Though trusting to her companion's own sense of self-preservation, Fancy nevertheless responds with comprehensible alarm to the attack upon Yamyra. An alarm which results in a too-wild swing at the attacking construct.
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Fancy who is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the statues takes an ineffective swipe against her foe. Gared has better luck, with both of his arrows striking true and deep against the statue.
Horven switches to his favorite weapon whilst Carmina rushes wildly at the statue, which takes a swing at her......but the tiefling girl dodges under the blow. The statue in turn slides out of the tiefling's way.
Jasper hears the sound of combat up ahead and tries to focus on the situation at hand... and manages to stave off his madness for the moment. "No, that cannot be...MUST not be!" he cries out as he holds up his holy symbol and a wave of healing magic washes over Yamyra and Horven, easing their wounds somewhat.
Quickly taking advantage of the opportunity provided by her companion's wild swing, Yamyra ducks behind Fancy before desperately casting a now-familiar spell.
Carridan hurls a stone at the nearest approaching column before retreating further back beyond its reach. As the rock leaves his hand, it pulses suddenly before zipping through the air as if it'd been launched from a sling.
HP: 36/36
AC: 19 (12 T / 17 FF)
CMD: 16
F/R/W: +8/+6/+9
Wild Shape used: 0/1
Storm Burst used: 0/7
CLW charges used: 5/50
Spells Prepared:
Orisons (4): create water, detect poison, know direction, purify food and drink
Level 1 (3+1+1*): charm animal, magic stone, obscuring mist*, produce flame, speak with animals
Level 2 (2+1+1*): bull's strength, fog cloud*, gust of wind, hold animal
*domain
Ongoing Effects
magic stone (30 minutes): 2/3 stones remaining
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; miss
; hit, crit?
; miss
; miss
; yes.
Carridan's stone impacts the statue and shatters into several pieces, leaving barely a scratch. Meanwhile Yamyra's spell washes over everyone except Jasper and they feel magically boosted by the spell.
The statues move to attack in a predictable manner and thus allowing everyone to easily dodge their attacks...except for Carmina who manages to dodge INTO the blow.
Horven shuffles between Fancy and Carridan , pulls a tanglefoot bag from his belongings and hurls it at the construct which hit him.
Carmina keeps trying to push her enemy down into the hole.
Gared paused for a brief few seconds to survey the scene as his companions sprung into magically accelerated action.
Body enlivened by her companion's spell, Fancy proceeds to pummel the already weakened statue to her left.
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Fancy's blows tear huge chunks out of the statue leaving it barely held together at a couple of points. Horven does his part to prevent the statue from moving... and it finds itself stuck to the ground.
Carmina wildly rushes her favorite statute and as she closes in, it strikes at her... slashing her deeply across her arm.
Her results work out in her favor as the statue plummets into the hole vanishing out of sight! Of curiosity, there is no sound of the statue striking the bottom...indeed no sound at all.
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Confident that his companions could take care of the severely injured and entangled construct still squaring off with Horven, Gared began a hasted assault on the one still threatening Yamyra. The dwarf felt the scarrabb around his neck thrum with power as he pumped a barrage of magically enhanced arrows towards the statue, and the inquisitor's lips never stopped speaking praise to Erastil as he did so.
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Gared sends several well-placed shots at the statue and even as his arrows shatter on impact they take huge chunks of the statue with them. Without enough pieces left to hold it together, the statue soon crumbles into several large chucks of stone.
Jasper's eyes bug out as he sees the statue disintegrate in front of Yamyra. He cries out “Steel is a thin reed on which to hang thy hopes— remember the strength of stone!” as he sends another healing wave towards the wounded members of the party.
Looking distressed as his last attack seemed about as effective as blowing on the lumbering construct, Carridan shakes his head helplessly as the others prove much more effective. Hoping perhaps to shield Horven, the druid produces a smokestick and tosses it just beside the halfling, hoping it might spoil the guardian creature's attack.
