Ooh! Nice one!"
Stauntram -3
Fizz -9 ->
Kaalul -7 ->
Martel 0
Stauntram relies on sheer brutal power to smash his foes. And the favour of Torag.
If there is space to advance, he will step forward, having regained his steady footing.
Stauntram steps forward and swings his chain twice, completely obliterating both remaining elementals in a pair of well-placed blows! As you catch your breath in the hot, smoke-filled tunnel, you realize you need to check the room of the fire elementals. Rushing there, you see a maze-like chamber of red rock that gives off a great deal of heat. Somewhere in there must be the red orb you need to access the final chamber where the Elemental Forge lies, disturbing the land all around. You search through it, growing exhausted from the heat, but find the orb at last in the center of the maze. You leave the overbearingly-hot room as fast as possible.
You are now prepared to face the final chamber. You stand before the elemental lock, each of you holding a weapon enhanced by the four elements.
Kaalul examines the lock to see if he can determine how the lock functions and if it's trapped.
"Tha' furnace was gettin' me a little hot headed," Fizz says with a wry smile as he pulls out his favorite clover and then flicks it.
Kaalul determines that tampering with the elemental lock could prove quite dangerous. But an object properly keyed to the four elements would likely open it without harm.
Kaalul determines that tampering with the elemental lock could prove quite dangerous. But an object properly keyed to the four elements would likely open it without harm.
What sort of object? What is the shape of the lock that implies that an object is necessary? A keyhole, perhaps?
No the "lock" is a dark orb in the middle of the door. But your examinations lead you to believe it is key to opening the whole door.
"The key is an orb. I wonder if the other four elemental orbs we encountered in each hallway can be combined or perhaps lead us to a fifth orb."
Twisting his mouth in annoyance that he didn't think of the answer right away, Kaalul taps his warhammer to the orb in the door.
After spending a moment to review his spells, Martel stands and casts one on himself, then touches the two warrior dwarves, just as Kaalul attempts to open the sealed door.
Stauntram stands ready, dorn-dergar extended to its fullest to smite the foe!
Kaalul brings his hammer up to the orb. It glows green, white, blue, and red. The door slides smoothly up into the wall. Through the doorway, you see a long flight of adamantine steps leading down farther than you can tell from here. There appears to be no lighting of the stairs. But you can barely hear a distant rumbling sound coming from somewhere down the stairs.
Fizz sidles up to the doorway and looks down the dark stairs. After a short whistle he says jokingly, "Sounds like someone's got an upset stomache."
"Well then, let there be light, and let us descend."
At his word, Martel's staff lights up.
"Let me scout ahead, first," Kaalul says, his excitement apparent in his voice.
The dwarven rogueinquisitor pads slowly and carefully down the hall, eyes peeled for any signs of a trap.
Kaalul will scout as far as the Martel's light spell reaches before waving the rest of the party to advance, slowly.
Kaalul barely manages to sneak down into the final chamber, an odd room with a water-filled ditch around the outside, strange earthen walls, and a glowing object in the center. There he sees a young halfling man, dressed in wizard's robes, standing over some sort of large forge glowing a deep red. The halfling seems to be incanting something over the forge while it rumbles deeply.
Kaalul uses his detect alignment ability as detect evil on the halfling.
Kaalul slinks back to the rest of the party and, using a quiet voice, describes what he saw.
"This may be the final chamber. I believe I was looking at the Forge of Elements."
Kaalul determines the halfling is definitely evil.
"No negotiation. The wizard is evil and must be put down."
Martel keeps his voice low. "So, do we go in hard and loud, shouting clever catchphrases, or do we try and sneak up on him?"
Fizz looks at Kaalul with an aghast expression. He then slowly takes his hat off revealing a head full of bright red, wild hair. "Kaalul, I know that I joke...constantly. But I'll take a short break from that to ask, what!? No negotiation? You can't just condemn uh man to death while knowing very little? No sir!" Fizz shakes his head and continues chastising, "'Tis not blind zeal that makes someone good. "Tis the vulnerability they accept through being patient, through givin' peeps the benefit of th'doubt." He then gives Kaalul a hard stare, "I'll not let yuh kill that man without knowin' more. All o'this," Fizz makes big gestures with both hands over his body, "tha' you been benefittin' from is gonna keep him alive. And I sure ya, I can probly heal mor'n you can dish out"
Kaalul puts his hand on Fizzbinner's shoulder.
"Gnome, it's fine. I was expecting at least one of you to disagree. We will not complete this holy task if we are not of one mind.
