While Ulrich fails to grapple the dybbuk with telekinesis, all of Gabbi's arrows find their mark. Elka claws the spirit, and Allie blasts it with searing light. With a shriek, the dybbuk burns away into nothingness!
Upon its destruction, Durgao and the soldiers regain their senses. They blink in surprise and cease their attacks. "Thank you, friends! That vile undead took control of our minds. We're grateful that you were able to free us from her influence!"
"What happened to you?" Allie asks, although her attention is definitely still on her sister. "How did you really end up here?"
"The story I told you is true," Durgao says. "We are scouts who were in the area when Gallowspire was destroyed, and we came here seeking clues as to the Whispering Tyrant's intentions. But that spirit overwhelmed us and tried to use us to infiltrate Lastwall and undermine its forces from within. We need to return to Lastwall now and tell Watcher-Lord Ulthun everything we have learned here."
"There are Daughters of Urgathoa above." The oracle continues, "Can you get past them by yourselves or do we need to come with you?"
"An escort would be appreciated," Durgao says.
Assuming you have no other questions, you escort the scouts past the undead handmaidens, who scowl but do not interfere. As they depart, Durgao promises not forget the aid you provided!
Back on the surface Allie takes the time to patch her sisters wounds properly.
Amnayel leads the soldiers up past the handmaidens, preparing for them to cause trouble but relieved when they do not. Returning back to where the battle was, she leads the way conversing with the sisters about how well they did in the previous battle.
Ulrich has no more questions. Time to press on
Gabbi remains quiet while the scouts are escorted back out of the ruins. As Allie tends to her injuries she sits staring off into the distance.
The dhampir's responses to Amnayel's praise are terse and don't lend themselves to further conversation.
The ground in this cavern has been trampled flat and hard. A makeshift stage—a flattened bit of space atop a severed stone head the size of a boulder—stands at the north, while many open chests and large jars line the periphery of the room. The door from the vault exits onto this stage.
There are obvious signs of a recent, thorough search— overturned chests, disturbed earth, broken jars, and so on—although several valuables remain behind. This treasure includes 5,205 gp, a large diamond worth 5,000 gp, and a wand of communal protection from energy with 50 charges. Gabby also spots a ring of spell knowledge IV containing vermin shape I forgotten in a small crevice in the floor.
"How do you search through so many things, and still manage to miss all these coins and that large diamond? Were they in a hurry, do you think?"
"Maybe they were not searching for these items, perhaps." Amnayel offers.
Allie picks up on her sister's distress, of course, but doesn't say anything apart from engaging Amnayel in conversation so that Gabbi can have the privacy she obviously wants.
Gabbi looks away and considers avoiding the subject, but she's never been able to keep anything from her sister. She looks back.
Allie completely disengages from the treasure hunt and turns to embrace her sister.
"You wouldn't do that to me Gabbi. You could but you wouldn't. You are strong enough. Stronger than anyone I know." She steps back and cups a hand full of light between them, close enough to feel the warmth.
"I could burn either of us to a crisp right now Gabbi. We're both stronger than we used to be, it's big stakes we're playing for now. So the only thing to do is to trust each other. In the end we're the only ones we can trust."
"I love you." She finishes.
"So, where next?" Allie asks once her sister is cheered up.
"What? Did you hear anything I just said?" Amnayel looks between Allie and Gabbi, shaking her head "I said this way. Behind me, let's move." she pushes off to the door on the east side of the room.
The unsteady ground here gives way to shallow, murky water filling this chamber. Bones and funerary wrappings from hundreds of shattered vaults along the walls are heaped in the dark, still water.
Gabbi spots a hidden danger here—a filthy, shuddering mass of sludge and bones that seems to have formed from a mass of muddy grave soil. The ooze lurks in the water, preparing to attack!
Gravesludges are immune to acid, cold, and death effects. They are healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy. The resist weapons that are not good aligned.
"Something's in the water!" she calls out, drawing an arrow and firing into the water.
Only one of Gabbi's arrows hits the ooze, but it doesn't seem to hurt it at all! The horrific creature rises up from the water as it casts a spell, sealing the exit behind you with a massive veil of ectoplasm that roils with restless spirits.
"What is that thing?" Allie asks in disgust, tapping her sister on the shoulder.
"That is disgusting!" Amnayel shouts, moving up beside Gabbi and swinging at it.
"I have no idea what that is. Does anyone else?" Gabbi calls out as she continues to fire.
Ulrich draws his wand of magic missile to help batter down the resistant monstrosity.
"I cannot decide if it is more of an ooze or undead. Unclear.
Kamosh turns invisible and flies to the opposite side of the creature, not quite closing into melee.
Amnayel and Elka both fail to get through the ooze's thick body. Ulrich's magic missiles are effective, and Gabbi scores four good hits that drive holes in the sludge. It slithers back a few feet from the paladin and changeling and focuses on Gabbi, trying to scare her to death!
Kamosh leaps behind the ooze and jabs his beak as far into its back as possible, becoming visible by doing so.
"Well if it's undead then I've got just the thing for it," Gabbi says, steeling her will against the focused sense of fear.
Kamosh's surprise attack unfortunately does little to faze the ooze. Gabby proves quite effective, though. Between her judgment and bane arrows, she wreaks havoc on the monstrosity, and with the final shot, it dissolves into an inert mass that spreads throughout the sodden chamber.
Several of the vaults here still contain the remains of long-dead soldiers and priests of the Shining Crusade.. One such body was interred with her heretic’s bane staff.
