Although it wouldn't be quite accurate to say that she was unmoved by the actions of her companions (since it was precisely because of them that she was moved), the Surya-ka-Vahaak is not so easily flustered.
Holding up her hand almost casually, she unleashed another wave of holy energy that blasts the two festrogs screaming into the ever after. Looking around, she can see the two blondes silhouetted against the sky, looking down in consternation from the top edge of the pit. She can also make out Mal growling in anger at someone.
"What do you mean you didn't catch them?!"
Suddenly she sees the big man appear, claws clenched in frustration as he looks down to find them lying amidst the remains of several headless giants.
"DARKMANE! YOU OK?"
Looking around, Priyya can see naught else for the massive bodies around her save Darvesh lying a few feet away.
Priyya rises from the pile of corpses and gives Mal a smile and a gore-streaked thumbs-up. "We're good, Mal. Sorry about that tumble. We had a little mishap hanging onto the rope down here. We've bagged two of these beasts and I don't see any others in here at the moment." She turns her attention to the dwarf. "Darvesch, are you alright?"
"Ja! I'm fine." He looks to Priyya, "Thanks for that bit of healing, but please, try to conserve it till I truly need it. I wouldn't want your energy to be wasted on me, when you could use that to destroy these things."
Lureene sighs in relief the two warriors are ok. She calls down to them, "I think Alis and Sasha are going to keep watch for that giant Cullos. Do you want me to join you down there, or stay here?"
She notes the fact the rope fell down to the botton, leaving the two stranded. She utters a swift cantrip and points at the end of the rope.
Lureene curses as she realizes her spell is incapable of lifting the rope all the way through the pit. She instead sends a mental command to Grak, who obediently flies down to the bottom of the pit, snares the rope end in his mouth and flies back up to the top of the pit.
Grak easily swoops down, grabbing the end of the rope in his mouth and flying it back up to his waiting mistress. As he does so, Alis stares at Lureene, a look of confusion on her pretty face.
As the curvy succubus hands the rope off to Mal, Alis asks, "El, what do you mean I'm sitting this out with Sasha? I said no such thing..."
She glances down the pit at Priyya and Darvesch, seemingly unfazed by what just happened before she feels a large hand around the curve of her waist.
Mal gently but firmly moves his charge away from the edge of the pit. "You might not have spoken it, but what you exclaimed just a minute ago, 'I've got nothing'... you froze and couldn't even catch the others when the rope snapped."
She looks from where Lureene is helping Sasha back to her feet, the redhead getting her breath in short gasps, up to Mal's grim visage.
It didn't snap...
"But I–"
She can see that there is no joking in his eyes, only dead seriousness. For his part, Mal can tell that she feels useless.
From behind them, the two can hear Sasha's insistent coughing and petulant whining. A dark look crosses Mal's face.
"A moment, Alis."
Walking over, he grabs Sasha's wrist, squeezes hard and put the rope in her hands.
"Didn't mean to fall on you, but if you're well enough to talk, you're well enough to tie-off a rope."
A solid smack across her rear replaces the seething look in her eyes with one of surprise and she grows silent.
The big ranger walks back over to the princess and gets down on one knee, hands on her shoulders in order to put themselves at the same eyes level.
"Alis, highness, I know that you are good with a blade and fast on your feet. I'm not belittling your ingenuity or determination."
I'd never hear the end of it.
"But, you're not a soldier, you're royalty, and your big sister also delegated matters of small group tactics..." he taps his breastbone twice, "to me. That's my specialty, and fights like this are what I was trained for just like handling situations like last night are yours. You can't be an effective commander if you can't trust your men enough to get results for the tasks you delegate. We may be stuck on this island right now with limited tasks before us, but what are you going to do when we reach Dafar? Handle every last situation personally?"
I am NOT going to cry...
Alis sets her jaw, lips pressed tight. At length, she nods slowly blue-violet eyes unblinking, never wavering from Mal's green eyes.
"Your points are noted, Sergeant. Investigate what is going on in the caverns below us, deal with it if possible and report back on your success. Take Lureene with you, her spells and enhanced ability to see in the dark should prove valuable."
Sense Motive Checks:
Mal lowers his gaze and nods his head. "Yes, your highness."
