Zaliana moves along, staying back and maintaining the concentration on her spell.
Lysander quietly draws his short sword, preparing for anything.
Several figures surrounding a smaller one... Ursula's a gnome, right? They're probably tryin' to kill her off right now!
Agnis, greatsword still in hand, moves to the next door and prepares to bust it open as soon as his fellows are in position.
fail
fail
fail
As your allies approached the entryway, it was rather difficult to understand the chatter of thoughts happening. It seemed as if they were speaking an alien language, something dark and foreboding. One thing was for certain, the one life signal that was fading had a string of thoughts that you could discern - Must survive and warn the Lyceum!
The party prepares itself in advance of the entryway within Ursula's business. For a moment, quiet desperation took ahold the crew half expecting any number of horrors to occur - be it teleporting planar enemies to horde of dwemer rats. Agnis took a position ready to bash the door.
An audible click resounds within the foyer, as if something had been locked or barred prompting Agnis to react. With the heft of his greatsword of bashing, he cleaves a sizable chunk from the door but a majority of it stood in the way. Within the clearing, Agnis, Aralee, Lysander and Zaliana couldn't believe what they saw.
Ursula deValla had been strapped to the ground by her very veins and arteries as a fresh pool of blood seeped into her clothing. A trio of figures cloaked in dark non descript hooded robes had noticed the sudden intrusion and hurried in their task.
"Get away from 'er!" Agnis shouts, his voice almost catching in his throat. He brings his greatsword to bear, hoping to strike down a cultist in a single blow.
Fighting back rising gorge from the horrifying sight, Lysander speaks an incantation, and his short sword begins to glow with an inner light.
Zaliana abandons concentration on her spell, and immediately begins to sing a ballad about how three Varisian brothers use cunning and courage to rescue their sister from kidnappers.
If there is room, she moves closer to Ursula, without putting herself in harms way.
Aralee casts Spiritual Weapon. A ghostly longsword appears and flies at one of the enemies (one that hasn't been hit yet).
Barza flies over to guard Agnis.
Lysander's light revealed that much of the chamber had been desecrated, proving that Ursula had put up much of a fight. A broken door to the south revealed a possible entryway...
Agnis rushed foward, unabated by the debris and found that his great sword made impact. In a moment, the cultist's garb was ruined revealing a pale slender woman. Her voice crackled like cockroaches skittering from a hole. As she turned, Agnis and the party could see she bore a striking resemblance to the late diva, Corrin.
Just as the party saw this horrific realization, Aralee's ethereal sword bounds for another robed cultist, catching its target square in the chest before floating with supernatural grace.
Before the party has a moment to collect their thoughts, the disrobed cultist offers a loud hiss before disappearing into nothing. A wave of energy envelopes Agnis, Lysander, Aralee and Barza.
Meanwhile, the cultist struck by Aralee's blade turns to face Agnis. In a flash, two milky white blades narrowly catch the hulking warrior's frame.
At this point, a blanket of supernatural darkness covers the chamber, as the sound of a door swinging rings in the distance.
Monster 3 hp: 22/???
Monster 1 hp: 5/???
Monster 2 hp: ???/???
Seeing several of her allies falter under the magical effect, Zaliana ends her song with a sudden flurish that somehow provides new mental fortitude to Lysander.
Newly fortified by the finale of Zaliana's tune, Lysander tries again to resist the wave of energy sweeping across him.
Agnis and Aralee succumb to the aura of dread from the cultist. They find that an uncontrollable fear spreads though their body hampering their actions.
Zaliana casts cure light wounds, then moves to heal Ursula.
Agnis hesitates for a moment, having been spooked by the cultist's unnerving aura, but chokes that fear down to take another swing at the cultist he had already injured- albeit this time with a bit more caution.
Aralee hears the sound of the swinging door and sends Barza after it to investigate. She casts Thorn Javelin and moves to stand in the doorway and block any exits; she's not sure anyone else will be able to see what's going on.
Speaking an incantation and motioning with his free hand, Lysander moves to Agnis' side and slashes at the same cultist.
Spellstrike
Shortsword
Bite
On first hit, Shockig Grasp will discharge:
Crit confirm short sword:
Shortsword
Crit confirm Shocikng Grasp (ignore if first sword attack hit)
Slashing twice in quick succession, Lysander follows with a vicious bite.
Agnis and Lysander joined their martial poweress into a devasting blow that eviscerated the disrobed cultist. Her howl of terror broke the darkness and in turn, a crackling sound happened, as if a drake charged it attack. In mere seconds, an explosion of fire fills the room!
Aralee poised her body and produced a thorn javelin while her spiritual weapon continued its onslaught.
Meanwhile, Zaliana bends down and helps staunch the diva's wounds. The bard's actions were enough to stop the bleeding but not enough to restore her to fruition.
The remaining cultist now trapped by the heroes discards its robe revealing a figure covered in scars and bruises. Taking a step back, it tosses a stone towards the ground that engulfs him and the rear section of the room. In mere moments, a creature resembles a miniature black hole hovering several feet off the ground. It is a circular region of absolute blackness, with a bizarre distortion around its edges as it warps light waves. Four spiraling, rotating arms of debris and light surround the circular region of darkness. Its facial features are small points of light, almost like stars.
