Still, Kelne reflected as he stepped into the room, they'd left some kind of testament behind them, and who knew how long it would be before anybody else happened by to read it? Kelne picked up the scroll case and, after a brief glance about to make sure no horrible fate was about to befall him, opened it up.
Whoever you are, if you are reading this, then we have failed. We have failed to escape our underground prison, to outlast the armies of Felltouch or defeat the horrid Beast he sent after us down here.
If you are reading this, then the Chan Dynasy has surely ended, possibly with our death. This land, once united, will now again be a leaderless collection of scattered colonies and timid city-states, the mighty Emperor retreated far to the east, to his seat of power, and only merchants and certain scholars will travel anymore.
Our brave captain led the Beast north, to the Mausoleum, and may the Gods have mercy on any who venture there. The stone goliaths of this place will crush them, else the Beast that we brought will find an destroy them, for surely the captain cannot defeat it alone. While they fought, we built a wall, and thus far it holds.
In the closet is a box with Abadar's gift to us, which we four cannot wield, but perhaps you can. Perhaps you may knock down the wall we built and destroy the Beast, win past the goliaths, and reclaim the bard-king's crown from the desecrated throne upon which he was to be interred. Maybe then Iridian can return to her former glory and all Felltouch's vile treachery be undone. Perhaps.
Know that the passage east leads under the fields and heaths for many miles nearly as far as the Bumblewoods, and should provide safe passage if it has not been infiltrated by natural creatures seeking shelter. Know also that we tried. For the sake of our Emperor and this great Land, we did our best, and Alaura witness it. So help us.
Sir Justahl opens the not-so-secret door and is relieved to see that there is bright sunshine streaming down. Dripping water can still be heard, but the ruinstorm appears to have headed off to the southeast.
Meanwhile, over at the wall, Jorzan is about to speak to Tanel when both men hear an odd sliding noise come from behind the wall, like that of someone dragging a huge bag of sand around. There are heavy, thudding footsteps.
Cassandra looks at Karthan. "They're all waking up now."
The red cap has gone oddly silent and is kicking his way back into the corner where the witchfire was just a few minutes ago. His eyes are fixed on the north tunnel.
@ Tanel
As the solid farmer picks his way over to the young shadowdancer Jorzan lowers his voice as he says "Tanel, I wanted to tell you this outside the earshot of the others, for now anyway. Something...happened, earlier, and it concerns you..I'm pretty sure. I don't know what happened up above with the golem but at one point there was you roaring like I've never heard before, well, except that once, in the alley, back in Stormfare." pausing for a moment to make sure the haunted man is understanding Jorzan continues "anyway, then there was a great 'clang', then seemingly some sort of explosion. Next thing I know, down here, in this hallway, two...things, came racing by me. I do not know what there were. But they were the blackest black and seemed to be composed of..spirit, I think. They set off the first trap in here. Whether they survived or not, or where they may have went, I do not know. But I thought you should know. And, have a chance to explain. There is more going on with you than the rest of us realize Tanel and I think..."
..." The rest of whatever Jorzan was going to say is lost as the rogue is interupted by a dragging sound and then heavy, forbodding footsteps. "Seems like we may be having company. Move back behind those traps, if our guest looks to be trouble, maybe some of these traps can slow it down. I'll go warn the others and be right back!"
Then moving down the wall and sprinting back Jorzan shouts when he reaches the others "Look alive boys! We may have more company coming!" Catching Cassandra dire comment to Karthan, Jorzan gives her a look, then looks to the others, then races back towards Tanel, pulling his bow and an arrow along the way.
Tanel nods along as Jorzan speaks, a grim expression on his face. He is about to reply when the dragging sound begins. Then he hears the footsteps and rolls his shoulders.
Following Jorzan's advice he moves behind the trapped area and begins to cast spells on himself. 'Right you are, don't dally to long.'
After peeking out and seeing the sunshine, Sir Justahl carefully shuts the secret door and goes back down to the central chamber.
He grins as he announces; "Good news everybody! The ruinstorm is..."
