Fortune has turned against Leothar, but his faith holds.
He strikes again with Radiance.
He uses his final Lay on Hands of the day to heal his wounds.
Deciding that the reason she missed was because she had wasted time talking, Dadna kept her mouth firmly shut and focused on bringing the creature down.
Fley stabs one more time vs the one in the north. "Let's hope this does it."
Leothar smashes his fly again and it falls to the ground as Fley stabs it. Dadna removes the last fly from the room.
The door in the corner leads to a small area with a small door barred on the inside, that opens to the outside.
Good job, me boyos. - says the Dwarf, then moving around as to search around the room.
Let's see what we can find here, and keep on movin'. - he finally says, not really too successful in his searches.
Fley also looks around the small room. "Wonder where this goes to. Do you know, Ian?"
"Ah, that vermin got me good."
Leothar tries to stanch the bleeding and drinks three potions of healing.
"We do have a wand, right?"
"I am ready to proceed."
Well, since this external door is already barred from this side, maybe we can let it fae' later. - says the Dwarf, waiting to see if his companions agree, then moving towards the next room.
Ardriel nods. "I am ready to advance as well. Let's move forward."
The group moves to the door into the scrying room and finds it locked.
Fley cracks his knuckles before moving in. "Stand back boys. Let a real expert figure out this lock."
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Fley cracks his knuckles before moving in. "Stand back boys. Let a real expert figure out this lock."Disable Device, mwk lockpicks: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 12 + 2 = 34
Donnen found no traps on the door and Fley unlocks is.
Fley holds out his arms. "After you, Ian."
With the door easily unlocked by Fley, Ian opens the door for Donnen. The southern portion of this room holds a wide alabaster basin filled with bloody entrails. The outside of the basin is carved with images of warriors around a raised sun, holding longswords aloft. A flight of stairs ascends to the west. Six zombies stand around the basin, staring mournfully into it with their bellies open and gaping.
Round 1
Party UP
Dadna moved into the room and swung her Dorn Dergar at the first zombie. The blunt weapon impacted squarely into the zombie’s chest. It would have been a killing blow against anything alive. As it was, she pulled the weapon out, taking with it bits and pieces of the zombie’s rib cage. But the undead monstrosity did not fall.
Radiance might not be quite as effective as an axe against these, but Leothar is more accurate with it.
He moves up and strikes a zombie with a two-handed blow.
Fley groans. "The only good zombie is a dead zombie.". He stutters for a second then mutters under his breath, "Well, a destroyed zombie, not an undead zombie... you know what I mean."
He slashes at the first zombie, but barely misses it.
Donnen moves in, aware that his movement might expose him, and tries to find a spot to attack some enemies. Once positioned, he moves his axe against the enemy on his west.
If he hits, he cleaves against the enemy on his south.
Ian begins to inspire the group while Dadna moves into the room and hits one of the zombies though doesn't do the damage she normally would. Leothar then enters in and finishes off the zombie. Fley tries to stab one but misses. Donnen then moves in and slashes one zombie, which remains standing, but takes the head off the second.
Round 1
Ardriel Up
Knowing his bow would be less effective against Zombies, Ardriel moved into the room and grabbed his holy symbol, uttering a prayer, "Yuleral, use your holy energy to destroy these abominations and send their souls to rest." A wave of holy energy erupts from him, enveloping all of the zombies.
Ardriel calls on his divine powers and holy energies wash over the zombies in the room causing the one next to Donnen to fall. Two of the zombies move up while the third attacks Ardriel but misses him badly.
Round 2
Party Up
Stepping forward, Dadna swung her weapon straight into the head of the only zombie that she had a clear shot at. She felt the impact reverberate up her arm as the head broke apart under the weight of her weapon. She grimaced at the mess it made. She tried her best not to think about whom the zombies once were.
Fley steps up towards the blue zombie. "Let's demolish this abomination, Donnen. Let's see if I can distract it for you."
The gnome goes in and tries to draw the attention of the zombie so Donnen can destroy it.
Ian stpes up next to Ardriel and slashes the zombie cutting it in half in the thin middle. Dadna attacks the next zombie and hears the sickening thump as her weapon hits it's chest, caving it in.
Round 2
Donnen, Ardriel and Leothar up.
Donnen attacks the last of the enemies. His attack isn't as precise as the previous ones, despite all the aid from around him, but he still hopes that it's enough.
Donnen takes the head off the last former crusader and silence falls all across the floor.
When the last zombie fell, Dadna looked down at the zombies with sadness. "These were once crusaders. We *have* to make them pay for this. Let us...let us at least lay their bodies down properly until they can be buried." With that she began living the corpses up and arranging them in a manner reminiscent of the type of image one would see on a crusader's sarcophagus.
