Jetro continues to whittle down the daemon with more strikes that target the same location.
Cynehelm channels energy to heal those that took damage already.
Duardlara tries time think about daemons but get stuck on demons and doesn’t know anything helpful.
Protected by Iomedae, the Paladin stands strong against the onslaught from the demon - "Avast!"
Stepping to the side, Greta unleashes a torrent of attacks.
Annoyed that her acid arrow proved to be completely worthless against this foe, Duardlara leans into a old standby she doesn't use often, hoping it might have some effect.
Cynehelm knowledge checks do not take an action. Thankfully though it is unnecessary as Helgash strikes with a combination of accuracy and power, His divine connection to his god powering through to bypass the daemons defenses. Greta lands a single blow herself. Duardlara concentrates and is able to get pass the sr. Between the three of them the daemon is sent back to the outer planes from which it belongs.
Duardlara sags against the wall in relief. "My friends, I am sorry. I feel responsible for bringing that monster to light. Is everyone OK?"
I reckon Baub needs some adult nappies
"All is well Lara - this place is becoming more and more a maze and a collection of traps. I do not think we could have avoided it. Are you well?"
"I am fine, thanks no doubt to whatever you did in here. Once I was outside the cottage, I was powerless. When I returned here, my mind was clouded for a time, but I feel normal once more."
"I know how that feels," says Cynehelm, disgust rising up in his gorge from memories of the rotten food on which he was compelled to gorge only minutes ago. "It's not your fault."
"However, it will be our fault if we continue without resting. There is no pressing need to move forward now and we have depleted our resources."
"Cynehelm, you might see to Baub. Something affected my mind when we returned in here. I don't know if it was because I was outside or if it was the monster, but Baub went through the same trauma - and he wasn't acting like himself, attacking with staff rather than spell."
Baub you eventually return to normal as you get to make a save every round to end the effect. Where are you sleeping?
Searching the room reveals a sooty tan bag of tricks stuffed inside an old stove.
”Perhaps we can return to the entry room to rest before we search for the next clue for our journey?”
Sounds like a fairly defensive position.
Once there, Cynehelm will give thanks to Sarenrae and all gods of goodwill (he doesn't know which gods are prevalent wherever he is...) for their deliverance and survival so far. As the team settles in to rest, eat and prepare, he moves among them, talking to each. He tries to learn what he can about their pasts and home lives and also to cheer them up and help them maintain their courage.
"We have begun to form a unique identity as a group," he tells Helgash. "I feel we were for long a collection of individuals with similar goals, but we have begun to be a family. It would be good for us to look for ways to strengthen those bonds. Like it or not, you are our leader. I think it would be well for you to speak tonight... if it is night... and tell us something about who you are and why you are here. If each of us takes it in turn to tell our tale, one each night, it might serve to draw us closer."
"I am happy to hear those words from you Cynehelm" - Helgash smiles - "For me, this has been a band of brothers and sisters for a long time. It has changed a LOT since I first set out on this quest, but I remember them all fondly, friends departed" - the paladin pauses momentarily, fiddling with the holy symbol around his neck.
"I do not claim to be inspirational" - he smiles, sitting down next to his companion - "But I can tell you about myself, and my past... Things have been happening so fast around me I haven't stopped much to think about it. Curiously enough, that was the advice my mentor always offered me - 'Look ahead child' - she would say - 'Some things deserve being pondered, digested, so that lessons can be learned from them. Others are better left back there, where they belong' - the paladin's tail sways momentarily - "Her name was Talian, and she is perhaps one of my earliest memory as a child, when she rescued me through the sewers, and got me out of Westcrown before I was put down like many others" - he nods.
"I never knew my actual birth parents, nor do I remember much before that moment, but I remember very vividly my life at her side"
"What was her name?" asks Cynehelm. "And who was she?"
Oh gods, we're going to end up crying on each other's shoulders. He vanishes into a cupboard.
