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Flint smashes his warhammer down into the golem and he hears a bone break within the giant ribcage.
Rilriv swings with wild abandonment, each swing getting closer and closer to hitting the golem but to no avail.
Magpie tends to Eldrish's immediate life-threatening injuries allowing the elf's eyes to flitter open once more, though he seems a bit wounded in the process.
Eldrish rolls to his feet, retreating as he looses an arrow of acid into the golem. The acid sizzle and pops and doesn't seem to affect the golem in the slightest.
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Inspire Courage
Rilriv (Haste 9 rounds)
Gypsy
Magpie
Eldrish (7/46; Haste 10 rounds; Wounded 1)
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Golem (-46)
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Flint
Gypsy continues to inspire courage by including the deeds of her companions and comparing them favourably with known heroes.
In addition, she tries to channel her frustrations into greater accuracy as she swings again at the golem.
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Gypsy's shortsword finds a weak spot and begins chipping through the defenses with a pair of solid blows.
Flint takes a beating as the golem's fist cracks his shield, bashing it right into the dwarf's nose. The next strike breaks the dwarf's back. his sturdy resolve is the only thing keeping him on his feet.
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Inspire Courage
Rilriv (Haste 9 rounds)
Gypsy
Magpie
Eldrish (7/46; Haste 10 rounds; Wounded 1)
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Golem (-55)
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Flint (7/70; Shield 1 dent)
Eldrish staggers over to the guard and grabs the blade " Give it here!"
Lacking the breath to charge in immediately, he instead trys a different tack, chanting a quick spell and pointing at a broken piece of furnature. His magics cause it to float in the air a moment, the fly across the room at great speed.
Clearly frustrated by not making contact, Rilriv continues a full assault on the creature.
Gypsy relates the amazing ferocity of the two dwarves, the tenacity of Eldrish, and the much-valued support of Magpie and that surely their feats will be told for generations to come.
She also finds herself encouraged by her last round of attacks and tries to improve further, hoping to score a major strike against the golem.
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Rilriv spots a very weak point in the golems defenses and slams his axe home twice into the groove of stitching, breaking it wide open.
Gypsy's cold iron blade is swatted away with ease as Magpie sends a small ball of fire just over the golem's shoulder, missing it entirely.
Eldrish grabs ahold of the adamantine infused blade and sends a small crate flinging into the golem's chest to no effect.
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Inspire Courage
Rilriv (Haste 9 rounds)
Gypsy
Magpie
Eldrish (7/46; Haste 10 rounds; Wounded 1)
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Golem (-90)
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Flint (7/70; Shield 1 dent)
Flint grits his teeth against the pain. Thankful for his training, he grants himself a laying of hands TWICE. He then raises his dented shield again. Ready to absorb the attack. .
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Flint raises his dented shield once more as his wounds quickly stitch themselves shut.
Flint's shield breaks as the Golem batters right past it. The shield smashes into his bloodied face as Flint is crushed into the crate.
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Inspire Courage
Rilriv (Haste 7 rounds)
Gypsy
Magpie
Eldrish (7/46; Haste 8 rounds; Wounded 1)
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Golem (-90)
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Flint (0/70; Shield 2 dent broken; prone, unconscious; Dying 1)
Pulling energies from his arcane focus ring, Eldrish chants the words to another [i]true strike[/spell] and charges back into the fray, consigning himself to possible death for the chance to kill this powerful golem.
"Would yer just fall already!"
Swinging the mighty blade again at the Golem, Rilriv looks for another gap in the monsters defenses.
After two heavy blows, Rilriv stops short. Seeing the crumpled dwarf on the ground next to him he takes a moment to focus. A yellow light washes over his arm and leaps over Flint's body.
This pool of energy allows you to cast either the heal spell (for positive energy) or the harm spell (for negative energy) a number of times per day equal to 3 plus your Charisma modifier without needing to prepare the spell in advance. All spells you cast in this way are heightened to the maximum spell level you can cast as a cleric.
Heightened (+1) The amount of healing or damage increases by 1d8, or by 2d8 if you’re using the 1- or 2-action version to heal the living.
"The versatility and determination of these heroes..."
Gypsy knows she is not the strongest fighter but she gives everything she can as she swings again at the golem.
