Valgrim picks up his waraxe (no AoO unless priest has Combat Reflexes) and swings:
Vug continues to climb the statue and then attempts to grab the priest as well. "Valgrim, are you sure this is a good plan?" she adds skeptically.
grapple:
An unearthly howl echoes through the chambe as a rush of freezing cold wind buffets the grappled priest, chilling him to the bone.
As the debris settles a tall handsome man can be seen, hand outstretched, wind blown hair rakishly strewn as he grips a copper shod staff in his other hand.
Subdual damage
The priest yet again resists the attempt to shatter his unholy symbol, but is taken aback by the sudden gust of wind. He turns toward Vulcan with disgust. "You again! I'll deal with you later. With that he raises the skull yet again, hitting Vug, Valgrim, Bubba and Chisora for 13 points of damage.
You're up (whoever is still standing).
Will save:
Vug is badly wounded, so she steps back and drinks her potion of cure light wounds.
, now at 15/20 hp
On his last legs again, Valgrim screams, channeling his race's inner beserker fury, and swings his waraxe, "For Rhiannon!"
Chisora pulls out her Hanbo and tries to beat him with it (using her 2nd Hero Point).
Bubba drops right back down.
"Friar, heal Bubba with your wand before he dies!"
"I won't get to him in time! Here-" Feres says, standing atop the fallen statue behind Valgrim. The stout priest says a quick prayer to Sarenrae, and a brief flash of radiance washes over Bubba.
Chisora's hanbo strikes the priest's temple, knocking him out cold. As he falls, a moment of silence ensues as you realize that you are victorious.
Will you be spending the night in the temple to heal and level up or try to sneak out through the mine?
The tall rugged looking man descends, taking a moment to spit on the corpse of the cleric before coming to a stop before the group.
Disheveled and bruised his eyes scan the assembled warriors, widening as the inert body of Rhiannon finally falls to the ground with a loud crash, armor clattering onto the ground as the spell holding her in place expires.
In his frenzy, Valgrim fails to notice the tall, rugged man. Rhiannon's corpse falling jars him back to reality. He looks at the priest's body and says, "You arrogant bastard, for slaying Rhiannon, I sentence you to death! Say hi to Zon-Kuthon for me." With that, Valgrim beheads the priest. The spraying of blood does not seem to affect him and you can tell he has been changed by the battle.
"Thank you Friar, your magic saved the day, as did all of you, even you Vug. Let's tend to Bubba." Finally, looking to the stranger, "Who may you be and how did you get into this locked room?" Vulcan sees the dwarf has numerous wounds, is still bleeding, and does not know how he is still standing.
"Even me?!" Vug sputters indignantly, but her mood soon becomes solemn as she sees the lifeless corpse of her new friend on the ground.
After a moment of silence, she speaks again. "I was having f-fun f-f-for a while, being an adventurer. Even getting crushed by an owlbear or almost bitten in half by a giant pig was kind of interesting, in its own way. But this isn't f-f-fun at all." Her eyes start to brim with tears and she turns away to collect the gear she tossed to all corners of the room.
Once she has recovered a bit, she returns to the newcomer and says, "Whoever you are, stranger, we appreciate the help. My name is Vug Vang."
"Death is no fun at all, Vug. I'm sorry for Rhiannon, she was so young. Avenging her death may make me feel better in the short term, but it is still hollow; it does not change the fact that she is dead." Valgrim drops to his knees, closes Rhiannon's eyes, and gathers her shield and weapon around her. "How is Bubba, Friar? Can you wake him?" The directing himself to the stranger, "Excuse the lack of pleasantries, but as you can see by the 6-7 corpses in this room, we've just had a battle for our lives that thanks to the gods and Sarenrae's servant there, we survived. I am Valgrim of the Twin-Axe clan."
"Thank you, stranger," Feres says to the newcomer with a weary smile. "Your arrival was most fortuitous. If I was a religious man, I'd say you were sent by the gods!" the stout priest says with a pleasant chuckle. "My name if Feres, by the way."
Feres' expression turns sad as he looks again toward Rhiannon's fallen form. "We dragged her into this, and now see what has befallen. When we return to the surface, we'll give her the proper ceremony she deserves - although she was here only a short time, she is a true hero of Wolfstone for helping to defeat this evil cult."
"But first, I need to make sure that Bubba doesn't join her..." With those words, Feres sheathes his scimitar, draws forth his healing wand, and moves over to see to Bubba's wounds.
With Bubba's health restored, Feres turns to his companions. "Here, let me use the wand on your wounds as well. If we're going to stay down here for the night, we should be at our peak health in case any other cultists show up... Remember, there's still two other groups of cultists down here."
"Do you require healing?" Feres asks the newcomer.
Bubba sits up again shaking his head. "We got him. Or you did anyway."
When he sees the stranger he whispers to Vug. "Where did he come from?"
