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Monty stares at the thing as it comes flying out... and Tad is the only one close enough to see through the rain as the old monk suddenly begins to remind him of that museum long ago. His eyes go wide for a moment, and his chest swells with breath as he screams out, more ape than man. The Bestial roar echoes around as his eyes become almost empty, an animal fear gripping him. But instead of freezing like he once did so long ago, he moves. His muscles bunch and pull as he leaps up the side of the cliff, howling in anger and rage at the thing, all pretenses of civilization gone. He bears his teeth and launches himself up to reach the flapping skull, teeth bared in an ugly snarl as he leaps from the cliff face, grabbing onto the flapping skull!
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Dale slides his wet hair out of his eyes after the shot, giving a fist pump a the results and a louder cheer as Tad blows them out of the sky with a little help from his friend upstairs. "Now that's how you get it done Tad!"
His enthusiasm quickly ebbs as he hears the scream and sees the flying head "Oh.." His words abruptly stop, as if his lips just stopped working.
,
Brady and Dale's bodies seize up and stand helplessly watching, as Monty loses control and, if only for a moment, summons forth the primitive proto-version of himself released all those months ago in the Blackros Museum.
With a simian cry of rage, he launches himself off of the cliff, seemingly ignoring the fact he's twenty feet above the ground. His hands grasp and claw at the vargouille, latching onto its tentacle-like hair. The creatures demonic face twists in rage, as it gnashes at him with its fangs... but its not enough to stop the vanaran from grabbing on!
The two of them struggle, as the vargouille's bat-like wings flap furiously, but it finds itself unable to bear both itself and Monty's weight... both of them, gyrating wildly, plummet towards the ground in a barely controlled free fall. Monty hits the dirt at the base of the cliff with a painful thud. ( The pain, and desperate lurching of the vargouille, cause him to lose his grasp on the creature... but not in time to avoid finding itself at ground level with the other Pathfinders!
- Round 1 --------------------
Faliana, Monty (-10, prone) ----------> We are here!
- Round 2 --------------------
Fola, Brady (shaken*, paralyzed*), Dale (shaken*, paralyzed*), Dru (shaken), Tad
Vargouille
Faliana, Dru, and Tad to go!
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Dale watches on while keeping up the perfect appearance of being unable to move, knowing Dale's normal mannerisms of: always doing something and never silent, this seems out of the ordinary.
Oh was that a giant pale monkey jumping on the back of that vargouille? Was that Monty? PIN IT! SCOOP THE LEG MAN!... Is that rain or drool on my chin...
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As the familiar scream echoes off the cliff and washes over the group, Moke's determined look cracks and some of Faliana's fear and worry work out from within. The two spend a second stark still, almost seemingly paralyzed, as they rapidly converse over things. With a determination and anger that seems like a mix of Faliana at her worst and Moke at his best, the two step back from where the vile thing and Monty landed, pulling out the glowing yellowheart longspear as they go.
Eyes narrowed and almost burning they both call out. "Stand back, this vile demon shouldn't be here!" She then lashes out with the spear.
_________
As Monty hits the ground, dragging the demonic vargouille down with him, Faliana is suddenly faced with demons of her own... and she faces those demons with violence! Stepping back and drawing out the magical spear provided by the Ekujae, she, or perhaps the mwangi warrior she channels, though more likely both of them together, thrust it directly into the side of the evil flying creature. It lets out an angry howl of pain as it is forced back towards Drusilla.
Enemies on all sides, its wings flap furiously, as it tries to get away... only to have the twisted, stunted vines all around suddenly start to entwine themselves around them, trying to impede its escape! Unfortunately, those vines prove too brittle to hold it, as they snap off, and it is free once more. But they do delay it long enough, as Drusilla, hands still shaking slightly from the screams of the beheaded, brings her morning star to bear, caving in the side of its unnatural head, sending black ichorous goo everywhere.
The vargouille collapses to the ground, dead!
The area goes quiet once more, other then the emotion-fueled breathing of exertion, and the heavy patter of rainfall all around.
Eventually, Brady and Dale manage to shake off the effects of its scream and get their limbs moving again.
"What was that thing?!" Fola exclaims, clearly having never seen one before. "Do you think that was it... the evil?" She adds, hopefully.
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Faliana/Moke give a frown as the detestable demon beast doesn't go down to their blow, and glares at it as the thing seems to try getting away. Their expression clears when Dru lands another soild hit and knocks the thing out, though. The two stab it through with their spear just to be sure, before they walk over and give Dru and Monty claps on the back. In rapid turn, alternating between Common and Polyglot, the two congratulate them. "Monty, that maneuver was astounding!"
