Sadaf does not move away from Danduun but also does not cast a spell.
He just orders Danduun to continue attacking.
The little dinosaur tears into the skeleton in front of it (BLS3) and will switch targets if one skeleton drops!
~
~
Target:
vs. Danduun AC 21
Rook:
Needles:
Danduun bites and claws at the skeleton in front.
The more wounded skeleton attacks Danduun and wounds it with a blow from his axe.
Trevor
Rook
Vinnie
Skeleton 3 (14 lethal)
Round 4
Sadef
Danduun (16 lethal)
Skeleton 2 (32 lethal)
Vinnie's first punch produces only a breeze, but his second knocks the skeleton's head clean off and the bones drop to the ground. One skeleton remains.
Rook's spear pierces the skeleton's rib cage through a weak spot in the ancient armor. If the skeleton had internal organs, it would have done more harm, but it still knocked a few bones askew.
Skeleton 3 vs. Trevor AC 18
ACM2:
Danduun:
Rook:
Sadaf:
Trevor:
Vinnie:
Trevor shocks the remaining warrior, weaking the arcane magic keeping it together, but not destroying it.
It swung its urgrosh at Trevor, but he ducked under the plane of the swing and the blade swished through the air.
Sadef
Danduun (16 lethal)
BLS2 (41 lethal, destroyed)
Trevor
Rook
Vinnie
BLS3 (25 lethal)
Sadaf casts a guidances spell on the little Dino.
He orders Danduun to continue attacking.
The little dinosaur tears into the skeleton in front of it.
~
~
Danduun's last talon attack hits a spot vital to the skeleton's arcane system. The skeleton is barely able to keep attacking. Vinnie finishes it off with a well-placed punch to the neck.
With the destruction of the last of the Firebrand warriors turned undead minions of an underground necromancer, the field of battle is not secure. Unobserved enemies may yet lurk in ambush.
Trevor
Rook
The area is quiet as a ... well, a tomb, which it is.
ACM2 vs Danduun FF AC 17
As Sadaf and Danduun advance toward the stairs, a war hammer smashes into Sadaf's head, making him see stars for a moment.
As the blow connects, a duergar mercenary emerges from an invisibility spell's effects, blocking the path to the stairs. A moment later another appears after taking a swing at Danduun but missing.
Round 5
Danduun (16 lethal, guidance)(move, standard action pending)
Vinnie
Trevor
Rook
Round 6
ACM1
ACM2
Sadef (10 lethal)
The little dinosaur attacks the dwarf that attacked Sadaf!
ACM1:
Danduun takes a takes a chunk out of the duergar who hit Sadef.
The barbed chains of Vinnie's spell trip up the same mercenary, knocking him prone and inspiring a dread fear that he was not going to survive. The other keeps his feet however. Then the vanara advances into combat next to the small dinosaur.
Splash damage: Fire 3
Merc 1 vs Vinnie AC 27
Target:
Merc 2 vs Vinnie, AC 27
Trevor's magic missile strikes the prone duergar, eliciting a deep grunt of pain. Rooks bomb showers both with flames.
Just behind the standing mercenary, another appears, wearing leather armor. As he comes into view, he is lobbing a small object similar to what Rook just threw. This one hits Rook and explodes into fire as well, although not as much as Rook's bomb produced. Flames splash on Trevor, Sadaf, Danduun.
Both Duergar mercenaries try to hit Vinnie with their warhammers, but both miss.
Sadef (13 lethal)
Danduun (19 lethal)
Vinnie
Trevor (3 lethal)
Rook (6 lethal)
Alchemist
Round 7
M1 (prone, shaken 2 rounds, 17 lethal)
M2 (19 lethal)
Sadaf orders Danduun to continue attacking.
The little dinosaur tears into the dwarf in front of him.
~
~
M1:
M2:
Alchemist:
Only one of Danduun's talon attacks hits.
Sadaf masterfully gestures and speaks a spell's triggering actions, while avoiding another hammer blow. Then his fingers of scorching fire wash over all three enemies. The standing mercenary takes the brunt of the flames and falls in agony and then lies still. The prone one turns his back and minimizes the damage. The alchemist is nimble and avoids the worst as well.
Vinnie
Trevor (3 lethal)
Rook (6 lethal)
Alchemist (4 lethal)
Round 7
Merc 1 (prone, shaken 1 rounds, 21 lethal)
Merc 2 (31 lethal, dying)
Danduun (19 lethal)
Sadef (13 lethal)
Merc 1:
Vinnie's first punch on the prone mercenary puts him at death's door.
Then Vinnie follows up with an evil eye hex that further limits his fighting ability. Not that it matters, as his second punch puts him unconscious and dying.
Rook's next bomb explodes over the alchemist and the splash douses the dying mercenaries and kills them.
Trevor's whip wraps around the alchemist's neck, digging deep into the dusky grey flesh. The duergar's dull eyes roll up and close as he crumples to the ground.
Vinnie (not injured)
Trevor (3 lethal)
Rook (6 lethal)
Danduun (19 lethal)
Sadef (13 lethal)
Each deceased mercenary has mwk chainmail, mwk heavy crossbow, mwk warhammer, and 18 gp. The alchemist has potions of cure light wounds (2), potions of detect secret doors (2), potions of expeditious retreat (2), potions of negate aroma (2), acid (6), alchemist's fire (6), smokesticks (6), tanglefoot bags (6), thunderstones (6); Other Gear leather armor, light crossbow with 10 bolts, light mace, dust of tracelessness, tindertwigs (6), formula book, 2 gp.
Each skeletal warrior has mwk scale mail, mwk dwarven urgrosh, tattered uniform, and an obsidian spike driven into the sternum bone. This is the same as was described earlier.
