Curious, Rulean picks up the copy of Hymns to the Wind and Waves and quickly looks through it. Assuming he finds about what he would expect in a holy text of Gozreh, he then puts it in his pack to be read later.
It will do me good to find out more about other gods.
The holy texts in the guest chambers are artistically illuminated manuscripts that present the expected tenets and stores of Gozreh.
Nabi finally manages to finagle the bar upwards and slowly pushes the door open enough to peer into the hall on the other side. This wide hall leads into the cliff face at an angle. A double door at the west end of the room is carved from blue and green marble and depicts a magnificent abstract pattern that evokes both the wind of a tornado and the water of a whirlpool. The handles are green-enameled metal leaves, each bearing a drop of water. Smaller doors lead out of this hall to the north and south directions. The door to the north has several planks nailed across it.
There are two gray robed hermits standing in the hall. They watch not the door that Nabi just opened, but the door to the north. Intently. Beside them sits a slurk with a collar and leash. None of them give any indication that they have noticed Nabi.
The artistry of the marble pattern fascinates Song, especially the evocation of tornadoes and whirlpools. The storms within call to her blood.
She whispers gently, "What's with the hermits and the door? Are they trying to guard against us crossing, or are they trying to prevent something from the other side from crossing over?"
She glances over at the others. "Do you want me to greet them?'
Nabi looks around for valuables, then for dangers.
The girl has her priorities. They might not be straight, but they are hers.
She readies an arrow on her bow, just in case things turn bad
Because of course things wil turn bad.
Rulean looks around the corner to see what is happening. Retreating, he whispers “They seem on guard. I say we try talking, find out if they are the problem or possible allies.”
He readies his shield in case things go badly.
The hermits in the middle of the hall do look like they are guarding the northern door. The fidget nervously as they stare at that door.
"If they're this deep inside then they're probably with those jerks we just killed," Clover whispers. "Especially since they have a slurk with them!"
But...they're still (ostensibly) people. The halfling sighs and rubs at her temples.
"Still...I guess we shouldn't just jump to conclusions. If you want to try talking to them Song, I've got your back - same as everyone else."
“Slurk on a leash. Jae said they normally kept slurks.”
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Song shakes her head. "Nope. She said they normally keep slurks away." Song sighs. "Weapons out."
Once everyone else has their weapons ready, Song sings.
♫ Hello hermits, I am here to say
We're checking in... to see if you're okay
The door is locked and I see you have a slurk
Is this just a normal day at work? ♫
Rulean has his pick and shield ready. They don’t look fat like someone hiding a vermlek does, but still best keep the cold iron ready!
The two robed men jump, spooked, and spin and raise their tridents toward your door. "Who's that singing!?" They glance back toward the northern door for a moment and then back at you.
The slurk waddles in place to turn toward the sound of Song-of-Air's voice.
Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.
Rulean
Red Hermit
Blue Hermit
Leaf-on-Wind
Ephie
>Mr. Splinters
Clover
>Snowy
Slurk
Song-of-Air
Nabi
“Why do you side with demons?!?”
He moves through the door, taking a position where he can attack red. Then he swings his pick and raises his shield.
Fatal d10
crit, die increase, extra die for fatal
The guard sidesteps Rulean's pick.
"Because it feels good!" he retorts as he swells with supernatural power. "It makes us strong!" the other shouts, similarly swelling in power. Given their confidence in confronting your assault, you might wonder what they are intently guarding to the north, but they do not leave you much time to ponder this. The closest guard immediately turns his trident upon the iruxi. The first thrust punches through Rulean's armor with unbelievable strength. Rulean is able to fend off the next strike.
The other guard shouts at the slurk, "Attack!"
Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.
Rulean (24/38 hp)
Red Hermit (+5 hp; rage)
Blue Hermit (+5 hp; rage)
Leaf-on-Wind
Ephie
>Mr. Splinters
Clover
>Snowy
Slurk (commanded 2 actions)
Song-of-Air
Nabi
“Might make you feel strong, but borrowed strength isn’t true strength.”
Well, at least now we know they have sided with demons!
Ephie moves in so he has line of sight and shoots an arc ar the barbarians!
I hope this hurts me less this time…
The first of the robed men swiftly ducks and avoids the lightning entirely . The energy ricochets off of the wall toward the other man, but he turns and avoids some of the energy .
Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.
