"Then try not to be standing too close when you finish them off!" Ariadne says as she dashes into the room, slashing at the nearest plague doctor.
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Ariadne wounds Blue.
.
Kayleigh may act!
Red orders the Plague zombies to attack. He then points at Zahur.
Zahur takes 15 damage from Scorching ray
Blue takes a 5' step and swings at Kayleigh
Clipping her.
Green shambles up to attack.
.
Vedika, Ariadne & Brigita may act!
Out of poison, Vedika blasts the mage and his adjacent minion with glitterdust.
Masterfully casting a combat spell, Ariadne deftly steps into the gap between Vedika and Zahur, striking at the spellcaster, her cold iron blade emanating a wan greyish life-sapping energy.
Neither the Spellcaster or the Zombie are blinded.
Ariadne badly wounds Orange.
Brigita to act
Seeing Ari's blade slice deep into the spellcaster, Brid moves forward, risking attack from the plague doctor to hammer the life (hopefully) from the wounded enemy.
Brigita finishes Orange.
Zahur & then Kayleigh can act!
Kayleigh tries to thump the last doctor standing. Frustrated by her own futility, the young cleric tries something she's never tried before--making two attacks in rapid succession! She grimaces as she learns she's twice as bad at hand-to-hand combat than she thought she was.
for
for
Noticing an opening, Zahur spins his hook and lunges towards the spellcaster, hoping to repay him in kind for that painful burning ray.
Kayleigh misses twice.
Zahur hits twice and misses twice also. The Mage still stands.
Red casts at Zahur.
.
Blue swings again at Kayleigh
Black advances, Green swings a rotting fist at Zahur.
I've consolidated the initiatives as it now has you in sequence. Everyone can now act!
Kayleigh manages one satisfying THUMP in her next two swings at the doctor; not a ton of damage is dealt, though.
for
for
Kayleigh wounds Blue.
Next?
Vedika does the same verse, same as the first.
The wicked magic seems the worst of the dangers, even over the gnashing teeth of the plague ridden undead. So Brig pushes through the crumbling line, sweeping her hammer into a wide bone crunching arch.
Ariadne tears into the Physician in front of her, the life-sapping energy still bathing her blade.
Red shrieks in shock as his vision is taken from him by Vedika.
Ariadne finishes off Blue
Black swings at Brigita as she brushes past him.
Brigita reaches Red and slams her Earthbreaker into him as he flails blindly.
Zahur to act!
Zahur shakes his head twice to get rid of the foul magic trying to stop his body. "Hugh, nasty thing, but this won't help you." He then resumes his beating of the mage.
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Zahur finally gets Red to die!
.
Vedika's eyes widen as she sees the dead Necromancer. It seems the party has put an end to one Korvosa’s most hated criminals and the man behind the city’s most recent unsolved serial killings, Rolth Lamm
was unrelentingly despicable.
.
Loot:
Dagger +1,
Belt of mighty constitution +2,
Cloak of resistance +1,
Headband of vast intelligence +2,
Ring of protection +1,
Unguent of timelessness (6),
MW thieves’ tools,
Fine mortician’s tools (worth 100gp),
6 black onyxes (worth 150gp),
Spellbook:
4th—animate dead, dimension door, enervation, infuse decay.
3rd—dispel magic, hold person, lightning bolt, ray of exhaustion, vampiric touch.
2nd—false life, ghoul touch, scorching ray, touch of idiocy, spectral hand.
1st—charm person, chill touch, mage armor, ray of enfeeblement, shield, unlock flesh,
0 (at will)—acid splash, detect magic, light, touch of fatigue.
Infuse decay & Unlock Flesh are his own spell creations.
Continued in the next post.
G5
Six unwilling patients lie strapped to the metal operating beds scattered throughout the room. One of the patients is dead, but his body is still highly contagious with blood veil.
Two of the other patients fade in and out of consciousness; wracked by blood veil, they cough violently and whimper through their restless
fever dreams.
The other three bodies carry a new strain of blood veil the priests of Urgathoa believe has great potential.
The Cultists have the keys for the next room.