Jorzan shouts when he reaches the others "Look alive boys! We may have more company coming!"
"They're all waking up now."
Sir Justahl swears aloud.
"Blood of the Inheritor! What is it now? And what is that Redcap up to?" He strides towards the Redcap...
"MMMMNNNNFFF!" Says the redcap through his gag as he sees the shining Aasimar striding towards him. "MMMNRRF MF MF NRRF FRNNNN MMF!"
"Whooo!" Says Snowy, and promptly flies up and out the open hatch. "Hey! Snowy! Come back!" shouts Cassandra, and darts up the stairs and outside into the open, chasing after the huge owl.
Suddenly from behind the wall comes a horrid low growl that rises into an inhuman shriek. There are a few plodding footsteps and then *WHBOOOOOOM!* something slams into the wall with unbelievable force, knocking loose rocks around and clearly moving some of the large stones, though just a fraction of an inch.
Kelne; from your position in the old kitchen you hear the shrieking roar and booming noise echo back to you.
Hurrying back Jorzan climbs the wall a few feet back from Tanel and stops at the juncture of wall and ceiling, giving him an unobstructed line of fire on whatever may be coming through the wall. Not sure what exactly it may be, he holds off just yet on selecting an arrow. He also ignores the chill suddenly running through his blood...perhaps some things were better left undistrubed...
A few more ponderous and thudding steps -- it sounds like two creatures back there, maybe three -- and then *WHBOOOOOOM!* again the wall gets hammered. The rocks move another fraction of an inch, but the wall holds.
Karthan takes his loaded crossbow, and holds a readied action to activate the Glove of Amun Thul. He's staying a good 100 feet back in the corridor.
"I really don't like the looks of this."
Sir Justahl whirls around at Cassandras cry.
"No! Wait!" He took a step after her, then stopped and turned towards the south hall at the thunderous crash. The others were in danger, how could he just abandon them to an unknown enemy?
But...
[The image of Iomedae flashes. "...and you must not let her come to any harm.]
He looked at Karthan with a stricken expression.
"I... I have to go." he whispered.
Then he raised his voice and shouted down the passageway.
"I'm sorry! I have to go after her!"
He turned and ran up the stairway. "Nouhves! Come!"
Nouhves thundered up the stairs after him.
In any case, he intended to make a fight of it. Maybe fighting horrors from the distant past wasn't strictly part of their mission brief, but he was damned if he'd just leave whatever it was to fester away here and destroy these crumbling relics of people long dead. They were entitled to a little revenge, he felt.
'Get ready! One more of those and it'll be through the wall!' Tanel shouts out, as he casts his spell and raises his halberd for the fight to come.
Karthan casts shield upon himself. (AC is now 23)
"What the hell is back there?" the shadowdancer mumbles to himself. At Justahl's call Jorzan yells back "Guard her well Paladine! For any harm comes to her I'll be coming after you!" yet despite his words, in truth the young man is very glad Cassandra is out of danger, or, well at least this danger, and he says a silent thanks to Iomedae for providing such a devoted guardian for Cassandra as the Paladine is.
Then suddenly he looks around and asks aloud "Where's Kelne?"
@Justahl:You come blasting up out of the chamber and immediately spot Cassandra running east, chasing Snowy. It is plain to you that she does not see the Black Dragonflight cavalry charging at her from the northwest. Three orc berzerkers riding dire warthogs are sweeping towards her from the mausoleum. The only survivors from the encounter with the stone golems and caryatids, perhaps?
All three berzerkers have weighted nets in their hands and are swinging them around, preparing to throw them at the little girl.
There is a final massive slamming noise from the chamber and now the roaring you heard earlier is no longer muffled. There are battle cries from Jorzan and Tanel.
Something, apparently , has broken through.
