"It is good of you to offer, Verene. However, I think I better go down and see what is there. I would not risk your life, either."
"I defer to your judgment, then. I'll stay up here, and we will keep one use of the scale's power in reserve, in case it's needed later today." Verene nods at Elyda and stands back while she applies the scale's magic to herself, then approaches and squeezes herself into a corner beside Merixia to keep watch as the two descend. She takes a sharp indrawn breath as the floor falls away beneath them, slowly released in relief when the magic of the scale keeps them from falling. "Once again, Terendelev protects us from harm, even in death. Would we all could leave such a legacy."
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Anevia and Elyda swiftly scan the box for traps, but the archer shakes her head. "I don't see any, but given my performance since we fell a few days ago, I don't honestly trust myself. I'm going to open it now."
The woman does so... and no traps erupt to harm or kill the pair. Instead, the light from Anevia's bow reveals a small trove of treasure. Amidst a huge pile of gold pieces , a wooden shield with heraldry displaying a rampant red dragon sits atop a pair of scrolls, while two black, brackish potions lie next to a leather ring.
"Well, you were correct and there were no traps. Thank you for accompanying me in this endeavour, Anevia. As to determining what some of these things are - we can do that once we are back with the others. Let us not linger down here too long."
With the small trove of treasure before them, Elyda suggested to Anevia that they carry as much as they can (and securely) and return to their company with the items; making multiple trips down and back up, if necessary.
Making one last inspection of the small cave, for anything they might have missed when they concentrated on opening the dusty wooden crate,
Elyda, with Anevia's help, laid out the discovered treasure before the party and then untying the rope from her waist, she thanked Merixia and Thesius for their aid, before setting herself to the task of uncovering what they had found.
Elyda cast Read Magic and looked upon the scrolls: "This scroll can be used to identify the properties and command words of magical items, and, this one can magically enhance a weapon."
Pointing to the shield with the Red Dragon heraldry, "This fine shield offers greater protection than a common wooden shield, and, is lighter and easier to use."
Elyda studied the red dragon heraldry, hoping to discern its significance,
Looking to the others, "I cannot identify what the ring or the potion are, if one of the others casters can attempt to..."
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That being said, most worshippers of Dahak wouldn't bother fighting in the crusade against the Worldwound - indeed, those rare humanoids who worship him would more likely be on the opposite side. Regardless, the red dragon is also not his sacred symbol - that would be a falling comet or scale.
Anevia and Elyda return up to the others, bringing their gains with them. "Well, at least it wasn't too dangerous." The woman says, though she nods slightly at Verene, apparently acknowledging her words.
Horgus snorts. "Well, now that we've poked and prodded in an old thief's cache, can we continue out into the city? I want to see the sun."
Ignoring Horgus for the moment, Elyda began to vocalise her thoughts,
"The draconic god of evil and chaos, Dahak, the Endless Destruction, is often depicted as a crimson dragon, even though his association lies more with chromatic dragons. Still, all dragons loathe the False Wyrm. As far as I am aware, most of Dahak's worshippers would not bother fighting in the crusade against the Worldwound - more than likely the rare few who worship him would be on the opposite side. Yet, the red dragon is not Dahak's scared symbol - his is the falling comet or scale. Does anyone know what this heraldry is?", pointing to the red dragon on the light wooden shield.
"Good work, Elyda, Anevia. I'm glad you made it safely. Let's see what these do..." Verene takes a tiny, downy feather from her pouch and uses it to stir a scant thimbleful of wine, chanting a short phrase. Her eyes glow blue as she examines the ring and potions.
"The ring will help the wearer climb much more easily as long as it is worn, and these potions let the drinker see in the dark for two hours."
Choral the Conqueror, who founded both the noble house and the kingdom of Brevoy, was allied to - or an ally of, depending on one's perspective - two red dragons, who helped him conquer the lands that were until then Issia and Rostland. Rumors claim that Choral himself was a red dragon in human disguise, but such claims have been dismissed for decades.
Maybe the shield belonged to a Brevoyan crusader?
Aravashnial shifts slightly. "From what Elyda told us before we left Neathholm, we have a few challenges yet to face, no? We should be prepared. Who would best use the shield? The second scroll might benefit Elyda or Merixia, given that they can both use it on their own weapons."
