Borgol pulls back the bow and quickly fires a pair of arrows, silver fire trailing behind them as they fly.
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The drider resists Flik's scream. Borgol and Fergus both miss with their shots, but Remy winnows down the mirror images until only one is left, striking the real drider with her last punch.
The drider snarls as she backs up again and blasts Remy with a barrage of maximized magic missiles!
Cursing the bow, especially with an enlarged Remy flying between him and the dryder (while also admiring the view), Borgol drops it and pulls the longhammer from his back. "Time to squish the spider..." he mutters as he calls on Erastil to fill him with the power of life and growth, doubling in size.
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Not being able to do much from the ground, Fergus will fire another bolt!
While Fergus misses with his crossbow bolt, Borgol enlarge himself and strikes the drider with his lucerne hammer! Maddie finishes casting her spell, causing Remy to enlarge as well. The monk destroys the final mirror image before landing two powerful blows!
Badly wounded, the drider defensively casts a spell.
She succeeds, disappearing as she teleports away!
"Ugh, I hate when they do that!" Remy complains as the enemy escapes. The giant flying woman floats gently to the floor. "Those magic missiles hurt, but we should press on while Maddie's spells are still in effect. Ready to proceed?"
"Yes, let's push deeper before they have the chance to heal and to alert the whole compound. Who knows how many people are down here."
Borgol says, "So do lightning bolts, incidentally..." as he returns to his normal size. He looks at the tunnels and asks, "Will you be able to fit like that, or should Maddie dismiss your spell?"
He quickly casts a pair of spells to mend his wounds while waiting for a response, then nods, "Ready."
”Looks like I’ll be okay for now, but I’ll have her shrink me back down if needed,” Remy says.
There are doors set in the north and south walls, but they are false ones built into the walls themselves and do not open. The archway behind the altar to the east leads to another chamber. One of this triangular chamber’s walls is curved. Its two other walls are straight and meet at a one-foot-wide, floor-to-ceiling column with a bas relief of weeping angels standing atop each other’s shoulders.
Searching the room, Flik notices a narrow gap between the walls and the floor. Peering closer, it seems the entire chamber is balanced upon rows of stone balls set in circular grooves. With enough strength, one could potentially push the whole chamber along these balls either clockwise or counterclockwise to rotate it to another position.
"What to try to swivel us, my brawny friends?"
Remy cracks her neck and stretches her arms. ”Sure thing. Clockwise or counterclockwise?”
Borgol shrugs, "I'd say clockwise, but then, I'm an ordered type. The cultists less so, so maybe we go against my first instinct instead?"
He laughs, "Sorry, that was hard to follow. I'm suggesting counter."
"Counter it is," Remy says. The giant monk puts her shoulder to the wall and strains hard, slowly but surely rotating the walls along the rows of stone balls. The floor remains stationary, so the rest of you have to walk to keep up with the moving walls. After half a minute, it settles into a new configuration with a loud "clunk!"
A moment later, a concealed pit opens in the floor at the center of the room. Fortunately, nobody is close enough to fall in. The pit drops down 20 feet to what appears to be a large chamber below.
"I hate to have you in danger, but would you mind peeking down the hole, Maddie?"
"Sure thing!" Maddie's voice emanates from near Remy's head, then silence.
Maddie floats down through the pit, descending twenty feet to the floor. The walls of this bare chamber are decorated with defaced images of men and women wearing blindfolds in various poses of meditation. In many cases, the faces have been smashed to rubble, while in others, dark stains of old blood and violence mar the carvings. Five stone pillars support the ceiling twenty feet above. A few short steps lead up to a walkway surrounding the room, with double doors set into opposite walls.
Two undead creatures stand guard here, one in front of either set of double doors. These corpses hover in the air with hideously elongated legs and bows made of bone. Neither one notices the invisible wizard.
