Yasmeena smirks at the gnoll. "If you mean to ask if we are ready to slaughter you and all these others, I think you already know the answer." She says this in the Gnoll language, and then translates it into Common for her friends. Then she cocks her head. "Why not surrender instead? No reason for everyone here to die, for mercy is a famous quality of the goddess I serve."
"What would you need our surrender for? You want to become the new lords of the House of the Beast? I don't think so. The only thing you need is to ensure that no new threat to your beloved Kelmarane arises from this place."
"And that is what I'm offering you. You may pass through these halls unhindered further into the belly of the beast, so to speak, to remove what created this Carrion King. And with that, the threat that this place poses to your beloved home."
"That gnoll sounds like that cleric - what's his name ... Zayifid - that sent us on this mission." Haleen whispers to Yasmeena.
"What would you need our surrender for? You want to become the new lords of the House of the Beast? I don't think so. The only thing you need is to ensure that no new threat to your beloved Kelmarane arises from this place."
"And that is what I'm offering you. You may pass through these halls unhindered further into the belly of the beast, so to speak, to remove what created this Carrion King. And with that, the threat that this place poses to your beloved home."
“If by becoming lords, you mean sowing chaos and scattering it to the winds, yes,” Aithaloessa sparkles, eyes twinkling. “I would think that Rovagug’s followers would appreciate the sentiment.”
Then again, irony is probably wasted on a bunch of loutish nihilists. “We haven’t exactly seen evidence of good faith so far. It’s strange prey that willingly passes from mouth to belly, and, if you’ll excuse laboring the metaphor, coming back up after we do your dirty work to be surrounded by sharp teeth seems like a dubious proposition.”
“Why don’t you let your troglodyte colleagues back in first, and then we can talk, all together? I'd like to think we got on quite well with them.” Aith’s not one to draw a particularly hard line, and if the local factions can keep an eye on one another, that’s more or less fine with her. Miring them in internecine squabbles might keep everyone else out of their trouble. That said, she can understand if the others, considerably less naïve than she is, push harder, so she stays on her toes in case things get messy again.
"Oh no! You've seen through my genius plan. What will I do now?" the gnoll dramatizes and then chuckles.
"The troglodytes don't like me so that is a no. But if you feel the need to kill all gnolls here first because you can't come up with a plan to avoid them on your way back, feel free to try. Though I expected more finesse from an elf." he teases Aithaloessa with a raised brow.
"I'm sure you'll do 'my' dirty work either way. And if you fail to survive, there are always more gnolls to do it for me. I just assumed you'd have an intrinsic interest to find and destroy the evil below and I would happily step out of your way."
Yasmeena continues to translate what they are saying into Gnoll, in case the other gnolls do not agree with Rokova's plan and are considering fleeing. However, her expression darkens after Haleen recognizes his voice. "For myself, I feel moved to oppose you just on principle, Rokova-- or should we call you Zayifid? The identity you adopted in Kelmarane to bring us here?" She places her hand on her hip. "You are a husk that is full of deceit and lies. There is no reason for us to give what you say any heed."
"Then why the talk. Attack already." Rokova challenges the talking women.
"We didn't catch that one with his pants down - off guard I mean." Haleen emphasizes the obvious.
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Antarah has a hard time relaxing in this exchange. But he feels the need to chime in "Why are you offering your gnoll's lives so easily? What sort of leader are you? If, you are indeed Zayifid and lured us here just to attack the evil you fear, why treat us so? Would honesty and diplomacy hurt you this much?"
Of course, he suspects the entity they are talking to isn't even a gnoll. If it posed as a human wanderer then, he could be posing as a gnoll now. For all they know, he could even be the so-called evil below, luring the group into a trap. He looks at Aithaloessa, wondering if she is thinking what he is thinking. The one thing they know for sure is that this evil exists, as attested by the troglodytes.
"The troglodytes don't like me so that is a no. But if you feel the need to kill all gnolls here first because you can't come up with a plan to avoid them on your way back, feel free to try. Though I expected more finesse from an elf." he teases Aithaloessa with a raised brow.
