”I don’t mind lending a hand. Just tell me which strap goes with which buckle.” Once Uvara is properly armed and armored, Nyx looks at the rest of his fellow adventurers. ”You all decide where to next. I’ll be sure to locate any…” Nyx’s usual half-smile spreads into a somewhat maniacal grin, ...”MAGIC.” Nyx then waits for someone else to take the lead.
Adarion nods, "If this is the same bugbear, it sounds like we would be protecting a lot of innocent people by putting him down. You have my support in this at least. I cannot speak for the others, but from what I have learned of them over the last few days, they are not people who stand aside and leave bad people to hurt others." He looks to the others and dips his head in respect, then turns back to Uvara and says, "There is supposedly some kind of demonic woman controlling these goblin tribes as well. She may be partially responsible for your imprisonment and is almost certainly responsible for most of the deaths that happened in Sandpoint because of the raids. We came here to stop her...your help would be greatly appreciated!"
Uvara grimaces at Adarion's words. "As a fellow 'demon woman', I can't help but feel some sympathy for her plight," she says, her voice growing dark and deliberate with her following statement. "Her attack on Sandpoint, however, is inexcusable. Whoever she is, she must answer for her crimes in kind."
Sven nods and breathes a sigh of relief that someone will take over for him. ”Naesehorn and I will be fighting too, but you can go first.” He pats Naesehorn.
Adarion pauses as the woman grimaces and then a look of understanding crosses over his face. "Apologies for my wording. By demonic woman, I referred more to how the goblin described her actions. He said she did dark things and he was scared of her. He also suggested she somehow gave herself a demonic arm."
”Please continue your conversation; Naesehorn and I will look around now.” Sven and Naesehorn look for anything of consequence in the room that they may not have seen before.
The remainder of the cells are empty and there is nothing else of real interest in the room. Checking the other two doors leading out Sven hears no noise at either one.
"Um. I am not good at mazes. Anyone want to choose where to go? Lady, you said your name is Uvara? Do you know where you want to go? Find the bugbear? We saw one... busy in one of the rooms there. As long as we leave the goblins alone you can deal with him. Though maybe make it a fair fight." Sven sniffs, "bugbear was not armored... when we saw him." Sven is trying to approach the matter delicately.
"You will find that I do not have the same... proclivities that champions of the Inheritor may have," Uvara says, clutching her gauntleted fist over the crest on her tabard. "Rage is a virtue and a strength only when focused against the deserving. I will never seek disproportionate retribution." Ruthlessness is part of my code. There is nothing just or right about giving evil a fair fight."
Thinking a moment on the delicate manner in which Sven broached the subject, however, Uvara removes some of the intensity from her tone. "If you'd rather fight him on even footing, I will of course oblige. I would not want our collective action to weigh on your conscience."
Nyx defers to the others, just constantly checking for—and muttering about—
The group decides its better to deal with the bugbear than to leave a potential threat behind them. Either, their timing is just bad from taking too long to decide or maybe their disturbance early hadn't gone unnoticed, but as they are turning to head back toward the bugbears room the see three goblin women walk start to walk by, they stop, noticing the group and let out a scream saying something in goblin as the flee back up the stairs.
From inside the room to the side you hear someone hustling about.4
Hearing the bustling about in the room and expecting the bugbear to attack them, Adarion grins and begins casting a spell, readying it for when the bugbear exits the room and begins to attack them.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Nyx calls out, ”In the name of the All-Seeing Eye, I bless you with MAGIC!” Then he moves to the corner of the room.
Sven moves towards the room as the goblins finish, and spots the bugbear. ”Ahh good, all done. Ripnugget is dead, big goblin. Gogmurt is Chief. Will you follow nature now? Maybe you do not have to get killed.” He grips his scythe and yells into the room, then turns over his shoulder at the others as if to say I don’t know what I’m doing with this guy.
Sven himself to attack the bugbear should the beast do anything threatening. Naeshorn barrels past Sven, sniffling for vegetables, but willing to impale Sven’s enemies if necessary.
