Amanteia mumbles a quick incantation, then points a finger at the cultists. The floor beneath their feet disappears.
Unfortunately, the sudden appearance of a 20' deep pit in the floor of a jewelry shop doesn't seem to faze most of these guys; #1 and #3 leap easily on the broken display case in front of them and #2 simply steps to the side calmly. #4, however, being trapped in the northeast corner of the shop and furthest away from the edges, can't avoid the pit and falls into it .
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (0 damage)
Cultist #2 (0 damage)
Cultist #3 (0 damage)
Cultist #4 (6 damage)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Bold may act.
Ray glances at the raven on his shoulder. [color=blue]"Beat it, Bob."[/color]
Bob coughs up a throaty caw in an impressive imitation of a snort. [color=blue]"Don't gotta tell me twice."[/color]
He buggers off to hang out in a corner near Song. [color=blue]"Hey toots, come here often?"[/color] When he receives no response from her save a confused side-eye, he grumbles, [color=blue]"Nobody gets my genius."[/color]
Bereft of the idiot bird, Ray strides forward, raises his blasting rod, and unleashes a gout of flame at the newcomers.
DC 14 Reflex for half.
#1 shamefully ducks behind #3 as he sees the spell coming, but the other two take the full brunt of the flames. The smell of burnt leather, skin, and hair fills the small shop.
Then, almost as one, the three cultists you can see all pull potions off their belts and drink them, then fade out of existence.
The cultist in the pit stands up and tries fruitlessly to climb the sheer walls of Amanteia's pit.
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (8 damage, invisible)
Cultist #2 (16 damage, invisible)
Cultist #3 (16 damage, invisible)
Cultist #4 (6 damage, in the pit)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Bold may act.
Cursing under his breath, he readies himself to attack the first enemy he can see.
Song draws her bow, Bǎxīn, and readies an arrow as soon as she can see an enemy not in melee with her.
Argus and Song get ready for the bad guys to reappear.
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (8 damage, invisible)
Cultist #2 (16 damage, invisible)
Cultist #3 (16 damage, invisible)
Cultist #4 (6 damage, in the pit)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Bold may act.
Amanteia figures the cultists didn't have time to move out of the area that they previously occupied, so she throws a glitterdust their way.
All of the cultists are immediately covered in dust and become completely visible to everyone! To make matters even worse, cultists #1, #3, and #4 all scream in rage as Amanteia blinds them. They are super pissed because, surprise, they're rogues!
Song fires an arrow at #3 and hits. Good thing he's blind!
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (8 damage, dusted, blind)
Cultist #2 (16 damage, dusted)
Cultist #3 (24 damage, dusted, blind)
Cultist #4 (6 damage, in the pit, dusted, blind)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Bold may act.
Ray, who was about to spend is only other 2nd-level slot to cast see invisibility, grunts in mild surprise. "That works a lot better."
He raises his rod and unleashes another gout of flame.
Reflex DC 14 for half.
[color=blue]"Blind, painfully visible, and roasted,"[/color] Bob muses from his perch on a tall shelf. [color=blue]"Sounds like your sixteenth birthday party, boss."[/color]
Ray casually points the still-smoking blasting rod over his shoulder without looking. [color=blue]"Keep talking, bird-brain, and we'll have drumsticks for dinner."[/color]
Bob caws indignantly and flutters over to Song, alighting on the warpriest's shoulder. [color=blue]"You humans are so testy."[/color] When she shakes her head at him uncomprehendingly, he sighs in exasperation.
Somehow, despite being 2/3rds blind, all the cultists manage to only get partially singed by the flames this time around. Even still, #3 looks like he is barely hanging on.
All of the blind cultists spend their entire turns desperately rubbing at their eyes, but they are all equally unsuccessful at unblinding themselves.
#2 seems to give up on the prospect of sneak attack damage and charges Ray. Ray swats the dagger away right before it pierces his chest. The cultist scowls.
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (15 damage, dusted, blind)
Cultist #2 (23 damage, dusted)
Cultist #3 (31 damage, dusted, blind)
Cultist #4 (6 damage, in the pit, dusted, blind)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Bold may act.
Argus strides forward, beginning his usual spiel. "If you lay down your arms, I give you my word: we will treat you respectfully in your confinement and will relegate you unharmed to the proper authorities after--"
Then #2 tries to stab Ray, and Argus grunts sourly. "Very well, then, you do not have my word."
