Keeping he wall at his back, Damian retreats a step to make space for those who wanted to be far from the evil knights while nocking another arrow.
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While not ideal, they had forced the remaining three to come to them, and Kendren had no fear of their attacks. He stepped towards the nearest one and struck twice in quick succession.
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Coral tries to move into position, but bumps into Invisible Lola. She moves past, trying to dodge attacks from Yellow (if it is still up after Kendren's attack).
She then attacks, staying on her guard.
Feena's fireball explodes over the bridges, shattering them and sending splinters of wood exploding throughout the room. Two of the three knights take the worst of it, with one of them managing to avoid some of the damage.
Damian fires two arrows, but is forced to shield his eyes from the explosion and misses both shots.
Kendren sneaks in one strike before Feena's fireball hits, but is forced to pull his second attack short as fire explodes all around him.
The knight swipes at Coral as she moves forward, but she manages to dodge enough to cause the attack to miss. Once in position, she lands her strike on the same knight Kendren injured.
The knights raise their voices in unison, invoking a dark, malevolent power. A chilling wave of evil energy radiates from them, bolstering their strength and sharpening their focus
The yellow-clade knight singles out Coral, pointing his blade at her and telling his companions "You two take her first!" before turning his head and swinging his blade twice at Kendren, landing his first strike but missing his second.
The other two knights collapse on Coral, their blades twice each at her. She manages to avoid half of the blows, but still catches two blades in the midsection.
Lola drops her bow, and draws her Morningstar. With a furious swing that nobody can see, she moves to crack the skull of the enemy in front of her.
"You should have surrendered when you had the chance!" Kendren again struck at the dark knight before him, who had ordered his men to attack Coral.
Isabet steps forward into the edge of the fray to brush her hand against Coral's shoulder and say "Cayden, please see it in you not to fail this valiant warrior and see her through another sword stroke. Please" as normal her waspish words are countered by the warm tone she uses when talking to her god.
Seeing the enemy in close quarters and not wanting to risk friendly fire Feena cast a different spell and a pall of sparkling dust enveloped the three thugs and the area behind them.
Coral slashes twice at a foe (Yellow if it still up, and a blinded foe otherwise depending on the Glitterdust saves) and steps back. She continues to use Combat Expertise.
If against a blinded foe, they have -2 AC and are denied Dex, so even the primary might hit. And she will also get to do Sneak Attack.
And applying Disoriented: The target takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls. In addition, the target takes an additional –2 penalty on all attack rolls it makes against the rogue.
Feena's glitterdust sweeps the area, causing the three knights to sparkle in the firelit tunnel. Only one of the knights seems to be blinded by it, so Coral and Kendren both take advantage of the opportunity. Each lands one blow on the knight, which is enough to bring him down!
Moving a little away from the fiery wall, Damian looses a few more arrows at the black knights. Not knowing that Kendren had told them the same thing, he shouts "Last chance to surrender before you all perish!"
Damian's words ring out in the sewer, but the sparkly enemy knights pay no mind to him as his arrows sail past them. Both knights advance, swinging their blades at the fortified wall of Coral and Kendren. Coral manages to avoid both attacks, but both attacks land on Kendren.
"Ouch, that looked horrifically painful." Sister Isabet clucks behind the stabbed and sliced into Kendren. "Here, let me help with that." she retrieves and opens one of her special brews distilled down into a gas which breathes in like cloves and honey (and gin, lots of gin). All of the warriors lacerations close, leaving just the wet stains that his innards once laid on. "There you go, right as rain, now please crush these ill mannered heathens."
Lola drops the Morningstar, kneels down, retrieves her longspear, and attacks one of the enemies.
Taking advantage of Lola's and Kendren's distractions, Coral stabs furiously at Purple.
If her primary attack brings down the first foe, then her iterative will go against the other.
With two remaining thigs that wouldn't go down Feena sent another pair of scorching rays out at the one directly ahead of her.
With his arrows flying wide of their mark, Damian starts to feel a little useless. Fortunately, his comrades seemed to have things well in hand, and the faint whiff of cloves helps restore his resolve a little. If nothing else, it was much better than the sewer stink.
Kendren grits his teeth against the strikes, then the vaporous scent numbs the pain as the wounds heal. Kendren strikes back at his he does before them.
Sister Isabet provides some empowered healing to Kendren to keep the frontline warrior on his feet.
Lola switches weapons and makes a hasty attack that misses the unholy knight.
Coral is more productive however, landing both of her attacks on the purple-clad knight and taking him to the ground.
Both of Feena's rays badly scorch the remaining warrior and one of Damian's arrows embeds itself through the knights armor into his right shoulder.
Kendren tries to finish him off with two powerful blows, but can't seem to land a strike against the armored enemy.
The blackened-plate knight puts everything he has into his final two swings against Kendren, landing one before staggering forward and collapsing from his wounds.