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Flint stabilizes as Rilriv flies into a rage seeing a fellow dwarf collapse to the ground. A small bit of magic flows through him, granted by the Gods themselves as his wounds heal.
Gypsy finally has a strike land with her shortsword, but the blade is not able to penetrate the superior defensive reduction.
Eldrish leaps in with the blade handed to him by the guards. With the alchemical coating he is able to bypass the creature's natural resistances and stabs it right through the chest. The golem's stitching falls apart as the creature collapses for good.
Most interesting though there seems to be a third series of peculiar bludgeoning wounds.
Once again you notice the unopened parcel on the far corner of the worktable, surprisingly intact despite the general state of the workshop. The package is sealed and marked with the insignia and name of the merchant who sold it: Ladhlia. Inside, you find raw crafting materials worth 80 sp.
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Rilriv
Gypsy
Magpie
Eldrish (7/46; Wounded 1)
Flint (23/70; Shield 2 dent broken; Wounded 1)
Taking another few moments, he touches Eldrish and Flint.
Eldrish breathes deeply as the monster finally falls. Wincing in pain, he limps over to his dropped sword and retrieves it before handing the special longsword back to the guards with a nod of thanks.
Recieving the healing from Rilriv, he smiles as he says, "Thank you my friend, truly that was a challenging golem." Yet he or relieved to have fought and survived, as pursuit of martial challenge is equally i.portant to the elf as pursuit of knowledge and power.
Looking around the room, and poking in the package of crafting materials he notes, "These are for traps, or similar. Fascinating." looking about, "I wonder what happened here?"
Still feeling some pain from his wounds, he pulls out a minor elixir of life and drinks it off. "Better, ah yes. recalling that he had forgotten a basic precaution this morning that nearly led to his death, he quickly draws a scroll and chants out a protective spell, immediately feeling instantly better.
Gypsy looks at Eldrish and Flint wincing slightly when she does, she then turns to Rilriv, "Looks like some serious healing is needed. You got this or do you need help?"
Gypsy is most interested in the mysterious package. She picks it up and carefully opens it, making sure to keep wrappings and seal as intact as possible. She examines the contents.
Finding nothing interesting about the package contents, Gypsy joins the others in examining the golem.
Distracted by mentally composing the ballad related to the most recent encounter, Gypsy gains no new insight.
"This line here. Marks of healing. This things has been damaged and then healed.. at least somewhat. Electricity does this. It doesn't explain these odd marks. Something dull, I tell you, to leave a mark like that on him."
"So where do we go from here? Do we try to retrieve Kefanes' body or do we go visit this merchant and see what they may know?"
"I suggest we check out this merchant first, I dont feel like tangling with another golem at this very moment." the elf winces and stretches as he talks. Finally hes ready to move on.
Head reeling from getting banged around, Flint finally gets it back into the game, "Can't be THAT hard to find. I'll ask around with a smile."
"So, this golem was hit with fire, electricity, adamantine shrapnel, and bludgeoned by an earth based creature? Do we have any idea whose golem it was? Sounds like there was a riotous party in this workshop, looks like it too."
Gypsy looks carefully again at the wrapper and seal for any indication of the sender's address. If none is present she starts with the guards and perhaps some of the bystanders, asking for more information on the merchant.
"Eldrish grunts ar the sorceress' response. He cant get any deadder, crushed underfoot for how long now?"
Lacking the diplomatic skills of the rest of the group, he tags along as they ask around, following and observing
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ypsy and Flint both are able to get leads on Ladhlia's shop, a freestanding, single-story structure not far from Kefanes’s workshop.
The shop’s interior is cool and shaded, a welcome change from the bold sunlight on the streets. Though the building seemed large enough from the outside, the space within seems small, perhaps due to a mazelike tangle of shelves filling all but a narrow walkway through the center. Each shelf bears a trove of trinkets, tomes, bottles, and boxes and a boggling array of bits and bobs. Customers quietly browse the shelves. Only a few steps into the shop, a high glass-lined countertop offers a break from the tall shelves everywhere else. An astonishingly large woman with sky-blue skin sits behind the counter, holding a magnifying eyepiece over one eye while examining a dark, gleaming gemstone the size of a human’s palm. A moment later, she looks up and then stands, towering in a surprisingly nonthreatening manner. “Well, well,” she booms. “I don’t recognize you, so you must be new customers. My name is Ladhlia. How can I help you?”
