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"You do not see Razmir in the sky of course. He is the only God willing to walk this mortal Plane with you."
Ithuriel strides forward and taps his staff onto the ground. Small tendrils of electricity streat out along the walls and jet out into the swarm of bats.
HP 26/26
AC 17 (+1 Mage Armor; +1 Shield)
Spells: (1)
(2) Magic Mouth, False Life
Wand of Heal (1st) 1/1
Drain Bonded Item 1/1
Hero Point 3/3
Ithuriel moves and sends an arc of lightning to strike the bats.
Some of the bats fall to the ground.
Screech signs a song of pickle and barrels, wings and ales. And whatever you do you can't get rid of it. Then he swings a rock at the undead cavemen. Hitting him squarely in his shield.
Zenith swings his star knife at the swarm, his first two strikes hit, cutting some of the bats, and soon there is swarm no more.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Zenith
Screech
Yellow Undead Caveman
Tandang Boreas
Don Juri
Green Cavebatman swarm
Blue Cavebatman
Ithuriel
➤ Harsk
Harsk runs forwards, his short dwarven legs are taking him to where the battle takes place.
The undead strikes at
His first strike misses, but his second misses so badly that Don Juri see his opportunity to strike.
Then the skeleton raises his shield.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
Zenith
Screech
Yellow Undead Caveman
➤ Tandang Boreas
➤ Don Juri
Green Cavebatman swarm
Blue Cavebatman
Ithuriel
Harsk
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With first a sideways slash, then a crosswise cut, then a prodding poke, Don Jurri's feet whirl as he dances upon his tippy toes, with perfect form, the heels of his boots clacking against the cave floor, smiling, his off arm folded gently behind his back, gentlemenly.
"Not bad my bone-headed friend. But let's see if you can follow my lead!"
Switching hands now, folding his right behind his back and manning his implement with his left, he feigns a prodding poke, cues a crosswise cut, and with unconcerned commitment, serenades a sideways slash through his foe's rib cage!
◆) Dueling Parry
◆) Goading Feint
◆) Strike
↺) Opportune Riposte
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Tandang stops sustaining his dancing light spell seeing that many of his allies have darkvision (and him as well), and Don Jurri has his wayfinder as light source. He casts a ball of flame against Green Cavebatman Swarm. He then raises his wooden shield
◆◆ Cast a Spell, Produce Flame
◆ Raise a Shield
Don Jurri strikes the undead but his blade gets in between the ribs doing the enemy no harm
Then he stands in a defensive position and tries to fool the undead, and he succeeds.
Then he strikes, hitting the foe, but he blocks the hit with his shield.
Tandang brings in flames of nature that he tosses at the swarm but misses, then he raises a shield
The swarm keeps attacking Don Juri
The big bat attacks Zenith
The bat first bites Zenith and then smashes him with their powerful wings with talons at its ends.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Zenith
➤ Screech
Yellow Undead Caveman
Tandang Boreas
Don Juri
Green Cavebatman swarm
Blue Cavebatman
➤ Ithuriel
➤ Harsk
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Zenith reels in pain as they're bitten and struck by talons. "Well, You've got my attention!" They say as they step towards the bat then slam the star knife forward....
...right towards the skull. Zenith then attempts to tumble through caveman's legs and move into a flank with Don Jurri.
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Having concerned himself with a single foe, Don Jurri has failed to notice the cavebat swarm swirling around his own face!
"Well I don't say - this is quite a nuisance!"
With a polite swat, our chivalric hero slaps the sucking bats from his neck "This is not the first time I've have to reject the advances of unwanted affections. Please and thank you!"
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"But the stars do not speak to you. And I suppose you mean living God rather than a man. He speaks, he guides, and Razmir gives steps forward to greatness." Ithuriel calmly walks forward. "Behold his anger." Streams of flames pour out from Ithuriel's fingertips into the swarm.
HP 26/26
AC 17 (+1 Mage Armor; +1 Shield)
Spells: (1) Burning Hands
(2) Magic Mouth, False Life
Wand of Heal (1st) 1/1
Drain Bonded Item 1/1
Hero Point 3/3
Don Jurri dodges almost all of the bats, the one that he is not able to avoid he sends on their way and stops the bleeding, how? Who knows...
Harsk swings his axe but bats end to fly around his swings making him strike the air. It does help with the circulation thou...
Zenith decides to use all of his luck in first, and what he hopes only encounter of that day. He moves and strikes with his starknife the giant bat, nearly cutting them in two. How is this possible with so short blade? One could wonder. But before the bat dies it retaliates with wings at Zenith and Don Jurri.
Zenith finds a new wound, but the bat falls to the ground. Then he tries to tumble through the skeleton but it is to agile
Ithuriel moves forwards and blasts the bats and undead with flames.
