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The spear twists in Aramaya's hands, but with an exertion of monk-like will, she resists the warping spell. However she is distracted but the effort and Grog clocks her heavily over the head. She shakes for a moment but quickly regains her pose, offering the half orc a nod of acknowledgement at the solid blow. It is only then that he realises she has in turn bashed him with her spear while he closed.
Meredith closes, but collects a solid blow as she does so. She is unable to get a firm grip on the agile monk.
Aramaya is starting to look quite sore now
Status, Trial #6, bold to post ; inspire courage is active.
Garn
Aramaya 37 NL; (2) 3AOO used;
Meran 31NL
Sajan
Grog 36NL
Deluge 15NL damage
Meredith 2NL
Sajan continues the offensive!
Flurry of Misses!
for nonlethal damage.
for nonlethal damage.
for nonlethal damage and Fort Save DC 13 or STUNNED for 1 round.
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A storm cloud gathers overhead, but the winds quickly blow it away before it can do more than damped the battle.
Sajan launches another flurry, with one of the blows finally connecting with the agile woman.
Despite the good positioning of the blow, her conditioning sees her through the attack.
Meran makes a good attack, but the monk twists away at the last second.
Status, Trial #6, bold to post ; inspire courage is active.
Grog 41NL
Meredith 2NL
Garn
Aramaya 44 NL; (2) 3AOO used;
Meran 31NL
Sajan
Deluge 15NL damage
Sajan 5-foot steps after his flurry, allowing Garn to relieve him.
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Grog's axe does the trick and the brave monk finally falls. Itephta quickly advances and offers a drink that restores her to her feet.
The other monks look impressed. Even Itephta gives a nod of respect as you are flown down from the pillar by the wind spirits. The crowd of villagers who gathered to watch is less reserved and you are all feted with flowers and offered simple but delicious food over the afternoon and evening.
The next day you gather in the Master's house with Itephta and Aeotsep.
“Our monastery is remote and receives little direct aid from Sothis and the great river cities of Osirion, and this distance has made us a target for worshippers of Rovagug who recently became our neighbors. These so-called Doomsday Knights frequently attack caravans and pilgrims, and we have done what we can to protect the trails that lead here with the disciples we have. In fact, one of our own, a respected Ouat named Bertrag, disappeared several days before you arrived. At this point I assume he has perished; the cult is known for sacrificing intelligent creatures."
The two monks exchange a glance.
“Irori promotes self-perfection, but I do not confuse that with blind self-reliance when confronted with a true threat. Tar Kuata can guard travelers or strike at the cult’s heart, but it cannot do both. With your assistance, we might rid this land of the Rough Beast’s warriors once and for all.”
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Meran is quite happy the tests are over. She enjoys a good nights sleep.
"You want us to remove the threat for you?" She gives Deluge a laughing look. "I knew we weren't going to get out of some sort of religious affiliation on this mission. We seem destined to be assigned to them."
"Please tell us about the numbers of followers, where we can find them, and any defenses that you know about." She also tries to recall what she knows about Rovagug.
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"Wow, you're hard to hit." Meredith bows gracefully to the woman as she is revived. "It was a lot of fun fighting you. You're going to have to show me how you evaded that grapple."
Meredith stays in the crowd long enough to not seem rude, and then she quickly excuses herself. Crowds are no fun, easily swayed and manipulated. Meredith eats some dinner, finds a nice spot on the floor and falls right asleep.
Meredith rises with the morning sun and listens to the monks. Her anger is obvious. "Bertrag. We'll find him. You have my word. I'd wipe out those thugs with or without a reward. Any information on their lair would help us dramatically, though."
Sajan will take a minute of silent contemplation upon hearing these news. After that, he rises, and addresses the monks, "We will attempt to locate Bertag. If he is alive, we will fight for his freedom. If not, we shall bring back the body so that you can put it to rest honorably."
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Meran knows quite a bit about the the Worldbreaker.
"The cult of Rovagug led by Tasutek, a priest granted considerable physical strength by his patron. Most wield divine power in one form or another. The church of Sarenrae warned us of this group, which fled the Dawnflower’s wrath in An and found refuge here. We have tracked the Doomsday Knights to an abandoned mine located more than a day’s travel north of here."
Aramaya nods to Meredith, opening her hand and letting the breeze pass between her fingers. "If one is as the wind, one is hard to grasp."
Aeotsep looks relieved as you accept the commission. "May bte blessings of the perfect one go with you. And while they cannot compare to his blessings, these may also be of assistance."
He takes off a pair of rings and hands them over.
Itephta takes an amulet from around his neck and also offers that. "And may this guard your spirit."
