Sverix nods his thanks to Irabeth, with a bit of a laugh at her joke. "Don't worry, I'm too young to expect that," he replies, with a toothy grin.
"Thanks, this should be good. Do you mind if I push the furniture to the side?" Sverixalint says to Kimroth, trying not to stare at his missing arm.
Sverix spent a few minutes rearranging the room to his liking--mostly pushing the furniture around so that he had a nice clear spot in the middle to curl up. He spent a bit of time investigating the floor to make certain there weren't any cracks between the boards large enough for a coin. Then he carefully emptied out his sacks.
He sets the various valuables he's picked up in a careful but swift arrangement at the edges of the room, then heaps up the coins in the center, before returning the magic items to his carry-sack. He hesitates before settling down to sleep, however.
He should pray. After all, Apsu's power had helped him a lot today, and who knew what more the Waybringer had done for him over the past few days? Reverently Sverix grasps his holy symbol in one claw, bows his head, and murmurs a quiet prayer.
"Ó Drottinn Apsu, takk fyrir að gefa mér styrk til að vernda þá í dag. Og takk fyrir að allir séu lifandi. Og ... Um, vinsamlegast hjálpa mér að hjálpa þessu fólki meira. Takk."
That done, he stays quiet for a moment, then slowly curls up around his little pile of coins. Maybe in the days to come his hoard would grow much greater...
As he drifted off to sleep, Sverix's last thought was that today had been his hatch-day. He fell asleep with a smile on his face, the cold fire of gold and dreams of righteous battle playing through his mind.
Sometime during the night, Sverixalint's dreams changed. He was flying... and he was huge. But he had no time to examine himself. Demons were attacking his city, including his old foe.
Some part of Sverix noticed that he wasn't dreaming of himself, that he didn't have silver scales, but the dream swept him along into battle with the Storm King. She had beaten him before, but this time something was different... she was losing.
She fought as hard as she could, but the end came. She was on the ground, dying... caught sight of a young bronze dragon and some humanoids falling. With her last breath she cast a spell...
...and Sverix was himself again, falling into darkness...
He awoke with a start, his heart pounding in reaction to the dream. The young dragon pants for a few moments as the adrenaline leaves him, slowly feeling more normal as he thinks over the strange dream. He'd dreamed he was Terendelev, but... it had seemed so real. And when she'd looked at him...
Well, strange dreams happened. For now, Sverix pushes the thoughts aside. There was work to do. He stood up and stretched, noticing as he did that he felt well-rested, and, in fact, stronger than ever. It was as if all of the fighting yesterday had been good for him. And why wouldn't it be? He was a bronze dragon, born to fight evil, to defend those weaker than himself. And what was more, he was sworn to Apsu, father of dragons and even of all creation. No doubt his god was pleased that Sverix wasn't waiting until he was older to defend others against evil.
His gaze turned to his little hoard. Part of him wanted to leave it here. His carry-sack was quite full with all of his stuff in it, and he hoped to gain more as spoils from his battles with the demons and their evil allies. But this wasn't really a safe lair. It wasn't really even his. Well, maybe he could talk with Irabeth, or maybe Kimroth, about keeping some stuff here. For now, he left the bulky weapons in the room but put the rest back in his carry-sack, then left the room looking for Irabeth.
|
Sverix had wondered earlier why Apsu would have saved him, but not Terendelev. Reflecting upon his dream, he realized that the primary way in which Apsu acts in the world is through the actions of his followers. So, Terendelv may have been the means by which Apsu saved Sverix. Worth pondering.
The next morning, you head downstairs to the common room. A group of knights are standing around a table, a large map of Kenabres splayed out on the table between them. They are pointing at various spots and are deep in discussion about possibilities, plans, tactics, and intelligence.
To the side Irabeth and Anevia are sitting together at a table. In front of them are two plates with crumbs on them, and a pair of large mugs steaming with some sort of hot beverage.
Irabeth waves you over. "Sverix, it is good to see you again. I trust the accommodations were reasonable?"
Kimroth comes by the table, and says, sounding apologetic, "I fear I don't know what bronze dragons eat for breakfast...."
