Faustus connects with his mace, Lort almost drops him with a vicious greatsword attack, Curys and Ibid both miss with their ranged attacks, but Amaranti's strike the great Kaisharga skewers him like a kabob.
The Pathfinders feel a wave pass through them, in the briefest blink of an eye, their past flashes before their eyes. Cyrus stealing food to live, Ibid in the mine, Lort out in the Linnorm wilderness, Miro in his cups at the tavern. The moment passes before it really begins and the Pathfidners are left wondering what has just happened.
Connor steps up to Lort and swing his dwarven waraxe.
Grant moves into the space vacated by Connor. His uttering begins to crescendo, and the Pathfinders feel another wave, a different wave pass through them.
1/2 - 6
1/2 - 4
1/2 - 4
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"F*ck me sideways but you hit hard! Providing me with a more worthy opponent than your brother knight did," Lort says after the onslaught, the waves of negative energy opening the two wounds dealt by Connor even wider on his body, "Let's see how you like my steel!"
The gravity of the situation doesn't seem to phase the half-orc. After all, he has been known to fight on when reason would dictate that he fall to the ground and bleed to death. Lort has never been sure whether he had his orcish or Ulfen blood to thank for that.
"Ha! I hit the hardest, it seems!" brays Lort, his own blood dripping steadily upon the ground.
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Cyrus clicks his heels together, activating his magical boots again, then springs through the forest of powerful fighters in front of him. His heart races, his mind flashing back to the one powerful blow from a wooden weapon that would have skewered his grape had it been sharp. The risk of his move seemed so much more real now, though that though did not slow him in the least.
With the relative smoothness of the floor, the tried and true slide simply wasn't going to work here. Diving forward, over Lort's knee and under his raised greatsword just before he brings it down like a guillotine, Cyrus tucks into a roll, darting between Conner's legs and hoping to use him as a shield to protect himself from Grant. Once on the other side, he pops up, blade slashing.
Cyrus lashes out at Conner, now that he is pinned between himself and Lort.
for
for
After taking a pounding, then feeling his energy drain, Lort is having none of it. He moves forwards and with one swipe of his greatsword cuts off Connor's arm. A jet of warm blood, not that they could tell in this heat, sprays out in a tremendous arc.
Faustus, nodding at the efficiency of the half-orc, moves into the area previously occupied by Connor and swings at Grant. His mace connects with his helmet and Grant's head whips back. The Pathfinder can see streams of blood pouring down his breast plate.
The nimble ninja calls upon his hidden reserves of energy and tumbles past his companions, the dying Connor, and the alive, but grievously wounded Grant. Grant is however unable to track the ninja due to a lethal combination of his wounds and the ninja's quick movements.
Rising to one knee, he slices across the man's knees, hamstringing him. Somehow, the ninja also strikes a major blood vessel and Grant falls to the floor, bleeding.
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Cyrus stands up as the armored knight falls, bleeding out.
"Would he have information we could use?" he questions, holding his wand of cure light wounds in his hand.
"Otherwise, we have some handy spells enhancing us, that might come in handy against this leader and foul beast Bertreg told us about.."
Now that combat has subsided, the Pathfinder have a good look at the Kinght's sleeping quarters.
The southern walls of this messy campsite are covered in shaggy brown filaments.
Which Ibid is happy to tell them is brown mold and they avoid.
Among the knights’ clutter is a locked iron case. Cyrus fiddles with the lock,
Inside are six potions of endure elements and 924 gp.
You also discover the case’s false bottom, which hides two scrolls of delay poison and one scroll of freedom of movement plus an elixir of swimming.
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Lort quickly grabs one of the potions of endure elements and pours it down his throat, "Ha! I feel cooler already! Well done, my friends," he says surveying their damage, "It has been too long since we have fought like this together. The last time, if I remember correctly was during that strangeness in Absalom during the last grand convocation. I'll fight agents of Rovagug over mutated comrades any day. No offense, Faustus, but I wish Gunari (and also Finarin) were here to share the glory of battle with us!"
