Rhugarr steps further into the room and draws his hammer, glancing uncertainly around the room.
[color=green]
Imp (0 dmg)
Cyrus (21/21 hp, Smiting A b*#~%(TM) )
Rhugarr (11/11 hp)
Lili (18/18 hp)
[/color]
Cyrus pulls a potion off his belt and drinks it.
Lili reaches to her side and touches Cyrus's hammer. She fiddles with the buttons on her vest briefly and a wave of purple psychic energy travels from the vest, through her arm and fingertips, and into the hammer. "Happy hunting," she says with a smile, and then moves to the southern portion of the room.
A voice wafts across the room, though it is difficult to place where it is coming from.
"Drop your hammer, dwarf. Do not pick it up again."
Rhugarr's eyes become glassy. His hammer falls limply to his side...
... but then he shakes himself out of it and raises the weapon again, eyes bright and ferocious.
"Come out where I kin seeya, little shite," he snarls, "an' then ye'll see me bring tha hammer down!"
Neither Lili nor Cyrus can find the source of the voice.
[color=green]
Imp (0 dmg)
Cyrus (21/21 hp)
Rhugarr (11/11 hp)
Lili (18/18 hp)
[/color]
Cyrus takes a short step closer to the corner of the room, places his hand on the symbol of a sun on his breastplate, and asks Sarenrae for her divine guidance in sniffing out the imp's evil presence.
Rhugarr continues to move around the room, looking for any sign of the creature, but can't seem to locate it. He suddenly remembers the dagger Cyrus gave him, dropping his hammer and pulling the silvery weapon out.
[color=green]
Imp (0 dmg)
Cyrus (21/21 hp, Smiting A B*&@%(TM) )
Rhugarr (11/11 hp)
Lili (18/18 hp)
[/color]
Lili casts another spell, this time focusing on the broken compass hanging from her belt. After a few moments of concentration, Donovan the Celestial Dog appears in the square next to her and begins searching for the imp with its nose.
Donovan sniffs the air, growls, and moves toward the bed. Once he reaches the bed, he barks once, the sound reverberating strangely, as if the sound was coming from down a long hallway.
The imp squeals in terror at the sight of a celestial creature. It bursts forth from the silk drapes where it had been hiding after casting its spell and slashes out at Rhugarr with its barbed tail. Something leaks out of the wound, something pale and green and viscous, but Rhugarr seems not to notice.
The imp tries to dash away from them. Rhugarr lashes out with the dagger, but he's unused to such a light weapon and overextends, missing wildly.
[color=green]
Imp (0 dmg)
Cyrus (21/21 hp, Smiting A B~@~$(TM) )
Rhugarr (10/11 hp)
Lili (18/18 hp)
[/color]
Donovan snarls and snaps at the imp as it flies by.
Cyrus grins. "There you are, foul fiend." Raising his hammer, he lets out a cry and sprints across the room.
The imp yelps as the holy-powered jaws of the dog rend the flesh of its leg, and it limps through the air spitting curses at it.
It hovers near the dresser, trying to use the object as cover--likely so it can vanish from sight again--but Cyrus doesn't give it the chance. With a bellow, he brings the huge hammer down on the tiny creature with an eruption of holy energy that cracks the floor, shatters the mirror, and practically vaporizes the imp in a shower of gore that quickly morphs into weird, gelatinous blobs of clear goop that slowly begins to evaporate.
The iron box sits on the floor a few feet away, dented and scuffed but unopened.
After a moment of silence, Zarta's voice calls from the other side of the door, "Is everything alright in there? What happened??"
As the imp dissolves into nothing, Lili rushes to Donovan's side. She sits down next to him and rubs his face, his ears, his head, all while he showers her with slobbery doggy kisses. "Good boy! Such a good boy! Who took a bite out of the imp? Was that you? WAS IT YOU?" Before Donovan has a chance to answer, he begins to fade away. He gives Lili one last kiss and then returns to his home plane.
Lili stands up. "I love that damn dog."
Cyrus returns the hammer to his back and regards Zarta with a look bordering on contempt. "You sent me in here to deal with the imp. The imp has been dealt with. Now give us the Pathfinder Society's property so we can leave this foul place."
Zarta unlocks the door and opens it. She looks at the devastation with a sigh. At Cyrus' words, her demeanor goes cold. "The object is at your feet, you witless oaf. Take it and get off my property. And let Ambrus know that if his cronies cannot keep a civil tongue with me, he can forget about the Society's prospects in Cheliax. We have no further need for barbarians and thugs in our country." She stands aside, and watches the trio with barely contained fury.
Cyrus picks up the box and leaves without a word.
Lili knows Cyrus's moods enough to recognize when it is not time to make a joke. Man, he really hates devils and demons and all that stuff!