With that he gets to his feet and calls out to Talvyra, "Little Sister, watch over the light-hair and do as she asks. Darkmane, and I, and the others will be back soon."
The great black cat seems to grumble slightly in disappointment, but rubs her head up against Mal's hand. She pressing her whiskers up against him, a low, soft rumbling in her chest as she walks past, leaning against him from shoulder to hip as she goes, tail brushing his leg.
With a bit of reluctance, the hunting cat approaches Alis, eyeing the tiny woman almost like an unruly, off-colored cub that she doesn't know what to do with. Her tail swishes a few time in agitation before she finally lies on the ground nearby. She swings her head around to look at her Big Brother, giving a snort as she does. It has all the seeming if a young mother shaking her head wondering what she's supposed to make of a situation.
Mal grins. "We'll go hunting again later. I promise, there are no kills down there you would savor."
With that, he picks up the thickrope trailing down into the hole. His arms suddenly ripple with strength and it snaps taut from his ferocious pull. However neither the rope, nor Sasha's knotwork, nor the window grate to which it is lashed give way.
He nods to Sasha, "Good job, Nevah. Ourson, you're with me. See you down below."
The ranger promptly disappears over the edge of the pit, rappelling to the bottom with the ease of someone who could do so in their sleep. As he goes, he inspects the rope until finally reaching the bottom, he finds the twin loops he had tied still intact.
Looking at Darkmane and Darvesch, he holds it up, a perplexed look on his face. "I thought the damn rope snapped. What the hell happened? Something knock you off?"
He looks them up and down, noting that Priyya must have already healed any injuries. "Alis is staying top-side and I've got Little Sister looking after her. Lureene will follow shortly. What are we dealing with here, Darkmane?"
bottom
"Yes, Sergeant. I will be right down."
Lureene waits for Mal to rappell down and out of sight, before she walks over to Alis. Placing a hand on her sister's shoulder, she says quietly "It's OK, 'Lis. I...I understand."
Not wanting to embarrass her furrther, she steps back and adds in a louder voice, "Just be careful of Cullos, Highness. He is still out there and with us separated, it is a perfect time for him to strike. Tell Grak immediately if you or Sasha see him."
Finally, she motions to Sasha, "Please guard her Highness well, Sash. We will be back shortly."
She then moves to the edge of the pit and jumps down, gliding gently to the bottom. Once she reaches the bottom she glances all around her seeing if there is anything Priyya may have missed.
"I'll look out ahead." He says, as he approaches the cleft in the wall, and tries to see what's beyond it.
Mal raises an eyebrow as the dwarf starts to walk off on his own. "You normally just walk off when someone asks you a question, Hellhammer?"
"My apologies. I didn't hear you. I'm fine, if that answers your question. Just distracted currently. Hoping Kovak is still alive. Thinking about how best to get this threat taken care of as swiftly as possible, so we can get back to the issue of Ieana. I don't like being uninformed, left guessing, and hoping my actions don't result in me being stripped of my title. The last thing I'd want is to fail in my duty, and let harm come to my charge." He looks to Alis.
"I may be hasty at times, but in this particular situation we're in, I figure time is our enemy. Forgive me, it's been a very long time since I was forced to work as part of an actual team. My duties tent to be solo missions, typically." He begins to walk to the rest of the group, "I will remain with you, and guard the ones that need guarding. Also, Hellhammer is my father, call my by my given name, Darvesch, please. I have yet to earn the right.."
Lureene chimes in, hoping to forestall any further arguements "That's OK, Darvesch. I also feel the time slipping away now. We need to get moving." She turns to Mal, a hopeful look in her eyes "I don't suppose you can tell where Kovack went at this point in time?"
"Thanks Lureene." Darvesch stands next to her, vowing to himself to be her guardian, and not let this tainted cave severely harm her.
Looking at Darkmane and Darvesch, he holds it up, a perplexed look on his face. "I thought the damn rope snapped. What the hell happened? Something knock you off?"
She waves the question off. "It was a mishap, Mal. What can I say? We were dangling like meat on a string with these leaping undead bastards coming at us."
He looks them up and down, noting that Priyya must have already healed any injuries. "Alis is staying top-side and I've got Little Sister looking after her. Lureene will follow shortly. What are we dealing with here, Darkmane?"