Song hustles to her right to get a clear shot, and opens up on #3 to try and finish them off.
Argus's glaive opens #2's throat and he falls at Ray's feet. A pool of blood quickly threatens to stain Ray's boots.
A split second later, Song's arrow pierces high in #3's chest. As he is falling, he has time to think, welp, at least I don't have to worry about being blind anymore.
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (15 damage, dusted, blind)
Cultist #2 (37 damage, unconscious and dying)
Cultist #3 (41 damage, blind, unconscious and dying)
Cultist #4 (6 damage, in the pit, dusted, blind)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Bold may act.
Amanteia magic missiles #1.
Ray moves up to the edge of the pit and throws a dagger at the poor bastard stuck down there--mostly to put him out of his misery.
He then slips on the edge because of course he does.
#4, blind and at the bottom of a 20' pit, is very surprised when Ray's dagger pierces his shoulder.
#1, having no idea what else to do, pulls a dagger from his belt and throws it in the direction he can hear the party. The dagger flies far to the right of Raybin and clatters harmlessly to the ground On the bright side (?), he doesn't fall into the pit.
The dagger in the shoulder must have really motivated #4, because he manages to blink the dust in his eyes away. He looks up out of the pit and quickly realizes that things are not going his way.
You see #2's breathing become easier, almost as if he "stabilized". #3 continues to bleed out.
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (15 damage, dusted, blind)
Cultist #2 (37 damage, unconscious and stable)
Cultist #3 (42 damage, blind, unconscious and dying)
Cultist #4 (11 damage, in the pit, dusted)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Bold may act.
Argus steps over enough to get a line on #1 and slashes at him with the glaive.
Song moves up, gets a clear shot at #1, and tries to put him out of everyone's misery.
Amanteia feels pretty confident they have this wrapped up, so she opts not to use any more spells. She pulls out her crossbow and loads it.
The blade of Argus's glaive gets caught on one of the broken display cases. He can take solace in the fact that it definitely would have totally killed that guy otherwise.
Song's arrow finds a new home in #1's throat. He is still standing, but shakily.
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (32 damage, dusted, blind, staggered)
Cultist #2 (37 damage, unconscious and stable)
Cultist #3 (43 damage, blind, unconscious and dying)
Cultist #4 (11 damage, in the pit, dusted)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Bold may act.
Ray decides to try and finish off the poor bastard in the pit. He focuses on his blasting rod and channels pure fire down its length in a bolt that sails toward #4's face.
#4's day continues to worsen as he takes a bolt of fire to the face. He is not long for this world.
With his dying effort, #1 tosses a dagger in the general direction of the party, but it clatters to the ground harmlessly. #1, on the other hand, falls to the ground harmFULLY, as his body slips off the edge and drops 20' to the floor of the pit below .
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (37 damage, unconscious and dying)
Cultist #2 (37 damage, unconscious and stable)
Cultist #3 (44 damage, blind, unconscious and dying)
Cultist #4 (21 damage, in the pit, dusted)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (37/37 hp)
Bold may act.
Argus is pretty useless at range, so he hangs back and lets the warpriest do her thing.
Song steps up to the edge and fires down into the pit at #4 to finish him off.
She then lets out a yelp as she falls into the pit too.
Song's arrow hits #4 in the shoulder and he cries out in pain. A lesser fanatic might surrender at this point, near death and comradeless, but this is no ordinary fanatic! He's the fanaticest!
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (37 damage, unconscious and dying)
Cultist #2 (37 damage, unconscious and stable)
Cultist #3 (44 damage, blind, unconscious and dying)
Cultist #4 (28 damage, in the pit, dusted)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (26/37 hp, prone)
Bold may act.
Amanteia is too slow to do anything useful. She stops short of the pit and raises her crossbow.
Ray pulls out a dagger and hucks it at the cultist to try and finish him off.
It plants itself in Song's back and kills her bounces harmlessly off the stone floor of the pit. He curses and steps back from the edge, foot slipping slightly as he skitters back, not wanting to share Song's fate.
