Tesswyn, Drot, and Gronder - each of you make a Stealth check (Agility Attack Roll vs their perception).
If you succeed, you get one free attack.
Pick your target, 1-4. You may each pick a different one or all pick the same. It's up to you.
Tesswyn sneaks up on the first creature, but her swing goes wide.
Drot casts arcane armor as they decide to confront the chanters.
"Arfau..." He whispers.
"Wow look at tha..."
He suddenly realizes he was being loud but it was too late. Even as his companions were going forth, hunched and creeping, he forgot his bearings... As the, what he assumes are cultists, turn to him he prepares his next spell...
With Drot's louder sounds, the chanting immediately stops as the four... Men? Demons? Probably closer to the latter than the former..
The four of them turn to you. Three of them dive into the glowing red pool and the large round thing floating in the pool is pulled away. The last turns to face you to give his companions time to flee.
He stakes a swipe at Drot.
He have at the air near Drot, in an attempt to drive the orc back.
Tess quickly tries to clobber the last creature who remained behind,
Tesswyn hits him hard, but he still stands.
He strikes back at the girl, seeing her as the more obvious threat - the Orc just stands there staring and doing nothing while the Dwarf is nowhere to be seen! Charles is still helping people down the shaft while the town guards keep back protecting the others.
Tesswyn's armor proves its worth, as the spiked hand cannot bypass its strength.
Tesswyn grunts with the fist's impact but quickly retaliates.
"Iaculum!"
Drot was entranced by the red pool and the demons' actions, until he almost got pummeled in the face by who-knows-what!
Tesswyn's staff slams into the creature, and his wounds, eyes, mouth, nose ears all start glowing brighter and brighter and brighter until he explodes.
As soon as the creature explodes, you can see a fume coming from the pillars ignite, filling the room with even more fire.
The fumes stay lit for four rounds before they die off (continue to make a roll for each round you remain in the room).
Staying all four rounds will show you where the fumes are coming from for all four pillars.
What you do with this knowledge is up to you.
Tesswyn cries out and throws herself out if the way of the flames. She doesn't stick around, instead rushing back to safety. "Argh! Stupid exploding demons!"
Drot attempts to back out of the away but bumps into the wall and stalls.
"ARRRGHHH!"
He howls as the explosion forces him back against the wall and burns his skin. He turns and steps out the room coughing and partially blind.
"There's not much we can do with all that smoke in the room but we need to stop it quickly or this whole place might be consumed... As it is, I'm not doing very well."
Drot puts his hand on his forehead and concentrates on the invisible energy all around him, drawing in as much as he can.
"I don't know what those things were doing in there, but I'm not sure I want to find out." She glances back into the room to see the flames have died down. "It might be safe to cross now, so long as there are no more open flames. I'll go scout it out."
She creeps back into the room, exploring down any other exits.
Scouting ahead, Teswyn finds the two corridors lead away from the llava pool room. One is short and connects to a room with a lot of beds - possibly used as a barracks of some sort to house the miners and assistants to the gilder dwarf that worked down here. There are fifteen beds, and they're still in usable condition.
The other passage goes quite a ways.
Drot remains behind simply because he knows he has trouble being quiet, apparently. Assuming Tess comes back and relays the information he will continue with the group to the area that has the beds. He mentions his wounds but doesn't know whether anyone can afford to spare anymore healing at this point.
"This will be an easy place to fortify and barricade if we do choose to stop here, we've come quite a ways and don't have much of a way backwards. Until we know what's ahead this is the best base of operations available. I think..."
The party decides to he'd down and get some rest. It's been a tough day; injuries have occurs, spells are nearly spent. It's been stressful and you've lost people.
And here's a room that's just begging to be used. Daphiel sets about checking the room for dangers and setting up a guard for the night.
The party went to sleep, unaware of the cold, souless eyes watching their every move.
--------
Daphiel takes the first watch, but even after her shift is over, she finds it hard to fall asleep. With Captain Ammon's untimely demise, she found herself thrust into the role of lead defender of the motley crew of survivors. There had been too many losses already, and each one weighs heavily on her heart. Eventually, she drifts off into a fitful slumber, but awakens early the next morning to help everybody pack their possessions and prepare for another long day.
She spots Tesswyn doing a last sweep of the room for anything hidden, and she gives the younger girl a grim smile. "Just wanted to say thanks for all you're doing for us. We wouldn't have made it far without you."
Tesswyn rolls her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Just don't fall behind. I'm not above leaving you all if it means I get out of here in one piece."