Lort lops off the remaining knights' heads then pulls out his wand of cure light wounds, "Now, let us get moving! Mayhaps Kurgess's strength will still be with me when we reach our target. Now gather around!"
Lort will Channel Positive energy twice to heal his wounded friends.
As they move along, Lort keeps waving the wand around to heal himself.
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Cyrus raises his endure elements potion in a mock toast, and drains it. He pats Lort on the back in thanks for the healing wave to counter the necromanctic wave released when they encountered the goons.
Cyrus pockets the elixir of swimming and the scroll of freedom of movement. He hands one of the scrolls of delay poison to Lort, and the other to Miro, then makes sure everyone gets one of the potions of endure elements. The whole scene is somewhat rushed, and so Cyrus is too busy to wince when Lort finishes lopping off the heads of the now definitively dead, evil knights.
With the loot distributed, he encourages each to drink their potion as they move towards what is expected to be the hottest part of the cavern.
The tunnel leading from Knight's quarters gradually descends over the course of another 500 feet, occasionally branching out into short side passages and broader chambers. For a typical group, squeezing through the occasional tight spot, peeking down dead ends, and reaching this area takes 5 minutes.
Greenish filaments crisscross this flooded chamber, whose pools of murky water release strange, foul-smelling fumes. Large boulders protrude from he water, many covered in profane markings and bloodstains.
The Pathfinders can feel the heat roll over them, even after downing the protective potion.
Extreme heat (air temperature over 140° F, fire, boiling after, lava) deals lethal damage. Breathing air in these temperatures deals 1d6 points of fire damage per minute (no save). In addition, a character must make a Fortitude save every 5 minutes (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. Those wearing heavy clothing or any sort of armor take a –4 penalty on their saves.
The Pathfinder see a web strewn dome.
Faustus and Lort can see what can only be the creature Bertrag told them about. All eyes and arms, and mouths in a quivering flesh mound.
Both men shout out that it is a thognorok qlippoth (outsider)
On a rock further in there is a man standing holding a huge axe. His appearance is as disturbing as one can imagine, his face is severely scarred.
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"Well, gather around everyone!" says Lort as they approach the cavern, "I'll make sure our weapons can actually damage this thing!"
"Weapons against evil" Lort chants in prayer to Kurgess.
Lort then moves forwards menacingly, brandishing his greatsword.
"I don't suppose anyone can dismiss this web? Perhaps a flaming something or other? Otherwise, we may have some trouble actually approaching this thing! Let us hope it is dumb enough to approach us," Lort stands there, ready for it to do just that.
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"Miro, take this scroll of freedom of movement and cast it on one of the three big guys! Lort, take this elixir of swimming, maybe you can swim under the webs. I've got my own potion of touch of the sea to get to that bum on the island. Ibid can take that thing down with his bow!"
The rocks here are slick and rise about 5 feet out of the water, requiring a successful DC 12 Climb check to clamber over.
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On the way in, Faustus recasts Shield of Faith...
Faustus will use the scroll of freedom of movement on himself.
He will declare a judgement, giving him Resistance 6 (Fire), hoping this will take care of the heat damage. He then steps 5' forward.
"Cyrus, if you can give me the ability to fly, that would be outstanding."
As the Pathfinders round the corner, and face the extreme heat, they know they are in for a fight. The worshiper of Rovagug, Tasutek begins to grunt and grumble, waving his hands in an obvious spell casting motion. He draws his greataxe and draws it along his cheek, drawing another red line across his face. He smiles and waves the Pathfinders on.
Faustus has no idea what Rovagug just cast.
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The old man watches the worshiper's movements, trying to recall an entire childhood spent pouring through ancient tomes and watching the practitioners of all manner of magic and sorcery...
The old man rushes forward, trying to keep up with the half-orc with his bow clenched tightly in hand while scurrying over the slippery stones.
