Fidget's simple mind almost feels pity for the clumsy mongrelman who hits the back of his own head. "Poor dummy," she laments. Her moment of weakness makes her scimitar slice go wide.
Tik nervously edges a bit closer, cranes his neck to see the archer, and pops a bloodshot eye out at her. "Tongue of newt, sphincter of duck / 'Fraid your aim is gonna suck!"
He then bursts into a wailing laugh. "HAHAHAHA, ho ho ho ho, tee heeheheheehee!"
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Valeria drops her glaive now that Bart has stepped in to combat with the archer, squatting down to grab her bow and knock an arrow as she rises. She lets an arrow fly under the lion-like-creature's arm that hits the mongrel-archer in the ribs.
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Fidget's simple mind almost feels pity for the clumsy mongrelman who hits the back of his own head. "Poor dummy," she laments. Her moment of weakness makes her scimitar slice go wide. The mogrel falls to the floor, bleeding out rapidly.
Nat and Bart get again to work, the spirit after the archer the summoner after the mongrelman, moving in grim unison. Bart tears the archer's throat out with his teeth. Nathaniel rams his blade through the chest of the unconscious mongrel, killing it.
Valeria moves over to the archer mongrel thing, her bow still drawn, knocked, and ready to fire as she kneels down. Only when she is certain the coast is clear does she relax the bowstring long enough to examine the fallen.
The bow woman is a mongerlfolk. She was carrying potions of cure light wounds (2), wand of ????, mwk chain shirt, club, mwk long bow with 17 arrows, obsidian unholy symbol of Baphomet worth 20 gp, and 34 gp.
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The rush of combat leaving his limbs, Nat sags a little and lets his blade's point hit the ground. Resting a moment, he tears a strip off the mongrelman's clothing and carefully cleans his blade with it. Bart does similarly with his claws. The two eventually stand and the elf looks around. "Well fought, all. No casualties, no warning sent on ahead. Well... well fought." Straining inside for the sunlight to warm him and the fresh air to clean his insides, Nat begins searching the rooms to the north and north-east.
A rack of hooks hangs from the ceiling, cured slabs of meat dangling from them and filling the room with a smoky aroma. A group of barrels appears to hold other preserved foodstuffs. The meat hanging here is primarily dire rat and mongrelman meat-it's all stringy, over-salted, and fairly unappetizing.
The worked stone walls of this large room hold a number of shelves, each of which display the preserved bodies of dire rats , bats, rock vipers, cave lizards, and other creatures that pose in eerie stillness. A pair of bedrolls have been laid out to the southeast.
Two women stand in the room, one bearing a scythe and the other a glaive. They are armored and have some kind of holy (or unholy) symbols around their necks. One of them is holding a scroll, seemingly prepared for something to come through the door. She finishes the last word as Nat pops in. As the spell hits him, he feels an unnatural terror building rapidly in his gut, but he forces most of it down.
success
Cultists 18.5
Party 15.6
The cultists step to either side of the doorway, preparing to attack whoever comes through.
Tik tiptoes forward, hoping to see one of the assailants without endangering himself. If he does so, he twitches his whiskered nose at her.
The rat man's lip curls in a mean-spirited smile, revealing sharp yellow teeth, as an almost palpable malaise of ill fortune settles over her.
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His stomach flickering between ice and turmoil, Nat hefts his blade. "Everyone, follow us!" Claws ready, Bart pounces past Nat into the room, braced for their blows. Nat follows and strikes out himself- please hand be steady please please. The lion-man roars an otherworldly challenge at his enemies fall fall fall before us
Fidget scurries up to the northern room to get a better look at their new opponents. She draws her scimitar on the way. She can't help but notice all the cured meats on the wall. Lizard meat? I wonder if it tastes anything like turtle?
Valeria draws back the string of her bow, arrow knocked and ready to fire should any hostile target reveal itself.
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The cultists step to either side of the doorway, preparing to attack whoever comes through.
Tik tiptoes forward, hoping to see one of the assailants without endangering himself. If he does so, he twitches his whiskered nose at her.
The rat man's lip curls in a mean-spirited smile, revealing sharp yellow teeth, as an almost palpable malaise of ill fortune settles over her.
His stomach flickering between ice and turmoil, Nat hefts his blade. "Everyone, follow us!" Claws ready, Bart pounces past Nat into the room, braced for their blows. The two cultists lash out at him with glaive and scythe, but they cannot pierce his otherwordly hide. As he moves past them to make room for Nat, they strike him again, and again he resists their blows thanks to Tikneser's curse. Nat follows Bart and strikes out himself- please hand be steady please please. But he misses the cultist.
Fidget scurries up to the northern room to get a better look at their new opponents. She draws her scimitar on the way. She can't help but notice all the cured meats on the wall. Lizard meat? I wonder if it tastes anything like turtle?
Ruarc also moves into the chamber, his shield held high as he skirts past Nat and the cultists.
Valeria draws back the string of her bow, arrow knocked and ready to fire should any hostile target reveal itself. Except none does.
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The cultists giggle with wicked delight as they find Nathaniel trapped between them. "For Deskari!" one shouts. "And Baphomet!" shouts the other as they both swing their weapons at the frightened summoner. The cultists spend too much time praising their demonic lords, instead of fighting well, and Nathaniel easily dodges the blow of the Baphomet cultist. The servant of Descari however gives him a nasty slice across his back with the scythe.
