Leaf-on-Wind's first arrow sinks into the xulgath's chest muscle. The xulgath reflexively looks down at it and so does not see the arrow that kills him as it passes through his neck.
The tengu turns his next arrow at the remaining xulgath, but fires it too fast and misses. The xulgath turns and rushes toward Leaf-on-Wind with bloody claws outstretched. The agile acrobat just barely manages to dodge the violent swipe.
Villains under the Floor! Round 1. Bold may act.
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78)
Song-of-Air (60/60)
Red
Chani (68/68)
Rulean (68/68)
???
Ephraim (62/62)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (48/48)
Rulean keeps his mouth shut and is able to avoid the worst of the stench from the xulgath’s.
Rulean moves out into the room and then strikes at that remaining xulgath with his pick.
Fatal d10
crit, die increase, extra die for fatal
He then raises his shield, thinking he really should have done that before hitting the xulgath.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Chani wrinkles his nose from the smell of the creatures. "These must be more of the Xulgath's that you have had history with before, yes?"
Chani walks into the room, amulet in one hand and crossbow in the other. He takes a moment to analyze the remaining Xulgath and pulls a sprig of mint from a pocket. Slipping the bit of strong and sweet smelling herb through his amulet, he fires the crossbow at the foe.
+Exploit Vulnerability weakness
While Rulean impales the xulgath on his pick, a demonic chanting can be heard coming from somewhere deeper past the ajar door. Ephie is surprised as a bloody, skeletal demon appears behind him and jabs its barbed spear into his back . The fiend snickers in a whisper as the blood flows down its spear.
Villains under the Floor! Round 1-2. Bold may act.
Fiend
Chani (68/68)
Ephraim (36/62)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (48/48)
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78)
Song-of-Air (60/60)
Rulean (68/68)
Critical Success:
Rulean attempts to figure out what the new creature is.
Regardless of what it might be, in order to be able to fight it he realizes it is time to use a spell. He conjures a javelin to attack the creature.
120’ range
"What th-HEY! HEY UGLY!" Clover calls out to the demon skeleton. "Let's dance! C'mon Snowy!" She swiftly moves to engage the thing and hopefully draw its attention from Ephie.
What IS this thing??
______________
Snowy does *not* like the look of this thing but his eagerness to help Clover and her friends is stronger than his fear. Teeth bared, he scampers around Ephie and attempts to lunge in and bite the fiend!
______________
Rulean's divine javelin pierces the babau efficiently. He notes that there is something unusual about this babau that he cannot quite place his finger on it but is likely due to the specific demonic kingdom from which it spawned. Like all demons, it is vulnerable to cold iron , and this demon is cable of producing terrible wounds with its weapons that leave the injured sickened .
Clover moves in to strike, but her spear glances off of the strangely rubbery red slime coating the emaciated demon. As Snowball moves in to bite the demon's leg, the congealed blood-like slime drops onto his muzzle and burns him.
Villains under the Floor! Round 1-2. Bold may act.
Fiend (-7 hp) (reaction used)
Chani (68/68)
Ephraim (36/62)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (45/48)
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78)
Song-of-Air (60/60)
Rulean (68/68)
Critical Success:
Chani moves closer to the new enemy approaching them from behind. "Now, who are you? And where did you come from?"
"Demon of some sort."
+Exploit Vulnerability weakness
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Mr. Splinters laughs as Ephie is stabbed int he back.
Aiii! Ephie Steps, then Steps, then strides over to Leaf hoping make helping him easier.
Leaf-On-Wind's acrobatics by instinct versus plan leave him a bit dizzy for a second before he recovers to see the results of impending actions.
It is rare that the patient is *right there* to take care of with the adventures this troupe has been partaking of. Leaf-On-Wind, instead of shooting the remaining demon pulls out medical equipment and gear to quickly patch up Ephie!
"Sorry Mr. Splinters, you don't get to be a solo act THAT easily."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
After taking care of Ephie Leaf-On-Wind sends some arrows at the remaining Demon.