After a brief discussion with the old one-armed man, you are given some sort of reasonable and nourishing meal. Kimroth also tells Sverix that as long as he needs it, the room is his, especially if Sverix will be working with the Eagle Watch. With the members of the Watch stationed here, it's probably one of the most secure places in Kenabres at the moment.
Over breakfast, you see that Anevia has a bit of a (metaphorical) glow about her, and seems to be more relaxed than she's been since you met her downstairs. She is doing very well reunited with her wife Irabeth. Among other things, Irabeth tells you that word has gotten out about the attack that Kenabres suffered. She's heard that Nerosyan (the capital of Mendev) and other cities have faced their own attacks, but none of the other cities have faced a defeat as severe as what Kenbres has faced. "Our wardstone was destroyed. That line of defense has served us for decades. The ward is now weakest near us, but the entire network of wardstones will have been weakened as a result of the destruction of this wardstone. It is a grim time. But, it could have been worse. If they had focused all of their might on Nerosyan, all might now be lost. I thank Iomedae daily for the inherent disorganization of demonkind; despite their overwhelming force, their disorganization blunts the effect of their attack."
She tells you that she believes a strong contingent of the Mendevian army is on its way to Kenabres. Because of heavy losses to the forces in Kenabres, she's in charge of the Eagle Watch now; that may change when the rest of the army arrives. For now, she needs to remain at Defender's Watch to coordinate defense and patrols.
Eventually, she leads you over to the map of the town. Among other things, there are pins in the location of the three safehouses she learned about from the note you found on Hosilla below ground. (They are marked on the Kenabres Map as Topaz Solutions, the Tower of Estrod, and Nyserian Manor.)
"These safehouses for the Ivory Templars are very concerning to me. If you would like to help your city further, I would ask that you investigate them, and root out any cultist activity there. This is a hidden cancer within our city that only makes it harder to fight the obvious fight currently besetting us."
Anevia will go with you. It turns out that to fully heal her broken leg, it will take a regenerate spell, and there are no divine casters that Irabeth knows of in the city capable of magic that strong. She is still able to fight, however, even though her movement is slower than it would be otherwise. (20ft move.)
Irabeth also wants to send Tobias and Orrin with you. She believes that they were led astray, and should not suffer severe punishment. However, to pay back their debt, sending them on dangerous and life-threatening missions such as this is reasonable. (Neither of them is as accomplished an adventurer as either Sverix or Aneiva.)
"Sverix, it is good to see you again. I trust the accommodations were reasonable?"
Sverix nods, then grins a bit, thinking of the differences between humanoids and dragons. "The floor wasn't quite as hard as I'm used to, since it wasn't solid rock, but it was still fine. I feel well-rested!"
"I fear I don't know what bronze dragons eat for breakfast...."
"The same thing we eat any time we eat," Sverix replies. "Mostly raw meat, though we can really eat just about anything if we need to."
His stomach rumbled, and he paused a moment, realizing just how hungry he was. When did he eat yesterday? He was pretty sure he had, but the details seemed fuzzy...
"Ummm... so, I'll take whatever food you have," Sverix finishes, realizing he'd trailed off.
He thanks Kimroth for the food and ravenously devours it. It's only after he finishes that he realizes that maybe he should try for more humanoid-like table manners.
"Sorry..." he says to anyone watching, a bit embarrassed.
"Our wardstone was destroyed. That line of defense has served us for decades. The ward is now weakest near us, but the entire network of wardstones will have been weakened as a result of the destruction of this wardstone. It is a grim time. But, it could have been worse. If they had focused all of their might on Nerosyan, all might now be lost. I thank Iomedae daily for the inherent disorganization of demonkind; despite their overwhelming force, their disorganization blunts the effect of their attack."
She tells you that she believes a strong contingent of the Mendevian army is on its way to Kenabres. Because of heavy losses to the forces in Kenabres, she's in charge of the Eagle Watch now; that may change when the rest of the army arrives. For now, she needs to remain at Defender's Watch to coordinate defense and patrols.
Eventually, she leads you over to the map of the town. Among other things, there are pins in the location of the three safehouses she learned about from the note you found on Hosilla below ground. (They are marked on the Kenabres Map as Topaz Solutions, the Tower of Estrod, and Nyserian Manor.) "These safehouses for the Ivory Templars are very concerning to me. If you would like to help your city further, I would ask that you investigate them, and root out any cultist activity there. This is a hidden cancer within our city that only makes it harder to fight the obvious fight currently besetting us."
