Never mind, you got it.
Leothar hears the creature hiss as he cuts it.
Some dead thing?' Hearing Leothar's warning, Ian moves forward drawing his coldiron sword as he moves, 'I need to protect my friends.' Seeing the dwarf as Leothar strikes it with his axe, Saying a quick prayer as he reaches Leothar side. "Away foul undead!"
Stowing the potion, Ardriel runs into the room with his bow. "Maggots, roaches, a snake, a giant fly, and now undead? What sort of things live down here?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fley will run up, drawing his kukri, and poking this thing - aiding Leothar's next attack.
Begone! You don't belong here. This is a sacred place.
Do the thing you did with the fly. Cut this heathen in half.
After watching the others have much better luck with the door, Petsha waits outside for the others to explore. Having knowledge of neither dwarven architecture nor Torag in particular it doesn't seem as though he will contribute much that others couldn't take care of. He does watch with interest as Ardriel and his raven do something with one of the potions from earlier, but then there are shouts from inside the room as something attacks.
Gripping his bow Petsha moves; this could be something he can assist more with. Upon moving into the second room he sees the robed figure the others are attacking and fires an arrow to help with the assault.
Undead? Eh, so this might be mor'of what I was used tah train.
Donnen moves to the side, pulls his sticker all the way back, then lets it down in a powerful attack.
Lifting the longsword Ian attacks the undead dwarf
Entering the room Petsha puts an arrow into the creature but it doesn't do the damage it should. Ian launches his attack and while the hit is solid it could have done more damage Donnen moves into attack, as a light-bulb, goes off in his head, it's a huecuva! An undead priest that lost it's faith. Donnen finishes it off and it falls to the ground a pile of bones and dust. The temple is quiet again but dust is in the air everywhere.
A commotion is heard from oustside. Anvenn can be heard saying, "My leg is bothering me, I need to rest on that bench." Horgus mutters "He is slowing us down. Maybe we should split up." Anvenn exlodes at Horgus, "I'm not surprised that a man afraid to acknowledge his own faith wouldn’t be moved by a forgotten temple like this! To be ashamed of one’s faith is as bad as worshiping demons." Horgus seems taken aback but replies with "That's ironic coming from one known to consort with thieves!" Anvenn falls into a black, silent anger at this, his eyes narrowing at Horgus as he goes and sits on the bench.
Seeing the dwarf take several hits, still standing, 'This may be a ... Ian watches as Donnen's Giant sticker slices through and turns the undead into a pile of dust and bones. Turning he smiles at Donnen, "Good work, I was getting a little nervous." Shifting his foot near the pile. "I was worried this thing may have been related to cockroaches."
'Is that bickering?' Hearing the commotion outside ian looks from Donnen to Leothar, "You are both servants of Torag, take a few moments here in the temple." He rolls his eyes, "I will go speak with my fellow humans."
Walking out of the temple, he immediately notes Horgus, sitting scowling and angry, eyeballing Anvenn who is red faced and breathing hard. Sheathing his sword he lifts his hand palm out, "Peace gentlemen, peace. Our faith is our own as are our friends. Please be careful, for I know that we who measure others, will be weighed by the same scales."
Looking first to Anvenn, "Master Anvenn, the short time we have been down here we have fought vile vermin and the undead; separating would weaken us. As we stand, we in armor can protect those not. If we were to split up, all would be forced to fight. I fear those who went first would leave a trail of blood for those who follow slower."
He then goes and sits down on the bench to the left of Horgus, "We have been contested four times," Deliberately unstrapping the three straps on the shield on his right hand. "I for one am grateful for a rest." He gingerly lifts his mauled right hand from the shield, flexing the three remaining digits. Turning to Horgus. "We are all stretched to our limit. But do not be concerned, I will not leave you alone." He smiles pointing to the halo, "And I've got the best light." Resting his mauled hand on the man's shoulder. Patting Horgus' shoulder a couple of times, giving the man a nod. He then begins the process of restrapping his hand to the shield.
Ardriel exits the temple, saying to Horgus, "Lord Gwerm, surely a man of your bearing can see the value in keeping the group together. In some respects, it is best we move slowly. By taking our time, we can hopefully avoid stumbling into any dangers or being caught unawares. Haste makes for poor quality work, as we say in the jewelry trade."
