Potions are shared and people search the room without noticing anything.
Maxim's dwarven sense though tells him there is something strange at the northern wall.
With a bit of effort you find out a secret door leading north.
The group has an immediate secret door to the east and another to the north, plus a few caverns left unexplored before this one.
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"Th-this place is a m-maze..." Marigold grumbles as yet another secret door is revealed by Maxim's keen eyes. "G-good thing I'm not the one l-leading...we would be so l-lost..."
She seems ready to proceed in whichever direction JJ or Kikinnin deems appropriate.
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Kythel nods at Marigold's statement, "Indeed Marigold. The secret doors here evade even my perceptive eyes. Thank the gods that our allies are Dwarves who cannot be so easily deceived by the stonecutting tricks of these Fiends".
He smiles at Maxim shaking his head in wonder at the Dwarves' keen eyes!
JJ sidles up behind Maxim. "Those dwarven eyes of yours are good!
Every other door like this has had demons behind it.."
He listens closely to see if he can hear anything, ready to quaff the blur potion if it looks like there might be another combat.
Over the far tremor of the volcano, you hear nothing to the north, but there is lava bubbling to the south.
On that last location, you overhear the faint conversation of a man and a woman.
The woman is saying "...born in the Material Plane 150 years ago. My mother was servant of a dark monastery that trafficked with the spawn of the Nine Hells of Baator."
"How is she doing?" inquiries the man.
"She died in childbirth" there is a pause before the man hesitantly asks another question.
"Who raised you then?"
"The monks did"
The conversation seems to halt there, at least for a minute or so. You can wait to listen more, but your spells duration will start to wear down.
"Wh-what...? Wh-who've we f-found? It almost s-sounds like a n-normal conversation...except f-for the l-locale..." Marigold whispers to the others, clearly baffled.
The Cleric nods in response, he motions towards the place where the conversation is taking place whispering back, "We should strike now while they speak unawares"
"Probably demonspawn." sighs JJ quietly.
"But that doesn't make them necessarily evil. " Then with a glance at Kikinnin he adds "Even if it is likely."
He quaffs the potion of blur as the team readies a Dramatic Entrance (tm).
Kikinnin watches the young man down the glabrezu with a proud eye.
"But that doesn't make them necessarily evil..."
Kikinnin's proud eye narrows to side-eye.
"You enter a rat's den, uh..." The black beard hesitates, as he considers rats in nature, rather than in the city, where they're obviously unwelcome. "This is a wasp's nest. Won't do to wait for the sting you know is coming."
The black beard let's the blurry boy take the lead, for the next tunnel ahead.
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The lad nods, sadly to Kikinnin. "I think I am starting to come around to your way of thinking. At least down here."
When everyone is ready, JJ will open the door and dash in.
"Good day to you. This disruption of your evil rituals is brought to you by the Cauldron Watchers!"
As JJ opens the door, Kythel takes a moment to ensure that the Cauldron Watchers have a further edge for the battle, "My Lady, aid us in the coming fight".
A pool of glowing lava nearly thirty feet across fills a sunken region to the south of this large cavern. The ceiling is forty feet high, and the room appears to be some sort of training facility. Paper screens line most of the walls, painted in various impressionistic designs, and reed mats cover the floor. Weapon racks hold a variety of exotic weapons. A pair of practice dummies hangs from the high ceiling along the east wall, and a low, wooden cot sits against the west. To the south stands a large armoire.
A tiefling, about 5 and a half feet tall, fit and strong, stands in the middle of the room. Her head is shaved and displays a twisted tattoo of a scorpion across her scalp. Her eyes are dark and her face ageless, adding to the mystique that surrounds her.
By her, there is a nondescript man, who seems to be training with the tiefling.
Juraan casts a welcome fireball on the couple.
Both of them demonstrate great skill as they get out of the way of the flames and emerge unscathed.
"Ah! The Cauldron Watchers, of course. You are the ones that defeated Fetor and Thifirane" he raises his rapier "Well, I guess subtleties have come to an end"
He moves forward and whispers something, turning invisible.
Maxim acts here.
The tiefling woman moves forward and whispers something, turning invisible.
"Blessings of Adimarchus" is the sentence they both whispered before turning invisible.
"Who is Adimarchus?" wonders JJ.
JJ charges forward toward where the blue tiefling was, and swings Alakast at its location
Marigold's Round 1
"તે સિપિટસનો પૂર્વ શાસક હતો," Marigold answers, her expression grim as she steps forward into the room. She reaches up and grabs her eyepatch, yanking it off to reveal her smoking eye in all its (unholy?) glory.