Option for exploration:
The room you entered first could be secured and made into a safe place for resting up.
All the available doors have been labeled for easy reference if you want to look into any of the areas.
You have not explored the area E15 yet:
E15: A heavy partition divides this room into two sections. Shattered glass and looted armor and weapon racks litter the north end of the room, where a massive display case stands open and empty. A half-dozen animal trophies fill the southern half of the room, including the mounted head of a bulette looms from the eastern wall, a stuffed cloaker hangs from the ceiling in mid-swoop, and a taxidermic dire boar prepares to charge from his central plinth.
|
Sadaf sighs in relief that combat is over and immediately stabilizes the fallen Duergar to then use rope to bind him.
He will then cast detect magic and check all the areas including e15.
He then uses smelling salt to wake the Duergar up.
“Hello! Who are you?“ the dwarf asks.
Sadaf also takes the two healing potions they just found.
The duergar frowns and glares before mumbling, "You first."
|
|
Sadaf frowns.
“I am a merchant, and additionally, a believer in luck, as well as the importance of natural order! My name is Sadaf! I do not believe in good and evil, but in the balance of life. But I have trust my goddess, that it is better to achieve this balance with ‘good’ in your heart than ‘evil’ in your soul!“ he says.
“I would really like to understand what you were doing here and if there’s anyway that we can cooperate!“
Sadaf does not grow on people but in rare moments his empathy cuts into their feelings.
Rook:
Sadaf:
Danduun:
Trevor:
Vinnie:
Statues depicting stern dwarven figures line this hall, separating 60 body-sized niches carved into the walls. A meticulous mosaic of a flame-enshrouded axe covers the floor at the room’s center. Heavy stone doors lead south, and two smaller doors nearly blend into the walls on each side of the main entrance. A short hallway leads deeper into the redoubt.
Pushed back into the corner of one niche lies a forgotten handy haversack bearing the Firebrand Legion’s distinctive insignia. It contains five wool blankets, two tents, two dozen iron spikes, 100 feet of silk rope, a hammer, a crowbar, and 6 weeks’ worth of moldering rations.
Also, there is a sign on the double doors just where the main hall splits in a Y intersection . It reads "ਖ਼ਤਰਾ ਦਾਖਲ ਨਾ ਕਰੋ."
Sadaf frowns.
“I am a merchant, and additionally, a believer in luck, as well as the importance of natural order! My name is Sadaf! I do not believe in good and evil, but in the balance of life. But I have trust my goddess, that it is better to achieve this balance with ‘good’ in your heart than ‘evil’ in your soul!“ he says.
“I would really like to understand what you were doing here and if there’s anyway that we can cooperate!“
Sadaf does not grow on people but in rare moments his empathy cuts into their feelings.
The conversation with the prisoner goes back and forth, as Sadaf gently overcomes the Duergar's hostility, and then makes a tentative friend.
"If Haab an' ar' group o' cenaries had captured yawl, ya'd be da furst ta get a slit throat. Alweys was toll yadew the same ta anyus," he says in common, a language he clearly does not speak much.
He struggles mightly to hate Sadaf as he has been taught, but recent events have taught him to doubt many things about what he as been told. He gulps and decides to turn his back on his now dead comrades and share what he knows about the redoubt.
He explains what the note found in the taproom already revealed, that he was a part of a band of mercenaries led by Haab Nuervagan. They were hired by some agents who lived deeper in the Darklands to attack the guards of the redoubt and hold it until the agents accomplished their plan (of which the mercenaries were told nothing). He tells you that several mercenaries have already died when they entered regions of the stronghold which appeared to be haunted. He knows that some prisoners from Davarn were brought back not long ago and are being held elsewhere in the fortress, but he does not know where. He thinks there might be other mercenaries guarding them or occupying other parts of the the fort. He knows there is also a strange fey agent of the one who hired the troop lurking about. He does not know exactly what kind of creature this is, but he describes it as having the legs of a goat, horns on her head, and hairless white skin.
The duergar grenadier, whose name is Grendain Bonebrand, translates the sign. "It says 'Danger, keep out.' "We 'countered a nasty ghost in dhere. Haab had it locked. The doors are massive and made of bronze, secured with a sturdy Duergar lock. "Dhat fey wi' de goat legs has de key, Iz dhinks."
|
Vinnie makes use of their wands (or his own if they don't have them) to make sure that Trevor and Rook are fully healed as well.
Then he watches with admiration as Sadaf persuades the fallen foe to come over to their side. "Don't s'spose you've ever heard of the Pathfinder Society? We're always on the lookout for new cannon fodder recruits. Think it over."
|
|
Rook look's over the alchemical goods but more importantly takes their formulae book.
"A good business man never gives away their secrets, but a good business man is typically alive too. Fair trade." he says before giving the body a pat on the shoulder.
He grabs some of the alchemical supplies and offers them out before attaching them to his bandoliers for easy access.
As Sadaf talks to the revived alchemist, he listens and nods.
"I have no ill will towards any a mercenary, it is a job. That information is worth his life. I can help tend to your wounds once we are done as well Grendain."
As the Undercommon is translated, Rook nods and realizes he has another language he needs to learn.
---
"A ghost? And a fey? This gets more interesting all the time. Thanks to that resupply I can keep going but how is everyone else feeling?"
|
Trevor gratefully accepts a bit of healing from vinnie.
"I think I'm good to press on, I've been conservative with my limited magical repitoire and if I can ever find a good position, I have a few more tricks up my sleave. Not too sure how much help I'd be against a ghost though. Oh maybe it's on of those friendly or at least not hostile ghosts. Like if it's the ghost of one of those old dwarven soildiers it might have been offended by the mercenaries and gone off of them, but if we offer to right some long past wrong it might cooperate with us! I mean a fella can hope right?"