A few moments have passed, but it seemed that while death had come, it was not a painless experience, but rather suffocating and hot. This was not at all how she had imagined she would die, nor did the pain seem to help. It at first only reinforced the idea Desna had left her, for what else would explain all this she was feeling?
That is, until she heard other voices, faintly. Perhaps I was not forsaken, but rather I am not dead. Or does the planes of Desna have others you can hear? While pondering this, there was light suddenly, and she was under some rumble, with her face down in it. After a few moments of struggling, she would stand up, hair still sparkling in the dirt and grime.
" I am in one piece, but sore. Desna did not abandon us it seems, but my faith was not as strong as I would like. We need to get back up, for I have to repent for my transgressions."
Nothing of what happened this day is our fault, Jasaka. - says Mareena, approaching her and tapping her arms around to open a way through the dust smoke - And believe me, the Monarch never abandoned you. Like the Inheritor for sure now wants to guide us in these troubling times.
She looks up, circling her eyes as to try to find more people on the rubbles.
And you're right that we have to go back up there. Not for repenting, but for a different kind of salvation; that of the others who depend on us. At this moment our survival is the a gift from that good dragon herself, her last sacrifice, and we should honor it by putting to good use. Come, let us all move!
Arlena lets out a relieved sigh as she hears the replies from everyone else, although she remains a bit worried at the lack of signs from little Alona.
"I agree with Mareena - we were quite fortunate to be the ones that Terendelev chose to save with her last breath - and we have to do what we can to aid those who might not have been so fortunate."
With a few whispered words, Arlena's glove starts shining with a pale blue light and she joins Mareena in her search for others who might be hurt nearby.
Caelian had been just starting to enjoy the festival of the light seekers when the unmistakable stench of demons almost overwhelmed him and sent him reeling for a second before the screaming began. Before he could regain his balance there had been a thunderous explosion that had knocked him to the ground which began to vibrate before opening up under his hands. The last thing he remembered were the shining silver eyes of the great Terendelev locking on his as the balor's blade came sweeping down at her neck.
With a start the elf woke up and instantly felt what seemed like hundreds of pounds crushing him down. His heart began to pound as he realized he was buried under the rubble and very close to suffocating to death. Caelian grunted and pushed with all of his might to try and dislodge something as even a tiny shift might open up a pathway for air to find him. When he could not move even an inch terror began to creep in from the edges and suddenly he was fighting a very different battle as a deep growl erupted from his throat, loud enough that anyone searching would hear what sounded like an animal beneath their feet, a very pissed off animal.
With a roar a large white tiger clawed it's way free and exploded from the rubble moments later, flying right over Arlena and showering her with dust and small tones. The tiger flew clear of the rubble underfoot before skidding to a halt and spinning around rapidly with a savage growl, looking for any threats that needed to killed right effing now. When nothing presented itself for clawing the tiger shook it's head as light gathered around it and the great cat turned into a ragged looking white haired elf kneeling on the ground. With a groan Caelian thumbed a vial from his belt and downed the minty drink before collapsing on his back as the healing energies did their work. Happy to just be able to breath clearly he closed his eyes on the ground and just breathed deeply, letting out all of the stress.
Hearing what seems like an angry animal growl coming from a large nearby pile of rocks, Arlena quickly turns towards it is, just as a large white blur bursts forth and passes over her head, startling the tiefling woman.
Worried about this new threat, Arlena swiftly pivots to face it, assuming a defensive stance and starts to shout a warning at the others: "Everyone, be careful - a large white beast just...", stopping as she sees the tiger turn into an elven man - one she recognizes as the owner of a potion shop in town where she usually went for healing supplies.
Seeing the man collapse after drinking one of his healing potions, Arlena quickly rushes to his side and kneels beside him, cleaning the dust from his clothes as she looks for any wound that might require more immediate magical healing.
"Can you hear me? Desna has blessed me with some healing powers, do you feel any wounds that still need healing?"
