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"By Nethys's blasted hand, either they have some kind of magical protection from missile weapons or our band of Pathfinders have been cursed with bad luck."
Garduk moves forward another 20 feet , then reaches out with his mind for another ally.
Ah, perfect. This is who I should have brought in the first place. I do wonder if I am developing a bad reputation on the Plane of Earth, though.
With a bang of displaced air and an unsettling squelch, a small mud elemental - looking like a child's clay sculpture of a halfling that had been left out in the rain - appears in front of the green- and orange-garbed War Hounds. It immediately hammers both fists at the orange War Hound's middle.
The creature has an ability that restricts another creature’s movement, usually with a physical attack such as ice, mud, lava, or webs. The target of an entrap attack must make a Fortitude save or become entangled for the listed duration. If a target is already entangled by this ability, a second entrap attack means the target must make a Fortitude save or become helpless for the listed duration. The save DCs are Constitution-based. A target made helpless by this ability is conscious but can take no physical actions (except attempting to break free) until the entrapping material is removed. The target can use spells with only verbal components or spell-like abilities if it can make a DC 20 concentration check. An entangled creature can make a Strength check (at the same DC as the entrap saving throw DC) as a full-round action to break free; the DC for a helpless creature is +5 Greater than the saving throw DC. Destroying the entrapping material frees the creature.
In this case, Marty's Entrap ability is an extraordinary ability, and the Fort save DC is 14.
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Ischell whips his kama at Nessian, which not only opens a long gash across his chest, but also pushes him back a few steps. Brayne leaps out from hiding behind the tower wall, not only surprising but completely terrifying the yellow-shirt thug as this monstrosity appears in front of him. Before it could even gasp, the ex-half-orc has already torn him into pieces. Garduk calls forth Marty the squelchy being, who despite his clumsy and lumbering moves, actually manages to land a muddy fist onto the orange-geared thug. It manages to quickly break free from the sticky appendage, but his joy is short-lived. Vasily charges into the combat and stabs his rapier right through his chest, leaving him crumpling onto the floor. Kulga, seeing her planned target taken down, steps across to attack the green-garbed thug. She slams the shield first into his face, breaking his nose, before slicing open his stomach. The thug grabs onto his wound in shock before collapsing onto the floor.
Within a brief moment, the Pathfinders have taken down all his minions, hounds and humans. Fearing for his life, he turns to flee up the stairs!
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Garduk jogs up to the entrance to the fortress and casts mage armor on the mud elemental, then gives the outsider his instructions in Terran.
"Човекът в червено е нашият враг. Когато го следваме в крепостта, се фокусирайте върху него, докато не ви дам различен ред. Ако има книга, имам нужда от нея."
The elemental nods in understanding, splattering Garduk with mud, and begins to climb the stairs.
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Ischell frowns as his pushing assault backfires, making Nessian's cowardly retreat even easier. Hurriedly, he follows up the stairs, though is only able to make it halfway up to the second level. As he gets toward the top of the stairs, he calls out to his enemy.
"Not a good look dude, being all cowardly and what-not. Either step out and face me like a man- or admit defeat and surrender. But this running thing, thats just pathetic, man."
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En masse, the Pathfinders charge into the tower and up the stairs after the fleeing Nessian, who likely would be carrying the all important book on himself. Nessian glances back and sees Kulga just emerging from the top of the stairs. Ignoring Ischell's taunts, being more concerned about his life than his pride, he turns back to face the open bridge and sprints forward! With a mighty leap, he jumps from the opening and falls straight down, landing heavily in between the surprised Garduk and Harry! He gets his breath knocked but still manages to stay on his feet, albeit with a minor sprain. Gathering himself up, he hobbles away from the tower, desperate to get as far away as possible.
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Garduk runs after Nessian to keep him in sight, calling out for the elemental to return to the ground level.
"Върни се долу! Той скочи на земята! Не го оставяйте да избяга!"
He then shouts the same thing in Common, to alert his friends.
"Come back downstairs! He jumped to the ground! Do not let him get away!"
Then Garduk casts the only spell he knows that might prevent Nessian from escaping. He grabs a miniature shovel from his pouch and mimes digging with it, growling, "In foveam cadunt!"
A square pit, 20 feet deep and 10 feet on each side, opens up under Nessian.
Seeing the reaction of the others further up the stairs who watched Nessian’s jump, the mud elemental has already begun lumbering down the stairs before hearing Garduk’s shout.
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Harry growls in annoyance as he turns his weapon upon the enemy.
(+3 if opponent is wearing or weilding metal)
But the gun "Kachinks!" and the spectral bands that held it together burst apart, leaving it broken in his hands once again. His eye twitches as he looks at his weapon.
You and I are gonna have a LONG conversation when we get home.
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Nessian's leap from the tower caught most of the Pathfinders by surprise as they scramble to race back down the tower, chasing after the would-be gang leader and, more importantly, the codebook. Garduk thankfully is at the right place. Rounding the corner, he calls forth an extradimensional space right under the fleeing thug. Completely focused on just getting away, he is caught completely by surprise and plunges 20ft to the bottom of the pit!
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Garduk nods vigorously. "I agree, absolutely." He rubs a hand over the scars on one side of his face. "So, um, Yargos, I think I -- that is, Brayne and I should take the book back to the Archive at the Society. Mistress Zarta will make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands again, and our Venture Captain Hestram will be very pleased. I'm sure he would be happy to discuss the history of the Society with you."
Garduk starts paging through the book as soon as they start trudging back to the Grand Lodge.
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While the Pathfinders wait for Garduk's spell to expire, Vasily searches through the pyramids and the fallen thugs with a practiced hand. The towers turn out rather disappointing as he finds little of value beyond some rations and camping gear. The thugs who had affectionately referred to themselves as War Hounders are little better. Other than the rather stylised "dog claws" , they carry simple gear.
By the time Nessian resurfaces as the extradimensional space fades, the Pathfinders have surrounded the War Hounders leader. He curses vehemently but still weak on his feet from his multiple wounds, he allows himself to be subdued and tied up. Vasily quickly relieves him of all his equipment, consisting of a number of magical armor and weapons, miscellaneous potions, scrolls and, of course, gold. Stuffed unceremoniously into one of his pouch, you also find a rather tattered book.
Yargos, who has been hanging back quickly approaches and takes the book over. "Yes, yes, this is the one. Oh dear, how badly has it been treated. Look, he even cracked the spine! That is no way to treat an artifact!" He glares daggers at Nessian, who ignores him completely.
"The Archives? Uh, you sure it would be safe? Oh, not that I don't trust you. I mean you guys were amazing! You stepped in when no one else would believe me and thwarted an invasion of our beloved city! So yes, I'm sure it would be safe with this... uh Mistress Zarta? She must be a most amazing woman. You say she oversees the Society's Archives? Do you think you could introduce me? I would love to see it! And of course, the pleasure of meeting this lady."