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Aurk sees everyone head to the other side of the room and wonders why everyone is heading over there. When the Imp suddenly appears again, Aurk yells with joy at the game of hide and seek. "OOOOK!"
He then rushes over to smack the imp that is flying near Umbaraki. Attempting to swat the imp down, he misses as Umbaraki feels the air go *whoosh* next to his head.
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Hoshi and Aurk rushes over to the other corner and jointly stab and swing at the imp respectively. The dextrous devil cackles as he dodges the attacks, but at least they did not hit Umbaraki in the process. Lucky changes tactic and where Umbaraki failed earlier, the small halfling manages to snag the imp's foot. "Ah! Let go!" it screeches as it swings it tail at him, but Lucky is lucky and the poisonous sting misses. Taking the opportunity, Jomal attacks the hampered creature, but despite Lucky holding on to it, the nagaji still fails to connect.
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Umbvaraki's dwarven fortitude burns away the imp's poison before it could do much damage, but the searing pain does distract him sufficiently that he fails to provide any meaningful help to Lucky. Meanwhile, Tabarg flings another hunk of bread at the grappled devil but in trying to avoid hitting the halfing, the shot misses his target as well.
"...letgoletgoletgoletgoletgoletgoletgo... The devil flaps its wings furiously but Lucky's grip is fine. It swings out its tail barbs at him but despite the close quarters, the nimble halfing manages to sidestep the attack while keeping his firm hold.
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Aurk's club whisk right by the head of the imp which manages to duck just in time. The frustrated Jomal takes his turn with his sansetsukon. The first attack with one segment falls short, but his follow through swing with the third segment slams one its head with a mighty force. Despite its infernal protection, the blow was powerful enough to crack its skull. The devil screams in utter pain and discorporates in a burst of brimstone cloud! The iron box he holds falls to the floor with a clunk.
As silence descends upon the room, the sultry voice of Dralneen sounds out from her study. "Are you done? Taken care of my misbehaving minion?"
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Lucky's rage subsides once the imp is sent back to Hell, but he remains angry...
"Huh, uh.... uh.... if that box is... a summoning device... it should be destroyed too! It's bloody stupid... and dangerous... to bring devils into the world! As... as we've just witnessed!"
Lucky picks up his hammer, with his eyes fixed firmly on the box.
"I say we smash it before it's used to do more evil!"
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The hard fought battle finally won, the Pathfinders gather around the iron box. Before Lucky can go for the direct approach, Hoshi stops him and uses the wand that Amenopheous had "rewarded" them with earlier. However, even though she is certain that she got it to work, the box and its seven locks stay firmly shut. Whether through strong magic or intricate mechanisms (or possibly both), the simple spell on the wand fails to unlock the box.
The Pathfinders are interrupted from further trials by Dralneen's voice. "Little one, if it was that easy to get it open, do you think it would have defeated me all this while?" The Paracountess is leaning against the open door, with a wry grin on her face. Gesturing to the Lucky's hammer, she continues, "You might want to put that down, little nugget. You're more likely to damage your weapon, or yourself. If you don't believe me, try picking any of the lock. I do not think you would enjoy the little shock you get from it. Hmm, oh maybe not." One eyebrow rises suggestively.
She slithers her way over to the group, towering over everyone butt Jomal. "It seems that you lot are afflicted with a sense of conscience. Most inconvenient, I say. But you have little to worry. This minor artifact is one of the many collections in the Dark Archive, the massive vaults in Grand Lodge storing the countless relics that Pathfinders over generations have collected from across the continents. I lead the little faction that oversees the maintenance, cataloging and study of its contents." Before the look of concern or even horror can even surface on the Pathfinders' faces, she quickly cuts in. "Yes, yes, I know very well what you're thinking. What horrors! This devil-worshiping witch getting her wicked claws on countless powerful artifacts! That only reflects how little you know of me. Or of my loyalties to the Society. But oh I forgive you. You are just too cute."
She throws you lot a teasing smile as she waves you goodbye. "Ta ta! I'm sure we will meet again. And should you grow interest in ancient artifacts and relics, look me up. My faction is small, but we do important work. And even if not, look me up! And oh, just so you don't leave empty-handed, you may keep that letter-opener. If you promise to visit." She addresses the last bit to Hoshi as her servants usher you off.
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When the paracountess repeats she's from the Dark Archive, Jomal gives her a little smile and nods. The monk sent the devil back to Hell - this was their mission - but he didn't really have a true problem with her methods. His morale was about achieving perfection, and as much as he would see himself on the good side of the prism most of the time - in truth, the immense Nagaji was a lot more neutral about it than the rest of the Society would like. Seeing her just gave him more conviction that he was affiliated to the right faction, and he kept his silence.
