Hearing the sound of fighting coming from within the pit, Valeria darts over and peers inside, looking for a target.
__________
Tikneser scurries over to the lip of the hole to get a look down at the Mongrels. When he spots one of the ones assailing Bartimeus, Tik twitches his nose at him.
Tik's lip curls with schadenfreude as he sees a cloud of misfortune cling to the flithy mongrel.
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"Now what's that noise? Wait for me, I'm coming!" Fidget calls down into the hole. She starts to climb down the rope, huffing and puffing on her way down.
The two mongrels raise their clubs and try to batter Bartimeus again. This time they both miss Bart.
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. Nathaniel intends to cast a spell, but can't see from above. So he starts climbing down the ladder instead. "Two mongrelmen, thirty feet drop, fifteen by twenty cave!" Bartimeus reports, he then steps out of the way and attacks the mongrels. Only one of his claws finds flesh, but it tears several huge gashes in the southern mongrel.
Hearing the sound of fighting coming from within the pit, Valeria darts over and peers inside, looking for a target.
Tik scurries into the room and over towards the tunnel down.
"Now what's that noise? Wait for me, I'm coming!" Fidget calls down into the hole. She starts to climb down the rope, huffing and puffing on her way down.
Ruarc follows the others onto the ladder.
================================
The mongrels decide to target Nat, since he's gripping the ladder. The two both swing their clubs at the summoner. Both blungeons crack painfully against Nat's legs as he struggles not to fall.
__________________________________________
Both hits
Fidget follows the summoner down into the chamber, landing with a light *plop* on the floor behind him. "Ick! Stinky down here!" She draws her scimitar, sneering at their opponents. "Prepare to die, funny men!"
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His breath explodes out of him as the two clubs slam into his gut; staggering back, Nat mutters a painful syllable and makes a gesture, summoning grease beneath their feet. Bart protectively lashes out at them again. "MY CLAWS, MY TEETH WILL CLAIM YOUR HIDES, MONGRELS!" erupts the usually quietly-spoken spirit.
Tik grimaces before starting to climb down. "I don't like climbing. I don't like climbing. I don't..." he mutters.
He twitches his nose at one of the mongrels, but he resists the malaise of misfortune that Tik attempts to lay on him.
__________________
The mongrels decide to target Nat, since he's gripping the ladder. The two both swing their clubs at the summoner. Both blungeons crack painfully against Nat's legs as he struggles not to fall.
Nat's breath explodes out of him as the two clubs slam into his gut. He hops down off the ladder and out of the mongrel's reach, Nat mutters a painful syllable and makes a gesture, summoning grease beneath their feet. Bart protectively lashes out at them again. "MY CLAWS, MY TEETH WILL CLAIM YOUR HIDES, MONGRELS!" erupts the usually quietly-spoken spirit. The mongrels remain standing, but only long enough to Bart to cut them both down.
Fidget follows the summoner down into the chamber, landing with a light *plop* on the floor behind him. "Ick! Stinky down here!" She draws her scimitar, sneering at their opponents. "Prepare to die, funny men!"
Tik grimaces before starting to climb down. "I don't like climbing. I don't like climbing. I don't..." he mutters.
Valeria and Ruarc quickly follow suit, joining the others in the lower chamber.
================================
The door to the next chamber opens and two more mongrel men come out, wielding clubs. "Die intruders!" one buzzes in its insectoid voice.
____________________________________
Tik's neck whips around as more mongrelmen rush into the room. He twitches his nose, willing an inky cloud of misfortune upon the attacker in front.
His lip curls up and he chuckles with spite as the malaise successfully clings to him.
________________
Valeria steps up beside the Bart and lets a pair of arrows fly, both of which sink into the lead monstrosity.
__________
Fidget wonders just how many more mongrelmen are hiding in the next chamber. As her mind begins to wander, she peers up above her head, suddenly feeling totally strange and out of place. I'm so short! And so slow! I'm a snail! Ruarc, still terrifying for the little gnome to behold, seems to loom even larger and scarier than normal. Valeria and Nat look like huge statues, their skin a strange color in the low light of the caverns. A cave snail! Realization dawns on her. Maybe I just don't like caves! They're too big!
Fidget snaps out of her reverie and focuses on helping her big scary companions. She grasps her holy symbol and closes her eyes, reciting a prayer to ask for a blessing from her goddess. After her spell is complete, she follows Valeria toward the mongrelmen.
The door to the next chamber opens and two more mongrel men come out, wielding clubs. "Die intruders!" one buzzes in its insectoid voice.
Tik's neck whips around as more mongrelmen rush into the room. He twitches his nose, willing an inky cloud of misfortune upon the attacker in front.
His lip curls up and he chuckles with spite as the malaise successfully clings to him.
Valeria steps up beside the Bart into the shallow puddle and lets a pair of arrows fly, both of which sink into the lead monstrosity.