Sverix listens to Irabeth's description of the situation solemnly. When she mentions Iomedae, the thought crosses his mind that the human goddess was a friend to Apsu.
"I do want to help the city," he says when Irabeth finishes. "I'm a bronze dragon. Defending those weaker than us is part of what I am."
He doesn't seem to realize that his statement could be taken as an insult.
"I'm also devoted to Apsu, the Wayfinder, and I'm sure he'd want me to help. So I'll go and get rid of these evil cultists."
Sverix feels a little awkward taking Anevia with him, but then he thinks about it for a second and decides it's actually brave. "Volunteering to fight while still suffering is courage worthy of a dragon," he says to her, nodding in respect.
He agrees to take Tobias and Orrin, too, thinking it appropriate that they be given more chances to redeem themselves in righteous battle.
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Because it's closest, you head first to Toaz Solutions. You pass a huge furrow where some sort of massive attack simply levelled everything in its pass before continuing into blocks of Kenabres that are ruined, and some blocks that still have standing buildings.
You come to the location of Topaz Solutions, the first of the three Ivory Templars safe houses on the note you found. A wooden sign above the door bears a carving of a bundle of orange herbs and flowers hovering over a beaker filled with smoking orange liquid. The building’s windows are tightly shuttered, but the front door hangs halfway off its hinges. Moving to the door and looking inside, you see six men hanging out in there. They have leather armor and longswords, and do not look like herbalists. It's possible that they are seeking refuge here; it's also possible they are looters.
Let me know how you proceed.
Sverix pokes his head in the door and looks things over.
"Hello," he says, not quite certain what to make of them. They don't seem like they're cultists, but that doesn't mean they aren't. "Do you need help? Did you know this isn't a very good place to hide?"
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The men react with a start. A couple of them even draw their longswords as they see Sverix, but one of them gestures to the others to put them down.
"Uh, no, we're fine, just resting a bit here before moving on."
They were definitely trying to hide something. In fact, they were so obvious about it that Sverix doubted they were cultists--he was pretty sure the cultists had to be better than that at lying or they would have been discovered earlier.
Which meant they were probably looters worried about him stealing their loot. Well, much as he liked gold, and much as he hated the idea of stealing, he had no proof that was what they were doing. But... well, maybe he could do some good here.
"You should probably go to Defender's Heart, then," Sverixalint states. "You look like you know how to use a weapon, and the Eagle Watch can use all of the help they can get right now fighting the demons left here in the city. Think of it! You could be some of the heroes that saved the poor, struggling survivors of Kenabres, celebrated by those you've saved when at last the army arrives."
He pauses a moment and adds, "Oh, and since you probably don't know this, I thought I should tell you that Apsu, the god of dragons like me, teaches that we should show mercy..." suddenly his voice drops to a threatening growl, "...once. Don't make me regret giving you one chance."
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The men look at each other. "Um, yeah, OK, Defender's Heart. We'll look for that," the leader says.
Unless you stop them, the men will start to file out past you and disappear into the city.
Sverixalint suspects they have no intention of listening to his words, but... again, he has no proof they have done anything wrong, and he has bigger things to worry about than men to steal from abandoned shops.
"Just remember, gold will do you no good if the demons win," he says, noting the sack, but he still steps aside and lets them go.
Once they are gone, he looks over to Anevia and the knights. "Anevia, could you give Orrin back his sword? And both you of you are no longer bound by the oath you swore, because we did get back to an authority. But you should still not charge out in front of me. Now..."
He turns back to the shop. "We should search and see if the cultists left anything here. They probably had a hiding place or something, but we should be careful in case they left a trap."
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Sverix finds a secret door in the northwest corner of the room, behind a shelf of bottles and jars full of powders and liquids and leaves and such. (It would take somebody with some alchemical knowledge to have a clue what to do with these.)
The shelf swings aside to reveal stairs heading down.
Sverix heads down the stairs, followed by Anevia, Tobias, and Orrin (who accepts his sword and indicates that he will follow Sverix's lead).
