Akkaboo awkwardly puts another rock into her sling and whirls it with much enthusiasm, if not skill.
Falxi and Zin manage to slice into the dread wisp, and with a final shriek, the creature disintegrates!
"Creatures such as these are all too common now that Belcora is exerting her influence through the caverns. I wonder what they were guarding?" Falxi gestures toward the far doors.
"Hard to tell, let's take a look around." Zin says as he spends quite some tie working on patching up the others.
After healing up, you proceed through the caves ahead. Four small streams flow through this chamber, fed by a dark pond against the west wall. The streams divide the chamber into islands, each covered with lichen, mildew, and mushrooms. Bioluminescent fungi and strange motes of light bathe the place in eerie illumination, playing off the water to form odd shapes on the cavern’s walls, like humanoid apparitions gliding through the air. Water flowing along the sides of the islands echoes off the walls in weird ways, like harsh whispers.
“Haruvex has risen. There is nothing you can do,” the overlapping echoes say. The sound is hypnotizing, and strangely calming.
On the northernmost island, amid a nest of glowing toadstools, lurks a hulking, four-armed furry creature. It is a gug, like the one you saw on the level above this one. He sits hunched, purring and stroking an object in one of his four hands. The object is a concave lens with a drifting crimson cloud resembling slowly swirling blood within it. The creature glances in your direction, then turns back to his glowing treasure.
"Ah, something strange afoot here. Have any of your heard of this Haruvex?" Falxi steps carefully, trying to avoid disturbing any of the fungi around.
"Perhaps it is content with tresure and will speak of what is happening here for more." Zin looks around. "Anyone understand Gug?" He cautiously approaches, holding both hands out for peace.
Wan patches themselves up and resets Aggro after the battle.
As they approach the guy, Wan chuffs a bit.
"Belcorra. Belcorra Haruvex. That's her full name. Probably shouldn't say it three times in a row, lest a jinx manifest. Ha."
Wan pauses for a second, then carefully pronounces, "Belcorra," once more, as if testing things.
"I wonder if this gug is the friend of the gug that we freed from those cages a level above. Or two levels, I can't be sure."
Despite saying Belcorra's name three times, no fell curse strikes Wan down.
The gug eyes you warily as you approach. He doesn’t respond to any attempts to speak to him, other than to shift his treasure to the hand farthest from anyone who might try to take it.
The strange whispers in the room continue unabated, threatening to distract you.
Zin's eyes turn glassy as he is all too familiar with the voices. "These voices. Were they the ones calling me here?" He looks around. "The voices are so clear down here. The lenses. She knows the secrets of the lenses. Three are within reach, one very close. The other lost by Yldaris. One held by the blood eaters."
"Zin, it's usually better not to heed such voices." The elf gauges the faces in the group.
“I don’t like it in here,” Akkaboo whispers, both hands pulling the wide brim of her hat over her ears. “Can we talk outside?”
”Wassat, Akkaboo? Sure!”
Wan excuses himself from the room with the goblin. ”You all coming?”
You back out of the room, away from the distracting whispers, to decide what to do next.
"I say we explore the rest of the level before we go pestering that gug. Treasure is all well and good, but something in there is messing with our minds. Until we know the purpose of that lens, it seems safe enough to leave it with him." Falxi shakes his head to get out the last of the cobwebs.
Zin looks back to the strange whispers. "We must go back soon. Those are what drew me across this void of a world. I must understand their meaning."
“You mean you hear them all the time? That’s awful! They hurt my head so much!”
"Only at night..." Zin shakes his head. "It used to hurt at first, but as I came closer and closer te voices became clearer and clearer. My head hurt less in this town."
"We should explore a bit more. Though those voices and lens seem to keep pulling at me." He motions to the door with the gug. "I am going to try and sneak in and steal the lens. have my back."
Akkaboo nods worriedly. "Okay, but I'll go a bit behind you and if you can't swipe it nicely I'll tell the gug to drop it."
Zin tries to sneak up on the gug to take the lens from the monstrosity. However, the elf is not as stealthy as he had hoped to be, and the creature turns its head to glare at the oracle. Its vertical mouth opens wide as the gug lets loose a bellowing roar and moves to defend its prize!
