Gathering all her might, with a mix of rage and desperation burning in her veins, Yaziyah strikes twice at the rakshasa, hoping to turn it into a bloody smear before the cold sapped all their strength and her chilled hands could no longer hold a weapon.
Marcus hits and Yazi hits harder.
TGM keeps swinging!
Vimanda flurries with a series of deadly attacks.
Vimanda is less successful this time.
With a sense of finality, Vimanda hisses and lashes out with her electrified waveblade. In one slash, she knocks the off-balance outsider to his knees, and with the follow up, lops his head off with a neat slice. Dark blood gushes out, and sprays onto the vudran woman, and all those who surrounded him, and he flops to the ground, his tiger head flopping to the ground, mouth agape.
Vimanda's expression is grim. She snaps her wrist, and the blood flies from her sword onto Avidexu's corpse, until the electricity burns it away. With another flick, the weapon disappears into her scarf.
She looks up at everyone, "a taste of what's to come. And what will happen if you betray me, I think?" She smiles slightly, "my family is not one to be trifled with - even the misguided are powerful." She looks up at the icy mess, and waits a moment for it to disappate, before squeezing past everyone, and beckoning them onward.
"Hold on, let us catch our breath." The shaman begins to heal those most grievously injured, using some of their many wands.
Marcus frowns at his weapon. He missed the scythe.
Well not the self-harm aspect of it. He's pretty sure. But it's magical properties really made a difference against their ever-stronger foes.
Marcus dutifully awaits his healing. As the wounds close he watches them closely, this time them sealing without leaving scars behind. He blows air out his nose, but even he isn't sure if it's in relief or in confusion. A problem for another time. He moves after Vimanda, prepared for another battle.
The party and their crew make their way back towards the winding stair that leads to the elephant within the indoor garden of Arkona manor. They pause at the top of the stairs to decide what to do.
"You two stay down here. The chance of sneaking off is risky. Let Vimanda and the rest of us handle the situation upstairs, then we will return and get you the rest of the way out." Marcus looks around to see if there are any objections.
The Gray Maiden stands silently, considering the options. She casts a glance at the prisoners, then back to the party. The idea of leaving the prisoners behind doesn't sit well with her, but she understands the practicality of the situation. The risk of trying to sneak everyone out, especially with injured and weakened individuals, is too great.
She finally nods in agreement with Marcus's suggestion. "It's a sound plan. We can't risk their safety by bringing them into the fight. We are too unfamiliar with the terrain and surroundings and are not adequately able to ensure their safety. We'll handle this, then return for them. Stay alert, and be ready to move quickly once we return."
She turns her attention to Vimanda, eyes narrowing slightly behind her helmet. Despite their temporary alliance, The Gray Maiden remains wary of her. "Lead the way. Let's finish this."
"We just got them" Mags says in response to the plan, the tone and the words helping explain she does not like the idea. Not one bit. "They should come and run like rats in a house fire while we shout and stab. More important they get out no matter what happens to us."
The Gray Maiden listens to Magda's concerns. Internally, Kaliyah echoes Magda's sentiments, feeling the pull of compassion and the desire to protect the vulnerable. But The Gray Maiden responds in a firm tone, resolute in her decision.
"I understand your concern, Magda. But bringing them into a potential situation could result in a dangerous conflict where we are not able to focus entirely on the threat. In their weakened state, this puts them at a greater risk. The safest course is to secure the way out first, then return for them. We are their best chance of survival, but only if we minimize the danger they face."
She looks to Marcus, but her voice softens slightly, allowing a bit of Kaliyah's concern to seep through. "We won't leave them behind for long. We’ll move swiftly, clear the path, and get them out safely."
"Leaving them no choice, no ownership in their fate?" Mag's voice dips into disappointment as she looks at the Gray. When she looks away to Marcus, the Magpie looks to the two "Your choice, your fate, you decide, they'll accept." she tells the two battered men, then leaves it at that.
