Drovya slashes once more at the downed Cacodaemon, being well aware of the creatures propensity to recover from their wounds.
And stay down! he growls.
Drovya then moves forward to engage the second Cacodaemon, attempting to flank it with Talon if possible.
Giant Talon will strike at the cacodaemon between him and Drovya.
Group Talon
Petrova's next attack did considerably more damage than the last, slicing into her foe's stomach, though not with enough depth to the cut to seal the deal. That being said, she began to move in the direction of the vulnadaemon, whose primary target still seemed to be the large fighter.
At the same time, Talon's scythe flew into the cacodaemon with a vengeance, causing foul blood to mar the blade. Again, however, the thing wasn't entirely dead, and in retaliation, it flew up to bite at the man's neck, sinking its miniscule teeth into an unarmored area close to the ear.
The petioner next to Petrova took pulled a morningstar off his belt and lunged at her, bleeding soulstuff out of his wound. He missed her, however, as her natural dexterity enabled her to dodge.
The blinded petitioner continued to scramble away on the ground until she reached the wall, where she pulled herself to her feet and began to blink the dust out of her eyes.
The vulnadaemon continued to attack Talon, its first attack again rending into his leg(although the other one, this time. Instead of the pain being spread out, this single slice caused a great deal of agnoy at once. The second swing produced nothing, but the creature's bite again became a nuisance, ripping a hole in his trousers and an iota of flesh with it.
Team Arasmes
:D
Drovya moved to attack the next Cacodaemon after killing the one he had been attacking.
Okay, I'm not sure what the battlefield looks like, so I hope this works.
Hanethes draws his blade and charges at the flank of an enemy already engaged.
for + sneak attack if it applies.
Drovya focuses and evokes the power of the storm, the scent of ozone fills the confines of the tree as lightning crackles between Black Ivan's twin blades.
The half elf moves to flank and lashes out with a vicious cut at the Vulnadaemon.
Arasmes, seeing the Daemons, drops his scimitar and draws his silver mace, he enters the battle, attempting to aid his endangered comrades.
Kanthuun stays back a few squares like a good little sorcerer and casts Enlarge Person with his (readied) wand on Arasmes.
"Go get 'em!" he shouts encouragingly.
Petrova takes another five-foot step towards a flanking position, attacking the same petitioner.
Attack:
Damage:
Giant Talon will fight through the pain and strike at the cacodaemon.
Hanethes and Arasmes joined the fray, flanking the female petitioner as she regained her senses, with the latter man pulling out his silvered weapon. The vulnadaemon hardly reacted, its lopsided face as expressive as that of the dead.
Kanthuun stood at the entrance, having already cast blur on the inquisitor right before he entered. From this vantage point, the sorcerer could make out where Rogar had fallen, his prone form under one of Talon's massive, bleeding legs. Unfortunately, the violet gas was still able to affect him, and it did, leaving him woozy.
Petrova lithely sidestepped to be behind her foe through a newly-puffed cloud of gas, striking him yet again and forcing a cry of pain to fall from his lips. He was still alive, however, and growing more desperate by the second, something Kanthuun could easily notice from his position outside of melee combat.
Talon's vision was starting to darken from bloodloss, and the world was starting to feel further and further away, but apparently the fighter would be damned before he failed to finish what he started, and his scythe came down one more time to cleave the cacodaemon in twain, the twin bits falling down inches apart to have their flesh dissolve away, leaving only a skeletal form and several shining, stone-like objects behind in the lower half.
The female petitioner flanked by Arasmes and Hanethes began to fully see her situation, and looked positively cowed as she reached for a concealed dagger and struck out at Hanethes, barely nicking his side. For such a small wound,it stung much more than it should have, and a trace of goo was left on his skin. .
The male petitioner engaging Petrova placed his free hand around the weapon and laid into the woman's belly, knocking the wind out of her painfully.
The vulnadaemon let out a low hum from its neck-maw as it moved to finish the fighter off. It would deal with Arasmes, but not until it was sure the brute before it was officially neutralized. While it tried to slice at the man twice and bite him as it did before, it only succeeded in one slash, but it was enough to finally rob the voracious man of consciousness, as it hit another artery.
Talon lurched forward, reverting to his natural size as he hit the ground, the scythe clattering out of his grasp.
Drovya responded in kind, moving past his fallen comrade to deliver a mighty, crackling blow that brought the fiend down in a single hit, much to the surprise of the two petitioners. Burnt, smoking, and robbed of its stolen blood by Black Ivan's edge,the thing collapsed into clods of ashes, with only the head remaining reasonably intact.
