Zabu aims a truly fabulous upper cut at the Aspis agent, but one of his allies tries to shove him out of the way. While he is not fast enough to stop the blow from connecting, it does keep it from landing quite so squarely .
"What!?" the agent with a red mark on his jaw looks about with indignation.
First Contact! Round 2
Jun-Mei (62/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Teja (68/68) (water breathing)
Therisah (86/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Aspis Agent 3 (in hand)
Miladistra (32/32) (water breathing)
Zabu (107/107) (water breathing)
Aspis Agent 1 (can’t use hostile actions*)
Aspis Agent 2 (can’t use hostile actions*) (reaction used)
Akuth (64/64) (water breathing)
Aspis Agent 4 (can’t use hostile actions)
Aspis Agent 5 (can’t use hostile actions) (in hand)
Aspis Agent 6 (-6 hp) (in hand)
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Jun-Mei concentrates on maintaining her spell. "This will continue to go poorly for you. Surrender and you will not be harmed."
"Bored gnomes are so
much more dangerous than sleepy snakes
deprived of venom"
Her face grows cold as she continues to address the aspis agent. "Surrender if you value your life. A bored gnome cannot be controlled."
Flustered though he may be , he still does not find Jun-Mei intimidating.
First Contact! Round 1
Jun-Mei (62/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Teja (68/68) (water breathing)
Therisah (86/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Aspis Agent 3
Miladistra (32/32) (water breathing)
Zabu (107/107) (water breathing) (Readied: Strike - trigger met by #6)
Aspis Agent 1 (can’t use hostile actions*)
Aspis Agent 2 (can’t use hostile actions*) (reaction used)
Akuth (64/64) (water breathing)
Aspis Agent 4 (can’t use hostile actions) (Bon Mot -2)
Aspis Agent 5 (can’t use hostile actions) (in hand)
Aspis Agent 6 (-6 hp) (in hand) (Bon Mot -3)
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Much as she might want to slip her rapier between the Aspis agents ribs, she just can't bring herself to attack them first.
"Zabu!" she admonishes her ally.
Still, she does move to flank the already wounded agent, ready to deliver said rapier to the ribs if things turn sour.
*stride
*readied action
The first Aspis agent--the one that Miladistra spectacularly failed to charm--prepares the stone in his hand and throws it at Akuth. The orc dodges it easily enough for it falls short and explodes at his feet. Thunder sounds in the small cave, causing ripples to shimmer across the water and your ears to ring.
"Hey! What's the big--!" shouts the one that Zabu punched. Two more look around slightly befuddled. Their expressions quickly transform into a combination of perplexity and anger.
Teja takes revenge on the nearest Aspis agent , and nearly stabs him in the shoulder, but the nearest Aspis agent yanks him back just in time .
First Contact! Round 1
Jun-Mei (60/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Teja (68/68) (water breathing) (reaction used)
Therisah (84/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn) (Readied - Strike)
Aspis Agent 3
Miladistra (32/32) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Zabu (105/107) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Aspis Agent 1 (can’t use hostile actions*)
Aspis Agent 2 (can’t use hostile actions*) (reaction used)
Akuth (62/64) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Aspis Agent 4 (Bon Mot -2, deafened 1 rnd)
Aspis Agent 5 (in hand) (reaction used) (deafened 1 rnd)
Aspis Agent 6 (-8 hp) (in hand) (Bon Mot -3)
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"What are you doin'"
"Ah!" Miladistra covers her large ears and has to block her nose. The smell of pig waste floods her nostrils. "Deroff, you okay?"
Miladistra can't hear his response, but everyone else hears his whine. She scowls and turns towards the Aspis Agents. "Fine, I wanted to be all diplomatic like. But now I'm mad."
>Glitterdust< erupts over most of the Aspis Agents. "Let's see if you being blind as a bat!"
"Alright Zabu, you win! We do this your way!" She Strides far away from her foes.
Deroff decides to take a bite out of an agent.
A glittering explosion causes spots to dance across several of the Aspis agents' field of vision. Meanwhile, Deroff takes a bite out of the injured Aspis agent, and there is no one left to save him.
