in her arms.
Internalizing her feelings, Lilika rises and resumes her normal stoic demeanor.
"Frizz, stop crying and get up. It's not helping. We're still down here and need to find a way."
She moves about the room in a practical pattern, searching for any clues or things of value.
"Lukas or Perfire, could one of you search the mages body?"
How did this mage get in and out of here...? She thinks to herself.
Staggering to his feet, Lukas takes in the scene. "By the Inheritor," he mutters to himself, seeing the destruction that was meted out on both sides.
He takes a second to compose himself, then searches Klarkosh's body.
Perfire, you theorize that you could use the Spire Transport Tokens to arrive at any level of the Spire whose symbol you have seen. This means you could travel to any of the first six levels.
Searching Klarkosh's body, you find several things of interest:
Klarkosh's spell book ("On the Orderly Transmission of Power") (I'll list the spells separately)(worth 580 gp), +1 longspear, healing potion (minor), Wand of Manifold Missiles (1st-Level Spell), material component pouch, spire transport token, journal, 28 gp.
Finishing his mourning, Triath stands and turns to the others, looking up at them with beady, curious eyes, still wet with tears, but ready to proceed, whatever the group decides.
Lukas starts looking around the room, seeing if there's a way to gather everything up in such a way that they can transport Wymond and the assorted loot from this fight.
He asks his new companions, "So um, do you folks have an idea how to get back to safety? I kind of blundered my way in here; I couldn't tell you how to get out if..." He trails off before he finishes the though, ...if my life depended on it.
It does, you fool!
"Ummmm... I was going to save this but we should probably use it now."
Frizz breaks the feather dangling from her armor and in a puff of smoke, a 20 foot ladder appears in it's place.
"Mister Lukas, if you could break this up, I'm sure Slaagh would be willing to help carry Mister Wymond."
She sets about fetching her bedroll from her backpack to fix to the ladder/litter.
She also pulls our her healer's tools and sets to work on herself.
At the mention of getting moving, Perfire stirs himself from his consuming thoughts and fishes the party's transport tokens out of a pouch. 'These will get us out, I think we saw the spire earlier where we came in. It's only a few rooms away.'
Perfire sets to cleaning Wymond's cold face and gathering his dropped belongings with his body. while the other's tend to the litter. When ready he leads the to the tower and activates the token for Godhome.
Triath nuzzles Perfire's hand after he's done cleaning and gathering, clearly thanking him for his considerate act.
"Thank you, Frizz." Lukas nods appreciatively as he starts disassembling the ladder into something usable for transport. When it's ready, he goes over to Wymond's body, kneeling down by his head. "I know you were devoted to Erastil, but Iomedae loves you for the valorous heart that you so clearly had. Whatever your fate in what lies beyond, rest justly, Wymond." He gently picks the other man up and lays him on the litter. Taking one end, he says, "Ready?"
Triath bows his head respectfully to Lukas.
You place Wymond on the makeshift litter. He is very heavy, but you don't have far to go. Returning through the various lever-operated turntables, past the silent Emerald Automaton and to the room where you fought the div and met Lukas, you walk up to the Emerald Spire. When each of you is touch at least one other, Perfire uses his tokens to take you up to the top level, the stark and empty domain of Godhome. Slaagh looks around his home a bit, then returns and sits in odiferous silence as you rest.
'I don't imagine you'd be too welcome inside Fort Inevitible.' Perfire says to Slaagh. 'Would you even be willing to come to the surface with us?'
While they all rest, Frizz sits cross legged next to Wymond sketching in her book.
"He could always wait outside the Fort? Or you could just wait here Slaagh! And we can meet you again when we come back!" Frizz looks to Lilika and the others.
"We can come back, right? It what Wy..." She begins to tear up a bit. "It what Wymond would have wanted? Right? RIGHT?!"
Lilika looks to the small gnome as she stands off to the side.
"I'm not coming back here. I have to leave once we're at the Fort."
She states matter of factly.
Slaagh seems a bit disappointed that he won't see Fort Inevitable. "I would like to see the surface, but not when the bright light is in the sky. It hurts my eyes."
"Staying here doesn't seem safe anymore, without Ska-Orm-Thaagh."
While they all rest, Frizz sits cross legged next to Wymond sketching in her book.
"He could always wait outside the Fort? Or you could just wait here Slaagh! And we can meet you again when we come back!" Frizz looks to Lilika and the others.
"We can come back, right? It what Wy..." She begins to tear up a bit. "It what Wymond would have wanted? Right? RIGHT?!"
Triath grunts and gives Frizz a reassuring nod.
Lilika looks to the small gnome as she stands off to the side.
"I'm not coming back here. I have to leave once we're at the Fort."
She states matter of factly.
Triath nods at this too, but a bit more hesitantly, as if it wouldn't be his choice, but he understood why she was making it.
'Thornkeep seems the most economical option. I think if we leave at nightfall we may be able to make it before morning.'
"Thornkeep sounds...prickly. Are there Hellknights there too? TheHelliknightsGiveMeAKindOfVibeThatMakesMyNeckHairsStandOnEnd..."
Frizz prattles on while everyone begins the journey.
Lukas nods his assent. "I didn't get a good vibe from the brief time I was in Fort Inevitable, Thornkeep works for me."
Triath nods.
Few of you know much about Thornkeep, just that it's a human village in the Echo Wood where the Hellknights don't hold sway. It's said to be a lawless place where you'd better watch your coin purse.
The team uses the Transport tokens again to travel to the surface. After assuring themselves that no one has taken over the level, they leave the castle of green Azlanti glass and head out into the Echo Wood.
The day is warm and overcast and dribbles down rain in a light but constant pattering of drops. The ground is sodden and makes the forest paths slow going.
Triath snuffles at the ground for the scent of travelers, not too hard on a well-trodden road. Unfortunately, the rain seems to have washed away most of that scent, and he scrapes the ground with a frustrated grunt.
Lukas eyes up the trees as they travel. "Uh, I hope you have a good idea where you've going, because this doesn't look familiar to me at all."
The paths are confusing and mixed and Lukas is pretty sure he's seen this same tree before, but Frizz is confident in his approach. It is getting pretty dark when the party can see lights through the trees - you have arrived at the outskirts of Thornkeep. A rude but stout palisade of logs forms a grim defense against the dangers of the forest, and the group approaches the large gate just as its being shut for the night.
"Who goes there?" asks the gate-ward, an elderly man with a limp. He holds up a hooded lantern and peers into your faces with suspicion.
Triath looks up at the party, as if you say "This is your show, I'm just a boar, I can't talk!"
Lukas answers the man, "Travelers seeking a place to rest, and say goodbye to a fallen friend." He gestures to the litter with Wymond on it.
"We're here to talk to the Goldenfire Order. We've just been to the Spire. And it's been... rough."
Frizz says, bouncing up on the balls of her feet to get the man's attention.
The gate-ward still regards you with suspicion. Then his eyes fall on Slaagh.
"Ye can't bring that in with ye!" he says with a frightened squeak as he backs up and begins to shut the gate.
Perfire's eyes have been fixed on Wymond's form as if attempting to will the man back to life. At the guards yelps, his gaze snaps up to the man in the dark. ''Walk any road, float any river' Isn't that one of the river freedomes?'