She gives Zarta an awkward bow and scurries off after Cyrus, who is not shortening his strides like he normally does to surreptitiously let her keep up.
Rhugarr is also silent as the party hurries out of the estate, and also has to hustle to keep up with the paladin. Once they're on the sidewalk, he huffs, "Slow... slow down, lad..." If the paladin refuses, he gives it up and falls well behind the other two, unable to run any further with his armor and shield.
Either way, the dwarf says not a word during the walk, though he looks deeply distressed, and fiddles often with the braids of his beard.
As Cyrus and Lili reach the Foreign Quarter, where Ambrus Valsin awaits their arrival in the halls of the Grand Lodge, they stop as a throng of people blocks the street ahead. A performance art group commandeers the street, drawing graffiti to create a jolly hellscape complete with illusory devils comically dancing around in circles. A few citizens avoiding the crowd slip off-street through a nearby alley, the only egress past the gathering.
Why is the Society associating with people who keep devils as servants and comrades? This is not what Cyrus signed up for; he feels as if he failed at at least two of his tasks today, but how could he have done anything differently? His devotion to Sarenrae comes before any mortal concerns. He cannot compromise his vows for Pathfinders, not even for Lili. Maybe the Society is not for him...
-----------
Cyrus cools down as he puts some distance between himself and the terrible woman's home. He notices that he has left his slower moving companions behind and slows up to wait for them. "I apologize for my behavior. I will take full responsibility with the Venture Captain for our poor performance today. You two are not bound by my vows and should not be reprimanded for failures caused by them."
-----------
Cyrus approaches the blockage in the street and grumbles to himself. He sees the people taking a detour to get around it, and waves to his companions. "This way. We need to get this over with, and I am in no mood for devil illusions right now."
Something about this doesn't feel right. Keep an eye out, Lili. He's not in any shape to do it.
The trio follows a few people down the alleyway. As they come to a slight bend around an unruly longhouse, Lili notices four people loitering in the alley ahead, just as one of them--a woman with bright red locks and dimples--smiles sweetly and places a plain gray mask over her face, utterly devoid of features to the point of being somewhat disturbing.
Initiative:
[color=green]
Rapier Guy (0 dmg)
Redhead (0 dmg)
Psycho Sorcerer (0 dmg)
Lili (18/18 hp)
Crazy Halfling (0 dmg)
[/color]
The placing of the mask seems to be some sort of signal. One of them, a human man, strides forward and gives Cyrus a mocking salute. The redheaded woman in the gray mask guzzles a potion, and a faint shimmer surrounds her body. The other woman, a blonde who would be attractive were it not for the look of crazed bloodlust in her eyes, reads from a scroll in her hand, and suddenly thick, roiling clouds of fog spill out from her body, choking the alleyway in mist that quickly becomes impossible to see through. It rolls over the scoundrel with the rapier and he vanishes in a cloud of fog.
Dammit, I knew it!
"Cyrus, get your head out of your ass! Danger!"
She reaches down to her compass and mumbles to herself, "Donovan! Sorry buddy, we need some cannon fodder." A moment later Donovan the Celestial Dog appears at the edge of the fog. He immediately sniffs the air, trying to identify someone to bite.
Donovan sniffs the air and immediately senses several people in range of his scent, but one is particularly close. Unfortunately the figure isn't close enough to bite at.
Suddenly a form leaps out of the mist and right over Donovan's head to land between the dog and the paladin in a nearly impossible display of acrobatic agility. A halfling stands before the stunned paladin, small muscles bulging with abnormal strength and eyes crazed with bloodlust. A huge, ridiculous mustache takes up a large portion of his face. It's the man Lili saw sneering at her on the street earlier in the day!
[color=green]
Rapier Guy (0 dmg)
Redhead (0 dmg)
Cyrus (21/21 hp)
Blonde Psycho (0 dmg)
Lili (18/18 hp)
Rhugarr (11/11 hp)
Crazy Halfling (0 dmg)
[/color]
The man with the rapier appears at the edge of the mist, his form hazy and indistinct. He stabs out at Donovan with his rapier, but even with his halfling ally's aid in flanking, the dog manages to duck the blade.
Somewhere in the mist, a vague outline reaches out and touches the rapier wielder's shoulder. Dark, sickly wisps of energy float across his body, and strange vein-like strands stain his skin. Donovan yelps and immediately recoils from the man's presence.
Cyrus takes a step back to give himself room to swing his hammer, drawing it as he moves. "Why are you attacking us?" he cries as he raises his hammer. He puts all the fury and anger and confusion of the day behind the swing as he brings it down on the halfling.
A muttered incantation of some sort can be heard from within the mist, but the haze distorts the sound to the point that it's nearly impossible for Lili or Rhugarr to make out what spell was cast.