Leothar will begin looking over the temple. While devout, he lacks any formal training in religion. The dwarf tries to ascertain what is intact, what has been damaged, and what might be done.
Donnen sees the undead fall and thanks Torag for his training. He closes his eyes while touching the hammer and prays.
Finally, he stops and starts looking around the temple. First he taps the undead himself to see if there's anything useful.
After that, he stands up. He isn't a man of charisma, so he lets his companions talk to the men outside while he takes his time to search, examine and study what's around. For moments he pronounces new prayers to Torag trying to bless the holy place again.
Searching the body a pouch on its belt contains two potions, and on one withered hand it wears a knotted gold ring. The priest’s masterwork warhammer lies dusty on the ground, long forgotten. As Donnen and Leothar continue their survey they see it would take about 8 hours of work from everyone to clean this place back up and get it into a proper state. Once that is done Donnen thinks he knows the proper ceremony to rededicate the temple.
Ian manages to calm Anvenn down, and he apologizes by saying "I'm sorry. This place made me think of my wife. She's a paladin of Iodamae. I'm a bit worried about what happened to her."
Ian and Ardriel start speaking with Horgus and while he is more difficult to bring around Horgus calms down after a little. "We'll all stay together."
Leothar surveys the site. "Donnen, if you think you know the right blessings for this place, we should clean it up."
He reports to the others. "It would take a day's work to clean this site and rededicate it. That we should just happen to find a temple of Torag here, I think it is a sign and we should restore it to its former glory.
I know you do not all follow Torag, so I do not demand this of you. I ask - will you take the time to help us restore this temple?
We can look around for a bit more, to make sure the area is safe. But I think this is a task worth doing."
I wholeheartedly agree. The temple being here is a message not to just you and Donnen, but to all of us. It's our duty to help clean it up and restore it to it's natural glory. I'll do my best to help.
Fley sits down for a minute to rest his legs. Tell me more about Torag. Unfortunately I don't know much about him.
Agreed with me' brother. Ay'm also asking that of thee. We can use tha' place for rest a bit, meanwhile, too. But I guarantee 'yall, Torag will bless our journey if we pay him our respect now. - the Dwarf completes, solemn - That's how we start winnin' again.
'Clean up the temple what a great idea, it would also let those injured rest.' Nodding his head in agreement, Ian begins to take his shield off, so he can help clean. "Yes, Torag is an honorable god, cleaning his temple is a task worth completing." He lifts the finely made pack they found, "We have food here in the pack we found for any who isn't carrying their own."
The group spends the next 8 hours cleaning the temple and it looks much better now. To rededicate the temple a ceremony needs to be performed. Donnen thinks he knows the ceremony to perform and can go over it with everyone to make sure it's right.
While Donnen is usually cheerful and brutish, as they clean the environment and prepare the ceremony he’s silent, solemn and respectful. The eyes of the young Dwarf - less than seven decades old - were small and contemplative, as if analyzing and trying to collect from memory what he could remember.
It was obvious that, for him, this had a much greater importance than putting to rest the huecuva. When he started chanting, for moments it looked like he was in tears such was the emotion he put in all details. Torag was to have his place of prayers back, and he was to shine their path to find out what was going on and take whatever steps were necessary to restore law and good.
Fley sits down for a minute to rest his legs. Tell me more about Torag. Unfortunately I don't know much about him.
"Torag is the god of the dwarven people, Fley. He has worshipers in other lands as well - many Ulfen, for example. Torag is the god of creation, and it was he who forged Golarion. He encourages his followers to create and protect.
When there is a need to bear weapons in defense of what had been created, Torag teaches the value of defense, strategy, and patience rather than reckless rage.He does not speak to mortals often, nor walk the world openly as Aroden did, but he will judge us worthy of being petitioners when we pass."
Leothar's knowledge of the proper ceremonies is limited, but he tries to assist.
The two dwarfs put their heads together and come up with the right prayers for a moving ceremony and the temple is rededicated. A sense of peace washes over the temple.
Watching with interest as Leothar and Donnen prepare for the ritual, Ian listens as Leothar instructs Fley about the Father of Dwarven gods.
Sensing peace settle over the Temple, Ian moves to the dwarves, "That was a lovely service, I think resting here was a good idea."
Then holding up a the pack they found and smiling tells the group. "I don't know about Torag services, but after services to Iomedae we eat." He then reaches into the pack and starts to pass out the rations they had found.