"I agree with Magda. Considering the last fight we took and how close it was, I'm not comfortable with the odds of us being capable of beating Glorio. If he is the leader of the family, the most logic notion is that he is stronger than both the priest and Vimanda."
"Aside from giving the two the option of deciding for their own lives, which I believe to be only fair, it frees us to actually have choices in the following conflict... if they are behind, our only choice is to win." Aru is clearly worried. He is tired as well.
"If they want to leave, I can make them invisible for a while."
In response to Magda's comments, Marcus looks at the men expectantly, wanting them to chime in.
Vencarlo defers to the consensus, "I doubt we can do much against Rakshasas, but we'll follow you and try to stay out of the way."
Vimanda seems to be waiting for a decision, and she inclines her head, "whatever you wish - I will aid you so long as you keep your word." She explains, "when we open the secret door, some of our servants are likely to be waiting for us, and there are two garden guardians - the elephant above the trap door, and a water elemental. So we are likely to face anywhere between four and six enemies, immediately. Prepare yourself accordingly."
She hesitates, obviously trying to be careful, and then her form shimmers, and she grows a short layer of red fur, a fluffy orange and white tail, and has a slender fox-shaped head, with pointed ears. Her clawed hands appear to be facing backwards. "This is my combat form - it is safer for me." She doesn't seem embarrassed, and in fact seems a little more comfortable.
She checks her weapons, "the servants - they are what is called Marai. A lesser Rakshasa. They will likely be loyal to Glorio. They have similar defenses as Avidexu, and can blast people with rays of elemental damage."
The Gray Maiden takes in the words of her comrades and the decision of Vencarlo, but Magda’s earlier disappointment lingers in her thoughts. There is a moment of hesitation, a rare crack in her otherwise unyielding demeanor.
I told you that you were wrong. Please take heed of my input on matters that do not involve smashing things and shielding things.
She sighs, her voice steady but with an undercurrent of something more than just steel beneath the helmet. "Very well, we move together. We will face whatever comes as one."
She listens to Vimanda's input and adds "Do you have any way to create a situation as to give us a tactical advantage before we engage in combat?"
Vimanda frowns, "hmmm? I suppose... I know which rooms are trapped. They may try to tempt someone into giving chase - do not chase them. They cannot get many reinforcements. Focus on a foe until they are slain, if you have a method to bypass my people's glorious defense - do so." Seeing a fox-headed woman speak in slightly accented Taldan is a new experience, and is somewhat unsettling.
She takes the question seriously, "I may be able to get one or two of the marai to stand down, but it will not be easy to escape, each door has been able to be enchanted to lock magically, so I would not bother trying fleeing until you have a moment to catch your breath." He looks everyone over, "I wonder... did he give you all anything? If he did, he likely knows at least some of what transpired below." She holds up her odd hand, "a ring, or a necklace."
She smirks slightly, "with Glorio, no gift is free." She waves vaguely down towards the temple, "those statues - they were of him." She raises her eyebrows, as if trying to avoid speaking out loud, and mouths something like he could be listening now.
Yaziyah bares her teeth and hisses. They had been given something, hadn't they? She catches Vimanda's gaze, then nods.
This chamber hardly seems to be part of a palace, but looks more like a clearing at the heart of a vast jungle, teeming with life. The sky above is a deep, cloudless blue, while in the distance, hazy towers rise above the verdant canopy. Exotic bird calls fill the air, the scent of dozens of unfamiliar flowers and plants assault the nose, and everywhere a riot of color demands the eye, whether it’s the wing of a tropical bird, the petals of a brightly hued flower, or the glittering multicolored tiles that make up a round fountain to the north. The fountain’s central plume is a stone pillar around which entwine two cobra statues that clutch green gems in their fanged maws.
To the south of the fountain stands an immense, life-sized jade statue of an elephant, a howdah perched on its back, its tusks and trunk raised high in greeting to the southeast doors. From inside the room, the doors look more like gates set into a wrought-iron fence that encircles the garden. Other gates set in this fence doubtless lead to other parts of the palace, and after a bit more observation, the somewhat static nature of the jungle and landscape becomes apparent—the walls of this garden are in fact an incredibly realistic and clever painting of a Vudrani junglescape.