Absolutely terrified, the female petitioner dropped her poisoned weapon and knelt down in surrender, but her male counterpart kept his composure, somehow, and seemed as murderous as ever.
Attack:
Damage:
Petrova slices again into the male petitioner, wheezing through the pain of bruised ribs.
"Didn't your mother teach you it isn't nice to hit a lady?"
Talon! Drovya cries out as the big man falls, Someone help him!
Drovya rushes to the gas-belching canal where the third cacodaemon disappeared as he winds his kaftan around his face in a makeshift mask, hoping to ward off the worst of the poisonous fume.
There's still another cacodaemon around here somewhere!
Arasmes gestures and murmurs a prayer to his Goddess, halting Talon's bleeding and casting around him for the cacodaemon.
Hanethes switches his focus to the male petitioner who still seemed a threat.
If he's adjacent or within 5 feet, Hanethes moves 5 feet, distracts him with a passive thrust, and swings for the kill.
for and if flat-footed.
Otherwise, Hanethes moves and attacks the male petitioner.
for
Kanthuun coughs and sways, but gestures and speaks words of power at the petitioner.
Hanethes moved to attack the male petitioner, the stinging in his side subsiding. He felt his dueling sword connect, but the petitioner gave no sign of feeling pain.
Arasmes, meanwhile, stooped down to multitask, urging the dawnflower for a release from death's grasp for his friend. What was normally an easy orison took a great deal of energy, as the amount of bleeding that had to be halted was a veritable mess. Once the wounds scabbed over and Talon's breathing returned to normal, the inquisitor looked about, hoping to find the alleged third cacodaemon, but had no luck in this endeavor.
Kanthuun cast his spell at the stubborn male petitioner, making the morningstar all but impossible to hold. The weapon fell to the floor.
"Blast! Adrig! Get up and help me, you stupid bi-," the petitioner began to call to his compatriot, only to be quipped at and stabbed by Petrova, an action that, at long last, managed to leave him on the ground on the verge of dying a second time, but from what had been seen, Petrova knew better than to leave him as is, as his wounds would likely close and he would get up.
Drovya made his way over to the opening the cacodaemon flew up into, but couldn't find anything, either. It seemed the wretched thing had escaped.
Adrig, as her name could now be inferred, hid her face in her hands and rocked back and forth, waiting for obliteration.
Petrova will coup de grace the downed petitioner.
"That's for using the 'b' word."
Looking up at the others, she says, "I swear. Proper chivalry seems to be falling from fashion on every plane."
Arasmes looks directly at the rocking woman and speaks calmly but coldly, and with authority "Tell us what happened here and why. Now." while simultaneously pulling out his healing wand to use on his fallen comrade, and touchingt it to his gaping wound.
Petrova ended the man's sentient existence quickly, and the discorporation followed immediately, leaving only equipment and tattered clothes behind.
Talon regained consciousness, his head buzzing. There was some measure of pain, but mostly, the fighter's body just felt incredibly heavy.
Adrig stopped rocking and turned to face her confronter, eyes still flashing with primal fear.
"She told me to b-bring one of you here, she sent Gyrusa to wait and she set up an ambush with Nilz, Dogga, Hreft, and Umarr."the petitioner stammered, her gaze falling on the smoking remains of the vulnadaemon whenever she mentioned the name 'Gyrusa', "With the u-understanding that Gyrusa would take one of us if I.. if I failed. She said that you had a way out of here... that your kind usually do, and... she would grant us shelter, before our time was...," Adrig pulled her tattered shirt down to expose a shoulder, as if to explain. A seperate shape was starting to emerge out of it, like some sort of fiendish tumor. It resembled a cacodaemon, and had a working eye within that reeled around wildly.
"We were due for another inspection, and w-we couldn't just run, the plane would have us... and we'd taken adventurers before, all of us, but we'd never found a way out. If we could just seperate you, pick you off one by one, she'd help us 'til the change was done, and.. she'd have a way out to your world."
Her eyes flicked over to Rogar's fallen form; she knew better than to expect forgiveness. She didn't want it. However, the last glimmers of humanity held some sway, and there was a glimmer of something that looked like regret.
"The dwarf was an oddly good man. .. he came here b-because I told him a half-truth. I said Yaghen's daughter was here, on the verge of starvation, refusing to eat, and liable to be killed if seen by anyone else. She really d-did hide here... and perish here... but that is over and done with,"
Maintaining eye contact, Adrig made a statement more coherent than her blabbering before.