Marigold bellows defiantly as she begins to cast a spell...
"He was the former ruler of Occipitus."
______________
Kythel watches the foes wink out and considers his options, "My Lady, send me a servant to aid us!"
JJ charges in where he last saw the tiefling. Used to fight the invisible by now, he strikes hard, despite he feels a strange magic taking hold on him and attacking with his Intelligence rather than his Strength. The tiefling shouts in pain "Ah! Basterd!"
Marigold removes the patch on her eye, and as she does triggers magic that let her see precisely where the two enemies are.
They both open the eyes wide on spoting the smoking eye. The man exclaims "Ah! So the rumors that Occipitus has a new Master are true after all!"
"Hmmm... all the better, Adimarchus will be delightful to know we have killed the usurper!" shouts back the tiefling.
Meanwhile, Kythel begins the casting of a summon spell.
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AC = 33
HP = 184/184
Weapon Equipped = Eldgammel
Condition(s) = circle vs evil 110 min, air walk 110 min, resist energy (fire 30) 122 min
Smite = 5/7
Kikinnin takes the lift in his step to gain an attempt at the sneak tief standing in front of JJ, bleeding and bleating.
"Keep talking, tiefling. It'll help me keep you in my axe line. You might want to consider using your words to negotiate your surrender."
The black beard grunts as his swing isn't interrupted by the skulker's body mass.
Maxim moves deep into the chamber, drawing his double barrelled pistol as he goes...
Kikinnin's blade goes through just air as Maxim enters the rocky training chamber.
Juraan casts see invisibility "There! They are!" he points towards their direction, although distance is a bit difficult to judge.
The tiefling makes appearance surprising JJ with a hit on Alakast instead of him, but the blurring potion takes effect, distorting the contours just enough for the hit to be a subtle scratch. The woman seems surprised but continues her flurry trying to beat such skillful opponent.
But JJ dodges once and again, and she only manages to connect once on his right leg. Tattoos of a wasp and a tiger shine on her skin, helping to move her astonishingly wild.
"Ah, ok, you are an able combatant, I give you that, but not even all your skill can protect you from the Lord of Madness!" her scorpion tattoo on the face also shines.
"એડમિરકસનો આશીર્વાદ" she mutters then disappears, invisible once more.
Invisible to most of you, Nulin charges through the room surprising everyone with a sneak attack on Marigold as he pops out of invisibility "Ha! Got you Miss Smoking Eye!"
The man skewers the halfling's neck with his long rapier, then he mutters the same as Ardeth "એડમિરકસનો આશીર્વાદ" and disappears in front of you!
JJ steps sideways, trying to set up a flank with Kikinnin on the invisible tiefling. Even as he does so, he rises in the air to try and get a high ground advantage on his skilled foe.
Blue light spills from his wounds as the warrior tries to keep his balance and swing at the agile adversary.
Then, keeping a firm grip on Alakast he tries to finish off the tatooed woman.
-7 to hit, and -7 to damage (-3 to damage in off hand) due to using int not STR. Nice debuff.
In a surprise movement, the foe appears right next to Marigold!
Appearing next to the area where the foe disappeared appears the Cleric's large furry friend, "Good Kitty, fetch that which we cannot see, the stench of Evil is about it!" grins Kythel.
The creature can detect opponents within 30 feet by sense of smell. If the opponent is upwind, the range increases to 60 feet; if downwind, it drops to 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at triple normal range.
When a creature detects a scent, the exact location of the source is not revealed—only its presence somewhere within range. The creature can take a move action to note the direction of the scent. When the creature is within 5 feet of the source, it pinpoints the source’s location.
Melee 2 Claws +18 2d4+8 PLUS Grab, 1 Bite +18 2d6+8
Rake - A creature with this special attack gains extra natural attacks under certain conditions, typically when it grapples its foe. In addition to the options available to all grapplers, a monster with the rake ability gains two free claw attacks that it can use only against a grappled foe. The bonus and damage caused by these attacks is included in the creature’s description. A monster with the rake ability must begin its turn already grappling to use its rake—it can’t begin a grapple and rake in the same turn.
Format: rake (2 claws +8, 1d4+2);
Smite Evil 1x Day Swift Action Cha Bonus to Attack and Damage Bonus = to HB (14) Smite persists until the target is dead or the Celestial Rests.