The gug moves with eerie grace as he rushes at Zin, lashing out with his claws!
"Hope this is worth it!"
Falxi rushes into the room with his preternatural speed and slips into his battle dance, then slashes at the gug.
for
for
Akkaboo shrieks as the gugs’s claws tear into Zin. “Eeeek! Hold on!” Frantically she scribbles bubble around a tall figure with a scowling face, then pushes it down the hallway towards Falxi.
Zin panics a bit as he is caught. He draws forth the lantern of Empty Light. With shaking hands he opens one of the shutters as pale light splashes across the gug.
AC 25 (26 w/ shield); Curse Stage: Minor
HP 30/86 | Resistance Physical 5; Harm 5 |
Hero Points 0/3
Focus Points 2/3
Spells (1) 3/3 | (2) 3/3 | (3) 2/3 | (4) 2/3
Wand of Heal (1st) 1/1 | (2nd) 0/1
Ring of the Ram 1/1
Curse Benefit: Resistance: All Physical 5
Minor - (Enfeebled 1; -2 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
Moderate- (Enfeebled 2; -3 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
"Coming on a wing and a whisper!" Wan squawks, rushing to Zin's side.
Akkaboo wards Falxi as the elf moves into battle. He misses with his attacks, but Wan kicks Aggro into overdrive and rushes up as well, landing a solid blow! Zin shines the magic lantern at the gug, but it has no effect on the tough monster!
The monster lashes out in a fury, slicing into all of those nearby!
It follows up with another claw strike against Wan, but his armor holds!
Falxi continues his performance, slashes at the creature, then dances back out of reach.
"So much for sneaking around!"
for
for
Akkaboo moves in closer and hurls a handful of fire into the fray.
Zin starts some emergency triage on himself as the claws scrape into his flesh. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Everything's fine."
AC 25 (26 w/ shield); Curse Stage: Minor
HP50/86 | Resistance Physical 5; Harm 5 |
Hero Points 0/3
Focus Points 2/3
Spells (1) 3/3 | (2) 3/3 | (3) 2/3 | (4) 1/3
Wand of Heal (1st) 1/1 | (2nd) 0/1
Ring of the Ram 1/1
Curse Benefit: Resistance: All Physical 5
Minor - (Enfeebled 1; -2 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
Moderate- (Enfeebled 2; -3 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
"Time for some strategy!" the tengu cries, stepping around the side of the massive gug to flank with the elf. "Foxy! Stab him there!"
Aggro's arm crank-crank-cranks into position...
Wan propels the big galoot into a wall with a mighty wallop of his khakkara.
Akkaboo's flame whizzes past the gug, but Zin lands two hits, including a critical strike. The flurry leaves the monster temporarily stunned. Wan delivers a mighty blow that sends the gug flying up against the wall, knocking him prone!
The gug shakes off the stun and gets back to his feet. He is very badly wounded, but roars defiantly and uses his superior reach to try to bite Wan! The tengu avoids the attack!
Falxi dances back in for two more slices at the creature.
for
for
"Burn!" Akkaboo yells, flames dancing in her eyes.
Zin drops the lantern, quickly drawing his blade as he watches his plan break apart.
AC 25 (26 w/ shield); Curse Stage: Minor
HP50/86 | Resistance Physical 5; Harm 5 |
Hero Points 0/3
Focus Points 2/3
Spells (1) 3/3 | (2) 3/3 | (3) 2/3 | (4) 1/3
Wand of Heal (1st) 1/1 | (2nd) 0/1
Ring of the Ram 1/1
Curse Benefit: Resistance: All Physical 5
Minor - (Enfeebled 1; -2 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
Moderate- (Enfeebled 2; -3 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
Wan attacks three times on the flanked gug.
Akkaboo burns the gug this time, then Falxi slices it twice. Finally, Wan unleashes his fury, landing a critical hit that finishes off the furry monstrosity! The huge beasts collapses and lies still, finally releasing its grasp on the crimson lens.
The whispers in the room intensify...