HP: 36/36
AC: 19 (12 T / 17 FF)
CMD: 16
F/R/W: +8/+6/+9
Wild Shape used: 0/1
Storm Burst used: 0/7
CLW charges used: 5/50
Spells Prepared:
Orisons (4): create water, detect poison, know direction, purify food and drink
Level 1 (3+1+1*): charm animal, magic stone, obscuring mist*, produce flame, speak with animals
Level 2 (2+1+1*): bull's strength, fog cloud*, gust of wind, hold animal
*domain
Ongoing Effects
magic stone (30 minutes): 2/3 stones remaining
Having done what she could to aid her companions magically, Yamyra Maneuvers herself & her spear to complement them martially. Stepping over the crumbled remains of the fallen statue, she swings about the column to place herself opposite Gared in flanking the least damaged of the remaining constructs.
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Carridan drops the smokestick to help protect themselves from the entangled statue while Yamyra moves to assist Gared with the other statue, which continues their attacks. While Gared is able to dodge out of the way fairly easily, Horven barely manages to avoid its attack by using his hasted reflexes. Fancy comes to the halflings' rescue sending the statue into a pile of rubble.
Unsure of what support he could offer, Horven waits for Carmina and Gared to act.
Trusting in Gared's ability to finish the construct off, Carmina launches a volley of magical bolts towards the last remaining statue instead of closing in and getting stabbed.
Gared wasted no time as the magical bolts slammed into the construct, spinning around the thing until it was squarely between him and the yawning dark hole in the earth and hammering a trio of arrows into the creature's torso.
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While Horven delays for the others, Carmina sends several magical bolts unerring into the statue...where they dissipate harmlessly in brights flashes of light.
Gared steps away and sends several bolts into the statue and shattering it into several large chunks of stone. Once again, the room is now quiet.
"I think a rest is in order," Horven says, choosing to gloss over the fact that he did nothing except serve as a target for the constructs. The halfling sits down and opens his backpack. "I really ought to buy a tent someday."
When it was clear that no further immediate danger threatened the group, Gared nodded his ascent Horven and let his pack fall to the floor. "Seems like as good a place as any to camp."
After a few moments, the dwarf's face adopted a sheepish expression and he stammered out the next sentence with some clear embarrassment, his dwarven accent returning with a vengeance.
"I'm wantin' a word with ye all about tactics. That fight went fine n' all, but I saw ye flounderin' about there and I've some ideas I wanted to be offerin' if ye find yerself in a similar, uh, struggle... in the future..." The dwarf looked to the halflings and druid as he spoke, along with his boots, which shuffled nervously along the ground as he did so.
"If it'll help me be more...help, then I'm willing to listen," Horven reassures Gared. "Statues are a bit daunting."
"A moment," Yamyra replies to Gared's opening, "if we are going to make camp here, Fancy & I should bring in the supplies. Perhaps if you reflect upon what you wish to suggest to us all until we get back?"
"And while we wait for Yamyra to return, could anyone spare a bit of healing magic?" Carmina asks, raising her arm to display a deep, half-healed wound with a slight stream of blood trickling out from it. "I don't think just a night's sleep will be quite enough for it."
Gared examines Carmina's wound while the group considers Yamyra's question, pointing out that the room filled with dangerous insects is still between them and their supplies. "If I'm tending to yer wounds with me herbs and such, ye should be just fine with a night o' rest."
Carridan comes over at Carmina's question, drawing his now familiar wand as he approaches. "Nonsense, Gared, this is the very reason I agreed to come with you all. Here, Carmina, let me see." A light glow passes from the wand and suffuses the wound in the tiefling's arm, which then immediately begins to knit.
HP: 36/36
AC: 19 (12 T / 17 FF)
CMD: 16
F/R/W: +8/+6/+9
Wild Shape used: 0/1
Storm Burst used: 0/7
CLW charges used: 6/50
Spells Prepared:
Orisons (4): create water, detect poison, know direction, purify food and drink
Level 1 (3+1+1*): charm animal, magic stone, obscuring mist*, produce flame, speak with animals
Level 2 (2+1+1*): bull's strength, fog cloud*, gust of wind, hold animal
*domain
Ongoing Effects
Halting as Gared reminds her of the verminous obstacle between her & their gear, the rest of your see a visible shudder crest up & down Yamyra's form. "That's...
unfortunate. I apologize, had I recalled that at the time I would have argued more forcefully that we should eliminate them..."
