Stepping to the side to have a clear line of fire, Carina's mind races when she sees the big freaking boar. She analyzes the protective buffs on the thing.
"Hmm. Shield of Faith. Expeditious Retreat. Dire boar has improved armour and speed. Fleeing combat now inadvisable. Combination of magic & hide will make inflicting damage difficult."
She fires her crossbow over Tanith's & Cuetzpalli's shoulders.
The bolt bounces off the magical protections of the dire boar's shield of faith.
"As demonstrated." She quips as she reloads her crossbow.
Farrukh slashes at the creature with his sword.
"Die!"
Farrukh slashes into the boar's hide, but it seems to barely notice the trail of blood dripping down its side.
Carina twirls a bomb in her fingers. The boar's squealing was beginning to get to her.
"More ordinance required! Should work!" She quips. Apparently, her purple potion drastically affects her speech patterns.
She lobs the bomb over Cuetzpalli's head, aiming for the boar's hindquarters.
Round 9:
Round 10:
Round 11:
Hit?
Round 12:
Cuetzpalli's swing misses.
The boar emits an almost painfully high-pitched scream and tries to barrel past Cuetzpalli.
Cuetzpalli leaps out of the way, letting the boar rush past him.
The boar runs south, apparently wanting to gain some distance.
Ignoring the vicious slashes inflicted by Farrukh and Cuetzpalli, the boar breaks out of his confinement and keeps running. Tanith is able to get out a hit against it as it passes, but it keeps going until it's in the clear. It turns, dozens of old scars reopened and bleeding heavily, eyes narrowed to slits.
Meanwhile, the door slams shut and locks.
Tanith is the first to advance, but his poleaxe succeeds in nothing but nearly getting stuck in the boar's tough hide.
Astraden picks up her wand and puts it safely in her belt, then steps back to her previous position.
Farrukh advances, but his scimitar fares little better.
Carina moves for a better position and throws her bomb. The boar shrieks as its spilled blood literally starts to boil.
Cuetzpalli attacks, proving likewise ineffective.
Carina plucks another bomb and throws it at the beast.
"Explosives proving effective!" She quips again before running behind Tanith.
Smiling, Robin lets an arrow fly.
He lowers his bow and the smile on his face. "Alright then..." He grunts, already preparing another arrow.
Robin's arrow misses the wild beast. Though it should be long dead, it fights on.
Snarling, the boar lunges at Farrukh, badly goring the slayer.
Carina lands another solid hit on the boar's hindquarter, burning down to the bone. It shudders. For a moment, it seems like even this won't be enough. The boar staggers...but, finally, collapses.
Tanith whoops and cheers as the massive beast crumbles, grinning like a fool at Carina. He grows a little more somber at the sight of Farrukh’s wound but claps the ranger on the shoulder all the same. ”You took that blow like a champ!”
Carina smirks as the boar finally collapses and dies.
It fades once she takes stock of the situation more fully. "Beast likely sent out as preventative measure. Perhaps gave cultists enough time to muster defence." Her words are fast and lacking infinitives.
She looks between Astraden, Farrukh & Robin before taking stock of what she has left. "Serious injuries sustained by half of party. Low on bombs & extracts. Recommend we find a guard room or similar post to barricade and regain strength."
"Well, they have a lock on that door, so they probably think it's safe enough. They don't have Farrukh, though." She squints over at Farrukh's wound. "Hey, you're still up to a bit of lockpicking, right?"
Astraden reloads her crossbow, glancing at the skeleton up above the pool, and steps out of the elevator.
Tanith nods in agreement with the ladies assessments and moves to explore the southern room.
Farrukh looks down.
"Yeah...still got both my hands, should be all right in the lockpicking department." he says laboriously.
Tanith laughs warmly and puts a supportive hand on Farrukh’s shoulder.
”Well I don’t imagine the Brawler would be pleased if I let a strong ally bleed to death. Kord, mend this man’s wounds!”
While Tanith is investigating the room, Carina digs out her alchemy kit and starts mixing up a cure light wounds extract.
"Extract should accelerate healing process. Anyone badly wounded, take it." She holds up the finished potion when she's done.
Astraden fires at the skeleton, trying to bring it down before it attacks any of her companions.
"Thanks Tanith. That feels slightly less excruciating!" he beams.
Following him into the south room, carefully, he scans around for traps and other hidden things.
Astraden's bolt smashes into the skeleton, destroying it instantly.
The contents of the pool are dark and viscous, and exude an aura of uncomfortable cold.
Examining the area around the pool, Farrukh finds blood stains, scratches from metal equipment, and scattered ashes. Up on the platform, amid scattered bones and scrap metal from the destroyed skeleton, he finds a small wicker basket filled with what looks like an offering. It contains 100 gold coins and a silver idol. The idol is the head of some strange, monstrous humanoid easily recognized as the avatar of the god of senseless slaughter, Erythnul.
Carina hands her healing extract off to Farrukh as he returns from his investigations. She takes a look at the silver idol he retrieved.
"Hmm. Idol to Erythnul. Uncertain of worth."
Tanith scoops up the valuables and studies the dark pool.
"What's this stuff? Looks like some kind of oil."
Astraden runs back to check on the Hextor worshipper. On her way back, she checks for the bolt that glanced off the boar's spells.
She then comes over and examines the idol.
Lastly, the battered cleric whispers a spell and examines the pool.
Cuetzpalli looks around. "I don't like this place. I don't understand this place. I will wait for you to tell me what to do, and make sure that anything else that comes in here will get smashed."
Astraden is unsure whether the worshiper is alive. The pool radiates a Strong aura of magic.
Astraden takes the woman's (also the western tiefling's) weapons and steps back. She holds Olidammara's symbol in a flat, upturned palm. "Let your laughter course in us."
"By the way, that pool's got some strong-ass magic around it. It's probably generating the cold."
The cultist's eyes open as the healing of Olidammara takes effect. Her eyes widen as she sees the strangers surrounding her. She says nothing.
Carina turns to the downed cultist, an apologetic look in her eye. She takes a couple of breaths, trying to slow her speech down through her mutagen's effects.
"Sorry about lighting you on fire like that. I didn't want to do that, but I didn't have much of a choice."
She kneels before the cultist, putting her crossbow back at her side. "You strike me as being an intelligent woman. This, to me, begs a question: why would a smart, hard-working woman like you be down here? What could you hope to gain from this?" Her tail starts *swishing* about again.
"Rest assured that if you feel inclined to enlighten us, you stand a good chance of getting out of this mess."
Astraden nods. "If you stop attacking us we have no reason to harm you."
Carina turns to the downed cultist, an apologetic look in her eye. She takes a couple of breaths, trying to slow her speech down through her mutagen's effects.
"Sorry about lighting you on fire like that. I didn't want to do that, but I didn't have much of a choice."
The woman remains silent.
She kneels before the cultist, putting her crossbow back at her side. "You strike me as being an intelligent woman. This, to me, begs a question: why would a smart, hard-working woman like you be down here? What could you hope to gain from this?" Her tail starts *swishing* about again.
"Rest assured that if you feel inclined to enlighten us, you stand a good chance of getting out of this mess."
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+10
After a moment, Ainula speaks. Her voice is hoarse. "Diamond Lake is a mess. A hive for vermin. Hextor brings order. Kill me, spawn of Hades, and send my soul to its purpose. I will not betray my brothers and sisters."
One potion marked as speedy retreat.
A composite longbow +2 with 20 arrows.
A masterwork greataxe.
A key.
A chain shirt.
27 gp.