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"You think she's really a devil-worshipper? Or just someone who likes to put on a show? She's not like the devil-nuns, but I can't say I find that woman or her 'Dark Archive' at all appealing. What sort of name is that for anything anyway?"
Lucky scowls as the party leaves, shaking his head.
She slithers her way over to the group...
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Even if perturbed by the encounter with the every sultry Dark Archive leader, the Pathfinders congratulate themselves on a job well done. The four assigned tasks are completed and all the items have been collected. Now it is time to return to the Grand Lodge to complete the missions and have a well deserved break, perhaps at the famed Wounded Wisp that every other Pathfinder is talking about.
By this time, it is already in the late afternoon and the streets are cast with a golden glow from the sun as it slowly sinks into the horizon. You make your way through the Foreign Quarters to return to the Pathfinders' headquarters. The streets are crowded at this time as people returning home from work, or making last minute purchases for supper. Being the city district in which much of Absalom's foreign population resides, there is a distinct, culturally exotic feel, even compared to the city as a whole. As such, it is not surprising when a street performance up ahead causes the throng of people to block the street ahead. A performance art group has commandeered the street, drawing graffiti to create a jolly hellscape complete with illusory devils comically dancing around in circles. A number of citizens avoiding the crowd slip off-street through a nearby alley, the only egress past the gathering. Even if the Pathfinders are eager to watch the performance, you find yourselves caught in the crowd and channeled into the side alley together with the rest.
Suddenly, a hazy fog descends on the area directly ahead of you. The commoners ahead and around you stirs in panic and a feel screams puncture the air. Being long-time residents of Absalom, they instinctively sense something wrong and with much agitated jostling, push their way out of the alley, leaving the team of Pathfinders to face the threat!
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"Halli, too early! We needed to wait for them to get closer! Now we can't see them!" A whiny feminine voice calls out from within the fog! The only reply she receives is a loud derisive *hmmph*. The voice curses then adds, "Gah! Just attack! They must be loaded by now!"
Very dimly through the fog, you seem to see 4 figures but you can barely make out any details.
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While Hoshi pulls out her weapon, Umbaraki takes the more direct approach, moving straight into the magical fog! At first, he fails to make out where the four would-be robbers are.
A whiny masculine voice calls out, "Yeah, really smart Halli! Now we have to go look for them!" The feminine commanding voice from earlier calls out, "Shut up, Larkin! Just take them out!"
And very soon, Umbaraki sees two shadowy figures emerge from the fog directly in front of him! A scowling halfling stands right in front of Umbaraki while drawing out a greataxe, while a Galtan human (the one that Umbaraki had noticed earlier) comes up to his left. The human man starts, and calls out, "There's one of the dwarves here!" Almost immediately, a greenish ray shoots forth from the fog towards him! Despite not being able to see the target, the ray hits Umbaraki in his chest, burning a slight wound from the acid.
At the same time, you hear that feminine voice chanting as if casting a spell.
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A frosty hammer-shaped object manifests in Umbaraki's hands and he swings down hard on the small humanoid in front. The hammer passes right through him, causing frost to appear across his skin. Hoshi quickly jabs her rapier, puncturing his skin and opening a small wound. Uncertain what's happening in the fog, Tabarg flings a hunk of break in front of where Umbaraki is but the shot doesn't seem to connect to anything.
The halfling scream in rage and swings his greataxe at the dwarf, but his fury throws the attack way off and the weapon slams into the wall instead. This distracts the dwaf sufficiently that Larkin, the human, manages to stick his rapier into him before he steps back away from the dwarf.
"Ledford, focus your rage! I can't keep throwing healing spells around like that!" The feminine voice calls out, quickly followed by some chanting. Hoshi and Umbaraki sees some of the halfling's wound close. Meanwhile, another greenish ray flies out from the fog, this time towards Hoshi's space but this time, it flies way overhead missing everyone.
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Lucky attempts to climb up the rough walls, but fails to find good handgrips. Hoshi repositions herself to free up space, but as result stumbles when she makes her attack, sending it wide. Aurk draws his weapon and moves in to give support, not finding a space to engage the enemies, while Tabarg simply waits for enemies to reveal themselves. Bolstered by his allies, Umbaraki presses on his attack, but the mist confuses him this time and he misses. Jomal comes rushing in to fill the space cleared by Hoshi, bringing down the sansetsukon down hard on the halfling. Propelled by the nagaji's momentum, one end of the rods swings down smashing the would-be thug's skull right open. His earlier fury drains out and the limp figure drops to the floor.
