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"Oh, that would be very useful! Thank you, so much!" Cirri nods to the Gillman and quickly scribbles down
Gillman knows where the coral-weapon holders are. Willing to draw map for 10 gp.
and reveals it to her companions. She winces a bit as Rika complies with the request.
"You can just write it down here. And please, no telling them!"
Rika starts to reach into her bag to fish out some coins, but her movement makes the merchant's eyes widen sharply as he stammers out "Say what. Sound like who's down there is trouble. Draw map for just 5 coins. Civic duty, all that." the gillman quickly snatches the paper from Cirri and diagrams a crude, but moderately detailed map of several undercity passageways, highlighting the area he and his acquaintances have been seeing strange activity.
"Exellent!" Ollysta says as Cirri is handed back the finished map. "We have a direction, now let's go quickly with purpose. It -"
Whatever the paladin was about to say is quickly cut off as a hot wind passes over the market in a rush. All other around you seem to die as the marketplace appears muted by a strange aura. Without warning, patches of ground around you begin to glow a bright orange-red hue, and the symbol of a perfect pentagram burns itself into the street floor. A whispering hiss fills the air. “Our bindings will soon be shattered! Now feel the wrath of Hell!”
Four figures erupt from the pentacles in a rush. Three are canine figures, thin lanky wolves with reddish-brown fur, white claws, and burning, fiery red eyes. The fourth - a towering blue insectoid being, appears the farthest away from you, but with a single swipe of a spear he sends a nearby stall exploding outward towards the quickly panicking crowd. A large spar of wood strikes Yargos square in the face and the scholar crumples.
Ollysta is already drawing free her own blade and rushing to face the largest monster even as she yells back to you. "We must contain this! Leave the Gelugon to me: take out the hounds and stop them from spreading! Go, and let us prove worthy of the challenge!"
She and the blue devil lock weapons as the three other creatures snarl menacingly towards you.
Initiative, Round 1
Master Mido
The first hound rushes towards Master Mido, red malic glowing from its eyes. Reaching the gnome it opens its mouth the let forth a blast of scroching flame, one that also threatens to singe Firaxus.
Initiative, round 1
Master Mido - 31/34 or 34/34, need 14 Reflex, delaying (come back in when you wish)
Friaxus - 24/ or 26/27 hp, need 14 Reflex
Wadi
As Wadi and Firaxus prepare and get in position, one of the dogs charges at the mage...
for plus
While the last moves towards Rika and her pet and unleashes another gout of flame.
Initiative, round 1
Master Mido - delaying (come back in when you wish)
Cirri
Rika & Pratts -6/-0 hp and -11/-0 hp, need DC 14 Reflex saves
Nergi
Nergi and Master Mido each move to take advantage of their allies' distractions, landing solid blows on the fiends before them.
Initiative, round 1
Cirri
Rika & Pratts -6/-0 hp and -11/-0 hp, need DC 14 Reflex saves
Inspire Courage is up.
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Cirri tries to remember what these things are, and what their resistances are.
Cirri shifts into place, readies her staff, and enters a complicated dance, conjuring a blast of water while swinging her staff at the blue-tinged beast.
She tries to focus the blast of water.
She maintains concentration, and a hydraulic blast hits the black-furred beast harassing Wadi!
Besides making it wet, the water doesn't do much.
As Cirri begins her acrobatic swing-and-cast, she recognizes the canines before her as Hellhounds, Infernal dogs. While the evil outsiders are not technically devils, they too have an immunity to fire, and something readily clear as their bite singes as well as chomps and as seen they can irreguarly breath out short-range cones of flames. Hellhounds do have a weakness to cold attacks however.
The magi's staff lands a solid blow on her target, but the hound's four legs stay firmly planted in spite of the water trying to shove it away.
Initiative, round 1
Rika & Pratts -6/-0 hp and -11/-0 hp, need DC 14 Reflex saves
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Pratts' senses, unimpeded by the earlier thunderstone, serve him well alerting him to the incoming rush of flames. Rika however does not realize the peril she is in until too late. Snarling, she barks out in Tian what she hopes sounds like the command to flank the beast. She then moves opposite and unleashes her blow in time with the raptor's attacks.
For the affront of breathing fire on them, Rika and Pratts move to either side of the creature, and with a series of terrible blows leave its smoldering carcass still on the ground.
Snarling from the gnome's solid blow at it, the hellhound next to him attempts to fit as much of the humanoid's head into its mouth as it can.
for plus
Initiative, round 2
Friaxus - 24/27 hp
Wadi 25/29 hp
Firaxus' mighty swing has move force than accuracy, as it just manages to miss the weaving hound. Wadi's missiles unerringly hit their mark however, and leave the fiend limping badly.
As the others turn to finish off this threat, the other hellhound flinches, as if stricken with some unknown malady, and with a howl vanishes into smoke the darts towards the Incantation and disappears.
Initiative, round 2
Master Mido 26/34 hp
Cirri
Rika & Pratts 42/48 hp
Nergi
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Mido flinches at the pain but the wise old master fights on undeterred using superior positioning and experience to compensate for his physical frailty. 'The frail Gnome launches two swift punches, the first distracts the hell hound while the second sends it reeling.
