Vantine answers Aisling's comments with a grateful smile.
"Thank you Aisling. I'll do what I can to help. But really I'm a painter and a model. There's not much about those occupations that carries over to this sort of thing."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As Vantine looks about the darkened room she reports what she sees to the others.
"It seems big, I can't see nearly as far as it seems to go. There's something like a big pool or cistern with disgusting water in it. There's some kind of... maybe a contraption, or maybe decoration. Four pillars in the pool, and they have a system of chains attached to them. Awful things are painted all over the walls, symbols and such. It gives me a dreadful feeling. It doesn't seem at all like the kind of place I'd expect to find anything related to the Silver Ravens, if they're anything like they were said to be."
Vantine creates a groups of three balls of light and sends them into the room to move around slowly.
"Come and take a look for yourselves."
The Silver Ravens emerge from the staircase into a small curved hallway that further opens into a wide, cylindrical chamber. Within is a pool of rancid brown slurry - almost 50 feet in diameter, as Vantine's lights float over the cistern. From within the pool, four stout pillars stand upright, linked together by greasy-looking chains.
Though many of the walls are in a state of terrible disrepair - chunks of plaster wider than the average human is tall have fallen from both walls and ceiling - what wall space is available and visible is covered in foul runes and crude drawings of sinister forms.
Further examination of the symbols and drawings proves impossible, for the lights also reveal two creatures squatting in the cistern. Each is a dwarf-sized shapeless mass of oozing flesh, with two pseudopods extending from where the shoulders would be on a humanoid. On the end of each gleam filthy claws. Vague facsimiles of deformed and tortured faces screaming in agony turn towards the light, and inhuman moans greet the Ravens.
Growing up in Cheliax has some advantages, for everyone can recognize these creatures from descriptions they’ve heard in the past. These are lemures, the least of Hell’s denizens. Mindless devils, they are resistant to weapons save those made of silver, as well as to corrosive spells and those that call upon chill. They cannot be harmed with fire or poison.
Nyxra moves into the room and prepares to dodge the lemures' incoming strikes.
"Disgusting..."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Lemures! If you have silver, use it!"
Jessibel realizes suddenly that this is her moment to shine. Hustling to the edge of the pool, she fishes three coins from her spell component pouch, holding them in the hand of her buckler arm.
"When you're faced with a problem and you're not sure how to combat it
Do what I do: Throw money at it!"
As she finishes her little ditty, one of the coins in her hand shoots out at the closest devil with decent velocity! The accuracy, however, leaves much to be desired.
for
Vantine fishes out the vial of holy water from her pouch. But otherwise she hesitates.
"That is just awful!"
"Well!" The Raven huffs, stepping up beside Nyxra, waiting to loose his dagger until the monsters are closer. "I can see why the Silver Ravens abandoned this place!"
Jessibel, recognizing the threat that the devils represent, enchants a coin and fires it at the nearer of the two. However, the silver shield flies wide, plopping into the cistern - never to be recovered.
The Raven moves up to the edge of the cistern, readying his dagger to throw at one of the devils as soon as it comes within range.
Nyxra advances, but keeps her sword up and in between her and the lemures, keeping her eyes firmly on them in preparation for any unexpected moves. Her feet enter the edge of the cistern’s slimy pool, and the stench slams into her nostrils, leaving her stomach heaving queasily.
”I’ll try to stun them!” Rexus, for his part, rushes forwards and wades into the edge of the cistern his enthusiasm clear in his expression. However, he stops dead when he gets into the sewage, coughing and hacking in disgust at the stench and the fact of where he is.
Vantine draws a vial of holy water from her belt, but keeps still for now.
Aisiling goes slightly pale as she spots teh two devils. She's seen pictures and had lectures and sermons, but this is her first real sight of the damned. She brushes her hand agains her sword, making it glow with a holy light.
She then moves next to the Raven, ready to defend if these things try to attack.