Attack - Claw #1 - Damage
Claw #2 - Damage
IF both hit - GRAB - Free Action Grapple -
Bite - Damage
The cleric will draw his spear and attack the indistinct foe!
Frost Spear Attack #1 - - Damage
Frost Spear Attack #2 - - Damage
Frost Spear Attack #3 - - Damage
JJ's wounds immediately start healing while he directs his attacks to the invisible tiefling. Adept to fight what cannot be seen, JJ manages to connect thrice, and he feels the fighter's techniques does not affect the severity of his hits.
Just next to Marigold materializes a roaring tiger that scents something by him and starts attacking there.
The tiger grabs the invisible assassin with its claws and rakes him with the back ones, just before biting him and spitting a piece of meat.
Kythel charges forward with his spear, but fails to connect.
Marigold's Round 2
Marigold is quick to step away as Kythel's summoned friend rips into her attacker; she'd really rather not take another rapier jab should they get free.
Instead, she attempts to make the celestial tiger's job easier by using her own magic to hold him fast!
______________
Unable to see the assassin, Marigold reaches for him with the hand where the tiger seems to have it grasped. Grappled, the human cannot use attacks of opportunity on the halfling who manages to touch and deliver her spell.
The magics take hold of the man who freezes, invisible, on place.
Now able to see the invisible Juraan casts a spell and 5 magic missiles burst over the grappled and invisible assassin.
Maxim and Kikinnin do some dwarven heroics!
After a moment of paralysis that make him lose valuable seconds, Nulin finally shakes his head and breaks the magics through just will "Agh, I see why you have cause so much trouble to us, but not all is said still!"
With a hastened move Ardeth snatches Alakast and takes it from JJ's hands! She is now visible.
"Ha! Now what?! No more hitting me with the stick!" she then starts to spin Alakast over her head, clearly skillfully trained on the use of staves like that. But then a smoke rises as the staff starts to burn the tiefling's hands "Aaaagh! What the?!"
Despite the clear pain, she keeps up with her plan and completes her flurry of blows attacking JJ with Alakast.
Ardeth manages to strike twice despite her clear pain.
She then says "Blessings of Adimarchus" and disappears, once more invisible.
The tiger continues to maul his foe!
Attack - Claw #1 - Damage
Claw #2 - Damage
Bite - Damage
Rake extra attack: - Damage
Rake extra attack: - Damage
-
-
The Cleric continues to attack the foe next to him with his spear.
Miss High Good Low Bad Attack #1 - Damage
Miss High Good Low Bad Attack #2 - Damage
Miss High Good Low Bad MISS!
Marigold's Round 3
Marigold gasps as the tiefling woman manages to snatch Alakast away from JJ and proceeds to beat him with it.
"ಹೇ! ನೀವು ಅದನ್ನು ಹಿಂತಿರುಗಿಸಿ!" she cries.
"Hey! You give that back!"
She takes a step back, putting her back against the wall behind her, and begins to cast a spell. A ghostly chain appears a few feet in front of the woman and lashes out, attempting to trip her!
______________
"Hey, thats my staff. Hope it hurts" says JJ, stepping back and drawing his cold iron sword in one hand and a light mace in the other.
"But you know what? I have other options."
As the invisible foes continue to cause the Watchers pain and frustration, Maxim holds and retrieves a wand from his magical bag .
He then invokes the wand's power ;
"Zie onzichtbaar!"
He then pockets the wand , and draws a pistol bead on the (now visible to him) tiefling menacing Marigold...
... empowering his pistol with a sliver of arcane energy and fires off one barrel!
Maxim enhances his sight with a wand.
Kikinnin swings his axe against the invisible tiefling.
The dwarf cuts once the invisible creature.
The large cat manages to hold the grab on the assassin and rakes him with the rear claws.
Through true seeing Marigold locates the tiefling and summons a chain of force that coils around her. Regretfully, the chain is dispelled by the tiefling's spell resistance.
JJ steps back and shows he is a warrior ready to fight on many stances by drawing sword and mace.
Maxim overloads his gun with magic and shots at the assassin. The bullet burst Nullin's skull and he falls over the summoned tiger, dead.
Seeing Marigold's chain to fail, Juraan opts for prudence and draws his bow shooting it at the remaining invisible enemy.
But she dodges the arrow.
Kikinnin does something heroic!
Ardeth frowns and angrily steps to engage JJ again "Hu! You are unbearable!"
JJ dodges two of the swings and she fails one due to the blur, but shows her skill knocking twice more on JJ's nose and ankle.
For the first time, she does not disappear and remains visible.