Chani recognizes what he is dealing with and prepares a bolt, which he fires through the congealed slime and rubbery hide. Ephie cautiously withdraws to Leaf-on-Wind, and the tengu tends to the wizard's wound.
Leaf-on-Wind then launches a trio of arrows at the demon. The demon agilely dodges each of them.
Villains under the Floor! Round 1-2. Bold may act.
Fiend (-27 hp) (reaction used)
Chani (68/68) (amulet available)
Ephraim (55/62)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (45/48)
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78)
Song-of-Air (60/60)
Rulean (68/68)
◈ Stride
◈◈ Telekinetic Projectile, I.C.
Song moves in behind Chani and wallops the demon with a magically propelled rock.
Song-of-Air wallops the demon with a rock, indeed.
Made angrier by the fight you are mustering, it snarls and moves out of sight of those inside and where it can reach Song-of-Air. Shifting its grip on its spear, it drives the point into the tengu's stomach and twists wickedly as it yanks it back out. Though the wound could have been much worse--Chani having intervened--the demon chuckles with glee.
Villains under the Floor! Round 2-3. Bold may act.
Fiend (-55 hp)
Chani (68/68) (amulet available)
Ephraim (55/62)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (45/48)
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78)
Song-of-Air (56/60)
Rulean (68/68)
Chani looks over in concern at Song. "You OK?"
He quickly reloads his crossbow and fires it. Then consults a card to see if there is anything more to know about this strange creature.
+Exploit Vulnerability weakness
Two can play at that game!
Clover shifts her grip on her fork, extending the weapon's haft and allowing herself a little additional reach with it. She then advances on the fiend and tries once again to strike it.
______________
Chani's bolt and Clover's spear are deflected by the gummy, surprisingly tough blood-like slime on the emaciated demon.
Chani knows that babau demons are formed from the souls of sadists and murderers. They revel in pain and suffering. This affinity for suffering can be turned against them. If the suffering a babau has inflicted can be quickly undone, the demon itself suffers.
Villains under the Floor! Round 2-3. Bold may act.
Fiend (-55 hp)
Chani (68/68) (amulet available)
Ephraim (55/62)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (45/48)
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78)
Song-of-Air (56/60)
Rulean (68/68)
Chani looks curiously at the card - a picture of a toddler screaming as their toy is taken away. He looks back at the demon before them and understanding hits. "Ah. The pain and suffering is your favorite toy."
Rulean rushes to a location where he can better see the demon. Hearing the reaction these demons have to such things. he touches Song-of-Air causing her wound to completely heal. He then directs his javelin at the demon again.
Ephie moves twice, until he has a clear shot, then whirls his old axe at the babau:
Leaf-On-Wind has seen how brutal the spear is, but doesn't want to give the fiend yet another easy target to jab so he scoots along 'inside' to shoot through one of the broken windows.
The demon screeches a terrible sound as Song-of-Air's wound closes. It gathers its senses in time to dodge the spiritual javelin but not Ephie's magically thrown axe. The antique blade sinks in nicely before spinning back to the half-orc.
Leaf-on-Wind lands an arrow in the demon's chest, but the other two are deflected by the gummy slime coating its skin.
Villains under the Floor! Round 2-3. Bold may act.
Fiend (-81 hp)
Chani (68/68) (amulet available)
Ephraim (55/62)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (45/48)
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78)
Song-of-Air (60/60)
Rulean (68/68)
Song-of-Air's stomach lurches just as she lets loose her arrow, and the shaft narrowly misses the demon. The babau grimaces and chuckles as he identifies another target for suffering.
The demon skips between Chani and Clover and after Ephie. It does a little dance before sinking its fangs deep into Ephraim's neck. It makes a happy cackle as it rips flesh off, even as Chani blunts some of the effect with his warding amulet.
Villains under the Floor! Round 3-4. Bold may act.
Babau (-81 hp; <50%)
Chani (68/68) (amulet available)
Ephraim (23/62)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (45/48)
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78)
Song-of-Air (60/60)
Rulean (68/68)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Rulean uses his power to heal Ephie and then follows up with his force javelin at the creature.
