Seeing that his wife and the three soldiers were handling one of the Dwarves, he moved across the room to help Dramm.
As he neared, he called upon his sorcerous power to further enhance his ability.
But the growing intake of power had finally become too much to handle for him.
"Too much... Gotta move!"
he warped, moving to the far side of the Dwarf.
The soldiers attack the dwarf again, bringing him down. Uruuna charges in to assist Dramm, slicing with her scimitar as the sorcerer buries his axe in the enemy's chest.
The dwarf retaliates, slicing Dramm across the chest.
Imedren moves in and tears the dwarf open with his rending spell. As the sorcerous power overwhelms him, he teleports across the room right before the energy rushes outward. It engulfs the dwarf, and there's the sound of shattering glass as it falls. Murky liquid spills out from underneath its hood...
In the aftermath, you pull back the dwarves' hoods to reveal the awful truth about their true nature. Rather than skulls, they have great glass orbs filled with murky liquid. Lamprey-like creatures float inside the glass vessels, apparently slain along with their host bodies...
Randolfus calls upon the New God to heal Dramm and Uruuna. "I'm afraid that's all my healing spells for today. We will have to be cautious moving forward."
Hobb bleats again as his vision returns. He walks over to Dramm and nudges him with his horns.
Now that is disturbing to have learned... if only I'd known earlier.
"What... what are these things anyway? No, it doesn't matter. Grab the crossbows." He looked around the room.
"I think they were looking for something in here before we came."
A thorough search of the room doesn't uncover anything of interest. If the creatures were looking for something, it's not here.
Anophth shushes everyone and moves to the edge of the hallway, sneaking to see what's in the next room. His bow is ready to draw back.
Beyond the door is a circular chamber with exits in each of the cardinal directions. A large pit fills much of this chamber, descending into darkness.
Anophth continues down to his right to see if he can find anyone or the box, still sneaking.
Square black pillars support the ceiling of this long hall, whose floor is rent by huge cracks. Anophth can hear distant chanting at the end of the hall and sees some flickering red lights. Of more immediate concern, though, the goblin spots two blots of shadow moving slightly among the pillars--likely more of those spirits that you fought at the entrance to the temple.
Anophth heads back to report.
Chanting up ahead. Also, more of those shadows things, and no natural light to he found anywhere. They'll be much more dangerous in there.
Tabog was reinspecting his arrows as Anophth was doing recon. When he came back and told the group of his findings Tabog was a ready to take action.
"Perhaps we surprise them from a distance and stick them with all the arrows we can. Then retreat back into this room, shooting at them all the while, and use the cover here to give us some advantage against them. They'll have to bottleneck through the door too."
I'm good with that. Let's draw them in.
As soon as he's in position, Anophth will channel his demonic passenger and to enhance himself.
Move back full movement to lure them towards our group.
Anophth and Tabog fire arrows at the shadows, though only the goblin hits. Though the damaged one is caught by surprise, the other one gives chase as the pair retreat back to the party, sprinting to catch up with them!
Anophth grabs his cane to attack the shadow.
During Anophth's scouting, Dramm collects the bolts from the dead Dwarves. He scratches Hobb absentmindedly at the base of his horns and verifies the Ram isn't suffering any lingering effects.
"Poison. Could be useful if we can recover any good quarrels." If he finds usable bolts, he will add them to his quiver. With Anophth's report, he supports the plan and takes up position to one side of the hallway. He steels himself for the umbral advance.
Dramm keeps his composure when the shadow rushes forth, but his aim is slow. The bolt bounces harmlessly off the wall with a small Thwink!
"Holy!.. Damn, I hate those things... Give me a moment to catch me breath..."
Tabog draws his bow at the same time Anophth does and counts their shot time out.
"1... 2... 3!"
Despite Uruuna's terror, she manages a good strike with her newly acquired hand crossbow.
Only one of Randolfus's men quail before the shadows. They fire their crossbows, and one hits, shredding the shadow apart! Only a few moments later, though, the second shadow comes streaking through the air towards you!
Here comes the second! Steel yourselves! Anophth calls out.
"Be strong! We can beat them! Dramm, go for it!"
Dramm drops the empty crossbow as the new shadow comes into view. He pulls his knife and pierces carves a diagram in the air.
Still running from the shades Tabog stops, turns and lefts of an arrow!
Running low on magic, Imedren readied the hand crossbow he'd picked up and fired it at the specter as it entered into view.
but the bolt went wide.
Tabog and Dramm land good hits, but everybody else misses! Fortunately, the shadow misses as well, as Anophth dodges its draining touch.
Seeing the shadow reach out and strike at his friend, Imedren reloaded the crossbow, took aim, and fired again.
Joy tries again, launching another bullet at the shadow, while calling out to Tabog without looking at him:
"Tabog, a gap to your left!"
Anophth barely ducks the shadows hand as it swipes at the Goblin, and he swings upwards towards the living darkness as he stands back up.
