"Stubborn fellow. Ulrich, that must have been traumatic for you. Let's find somewhere to rest and recover."
Ulrich continues laying on the floor in his own blood.
"He appears to be unconscious, Pahleg."
Araden draws his fist back from his final punch and takes hold of his axe in both hands. He steps from over Ulrich's form and kneels down to examine the items left behind from 'The Unstoppable''s body. "This is fine armor. It would protect well from many blows. But then, we're no knights of Osch, are we?" The armored man pauses noticeably, staying quite still for a few moments, then stands and leans on the wall. "Osch. Why do I know that name?"
After a moment he shakes his helmed head. "No matter. We should bring it with us for now, and decide whether to don or sell it when we rest. Those vials, as well, though I care not for their look."
Ulrich starts awake again, bracing for another blow.
"Bastard orc! I'll see that you....", he coughs, before taking in his surroundings.
"Auugh. You dealt with him, then?"
"I should have expected no less, with armor like that. Honorless knaves, the pair of them. Poison gases, ambushes...", Ulrich spits red on the floor before downing his estus flask.
He pauses after drinking it down, a bitter expression on his face.
"... ambushes... craven killers, but had I proven myself better? Hardly. And we both payed..."
Just like after the previous time shadow spirits invaded the party, a couple of silver coins rain from the maze ceiling. Four of these coins, this time.
Token of Valiance
A coin that shines bright silver light.Token recognizing that the owner has withstood the invasion of the wicked without aid of others. Acts as currency for some groups.
Part of the haul from an ancient vault that has now sunk to the depths. Simply carrying these tokens shows the depth of the holder's determination.
Ulrich pockets the coin after it rattles to the floor.
"We should find a safe spot to hole up... I'm more wound than man at this point."
He coughs again, but not as badly as before.
"I recall there was a dead-end in the Sanitarium, where we could push a desk against the door and collect ourselves."
"There, that should top everybody off!" The cheery cleric says with a grin.
"Onward, then."
"Yes, that sounds fair, Ulrich. Let us be off."
The tired party remembers the room where they found the Lower Sanatorium Key, and head there to rest. They finish navigating in the maze, find themselves at the old building, and enter it. The entrance hall with the stairs and chairs looks the same as last time, but the experienced roamers know to stay on guard: the brain-eating monstrosity that killed Kekkle and Ushio before is still here somewhere.
The party moves onto the cafeteria, and finds the skeleton bones where they had left them: scattered all over the place. Ominously, the tableware the skeletons used to pretend-dine are no longer scattered. Instead, they have been collected and arranged in the kitchen. This unsettles the party.
As they exit the kitchen and continue to the hallway with the cells, they stop when they see the one they feared: the mindflayer. It was walking towards the party, and with the light emitting from Elyna's flame and Pahleg's light, there was no way it wouldn't have noticed the party.
"Cterug'th emtg xplgpthm Erug-tg'df, zerug'll gtr-gtgh!" it swiggles in an eldritch language.
The aberration attacks.
---
Kekkle, Tannan, Araden,
then enemy,
then Pahleg, Ulrich
Round 1
Araden keeps in the front of the party, ready to act if a threat appears, and his readiness pays off. As the mindflayer begins to move forward, he raises his axe and sets for a moment, then rushes forward to bring the weapon across at the creature.
Ulrich likewise charges the mindflayer, if the path is clear.
But his poor depth perception causes him to miss the mark.
After having been of little use in the last fight, Kekkle is eager to get into a fight with the creature that had killed him earlier.
Tannan, not so thrilled to see the brain exploding thing, will very cautiously move forward then take a defensive posture.
Tannan 17+
Araden 17
enemy 7
Pahleg 3
Ulrich 0
Round 1
Kekkle casts shocking grasp and moves closer to the mindflayer to deliver it.
Tannan moves cautiously forward and takes a defensive posture.
Araden raises his axe and charges the mindflayer, but finds the distance to the enemy a bit too long, so instead he ends up just running to him.
The mindflayer takes a step back, and magic swirls around its head. Araden begins to feel increasingly painful headache,
which, though painful, luckily stops before Araden's head explodes.