Aisling invokes Iomedae's favor on her sword, the Inheritor's divine power beginning to flow through the shining steel.
The lemures flow (literally) forwards, their flesh swiftly twisting and oozing to propel them along through the three-foot deep sludge. One rushes towards Jessibel, who attacked it earlier.
Once it gets close enough, the Raven’s arm blurs and sends his dagger sailing towards the devil, where the blade stabs it just below one of its fleshy pseudo-eyes… but only the tip pierces the lemure, leaving the dagger dangling from its cheek as it lunges at the bard.
Jessibel dodges several blows from the devil's claws, deflects another with her glowing rapier, and her armor absorbs another.
The other lemure rushes at Nyxra, its claws lashing out viciously. Though she deflects most of the blows, one manages to score through, slicing through her armor and cutting into the flesh of her stomach. It's barely a scratch, however.
Jessibel steps away from the nasty devil now that she can see how potent in combat it can be. Rather than take another shot with her silver coins, she starts singing an uplifting battle ballad from the past.
Nyxra winces and swings her sword at the lemure!
Unfortunately, it's a wild swing. She takes a step back out of the sewage before the stench can get any worse.
The Raven steps into the space vacated by the young bard and, empowered by her song, lands what would be a devastating blow on any other opponent. Unfortunately the devils slimy sliminess absorbs most of the damage from his unsilvered gauntlet. But at least I managed to hit something.
Vantine hurries to Rexus. He seems to be in trouble so she intends to help him move away from the devil sludge.
She would much rather catch both the devils with the holy water so she doesn't use it yet. Instead she recites an incantation, korvan lävistyshuuto and follows it with a scream so focused only the lemure in front of Nyxra can hear it.
Trying to stay clear of the foul muck, Aisling hurries past Jessibel to the Raven's other side. She stares for a moment at the foul, damned thnig. Whtehr it's her own righteousness or Jessibel's song or the adrenaline in her veins, she strikes hard, and true. Her blade peirces the creature through one eye.
Jessibel sidles away from the devil, beginning to sing - the rest of the Silver Ravens feel the now-familiar sense of excellence.
The Raven swiftly takes her place, landing a solid punch on the lemure and knocking his dagger free from its “cheek,” but the devil’s innate resistances keep the blow from doing much damage.
Nyxra slashes at the devil before her, but her blade misses the slimy creature as she almost slips on some of the disgusting liquid in the cistern.
Rexus staggers out of the cistern, his face flushed as he coughs. Shaking his head to clear it, he touches Nyxra, unleashing the power of destiny into her. The elf suddenly feels certain that she will be victorious.
Vantine joins Rexus near the edge of the foul pool before unleashing a terrible scream audible only to the lemure. Its fleshy substance shudders as the sound penetrates its very being, gobbets of meaty liquid splattering on Nyxra.
Aisling's blow is swift and deadly, carving through the devil despite its resistance to normal weapons. It shrieks in terrible pain, swaying backwards as it retreats from the razor-edged blade. In response, it lashes out with its claws. The cleric is caught by surprise by the ferocity of its assault, and its claw slices through a gap in her armor on her inner arm. Though pain shoots up her arm, it is barely a scratch, and she easily blocks the other clawing attacks with her sword and shield together.
Nyxra swipes at the lemure again, wincing at the meaty chunks splattering on her.
She then steps backwards, out of the sewage.
The Raven punches again at the monster, only managing to nearly lose his gauntlet to the sticky creatures 'skin'.
Still singing to inspire her allies, Jessibel repositions, getting a clear shot at the second devil. She lets fly with her second silver shield....
for
Aisling does her best to end this monster's exisitence and send it back to where it came from. She grits her teeth and stabs at it with her longsword but slips and her strike goes wide.
Vantine takes hold of Rexus to support him and help him move back away from the Lemure. With her free hand she makes the same quick gesture as she recites the same words as before. She focuses another scream on the lemure.
