The group of paladins reaches the top of the tower and heads to the southern side. It is good that this place has been assaulted in the past or you don't think you would have been able to place the banner without something to do it. You managed to scrounge some metal bars and pound them into the stones at the edge. Ian then takes the banner and hangs it over the edge. After a few seconds a dull cheer can be heard coming from the camp.
After standing there for a moment Ian tries to summon the planetar, but nothing happens. He pauses and then remembers that the banner needed to be inside. He gingerly pulls up the banner and the party heads inside.
They get to the temple and Ian mounts the banner in there. When he does so the air seems to feel... cleaner somehow. The overbearing of evil isn't what it was.
Ian smiles and looks to the group and when they are ready he summons the planetar.
Appearing before the banner is a muscular, bald, tall, humanoid creature. He has emerald skin and two pairs of shining, white-feathered wings and is holding a greatsword ready to strike. His eyes dart toward Enos but he lowers his sword and looks to Ian. He says with a disappointed look, "I have responded to your request to defend the banner but it appears not to be in immediate danger." He looks over the entire party and says "Some of you appear to be drained of you vitality. I will take care of that." He then approaches each of you and lays a hand on you for a few moments. As he does so you each feel restored. When he finishes he concentrates for a moment and your wounds begin to heal. He then looks you all over again and says "That should help. I will be here and guard the banner for the next day."
Enos sighs in relief, "Oh, that's great. Thank you. OK, that takes care of that - I'm ready to continue if you are."
Nodding politely to the celestial being, Ian thanks him, "Thank you, we shall return to guard the banner before the end of the next day."
Gesturing the direction they'd not gone yet, Having a gift for the obvious, Ian adds, "We should finish clearing the fortress. At least none will get away."
He pauses for a moment, hoping some on this level will test the planetar, "Shall we finish making sure the basement is secured and work out way up?"
Tired enough, Ian doesn't realize he actually starts walking that way as he was asking...
"Though the banner is not in immediate danger, there may be demons roaming the halls who would attempt to take it if it were unguarded. Your assistance in guarding it will help ensure that we can find and finish them before they can cause further troubles."
Refreshed, Ardriel said, "Yes. Let's clear out the basement, and then we can see what remains on this floor."
”Aye. Let us get to it. And once we clear the keep we can move our army inside.” Dadna said, her eyes never leaving the planatar. Her voice was hushed and her heart beat loud with religious fervor. She felt, at that moment, that if she died it would be fine as her life felt complete. The mere act of being in its presence felt humbling, and the last thing she wanted was to dishonor herself in its presence by shirking from their duty.
Leothar is at 3/7 Mythic Power, 2/3 Smite Evil, 7/7 LoH (4d6), and 1/2 Divine Bond (+2).
He has cast Protection from Evil, Eagle's Splendor, Bull's Strength, and Enlarge Person, all of which have expired. He still has Divine Favor.
He will go to the basement. "Dadna, do you want me in front?"
”Of course! Torag’s children in front, so the long legged can see over our heads and don’t walk too fast and leave us behind.” She said with a smile. She was still radiating happiness from being in the mere vicinity of such an angelic being. ”And with that let’s go and clear this place out room by room.”
Enos looks between the dwarves, thinking. After a moment, he asks, ”So where do you want me, then? Still scouting?”
The party makes it way down the stairs and to the gate. Just as before the insidious noise grates at them.
Frowning as Leothar asks Dadna about being if front, Ian chuckles at Dadna's response. he was glad to see that she was keeping a positive attitude and they needed both of them in top form.
Turning to Enos, Ian answers, gesturing towards his side. "Stay close. Since we're no longer looking for the banner, our goal is search and destroy. But we'll need close to notice any traps."
Ardriel winces at the grating noise. He nods to Ian's suggestion they stay close, and then feels...something...compel him to pulse a burst of magic from him. A circle of faint, ghostly jewels emanates from him, including those closest.
Enos' mythic power kicks in and saves him as Dadna and Ian feel less able to deal with reality.
Exiting the cage you come to a set of locked double doors to the east.
Dadna grimaced as the baleful energy washed over her and Ian. She touched a hand to her face, even though she couldn't feel the damage through her gauntlets. With a 'tsk' she reached over and let divine energy flow through Ian, for she could see the effects of the magic on him, and then healed herself.
"That was not pleasant." She said. "Let us warn our paladins about this trap before they enter, or we can see if we can remove it first. But for now, we press on."
Unsettled by the feeling of returning to the basement, Ian feels Dadna's hands rest on him. Heeling the effects of her prayer, he turns to his friend, "Thank you Dadna, that feels better. You are right if we cannot remove the trap, they will need to avoid this place."
Having approached the eastern doors, Ian asks the tiefling "Enos, do you think you can pick the locks on these doors?"