Rulean (24/38 hp)
Red Hermit (+5 hp; rage)
Blue Hermit (+2 hp; rage)
Leaf-on-Wind
Ephie
>Mr. Splinters
Clover
>Snowy
Slurk (commanded 2 actions)
Song-of-Air
Nabi
Leaf-On-Wind pulls out his bow, focuses a bit and then gives a bit of a shrug. "Too close, too many bodies, don't want to hit one of us by mistake."
"You all are out of your damn minds," Clover snaps as she moves forward to give Rulean some assistance, marking Red as her prey. "There's always a price to pay when you bargain with demons!"
Having made this observation, she then attempts to shove the tip of her longspear between Red's ribs.
You are talented at outwitting and evading your prey. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Deception checks, Intimidation checks, Stealth checks, and any checks to Recall Knowledge about the prey, and a +1 circumstance bonus to AC against your prey’s attacks.
______________
Clover nearly punctures a lung as she rams her spear into the wild-eyed guard. Meanwhile, the slurk chomps its massive, tusked mouth down on the guard who had given it the command to attack. "Not me--aaii! Stop it!" The slurk blinks at the guard that it just bit expectantly. "No treat!"
Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.
Red Hermit (-5 hp; rage)
Blue Hermit (-8 hp; rage)
Leaf-on-Wind (readied attack)
Ephie
>Mr. Splinters
Clover
>Snowy
Slurk
Song-of-Air
Nabi
--2--
Rulean (24/38 hp)
Rulean swings at Red twice and then raises his shield.
Fatal d10
crit, die increase, extra die for fatal
Fatal d10
crit, die increase, extra die for fatal
“Looks like it thinks you are the treat!” he tells Blue.
Nabi stands in the entrance of the room, right between Clover and Rulean, shoot an arrow toward the slurk, and steps back, using guerilla tactics
◇Lingering Performance
◈ Inspire Courage
◈◈ Electric Arc (DC 19)
Song casts Electric Arc on both hermits, hoping to continue the damage on them.
Nabi fires an arrow and steps back. The arrow pops one of the pustules on the slurk's back where the pus swiftly hardens into a golden crust. Song-of-Air conjures lightning in her hand and directs it toward the humans. The closest sees it coming and ducks under the arc completely . The second is nearly as fast, but he still catches a glancing blow from the electricity. Rulean brings the cold iron pick down hard on the raging guard and then again, but the second blow glances off of the hide armor.
The closer guard rams his trident toward Rulean, but the iruxi blocks each strike. The unlucky guard points at you all and shouts at the slurk, "Attack them!" They both then raise their shields defensively.
Encounter! Round 2. Bold may act.
Red Hermit (-11 hp; rage)
Blue Hermit (-12 hp; rage)
Leaf-on-Wind (readied attack)
Ephie
>Mr. Splinters
Clover
>Snowy
Slurk (commanded 2 actions)
Song-of-Air
Nabi
--3--
Rulean (24/38 hp)
Ephie flings more electricity at the barbarians.
He then follows up with the axe on Blue.
Clover aims another jab at Red with her longspear...
...before stepping to one side, trying to make some more room for her companions. "Snowy! Get 'em!"
______________
Snowy dashes through the door and into the corridor, fur bristling as he tries to chomp down on Red's leg.
______________
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The first of the guards nearly escapes Ephie's arc of lightning. It is almost like he's used to dodging lightning at the hermitage dedicated to the god of storms. The second one fails to see it coming this time. The spots fade from his electrocuted vision just in time to see his companion's head removed from his shoulders by a whirling greataxe.
Clover takes out the (literally) shocked guard with a thrust of her spear. Snowy charges in and bites the slurk. The slurk bites back, tearing off some of the badger's bandages and then hops toward Rulean.
Encounter! Round 2. Bold may act.
Slurk (-7 hp)
Song-of-Air
Nabi
--3--
Rulean (24/38 hp)
Leaf-on-Wind
Ephie
>Mr. Splinters
Clover
>Snowy (22/32 hp)
Oh. That may have been a tad excessive.
YOU DON'T SAY.
Ephie fires a beam of ice at the slurs before raising an arcane shield.
, -10 speed if crit
Rulean steps into flank with Snowy and attacks the slurk twice. “Leave snowy alone!”
Fatal d10
crit, die increase, extra die for fatal
Fatal d10
crit, die increase, extra die for fatal
With a rumble of frustration Leaf-On-Wind runs into the room and starts assaulting the remaining slurk. "I JUST PUT THOSE ON!" he caws as he hip-checks the frog-like entity then kicks it a couple of times for good measure, funky nastiness be damned.