Jessibel casts her spell once more, a final time, and fires a silver shield in the direction of the less injured devil. Unfortunately, she has to be cautious, as Nyxra is still close to it, and this causes the shot to narrowly miss the lemure.
The vigilante’s blow is even less effective this time, as the devil’s slimy skin absorbs the shock of the blow without even the hint of an injury.
Nyxra’s sword strikes home, striking the creature in its horrific maw (which is more of a slight depression in its “face”), but the blade bounces off, the devil’s innate resistance preventing her from actually harming it.
Rexus draws his blade from its sheath within the cane, his expression firming as he readies himself to attack the lemure if it approaches.
Vantine unleashes her shriek again, blasting the lemure with sound - this time, however, though gobbets of flesh fly from its body, it doesn't seem quite as disengaged as it was the first time around.
Aisling attempts to recreate her success with the injury of the lemure in front of her - unfortunately, this time Desna doesn’t seem to be willing to do her many favors, as she slips just enough for her sword to go wide.
The lemure engaged with Aisling and the Raven launches its claws in a frenzy of slashes at the cleric, apparently identifying her as the one to injure it most recently. This time, one slash gets past her shield, scoring her across her neck, though her reflexes allow her to throw herself back out of the way before it hits anything critical. The sudden injury puts her on the defensive, and she manages to deflect the rest of its attacks.
The other lemure, finding itself out of melee with anyone, launches itself at Nyxra once more. Before it can reach her, however, Rexus thrusts at it with his cane sword, hoping to help her deal with it. His blow strikes home, but fails to penetrate its membranous "skin." "Blast it!" He shouts helplessly.
To add further insult, the devil seems totally unaware of the nobleman's attack, focusing its aggression on Nyxra. The elf is taken aback by its aggressive assault, and it slashes her viciously, rending through her armor with a fury that seems almost out of place from such a mindless creature. Pain surges through her torso as its claws rip and tear her flesh. She does manage to bat away some of the blows, however.
Jessibel maintains her song, fretting at her poor aim. With her last coin, she targets the lemure Vantine, Nyxra, and Rexus are battling. This time, she at least hits the devil, though it's far from a telling shot.
"Maybe we should back off a bit--lure the things out of the sludge?" the bard asks nervously. "Then flank 'em!"
for
Aisling gives a cry of suprised and pain as the claw cuts her neck. She staggers back a bit, but manages to keep it together. She glares at the monster. "Good will always win over evil. Alwasy." She slashees at it as hard as she can with her sword.
Nyxra swings again, undaunted.
And once again, unsuccessful.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The Raven lands a fourth accurate but low impact punch on the slime creature. "And to think I almost wore my silver dress gauntlets today!"
Jessibel fires her last coin at the devil facing three of her companions, and the fact that it’s made of silver lets it easily penetrate through the lemure’s defenses, shooting deep into its plasmic form. The thing shrieks in agony, its face melting into its head before reappearing to look in the direction that the coin came from - directly at Jessibel. Its distorted mouth opens in a horrific twist as it screams at her again.
The Raven unleashes true fury on the slimy creature in front of him, and splatters of liquified flesh fly around him, as he strikes home in its “face,” staining his armor and clothing as the lemure wails and sinks into the cistern’s water.
The elven ranger launches an attack at the devil before her, but cannot seem to connect with it.
Rexus, noticing that Nyxra is less than successful, steps away from the lemure cautiously, batting away a few of its casual strikes as he does so. With his free hand, he reaches out to touch the elf’s shoulder once more, endowing her with destiny’s favor.
Vantine casts guidance on Rexus, hoping to help him with future endeavors.
Seeing that her previous foe is slain, Aisling brushes past Jessibel and the Raven to attack the remaining devil. Iomedae smiles upon her priestess as Aisling unleashes a devastating overhead attack on her foe, bisecting its “head.” Flesh flies through the air as her blade carves through the devil, splattering on her and the Raven both. Though the thing doesn’t have anything truly vital in its skull, the slash causes it to begin oozing down into the cistern’s disgusting liquid, befouling it even more than it already is.