G6 Patient Cells
Iron doors with slotted windows, much like one might find in a prison or asylum, line the walls of this chamber. Faint bloodstains fleck the straw-strewn flagstones.
Five of the eight cells hold captive Varisian men and women of various ages and walks of life. They have been here for a week or less, and many have seen those who were here before them taken away to face the Urgathoans’ terrible experiments.
These prisoners have all displayed immunity to blood veil, and are being used by the cult to develop an even more potent version of the plague.
.
What now?
"He's dead." the blacksmith says with long winded eloquence as she nudges him with her boot.
Vedika says, "Dang! I recognize that wizard. That was Rolth Lamm."
"Well, no tears shed."
"I wonder if there's a bounty on him?"
"Couldn't happen to a more deserving person."
At discovering that the vile necromancer was none other than the spawn of Gadren Lamm, Ariadne feels a mixture of emotions, anger, disgust at the damage the bastard had done...and most of all a sense of satisfaction that Lamm's foul bloodline would no longer poison her city.
As they sort through the items of the dead enemies and move to the other rooms, she takes in the victims, the infected, and those few who had the fortune of being immune, but the misfortune of being known to the cultists.
"The worst of this is over, at least for you all. The people who did this to you are dead, and we'll make sure that you all get safely to your homes. Is there anything you can tell us about this place?"
Kayleigh is taken aback by the unconscionable scene before her. "This is an abomination...," the young Milanite whispers as she examines the captives/test subjects. "How could anyone do such a thing?"
The healer forces her thoughts back into the here-and-now. Digging out the spare plaguebringer's masks the party has found in the secret complex, Kayleigh sets them out near four of the five still-living captives strapped to the medical tables. Telling her friends to gather close and move the dying bodies of the doctors and cultists out of range, the merciful healer twice channels positive energy, healing everyone and using her built-in mercy to cure the disease currently wracking four of the five prisoners.
Assuming that her actions bring all four around to consciousness, Kayleigh gently explains the dire situation to them and tells them to put on the spare plaguebringer's helms the party has collected.
Mindful that it's quite possible the group has an invisible foe within earshot or is currently scrying on the party's progress as they all delve deeper into this den of disease and iniquity, the healer has a whispered conversation with her friends. "Should we tell the survivors to just hide for now or try to get out of this place--if they even can--immediately? I wouldn't want anyone to stay in this awful place a moment longer than needed, but...they might make important witnesses once we expose these horrors to Field Marshal Kroft. Gee--they might even know who's in charge of this travesty or maybe who ordered all this...the queen, perhaps?"
Once she sees the other captives in the next room, the cleric asks them, "Did you overhear anything regarding who's in charge of this secret laboratory or who's giving the ultimate orders regarding its operation?"
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"People are monsters" Brig answers to Kayleigh's comment about how anyone could do this. Growing up as an orphan, having her life shattered by loss, seeing what people do to each other on the street. All had made her bitter.
But as Kayleigh shelters, heals, and cares for the sick and wounded the stoic warrior amends her statement "People Can be monsters"
So she helps. Move bodies, clean off filth, help people stand, and comfort when it suddenly becomes too much.
"We don't know what will be upstairs. They should stay with us." she offers her opinion.
Now that they are no longer diseased the former prisoners & patients are eager to leave. There are plenty of weapons laying around for them to pick up, and getting word to the watch means guards will be sent here to gather evidence. Also maybe to help you if you run into something you can't defeat?
.
They know that more prisoners are trapped in area G6 , and that the priests of Urgathoa are the source of the plague infecting Korvosa—both believe that the disease was created in a laboratory further to the east in this very complex.
They also know that the priests take orders from two fearsome individuals: a beautiful high priestess who speaks of death like some great gift, and a
disturbing bald man with pale skin and rodentlike teeth who constantly berates the doctors for amateurish and dim-witted work.
.
What now? Only the doors in G4 to go through.
Making sure the cured former victims each take up a weapon of some sort, Ariadne turns to the most seemingly responsible members of the group.
"When you get to the guard, make sure to have someone get word to Field Marshal Kroft. Let her know that her 'toubleshooters' found you." she says, hoping that would ensure that an appropriate unit would be sent as soon as possible.