Dramm changes back to his crossbow, reloading and taking a shot at the shade.
The bolt clatters perilously close to the Goblin's large ears.
"S$#~! Sorry, sorry!"
"Good eye, Joy!"
Imedren, Tabog, Uruuna and one of the soldiers pierce the shadow with arrows before it can attack again. It shrieks as it is destroyed!
As the shadow falls, Anophth quickly peeks into the room north of the well. Tapestries cover the walls here, depicting humans and demons engaged in bizarre sexual acts. At the center of the floor lie the shattered remains of a large stone, the shards still glowing with green energy. Three men in hooded robes stand here with sickles drawn, nervously eyeing the entrances.
Anophth sets his bow against the wall and adjusts his coat. He grabs his walking cane and taps it down once, letting it echo.
You, he whispers.
Yes, you. Orders come from above. You're needed. With me. Now. The rest of you, to the front door. City guards be here soon. Come on now, up to it. Kip, kip. He knocks his cane against the floor with the last two words for added emphasis. After that, he turns and walks back where he came.
The cultists glance at each other, but the one Anophth charmed nods enthusiastically. "You heard the goblin. Move!"
The other two rush out the western door, while the charmed man hastens to Anophth's side. "Lead the way, brother."
Anophth leads the cultist back to the group.
Now that I've separated you from those other guys, I need to let you in on a secret. There's a Plant within the Brotherhood. A traitor. And not just one. These s+!~heads are planning on turning in everyone to the Crusaders of the New God.
We've selected you because we know you're Loyal. Those other guys? They're with Them. Makes sense, doesn't it? They've always acted a little weird. I know you've seen it. Anophth nods along with his words to entice the cultist to nod along, planting the seeds of doubt in the man's mind. But not you. You're one of the good ones. One of the ones we can count on.
Now me, Anophth says, I've been sent in to root them out before all hell breaks loose. Or rather, before they have a chance to stop all hell from breaking loose, if you know what I mean?
And that's why I need you. This is going to make you go places. A shot at the top. I just need your help in rooting out the traitors. Whatdya say? A chance to lead the Brotherhood and rid the world of some filthy Crusaders? Take it in a direction of you're choosing? Or back to being a pawn and likely dead at the hands of some f+@+ing priest?
The cultist nods along with Anophth's words, an eager grin on his face. "You can count on me! I won't let you down! Let's stick it to these bloody traitors. I'll bet those damned dwarves are working for the Crusaders, too!"
Upon hearing the conversation Anophth was having with the the supposed cultist from the other room, Imedren waved a hand to have the others gather around.
That clever Goblin. Going mad but I think this could work.
"Anophth's plan is a clever one but it's going to take some convincing from us too. Let me do the talking, the rest of you don't say anything unless you have to. Act like this is a profession you have, be suspicious, be curt in your responses, and be fast about the things you do. Remember, we're on a timeline." with that he let out a breath and turned adjusted his posture to be straight and his face to be hard, as though he was staring at something that made him upset.
When Anophth came back into the room he nodded.
"Leader, we've dealt with the opposition here. Is this a loyalist?"
The cultist thumps his hand on his chest in salute. "Yes, brother! I am loyal to the Demon Lord above all others! May his shadow swallow the world!"
Imedren nodded at the 'loyalist.' "Good man. We don't have much time. How many of you are there in total? Who is your current leader here and what were you doing exactly? There are things we need to check."
"I'm not sure how many of us are left here. A dozen, maybe more? Those dwarves did a number on us. Our leader is the owner of this place, Pentachus Katandramus. We were studying a new relic that the cult had 'acquired' when the dwarves assaulted us. In the fighting, the relic broke and unleashed a huge explosion that destroyed the house above the temple. The survivors retreated down here into our sanctum, and since then we've reached a stalemate with the invaders."
Imedren pondered the information for a moment. "Fascinating." he says with a hint of wonder. "It's unfortunate the relic was lost but its power was undeniable if it caused all this. How did you acquire this relic? Were you all acting alone? How many other groups... or even individuals were in the area and knew of your sanctum here? It's possible you may have been sold out to the Dwarves by jealous rivals."
"I'm not sure where it was taken from. Some of our other brothers brought it to Katandramus about a week ago. There are a few score of our brethren operating in the city and its surrounding region, but I don't know the exact number. And I don't know who else outside the cult would have known about this place."
Imedren nodded to the man as he gave his answers, encouraging information. "Was the relic the sole cause of all of this? Have you or any of our brothers been attacked by the demons released from the shambling corpses? "
"I think so. The plague didn't start until the stone exploded. Katandramus ordered us to guard the fragments in that other room to make sure the dwarves couldn't get them. "Some of us got sick after the stone broke and turned into walking corpses. The demons that came out attacked us, too. Luckily, the rest of us down here seem to have resisted infection."