There is a brief stunned silence as the leader utters an uncertain, "Ledford?"
"Look, lady, I didn't sign up to get my head bashed in!" the voice of the human quivers forth.
"Shut up, Larkin, and press the attack! We can still turn this around!" the leader commands back. Unable to see what had brained his previous comrade, Larkin opts to stay back and jabs his rapier at Hoshi, what appears to be a easier target. Desperation gives him accuracy and his weapon pierces right through her lungs and a major artery. The kitsune collapses unconscious in a pool of blood. "Hey, look! I got that fox!"
"See, I told you!" The leader steps forward, and you finally see that she is wearing chain shirt and, for some reason, a featureless mask. A medallion of a ane-eyed mask hangs around her neck. She steps over Hoshi's unconscious form and attempts to stab Umbaraki but his armor repels her weak strike. That is when she sees the towering Jomal, and with a quick wave of her hand, a exact replica image appears next to herself. She turns and calls out, "Halli, don't you have anything more devasting than those pathetic little rays!"
"Hehe, I would rather stay my distance," a near maniacal voice replies. Again, a green ray shoots forth from the mist and just flies past his face. "Did that hit?"
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Not be able to reach the nearest enemy or even really see them, he raises his club into the air and shouts, "PET!"
Suddenly the ground between Yellow and Orange erupts and a giant centipede crawls out of the ground.
The giant centipede then attempts to bury it's poisonous fangs into the backside of the Yellow enemy.
; Dex damage
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Jomal approaches more the enemies, stepping over the body of the one he just put down without looking to care much for the man. When he sees the woman harming Hoshi and moving towards Umbaraki - and, in top of it, adding a fake image of herself - he decides to flurry his sansetsukon against her.
He misses his first attack, but the second one seems to connect with similar violence as the one who put down another foe some seconds ago.
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Not be able to reach the nearest enemy or even really see them, he raises his club into the air and shouts, "PET!"
Suddenly the ground between Yellow and Orange erupts and a giant centipede crawls out of the ground.
[dice=Target (1:Yellow 2 Orange)]1d2
The giant centipede then attempts to bury it's poisonous fangs into the backside of the Yellow enemy.
[dice=Giant Centipede vs Yellow]1d20+2
[dice=Damage]1d6-1
[dice=Poison Fort DC 13]1d3; Dex damage
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Still not finding a way to the enemies, Aurk summons an ally to go after them directly. The summon giant centipede rears up and plunges its jaws into the human's neck, tearing open a wound and injecting a large amount of poison into his blood. "Wait, what? We're fighting giant insects now?" he screams in terror, apparently not knowing that it is actually an arthropod. Jomal steps over the body of the fallen halfing and attacks the masked woman. His first swing goes for the wrong target, dispelling her illusory double, but his second strike smashes into her ribs, caving in her chest completely. Some more blood splatters everywhere as she collapses. "You said they are fresh recruits! That they would be pushovers!" Larkin screams at the fallen form. Not that she can reply.
Umbaraki moves forward, stepping over both the bleeding form of Hoshi and the dead masked woman, swinging his frost hammer. However, the mist confuses his senses, and he misses the human wielding the rapier. Lucky attempts to tumble past him, but the mist similarly vexes him, and he came too close to Larkin, who quickly seizes the opportunity to stick his rapier into the halfling.
"I'm out of here!" the human mutters. He similarly tries to slide his way past the centipede, but he stumbles in his fear, bumping right into the summoned creature instead.
Lucky finally gets a good look at the woman who has been keeping to the rear. Full golden blonde hair frames Halli’s healthy, smiling face, punctuated with steely blue eyes and thick red lips. She wears a well-made, green silk dress in the most current fashion with a shimmering black scarf draped across her shoulders, and is constantly fidgeting. In a manial voice, she shouts at Lucky, "You dare draw near! All the better!" She takes a step away from him, a suddenly a burst of dizzying colors wash over Lucky, Jomal, the centipede and Larkin! Her poor ally falls unconscious.
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With Yellow opening himself up for an attack, the giant centipede bites at him again before he drops unconscious.
Dexterity damage
After Yellow collapses from the spell cast by Orange, the giant centipede suddenly turns and bites at the woman casting.
Dexterity damage.
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Aurk moves up but stops short from charging further when he spots Hoshi down unconscious and bleeding. He reaches down and grasps Hoshi's wrist and pushes his divine energy into her to heal her wounds. "Aurk help."