"Would it effect Radiance?" Anevia asks, and the elf wizard flushes in the light from her bow.
"Er, no. No it wouldn't. So perhaps Merixia should use it?" His flush fades, and his expression grows grim. "Or we could save it until we get to the surface. Who knows what we'll find up there?"
Upon Verene's determination of the other magical items, Elya nodded, "Thank you, Verene. We know what each of these items are now."
"Merixia should take the scroll of magic weapon. The potions of darkvision could be used by Verene and Thesius. The scroll of identify could be used by either Thesius, Elliot or Verene. Who would like the fine light wooden shield? If there is no objection, I would like the ring of climbing..."
"I would be happy to accept the scroll, and Elyda, I have no objections to you wearing the ring. If nobody else wants the shield, I could definitely use more protection. It will make spellcasting in combat more difficult, but honestly, I have a hard time with that anyway. I prefer to do my casting before and after fighting." Merixia takes the scroll, and if there are no objections, the shield.
"As for where to go from here... I suggest that we make sure we've swept the entire hideout, then go report back to Chief Sull before we make our way to the surface. We may be able to trade the armor and weapons we can't use for something less bulky to carry." She's a strong woman in more ways than one, but that doesn't mean Merixia enjoys carrying several different people's gear.
Relieved at seeing his allies back safe and with added treasures to boot, Elliot happily offers to help carry some. He looks a bit concerned when the topic of what to do now comes up, however. "I think Sull will know soon enough that we... um, 'swept the place', I think the term is. Wouldn't we be better off pressing for the surface now and taking these armanents along? To hopefully add to whichever allies of ours survived up top? And... to be honest, I'm worried sick about what happened to my parents and sister."
He touches his remaining wounds and frowns. "Though... maybe you're right. Maybe we need to rest to even have a chance to make it past the maze first. I shouldn't let personal feelings get in the way of thinking clearly..."
"I, for one, am not interested in staying in these hellish tunnels any longer. We're closer to the surface than we've been in days, and you want to walk back down?" Horgus grunts, wiping a sheen of sweat from his brow.
Anevia looks uncomfortable. "I... get the idea, Merixia, but like Elliot, I'm worried about my wife. While I don't doubt she's able to handle herself better than his family is, most likely, I still want to get out to check our home as soon as I can."
Aravashnial shrugs slightly. "While I am concerned as well, I have no family in Kenabres, so my emotions are perhaps not quite as visceral as yours, Anevia, or your own, Elliot." The elf wizard runs a hand through his somewhat sweat-matted hair. "The longer we remain down here, though, the worse we'll have to prepare for when we emerge. At the same time, arriving outside without proper preparations might just lead us to our own ends, before we have the chance to save what we can."
He pauses. "I propose we finish off whoever remains in this horrid place, and then take stock of our options once again."
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"If you feel the finely wrought shield will offer you greater protection, then it is yours, Merixia."
He pauses. "I propose we finish off whoever remains in this horrid place, and then take stock of our options once again."
"I concur with Master Aravashnial and Merixia," she added steadily, having no close relation in Kenabres to worry over, as some of the others.
Looking around the group, Elliot was certainly not at his best, physically, having suffered from multiple injuries. Removing a healing potion from her pouch, she offered it her Emberkin companion, "This will help you heal some of the minor wounds and give you a little relief, Elliot."
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"Yet, the red dragon is not Dahak's sacred symbol - his is the falling comet or scale. Does anyone know what this heraldry is?"
Verene considers the shield for a moment. "It reminds me a little of Brevoy, our neighbors to the southeast across the Lake of Mist and Veils. Their flag bears a two-headed red dragon, from the family device of their longtime rulers, House Rogarvia - now vanished, of course. It's certainly possible this shield could have belonged to a Brevoyan crusader, for all the neighboring countries have sent fighters to the Crusade at some time or other in the past century. But it isn't an exact match, and I'm sure there are many noble houses, individuals, and organizations who have used a red dragon in their coat of arms."