"You've seen this town. We're changing... and even if we weren't, this settlement can't possibly last. The daemons know this. She said it was a game to let us stay here, but I.. we.. the group of us, we were chosen... even as she grows bored, we needn't die with the rest. One of the messengers got away, though. I'll be disposed of, she'll get her way, but... I don't want to die."
"Okay, so being large and in charge isn't all its cracked up to be." Talon puts a hand to his head. He stands up and listens to the woman's sob story. "I can't imagine what it's like to be you right now. But you sold out a good dwarf, and for what? Do you even know what kind of help you would have gotten?" Talon looks to his comrades for their thoughts.
"You must accept your fate, Adrig." The skin of Kanthuun's arms ripples slightly as if tiny creatures run underneath it. "Chao--ah, all this, everything, is about creation and destruction. You are here to be consumed, or turn into a consumer. Neither is acceptable. Choose the third path. End your existence, and pass onward to a place none of us understand."
He looks at Rogar's fallen form. "At least you, unlike our friend, will have a choice. May he go where the currents take him."
Drovya curses at the escape of the final cacodaemon. Damned thing is probably rushing off to find something bigger and nastier to bring down on our heads. He continues to peer down the exit, although he knows the creature is long gone or too well hidden for him to find.
As for this creature... he motions to Adrig, She would not be here if she had lived a good life. But she will tell us what she knows, or so help me, Black Ivan will feast on her miserable excuse for a soul. He brandishes the blade menacingly.
Now, Adrig, which of the cacodaemons fed on Rogar? He gestures to the soul gems. And please, lie to us. Give me an excuse...
Arasmes holds up a hand at Drovya's words, but his tone is still cold "I'm sure this woman would be pleased to give us that information, there's no true need for threats...So, tell us."
*
*
*
After her answer, he shakes his head, a bit sadly and speaks surprisingly gently and gestures at Kanthuun "I'm afraid I must disagree with my friend here, killing yourself isn't truly an escape, as it simply makes you a part of this place for eternity."
His tone becomes more serious, almost analytical as he continues "You say you don't want to die, and I certainly sympathize, who does? But you have little choice as long as you remain what you are. Become one of them and lose yourself, or be consumed completely in one fashion or another. Your only other choice is to choose a different path completely, to change the way you live and what you live for. You could change yourself enough and escape the dark cycle of this place entirely...though that's a hard road indeed, and perhaps dying is a better, simpler, path for you..."
Adrig began her responses by first giving a heavy, shaking sigh and stating the obvious.
"You... y-you're not soul brokers...,"This didn't have any real effect on her fear of their martial prowess-the woman was still quite intimidated in as much as she knew the group could kill her at any given time (and they'd every reason to!).
Talon's initial reply to her spiel had invoked little to no reaction beyond that she'd already given (with the exception of a slight darkening of the face in response to the last bit), but Kanthuun's brought a spark of irritated recognition, as it was a speech she'd heard many a time before from Gant and his followers. Drovya's threat was expected, but the concern behind it would not have been, if the party's true nature had not been revealed. Arasmes' words were comforting, if not too pretty for all practicality's sake. Her soul was marked, and hunting her would be exceptionally easy, even if she defected.
"With my failure here, th-there can be no hope for me, even if you don't take my life, I.. I know, but there is some c-consolation for you."she looked to Drovya. "Your friend's soul has passed naturally... you came in time."
"That you would e-even try... to offer redemption is... unthinkable. " Adrig relented, looking to the ground. Even as she spoke, her dark patron could seek her out, using the nascent cacodaemon as a sensor. The woman pulled her shirt back up in an instant.
"-and I am endangering you even now. The closest thing I can do.. to what you would ask of me... still requires that I... that I.... fulfill the only destiny of my own choosing."
If only she could hear herself; she sounded like the people she'd always hated the most... but she had to act whilst her will was her own, before the paranoia and contempt of her everyday existence reasserted its hold.
She reached for her fallen weapon, but this time drew it inwards, her intent clear as day. Death could be the only redemption.
Talon steps in and takes her weapon away while stowing his."I'm not so sure about redemption. But with what you've done, you're going to help us. You don't get out that easily. We're new here and we need a guide."
Drovya shakes his head. She will betray us the first chance she gets. And even if she does not, she has said herself, she is a beacon for the powers of this place. Let her end herself. Keeping her alive, if you can even call it that, is cruel, and will only make our task all the harder.
He looks to Kanthuun. I take it we still need to find the wayfinder...