With a final thunderous blast of strength, the wall comes down into a pile of shattered rubble around Tanel's feet. Two large green creatures stand in the midst of it. Each one has two muscular and clawed forelegs and the lower body of a snake. Their heads are thick and crowned with curled horns like a ram and a tentacle rises out of each shoulder, ending in a mouth like a snapping turtle. Strange energies coruscate and thrum around those tentacular jaws, bending air and time with each snap shut. On seeing Tanel, they scream their bestial yell and prepare to charge forward over the difficult terrain.
Tanel: (AC19)
Jorzan: (AC22)
Karthan: (AC23)
Naunets: (AC20/17FF)
It's agonizing to abandon his companions; one thing tought to all of the knights of his order is to never abandon your men. It felt like a breaking of faith and honor.
"Iomedae bless and defend them..." he prays under his breath as he reaches the top and looks around in the sudden sunshine.
There she is! And hogriders are after her!
As Nouhves comes up behind him, Sir Justahl will grab his lance and pull it from its case, making sure his knights pennent flys free in the wind. Then he jumps into the saddle.
Fastmount (ride DC15):
Feeling better back in the saddle again, Sir Justahl raises his lance and calls out "Chaaarrge!" Nouhves neighs wildly, bunches up and launches towards the hogriders...
@Justahl: As soon as you shout, the cavalryorcs become aware of you and Cassandra becomes aware of the cavalryorcs. She screams. "AAAAAHH! Oh no! Oh...Shining Man I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just don't want to lose Snowy! Oh no!" Not knowing at all what to do, the poor little girl freezes and tries to make herself small, curling up into a little ball. Bizarrely, the owl simply keeps flying east, toward a small stand of trees.
Two of the orcs turn towards you, putting away their nets and drawing weapons. The third continues towards Cassandra.
SUPRISE
'What the f&#$ are those things!?' Tanel roars out, he raises his halberd nonetheless as they look far from friendly, and he steps forward and to the side swinging hard with his halberd at the creatures just as they break through.
His blade hums as it swings, stinging the air it sinks into the strange coruscating serpentine monster, scales burst and peel away the flakes glowing and bursting in sparkles of multi-colored light, one or two turn into little squirming blue worms, followed by a flow of iridescent blood.
[/b]
Containing his surprise at the creatures Jorzan quickly thinks if he has ever seen or heard of their like before. A the same time, without hesitation, he pulls out a smoke pellet from his pouch at throws it at the area containing the trap trigger while calling out "Tanel, move back! Let them come to us!".
Knowledge(?):
Touch Attack:(for square)
Warhammer in hand, Kelne rushed back towards the sound of fighting. Whatever was accosting his friends would regret it. Possibly even without his intervention.
Jorzan racks his brains, but cannot recall ever seeing creatures like this before. One of the beasts is given pause behind the smoke cloud but the other races right around it and steps on a pressure plate, causing a giant axe to swing down out of the wall and hammer into the creature's neck! As it howls in pain, Tanel takes the opportunity to slice it open with his halberd, doing much more damage than the trap did.
As this happens, Kelne comes running around the corner as fast as he can in his armor. In his hands he is wielding a gleaming silver warhammer with Celestial lettering on the handle. One face of the hammer ends in a wicked-looking spike while the other is a traditional, flat hammer face. The weapon glows with its own inner light. None of you can recall seeing him with it before.
Sir Justahl, filled with the need to get to Cassandra, will charge to intercept the orc going after Cassandra. If the other hogriders get in the way, well that's too bad for them. In an open field there really was no contest, even with three of them.
To the first charge victim:
Lance charge attack: for a possible
Karthan casts Grease in front of the creatures. DC is 17 for them to keep their feet. He says to Tenel, "Let them come to us...if they can."
@Justahl:
Karthan speaks the arcane words of a spell and a big pool of a greasy substance appears under the feet of the creatures, covering a 10'square. With a massive *THUD* the creature in front of Tanel immediately falls to the ground, writhing in frustration.
Karthan draws a wand, activates it, and then sheathes it while taking his crossbow from the Unseen Servant.
Kelne moved up to support Tanel and Jorzan, keeping a wary eye out for those traps Jorzan had mentioned. No sense getting caught up in them when they could be used to waylay the creatures, after all. Karthan's grease spell had definitely changed the battlefield though. So much the better if they were having to forever struggle with their footing while they fought.