Its voice calls out -
Aralee ducks at the onslaught of fire and manages to avoid getting too singed.
She hurls her thorn javelin at the last remaining enemy.
(Fort DC 16/sickened)
"Who are you?" she calls out.
Shocked at the sight of the strange beast, and hearing its words, Agnis snarls and brings his sword to bear against it.
You've heard faint rumors of such a creature before - it is a large gravity elemental, a being of pure terror that rips apart the fabric of reality. You're aware that anything cause within its "maw" will be certain doom."
Beware, that creature is a gravity elemental. Do not let it catch you it it's maw, as it will rip you apart.
With that, she resumes her singing, adding fresh courage to the heroes.
Circling opposite Agnis while speaking eldritch words, Lysander strikes at the creature with two quick slashes.
If either attack hits, Shocking Grasp discharges:
Round 3 Results
Lysander establishes a flank on the large gravity elemental, and finds that his magic combined with swordplay chips away at the creature's matter.
Following up his ally's strike, the hulking warrior Agnis manages to cleave away a sizable chunk of the elemental's matter before gravity began to pull his blade.
Zaliana shared her insight with the party and continues to rally support for her allies.
Aralee launches another magical javelin at the creature, hoping her magic would impede its progress.
After the party made their attack, the Large Gravity Elemental shifted its weight and slams both Lysander and Agnis before floating towards the ceiling beyond their reach.
Large Gravity Elemental: 27 / ???
Backing away from the rising elemental, Lysander fires a tiny ball of acid from his fingertips.
Aralee gives up on her javelin after the first appears to have no effect and redirects her spiritual weapon.
(+1 courage)
She also chants a hex of Misfortune at the elemental.
Zaliana maintains inspire courage, and readies an action to cast clw on any ally who gets hit by the elemental.
Agnis growls in anger as the elemental attempts to slip away from him. He drops his greatsword, pulls a throwing axe from his belt, and hurls it upward toward the elemental.
Lysander the Swordsman switches tactics and employs the use of his magic. However, he finds that his spell only crumbled the smallest of bits from the elemental's mass.
Anger surged within the hulking warrior as Agnis ditched his trusty door-breaking greatsword and brandished a throwing axe. As flames licked the edges of his hair, the barbarian's rage empowered a savage throw however, the pull of the elemental kept the weapon spinning within its orbit!
Zaliana shared her insight with the party and continues to rally support for her allies.
Aralee's magical weapon continued to hamper the elemental's progress, destroying sizable chunks. While the creature's focus was on the attack, she applied a strange and foul curse upon the elemental.
A sound of fleeting terror erupts the room as the gravity elemental begins a slow decent upon the party. Gradually, the swirling mass of darkness stops within the players range, pulling mass and matter from them. Agnis axe randomly dislodges from its hold and bounces within the room'missing its target before slinking down into the corner. As the elemental stopped, 2 pillars of earth spewed from the circular region of absolute blackness striking at both Zaliana and Agnis.
As the pillars of rock struck at both at Agnis and herself, Zalia moves enough to apply restorative magic towards her friend.
hp tracker: 32/???
Agnis is too caught up in his rage to thank Zaliana for the healing, instead grabbing his greatsword and swinging up at the elemental again. His hair almost seems to burst into a halo of fire as he roars in anger.
Stepping forward while once again speaking incantations that wreathe his blade in lightning, Lysander slashes twice at the elemental.
If either attack hits, Shocking Grasp discharges.
Zaliana spell weaves seamlessly with her performance, which she continues without missing a beat.
She falls back a bit, and keeps careful watch, ready to provide additional healing, and also mindful of her own health.
I wonder how Barza is getting on in his chase... Aralee thinks, before her brother's voice yells in her head, Don't think of that now! Your inattention is what got us all into this mess!
Aralee snaps back to it and continues to wield her spiritual weapon.
Running lower on spells now, she pulls out her trusty cold iron dagger and runs into the fray to help Lysander.
(+1 inspire courage)
Lysander employs the use of his blade twice more, hoping that his delicate strikes would catch his enemy's weak points while avoiding the strong pull of gravity.
Agnis reaches out and catches a sizable chunk of the elemental's mass with a hard hitting blow!
Zaliana continues to rally support and aid her allies.
Meanwhile, Aralee continues to guide her heavenly weapon to strike at the creature. She notes its progress while taking a position near Lysander to help him.
Amid the fray, the grinding sound of stones filled the room as the large elemental that stood above them began swirling with fervor. In mere moments, an oppressive wave of force strikes the party!
hp tracker: 59 /???
Agnis roars in anger as the force wave sweeps over the party. Appearing as if his entire head has burst into flames, Agnis swings his big, ugly greatsword up at the elemental with all the strength he can muster, hoping to finish it off in a single stroke.
"Oof!" The wind is knocked out of Aralee for a moment as the force hits her. Her spiritual weapon doesn't miss a beat, but her attempts to aid Lysander falter.
(+1 inspire courage)
With a moment's concentration, Lysander imbues his sword with some of his magical power.
Closing with the elemental, Lysander slashes once, quickly