The remaining devil, heedless of the danger in doing so, launches itself at Aisling, who so injured it. Even as its claws reach her, it begins dissolving, slowly losing its cohesion with a haunting wail. She easily deflects its blows with her shield and it collapses into the muck.
Rexus sheathes his sword cane, leaning heavily on it. "I-I'm truly sorry I wasn't of more use." He stutters, his face bright red in the light of the swords and Vantine's dancing lights. "I am not suited to combat, as you have seen."
Now that the combat is over, those who are interested have the chance to investigate the runes and symbols covering the walls.
Jessibel switches her glowing rapier to the hand of her buckler arm, offering to give Aisling a high five after the victory. High five or not, the bard then moves to examine the cistern briefly before puzzling over the scribbles on the walls. Not surprisingly, she talks as she ponders.
"Fun fact: Many of the sewers in this half of the city were once the streets and first-floor homes and businesses. This cistern may have once been a lovely fountain. Anyhow, because of frequent flooding from the Yolubilis River, the city council decided to raise the city streets and turn areas like this into the sewers. It was the Jarvis family who engineered and oversaw the project; that's why they have a district named after them here on Argo Isle."
If some of this sounds vaguely familiar, it might be because Rexus mentioned much of the same history earlier.
Jessi saunters along the edge of the foul pool, looking at the carvings on the walls. "A lot of these notes and phrases are written in Infernal...I think they're part of some weird ritual to turn the pool into a portal to Hell. I'm no graduate from Alabaster Academy, but...I don't see how this flimsy effort could ever work. Then again, there were a couple of lemures in the pool...."
Looking back to the others to see if any of them are benefitting from her history lesson and musings on infernal portals, the know-it-all admits, "I have no idea what the chains are for. Maybe to constrain a pit fiend?"
"Actually...to carve stuff into the walls that high, you'd need to be mighty tall, or be able to fly. The carvings look like they may have been done by the same person, but some scratches are much older than others."
As soon as she's sure Rexus isn't going to keel over at any second, Vantine goes to Aisling. (After working her way around and inside the cleric's shield) Vantine envelops her in a long, tight embrace with both her arms.
"You were SO brave! You saved us all. Thank you."
Vantine stays there for a while, resting her head on Aisling's shoulder. Her eyes leak onto her cheeks a little with her gratitude.
"Those things were so horrible..."
Nyxra glares at the blubbery corpses of the lemures and can't help but snicker.
"Well. First blood for me goes to actual devils--and the lowest sort, at that. Not to a bunch of CCG posers and bootlickers. I can live with that."
She looks down at her sword. "That being said, I definitely need a silver-edged sword. I don't suppose anyone knows a good blacksmith?"
Rexus looks up at this. "Well, there're a few silver, gold, and platinum smiths in Whitegate Market, over in the Greens... but if you want someone with skill with weapons, well, that's out of my expertise."
Other skilled smiths in Jarvis End or Yolubilis Harbor include the War Cage's tengu shopkeeper Chuko, the Ulfen Mjoll Ironbreaker of Ringing Steel, and a married couple called Imrix and Adola Sythe, who run the Bright Blade.
Finally, there's Villegre's market, better known as the Newt Market, which has an unusual number of magical items for sale - there are more than a few smiths of certain skills there.
Nyxra smiles. "Right--yeah, I think I remember now. Plenty of smiths for that sort of work."
"Of course, the Asmodeans and Thrunes aren't going to like it, but f*!~ 'em. They've always been the problem." She shrugs. "I wonder if I can get a custom inscription on mine..."
"Well, that's good, Miss Nyxra. I have no doubt we'll need all the help we can get against such fiends as these... though, well, perhaps not these fiends. Lemures are fairly pathetic... though I suppose, so am I, for being unable to deal with them." Rexus chuckles dryly.