It's dark; Sverix can see, but the humans are currently relying on whatever light is coming down the stairwell (which doesn't amount to much at the bottom).
The air in this basement is damp and musty-smelling. The walls and floor are packed earth, while dozens of gourds hang from the ceiling beams. A sludge of rotting plant matter covers the floor. Against one wall, a wooden table holds a strange apparatus that looks like a clockwork toy of a snake-bodied, six-armed woman holding a sword in each hand. A tightly corked bottle, filled with what looks like water, sits before the statue. A wooden chest covered with engraved runes stands under the table, and a sinister image of a star surrounding a goat’s face is painted on the wall above the table.
The table is against the south wall. The green blobby things are thicker piles of vegetable matter and sludge on the floor.
"This is definitely a cultist place," Sverix states. "That's a demon-shaped toy, and that's definitely a Baphomet symbol on the wall."
He hesitates a moment, then looks back up at the humanoids. "I should probably check it for traps or other dangerous things before you come down, since I can see in the dark. Wait for me upstairs unless you hear me fighting something, okay?"
Once the others are safely upstairs, he starts looking around for traps, starting with the bottom of the stairs and making his way towards the (very suspicious) chest.
Sverix hesitates, his instinctive protectiveness warring with practicality.
"Um, well, if you have a light source, you might be better than me," he admits. "So if you have a torch or something, please do help."
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She speaks a few arcane words, and a light appears at the tip of her bow. She gives Sverix a lopsided smile. "Didn't realize I could cast any spells? Alas, that's my only trick; I can do that a couple of times a day."
She moves slowly into the room, looking around for trouble.
"Looks clear to me," she says, after moving a short ways into the room . "Do you see anything?"
Let me know where you move to, and give me a Perception check.
"Oh, yeah! I forgot," Sverix admits, a bit embarrassed. "You did that when we fell."
He carefully follows behind Anevia, looking around. When she pauses, he says, "I'll look over nearer that chest. It looks suspicious to me. It's probably some kind of trap, but we should check it out anyway."
Sverix cautiously walks towards the chest, looking around for any tripwires or other signs of traps.
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Verrix doesn't have to get very far in -- he's just behind Anevia -- when he can tell that the marilith toy has articulated arms, and based on some trigger, it's designed to smash down with its arms. There's a small bottle at the base; probably it's set up so that if you pull the bottle away, it will break, unless you do it just right....
Let me know how you proceed.
"Wait!" Sverix cries out, then realizes he's the only one moving. A bit embarrassed, he adds more quietly. "Look at that toy! It's supposed to move its arms, I think. And probably smash the bottle? I'm not sure what sets it off, though. Ummm... if you know about traps, do you have any idea how we could keep it from going off? I guess I could blast it with my breath if we don't have a better idea... if we went back to the stairs we might be far enough away to be safe."
Sverix frowns. "I'm not sure... I can't figure out what triggers it, so maybe that part's magic? I suppose I can use my own magic to try and see."
He raises a claw to his holy symbol and murmurs a brief prayer, then focuses on the area around the toy.
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After a few rounds, you detect magic on a few things. The small clockwork marilith statue on the desk is in fact magical.
You notice a chest underneath the table. The chest also has a magic aura.
"Okay, there's magic on the toy and on the chest under the table," Sverix reports. "I'm not sure what the magic is, though. One of them is probably the trigger. Do you think you can disarm it?"
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Anevia nods, and approaches the trap.
Things go horribly wrong. When she gets within fifteen feet of the table, the chest seems to start talking. "Ahh... I hope you are among Iomedae’s slaves... I would hate to think of mere peasants wasting such a personal greeting from Lord Baphomet!”
The sound of the voice triggers the clockwork toy--in particular,it seemed to be triggered by the word "Baphomet"; it's arms smash weapons down on the bottle, which releases poison into the air. Poisonous vapors spread out into a cloud of 30ft radius; it's a good thing Tobias and Orrin aren't down here.
...
Her nose starts bleeding uncontrollably, and she takes nonlethal damage: . Her nose continues bleeding.
Also, out of one of the piles of sludge bursts a small vicious looking creature,that looks like a lumpy wide-mouthed fat child made out of bark and leaves.
Anevia sees the creature emerge from the sludge, and tries to shoot it with her bow.
