Malinor misses the Babau, Ting hits.
Priest is chanting away.
Rest of the party can act.
Tessai moves up, to close with the demon.
Garados flaps forward and tries to bite the RED priest.
Wyran steps back from the priest and casts a spell.
Garados kills the red priest.
Room description now that you're in the room:
This sinister worship-room presents a scene straight out of some Stygian hell. Squat columns support the ceiling, while heavy smells of burning tallow and boiling fat mingle as candles burn in wrought-iron sockets and a grotesquely large cauldron bubbles with foul steam. The peering gemstone eyes of a gross idol—the demon-lord Tsathogga—gaze at the scene with morbid indifference. Stairs of slick olive stone climb to the altar and the cauldron, then the idol.
The altar is a simple soapstone block. Upon its surface are several carved eyes that resemble warts. Yet the worst is the cauldron behind. Enchanted fire burns constantly, heating the vile broth it contains. The stew is viscous, smelling of molten fat and waste. Occasionally, a cooked limb or head bounces up to the surface before sinking back. Just above the cauldron is an iron hook connected to a pulley system by the side… used for lowering hapless sacrificial victims, bit by bit, into their most unpleasant demise
Someone nominate an action for Lefty.
The Babau stabs at Tessai with its longspear.
The demon seems distracted and its aim is terrible.
Tessai notices that the outsider seems to have whispy streams of brimstone smoke rising from its skin.
The fat abbot screeches in anger at the defilement of his temple.
He abandons his Sanctuary and calls down Tsathogga's wrath in the form of an Ice Storm!
Mallinor, Tessai, and Garados are all caught in the blast of winter weather.
They take:
And a swirling snowstorm obscures the center of the temple.
Party is up!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
With the Ice Storm spoiling his chances for a sneak attack, Lefty instead moves to Ting, and uses his wand to cast Infernal Healing on him.
Ting gains 1 hp per round for 10 rounds.
A number of holes appear the Babau's chest as Malinor's bullets and an arrow from Ting strike home.
The creature seems to be smoking as vapor rises from its skin and it appears to be fading away from the material plane.
Garados and Tessai are up.
Garados flaps forward and tries to bite the babau.
Tessai snarls away the pain of the magical storm, an holy silvery glow enveloping and healing her wounds. Then she attacks the demon - ”Down!”
----------
Hang in there, guys! These creeps are tough, but we can take 'em!
The elf looks for another sneak opportunity.
C'mon, Ting. Let's flank a clown and take him down!
Tessai lands one hit with her bardiche, but even as ichor drips from the wound the summoned demon fades away from the material plane.
The obese high priest curses and retreats behind the giant idol of Tsathogga in the back of the temple.
Wyran is in a position to see the priest manipulate a lever in the back of the idol that opens a secret door in the back of the alcove.
Don't let him get away!
Lefty moves to intercept.
Seeing the priest trying to run Wyran joins him and strikes. "Not seriously thinking of leaving our party are you? If you surrender.... Nah!"
Tessai nods, satisfied the demon is dealt with, and lets her companions deal with the remaining priest - "I will check the corridor" - she moves back to double check if the noise has attracted more foes.
"Look," growls Garados between long fangs. "You're a villain, I get that. But do you really have to die? I mean, don't you have a brother or sister or someone who'd be grateful if you came home alive? Just stop fighting and give us the girl. You still have a chance to live."
He moves up to support Wyran.
Ting hits 4 times, arrows thudding into the fat man's back.
Wyran hits the priest.
His speed is reduced and he is anchored by the silk string hex.
The abbot cries out in anger and pain. He chants a dark utterance and reaches out to smack Wyran with his hand
@Wyran: Save versus Bestow Curse (Will DC 17) as a series of horrible boils begin to erupt on your arm.
"Then die!" roars popobala/Garados, attacking the priest.
Tessai keeps watch.
The overweight abbot falls to the ground, succumbing to his wounds.
It remains to be seen if Wyran will resist the magical curse.
The room is quiet, aside from your heavy breathing and the crackle of the fire under the foul smelling pot of human soup cooking before the altar.
The door the abbot opened reveals a 10' wide corridor, leading away from the temple.
"So's we's should keep lookin' fer tha little girl, wroight?"
Assuming she's not stew by now, Lefty says, cringing at his own comment.
We have to try.
"Statue," says Garados. "Did you see how he did it?"
Lefty will examine the passageway to look for potential traps and to see how it works.
Tessai waits for Lothorian's report.
There's a lever behind the idol that the abbot pulled to open the passage.
The abbot appears to have a magical sickle and set of bracers on his fat corpse.
The big idol of Tsathogga has giant emerald eyes.
Wyran has a series of big painful warts erupt on his arm from the abbot's dying curse.
Wyran stares at the nasty lumps on his arm and feels the evil magic coursing through him. He seems a bit shaky and pale but waves the others toward the passage. "I can clear the curse later. It'll take less than a half hour but we can't stop for it now. I'll just hang back so you all don't need to protect me...."
Hang on a minute, guys.
The elf tries to dismantle the trap on the lever.
"Of course Ting" - Tessai nods, grabbing the wand and healing herself and her companion - "And thank you" - and then returning the item.
"I need to go back to the cells, check if there are more prisoners, and also make sure the others we helped getting outside are ok" - she explains - "We should not get separated, but I need to know"
"I will catch up with you as soon as possible"
You're right. Let's do that.
There are a total of 12 emaciated men and women you pull from the cells.
They're not all coherent, but from what you can gather the longest has been locked up for 3 months and the shortest tenure is about 3 weeks.
They know that other victims have come in more recently and been taken to the temple for sacrifice to Tsathogga.
None of the prisoners realized that the monks were consuming their victims, but they did know that no one ever come back from the temple.
One woman remembers hearing a little girl screaming a few days ago.
The temple itself reeks of evil (literally and metaphorically).
”We need to get these people out of here, but as crazy it may sound, it is possible they are actually safer inside… If we leave them outside, and come back down, they will be exposed” - Tessai comments to her companions, then turns to the prisoners - ”We need to find the little girl, so we need to continue on… We can leave the door open for you, and you can try leaving on your own - but navigating the wilds on your own will definitely be risky. We can also grab the weapons and armor from those we have already defeated - some of you could equip yourselves, and hold ground here while we explore the rest of the complex” - she pauses, not sure if half of them even understand her.
”I know none of the options are good, but they are what we have. Do any of you feel strong enough to fight?” - the paladin added, while removing her backpack - ”Also I am sure you must be thirsty and hungry - here, take this” - she offered them her food and water, sparing for herself only enough for two days, if possible.