Setting the thought aside, he turns his attention to the runes and symbols Jessibel is examining. "But who - or what... do you think would try to transform a cistern of all places into a portal to Hell?" The nobleman-turned-sorcerer ponders this for a time. "Someone or something who could fly, obviously, and if Lady Jessibel is correct, something that could live down here for a very long time..." His brow furrows. "But I don't really have any ideas as to what that might be."
Rexus gestures northwards. "Perhaps we will find more information deeper inside. Shall we?" Once the others give their affirmations, he walks around the cistern with trepidation, his expression disturbed.
The group leaves the large cistern chamber and finds themselves in the Ravens' old base, which is in absolute ruin. Plaster has fallen from the walls and ceiling, and the new Ravens troop through what look like old living quarters, an armory, and what may once have been a kitchen. The armory is in shambles - no weapons have survived save for a few corroded hilts and old rusty mace-heads. The kitchen is even worse off, with only a few signs of fragmented cutlery and plates to say that people once ate and cooked here. The personal chambers, well - the Silver Ravens of today figure that's the only real thing these rooms could be, because, well, no one has any idea what else they could be.
Aisling is taken aback by Vantine's hug, but returns it after a few seconds of surprise (being careful not to crush the woman against her armour). "Hey there, it's OK. Yes, they were horrible but for me, that was - that was a better fight than yesterday. I didn't enjoy fighting those misguided idoits, but this. This was righteous." She gives Vantine another hug. "And without your eyes to spot them, and your conjured light, we'd have been fighting in the dark."
She accepts Jessibel's high five, with a broad smile. "This was a win. Whatever we do or don't find here, this was worth it."
Nyxra's mention of silver weaapons brings her back to Golarion. "Buying silver weapons is a good way to bring down attention on ourselvs. Maybe we should-" she bites her lip. This is NOT a suggestion she would have made a few days ago. "Maybe we should find someone who knows how to smuggle these things in."
She looks around the chamber, her eyes sudenly flinty. "But first, I'd really like to remove these markings. They offend me. Rexus, would that acid spell of yours do the honuors?"
Rexus looks around at the walls. "Er... perhaps? It would take a very long time..." He scratches his chin. "But now that you mention it, if we're going to rebel against Thrune and their diabolic backers, we shouldn't let this stand... I just don't believe that I, personally, have the resources to do so here and now. However," he turns dark eyes to look at Aisling, expression grave, "I swear that as soon as we have the ability, I will endeavor to remove this stain from our predecessors' safe house."
So as to symbolize his rejection of diabolism, he does splash acid at the lower symbols as he passes them by.
Jessibel's off in her own little world. She circles the cistern after singing a detect magic spell. If there are any magical goodies hidden beneath the brown slurry, her spell should locate them.
Blessedly, there are no magical auras beneath the cistern - who would want to go in to retrieve anything that was there? Of course, there aren't any signs of the ritual that probably took place here, so whenever the lemures came through from Hell, it was long enough ago that the aura has long faded.
That said, it could have been as recent as a day ago that they appeared, with the limitations of the spell... but probably not.
Nyxra's being unusually perceptive today--she notices Rexus' despondency and the intact crates near the wall.
"Hey--think I found the grimple's nest." She points out the crates.
Finding nothing of interest in the cistern, Jessibel saunters north to see what Nyxra's found. Taking aside one of the crates, the bard uses her dagger to try to pry off the top.
"Not much left of this place," she observes quietly. "Hope these crates hold something worthwhile or the entire expedition will have been for naught."
In the crate Jessi opens, she sees a set of finely crafted leather armor with a leafy motif etched into it. Lying next to one another are a master-crafted hand crossbow, a master-crafted morningstar made of silver with rose vines etched along the shaft, a composite shortbow, and a plain grey bundle of fabric that she unravels to reveal it as a cloak wrapped around a small pouch. Inside the pouch are a dozen gorgeous pearls.
