Maxim wakes and prepares his spells, like Marigold the dwur feels better than he has for some time.
He breaks from his study to look up to Marigold with a hard smile;
"Still a mite dinged up here Lil' Miss, so if there's healin' goin' I'll take a ladle full if you please."
The gun-mage
"I've prepared some spells for the scrap... Bull's Strength for my bror, Glitterdust should the thing have the ability to go spectral... Magic Weapon will enchant someone's weaponry..."
Maxim: HP 24/39
Kikinnin: 42/64 hp
Marigold: 40/63 hp
Ryan: 46/54 hp
JJ: 41/59 hp,
Juraan: 39/39 hp
Ryan finishes his morning studies, overhearing Marigold's question...
"Save your magics for the moment Marigold, I am able to so now what I was too spent to perform last night."
Ryan gathers everyone close, prisoners and companions alike, raising his key to lips in silent prayer he then ask aloud. Abadar restore those here who have been troubled at the hands of the slavers, and prepare us for the struggle ahead"
Maxim: HP 35/39
Kikinnin: 53/64 hp
Marigold: 51/63 hp
Ryan: 54/54 hp
JJ: 52/59 hp,
Juraan: 39/39 hp
Once ready, the party open the doors. The light erupts into the dark room. The choking order of smelted steel tinged with burnt hair and flesh wafts on a foul wind. The jangling of heavy chains echoes ominously. A hulking dwarf wrapped in heavy steel links stands in the middle of the room. Its face, hands, and body are riddled with glowing hot hooks and half-melted razor wire. Black smoke rises from its smoldering beard, framing its freakishly contorted face in ashy darkness. The tormented thing hefts a black iron hammer and as it charges the chains draping its form spring to life like metal serpents.
The first to react is Juraan, but the forge spurned is quickly driven into a frantic rage just afterwards. It moves forward and tries to slash with its chain at the first one in the door.
JJ, keenly aware of the advantage of positioning, is quickly through the door, passing next to the forge spurned as he does so.
Once around the back, he plunges his enchanted silver sword into the dwarves back.
When the door opens and Juraan sees the Soul Forged's fiery nature, he Exclaims: "Fire probably won't do much against this thing!"
He then casts a spell: « მჟავა სფერო » . .
… and places the acid powered flaming sphere right on the Soul Forged
Juraan now casts a spell on Ryan: « აღუდგეს ცეცხლს » . .
… and then moves the acidic flaming sphere to attack the Soul Forged again:
Marigold's Round 1
Ready for what looks to be another grueling battle, Marigold calls on Sarenrae to bless the party in their efforts!
______
"Thank you, Juraan." says Ryan nodding at the professor's touch and feeling the magic course through him.
Raising his shield and mace, Ryan beseeches Abadar for his grace. "Guide my hand and shield, so that I can protect those this foul creature threatens."
cast divine favor, last 1 minute, +2 to attack and damage, luck bonus from prayer does not apply to attack or damage
Moving past Kikinnin, "Come in behind me" Ryan follows JJ into the room moving to the right.
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Having warded himself and imbued his fellow dwur an augmentative enchantment , the gun-mage holds back to allow the front line combatants to engage the creature.
Grim faced he loads his pistol with a cartridge , charges it with an essence of his eldritch energy then shifts into the firing line .
Drawing a bead past his fellow dwur Maxim squints and bellows a warning...
"Plug yer ears bror... an' duck!"
... then fires;
:
:
Prior going into the fray, Maxim has cast mage armor and bull's strength.
Juraan's sphere is surprisingly skipped by the undead duergar.
The creature lashes at JJ as he tries to gain a better position. The chain opens a wound on his shoulder, but JJ manages to avoid it coiling at his neck.
Marigold raises a prayer to Serenrae. The undead in front seems immune but the party benefits from it.
JJ completes his movement with his sword powered by Serenrae opening a wound in the undead duergar.
Juraan's sphere quickly burns the undead in acid.
Ryan casts a spell requesting extra favor from Abadar.
Maxim loads his pistol and blasts the chained figure. Some links in the chain deform from the impact. The undead clearly suffering from the blast.
