"...something about it but for some reason I am drawing a blank." Before the bard had finished her sentence, Bharak was charging in alongside Elathras. He too had no idea what it was, but it looked nasty, and after seeing the time-lost soldier in the cell, he had little questions about whether or not the disgusting creature would be friendly or not.
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Learning what the pool actually was, Elathras dips his hand in the water, lifting to his lips to taste it. Turning to the others, "Odd that his place was abandoned, this pool alone would make it worth renovating."
"There... must have been a good reason to lock it away behind the mural..." Elena says, staring at the pool in wonder, hand outstretched as she senses the pool. "The magic in this water, it's just... a miracle! Self-replenishing, and it has so much restorative power! Oh I just wish you could all sense it! It would take me two spells to do cure what one drink of this fountain would do instantly . This pool... it could heal any number of wounds for anyone in Varisia, given time, for free! So that even the poorest of folk could-"
Halfway through pooring some of the water in an empty oil flask, she blushes. "Oh. I mean... ah, sorry. It's just... to find something like this in my field, that's a huge discovery. To see proof of just how amazing the magic of old Thassilon was, and so soon, at that! Just imagine what else we could find down here!"
Not knowing much about the demon but recognizing the importance of this statue, Elena draws the wand of bless in the split second when combat breaks out to grant its effect to everyone!
Moved by Elena's passionate reverence for the magic of ancient Thassilon, Axton places his hand on her shoulder in comradery. Intrepid runs along Axton's arm and puts a paw on Elena's shoulder and offers a reverent squeak. Otherwise, the pair are speechless.
In the next room, Axton's eyebrow shoots up at the sight of the hideous worm-thing, but he can offer no explanation for it. When Bharak and Elathras charge the creature, Axton and Intrepid contribute to the attack with magical energies.
Elthras & Bharak are becoming a well drilled machine, both charge forward and attack the slimy, pulsing flesh of the hideous thing. Elthras hits but Bharak finds his weapon slipping harmlessly off the skin.
Axton watches as his spells glance off the pasty skin with no effect.
It shrieks in pain and rears up, spewing a spray of maggots at Elthras
Spraying them uselessly over the floor at his feet. :(
The party can now act again!
Smiling as a story comes to mind, "I've a tale about a fantastic trio of half-orcs for you all. Let me begin with the leader. Her name was Ownka who was quite fearless which was probably due to her being far more orc than human. She possessed a dwarf ventriloquist dummy in which she aptly named 'Dummkopf'. Her trusty sidekicks, Kronos the barbarian and Grog the mighty warrior, absolutely LOVED Ownka's acts. Legend has it she's one of the greatest ventriloquist in all of Golarion. Kronos really loved Ownka's shows more so than Grog did. He would sit and smile and clap all along. He would just clap and clap. And 'no' there was no beat or rhythm he would clap too, he just loved to clap at her performances. Because he learned that 'clapping' meant that she was good and he also found it quite fun.
Now while Grog did enjoy Ownka's talent, he always wanted Ownka to use the elf as the dummy. He thought that would have been far more enjoyable. Did I mention there was also an elf among the trio? His name is a mystery to me but the story goes is that he was called 'Elfee'."
Raising an eyebrow as Elena said there must have been a good reason to lock the pool away. As she rambled on about it value, Elathras nodded his head in agreement. Drying his hand off he realized that if it had been a hell knight outpost the would have hidden their secret away as well not sharing it with anyone. He could hear his aunt saying "Resources are limited, Even magical ones." As they left the room Elathras observed. "Once were done with our exploring and have made a full report, maybe Venture captain Heidmarch will turn the information over to someone who wants to help the city."
Seeing the giant maggot spew a myriad of tiny Maggots, Elathras holds his ground. He had been trained to handle sights worse than this. Lifting his fauchard again, he tells the others, "Watch out, he floor may be slippery." And chops at the creature again.
Bharak was somewhat confused as to why a riveting story was being told in the middle of a fight, but he had to admit that it was stirring. Little did he know that the magic-laced words did indeed cause a surge of adrenaline, which helped bring his hammer down with all the more force.
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[i]"Weren't abyssal worms supposed to be rather weak? But it just shrugged off two brutal attacks from Elthras and Bharak... Ah, I *wish* I could remembar Aram Zey's lecture! It's somewhere on the back of my mind and I just can't reach it!"[/b]
There's a moment of hesitation as half-formed ideas of scanning the statue for magical energies form in her thoughts...
...But then Umazura's song takes effects and she can but run forward and stab the slug instead!
