Maxim finishes off his stogie while the debate on their elusive foe's nature and who will drink the potion rages on.
The gun-mage wryly echoes his fellow dwur's suggestion for urgency;
"Aye... so it's hard to kill. Most things we knock heads with tend to be... Like my bror suggests - get the tincture drunk down and crack on... We've a wee infernal to hunt!"
Ryan nods in agreement, as the group has decided to chase down the quasit. Back against the door he's guarding he scans the room for magical signatures, which seem to be multiplying around this group.
"ready here " Ryan calls out as he guards the innermost doorway.
"I'm ready too. JJ, you seem to know about that little bugger."
"How would fare against fire or acid?
"I don't think they are immune, but they are hardy and normal fires or acid are unlikely to hurt them much.." calls out JJ.
He pauses. "If someone else takes over guarding this door I could use the potion, but it might be better if it was someone with a ranged weapon in case it sticks to the roof."
As an afterthought he adds "And if can probably hear us and know what we are saying.
JJ changes to Dwarven "I can translate for you tough folk. " and then to Celestial And for you Marigold. "
Then back to Taldane. "You speak any interesting languages Ryan? Jurann?"
"Yeah one or two" Ryan says, answering in the same language that JJ addressed Marigold, the sounds soft and airy as compared to the harsh dwarven tongue.
Turning to Juraan "While they are problematic, invisibility being on of the main concerns there, they are susceptible to magic attacks that attack the body, , as opposed to those that test their reflexes or strength of mind. Electricity and poison don't phase then and normal weapons are weakened against them, along with their unnatural healing. Damage must be heavy and quick, or inflicted with weapons of cold iron origin."
After you drink the potion you look around but you are not able to see the quasit or anything else in the current room.
You do wonder if the potion has really made any effect, as your eyes seem to see exactly what you were seeing a while before. That is when Marigold speaks and you look at her. In the middle of her forehead, occupying all the skin in there you see a sign there was not there seconds before. The sign is a circle with a dot, like an eye, with an arrow pointing to the top.
A gasp of breathe comes from JJ/.
"Marigold... you have ... an invisible sign on your chest. I see a target, a circle with a centre. And from top to bottom an arrow goes through it."
After the revelation, JJ spends some time searching the whole cave, making sure the small demon is truly gone.
"I can speak several languages: Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Gnome, Halfling and Terran."
⋮
After hearing what JJ had to say about Marigold, Juraan casts Detect Magic on
her and tries to see if he can figure out what's happened to her.
He motions her to stay still and speaks to her:
« Ùn spustà, Calendula, mi tocca à capisce sta. »
"I wonder if that can occupy someone?"
"Maybe that's why Tarkilar seemed to be talking to himself."
"Right plans in Celestial or Dwarven for the moment, at least until the creature is dealt to or we think vanished." suggests JJ in Taldan.
If, after a thorough search, he doesn't find it, JJ nods to Marigold.
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For a moment Marigold looks at JJ, nonplussed.
"Uh...wh-what?"
For lack of anything handier, she draws her dagger and squints at her reflection on the blade. "I d-don't see anything...you're s-sure there's s-something there?" she asks, rubbing at her forehead. She then follows Juraan's request to hold still as he attempts to scan for the strange mark.
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Maxim eyes Marigold curiously, then back to JJ;
"Hang on Surabar... Did I give ye a drop o' the hard stuff or a potion? Ain't no symbol on her we can see..."
The dwur scowls, then taps the floor where his stogie ash had collected, the instructs in dwarven:
"Tegn hvad du ser knægt. I asken. Vi har brug for at vide, hvis symbolet er Ve eller ve vores lille frøken."
Draw what you see lad. In the ash. We need to know if the symbol is weal or woe to our little Miss.
JJ is more than happy to draw the symbol.
"Anyone know what it means? I've never been able to see invisible things before... so maybe it isn't new."
He looks at his sister carefully, trying to work out if it is on her clothes, or her, or in the air around her.
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"Marigold... you have ... an invisible sign on your chest."
"Damn your hormones, boy, stop looking at Marigold's bosom, and get on with hunting the imp already."
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JJ blushes.
"I've as much interest in Marigold's bosom as you do in Maxim's butt." he stammers back, trying to mimic the bluster of the dwarf and failing miserably.
Then, realising he may have hurt his sisters feeling he adds
"She's like my little sister."
Then thinking a little. "Little sister that can make fireworks appear out of thin air..."
