Ephie would like to sense motive n the statement "there is only one way into the tower."
What do the demons look like?
<"Cavnakash is powerful. He makes the demons obey,"> the xulgath answers Nabi's translated question. <"I don't know why he wants the orb destroyed only that he does.">
The xulgath describes the demons as a little bigger than himself that walks like a xulgath but with gray hide, horns and wings.
Thank you. Ephie beams at how intimidating he is. He believes he cuts quite the imposing figure and poses with his axe.
Mr. Splinters giggles and knocks it out of his hand, and watches the Xulgath run off.
The xulgath runs away in the opposite direction from the tower as soon as you indicate that he is free to go. He does not even stop to pick up his crude knives. Leaf-on-Wind and Rulean are able to tend your relatively minor injuries before you set off toward the tower once more.
Nothing radiates magic in the area.
2 Rough forged iron daggers
12 Javelins made with knapped bone heads
4 Clubs made from hefty dried roots
As you approach the tower, you can see that it is made of mud-brick with steep sides that would be difficult to climb. Someone has built a scaffold on the front side that rises toward an opening forty feet above the ground in a series of switch backs. You approach as carefully as you can, but the flatlands around the tower provide little cover to hide your approach. By the time you reach a bow shot from the tower, you can see two stone statues on either side of the ledge at the opening. They match the description the xulgath, and some of you wonder if he was fooled by statues.
The aeon orb circling the tower appears to be roughly the diameter of a man from your perspective. Maybe smaller. Certainly no larger.
Suddenly steam begins to billow forth from the opening in the tower. This only lasts for a short minute.
“Those are two gargoyles, not statues.” Rulean says in a soft voice to his companions.
"Gargoyles? Okay, so...we can handle them, right? Nothing to worry about?" Clover whispers, hunkering down as best as she can - more out of habit than anything given the sparse cover available.
Ephie nods, and makes ready to fight.
"If we're going against Gargoyles, remember that you need to hit them hard. They're resistant to all physical damage but adamantine."
The gargoyles--if Song-of-Air and Rulean are right--make no sign of life or of noticing you. They remain still and stone as statues as you creep forward. Even once you reach the base of the scaffold and even once you begin to climb, they give no sign of being anything other than devilish statues.
Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.
Rulean
Song-of-Air
Clover
> Snowy
Nabi
Ephie
Red Gargoyle
Blue Gargoyle
Leaf-on-Wind
Song dances her "hit them harder" dance, tapping out a catchy rhythm to help people fight.
◇ Lingering Performance
◈ Inspire Courage
◈ Stride
◈ Shield
Song moves closer so that she can get into Electric Arc range, and then casts Shield for protection.
Rulean lifts his shield and moves up.
Ephie raises his shield and follows 10 feet behind Rulean.
Nabi takes her bow, and follows
"C'mon Snowy," Clover whispers as the group cautiously begins to climb upward on the scaffold. She takes care make sure she and Snowy don't get ahead of Rulean. The thought of fighting these things on the scaffolding leaves her uneasy and she tries her best to not look down.
Maybe should've tried luring them down...a bow shot or something...
"Um, hey...should we try to lure them down? There's not much room on this thing for fighting," she whispers, voicing her thoughts out loud.
______________
As you advance along the scaffold, the statues finally reveal their true selves. Their stone-like exterior ripples like water and them become far more life-like. The two gargoyles take the air and swoop towards the lead trespassers.
Their claws tear into the iruxi and halfling. The iruxi, despite his efforts to defend himself, takes bloody wounds across his scales . They make no call or challenge as they attack, they simply do.
Encounter! Round 1 & 2. Bold may act.
Leaf-on-Wind
--2--
Rulean (17/48 hp) (shield)
Clover (43/58 hp)
> Snowy
Nabi
Ephie (shield)
Song-of-Air (shield)
Red Gargoyle
Blue Gargoyle
Although it didn’t help last time, Rulean raises his shield and then tries to hit the one attacking him with his pick.
Fatal d10
crit, die increase, extra die for fatal
Fatal d10
crit, die increase, extra die for fatal
Song moves forward, and then decides to shock the Gargoyles!
◈◈ Electric Arc (DC 20)
Resistant to weapons you say… WEphie points a finger at the nearest gargoyle and blasts it with ice.