Phylactery of faithfulness
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"The Worldbreaker is an interesting fellow. He managed to get many of the gods working together including Asmodeus and Gozreh to contain him again. These cultist may not be easy to defeat." She takes the gifts with thanks, and will hold them until the group decides who can make the best use of them.
Sajan checks with the party to see if borrowing the Ring of Jumping would be acceptable for everyone. He then pull the monks aside for a private chat.
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The monks provide details and directions for a set of mines about thirty miles north of their village. "These were abandoned more than a century ago." you learn.
While excavating the deeper levels, the miners breached a hot spring that filled lower areas with toxic water and fumes.
The travel is difficult, but not dangerous and you make it to the mine without any trouble. weathered wooden sign still stands by the entrance, warning visitors in Osiriani to “keep out.” The mine’s adit is also boarded over.
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Deluge is not interested in jumping or climbing, ring or no ring, and looks at the items with a little distaste. He left all that climbing about when he left his caves by the sea. The faithfulness thingie is not his style either. Now an everfull bag of munchies! He could get into that. Is there such a thing? Well, there should be!
Deluge is pleasantly surprised by yet another delightful meal. Simple but delicious is lavish to him. He came here expecting famine and, instead, receives a 'lavish' meal. His spirits are soaring by the time the mission is described, and he is in a good mood, for Deluge.
"Sounds appropriate. You are probably more suited to guarding anyway. The few of us can't be everywhere. And I like caves, they remind me of home."
Deluge somehow manages to produce another wingie dingie from somewhere and pops it in his mouth, in spite of the absence of an everfull bag, and sucks the bone clean with a sigh.
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Meredith nods as Sajan takes the ring. "I'll call upon the forces of nature to help me jump, if I need it."
---
Upon reaching the mine, Meredith thinks to herself. "Are any of you good at subterfuge? Maybe we can transform our bodies into something native to here and take a look around the caverns." She turns to Meran. "Would these cultists lash out at a lizard, crawling through their caves?"
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"I know nothing of the history of these caves. The cultists are all about destruction. If they notice a small creature, they might decided to hurt it. They would rather destroy an intelligent creature though."
She gathers up the wands and attempts to use them. She does well on Merideth and Snowball. However, she has to shake the wand once to get it to work on Garn. "There you go all Mage Armored, and ready or a fight."
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There are no obvious traps. With a quick bash, Meredith smashes down the boards. A foul smell wafts out of the area and the fumes sting lightly at her eyes as the druid peers into the dimly lit area beyond.
The air is acrid. She can here the neighing of some horses within, upset by the sound of the break boards and probably not happy with the air.
Sajan sneaks into the courtyard and looks around carefully.
If Sajan sees nothing out of place, he proceeds to cut the horses loose, and then follows Meredith into the shaft, draping a scarf around his mouth and nose.
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As Sajan approaches the horses their level of agitation increases.
The acrid air stings Sajan's eyes as he goes away from the fresh air at the entrance.
The heat too is uncomfortable, not significant yet, but as he goes further in it does continue to rise.
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Garn thanks Meran for the assistance. Before entering the mines, he summons his magic to provide additional aid and protection on himself and Snowball.
He briefly considers changing form in readiness of combat, but things seem peaceful for now, and looks like Sajan needs help with the horses. He cautiously approaches then, making soothing noises.
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"Volcanic fumes..." Meredith holds her nose. "Everyone be on the lookout for toxic gas."
Meredith casts Calm Animals (Will save DC 14) to calm them down. "Easy, easy... Run free, okay?"
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Garn, aided by Deluge and Meredith manages to keep the horses calm. Garn himself may not be feeling calm as the horses are obviously poorly cared for. They have bloodshot eyes, rashes and a lot of minor abrasions.
The mist, while not currently enough to obscure vision, adds an eerie feel to the place.
With little prompting the horses are untied and set loose in the mountains.
There is what appears to be an old mine elevator here. The only other exit being a pair of mine tracks with mine carts standing ready on one of them.
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Meredith frowns as she observes the agitated horses. She's much happier as they run off into the mountains.
"A mine cart or an elevator... I knew I should have studied Spider Climb today." She shrugs, then hoists her shield and jumps into the cart. "They'll know we're coming either way, but at least we're harder to surround in a mine cart."
"...Anyone knows how to use these things?"
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The mine tracks vanish off into darkness of the acrid and steamy mine. However it doesn't look like the carts would be especially hard to use. Threre is a break on them, and a complex windlass that it looks like you could use to get them back up. Certainly they would be faster than walking, but the choice is the pathfinders.