Daphiel scowls but doesn't rise to the girl's gibe, instead moving to assist the other survivors.
Drot opens his eyes the next morning with a familiar feeling. Every muscle in his body ached like he was back under a ship rowing day in and day out. This time he knew the reason he hurt was because he was helping people survive so he accepted his fate, got up and began organizing his things for the day ahead.
He had a quick chat with his group which now seemed to include Daphiel and Galino as forward fighters to make sure everyone was on the same page.
"So we are we continuing on as we have been? Tesswyn scouting ahead, myself, Grondor, Charles etc. follow up to eliminate threats then we move the group?"
Galino wakes up as he does every morning, staying in bed until he absolutely has to. When Daphiel barks orders at him to get his lazy ass up and ready to go he protests only for a moment before remember where they were. He jumps and gets his things ready. He didn't bring a lot with him so it only took a moment but donning his new armor took some time as it didn't fit very well
and I'm not used to wearing armor and why should I wear it anyway? I'm a great fighter and it's not like they've let me do any fighting anyway and I know I can fight circles around any of these so called "heroes". Why should they get all the glory, I should be the one vanquishing these demons, they really don't seem too tough and... Did someone just say my name?
"GALINO!.. Are you paying attention?" This was the Orc man speaking during the morning's briefing.
"Uhhh.. yeah yeah, what you guys said. Sounds great, I couldn't have said it better myself... Well maybe given some time and uhh... What's going on again?"
A contingent of Drot, Charles, Tesswyn, (Gronder if he returns), Daphiel, and Galino advance forward. Up ahead in the tunnel, you see a light as if there is an exit to the cave system.
An exit! you hear someone exclaim. Behind you, the 12 year old Tate Turner is following you, despite orders to stay behind. His voice echoes up and down the passage.
You turn to scold him, but it's too late. His voice has reached the ears of those who stayed back and you can hear them getting excited as their voices dance down the hall.
As expected, the sound of steps follows the excitement and soon the entire group is closing in on you. Eager to get out, they do not listen to your protests about safety or caution and trundle on ahead.
Pushed forward with the surge, you are all opened into a gigantic room with a glowing red flowing river.
The room is bright.
On the far end of the room there is what looks to be an altar of some sort on the top of a dais up some stairs. A grotesque creature sits on the alter, a round belly potrudes out from it.
More of those smaller creatures are swimming in the red glowing river.
There are several natural bridges crossing the river. Across one of them is a door.
The grotesque creature gives off a peircing screech at the sight of you, and all the heads of the humanoid red skinned things with black spikes on their heads, arms, and legs all stop and turn their heads to look at you.
And that's when the screaming starts.
Daphiel curses and draws her blade. "Get everybody to safety! I'll hold them off!" She moves to the river of lava and stands poised to strike.
Meanwhile, Tesswyn casts oak skin and leaps the gap, moving towards the bridge. "Drot, Gronder! Let"s take out the big one!"
Ever since the day her mommy had died, when the ground started shaking and her mommy had grabbed her while other people started screaming and running into the underground area, she had been sad. The older adults, Paul and Arlene, had made sure she was with them. There was also Jaxson who was just a little older than her, sometimes they played games. His mommy, Erika, spent a lot of time with them too. They were all kind and sometimes Jaxson made fun games to pass the time, but every now and then she would be reminded of what happened and it made her feel sad. She missed her mommy when she was alone and she would cry herself to sleep.
Sometimes it felt safe though, like when Mr. Lemmy was around and the man everyone kept calling Father Charles was there with his big glowing light, or that gruff Dwarf. And then there was the really sneaky lady. The big Orc was really strong too, but a lot of people didn't seem to like him much. She didn't really mind though.
Most people talked about them as they left. They seemed like friends but also they did important things. Whenever they would leave most people would get quieter for a while, unless there was an argument. Sometimes other people would go away for a long time and sometimes they would get hurt or didn't come back at all. When that happened and people would argue it made her worry.
But sometimes bad things would happen even when they didn't go anywhere. The adults never wanted to let them know but she heard them whisper sometimes.
The tunnel had places where a lot of old buildings were. Jaxson had wanted to explore but his mommy, Erika, had said we couldn't. When they were lowered down the ropes, it was kind of scary but in a fun way. Everyone was getting tired so we took a nap on some stone beds. They weren't very comfortable but nicer than the ground.
When Tate yelled back that there was a way out everyone got excited and ran forward. We were near the back but then when they got to a big bright room and it got very warm.
Then everyone started screaming and she saw the lava and the scary, big thing across the way.