"Thanks, Carridan. That should be enough for now," Carmina says and goes to assist in setting up the camp.
Carridan nods to Carmina then also helps set up a simple camp once Yamyra returns with her pony. As the work unfolds in setting everything up, Carridan seems to be slightly more at ease with the group. Moreso even than before their disagreements on the vessel that brought them here.
At some point in the evening, the weathered hermit asks of the group, "Do we know what at all to expect within the Light? That empty statue earlier worries me more than a little."
HP: 42/42
AC: 19 (12 T / 17 FF)
CMD: 16
F/R/W: +8/+6/+9
Wild Shape used: 0/1
Storm Burst used: 0/7
CLW charges used: 6/50
Spells Prepared:
Orisons (4): create water, detect poison, know direction, purify food and drink
Level 1 (3+1+1*): faerie fire, magic stone, obscuring mist*, produce flame, thunderstomp
Level 2 (2+1+1*): bull's strength, fog cloud*, lesser restoration, spider climb
Level 3 (1+1+1*): air geyser, call lightning*, water breathing
*domain
Ongoing Effects
"Not a clue," Horven answers. "If we were actually prepared for all our excursions, then we'd have less problems."
The halfling chuckles and pulls out a piece of wood. "I suppose that is a Pathfinder's burden."
Horven sighs as nothing comes of his carving. "Well, here's a piece for the fire, if we want one."
Mood clearly perking slightly at an opportunity to wax didactic, Yamyra pipes up. "We know that what we now call 'the Lady's Light' was once a monument & probable laboratory or civic edifice of the Thassilonian nation-state of Eurythnia, also called the 'Kingdom of Lust'," she blushes slightly at the last, "the School of Magic most associated was Enchantment, just as the school most associated with Wrath was Evocation."
"Of course," she adds, "we didn't see much in the way of Evocation magics under the Crow. At least not in any greater quantity than any other...
Honestly, it seemed more a place of Conjuring more than any other..." Clearly perplexed, she trails off as she contemplates further.
"Enchantment... That's mind control and stuff like that, if I remember it right," Carmina says and tries to remember if anything they had seen today pointed at such magics being in use. "Not that it matters much though, those tricks only work on the weak-minded."
Gared shook his head at Carmina's statement. "Not just th' weak willed be fallin' prey to magic n' enchantments lady Carmina. Even the strongest willed be havin' pit falls in their own heads, and sometimes fools have a fortune in their favor. There's always bein' room for luck and the acts o' th' gods,"said Gared, recalling how he fell under Nataylia's spell despite all his years of mental training and dwarven capacity to shrug off magic both arcane and divine.
Carridan nods slowly at Yamyra's characteristically verbose explanation before his face darkens briefly with worry as Gared and Carmina begin discussing how insidiously effective enchantment magics can be.
Tracing idly on the stone floor of the cave beside his seat, Carridan asks further, "But we have no idea what the layout within the Light might look like? No one has mapped the place before?"
Horven shakes his head. "Nope. I suppose it'll be up to us to chart it out."
"That would go a ways toward explaining the odd behaviour Maroux described." Yamyra mused reflectively.
Horven digs out his trail rations as the others discuss magic.
Carridan shrugs, not knowing what to make of Yamyra's conjecture. "I'm pretty sure something or someone was inside that statue though. Like it was a casket or tomb of some kind." He shudders, obviously uncomfortable with the implications that the statue was now empty.
"But the shard that's supposedly inside here somewhere, it's similar to the one we found in the... what do you all call it? the Crow?"
Gared shuddered at Carridan's mention of the obelisk, especially after such talk of magic. "By th' gods, let it not be a lich we're dealing with..."
The dwarf's face blanched at the thought, but he quickly shook his head and hopped to his feet. Right! All the more reason to be talkin' tactics!"
The Erastilian set to work with his pack, dragging out nets and spears he hadn't managed to offload on his companions yet and began nervously offering instruction to the group.
"Horven, I've been seeing ye practicing with yer rapier, and I'm thinking with yer keen eyes ye could do some damage if ye can just get an opening. Yamyra, I appreciate ye helping flank th't last beastie, but I canno' be takin' proper advantage o' that with me bow. Horven on the other hand could be doin' some harm if it's to be battle and ye're havin' a partner to distract yer foe!"