"I'm sure you'll do 'my' dirty work either way. And if you fail to survive, there are always more gnolls to do it for me. I just assumed you'd have an intrinsic interest to find and destroy the evil below and I would happily step out of your way."
“Why would we have to avoid them, unless our worries about treachery are well-founded? What is this thing that you want us to take care of? Wouldn’t you want another powerful king, if it can raise one?” Aith parries with a flurry of questions, still blindsided by the revelation that this is Zayifid. I missed something. “And why don’t the troglodytes like you?”
“A temporary relocation – I gather the tribes proper congregate elsewhere anyway – and a meeting elsewhere might help soothe ruffled feathers. Or fur and scales, I suppose. We’d be happy to mediate,” she adds, partly because she means it, and partly to buy some time.
She meets Antarah’s glance out of the corner of her eye.
Of course, he suspects the entity they are talking to isn't even a gnoll. If it posed as a human wanderer then, he could be posing as a gnoll now. For all they know, he could even be the so-called evil below, luring the group into a trap. He looks at Aithaloessa, wondering if she is thinking what he is thinking. The one thing they know for sure is that this evil exists, as attested by the troglodytes.
“<Do you have any electrical magic left today, Antarah?>” she asks, switching to Elven, rather hoping that the gnoll imposter doesn’t speak it, because to anyone who does, it’s a clear request for permission to engage.
"He is the guy who killed and replaced Rokova." Haleen states. "Grundmoch would try to kill him on sight."
As it becomes clear that the group won't outsmart 'Rokova', Haleen starts the action by charging the first gnoll and stabbing at it.
One unhappy gnoll gets stabbed. Rokova opens the door he is standing before and calls in gnoll "<Get them.>"
Tariq is no longer sure which part are the Gnolls playing in this intricate plot. Maybe they're also being fooled by this mysterious creature, thrown into sacrifice by the merciless hands of the Knights of Kelmarane.
Sadly, being the situation as it is, there's not much time for hesitation right now. Calling for divine aid, he rushes into close combat, leaving to his blade to speak for him.
Haleen stabs a gnoll, but her attacks are not powerful enough to end one. Antarah's attack is sloppy, and not even a novice gnoll is that easily hit. Tariq cuts deep into his gnoll, but he chose a gnoll priest who can take it.
The attacked gnolls retreat into the other half of the room.
From the opened door three more gnolls appear and start shooting.
Yasmeena draws her bow in a smooth motion and begins her battle dance as she fires at the closest gnoll.
"He is the guy who killed and replaced Rokova." Haleen states. "Grundmoch would try to kill him on sight."
As it becomes clear that the group won't outsmart 'Rokova', Haleen starts the action by charging the first gnoll and stabbing at it.
Aith stays close behind Antarah and Haleen, knowing that she’ll need to narrow the gap to get the most out of her pistol, but also knowing she’s not meant for the front lines.
In the meantime, to try to set the gnolls off-balance, she calls up a reckless bit of magic that she lets burst without trying to shape it beyond hurling towards the end of the room where the gnolls’ leader is lurking and hoping for the best.
Radiant pillars of pale blue energy lance down into the hall, descending over a handful of the combatants seemingly at random. 33-38. Positive energy affects a number of creatures not to exceed CR in total. These creatures are affected by a heal spell (caster level = CR).
Rokova, Antarah, the wounded gnoll cleric and the wounded gnoll fighter, as well as Haleen are hit with a heal spell .
Haleen is positively surprised, that her wounds close. She is not as happy about the enemies getting the same treatment. "Are you unsure what side you#re on?" she inquires from Aithaloessa.
Haleen moves past the gnoll, stabs it and joins Tariq in pursuit of the cleric.
All the gnolls, but the archers and Rokova, retreat behind the columns into the other half of the room.
Tariq once more charges, this time through the columns, and attempts a powerful slash at the Gnoll priest.