Seeing that his spell had no effect, Axton unlimbers and loads his crossbow.
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Elena shocks everyone and misses? Axton prepares to use more mundane measures.
The Abyssal larva shrieks in more pain and again lashes out at Elthras.
Sinking its fangs into him with a sizzling bite.
The party can now act.
Hearing the strange story told by Umazura inspire him, Elathras lifts his fauchard off the stone he struck. The large larva moving faster than Elathras thought possible, he is unable to dodge as the thing bites at his leg. "Blast!" Cursing he realizes there is a burning sensation. Warning is fellow pathfinders, "Beware it's saliva is strong enough to burn." Lifting is Fauchard, he chops towards the white
Elthra lashes back at the damned thing, his fauchard sinking deep into its pallid, flabby body. Hitting a vital point and ending its cursed existence.
Treasure: The ranseur held by the statue is not a part of it, and can be removed from the statue’s hand with a successful DC 18 Strength check (or by smashing the hand—hardness 10, hp 20).
It is a +1 cold iron ranseur.
Your identification of the statue as the Runelord Alaznist sparks a memory. The fresco you puzzled over many rooms back in B19 shows Alaznist defeating an enemy. The man she was defeating must be Thybidos, the Runelord of Wrath who preceded Alaznist. Images of Thybidos are quite rare—if the PCs make a good copy of this image (with a successful DC 25
Craft or Profession check of an appropriate type) and give the image to Sheila, she’ll give them a 1,000 gp reward for the discovery.
Three doors lead away from this room. West, East and south. Which way are you going first?
Bharak reached out to take the fauchard from the statue. When it didn't immediately give, the dwarf brute-forced it out by just ripping it from the statue, causing shards to fall to the ground.
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"Elthras!" Elena calls out when he's hit, though the slug is swiftly killed in retaliation. After it dies, Elena approaches the hellknight and winces at the smoldering wound on his leg. "That... looks bad. Hold still - I'll help you."
She folds her hands and closes her eyes. "Come forth, incorruptible light. A gentle flourish. To restore what was destroyed - how it was made for the world to see."
A soothing, many-coloured wave of positive energy radiates from the half-elf and heals everyone's wounds, though it seems to flow around the fallen demon. "There, much better! I could close it fully, but... it might be wiser to save me energy for a later time, when we need it more. Still, you should be good. Can't uphold either end of our deal if you can't move properly, hm?" there's a slight grin which is broken the next moment, as a clang on the ground heralds Bharak partially destroying a thousands-year-old work of art right behind her.
"I'll... have to come back here later and repair it," she thinks, somewhat rueful over its loss. "But, it's probably best to let this slide for now, for the sake of group harmony."
"The weapon is infused with magic," she realises shortly. "If either you of can use it, I'd suggest holding onto it. We might need it to fight if we encounter ghosts or such."
Bharak raised the fauchard with one hand and tossed it to Elathras. "A human weapon for a human hand." He said. "Would be ridiculous for me to use something bigger than I am!"
Drawing his fauchard from the dead larva, Elathras turns when Elena speaks his name. Glancing down at his leg, then back at the cleric, blushing slightly as she winces. "Um, it's not that ...um ok." As she prays for his leg he watches as Bharak reaches to tear the polearm loose from the statue.
Moving his leg, "No, that's fine, much better than I could have hoped for. Um bargain?" Blushing a little more, he also glances as Bharak rips the ranseur from the statue. Relieved to have something other to talk about, he catches the weapon, holding it up looking at it. "A fine weapon indeed, Elena." Smiling at Bharak's comment he shrugs. "I'm happy to carry it until we decide what to do with it. But if you change your mind, it is at your disposal."
Holding the ranseur in one hand and his fauchard in the other, Elathras gestures towards the doors, "Clockwise again?"
"That's right!" Umazura blurts out of nowhere, throwing a hand up as if she just remembered something. "Do you all remember the room with the mural? The one where Alaznist impaled a man with her ranseur? Well I am quite certain that the man she slain was none other than the Runelord of Wrath, Thybidos, who preceded Alaznist as stated Runelord. Now images of Thybidos are extremely rare and if we could procure ourselves a copy of said image and hand it over to Sheila, I do believe we could fetch no less than 1,000 gold." She leaves that hanging in the air for a moment before, "Of course, it would take one of us with the proper skill to copy such an image. And it would not be easy. But if we could manage it, then it would be well worth our effort."