However, her arrow sinks harmlessly into the muck.
Orrin calls down from upstairs. "Is everything OK down there? Should we come down?"
The plant creature shrieks a horrendous shriek.
...
Anevia claps her hands over her ears, and is woozy. She will be nausea, only able to take a move action, for 3 rounds.
Sverix needs to make a DC 15 Will save or be nauseated for rounds.
The green-tinted area on the map is the region the cloud from the bottle has billowed into.
Action Order
- Anevia
- Orrin
- Plant Creature
- Sverix — Current
- Tobias
Let me know how you proceed. (Remember the Will save!)
Sverix grits his teeth at the awful shriek, managing to keep himself focused.
"Get your crossbows and come to the stairs!" Sverix shouts in response to Orrin's call. "Anevia! Get to the stairs! I'll handle this thing."
He debates briefly, but decides that risking the poison is a better idea than letting the strange creature attack Anevia in her vulnerable state. He takes a deep breath and steps forward into the cloud, then unleashes his full fury on the bizarre monster.
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The shrieking plant creature manages to dodge Sverix's bite, but one of the dragon's claws and one of his wings manage to hit the thing.
Tobias and Orrin both ready their heavy crossbows and start working their way down the stairs.
Her nose still bleeding, Anevia's eyes start to glow red. She does not seem to notice that this is happening. She moves past the small plant creature, trying to dodge in such a way that it can't take an opportunity attack on her.
Unfortunately, it's a little to fast for her, and bites at her as she's going by.
It damages her, and also grabs ahold of her in its teeth! Anevia is now grappled by the creature.
It continues to chew on her, and between that and the nonlethal damage from her nosebleed, she falls unconscious.
Action Order
- Anevia
- Orrin
- Plant Creature
- Sverix — Current
- Tobias
Sverix is up again. Anevia is unconscious (but still a little bit above 0hp) and grabbed.
Sverix roars. In his anger he channels a bit of Apsu's power to strengthen himself before throwing himself at the creature with renewed fury.
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Sverix's first bite and claw rips the creature apart, leaving a shredded pile of bark, leaves, and fiber that is difficult to differentiate from the rest of the pile of mulch on the ground.
Both Tobias and Orrin retreat a bit up the stairs, lowering their crossbows, eyes wide as they see the fury of a bronze dragon who just watched a friend get taken out in combat.
Sverix drags Anevia out of the cloud of gas, but succumbs to the poison as he does so....
...as a jolt of electricity zaps throughout the interior of the dragon from whatever strange arcane effect the poisonous gas has. Being a bronze dragon, this does not affect him at all. (It was going to be less than 10 points of damage in any event.)
As soon as Sverix has Anevia out of the poison cloud he calls on Apsu to heal her.
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Anevia's eyes open. "Thank you," she says. "That was a vicious little houseplant."
She stands up. After a minute or so, the vapors dissipate, and you can safely move into the room again.
Anevia goes back to the chest, looks at it carefully, decides it's safe now, and opens it. She gestures Sverix over.
The chest is mostly empty. Sitting on the bottom is a piece of paper; written on it is, "We don’t need these anymore, but figured if you survived our surprise, it would be just plain rude to leave behind an empty chest for your troubles!"
Anevia lifts the paper. Below it are five iron holy symbols of Iomedae, doubtless taken off of clerics or paladins waylaid by the cultists.
Anevia points at the holy symbols. "They seem to be coated in something; I don't like the look of it."
Let me know how you proceed.
Sverix sniffs at them slightly and wrinkles his nose. "They smell wrong, too. I'll bet they put poison on them or something. We should probably just leave them here and then tell the Eagle Watch about them. They can probably come wash them off and get them after the city is safe, and maybe return them to some paladins' families."
He looks around a bit more. "Well... I guess I can take the demon toy. Maybe somebody could make it look like something less evil? It seems a shame to throw away the nice clockwork, at least."
He sticks it carefully in his bag. "Let's go to the next place now. Oh, but first, Anevia, I think you need a bit more healing."
He pulls out his wand and waves it over her remaining wound.
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Anevia grimaces. "They're not satisfied with just killing and burning. They also have to defile the symbols of the crusaders, and use them as traps."
