"If abhorring cold-blooded murder in the name of an evil god is ignorant, then ignorant I will gladly be," Joanna says in that same icy tone that had taken her voice since they fought the Lepescus, "You have been warned, and now you shall face the judgement of the Inheritor."
Using her shield, she knocks the sickles aside to allow her sword to strike unopposed at the cultist that Ziomarra did not hit.
"How many people have you killed? How many lives have been snuffed out in the name of your false god?"
Despite the cold, controlled face she's wearing, Joanna is really, really upset by this whole mess. It probably wouldn't take much more to make the paladin lose her temper in a really ugly way.
Arsith presses upon their foes, fighting side by side with Joanna
But she is less succesful
The first of the cultists is struck by Teldon's spear - falling backwards, they collapse in an expanding pool of blood. The second is smashed to one side by Joanna's forceful blow - with a sound of splintering bone, he also collapses in a heap...
...the last of the cultists, in a knocked-through room off to the side, seems less certain now that he has become badly outnumbered... but he gathers his courage and defiantly gestures to Joanna, "Your false god will one day be as dust... and the Dreamer in the Dark will rule over all"
Joanna's eyes glow silver as she marches up to the cultist, her teeth clenched as she moves closer.
"Maybe, but that is not this day," she says as she raises her sword.
The cultist staggers backwards as Joanna's sword cuts a terrible wound in his chest... He doesn't quite collapse but, with the blood pouring from the cut, he surely can't continue...
Teldon whacks at the cultist with the shaft of his spear...
,
Edging forwards, Teldon sweeps forward with his spear before the cultist can attack – the wooden shaft smashes against the man’s head with a vicious crack and, with an abruptly curtailed yelp of pain, he drops to the floor… a stain of red starting to grow in the cloth of the cultist’s mosquito mask.
The friends have a few moments to take in their surroundings… the ladder appears to lead into a crawl space within the roof whilst, over to the left of the room, broken chairs, old straw-filled mattresses and water-stained, mouldering quilts are piled in a corner.
As the group consider the room, the silence is interrupted by the tinkling of broken glass coming from beyond the door to the north.
Look, here, in the left corner! There is a metal strongbox, under the detritus... But beware, the floor seems rotten. I don't want anyone to fall and get hurt. Besides, who knows what lurks under the house?
Teldon frowns at the spreading blood.
"I tried to knock him out, but seem to have hit him too hard..." he states with some frustration, "if you want to questions him, or try to have him tried somewhere, someone will need to stabilize him."
I don't believe Magnimar's authority extends this far at all, though I doubt Joanna has considered that... of course, if their reputation is deserved they may relish the opportunity to extend their influence...
Observing the room he notes several things... "Be careful," he warns everyone, "the floor over there is badly rotten- you may fall through..." then in a much quieter voice he adds, "there's also a metal strongbox beyond it... perhaps the victims effects are in there..." He looks at Arsith with some surprise as she issues her own warning at the same time as his.
"Not to mention someone just broke some glass on the other side of the house," Joanna says as she tends to any survivors.
"I wouldn't suggest doing any proper healing yet..." Teldon offers, fixing his gaze on the northern door and readying his longspear, "try to stabilize them so they don't bleed out and they can be healed after the other threats are dealt with."
Zee beholds the three defeated cultists with an expression that's equal parts contempt and pity. She then checks to see if any of them are still alive. If so, she'll assist Brianna with first aid.
As she works, her eyes tear up. "What has the cult of Ghlaunder done to these people? This should never have come to pass!" She looks to her friends, "We must root out this cult and destroy it before it corrputs this village beyond redemption!"
...and, no sooner have all of the cultists been made safe - their wounds tended and their hands bound, then there is a scraping at the door to the north... and a vaguely familiar voice calls out - a woman's voice... Alizna, the weaver that Mayor Kriegler introduced you to, "Who's there? Oh dear, have you come to help me? Oh, please hurry..."
Let's process with caution, Teldon. I don't trust her, even if I don't know why.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Teldon places a hand on Jo's shoulder and quietly informs his friends, "Do not rush to her aid... It's a trap. There is no real fear in her voice."
