As they follow the dwarf further into the ruins, Tomas asks Sana, "If it is not too much to ask, could you tell me a little about your beliefs? I am sure Iomedae will watch over us, but I must confess seeing the dragon slain by that demon...well it has shaken me up!"
Goron glances back to ensure that the rest are close as he leads the way. A rather solemn group they make, their spirits must be low but he's not much for encouraging words. The least he could do was try as Levelle's companion Cao comes up next to him.
"Chin up people, We're getting out of here and that's that. Just a little stroll underground and then bright sunlight will be greeting us before you know it."
A dwarf looking forward to the sunlight. There was... something vaguely wrong about that. Sana lightly slapped her cheeks, focusing her attention. "No demon is a match for the gods." she said firmly, apparently finding some comfort in the topic. "But the gods rarely intervene personally, so we must do our best while trusting that there will be a way through. The important thing is to remember that we are not alone, and the gods have given us the gift of magic to help us overcome trials too great for normal efforts." Mortal races with no magic would... not do so well against the forces of evil. The bravest heart was of limited use when fiery rocks rained down on your head. She was quite happy to put her modest gifts to use against beings of evil, though, considering how much trouble they caused her.
Sana jumped slightly as a noise came from behind her, but stalked forward, apparently trying to ignore it. Under her breath, she added, "But it would be nice if they made themselves a bit more helpful at times like this..."
You walk for some time after the viper, Avevia and Aravashnial remain diligence through out.
"Yes Dwarf, you are right we'll make it out of here." Aravashnial says and Anevia nods. Even Horgus seems cheered some by the Dwarf's words. Despite his cheer however, he does manage to complain about ever scratch and bruise that he gains in the caves. After a while you come across a strange body, but we'll get to that in a moment. Chewing on the body is a giant rat. Having it's meal disturbed is bares it's teeth and begins to lunge at Goron (I am assuming that Goron is leading).
Sana had noticed the rat as it chewed - and she jumped slightly as it moved, but otherwise remained where she was - among other things, she seriously doubted that their dwarven defender would have any problems (judging by his past performance), and she was quite ready to leave the matter to him. Instead, she looked around the room, just in case there was anything else there. Rats might travel in groups, after all, and she didn't want Goron to be surprised if there was anything else in the chamber.
Initiative:
Sighing at the sight of the poor deceased, Tomas sends off a pair of magic missiles to kill the rat.
Damage:
Levelle warns Cao to simply hold as the.dearf and wuzard would appear to have.thing s in hand
Goron turns his head slightly to look at Aravashnial, Anevia and Horgus just as a rat lunges to bite him and Thomas sends a pair of magic missles to greet it.
"We'll get to that entrance. Never ye worry. We'll all get there by Torag's blessing and the aid of the other gods. Might take abit of digging an' abit of walking but we'll get there."
Absentmindly blugeoning a rat , Goron walks on as if nothing else had happened until he stumbles over the body.
The path ahead of you forks to the left and right.
"Good job Tomas!" cries Anevia as Tomas blasts the snake apart.
The body itself is rather strange. The head is an Elf's head but it has the long beard of a Dwarf. It has one goat leg and one lion leg, with a crab's claw for its left arm and a shriveled stub (which appears to have been like that from birth) for a right arm.
"By the gods! What is that thing! It is worse than most demons!" cries Horgus when he sees the body.
"...I think demons are still worse. This is just a bunch of normal parts." She had some rather specific opinions on what was weird and what asn't. Sana crouched down by the odd creature and looked at it for a few moments, trying to recall if it matched the descriptions of any creatures she knew of. Actually, on a closer look, it was fairly tame compared to some things her faith described... "Lw'nafh kadishtu." she whispered, seeking guidance from her gods on the matter. They might be helpful... or they might not. It was kind of hard to tell the difference, too...
Goron knows nothing about the creature and goes to the subject expert he think is on hand.
"Master Aravashnial, there seems to be a creature here but doesn't look demonic." Goron continues describing the creature to Aravashnial and waits for his answer.
Tomas takes a look at the creature as well.
Tomas looks at the mismatched creature and shakes his head.
"I have no ideal what this creature is."
Goron while describing the creature to Aravashnial also checks to see if the two know what this is.
Levelle frowns at the creature and shakes her head. I don't know this either... The tiefling compels the eidolon to stay close as she stares overly long at the misshapen body.
*pokes the thread gently*
"No, I have no idea what this is..." says Aravashnial.
"I do though!" Anevia gets exciting knowing something that the elf doesn't! "It's a Mongleman. A type of mutation to make it look like a bunch of different creatures!"
"A truly hideous amalgamation! Lets move on..perhaps our salvation is just beyond the next bend!"
The wizard tries to sound more chipper than he actually feels.
Despite herself, Sana laughed a bit at Tomas' words, and she did feel rather better. She still didn't really know anything about Monglemen, but on the other hand, she was rather used to dealing with things she had no ability to understand. Sana lightly began to pat it down, both to get a better sense of what the creature was like and see if there was anything useful on it.