@Justahl: Your lance crushes the lightly-armored half-orc, skewering him mercilessly and knocking him to the ground. His mount squeals with piggy anger and veers off course, preparing to come back around. The other two riders change course but aren't fast enough to catch up. They take the tactical route of forming up on either of your sides -- one on your left, one one your right -- facing you, and prepare to charge at you as you charge at them.
Round 2
Sir Justahl thinks quickly, then aims Nouhves to the outside of the right hand (as he looks at them) hogrider.
He shouts "For Great Justice!" as he makes a Ride-By attack at 60' and continues on to 100'. (My AC 25 in a charge).
To the second charge victim:
Lance charge attack: for a possible piercing damage.
...Fumble confirm?
As the creature goes down Tanel strikes it with his bladed stave, swinging hard to break scales once more.
Heraing the calls to retreat beyond the traps Tanel strikes again at the fallen Naunet before calling out.
'We have them on the ropes here. The floor complications are our retreat option.'
'Press the advantage! He shouts to Kelne.
Bright coruscating blood sprays as his blows hit in quick succesion.
Targeting the prone creature closest to Tanel Jorzan whips out a bloodroot arrow and let's fly.
Attack Damage(-for into melee included) (1d20+5=10, 1d8=2)
But the scaly beast convolutions in the grease cause the shot to skip over it's shoulder at the last second.
@Justahl:
The two Boar riders converge on your position, swinging with their shortswords while the now-riderless boar continues charging Cassandra! The two orcs fail to do any damage; their blades bounce harmlessly off your superior armor. Meanwhile, poor Cassandra lets out a horrified shriek and rolls to the side as the enraged boar's stone-hard hooves come within inches of her head. It roars in anger and flecks of foamy spittle are jettisoned from its filthy snout.
Perception:
"Cassandra!" without any further thought, Jorzan leaps to the floor and races back out the hallway and up the stairs, his face a mask of panic and determination.
As Jorzan's smoke cloud begins to dissipate, the second creature vaults forward over the rubble of the wall and right into the greasy area created by Karthan's magic. This one, however, having seen its companion fall, is ready for the trick and moves more carefully, keeping its feet as it advances on Kelne.
However, while it knew about the grease, it fails to notice the trap and steps on the other pressure plate, springing the other axe trap! The heavy blade swings down and slices the creature's thick hide open. Unfortunately it appears to have some kind of magic healing ability, and the wound immediately closes right back up, leaving no sign that any damage was done at all.
Both creatures' strange tentacles snap at the two fighters but neither one is able to connect, their jaws banging off armor and colliding with the walls in the narrow hallway.
Perception:1d20+13
** spoiler omitted **
Perception:1d20+13
** spoiler omitted **
Round 3
At Cassandras scream, Sir Justahl shouts "No!" hauls Nouhves around and charges that pig!
To the Riderless Daeodon :
Lance charge attack: for a possible piercing damage.
"Come ye sow riders! Can ye not attack a SINGLE TARGET?"
Intimidate:
Flying up out of the stairs just in time to see Justhal nearly skewer the riderless boar and hear the Paladine's powerful challenge, Jorzan, his eyes flaring wide at the danger Cassandra is in, takes advantage of the obviously shaken condition of their foes to sprint towards the defenceless young girl, using his agility to dodge around the battlefield as necessary.
Acrobactics(if necessary, AC26 vs AoO otherwise) (1d20+14=21)
Taking a stand over her he whips out one of his most deadly arrows and let's fly at the still standing evil looking pig while whispering to the terrified little girl "I promised Cassandra, never shall I let harm come to you."
Attack Damage (1d20+9=28, 1d8=5)
Crit Confirm Damage (1d20+9=18, 1d8=1)
Time to find out just what this hammer could do. Kelne swung it in for a solid pair of strikes upon the already wounded foe, hoping to finish it off before turning his attention to the other.