Zee whispers, "Given what she said to me about Desna and Ghlaunder at the Festival, I think Alizna is part of the cult.".
Zee takes out her tattered and incomplete Harrow deck, ready to use it as a weapon.
"Please help... Hurry, I believe they are going to sacrifice me... Help!!!", there is another shuffling and scraping noise from beyond the door to the north... and then silence.
"Well, personally, I think I'd like to call her bluff," Joanna says, an edge of anger still in her voice.
Speaking up, her accent becomes just a bit crisper, more aristocratic, as she calls out to Alizna.
"Perhaps you think us fools. We've already had our fill of deceptions, why don't you come into the open, or are you afraid of one young paladin?"
well, that certainly isn't how I would have handled that... but maybe her impetuousness will lead them to make an error...
Teldon creeps up quietly to the northern wall, about a longspear's length from the door.
Joanna stays in front. She's not much for deceptions, but hopefully, the paladin standing in plain sight would distract the woman long enough for her friends to make good on their surprise.
As Joanna calls out, Alizna's reply is accompanied by a rasping laugh, "Very well then my dearest... I could have offered you a new faith... or the chance to meet the Gossamer King upon a sacrificial pyre... Now though my loveliest, I think I shall just leave your bidy for the carrion". As the friends prepare for someone to come through the door, there is another series of scraping noises on the wall... and then, silence...
...and despite that challenge from Alizna, the door remains closed... the only noises now, the heavy breathing of the bound cultists and the creaking of the old house...
"Oh gods, she laughs like my step-mother."
Joanna waits five feet from the door with sword and shield ready.
do you want me to open the door, Jo?
whispers Arsith
Pulling the door inwards, Ziomarra - staying behind the door itself - peers into the next room...
...where there is no evidence of Alizna at all...
To the south, this long room is empty save for a large mound of compost covered with tiny black mushrooms heaped nearly to the ceiling in the southeast corner of the room, while to the north, an old kitchen seems to have been repurposed into some sort of indoor garden. A workbench cluttered with pottery stills and glass alembics stands below small alcoves filled with vials and beakers. Dozens of clay vessels rest haphazardly on wooden boxes, each sprouting neatly-pruned shrubs or large, exotic mushrooms. They appear surprisingly well-tended, given the state of the rest of the building, though the roots of several have burst through their pots.
Joanna cautiously steps into the room, her eyes looking for any sign of the seamstress.
"When the Gossamer King is involved, little is what it appears to be."
Ever so cautiously, Joanna steps into the room - her eyes and ears alert, seeking and searching for the crone who appears to have vanished into thin air. Behind her, Ziomarra and Briana are equally puzzled...
...a puzzlement that lasts mere seconds as Joanna is suddenly bathed in a sticky gossamer web - with no chance to avoid it, all Joanna can do is look up at the ceiling from whence the adhesive strands originated... and there, snug against the ceiling, a bloated spider the size of a human... black pulsating carapace and, as a final abomination, the head of the crone... laughing maniacally...
Web: An entangled creature can escape with a successful Escape Artist check or burst the web with a Strength check. Both are standard actions with a DC of 14. Attempts to burst a web by those caught in it suffer a –4 penalty.
"Don't worry about me! Get her," Joanna calls out.
Arsith attacks the disgusting creature with vigor
Begone, foul creature!
Arsith's attack fails to hit the agile spider-creature... it pulls back close against the ceiling just beyond the sweep of her weapon and then, in dulcet tones, sings towards Arsith, "Sleep now my dear, let gossamer wings usher in your dreams... Sleep now..."
Arsith shakes off the dizziness, and stays awake
Teldon moves up next to Joanna without passing through the door and, investing an arcane spark in his spear, takes advantage of its length to stab at the spider-witch past her...
,
Teldon's spear cuts through the chitinous body of the spider creature... blood dribbling down the shaft as he pulls it away...
Zee enters the room and looks up. She fixes Alizna with an icy stare.
The spider creature recoils as Ziomarra fixes it with her gaze - yet, despite the sudden lethargy which grips it, it easily avoids Briana's Mace attack.