TWF Attack Damage
TWF Attack Damage
Midos’ second punch connects with the hellhound right as Cirri’s staff slams into it from the other end. Combined, the two blows send the fiend unnaturally buckling, before it falls to the ground, dead.
Nergi begins to hustle toward Ollysta, only to have to duck as the gelugon’s head bounces towards her, with the paladin standing over the creature’s headless form panting heavily, her silver-armor now tarnished from frost and blue-tinged blood.
”So, I see that you were not exaggerating about the situation.” Ollysta says with a dry smile. Looking past you at the still hell hounds. ”Nor your own skills. Is everyone all right?”
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After having the question relayed, Rika grunts affirmatively, eyeing her erstwhile opponent with contempt, all the while trying to avoid anyone paying notice to the limited burns she did sustain.
she almost shouts, before turning her attention to the carcass and beginning the process of skinning the hell-beast.
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Nergi moves to the side to let the rolling head go past her. She turns to Ollysta. "Thank you, Mistress. Yeah, we will be fine. I think. These seem like a fine bunch.", she states, right after Rika and Mido's wounds close and the smell of her own burned skin hits her nostrils. She pulls out a wand from under her belt and does wand things with it.
She scans the rest of the group for injuries and her sight lands on the tiefling preparing her knives.
"Rika, the hunt is not complete just yet. Gutting and skinning will have to wait."
She thinks for a moment, collecting her thoughts.
As you recover from your injuries and Rika tries to take a souvenir, Ollysta hurries over to the fallen form of Yargos Gill. She examines him briefly, then sighs and lifts up his unconscious form. ”Gill appears to be out. Concussion I expect. Nothing serious I hope, but I need to bring him to the church. If our scheme should fail the city should be prepared for more of these loosed devils and Yargos and the priests may have to devise some other method of resealing the tomes.”
”Go, and may the gods walk with you. I will return as quickly as I can.” At these words, the paladin rushes off into the streets, gracefully weaving through the avenues despite her heavy armor and ungainly load.
Following Berquia’s directions the seven of you hurriedly make your way to the closest entrance to the gillmen’s tunnels, an exposed large pipe hidden behind a pile of rubble near a canal. Moving through the caverns below, the stone-carved paths branch off all throughout the undercity. The map guides you through a criss-crossing network of old smuggling tunnels, but the trail seems mostly abandoned. As you move on, many of your deafened ears begin to recover, as echoing first faintly and then louder and louder is a distant cacophany of angelic chanting.
Following both the map and the growing sounds of the chanting through the undercity, eventually the tunnels open to a vast chamber of crudely cut stone that extends upward sixty feet to a large, cavernous ceiling littered with moss-covered pipes. Eight tunnels exit the chamber, four on each side of the room.
With the exception of the two southernmost exits you come in from, slabs of solid granite block the tunnels several feet down the halls. In the center of each of these six granite slabs is a crude, rusted chain extending into a hole. Each slab appears to have some strange symbols carved into it above the chain's hole.
A set of great stairs begins at the halfway point of the room, ascending upward to a sealed metal door. Inexplicably, the stairs begin at a height of thirty feet off the ground, their base made of the cut stone that fills the room.
5
20
12
4
6
3
Inside this room, the sounds of angels rises to an enormous din. It is difficult to hear anything else as the noise surrounds you.
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Rika shrugs and hoists her prize upon her shoulder, for another time. Make armor more like me she thinks irritably, the logic of Nergi's words not escaping her.
It is as sound returns to her that Rika realizes that Celestial is apretty language. Nonetheless, the urgency of it all is clear as she looks about the room, completely at a loss as to what or where to go.
Suudently, a flash of insight strikes her, as she goes towards the second tunnel from the left and begins pulling at the chain, looking resolute and determined to verify ... something.
The raptor, meanwhile, huffs at the stale air for scents of prey.
While Master Mido explains that the markings appear to be various, seemingly random numbers, Rika tugs at chain '2'.
With a mighty heave the metal grinds against the stone as the tiefling drags it out. Immediately a pair of stone slabs slide down from hidden grooves in the ceiling, leaving the central chamber entirely sealed. Just after that, the slab whose chain Rika tugged at rotates 45 degrees to the right, and as it spins a torrent of water begins rushing out from behind it and starts to rapidly fill the chamber.
As the water rises, Master Mido and Cirri notices that up above, just where the odd staircase begin, there are a series of tiny circular holes in the wall in a ring around the room. Master Mido's keen eyes also notices a second ring of tiny holes just inches above the first set.
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"I wonder if this water is actually supposed to rise high enough to lead us up to the stairs!
Firaxus trudges through the rising water over to the 4th door, with the number 4 written in Azlanti as Master Mido pointed out. "Do you think we need to get the water to the right level?" he shouts over the rushing water.
He rolls up his sleeves, licks his lips, and gives a might tug on the chain!
Firaxus slips on the wet ground and plops down with a splash. "Any chance someone wants to give this a big heave? I'll help you out!"
My flute is a bit heavier than I remember.. my arms are tired!
As Friaxus rushes against the rising water to pull a second lever, the grinding chain causes that slab too to turn. More water rushes in from the passageway beyond it, though with significantly less force than from Rika's chosen door.