Nevertheless the Forge spurned lashes back at JJ with its chain and tries to bring him down with his hammer.
They both strike and coil around the young man's legs. The duergar moves very cunningly and seems to be not the stupid like zombie. It steps out of potential flanking by the party. While remaining in a position where it still menaces entry through the door with his chain.
Horrified at the battering JJ is taking, Juraan casts a spell at the Soul Forged: « זויער אָנכאַפּן » . .
… and then moves the acidic flaming sphere to attack the Soul Forged again:
AC = 23 (26, +3 Cha Bonus)
HP = --/74
Weapon Equipped = +1 Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = Prayer
Kikinnin allows the forward motion of the gang to carry him into the room, never letting the creature step away without himself being closer to it. With the creature being a mere distance away, he sizes it up, uneasy about the dwarf that lies within the chains.
More hacking.
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Kikinnin steps into the room and starts smiting the chained creature while Juraan sends a ray of cracking acid into the undead. While the acid burns down the chains, Kikinnin's axe tear down the Forge Spurned once and again.
At the end the pulp of undead meat disperses and only a chain and an adamantine warhammer is left of the creature.
mwk adamantine warhammer
soul chain
You do know the soul forge will return unless his soul chain is fully destroyed (hardness 8, hp 25, Break DC 20). You also know every link in the chain is one of the spirits it has claimed. If a forge spurned’s chain is sundered, it is instantly slain, never to rise again. When a forge spurned’s chain is destroyed, the souls bound within are released.
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Juraan goes up to JJ and uses his wand of Cure Light Wounds on the ranger:
"How are you JJ? That was a very near thing for you!"
"Just as well we didn't fight it at the same time as that witch" agrees JJ.
"That would have gone badly."
His own wounds continue to bleed, both blood and celestial light spilling from them.
"We need to destroy the chain, if we don't, that thing will come back! Each of those chain links is a soul it has stolen."
Taking the heavy mace he carries, Ryan swings at the chain.
"Oh g-geeze...I'm g-glad we finished that q-quickly," Marigold grimaces as she moves to heal her big brother's wounds. "I know you like to be m-mobile but we've g-got to get you some b-better armor, JJ..." she fusses.
"You too, K-Kikinnin, hold st-still! We've still g-got a lot to do today and it w-won't do to start the rest of it in p-poor shape."
When it comes to Ryan's grim explanation about the nature of the chain, she blanches and draws her mace. "Can we even s-smash it with our w-weapons? It looks st-strong..."
______
"Perhaps someone with training in it's use would do well to use the creatures own weapon against it, it appears well made of a material that is expensive in the weaponsmith's shop, if you can find it at all."
"Adamantine! If we could melt that down in Cauldron it would be worth a fortune. I'd be more than happy to get a blade made of that. But Kikinnin may be able to use it as it is" notes JJ.
He bobs a quick "Thank you" to Marigold.
"So where to from here? We need to head back a bit to let our collection of freed captives get back to safety. And we need to backtrack to get back to looking for our missing dwarf as well.
"Would that lava pool we passed be able to destroy that soul chain?"
"Or maybe that adamantine hammer could be used to smash it up?"
"JJ; could you ask our faerie friends if they could show us the quickest safest rout to get the freed captives out?"
"And then lead us back to the mushroom cave, so we can get back on track?
"They must know these tunnels better than we ever will."
JJ nods, and passes on the request from Juraan.
After doing so he adds
"Wolle jo bliuwe yn 'e paddestoel, of sykje op nei in oar in chauffeur?"
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Kikinnin watches as the creature dissolves into nothingness, just after it resolves into sponginess. He looks over the warhammer and chain, curious as to their permanence, while the dwarf up and disappears.
"Bror, that was some mighty fine magic of yours. Felt my Axe find its way more forcefully between the undead's chains." The black-beard nods to the blond-, before turning back to hear Ryan describe the Chain's nature.
That won't do. Kikinnin leaves the breaking of the Chain to the Blessed of Abadar, while he thanks Marigold for the healing.