He then raise a shield.
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Rulean lands a solid blow against the gargoyle above him, but even though the skin looks supple, it resists and chips like stone . The gargoyle evades his second swing and, along with his companion, manage to avoid all but a glancing arc of the rather anemic lightning bolt that Song-of-Air summons.
Ephie's ray of freezing energy manages to cause a fine mesh of fractures to spread across the hide of the gargoyle flapping over Clover.
Encounter! Round 1 & 2. Bold may act.
Leaf-on-Wind
--2--
Rulean (17/48 hp) (shield)
Clover (43/58 hp)
> Snowy
Nabi
Ephie (shield)
Song-of-Air
Red Gargoyle (-7 hp)
Blue Gargoyle (-14 hp)
"Nasty little guardians," Clover huffs as she studies Blue's movements for a moment, mentally marking the creature as her prey. Then, she brings up her fork and attempts to test it against the creature's stony hide.
______________
Nabi sends three arrows, hoping one will hit, just to see if they can damage the gargoyles
Clover strikes the gargoyle, but it only leaves the faintest of scuffs on the stone-like hide . Nabi manages to chip the hide after releasing the first arrow too soon. The third arrow strikes the gargoyle but not hard enough to mark it .
Leaf-on-Wind draws his longbow as he enters his archery stance in hopes of hitting hard enough to damage the flying statues. He swiftly releases two arrows, strikes with one, and the gambit pays off as the arrow chips the hide.
One of the gargoyles swoops to hover over Song-of-Air and grabs hold of her by the arm, which it bites.
The other flaps to slow its descent and lands between Ephie and Nabi. There it turns its attention upon the wizard and tries to rend him with its claws. Fortunately, Ephie proves hard to catch.
Encounter! Round 2 & 3. Bold may act.
Leaf-on-Wind
--3--
Rulean (17/48 hp) (shield)
Clover (43/58 hp)
> Snowy
Nabi
Ephie (shield)
Song-of-Air (30/38 hp) (grabbed)
Red Gargoyle (-7 hp) (grabbing Song)
Blue Gargoyle (-18 hp)
RSeeing how effective it was for Ephie, Rulean fires a ray of frost at the Red gargoyle. He then raises his shield.
120’ range
Crit Success double damage and -10’ speed for 1 round
Ephie looks at Song, worried about a flying creature grabbing someone while they're so high up. However there isn't much he can do about it at the moment,
He repeats his tactics from the last round.
Ephie and Rulean conjure rays of snow and ice to noticeable effect against the gargoyles.
Encounter! Round 2 & 3. Bold may act.
Leaf-on-Wind
--3--
Rulean (17/48 hp) (shield)
Clover (43/58 hp)
> Snowy
Nabi
Ephie (shield)
Song-of-Air (30/38 hp) (grabbed)
Red Gargoyle (-14 hp) (grabbing Song)
Blue Gargoyle (-27 hp; <50%)
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Seeing as her Electric Arc did nothing this round, Song sends healing energy to Rulean.
◈◈ Soothe
Then she attempts an escape to slip out of the the gargoyle's grip.
She's sweating so hard, her feathers slide out of the Gargoyle's grip as if she greased them.
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Song-of-Air soothes Rulean, allowing his mind to surpass the pain in his body. She then expertly slips out of the gargoyle's grasp.
Nabi draws her sword and stabs it deep into the gargoyle's back . The creature's eyes glaze over, and it topples from the scaffold where it shatters on the ground. She then sheathes her sword in preparation for using her bow.
Clover turns her attention toward the remaining gargoyle and drives her enchanted fork into its hide, but it only scratches the surface . She tries again, this time she lands the tines along one of the frozen cracks and drives hard .
Leaf-on-Wind ends the second gargoyle's life with an arrow through its eye on his next shot .
Status
Rulean (38/48 hp)
Clover (43/58 hp)
Song-of-Air (30/38 hp)
“Should we treat our wounds now, or get inside before we do that? The gargoyles didn’t seem to raise an alarm.”
I believe now would be idea, Ephie looks for a place where they might at least cuddle out of sight.