The dwarf bumbled forward uncomfortably with his words, not waiting for a response as he demonstrated the usefulness of various strategies with a combination of enthusiasm and worried insecurity.
After encouraging Horven to dive more into the melee should it occur, he argued for the usefulness of nets as almost reusable tanglefoot bags and for the benefits of the defensive reach and flanking capacities of long spears. Hardly pausing for breath, and picking up tempo and aquiring a thicker dwarven brogue ad he went, the Erastilian launched into a lecture about the usefulness of defensive fighting and aiding one another to set up or avoid blows.
As if he suddenly realized what he was doing, Gared stopped, sucked in a deep breath, and gave a wild eyed stare towards his companions with a look much akin to how a horse that had just had a pyrotechnics spell cast in front of it might look, waiting for a response.
"Alright, I get your point, Gared, but those statues break weapons," Horven points out. "What do I do if we have an enemy who can destroy our weapons?"
Gared blinked for a moment, then went back to rummaging in his pack, seeming to calm slightly.
After few seconds, the dwarf had retrieved a number of vials, which he handed to Horven. "Disposable weapons, capable of doin' harm with th' elements. I think ye can put these to better use than meself." He handed the halfling a pair of alchemist's fire, a couple vials of liquid ice, and two bottles of acid.
"Ye managed to snare one down with a tanglefoot bag, where it couldn't have done ye much harm if ye'd stayed out o' the thing's reach. If ye're planning on closing with a beastie, a net would be workin' just as well, though it can be a bit unwieldy." The dwarf pulled out four flasks of oil and offered them to the group as well, explaining how they could be rigged to explode like an alchemist's fire in a pinch, and set out two more tanglefoot bags as well.
Carridan glances uncomfortably between his companions as Gared lays out a number of items for them to take in order to 'be prepared'. The druid then looks at the dward helplessly and offers a shrug. "I don't know what good any of these things would be in my hands, Gared. I- I rather think I'm a better help to you all using my spells and tending your wounds." He picks up a net and regards it for a moment before letting it fall back to the ground with a shake of his head. "While I'm sure these are excellent tools for what you suggest, I don't think my using them will really be of much help."
Gared nodded to the druid understandingly. "I'm not fer disagreein' with ye, Carridan. I just want fer ye to be havin' more options should push be comin' to shove. That was smart use o' a smokestick, and I'm sure ye might be havin' just as much luck with a length o' net or a well timed distracting wave o' stab o' a spear when yer spells aren't o' more use in a situation, or if yer magic is runnin' out. If a monster comes chargin' at ye, ye may be wishin' ye were holdin' a spear to prick it along the way, or discourage it all together, and there's no rule about not casting spells an' bein' armed to the teeth at th' same time."
The dwarf paused for a moment thoughtfully, then stepped forward and layed a gentle hand on the druid's arm. "Yer doin' a fine job as a follower of Gozreh, and as a pathfinder. Ye all are." The Erastilian looked to the group, calmness and conviction now in his voice and eyes. "Ye're a fine lot, and ye meanin' all th' world to me. I'm not tryin' to criticize or o'fend, just tryin' to offer ye as much saftey and efficiency as I can be. One extra strike from a spear, or one claw just avoided because o' a net or a smoke stick, can mean th' difference between yer blood stayin' in yer bodies. I know we've healin' a plenty, but it don't be makin any injury any more pleasant o less dangerous."
Though he didn't realize it, the dwarf hadn't ever really spoken with an accent and certainty in his voice at the same time before.
Horven takes the vials Gared offered and holds up the liquid ice. "So how does this one work?"
The dwarf took the vial and compared it to one filled with acid.
It's a couple o' alchemical herbs distilled and such into a liquid that pulls the heat out o' things. Feels like it's burnin' but it'll put out a fire or be coatin' somethin' with a bit o' frost."
Gared showed the halfling how you could throw it, explaining how it might be more effective against some opponents than others due to it's nature and the fact that you only needed to touch a foe with the icy contents, rather than strike into it's flesh.
"I think It's got some abilities to be enhancing some cold magic as well, but Yamyra would be knowin' more about that than meself."