Ruarc steps to the side, and swings Justice at the glaive wielding cultist. The black steel of the blade slices cleanly through the cultist's armor and cuts her wide open. She screams as her guts begin to dribble out of the wound.
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Misses
Misses
One hit
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The last of the cultist's magic is flung away from Nathaniel's mind, clearing his thoughts and gaze. He turns, raises his own blade and lets out his own cry, a harsh Brevic growl in his voice. "For House Medvyed!"
Bart lets out no cry, just a threatening growl and a muttered "Go to your foul gods" as his claws and teeth come down.
Fidget cringes as the cultists start to tear into Nat. "Don't worry bud, we can fix it!" She then steps up to the remaining cultist. She clutches at her holy symbol and spins gracefully in a circle three times. The gnome looks slightly dizzy after her little dance, but her deity helps her blade strike true.
Tik is emboldened by seeing a mongrel fall and he cautiously sticks his nose into the room, stepping over the one fallen mongrel so that he can hex the remaining one.
His right eye bulges out, red and veiny, and the mongrel becomes subtly magnetic to the party's weapons. Tik then cackles, "Hee hee hee hee, ho ho ho ho, hahahahahaha!"
Bartimaeus, Nat and Fidget descend on the cultists in a flurry of blows that leaves them both dead on the floor of the cavern.
The worked stone walls of this large room hold a number of shelves, each of which display the preserved bodies of dire rats, bats, rock vipers, cave lizards, and other creatures that pose in eerie stillness. A pair of bedrolls have been laid out to the southeast.
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Nat wipes his brow and leans against the wall for a moment panting, eyes closed. Bart lowers his center of gravity and carefully licks clean his claws. For a cause, that easily? Huh. Standing straight, Nathaniel strips one of the cultists of their chain shirts and exchanges it for his own, putting the old in his backpack. Grabbing the glaive, he places the two unholy symbols on the ground away from everyone and, barring any objections, brings it down hard on the symbols one after another, destroying them. He looks up to the group, and holds out the weapon. "Anyone want?"
Fidget sheaths her scimitar and helps Nat inspect the bodies and gather items. She drops all the stuff on the floor, and throws up her hands in consternation at the big pile of junk they accumulated. She kicks the scrolls. "What ARE they?" she asks, scratching her little head. "AND we STILL don't know what THIS is!" she laments, holding out the wand they found earlier.
Valeria eyes her own scavenged glaive, and compares it to the one Nathaniel is holding. "That one is better than the one I've got, but someone else can use it if they want."
Tik takes a look over the various items they've found, turning them each over one by one in his little pink hands, sniffing from time to time.
"This potion is a light curative. The first scroll eludes me but the second will let us comprehend any language for a time. And this wand? Hmmmmm, let me see..."
It's a wand of longstrider with 10 charges left.
Valeria says to the others, "There is a door back there we have not yet checked. We should probably clear every chamber one by one to make sure nothing attacks us from our flank."
Valeria sees that Nathaniel is favoring his injury, and places a hand softly on his shoulder as he starts to move past.
"You're hurt, and badly. Tik says this potion has healing properties, perhaps you should drink it first before you lead the way?"
Tik nods to Valeria and hands the potion to Nat. "Good idea. Drink up!"
After Nat heals, Tik waits a bit back behind Nat and Bart, looking out for foes in need of misfortune.
In the south western pa rt of this room, stout stone chair s surround a block of larger stone that serves as a table. The table's top strewn with bone dice and cracked clay jugs. Stained canvas pillows rest on the chairs. A copper bowl filled with coals hangs from the ceiling, filling the room with warmth and an orange glow. A hole in the ground in the southeast corner of the room drops down. A rope ladder hangs down the shaft-the ladder looks rickety, but is quite safe to use.
This narrow hallway slopes downward steeply. The walls are stained with foul-smelling streaks of refuse. A mound of rotting garbage lies heaped at the far end of the hallway.
It leads down 20 feet or so before opening into another chamber.
Fidget peers down into the hole as Nat climbs down the rope ladder. "Say, anything interesting down there? Should we take a look?"
Tik will follow a bit behind Bart, sniffing to see if he smells anything worrying. If there's nothing of note over by the pile, he'll go take a sniff from the hole with the rope ladder.
Tik smells a....something down in the trash pile. It's nothing he's ever smelled before, but it must still be alive from the strength of the smell.
Down the hole smells like mongrelmen, though mostly faded with time at the moment.
The air in this cavern smells of damp and mold. Water glistens on
the walls, and collects in a stagnant pool along one wall. Two club wielding mongrels wait for Bart at the bottom of the ladder.
One of them manages to land a painful blow on the lionlike outsider.
Mongrels 16.5
Party 13
The two mongrels raise their clubs and try to batter Bartimeus again.
This time they both miss Bart.
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Nat raises a hand, ready to slam it onto the floor, dismissing Bart and spiriting him out of trouble.
No
No?
Their blows are weak, my claws are quick, my hide is firm
Shaking off the pain of the blotched bruise raised by the mongrelman's club, Bart lets out a furious roar of challenge. Nat races over to the hole, vaulting over Fidget, to peer down and shoot silver liquid to unseat Bart's enemies' footing. "Two mongrelmen, thirty feet drop, fifteen by twenty cave!" The lion lashes out.