"It's amazing how quickly you took down the demon, tall woman and vanaran."
"I'd hate for anyone to be forced and violated like we had been!"
"They are detestable low level demons, and should be killed on sight!"
"I agree, and that blow was amazing, Dru!"
"Especially as they can convert innocent people...."
After the two finish congratulating the woman, Faliana takes full control again. She smiles at Fola's comment. "It'd be great if that was the case but, as threatening as those things can be, I don't think it could take down a full squad, and if it did there'd be more of them."
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Monty sits on the ground, shuddering as the adrenaline wears off and looks at the dead thing and lets out a slow, deep breath.
That he proclaims Might have been one of the stupidest things I've ever done in my life. And that is saying something!
He stands trembling though slowly getting it back under control.
Trust me Dru, had I spotted our enemies I would have waited. While I am far more maneuverable than you climbing, it is still very restrictive... unless I'm willing to do nonsense like I just did. Speaking of which, that hurt, anybody mind patching me up?
He nods towards Fola at her question.
Very evil. We've encountered them once before... it was a... harrowing experience for me and Faliana. I may have... lost my temper slightly at the sight of them again.
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Dale finally regains control and blinks, smiles, then wipes the drooly rain from his chin "Good one!" He reloads his crossbow with a yellow wood bolt and slings it back over his shoulder before heading over to the others. "You weren't 'assaulted' were you Monty? Open your mouth man! Be honest here..." Dale does his best to peer down Monty's throat checking for another Vargouille violation.
As he does he explains the creature to Fola "That scream they do, it can make even the mightiest warrior freeze in place, unable to move. Then, they fly down and stick their tongue down your throat and infect you with their disease. After a few days of having your hair fall out you eventually die and your head turns into one. Or was it one of those things we saw before that Tad so easily eradicated!"
Dale bends over to poke and prod the dead vargouille a bit, using a stick. "Those flying heads likely were from lost Tribesmen from throughout the years. Only way to know if there are more is to head inside to check I guess..."
Fola stares at the remains of the vargouille with a frown. "That was a person once?"
After a moment, it sinks in what sort of person. "One of the Ekujae?" She whispers quietly.
Her face gets hard, "This must be stopped." She says finally, ready to go on.
You see no more immediate threats, so Tad and Monty head up once more, a little less casually this time. They reach the ledge without any more distractions, and find themselves amidst a grisly display...
A semicircle of twelve wooden stakes, each topped with a severed head, are arranged in front of a wide split in the cliff face. Some of the heads are barely more then skulls, their flesh nearly gone, while others appear more recent. Two are almost completely covered in ants, busily working to take anything they can eat... a long line of them running away along the ledge, and off the side.
All the victims appear to be elven, and eleven of them have been mounted facing towards the crack in the side of the rock, while the last faces outwards, forever gazing lifelessly out over the desolation that is the clearing.
Monty is able to quickly find a solid outcropping to secure the rope to, and it is quickly lowered for the others to climb.
Before long, everyone joins them up on the ledge with its grisly display.
At the sight of the heads, you catch a sharp intake of breath from Fola, who stands turning, looking at them all with a grim look on her face.
"I know them." She says quietly. "All of them." She immediately starts reaching up, trying to remove one of the heads from its stake. "We can't leave them on these!"
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Monty places a hand on her shoulder.
Wait. Your right, but let us do it... there may be traps, or danger. Evil will often prey on our emotions to get us to walk into traps, or do foolish things... like jumping off of cliffs.
Monty takes a closer look to see if there is anything that may try to hurt them or some secret to the way they are facing.
Assuming that he finds nothing, Monty will take a bit of his already torn and burned monk robes to gently pull the head off the stake and set it down, turning to Fola.
Forgive me... I'm not sure what the proper thing to do here would be for your people...
He begins working on the next head to pull it loose.
Monty will see nothing suspicious about the heads on the display.
Fola stops, briefly, at Monty's words, though eventually moves back in to help, not willing to let others do all the work.
"Just off the stakes for now." She says, "Whatever is in there," She nods grimly towards the hole in the cliff. "Should not be kept waiting. My tribesmen can be laid to rest once we've dealt with those that defile their remains."
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Dale quickly corrects himself on his explanation of the transformation "I'm sorry, 4-24hrs. Its a very fast transformation, extremely interesting, but horrid. I'm glad we don't have to deal with it again." Hopefully He says matter of factly as he takes a closer look at the heads as the others remove them. He especially takes note of the one that was facing inwards alone.