Ulrich charges the mindflayer, and thanks to his training in medium armor, gets there in spite of the long distance. His poor depth perception causes him to miss, however.
Elyna is feeling a bit under the weather, apparently, and simply takes a few steps forward. Even the flames that surround her are fading a little.
Round 2
Running very low on resources, Pahleg fires a bolt of electricity at the aberration.
"Knock it on the ground! Then we can surround it and pummel it!"
Araden reels from the telepathic attack, his mind throbbing. He maintains his stance, though, and as Ulrich calls out, he moves forward and employs the ancient technique of the Cobra Kai Knights' Academy.
Pahleg fires a second bolt!
Kekkle continues to close distance to try and deliver his spell.
Tannan, despite not being the most hardy around, rushes forward to hopefully find a better angle. He tumbles to avoid any tricks the squid thing might have in mind.
Tannan 17+
Araden 17
enemy 7
Pahleg 3
Ulrich 0
Round 1
Pahleg approaches the mindflayer fires a bolt of electricity at the aberration, but misses.
Round 2
Kekkle closes the distance to the mindflayer.
Tannan rushes forward, dodging the squid thing's tenctacles, and stops when he's behind the enemy.
Araden moves forward and, using a foreign technique, aims at the mindflayer's feet to trip it. He succeeds, and the mindflayer falls prone.
The mindflayer is annoyed at Araden who tripped it, and starts using magic again.
Araden begins to feel the familiar-and-unpleasant feeling of his mind crumbling.
Araden is bleeding internally, but is still standing and his head is still intact. He's doing well against the mindflayer, so to speak.
The mindflayer then takes out a bottle.
Pahleg fires another bolt, and misses again.
Ulrich encourages his allies to kill the mindflayer, and hacks at it with his longsword. Even though it is prone, the attack does not hit for damage.
Round 3
Ulrich keeps trying to hack at the squirmy squid guy.
Araden lets out an audible groan this time, as his brain is further wracked by the creature. With a shout, he brings his great axe up and around, crashing down on the creature.
Tannan rushes in to a position opposite Ulrich and stabs at the prone mindflayer.
Tannan 17+
Araden 17
enemy 7
Pahleg 3
Ulrich 0
Round 3
Kekkle uses his scimitar to deliver the electric spell, dealing noticeable damage to the lying mindflayer.
Tannan likewise gangs up on the prone enemy, stabbing it ruthlessly with a dagger.
Araden brings his great axe up and around, accompanied with a shout, crashing down on the squid creature. The mindflayer goes unconscious.
Ulrich finishes it off with one last stab to the heart. (Ulrich has some knowledge in aberrant anatomies; a mindflayer's heart is close to their neck)
Combat over.
Obtained 120 souls.
Eyeing the corpse of the mindflayer, one cannot help but wonder if its expensive-looking outfit would be worth anything. The mindflayer was grasping a bottle that holds some kind of magical oil.
Illithid Robe
Dark purple robes, almost unfit for a humanoid. Slimy, but otherwise in pristine condition.Outfit. Illithid robe provides a +2 circumstance bonus on Escape Artist checks. Worth 4 souls.
It is a fortunately rare occasion, for a surface dweller, to come face to face with mindflayers. They have studied occult things in their underground cities: their reasons to surface relate to these pursuits.
Oil
An ounce of oily liquid in a jar.Use detect magic spell and Spellcraft skill to determine the effects and qualities of this item. Use Appraise skill to determine the value of this item.
Potions and oils are often labeled for ease of use. This one has none. If probabilities are anything to go by, this is one of Felisse's products.
Interesting, the mindflayer also had a ribbon and 2 scrolls that Kekkle can read using read magic.
Blindfold of the Unseen World
A black, long ribbon to be used as a blindfold. Put it on to begin to see lights of new wavelenghts.Aura goggles (Occult Adventures). Worth 2 souls.
As Graughop the Seer put it, "I don't know who He is or what He is after, but the Occult is first and foremost a teacher."