Tariq takes down the cleric. Then he finds out quickly why the gnolls retreat there. A gargantuan vermin crawls out from a tunnel and stabs with its tail at Tariq.
Antarah kills the gnoll next to the already dead one.
The gnolls retreat further, while the ones with bows keep shooting. All together at Yasmeena.
Out of the door come now a group of the big gnolls.
Tariq shows genuine surprise, though he should have guessed. Gnolls retreating? Come on!
Fortunately for him, the Lady gives him stamina and toughness enough to drive the poison out of his body. He's not staying here for long, and his head turns to stare at the incoming beasts...
Haleen is positively surprised, that her wounds close. She is not as happy about the enemies getting the same treatment. "Are you unsure what side you#re on?" she inquires from Aithaloessa.
Haleen moves past the gnoll, stabs it and joins Tariq in pursuit of the cleric.
“That … doesn’t normally happen,” Aith offers feebly, eyes going wide as she sees more of the large gnolls appear, and decides to pull out all the stops on her magic, though not resorting to pure chance again … yet.
Worried about what might happen if the party gets divided but knowing that she's not going to slow much of anything down in melee, Aith hesitates between where to go, before hurtling towards the pillars, hoping for a bit of cover. As she goes, she tries for something more safely predictable, and tries to blast the first big gnoll brute with a burst of darts of force.
Still limping from her earlier fall, her off-kilter gait throws off her gestures at a critical moment, and her spell shorts out before her missiles can even quite form at her fingertips.
"Guys, you sure we want to do this?" Haleen inquires.
Yasmeena gives Haleen a look of sympathy but has no choice but to follow the others. She races across the room towards the pillars, taking an arrow graze to her shoulder. Once there, she draws, nocks, and fires at the closest gnoll.
Haleen joins Yasmeena and readies an attack for when the big guys come.
The simple gnolls retreat further. Some of them start throwing spears.
"Sure..." Tariq answers, his voice almost a growl. His eyes gleam, and his orcish ancestry is now more evident than ever.
He advances to one of the columns, adopting a defensive position, with his scimitar gripped firmly with both hands and inviting the enemies to come get him.
The archers shoot Antarah, as Yasmeena hides. The normal gnolls slowly come back after the big gnolls charge in. Rokova and the archers follow.
“You’re right,” Aithaloessa calls to Haleen, before switching to Elven so as not to give the gnolls more encouragement than they need, “<Perhaps a fighting retreat would be in order. At least until we quite get their measure?>”
Tripping back as the mounds of overgrown gnoll come bounding her way, Aith manages to keep her movements steady enough that she can call up her little stormcloud to have on hand to harry them, weapon hand gripping her pistol as she looks for a good shot.
Tariq cuts his big gnoll deep. Aithaloessa tickles one of them with electricity.
Yasmeena casts a spell, and prepares to move with the group.
Haleen steps up and stabs at a big gnoll.
Antarah loses four of his mirror images in the attacks.
A simple gnoll comes back to attack Yasmeena and the gnoll cleric taps Tariq's gnoll with a wand.
"Outrageous!" Tariq lets his scimitar down once more, compensating for the heal the Gnoll just got from the priest.
"You just wait!"
Tariq brings down the big gnoll, showing the cleric what his efforts are worth. Antarah on the other hand is not so lucky.
Tariq gets swarmed by the gnoll guards. Antarah and Haleen are attacked by the big ones. Rokova moves in front of the stairs to block a retreat.
"Gaaah!" Haleen screams as the gnolls start ripping her apart. But she steps up and stabs each of the big gnolls. "Do me a favor and finish them. I can't hold that much longer."
Aithaloessa notes Rokova’s maneuvers with alarm, but even worse is the mountain of fur and – more importantly – claws threatening to overwhelm Haleen and Antarah. With a gesture, she draws her little cloud back down to bedevil the same big gnoll that managed to shrug the worst of it off a moment ago.
As she regains her footing, her fingers easily move into the movements necessary to layer on another spell over top, and she draws deep on her reserves to put everything into it that she can, catching three of the brutes in a blinding burst of golden glitter.