"A testament to your own resilience then." he looks around at the the others. "This information was good but we have certainly lost the initiative we had. We shall see if this Pentachus Katandramus is a true loyalist. As for the rest... I'm not certain if the traitors will have successfully spread their lies by this time or not."
The man nods. "Right. I'm with you, brothers. Glory to the Demon Lord!"
Dramm looks at Imedren and raises an eyebrow questioningly. He's cradling his crossbow
Imedren's eyes narrow but he nods to Dramm but holds out a hand. "Patience brother. We need to ensure ourselves." Imedren says to Dramm. Then he looks to the charmed cultist. "These people, they seemed your allies until Leader found them out. Are you willing to side with us, no matter what they might say or do. You know we are your true allies, correct?"
The cultist thumps his fist in salute again. "Yes! Glory to the Demon Lord!" he repeats.
Imedren nods. "Alright, I had to make sure. We are the only ones you can trust down here. We will try to convince them otherwise but they will probably try to kill us all. Stay back and attack them from a distance."
Imedren leads the way to the east. Seven large basins hold scummy water in this chamber. The eighth is empty, thanks to a large hole in its bottom.
Three more of the strange hooded dwarves are here, scouring the baths for anything of value. Upon spotting you, they raise their crossbows and prepare to attack!
Joy tries to say nothing at all when the strange cultist appears.
Wait...is he charmed? I don't know if that's a good idea, but I can't really say anything right now. Nmmmm...
Joy tries to hide her discomfort and focus on keeping a watch out for more enemies and creatures of pure madness.
And then she sees the "dwarves" with the false heads.
Those are glass! They'll break!
She glances at Dramm, and then swings her gaze - and sling - towards the nearest "dwarven" head, calling:
"Aim for their heads! They're glass!"
Know anything about that? Anophth asks the cultist, gesturing towards the false glass heads of the "dwarves."
Meanwhile, he knocked an arrow to his bow and fires at the head.
Dramm watches the scene unfold between Imedren, Anophth, and the cultist. He appears confused, but doesn't say anything.
When the Dwarves come into view, he steadies himself for a shot at the man's head.
Dramm gives a frustrated growl as the bolt whizzes by the jar-headed Dwarf.
"Move over, Hobb." He gives the sheep a small push and takes cover at the corner, reloading his crossbow. Hobb bleats in response.
Imedren's mind was abuzz with thoughts and plans and possibilities as they crossed the threshold into the baths. Upon seeing more Dwarves he clicked his tongue in annoyance but then his mind came to a screeching halt as everyone starting readying to attack.
More of these Dwarf things, not cultists... No I have to stop this.
"Wait, wait, wait! Stop fighting!" he called, waving his arms in front of everyone behind him in what he hoped wasn't a vain attempt.
In rough Dwarven he called out to the creatures.
Through the recent events, Tabog remained stoic with an arrow notched but not drawn, following Imedren like a body guard. He kept himself between the cultist and Imedren whenever they moved as a group and kept his bow drawn on the dwarves, ready to loose if they continued to attack.
When Imedren shouts at the creatures, they turn to look at him. Their only reply is to level their crossbows in his direction.
Tabog takes that as his cue to open fire!
He hits two times, causing the dwarf to reel in pain.
Uruuna and the soldiers open fire, one scoring a solid hit with his crossbow. The wounded dwarf falls!
The other dwarves cast spells, hurling darts of shadow at Randolfus's men. One is struck, causing him to cry in pain!
Suddenly, something horrible bubbles out of the bath with the hole in the bottom. A quivering red eye drifts across a slick of greenish-yellow slime, reeking of sickness and disease. Visible in its membranous body are floating scraps of skin and pieces of bone. The eye looks around, fixing its baleful gaze on the dwarf next to it!
Joy keeps from vomiting at the sight of...whatever it is.
"Tabog! Kill that thing, quick!"
Joy keeps chucking stones at heads.
Imedren sees the horrific monstrosity and begins shaking his head. Even though he held himself steady, this was something they didn't need to face against.
"We don't need to deal with this. Everybody withdraw! Inquisitor Randolfus, we still need to get to the cultists and deal with them."
"She plucks the eyes and sets them free to find her flesh for feast this eve-"
Dramm realizes he's muttering and forces himself to stop.
"We should leave. This thing is too much for us. Let them be eaten by their gods."
Joy's sling bullet cracks the glass underneath the dwarf's hood. Liquid begins to leak out, and it jerks in agony.
Fortunately, most of your companions manage to avoid succumbing to the ooze's horrific appearance. One of Randolfus's men gapes, but the others drag him away. The charmed cultists laughs hysterically. "It comes! It sees! It feeds! The mirror crack'd, the oculus emerges!" Anophth has to drag him along as he rapturously babbles.
The dwarves turn to face the monster, and you can hear horrible splortching and sizzling noises as you retreat from the room...