"They could have been former cultists though." Fley tries to be realistic. "But either way, I agree. We need to lay their bodies down.". Fley stows his weapons and rolls up his sleeves to help arrange the bodies.
When Dadna and Fley (and others?) are done, Fley will examine the room to see if he sees anything unusual. "Why were they keeping zombies in this room, I wonder?"
With the door easily unlocked by Fley, Ian opens the door for Donnen. The southern portion of this room holds a wide alabaster basin filled with bloody entrails. The outside of the basin is carved with images of warriors around a raised sun, holding longswords aloft. A flight of stairs ascends to the west. Six zombies stand around the basin, staring mournfully into it with their bellies open and gaping.
Leothar looks into the alabaster basin.
"I suppose these are the entrails of those who were turned into zombies. We should bury these remains with the zombies. And, if by the engravings this was a sacred basin for Iomedae - I believe this was the scrying room, so that is what it was used for - we should do what we can to purify it."Leothar will lay the entrails on the remains - "unfortunately I cannot identify whose intestines are whose" - and begins cleaning the basin with any rag he can find.
P11 A long table engraved with a relief map of Mendev stands to the east in this long room. A dozen bodies lie scattered about the room, each bearing a gaping empty hole in the chest.
P12 Bookshelves line the walls of this small library. Many of the tomes have been torn to shreds, and smoldering piles of ashes fill the room with an acrid stench. One small stack of books on a circular table seem to have escaped destruction.
P13 Several stacked horizontal shelves hold a number of small, straw-lined bird cages. A stack of parchment, three quills, a pot of ink, and a pile of tiny cylindrical objects cover a nearby table, while a small wooden door is in one corner of the room.
P14 Stacks of scrolls, books, maps, and more sit atop a large hexagonal table in this room. The walls are painted with detailed maps of Sarkoris, over which features of the Worldwound have been painted.
P15 The southern portion of this room holds a wide alabaster basin filled with bloody entrails. The outside of the basin is carved with images of warriors around a raised sun, holding longswords aloft. A flight of stairs ascends to the west.
P16 Six cots sit in two orderly rows in this room. The bedding has been tossed on the ground, and an iron lockbox lies on its side, empty. A lidless box holds scraps of moldering food, while a pair of large barrels nearby look to be filled with water.
"Let's clean this basin and lay the other bodies from that other room out as well. We may wish to check out the books that weren't destroyed in that library, as well."
Ardriel sets about cleaning it.
Leothar hears a voice in his head.
Perhaps it is his father.
Perhaps it is Torag.
Be methodical and thorough. Don't rush through things. This is our way.
"Let us get the information and things we have found to Irabeth and the First Descendants."
P11 A long table engraved with a relief map of Mendev stands to the east in this long room. A dozen bodies lie scattered about the room, each bearing a gaping empty hole in the chest.
"The room with that bizarre magical beast creature. We should take care of the bodies. It seems their hearts were ripped from their chests in some Abyssal sacrifice. We should say some prayers, wrap them in shrouds, and bring them outside so that Irabeth can see to a proper burial."
P12 Bookshelves line the walls of this small library. Many of the tomes have been torn to shreds, and smoldering piles of ashes fill the room with an acrid stench. One small stack of books on a circular table seem to have escaped destruction... There are seven books that seem to be saved stacked up here. They are history, geography, and tactics texts. One seems to be about fighting techniques.
"Let us make sure we take all of these books with us. As to the shredded texts, they may still be useful for the faithful of Iomedae if they can be restored somehow. Through magic, possibly. I think the burned texts are beyond restoration, but let us gather what scraps we can of the rest."
P13 Several stacked horizontal shelves hold a number of small, straw-lined bird cages. A stack of parchment, three quills, a pot of ink, and a pile of tiny cylindrical objects cover a nearby table, while a small wooden door is in one corner of the room.
"Let's check the cylindrical objects - message tubes, most likely - for any messages that the Crusaders were unable to send before this keep fell."
P14 Stacks of scrolls, books, maps, and more sit atop a large hexagonal table in this room. The walls are painted with detailed maps of Sarkoris, over which features of the Worldwound have been painted.
"I don't believe we finished searching the War Room, so we can go back there and double-check. Let's take all the scrolls, books, and maps. Let's also take notes on the wall maps in case there are any clues to the demons and cultists' plans."
P15 The southern portion of this room holds a wide alabaster basin filled with bloody entrails. The outside of the basin is carved with images of warriors around a raised sun, holding longswords aloft. A flight of stairs ascends to the west.
