...well, that came out of nowhere.
Triel scrutinizes Szuul's words to see if he's telling the truth.
...seems legit. Would YOU make something like that up off the cuff?
"Plague? You plan to unleash a plague on Magnimar?"
Screaming Moon gapes at the insanity of cultists. "But... the cult is inside of Magnimar..."
Holding his head, he tries to think more about the quest they are currently in the middle of. "We don't currently have any plans to go back to Magnimar, though I suppose we could look into it once we get back. Do you know anything more about this puzzle we are currently walking through?"
”Not much. We were supposed to get something called an ‘Abyssal runestone’ from this Gauntlet and bring it back to Magnimar, but everybody else in my group died to the traps and guardians down here. Then I got stuck in that cage and nearly starved to death.”
You return to the previous chamber and investigate the south door, which has the phrase 'Scour me with your furious arms' engraved upon it. Ruby delivers a powerful blow with her greatsword, and the door swings open onto a long, winding corridor. It eventually opens into a large chamber.
The walls, floor, and ceiling of this room are riddled with cracks, testaments to countless violent clashes in the chamber along with the shattered bones and broken weapons strewn about the place. The southern wall of the room is made of iron and bears a softly glowing image of a ranseur, while a partially collapsed, rubble-strewn corridor exits from the opposite side of the room.
"...now, how much do you want to bet that these old bones will suddenly knit together and take exception to our presence?" Triel wryly observes.
"Undead again." Fi groans. "It would seem appropriate. Let's press on and hope that this doesn't occur."
She does not volunteer to go first.
"There were a lot of traps in the other corridor that killed that other group. I'd appreciate a set of eyes up here better trained in detecting them."
Ruby starts tentatively moving forward, prodding the floor with her sword.
You make it about 20 feet down the northern corridor when the eerie sound of raspy howls and claws on stone echo down the passage! A few moments later, you spot a group of four slavering sinspawn rushing towards you!
"Form up! Let them come to us."
Ruby readies herself to strike at the first Sinspawn that comes into range.
Screaming Moon also readies himself to ensnare the first Sinspawn who comes within 30ft.
Hope saw the slavering monstrosities charging at them and stayed behind the line of their group. She pulled in the needed power and sent a blast of gravity out at the sinspawn furthest from the group [i]or the nearest if there isn't one lagging behind the other[/ooc] that was meant to try and root the creature in place or at least slow it down.
Hope blasts one of the sinspawn with gravitic force, crushing it to the ground where it twitches and lies still. Screaming Moon roots one of the monsters in place with strands of silk. As it rips at the strands with its claws to free itself, the remaining two rush forward. Ruby quickly cuts one down with her sword as the other lunges at her. The warrior sidesteps its snapping jaws.
Triel swings her scythe at one!
Hope took aim at the closest of the Sinspawn and pulled in another blast. This time she didn;t go for range but strength in hopes of pushing the thing back as well as gathered power to amplify the damage. When she was ready she let teh blast loose at her foe.
With her path clear, Ruby Meadow rushed forward to the last remaining sinspawn, adding momentum to he overhand chop.
With the danger seemingly under control, Screaming Moon glances back toward the glowing image of the Ranseur.
"Do you think we need to go through the southern portal? My instincts certainly have been leading us in the wrong direction, but an iron door with a glowing image on it seems like an obvious path forward."
Hope and Ruby crush and slice the remaining sinspawn in short order.
As Screaming Moon looks back at the southern door, he sees a second glowing ranseur appear beside the first one! A new set of eerie sounds echoes from the north, and this time, a pair of monstrous spiderlike monstrosities appears, green venom dripping from their gaping maws!
"Ah! Those don't look like normal spiders!"
Moving up closer to the creatures, Screaming Moon summons motes of starlight that swarm around the nearest creature.
Ruby Meadow places herself between Screaming Moon and the creatures, ready to absorb their attacks.
Much like her previous strike on distant sinspawn Hope pulled in power and lanced out a ball of clingy gravity at the furthest sinspawn.
"There is nothing normal about this place." Fioralba responds, moving up alongside the others.
Fi studies the creatures as she moves, trying to identify them.
Fioralba identifies the creatures as shriezyx. Originally created using fleshwarping by one of the runelords of ancient Thassilon, shriezyx are eight-legged terrors that continue to exist throughout western Varisia, lurking underground and in Thassilonian ruins. They are immune to mind-affecting effects, but are vulnerable to fire, which also overcomes their innate regenerative abilities.
Triel winces as the new arrivals barge in.
