Tristan waves at the nice lady....why aren't I waving?
Caliban focuses for a moment, realizing he'll need to help turn the tide of battle physically, and conjures a burst of light in the face of the closest woman, before following the spark into melee with her, longsword held low, prepared to fend off the chopping attack of her glaive.
Junior disentangles himself from Massielo and says to the temporarily aphasic oracle in celestisl, "Ow! My toe!" Junior saunters over to the other side of green and then suddenly appears as he swings his warhammer.
Selann heads into the room, noticing the spellcasting and danger that Tristan is in. Glad to be a little person he steps past Greta and Caliban and jabs at the cultist right there.
While the cultist's scythe does find its way through Selann's defenses, the sudden combined assault of his dagger, Junior's hammer, and Caliban's blinding magic are able to bring her down, and she falls. One of the other cultists backs up, swinging her glaive at Benedic to cover her retreat.
Benedic grunts as he is cut by the bladed polearm, and steps forward into her reach to press his attack.
Greta steps into the room next to Caliban and swings her hammer at the cultist fighting Benedic .
Benedic's retaliation falls well short of its mark, but, once again, Greta hits well outside of her weight class and fells her target in a single blow. It's pure luck that Greta's hammer doesn't cave the cultist's skull in.
Massielo is able to find his way through the chaos to his foe, and his sword pierces through the protective barrier and into its target.
The cultist, already driven into a near-panic by the sight of Greta striking down her friend, throws her glaive down and makes a break for it. She runs straight for the northern door, but is stopped cold in her tracks by Tristan, who has by now broken free of his magical restraints.
Caliban launches a reactionary cut at the fleeing opponent without thinking,
Junior winces as his companions cuts down the cultist. He makes a token effort to help.
Seeing the punishment doled about by her companions, and hoping that one of the cultist might be taken alive (even if unconscious) Greta refrains from swinging at the fleeing woman.
Caliban's longsword opens a gash on the cultist's leg as she bounces off of Tristan, and she drops to the floor with a cry of surprise. Massielo and Junior's follow up strikes finish the job.
scroll of cause fear
scroll of comprehend languages
potion of cure light wounds
vial of unholy water
masterwork chain shirt
dagger
You also find two masterwork glaives, a masterwork scythe, 30 gp and three religious icons. Two you recognize as unholy symbols of Baphomet, but the other will need a DC 15 Religion check.
With the fight over, you are able to take stock of the room itself. The worked stone walls of this large room hold a number of shelves, each of which display the preserved bodies of dire rats, bats, rock vipers, cave lizards, and other creatures that pose in eerie stillness. A trio of bedrolls have been laid out to the southeast. To the north is a tunnel leading to a ladder up, and a door sits closed on the eastern side of the room.
"Massielo, could we wake any of them up with one of those potions?" Greta asks as they begin removing the weapons and scrolls from the dead or unconscious women.
Selann just shrugs when the last cultist is cut down and starts searching. When the scrolls of Cause Fear are identified he claims one. "I'll want to add this spell to my book. Just about any caster class can use it."
"Is one of them alive? I doubt they'll answer questions willingly. Especially if they're devoted to their cause. Weren't those clerical type spells that they used?"
Piling up the spoils of the cultists, Caliban admires a chain shirt, Looks like this will definitely fit me, and it does not even have too many holes in it. Anyone mind if I take it on?
Looking over the well-crafted weapons, Caliban mulls them over, I suppose we could create a sled to drag all this stuff to the surface, it is worth a lot of coin, and could help to outfit many of us more appropriately for crusade.
”If all we want is the way to the surface they might tell us that,” Greta answers hopefully as she ties up the woman Massielo believed was still breathing.
When Caliban starts talking about carrying equipment out she offers, ”Do any of them have backpacks? I don’t have one but I could carry the armor if it was packed in one... and the weapons too if they were bound together and tied to the pack.”
Lann, ushering your charges into the relative safety of the room, speaks up in response to Greta's question. "I believe we can be of some assistance in that regard, my lady. It is the least we can do. Wouldn't you agree, Millorn?"