The undead raises shield and blocks some of the flames and dodges the rest.
Screech sends a massive block of stone and crashes the remaining bats.
The undead is left alone, but he will not falter, he is a hero of his story, he turns around at Zenith and strikes with his sword.
First strike misses Zenith but second leaves a nasty wound on his leg, more and more blood is leaking from the swashbuckler.
Zenith could swear that undead is smiling as he raises his shield
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Zenith
➤ Screech
Yellow Undead Caveman
➤ Tandang Boreas
➤ Don Juri
➤ Ithuriel
➤ Harsk
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"We've got you surrounded old boy! The jig is up! Or is it?"
Don Jurri's footwork gets fancy again, as his hind leg reaches back to lower his stance, while his off-arm goes high, and, pulling the delicate blade backwards, he aims for a punching blow!
◆) Dueling Parry
◆) Confident Finisher
◆) Goading Feint
↺) Opportune Riposte
When you trick a foe, you can goad them into overextending their next attack. On a Feint, you can use the following success and critical success effects instead of any other effects you would gain when you Feint; if you do, other abilities that adjust the normal effects of your Feint no longer apply. You can choose whether to use the Goading Feint benefits or the normal benefits each time you Feint a given foe.
Critical Success: The target takes a –2 circumstance penalty to all attack rolls against you before the end of its next turn.
Success: The target takes a –2 circumstance penalty to its next attack roll against you before the end of its next turn.
Swapping hands again, Don Jurri prepares for the counterattack! Pulling his heels back in line, his body ascends vertically, abandoning the low stance, in favor of something more limber.
"Your quarrel is with me! Come, I have but a sword - see if you can hit me!"
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"But Stars DO speak to me." Zenith begins as they reach out to grab the Skeleton's shield with their freehand and knock it away from the Skeleton.
"That is why I am here." they grunt as they crouch down and then leap onto the Geode.
"They led me here! To save the forlorn!" Throwing their trusty starknife towards the skeleton and quickly catch it as it returns to them.
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Ithuriel stomps through the mushroom patch as he approaches Zenith. "Now allow me to prove his mercy." The wizened angel places both hands on Zenith's wound as it heals.
HP 26/26
AC 17 (+1 Mage Armor; +1 Shield)
Focus Point 0/1
Spells Used:
(1) Burning Hands
(2) Magic Mouth, False Life
Wand of Heal (1st) 1/1
Drain Bonded Item 1/1
Hero Point 3/3
Horsk steps up and swings with his axe, his hit strikes true but the undead blocks the damage with his shield.
Don Jurri strikes with panache and confidence, his Rapier breaks through the armor and leaves the other side. The damage was substantial but the enemy stands, so he prepares for the attack and tries to trick the undead, and he does so.
Zenith uses it as a distraction, he hits the hand of the undead and yanks out the shield of its grasp, with some of the fingers.
He jumps but the undead is no fool he strikes Zenith as he moves
But the sword hits the ground. Zenith lands on the geode and throws their starknife hitting the same spot on the ground as the undead did.
Screech and Tandang joint spells take down what is left of the undead and Ithuriel walks in and heals some of the Zenith's wounds.
At that point, the fallen bodies being to emanate energy and
The bones explodes and fly in various directions, hurting Don Jurri and Horsk.
You look around and you spot that there are more bodies on the floor, small skeletons wearing armor. The skeletons are the size of Tandang or harsk.
When you look at the fallen bats they seem somehow changed.
You think those skeletons belong to duergars. You believe that the duergars rose as undead due to some sort of malicious necromancy, and the bats became corrupted when drinking the duergars’ blood.
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Ithuriel's healing magic pours over Zenith's wound. "I have seen this before! Gruzhmok, an orcish fellow that worships Kurgess , told me that if I wanted to have the healing magic I just needed to defeat 50 enemies in one-on-one combat in the arena. But I decided I'd rather climb walls than kill for sport" Zenith says nonchalantly.
Zenith climbs up the side of the cave before their panache wears off and then looks around, shrugs, and then asks Ithuriel, "So did you defeat 50 enemies in one-on-one combat?"
Zenith drops down and attempts to treat their wounds
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"I did something some would say is more difficult, though in truth some find it quite easy." Ithuriel helps Zenith to his feet. "I found faith. I left the heavens themselves to join him on this Mortal Plane so as to help his ascension. Perhaps your faith will lead you up the same steps for I am living proof of the truth, standing her in the flesh." Ithuriel seems extremely full of himself and will try to convert any he can to the faith.
"Right away, sir"
Pulling a hankerchef from his breast pocket, the industrious and dutiful halfling wipes the cave dust, bone bits, and bat guano off of his master's tunic.