First Contact! Round 1
Jun-Mei (60/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Teja (68/68) (water breathing) (reaction used)
Therisah (84/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn) (Readied - Strike)
Aspis Agent 3 (dazzled)
Miladistra (32/32) (water breathing)
Zabu (105/107) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Aspis Agent 1 (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Aspis Agent 2 (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Akuth (62/64) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Aspis Agent 4 (Bon Mot -2, deafened 1 rnd, dazzled)
Aspis Agent 5 (in hand) (reaction used) (deafened 1 rnd)
Aspis Agent 6 (-19 hp) (in hand) (Bon Mot -3)
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"I always win!" Zabu shouts in response to Miladistra.
And shout he does, since his sensitive hearing is ruined by the magical stone.
It isn't hard for him to tap into his anger.
He grabs one of the nearest Aspis agents (#5) and and slashes at him with his newly formed talons.
◆ Rage
◆ Grab
◆ Strike (Claw)
Zabu grabs hold of the Aspis agent with improbable strength, bending him down and locking his neck under his arm. Despite the inconvenient position, the agent's armor protects him from the gnome's claws.
Akuth sinks an arrow deep into the wounded agent's left shoulder. He would have shared his strategy with Teja, but his target is now lying in the water, insensate.
"We're not so sleepy! You Pathfinders gave away your advantage!" one of the dazzled agents counters. He directs his violence at the unarmored gnome. However, the gnome manages to maneuver so that the agent in his arm is between them each time the dazzled agent thrusts his dagger, forcing him to draw up short.
The grappled agent manages to just barely escape from the gnome's arm and haphazardly throw the stone in his hand at Miladistra's feet. It explodes with thunderous force that shakes Miladistra and Therisah.
First Contact! Round 3
Jun-Mei (60/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Teja (68/68) (water breathing) (reaction used)
Therisah (82/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Aspis Agent 3 (dazzled)
Miladistra (30/32) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Zabu (105/107) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Aspis Agent 1 (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Aspis Agent 2 (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Akuth (62/64) (water breathing)
Aspis Agent 4 (dazzled)
Aspis Agent 5
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"If you think this is going to hurt, you just wait until I write about your poor technique." snarls Teja as she steps forward.
With a flick of her wrist, her rapier seems to come at the poor Aspsis agent from every direction at once. Every direction except the one it really does come from that is.
"I suggest you try hard work before violence next time."
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"We're not so sleepy! You Pathfinders gave away your advantage!" one of the dazzled agents counters. He directs his violence at the unarmored gnome. However, the gnome manages to maneuver so that the agent in his arm is between them each time the dazzled agent thrusts his dagger, forcing him to draw up short.
Jun-Mei sighs. "Sadly, he is correct. My spell proved to be quite effective but we squandered our opportunity. Since the aspis were reluctant to surrender we should have concentrated our energies on a single agent at a time while the remainder were more or less harmless."
Jun-Mei grips her glaive for combat and lashes out at the closest aspis.
Teja flusters the nearest Aspis agent and stabs him in the shoulder. Jun-Mei sustains her enchantment while striking with her polearm. Several other Aspis agents jostle to impress their superiors by trying to rescue their companions, though their efforts likely did not change the ultimate outcome as Jun-Mei's strikes were a little too telegraphed.
Therisah wades through the water and, because there is no one left to save him, takes out one of the Aspis agents with two wolf strikes.
The remaining dazzled agent stumbles forward and tries to stick his dagger in someone not wearing armor. Who the target was is impossible to say for sure as he stabs the air between Therisah and Zabu. He then stumbles back.
First Contact! Round 3
Jun-Mei (60/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Teja (68/68) (water breathing) (reaction used)
Therisah (82/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Aspis Agent 3 (dazzled)
Miladistra (30/32) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Zabu (105/107) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 20 vs. Deafened until end of next turn)
Aspis Agent 1 (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Aspis Agent 2 (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Akuth (62/64) (water breathing)
Aspis Agent 5 (-8 hp)
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"Ya'll really don't have to do this-"
Miladistra covers her nose and ears again, clearly flustered.
"But if ya'll aren't gonna stop, fine!"
An >Electric Arc< spreads from her hands, threatening the nearest two Aspis Agents.
"Deroff, can you hear me? Get 'im!" Miladistra points at the agents closest to him.