Fidget wonders just how many more mongrelmen are hiding in the next chamber. As her mind begins to wander, she peers up above her head, suddenly feeling totally strange and out of place. I'm so short! And so slow! I'm a snail! Ruarc, still terrifying for the little gnome to behold, seems to loom even larger and scarier than normal. Valeria and Nat look like huge statues, their skin a strange color in the low light of the caverns. A cave snail! Realization dawns on her. Maybe I just don't like caves! They're too big!
Fidget snaps out of her reverie and focuses on helping her big scary companions. She grasps her holy symbol and closes her eyes, reciting a prayer to ask for a blessing from her goddess. After her spell is complete, she follows Valeria toward the mongrelmen.
Stepping carefully across the silver mess, Bart roars another challenge and lashes out with his teeth for one of the new mongrelman, giving in to the urges of his mortal flesh for a time. The lion man bites the wounded mongrel's throat out, and it falls to the floor. Nat pulls out one of the healing potions and readies to drink it.
Ruarc finishes climbing down the ladder. Then he looks at Nat, "Wanna get rid of that stuff on the floor?"
================================
"F##%!" the remaining mongrelman says, looking at the slaughtered corpses of mongrels who were his friends and coworkers but moments before. He shakes his scaly head and retreats into the room behind him.
_____________________________________
Valeria moves up and around the next barricade, arrow knocked and ready to fly should danger present itself again.
__________
Tiknesr's tail twitches as the unfamiliar sensation of being Blessed. Turning to Fidget he says "Hmmmm, that's never happened to me before! Thanks, dearie. Almost makes me want to pull out a mighty sword like Nat over there."
Watching the mongrel retreat, he grins. "Well, I suppose it's time to finish this, eh? I'll be right behind you big, sturdy types to try to soften what's left of them up."
___________
Fidget shakes off her uneasy feelings at Tik's kind words and bravely follows Big Lion into the next room. "You can't hide in THE CAVE!" she shouts at the mongrelman.
"F&++!" the remaining mongrelman says, looking at the slaughtered corpses of mongrels who were his friends and coworkers but moments before. He shakes his scaly head and retreats into the room behind him.
Valeria moves up and around the next barricade, arrow knocked and ready to fly should danger present itself again.
Tiknesr's tail twitches as the unfamiliar sensation of being Blessed. Turning to Fidget he says "Hmmmm, that's never happened to me before! Thanks, dearie. Almost makes me want to pull out a mighty sword like Nat over there."
Watching the mongrel retreat, he grins. "Well, I suppose it's time to finish this, eh? I'll be right behind you big, sturdy types to try to soften what's left of them up."
Nat hesitates, potion at his lips, and nods. Turning and clutching his side with a grimace, he waves a hand as the pool drains away and vanishes. Bart tosses his mane back and points at Ruarc. "Protect him."
Moving forward, he pads into the next room, fangs bared. Three copper bowls filled with glowing coals hang from the ceiling of this long, natural cavern. The braziers fill the chamber with warmth
and soft orange light. In the center of the chamber stands a block of stone that serves as a table, lined with wooden chairs. An enormous bloodstain , maybe a week old, darkens the stone's surface. There is a darkhaired human woman in armor, wielding a glaive standing with the final mongrel. Bart approaches them and bites the mongrel, killing it.
Fidget shakes off her uneasy feelings at Tik's kind words and bravely follows Big Lion into the next room. "We'll get them!"
Ruarc and Tikneser follow Bart into the chamber.
================================
______________________________________________
Party 13
Hosilla 5
Valeria steps into the room, and takes aim at the woman with the glaive in the corner. However, the bloodstained stone slab distracts her attention, bringing back the memory of her nightmare and causes her stomach to twist itself into a knot. The loss of focus causes her arrow to fly wildly to the right, ricocheting off the wall. The arrow clatters to the floor, intact.
__________
Seeing the suspicious looking woman with the Glaive, TIk takes a cautious step toward her and twitches his noise, sending a cloying cloud of ill fortune to cling to her.
"Now that's more like it, eh? Heeheeheehee hahahaha ho ho ho ho ho!" He cackles with an unhealthy glee.
____________________
"grrrrrRRRR!" Fidget growls in frustration, sounding somewhat similar to a lion cub. She scurries along but still can't reach her enemy. "I'm coming for you, lady!" she squeaks.
"HAHAHahahahaha! Baphomet take your soul, crusader!" is the woman's harsh reply.
Valeria steps into the room, and takes aim at the woman with the glaive in the corner. However, the bloodstained stone slab distracts her attention, bringing back the memory of her nightmare and causes her stomach to twist itself into a knot. The loss of focus causes her arrow to fly wildly to the right, ricocheting off the wall. The arrow clatters to the floor, intact.
Seeing the suspicious looking woman with the Glaive, TIk takes a cautious step toward her and twitches his noise, sending a cloying cloud of ill fortune to cling to her. "Now that's more like it, eh? Heeheeheehee hahahaha ho ho ho ho ho!" He cackles with an unhealthy glee.
