Alessia looks around, eyeing the piles of junk with something approaching foreboding.
"This place seems... familiar. I do not like it."
"Well. We agree on THAT."
Avrahim moves out. Slowly
Stealth
The party moves forward, skirting the immense pile of rusted metal. There are actually dozens of these enormous hillocks of metallic junk, and the party threads a wary path between them. The cavern they are in slopes upwards, heading towards a higher plateau in the distance. Some sort of fortress can be seen there in the dim ochre light.
As they move on, despite their careful tread, the occasional bolt or rusted sheet is disturbed. Avrahim raises his fist to signal they halt. There is a sudden sound of grinding metal and a small avalanche of debris rains down upon them. A huge metallic form rears up from the hill to their left side. It looks like a giant worm fashioned from a collection of debris! A wave of choking mist surrounds them. As the creature lunges down at them!
Justin holds up his spell-covered arm as the debris rains down noisily upon them. He peers out from under his arm at the beast above them.
"Great. It's a giant Tetanus attack! How come IT doesn't have to be quiet?!?"
Init
"Memnon? Talk to me. What IS that thing? And more importantly, what are it's weaknesses?!?" Justin hisses at the floating skull, also staring UP at the monstrosity towering overhead, even as he racks his own brain trying to ID the rusty-clad beast,...
Memnon coughs. The affectation is a strange one for a floating skull with no lungs
“Boss, that looks like a sentient pile of junk in giant worm form. The stink is some sort of weak acid. I’d guess a construct of some kind, like an old war machine? I’d say hitting it with fire might do the trick, but it had better be hot!”
And so the worm turns Rd 1
Merle: 19
Justin 19
Alessia: 17
Junkyard Worm: 17
Martin: 15
Sarastra: 13
Avrahim: 10
Mel: 7
A mist of choking green surrounds the party. They begin to cough
.
Justin takes a breath to respond to Memnon, at exactly the wrong time, and begins coughing. He looks decidedly green around the gills.
"Perfect. <cough> Well, FIRE I can <cough> do. Keeping it down to not alert the neighbors? THAT's another <cough> story."
Justin rises into the air on his long-duration flight spell. Coughing to clear his lungs as he does so.
From his vantage point, Justin considers his options. He eyeballs the distance to the fortress.
"ONE big-badda-boom left. Or try the new spell? Save the ace-in-the-hole. 4 kilometers to the fortress. Have to risk it. Maybe they'll just think it's the beast making a racket? Yeah. I'm not that lucky,..." he mutters to himself.
"New spell it is. I been dying to try this out anyway,..."
Justin focuses, and begins casting. The ring on his right hand begins to glow. A familiar swirling of fiery sigils appears before the mage, and he incorporates it into the spell.
"Feugo, Relampago, Arcanus Strikus!"
A 100 foot long blast of green lightning, surrounded by almost blue swirling flames, pours down from Justin's outstretched hands. It crosses over hie friends heads, (where they can feel the heat) and crosses the monstrous metal beast where it emerges from the pile of wreckage,...
"Hot enough for yah rustbucket?!"
The creature begins to melt and the electricity seems to slow it down
Karrin will start off with a shocking grasp channeled attack
The giant amalgamation of spare parts starts shedding pieces of itself as Karrin strikes it with Ferissirion
"Well. THAT was fun! And interesting. I expected the melting part, but,... Is it just me Memnon, or is the electricity slowing the thing down too?" Justin asks the floating skull.
"Hm. Well. It SEEMS to be. OR it could just be a decrepit war machine slowing down because it got partially slagged. Further evidence required. Soooo,... DO you have another of those spells memorized to test the theory? Cuz for a monkey who doesn't read the fine print. THAT was pretty snazzy. For you." Memnon replies, hastily adding the last bit before the potential complement had time to settle.
Justin shakes his head.
"Just ONE more. And I'm saving it for our 'friends' in the fortress. Can you imagine THAT spell in a hallway of vampires?" He smirks.
Justin looks below.