When Chain has been destroyed, and folks have been gathered, Kikinnin is ready to return from the Darklands with their new charges, and prays a little to Abadar that they'll not lose precious time in finding Zenith, and whatever Celeste believes lies behind the need to retrieve the dwarf.
Realizing his own mace wouldn't do the trick, Ryan picks up the warhammer.
As it seems to break apart Ryan swings a few more times for good measure
With the help of the adamantine warhammer, Ryan easily destroys the chain after a few strong swings. With the last one, the last link breaks, and you feel a peaceful invisible energy passing by.
"We will be ok. We would like to come back to our lake. Our invisibility will protect us like it has been doing until now" answer the faeries to JJ in Sylvan.
The group gathers back with the prisoners hiding in the environment of the Duergar Slave Pits entrance.
Despite the cauldronites are in ill state, their desire to come back to the city, and the guidance of the faeries help the whole group to return back to the purple lake in a single day.
"From here on I can bring the cauldronites to the Malachite Fortress" explains Hackbus "It has been an honor to met you all. And a real pleasure to met with you again Maxim"
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JJ waves goodbye the the fey creatures.
"Goed reizget nei jo. Binne jo in protte fan jo soarte hjir?"
He waves to the Cauldronites as they depart. "We'll see you back in Cauldron"
Those girls sure look pretty. But not as pretty as Celeste... Or Sara
"I feel much better with them freed and no longer our responsibility." he admits to the other Watchers. "Lets hope rescue of Zenith is as successful. We've learned a lesson ab out pressing on too fast though."
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Maxim nods at Kikinnin's words with a hard smile;
"I'll build you up bror. You knock 'em down!"
As the adamantine hammer is used to destroy the fell chain he looks on with grim satisfaction.
"Hell's Teeth Taskerhill... You swing a mean hammer! Sure you ain't got some dwur-blod in them veins o' yours?"
At the imminent departure of the freed slaves, Maxim takes time out to speak to two individuals; first Ghelve's estranged wife Majet...
"Mistress Ghelve, please make a stop by yer husband, leastways to let him know yer safe, found an' freed. He's a good man, been a friend to us, so tell him of our part - means an oath kept."
... then his mentor Hackbus.
"Ol' timer... been far too short a reunion! Jzadirune is free again, as is the Malachite. Iffen ye choose to stay down in the Dark I'll come find ye again. If not leave word where yer plannin' on layin' down yer tools once again..."
The dwur embraces his mentor with a hard smile, then waves the group off.
For her part, Marigold is happy to escort the rescued Cauldronites until Hackbus is able to take over and guide them the rest of the way back.
"T-Take care and we'll s-see you all again s-soon!" she calls as the two groups bid each other farewell.
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The faeries talk with JJ in Sylvan.
"Not that we know. We can still take you some other place you wish before coming back to our pool"
Majet smiles at Maxim "I know... I know... I am also excited to see that lazy ass once more. I will let him know how good you were to all us"
Hackbus smiles and returns the hug "Before you depart, let me give you a present" The gnome swims until the waterfall and there he disappears. A moment later he comes back "The water is good to prevent accidents with the powder... I left behind some tool I had been working for a time..." the gnome opens a waterproof bag showing the blond dwarf a magnificent double barreled pistol with silver decorations and edges with an oak butt "It is almost complete. A day work with magic weapon spell and it will be completely enhanced with magic. It is new on it's kind, I call it double barreled weapon, because it allows you to shot two times" the gnome grins "I was planning to name it Smaug but feel free to give it the name it pleases you. It is now yours"
The little gnome hands the weapon to Maxim.
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After feeling what must be souls released from the now destroyed soul chain, Juraan smiles and says
"Good one, Ryan. But I'm not taking any chances after all this!"
He then takes all the links for the soul chain and throws the lot into the lava pool.
"Glad we could be of service to all of you."
"And that your ordeal as Duergar slaves is over."
"If it's not too much bother, could I ask for my flasks back?"
"Your dangers are done, but we still have some tasks ahead."
"And we return, we should keep in touch."
"Perhaps do business together, even."
"Have a safe journey back to Cauldron!"