In response, she casts a spell of invigoration upon herself...
Elanna fires a crossbow bolt that doesn't get past the monster's thick hie. But Hope's blast slams into one of them, wounding it and entangling it.
The creature struggles forward alongside its companion, both of them snapping their jaws at Ruby! One of them hits her, injecting her with venom!
Protected from the poison, Ruby Meadow snarls and returns the shirezyx's attack but her swing is off balance.
Screaming Moon grabs the Bag of Holding from its place Ruby's pack, preparing to pull out some Alchemist's Fire.
Triel moves to engage one of the shriezyxes--specifically, the one attacking Ruby.
Hope pulled in another batch of power and sent yet another blast flying at her previous target.
Hope's second blast causes the entangled shriezyx to crumple to the floor, though its wounds are slowly regenerating. Ruby and Triel miss the remaining creature, but Fio calls upon her arcane pool to enchant her scimitar. It erupts in flames, and she slices at the shriezyx, delivering a critical hit! Seeing her opening, Elanna tumbles around to flank the monster and drives her sword into its back. It falls as well!
Fio uses her fiery blade to dispatch the first shriezyx. As it dies, a third glowing ranseur appears on the southern iron wall and an ominous scraping sound comes from beyond, followed by a loud thump as something hammers against the far side.
The iron wall in the south of the chamber suddenly vanishes, revealing a 20-foot-square chamber containing a shrieking monster! This bulbous, green-skinned shriezyx is as large as a horse, its toothy maw smiling beneath three glowing eyes. The creature takes a moment to use its innate magic, warding itself against fire, before moving toward you menacingly!
Screaming Moon backs up behind the others and begins casting Call Lightning
Ruby pivots and charges at the giant shirezyx
Hope was shocked when the creature appeared behind them and found it was far too close for her comfort. She knew there would be little she could do to resist it if it reached her so Hope moved away, trying to get as close to her friends and as far from it as she could, before she sent a blast out to try and slow it down.
While not as bold as Ruby, Fioralba moves towards the spider queen, or whatever it is. She tries to swing at it, but she slips on her approach and fumbles the last few steps forward.
"...of bloody COURSE." Triel groans in resignation before moving in to engage. A blue ectoplasmic shield manifests before her as she swings her scythe!
The large shriezyx dodges Hope's blast. Fio and Ruby both fail to hit it, but Triel scores a good blow, slicing the creature's bulging abdomen. Elanna keeps her distance as she circles around to flank.
The monster shrieks and attacks Triel, three of its claws piercing her shield to slash her skin!
Triel opts to try a different tactic, channelling occult power into her hand and attempting to paralyze the beast with a touch! Vindir's shield continues to defend her as best he can...
Screaming Moon completes his casting and points to the overgrown shirezyx as a bolt of lightning arcs from the ceiling.
Ruby Meadow stabilizes herself and swings again.
Taking note of how badly Triel was cut up, Fi knows they need to bring this thing down quickly. She pivots to flanking with her sister and tries to bury her blade into the terror.
+
Hope made sure she wasn't too large to the large creature and sent another blast out at it, pulling in energy to amplify it's damage.
The shriezyx resists Triel's spell, and its chitinous shell deflects all of your attacks! It continues to attack Triel, slicing her twice more!
As the continued barrage comes in, and Screaming Moon feels his life force weakening, he holds off on calling another lightning bolt and channels healing energies instead, excluding the enemy.
Ruby Meadow checks her grip and continues swinging.
Fioralba continues to swing her blade opposite of her sister but can't to hit this creature for the life of her!
+ Touch of Fatigue DC14
Another swipe of her scythe, and another shield up to protect her (as ineffectually as it has been so far...)
Hope cursed as she failed to hurt the thing again but was not giving up her efforts. She pulled in one more blast and let it fly with as much force behind it as she could get.
This time, you fare much better! Hope crushes the shriezyx with a blast of gravity, then Triel slices at its underside while Ruby tears through its carapace! Elanna finds a vulnerable spot to drive her blade into, and the monster scratches feebly at the floor before collapsing!
A booming voice echoes throughout the chamber: "WELL DONE. EMERGE, SOLDIER, AND ACCEPT YOUR REWARD!"
A circular stone etched with the seven-armed sigil of the Abyss appears in the center of the room, floating 4 feet off the ground.
"Ah! There it is!" Maga Szuul says. "An Abyssal runestone!"
Triel stomps up to the runestone and grabs it, visibly annoyed. "Wonderful."
"That just leaves the imprisoning room."