HP: 23/23
AC: 20 (Base 18, 2 barkskin)
Spells Memorized
. . 2nd—burst of radiance (DC 15)
. . 1st—faerie fire, obscuring mist
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, grasp, guidance, light
Naesehorn
HP: 19/19
AC: 21 (Base 20, 1 shield companion)
With Sven and his companion in such a rush to get to the front, Bartholomew sighs and puts the small glass bottle back onto his pouch. He pulls out his sling and finds a piece of garbage from the floor that seems particularly heavy, placing it in the leather cup and giving it an experimental whirl.
Sven and Naeshorn rush forward to meet the bugbear head on. They see he was just finishing strapping on his armor and is reaching for his bow. Nyx blesses the group for the fight ahead of them. Gudad moves to join Sven in the hall, trying to be quiet so he can surprise anyone that comes out of the door.
With openings now Adarion and Bart both step down so they have a clear line of sight. Bart retrieves his sling and loads it while Adarion prepares to cast a spell as soon as he sees an enemy.
Sadly, for everyone's planning, the bugbear doesn't seem to cooperate. Instead he retrieves an arrow and pulls his bow back launching it toward Naeshorn, since he can't see anyone else.
In his haste, his aim is off and it misses Naeshorn by a wide margin.
Drawing her weapon, Uvara runs into the room just ahead of Naese and Sven. She hopes to make her way into the room where Bruthazmus is shooting from soon.
Adarion moves until the bugbear is in sight through the door, then releases the grease spell he was holding on the bugbear's bow, hoping to disrupt his attack.
Adarion's spell covers the bugbears bow in grease, but he maintains a tight grip on it.
Sven and Naesehorn move in to engage the bugbear while leaving an approach available for the paladin should she want it.
Negative Effects: None
HP: 23/23
AC: 20 (Base 18, 2 barkskin)
Spells Memorized
. . 2nd—burst of radiance (DC 15)
. . 1st—faerie fire, obscuring mist
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, grasp, guidance, light
Naesehorn
HP: 19/19
AC: 21 (Base 20, 1 shield companion)
Nyx hustles back towards the action. "MAGIC is all things, and in all things. It is in the air, the stone, the flame, the water. It is time, space, and the void. It will nurture you, it will consume you, and always will it be your master!.." Nyx proclaims forcefully with his strange grin, rallying his allies.
A 1st-level bard can use his performance to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to perceive the bard's performance. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
Bartholomew follows behind Adarion, sling still loaded and in hand. Seeing the hobgoblin in the hallway, he sends the stone flying...
Uvara runs into the room to join the others, her heavy armor slowing her down, but she see's the object of her revenge, the bugbear who captured her and locked her away. As he sees her he grins and remarks "I capture you last time, you think this time different? Not worth the trouble, just kill you this time!"
Sven waits, hoping that Nyx will provide his usual strangely inspiring words on magic, which he does. Sven and Naeshorn rush in hoping the bugbear can't do much with a bow in his hand and their gamble pays off as Sven gets beside him and slashes into in with his scythe. Gudada not wanting to crowd the room, giving Uvara an opportunity to attack, continues to quietly wait ready to strike in case the bugbear attempts to flee.
Adarion casts a spell as grease begins to cover the bugbears bow. He has a solid grip on it though and wipes off the majority of the grease with his other hand. Bart moves in with the rest, and slings a bullet at the bugbear but it bounces off his armor, doing no damage. With Sven and Neashorn so close he drops his bow and pulls out a massive flail, swinging it at Sven.
He cracks Sven atop his head with a mighty blow knocking him unconscious with the well placed swing. As he shots a glare back at the others "Still think you've got a chance?"
Adarion grits his teeth as Sven falls bonelessly to the ground. He decides to try a different route, seeing how quickly the bugbear reacted to his grease spell. He reaches a hand out towards the bugbear while chanting, then closes his fist.
"Nyx, can you try to heal Sven?" he calls as his spell completes.
Unwilling to sacrifice defense against her foe, especially after he made such short work of Sven, Uvara walks toward Bruthazmus with sword drawn and shield raised. She takes a determined swing with her bastard sword, but through her poorly managed rage misses the bugbear by a large margin.