"Her name was Talian, and she is perhaps one of my earliest memory as a child, when she rescued me through the sewers, and got me out of Westcrown before I was put down like many others" - he nods.
"Her name was Talian, and she was a knight errant, spreading the word of the Goddess, and at that time she led a secret cell just on the outskirts of the thrice damned house of Thrune's authority. From there she assisted the escape of refugees, and hiding those unfortunate enough to fall on the Order of the Rack's wrong side" - Helgash recounts.
"When she left, protecting a convoy of refugees, women, children and old sick men, I left with her and my apprenticeship began" - he smiles - "As the years passed she would often say I was a paradigm and a pride all in one, I think because of my heritage - she would say she was sure Iomedae had seen something in me, and that over time she was beginning to understand why. Yet I did not feel it for a very long time..."
"As the years passed, we went north from Cheliax visiting many regions - all the while, I honed my fighting skills, and my religious knowledge of Iomedae and her tenets. Talian was my teacher, mentor, and companion at arms, while we traveled through untamed lands, fighting lawless banditry or savage humanoids in I guess a sort of... Pilgrimage?"
"By that time I began bearing Her Longsword symbol around my neck" - he shows the simple, battered bronze medallion offered to him by Talian, hanging from a cord around his neck - "I did not command any holy power, not any power at all to be honest" - the paladin adds with some bitterness in his voice - "I could feel a.. A presence though, a light that beckoned to me in every fight, in every conversation with a stray soul, seeking assistance or redemption, in every good deed"
"What of you Cynehelm?" - the paladin comments - "Tell us also of yourself my friend"
"Oh, erm, well, there's, uh."
He sighs. "My father was a distant cousin to Prince Kolav, father of Prince Tzakiv, the current ruler of my city. The Prince has a niece, Astrid, herself a very distant cousin of mine, who was a priestess of Shelyn. We met at a party and one thing led to another." He pauses to consider.
"In Orlov, we take such things very seriously. And Prince Kolav took it very personally. Such priestesses are considered sacrosanct. We were both placed in prison. I survived. She did not." He sighs.
"When she died, I began to read deeply, for books were the one thing I was permitted in my isolation. Among the books left in my cell one morning I found The Birth of Light and Truth. I read it cover to cover many times. The Dawnflower is known in Iobaria, but she is seen as a foreign goddess, and is not popular. But the words of the book awakened something in me that I had not known was there. In my anguish and despair I had forgotten light and hope."
"I studied this new learning and awoke to the truths of patience and compassion. In time I came to forgive the Prince for the death of Astrid. But he too had died and Tzakiv had become the Prince. On his accession, Tzakiv pardoned many prisoners, myself included and I was set free. I have spent the years since then trying to teach my people the truths of Light and Redemption. It has been a slow process."
"I said just now that the Prince had set me free, but in truth it was only my body which he freed, for I had been freed of my previous petty ideas and concerns by the anonymous jailer who left that book in my cell. I have often thought that it was no accident. I have often wondered if the jailer was not some servant of the goddess in disguise. Perhaps even Charlabu himself."
"Anyway, one day I was swept up by a mad chicken hut and here I am."
You all make it back to the original room and get a full nights sleep even if it is disrupted at times with strange dreams and the unintelligible gibberish of the creatures in the cages.
Son of a carpenter and I've lived near that Ice Witch ruled village my whole life. Turned my woodworken skills into archery and and all that work got me a small hut and smelling of sawdust until all of you folks came along. Now I'm..well I don't know where I am but it certainly isn't some witch ruled shantytown so I guess it is an improvement.
Cynhelm smiles. "It may not be a witch-ruled shantytown, Jetro, but I think there's pretty good evidence that we now reside in a witch-ruled shanty."
Cynehelm eyes Duardlara, Greta and Baub. "Come on. Your turn! Spill."
Duardlara fixes Cynehelm with a level look. "You want story hour, feel free to tell another story. I have nothing I wish to share just to entertain you."