When the party pushes the button to open the trap door, the marble slab slides out of the way with the elephant still standing still on top of it. The party emerges quickly and takes stock of the situation as the trap door slides closed.
Before you can get your bearings, a water elemental the size of a bear flows out of the fountain and takes a solid-esque form.
While keeping her protective luck chant up, Mags glares at the large wet beast, hoping to crack its ability to attack.
The target takes a –2 penalty on one of the following (witch’s choice): AC, ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, or skill checks. This hex lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the witch’s Intelligence modifier. A Will save reduces this to just 1 round.
This is a mind-affecting effect. At 8th level the penalty increases to –4.
The witch can cause fate to twist so that it benefits a creature within 30 feet for 1 round. Whenever that creature is targeted by an effect that requires an attack roll, including weapon attacks, the attacker must roll twice and take the worse result.
At 8th level and 16th level, the duration of this hex is extended by 1 round. A witch cannot use this ability on herself. Hexes that affect the fortune hex, such as cackle, also affect protective luck.
Before anything, Aru turns to Vera. "Vera, my dear, would you mind storing the gifted ring in your magical haversack?"
Aru sits and concentrates on his jeweled gauntlet and his gold ring, touching the two to each other. Visually, nothing happens, but inside his mind, he is changing his mental focuses.
His shape then distorts a bit, obfuscated by his ring's illusions . Aru heads over to Marcus and Yaziah, touching their weapons with his gauntlet . A swirling sphere is once again created, with him jumping over it and then disappearing from sight . "You may not see me, but I'm still here to help."
Once they are ready to open the trapdoor, Aru touches their weapons again, summoning the image of Rürel, the ancient axe of King Dorokar Three-Stones, again. Sure, it was only of a kind, but it should not be an issue. Hopefully. "As we go in, and this is important, remember that goats, while creepy, aren't evil. Some might even help us."
The moment the trap door closes, Aru takes flight in silence and then concentrates to form in his head the image of one of Bahor's jewelry
Yaziyah says a quick prayer to the ancestor spirits of fierce warriors to bless her and her friends with their fierceness, fleetness of foot and strength of spirit. She feels their favour settle over her and her heartbeat quickens.
"Ah, yes, a cleansing service. How thoughtful." Yaziyah advances on the elemental, swinging her hammer around for a sweeping blow.
Seeing the huge foe and the team's relative positioning to it, Marcus eschews maneuvers and goes straight for trying to hack it apart!
Magic Weapon (falchion)
Holy Weapon (falchion)
Haste
Blessing of Fervor
Weapon of Awe
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Marcus connects with this blade and badly damages the elemental.
Vera throws some magic missiles at the elemental.
Vimanda watches the exchange, but turns to the elephant, her waveblades slipping out of her silks as she readies herself. In short order, it animates, and turns to attack the party, but not before she tries to slice at it.
The elephant trumpets loudly and proceeds to try and crush everyone!
Vimanda swings, and hurts the elephant even more. Vencarlo, Neolandus, and Vera try to get out of the way. but they take damage, and Vencarlo seems to avoid a little.
On the creature's back, within the Howdah, a creature that must have been invisible appears, with six snake arms. It hisses, and raises its arms angrily who curl and twist, hissing. Each arm is differently colored, and with viciousness, it tries to target Yazi with rays of energy damage.
for rounds.
for rounds.
for rounds.
for rounds.
Vencarlo exclaims, and moves to attack the elemental, he gestures, "Neo - the elephant, take it down!" and he stabs at the elemental.
The elemental disappates with Vencarlos's swing, and the swordmaster avoids getting punished for his attack.
Neolandus nods, and fires his bow twice at the elephant.
Neolandus manages to hit, with one of his makeshift arrows damaging the magically animated beast.
Marcus, assuming he can't move a literal elephant, slides behind it and starts chopping away at it!