Turning to another master "Master Ithuriel Falsus Sacerdos - please forgive my common pronunciation, I am but a servant - does this "Living God" of whom you speak - does he take in the faithful of any creed, sir, or is there a selection process or precondition? It just so happens that my family and I are looking for a new sunday service"
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Don Jurri scolds "Do not make undue requisition of the good friar! Remember your manners at all times! Do you not see he is in the midst of communing with his holies!"
Dusting off the last of bits from his shoulder, his tone changes at once from admonishment "How do I look?" he asks his servant, with a volume of voice just over what might be considered appropriately loud given their proximity, which, a not-too-uncommon perception might easily surmise as inadvertently fishing for compliments from the greater party.
Like a request for additional butter over the toast of an inflated ego!
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"Whew! Crazy bats. What else can we see further as we go deep into the ruins?" Tandang reaches inside one of his pouches that contains berries. He whispers into it, as if praying or something, and the berry glows golden and returns into its normal state, but is now a goodberry. "Anyone?" he offers to others. "It can restore some health, not that much, but enough to add vitality. Hehe." he adds.
He then communes with his leshy by playing with her .
Between Ithuriel magical healing, Tandang berries and your medicine skills you regain health. When you observe the bodies of duergars they seem to have died there, there are no marks of bodies being dragged or anything. It could be that the bats killed them, or some other predator.
At last, the natural tunnel joins a hallway of worked stone, bringing the PCs back into the ruins of what you believe is still Kazhlik. The walls, ceilings, and floors of this corridor are worked stone.
Where the hallway comes to an intersection, a vestibule to the east contains a statue of a male dwarf. Strangely, the statue is defaced with dried blood, and heaps of bones are piled nearby—those of small animals and humanoid creatures alike. Under the statue is a nameplate.
"Kols, the Oathkeeper" is a dwarven demigog of duty.
You know that duergards despise Kols, as dwarves often refer to his teachings against “oath breakers” to justify their animosity with duergars.
You look at the bones and realize the bones and blood around the statue range from extremely recent to many decades old, suggesting the recent raiding party wasn’t responsible.
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”Strange.” Tandang notices the defacement done on the statue. He looks at the nameplate written in Dwarven. ”'Kols, the Oathkeeper', it reads. He is a dwarven demigod of duty.”
”But why would somebody do such thing?”
He examines the bones and blood surrounding the statue.
”The bones and blood is a combination of something very recent to many decades old. But one thing is for sure, whoever raided here recently was not responsible of this.” he explains as he continues to compare one bone from another.
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"Mister Smee! Fetch me that berry!"
Smee, with automatic obedience, goes to, but the brute "Harsk" has already beat him to it, causing our chivalric hero's mood to take a turn - he shakes his head in disapproval, and in tandem, the hireling's mood co-regulates: He hangs his head and goes quiet.
With his rapier in hand, disinterestedly, Don Jurri follows the closest pathfinder to him, seeming not to care which way the party heads, concerned with his own drama, the strangely complex emotionality that marks his hireling's and his working relationship!
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"I did something some would say is more difficult, though in truth some find it quite easy." Ithuriel helps Zenith to his feet. "I found faith. I left the heavens themselves to join him on this Mortal Plane so as to help his ascension. Perhaps your faith will lead you up the same steps for I am living proof of the truth, standing her in the flesh." Ithuriel seems extremely full of himself and will try to convert any he can to the faith.
"Hm, that makes the gladiator ring sound more appealing to be honest." Zenith says completely oblivious to any attempts to convert them.
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Zenith ponders the meaning of the statue for a moment, but tragically the stars did not provide them an answer to this mystery. "Let's not dwell on it, the stars will show the way!" Zenith says enthusiastically, then adds, "As they always have since the beginning of time."
Having met danger once, Zenith walks with their starknife in one hand, and their other hand free.
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Mister Smee circles around to make sure everyone's clothing is without holes and generally intact.
Don Jurri w/ ✋ Rapier
Harsk w/ ✋✋ Heavy Crossbow (?)
Ithuriel w/ ✋ Staff
Screech w/ ✋ Recorded
Tandang w/ ✋✋ Staff and Shield
Zenith w/ ✋ Starknife
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"Master Ithuriel Falsus Sacerdos - please forgive my common pronunciation, I am but a servant - does this "Living God" of whom you speak - does he take in the faithful of any creed, sir, or is there a selection process or precondition? It just so happens that my family and I are looking for a new sunday service"
"Of course Mister Smee. There are many steps to climb but the view will be worth the effort." He converses with the man, believing word of his deeds have been spread enough with Zenith. "Only those who believe in the Living God deserve a life of plenty and pleasure. Others must suffer and toil until they see the light of Razmir." Ithuriel offers a smile as he explains a few of the tenets along the path. Ithuriel doesn't seem to have a care in the world or danger around him.