"She keeps them apart while she works her petty vengeance, but the essences shall become one. Find the lenses and place their essences together within a host. Join the essences within Haruvex, and she can fall again. This is a promise of the Empty Death, a promise of empty death."
Activate Interact; Frequency once per day; Effect You grasp the Crimson Fulcrum Lens in one hand and make a Strike that doesn't require that hand. The Strike deals an additional 1d8 precision damage (or 2d8 precision damage if you make a jaws Strike) and doesn't count toward your multiple attack penalty.
Activate Interact (attack, possession); Effect While grasping the lens, make a melee spell attack roll with a modifier of +18. On a hit, you force the splinter of Nhimbaloth's essence from the lens to possess the target. You're no longer invested in the lens, and the target gains the benefits as though it had invested the lens but can't activate the lens's other abilities. This effect is permanent, but it can be ended by any effect that removes a possession effect. The lens doesn't have any magical abilities until the possession effect ends; when it does, the essence returns to the lens.
Zin picks up the lens as his head feels like it is going to burst. "Let's get out of this room. Deaden the voices for a few minutes and clear my head."
”Check baby check baby check one two,” Wan quips.
Akkaboo holds her hands out, eager to study the strange lens the whispers whisper about.
Zin will holds the lens closeby, the voices within him rage in a fury as his face contorts. He takes a couple big breathes. "Let's go take care of her quickly and be gone from this foul tomb." He grips the shard tightly in one and, nearly making his own hand bleed from the pressure alone as he walks back off towards the western doors.
Once you are healed up, you continue exploring, heading south from the room where you fought the calignis. A hall ends at two doors. You look in the east one first.
This room is a jumble of pillows, furs, blankets, and rugs. Several empty jugs litter the floor. A lone caligni lounges here, but he leaps to his feet when he sees you. His eyes go wide when he notices the crimson lens Akkaboo is holding.
"What have you done?!?" he cries in Undercommon. "Have you slain the great gug Urthagul?!?"
"Yes, he was standing in our way." Falxi replies in the same language.
"Do you think they know each other?" Akkaboo asks Zin in a whisper, not understanding a word of what is being said.
The caligni spares no further words for you as he levels his wand!
Zin shakes his own head. "I don't understand them either." He is caught off guard as the creature leaps in to attack and Zin draws his blade to defend himself.
AC 25 (26 w/ shield); Curse Stage: Minor
HP 86/86 | Resistance Physical 5; Harm 5 |
Hero Points 0/3
Focus Points 2/3
Spells (1) 3/3 | (2) 3/3 | (3) 2/3 | (4) 1/3
Wand of Heal (1st) 1/1 | (2nd) 0/1
Ring of the Ram 1/1
Curse Benefit: Resistance: All Physical 5
Minor - (Enfeebled 1; -2 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
Moderate- (Enfeebled 2; -3 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
Wan doesn’t trouble his colleagues in the aftermath of the battle with the gug. Once out of the whispering chamber, Wan patches up his wounds.
”Urthagul?” the tengu queries as the caligni draws his wand. ”Oh no, you don’t!” Without time to consider the name of the slain gug, Wan focuses on smacking the creep(er) and following up his attack with a leg sweep.
Wan misses with his broad swing, but Zin manages to score a critical hit, slicing deep into the caligni's body! The dark folk levels his wand and fires six magic missiles into Zin!
Zin reaches a hand out, sending a powerful wave of energy into the Caligni.
AC 25 (26 w/ shield); Curse Stage: Minor
HP 63/86 | Resistance Physical 5; Harm 5 |
Hero Points 0/3
Focus Points 2/3
Spells (1) 3/3 | (2) 3/3 | (3) 2/3 | (4) 1/3
Wand of Heal (1st) 1/1 | (2nd) 0/1
Ring of the Ram 1/1
Curse Benefit: Resistance: All Physical 5
Minor - (Enfeebled 1; -2 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
Moderate- (Enfeebled 2; -3 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
“Oh, they’re old rivals!” Akkaboo hoots with laughter, and the sound echoes off the walls to grow louder rather than quieter over time. Ghostly monkeys tumble out of the air, snatching at anything they can get their little ghostly monkey hands on.