"You'll pay for what you did to me," Uvara says, gritting her teeth. "And even moreso, you'll face justice for what you did to the people of Sandpoint!"
"Oh? Just what did he do to the people of Sandpoint?" Bartholomew asks clinically as he loads another stone in his sling and launches it.
Nyx continues ranting about MAGIC as he casts a spell then runs up to deliver the healing magic to Sven, squeezing against Sven's faithful companion as he does so.
A 1st-level bard can use his performance to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to perceive the bard's performance. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
Sven gestures at Naesehorn, who tries to futilely gore her foe, before stepping away a bit, confused about what happened to Sven and lowing quietly.
Sven nods at Uvara from the ground, blinking while conscious again. ”If you want to fight, you must hit like this,” He swings his scythe at the feet of the bugbear, putting the being off balance a bit and making it easier for Uvara to do her next attack.
Negative Effects: Prone
HP: 8/23
AC: 20 (Base 18, 2 barkskin)
Spells Memorized
. . 2nd—burst of radiance (DC 15)
. . 1st—faerie fire, obscuring mist
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, grasp, guidance, light
Naesehorn
Negative Effects: None
HP: 19/19
AC: 17 (Base 20, 1 shield companion, -4 squeezing)
Uvara moves in, seeing Sven fall and strikes out at the bugbear, her anger getting the better of her and causing her to miss. Nyx rushes into the room and squeezes in close to Naeshorn as he reaches down to heal his fallen friend. Gudada, with no ranged weapons continues to hid in the corner of the hall in the unlikely event the bugbear attempts to flee.
Adarion unleashes another spell on the bugbear this time targeting his mind, but once again the bugbear avoids the effect his will much stronger than Adarion had believed. Bart flings another bullet at the bugbear, this time hitting and causing a small nick on the bugbears face as he growls in frustration.
Sven, conscious again, does his best to distract the bugbear with an attack in order to aid Uvara in her next attack and seems to succeed in distracting him, but even more so draws his attention once again.
Luckily, Sven is ready and rolls to the side as the bugbear brings his flail crashing down right next to Sven.
Even with Sven's aid, Uvara seems to be having some trouble landing a hit on the bugbear, her body still feeling sore from so many days spent in a cell. "Whether he was part of the attack or just part of the group that organized it, he is still accountable!" Uvara replies to Bartholomew over the sounds of battle.
Nyx steps 5 feet back away from the bugbear and casts a spell at it while continuing his sermon.
A 1st-level bard can use his performance to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to perceive the bard's performance. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
Uvara steps swings again at the bugbear, hoping to use Sven's distraction to her advantage, but she is still getting use to being in her armor and swinging her blade after her captivity and it is causing her to be off with her swing.
Nyx casts a spell and suddenly the bugbear just freezes in place, no longer moving.
Sven laughs at the bugbear, ”I told you to give up. You are stupid, but not much longer. Goodbye.” Sven notices that the bugbear can’t move, so he just takes a moment to line up a coup de grace and deliver a brutal, deadly blow.
For good measure, Naesehorn pummels the bugbear as well, though she doesn’t know how to hit as well as Sven, quite yet.
Negative Effects: Prone
HP: 8/23
AC: 20 (Base 18, 2 barkskin)
Spells Memorized
. . 2nd—burst of radiance (DC 15)
. . 1st—faerie fire, obscuring mist
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, grasp, guidance, light
Naesehorn
Negative Effects: None
HP: 19/19
AC: 21 (Base 20, 1 shield companion)
Sven reaches up with his scythe and with the bugbear essentially helpless, slashes it deep into his gut and pulls down as he disembowels the bugbear causing him to fall to the floor dead, depriving Uvara her vengeance...
Sven stands up, and brushes himself off. He offers his gore covered scythe to Uvara. ”Um, sorry. I know he was a villain to you. You can hit its body with my dueling scythe if it would make you feel better.” He picks some gore and innards out of his armor and pets Naesehorn. ”Thank you Nyx. The magic was on your side.” Sven nods gravely while Naesehorn looks around for a snack.
