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Mr Peppers disguises himself with his wand as one of the cultists that was dead in the cave. He holds the strange sphere in his hands as he does so. "Someone invisible come down with me as backup if this goes south."
Once the elevator drops down Mr Peppers remains silent and merely holds up the orb and gives a thumbs up.
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Gallix grabs the winch and cranks it, and the lift slowly descends down into the mine. Mr. Peppers disguises himself, and flies down to the room below, with Gallix and Uesugi climbing down after him. A winding tunnel to the north leads deeper underground. Numerous pickaxes, shovels, buckets, sledges, and other mining gear sit near the walls.
The tunnel to the north was where the arcane eye had seen the cultists moving, and indeed, peeking down the tunnel, you can see the backs of them walking further in.
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Looking around at the cramped quarters Mr Peppers shakes his head at Gallix's inquiry "Its super tight quarters down here, let's hope we can go west first, but at least try to keep these guys from giving a warning to the east." He stays towards the back of the line, doing his best to move quietly, still as a cultist.
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Gallix leads the party through the narrow tunnels, slowly so as to watch the cultists advance further into the mine. As they begin moving east, you're able to keep close with the walls and make your way west.
The passageway widens into a larger cavern. Remnants of a mine cart track lean against the wall to the north, while a tunnel slopes down deeper into the ground at the west side of the room. The cave floor is cleared of debris, save for a few drifts of dust and dirt, while the ceiling above is obscured by a thick tangle of cobwebs.
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Gallix gazes up at the cobwebs overhead and whispers back to the group, "Some webs up top, but the floor's pretty clear. Seems weird to me. Better keep an eye on the ceiling." He advances further into the room, continuing to hug the southern wall as he goes. He frequently glances back up toward the ceiling, though, to make sure he doesn't get caught off guard by some giant eight-legged monstrosity.
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D lifts the mining gear up with his mind and tears through the thick strands of webbing, not revealing much at all. As Gallix moves along the southern wall, the next step he takes causes his foot to move in more than it should, and there's an audible click. A second later, a weighted pendulum comes swinging down at him.
The brawler stumbles to the west from the force of the impact, and if that weren't bad enough, a set of barbed spikes shoot up from the ground with a cloud of yellow mold. Gallix hops over the spike to avoid it, but still gets a whiff of mold.
Just after, from the east, Mr. Peppers and Sirettis hear the sound of voices and movement, and they seem to be getting closer...
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Gallix hacks and coughs a combination of bile and blood as he inhales the mold and reels from the massive blow he took from the pendulum. He hauls himself up onto the rough stone walls of the tunnel and climbs across to collapse in front of Uesugi. "Time to turn and fight, I guess," he says sheepishly as he wipes the blood from his lips. "Sorry I messed up, guys." The brawler staggers back to his feet and stands ready for the fight to come.
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"You hear that? Sounds like someone set off the traps. Or maybe Sonarisa's gone full mutant and wandered in," the source of the voice says as it approaches. Moments later, Sirettis sees the cultist and three others behind him. He rushes forward with his dagger out. "You there. You.. don't look right. That robe looks fake! And who are those people behind you?" The man demands, staring Sirettis up and down.
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"Me? I'm new here. It's my first day." Sirettis replies. "I thought they were with you?"
She eyes the man with the dagger. "Oh, come on. You're gonna cut me on day 1? You and me- we're all working together, here!"
Sirettis uses her Charm hex.
This improves the attitude of an animal or humanoid creature by 1 step, as if the witch had successfully used the Diplomacy skill. The effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the Witch’s Intelligence modifier. A Will save negates this effect. Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this hex again for 1 day. At 8th level, this effect improves the attitude of the target creature by 2 steps. This is a mind-affecting charm effect.
Even if this buys her allies a little bit of time, it's worth it.
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"Oh, I see what's going on here," the cultist laughs. "I applaud your attempt, but an Official Dominion of the Black amulet would have gone a long way in being more convincing." The cultists draw their daggers...