Just in case this is needed to further butter up our new friends:
[color=blue][/color]
Juraan will send another telepathic update to Meerthan:
"Good news. We've defeated the Duergar leader, Brilmara. And her cronies."
"Including something called a Soul Forged; very nasty Duergar undead creature."
"Ryan destroyed its soul chain, releasing the souls of those killed by it."
"Some of us took a beating, but none of us fell."
"Seems the Duergar were involved in a civil war of sorts, which is good for us."
"We have kept Brilmara's notes; might have handy information for later."
"We also managed to set free the four faeries that Brilmara captured."
"Thanks to this, Hackbus, Rikaldo, Azmi, Shellen, Majet, and Callum are now returning to Cauldron."
"With our faerie friends' guidance, they should be back in Cauldron in no time."
"It wouldn't hurt to have Fario and Fellian to safeguard their return."
"We've all had a proper rest and are now resuming our search for Zenith."
"Tell Shensen that Desna has been blessing us down here. And more than a little!"
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Maxim eyes the double barrelled pistol, then back to his gnome mentor as he accepts the pistol;
"I... Hack... I ain't got the words..."
His brow furrows and he nods knowingly as he feels the craftsmanship and balance of the innovative weapon;
"Reckon Smaug is a good fine name. Befitting. It'll roar an' spit magical fire aplenty... I'll see to it..."
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"Hell's Teeth, Taskerhill... You swing a mean hammer! Sure you ain't got some dwur-blod in them veins o' yours?"
"Took him more than one swing, Bror. A true dwarf would have only had to swing once with a hammer like that." The black-beard snorts, before motioning to the priest to sheathe the hammer. "Hold onto it for awhile, see if you can get better with a real weapon."
When they finally return to the lake of amethyst, Kikinnin breathes a little easier, when Hackbus takes over responsibility of seeing the others safely back to Malachite and above. The uncomfortable itch behind his eyes nags at him, and their refocus on Zenith gives him the straightness of back to return to their true mission.
"Hold onto it for awhile, see if you can get better with a real weapon."
"Hah! should that I have a teacher to teach me, the hammer head is weighted different than my mace. You offerin'?" Ryan ask, accepting the good natured ribbing from the paladin.
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"Aye. We get the time, the safest place to be would be in front of you, instructing. The hammer's like a strong, dwarven woman. You've got to show her you mean business, give her a strong grip, and swing her into direction, with no lack of confidence. Like our women, the weapon will sense it in you, if you hesitate.."
Map in hand, Kikinnin recenters their compass, and pushes forward in the direction of Crazy Jared.
"The faeries have offered to help guide us some of the way as well" says JJ.
"They live down here and must know the tunnels better than us, and being able to be invisible would be helpful for scouting ahead too. You want to take them up on the offer."
The cauldronites give back Juraan's flasks before they gratefully leave to seek the surface guided by Hackbus.
Once on track, the group is able to reach the faerie's pool and camp there to pass the night like they did in the first attempt of the expedition. Some mushroom soup and a good rest later allows everybody to wake up fully recovered.
During the next "morning" the faerie's keep guiding the group until you reach a gargantuan door. Made of basaltic stone, the door has carving all along its sheets. Despite the clear pass of time, the main motive is still visible: an octopus whose tentacles are fighting a kraken, sinking a ship and abusing a naked man and a naked female dwarf. In the centre of the carving there is an octopus eye surrounded by a gold disk inscribed with ancient looking runes. The eye is indeed a prominent hole at the height of a giant's face. The doors remain closed.
The central motive is Dagon's unholy symbol, Demon Lord of the Sea and Sea Monsters that dwell in its darkest depths.
Dagon is one of the oldest beings in the Abyss being one of the ancient qlippoth, the creatures that dwelt in the abyss before demons. Dagon dwells in the depths of the Abyssal sea of Ishiar, in a sunken city known as Ugothanok a city with architecture so ancient as to be almost alien. Dagon is said to have slain the great kraken Kaktora, thereby creating the devilfish now haunting Golarion's oceans.
Some authors adventure to say Dagon is indeed the real force behind Blibdoolpoolp, The Drowning Godess, revered by the Kuo-toas.