Maddie floats back up to report what she saw. "Alright, two bad guys. Shouldn't be too bad. Does anybody want to prepare further, or should we jump down and bust some skulls?" Remy asks.
Borgol chuckles, "After the Drider, I'm doubting they're simple zombies... especially since zombies don't fly. Flik? Sound like anything you've heard of? Anything we need to watch out for?"
Flik will pass on any information he guesses about the foes, then add.
"Let's eliminate them quickly so we can get to the bottom of what's going on here. These plots and hidden enemies make me uneasy!"
Borgol blinks, "Anyone have protection against paralysis before we leap down, to potentially freeze and die? I mean, I have faith in my ability to cut them up, but I need to still be moving to make that happen."
If you stay close to me, you should have nothing to fear! Fergus says reassuringly.
"I can use my ki to free myself from paralysis," Remy says. "I'll try to draw their fire while the rest of you take them down. Ready? Let's go!"
Still enlarged, the monk gathers her companions in her arms and leaps down into the chamber below!
The creatures shriek as you land in the center of the room. They raise their bows!
Borgol nods and calls on Erastil's blessing, causing his blade to burst into silver flame. "Let's go."
Flik starts dispensing advice about the enemies, then tries to use his magic to snatch the bow out of the hands of the western enemy.
Remy launches herself at the nearest undead, delivering a flurry of blows!
Fergus will advance and attack the nearest baycok.
Borgol doubles in size and joins Remy in her attacks, trying to finish off the creature before it can react first slamming it into the wall, and then trying to smash it while it's pinned.
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Remy pummels the first baykok, then Borgol smashes it against the wall! As it falls, he drives his holy blade into its body, finishing it off!
The other baykok howls with fury as it fires on Remy! The monk manages to twist away, dodging all of its shots!
Fergus rushes across the room, slicing into the remaining foe with his axe!
Flik steps over and taps Borgol on the shin. Time folds around the vindicator, and he appears across the battlefield, right next to the baykok!
Borgol blinks as Flik's magic throws him across the room, standing before the other skeletal beast, "Well, that's... helpful, thanks Flik!", he says before calling on Ol' Deadeye to double in size once more, slamming his shield and blade into the creature.
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Remy turns and rushes across the room, leaping to kick the second baykok! She follows up with two punches that shatter its rib cage! Flik teleports Borgol in front of the reeling foe, allowing him to finish it off with a shield slam and sword thrust!
In the aftermath of the fight, you find little else of interest in this room. To the west is a tunnel that has been collapsed, but to the easts, stairs spiral down to a lower level...
His initiative was after the enemies', but go ahead and roll and I'll factor it into the next round update. This guy probably won't last much longer, anyway. :)
Flik nods at the groups grim efficiency.
"Down the stairs? The cult has certainly burrowed themselves in here."
Borgol sheathes his weapons and nods in satisfaction, "Pays to be prepared." He takes a moment to look around, then suggests, "Do they have anything of value? They were carrying bows, but I was too bust smashing them with my shield to stop and look if they were of any quality."
He then looks at the stairs and nods, "Seems the best way to go. Only question is whether we stay together or a few of us go ahead to scout."
The undead creatures' bows are of mundane quality.
Maddie volunteers to scout ahead invisibly once more. She returns after a minute to report and what she sees.
A ten-foot-wide balcony encircles a wide, open chamber below, the edge adorned with a decorative wooden railing that has suffered damage in several places. Splashes of long-dried blood mar the floor here and there. Doors line the balcony’s north and south walls, with a few more exits to the east. Below, a large stone dais supports a mound of blood-soaked rubble.
Four ghouls clad in monk's robes lurk along the balcony, eagerly waiting to attack any intruders!
Maddie kicks around the room, invisibly swimming through the air while the others deliberate.
Borgol suggests, "I'd say we could probably rush the ghouls on the balcony -- hopefully without making any noise that would alert anything that might have been below them."
Sounds as good a plan as any! Fergus says nodding in agreement.