"Thank you, Friar, as always you are a godsend!" Valgrim stretches his muscles, seeing his wounds partially heal. "Bubba, good to see you up again. We all took out that priest, you helped, never forget that. Odd, he never talked or mentioned his name, nothing other than when we cast spells or unleashed unholy energy at us. Maybe you can detect magic on his belongings and those of his cronies and see if he has papers, notes, a ledger, something that tells us what he was doing down here, besides presiding over an evil cult. As for the stranger, I'm wondering where he came from as well. We need to safeguard all entrances into this room. Ok, people, we've got work to do!"
Valgrim will pick up his axes and drag all the enemy corpses into one corner, removing armor, weapons, gold, jewelry, and any other valuables after Bubba has detected magic on them. He will also look around to find how to open the door they came in from. Once that door can be opened, he will drag the masked guard corpses, the dire boar, the cultists, and the skeletons with bells on them inside the room also, as well as any valuables on all corpses and from the side rooms. After that, he will explore any other rooms accessible from the statue room, if there are any.
Vulcan has been down here a while, and can tell you that he has seen no non-Zon-Kuthonites here, so you should be reasonably safe behind the locked door.
"My name is Vulcan.....Stormwrath. I've been down here for a while, the's planned on sacrificing me to their crazy god in fact. From the looks of it you got all of themm down here. I'm sorry for your loss."
"Appreciate the kind words stranger. That's Chisora, Friar Feres, and Bubba, our muse. Glad we could stop the sacrifice. Any other survivors? You're the only one? Damn cultists! Have you heard anything during your time down here about the cults? Anything about the Ebon Triad? The Faceless One, its leader? Would you like to join us in ending the menace?"
"I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to; there's bound to be more cultists that this, isn't than right Vulcan? Now that F-father F-f-feres has healed us up with his wand, I think we should head back to the surface and strategize f-for a bit. I know one thing f-for sure -- I'm going to get a good, old-f-f-fashioned bow instead of a f-few crummy javelins. And some better armour, and maybe some alchemist's f-f-fire, and some tanglefoot bags, and maybe even a thunderstone, and..." Vug digs up a scrap of paper and starts to make a deadly shopping list.
She blinks a few times and then comes back to the topic at hand. "Here's my suggestion. I have one elixir left, that allows me to impersonate someone else. I bet that if I pretend to be Dourstone, I can get us all out of here with no questions asked. Of course, getting back in might be a problem, but I have a f-few ideas about that too. And at worst, f-fighting a f-f-few guards will be easy compared to battling these soul-sucking clerics." Vug shivers at the memory of the negative energy draining her life force away.
Valgrim rubs his beard. I'm not going to die because of some flighty elf's plans! He looks at Vug and says:
"How long is it going to take you to get all of that stuff, Vug? Here's me concern and some information for our newcomer, Vulcan. We know the Ebon Triad is operating down here, doing nasty stuff, stirring up the Age of Worms that is at hand. From what Friar told us, they are an evil cult dedicated to merging the essences of Zon-Kuthon, Rovagug and Norgorber into a mighty Overgod. Heretics of their own churches, as their doctrine assumes the gods on their own are not strong enough. Blasphemous to the true believer! Well, looks to me, that this be the Zon-Kuthon arm of the Triad. So, we got 2 more sets of cults, including the Faceless One, who is supposed to be some type of wizard, according to Balabar. Right now, I think we've got surprise on our side. I don't know how these cults keep in touch, but it seems they're separate. We found a key here on the priest leader that must lead to the Rovagug section. So, what I don't want, Vug, is coming back into this mine, and running into 2 sets of cultists at the same time, very irked that we just wiped out the Zon-Kuthonites here. So again, how long is your shopping list going to take?"
"Looks as if you guys stepped into it hip deep. Well after what these bastards tried to do to me, I'm in."
"Valgrim, I'm sure they'll try another attack as soon as they notice we're here. F-father F-f-feres is low on magic and I'm running out of elixirs. We barely survived the f-first attack -- in f-f-fact, some of us didn't," she turns her unhappy gaze on Rhiannon's corpse and then looks away quickly. "A second attack could f-f-finish us off. Please...let's come back tomorrow. I want to eliminate this cult as badly as you do, but I don't want to die..."
"You are misunderstanding me, Vug. After searching the Zon-Kuthon complex thoroughly, I want to bunker down and rest for the night in this locked room, guarding all entrances. Let the spellcasters get their magics. But I don't want to leave the mine and go back to the surface, too much risk in alerting the miners, the other 2 cults, or even Ragnolin. Maybe it's the dwarven ways in me, but underground don't bother me too much. Now, I onlys speak for meself so let's put it to a vote. Who votes for leavin' der mine now and coming back tomorrow and who wants to rest for the night and continue exploring afterward without leavin'?"
"Why don't you and I go up Vug, and the others can rest here."
"You are misunderstanding me, Vug. After searching the Zon-Kuthon complex thoroughly, I want to bunker down and rest for the night in this locked room, guarding all entrances."
"I understand perfectly, and I'm sure that the other cultists will break down the door and kill you," Vug says bluntly. "Or if they don't break down the door, they'll wait just outside the door and starve you out. To my knowledge, there is no other exit, is there?"