"Now certainly seems to be a good time to break out all the protection we can find right?" Dale starts rummaging through his stuff to see if he's got anything that may be helpful. He pulls out a pair of vials and drinks them down, shaking his head at the bitter taste. "Anything to keep me from getting sick again!"
Time of death varies considerably, from a few months, to a few days. The one that was facing away from the others you'd guess has been dead for perhaps a week... though you're not sure how the local climate and insect activity might affect your usual observations in that regard.
After taking a moment to get ready, and to cast a few protective spells, you move into the depths of Dehu Inu!
The opening in the rock seems less a cave entrance, and more like a jagged wound in the side of the cliff. The passage leading from it slopes downwards, before turning sharply, almost doubling back on itself, as it drops into the depths of the stone beneath the cliff itself. As you slowly make your way along it, the persistent heat and humidity of the jungle above quickly fades away, becoming almost cool in comparison. A subtle breeze wafts up into your faces from ahead, tinged with the odor of bat guano.
After about a hundred feet, the passage opens up into a large cavern that the ioun torches, and the pale green light emanating from Faliana's spear, can only penetrate so far into, before being swallowed up by the darkness and size of it all. Drusilla and Dale see only that inky darkness, the light revealing nothing within the radius of its illumination beyond a large stone platform of rock, rising up twenty feet, directly to your right.
You still feel the breeze, blowing on your faces from somewhere ahead of you to the north, bringing with it the metallic tang of blood. The floor and walls look to have been shaped long ago and stained with mineral deposits over time, but the ceiling, almost invisible fifty feet overhead, remains in its natural state, covered with stalactites.
A almost palpable sense of evil radiates throughout the cavern, and you can feel its oppressive force tugging at you even from the entrance.
You see dark stains covering the altar hinting at its profane purpose.
Something large looms beyond it, but you can't quite make it out from where you are.
The stone platform beside you is just one of four such features around the room, with another directly across from you, on the far side of the cavern, and two more, one on the east and west sides.
Directly north of you, across the cavern you can amake out a large opening on the floor, almost ten feet across. On the far side of it, is an altar made if stone, upon which a motionless figure lays bound, dark stains covering the alter beneath him.
Over the alter, dropping down from the ceiling, nearly fifty feet overhead, a huge stalactite descends, stopping five feet above the floor. The bottom of it has been carved into a representation of a gigantic bat, its wings outspread and its fangs exposed as if about to consume the victim on the alter below.
Towards the northwestern side of the cavern, on the far side of one of the platforms, you can just make out the edge of what looks like a large cage of some sort, with figures inside. One of them, starts waving, as he spots your lights entering the room, pointing desperately off to the east and shouting in elvish.
From somewhere, off in the darkness to the northwest, a voice calls out in elven.
You barely have to time to process that shout, when a second voice starts a sibilant greasy whisper in your ear. "Open your veins and give your lifeblood to The Hungry Dark."
You see no source for this voice, it just seems to speak directly into your head, as if trying to bore its way into your brain.
Suddenly, Dru feels herself filled with an unnatural dread, as her brain starts screaming at her to listen and flee! But she is not about to abandon her charges, and quickly manages to get back in control of her baser urges... realizing that they were not her urges at all! The unwanted feelings were accompanied by a strange chittering sound far overhead.
It is tiny, about the size of a cat, with yellow eyes and a squat blood-red body, held aloft by a pair of bat-like wings. It sneers down at you with sickly yellow teeth as it clasps and unclasps its razor sharp claws.
None of you recognize it, though the voice of Moke in the back of Faliana's head is screaming demon!
A moment later, an arrow flies at you out of the darkness, from somewhere to the northeast. It clips the side of Dru's helmet, sending her spinning slightly to her right from the force, doing no damage, but startling her at how close it came! It continues past, after deflecting off her armor, to shatter against the rocks just past Dale's head, breaking into a dozen sharp wooden shards that scatter across the cavern floor, and causing a yelp of surprise from Fola.
She suddenly points in the direction it came from, "Over there! It came from over there! That... thing... up on the ledge!"
Only Faliana and Monty can see what she's pointing at.
You know you'll be easy pickings if it continues to shoot at you in the dark. It was a miracle the first shot did not skewer someone!
Above you, you once again hear the chittering sounds, this time accompanied by something screamed in a foul language. Dale suddenly start having difficulty getting his body to respond to the simplest of commands!
Though you can't see it... you did recognize the language as Abyssal... what it said exactly is not fit for print!