Lola nods, and quickly moves to strip the knights of their valuables, and then stops herself, "the fire, please, Feena, if you could dismiss it," and she begins healing Kendren.
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With the last of the thugs defeated Feena gave Lola a sheepish look as she responded to the request, "Ummmm, sorry but I can't Lola. They will wear off on their own shortly, in fact the first one should be going away in a few seconds and the other one just after it."
Lola nods, "lo siento, Feena, I am not an expert on magic. Thanks for letting me know."
"Well if any of these have friends anywhere close, they will be coming quickly." Sister Isabet before checking to see if any of the bad guys are still alive. She has very little sympathy if they are, but knowing that is better in case one of them manages to wake, heal, and hit them from behind.
"The fire spells are very effective." she smiles at Feena.
"If we are fortunate, they're not close enough to have heard, but they may have set an ambush."
Kendren looked down the sewer, where the wall of fire cut off escape, and braced himself, in case there were foes on the other side when it came down.
Once it did, he would move past the downed foes just to the other side of them, to again keep watch down the sewer tunnel while he waited for the others to finish up.
Damian sees to Kendren's wounds, then tries to recover as many of his arrows as he can.
The party does not hear anyone approaching or sounds of an ambush ahead, so they presses forward into the sewers. The fetid air grows thicker, and the faint sound of trickling water accompanies their footsteps. After a few minutes of weaving through narrow passages, the party rounds a bend to find the walkway ahead terminating at a precarious, ramshackle wooden bridge that spans a slow-moving trough of putrid wastewater.
On the far side of the bridge, the dim light from Feena’s conjured orbs illuminates a partially collapsed wall, beyond which lies a cavernous chamber. The pungent stench of decay emanates from the cave, stronger than anything they’ve encountered so far. Atop the rubble, the twisted body of a Seal-Breaker knight sprawls in a macabre display. His blackened armor is barely recognizable beneath the filth, and his limbs are contorted unnaturally, as though crushed by immense force.
The party takes in the grim scene as they cross the unsteady bridge, its warped planks creaking ominously underfoot. The cave beyond reveals itself in full-a cavernous space with a 15-foot-high ceiling, its southeast corner dominated by a grotesque heap of garbage and sewage that towers to the ceiling. The acrid stench here is nearly overwhelming, threatening to turn even the strongest stomach.
Suddenly, from the mound of refuse, a grotesque voice hisses, "Talk, talk!" as an otyugh emerges cautiously, its three tentacles raised high in a gesture of non-aggression. Its lumpy, bulbous body shifts in the dim light, and its grotesque eyes swivel toward you. The creature’s gravelly voice croaks again, "No fight! No fight! Speak, speak!"
The smell is awful, and Coral turns back to her comrades.
"Ugh... I'm not the best at talking, and I can hardly breathe right now. Someone else want to talk to the sludge-thing?"
She sheathes her sword.
"Great Heav-" the sister stops attempting to speak and instead concentrates on not throwing up at the same time she tries not to breath. Frantically she opens a slim leather sheath at her hip, where a collection of wands sit. Pulling one she quickly taps her belly, and then breathes in relief (even though she promptly covers her nose and mouth with a hankie).
"Now, you great... " if you cannot say something nice say nothing at all. "You. What can we do for you?"
With a skip in her step, the humming bard arrives at the land of stench.
Lola doesn’t seem affected. At all. She bows to the creature with a flourish, ”well met, good sir. My name is Lola - perhaps you have heard my divine plucking wafting down from a grate?” She experimentally plays a few notes of La Guitarra. Humming to herself, she plays quietly while speaking to the friendly beast, ”talking is one of my favorite pastimes. What would you like to talk about?” The woman’s coal black eyes shine from behind her bone white mask, as she smiles in as kindly a manner as she can, at the creature.
Damian is likewise unaffected, although he covers the lower half of his face with his scarf and tries to breathe as shallowly as he can manage, through his mouth. He looks in surprise at Isabet and Lola as they address... some creature. Did the creature speak to them? Taking a cue from his companions, he lowers his half-drawn bow and attempts to present a peaceful demeanor.
With the defeat of the thugs, they were on their way through the disgusting sewers once more when they came on the sight of the big hole and the crushed and mangled body of the man outside of it. Then, as they crossed the bridge, the stench hit her with its nigh overwhelming foulness.
Feena wasn't sure what to think but she was really glad that she had gotten used to the atrocious smells, though she was not sure if that was a good thing or not. It also helped that she had the perfumed cloth across her mouth and nose to help hide the stench. She realized that it was probably a good thing she didn't just toss a fireball down here, especially when they met the seemingly peaceful monster!
The creature was...bizarre, and more than a little disturbing to look at, especially since it lived in the garbage pile! She knew that she should not hold the creature in disgust based off of these things, but it was hard not to. She quickly decided that she would be well advised to let the others handle this for now.
*EDIT: entered post in.