"Well worth it indeed!" Bharak said with a smile. "She's got the right idea of it. That's a fair bit of coin for a picture, is it not? So, lass, any idea on how we can copy it? A spell perhaps? If a scroll is needed, we'd still get some profit out of it."
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Glancing down at his leg, then back at the cleric, blushing slightly as she winces. "Um, it's not that ...um ok." As she prays for his leg he watches as Bharak reaches to tear the polearm loose from the statue.
Moving his leg, "No, that's fine, much better than I could have hoped for. Um bargain?" Blushing a little more, he also glances as Bharak rips the ranseur from the statue.
"Hm? You offered to teach me military forms, remem-" the priestess begins, slightly confused then looks up and cuts off abruptly."Wait - Your face, it's flushed! Very red, actually. Could it be? Is that the onset of Demon Fever...? That's a very agressive, and it WAS an abyssal worm..." She mumbles, seemingly to herself, as her cyan eyes per at Elathras intently. "Okay. Hold still, please; I'll need to make sure."
She removes one of her her leather gloves and touches his forehead with her left hand. "Hm. It doesn't feel like a fever, not yet at least. That's a relief. But then, why-...oh."
She takes a quick step back as she also seems to blush. "I-I mean, you're fine. I'm... sorry; I'll ask next time. I thought you'd be used to something like this. And I... might just be a bit overly worried after Gul died yesterday."
Fortunately, there was now the matter of the mural to distract them, too, and she listens to Umazura's history lessen with rapt attention.
"So, lass, any idea on how we can copy it? A spell perhaps? If a scroll is needed, we'd still get some profit out of it."
Elena, at this, cautiously raises her hand. "Ah, Bharak? Before we go and seek magical means for this, how about I try just... you know, drawing it in my chronicle, with a pencil? I may not be a dedicated sketcher, but we see a lot of painters and drawers in our temples, and I just might have picked up a bit of skill on the way. Now, if one of you could hold the light by the mural for like... half an hour or so and I could borrow the back of someone else to draw on?"
Should anyone decide to help, she eventually finishes quite a good likeness of the Runelord in a single go! "There! Quite acceptable, I think? Perhaps I should thank Rayjin for his lessons when I get back to Absalom..."
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Elena produces an excellent image of the important fresco. With a little training she could be quite the artist. :)
The eastern door opens onto a short passage. 20' long and opening into a small room.
C6. Mindless Guardians
The bare stone floor of this room overlooks a stair that descends to the south.
There are two creatures guarding this room.
This vaguely humanoid creature is about as tall as a human and has clawed hands and dark grayish-black flesh. It wields a spear in its clawed hands.
The party may act first.
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A big bushy smile broke across Bharak’s face upon seeing the drawing. ”Lass, if I had half your skill, I’d be making a comfortable living away from all this death.” After a moment he said ”Well, maybe not. But ye get the point. Let’s get through this, and we’ll drink to your friend, and to your skill, once we’re done, aye?”
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Extremely impressed, "Well done, Elena, very well done. I did not realize you were quite the artist," she compliments, giving a nod of congratulations.
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Studying the creature a moment, "This is a Nupperibo. A devil. A devil that is considered even lowlier than a lemure. These beings possess no intelligence, so they simply do what they are commanded to do which is fight. And fight to the death they will. I do not believe we possess the proper weapons to hurt them efficiently so make sure when you do hurt them, hurt them good."
"Haven't met anything which stands up from a hammer to the face." Bharak said as he strode forward and demonstrated just what he meant.
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His eyes widening as Elena jabbered on about him blushing, Elathras, let's out a heavy sigh. As she stopped to draw the statue, He got up a little more nerve. Looking over her shoulder, "I had not forgotten about our arrangement, though I must confess that I have two left feet and learning how to dance is a little intimidating. especially from someone with your grace. But the redness in my face was due to not wanting to admit I was wounded. My Aunt was insistent that her knights show no pain."
As he peered over her shoulder, he looked from the drawing towards the statue and back again. Pointing at the right ear, "I believe that ear should be shaped a little differently, here let me." He took the pencil, and slightly changed where the earring was placed. Smiling he nodded, "That should do it."
Frowning at the two vaguely humanoid creatures, Elathras listens as Umazura describes them as devils. Unlike his fellow hellknights, Elathras did not associate with devils. While he did recognize the value of organization, he could not accept their need to be evil. Seeing them as nothing but monsters he followed his fellow pathfinder into the room. As Bharak went left he stepped forward to the right, dropping his fouchard, lifting the newly gained ranseur, "Hurt them good is exactly what I intend." When he nears, he swings the ranseur in a chopping motion at the devils neck and shoulder.