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Marigold's Round 4
Upon seeing JJ's injuries Marigold decides that more drastic measures are necessary; she moves up and in front of Juraan before unleashing a blast of icy shards at the tiefling!
Then she quickly moves out of the way but angles around closer to JJ.
______________
"Going to stay around and fight then are you?" mocks JJ.
"Not getting tired of fighting a boy like me?"
He steps sideways and further into the aid to provide a convenient flank for Kikinnin as the lad launches his own set of attacks. Albeit slower attacks now, as he is starting to hurt.
AC = 33
HP = 184/184
Weapon Equipped = Eldgammel
Condition(s) = circle vs evil 110 min, air walk 110 min, resist energy (fire 30) 122 min
Smite = 5/7
Kikinnin watches with great irritation as the tief takes Alakast, and wields it against JJ. It becomes something personal between the two of them, the young man with his righteous and redemptive arc, and the evil agent taunting his good nature, weapon in hand.
His several swings are mainly in place to keep the tiefling from retreating, should she start to feel overwhelmed by JJ's adversity.
AC = 33
HP = 184/184
Weapon Equipped = Eldgammel
Condition(s) = circle vs evil 110 min, air walk 110 min, resist energy (fire 30) 122 min
Smite = 5/7
Kikinnin presses his attacks, seeking to be done with this chamber, for the next one, however unending this Sanctum appears to be. His job easier for the tiefling's visible condition, he doesn't seem to find his stride.
Kythel nods to the Summoned Creature, "After the next my friend, after the next!"
The Celestial Dire Tiger charges and pounces at the seemingly doomed foe...
POUNCE!
Attack - Claw #1 - Damage
Claw #2 - Damage
Bite - Damage
Rake extra attack: - Damage
Rake extra attack: - Damage
Now that Kythel can see the foe, he unleashes negative energy against the foe!
Channel Negative Energy 7d6 –
Kikinnin slices thrice, but all the times Ardeth jumps to one side and another avoiding the hits.
The tiefling displays monk reflexes as she evades the cold blizzard unleashed by Marigold!
JJ decides to stay in the ground in order to flank with Kikinnin. His blade and mace swirl around, but Ardeth moves Alakast fast blocking all the attacks except one, which JJ manages to cut on the monk's belly.
Kikinnin keeps swinging his axe, but only finds air as the blade is slow to catch the nimble tiefling.
Kythel's tiger pounces over Ardeth, the cat cuts her back with a claw grabing her, then rakes with the rear legs, which pushes her to the ground where the cat finishes her with a roar!
The chamber comes back to quietness. Your fallen foes are wearing considerable equipment.
belt of strength and dex +4
boots of constitution +2 (like a belt of Constitution +2)
headband of wisdom +2
amulet of mighty fist +2
bracers of armor +4
cloak of arachnida
ring of minor fire resistance
+3 shadow silent chain shirt
+1 mithral buckler
+3 rapier
belt of constitution and dexterity +2
boots of striding and springing
googles of night
hat of disguise
5x potions of cure serious wounds
potion of haste
wand of displacement (10 charges)
1300 gp in assorted gems
2 strange magical rings with the Carcerian Eye
Ring of Thirteen: these are the rings of the Cagewrights. They work as a ring of protection +2 plus in the hands of an evil person, they give constant protection from good, nondetection, endure elements.
A good character gains a negative level while wearing it.
"W-wow...they were r-really loaded for b-bear, weren't they?" Marigold remarks as it quickly becomes clear that their two foes were carrying and wearying gear to rival that of the Watchers themselves. "I b-bet we can p-put some of this to g-good use!"
She frowns when she looks at the rings bearing the Carcerian Eye. "Wh-what are these? They're p-powerful...t-too powerful for me to f-figure out."
"I'll drink to that!" he agrees lifting Alakast from the monks hands.
JJ takes a few of the healing potions and starts drinking.
"Anyone else need one?" he asks, sheepishly holding up the last bottle.
Ever the opportunist, the lad looks at the goggles. "[b]These would be helpful when I scout ahead. Nothing screams "someone here" like a light glowing above my head.
Kythel bows to the majestic Celestial Tiger before allowing it to fade back to the Heavens from whence it came, "My thanks friend".
He nods to JJ, "Use it, I will tend to Marigold".
Kythel casts a Cure Moderate Wounds on the halfling female -
The celestial tiger roars satisfied an instant before returning to the plane of summons.