Then holding up a the pack they found and smiling tells the group. "I don't know about Torag services, but after services to Iomedae we eat." He then reaches into the pack and starts to pass out the rations they had found.
Leothar looks at Ian stone-faced and responds with great seriousness.
"No.We are a stoic people and Torag is a stern god.
First we pray for an hour.
Then we toil at a forge while reciting the lineage of the dwarf-kings, from the Quest for Sky through Tar Taargadth to the present day.
After an hour of smithing, if we have not struck an awry blow at the forge or misspoke a king's name, we are allowed a drink of water.
If we do strike an awry blow or misspeak, we must start again.
Then, we name all the kinds of rocks and metals and what each one is best used for.
Finally, we prepare the meal, but as with all acts of creation, if it is imperfect we discard it and start again."
A smile crosses his face.
"That was a joke."
"Yes, we can eat. We could drink too, but I don't see any Caydenites about to conjure ale. We might as well rest here for the night, to let the wounded recover a bit."
Donnen smiles, happy with the partnership with Leothar - despite everything that is going on, Torag has a peculiar way of giving strength to his followers, and the stonelord feels the people surrounding him at this moment are the strength given to him by the god.
Heh! Yeah, we do eat. Oh, we eat! - he says, tapping his belly vigorously - Let’s continue our path after some rest, and soon we will bring some of this hope to the people upstairs.
Fley was looking nervously around as Leothar starts describing smithing. I would never survive as a Torag worshiper.
As a smile crosses Leothar's face, Fley realizes he's joking. Fley lets out a huge laugh, relieved he doesn't have to smith anything.
When Donnen mentions eating, Fley realizes just how hungry he was. He hasn't eaten anything all day. Looking through his backpack, he pulls out a tasty looking sandwich that he was planning on eating before this whole ordeal started. And digs in. Delicious he thinks, as he savors every bite
Ardriel was quiet as they went about the task of cleaning the temple. A lot had happened, and none of them had truly recovered from their ordeal. Having a fixed, easily accomplished goal was likely good for them, as opposed to wandering through the caves, hoping they could reach an exit that would take them back to Kenabres.
Once they’d finished rededicating the temple, he said, ”If we’re going to rest here, we should arrange for watches.”
He then retrieved the second potion and tried to identify it.
No? A stoic people?' Ian's countenance slowly wanes as Leothar describes the process the dwarves follow, Then when Leothar Smiles and declares the whole thing a jest, Ian smiles and hands him a portion of the dry goods out of the rucksack. Passing the food out to whoever would want some, he makes sure the three non combatants receive a portion as well.
Turning to Ardriel, Ian observes, "There are six of us armed and armored, shall we take three watches, so we have two awake at all times?" He gestures towards Petsha, "Hey Petsha would you join me for the middle watch?"
Petsha does his best to help with the cleaning and the ceremony and finds himself pleasantly tired after what feels like mundane work compared to the rest of the time he's spent in these caves. Sitting and sharing the rations after he nods at Ian's suggestion. "I'm not much use in the dark, so it would be best if I shared a watch with someone who can help provide a source of light like you can."
The night passes uneventfully and everyone awakes refreshed. After prayer, Aravashnial asks "Have all of the potions been identified?" When every has eaten the group heads out to the south for about 40 minutes. The tunnel then opens into a cavern. Stone figures are carved into the walls of this cavern. Each depicts a different crusader clad in armor and wielding weapons, but their carved stone features contain expressions of sadness.
As Ian and Fley enter the chamber, something drops from the ceiling. It opens like a hideous octopus, its thin, hook-lined tentacles connected by a fleshy web. It attacks Ian.
As Ian and Fley enter the chamber, something drops from the ceiling. It opens like a hideous octopus, its thin, hook-lined tentacles connected by a fleshy web. It attacks Ian. Ian and Fley see another on the ceiling.
Party is up.
As the group wanders the tunnels, they pass by several stone figures. Interesting. I've lived here most of my adult life and never knew anything like this existed underneath Kenebres.. Fley will stop by one or two of them to get a closer look, but keeps moving on.
When they get to a clearing, an octopus-like thing drops down and attacks Ian. He spots one up on the ceiling too.
What are those things! Watch out for the one up on the ceiling.
Fley will tumble out of the way () and poke at the one attacking Ian, hoping to distract it.