Finding Mal's military bearing somewhat amusing, Priyya makes up an answer that sounds vaguely martial to her ears. "It was your standard Gulf Echo Six scenario, Lieutenant. Two undead and us lounging around on headless corpses."
She switches to business, "We haven't seen any of the other creatures. We've probably lost the element of surprise when I started yelling. Since you don't have darkvision, I'm thinking I should light this place up and we'll proceed boldly. What do you think?"
Time: 0:45 md (midday, 12:45pm)
Mal seems a bit surprised by Darvesch's forthright answer. "Sorry about using your father's name, not really familiar with dwarven traditions. In the corps, you either refer to one another by rank, surname, or both."
He thinks back to the 'exchange of words' that he and Alis had just two days ago, when Lureene got knocked out, and nods. "Yeah, fighting alongside others who have their own sense of tactics takes some getting used to. A lot different than going solo or fighting with a unit you've drilled with, that's damn sure."
The hunter turns when he hears Lureene speak, noting how silently she was able to glide down near them. To say that he's not surprised to some small degree that Alis isn't with her would be an understatement. Priyya's tone makes him grin a bit and he realizes how formal he's still acting from having to talk-down Alis.
Right, first names...
"Did I make lieutenant already? Need to hit up Ms. Moneybags for an increase when we make Port Eldarion. Anyway, this might come as a surprise, but..." He crouches down and runs his hands thru some of the leaves and debris on the floor until he finds a short stick. Quickly paring off the leaves until it is just a few inches longer than his hand, he says a few words of magic over it so that the end begins to glow like a torch. "I do think ahead sometimes."
While down there, he begins to test the air with his nose like a bloodhound. After a few moments, he shakes his head. "If Kovack came this way, then it's been more than a day ago because I can't pick up his scent over the dead giants," he points toward the cave opening to the east, "that haven been dragged this way. I'm not seeing any other exits though except the way we came in."
"Darvesch, I can see over the rest of you pretty easily, I'm thinking it might be best to have you take point, especially since I've heard your kind know a thing or two about navigating caves and such."
"Lureene, Priyya is best when she's got a clear shot and we don't want your wings blocking her anymore than you want to go getting in melee. Since I'm the most liable to block us in, I'll bring up the rear so try to stick between us through any tunnels. Otherwise, keep behind Darvesch and I and put your spells and eyes to good use — you can see about twice as far in the dark as the rest of us."
"So that's Darvesch, Priyya, Lureene, then me. Any objections?"
Lureene glances up towards where Alis and the others are waiting, trying to keep the worried look off her face. When Mal addresses her, she nods slowly, resolving to try to work better together with the lanky ranger.
"No objections, Mal. Your suggestion is a good one."
She then motions to Darvesch and Priyya, "OK, I am ready now, just take it easy and give me a chance to scan ahead. We know there is something Ieana needed down here, and I am certain it will be harmful to us. Be careful."
She grips her wand and rapier in each hand, and proceeds to scan ahead of the group as Darvesch makes his way to the cleft in the east wall of the cave.
"No objections from me." Darvesch takes point, walking along the edge of the shadowy illumination, to best make use of his darkvision, while still being visible to those in the group who cannot see in darkness. He walks to the cleft in the east wall, and tries to determine if he can see what's on the other side, and if the group could manage to fit through it.
The four of you proceed down the eastern passageway with Darvesch taking point. Were you claustrophobic, the tunnel would no doubt make you uneasy. While big enough for even Mal to walk down without stooping, there is not much clearance overhead and fighting would almost certainly be difficult. The one encouragement you find is that anything as big as the giants or festrogs would almost certainly have to squeeze thru the narrow space. In fact, you can see that there are bloody bits of skin stuck to the walls from where corpses and undead have passed repeatedly. In some cases, this repeated traffic has even worn the wall smooth.
There is a definite downward slant to the tunnel. The smell of decay is coming from this direction rather than the fresh bodies presumably dumped here by Cullos.
Not 50-feet into the passageway, you come upon the form of a dead giant lying on the ground.
Stealth Checks
"Dead giant. Pass it, or check it?
If the group decides to check it, I'll coup-de-grace it. Otherwise, he'll kick it to the side, and continue on.
"Darv, check it out quickly. And watch for an ambush here...this is a good spot for one."