As the huge door comes into view and clarity, a low whistle is heard from Ryan. Studying the sigils and gliphs covering it, he comes to the center of the carving.
Dagon, hmm never thought to see this outside of the booksback at the church. The god creature that calls itself Dagon is older than the demons within the abyss, IF I remember Ruphes's lessons correctly that is.
It is said that Dagon is indeed the real force behind Blibdoolpoolp, The Drowning Godess, revered by the Kuo-toas. Whom we seek to infiltrate."
"Ugh...th-this just keeps g-getting worse and worse," Marigold shivers, also recognizing the carvings. "I'm g-glad we've had a chance for some p-proper rest b-because I think we're g-going to need it..."
Looking at the strange gargantuan door, Juraan says: Looks ominous. Better check check it for magic."
Then he casts a spell at the door: « აღმოაჩინე ჯადოსნური » . .
Juraan scans the doors, but he finds no magic auras.
The faeries give farewells to JJ.
"These are the Demon Doors you asked. We have seen the Crazy Jared a couple of times he moved close to our pool. Strange person he is. He said he lives at the other side. We do not know how he crosses the doors. We never have crossed"
"Take care. And thanks for your rescue. Make sure to visit us back at the pool if you need to rest"
JJ waves his thanks to the faeries as they return to their mushroom dell.
"They said we can rest with them if we need to later on. Apparently Crazy Jared lives beyond these doors, but they don't know how he gets through them."
"Nothing magical about these doors. I think."
… then, after scratching his head a bit …
"Something just occurred to me."
"We don't really know anything about Crazy Jared, do we?"
"Is Jared a he or a she."
"Big enough to open that door, to tiny enough to go in and out of that opening?",
Juraan asks as he points to the opening in the eye of the carving.
"We'll probably find out soon enough, suppose."
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"Yeah, I find 'J' names to be the hardest to determine if they're male or female. 'Jesse', 'Jackie', 'Juraan', 'Jared'..." Kikinnin shoots the professor a discouraging look.
The black-beard gives the door a good looking-over, then tries his arm at pushing at it.
Kikinnin pushes the door, finding it would be beyond the group strength to push it open. With his examination of the door he determines the hole in the center corresponds to a keyhole.
Maxim flashes a hard grin at the interplay between Kikinnin and Ryan.
He claps the priest's shoulder as they press on;
"Keep on like this Taskerhill and yer chin'll be pushin' whiskers afore long!"
At the door, as the group debate their next move he eyes the door with a scowl;
"Dagon? Bad business... As for this Jared. We know jack about 'em... outwith being called Crazy don't bode well neither."
:
"So... Demon Door needs a Demon Key. Who's carrying that set of Keys? Looks like we get another chance to try them out."
Remembering Celeste's acumen with the previous Demon Door, Kikinnin waits for the set of four large iron keys shaped like black demons to be produced, so they may pass the ominously large set of doors.
"Nothing wrong with the letter J" mutters someone who has strong feelings on the matter.
"Didn't that witch have some keys on her? Lets try those."
After recovering the Malachite Demon Keys from Maxim dimensional bag it results an easy task to unlock the doors. Pushing them open results easier than their massive appearance would seem.
The faeries definitely give their farewell as the group ventures in even more dangerous areas of the Darklands.
The party follows the path towards the place in the map marked as "Crazy Jared's Hut" through caverns and underground streams, cliffs and chasms.
After half-day walking, just before the group is to call for a lunch stop, everybody but Kikinnin stop at place and agree a flash of fiery light has been seen at the end of the very long tube the party is currently following. The flash just happened and then disappeared in less than a second, so fast Kikinnin did not manage to spot it.
Before the door is opened, Juraan pats JJ on the shoulder.
"Don't mind him, JJ. You should know by now that's Kikinnin's banter."
"Anyway, I shouldn't take it personally."
"Not unless he's actually in a bad mood for a change."
⋮
After agreeing with the others about the sudden flash ahead, Juraan whispers quietly to the others:
"Always best to be ready down here, and then quietly casts a spell: « ערלעכקייט בויגן » . .
And then taps himself with his wand of Mage Armour .