"We've struck the mother lode!" the bard chirps in excitement. Remembering that the goal of the expedition was to recover information on the Silver Ravens, she lessens the degree of excitement in her voice (though her eyes are still wide and filled with a greedy excitement).
"The leather armor is magic," she pronounces. "So is the cloak. Best of all, though: There are eleven more items with emanations here. Five in the first crate, and six even more powerful emanations in the other! Someone get over here quick or I'm gonna open all the crates myself!"
The bard doesn't even bother with the valuable (but mundane) pearls; she wants to know right now what sort of properties the armor and cloak have.
"The armor has the most basic magical enchantment to make it more protective," she announces a bit later. "I can't figure out the cloak's powers...."
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"The rose motif might indicate the mace once belonged to a worshiper of Milani," Jessibel adds, showing only passing interest in the heavy weapon.
Rexus comes to join Jessibel in the northeast corner, examining the nest briefly before turning his attention to the magical item that Jessi has failed to identify. He lets out a low whistle. "That's a cloak of elvenkind. It will help with whoever wears it to sneak around."
He looks at her with a smile. "I'm glad you're excited, Lady Jessibel, but remember we're here to discover more about our predecessors. That said, these will doubtless help us in our battle against the devils of House Thrune."
Aisling wanders overt o inspect the find. "I can use the mace, but I'm wondering if we can reuse the silver. I'm better with a longsword." She looks at the shrotbow. "I'd love to have learned archery, but there aren't enough hours in the day for me to do evertying."
As Rexus identiefies the cloak of Elvenkind, she looks at teh Raven. "Somthing here to interst you?" She isn't sure how she feels about the masked stragner - he could be anyone - but he has shwon himself to be a helpfull ally for the moment.
She looks at teh runes carved into the walls again, with a shake of her head. "Those haev got to go. But Rexus is right, we haven't got what we came for yet."
She sighs, feeling a bit lika sheepdog. "Come on, let's keep moving."
First she prays to her godess for some healing for them all.
Vantine seconds Jesi's opinion of the work in involved in carving so many markings on the walls.
"Considering how many there are and the placement of so many of them up high, a lot of labor went into them. It would have taken a very long time and either very long ladders or some kind of scaffolding to get it done. And they're so nearly so old as the room itself. It isn't casual graffiti that's for sure."
She looks at the pearls since other things are taken care of. She picks a few up, running each one between her fingers then studying it closely under a light.
"These pearls are real quality! Probably a 100 sails. That's each! Not for the lot of them. I mean we're talking about a small fortune just right here, about 1200 sails!"
The Raven leans over the blubbery corpse and gingerly plucks his dagger from its body. ”If these weren’t so expensive I would just leave it...” He mutters of the feather-handled weapon. He feels a tinge of something - jealously, perhaps? - when Vantine hugs Aisling, but he ignores it and claps the cleric on the shoulder. She had saved them, after all. ”Always handy to have a good old fashioned iomedaen around when there are devils to be slain. Gods know I wasn’t much help.”
"Not much left of this place," she observes quietly. "Hope these crates hold something worthwhile or the entire expedition will have been for naught."
”Come now, my dear. What of those lovely pups we met earlier? They say the real treasure is the friends you make along the way.”
The Raven holds the cloak up to the light, inspecting both sides. ”Ahh yes, a fine specimen from my people. I can certainly put this to good use.”
The group cracks open the second crate, which has a small, compact box inside of it - locked quite firmly, unfortunately. The Raven estimates he can get it open within at most two minutes , possibly sooner.
The third crate, which Jessi says holds the strongest magical auras opens to reveal... old straw. With a little digging, however, the group finds six fine figurines - silver ravens.
"Hm... Our namesakes, it looks like." Rexus muses, his lips quirking in a grin. "Most serendipitous, indeed."
[ooc]Rexus continues to knock it out of the park with his Spellcraft rolls.