"There are prisoners!" Fola cries, as she starts to incant a quick spell, sending a small blessing to try to push back the oppressive force pressing down on everyone.
- Round 1 -------------
'demon'
Fola, Dru, Monty (-1), Dale, Brady, Tad, Faliana <------ We are here!
'bowthing'
Party is up!
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"I think there are paintings up there... this place must be old..." Brady offers, as his gaze tries to pierce the darkness above them. As his gaze shifts back to ground level, he stiffens, and his voice drops to almost a whisper. "Shhh... there's a pit, and then an altar across the way. With a body on top! This is spooking me. There might be something beyond, something menacing!"
Then suddenly a foreign voice pierces the air almost as a dark voice pierces his mind! A strange, flying cat-like creature amongst the stalactites, and an arrow flies out of the darkness. He knows nobody needs a warning, but he calls one out the same! "Be on your guard; we're being attacked!" Brady shouts, any pretense at stealth completely gone.
He pulls out the crossbow that he claimed from the Aspis soldiers so long ago, and knocks a yellowheart bolt, taking aim at the flying creature above them!
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Dale's eyes widen as he ears the Elven warning call ring out, throwing his arm up in front of his face just in time to block the arrow splinters. "We're under attack by something that speaks abyssal, and he's got one hell of a potty mouth!"
He says as he quickly draws and drinks a concoction of his own making while looking for a more defensive position.
"Oh, and Tad is SPOT ON with that knowledgeable recollection about bats and demon lords!"
Though Dale knows that demons certainly speak abyssal... lots of others things do as well, so he can't quite make that connection legitimately.
Not to say he couldn't make the assumption anyway, like Moke is!
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Monty looks around as they go, and is silent for most of the way, looking out for danger. When danger instead decides to drop on them like a pile of bricks, he swings his staff around, looking up at the thing in the darkness.
Pathfinders, Handle the bat! Tad, looks like we're climbing again!
With that he leaps and bounds up the walls, nimble monkey fingers and toes finding crevasses that your pretty certain are invisible to the naked eye. Soon enough, he leaps into the stalactites up above with a Mischievous grin, his wayfinder illuminating the potted mouth beasty above.
Hello there! I'm sorry to inform you that due to violation of your lease by ritually sacrificing the neighbors, we will have to evict you. Terribly sorry for the inconvenience.
He spins his staff in one hand and grins baring his canines.
Would you like to lodge a complaint?
As you come under fire from multiple foes, Tad quickly throws back the potion he was carrying in his hands, and disappears from sight! Beside him, Dale manages to throw off the magical malaise trying to paralyze his body, and quickly quaffs one of his homemade elixirs, as he glances upwards trying to locate the creature that tried to enchant him.
Brady, already able to see the vile little creature, quickly pulls out a crossbow, liberated from the Aspis agents days before, and loads one of the yellowheart bolts into it.
Monty however, decides to be more direct, ignoring the archer across the cavern, he instead decides to clamber up the stone walls... he gets up to the top of the first platform, the sides more sloped then the rest... but after that, he stalls, scrabbling at the wall, and finding no purchase at all. He ends up only twenty feet above the cavern floor, on the platform, having vastly overestimated his climbing acumen.
He does get high enough that the light emanating from his wayfinder reaches the creature, even if he does not. Dru and Dale can now see it clearly, a tiny bat-winged fiend, with a stout blood-red body, and sickly yellow eyes and claws.
- Round 1 -------------
'demon'
Fola, Dru, Monty (-1), Dale, Brady, Tad (invisible), Faliana <------ We are here!
'bowthing'
Dru and Faliana to go
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Fali takes a second to realize what is going on, holding Moke back from trying to go straight for the possible demon. Yup, probably a demon, but I'm more worried about the werebat over there. He probably called the demon in the first place, and is probably more dangerous. She then closes her eyes for a second, focusing herself and calling upon the light that always accompanies thoughts of her goddess.
She opens her eyes to the lights that are floating around her head. with a glances she sends them flying to where the werebat is hanging out. "Look alive we have more company than just the flying one!" As her light illuminate the man, Faliana continues, "He looks like a textbook case of a werebat, be careful he might be infectious."
The half-elf then stops for a moment reviewing with Moke what Brady taught her about blocking arrows from vital spots, and sharing a short vague recollection of a similar lesson from Moke's distant past. With that done she takes a step forward and calls out to the bat-man. "Hey, Hideous! Did you get bit by an ugly-thrope as well! I can see why you stay in the dark, if that's what you look like all the time."
Her work done, Faliana finally relents and with a slight sigh lets Moke take the reigns.