"...So we know that something mutated was here, and we know that there was something here capable of killing it." she mused as she performed the check, looking around once she was done to see if she could spot anything that would help explain what had killed the Mongleman. If its death wasn't natural, they'd probably need to be much more on their guard while moving forward...
"Thank you, Anevia for that information. Now let's us see what killed it. It may give us a clue what to expect."
An inspection of the mouth reveals sharp and long teeth, broken and bloody.
Sana carefully pulled out a few of the bits of metal and examined them, seeming quite interested in what she'd found. But then, she was a girl of faith, so perhaps that wasn't too surprising. It seemed like the symbol had been put into the creature's mouth somehow, and it had been chewing on it or something? Well, if the focus had been used as a channel for divine energy, it's possible that it might have had an effect on the monster. She carefully gathered what she could of what seemed to be the symbol's pieces, trying to arrange them into something that better resembled a semblance of the whole, working silently the entire time.
"What's you found lass?"
Goron asks noticing Sana playing with bits of metal.
Having not noticed that Sana had found something Levelle pays half attention to the conversation as the summoner urges Cao forward to help scout the way as they move on...
The eidolon moves ahead and sniffs around as the group moves onward.
After about half an hour of walking (you must move slower because of Anevia's leg) you arive in a large cavern. A single sizaable 20-foot-tall building remains in the center of this 30-foot-high cave, a bunkerlike structure with no windows and walls of worked stone bloacks. A 10-foot-long carving of a hammer decorates the building's facade. The ruins of collapsed outbuildings stand to either side.
Initiative:
Perception:
Action on my Initiative: Cast a forcebolt at the buzz
It had taken Sana a little bit of time to consider things, but eventually, she'd noted, "I'm not really sure." The holy symbol was too broken for her to make out, though she did hope to study it in more detail later. She did stop moving as the others exploded into sudden violence, though, standing back to allow them to take care of... whatever was coming at them.
Too slow to move, too blind to see...
Cao notices the buzzing but also proves too slow to act in time...
A giant fly comes from behind the temple and dive bombs the one in front!
Clikcing her tongue Levelle spits and lobs acid at the fly
Levelle's acid flies very wide. Levelle winces as she sees her attack miss.
Can shifts forward near the dwarf, keening in a low tone like a surreal mix of growling and a bird call. Th eidolon tries to snap at the fly.
Can shifts forward near the dwarf, keening in a low tone like a surreal mix of growling and a bird call. Th eidolon tries to snap at the fly.
Seeing the giant fly still buzzing around, Tomas fires another force bolt at the insect.
Damage:
Watching everyone else work to get rid of the monsters made her feel... kind of guilty, actually, that they were all so good at doing things and she was barely able to cower and hide. Carefully, the girl focused her mind, stretching out for the mysteries beyond human comprehension... and seized them. "Uln ah." she whispered, and a sudden downpour appeared right over the bug. Maybe that would stop it from flying around so much...?
Goron once more brings up hs hammer in the hopes of squashing that fly.
The fly buzzes around, wounded and wet. It tries to escape the way you came!
Sana quietly clutched her bag as the bug started to fly off, gazing thoughtfully down the hall now that, once again, things seemed to be safe. Well, as safe as they could be when it was possible the whole city was being flattened by the forces of evil... and to be honest, that rather annoyed her. She'd put in a lot of time and effort to try and help everyone understand, but this was just... tch. Slowly, however, the girl forced herself to relax and take a deep breath. Sure, they were underground, and possibly in more danger than they knew about, but... the darkness didn't bother her very much, there were nice people around her, and she was certain the gods hadn't abandoned them. She just needed to keep that in mind and she'd be just fine.
Levelle shakes her head This place is filled with strange creatures, was it always this way or sudden because of what happened?
"Yar fly. Shoo. Ye not be liking thar taste of me hammer will ya?"
Goron is less than pleased as his strong dwarvish brogue indicates. He calms down soon enough as he continues leading the party forward, praying to the gods above he doesn't get them all lost.
"This here is a temple sacred to Torag. Should be a good place to be."
Tomas will, as needed, recast his light spell.
A stone bench lines the southern wall of this chamber. At the far side of the room, a basin of water sits atop a stone pedestal. A stone door engraved with an image of a hammer stands to the north.
Anevia sits down on one of the benches and rubs her broken leg, "My leg is giving me trouble, if we could rest for just a moment?"
Horgus turn on Anevia, "You are doing nothing but slowing us down with that broken leg of yours! We don't have forever to get out of here! And we will run out of food soon! And you want to rest?!
"...I don't think rushing ahead is a good idea." Sana said quietly, hoping to calm Horgus down.
"I have enough food to last everyone for a little while in my pack, and the darkness down here isn't a problem for us. The monsters are. If we rush ahead too quickly, we could miss something important along the way... and if you're afraid, then you're probably going to move faster than you should. It's true that we'd be faster without her, but by slowing us down, she's helping us make sure we don't run head-first into danger." the girl lightly clasped her hands together and bowed her head a little - she'd continued to keep her hood up, but a movement that obvious was easily visible, obscured features or not. "Besides, I'm sure that the gods are guiding us and won't abandon us down here."