"I do not need the potion of darkvision at the moment, as I am transformed for a while longer, but I will carry it against future need," Verene agrees. She would offer it to Anevia, but the archer seems to be well set up with her own magical light. "As for our next move, I can only speak for myself, but my magical resources for the day are entirely spent. I have friends I am worried for in the city above, and I will of course follow the group if we agree to press on past this complex, but I simply won't be much use if we find ourselves in danger." "We know from what Meron told us that there are likely still lesser demons and more traitor Forgotten, at least, remaining between us and the exit. It may be risky, but I agree that we should clear this place of threats to the best of our ability before deciding whether to rest here, return to Neathholm, or press on to the surface."
Verene returns to the ladder upward and picks up the two long polearms again, preparing to move out when the group does.
Merixia nods to Verene. "I'm in much the same boat. I have one spell remaining that I can convert into healing, and no channels left. It will be very risky to continue into the tunnels with such low healing resources."
"Are you saying we should not clear out this area before retreating? There's yet more, and if we don't, we will lose what value surprise has." Aravashnial says softly. "If I recall correctly, our Neathholmian allies mentioned that there probably weren't more than fifteen-odd traitors. How many have we seen and slain so far?"
"Ten." Horgus replies immediately. "Five out front, four and the archer below. Plus the four cultists. There can't be many more traitors."
Aravashnial nods. "The question is, then, whether there are many more cultists, and whether we feel prepared to battle dretches in our current condition. Although," he smiles sadly, waving at his eyes, "perhaps I shouldn't use we, in this context. Admittedly, dretches are far from the worst demons we might face here, but..."
Anevia shifts. "Well, I have my cold iron arrows - and, by the shadows, my normal arrows. I've not been much help to you all recently, so I can do some fighting. Of course, in a maze or labyrinth they'll be less useful. Merixia has her bastard sword, and Elyda has both her sword and Radiance." She scratches a filthy cheek, eyes tight. "I think we should at least make sure that there aren't any cultists in the areas above that might come down and shore up the defenses with reinforcements if we leave."
Elliot takes the healing potion from Elyda witg a grateful nod but waits for the outcome of the discussion on what they'd do before drinking it. "For what it's worth, i am out of spells as well. Though as before, our success hinges the most on you martial types."
"Are you saying we should not clear out this area before retreating? There's yet more, and if we don't, we will lose what value surprise has." Aravashnial says softly. "If I recall correctly, our Neathholmian allies mentioned that there probably weren't more than fifteen-odd traitors. How many have we seen and slain so far?"
"Ten." Horgus replies immediately. "Five out front, four and the archer below. Plus the four cultists. There can't be many more traitors."
"Ten if the lizard counts as a traitor — which I for one think it should," Verene says with the faintest quirk of a smile. "However you look at it, it seems likely we are approaching the upper edge of Meron's estimate, but we have not yet encountered any demons or the supposed rulers of the tribe: the male unholy warrior of Baphomet, and his mate. Unless they were among those killed by Hosilla to 'cement her control,'" she nods to Horgus, "and we did in fact encounter what remains of them in that unfortunate... kitchen."
Before this reflection can become too lowering, she adds, "I am in agreement with the plan of first ensuring this entire area is rid of traitors, cultists or demons, so that any who currently remain have no chance to regroup. Since we haven't found the maze down here, it is likely above us. Should we encounter the dretches described by Meron, we are as well armed with cold iron weapons as we can be. Elliot is very right: we mages will do our best, but we will mostly be relying on your martial skills, Anevia, Thesius, Merixia and Elyda."
Horgus grunts at Verene's suspicion. "Probably. Who else would she've killed?"
"Oh, I'm fine with clearing the area right now. I just don't want to take on the tunnels to the surface before we've had a chance to rest." Merixia straps her old buckler to her pack along with the previously acquired weapons, then picks up her new dragon shield. "Hmm, I'll have to get this repainted once we have the opportunity."
Thesius comes forth from his contemplations. "I agree it would be prudent to finish clearing the area. We would not want to leave them the opportunity to flee. The arrangement of who holds onto what also sounds good. A potion of darkvision may very well come in handy later on. I as well am out of magical healing, so a rest once done would be of great use."
"Well, if that's all decided, can we get a move on?" Horgus says, exasperated.
The heroes (perhaps despite the noble's encouragement) begin making their way up the ladder, with Elyda taking the lead. The lawbringer's senses are assaulted by the foul stench of the room, and by the sounds of buzzing insects.