"MERLE! Hit it with Electricity! I think it slows it down!"
fort save
Merle looks semi readt to tell a retourt but pulls out the wand of lightning and shoots off a shot
(Believe wand would be dc 14 reflex)
Merles bolt damages the beast somewhat
Justin rises above the junk pile and the light green fog. The creature seems slow and it grinds screeching against the hill of rusted metal
"Well, if electricity slows it down, THAT we can keep doing!" Justin smirks.
"I'm on it," Karrin mutters from between gritted teeth.
*dot*
**Double-Dot** :)
And so the worm turns Rd 1
Karrin: 21 [hit- damage]
Merle: 19 [lightning]
Justin 19 [fire and lightning}
Alessia: 17 [slice and dice]
Junkyard Worm: 17
Martin: 15 [Attack}
Sarastra: 13
Avrahim: 10
Mel: 7
the rusty horror dips down, aiming at Martin
(19–20 plus grab)
A huge barbed metal tail emerges, whipping towards Alessia
(2d8 is acid)
Martin suffers some serious damage, but retaliates
Martin:
A huge barbed metal tail emerges, whipping towards Alessia
Sarastra gestures, her silken gown swirling in a crackle of energy
"FIAT FULMEN!"
The beast screeches, and a large chunk of its side peels away, revealing a hissing conglomeration of clockwork gears. its illuminated eyes dim and it crashes to the surrounding junk pile
Martin rolls from its rusty jaws, bleeding profusely. Mel rushes up and begins to treat him
Mel turns to the group
"The creature snuffed him. Stand back"
Mel raises his hands and a pearlescent glow envelops them, he inhales deeply and places his hands on the bloody warrior's shoulders. He exhales and a glowing cloud issues from his mouth. The cloud flows into Martin's mouth, and he jerks convulsively, drawing a breath
Merle once again lightning bolts the worm (dc 14 reflex)
[ooc]Is that a double tap shot?[/oic]
Merle’s bolt plays along the prone worm, limning it in blue fire
Karrin will do a full round of attacks:
(6 cold, 7 vs evil)
(4 cold, 7 vs evil)
(1 cold, 10 vs evil)
"Sit," Karrin says with her first swing, "Yourass", she says with her second swing, "Down!" with her 3rd chop.
Justin raises his fist and slams his elbow to his side as the metallic monster falls.
"Yes!" he chortles,... then he sees Martin roll from the mechanical monstrosities rusty jaws.
"Martin,... NO!" Justin croaks silently, his voice breathless.
The wizard floats for a moment as Mel furiously calls upon divine favor.
Then Justin drops like a stone from the sky, only slowing himself down enough to make a (mostly) controlled landing. Ignoring his companions continued attention to the scrapped war machine, (entertaining as he would normally have found them) He goes to his friends' side as Martin draws air in a gasp, as if he had been holding his breath for a long time.
"Martin! You ok?!? Talk to me buddy."
Upon realizing that Mel had JUST pulled his friend back from actual death (no 'brink' involved), The wizard looks the cleric in the eyes.
"Thank you." He says simply, and sincerely.
After making sure that Martin is ok, and as healed up as they can make him, Justin helps his friend to his feet.
"Come on pal. Let's get you cleaned up. If you go back looking like an ancient war-machine used you as a chew toy, your wife will have my guts for garters!"
“Urk. Anyone get the license plaque on that wagon that hit me?”
Justin, smiling through his very recent tears, punches the Paladin hard on his armored shoulder. And immediately regrets it.
The wizard winces in pain and shakes his bruised hand out.
"Don't SCARE me like that you hardhead wannabe!" Justin grins like a child at his friend. He claps the warrior on his shoulder (with his UNbruised hand) and turns to survey the wreckage. Literally.
Justin winces as another piece of debris falls and clatters in the sudden post-battle silence.
"Yeah. That was loud. We should go now."
“Agreed. That beast was likely watchdog and alarm both”
"Yeah. That was loud. We should go now."
"Yes... Now..."
"After you!" Justin tries not to smile.
Not trusting his own footing to NOT knock loose more debris, The wizard rises once more into the air on his long-duration flight spell, just a couple of feet above the terrain. He floats along in time with the others as they begin moving once more.
