Daelric's ax suddenly bursts into millions of shards! His eyes glaze over and unfocus as his vision suddenly turns into a red haze of rage.
Kiera sets the woman straight about the status of Tsuto, then fires a bolt of acid into the mix of images.
Another image winks from existence, leaving two images and the woman standing before you.
Volkar preps his ax with a keen edge before moving in for battle.
"Bold May Post"
Daelric- 3 dmg
Andrezi
Wizard woman (Mirror Image x2)
Kiera
Volkar
I unsling my pick from my waist, it is a worn pick axe, that has clearly seen many years of use. I raise my pick and attack the women.
Andrezi moves into the room, staff in hand, and takes a swing at the target of Daelric's ire. Unfortunately the priest's swing catches the edge of the table and veers off wildly.
(bless)
Both Andrezi and Daelric take swipes at the woman, but neither manage to hit her.
"Dead?!" the woman calls out in astonished rage. "NO!!! Not my Tsuto!!!" she cries, taking a step back and unleashing a wave of fire from her hands.
"Bold May Post"
Daelric- 3 dmg Reflex save for half dmg
Andrezi Reflex save for half dmg
Wizard woman (Mirror Image x2)
Kiera
Volkar Reflex save for half dmg
Still angry and spewing out dwarvish words with a vipers tongue I swing my pickaxe again.
Andrezi howls in pain as he drops to the ground and rolls around to extinguish the flames
(stop, drop, and roll)
Daelric manages to duck under the majority of the flames, but still comes up with a singed beard. Still irate, he uses his anger to continue and whittle away at the womans defenses as his pick removes another mirror from existence. the dwarf stands back up and only has two images to choose from. Luckily for his taste for vengeance, he picks the correct one and feels his pick bite into solid flesh.
Andrezi though, is not as lucky. The man takes the full brunt of the fiery explosion, and has to drop to the floor to extinguish the flames.
"Bold May Post"
Daelric- 5 dmg
Andrezi 5 dmg, Prone
Wizard woman (Mirror Image x1)- 7 dmg
Kiera
Volkar Reflex save for half dmg
Kiera holds her position in spite of the apparent danger, watching the other woman carefully.
The flames singed Volkar's beard and the smell of burnt hair and ozone filled his nostrils. He raised his axe and slashed back at woman that had sent the flames from her hands.
Kiera holds her position, waiting for an opportunity to interrupt the spellcaster.
Volkar on the other hand, lands a solid blow.
Unfortunately, the solid blow lands on her remaining mirror image. It winks out of existence, leaving just the mage to face the savage flurry of blows.
She begins to concentrate again, muttering words of magic. Kiera quickly sends two bolts of force screaming in over the combat to strike her. They both land dead center of the young mage, blasting her to the ground and out of this life.
Out of Combat
I rummage through our own looted equipment, grumbling until I come across the magical long blade. I sling my Pick back over my shoulder and move into the previous room when there is no chance of hitting anyone and give the sword a few swings. I look a little clumsy with it, the length is something I am clearly not used to, "Not like fathers axe, please forgive me father."
I then walk back into the room and try to pick up all of the pieces of the broken blade, while everyone else searches the room and rummages through the womans belongings.
Volkar turned and looked at Mistress Kiera with a bit of wonder. "Well done, well done."
Volkar looked over the carvings and stone pieces. "Daelric, maybe we can get a sense of what these were from or were for?"
I look up at Volkar from the floor, "I will leave that to you, the only stone I am familiar with is unhewn stone." I then get back to picking up the shards of my axe.
While Kiera is sifting through the magical items found on the wizard, Daelric digs out the magical longsword, then collects the pieces of his fathers ax. Perhaps a smith can remake the ax back in town?
Volkar looks over the carvings and relics. They are extremely old, but he can't tell anything else about them. However, on his way around the room, he suddenly notices the faint outline of a hidden door behind Andrezi!
It was odd, something out of the corner of his eye as he walked about the room. Then he saw it. A line, a line that shouldn't be there. He walked up to Andrezi and then past him. He touched the wall and pushed.
Volkar finds the hidden latch that confirms his suspicions. As he activates it, the door behind Andrezi swings open, revealing a well traveled stairway descending deeper into the island.
After her bolts fell the enemy mage, Kiera moves cautiously to the still figure on the ground. She stands over the mage, catching her breath, then after a moment she closes her eyes, shakes her head, then opens them again.