"What's that?!" she asked grabbing onto Jaxson's shirt. He glanced at her and pulled her along.
Charles had awoke after resting feeling refreshed but a little disconcerted that he could not tell the time any longer. He had missed a potentially fatal battle while helping the others down. He never did get back around to finishing his talk to Quinnet, in truth, he hadn't wanted to.
He then checked over his equipment, realizing that for the most part, it was inadequate to deal with a challenge such as the one they were in now. He found his bag of silver, wealth which he had slowly accumulated and which down here was meaningless. I mean, they had passed a golden door for goodness sake. He realized he'd been hoping to hold onto it and... do what? Get himself a better home? A better place to preach his religion? It was just a useless hunk of metal.
If I get out of here, I'm going to use this to help the others.
He offered a short prayer to the New God and had cast his light spell to bring everyone at least some sense of comfort. Then to ensure no one had become infected as he'd promised, he cast another detection spell.
They began moving again. He felt as though he should offer some words of encouragement to the others but he wasn't sure what to say to them all himself.
When they saw the light ahead, Charles felt a moment of exultation, they could finally leave this place! But then they heard the shout from behind them of Tate. He turned to reprimand the young man who had not followed the procedure but by then the others were storming forward. He held back trying to calm them all but his own words were drowned out and all he could do was try not to have them trample all over each other.
When they got to the edge where the pools of lava were, his admonishment turned to immediate worry and fear.
"No, we were so close." he said just as the demon across the way began screeching. He realized that despite his earlider efforts, he was now standing next to Quinnet in the crowd. He turned to her grasping her shoulders to make sure she looked at him.
"Quinnet, you're their leader now, right? Well it's time to act like it! Make sure these people don't panic. Get them out of here as soon as you see an opening. We'll buy you time."
Charles drew the icy longsword from before. "Everyone, let me pass!"
With the screeching of the Broodmother, more and more of the red skinned humanoids surface from out of the river of lava.
She pulls off an egg from a limp in her skin with a wet plop as the suction pops.
Gronder follows the direction or Daphiel, along with the rest of the guard, and create a forward like to protect the rest of the crowd. The weaker individuals move towards the back at the direction of Quinnet. The kids are in the far back nearest the cave that you came in from.
Charles, Drot, Tesswyn, and Galino all advance to try and assault the Broodmother.
As Daphiel remains ready to strike, Tesswyn casts shillelagh on her staff, using the magic to speed towards the broodmother.
Charles moved to dash forward with the others. Upon arriving, he looked around at the number of foes and felt the weight of the oppressive demons before them.
"Gather together, we will make our way thorough this. The New God is with us." Charles said to the others despite his bleak feeling.
"Volant, Septem, Punctorum!"
Mace in one hand, spell book in the other, Drot summons and fires seven points at the demon mother. Following behind them with a warcry he charges toward the creature, filled with zeal from Charles' well received blessing.
None.
Several of the red skinned humanoids move in closer to the Broodmother.
Drot fires off a magical dart, striking the Boordmother. She screeches in pain!
Charles casts bless on the advanced party.
Tesswyn empowers herself and advances!
Galino, being the arrogant one that he is, rushes completely forward with no though to his own safety!
The Broodmother, waiting for the right moment, launches her egg at Galino as he rushes forward, the egg exploding into a fiery burst as it hits.
The rest of the red skinned monsters advance and attack! The guard strike, prepared for such an assault!
Six of them attack the larger group, while 5 attack the advanced party.
Philip, Lemagrag, Bethany all strike out, injuring the strange men. Gronder's new axe seems to work even better than expected, severely injuring one of them. The Turner siblings all stand behind, helping where they can.
Daphiel, the leader of the group, strikes a well placed attack herself, injuring the red skinned man.
The creatures strike back, though. The two on Philip both hit; he looks physically hurt. All the rest can't get past the defenses of the front lines.
The rush of enemies onto the front lines causes a surge of panic in the civilians in the back. They press back further into the cave, but doing so knocks Valentine perilously close to the edge of the lava.
At the advanced party....
A red skinned man strikes at Tesswyn.
Another rushes Drot!
Two rush Charles, but the bridge isn't wide enough to fit them both, so only one can reach in and attack.
Daphiel grimaces as the monsters swarm the defenders. "Hold the line!" she shouts as she stabs out at the wounded demon again.
***
Meanwhile, Tesswyn grunts as her opponent scores a light hit on her. She whirls her staff and slams one end of it directly into the skull of the demon attacking her.
As the first fiend falls, she dashes back a bit to help Drot, attacking the monster that's threatening him.