“Rejoice in the relief from your pain.”
"Hrmm. Well, we know what to do. Now it is just a matter of doing it." Chani drops his crossbow and pulls out his small mace. He drops another tack nail through his amulet to renew the cold iron effect. Amulet chain swinging, he moves forward to meet the demon directly.
+Exploit Vulnerability weakness
"Right...time to keep up the pressure then," Clover nods, mentally marking the fiend as her prey and continuing to strike at it with her fork.
______________
◈ Inspire Courage
◈◈ Telekinetic Projectile
Song re-inspires courage and throws a rock at the demon. "I'm feeling so much better now, but you... you are not looking good, are you?"
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
[ooc]Swear I posted this earlier![ooc]
“Rejoice in the relief from your pain.”
Ehpie cackles hysterically in Mr. Splinters' voice.
HAHAHA IT FEELS GREAT.
He backpedals in a panic and slings a bolt of plasma at the demon:
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The demon curses furiously in Abyssal as Rulean heals Ephie's wounds. The iruxi adds injury to insult, driving the spiritual javelin through the demon's bloody hide.
Chani slams his mace into the babau, burning it as well or better than cold iron. Some of the bloody slime splatters onto the catfolk's fur, burning him.
Clover manages to jab her fork into the demon--only once, but deeply.
While Song-of-Air inspires everyone, she her aim with her magically projected debris is not inspired.
Ephie withdraws and fires an arc of electricity at the babau. Despite the demon being clearly nearing the end of its strength, it remains quite agile and cartwheels over the lightning bolt.
Leaf-on-Wind fires an arrow through its heart, and it collapses to the ground. Its bones bubble and melt until all that remains is a large, blood red, caustic puddle on the ground and a spear.
Rulean directs his javelin through the demon one more time. “Bets to be sure it is dead.”
Then he points towards the doors and says “Sounds like we better hurry, nothing good can come from such chants.”
Chani slams his mace into the babau, burning it as well or better than cold iron. Some of the bloody slime splatters onto the catfolk's fur, burning him.
As the demon collapses, Chani pulls out a rag and wipes off his fur and his mace. "Mrr. Looks like it still has a few surprises. Or... 'had'."
"Yes, that chanting doesn't sound good. It sounds... Hrmm," he growls softly and pulls out a card.
Clover listens for a moment and digs one finger into her ear to see if it needs to be cleared. "I think it stopped? Maybe it was the demon thing."
Gripping her fork tightly in her hands she cautiously moves towards the far wall until she can see down the nearby hallways.
Chani looks at the card. A blue and orange oval. "Hrmm. That doesn't make much sense. But the chanting does seem to have stopped."
He retrieves his crossbow again and also heads back to the defaced room with the Xulgaths.
With a shrug, Rulean gets his shield into a defensive position and joins Clover.
This palatial chamber’s domed ceiling rises twenty feet above the stone floor. Stained‑glass windows portray a radiant human figure raising two islands from a tumultuous sea. Though the artwork is breathtaking, jagged cracks disrupt the images, and shards of colorful glass litter the floor. Heavy ebony doors stand in the east and west walls. The atrium’s alabaster walls are marred with crude paintings of humanoid figures, demons, and profane symbols drawn in blood. An unpleasant, coppery odor lingers in the air.
Without internal lights, Clover can dimly see the portal to the south open into a chamber. The portal to the north leads into a hallway. The door to the east is open only a crack, which allowed the babau to peek outside.
Let's go.
Pointing to the slightly open door to the east, Rulean suggests “Try there first?”
Pointing to the slightly open door to the east, Rulean suggests “Try there first?”
"As good a choice as any." Chani checks over his equipment, readies his crossbow, and follows cautiously behind Rulean through the door.
Song sends dancing lights ahead of them and follows.
"The demon came from there so good a place to start as any," Clover murmurs. She grips her weapon, beckons to Snowy to follow, and moves along after Rulean and the others.