Caelian held up the now empty potion vial and wiggled it. "Not anymore." he said with a snort. He let his hand fall back down and just stared up at the ceiling. "The dragon is dead. The Lord of Locusts has come for us again, once again my heart is dragged further and further away and the soul of the faithful cry out in rage. When will it stop? When we will have vengeance for all of the fallen, for the desecration of our holy places? When WILL IT STOP!?!"
He sat up quickly before standing and throwing the empty potion vial at the rubble in a fit of rage. "When!? When will we stop having to run and hide!?"
Mareena approaches the Elf slowly, and tries to place her hand on his shoulder and offer a half-smile.
Our path starts when we give the first step, like all others. - she speaks - Breath in your righteous rage, and turn it against those who wrong us. Hear the words of Iomedae through her Paladin's mouth: we all have had enough, but we're blessed with our lives and strength, and should use it to honor the ones who lost their lives, or whose strength fault them now. The innocent await and we shall shield them. We shall be the shield for them, and our blades shall right these desecrations.
The elf's sudden outburst catches Arlena by surprise. She slowly rises to her feet, and looks up at the tall elf, nodding along at Mareena's words.
"Mareena's words are wise. We all share your frustration with this war and wish to do as much as we can to stop it. Terendelev chose to guard us with her last moments, and we should take the chance she gave us to protect those who need it most. We were looking for survivors who might have been hurt when the ground opened up, will you lend us your help?"
"Calm yourself, ancient one." Looking around, Wrathadorand sees he is the only one standing who is not party to a species that lives centuries, so 'ancient one' might not be usefully descriptive. "The only ones hiding are the demons. Hiding from me." Let it not be said that the warpriest does not have confidence in his place in all of this. He continues to glance through to rubble looking for survivors. Those trapped under anything more than a light dusting of pebbles would be beyond any rescue attempt the group could affect, and any that survived the initial burial would not survive long enough for an organized rescue. He does not see Alona. The father in him is torn. He cannot afford to be distracted by thoughts of his family, not in these dire circumstances. He would not want his daughter to suffocate under the rubble, but digging for her under the countless tons of debris would be both pointless and impossible. Ever the practical shoanti, Wrathadorand decides to assume she escaped the collapsing town square and puts her out of mind for now.
"What is this cavern?" He demands to no one in particular. "Who knows about the geology of this place?"
As the big Shoanti stepped away from the rock fall with thunderous purpose he will see the corpse of a human sized spider 15 feet in front of him. Next to the spider was an immense stone column that reached all the way up to the ceiling where the path split to either side around the pillar before the way was lost to darkness.
"Giant spiders? Under the city streets?" Wrathadorand mumbles, kicking over the dead spider. "Just what the city needs. Demons from above, spiders from below." One might argue that being sent below the city had a silver lining, if they can eradicate the spider menace while they are down here. "If the rest of you have caught your breath, we need to move." His daughter has his helmet, wherever she is, but he prefers fighting without it. There is a certain intimidation factor to ranks of faceless knights, all wearing identical armor, but Wrathadorand believes his foes deserve to know his face before he brings them to justice. With their infernal and celestial blood, it is impossible for Wrath to guess the ages of the three ladies, but they all seem quite young to him. Who knows how much life or death combat they had seen, or how they might react to a swarm of giant spiders? "Keep close to me and keep your eyes open. If anyone can make a flame, that will help with webs."
As she steps closer to the stone pillar, Arlena notices how Wrathandoran's booming voice isn't echoing back from the two paths ahead of them.
"It seems both these tunnels go on for quite a bit further. I've never heard of any tunnels beneath the city, I have no idea where each of these paths might lead."
Nodding at the Shoanti's advice, Arlena holds her holy symbol for a bit and chants a small prayer to Desna, asking for her goddess' blessings before they travel further in.
"I don't have any way to make a flame, but I've asked Desna for a bit of protection in case we're attacked.
Arlena takes a quick look down each tunnel, not really expecting to see anything that might help in choosing a path forward but hoping to be proven wrong.