Upon her ascension, she finds herself right next to a giant figure, dressed in robes and gripping a scythe in its hands. More alarmingly, however, is the fact that its body is made entirely of buzzing locusts. It speaks, its voice a thousand fluttering wings. "You are the intruders then, that slew Turon and his foolish partner. Die."
I... what..." Elliot begins, horrified at the humanoid swarm. His hand trembles as he grasps for the last Alchemist fire on him and throws it at the... man? Woman? Knowing enough about swarms at least to realise it was probably the only thing he had that could harm it.
Worms that walk are able to discorporate into their individual creatures, heal far quicker than they once did, and (as might be expected) lack the vulnerabilities of neck, heart, and vitals that most humanoids have. They're abnormally resistant to all manner of damage, as well, and their spellcasting talents do not decay in the slightest.
But still, he's not sure what this is, because worms that walk are usually far too important to get directly involved in something so... minor as this cult's operations.
Thesius quickly works to ascend the ladder, moving to stand next to Elyda as they face off against the monstrosity.
"I... gods help us, I think that might be a worm-that-walks! Those are among the most evil and feared spellcasters of Deskari! Though... this one seems a bit... bigger than normal? And it feels weird to find one involved with this tiny village of crusader traitors," Elliot quickly relays. "I don't know what can harm it, just that it'll be difficult. Master! Do you have a better idea?" he continues to Aravashnial.
If this was a real worm-that-walks, then pretty much the only one who had any chance of fighting back was his master - probably. Or perhaps Elyda, now that she had Radiance...
He then planned to retreat, but found there wasn't much space to do so. All he could do was rely on his allies to win the day.
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Elyda warily eyed the creature whose body was made of locusts. Her skin crawled at the sight. Then she heard Elliot's assessment. Lifting the golden sword Radiance, she attacked it.
Before taking a 5ft step sideways, to allow Merixia to move up and possibly attack.
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Merixia wastes no time hauling herself up the ladder, her red-scaled tail retrieving the wand of spiritual weapon from her belt as she does so. Sometimes it's handy being a tiefling. She pauses for a moment, taken aback at their enemy. "By all the angels..."
Shaking her head, the priestess moves back to clear the ladder and aims her new wand at the sentient swarm, reciting the command word. A translucent, slightly glowing bastard sword appears next to Thesius and strikes out at the worm-that-walks.
Elliot rushes forwards, identifying the creature and throwing his flask of alchemist's fire up through the hole above the ladder... unfortunately, it deflects off the edge of the ladder and smashes on the ground before him. Though the primary flames burn out swiftly with no fuel, the splash catches him off-guard and burns a hole in his shirt, searing his skin.
Thesius moves up, his boots stamping out the few flames that remain as he leaps up the ladder two rungs at a time, before readying his morningstar to fight with the swarm-thing.
Merixia follows, drawing her newfound wand in one hand whilst climbing almost all the way up the ladder with the other. A shimmering bastard sword - the echo of Ragathiel's own - emerges before the scythe-wielding monster, slashing it deeply. The wings shriek, and it pulls back unnaturally, the "flesh" of locusts retreating towards its core - though at least a dozen have fallen to the ground, severed by the divine weapon.
This retreat proves quite essential, as it allows the being to catch Radiance with it's scythe's haft, sending the blow off to its side, before retaliating with a whirl of slashes. The lawbringer is caught aback by the ferocity of the assault, which tears through her armor and cuts a deep gash along her leg, nearly hitting an artery. Blood flows rapidly down the inquisitor's leg, leaving her cold.
"Lavrik, Karr, come deal with these intruders!" It buzzes loudly, over the heads of the two heroes before it.
A burst of howling laughter erupts from behind the pair. A red-haired man wielding a slim, black-bladed scimitar stands there, fangs bared. "For the glory of the Hungry Moon!"
Aravashnial shakes his head in Elliot's general direction. "I cannot imagine anything else. Some sort of demon, perhaps, but I cannot think of one!"