Rulean pushes the door open, spilling the magical illumination on his shield inside, and Song-of-Air sends her multihued light deeper into the room.
Rows of splintered wooden pews face an oval marble dais three feet high. Wide marble steps lead up to the dais, and a polished mahogany pulpit stands at its center. A glorious fresco on the curved wall behind the dais depicts Aroden engaging in several tasks: battling an imperious necromancer, raising a pair of islands from the sea, and standing atop a mountain with his hands outstretched, wreathed in blue flames.
Hideous images scrawled in tar and old blood painted over the fresco tell a vastly different story. A reptilian humanoid climbs a tunnel from the depths to the surface in one scene. In the next, he reaches out to snatch an orb from a tower drawn on one of the islands, then crushes the orb in his fist. This image repeats four times in slightly different‑looking towers, followed by a final scene of dead trees and skulls around the mountain.
You interrupt a gaunt looking xulgath with grayish skin wearing an incongruously delicate silver circlet set with cracked moonstones is anointing three other more hearty looking xulgaths with a chunky, bloody mixture. The turn to look toward the light.
Unholy Rite! Round 1. Bold may act.
Rulean (68/68)
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78)
Ephraim (62/62)
Red Xulgath
Yellow Xulgath
Song-of-Air (60/60)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (45/48)
Blue Xulgath
Chani (68/68) (amulet available)
Gaunt Xulgath
No specific weaknesses.
Critical Success:
No specific resistances.
Rulean turns and casts his best protection spell on Song of Air. “Kurgess let your holy power protect against these vile creatures.”
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
[BURRRRN!
Ephie's face turns wooden as he cackles in Mr. Splinters' voice and launches a fireball into the center of the room.
Deciding turn about is fair play he opts to get out of such an obvious fireball formation himself and moves out of line of sight.
Rulean, recognizing the threat, wards the tengu bard. Ephie opens with a bloom of fire. The xulgath all weather the blaze to varying degrees, and all of them are still standing (or kneeling).
Unholy Rite! Round 1. Bold may act.
Rulean (68/68)
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78)
Ephraim (62/62)
Red Xulgath (-14 hp)
Yellow Xulgath (-28 hp)
Song-of-Air (60/60)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (45/48)
Blue Xulgath (-14 hp)
Chani (68/68) (amulet available)
Gaunt Xulgath (-28 hp)
No specific weaknesses.
Critical Success:
No specific resistances.
Leaf-on-Wind enters a zen mindset and then releases a swift trio of arrows. He tries to aim past the muscular xulgaths to strike the officiant. The first two arrows narrowly thread between the warrior xulgath and strike the gaunt, gray xulgath. One lodges in his shoulder. Another lodges in his thigh. The third skips off of the stone floor.
The fastest of the two muscular xulgath stand and charge either side of the doorway. One swings its heavy stone maul at Clover, but it slams into the lintel. Dust and grit rains down on the halfling.
The other one swings, and though it strikes the jamb, it shatters the stone and makes forceful contact with Rulean. His shoulder throbs and aches from the blow.
Unholy Rite! Round 1. Bold may act.
Everyone is now within 30 ft of the DC 21 stench.
Rulean (50/68) (immune to stench)
Leaf-on-Wind (78/78) (sickened 1)
Ephraim (62/62)
Red Xulgath (-14 hp)
Yellow Xulgath (-28 hp)
Song-of-Air (60/60)
Clover (90/90)
>Snowy (45/48)
Blue Xulgath (-14 hp)
Chani (68/68) (amulet available)
Gaunt Xulgath (-42 hp)
No specific weaknesses.
Critical Success:
No specific resistances.
Chani grits his teeth in the face of the smell of these creatures.
Even though she knows to expect it, Clover gags as the xulgath stench hits her nostrils and leaves her feeling ill. She attempts to force herself to retch to try and settle her stomach...
...and manages to do it, gross as it is. The halfling then focuses on Yellow, mentally marking it as her prey as she strikes!
______________