The fey woman begins to sway rhythmically. You feel yourself becoming enthralled and captivated by her seductive dance.
A slight blush heats her cheeks as Larisa watches the fey woman, distracting her.
Seres shakes his head and blinks hard, fighting against the fey's magic. He draws and fires Skybolt. "I have no cold iron arrows," he laments.
;
"Um, she's a fey, what are you doing Larisa? Damn it all."
Connor drops his sword and draws his lance, moving toward the fey woman with Whitetalon, and roaring out a challenge.
Ezekial dives in and slashes the fey woman from the neck to the groin with his kukri - she screams and spurts blood as she continues to undulate.
Larisa, Seres and Veronica stand dazed and transfixed by the grisly scene of the blood covered fey dance.
Connor then charges in and drives his lance through the fey's head and kills her instantly - releasing the others from their thrall.
The vine plant shudders and roots suddenly fly up from the loam on the floor and stairs and begin wrapping around everyone's legs .
The huge mushroom covered plant whips two long vines at Whitetalon and then manages to lock its toothy maw on the griffin .
The quickling reappears and attempts to backstab Veronica unsuccessfully before dashing away down the stairs.
; 1=C, 2=WT
Seres mutters a curse when the quickling reappears. He flies around the room, arrow at the ready for its inevitable return.
;
The additional damage from Seres will still kill the fey. Same result.
Whew!
Veronica suddenly shakes her head to clear it and pivots to fire two arrows at the mushroom-covered plant, hoping that if the team can break it up, Whitetalon can escape.
Even as her arrows fly wide, Moondancer charges in, snapping and tearing at the plant's fronds.
... presumably also to no avail.
Larisa shakes her head,the blush fading from her cheeks as she blinks in a daze. It only takes a heartbeat for the unfolding battle to register to her senses before a frustrated growl slips from her lips and she draws aim on the vine plant, unloading a stream of arrows. Energy crackles around her arrows as she imbues them with bane, maintaining her balance as she kicks off the vines.
; success!
Connor moves Whitetalon out of the way of the gaping maw.
; success!
; success!
Connor and Whitetalon move with skill through the flailing vines and mushrooms and rage away at the northern plant. Given reach issues, Connor drops his lance and pulls out his battleaxe
;
;
;
;
Connor and Whitetalon manage to sidestep the flailing vines and then wound the plant with an axe strike and bite.
Larisa fires and lands two of her three arrows on the mushroom covered tendriculos.
Seres readies a strike for the quickling, but the fey does not reappear this round.
Veronica and Moondancer attack the tendriculos, but are unable to penetrate its fibrous hide.
Ezekial dives back in and slashes at the tendriculos, but also is unable to hit.
The roots in the room continue to clutch at everyone in the room or on the stairs .
The mushroom covered tendriculos changes targets and whips two long vines at Moondancer and manages to lock its toothy maw on the dire wolf .
The assassin vine also lashes out at Moondancer and manages to lock onto the hapless wolf .
; 1=C, 2=WT, 3=MD
; 1=C, 2=WT, 3=MD
[spoiler=dice]
[spoiler=dice]
The vines creep up and grab Connor's legs in the stirrup, messing with his concentration.
Whitetalon continues his relentless tearing in to the plant while Connor hacks away, pulling as best as he can against the constricting vines.
; ;
;
;
;
Veronica somehow manages to avoid being clutched by the vines.
Moondancer likewise refuses to succumb to the paralytic poison of the tendriculous.
The wolf snarls and snaps at the assassin vine that holds it captive!
Veronica, meanwhile, stands her ground and fires again and again at the tendriculous.
Larisa continues to kick off the encroaching vines and keeps up the pressure on the mushroom creature.
Seres continues to hold for the quickling.
Connor is ensnared by the grasping roots, but the tenacious Whitetalon continues to thrash the tendriculous with hoof and bite until the mushroom covered plant collapses to the ground.
Seeing Whitetalon's victory over the tendriculous, Larisa changes targets and hits the quivering assassin vine with the first of her three shots.
Seres holds again, waiting for the quickling.
Veronica and Moondancer both nimbly dodge the ensnaring roots. Veronica takes aim at the assassin vine grappling her dire wolf - her first shot misses but the second shot fires true and pierces through the core of the plant. The assassin vine clumps and begins to wither. The roon's grasping roots suddenly lose their animation.