"grrrrrRRRR!" Fidget growls in frustration, sounding somewhat similar to a lion cub. She scurries along but still can't reach her enemy. "I'm coming for you, lady!" she squeaks.
Nat quaffs the potion and steps towards the next room.
Lady?
Lady. Human woman. Glaive.
Ask.
No, claw, bite eat-
ASK, SPIRIT.
Bart shakes his head and glares at the woman. "One chance. Surrender."
"HAHAHahahahaha! Baphomet take your soul, crusaders!" is the woman's harsh reply.
Bart bites her arm. She screams in pain as her humerus shatters, and much of the muscles is torn from her limb by the lion-spirit's shredding teeth. Blood begins to spurt furiously from the mangled limb.
Ruarc runs up, cornering the woman.
She steps away from Bart and swings her polearm at him with a wild screech! She deals the lion man a mighty blow, and calls out to the Crusaders, "I am the voice of Baphomet, you cannot defeat me!" Her wounds begin to slowly heal themselves after she issues her judgement.
================================
________________________________________
Valeria tries to calm herself and aid her new friends, firing two more shots at the demon worshiper. However, the anxiety knotted up in her abdomen and the lack of a clear shot combined takes their toll, and her arrows shatter against the stone wall several inches above the woman's head.
__________
"Rrrrrrrrarrrr!" Fidget growls again, this time triumphantly as her scimitar strikes the woman's thigh. "Crusaders RULE!"
With the cultist already under a malaise of ill fortune, Tik tries to hamper her further, singsonging "Eye of dog and llama's tit / Now it's hard for you to hit!"
He then titters vindictively to himself.
___________________
Valeria tries to calm herself and aid her new friends, firing two more shots at the demon worshiper. However, the anxiety knotted up in her abdomen and the lack of a clear shot combined takes their toll, and her arrows shatter against the stone wall several inches above the woman's head.
"Rrrrrrrrarrrr!" Fidget growls again, this time triumphantly as her scimitar strikes the woman's thigh. "Crusaders RULE!"
Nat staggers into the room as Bart gives in to the instincts of his earthly shell and lashes out at the woman. Her armor protects her from the Lion.
With the cultist already under a malaise of ill fortune, Tik tries to hamper her further, singsonging "Eye of dog and llama's tit / Now it's hard for you to hit!" He then titters vindictively to himself.
Though the woman is tottering from blood loss, she resists the witch's curse. Ruarc slices out at her with Justice, crying, "Die fiend lover!"
She deflects his powerful attack with her glaive, and stabs at Bart again.
Tikneser's curses whirl around her weapon in a vile malaise, and prevent her swing from connecting with Bart.
================================
____________________________________________________________
Miss
Ruarc swings at the woman again with his long black blade. "I've had about enough of your filth infesting our city! Die!" he shouts at her. She can't have much fight left in her, she's leaking like a sieve, he thinks as [i]Justice whistles through the air. The sword clangs off the woman's armor again, doing her no harm.
________________________________
Valeria fires another shot quickly, this one again striking the wall. The errant arrow clatters to the floor intact. Valeria knocks another arrow and draws her bowstring back, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. She lets it fly, and this time the arrow flies true, whistling past Ruarc's ear and driving deep into the cultist's shoulder.
__________
Valeria's arrow fells the cleric, killing her.
Fidget whoops childishly as their enemy falls. "Take that!" she shouts. She peeks inside the cleric's bag and pockets, looking for goodies.
The woman has two potions, a wand, two vials of alchemist's fire, a tangle foot bag, a chain shirt, a mwk glaive, a vial of antitoxin, a bejeweled book of prayers devoted to Baphomet worth 50 gp, a lockbox key, 32 gp, and a paper which reads: note
After the fight, Valeria falls to her hands and knees, shaking all over like a beaten dog. She can't seem to take her eyes off of the stone table as she shakes in fear, much like she had just days previous.
Tik starts rummaging through the fallen cultist's belongings when Valeria has another fit. He looks nervously for Halea'a, his scorpion, worried that it had once again terrorized her...but his familiar is still hidden up his sleeve.
He glances anxiously at her and then over at his companions, hoping someone will do something.
"Psssst. Fidget. Can you do something about her?"
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Bart lowers his claws, panting steam. He stares for a moment at the woman as Nat slaps a palm onto the floor and dismisses him back into the Outer Planes.
Still limping a little from his last wound, Nat moves up behind the shaking woman and tries to clasp her shoulder. "Valeria." He grips her tighter. "Valeria."
Fidget nods at Tik and waddles up to Valeria, crouching down next to the fitful woman. "Are you alright, hon?" she asks, her big eyes brimming with sympathy. Fidget follows Valeria's gaze to the stone table. "Is there something about that table?" she squeaks soothingly.