Tying her hair back, she cast a small spell to mend her clothing, though it does little to help anything but remove small rips and tears. But something back to normal was grounding, and after a few minutes alone in her thoughts, she finally speaks again.
" I am new, but paths under cities does not seem strange. Is this not how you move water about? Perhaps it is merely an old water path. We should... explore the right side, see what it holds?" Her voice shook slightly, but it was clear she was trying to do what she thought was best. Which wasn't much, but it was something.
The paladin steps ahead, longsword and shield now drawn. She is stoic; her painted shield may be now dusty from the fall, but she keeps it high and proud.
The Inheritor shall show us the way. - she says - You are probably right, Jasaka. Any side looks as good as the other one, but I'm sure we will find the fastest if our hearts are on the right place. Let's make haste, my friends, as others suffer in each of our wasted breaths.
She proceeds to move ahead the path the skald suggested, eyes piercing through the darkness.
The moment Wrathadorand pulls back his foot to kick the dead spider something erupts from within the corpse and 2 thick white worms the size of a human torso with round mouths filled with razor sharp teeth lash out at him.
The blind maggots tumble out of the spider corpse with the movement from their sudden attacks, rolling across the ground uselessly until they bumped up against the warpriests' legs, completely vulnerable for a moment.
"Fantastic. Not just giant spiders, but giant parasite ridden giant spiders." Parasites would die without their host, but the worms are large enough to harm a child should one find their way down here, so Wrath tries to skewer them.
Seeing the maggots burst forth from the dead spider surprises Arlena for a bit, but she quickly reagains her composure and focuses on the vermins. Although they seemed pretty harmless against their heavily armored companion, they could prove to be deadly for anyone else who might have been hurt by the fall.
Grabbing her longspear and asking Lyra (her butterfly familiar) for a bit of Desna's luck, she thrusts at the closest one, trying her best not to interfere with the actions of her more martially apt companions.
One of the maggots at the feet of the warpriest is skewered by the expert strike of Arlena, causing the giant vermin to let loose a faint ear piercing wail of pain and thrash against the weapon for a few seconds before thumping to the ground in obvious signs of death.
Taking a cue from her comrades, Jasaka swing switch her gandasa, starting a dance of damage if she hits. First spiders now maggots???? This could not get any worse!
Mareena moves slower than her companions, heavy under her armor, but still goes truly as she swings her longsword against the remaining creature.
Jasaka and Mareena finish off the last maggot, splattering the big warpriest with green blood. The silence following the combat last only a second before the group hears something shift in the immense rockpile they all crawled out of as a short-haired woman who been assumed dead began to awake and cried out in pain as she clutched at the large stone sitting on her obviously broken leg. A portly middle-aged human man in fine but dusty clothing came walking from around the back of the rock pile, fine but for a few scratches. Near where the rockpile vanished into the ceiling a white-haired elf in ripped black robes with bloody eyes stumbled from one rock to the next as he blindly felt his way forward and falling more then once.
"Wha...what fiendishness is this!?" thundered the human man, pointing a shiny golden dagger at the party unsteadily. "I demand you identify yourselves!
"Go stuff your imperious arrogance up your ass Horgus, they are just like us-" the woman's speech was cut short in a hiss of pain as she attempted to sit up and was brought short from the pain of her leg. Strangling back a scream the woman looked over at the party and fell back in exhaustion. "A little help please?"
"Who is that? Who is there!?" the elf called out, his hands slipping once again and slamming him into another rock.
Caelian rolled his eyes at the sudden circus as his form shimmered and was replaced with the large white tiger. The tiger ran past the human noble with a contemptuous flick of his tail before jumping onto the rockpile and scaling up higher and higher with relative ease. When Caelian came near the blinded elf the large cat simply clamped down on the neck of the elf's robes with his mouth and lifted him high enough off the rocks that he could carry him down carefully, jumping from rock to rock before landing near the woman and depositing the elf on the ground.