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A big bushy smile broke across Bharak’s face upon seeing the drawing. ”Lass, if I had half your skill, I’d be making a comfortable living away from all this death.” After a moment he said ”Well, maybe not. But ye get the point. Let’s get through this, and we’ll drink to your friend, and to your skill, once we’re done, aye?”
"Well done, Elena, very well done. I did not realize you were quite the artist," she compliments, giving a nod of congratulations.
The half elf chuckles, smiling broadly and now deeply absorbed in the sketch. Her eyes had a shine of sorts as she seemingly got more and more excited making something that was shaping up to be an actually good piece of art! "Thanks, everyone! I... guess I'm better at this than I thought, even! Maybe I should take up studying it? And yes, that sounds lovely, Bharak! The first round is on me, along with a nice meal in a good tavern or restaurant, to celebrate how well things have gone so far. What do you all say?"
"I had not forgotten about our arrangement, though I must confess that I have two left feet and learning how to dance is a little intimidating. Especially from someone with your grace."
She smiles and looks back occasionally, alternating between speaking and drawing. "That's very sweet of you to say, and thanks. But you know? That's exactly how I felt when I started, too. Though, if you don't want to..." she hesitates a moment. "Then that's fine? It's just, I would like to learn more about this martial discipline you have, but I can't offer much else in return. Perhaps I could draw you, if you prefer that?"
"But the redness in my face was due to not wanting to admit I was wounded. My Aunt was insistent that her knights show no pain."
At this, however, she completely stops what she's doing and looks up from her work, eyes wide. "Sorry - she did what ? Look, Elathras, I... don't know who your aunt is, and she probably does have her reasons," she continues, concerned. "But please, promise me that while we're in a group together, you'll never try to hide your wounds from me. That sort of behavior... honestly, that gets people killed, and how do you think that would make us feel, if we could have easily healed you and stopped that from happening? That would be like me trying to feign being an expert martial artist to you, only to fail you when you needed me. It is at least unfair and at worst suicidal, I think."
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"Shouldn't we worry about retrieving Axton's body from that pit before jumping into a fight? No? Okay."
"...And fight to the death they will. I do not believe we possess the proper weapons to hurt them efficiently so make sure when you do hurt them, hurt them good."
"Wait - What sort of weapons do you mean?" She waits as the half-orc shares that. "Silver? Oh, I bought a mace just for that! Let's see if it works!"
Bharak & Elthras continue to work well together, cutting the near mindless devil spawn down with a single blow each. Elena's bloodlust sadly remains unsated. :)
The stairs lead down and to a branching passageway. Following the clockwise path you arrive at:
C13. Occupied Guardroom
The smell of the sea is strong in this room, and salt encrusts the floor in a trail leading from the south door.
Again the room is guarded by the loathsome Nupperibo's. Five of them this time.
The party has the drop on them. What are you doing?
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Seeing a larger number of devils in front of them, Elena briefly stops to think.
Keeping the exposition on hold until the fight was over, she walks forward to attack the orange devil in hopes of opening the way for the more seasoned warriors to take up better position.
...At least, that's what she told herself, as the mace strikes true, and might just have killed the devil in a single hit.
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Resisting the urge to tell Elena that his aunt is Audara Drovust the Commander of "Fort Inevitable" Elathras respond by nodding his head to Elana. "I will try to remember."
Having picked up his fauchard and jamming it in his pack, Elathras follows the brave dwarf down the steps and through the hall. Noting the smell of the sea, Elathras realizes there are more devils in this room as Elena sweeps past them and crushes the skill of the nearest devil. Moving into the room past Elena, he compliments her, "Well struck, Elena" as he moves past her, setting a defensive position to keep the cleric from getting flanked. chopping at the Nupperibo against the far door.
The room was getting crowded, but now was their best chance to strike a crippling blow. With Elena being her usual deadly self, and Elathras proving his skill at arms, Bharaz likewise charged in. It was hard to swing his hammer in such a tight confine, but he did his best.
With no room to maneuver within, and it looking like the three have the situation under control, Umazura holds her position for now.
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The remaining Nipperibo are quickly dealt with and the room goes quiet.
The door to the east refuses to open, there is no lock, it has been boarded up from the other side. The southern door is crusted with salt on its lower side which has scraped across the floor whenever the door is opened.
What are you doing now?
Putting his shoulder against the eastern door, Elathras gives it a nudge, frowning he asks "Does anyone have a crowbar?"