Magic Weapon (falchion)
Holy Weapon (falchion)
Haste
Blessing of Fervor
Weapon of Awe
Mag's spear jabs at the large gray thing, as it bashes her to the side. Thankfully the wind stays in her lungs, allowing her to keep the connection with her city. Her now pained gaze spears the six armed beamer on the gray things back, trying to make it worse at boiling her friends.
The Gray Maiden swipes as the elephant tramples past them, getting squashed by the large creature in the process. After it makes it through, she slides five feet and moves into flanking with Marcus, standing alongside Aru and swipes her blade three times.
With the combat somewhat handled, Aru flies around and circles his companions, whispering to them. "Bahor is upstairs, somewhere."
With Yazi stunned, the elephant collapses to the ground briefly when The Gray Maiden swings at it, before dissolving into smoke briefly and reforming on top of the pedestal - as a marble statue. Whatever magic was animating it is spent. The marai on its back falls prone.
Vera inhales and throws out a potent magic missile at the visible Marai, trying to bypass spell resistance. But it fizzles against an invisible shield.
Vimanda hustles over and tries to deliver a deadly blow to the marai, by kicking it in the face.
but misses. Annoyed, she slashes out with her waveblade]
It looks like she does some significant damage to one of the marai, but is trying to avoid killing them to start, smacking them with the flat of her blade. She seems frustrated, but isn't obviously asking anyone to change their strategy.
Vencarlo steps up to the Marai and tries to do a similar deadly stab. The fencing teacher shows off his skill, deftly approaching and executing a devastating strike, stabbing at the enemy and piercing its magical defenses.
The marai stands up.
It blasts the gray maiden in the face with a regular spell. Another marai appears next to it and, it blasts Marcus with a similar prismatic effect as earlier.
for rounds.
for rounds.
Magda shifts her evil eyes to the new six armed thing. This time she concentrates on making it easier to hit.
for rounds.
for rounds.
Shaking her head to dislodge the last of the motes of light, Yaziyah goes down to one knee to pick up her dropped weapon, then goes for the marai in front of her.
Listening to the other voice in her head, TGM steps up and takes three powerful strikes at marai in front of her.
So this was taking longer than he had expected and the second Marai was extra bothersome. With a moment of focus fiddling with his golden ring, Aru thinks about the winds of the Storval Plateau.
The shadows in the garden then swirl to forma a being made partially of wind, but also with elvish features, an azata for those in the know. Without wasting too much time, the azata frowns and sends a blast of wind towards the evil rakshasas.
Magic Weapon (falchion)
Holy Weapon (falchion)
Haste
Blessing of Fervor
Weapon of Awe
Vera tries again to throw out a potent magic missile at the visible Marai, trying to bypass spell resistance. But it fizzles again against an invisible shield.
Vimanda manages to knock out one of the Marai. She seems triumphant, and raises her waveblade at the last one, noting "give up Nudhaali, and you won't be punished."
Vencarlo moves around to do a flanking attack against the last Marai and tries to do a similar deadly stab. The fencing teacher shows off his skill, deftly approaching and executing another good strike, stabbing at the enemy and piercing its magical defenses.
The remaining marai glances down at the other fallen servant, and hisses at Vimanda. It steps back and summons a blast of magic missiles at Yazi.
Marcus manages to slice his good, now piercing weapon into the Marai, who falls unconscious, badly wounded. Vimanda stands over them briefly, and then comments quietly, "things are easier if they are not dead."
She puts away her waveblade, and gestures up, "clearly, Glorio, or Bahor, knows we are coming. Subtlety may be less than useful, but the way may be clear now for your friends to escape, come." She moves over to the eastern door, and tries it, but it seems to be locked. She sighs, "it seems in the time we were down below, he managed to lock the doors out. Can someone open them?"
Her body is bruised and hurting all over. Moving stiffly, Yaziyah retrieves a healing wand to patch everyone up while the door is unlocked.
{or TGM if she needs it)
The Gray Maiden circles the battlefield, making sure all enemies are indeed down and out before returning to Yaziyah for some magical healing. She checks their bodies for anything useful before returning to the group.