Miladistra conjures a rather impressive arc of electricity that nobody is able to avoid. The glassy-eyed agent that she struck remains glassy-eyed, still entranced by the power of Jun-Mei's enchantment. Deroff then tries to tear his leg off and leaves the agent looking rather burnt and bloodied.
The Aspis agent's armor saves him from Zabu.
First Contact! Round 3
Jun-Mei (60/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Teja (68/68) (water breathing) (reaction used)
Therisah (82/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Aspis Agent 3 (dazzled)
Miladistra (30/32) (water breathing)
Zabu (105/107) (water breathing)
Aspis Agent 1 (-16 hp) (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Aspis Agent 2 (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Akuth (62/64) (water breathing)
Aspis Agent 5 (-36 hp; <10%)
Akuth fires his arrow into the badly wounded agent's chest and then grazes the dazzled fellow's arm with another arrow. That one starts look over his shoulder.
First Contact! Round 4
Jun-Mei (60/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Teja (68/68) (water breathing) (reaction used)
Therisah (82/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Aspis Agent 3 (-6 hp) (dazzled)
Miladistra (30/32) (water breathing)
Zabu (105/107) (water breathing)
Aspis Agent 1 (-16 hp) (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Aspis Agent 2 (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Akuth (62/64) (water breathing)
Teja mercilessly drives her rapier through the magically pacified Aspis agent's heart.
First Contact! Round 4
Jun-Mei (60/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Teja (68/68) (water breathing) (reaction used)
Therisah (82/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft)
Aspis Agent 3 (-6 hp) (dazzled)
Miladistra (30/32) (water breathing)
Zabu (105/107) (water breathing)
Aspis Agent 2 (dazzled, can’t use hostile actions*)
Akuth (62/64) (water breathing)
While Jun-Mei is able to trip the agile agent, Therisah lands a blow that leaves the man within an inch of his life.
"I surrender!" he cries out, bloodied and with his remaining companion trapped in an enchanted prison of the mind.
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"Wh-what?" Miladistra sneezes and rubs her ears to get the stink out.
She notices the Aspis Agent down. "Oh, ah think he's surrenderin'?" She pauses. "Fine. We accept. Or, at least I accept. Deroff, get over here!" She calls her friendly wolf to her side.
"I can heal your companions if you surrender your weapons. Then you can tell us what you're doing here."
Miladistra's wave of healing rouses all but two of the Aspis agents. Those two bodies float in the knee deep water. The dread this instills in your captives does not provide them with any more knowledge of their superior's designs or what can be found in these ruins, unfortunately.
"The Consortium sent to the mountains as soon as they heard the Pathfinder Society had discovered new ruins," one of the captives confesses. "We were scouting when we ran into you. There are hundreds more of us and more powerful agents in play."
You deal with the captives and continue on toward the makeshift fence. Thanks to work that other Pathfinders have done, Jun-Mei keeps Teja and Therisah from walking into a wicked snare that even Aktuh could see from the back. It takes Teja a try or two to disarm the snare, which would have lacerated someone's legs quite savagely, but she manages.
Free to approach the fence, you find it is constructed from stone and bone lashed together with rope. Through the narrow gaps, you can see an elderly woman moving around inside. Clearly, she had no interest in helping you with the fight and does not appear to have interest in talking to you.
"Wandering bunyips and strangers like you! Go away!" she yells back.
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"Yes, yes, hundreds of Aspis crawlin' around." Miladistra rolls her eyes. "Yer welcome, by the way. Next time, say hello rather than throw two of yer lives away. You can't get promoted if yer dead."
---
Leaving those idiots behind, Miladistra sees a woman minding her own business - but may have valuable information.
"Howdy ma'am. Good to see a fellow farmer around here."
"Is this a good place for rutabaga?" She crouches a bit as she moves toward the front of the crowd.
"Ugh! I can see you're not going away any time soon are you," the woman laments. She puts down a fishing net she was working on and approaches the fence. She is a white haired dwarf woman of somewhat slighter build and tanner skin. Her leathers fit snuggly. "At least you didn't try to break down my fence like the last lot. Who are you and what do you want?"
