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Bendaxalon laughs and claps at the pretty fireworks. Several patrons instinctively duck, having apparently met a gnome before. (Some people say, "The laughter of a child gladdens the heart; the laughter of a gnome makes it nervous." Others just say, "When a gnome laughs -- duck!")
"Nice pyrotechnics! Do you know this one?" He holds out his hands to the east and chants some arcane syllables, causing an enormous gout of flame to billow from his spread fingers, engulfing the two perfidious gillmen. That done, he moves toward the interesting bartender; perhaps they could have a discussion of fire spells! About or with, either way. His hands transform into dragon-like claws as he thinks about fire.
Initiative: Li | Khale | Arithas | Bendaxalion | Elysia | Triccio | Gillmen
Status
Arithas: blinded (2 rounds)
Li: blinded (2 rounds)Ahrmisa: DEAD!
Shoalo: DEAD!OOC
You guys are too efficient. :P
Li, midway through musings of the ephemeral nature of light and life, clutches at his eyes as the torches' luminosity temporarily blinds him. He stumbles across the taproom floor and reaches for his bow, but what good would that do for him now? Khale rushes to one side of the thieving gillmen, pushing his chair aside and passing by the sobbing form of Kaz the server. His shouts, however, elicit nothing but a sly grin from Shoalo. Arithas blindly lobs a bomb where he last saw the Low Azlanti, and he hears them shout in pain, although he cannot be sure what exactly happened.
Bendaxalion weaves draconic flames over both Shoalo and Ahrmisa, and the two scream in pain as the flames lick over them. When they die down, Shoalo is on the ground, covered in terrible burn wounds and not moving, and Ahrmisa appears to be in severe pain. Elysia and Trig almost simultaneously let loose the exact same spell, although the bard's emulates slippery earth and mud while the elf's grease seems to be more similar to magical orthodoxy. Needless to say, Ahrmisa slips over in the muddy mess with a loud thump.
Groaning in pain and showing some of the first non-stoic expressions you've seen the entire time she's been in the tavern, Ahrmisa attempts to reach out to grab the box from Shoalo's limp hands and struggle to her feet. As she does so, Khale rather efficiently cuts her down, the gillwoman's blood mixing with the grease magic.
Ulionestia lets out a screech of rage and despair at seeing her companions and her plans cut down by the Pathfinders. She leaps on top of the bar and gestures in the air, uttering ancient words of arcane power. Thick strands of sticky webbing shoot out from her open palms and coat much of the north-western section of the bar, trapping those within and holding them down like a fly in a spider's web.
If you have at least 5 feet of web between you and an opponent, it provides cover. If you have at least 20 feet of web between you, it provides total cover.
Those who can still see Ulionestia (Khale and Bendy) notice that her eyes are now on the box with the relic, now resting on the ground in a pool of Ahrmisa's blood.
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Arithas somehow manages to not get caught in the sticky stuff, but he is too blind to be able to tell what spell was cast. He draws and makes a bomb and lobs it at the bar towards where he thinks the bartender is. While the bomb sails through the air, he attempts to move through the stickiness, but gets stuck in M10.
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Bendaxalon dodges the sticky strands as they fall, and strolls out from the south edge of the webbing, not needing to identify the spell to escape it. (Most spells have such literal, prosaic names that he guesses it's called sticky strands.) He continues around the aquarium toward the bar, and then concentrates really hard. To be honest, he looks kind of constipated; but the comical effect is ruined when his right hand is suddenly sheathed in flame.
He speaks to the bartender, "You know magic, but I am magic. Surrender, or burn." The sorcerer's tone is chillingly matter-of-fact.
Initiative: Li | Khale | Arithas | Bendaxalion | Elysia | Triccio | Gillmen
Status
Arithas: blinded (1 round), grappled
Elysia: grappled
Li: blinded (1 round)Ahrmisa: DEAD!
Shoalo: DEAD!OOC
Oh, I'm sorry, Trig! I totally missed that. :) Also, I moved you as far forward as I could since you didn't specify.Arithas, you have 20 ft. of web in between you and where you tried to attack, which means that you can't attack it because of its total cover. I decided to let you move first to avoid the total cover, but in any case, as you're throwing into the second range increment it will hit 2 squares away from your target into W19, counting from T16 as "1".
Li remains where he is, hearing the shouts and cries of his fellow Pathfinders but unable to do much to assist them. Khale grabs the box, an act that causes Ulionestia's upper lip to curl with rage. Arithas blindly chucks an explosive cask at the bar, but it hits at a weird angle and bounces off to the side before exploding harmlessly at the back of the room.
Bendy advances, summoning a small fireball in his hands. Ulionestia looks at the gnome with a mix of contempt and bemusement.
"Aren't we full of ourselves now? You might have some innate tricks, gnome, but it's nothing in comparison to a true expert's power!"