The Citadel of Ruin towers above them as they head further into the rusted tangle of the cave. It seems a castle constructed of iron plates riveted together. It sits upon a hill with its back to the giant cave’s wall. There is a moat of molten lava surrounding it, the heat shimmering up from the deep chasm in the rusted iron land that holds it. A single bridge spans it, leading to a formidable gatehouse. A road leads to the bridge, about a kilometer up a 45 degree angle from the junkyard at the base of the hill. Any junk or other debris seems to have been cleared from around this road.
Justin looks over the terrain ahead with a skeptical eye.
"NOW comes the fun part!" The wizard smirks.
Justin pulls out the letter with directions and notes on it, and re-reads it for information on how best to bypass the security here.
"Full frontal assault is a BAD idea. Obviously. So what have they left us to work with?" he muses aloud as he scans the letter.
Mr. Case,
Enclosed are the portal keys you will need to follow the secret path to the Citadel of Ruin. Follow these instructions:
At the Ubiquitous Wayfarer, ask to see the door of Fate. Enter that silver coin into the slot in the door and step through to the False Castle.
At the false castle, you must seek its neighbor, the Black Pyramid. Inside, find a washroom and stab yourself in the heart with the Ghost Dagger. This will bring you to the Pyramid of the Dead.
In the Pyramid of the Dead, you must find your way to its apex and jump, holding the peacock feather. This will bring you to the Peak of Abarntal.
Seek the Tomb of the Ice King, and within touch the Iron Cube. This will bring you to the cavern wherein the Citadel of Ruin lies.
Good luck
~M
No matter how Justin rereads the note, it seems Marconius forgot to tell him how to gain entrance into the Citadel
Sarastra has refashioned her winter get up back into her standard Elf princess silks. She has also seemed to have cast some sort of levitation/fly spell similar to Justin, and drifts above the rusty garbage-strewn cave floor
"The fortress looks formidable, but do you notice? There are no visible guards or sentries. look at the base of the walls. There"
She points a slender hand at a point in the citadel. There is what looks to be a large rent in the outer surface, as if the metal had been punched in by a large object or force
The Citadel of Ruin towers above them as they head further into the rusted tangle of the cave. It seems a castle constructed of iron plates riveted together. It sits upon a hill with its back to the giant cave’s wall. There is a moat of molten lava surrounding it, the heat shimmering up from the deep chasm in the rusted iron land that holds it. A single bridge spans it, leading to a formidable gatehouse. A road leads to the bridge, about a kilometer up a 45 degree angle from the junkyard at the base of the hill. Any junk or other debris seems to have been cleared from around this road.
As the group moves closer to the citadel, Alessia's grip tightens on the hilt of her sword. She stops, half turning toward Justin, but speaking to no one in particular in a small voice.
"I... I have been here before."
After re-reading the paper, (for the third, or possibly thirteenth) time, Justin clenches it in his hands, clearly resisting the urge to crumple or shred the document. Possibly both. Finally the wizard sighs and carefully folds the page back up before tucking back into an inner coat pocket.
"SO close. And yet so far." Justin mutters in what sounds like his usual humor. If possibly a little forced.
At Sarastra's voice, the wizard looks where the elf's slender arm is pointing.
"Huh. You're right. I just figured they were being careful. I mean, vamps and daylight right? But I really don't see any sign of guards."
The wizard takes a breath, and begins sifting through his brain, trying to piece together what little info the kobold crime lord did give him, with what he knew of vampires, and Averness, and anything else that might help. Starting with the obvious questions;
'Where are the guards? And what punched a freaking HOLE in an iron wall?!?'
"I... I have been here before."
Justin turns his head to look at the masked warrior. Puzzlement clearly etched on his features. The he remembers where he is, and racks his brain for information on the dead,... or nearly dead.
"What?" Justin asks, looking between Alessia and the fortress and back again.
"Do you mean, you have been somewhere LIKE here before? Or, have you been HERE before? Like, HERE here?!?"
"I... I have been here before.""What?" Justin asks, looking between Alessia and the fortress and back again.
"Do you mean, you have been somewhere LIKE here before? Or, have you been HERE before? Like, HERE here?!?"
Alessia's grip tightens further on the hilt of her sword, to the point where the creaking of bone and metal can be heard.
"Here," she hisses through gritted teeth. "Long ago."