Waking early and putting his armor on Ian finishes the last of his food from the rucksack, attaching it to his pack, He's follows Leothar and Donnen into the tunnel and eventually into the open cavern where he sees the bas-relief sculptures, 'They looks so sad. Shaking his head, "I know Fley, isn't it mysterious?"
Admiring the details of the sculptures, Ian doesn't see the octopus-like creature until it nearly lands on him. Feeling the hooks slide down his shield and armor, Ian realizes the thing has landed in front of him. Looking up, as he draws his sword he calls out, "Fley's right, there is another above." Seeing the octopus-like creature distracted by Fley Ian thrusts the tip of his sword downward, piercing the creatures webby flesh.
Ian does a lot of damage to the creature but it still fights on.
Leothar does not know anything about these statues. Wish I had paid more attention to Ma's lessons.
As the creature drops from the ceiling like a cephalopod stalactite, Leothar finds himself in a situation he is better prepared for.
He steps, draws his axe, and strikes.
After failing to identify the other potion by sight, Ardriel cast his one cantrip he'd managed to try and figure out to identify the other potion. He also checked the masterwork warhammer they'd found in the temple.
When a thing falls out of the sky, and is suddenly attacking Ian, Ardriel looks at it.
"That's a darkmantle! It tries to constrict its foes to suffocate them! Get it off Ian, quickly!"
Yarnala offers Ardriel Yuelral's guidance as he takes aim and tries to shoot the darkmantle off Ian.
Donnen swings his weapon against the closer creature, but it goes amiss.
Ay'll eventually hit som'thing here, boyo. - he says, not to anyone in particular.
Leothar kills the one. When the next begins to drop Ardriel fires an arrow that narrowly misses as it lands next to Fley. Donned attacks it and misses as well. The darkmantle tries to get Fley.
Leothar moves up and attacks the remaining creature, without success.
Turning his head and squinting his eyes, as Leothar's axe splatters the darkmantle blood onto everyone near by, Ian, out of the corner of his eye see's the next one dropping near Fley. Seeing his comrades shoot, slash and stab at it to no avail, He draws the tip of his sword from the dead cold skin of the first, pivoting on his left foot, lowering his shield and thrusts the sword towards the second piecing the skin, pinning that leg to the ground. He smiles, "I'll try and hold it still, Somebody hit it!"
Petsha, hearing the shouts ahead of him, moves his way through the noncombatants to try to get a better read on the situation. When he finally reaches the battle the second darkmantle drops directly in front of him and he scrambles back before taking a shot.
Ardriel frowned as his arrow barely missed the darkmantle. Drawing another one, as Yarnala continued giving him Yuelral's guidance, he prepared to fire again, should it return to his line of sight.
Fley attempts to skewer the octopus thingy after it's tentacles tried to reach out at him.
Once again, the Dwarf pulls its giant-sticker with fury, and lets it drop with power against the creature. His eyes seem to shine in the brittle of battle as the weapon looks to move in its own weight!
Petsha moves into and out of reach of the darkmantle before firing at it and wounding it. It then tries to wrap up Fley and is subjected to numerous attacks before Donnen kills it.
The creatures lie dead on the ground.
EDIT:
EDIT:
Holding his blade in place until Donnen smashes the darkmantle into a pool of gue, Ian draws his longsword from the vile creature, wiping the blood on the remains of a flap of skin. He looks to the ceiling to make sure there are no more darkmantles, after looking at the magnificent figures one more time, he turns to the others asks "Shall we continue on?"
"Yes, Aravashnial. We have 3 potions of cure light wounds and one of lesser restoration."
Ardriel nods to Ian and says, "I think we're ready to move on."
Donnen cleans his weapons and signs he’s ready to continue. His eyes study the figures with interest as the others get ready as well.
Leothar turns to Ardriel. "So that creature was a Darkmantle? Just another kind of vermin, basically? Not a demon or anything?" He is vaguely curious, but is ready to move on.
He takes a look around the statues in the cavern, and checks for other bodies or any remnants of the Darkmantle's past meals.
As you look around you notice little other than some odd bones. It almost looks like the room has been kept picked up.
As you enter the next cavern you see a small campfire and a well-used bedroll, along with a few utensils and tools, sits near another cave opening in the far wall of this cavern.
At the far end stands a dwarf who screams out madly "You've finally come for me!"
Donnen, Fley and Petsha are up.