Once stopped, Ibid raises the longbow, leveling an arrow at the terribly disgusting creature before him. But the old man stops for a moment, wondering which target to attack...
Ibid has no idea what spell was cast. His shot flies harmlessly wide.
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Cyrus, realizing that he holds many of the items his companions are going to need to end this evil man's life, drops his pack to the ground so they are accessible. He moves forward, pulling a smooth stone from a small pocket in one of his crossed bandoliers, and says a little prayer to Sarenrae, and Irori as he leaps onto one of the slick rocks.
Cyrus flings the stone at the servent of the chaotic god, then summons his inner strength to vanish from sight.
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"Is ugly son of whore!" Amaranti shivers in disgust in front of the monstrosity. But no time for fear, battle is already happening. Sooner they get out from this hot lair, the better - so Amaranti starts the fight by casting the spell of haste.
"Kaisharga, deal with ugly priest!" Amaranti commands, and starts moving closer to the creature lurking in the web.
Cyrus winds up and throws his Thunderstone at Rovagug.
The small alchemical item explodes with a loud ....bang.....bang...."
He shakes off the effect, and looks at Cyrus with a menacing grin.
Miro, and Amaranti both cast aiding spells, while Kaisharga moves forward to bite Tasutek. As the large serpent tries to bit the deranged man, its jaws come into contact with some sort of barrier. Kaisharga can feel evil magic cascade into its body.
The serpent's body immediately goes rigid.
Stunned: A stunned creature drops everything held, can't take actions, takes a –2 penalty to AC, and loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any).
Cyrus, trying not to look at the grotesque spider-man blob, can't help but stare as it opens its mouth, out issues a horde of tiny spiders. They instantly form into a mass, writhing all over each other. This mass begins to move towards the closest living target, Amaranti.
As the swarm engulfs him, he cries out for help.
The fumes wafting from the water cause any creature in or adjacent to the water to become sickened for 1 round unless it succeeds at a DC 10 Fortitude save.
DC 10
Kaisharage is also Sickened.
The character takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
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Lort looks longingly at the potion of swimming and sees his companions beset. It'll take too long to get it, and they're in trouble now! "Let's get this foul thing before it breathes another swarm onto us!"
Lort rushes to the side of the enclosure, loving how fast Amaranti's spell is making him move. He rushes around Amaranti, sizes up the gap, and then passes the swarm to make a running leap at the quipploth. I don't envy that man, I hate swarms!
As Lort launches himself into the air, he first comes into contact with the foul creature's web.
Web (Ex)
Creatures with the web ability can use webs to support themselves and up to one additional creature of the same size. In addition, such creatures can throw a web up to eight times per day. This is similar to an attack with a net but has a maximum range of 50 feet, with a range increment of 10 feet, and is effective against targets up to one size category larger than the web spinner. An entangled creature can escape with a successful Escape Artist check or burst the web with a Strength check. Both are standard actions with a DC equal to 10 + 1/2 the creature’s HD + the creature’s Con modifier. Attempts to burst a web by those caught in it take a –4 penalty.Web spinners can create sheets of sticky webbing up to three times their size. They usually position these sheets to snare flying creatures but can also try to trap prey on the ground. Approaching creatures must succeed on a DC 20 Perception check to notice a web; otherwise they stumble into it and become trapped as though by a successful web attack. Attempts to escape or burst the webbing gain a +5 bonus if the trapped creature has something to walk on or grab while pulling free. Each 5-foot-square section of web has a number of hit points equal to the Hit Dice of the creature that created it and DR 5/—.
A creature can move across its own web at its climb speed and can pinpoint the location of any creature touching its web.
Lort is currently Entangled
Entangled: The character is ensnared. Being entangled impedes movement, but does not entirely prevent it unless the bonds are anchored to an immobile object or tethered by an opposing force. An entangled creature moves at half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls and a –4 penalty to Dexterity. An entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) or lose the spell.
Lort takes 1 point of acid damage from the web.
As he flies through the air, the hits the web and immediately becomes stuck.