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"I was born a small fuzzy Baub. Shortly thereafter I started to have strange things happen around me; floating lights in the middle of the night and such. I was taken to the local shaman who declared me bewitched. I was then left on a stone slab. I was found by an ankheg which nursed me until I could walk. Then I started hunting for my food with magic missiles. Soon I realized I was not bewitched, I was GREAT. So, I changed my name from fuzzy Baub to Baub the Great. I started helping the citadel win the war and then you guys arrived providing a rather interesting diversion. So here I am fuzzy Baub, I mean Baub the Great at your service." Baub says with a bow and flourish at the end.
Aren't Ankheg's big bugs? How could it nurse you? Bugs don't have breasts.
Duardlara fixes Cynehelm with a level look. "You want story hour, feel free to tell another story. I have nothing I wish to share just to entertain you."
"No offense is intended," says the priest, wise enough to back off. "Perhaps someday you will feel differently. But if not, the pleasure of your company is enough."
"I was born a small fuzzy Baub. Shortly thereafter I started to have strange things happen around me; floating lights in the middle of the night and such. I was taken to the local shaman who declared me bewitched. I was then left on a stone slab. I was found by an ankheg which nursed me until I could walk. Then I started hunting for my food with magic missiles. Soon I realized I was not bewitched, I was GREAT. So, I changed my name from fuzzy Baub to Baub the Great. I started helping the citadel win the war and then you guys arrived providing a rather interesting diversion. So here I am fuzzy Baub, I mean Baub the Great at your service." Baub says with a bow and flourish at the end.
"An ankheg," says Cynehelm with a wry smile. "Nursed you."
"Wait, they have ankhegs on Triaxus? How did such a large species move between... you know what? Forget I asked."
Aren't Ankheg's big bugs? How could it nurse you? Bugs don't have breasts.
"The man speaks the truth," laughs the Iobarian.
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"It's amazing to be true." Baub says smiling, "An ankheg is the only known insect to have teats. They are very spiky, like drinking through a reed. Of course, the great owl Bethany would come down and admonish the ankheg whenever it would consider eating me. Not much of a loving relationship there. It's a sad story is the story of the fuzzy Baub." Baub finishes, barely unable to keep from laughing.
Duardlara fixes Cynehelm with a level look. "You want story hour, feel free to tell another story. I have nothing I wish to share just to entertain you."
Helgash looks at Lara with a puzzled look, but says nothing.
"It's amazing to be true." Baub says smiling, "An ankheg is the only known insect to have teats. They are very spiky, like drinking through a reed. Of course, the great owl Bethany would come down and admonish the ankheg whenever it would consider eating me. Not much of a loving relationship there. It's a sad story is the story of the fuzzy Baub." Baub finishes, barely unable to keep from laughing.
"You jest friend Baub? What is an Ankheg anyway?" - the paladin smiles.
"Think 'giant angry cockroach'." says Cynehelm. "They're a real threat to farmers in Iobaria. I have also heard them called Ankravs."
"So we rest here for the night and then head out. Have we decided which way to go?"
"True - I almost believed you" - the paladin smiles back at Baub.
"So we rest here for the night and then head out. Have we decided which way to go?"
All set
”My spell selection seems to miss more often than not lately. Any suggestions, Baub? Anyone?”
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"I don't have that sort of magic. I guess it might be good if we didn't double up on spells. Such as haste. This time I think we should assume some sort of threat on the other side and pre-cast support spells before we rush in. If you have spells that would improve our odds of avoiding, I don't know, feeblemind maybe, that would be great. But, anything that would help prepare us for an unknown enemy. I can do a communal stoneskin before we go in and of course I can cast haste. Maybe you can build around that."
"I am in agreement with Baub - in case direct offensive magic does not work as well, perhaps focusing on augmenting and protecting yourself, or the others?"
She thinks about it, nods, and moves off to study her spellbook.