”Um, may I have a little healing, if anyone has any?”
"No worries," Uvara says, putting her sword away and laying a hand on Sven. "As long as justice is served I then my duties are met. Thank all of you for your help with that one."
Adarion lifts his hands to cast another spell but just as he begins to cast, Nyx's spell takes effect and Sven quickly reacts, brutally finishing the bugbear. He lowers his hands awkwardly to his sides, glancing at Sven with an impressed, and slightly disgusted, look on his face.
The enemy now defeated Adarion gingerly searches the bugbear for useful items, trying to avoid as much of the gore as he can. While searching he uses detect magic to check for any magical auras.
Sven nods in thanks to everyone, especially Uvara, and then gets Nyx to boop him again with their wand. He does not appear to be especially bothered by the gore. ”Yes, we should thank Nyx for his clever spell most. If he had not done that, I would have been wiggling on the ground like with kitty, earlier!” Sven laughs and it’s a low rumble, like a sack of rocks being dragged over another larger rock. The big half orc seems to find it funny that he keeps getting knocked over. ”I will need to find a way to stop falling down on the job, yes?”
Seeing as the others, especially Adarion, don’t care much for all the entrails and stuff, Sven summons a bit of water and washes what he can off. ”I will have a stench for a while. I am sorry.” Naesehorn sniffs him and flares her nostrils, wandering out of the enclosed space.
Checking the gear you find several items of likely value.
Among his gear are some magical items. While Adarion isn't sure what they are Nyx sees that four of the arrows are +1 elf bane arrows, and Sven identifies the one potion as a cure moderate wounds. He also had studded leather armor, a heavy flail, a masterwork composite longbow (+4 STR) with 20 standard arrows, and 4 platinum.
Sven shrugs at the things. ”I cannot use. Maybe the bow, at some point.” He then looks around for another place to go. ”Here?” He points at the door adjacent to the one where the bugbear was.
After gathering up the bugbears gear Sven is ready to see what the rest of this place holds. Used to leading the others on he picks a door and proceeds. Heading down the hall it bends to the west and ends in several doors. Gudada checks them all and finds they are all not trapped and all unlocked. Opening the doors you find several bedrooms. Starting in the northwest room and proceeding counter clockwise you find the following.
This one-person bedroom shows many signs of having been lived in. The bed itself is rumpled and unmade, and a half-eaten meal of bread and smoked salmon sits on the nightstand. A few articles of dirty clothing sit at the foot of the bed.
Checking the room there is little of interest.
This room is clean and well organized. A low dresser to the southwest has a stack of papers sitting atop it, weighted down by a large chunk of obsidian, while to the northwest sits a well-made bed.
The notes on the nightstand appear to be mostly rough drafts of plans to blackmail Lonjiku Kaijitsu and to use the Sandpoint Glassworks as a staging ground for the investigation of the Catacombs below Sandpoint. It is pretty obvious this is Tsuto's room.
This large chamber seems to serve a dual purpose. To the north is a fine bed with silk sheets, while to the south, a desk and chair under a hanging lantern make a comfortable-looking study.
It's pretty obvious this room belongs to whoever is leading this group as it is the best furnished and largest of all the rooms here.
While this bedroom is clean and brightly lit by an everburning torch lying on the nightstand, its spartan decor makes it unclear whether it’s actually lived in.
The only thing of any value is the everburning torch.
This bedroom has a faint musty odor. The bed is covered with matted gray and black hair, and bloodstains mar the stone floor, while a morbid stack of birds’ feet lies heaped on the floor by the side of the bed.
You could only assume this was Bruthazmus's chambers.
Adarion looks around the rooms with interest, looking at things with detect magic to see if anything especially interesting is lying around. He points out the everburning torch to the others. ”This could be very helpful if we have to explore dark place in the future. I think we should take it with us.
Sven follows Adarion’s lead, investigating the rooms with Naesehorn, who looks for loose vegetables to eat.
Finding nothing else, Sven keeps looking in the rooms next to the main entry.