As Darvesch gets closer, he notices that the dead giant is one of the cannibals you beheaded last night. It doesn't move when he prods it and is too wide to move out of the way, although you are all able to climb over it without too much difficulty. Not much further down the slope, you find a second dead giant, once again missing its head.
Shortly after scrambling over the second corpse, the tunnel levels out and broadens into a wide, low-ceilinged cavern thick with the smell of decay. To your right, the ceiling drops down to little more than 6-feet in height over a region strewn with bones and bits of old flesh.
Amidst that bone-field, you find the more of your vanquished, headless enemies, Vechus among them. The near side of two of them have been practically stripped bare of flesh. Bile and other fluids from split organs has pooled on the floor beneath them. Curiously, there are no flies or other vermin at the ghoulish feast.
To your left, the ceiling bulges upward in a dome shape — six circular, pod-like alcoves line the walls of the cave on this side. Laying upon the floor of two of the alcoves, you can make out the unmoving forms of two female giants, their heads still atop their shoulders.
Must be the two that jumped, you think.
As you observe them, you can see that their chests still rise and fall, and you can make out the sound of ragged, labored breathing. They do not react to the illumination Mal brings into the otherwise dark chamber.
On the opposite side of the cavern from where you are standing, another narrow tunnel continues downward.
Stealth Checks
MAP: VV - Caves of the Mother, (Round 60)
"It's OK, 'Lis. I...I understand."
Alis half-heartedly returns Lureene's hug, the tension flowing out of her as she gives a disappointed sigh, chin resting atop her shoulder. "I just hate it when he's right," she whispers, "that's all..."
After a few more seconds, she gives the succubus a tight squeeze before letting her go.
"Just be careful of Cullos, Highness. He is still out there and with us separated, it is a perfect time for him to strike. Tell Grak immediately if you or Sasha see him."
"Will do. Stay sharp down there, Lureene."
"Please guard her Highness well, Sash. We will be back shortly."
Breathing better now than she was a few minutes ago, Sasha waves. "Uh huh! You bet, LLLaaady LLLuuureene!"
Once her bosom buddy has hopped over the edge and drifted out of sight, Sasha skips to the edge of the pit admiring her friend's golden wings. "Shame that she can't actually fly with those, you know, princess? Her wings I mean."
Oblivious to the fact that Alis makes no reply, she continues watching until the four have moved out of sight, which elicits a sad hiss from Grak overhead.
"Aww, I heard that! Don't worry, Grak, Ellie said they wouldn't be long! Hey Alis," she turns and walks up to the princess, smiling broadly, "what do you want to do while they're busy? Want to spar for a bit or maybe climb the tower? I could show you how to use a real bow instead of that toy you carry. Want to go hunting?"
Alis takes a deep breath.
Mal, I'll knock you back down to private second class if you dally...
Turning around, the princess smiles so sweetly that even Darvesch and Priyya would be fooled. "Oh Sasha, there's no need to worry over me, I'll be fine. I was actually thinking we might head inside and take in the view from atop the lighthouse."
Sense Motive Checks:
Certain that's she got the right read on the princess, Sasha replied, "Hey, it's ok. Look you can't let that big guy push you around, right?"
She looks the princess up and down, feeling a flush in her face as she notes her inviting curves. In an instant, her face lights up, eyes huge. "OH, I know! I could teach you how to wrestle!"
Alis' false smile cracks a bit as her eyes narrow.
"Yeah, you never know when some big guy's gonna have you in a tight spot and you've got to get out of there... It'll be fun. Here," she reaches out and grabs Alis by the wrist, "pretend I'm the guy and you try to get out of it."
Managing not to glare from the annoyance she's feeling, Alis bends her arm upwards, rotating her palm towards herself and against Sasha's thumb. With hardly a hint of effort, she slips out of the redhead's grip. "Sorry, really not in the mood..."
For a moment, Sasha looks at her hand in surprise before her grin grows even bigger. "Say, that was great! You might be a beginner, but you're a natural!"
Beginner...?!
Alis' smile fades away and she glares openly at the taller woman, (not that Sasha notices). "Did you just call me... a beginner?"
Sense Motive Checks:
Priyya scans the area for evil and the two harem girls for evil. She also tries to orient herself to where they are in proximity to the evil she detected below the tower.