Almost immediately the tiger shifted back into the tall elf and began pulling potions out of his pack. In elven Caelian spoke to the blinded elf "I'm going to hand you a potion now. I can't heal your eyes but I can make it so you can at least walk and defend yourself.
Arlena winces at the human man's words, assuming his tone and word choice is directed at her, but her elf companion's dramatic rescue attempt (the sudden appearance of the white tiger would still take some time getting used to) brings her mind back to reality and away from her thoughts.
With Caelian already helping the wounded elf, she rushes towards the fallen woman, doing her best to remove the boulder crushing her leg without doing more harm, and channeling magical energy into the woman's leg, hoping it is enough to heal it back to normal.
"How does your leg feel? Do you think it is good enough to allow you to stand?" Arlena asks the woman, extending her hand to help pull herself up if needed.
Focusing on healing the woman helped Arlena calm herself enough to reply back to the human man, and she hoped the display of her healing skills had helped to reduce the man's initial mistrust.
"I'm Arlena, I'm a priestess at the temple of Desna." She grabs the holy symbol around her neck and holds it up to make sure it is visible to the man. "We all fell down when the earth opened up beneath our feet, which I imagined is what happened to you as well. We were looking for survivors and for a way back to the surface. I believe it would be safest for us all to travel together, and who knows what other creatures might be lurking down here." She gestures at the remains of the spider and the maggots "Would you care to join us?"
The human woman took Arlena's hand and stood with some difficulty, the visible surface wounds on her leg now healed but the bone was still broken.
Horgus harrumphed after the whole affair before addressing Arlena with an arrogant tone. "I am Count Horgus Gwerm and will pay you 1000 gold to escort me to the surface where there is sure to be safety. I've no wish to stay down here ANY longer."
The blind elf took the offered potion from Caelian and drank it quickly, sighing in relief as his scrapes and bruises vanished. He blinked several times afterwards and wilted when his milky eyes remained blind. "I am Aravashnial. It would be best if you did more then just hand me a potion, I require someone to guide me. I am a Conjurer of no small skill so you would be wise to listen to me."
Caelian looked over at the arrogant human and smiled crookedly. "Surely there is more you can offer good sir if we are to provide protection in such a dangerous location whilst you stand behind us and contribute little else. You don't want to be left behind now, do you?"
Next he looked down at the wizard and cocked an eyebrow at the blind man trying to take command from while sitting in the dust. "You want someone to carry you along? Can you make the kind of offer as our human friend over here?"
Horgus looks over at the veiled threat from Caelian and makes a cutting motion with his hand. "1000, no more, no less. It's a fair agreement for a simple escort up to the surface, we haven't fallen that far."
"Well well, stuck underground with a bunch of talls, isn't that hilarious." a deep gravely voice said from directly behind Arlena. Before anyone could say anything or move a tall goblin with a hideously scarred face stepped out from her shadow, dusting off a black tophat embroidered with a blue spiral before popping it on his head with a flourish. He was dressed in a surprisingly classy outfit with a white silk shirt accented with a blood red cumberbund that looked oddly heavy. The jacket and pants looked to be made of a soft felt material and the too large shoes to house his oversized feet were polished to a dark shine. Hidden under the jacket poked out the handle of a pair of daggers and a polished oak walking stick completed the 'dashing' look.
The combination of ugly, scarred face and classy outfit gave the goblin the look of a crimelord, or at least an attempt at such a look. "Of course some of us born in the darkness underground. Lukas Quileth, gentleman thief and devotee of My Lady of Graves."
Lukas executed a courtly bow to the group before moving away from the group a little and leaning on his stick. "So how is this going to work? Are we a little impromptu adventuring party now?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm yet skilled enough to heal your broken leg." Arlena apologizes to the wounded woman as she sees her dificulty in standing up. "But I can try to make a makeshift brace from all these debris that should help a little"
She starts to work on the leg brace, focusing on the task while Caelian, Horgus and Aravashnial exchange their demands.