Those who've paid attention will realize that this is the first time that Kiera has used her magic to kill a human (not a goblin).
Finally she says, "Well, I guess this woman was working with Tsuto, but she's not the one who was pictured in his journal. A sordid love triangle. We have to find the boss of this whole operation."
She flips through the magician's notes, papers and books, mentally cataloguing the contents.
Once I have finished picking up the shards, I put them in my pouch and stand up. I look to the newly found door, "Whilst my curiousity wants to explore down there, I think it will be safer to clear out the rest of this level before we venture any deeper. We don't want the critters to get us from behind."
"I agree Daelric, we can come back to this point now that we know where and how to find the path." Volkar pulled his head back from the opening. He held the hidden latch and waited to hear what the others said.
Andrezi nods. "One level at a time. We don't need to get trapped between two sets of enemies."
Turning to Daelric the priest says, "Make sure you gather all the pieces of your axe and we'll see what we can do with it in the morning."
"Yeah. Yeah, of course. Let's make sure we're finished here," says Kiera while nodding with a distracted look.
I make sure that I have all the pieces of my blade when Andrezi mentions having them all. I look at him with a look of confusion and hope. Noticing that Kiera is somewhat distracted I turn to her, "You alright? You look, a little lost."
The party moves back to the previous room, conversing quietly among themselves..
The party returns to the previous room, and carefully opens the other door, revealing a short hallway, closed at the other end with another door. Opening it, you reveal a smallish chamber ten feet to a side, and full of "Goblin Art"..
The lower four feet of the walls in this empty room are covered with crude drawings in mud, blood, and paint. Most of the drawings show goblin engaged in some sort of violence against humans, horses, or dogs. One picture on the north wall is at least three times the size and complexity of the other scrawlings. This image shows Thistletop from the side, the goblin stockade perched atop it like a crown. A cave has been drawn into the center of the image, and looming inside is what appears to be an immense, muscular goblin with snake-like eyes and a dogslicer in each taloned hand. If the scale compared to the rest of the drawing is to be believed, this goblin must be at least thirty feet tall.
I look up at the giant Goblin, "Wow ... that would be one huge Goblin! Well, at least we couldn't miss something that big!"
Volkar laughed at Daelric's comment. "Why would they have something like that and not have used it? It would seem we have a lot more going on here than we expected." Volkar's laugh gave way to a series sense of concern. He turned and looked at the second door and walked to it.
Looking over his shoulder, he asked, "Ready? On guard as apparently there is a Gialin somewhere in here."
Volkar winked at Daelric as he turned back to the door.
Kiera shudders once and hugs herself as she replies to Daelric, saying, "It's just... I mean, I've used my spells to defend against goblins, but... killing someone outright like that, it kinda caught me by surprise."
She takes a deep breath and says, "I'll be all right. I guess I just had never put together the mental puzzle pieces to connect 'adventurer' and 'murderer.'"
"Ah! I understand you're feelings all too well, I have felt them too." I gently place my hand on her forearm, "I'm here if you want or need to talk to someone."
Volkar cracks a joke as Kiera and Daelric discuss the morality and mortality of their actions.. indeed, killing a human is very different than hunting monsters or animals. There is an extra millstone about your neck that never quite goes away, no mater what the circumstances are..
Finally, Volkar pushes open the door once everyone is ready. He reveals an antechamber of sorts.. with a door opposite him, and a hallway visible in the middle, leading east. To the west sit two large stone doors, their faces carved with images of horrific, deformed monsters clawing their way out of pregnant women of all races.
I look at the doors in disgust, "Urgh, I didn't know this was an area where Lamashtu was worshipped! I wonder if the townsfolk know of this?"
"And apparently for much longer than I had thought, based on those doors. Which way?"
"I am thinking we go through those hideous doors. It looks like the kind of place some magical leader for Goblins would reside, so if we take them down whilst everyone has magical reserves left?"
"I really do not like that this apparently was built to please that." Volkar grimaced as he pointed he gestered to indicate the space they were in and then pointed at the grotesquely carved doors. "I say we go in and do what we must realizing we still have that goblin creature somewhere down in all of this."
Kiera looks like she's going to be slightly sick. "Ewww," she says, and not in a funny way. She holds her hands over her stomach - or maybe just a bit lower - and wobbles slightly.
"Let's end this. Ugh. We need to clean this place out and make sure it's never inhabited by these kinds of people ever again."