-- Bold is up --
D., Kai
Pink, Red
Uesugi, Gallix, Mr. Peppers, Sirettis
Green, Yellow
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Both D and Kai find the mineshaft must be affecting their weapons, as they both miss their targets.
The cultists' eyes glow red as they begin chanting. Sirettis and D suddenly feel a strange compulsion come over them...
Charm Person
-- Bold is up --
D., Kai
Pink, Red
Uesugi, Gallix, Mr. Peppers, Sirettis
Green, Yellow
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"No no, we would have been your friends with words, not spells..." He attempts to wave off the attempt.
Counterspell: When dispel magic is used in this way, the spell targets a spellcaster and is cast as a counterspell. Unlike a true counterspell, however, dispel magic may not work; you must make a dispel check to counter the other spellcaster's spell.
Targeted Dispel: One object, creature, or spell is the target of the dispel magic spell. You make one dispel check (1d20 + your caster level) and compare that to the spell with highest caster level (DC = 11 + the spell's caster level).
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Mr Peppers takes a step towards the corner and peers around it, smiling in the darkness "Cramped quarters... not a good position to be in. Surrender or be subdued..."
Should hit all 4.
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Sirettis furrows her brow. Charm Person? Really. Like I would ever fall for-
"Well, I see this is a big misunderstanding. Let's clear this up nice and easy, eh?"
She stays put and begins casting Deep Slumber.
"Someone mind getting in front of me?"
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D falls under the compulsion of the cultists while Sirettis steels her mind. Gallix advances and knockout-punches one of the robed men with an electrified metal fist. Kai examines the height of the cavern, and gets the sense he should be able to fly atop the others - if he wanted to.
"Surrender is not an option. Now eat thi-" As one of the cultist begins chanting, Mr. Peppers chews up a blue dragon scale and exhales a massive cone of electric bolts, easily stopping the hearts of all four cultists at once.
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Mr Peppers does his best Emperor impression and lays low the cultists. He turns to D and almost lays a comforting hand on his shoulder before adding "I am sorry I had to kill your friend. But take comfort in knowing his was only your friend through the power of magic."
He then perks up his ears to see if anything else is responding to the commmotion.
"Gallix, quickly heal yourself before we run into more fanaticals."
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Gallix nods to Lord Peps of Pepprington, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." He pulls out his wand and uses it to restore some of his vitality.
He then switches out his burnt out healing wand for the his Heightened Awareness wand and renewing the spell's effects on himself for another 10 minutes. "Good to go. Should we continue down the same path and just, you know, try not to hit every trap in the room?"
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With the cultists dispatched, you continue traveling along the tunnel towards the west. Mr. Peppers recalls this is where his arcane eye had seen the mutated, half-human, half-bat creature. Kai doesn't find any more traps along the way, and an invisible D stealthily moves along the tunnel to face the creature.
The creature paces along the tunnel, turns back, and then repeats the process, all while muttering strange phrases in a foreign language.
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Sirettis uses her Tongues hex to translate. "The Eye watches. Above and behind the sky. It sees our dreams. It wants the planets back. It can see us now. It will be with us soon. The Eye watches." She repeats.
She switches to Aklo and addresses the woman.
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Sirettis weaves a spell similar to the one used on Leeara, and the woman cries in pain as her wings slowly shrivel up. Her nose begins to retract, but then, instead, it sprouts back out, her appearance now even more bat-like than before. New hair begins to peek through the skin on her face. It seems this one won't be cured so easily.
She pantomimes wildly, and it seems she's getting more aggressive.
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Sirettis's eyes open. "N-no... the transformation is too strong. She... has gone too far. I will try to dominate her."
She turns back to the bat woman.
A sweet wind envelops the bat woman as Sirettis works another spell.Dominate Person
"Please, be at ease and tell us what else is in this cavern. Tell us how you wound up here. Be calm and remain here until we get you the help you need."