Meanwhile Marigold starts to sort out the items and JJ recovers his staff and starts to cure his injuries with the Cagewrights broths.
An untold question starts to arise among the party. Where next?
Crossing the southern pool of lava will require small jumps and some means to open the doors at a distance before jumping through.
"Th-thanks Kythel," Marigold smiles as the priest heals the worst of her injuries. "I'll t-take care of the r-rest."
She channels a few minor healing spells to mend the remainder of her wounds and then gives a satisfied nod.
"G-good as new! Oh and I've already g-got goggles like th-those so I d-don't need them," she adds.
JJ tries on the new belt, plucking one of his floating stones from the air as he does so.
"Here, catch!" he calls to Maxim a the lad tosses a very expensive belt and a very expensive floaty stone to the quartermaster.
He digs out a couple of his own potiosn and downs them.
"Much better!" he smiles, tacking away the last of the new healing bottles.
The fight and its aftermath takes a couple of minutes before the group decides to move on.
Back to health, JJ and Kikinnin's air walks are indeed still active, and thus, they are able to easily walk in the air over the lava pool and reach the southern doors.
At the other side they found a wide cavern enlightened by a few lava flows. At the west, the cavern ends in an apparent wall of basalt. At the east, there is a set of double doors with the Carcerian Eye engraved over them.
Juraan approaches the lava pool, unfurls his wings and lands at the other side where he casts a new set of dancing lights which he sends to better observe the far doors "Let's see... what we have here?"
Maxim, Kythel and Marigold still need to make their way through if you want to keep exploring in this direction.
A short afterwards JJ's blur comes to an end.
Kythel activates the Fly ability in his armor, "I can fly you both across, one at a time I fear as I've not the strength of our more stout companions".
"I'm o-k-kay," Marigold reassures her friend as she wills her body to gently levitate above the ground. "As l-long as it's not d-distance travel, I can f-fly for short d-distances," she smiles as she moves to follow after JJ and Kikinnin.
______________
Marigold lure the Heavens to fly over while Kythel uses the armor to do so. The group helps Maxim to cross or he uses one of the cloaks of arachnida to climb through the walls.
Without more preparations, the group moves to the east, past the door there.
The walls of this large chamber are dark red. In the corner of the chamber lies a pile of cushions nearly thirty feet across, stacked nearly six feet high. The cushions, like the floor, are covered in a pale, sickly slime. A desk behind a bend in the chamber is sized for someone overly large—at least ten feet tall.
Three fellow demodands await the Cagewrights leader's pleasure here.
They attack you as soon as they see you. The party jumps in to fight before they can cover the place with acid fog. Now that you know their tactics and magic, the group does a better job of fighting. JJ and Kikinnin overwhelm them face to face, while Maxim bursts the skull of one of them with a shot. Kythel with his lance and Marigold with her force spells finish another one. Soon the chamber is silent again.
To the north, past one of the basalt-like curtains, there is a treasury. Three urns hold a total of 2,333 gp and 639 pp. Also among the loose treasure are two potions of cure moderate wounds and a potion of bull's strength. There are signs that more treasure was at one point stored here, but the majority of it was used to finance the construction of the Tree of Shackled Souls.
Well concealed to the east, there is yet another secret door in the volcanic wall.
"You ever wonder what they were so worried about?" asks JJ, as he points out the next secret door.
"And what pacts they made to get so many demons working for them?"
He shakes his head, concerned for the state of his enemies souls. It is a strange feeling for the lad and he pauses for a moment or two to wonder where the idea came from.
While pausing, he also pockets one of the curing potions, as they have come in so handy recently.
Kythel nods at JJ's astute observation of the next secret door.
"Demons and Devils will promise much to those of the prime to gain access to such worlds. The idea of inflicting pin and terror upon the weak, especially at will, is probably too much to pass up.
I am just glad to be here with all of you so that we can inflict such pains back upon these villains and show them that though Mortal, we will not yield!"
"N-not to mention this p-plot to break Adimarchus out of Car-c-ceri has c-clearly been in the w-works for m-months...m-maybe even y-years or m-more," Marigold points out. "D-demons, d-devils, d-demodands...they can all p-play the l-long game, especially when there's s-someone or s-something powerful enough to k-keep them in l-line in the m-meantime..."
"And those... demonlings... they were worshippers of Adimarchus as well by the sound of it..." mentions JJ.
"Plots and more plots."
If the group pushes through the secret door identified by JJ, you will reach a short corridor with a dead end.
But of course, you would not believe that. There is yet another secret door to the east of this corridor.