With both monstrous plants slain, Ezekial holds his action.
The quickling reappears behind Veronica, but is immediately shot by the watchful Seres - the arrow lodges heavily in the fey's shoulder. The fey smiles maniacally and drives its oversized needle into Veronica's calf . The fey then dashes back down the stairs at an inhuman speed.
The room falls silent around you.
; 1=L, 2=V
Seres mutters a curse and flies down to examine the body of the fey queen.
Veronica winces and holds her fire, waiting for the quickling to show up again.
Connor has Whitetalon hold for the reappearance of the quickling and tells him to grapple him if it returns. Whitetalon stands in the stairwell.
Connor aids Seres in searching.
The quickling does not reappear.
Seres and Connor search the area and discover a life-sized alabaster statue of a nude, dancing elven woman (worth 900 gp, but weighing almost 500 pounds), a masterwork harp, a small, carved jade statuette of a coiling snake (worth 75 gp), and an ancient filigreed elven water clock (worth 1,000 gp, but weighing 200 pounds). A bed is covered with a snow-white bearskin coverlet (worth 50 gp). A finely carved, wooden wardrobe beside the bed holds two royal outfits (worth 200 gp each), three courtier’s outfits (worth 30 gp each), and several other tasteful, once-expensive articles of clothing (heavily stained with blood and now worthless). A small wooden coffer atop a rosewood table contains 3 vials of exotic perfume (worth 100 gp each), a gem-studded tiara (worth 350 gp), and a elixir. A nearby chest holds 431 sp and 370 gp in leather sacks.
Larisa rolls up her sleeves as the party loots, calling on Erastile to augment her senses.
With her magic prepared she sets about hunting down the Quickling should it remain nearby.
Veronica gathers the team around to provide them with a boost of Erastil's grace.
Larisa is able to follow the quickling's tracks down the stairwell and out into the courtyard. There, she sees the invisible fey creeping towards the northeast tower. The quickling pauses when it hears Larisa emerge and turns to the inquisitor with a wicked smile on its face.
Seres will join Larisa in hunting the evil fey, bow and spell at the ready.
The invisible quickling charges Larisa before she can react. The fey attempts to drive its needle into the inquisitor's leg, but the padding of her armor protects her. The quickling, now visible, dashes away across the courtyard - towards the ruined gates.
"Time to die, unseelie wretch."
;
Ezekial is still in the tower - he will need to move down into the courtyard.
Veronica likewise moves down to try to get to a place where she can help hunt down the quickling.
Larisa calmy draws her bow nocking cold iron arrows, firing on the fleeing form of the quickling, studying it's form.
Both shots from Seres and Larisa hit the quickling before he can make it to the gate - killing the fey.
Seres nods grimly and checks the body, making sure the tricky quickling isn't playing dead.
Seres finds on the slain quickling four doses of blue whinnis poison and a purse containing 119 gp, 131 sp, 27 cp, and a dozen different sparkling gemstones worth 1,800 gp in all.
You have effectively cleared the ruined keep. You are now ready to proceed through the Valley of the Dead to Vordakai's tomb, where you hope to find the fate of Vanhold's stricken population.
Before we move on, Seres will help the others make a thorough sweep of the keep, collecting valuables and any further clues as to who or what the fey queen was.
"Saddle up and move out!"
Connor and Whitetalon take to the air but staying close to the party.
"Seems a shame to waste the meat." Larisa says to herself as mounts up, looking over at the dead mastodon.
"True, but it would take days and a team to butcher the entire thing," says Veronica as she rises from attending to her pack to make sure they'll survive their injuries. "Going to leave quite a stink and attract a lot of predators."
Seres finds no further information at the keep.
After resting and recovering you begin the trek through the Valley of the Dead to the Tomb of Vordakai. After several hours of travel through thick forest you come to a river crossing. To the north, a jagged limestone cliff hems in the scene; a mighty waterfall rushes over the edge into a wide pool of black, frothing water. In the center of the black pool stands a massive, hundred-foot-tall limestone pillar of weathered stone—the last, lonely sentinel marking where the cliff’s edge once stood in an age long past. At various points on the island’s top, plumes of black smoke waft up into the sky.
"Is this a significant landmark?" Seres asks aloud.