The armored warrior sheathes her blade and places an armored hand on the Shoanti's shoulder and says "Thank you, Yaziyah."
Once healed, she moves to the door, awaiting someone to pick the lock.
Marcus dutifully accepts his healing, then focuses on keeping watch for sudden surprises while waiting for their newest addition to unlock the door.
Magda lets her constant chanting stop as the last enemy is felled. The half orc shaman grins at her friends, the gray, and the bad lady, as she fishes out her waterskin and drinks a long pull to help her throat.
Then she offers the others a drink as well.
Before the Bralani vanishes, she also helps with healing the others.
---
Still invisible and silent, Aru looks for traps on the locks and then works on them.
Once her throat is recovered, Magda will also start to look around for traps.
The party cracks open the door, and standing between them and the exit, is a six-and-half-foot tall tiger-headed humanoid, with his hands in front of him. Taller even than Marcus, he spies Vimanda's fox-headed form in the rear, but and chuckles to himself.
"Well. My friends. You come now to the end. And with my illustrious sister." He smiles, and the face is unsettling, being tiger-headed, though seemingly earnest, "the door is open - though, I think given the circumstance, I think it only fair that we renegotiate, yes?" He gestures with his backwards-facing hands, "you've found my guests. None of you are worse for wear, and even more valuable you know our family's secret."
He snaps his fingers, and two of the servants, including one-eyed Carnochan, step out from around the corner.
"The door is open, you may leave with your prize and your lives. My sister - I will deal with her." He pauses, "as for the negotiation, well, it is this. I know who all of you are. I know your families. I know your friends." He smiles slightly, "your woman, Marcus - Tiora. Your paramour, Vera - the priest Ishani. Your friends Yelloweyes and Dokren. The community center. The little gnome wizard. The lieutenant in the guard, Sonya. Even the captain of the guard, Kroft" He lets the names settle in the air, and with a growl, continues, "if there is even the slightest whisper, the merest hint of what you found today, if it becomes apparent - anywhere in the city. Ever. All of these and any others you care for, excruciating deaths. I will flense the flesh from their bones, and devour it as they watch." His voice never breaks, his confidence is immense, and there is no indication whatsoever of deception. "Eventually - I will come for you, break you, and feed you their remains for as long as your withered, broken bodies can remain alive. Is this clear?"
Marcus listens quietly to the proposal. He was worried it would come to this. Blows would have been so much easier.
His train of thought is interrupted by the threat towards Tiora. There's a flash of surprise, then a quiet snort; not of anger, but of amusement. Going after Tiora? He only did enough research to find a name. He keeps his thoughts to himself, knowing there was no advantage to arguing that point and doing his best to conceal his thoughts.
At the conclusion Marcus raises a brow. "Bit extreme. Even a whisper and all those listed die? At this point it seems like self defense to take him out now." Marcus appraises with a calm voice to the others; clearly not a call to start combat, but rather to send a message that they're aware he doesn't have the level of leverage he is pretending at, and if negotiations are at all serious than he should reconsider his terms.
Yaziyah shakes her head. "I don't care what you are. And I'm not a gossip-monger. I do care that you have a dungeon under your estate. So if you give your word that you will cease hurting people, I will keep your secret gladly."
Marcus's frown deepens, not appreciating being ignored. He speaks more directly, turning to the party. "His terms are unreasonable. If his secrets are divulged through no fault of ours, he would still hold us responsible. And I doubt he would agree to never hurting people again as Yazi suggests. This negotiation is a farce. Let's kill him."
Marcus starts moving towards the feline-headed monster.
Vimanda seems to have been tense - expecting a betrayal, but relaxes when the party doesn't take him up on the offer, and seems to snarl, and looks ready to pounce, "I will try to track him down when I can but -"
"Glorio," or Bahor really, inhales deeply, "enough... you have had enough time in this cycle, sister. You lack ambition, and you are too soft. I should have put you down long ago." And he concentrates, waving his hand around, and vanishes.
Vera calls out, "invisibility - but a more powerful form."