Hanethes holds a hand to his stinging side.
"I hope that weapon was not poisoned."
"We need to find the...yes," says Kanthuun. "This town feels more and more like a trap. Let us find its trail and not tarry."
Petrova grabs the head of the vulnadaemon in one hand as well as stuffing the soul gems in her pocket.
"They might come in handy," she says by way of explanation.
"I suppose you're right. Though we don't really know where we're going, do we?"
Drovya takes the bag of holding from Rogar's belt and places the dwarf's corpse inside it before placing it into his own backpack.
I'll not leave him here. He deserves a burial in the holy ground of his church, or his people. He looks at Arasmes and Talon, then at the female petitioner, then shakes his head. Do as you will, but don't say I didn't warn you. Better to finish it now. Cleaner too.
He walks out of the tree and retrieves a pearl of power from his belt pouch before concentrating on the small orb, then returning it to the pouch.
Restore shocking grasp as a memorized spell.
The petitioner blinked, staring at Talon like he'd grown a second head(or something worse, judging by where the party was). She shook it off, though, and her shoulder made a hissing sound.
"The weapon was poisoned," Adrig admitted to Hanethes, her voice hollow and resigned. "But not too potently, if your health i-is good... b..bogslime. You seem to be... fine, now..."
Surely enough, the stinging came to an end, leaving only a lingering ache that would fade in a few minutes.
She brought herself to her feet, but jerked immediately when she heard Drovya mention the wayfinder (even with Kanthuun's recovery).
"S-so, you... you did have what she wanted...?"she stammered before cursing loudly. If Adrig heard it, she may have heard it. "Or s-something else important,or you would be g-gone... right?"
"D-don't answer me...Don't answer." Adrig instructed, pacing while wiping away invisible things like a pesh junkie in withdrawal.
"I will... guide you, as best I can, but kill me b-before you find it, p-please. D-don't let me see it...Don't speak of important things so that I may hear. You deserve better, and I would b-betray you."
She started towards the exit, though slowly. The party made her feel safe, in a bitter twist of irony, and she'd rather die at their hands or her own than any of her dark patron's servants (less chance of being eaten).
"Staying here i-is bad. W-we must not stay in one place for too long." she said, before turning to face the party. "Or I.. I could take you to Gant... She hates him, and he... it might be... a safe place..."
"She's right. We should at least keep moving. But where to?" Talon packs up what he can such as the money and weapons.
"Back the way I and the others came."
He looks at the petitioner. "She cannot come with us."
Drovya steps back inside and casts detect magic on the spoils of battle as he accepts his share of the coin.
Yes, Kanthuun, Arasmes, Hanethes, lead us back to where you were tracking the... item.
Hanethes glances over the treasure.
"I agree. Back to find the item. I hope it will be relatively easy to find."
He tries to trace their steps back to where they were searching for the wayfinder, and looks again hard for any type of clue as to the nature of the thievery.
Arasmes nods at Kanthuun reasonably, then turns to the Petitioner and speaks kindly "While your offer of aid is appreciated, and some directions to this 'Gant' might well be useful, my companions are understandably reluctant to accept your company. Nor do you need ours to change your path, and our journey is likely to be dangerous, even aside from the possibility of us killing you as you request. It would seem best to me for all of us that we go our separate ways. If you wish to be trusted, find some new folk, start fresh, and be worthy of trust. It's never too late to begin again."
He looks over the loot, and accepts his share with equanimity, taking a quick look at the valuable gem as well, and speaks to the group again "Indeed, let us be off."
"Who is Gant?"
Adrig blinked, the fear for herself welling up again, but she was unarmed, and she couldn't blame the adventurers for denying her healp.
"G-gant is.. well, one could call him the leader, here. He's the one who f-found the core for the shielding sconce... He's also the one that decides when we.. are culled. He is v-very old, but he t-talks like that one-," she pointed to Kanthuun.
"He is the s-strongest of us, a-and he sees things we d-don't. She called him her.. her 'opponent' in the game I just mentioned."
Following this description, the petitioner gave directions to Gant's dwelling, which was, in itself, on a third story of a building that resembled a bunch of stacked, rotting crates, connected by ladders and ramps of scrap wood from the jungle nearby. Gant's abode wasn't particularly marked, it differed only in the material wood's patternings, stage in rot, and the lean of the two-roomed shack, and Adrig gave the sequence of doors that needed to be passed to reach the proper door along with such specifics before taking her leave.
Drovya follows Hanethes, making sure to stay close to the party.