The otyugh makes a gurgling noise, somewhere between a chuckle and the sloshing of viscous liquid. It twitches its tentacles, glancing between you all. "No fight. No fight." it wheezes. "Talk! Yes, yes, talk. Big things, black things, they come through. They take, they hurt. We stay away. We hide." Its tentacles wriggle animatedly as it gestures toward the deeper tunnels. "They take our kin! Drove them up, made them run. We not see them since."
The otyugh’s eyes gleam as it leans closer. "You fight black things?" it asks, its tone laced with both curiosity and caution.
Lola tries to figure out how to communicate better, "I'm sorry that we can't speak to you in your language very well - please forgive us. Our kind have fixed scents," but she nods, "erm, probably! If they're villains, yes. And if people hurt you or others - they're villains." She seems to be speaking very carefully to avoid using her 'native' language accidentally.
The smaller otyughs murmur amongst themselves, tentacles waving as if in discussion. One of them lets out a hacking sound, then gurgles, "Villains, yes. Black things. Take, hurt, break. We learn to hide!"
The larger creature Lola is conversing with moves its tentacles as its bulbous eyes narrow slightly as he considers her words. He gurgles and says "This is Grimtongue.", slapping a tentacle against itself before responding to her comment on scents. "Fixed scent. Yes, yes. You scent strange, but not bad. You not stink of them. This good."
"You need path." Grimetongue rumbles, slathering a tentacle and moving some debris around. "We show."
The otyugh turns and slaps its tentacle against the cavern wall, smearing a crude, dripping map of the sewers. "Path leads to Deep Door. But beware. You must pass Old Leatherback first."
Each slapping tentacle against something sprays mucusy slime that had chunks of something and wiggled with chunks of something else. "Oh, goodie" the priestess mumbles as what is right pushes them into doing something she'd rather never ever see again.
"What is Old Leatherback, if you don't mind me asking"Isabet asks as far away from the creatures as possible.
Grimetongue lets out another deep, gurgling chuckle. "Old Leatherback. Big. Mean. Old." he says, as if that clears things up. "Clever. Sleeps beneath. Lurks. Waits. Bites."
One of the smaller otyughs lets out a wet, hacking sound, then croaks in broken Common, "Snap! Drag! Drown! Chew bones!" It flails its tentacles animatedly as if to demonstrate.
Grimetongue nods. "Black things break bridge. Make hard to pass. They use planks, then take away. No easy way across. Deep waters. Leatherback waits. Not always awake."
Sister Isabet looks a touch flabbergasted "I have no idea" she mouths back to her companion, before quickly covering her mouth again.
"Well, since they take their planks away, could we borrow the ones we just crossed over, or Grimetongue..." the name itself makes the nun want to shudder "... do you have anything in your Collection that would work for a bridge?"
Damian tenses when the creatures start waving their tentacles around so animatedly, but his companions did not seem to react with alarm, so perhaps all was well in this conversation he could not understand. He focuses on the movements of the tentacles, wondering if the otyughs used them for communication. It would require them to see in the dark - which they probably did.
He leans forward to get a better look at the crude map, trying to ignore the stench. Whatever else was being said, the otyughs were being helpful, so he sketches a bow to the largest one. "Thank you."
Sister Isabet looks a touch flabbergasted "I have no idea" she mouths back to her companion, before quickly covering her mouth again.
"Well, since they take their planks away, could we borrow the ones we just crossed over, or Grimetongue..." the name itself makes the nun want to shudder "... do you have anything in your Collection that would work for a bridge?"
Lola nods, ”yes - anything we could get would be wonderful. Unfortunately, our little group is without portable bridges and the like.”
Coral listens quietly and looks at the map.
"Magic could also be a solution to move us across the gap."
I hope I don't have to climb the walls trying to stay out of reach of this monstrous alligator or snapping turtle or whatever it is.
Kendren followed along, keeping an eye out for any Seal Breaker ambushes. Fortunately, the otyugh asking to speak was welcome - he had no desire to fight something that simply existed in the sewers if it wasn't threatening him or others.
Studying the crude map, he said, "I have rope, if we are up to trying to swing across the gap."
Feena listened to all that was said about their path ahead when she realized Damien did not understand any of it. Feena, unwilling to open her mouth in the fetid odors of the room, got something out. to write with and wrote down the conversation for him, casting a spell to create some light if he needed it to read the information.
When the discussion shifted to the gap and the need to get across while ignoring some creature that lived below Feena considered the problem. She could not make a bridge, but she could fly, and she could teleport. Feen almost gagged as she started to say something and stopped to choke the reaction down before she said, "I can teleport three across with me at a time if the distance isn't too much. If I can take three across, I can possibly fly high enough to get back across without disturbing whatever is in the water below and then bring the others."
Behind the cloth held to her mouth, Sister Isabet says "I can teleport as well, odd for a cleric, but Calyen delights in getting in places he shouldn't be so blesses his faithful with the same."