_________
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Fali takes a second to realize what is going on, holding Moke back from trying to go straight for the possible demon. Yup, probably a demon, but I'm more worried about the lycanthrope over there. He probably called the... thing in the first place, and is probably more dangerous. She then closes her eyes for a second, focusing herself and calling upon the light that always accompanies thoughts of her goddess.
She opens her eyes to the lights that are floating around her head. with a glances she sends them flying to where the werebat is hanging out. In the brighter light she tries to see if she can recognize exactly what the figure is. "Look alive we have more company than just the flying one!" As her lights illuminate the man, Faliana continues, "He looks like a were... bat? Be careful, he might be infectious."
The half-elf then stops for a moment reviewing with Moke what Brady taught her about blocking arrows from vital spots, and sharing a short vague recollection of a similar lesson from Moke's distant past. With that done she takes a step forward and calls out to the bat-man. "Hey, Hideous! Did you get bit by an ugly-thrope as well! I can see why you stay in the dark, if that's what you look like all the time."
Her work done, Faliana finally relents and with a slight sigh lets Moke take the reigns.
_________
As she recalls a technique for dealing with ranged attacks, Faliana says a quick cantrip, and suddenly four small balls of light appear on the far side of the cavern, illuminating it for all to see! Everyone can now see the second attacker... a bat-like humanoid with crimson red fur, sharp claws, and leathery membranes beneath its arms that are likely wings. It is holding a bow and standing up on a second platform, similar to the one Monty just climbed, aiming arrows your way.
You do remember the most important thing about lycanthropes, however... that being that they are nearly invulnerable to weapons not made of silver!
Drusilla was waiting for just such an opening! Finally able to see the creature, she launches an arrow of her own, one of the yellowheart wood shafts. Even as she fires it, she can feel the evil in the room trying to push her aim astray... but it is not enough to cause her to miss as the arrow flies straight and true, striking the thing in the leg. It lets out a pained surprised scream, as the shaft sinks in deeply, burning flesh as it goes.
"It is your heart I will eat, woman!" It howls angrily, tearing the arrow out tossing it aside, the hardened wood snapping in half as it does so. It turns its bow towards Dru again. "And my lord will gorge on your blood! All of you!"
With that last, it looses the arrow. This time, despite seeing it coming, Dru's armor can not quite stop the force of the shot, as it bores a hole right through, embedding itself in her left shoulder.
From the darkness on the other side of the room, the elf continues to shout. The werebat frowns, and looses a second arrow off into the darkness in that direction... and the yelling is suddenly cut short.
"Fola! It is Kaghaze! The creature! It is Kaghaze! This place... the altar! It did this to him! It tries to do it to us all!
Before he can shout more however, an arrow from the werebat strikes him in the chest, and he goes flying backwards to collapse at the back of the cage. Neither of the other elves react at all, both of them huddled on the floor, covering their heads and ears.
The sibilant whisper forces its way into your minds once more, as if in response. "Kaghaze now serves The Master of Black Wings. Soon you will as well!"
You're not even sure what language it is speaking in... in fact you're not sure it even is using an actual language as you understand them. But the cloying tendrils of it invade your brains nonetheless, fully comprehensible... as whoever it is talks directly to you!
There is a shocked look on Fola's face, before she shakes it off, glaring up at the demon overhead... though always with one worried eye towards the werebat across the cavern.
"We must help them!" She shouts.
Up on the platform to your right, the small demonic-looking creature continues its abyssal tirade, as it dives down to attack Monty with a vengeance, claws and teeth all trying to rip flesh from bone!
Despite its chaotic attack, Monty is easily able to deflect the claws trying to tear at him.
As it continues to scream foul demonic obscenities at him, suddenly small bits of rock and dust seems to fall of the wall nearby, and cover the creature, before solidifying once more. The little demon finds itself having trouble flying as its wings motion suddenly becomes hampered.
It ramps the obscenities up to new heights.
- Round 2 -------------
'demon' (entangled)
Fola, Dru (-11), Monty (-1), Dale, Brady, Tad (invisible), Faliana <------ We are here!
werebat (-9)
Party is up!
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Dale squints his eyes to see in the flickering light, the tiny little creature Monty is fighting "Oh, look at that little guy, a skitterdark demon! Try using our special weapons on them, demons usually have tough hides!" I need to get a sample of THAT GUY!
"Who/what is Kaghaze Fola?" Asks Dale in a hurried tone, as he moves ahead, drawing out his loaded crossbow and firing the yellow shaft of evil smiting at him.