Poor cultist #4. He considers drinking his other invisibility potion, but then what? The walls of this pit are sheer; he has no hope of escaping. Oh well, fight to the death it is. Maybe he can take this clumsy half-elf with him. He gives her a little scratch with his dagger .
Amanteia (35/35 hp)
Raybin (33/33 hp)
Bob (16/16 hp)
Cultist #1 (37 damage, unconscious and stable)
Cultist #2 (37 damage, unconscious and stable)
Cultist #3 (45 damage, blind, unconscious and dying)
Cultist #4 (28 damage, in the pit, dusted)
Argus (52/52 hp)
Song (22/37 hp, prone)
Bold may act.
Song stands, ignores the immediate danger of the dagger, and shoots #4 right in the face.
Argus stows his glaive and pulls out his heavy crossbow. He suspects this will be over long before he manages to load it, but he's got nothing better to do anyway.
The cultist gives Song another papercut as she stands up , but then her point blank arrow to his chest finally finishes him.
Once the pit expires about 20 seconds later, you find the following on the bodies:
- 20x masterwork dagger (4 of which glow magical for a while, but it eventually fades)
- 4x mwk studded leather
- 4x oil of magic weapon (oh that explains the temporarily magic weapons)
- 4x potion of invisibility
- 4x potion of spider climb
Jango pulls his head out of his ass. "What'd I miss?"
Amanteia unloads her crossbow and stows it . While waiting for the pit to expire, she pulls out the wand of goodberry.
When Song rises back to ground level, Amanteia hands the four berries to her. "Sorry. Are you okay?"
Then she points at the looted bodies. "What do we do about them?"
Argus turns to the others while Song is still in the pit. "C-can anyone s... stab-bilize him?" he asks, pointing to #3.
Ray raises an eyebrow at Argus. "I mean... yeah, but... why? They tried to kill us. Why would we want to save their lives?"
Argus scowls. "I'm n-not s... saying w-we should have t-tea with them. But I'm-m n... not so callous as to l-l-leave him bleeding out."
Ray shrugs nonchalantly. "I am."
After a reproachful look from the paladin, he sighs and shuffles over to #3 to try and stabilize him.
Argus nods gratefully at the occultist, then remembers the ghost pointing to the floorboards and pulls them up. He hefts the pouch with the diamonds and lets out a low whistle. "Once w-we get out of here, these w-will fetch a good p... price."
Once Song is out of the hole, he lays a hand on her and sends healing energy into her.
"N-not much of that left in m-me," he says with a sigh. "W-we m...may need to r-r-rest before d-dealing w...with the t... t... town center."
He seems agitated, though if there's a reason, he doesn't make it immediately clear. Perhaps he's just tired.
Song nods gratefully, then whispers a prayer over herself to finish out the healing.
The last of her wounds closes up.
"I still have a little left in me as far as healing, and most of my spells--such as they are." She absently checks the draw on her bow and polishes the wood with a rag while they discuss.
Ray stands up from his work, wiping the blood off his hands with a rag of his own. "I'm all magicked out. Got a couple useful spells left and that's it. No more fire, which has been the most useful tool in my arsenal lately. But I do still have this." He hefts the adamantine warhammer. "Not great with it, but I can manage." He shrugs, and turns to Amanteia. "What about you? Got any good stuff left? Wouldn't mind finishing out the trio and getting the Hells out of here. Maybe even sleep under the stars tonight instead of this creepy kill-dome."
Amanteia shrugs. "I'm actually fine to keep going, but I don't think we have any time limit on this, do we? If resting means we can be at full strength, I'm all for it."
She gestures to the unconscious bodies. "Should we interrogate one of these guys? They probably have at least some idea what happened here."
Jando speaks up. "We can rest in my blind again if you like. I've been there several days without detection."
Argus frowns, then shrugs. "If you w-wish. I am not much of an int...terrogator."
He takes his time disarming the cultists and binding their hands and feet together, before depositing each one in a different corner of the room.
Ray claps the paladin on the shoulder jovially. "Relax, big guy, I've got this. Just stand over my shoulder and look angry." He sits one of the unconscious cultists up on his knees (a surprisingly challenging task, due to his hands and feet being bound together behind him) and gives a questioning glance toward Song.
Song stares blankly at Raybin for several seconds before starting. "Oh! Right! Sorry." She touches first her holy symbol of Desna, then the shoulder of the cultist.