"We need to put these doxies down for good. I have to wonder if these alcoves are some sort of conversion chamber." Priyya moves towards the harem girls, prepared to coup-de-grace them.
Lureene nods in agreement, "If this is a conversion chamber, then who or what is doing the converting?"
While Priyya heads towards the harem giants, she moves towards the opposite tunnel, peering down it to see if anything has taken an interest in the intrusion.
"I don't know what's causing it. But there is no way those girls were alive and in one piece after that plummet. So something is restoring them."
Lureene is silent for a moment and recalls the journal they discovered back at Captain Beliker's hut a couple of days ago. It mentioned there was a woman giant by the name of...it was on the tip of her tongue, a Malatestan name...then it came to her...
Nylithati. Even thinking the name to herself sends a chill up her back, spreading to her wings.
"Nylithati...that is who is behind this. I am certain of this."
Priyya approaches the harem girls cautiously, scimitar in hand, Mal following behind her, axe in hand. The women show no sign of moving even with his light spell so near. Dropping the glowing stick on the ground he hisses, "We strike on three. I've got this one." He points to the one on the right.
"One..."
You both step-up.
"Two..."
You raise your weapons, grips solid.
"Three!"
You both swing with everything you've got. Priyya cleanly removes the head of her target while Mal sends a spray of blood, brains, and guts splattering halfway across the room as the cleaves his in half from skull clear thru to pelvis, cracking the rock beneath.
"Tch–" He wipes the mess from his face. "Got a bit carried away I guess..."
Stealth Checks
While the other two take care of the dirty work, Darvesch keeps pace with Lureene as she approaches the eastern passageway, keeping in front of her.
The tunnel is about the same width as the others and continues sloping downwards. After about 30-feet it takes a turn to the south.
Nylithati... Your thoughts darken at the name as you wonder what dark secrets lay beneath. Were they of her own concoction or...?
As Mal cleans himself up, Priyya spies something interesting in the south-east pod, just out of the range of Mal's light. It appears to be some leather armor sized not for a giant, but a human.
MAP: VV - Caves of the Mother, (Round 64)
When Priyya calls out the find to Malandraenas, he approaches cautiously, prodding it first with his axe and detecting magic to ensure there is nothing rigged to it. Finding nothing out-of-the-ordinary, he picks it up and finds a message scrawled on the inside.
Wrinkling his nose, he takes a sniff and his brow furrows, "It's Kovack's scent," he holds it out for her to read, "and his blood."
"Lureene, Darvesch, you'll want to see this..."
Letter: Captain Kovack's Final Words
Lureene scans the message quickly, and then she rereads it again slowly. As she finishes it the second time, her eyes flare with an eerie reddish glow, betraying her demonic heritage prior to her atonement before she consciously wills the glow to die down.
She glances first at Mal, then Dravesch, and finally Priyya. It is a few seconds more before she asks almost inaudibly, "Is there anything you can do for him, to redeem him in some way Priyya? Or is his destruction the only release he has available?"
"Did I call you a beginner?" As Alis shrugs off her pack, Sasha grins. "I guess I kinda did, didn't I?"
She drops her own pack on the ground and tosses her rapier carrier and longbow holster aside. "So you're saying you're not?"
Theme: Number One
"Who meee?" The princess gently places King Tut on the ground. She unbuckles her baldric which the monkey urgently carries away to a safe distance. "Why I've said no such thing!"
With Sasha still off-guard from her demure banter, Alis lunges at the taller woman, but Sasha hops back, evading Alis' attempt to trip her up.
Sense Motive Checks:
Initiative Rolls
"Oh wow, you're a lot faster than you look what with all the extra padding and all!"
The redhead ducks down and skirts around behind Alis, trying to get on her blindside, but the short blonde just barely avoids her longer reach.
"Coming from someone built like a teenage boy, I'll take that as a COMPliment!"
She levels a spin kick at Sasha's side but the lanky ranger twists out of the way.
"Hey, that's not a wrestling move!"
Once again she very nearly gets hold of Alis coming up only inches short.
"What, complaining already? How's this?"
While Alis' attempt to grab onto Sasha comes up short, the ranger overreacts nearly wiping herself out as she tries to trip Alis. She just barely manages to hop backwards avoid what would have been a knee to the abdomen.
Reflex DC 13