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"Seeing as how I'm often covering Maxim's butt, I will admit I have an interest in seeing it protected. We'll have time for your curiosity about Marigold when we're back in Cauldron. You drank the potion to find the imp, so let's not waste our time." Kikinnin makes a shooing gesture, to get the boy moving.
JJ returns to searching the caverns, walls and roofs for the little demon.
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"It's okay JJ, I kn-know what you m-meant," Marigold says reassuringly. "B-but are you s-sure it's on m-my chest and n-not s-somewhere else? B-because if it's on m-my chest th-then that m-means you c-can see through our armor and c-clothes and I d-don't want to think about that t-too much..." she adds, making a face.
Juraan studies Marigold's forefront but there seems to be no magic in there.
JJ makes a drawing on some paper provided by Maxim. The sign is a circle with a dot, like an eye, with an arrow pointing to the top.
Maxim thinks on the matter, but the nature of the symbol seems past the knowledge of the group at their brightest days.
While the group searches and discusses, JJ is suddenly surprised by the spotted figure of the quasit after opening a door it has been closed before.
The quasit is holding a wand on his claws. He looks at you and seems to understand you are seeing him.
The tiny creature flies 5' closer to you then moves his hand.
You all but Maxim feel a sudden strange wave of fear.
⋮
After shrugging off a moment of dread, Juraan moves up so he can see the Quaist
« מאַגיש מיסאַל »
And shoots a Magic Missile spell at it.
Round 1
Between the cleric's rigorous studies and Kikinnin's aura, the quasit spells washes off of Ryan without bothering the cleric in the least. Reaching out he touches JJ's shoulder, "Abadar guide thy blades"
cast guidance on JJ, before following JJ down the hall.
"Wand!" stammers JJ as he sees the quasit.
JJ charges the creature with his magical sword out!
Marigold blinks as she feels the briefest stirring of fear in her mind, a stirring that she quickly banishes. As JJ suddenly charges down the hallway, she quickly realizes he's spotted the quasit. She offers Kikinnin a bit of guidance before stepping back to make room for Maxim.
______
The group washes out most of the sudden wave of fear, but still feel shaken by what might come next.
As soon as the wave passes through the group, the quasit pop's up appearing in the corridor just in front.
JJ charges in shouting about the wand and stabs his sword on the flying creature's right foot. The sword does not seem as effective as the young man would have expected.
Juraan is quick to realize the quasit is not invisible any longer and casts a couple magic missiles that blast the tiny demon on the chest for full effect! It seems to stagger.
The wounds on the quasit seems to heal slightly, making him to recover, not being staggered any longer. The flying demon seems less amused by now "You leave Gutterrut or will pay for his ire!" The it retreats from combat flying as fast as he can.
When it arrives at certain angle on the corridor, JJ loses sight of the quasit.
As the little demon attacks, then just as quickly retreats, Maxim draws his pistol and loads with bullet and powder
AC = 22
HP = 54/54
Weapon Equipped = MW Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = Guidance
Kikinnin sees... something, then nothing again, as the Js begin an assault down the corridor. Like metal pulled to magnet, the black-beard follows behind JJ, not sure what good he'll be able to do against an invisible, flying varmint. He pulls out a throwing axe, just in case he gets a glimpse.
He takes Marigold's energy in kind, hoping that it'll be used, one way or another.
"Alright, JJ. Don't lose it now. If you saw a wand, that's a good chunk of change in the demon's possession. Can't let it go, now."
Juraan mutters "No time to lose!" …
and runs past Kikinnin and JJ to try and see the Quaist
He shouts « ჯადოსნური სარაკეტო » ,
and casts another Magic Missile at the Quaist
He shouts « იწვის მჟავა ხელში » ,
and casts a Burning Hands Spell that does acid damage down the hall
JJ hurries up to the intersection. Is either of the doors open? If so then he goes through the open door (mindful of the trap in K42).
"Close any of the open doors behind us.." he suggests.
Pondceing the effect of his blade he thinks.
"Damnit! Cold iron, not silver
Maxim loads his pistol while Ryan and Marigold guide their companions.
Juraan moves to the front casting a spray of acid that fills the corridor ruining both walls and floor.
JJ passes him and looks through the corridor and the entry hall but even he cannot see any trace of the quasit.
Kikinnin follows the boy but he cannot see the quasit anywhere.
