Tanya you recognized the spell as color spray and realize that Xantrius will be unconscious and stunned for several rounds.
Bakji dropped his bow as he came running up before sliding underneath the crazied dwarf's grasp and grabbed up Xantrius's sword ready to strike when he could.
After Tanya touches Xantrius, she will drag him out of the way.
Bakji attempts to twist by the dwarf, but fails to do so. Fortunately, the dwarf has no weapon out and misses his opportunity.
Korak slashes across the dwarves back again before spinning and launching an elbow at his head.
Aleziella repositions around the dwarf now that Xantrius is dragged to safety and lashes out at the dwarf again, spinning him around as she does so, leaving his back open for strike by the others. "With me!" She shouts.
Korak gets in one hit, staggering the dwarf and then Aziella finishes the job. Silence once again returns to the cavern.
Korak looks down at him before leaning down and placing the kama at his throat. He be no beast, he's too dangerous to leave alive behind us. If'n any of you disagree, say so now. I'd not have it on my head unless it must.
Kothar places a hand on korak's shoulder
"he is just scared and alone might have fallen to a bit of insanity but no reason to end his life for, maybe he can see reason once again ...still we should restrain him "
Aleziella turns back to check up on Xantrius the moment the dwarf falls. She is worried about her companion. She cares much more about him than the pain in her chest, she has felt worse falling from a tree and she's sure she'll live despite the bleeding. When she sees that he still moves she let's out a sight of relif and starts saying. "Thankfully, you..." But then what Korak says sinks in and she whirls around. "What?! No!" She vinces in pain from the rapid movement. "He was just delusional and deserves to live! We should heal him up and talk to him, after safely confining him first of course." She beds down to stop his bleeding, not wanting to use healing yet as it might wake her up. Her own blood drip down to mix with his as she does so.
Bakji walked up to him and knelt beside him. He put a hand gently upon the wound and stabilized him, a small glow coming from his hand as the bleeding staunched. "There is no need to speak to him, he has lost his mind. While I do agree that we should not kill him, I don't agree that we should tie him up and heal him. That was his one worry was to be captured. If you want to do him some measure of mercy or justice, we should take him back to the dwarven temple and put him there with a bit of food and water.
Madness doesn't just go away. If we do this at least we send him to his final reward whatever he's earned.
After saying his piece, Bakji would move to Xantrius and slap him a few times to wake him up before handing him his sword and going to pick back up his own bow.
"no matter how you look at it, this is not right to end the life of a defenseless being...if any ting we should leave him at the alter and may the guiding light of that God will help heal his mind...if this is to much for you xill and and I will take him there and we will cache up
"The only way to stop him from casting spells is by binding him up. I want to talk to him to figure out if there is some hope of him coming around and that won't be safe if he can cast. If it truly is insanity that ails him it would require the most powerful magic in order to heal him. I sadly do not know how. I don't think we should kill him even if he is insane, that's not the good thing to do, but I do know what to do with him either. Taking him with us would be very cumbersome, but as you say leaving him down here might be dangerous for us or others. He attacked us on sight." Aleziella shakes her head in frustration at the puzzle with no obvious solution.
Your moral dilemma is solved by the fact that he is dead anyhow (Korak reduced him to 0 hp and he had a 12 Con, so Aziella's hit killed him outright). Searching the camp you find Millorn’s meager gear gathered near his camp, consisting of a ratty bedroll, a small pack filled with dried meat, preserved fruit, and some moldy cheese (6 days of rations), and a chipped 6-inch-tall marble statuette of a humanoid throwing a spear. The statuette is worth 125 gp. In addition you find Millorn’s spellbook which contains; blur, color spray, detect secret doors, fog cloud, grease, invisibility, mage armor, magic missile, resist energy, shocking grasp, and silent image.
On his person you find two potions, one scroll and his cloak which detect as magical. In addition he has a light crossbow with 10 bolts and 12pp and 10gp.
Can anybody identify these?Korak asks gruffly.