"Sounds like we've got the cult's high priestess and a were-rat overlord of some kind ahead of us. Everybody ready?"
Kayleigh nods, equal parts angry and nervous. Turning to Vedika, she says quietly, "If we run into a lot of foes at once, I can cast a spell--shield of faith--that will make you tougher to hit, if you can delay long enough for me to cast it."
"Only if I have to wind up in front. Sounds like this is just a couple of folks, I might be able to stick and move or rely on magic. Thanks for thinking of me, Kay."
"We have not found the doctor in charge of this, have we?" Zahur asks, getting ready to open the doors to the east.
Kayleigh shakes her head at Zahur's words. "Why don't I open the doors, step back, and cast shield of faith on Zahur if we see any resistance?" The healer pauses a moment, thinking she's made a good plan but wanting to run it past the others before executing it. She comes up with a potential stickling point herself.
"Um...has Vedika checked these doors for traps yet?"
"Indeed I have not."
Vedika gives the doors the hairy eyeball.
.
Vedika finds that the door is not locked, or trapped. It seems the cultist's relied on secrecy for security.
G8 The Blood Vats
The stinging scent of harsh chemicals chokes this high-ceilinged
chamber. Three huge metal vats bubble here, each more than six feet tall.
A sturdy series of catwalks ten feet off the ground stretches over and around the vats, allowing those above to attend whatever slurry produces the foul green-brown mist emanating from each gigantic vessel.
Circling the upper portion of the room is an elaborate mosaic of white, black, and green stone that depicts a giant half-skeletal woman in black veils dancing among fields of the dead, undead, and dying.
The door opens and reveals more horror.
The party has a surprise round on the cultists. What are you doing now?
Kayleigh takes a 5-foot step closer to the frightful chamber and then casts shield of faith on Brigita. "Alchemize...pulverize.... Do what you do best."
As the door opens, Ariadne raises her crossbow, snapping off a shot at one of the cultists on the catwalk, sigils on her armor flaring to life to protect her.
Zahur charges with his hook and disarms one of the cultists.
Vedika vanishes.
"Alchemize?" Brig cocks her head to the side at Kayleigh's words but her lips attempt to stop a curving meaning she understood and appreciated the attempt to lighten the horrors of this place.
The cultists are too far away so she simply lumbers in next to Zahur.
Ariadne misses. Vedika & Kayleigh cast their spells.
Zahur diarms Red by nearly taking his arm off. Brigita hustles into the room.
Only one door is on the upper level and Yellow rushes to it and frantically hammers on it. "The enemy is here!"
Green races through the door at the back of the room, yelling something about warning the lady!
Orange opens the door to G9 to release Zombies.
Purple & Blue dip their scythes into the vats, coating the blades in the phlegm-like fluid.
Red casts defensively, casting Hold person on Zahur.
The party can now act. I'm keeping the initiatives simple for now. We'll go to separate initiatives when the big guns arrive :)
Seeing the stark danger they're in, with enemies preparing to overwhelm them with numbers, Ariadne drops her crossbow, readying herself for the battle of a lifetime by quickly downing a potion of a heavy, dark, viscous liquid.
Having to remove mask, her face displays the ominous transformation to a dark metallic texture as her skin becomes like iron.
At hearing the dark prayers of Urgathoa, Brig's normal shattering blows falter, striking the floor instead of cultist flesh.
And Zahur freezes.
Seeing Zahur held by a spell, Kayleigh detours to engage the cultist who cast the spell.
Orange & Blue engage Brigita.
Orange slices a red line in her arm.
Red attacks
But fumbles his attack as Kayleigh rushes him.
Purple advances and swings at Zahur.
He also fails to hit.
The party can now act! Zombies join in next round.
Brigita hisses in pain at the blade slicing into her, then pulls her hammer up into the side of the one that hurt her. Seeing Zahur frozen, she shifts to protect his flank while Kayleigh protects his other one.
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Brigita finishes off the badly wounded Red with a splatting sound.
Next?
Ariadne wades into the fight, striking out at Orange while taking up a position to hold against the incoming zombies.
After some concentration, Zahur is able to shake the paralysis off. "Hugh, that was horrible."