Verene drops the glaives again with a clatter. She's unable to fully see what's going on, with multiple people and only a small angle of view between her and the action, but along with the disturbing insect-buzzing and Elliot's description of the monster, it's clear there are blades flashing and blood flying above, which would make it unwise to try to move to the upper level even if she could. Once again, there seems to be nothing she can do about their incredibly disadvantageous position.
"Note to self: in future, make enemies come to us if they want to fight," she mutters, moving to the side to see better and drawing her crossbow. She tries to aim between the legs of the combatants, carefully waiting for the right time to take the shot.
Verene prepares her shot, feeling helpless about the situation at the moment.
Anevia groans. "Well, at least it's our fighters up front." She hobbles forwards, getting her bow ready, but doesn't ascend the ladder. After a moment, she curses harshly in Shadowtongue, adding a harsh phrase to herself.
Aravashnial grips his staff tightly, his face tightening.
Meanwhile, upstairs the red-headed man whirls his scimitar, which begins to drain light from the area, before incanting something and touching himself with an unholy symbol.
With that, he stalks forwards, his scimitar darkening the hallway. "I will enjoy this, I think." He continues in Abyssal.
Round 2
With the deep cut to her leg, which was still bleeding through her clothes, Elyda took a 5ft side step and began casting, touching the side of her leg with her free hand and calling upon her Lady to strengthen her protection for there was more enemy coming to attack.
With the last alchemists' fire spent and caught in a very unfavorable position, Elliot takes the healing potion Elyda gave him earlier and unscrews it.
He then hands it out for whomever else near him to take. "If anyone is going up there, could someone pass it on to the inquisitor for me? As an apology for splashing her with the bomb! And tell her it wasn't my fire magic this time? I promise!"
"I'll get the guy coming up behind us! Thesius, Elyda, try to hold the swarm thing off until I'm done." Merixia's tail drops the wand and retrieves a scroll from her cloak pocket. She opens it and reads the mystical words, touching the hilt of her sword. The weapon glows white briefly as the parchment crumbles to dust.
Drawing her sword and shield, the tiefling advances a step toward the enemy. "Let's dance, Red."
Behind her, the spiritual weapon continues to attack the swarm.
Thesius stands his ground between the swarm and his injured companion. A prayer upon his lips, he lashes out at the monstrosity.
An almost feral growl escaping his lips as he swings…
Elliot pulls out his potion, offering it up to the heroes above. Once Elyda takes it, he retreats away from the ladder, allowing others to ascend when they're prepared.
Thesius swings with brutal swiftness, smashing more of the swarm-thing's body aside and piercing dozens of locusts with every strike of his morningstar. The creature screams, looking much less than humanoid now, as many of its component parts lie dead on the ground.
Merixia swiftly exchanges her equipment before reading out the spell from her newfound scroll. Her god's sword slashes once more, cutting deep into the "throat" of the swarm. The creature shrinks and falls back, taking the shape of a half-orc woman who crashes to the ground, covered in wounds and slowly bleeding out. She wears armor crafted from golden scales, and her scythe has shrunk down with her.
Elyda steps back, clearing the ladder for others to ascend, and calls upon Iomedae's protection again. A shimmering field of translucent silver wraps around the inquisitor, protecting her against any oncoming threats.
Verene cranes her head upward to see, waiting for a good moment to shoot that does not come before Thesius and Merixia's spell cause the scythe-wielding swarm to collapse with a thump that sounds remarkably like an actual body. There likely won't be a better time to move to the upper level, so she drops her crossbow to hang by her side again and scrambles up the ladder and out of the way of others, reaching for the familiar weight of the stock once more as soon as she is on solid ground and her hands are free. She ends up beside the slumped form of the Deskarite cultist — a half-orc? Not made of locusts after all? — giving it a wary look and preparing to stomp on any remaining bugs with extreme prejudice.
Verene ascends the ladder as quickly as her small, burdened body allows her. Oddly, there aren't any insects at all up here - dead or alive. Instead, there is blood and viscera, which she carefully steps over to get behind Thesius.
Anevia steps forwards to the ladder, and floats up on the cloud beneath her feet. With a startling swiftness, she fires her bow at the one who is presumably Lavrik. It slams into his chest, sending him staggering back. "You'll pay." He growls.