Ephie's ray of cold catches the slurk center of its chest. Rulean defends himself with the pick, piercing the beast's crusted shell on its back with both swings. Finally, Leaf rushes in and hip checks the frog-like beast so hard that it passes out.
With the immediate distraction of battle gone, you notice that the door to the north has been boarded and nailed shut. The elaborate doors at the end of the hall and the door to the south are not boarded.
Encounter Over
Status
Song-of-Air
Nabi
Rulean (24/38 hp)
Leaf-on-Wind
Ephie
Clover
>Snowy (22/32 hp)
Clover glances around warily, in case the ruckus draws more crazy hermits - or worse. Once she's somewhat assured that they're in the clear for a moment, she begins rifling through the hermits' belongings.
"Maybe one of them's got keys or something..."
That was quick. And quite bloody. Let's check the place.
Nodding, Rulean says “Think I will patch myself up. Someone want to check the door they were guarding?”
Neither of the guards possesses a key. Looking back, you can see that the door through which you entered was only secured by a wooden bar. The doors to the north and south appear to have only pull handles and no locks. The north door is held closed by boards nailed across the casing.
Nabi listens to the north door and hears nothing. Or does she? Is that a sound or is it the thrum of her blood pulsing through her ear?
The elaborate door to the east also appears to not have a locking mechanism.
Status
Clover (43/45 hp - 30 min)
Ephie (22/32 hp - 20 min)
Rulean (24/38 hp - 50 min)
Snowy (24/32 hp - 10 min)
“I think the boarded up door is most likely to have a potential ally, while the fancy door is likely to lead to more troublemakers.” Rulean gestures to each door as he says this.
“I have a slight preference for the boarded up door, but it is likely to make some noise as we tear off the boards.”
"Maybe someone with a lighter hand could try the boards once we're patched up?"
There is a slight pause. "Even if it's not allies, worst case is something that scares demon-empowered idiots"
We should try patch ourselves up, at least a little bit. You know I dabble in anatomy myself from time to time, perhaps I should pick up those studies again…
On the meantime. Ephie looks in his crafting kit for oil or other tools that might make the removal of boards somewhat quiet.
Borrowing Clover's bedroll to muffle any noise, Ephie begins removing the boards from the door to the north. With his tools and experience in prop-making, it does not take much time at all. Pulling the door open a crack reveals a stairwell the descends into darkness. With vision gained from his orcish heritage, the light slipping in from the hallway torches is enough for Ephie can see sconces bearing extinguished torches punctuate the walls on the way down. He figures it might be a dozen yards or so before it lands at a cross hall.
Status
Clover (43/45 hp - 30 min)
Ephie (32/32 hp - 20 min)
Rulean (24/38 hp - 50 min)
Snowy (24/32 hp - 10 min)
"A basement? I dunno..." Clover remarks as Ephie removes the boards and peeks beyond the northern door. "Maybe we should finish looking around up here, first?"
She turns and presses her own ear to the southern door, listening for anything unusual.
Ephie nods. I agree. It seems as if there is one way in or out of that tunnel; before we commit, it may behoove us to ensure there are no knives at our back.
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Mr. Splinters sits atop Ephie's backpack and pantomimes stabbing motions.
Clover hears nothing but her own breathing, the shifting of her companions, and the echo of silence on the other side of the door. Contemplating that a set of stairs descending into darkness might not provide you with a quick escape, you carefully pull open the door to the south to see if there is anything that needs your immediate attention.
The light from the hallway illuminates a small wash room. There are several gray hermits' robes hanging from wall hooks and bars of crude soap lined on a table near the door. On the far wall is a wall mounted basin filled with water.
Status
Clover (43/45 hp - 28 min)
Ephie (32/32 hp - 18 min)
Rulean (24/38 hp - 48 min)
Snowy (24/32 hp - 8 min)
"Does anyone else wonder if we should be donning those robes? Then again... We're circus people. I suspect we would fool no one if we tried to disguise ourselves with them."
"The robes wouldn't be enough to disguise me." Rulean replies, running a claw along the scales on his arm to indicate why.
"I have no objection to checking out the other rooms here first."
But maybe I could. Even if the monks are male, and I'm not. I could put a robe on, and tries to sneak around, what do you think?
“It might work for you, Ephraim and possibly Clover. I think the rest of us would have to stay out of sight in order for the bluff to work.”
YOU WILL BE OUR CAPTIVES.
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Ahh… our friends can pretend to be captives if we need to explain why they are with us.
Ephie rubs his chin. This plan may have benefits. What can go wrong?