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During the anxious time that you huddle under the scaffolds and tend to your wounds , no other guardians--xulgath or otherwise--come or go from the tower. Bandages and poultices applied, you make hike the rest of the way along the crude and rickety scaffolds to the ledge where the gargoyles once sat.
The yawning entrance to the tower leads immediately to a stairwell descending into the mudbrick tower. The steps are worn and uneven, which will make the descent difficult and potentially dangerous. Even with the sun shining outside, you can still make out the flicker of firelight at the base of the stairs where it appears to open out into a room as best you can tell from above.
While the rest of you only hear the sound of the wind whistling past the walls of the tower, Leaf-on-Wind believes that he hears something scuffing the ground down the stairs.
“Does someone want to sneak down and take a peek? We can see there is light in the room.”
If no one is interested in scouting down the stairs, Rulean will lead the way. He isn’t exactly stealthy.
Ephie nods to nabi. Please, lead the way!
The stairs are more slippery than Rulean anticipated.
Clover patiently waits for Nabi to lead on before waving at Snowy and doing her best to carefully follow behind...
Snowy follows after Clover with ease - these sorts of things are second-nature to a badger!
You begin your descent, following Nabi and stepping where she points in order to avoid making too much noise. A foul stench, hideously so and different in character to each of your perspectives saturates the air. You make good progress following the acrobat's instruction. Unfortunately, the ancient and worn stairs crumble under Rulean's weight, and the iruxi tumbles down several steps, staring upside down into the torchlit chamber.
Two messily butchered cow carcasses lie in one corner around a fire pit. There two xulgath stand guard, one of them tossing offal to a pale-feathered dinosaur that resembles a giant chicken with teeth instead of a beak and a long, sinuous tail.
Two more xulgath stand guard on the other side of the room.
Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.
Song-of-Air (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Nabi (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Clover (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
>Snowy (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Rulean (prone) (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Red Square Guard
Blue Square Guard
Blue Circle Guard
Ephie (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1) (banked Acrobatics success for next move)
Dinosaur
Leaf-on-Wind (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1) (banked Acrobatics success for next move)
Red Circle Guard
Ephie remembers when he was in the University lab, putting thanergetic sulfide and phlogiston through an olefination. When the valve burst an incisively vile stench spread rapidly through the building causing fainting, vomiting and evacuation.
But it was also a little savory. So…
He shrugs.
Mr. Splinters imagines the smell of burning hair just for fun.
Nabi smells her old father's perfume, and nearly throws up.
It smelled like elderberries, of course.
She sends two arrows toward the closest foe, but her shaking arms don't help her aim
The smell of rotten eggs assaults his senses as he lays there on the stairs.
“That could have gone better.” Next time I concentrate on where I’m going rather than trying to be quiet!
Rulean gets to his feet, raises his shield, and then retches to try and clear his senses.
Nabi swiftly fires arrows at the xulgath standing at the corner of her wall. The first arrow ricochets off of the brick wall, but the second sinks into his shoulder.
Meanwhile, Rulean recovers from his stumble and raises his shield in defense.
Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.
Song-of-Air (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Nabi (Sickened 1)
Clover (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
>Snowy (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Rulean (shield)
Red Square Guard
Blue Square Guard (-8 hp)
Blue Circle Guard
Ephie (immune) (banked Acrobatics success for next move)
Dinosaur
Leaf-on-Wind (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1) (banked Acrobatics success for next move)
Red Circle Guard
Clover finds her senses assaulted by the sickly-sweet smell of foul discharge and rotting flesh, hallmarks of a gangrenous wound. She'd encountered such a thing once before as a child, when one of the village elders suffered an injury and ended up losing their foot to the resulting infection. It was something she knew she'd never forget and the sudden rush of memory and sensation is enough to set her stomach churning. Rather than fight it she gives in, retching in an attempt to force the nausea to pass.
Luckily, it seems to work. Wobbling a little, Clover attempts to move further down the stairs...
...but she's quickly forced to halt lest she tumble the rest of the way down. After regaining her balance, she tries again...
...and manages to make it down to the bottom.
______________
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Snowy sniffs the air and wonders what all the fuss is about! Two-legged critters are so weird.
Leaf-On-Wind has caught scent of far, far worse during his retraining to be a medic. And that was *with* a mask on. This aroma is bad but not horrific, at least for the moment.