Haldor casts Sacred Flame on Thorne.
Fergus puts an end to the long-standing combat by forcibly chucking a javelin into their enemy! Before pitching over face-first he utters, He said you were tough... and begins to bleed out into one of the little streams in the floor.
Search the body. Loot everything he had.
And then where the bloody hell are we now?
"He?" Who is "he?"
Let's try to find a safe place to rest. I vote for not this place.
"He" was Thorn, the guy that "helped" us back in the town. I know we need a rest, but we need to search the body, then let the prisoners we rescued get out of here. Then i hope it will be safe to rest.
No, not him. I meant the "he" that he was referring to when he said, "He said you were tough."
Thorn continues to bleed out as the party raids his belongings. He has the two Figurines of Wondrous Power that was used to summon the mastiffs, his hand crossbows and rapier, his armor and supplies as well as personal knick knacks that have no value to you. In coin, he possesses enough to be worth 160 gold pieces. Outside of the figurines nothing he has is magical in nature.
Going back to our camp and trying to rest.
The party goes back to the small room they had huddled down into. Though on edge for the remainder of their encampment everyone manages to refresh themselves for the next part of their adventure.
Fergus doesn't remember where all they have been and defers to the wizard to pick their next destination.
Fizz will suggest that the party returns to the water room. Determine what it is, and such
Who picked up the figurines?
Moving back into the room with the streams, the party brings enough light with them to see that the ceiling of this huge chamber rises some 60 feet overhead. The sound of rushing water sounds out faintly, a meager reflection of its source; a waterfall descending from an opening in the ceiling to a pool set within a raised platform. Two stone gutters carry water down from the pool into channels in the floor, creating small rivers that flow through circuitous paths in the ground with great speed. Every few seconds, the noise of stone on stone sounds out as these aqueducts in the floor shift to follow a new path.
A door lies slightly open to the far end of the room. Varis recalls that the door was closed during the fight with Thorn. You also notice that the body of Thorn has now disappeared, blood still laying in pools on the floor where he had been.
Well, that's just great. Thorn is still alive, apparently.
On the bright side, maybe we can find out what Thorn meant when he said, "He said you were tough."
Through the open door, chums? Maybe we can track Thorn using the blood drops.
Fergus leads the party through the door. Moving into the area to get a proper look, you see that this huge chamber is divided into two zones. To the south (the left side where you are) is a wide hall with sweeping, curved walls. To the north is a rough-edged cavern full of odd angles and irregular ridges across the floor. The walls of this second chamber have been painted in chaotic and clashing colors, three pits along its edge falling off into darkness. A wide wall separates these two areas, cut by a circular platform that rises 15 feet high.
Do we see any blood on the ground that might indicate the direction Thorn went?
You detect an area where it seems that he sat for a while, perhaps to tend to himself. From that point you see no signs of where the man could have fled to. He could have gone back the way you just came in, taken the secret door that you had discovered previously, or left by some other unknown means.
Can we look inside the secret door for evidence that he might have passed that way?
Help me out, chums.
As you move closer to the door you can surmise that he dismantled whatever was trying to keep it shut and probably managed to slip out in that direction.
Whatever it was that the gnolls were afraid of in this room it does not seem to be here now.
Let's follow the blood trail through the secret door in an attempt to find Thorn.
The blood trail fades as you move through the door and back up the passage you had discovered earlier.
Guys, help me look for clues.
Blood leads down to the locked door we saw earlier.
Guess we need to check to see if the door is still locked, if it is, we'll need to go around through the area the warmaster was in up the double corridor.
Fergus will check to see if the door is locked.
The door is unlocked, a good indication that Thorn continued his escape in this direction.
Yes, carefully.
You proceed through the door. A deep thrumming noise echoes throughout this high-domed ritual chamber, the air crackling with energy. Three large cauldrons burn furiously along walls that rise ten feet to a wide balcony fronted by crimson curtains. An altar sits atop a stepped dais in the center of the room, a group of hooded gnolls around it. A short distance away, the air ripples in a shifting haze of energy where a portal takes form.
Scattered around the chamber are a number of hunched humanoid creatures, you suspect they are helpless captives of the Elsir Vale, transformed into horrid abyssal wretches.
This is it, this is the place. The sword you have brought along with you has finally spoken once more. You must stop them quickly, before it is too late to perform the ritual!
that is not what is happening, just questions and a possible mode of attack
Sotto voce: Fizz, do you have anything you could throw at them, as a group, before I jump down there? Or maybe focus on the gnolls while I try to get rid of the riff-raff?
In an equally low voice
yes, i can drop something on them
Okay. Fergus is going to try to gently (and quietly) lower himself over the edge and drop to the ground, then engage the manes.
Fizz will drop a fireball on the gnolls.
(3) Fireball Range 150 ft
Dex Saving throw 20 ft radius
Half damage on a miss
No, Fergus's plan was to have Fizzlebomb throw his spell, then drop to the ground.
Haldor will stay on the top level and is awaiting the outcome of Fizz's spell and Fergus's attack before deciding whom to target with a spell attack.
Varis is hopping he had retrieved his equipment especially his bow from the place we were sleeping before coming here and hopes to rain arrows down on the enemy.
As the plan is being put into motion, only two of the demons seem to take notice that something is amiss as Fizz steps up to cast his spell!
The cleric is too busy to notice the party! Meanwhile the two alert demons seem ready to act against the party's plan, however Varis is a step quicker to react!
Starting with mane closest
if surprised
if surprised crit
Varis takes out one of the alerted demons! The other one makes its way toward the casting gnome but not quickly enough!
The cleric and one of his "priests" get caught flatfooted while the other manages to shield itself! They all seem to be quite aware of the threat the party presents now!
Dropping down and attacking the alerted demon.
for
for
With a single strike Fergus puts down his foe!
The priests move up to accost the paladin, however the distance between Fergus and his new enemies is too great for the gnolls to engage in combat.