Millorn stares at Lann for a few seconds, before looking at the floor, grumbling something unintelligible, and giving a single nod.
|
Massielo looks at the holy symbol a little disturbed for a while. He ignores the discussion on the carrying of items as he says "I know this symbol very well. The winged locust is the symbol of Deskari, a demon lord of insects. Some say he had a part in opening the Worldwound over a century ago."
With angry eyes, he looks at the now bound cultist. "He definitively has questions to answer." After making sure everyone is together, he bursts with healing energy once more, including the bound cultist in the healing.
Tristan--paralyzed--watches as his companions rush into the chamber after him. The cultist reel from the overwhelming assault. The Inquisitor's blue eyes follow the hammer, the morningstar, the longsword, the spell all connect and overpower the filthy cultist.
After a few seconds, Tristan is able to move. He sees the last remaining cultist break and flee, but, he still feels a bit stiff; so his reactions are found unneeded!
He looks around at the carnage.
Exactly as plan!
He winks.
Benedic watches the interrogation with curiosity and nods to Massielo in acknowledgement of the healing.
Junior quietly pours out the unholy water while making a show of holding his nose. But one of the glaives catches his eye and he switches it out for the less finely made one he recovered earlier. He also pockets one of the scrolls of comprehend languages.
When Lann and Milorn joins the group Junior exclaims, "Thanks man!" He then realizes that maybe that continuing to wear the face of a mongrelfolk would be inappropriate. He blushes and his faces changes back to normal, "Uh... sorry."
Caliban shrugs into the mail shirt, exchanging his lamellar for the chain links. Looking to the scroll proffered by Junior, I'll certainly carry it, but I cannot use this magic, it is not something which makes sense in my head. Perhaps Massielo or Benedic would be better served with it in their possession. I would welcome one of those scrolls which translate language however.
Deskari and Baphomet cultists working alongside each other? Is that a normal circumstance? I would assume that alliances among the forces of the Worldwound would be very temporary, or am I mistaken? Caliban asks Massielo before looking to Benedic and Tristan with a questioning look.
Tristan frowns.
Apparently, there has been quite a secret infiltration siege already in place prior to the recent attack. Let us hope it didn't reach the higher representatives of the city...
The Inquisitor motions to the bound cultist.
So, what exactly do we want to know from this scumbag?
Greta stands at hammer's reach from the bound woman, ready to intervene if she tries to cast a spell or otherwise cause trouble when she awakens. If she awakens.
"Well..." she comments when the discussion of what to ask begins, "I think the most important question is how to get to the surface, right? Once we know that you could try to learn other stuff about her cult or the attack, but let's see about getting out of here first. They look like normal people, so there's probably a good chance they're from the surface..."
Lann waves off Junior's concern with a good-natured smile. "Don't worry, my friend. You made for an excellent fishman."
The channeled energy washes over the room and you can see it taking hold in the cultist's body. It takes a while, longer than you'd have expected, but she eventually comes around to consciousness once again. Slowed by pain and confusion, her eyes open and move purposelessly for several seconds before snapping back into focus.
"Well, sh!t."
Selann sheaths his blade so he won't ..accidentally.. slide it into the cultist.
Caliban feigns disintrest in the cultist, instead checking the door in the room for any obvious traps or other impediments to their progress.
Tristan sits down next to the cultist. The Inquisitor doesn't even look at her. He takes out some string, a fishhook, a dagger and he frustratingly rummages through his pack.
Any body got any soap?
He winks at the cultist.
She looks back at Tristan, her face unreadable. "So who talks first? You talk first? I talk first?"
Junior entertains the idea of washing the cultist's mouth out with soap. Then he wonders why Tristan doesn't have soap, surely his companion just forgot it. Junior knew he never left home without his soap. Junior tentatively hands Tristan his soap while saying timidly, "Be careful?"
Tristan ignores the cultist. He takes out a dagger, gladly accepts Junior's soap, and he begins to meticulously carve.
The Inquisitor looks at the cultist.
How many cultists still running about around the tunnel out?