"We will cast whatever protective and enhancement magics we have now, I will go invisible before we enter and move behind the wizard while the three of you negotiate. When the wizard betrays us, I will do what I can to interrupt his spells until we can all engage and destroy him.
"Together."
Fizz stares at Kaalul with heavy scrutiny one final time before putting his hat back on and...
pulls out his clover with a smile. "What're we waitin' fer?"
"Sneaky it is, then." Martel agrees. "I do want to ask him what exactly he's doing here. All we have to go on are a few disappearances and some earth tremors, if I recall."
"We advance, speak, and then deal with him accordingly. Likely with steel.", offers Stauntram bluntly.
Even though Kaalul stumbles somewhat as he sneaks through the final chamber to get behind the halfling, he manages to be stealthy enough, for the time being. It is when the rest of you near the bottom of the stairs, however, that the halfling hears you. "Who's there!" he calls out, looking up quickly from whatever incantations he is muttering at the forge. He also casts a spell of some sort.
He cast detect magic and is scanning carefully, though focused mostly on the group at the bottom of the stairs.
Fizz boldly walks in front of the, likely, grumpy looking dwarf with his arms spread wide, "'Ello there friend! I'm 'ere tuh save yuh from th'dangers that threatin' yur life. Are yuh ready t'go?"
Martel steps forward as well, keeping his body language as non-threatening as possible. "Yes, we've been tasked by the village nearby with investigating the tremors and such. Ignorant types can be so apprehensive about things they don't understand. You know how it is." he explains. "Ah, but where are my manners? I am Martel Wyvernjack, practitioner of the arcane, and these are my companions, Fizzbizzner Thistletop, and Stauntram Uthuan. Who might we have the pleasure of addressing?"
Stauntram lumbers forward with the others and adds his words.
"I am Stauntram Uthuan. Dwarves seeking the Elemental Forge have not returned. This bears explanation."
Kaalul continues to move forward at half speed, keeping his eyes peeled for any surprises.
The halfling looks at Fizz very oddly and shakes his head. "I don't know you. What do you mean you have come to save me?" He is somewhat more interested by Martel's words. "Indeed. Many don't understand the importance of what can be done here. Thankfully, this does not concern them."
He turns to Stauntram, looking somewhat offended. "I had nothing to do with that. I imagine that they fell attempting to penetrate the forge's defenses. They are formidable."
“And what exactly are you working on here? Looks fascinating...” Martel takes another step forward, real interest showing in his gaze towards the Forge. He speaks the words of Detect Magic, examining the threads of elemental of power surrounding it.
Stauntram will ensure that he is at least as close to the halfling as any of the rest of his companions.
"Formidable they are. How did you bypass them?"
The halfling looks Martel up and down. "Well I suppose you may be able to appreciate it. It is an ancient device that enables one to manifest various elemental powers. It is tied into conduits connecting to the windswept mountain, a raging subterranean river, and hot rock deep within the earth. It allows me to pour the power of the elements directly into an object or creature. I am attempting to enhance my magical abilities and have had some success thus far." He turns to Stauntram lazily and states "I am not without my abilities..."
Kaalul narrows his eyes in suspicion when the halfling indicates his intent. Is enhancing his abilities all he's trying to accomplish? How much success is "some success?"
Fizz leans in toward the hallooing with an excited look. "Ooh! Can I see sumthin' from the forge!?"
Never one for picking up on interpersonal subtleties, Martel keeps approaching. “Increasing your power, eh? That’s something I can get behind. For what ends, though? Protecting your people? Building a better, brighter future for all?”
There are multiple spells active on the halfling and a great deal of magical power is present in the forge itself.
You believe the halfling was concealing information regarding whether or not he knows what happened to the dwarves. In addition, the smug look on his face implies that he is quite pleased with himself regarding how much power he has been obtaining from the forge.
The halfling smiles at Fizz and nods. "Indeed, I can show you something of interest. This is a fairly trivial use of the forge" Still scanning the magical auras on each of you, the halfling places his hand on the forge. A massive line of lightning shoots across the cavern and crackles in position along the northern border of the cavern. It continues surging back and forth across the cavern, holding its position.
Stauntram nods slightly at the halfling's response, and remains quiet after that for a time.
Kaalul flinches when the lightning flies past him, but he doesn't say anything. He feels reasonably confident that he is as close as he needs to be to get to the halfling quickly but far enough away not to be walked into.
Martel pauses at the edge of the “moat”, focusing on keeping the halfling talking while he studies the active effects on the small wizard. “Impressive, indeed. That was drawn entirely from the Forge? It didn’t sap any of your personal energies?”