[color=green]
Rapier Guy (0 dmg, +2 AC/saves vs good)
Redhead (0 dmg)
Cyrus (21/21 hp)
Blonde Psycho (0 dmg, ??)
Lili (18/18 hp)
Rhugarr (11/11 hp)
Crazy Halfling (0 dmg)
[/color]
Lili touches the ring on her left ring finger with her left thumb. She reaches up to touch Cyrus's arm and says, "Bye-bye!" Cyrus disappears and Lili takes a step back.
Unwilling to let his allies take all the risks, Rhugarr steps up and plants his hammer hard on the halfling's ribcage. The barbarian grunts from the force of the blow, but it looks like it barely fazed him.
He cackles with glee. "First victim!" he shrieks, and buries his greataxe in the dwarf's gut. There is a wet sucking noise as he draws it back out. Rhugarr's intestines begin to slip out in ropey segments. The cleric's eyes go dim, and he falls to the ground.
The halfling screams at Lili, "You're next!" He then moves toward her menacingly, brandishing his bloody axe.
Cyrus takes advantage of his momentary distraction to bring the lucerne hammer directly down on the halfling's head. There is a loud crunch as the top of his head caves in. Blood immediately begins trickling from his eyes, ears, and mouth as he falls to the ground, clearly dying.
[color=green]
Rapier Guy (0 dmg, +2 AC/saves vs good)
Redhead (0 dmg)
Cyrus (21/21 hp)
Blonde Psycho (0 dmg, ??)
Lili (18/18 hp)
Rhugarr (-5/11 hp, unconscious and dying)
Crazy Halfling (21 dmg, unconscious and dying)
[/color]
The man with the rapier stabs at Donovan again, but the mist seems to get in his eyes and his weapon goes wide.
From somewhere in the mist, a voice mutters angrily, "Idiot halfling. Larkin! We're leaving."
Cyrus sees Rhugarr go down a moment before he crushes the halfling's skull with his hammer. "No!" He will live for a few more seconds. Need to finish this. He strides forward and stands over the halfling's body. "Duck, Donovan." His hammer swings in a sideways arc, aimed for Larkin's head.
Cyrus' blow strikes true, and the man's sneer vanishes--along with most of his face, as the hammer turns the rogue's head into a gruesome pulp. Brains and skull fragments splatter against the side of the building next to him, and his mostly-headless corpse drops limply to the ground.
From within the mist, an insane cackle can be heard, and a massive gout of flame blasts out from the mist, burning it away. Flames lick over Cyrus, Donovan, and the lifeless body of Rhugarr.
Both Donovan and Cyrus dodge the worst of the flames but Rhugarr cannot evade, and takes the full brunt of the spell. The dwarf now looks in extremely bad shape.
The mist around the caster burns away to reveal the blonde woman with the murderous eyes, cackling madly. "Is he dead? I do hope the dwarf is dead. I can't wait to defile his corpse." She licks her teeth.
[color=green]
Rapier Guy (20 dmg, so F'ing dead)
Redhead (0 dmg)
Cyrus (20/21 hp)
Blonde Psycho (0 dmg, ??)
Lili (18/18 hp)
Rhugarr (-8/11 hp, unconscious and dying)
Crazy Halfling (21 dmg, unconscious and dying)
[/color]
Donovan snarls at the terrible, terrible woman and bites.
With a final growl, he winks out of existence.
Lili's sight blurs with tears of rage at seeing Rhugarr's state. She grabs her compass again, makes a fist, and swings her arm in an uppercut motion, punctuated by a scream of defiance. A vicious looking barbed chain erupts from the ground under the caster's feet, wraps around her legs, and attempts to pull her down.
Donovan's teeth slash across the woman's thigh, rending deep into her Very Evil Skin. Unfortunately, Lili is not quite so successful with her Barbed Chain.
A voice wafts out of the mist. "Dammit Halli, come on! Leave them and let's get out of here."
[color=green]
Rapier Guy (20 dmg, so F’ing dead)
Redhead (0 dmg)
Cyrus (20/21 hp)
Blonde Psycho (3 dmg, ??)
Lili (18/18 hp)
Rhugarr (-8/11 hp, unconscious and stable)
Crazy Halfling (21 dmg, unconscious and dying)
[/color]
Cyrus sneers. "You should have listened to your friend. I am having a very bad day." He brings his hammer around again, aiming to obliterate another evil skull.
Cyrus strikes the woman on the mouth and practically tears her jaw off her face from the force of the blow. Her jawbone is effectively turned to bone powder inside her flesh as she falls to the ground writhing and gagging, clawing at her ruined face.