Completely unaware of the goblin's approach, Arlena is startled when he speaks up just as she's finishing up the brace. But she quickly recomposes herself and greets the newcomer.
"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lukas. Arlena Fashaen, priestess of Desna" Arlena returns the bow with a surprised smile on her face. It's not everyday thay you find a polite and well dressed goblin.
"I don't know if I'd call us an "adventuring party", but I do think working together to reach the surface is in everyone's best interests."
She then turns to Aravashnial, hoping it is clear to the blind elf that she's addressing him "Your companion has a broken leg and might need me or someone else to help her stand and move. I can try to hold her with an arm and guide you with the other hand, if you think that would be enough?"
Lukas gave the human woman a side glance before his red eyes darted around at all the debris that dropped down with them. "Hmm, found yourself in a spot of trouble Anevia? I thought you learned why it's a bad idea to stick your nose where it wasn't wanted, tends to leave you a bit bloody. Ah, Ms. Fashaen, I can whip a brace together quickly that will allow Mrs. Tirabade to hobble along under her own power, albeit slowly."
Without prompting the goblin took some lengths of wood and bound them around Anevia's leg, handing her a stick to bite onto before he suddenly tightened the ropes that forced her leg back into a straight position. Ignoring the hand she clamped onto his arm from the sudden spike of pain he completed the rig that would allow her to transfer the weight from the floor directly to her hip, bypassing the broken leg completely.
"There, problem solved...now what is this?" Lukas said, bending down to pick something up from behind Anevia. When he stood back up a large silver triangle was in his hand, bouncing it a few times before looking back up at the party.
"Dragon scale."
Arlena helps Anevia up and holds her while she tries to stand and walk after Lukas is done, helping her along with a conforting smile. Her smile drops as she looks back at the goblin and the scale now in his hands.
"A silver dragon scale... It's most certainly Terendelev's. Things were... Brutal up there." Arlena shudders as she recalls the dragon's last moment. "It's thanks to her that we got here unharmed" She gestures towards her companions before looking back at the scale sadly "Right before the end, she helped us with her magic, slowing down our fall. We might very well owe her our lives."
One by one each party member will find a silver dragon scale near them. The moment they touch the scale a flush of power will flow through them and they feel an intense pain and sadness girded by hope flash through their minds, the last feelings felt by the dragon who had lost these scales.
1) +1 enhancement bonus to natural armor. This bonus increase by +1 at 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th level.
2) +1 bonus to saves vs. Death Effects, Negative Energy and Necromancy spells. This bonus increase by +1 at 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th level.
A silvery gleam under some ruble catches Arlena's eye, and she kneels down to grab it, finding a scale similar to the one Lukas just showed them.
As she touches the scale, however, her mind is overcome by intense feelings of sadness and pain, but with a glimmer of hope shining through them. She closes her eyes and focuses on that feeling of hope, and starts hearing a soothing melody played by a thousand of tiny windchimes.
She slowly opens her eyes as the feelings and music fade away, feeling somehow more in tune with her deity. She looks down at the scale in her hand, which seems to have changed into the shape of a silvery butterfly, before looking at the others, who seem to have found scales of their own.
That feeling of hope... Did Terendelev feel we could make a difference in this fight? Is that why she saved us? It seems she has also entrusted us with her hopes for the future, empowering us through these scales... I just hope we prove worthy of her trust.
A gleam near her lead her to reach out and touch it, seemingly a smooth scale of some sort.
The feeling of loss and pain was one familiar to her, the pain of disappointment and hatred, along with the hope of reunion. Perhaps it will all get better? There was only one way to find out
Perhaps one day I will reconnect with my family? That would be nice... if I ever had one truly. Is this from the dragon we saw? Perhaps not all are evil as the stories told said.
" Perhaps we should give thanks for what we are given? We still have to make it out of here however. Does anyone have any experience down here before we fell?"