Marigold hustles up the hallway after the others but can only go so fast compared to the taller folk.
This is the worst... she sighs to herself.
Juraan looks around trying to figure out where the the quasit got to
he barks out
AC = 22
HP = 47/54
Weapon Equipped = MW Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = Guidance
"Alright, JJ, you stabbed it once, and your eyes are the ones that see it, but why don't you try next time to grab it, so the rest of us can pound on it? Unless the thing is hostile enough to keep baiting us, and drops into sight, we're no use back here."
Kikinnin can't think of much to do, other than to ready a throw at the quasit, if it comes out of hiding.
Despite Juraan's excellent taunting, there is no trace of the quasit after a minute or so passes.
JJ still sees the strange sign on Marigold's forehead no one else seems to see. But he sees no trace of the quasit.
"Well, I won't say we lost it, but we sure can't seem to find it. Suppose we have to do the one before the other. We'll have a reasonable excuse for having lost a wand if it comes to that."
Kikinnin tries to stay out of the quicker-toed folk, but he does try and lend an eye to signs, should his darkvision reveal anything to those trained in seeking those in hiding.
With pistol drawn and loaded, Maxim joins the hunt moving forward to take a place between Marigold and Ryan.
"Hell's Teeth. This is gonna be a long day."
"That little titch had to go somewhere", says Juraan,
probably there or there, pointing to the doors to K42 and the hall to K37.
He then scans the area with Detect Magic, hoping for the best.
Juraan detects no magical aura except the ones in the group members in neither room.
JJ looks around, sniffing the air, trying to detect the presence of the quaist, or at least work out which way it went
<- not including any aid anothers, looks like probably another +2
"I'd feel much better with that demon back in the hell that spawned it."
JJ seems to sniff the quasit as it flies in the air. Room after room, corridor after corridor the young man seems to be driven by intuition towards it's flying prey. That is when you find out the trace disappears in a dead end just before the spider caverns.
After a bit of search, you find out one of the walls there slides open.
The corridor is full of dust and a single worm.
The corridor is full of dust.
JJ looks carefully at the corridor, checking it for traps, before stepping forward and squashing the worm underfoot.
"More of that horrible undead spawn maybe?"
+2 vs humans, +4 vs evil outsiders.
Ryan has no clue what JJ is following but follows him just the same trusting to the young mans intuition if nothing else.
"Well it's led us a merry little chase but I can't see anything here but dust, can you see it JJ?" Ryan ask looking down the dusty corridor....
"Just a worm. Which is odd in a dry dusty corridor. Thus my wondering if those wormy creatures had been this way."
He carefully wipes the smeared worm thing from the sole of his foot, creating a trail in the dust as he does so.
JJ thinks a bit more.
"Didn't that guard we questioned say something about a secret door here? Or maybe that was one of the other ones."
"We m-may just have to p-press on for now," Marigold sighs with frustration. "There's still p-plenty left to explore, it l-looks like."
Kikinnin nods in agreement with both the halfling's words and tone. "Marigold's right. Let's clear out the rest of the ruins, including that fish demon at the shore. Hopefully, we cross paths the imp."
With that, the black-beard waits for JJ to press on. If the way seems less comfortable, Kikinnin is happy to return to the central larger hallway.
"There's doubtless many secret doors in this complex."
"this room seems an odd place for a dead end."
"So we might as well search here for something."
"And if there is nothing here, there's always the end of that corridor with the murder holes."
"There must be something worth looking for there, regardless."
"Should we wish to chase phantoms, or in the case quasits, we need to send the wands we have retrieved back. While rain doesn't fall on our heads here we cannot forget the lower ward's are flooding as we speak." Ryan once again speaks to leaving the quasit be and pressing on.
Thinking a moment before continuing. . "Skaven's diary mentioned three heads of the Ebon Triad being here, was Triel one of those 3 or merely a high ranking leutinant? If that is the case we have one more major player down here and his men to deal with. Wasnt there mention of a giant?"
JJ finds out a secret door at the other side of the corridor.
He then starts to squeesh the dust with his right boot while something seems to fight him back. All of a sudden he is pushed back when the quasit appears dead under his boot. The quasit has a wand on his hands.
"Well.. that explains the worm... " sighs JJ.
"If Skaven was a leader, and Triel a leader, and that undead creature the third leader, it would seem we have likely cut off all the heads of this hydra."
He picks up the wand.
"Is this the 7th or the 8th? I keep losing track."