Meanwhile, down the hallway, the man grins viciously, his fangs glinting dimly in the light of the burning coals above. "One nuisance out of the way, I see." He points at Merixia. "You. Come. Face me." His fingers twist in a spell, and the word echoes with power. The hellspawn, however, easily disregards the command - if she goes to him, it will be her choice, not his.
Behind him, a dark-haired Kellid woman emerges from around the corner, a glaive in one hand and a scroll in the other. With a gesture and a few words, a burst of blue-white light emanates from her, infusing the scimitar-wielding redhead before her.
Round 3
Elyda took a moment to imbibe the unstoppered healing potion,
and then took a 5 ft step forward (for now, as the space was narrow and congested), using the curve in the rock wall as some cover against the enemy's arrows; Radiance in hand.
===
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The enchantment washes over Merixia's mind, but her trained will tears it apart before it can gain a hold. She bares her teeth at the scimitar-wielding man. "Nice try, dog. Tell me, has groveling at the feet of the bug lovers given you fleas yet?" Ah, it's such fun riling her enemies up. Those who can't control their anger will be controlled by it, and far less effective in combat than someone who can think clearly.
Merixia steps forward, slashing at her enemy with her newly enchanted bastard sword.
Given that the priestess has her back turned to her allies' fight and is rather distracted at the moment, her spiritual weapon keeps mindlessly attacking its fallen target.
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With the swarmlike enemy dissipating and opening the path up, Elliot moves up to advance. She climb up and jumps around Merixia's force weapon to where he didn't think it would hit him even on a wild swing. The memory of the glaive cutting into his neck was still a bit fresh.
As was the wound.
Focusing his attention left, he sees the redhead get wailed on by the cleric herself. "Hey you, red guy? Take my advice. You picked the worst possible target and have just seconds to live. Would you like a pain killer to ease your passing?"
Verene jumps a little when the force-sword continues its chopping at the fallen Deskarite, whistling uncomfortably close past her head. "The bug-creature is down, no need to keep attacking it," Merixia (and everyone else but Horgus) hears in the now-familiar whisper of a message.
She drops her crossbow again, hardly able to see their opponents through the legs of her friends. The wizard has no confidence in her ability to angle a shot correctly to avoid her allies and still hit someone, as Anevia can, and in tight quarters the splash of volatile chemicals from an alchemical substance could hurt friends as well as foes. However, her small size and distance mean the enemies can't be paying much attention to her compared to the more imminent threats. Perhaps she can distract them further. She reaches for another tiny ball of wax as she chants, trying to fix clearly in her memory the low roar of the crumbling chasm yesterday.
From directly above the heads of the two demon cultists in the stone corridor comes an ominous, thunderous rumble, as of destabilized stone preparing to fall...
Thesius watches the fight unfold, looking for an opportunity to assist.
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Elliot swiftly follows the others up the ladder before unleashing his spell upon the scimitar-wielding priest, who staggers, unable to resist the aasimar's power.
Thesius holds back, keeping his options open, and allowing Merixia to take the chance to attack him with her own sword. He is unable to bring his blackened blade up to stop her, and she cuts through his armor, sending him staggering back. Blood flows freely from his wounds, and he barely manages to keep his feet. Meanwhile, the phantom sword hacks the half-orc woman to death before fading back to Heaven.
Elyda drinks her potion and feels the healing energy warm her, sealing many of the wounds that the half-orc's scythe had inflicted even as she steps into cover.
Verene, meanwhile casts a spell, hoping to distract the cultists from their ongoing combat. Though there is a rumble behind them, neither seems inclined to change their tactics - or, indeed, even cast a glance behind them.
Anevia takes another shot at the critically injured man - once again, her aim is unerring, and it strikes her target in the throat just above his collarbone. He falls, blood swiftly pooling beneath him.
Though her comrade is still dazzled by Elliot's spell, and indeed critically wounded by Merixia, the Kellid woman attacks Merixia with her glaive. The hellspawned priestess takes the blow with her armor, unharmed. With that, the Baphometi woman retreats down the tunnel, her glaive held ready.
Seeing an opportunity, Thesisu quickly swaps his morningstar to his other hand and draws his dagger as he squeezes just past Merixia. He was not sure if this would work, but wants to leave room for his companions to close the distance. With a prayer to Lady Luck, he hurls the dagger at their adversary.