"I have tried to clean the scrying pool as best as I can. Do we think what I have done is enough?"
P16 Six cots sit in two orderly rows in this room. The bedding has been tossed on the ground, and an iron lockbox lies on its side, empty. A lidless box holds scraps of moldering food, while a pair of large barrels nearby look to be filled with water.
"Let's search this room thoroughly. Nothing springs to mind but perhaps we can use the water to help clean anything else that was befouled. Or refill the scrying basin."
"We'll take what we have found to Irabeth and then move on."
Her eyes hard by the horrors that they had been seeing, Dadna quietly went about helping to secure the rooms as they went, standing guard over her comrades or helping them to resanctify the defiled, as the situation called for.
Donnen walked with the others, room by room, almost audibly praying to Torag. In each room, in each space, the Dwarf stopped to kneel down with closed eyes and ponder, then stood up to help the others with the basic cleaning. Yet, there was a sense of rush on him.
Me friends, despite my own will tae' stop and clean, tae' stop and pray... We have tae' keep ascending. We will get back to these things. - he said, lifting the bloodied waraxe to point at the stairs - There's still more evil tae' be cleansed before we can worry 'bout the mundane.
He still gave time for the others to do the basic preparations and helped as he could.
At a certain point, a rare moment alone and in the awkward peace under the insanity around them, he opened the helm and pulled it down. He placed in the floor and took a deep breath, closed eyes, letting his body lean against the holder of the waraxe. Such a violent weapon, he thought. A weapon of dwarves from a different time, yet it seemed as if things would still get a lot worse before getting peaceful again.
He stood up, put the helmet back, and let the dwarven weapon stand on his shoulder. The Dwarf donned the shield back, and for moments imagined if Torag would allow him to see the end of it. He'd retire to a life of prayers and feasts, die old with a good mug of ale in his hands. The Father of Creation shall forge me into his weapon for this war, and give me rest if and when he deems me worth.
As he finished the last prayer - the ground moved in front of him. His first instincts were those of pointing weapon and shield ahead, as if getting ready to fight, but in his mind he heard a song of peace, as a harmonic beating of a hammer against a mold. He knew it wasn't a foe.
In front of him, Bakkon appeared. Sent by the will of Torag, the small celestial earth elemental greeted him in silence, and in Terran he spoke.
Dadna's frown vanished when she saw the elemental appear, replaced by a starry eyed smile.
Leothar bows his head in greeting to the Earth Elemental.
"I cannot yet speak the language of earth and stone, but I will learn."
The group of heroes takes a moment to breath and count the cost of the endeavor so far. It has been less than an hour in the Grey Garrison but they have cleared two floors of unbelievable evil and witness the horrific deeds they did to the righteous defenders. With Dadna keeping an eye out for danger from above the group gets to work.
As they enter the Conference Chamber again and Leother mentions the holes in the corpses Fley tells says "Perytons love to eat hearts. That was what they were feeding the beast would be my guess." With the help of Irabeth and the First Descendants the corpses are removed from the floor and placed with Lord Hulran's outside. Ardriel collects the stack of books from the library and puts them in his pack for safe keeping. Leothar checks the message cylinders but finds they are all empty, either never used or check by the demons for intelligence. The group gathers in the War Room to sort the papers there and give them to Irabeth. Leothar finds a single scroll while gathering the papers up. Irabeth and the First Descendants are sent back downstairs with the gathered items while the heroes search the barracks. They find nothing of interest in the room but decide to take the water barrels into the scrying room. Some is used to clean up and then more is used to fill the pool.
The water glows and shimmers and a vision of a female half-elf appears. She is studying the fragment of the wardstone you came to destroy. It is in an iron barbed cage on top of a pedestal. A scythe is nearby and she wears a cloak and amulet. This circular room’s original purpose is unclear, but now it seems to be a trophy hall of some sort. A low stone pedestal sits on the floor in the middle of the chamber under a domed ceiling.
The vision then extends out of that room and shows a wide hall stretches for thirty feet before ending in a door. Two alcoves on both sides of the hall hold torches that burn with white light. Each torch illuminates a pedestal, on each of which rests a battered and broken steel helm. There is a fiendish minotaur with a great axe guarding the room..
The vison then goes down the stairs and the Heroes see themselves looking into the pool and then the pool goes dark.
Ardriel considers the vision, then says, "We know what waits for us at the top of the stairs. The rod of cancellation should be able to pass through the iron bars of the cage, but that half-elven woman could prove difficult. A priestess of Deskari, perhaps?"