Initiative: Blindheim | Bendaxalon | Khale | Elysia | Li | Arithas | Triccio
Status
Arithas: blinded
Bendaxalon: 2/8 HP
Khale: 11/13 HP; blinded
Li: blinded
Snake: dead
Triccio: 8/9 HPBlindheim: 18 damage, 1 non-lethal
Bendy's spell seems to be fizzling out far quicker than normal, like a sputtering candle flame that desperately tries to hang out in the face of a blustering wind. Nonetheless, his close-and-personal gambit seems to take the blindheim by surprise, and the gout of flame is doubly effective than it was last time.
Khale slashes wildly in the air, listening intently for the blindheim's position. The first blow lands, and those who can still see can tell that the froggie is quite bloodied after that, but Khale isn't so lucky the next time round, instead nearly slicing through Triccio's hair...
As her summoning circle glows and a tiny viper slithers out from within it, Elysia tries an opportunistic acid dart, but she misses entirely. The snake hisses and attempts to bite the blindheim, but its small fangs simply can't find a good angle on the frog-like creature's tough skin.
Li has some terrible luck - not only do both his arrows miss, despite his best efforts in squinting against the bright light, the blindheim suddenly turns in his direction before he can look away and he feels a searing pain in his eyeballs. And then--perfect darkness.
Arithas tries for a lucky shot, and gets it - sorta. He can't tell, but the as of yet blinded members of the party see his rapier fly through the air and - well, the hilt bonks the blindheim on the head, doing very little but angering it further. Hmm. Better luck next time, Arithas.
Trig intones a song of healing, and his wounds mostly disappear. The blindheim tries to claw him as he does so, but Trig's way too quick for that.
The blindheim looks as if it is in severe pain at this stage, and it croaks angrily. Seeing a delicious looking morsel slithering around its feet, it snaps out and devours the snake in one bite! It then turns its attentions to the fiery gnome who keeps shooting fire out of his fingers, and slashes him painfully over the face in retaliation.
Bendy scrapes up every last speck of magical energy within him, charring the blindheim some more. As the frog turns to retaliate, ready to consume the wily gnome as easily as it did the summoned snake, Li takes a deep breath, calming himself and moving with practiced motions. The arrow flies through the air in his mind just as it does in reality, piercing right through the blindheim's left eye and into its brain. It croaks pitifully before falling to the ground, blood seeping out of its eye and onto Bendaxalon's shoes.
For good measure, Arithas tosses the bracers at it. Just to make sure it's not coming back.
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Bendaxalon hears the blindheim survive a third roasting and turn toward him, then hears an arrow whiz past and squish into the froggy monster. The silence that follows is nearly deafening, broken only by... was that Arithas throwing the bracers of amour at it? Elves are weird.
The gnome finally opens his eyes when his shoes start to squish, so that he can determine exactly how icky it is. Interesting! Blood. That's a new one. He looks around and spots what is obviously its nest. "Oh look! Something I can't read, three flasks stamped with a symbol I don't recognize, and a potion of... uh... sea-green-ness."
Three rounded alcoves in the adjacent chamber contain the rotting remains of scroll shelves, honeycombing from floor to ceiling. Scattered amid the compromised shelving are damaged scrolls, and a number of still-sealed scroll tubes. A glimmering trickle of water seeps down from the ceiling in the north-west corner of the room.
Sitting on the rotting shelves in this room are a number of moldering trade agreements. A dozen of them are clearly of the type you're searching for--they look pretty similar to the last ones you've found, after all. All are written in Kelish, and detail pacts that Satrap Taliq Asad made with pirates, mercenary groups (for the protection of caravans), petty lords, and even a few nations scattered about the Inner Sea region. One agreement contains a personal note addressed to the Satrap, congratulating him on gaining the Li family's jade katana and the promise it contains.
Luckily, after waiting around for about an hour, the blinded individuals start to see faint specks of light again, followed by blurred and clouded vision, and then full sight.
Init:
Once everyone gets their vision back, Khale leads the group down to the one room they hadn't explored yet. Trig frowns a little at the strange stain on the wall, but shrugs it off as an oddity of the dungeon environment.
Khale moves to the door and tries it - the door seems to be unlocked. A strong, horrible scent comes from inside, one that stinks worse than rotten eggs and only gets worse when he swings the door open. A black mildew covers the walls and the three doors that lie beyond the entrance. Each has a small metal slot at its bottom, but the latched covers long ago rusted away.