Ardriel, bow in hand, says, "The vampire and his spawn are behind these doors, correct?"
Responding to Ian, Enos sheathes the kukri he was holding, withdraws his lockpicks, and says, "There is only one way to find out." Pausing, "If they are, what are our best tactics? Wait, never mind - they can probably hear us through the door if they are actually there."
Enos sees no traps and takes a little while to unlock the door. When he opens it he sees a long passageway extending past multiple prison cells before ending within a barred chamber to the east. An alcove along the south wall includes another set of iron doors leading south, while opposite this a barred gate provides access to another set to the north.
Looking down the corridor those with darkvision see two ghostly, horribly mangled human paladin with limbs broken in multiple places. Ian's halo shines some light on the first of these.
Any joy in Dadna's face vanished when she saw the mangled remains of the paladins. "There will be vengeance." She said, more to herself than anyone else. She immediately began to pray to her Goddess, for the strength to fight what was to come, and for the souls of the departed.
Seeing the nearest creature, Ian nods in agreement with Dadna, "and well there should be." As he watches the creature, unsure of its nature, he comments. "Enos, brother, move back behind Dadna and Leothar. Let the creatures come to us and crash upon the dwarves."
Enos muses aloud as he complies with Ian’s directive.
Ardriel stands behind the rest. He is woefully inadequate in his knowledge of the undead, so he keeps his mouth shut so that he doesn't derail anyone's thought process.
Leothar doesn't know anything about the ghostly paladin corpses.
Enos looks at the creatures and recognizes these as spectres. Incorporeal undead that can drain the life right out of you.
As the paladins look on the spectres move through the hallway; one toward you and then it turns and moves away and the other away from you until it too turns.
"Are they patrolling? If they are not actively attacking, perhaps we leave them for a cleric to address and save our resources...?"
Believing Enos's question accurate, Ian frowns. "I'm not sure how we'd get past them. Should we try and get their attention, or go in after them?"
"Ah, there's not a way around? I was really hoping there was another way past. What do we think lies beyond here? I know we got some intel before we came in, but without context, none of it made sense to me, so I didn't try to remember it all."
"I believe that the dungeons are back that way, where the vampire and his spawn are located. There was also some sort of 'abyssal heretic' or something that was imprisoned and escaped. It may be worth examining to make sure there isn't an alternate exit in there. There is magic that can allow one to pass by undead without them noticing, but I don't think any of us has the necessary spell."
Not sure what else to do, Ian bangs 'The Lady's Gift' on his shield, yelling,
The spectres don't seem to acknowledge Ian in any way.
Surprised that he didn't get an answer from the spectral guards, Ian shrugs. "Well if they can't hear me, maybe they won't see me either." Squeezing between Dadna and Leothar he begins to move up the 'hall' pause at the first opening, tilting his head so the halo will illuminate the narrow area.
Whispering, ”Incorporeal. If you have means of damaging that without an actual body, you might ready it.”
Dadna found herself holding her breath as she watched Ian boldly walk forward. She was ready to charge in to aid him should the spirits prove hostile...
As Ian steps into the hallway both spectres turn and lock in on him and move down the hallway.
Round 1
Party Up
Enos asks, ”A choke point benefits them, does it not? Do we try to draw them into this larger chamber?”
Enos waits to see what the more tactical ones think.
Seeing the ghosts head his way, Ian Unsure of what to do nods at Enos' idea. As he moves back to the room, he gestures, "We spread out, so if they come through the hall we can attack them." He motions towards the sides of the hallway, hoping the dwarves would be able to move before they were attacked.
"Aye then, we follow Ian's lead!" Dadna yelled out.
Enos nods and adjusts his position according to the shining one’s guidance.
Leothar drops his shield, declares Smite Evil on the nearer undead and prepares to attack as soon as either enemy is within reach.
He will use Fighting Defensively for +2 AC. His AC will be 26 against his Smite target and 24 against the other (+10 ghost touch armor, +1 Dex, +2 Dodge, and either +1 or +3 deflection).
Ardriel pulls out a special arrow he'd prepared in case of incorporeal creatures like this, and readied to shoot the first one that came close to them.
The spectres moved down the hall toward the group and form up. Ardriel fires at the southern one and hits it. It hisses in pain and they both disappear into the walls.
Round 2
Party Up
O 0
B 8
As the y wait for the specters to find their way to the halls opening, Ian begins to second guess his recommendation. They'd earned their reputation with the surviving warriors from Kenabres by rushing in and dealing with the problem head on. Now for some reason, they'd become timid second guessing their every move. Ian shakes his head as he lifts the 'Ladies Gift' Maybe they were just tired.
As his arm fully extends, he calls out, "For Iomedae and Kenabres!"
Enos groans, "Incorporeal. Watch your feet, they can come through the floor!"