The team throws open the hideous chapel doors. Stone fonts containing frothy dark water sit to the north and south of the eastern entrance to the room, and twin banks of stone pillars run the length of the long chamber. At the western end, shallow stairs rise to a platform about two feet off the ground. The walls surrounding this platform are lit by hanging braziers that emit glowing red smoke, giving the place an unnerving crimson lighting that throws the bas-relief carvings of countless monsters feasting on fl eeing humans into lurid display. A black marble altar stone, its surface heaped with ashes and bone fragments, squats before a ten-foot-tall statue. The sculpture depicts a very pregnant but otherwise shapely naked woman who wields a kukri in each taloned hand and has a long reptilian tail, bird-like taloned feet, and the snarling head of a three-eyed jackal with a forked tongue. Its left kukri flickers with fiery orange light while the right one glows with a cold blue radiance.
"Guh! It"s a temple! We... we have to destroy this somehow!"
Volkar nodded in agreement with Kiera's statement, but began looking about to see what other aspects of this temple to the dark goddess depicted held. He moved forward looking about the room and into ceiling as well. Someone was keeping this temple up, someone was rendering sacrifices. Where was that someone?
[occ] Perception check [/ooc]
I stay away from the black frothing water and walk towards the altar, making sure that the large statue is in front of me at all times I look on the altar stone to see if there is anything else there.
The team reacts as any normal person would to the horrors of this temple. Volkar peers around while Daelric moves to the alter.. he can see that the temple is frequently used, and ashes and bits of bone cover the alter from a recent sacrifice.
As the team spreads out, a soul rending howl pierces your heads and your hearts!
As you look above you, two lean creatures that look like jackals with smoking red eyes and black fangs descend upon you out of the darkness above. The one on to the northwest has its mouth open, emitting the horrible sound that reverberates through the stone around you, almost deafening in its intensity. The other creature descends upon Kiera and Andrezi from the southeast, jowls slavering and hatred in its eyes!
Kiera Videns
Volkar Glanral
Daelric Morieth
Doggies
Surprise Round:
Red: Bays
Blue: Move
The hounds rush in on the party, touching down and immediately attacking.
"Bold May Post"
Doggies
~Red
~Blue
Volkar- 13 dmg, DC 12 WS, DC 14 WS
Daelric DC 12 WS
Kiera DC 12 WS
Andrezi- 10 Dmg, DC 12 WS, DC 14 WS
I look at the strange dog and move into attack it before it screeches again.
- Pass
- Fail (Shaken)
Andrezi steps away from the unholy creature and channels positive energy
The hounds bay has no effect on Daelric as he steps forward and swings his sword. Unfortunately, the attack misses.
Andrezi steps back from the creature before him and channels out a wave of holy goodness to help his friends.
"Bold May Post"
Doggies
~Red
~Blue
Volkar- 7 dmg, DC 12 WS, DC 14 WS
Daelric
Kiera DC 12 WS
Andrezi- 4 Dmg, shaken
Kiera rushes forward into danger to help her friends!
She rips out the shocking wand and lashes out with it.
Kiera shakes off the heart rending sound as well, but can't place the creatures that are attacking. She pulls her wand and steps forward, delivering a shocking experience to the ugly puppy!
"Bold May Post"
Doggies
~Red
~Blue- 5 dmg
Volkar- 7 dmg, DC 12 WS, DC 14 WS
Daelric
Kiera
Andrezi- 4 Dmg, shaken
The drop and howling bay so surprised Volkar that he jumped and fell to the floor in the opposite direction near the pillar that he had just passed. The hairless dog came running at him and took a giant bite of his shoulder, the teeth's points found their way through the dwarven mail. The bite contined to flood him with fear.
Volkar's stout heart has met its match. Quivering with fear despite Daelrics protections, Volkar crumbles to the floor as the creature uses him as a chew toy.
As Volkar quivers around the corner, the red dog takes aim at Daelric! His stout armor keeps the hounds teeth away.
The other dog turns to Kiera, yelping in shock. Still convulsing from the electricity, its teeth don't come near the young wizard.
"Bold May Post"
Doggies
~Red
~Blue- 5 dmg
Volkar- 7 dmg, Prone, Panicked x1
Daelric
Kiera
Andrezi- 4 Dmg, shaken
I look at Volkar cowering in surprise, "Why is a Dwarf scared of some dog?" Regardless of his surprise, I bring the sword and up trying to connect with the hound this time.