Ladhlia is a mercane, a humanoid-shaped outsider standing about 9 feet tall with blue skin, numerous eyes, and a broad body. She operates this small shop to provide magic crafters in Quantium the tools and raw materials required for their projects, as well as components for common spells and a few finished wares.
"Aye, shop seems like a reasonable place."
Letting the others take the lead, Rilriv tries to observe the store and those around it to get an idea about the owners role/position as well as those patrons currently in the store.
Gypsy enters, endeavouring to keep an expression of interest and openness on her face and in her demeanour. She nods an acknowledgement to the greeting they receive.
"What a fine establishment you have here. Once our other business is concluded I would definitely be interested in learning more of your available wares with a potential purchase in mind.
"An official investigation is what brings us to you, however. We have been tasked with investigating the death of the Arclord Kefanes Ahmakt. While in his workshop we discovered an unopened package with your seal upon it. It looks like it is good quality merchandise. We are hoping you are able and willing to provide more information both on your recent interactions with Kefanes and anything else that may assist with our endeavour to uncover the truth of what happened and who is responsible."
During the conversation, she produces the parcel in question for Ladhlia to see.
Eldrish hangs back in the shop somewhat while Gypsy does the bard thing, ostensibly looking at various wares while he listens to the conversation.
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Gypsey seems to make quite the impression on Ladhlia. "Yes, I hear of Kefanes' demise." She bemoans at the news. "He was a regular customer here." Her face looks genuinely sorrowful at losing such a client. She leans in. "He was actually just in here a couple of days ago, acquiring the materials to construct a series of new defensive wards to protect a valuable item that he was worried would be stolen by a couple of rival Arclords he said." She thinks for a moment. "I think he said their names were Ngasi Bakolo and Prakhavu Khibenid."
She grabs the package and dumps the contents out. She smiles. "Wait right here a moment." She heads off to the back room.
Rilriv watches the shop outside for several minutes. To him it just looks like any other shop, not directly supporting anyone in particular.
Ladhlia returns with another package. this one looks similar to the small package of powder that the guard coated his weapon with to help against the golem. "Here." She slides the package across the counter. "This is for returning the unused parts. While I normally sell these to the Quantium city guard I am happy to supprt you efforts is stopping my customers from murdering one another. Can’t trust those golems,” she quips, “and it’s only right to have an ‘off switch’ when the worst comes to pass.”
"Thank you. That is most generous.
"What else can you tell us about these two Arclords, Ngasi and Prakhavu? Are they also customers of yours?
"Did Kefanes say anything more of the item he was trying to protect?"
Gypsy turns to the others who entered with her, hoping to ascertain if anyone else has questions.
Eldrish wanders near to look at the weapon blanche. Seeing how effective it was first hand, he certainly appreciated the powerful option, especially since his magics were less than fully useful against things like that construct.
Still, he stays silent, having no further questions to ask and not trusting his general unlikable demeanor to not hinder the situation.
Having watched the shop for a bit, Rilriv enters to join his other companions. He looks around, particularly at any forged or metal items absentmindedly inspecting the quality of the workmanship.
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"What else can you tell us about these two Arclords, Ngasi and Prakhavu? Are they also customers of yours?
"Both are customers as well. [b]"Ngasi," she explains, "is a Mwangi woman who specializes in transmutation magic and has some kind of investment in the infamous fleshforges of Ecanus, where a significant portion of Nex’s golem production takes place—when the facilities are operating properly that is"
"Prakhavu," according to Ladhlia, "is almost a complete opposite: a Vudrani conjurer from Oenopion, Nex’s other major city, who came to Quantium to pursue his single-minded research of the archwizard Nex."
"Did Kefanes say anything more of the item he was trying to protect?"
She shrugs he massive shoulders. "I am not sure of what item he was trying to protect."
Looking around the shop the group gets a better understanding of her wares. She operates this small shop to provide magic crafters in Quantium the tools and raw materials required for their projects, as well as components for common spells and a few finished wares.
Flint, alert and engaged, stays quiet as others do the talking...
Thinking of the golem in their murdered Lords shop Eldirsh muses, "So his rival is invested in the fleshforges, interesting."
Looking around,"I have no further questions, on to the difficult task then?"
Flint nods, "The body."