"Magic isn't the only way to heal you know. From what I've heard mundane healing actually works better than magical on the mind, but it can take a long time. I say we drop him off at the shrine. Not quite proper I suppose, but better than just leaving him here."
Tanya helps wake up Xantrius, and helps him to his feet.
Ye forget. We'd either have had to free him, leave him a way to get free, or leave him there tied. In the first two he'd be a danger to us and our charges. In the third, he'd be a danger or we woulda been leaving a man to die a slow death by starvation. Either way, he's already gone, that last blow must have finished him off.
"Or we could have left him unconscious and untied, and he was already down here untied so I would not have about that. Of course, we may have gained an ally if we could have calmed him down. He seemed to think we were working for the demons, which was why he attacked, and it isn't that crazy of a thing to think down here."
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Xantrius awakens as the group discusses the possibilities of redemption, climbs to his feet with Tanya's aid and accepts his sword from Bakji.
"I thank you both. I see you have dealt with the mad dwarf; a pity it came to this, but he did not seem to leave us much choice. May you find peace in your final destination." he intones while drawing the spiral of Pharasma over the body.
Looking around, he moves to Aleziella's side. "You are injured! Allow me to ease your pain."
Removing one gauntlet, he reveals a black, scaley claw and touches her on the shoulder gently while starting to sing. Instead of his normal harsh, chilling voice it comes out a rich, smooth baritone that echoes through the chamber as if it were an opera house.
All healing energy flows through me now
Harmony, Beauty, Vitality,
That glorious wisdom that creates and sustains health is mine
May you live in divine well being now and always
Aleziella smiles as the pain in her chest eases slightly. "Thank you, that helps. You have a great voice for singing. Maybe we can sing some together once this is over?" Aleziella's voice was much lighter, though not quite soprano. She had mostly used it for battle cries and praying so far though, not entertainment. "I guess we should look through his things, see if we can find something to use against the demons. A ranged weapon like that crossbow would be nice to have if the enemy is far away, I'm a decent shot. i'll need to unload stuff in order to carry it and still be able to move around freely though. Horgus, can you carry some things?"
Korak moves forward. Here I'll take some of your stuff. He carries much of mine so let us not overburden him.
"Thanks for helping out." She smiles as she hands over 2 trail rations, 2 flasks of acid and one vial of alchemist fire, though not her backpack itself. "Feel free to use the flasks as weapons, I have them in case I run into something I can harm with my rapier. Let's gather up the rest of the stuff here though. It's sad, but he won't have use of it anymore and we can use it to fight against or trade it for things to the demons.
Sounds good
poor fool, if only we did not kill you you might have been able to be saved....my you find peace with your god.... kothar thought looking at the group as the raid his belongings
"we should at least bury him, he was just scared no need to insult the dwarf more by leaving his body for the bugs..."
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Help me gather rocks then. It's more practical than fire.
"We don't have a shovel, and digging here would be hard anyway, but building a cairn is a good solution. It's both faster and easier." Alziella says before joining in on the burial.
"the temple is not too far back I will take him there and give the proper rights..I admit my knowledge of your Dwarven customs are not that broad but I believe I know the correct ones" kothar will have place the dwarf on his dragons back and take him the the temple once there after the burial he sings a song to the dwarf and his god to help him on his way...
"The night is black, the sky is blotted out, we have left the holds of our fathers,
And this one has returned to the Maker. The light becomes dark,
The night and again night, the day with sorrow tomorrow
For this one has returned to the Maker.
The Old Ones have passed away, their homes are the stones far off, below,
Their spirits are laboring free. Where are their spirits laboring?
Only the rocks know, or the passing wind.
And this one has returned to the Maker.
Are they below, the Old Ones? Are they here?
Do they labor warm by his forge, do they see our offering?
Tomorrow is naked and empty, for this one has gone
He is no longer seated with us at our fire."
Korak looks down the passage and looks at his companions. I'm going with him. He's one of mine. Korak rushes after Kothar to help.
"We can secure this spot, maybe scout about while you two do that. There weren't any other branches so I doubt any trouble will find you."
Tanya will find a good spot to ambush enemies that enter the area from the unexplored passage.