She shakes her head. "Yes, we'll tell Irabeth and the others about these. Somebody will know how to clean them off and reconsecrate them."
She thanks Sverix as he heals her back up to full strength. The four set out for the next cultist safe house location in Kenabres: the Tower of Estrod, which was once a library and research laboratory owned by the city. It's prominence faded a couple of years ago after its founder's death; knowing what you know now, it's unfortunate that the city did not look closer into what was going on there.
Passing through a wide gash in the wall surrounding New Kenabres, you arrive at the tower before long. The sixty-foot-diameter gray stone tower is missing the bulk of its upper floors—some terrific force smashed its upper sections away, creating huge mound of rubble north of the building and leaving the tower now a mere stump with a jagged top.
The front door of the tower is closed.
Let me know how you proceed.
Anevia's words strike Sverixalint. It isn't enough for the demons to kill, is it? They're not just hear for conquest, they're here to destroy goodness itself. Like the demon in the dress shop, they're here to tear apart beauty, to defile hope, to crush the sacred...
And he is here to stop them.
Such ruminations occupied the young dragon's mind as they traveled to the next location. He shakes himself from his thoughts as the ruined tower comes into sight.
"Well... it looks like the bottom part is still intact, so there might be something here," Sverix says, doubtfully. "But it might just be another trap. We should approach carefully. I'll go first."
Warily, Sverix stalks up to the door, keeping an eye out for anything that looks like a trap.
Sverixalint looks back and forth at the others. "If it's locked... someone might be here," he whispers. "Anevia, can you, umm... pick the lock?" He seems a bit embarrassed to be asking the question, like he's not quite sure it's right to be asking someone such a thing.
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Anevia nods as if it weren't an unusual request at all, pulls out a set of lockpicks, and goes to work on the lock.
It takes her several minutes to do it, and after the first couple of minutes she starts grumbling under her breath.
Finally, with a light "click", she finishes. She puts away her tools, looks at Sverix, and says quietly, "Sorry that took so long."
Sverix listens at the door while waiting.
When Anevia unlocks the door, Sverix quietly summons up some protection for himself.
He nods his thanks to Anevia. "I'll go first," he quietly states, and pushes open the door.
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As you're opening the door, you hear a voice saying, "Intruders! They're coming through the door and they didn't speak the passphrase! Warn the master, I'll hold them off!"
The ground floor of the tower is now open to the air—a tangle of
wooden supports above being all that remains of the building’s upper stories. Two rubble-f i lled pools fl ank a central walkway that crosses to an open area with a few shelves, a desk and chair, and a flight of stairs leading down. There are two people in here whose heraldry you've come to recognize indicate they're cultists of Baphomet. One is standing 15 feet back from the door, glaive at the ready. The other is bolting for the stairs down.
Tobias reacts fastest, but he delays, wanting to let Aneiva get a chacne to get a clear shot off. The cultist heading down the stairs descends them and disappears from sight.
Anevia takes that shot with her longbow. She easily hits the chain-shirt-wearing cultist, doing 4 points of damage. As she fires her shot, Orrin moves in front of her to defend her, reading an attack should the cultist come within range. The cultist promptly does that, and Orrin swings his longsword, hitting her critically! The cultist does not even get to swing her glaive at Sverix before she drops to the ground, bleeding and dying.
Tobias grunts his approval and holds his action.
Action Order
- Cultist #1
- Anevia
- Orrin
- Cultist #2
- Sverix — Current
- Tobias
Sverix is up!
"I'll go ahead! You follow behind!" Sverix orders, then charges over to the stairs and looks down them.
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Sverix gets to the top of the stairs just in time to see other other cultist start to climb back up them. She says to somebody behind her, "They're up here! They had a small dragon with them!"
Turning, sees Sverix, and hefts her glaive.
Action Order
- Cultist #1
- Anevia
- Orrin
- Cultist #2
- Sverix — Current
- Tobias
"One small dragon is all it will take for you!" Sverix roars, then accentuates his point with an exhaled bolt of lightning.
Then he advances down the stairs, though he stays out of glaive reach.
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The cultist's eyes bulge out as she's electrocuted, but she manages to stay standing.
Just after that, a very demonic-looking tiefling steps into view at the bottom of the stairs. He cocks a half-smile. "A dragon! And much smaller than the last one that got killed here. Well.