"I'll take me chances, flighty elf! Starve me? You must be blind! I've got me one huge pig there! You go with Bubba and don't cheat me out of my share of gold or yer'll be be meeting me axe." Valgrim laughs loudly.
Vug starts crying softly, but she nods and quickly leaves, fearing that she will never see her friends alive again, certain that the next attack will be the last.
Once she and Bub (and anyone else who wishes to come) reach the lift, she wipes her eyes as best she can and she imbibes her magical elixir, taking the form of a scowling dwarf.
"Let's go -- this disguise won't last f-forever."
Vug and Bubba easily manage to bully some workers into procuring a cart, so that you can load the bloodstained armors and stuff in it. Fortunately, the miners are trained not to ask questions.
Here are some highlights from the high priest's journal:
The Faceless One grows increasingly concerned. That addled beast Grallak Kur has yet to provide new insights into the Overgod’s nature. The crude missives he sends speak of the worms, of a slumbering power that must be awoken, but nothing more. I wish he would go back to the black pit that spawned him if he has nothing more to offer.
The Faceless One tells me this ties into an ancient figure, a being of great power. Of course, he tells me little else. He enjoys keeping his secrets, but he forgets that they flourish only behind the protection of Zon-Kuthon. His latest taunt is a scroll that he tells me contains all the answers I seek. Of course, the fool wrote it in a cipher. Were it not for the dictates of the Ebon Triad, I would lead my troops into their damnable labyrinth and kill every last bird and wizard within it.
Grallak is the key. Thank the Scourge that he trusts me and not the Faceless One. Otherwise, I doubt the Faceless One would bother imparting anything to us. We cannot trust these mages. When the Overgod arises, I think it will be time to settle some old scores.
Beyond Pain lies Enlightenment,
Grallak Kur has finally yielded a useful clue. I personally delivered it to the labyrinth, and the Faceless one giggled like a blood addled berserker when he saw the message. Grallak spoke of the worms again, of course. He says that even now they stir and writhe. The world is like an apple infested with them. All seems well for now, but soon they burst through the skin and swarm across the land. Still, part of this vision troubles me. Grallak spoke of a great power behind them, but the Ebon Triad teaches that these worms will awaken the Overgod. Is there some other power at hand here that we cannot see? Is it friend or foe?
The Faceless One knows more, but he of course has little to say. Perhaps Grallak has invented everything. His monstrous kin are few in number and battered after their pilgrimage through the Underdark. If he is an imposter or trickster, we may need to root him out of this place. In that case, our agents must make another supply run. Six coils of rope, and perhaps bows and more arrows, should do the trick. With the petitioners leading the way we can uncover any ambushes they have within the cliffs.
The unexplored chambers are mostly the priest's living quarters. On closer examination you find a wooden box with 200 gp in coins, a jeweled bracer worth 1000 gp and a Wand of Enlarge Person (42 charges).
The rooms are pretty unremarkable except for bad taste in decorating and a penchant for overusing the color red and skulls. There are no exits.
Here are some highlights from the high priest's journal:
Valgrim takes notes down as he reads:
Faceless One:
Secrets? Norgorber is keeper of secrets.
Spawned from Black Pit?
Complex - Labyrinth filled with birds and wizards?
Grallak Kur:
He must represent Rovagug then by process of elimination
Monstrous kin?
Originated from Underdark?
Lives in cliffs? Need rope to access?
Valgrim reads his notes aloud to see if it triggers anything in the party or Vulcan.
"Friar, I hear Rovagug worshippers specifically hate Sarenrae worshippers, so there may be no diplomatic solution to this problem. We may just have to wipe them out."
Valgrim patiently awaits the return of Bubba and Vug. In the meantime, they cook part of the dire boar (he has the Survival skill) and post guards through the night. Also he asks Vulcan, "Can you read these scrolls?" He shows him the blank scrolls that radiate faint universal magic.
Also he asks Vulcan, "Can you read these scrolls?" He shows him the blank scrolls that radiate faint universal magic.
Read Magic:
That must be cipher referred to in journal. Hmmmm..
"It's a code of some kind."
Valgrim will pick up his axes and drag all the enemy corpses into one corner, removing armor, weapons, gold, jewelry, and any other valuables after Bubba has detected magic on them. He will also look around to find how to open the door they came in from. Once that door can be opened, he will drag the masked guard corpses, the dire boar, the cultists, and the skeletons with bells on them inside the room also, as well as any valuables on all corpses and from the side rooms. After that, he will explore any other rooms accessible from the statue room, if there are any.
"Friar, I hear Rovagug worshippers specifically hate Sarenrae worshippers, so there may be no diplomatic solution to this problem. We may just have to wipe them out."
"You are correct, Valgrim. Sarenrae is accepting of most deities, even those of evil bent who she hopes one day to convert from their dark ways. But her one true enemy is Rovagug. Her teachings for dealing with worshippers of the Rough Beast are quite clear," Feres says, hefting his scimitar.