Scroll of Hypercognition
A heavy sheet of paper, used to hold magical spells in written form.Scroll of hypercognition (Occult Adventures) CL 4. Worth 20 souls.
Magic never died, and never will. The art of magic may change, but is never lost.
Scroll of Mindlink
A heavy sheet of paper, used to hold magical spells in written form.Scroll of mindlink (Occult Adventures) CL 1. Worth 3 souls.
Magic never died, and never will. The art of magic may change, but is never lost.
Ulrich catches his breath for a second, motioning into the office.
"Let's get a barricade up in here. We need some rest. Who wants that stuff? It's wasted on me, I'm sure."
Kekkle starts collecting and examining the piles of gear:
"Most of these are situationally useful at best. The scrolls contain spells that aid with cognition and quickly exchanging information, respectively. The robes are...unpleasant. I'd rather not wear them, though they may be useful in their own right. The goggles, on the other hand, are used to aid with aura reading. A parlor trick, though useful, that only myself or Araden could use."
Oil of Darkness
An ounce of oily liquid in a jar.Oil of darkness. CL 3rd. Worth 30 souls.
Potions and oils are often labeled for ease of use. This one has none. If probabilities are anything to go by, this is one of Felisse's products.
"I mislike the prospect of wrapping such a cloth about mine eyes, particularly with my preference for a helm." Araden reaches up and taps the side of said helm, and shrugs. "Perhaps you should keep the items, friend Kekkle. I have a connection to such things, it seems, but I find more comfort in armor and axe than strange auras."
Ulrich pushes the table up to the door, wedging it into the door frame so it will take time for attackers to dislodge. He then throws himself into a corner with a clatter of arms and armor.
"It seems we can empower one of us with the souls we've collected...", he says, eye half-lidded and bleary with fatigue from the day's exertions and the poison vapors and such.
Ulrich barricades the door with the table. There are windows in the room, which might also need barricading. Given that there is a limited supply of wood available in the form of chairs and shelves, the party may need to get creative.
Elyna has been quiet for a while, and is looking worse by the minute.
You also know the disease isn't infectious.
Ulrich starts blocking up the office as best he can.
Pahleg gives a concerned look at Elyna. "Elyna, lie down a moment. I want to look at that." Pahleg listens to her chest and feels her forehead, frowning. "That's not good, you likely caught something from all that poison. The good news is that it's not contagious, but it will take some time to get rid of it. Stay hydrated, I'm going to see what supplied I can scavenge." Pahleg goes around the party, gathering what supplies he can.
Araden stands by with his axe in hand--Ulrich seems to be capable of barricading the windows, and Pahleg has Elyna well in hand. Araden contents himself with standing guard, ready to attack any threats that make themselves apparent.
Ulrich starts fortifying the windows using what he can. He works hard and gets some results done. It remains to be seen how effective it ends up being, maybe Ulrich did a good job.
Meanwhile Pahleg gives a medical examination to Elyna.
"Let's set a watch rotation- Araden, then myself, then Tannan, followed by Kekkle and Pahleg. Elyna should rest. Recovering spells will be of utmost importance if we are going to challenge the wall of fog in this asylum. We also have enough souls to empower one of us further."
The party members sans Araden make themselves comfortable in the room and fall asleep. Araden keeps watch for the first one-fifth of the resting time (it is hard to keep track of time; is it nightfall now or not?).
Halfway through the resting time, a sound startles Tannan on his shift. Understandably, his focus had faltered for a moment, and in that moment something had busted the fortifications on the windows.
Now, something just quietly jumped in from one of the windows. A tall skeleton warrior with thicker bones, armored with tattered cloak and breastplate. It holds a dagger with serrated edges. Its empty eye sockets, glowing with a green flame, fixate on Tannan.
The others have not heard anything in their sleep.
---
Enemy B,
then Kekkle
then enemy A,
then the rest.
Surprise Round
Something is battering at the door from outside. The door and its table fortification survived the battering quite well, keeping the enemy out. The rest of the party wakes up
The skeletal killer notices the others woke up, and attacks the nearest living thing: ( ) Araden.
Araden gets a dagger slash on his arm.
Round 1