Drot closes the distance between him and the brood mother. His eyes blaze red as he steps past Galino, shouting words that the boy didn't understand.
"Subtilitas Percutiens!"
Galino takes a strike at the Brood Mother, trying to kill her before Drot can make his move!
After his magnificent wiff, he feels overwhelmed by the monsters around him but his faith in Charles' blessing carries him onward!
Fast PCs:
Drot misses, but Tesswyn not only destroys one but lands a solid blow on Drot's.
Upon killing the red skinned humanoid, it exodes into a fiery death.
Charles attacks the one on him.
The ice blade is even more effective that it would first seem, not only cutting deeper, but slightly stunning the creature as well!
All of the front lines members strike, hurting the red skinned humanoids. Gronder deals a mighty blow, causing the creature to explode into a fiery death, blasting Daphiel, Gronder, and Bethany.
The red skinned humanoids strike back, seriously hurting Philip and Lemagrag, but the rest of the front lines keep their defenses.
Rhsbred skinned humanoid on Charles strikes, but he has a bane from the ice damage (which cancels the boon they normally have).
The other one dives into the lava and swims for the other side of the bridge.
The one on Drot and Tesswyn strikes at Tesswyn.
The ones on Galino all strike, and the final red skinned humanoid advances to protect the Broodmother; Galino is surrounded!
The Broodmother's sickly long tongue lashes out at Galino.
But he manages to dodge out of the way!
Tesswyn twists away from the first explosion. She bashes the wounded demon with her staff again, but this time she's too slow to dodge the inevitable explosion.
Meanwhile, Daphiel attacks the most damaged enemy in reach.
Drot does not faulter from his fumble and continues his assault on the demon.
"SAEVA!!!" He half yells and half growls his spell.
After Galino was bombarded by the lava men he was more aware of his lack of defense and focused on dodging the disgusting tongue of the demon mother. He turns to "Her" and strikes out!
He stabs the lava monster through the shoulder!
Charles turned to get a better glance at the others but couldn't ignore the one right behind him. He glared back at the demon, attempting to kick it off the bridge.
"What do you think you're do-" Charles began to shout at the others who were foolishly rushing ahead of him but he misjudged the distance between himself and his enemy, kicking too far.
Valentine did not like what was happening at all, people were getting hurt and she was standing very close to the lava which was much too hot. She was frightened of everyone and she herself just wanted to escape from it all. She saw the strange door on the far side and the hole with the light shining from above and she started to run. Past the adults, between the people who were fighting with the fiery monsters. She began to run.
"Aaaagh!" the little girl screamed as she tried and failed to jump past the lava at the edge of the island. Instead she was badly burned on her right leg for her attempt.
Fast Init:
Valentine gets shoved in the mass of the crowds and tries to leap over the lava, but still gets badly burned. She screams and cries as the pain nearly overwhelms her.
Tesswyn slaughters the creature next to her, the fire exoding ourwards from its body fully encompasses her leaving behind burnt skin.
Drot and Galino, fully enganged with the Broodmother, bring her down. She wails as she died, which unleashes a wailing moan from all the red-skinned humanoids in the room.
Every one of them has an immediate and visceral reaction. Some flee in terror, while others become enraged.
There are still two creatures remaining in the fight near Galino and Drot. The rest are still fighting the guard.
Gronder advances around to relieve Philip, swinging his axe down and slicing the fire-born person in half. Gronder barely registers the explosion. Daphiel and Lemagrag both strike true, but the creatures still stand. Bethany moves around to help Gronder, stabbing her rapier into the creature, killing it. The explosion encompasses her, Lemagrag, Daphiel, and Mia, but not nearly as bad as the previous one effected Gronder.
Daphiel strikes at the fleeing creature, killing it. She still stands after the explosion.
All players up! Don't forget your free attack if you want to take it.
Tesswyn screams and nearly collapses as the flames scorch her. She leans heavily on her staff, resisting the urge to swing at the fleeing creature. Another explosion like that and she's done for!
Barely clinging to life, Daphiel retreats from the fight to catch her breath.
"Let's go, people! Everybody make for the exit!" Tesswyn cries. She nimbly recovers some vigor and rushes for the door atop the stairs.
Charles lunged forward as the creature attempted to retreat from him, jabbing into its back with the icy sword.
Charles skewers the fleeing man, who then explodes into a fiery death.
------
Daphiel kills off the final red skinned humanoid and it explodes, dropping both her and Lemagrag. Fortunately, they're ok as the collect their wits a moment later.