"No experience at all, sorry. I do think it's better if we keep moving though, even if we're unsure of our path." Arlena nods at her companion and starts moving towards the fork, leading the blind elf along as well. As they get near, she points at the right path.
"You suggested we turn right before, right Jasaka? If no one objects, I say we continue on."
With a rustle of metallic links the tall dwarf slipped the silver scale into a pouch before securing his shield on one arm and gripping the haft of his axe with the other. He moved forward to take the front position near the exit of from the cavern. In a deep, resonant voice he said "Then let us make haste, the fight is up on the surface."
"Running towards a fight when you have no idea what is going on is foolish. This is an opportunity, I've read stories about the underground of Kenabres for over a year now and I'm sure the Great Spirits sent us down here for a reason." replied the short, bald human Katanu. His voice had a musical quality to it as he placed a piece of rough, milky stone in the knot of polished roots that made up the head of his quarterstaff. He whispered something to the stone which caused it to glow brightly, shedding a circle of light that pushed back the darkness. He smiled at the paladin and motioned with his free hand. "But by all means my friend, lead on."
"Wise words, master sage." Another human steps into the new circle of light, wearing a black and blue outfit, with another silver scale serving as the clasp on his cloak, taking the shape of a crescent moon. From his belt hangs a finely crafted blade bearing the symbol of Iomeadae.
"One shouldn't rush into a fight with little knowledge of what's going on. Gathering information is crucial. But I think we're unlikely to find out anything about what's happening up above while we're down here." The man briefly touches the hilt of his blade, before moving towards the dwarf now taking point.
"I have some skill slipping into the shadows and remaining unnoticed. If it's okay with you, I'll move a bit ahead of the group and scout our path forward, in case there is any more danger lurking further in."
"Well, how do we know you are not demons sent to ambush us? We however do not have the time to argue this. We must get back to assist in however we can. My brother could be there harmed. So to the right we go"
She wished to quickly get back up, and if needed would lead ahead for the group to move on. Fear was a powerful motivation after all, and there was plenty of fear left. She would lead the group out if she had to, but would not push to hard given the injuries she could not fix just yet
"While I understand your concerns, Jasaka, mistrust will get us nowhere. If they were indeed with the demons and wishing to ambush us, wouldn't it have made more sense for them to have attacked us as we tended to Aravashnial and Anevia? More likely than not they're just like us, having found themselves down here after the attack above and wishing to get back up there to their friends and family."
As the others move forward towards the right tunnel, Arlena follows along, still leading the blind elf man along as well.
"You did say you've been reading about these tunnels recently." She asks the short bald man as they approach him. "Do you happen to have an idea on how we should proceed to get back up to the city?"
Angus turns and looks at everyone with a piercing gaze, his eyes scanning from person to person over several seconds. "There are no demons among us at this moment. Or at least no one with a corrupt soul." he said, stepping to the side to allow Xavier to proceed ahead of everyone. "Do not attempt to fight on your own, even if it seems simple combat. Demons and their ilk are masters of deception." he quietly states to the rogue.
Katanu laughs at Arlena's question and points at the only way out of the cavern. "That way. And unfortunately, no. As the city grew they built tunnels on top of other tunnels that connected to natural labyrinthian cave systems that stretch into the earth. No one has ever mapped out the entire system."
He goes to stand behind the paladin, leaning to the side to peek around the corner as the rogue slithers out beyond the edge of his light spell. "Whenever we come to a fork, we just have to choose the path that goes up."
When the rogue creeps into the next area, he sees a smaller cavern that to have once served as a campsite or temporary lair. A torn bedroll lies next to the cold remains of a fire. A pile of bones, broken equipment, and rubble lies just past the campsite.
Arlena tenses as the dwarf casts his judging gaze upon her, and lets out a sigh of relief at his words.
Not sure how much weight the others will place on his words. But hopefully they'll trust him over my appearance.
At the bald man's reply, Arlena nods and gives gives him a nervous smile. "Choosing the path leading up makes sense. I just hope we're lucky enough that it will be obvious which is which at each fork."