As the party considers who would go in and investigate (if at all), there's a strange, squelching noise. You look on in horror as the strange slimy slick peels itself off the wall and launches itself at Khale, engulfing the aasimar's upper body! He feels a strange prickling sensation, as if he is missing something, but the ooze seems intent on attempting to choke him to death!
Everyone's up - ooze initiative sucks! Last combat though!
Initiative: Everyone | Ooze
Status
Khale: 7 damage, grappled
Ooze: Grappled
Initiative: Everyone | OozeStatus
Khale: 6 damage; grappled
Ooze: 9 damage; grappled
Khale roughly throws the ooze to the ground off of him, leaving a gross stain of slime all over his upper midsection. Trig patches up his wounds and Bendy casts a spell, ready to inflict burnination upon the giant amoeba. Arithas and Li manage to chop off small bits of its outer surface, kind of like spooning out bits of jelly, somehow.
The ooze is still hungry, however, and it slams back around Khale's legs, sticking to them like glue!
With curving claws wreathed with fire, Bendaxalon rips the amoeba off of Khale's legs and tears it apart, searing its jelly bits so that they may never come together again. Li then splatters the smaller chunks with his arrows. The bits of ooze fall all over the ground with a satisfying squelch.
A strong, horrible scent comes from inside, one that stinks worse than rotten eggs. A black mildew covers the walls and the three doors that lie beyond the entrance. Each has a small metal slot at its bottom, but the latched covers long ago rusted away.
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Bendaxalon laughs and slaps Arithas and Elysia on the knees. "Pessimists! How will you ever know what you can do if you don't try?" Though they all look too stuck and the stench weakens him, the little gnome nonetheless tries each door.
The first door is so bad that he actually lifts himself off the ground without budging it at all, and that sets the tone for the rest. But even though he completely failed, Bendy refuses to believe that he had no chance at all.
Trig tries two of the doors, but unfortunately has about as much luck as Bendaxalon does in opening them. However, it seems that the gnome did a good job of loosening the third one (or at least that's probably how Bendy would justify it to himself), and Triccio is able to easily bust it open.
Within the cell is the remains of what you have to assume is a prisoner, tattered and mould-covered rags covering yellowed, aged bones. You notice that this prisoner once clutched a piece of parchment, browned and brittle with age. Gingerly reaching in, the bard snatches the parchment before retreating from the sickening prison.
The letter's broken seal features a kirin flying amid three clouds. The letter (written in Kelish) introduces an ambassador by the name of Xeng Li, and gushes on at some length of the marvels and wonders of House Asad. It also describes the jade katana that you were sent here to find, representation of the Li family's honour and its ties to House Asad.
After some consideration, you feel that you've cleared out everything there is to find in this dungeon; perhaps it's time to head back to Absalom and report your findings. And, of course, there are some individuals interested in some of the things you've found... should you wish to follow through on the tasks they asked of you.
In the other two cells are similarly lost and forgotten prisoners, but nothing of any note otherwise.
Eventually you gather everything found this day and return back to Absalom to report.
Amara Li is absolutely ecstatic, showering you with praise of your skill and heroism. She says that she is always in your debt, and that you are always welcome within her Lantern Lodge. She is also quite thankful for returning the bones of the prisoner, although she says she is not sure if they are an ancestor of hers or not. Nevertheless, she says that she will see to it that they are interred with proper respect.
Trade Prince Aaqir al'Hakam is less happy about your offerings to him, shuffling through all the miscellaneous trade agreements you found with a look of disinterest. He does, however, express some level of gratitude. Oddly enough, he asks about the jade katana, explaining that within it was a trade agreement that he intended on claiming for Qadira. The news that you had taken the blade back to Amara Li causes him to frown a little, but he does not press the issue.
At some point after your return, you are met by Major Maldris. Apparently the Andoran learned of your actions--namely, slaying the ex-Pathfinder Maurit Zergo--through his contacts in the Society and wished to congratulate you for your good deeds. "I know it was difficult," he says. "The undead sometimes cling to life, but they always turn to evil. This was a hard lesson that I felt you had to learn, to better serve the common good. As Pathfinders, we should always serve the common good and always fight for freedom."