The group spends two hours doing some scouting, going back to the temple, and interring the dwarf. Afterwards yo head out to the east in the only direction available from here. Everywhere there is evidence that there were other options, but most tunnels have collapsed recently. The devastation from yesterday's events seems to be widespread.
Tanya looks closely at the collapsed tunnels, looking for any indication as to whether their collapse was collatoral or if something specifically collapsed them. Also will toss really tiny pebbles or dust at them to see if any are illusory. In between watching the ceiling of course.
Speaking quietly, "Why do I feel like we are being funneled somewhere specific? Anyone else suspect a trap ahead?"
Perhaps. But I suspect it be as natural as the hole that dropped us down here. Still, best keep our guard up.
After about an hours travel, you come to a steeply inclined tunnel that leads upwards to the north, its walls are lined with numerous nooks, handholds, and dozens of iron pitons that have been driven into the walls long ago. This shaft leads upward at a steep angle for about 60 feet. The cracks, handholds, and pitons allow for you to ascend the shaft almost as if a ladder were present.
After climbing for 60 feet, the shaft levels out and heads northwest for approximately 2,500 feet (a 30-minute walk at a speed of 15 feet). The tunnel opens into a large cavern, about 70 feet across. Cylindrical rock formations along the walls arch up to make a dome-like chamber, but the walls and floor are riddled with cracks. At the center of the cave, a stone tower that may once have reached the fifty-foot-high ceiling has collapsed onto its side.
Just before you would give yourselves away, the people up front notice two figures focusing on slowly and carefully digging through the tower’s rubble, wary of causing accidental collapse. Now and then they call out, and a muffled voice in the rubble answers back.
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On the long trek up the tunnels, Xantrius drops back near the wounded and speaks to Aravashnial in a low voice. After some discussion about various tomes on demons and the lower planes that he consulted in the library, he asks, "I hope that you might be willing to help me once we return to the surface. You seem quite knowledgeable, I wonder if you might have some association with the Librarium of the Broken Black Wing? I have been trying without success to speak with the head librarian for several days, but have always been told that he is busy. I would be greatly appreciative if you could assist me in gaining an audience with him!"
When they arrive at the collapsed cavern, he moves closer and asks, "Greetings, do you require aid?"
Aleziella holds out a hand to halt their progress and whispers "Stop, there are someone up ahead digging in the ruins. We need to go this way of course, but we should approach with caution. These might not be friendly either." She still has her rapier ready and is ready to fight.
"Oh, for Desna's sake!" Aleziella mutters. After the last encounter you would think Xantrius would be more careful. Still the light would probably give them away anyway. She peers into the darkness, trying to make out what sort of creatures are digging, walking closer until she is 60 feet away if necesarry.
Aleziella figures they might as well make the best of it now that all hopes of observing and planning in advance have been lost. She quickly prays. "Desna guide me. Before she says out loud in a gentle yet strong and carrying voice. "The tower must have fallen in the same event that caused us to fall down here. It seems like we share similar fates of being victims of this disaster. Maybe we can help each other? We come with news of what is happening on the surface and extra manpower to help with various tasks while you might be able to tell us where we are and where we can go from here?"
Bakji remained wary of strangers he met in the dark. He was not the best speaker so it made sense for the others to choose to be the ones that could lower their guard and approach others as if there were strangers meeting over a drink at the tavern.
He chose to slip away from the group, using the shadows to hide but keeping an eye on the newcomers. His bow drawn and an arrow knocked just in case things dissolved into violence.
As you approach, the two figures drop into defensive stances but are not aggressive. One of them is a hunchbacked woman, her face so warped by tumors that she’s incapable of intelligible speech. The second is a man that is a tall, thin creature with a face that melds the features of an attractive elven man, a goat, and a lizardfolk. His oversized fingers end in dull, spade-like talons. He greets you in a raspy voice, speaking in strangely accented but quite eloquent Common.
“If your intentions are ill, we ask you to move on and leave us in peace. If they are good, then perhaps you can help. As you can see, misfortune has befallen us.”