[color=green]
Rapier Guy (20 dmg, so F’ing dead)
Redhead (0 dmg)
Cyrus (20/21 hp)
Blonde Psycho (17 dmg, unconscious and dying)
Lili (18/18 hp)
Rhugarr (-8/11 hp, unconscious and dying)
Crazy Halfling (21 dmg, unconscious and dying)
[/color]
"Donovan! Fetch!"
Donovan moves forward a square at a time, attempting to sniff out the final foe. He lashes out with his jaws, attempting to latch onto the woman and hold her.
Lili removes a potion from her belt and prepares to give it to Rhugarr.
Donovan gives a warning bark from within the mist, and there is a snapping sound as his jaws try to clamp onto something but miss.
From somewhere in the mist, a burst of sickly green-black energy pulses outward, necrotizing any flesh it touches as negative energy washes over the alley.
[color=green]
Rapier Guy (20 dmg, so F’ing dead)
Redhead (0 dmg)
Cyrus (19/21 hp)
Blonde Psycho (18 dmg, unconscious and dying)
Lili (17/18 hp)
Rhugarr (-9/11 hp, unconscious and dying)
Crazy Halfling (22 dmg, unconscious and dying)
[/color]
Lili kneels down and pours the potion down Rhugarr's throat.
If Donovan senses that the woman has moved, he will again move forward until he pinpoints her location, then attack.
Cyrus makes his way forward in the mist, until he reaches Donovan. Trusting that Donovan is facing the final foe, he swings his hammer in that direction.
Lili pours the potion down Rhugarr's throat, and his wounds seal up somewhat. Loops of intestine slither back up into his gut in in some horrid, gruesome rewind, and the stomach stitches partly closed--but not quite all the way. However, the stabilization the woman had ruined with her channeling of negative energy is now thankfully back. The dwarf looks like he's survived the worst of it.
Donovan does know she has moved around him in the mist and knows her current location. He can't vocalize the fact to his allies, unfortunately, aside from a loud snarl. He goes in for a vicious bite, but his jaws bounce off an transparent barrier of force.
Cyrus moves into the mist to find the hidden foe, but things don't quite go as planned. Instead of bumping into Donovan, he bumps into the redheaded woman with the mask. He couldn't see her at all until he was right on top of her, and thanks to the reach of his weapon, he can't properly strike with it. She must have slipped around Donovan in the mist.
Finding himself too close to attack, Cyrus tries to grab the woman instead, in the hopes of disabling her and getting some answers.
Cyrus manages to grab her by the wrist in a vice-like grip. With a snarl, the woman practically shoves her unholy symbol in his face and bursts out another wave of negative energy.
Crawling green-black waves crash over everyone, and Rhugarr's belly splits back open; the beleaguered dwarf looses whispered groan.
Donovan lets out a whimper of agony and vanishes from the Material Plane.
[color=green]
Rapier Guy (20 dmg, so F’ing dead)
Redhead (0 dmg)
Cyrus (17/21 hp)
Blonde Psycho (she ded now)
Lili (15/18 hp)
Rhugarr (-6/11 hp, unconscious and dying)
Crazy Halfling (28 dmg and somehow not freaking dead, dying)
[/color]
"Submit!" Cyrus drops his hammer, strengthens his vice grip on the woman's wrist, then wrenches the arm behind her back, sweeps her legs from under her, and falls on top of her with his full weight.
"Lili, get the manacles out of my pack! And something to use as a gag!"
The woman twists like a snake and sidesteps Cyrus's kick at her legs. She does not, however, manage to twist out of Cyrus's grip.
"Lili, get Rhugarr out of here until I can stop her!"
Lili reaches down and grabs Rhugarr by the leg and starts to drag. She winces at his exposed innards picking up gravel and dirt as she does so, but that's a problem for later. For now, she just needs to keep him alive!
She grunts with the effort and feels like the veins in her head are just about to pop, but she manages to move him back around 15 feet.
Lili drags Rhugarr to what she hopes is a safe distance, while Cyrus continues to wrestle with the woman in the mask.
The woman's free hand twists its fingers into a strange shape, and she whispers a prayer under her breath. That same green-black energy from before surrounds her hand and she pushes it against Cyrus's chest.
She seems to know she has failed to deal any real damage to Cyrus, and grips her unholy symbol like a vice. She appears to be readying another channel.
[color=green]
Rapier Guy (dead)
Redhead (0 dmg)
Cyrus (15/21 hp)
Blonde Psycho (she ded now)
Lili (15/18 hp)
Rhugarr (-6/11 hp, unconscious and freaking stabilized again)
Crazy Halfling (29 damage, finally dead)
[/color]
"It's over! Give up!" Cyrus again tries to get the woman to the ground, pinning her arms behind her and digging his knee into her back.
Lili hears Cyrus continuing to struggle with the cleric and rushes back towards the mist.