He speaks some arcane words.
Sverix's vision starts to cloud over, and he sees the scene in front of him fading out. However, through force of will, he is just barely able to focus his mind and shake off the effect, and he retains his vision.
The cultist with the glaive advances up the stairs and swings at Sverix. She slices deeply into the dragon, doing a heavy 12 points of damage.
Anevia moves to the top of the stairs and fires an arrow at the glaive cultist. Unfortunately the arrow clatters against the wall as she tries to shoot down the curved staircase.
Seeing the narrow staircase and knowing they won't get into melee range, both Tobias and Orrin sheathe their swords and ready their crossbows.
Action Order
- Cultist #1
- Anevia
- Tobias
- Orrin
- Sverix — Current
- Faxon
Sverix is up again.
Sverix growls in anger at both the tiefling's words and the cultist's strike. He taps a claw to his holy symbol, and his wound closes slightly.
"Unfortunately for you, you're not the Storm King," Sverix growls, then steps forward and tears into the glaive-wielding cultist.
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Sverix bites the cultist, ripping the side of the cultist's neck off. A spray of warm blood sprays into Sverix's mouth, reminding him of his carniverous nature....
(Since you used a five-foot step, you can't actually continue moving even though you only attacked once.)
Seeing his underling drop, the tiefling grimaces at Sverix, and then speaks the incantation of a spell. Saying "May you be cursed by the weight of the world!" he moves forward and attempts to touch Sverix.
(If Sverix has a 10ft reach -- I think he does with his bite now? -- he can take an opportunity attack as the man moves in.)
He reaches out to touch Sverix:
and just barely makes contact with the dragon. Sverix feels the strength of his muscles begin to sap under the curse....
(Make a Will save!)
Tobias and Orrin both have their crossbows ready, but don't have a clear shot. Anevia moves down the stairway behind Sverix and fires through cover at the tiefling.
She almost hits, but the cramped quarters of the stairway impede her shot just enough that she can't quite hit.
Sverix is up again.
Action Order
- Anevia
- Tobias
- Orrin
- Sverix — Current
- Faxon
Sverix just snarls and assaults the spellcaster with his all.
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As the tiefling ducks and weaves, Sverix has a much harder time making contact with his attack. He hits with one claw, however, digging into the man and making him snarl with anger.
He reaches out again and tries to touch Sverix with the hand that's got the spell charged up on it:
However, he comes nowhere near the dragon as wings, legs, and tails whip around in a confusing dance.
Anevia again tries to shoot an arrow past Sverix:
This time she hits, and the man begins to look rather beleaguered as he oozes blood from the furrow of Sverix's claw, and an arrow sticks out of his shoulder.
Sverix is up again; same map.
"Since you like the Abyss so much, why don't I just SEND YOU THERE!" Sverix roars as he continues trying to tear the tiefling apart.
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Sverix promptly sends the man to the abyss, as he falls after a bite and a claw. His body rolls down the stairs to the bottom of the floor, leaving a trail of blood. The place is quite a mess now. The spell on his hand fades away harmlessly.
Sverix continues down to the ground floor, followed by the others. He sees a semicircular room that is empty except for a few bookshelves against the walls and a single desk and chair that sit in one corner. A huge set of wood and metal double doors stands in the south wall.
Anevia moves over to the door and carefully inspects it.
"I am pretty sure this is not trapped," she says. "It's locked, though. Shall I try to open the lock?"
Sverix comes down and looks around as well, and he also investigates the bodies for valuables.
"Yes, please do," he says. "Maybe they have some papers or something that could tell us more about what they're doing here?"
He looks at the desk, wondering if it might have something important on it, too.
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There doesn't seem to be anything particularly interesting in the desk. There are some rather dubious looking trail rations stashed in one of the drawers, and a wineskin that's filled with something that better approximates vinegar than wine.
Anevia goes to work on the door. She spends quite some time at it, occasionally cursing, and then apologizing to Irabeth (who isn't present, of course) in a whisper for her foul mouth.
Eventually she stands up and looks at Sverix. "Whatever is in there is probably pretty important, because that's a tough lock. I almost got it. If I had finer quality tools, I probably could open it."