Elysia attempts to wriggle free of the web, but she just can't manage it. Triccio escapes the webs with a mighty struggle and emerges with his bow in hand, although Ulionestia appears to not care at all, merely laughing in response. "Stop? No way, pretty boy!"
She mutters another couple of words of arcane power, conjuring a puddle of slippery grease quite familiar to Trig and Elysia right under the bard's feet, before leaping off the bar and running towards Khale. She draws a small, black wand out of her pocket as she does so, and points it threateningly at the paladin. "Drop the relic! Hand it over and I won't hurt you!"
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Bendaxalon grins slyly and jabs back, "Too bad for me that you got one to make you a wand, eh?" She might know some good spells, but she couldn't be that smart, letting herself get sucked into an insult contest with a gnome. He tries to move around Trig and slips. "Whoa!" The little man windmills his arms uselessly and falls on his back with a yip. He knows he looks silly and he doesn't care, since he got what he needed: a clear shot. He throws the little ball of fire at the bartender, and another one instantly appears in his hand.
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Arithas, getting angry due to the fact that he can't see very well and that he is stuck in this blasted sticky stuff, manages to wriggle himself free of the sticky crap, and begins to move further out of it. However, he is once again stuck after moving only five feet, into M11. With s string of profanities he yells in the general direction of the bartender. "Blast you woman! Can't you fight without holding your opponents in place?!"
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Refl save
Dismayed that he's broken free of the web only to have his footing turn slippery, Trig thinks, Aunt Vira's scarf! How many spells does she have? He keeps his footing as the grease appears and considers his options. I'd like to cut her off from the door, but if I go down I'll be useless. Or I could use the bow...
He settles on moving forward while singing a Taldan battle song.
Acrobatics
Khale aims a powerful slash right at Ulionestia's chest, and she cries out in pain as the blade cuts through her. She looks down at the wound, pale-faced and shaking, but seems to gather her wits enough to point at the fish tank and bark a single, sharp, high-pitched syllable. There's a loud crash of breaking glass as the aquarium smashes, spilling sea water into the room. A couple of colourful fish are ejected out of the water and flop helplessly around on the ground, while the coral goblinoid tumbles to the sea floor through the now-broken glass bottom.
"Fine! Keep it! Damned Pathfinders!!" Ulionestia spits in Khale's direction as she attempts to leap into the smashed aquarium and dive down into the water, although her shoe catches on a chair as she does so and her movement is clumsy.
Taking advantage of Ulionestia's slip-up, Khale brings his powerful glaive down upon the gillwoman and stops her from escaping--or moving again at all, really.
With the threat neutralised, everyone has enough time to catch their breath and fight their way out of the sticky web and slimy grease (at least until the spells eventually disappear on their own). Given another thirty seconds or so, most of the patrons of the bar regain their eyesight, although most are too scared to approach the bloody scene in the centre of the room. Nester limps over to the group and gives you all wry smile. "Thank goodness for your quick reactions. It seems even the Decemvirate was tricked by this bunch... terrible."
Ulionestia possessed a potion, a scroll, a wand, and a cloak, all magical; as well as an aquamarine amulet around her neck and 22 gp in her pocket. You also discover a folded-up letter in her pocket...
I am proud to inform you that my plan has gone off without a hitch.
Let it be known that the Pathfinders are as gullible as they ever were! The unarmed vessel patrolling the coast seems to have tricked them all. I can't believe they fell for such a simple ruse! That and those rumours I spread of the Aspis Consortium's interest sent them running here, scared they'd lose out on a precious relic. What fools. Why on earth would we patrol the coast when we could simply buy the relic outright?
I recruited two Low Azlantis from the embassy using the money you so graciously provided for funding this mission. They promised me they would be discrete, so there is no chance of anything floating back to our organisation. They traded the fake relic for the real relic and left before the Pathfinders picked up on the ruse.
I hope you'll remember this when it comes to my next payment.
Yours Sincerely,
Ulionestia
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Arithas will inspect all the items to try and ID them.
Then, if no one else does, he will go swimming for the grindylow statue.
When he comes back up, he addresses the party. "We should ensure that both of these artifacts get back to the Pathfinders, and that they learn of what happened here. We should also inform the Taldan Lady of her failed alliance attempt."
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Once Trig gets out of the grease, he asks if everyone is all right. Then he congratulates Khale on a terrific fight. "Your speed and sheer effect with your glaive are nothing short of awe-inspiring. I hope I never find myself on the wrong side of that blade."
To Arithas,
"I take it you will return the letter to her then?"
Arithas determines that Ulionestia had a wand of magic missile and a cloak of resistance; the others he's not sure of, but believes he can probably get the sages back at the Grand Lodge to check them out anyway. He's also able to grab the grindylow statue, although as far as anyone can tell it's more or less just decoration than anything of any particular worth.
Bendy, you're able to stabilize Shoalo and Ahrmisa, but Ulionestia's wounds from Khale's glaive seem to have taken too great of a toll on her; she's far beyond your help at this stage.