You also discover a narrow opening in the rock to the northeast, just large enough for a grown human to squeeze through. Beyond the crack is a small natural cavern that reeks of sulfur. Shreds of silk and brocade still litter the corners, testifying to a previous occupant that is now long gone.
While cold and foul-smelling, this concealed chamber would likely make for a safe resting place.
Allie examined the staff with interest, that wanes somewhat when she finds out what it actually does. She still stores it across her back with her other staff however. She's not foolish enough to not carry a potentially useful item.
"How are we doing?" She asks. "Do we need to rest or fight on a while longer? This should be a safe space to return to no matter what."
"I, for one, would not mind a rest," Gabriella says with a heavy sigh.
"I would like to take at least a short repose. I have no opinion about whether we battle further, or recuperate over the night."
"Let's bed down here then." Allie decides, making the decision for the group. "Are there any lingering injuries people need me to sort out? We should arrange a watch too - just because this place is defensible doesn't mean we can relax."
You set up camp in the dank chamber. As expected, no monsters appear to disturb your rest. The next day, you feel refreshed and ready to continue exploring the dungeons beneath the ruins of Gallowspire.
There's only one area you've yet to go to. This large, square cavern has wide exits and stout, stone pillars that extend up to the ceiling thirty feet overhead.
A small contingent of six skeletal guards stand at the ready here. You are able to make quick work of them.
The ceiling and floor of the cavern beyond that chamber spiral gently, creating a spindle-shaped room that ends in a large, black pit descending from the middle of the chamber. Strands of luminescent fungus grow in the shape of leering skulls along the walls here, providing dim light.
Another graveknight keeps watch here. She appears to be a strong, exceptionally pale woman with short blonde hair. Her blackened hide armor is badly burned and appears melted into her flesh. She does not waste time with words, instead moving swiftly to attack!
"You're up sis." Allie says with a smile, infusing Gabbi with divine magic as Rascal takes up position in front of her.
Amnayel declares combat begins "At least you are not overly chatty like the last one! It is extremely annoying when someone continues to fill space unnecessarily with words when other actions are more important. Now then! Let us remove your blight and help set you to rest."
She then moves up in between it and the party, trying to bury her sword into it.
Gabbi sighs at the sight of another grave knight. "Well, the handmaidens said that there were more of them," she mutters to herself. She draws her bow and prepares for another battle against vile undead. Her heart doesn't seem entirely committed, however, and some of her arrows fall short.
All of Gabbi's arrows hit, but the graveknight takes them in stride. With a snarl of rage, she charges forward at Amnayel, who stands defensively in front of Gabbi. The undead curves her nails into talons as she rips at the paladin's flesh!
Refocusing her efforts, the dhampir castigates herself for growing lax and letting Amnayel take the hit for her laziness.
Allie steps up and gently places a hand on the grave knights back.
Amnayel lands one hit, then Allie infuses the graveknight with positive energy, leaving her barely intact. It's a simple matter for Gabbi to destroy the undead with several more arrows--more than even necessary! The graveknight's body crumbles to dust, leaving her gear behind. As before, you'll need to destroy her armor to ensure she doesn't return.
Looking down into the pit in tih sroom, you can see the jagged walkway descends before dropping away 30 feet to a chamber below. A large piton driven into the stone at the edge of the drop has a coil of silk rope tied to it.
Ulrich prepares a spell of Sending, then takes the Lung to use as a focus. He wraps a small copper wire around his index finger, then points in the rough direction of Arazni.
"Lady Arazni. We were beset by a graveknight and daughters of Urgathoa bearing the banner of Geb. They sense our allegiance. We are beneath Gallowspire."
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Ulrich casts Life Bubble on the group (except Kamosh), providing them with protection for 4 hours each.
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Spells Prepared
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0th (at will) Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mending, Prestidigitation
1st blood money, chill touch, enlarge person, expedious excavation, shield, vanish x2
2nd blood transcription, boneshaker, command undead,
3rd dispel magic, halt undead, magic weapon (greater), lightning bolt (2slot)
4th dimension door (2slot), positive pulse (greater) x2, wall of bone
5th telekinesis x2,
6th dispel magic (greater), ether step, heroism (greater), true seeing (250gp)
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As the fight finishes, Ulrich casts an extended Eagle's Splendor on himself, as well as an extend Shield (pearl of power).
Amnayel takes first watch and ensures nothing terrible comes their way as they rest.
----
The following morning she leads the way with her new boots, enjoying making up the speed that her heavy armor had caused her to lose. When they near the edge, she offers to fly down and check it out before they descend. [b]"I can make sure it's safe before we go into a trap. It's clear someone else has used this."[/b
If not one objects, she'll fly down and see what's what.
"Ulrich?" Allie asks as they wait for the paladin to return from her scouting trip. "Can you summon outsiders? Specifically ones from the Plane of Positive Energy?"
Amnayel flies down to the bottom of the pit. Directly above the opening in the ceiling of this chamber, a massive, jagged hole opens in the floor of what once must have been an enormous pool. Heaps of bones fill every corner of the room.
Doors exit this room to the north and south. Staircases lead down to the bottom of the pool and the pit in its bottom to yet another dungeon level below.
"Summoning is a subfocus of conjuration, along with teleportation, spontaneous creation, and most forms of planar travel. It is not outside of my ability to learn, but my lack of expertise makes all conjuration rather inefficient compared to most spells. Was there something in particular were you considering?"
Ulrich looks before he leaps