"I don't know what the Grand Lodge is, but you folk don't seem so bad," she says, moving closer to the fence. Now you can see that she has gills on the side of her neck. "My name is Bolkanga. Come inside and have a beer with me. It's my family's special recipe made from seaweed. Not a lot of hops around here."
"Indeed," Bokanga says. "My family originated in the city under these mountains, but my forefathers left a long time ago. I was born and lived in the Five Kingdoms for the first century of my life, but I was never quite comfortable or other dwarves comfortable with me." He makes a vague, unconscious gesture toward the gills on her neck. She serves each of you a green tinted brew that smells reminiscent of fish, mulch and alcohol. "My father told me tales of the old city, Raseri Kanton, so I came here to find it and live in solitude. Never found the city proper, but these ruins are my ancestral home."
He pulls down a net from the wall and removes several flasks from them. "I'm a bit of an herbalist. I'll gift these sample of my special brew too you, and I'll keep an eye out for others of your guild."
After having talked and drank with Bolkanga, you continue on with your exploration. You travel down a long, wide hall until it opens into an even wider chamber.
A stepped pyramid made of verdigris-clouded copper rises to a platform 10 feet above. At the center of the platform is an altar that holds a turquoise sphere rotating within a pool of water. As orb rotates on its base, the runes engraved on its surface flickering faintly.
As best as Teja can figure, this device controls water in some fashion. The orb could probably be relocated and still retain its magical powers, whatever their specifics.
EDIT: Also, everyone can clearly see that the pyramid is constructed from quite a bit of precious metals.
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"Ah know how it feels to be a stranger in your own hometown." Miladista sits down at the table. "Ma and Pa never talk about it, but my Mother and Father left their mark on me." She sniffs the air. "Is that brewed seaweed?" Miladistra grins. "I'll cherish this, thank you so much!"
Miladistra is in good spirits, and has to slow down to let everyone catch up with her. "Sorry, it's nice to make a friend. Besides- what in tarnation is that?"
"The pyramid is beautiful, I guess. The orb can control water? I wonder if it flooded the chamber we went through. If we can lower the water level, then we don't have to worry about drowning on the way back."
She looks at Deroff. "Hey Deroff. Do you smell anything fishy around here? There must be some reason no one's tried to grab this."
Miladistra will try to Seek around the base of the platform.
As Miladistra begins to explore the pyramid and the surrounding room, the runes on the sphere begin to spark erratically. You all hear the sound of rushing water moments before a tidal surge floods the hallway and the chamber. It is a good thing Bolkanga was a terse conversationalist.
Oops! Round 1
Therisah (86/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft) (-15 ft under)
Miladistra (32/32) (water breathing) (-5 ft under)
> Deroff (51/51) (water breathing) (-15 ft under)
Jun-Mei (62/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft) (-15 ft under)
Malfunctioning Sphere
Teja (68/68) (water breathing) (-15 ft under)
Akuth (64/64) (water breathing) (-15 ft under)
Zabu (107/107) (water breathing) (-15 ft under)
Miladistra is flummoxed by the runes on the magical sphere. Others begin to swim when they feel a growing current back toward the way you came. The current grows and is joined by a roar of turbulent water as the flooded chamber drains back toward the lake.
The force is so powerful that it threatens to drag you back down the hall. Just as quickly as the area flooded, the water has drained away and left you standing on the ground.
Oops! Round 1-2
Malfunctioning Sphere
Teja (68/68) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 22 vs. 11 Bludgeoning & See Below)
Aktuh (64/64) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 22 vs. 11 Bludgeoning & See Below)
Zabu (107/107) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 22 vs. 11 Bludgeoning & See Below)
Therisah (86/86) (water breathing, light 20 ft) (Fortitude DC 22 vs. 11 Bludgeoning & See Below)
Miladistra (32/32) (water breathing) (Fortitude DC 22 vs. 11 Bludgeoning & See Below)
Jun-Mei (62/62) (water breathing, light 20 ft) (Fortitude DC 22 vs. 11 Bludgeoning & See Below)
Fortitude DC 22 - Direction is to the right on map.
Critical Success: The creature takes no damage.
Success: The creature takes half damage.
Failure: The creature takes full damage and is moved 10 feet along with the water.
Critical Failure: The creature takes full and is moved 20 feet along with the water.