"Nay, but I have a shoulder. Let's do this together, one the count of three. One...two...three!"
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"Good job, everyone! And not even a single injury, too! Let's keep this up if we can," Elena cheers to her allies, then wipes the blood from her mace on the remains of one of the devils. "Say... now that we're here, does anyone remember if it was common for ancient Thassilon, or the runelords, to employ many bonded devils? That's seven of them in just two rooms... I wonder if that's normal or if there's something strange going on here."
When Bharak and Elathras attempt to break down the door a bit later, she attempts to help. "You say it's barded from the inside? That's... interesting, in previously sealed part of the Crow. Well, only one thing to do!"
She leans into it with all her might, straining and puffing, but is unable to really add to the effort compared to the stalwart knight and dwarf. Somewhat embarassed, she chuckles and grins off-handedly. "Hey, at least I tried?"
Axton gets better and rejoins the party as they work on opening the door.
Bharak & Elthras continue to work well together, easily smashing through the boarded up doorway to the room behind it.
C14. Stink’s Redoubt
The walls of this chamber have been coated in dried black ichor. Rudimentary lines and smears within the layers of gunk have been added to create crude examples of simplistic art.
An unusually large Lemure is using this room as its lair and it shrieks at you as you enter but does nothing else.
"Go away! Leave me alone you bullies!"
What are you doing now?
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Recovering from smashing through the door, Elathras instantly recognized the Lemure. Raising the magical ranseur to defend himself. 'I didn't know they could speak.' Raising an eyebrow as the devil speaks. He tells he others, "It said to go away and to leave it alone, calling us bullies." He furrows his brow. "I didn't know they were intelligent enough to speak, but I don't think it would be safe to leave a devil loose."
"To arms, then." Bharak said, raising his hammer. "They're made out of pure evil, aye? I, for one, won't listen to it's lies."
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Sensing imminent violence against what may well be a fellow artist, if a beginner and a devil at that, Elena quickly tries to step in the way! "Please, wait!" she says, throwing up her hands in a calming motion. "Look over there. It's tried drawing! And it speaks. The others were mindless, but this one isn't. And it was hiding here from someone, or something. The other lemures outside, maybe? Not us at least, as we just got here. Aren't you curious about the 'why'? I say we let it speak, at least, to perhaps better understand what's going on here?" she suggests, should she make it there before this unusual lemure is turned into one more smear on the walls.
Bharak did not look happy. ”If it pleases ye. But know this, I’ve never heard of anyone speaking to a demon or devil and coming out wiser, healthier or saner than before.”
Raising an eyebrow at Elena, Umazura ponders her request a moment before simply shrugging. "While I would have no qualms in sending this creature back to the Abyss where it belongs, I must confess, I am intrigued at Elena's idea. Who knows? This might prove interesting."
"If Elathras is willing to translate, then go ahead."
A few words are enough to tell you that this thing is barely intelligent and can only speak a few words. The supposed art is caused by his wriggling around the room and brushing the walls.
When you don't attack it promptly offers you its treasure to kill the 'bullies'. For some reason unknown to Stink (That is the name it gives you), this level is overrun with imps and other minor devils.
All of whom are being Devils trying to kill or rule each other.
Stink ate few other lowly devils and grew enough to be more intelligent than the normal Lemure.
He has no idea of the layout of this area, or who is where and doing what?
What are you doing?
A few words are enough to tell you that this thing is barely intelligent and can only speak a few words. The supposed art is caused by his wriggling around the room and brushing the walls.
When you don't attack it promptly offers you its treasure to kill the 'bullies'. For some reason unknown to Stink (That is the name it gives you), this level is overrun with imps and other minor devils.
All of whom are being Devils trying to kill or rule each other.
Stink ate few other lowly devils and grew enough to be more intelligent than the normal Lemure. But he's still a complete coward and is hiding from the other minor Devils.
He has no idea of the layout of this area, or who is where and doing what?
What are you doing?
'Unless we somehow seal it in, this thing is clearly a threat to anyone on the island.' Again surprised that the pathfinders would rather speak to such a monster than slay it, Elathras nods to Axton and translates.
Feeling like he needs to scrub his skin until it turns bright red, Elathras looks towards Elena then Umazura, and asks; "Ladies, does that sate your curiosity?"
Remembering the slippery slope the 'Hell Knights' and Cheliax at large started down when they began bargaining with demons, he shakes his head. "I'll have no part in a 'deal with a devil.' If you all want to work for it, I will translate and stay with you. But I'll take no part in it's payment and I cannot promise that I will not kill it when we are done."