You take a turn into a large room, a pile of tools and excavation equipment lies abandoned. You quickly search through them and beside malets and picks, you also find a leather-bound expedition journal that contains maps and notes about the surrounding tunnels.
Tandang, Screech, and Harsk begin to try and understand the maps. Different ancestries have other ways of describing the tunnels and chambers. However, Tandang is able to make some sense of it.
The path of the duergars’ excavation becomes clear, culminating in a large room marked on the maps as dangerous. According to a note in the margins, the duergars planned to sneak into the area through a small, hidden passageway to protect themselves . The passageway is to the west of the duergar camp. Another path, heading north next the camp , leads to the same large room, but it contains an additional trap.
You realize that despite being in the underground dungeons as before this place is not that incredibly hot as the previous ruins.
With automatic obedience, our halfling hireling hero furls his brow in concentration.
A few moments, and now pointing to the yellow triangle, he reports "It looks, sir, like someone wanted to arrive in this main room, tunneling around this trapped area here" now he points to the red arrow "By digging through here" and now he points to the white arrow "To do what? That seems, sir, to be anybody's guess!"
When his master nods his head in approval, a satisfied smile creases Mister Smee's soft round face!
An array of smaller rooms to the west, contains some of the duergars’ discarded personal belongings. There are more than a dozen bedrolls between the three largest rooms; the smallest of them lacks any creature comforts but for a few rags on the floor. A fine layer of dust covers everything in the area.
The belongings look abandoned, there are no bodies, signs of blood nor weapons. Searching through the items you find a couple of scrolls:
scroll of disrupting weapons and a scroll of heal [1st] and a scroll of heal [2nd]. Besides that, you find a notebook written in mix of common, dwarven and undercommon.
You take a moment to decipher the notebook and understand its' meaning. Harsk and Tandang help to translate dwarven while Don Jurri deciphers the bits that you can't read.
...who diligently obliges the request - taking a good minutes to render the text into a larger size, and with head bowed, presents it to his master with a "Good sir - the task is done!"
Devotee's Journal
Day 97,
Progress has been slow with so few captives, but today we uncovered something new - an ancient burial chamber! It took all my magic just to unlock the first few vaults, and there were three tunnels lined with them! Two of the search parties we sent inside have returned with weapons forged of gold, fine gems, and magical trinkets. If we have to search for the third party tomorrow, they will regret it. I am glad of this new discovery, as the forge remains inaccessible.
Day 98,
All died. Charred to a crisp. Some believe a fireball was rigged to the valuables, but I question why it waited until it was outside the vault to explode. We assigned two prisoners to traverse the length of each tunnel tonight to search for other traps.
Day 99,
Only one prisoner survived, and he is incoherent and bleeding heavily. He spoke of encountering someone - another duergar! But who? We need answers he cannot give. Tomorrow we will send our best scouts to the tomb and dispatch a raiding party to replenish our workers’ numbers.
Day 100,
Everything we had gathered from the vaults disappeared overnight. Assuming the risk was in the tombs, we had not set a guard. Now we know it’s not just traps we have to worry about. Thankfully the scouts returned alive and unharmed. They believe they found a second entrance to the tombs - perhaps to an area not stalked by death. The strange objects we have found here disturb me. I’ve ordered the others not to touch them.
Day 101,
No word from the raiding party, and stillness overnight. I finally had enough time to examine the bodies of our deceased. We found traces of necromantic magic. Are they cursed? One of them yet bleeds, though he is surely dead. The scouts and their prisoners managed to clear the hidden passage, but it leads to a giant fissure with only the remnants of a bridge. Droskar, have you not tested us enough?
Day 104,
A scout caught a glimpse of this other duergar in the tomb. I believe her to be the exile, Hedga the Blessed, though surely she ought to have died long ago—in the Rending, or of old age. Perhaps she is a more capable necromancer than the legends told. But her strange creations, and these heretical baubles, leave no doubt in my mind. Rather than confronting this threat, my plan is to outwit her. I spent today constructing a trap. With any luck, we can destroy the necromancer’s guardians and apprehend her. Glory awaits us when we return with her head. All of us will leave camp tomorrow. Our lead scout suggested searching for the other side of the fissure-passage to find a means to repair the bridge. Now I pray we are not slain the moment we return to that cursed place.
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Don Jurri reads it voraciously - like it were one of the classics - and seeming inspired "I wonder if the heroes of our story met Glory or Death!? Were it I, I would choose Glory over Death - perhaps these reference are demarcating the choice between dangers we have set before us?: Fire or Curse!" he points to the Red Arrow and White Arrow on the map "Or perhaps, our heroes survived, besting one or both of the dangers before them, and left this journal here as a warning!? Were it I, I would have it that the bards record my deeds in song..." this seems to give him an idea - he turns to the closest "Dwarf! Have you any tales of yore of heroes what survived a "...